Month: May 2015

Machu Picchu

billrider2013Leave a comment

Machu Picchu

I spent a couple of days in Cusco, not doing much. I tried to get on am excursion that included some mountain bike riding. To my frustration, there were not enough takers so the operator cancelled the excursions. Anyway, it was good to a have a pit of break from constant travelling. I spent a bit of time in the Norton Pub which overlooks the main square. This is a bit of a happening place. The owner is a British Motorcycle enthusiast, hence the name of the pub. There is a lot of memorabilia on the walls, including old posters, of Nortons, Triumphs, Matchlesses etc.

On one afternoon the place was packed with soccer fans watching a European Champions’ Cup match between Barcelona and Juventus. Even I impressed with the skill of the players, especially the bloke called Messi.

Mach Picchu

It would have been really good to walk the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu. Unfortunately it is so popular you have to book months in advance. I had to do with a 2 day trip by bus and train.

The first stage was a mini bus to a town called Ollantaytambo from there is about a 2 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes which is the town at the foot of Machu Picchu.

As I waited for my train, a really fancy train out into the station. It looked like what I expect the Orient Express carriages to look like – with plush seats and silver service dining cars.

After that train left, my train arrived. Even through it wasn’t as fancy as the other one, it was pretty flash.

Chat with Californian couple

The train was full. As it rattled off, the couple sitting opposite introduced themselves. They were from California and were serious travellers. It was very interesting to chat them. It became pretty obvious that they were your classic ‘Californian Liberals’ – pro universal health care, renewable energy and very embarrassed that George Bush had been President.

The trains passed through some very spectacular countryside.

After arriving in Aguas Calientes I found my hostel, which is located by the river. The sound of the water rushing by was amazing – so close and so loud.

Aguas is the classis tourist town. It seem that every shop is either a restaurant, tourist gift shop or tour operator.   I had a bit of a wander around before have a meal and an early night.

Early wake up

I woke up very early to catch one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu in the morning. As it turned out there were hundreds of other people with the same plan. The queue to get a bus was very long. Notwithstanding the numbers, the queue moved fairly quickly and it wasn’t long before I was on a bus and heading up the very steep and winding road up to Machu Picchu.

Very Enthusiastic Guide

After getting through the entrance gate, I was put into a group of English speakers and we were introduced to our guide. As we walked up the path a tall girl asked me if I was Dutch. I told her that I wasn’t. She said she “thought I was an actor she had seen at Schiphol Airport”. He seemed very disappointed that I was retired Australian.

I must say Machu Picchu is one of those places that is more spectacular than the photos suggest. It is truly  remarkable. The guide was very enthusiastic and had a lot to say about the history of the place and the Inca people that lived there. We were taken to various points of the site the features were explained.

Long walk to the Sun Gate

It the end of the tour, I walked to the sun gate which is about 2 kilometre away. If you take the Inca trail, this is place where you get your first sight of Machu Picchu.

As I approached the Sun Gate, a huge blob of cloud suddenly appeared. I have a great photo of Peruvian cloud behind which is a great view of Machu Picchu.

I head back down the track. After about 300 metres, the cloud lifted and I got a slightly different photo.

Walk for the park entrance to the town

When I got back to park entrance I decided to take the path that leads down to Aguas Calientes. The walk is not long, but it is very steep. Check out the Garmin link and the videos on Flickr.

Lunch in the square

I had a lunch in one of the very touristy restaurants I the town square. I had become accustomed to the Peruvian practice of automatically adding a 10 or 15% ‘service fee’ to restaurants bills. This seems fair enough to me.

As I sat eating my meal, I witnessed that bizarre sight of an American couple complaining that the service charged was added to bill. I challenged them to name a restaurant in their country where you could eat without being forced to pay a ‘tip’.

Train back

As it turned out that my train back to Ollantaytambo was one of the last to leave. It was dark when it arrived. There was mad rush to get on to the mini buses to Cusco. The bus that I got aboard ended up with only me a young couple. After a long wait the driver announced that he wasn’t going.

The young bloke was furious and started yelling at the driver in Spanish. The driver left the bus and the girl told me in broken English that he was going to get a taxis for us. As we waited she told me that they were from Columbia.

The taxis arrived and we climbed aboard. There was another animated conversation. The Columbia bloke clearly didn’t agree with the fare the taxis driver was proposing. Finally a fare was agreed – SOL 20 per person.

It took nearly two hours to get to Cusco. As far as I was concerned that was a very cheap fare.

