The Wife takes on Chlamydia. A South American Retrospective

[chris]

A bit of background: Between mid-1999 and early 2002 I rode around the world, that is UK through the Middle East and trans-Africa followed by New York to the Arctic circle to Tierra del Fuego, including about 9 months in South America. The bike I rode then was a 1989 BMW r100gs that had various names: Janis (too nice a name, allegedly), Helga (German and functional), the Wife (An Ethiopian policeman at a checkpoint upon demanding to know the make of vehicle for his ledger said it stood for “Be My Wife”), Ex-wife (we developed a rider/ridee relationship: She promised not to break down and I promised not to fall off…) and finally Goaty (as in “Old Goat”). The story of that trip is at my website at Round the World TBSdotCom

In mid/late 2015 I was at a bit of a loose end and with less than a week of planning and prep I flew to Brazil, bought a pre abused 2005 Kawasaki KLR650 and set off. The trip was meant to last only 3 months (budgetary constraints), but took 8 (helped by creative accounting)… The guy who sold me the bike had called her/it “Klarissa”. No guesses why. As she/it already looked so cosmetically beaten up, Klamidia seemed a suitable new name. On a Facebook post, a spelling bee corrected the spelling. I wonder how he knew?

So, the thread title is becoming clearer… Many things have changed in the world, in South America, in the “adventure” bike market niche, and of course, with me. I’m more ruggedly handsome, have gone grey, put on a bit of weight and am still bald. In this RR I want to compare the sights, sounds and experiences from the trip on the Wife to Chlamydia’s safari 15 years later. I revisited lots of places, saw many new sights, met old friends and made new ones. I also travelled to/through places like Antarctica and Colombia that I missed last time due to timing and security constraints.

My 2015/16 route was rather haphazard with several places visited more than once. I’ll explain the route in the following posts. I’m going to have to present it chronologically as any other way would do my head in. I want to show images from the Millennium trip and compare what I saw and how I felt then and 15 years on.

Please do ask questions and make comments. Hope you like the pictures and words. Here is a selection from the 15/16 trip.



End of the road in Argentina. 3rd visit, February 2015





Antarctic yacht





Mt Fitzroy, Patagonia, Argentina





Chlamydia and friend, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia





The ultimate wildcamp? Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia





Toby Price, 2016 Dakar winner, Stage 6, near Turpiza, Bolivia





The podium, Rosario, Argentina. I had sneaked into the VIP area





Flamingos, Lagunas route, the long way. Bolivia to Chile





The "so called" Death Road into the Yungas, Bolivia. Not so dangerous these days





Bemused Peruvian lady





Girl and sister, on a slightly longer detour around a landslide, northern Peru





Is he taking our picture? Dunno, bald git... Coffee triangle, Colombia





End to end done... Santa Marta, Colombia

[chris]

The bikes involved:



Wifey, here just crossed onto Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

1989 BMW R100gs with big 43 litre Acerbis tank and what I thought at the time was a good idea: A pizza box on the back



Chlam, here at La Higuera, Ruta del Che, Bolivia

2005 Kawasaki KLR650 bigger plastic tank (IMS?) and the panniers it came with (Pelican), along with a cheap kitbag from the camping shop.


Both bikes did about 30.000 km = 20.000 miles in South America with me at the helm. Wifey also took a banana barge down the Amazon from Peru to the Atlantic. After abandoning Chlam to the clutches of a nasty man-hating psycho hostal chica in Ushuaia for 10 days, I joined a cruise ship across the Drake Passage to Antarctica and back. Chlam survived, as did I.

The 2015/16 trip started in October 2015 in Sao Paulo in Brasil.

Just a note, all the Millennium/Wife pictures will only be 500 pixels along their longest edge, and possibly a bit pixelated. They were taken with a good camera and on slide film, but in the scanning process (which took me forever all those years ago) they ended up like this. In those days I didn't understand such things as well as I do now and digital technology in the last 15 years has made huge strides too.

