Bolivia. Exceptional! And full of surprises.

Bolivia.

Distance: 2069.5 kms
Average speed: 57 kph
Max speed: 139 kph (

on the salt flats)
Riding time: 52 hrs 30 mins

Total distance: 12694.8 kms

The temperature didn't get any cooler. We decided to ride to the first town in Bolivia and stop for the night. Sometimes I need to be reminded of the six P's. (prior planning prevents piss poor performance)

We rode for about 100 kilometres. It was still hot. Bloody hot. No service stations or garages at all. Dale was low on fuel. I left the highway and found a small village. Eventually, was directed to a guy who sold Dale 10 litres of petrol out of 2 litre Coke bottles from his backyard. His horse was pregnant. The guy told us the next fuel and Hotel was 100kms down the road.

It got dark. We shared the road with cattle, donkeys and other unrecognizable animals. Eventually, arrived at Robore, got Lindsay some fuel (from Coke bottles again) found a hotel and had about the best cold shower ever.

As often happens, a local bloke took a liking to us and wanted to show us around his town. We needed a beer and a meal, so our new best mate led us to a shitty little bar with the coldest beer on the planet, then on a kilometre walk to a restaurant. Showed us the railway station and the town square. A good young bloke. Wanted to take us to see a waterfall in the morning. We had to hit the road.

The roads had been good. Very good. Concrete and with a wide shoulder on both sides. Remarkably little traffic as well.

We wanted to by pass Santa Cruz and head for the mountains. Traffic increased during the day. We hit Santa Cruz during the afternoon peak. Dale navigated us through Santa Cruz with his tablet. Traffic became scarcer, the road had corners, many, many corners. We were in the mountains again. The temperature dropped for the first time in a week. In the dark, with me on reserve for the last 50 kilometres, we arrived at Samaiparta.

This joint is a little different. People from 27 different Countries live here. Ernesto Guevara Lynch lived here. These days Ernesto is better known as Che' Guevara, probably the World's most infamous Communist Insurgent. Che' spent a little time in town, went to the Chemist and a few other places.

Did you know, at school Che' was nicknamed Chancho (Pig) by his schoolmates because he rarely bathed.

An Aussie couple from Brisbane own the best Bar in town. Expats, the World over, know how to drink. Samaiparta is no exception. I think representatives from the 27 nationalities resident in town were in the bar the night we went.

Our Hotel, the La Posada del Sol, is the best of our trip. By far. It is like an Oasis. Only better. The staff are brilliant, the food and ambience great. Plenty of other travellers to talk to.

Today we hired a guide and drove for 2 hours along winding dirt tracks, then walked 1.2 kilometres, in 37 degree heat. Only 1.2 kms you think. That is 1.2kms fcuking vertical! We wanted to see Condors, reputedly the largest bird in the world. (wingspan 3 metres) They pick up calves and fly away to eat them. They fly 500kms most days. As we ate our magnificent picnic lunch we saw 5 Condors. (at a distance)

Next day, our guide, Ronaldo, took us on a “Cloud Forest” walk. We walked for hours through a magnificent forest, so high up in the clouds Epiphytes are common place. To the uneducated like myself, these are plants and ferns growing high up on tree branches, non parasitic, fed only by moisture and nutrients from clouds and rain. Fcuking amazing. I hadn't heard of Cloud Forest before I met Dale, now I have been to one, I realised I have been to several. Not as good as this one though! Thankfully it was only about 30 degrees in the forest.

`After 4 nights we dragged ourselves away from Samaiparta, headed for Sucra

Now that Bolivia has a left leaning Government, Che's sins have been forgiven. People have forgotten he was a Marxist Guerilla. Not even from Bolivia. He was born in Argentina and lived most of his life in Cuba, Castro funded his attempted Coup.

Our route from Samaiparta to Sucre for a large part followed the Ruta Del Che'. Rough as guts dirt track supposedly used by Che' and his gang. We passed up the opportunity to visit the hospital where his body was displayed, or the place where it was buried for 30 years.

Riding along nicely. My bike stops. Electrics dead. Fcuk. Found a fuse holder had got wet and cooked. We made a “Dave Carlaw” fuse holder and were on our way in an hour.

We did stay at La Higuera, the village where Che' was executed. In fact we slept in the Old Telegraph Station”, in the room next to where his last meal was cooked. It was the room where Miguel, Coco and Julio, (Che's Vanguardia de la Guerrilla's) belongings were divided between the soldiers. Their bodies had been laid on the ground outside our room. Visited the School Room where old Che' was shot. It is now a pretty good sort on museum. It all made for a very interesting and informative day.

If Che' ate and drank as well as we did, he had a pretty good send off. Our Chef was French. And damned good.

The ride from La Higuera to Sucre was magnificent, absolutely magnificent. Rough dirt and gravel tracks, dry creek wash a ways, hundreds of kms of terrific gravel, some slippery newly rained upon clay and to finish it off a fantastic twisty section of new asphalt, over a 3,300 metre pass. And almost no bloody traffic!

Sucre has a new, paved bicycle track. Two laned and well built. My GPS decided it was the best way out of town. Who were we to argue? I think a few locals were surprised to see and hear us, particularly the Old Girl having a snooze in one lane of the bike track.

Today our ride from Sucre to Potosi was also brilliant. Only 156kms, but, another new road without any traffic. Maybe 20 or 30 vehicles in the whole day. When I realised I was putting weight over the front and starting to hang off the side, I thought enough is enough. Slow down you dropkick! Crossed our highest pass yet, 4550 metres. My “BMW Rooney Special” loved it.

The last three days have most likely been 3 of the best riding days, ever. Great “Adventure Touring”.

Potosi is infamous for its mines. Cerro Rico is a big hill above the town. It is riddled with 182 mines. Today 19,000 miners work there. Before the world precious metal price went through the floor there were 38,000. There are many more mines, and disadvantaged miners in the area.

We took a brilliant tour of the mine. Our guide, Willy, was excellent. Simply the best. His Company is Marco Polo (www.potosimarcopolo.com) Willy worked underground for 6 years before studying and setting up his tour business. He has an excellent rapport with the Miners.

