Decision time

Warning: this chapter has no pictures

On Monday morning we go back to BMW and unfortunaely the news we get from them are not great.
There is a faulted electric module that needs to be replaced and we need to order the part from Germany.
If we are lucky the part will arrive next Monday 28th so that the bike will be probably ready on Tuesday the 29^th.
To make things worse they cannot guarantee that the part will arrive on time nor that, once fitted, the bike will work perfectly (more tests will be required then).

As we head back to the hotel we realise that our idea to cover at least 1000 kms driving south before going to Easter island is now out of the questions.

Our internal flight from Temuco to Santiago is also turned into a waste of money.

We extend our stay at the hotel until the 25^th (the day we fly to Easter Island) and we also book it for the 29^th (the day we come back).

In view of our loyalty (11 days at Casa Bonita!!) the Dutch owner grants us a 15% discount for the entire period.

It is now time to make some difficult decisions.

First of all we need to cancel some bookings that we made in advance in the lake district area and in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego

The big question however is: can we gamble and hope that the bike will be actually ready on the 29^th and most importantly do we have enough time to reach Ushuaia on the 9^th of December?

Maybe is because we keep receiving inconsitent information about the state of the bike but somehow we are losing faith in BMW's ability to deliver on time and in the end we both agree that the risk that the bike would not be ready on the 29^th is very high.

Most importantly rushing down to Ushuaia would mean that we would barely see any of the places on the road, nullifying the whole purpose of the journey.


We spend the 2 following days on 2 computers (ours and Casa Bonita’s) checking flights, buses and hotels and in the end we come up with a new master plan:
-We stay in Santiago until the 25^th of November

- We fly to Easter Island on the 25^th and we come back on the 29^th

-We sleep one more night in Santiago

-We leave the bike at BMW until the 22^nd of December so that they can take all the time they need to fix it completely

-We fly to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile on the 30^th of November

-We travel around the area by bus and spend 4 days in parque national Torre del Paine and 4 days in El Calafate (Glacier Perrito Moreno)

- We fly to Ushuaia from El Calafate on the 9^th of December

-We board on our ship to Antartica on the 10^th of December and we come back on the 20^th

-On the 21^st of December we travel back to Punta Arenas by bus (10 hrs journey, no flights available)

-On the 22^nd of December we fly to Santiago where we can collect our bike and proceed with our journey.

The biggest change of all is however what’s going to happen after the 22^nd of December.

In our original plan we would have been in Ushuaia, which means we would have spent the following 2/3 weeks driving back north, then parking the bike in Buenos Ayres around the 10^th of January and finishing off the trip by flying to Iguazu for few days and (maybe) Rio de Janeiro.
Now that the bike is already 3000 kms north of Ushuaia we are going to attempt the following:

- 22^nd of December we pick up the bike in the morning and pop 400 km south in the afternoon in hope to say merry Xmas to our friend Hector in Villa Allegre

-23rd and 24^th of December we head further south to Pucon and Puerto Varas and then we cross to Argentina.

-25/26/27 we visit Bariloche for Xmas

-28/29/30 we cover 1600 kms in 3 days heading north to Santa Fe

-31^st of December and 1/2/3 of January we spend NYE with Paola Ponce and her Family in Santa Fe (BTW she does not know it yet)

4/5/6/7 We head north to the Brazilian border to visit the Iguazu Falls

-From  8^th to 20^th of January we visit the south coast of Brazil (From Florianopolis downwards). We will attempt to catch a flight from Florianopolis to Rio for a weekend of samba and cachaca.

-21^st and 22^nd we cross Uruguay and reach Buenos Ayres
23-29 We spend 1 week in BA and organise the shipping of the bike back in the UK.

Ambitious but possible. Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Santiago (Take 3)

Our pickup flies to Santiago so that we can reach the BMW at 3PM.

We drop the bike there. The good news is that they can start working on it straight away. In the meantime we head back to Casa Bonita, where luckily they have a room available for the night.

