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Amazing photos and yarn Andi & Ellen. I caught up with Dillon (Legend) at Zen Moto who helped get my 950 Adv S sorted, just out of interest did you ever get any joy out of the oxygen thief who sold you the SE ?
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Great job on the pics and journals amigos. Buen suerte!
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Yeah Dillon is a bloody good guy and fussy with his work, he did a superb job of getting Maya sorted, we are due a valve check now and I would love to hand the bike to him knowing it would be done 100 % correct. The oxygen thief went to ground, we called, emailed, pmed and nothing, I used another email account and contacted him about his Kawasaki for sale and he responded straight away so I know he got the other contacts. Nothing in the end, full extent of spending $2500 USD to mop up the mess and lies by him which still hurts and it has shortened our budget by about 40 days, if I ever catch him I will kill him. Flip side and positive note at 45500 km she is going well and treating us right, opening her up next week for valve check etc so x fingers all is good. Cheers man |
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Zen Moto - Dillon
Yep I'd have to agree, Dillon went to length in sorting my 950 S to the point where he gave me parts off his own bike to get me on the road faster rather than wait for ordered parts, salt of the earth kinda bloke.
I was on a mission heading south and hopefully catching up with you mob, Neda & Gene (lightcycle) and others on my 12 month tour but......... It seems the oxygen thief is obviously related to the retard who rented my home, another marked to be removed from the gene pool! I got robbed blind, they left such a mess its taken me 2 months to rectify and I'm still not done! Not to mention the cost of returning form the Copper Canyon, having to buy a car drive from Melbourne to Darwin ect ect ect. The bill is enormous, consider yourself lucky you got off relatively light! However the joint will be on the market soon and I'll pick up where I left off. Might even go the SE next lap ! I'll just have to live through threads like yours and the like, keep up the good work and enjoy, Cheers Dave. |
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Sounds like you have had it way worse than us though. Good to hear you are resuming your travels as well .... SE ... not a bad option too :thumbup1: |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Spectacular photo's as always ,i think the shot of Ellen jumping on the road would have been a good one to enter too.No the bloody house is not sold yet ,just no buyers ,market has gone to crap,getting frustrated .was thinking when i saw your shots of Bolivians that i can't recall ever seeing one of them smile in a photo .oh by the way i have voted for your shots ,i recognized them straight away although i think number 2 would be my pick of best shot ,you guys are up there though.:D:DYDF Noel.
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Thanks man, great place to take photos, so much to see. Well that is a bugga about the house mate, rental an option till things pick up? Cheers for the vote, yeah there are some good pics for sure, we are stoked just to even get to selection, if we can make the calender then real cool :thumbup1: |
Salta
Tire, battery, insurance all on the list to do.
Insurance, done, tire .... no .... have to sell the bike to buy a front tire in Argentina, battery.... Chinese yes but we want the Yuasa Japanese as they have been more reliable over time for me. Loki Hostel, our gem. They have a promotion on with free accommodation in the dorm rooms so that fitted our budget nicely.:clap Loki is situated 20 km out from town central in a nice quite spot, set 100 meters just off the main road the place is secure and out of sight. There is a swimming pool, Ellen took advantage of this however I stayed on the sideline keeping the deck chairs company. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-1.jpg Their rules are no food or alcohol to be brought onto the premises, at first we thought bugger but the reality is their bar and food price are reasonable and the quality of their beef bar b que up with the best of them. Now Loki is known as a party hostel which we were a bit worried about us old folk being kept up at night however the accommodation rooms are far away enough that yo do not hear the music so you can retire at the hour that suits and not get drummed out all night, all in all a very good set up. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-3.jpg Thanks Loki Hostel, we very much enjoyed our stay and will be back on our way to Bolivia. :clap |
Salta To Antofagasta
Hitting Paso Sico the road 51 that the hostel is on meant we just turned left from the hotel and headed for the hills.
The road was party tar and partly a dentists dream, the second half of the day which is only 124 km turned into a 5 and half hour ordeal of seriously bad sandpits linked together by corrugations from hell. A nice smooth bit :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-21.jpg At the half way point I just wanted the road to finish as I had had enough and Maya felt like she was gonna fall apart at the seams, I know Ellens arse took a hammering too. So much was the vibration that one of the screws in my new sunnies vibrated out and got lost, a self dental check count showed all fillings were in place ... that was lucky. :lol3 Upon reaching the Chilean border we found out we had a further 100 km of gravel to do and the border guard advising us of very bad sandpits ... ouwh no...this however does come with rewards http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-23.jpg More OMG moments of treasure http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rto/file-3.jpg Shadows getting longer http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ierto/file.jpg By this time it was getting later in the day, still at 4300 meters we were very keen to drop elevation as it was very cold, we punched through the 100 km of gravel road and sandpits knocking off when the sun knocked off so setting up in twilight ...easy done. Not too bad when you have company and these guys rode with us for the last 100 km :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-27.jpg Again sky TV sponsored by the Atacama Desert giving us a great view of the Southern Cross again. Our campsite with a very orange Mars like tinge from a firey sunset .. was looking for the Rover but couldn't see it :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rto/file-4.jpg Turn 180 degrees this is what we had to put up with. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rto/file-5.jpg The following morning we had to go back up to San Pedro Atacama as the Aduana is situated there rather than the boarder. Legally back in Chile the road on the opposite side of the salar was appealing, it started out as a shocker, we use our 5 km rule and applied it here, most people tend to go about 5 km up a gravel road then say bugger this and turn around and the road gets better, today was no different and the gravel road improved....luckily as it was shaping up to be another horror. Soon enough we had the place to ourselves, making a lunch stop amidst stunning salt lunar landscapes, the camera simply can’t capture the stunning starkness yet beauty of the naked meca. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rto/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-13.jpg Ever changing colours from Ozzie red dirt, white salt and grey schist turning to brown sandpits and dust, this is one road only http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-30.jpg On completion of another wow road we hit the semi sealed mine road complete with literally hundreds of mining trucks and utes, this end of Chile is thick with mine of all sorts being pretty the single biggest earner here, down side is a lot of mining towns have no got money and the price of EVERYTHING is very spendie. :eek1 Antofagasta was in our sights for a new battery (still nursing it along) and a new front rubber, our MT21 turning into a winter tire with cords hanging out of it. Three moto shops only in a reasonable size city and one front tire that was very road oriented so no good but surprisingly one small shop has a 150/17 -17 Heidenau so an oddity there. Now we are at the Suzuki & Llamaha shop, the owner has a 990 adventure S, he didn’t have a new tire but promptly jumped on his facebook buddies list putting it out to the local lads and with 5 - 6 minutes a reply came in, yes I have a TKC 80. He said 30 minutes ... perfect we were not really going anywhere so waiting not knowing if it were new or what. Soon enough he arrived with an 80 % spent TKC 80 and gave it to us, perfect, plenty to get us to Santiago where our new rubber awaits us. Picture here, dude on the left is someone, middle is Raul the shop owner and his good friend Mark have gave us the tire ... great guys :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-31.jpg We decided to change it right there and then, unknown to me the shop owner went down the street to see if they could change the tire, mean time I had wrestled the front wheel off, whipped the tire and tube out, remounted the new (secondhand) TKC 80 and was starting to put the wheel back in the forks when he returned, this was the conversation that followed, O = owner A = Andi. O...they should be able to do it A....do what? O....change the tire A....already done He looked again realizing the new tire was already on and going back in, next words were “do you want a job”.:D He was quite taken that we just did it and in the time it took, 15 minutes. For us this is the norm but seemingly not for them, now it is 8.00pm, closing time, he kindly took us along the waterfront where we could camp, talk about an outstanding moto service for no gain other than to see us right.:clap The spot was great, right beside the sea, the only bumma was some party animals who pulled up at 3.07am deciding the whole beach needed to hear their sounds and our ear plugs no match for the booming base that was enough to vibrate the whole place. A quick chat and a pleasant ask to bring it down to about 120 db they obliged still no sleep until they moved on quite some time later. Next ..... need another hand.... |
Bugger about the party goers ,mate the first few shots of this posting are magnificent .spectacular region you are traveling through.until next time YDF Noel:D:D
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Yeah gotta make some concessions when free camping in a public place but yes they coulda partied anywhere else along the otherwise empty beach. |
Talk To The Hand - Antofagasta To Lorraines
Talk To The Hand
We left Antofagasta with our flash as Michael Jackson new mostly spent outa round TKC 80 .....WOH HOH. Chile is great for offering a hand and today was no different, todays offering a was huge. Mano De Desierto (Hand Of The Desert), a big sculpture in the desert, I first saw this from our friends Grif and Lisa’s pic (gippers travels), unfortunately the colour artists have decided it needed some enhancements none the less still cool to see it in person. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-15.jpg Given our location shade is not a readily available option so lunch it was. Rest of the day was a Panam tar ride, in our sights La Sarena KTM dealership to replace our fast saddening battery and to bag the only heated grips in this end of the hemisphere.:clap This was our view for a few days, nothing really to keep posting pics of http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-32.jpg A few cool rock ribs to make it interesting every now and then http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...to/file-34.jpg La Sarena, nice KTM dealership, lots of bikes and a pretty good choice across the board for anyone with a pocket full of cash, KTM parts here in Chile are mighty expensive tho, the most I have ever seen throughout the world without a word of a lie.:eek1 After some negotiation over the price we walked away with heated grips in hand and a shiny new battery that cranked Maya into life so no fear of having to push start again. They relieved us of $408 USD for the two ... I am still bleeding!!!, in NZ they would cost about $260 NZD which is about $215 USD.....much more camping in stall to cover the difference.:rofl With no camping around La Sarena we headed south to a beach part noted on Google maps, we could get off the main road and find a quiet place to camp, along the road there was a disturbing amount of new fencing stopping any chance of exiting to potential campsites, arriving at out planned stop ... no road, big fence so we pulled into a mining road area and hid in some bluegums for the night. Was cold and breezy with moisture laden air punishing any exposed skin so to bed early was in order. |
Lorraines - A Homely Week
A year or so ago Lorraine put a post on the Hubb inviting weary travellers to stop and take a break, maybe help look after her dogs and for any handymen to help out around the house with small jobs as she was building.
We answered saying wow that would be cool but we are a long way off. Fast forward a year or so we contacted Lorraine again to see if her offer was open and like a true traveller welcomed us with open arms.:clap Lorraines place from the beach http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-2.jpg Having hauled some big days down through the northern Chile roads we were tired so the timing to stop for a few days and catch our breath was welcome too. So, first things first, a shower .....had not had one for fours days :eek1, Lorraine asked if we wanted a shower .... it was further discussed that Lorraine would want us to have a shower :rofl. Next up, so how can we help while we are here, food, Ellens specialty cooking of dumplings and sushi...that was a given. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-7.jpg Chats netted a few jobs that Lorraine said if possible it would be good to get done, one was find the roof leak. After settling in, gathering our breath and getting sorted we climbed onto the roof, there were various cracked tiles and some sealant that had come away around the chimney. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Andionroof.jpg I sealed the chimney and it was decided that a trip into town was in order to get two new roofing sheets, at that point Lorraine hoped up off the roof where she was sitting and broke a full sheet, so make that three sheets to buy. In between time we established that our toilet was not flushing the goodies away, I followed the pipework out and dug down, clearly something was not right so I dug all the way along the pipe top to form a big trench all the way down to the septic tank which I finally found buried about 800 mm deep, the digging was easy though in sand which was cool. On finding the tank we established the tree roots etc had grown into the tank and pipe blocking any hope of a flush. I had the short straw and cleaned out the roots and other stuff, Ellen tipped a bucket of water down the toilet outlet in the house at which point there was a burp, fart and bubbling noise and the head of water cleared the blockage I had loosened and removed, such was the force from the head of water that poos when everywhere for a second or so ..... luckily we had stood back a bit. Plumba Handi Andi :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-20.jpg .....a clean flush is better than a full house, mission accomplished. Back to the roof, three sheets and a couple of hours we re-roofed the bottom section rearranging the new sheets to better cover things and utilizing the part sheets to add more laps ....X fingers it does not leak ... time will tell. While we were there we met Charlie and Mahsa who are travelling two up on a F800GS BMW, he has a seriously cool high capacity tank with custom paint and graphics. Very nice guys and great to meet them. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-8.jpg A few other odd jobs were completed as well as helping out with taking Fluffy for a walk, Fluffy is an old fello and is now paralysed in his hind legs, taking him for a walk is a mission for anyone but Lorraine has cleverly come up with a system using bicycle tubes which works a treat, we all shared the load taking him for walks. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-14.jpg She has two other Chilean dogs Lunar and Widget who are a heap of fun and beautiful looking dogs, Widget smiles like our Boxer used to do curling her lips up with a stupid grin, I have not seen any other dogs who do this so it was a little treat. Pictured here is Lunar, beautiful girl and she knows it :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-15.jpg Amongst the work and help we did get to relax and play, the location lending itself to sitting with a coffee and watching the sea. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-16.jpg Also on the op deck with Charlie and Mahsa as well, awful day :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...use/file-5.jpg She also has a fire pit and wanted a log for seating so this was towed home by the van and wrestled into place providing a groovy twisted seat, that night we tested it to make sure it was all good, lit the fire and cooked our pork chops ..... perfect. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...se/file-17.jpg Next - Santiago for massive moto servicing etc. |
Andi the gift you have given to your friend is far better than money ,looks like a lovely place ,great to be able to be comfortable/settled for a few days .it will make your future travels more special.:DYDF Noel
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Thanks man, I am sure if I gave her several thousand dollars she wouldn't trow it away :smartass: but yes I know Lorraine appreciated getting a few things sorted out as much as we appreciated crashing comfortably in a nice location .. mutual backscrubs we call them ... you humans may not understand Kiwi lingo tho :D ... although I think they send you guys to Kiwi slang class? bier Till next time .. |
Peru Some Up
After spending nearly three months hovering around we came to a love hate relationship with Peru.
