Iīm riding in South America again!  This is the first familiar place Iīve ridden on my trip since I left Australia in May.  And itīs nice to be back on the western hemisphere again - that much closer to home!

 

After I returned to Lisbon from Morocco I called my shipping agent whom I had contacted before leaving for Morocco.  We set up a time to meet and we figured out when the bike could go to Buenos Aires and the other shipping details.  My agent discovered that there areīt any direct flights to Buenos Aires from Lisbon, so the bike had to go by truck to Madrid, then fly to BA.  But that odd route worked out because the bike still cleared customs in Lisbon, and I wasnīt in a big hurry since Diana and I planned a week to visit in Lisbon anyway.  I contacted the crater and a couple of days later I dropped off the bike to be crated.

 

In the meantime, Diana flew into Lisbon and we spent the week exploring the city.  Lisbon is a beautiful city and we enjoyed visiting the fort and the cathedrals, walking through the streets, and resting in the many plazas.  We had beautiful weather - sunny and cool - which made our time in the city even nicer.

 

In between our explorations, we visited the crater and the shipper several more times to finalize everything.  Finally, all the shipping arrangements were completed.  I paid the agent and the bike was off to Buenos Aires.  I had a ticket to follow it in a couple of days.

 

Diana was leaving to go back home several days before I left, which meant we had another difficult goodbye.  Youīd think that these partings would get easier, but they are always difficult, knowing that we will be so far apart for many more weeks.  Diana left early Friday morning, and I had the entire weekend, without her or my bike, to try to stay busy.  Somehow I made it through the weekend until my flight on Monday morning.

 

My flight to Buenos Aires was on British Airways and so it went through Heathrow, with a long layover in London and another short stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Total travel time was just under 24 hours!  The flight over the Atlantic was quite bumpy with the plane bucking and dropping most of the night.  Of course, the rough ride meant that I got no sleep through the night, and I was a typical jet-lagged traveler when I arrived in BA at 9 AM.

 

The international airport in BA is about 30 kms south of the city.  That makes for an expensive and time consuming cab ride into the city.  But I discovered that the cargo terminal was next door to the passenger terminal, so rather than go into the city to drop off my bags and then return to the airport, I simply got my luggage and walked a half kilometer to the cargo terminal to clear my bike.  How convenient for me!

 

Things went very smoothly at the cargo terminal and in about 90 minutes they had brought out the crate, helped me break it down, and processed my carnet.  I had to pay storage and terminal fees - about $200 in all.  The bike had shifted a little in the crate during the trip but there was no noticeable damage.  I rolled it out of the crate and fired it up.  That was easy!  I loaded my bags on the bike and set out to find a gas station since I only had a couple of liters of fuel in the bike.  Naturally, I immediately got lost trying to find my way to the gas station and rode in circles until I found it.

 

I finally got my bearings and worked my way through the city to the hotel I had chosen.  By this time it was late afternoon and I took a shower, found something to eat, and went to bed early to sleep off my jet-lag.

 

The next morning I was feeling good so I got up early and took the subway into downtown.  It was another sunny cool day and Buenos Aires was alive with business people and tourists.  I spent several hours walking around the city checking out the sights, and even finding a vegetarian restaurant for lunch.  After I was worn out from walking, I took the subway back to my hotel.

 

Later that day I learned that 4 bombs had exploded at banks in Buenos Aires that morning.  I saw no sign of the bombs or any damage but this news was a reminder that even BA has some risks and that I needed to be cautious.

 

When I got back to my room I had a message from Henry, one of the motorcyclists in the Buenos Aires HU community.  I called Henry back and we arranged to meet that evening.  Henry is planning his own adventure in a couple of months, north through South America and Central America and Mexico all the way to Los Angeles.  Iīve ridden some of those roads so we talked about his route and our riding plans.  He also invited me to join them for the ride to the HU rally in a couple of weeks.  It was a fun evening and I enjoyed meeting another traveler.

