I am in Bolivia!!!!................................ er................ actually I am not but I am so bad at keeping this up to date I will use some journalistic licence.

To be honest I find this really hard to do. The stuff in the forum, the comments in threads I am ok with. But somehow this feels like showing off all the time. I am amazed people keep following what I do.

So with that in mind I am going to stop being a lazy so and so, and get this thing back on track. Now South America was set as a year in my mind. Well it just hasn't gone like that. I have again been really enjoying riding my bike. I set out to travel as much to ride as anything else. I am at heart still a kid, damned if I am ever growing up. I tried it once and it just didn't agree with me! Riding my bike makes me happy, sounds daft but it's quite deep in me. When I was getting to grips with leaving and doing this I read other people reports and remember scoffing at the speed some people covered the ground. And here I am doing the same thing and enjoying it immensely. Big mileages have raced by. The bike has been pushed way harder than a loaded adventure bike should be, both on and off tarmac. I have enjoyed my road riding more than ever, and I really was fed up with the roads a while ago. I am awake, alive and flowing. I have for the first time in a long time, a reason to be. And if that isn't what this thread, this website and this whole endeavour isn't about then we all need to give up! Life is good people. I am very lucky to still be involved in it............................ especially after some of my overtakes...................... Man these trucks are huge!!!!!!!!!!

So Bolivia. Fantastic place, wonderful people, reminds me of West Africa a little. People are the important thing. The infrastructure is there but it's the people that make the place thrive. Everything is done on the street. Forget big shops and chains. Just take a walk and start asking. Wonderful, real contact, real trust, real connections. An example, I met a chap in a hostel in La Paz. He asked about food and I said I was going to walk down the street and see which Cooking Mama had the biggest crowd. We walked and then sat down. I still have no Spanish so I look, smile be respectful and ask to be fed. Big Mama smiles, laughs and feeds dumb tourist. We eat real food, we eat good food and we have fun. I have no idea what half the stuff I eat is, but it is always good.

I entered Bolivia with no mapping on the sat nav and just the one page paper map in the lonely planet. So no idea where I was going again. Asked at the border for directions and rode away. Damn near fell off on a straight road with no one else on it. I was looking around so much at the fantastic scenery I hit a big pile of gravel and nearly dropped it! Hahahahaha. Wild camped the first night at 14,000 something feet. Felt like I was camping on the set of the original Star Trek planets. I eventually made it to Uyuni, got a bigger A4 map! and checked out the Salar. Strange place. A whole lot of nothing, like the flats in Botswana but solid and so bright under the sky. The road to La Paz was there, mostly. Just great, no real idea about fuel, lots of guess work. You know keep the volcanoes on your left and don't fall off type stuff.

Got to La Paz in the pouring rain. Nice city, mad place but great fun. Stayed a few days so I could check out the Death Road. The trip up to the road is amazing. The Jungas Valley is huge and a real pleasure in its own right. A massive ribbon of good tar through an incredible rock valley. The road was found and off I go. Now I have to say I have ridden other roads that I thought were more risky and more dangerous. And before people wade in, yes there is a bypass now so it is not full of big trucks, however it is still used by trucks but I think they only go down and not up. Mountain bikers are the biggest user now! There are a lot of crosses on the road and I suspect these are biker going down faster than they anticipated! It is however a stunning place, absolutely beautiful to ride and enjoy. To walk it would be a fantastic days trek. I rode down and then turned around and came up. The last few kilometres were done is a huge thunderstorm, lightening, heavy rain, the lot. I so wanted an AC/DC soundtrack blasting away at me. Again, when I shouldn't I started to push and play! Damned foolish place to do it but I just can't help it. Uphill on gravel with my unloaded bike spinning away. too much fun! And unlike Lesotho I didn't fall off this time! Hahahahahaha. Alfie would be proud. Hahahahahaha.

