Hello and welcome to Trevor and Eva's trip around the America's!

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Hola i benvinguts al viatge del Trevor i l'Eva per les Amèriques!


08/12/2010

Journey to the end of the world / El viatge a la fi del mon

 We left Rio Grande on a cold and windy morning as temperatures had taken a major nose dive over the past few days. Having spent some time driving through pampas the further south we got we started to se more and more trees and the scenery got more mountainous. When we stopped to admire the view we met a nice chilean guy, Francisco, who has travelled from Alaska to Ushuaia on his BMW 1200GSA bike. As we were talking to him we noticed a lot of cloud up ahead in the Garibaldi pass, a mountainous and windy strech of road we had to take to lead us to Ushuaia, which we asumed it was a rain shower but only  when we got into it we realised it was a snow shower!  Wow, we have been driving through sand storms, torrential rain, scorching temperatures, and now snow to top it all off.  The three of us had to stop again about 10Km up the road as the conditions worsen and it was imposible to see where we were going.  

Sortim de Rio Grande un mati fred i ventós ja que les temperatures han baixat considerablement aquests últims dies. Desprès d’haver conduit per la pampa uns quants dies quan tirem cap el sud comencem a veure mes arbres, mes verd i mes muntanya. Quan parem a veure les vistes ens trobem amb el Francisco, un noi Xilè molt simpàtic que viatge des de Alaska fins a Ushuaia amb la seva BMW 1200GSA. Mentre petem la xerrada ens adonem de que mes endavant cap el pas de Garibaldi, un pas muntanyós que porta fins a Ushuaia, tot està molt emboirat i sembla que ve pluja, però no es fins que ens hi apropem que ens adonem de que no es pluja sinó neu! Guau..., hem conduit a traves de turmentes de sorra, pluja torrencial, altes temperatures i ara per arrodonir-ho la neu!! Uns 10Km despres tots tres vam haver de parar ja que les condicions de conducció eren cada vegada pitjor i no veiem per on anàvem.






We had a 20minute break from the snow and then continue on to Ushuaia. Once we were passing the big sign welcoming us to the most southern city  you can drive to in the world, we started to feel  a sense of achievement and satisfaction  to finally having reached our destination.

Parem per uns 20 minuts i quan la neu para continuem cap a Ushuaia. Quan hi arribem i passem la senyal que ens dona la benvinguda a la ciutat una sensació de gran satisfacció per haver arribat a la nostra destinació ens plena el cor de joia. 





The following day after we got to Ushuaia we drove the last 23Km to La Pataia in the Tierra del Fuego National Park, to the sign post that officially marks the end of Ruta 3, the most southern point you can drive to in the world and took the obligatory photos.

El dia següent vam conduir els últims 23Km de la Ruta 3 cap a La Pataia dins del Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, que es el punt mes austral del mon on un hi pot arribar conduint, i ens vam fer les fotos de rigor.



Once in this part of the world we decided also to take a 6 hours boat trip through the Beagle Channel were we visited a pinguin colony. Stunning scenery and loads of marine and bird life along the way.

Ja que som a aquesta part del mon decidim de fer un viatge de 6 hores amb vaixell pel Canal de Beagle per anar a veure una colònia pinguinera. Van poder disfutar de magnífics paisatges i de molts ocells i molta fauna marina durant la travessia.




We met a few other people on bikes once we were here. Chris, an english hillbillie (as he calls himself) who made it from Alaska to Ushuaia in only 2 months, who seems to have sleeping outdoors and not paying for ferry rides down to a fine art!!! Ha, ha,haaa, fair play to you! Also met Anja and Holger, a german couple who is on the road with their BMW 650 Dakar’s for the brains of 3 years! Best of luck guys!

Mentre erem per aquest indret vam trobar a varia gent viatjant amb moto. El Chris, un hillbillie anglès (aixi es com ell parla d’ell mateix) que ha viatjat des de Alaska fins a Ushuaia en nomès 2 messos, i que de dormir a l’aire lluire i de no pagar en els ferrys n’ha fet un art!!! Ja, ja,jaaa, ben fet noi! També hem conegut a L’Anja i el Holger, una parella d’Alemanys que ja portem 3 anys viatjant amb les seves motos BMW 600 Dakar, molta sort nois!




