Riding day 4: Futaleufu-Puyuhuapi

We woke up at Futaleufu Chile. Manu went for a run and Mika cooked us a breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, coffee, juice and jogurt. Mika noticed problems with his breaks/ABS system the day before and he made a call to rentall shop. They instructed him to clean the ABS sensor. It doesn't help and Mika still doesn't have ABS.

We had made a deal the previous day with a rafting company PATAGONIA ELEMENTS to go raft in the Futaleufu river and we signed out of our bungalow and rode our bikes a block over to Patagonia Elemements. There were a bunch of other people at the shop and we decided to head for the river before the others on our bikes. We started for the gravel road, had just some sort of oral information where the starting point was going to be. Of course we didn't find it. Drove passed it and had to return. In the end we find the place and strip down to our swimming pants. Head down to the river and find a bunch of guys already pulling on the wetsuits. So we did the same, got chosen to a boat and get some instructions. Then we jumped in a boat and practiced the commands and co-operating together. It was six of us in the boat + the guide. MARCELLO was our guide on the boat and a decent professional. According to Mika's fancy SUUNTO watch the time in the water was 1h40min. Distance in the water was 8,5km. Max velocity 25kph. THIS STUFF WAS AWESOME. All of us really enjoyed this. The route had about 10 rapids. In between we got to jump to water and get pulled back to boat, jump from the rocks, jump to water and go down the rapid swimming! GRAZY AND AWESOME EXPERIENCE! Afterwards we are served light lunch and we get a ride back to our bikes.

We start for PUYUHUAPI. We ride gravel for very long. This is no problem with these tools we ride. BMW 800 GS ADVENTURE is a tool more than a bike. It takes rough terrain with no problem. It's not meant to be beautiful. 

We arrive to RUTA 7 (CARRETERA AUSTRAL) Most of this is gravel (lots of fun) untill LA JUNTA where we refuel. Gravel starts again after La Junta and we arrive to PUYUHUAPI. It's a small village and we note other bikers also. This is old lumber and sheep farming village. This time we haven't booked accommodation beforehand and just go ask around. We find this modest bungalow type thing. The hostess is very friendly. We settle in and go find a restaurant. None of us speaks spanish but we manage to get food. We know some key words. Like CERVEZA and LOMO. After this we crash. The ride was about 200 km.

Riding day 3: Bariloche - Futaleufu

The third driving day started with sport. Yes. All the real bikers want to stay in shape to be able to enjoy the rides as long as possible. Well, I know that not everyone agrees with this but at least we think so. And if you spent 6-8 hours every day on the motor cycle saddle, you might feel the pain in some areas of your body. So Mika and me decided to organize a sporting event for the morning. Since we are exited about crossfit, and our Best Western Villa Sofia Apartamentos (which we highly recommend and I will tell later why) had a nice spa/gym, we had a great opportunity to plan a short workout for the whole group. This was a great success. Totally 75% of our group attended (so in addition to me and Mika, Mikko got himself up till 0900. (Actually Juha was spending his time valuably by planning the details of the days route.) The workout was short but efficient and after that we had the first buffee breakfast on this trip. Considering the quite low level prices of Argentina, this 10€ breakfast was actually quite expensive, but also tasty. Generally the breakfasts had consisted white bread, yougurt and coffee.

(There is no photo evidence of crossfit training but Mika found an interesting machine which could be programmed to shake your ass with certain freaquency. We didnt get the real purpose of this gadget except the ass thing..)


Before departuring from Bariloche we had to tighten the chains of one bike. The tools were provided by Moto Aventura but the wrench for opening the rear wheel axel nut was about 15 cm (6") long so with that we didnt get enough torque to open the nut, which was most proparly tightened with a moment wrench. We tried to hit the end of the wrench with a tire bar but in the end that would have only spoiled the corners of the nut.
NOTE to Moto Aventura: please take this into consideration when adjusting the tool box content! In the middle of the desert it would have been challenging for example to change the tire. It would be easy to add an extra side bag lenght lever to the tool kit which would be a significant help.
Fortunately we found from the hotels yard a meter long metal pipe which gave enough leverage to open the nut so we could complete the operation. 