Most Miners from the Cerro Rico die before they are 44! From Silicosis and other dust born diseases. These poor bastards work 12 hour/day, 6 days/week. No paid sick leave. No paid holidays. No Workers Compensation. A top Miner can earn $100-120/month. The new kids on the block get $60/month. This is disgusting! The area has been mined for 469 years. When the Spanish ran the joint about 50% of the worlds silver came from Bolivia. They managed to get 800 grams out of each ton of rock. Today only 12 grams/ton is extracted. The conditions are cramped and extremely hazardous.

Willy introduced us to one of the oldest Miners still working. He is 58 and has mined for 44 years. It was one of the greatest privileges of my life to spend time down an extremely cramped 1.5 metre high tunnel, about 1km under the ground, talking to one of life’s Gentlemen. We discussed the environment and how our Countries and Corporations respect, or disrespect it. While we talked we heard 27 explosions, just other teams getting on with the job.

We stayed at another great Hotel, the “Hostel Carlos V Imperial”. Management let us park our bikes inside the Hotel. Fantastic. Lindsay was sick. We took him to the Vet. Ramiro Guaman, our Hotel's owner, came along and translated for us.

Bikes and Quads from the Dakar race are passing through Bolivia in 2014 for the first time. Everyone in the Country is excited. The Dakar people had a display in Potosi. We talked to them, they gave us caps, stickers and posters. Came to the Hotel to look at our bikes. Invited us back in the evening, asked us to wear our riding gear. I went and listened to some speeches, in Spanish. When I heard Australia and BMW mentioned then people started taking photos of me I legged it. I was terrified there was some mix up in the translation and the crowd was being told I was a former Dakar rider.

Our ride from Potosi to Tupiza was only a short days ride, but, bloody fantastic. A relatively new concrete road, already falling apart, little traffic and great scenery. It was hot, damned hot. Who cares, our Hotel had a pool.

We have been riding at about 3,600-3,800 metres for days, and will be for a few weeks. I changed my “Rooney Specials” carbie jets from 220 down to 150. Once again Paul Rooney's advice was spot on. She pulled like a train.

Tupiza to Uyuni was a 204 km ride down a brilliant dirt/gravel/sand road, most of which will be used for the 2004 Dakar race. The first 60 kms was some of the most scenic country I have ridden through. Outstanding rock formations for km after km. Dale's Honda got temperamental again. He took the Carbie bowl off and flushed it. All good. The last 80 kms was a 100 kph blast through the Altiplano. For about 3 minutes I thought I was in the Dakar. An unseen patch of deep sand, some tourists taking photos of me stuffing it up, and I am back down to earth.

Uyuni is the starting point for rides across the largest dry salt lake in the world, the Salar de Uyuni. We rode 20 km along a road works ridden shit fight to the salt lake. I have wanted to ride the salt since Mike Ferris and Ian Jurgens talked about it. We followed faint tracks 100 kms across the salt to an island full of cactus. Walked to the top to take photos, bloody hot, about 35 degrees. Met Robyn from BMT. His Company runs Motorcycle Tours in Uyuni and La Paz. (www.motorcycletoursbolivia.com) Robyn told us if we headed 35-40 kms in the direction of a big volcano we would find water. After 39.5 kms we hit the jackpot. Fcuking brilliant. Until Lindsay's bike called it a day. The salt fcuks everything. In quick time. Fortunately it was only corrosion on a spark plug lead.

We played the tourist. Rode at speed through the water, probably 80-90 kph. Took photos, acted like kids. Luckily the water was only about 50mm deep, the salt is about 1 metre deep, the water underneath up to 20 metres. Water bubbles up through holes called Eyes de Salar. I think if we hit one of these at speed we would be fcuked for good.

Time to go home. No tracks to follow. Only the Garmin GPS. Plotted a course and went for it. Another 100km passage. By this time we were used to it and mucked around like kids. Fcuk the Eyes de Salar! Amazingly, my navigation was OK, arrived were we wanted to be. The bikes were white, covered in salt, and dissolving before our eyes. Robyn let us use his Kartcher, took us over 2 hours to wash the 3 bikes. And they still had salt on them. Lindsay's bike wouldn't start and stayed at Robyn's the night. This had been an incredible day.

Uyuni is the Bolivian overnight stop on the 2014 Dakar. Everybody is wetting themselves with excitement. Every shop sells Dakar souvenirs. They have a gigantic Dakar emblem statue in the centre of town.

There are 2 ways from Uyuni to La Paz, one is black top and easy, the other has 177kms of dirt and construction. We took the dirt. My “Rooney” would not start, she had her own salt corrosion. Dale and WD40 fixed her. We hadn't had rain of any significance since starting out. That all changed when we hit the road works. It rained, I hit a patch of clay, my “Rooney's” front end went its own way and incredibly I didn't fall off. After about 10,000kms my TKC80 front tire is nearly bald, the bike was all over the joint. About 1 km furthe down the track I came to a small hill. Lindsay was stopped halfway. The track was still clay. Our bikes could not get any traction. I stopped, locked both brakes and still slid backwards. A truck came down the hill. Out of control, missed Lindsay's bike by 50 mm. To close. Much to close. It was so slippery I could hardly walk up the hill.

We waited an hour or more. I dropped my tires to 12 psi and we rode, pushed, slid our bikes across the mud to the new road, which was still under construction. It was as slippery as shit as well. Waited another 30 minutes and took off at about 5-10 kph. We had about 100 kms of dirt to go. As it dried out, we rode the bikes like we had stolen them, didn't want to get caught for a week in the clay. A magnificent view, in the mirrors, of the approaching storm. I rode through one more cloudburst. The bloody bike slid all over the place. Eventually, made it to the bitumen. What a great afternoons ride.

Cruising along on the black the rain caught us. It pissed down. Good thing, washed all the remaining salt away. About 30 kms from our nice dry beds in Oruro, Lindsay”s bike got temperamental again. The shitty little town we stopped in had one small hotel. Clean and dry, so it was not to bad. No restaurants or bars though. We bought bread rolls, tuna, tomatoes, onions and beer at a shop and ate and drank at our Hotel. The tuna tasted sort of OK, although we still are not sure if it was cat food or or not.