After reaching the turning point of our trip we started to head north for Buenos Aires throught the flat Patagonian pampas, on a never ending 3000Km straight road and where the main highlight was the cruel patagonian wind which nearly blew us off the road on quite a few occasions.  Thankfully the wind started to decrease and the temperature started to increase the closer we got to Buenos Aires. It was nice to leave behind the stuffed teddy bear look and start wearing t-shirts again.

Un cop ja hem assolit el punt de retorn del nostre viatge comencem la escapada cap a Buenos Aires a traves de la pampa Patagònica, un viatge per 3000Km de carretera plana i recta inacabable, i a on l’estrella es el fort vent Patagònic que quasi ens treu fora de pista ens algunes ocasions. Gracies a deu el vent va de baixa en quan ens anem apropant a Buenos Aires i la temperatura comença a pujar. Aixi que deixem enrere el look ‘osito de peluche’ per les samarretes de màniga curta.




Luckily we timed our entry  to Buenos Aires for Sunday morning, as after living here for 4 months before we stared our trip we were well aware of the crazy driving in this city, but after having dealt with crazy driving all the way along (specially Peru, Bolivia and most of Central America) we found the driving in Buenos Aires to be quite civilised this time around, amazing what you can get used to!We headed down to Dakar Motors headquarters,  a garage/hostel in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where Javier and Sandra opened their doors to us and helped us organising the paperwork to fly the bike home.

Vam planejar de entrar a Buenos Aires en un diumenge ja que després de viure-hi 4 mesos, abans de començar el viatge, ja sabíem que la conducció aquí es una mica boja, però ens trobem que desprès d’haver experimentat la bogeria dels països de l’Amèrica Central així com Perú i Bolívia ens trobem que el tràfic aquí no es tan dolent com recordàvem! Vam anar cap a Dakar Motors, una garatge/hostel a uns dels barris de la perifèria de la ciutat, a on el Javier i la Sandra ens van obrir les seves portes i ens van ajudar a organitzar l’enviament de la moto cap a casa.






Surprisingly this took only a couple of days and before we knew it we were bikeless, felt like if a member of the family was missing, so with our plastics bags filled with the few clothes we had left we moved onto downtown Buenos Aires.  We chilled out here for a couple of days to enjoy the sun and the local steaks,  and a few days later all the tiredness really started to hit us so we decided to get back home, to rest among our own comforts as we both found Buenos Aires very noisy and far too busy for us at this moment in time.

Per sort tot això va anar bastant ràpid i de cop i volta ens vam trobar sense la moto i ens va semblar com si un de la família s’hagués marxat. Vam agafar les bosses de plàstic amb la poca roba que ens va quedar i vam anar cap al centre de la ciutat. Aquí vam passar un parell de dies descansant i gaudint del sol i dels ‘asados’, fins que ja cansats de tot el viatge vam decidir de tornar cap a casa i poder descansar en pau ja que en aquest moment vam trobar Buenos Aires massa sorollós per nosaltres.







Back home now, so this is the end of our Aventura Panamericana, 4 and a half months of great experiences, amazing places and lovely people along the way. An experience to remember for years to come. We would like to mention and thank a few people:
First of all we would like to thank Marie-France and Brian, you were an inspiration to us and a great source of information, your blog was like a bible to us and accompanied us along the way. Best of luck with your future sidecar adventure! To Dan Toporosky, a kind and generous man who gave us a helping hand and most of his free time when we visited San Diego, Dan is a fountain of wisdom on Mexico and Guatemala,as he has travelled extensevely in this areas by motorcycle himself. Thanks a lot Dan, regards to your lovely wife Teresa and say hi to the ‘unemployed and underemployed’ members of the BMW owners club in San Diego, we enjoyed breakfast with you! To Jorge Neira in Iquique, Chile, for pulling off a logistical miracle by organising to get two tires from Iquique, in Chile to La Paz in Bolivia for us where were seriosly stuck, and for his trust and his good advise on Chilean and Bolivian routes and tracks. To Marta and Kurt, for a lovely evening spend in a local restaurant in Monticello, Utah, lovely to meet you and hopefully your dream visit to Ireland will become a reality soon. To Denis in Seattle, thanks for a great laught at the BMW Motorrad in Seattle and for the great tips on routes in Washington state. To Hanna, our favourite ciclist, a pure spirit if there ever was one, lovely meeting you in Panama, we will be following your wonderful pictures and stories on your way down to the end of the world. To Mauricio and his team at Ruta 40 BMW Motorrad in Medellin for their assistance. To Socorro and Rodolfo, the amazing ‘abuelos’ (granparents) that travel the America’s on a 4X4, you are a real inspiration, we admire your spirits and we love to see you over in Europe some time. And finally to all of you, friends and family for following us along the way and giving us your thoughts and love. In the meantime, we wish you all a wonderful Christmas and we will see you in the next trip!!!!

