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Published: November 1st 2011
This week I fell twice, got extorted once, broke a spoke, drove an entire day trough el Chaco without water, had close encounters with a hundreds of exotic birds, drove four straight days over a dirt-road trough the Andes, went to see the world's biggest dam, drove 595km(record yes) in one day over the Bolivian altiplano, drank some water, ate like a king, drove trough a zillion holes in the road, ate even better than a king, went to see the world's second most impressive waterfalls but undoubtedly the best of all … arrived in Brazil!!
Since my last post left me in La Paz and I'm currently at the Costa Verde I guess I should tell you about the journey which took me here... and boy what a journey it was :D
So from La Paz I set out on an endeavour which would take me eight days, to the next point of interest, trough regions of which there was little or no information available before hand, over roads I had no way of knowing whether they were actually there or planned to be constructed there in the future... and that was the good news 😉
First day I intended to get to Sucre, which on the little map I had seemed like a good 400km away over a pretty direct route.
However along the way it became pretty clear that this road was either not there, not asphalted or simply not indicated and so I found myself riding in to Potosi, a city 170km more to the south, well after nightfall.
The next day was an easy ride back up north to Sucre from where I would start heading East towards the border with Paraguay.
Where exactly I could or should cross the border was still a mystery as there is literally not one solid piece of information out there which can tell you how you are supposed to cross this border independently, not even at the tourist information desks in Sucre were they able to say for certain.
Basically what everyone told me along the way was that I had to drive all the way to the border with Argentina, get my exit-stamp there, drive back to the last city and then take a dirt-road from there towards Paraguay.
But that's for later as I was still in Sucre which meant that I first had to get the bike and me past a 400km stretch of little mountain-dirt-roads forming basically a maze between the city and the next asphalted road.
This went actually all-in-all pretty smooth besides falling twice(for some reason half of the corners of these dirt-roads were made of soft sand(which is next to impossible to drive trough) and if I didn't fully appreciate asphalt before these four days, God knows I do now ;p
So that fourth day I arrived in the first town from where I was hoping to be able to head for the border but as there was no immigration office there or on the way to the border, I went a town further south, called Villa Montes.
As I knew the buses between Santa Cruz(Bolivia) and Asunción(Paraguay) pass by here, I also knew there was a road to the border and obviously there ought to be a immigration office on the route or in town as well...right?
But this is basically when everyone told me, including people in the police office that I had to drive to Argentina, get my stamp, return, and head for Paraguay... but then I found one guy that said there was a immigration office at the border with Paraguay.
So that was pretty much good enough for me and the next day I drove to the border over … a dirt-road -.-' to find there … a little shack with in it a guy with a stamp yey, Paraguay here I come!!
This is also where I took the last sip of the 200cl warm water I had brought with me, which was kind of troublesome as I was already in the dry part of el Chaco, a place where there aren't a lot of people, and even less water or shade.
Imagine a giant hair-blower pointed at you at maximum power, while flipping burgers over a huge coal BBQ while wearing a helmet on the hottest day of the year with not a cloud in the sky and the sun burning on your skin, that's how driving trough the Chaco felt like... or maybe even a bit worse 😉
And then I'm not even talking about the condition of the road.
Imagine a road, with a pothole, but not just a normal one, one that stretches from left to right, covering the entire road-surface and in that pot-hole, another pot-hole, in which there is a third pot-hole and one of these every ten meters for about 80km....
But at dusk I reached the Mennonite colony of Filadelfia which was a tranquil place with nice restaurants and lots of water, just what I had been longing for the entire day.
...My bike suffered quite a lot though, I hope it keeps it together until Rio.
The next place to get to was Asunción, the capital, from where I would start heading for Ciudad del Este at the border with Brazil.
On the way there I stopped at a road-restaurant which at first glance didn't seem anything special.
When I entered and asked for a menu they looked at me in a strange way as I had just asked something out of the ordinary.
The lady added that there was a buffet and something something... I understood buffet so took a plate and went at it.
Although it all looked rather good, I had a hard time finding the meat, all they had were little bbq'ed sausages and some kind of goulash, but ok, I was hungry and scooped up a good plate.