Next day it rained. My bike wouldn't start. I had forgotten the kill switch! After a while Lindsay's bike stopped again. He covered the coil and leads with WD40 and a plastic bag. Did the job. It pissed down all the way to La Paz. The road works and traffic were incredible. Close to the city we rode along the footpath, dodging pedestrians, dogs, market stalls and riding over 1 metre piles of earth put there to stop people like us. My Garmin took us off the highway, through some interesting small cobblestone roads to the Oberland Hotel in La Paz.

We planned to ride down the “Death Road”.(in 1995 the Inter-American development Bank christened it the “worlds most dangerous road”) We discovered if we rode up the “Death Road” we would be on the cliff side. Much safer. We had a stupendous 230km days ride. Crossed our highest pass yet, 4,687 metres. Met Chris and Jim, 2 Aussies from Queensland riding DR650's from Prudo Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia. Chris has a full spec Vince Strange bike. Rides like he is in the Dakar! We decided to ride together for the day.

The road built to replace the “Death Road” runs from 4,687 down to 1,019 metres. Many great corners, great views, great everything. Except the odd truck doing about 10 kph, or unannounced roadworks. The “Death Road” section we rode up only lasts 64kms. It is a bloody amazing ride! It rained, there was fog, there were waterfalls across the track, there were 400 metre shear drops. We met a truck,and a bus, plus a few cars. I loved it. The boys loved it. My “Rooney Special” loved it.

At lunch Jim noticed my front tire had canvas showing in a couple of spots. My back Mitas EO7 is a little worse for wear as well. Not a good range of tires for sale in La Paz. Last trip I got another 5,000kms from my tires. I guess Dale and Lindsay are a bad influence and there have been plenty of exceptional riding roads.

Fortunately, bike riders, in far off lands, have a habit of leaving their worn tires in bike friendly hotels. Some lovely rider had left a pair on worn Michelin Sahara's at the Oberland. Fortunately, the front was 21X 90/90. How good was that! Probably payback, I have done the same thing in the past. I changed the front and now have a couple of thousand more kms left.

Dale and I went to the La Paz Zoo. Robyn told us they had some Condors. In fact they had 7. We could see them up close, as well as Puma's, Jaguar's and Anacondas. Plus the usual collection of monkeys and birds. Two of the Jaguars were fornicating. Unfortunately my bloody camera battery went flat. Their movements and growling was like I imagined Lindsay's love making to be. A little bit of a shame to see birds used to flying 500kms a day in an aviary. No matter how large.

It is only 100kms from La Paz to the Peruvian border. The Garmin took us out of town and into the biggest traffic jam I have ever been in. Bigger than Bangkok in Thailand. Bigger than Dhakar in Bangladesh. Several times we shut down our engines and waited. It was absolute chaos. Finally, eventually, we cleared the traffic. Then I thought I new better than the GPS. The result: a 20km detour.

So, we are at the chaotic area known as the Bolivian/Peruvian Border. Bring it on!

Make sure you all have a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Have a sip or two for me. Cuzco is one of my favourite cities and that's where we will be for Christmas.

Congratulations to Betty & Bob.

Chris.

xx

Lindsay's hot. (Dale's photo)

Condor watching picnic

Did we walk that far? (Dale's photo)

Dale got to photograph a Condor.

Cloud Forest walk.

Ernesto Guevara Lynch's road.

Our Hotel in La Higuera.

This is were it all ended for Che'.

Lindsay on Che's trail.

Ernesto Lynch's Trail.
(Dale's photo)

 Carlos V Imperial Hotel. Potosi.

Our bikes inside.

Do I look like a miner?

Note the gelignite & fuse.

Tourists bearing gifts.

The Miners wheel barrows under this beam.

Our Mates, chewing Coco leaf in their crib break.

Dale.

Dale's photo.

While Dale ponders, Lindsay laughs & the Bolivian Official poses.

Lindsay.

Cactus.

Dale the Botanist.

Lindsay.

My "Rooney BMW", Dale & Lindsay.

Dale.

My "Rooney Special". Sorry Paul.

Dale's Honda. Sorry Sorichiro.

The "Death Road".

Condor's arse.

Puma, sleeping in a gum tree.

Brazil was hot. The weather & the women!

Uruguay.

Distance: 735km

Average speed: 72,3kph

Top Speed: 127kph

Brazil.

Distance: 2,294.8km

Average speed: 67.4kph

Top Speed: 133kph

Moving time: 32.5 hrs

Total distance: 8,094.8kms

My new Garmin GPS, with maps loaded by Dale, worked a treat. The 3hr ferry trip to Colonia in Uruguay was uneventful, although I thought I saw my old ship, “WH Resolution”, probably just an apparition.

Colonia did not surprise me, nor did it shock me, I was stunned! It was a cross between a small Mediterranean fishing town and provincial French village. Absolutely beautiful.

Riding along Ruta 1 to Montevideo, the Capital, was an eye opener. This joint is great. Extremely westernised. Much more so than Chile or Argentina.  Uruguay has just legalised Marijuana.  A very sensible approach in my opinion. We didn't feel the need to indulge. They have their act together.

From Montevideo we rode north to Brazil, a beautiful ride through magnificent farming country. More great roads and little traffic. Stayed in an expensive, shitty little hovel of a Hotel in a lovely little town.

Somewhere, we crossed into Brazil. I was looking for the border, after about 5kms, realised we were in Brazil. They have an open Border. Why did we bother getting an expensive visa when no one even knew we had crossed into their country.

We rode along a route seldom used by travellers. We like it that way. Lush rice crops turned into Sorghum crops being harvested. This ground is so good, if you stood still for a couple of days you would grow 500mm! I thought Boorowa was good. Tony Cooper, Whitey and Ron, eat your hearts out!

Further north the traffic increased. We were on the main transport route for trucks to Paraguay. Overtaking was not a problem, although a little exciting at times. Brazilians seem to be good drivers. Although the road surface was pretty chopped up, my “BMW Rooney Special's” superior suspension coped well. Her new Ohlins rear shock is marvellous, much better than the YSS shocky I used last time. These couple of days have been a fantastically pleasurable and relaxing ride. Good roads, good hotels, good food and a couple of beers at the end of the day. Pretty damned good.