Pic 1 Hotel Casa Bonita in Santiago centre

The following day we pack and wait all morning for the phone to ring to tell us that the bike is ready.

We know that if the bike is not ready today (Friday) we will have to spend the whole weekend in Santiago losing 3 precious days.

We call at 1and 2pm but they tell us that there is a problem and they are still working on the electric system.

At 3pm we know is now too late to pick up the bike so we extend our booking at the hotel.

In the meantime, to make things even more interesting, the war has exploded in the streets of Santiago.
Thousands of students are fighting against the army.
Their request is to have a free university.
The protest begins quietly......

Pic 2 protesters marching in O'Higgins street

then things really get out of control.
We witness from the windows of the hotel some scene of extreme brutality. (for safety reasons we did not take any pictures)
The army’s tanks are charging at fairly high speed the crowd, spraying them with water and gas.
We see people falling on the ground in the panic and being stumped over.

We are not that safe either: One of the windows of the hotel is hit by the water spayed by the tanks exploding in thousands of pieces.

As we draw close to 6pm peace comes back in the streets.

We call once again BMW and agree to meet on Monday morning.
..............................................................................................................................
Spending an extra weekend in Santiago is not the end of the world.

This forced break gives us the opportunity to explore areas that are normally outside the tourist track.

To cheer herself up Elena has organised the tour of the “Los Dominicos Market”. I can confirm that in 4 hrs we have managed to see every single one of the 177 shops available.

Pic 3 it wasn't easy to convince Elena that the skying pinguin would not fit in the panniers.

Pic 4 We were enchanted by this little shop selling.......everything!!!!

Pic 5 More shops to visit. Luckily the settings is stunning

Pic 6 And finally we get to the end: Shop N 177
Another area that has certainly caught our eye is the “Italian’s barrios” where furniture ateliers and antiquaries fill the streets with wooden furniture in the process of being restored.

Pic 7 Furniture for sale....in the middle of the road

Pic 8 Artisans at work in the street restoring old furniture

The musical scene in the capital is also particularly active.
During the weekend we bumped into a blues festival and into a folk festival.

On Sunday we head to “cerro San Cristobal where we enjoy the sun and the best views of the capital”.

Pic 9 View of Santiago with snow topped mauntains in the background
Then we head to barrio Brasil where you can find some of the best restaurants in town.

Pic 10 The stylish "Ostras Azocar" where they serve excellent sea food and free oysters to start with!

Pic 11 If it's meat that you are after just head to "La vacas gorda"

Pic 12 "Oceano pacifico" has probably the best setting

Hector, the hero of Villa Allegre

Today, is the 16^th of November 2011, and we leave Valparaiso early in the morning heading to Chillan, a small town situated roughly 500 kms south of Santiago.

We reach Santiago nice and early where we catch with no problems the motorway N3.
As we leave again the Chilean capital I can only think that this town is a bit of a magnet: we keep coming back here and in fact we have already scheduled 2 flights to come back in 8 days and in 13 days.

Yes, this is a bit strange but somehow necessary.
Last week, while we were walking around the central station area, we spotted a LAN office.
We decided to pop in, mainly to see if there was a cheap ticket for S Pedro de Atacama and instead we left overjoyed as we managed to snatch a spectacular all inclusive package for Easter Island!
The only issue is that the flight to Easter Island is scheduled for the 25^th of November and the flight back to Santiago for the 29^th.
This is giving us some concerns as we have to catch a boat in Ushuaia to go to Antarctica on the 10^th of December and Santiago is a long way from Ushuaia.
For this reason we have decided to drive the bike south at least 1000kms, visit the lake district for few days, park the BMW in Temuco on the 23^rd, fly back to Santiago on the 24^th, go to Easter Island for 5 days, and finally fly back first to Santiago and immediately after to Temuco on the 30^th to pick up the bike and rush down to Ushuaia in 10 days.........

