South American tour

[ErikGustav2]

It was rather flat ride to start with.
I found a vendor of insurance for Argentina. So that is solved. Now I have 90 days of insurance for "all" relevant countries.
Close to the border, the climb started.
Even with snow on the side of the road.

The border crossing went rather smooth.
It was at least 40-50 km between the exit from Chile to the entry in Argentina.
I got no stamp in the passport from Argentina. But an E-mail with my permission to stay in Argentina.

There were some great views. Mainly on the Argentina side.

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And here it is. The famous Ruta 40.
With 2110 km to the southern end point. Cabo Virgines

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[Godspeed]

This is the most epic of trips, thanks for taking the time to post pictures.

[ErikGustav2]

Some practical information.
From lessons learned the hard way.

When I entered Argentina, I had no cash.
So I stopped at first ATM machine. And withdraw some money. For first expenses.
They added 10% fee for that transaction !! Visible on the screen.

Later, I had money transferred by Western Union.
At what I expected to be the same rate as for ATM and Card Payment. But with low fees.

I booked a Hotel via Booking.com Price was in Argentinian Pesos.
I used the rate from WU to calculate my cost.
The confirmed booking stated a price in USD. That was almost twice the expected. Using WU as reference.
At the Hotel, I had the choice to pay in ARS or USD.
I choose ARS, of course.
Cash or Card? I know that the card adds some fee. But from my bank, it is a fix fee. Independent of amount. So with a rather expensive bill to pay, I used the card. To save my cash.

Later I looked at my bank account.
And I did same math.
The result was that both the cash withdrawal from ATM and payment via debit card used an exchange rate that valued the Peso to almost twice as much as Western Union rate.

So there is one official rate and one ?? rate.
Blue dollars, white dollars...
I do not understand how it works. But the end result is clear

The important lesson learned is to transfer money via WU. And pay everything cash !!!
Else you will pay the double !!!

These are my numbers.
SEK, not USD or GBP. Bit it is probably the same ratios.

[Barcelona Pat]

Atacama 13 Hand 2.jpg

(I have to say that I like this pircture)

I like that pic too - and not too much graffiti on it either (they clean it up from time to time as it can get quite bad). Its a big milestone in the desert crossing.

Still envious - I wanna go back!!

Pat

[ErikGustav2]

When reaching Ruta 40 (La Quarenta), I was in the south end of the part of RN 40 that is called Comino de Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes road).

I could see some of the lakes.

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I ended up at Lago Guiterrez. Where I found a camp site. Ut was in a National Park.
Nature Camping. Forest, some kind of toilets and showers. And fireplaces for doing "BBQ"
That is what they use to do in Argentina. Go to a campsite for BBQ.

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I pitched my tent and stayed some days.
To fix small things and to wait for better weather forecast.

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[ErikGustav2]

Home sweet home:

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Some do it really hard. This man started in Cordoba. He was now following Ruta 40 and was going to continue to Ushuaia.
And return to Cordoba. 5 months was planned.
On the photo, he has still not loaded his tent, sleeping bag and mattress on the bike.
I would like to have something likes his front panniers on the motorcycle.
Plastic bottom. Dry bag style on top.
Small set of these would be nice to have on the crash bar. To put some load in the front.

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One afternoon I made a short tour.
Circuit Chico.

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[ErikGustav2]

Ruta 40 South.
And a small detour to Esquel.

To.
- Change oil on the MC
- Take a tour with La Trotchita
- Make a tour to Trevellin and Parque National Los Alerces

The road to Esquel:

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Esquel:
Home of the old Patagonian express. La Trotchita

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[OnHellas]

I’ve just had a catch up with your adventures. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

[Flintlock]

Yes - enjoying this too - keep up the good work!

[ErikGustav2]

Alerces is a special tree, that exists here.

I made an short tour to Travellin and this park. It is rather close to Chile.
There is also a border crossing to Chile here.

The road into the park had just been paved.

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Open areas. Windy. But nice

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Cascada = Waterfall

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