In Argentina every bathroom had a Bidet. They didn't bother with them in Uruguay In Brazil we haven't found one. No great loss.

The service stations in Brazil all have good old fashioned driveway service. Like we had in Australia when I was a kid. Lindsay has a theory that all former Brazilian Miss World candidates get jobs as service station pump jockeys. A place that would be run by one Indian or Pakistani at home is run by 6 -8 Brazilians here. We keep getting told our work practises are antiquated!

Foz Do Iguazu means end of the big river in Portugese. Better known as Iguazu Falls. Last time I was here the river was in flood. Made the falls exceptionally spectacular, although we could not do any of the walks. I crossed back into Argentina for the day to walk the walks. Fantastic! Met up with 3 crazy Spanish guys. They were great fun.

We toured the Brazilian side of the falls. Had a helicopter ride, Dale and I took a wild ride up and under the falls in a gigantic rubber ducky, complete with 2 X 200hp engines. Kilometres of walks and several hundred photos. This place is the grouse. Stayed for 3 nights in an Eco Lodge in the forest.

Igauzu Falls is something everyone should see.

The local car and truck mechanic let Lindsay and I service my bike in his workshop. Went into town looking for filter oil. Motec Honda (www.motec.com.br) helped me out. Had some filter oil delivered in about 10 minutes and let me do the job in their immaculate workshop. Could have eaten my dinner off the floor. Bruno de Marco is the Man!

All brilliant. Gotta go, head north in the morning.

Another fantastic two day ride along the Paraguyan border to Bonito, including 150kms of superb gravel tracks. We tried to stay off the main highways as much as possible.

Mark asked me to try and find the elusive Brazilian. They are hard to find, those we did come across were to expensive for us!

Brazil is the home of the Speed Bump. We call them “Dong Feng Breakers”. Vehicle speed is mostly controlled by “Dong Feng Breakers”. A small village has about 3, a large town about 13. Some are painted white, some are painted yellow, some are painted white & yellow. Some have never been painted at all, they are usually black and blend in well. Most have signs. Some used to have signs, but don't anymore. Some have never had signs. Sometimes, one will pop up out on the highway, it may or may not have a sign. Occasionally the sign will say there is one, there may be three. Occasionally the sign will say there is three, there may only be one. They all have a near vertical approach and drop off. Hitting one at 90kph is interesting.

More progressive areas in Brazil have speed cameras. They are as common as “Dong Feng Breakers”. I imagine we have accumulated a considerable amount in speeding fines. Remember, with their Open Border Policy, they do not even know we are in their country. Good luck collecting any speeding fines from us!

Bonito, a holiday town for the Brazilians, is famous for being the jumping off point for the Pantenals.

Also for the crystal clear river waters absolutely crowded with fish. For a few dollars you can swim among thousands of Dorado, some up to 1 metre long. Yes, bloody thousands of the things. This is one of the most amazing things I have seen. Brazilian women don't wear to many clothes when they swim.

We had a rapid 3 hour ride north to the Pantinals. Damned hot, over 35 degrees. And humid. Probably collected a few more speeding fines along the way. Met our tour guide, Ronaldo, in a dust bowl on the side of the highway. It was another fantastic ride, 66kms along gravel, sandy, rocky tracks to the Paraguan River. As hot as hell until it rained for the last 10kms. The vehicular ferry across the river to Porto da Mango was a shit heap. Sam and Tim would love to Audit her.

The Pantinal is a rain forest, river and wetland system larger than France. About 70% is farmed, a small percentage protected by the Government. In the long distant past it was all rainforest. Our jungle lodge didn't look nearly as good as in the glossy brochure. Cold beer and decent food made up for it. Good people as well.

First night Ronaldo took us up the river in a tinny. No nav lights, no life jackets, no anchor. (and we are in a fast flowing river full of fcuking crocodiles) Where are Rex Cresswell and his boys when you need them. Caiman, in Brazil, is not a Porsche model, they are a freshwater crocodile, growing up to 3 metres, although in our area 2.7m is about as big as they get. Our spotlights picked out hundreds and hundreds of gleaming Caiman eyes. I could not believe the number and size of the fcukers. Some swam into the side of our boat. After a while we relaxed and enjoyed the spectacle.

Next morning we were told to be ready for breakfast at 0630. Ronaldo and his team thought we were extra keen as we were 1 hour early. The truth is, we are extra stupid. We finally realised the time zone had changed an hour. We had been 1 hour early for everything, for several days.

Up the river just after daylight, in the same ill equipped v/l. This time we looked for birds. We saw birds, many, many birds. All shapes, sizes and colours. Amazon Kingfishers, Jabiru. And Marsh Deer. And Capybara (freshwater pigs) plus a few hundred more Caiman. After a while it got hot, very hot. The only water to swim in was full of Crocs. Ronaldo promised us they don't eat people, so we swam. It is a little disconcerting to be swimming and see several sets of croc eyes poking above the surface less than 10 metres away. We had already waded through a muddy croc infested lake.

Just finished a big lunch, now is all quite in the camp as it is siesta time. This afternoon is Forest Walk, Monkey Watch Trek.

Plenty of Monkeys, Macaws of several different flavours, Forest Deer, and the highlight, an Armadillo. On the way back we stopped at a few waterholes. Saw so many Caiman and Capybara we were over them. It was bloody hot in the forest, I nearly melted. Capybara have 9-10 babies. This is a good idea, as the Caiman like to eat baby Capybaras.

Ronaldo had us up at 6am again, breakfast and up the river Piranha fishing. Our new mate Rick won the gold medal, he caught 5, Dale won silver, with 4. Lindsay and I were failures, only getting 2 each. I seem to remember swimming in this same muddy river yesterday.

We are showered, bikes packed and waiting to head for Bolivia this afternoon, although not until after lunch. The cook is about to serve up our freshly caught Piranha.

Ronaldo has been an excellent guide.

A fantastic finish to Brazil, about 55kms of brilliant dirt, sand and gravel tracks through the forest took us to Corumba, the Brazil/Bolivia border town. Probably rode to fast. We loved it, the bikes loved it.

