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Published: March 27th 2009
Bloody heavy Mother...
getting Rippers moto off the truck in SaltaRosco’s Blog from Uyuni
Well what a contrast from last year, we even saw a grader on the route into Bolivia, through the South West entry point. We checked out of Argentina and didn’t intend going into Chile, but the officials insisted that we were going to Chile! So we agreed with them, got our exit stamp and set off for the Bolivian Boarder. When we got there and said we came from Argentina, they insisted that we had come from Chile, OK no Problemo, we came from Chile, got our stamp, met up with our guide and food, drink and bedding provider for the next three days and headed off into the Bolivian landscape.
With no disrespect to BMW, but the Kawasaki KLR, allowed me to actually enjoy the challenge of the Bolivian sand and rocks. Last year was a nightmare for me on the 1200GS in these conditions, as I am no expert off the road. In fact, I was trying to think about the areas that were such a struggle for me last year and I must have just taken them in my stride this year. The trouble is I think I will miss the GS, as we
Leo
Counting the times he has kissed the Bolivian dust.... head back into Chile and the Pan Pacific highway, with Geraldine on the back of the KLR....
The group dynamics are working out great and a big advantage is the general maintenance pool that we have, with everyone helping each other. My KLR started to loose a lot of power, as though I had the choke on or was sitting on the fuel relief tube. That night we pulled the air cleaner out and bloody hell, it was a miracle that it let any air though, it was that clogged with dust !!. With that we checked Leos filter and it was nearly as bad. We replaced the standard filter and fitted the ‘No Toil’ system, so we will see how that works out.
The Continental TKC 80’s are doing what is expected of them and handling the rocks and sand as they are designed to. By keeping the pressures up around 30 psi, we have had no tyre trouble so far, apart from the piece of wire that David found while leaving Chile (along with substandard tube repair problems)
Leo has managed to modify the front plastic section of his KLR during the hard day from Laguna Colorarda to
Daily Dip
A good soak in the hot pools.. Villa Alota, along with the modifications’ that Ripper has done to his BMW GSA, by removing the screen to give it that ‘Naked Bike’ look as the sub frame that holds the screen in place has fractured...well Bolivia is tough on bikes and men (and girls)
We are now in la Paz, but not without hassles, as we made our way to the hotel there was a diversio, which sent us into the mire of oneway streets, that is la Paz. We kept everyone together untill the last roundabout before our hotel and we lost the truck....As we bikers pulled into the hotel the skys just opened up and we had continual lightning and thunder, with torrential rain for the next hour or so. Murray and Geraldine did the right thing and stopped while the weather was so bad, then made a phone call to the hotel. It turned out that they were only a couple of blocks away, so Gerardo, jumped in a taxi, went to them and guided them back to the hotel. All in all a great day.
We met with Liz, who looks after us in Peru, as she was in La Paz, and will
Sad Sight
A KTM down! Brians shirt that he took off, got tangled in the drive chain, bugger! come with us to Coroico, for lunch via the Yangas Road (Road of Death) as long as the weather is good.
Tonight she has gone with all the boys to a Bolivian Cultural show and dinner.
Here is some input from the others....Cheers, Rosco
From Gerardo
Hola, ya en La Paz, a 3584 mts, según mi reloj y afortunadamente sin accidentes, les contare que nuestro segundo dìa en Uyuni fue muy placentero, viajamos en vehículos arrendados al Salar, ya que tenia harta agua en los bordes, una maravilla, esta vez la sal estaba mas sucia, me dicen que por vientos y lluvia, este salar es un espectáculo que uno nunca se cansa de admirar, en la noche salimos a cenar con el dueño y guia de la Agencia de Turismo que nos atiende en Uyuni, Braulio y Obed, todo bien.
Bolivia ha subido sus precios, el dólar esta a 7 bolivianos.