The love, what a fantastic place to ride what is the best of the Andes thus far, there is no dispute the Peruvians are the Zig Zag kings.:clap The Peruvians across the board were great, some a little long faced (indigenous mainly for some reason) and some outstanding so a normal cross section of people. Mr Whippie at the protests also took things too far, looking back on it it was unnecessary what he did, maybe I am getting softer in my old age as I think back a few years I would have hoped off the bike and clopped him one, understanding their protest it does not give him the right to whip us with sour intentions...especially to a lady (Pau), brownie points lost there. There is actually a strong moto syndicate within Peru and you do not have to go for for help. Our two very big thank you’s are to Toby and Sara (around the block tours) in Huanuco and Alex in Peru Moto Tours in Cusco, both guys took delivery of stuff and helped us along the way, Tobys local know unmatched by anyone else for moto knowledge, few day stay at their B&B will enrich your trip. The hate, two big aspects to this, firstly the rubbish, they simply do not respect their beautiful country and just throw rubbish anywhere and everywhere which is a crying shame, they just don’t give a crap, education has fallen short here big time. The second hate is the drivers, I simply can’t grasp the concept of having a nice and friendly human being talking and enjoying a chat then getting into a car and having no bones about running you off the road .... WTF comes to mind, total Jekyll and Hyde.:huh On top of that we had the lite head on with the small moto completely on our side on a blind corner, we saw first hand damage to two other adventure riders bikes from wanker bus drivers not respecting others which is unnecessary. Remember these fellas complete with safety T shirt :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ul/file-42.jpg The use of horns is one thing but the overuse of horns pisses you off in a short space of time, I found myself getting angry with them which is frustrating, again dog eat dog and you just have to turn into an arsehole or fail and likely get run down, heading into Chile was a night and day refreshing difference with respectful drivers, come on Peru, it isn’t that hard and will cost you nothing. For me these two things really took the shine off Peru for what is otherwise an awesome country, I know that others think the same way. On a positive note the Huascaran National Park stole our hearts with outstanding beauty and reminders of New Zealand, I guess when it is close to your “home heart” it tends to mean more.:clap Also to ride from sea level and 38 deg C and and hour and half later be at 4800 meters with snow setting on you was a different experience one of which we really enjoyed. While we can ride from beach to snow in New Zealand we simply don’t have the elevational changes that Peru offers and given we were constantly 1.30 km higher than the highest point in New Zealand that was kinda cool for us and have a new appreciation for heights. To sum up, barring the arsehole drivers Peru for us was outstanding and I would recommend it in a heartbeat, stay away from north west Peru, dive into north east Peru and start loving it, Kuelap was outstanding and we preferred it to the mighty Macchu Picchu, there are also magic waterfalls in this region. The scenery is stunning and will warm your sensors without doubt, get off the main drag and enjoy it, we did and it made our trip :clap. |
Hi, I just picked up on this ride report, and I have to say that I think you've hit it on the head about Peru. I love it, but I've never seen worse drivers. The cities are almost unbearable. However, it makes the rest of the Americas look tame, so I suppose it's good training!
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Thanks for that, yeah it is a fine line between acknowledging it and whinging about it, while we don't want to whine we also want to give at least our take on it and yes we know of many others who feel the same .. we are just dumb enough to put it to print :thumbup1: |
Page Shortening Post
To keep it short
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Santiago - Large As Life
Moto servicing, tire shredding, piss drinking, riding, coffee, new amigos.
Leaving Lorraines this is everything we had to look forward too, having been corresponding with Jaime for nearly a year on moto stuff we had organised to meet up.:clap Taking the coastal road rather than the Ruta 5 mum nature was having an off day and provided a layer of fog stealing our views of the ocean, never mind can’t win em all. Making our way into Santiago it progressively got hotter and the traffic thickened very quickly ...as it does in a city of 5 million people. We were very lucky to be invited to stay at Jaimes brothers house which is close to the KTM servicing guys and Jaimes riding amigos, Jaime has a one bedroom apartment so bit tight there. We rocked into town following Mrs.Garmins good advice who in this instance on this day was 100% correct. With warm welcome and greetings we followed Jaime to our new home in Santiago, a quick trip to the supermarket and some nice food we cooked up some tea for Jaime and us, in the afternoon we went for a cruz to the main KTM shop lotsa orange goodies everywhere. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tiago/file.jpg Oranges .. not really edible :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ago/file-1.jpg Having good services etc of a big city we soon had sushi seaweed in hand complimented by rum and wine..... yay. Being a Sunday, the boys went for a ride, Martyn, Jaime and me, Martyn on his 990 Adventure R and Jaime on his 990 Adventure, me on our 950 SE, Orange it was. High sun and a Kiwi squint and a stupid grin from Martyn .. looks kinda dodgy and it was :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ago/file-4.jpg The three ladies ... a rose between two thorns :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ago/file-7.jpg Our tire had some life left and I did not wonna give anything back, a fist full of fun riding for three hours took care of that.... and yes that is canvas in the middle, prolly only 1000 left in this one Salvi :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...TM/file-10.jpg After match function was at Martyns home complete with Moto GP in Qatar on TV and serving on Peruvian food, great day out :clap Maya, second hand, scrubby, stuffed tires, knackered chain and sprockets and black oil we took her to Claudios shop to get the monster round completed. New shoes front and rear, new chain and sprockets, new oil, valve adjustment done, new rear shock from Alex at Konflict Motorsports, air filters cleaned and oiled, horn fixed and the bike cleaned, apart from that there was nothing to do. :eek1 Also while we were in town Geoff (Icerider on ADV) arrived in town, very nice guy, a wealth of knowledge and great stories of work as a Helicopter Pilot in the Faulklands, Geoff treated us to pic of the Faulklands and his "flying company car" ... WOW what a weapon, this thing carries 20 men plus cargo :clap A real pleasure meeting you Geoff, catch up next time. While Maya was at the health professionals getting a makeover we took in Santiago town, coffee with legs was recommended by a dodgy Colombian so we had to investigate .... nothing to see move along please ...well almost, while we took our work seriously we did enjoy a nice coffee. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-15.jpg With Maya serviced and sorted bike night was on and one of Jaimes friends on a txt message said “bring the Kiwis” .....so he did. The mob we enjoyed the company of http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-17.jpg We had a great night with the local lads with a mixture of bikes including Adventures, SE, Tenere, KLR, BMW 700 etc, great cross section with one interest .... takin shit about bikes!!! Not a bad lineup of lusties http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...go/file-20.jpg A huge thanks to Jaime, Martyn, Geoff and the local Santiaghoons for havings us around :clap |
G'day ,nice to catch up ,good the bike is sorted ,shame about the rubbish in Peru ,this part of Queensland is bad for road side rubbish ,too ,have no clue what goes through such peoples minds.Any how carry on i enjoy your posts as always YDF Noel:D:D
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Yeah that part of Peru is not good but there are plenty of other places the same too unfortunately. Wee gap in the writing through lack of wifi but some more bedtime reading your way sir. YDP Andi |
Santiago To Malarque To San Rafael
Having got our big service and things sorted we left Santiago, with good advice from some fellow riders we avoided the main drag.
Leo had suggested a route through Paso Vergara then turning left over a shortcut pass. The first part of the ride we railed down the main road turning off into shingle towards the border, this is a mining road so pretty good nic allowing good speeds. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...que/file-1.jpg Reaching the Chilean border we clocked out per usual, with the weather looking unusual and the wind picking up we rode the 17 km to the Argentine border only to have the beady eyed customs guy saying we did not have the paperwork we needed??? WTF????:huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-11.jpg The Chilean guys had taken our paperwork so we were told we had to go back to the Chilean post to get the correct papers, I was unhappy as it was full of sandpits and the wind was horrific making riding bloody hard, the wind was ripping up sandstorms and twisters with speeds that were fast enough to pick up stones and throw them at us bouncing off us and Maya.:eek1:eek1 Making it back to the border and chatting with them they said no we do not need the paperwork and the Argies were wrong, to be fair I was starting to get agitated, in the end they gave us a photocopy and wrote to the Argies saying they don’t need it but here it is with our stamp. :deal That night we stayed at the border in the bottom building which was droughty and cold ...but dry. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-13.jpg As the evening progressed the weather tipped with very heavy rain, as the rain slowed down ... the snow settled in .... ouwh no.:eek1 We listened on wondering if the road was going to be washed away or passable, the temperature dropped like a stone testing our sleeping bags...which passed the test. As morning appeared it was clear that the weather storm had created a few issues for us. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-14.jpg The pass up and over to Argentina was looking ominous with smatterings of snow which were slowly getting thicker and more drifts. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-16.jpg It wasn’t long and my riding ability was being tested with 100 - 300 mm snow on the racetrack, being we were climbing the pass it was as slippery as an eel and very hard work. We ended up cleaning off nearly two km of road down to dirt to gain traction, I did try and play the snow off but the snow won .....Maya tumbling to the floor and me “I spray the snow with heidenau and walk away” http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-54.jpg Yes this is the moment of the get off, I just wanted to check the snow on the left :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-32.jpg House and some contents off to reduce the top weight we picked her up.:clap The method was to clear the rest of the road at least where the steeper parts were then ride the middle in the fresh snow as the traction was good there. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-33.jpg The top nearly in sight http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-34.jpg It was easy sailing with fresh snow and almost flat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-35.jpg Cresting the pass was good however we had 2 - 3 km along the top before heading down .....this is where we got stuck in a 300 mm deep section about 100 meters long and slowly but surely we ran out of traction and we started to head up the last dreaded section. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-39.jpg We had almost decided to turn back when a Landy Discovery turned up and said we had clobbered the worst and there was less. The road started improving which was a godsend http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-40.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-41.jpg Although the raod was still 200 - 300 mm deep in places without vehicle tracks etc it was easy enough to get through http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-42.jpg Managing to wrestle Maya to the crest we decided to take there good advice and continue on into Argentina making it to the border building again less than impressed with them... they knew this and were being a little less obnoxious, for me it was a lesson in anger management as I was want to smack the beady eyed idiot however I wanted more our paperwork so we could continue. Finally getting our entry stamps and the piece of paper was still useless to them (and they knew it but sensed I was NOT riding back again) they let us pass, turns out the aduana is not there so it would have made no difference if we had ignored them and carried on. In order to calm nerves Ellen fed me to keep me “out of their way”, lunch over we carried on playing bulldozer, at one point the drifts were half way up my my boots on the footpegs, we bashed through them one by one with Maya getting in at pace and chugging out the other side.... so much for less snow however to be fair the guys in the Discovery had stayed at the thermals so did not know the snow depth where we were heading. Eventually we made it out of the snow laden ground, our new found challenge was the sodden clay from snow melt which saw some scary tank slapper moments and us weaving across the track. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-47.jpg Finally we got down onto dry ground and corrugations ( I will never whine about corrugations again) which made life easy other than the usual teeth chattering but not from freezing conditions or snow this time. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-50.jpg All bar one bad sandpit with wind it was nearly plain sailing http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ue/file-53.jpg The valley down was a cruze to the aduana with some stock moving moments, the aduana normal and friendly, TVIP and stamps we set off to Malarque, the road getting better and better turning to tar ... almost felt like cheating!!!! Arriving in Malarque we found a hostel with a bed, pillows and hot shower..... very nice I have to say. With a good kitchen we knocked up a good feed and quit the night early. After a big sleep we wondered off to destination Finca Rita, John and Annettes in San Rafael. |
Awesome landscape & photography :thumbup1:
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G'day guy's loving the snow shots ,incredibly vibrant .if i do not catch you up in the mean time have a wonderful easter.YDF Noel:D
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Thanks man, pretty cool (cold actually) place.:thumbup1: |
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Cheers Andi |
San Rafael ….. Hotel CalifincaRita
John and Annettes, Finca Rita, San Rafael, ex travellers settling down into an un-normal life, we had written to them days prior warning them of our invasion, Bevan from Phoenix had done the same and for some unusual reason Lorraine gave them the heads up saying good people, we believe her email was hacked.:rofl:rofl