Other recent RRs of mine include

2012 Stans and Mongolia: http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...ngolia.828973/

2013 Far East Siberia: http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...rd-way.961578/

[chris]

2015/16 Map overview, Brasil overview



Overview map of gps tracklogs

Route:

1. Green(Start Sao Paulo)
2. Red
3. Purple
4. Yellow (following 2016 Dakar race)
5. No tracklogs. Forgot? Lost? The most boring ride down Ruta 3 from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. Shame I haven't the "proof" of my longest ever ride day. One day I did 900 km/ 600 miles. A record for me. Some of you iron-butters riding a GS might do that before breakfast, but try it at 50mph only riding between sun up and sun down with 50mph winds, mainly hitting the bike between 12 noon and 3 o'clock (not time of day, but between head on and from the right quarter of the bike. All day). Also a horrid road surface and articulated trucks to overtake/ overtaking me or coming the other way. On a 650 thumper with a loud pipe. The significance of the pipe loudness will be mentioned in another post. It's pretty funny/sad depending on your outlook.
6. Light blue
7. Dark blue
8. Dark purple (End Santa Marta and Bogota)

I did enter and leave Bolivia multiple times… A veritable spaghetti of tracks left there.




I didn’t explore Brasil as much as I could have on this trip. The furthest north I got was Rio de Janeiro, which in terms of Brasil is not very far at all. In many places, major floods were causing a lot of destruction. I don’t like riding in the rain and the distances are huge.



A couple of taster Brasil pictures…




Redeemed? Maybe not, but definitely a clean bike





Trinidad breakfast beach view from tent





Paraty Cathedral

[chris]

In and around Campos do Jordao, SP State, Brasil




Set off from the mega city of Sao Paulo for a bit a spin in the area around Campos do Jordao. A super pretty part of the world and a huge and pleasant contrast. SP city has its charms, but riding through it on a motorcycle wasn't one of them!





Man and child on cow




A Brazilian friend gave me the name and vague location of a rural restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I found it! Not signposted or anything. Very popular and great food!




When not with Geraldo fettling the bike it was important to sample the delights of this place settled by the Swiss who brought their traditions with them





Chlam was in good hands in Geraldo Lima’s workshop in Campos do Jordao. He’s the race mechanic for top Brazilian Dakar works rider and multiple finisher Jean Azevedo, including when the chequered flag was still in Dakar, Senegal

Geraldo is a top bloke! He also allowed me to stay FOC in his guest annex, which considering my budgetary constraints was very welcome. Brasil ain't a cheap travel destination!





One of Jean’s race bikes in Geraldo’s workshop

In the 2016 race Jean walked away from this crash: Lucky lucky man!....

[chris]

Rio de Janeiro 2000 and 2015

2000:



And



In 2000 it was a little less overcast on Copacabana beach



And the nights were clear

More words from my website: Chapter 26 The Big Trip


2015:



In October 2015 it was a tad more cloudy. At least it wasn’t raining like south of here





Statue to Antônio Carlos Jobim, the composer of The Girl from Ipanema





Beach art





Beach volleyball





Beach footvole. These guys are good!





Queen of Copacabana! No further comment required.

[dgregovi]

Thank you for sharing. I noticed that bike has to stickers from my surrounding "SLO" and "BIH", Slovenia and Bosnia (me: Zagreb, Croatia)! Interesting. Would like to hear how that bike ended in Brazil where I to, inshallah, plan to ride some day...
So ride on...

Best Danilo Gregovic

[chris]

Originally Posted by dgregovi

Thank you for sharing. I noticed that bike has to stickers from my surrounding "SLO" and "BIH", Slovenia and Bosnia (me: Zagreb, Croatia)! Interesting. Would like to hear how that bike ended in Brazil where I to, inshallah, plan to ride some day...
So ride on...

Best Danilo Gregovic

Glad you like the pictures Danilo. The stickers from SLO and BIH are from a trip I took around the Balkan region on a different bike. The Kawasaki panniers were a bit bare and scratched so a couple of tactical stickers were required.

I've never been to Zagreb. When I ride there we can maybe chat and I can advise about Brazilian biking.

