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San Aborje To Trinidad
235 km, flat, easy what can possibly go wrong.
First up, gas up ... join the line http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nidad/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-1.jpg Well, today is Sunday, last Sunday it rained BIG time and blew a lot of the road out, they had half a years rain in one day and it was evident with heavy trucks and buses damaging the road, in places the ground was as soft as Harley rider :hide and the truck had created ruts that would see our cases do bulldozing. After waiting for an hour to get gas we were finally on our way, our journey taking 7 hours to do the 235 km, so down to first gear trying to negotiate mud and and other parts we actually found and used 6th gear. This was common theme for the day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-2.jpg Some good spots, very shorts lived http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-3.jpg A short shadow stop http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-5.jpg We had two river crossings today, both on barges and their entry and exit ramps were a little unusual creating a bit of interest. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-11.jpg HMS Bolivia http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-13.jpg Nice glide across the river http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-14.jpg Today seemed to be national shift your cattle day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-18.jpg Arriving in Trinidad we arrived for the world cup final between Argentina and Germany, the main square had a BIG screen ..... 5 meters x 3 meters and most of the town was watching, we rode between them and and the screen so it was kinda funny, wasn’t long and Germany scored the goal that confirmed their title. An icecream was had as it was 38 degrees C and accommodation was sorted. The evening settled in and we sat and had tea (dinner) and watched hundred of motos go by again and again, chicas calientes riding past as well ... boys had to behave!!! All in all Trinidad certainly not a tourist trap we felt more welcomed here than anywhere else in Bolivia, this really is the cool place at the end of what can be called the Trans Bolivian Trail via Ruta 3. We stayed two night here because it was nice :clap |
Trinadad To Santa Cruz
Trinidad, a surprise of niceness, people we differing in colour and attitude which was refreshing surprise.
Although no tourist trap it was a great place to stay and relax a day after wrestling mud and bog for three solid days. The owners wife had a wee daughter who took kindly to the white faces, the white face that looked like me played soccer (kid style) and she could not get enough so it was a very refreshing thing to be welcomed as equal. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-1.jpg Maya and Gails BMW tucked up safely http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-3.jpg Our interesting neighbour from Brasil making jewelery, he was very good at it too making nice stuff. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-4.jpg The wee girl couldn't wait to get her photo on Gails bike, he grin giving us all a cool as smile to take with us on our ride http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-9.jpg Gail on his R1200GS, very nice piece of kit http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-13.jpg We all enjoyed our tarseal cruze, Maya achieving 4.5 liters / 100 km or 51.69 mpg, very happy with that. Santa Cruz, Gail needed a coupla things fixed and we were looking for our stator solution so that was destination. More later |
G'day Andi and Ellen
So pleased you were not badly hurt buy the arseholes who robbed you Ellen .well the place is certainly a challenge .enjoying the photos as always .Travel safe Regards YDF Noel:D
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Heya Noel, I am glad she wasnt badly hurt too cos I would have to push the bike outa the bog by myself:thumbdown: In Brasil now and enjoying some normality although we have been caught in a huge cold snap weather system of heavy rain and fog. So on homefront note how is your mum progressing?, hopefully she is doing well. No new repot until we get our laptop fixed so we can upload more pix. Cheers mate and best wishes to you mum Andi & Ellen |
Santa Cruz To The Border
Ok, no more chatter, this is what been happenin :clap