Arriving to the Finca we were welcomed in with open arms and shown to our room (and never let out) :eek1:lol3, we unpacked Maya as we were planning a canyon ride during our two night stay….well we told them two nights as that is (WAS) the plan. :huh Settling in we went into town with John and on the way back we visited one of their friends who sells wine, we bought a box of 6 as Ellen had decided that we would probably be there longer …best be prepared. :evil 2.30 something am we finished chatting over a coupla wines (Mr Duval I believe we are in the same trouble makers camp :D) … next day was work …. hmmm cruzey start then eh, in order to stay at John and Annettes they like to get help on the farm, this saves travellers money and helps out big time on the farm with many hands makes lite work. The weather had been a little off and the grapes sugar level too low thus harvesting was off the list at this point, weeding, everyone's favourite job was on tho. Sugar testing the grapes amidst piss taking and coffees :wink: http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-79.jpg Sounds bad, no, bit of grubbing and pulling out of the stringy bloody thingys ready for collection to the fire heap, good exercise.:clap For me it was a time to exchange muscle group use and get some exercise having a good sweat with exercise other than picking Maya up outa the snow. Ellen and Annette were picking up the Walnuts so everyone was busy and reuniting at lunch stops for an energy top up of good food and some good ol BS. Now John and Annette take things at a leisurely pace not burning out knowing there is a big job on hand so this makes for good fun, chats and a chance to fix the world. (if it is not done overnight with wine) :rofl During our stay I had a tussle with three big guys out on the farm, every one of them looking down on me the odds were gonna be interesting and I knew it would be a fight. I took the first swing and got a good strike bringing the first one to the ground while the other two looked on, there was a tussle over the second one followed by the third, next thing I know all three were on the ground and the victory was mine, I felt triumphant with that David and Goliath thing….then Ellen said come on man they are only weeds ….:huh They were big tho :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-77.jpg Back to the tractor work we loaded all the defeated weeds onto the trailer, not just the three big guys but all his mates too, this was done over 15 - 20 loads, we always took the time to wave to the girls when we passed them which we thought was quite friendly like. The Canyon, Canyon De Atual We were unchained and allowed to play, Canyon De Atual and back our ride for the day. We confirmed it was the same one that Martyn and Jaime from Chile had just ridden and one point in the canyon there was a rock fall, the rocks however the size of a car, given they had seven bikes but more importantly seven blokes they manhandled the big girls over the trials course and carried on. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ael/file-4.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ael/file-8.jpg The colours did not disappoint http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-12.jpg Not knowing if the road was blocked or clear we prepared to turn around if and when it would be required. Taking in the canyon we were served jolly splendid views (in John and Annette English accent), reaching the last power station the Peligro tape (danger tape) was up across the road …so we rode around it and sure enough approx 1 km up the rock fall was still there less maybe 2 rocks, still no way for us to pass, lunch stop then, that was our turning point. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-20.jpg There was a rude guy there doing the fingers ... he was dressed like me :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-21.jpg We were here :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-23.jpg Photo shoot and return to home base admiring the canyon from the new perspective which did not let us down. Bit of rock climbing too...all a bit easy without snow on it :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-27.jpg Cool views http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-31.jpg A play in the puddles on the way back http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-32.jpg Back to the farm to shower up and wine up ….good times. :clap San Rafael is a nice town with all the services, the screws had fallen outa my sunnies (note Paso Sico) so an optics shop took care of this with two new screws, we also wanted a fuel filter for Maya, this again was easy to get and with enthusiastic help from the moto shop all of who were very keen looking at the orange mammoth parked at their shop. 4 nights on the first box of wine and it had gone ….. very hot here with the snow and rain, Annette went back to the wine seller, he said but the Kiwis bought a box only 4 night nights ago… yeah says Annette, at least we are supporting the local economy.:wink: 1 Week On Well our two nights have long past and we didn‘t leave cos we weren’t allowed to (actually by choice), finding ourselves banned from the gate it is like Hotel California here where you can check out any time you like but you can never leave, John and Annette appreciating some bloke help getting the weeding done and some chic help picking up the Walnuts with the Asian contingent doing an excellent job.:clap Ellen per usual made sushi and Chinese pies all going down a real treat, nice to share her skills with Annette so she can make the same if we ever get to leave. :rofl Sushi expert at work http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-49.jpg Forward planning for Moto GP if we can get in, with prices looking spendie I might have to settle for a big TV at a hotel somewhere … time will tell. In between Charlie that we met at Lorraines arrives, he was on his way down south and wanted to come back up to John and Annettes on Thursday, it was explained to Charlie that yes today was indeed already Thursday ...Charlie's plans changed slightly and he ended up staying three nights with us, wine, chats, ride, good times.:clap Laural, Hardie and their trusty Asian sidekick :lol3 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-45.jpg With Charlie’s help on the farm we loaded the rest of the weeds onto the trailer and took em to the heap, onya Charlie great to have the extra manhands. Me driving the tractor, John and the two dogs relaxing, Charlie practicing being Japanese and taking photos :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-72.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-74.jpg Now the favourites, three Kittens, the dodgy one that is the shit stirrer trouble maker has been called Kiwi ... right on!!!! :lol3 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-37.jpg The final day came, we had finished the big part of the weeding so set to for destination La Falda to meet up again with Dan and Sara. So we ended up leaving 14 days after our intended two nights, new amigos and lots of work done to help Johna and Annette, sampling of local wines, good times, talked BS, fixed the worlds problem and named a cat ....mission accomplished. Busy fixing the worlds problems http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-43.jpg The sustenance we used to fix the world http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...el/file-46.jpg So if you want to do this, help your budget, help John and Annette on the Finca, help sort the world out and just generally enjoy yourself while earning your keep contact them, as ex travellers they know the needs of us homeless buggas, also John has a good dose of tools and contacts, they are running out of kittens to name tho so get in soon.:D Thanks John and Annette, San Rafamily ... we are looking forward to coming back in a few months :clap Link to contact them, http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...716#post465800 A poem written by Annette abut the Finca High on a snowy highway, It’s so cold I wish I had some hair We were on our way to Hotel Finca Rita Recommended by Bevan and Claire We saw the farm and heard the ringing of a bell This could be heaven or this could be hell Greeted at the gate by five dogs, three kittens and a cat And some strange woman wearing a cowboy hat They all showed us the way. As we heard voices around us say Welcome to the Hotel Finca Rita There’s a lovely room at Hotel Finca Rita Such a lovely place With loads of camping space There’s no such thing as television or internet You don’t Google, you just have to ask Annette John and Alana filled up the food cupboard with Asian spice And all the homemade dinners are very nice. The alarm goes off at 6.00. The barn opens at 7.00 I lay in bed thinking “I hope I can stay here until eleven“. Asadon in hand, we are just clearing away weeds that are higher than me Oh how I wished I had not stayed up drinking all night until 3.00! Ellen helped harvest the walnuts during the day and cracked them at the night I had a dream she had my nuts in a cracking device and awoke with a fright The day it rained Johnnie and I sat watching the Isle of Man TT and much more But relaxing was not on the cards, cracking of the walnuts was in store At the sound of the church bell She really had to tell I had asked Annette to just bring me some wine She replied that Ken and Carol had drank it all back in 2009 And still we heard those voices say Welcome to Hotel Finca Rita There’s a lovely room at Hotel Finca Rita Such a lovely place With loads of camping space The first weekend we killed the duck Oh boy was it bloody hard to pluck Ellen made Peking Duck, Sushi and Chinese dumplings Next things for the pot are the poor goslings George and Mildred oversees that the goslings come to no harm So next time you see me I will probably only have one arm After two weeks we found ourselves running for the door Had to find our motorbike, but it was not parked where it was before. Relax said Johnnie Green, your motorbike is not around for you to retrieve You can check out anytime you like but she will never let you leave. Welcome to Hotel Finca Rita There's a lovely room at Hotel Finca Rita Such a lovely place With lots of camping space. |
Congratulations on the win with the calender ,i always thought it a great shot.
bierbierbier |
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Thanks man, we are stoked, neat to get 1 in but to get 2 in is well cool indeed. It is just a little icing on the cake for us.:Dbier Cheers Andi |
2 Years On The Road Today
Good afternoon all
Well, today is May the 3rd which means two years ago today we set off on our 1.5 year trip from New Zealand. What an interesting two years with moto fails, accidents, fantastic times and huge downs all making up what we call adventure riding. Wouldn't swap it for a minute even in the bad times cos the worst day on the road is still far better than the best day in the office as long as no one dies. Thanks to all who have supported us along the way :D |
Thanks for sharing your trip with us office dwellers :)
It is a joy to read. |
Great photos and good to see you made it through the snow guys, shame about the graffiti on the Mano, but life goes on. Too many beautiful landscapes around the world tarnished by garbage, Peru is one of many countries where they need to do something differently and look after the land they have, the onus to educate and introduce recycling must fall on the shoulders of those in power though, not people who often have very little money and no incentive, there's no overnight solution unfortunately.
Over 2 years on the road now ? Congratulations to you both from Lisa & me!!! Doesn't seem like 5 minutes since you kids were here watching the Bambi's jumping around out the back of our place. Keep on going for as long as possible for us lot pushing out 40 hour work weeks to pay the mortgage, your ride reports are much needed! |
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Thank you so much, we are enjoying writing about it too :D |
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Great to hear from you guys, yeah two years into a year and a half trip ...not bad eh :innocent: Shameful the rubbish etc in Peru and yes it has to come from above, you can life poor but you don't have to turn it into a shithole in the process. Seems like yesterday we were doing Ellens forks in your garage and enjoying good times with you guys, we will be back one day too!! Wifi been real skinny but all good now, new reports up again :thumbup1: Love to you both Andi n Ellen |
La Falda - The Homely Addition
Leaving Finca Rita, John and Annettes place we headed across the pampa, a pretty long and boring straight section but the quickest way to get up to La Falda to meet up with Dan and Sara before heading off to the MotoGP.
Clobbering a big day some 530 km we made it across the flat lands and to the base of where the mountains start, we bunked down in Villa Dolores for the night tired and weary. With little mileage to make the next day it was a 10 am outa bed start ... little later than planned but no worries. Soon the boring road stopped and the Argentinean mounts soon opened up welcoming us in offering grand views and cool rock formations with the pass winding its way up and over down into the next valley which houses Cordoba. Arriving in La Falda mid afternoon we got to Walter and Dagmars with Dans GPS coords which easily got us right to the gate, onya mate!!.:clap Dagmar welcomed us in, Dan and Sara were out so we sat and had a nice coffee and snacks on the lawn in the sun ....nice. We were staying there helping with some work around the place, although we were not supposed to be doing anything that afternoon I could not help myself when she said there were leaking pipes by our bedroom. I set too and cleaned the concrete out from around the pipes exposing the offending three sections, two pack epoxy mix took care of the sealing up of these after some good cleaning etc. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Falda/file.jpg They (Dagmar and Walter) had had a few plumbing issues and some drainage issues so we attempted to get these solved. Unfortunately the drainage issue was more than we could fix with the gear we had so a plumber will have to sort that out, at least we did the troubleshooting to find out roughly where the blockage lays. With a fine afternoon we knocked off early at 2.00 pm and Ellen and I took a ride around the block towards Cordoba then heading north back up and over a dirt road. Was a great ride but a grader had freshly graded the road making for difficult riding then a peat bog hole, Dan and Sara had been through the road prior and it appears a few large trucks had been through there and ripped it to shreds, only one skinny section that was still very slippery for us to get through, this still proved very interesting. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-16.jpg Maya sporting some peat bog...smelly little toad she was after that http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-18.jpg Tarmac .. .argh easy going ... ominous cloud that threatened to wash the smelly moto never came through http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-22.jpg Our hard work was rewarded with an asado (bar b q roast) that was outstanding, good food, good company, good wine, good times. Yes some dodgy faces you guys recognize, the two Canadians hiding from the feds ... non other than Dan and Sara from World Wide Ride :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lda/file-5.jpg My 5 liter bottle of refreshments ... the Asian contingent trying to steal it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lda/file-6.jpg N o i c e http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-10.jpg The motley crew ready to eat :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-12.jpg Dagmar also wanted some lights changed over, one included a set of four which needed accurately setting out to look right and drilling into a concrete ceiling so no mistakes, thankfully again with time on our side we quietly and accurately marked out, drilled, screwed and fixed in place the four lights much to the pleasure of Dagmar. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-26.jpg The old kitchen fan and ceiling light also got sent sideways being replaced by a groovy LED set which gives the room quite a new feel. This is the awful view from their home we were made to put up with http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...da/file-23.jpg So Andinelectricianplumberdrailayerbuilder succeeded again with his trusty Asian sidekick, almost felt like Tim The Toolman Taylor without the accidents.:rofl Having stayed an extra day because Dans back was still playing up we finally set of with the excitement of MotoGP in our sight.:evil Shoulda been two day trip but somehow all four of us managed to miscalculate the camping start date, seem as everyone got it wrong no one was at fault ... the perfect corporate model.:D On our way there were literally dozens of Police stops, just before one an overtaking dickhead cut me off and nearly hit Sara so I went around him much to the disgust of the Police. We were all pulled over, the car driver nearly sneaking through until I yelled at the Police to stop him, Ellen standing in front of the car and explaining what he had done, thankfully they pulled him over. Sara then explained that he had cut me off and nearly ran her off the road, we were then let go and they dealt with him.:clap Although we were firm we also kept our cool with Sara leading the sensible charge, I wanted to smack the driver but that wouldn’t have helped much I don’t think. I took up close pictures of him and the car which made him very uncomfortable .... cool. :wink: Arriving in San and meeting Clive we established then our camping blunder as Trevor Angel was already there waiting for us, we had his entry ticket so we set off and B-lined it to Rio Del Hondo arriving just on dusk to mayhem. That next ...:evil |
Moto GP, Termas De Rio Hondo, Argentina
The first ever GP I have not had to fly too, the first ever GP I have taken my bike too, the first ever GP in Termas De Rio Hondo WOH HOH.
