Check out the pics of Argentina
Igauzu Falls. National Park, charged $A85p for park entrance fee but much less for locals. Checked out the park and walked the pathways to the falls. Very impressive. We took a tour boat on the bottom of the falls and the boat went right under them, got us absolutely soaked, drenched, first the front of the boat then the sides, then the back. Not one person came away anything but totally soaked to the bone. Water was warm and it felt great. Lots of fun….
November 18, 2010
Rode hard 800kms to Peurto Iquazu and found a place to stay. Very flat ride until midday. After that we started getting into rolling hills with many Pine tree farms. Lots and lots… Rolling hills and vegetation makes me feel more at home and comfortable. Temperature is getting much warmer now, riding at about 93ºf and need more water. Gas stations in Argentina now have bottled pop and water and the ones we have stopped at now have food to eat. Nice little town. Had a great dinner and then decided to get my hair cut. Got it cut by a gay guy who charged me $A40p ($10can) to give me a buzz cut. Not too impressed with double pricing….
Michael wants to ride hard and make Iguazu Falls in 2 days. He is leading today. Give him some taste of getting through towns and maneuvering traffic with someone following. He did pretty good except for the times Dad was second guessing him. We left JuJuy at an altitude of 1300 meters and followed route 16 down to 60 meters. We road most of the day on flat flat land. The roads were straight and boring other than the odd rough spots. Arrived in a little town of Quitillpi and stayed at the only hotel in town. Actually quite nice. Right beside a Shell truck stop, they had to change sheets before we were allowed in. Had to go drink some beer and stopped at this store with tables out front. Some loco locals too. They were fun and friendly. They had to sit on our bikes and get photos with us and chat in bad spanish. Gave them each a Canada pin and became best friends. They left before us and bought our beer. Other people came up to us shook our hands, asked where we were from and going. Very friendly town.
Maintenance day. Oil needed changing, Air filters needed service after all the dusty roads and where we parked had a car washing stall so we cleaned our bikes. The lady from the hotel gave us 2 coat hangers for use as antennas for our CBs cause every rough road eats them. I reconfigured the antenna mounts and installed new antennas. Immediately different in Argentina. Road signage is better, road are too. People are much larger, in height and girth. They look more like north American people in color of skin and hair. Same spanish, no english….
November 15, 2010
Border crossing day. We road from Tupiza to the Argentina border. More dust, more road construction. There was some kind of public transit protest this morning and buses and taxis were blocking roads all over town. We were able to squeeze past and head out of town. At a gas station, she charged us $b7.15/litre for fuel instead of $b3.74, what a rip-off. Then another road robber wants $b50 each to pass down the road. We told them that we just got robbed from the gas station and had no money, they shook our hands and let us go. From Tupiza in the Alta Plano (3800meters) the road defends to the border and about 2500meters. At the border immigration was easy until we wanted to import our bikes. No insurance, no pass into Argentina. We had to take a taxi into Argentina (after exchanging money in Bolivia) to buy insurance, leaving our bikes at the border. There were border guards there so nothing happened to the bikes but all the same, not a lot of fun. After getting insurance, no problems, we rode to San Salvador de Juyuy and spent 2 nights.
November 14, 2010
Chris and a tour bus driver (Graham) explain the route that we want to take to directly to Tupiza is extremely rough. Graham says he broke 4 shocks and other suspension stuff on his bus driving the road. Says there is sand, washboard 1 foot deep in places and we should go back to Potosi and down to Tupiza on that route. We accept his opinion and ride the Devil we know instead of the devil we don't know. It takes Michael and I 3 3/4 hours to ride to Potosi. We were much slower on the way in because we rode with John and Sharon who are 2 up and travels slower. The route to Potosi is supposed to be 50% finished and to Tupiza is supposed to be 70% finished. Maybe Potosi is 50% but Tupiza is not 70% finished. Hard ride for the day and lots and lots of dust. Sometimes we would catch up to trucks and the dust was so bad that we could not safely pass. We would sit back and try not to eat dust, but that was futile. Finally we could pass them in small towns while they slow for Tapas, we would stand on our pegs and blast over them. The road was long and desolate. Very few towns or people between Potosi and Tupiza.
November 13, 2010
Ride the Salar. John and Sharon convinced us to ride the Salar with them today instead of driving on and off. The road from Uyuni to Colchani is extremely rough. The locals have made new paths in the sand around the road, sometimes 5 or more trails. Colchani is where you enter the Salar because they have built a road out to the salt. Even though the lake is dry, it rains in the rainy season and can sometimes have over 1 inch of water on the salt flats. The road from Colchani to the salt is 5kms long. Think about how flat that is??? Once on the salt, we head for the volcano on the north shore of the lake some 80kms away. Again, surprisingly, the salt is not as flat as you might expect. We eventually get up to about 80kms/hr which smooths out the bumps. Riding on the Salar is like snowmobiling on a lake. The big difference is that salt is very angular and not slippery, even though your mind tells you it is. An hour later, we arrive at the volcano, take some pics and head south to Isle of Pescado. Then ride back to Colchani on a well traveled Salt road. Chris, the hotel owner's husband, and restaurateur is from Boston. He speaks english and tells us that huge Lithium deposits have been found under the Salar De Uyuni. Sounds like 60% of the world's Lithium, and that is why road improvements are underway. He says there have been many changes in Uyuni in the past 10 years. To extract the Lithium, they are going to pump water in to liquefy the Lithium to extract it. John, a geologist, says this could create problems for the Salar as the minerals are removed. May never be the same, so you should visit it before the damage is done. After getting back to Uyuni, we got directions to the Train Cemetery and checked it out. Pretty cool! Then we found a truck wash and had the salt rinsed off our bikes. Back at the hotel, we met, Laura and Tom from Seattle. I had conversed with Laura on Horizons Unlimited before leaving on the trip. Wow, what a small world.
November 12, 2010
Today we ride to Uyuni with John and Sharon. The road is under construction and we really don't know what that means, but will find out. Maps suggest that it should take 7 hours, but people tell us it should take less because we are on bikes. The first 50kms are very good and then comes the gravel. dust and more dust. We all spread out to keep from eating too much, but the traffic the other way fills us full. Then we hit our first patch of sand, John and Sharon are down. Then Michael. I forgot to get "the pic" and go to help. Father instincts. Michael is okay, but he broke the latch off the right saddle bag. 1 tie down later and the pannier is back on, ready to ride. John and Sharon are okay and dig themselves out. I take the lead. The rest of the trip is gravel, punctuated by paved stretches, punctuated by detours around unfinished bridges, or culverts or top sealing or road that hasn't been started to be upgraded yet. Many very rough sections with powered dirt 3-6 inches deep. The trip takes 5.5 hrs and Uyuni is in sight. Find a nice hotel after checking out a few. Surprisingly, The hotels tend to be relatively expensive. Tontino Hotel is nice and the owners can speak English. Chris makes the best breakfast we have had on our tour, to date. From Boston, he knows a great coffee, Most coffee that we have been given is instant coffee mixed way too strong and served with condensed milk. Horrible shit... Chris purculates his and it tastes great, then eggs and pancakes for breakfast along with other fruits and juices and breads and pastries. The BEST... Worth the extra for the hotel room..