Saying farewell to Gail we set east on good advice from Nicholas from Andar BMW in Santa Cruz, bloody nice guy and he is Colombian, seriously if you need something he will sort you out regardless of what make you are riding.:clap:clap Heading out of town the overnight heavy rainstorm had played havoc and it was as wet as a swimming pool. This from the previous night in Santa Cruz at about 9.00pm http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-18.jpg First stop was Chochis, an extremely beautiful little town and nice Hotel, the only stupid thing was a local guy with a PA system that started at 6.30 am and went through till 8.30 pm staining the air with what he sells, the hotel owners said he is a dick and some people have cut the cable but no one seems to do anything about it despite no one liking it .... good ol Bolivia going forward.:huh The roads are a brilliant red clay, Amazonian typical and when it rains not even knobblies hold onto this shit. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-25.jpg Maya at our hotel http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-22.jpg So at this particular town there is a rock stickin out of the ground and they call it the devils tooth or formally La Torre, it is pretty spectacular and it is free. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ochis/file.jpg We walked from the town centre which is approach two km then it winds its way up steep and narrow path ordering you to keep you mind on the job and reminding you where to put your feet. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-2.jpg The entry building, beautiful http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-13.jpg Lookin to the sky http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-3.jpg I was here http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-7.jpg The rail from Bolivia to Brasil also runs past at the base and we were there to see the trains come past and swap lines in Chochis. First one passes http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-8.jpg Next one comes up http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-11.jpg Our our way down http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-12.jpg On walking back we spotted this owl way up in the trees, beautiful bird http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-15.jpg We stayed two nights in this town as it was a nice stopover heading to the exit gate. Also at the back of the town there is a cool wee waterfall with a tree carved with animals http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-17.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-20.jpg The following day we only went 70km to Aguas Calientes, I was stuffed and managed to pick up yet another head cold, its my year for these free unwanted things.:cry Promising hot water to stodge around in it was a perfect place to stop and relax as we had not done this since yesterday.:evil The town is certainly no tourist trap but we found an ok place to stay and we hit the water .... noice ... very very noice. This is what satisfaction looks like. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-3.jpg The depth varies from ankle to booby height so you can sit in or walk around http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-1.jpg These must be strong fish as it way hotter than the human body temp wise :eek1 .... you would want a shitload too to make a reasonable lunch :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-4.jpg After our plunge I spent half the afternoon in bed gathering a good fever but managed to get out for another plunge, in hindsight we should have stayed there a few days as my headcold thingy worsened. Not being too sure of what was happening we thought Dengue fever or Malaria being in the Amazonas but it just turned out to be a viscous headcold. Leaving Agua Calientes to the border was an easy ride except for .... you guessed it, get petrol, more bloody dramas and they couldn’t decided whether our plate was Colombian or Bolivian, unreal, the manager came out and didn’t want to get his hand dirty so he started kicking our number plate to kick the Bolivian concrete mud off so I yelled at him cos it was bending our plate ... ****ing idiot!!! ... no respect. So we paid our respect, the bill was $69 Bol at local price so we gave them $70 Bol, I started the bike, Ellen got on and we ride off ... end of argument!! .... again.:huh:D Finally our secret to getting fuel, not necessarily at local prices ... just getting fuel, the bonus is local price. So we had a sticker made for 20 cents to mimic their Boliviano rego plate, this confused the shit out of them completely, we deliberately left our plate dirty as they would always clean the top bit and soon as they saw part of Bolivia they generally stopped cos they hate getting their hands dirty. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-16.jpg This worked for 90 % of our gas fills, the occasional time they challenged us and Ellen just got loud which they didn’t want and she would say Boliviano!!!! most would then go ouwh ok, sometimes we said it a new style plate and they didn't know so they just agreed, the occasional one would just refuse so we would go to the next station and start the whole process again, very frustrating just trying to fill. On exiting we had our final lunch in a nice place to try and leave Bolivia on a nice note which kinda worked but I have to admit when we crossed into Brasil I was relieved, once in Brasil I turned around and swung the finger back at Bolivia .... it made no difference but I felt better. You can't see it well but there is a huge lake here so a nice location. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-17.jpg Next up Brasil ... looks boring but we will deal with it :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-19.jpg |
Bolivia Sum Up And The Heart Speaks
It is that time where I speak my mind on events that have unfolded, good, bad and all, no sugar coatings.