Thursday Night Arriving in town it was plain to see they were not well organised for the onslaught, bikers everywhere and traffic jammed for km. Like all the other rides we took to the walking lane over the bridge which was only just wide enough for Dan to sneak through with a coupla anxious moments thrown in. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oGP/file-4.jpg Parking up to collect our tickets there was a cool lineup of bike but the most photographed was Maya, Loulou and Nar (Ours, Saras and Dans bike) People liked the dirty, scrubby, stickered and obviously travelled bikes, lots of people having their photos taken with us .... really neat the respect you get from these fello petrolheads.:clap This was also our meeting point with Trevor, we found him ok. Finally organised it became apparent road rules were a non event with the Police allowing bikes a free run of footpaths, shoulders (on either side) and space to cut in. Arriving at camp was the next dilemma with little to no organisation, turns out our camp we had paid for was not even marked out, no power or lighting as promised ...total mayhem so we were getting used to this. Happy to have our tickets tho http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oGP/file-5.jpg We found a flattish spot with a tree so everyone set up, Ellen found some empanadas so that was tea. The place was alive with people putting up tents, music playing and generally gearing up for the 3 day event. Friday, Setup and Practice Hearing the Moto 3 boys out (250 4 stroke) pulled the hackles of your hair up stirring that wee heart pounding moment you get from the roar. Making our way over our stand was the OPPOSITE side to where we were camping, a good 2 km plus walk, I was going to head over to the pits and catch up with Jorge, Marc & Valentino and give them some pointers but they seemed to be doing ok. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oGP/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oGP/file-7.jpg Happy chappy http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-10.jpg Now, I have not been to a GP for 5- 6 years ish, I had forgotten how fast these boys actually went and the first time the big boys came around the corner and onto our straight the noise, smell and blindingly fast speed see my heart racing, my hands sweating and I got a sandfly in both my eyes which made them water. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-12.jpg That OMG, WTF, WOW, GEZZ, CRIKKY, WHOA moment had came with no disappointment and I found myself yelling like all the mad Argentinians. Valentino Rossi is undoubtedly “The Man” to Argentinians, every time he went past the crowd went mental with electrifying screams of support. Marc Marquez, well what can a man say other than that man can ride, he is the new Valentino without dispute, I still love watching Jorge Lorenzo as he is simply butter smooth and I would love to see him on Marc Marquez’s Honda. We are all great riders with our talent that we have which is staying alive and enjoying it, these guys do this at warp factor 2 riding the knife edge. Saturday, more set up and practice Lap times coming down 10 seconds over the practice laps as they find their own line and their own settings, interesting the Moto2 (600 4 cyl 4 stroke) boys shutoff was pretty much the EXACT same point every lap showing the likeness of each bike, the only differing factor was he who had the biggest bollies on the brakes. Sunday, race day .... the crowd x 3 of Friday and Saturday. With good weather on the go and the boys putting up some very fast times it was sizing up to be a great race. Front row was Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa ...... hmm interesting into the first bend. Although Lorenzo lead most of the race it was although Marquez was just on a Sunday ride then just passed effortlessly and smoothly. I wasn’t too long and Pedrosa could smell a podium with the Honda having an obvious advantage on this circuit, Lorenzo and Rossi unable to fend off the Hondas. Marquez 1st, Pedrosa 2nd and Lorenzo 3rd, Rossi 4th was the order of the day so the famous four up top. During the practice sessions we were treated to some aircraft activity including three jets and a stunt plane performing outstanding Ariel stunts. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-43.jpg Not many chica calientes (hot girls) running around ... at least at our cheap seats. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-17.jpg The Whole Event During the weeks leading up to the event we had organised to meet several other travellers to camp and catch up. This was excellent and there was 1 or 20 bottles of red laid down their life producing good times and lots stories and inter-manufacture haggling. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-31.jpg And the perfect product holder :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-58.jpg We also met Steve on a XC800 sporting the English flag so like true mates we dressed his bike in Argentinian flags which was taken in good spirits, Mike was also there on his 1200 Explorer. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-60.jpg Again, good people, good booze, good food, good place, good times. The line up http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-61.jpg The end, away we set in our different directions to resume travelling. Dan, Sara, Ellen and I headed to Antofagasta for more desert treats. Some general shots http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-20.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-26.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-32.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-33.jpg My hairy arm was there :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-49.jpg The race start http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-50.jpg Big boys at it http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-52.jpg Finished http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...GP/file-56.jpg |
Even more jealous than normal ,looks like a wonderful time had.Really hope to take in a moto gp some time.take care YDF Noel:D:D
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It was awful and you don't miss a thing ... is that better? :smartass: Least you have Phiollip Island, that is one cool circuit, been there five times now for WSBK and MotoGP, love Melbourne and the coolas shops you guys have :clap: |
Moto GP To Antofagasta
Dan and Sara were heading desert and we had an opportunity to come along so we took it, also my reasoning is Dan had been suffering bad back pain so in case he needed help then I would have him covered.:clap
Setting off from GP we were well behaved with no one wanting to drag a knee, first stop being fuel with a typical 1 hour wait, one attendant servicing six pumps, just ridiculous. :huh Our intended destination was Belen however with minor holdups at the petrol station and the road deteriorating it cost us valuable time. As we left the plains the weather caved in slowly but surely, as we rose in altitude the rain raised in attitude, stopping for wet gears on was a great move.:clap Sara and Dan leading the charge http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...gasta/file.jpg Up the zig zag the cloud and fog came in to play as well making for an interesting ride, some patches proving harder for Sara with her lowered F658 bottoming out in the larger ruts and wheel potholes made by trucks but to her cred she battled on through with the occasional stop for a break. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sta/file-2.jpg Just to add to the interest it narrowed and with a surprising amount of trucks on the road making for interesting passing maneuvers, at this point the truck thumped quietly along Sara’s pannier as he passed, no damage other than to Sara’s undies I think. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sta/file-4.jpg Reaching the top we cruised the plateau on the drier side and were welcomed by the warm sun, stopping at one point we sat on the edge of the rain shadow looking down on a zig zag that would make Peruvians jealous. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sta/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sta/file-7.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...sta/file-9.jpg It was later in the day now so we stopped shy of our target for the night as we still had 85 km of sand infested shingle road so to call it quits before dark was a good move. The following day we made it to Belen on an easy ride, it was easy enough seeing the sandpits in the daylight, stopping here the night we took in the museum etc and relaxing. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-13.jpg Belen to Antofagasta, a great trip with some tar, some creek crossings and the usual sandpits on the road, we also had a treat of a new road being prepared (apparently it has been being prepared for 4 years) :huh Over the top at 4000 meters the temperature dropped to 0 degs, Dans snow warning light came on, I decided to put on warm gloves so I pulled off the road and sunk .... so much for covering Dan :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-23.jpg Further along the new road we rode (or tried to) around the humps in the middle of the road ...this was a little soft too .... China is not far from where we dug :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-26.jpg Look mum no Dan http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-27.jpg Sara also stopped for photos :evil ... her photo that is :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-33.jpg Righting the stricken ship and a wee push she was off .. go girl!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-34.jpg The little humps were then utilized ...didn't stop us.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-32.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-31.jpg Somehow I have managed to collect myself a head cold that made me feel second hand to say the least, the saw throat thing chimed in the last night of GP, we tried to drown it with wine to to no avail. Turns out that Sara also got it as did Ellen so we were a pack of sickies. :cry Stop for a coupla days and Antofagasta to recoup :clap Parked up safe and sound in Antofagasta :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-37.jpg The interesting route we took, thanks to Walter for the great info and Dan for helping rescue Maya outa the sandpit http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-38.png |
OOOhhh I don't know what to envy more, the MotoGP or all that lovely terrain you were riding afterwards!! Loving following your trip!
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Whole of Korean bikers ,, and their women are watching ,, Ellen ,,
Tell her every one in Korea thinks she is fantastic! I am sure soon ,, whole of China bikers will get to know her as well. First femme du Chine on a world tour on a motorcycle! :D |
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Man all I can say is we are very lucky to be able to do both and be able to share it with you guys, certainly been good times for sure.bier Cheers Andi |
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WOW, thank you so much for your reply, posts like this warm the heart through and through :clap: :clap: One day we will come to Korea and it would be outstanding to meet you and fellow riders.:thumbup1::thumbup1: |
Antofagasta de la Sierra
Dan and Sara were on a tighter frame than us so only stayed two nights but we made the most of the day heading out with Walter on a tour to the white rocks.
First up sand dunes, mum natures playground inviting the kidults to climb up and run down like silly little kids .... what a feeling hooning down.:clap This along the way, stunning backdrops :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...alter/file.jpg A small lot of plants in a small oasis in a huge expanse http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ter/file-2.jpg Climbing up http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ter/file-6.jpg A short break at the top to survey our magic surroundings http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-18.jpg The full crew http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-11.jpg The view along the ridge http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-26.jpg Running down the slope then coming to a stop your feet get buried, the sand underneath is extremely cold.:eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-29.jpg Onward to the the white pumice rock and lunch stop, amazing what volcanic activity has displaced over the thousands of years and this place has more volcanos than BMWs parked at Starbucks (sorry Dan).:D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-44.jpg Lazibones stretching out http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-49.jpg Cool rock formations carved out by mum natures high winds and sandblasting machine http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-52.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-53.jpg Finishing lunch and heading back El Penon was the stopover for a coffee and cake with a relaxing sit in the sun. Time to head home we went via some hieroglyphics carved into rock estimated to be upwards of 10000 years old. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-56.jpg By this time the sun was going down and it was time to head for home and get sorted, great day out with a good combo or walking, galking and talking. A small lake with cool clouds http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-55.jpg Last of the sun leaving us sending temperatures downwards http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-63.jpg The following days we took it easy as I was feeling less than ideal and Ellen started going downhill too, in the evening it was dropping to -10 or so so snuggle up tight under the sheets was the number 1 option, no snuggly buggly tho.:cry During our stay we were invited to an asado (Bar b q), in true form they said turn up at 10 pm and food will be ready, 10.05 we turned up .....ok we will have a wine or three while we wait. Just after 11 pm it came out and it was all on, at midnight there was more food with deserts and ice-cream, they then offered coffees etc, Ellen and I were dog tired so opted out preferring to hit the sheets. Another tour out saw us seeing more hieroglyphs of ancient man again these being placed at 8000 - 10000 years old, incredible history here. Next on the list, Volcan Galan which turned into a serious sandpit ride, we made it to the Laguna Grande with no problem but we were at 4600 meters and wrestling Maya through the unforgiving sandpits was a mission seeing me give in to the crest of the volcano. That's as far as we went http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-43.jpg On good advice from Carlos on his 350 Yammy Quad it only got worse and steeper even with him struggling so we made the right choice given I had managed to score another head cold from a generous Argie so was feeling a bit second hand. Here is Carlos and his wife on their Quad at Laguna Grande http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-38.jpg Lunch was had before heading back to Antofagasta. Next mission. Antofalla. |
Antofagasta To Antofalla
Ok, now that you are done reading the Antotitles I will try and explain my way out of it.
