Iguazu Falls

November 19, 2010

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….

 November 17, 2010

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.

 November 16, 2010

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..

Potosi and Sucre

November 11, 2010

Today we rode to Sucre, up and over 4 mountain passes. Gorgeous ride, gorgeous views of the mountains and peaks, river valleys and for the most part, gorgeous road. There were a few rough spots but the new payment and twisties made up for the few potholes. We were shook down for tolls at 2 toll booths, 1 only charged us once though and stamped our ticket on our return. The other charged us for $b8 but gave us receipts for $b6 each time. Obviously the pocketed $b4 (FYI $b7 = $1 can)
Then on the way back another robber tried to shake us down for another road tax using an official looking receipt booker and I said no and drove away… Going with John and Sharon to the 4060 pub for dinner tonight. 4060 stands for 4060 meters above sea level. Potosi's name to fame is that its the highest city in the world. We are sleeping at 13,300 ft above sea level. Wow, and you can feel it with every step you take, every beer your drink and the bikes feel it too. They don't have much power up here, but they still have a lot more the the cars we pass. Had to daun our rain gear on the way back from Sucre for a few sprinkles. Its raining heavier since we got back to our room.

Either we are getting used to being down here or Bolivia is looking better than Peru. I know that I said Peru looked better than Chile. Bolivia's road signs are better than Peru but not as good a Chile. As we drive through these small towns, the red mud brick homes aren't as overwhelming as the were when we started our trip. In the large cities, People have money and are all buying cell phones and TVs and computers and and and. Language is still a barrier for us, but we are not as intimidated by the lack of communication as we were in the beginning. People look much the same as people in Canada, just much thinner and shorter. Down here I am an average height for a man and most women are about 5ft to 5ft 2 inch. I see many beautiful young ladies and many well weathered old ladies wearing flat rim, of bowler hats and skirts. Sounds like these people wear these outfits for their religion or to display that they may be indigenous people. Not sure yet. Have no idea how old these old ladies are but if I were to venture a guess I would think about 50…. My age…  I am probably one of the greyest haired people around. These people's hair is jet black and when they do start going grey, only a few side hairs. There is no heat in our hostel room. Currently (5:45pm) the temperature is 58ºf, little cool. Blankets will have to keep us warm tonight. Have noticed many trees that shed their bark here in South America. I thought the Arbutus Trees on the BC coast were the only ones that shed their bark, maybe they were imported from SA many years in the past??? One thing that gets to me down here is the smell of urine. People pee anywhere and everywhere. The smell can be quite strong. Maybe it will get washed away with the rainy season, which is coming soon. Many rivers are dry or down to a trickle. People say they have 2 seasons in South America, Dry season and Rainy season. Reservoirs are empty, prairies are dry, there are more clouds in the sky every afternoon, now. Had a rain and thunderstorm this afternoon.

November 10, 2010

Went for breakfast, that was included in the hotel cost, and met some guys from Belgium driving around in a 4X4 with ultralights and flying over numerous places. They saw us riding the "Death Road" from up above. Also a couple from the US via Malaysia have been riding BMW around North, Central and South Americas for the last 10 months (John and Sharon) Talked with them for a bit and they left before us but we caught up to them along the road and rode with them to Potosi. Very nice people, they are heading to Ushuaia too. We arranged to ride with them to Uyuni and they are heading to Chile while we are heading to Argentina. Turns out Sharon's spanish is very good and she was able to find us a hostel for $b140 ($20can) per night, but no internet. We will meet up with them in Ushuaia for Christmas. Turns out they were in Cusco and met a few of the people we met as well. First time we rode in rain since our trip started, but then it was all of about 20 minutes and then just cloudy. Upon arriving in Potosi, many streets were closed down due to some celebration. Apparently, its a 200 or 300 year celebration of Potosi. If people weren't in the parade, they were watching it and fighting the crowds was stupid. Most or many shops were closed and finding something to eat was difficult, but the challenge was undaunting and finally a restaurant off the beaten path was open.

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Bolivia and "The Road of Death"

November 9, 2010

Left LaPaz and rode to Oruro today. 3 hours of high plains (alta plaino) riding. Our altitude was fairly constant at about 3900 meters (12,800 ft) Roads were better than expected and signage was too. Got into Oruro and needed a small screw for my antenna and directions to a good hotel. These guys helped with both. they were very nice. One guy got directions and drew us a map. Now I'm blogging...

