I’m heading from Susques, a city in northwestern Argentina, through the Jama border to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.
The distance is about 280km, so it’s not that long.
I leave Susques in the morning.
It’s a wilderness out there
It’s very cold here
I thought about taking a break many times along the way, but the situation would not have changed much if I had stopped, so I persevered and continued on.
After about an hour and 15 minutes, I finally arrived at YPF, just before the border.
I was completely chilled, so I drank coffee here to warm myself up.
I’m going to take a 30 minute break and then head out.
The border is just around the corner from YPF.
I see a lot of trucks here, but they’re just parked, so I’m going to go ahead.
I was given a piece of paper with my license plate number written on it by the attendant at the entrance, so I entered the building on the left.
Inside, the doors are numbered from 1 to 6, so I start with number 1, which is the exit from Argentina.
There were hardly any people there, so I was able to proceed smoothly from the exit from Argentina to Chilean customs.
I had heard that in Chile, you need to subscribe to SOAPEX, a Chilean vehicle insurance, in addition to the regular vehicle insurance, but there was no check here.
Perhaps it is automatically linked to the vehicle.
The insurance is about 8 USD for 10 days, so it is not expensive.
We can declare at customs here, but I declared it in advance on the web, so I gave them the acceptance number.
The website is here → https://dj.sag.gob.cl/declaracion-jurada
I was told, “Please take a photo as it will be necessary until you leave the country,” and was given a piece of paper.
The last step of the procedure is to have your belongings checked.
I had heard that Chilean customs is strict and that you cannot bring in food such as fruit or wood, so I had separated my food and packed it together in one place.
I declared them.
I had heard that wood was also not allowed, so I prepared chopsticks, earpicks, etc. separately, but I was not asked about them.
There was no X-ray check here.
Now, I have entered Chile.
I will continue on to San Pedro de Atacama.
I continued on through the wilderness and in about four minutes crossed the border between Argentina and Chile.
The snow is starting to become noticeable here.
About 100km after I left the Jama border, I crashed at 4,700m altitude, close to the Bolivian border.
The cause was speeding and skidding.
This is my fault.
Luckily, a pickup truck passed by right away, so I asked it to stop. I explained the situation.
Afterwards, a staff member from the University of Tokyo’s research facility in San Pedro de Atacama passed by, and I was lucky enough to be able to explain the situation to him in Japanese.
My motorcycle engine wouldn’t start, so he helped me load it onto his truck.
And then I was driven to San Pedro de Atacama.
I was told that Uyuni is just beyond that mountain.
Is it possible to drive a motorcycle through this area?
I will write about the damage to the motorcycle and how to repair it in my next article.
Date of the trip: April 24, 2025