Bolivia ......Deceit, Robbery, lies, distrust, arguments, more lies, bullshit, wrong doings, these are the good days, Bolivia is not for us. All the time there are riots, blockades, strikes and other stupid bullshit, these guys really want to do nothing and get paid for it with expectations that everyone else will support them. I have to say without being a whinger that Bolivia really ****ed me off and while I respect their culture I DO NOT respect them for being lazy bastids and everything is someone else's fault and I certainly DO NOT respect someone that disrespects us blatantly and for no prior reason. Never have I felt so much anger each day in one country. :huh In Bolivia there is a whole lot of not a lot happening and until they pull their head out of their arse and wake up they will remain in the same predicament, their wonderful corrupt government slowing sinking the place into a big hole along with corrupt everything in which you deal with daily. They insistently want all the westy toys but have no want to earn it but to have it handed to them, they want foreign money but will not serve you at petrol stations and when they do they want you pay 3 x the price, for a country trying to move forward supposedly they are seriously heading backwards with their attitude. Everything and I mean everything there is an issue and just needlessly hard work and 99% of the time involves pissed off long faced Bolivianos not wanting to serve you, I have to admit I struggled with the place given it is (was) the country of most interest to me. Since Ellens robbery and beating I have gone very dark on the Bolivianos as this was pretty much the last straw and I had revenge on my mind for everything we did so anyone who tried anything against us got the full blast of "get ****ed", not a nice way to travel but when a country backs you into a corner of this amount of crap then that is the game. Some good, we saw one girl in Sucre who smiled, we caught that picture, she is beautiful and has a beautiful smile, she made our day.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cre/file-5.jpg In a small town called Morochata we found two more girls that smile, actually the whole town was friendly which was so unBolivia, although shy they were interested and yes I had my picture taken so that was three smiling people we found in total. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-16.jpg Indigenous people in the higher land seem to be the main contenders for anti white faces and they have no bones about sticking it to you, we then adapted and pulled that attitude too, in Santa Cruz they tried to charge us $50 Bolivianos to park our two motos for 15 hours, the going rate was $30 Bolivianos for a day. When it came time to pay a different guy was there and we told him we had been quoted $25 Bolivianos for two bikes and he was not sure so I just reinforced it with a raised voice and he agreed, now if they had been normal and charged us the $15 Bolivianos it should have been they would have been better off so I just stick it back to them with no qualms given they start the game of screw the white face.:cry While Bolivia has some nice parts they are few and far between and at least for us the amount of bullshit and torment you have to go through to get there we believe all of their neighbours backs yards are superior, easier to travel and you can actually enjoy the people which forms a huge part of the trip. Sorry for the non shiny report but being a Kiwi is my downside as I say it like it is and don’t try and sugar coat shit. The Heart Speaks Related vary much to the above but after Ellen was robbed and beaten I really wanted to damage someone, if I had found the robbers it would have been pretty bad for them, most probably I would have served some time too. The anger I had inside is something I had not felt before and I was having serious thoughts in my mind as to the way I felt, I had doubts that I could contain myself if presented in a shitty situation which seemed to be on a daily basis. For some strange reason we were not double crossed for a couple of days which left some essential cool down time for me. When someone you love gets attacked and injured it places your (my) heart on defense mode and I would stand to the death, it came to a slight head when we struck the blockades, we went through and the fat lady nearly became traction only her arse was too be to be fast enough, that was her saving grace. I hated that aspect of feeling the way I did but it was brewed and made in Bolivia by Bolivians. To finish, without sounding racist (which we faced everyday towards us, my white face particularly) the main problems we had (baring the ****wits in the petrol stations) were in the higher land with the indigenous people, once down in the amazonas and the peoples colour changed so did their attitudes and all for the better. So not to offend anyone, my general sumup of Bolivia is **** it and **** them, go to the neighboring back yards where you will be treated normally and more fairly and sometimes even outstandingly. While Bolivia was not a total waste of time I would not set foot there again, to me it went from the place of most interest to a shithole full of neanderthals who don't give a shit, if there is such thing as 4th world they are heading there. Now to Brasil ... onward and definitely upwards :clap |
Corumba To Ponta Pora
Welcome to Brasil, the border crossing easy and painless, in fact even enjoyable.:freaky