Leaving Antofagasta was a perfect windless day, the road starting out ruff and corrugated and slowly improving to just really bad.:rofl As progress was made we made big elevation and the beauty went up, per elevational changes the temperature plummeted, the saving grace was the warming from the sun which can only be described as bliss. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-1.jpg Cresting the top at a little over 4000 the road was a total sandtrap demanding 150% attention from the nut holding the handbars on, a number of times testing the scotts damper which saved our bacon. Here is one sand trap, I hit a hidden Murphy rock, Ellen almost caught the moment, this was saved but my undies weren’t. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-2.jpg On to brighter things the first glimpse we got of Salar Antofalla was a breath taking one, the second view at the lookout was heart stopping.....an OMG moment ... no way no even close ... more like a **** me moment!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-5.jpg Ellen and I stood there gobsmacked and quiet (that doesn’t happen often) as we surveyed the gift from the scenic gods, words and photos don't come close to the view you get.:eek1:eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-6.jpg This is what a happy person looks like :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-7.jpg With more colours than a rainbow, longer than any other salar in the world and more to come we could not believe our eyes. ...like this guy --> :eek1:eek1 Salar Antofalla is the longest salar in the world and is simply stunning, this part of northern Argentina is fantastic, you just need good fuel range, good amount of time, good set of spare fillings for your teeth and take in the good views handed to you courteous of Argentina. Time to carry on and explore, looking north up the salar. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lla/file-9.jpg Heading across the salar to the town of Antofalla was more corrugated sandpits one which saw a tank slapper and boggy sandpit consuming Maya to the axles ... .wasn’t expecting that!!! ... ok, lunch I was shagged from wrestling sandpits and view that nearly wore my eyes out. The sandpit/road we had come across http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-15.jpg Arriving at Antofalla was so cool, one hostel basic but good, a hot shower well earned was had before packing it in and dreaming of tarseal. Antofalla from the view point http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-13.jpg |
You know at times like these you guys are the brightest thing in my week.Such magnificent beauty ,anyone of those shots could make the calender .Hope you are soon over the lurgy .Until next time YDF Noel:D
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Mate that is a very nice statement and truly heartwarming for us. We are currently in Uyuni Bolivia now and tonight we met some of your countrymen and had a bloody good chat, they are on a 4 month hoon and loving it, was great talkin with the neighbours in english. Lurgy gone thankfully ... ready for the next one :thumbdown: So knowing your enjoyed the above, hopefully you will like the following :thumbup1: YDP Andi |
7th May And Antofalla
What do these have in common? ... well not a lot other than it was Ellen's 26th birthday for the 20th time and we were in Antofalla. :clap
Birthday side trip for the day was in order so sans house and contents we took off south along side the salar toward Paraje Vega La Botijuela where Simon lives who is a friend of Walter who runs Alma Gaucho tours. The track up to the oasis http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-29.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-31.jpg Simon wasn’t there when we arrived so we had the whole place to ourselves ...even better although it would have been great to have met him. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-21.jpg Was a little muddy/greasy but we made it easy enough http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-20.jpg Hot pool, yes a small thermal just big enough for a coupla people ... no room for clothing so we piled in enjoying an epic bath tub view. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-22.jpg This is what birthday happiness looks like :clap:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-27.jpg Check out the amazing array of colours in this place, unreal!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-35.jpg Crossing part of the salar of the way back, lumpy in places http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-39.jpg Frozen, expanded salt and earth ... Jaime this shot is on the moon :rofl...we never found the rover tho :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-42.jpg In stark contrast and just 100 meters from that moon surface appears this, like the helmet says ...must look :eek1:eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-44.jpg Mind boggling colours ...what a treat and a half http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-47.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-49.jpg Part of the boring road back :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-51.jpg There are two ponds only about 80 meters apart, one is slightly red http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-53.jpg The other slightly blue http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-54.jpg I could see myself riding there again :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-55.jpg Back to home base at Antofalla for a big feed of Llama steak and chips (fries). What a great day out on a stunning planet :clap:clap Happy birthday to you Ellen, this gift was the location chosen at Ellen's request. |
Congrats Ellen. It seems you had a nice way to celebrate your birthday :-)
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Happy Belated Birthday Ellen ,looks like you were spoilt for a beautiful location:Beach:
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Thanks for the birthday wishes and yeap an awesome way to spend the day :thumbup1: |
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Cheers for the birthday wishes, we waited around for your present ... it must have got lost :smartass: As above, superb place to spend a special day. :thumbup1: |
Two Years On The Road And The Heart Speaks
3rd May 2012 - 3rd May 2014
Here we are two years into our one and a half year trip with another year to go. So after a swag of stunning destination photos I will bore you with some writing. A few things I have learnt, By two years most of what you have will be stuffed or will have already been replaced from being stuffed already and one year warranties expire the day before something shits itself, also while travelling warranties are worth nothing unless pretty much in the same town or at best in the same country ... rest of the time forget it. At the two year mark the costs for maintenance, repairs and replacements has really hammered our budget, that is the price to pay for long term travel. Our original thinking of getting sorted for the whole trip was logical and would have worked if we had been 1.5 years, also while a medium size bike was great for USA north a smaller bike from Mexico, Central and south America at least down to Bolivia would have been superior. For two up the 950 is great for carrying two peoples gear etc and the long wheelbase adding outstanding handling for gravel roads and offroad as well as comfort space.:clap Clothing takes a beating when you wear the same thing day in day out and at least for us our favourite being merino wool Icebreaker are not readily available or are FOOKIN expensive.:eek1 Forum “Armchair travellers” .... some have said “ouwh you are doing the easy one” meaning the Americas, well I can tell you that buying fuel, food and accommodation is as hard if you don’t know Spanish as it is in Icelandic if you don’t understand their lingo. Same as learning new currency and what that currency SHOULD buy before you find out you have been stiffed by gringo tax. :huh Also riding in different countries with different rules is more difficult with its own challenges and this will apply to ANY country in the world when the signs mean nothing to you, learning Spanish in Central America gives you a basis of understanding which then change further south then you get to Argentina and Chile where they talk twice as fast with a different accent and vocab.....this creates many larfs and well as some frustrations. The Moto, USA down The bike, through the needlessly heavily over bordered Central America and border swapping here in South America I am firmly of the belief a carne is the simpler way to go, get the main paperwork sorted at the front end then everything else from there is easier, we must have copied hundred of useless document stuff that will end up as trash, what a waste to say the least. More on the bikes, we did start on DR650s for reliability and simplicity however this fast became not the case with two shitters, now the KTM 950 Super Enduro has outreliabled out DRs and has had a much harder time than the DRs put together despite what some think, we have had a few things to do with Maya but with 51000 km on her now it is expected that things will need doing. For someone wanting to travel and see the place at similar pace and mileage to us I firmly believe a 400 cc bike is well plenty big enough and for lot of the time a 250, the likes of a Kwacka 250 Sherpa or XTZ250 Yammy with injection makes for an extremely cheap reliable and low fuel use travel bike ....just lacking for those big open road uphills or a stonking head wind, no biggy if you have time ... which we do. :clap Venders, suppliers and general stuff, this is an exercise in management, not difficult but you have to have the ability to look ahead, while most parts are available in one way or another if they are KTM specific they are expensive or if aftermarket then the quality is lacking particularly in Latin America. We have had tremendous support and a few trials and tribulations, Alex at Konflict Motosports Konflict Motorsports & Suspension Inc. stands out as probably one of the most helpful with our shock woes getting a shock from the UK, getting it fixed and sending it to Chile, that is realtime active support, talking around the traps with other travellers we are only one of many that Alex has gone out of his way to help so he does deserve the big thumbs up, onya man, your good work is noted worldwide.:clap:clap As with always there is a winner and loser and CJ Designs would have to have been the worst by a country mile with the CJ stuff failing and costing us a lot of grief and money (noting we bought Maya cos she was kitted with a lot of CJ stuff), on top of that the lack of return communication which we tried by phone, email, pm on ADV etc. Some people (OCers) say times are tight and he is a one man band but I contacted him about 17 “ motard wheels for Maya as well with not a single response so I call BS as that is just bad business with bad attitude, seems he has the pip because of the 700 mile old water pump failure that some Ocers won’t let go of as his gear does not fail ....sure, for me there are plenty of other suppliers to spend my money at who will actually respond (noting Konflict and pretty much everyone else we have dealt with). Parts wise, our DID ZVMX chain stands out as a big winner for RTWing with wear life and well and truly worth the extra money, we know other guys who have greater mileage on the same chain but on an angry 950cc V2 46000 km in my view is good life, our chain was cleaned twice and tightened 4 times, great product when you don’t have to be at it every five minutes.:clap Heidenau tires, our fav for adventure touring, they do nothing special but they do everything nice and they last as well as taking a beating on sharp rocks taking it in their stride. Our lifesaving (Rigid Industries) LED lights are fantastic, although we have no affiliations to them they deserve a shout out for safety (especially in Peru) and their customer service has been outstanding, for power conscious people you can turn off your main headlight giving another 60 watts to GPS, grips, vibrators and other important things. Gear Klim gear, all I can say is yes, outstanding to say the least, it has been crash tested, in seriously hot temps and seriously low temps including snow and for me it has performed to perfection standing up to its earned label of quality. ARAI helmets, what else can I say two years on we are loving them, the padding has taken a beating and is showing signs of wear that could be expected after two years of constant use and to be fair abuse. Forma boots, adventure or quad model, seriously comfortable, flexible enough to walk some distance in and waterproof, for adventure touring I rate them highly. The People For the most of it you will find 99% of people you meet to be straight up honest and friendly who are interested in your travels and tails, there are of course the small contingent who view us purely as money pits and an opportunity to rip you off if possible. Colombians still take the No 1 spot for being the nicest mob and genuinely interested, most other countries we have really enjoyed too, our only ho hum country was Cuba with a lot of them of a daily basis and sometime hourly basis saying “give me money”, like Gene and Neda said it just wears you down and takes the shine off the place. While Bolivia hasn’t been a good start I am sure when we leave the touristy style place of Copacabana it will be better, I hope so as Bolivia hold the most interest to me and I am going in with my positive head on board will a list of places I want to go to, we will do the typical Kiwi friendly approach and if that fails I guess I will have time to write more, we did have a wee scuffle in Uyuni which involved the police ...you will have to read about that later.:evil So far I would say our trip has gone pretty much to plan cos we really don’t have one, we have had our ups and downs, crashes and thrills, activity with the Police but to be fair on a good basis and for the most of it.:clap We are approx 24 weeks behind where we thought we would be from crashes and moto fails etc, something we didn’t really factor in hence we have extended our trip out rather than rush it through just to get to the bottom because. We are lucky to have the time to be able to take this in our stride as we are well aware that a lot of people don’t get to travel for 24 weeks let alone have these as “sick days”. Favourites For Us Northern Chilean desert, San Pedro de Atacama, North Western Argentina and South Western Bolivia, this area encompasses scenery like we have never seen before, a seriously harsh simplistic desert loaded with more colours than a rainbow. Weird photos This one I could not find a reason to post for the fear of upsetting someone but here it is, the dog died snarling at something behind it, it was trapped/wedged between two rocks ... have never seen any thing like it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...er/file-64.jpg Thank you to all who have contributed and enjoyed the ride with us, hope this next year coming provides more good times. Cheers and regards Andi & Ellen |
thx
Andi, Ellen
congrats to two years on the road and sharing your great stories and pix .all the best for the rest of your trip john |
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Antofalla To Tolar Grande To San Antonio
Leaving Antofalla after birthdays, hots tubs, Llama ribs and chips .. good times ... it was time to move on and head north, our choice of road was the base along the salar because the top road being a bloody big sandpit.
The base road really didn’t turn out any better and was still a filling shaker, the big event tho is Maya turned 50. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-58.jpg Leaving the base road we headed up a zig zig which was incredibly good condition given where it was, the only challenge being the loose corners however these proved to be of little issue. Nice soft corners commanding attention :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-59.jpg Climbing the zig zig we were offered more spendid views of salar Antofalla before exiting up and over to the next salar. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-60.jpg The rest of the road was a teeth chattering sandpit laden with corrugations so when we were finally handed the mining road across the salar it was like a little gift, although lumpy in places it was far nicer at least being firm not trying to steal the front wheel from under us. The suspension and tight bolt tester :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-63.jpg The salar mining road http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...la/file-65.jpg Tolar Grande, small mining town halfway between Antofalla and San Antonio, overnight stop for fuel and lodging, we were lucky to get a place with a kitchen so home cook was in order. :clap Tolar Grande has some amazing hill formations again luring the noisy Kiwis in, on offer was cool crazy paving and very red dirt mounds. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nde/file-6.jpg Again we could not help ourselves with the camera stunned at the cool landscape presented to our ogling eyes----->:eek1 :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nde/file-9.jpg At one stage the road was in a creek bed and much to our surprise there was some water in it ... well it was fair to say we were not expecting this and the sliminess nearly sent us off onto the sideline. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nde/file-5.jpg Composing myself cos no-one saw my act of unprofessionalism :evil we continued a little more aware .... and yes you guessed it this paid of BIG time as we struck a flat muddy section (which looked dry), this commanded bulk revs and the V2 singing an outstanding song to stop the ship sinking, we made it but no style points were given. :wink: The following day was a 200 km totally ripio (shingle.gravel road) ((again)). About half way we entered into a valley which again made for great viewing, I don’t think I could ever get sick of looking at this place, ever corner with every angle of the sun presenting something different. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-13.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-16.jpg And a Dakar racing flat thrown in for fun http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-20.jpg As soon as this bright red section finishes it is like you are on a completely different road. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-23.jpg Stopping at Laguna Seca for lunch (it’s true) ... but not as flash as the race circuit we opted to hide behind the structure to get out of the biting cold wind, all good. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...de/file-25.jpg We made it into San Antonio mid afternoon staying at a hostel, hot shower ready for the nearly 5000 meter pass the following day :clap... then its all downhill from there. |
San Antonio To Cafayate To Salta To The Bolivian Border.