Ok, difficult but not impossible.
We had planned everything: flights, hotels, places to see, etc.
What we had not planned was for the bike to breakdown (again), this time in the middle of the motorway, 400 kms south of Santiago.
As I am overtaking a car I suddenly feel the bike’s engine first clogging and then losing power.
I drive immediately on the right side where the bike switches off completely.
A familiar message appears on the screen: IGN OFF!!!!
It is a strange feeling to find yourself on the side of a motorway, in the middle of fields and vineyards, in a very foreign land.

Pic 1 Stuck on the motorway near Villa Allegre, thinking "wht do we do now?"

At first we get off the bike and remove our jackets as the day is fairly hot.
I make a couple of attempts to switch the bike on again but I already know that this is an electric fault, well beyond my already limited mechanic skills.
In the meantime huge trucks are darting through the motorway and we can feel the waves of air they move with their masses.
There is no petrol station and no building in sight and yet for no specific reason I begin to push the bike forward.
Deep inside my hope is that the movement alone might miraculously fix the problem.
I stop after few minutes, put the key in the ignition hole and turn it....the screen lights up I press the start and the bike switches on.....we are safe!!!
We put on the jackets and jump on the bike.
As I put in first gear and accelerate the bike........ dies on me again.

It’s not looking good, however this is the proof that my strategy could work. I keep pushing.

We probably cover another 500 meters when I notice a car parked in front of us, taking all the space in the hard shoulder.
Now, with all the places, did this guy really had to park here? How am I going to overtake him?
Certainly I am not pushing the bike in the middle of the road with trucks and cars coming at 100kms +.
As I am approaching the car, the driver opens the door and comes out.

Pic 2 we meet Hector on the motorway
“guys, do you need some help?” he asks in friendly Spanish.

What Hector Contreras meant with “some help”, as we discovered later, is “would you like me to take the afternoon off, call the free rescue service.....

Pic 3 Hector convincing the pickup driver to take us to his brother's hotel
wait 20 minutes for them to turn up, convince them not to drop you at the first service station.....

Pic 4 Hector helping me to push the bike on the truck
but instead to take you to my brother’s hotel.......

Pic 5 At the hotel, Hector helping in taking the bike down
where I will be able to call with my mobile the BMW in Santiago, wait on hold for a good 30 minutes and finally speak to someone to organise a pickup truck to take the bike and yourselves back to Santiago?
Ah by the way my brother’s hotel comes with all comforts, from swimming pool to restaurant, a huge garden and even a full size football pitch........

Pic 6 We ended up in a beatiful hotel with a full size football pitch!!!

Pic 7 One of the alleys of the hotel with restaurant on the right

so all you need to do is to relax while I organise all this for you”.

Yes, all the above really happened.

We met Hector as strangers on the motorway next to Villa Allegre and he took care of us just like you take care of a good old friend.

At 7pm Hector had to leave as an urgent work matter required his attention but then he joined us for dinner at 9pm.

As if he had not done enough for us he offered to spend the following day with us and take us to the Beer festival in the area in the event BMW could not organise the Pick up on time.

The following morning I was very surprised, and a bit sad, to receive a phone call from BMW at 9am sharp saying that the pick up would be at the hotel by 10.30.

Pic 8 The second pick up is ready to leave Villa Allegre to get us to Santiago (400 kms north)
Although this was really helping with our tour plans we were sad that we could not spend the day with Hector at the beer festival.
We called him to give him the good/bad news and left heading to Santiago, this time sitting on a pickup truck.

Over the years, while travelling on motorcycle, we found ourselves in need of help in fairly remote places and yet we always found people going the extra mile to help us. Like when in Aleppo a complete stranger decided to show us the way to our hotel, stopped an oncoming taxi (with a client on board) and drove us to our destination and finally left by saying "Syrian hospitality".
This time I truly believe we met an exceptional person who reminded us with his behaviour the true meaning of generosity.
Thank you Hector

Valparaiso

It takes only 1 hr drive to get to Valparaiso from Santiago.
This town is built on a series of hills which means quite often you find yourself driving on steep narrow roads.
Neruda compares this town to a woman that had no time to comb her hair nor had the time to get dressed. What a splendid image and how accurate.
Many houses are covered in rugged tin panel. The rust gives them a seriously run down appearance.

