if only i could have captured all that I saw

i take copious amounts of pictures, and yet still manage to miss so many wonderful sights. the last couple of days I've been riding the world's most dangerous road - half of it in fog and rain, and have now made it to the glorious shores of lake titicaca on my way out of Bolivia. technically my 3 month visa expired yesterday, but I think i'll just have to get a couple of days on the isla del sol before i say goodbye to this country of extremes, beauty, wonderful people and good memories.

The road between Caranavi and Coroico - thankfully quiet as the construction blockade meant that there was no traffic. Don't want to think about being overtaken by a bus with an oncoming truck bearing down on me.

so here's some of the things i missed:

• an old man piled up with firewood strung to his back climbing up out of the dense trees into a cloud of dust left by trucks
• grandmothers, mothers and daughters pushing wheelbarrows with the remains of cold drinks and snacks after the daily construction 'blockade' was opened (they close this main road for roadworks from 7am to 12pm, then 2pm to 6pm. as a result there's an impatient line of trucks, buses, taxis and cars waiting tocharge through when it opens)
• chilling out and being transported off to the future of idiocracy - watching a movie at a roadside restuarant while waiting for the road to open
• impatient beeping by cars literally when I was 1 second late from following the trucks moving in front
• seeing the eye of a cow peep through the slats of wood of the truck waiting in front of me
• going dangerously close to the edge of a gravel road - to see a drop of about 200m
• working out which side to drive on - for safety reasons you swap sides, so that means the driver is on the cliff edge to make sure he doesn't fall off. rather confusing as it doesn't always hold true.
• driving downhill on dusty, muddy road with a 12V headlight after sunset (literially about a 3m throw of light - on high beam!)
• twisting my way up a hand laid cobblestone road in the dark and mist
• the 200m of beautiful, flat, grippy asphalt that I zoomed along before heading up the cobblestone mountain
• driving in fog and mist at about 4deg with -2 windchill in a 1 lane highway with oncoming traffic without their lights on
• 3 little boys squashed against the back window of a minibus waving back at me as I curved my way around lake titicaca

Beautiful Yungas driving

2 lanes down to 1, no visbility and some cars didn't even have their headlights on

out of the jungle i go

i've been a bad tourist. I've just spent 5 days in rurrenabaque, and not seen aligators, anacondas, monkeys or pink dolphins, ate coconut tasting insects and learnt what's toxic and not, or wielded a machete. and now i've left. well there's various reasons that I didn't go on a single pampa or jungle tour. I've - still not any useful hiking/walking because of my sprained foot, i seem to be running out of $US to change into Bolivianos (there's no ATM here) and well, i'm being lazy. Yes I may regret this, but i think i'm ok with it. oddly enough, I like animals and happy to hang out with them, but for me mountains and long vista landscapes are more my thing rather than getting close to the furries.

but there are a couple of memories of rurre to stay with me...

• watching every morning and evening, an old couple walking hand in hand into the centre of town. you don't see much hand holding going on here, so it was very sweet to see.
• listening ALL night (to about 5am) to some music down the road - a sort of military drumming crossed with folklore.
  
• meeting a baby big cat - called tigre, resident of a local mechanic
• having a chilled out chat with laura - a dutch girl who fell in love with a local Bolivian, and is getting married in 2 weeks. There was a lot of discussion about cultural differences and her experiences living in Rurre.
• lazing about on the hammock and watching school kids wander their way home from school
• hitting the sunday market on the way out of rurre. People here work 6 days a week, and on sunday's they really do relax, hang out with families, have big lunches and usually enjoy a beer or well 10.
  

yesterday we left rurre, and after 20kms philipe discovered that his shock absorber for his side car tyre, had snapped at the top and was clanging around on his bike frame. 30kms down the road we found an open motorbike workshop with soldering equipment. (this guy was working at 6pm on a Sunday!) He managed to forge a solution, and meanwhile I went search of somewhere to stay. it was a dustry road stop town of probably 40 families, and definitely no sort of hostal. but the couple in the local 'pension'/restaurant kindly invited us in (no less with a cold beer!) and we soon were yelling over the mexican music dvd's playing and telling our stories. we found out that they were the parents of the mechanic - he was just 20, but with a 3 month old baby with a 19 year old girl from a couple of towns up.  as the beers kept getting topped up, i sort of got the impression they (the parents) were not too keen on her, but now with a baby there was not much they could do.

