From Río Gallegos, Argentina, through Chile to Río Grande

My motorcycle trip this time took me from Río Gallegos to Río Grande in southern Argentina.

This distance is approximately 375 km.

To reach Tierra del Fuego, I must first enter Chile and take a ferry from Punta Delgada.

Before departure, I will pre-declare with Chilean Customs (SAG) online.

By the way, I’ll take care of the ferry payment too.

The motorcycle fare is CLP 9,000, approximately USD 1.61.

It seems to be valid for six months from the date of purchase.

Well, I’m all set, so I’m leaving Río Gallegos.

I reached the city center in about 10 minutes.

From here to Monte Aymond on the Chilean border is about 65 km, roughly an hour.

I’ll just keep going straight on the RN3 towards the border.

The wind was light that day, so I reached the border in less than an hour.

Here, I will only be departing Argentina.

I will enter the building and complete immigration and customs procedures.

Since the procedures start at 8 a.m., I’ll wait in line.

First, I complete departure procedures at immigration.

I present my passport, my Paraguayan Cedula, and the motorcycle’s ownership card, the Cedula Verde.

In Argentina, whenever I show my Cedula, I’m always told, “We don’t need your passport.”

Is this because Argentina is part of Mercosur?

I received my departure papers and exited the country.

Next, I proceed to customs.

Here, I submitted my Cedula and Cedula Verde.

The number of stamps on the paper increased.

I need to be careful not to lose this, as I will present it upon entering Chile.

As soon as I cross the border into Argentina, I will enter Chile.

The roads are constructed differently in Argentina and Chile.

I’ll be at Chilean immigration in less than a minute.

I will enter this facility.

First, I’ll go through immigration to enter Chile.

Here, I was only asked, “Where are you going?”

Another paper stamp was added.

This is the usual Chilean police immigration receipt.

I need to be careful not to lose it until departure.

Here, the customs paperwork has increased.

For some reason, my nationality is listed as Paraguay, but I don’t mind the details.

This is a Latin country.

Then at customs, another stamp was added to the paper.

Then I’ll leave the facility and move to have the vehicle inspected.

Here, I’ll open two packages and be done.

I hand the stamped paper to the attendant at the exit and depart.

It’s about 55 km from the Chilean border to Punta Delgada, where the ferry departs.

I arrived in about 30 minutes.

This ferry is bigger than I thought.

The boarding order is buses, trucks, passenger cars, and motorcycles.

I will wait following the instructions of the traffic controller.

Here comes some bad news for me.

A motorcycle that arrived later cut in front of me, so I had to wait for the next ferry.

Since many motorcycles come from behind, once cars start boarding the ferry, I need to stand by and signal to the orange-clad staff.

And I boarded an hour later.

The ferry can pack in quite a lot of cars.

The approximately 20-minute boat ride is free time.

We need to be careful to settle our payment before disembarking.

Even if I’ve prepaid, I still need to go to the payment counter and have them scan my QR code.

I was able to get a receipt at the payment counter.

I have arrived at the opposite shore and will disembark.

From here to San Sebastián, the next border crossing into Argentina, is about 154 km.

This is the longest distance on this leg of the journey.

All the other riders have large motorcycles exceeding 1000cc.

They’re fast, and I envy them.

I arrived at the COPEC station in Cerro Sombrero in about 30 minutes.

I’ll refuel here.

They only have Super here.
The price is CLP 1.455/L, about USD 1.56.

In Santiago in October, premium was CLP 1.331/L, so this price for regular is way too high!

And I set off.

When I head toward Porvenir, I usually turn right here, but this time I’m turning left.

And after entering Chile, I reached the border in less than two hours.

I enter the building.

Here, I will first depart Chile.

My PDI documents were collected.

Then I receive the stamped paper.

Next up is customs.

More stamps on the paper.

My procedures on the Chilean side are now complete.

I will proceed to the Argentine border next.

The wind is strong on Tierra del Fuego, but not as much as in Santa Cruz Province.

The roads on the Argentine side often have potholes, so I need to be careful.

About ten minutes after leaving the Chilean border, I arrived at the Argentine border.

Here I completed the final procedures.

As usual, I proceed first to immigration, then customs.

Another stamp has been added to my paper.

This will be collected when I pass through the building on my motorcycle.

The stamp’s date is one day old, but this is Latin America, so I shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.

There’s a YPF right after we leave here, so I’ll fill up.

They don’t have Infinia here either, only Super.

The price is AR$1.253/L, about USD 0.87.

The Argentine side has the same price range as the mainland.

It’s a difference of USD 0.64 per liter compared to the Chilean side.

Therefore, we need to fill our spare tank with gasoline in Río Gallegos and avoid refueling at gas stations on the Chilean side.

It’s about 80 km from here to Rio Grande.

I’m making my final push.

I arrived in Rio Grande in about an hour.

I’ll head straight for the square in the city center.

I arrived at Square.

This trip covered a fair distance, but with stops for paperwork and such along the way, it didn’t feel that long to me.

My actual driving time was about 4 hours and 30 minutes, but it took me nearly 8 hours to reach my destination.

The atmosphere around here is unstable, but luckily for me, it didn’t rain and the wind wasn’t too strong.

The journey itself wasn’t particularly enjoyable for me, but it was good that I didn’t get bored.

Next, I’m heading to Ushuaia, where I’ll go to a workshop to fix the clutch pedal issue.

Travel Date: November 25, 2025