November 17, 2010

We packed up the bike this morning and got an early start on the road. We had a lot of distance to cover. We road for 9 in the morning till about 5. We rode about 800 today. We made it to this little town called Quitilpi, and it was a friendly town. We got into the only hotel in town. After we dropped off the bags we went for dinner but we cruised around town for about a half hour waiting for places to open. And everyone that you pass they are turning their heads. We got to this bar and parked our bikes and we were instantly greeted by these "loco locals" we call them. They were great, funny and just friendly. They were a little under the influence but completely harmless. We were chatting with them, then dad decided to give them some canada pins. One of the guys just looked at the pin and started laughing and got all excited then he said "marihuana". He thought the pin that dad gave him was a pot leaf. He thought it was so cool and was terribly excited. I didn't have the heart to try and explain that it was just a maple leaf, so we all just had a good laugh. In the end they ended up paying for our beer. They were really nice.

November 16, 2010

 We got up early this morning and Dad decided we should take the day off and service the bikes. So after breakfast we headed over to the bikes and started taking them apart. We only changed the oil and cleaned the air filter. But to change to the oil you have to take the skid plate off. And our skid plates have been bashed around pretty good. So we had to fiddle around with bent bolts and washers and stuff, but managed. After we changed the oil with did the air filters. To get to the air filters you have to take off the gas tank, which isn't too bad. So once we did that we decided to give the bikes a wash. After we were all done, it was time for a beer.

November 15, 2010

Today was another boarder crossing, and wasn't too bad. Once we left Tupisa we had an hour ride to the Argentine and Bolivia boarder. We got stamped out no problem then went over to the Argentine side and got stamped in with no problem. But we had a little trouble with getting the bikes stamped in. Apparently you NEED insurance to bring you bike over. Oh great. So dad and I had to get a taxi to an insurance office. But the only problem was it was 1 in the afternoon and everything was closed due to siesta. So we just banged on the door till someone came. After we got insurance we headed back to the boarder and within 15 minutes we were on the road again. After the boarder we bunked down in San Salvador de Jujuy for the night.

November 14, 2010

Dad and I packed up the bikes bright and early. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and plan to meet them in Ushuaia. Dad and I had a long days ride. We were told that the rode from Uyuni to Tupisa was terrible. So we decided to go back the way we came to Potosi and then down to Tupisa. Which it was twice the distance but it was much safer and easier. It was still a terrible road but we made good time. Once we got a hotel we went for dinner.

November 13, 2010

We rode the Salar today. Man was that ever cool. The only way I can explain it is like riding on a huge frozen lake except its not slippery. We rode with John and Sharon to the Volcano across the lake. Then to this Island that was covered in cactus. Thats where john and Sharon pulled out their little stove and made some tea. After tea we headed back to the hotel. Once we got back we had dinner with John and Sharon.

November 12, 2010

Today was a hard days ride. We got up, packed up and were on the road for 8. We are still riding with John and Sharon. We road to Uyuni, it was only 220 click from Potosi to Uyuni but the road was terrible. Once the pavement ended there was this section of sand. Some how I managed to find the deepest stop of sand, which was about a foot deep, and the bike slid out from under me. It wasn't a hard fall or anything but I broke off one of the saddle bags. The clip was busted so we had to strap it back on with one of the tie straps we had. John and Sharon Laid their bike down but there was no damage. After that we had pavement on and off for the next 160 km. And we had no problems. Once we got into Uyuni, We all were starving so we found a awesome little hotel and went off and go burgers. After we got some food in us it was time for a nice long nap. After my nap we went down to the little pizzeria in the hotel were we, got some dessert with John and Sharon.

November 11, 2010

Dad got up early to help John fix his bike, while I laid in bed, waiting for him to tell me to get up. Once I got ready for the day, dad and I set off for a little day trip to Sucre. We made it to Sucre around 12, had lunch, went shopping for some sticker, but didn't find any, got back on the bikes and headed back to Potosi. I really like Sucre, it was clean and the people we absolutely great. Once dad and I got back we met up with John and Sharon at this Bar call 40 60. It was named that because of its altitude, 4060 meter above sea level, (13,320 ft). It was a really good dinner and they had good drinks too. After that we hit the hay.