And then, once I sat down, the magic began... every two minutes a waiter passed with a giant shish-kebap of meat saying little more than “Want meat?”
The obvious answer being yes, after which he sliced of a nice slab of meat.
And this wasn't just any kind of meat, these were all kinds of different ways to make prime quality meat and chicken even better(rumsteak, steak covered in molten cheese, ribs, roast, little pieces of chicken fillet wrapped in crispy bacon, and the list goes on :p).
After recovering for about half an hour I got on my bike again for the final leg to Ciudad del Este.
From there I did a small day trip to the nearby Itaipu dam which is still the biggest in the world(until the 3gorges dam in China gets completed).
Since time now is somewhat pressing I drove on, the next day, to Foz do Iguazu(Brazil)(yey!) and after checking in in the hostel I drove straight on to the Bird-Park.
This is was pretty much like a zoo, with the exception that in quite a phew of the bird enclosures you are allowed to enter and that there are close to a thousand birds.
I didn't really expect me to be overwhelmed by this as after all they were just birds but I ended up liking my visit quite a lot more as I expected.
Besides an incredible amount of different types of birds, they also had reptiles, snakes and butterflies.
So another day well spent!
Next day it was time for another highlight, Iguazu falls!
Iguazu falls is covered by two national parks, one of Brazil and one of Argentina and so if you want to visit all of it you need to first spend a day at one side and then another at the other side... which was exactly what I was planning.
So the first day, since I was staying in Brazil, I obviously went to visit the Brazilian side.
From the entrance point to the park a bus service leaves every ten minutes which takes you anywhere along the entire length of the park.
While most people got off at the first stop I decided to stay on all the way to the back in order to stay away from the crowds as much as possible.
From the various viewing points you can admire the falls in all kinds of perspectives.
Since most of the falls are at the Argentinian side, it means that from the Brazilian side you have a nice overview.
That same afternoon I left for Puerto Iguazu, located just over the border in Argentina and the usual base from which to explore the Argentinian side of the falls.
Besides the falls, I had a second reason for coming to Argentina, namely … meat :p
Argentina is known to produce the world's best beef, and who would I be to pass this close and not put this title to the test.
From my Sao Paulo contact I got the name of a restaurant and a specific piece of meat that I should order if I wanted to put myself in steak-heaven.
And basically while I was sitting down, the waiter came with the menu and advised me the same piece of meat... this had to be some killer meat!
Since I was in Argentina and the restaurant had an extensive wine-list I guessed it would only be proper to order a bottle too, you only live once, right?
When the meat came I must admit, I was not thoroughly impressed as it was neither incredibly big or possessed any other characteristics one would give of the top of his head to a 'perfect piece of meat', I mean it didn't look bad, it looked like a good piece of meat, but nothing more really.
But, as food isn't meant to be looked at, but to be eaten... I went at it.
And, well, there simply aren't any words to describe all of the ways in which this meat was perfect.
So tender and succulent, so perfectly baked and seasoned …
Argentinians really do know something more than the rest of us.
But anyway, the falls.
Besides forgetting the batteries of my camera and having to drive back from halfway, getting there went smoothly as expected.
The same tactics as used on the Brazilian side put me walking an iron walkway over the upper part of the Iguazu river(before it drops down) towards the devil's throat, the single highest and most dramatic plunge of the Iguazu falls.
I can guess it's hard to imagine the raw power radiating from an amount of water this big going over the edge and hurling down plus the sheer roar it creates.
And this, not just for a moment or longer, but continuously...endlessly.
After spending a full hour admiring the devil's throat I went on to the rest of the park, which turned out to be more than anticipated and thus I ended up running around from one fall to another till late in the afternoon, when it was time to and find my boat.
It is possible to go on a motorboat which takes you up close and personal to some of the falls.
This was as simple as it was fun, when at the bottom of the falls and the water was splashing in your face making it impossible to open your eyes it was hard to stop yourself from giggling like a little child..
So, wet but content I returned to the hostel from where the next morning I left on a five day trip taking me past Coritiba and Sao Paulo to my final destination, Rio de Janeiro.