A very welcoming family who let us camp in their restaurant - and welcomed us in with beer, loud mexican telemovie music and lots of good times

I've noticed that there are many unmarried parents and also single mothers here - often under 20 years old. you often meet young children being taken care of by grandparents, while the parents/mother live in a bigger city to work. birth control? well the relative cost of it here is expensive so I guess not used.

His wife Leondi and grandaughter Eva - doing some washing next to the  shower in the orange tree:)

With Antonio who kindly let us camp in his courtyard

tonight we have also been lucky enough to have been allowed to camp in the courtyard of a family's house - antonio, leondi and little eva. Antonio and leondi are the grandparents, little eva is 2 1/2 years old. Her mother left 2 years ago to work in La Paz, and so she lives here with them. It's perched up above the main road, but a simple concrete construction (we're out of the wetter areas where they tend to build in wood, and with thatched roofs) around a well tended courtyard. out back is a small orange plantation - and smack bang in the middle of one tree is the shower. it is a very tranquil place compared to the noisy busy family house last night (where there was a chorus of barking dogs and hens squaking), and again I'm very touched by the kindness of people here.

This little boy was sitting with his mother who was selling watermelons by the roadside - 1 bol/kilo - so for a 5kg melon, 50c (Photo by Philipe)

we're on our way towards La Paz, where I will say good bye to Philipe. He's heading up to Ecuador to see friends, and I'm going ot Cusco to see mum and dad. It's time to get out of Bolivia as my 3 month visa expires on the 24th, and I'll be sad to leave a country so filled with extreme landscapes, tasty produce and food, and some very authentic and kind people. But Peru is next, and i'm off to trek my heart out!

Just down from the roadside camp in between 2 blockades, these little boys were playing and really acting up for the camera. (Photo by Philipe)

to boat into the amazon or not to boat

We've been in Trinidad in northern bolivia looking for a barge to take us up to the border with Brasil, and then the plan had been to bike through some pretty isolated communities (and yes known drug trafficking routes) and enter Peru. The day after arriving here we went down to the port on Rio Mamore where the barges moor into, and after the first futile visit on Saturday, yesterday morning we went back to find ourselves and the bikes some transport. Barges seem to fall into 2 categories - those that carry gas bottles, and the big tankers, and the others are smaller with stacks and stacks of coke/sprite/fanta bottles and other consumables. We had been hoping to find the latter, but unforuntately the only barge leaving within the next week with space was a fuel tanker.

This somewhat rickety barge was carrying gas in bottles - to  the right is  one of the tanks - probably on which the bikes might sit?

After milling around chatting to the guys loading the fuel, and then finally the captain, he agreed to take us both for 1000 Bolivanoes (about US $140) for hammock space, a steady diet of beans and rice, and the bikes. The thing is though that because it's the end of dry season, the river is very low and the trip that normally takes 5 days would take anywhere between 10 and 20. Also, as it was a fuel tanker, they only travelled during the day which means that there's no air movement to deter the swarming mosquitoes at night.

Somehow taking a fuel tanker into the amazon rubs me up the wrong way (and feels sort of dangerous - although perhaps safer than the gas boat in the pic), and when we considered the longer time spent on the river and uncertain roads north we decided to ditch the boat idea (yes it would have been pretty awesome) and instead drive to Rurrenabaque (a more touristy place but in the amazon too) and then drive up to the same border but by the south road.

Girls usually only ride with their boyfriends (if they have one), but often you see 'packs' of all girls riding  as well

     So this morning we say goodbye to Trini - a city teeming with motorbikes, motortaxis, cars that mysteriously find their way from Brasil (and which Bolivia registers - but gives them green number plates instead of the normal white and blue), open stormwater drains, some decent hamburger joints, dusty roads and sweltering heat. We also got to spend some time with Jen - a Canadian who we met in southern Bolivia who has been living in Trini since May working on clean water and sanitation projects in indigenous communities. Challenging work that I really admire.

Bummed somehow that the barge/boat is not going to happen, but I'm also sort of keen to get back into the mountains (and out of my sweatbox riding gear) so can look towrads that as well.

sweatbox riding through jesuit mission country

first i should say that I'm very glad I have new kick ass motorcross boots, new jacket with shoulder/elbow/back protection, and a new beefed up helmet, but man, riding through 32 degree heat on the edge of the Amazon, really sucks. when you're going fast enough into some warm blasts of oncoming wind, it's ok, but as soon as you stop - bam, the sweat starts trickling down and creating a mini portable steamroom.

