http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/ The Big Trip 2 en-us MOTOQUEROS - THE NEW BOOK Here it is, the book to accompany the trip! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000846.php the paperwork was done and dusted in a few minutes and it was time to get the bikes to the harbour. The truck we had hired arrived surprisingly on time, but not surprisingly, without the requested pumptruck, needed to get our large and heavy crate onto the truck. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000837.php One bus came so close behind me, that I couldn't see the driver, just the big Mercedes star on the front of the radiator. Unfortunately, Arno had taken his 'Bolivian security' a machete, off the bike, so we had to settle with the usual hand gestures http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000817.php The constant stop-go, stop-go was frustrating, the bikes began to overheat and so did we. Stopped at the side of the road for a break hoping we were not in a dodgy area. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000816.php There were more potholes than tarmac in fact and riding in the gravel that lay at the sides of the road was preferable to the rim-wrecking road surface. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000791.php The next morning we took it easy, only 150kms to Mendoza and I thought we would be there for lunch. The Argentine police however had other ideas. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000787.php The road for the first 50kms, was really narrow in places and we wondered if we had missed a turn-off. After the village of Molinos the road widened and passed through valleys filled with spectacular rock formations. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000785.php There were rocks littering the road as we approached one of the toll stations and a large crowd was gathered around a truck on the other side. A bloqueo or roadblock! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000774.php There were a couple of tunnels carved out of the rock, one at least 500m long and curved, a little scary in the dusty blackness, luckily there were no buses coming in the other direction! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000781.php As I watched however, the sun soon disappeared and the black clouds came my way. It didn't rain, it hailed, long and hard, my bike wasn't much protection and I was huddled next to it wearing all my kit, helmet included. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000717.php We climbed steeply out of the valley and soon found ourselves at 4000m. The XT was not amused and started spluttering again, we took the cover off the air intake and that helped. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000716.php It took 4 days in all, from the morning the postman delivered the parts, to restarting the bike after taking the engine apart, having the cylinder redrilled and putting all back together. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000686.php We finally made it onto the Salar and what an amazing experience, like riding on snow as hard as concrete and flat as far as the eye can see. Probably the only place on earth where you can ride with your eyes closed for a minute or two, exhilarating! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000685.php On the other side of the river, the road works awaited, we thought we had missed a turn but no, this was the new road, trouble was, it was still being built. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000671.php There was a bridge to cross, a long one lane bridge shared with the trains. Had to get the bikes over one rail, then ride in the middle of the tracks, the planks full of gaps and nails http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/arnosian/000626.php