Buenos Aires

November 26, 2010

Got acquainted with the other hostel residents and then took taxi into town to the Spanish School. We are blind. It was directly across the street from our coordinates of a day earlier. Got an assessment and found out that we know nothing (duh) so we start on Monday for a week of Spanish classes. Got to meet Gus after classes were out. Went for beer and met a fellow classmate of Gus', James. Took a bus back to the hostel for $1.25pesos. Went to dinner and got totally ripped off.  Told the waiter we were hungry and got a seafood stew for 2 for $155pesos. The bowl was not enough for 1 let alone 2 and was mostly Mussels (cheap seafood) and then they wanted to charge a service charge for the bread, with no butter… I bitched, ripped up the check and threatened to walk out, security was brought in and I got the service fee taken off the bill, NO TIP.. Not impressed. Appears to be expensive in BA so will have to watch.

November 25, 2010

Got ready for Javier and removed our wheels. He arrived and took the tires to a tire shop for re and re. We went for a walk to get more money to pay for the tires and lodging. Installed the tires.  New chain and sprocket went on Michael's bike. His were still serviceable so we kept them in case of emergency, down the road. 2pm we left Dakar Moto for down town. GPS sent us in the wrong direction and we finally got back on track. Road into downtown Buenos Aires to GPS coordinates of Spanish school where we are to meet Gus (BCer from McBride area, Javier gave us his email) couldn't find school so got dinner and headed to,  Uli and Annaleen's recommended hostel. Boy is this town large, hot and difficult to drive in. Had to play local, split lanes, ride around buses and taxis.

November 24, 2010

Had breakfast with Uli and Annaleen, chatted with Javier after he arrived and said our goodbyes to Uli and Annaleen. They are heading to Ushuaia from here and are meeting Annaleen's parents in Puerto Arenas in the middle of December. We may see them on our way down. Javier and I had lots to talk about and after he left to go paint his house, Michael and I went for a walk to get cash and find a bike wash. Found both and took our bikes for a bath. 30 pesos each to have the bikes pressure washed and hand cleaned. Nice to have clean bikes. Met Sandra when they came to the shop that evening, had a nice visit.

November 23, 2010

Rode to Buenos Aires today to Dakar Moto. Just getting into town, highway traffic was stopped due to a double murder on the freeway of police. Turns out that robbers tried to rob an armored vehicle and ended up killing 2 police. Traffic was stopped so we weaved our way off the highway and stopped at a gas station for a pop and to regroup. After watching many local motorcyclists weave their way through traffic, we gain the courage and head out knowing that we were about 2kms from the road closure. After an hour of the 4 of us playing locals and jumping curbs, rubbing fenders with our panniers and squeezing through holes in the traffic too small for most, we get back onto the highway and proceed to Dakar Moto. Arrived after 6pm and Javier was waiting for us.

November 22, 2010

Got on the road early after a crappy breakfast that was supposed to be included, but the hostess wanted to charge us extra. Said no and left. Looked like rain and a couple of times heavy mist on the windshield, then the clouds started lifting. The day got continually better. Stopped for pics and a pee and 2 touring bikers passed us going in the same direction, we waved, they stopped, we met and road with Uli and Annaleen from Germany for the next 2.5 days. Great people, starting a 2 year trip around the world. Ended up in Federal for the night, over 750kms today.

November 21, 2010

This morning, don't feel to well cause 1 too many Martinis. Met with Scott and Claire for coffee, then set off for Buenos Aries. Went through Iquazu Falls National Park over some good Ripia road. (Dirt). Got to do our own jungle tour. Later in the day, it started to rain. Got totally soaked and stopped in San Pedro. Hotel overcharged us for a small room, but we were wet and hungry, so we accepted. Seemed like everyone in this town was charging too much.

 
November 20, 2010

Got an email from Scott and Claire, they were in Iguazu Falls as well. We emailed back. Hung around today and did some blogging and laundry. Scott showed up at our Hotel late in the evening. Got caught up and had a few Martinis with him.

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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