In full kit - trying to smile. stopping is worse as there's NO wind to at least dry some of the beading sweat

Blown palm trees in the rolling landscape

The bell tower (entirely out of wood) outside the church in Concepcion

for 3 days we've been riding through rolling agruictulral lands graced with windswept palmtrees, dry, dusty towns teeming with motorbikes (that frequenty run out of fuel) and visiting two old Jesuit Mission towns - Concepcion and San Javier. It's an interesting combination, the Jesuits (according to my Lonely Planet) had quite a good go at integrating and combing the western and indigenous cultures; they taught a lot of woodworking skills which is very evident in the beautiful carved mission churches, streching collandes and courtyard design for houses. music was also very important, and addition to setting up instrument making workshops they instilled music education (admittedly a western one) which is still evident today with children learning violins and other string instruments. In Ascension I walked past a school with a group of early teen boys practicing violins! Every 5 mins or so groups of girls would stop and walk in interupting and joking around with them - I wonder whether it is 'cool' to play an instrument here? I also got to play :) and makes me realise how much I wish I had my violin around to strum out some tunes on.

This is HALF of the motorbike line waiting for fuel ... most are carrying 10L gallons after 3 days without fuel

we've been trying to get a bit of a routiine of leaving early and stopping in the mid afternoon to explore the town and relax. it's tempting to have a relaxing morning; breakfast, sleeping in, but thankfully it's actually too hot to sleep past about 7am. Riding between 8-12pm is infinitely more comfortable than 12=4pm, and It's also nce to feel that you've got somewhere by 11am. lunch is usually snacking, and once arriving, de-peeling and jumping in the shower, it's either time to cook or seek out some delicious fried meat, fried vegetables, fried rice or fried something to fill the tummy.

I'm very small but resting after trying to climb up the frame.

actually on the way here we passed through a town called Okinawa - yes the same as the Japanese island - after WW2 some Japanese families came and settled north of Santa Cruz, creating Okinawa I, Okinawa II and Okinawa III. Inventive huh! They are still a very Japanese culture today as well - and the best thing for me? we came across a store with japanese and koren foods, including wakame (dried seaweed), somen (silky noodles), an pan (bread with red bean paste - my mother loves this for breakfast), yokan (sweet red bean paste), kare-gohan (curry rice), okaki (rice crackers) and well all sorts of delights. Pretty damn fine, and what this means is that tonight, instead of the usual local or camping fare, we had somen noodles with vegetables. Total treat - not just for the different flavours, but for me, something that reminded me of home.

Tucking into somen (japanese noodles)

we're averaging about 230kms a day, and yesterday we did about 250kms to Trinidad. Once a year they do quite a lot of burning off to clear/renew agricultural lands, and so we ended up riding through a lot of smoke. We also had some nice stops and side visits - one to a swamp/lake, and other we happened to pass one of the animal refuge parks of Inti Wari Yasi - and got to see some toucans! (and lots of foreginer volunteers).

Typical house on the way to Trinidad - with thatched palm tree women roof

Laguna Corazon - now we're getting into the jungle!

Riding through haze of the smoke from the yearly burning off

The route yesterday is starting to feel more lush and jungle-like - we're now in Trinidad looking for a boat to take us upstream into the jungle proper - and also meeting up with Jennifer - a girl who we met at the Arbole de Piedra who is working for an aid organisation for clean water installation and education. It's definitely hot and stifling here - am I going to survive the jungle I wonder?

you better believe it - moon boots :)

Oh yes - I've got new moon boots! The kind that you feel invincible in; I can go anywhere, do anything and my feet and ankles will not end up looking like this:

While in Santa Cruz I changed my front and back sprockets and chain to boot. 

I went from some very fine teeth on my front to...

Nice healthy teeth and a new beefed up chain!

As well as getting my pannier frames welded back onto the bike

And yes I don't always play helpless female. This is just giving my rear axle a clean before putting the brake in

Tomorrow is bye bye santa cruz - and all your crazy traffic and sweltering heat.

Philipe creating his own lane - the sidecar is just that little bit too big that it can't weave his way like the bikes

Tire anyone?