November 10, 2010

We went for breakfast down in the lobby around 7 ish. While we were having breakfast we met another couple that were riding a motorcycle, John and his wife Sharon, they are riding 2 up on a BMW GS1200. We started talking with them and found out that they were headed the same way we were. Shortly after breakfast they left and then we left about an hour after that. Dad and I just got out of town and decided to get some gas before we got too carried away. While we were getting gas we discovered that I had a flat, so we quickly plugged it up and we were on our way. About 200 clicks down the road we met up with John and Sharon, so we decided to ride with each other to Potosi. We made it to Potosi and Sharon found this hostel that only cost about 20 bucks. After we got settled in we decided to go for a bite to eat with our new friends, but Potosi was having the 200 year birthday. So everything was shut down and the only food you could buy was the little food concessions in the middle of the street. But whatever food is food. The street were crowded and everybody that lived in Potosi was in the main plaza. (which 200,000 people live in Potosi.) So it was just packed with people.

November 9, 2010

We had another early morning. After breakfast we packed up and hit the road. We made it all the way to Oruro were we decided to call it quits for the day. We settled into our room and I past out for about an hour or so and dad was working away on the computer. I woke up around 6 and was a little hungry. I waited for dad to get back then we set off for dinner. After dinner we came back watch some TV and fell asleep.

November 8, 2010

We got up bright and early, had breakfast and then headed off to find the famous "death road", which was just 100 clicks of La Paz. Dad and I found the road no problem and survived the road. We have been on worse roads then this one but the reason why its so dangerous is because if u go over the edge it is one hell of a drop to the bottom.You are litterly riding along the edge of a cliff. But the road, wasn't bumpy, rocky or dusty. It was a lot of fun. After we finished the road we took the new road back to La Paz where we had a nice cold beer waiting with our name on it.

November 7, 2010

After Breakfast Dad and I decided it would be better to head right into the centre of La Paz, because El Alto was pretty scummy. The centre of La Paz is only about 20 kilometres away from where we are now, but it took us abut 2 hours to get there, because the other drivers a just crazy. I found that the Bolivians don't have a lot of common sense, (I don't mean to offend anyone). The drivers of these little van will stop right in the middle of the road to load up other passengers. The whole way there was practically a huge traffic jam. But it wasn't so bad once we got into La Paz. After all the non-sense we found a hotel with internet and parking for the bikes.

November 6, 2010

We booked a tour to lake titticaca today, and it only cost us like 20 bucks for the two of us. The tour took us right to the floating islands of lake titticaca, where we learnt a little on how the islands are made. I could only understand about half the stuff the tour guide said. But it was still good. After the tour it was about noon, so dad and i got on the road and headed to the boarder of Bolivia. Once we got across the boarded dad and I high tailed it to El Alto, which is a suburb of La Paz. It was a little around 7 when we finally got a room and all settled in. We got something to eat and headed to bed. It was a long day.

November 5, 2010

Dad and I got all packed up and had breakfast and were on the road around 9:30. We road all the way down to Puno, which is about an hour away from the boarder to Bolivia. Once we found a place to sleep we wanted to go get something to eat, but the streets were crowded with people. There was some sort of celebration going on or something. The street was just fully of drumbands and people standing on the side of the road watching. But we managed to wrestle our way through the crowd and found a place to eat. After dinner we headed back and hit the sack.

November 4, 2010

Today was our last day at Cusco, so I made it count. First I got all my blogging caught up, because I was inlay allowed back into my google account. And right after that me and Adrienne went for a full body massage at this little tiny place. It was like 5 bucks for a full hour. It was well worth the 5 bucks. After that we headed back and went over to the Tavern for some food. 8 o'clock rolled by and dad went back to the hotel but I stayed for some more beer. Later that night there was a big group of us for the tavern that found our way to this club across the street. It was pretty cool there. They had a live band playing and I recognized all the music. It was about 1 in the morning when i finally decided to head back to the hotel.

November 3, 2010

We had along, frustrating day today. We saw Machu Picchu and had a wonderful tour. But we left at 5:30 in the morning and got back around 9:30 at night. We only spent two maybe two and a half hours in Machu Picchu. The rest of the time was hurry up and wait. When we first arrived at the train station we got something to eat. After that we got onto our train and headed off to Hot Springs. Once we arrived in Hot Springs our tour guide group was suppose to be there, which she wasn't and she had our tickets for the bus and entrance to Machu Picchu. So we did some running around and finally this nice man helped us get our stuff. And he was from a completely different tour company. Once we got to Machu Picchu we can go into the park right away cuz we have to wait an hour and a half for our tour group to start. IT WAS VERY FRUSTRATING. But we got on the tour eventually, the tour guide was great and we took some really good pictures. Once we got back down to Hot Springs we went to go catch our train. Then we are told the train is an hour delayed but, there is still trains heading the way we want to, but not the same company… Finally we make it back to where we started and there was suppose to be a taxi to pick us up, but of course not, there wasn't. We got our own taxi, got a recipt and are gonna give it to Promotours tomorrow. Now it's just time for a beer. So if anyone is wanting to take a tour to Machu Picchu from Cusco. DO NOT use Promotours. Nothing but stress. But like I Machu Picchu was great, just the getting there part wasn't.