As you can see from the picture below all it takes to improve the appearance of these houses is to dress them up with a layer of blu, red or yellow paint. Color will make them if not beautiful at least pitoresque.

The whole town is covered in graffiti which once again does not help with the image of Valparaiso, while walking around what they call "the open air museum"we were able to spot a couple of good ones.

It is not easy to walk around Valparaiso as you constantly need to climb up or down the various "cerros" where the town has been built.

To help with that there is a network of lifts and funicolari and we made full use of them.

Inspite of all our efforts in visiting every corner of the town probably we had one of the best views of the gulf from the terrace of our B & B.

Right next to Valparaiso sits Vina Mar.

The 2 towns are glued together however you can easily spot where Valparaiso stops and the "rich neighbour" begins.

Vina Mar is showing off with its casinos, its large boulevard its modern condos and posh clubs and yet lacks the caracter that the poor cousin possess.

If somehow we could mix the tideness and money of Vina Mar with the caracter and color of Valparaiso probably you would get the perfect town.

70 kms south of Valparaiso sits Isla Negra, a place famous for being the holiday retreat of Neruda.

As part of our "Neruda marathon" (yes, we visited all his 3 houses) we went to visit this house too.

The setting is spectacular with the window of the bedroom facing the Pacific ocean.

I guess it is everyone's dream to wake up with the sound of the waves.

Or to sip a cocktail made in your own private bar while watching a storm.

The house is tastefully filled with the poet's private collections, from maps to shells, from bottles and glasses to butterflies.

Unfortunately pictures are not allowed inside the house therefore we cannot show any of the above.

Santiago (Take 2)

In our mind Santiago was always the place where we would regroup and get re-organised before our final part of the trip.
For this reason we had also booked the bike service at the BMW mechanic centre in Avenida Las Condes.
As agreed via email we took the bike there on Friday morning. As I parked the bike in front of the BMW door the bike.........well, litterally powered itself off!!
The screen was showing no signs of life only 6 letters: IGN OFF
Now, what are the chances for a motorcycle to breakdown exactly as you enter into the parking of your mechanic?! In this instance is very simple to calculate: 1 in 13000, since 13000 is the number of kms we covered without having any problems.
Let's say that in our mysfortune we were very lucky. I would rather be here than in the Bolivian desert.

We left the bike there for the day hoping for the best.

We spent the rest of the day at the museum "casa Neruda". (Chascona)

Nobel prize winner in 1971 Neruda is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.
He had a very interesting life to say the least! Married 3 times he lived many years abroad as consul, job that took him as far as Burma.
Back in Chile he had to escape into exile in 1949.
When he eventually came back to Chile he finally married Matilde (3rd wife), the woman he loved and who had been his secret mistress for years.
The museum is actually the pied a terre where Neruda used to see Matilde in secret.
Neruda died in 1973, 12 days after the Pinochet's golpe.
The army stormed immediately into the Chascona with the order to destroy it by flooding it, using the water from an hand made canal that Neruda had built in the garden.

In this picture Elena is standing next to a mosaic that used to act as small waterfall.
Behind in the yellow building, a small private bar. Neruda used to like drinking his coctails with the sound of water nearby.

Luckily Matilde was able to save many pieces of Neruda's many collections and spent the following years restoring this beautiful house.
Not to be missed.
We came back at BMW at 5.30 pm Luckily they told us that the bike was fine but unfortunately they were about to close for the day (and the week) and they had no time to change the tyres.
As we wanted to leave Santiago the following day I asked whether they knew another mechanic that was open till late that could change the tyres.
They pointed us to moto adventure in avenida Kennedy that did the job between 7 ad 7.30 pm.

With the bike in tip top condition we were now ready to leave Santiago heading to Valparaiso.

Santiago (take 1)

We truly enjoyed the road from Mendoza to Santiago.
First the ruta 7 takes you up over 3000 meters to the border where the temperature is very cold even at summer and the mountains are permanently covered with ice.