November 8, 2010

"Death Road" here we come. After figuring out how to get unto the highway and running another gambit through another "cluster fuck" which we were much more able to manoeuvre because our side panniers were left at the hotel, therefore much narrower and lighter. We did as the local did and split lanes and weaved between stopped taxis and passed trucks on speed bumps (tapas). Then up up up and away. The pass peached out at 4669 metres (15,400ft) Talked to some people riding mountain bikes, with all the gear and carried on. There was the first Yungas Rd turnoff and as we deliberated about going down it, a bus was coming up. There are no buses allowed on "The Road of Death" so this bus ruled out this first road and we carried on. After Chapata, we noticed some mountain bikers heading down this other road and figured we should follow. Stopped and talked to their guide who confirmed we were on the right road. 1 km further confirmed our insights with this sign confirming the Death road. The road is about 30 kms and it is spectacular. Nearly vertical mountain slopes in many areas and we went from dry alta plaino desert vegetation to jungle vegetation in 50 kms Went from 46ºf @ 3600 meters (11,800ft) to 93ºf @ 1000 meters (3280 ft) in the same time. Rode under a few waterfalls. Then we went up to Coroico, 9kms up lousy gravel and cobblestone. Had lunch there. We ordered hamburgers and after an hour they finally came with no bun. There was no bread in town. Oh well? Then we returned on the new road that was opened in 2007. There is still a lot of repairs needed to the road but quite cool. As we were riding back to the hotel, there were many switchbacks, gravel stretches and repair work. but what a road. At one point the road crested the mountain and you could see gorgeous valleys on either side of the ridge then we went into a 1.4 km long tunnel. It was trying to rain and getting cold and in the tunnel was emergency pull outs where Michael and I stopped and got out our rain gear. Ended up the only thing it was used for was to cut the cold as we ascended to the pass. While ascending, cloud were being blown up the mountain and on 2 occasion the clouds created a visual vortex as they hit the lip of the road. We both commented how cool it looked. You had to be there, i guess…. Back in town, we bought groceries enough for dinner and lunch the next day for $b86 ($12.75can) including 2 beer each.

 November 7, 2010

We moved into LaPaz. After riding around town for a couple of hours trying to find accommodations with wifi, we finally found the one we are at now. Talked to Julie and the WiFi keeps cutting out. What a pain the in then ass. After reading my Lonely Planets book this morning, it sound like internet and ATMs are relatively sparse in Bolivia. So you will get what you get. Tomorrow, we are going to find the "worlds most dangerous road" and ride it if we can. Some have said that only bicycles are allowed down it now, but we will check it out. Tried for 2 hours to hook into the internet this afternoon so that we could talk to friends and family at our house for Miranda's 22nd Birthday Party. We missed out and I am upset with not having access to the internet when we needed very much. Walked up town and found a pizza joint. A large pizza, bread sticks and 2 beer cost $b110 ($15.75can). It was good too. The area of LaPaz we saw is more than I expected. Cleaner and more exciting and we felt quite safe, but didn't take any chances, so we were in before dark.

November 6, 2010

Got our bikes loaded before the tour and was picked up on time. The tour lasted about 3 hours and was very informative. The people who started building these reed rafts (islands) initially headed into the swamps and into reeds to hide from the Spaniards. They developed a culture away from everyone else and eventually started building these rafts. The rafts have a life expectancy of about 25 years and takes a family about a year to build a new one. Tourism is a major supplement to their economy and appears to be doing them very well. One young lady showed us her room that she shares with one of her sisters. Then we had to buy some hand sown pillow sham to help support them.

After getting back from the tour, we got on our bikes and headed for the frontier (border). 2.5 hours later riding over another 4000meter pass, we arrive at the border town and am surprised to see how busy it is. We figured out that many trucks do not cross the border, but instead off load their cargo and put the cargo onto 3 wheeled bicycles with flat decks built on them and people wheel the cargo across the border and reload trucks on the other side. Simply amazing. It took us about 1.5 hours to cross the border and import our bikes, relatively painless and then down the road to LaPaz, Bolivia. We made it to El Alto (a suburb of LaPaz) about 6:30pm their time and what (excuse my Bolivian) a cluster fuck. Taxis off loading and picking up fares 4 lanes wide in each direction. People weaving between stopped and moving cars, People selling their wares, produce ad anything else that might be sellable from the side of streets, middle of streets and bridges… Finally, we needed to find accommodations before dark and asked a taxi to show us to a good hotel with parking. I can only hope that was not one of the better ones in town. The manager could speak english, but there was a night club one floor below us. NOISY or what. Even with my earplugs in, I could still hear the night club and the perpetual honking of taxi horns.