Based on this experience, I would be very wary of upsetting a Columbian.

Flickr Links

Photos

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/8y41tv

Videos

https://flic.kr/s/aHskctq5sS

Garmin Link

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/778166841

[Ma1]

Death Road MTB Ride Bolivia

billrider20131 Comment

Death Road

One of the major, if not the major, tourist attractions in La Pas is the Death Road. The Wikipedia piece below explains what it is all about.

As the piece notes, the road gets its name as a result of the number of deaths that occur from trucks and other vehicles going over the edge each year – between 200 to 300 fatalities per year.

A number of operators

It is now a very popular route for mountain bike (MTB) riders. I booked an excursion with a company called Altitude. There were a number of people in the hostel that were booked with same company.

We loaded into a mini bus and headed out of La Pas. It is a seriously congested city and it look us ages to travel out of the built up area. Finally we were clear of the city and climbing quickly. We passed a hydroelectricity dam and some small farms with lamas being tended over by shepherds (or whatever people how look after lamas are called).

Very cold and snowing

We finally arrived at point where the driving stopped and the riding was to begin. This was next to a natural lake. It was very cold with snow flurries. Our guides gave us a safety briefing and we put on our protective clothing. Unsurprisingly it took some time to find a helmet that could accommodate my very large head.

The only Oldie

Our bus was joined by two others, making up about thirty in our group. Looking around, I realised that I was the only person over thirty. In fact, nearly everyone was in their early twenties.

Tarmac road

We headed off. The first part of the ride was on tarmac road. The snow turned to fine drizzle and then into quite heavy rain. Riding on this ride gave me the opportunity to lock into my brain that the right brake lever controls the rear brake. This is the reverse of my bike.

After about 15 kilometres we stopped for some breakfast. We also had to pay 25 boliviano for a park entrance fee. Why this was not simply included in the price of the excursion, I will never know.

After breakfast, we got back into the mini bus for a short ride up a bit of a hill.

On the actual Death Road

We had finally arrived at the start of the Death Road’. This required another safety briefing, including the sensible advise that: “if you have to stop any reason, put your foot on the hill side of the bike”.

Lots of trucks and vans

As we ventured off, we came across a relatively large number of trucks and cars. At one point we all had to press up against the side of the cliff as two trucks passed us. Check out the Flickr link.

There were also bikes from other Altitude groups and other operators. Throw in a few motorbikes, and we had one very busy road.

It is easy to see how large trucks and other motor vehicle fall off the edge.

Stop to take photos

After a while we stopped for photos. This is a point where cliff is sheer. It is a great photo opportunity, however, on this day, the weather was not too flash. We sat on the side of the road with our legs over the cliff for a group shot. A German bloke sitting near to me didn’t like this at all. He suffered from vertigo and was close to fainting.

Girl takes a fall

Not long after the photos, we came across a fallen rider from another group. It was a girl, who had fallen heavily and managed to bite her lip. There was a lot of blood and tears.

Check point

We made very good pace to a checkpoint, where we had yet another stop. The temperature had increased dramatically. We had dropped a lot of metres over the 50 or so kilometres that we had travelled so far.

Steep downhill

From the check point we took and much rougher road that at points, was close to being ‘single’ track. It was much steeper than the previous part of the road and there were no trucks or cars. Albeit it was steep, the drops on the side were not sheer. From and riding point of view, this was the best part of the trip.

Group Photos

Again the pace was good as we made our decent. Some of the party were a bit slow, but that didn’t slow the rest of us down.

It was not long before was reached the end of the ride. It was a relief to take off the protective clothing in the heat.

We were given out T shirts and assembled for group photos.

Late Lunch and Showers at Hotel

Next stop was a hotel where we were able to take a shower.

We were also given lunch, which was pretty good.

It was interesting talking to the other riders. They had some very interesting things to say about their experiences travelling in central and South America. I found their comments on ‘so illicit drugs, including cocaine, very interesting. One newly graduated Swedish Doctor, clearly did believe in the war on drugs.

Very long trip back to La Pas

The trip back to La Pas was on the ‘new’ road. It is all tarmac, but very busy. The 95 kilometres took for ever.

As we entered the city, the traffic was worse than we left. We found out that cause was a football match. Playing football at such a high altitude must take some doing.

Check out the Garmin Link for the details of the descent.

The Flickr videos and photos are courtesy of the tour operator. They use a basic camera, but you get an idea of what the ride is like.

Flickr Links

Video

To be included when the internet speeds permit.

