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...

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?

a pensive day at the office

this morning i'm writing at a cascade - waterfall near between 2 small
communities of La Pajcha and Postrevalle just south of Samaipata.

Yeseterday was a tough riding day - and to top it off I dropped the bike
and sprained my right foot. bollocks. why do I keep wrecking my ankles
and feet? I think it stems from the fact that I don't fall gracefully -
instead of keep feet and other body parts free of a falling bike, I
somehow manage to be a tangle of limbs that get caught under and twisted.

Luckily we were about 5 kms from the next town, and so I rode Philipe's
sidecar and he my bike to the town where I went to the hospital. After
the not so friendly attitudes of the people in Vallegrande, I had a
really lovely chat with the doctor and nurses, and after getting my feet
wrapped and a shot of antiinflammatory, as well as some extra pills, I
was sent on my merry way for the princely sum of 29 bolivianos (about
US$5). Seeing Philipe on my bike (I was riding behind as the sidecar
creates more dust) was an odd sight - I kept thinking he was too tall
for the bike, and wondered how it could carry a person and all my
luggage. I suppose that you rarely see yourself from behind on the bike,
makes mewonder whether I look just as dubious balancing on the lil red
machine.

Back to the pensive day at the office - the office this morning is the
cascades, and the pensiveness comes from not being able to move (my
sprain is pretty much blowing up my right foot blue and is not so fun to
hobble around on) and being in such a tranquil location. Also Philipe
and I have had some interesting conversations about life, love, passions
and commitment - a combination of being back on the road (giving lots of
time to think while riding), learning about Che and his passions and
past and future relationships.

Not sure if we'll head onto Samaipata - it's about 70kms and about 3
hours drive for us... or just chill out at the awesome campsite we found
while looking for the cascades. Part of me wants to just chill, but the
other part wants to continue moving and actually reach Samaipata (just
as a point of comparison we have been on the road for 6 days already -
and Maciek, another rider, made the same journey plus more in 1 day).

ps... just realised... pensive in english I used in the context of being
thoughtful - pensar in spanish is the verb 'to think'. interesting huh!