Argentina

Iguazu Falls - an impressive sight in full flood

ski resort at pass from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile

Inca Bridge in the mountains between Argentina and Chile. The church in the background is the only remaining building where once was a town when an earthquake triggered avalanche destroyed the entire town with the exception of the lone church which escaped untouched!

Ponderosa: Che Guevera´s 1936 Norton 350 moto that he rode through South America

Iguazu Falls-Argentina side

another funky local resident

old cathedral in Salta

town centro, Salta

Garganta Del Diablo, Cafeyete

4040 kms left to Ushuia on Ruta 40

Ischigualasto Park

Argentina or Bust...one long climb into the mountains...and you guessed it...the cold and wind! The border crossing into Argentina (from Chile) at the remote post of Pasco de Jama was accomplished with alot of laughter and friendly banter...a good omen of things to come in Argentina! It took several days on the road through high altiplano grasslands and dry mountains (with cold temperatures and high winds) before we dropped into Jujuy and Salta. (The winds on the huge, switchback decent were absolutely insane and we were constantly blown across two lanes of road and the sand and rocks in the air basically sand blasted our faces (couldn't hurt my looks!).

June 22, 2007 We needed a rest and the pretty colonial city of Salta was perfect "medicine" for our hurting bodies. (even the weather co-operated!) Relaxing in the gorgeous town centro with a Salta cerveza or two is something we will always remember!

Continuing south we rode through some pretty canyon country with brilliant colored rock formations with stops in several small towns where we did a little exploring...no tourists here! The next few days on the road were rather long as we headed off on dirt roads and the scenery consisted of days of flat, barren desert country with few towns...but great for camping as we could have fires in the evening. We are heading south and she is getting plenty cold at night but with a campfire in the evening and morning and not riding before 9 things are A-OK. Stopped at the famous ruinas de Quilmes and Ischigulasto Provincial Parks (both of which are advertised everywhere) but personally we found both rather boring!

June 29th - Several more long, easy but rather boring road days and we pull into the large town of San Juan and decide to part the bikes for a few days and take a bus to Mendoza. A very friendly Argentinian (incredably friendly folks!!!) gave us a ride to Mendoza (at about 140 and all over the road as he tried to converse with us in Spanish with the usual flailing of hands and full emotions that include looking at who they are speaking to (even if wailing down the hi-way at warp speed!!!)

June 30th - Mendoza was an interesting break as we headed out into the mountains to check out some ski hills (yes...they were in operation) and the border crossing into Chile. Some nice scenery and the weather was gorgeous so we got some good views of Condors and Aconcagua..the tallest mountain in the Americas. The bus ride back to San Juan was awesome...we got the front seats in a huge double decker bus...full comfort with meals served, including wine and it is WARM..kind of makes us want to part the bikes for a while!!!!

Just to reinforce those feelings the next day was one miserable SOB...ice in the trees and freezing fog made for one miserable ride through rough desert terrain until it warmed up around noon. We actually met a fellow biker from Australlia and he was as happy to see us as we were to see him...misery loves company!!!!

July 5th - A stop at the Che Guevera museum in Alta Gracia (where he grew up) was great and we sure learned alot about this facinating person...and the weather was nice in the afternoon (for a change!)

Several days of wind, rain and just plain old misery and into Uruguay!!! (but we will cover this country later) Back into Argentina on July 9th and continued cold, windy miserable weather. Snow in Buenos Aires...a first since 1918 and NOT good news if you´re riding a MC (and there are not to many of these on the road!!!) Not much to report but she is miserably cold before 12 and we are usually soaking wet by the time we pack it in at 5. On top of that the countryside is dead flat and boring, boring boring! Our only excitement comes when the master link snaps on the 650 right before dark in the pouring rain! When I tried to complete chain repairs the chain fell into pieces...literally nothing left of it! By the time I "mickey moused" things back together and limped into the closest town we were more than ready to take a rest!

July 11th - Two more days of rain, wind and road and we cruise into the lovely little town of Porto Iguazu with the objectives of getting our Brazil visa and checking out the world famous waterfalls. The country side near the falls is beautiful with lots of jungle and forestry plantations. First things first...we headed into town to collect reams of paperwork required for the Brazil visas but were cut short when a huge thunderstorm moved in and a bolt of lightning and insanely loud thunder clap right next to the internet place shut the entire town down! Oh well...we took what we had over to the embassy and unlike La Paz and or Buenos Aires all they wanted was our money!!! (didn´t check yellow fever, copies of MC papers, 3 months of bank statements, credit card receipts, address and phone no of contacts in Brazil...nothing...just money!

