Hello everyone!

[bayVWindow]

Hello everyone!<br>My name is Hugo, I'm 64, born and living in Brazil, and glad to be part of this forum. <br>I am not sure that everybody knows that the old T2 VW baywindow Kombi model (with some modifications such as water cooled 1.4 cm3 engine) is still beeing produced in this country...<br>I am planning to retire&nbsp;by the end of the year, and&nbsp;buying a brand new Kombi T2 panel van for stealth modifications.<br>The idea is to travell by myself down through the south o Brazil, a wonderfull region, cross to Argentina, and climb the 5.500 m. of the Andes Jama pass to the Atacama desert in Chile. From there, down de Pacific coast until a bit after Santiago, the capital, and crossing back the Andes (at a lower level!) into the splendid lake region of Argentina, proceeding to the glaciers, until Ushuaia, the tip end of South America, called "The city of the end of the world". From there you may arrange excursions to Antartica just in front.<br>Then, a (slow) way back by&nbsp;bordering the Atlantic coast up to Buenos Aires, a ferry boat to Uruguai, and finally, back to Brazil. It is a 15.000 km trip and I have it all planned (day distances, stopping and camping points, etc...) should anyone be interested. Attached are&nbsp;my&nbsp;drawings for&nbsp;the simple VW conversion I plan&nbsp;doing. Depending on how things work out during the trip, why not consider moving on to the&nbsp;northwest of Brazil, than into the Amazon, Bolivia, Peru, etc...................<br>

 

[MargaretA]

Hugo, that sounds wonderful! I've seen Michael Palin's documentaries on some of the areas you mentioned and they look incredible. He did an excursion to Antarctica on his "Pole to Pole" trip but that was about 20 years ago so it's nice to see they're still operating.<br><br>You have a lot of travel opportunities there. Enjoy them all and make sure you keep us up to date with them (maybe start a blog?)<br><br>Welcome to the forum.<br><br>Meg<br><br>

 

[bayVWindow]

Hi Meg!<br><br>Things certainly have changed a lot in the last 20 years, since Palin's trip. Not everything to the best, but at least road conditions, safety and support along the way are much, much, better now...<br><b>Perito Moreno</b>'s glacier and the lakes in <b>Bariloche </b>are worth beeing checked out on the web for their extraordinary beauty.<br><br>Thank you very much for your warm welcome words.<br><br>Hugo<br>

 

[Khaosinc]

WOW, I'm jealous of your planned travel.&nbsp; I tried something like this 15 years ago but language issues and car troubles with available fuel had me chickening out. <br><br>I'm curious about the modern VWs.&nbsp; I've never known, or owned one to go more than 15-20k miles with out issues, but I've only dealt with American rebuilds.&nbsp; Are they that more reliable now?&nbsp; I loved my old '57 (owned 25 years ago when I was just learning about cars) but even with a new crate motor and trans, it didn't last through high school<br><br>

 

[cyndi]

<FONT size=3>Welcome, Hugo!&nbsp; Your trip sounds amazing and I hope you'll start a blog, on- line travel journal or keep us updated, here (with plenty of pictures).</FONT><br><FONT size=3></FONT>&nbsp;<br><FONT size=3>I'm also looking forward to hearing more about your Kombi, having only seen thime on TV.</FONT><br>

 

[Guest]

Welcome Hugo and very nice to have a family member from Brazil!&nbsp; I think your trip sounds great! <br>Enjoy,<br>Bri<br><br>

 

[bayVWindow]

Hello guys!<br><br>Thank you all for the kind welcome.<br>Although I will try doing my best, you will still have to, sometimes, excuse my spelling of your language. <br>Yes, tks. The current model is very similar to the one&nbsp;you've posted. The one in the picture was the last&nbsp;model built in 2005 with the traditional air cooled 1.600 cm3 boxer engine. A special "silver edition"&nbsp;(as pictured) was issued to&nbsp; celebrate 48 years of continuous production of a same model.<br>From 2006 up to today, the Kombi mounts a 1.4 cm3 water cooled engine that runs on gasoline and/or ethanol. Brazil is the biggest ethanol (from sugar cane) producer in the world, which also makes the&nbsp; "old lady", a very up to date "green" car. Actually ,"she" turns out a few HP more on ethanol...<br>cyndi and khaosinc, on the adress below:<br><br><A href="" target=_blank></A><br><br>You will be able to see the current model. It's a panel van with no windows in the back, which makes it ideal for a stealth conversion.&nbsp;Today they are very reliable (they must have learned something at VW after building the same model for 53 years!) and srong. More than 5.000 were sold to England where a company called Danbury Motorcaravans, <br><br><A href="http://www.danburymotorcaravans.com/" target=_blank>http://www.danburymotorcaravans.com/</A><br><br>transform them into lovely and cozy motorhomes.&nbsp;<br>So, by what I understand from bk2valve, I'm the first brazilian to join the family? Jesus, what a responsibility! <br><br>So long everybody,<br>Hugo<br><br>

 

[Butternut]

Hugo, welcome! Sounds like an awesome plan<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br><a target="_blank" href="http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com"><br>-The Tuckerbag</a><br><br>

 

[bayVWindow]

Thank you Butternut!<br>Butternut In portuguese is "abóbora" (ah-boh-boh-ra), and usualy, are very sweet and tasty...<br>Yeah, it's one of those plans that you will certainly regret the rest of your life&nbsp;for not doing it!<br>I'm enjoying "The Tuckerbag" a lot, and I think that you are a very brave girl.<br>Take care,<br>Hugo<br><A href="http://encontreinanet.info/images/Conheaamaiorabborade850kg_CE30/abbora.jpg" rel=lightbox target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" height=260 alt=abóbora src="http://encontreinanet.info/images/Conheaamaiorabborade850kg_CE30/abbora_thumb.jpg" width=234 border=0></A><br>

 

[dreamsinabay]

Wow...How very exciting! <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"> We have a 1979&nbsp; VW Baywindow and love it, and can only imagine what it's like to have a new one. Welcome and good luck!<br>

 

[4x4tour]

Hey Hugo, <br><br>That sounds like an awesome trip.&nbsp; It sure would be fun to join you <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp;&nbsp; Im about 50 percent done with mine... <br><br>AJ<br><br>

 

[bayVWindow]

Thanks dreamsinabay,<br><br>Mechanicaly our buses may differ quite a bit, but the body work is exactly the same! You mention in your blog that,&nbsp;although you are in&nbsp;your 20's, you believe that life is short... Can you imagine what I think about that? Hahaha....&nbsp;<br>Good luck to you too!<br>H<br><br>Hi 4X4tour,<br><br>Everything turning out well, I shall not get going until around may (springtime) 2012.&nbsp;What are your whereabouts (North or South America?) and how long will it take to cover the remaining 50%?<br>H<br><br>I shall be needing your knowledge on the best/safest way to heating the bus, since&nbsp;our winter is mild, and&nbsp;I don't&nbsp;have any experience in this matter.<br>