Antofagasta, Chile

Today was a rest day as I was getting a new rear tire at the Yamaha Dealer. It's a Chinese tire. What's amazing in this part of the world is all the Chinese cars and trucks, brands we don't see in the U.S. Probably 8 to 10 and they look great. Has to be killing Ford and Chevy.





Don't know how the tire will hold up but we have less than 3,000 miles to go so it shouldn't be an issue.





R1200GS getting a new rear tire.






These kids perform at the intersection in front of our hotel. They're pretty good. They then work the cars with the hope of getting some money. It appears that they do.





Antofagasta is a port city and there are ships anchored in the harbor in front of the hotel.

It's been sixty days since we left Reno. Sure doesn't seem like it's been that long. Maybe it's because we're having so much fun.

Tomorrow we're off to Caldera. Crossing the border from Peru to Chile we entered the Atacama Desert. There is not even microbial life here and NASA uses the area to test equipment for the Mars expeditions. Hundreds of miles between towns - this is where my three Roto-Pax gas cans come in to use. About another 900 miles and will finally be out of the Atacama. To put it in perspective, the distance is like crossing the U.S.

We'll be in Valparaiso for the weekend.

Monday, 5 December, we'll head east and start the three day ride to cross the Andes and get to Bariloche, Argentina. At this point we're right on schedule to arrive in Ushuaia on 14 December.

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Location:Gral Velásquez,Antofagasta,Chile