Bolivia trip so far ... need help planning for the Salar and Lagunas!
 

Hey all! My amigo and I are now a month into our Bolivia adventure on motorbikes and loving it so far. Haven't loaded pics on the computer yet but plan to do it in a week to share with you all, looking really forward to going through them all!

So far we've put 2500km on the bikes (chinese motos - Pegasus 250cc - treated us pretty well so far except the throttle has a bit of a delay these days). Started in La Paz, hit Coroico, Rurrenabaque, Trinidad, Santa Cruz, Vallegrande, Sucre, and are now in Potosi. About to leave for Uyuni tomorrow to see the salt flats and lagunas. Fingers crossed that the bikes hold up while we're there! Also, had a couple questions for you guys as to the best route and best places to go.

- We will arrive in Uyuni tomorrow from Potosi and will start our tour of Uyuni / the Lagunas the day after. We don't have a good route yet (or a good map for that matter, the Info Tur office is closed here! hopefully we can find one in Uyuni). Do you guys have a solid route we can use (gps waypoints possibly) or recommendation for us to see the Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas in 3-4 days?
- We'd love to find a hot spring to camp by one night if possible. Do you guys have gps coords for a great hot spring for us to spend the night nearby? Also,
- Are there places to refill on gas in the small town between the salar and the Lagunas? Our bikes only have 170km range unfortunately and we're carrying an extra 6L fuel on us. Not sure if this is enough.
- What did you guys do for meals? We have a Jetboil but we dont have a gas canister for it. Any other options for dinner that we buy beforehand?

Here's to hoping the bikes hold up! Can't wait to give you all an update! :thumbup1:
Kevin

P.S. I've read a couple accounts of people having trouble buying bikes and getting legal plates for them in Bolivia. I can tell you that my friend and I have had a very easy time getting all the paperwork necessary, much easier than expected. Will post a longer account of this shortly - exactly where we bought the bikes and where we got all the legal docs. The only thing left to be seen is how difficult it is to cross into Peru (and Ecuador and Colombia) :innocent:

Hi there...we brought our bikes over from the uk so have had no problems with borders...but we met an australian guy and his girlfriend who also bought bikes legally in Bolivia...we travelled to the border at Kisani/copacabana with them and the customs would not let them through...they have gone back to La Paz to find out why they can't take them out of Bolivia. Good Luck! Re Uyuni..we cheated and paid for a trip!! so am afraid I can't help you there...the flats are pretty amazing...enjoy.

im curious about the border crossing. I went for the what looked like the easiest option and started in Santiago (not that i regret this) after reading some things that sugested it would be difficult with paperwork from other country's. I´d like to hear that was all bollocks :thumbup1:
Still think you should have went zith honda or suzuki but guess thats a personal preference :D
as far as Uyuni goes I would not know how to drive trough solo as I met a group with 20 or so bmw 1200 gs riders from chili with support vihicule and all the bells and whistels :) but I presume you should be able to find gps coordinates for the central island online. You can sleep there if your gear is up to such cold, mine wasn´t so I did a loop and returned to uyuni in the evening. No idea if there is any water on the flats at this time. If so: i would take a jeep tour :)

have fun
no really do have fun it´s amazing :D

"Pegasus 250cc - treated us pretty well"
 

"Pegasus 250cc - treated us pretty well"


whats the pegasus like ?- whats it ride like , where did you buy and how much did it cost ?

ive been thinking of flying to the states and buying 650 klr ... buying in country in bolivia as youve done could be easier - are the chinese bikes any good ?