Ara ja som a casa i aquest es el final de la nostra Aventura Panamericana, mes de 4 mesos de grans experiències, magnífics paisatges i gent meravellosa durant tota la travessia. Una experiència que recordarem en anys. Ens agradaria de mencionar i fer agraïments a certa gent:
Primer de tot a la Marie-France i el Brian, heu estat una inspiració per nosaltres i una magnifica font de informació, la vostra pàgina web ha estat com una bíblia per nosaltres. Us desitgem molt bona sort en la vostra futura aventura amb sidecar. Al Dan Toporoski, un home generós i agradable que ens va ajudar i regalar el seu temps lliure quan vam passar per San Diego, el Dan es una font de coneixements sobre Mèxic i Guatemala a on ell ha fet incomptables viatges amb la seva moto durant anys. Moltes gràcies Dan i records a la teva esposa Teresa i a els amics del club de motos BMW de San Diego, vam gaudir d’un esmorzar molt agradable amb tots vosaltres! A Jorge Neira, un Xilè de Iquique per aconseguir el miracle logístic de enviar dues rodes per la nostra moto des de Xile fins a La Paz,  a Bolívia quan estàvem perduts i amb les rodes pelades, i per confiar en nosaltres sense haver-nos conegut abans. També ens va donar molts bons consells sobre rutes per Bolívia i Xile. A la Marta i el Kurt, per un sopar molt agradable a un restaurant del poblet de Monticello, a l’estat americà de Utah, va ser un plaer coneix-se’ls i esperem que el seu viatge somniat a Irlanda es faci realitat aviat. Al Denis, gràcies per la xerrada que vam petar a  la tenda de BMW Motorrad de Seattle i també per els consells sobre les millors rutes a l’estat de Washington. A la Hanna, la nostra ciclista preferida i un esperit pur com els que no es fan. Va ser un plaer haver-te conegut a Panama i et desitgem el millor en el que et queda de viatge, esperem les teves magnifiques fotos i et seguirem en el que et queda de viatge. Al Mauricio i el seu equip de mecànics a Ruta 40 BMW Motorrad a Medellín, moltes gràcies per la vostra assistència. A la Socorro i el Rodolfo, los abuelos peregrinos que viatgen en 4X4 per totes les Amèriques, sou una inspiració total per nosaltres, els admirem i esperem veure’ls per Europa algun dia. I per acabar moltes gràcies a tots vosaltres família i amics que ens heu anat seguint durant tot el viatge deixant-nos missatges i comentaris. Us desitgem a tots un molt bon Nadal i ens veiem a la propera aventura!!







22/11/2010

Ushuaia!!!!

We made it to Ushuaia, the end of the world!  More to follow soon...for now here is the proof!

Hem arrivat a Ushuaia, a la fi del mon! Ja us ho contem ben aviat...per ara aqui teniu la foto!





19/11/2010

Chile and Argentina / Xile i Argentina

And so while driving along surrounded by volcanoes we found ourselves in Chile, and the first thing that hit us was how clean and tidy the country was and how well behaved the drivers were, a pleasant change from Bolivia and their Peruvian neighbours.

I mentre conduïm entre volcans ens trobem que som a Xile, i el primer que ens sobte es que net es el pais i que be condueixen, un bon canvi venint de Bolívia i del seu veí Perú. 







After two days into the country we both thought  Dan Walsh, the motorcycle journalist really nailed it when he said Chile was like a supermodel:  long, very thin, way to expensive to maintain and just a little bit boring! (...well, the northern half anyway). After 3 days of driving through desert and looking at nothing but sand and with boredom levels reaching melt down point we reached the capital Santiago for a few days rest after the Bolivian experience and the desert heat.

Desprès de dos dies al país vam pensar en la frase que el Dan Walsh, el periodista motorista esmena quan en el seu moment va escriu sobre Xile dient que es com una supermodel: llarga, prima, molt cara de mantenir i una miqueta avorrida! (...be, a menys la part del nord). Desprès de 3 dies de travessar desert , tot sorra i amb el nivells d’avorriment a tope arribem a la capital Santiago per uns quans dies i per poder descansar desprès de la experiència Boliviana i la calor del desert.