Our new best Mate, Indi, (Ronaldo's friend) guided us through the Customs and Immigration in about 2 hours. It was hot. And humid. Over 40 degrees. Seldom have I been so hot. I could feel sweat running down the inside of my riding gear and pooling in my boots. Adam and I rode for days in Kazakstan and Russia at over 45 degrees. It was hot. With the humidity, this is a killer. We drank litres of water.

Finally got a Brazilian stamp in my passport, no speeding fines though!

We loved Brazil. Bring on Bolivia.

Chris.

xx

        Colonia, Uruguay
Once a lighthouse, now a cafe.  

      (Dales photo)  

  Getting ready for a "Dong Feng" breaker.

(Dale's photo)     

  

Igauzu Falls from the Argentinean side.

Argentina.

My crazy Spanish mates.

Argentina

 

Argentinean monkey

 Brazil, Argentina in the background.

 Brazil

Do I look like I am having fun?

(Dale's photo)

A Coatie, on the Brazilian side.

Brazil

 Brazil

A few of Bonito's Dorado.

(Dale's photo)

Brazil, looking into Paraguay.

(Dale's photo)

Aussie and Dutch swimmers.

Observant Caiman

Jabiru

Brazilian Monkeys

Forest Deer

Armadillo

Brave Capybara, or lazy Caiman

The great white hunter.

Piranha.

We are Bikers again.

Chile.

Distance ridden: 265 kms

Max speed: 148km/hr

Argentina:

Distance ridden: 4,800kms (approx)

Max speed: 160kms/hr (racing Lindsay)

Distance for my around the world trip: 86,828.6km

The boys bikes finally arrived. Enzo took us to the container Depot. Bikes assembled, both started first go. A good result seeing they had been in the crates for 10 weeks. Dale and Lindsay rode out in under 3 hours.

Finally, we all rode out of Valparaiso, 3 weeks late. The sun came out and the Garbo’s were back on the job. I can't say I had become fond of the place, probably more an acceptance. I still don't care if I ever go back.

Away by 1030, hoping to miss the traffic, no luck there. My GPS led us onto the highway, a not to exciting ride, which was good as it allowed us the acclimatise to riding on the right.

Our first taste of riding across the Andes. Fcuk me! Fantastic. Little traffic, great road surface and brilliant scenery. The first set of switchbacks had at least 100 hairpins. Lindsay said 45, Dale counted 37. Whatever, it was a tremendous ride. Several tunnels and many one sided land slide tunnels.

The pass into Argentina was 3,290 metres, the highest any on us had ridden. We were well above the snow line. My “Rooney” loved it. We were through the border in about an hour. Everyone was very helpful.Even the border guy, when I discovered a vital piece of paper had blown away. I think he just loved me!

Riding down the western side of the Andes was as good as going up. Hard to concentrate on riding fast and looking at the view at the same time. Argentina's road surfaces are the best.

Eventually found beds in a Youth Hostel in Mendoza. What a lovely, cosmopolitan city. Very European. Argentinian women are as beautiful as I remembered them from 15 years ago. Very nearly as beautiful as Sydney chicks.

The country has a bit of an economic problem at the moment. This is bad for the Argentinians, but great for us. Chile was as expensive as Australia or Europe to travel in. This joint is excellent value. Last time, 1 USD equalled 1 Argentinian Peso. Now it is 5.8 to the USD. Up to 9.6 if you have $US100 notes. Fortunately we did.

The ride south to San Carlos de Bariloche has been one of the best I have done. Fantastic roads, almost no traffic and scenery to die for. No Police either. Three days riding through the Andean foothills, snow capped peaks and the mountain range on our right. Rolling hills and plains to our left. Every morning around 10 or 11, gale force winds start from the west. This really is strong enough to blow a dog off it's chain. I am talking 30 or 40 knots, or more. It really becomes interesting when we have the bike leant over, powering through a corner and the wind hits. Either standing the bike up so it doesn't want to turn, or, laying her down so I nearly scrape the pegs. And my “Rooney” doesn't scrape her pegs, Ever.

We had about 60-70kms of gravel. It was a shitty surface with large river stones and big lumps of gravel. Some sand thrown in to make it more interesting. Not as bad as the Chita Road in Siberia, but up there. It takes me a while to get used to the bike moving around on a surface like this. In the end I really enjoyed it. Dale loved it immediately and took off like a cat shot in the arse.

At Malargue and Chos Malal we stayed in Hostels. All great value. Strolling down-town for dinner at about 7.30, had trouble finding restaurants open. Thought they had already shut. It took us a few days to realise the Argentinians eat late, about 9.30. The restaurants were all closed because we were to early. Pretty silly, eh?

We navigate and route plan by committee. Last night, over a couple of bottles of magnificent Mendozan Malbec (at $5.50/bottle) we worked out our route east and north from Bariloche.

I could stay in Bariloche for a week. It is surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains and is on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi which is over 400 metres deep and has the clearest fresh water I have ever seen.

Bariloche has a very strong German influence. Apparently many Germans moved here after WWII, the area supposedly sheltered Hitler and Eva Braun, Martin Bormann, Joseph Mengele and Adolf Eichman. You can even buy books on Adolf Hitler. Read into that what you like!

Today was the best road ride I have had for many, many years. About 460kms in a loop taking us around the lake to the Chilean border in the west, up north and back down to Bariloche. Amazing scenery, fantastic roads and almost no traffic.

Not one Highway Police Officer! My “Rooney Cycle” loved it. The Mitas E07 rear and Continental TKC80 front tyre have no right to hang on as well as they do. We rode way faster than we should have done in a developing country. Would do it all again! To me, this was about the best day ride in the world.

Then, great beer and and fantastic German food. Again.

Away from Bariloche relatively early, about 8.40, another lovely two day ride to Peninsular Valdez. The westerly winds were behind us most of the way. Good for fuel consumption and our comfort. Left the Andes behind and rode across a wide coastal plan, very much like the Nulabour Plain.

