Riding to Patagonia

[1.21GW]

So after Buenos Aires I rode across central Argentina to Mendoza, a route that consists of flat marshlands.  On the plus side there were lots of birds: herons, storks, hawks, ducks, doves.  On the downside, lots of insects.  It was basically two days of uninspiring view and wiping the guts of some bicho off my shield every minute or so:






After two nights in Mendoza I headed to the border but was stopped in the last town in Argentina, Uspallata, because a recent storm dumped a meter of snow in the mountains.  After a full two days of shut down the border reopened to two days worth of waiting crowds.  Below is the border office in its beautiful mountain setting: 3000m above sea level and a few miles from Aconcagua, the highest peak (6960m) in the world outside of Asia.  The second foto is looking behind us and though you can't see it, the line of vehicles goes even farther than is visible in the picture.  Each one of those cars needs to do the paperwork and have vehicle inspections to enter Chile.  The moto allowed us to skip some, but not all of them.  Long day.











But it wasn't all bad.  While camping and waiting for the border to open I met a Chilean couple on a new Triumph Tiger.  After our shared suffering in crossing the border they invited me to stay with them in Santiago a few days.  Good people.











And here's your feral narrator upon reaching his 14th (and final) country on this trip:

[ducpainter]

Is the answer six?  I'm guessing six.


Fired it up and no audible problems so I think I'm in the clear. 

No...I think there's 6 in my bike.

[Mhanis]

I have to say that after keeping up with all of this it is cool to see a picture of YOU!

I am quite disappointed however that you don't look anything like your avatar. 

Continued fun and safety to you!!

Mark

[duccarlos]

I crossed over to Mendoza a few times from Santiago. My wife had altitude sickness during one of those crossings. That was no fun.

[koko64]

I have to say that after keeping up with all of this it is cool to see a picture of YOU!

I am quite disappointed however that you don't look anything like your avatar.  

Continued fun and safety to you!!

Mark

While Jim Carey made his mark via humour, his little known brother was in fact, a rugged adventurer.
 Have any trouble?

[DarkMonster620]

I have to say that after keeping up with all of this it is cool to see a picture of YOU!

I am quite disappointed however that you don't look anything like your avatar. 

Continued fun and safety to you!!

Mark

I don't look like my avatar either, unless I am hungry, then that is me

[1.21GW]

I have to say that after keeping up with all of this it is cool to see a picture of YOU!

I am quite disappointed however that you don't look anything like your avatar.  

Continued fun and safety to you!!

Mark

I'm one simple shave and a Tiger's hat away.

I crossed over to Mendoza a few times from Santiago. My wife had altitude sickness during one of those crossings. That was no fun.

Mate de coca.

While Jim Carey made his mark via humour, his little known brother was in fact, a rugged adventurer.
 Have any trouble?

Nothing a Carey brother can't handle.

[Monsterlover]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Do you have any idea how many Ducati half rings are floating around in cases worldwide?

100% agree. Chances are if there is a washer in there it will end up stuck to a drain plug magnet (it has that, right?). There's sure to be a screen on the oil pump pickup that would keep anything that large out of the pump. I think you'll be fine.

Great pics!

[1.21GW]

Pretty sure no washer, so I lucked out.  But having a bit of trouble starting so I'm thinking maybe I tightened the intake valve a bit too much.  Will check out in the coming week.



In the mean time, lots of great sunsets here on the coast.  Reminds me a lot of NorCal.

[DarkMonster620]

you on Chile?

[1.21GW]

Si. Punto de Lobos. About 2-3 hrs south of Santiago.

[DarkMonster620]

Si. Punto de Lobos. About 2-3 hrs south of Santiago.

Very nice loco . . . Enjoy the seafood

[1.21GW]

Quick update:

On the road again today for the first time in almost a month.  Just left the coast of Chile where I spent four weeks doing a Workaway (google it) with a couple of hippies.  I hope to write more on it later when I have the time to give it its due.  But the short version is that I helped him build stuff around their property help with construction at a house made of two containers that the guy is building for his mother.  During my stay I had my very own little cool dome hut to call home.








One project was to build a vegetable garden.  We used young eucalyptus trees from the property for the structure and doors.  Lots of digging to build that retaining wall.  I hate digging.








We also finished enclosing a deck he built on the side of his mom's house.  We did the left half wall, which doesn't match the right at all.  That's the thing when you freestyle construction and are a little scatterbrained: you change plans along the way and improvise a lot.  We did a lot of improvising.  That door is from Indonesia and was so old and warped that to make it fit we have a lot of trapezoidal and triangular pieces.  I'd say a good 90% of our methods would not be OSHA approved.  I've never seen someone use a circular saw in so many many ways...

[GK]

Great stuff!

Look forward to reading more about it! 👍🏻👍🏻

[koko64]

Googled Workaway. Cool!