DAY 44 – 2/25/12 SICUANI --> MOQUEGUA

517 km / 77.8 kph ave / 132 kph max
7:30 hrs tot / 6:30 hrs mov / 3650m-->4500m(x5)-->4600m(x2)-->1420m

This morning we were on the road by 0830 and had another 240 km on Ruta 3 before turning SW on Ruta 32. If we had to choose a road to do twice, we could have done a lot worse than this stretch of Ruta 3. No rain, nice scenery, and light traffic made for a pleasant ride.




Ruta 32 was another beautiful road. It climbed from the 3800m elevation from Puno and traveled along a ridge. We were topping 4500m regularly (5 times) and even topped 4600m twice. The last high pass was in a cloud and the temperature must have been in the 30´s (Farenhiet). Our numb fingers were very happy at that point to start the long descent to Moquegua. By the end of the day we were at 1400m and it felt like summer again!














We found a great hotel for the same price as our crappy hotel last night. Awesome!

DAY 45 – 2/26/12 MOQUEGUA --> R.N. PAMPA DEL TAMARUGAL

530 km / 90.4 kph ave / 142 kph max / 75 mpg
8:45 hrs tot / 6 hrs mov / 1420m-->10m-->1200m-->1000m / 1 border crossing

This morning we were on the road at 0830 and getting out of town was a breeze. Two hours later we were in Tacna, and finding our way out of this town would not prove to be as easy. A few zig-zags, and one turn around later, we were on Hwy 1 Sur headed to the frontier (border). We arrived at the border 1030 Peru time, but 1230 Chile time. As we expected customs and immigration went off without a hitch. Hwy 1 in Peru gave way to Hwy 5 in Chile (both are the Pan-American Hwy). Hwy 5 followed the ocean at first, then went inland to follow a ridge. Vegetation was sparse and sand was plentiful. The ride was nice enough until the cross wind picked up during the last hour. We found a nice campsite for $8 USD.

DAY 46 – 2/27/12 R.N. PAMPA DEL TAMARUGAL --> SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

412 km / 97 kph ave / 135 kph max / 51 mpg
6 hrs tot / 4 hrs mov / 1000m-->3500m-->2450m

Last night we had a beautiful view of the southern hemisphere stars. We hadn´t fully adjusted to our new time zone, so our 1000 start felt much earlier. It was only a 4 hr ride, but the elevation got high enough to really notice the temperature drop. Coming into S.P de A. was weird because there were backpackers all over the place, but we drove around for a while trying to find the main plaza. It seemed like all the roads seemed to be one way roads heading away from it. We finally gave up and drove about 50m the wrong way to the main square where the tourist office gave us a map of local campgrounds. We got a nice campground near downtown for $8 USD pp/night. We gave our bikes a bath and booked a trip to the salt lake for the next day.

DAY 47 – 2/28/12 SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Today was a great day to re-charge. We slept in till 1000 and had an awesome three course breakfast of oatmeal, bread and jam, and yogurt with juice. Then we changed my front brake pads, and oiled both our chains before visiting the museum around 1130. After lunch we had a nice siesta before our 1600 salt lake tour. The water was 40m deep in the center and cooler than I expected. It was a cool experience to be floating so effortlessly though. We showered the salt off of us back at the campsite and made a dinner feast of mashed potatoes, corn and PB + J sandwiches.

DAY 48 – 2/29/12 SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA --> TALTAL

605 km / 100 kph ave / 142 kph max
8 hrs tot / 6 hrs mov

Today we were on the road by 0930 and we took Ruta 25 SW to reconnect with Hwy 5. This stretch of Hwy 5 was long and boring, with the highlight being the giant buried hand sculpture south of Antofagasta. After some pictures there, we shouldered on looking for a place to stop for the night. We decided to stay at Taltal for the night. The 22km road to the coast was heaven after the mind numbing Hwy 5. We got a hotel for $58 USD and enjoyed the nice sleepy town on the Pacific ocean.

DAY 49 – 3/1/12 TALTAL --> P.N. LLANOS DE CHALLE

460 km / 95 kph ave / 123 kph max
6:15 hrs tot / 4:45 hrs mov

After a great night of sleep and a good breakfast, we were southbound at 1030. Hwy 5 ran along the coast for about 100 km and the scenery was a lot better. We had some trouble finding the national park because the GPS told me to turn where there was no road. We finally found it in the middle of nowhere and when we got there, it appeared to been closed for quite some time. We only had one roll of bread and a half pack of cookies for dinner, but plenty of water. Looking forward to some great star gazing tonight.

DAY 50 – 3/2/12 P.N. LLANOS DE CHALLE --> LA SERENA

265 km / 78 kph ave / 141 kph max
4:30 hrs tot / 3:30 hrs mov

This morning our number one goal was to make it to a gas station. My gas light came on during the ride out of the park with about 60km to go to the gas station. We made it at just over 240 miles and I had .8 L left in my tank (after adding two reserve litres). We found a hostal relatively quickly in La Serena that let us pull our bikes into the courtyard. We walked around for a bit and spent the evening back in the Hostal.

DAY 51 – 3/3/12 LA SERENA --> VALPARAISO

448 km / 99 kph ave / 136 kph max
5:45 hrs tot / 4:30 hrs mov

Today we went to the archeology museum and looked around a bit and had lunch back at the hostal. We intended to camp at Fray George NP, but when we got to the dirt road turnoff a sign said there was no camping at the park, so we decided to continue on to Valparaiso. On the way, we passed a mountain with one whole side on fire. We found hostel Armando with ease thanks to our GPS, but it would have been quite difficult otherwise. It was a nice place with a great view of the city. Later at night, we took a taxi into town, had some beers, and listened to some live music.

DAY 52 - 3/4/12 VALPARAISO

Today we slept in till 1045 and had a late breakfast. After lounging around a bit we headed to the naval museum at 1300. This also offered great views over the harbour. After the museum we took an ascensor down to sea level and took the new metro to the university area.

DAY 53 – 3/5/12 VALPARAISO --> SANTIAGO

118 km / 87 kph ave / 129 kph max
2 hrs tot / 1:30 hrs mov

The road leaving Valparaiso was different than the one we came into town on. It was a short 90 minute ride to the warehouse where we dropped our bikes off. We packed our airline luggage, disconnected our batteries, and bungeed our riding gear to the bikes in preparation for shipping them home. My rear tire is just about spent. Juan Carlos drove us to the Hilton Garden Inn where we went to dinner and had a swim.