I bought a motorcycle in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Already that was an adventure on its own and took a month to get papers for a used motorcycle bought from FB marketplace.
I was eager to embark on a 1-2 month trip and came up with an idea to drive down to Santiago, Chile and back. I did not have an exact plan but I was gonna “wing it” and see what happens. At first, I was thinking of starting from Chile and returning from Argentina. But I received advice to do the opposite as I was driving a used motorbike whose condition was a little unknown and there was more civilization on Argentina’s side. If the motorbike would break down, there would be more options for repairs.
Anyhow, let’s get on the way!
Table of contents
- Route summaryRoute summary
- Road conditionsRoad conditions
- AccommodationAccommodation
- Border crossings and paperworkBorder crossings and paperwork
- Detailed route descriptionDetailed route description
- Would I do anything differently?Would I do anything differently?
Route summary
I started by riding to the Argentinian border as fast as possible. In Argentina, I was heading south not only by the famous Route 40 but also by getting off it to destinations that I found to be worth visiting. From Mendoza, I crossed the Andes mountain range to Santiago, from where I followed the coast north to Antofagasta. From the mining city, I rode towards a higher altitude and into San Pedro in the middle of the Atacama desert. After some hiking I crossed into Bolivia through some rough roads and drove on the largest salt flats in the world, Salar de Uyuni. Over the Bolivian highlands to La Paz, from where I made my way back to Santa Cruz. In 5o days I had covered roughly 8000 km. What an epic journey!
Road conditions
I was driving a Suzuki V-Strom 650 from 2006, which is more of a road bike (80-20 road – off-road) and I felt it was a little too stiff for comfortable off-road riding. I tried to get as much as possible onto smaller roads which quite often meant riding on gravel. At the same time, sometimes I chose not to take smaller or very remote paths to avoid breaking down in the middle of nowhere.
I felt the V-Strom was a good choice for the big highways in Chile but at the same time sometimes I struggled a little on corrugated gravel roads. But all of that comes down to a lack of skills as well.
Depending on what you are comfortable with, it is possible to do a similar route mainly on either road or off-road conditions.
Accommodation
I was carrying camping gear and tried to use it as much as possible.
The hotels/rooms in Argentina were very affordable in 2023 so I mainly used the opportunity to use a safe parking and a comfortable bed. In Argentina, I ended up camping 3 times and all the other times (20 nights) I stayed in a guesthouse/hotel/airbnb.
In Chile, the case was totally opposite. The accommodation was quite a bit more expensive. The official campsites turned out to be very well equipped and I also managed to find very epic wild camping spots. In fact one of the highlights of the whole trip was camping 6 nights in a row on the coast of Pacific Ocean all the way from Santiago to Antofagasta (3x official campsite + 3x wild camp).
In Bolivia it was not very easy to find suitable camping options and the accommodation is also quite affordable. So no camping in Bolivia.
For finding camping opportunities I used the application iOverlander.
Border crossings and paperwork
On this route I needed to cross border 3 times:
- Bolivia -> Argentina (Yacuiba – Salvador Mazza)
- Argentina -> Chile (Las Cuevas – Los Libertadores)
- Chile -> Bolivia (Ollagüe – Avaroa)
In general, everything went well and without any problems. The longest and the most complicated crossing was between Argentina and Chile.
- Bolivia to Chile. Quite an easy crossing. Everything is in one place so you don’t need to move your vehicle. There are people who guide you into the right places. They were a little bit confused about how a foreigner on a tourist visa owned a motorcycle with a Bolivian plate. But as I had the correct papers (ownership) then it was not an issue. As I had also overstayed for a week on my Bolivian Tourist Visa then everything took a few hours in total.
- Argentina to Chile. It was confusing at first that if you want to exit Argentina and enter Chile, then you drive straight across the border and do all the paperwork on the Chilean side. You do not need to stop at the border office on the Argentinian side. I think it was the same way the other way around.
The booths on the border were in a strange order and it was hard to understand how to do things. In general no problems though. They also check your bags for fresh fruits and vegetables, as these are not allowed. A few hours for this border as well. - Chile to Bolivia. A very remote border crossing mainly used by trucks I believe. It seemed that I was missing a paper of some sort which the Chilean border officers had kept but luckily they found the right things online. Crossing took a bit of time as I was applying for a work visa on the border but border officials were very nice and helpful.
Besides the ownership papers, you need to have motorbike insurance for each of the countries. I used Speiser Seguros as the process was fast and simple and the affordable coverage included all the countries I needed.