(Yes, that's right sadly due to financial reasons I am basically forced to fly home from Rio, which means you can expect me back in Belgium in the week of the 7th Nov.)
Cheers
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Jacques
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Na de viering en herdenking van onze dierbaren, terug naar onze dagelijkse besognes. Ondertussen terug van een tiendaags verblijf in Hong Kong dat deel uitmaakt van China. Wat ons vertelt wordt, klopt helemaal. Ik heb het met mijn eigen ogen kunnen vaststellen. Het is geen evolutie maar bij manier van spreken een revolutie. Op maatschappelijk en economisch vlak een gigantische vooruitgang vastgesteld. China heeft de vaste wil om een grootmacht te worden en doet er alles aan om dit zo spoedig mogelijk te realiseren. Wij westerlingen, vrees ik, gaan het onderspit moeten delven, want de drang in China is zo groot dat er geen ontkomen aan is. Er is zeker nog armoede, zeker op het platteland en ook in de steden, maar ik zie de 1,3 miljard chinezen dit wel oplossen. Men zegt het regime is niet democratisch. Eerlijk is eerlijk ik heb wat de democratische beginselen betreft geen inbreuken in Hong Kong vastgesteld. Integendeel in de metro/treinen/bussen/op straat heb ik kunnen vaststellen dat de mensen elkaar zeer vriendelijk bejegenen. Tot daar mijn kort overzicht over mijn impressies na een kort bezoek aan deze te drukke stad gebouwd op rotsen, waar elke kleine ruimte naar best vermogen benut wordt. Dit verhaal sluit naadloos aan bij die andere nieuwe tijger India genaamd. Ik ben er van overtuigd dat ook Kim en haar Indische vriend dezelfde opmerkelijke veranderingen in India gaan kunnen vaststellen, wanneer zij in de loop van deze maand een bezoek zullen brengen aan deze nieuwe grootmacht. Kim als je met een open geest en met de ogen wijd open vertrekt, ga je een onvergetelijke reis tegemoet. Ik wens je het alleszins toe. Ik vrees dat je reisverslag te laat gaat komen aangezien ik meen te hebben kunnen opmaken uit het laatste bericht van Peter dat hij kortelings een punt gaat zetten achter zijn reis. Zijn eindstation zou Rio de Janeiro worden. Hij heeft ondertussen het Andes gebergte overwonnen, en hierbij op zijn motor stof \"gevreten\", zijn mooie motor tot ongeziene prestaties gedwongen, ondertussen ook een \"delicious\" stuk vlees verorbert(nee, niet \"gevreten\"), de paperassen oorlog gewonnen, ontelbare malen de grens overgestoken, en zo kan ik nog wel even verder gaan. Ondertussen, lijkt het alsof de zo geliefde motorbike de geest aan het geven is. Hij heeft maar een kort bestaan gehad, maar heeft alleszins een intensief leven gehad. Lang leve deze mooie motor, die wij op verschillende foto\'s hebben kunnen bewonderen, maar ik vermoed dat je hem gaat achterlaten met een krop in de keel. Je mag niet te zeer ontgoocheld zijn, Peter, want hij heeft je onnoembare diensten bewezen en dat primeert op alle droefenis. In je zeer open verhaal zeg je dat één van de redenen, die je tot het besluit heeft gebracht je zéér lang avontuur te beëindigen, het financiële aspect is. Als je 8 maanden onderweg bent en ook al probeer je zo zuinig mogelijk met je centen om te gaan,dan is het niet verwonderlijk dat je budget opgeraakt en er zullen nog wel andere dingen op je wachten, zoals belastingen betalen en niet te vergeten een mooi cadeau voor je zus haar huwelijk. So my friend it was a good idea to put an end to this unbelievable/unforgettable adventure. Ik weet niet of je alles in een dagboek hebt opgeschreven, maar misschien is dit niet nodig, want vele dingen zullen voor immer in je geheugen zijn opgenomen. De eindbalans maken wij nog wel een keer op wanneer je opnieuw tussen de Belgen zult wederkeren. Cheers