Buenos Aires. 20th June 2007

I took quick blast from Cordoba to Buenos Aires, stopping for a night in Rosario - flat, windy farmland the whole way. Argentinean drivers are definitely the worst in all Central and South America. I rode into Buenos Aries on the Accesso Norte highway looking for a landmark I could recognize. Pretty soon and without knowing where I was going I found myself on Avenida 9 de Julio with the Obelisco up ahead. It was a great sight to mark at the end of my journey.
I’ve spent the last few days here sorting out the shipping of the bike seeing a few friends. Fraser, the guy I met in Peru, recommended I get in touch with the wonderful Sandra and Javier at Dakar Motos for information about shipping my bike home. Sandra has spent the whole day helping me with the paperwork for the Aduana at the cargo terminal here in Buenos Aires. The bike is now all set for packing in a crate tomorrow, and I’ll be flying home on the 26th. It’s taken most of the day today but for has been a fairly simple process. It would have been extremely confusing without her help.
Soon after I arrived I popped in to see my friend John from London, who lives here now. Had a nice cup of tea and picked up my new debit card I’d had sent to him. Thank you for sending that here Mum. A day or two later he and I, and his architect friend Elisa, went up the river delta in his boat for an enjoyable day looking at the land he will soon be building a house on.
I’ve also been to see my old friends Vivi and Claudio that I haven’t seen since I was here in early 2002. It’s been really nice to catch up with them and their family. Claudio is a professional contrabajo (doublebass) player. They have three nice kids; Ludmila, Mariano and Fernando, aged between 21 and 16 I think. I’m looking forward to seeing them again and hearing Claudio and his tango band. There’ll be time for dancing too before I leave.
It’s been an amazing journey to get here. I’ve met some wonderful people on the way, and seen incredible as well a quite shocking things. At some time in the future I’ll look back and think, ‘did I really do that?’ But now I’m looking forward to getting home – looking forward to another, different adventure awaiting me there. Nushka, thank you my love for being there for me at all times when I’ve needed you. And to my Mum and Dad and brother Gareth thank you too. Dad, I wish you were at home to meet me; I’d have loved to tell you about it all. I love you and miss you.
Mileage; 20910 since leaving Gareth’s farm in Ham Sud, near Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 2nd October 2006

Cordoba, Argentina. 10th June 2007

I arrived here from La Rioja where I stayed the night after a trying journey from Cafayate. I’d been heading for Talampaya National park but found I’d taken a road that was being rebuilt – all mud and dust, and smelly trucks. It took far longer than I’d expected. Not much to report from La Rioja, just an overpriced and quite rubbish hotel. I forgot it was Sunday this morning too, so have almost run out of money. I’ve found a nice hostel here in Cordoba though. Some guy is cooking lomo asado and people are being very friendly. It’s quite difficult to find the time to write anything.
After some truly dreadful roads in Bolivia it’s a relief to be in Argentina. And not only for the much better roads (unfortunately drivers on them are terrible) - for the food and good coffee too. I met up with Fraser’s friends Chris and Susie in Uyuni, on the edge of Bolivia’s amazing salt flats - take a look at the photos. They have a restaurant there making what must be the best pizzas in Bolivia. From there I took the road my American friends Kevin and Clara had taken a couple of weeks earlier to Tupiza near the Argentinean frontier. By stupidly missing the turning to the riverbed I ended up riding a couple of miles of arse-clenchingly soft, sandy shale and hairpin bends before finding my way into the river bed where everyone else was driving. Mind you, the riverbed wasn’t much better since it was just a riverbed. I passed some of the worst towns I’ve seen anywhere on that road, as well of a couple of guys working at their one-man mines. I think they were probably prospecting for silver. I stopped to change my glasses when it started to get dark. A jeep coming the other way pulled up as it passed to see if I was ok. The guys inside asked the usual questions (where have you come from, how long has it taken? etc.) so I was able to answer pretty easily. They each had a cheek bulging with chewed coca leaves and offered me some. It was late, I was tired and had at least another hour and a half to go, so it was the perfect time to chew some of the leaves locals have been using to reduce fatigue, hunger and cold for thousands of years. I chewed it until I got to Tupiza where I spat out the soggy lump. I can report that my cheek and tongue did go numb, but I’m not sure about anything else. It certainly didn’t stop me sleeping that night.
After all that excitement in Bolivia I stayed for a couple nights at a very nice hotel in Cafayate, in the wine-growing region of Salta in northwestern Argentina. I ate good very food and drank good wine with a German couple, Manfred and Heiderose, and Heidlerose’s daughter Hannah, who where kind enough to invite me to their table at the restaurant we happened to be dining in.
Traffic getting worse; I’ll be in Buenos Aires in a couple of days…
Mileage: 20242

