My hopes to rise this morning to the massive volcano and tamed reflection rippling in the lake were lost as the obscuring clouds that prevented my views yesterday turned out to be my nemesis today. The tiny hospedaje served me perhaps the best breakfast I’ve had in South America. Steaming quiche with vegetables, cheese, sliced […]
Since hanging with Cristian and my days in Santiago I’ve been trying to solidly my plan and route south. Since planning this journey well over 3 years ago my dream was to make it to all 7 continents. The far reaching and hardest to get to lays just a few days by boat over rough […]
Stopping for gas at a service station on the primary route south toward Puerto Montt, I drew the usual crowd of curiosity seekers, each with their own individual gasps of wonder, fear and envy when I shared with them where I was from where I was going. Of course, they were all armed with recommendations […]
Hanging in Santiago has its benefits. There’s good food, drink and all the modern conveniences of home. You can even brush teeth and drink with tap water and throw toilet paper into the toilets. When walking cars actually stop and give pedestrians the right of way. But beyond these simple appreciations, Cristian is a veritable […]
I wonder what the weather is like in central Bolivia today. I’ll bet that road from Potosí to Uyuni is washed out and muddy. For it was one year ago today I took my fateful plunge into the mud of Tica Tica – a tiny Altiplano village in Central Bolivia. So today I remember and […]
I had been looking forward to visiting BMW Santiago since I my last visit to a BMW Dealer in Latin America at BMW Guatemala City in October last year (2005). It was time for my 24,000 or 30,000 mile service — I had 26,000 on the bike. While my sprockets weren’t in bad shape, my […]
Happy New Year!!! Ahhhh. With the excitement and celebration of the holidays behind me, I will once again continue my journey. I’ve been gracious and thankful for the hospitality and help of my new friend Cristian in Santiago Chile. Tomorrow I will take Doc into BMW Santiago for its much needed 30k mile service, new […]
For the most part, going into Chile from anywhere in South America, save Brazil perhaps, is a bit of culture shock. It’s more modern, clean and expensive – comparatively. Drivers actually stop for pedestrians at cross walks. Traffic lights are well placed. And in Santiago a modern transportation system includes new gas-powered busses and a […]
Nestled at the foot of the Andes, Mendoza rests in a dry arid desert. In pre-Colombian times the indigenous inhabitants devised a sophisticated irrigation system designed to control the massive runoff from the Andes. This ancient irrigation system is still used today and is responsible for irrigating the acres and acres of vineyards used to […]
Laying out our maps we had a few options that would take us to Mendoza. The main route which would surely allow us to make time at highway speeds also took us out of our way. The net gain might have been insignificant, but we opted for a more remote road that appeared to be […]