November 2, 2010

After breakfast this morning. We mounted the moto com camera on my bike. So now you'll be seeing more videos. After that we decided to go for a ride. We headed out and got Dads tire patched, so there wouldn't be any more troubles later on. After that was finished we headed off to the Sacret Valley. That was a beautiful ride. Once we got back we headed to Norton's for some food. We headed back early tonight because tomorrow we have our Machu Picchu tour, and we have to be up at 5.

November 1, 2010

After our lazy day yesterday, it was time to get some work done. So after breakfast we went to find some more chain lube, because we were out, then after we washed our bikes. They were disgustingly dirty. While we were washing the bikes the owners children came out and they were probably 3 and 5. And they would just get in our way the whole time. They would pick at the stickers on our bikes, stomp through the puddles right by us and kink the hose time to time. Finally they left and we didn't have any more disturbances while washing the bikes. Once we were done, it starting raining. Dodged a bullet there. After our hard days work we head back to the Tavern. Once we got back we check our emails, I couldn't, I was still locked out.

October 31, 2010

Today was a lazy day. We woke up had breakfast, check out all of our emails and sat in our rooms and just vegetated. We finally decided to got get some lunch so we headed over to the tavern. After lunch dad was on the computer updating his blog, while i watched a lot of tv. I would have worked on my blog but Im still locked out… Dinner time finally rolled around so we headed back to Norton's for a burger and some beers then came home and went to bed.

October 30, 2010

We made it to Cusco!!! It was great as soon as we rolled into Cusco, in the main plaza, a cop came up, who surprisingly spoke english, and escorted us to a hotel with motorcycle parking. He was great. Just shows you how great the Peruvian people are. But before we came into the plaza we stopped at an internet cafe. I was checkin my emails then I got locked out of my account and I couldn't look at my blog. No one could. So apparently my account was hacked or compromised there. So thats great… So I sent the google team a message, so now I just have to wait for a reply to my hotmail account. Anyways we got settled into our hotel and headed over to the Norton's Rat Tavern Pub, where all of there motorcyclists who are travelling through stop by and meet other motorists. It was a lot of fun there. We had lunch there then came back sat around took it easy and went back for a later dinner. This pub is right on the main plaza so you get a great view of the plaza. And tonight is the peruvian pre-halloween celebration, or something like that. But the whole square was filled with people and they had a fire works display. It was pretty cool, but probably one of the most dangerous fire work display I have ever seen… After watching that for an hour or so we decided to hit the sack.

October 29, 2010

Today was our last day of this bad road!!! From Chincheros to Abancay, there was so much construction. It was a hard ride. But it's just preparing us for Bolivia. So we made it through all the construction. Mostly because they sent us on this tiny, dusty, rocky, bumpy road. Which I think it took us almost 4 hours to do 75 km… Enough said there. We we coming on our last little stench of gravel. Probably about a kilometre or 2, and dad has a flat again. The temporary plug from the other day had failed. Key word "temporary". So we loaded up the tire wound with glue and we threw another "temporary" plug in. We made it to Abancay around 3, but we decided to carry on to this town Corahausi, which is about and hour and a half out of Cusco. We found a hostel there, which the people, again, were just absolutely great. We got settled in and hit up an internet cafe. From there got some pizza. Which is a lot different from the pizza back home, and it was excellent. Once we got back to the hostel we got ready for bed.

October 28, 2010

We woke up and were on the road around 7:30. We are still on gravel road, but once we got down to Huanta there was paved road for about 40 km. Then we were back to the gravel. And these gravel roads we not the greatest. They were dusty, rocky, and not very wide. I was starting to miss the pavement. But anyways we found an awesome little hotel in Chincheros, where the lady that was managing the place just could not do enough for us. I was really impressed. After we got some food in our tummies we headed back and got ready for bed.

