The Americas 2013

We had an early start so that we could explore Arequipa. We walked around the old town and got in the bulk of the sights that are achievable in a morning but the stand out sight must have been the Santa Catalina monastery where wayward woman from the early days were sent to repent their sins.

The Arequipa church in the daylight.

Traditional Peruvian woman weaving blankets..

The following images are all inside the Santa Catalina Monastery….

And, the changing face of Arequipa. The modern meets the old..

We left Arequipa at around 12:30 to head for Puno and although we were expecting “some” rain on route nothing could have prepared us for the weather we encountered. About 50km out of Arequipa the temperature rapidly dropped to around 7C as we climbed over 3000m and the the rain started in buckets. As we climbed higher the rain became hail and by the time we peaked at about 4500m we were riding through snow and below 2C! It was a nightmare!

Our days ride.

The ride was a short 300km but it took us 4.5 hours due to the mountainous roads and weather conditions. We got into Puno just after sunset and if the riding conditions of the day hadn’t been challenging enough already, we couldn’t get to our hotel because the road was closed due to road works. This resulted in endless frustration in the wet and cold and homicide became a real consideration when some plonker parked us into a dead end road!

One of the views on route to Puno when the clouds cleared for a moment!

After we had got to our hotel, parked the bike and checked in we headed straight for a skanky little bar for a drink and a pizza to warm up. After that it was an early night. Tomorrow we rest up in Puno for the day to see Lake Titicaca and the sights of the town.

Today was a short run of 372km to Arequipa, also known as the white city of the Andes because so much of the city is constructed from Silar, a rock that is made as a result of the volcanic eruptions from the neighbouring volcano, El Misti.

The city is old and beautiful. Founded in 1540 by the Spanish it has magnificent architecture and lies in beautiful surroundings in the Andes.

Our days ride…

Again, the ride there was through more desert which seems to run quite a long way north into Peru and what started soon after we left Santiago in Chile, however, because it was a short run it wasn’t a problem, we were able to do the ride quite quickly and got to our destination just after lunch.

The desert continues to deliver beautiful, if stark vistas but the climate and surrounds as we started to climb to Arequipa that sits at an altitude of 2300m has started to change and become a little more green.

It has occurred to me that I have done almost as many kilometres thus far as I did on my total ride from Cape Town to Cairo as we have completed nearly 14,000km since the 9th of January. Long daily rides that are peppered with difficult terrain over a prolonged period and limited rest is resulting in that “bone tiredness” that I remember well from C to C and so on arrival in Arequipa, whilst I wanted to get out and explore, my body decided that sleep was more important and we promptly passed out for a few hours and woke up in time for dinner.

What we got to see of Arequipa tonight was limited however we are staying at a great hotel called Sonesta Posadas Del Inca which is in a historical building right on the main square facing the church and dinner was had on the patio overlooking the vibrant nightlife of this beautiful town.

The beautiful church of Arequipa overlooking the main square.

We are planning to spend the morning here tomorrow to explore a little before heading on to Puno.

We Left Calama early this morning because we had a long 660km run through the desert plus a border crossing before reaching our destination of Tacna in Peru.

Our Days ride…

The ride through the desert, whilst beautiful because of its ever changing hues, is nothing but straight, hot and monotonous.Needless to say, Jacqui’s picture taking ability from the back of the bike is quite amazing and we managed to capture quite a few shots that convey the beauty of the desert in Northern Chile.

Small communities living in the desert..

The Ever present!!!

The border crossing itself was unremarkable and similar to the argentine and Chilean procedures but for some small nuances and different paperwork, but we were in and out of both sides within an hour and a half. From there it was only another 50kmto Tacna and we arrived at our hotel at sunset.

Goodbye Chile, Hello Peru..

