CN - Monday/Tuesday
Trying to sleep at 13,000+ ft. and 40 degree temps with no heat with a head cold is no fun. I didn't get much sleep last night and feel like a cough is coming on as well. The room was very basic but I guess what can one expect for an $8 room with two beds? At least the beds came equipped with the typical Peruvian 25 pound blankets. We got out of shanty town around 8am and continued southwest for the Peru/Chile border knowing we still had the Andes range to climb over once again. Last time over brought us 15,000 ft. elevations, rain, sleet, snow and extremely cold temps so we had the gear ready in case we encountered the same again. The day started overcast and cool but did not look like a threat of rain - yet. As we headed west through the eastern highlands of the Andes between 19,000+ ft. snow capped peaks, rain clouds began to build and I had visions of freezing my ass off again. Luckily as we started to climb back over 15,000+ ft. they started to break up and it seemed we would miss the precipitation. The views were stunning as we kept going up and up and up, then finally started defending the other side. The paved road was fairly new but very narrow. Luckily there were very few vehicles besides us and no trucks as the narrow roads and switchbacks would be impossible for them to navigate.
Slowly the landscape began to change back to dessert and dunes as it was outside Lima and Pisco before we headed east over a week ago. The warm air was welcomed as we had spent the better of the past week plus mostly wet and cold. As we passed through Tacna we knew the border was close. We had hoped to gas up before hand, but ended up passing the last station before realizing it was the last before getting into Chile. The Peru/Chile border at Tacna/Arica was quite convenient as they have a combined border station for both countries. Usually you have to pass through the first country, ride through a bit of "no mans land" and then pass into the next - filling out the necessary paperwork and getting stamped at each countries station. Here at both immigration and customs the Peru guy/gal sits at a window next to the Chile guy/gal and they just hand you off. Very convenient - listen up Central America! The whole process took about 2 hours mainly due to our having to translate the forms from Spanish. You would think we would have this down. Although most ask some of the same basic info, each country seems to ask for different additional info that requires new words to translate. Once through the border we got on Booking.com (our go to travel site for places to stay) to find a hostel in Arica. Chile is definitely going to be more expensive - think Costa Rica. We found and booked a hostel for about $55, rode the 25k to Arica and discovered upon arrival they did not have a room. The previous guests in our double twin decided to stay another night. Luckily the guy running the hostel made a call and got us another around the corner. It had been a long day with the border crossing and we lost two hours with the time change coming into Chile. The good part is it now gets dark around 8:30pm instead of 6:30pm. Much better time/light relationship for camping!
We got a super late start Tuesday morning (I'll blame it on the time change) and didn't hit the road until almost 11:30am. Today would be mostly running down the Chilean Pacific coastline. The ride and views didn't disappoint as once again the as in Ecuador and Peru the desert meets the sea for a dramatic transition. We stopped for a late lunch around 3pm at a small beachside shanty town and were pleasantly surprised at what we found. A small restaurant/antique museum right on the roadside serving the most delicious ensalada de pulp con patatas (octopus salad with warm potatoes). Loving the fresh seafood by the seashore!!! We searched for a hostel on Booking in our destination of Tocopilla - a small beachside town. When we arrive we had covered over 550k - a big day for our small bikes! The ride down the rugged desert coastline was fairly straight and easy except for the high winds and gusts trying to rip the helmet off your head. My neck is still sore!
We found a small restaurant (is one table w/ two chair small?) a block from the hostel and enjoyed carne y tocino con queso sandwiches (beef, bacon and cheese) and headed back to the hostel. We had heard from the innkeeper that he was expecting 3 more motorcycles that evening and they had arrived while we were at dinner. They were Brazilians riding through Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador for a monthlong holiday. Really cool guys - we ended up staying up until 1am sharing pictures and stories from our travels. The fun part was they spoke Portuguese so we struggled with Spanish as the connecting language to converse in. Pretty funny but it worked!
As I'm blogging this morning (Wednesday) I reflect on the long list of equipment failures/maintenance issues I have experience on this trip. Let's see what it looks like on paper...
Clutch replaced
Shift drum bolt worked loose and re-tightened
Kill switch short causing complete electrical failure
Ignition switch short causing compete electoral failure
Carb jetting and needle adjustments (at least 6)
Carb o-ring replacements
Melted accessory plug
Another melted accessory plug
Headlight failure
Broken speedo cable
Chain adjustments (at least 4 - my chain is so stretched I'm on the second to last setting)
Wheel bearings replaced (front and back)
Brake pads replaced (front)
Forma waterproof riding boots (last rainfall I poured 8oz. of water out of each boot)
Sena 10C intercom/camera - com/music works intermittently, camera failed completely
Kyocera phone - USB charging plug won't stay connected for charging
Micro USB plugs - two have failed
Micro USB/iPhone/GoPro three way combo USB charger - failed
That is all.
