A Short Sojourn in South America

Hello Tiffany
Magnificent adventure, your photos are brilliant
I looks forward to the continuation...
Safe journey and has very soon

Sorry for the delay over the past few days, but I'm now at home and RockyDog has come to visit and we went away camping and kayaking for a few days, you'll see stuff in his RR which is here
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=895070

Talking of which, I set him up with a comfortable room at my house



and here is the scene that greeted me at his place in Oklahoma when I was on the road last year.



anyway, I'd better get back to my own RR, there I was down in South America, taking the coast road from Nasca to Arequipa, we're getting close to the end.

TheReaper! is still here and I still have my eye on you girl , the eagle is for the rodents (rats & mice) . No cats down there ? Wish I was there with you .

TheReaper!

Thanks for those words of wisdom Reaper!

Us Okies know how to circle the welcome wagons, don't we? But Tiffany left out some other stuff I enjoyed; delicious vegetarian meals, a warm and welcoming home for all who cross the threshold, and an understated elegance about her that makes visitors and friends alike feel special in her presence.

The room was comfy, sunny, and was dubbed the Oklahoma room cause this album cover was over the headboard. I could not have enjoyed my stay more, thank you, Tiff, for all....

Stephen

Somewhat distracted for a while there - checking out what Rockydog was saying about my house on his RR, in my defence, that really untidy room is actually the greenhouse!!

Anyway, the journey

It takes all sorts to make a big journey like this, and a weird sense of humour always helps






having been in the deserts, salt lake and mountains for quite a while we were making the most of every opportunity to get photos of our bikes with the sea in the background


some great curves





A friendly fuel stop



which stretched out to be an impromptu picnic lunch stop as more arrived







and the name of the garage...



yep
Virgen del Buen Paso
which has a number of translations, including the Good Step Virgin or the Virgin of the Good Way. Take your pick, it certainly makes a change from Shell or Esso.

You make it look very exciting......great RR

Paddy
Thank you, though it's not hard in these sort of surroundings for an RR to look pretty good. Every day, my riders have been astounded at the great views and incredible range of landscapes. More to come...

Tiffany

The dry and desolate cliff roads were occasionally punctuated by a lush green valleys where various rivers had cut through the landscape. Every inch of the valley floor was cultivated to make the most of the water - a scarcity in this arid part of the continent.



A vivid splash of colour. We would descend down to the valley floor, cross over the river on a bridge and then go up the other side, heading south throughout.



Finally in the distance, we saw this welcome sight



No, not the bus

the volcano beyond it



another one that I was assured is not currently active, it's called Misti (Putina) and last erupted in 1985, hmm, not actually extinct then.

Those pics are gorgeous

That's it ? 4 days and nutin honey ? What happened....... food poisoning ?


Get to work and post some thing


TheReaper!

Thanks Saeed.

and Reaper, I'm getting there, gradually, (story of my life) I've been a bit distracted by humdrum stuff like long work days as I have to earn a living and then yesterday went walking and saw six basking sharks, just off the coast near my house. They're very big (20 feet long) but safe so hoping to go out in the kayaks today.
I'll attempt to get this RR done - even if just a little bit, some problems with uploading my pics onto SmugMug lately.

OK, I've worked out the problem, Mozilla doesn't let me use SmugMug properly so I open with a different wotsit.

Back to RR.
We'd ridden a long way that day along the coastal road and finally with Misti Volcano in our sights we had arrived at the legendary city of Arequipa - the White City. We'd battled through the traffic, roadworks and general chaos to find our hotel.
And then there was one more job for me to do...
One of my tasks as guide is finding suitable secure parking - oh yes, it's not just Thelma to worry about, on a trip like this 10 top notch BMW bikes need a bit more security than my 22 year old warhorse.
I find an enclosed parking area, negotiate with the attendant - they enjoy the fact that
a) despite all these blokes, a woman is negotiating
b) my Brit accent when speaking in Spanish
they're not so fond of my keen nose for a bargain, after so many years of travelling on a miniscule budget, I don't go for soft deals.

Then I direct and help get the bikes squeezed into the smallest area possible, in some of these towns, space is at a premium and we have to pack the bikes in quite tightly.



Bikes parked and safe, I headed back to the hotel where the group were already relaxing over a few beers

They had taken over the hotel reception area (and what an amazing hotel)



Bike gear everywhere, we sat back and shared ride tales and photos from the day



As the sun finished setting, I took some photos from the hotel rooftop terrace before heading out for dinner



The volcano looks peaceful enough so maybe we won't be woken by a midnight eruption.

The restaurant was great, it's a carnivore's paradise, numerous different types of meat are served on red hot griddles that are spitting hot fat so they dished out bibs for all.






Ostrich, llama, alpaca and other exotic meats were on offer, as the meat eaters tucked in,



I was actually enjoying one of the finest meals I'd had this whole trip, yep, the meaty place did good veggie food as well

Early morning Arequipa and all is peaceful. Which is good as we have a complicated route through the one way system to negotiate and sometimes it's just a lot simpler to go down the wrong way...simpler?? sometimes it's impossible to find your destination without doing something like that



These colonial places seem to share an aversion to tarmac.

Out of town, not a cloud in the sky, so a good day for riding, we head up some steep hills
I enjoy looking at the graphics that are used on signs in other countries



On this one, the car reminds me of the Anthill Mob car in the Wacky Races cartoon




Crossing the desert that surrounds Arequipa, we see more of these shanty towns, ramshackle huts scattered in small settlements on the dry earth.





Again we see the importance of the small rivers that flow here, they are the only source of greenery. Approaching this river valley there is also a splash of colour on the ground


Something is scattered, drying in the sun


Even this close, I'm still not sure what it is...maybe chillies?

TheReaper!

Reaper- is this what being married is like?
enough of the nagging - I've been away working with teenage delinquents teaching them camping and outdoor skills, night walks, fires etc.
IF you're lucky you'll get an update before I head back into work. in 20 minutes time.

Our final day of riding, we were heading back into Chile, we were on an "improved" road which had several toll booths along its length.

It's a question of trial and error when travelling in foreign countries as to whether motorbikes have to pay a toll and queue up with the other vehicles (says the woman who has also smashed through a barrier!!:huh)
Mexico for example drives me mad as bike riders HAVE to pay the full toll that a car pays, in fact a pick-up truck with 15 people in the back pays the same as a solo motorcyclist!.

In Peru I quickly worked out that we did not have to pay, and therefore we were regarded as Los Exonerados - The Excused or Forgiven,




and so we would be expected to take the Exonerados Lane, which in the above picture means keeping in the right hand lane and going past the orange traffic cone, while other vehicles followed the car.
however the others in my group had not realised - and at several booths as I arrived, out would run one or two uniformed guys waving their arms and gesturing me to keep to the right. Obviously some of the riders were ahead of me and had taken the incorrect lane, putting the toll booth attendant in an awkward position - what on earth should they do with an Exonerated in their lane. A fee HAS to be paid for every vehicle that passes through, and the attendant has to show they have taken a payment from each one, but an Exonerado has broken the rule, there is a no fee and yet they are counted because they have travelled in the WRONG lane- who will be responsible for it?

till death do us part

TheReaper!

Enjoying your ride report!! As of November 2012 in Mexico we now thankfully pay half the going rate for an auto on the quota roads!

Is that a proposal Reaper??