Peru is 7 hours behind South Africa and gaining the additional 2 hours is a bonus. We quickly unpacked, showered and headed out for some dinner in the hope of finding traditional Peruvian cuisine, instead we opted for Peruvian Chinese which is SUPER popular in these parts and called “Chifa” because its blended with Peruvian ingredients..my “Chapsui de Pollo” (Chicken Chopsuey) was fantastic but Jacqui’s Peking duck tasted like it had been boiled in its own juices and served! Yum!

Being Sunday night and still school holidays there were some festivals going on so we walked around the town a little before getting to bed around 10pm. All in all a good day.

Tacna main square, church and festival..

We left San Pedro de Atacama today with the intention of heading to Iquique about 200km from the Peruvian border that we are wanting to cross tomorrow.

Because we had heard so much about the beauty of the El Tatio Geysers only 90km from San Pedro we decided it would be a good idea to go to the Geysers first before heading to Iquique. We queried the road conditions with the staff at the hotel before leaving because we knew from the map that the road to the geysers was dirt, and they advised us that the road was “just fine”!!…

So we head off and at first the road IS fine albeit dirt that is hard packed. Within 20km from San Pedro however,the road has deteriorated into an absolute mess..huge rocks, craters, thick sand and to add to it all, we were rapidly climbing in altitude into the Andes. After about 45 minutes of this Jax has a headache and is feeling nauseous, so I take a quick look at our altitude and it turns out that we are now over 4000m and still some 50km from the Geysers! Crap!

The GPS Graph of our ride today..

Turning around wasn’t an option because the road had been so bad, so we pushed on in the hope that the road would improve, we would see the geysers and then head on with our journey! Unfortunately, it didn’t improve,the altitude peaked at 4522m and it took us over 2 hours to do the 90km to the geysers. Although the altitude definitely impacts negatively on concentration and the physicality of managing a fat BMW plus pillion plus luggage on roads like these, I must say that although I would have LOVED the KTM today, lil Fatty delivered the goods Just Fine…In fact, I am certain she lost a few pounds today and has started to look a little more attractive to me!!

El Tatio Geysers..

Notwithstanding how difficult the ride and the conditions of today were, we are both over the moon about the fact that we did this ride. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience to witness this part of the world. Its mountainous desert surrounded by snow capped peaks. Very little grows up there but the air is crisp and the landscape littered with Vicunas (a type of lama) and endless beautiful vistas.

Our ride today was only some 220km but when we got to Calama, a town only 100km from San Pedro at about 16h30, we decided to not push on any further. We are spending the night here and will depart early tomorrow for the Peruvian border.

El Tatio Geysers..

Today was a rest day at Awasi in San Pedro de Atacama. We slept late, had a hearty breakfast and then took a short excursion into the Salt Pans where we got an opportunity to swim in the salt lakes that have 10 times more salt density than the dead sea.

All in all just a generally lazy day exploring the town and resting up.

Today we headed for San Pedro de Atacama in the middle of the Chilean Atacama desert. This has been a destination that has been on my “must see” list for years so we were both quite excited to get there.

The ongoing ride through the desert means that there was not much to stop for to take pics but the starkness of the desert is peaceful and beautiful.

It seems that the Range indicator on the BMW is faulty. When we left TalTal it read a fuel range of 230km with the fuel onboard, however, as soon as we were far enough away from TalTal it suddenly dropped to 100km with 150km to go to the closest petrol station. This resulted in doing the next 150km through the desert at a speed of 80km/h in order to conserve fuel…Boring doesn’t begin to describe this!!

Our days ride…

Valley of the moon…

We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama at around 18h00 and checked into an amazing Relais and Chateaux hotel called Awasi where we are spending the next 2 nights. The accommodation, service, and food is awesome and we are looking forward to the rest.

Licancabur Volcano..

Happy Birthday TamTam

We left La Serena at around 12pm today because we decided to have a lazy morning. Breakfast, a walk on the beach and a lazy pack up and leave. We had a Loooooonnnng ride of 675km to TalTal today so it really was a day of pushing quite hard and didn’t stop to take many pics.

