Grabbed a ferry late morning and headed north to P. Montt - what a shit-berg - kind'a a combination of the best of Stockton and Bakersfield (if that's possible, but with more malodors). After visiting four moto shops and two places that supposedly specialized in tires I called in my stop-loss and left town. Even the KTM dealer, who had my exact bike in stock, didn't have a clue where to get tires for it.
Rode north for a few hours through forests being clear cut and burnt - they are planting euchalyptis (its a mystery).
Arrived Temuco and discovered a remarkably nice city - about 50 km out the sky got real dark so I raced into town to beat the rain - and just made it. As I was cruising to the central plaza (the place I always start my search for activity and lodging) I discovered the calle de motos. I found my tires at the first place I stopped - they were closing so installation is first thing in the morning.
The clock has 4850 miles on it so far this trip.
Weather permitting I might push into Santiago tomorrow. It will be a hard ride as you can't speed here - as in - CAN NOT - I passed through 5 radar speed traps , 4 toll plazas (each with a police/military crew doing random checks) and several roadsid police stations with men just standing on the side of the road looking for an excuse to pull you over - I don't get it - why do these people tolerate this and how do they justify the expense? They have got to have the highest ratio of cops in the world - then again they aren't paying for two overseas invading armies and a fictional war on terror so perhaps this version of "safety" is a bargain.
Walked back to the plaza this evening and found a great parilla so I'm having a Pisca Sour with my steak and salad and spectacular service too (ok, I'll say it: the Chileans aren't very good on the hospitality front - and its relatively expensive too).
A nice conclusion to a travel day.
Nick
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