DAKAR, and the ride to Colombia

[Ranger Red]

This was the Baja (to us).








This makes Baja sense, Thanks Yogoi, weird world when place and peole blend into the mix....

[YOGOI]

We decide on Bolivia. We go to the embassy for Bolivia to fill out the paper work turn in copies of photos and pay our money. Its 135 dollars each to be put into the Bolivian bank. The also want you to have 6 months on your pass port. Milena has 2 months left. Not wanting to wire 270 dollars into an account and then be denied at the boarder we asked if this would be a problem. The guy at the desk went to ask the big man up stairs. No Bolivia for us.
It was a bum'er because we were a day or two from meeting up with Goat on his way south.
...but the Atacama should be neat to see, we head west into the mnt., and clouds.











The whole day was dirt road and as were were getting close to the boarder and town, we could see the storm that we were going to have to ride through to get there. We decide to pull off the road out of the wind and camp; again hope'n the storm doesn't make its way over to us in the night.



We were luck and skipped the storm. We road down the hill and pass the flat lake bed (where we could see that the storm was hit'n). It was supper muddy and there were two semi trucks buried up to there axles on the road. We ask the drivers if they needed any food or water. They were fine and help was on the way.













We make it to San Pedro for lunch.

[MotoUzi]

Those pictures are sooo amazing. I cant imagine having the guts to leave the states, let alone the faith travel you have been up too. Whole new respect for two awesome folks. You guys rock!

[Cuchanu]

Originally Posted by MotoUzi

I cant imagine having the guts to leave the states

You're missing out! There is so much to do outside of the US and leaving your comfort zone allows you to have the kind of adventures you see here.

[YOGOI]

Originally Posted by MotoUzi

Those pictures are sooo amazing. I cant imagine having the guts to leave the states, let alone the faith travel you have been up too. Whole new respect for two awesome folks. You guys rock!

If you wanna try it out, I know where a bike is you could ride.

[crashmaster]

Ah, the great altiplano routes of northern Argentina, I miss them already. Nice pics!

[YOGOI]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Ah, the great altiplano routes of northern Argentina, I miss them already. Nice pics!

Ya, me too.

[YOGOI]

We eat lunch and then do about 10 laps around town (the adobe maze) until we finally find were they had been hide'n the gas station. We're drenched in sweat and all we want to do is hit the road and find somewhere to camp out side of town. We find a place out of the wind.
The next day We hit the coast (an amazing drop from 13,000 feet to sea level) and camp out side of Inquique.

























The city of Inquique in bizarre and beautiful. Then we make the long hop across the desert to Arica.
We ride down amazing slopes into green valleys and then back up to the planes of the sandy desert. The pics just dont do the size of these valleys justice.
We stay the night in Arica, and then its another beach camp. Welcome To PERU!!!!

[1Man2Wheels]

Excellent report and pics, thanks for posting these up.

How would you rate the Strom for the terrain you encountered? I will be heading south on a DL650 in a couple of months, and am leaning towards tarmac when possible but your off road experiences have me intrigued.

[YOGOI]

Originally Posted by KnightWhoSaysNi

Excellent report and pics, thanks for posting these up.

How would you rate the Strom for the terrain you encountered? I will be heading south on a DL650 in a couple of months, and am leaning towards tarmac when possible but your off road experiences have me intrigued.

The mapped dirt roads are just fine for a strom. Some of the washboard with rock combo was a bit rough, but we were two up, and I'm use to a worked 950 suspension.
There is alot of pavement between Colombia and Argentina, and I was leaning toward dirt when ever possible. Or, as much as the weather would allow.

[YOGOI]

From the beach (near Majia) we head up through Arequipa for lunch and find a place in Puno for the night. We hang out in Puno for two nights for a little rest. We tour out to the floating islands and catch some festivals.











































The day after the festival we head out in the morning. The streets are empty. This is very strange because it seemed that the thousands of taxi's never stopped and never stopped honking.
As we head out of town we start to come across rocks and glass that had been tossed onto the road. Then we hit a group that had the road blocked.
We stop. Two guys start walking toward us with broken bottles in there hands. Another guy goes and lifts the barbwire barricade so we can pass under.
At this time we really dont have any idea whats going on. People are yelling at us as we go by, but they let us through the road blocks. It gose like this for about 30 miles. All the way through the town of Juliaca. It takes forever, and Milena has to get off and carry the boxes as I squeeze the bike past trucks that have been placed to block the road.
I wish we took more photo's, but at the time I didnt want to press our luck and piss some one off, or draw more attention.

[JamesOn2Wheels]

If you go up thru central Peru to the far north, there is an out-of-the-way (wait, isn't everything out of the way in Peru?) trip that I loved.
Head east out of Cajamarca towards Bambamarca over the mountains to Chachapoyas area...it's in Amazonas province but that is a misnomer as it is all high mountain and valley area.
If you do at least visit Kuelap, it's the least visited mountain top fortress I think In Peru, the caretaker will let you camp there in the lot, or over the hill to his house where he will feed you for I think I paid $3.00 a day for food and camp. Ask him about 7th day adventists...
The road north to Ecuador from there is pretty spectacular, I went through some amazing canyons and ran into a roadblock at a bridge just before Jaen, Indigenous vs military...they may still be in this conflict over oil and mining interest ruining their land-when i was there happened quite a few deaths between both sides.
The road up from Jaen (don't stay there it's a shitty town) is great also... easy crossing from Peru to Ecuador, then a great mountain drive to Vilcabamba, Ecuador (where you can ogle the holy gringos in their natural environment), up to Cuenca which has good moto shops ...on North.
Just an idea, have fun !!

Zig

[YOGOI]

Originally Posted by Zigeuner53

If you go up thru central Peru to the far north, there is an out-of-the-way (wait, isn't everything out of the way in Peru?) trip that I loved.
Head east out of Cajamarca towards Bambamarca over the mountains to Chachapoyas area...it's in Amazonas province but that is a misnomer as it is all high mountain and valley area.
If you do at least visit Kuelap, it's the least visited mountain top fortress I think In Peru, the caretaker will let you camp there in the lot, or over the hill to his house where he will feed you for I think I paid $3.00 a day for food and camp. Ask him about 7th day adventists...
The road north to Ecuador from there is pretty spectacular, I went through some amazing canyons and ran into a roadblock at a bridge just before Jaen, Indigenous vs military...they may still be in this conflict over oil and mining interest ruining their land-when i was there happened quite a few deaths between both sides.
The road up from Jaen (don't stay there it's a shitty town) is great also... easy crossing from Peru to Ecuador, then a great mountain drive to Vilcabamba, Ecuador (where you can ogle the holy gringos in their natural environment), up to Cuenca which has good moto shops ...on North.
Just an idea, have fun !!

Zig

We wanted to do this route, but the pounding cold rain, and our time line sent us to the coast.

...next time.

[YOGOI]

Next stop Cusco, then to Ollantaytambo and Machu Pichu.

[YOGOI]

It was a rainy ride leaving Macchu Pichu. The 26 is an amazing road, but we end up riding in fog that slows us down to 1st gear through most of it.
We make it to Chalhuanca for the night.
The next day we put some hours on the bike and make it to Huacachina.









I help with a little painting, OSHA approved.