Chile to Bolivia
 

I'm currently in Iquique, Chile. Planning to go to Bolivia in the next few days. Can anyone advise me as which border crossing has a better road to travel.:scooter:

I crossed from Arica Chile to Bolivia 2 weeks ago , stunning road from sea level to 4700 metres, all asphalt , easy border, fuel available in Putre, Chile just before the border, left at 8am and into Ororu by 5pm easy, 300 miles, la Paz even closer

hi Zippo,
Thanks for the information.
Did you say that you set off from Arica at 8am and reached Oruro at 5pm?
Is it cold along the way? I'm travelling 2up with my wife as pillion, with quite a heavy load. Do you think I should make it a 2 days ride?

It can get chilly around Putre, and if the cloud drops then visibility is reduced. If you want to stop on the way, head to Putre. Some nice little gaffs there. Don't try to stop in Patacamaya, Bolivia, what rooms that are available are sparse ...... (but cheap :-) )

I went from Uyuni to Calama a few weeks ago. There are many miles of dirt, and it's a long distance without gas. If you have a smaller tank, you'll need to carry extra. The ride was beautiful, but very cold. The border was fairly easy, except that they made me wait for four hours for no apparent reason. And there really isn't anywhere to stay. And from what I've read, sometimes the bolivian immigration officials aren't there at the border, but you can get immigration done in Uyuni.

Anyway, if you're heading to Uyuni you **might** consider this one, but those are the obstacles in the way.

Some pics and stuff: Travel Map | Places I've Traveled Along My Motorcycle Trip

I was riding with some folks who were 2 up on a well loaded GS and they didn't seem to have any problems, regarding the temperature, we had an excellent day, sure it was chilly at the top, there is a lake up there which was partially frozen but on a sunny day the cold wasn't really a problem. You could stop over in Putre as someone one suggested, it's a nice village in a quirky way, but I imagine it could be a cold night! Just make sure you get a really good clear dry day and you shouldn't have any problems. Eventually you will arrive on the main road between la Paz and Oruro in Bolivia where fuel is available, note this main road is currently being constructed/repaired and has 100 miles of roadworks in th Oruro direction and 30 or 40miles of roadworks in the la Paz direction. Alternatively you could go San Pedro de Atacama Chile to Argentina via paso de jama and north into Bolivia at la Quiaca . Be careful in Bolivia we had a lot of problems with road closures due to protests which were quite aggressive and caused lots of delays and detours!

Thanks for all the info guys.
I've been travelling from Vaparaiso all the way north till Iquique, except one day I tried the Argentina pass from Laserena. So far so good. But one thing worries me is that I'm unable to get an insurance for my motorcycle. Every town or city I entered, I asked around, but I was only offered local (Chile) insurance, none has international (south america) coverage. Can any one advise me where can I get the insurance in Iquique?

road blocks and insurance
 

I always bought local insurance, country by country. If anyone has experience buying "all south America" insurance that is legit, please post here.

A year ago March I was trying to leave La Paz, Bolivia to head for Peru. There was a strike at the top hill on the main highway leading out of La Paz, so I was at the bottom facing a closed road. It took over an hour to find my way towards the top, going a route that I would not suggest to my worst enemy. I rejoined the highway not far from the top where light traffic could be observed going up the hill. Soon I came to realize that small buses were simply going to the top of the hill, dropping off passengers and turning around a the point where the protesters were blocking the road. A line of women were sitting on the road. Police and military were present, but their role seemed to be focused on maintaining calm. Surveying the situation I noticed a gap in the blockade were pedestrians were flowing through. I asked a cop if I could cross and got an inconclusive answer, so I rode slowly along with the foot traffic and no one stopped me. Not being part of the target of the day helps.

Months before I crossed five road blockades in Brazil, south of Recife. At each road block I humbly asked if I could pass and each time branches were moved out of the way and I was allowed to continue on. Sometimes there were a few moments of discussion and other times I was allowed through immediately. Generally, those that are protesting don't have issues with tourist. They are stopping commercial traffic or the movement of their countrymen. Sometime there is a hothead that is wound up, but in my experience cooler heads prevail if you are friendly, smiling, maybe offer a smoke or raised fist in solidarity. At worst you have to turn back, but I would suggest hanging out and enjoying the show for a while. Take it in, you may never see anything like it after you get home.

Oh yeah, miles before I encountered the first road block in Brazil, a guy was trying to tell me there were problems ahead, but my Portuguese was minimal (it really sucks) so I just kept going. At several points teenagers stationed at the last intersection before the road blocks tried to get me to detour. I ignored them. Even after the second or third road block I decided detouring off the main road to transverse the countryside would be a mess, so I just kept going forward... I lost some time, but was not deterred by protests. Your mileage may differ.

Did you take the ruta 5? How is the trip up north after La Serena? I'm still not sure to go north by Chile or cross over into Argentina and take the high roads up to Salta.

route 5
 

I took mostly route 1 ( the coastal road), very nice and beautiful, some part are un-paved but good solid dirt road. only 1 section about 30Km after Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe, there's a patch of sand pool just after a turn, which caught me by surprise (I fell). I travelled some part on route 5, very well constructed road, but seems a little boring.

Chile to Bolivia
 

Yeah Ruta 5 is full of trucks, appalling drivers and cops. Did you find much traffic by comparison on ruta 1? Were there any good camping sites?

Cheers!
rtw

If you are talking about wild camping, anywhere along ruta 1 is good, as for proper camp site, they are mostly near or in a town. I didn't really visit the camp site but only 1 in Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe. It is off season, so I and my wife are the only soul in the camp ground.