Trip Summary: Buenos Aires to Machu Picchu

Traveled 7,509 km/4,661 miles in 18 days north through Salta and Jujuy, Argentina, crossing through the rough heart of Bolivia at Salar de Uyuni, then on to Machu Picchu in southern Peru. There we turned around and headed to the coast of Chile before crossing back over the Andes at San Pedro de Atacama and then onto a little outpost in northern Argentina and then back to Buenos Aires. Too many hard days of riding and too few days visiting.

Moving average: 75.8 km/hr or 47 miles/hr.
Overall average: 56.4 km/hr or 35 miles/hr.
Moving time: 99 hours
Stopped time: 34.11 hours
Data is actual from GPS at trip end.
Mileage on moto at trip end 32,160 miles

October 11, 2009 - Arrived Buenos Aires

Yesterday was hard!
We rode 757 km with a 25 knot cross wind from the east - with a bizzilion monster trucks trying to kill us on a two lane highway. Every time we encountered an oncoming truck it would interrupt the wind and create a huge vortex that would buffet and then try to throw us down - this went on for ten hours.
We rolled into a little town called Ceres about dusk and grabbed the last available room in the Grand Hotel (not) before a hot shower, mediocre pizza, cold beer before exhaustion won.
We pushed hard yesterday so that we could arrive in Buenos Aires mid-afternoon and it paid off. We rolled into the city as the sun was throwing off that golden yellow before the long shadows - really nice! 
Last night a storm blew across the country so today the winds were from the opposite direction and colder - cold is ok; no buffeting and it's sunday so fewer monster trucks!

I'm going to go back in the coming days and add details from that place - that place I swore off last time - we had some good times, lots of challenging riding, and a few travails.
A good trip - no serious accidents or injuries and we all had a great adventure!
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 9 - Dropped Gustavo at the airport in Salta

Drove 600 km - seemed casual but we were pressing pretty hard. We climbed all morning crossing the Andes early - we peaked at 4830 meters (15,846 feet, I kept waiting for the oxygen masks to fall) - partially frozen salt water lakes and nothing else!
Then we did a couple hours of amazing altiplano before hitting the unexpected (by me) - Quebrada de Humahuaca where we dropped, and cut back forever... I have some great pictures that will scare the faint at hart in the camera.
Back where we began the journey and dumped Gustavo on a plane with time to spare. Walter and I make turns for Buenos Aires tomorrow.
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 7 - Driest place on earth

This morning we left the coast and headed through the desert - drove most of the day through the driest places on earth arriving early afternoon at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
Its a trippy place - kind of what Burning Man might be if it stayed open year-round except more expensive. We're looking up at some of the highest place in South America (Cerro Sairecabur, 19,850 ft/6,050 m, a 5 hour climb from the base of ~17,500 ft, with oxygen), which is next to a salt lake and salt flats. Sand skiing/boarding is popular because the grades are steep and the sand very dry. Strange people migrate here. Its fun!

Tomorrow Gustavo wants to ride 600 km (a long day even on good roads) - except he wants to cross the Andes - we are at 2000 m now and we'll be climbing to over 4500 meters on a two lane road and then down to about 800 meters in Argentina. I'm skeptical! There's always a problem/delay here; did I mention a border crossing?
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 7 - That's Civilization up ahead?

Spent last night in a great little oasis in an otherwise barren landscape - wandered into the middle of town looking for something interesting and happened intoa very strangest pub (yep, strange) - anyway, they made a great pizza and the beer was cold.
We rode south to Chile and did the two hour blah-blah at the border - what a waste of time.

There is one of those imaginary lines here - Enter Chile and 30 seconds later everything is just different. People (everybody) doesn't honk honk honk at you, the roads are, well, paved and maintained, the people are 6 inches taller and 30 points brighter, restaurants have menus, just about everything is changed even though its the same parched dirt under their feet.

We're rolling through some of the driest places on earth today.  Tomorrow we ride into the absolute arid.
At dusk we headed to the coast and found a great Sheraton-esque hotel on the waterfront and called it a wrap. Had a pisco sour overlooking the Pacific in Iquique, northern Chile. Tomorrow we ride a half day to San Pedro de Atacama.
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 5 - Cuy-licious

This morning we left Puno on Lake Titicaca heading for Chile. We climbed up to 4,500 meters where we spent most of the day crossing the Andes - we peaked at 4594 meters = 15072 feet which is high desert.  You can tell there were so many turning optons on the road above that Gustavo felt obligated to ask the local rocket scientists for directions... Then we hit the 80 km section of tierra (earth) road - only in this case "earth" is dry sand - not good for heavy motos. we dropped air pressure and ended up only having to run about 50 km in sand - hard work but beautiful and fun.

