We made the short ride from Valapariso today to Santiago. Being a Sunday, there was minimal traffic and the ride into the city was easy.

Santiago is a very nice, clean, modern city that would rival any Western city. In many ways, I think it’s actually nicer.. I’d totally live here if I had a decent paying job (Chile is super expensive!). The weather is also perfect this time of the year. We met back up with Andy and Jurgen at the hostel and spent the rest of the day just hanging out.

The next day was entirely spent getting some much needed work done on the moto. I rode over to the BMW moto dealer and they were able to get my bike in right away. Awesome! On the list of the things to do: Oil change, check valve clearance, new spark plugs, fix leaking valve cover gasket, and purchase a new fork seal/fork oil. By 1800, the moto was ready. They even did a few extra things like clean/lube the chain and the cables. Thanks guys!

The next day we were going to hang around the city and relax a bit. We only booked one night at the hostel and it had filled up, so we had to go find another place. We moved a few blocks down to the La Chimba Hostel (I recommend this place) and the remainder of the day I sorted photos/worked on the blog. Nothing too interesting. I also discovered a nail in my tire. The first puncture of the trip? Nope, I was lucky.. It was only a short piece of a nail and it hadn’t actually penetrated the internal tube. Lucky!

During my time in Santiago, I discovered a new favorite food, Palta Reina. It’s basically a sliced avocado that’s stuffed with chicken salad. Throw in some sliced tomatoes, a hard boiled egg, palm hearts, rice and it’s a complete meal. Very good.

Tomorrow it’s over into Argentina!