But before we leave, I think I need some of this :) You never know, I may NEVER get to eat sushi again! So better stock up now:)

Next stop - Jesuit Missions north of Santa Cruz, then up to Trinidad to delve our way into the Amazon...

yummy in my tummy

Santa Cruz has surprised me .. it's very much the most cosmopolitan (and definitely richest) city in Bolivia - more so than the capital La Paz. Lots of big flashy 4x4s, grand houses with bigger gates to match, pumped up young men who seem to have walked out from the gym in their tommy hilfiger and very tall beautiful girls clustering around them. I've not really had a chance to walk around town much as my foot is still on the mend, but did get out to eat (well perhaps gorge is a more appropriate term) at some pretty great restaurants. It's very hot here and many of the places have courtyard seating and tonight especially it was muggy and warm when we headed out. Met up with Kurt (one of the riders from the Salar) at the Irish Pub where I had a very very tasty and icy frappucino... and then onto Ken - a Japanese restaurant. I know it sounds like I'm not eating local, but most other days I am so when I get a chance to not eat roasted chicken, rice and soup or something fried, I'm jumping on that bandwagon.

Dinner was nice - I had chirashi sushi which is raw fish on rice. It sort of reminded me of my mum's dinner's ... although hers is much much nicer:) But an absolute treat to eat Japanese!

Today I finally fixed my sprockets - yesterday afternoon I managed to find sprockets that fit (difficult as my bike is not available in Bolivia) and today fitted new front and back, and a new, bigger chain as well. Might need to shorten the chain as it's a little slack and I've not much room to tighten it on the bike... tomorrow will check it out.

Tomorrow also going to help out at an organisation - Luz del Mundo (light of the world) - a charity that helps young children in La Paz. They have a fiesta on Saturday, so think they will get a real kick of clambering of the bikes, and especially the sidecar. It's always amazing to see the looks of some of young children - especially young girls when they see me as a woman riding a bike and travelling solo. For me it seems like what I just fell into doing - for them it is very different from the life they know.

So back to nursing my rather full tummy - but a happy tummy nonetheless!

Can I already be slacking off the regular blogging?? No!!!

do I have a reasonable excuse?? um, it was cold, and so all I wanted to
do was stay inside my sleeping bag? not sure if that's going to cut it!
but it really was cold - after 2 steamy sunny days of lazing in hammocks
and munching herbs from the garden, it turned icy and cold, and we
quickly turned to hot choclate laden with rum to wake and warm up, big
campfires to try warm the old, 30y/o bones and sleeping in about 7
layers. Samaipata was still nice, but just cold and nice.
tonight we arrived in Santa Cruz - the biggest city in Bolivia. Driving
in with traffic was quite an experience - especially after the quiet of
back roads for the past couple of months. Weaving inbetween lanes, our
first traffic light in I don't know how long!! (and oddly - it was red,
but people slowed a bit, but then went straight through. I stopped for
it, then got honked at by the line of cars piling up behind me...)
As per the pic... on the way here today had a bit of a pannier problem -
essentially on the way to Samaipata part of the welding that holds my
panniers broke - and today the other contact point for the left pannier
to the bike also broke. with a rather regal dog looking on, we added 1
pannier to the sidecar and strapped the other to the back of my bike on
top - then Philipe went on his merry way cornering the way down to Santa
Cruz while i tested out how much I could lift the sidecar wheel without
tipping over on my right hand curves.
Tomorrow surprise surpirse is a motorbike day - I've got to get the
pannier frame welded on, buy some oil for an oil change/chain clean,
MUST by a pinon as my front one is nearly worn and is probably with
every km wearing down my chain, AND look for some motorcross shoes and a
jacket. Let's see how much actually happens - it's amazing how much time
you spend wandering between shops, talking to mechanics and hearing '
manana, manana - tomorrow, tomorrow'.

pathway to heaven... in a sidecar that is

i think i've landed in a piece of organic farm living heaven... somehow
in the very present but giving an inkling of what I want in my future.
Yesterday we made to Samaipata and are now happily installed in the
campground on the organic Finca (farm) called La Vispera. With terraced
vegetable patches, a herberia, cafe with tasty produce and good coffee,
little luxuries like gushing hot hot water, placemats on the table and
nice toilet paper you can really feel the touches of the Dutch owners
coming through.

3 days ago on the way to the waterfall in La Pajcha I dropped the bike
and managed to sprain my right foot - it's still hurting like a bitch,
and I'm doing a marvelous job hobbling around... but it's all well just
a bit frustrating.