El Miércoles a las 8.20 am partimos de Uyuni a Oruro 3700 mts, por un camino que el año pasado nos costo el accidente de Charlie, el camino estaba peor que el año pasado, mucho mas barroso, no para estas motos, Ripper, el kiwi que lleva una
I can see my house from here!
Rosco having a look around Bolivia BMW 1200 GS tuvo problemas al pasar el ùltimo rìo y la moto se apago, estuvimos 45 minutos en desarmar filtro de aire y bujias para secarla, se ha formado al igual que el año pasado equipos por marca de motos, somos 2 con BMW, dos con KTM 990 Adventure, el cual uno de ellos hoy tuvo una caida y 3 Kawasaki KLR 650, llegamos a Huari, pueblo intermedio como a las 13.00, o sea para 180 kms no esta mal, tuvimos que atravesar muchos rios y riachuelos, y lo increíble que el año pasado existian desvios por trabajo de pavimentaciòn en el camino, ahora estaba exactamente igual pero peor, y no tiene ni un metro de pavimento y siguen trabajando, aquí uno se da cuenta en el paìs que vive, ojala no exista la reencarnación, ya que si lo hiciera y viviera en Huari, es la muerte en vida, aunque uno se acostumbra a todo, los caminos de Bolivia son difíciles de explicar, ya que no existen asi en Patagonia, ni siquiera las huellas de estancias, son con mucha Piedra, arena, ripio, calamina y barro, todo en 100 metros, son lo mas malo que he visto en mi vida.
Not another BMW..
Gerardo's BMW on the back of the truck..shocking problem... Llegamos a Oruro, segunda cuidad en población de Bolivia, 700 mil habitantes, donde la vida es distinta, mucha pobreza y demasiados perros vagos, asi nos quejamos en Punta Arenas, aquí son jaurías, aunque las dos situaciones demuestran lo que somos. Bolivia es un paìs especial, pero creo que no es el medio para referirme a el, y de lo que se vive estando en el, lo unico que puedo decir que uno no puede dejar de conocerlo, tal vez para valorar lo que uno tiene.
Esta noche en Oruro, correspondia que nuestra empresa pagara la cena, cosa muy difícil de lograr, ya que de los 4 restaurantes que aparecen en la guia, ninguno recibia tarjeta de credito, ni reservaba, al final fuimos a uno recomendado por el hotel, que quedaba a una cuadra, lugar que ninguno de Ustedes entrarìa, ya que ni siquiera tenia un letrero que dijiera lo que era, lo unico que al mirar por las ventanas veias sillas y mesas, por supuesto no tenia menú, y para que me hicieran una cena, tuve que entregar la mitad de la plata antes, quizas para que vayan a comprar, y volver una hora despues, no tenia ni café
Bolivian Highway
The boys from last year will never believe this photo, but it's true... ni te ni tampoco postres, y las cervezas estaban tibias ya que no tenian refrigerador, no te dan pan, bueno en resumen, comimos muy poco y afortunadamente parece que nadie sufrio de diarrea, aunque nadie comio ensaladas, si que sin muchas ganas de hacer sobremesa todos nos fuimos al hotel a las 8, ya a acostarnos, ya que todos estamos muy cansados.
Una cosa que disfruto de estos viajes, son las costumbre de horas de acostarme, a las 9 ya estoy en cama y a las 9.30 durmiendo y ya levantado 6.30, lo que los fines de semana nunca logro en Punta, especialmente en el quincho de los Bitsch- Bidart, donde la noche se hace dìa.