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Machu Picchu

November 3, 2010

Up at 5am to get ready for the tour. Got a taxi ride and then another taxi ride to Aqua Calliente to pick up the train. Were given Train tickets, but was supposed to meet the guide at the Machu Picchu train station. There was no guide, no bus tickets to the top and no entrance fee tickets. Had to call the tour guide who was no help and then talked to some handler who got us the required tickets. All this took 2 hours. We arrive at Machu Picchu and had to wait for an hour for the tour guide (new one) Had a great tour of Machu Picchu and then went back down the mountain to the train station. Apparently there are 2 train companies and we had to wait another 2 hours for ours, who was broken down, so we were piggy backed on the main train company (PeruRail). Our train car had no lights, so we got to watch the fireflies outside. Once off the train, we were to pick up a taxi and they would get paid from our tour operator. He didn't know our tour operator and we had to pay him. We will be going back to the tour operator tomorrow morning for our taxi cab money and also to complain. We could have done this ourselves, saved the hassles and saved time and saved money. Not impressed. The tour company name is "Promotur's" Do yourself a favor and DO NOT USE THEM.

Enough with my rants, I got my taxi fare back this morning. Machu Picchu was very impressive. There are many different types of tours that can be done, from 1 day tours to 11 day hiking tours following the Inka trail. Many people choose a 2 day tour. Our tour guide was very good. We enjoyed him very much. He conveyed that a lot of opinions heard on TV has been disproven and that MAch Picchu was just a regular town with regular people who wanted to farm that area. No gold or silver was found (a sign of royalty) and that only bronze was found which is a sign of the working class. Being perched high in the mountains, this town was very protected from the Spanish, but the town folk left and the Spanish never found Machu Picchu, thats why its so important, because much of the original buildings and history was not taken and or destroyed by the Spanish. It is a very well preserved site and 70% of the sight was still intact after 500 years of earthquakes and looters. Machu Picchu is on the Amazonous side of the mountains and is actually in tropical weather. As we were taking the train from Ollanteybamba to Aqua Calliente, we saw a huge climate and vegetation change. All in all, we enjoyed the day.  

November 2, 2010

Arranged our Machu Picchu tour for tomorrow, then got my rear tire patched from the inside. Went for a ride out to Urubamba and back. Had to dodge rain clouds, but never got wet.

November 1, 2010

Got our riding gear cleaned and found a few bike shops that open. Bought some more chain oil and then washed the bikes. Adrienne showed up about 5:30pm to the same hotel as us without checking out her emails. How lucky! About an hour before Adrienne arrived, JD and Jean from Arizona showed up, so the group of us went the Norton Rat's Tavern for dinner and beer and lots to catch up on.

October 31, 2010

Halloween, A lazy day, said good-bye to a number of bikers that were leaving from the hotel and helped move Dean's sidecar out and hook it up. Had laundry done and took a ride around town to get our bearings and check where the bike shops are. Worked on my blog most of the day.

Cusco

October 30,  2010

We had had to have our bikes out of the restaurant by 7am, so we were up early again, but this appears to be a normal thing cause we go to bed early. We don't like to be out after dark to much. Anyways, we are off down the road with 120kms to Cusco. The first thing to greet us is more heavenly paved twists for about 1/2 hour, then road repairs due to many washouts from there winter weather. More twists, more little towns to slow down for and then before we knew it, Cusco. Wow, 375,000 population. We motored into town and the drivers are the usual crazy. Martina Had warned us that they have helped many people ship there bikes from here because of accidents, so we are on high alert. followed the road into Historic Central and parked to find a internet cafe. We needed to find the Norton Rats Pub because it is owned by and American biker that came down years ago and stayed. He is a mender of Horizons Unlimited and has been in contact with Adrienne. Funny thing, the internet cafe that we stopped at was 4 blocks from the Pub. The pub overlooks the Plaza De Armas central plaza and easy to find. We end up stopping to a a police where to park and he gives us a police escort to a hotel not a block away from the pub. We are here now. The Casa Grande Lodging is rustic, but has been updated. When one is so close to the center of everything, the prices always are reflected for the convenience. At the Hotel , there are 6 other bikes with riders from France, Brazil and Australia. We arrange to meet at the Norton Rats for 6pm. After beer and Hamburgers, Good conversation in English, Michael and I  leave our follow travelers and head to the plaza to watch Halloween Fireworks. Our fireworks displays pail in comparison tho these. They shoot projectiles past the church into the air and massive explosions of light and sound, at t he same time they have these willow racks with fireworks attached going off with things going round and round and up and down and shapes and and and… Thats the day, good night.