Moto Trek’n to South America

[moto-treks]

Two years in the making and I’m a few days away from leaving Spokane, Washington and heading to the far ends of South America. Last week was my last day as a working soul, which make this my first week of freedom.
And how does one spend their freedom? Running around town trying to tie-up loose ends and figuring out how I’m going to get all that stuff into those little bags.

6 Months of Stuff

has got to fit into these

It’s also my first ride report here on ADVrider, so I’ve got a lot of learning to do. First, I’d like to thank those riders that have posted their experiences. They really helped to keep me motivated, as well as learn a bit of what this trip could be like. If you get time, read the reports; 2up to TDF (San Francisco to Ushuaia) , 2up to India via Tierra del Fuego Marie and Brian are still out there! , or Southern Exposure: Seattle to Argentina. There are a lot more, but these are the ones I followed during their travels.

I also maintain a website, moto-treks, which I’ll be using to document this trip, as well as provide live satellite (Spot) location feeds and GPS waypoints and track information.

Got to go back to pack'n

[Throttlemeister]

Looking forward to this one. I've been watching your build up and it looks like you are well prepared. I should be seeing you along the road down South somewhere, I'm still gearing up myself and should be leaving in the next few weeks. Best of luck to you.

John

[MarcMuller]

Good luck! and I'll be following your progress!
On a side note, I visited your website and the text and pictures are all the way to the right side of the page and it's cut off! I can't see the end of your sentences!!!

MM

[moto-treks]

Originally Posted by Throttlemeister

Looking forward to this one. I've been watching your build up and it looks like you are well prepared. I should be seeing you along the road down South somewhere, I'm still gearing up myself and should be leaving in the next few weeks. Best of luck to you.

John, I'll be crossing over into Mexico Saturday or Sunday. My plan is to work down to San Cristobal de Las Casas for a little Spanish immersion.

Originally Posted by MarcMuller

Good luck! and I'll be following your progress!
On a side note, I visited your website and the text and pictures are all the way to the right side of the page and it's cut off! I can't see the end of your sentences!!!

Marc, I know my site doesn't support older browsers (especially IE) but IE 8 should would as well as firefox. What browser type/version are you using?

[Flyingavanti]

Wish you the best! Have a GREAT trip!

[pdedse]

Can't wait! I love these trips!! Will this be a round tripper or will you ship the bike home from some point?

[oldbeatupguy]

Have a great adventure, and live life on the edge!

[abat]

Take care and have fun.
We are waiting for you and you're report.

[Pedalpusher]

Good luck! If you're rollin through Santa Monica/LA drop me a line. I'll buy you a coffee or a beer.

[Mtnjohn]

My vote would be to hit TDF Usuaia and head north past B.A., Iguazu Falls, Sau Paolo & Rio, ship from Belem to Miami and head home from there.

[moto-treks]

Originally Posted by Mtnjohn

My vote would be to hit TDF Usuaia and head north past B.A., Iguazu Falls, Sau Paolo & Rio, ship from Belem to Miami and head home from there.

I do want to see Iquazu Falls and Rio would be a blast too!

[moto-treks]

After 3 days I'm just north of LA visiting my brother. Tomorrow I head to Arcadia to drop off a laptop I've been carrying for my mother-in-law and mount the tires I've been lugging. Then it's down to San Diego and onward to the Baja.

Hwy 1 just south of Monterey was assume. Very little traffic and I was finally able to turn off my electric vest.

[moto-treks]

We made it to Chile last night with a 300 mile ride from Puno, Peru.
Route PE-38B started off looking like a good road that would lead us to the border of Peru and Chile as it climbed into the Andes.

Leaving Puno for Chile on PE-36B

Peruvians along PE-36B

Sheep Crossing

Great Peruvian Roads

The scenery is fantastic and impossible to capture on a camera (a good reason for everyone to make a trip down here).

We found a thermal geyser along the road but I was not able to locate any hot pools for soaking.

Thermal Geyser in Peru

Wendy likes thermal water even if you can’t go for a dip

As do birds; there was an abundance of them hanging around the area

It was totally amazing to be riding in these mountains and come upon herds of Llamas, Alpacas, or Vicuna - each with the ever watchful eye of their shephards - or find a person walking along the road in the middle of nowhere.

We are entering a section of road that, on the map, is defined as Main Road/Surfaced All-Weather. I wondered what this would mean and we soon found out that for this road, it meant gravel.

Which in itself is not a problem, but when you start adding roadwork, things can get interesting

Loose Stuff for a Road

Fun

Streaching the Legs

Detours can mean the addition of river crossings or “large” gravel

The road continued to deteriorate due to construction until you had a choice of 3 or 4 paths that crossed the large sand dune area. At one point we even wondered if we were on some road back to a sandpit for the construction site and no longer on the "detour.".

I didn’t want to stop as the Beast does not like sand at low speed. I told Wendy to grab the back hand rail as I was going to be standing for awhile. Oh, and if we fall don’t put you arms out to try and break your fall as that can lead to damaged body parts. I heard her mutter a few words in the intercom about airplanes and falling and then I turned my attention to picking the least sandy path.

About a hour later, we exited the construction zone and rode a bit down the pavement before I asked if she took any pictures of what we has just gone through. Again, there was some muttering about airplanes or busses and I decided to ask, “Where was it that we just rode through?”

It was down there

The road started its decent from 14,500 feet to sea level

and the terrain became drier and drier as we entered the Atacana desert.

And entered Tacna

The border crossing between Peru and Chile was the easiest yet, taking only 1 hour to clear both customs and immigration for Peru and Chile.

Arica is the northern most port town in Chile, just 20km from the border. For a border town, its very nice.

View to the north

View to the south

View of the Pool

Unfortunately, Wendy ate something last night that did not agree with her stomach so she is not up to sitting in the sun.

Full Peru update still to come

[moto-treks]

Staying in one place for awhile without “things to see” enables you to do things like getting a haircut.

[pookiebear]

awesome pics!