October 27, 2010

I was so happy to leave La Orya the next morning. Dad and I, woke up and were out of that place before 7. The hostel we stayed at was disgusting, it smelt terrible, I just felt like I needed to take a shower as soon as i stepped into that place. Oh and on top of it, there was a club below us. But we didn't care the night before cuz we were sick from the altitude pills. We didn't read the instructions properly. But anyways we had an early start on the road. We got down to Pampas and the road turned to gravel, which dad got a flat on down then way. We plugged it and we were on our way. We also were stopped by the cops and had to pay them 25 US dollars for a bribe. Which wasn't too much of a hassle. After all of the adventuring thats day we found a hotel in Churacampa. And they didn't have any hot water for the shower… Enough said there. We went and got something to eat came back and hit the hay.

October 26, 2010

We had another early morning, again. We had to take a taxi to the airport go through security and board the plain. Once we got back to Lima we headed straight back to our bikes put on our gear and hit the road. We stopped for lunch about an hour out of Lima then got right back in the saddle. We Made it to La Orya ,or something like that, were we released that we need a place to sleep. We are about 15,000 feet above sea level. So the air is really thin and it makes it harder to breath. Im not haven a problem but dad is not feline too hot. so we bunked down hear at this nasty hostel but its a roof and a bed.

October 25, 2010

We had to be up early today because we had to get taxi from the hotel to the bus station then bus to the airport which all of that took about 2 hours. we got onto our flight and were in Guycuil we found a nice cheap hotel and then went on the boardwalk thing that was close by and had lunch at McDonalds because we are just that classy. We walked around for a few hours then went back to the hotel to wait for our friend tony to pick us up. Tony came and picked us up where we went to the Mall to have diner and wait for his wife, Karina, to get off work. After she got off we wet up to the top of one of the mountains in Guycuil where we saw the whole entire city lit up at night. It was a great site. Afterwards Tony dropped us off at the hotel we said our goodbyes and look forward to see them again on our way back through in a few months.

October 24, 2010

I had bit of a lazy day today. After breakfast we got our stuff said our goodbyes to the crew and left the Angelito. From there we went to the airport, got our tickets for the next days flight then got on a bus back to Porto Ayuera. We found our hotel got our room, which was really nice i have to say. Then we went and got some lunch and walked the streets for a bit. We got back to our room and I napped while dad was doing some stuff on the computer. Once i woke up we went of for dinner then got back hung out for a bit and went to bed.

October 23, 2010

By now I am getting a little bored, we went on our last land adventure today which wasn't anything special. I saw boobies and turtles and sea lions. Today was just same old same old. But i have to say that the snorkelling was fun. We went and snorkelled around this island that had millions of fish and a whole bunch of these caves that you could go into and then they lead to these little tiny rooms. It was pretty cool. Once we got back we headed off to Porto Ayuera and spent an hour and a half walking the village. It was some good free time. After that we headed back to the Angelito, started to pack, had dinner and went to bed.

October 22, 2010

We had an early morning today. We had breakfast at 6:30 then & we went to shore to hike this volcano. The hike wasn't too bad, I liked how the pas picked a little. We got to the top and hiked a little more. We saw the crater of the volcano and it was something crazy like 7 km wide or something. All i know is that it was massive and the second biggest in the world. After the hike we went snorkelling, again. And i saw lots of fish and some turtles, again. But I also saw a maniray which was really cool but freaky at the same time. This thing was huge it was like 12-15 long and like 7,8 feet wide. I took one look at it and decided i should get out of that water. then after that had dinner showered up and went to bed.

October 21, 2010

Today was a very relaxing day. After breakfast we went out and saw lots of boobies. Then walked across this old lava flow to these ponds where we saw some flamingos. They call the lava pahoehoe. Its really sharp and dense. Once we got back to the boat we could go snorkelling but i decided not to because it was freezing. Once the group got back we headed off to our next location which was the other side of the island. It was a long 7 hour ride of constant up and down, side to side. Needless to say I wasn't feeling so great and neither was dad. So I slept most of the day away. Once we made it to our destination we mixed up some rum and coke's, had dinner, took and shower and went to sleep…. Again

October 20, 2010

Last night I had a great sleep fully energized and ready to go. After breakfast we went off to do another land adventure. We went on the middle of the Isabella Island. Which was really cool cuz we walked in about a kilometre or so and were still finding see shells and sign of marine life. Apparently in 1983 the land in this section rose 15 ft in 2 days. So all the vegetation we saw on land we all new within the past 27 years. Plus on top of that we saw a huge land turtle but apparently it was just a medium size. But i thought it was big. After our land adventure we went for another snorkel adventure. I got to swim with some sea turtles that were eating the algie off of the rocks. I saw another stingray but this time i decided not to swim with it. It looked angry. After we went back showered and had lunch. After lunch we went for a dingy adventure to see some penguin nests and boobie nests. Which i was a little disgusted cuz i thought the white on the rocks was like some sort of barnacle or something and it turns our to be bird poop. And there is some little islands that are totally white… After that we came back, had dinner and hit the sack once again.

