Hi All,
I left Cococabana after two liesurely breakfasts at 11:30am...about an hour behind schedule with the hope of making Desdagauda...a very sleazy border town before dark. I was nervous about the road conditions, no map, passing thru immigration and most nervous about my where I'd be sleeping that night. I'd heard nothing good about the border town.
I left Cococabana after two liesurely breakfasts at 11:30am...about an hour behind schedule with the hope of making Desdagauda...a very sleazy border town before dark. I was nervous about the road conditions, no map, passing thru immigration and most nervous about my where I'd be sleeping that night. I'd heard nothing good about the border town.
Leaving Bolivia - The army guys were very helpful and friendly
Entering Peru was also easy and everybody was freindly :)
The weather was nice and the roads were great...smooth asphalt and very little traffic. Once in Peru a nice lady drew me a crude map but I had no idea of mileage, my spanish is work in progress...worse case i'd get a little lost but I was in no hurry.
I stopped in a very small town...to make sure o was still heading towards Chaca Chaca (where i had to turn to the east). The man immediated beakoned a young man named Carlos who spoke a little English.
Entering Peru was also easy and everybody was freindly :)
The weather was nice and the roads were great...smooth asphalt and very little traffic. Once in Peru a nice lady drew me a crude map but I had no idea of mileage, my spanish is work in progress...worse case i'd get a little lost but I was in no hurry.
I stopped in a very small town...to make sure o was still heading towards Chaca Chaca (where i had to turn to the east). The man immediated beakoned a young man named Carlos who spoke a little English.
Carlos with his ride
Carlos takes my ride for a spin...I did worry about him riding off into the sunset ;)
Carlos was a great guy and wanted me to meet his mother and also wanted to pump up my tires with his floor pump...as anybody who has raced with me will testify - I hate to fix my own bike ;). I also meet his dog Lassie...a great puppy that had me missing my own dog Trooper.
I ended up staying for over an hour while his Mother cooked a meal for me...
His family is very poor, they live a single room house. I was afraid to eat the food but I was also pretty hungry...I ended up eating all the different kinds of potatoes but avoided the egg. I did give them a small amount of $ ($3) so I think they were surprized and pleased and not too offended i did not finish my meal. I am constantly impressed with the openess & generousity of the local people I have met.
I was escorted out of town by 3 teenage boys on bikes...as we neared a decent climb I said 1,2,3 (in spanish) and tried to out sprint them to the top...Heras would defend the honor of his village and beat me handily...I should have waited just a bit longer to attack! ;)
Sprinting at 13,500ft is not to be rccommended :)
I ended up staying for over an hour while his Mother cooked a meal for me...
His family is very poor, they live a single room house. I was afraid to eat the food but I was also pretty hungry...I ended up eating all the different kinds of potatoes but avoided the egg. I did give them a small amount of $ ($3) so I think they were surprized and pleased and not too offended i did not finish my meal. I am constantly impressed with the openess & generousity of the local people I have met.
I was escorted out of town by 3 teenage boys on bikes...as we neared a decent climb I said 1,2,3 (in spanish) and tried to out sprint them to the top...Heras would defend the honor of his village and beat me handily...I should have waited just a bit longer to attack! ;)
Sprinting at 13,500ft is not to be rccommended :)
Heras...the young man has a future...already wearing the colors
I rode on really enjoying the countryside as well as the friendly villagers...lots of friendly waves, hello's, good days and how are you? etc:)
The lady in the background is washing clothes
This is typical Anti Plano views from one of the smaller climbs
After about 50km a guy on a motor cycle passed me a few times and then indicated that something/someone important was up just ahead...a few minutes later I met a couple of fellow adventure cyclists...Paulina & Santiago from Argentina.
Paulina & Santiago (2 years exploring SA on bike...I was jealous!)
It was great to meet my "brother in arms" and we discussed upcoming road conditions, routes, bikes. It was great to learn there was a hostel in Desaguarda (even though it was bad!) and that i only had 20km of flat riding to get there. They were totally hard core...notive their HUGE packs they were carrying...they had been travelling for 2 1/2 months and were looking forward to spending 2 years (!!!) explorering South America by bike.
I took a short video so they can speak for themselves...they were both very cool people :)
I was able to give them a map good maps are VERY tough to come by in this part of the world.
I was sad to see them leave and did for a bit regret having a travelling companion...especially a good looking one like Paulina :) and rode on to Desaguarda...that bloody antiplano wind came on like clockwork at 4pm and I spent the last 1.5 hours struggling into a growing headwind.
This guys name was Alex and he reminded me of my nephew in New Zealand of the same name...checky as! behind him is a kilm for making bricks...the poorer home in the villages and the farm buildings were made of adobe and the slightly better homes were made of locally (1/2 mail away) made bricks.
About 45min later I was struggling along past a group of about 20 villagers playing volleyball...they beckoned me to stop and play but to be honest I was a bit intimidated. I was thinking close to the border meant increasing danger but i didn't want to wimp out so i rode back and joined them for about 5 minutes of spirited play.
They were cool and obviously were taking it very easy on me...although I did have a huge height advantage...bring on basketball next time:) I was too scared to give up my camera so sadly no shots of air-Neal ;)
Soon after I bid them farewell i had another riding partner (its rare in Bolivia or Peru that I rode along for more than an hour)...a young man named Aru would ride with me all the way to the Peruvian/Bolivian border town of Desaguarda...i am not sure but I think he may have been looking out for me. We chatted as best we could in Spanish/sign language and I shared my water with him. He was a really cool guy...I wish i could had given him something - I think he'll do great things with his life.
Aru wishing me luck as I left Peru...i was happy of his "security" escort
I paused in no man's land for a quick pic
Desaguarda is a nasty little town and crossing back into Bolivia was not straight forward - I did not get the right stamp leaving Peru and of course no one spoke a bit of English anywhere...I eventually got it sorted, crossing back to Peru and then back to Bolivia again. By this time the sun was setting and I felt like I was a likely victim in a Quintin Tarrantino vampire movie...I felt the need to be behind locked doors before the sun went down!
I found a hostel 100m from the border for 15 Bolivianos (US$2) a night...hardly 5 star but it had a locked door and decent security for my bike...i was starving so I got a good meal from a small roadside stand (fried chicken, rice and fries) for US$0.80
A bed and a locking door for US$2...a good deal
I went back to my hostel and asked the daughter of the inn keeper to find me a grande cervesa (beer)...by 7pm I was safely in my room - i didn't leave until the sun came up!
All the best and cheers,
Neal
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