Riding the Andes in 2014
 

Some time last summer, after years of reading others' ride reports here and on ADV while I wasted away in a cubicle, I decided to start planning my own trip. I'm now at T-minus 2 months until I ship out to South America and wanted to see what the HUBB thinks of my trip outline.

The route will basically follow the Andes in two separate legs, the first taking place in Patagonia and the second will be riding north from Bolivia.

I'm thinking of the Patagonian part of the trip as both a vacation and a warmup for the second part. The ride will start in Osorno, Chile, where my old man is meeting me for a 10-day, one-way trip along the Patagonian Andes to Punta Arenas. We'll be renting 2 BMW GS650's (which is a far cry from my trusty-yet-minimal DR650). Once we reach Punta Arenas, pops is flying back to the states and I fly to Bolivia to begin the real adventure.

As those of you who have ridden internationally know, there are 3 options regarding access to a bike in another country:
1. Start from home on your own bike, or ship it to your starting point. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to start my trip from Texas, nor can I justify the shipping costs (~$1500 one way) for a DR650 from the US to Chile.

2. In that case, you can rent locally. This is good for a few days to maybe a couple of weeks, but after that the costs really don't make sense for this option, not to mention the fact that few companies will let you take their bike on a one-way international tour.

In light of this, I settled on option 3: buy locally. Although I'm not opposed to finding a used bike of the brands we're used to in the states, I was struck by ADV inmate Artia's tales about about buying a cheap (~$1500) Chinese/Korean 250cc in La Paz (which is an AWESOME ride report, especially the movie he posted).

The more I considered it, the more appealing this prospect became. After all, a cheap Chinese 250 will be easy to source parts locally and, in the event the bike is stolen, totaled, or breaks down, it'll be a lot easier to swallow $1500 than the cost of a name-brand bike. Barring a total breakdown or lack of parts, I have enough experience to keep a bike running, at least enough to get me to the next mechanic.

Most importantly, I figure a cheapo-chinese POS will also reduce my "gringo factor". I have some experience living/traveling in South America and can attest that although it's almost impossible for someone like me (6-foot, blue-eyed white kid) to pass as a local in South America, you can reduce the cultural gap between yourself and the locals through your actions and the way your present yourself. This will not only decrease the size of the target on your back to ne'er-do-wells, it will almost always evoke a more positive response to your from the locals and make your trip exponentially more enjoyable.

Taking stock of all of this, it was concluded: BRING ON THE BOLIVIAN BURRO! The route out of Bolivia will go something like...

http://static.squarespace.com/static...ng?format=750w

Credit for this route goes mainly to Artia over at ADV, who discusses his lap around Bolivia after buying a bike in La Paz. You need valid plates to cross the border, but the plates apparently take 2-3 weeks to arrive once you register the bike. However, you can still proceed to travel within the country with the right paperwork and by greasing the right palms. I plan to ride east from La Paz to Trinidad, into Bolivia's share of the Amazon Basin. After that, the route goes south through Santa Cruz, then southeast to explore the Ruta del Che on the way to the famous Salar de Uyuni. If I have the time, I'll also check out the Lagunas Route (a.k.a. ruta de las joyas altoandinas) before returning to La Paz to pick up the high-quality Bolivian license plates on my way to Lake Titicaca.

https://static.squarespace.com/stati...ng?format=750w

This part of the route is shamelessly ripped off from ADV's Crashmaster. I'll cross the border into Peru via Lake Titicaca and head for Cusco. I plan on taking my time in this region to see as many Inca ruins as I can, including the obligatory hike to Macchu Picchu. Not sure how long it'll take, but eventually I figure I'll get sick of scenic hikes, idyllic views of mountainside terraces and ancient architectural masterpieces. At that point, the road goes north, sticking exclusively to the mountains (pretty easy to do in Peru) until the Cañon del Pato. From there, I'll swing east for some coastal cruising on the Panamerican highway up to Chiclayo, where the road heads back into the mountains and through Ecuador to dodge volcanoes and aguardiente hangovers.

https://static.squarespace.com/stati...ng?format=750w

Again, props to Artia at ADV for the route. Time, money, and health (of me and the little burro) allowing, I'll continue past Ecuador up through Colombia. Though I'm not sure now, I figure if I plan on it then that will increase my chances of getting to see Colombia.