The biggest upside though is that for the last 2 days I've been riding
Philipe's sidecar. It is enormous fun - and I get to ride with my right
foot elevated (yes remembering my rest ice compression Elevation) while
riding and downing ibuprofen. Because there's no worry about balance for
me it's more relaxing riding the sidecar - and really fun to manouvre mr
churchill (the bike's name) around. It's also odd watching Philipe ride
my little, in comparison, motorised bicycle!

Mr Churchill is really an enjoyable way to travel - it allows you pile a
lot more into it, and after seeing groups of parents and children all
teetering on one small rusty 200cc bike, I think much safer but just as
fun if you want to carry around kids.

Corning is not quite as fun, but you can do your fair share of butt
sticking out/leaning as I remember seeing Mark doing so some weeks back
when driving with Philipe to the sunday markets outside of Sucre. The
beefy sound of the engine also is a nice change from the sewing maching
putt putt of my bike - and sand finally is slippery fun instead of the
usual stressing out that I'm going to have to end up huffing and puffing
to pick up my bike after slipping off.

So Philipe - watch out! I think my foot is going to be needing quite
some resting in the days following - and Mr Churchill is hopefully happy
to oblige:)

This afternoon I'm going to have a chat to Margritte (one of theowners)
and ask her to show me around her herbs, garden and edible flowers.
Being here reminds me of watching my parents pick a colourful and
scented lunch from their garden of leaves, flowers and spices. There's
something about seeing people contented and happy in their surroundings
- and working with their hands and the land to create their own piece of
paradise.

Now - for my piece of paradise? What shall I create for myself?

Land before time country - and the itchy and scratchy show

I've often had the thought while on the bike in southern Bolivia - that
this is dinosaur / land before time type of country. It's something
about the scale of rolling valleys and high planes, the jurassic rocks
jutting out of mossy green shrub (well what I imagine 'jurassic' to be),
the empty open spaces. Even though there's some fencelines, and a dirt
track, the expanse somehow takes me to another time.

Especially with the lowering afternoon sun throwing shadows far into the
distance - that kind of light just heightens the feeling of lost time.
Tonight in Vallegrande - the town where Che was brought after his
execution - in 1997 a local admitted that he was buried under the
airstrip and he was exhumed and buried in Cuba.

And now for the itchy and scratchy show... somehow we got lots of bites
at a campsite 2 nights ago... the kind that seem to lie low, and then
strike with an extreme attack of itchieness. So now i can't keep my
hands and nails off them. it sounds somehow like a b grade porn show -
the sounds that are coming from the corner of the room as I
scratch....but i tell you the joy of scratching the hell out of these
bites -especially around my ankles... is totally worth it...
and now back to the scratching....

Can I really do this? More regular blogging??

I'm pretty good at avoiding writing blog posts, and then in one big hit trying to recount countless amazing experiences and cramming them all into one mammoth post. So I'm going to try and change tact... from long
recounts, to shorter bursts of travel thoughts, experiences and tales.

It'll still be of the musing, rambling type of post, but hopefully it will give more of a day to day feel of how and where I'm travelling.

Tonight I find myself in La Higuera, the town were Che Guevara was captured and then executed on the 9 October 1967 (nonethess in their local school building). It's not a place we had really planned to come to, but on being here it makes you realise the passions of people, and those who keep the story alive. Often they are foreigners - and especially here in South America, there seems to be many French who have relocated and settled for various reasons. I really admire these people - from what they've told me settling, being accepted and successfully running a business here is difficult.

Today's the second day of being back on the road - yesterday Philipe and I started out from Sucre, and after making it past Tarabuco we were screeched to a halt at a road blockage. We thought it would be a 10
minute wait or so, but having a near physical altercation with a Bolivian woman about taking a photo, we found out that the road was in fact closed from 7am to 6.30pm every day for roadworks, and we could
only pass from 6.30pm to 7am. Bit of a shock that - especially as it put to a stop our first day being back on the road.

We did the sensible thing and turned back to Tarabuco and instead got up super early and made it before 7am. That turned into a 10 hr travelling day, and at that near desperate moment we found a campsite hidden from the road with the company of numerous bitey flyey type things.