Lindsay pointed out I would have completed riding around the world when we reached the Atlantic Ocean, which we did at Peuerto Madryn. I had thought about this months ago, but totally forgotten it. No tears or screams like Charlie Boorman and Ewan McGregor, although we did have an extra bottle of Argentina's finest red that night.

My Garmin Zumo 550 decided to celebrate, by retiring from work. Back to navigating from paper, with help from Dale's “Tablet”. It snuffed it one kilometre from the end of my around the world trip. Weird or what?

We stayed on Peninsular Valdez for a couple of nights, a very large peninsular, a Unesco World Heritage site. We rode about 200kms around on magnificent gravel roads, rode much faster than we should of. Saw Sea Lions, Elephant Seals (about 200 at one beach), Whales, Lamas, and things that look like an Emu, only a little smaller. Nice, but a little underwhelming. Went to a private Magellan Penguin Sanctuary. I don't think there is anything like it in the world. We walked among many thousands of them. Saw mothers sitting on eggs and with babies only a couple of days old. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Had a couple of cold beers while watching the sun set over the ocean. This is about as good as it gets.

It was a boring, hard, hot, dull 3 day ride to Buenos Aires. Dangerous, as it turned out. First day was about 36 degrees, a big change from what we had become accustomed to. The wind blew its guts out from the west for nearly the whole ride. The air pressure wave from trucks coming the other way was like hitting a brick wall. Hundreds of times a day. We were very much at risk of being blown off the road all the time. Fortunately my “Rooney Cycle” has a new screen, which gives her superior aerodynamics.

We spent a night at Azul. Met Stella, an extremely attractive Argentinean lady, while we were looking for a Hotel. Met her kids, William & Christian, and her parents. All lovely. Next morning Dale went to the Azul University, as Christian's guest, as they were both studied the same scientific discipline. 

Dale had a near death experience. His closest ever. I was following him around a very large 2 laned roundabout, when a fcuking car came flying around the roundabout the wrong way, in Dale's lane. Dale swung left and missed him by about 400mm. He was completely in Dale's lane, so I was safe, only a little frightened.

Next day was my turn for my closest near death experience on a bike. I was leading. There was a line of trucks coming the other way. Some dropkick in a car pulled out to overtake. We were head on, both at about 100kms. He passed me in the breakdown lane, still flat strap. The prick nearly cleaned up the 3 of us. New undies all round. I was shit scared. Although some Argentinian car drivers leave a lot to be desired, their Truckies are the best.

This highway needed more bloody Cops! I thought I would never say that.

Eventually we made it to Buenos Aires. We got horribly lost. Several times. Cursed the bloody GPS. Many times. We pulled to the side of a toll way for a conference. A bike pulls up and asks where we are going. We pointed to an area to our right. Our Good Samaritan clenches his fist in a pistol shape, points it at me and pretends to pull the trigger. Tells us not to go to that area or we would probably get shot. He paid our tolls and led us to a safe area.

Somehow we lost Lindsay. I was the only one who new the name of our hotel. Dale and I eventually found the hotel and emailed Lindsay the address. He was already in a McDonalds waiting for our email. Smart, eh? Thought we had managed to give him the flick. No such luck.

Our new best mate Ed (from horizonsunlimited.com) had found us a great hotel and let us park our bikes in one of his garages. We went for a meal and beers with him and his friends Caroline and Jo. At the usual Argentinian time of 1030pm. Great night. Solved a few of the worlds problems.

I had forgotten how much I like Buenos Aires. The girls are almost as good looking as Sydney's. Unfortunately, people here have to be paranoid about security. With good reason. I parked my “Rooney” on the footpath outside our Hotel. I woman came to me, looking worried. I asked if my bike was in her way and said I would only be couple of minutes. Turns out she was worried about me leaving my “Rooney' unlocked, even for such a short time.. We travel on the underground train. Ed gives us our security instructions. Single file, him at the front, me at the rear. Hands in pockets and try and keep away from people. All part of the adventure. I love the place, but couldn't live like this.

Ed took us to the Garmin agent. Quite an adventure. I purchased a new Garmin Zumo 500 for about $1,100. Many hundreds more than at home. And for the old model. Navigation will be easy again.

Dale downloaded maps from the net. Damned things didn't work. Lucky he knows his way around a “google machine”. Many hours later he has loaded maps for the whole of South America. I emailed Brian at GPS OZ in Mona Vale (www.gpsoz.com.au), as usual he came through with good advice.

Ed took us into town to buy tickets for the ferry to Uruguay. We walked into the closest bar for a drink and a meal. Surprised to see so many attractive, provocatively dressed single girls. Turns out we had stumbled into a Hookers pick up bar! The only thing we bought was one drink each. Honest, not even any food.

Argentina has been great. Buenos Aires has been great. Even the Taxi Drivers are good blokes. Ed is the best.

Tomorrow a boat to Uruguay.

Chris.
 xx

The Boys get their bikes. Eventually.

 Was it 100, 45 or 37. Who cares!

 3,290 metres.

 Route planning by committee

 

My "Rooney Cycle"

That would be the end of our Round the World Trip.

Bike? What Bikes? It turned into a road trip in a Dongfeng S30

Distance travelled: 4,550 kms
Foreign tourists spotted: 9
Max Dongfeng S30 speed: 160 kph

The Thursday before we left was a bastard. I slipped getting off a Harbour Cat and belted my knee and my shoulder. Luckily Mick (aka MMM) put ice packs on it. Or should I say, iced Sweet Pea & Corn packs on it.

Mates came and went, stayed and slept, all weekend. I love that. A meal at the RSL, over many schooners of Coopers we told more than a few lies. My house was full, people sleeping everywhere.

Ali & Uiti drove us to the Airport. 0500 is to early after a big night, let alone after two big nights!

We flew from Sydney to Santiago with Lan Chilli. A terribly mediocre and over rated Airline. Trying to get a cup of water was like trying to extract teeth. Even for Airline food, it was bland. They ran out of beer.

Taxi for the 100km trip to Valparaiso. Good value, I slept most of the way. 1^st night we slept for 15 bloody hours.

