Day 9 - 3,619km

From the point at which I decided to head home it took me 3 days to reach La Serena - I arrived around 6pm on Sunday after riding for 9hrs! Needless to say I was very tired but happy to be home.

My GPS shows that I clocked up 3,619km over the last nine days! Whilst I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make it further south, I'm nevertheless happy with what I achieved, it was hell of experience with great company.

Day 9 - Los Vilos

Made an early start and got through Santiago by midday. So much for
quiet roads, they are packed with holiday traffic!

Topped up the gas in Los Vilos - only 270km to go now!

Villa el Descanso

After riding for over 7hrs I finally arrived at my half way stopping
point, this hotel at km187 south of Santiago. It felt so good to be in
an airconditioned room and to take a shower!

I have another 662km ahead of me to reach La Serena so I need get a
good night sleep. Since it's Sunday tomorrow and 2nd round of
presidential voting, I expecting the road through Santiago to be
fairly quiet.

Day 8 - heading north

I bid farewell to the familiy in temuco to begin my 1100km journey
north back to la Serena

Day 7 - returning to Chile

Last night we made camp in the Lanin National park - south of San Martin Los Andes. Overnight temperature dropped to 6c - I was freezing again!

Over 2,000 km traveled and a week into the journey south, I decided that it was time for me to return home. I really wanted to make it through the Carreterra Austral but I don't have the right gear to keep me warm at camp and my off-road motorbike skills are not really up to the pace required to make it through the 'ripio' without risking life and limb!

I was also really missing the family :-( it's hard being on the road with very liitle contact.

So I packed up early this morning and wished Glenn and Cheri all the best and headed SW towards the border crossing at Puyehue. The mountain pass is absolutely beautiful, a real pleasure to ride.

I arrived safely at Anita's family home in Temuco 8 hrs later.

Glenn's Fish

Here is the fish that Glenn caught yesterday. Unfortunately it's a
'sucker' fish so not very tasty, so Glenn returned it to the water.

This area is a hiking/fishing paradise, breath taking views and crystal clear waters

Day 6

We found a really nice camping ground by the river just north of junin
de Los Andes so we decided to make camp before it got dark.
Glenn went fishing in the morning and caught a pretty big carp which
we let go - we really wanted to catch a salmon or trout.

We plan to have a fairly relaxed day since we have been riding hard
over the last few days.

Finally we are out of the desert and entering lake country! Pucon
directly west over the border, we can see volcano lanin from our camp
site.

Day 5

After a good nights sleep we left chos malal around 11:30 - purchased fuel etc. The conditions are much better today, mostly light wind and smooth road.

Stopped in zapala for lunch. We hope to reach San Martin de Los Andes in the next few hours to make camp.

A picture of me with Volcan Lanin in the background.

Glenn's girlfriend standing on a rock to get a better view ;-)

Day 3, 4

We left the searing heat of Mendoza around midday on Monday. It didn't take long for us to experience the strong winds on the ruta 40. At one point we stopped at a small store in the middle of nowhere
next to the highway. A storm blew through leaving us trapped for several hours.

This really put us behind schedule forcing us to make camp in the middle of nowhere; we found this semi sheltered spot just outside of El Sosneado,  it was blowing a gale, the wind roaring through the trees so fiercely I really expected to find the bike on its side in the morning. I didn't get much sleep!

We packed up camp early the next day to take advantage of the calmer  conditions. But this didn't last long. We continued to follow the ruta 40 south, I would send our location details whenever we stopped.

Two sections of the route was unpaved - around 90km of pure hell! I  was down to 35km/h praying not to loose control of the bike on this very loose rocky surface.

After doing battle with the wind for many hours we made it to the Municipal camp site in Chos Malal well before sunset and I finally had a shower after two days!

Day 2 - Crossing the Andes

I departed Los Andes around 09:30 and headed towards the border. The ride up to Portillo was excellent, it's quite something navigating the steep switch backs up the mountain on two wheels.

Tunnel through the Andes - not a pleasant experience on two wheels breathing in all those car fumes!

Laguna Del Inca - Portillo

Arrived at the border around midday, after a lot of hanging around I finally crossed into Argentina. Almost immediately the landscape changed, dry and windswept. As I decreased in altitude the wind became stronger so I kept my speed down. The mountain pass was really amazing, and took longer than I expected so I'm glad I had my previous rest stop in Los Andes. I then followed the highway to Mendoza.

As I approached the city limits I stopped to load the gps with the street address of where I'm staying to help guide me in. I followed the directions and arrived at the hostel - stress free- what an amazing device. Glenn and Cheri were waiting for me - nice to see them after such a long ride! I need a beer!

Los Andes

I've arrived at my rest point for the day. The 400km ride down from
La Serena was as expected quite boring and bloodly windy! At one point
my neck was really hurting as I battled with the coastal cross winds.
Gustavo and his wife joined me for the first 100km.

I left the Ruta 5 at llay llay at took the Ruta 60 heading west
towards the mountains. The outside temp was now 30c + I'm glad I
removed my scarf and put on my thinner gloves - it's like riding
against a hairdryer!

The hotel is pretty basic but ok for a well earned rest. It's located
on the main road heading towards Portillo - my next pitstop tomorrow.

Day 1

At last my adventure begins! Hopefully I've not forgotten anything. Next stop Los Vilos for gas, then onto Los Andes where I shall spend the night.

License and registration please!

Toll at Tongoy (Ruta 5 South)