At the end we tried to take a short cut up a hill (that I knew was a mistake). We ended up planting all the bikes to their axle in sand - no trouble you say? - try picking up and turning around a bmw 1200gs on a steep incline in the baking sun, with no footing and nothing to breath - just walking 10 feet uphill was enough to make us all gasp. (click the image below and see the trucks at the top of the hill - it's taller than you realize.)

We finally got on our way and then had a glorious downhill ride where we dropped about 10,000 feet (to alt 4,688) in about an hour through some gnarled switch-backs. I was amazed when I looked in the mirror and saw a semi barreling down on us - it shouldn't have been possible - and when we turned up the heat so did he - I got tired of this dangerous game and signaled - we all pulled over.
When we rolled into the completely unexpected oasis of Moquegua we found a great little restaurant and asked for the specialty of the house (common to only serve one item in remote areas).

We were brought fried Cuy! and an onion salad - delicioso!

Cuy(e) translation Spanish - English : cuy(e) (cuis o cuyes pl) sm (LAm) guinea pig.
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 4 - Rode the AltoPlano

A riding day through the high plains of southern Peru. We traveled at 3,750 to 4,350 meters today. Many of the people here still live an agrarian, in fact primitive, existence. The old and the very young tend meager flocks while the able use wide-bladed picks to turn plots of soil or wash clothes along mountain streams. The peaks are still much higher and make spectacular vistas.
Spent 90 minutes tightening and maintaining the moto - the handle bars almost came off in my hand as we entered town and it was gasping trying to accelerate uphill so I cleaned the air filter.
Tomorrow we ride toward Chile but there is a long section of gravel and dirt so arrival location depends on road conditions and weather.
Nick
via BlackBerry

September 3 - Machu Picchu, Peru

We spent the day at Machu Picchu.
We almost died climbing Waynapicchu (first picture) - the sacred peaked mountain adjacent to the ruins. The climb is a challenge for anyone healthy but we've all been feeling the effects of significant intestinal distress...
Tomorrow we leave Cusco heading for Chile.
Nick
via BlackBerry

More fotos from Salar de Uyuni

Been traveling at 12-14,000 feet since I left Argentina.
Nick
via BlackBerry

October 1. 2009 - the dog ate my homework

I'm in Cuzco, Peru.
I had several days of postings saved - no online access - then I hit something wrong; now its gone.
I will send a few images from Bolivia now and post more later.
Nick
via BlackBerry

September 27 - Villazon, Bolivia - a beautiful ride north, amazing vistas - and then there was la frontera...

We left the church in the central plaza of Salta this morning and drove an old single lane route north for 90 minutes before picking up the highway.
We stopped in several places I was immune to on my trip south - this really is gods country up here.
In a bit over four hours we went from 2,000 feet to almost 12,000 feet altitude. Our destination was to be a few hundred km into Bolivia except the Argentinos ran into a bureaucratic nightmare at the customs office - I cleared both aduanas an migraciones in 20 minutes - and then waited 90 minutes for my companions. Its a mystery...
The Bolivian immigration officer tried to change me the reciprocity fee of $135 until I proved I had a 5 year visa - no fees.
As I was waiting for the guys a taxi backed into my bike - bent my luggage rack - we yanked it off and bent it back but the tubing is cracked so we will try for a shop with a welder in the morning.
We found a really nice point3 star hotel and wandered down to the bus station for warm beer and pseudo-pizza for dinner - mm mm yummy!
Nick
via BlackBerry

The Journey has Begun

The trio at the start of a good day!
Nick
via BlackBerry

September 26, Somewhere circa Salta

Walter and I tweaked his moto for about an hour this morning and then loaded the bikes with our traveling config to give them a workout and practice on the new tires. We set the GPS for a really twisty road north of the city in the mountains and headed out.
The city streets became rural roads, became rutted roads, became a well maintained dirt road, and ended as a kind-of fire road (aka bolivian highway).
We decided on a route even less traveled when we saw a narrow gauge train track - it was an immediate unanimous decision - we followed that for a few km. until we hit a tressel with planks spaced too far apart to allow our tires to pass. We headed back and found a river quarry access road and took that a few km to the end of the line - see photo.
Heading back into town after about 50 km of dirt and rocks we stopped in some wide spot in the road for some (truly) home cookin'.
After getting the dirt scraped off we headed out to the airport to pick up Gustavo - we are now a trio. Over dinner we'll finalize plans for the next stage into Bolivia.