Detailed route description
| # | Date 2023 | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4.04 | Santa Cruz | Camiri, Bolivia |
| 2 | 5.04 | Camiri | border crossing 3,5h -> Tartagal, Argentina |
| 3 | 6.04 | Tartagal | Oran. Breakdown @ gas station. Drove to 3 towns to find a solution. Problem with the ignition relay. Fortunately just needed some cleaning. |
| 4 | 7.04 | Oran | Salta |
| 5 | 8.04 | Salta | Cafayate. Epic landscapes. |
| 6 | 9.04 | Cafayate | |
| 7 | 10.04 | Cafayate | Visiting wineries |
| 8 | 11.04 | Cafayate | Rest day |
| 9 | 12.04 | Cafayate | 250 km, Camping before Belen |
| 10 | 13.04 | Camping site | 201 km, Fiambala |
| 11 | 14.04 | Fiambala | Drive along route 60, canon del indio, termales de Fiambala |
| 12 | 15.04 | Fiambala | admin day in Fiambala |
| 13 | 16.04 | Fiambala | Solo hiking Cerro Coqueno 4000 m |
| 14 | 17.04 | Fiambala | Camping after Chilecito |
| 15 | 18.04 | Camping site | Ischigualasto Provincial Park (camping) |
| 16 | 19.04 | Ischigualasto Provincial Park | San Jose de Jachal. Driving in the park for 3h |
| 17 | 20.04 | San Jose de Jachal | |
| 18 | 21.04 | San Jose de Jachal | Calingasta. Long drive through epic landscapes. |
| 19 | 22.04 | Calingasta | Uspallata |
| 20 | 23.04 | Uspallata | Route 52. Mendoza |
| 21 | 24.04 | Mendoza | Mechanic. Broken front suspension. |
| 22 | 25.04 | Mendoza | |
| 23 | 26.04 | Mendoza | Las Vegas |
| 24 | 27.04 | Las Vegas (Vallecitos) | Hiking to Cerro Stepanek at 4100m |
| 25 | 28.04 | Las Vegas (Vallecitos) | Santiago de Chile |
| 26 | 29.04 | Santiago de Chile | |
| 27 | 30.04 | Santiago de Chile | |
| 28 | 1.05 | Santiago de Chile | Pichidangui. Camping Bahia Marina (10000 pesos a night, 13 USD) |
| 29 | 2.05 | Pichidangui | Tongoy. Camping Ripipal (10000 pesos a night) |
| 30 | 3.05 | Tongiy | Caleta Chanaral (Chanaral de Aceituno). Camping Espanol (10000 pesos) |
| 31 | 4.05 | Chanaral | Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe. Wild camp. |
| 32 | 5.05 | Llanos de Challe | Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar. Wild camp. |
| 33 | 6.05 | Pan de Azucar | El Cobre. Wild camp. |
| 34 | 7.05 | El Cobre | Hand of the Desert. Antofagasta. |
| 35 | 8.05 | Antofagasta | |
| 36 | 9.05 | Antofagasta | San Pedro de Atacama |
| 37 | 10.05 | San Pedro de Atacama | Laguna Cejar, Valle de la Luna, Magic Bus. |
| 38 | 11.05 | San Pedro de Atacama | Hiking Cerro Toco 5600 m |
| 0.39 | 12.05 | San Pedro de Atacama | Ollague. Wild camp |
| 40 | 13.05 | Ollague | Uyuni. First so-so road, then pure dirt road due to construction, and at the end good asphalt |
| 41 | 14.05 | Uyuni | Driving on salt flats |
| 42 | 15.05 | Uyuni | Oruro |
| 43 | 16.05 | Oruro | La Paz |
| 44 | 17.05 | La Paz | City, telefericos |
| 45 | 18.05 | La Paz | Valle de Animas |
| 46 | 19.05 | La Paz | Death Road |
| 47 | 20.05 | La Paz | La Paz; markets, colourful neighbourhood |
| 48 | 21.05 | La Paz | Hiking Laguna Charquini 5390 m |
| 49 | 22.05 | La Paz | Cochabamba |
| 50 | 23.05 | Cochabamba | Comarapa |
| 51 | 24.05 | Comarapa | Santa Cruz de la Sierra |
In total it came up to approximately 8000 kilometers, which divided by 51 days makes 157 km/a day. I was trying to also get to know the places I was passing, do some hiking and besides all of that I was also working remotely every day for 2-3 hours. Considering all of that, I think it came to be a great journey. It is possible to do this route a lot faster if you are not interested in hiking and not spending your morning hours behind the computer ;).
Would I do anything differently?
As for the motorcycle, there were a few problems which did not make me feel fully confident to tackle the most remote trails. As we were 2-up in the first half it was good to have a bigger cylinder motorbike. If I had been solo, maybe I would have gotten a smaller motorbike but as new as possible.
As for the route itself, I am quite satisfied and happy. With more time I would have liked to also discover more of the very northern tip of Argentina (Jujuy province) as we kind of skipped that all together. And with a newer motorbike really get out into the desert in Chile.
Anyways, epic route and adventure!
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