Tanked, tummied and tuned we set off down the RN 40, turning off from the 51 road we had the place to ourselves, road conditions good apart from the mandatory corrugations that is pretty much standard issue in this part of the world.:huh
The road wound up and up slowly taking us to 4968 meters...just couldn’t crack the 5 unfortunately. Sorry for the shit photo, it was cold, high, miserable fine day etc etc so they are my excuses :rofl and besides you need glasses cos it is clear to me :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ate/file-8.jpg It was fookin cold with the temp gauge showing just above zero, mind you we are nearly 5 km above sea level, quick photos and on our way. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Cachi/file.jpg Cresting the top we came across road works which made for interesting riding as the top 100 - 150 mm was soft and loose, further down many river crossings washing Antofalla off Maya. Again view along the valley down did not let us down http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...chi/file-1.jpg Cachi was a nice wee town with a cafe called Olivers the is owner is a moto rider, we camped up at the municipal ground which was nice and quiet when we arrived, unfortunately that night right next door there was a huge party that went on most of the night with the base beating through the ground and our beds .... not much sleep was had. Clearly going where no moto rider had been before except there guys on this door and all the others on the other doors :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...chi/file-5.jpg Next day was Cafayate with stop offs along the way, an uneventful day saw us arriving with plenty of time up our sleeves with some cool scenery along the way from abrupt rock formations. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ate/file-1.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ate/file-7.jpg Our intention were to camp but the wind was up and some ominous clouds were watching us, we managed to bag a good price in a hotel and it had stella wifi which was very cool.:clap While in Cafayate we meet two guys from Italy on two Africa twins so we had a chat with them exchanging info etc. As it turned out the following morning we hit the road at pretty much the same time meeting the two Italians so we all rode together looking at the attractions, we then peeled off to Salta and they took the road to Cachi. The first crack :eek1 .....yeah http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Salta/file.jpg The twins http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-1.jpg Check out our racetrack with a view .. .no more teeth chattering :D:D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-3.jpg The twins and Maya waiting patiently http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-4.jpg The Italian lads and the New Zealand dwarfs :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-5.jpg Massive caverns cut by water over a coupla years :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-8.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lta/file-9.jpg The rest of the ride for us was beautiful tarmac all the way to Salta apart from the last 10 km when Mrs.Garmin sent us down a wet narrow farm track style road which was the shortest route ...made for interesting riding as it was wet and slippery but it bought us out just up the road from Loki Hacienda, our destination for a few days. I was meant to fly to Buenas Aires to be an expert witness for a high court case in New Zealand however a few days before the case was settled which meant we could step on it and head to Bolivia as winter was chasing us up and hard. We stayed only two days in Salta getting a few things done then B lined it to Bolivia. Taking to golf cart race track the other way it was a leisurely ride to Bolivia allowing us plenty of time to cross the border later in the afternoon with ease. :clap Back To Bolivia ....:clap |
Seams like only weeks ago you posted your first years report .time fly's once again wonderful photographs .I enjoyed your insights at the start of this report.Honda is set to release a 1000 cc new Africa twin ,i think the market they should aim towards is 500cc with similar specs to the 1000 .Anyhoo until next time YDF Noel.:D
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We said the same thing, seems like yesterday and time is just flying by. Yes I think adv bikes are heading the wrong way too, 400 - 500 size is perfect for looking around, economics, handling weight etc. Unfortunately 99% of the market just wonna look cool rather than do it Cheers Andi. |
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You see some weird things when you get to weird places. This guy was wedged but I still am amazed he died snarling, never seen anything like it before and without being morbid I like the photo. Back to being an axle murderer now :innocent: Cheers Andi |
Bolivia, Villazon To Uyuni
Good afternoon all
I was all fired up and ready to do this RR when we got news of Haydens passing which took the wind out of my sails completely. I am trying to look on the positive side so need something to take my mind away from the tragedy, get this done and keep me occupied, it is fair to say it has hit me hard with this tragedy. Huge thanks to you guys for the support, very kind words. Regards Andi Ok, new report. Hotel scraps and police .....WOH HOH Fresh air in low digits was our start for the day Villazon, up the RN9 to Tupiza then left up the 21 to Uyuni. The road was tar sealed for the first 100 km to the turn off to the 21, our map showed gravel road from there on in and 200 km of it to Uyuni. Having served our time in all the Antos sandpits and corrugations for what ended up being 1300km of no tar seal whatsoever we were firstly very experienced and secondly happy to have ticked that box so were hoping the road was going to be more polite. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uni/file-4.jpg The valleys and passes allowing good views of our surroundings and standard issue corrugations again, this section of the road still pretty good tho through to Atocha, the river into Atocha proving a little interesting too being slimy. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uni/file-8.jpg Back on track now http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-10.jpg Quick lunch stop and on our way to tackle the second half which proved to be more than interesting with 100’s of meters of bad sandpits, the dual wheel trucks creating a W in the wheel track making it near impossible to gun it and get it going at speed. Not ideal but paddling was the order of the day here and some sections Ellen had to walk about 300 meters. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-12.jpg From the sandpits to Uyuni the corrugations chimed in big time again slowing the whole thing down again, we are used to that now. It was bitterly cold and I was watching our digital volt meter drop down to 9.6 volts, as I turned off lights and heated grips it came back up, I hit the heated grips again and the voltage dropped like a stone.....problems somewhere.:eek1 Arriving at Uyuni we found a hotel, wifi, parking, hot water etc so fitted the bill nicely...at least for a while. The main street in Uyuni http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-13.jpg We cleaned up, showered, got organized and checked the email for one we had waiting for, after tea we returned as we needed to get hold of a friend on email, asking the people to turn the wifi on they then said no, you only get half an hour and that is it and you used it :eek1, I will add at this point the wifi was less than dial up speed so even checking email was a mission.:huh The discussion continued along the lines “you did not say half an hour when we clocked in”, it got heated with them refusing to turn the wifi on, we tried to reason with them saying check the email only and that would be it but no. :huh Next thing they say get out (i.e. boot us out) :eek1:eek1:eek1:huh:huh:huh and they gave us two minutes to get everything out!!!, at this point we said to each other these guys are nuttas so we would be happy to go somewhere else. We said please refund our money, no they would only refund part of our money because we had a shower earlier, at this point I did not see the funny side of this and said I would get the police....so I did.:clap I rode to the police station, got two policemen, they jumped up, in their truck, following me with lights flashing and the nine yards, the owner of the hotel watching this from the window as we pulled up. The two policemen and I went upstairs and Ellen explained to the officer the whole thing with the owners wife going OFF .... the police kept telling her to settle down.:deal The police explained to the owners that they can’t retrospectively say only 30 minutes wifi and that them telling us to get out in two minutes was stupidly unreasonable, the police went on to say to them these people are our tourists and bring money here and needed to be treated with some respect, we chimed in saying please just treat us normal, no red carpet required however with the owners wife this just threw petrol on the fire and both the owner and his wife were going toxic. :rofl:rofl The policemen trying to hold back smiles of disbelief at the hotel owners unusual behavior stayed while we packed up and they ordered the owners to refund our money IN FULL or they would be in trouble ... more petrol on the fire :lol3:lol3.... the police could not believe it either and they actually called for reinforcements, shortly after another two officers turned up.:clap The owner then accused me of ripping his plants out of his planter (there was five or six leaves on the ground), by this time the police had had enough and started to pull the hard line on them. We did get all of our money back, we left under police escort while the owners wife was still screeching at the top of her lungs...unreal :huh The funny thing is there was some Chinese people there too, Ellen politely explained to them the whole thing and they were pretty uncomfortable about staying too, we don’t know whether they stayed or not.:wink: Talk about have fun, with police backing 100% I really enjoyed myself and was very happy that the police really stood with us, to be fair they had fun too as it brightened up their otherwise cold and quiet night....the things we do to help them.:evil:D Silver lining, we went back to the police station and they helped us find a hotel with normal people (same price etc), no parking but superb wifi ...that we were allowed to use, no parking, no problem, the police said leave the moto here in our office ...done deal. :clap:clap So not an ideal restart to Bolivia be fair but no-one died ... probably wasn’t far off and it wouldn’t have been us.:lol3 A good nights sleep in a normal hotel we were set to hit the salar and enjoy Uyuni, Maya however had different ideas and had no intention of starting at zero degrees with a semi flat battery, charging problem had taken up its place. Back track a few years and half a world away our friends in Wanaka New Zealand used to run tours in Bolivia had emailed us saying if we get to Uyuni go see their friend Chris and if we needed any help he would be the man, our intention where to catch up with him anyway but now it had been bought forward and yes he is THE man. :freaky:clap He took us to an auto sparky who charged the battery enough to get Maya around for a doctors appointment and see what was wrong were her tummy. After much prodding, poking, testing we lifted the tank and he checked the alternator and voltage regulator, turns out the voltage regulator was going south which is a bugger.:eek1 He cleaned all the terminals as best he could, we need a replacement which we have ordered out of the USA because in Bolivia a voltage reg for this bike is a non event. We still have charging but cannot use anything that uses power, i.e. lighting or heated grips etc ... bum, its cold here. Killing this day with fault finding we stayed the night at a hostal opposite (again with normal people) ((and wifi)) (((that we were allowed to use))) and the next morning set off to the salar ..... that next. Maya safely parked up in the good hostel :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-14.jpg |
maya in the cop shop ....
Hi Andy Ellen, just a short little post to wish Ellen a super happy belated 21st birthday & you both a super happy second anniversary on the road, well done :scooter:
Am still following yer journeys, was interested to see your mileage on that chain, gonna have a look at that. Have just bought the tiger800 xc my first chain drive bike in donkey's years, jep have boosted the British economy :thumbup1: .... gonna be the first Irish guy to be knighted by Queen Bethsie for loyalty to the empire .... :clap: Am off tomorrow to go to the Hu meet in Germany & on to Romania run the tiger in :mchappy:Have fun guys keep the rubber side down & catch you when I'm back :Beach: Regards Vince |
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Great to hear from you mate. Thank you for the good wishes, always well received .....now where is our present :D Yes we were pretty happy with our mileage although Dan Pederson on his F8 got 56000 so we were pipped at the post, still happy at 46000 on a angry V2. I like the Tiger 8, if Maya is stuffed when we get home that is the likely replacement, I would be very interested in your non salesman take on the bike and what you feel could be improved etc, would be grateful if you could chime in with that real world info with some mileage:thumbup1: I will write to No 10 so they recognize the fine efforts of their neighbours in supporting the economy bier Have fun at the HU meeting dude and most of all enjoy that new ride, I will take the opportunity to say shinny side up while it is new and untorched :clap: Cheers Andi |
Uyuni The Salar
With a fully charged battery the cactus island was in our sights, remembering that Bolivia is the place that holds the most interest to me and we were ACTUALLY here :clap:clap:clap... despite one or two small hick-ups with unusual people in the wrong industry :lol3 and the voltage reg issue things were going well.:freaky
It was cold, below zero but fine. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uni/file-4.jpg Thinking it would be hard not seeing the island to aim for etc I had butterflies but it soon became apparent very quickly that the 400 vehicles per day that visit the island left a motorway of black tire marks to follow:eek1, even without that you can eye up the mounts in the distance and keep them placed in the same place and go straight, I think it is impossible to get lost out there but apparently people have.:huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uni/file-7.jpg Arriving at the island we had the place to ourselves other than the 300 - 400 other people already there, yes it was like a supermarket carpark.:evil We also met two guys, a father and son team from Santiago on two F800GS’s, one being a 30 year anniversary ... noice, Maya had someone to talk too:rofl. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uni/file-6.jpg We went out on the salar and did our version of goofy pictures which was actually hard work, full credit to those who pull off some cool pics. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-18.jpg Ellen manage to balance May on her head on the centrestand, teh hands kept there just in case Maya fell off but perfect balance was maintained by the meditating mad moto mistress :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-14.jpg Back to the carpark we talked with the reception and ticket lady and she said we could free camp anywhere, finding ourselves a nice spot in the late afternoon sun it was only 8 degs but felt nice in the sun. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-20.jpg Shortly after setting up a young fella came over on a quad and said we had to pay $30 Bolivianos each, we explained the lady said we could camp for free so he ok'ed that and left. Later that evening a ranger came over and tried to tell us we needed to pay as well so “take two” we explained it again, he was insistent so we said we didn’t understand and that worked well.:D On the edge of the salar there are these little ridges due to expansion and contraction, they stand about 100 mm high, they are in a crazy paving patten and quite cool, this is brown with a mix from the mud under. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-21.jpg A photo up a cactus ... prickly buggas http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-23.jpg The evening lowers gently over the salar giving us some supreme quiet and stunning colour changes, although the darkness was falling the salar was coming alive for its goodnight transition http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-27.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-28.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-29.jpg Capped off by a small and short fire we warmed ourselves for a while before hitting the bed early http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-30.jpg Although ready to do over a bank we chose to sneak under the covers to fend off the cold .... which was not anything like we had prepared ourselves for http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-31.jpg After a coolish night the day greeted us with a slight smattering of cloud enough just to take the wanted and welcomed sun to warm things up, nonetheless it was fine. This is at 9.00am, -1 :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-32.jpg As it turns out this was the ugly face of the monster storm that followed us out and up, it knocked out the power in Uyuni for 3 days and turned Uyuni into a sandpit, snow at the southern end of the salar closing the roads and stopping the jeep trips, we got out the day before it all tipped. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-33.jpg Packing up we set to and headed back to Uyuni, our plans forcefully changed by the dying voltage regulator, a quick stop for photos and the lights on for 20 seconds for the famed photo shoot. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ni/file-38.jpg No biggy with the reg as Uyuni is a nice place anyway, mission was to wash Maya however she was still pretty clean to be fair with the salar dry as a bone. All in all the salar was everything I thought it would be, Uyuni I thought was going to be a lot more "mud hut" than it was but have to agree with other travellers Uyuni does not sell itself to be a salar resort but we really enjoyed it all the same pub scraps and all :D Potosi is next in line.... |
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That had crossed my mind but not knowing I thought it was a snarl Makes sense really cos I doubt it could hold that snarl with being nearly dead to dead. New report later on today Cheers Andi |
Going Off The Rails .... Train Wreck
Well not quite like it reads but something cool anyway.:clap
For some it is a junk yard, for some it is a gold mine, for us it was a neat afternoon of some prehistoric metal horses and acrobats. As it would happen about 20 minutes after we arrived, at first it was "argh ... groan" more gringos to stuff up our peace and quiet..... b u t we were pleasantly surprised to learn most were Colombian and of coarse very nice guys. I proudly showed them my Colombian wrist tie and my Bogota wrist tie that I bought on my birthday in Bogota as a good luck charm. It was one of my most memorable birthdays spending it with Dan and Sara, Salvi and Pau and we had a blast, out clubbing, eating, drinking etc ... yeah :evil Now these guys walked the tight rope and had skills, one particular fello was outstanding and his balance world class, while others were trying to walk the rope he was jumping and turning like he was on flat solid ground :eek1:eek1 Our man of talent http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ard/file-9.jpg A great afternoon in the Bolivian sun with the warmth from the sun quietly grooming our backs and the shadows reminding us of our altitude Ellen enjoying the afternoon sun, it was very relaxing to say the least http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ard/file-7.jpg Our quiet afternoon turned into an event and we turned it into a photo sesh as well. A wreckage and a train http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0Yard/file.jpg The Mayan playing hide and seek :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ard/file-4.jpg We played with the sun and the rusted metal and we swung on the swing :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rd/file-10.jpg Balance at its best, this guys had real talent.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rd/file-14.jpg |
Uyuni To Potosi And The Mine
Finishing at Uyuni having seen the salar and camped out we headed away with a completed task. :clap
The road handed to us a stark contrast to the incoming, we had beautiful flat smooth tarseal all the way, not a bad change after clobbering sandpits and corrugations. Given we had no rush we decided to kick around for a couple of days in Potosi, it seemed like a nice place and it was. Finding a hostel was easy, within ten minutes we had an ok place that was quiet and moto parking, no wifi but plenty in town, we feel we are getting a bit boring now with no Police required to calm down unusual owners. :lol3:lol3 .. hard to find a good pub scrap these days :D Finding the local market allowed us to home cook again, it would be cheaper just to eat out but we find it better to eat in as you have control over our intake and get what we want. Typical town with small streets http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-1.jpg Potosi is a nice place, slightly touristy but has good services, the main attraction of course being the mine and yes you can buy dynamite off the shelf to take home and blow shit up with, for me I resisted as me and dynamite could end up doing damage .. particularly useful if we headed back to the “ex” hotel in Uyuni. Upshot is we resisted and simply took the mine tour which was excellent and to be fair very hard work just climbing around in there let alone working 12 hours per day. All the crash gear http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-4.jpg Me set up, the truck to the left was the only vehicle they would let me drive :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-5.jpg Even for short people it gets tight http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-6.jpg Each miner can find his own silver seam, if the seam turns out to be a dud then that is the way it is, if it turns out to be a boomer he turns up in a Hummer. This guys working space, step, tight and loose :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...si/file-20.jpg The conditions these guys work in is unreal and bloody hard to any standard, there are many deaths ever year for experienced miners falling down shafts and having rock falls come down on them. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-9.jpg And yes some had secretary's too :rofl:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...si/file-11.jpg Getting tighter http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...si/file-17.jpg ....and tighter, too much lunch and you will not fit!!!:huh:eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...si/file-19.jpg Back out to daylight and the mine entrance http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...si/file-18.jpg Back into Potosi centro we took a look around, we found this amusing, she was fast asleep against the pole with cars roaring past her only a meter away....I guess when ya gotta sleep ya gotta sleep.:evil:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...otosi/file.jpg We also celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary there, a Canadian family staying at our hotsel made a curry for us and we joined in for a good feast, TMK providing the all important Bacardi Mojeto grog to soften the night .... good times. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...osi/file-3.jpg |
G'day Andi and Ellen ,good to catch up on your travels once again ,been a bit busy ,and had some issues to deal with ( Mum was hit by a hit and run driver ) thankfully survived but not in great shape ,she had another operation yesterday on her foot ( was pointing backward) and they are now looking at her broken arm .At 81 she did not need this.anyhoo very much enjoyed your latest addition .(No the bloody house is not sold ) there were only 5 sales across all 7 agents last month things are not good here ,lots of businessess shutting down .I may have to ride it out now BUGGER! any how have a ride to the coast on saturday that should clear the head of bad thoughts ,until next time YDF Noel:D
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Gezz man that is very bad news, no one needs that let alone at 81!!! Please pass our best wishes on to your mum and some positive energy to help her get sorted out and well again. I hate reading things like this, I simply can't understand why some shithead would do it :thumbdown: Also a bugger about the house too bro, yes a good ride is always good to empty the head of baddies. All the best mate and please let us know how your mum gets on, again give her well wishes from TMK and I am guessing the Hubbers as well.:thumbup1::thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
Sucre
Making our way to Sucre, totally tarseal and only 150 km, we took our time taking in the scenery, nice to have an easy section in civilization given we had some charging issues.