At the same time we lubricated the chains which should be done in every 800 km (but not if you would start the day by driving a gravel road cause the dust would be glued to the greasy chains). Also remember to grease the inner part of the chain cause otherwise the grease would fly away due the sentrific force. 
When leaving Bariloche it was clear to notice that the general condition of the vehicles was much poorer in Argentina than in Chile. This is important information for a motorcycle rider cause many times the condition of the vehicle equals the condition of the driver. So for a motorcycle driver, the driving skills are not the only thing but also the ability to notice and avoid the potential risks.
After Bariloche we had the second fuel refill after about 800 km. The average consumption till this point was about 5L/100 km. Later on we noticed that the fuel light turned on after about 450km and after that the BMW's indicator started to count kilometres driven with the reserve tank. 
After Bariloche we experienced some beautiful road which was very fun to ride. The scenery again, was breathtaking.

After the city of El Bolson the landscape changed dramatically to a desert like so the roads had been built very straight. At some points between El Bolson and Esquel you could drive minutes without any curves.

There it would have been possible also to test how the BMW takes speed with the side bags...

From Esquel to the border the road was again quite curvy gravel road with some beautiful scenic cites.

We acrossed the border second time when we left Argentina and got back to Chile again. The authorities at the border were intelligent. They new 'Finlandia' from Kimi Räikkönen, Angry Birds and bad reputation in football. 

The days destination was in Futaleufu, which is very peacefull and beautiful little town. The main thing in Futaleufu is rafting so we booked a trip for the next day. Experiences from that in the next days journal. 
We had booked a little cabin Aldea Patagonica and bought the breakfast stuff (including some Chilean red wine and rum for the evening) from a local grocery store. Before heading back to cabin we enjoyed delicious lamb and local cerveza in a little Bob Marley style outside restaurant. 

A little funny and remorable thing was that we didnt know how to turn the shower water heater on so the evening shower was quite refreshing. And actually during that night we made the decision to put up this blog.

Weather: Sunny 
Temperature: 20-26 celcius
Distance traveled: 359km
Total distance traveled:1118km

Riding day 2: Pucon - San Carlos de Bariloche

After having an excellent breakfast at our accomodation we first headed to the petrol station. We had driven about 400km since we left but still had some gasoline left. Later we found out in practise that we can actually reach even 500km with one tank of fuel. We decided to fill up the tank in every morning because then we don't need to worry about fuelling in the whole day.

From Pucon we headed east towards Argentinian border. The road to the border was quite relaxing country road with the exception of nice scenic curvy section at the end. 

At the border it of course took some time to handle all the paperwork both for the men and bikes. But the service was friendly and swift on both sides, Chilean and Argentinian. For the byrocracy we only needed passports and the documents for the bikes. Those we got from Moto Aventura when we left. 

Leaving from the border the landscape changed immediately. Chile is mostly located to west of Andis and therefore rain nurishes the ground every now and then. Argentina on the otherhand is behind the Andis looking from the Pacific Ocean. Therefore it is more deserted with lunar-like landscapes.

After we had tackled about 15km or so of nasty loose gravel roads we reached the smooth paved roads again. We rode south through Junin des los Andes and had lunch at San Martin de los Andes. From there on all the way to San Carlos de Bariloche was the most spectacular roads and views we had seen so far. Smooth winding roads and a lake after lake. Motorcycling at its truly best! The road to Bariloche went around the huge lake of Nahuel Huapi offering us plenty of beautiful views.

We had booked a bungalow-kind-of apartment for the night from the local Best Western hotel. The room it self was really nice and cheap. It was immediately obvious that the prices are quite a bit lower in Argentina than in Chile. We went to the hotel's Spa and were quite amazed to find a sign of "traditional finnish Sauna". Unfortunately the truth was something really else; steamy little room with very harsh and ascetic interiour. With our understanding it was more like "turkish sauna". Next door however  we found "traditional sauna" and it indeed was like a traditional FINNISH sauna. With the exception that the stowe couldn't handle the water we threw on it....

