November 8, 2015

Day 58-62

waiting for the border to open

waiting for the border to open

Oct 31st day 58 on the road. So the night before I slept in a hut that I thought no one was around so I woke up in the mud and stone 3 wall building hopefully to get a sweet picture of my home for the night.  Well when I walked out of the small house there was a family like 40ft away outside of there house doing things already (it was 7am).  So I awkwardly packed my stuff up fast and got on my bike out of there cause not sure if i just slept in a dead family members house or what so didnt want to try an talk spanish or understand.  So get to the border at 735 well the damn border is closed till 8.  I was able to at least get stamped out of peru awhile and give my bike exportation papers.  Finally the border was open so crossed over the bridge into Bolivia but had to wait in a damn line for a hour an half for immigration cause all the tour buses from peru to bolivia were just now crossing as well.  So had to get a visa for bolivia for 160$ most expensive visa yet but no problem thats the way it is the main problem was I had to pay in USD even though they have there own currency well the 200$ in usd I had the 20$bills were not up to there standard. So he accepted only 120 of the bills  so he told me that I had to go

the Valley of La Paz

City La Paz in the Valley

back across the border an get better bills.  So I ran back over to peru go to atm got usd out came back and he accepted again only 2 of the 5 other 20$ bills I got.  Anyways got my visa went to import my motorcycle only took like 5mins and then on my way to La Paz Bolivia to meet my boy Dru. (who is from the same city as me in york PA an moved to cali few years ago not far from me yet we never see each other do to different ways of life)  So I get into the hotel Dru booked in La Paz around 1 but he is already out exploring the city but he brought me a new iphone (yeah another one of these piece of shit) so I load up

what could be our fatal last photo together ha

what could be our fatal last photo together ha

new phone and get it working contact him and we finally meet up.  We have a 6am wake up call to go ride mountain bikes down the death road so we grab some beers together for a few hours cause it is Halloween after all but call it a early night. Day 59 6am came super fast and unfortunately neither one of us slept cause the night before we drank coco tea an I guess like cocaine (which comes from coca leaves) it didnt allow us to sleep.  So we get dressed head to the meeting spot which was Olivers Pub grab a 3dollar breakfast and by the time we finish everyone was there an we were ready to head up the hill 4,700m/15,400 feet.  After a 45min drive up they give us our gear and down the hill we begin. The first part of the stage was paved roads so nothingn crazy but I think it gave people a chance to adjust to the bikes.  It was like 830am so it was damn cold out

nothing but a straight drop from here

nothing but a straight drop from here

and foggy.  We finally finish the paved road section we load the bikes up cause there a small up hill section to reach the original death road and riding uphill is lame so we all agree on throwing the bikes back on and driving it.  We unload and start our decent down the original death road ( the paved section is the new death road section).  We mob it down 45km (28miles) stopping randomly through out the trip and we finish up at the bottom where the tour guide bought us all one beer and threw out some freebies.  We all get

this guy was all over the place at the animal rescue

this guy was all over the place at the animal rescue

back in the bus and went to a rescued animal thingy but funny thing is with this rescued animal shit there all in cages so its ridiculous but anyways we ate dinner there and then the bus drove us back up death road.  The main reason for driving back up it was mainly so we could see the beauty of the road since when riding down we didnt have all that good of a chance.  We get back into town Dru and I head to our hotel an we both pass out. Day 60 2 months on the road an what better way to start the day off then ride nuts to butts on my bike down to Ouro.  First dru needed to find a helmet we get one from the tour guide of the death road and off we go but first we stop at Moon Valley.  Checked out this amazing place that was smack dab in the middle of a the suburbs of the city.