Photos

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/5d6dDb

Garmin Link

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/768552887

Wikipedia Link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road

Atacama Desert

billrider2013Leave a comment

Atacarma Desert

It was still dark when I woke up on the morning for my trip into Bolivia.

Because my hostel was in a very small lane, I had agreed to be picked up in a slightly larger lane a couple of blocks away. I made my way there as the sky become slowly lighter. It was somewhat surreal, there were a number of travellers like myself positioned a various points along the lane obviously also waiting to be picked up. There were also the inevitable street dogs wandering around either by themselves or in groups of two or three. They came up to me and the other travellers, I assume looking for food. Mini buses travelled up and down the lane stopping a various points to pick up passengers. Finally mine arrived and I climbed on board.

I recognised two couples I had seen on the bus from La Serena. This was to be expected, given we were all heading in the same direction. I was to find out that two of the four were brother and sister originally from Benalla in north east Victoria. They were travelling with their respective husband and wife.

Big Climb

Our mini bus made a couple more stops before heading out of town and towards the border with Bolivia. The road was very steep.

After about an hour, we stopped. This was the point where we met the drivers of the Toyota Land cruises that were to take us across the desert.

The biggest shock when we got out of the mini-van was the temperature. It was freezing – minus 10 centigrade. We were all shocked. Some people were wearing shorts. Even with gloves, my hands started to freeze. This was made worse as we stood around eating breakfast.

Meeting my Travelling Companions

There were 18 people in the min-bus and we were split groups of six to ride in the Toyotas. My group consisted on three Russian blokes and a couple from Brazil. This was going to be interesting as it become immediately obvious that only one of the Russians had any command of English or Spanish and the Brazilian could speak very little English and only rudimentary Spanish.

My Russian is non-existent apart from a couple of phrases that you certainly wouldn’t use speaking to three blokes.

Crossing into Bolivia

After a long breakfast, during which we almost froze to death, we finally piled into the Toyotas and headed to the Bolivian border. I can add this one to the list of interesting border crossings I have made in my time in South America.

First Lake

We were now into the crossing of the desert. Rather than a single road, there are many tracks heading in same direction. It appeared that the drivers simply decided which one they preferred. As well as the company that I was with, there were a number of other operators with multiple 4WDs travelling on this day. At times there would be up to 10 vehicles travelling close together. At other times we appeared to be alone in the desert.

After a couple of hours. We came to a large lake. Check out the photos – they say it all. According to my Garmin we were almost at 5,000 metres. This highest I have been while still having my feet on terra firma.

As we continued north we passed an active volcano. It wasn’t doing much.

Overnight

Our first overnight stop was at Laguna Colorada. A feature of this lake was a large number of flamingos. Some are really pink.

As we were establishing ourselves in our accommodation, I noticed some cyclists arriving. I had a chat with them. They turned out be young Swiss blokes. They told me that they had ridden 50 klms that day, however it had taken them nearly 10 hours. They were clearly as fit as buggery, however even they were struggling with the effects of the altitude.

The accommodation was very basic. The building consisted on a large number of rooms. Each of the tour parties appear to be allocated a room with all the occupants of the 4WD, the exception of the drivers, sleeping in the same room. It was very cold.

A bit about the Russian Blokes

Over dinner, I was able to glean from the Russian blokes that they had been constantly travelling for six years. The bloke who could speak English said that he used to run a ‘finance business’ and the other two used to work for him. One, a very large bloke with an interesting nose (clearly having been broken more than once), was his driver. The English speaker said that he “would not be returning to Russia as long as Putin was in power”.

Tree Stone

It was freezing when we headed off in the morning. The scenery was spectacular. We stopped in area with some very interesting rock formations, including one that looked like a tree.

More Flamingos

We stopped for lunch at a lake with more flamingos. If you like flamingos there are heaps of photos on Flickr.

Second Hotel

It was quite late when we arrived at our second hotel. It was a real surprise. It looked quite dodgy from the outside. However, inside it was quite luxurious. I had my own room with an en-suite bathroom. That was all very well, the only problem being there was no water.

Very early start

Our last day in the desert involved a very early start. The reason was that we going to see the sun rise on the salt flats.

This turned out to be highlight of the whole trip. The photos say it all.

After watching the sun rise, we speed across the lake. The surface is remarkably hard. Check out the patterns. The Garmin shows the route and the speeds we achieved.