While having a dinner at the restaurant we noticed the locals everywhere seem to be very proud of their local beers. But for a change we decided to have local wine instead.  When enjoying this lovely local red wine we were wondering if the locals knew how famous Chilean and Argentinian wines are around the world.

Route: from Pucon to San Carlos de Bariloche

Distance: 355km

Distance traveled total: 759km

Weather: sunny (+25C)

Riding day 1: Osorno - Pucon

Leaving Osorno. We packed our bikes for the first time which took ages, about an hour and a half, plus some necessary group photos of course. 

Few things about the packing: 

First is the well known blue Ikea sacks. Why? Well, with Ikea sacks we were able to take our biking gear to the plane packed nicely and tight. Using a suitcase would be out of the question because there is no place for it on the motorbike. But the Ikea sacks can be folded to a size of a small letter. Another useful fact is that with those sacs it's really easy to carry your stuff from the bike to the hotel and back where ever you are. 

Another thing is the vacuum plastic packs which are great when you need to squeeze your clothes into a small space. These packs can be bought cheaply from your local home improvement store. 

Third thing about packing of the bike is using the available space wisely. The stuff you want and need to have available quickly should be in your tankback (yes, you definitely need one). The stuff you carry to your accommodation (your clothes) should be in the larger sideback because then you can leave your helmet there over the night and therefore you don't need to take that into your room. The smaller sidepack is for other things like sneakers, waterproof riding clothes, medikit or some other shit you might need for the trip. 

Last but not least, a backback. It's useful in any trip, but don't wear it on your back because you will eventually tire your shoulders. Tide it on your saddle behind your back. Best way to do this is to buy a small loading net ment for motorbikes from your local bike shop. 

After the packing etc. we rode through the small center of Osorno to the highway and got the first feeling of the bikes. Luckily the boring highway part of the day, and the only one in the whole trip, ended after 60km and we headed to the Pacific coast. After 30 minutes we ended up to a small village of Los Molinos. Before having lunch in a nice terrace, we went up to the hills and saw the magnificent view to the Pacific ocean.  

The first gravel roads came to us as a small shock between Los Lagos and Panguipulli and They were the worst kind of gravel there is. Big rounded rocks and no real riding lanes in sight and not to mention, it was our first whole day with the new bikes. There were some dangerous situations and at some moments where we wanted for someone else to take the hold of the handles because we could not handle it. Our recommendation is to avoid roads which are not marked in any of the maps clearly with some kind of line, grey or yellow. 

After we had changed our diapers, we got ourselves safely to Pucon next to the famous volcano Villarica. Before heading into the town, you should visit the volcano by riding up there with the bikes. The road is partly a gravel road, but an easy one and fun and the views from the top are breathtaking. 

Route: From Osorno to Pucon

Distance: 390km

Distance traveled total: 390km

Weather: Sunny (+25'c)

The arrival

Arrival to Osorno airport. 4th flight. Tired but it it doesn't matter. The airport is small, don't have to look for luggage for long since there's only one belt. Those 3 blue ikea bags show up, which actually suprised us a bit since we had to ask about them in santiago. As we get out at the parking lot We find Moto Aventura Chile cars waiting for us. They take us to rental station. We see 4 bmw:s at the yard and can't hold ourselves and run to reserve our own. The lady asks us in and we sign the papers. There's only traffic insurance. We damage the bikes, we pay the bikes. There's 2 red, khaki and olive and the bikes are dealed out. There are two steel side bags and a tank bag for each bike. We had no information that there would be tank bags so we had our own and 2 of us used their own and 2 used rental. Me myself had just bought a 40 liter bag wich was way too big for this bike. So we gear up the bikes, the rental personnell take our stuff on a pick up and we follow them to our accommodation Hostal Argentino. It's a house with 2 storage and a few rooms to lend out. We ride our fresh bikes in the yard and settle in our 8 square meter room with 4 beds and unload our equipment. We go to a restaurant next door. This is a rural area and the restaurant is just another house and We are the first quests. They put on the music and an old guy comes to see what we want. We spoke only very poco spanish but we managed to order. We learned that lomo is steak! We ate lomo. The food was all right but the company was great. We ordered a few cervezas. This we knew how to do. After these cervezas We walked back to our hostel and fantasized of mounting a big axe to Juha's bike which we found from the yard. After this We crash and fall asleep.