Trying to sleep at 13,000+ ft. and 40 degree temps with no heat with a head cold is no fun. I didn't get much sleep last night and feel like a cough is coming on as well. The room was very basic but I guess what can one expect for an $8 room with two beds? At least the beds came equipped with the typical Peruvian 25 pound blankets. We got out of shanty town around 8am and continued southwest for the Peru/Chile border knowing we still had the Andes range to climb over once again. Last time over brought us 15,000 ft. elevations, rain, sleet, snow and extremely cold temps so we had the gear ready in case we encountered the same again. The day started overcast and cool but did not look like a threat of rain - yet. As we headed west through the eastern highlands of the Andes between 19,000+ ft. snow capped peaks, rain clouds began to build and I had visions of freezing my ass off again. Luckily as we started to climb back over 15,000+ ft. they started to break up and it seemed we would miss the precipitation. The views were stunning as we kept going up and up and up, then finally started defending the other side. The paved road was fairly new but very narrow. Luckily there were very few vehicles besides us and no trucks as the narrow roads and switchbacks would be impossible for them to navigate.
Slowly the landscape began to change back to dessert and dunes as it was outside Lima and Pisco before we headed east over a week ago. The warm air was welcomed as we had spent the better of the past week plus mostly wet and cold. As we passed through Tacna we knew the border was close. We had hoped to gas up before hand, but ended up passing the last station before realizing it was the last before getting into Chile. The Peru/Chile border at Tacna/Arica was quite convenient as they have a combined border station for both countries. Usually you have to pass through the first country, ride through a bit of "no mans land" and then pass into the next - filling out the necessary paperwork and getting stamped at each countries station. Here at both immigration and customs the Peru guy/gal sits at a window next to the Chile guy/gal and they just hand you off. Very convenient - listen up Central America! The whole process took about 2 hours mainly due to our having to translate the forms from Spanish. You would think we would have this down. Although most ask some of the same basic info, each country seems to ask for different additional info that requires new words to translate. Once through the border we got on Booking.com (our go to travel site for places to stay) to find a hostel in Arica. Chile is definitely going to be more expensive - think Costa Rica. We found and booked a hostel for about $55, rode the 25k to Arica and discovered upon arrival they did not have a room. The previous guests in our double twin decided to stay another night. Luckily the guy running the hostel made a call and got us another around the corner. It had been a long day with the border crossing and we lost two hours with the time change coming into Chile. The good part is it now gets dark around 8:30pm instead of 6:30pm. Much better time/light relationship for camping!
We got a super late start Tuesday morning (I'll blame it on the time change) and didn't hit the road until almost 11:30am. Today would be mostly running down the Chilean Pacific coastline. The ride and views didn't disappoint as once again the as in Ecuador and Peru the desert meets the sea for a dramatic transition. We stopped for a late lunch around 3pm at a small beachside shanty town and were pleasantly surprised at what we found. A small restaurant/antique museum right on the roadside serving the most delicious ensalada de pulp con patatas (octopus salad with warm potatoes). Loving the fresh seafood by the seashore!!! We searched for a hostel on Booking in our destination of Tocopilla - a small beachside town. When we arrive we had covered over 550k - a big day for our small bikes! The ride down the rugged desert coastline was fairly straight and easy except for the high winds and gusts trying to rip the helmet off your head. My neck is still sore!
We found a small restaurant (is one table w/ two chair small?) a block from the hostel and enjoyed carne y tocino con queso sandwiches (beef, bacon and cheese) and headed back to the hostel. We had heard from the innkeeper that he was expecting 3 more motorcycles that evening and they had arrived while we were at dinner. They were Brazilians riding through Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador for a monthlong holiday. Really cool guys - we ended up staying up until 1am sharing pictures and stories from our travels. The fun part was they spoke Portuguese so we struggled with Spanish as the connecting language to converse in. Pretty funny but it worked!
As I'm blogging this morning (Wednesday) I reflect on the long list of equipment failures/maintenance issues I have experience on this trip. Let's see what it looks like on paper...
Clutch replaced
Shift drum bolt worked loose and re-tightened
Kill switch short causing complete electrical failure
Ignition switch short causing compete electoral failure
Carb jetting and needle adjustments (at least 6)
Carb o-ring replacements
Melted accessory plug
Another melted accessory plug
Headlight failure
Broken speedo cable
Chain adjustments (at least 4 - my chain is so stretched I'm on the second to last setting)
Wheel bearings replaced (front and back)
Brake pads replaced (front)
Forma waterproof riding boots (last rainfall I poured 8oz. of water out of each boot)
Sena 10C intercom/camera - com/music works intermittently, camera failed completely
Kyocera phone - USB charging plug won't stay connected for charging
Micro USB plugs - two have failed
Micro USB/iPhone/GoPro three way combo USB charger - failed
That is all.
 |
| In the eastern highlands at 14,500ft. |
 | ||
Topping out at over 15,500 going over the pass.
|
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| Outside the restaurant. |
 |
| Our new friends from Brazil |
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