From La Paz a quick blast to Lake Titicaca with a puncture to keep me on my toes! A night at Copacobana right on the shore. Here I had some bad water, despite boiling it. Man did it make me ill. I have been ill three times over this travel, all three times it was water. Never food. I took the ferry over the lake. Just one of the coolest, chilled to things to do. I miss the water, always feel good when I see lots of it. Strange really, I don't like to sit on a beach and rarely swim in the sea. But having lived surrounded by it for so long I need to see it occasionally. The ferry ride was cool. Master and commander was a million and one years old, and knew more about life than I ever will. I felt like an excited kid!

At the border I was treated to my first bit of corruption. After doing the paperwork the police decided they wanted a chat! Weak, lads. Very weak! No money passed hands and off I went! On to Peru...................... which is where I am now...................... er no I'm not. But I will be when I write it up, 'onest Guv'nor................

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These are just the Death road. Don't take the hype too seriously and go for the views. Incredible place.

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Ok I admit it, now I am showing off.

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You be steady now playing !!!!!
https://youtu.be/e2xTB5BijsI

Good on ya John .................its better to ride than write anyway but i need to feel pissed off every now and then

No way Big John! You're not showing off, showing away or anything else like that.

What you are doing is inspiring the rest of us to do our Big Trip - and any other trip - and a timely reminder to do it NOW!

I passed up an invitation to hook up with a couple of guys on their way to Morocco a few weeks ago - but did decide to go next spring after getting exited about the idea - until yesterday and a trip to the dentist: it's either €5,000 now or a mumbling toothless crone in a few years time ... so that's Morocco out for at least a year and the Big Trip f*** knows when!

Back in the late 'seventies a very wise person said to me, "Go - Now!" What a fool I was ...

So, everyone - Go - Now!

Regs

Simon
PS Polly and I are also glad to hear that you're still alive!

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John, you just do your updates when it suits you, as the trip is the thing, not the writing. It can be a real pain to keep doing updates, when you should be chilling and having a few s in the evening.

I loved your thoughts on riding versus staying longer in a place. I mostly just stay one night and ride on the next day. When I do stay more than a day, I look longingly at the bike in the morning and wish I was on the move again. You seemed to capture the essence of the excitement of adventure biking in that paragraph. I could never describe it so well.

Great write up and pictures of Bolivia (or where ever it was). Keep it up, when the trip allows.

Look forward to that sometime in Hampshire if you ever feel like coming back here.

Cheers

So Peru. A place of mixed feelings for me. As I have been going north it is noticeable the people are more friendly, Bolivia was great and Peru followed suit. It also had the big open spaces of the desert, that for me is a draw and always makes me feel good. There is nothing better than riding across huge open scenery. Something that really helps to put perspective on just how small we really are.

I took to the mountains to get to Machu Picchu by the back door. Way better than the standard route. Backpackers................Hmmmm.............The North Face uniform..........Hmmmm............ Hahahahaha. Anyway Machu Picchu was cool, but to be honest the trip to get there was cooler. Big mountain roads, finally a bit of gravel and dealing with real people to sort things out.

The ride up through the rest of the country was great. I followed the Pan American highway and just took it easy. Big road, big scenery and easy riding. Nazca is a place I wanted to see. All the mumbo jumbo over the lines. Has it never occurred to anyone they might just have been done for a laugh! You know big party, guys wake up hung over going "Hey who drew the Humming Bird? that's cool." Just something to do in the desert after a few jars. I took the plane flight, fantastic way to see it all and well worth it.

Unfortunately Peru has the worst drivers of anywhere I have ever been. The big trucks are great but the coaches and the cars are just appalling. That and the huge amount of litter everywhere got on my nerves in the end. So great place but it was good to push on into Ecuador.

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So you're still with us looking good mate and i'm with you on wide open spaces with no one around ride safe and take more fecking pics

Hola ZD
Ive only skimmed thru your travels here but was curious if you have hooked up with any other ADV kin folk along the way ?
And how have the border crossings been for ya?

Cheers compadre

JOHN .....................I'M SICK OF WAITING !!!!!! WHERE THE FECK ARE YOU