Hoy partimos de Oruro, con mucha felicidad de dejar esa ciudad para La Paz, el camino pavimentado y tranquilo, partimos a las 9 y ya habiamos llegado a las 2, productos de tacos y desvios, pero bien, en un lugar muy agradable y un hotel excelente “ El Rey Palace Hotel”, inmediatamente una vez llegados al hotel, se vino una tormenta de lluvia, granizo y rayos, nos salvamos de una buena. Mañana la idea es ir a Coroico o màs conocida como
Rock Tree
Brian at the Rock Tree al Ruta de la Muerte, creo que muchos han visto ya imágenes por internet de esa ruta, no se como lo voy hacer con mi problema de fobia a las alturas, mañana vere que decido, hasta pronto, Gerardo
Rip’s Blog part 2
Hi Guys,
Where do I start. Argy great but Bolivia becoming whoa. Met our guides at the Bolivian border and off we went 3 days later
• mountain passes
• rough roads or tracks
• huge climbs and descents
• hot pool swim
5020meter Borax mine, deserts, Rock tree sculpture, soft sand, stones, rocks, ups, downs, the odd off but all come through pretty good. Stuffed and night accommodation 2 stars but who cares. At Uyuni at the mo, what a dump. Salt lake awesome, lunched fish island, great day, bring the rest of the tour on.
Cheers Rip
Leo’s Blog part 2
On day 11 we left Cafayate for Salta. Gerardo, Dave and myself decided to take a more direct route to Salta on a paved road. (Ruta 68) Rosco, Brian and Ripper to a more adventurous route over the Crusta Del Obispo pass obviously they wanted to eat more orange dust.
Bolivia
Just another fantastic vista As we cruised on our moto’s a long and beautiful smooth winding road through Andacolla my thoughts went back to the day when Rosco was for a short while mistakenly taken by some locals as a revered holy man. We jokingly decided to ordain him father Antonio. He quickly responded by telling us we were his disciples.
As I thought about this I realised we were shaping up to be an unfaithful and wayward bunch of disciples. Some of Father Antonia’s disciples often indulged in drinking too much Cevaza and whisky, others too much Vino.
There is one who stubbornly refuses to do washing and ironing, and one who does not listen to his master’s instruction. Some choose the pathway and another who often complains he is hungry.
I remembered Rocky the bear who is so often faithfully seated on the rear of the Master’s Moto. I thought to myself at least he has Rocky Bear to follow him wherever he may go.
Tigger’s Blog Part 5
Starting to loose track of which hotel we have stayed at so forgive me. A different hotel nearly every night you could be forgiven for our confusion. The
Beached whales
These are the same as the benched whales from a few blogs back. hotels are great but the designs of the bathrooms need a different architect. Some just have a shower curtain hanging down ¾ and a tiled floor. A couple of the hotels leave a mop so you can dry the tiles, one hotel in San Martin didn’t even have a curtain so every time you had a shower you had to take a layer of toilet paper off cos it got wet. Duh!
Everyone is making it to the starting line on time these days. Maybe because they get up half an hour early to get organised or the threat of letting tyres down (just kidding) or can’t wait to see what amazing new scenery we will see or what new wild life we will come across in the middle of the road.
Leaving Cafayate we had for the first time two options. As Leo was still feeling a bit tender he chose to go with Gerardo and David while the rest went with Rosco. (The long way round- an extra hundred km on metal road) The other boys will have to fill you in on the shorter route.
About 1 ½ hours into the trip we
Another River
Tiny on the road to Villa Alota come up behind Ripper we thought he was just taking photos which he was but then he discovered his BMW bike wouldn’t start again. Not a good look for the super tanker. The instruction manual came out, assessments were made, bolts tightened, tow rope was located. Without success for a tow start our option was then to put the bike on the back of the truck and hopefully with fingers crossed the problem could be rectified in Salta (our last hope - before the never- never lands)
With the boys missing the roaring of Ripper on his bike and no chase truck they came looking for us. With a better loading ramp located, the truck was unpacked. There was discussions, that maybe I double with someone on the metal roads as there was some uncertainty of whether all three of us and the extra gear was going to fit. We managed, I relinquished the front seat. And found a bit of leg room in the back. With an extra 350kg on board we were a little slower than the rest of the pack. Ripper was optimistic that it was just the battery so we trudged off for lunch.