La Paz, Bolivia, 1st June

I spent a couple more days in Lima than I’d wanted to when I arrived back waiting for my bike to be fixed. Any time spent in Lima is probably a mistake. It’s grimy and uninteresting. Huacachina on the other hand, where I stopped on my first night after leaving Lima, is a beautiful oasis. It is literally a small lake surrounded by towering sand dunes. I stayed in one of the once grand hotels for longer than I had intended. The following morning I stopped to buy some fruit at the roadside in nearby Ica and some bastard grabbed my tank bag containing my camera, gps, some money and worst of all, my journal. After spending some time trying to explain to the police what had happened and getting an official report for my insurance, I returned to Huacachina to make some calls. As well as calling the bank etc., I rang the guys at the BMW dealer in Lima because just the day before they’d said I should if ever I needed any help. I didn’t expect much, but it turned out Luis at BMW had few friends in Huacachina and made a couple of calls for me. I met with Fernando and his mate Tyson (after the boxer) and they seemed to think we might be able to get some at least of it back on the black market in Ica. Nothing turned up for a day and a half. Then another friend of theirs, Manolo, came by to tell me he’d located my camera and gps. The rest he said had gone. Probably thrown away. The filthy thieves wanted $500 US for my camera and gps. That’s not all; I was expected to give the cash to Manolo, who I could probably trust, who would give it to some other guy who was supposed to pick up my camera and gps and give it to Manolo - an easy way of losing $500 I thought. I told them to forget it.
I spent a couple of days in Arequipa buying some things to see me to Buenos Aires - a new camera for one, and some more glasses. Luckily Arequipa seems to be specs shops capital in all South America and I was able to get a pretty nice pair for about $40. So that made me feel better.
All this has made me pretty suspicious of everyone in Peru. It’s not a nice feeling. I’ll be very happy to leave. Bumping into an English guy called Fraser in Huacachina revived some of my trust in people. We got talking and he said, ‘Hey, do you know Kevin and Clara.’ These things still surprise me. Fraser lives in La Paz, Bolivia, rides a bike and they’d been in touch with him via Horizons Unlimited (the website for world-traveling bikers) asking about the roads. He was in Huacachina driving a tour bus and happed to be in Arequipa while I was there too. He gave me lots of useful advice about the roads and towns in Bolivia. I repaid him with half my supply of PG tips, with which being English he was delighted.
I passed an English couple driving a Land Rover on my way here today. I gave them a hoot and a wave as I went by. A little while later I stopped to take a couple of pictures and they pulled up. Paul and Jill and their four-year-old son, Eliot, had driven from Argentina via Chile, having first driven all over Africa in their Land Rover and were making their way north. We chatted for a while as travelers do and brewed up some tea at 4,320 meters above sea level. My PG tips was a hit again.
I had a beautiful ride along the shore of the Lago Titicaca and over the Andes to La Paz yesterday. But last night I was up quite often suffering from something I ate recently. At least I seem to be over the worst now.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be stetting off early for Potosi in the south. Mileage; 18109