[chris]

Following Highway 101, south of Rio de Janeiro



While in Sao Paulo I took the opportunity to visit the bike show. I love Kawasakis





Theirs is bigger than mine. But I’ve been told size doesn’t matter. The one in the middle is a stretched Hayabusa





Marcelo is a great motorcycle traveller. As is his wife Beth. And great hosts at their luxurious house… Check out their website at Dream World Quest





Rural Sao Paulo state is rather green





One horsepower vs about 40





It did rain a lot, here at Trinidad, but what’s wrong with sitting under a beach umbrella, reading a book and sipping caipiroskas con maracuja?





Graffiti at Trinidad





Sometimes it didn’t rain, but the next downpour was never far away





Anyone for a yot?





Sun peeks through clouds at Ilhabela





Hipster chica or self mutilation?



A picture I took of a surfer in 2001 in Salvador de Bahia:





Now: Men, lock up your womens. Beach Surf God in the area! (Including truckers’ tan…), Ubatuba

[chris]

Meeting old friends in Curitiba

The twisty mountain road from Sao Paulo to Curitiba provided more experiences of riding in the rain. Not so good, especially because I left late and rode into the dark. I however had a destination and old friends to look forward to meeting again. Martin and his wife from Switzerland still live in Curitiba. I met them on my last trip through the Americas in 2000/2001. It was super fun to catch up!

The word "retrospective" does appear in the thread title and so far there haven't been too many pictures or feelings from the Millennium trip. A lot of this is because several 2001 pictures were ruined in a Chilean photo development lab.

BUT

Here's a chance to check if anyone is into audience participation on this forum. The 2 following pictures include me: One is taken in Istanbul in 1999 prior to my trans-Africa trip (that led to the Americas leg of my RTW) and the other is from Curitiba in 2015.

Clearly I'm now less skinny and more ruggedly handsome... Are there any other similarities and differences between these 2 pictures?










A couple of other 2015 Curitiba memories...



Martin really is into his flying and owns several aeroplanes. This one is being restored. It comes from Germany via Argentina. It is said to have belonged to a certain Mr Adolf H's personal pilot and is 1930s/40s vintage. The plane is a 2 seater and apparently small enough to take off in a (wide) city street.




Another German connection aircraft from the former DDR = East Germany




Martin on his Ural outfit, the factory for which was originally in Berlin before being dismantled and shipped east.



Wow, an entire post without any ladies visible, except possibly a wife or 2? Also no STD references

[chris]

Foz do Iguassu and Paraguay



Here’s a first. The ride from Curitiba to Foz do Iguassu didn’t involve rain. But it included a snapped chain. I had a spare link but couldn’t get the effin link retainer on with the tools I had. There was a work platoon cutting the grass verges where I had rolled to a stop. Despite my 3 words of Portuguese and the guys speaking no English, but having an ax to use as a hammer, they knew exactly what I was trying to achieve and I was on my way pretty quickly. One fella was definitely a biker. The chain guard was rather mangled, but clearly had done its job.



Joelton owns a super hostel in Foz that welcomes bikers too: La Manga Rosa. Many asados, super craft and caipiroskas made the time fly. Here’s Einstein the dog helping me replace the chain guard





Walter, Joelton and Moritz. I rode with Moritz through Mongolia in 2012. He film the infamous “How not to cross a river” video. It was great to catch up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6maYFQEnokk



Moritz’s website is at 1World2Go | father and son travel the world on motorcycle

The 2cv belongs to Walter. It’s not just any 2cv. It’s a 2 plus 2. A motor in the front driving the front wheels and another in the back driving the rear wheels!! He’s based in Coronel Oviedo in Paraguay and runs tours. S�damerika Abenteuerreisen und Backpacker Hostel in Paraguay (Bolivien, Brasilien, Argentinien und Chile)





Impressive from any angle





And from any distance





An iguana at Iguassu. See what I did there!





Don’t let anyone tell you that Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, just over the border from Foz, is the source of cheap tyres or tubes for bikes. All you can really get is cheap Chinese made plastic tat. Eventually managed to get a couple of tyres, but the supply of tubes was close to zero, that I had to reuse my old patched tubes again. Replaced front wheel bearings too.





I dropped in on Walter. Little did I realise how long, hot, boring and straight the roads between Coronel Oviedo and Salta in NW Argentina would be.





