November 20th 2024 – Concepción, Chile

We had some enjoyable days in Mendoza. It’s a big city with a relaxed atmosphere. As the world capital of Malbec it attracts many tourists. Most come for the wine and to indulge in gastronomic pleasures. We went for a long walk every evening when the temperatures dropped to a pleasant level.

A dramatic sky greeted us on the morning of our departure.
It was time for another visit to Chile. To get there we had a mountain range to cross. From Mendoza it was a steady climb towards the border. There were a lot of motorcycles on the road.

At 3.200 meters we reached the Los Libertadores border crossing. It was a new and modern complex with everything under the same roof. Despite short lines it still took a couple of hours to get the paperwork sorted.
Chile greeted us with a quick descent on twisty roads. It was a fun and pleasant ride all the way to Santiago.

I had booked a room at Hostal Casa Matte located downtown on the edge of Barrio Italia. The place caters for motorcycle travelers. It is owned and run by Cristian who is a passionate rider himself.

Katrine and I rarely seeked out places like this. We made an exception this time because Casa Matte had a shop where I could service the bikes. We found everything I needed for the bikes on Lira – a nearby street packed with moto related stores and shops.

The front tires had lasted since Costa Rica and started to cup slightly. The rears were around ⅔ down.
A note on the rear tires: It was the Chinese Timsun we picked up in Peru. After 10.000 km I have nothing negative to say about them.
With that in mind I decided to try tires from another manufacturer that was previously unknown to me, Rinaldi – a Brazilian brand that has been making motorcycle tires for more than 40 years and seems to have a good reputation. I could get them for around ⅓ of the price compared to tires from a known European manufacturer.

Street mechanics work side by side on the sidewalks along Lira street. The normal procedure is that you pick a mechanic to do the work. He’ll find the parts needed. You pay for the parts in the shops and him for his work when he’s done.
The store where we bought the tires let me take the wheels off in their shop if I paid one of the street mechanics to use their tire machine to mount the tires. It was a good deal for everyone involved.

We returned to Casa Matte on new tires and with everything I needed to service the bikes. I spent a productive afternoon in Christians shop while chatting with some of the other guests.

There were several other travelers staying at Casa Matte while we were there. It was a very diverse bunch of people. The only real denominator was the choice of traveling on 2 wheels – and that they were good company.

Jimbo from Minnesota set out 2 years earlier. Leaving a place and a life that no longer suited him. His journey seemed to be as much an inner as an outer one.

Frank from the Netherlands was preparing for his 3rd big trip around South America. He retired from sailing tall ships around the world in 2010. Since then he had spent the majority of his time riding around South America and Southeast Asia. His modus operandi was to buy a brand new bike locally, wear it out over the next couple of years before giving it away and move on.

The Russian couple Dmitry and Ekaterina based out of Thailand had just arrived in South America after 2 years riding in Africa.

Fernando from Spain planned on spending the next 2 years exploring The Americas. He didn’t speak a word of English. It made him a little apprehensive about the North American leg of the journey.

The jovial Gustavo from Buenos Aires in Argentina was on a week-long combined ride and shopping trip.

Last but not least there was Radu from Romania. The past several years he had spent the summers in Romania and the rest of the year as a digital nomad around the world. He seemed very comfortable with this way of life and had just bought his first motorcycle. He was a part of the “Hash House Harriers”. They organize get-togethers around the world where they run a route laid out by one of the locals before sharing a few beers. They describe themselves as a drinking club with a running problem.

Katrine and I did a couple of long walks around Santiago. One of the days Jimbo joined us. The city was a bit rough around the edges but for me it only added to the experience. There was much to see and do.

I spent the last morning at Casa Matte watching the last MotoGP race of the season. It was a title decider between Bagnaia and Martin. I wanted to watch it live. It was a fitting finale to the season. I could have done better in MotoGP Fantasy – but at least I won my own little Viking Adventure League.
I’m already looking forward to the 2025 season. I believe it will be even better than this year and can’t wait for it to kick off.

It was almost sad to say goodbye to everyone after 6 nights at the hostal, but the road was calling.
The road itself was nothing to write home about as we made our way south on Hwy 5. It was a 4 lane highway surrounded by farmland. But with mountains on the horizon to both sides and perfect weather we really had nothing to complain about.
With plenty of daylight left we left the highway in search of a place to put up our tent. The weather gave us no excuses not to camp. We found a sweet little campsite. The owner was happy to see us. There were no other guests. We had it all to ourselves.
When we unpacked the tent for the first time in about a year, we discovered that the elastic cords inside the tent poles had given up the ghost. The tent pole sections have different lengths. It took a minute to figure out how to put them back together and fix the cords. The rest of the camping gear had handled the long storage just fine.
It felt really good to be camping again.

The campsite had every amenity imaginable. It clearly used to be a very nice place. When we arrived everything but the pool was overgrown, dirty or dilapidated.
The owner, a friendly elderly woman, lived on the premises. Her and her husband had run the place for 28 years. A stroke had chained him to the bed a couple of years earlier. Now she had to take care of the place by herself, while also handling the care of her husband. It was a big mouthful.
Despite the slightly post-apocalyptic setting we liked the atmosphere and decided to stay for 2 nights.

From the campsite we stuck to the secondary roads and followed Ruta de Los Conquistadores towards Concepción. I had planned for us to camp at a specific site at the Pacific coast. The road I wanted to take from the north was closed. We would have to ride most of the way down to Concepción, connect with the coastal road and head back north to get there – and then backtrack when it was time to leave again.
I don’t like backtracking.
It was time for a coffee and to check out our options. A look at various apps revealed that the options along our intended route were limited. Especially when it came to camping. We decided to stay on track and get a room in Concepción for the night.