Subject : Hello from Ellen and Gerd
Date : Fri, 29 Jun 2001
Santiago : Santiago is a nice busy town and very good place to get motorcycle
parts . We stayed in a place called Hotel Caribe , 851 San Martin . It costs
3700 Pesos per person , is save , has space for approx. 5 motorcycles in the
patio and you can reach it by a 10 minutes walk from the center of Santiago .An
other possibility for bikers is 'Scott' backpacker , 1798 San Vincente . 3500
Pesos per Person or 4500 Pesos a great breakfast included .
The name of the road where your can find the most motorcycle spare parts is
'Lira' .South of the park of 'Santa Lucia'.
A very nice and quite stop on the panamericana (ruta 5) is Pichicuy 180 km north
of Santiago . It's a small beautiful village on the coast and worth visiting .
You can rent a room at the blue house at the beach in the center of the village
for 5000 Pesos .
The panamericana to Antofagasta is very boring but a relaxed drive with no
traffic and only few villages and towns . If you are in a hurry you can go very
fast on that road . But if you like beaches and the desert it's a beautiful drive
with great 'bushcamping' spots at the coast for example north of Chanaral (Just
before you enter the national parc 'Pan de Azucar'.
But bring always enough water and fill up with enough gasoline to manage the big
distances in the Atacama desert.
In Antofagasta you find a quite room in the hostal 'Astor'for 8000 pesos for 2
person with motorcycleparking inside a patio . In town you find good ,cheap
restaurants and a nice market to buy fruits .
The road to Calama starts rising slowly up .
Before you reach San Pedro de Atacama you can take the gravel road to the 'Valle
de luna' which is a beautiful drive in a breathtaking landscape . For sunset and
sunrise many people climb on the big sanddune in the valley .
In San Pedro de Atacama (2500 metres altitude) there are plenty of hostals but
only in a few you can camp . We camped at hostal and camping 'Takha Takha' in a
nice garden for 3000 Pesos per person . San Pedro is nice to relax and you can
organize water , food and gasoline for the next 400 to 500 kilometers if you want
to travel to Bolivia via the lagunas and 'Salar de Uyuni'. For this trip you will
need 3 to 5 days and there are no villages on the road . You cannot be sure if
you get any gasoline or water on the way so better take everything you need with
you .The best season for this trip is november and beginning of december .
End of december the rain season starts and the roads are muddy and 'Salar de
Uyuni' full of water .
The border is just at the end of San Pedro and the police and customs is very friendly .
After the border a new tar road goes straight uphill , the air is getting more
and more thin . In an elevation of approx. 4000 metre you come to a junction
where you turn left on the gravel road and find the bolivian border after a few
kilos . There is only police and immigration control no customs control for the
bikes . If you want to get a entry stamp you have to go to Potosi , Oruro or to
La Paz . The gravel road after the border control is perfect and the landscape is
great . Soon you come to Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde where all the 4x4 tours
stay over night (Drinking water and fuel possible ) . You follow the rocky road
between the lagunas and further north in a sandy plain to 'Salar de Challviri'.
Near the road you can take a bath in an excellent thermal spring .
A few kilometers further the road keeps climbing up to 5000 metres - the highest
pass on that road . After the pass turn left at a junction and you find the
geysirs 'Sol de Manana ' ( 4900 metres ). It's very cold at this place and smells
disgusting but the geysirs and the landscape is very impressing .
A nice spot for bushcamping is when you are going down the pass and you just see
the laguna ' Laguna Colorada '( 4278 metres ) .The plain at the laguna is very
sandy . Northwest of the laguna you find some huts and a hostel where you can get
water , food and perhaps some fuel . Few people live there .
The road goes north after the laguna and there is a nice spot for camping at some
nice rocks . The dirt road keeps crossing some wide open plains and you find
other lagunas and high vulcanos on your way . Then the road is falling down to
the Salar de Chiguana . Chiguana is a small military control point where they
check your passport(Water available ). Here you can chose your way whether you
want to cross the Salar de Uyuni or go straight to Uyuni . The whole Salar area
is muddy and slippery when wet so be sure you are in the dry season .
If you deside to cross the salar the is fuel, water and food in San Juan .
After you come to the Salar the surface of the lake is hard (the salt approx.7-9
meter thick) and you can go very fast if you like .
There are some islands (Isla de Pescado) on the Salar and it's nice to camp
there . To find the 2 salt hotels and the way out is not easy but with your
compas and a good map not a problem . After the salt hotels there are tracks of
cars which you can follow to the first village Colchani . Uyuni is 20 kilos
futher .
In Uyuni Hostal 'Avenida ' is nice to stay and good parking for your bike .
20 Bolivianos per person is cheap . There are some nice restaurants and bars
several tour agencies . It's a good place to relax and organice your tour
through
Bolivia.
Ellen and Gerd
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