Days 188 to 196: El Calafate, ARG - Ushuaia, ARG - Punta Arenas, CHL

Day 188: El Calafate, ARG to Puerto Natales, CHL (430 km)

From El Calafate, our original intent was to head straight for Tierra del Fuego. However, on the glacier tour, we met a Russian woman whose husband runs a motorcycle rental company out of Punta Arenas (Chile), and she convinced us that we should not miss the Torres del Payne national park. So the next day, we decided to cross into Chile and check it out.

The first half of the day went well, we did a mix of pavement and some fun high speed dirt roads. Once again, crossing the border was painless.

The scenery became increasingly spectacular as we were approaching the national park.

As I have mentioned before, I knew that my rear wheel bearings needed to be replaced, since we had noticed a few days earlier that the rear wheel had some unwanted loose in it. I procrastinated on doing the repair in El Calafate, as the weather was cold and rainy. I told Mihai: ''Eh, no worries, they'll hold up''. Little did I know that this issue would bite me in the ass so soon.

After paying the rather hefty entrance fee (around 30$ each), I drove about 100 m into the park, and then heard a CLUNK! coming from my rear wheel. I immediately stopped the bike, and noticed that the sprocket carrier had separated from the wheel hub. Shit! I felt pretty damn stupid at that moment.

I pushed the bike back to the entrance, and proceeded to begin the repairs. Luckily, I had the required spares and tools, as we have done this job on Mihai's bike a few days earlier in Villa la Angostura. The sprocket carrier and one wheel spacer were slightly damaged, but fortunately nothing critical.

We had no hammer, but this rock did the job alright.

The sprocket carrier bearing was the one that broke into pieces. The wheel bearings seemed functional, but I replaced them anyway.

We entered the park around 4 pm, and by the time we finished fixing my bike, it was already getting close to 6 pm and the sun was low. This didn't leave us much time to check the place out before it would get dark. 

This is probably my best picture of the day.

We ran into another motorcyclist in the park. Ali, from New York, rented a BMW G650GS in Chile and was on a 3 week trip. Nice guy, Mihai and I were supposed to meet up with him again in Puerto Natales in the evening, but in the end it didn't work out.

In the end, we didn't see enough of the park before it got dark. I could have spent another day there, for sure. It would be a great place to camp if it was warmer, but instead we prefered to ride to the closest city, Puerto Natales, and to sleep somewhere warm. We made it to our destination around 10 pm, found a cheap hostel, had decent pizza for dinner, bought some beers and headed back to our accommodation. Everything irie.

Day 189: Puerto Natales, CHL to Rio Grande, ARG (530 km)

We were hoping to make it all the way to Ushuaia on that day, but didn't manage to leave early enough to get there before sunset. It was an uneventful day, chilly but sunny weather, but still no wind. We were lucky so far, as these regions are typically very windy.

Seen at a gas station along the way. This looks like it belongs in my friend Razvan's backyard..haha.

Abandonned buildings and ship wreck.

Mid-day, we made it to the ferry that would take us across the strait of Magellan all the way to Tierra del Fuego.

Arriving to Tierra del Fuego! It felt good at the time that we had made it this far. I was a happy camper.

By the way, the name Tierra del Fuego or ''Land of Fire'' was given to these lands by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. When his expedition arrived there, him and his crew saw many fires of the Yaghan indians, and thus the name.

Watch out for llamas!

Once on Tierra del Fuego, we got pavement for a short while, and then it was back to gravel roads again. We had to be careful, as the surface was loose and there was a lot of truck traffic. You do not want to crash so close to your destination!! Otherwise, the scenery was nothing special. Very flat and not much vegetation.

Yet again we crossed the border and were back into Argentina. We've been cris-crossing lately between both countries, accumulating entry/exit stamps in our passeports at an accelerated pace, and we're not done yet! A few more to come on the way back.

We made it to Rio Grande once again way passed sunset. We checked out a few hotels, but everything was expensive and beyond our budget. We ended up finding Ruta 40 Bed & Breakfast, a nice hostel geared toward motorcycle and bicycle travelers. The place is ran by Guillermo, a very friendly Argentinian who also occasionally travels on 2 wheels. He once rode 10 000 km around Argentina on a 110 cc Beta scooter.

Day 190: Rio Grande, ARG to Ushuaia, ARG (212 km)

More flatness, but at least we were back on pavement. The scenery became interesting again about 80 km before Ushuaia.

