Anyone going to Bolivia?
 

At the moment I'm stuck in Formosa with mechanical problems, but I'm heading towards Salta and then Bolivia, Peru etc. Is there anybody out there who's also riding north and would like to meet up for a couple of days?

Annette :scooter:

hi ,
how far north are you planning to head.
i am in costa rica, planning to head north, my schedule is flexible.
trying to find someone to ride with all the way to the usa on route 1
dave

LA - California. That's the plan, anyway. But still stuck in Formosa in the northeastern part Argentina. It'll probably take me a couple of months to get to Central America.

Annette

sounds good,
keep in touch, i am in san jose and looking to meet up with someone to ride.
dave

Great - I'll post a thread when I'm in the area!
A

quastdog:

thanks for your mail - can't reply though.

annette

Heading south
 

Gday,

Im in La Paz at the moment and heading out probably in 3 days or so. My route ismaybe down to Potosi, Sucre and then the salar into Chile. I planning to be in Chile in around 2 weeks. If you are gonna be in the area let me know and even though im going the other way we could do a side trip or something.

Take it easy,
Ilya

Annette,

You must be the same Annette I met with Roberto and Sonia from MotoAventura at the Esturion Hotel in Puerto Iguacu. You rode with us as far as Posadas on (I think it was) 16th May.

Hope you have dried out by now and found some more waterproof clothing, especially boots!,


We finished th e rest of the tour without any incident and I am now at home looking at the next trip with Motoaventura, hopefully back to Argentina and Peru in 2008.

Sounds like you have not yet made it to Asuncion. Hope the mechanical trouble is not severe and good luck with the rest of your trip

Best Wishes

Guy

Ilay,

A side trip sounds nice. I'll probably be in the Potosi/Sucre area in about 10 days - maybe less. All depends on when I'll be able to leave Formosa - got caught up in Argentinian bureaucracy of astronomical dimensions..... scary stuff! :thumbdown:

Annette

Guy,

Great to hear from you! Glad to hear that the rest of your trip went smoothly. Hope you enjoyed Bs As.

I did make it to Paraguay, crossing the border in Encarnation (on the other side of Posadas) and rode north to Asuncion. Really nice. Have managed to avoid the rain, but ran in to mechanical problems (oil leak) on the way back from Paraguay. Should be on teh road again Wednesday!

Sounds nice with trip in 2008 with Roberto and Sonia!

Annette

Hey Annette,

Ok Ill keep you posted on where I am. Right now in La Paz still waiting for a new tyre. From what Ive heard I will probably need it for the Uyuni to San pedro route!

Have a good one,
Ilya

Ilay,
Ok, I'm Salta now - should be in Potosi in about a week.
Annette

Hi Annette,

Im in Sucre now for one or two days - awesome place. Ill then be heading for Potosi for anothers 2 days or so before hitting the salar. Let me know if you are around!

Ilya

Annette:
By now I suspect you've closed in on La Paz.

How's the road conditions, the weather treating you?

I'm having some old-ass arthritis sort of problems - the hands especially are getting wacked by the cold here in Peru. The knees are giving me problems walking around Cusco today after the ride up from Nazca. And Bolivia is probably worse this time of year.

I might have to seek warmer climes.

Oops - haven't checked the HUBB for some weeks. Boilivia has been a lot of enduro fun!! I'm in La Paz now moving on to Lago Titikaka on Monday - if everything goes according to plan. Bolivia hasn't been that cold - when the sun is out it's actually quite warm. Perhaps we can meet up in Peru somewhere?

Annette

I'm till in Cusco another couple days. My leg problem seems to be caused by the footwear I had been using off the bike for the last 8 months or so. I bought a new pair of shoes several days ago and the pain has gone away. Funny how that works.

Tuesday or Wednesday I'll be heading down to Puno. I'm taking a detour for a few days over to Arequipa, then back to Bolivia next weekend. Maybe we'll meet up on the road around Puno.

I'm in Copacabana now and will be heading north into Peru in about 3 days time. Let me know where you are.

Is Puno worth a visit?

Annette

In Arequipa now
 

Annette:
Sorry, may have missed you.

I didn't make it to Puno, so I can't comment. I turned off to Arequipa at Juliaca. A surprise to me, the road was paved the entire way. My map showed it as being mostly dirt, so sometime since the cartography was done on my RoughGuide map and now, the paved the road.

There were campesino protests north of Juliaca on the 4th (and earlier I understand). I couldn't pass on the main road just on the north edge of town - had to enter town via a dirt road. There were barricades (rocks across the highway) for about 20km or more. Hope you make it through ok (its about water for agriculture purposes).

I'll be heading back to Puno/Lake Titicaca in about 4 days time.

I`m in Cusco Tuesday leaving Wednesday I think for Lake Titicaca (only for a couple of days).

After Macchu Picchu will be coming back to Casa Grande if you make it up here. Otherwise may pass you on the road.
Santa Catalina, next to (almost) the Municipal Library, 1 block from NE corner Plaza de Armas (street runs 1 way from Plaza), 2 blocks from Norton Rats Tavern.
It`s simple but very friendly.

PS Jacks Cafe has the best coffee I`ve had in months. Just unbelievable and worth paying the gringo price for a change. It`s well known, about 2 blocks from this hotel

I'm still in Copacabana and staying till Monday - I think - depending on the road situation. Planning to make a stop in Puno on the way to Cuzco. So maybe we'll meet up anyway.

Nice to hear about the good coffee in Cuzco!

