translation Mendoza - Bolivia

After our ride along the Aconcagua we hang around in Mendoza. We visit the paragliding club, without being able to fly and do the same at the skdiveclub. At  the first we can not rend propre equiment, and the second we say thank you, because of the price. 30 euro for 9000 ft. from a Cessna 182. That's not worth it to us.
In Mendoza we meet soul mates, Mathias and Christina, both traveling with a F650 GS DAKAR and follow roughly the same route as us. We are experiencing some nice evenings together before they move on. Undoubtedly we will find eachother again.
Then a few quiet days in the vineyards of Mendoza and rough and rugged landscape! We want to visit the Valle de la Luna, known for its erosion and beautiful stone and rock formations. Unfortunately, the night before our visit there is a tunderstorm and the road to the most beautiful formations is closed.
Through the R40 it goes a little back south to the direction Rodeo. The road is deceptively good. It undulates up and down in beautiful asphalt, until I see Johan return with 4 pinkers on. In a descent, the road sis uddenly full of mud, stones and water. Johan took it at full speed, but I do slowly. This kind of obstacles is normal after heavy rain storm, so we're the next few hours extra  careful.


At the junction of R40 and the road to Rodeo, we get an invitation  to stay in Canada, Vancouver, or if we want a winterhousse in Whisller. Nice offer! Peter and Paul are 2 retired twin brothers who, like us (back) riding back to Canada. We chat on the side of the road and then everyone's going our way. The invitation? we keep it warm.
Rodeo is a little village about 200 km off the Chilean border (also one of the last villages to the border). There is a beautiful lake in the middle of the stage where a lot of rock formations where you can surf & kite (it is called here also Cuesta del Viento). There is a nice relaxing surf atmosphere.

And then on to Paso Aqua Negra. More than 200 km ripio, at 4725 meters altitude. The weather is beautiful, the temperature is perfect for this ride. It is a bit "boring", but this is really indescribable. Nothing but rock, rock, gletserwater that rumbles down, steep cliffs and quiet. The road is well maintained, but it remains to watch out for unexpected changes in the surface, you do not want to ffall here and wating  with broken bones  for help! We'll picnic still above 4000 meters, filling our camelback with pure gletserwater and then continue. If we just after 7 o'clock in the evening past the Chilean border post driving, waiting for us a 80 km drive on good asphalt, completely in the shade so we will not be blinded by the sun. Here we can even let go! And then, suddenly on the rough rocky mountain walls appear the first Chilean vineyards near large cacti, you do not understand how something can grow, but they are grapes for this delicious Chilean wines.
We found just before dark a nice quiet campsite with pool and ride the next day to La Serena, a medium sized city on the coast. Here we celebrate our 100th day of travel, then there are the Easter weekend and hope tomorrow (Monday) to find new tires for the F 650.
From La Serena we have quite a few kilometers behind the back. We drove through the driest part of Chile, 400 years without rain.The roads are well constructed, the mining industry is running at full speed, after all. We also know "ripio negro" is earth with a layer of asphalt over it, drives great but beware of the pothols.We are now alsoon  the Dakar route and sleep several times at their camp sites.Through Antofagasta and Calama we still drive through arid stone desert to San Pedro de Atacama. at the Bolivian border. Here we collide almost literally back on Christa and Mathias (see Mendosa) and we decide to ride together in Bolivia. A wise decision, as it turns later onWe go through the border crossing on the Altiplano at 5040 meters. The formalities take much time. the customs men do not get as many people on the floor.. Meanwhile begins to dazzle us all 4 in the head and we get blue lips, the first signs of altitude sickness. the night falls long before we are at the camp. we drive another hour in the dark, but when the first bike hits the ground from due to the difficult roadeconditions we decide to camp beside the road. Still at 4700 meters we crawl with 4 in 1 tent that will keep us warm during the night. The next morning we woke up to Laguna Colorado, between the flamingos.  We buy extra petrol at the jeeps that the tourists on the Alti Plano mountains and go off again.The following days we get all possible road conditions to process. From simple ripio, over loose stones and deep desert sand over mud and numerous rivers without a bridge. The only thing we do not see is asphalt. Welcome to Bolivia.After the mighty Altiplano, surrounded by volcanoes and mountain peaks above 6000 meters, we camp on the salt flats of Uyuni. Again indescribable.And then after 4 days and 600 km of dirt road finally appearing in the first asphalt Bolivia.It brings us  to Chapalata and later in Ouro. Here we  experiencing a few wonderful days with our new Bolivian friends. La Paz and the Camino del muerte are waiting for us.
Some facts.gasoline. 9 bolivianos for foreigners, for locals 3 bolivianos. black market 5 bolivianos (0.5 euros). we buy at the regular stations in bottles and throw it behind the corner in our moto, sFood: 2 euros for a dishsleep 20 euro for 2 in the better hotels, with good parking. camping is unusual.coca leaves just for sale on the market.