Finally, after 6 months and 1 week on the road, we rolled into Ushuaia on April 25th. This is as far South as we could go on our bikes. Mission accomplished. To me, this was the goal to reach on this trip. From there, I still had a little more than 2 busy weeks left before flying back to Montreal, but Ushuaia still felt like the real end of the adventure.

First impressions were that the town was larger than I expected. I don't know why I thought it would be more of a village. It's population is 60 000 and it has a decent size port. We found a hostel, and then wandered around town for the rest of the afternoon.

Dinner on a park bench in Ushuaia. We've been relying a lot on supermarket meals in Chile and Argentina, since restaurants are fairly expensive (especially in Chile!). Baguette, cheese and cold cuts were our typical meal.

Spectacular skyline right after sunset.

We still had on more task in Ushuaia, and it was to drive into the Tierra del Fuego national park and take a picture with the famous sign that marks the end of the Ruta 3. Only problem is that we really wanted to do an in and out, and didn't feel like paying the full entrance fee just for that. Fortunately, I had previously read in another traveller's blog (thanks for the tip, Guillaume) that if you show up before 8 am, you could actually just go inside the park for free, as there was no one at the gate at that time.

Day 191: Ushuaia, ARG to Punta Arenas, CHL (600 km)

So the next morning, we got up at 6 am, packed our stuff and left for the national park, which is about 20 km from the city. It was still dark when we got there, and indeed there was no one at the gate yet. I think it was also the coldest day of the trip so far; it was freezing!! It was definetely time to get out of south Argentina ASAP before it starts snowing on us. We got to Ushuaia very late in the season, and were so far fortunate to have fairly mild weather and next to no wind.

While we were waiting so it gets clear enough to take a decent photo, this guy showed up. He had no fear of us whatsoever. He wandered around for a short while and disapeared in the woods. 

The money shot!

The national park is very nice, and I wish we had time to stick around and camp there for a night. But... It was just so cold that it wouldn't have been fun, so we snapped the money pic and got going. My goal that day was to make it to Punta Arenas (CHL), where I was hoping to sell my bike. Mihai, on the other hand, would head towards Rio Gallegos (ARG), the first stop on his way up to Buenos Aires.

Once back on Tierra del Fuego's steppes, our luck ended and we finally got hit by strong winds. The riding became very tricky. We constantly had to compensate for the wind and the loose gravel at the same time. In these conditions, it is easy to make a mistake, so it required a lot of concentration to keep the bikes upright. It was also pretty cold too, so we were having a rather miserable afternoon the bikes that day.

When we finally made it to the ferry, there was a long line up of trucks, but we cut in line and went all the way to the front. This is where we met the owner of the stickered up Harley Davidson that we had seen a few days ago in the Perito Moreno glacier park. Pavel is from the Czech Republic. He's been travelling on and off for some a few years now, and his goal is to take his bike to every country on the planet. So far he's been to over 70 countries, and he even managed to push his bike into Vatican City! The cool thing about this guy is that at 40 years old, he is practically retired (read rich..hehe). He started his first business at age 21, and since then developped a couple of very successful ventures. Now he's able to travel a few months a year, with minimum input on his behalf while on the road. Making money while travelling.. what a dream setup!

We got off the ferry, said our goodbyes, and I took off for Punta Arenas (CHL), whereas Mihai and Pavel drove off in the opposite direction towards Rio Gallegos (ARG). If everything went as planned, Mihai and I would reconnect a week later in Buenos Aires.

I made it to Punta Arenas around 10 pm, but then had trouble finding the hostel that had been recommended to me. After almost an hour of driving around, I finally found the place and settled in. Ironically, the hostel is called ''Backpacker's Paradise'', but it was a dump. I'm not picky on accommodations, but this was one of the dirtiest places I've stayed at throught the entire trip. Only good thing about it is that it was cheap. That night, there was a few Chileans staying there too, I believe some construction crew. The guys were drinking and were pretty damn loud, but I was so tired that it didn't bother me at all. I passed out as soon as I laid down in my bunk. It had been a long day on the motorcycle, and technically my last one of riding on the trip too.

Days 192 to 196: Punta Arenas, CHL

Why did I go to Punta Arenas, again?

Initially, I didn't plan at all to sell my motorcycle; my intention was to ship it back home from Buenos Aires. However... I've been keeping in touch by email with Ken, one of the Toronto guys we travelled with for a few days in Mexico. Ken was also still on the road at the time, but heading North back home from Panama. His progress was slow due to mechanical problems with his KLR. Anyway, he mentioned to me that another friend of his just finished a ride to Tierra del Fuego not long ago, and that he sold his bike in Chile for a fair price. This got me thinking... With over 50 000 km on the odometer, my DR would not be worth much back home. If I decided to get a different bike (and I was strongly thinking about a KTM 690 Enduro), then mind as well sell the DR down South. I would not only get more for it than in Canada, but I would also save myself close to 2000$ in shipping fees.