Our days ride…

The ride along the Chilean coast as we head North has started to become distinctly drier and it is obvious that the landscape is becoming desert as we had anticipated because we are headed for San Pedro De Atacama which is in the middle of the desert.

The ride of yesterday and today has taken us from altitudes of sea level to 3800m and back so it is playing havoc with our systems.

Some might question why the long rides? Well, the ride up the Argentine side would have put us in Atacama by Friday the 22nd with an average of 400km days which are nice and manageable. The decision to come back into Chile coupled with the idea that we should get to Atacama a day early in order to rest and enjoy 3 nights there (versus 2) has resulted in having to go a little further each day and quite frankly, pushing hard and fast through the desert is not a bad thing as there is not much to see, do or stay.

That said, TalTal has proven to be a surprise. A coastal town that is VERY cute. we stayed at a great little place called Hotel MiTampi. When we arrived at 21h00 the owner told us she had no rooms available and was very sweet in phoning around for us and directing us to other places, however, when she saw the disappointment and exhaustion in our faces she called a guest that hadn’t shown up yet and because they didn’t answer she gave us their room…BONUS!! The hotel is clean, warm, comfortable and the owners are SUPER helpful! We went for dinner at a great restaurant called Las Brasas where we gorged ourselves because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. TalTal is definitely worth a brief visit on route North!

After the events of yesterday, I lay in bed considering why we had come across to Argentina in the first place. It occurred to me that the only reason that we had done this crossing was because I wanted to see the Punta Del Inca and Aconcagua, the highest mountain in Argentina, both of which we missed because we ended up doing the crossing at night! The journey north on the Argentine side to Salta was ONLY because of the sites on this crossing that we missed so I lay there contemplating the viability of carrying on to Mendoza at all!

Punta Del Inca

Whilst we sat waiting for the road to open yesterday we met a German biker called Hubert that mentioned that the only other Argentine/Chilean crossing through the Andes further North had been closed 2 weeks ago due to heavy rains. A quick squiz at the weather forecast further north of Mendoza showed rain for the remainder of the week so that was enough to convince me that we should turn around and head back to Chile and simultaneously get to see the sights we missed. This turned out to be a great call because although it resulted in a long 590km ride to La Serena on the Chilean coast, we rode the pass in the most amazing weather and get to ride without any rain forecast for the remainder of this coming week.

Our 590km ride today

Some of the Vistas through the Andes taken with a helmet cam..

The ride up the Chilean coast was beautiful and fast due to the great road conditions but uneventful. We reached La Serena at about 8pm after having departed Uspalata at around 10am and found wonderful accommodation right on the beach. A dinner of traditional Chilean cuisine, a few beers and a bottle of wine and we passed out at about 11pm.

Jacqui and I arrived in Santiago late last night after 15 hours of flying. On the up side, Santiago is 5 hours behind South Africa so we gained the time and it makes the Jet lag easier to deal with. Because the last week at home was frenetic and we never got to have a valentines dinner, we had planned a late dinner at the hotel to have a belated Valentines which was fantastic and the bottle of wine made sure we passed out as our heads hit the pillow.

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We have all heard the saying, “pick the right tool for the job”! I have deliberated over my bike choice for the remainder of the journey since the 4th of January and have decided to go with the BMW. The reasoning behind this is:

• The 99% of tar between Santiago and New York,
• The 33L Fuel Tank which will provide a 500km + range
• The shaft drive
• The tubeless tyres
• The Electronic suspension settings
• The BMW Network around North and South America
• The availability of the tyre size
• The comfort factor for Jacqui.

If the forthcoming ride was more along the lines of Patagonia like we completed on Leg 1, the choice would be easy. The KTM would be coming with me. There is no doubt that the KTM is my first Love and will continue to be so. The BMW feels almost soul-less by comparison but “tools” seldom have souls. Here is to hoping I have made the right choice and so….