The planning

The planning for the "Project Patagonia" started with deciding the best time for the trip. There were four guys of us, (Mika, Juha, Mikko and Manu) and we had to find the dates which would suit for all of us.

We chosed Christmas day for the start day cause around Christmas and the new year was anyway more holidays. 

The plan was to drive from Osorno, which is located at about 1000km South from Santiago, the capital of Chile, to the very South of South America, an area in Chile called "fire land", originally "Tierra del Fuego" (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierra_del_Fuego)

and more particularly to a city called Ushuaia, which is the capital of the area. 

(Our actual route varies little bit from the picture below and will be updated when the trip is in the final)

Based on the distance from Osorno to Ushuaia (about 3200-3800km depending on the route) and the experiences of earlier travellers and their blogs, we calculated that we would need 14 driving days (with 230-270km a day).

The second phase was to reserve the bikes. Mika had used Compass Expedition at his Australian trip and their operator in Chile was Moto Aventure. We got the best offer from there. They rent BMW GS 800 and 1200 bikes. Mika had had the GS1200 in Australia but we decided to take the 800's due the more predicted rough terrain on our route. GS800 is little bit lighter (229kg vs 260kg) but offers still enough loading capacity and power for our needs.

Moto Aventura Chile had over 100 bikes in Osorno so it was easy to reserve the bikes for the desired dates. They just needed the reservation payment and after that, the copy of passport, national and international driving license.

Third thing after confirming the bikes was to find the best suitable flights. We flew from Finland and changed the plane in Berlin, Madrid and Santiago. The total duration from Helsinki to Osorno was about 29 hours so it was a bit long. But as we know, when you are heading for an adventure like this, you are too exited to complain about the travelling hours. Also the waiting at the airports is good time for some extra planning.

We planned with Moto Aventura that we would leave the bikes to Punta Arenas, which is located about 440km back to North West from Ushuaia. We reserved one-way flights from Punta Arenas back to Santiago where we would departure back to home.

When the bikes and flights were confirmed, it was time to start to focus on planning more detailed route and also building a list of things we would need at the trip. Mika had very good list already from Australia so that was the base for listing the equipment.

(List coming in English)

We gathered together few times to plan the route in more details. These were good times to search interesting destinations from Google. 

We also found out that we needed to make some compromises between what we wanted to see and experience and how much we had time to drive. We noticed that visiting some places would have taken too much time and also some routes were too slow, for example due the road surface.  Travelling in Chile takes more time than in Argentina cause Chile is like a long archipelago when the west of Argentina is main land and therefor the roads are more straight and fast for driving. So the roughly planned route was a comprimise between desired experiences and realistic time to be used.

The final route was decided during the trip. We made the final decissions of the next days route at the night before. We were fortunate cause the weather didnt affect to planning.

Check out the video from our whole trip here

What Patagonia?

From Wikipedia: 

"Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andesmountains as well as the deserts, steppes and grasslands east of this southern portion of the Andes. Patagonia has two coasts; a western one towards the Pacific Ocean and an eastern one towards the Atlantic Ocean."

Patagonia is considered to be one of the most appreciated destinations by motorcycle riders all over the world. Thats also the reason why we chose to start this "Project Patagonia".

At this moment in Finland the days are short and dark and the weather is cool. So this time of year is a perfect timing to arrange an adventure in a warm, bright, exotic and beautiful location. 

So at this New Years evening we would like to invite you to follow our trip from Osorno to Tierra del Fuego aka "The Land of Fire". 

Check out the video here