Funny Photos and Videos

One of the things to do on the salt flats is the take photos and make videos that take advantage of the ‘optical illusions’ caused by the flat surface on the lake.

Examples of what you can do are on Flickr. These include arranging the camera and an object, like an avocado to give the appearance that a person is sitting on the object. Other examples include making a video that gives that appearance that people are running out of tube or a bottle.

Cactus Island

After the photo and video making we headed across the lake, to an ‘island’. This is a rocky outcrop rising about 200 metres above the lake. A feature of the island are cactuses (or is that cacti). Anyway the island is great place to view the lake which spreads out for many kilometres in all directions.

Hotel

Near to the edge of the lake we stopped briefly a hotel that is made from salt cut from the lake. It isn’t very interesting. However I was amused to find a model of ‘salt and pepper’ schnauzer dog.

Train Cemetery

Our last stop on the tour was train cemetery. The trains are what remains of a large fleet that was used to transport minerals up until the mid 20th century. It is an obvious reminder that mining is not a sustainable industry.

Overnight in Uyuni

We arrived in Uyuni in the early afternoon. I had made reservation at hostel. The couples mentioned above had planned their trip a bit better than me. They had already determined that Uyuni wasn’t a place to stay for longer than necessary. One of the couples had booked on a train heading north that was leaving at 1.30 a.m. the next morning. The others were taking a bus directly to La Paz.

Whenever I get a chance, I like to take a train. I bought a ticket. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep in the hostel before we headed to the station.

The train was slow, but reasonably comfortable. For some reason the line does not go as far as La Paz an stops in Oruro. From there you have to take a bus into La Paz.

We arrived in La Paz in mid-afternoon and I made my way to the Wild Rover Hostel.

Flickr Photos

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/W4041P

Flickr Videos

https://flic.kr/s/aHskd6KL4P

 A bit about the Desert

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert

Garmin Links

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/768117385

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/768117570

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/768117732

San Pedro

billrider2013Leave a comment

 San Pedro

I arrived in San Pedro at about 9.00 am. Even though it is a small place it took me a while to find my hostel. It was a bit away from the main part of the town.

After checking in, I headed off into the town. The main street consisted of restaurants, some outdoors shops, a couple of mini markets and dozens of tour operators offering trips across the Atacama Desert into Bolivia.

Lots of Tour Operators

There were a lots of fellow travellers wandering up and down the streets checking out the prices offered by the various operators.   I ran into a Dutch girl and her Mexican boyfriend who had been on two of the buses I was on travelling from Santiago. Despite her tender age, she was a seriously skilled traveller. She seemed to be conversant in many languages, including English, Spanish, German and French. She and boyfriend had already collected the details of five of the operators and their prices. They were heading off to check some more before going back to their hostel to look at the reviews for each operator on TripAdvisor.

I went to operator that the Manager at the hostel recommended. They were only slightly more expensive than the operators that the Dutch girl had investigated, so I decided to book with them.

Moon Valley

In the afternoon I look a short tour to the Moon Valley. It was only a few kilometres from town, but very spectacular. The tour ended with a view of the sunset. The change in the colours of the landscape as the sun went down was pretty amazing.

Hostel

I had a really good night’s sleep back in the hostel. You really appreciate a good bed after an overnight bus ride.

In the morning I had excellent breakfast offered by the hostel. Unfortunately I could only stay in this hostel for one night due it being fully booked. That was no surprise as it was really good. When I checked out, I had a long chat with the manager. She told me that she had worked with the owner to make the hostel the best in town.

As you can see from the Flickr photos the building in San Pedro are very ‘third world’. However these guys have managed to establish a really good hostel. The bathroom and toilets are spotlessly clean, the beds are good and the breakfast is excellent with fresh fruit, yoghurt and cereals. These are simple ideas that make that a difference.

Even though I had checked out, I was able to stay in the hostel to do some stuff on the internet (albeit it was slow – no fault of the hostel) and write up some of my blog.

Changed Hostel and Early Night

In the afternoon, I headed into town to a new hostel. I was a very strange place. I posted a picture of it on Facebook and got some interesting comments.

I had a late lunch in a very good restaurant. As I left, I look a video. It gives an indication of the remarkable contrast of the interiors and exteriors of the buildings.

Some Adventure Bikes

As walked back to my hostel I came across some BMW GS’s. They are very good, however, I am still looking at Triumph Tigers. My Canberra host take note.

I had an early night as I was due to leave for Bolivia before dawn the next morning.

Flickr Link

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twwilko_photos/sets/72157651511000623