October 19, 2010

Man was I ever tiered this morning. I didn't have a good sleep cuz we were sailing through the night and got woken up a number of times. After breakfast we went for a bit of a dingy tour and saw some penguins, boobies and this other galapagos bird. After that we went for another hike to this lava flow site that happened a number of years ago. Once we got back we went snorkelling where i got to see some sea turtles. But i didn't get very close, the water was warmer near the surface. After we came back tot he ship I was exhausted, so i had a shower and fell asleep. Later I was woken up by Luis (he's the guy that cleans the cabins) and released I was left behind while everyone went for another land adventure. Apparently dad came in and asked if I wanted to go and I replied "no", but i don't remember that. Once everyone got back we went for another snorkelling, which was really cool because it was like a stereo typical ocean ref, with lots of bright coloured fish and large coral ref's. It was really cool and I got to swim with the sting rays. That was a little scary cuz i couldn't stop thinking about steve Irwin. (May he rest in piece) So after that under water adventure we came back mixed up some rum and coke's, had dinner then hit the sack.

October 18, 2010

Today was really quit interesting. We got up had breakfast and headed off to this little sand island where it was covered in sea lions. We took lots of pictures. then when we got back to the boat we got ready for some snorkelling. The water was a little cold but i managed. We saw lots of fish and I saw with a few sea lions which was a little nerve racking but it was pretty cool. Keep in mind these animals are all wild. After the snorkelling we headed back to some hot chocolate and lunch. After Lunch we headed off for another hiking adventure where we saw a lot of land iguana's. Once we got back we, had dinner then hit the sack.

October 17, 2010

It was another bright and early day. We had to be at the airport for 6, tony dropped us off and said our goodbyes. We got trough security and waited for our flight. Once we got into the Galapagos, we had to wait 2 hours for the rest of the tour to get in. Once they got in we headed off to our boat, the Angelito. After we got settled in we went on our first land adventure where we saw some of the remains of this old barge, which really was a couple pieces of metal sticking out of the ground… then we went back to the boat, had dinner and went to bed.

October 16, 2010

We were up bright and early saturday morning. We had to pack and move our bike's to the parking lot next to hotel. Then got a taxi to the airport for 7:30 in the morning. Once we got to the airport we had to check in, got the like 3 levels of securiting then wait for our flight. We got into Guycuil where Tony was waiting for us to take us back to his place. We met tony on the very first day flying down from Seattle, when we mentioned we were going to be common through Guycuil Tony opened up his arms and invited us to stay with him and his wife at there house. Anyways so we went back to his place and we did some shopping, saw his nice little auto shop and went for dinner. It was a really nice and relaxing day. Thanks Tony and Karina.

October 15, 2010

The next day Dad and I got an early start and headed off to Lima. We rode into Lima and man is Lima ever huge! Population 8 million people. And the traffic is crazy there. There is no orderly lanes of traffic everyone is splitting lanes and in-between the gaps are little 250cc motorcycles. It was sure an experience getting to our hotel. It took us an hour to get from the highway to our hotel which was only 10 km… Patience is a virtue… Anyways we got there found a place to store our bikes while we are gone and everything was good. That night we met up with Jorge, he is part of one of the HUBB Lima communities, he reserved a room for us at the hotel and got us direction, just a really nice generous man. Anyways we went for a beer with him that night.

October 14, 2010

So I have got a lot to talk about since i haven't done an entry for awhile. So first thing a I gotta talk about is the Nasca Lines. They were pretty cool but a bit of a let down. There had been trails and track right trough the middle of them. There were no fencing to fence it off, it was just out in the open for anyone to do as they please. But all in all im glad we saw it, but the plain ride was a little bumpy. After that we hit the road for Huacachina. What an awesome little place. It is about 5 km out of Lima. Anyways dad and I got there and found a place and also signed up for sand boarding! AWESOME!!! We got a room at the beautiful little hotel which only cost 55 american dollars for 2 people night stay and a 2 hour dune buggy/sand boarding adventure. WOW what a deal. Anyways once dad and I got settled in we had dinner then got ready for our sand adventure. And wow what a blast our driver was crazy. i swear we got air a few times in the dune buggy. Once we got back from our adventure we thought it would be best to take a shower and remove the sand from ourselves, which i still haven't got rid of all the sand and 5 days have past. So after we got cleaned up I hit the sack.