My wife son and I are planning trip to South America all on Dr 650,s
and my question is has any one travelled north on Brazil hwy # 174 from
Bao Vista to hwy #10 to Upata in Argentina on the maps there seems to
be a gap showing there is nothing there.
If there is a road what kind of condition is it in.

Thanks for any info
Michael

Sorry.!!
After reading my thread I realized my mistake saying Argentina instead of Venezeula.

If you go to google maps and follow Brazil hwy BR174 north to the boarder of
Venezeula you will see a gap and the you will see hwy # 10 continueing
north until it reaches Upata notfar from Ciudad Bolivar.
I would like to travel this way if I knew the roads were connected.

Thank you for your reply I've started two threads regarding this
and you are the only reply , I'm asuming not many people take this
route.

Michael

I just crossed over here today and this border has a few more intresting bits to it than most other simple big border south of here. I spent 4 hours having fun with stupid things close to the border so here are some tips. I met up with Brazil Riders in Manaus and they said that they just changed the procedure slightly so here is a description.

What I did:
Visit Policia Federal, Brazil - 1 minute to get a stamp
Visit Receita Federal, Brazil for temp export - 30 minutes
Went to Venezuelan side
Took 5 mins to get Police stamp and 90 days for myself
Thought well this is going smooth...well no more
Asked for aduana and was told that many people are here, please come back at least an hour later
Went back to no mans land and had lunch
Returned and was told I needed insurance
Had bike, driving license and passport papers copied three times
Got a bill of 259.10 Bolivars to pay but the bank at the border didn´t change money
Returned back to Brazil, Omnibus terminal and changed money with guys on the street. Got 2 Bolivars for 1 Real which is a very good rate (twice current fx rate)
Back to aduana, payed insurance (seguro) at bank and got insurance letter printed
Sorted out temp import papers at aduana (not bad - 30 mins)
Left happy and went to Santa Elena
Realized that gas is very cheap in Venezuela but all gas station were out of gas.
Had to return to no mans land between the borders where the only gas station is and where the military let 5 cars in at the time
Now heading north and heard that there should be gas 150km north

What you should do:
Get Bolivars ahead of time or first change with guys at omnibus station on Brazilian side
Visit Policia Federal
Visit Receita Federal
Fill up gas on the way to Venezuela
Visit Policia in Venezuela and get stamp
Go to the insurance office and buy insurance
Go to aduana and sort out import papers

A general question that someone else might know: The ATMs here ask for two digits from your "personal number" when I try to use them (in addition to the pin code). Well I don´t have a personal number attached to my card so has anyone figured this out? Or are there any special banks to use in any special city like ciudade bolivar for instance?

(edit: Noted in http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ight=Venezuela that one should try any two numbers. That hasnt worked so far so we´ll see if it will be some black market fun unless anyone else knows anything more)

__________________
Broadcasting my trips around the world on
http://swedishrider.com