Yeah, a heavy cable and meaty lock is a bit much, but when I ride South America next time it will be with a 250cc Chinese bike. Those bikes are too light and I will definitely carry a cable and lock to secure it whenever I am not within visual line of sight or in secure parking.

When you find a hotel, they might not have a garage, but they know someone that does. I parked my motorcycle in a very upscale hotel lobby in Mexico City, to the chagrin of at least one customer. During the day the bike was parked on the sidewalk, under the watchful eye of the door man. At night they slid glass panels out of the way to make room while I pushed the bike into the lobby for the night...

In a small town in Colombia, while sleeping in the hotel on the second floor, my bike was rolled in to the person's living area on the ground floor. In the morning there was some suggestion that the bike storage was extra. A topic I ignored as I packed, because it was make quite clear the storage was free when I parked the night before.

This is an item worth mentioning. Do make it very clear what you are paying for and what is included when you check into hotel or hostel for the night. In northern Peru, the clerk said parking was included, but a different person on check said it wasn't. I agreed to pay half and the deal was done. In Cuba the family across from my B&B unexpectedly wanted more than the B&B owner had paid the last time. Market forces stepped in and the family one door down agreed to the expected rate. In Nicaragua the hotel parking was several blocks away, but was what the doctor ordered. In Puno, Peru, I got vague directions to a local parking lot, which did not have a big PARKING sign. I knocked on a big metal gate, it opened to reveal cars parked here and there. Would they store my bike? Yes. How much? Blah, blah. Ok.

Parking in Latin America is always cheap and always worth it. On principle don't get over charged, but be flexible enough to pay the tourist tax every now and then.

Words to live by. If you are facing ‘extra’ charges in the morning as you leave (i.e charges never mentioned during check in or it was clear the items were free)…don’t argue, just keep packing and roll away. If they don’t come screaming after you, it was just a bluff to get more money out of you. Be reasonable and play what you owe. More than once I just ignored inflated bills…and nothing happened. Other times I pushed back and the clerks folded. Once I put off addressing an inflated the bill (suddenly breakfast was extra, in Cuba, ha!), then negotiate a reasonable bill a couple hours later…

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride