December - 22 to January - 4, 2003: Puno, Bolivia and, Chile . .. Wrap-Uptodate!

Odometer: 20,735

This will be the first installment of text only reporting. That is, there will be no accompanying pictures as, since my poorly chosen track from Arequipa to Cusco surly rattled my sense of what it is to be alive, it rattled my PC to death. My PC harddrive es muerte! What this means of course is that I have no way of uploading pics

But, I can still write and that´s what I´m gonna do. I consider these pages more of a note taking exercise, or diary if you wish, for that day when the big bucks publishers seek me out. Then I´ll have all these notes for the ghost writer I will hire ☺

From Cusco, on Christmas day, I travelled shouteast towards Puno. From Puno, which is right on Lake Titicaca, you can hire a guide and boat to take you out onto the lake and check out the Uros island formations. The Uros are a combination of two (or more..not really paying attention here) different tribes of indigenous people, mostly Uros and finally Uros. My guide says there is no such thing as Uros anymore. Whatever. They all live on the lake and they do this by stacking piles and piles of reeds into big reed mats that become, essentially, islands!

On the islands, the indians build reed huts and umbrellas to stay out of the sun and weather. They also build reed canoes. Stepping off the boat onto an island reminds me of walking in a really deep shag. Until another boat goes by and you realice the 50 yard by 70 yard shag is bobbing up and down on the water.

Puno is definitely all tourist town. It also a great place to get good buys on Alpaca garments. I picked up a sweater, cap and matching socks for around $12! And believe me, these items cam in handy as I crossed into Bolivia the next day.

The Bolivian border crossing was fairly simple. There were the young men, equivelant to the Central American tramitadores, but so far here in South America the border crossings have been very mild. Maybe I´m just getting used to the routine and not letting all the confusion of the kids get to me.

From the border to La Paz, there are two military checkpoints. La Paz itself is and awsome city to view from above. Hugh mentioned to me that Copabahmba was probably a better place to spend the new year as it seemed to have more going for it. I´m guessing Hugh drove right by the city proper, an easy thing to do if you don´t intend to stay. La Paz from Puno must be approached via an autopiste carved into the side of some of the mountains that surround the city. Until I found the autopiste and saw the city below me, I was making the same mistake Hugh made thinking there wasn´t much to the place!

Aside from how the city is situated (some 14,000 plus feet above sea level), in between mountains dropping from a mesa and a Cordillera, including a volcano, it is a happening place to be. While tooling around and getting lost, I stopped a guy on an African Twin (motorcycle) and began quizzing him as to the whereabouts and possibilities for new tires. The cheapy Taiwan tire I put on in Quito had just about had it after the outback experience.

The gentleman I quizzed drew me a map to tha alto Ferraria that occurs on Sundays and Thursdays (open market above the city) and, noting my foriegn accent or my lack of vocabulary, he also gave me good directions to the Rosario Hotel. Nice guy!

They where nice guys/gals at the Rosario as well, allowing me to drive my bike right into the lobby for security, no extra charge. This phenomenon just would NOT occur in the USA.

Anyway, the next day was Sunday so it was predetermined, destiny, I would be going to the open market. Mucho, Mucho gentes. Everywhere, selling everything you could think up. After wallowing in the bus and taxi traffic to get to the appointed area where moto tires are sold, again the kind Bolivians who recognized my foriegn nature guided me to a place where motorcycles could park. And as soon as I got off the bike, I was being pestered to sell it! Arrgh!

Right about then, Carlos rode up on his mini-DT. I immediately went over to him and started asking where to buy tires. I figured correctly that another (local) motorcyclist would know. After locking up, off we went into the melee only to be disappointed by the fact that there were NO tires for my KLR650, a 17 inch rim. But, the Honda dealership (turns out to be just parts and service) would be open the next day, I was told. Now, WHY didn´t someone mention this earlier. I mean, I know had I found the tire I wanted, I could have saved $5-$10, but for all the friggin´ hassle, who cares!

So, back to the city and find the service center. Once found, I could relaz the rest of the day and tool around town looking at things. I found it and went off looking for some chow when I pulled up behind Carlos! Locals know where the good food is! LOL! He was just as surprised to see me as just 40 minutes earlier we said goodbye. Anyway, I had a nice lunch and waited awhile to meet Carlos´ family. They showed up just as I was leaving and seemed, predictably, very surprised and impressed with my riding thus far (except for that muddy crap).

I said goodbye to Carlos and headed off looking at things. Next day I was at the Honda shop early, only to find they had exactly one acceptable rear tire, and it was made for mostly on-road conditions. I really wanted a decent Pirelli that was around 60%-40%, road and dirt. To get that, the guy said I´d probably have to wait until Thursday, the 2nd of January so he could go find one at the Alto Ferraria. Yeah, whatever. Mount that MT60 on there and change the oil. I´m leaving Wednesday.

New years was nothing special. It hardly is for me, so I didn´t expect much. At about 11:50pm I decided to see what might occur in front of the hotel. A german couple I met earlier had the same idea and were standing out front. I went over to where some kids were lighting fireworks and noted a vender still had some left. Again, unlike in the USA, you can buy some of the most lethal fireworks, right on the street. And then, light them and toss them in the street. I bought one four-inch tubed firecracker that went off like dynamite! So, I bought the rest of them!! Friggin´ awsome, shake the bricks loud!

On my way out via the autopiste I stopped by the side of the road to get some pics of the city (bought a $10 camara and film). As I was shooting a Transalp, loaded for a long trip, pulled up to me. The rider, Fernando and his passenger Milka were about 2/3s the way through with their trip from Argentina. It was an impromptu meeting for us and I promised to get in touch with them on my way through Buenos Aires. I was on my way to Oruro, south of La Paz. It started to rain so we said goodbye and buenos suerte.

I went to Oruro because it was the largest town listed near the turn off to route 11 heading toward the Chilean border and the town of Arica. The turn off did not exist! The map I´m using is highly detailed, but in some cases (like this one) the roads are connected incorrectly. I figured out the problem but it meant having to backtrack more than 70 miles. This would make my day over 350 miles, but what the hell. In fact, the scenary in the Chungarra district of Bolivia and the Luacos national park were well worth the trip. Again, no pics to show but the cordilliera and the snow capped volcanoes (one was actively spitting fume) along with the many different wildlife (flamingos, vicunas, alpacas, etc.) really made my day. Just beautiful country.

I arrived in Arica and instantly loved the place. There is a steep Morrel(sp) that juts towards a little island off the coast. I rode up to the top and got an excellent view of the city, ocean and desert all in one. Northern Chile is all desert. There is absolutely NO rainfall to speak of. After spending a couple evenings in Arica I headed for the next big town, Iquique, which is where I am writing these words. From Arica to Pozo Almonte (due east of Iquique) there is not one gasoline station. 176 miles and gasoline. Someone told me you could do this trip on any bike. I don´t think so, unless I outfitted my VTR with a 5gal. fuel cell and some knobby tires. Oh, and of course I´d need to raise the suspension up about 8 inches!

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