This pub, somewhere in flat, hot Paraguay caught my eye ;-) The heat was compounded with my heated grips turning themselves on and the only way to turn them off was to cut the power feed with with a borrowed pair of scissors from a tyre puncture repairer man on the side of the road. He told me he had once fixed a German BMW traveller's puncture...

My impression of Paraguay was of friendly people who don’t see many European or North American visitors and where every public building has a guard sporting a pump action shotgun at the door.

[chris]

The 2nd leg: Through Paraguay, across northern Argentina to Salta and fun on Ruta 40 northbound to Bolivia




The red line maps my progress through Paraguay, across northern Argentina to Salta, then a fun ride along the Ruta 40 northbound to Uyuni in Bolivia. I didn’t ride the NW part of Argentina on my last trip in ‘00/01.





Didn’t take many pictures along the highway from the river border with Paraguay via Formosa. It was a long, hot and straight transit stretch. Many many hours. Luckily some petrol stations had free wifi and (expensive) icecream.

I remember camping at a gas station near a big junction on my first night in Argentina. The local kids turned up in their cars or on scooters at about mighnight and one chap proceeded to play his car radio (tasteless) music really loudy. I wandered across to politely ask him to turn it down. He complied. Just as I was crawling back into my tent, the volume went up again…

Said music playing youth (and his sidekicks) of the town of Ingeniero Juarez on highway 81 now have a much better appreciation of estuary English and a greater understanding of the English for different parts the human anatomy and what can be achieved with a tyre lever. They left and I got some sleep.





A preview of happier times to come on the famous Ruta Cuarenta.

[chris]

Salta to Cachi and the start of the best bit of the Ruta 40 heading north


I really was glad to reach Salta, but sometimes a couple of very long slab liaison days need to be gotten out of the way to reach the good stuff. I did take some pictures in Salta, but seem to have put them somewhere safe... It was a fun city with a good vibe. A little bit off the main gringo tourist route. This added to the charm. I changed money on the "Blue" (=black) market

The Ruta Cuarenta is now paved all the way from Cafayate to Rio Gallegos, about 3500km. I'll be whingeing in a future post about how boring that made it. However the northern 1500km to the Bolivian border is still superbly dirt. And great "out there" scenery. And as I didn't ride this bit in 00/01 made it even more special.





At first the road was still paved





Interesting scenery





Yes it is





Cachi is a pretty little village. A French GS tour was in town. I only spoke with one of the guides who seemed quite pleasant, but couldn't chat much as he had to get back to his customers. They must have been pretty needy. Or maybe it was because I wasn't wearing a shiny riding t-suit? 2 broken GSs on the backup truck





GSs have been said to benefit from having a truck following them.... I wouldn't like to comment, other than to say that on my Millennium trip, a truck would have been helpful





On FB this picture got a lot of likes. Dunno why. Moobs?





About 80 clicks out of Cachi on the way north up the gravel Rta 40 I got a rear (slow) puncture. Luckily near a little village a couple of km off the trail. Pumped it up and headed there. The tyre wallah did a good job. I hate fixing punctures





Passing traffic





Is that a scrambler, Mister?





Not many signs (of anything) up here





A sidetrack I would love to have explored. But having only passed about 5 vehicles all day, I didn't fancy my chances of getting myself out of trouble on my own.

[chris]

A few more impression of Route 40 towards the border with Bolivia




Forgot this picture of Cachi from the previous post. Muy bonito!





Abra El Acay Pass. 16.000 feet above sea level





And the machine says so too





Breathtaking views! That’s the track I'm going to ride next





Bridge over ravine just beyond La Poma





I’m sure a geographer can explain the rock formations





More





I wild camped over there for the night. My cheap Brazilian camping stove turned out to be utter sh!te





Let’s go left then





Fuel stop where the R40 crosses the main paved linking northern Chile (San Pedro de Atacama) with northern Argentina (Jujuy).

Stickers, the new caveman’s rock paintings?

Everyone who does a vehicle trip around South America these days seems to have stickers and loves leaving their mark. I (only v v briefly) felt guilt for not having any of my own to swap/stick somewhere. Then I got over it. I did however take to adding stickers to the bike in order to hide the Chlamydiac symptoms it was displaying. Beware though of jet washes!!