The same river
The chase truck and a bow wave... Coming up to our lunch stop we were halted with an awesome parade of horses and locals in full pragada and it was an awe inspiring sight. With the town closed off it was lucky this was our designated lunch spot so we dug into empanadas and enjoyed the sights. Amazing though that this far removed I captured a photo of one on a cell phone.
Having no other delays we made it to Salta. The battery from Rippers bike was tested and they found that it was knackered, so another was purchased and we were ready to rock and roll. I had a walk around Salta. A very touristy town and this was reflected in the prices. Dad and I had a coffee and orange juice (both very nice mind you) cost 15 pesos (Argentina) like $10 NZ.
The cathedrals were amazing but it felt so wrong taking photos from the inside so you just have to come and see them for yourselves. Lined in Marble, chandeliers, mural domed ceilings Virgin Mary statues, gilded gold, balconies and over the top decadence it was a sight to see. We stood and listened to the Lords Prayer in Spanish
and then made out way out, thinking wow, there is a lot of money tied up in there.
Having been a long couple of days and altitude the next day I was keen on an early night. I think we made it to bed around 11-30pm (usual time) as most of the restaurants don’t open till 8.30pm you are usually pretty ravenous by then. Good food and good company so one can’t complain. We woke early cos I needed to use the bathroom and banged my inner quad on the bed post (Dad thought there was an earthquake- that will teach me to cut corners) Copious amounts of Emu oil was applied but I fear a bruise is still eminent.
With only a rattle from Gerardo’s bike and mechanic Brian on the case it was eased. I wandered to the side and came across inch sized opening holes in the ground. I then decided that I didn’t want to know what had made them so headed back to the truck. It was then thrown about that it was either spiders or snakes and I wasn’t keen on either so stayed by the truck for the avo.
Feeling
Naked BMW
Rip's modified BMW a bit of the altitude I slept for most of the morning and by lunch wasn’t really hungry but had a couple of Empanadas to tide me over. I did however feel much better after seeing semi rural packs of Llamas (said Yamas in Spanish) there would have been 200 in one group. Amazing to see. We then thought we could see water but it was in actual fact salt. Do you know how hard it is to photograph white on white, there is no definition.
The temperature had plummeted and as the boys were putting on an extra layer we just turned up the heater. We got to our hotel having passed another hotel, 5mins before, down the road. There was some confusion as we were apparently booked into the other hotel (both owned by the same people but the new one doesn’t have a restaurant and wasn’t there last year) so luckily they had room and accommodated us. Nice wooden tables (glass tops and seed/bean designs in them. It was so simple but very effective) and solid wooden chairs.
I had put on a couple of extra blankets on my bed to keep me warm (good
Geraldine
At the train Cemetery in Uyuni idea cos there was ice on the truck in the morning and -2C over night) was a long day for all but all made it safe and sound, no lost sheep. We met up with our tour Guide for the next couple days through what only one could describe as a dirt track. We stopped at a “rest stop” where there was a thermal hot pool. This was a good idea as there were limited (cold) showers available that night.
It was amazing to be sitting in a hot spring on the side of the road, complete with flamingo’s fossic-ing for a feed not 5m away. With a long day and weary bikers it was lights out at nine pm. We were entertained with local kids with music (any way that was when the generator was switched off. Most of us were keen just to lie down with no corrugations or movement and just be still.
Laguna Colorada to Villa Alota...
A big day today (150km) but man, the corrugations were unbelievable!! We finally got to our destinations for the night nearly five pm. Amazing photos I think, but still doesn’t do the scenery justice. We stopped for a
Away from Home
Rippers been away from home too long !! group photo on top or some awesome rocks. You could have easily filled in a day photographing the rocks as a lot of them resembled animals or what ever your imagination could see.
Tigger got his first Bolivian beer. Boys all shattered but here in one piece. I think everyone was in bed by 8.30pm. Most had a turn kissing the sand, (but always had soft landings), just photos for prosperity. I think Rosco was the only one not to kiss the sand, ( Gerardo was riding in the truck so he was also excused) We also did our first real, river crossing all making it across upright with lots of cheers.