Travelling with Philipe in his sidecar is definitely a different experience - if I thought I got lots of looks travelling loaded up as a solo woman, me and my bike were seriously feeling left out by all the looks that Philipe gets. I guess motorbikes are pretty much everywhere - and sidecars definitely not. The speed at which a crowd of boys and men (and some women) gather around him when we stop is amazing!
So the last 2 days have been quite some amazing scenery - from very dry open rolling hills around Sucre, to red rock pinnacle formations as we lowered in altitude, to blue lagoons seeping their way out of a seemingly desert landscape as we neared La Higuera.

I'm really enjoying being back on the bike - catching smells in the air, practicing riding standing up in dirt and sandy patches, rolling into towns for a cold sparkly drink and just enjoying moving again.

Going onto Samaipata tomorrow - from what people have said and what I've read in the lonely planet, sounds like a place we'll probably chill and explore for a couple of days. The route over the next month is slowly coming together - in early October my parents are coming to Peru so it's a good kick up the backside to get moving again. It stresses me out though - after my somewhat aimless rambling and no time pressure to travel, now having to be somewhere at a certain point is making me realise how much there is to do and just so little time! Yes I know - people go around the world twice in the time I've taken to get through Argentina and CHile, but I just can't seem to move much faster.

PS. there's a horse at our campsite - just had wonderful time chatting to him under a full moon - he / she / the horse had a very soft coat, and kept on sniffing my clothes (might have had something to do with the
orange I'd just eaten). I had caught the horse napping standing up - but he was chilled and seemed happy to have me scratching his ears and patting, well his left side of his face. A lovely interlude on a warm winter evening.

Cruising the Altiplano – on sand, rocks and washboard past desolate landscapes, red lakes, rock trees oh, and the SALAR de UYUNI!

I love riding. I love that I can go at my own pace, that I have everything with me, that I can follow any road, that I can ride over stone bridges instead of getting wet feet (though I get that too!), I love that I'm not stuck in a crowded jeep with 6 other tourists and a coca chewing driver, I love hitting asphalt after 4 days of sand, rocks and washboard, and yes, I have to admit I love the small celebrity status you sometimes have with locals and other tourists. Most of the above went true to form over the last week of travel as we made our way from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, into Bolivia and the southern Altiplano (high altutide plains) and up to Potosi and then Sucre.

After whiling away days in the cute adobe town of San Pedro eating baguettes made by Arturo in our outdoor oven at the hostel, we decided to head to the next border north as we had heard that it was open and clear of snow. So instead of doing the more well worn route from San Pedro in Chile up via Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada and up to the Salar de Uyuni, we instead crossed into Bolivia at the small mining town Ollague, and from there attached the altiplano roads or lack thereof southwards towards Laguna Colorada, then looped our way back up to Uyuni., For me it was hands down the most challenging riding I've done so far – chasing 4WD tracks in earthy red rolling landscapes, trying to navigate slippery sand and very annoying washboard in said 4WD tracks without falling too often, crossing rivers either through water or over stone bridges, trying to successfully slip my way down sandy tracks blind in sandstorms, avoiding patches of snow and ice at 4000m, letting my front wheel find its own path through knobbly rocky patches and having riotous fun busting my way up and down rocky tracks.

Enjoying the snow free roads above Laguna Colorada

Me on sand, minus my big red bag that Philipe was kindly carrying for me

Each with our own tracks

In the 5 days from leaving Ollague on the Chile-Bolivia border to arriving in Uyuni, we travelled countless kms on dirt, it seemed 100kms on sand, camped 2 nights in a freezing cold desert (I'm going to say it got to about -18deg), ate the dust of about 70 zooming jeeps and spent 1 night soaking in some thermal baths looking across to snow capped mountains.

Arriving in Uyuni finally after an impromptu camp due to a flat tire the night before was quite a joy.

So now for more detail...

On leaving Ollague and crossing the border into Bolivia, we hit the 4WD tracks proper and I was lucky enough to offload my big bag to a very kind Philipe and his sidecar – this essentially reduced the back weight of my bike a whole lot, therefore improving my balance and ability to actually pick up my bike when I dropped it by myself. Considering that I dropped the bike on average about 3 times a day it made a huge difference. It also meant that I could have a bit more fun riding the bike. Arriving at an 'eco hotel' alongside Laguna Ideohonda that first day was a lovely treat, and even better was the fun conversations we had with the hotel staff while we prepared and cooked our dinner in the hotel kitchen.

Fred alongside the Laguna Ideohonda

Hmm... which track to follow?