Since a day or 4 we are in La Paz. A delightful town, with nothing to compare.After we left in the blissful quiet area of ​​the Thermes de Obrajes the choas of El Alto (suburb of La Paz) almost torture. But the immense vision that we then get on La Paz and its 6000ders are beautiful. Johan leads us unerringly to the hotel .We have motorcycles parked the hotel garage and explore the city on foot or by minibus. The first work here was to repair the PC so you can monitor again!So many updates: highlights of the weeks, many new albumsAnd then the surprise of the week, on our first evening here in La Paz, we step at 11.00 pm outside a pub. Passes us a gentleman and says Johan, "heuu, I know that sir." I look and trap of surprise! The Juul, fireman in Antwerp ! Here in La Paz. with a pint, we learn that he and Frank Mortelmans for a project within the framework of the "brotherhood" between Antwerp and Tarija. How small is the world. We go the next night with his 4 food, a good evening for many more great stories and facts about Bolivia.What do you think even more than in La Paz? The newspaper, containing a double page about Paragliding! We see our opportunity, Johan contact the local school and the next day we left. We have now both 3 flights on our track record writing with departure at 4500 meters and landings above 4000 meters. To your paragliding in the air to get here, you damn running and also the countries is completely different. Enjoy it!

www.halconeslapaz.com/es/
For all those in secure and reliable guidance to discover the paragliding in Bolivia, Halcones go to La Paz, to Edgar MartinYou can find them via the link above or at High Camp Bolivia.He guided us perfectly with our first flights in high altitude.

What a relief to the hustle and bustle of La Paz exit towards Camino del Muerte.We didn't managed to get gasolina in La Paz to gasoline , but fortunately we have enough to make it to Coroico . Hopefully we have more success there.
What can I write about the journey on the Camino del Muerte? Once the most dangerous road in the world and the only connection between this fertile valley and La Paz. For 5 years there is a new paved road and the old road promoted for tourism. The road is littered with crosses in memory of the deceased and in some places so narrow, that I wonder if I can pass it on the motorbike! Rock avalanches, waterfalls and cliffs, but look at the album.We take it easy, because the area is so beautiful that we all want to enjoy.
In Coroico we make a last effort to make the (very) steep road to take us to the eco-lodge "Sol y Luna" are. A true paradise for camping, with 2 swimming pools, beautiful hiking trails and everything a man needs not to have to leave. The plan to be here to stay 1 night soon runs out to 3 nights, but tomorrow we should really move on.We drive from Corioico back to La Paz, via the new route. Although that is paved, it remains to watch out. Signs with "attention, zona Geologica instable" predict unpaved passes, rough stones and many wells. The view again is breathtaking, literally and figuratively what it is back rise of 1800 meters to almost 4000 meters.It is also increasingly difficult to get gasoline  there. Most stations still refuse to sell in jerrycans and some simply do not at sell vehicles with foreign license plates. Once we can not fail to fill up to 9 bolivianos (1 euro), the next time we get him for 7 bolivianos and they want to fill our jerrycans anyway.

We camp in La Paz at the "Oberlander" a Swiss 3 * hotel with a place at the parking lot to put your tent.Then go through the volcano "Sajama", the highest peak in Bolivia, 6540 meters. We sleep at the foot of the mountain (brrrrrr) for the (closed) door to the refugio of the local mountain sports club, and attract the next day the border with Chile.
There, on top of the pass I catch a deep pit and go to the ring for suspension of my way! Luckily I have a spare and we can easily replace him in Iqique. The road to the coast is not a joke on the  map as asphalt and international road, but in reality the most part, still ripio, full of road works and more bad than good plays. Trucks loaded with gasoline to Bolivia to bring.
Long after dark we arrived in Arica, where we do not (open) site found. A willing Chilean shows us the way to "Sunny days" a delightful hostel to catch his breath after the Bolivian adventure.