Mika had kindly told us of a good hostel so we went straight there and he was right, good moto parking, reasonable price and ok wifi and a record breaking fourth hostel in a row without Police back up, I really feel we are getting old and loosing our criminal touch. Mika had also told us of an amigo who is just 5 minutes walk from the hostel, moto rider and very nice guy, also willing able to help travellers too, onya Mika, very nice guy indeed, so we contacted Gustavo as we needed some help to get sorted out, Gustavo has owns Auto Clinic and runs his own mechanical shop. Our voltage regulator was on its way so we had a few spare days in between. As it happened timing wise the national series moto x was on and only 14 km from where we were staying, Gustavo (Mikas friend) is THE man, very well known in the moto circles and very well respected. The Friday afternoon we went out and watch practice, some good riding going on, we only went for an hour and just as well as the weather caved in and started raining and got very very cold very quickly. Fast forward to Sunday, the national champs, this event not being held here since 2002 it was making a real noise. The place was packed with spectators and the entries FULL with riders from all over Bolivia. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0X/file-17.jpg Now as a moto rider of 35 years, done moto X, enduro, flat tracking, trials, motard and track racing I watched these young fellas in awe, there is some serious talent here well and truly fit for the international circuit. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0X/file-15.jpg Any some upcoming talent :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0X/file-13.jpg Of course they also had there their own Bolivian Dakar riders as well to pump the atmosphere .... it worked!!! The only thing I didn’t like was their “no red flag” rule as a rider went down and hard and proceeded to get run over 7 times but his competitors, the first two leading the charge to stop more carnage was me (in the brown hat and Klim gear)and Gustavo. Here is the vid https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater To be honest the race marshal girls were bloody useless, it was by the luck of moto gods he did not even suffer a broken bone, he will have been very saw the next day. As it happened to be a long weekend and the President was in town (to meet us but we were too busy with the moto X) the streets were all closed in centro and lined with literally thousands of people making getting anywhere a mission and a half. The Parades, brightly dressed and nice to watch at least for some of them. We did find one girl who had a huge smile on her face which warmed our day as the majority were very long faced ... with our knowledge of the place know we suspect she does not live here http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cre/file-5.jpg These guys were flexible :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cre/file-3.jpg Fast forward a week and a half of waiting our parts had arrived in La Paz, then in true Boliviano style the blockades and strikes kept our parts away for another week which was a pissoff, Sucre is a nice place to stay ...but.:huh:huh The Mayan On pulling the alternator cover off to replace a small oil seal we then discovered that the stator (the electrical charging part for you non petrolheads) was 1/4 toast with one sector pretty much burnt out, this had to be rewound here in Sucre. We are not sure if the voltage reg failed causing the stator to go or vice versa, either way we now have a fairly new battery, voltage reg and rewound stator so hoping all is good form here on in. All issues are known to happen over time and comes with wear, tear, mileage and being used in anger so not really a biggy in the scheme of things, the only aspect being a biggy is the bloody strikes and blockades that the Bolivians seem to live for, if they targeted that energy to helping themselves go forward the whole place would be way way better off. It is a very frustrating place to get stuff done that is for sure and takes 20 x longer than it should on a bad day.:cry |
strikes every day keep the parts away ...
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Oke have the tiger 6 weeks & done 7000 kms to date .. Gawwwd me bum hurts :censored: After the HU shing ding went to Romania, Hungary & Slovakia. Drove the transfagarsan pass in Romania, brill Will give you the real story Andy regarding the tiger, but will do it via your website mail, don't want to get bombarded with :offtopic: this little bugger. But I am happy :clap: Guys have fun keep the rubber side down .... sir Vince knight of the sore bums :innocent: |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Well when you think it can't get worse, it can ,mum suffered a stroke ( mild thankfully ) still getting to the bottom of what happened .Now in Tamworth NSW .did manage to get my ride in to the coast ,before hearing the bad news .thanks for the kind wishes .Regards Noel YDF .
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Back in zona wifi now after 10 days in the back blocks. Yeah the HU meetings are cool, we did one in Cambria USA and really enjoyed ourselves, meet lots going south and going north. You will never get bombarded with "offtopic" for something I have asked you, we did get your email and very very informative so seriously appreciated. Great news you like it, always nice to know there are some shortcoming or I would have felt ripped off on the KTM, no perfect bike outa the box mate, they all need some adjustment and personalizing bier Keep us posted on the Tiger (welcome to post on here). Many thanks, sir Naranja wrecker supreme :clap: |
Heya Noel
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We nearly went through Tamworth many moons ago but decided to stick coastal so I know where you are at. Glad you squeezed in a quick mind cleaner before dealing with the stroke. Again, please wish her well, kiss and hug from ya kiwi brother and sister abroad. Cheers Andi & Ellen |
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Sucre Part 2 .... The Status Of The Stator
Sucre Part 2 .... The Status Of The Stator
This was the problem (not according to the Uyuni autosparky Bolievian) http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-41.jpg One sector nearly burnt out and the rest following on http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-44.jpg Finally after lies and put offs our stator is rewound, unfortunately yet again the Bolivians tried to rape us blind on the price asking that dearer than US pricing, again this leaves a shitty feeling that every corner you turn here in Bolivia they just want to **** you over and they don’t even smile dong it. Three times it went back because it simply did not work, he insisted it did work but would not check it, so we forced him to look at the multi meter and the digital volt meter, he did take it back and did fix it almost so it almost worked but not quite enough power coming out, note max 12 .6 volts, then turn on lights, grips etc and it fell below 12 volts. In the end we asked for our money back and we will take it elsewhere or something as we blew through another weeks accommodation cost waiting for this wanker to fix his ****ups, stress levels exceeding safe limits we called the touristico Policia. These guys were just as bad, they are also the anti corruption police who are as corrupt as the rest of the abnormal police force, advice to other travellers is don't rely on these guys to help you out as it will not happen. Several times we tried to negotiate with the guy to get our money back for the wrong rewinding of the wiring but no, in the end he offered 400 out of 600 because we went to the touristico Policia, in Bolivia if someone ****s something of yours you will only get about half back if you are lucky, both parties pay????? ... which meant we ended up paying twice for his shitty work....WTF:eek1 So after arguing like hell to get any money back and threatening him with the touristico Policia he is now being investigated by the Police because he woudl not give a receipt or any paperwork so he is, for his own arseholism going for a skate that will cost him. As much as I don't want to see people get nailed he deserves every ounce of shit they throw on him for NOT be helpful, for taking a white face to the cleaners and generally being sub human to deal with. So, we took that refund and gave it straight to another guy who rewound it, the jobs looks like shit but it works, we will buy a factory one when we can as I do not have trust in this. Our final days in Sucre, 29 days in total, we spent $140 US on a regulator we didn’t need thanks to the auto sparky in Uyuni who said it was stuffed, we paid $140 US for a courier who couldn’t give a **** and caused us grief getting us our unneeded regulator nearly one week later than promised, the auto sparky in Uyuni also said our stator was good, we spent $90 USD getting raped to get our stator rewound cos it was burnt despite what the Uyuni monkey told us, we spent 29 days in Sucre which we didn’t need to waiting for parts we didn’t need. :huh All in all a very expensive ****up by relying on PAID professional Bolivians who don’t give a **** and charge equal to and more than US prices ... no wonder the place is in so much shit, without being racist NO more Latinos are going to touch Maya ever again as the bullshit, expense, crap and rework is not worth it. Be fair to say thus far Bolivia is somewhat of a low point for us and confirmed as the most unfriendly and careless bunch in over two years of travel.:cry, they should be called horses cos they all have long faces. Finally we get to hit the road, we looked at just bailing out of Bolivia because of the crap but it has been a long time coming for me and being the place of most interest so we will continue and I wave to every long faced Boliviano cos they are not going to stuff this up for me. Next up ... Icla .... I hope it get better :clap |
Chin up mate ,so any idea why the stator burnt out in the first place ?Back home today ,taking tomorrow off the put things in order at home ,mum is making slow progress ,there is nothing more i can do for her at this time ,may go back down when she is ready to come home ,will be about 6 weeks at best.reading your blog cheers me up so thanks ,hope you get the best out of the place from here in.regards YDF Noel:thumbup1:
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Yeap, already got chin up, waving to all long faced Bolivianos ... they will NOT get the better of me.:nono: Not sure what caused the stator to fizz, sometimes they just do it with time, mileage, heat cycles etc and we know of plenty of other brands that have done the same so not too worried, ours was just accentuated by an incompetent arrogant idiot. Got some more stuff coming (not as good as Argie etc) but bedtime reading anyway. Best to your mum mate :clap: Cheers Andi |
hey, Andi and Ellen: you certainly have had some grief with not only your KTM but the Suzukis before.
So I am wondering: if I was to follow in your footprints, with my elderly HarleyBoy, (2004 Sportster with 235000 km mostly in Australia, but including 14000km in NZ), is there any reason why I would change to any of the DR, KTM, BMW fashionistas? My good old boy has never given any roadside grief, and I know that there are a zillion HD outlets happy to ship any parts for such long - running favourite like the Sportster. What is your opinion? (OK, I know, too heavy... etc) Rob |
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We actually have not had that many problems and certainly none that have left us standing on the side of the road. Jap, German, Austrian, yank whatever can have stator issues, a simple rewind turned into a mere having to deal with arrogant Neanderthals that don't give a crap thus that is when the wheels fell off. I also have a DR 650 at home which has been reliable as the day is long but not the two new ones which were treated well and easy...go figure. |
Sucre The Town
While dealing with all the shit with the simple repair we had plenty of time to look around in Sucre and take it in, to be fair we enjoyed the most of it other than sitting out with a huge wait.