Taking a break

The next day was all about vast stretches of rolling red and shrubby yellow terrain with tens of 4WD tracks meandering their way through. Oh, and some deep sandy patches. And some big red boulders and rocks. The most well known of these is the Arbole de Piedra (Rock tree) which upon arriving mid afternoon we enjoyed our mini celebrity status with the many 4WDs that zoomed up to spill out rugged up tourists. These are beautiful rock formations, and I had fun clambering around them for a while. Oooh yes, even better were the hot peaches that Philipe had prepared as he had arrived earlier than us. (As the sidecar has a wider wheel base sand is not a problem to zoom over)

Morning reflections on Laguna Ideohonda 

Sand..... lots of it

Arbole de Piedra

Kurt with his fan club of swiss tourists around him

The 4 of us at the Arbole de Piedra - me, Philipe, Kurt and Fred

So this is where I talk about the other riders – Fred, Philipe, Kurt. It pretty much worked like this, Philipe would be ahead in the sidecar with the GPS while Fred or Kurt would babysit me – riding behind or alongside, helping me pick up the bike when I fell, making sure I got there in one piece. I'm incredibly grateful that I could travel with the three of them, and considering the little driving experience I have and my little bike, hopefully I didn't slow things down too much. As a point of comparison, riding 2 up with Kurt on the road to Uyuni we were going about 80kms/hr, whereas on the same road I was be tentatively going at about 40kms, shuddering as I felt every bit of the washboard. There is an ideal speed to go at... but alas I'm just too chicken to go too fast.

Snow!

Camping at the Arbole de piedra was not as bad as we had thought it would be – due to the rocks a fair bit of heat was retained, and wind was cut so the nightime temps only got to about -6deg. AND I was sandwiched between Philipe and Fred in a 4 man tent so was pretty toasty! Next stop was Laguna Colorada – a beautiful red lake with flamingoes. At this point our group of 4 split up – Fred was keen to chill out at the Laguna, and therefore Kurt, Philipe and I headed up towards the Salar Chalviri and some termas (hot springs) there. Heading southwards and higher up meant a change of landscapes; more snow appeared alongside the roads, mountains rose up from desolate landscapes and the colours completely changed. We were rewarded even further upon arriving at a restaurant next to the hot spring, where we were kindly allowed to set up camp inside the restaurant, and spent a luxurious hour or two bathing in a natural hot spring in the setting sun. It is amazing what a pool of hot water and promise of a hot meal can do to one's spirits!

Relaxing in termas.... so so so so good

The following morning we set off back to Laguna Colorada, in the hope of catching Fred before he headed north. Although not quite doing so, we had a lovely ride back, stopping to take more pictures of the flamingoes. At this point our group of 3 went down to 2, Kurt and I headed northwards in the same direction as Fred was going, and Philipe going back to the hostel where Fred had stayed to see if he was still there. Again the landscapes changed, without a detailed map or GPS, Kurt and I had some fun guessing which roads to take, and ended up feeling slightly lost riding along dirt tracks alongside rivers and small salt flats. One of the most beautiful moments was seeing ice that had formed around the mossy green lily type pads in the river, with the sun dancing on the surface. However as the after wore on, it started to get late and we were about to draw the line of “if it gets to 4pm and we've not encountered anyone else, we turn back”, we stopped at a farmhouse, and then in delight and surprise turned around to Philipe who had sped along to catch up with us.

Laguna Colorada

Hundreds of flamingoes on the laguna

One of my favourite parts of road for the day

We made it to a town called Villa Mar, where we found a beautiful hostal for us each to enjoy having our own rooms. I had had this idea to make up a curry – Philipe had some coconut milk that we had magically found in Chile before leaving, as well as some tom yum paste. All we needed now were vegetables... which we really thought we'd be able to find in the town. So off I went to the 2 corner stores... only to find that apparently there was nowhere to buy fresh vegetables or meat – this was most likely because I was a gringo (foreigner) asking for it, but it was the first time so far that it was impossible to find something fresh. Nevertheless we dug around our food bags, found some veggies and cooked up our curry. Wasn't a recipe to share, but nice to taste a different flavour for a change.

Emerging a bit wet after a short river crossing - I drove over the timber footbridge and kept my feet dry!