With no TVIP required we were in and welcomed..... what an incredible change just a few meters makes from their neighbours. Getting our feet on the ground we took to the streets exploring the new territory and seeing what our new currency wouldn't buy us knowing that Brasil is expensive, we also purchased a pipa string cutter (kite string cutters as they like to dog fight with motorists) As evening claimed the last of day we watched the sun go down over Bolivia for the final time ....kinda relieved feeling came with it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-2.jpg A local bird sat and watched us with a welcoming chirp http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rumba/file.jpg Our first day into Brasil was very hot as we made our way to Bonito, arriving at Bonito we set up per usual, that night the skies erupted with a lighting display and thunderstorm that put all previous storms to shame, as it turned out this was to be the beginning of what turned into a cold and wet week. The road side was a huge wash of thousands of hectares of swamp and waterlands http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-1.jpg After three nights of waiting out rain, fog and thunderstorms we set off toward Bela Vista as all the clear water attractions had turned brown so that was that, these pics are what we should have seen. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-4.jpg This is a crackup, Brasils on version of Red Bull ... yes Red Horse http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-3.jpg Bonito is famous for its fish and clear waters, they are featured in the main square http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-2.jpg Paraguay was in our sights to pick up our new stator as the Bolivian rewind of the rewind was dying so down to Bela Vista was the choice and it was cold and wet, arriving there at the border wee were told there was no immigration there and we needed to go 130 km south east to Ponta Pora:eek1:eek1:eek1. Tanking up we hit it to Ponta Pora, the weather caving in soaking us in rain and thick fog which bought the temperature down to 6 degs. On arriving at Ponta Pora we were shoved from pillar to post trying to find immigration to clock out of Brasil, finally the police where the ones to give us an exit stamp, off to the Paraguay side we found customs, they said we needed immigration first so we then found the immigration building and two fat ugly ladies who couldn't be bothered with us...felt like Bolivia again :rofl Now, we read on an internet site we did not need a VISA for Brasil or Paraguay however the two fat ladies insisted we needed VISA and were laughing at us saying we had to go to Iguassu Falls to apply, they took pride in being bitches despite our polite approach to asking for help. Realizing they were not going to help, it was late in the day, we were wet, we were cold and we had had enough we decided to can it, find a hostal, bunk down for the night and forge Plan B Finding a hostal with a hot shower, parking and wifi saw us settle in, warm up and breath and allow us to find out our options :clap It was not looking good with our stator on the other side of the country..... |
Ponta Pora - Let The Magic Begin
Feeling like we had jumped from the frying pan to the fire from Bolivia we were questioning ourselves with a big element of doubt, outside was doom and gloom with miserable weather and very very cold.
I am siting in reception "licking my wounds" per se when a fella who owns a laundry business said something in English, my ears pricked up and I asked, do you speak English and in very good English he replied yes.:clap Now, this is where doom and gloom ended with more power than a nuclear plant. He said four very powerful words with sincerity "do you need help?" well I replied yes we do and the discussion followed, we needed our new stator that was sitting in BMW Paraguay in Asuncion across the other side of the country and we could not get it. No problem he (Aldo) said, I have a Paraguay cellphone and I will be back in 10 minutes, we will ring the guy!!!, so things are now looking up, sure enough within 20 minutes Aldo had organised for our stator to be sent across Paraguay to his Paraguay address saving us $100s in taxes, couriers and import duties. I nearly :cry with joy. He asked what else we needed?, so yes we need a new charger for the lappy and we had been looking for an oil cooler for Maya to help her keep her cool in the slower going stuff. We had a great lunch with Aldo, his wife Sara, and three great kids, thanks guys it was a very warm and homely thing to do. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ora/file-5.jpg Ellen reciprocated the following night with dumplings which went downa real treat, Sara and Ellen with the goodies :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-14.jpg That following morning we were in the car and off illegally into Paraguay (felt good to knowing the two fat ladies didn't know ) to the KTM dealership, the guys were absolutely taken with our ride and insisted we return with the bike for photos, given they too went out of their way we were very happy to go back with Maya, it made their day to see the SE http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ora/file-8.jpg They also had a cuddly KTM dog :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0Pora/file.jpg They found us an oil cooler from a late model Honda 300, it was second hand but mint condition, although not perfect in size it was all we could get, we had looked all over Bolivia so decided we would make this work, style points not very high but function points 150%, it works a bloody treat In cruzing zig zigs and tight back roads Maya belts out a lot of heat and in 35 - 40 deg days the fans