We met some cool people at the hostel and had good times. Some of our fello hoons at the hostal. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-14.jpg We also managed to sneak in a ride with Gustavo our to Maragua which sits in a volcanic basin http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-13.jpg At the Pachamama Hotel we had access to an asado grill so we made the most of it have a few cookups with the other guys http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-22.jpg One of the days we walked into town cento and saw something I never thought I would see here ... another 950 SE!!!, for $12000 dollars we could buy his stator and get a free bike .... was almost an option :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-17.jpg A local at the hostal http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-15.jpg A local NOT at our hostal :cry :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-30.jpg We also met up with Jose again by chance and he did a fork job and various other fixits which I helped him with, also Yerns and Stephens bikes in the background.:clap ... no SE :huh http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-31.jpg Spotted this while cruising too, magic wee Jawa bike http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-34.jpg These we the tourisico policia who "helped" us .. best thing was getting a ride around town while in custody :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-35.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-37.jpg Now, if you are in Sucre and needing help Gustavos door to his workshop is open to travellers, Gustavo speaks fluent english and spanish and knows the people in the trade and where to find stuff. Give him a call he is a welcoming dude, this is his card with details, he is only 5 minutes walk from Pachamama hostel too so very handy. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...re/file-21.jpg |
Sucre To Samiapata
First stop to make a short day was Icla, totally tar on the main drag then about 35 km of cobbled stone road which was cool.:clap
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-10.jpg A big zig zag drops you into the heart of Icla which is nestled in a valley surrounded by cliff faces steering down at you, having been served a beautiful day we made the most of our early arrival taking our shoes for a walk. Dumb & Dumber ... we forgot our camera which was a shame as we entered a cool limestone gorge at the back of the town, never mind you will just have to go there and see it yourself. With Samiapata as our next stop we headed off taking a short cut ....the longest distance between two points and today was the same, the road/track/boulderfield we took sent us back to the main drag by choice as it was simply too rough, it would have been hard work on a KTM 300 let alone a 950 cc moving house. Back to the cobbles after our side show we hit the main drag again to Tomina then over to Villa Serano .... mid afternoon entry we called it quits, got Maya gased up ready for the next day assault to Samiapata . Villa Serano from the view point http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-11.jpg Heading up and across to Vallegrande we enjoyed a good serving of back road riding, some mud and slick parts making it interesting after what appears to have been quite and epic rain. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-31.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-17.jpg This part of the road took us through the Ruta de Che where Che was captured and killed http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-14.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-27.jpg After Vallegrande we unexpectedly hit tarseal ..... in mint condition all the way to the main road where it turned to shit with potholes and repair patches galore and the occasional donkey(s) thrown in to to keep us awake. Arriving at Samiapata we got lodgings at La Jarden (The Garden) with one nice dog and you guessed it an oversized cat size little dog with a voice problem ... we shoulda known then. The night fell with silence .....then the little pint sized oversizedcat dog started up and throughout the night barked at anything that moved ... I wanted to kill him as he was right outside our door. We moved the following day to to another place which was nice and quiet with very nice people, we stayed there two nights as it was very clean and a good place called Hostal Kim.:clap In between we rode out the back to Postrer Valle and around, again with the recent rains it made it interesting in a few spots with washouts, bogholes and slick patches ... good fun!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-19.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-20.jpg The final creek into town http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-25.jpg The town center http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ta/file-13.jpg Samiapata done and dusted ....next destination ..... Toro Toro. |
Just when you think all the shit might have stopped Ellen was robbed and beaten this afternoon at 1pm.
This happened in broad daylight with people near but no help, our big camera and several other items have been taken, our backpack slashed and stuffed, Ellen suffered cuts, brusing etc. So far Bolivia has turned into a **** of a place full of backward thinking seriously ****ed up arseholes. On top of that Ellen had to PAY for the Police report ..WTF to serve and protect ... just as ****en corrupt as the rest of the stinking ****ing place. We are going to do the death road then get the **** out of this god forsaken shithole ...they can ****en have it. Good help any wanker who gets in our way now as Mr.Nicegay has left Bolivia and Mr.Get****ed is here, no more shit. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...obbed/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...bed/file-4.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...bed/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...bed/file-7.jpg Anyone coming to Bolivia or Brasil????, at least we can try and replace it and not loose memories of our trip. ****en gutless cunts ... two men with machetes against one small woman... ****en arseholes |
Getting robbed in Bolivia
Getting robbed in Bolivia
The fifth day in Cochabamba, we finally got our TVIP extension from Aduana, like pulling the teeth - that’s another story. Andi decided to take the advantage to fix the cam tensioner, so I said I might go for a walk to the hill - Cristo de la concordia, which looks like 4 or 5 km from our couch surfer’s home. I said I will be back in 3 or 4 hours. I left home just after 11am, like everyday we’ve been in Cochabamba, the sun is shining . It took me about an hour to get to the bottom of the hill. From a distance, I can see there is a cable car going up and down, also there is a walk way right next to the cable car line. There are some people walking on it, it doesn’t look like dangerous to me, so I decided to walk up - we haven’t done much hiking recently, I really like to stretch my legs to keep fit if I can. I started to walk up, meeting quite a few people on the way, there were families with young kids, couples, etc, so again, I didn’t feel unsafe. The walk up wasn’t very long, took me about 20 mins then I was about 100meters from the top - I can see the Cristo and also the building of the cable car. I continued, all of a sudden two young man with machetes jumped out from nowhere, they threatened me with their knifes and started to pull my backpacker off me. My instinct reaction was to hold it tight and wouldn’t let it go also start yelling and screaming. They pushed me off the road into the bush, one guy used his machete to cut the backpacker strip off - the machete is ****ed, like everything else in this country so it took him quite a few strikes to cut it off. In the mean time the other guy kept dragging me down into the bush. I was kicking and screaming and tried to fight out of my way. The guy who then pushed me down to the ground, hit my head with a rock, then put dirt into my mouth tried to stop me screaming, I bit his hand. Finally, I saw the other guy opened my bag and took the stuff inside put into his bag, then both of them left me and run down hill. I started to chase them, then I realize they were running too fast to catch. Also I realized I did not have the strength. So I picked up my empty and slashed backpack, walked about 20meters back to the road. I didn’t know if there were any people around, but when I found my hat and sunglasses was put together neatly on the road side along with a knife, I was pretty sure it must be some one who saw it happened and didn’t lend a hand. There is no way my sun glasses would fall into my hat on the ground perfectly when I was fighting with the two guys, simply not. I picked up my hat, sunglasses and the knife. I wish to take a photo of it for evidence, but my camera was taken. I decided to go up to the building to find a police or someone who can help. Then a group of tourists from North America come by, I tried to ask for help, the first couple didn’t want to know about it they just walked past me. An older man in the middle of the group - might be their teacher stopped and asked me what happened. I told him also asked if there any police up to the top, he said no, but he did offered if he could help. I said I will go up to take the cable car down to find the police. I got to the building, there was a security guard there, he then took me down the cable car we went to the police right beside the start of the cable car. There were 7 or 8 fully armed police there, but they all watching the football match between Argentina and the Swiss. Finally one police interviewed me, then he called someone else, I was taken in a police car (second times in Bolivia) to another police station. In this second police station, a police interviewed me again at least this time he wrote down what I said. He then said because you are from Australia ( NO, New Zealand, I said), you must have insurance, you need a police report right? To me, the way he was dealing with the situation, he had no intention to find the crime, only want to do a report for my insurance.It made me think he have done this many times. Then he told me I need to go to the bank (which is 1 km away) to pay 10 Bolivianos to buy a ticket then come back to get the report done. Luckily I hid some money in my shorts the robbers didn’t get. So I walked 15 mins to get to the bank. I was given a number of 559 and wait. When my number was up, I went to a wrong counter - I think I was tired, distressed, dehydrated, when I found the correct counter, the number was changed to 560, the man behind the counter was not going to serve me. With all my anger, I slammed the money and the note from the police onto his desk and said in English “ take the money and give me the ****en ticket, I was just robbed by your country men up the hill, and the police made me to come here to pay for my police report. I’m not leaving until you serve me.” A customer beside me understood my English, he then explained to the bank staff, then everyone saw scratches and bruises on my legs, my face ,then they started sever me. The man said he was very sorry, but by that time, I couldn’t care any less, I just want to get my ticket and police report and get the **** out of there. I got my ticket, back to the police, then wait again, another police put all the hand writing into computer. After printed out, he ask me if I have 5 Bolivianos, this time I said NO. He then simple gave me the report, I didn’t say thank you. I do believe it is organized crime, the guys on the hill attacked the tourists, then the police get more money charge the victims for issue a report, what a cunning plan. I still wouldn’t say this country is more dangerous than any other counties. Robbery happens all around the world, but the aftermath bullshit makes you wonder. When I finally got home, it was 6pm... |
Damn Ellen ...
Sorry to hear this gut wrenching story. Try to let it go ,, think of it an homage to the gods ,, who have protected you guys ,, all these travels. Things can only get better here on! |
:thumbdown: this is serious uncool. Sorry to hear this has happened.
Wish you all the best |
Sorry to hear about the robbery
I would suggest that going forward you never go alone, in SA. Join a larger group and play it safe. On other fronts, Bolivia's recent contribution to science: Why Bolivia reversed its clock – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs |
Big hug
Wooow Ellen, hope you are oke, you also Andi. Try & give this f^&kup a place & let it go. Camera can & will be replaced, now try to get over the shock, it leaves a sh*t feeling when u have been mugged, that is for sure. In Ireland we have a saying when this happens & you lose something, we just fervently say "and let all bad luck go with it". Andi don't let your anger cloud yer judgement. Guys thinking about you & wishing you both well. Hugs Vince
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Im week behind on your guys blog, Mike and Jing told us what had happened to Ellen last night.
Ellen we hope you are feeling better and we are glad you are in one piece, although its tough to accept at the moment, the stuff you lost can be replaced, YOU are far more important. I wont get started on what should be done to the scumbags who did this to you, one day they will get their payback I'm sure - hopefully with a painful dollop of interest. The apathy shown by the cops is a total disgrace, it wouldn't surprise me if they were in some way connected with the scum who did this, but we will probably never know. Time will help heal the wounds (both physical and mental) Ellen, you are one tough cookie, support each other and move on guys. It would be worth putting a mention of this in the travellers advisory section to make sure this scum doesn't do it to the next overlanders rocking through this area. Hugs to you both, Grif & Lisa |
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Many thanks mate appreciate your kind words, yes plenty more good mind food for the health of the head rather than thinking of the past. Death road tomorrow then out to Brasil. Cheers Andi |
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Life goes on, more good mind food to come :thumbup1::thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
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Yeah normally we walk together but just not this day, let your guard down and shit does happen eh. Never mind, onwards and upwards:thumbup1: Bolivias contribution, for me being on the ground here now for 2.5 months I can totally understand their backward thinking for the clock, for me it symbolizes where they are and where they are heading which is back in time, that article just proves to me I am correct about their neanderthal way of thinking which will see them stagnate or go backwards Cheers Andi |
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All is good and all is starting to go forward, we are in La Paz today and trying to get a new camera, got to make sure it is genuine and not a genuine fake!!!! More good stuff to come, death road tomorrow then out to Brasil. Thanks for your kind words mate, appreciated. Cheers Andi |
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Yeap all good, moving forward and getting organised now, trying to get replacement stuff is hopeless here and a mission. Onwards and upwards to better things for sure, death road tomorrow then off east we go, last place to see with be Noel Kemff National park then we hit Brasil :thumbup1: Love to you both and same gidday to Mike and Jing too :clap: Cheers Andi |
Disorientated ..... Cochabamba
Heya all, ok just went back 6 pages to find out where we left off, with the blockades ,strikes, Ellens robbery etc we sorta lost the plot back there then had no wifi for 8 days.
Cochabamba We enjoyed our stay for a couple of nights at the hostel then found a couchsurf with a Costarican man with a Colombian wife that were moto travellers. We moved to their apartment and talked about travel and motos and of course the world cup was on so Ellen and I made a stop at the super market to get some table goodies to munch on while watching the games. We had a rattly cam tensioner and I wanted to deal with that as Jaime has an electric drill, I just needed a drill and tap to complete the equation from the tool we carry.:clap The cam tensioners are oil pressure fed, not sure which one was the issue as there are two so I bought a drill and taps and did the mod which basically makes the tensioner pre tensioned with the oil finishing the last bit off....that was successful.:clap I went upstairs to get some bits and pieces and that is when I found Ellen had just got back from her walk and had been robbed and beaten ...gut wrenching.:cry:cry:cry No need to go back over that now but it was a shock and a half and after having had all the other crap previously I was ready to kill someone. Too much shit from one country and it was not getting any better. While in Cochabamba I tried to buy a small oil cooler as well to help Maya keep her cool in the heat, I could not find one for love nor money and every shop was totally confused despite having the translation and pictures ... they acted as they had never seen one before despite nearly every small moto having one .....WTF...no....can’t be ****ed. So, “come back tomorrow”, “my friend has one in his warehouse”, “no problem ring me back at 4 pm and I will have one for you” .....these we some of the good ol lies again so we gave up trying to get one there. Staying with Jaime and Maria was good, nice people, we were going to stay 2 - 3 nights with them but after Ellens incident they said stay another night and get sorted which was very kind of them. They took us for a drive in their suzuki jeep so we bought lunch http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-3.jpg We also did our bike papers which was a needless nightmare, every other country issues 90 days, no Bolivia, 30 at a time and you have to go back and back to get it sorted, we did however meet a nice guy who had lived in the USA, talked english and had an XR650 with bike tank, Baya headlight setup etc which he was rightfully proud of. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-5.jpg Sorry we do not have any more photos as they are all in the camera that wrongfully has a new owner somewhere :baldy:baldy |
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