The morning of the 18th was all about getting out to the shippers to make sure that the KTM was properly cratered and ready to go before heading back to the hotel to pack and get on our way to Mendoza, or that was the plan anyway.

We were dressed, Lil Fatty was packed and suddenly, I noticed a massive pool of oil at my feet! Oh God!! BMW here we go! Have I made a mistake choosing you??!!?? It was now 14h30, we had a 400km ride, a border crossing and a mountain pass over the Andes and now before we even go anywhere the fat one vomits her essential fluids onto the entrance courtyard of the Ritz Carlton..NICE!!

So off to BMW we go, I have steam coming out of my ears because only 2 weeks ago these guys rushed me R6500 for a 40,000km service; I have agonised over my bike choice and even though my first love is my KTM, I have given the BMW the benefit of the “right tool” doubt and now, the next 40,000km leg of this journey hasn’t even started and the niggles have already begun!! Fortunately, the repair was a minor one and only took half an hour but it was enough to keep me smouldering for the next hour!

We eventually get on our way, its 15h30 and sunset is at 20h30. We are merrily riding along, the scenery is beautiful as we enter the twisty mountain roads of the Andes and then..we hit a queue of cars and this road sign….BUGGER!!

What it says is “Roadwork’s underway on route 60. Traffic from Argentina into Chile is from 08h00 to 19h00 and traffic from Chile into Argentina (what we are doing) is from 20h00 to 07h00”!! So a night time ride on twisty mountain roads at an altitude of 3200m and temps of between 0 and 5C with 200km still to go!!!! Did I say BUGGER??

Where we sat for 4 hours waiting for the road to open…

Condors over the Andes..

So at 20h00 with half an hour of light left we hit the road at an average speed of 60km/h up the pass. By now we have already decided that we are not going all the way to Mendoza some 200km away but are going only as far as we have to due to road conditions and that is Uspalata on the Argentine side, some 100km from where we have sat waiting for the last 4 and a half hours.

Our ride for the day..

Riding alone through the mountains on the bike at night was strangely surreal. You feel like a very small island of light drifting through an immense blackness that conjures up comforting, and at the same time, nervous emotions. Needless to say, we arrived at Uspalata at about 22h30 and started trying to find accommodation which we eventually did at an old, but clean and comfortable hotel called the “Hotel Gran Uspalata”. We had missed dinner so went to bed exhausted and happy with a bag of crackers and a beer…Yummy!

What a great start to Leg 2 of the Americas!

We left Pucon at about 9am in pouring rain and rode in the wet for the first 200km of our route to Chillan where we were planning to spend the night. We stopped for coffee and took a look at Chillan accommodation options and when nothing outside of flea bag motels came up we decided to push on to Santiago.

Our ride for the day.

We ended up riding 820km on the day but it has been SO worth it! We are staying at the Ritz Carlton and this is now the end of Leg 1. We leave Santiago sometime next week once we have sorted out the shipping of the bike that is going home and the servicing of the one staying behind.

No doubt the question on everybody’s mind is which bike am I keeping for the remainder of the trip? This shall be divulged at the beginning of Leg 2. In the meantime, I am going home to see family, friends, dog, home and business and will be back in Santiago on the night of 17 February and will only post again on the 18th of Feb.

Ritz Carlton Santiago…

Our total ride so far has consisted of approx 9400km for me and about 8400km for Enrico due to the “fatty bom boms” (as my Tam calls her) tyre requirements!! The ride through Argentina and Chile has been Epic to say the least because the dirt roads were manic, the old bullet was brave and the fat girl was contained and although I write this perhaps a little inebriated due to the devils Pisco Sours on our last night in Chile, I cant think of a better way to have taken on, and kicked Patagonia’s ass!!

Leg 1 Total ride. If anyone wants the GPS trip log, please post and I will send it to you.

Thank you for the ride and Happy 60th Birthday Enrico. I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Rui Nobre and Enrico Devoty.

Santiago, Chile, 1 February 2013