The falls are a real tourist attraction (trap) and we did it all including a raft ride right under (literally) the falls, down the river and a trip through the jungle after which we spent the entire day walking the boardwalks etc. Our hostel was a really nice place to stay and we got a fair amount of work done on the Hondogs. Our last day in Argentina began with a visit to a hummingbird aviary (total open air and the hundreds of hummingbirds are only attracted by food, can leave and go as they want) and a easy but long 2 hour border crossing (because the computer program for the crossing was damaged in the same thunderstorm that got us!)

So what did we think of Argentina? Not too much BUT we only got to visit the northern half of the country (way to cold to travel south and from everyone we talked to the southern half on the Andes side is awesome!) and the weather was truly horrible...not the combination to make for an entirely enjoyable trip on a MC. On the other hand the people are fantastic and the price of most things reasonable (less expensive than Chile, Uruguay and Brazil). The difference between the rich and poor is something that we didn´t really expect but over 50 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty...not too nice.

Chile

riding the Atacama Desert - driest place on the mundo

sand storm in Valle de Luna (2)

crossing Bolivia into Chile
Tatio Geyers - highest geyser fields in the world (4,320m)

same same but notice the people

Chile here we come and hopefully some better (like warmer) weather! Through a very rustic looking Bolivian border crossing (but the crossing guard was as friendly as ever and even though we missed the Bolivian Aduana (customs) by about 50 km he said "don´t worry!"

One long descent into San Pedro de Atacama and it is warmer as a drop in app. 3000m usually means better temperature! This pretty little tourist town is going to be our only stay in Chile as the weather south of Santiago is to cold for riding and there is not much to see between here and Santiago. (Our original plan was to only visit the Atacama Desert (the driest place in the world) then turn east into Argentina.)

After getting settled in at a nice (but expensive...like everything in Chile) hostel it is time to explore. First on the agenda is a 3am trip to the Tatio Geyser field which conists of over 100 geysers which form the highest elevation geyser field in the world (at 3445m ASL). Why so early in the morning...the -15 temperature really sets off the steam created when the underground frozen river contacts hot volcanic rocks. One can wander about the geyser field but piles of rocks around the largest geysers are a reminder to stay back (some tourists have been "par-boiled" when they got a little too close!) Like most of S. America...there aren´t many rules...just the rule of survival as in "do something dumb and....too bad for you!

After checking out some local ruins we then spent the next day on the huge Laguna de Atacama...an old lake that has dried up with the exception of a few deep sink-holes. The crystal blue water is set off perfectly by the white salt walls around the sink-holes and the neatest thing is that even I can actually float in the ice cold water! (Matter of fact it is almost impossible to sink...there is so much salt that one cannot dive from the surface and get under water and when you get out of the water you turn white with salt...good sunblock but one itchy mess on the old hide!) Three different types of flamingo inhabit these waters including the rare Puna variety and they certainly look pretty against the desert setting.

We rode into several small desert towns that our travel books call "sleepy" and they certainly were! No food, gas or anything else so dinner was potato chips and water!

An evening ride and hikes through the Valle de Luna (yes...I think that every country in S. America has its own Valle de Luna) was kind of enjoyable with some neat sand dunes and gorgeous evening sunsets.

We only are spending a week in Chile...we finally found a place that is more expensive than Canada! Gas is about 1.30 US a litre, oil 7 US a litre (not good when your burning oil like our Hondogs!), food is crazy (like and in many cases not so good..(example: One vegetarian Pizza cost 24 US and consisted of one frozen pack of vegetables (beans, carrots, peas, corn (exactly the same frozen mixed barf you buy at Overwaitea) with some cheese on bread...would have been acceptable for 5 US but 25 US??, every visit to any lake, ruin cost a min of 8 US. I thought that prices might be high because of the fact that San Pedro de Atacama is a "tourist trap" but friends we have met have told us that things got even more expensive as you got closer to Santiago!

On the positive side: the people are great (nothing unusual here) but seem to be more out-going than in Bolivia and Peru. The beer is good and the Atacama is a pretty cool place to visit..we love desert (especially if it is above freezing!!) Goodbye Chile...Argentina here we come!!!

Bolivia

Old CZ´s (Jawa) never die...they just end up in Bolivia! This guy was absolutely ripping up the desert with this old beast and its ¨cookie cutter¨tires but I couldn´t help noticing who was wearing the skid lid and hoped that his wife´s hat was tough!!

One cold campsite near Isla Pescado, on the salt flats of Uyuni (cold but gorgeous)

This isn't what we pictured when they said four lanes! Lots of lines and none of them good!