The route is still very subject to change, and we all know that on a trip like this you have to accept the certainty of divergences from the plan when the unexpected occurs. But for now, what does suggestions does ADV have by way of things to do, places to see, treats to eat, whom to meet, or just good advice to remember? ADV and HUBB have been my bible for the past few months, so I feel confident about the general guidelines for international motorcycle travel, but now that I have a route in mind I'd love to hear from those who have ridden these same places before.

I'll try to keep y'all updated with a RR here, but if any of you are interested in leaving the HUBB for a few minutes and checking out my site, I'd be all the more grateful: Mantra of Miles

Thanks so much in advance for all the help!

JP

First of all.... great plan! Just a few details..

Peru and Bolivia have no TIP agreement so a bike registered in Bolivia cannot cross into Peru. I'm not saying a little $$ won't fix everything, but it may not. What you need to do then is to go La Paz to Arica, Chile (which will cost you $100 to enter Chile), then cross to Tacna, Peru and go up thru Arequipa, the Colca Canyon and on to Cuzco. I know every rock and rut of that route, so if you have any Qs... feel free.

I will be leading 7 friends on a moto trip sort of in the opposite direction that same time in May-June 2014. We leave on May 20th from Cuzco and arrive in La Paz May 24th. Then on the 26th we head down the 'Road of Death' to Coroico, Chulumani, Independencia, Cochabamba, Villa Tunari and arriving in Santa Cruz on June 6th.

On June 8th we head south to Salta Argentina, via Tarija and Villazon, etc

Might we meet up somewhere there???

Cheers! Toby :mchappy: :mchappy: :mchappy:

Exactly the kind of stuff I need to know! :thumbup1: I didn't know about the TIP issue, so I'll definitely look in to this further so I can get to those awesome Peruvian mountain roads ASAP! :mchappy:

correcto
 

JP,

As a towering white gringo living in latin america for 15 years, I agree totally with the part you mention regarding the cultural gap and notching down the gringo factor. Riding a similar moto to the ones the locals can afford will make you a bit more human in the local's eyes and less like a space creature. The more beat up and dirty the bike is, the better. I never cleaned my bike during my entire south america trip.

Of course the absolute best thing any gringo can do to bridge the cultural gap on their travels in the Americas and notch down the gringo factor is to learn as much spanish as you can before the trip. Buen viaje!

S

bien dicho
 

Tienes toda la razón, sohrakoff!

I've spent a bit of time in Mexico and Argentina, the latter being a study-abroad program with a group of yanquis. Our grasp of español ranged from native speakers to the gringo-est of gringos. Those in the group who made genuine efforts to communicate in spanish, even if it was a struggle for them, were treated MUCH better by the locals than those who did not.

Fortunately my spanish hasn't gotten too rusty since then (albeit I practice every day to keep it that way), and I'll have a couple weeks at the start of the trip among friends in Buenos Aires and Córdoba who aren't afraid to pick on me in order to get my spanish back up to par.

Estoy de acuerdo en todo! Y debes de aprender por lo menos unos saludos en Quechua tambien!

Although I am a Gringo ojinawi (means clear eyes in Quechua), I grew up here in Peru since the age of 3 and never really had to learn Spanish (or Quechua). The people on my Moto Adventure tours are always in awe at how I go into the slang and jokes with people along the way talking our way thru roadblocks due to strikes or construction! I just thot it was normal... but then again... it is!

Cheers! Hope to meet you when you come thru Peru!

Toby :mchappy: :mchappy: :mchappy:

I must say I definitely vote for a cheap Chinese/Korean bike version!:) I bought a Chinese cc150 in Peru and have done over 11 000km so far (Peru-Bolivia-Argentina, Ushuaia). so far so good, planning to go back up north soon to Ecuador & Colombia, possibly Venezuela too!:)

same thing about borders as Toby said tho: when I got to the Yunguyu border I was told I cannot cross there. Had to head back to Puno, sort out all the paperwork (took me about a week), and then cross to Bolivia via Desaguadero which was really annoying as I wanted to get straight to Copacabana.

no problems after that though:)

oh and, I´m not sure if it´s the same in Bolivia as in Peru, but...when I bought my bike in Nazca they said the same thing, that it´d take around 2-3 weeks to sort out my licence plate/tarjeta de propriedad. I didn´t think much of it cause I was planning to travel for at least a couple of months in Peru anyway; however, it took them 6 weeks to sort out the license plate. Again, as I said I´m not sure if it´s the same in Bolivia, this is just my Peru experience:) And it might have been a one time thing, I don´t know, but... just keep in mind that these things may take a lot longer than expected!:)

Ellie