arrived at moon valley

arrived at moon valley

Walk around grab some photos and then off we go heading south 3hrs to Ouro.  We arrived freezing cold so we park the bike unpack it and look for food to warm us up.  We walk around a little bit to find a place to eat and call it a early night cause the next day were not sure what to expect.  My garmin Dru map apps google maps and the front desk guy all kinda of say not to go this one way hell the apps dont even suggest it as a route to go the way  but I want to go.  The other way we would go 3x the miles through the mtns to Protosi then to Uyuni.  But after Dru stood behind my decision to take my route from Ouro to Uyuni straight we were going to do just that but he wanted to leave early in case something were to happen run out of gas crash or have to turn around whatever it may be.  So Day 61 we get up at 6am pack the bike and head out by 7 to Uyuni. Since it was so early in the morning an considered were still 3709meters/12,168ft high it was fucking bitter

we got a long road ahead Dru

we got a long road ahead Dru

cold.  We load up on gas even 2 extra 2 liter water bottles as well as my 2 5liters spare cans I have on my boxes because not sure what to expect.  So were finally on the road heading south the first bit of the ride I was like see nothing to worry about but then the off roading began.  We manage the first half of the day to stay up on 2 wheels but shortly around 11am there was a section where the off road gravel was going to join with hard packed clay an right there i hit a bunch of sand and you cant just let off  the gas cause then you will definitely just go down so I gas it through i got pushed wide hit a sandy

our crash site damn sand

our crash site damn sand

rut and then a embankment and both Dru and I hit fluffy sand.  I thought it was damn hilarious Dru im sure was a bit woken up by it but we were both safe an sound.  I flop the bike up right pull it onto the hard pack clay and we both chuckle about it.  We get back on the bike and off we go.  The road continued through out the 200km (120miles) to do that constantly paved to hard pack clay to off roading detours.  I enjoyed the day finally got to do some riding I wished for Dru sake he was not along for it cause it did make it difficult and of course i took it a bit easy not to injure him in my erratic driving.  We arrived in the city of Uyuni safe and sound in only 4 an half hours.  The other way said it would take 7 and with dru on the back going through the mtns im sure it would of taken longer than that.  We get checked into our hotel drop our stuff up and head out in the city of Uyuni to look for a tour company for the tomorrow to go out on the salt

arrived in downtown Uyuni

arrived in downtown Uyuni

flats.  The city is more like a town so it was super small with not much to offer so we walked around took photos of sculptures booked our trip and of course had some food and beers before ending back up at the hotel that night. Day 62 after getting up we grab the free breakfast down stairs pack some stuff up for the tour an head down to the company which was only 2 blocks away.  The tour left at 11 an first stop was at the train graveyard.  Uyuni was supposedly built on by the buisiness of the railroad and this graveyard was all just withered trains were left to rot out in the desert for some reason.  After that we head to a small town 20min away where we view the making of salt from the bricks which was pretty lame all he did was bag the salt didnt actually see the making of it.  We leave there and finally head out to the salt flat hotel where we eat lunch.  We all take some photos around the hotel till our

its dry out here so figured help my little friend Dru out

its dry out here so figured help my little friend Dru out

guide sets up our lunch. We eat and then off we go to the middle of the flats to take those infamous goofy photos.  After we finish up there we head to fish island which at this point I have no idea what the hell fish island is or what to expect but come to find out its this island with cactus all over in the middle of the salt flat desert.  We soon learn a history lesson that the salt flats were the flat bed of the atlantic ocean years ago before drying up and this island we are looking at is all coral

a small hick up

a small hick up

actually.  Now as for the cactus they really dont know how they got there they believe since its a island in the middle of the desert theythink wind could of blown there seeds there or animals.  So we get some awesome views of the salt flats from the top of the island which is a damn mtn.  We finish up there and head back into town just before our jeep gets a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.  The tire gets switched and we finally arrive back in town just before dark.  Dru and I grab dinner with the group on the tour which was a holland couple and a girl by herself from germany.  We bullshit about our travels and then the 3 of them hop on a bus at 8 to head back to la paz arriving 12hrs later the next day.  Dru and I grab a few beers at a pub down the street and just end the night because like i mentioned theres not much of anything to do in this town.

the view from fish island

the view from fish island

 

More articles