Maybe you've already ridden a lot of places in the northern half of South America, so you want something new, but during our trip from Canada to Patagonia , Patagonia was easily the least interesting place to ride, IMHO. For that kind of time frame there are a number of places that you can rent bikes in Peru, Columbia of Ecuador.

Interesting. I haven't asked too many people who have done it before, we just thought Patagonia looked amazing. What made it so boring? Or rather, what was better about the northern half of South America?

ameen did you already planned your trip to chile argentinia and Patagonia?? I am planning a trip, it must be amazing!! it's a bit last minute to plan everything :-) but it must be an amazing region. I will also take a tent along. How are your preparations going? kind regards, Anita

"While Argentina has a lot to offer it is now in really hard times. 10 years of what amounted to bad economic policy has put Argentina in a weird place. Gas is not always a guarantee, the ATMs limit withdraws, food is not always the best and not everything is available. Its just kinda a mess right now and the southern part will be worse than any of the major cities in the north."

Absolute tosh...it isn't California....but the above comments are a wild exageration

My experience is the opposite, Chile has been gutted by a colapse in copper prices and you can see that their road infrastructure is a mess. They build so slowly that the roads are falling apart faster than they can be replaced.
Road: Arica to Bolivia, carretera austral; where not paved is hit and miss, further the road builders have no consideration for fellow citizens and don't post warnings of road works so getting stuck for 3 hours while they are dynamiting the road ahead is not unusual..

Comparing Chilean food with Argentine food is just stupid, unless you are addicted to salmon.
Notes from diary whilst in Chile...
Dinner pizza and wine, food now even more stupidly expensive unless you eat at a stand in the plaza. Restaurants (in Chile) are idiotically expensive and have a snobbish attitude so I can only suppose the the locals seldom go out which may be the case as they do dress up.

ATM's in argentina are limited to U$S 200 per transaction, how many transactions and total amount per day is up to your bank.

Gas stations ARE far apart, always fill up....Argentine patagonia is larger than the whole of Chile, and it is empty, keep that in mind as you scoot past any gas station

in other words, there is not anyone selling an adventure bike between Santiago and Orsono.
anyway, enjoy your trip. "Don't worry. Beeee happy!"
and ...

"suerte!"

Wild exaggeration?? Those were 100% my actual experiences in Argentina. Without a doubt they are going though really hard times, and it can be felt.

I am not sure when you passed through Chile or Argentina but I was traveling on both sides just this year, in February. So my info is pretty current. YPF absolutely was having a hard time keeping gas in the stations as we went to several which were out of gas completely or had just been refilled and had a long line.

The ATM limited withdraws, it happened. They also would only accept VISA. nothing else, whichj if you do not have a VISA CC makes life hard. Especially when they limit cash withdraws. Not sure why you are getting up in arms. If you are Argentine, which I doubt with your use of the word "tosh", you would agree that Argentina is having troubles.

As far as your negative comments about Chile. you pointed out two areas of Chile that are known for having dirt roads and that is part of the reason many folks want to ride here, The Carretera Austral is an amazing part of the world and makes for great riding. I am sorry you got stopped near Cerro Castillo for the road work. But that section of Chile Ruta 7 was the only road construction I passed through the whole time I traveled there. Its a real easy fix, ride that section early or late. Rio Tranquilo will be there no matter the time.

As far as food goes, if you know what to order in Chile the food is great. It sounds to me like you wanted or expected something different.

Sucks for you.