Laguna Colorado

Laguna Verde

washing the bikes

packing up camp Salar de Uyuni

Lori does tricks in the salt flats - one tough Bolivian orange

One of the neatest junkyards we have ever seen...the tren cemetario "Asi es la vida" (Such is life)

outside of Uyuni, Bolivia

a bag of coca leaves, 96% alcohol, dynamite & blasting cap - ready to go silver mining in Potosi

Valle de Luna (Valley of the Moon)..south of La Paz

The infamous ¨road of death¨from La Paz to Coricco. Nothing dangerous at all but some fantastic jungle scenery! (now that the drunks and lunatic bus/truck drivers are not allowed to travel this route)

Yup...some mountain in the middle of Bolivia

Lori and her good friend baby llama on the Isla de Sol, Lago Titikaka

La Paz the capital of Bolivia sits in a beautiful valley and is the fastest growing city in S America

thankful that Lori´s cute little friend didn´t end up a dried llama fetus in the Witches Market, La Paz city

Close up of an adult Andean Condor which has the widest wing spread of any bird in the world and now considered endangered throughout its range.

Just another ¨snake in the grass¨...Mr Boa does his best to intimidate!

A really easy, quiet crossing into Bolivia on the 2nd of June...the usual slow paperwork but not a single vehicle passed over the border during our 2 hr. visit! Our first stop was only 20 km away and consisted of a 10 plus km hike on the Isla de Sol (sun) on Lago Titikaka. This is supposed to be a very famous hike but to tell you the truth it didn´t do to much for us...the scenery reminds us of Baja and is actually very pretty against the vivid blue waters of Titikaka. Checked out a few Inca Ruins on the hike (this Isla is considered the birth place of the mighty Inca empire)

June 4th - A day later we checked into La Paz...a surprisingly beautiful city in a gorgeous setting! Despite not having any maps we managed to snag a ¨shed¨to live in that was right in the heart of the city. (Over the next few days we got to do alot of riding in the city...interesting to say the least...the clutch in the 650 is still complaining!) In the city we checked out the famous witches market (some pretty cool stuff including lllama fetuses, all kinds of pickled varmits, medicines and lots of pieces of rare and endangered animals! The La Paz zoo was surprisingly interesting with a fantastic jaguar and condor breeding program. The Valley of the Moon is just part of the sur-real landscape that surrounds this city. We missed getting into the coca museum in Puna (Peru) but got into the museum in La Paz. The idea here is that coca is a part of the indigenous life style in both Peru and Bolivia and these museums promote the continued legalization of coca and say that it is only the western demand for cocaine that has ¨demonized¨coca. (Right now personal use of the leaves is legal (I think because they are for sale everywhere) but there are forces (read USA) that are demanding actions such as widespread spraying of coca fields with various vegetation killers) I have to admit that although chewing cocoa leaves (with the ash like substance that activates the drug portion of the leaves is extremely wide spread and seems to have no negative effect on the people that use it. What is interesting is that the Catholic Church demanded the out-lawing of chewing coca leaves back in the 15 century BUT after the spanish realized that the workers that chewed coca could work 48 hr shifts without food and or rest they actually made in MANDATORY that all mine workers (slaves) chewed coca (and of course then took over the coca industry and made the slaves (workers) but coca out of their meager wages. More on this later!
June 6th - We then headed out of the city to tackle the ¨most dangerous road in the world¨which lead into the Yungas province (jungle territory which happens to be the leading cocoa growing area in Bolivia) and the nice little mountain town of Coricco. Nothing to dangerous about this road but gorgeous jungle scenery, waterfalls on the road and some long drops (but then again the idea is to stay on the road isn´t it!) We had a great time and loved the Hotel Esmeralda...the first time that I got to wear my shorts in S America...those brown legs of Central America are scary looking white sticks...saw a few gals toss on shades when I showed up!!!
June 7th - We then hit the road to southern Bolivia...some really cold riding but fantastic scenery and lots of old ¨ghost towns¨that at one time had huge mines. Actually many of the places were really eerie but made for some great exploring. Our destination after a few days of riding the high alpine-pampas plains was the mining town of Potosi.June 8th - The silver mines in Potasi started operation in 1558 and continue to this day! All the mining is centered on one mountain, Cerro Rico and it is estimated that 8 million Bolivians and black slaves have lost their lives over the years this mountain has been mined! (from accidents, posioning from cyanide-mercury etc.) So our idea is to take a mine tour but first of all we need to find a place to stay. This will be the first and last time that Lori sends me out on this mission as I selected a -7 star...to say Lori was NOT impressed is an understatement!
So our mine tour..first of all we stop by the Miners market to buy a few goodies to give to the miners we are going to see. The miners lunch (literally!!!) consists of a huge bag of coca leaves and catalysts (to get that good old coka going), 96% (not proof!) alcohol (with pop as a mixer), a few packs of hand rolled butts...and I though Mickey D lunches were bad for you! Obviously no big deal as the average miner starts underground at 10 to 12 years of age and is usually dead and guaranteed to be suffering from lung disease 10 years after going ¨mole¨. Next I bought a real stick of dynamite and blasting cap-fuse for 10 Bolivianos (or about 1.20 US $)...eat your heart out M80¨s! So what was it like underground?...surprisingly pleasant! No women are allowed in the tunnels (which after 450 plus years of mining make the mountain a chunk of swiss cheese) and the men work hard but have these little rooms where they go through a series of rituals to give thanks to mother earth etc. (to me seemed more like a party with booze and coca (by the way we tried out the coca leaves and catalyst and it really does give you a bit og a high...for about a buck!)
We got to climb through some pretty neat tunnels and narrow places and checked out a few miners at work! I can tell you we sure have it easy in Canada...this is downright depressing!
June 10th - On the road and its over one week of dirt roads, dust, rocks, sand, dust ,dust and more dust as we head to Uyuni and set up for a trip to the salt flats and Lagunas! The road from Potosi to Uyuni, although dirty and dusty covers some fantastic mountain-desert scenery and the Tren Cemetario (train cemetary) in Uyuni is awesome...hundreds of tons of old steam locomotives sinking slowly into the desert. What I would give to have one of those engines in our yard...lets see 40$ for 2kg to Canada...100 tons =??? I think I will let them rot in Uyuni! The trip to and across the Salt Flats is absolutely fantastic! Definitely a hi-light of our trip so far! The scenery is unbelievable and because we were doing it on our own we camped right on the salt on a completely deserted island..unreal (and increadibly cold as the salt is just like ice) I was able to shut my eyes and count to 120 slowly while riding...how many places can you do that and not pay the price!) After a couple of days on the salt we headed to the Lagunas...lets just say that Lori kissed the blacktop when we finally made it through to Chile!!! My map would have been good for bum fodder but would have gotten lost on the way to my butt! Talk about useless and of course I didn´t ask anyone about how one should actually get to the Lagunas. Lets just say we got lost a few times (ended up on the border of Chile twice...how?...no one knows including the border guards!!!), almost ran out of gas a couple of times (way out in the middle of nowhere), did a few good ¨get-offs¨(Lori really did her knee in and I just missed busting my ankle when a 2 foot deep stream crossing with 3 inches of ice went bad and 500 lbs of Japanese pot metal landed on my ankle pinning me hopelessly until some locals came along and lifted the Hondog off me (took 5 of them!). In between dodging rocks, sand, washboards and absolutely freezing our butts off in the tent we had a good time and saw some fantastic scenery! (sounds like fun doesn´t it?...it is after its all over!) One thing that was funny is that whenever we asked how long to the next place the locals would answer 2 hrs (etc:) but it would take us 4 or 5 hrs. They were basing their times on the local tour operators and the Toyota Land Cruisers they were driving! Man I have a new found admiration for Toyotas...Chad...if you drove a Ford at half the speed these guys drive their Toyotas you would need to drag a big magnet behind you to pick up all the Ford parts that would break or drop off!!!