Nick
via BlackBerry

September 25, Arrived Salta.

Rolled into Salta at the same time Walter landed - he staged his bike here last week. I sent a message ahead that my bike was behaving badly (strong vibration) under load so he called a friend with a garage and I tore it down while he had the tires I brought down mounted. I'm going to give the shop a benifit-of-doubt waiver and guess that they just forgot to put in new spark plugs... Given that I found something - I checked everything - we got it all put back together as the sun was setting - didn't have anything planned for the afternoon anyway - c'est la vie.
I will take it into the hills tomorrow morning and push it hard and then its a half day off while we wait for Gustavo to arrive.
Walter ask me to explain that he looks like GeorgeBush because he has some disease - but that he's really happy inside.

Nick
via BlackBerry

September 24, San Miguel de Tucuman - just a driving day.

I drove 714 uneventful kilometers north - arrived Tucuman about 30 minutes after dark. They're having some kind of celebration in al centro and the city center is cordoned off with police at every intersection so I pulled into a nice hotel a few blocks off the central plaza. I'll grab a shower and then wander in to see the sure-to-be-amazing sights.
I'm pretty spanked so I exercised the David Goldburg hotel rule - tip the bellman immediately & well and he'll take care of you - it worked. Within 5 minutes of delivering me to my room I had a couple mini bottles of fernet (an acquired taste, no doubt), some coke , a bucket of ice and an adapter for my phone charger. Not bad for 10 bongos.
My GPS saved my GeorgeBush today - I was over-optimistic and thought I might make it all the way to Salta when the sun started to disappear - I pushed a few buttons and it found 26 km of dirt road (hence the boring foto) that cut through nowhere allowing me to grab a back-roads-route into Tucuman - when you've got good maps and know how to use it (gps), its fantastic - neither was true when I came south 18 months ago. FYI, I ride with a Garmin Zumo 550 that's been attached to the bars for every mile I've had the bike - its seen more nasty roads, vibrations and freezing rain than any electronic thing should reasonably be expected to survive and has proven to be indestructible - so far...
Tomorrow I drive the last 304 km to Salta - Walter is on an 11 AM flight out of BsAs so the timing should be perfect.
Nick
via BlackBerry

September 23, 2009, Rafaela (Sante Fe), Argentina - The start of another journey in South America!

I left Buenos Aires this morning heading north for the far reaches of Argentina. In Salta I will meet a couple of friends and we will continue north through Bolivia; this time I hope to see a few things - last time, on my way south, it hurt me pretty badly and I had to scamper home to recover. After Bolivia we head further north into Peru: destination Machu Picchu.
While I was in California my riding companion Walter took Mr. Moto to the Suzuki dealer where they did a complete service, tune up, changed all fluids, installed a new chain, and welded a crack in the crash bars. They also detailed it like I've never seen. Just before leaving Buenos Aires I installed a new battery, tires, and Ventura light guard - I also checked tight every bolt I could touch (I'm sure the dealership did the same - couldn't find any).
After 27,621 miles its still running strong - I think I bought the absolute best bike in the V-Strom 650 for these journeys!
I'm looking forward to a great trip and hope you will feel free to drop me a message, suggestion or comment.
Nick
via BlackBerry

Goggle Wipes

The good folks at Goggle Wipes sent me a box of their finest today! Its a great product that I use and like a lot (try them); they will be much appreciated next month in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. www.gogglewipes.com
Thank You!
Nick
via BlackBerry

Next... The high Andies and new territories in Norther Chile

Gearing up to go south next month; going to challenge Bolivia and Peru again, this time with company.
I'm heading down on September 10 to join a couple of friends for a ride leaving Buenos Aires to the norther frontier at Jujuy through Bolivia to Peru (Cusco/Machu Picchu) - alot of cold, high altitude riding - then we will drop down to the coast at Nazca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines) on a challenging/nasty road (I know from experience)and head south through the desert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert), diverting back into Bolivia for the Uyuni Salt Flats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni), and then further south in Chile before cutting back across the Andies at Salta Argentina and then on to Buenos Aires.
The photo is our planning session last month.