Shouldn't really take the p!ss out of people with personal stickers. I've got my name stuck to my crash helmet and on the bike a la Dakar racer. How embarrassing is it to have A positive as a blood type when your profession is school teacher. Why not B- (....must try harder)!





Pretty good view





Really useful street sign… Just as well that I had my gps!





The border to Bolivia. I had just ridden the most fun 1500 or so km of the Rt 40. I tried riding the other 3500 or so too, but a closed pass from Chile to Argentina later in the trip thwarted my attempt. But as I did a lot of it in 2000/01, I have actually ridden all the rt 40. Maybe I should have stickers made?

[chris]

Argentina border to Uyuni the first time



Welcome to Bolivia. Much more, for me, the “real” South America. Unfortunately progress isn’t just coming, but it has arrived. Hence super smooth paved roads.




But not always. This link between Turpiza and Uyuni town will be paved soon. A lot of construction on this stretch. When chasing the 2016 Dakar I rode the other way: Uyuni to Turpiza. There had been a lot of rain and “fun” in different ways




One careful owner. Never been off road. A little lay down… Note the importance to take a picture before picking bike up! Unsurprisingly, with a back tyre sporting a less bold profile and the new shock which I was about to need, the bike rode much better and allowed confidence at speed





Muy rapido necessito. Don’t bottle it Mr Bright!





In 2001 this momument hadn’t been built. Locals eating ice cream.

Virtually the same location 2001:







Locals in traditional dress and young backpackpackers, the principle visitors to Bolivia. The iPhone generation. I also frequented eateries that had passable wifi. No wifi, no custom. Guilty. In 2001 internet cafes were the norm. Some were still in Uyuni, but doing no business





Bolivians seem incredibly positive about the Dakar race. Here a advert.





Mum and kids





Edwina Scissor Hands





Railway workers statue 2015

Same statue 15 years earlier:








Train cemetery, just outside Uyuni



In 2001 they were shooting the first BMW 1150gs Adventure brochure. Here in Uyuni. My face ended up in brochure too!! More on this in a later post:



The 2001 story is at Chapter 22 The Big Trip

[chris]

Revisiting an old favourite




The Salar de Uyuni is always worth another visit. I was there on my RTW trip in 2001. Now there’s even a Dakar monument in the middle (ish) of it. The salt pan itself was used one year as part of the racetrack, but by the end of that Stage there were a multitude of DNFs. Water, salt and electrics really don’t mix too well.





A pretty sight. The world’s flags at the “original” salt hotel on the Salar. There appear to be about 10 hotels with the name Salt hotel around and about now. Quite a few nowhere near the Salar.



In 2001: the only, same as pictured above, Salt hotel:







A lot of hyperbole gets used these days, including rubbish words like extreme, hardcore and adventure, when actually most thing that people do are incredibly average. The Salar is definitely awe inspiring, mind-blowing. Just wow!






The obligatory self-indulgent picture of myself. Wooly hat and shades make me look better. The sun may be shining, but it ain’t too warm at 3650 meters above sea level!



1990s helmet paint jobs weren’t that good were they! Surprised I wasn’t riding the bike wearing a purple shellsuit!!





Camping with a like minded soul. I found that meeting other (motor) bikers wasn’t easy. Contrary to my last trip (without the benefit of the internet and forums like this one to arrange meetups) I seemed to run into many more m/c riders. But I did bump into Raymon from Spain cycling around South America on his pushbike. The biggest of respects to all these pedal cyclists. I just have to park my (fat) arse on a m/c saddle, press the go button, twist the throttle and I get to where I’m going easily. These guys have to move themselves and their luggage every inch of the way.



Isla del Pescada where we camped, in 2001:







A favourite picture of mine





Because I like it so much, here’s another. We camped next to the island, more precisely in the wind-shadow of the island as it was blowing a howling gale!





¡Buenas dias!





Where will the road lead today?





Contemplating breakfast. Raymon was carrying on and I was going to return to Uyuni town to collect supplies and extra fuel before following in his tracks. I aimed to catch him up pretty quickly. I never did…





Raymon heads southwest. The island dog looks after him longingly. Maybe he fed him better than me





Always a good idea to get a thorough wash down… High pressure hoses aren’t good for stickers!!