After that we headed south where things started to get greener and a little more interesting. Soon after we took a left turn and headed for the Argentinian border through beautiful mountanous pass via the Nahuel Huapi National Park. It was strange driving on a road and feeling quite cold with snow all along the edges when just a few days before we were driving through sand dunes and sweating our asses off, but at least it gave us a good excuse to start wearing all the warm clothes we dragged all the way from Canada!

Anem tirant cap el sud on el paisatge es van anar tornant mes verd i mes interessant.  Vam fer un gir  cap a l’esquerra i vam tirar cap a la frontera Argentina mentre conduíem a traves d’un bonic pas muntanyós pel Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. Molt estrany de conduir amb sensació de fred i al costat de carreteres plenes de neu als costats quan uns dies abans conduíem a traves de dunes de sorra i torrant-nos, però tota excusa es bona per poder començar a fer servir la tona de roba d’abric que carretejàvem a la moto des de Canada!






Spent a night in Villa Angostura and then headed for Bariloche and its beautiful  surroundings where we got the first formal introduction with the Patagonian wind.  We stayed there a bit longer than planned as Eva picked up a viral stomach bug that grounded us for an extra 2 days.  When she was up and about again we headed south to El Bolson and Trevellin and crossed back into Chile to drive a section of the Carretera Austral with its stunning scenery and the first of nearly 900Km of gravel and dirt roads. The drive was amazing from the very start: ice blue lakes, cascades, rivers, and snow capped mountains,  postcard perfect scenery, the best of Chile without a doubt!

Vam pasar la nit a Villa Angostura i desprès vam tirar cap a Bariloche i els seus bonics voltants, a on vam tenir la oportunitat de conèixer per primer cop el famós vent de la Patagonia. Vam pasar mes dies dels previstos a Bariloche ja que a Eva va enganxar un virus gastrointestinal que ens va fer parar 2 dies mes. Un cop recuperada anem tirant cap el sud a El Bolsón i Trevellin i creuem cap a Xile novament per fer un tros de la espectacular Carretera Austral xilena, el que serien quasi 900Km de vies de muntanya. El recorregut ens va encantar des de el primer moment: llacs d’aigües d’un blau cel, salts d’aigua, rius i montanyes nevades, com una postal, el mitllor de Xile sens dubte!






We left the Carretera Austral and headed for Puerto Ibañez, a small lakeside village (the second biggest lake in SouthAmerica) wich has a ferry crossing to Chile Chico,a Chilean village quite near to the border with Argentina.

Deixem la Carretera Austral i tirem cap a Puerto Ibañez, un poblet al costat del llac (el segon llac mes gran de l’amèrica del Sud) que te conexió via ferry fins a Chile Chico, un poblet Xilè molt a prop de la frontera Argentina.




Our next destination was Perito Moreno and for us it would mean the start of the infamous Ruta 40. We stocked up on food and extra fuel, a plastic gallon in each of the side tank bags...an explosion waiting to happen!

El nostre següent destí es Perito Moreno i per nosaltres això representa el començament de la infame Ruta 40. Vam comprar provisions i gasolina de reposada, dos bidonets de benzina a cada bossa lateral de la moto...una bomba sobre rodes! 



We have heard horror stories about this stretch of road like people being blown off their bike from the strong Patagonian winds. The whole road is covered in gravel, some of it deep some of it not so deep and the difficulty lies in the fact that you must keep in the tracks created by the 4 wheeled vehicles which have moved the gravel to the center and the side of the road into deep rows. That’s not so bad but when you see that the tracks are in fact only 300 to 400mm wide and with the wind constantly pushing you towards the deeper rows of gravel it wasn’t so funny anymore!! And that was when you can see the tracks, in some places the road had been graded and the gravel had been spread all over the road, so it felt like aquaplaneing on dry land! This day we put down 665Km (our longest days drive so far) but thankfully 250Km was tared. When we got to El Calafate 12 hours later we were so happy all had gone well that we felt like celebrating but after a quick bite to eat we collapsed into bed exhausted but happy.

Hem sentit històries terrorífiques sobre aquest tram de carretera com motoristes els quals se’ls ha emportat volant el fort vent Patagònic. Tota la carretera esta coberta de graveta, a uns trams mes espessa que d’altres i el que es mes dificultós per les motos es el mantenir la roda dins dels carrils creats pels vehicles de quatre rodes que van empenyent la graveta i les pedres cap al centre i costats de la carretera creant muntanyes de pedra. Això es fa mes difícil en quan de sobte aquests carrils nomes tenen uns 30 o 40mm d’amplada i el fort vent et va constantment empenyent cap a la part on hi ha mes pedra, llavors no fa gaire gràcia la cosa!! I el pitjor es quan la màquina ha passat esborrant tots els carrils i deixant la graveta estesa per tot arreu, llavors sembla que condueixis sobre l’aigua però en sec! Aquest dia vam fer 665Km (el dia de conducció mes llarg des de que vàrem començar el viatge) però gràcies a deu 250Km eren asfaltats. Quan vam arribar a El Calafate 12 hores desprès vam arribar tan contents que teníem ganes de celebrar-ho però desprès d’un sopar ràpid vam caure al llit rebentats, però feliços.



El Calafate is home to the one of the few advancing glaciers in the world, the Perito Moreno glacier, a blue monster 5Km wide and 75m high above water level, the world’s third largest water reserve! An absolutely stunning natural phenomenon, words can’t describe it, hopefully the pictures and videos can do that for us.

Prop de El Calafate hi ha un dels pocs glacials del mon que segueixen creixent, el Perito Moreno, un gegant blau de 5Km d’amplada i 75m de alçada sobre el nivell del llac!! Una meravella de la natura, indescriptible en paraules, esperem que les fotos i el video facin mes justicia. 



A couple of days ago we got back into Chile, to the town of Puerto Natales where we spend  two nights and visited the Torres del Paine National Park.

Fa un parell de dies hem tornat a passar cap a Xile, cap el poble de Puerto Natales a on vam passar dues nits i vam visitar el Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.















 


Today we finally entered the province of Tierra del Fuego and now spending the night in Rio Grande. Tomorrow we are heading to Ushuaia, more to follow soon!

Avui  hem finalment arribat a la provincia de Tierra del Fuego i avui pasem la nit a Rio Grande. Demà anem cap a Ushuaia, ja os contarem!









02/11/2010

Bolivia and El Salar de Uyuni / Bolivia i El Salar de Uyuni

We finally left Peru after 3 weeks but not before encoutering another crooked cop at the border crossing. Once we had all the paperwork cleared to continue our crossing over to the Bolivian side of the border there was a chain across the road blocking all access, a chain wich is opened by the police once you are cleared to go. When we explained to the policeman guarding the chain that we had been cleared by immigration and customs he made Eva  a sign to approach him quietly. He then asked for a ‘donation’ as the police were building an extension to the back of the cop shop, and they were asking for the co-operation of the people passing by!! (Another one filling his retirement fund!!!). But not with our money this time. So off we went to Bolivia. The drive from Copacabana, very close to the border, up to the Lake Titicaca crossing was stunning, a mountain drive wich eventually brough us up above a hill over Lake Titicaca, with views of the lake at either side of the road and snowed cap peaks on the horizon, really beautiful! The road started to descent down on to a small coast town where small ferries take people and vehicles across the lake, more like rafts than ferries as you will see on the video below.

Desprès de quasi 3 setmanes al Perú sortim del país però no sense trobar-nos de un altre cop amb un altre policia corrupte. Un cop ja tenim tots els papers enllestits a la frontera de la part del Perú ens trobem amb una cadena que ens impedeix el pas, una cadena que normalment la policia obre en quan un te tots els papers enllestits de immigració i de la duana. De sobte el policia de torn em crida i em fa un senyal ben discret per que m’apropi, un cop soc al seu costat em fot un rotllo i em demana que li doni la voluntat ja que estan construint una ampliació de la part del darrere de la comissaria i que demanen els que passen per una ‘donació’, que viu el paio!! (un altre poli que eta estalviant pel seu fons de jubilació!!). Però de la nostra butxaca ni un duro aquest cop! Així que vam tirar cap a Bolívia. El recorregut des de Copacabana, molt a prop de la frontera, fins a creuar el Llac Titicaca va ser molt escènic, fins a portar-nos fins dalt d’un cim on teníem vistes del llac als dos costats de la carretera i muntanyes enormes plenes de neu a l’horitzó, molt bonic! Un cop la carretera baixa cap avall porta fins un poblet on uns fèrries passen viatgers i vehicles a l’altre banda del llac Titicaca, be, mes que fèrries semblen mes com balses com podreu veure en el següent vídeo.





Then we headed for La Paz, the highest capital of the world, 3660m above sea level, the most breathtaking location, you approach the city by the altiplano and then all of a sudden there is a huge bowl with the city spread out inside in it, and to get into the city you have to use near vertical streets with hairpin bends every couple of hundred meters, and with the worst drivers on the planet! We decided to come here as we had to pick up a set of new tires suitable for the rougher roads that were ahead. Thanks again to Jorge Neira, from Iquique (Chile) who organized all that for us, as well as giving us routes and details of what was to come.

Desprès de la travessa vam anar tirant cap a La Paz, la capital a mes alçada del món,  3660m sobre el nivell del mar, situada en un lloc inesperat, en quan t’apropes a la ciutat per l’altiplano de sobte et trobes amb un gran sotrac en forma de bol i allà sota trobes la ciutat, i per baixar-hi has de pasar per carrers amb pendents quasi verticals i corbes de sifó cada pocs metres, i amb els pitjors conductors del planeta! Vam decidir de venir-hi per que havíem de recollir unes rodes per la moto mes adequades per les carreteres que havien de venir en els següents dies. Donem les gràcies a Jorge Neira, de Iquique (Xile) que ho va organitzar lo dels neumàtics i ens va donar idees per les rutes a seguir en el nostre viatge.
A tight squezee!  Una mca apretadets!
After 2 nights we changed the tires and left for Potosi, the highest city in the world (as oposed to capital city) 4090m above sea level. Needless to say that at that altitude with the lack of oxigen and the high pollution took a toll on us, so we were happy to be leaving the city at last. From there we headed to Uyuni, the base town to visit the Salar de Uyuni, the biggest salt flat in the world (12000km2). This is where the really rough road started, wich turned out to be quite difficult with the 2 of us on the bike plus all the luggage. After a tough day we eventually got to Uyuni, booked into a hotel and met Richard, a swiss guy with Bolivian origins who burst the back shock of his 1200GSA coming down the road that we initially decided to take to come down to Uyuni, so we did quite well all things considered! We wish him the best and hope he got it sorted and he's back on the road. After a quick reconnaissance trip by Trevor out the road that we suposed to take the following morning, we decided that Eva and the luggage were safer to travel on a jeep as far as the salar and Trevor would drive the bike on his own. ­­ After a few hours we arranged to meet again at the island of Inkawasi, situated in the middle of the salar, a peculiar rock and coral formation covered with giant cactuses, and from wich you could climb and get stunning views of the salar area.

 Desprès de pasar-hi 2 nits vam canviar les rodes i vam tirar cap a Potosí, la ciutat a mes alçada del món, 4090m sobre el nivell del mar. No cal a dir que tanta alçada, amb la falta d’oxigen i l’alt nivell de pol·lució ens va deixar molt tocats, fins el punt de que vam ser molt contents de marxar d’aquell lloc d’una vegada. Des d’allà vam anar cap a Uyuni, que es el poble ‘base’ pels que volen visitar el Salar de Uyuni­,  les salines mes grans del mon (12000Km2). Aquí es on la carretera es va tornar ben difícil, especialment amb tots dos i tot l’equipatge a sobre.  Desprès d’un dia dur de viatge vam arribar a Uyuni, vam buscar un allotjament i vam conèixer a Richard, un suís amb orígens Bolivians al que se li acabava de trencar l’amortiguador de la seva BMW 1200GSA a la carretera per la que inicialment pensàvem agafar per arribar fins allà però vm canviar d’idea a l’últim moment, així que malgrat les circumstàncies a nosaltres no ens va anar tant malament! Desprès de que el  Trevor anés a fer una ullada de reconeixement de la ruta que havíem d’agafar a l’endemà vam decidir de que la Eva i l’equipatge anessin fins el Salar amb un jeep i el Trevor portés la moto sol fins allà. Desprès d’unes hores ens vam retrobar a la illa de Inkawasi, situada al mig del Salar, una curiosa formació de roca i corall ple de cactus gegants, des de on es podien veure vistes magnifiques de la zona del Salar.