Somewhere in Uraguay there is a VERY large pile of Eucalyptus bark...

Traveled Concordia to la frontera at Colon - there was literally kilometers of trucks lined up at the border waiting for some magical paper allowing them to cross. I was greeted by an Aduana officer who couldn't figure out his job to save his life - even after he followed me through to the Uraguayan office asking inane questions (where was the paper I gave him 5 minutes ago...) - three times - before their jefe finally asked what his problem was...

While traveling south, cutting across most of the country, I kept seeing these monster trailers loaded with eucalyptus logs that had been stripped of bark - lots of them. During a short lunch six trucks rolled past. I'm guessing there is at least 20 tons of logs on each - all heading to the controversial new pulp mill on the river, so I followed one - Cowabunga Batman, that place is HUGE. Argentine picketers have determined international foreign policy and the border crossing nearest the plant remains closed as a result.

My little paper mill excursion cost me time - I missed the cut off for the five o'clock ferry by ten minutes.

I crossed through several districts of Uraguay and didn't encounter one military, police, or tax check point - how do they survive?

Uraguay has become a country motivated by cheap chinese mopeds - they are everywhere, in droves or flocks or herds.

I'm on the Buquebus now and 5 minutes out of Buenos Aires. The crossing was expensive - U$ 2,166 bongos, about U$S100.

Just over 2,000 miles this trip.

Gotta go... Buenas noches

Nick

via BlackBerry

Back to Concordia - the Mesopatomia of Argentina (who knew?)

Did the grind back to Concordia - 660 km of medium to bad roads with construction along 60% of the route. They are building a true interstate system.
I'm convinced the cops in Entre Rios have a scam on - my GPS tells me when I'm crossing state lines so as I approached Entre Rios I dialed it back - sure enough, there is a check point just past the border and, true to form, I get signaled over for inspection. All the other checks today it's "where ya from" "where ya going", "have a good day" - at this check point the officers look at the bike, do a quick huddle, and a woman comes over; does she ask for license and title like and other document inspection? Nice try, Guess again... The first word out of her mouth is Seguro! She wants my proof of insurance, required by law, but which no foreigners have. When I reached into my wallet and pulled out my certificate she went bug-eyes, checked it against the bike, and then shouted over to her co-conspirators (in shock) - he has it! The jefe (boss) waved her off and she gave me my card, waved me off, turned around and stomped off. I smiled, cursed, and twisted throttle.
I'll say it again - I don't understand why they tollerate the police-state mentality on their roads.
BTW, Getting insurance took me, working with local friends making calls, two days. Then, when I got the policy in the mail several weeks later about 50% of the lines which had customer data were wrong and it took two trips and several faxed documents and several weeks more to correct the policy. Needless to say, when I renewed, I didn't shop the policy.
I'm back at the great parrilla I visited on the way north but changed hotels to one with a star (1) - likely issued in the 40's - but at least they had a room with something larger than a child's bed - the first place I checked into didn't, so I left .
Tomorrow I cross into Uruguay and run down the river to the old port of Colonia where I will catch the ferry to Buenos Aires. Its a longer day than staying in Argentina but Mr. Moto needs new papers and leaving the country is the easiest way to get them. I'm not looking forward to two international borders but when in Rome... play by their rules and smile (or leave, because it just doesn't pay to buck the system).
It's too bad I'm home tomorrow because I've just got all my moto-muscles in shape (well, almost; now I remember why I spent the $ on the custom seat, which I brought back to the USofA - stupid).
I'm also wondering why I've never seen Pamplona Chicken on a menu anywhere else? Try it!

Nick
via BlackBerry

La Bonita to Posadas

Heading south. Route 2 was designed for motos - no traffic, rolling hills with swoopy curves. I took it as far as I could before cutting across the state for the night - the selection further south on that road was slim and none and I didn't want to be forced to ride into the cold night (violins please).
En route I stopped at this little wide spot in the road and stumbled into a brazilian barbecue place extrordinaire! All the various meats plus salads and veggies you can eat for $28 pesos including the beer - Tasty! Even better - the place was full of fun locals speaking german with brazilian accents. The owner sat down to chat as he was serving me explaining about his crazy customers - when he got my story he and every teenager around had to go out and look at the bike.
The final run into Posadas was uneventful and I'm back at the same comfortable hotel.
Tomorrow I divert into Uruguay.
Nick
via BlackBerry