The ride from Chile into Bolivia was short. 40 miles took us from Putre back through Lauca National Park to the border where we were quickly and efficiently exited by the Chilean Migration & Customs authorities. To complete the exit we had to go see the Police and met a charming chubby little Policeman suitably […]
Putre – Last Stop in Chile – My 43rd Birthday
A short 90-mile ride took us back into the mountains to the lovely little town of Putre, an ideal place to stop for a few days to acclimatise to the severe altitudes we would now enter on our way into and through Bolivia. Putre sits at 3,500 metres and it is literally a breathless place […]
San Pedro de Atacama, Back to Sea Level, Iquique and Arica
We had a fabulous time at San Pedro with days out to see Chile’s Valley of the Moon, the nearby Tatio Geysers and the pink flamingos at the Salar de Atacama on Lago Chaxa. It is a place of staggering beauty perhaps best left to the photographs to describe. The town itself is fairly small […]
Leaving Argentina, Back on the Ripio, BM Trouble-Ewes!, On to San Pedro de Atacama
Monday 5th April was a sad day, it was the day we peeled ourselves away from El Castillo. On the previous evening we celebrated our departure over a plate of Ceviche – a Chilean delicacy consisting of several kinds of raw fish & seafood marinated in lemon juice, coriander leaves and some cumin. Maria’s mother […]
San Rafael
We left San Martin and its grey skies on Sunday morning, on a leap year 29th February, to ride north towards Mendoza. From Mario, we learned that next weekend there is a huge Wine festival – the ‘Vendimia’, celebrating the annual grape harvest and sounding like a wine flavoured Oktoberfest! Within 25 miles at San […]
The End of the World! Tierra Del Fuego & Ushuaia
Well we have now reached the bottom or should I say the start of our trip! Ushuaia – the southernmost city in the world, sited on the shores of the Beagle Channel. To get here, we left Torres Del Paine and drove south to Punta Arenas. Just outside Puerto Natales we stopped the car at […]
San Carlos de Bariloche to Rio Mayo
Argentina was a country we had low expectations of before this trip. We initially viewed it as just a transit place to get through to visit the southern jewels of the Moreno Glacier, Torres del Paine & Ushuaia. And as to the people, the only Argentineans we’d ever set eyes on were on TV back […]
San Carlos de Bariloche
We have now been in South America for 2 weeks and it just gets better and better. From Viña we rode south to Chillan, picking up the Pan American Highway for the first time. It has the appearance of a motorway – dual carriageway in very good condition, with toll sections in places. However unlike […]