All in all Bolivia was great...she is getting pretty cold and the Hondogs are not starting with it being this high (3600 to 4800 m ASL) and cold (well below 15 below...we are using our -25 bags and are wearing socks, longjohns, 4 layers on top and still freezing at night) Every morning we ¨cook¨the motos with the stove but they still sound like a cat being beat with a stick when they finally start up...hard on the motors...don´t ask! (and you can´t buy anything other than 20-50 weight oil here! As a result Loris 250 is smoking like a Mexican deisel...I don´t need to keep her in sight any more as I can smell the burning oil anytime I am downwind!!! (but she still runs great) Hey Ernie...I know what you mean when you ¨talk down¨the handling of the 650...she is death on wheels and every time you see sand you had better prepare to jump ship! (actually I have only dropped the bike once but I just about neutered myself at about 100 in a sand pit when she did the big swap about 5 times back and forth before I corraled the hog!!! (a guy right in front of us crashed and broke his leg on a Suzuki...ugly to say the least as we were 10 hrs from the nearest medical facilities!!!

Motos 101 or how to ride like a 50 year old woman...

Wow - 4 months and over 20,000kms on my bike this trip and I have learned a lot!

I have learned:

- to let Chris ride out front so all the dogs knock themselves out going after him and have no energy left to bother with me
- to keep to the far inside when riding through a blind corner as if you meet someone, they will almost surely be bigger than you and sharing your lane
- that all the honking is not always about me. People here honk for any reason - they are behind you, they want to pass you, they are passing you, to say hi, to tell you you´re riding with your lights on, they are a taxi trolling for a fare, they are going around a corner, they are crossing an intersection, or just because they can!!!!!!
- how to pull a U turn almost anytime and anywhere ( and without warning if I am following Chris)
- riding at over 4000 meters is always cool no matter how bluebird the day is, so layer up and plug in the electric vest (my second best friend)