I emailed Ken's friend, Mike (not the same Mike Ken travelled with in Mexico when we met..lol), and he explained me the deal.  Punta Arenas is one of the two free trade zones in Chile, the other being Iquique. This means that, in the so called ''zonas francas'', Chileans can purchase imported used vehicles and pay less duty than anywhere else in the country.

Mike explained to me that when he arrived to Punta Arenas, he started looking for accommodation in the town center. He eventually spotted 3 bikes (including 2 KLR's) parked in front of a hostel (same spot where I ended up staying) with a ''for sale'' sign on them, so he stopped to investigate. In the end, he decided to stay there. The next day, all 3 bikes were sold, and someone made him an offer on his BMW650GS that he could not refuse. Basically, he sold his bike for more than he bought it for in Toronto, but with much more milage on it. Paper work was a breeze, he got paid in US dollars,and then took a 30+ hour (ouch!) bus to Buenos Aires. Seemed easy enough to give it a try myself.

So on my first day in Punta Arenas , I got busy early in the morning. First, I needed a ''for sale'' sign for my bike. Two hours later, that was taken care of. I found a small office supplies shop that printed and plastified one for me. 

Then, I asked around and went to check out two local bike shops, in case they'd know someone looking for a dual sport motorcycle. 

Finally, I drove around town until I found a pressure washer at a gas station, in order to give the DR a good cleaning. The gas station guys were cool, and they let me use it for free. I gave them some money for a six pack of beer to thank them.

Last pic of the DR before I sold it. Once cleaned up, it still looked almost as good when I left Montreal.

The next day was a Sunday. It's typically a very quiet day in Latin America. Very little traffic, so I knew it was not the best day to find a buyer. Still, around 3 PM or so, I parked the bike in front of the hostel with the ''for sale'' sign on it (it is a busy intersection during the week), and I went to the supermarket to get a few things to eat. When I came back not even  an hour later, I noticed the sign on the bike was gone. WTF? At first, I thought that the wind ripped it off, or some little bastard stole it. When I went inside the hostel, the admin told me that some guy passed by and was super motivated to buy my DR, so he took down the sign.

The guy in question came back an hour later, and after short negociations, I agreed to sell it to him for what I initially was hoping to get, which is 2500 USD. I could have maybe got a few hundred more, but I wanted a quick sale. I got a 300$ deposit, and the next morning, we finalized the transaction and I got paid.

So everything went very smoothly, just like Mike had described it. We signed a sale contract at a notary, and then I gave the buyer the registration document in exchange of the balance on the selling price. Then we went to the customs in the ''zona franca'', they stamped my temporary vehicle importation form, and marked that the motorcycle has been sold to such and such individual. Done.

Funny coincidence. The brother of the guy that purchased my DR bought one of the two KLR's Mike saw in front of the hostel, when he was there back in February.

With the bike sold, I needed to find a way to get to Buenos Aires, but I wasn't up for 30+ hours on a bus. I went online and found a reasonably priced flight from Rio Gallegos (Argentina).The city is 4 hours by bus from Punta Arenas. This option made the most sense to me, so I bought the ticket.

The next morning, I went to the office of one of the bus companies to purchase my ticket. Although I did check the bus schedules online, I wasn't aware there was a strike going on!! I had a 'Oh shit!' moment when I was told this. There was only one company making the run to Rio Gallegos, but on Thursday. I had booked my flight for Wednesday, so I knew I'd have no other choice but to push it back. I got lucky though, and was able to change my flight free of charge on Expedia. 

So with that settled, I had two days of idling time left in Punta Arenas. I have no pics whatsoever from that town, as there is absolutely nothing special about it. Not much to see, and not much to do. At the hostel, there was only two other guests, 2 japanese guys. One of them was travelling on a BMW GS 1150, which broke down on him. He was stuck waiting for spare parts. The dude has travelled across Russia, Europe and now the Americas, and all of that without speaking any language other than Japanese. I can't imagine how much communication must have been a struggle for him.  

The other guy travelled from on a foldable bike from Santiago in Chile, all the way to Ushuaia. He had just finished his trip and was heading home, with his ride in his suit case..lol.  

I'm sure both guys had interesting stories to tell, but unfortunately we didn't get to chat much because of the language barrier.