Enzo & Martina are our Valpariaso agents. They let us stay in their wonderful old eclectic, chaotic, ramshackle 3 story home. Complete with 3.75 metre ceilings. Adventure Bikers come and go. Mike from the U.S. on his KLR, who has just spent 6 months in the Antarctic. Peter & Mischka from Berlin on a pair of Yamaha 650 Tenere's. All great people.

Our time in Valparaiso was busy. Getting the Rooney through Customs took a full day. Without Enzo, it probably would have taken a week. Stewart in Melbourne, as usual, has done a brilliant job. Errol's bike crate has died, this was its last trip.

Valparaiso is a city of 300,000 perched on hills and cliffs that reminded me of Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. In Valparaiso they like to see the air they breath. There is an absence of public toilets, for both man and dog. The place stinks of piss and there is dog shit all over the joint. I mentioned they needed a couple of days rain to wash it away. Martina said they needed 100 years of rain to do it. They only have 331 mms of rain per year.

The people are lovely and friendly, as are the many, many stray dogs. In fact, Chile has the friendliest stray dogs I have met. We found some good bars. Got very drunk one night with some Chilean Navy guys. They had all served on 'Esmeralda', Chile’s magnificent 4 masted sailing ship. Great blokes, great night. Lousy head the next day.

Valparaiso has a network of funicular railways. Unfortunately, the drivers, and the garbage collectors, were on strike. One night we could not find a restaurant open. We had rum & coke and dry bread & chips for dinner. Next day we discovered the cities water supply had failed, so all restaurants had to close. We don't speak Spanish, so no one could tell us.

Would I go to to Valparaiso again? Not if I could avoid it. Did we have a good time? Hell yes. Why? Good people and good food equals great times. What else do you need. Enzo, Martina & their kids are fantastic.

Lindsay & Dale's bikes took an unexpected holiday in Korea, so will not be ready to be picked up until 4^th November. We hired a car to tour Southern Chile for two weeks.

Our car is a Chinese made Dongfeng S30, only 3 weeks and 3,000kms old. One thousand and six hundred cubic centimetres of rippling power, with very little torque. Twin air bags, ABS, the largest boot I have ever seen in a small car and a really nice gear change. Reasonably economical as well. Not much else going for it. Poorly built and I don't think she will live to an old age. I don't think we would either if we pranged her. The suspension is already stuffed. Lawrie and Graham had a Dongfeng winch engine many years ago. I don't think the quality has improved. She was not built them to take what we have planned for her.

We take turns in driving, day about. The front passenger's job is to make sure the driver is on the correct side of the road. We have all spent time on the left. Some more than others! It is hard to judge how close to go to the right hand side kerb. Lindsay did the best, he drove for about 50 metres, with the bloody wheels on the right side footpath scattering women and children. And, he tells me, he is the most qualified driving person in Australia. God help the rest of us.

The Chilean road network is fantastic. Very little traffic either. Many, many times a day we comment on how good the roads and tracks would be on a Bike. The Chileans are good drivers.

Yesterday we had our first argument, could not agree on what day of the week it was. We had to consult our hotel Manager. He was not sure either. I think this means we are relaxed and in holiday mode.

At first we could see snow capped mountains to our left. The terrain is steep. Around Valparaiso and Santiago there is little vegetation. Nearly desert. As we drive further south there seems to be more vegetation every kilometre. We have driven through beautiful Aussie Eucalyptus Globulus and Radiata Pine forests. I think there are probably more Eucalyptus trees here than in Australia. The gravel roads are mostly in very good condition. In some areas we could be in Australia.

Our hotels have all been good, a couple fantastic. Everyone is friendly and helpful. The people and the dogs in Chile are probably the happiest and friendliest I have encountered. Last night we slept about 5 metres from the beach, the view from my bed was stunning. Today, things are not so good, we are probably 10 metres away from the sand.  

We are having a day off in Valdivera, went on a brewery tour this afternoon. At Kunstmann Brewery (yes, that is their name) they use the same no chemical method of brewing as is used in Germany. We had to try a few of their magnificent brews. Just woke up after a long siesta. I think we are Kunstmann addicts now.

Today we caught a ferry and ended up in Northern Patagonia. Fcuk me !! This place is amazingly beautiful. Magnificent waterways and snow covered mountain peaks all around. Dale gave our Dongfang S30 a real workout over a 100 or so kilometres of gravel road. Although more expensive than we had planned for, Chile is definitely worth it. And no tourists.

Lindsay said “it is like being in Noosa, but without all those p----s from Victoria.” I have family in Victoria. I like Victorians. Fcuk him.

The last couple of days have been on gravel roads, driving through incredible forests, past fantastic mountains. We have been on three vehicular ferries, the largest 74 metres, which steamed for 3 1/2 hours through fjords over 450 metres deep, the other two about 35 metres. The two smaller ones had Schottel propulsion systems.

Lindsay was driving the 60kms from the last ferry to Chaiten, he thought he was in the Australian Safari. The poor new Dongfang S30 did know what had hit her.

The Chaiten Volcano erupted in 2008, covering the town on volcanic ash. It is now mostly a ghost town, very sad to see. The abandoned buildings all have about 1 metre of mud (from the ash) in them. Peoples lives, just buried, left where they were in 2008. The river changed course and cut a swath through the town.

The butcher had two calenders his wall. One dated 25^th October 2013, the other still on 2^nd May 2008. He still sold a good steak though, cut straight from the carcass while we watched.

Today was my turn to drive the Dongfeng. We went about 100kms south to Puerto Cardenas at the head of Lake Yelcho, with a couple of long side trips up tracks to look at glaciers and other stuff. The boys are now arguing over which volcanoes we actually saw today. Fcuk me, who poured the Bourbon. And I don't like Bourbon.

They have finally agreed our favourite volcano is Corcovado. A beautiful, majestic, classically traditional volcano. Dale went to University. So he is able to tell us she has been glacially eroded.

Our 3^rd favourite volcano is Michinmahuido, she is a glaciated stratovolcano, lives about 15kms from here.

We swam in 38 degree thermal springs, fed from Michinmahuido Volcano. How good was that? It was so good we went back the next day.