Getting some help from locals

Next day we set off with the aim of getting to Uyuni... what we didn't calculate was the kilometres of sand, 3 river crossings and sandstorm which reduced visibility to about 1m. But because we're champs, and we hit tarmac mid afternoon (when we hit the tarmac I was pretty much yelling and punching the air with happiness, funny what a bit of sand free road can make a person do) we got the kms under our wheels and well nearly made it to Uyuni. What thwarted us in the end was a flat tire on the sidecar, and thus 30kms from Uyuni, Philipe and I ended up pitching a tent in howling icy wind and darkness, and settling in for the coldest night yet. And the cherry? It was Philipe's birthday and we had been pushing to get to Uyuni to meet up with Kurt and Fred, so it was a real bummer to get close and not make it.

So the following morning, after trying our various techniques to change the tire, we decided that being so close it would be easier to get a truck to take the sidecar to Uyuni so Philipe could change the tire there. I headed into town to arrange a truck, and while there I heard a shout from Kurt who had been stocking up on Toblerone at the market (he is Swiss after all!) and after a short reunion with Kurt and Fred, I waited around for the truck driver and we finally set off to find Phliipe. Stupid me though forgot the GPS co-ordinates, so we spent an extra 20mins scanning the horizon for me to try and remember where I'd left Philipe. It was getting dark and cold, but I finally spotted him, and loaded up the sidecar and a very cold Philpe into the truck and got back to Uyuni.

One of the reasons I love Bolivia so much are the markets; there is a great energy, they are all over the streets, the food stalls are very tasty, and there's a great energy and buzz to it all. Uyuni had various markets, and so I spent a couple of days snacking my way through the streets and generally feasting on life. Our plan had been to ride into the salar, but after Fred went one day and found there to still be a fair bit of water to cross, we decided to take a 1 day tour. In some ways I'm bummed that I didn't get to ride the Salar, but doing it in a 4x4 was sort of a real treat. The salar was brilliant – both literally in terms of light, and just such a different landscape to anything I had seen. Funnily enough though, I think one of my favourite moments though was gently dozing in the warm sun behind closed windows as we zoomed along at 80kms across the salt. Riding means you're open to the elements, especially the wind, so relaxing in a warm closed vehicle and not paying attention to driving was an absolute treat. There's not a whole lot to say about the salar, but it was a sort of surreal day of white and crystals, and we also had a great time composing and posing for each others photos.

Cementario de trens in Uyuni

Salt ready for harvesting on the salar

Yes, brilliant and amazing and beautiful ... and bright!

From Uyuni it was to Potosi – the highest altitude town of it's size in the world. The best thing about arriving in Potosi? The hot showers. The shouts of joy during and big grins from Kurt, Fred and I after our best hot shower in 2 weeks were sounds for sore ears. A couple of days in Potosi, and visit to the working silver mines and then we drove to Sucre. There is much I could say about the mines, but the working conditions are really still awful, meeting 16y/o boys who worked 8 hours at a time just chewing coca leaves, temperatures up to 50 degrees, dynamite exploding, pushing 2 tonnes of ore in wagons along narrow passages lined with arsenic, and not being able to breathe properly makes you very grateful for the lives you have.

In Potosi I also saw Mark and Bridget – 2 friends of friends who I had randomly bumped into in San Pedro in Chile. The last time I had seen them was 2 and a half years previously in London, and seeing familiar faces is always a real treat, especially when it was unexpected.

I'm rushing a bit, but I'm nearly up to where I am right now – in Sucre. The ride to Sucre from Potosi was awesome fun, lots of curves, all asphalt, more beautiful scenery. Arriving in Sucre was amazing, after coming down over 1000m, the wind was warm, the sun was setting on whitewashed colonial buildings, the atmosphere was relaxed and I really felt I was coming somewhere special.

I had always planned to stay for a while in Bolivia and take my first spanish courses in south america, and now I knew I had found that place. It really is a beautiful city, and can I really beat lying in a hammock under the bougainvillea with good coffee, a family of bikers around me and a massive central market around the corner? Hmmm... I don't think so.

So I'm putting my feet down for a while – seriously brushing up on my Spanish, indulging in luxuries like conditioner, getting to know locals, drinking good coffee and wandering the hilly streets for a month. Yes I may do some short trips, but I'm pretty stoked about staying put for a while.

As always, there's copious amounts of photos to wade through, but it really has been a challenging and beautiful couple of weeks, and hopefully the pictures can take you all there for a spell.

Abrazos y besos de aqui...

susanxo