are on a lot so to help keep her cool we added the oil cooler which will help oil and engine life in these hotter parts :clap So, back to our Ponta Pora God Aldo, we needed an engineering shop to fab some brackets and buy some oil hose and clamps. We found one, the owner Wagner said we close at 12 30, it was 10.00am already, talking with Aldo I said not worth starting the job as it will take longer. As quick as a flash, Wagner says hey no problem, take all the time you need and gave me full access to his workshop, he left and came back with the parts, Aldo left and returned with our new stator in hand so today the stars aligned and everything was going to the new plan. This is happiness in a box, thank your Jaime for getting it sorted mate :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-15.jpg The burnt one :eek1:eek1, all 18 poles burnt but it was still working as long as there was no load or very little anyway. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-17.jpg Wagner the shop owner then organised some mates to come over, it was beers, barb que and bullshit all in Portuguese of course.....good times :clap Wagner soon realized he did not have to spoon feed me and we had the tank off, cleaned the air prefilters, fitted the new stator and fabricated brackets for the oil cooler all while eating steaks and drinking coke and beers.... we just needed the dancing girls to finish off a perfect day. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-11.jpg Wagner is a Jiu Jitsu fighter with lots of international titles to his name, we watched a couple of 10 round fights that were literally over in 60 seconds with knockouts and Wagner not even breaking a sweat ... the dude is good, if Ellen had him that day in Bolivia the would be dead.:clap Ellen with her new found boyfriend ... she had stars in her eyes :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-25.jpg While we had access to the workshop we straightened out Ellens case and racks after our off in Bolivia, having the right tools made it easy, to top it off we were invited to stay and meet their family who were also keen to meet the crazy people from New Zealand riding a motorbike from the top of the world to the bottom of the world...it was cool Aldo and his wife Sara have lived in the USA and Guatemala and had been planning to move to New Zealand or Australia, preferably New Zealand. Now Aldo and his family are practicing Christians and had prayed to the big fella for a sign and guidance, as you may know Ellen and I are not religious but we believe in a higher power than humans as we are not the top of the chain in the universe, what is a higher power we d not know tho. Anyway, after Aldo had helped us without a blink of an eye then we sat down and he asked so where are you from?, ....New Zealand ..... next thing silence (hard to photograph that) and the conversation sparked up all about New Zealand as he wants his two girls to go Medical School there. We helped him with a monumental amount of information only known by locals so to say they were over the moon would be and understatement. In a funny kinda international way where people meet from across the world with a bunch of mutual help it does make the mind think how do these incredible events happen. On a side note and nothing to do with any of this ... yes they do exist, see the engine case name :rofl. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-18.jpg There are massive shops here too as it is a duty free zone, they did not have my colour http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-19.jpg Motos that I can stand over, Wagners mum, she was really cool http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-21.jpg Ponto Pora, funny wee town split by a border that does not exist so you can roam freely to either country, golden hearted people ..... :clap |
What a blessing for Y'all after Bolivia!!! Hats off and hugs your new friends!!:clap:
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Great to read that story Andi and Ellen, you guys needed some good news and great people. I'll be travelling Brazil and Paraguay next year so looking forward to seeing what you find! Loving it in Guatemala at the moment!
Cheers PN |
Awesome Thread Andi & Ellen. Definitely wetting my appetite.
Keep it coming Cheers |
Bravi dos Kiwis ,,
Muchas gracias por photographia magnifico y journale moto aventura. |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Pleased you are in a better place both in mind and location ,love the devils tooth shots,and the owl ,seams racism exists in all countries .Mum is much better ,got the boot splint off her foot today and doctor is very happy with how it is mending ,she now will have physio twice daily from now on .here's hoping she will make a full recovery.great you got your bike sorted in time.Anyhoo have a great week talk latter.YDF Noel.:thumbup1::thumbup1:
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Yeah man so good to feel free again and fee positive energy from the people and surrounding, too much negative crap in Bolivia got me down. Onwards and upwards :thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
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Brasil is good, the people here are very nice and helpful. Paraguay we did not get into as we needed a VISA and the ladies were very unhelpful ... never mind. Only fresh into Brasil seems like the coastal part is the gem, be prepared to have you wallet take a hiding though it is spendie!! Gutemala is cool, we could live there quite easily too. Cheers Andi |
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