 

I spent another day in BA before it was time to move on.  On the third day I loaded up my bike and headed north towards Iguazu Falls.  The weather was great and it felt good to be riding again after a couple of weeks off the bike.  And I was excited to be riding on another continent - the fifth of the trip.

 

On my way north I stopped in the city of Rosario, a laid back city and the birthplace of Che Guevara.  I found Cheīs childhood home - a nondescript apartment building without so much as a plaque!

 

The next day I continued my ride north through flat grasslands and river delta marsh.  It was green and warm and I was happy to have left the late fall of Europe (brrr!) for early summer here in South America.

 

On my third day of riding I was stopped at a police checkpoint.  These checkpoints are fairly common as you get into remote areas.  They usually stop me, ask to see my passport and motorcycle papers, then send me on my way.  At this checkpoint they took me into the police building nearby and told me that I had to pay a $300 fine for not having a fire extinguisher on my bike.  This was an obvious shake down as they werenīt stopping other traffic and checking for fire extinguishers, only the tourist traffic.  I told them that I didnīt need a fire extinguisher but they insisted that I did.  Then I explained that I didnīt have that much money and showed them my empty wallet (I carry my paper money in a clip in my pocket).  I asked if they accepted my Visa credit card, but they didnīt see the humor in that at all.  After 30 minutes of me telling them I didnīt have the money and them insisting I had to pay and threatening to search me for money, they finally gave me back my papers and told me I couldnīt proceed north without paying them first.  They told me to go back south to the closest town, find a bank, and withdraw money to pay them the fine.

 

I wasnīt about to pay them their fine, and the police were none too happy when I proceeded north without paying them.  But after a few miles I started to worry that they could have me arrested or worse for not paying the fine.  In this part of the country there are no other roads going north, so it would be easy for them to find me and arrest me.  I decided that going to the falls wasnīt worth the risk or the fine, so I turned around and left this province.

 

This episode with corrupt police made me worried about riding in Argentina.  The same thing could happen as I rode south to the rally and to Tierra del Fuego.  Only next time I might not get off so easy.  Argentina went through tough times in the past few years after the peso collapsed, and there are lots of desperate people (including some police apparently).  I decided I didnīt need these hassles and decided to leave Argentina.

 

I headed west through flat grasslands towards Mendoza.  Mendoza is another beautiful and vibrant city at the edge of the Andes.  I relaxed there for a couple of days and it was in Mendoza that I spent the Thanksgiving holiday.  None of the Argentines I talked to had heard of Thanksgiving, but I found a vegetarian restaurant and had a decent meal to celebrate on my own.

 

The next day I headed for the Chile border in the mountains just west of Mendoza.  It was rainy and cold the morning I left, but as I climbed the clouds cleared up until the sky was brilliant blue at the high pass.

 

I was worried that I might have problems at the border crossing if the corrupt cops had reported me, but my passport was stamped out of Argentina in a record time of about 30 seconds!  Next I got my carnet stamped and I was officially out of Argentina.  Then I had to get into Chile, which is always a drag at this crossing.  There are several forms to fill out, an inspection by customs, then another check at the checkpoint.  All that took about an hour, then I was riding in Chile, down the many switchbacks into the Santiago valley.

 

I was sorry to leave Argentina.  Itīs a beautiful country and quite inexpensive, and most of the people are very friendly and helpful.  But I felt better to leave the episode with the corrupt officials behind me.  In all my travels throughout the world thatīs the first time Iīve encountered such a problem that I couldnīt talk my way out of.

 

The stress over the past week caused my heart problems to resume.  I was experiencing regular palpitations which were now accompanied by chest pain.  I was planning on heading south in Chile to ride the Carreterra Austral and maybe head to Tierra del Fuego, but these heart problems made me stop and think if it was wise to head further away from civilization.  I decided to give it a few days and see how I felt.

 

Next, Chile.

 

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