In fact this is where you can find mount Aconcagua, with its 6962 meters is the highest mountain in South America.
As soon as you cross into Chile you are met by 27 hairpin bends that take you down the mountains very rapidly.
Then bendy roads cut accross the vignards all the way to Santiago. Great stuff!

We really like Santiago. Lets be clear, we think that the Lonely Planet is very unkind with this city.
They quote: Santiago's charm is hard to pin down. Less Cultural than Buenos Ayres, Less colonial than Lima, Less latin american than Mexico City, less exciting than Rio".
Well, you can just ignore the guide. Santiago is just Santiago, beautiful the way it is.
The roads are full of life with a phenomenal amount of students filling every corner of the town.
The road system is spectacular, you can litterally travel accross a 5 million people town in less than 30 mintues.
They have 5 modern tube lines that will take you to every important spot.
And of course the night life is spot on.
As we walk in Barrio Bella Vista o Barrio Brasil you just feel like wanting to go inside every restaurant, bar or club to try everything they have got to offer (in particular fresh fish and white wine!!!)

Yes, I confess, I had few glasses of that wonderful "Vina Mar Cabernet" to go with my marisco.

Architectually this town offers modern buildings.....

and nice little barrios.....

The fish market is also not to be missed.

First you check all the stalls for what they have to offer......

Then you sit at "Donde Augusto" and pick it from the menu.

Fast Forward to Mendoza

Mendoza is 1400 kms south of Salta.
We covered the whole distance in 2 days and pretty much visited nothing in between.
We knew we had to sacrifice a section of South America as our delay on our trip plan was getting bigger by the day and the north of Argentine became the victim.
As we were rushing through the countryside we only took few picture of this land that looks fairly desertic.

We made a brief stop over at the hotel casino in Catamarca, to rest for the night.
Casinos are always a good bet when it comes to hotels.
These sort of establishments tend to be absolutely gorgeous offering bedrooms and restaurants at very competitive prices, simply because they make every effort to keep you there to ensure you go and waste fortunes at the casino.
We even took full advantage of the welcome coctails, swimming pool, gym and steamroom too (all included in the price).
I am pleased to confirm that Elena was finally able to wear a pair of shoes with hills that we had been carrying around in vain for 4 months.

The following morning we went back into our goretex clothing to complete the second part of the journey.
100 kms north of Mendoza I asked for directions and I was redirected to a shortcut accross the fields.
The scenery changed suddenly from desert to vignards.

In Mendoza we stopped at a traffic light right next to a policeman on a motorcycle.
I pointed out to him that we were riding the same bike (GS 650).
He asked me where I was going and decided to take us there.
What a triumphal entrance at the hotel...escorted by the police.

We truly enjoyed Mendoza.
This town is pretty much in the middle of the desert and yet it displays beautiful boulevards with lines of chesnuts trees and wonderful parks.

When we got the Plaza Italia we really decided to push our luck and asked the porter of the hotel whether they would allow us to go to the terrace at the top of the building to take  some pictures.

Not only they agreed but they gave us plenty of tips of things to see + a full map of the best vignards for the wine tour the following day. (nice people)

Mendoza does not have any particular landmarks or monuments that deserve to be mentionned and yet the whole atmosphere, its beautiful houses, the parks and fountains are captivating.

Around the World Mendoza is famous for its wine.

The following day we jumped on the bike and went touring the vignards in the sorrounding area.

If you drive south on the Routa 40 for 25 kms after Maipo you will eventually get the exit for Routa 7.

This is where most of the best vignards are.

The routa 7 itself is spectacular (btw this is the road that takes you to Santiago in Chile).

You have vignards on your left and right and just in front of you the Andes with snow topped mountains.

After checking out a couple of places on the main road we opted to get lost into the adjecent B roads.

Then splashed out at "Chandon" for a posh lunch and bubbles.....

And finally visited the "cantina septima" for a full lesson on wine production (topped up with more wine tasting).

Yes, we made it back home safe and sound with a big smile on our faces.