After a morning and afternoon of playing in the salt we both headed on the bike towards the village of Chuvica, at the south edge of the salar. Driving in the salar is a surreal experience: you are driving at 100Km/hour but is like you are going nowhere as everything is white and flat and there’s nothing for miles and miles. We both really enjoyed it and it was a hard place to leave, but we were told that if we wanted to spend the night in Chuvica it was a first come first served situation, and because we still did not know what kind of road was ahead of us to get to the village we decided to hit the road. The village of Chuvica had something of a surrealistic atmosphere too, a small collection of houses, mostly made of salt blocks with nothing much apart from a small church, a small shop operated by Johnny, one of the nicest Bolivians we met, and a few small hostels/accomodation dealing with the 4X4 tourists that visit the salar. We spent the night at one of these salt buildings.


Desprès de tot el mati i tarda de jugar amb la sal tots dos amb la moto vam anar tirant cap el poblet de Chuvica, al costat sud on acaba el Salar. Conduir pel Salar es una experiència surrealista: estàs conduint a 100km/h però es com si no vas enlloc ja que tot es pla i blanc durant km i kms.  Tots dos ho vam passar molt be i ens va costar de marxar però ens van explicar que l¡allotjament a Chuvica es limitat i el primer que arriba es el que troba lloc, i com que no sabem encara quin tipus de via trobaríem fins a arribar a Chuvica doncs vam decidir d’anar tirant cap allà. El poblet també té una atmosfera un tant surrealista, son 4 cases la majoria fetes amb sal, i no gaire mes a part d’uns petita església, una tendeta, la del senyor Johnny, un dels Bolivians mes simpàtics que vam conèixer, i uns quants hostals/allotjaments per la gent que viatge visitant el Salar amb els 4X4. La nit la vam passar a un d’aquests hostals fets de sal.







The following morning we organsised for Eva and the luggage to go onto a passing by 4X4 which luckily was heading in the general direction that we were going also, close to the border with Chile, and thank god we did as the roads got so bad it would have been imposible for us to drive up together with all the luggage. When we said roads, we should say tracks as we had not seen tarmacadam for aprox 5 days at that stage. These tracks were a mixture of sand, deep sand, rutted salt tracks, gravel and washboard so Trevor had a challenging but very enjoyable few hours that morning. Around mid morning we were dropped at the base of the Ollague volcano, 25 minutes from the border with Chile. Alone again we headed towards the border wich was relatively quick and painless. When the officials at the border in the Chile side told us that the road from there was fantastic, much better to what we had seen in Bolivia so far, our sky opened and thought we were on the home straight, but much to our dissapointment we learned only 5Km after that that was the Chilean pride talk, as the road increasingly got worse, ending on a 90Km journey through sand, gravel, stones, and endless washboard that lasted 4 and ½ hours, with an average speed between 25 to 35Km/h. All said it was a beautiful area, we were surrounded by volcanoes, salt flats, desert and real blue skies.


Pel matí vam poder organitzar per que la Eva i l’equipatge anessin en un 4X4 que per sort nostre feia el recorregut cap a la zona on volíem anar, a prop de la frontera amb Xile, i menys mal que ho vam fer així ja que la carretera era tan dolenta que nosaltres dos sobre la moto i amb l’equipatge no ho haguéssim pogut fer. Be, quan diem carreteres volem dir camins ja que d’asfalt  ja feia  uns 4 o 5 dies que no en veiem.  Eren camins plens de sorra fina, bastant profunda en segons quins llocs, sal, gravilla, terra i superfície canalitzada (molt dur i pesat), així que el Trevor va tenir unes hores de challenge i de diversió aquell matí.  A mig matí el 4X4 en va deixar al peu del volcà Ollague, 25 minuts de la frontera amb Xile. Un cop ja sols vam anar cap a la frontera, tros que vam fer bastant be i sense problema. Quan els oficials de la frontera Xilena ens van assegurar que la carretera des de la frontera era molt millor del que havíem vist fins ara a Bolívia el cel se’ns va obrir de felicitat, però ben aviat,  a uns 5 km desprès de passar els controls duaners ja ens vam adonar de que res de res, allò era pur orgull Xilè ja que el camí va anar de mal en pitjor, 90Km de sorra, gravilla, pedres i paviment canalitzat eternament, un camí que va durar 4 hores i mitja, amb una velocitat mitjana entre 25 i 35Km/h. Malgrat tot vam passar per una zona meravellosa on érem totalment envoltats per volcans, salars, desert i cel ben blaus.







This is the 4X4 from Madrid group who adopted Eva for 1/2 day.
Aquest es el grup de 4X4 de Madrid que van adoptar a l'Eva durant 1/2 dia


Talk soon!
Fins aviat!