With 11hrs in bed, hmm, please define the word bed? Made us appreciate what we have for sure. Tiny and Ripper spent the whole evening ducking the doorways. Hopefully they didn’t bang their heads in the middle of the night. You must also remember to take loo paper with you cos the banos (toilets) aren’t supplied with any. It’s BYO.
We passed through a town which the mining company paid of 1million US dollars to shift so that they could mine under the original town.
Two old geezeres
Brian fits in here.... Didn’t really change the way people live but have the mod cons of civilisation. With a few more scenic spots along the way it was reinforced the vastness of the land we are in.
We also stopped at the relic steam train cemetery for awesome photos sessions. They weren’t going no-where. Amazing that they are all just sitting there. I bit of a tourist spot now to take so more amazing photos We made it to Uyuni around lunchtime with a parade to celebrate the end of the war. (Which Bolivia and Peru lost against Chile 1879) and settled in to the hotel before seeing the sights of the town. We were going to fill the truck with diesel earlier in the day but the usual 2 Bolivia dollars turned in to 8 Bolivia dollars that they wanted to charge us because the truck was Chilian. Needless to say we didn’t fill up there.
Uyuni is certainly different from the other towns we have visited so far on our adventure. Luckily we are staying in one of the best hotels in town. The door is locked from the street so that probably says a lot, but we
Another beer
Ripper looking for that elusive cerveza... did venture out to have lunch on our own and was served by a lad of all about 12yrs old? The boys are doing some bike maintenance so happy to lax out in the hotel room for a bit. There is only 1 ATM in town and some of us have money to spend and others waiting for it to be fixed, but in Bolivian time how long that is I can’t tell.
Wow!! the salt lake trip today was amazing. 230km from one side to the other and 120m deep. We will never run out of salt that is for sure. The photos could be mistaken for snow, and sunglasses and sun block were compulsory although a few of the guys forgot to reapply. (Maybe the emu oil will come in handy tonight. Right in the middle of the lake is an island called fish island (for the shape), but has big cactus (Tequila cactus actually after a few processes) We had bbq Yama there with Quiunoa which is the local grain here. Very light in texture and apparently very good for you. (Didn’t want to eat too much)
We visited the original salt hotel but is
no longer in use because of pollutants but is still viewable and is now a museum and souvenirs
The way these people live is unbelievable to us and for what they work for and what the get in return is amazing. You really have to see for yourself to see the magnitude of it. 50kg salt = $1 US. The wages for the family for the month is 800 Bolivian dollars, on average. 7.3 Bolivian dollar = 1$ US
On the way back we visited a new hotel that was partially open and we got to have a look in side. Wow is my word. A wonderful place to get away for the weekend girls! They had alpaca bed spreads plush suites, cosy fire upstairs bar and view with (salt tables)
They were inspired by the feng shui and the female signs. (rounded rooms and cosiness to maximise relaxation).
A quiet night was had, with dinner and back to the hotel by 9pm. A big day tomorrow and with big double beds for everyone who could resist.
With car sized pot holes in the road and dogs enjoying the left-overs from the night before it was
Tiny
Keeping the boys under foot another eye opener. With metal roads and detours it took a while to get any kilometres under our belt. With many (medium) water ways for the boys to conqueror in the morning and the river that was too high to ride through, the alternate route was sort. I think most of the boys got their boots wet!
A couple more rivers and Rippers bike got drowned, so out went the air filter, spark plugs and we shook it a couple of times and towelled it dry, and it was as good as new.
I think I’m learning a lot on this trip so far have learnt to change a bike tyre, clean an air filter, remove spark plugs and hold sunglasses. Oh! what more can a girl learn.
Well Oruro is a step up I think from Uyuni but some of the sights are still an opener. It is part of the experience, and makes us appreciate home all the more.
Hasta pronto (till soon) Tigger.
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Robbie
non-member comment
WOW
This looks amazing!!!