Cusco Crud
 

I may be a few extra days getting back to Titicaca. I came down with el gripe going around Cusco (watch out BigJ). It's got me so stuffed up I have troubles balancing on my feet, never mind on the bike. Maybe tomorrow I'll be ready to ride.

You probably already know but there`s a paro on today, no traffic. Watch out for any stones left on the road,

Thanks! I know - just made my way from Copacabana to Juliaca. There were rocks, broken glas etc. almost everywhere on the road - it looks like a war zone down here. I hope I'll to be able to continue to Cuzco tomorrow. Do you know anything about the road between Cuzco adn Juliaca - how bad the situation is? Are buses leaving from Cuzco (going south) tomorrow?

Hope to catch up with you in Cuzco - tomorrow or Friday.

In La Paz
 

So I pull up to the hostel on Morullo and I'm puking radiator coolant all over the road. They uped the rate for MC parking - 15B for bikes. I wasn't going anywhere with a coolant problem, so I didn't have much choice in the matter.

Still, room and parking is under $8/day.

Tomorrow I need to pull it apart and find out what's up with the cooling system.

Sounds like none of us are getting anywhere in a hurry!

I have given up on Cusco, it`s just so tough to find anything I`m moving to La Paz and will actually hope to get a holiday in while looking after my bike. And got stuck at a paro for half an hour, damn Peru!

Josh

In La Paz now
 

If anyone's around, I'm in La Paz for a few days at least - in the area for a couple weeks, hanging out, waiting for new underwear to arrive. Yahoo!

May not be a big deal to most of you, but after wearing same 3 pair of boxers every day for the past year - new underwear is indeed something worth looking forward to.:thumbup1:

Actually, got a new change of clothes coming via a traveller from the states, from my old employer (REI: Outdoor Gear & Clothing for Cycling, Camping, Hiking, Kayaking, Canoeing & More). Not just any old boxers, but high performance outdoor type briefs.

So after hearing about my underwear situation, who's up for a beer:clap:

I finally made it to Cusco! Hope you're enjoying a cold beer in La Paz.

Thanks for all the useful info on Central America etc. I have one more question - do you have th address of BMW in Lima? Did I understand you corretly when you said that BMW Lima has a moto repair shop? If so - do they have spare parts? My bike is leaking fork oil.....

Thanks.

The Swiss couple(Gabi and Kodi?) behind you have had one of their 1200GS lose the oil in the rear shock... They are trying to work out whether to try and make Lima

was nice to meet you on the road. I got through the strike without having my windshield painted!
But man, Juliaca was a shithole, wasn`t much impressed by Puno either. In Copacobana now, heading for Isla del Sol tomorrow for a day off the bike!

Good luck with the rest of your travels.

Head's up, be safe, have fun! (Gamoglobin every 3 to 6 months...it works!)

Repairs in Lima
 

Hey, glad to help out.

The dealer in Lima doesn't really repair MC's - they don't stock parts. I posted info here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...584#post143517

On same page is an older posting for a Honda shop near central Miraflores (Flyingdog Hostel is less than 1km away - parking in the downstairs entryway - $10 for a dorm room - wi-fi) I can recommend it anyway. I posted info on what I believe is another good indie mechanic.

Bob Morley, a.k.a. HappyHacker on HU, a.k.a. SmellyBiker - has used Honda Transalp seals on his F650GSD. So perhaps you can find them at the Honda repair places. Any good shop can handle the service - F650 forks are pretty simple.

Smellybiker :: View Forum - BMW F650GS Dakar

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Oh, we're doing that ride - el camino de la muerte. I had some problems with the bike when I got to town (cooling system), also changing out of the Pirelli Scorpions to some MD-21's I've carried down from Cusco.

I'm trying to find someone to go the 4 to 5 day circuit through Coroico and up and around back through Sorata. SmellyBiker suggested I not do it solo (he's seen my old ass - and I respect that).

Like I said somewhere, I'm waiting for fresh underwear!

See you in La Paz Wednesday. Enjoyed Isla del Sol. Onwards now, have 10 dys to wait parts in La Paz. Keen for road of death and maybe a jungle tour if you´re game

Josh:

Yes - it was nice to meet up on the road. I also met up with Gaby and Guido at Casa Grande - nice! Thanks for the recommendation.

I'm now in Lima after a 9 1/2 hour ride from Limatambo to Nasca (non-stop!) and a 6 hour ride from Nasca to Lima (also non-stop). Don't really feel like riding for a couple of days - I wonder why!? :innocent:

Enjoy Bolivia! Take care.

Annette

Chuck:

Thanks again for your help! The hostel in Lima is great! Will go to the mechanic tomorrow.

Enjoy your new underwear ;-)

Annette

Hope you can hook up with Josh for that ride. Let us know how she goes.

Camino de la muerte - a doddle. More an endightment on Bolivian driving habits than a difficult road. Still I imagine with heavy traffic using it it would have been interesting.

Onto day 2, only half day rides but second day from Coroico north is fun. Tempting to go all the way to Rurrenabaque.
Tomorrow has river crossings and mud, apparently.

****ing truck drivers don`t return your toot when around blind corners. I guess they figure (correctly) that it`s more my problem than theirs. And you would think they would put a sign up where the left hand side rule returns to a right hand side rule!

Josh and I are in the same town (Guanay, Bolivia), same hotel, different internet cafes. Maybe we'll meet up for a beer before we ride off in the morning. Then again...maybe one of us will get lucky with the ladies and we won't see each other for a few days.

Whadya think Josh?