Back to town, down to a beach, that did not exist before May 2008, we shelled peanuts and drank Escudo beer out of 1 litre bottles, while we walked the beach. We could see our three favourite volcanoes, including Chaiten, which continued to spew hot gases into the atmosphere. I have never slept at a place less than 10kms from an active volcano. The Chilean Government are building a new town 10kms north of here, as they don't know when old Chaiten is going to blow again.

Dale says Lindsay and I are old, and he is not, yet.

Dale cooked a great steak dinner. Michelle would be proud.

Was this a great day? Fcuk me, yes!!

Our time in the Chilean Patagonia has ended. The area was stunningly fantastic. I would like to come back here again. It is bloody amazing! Any takers?

We caught a ferry over to Quellin on Isle Grand De Chiloe yesterday. The views of the snow covered mountains on the 4 hour trip over would bring a tear to your eyes. I haven't seen anything like it before.

Our 80 metre ferry was berthing stern first (a Mediterranean moor) and nearly backed over a smaller vessel which was in its berth. Our lines were being run. The smaller boat ran over one of our vessel's mooring lines. What a shit fight. I got some of it on video. Doesn't happen at CQ.

This area happens to be the Pacific Salmon farming Capital of the world. Previously, the best fish I had eaten was a very large Salmon, cooked by the Intrepids, over a campfire, in the Russian Far East. Most nights we eat magnificently cooked Salmon, at a very reasonable price, in nice little waterside restaurants. Frequently followed by a bottle or two of excellent Chilean red. Last night was no exception.

We are heading back up to Valpariaso for Sunday. Hopefully the boys pick up their bikes on Monday.

Isle Grand De Chiloe is quite mundane after the countryside we have been driving through. Roadworks and traffic, looks a little like Russia at times. Tonight we are. in the capital, Castro a nice enough town although I think we have been spoilt.

I had hoped to lose weight on this trip. Unfortunately, driving in the Dongfeng S30 is not conducive to this. Today we had 4 meals. Breakfast. Beer with our large meat n veg soup at lunch. A large bucket of coffee and a slice of the best, richest chocolate and caramel cake ever, for afternoon tea, and the best Salmon meal yet for dinner. With a bottle or so of red. Bring on the bikes and some more exercise.

Today we got our ambitions mixed up with our capabilities. Again. Unfortunately, that's a regular occurrence with me. The local volcano at Lake Llanquihue is the Osorno Volcano. Dale, our navigator supremo, discovered we could drive a fair way up. We decided we would drive, then walk as far up towards the crater as possible. We think we are Volcanologists now. Out of the Dongfeng S30 it was about 3-5 degrees. Luckily I have my BMW Rally Pro 3 riding jacket with me. As well as being about the best riding jacket, it makes a great trekking jacket. We set off at a brisk pace. It was bloody cold. The wind was strong enough to blow a dog off it's chain. It started to rain. We trekked upwards. It started to sleet. Onwards and upwards, over the first ridge. The rain & sleet got heavier. Great weather to push on to the next ridge. The wind picked up. Lindsay estimated it at 40 knots. A little conservative, I think. The temperature dropped, Dale's estimation was well below zero, minus the wind chill factor. We thought we were going to be blown off the bloody volcano. We had a quick little conference and decided we were coffee shop soft cocks, not volcanologists and better head down. The sleet stung our faces, our hands were frozen. My BMW jacket kept me warm and dry. Thank fcuk. It was a shitty coffee, but hot. Dale wants to go back tomorrow and try again. Fcuk that for a joke.

Australia has Meat Pies, Chile has Empanades. They are a little like a Pastie, only better. Healthier than a Aussie Dog's eye as well. They are pastry, rolled over and filled with mince meat, onion, an egg and spices. Just to break your teeth, they usually have an Olive thrown in as well, complete with the pip. The best ones are made by little old ladies at road side stalls. I love them. And the little old ladies who make them. They are all happy. Today we had Empanades De Salmon. They are the grouse. There is nothing better. We had three each. And then desert.

Our hotels have been excellent, although a little more expensive than we had planned. Except one, it was only OK. All have had free Wi.Fi. I will never pay for Wi Fi in a hotel again. Ever. I will try never to stay in one without it.

One night we had a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon with our Salmon, BBQ'd if I remember. Only $30.So good we had 2 bottles. A few evenings later we had the same fantastic bloody wine for $12. How good was that. Tonight we had it with our evening Salmon for $10. How good was that. We decided to buy a bottle to take back to our Cabana, Lindsay wanted to buy it at a bottle shop. We argued. He won. How much? Just under $4.00. For the same fcuking Cab Sav! We are still on a steep learning curve. Now we are paying $3.50 for 1 litre! Not to bad either.

Back in Valpariaso again. It is all happening at Martina and Enzo's place, all except the boys bikes being ready to pick up. That should happen on Wednesday. Anyway, this place is fun. Our mate Ian is staying here, learning Spanish, while waiting a few weeks for Kitty.(his R100GSPD) She also had taken a holiday in Korea. Hans from Germany is staying while his broken collarbone mends. Max is cleaning and polishing his DR650 (complete with the full list of Vince Strang options), after 9 months in South America, before she is shipped home to Avalon.

The Chilean people are beautiful. I can't explain it, except to say they all have personality, and it rubs off on their stray dogs. Lindsay and Dale are excellent to travel with, both very positive and great fun. Dale is similar to Adam in a lot of ways, they can both read a map better than I, or almost anyone. Lindsay is, well he is Lindsay. One of a kind. He takes Austro/ Chilean relations to a new level!

We have become fond of our Donfeng S30. Although I am not thinking of swapping the Commodore for one, she is OK. I wouldn't like to be the poor person who buys ours when the rental company has finished with her. I hope they don't notice the shiny gravel blasted under sides, or the belted in door sill. These things happen when rally driving in Patagonia.

And after nearly 3 weeks, the Garbos are still on strike in Valpariaso. And the joint stank when we got here.

Take care,

Chris.
xx

A quiet, dog shit paved street in Valparaiso.

The view from my bed.

                                                                  Fresh Empanades

                                                                  Our Dongfeng S30

Corcovado Volcano, our favourite.

 Does it get any better?

Chaiten town, soon to be abandoned.

The beach did not exist before 2nd May 2008.