Blogs from La Rioja, La Rioja, Argentina, South America

WOW again.... What a great ride we have had from Salta down to La Rioja, via Cafayate, the Tafi Valley, San Miguel de Tucuman and the fabulous Cuesta del Portezuelo. Leaving Salta we made our way down towards Santa Barbara, following the Rio de las Conchas (river) with a lunch stop on the way. We stopped at the Devils Throat and the Amphitheatre as we made our way through the red rock canyon. As we entered Cafayate, I met up with the fellow that helped us a few years ago when my KLR died, he owns a restaurant there. Later that night, Bones and I went back and had a meal there, it was the best bit of rump fillet I have ever eaten, it had been aged forever!! As we left the Restaurant, we went ... read more

Nuo šito kaimo dykumoje, kuriame gyvena apie 6500 gyventojų, iki betkokio padoresnio miestelio 150 km betkuria kryptimi. Autobusai ta kryptimi kuri man reikalinga važiuoja 3 kartu per savaitę, o artimiausias ne ateinančią, bet dar kitą naktį. Arba reikia čia sėdėti ir laukti artimiausio autobuso arba bandyti tranzuoti, kas pasak aplinkinių šia tikrai sudėtinga, nes mašinų čia važiuoja labai nedaug. Aš vistik nusprendžiu bandyti tranzuoti, nes pasilikti šitam kaime būtų tik laiko gaišimas, juolabiau, kad hostelyje net padoraus interneto nėra. Blogiausiu atveju gryšiu atgal į hostelį. Išeinu tranzuoti apie 11 ryto, gerai, kad šiek tiek debesuotai, tai nors ne taip karšta, tik kokie +30, bet jau iš patirties žinau, kad karščiausia čia būna apie 3-4 val dienos. Vistik paeinu porą kilometrų pagrindiniu keliu iki miestelio pabaigos ir apsistoju autobusų stotelėje, nes čia yra pavėsis. Motocikl... read more

Arequipa to La Rioja..... We were all set to go after a day off in Arequipa for some more shopping and a bit of moto and body maintenance, when Wim hit his starter button on his BMW 800 GS, nothing happened ??. It seemed that the battery was dead as a dodo, so out came the jumper leads, but still nothing happened. After a bit of searching around, we found that the lead to his GPS was in meltdown mode, so out with a pair of pliers to solve that problem, next we disconnected then reconnected the battery to reset the computer, as it had shut down everything during the GPS melt down, so a press of the starter and all systems were go… We needed a reasonably early start, as this is a big day ... read more

Hi All! I hope this post finds you enjoying your Friday! We are currently in La Riocha waiting for a bus. I've had a chance to write a few posts and instead of filling your inbox with many messages, this will be the only one. Be sure to scroll down to see the other posts. More pictures will come when I find an internet cafe that lets me upload them. Buenos Dias! ... read more

What a great couple of days we have had, well most of us anyway, apart From David Broken Bones, Moto and Body... as he picked up a virus of some sort a few days ago and it layed him pretty low, so much so that we took him to a Doctor in Copiopo and he recieved some good drugs, but not in time for him to recover to ride the San Francisco Pass, and he made the right decission to ride in the truck, where he sulked for a couple of days.. Meanwhile we were out there making the long run down the Northern Coast of Chile and the Atacama Desert. It was cool close to the coast, but the temperatures sure rose as we headed inland, they were long days in the saddle. Leaving Copiopo, ... read more