Going Bust In Bolivia....
What!!!.....Ran out of money???......No not that kind of 'bust' !!!
After crossing the border with Peru and Bolivia at Desguadero.....which I have to say is fantastically easy at the new Border Crossing..... (You can read about that here đ includes details of where to get insurance in La Paz for all the South American countries and money exchange.).......our problems began. Excited at entering a new country, our plans were to visit the Salt Flats at Uyunni and possibly mountain bike down the infamous Death Road if my ankle was holding up. However all was about to change.....first we rode straight into a storm on our way to La Paz.....the thunderbolt and lightening......where's that going to strike next type of thing, it's a bit close for comfort. As with many storms in South America it was over in a flash.....ha,ha.....there's a pun in there......and we carried on.....well sort of.....Christopher's Heritage Softail started getting grumpy. It wasn't long before Chris had decided something was drastically wrong....the Heritage was making various groaning noises. With around 10 miles to go to our digs in La Paz and nothing about...we decided to 'limp in'....and so we did but only just.As we entered the El Alto area of La Paz it was rush hour,well it felt like it, it was so incredibly busy,getting to the hotel was a bit of a 'mare'.Amazingly the Heritage made it and crawled into the underground garage. Bikes safe,we unpacked,checked in and then the search began, This was the first country we'd been in where there was no 'official' Harley Davidson Dealership and we knew nobody.....or did we??
I searched my contacts online, I'd remembered I'd befriended a gentleman from Cochabamba through friends on Facebook......I talk a lot....đđ. Yessss......found him....first port of call ....enter...German Fernando Ramirez Soliz. What a star,no sooner had I contacted him he put me in touch with the President of Harley Davidson Bolivia......enter Eduardo Adrian Montes Segui, another star. After a quick conversation I passed him onto Chris for them to start discussing the Heritage Softail's problems.
Arrangements were made for Eduardo to visit us at the hotel with a mechanic.We met in the garage. Enter Sergio Ruiz Bustamente another member of the HD Club of Bolivia who'd come along to help if required. Eduardo had brought me a HD tee shirt,unfortunately he didn't have one to fit Chris.Introductions made and much chatting over the bikes... enter a man who was to prove himself to be one heck of a mechanic.....German Condori Mercuado. He didn't look like a mechanic but then what does one look like? He took a look at the Softail, listened to it run....yep....he could fix that and with a little more chat, Chris watched as German jumped on his bike, took a run at the steep ramp exiting the garage ....and off he went.....oh my gosh.....when would we see it again??? No worries Eduardo and Sergio assured us he was a good mechanic.
Eduardo also suggested we changed our hotel as he wasn't happy with where we were staying but no problem he had a friend lined up that we could rent a little apartment from. More arrangements made and a few days later Eduardo arrived with his brother Sergio in a pick up truck....well we did have a lot of gear to shift.First port of call was to get some petrol and then to check in on Chris's bike at German's house and then to our new lodgings.
Petrol in Bolivia always seems to cause some travellers issues. When we pulled up outside a petrol station, Eduardo accompanied Chris with my bike and explained what to do. It boils down to this at main petrol stations;
1) As foreigners we pay more than the Bolivians as the fuel is subsidised by the Bolivian government for residents.I'm not going to go into prices as this blog is now 'old' in real time but I can tell you the difference in cost is approximately 5 bolivianos which is about ÂŁ0.58 or $0.73 US dollars.
2. They will take your licence plate number and ask your nationality before filling.You may be asked to produce your passport.
3. In general nobody should refuse to serve you petrol. If they don't have the modern paying systems in place they should accept cash.If you do get 'in a fix' with a refusal you can complain to the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos and call them on 800-10-6006.The best petrol stations to look out for are the YPF ones.
That's it......seriously.....it's not that hard.......we didn't have any issues getting fuel in Bolivia....we pulled in at one on the way into the country but they didn't have our fuel and were waiting for a delivery so we just rode to the next one. We've paid cash for petrol at smaller stations for lower grade fuel when required and we didn't have to buy any petrol from locals selling out of cans because we did not ride any back roads in Bolivia. (We have done in previous countries and not had any issues).We also paid by cash and debit Visa.
Chris felt much happier knowing where his bike was now and the fact that German was also working on the President of Bolivia's bike was kind of like a bit of reassurance that we'd come to the right place.On with our move.Sergio drove us to Aranjuez, Valle de la Luna which is just outside La Paz in a beautiful area,3188 metres above sea level. Here we met our hosts Carlos, Marie-Elena and Vale.....oh yes and not forgetting Fico the dog.We were to stay with them until the bike was fixed. At this stage nobody knew how long it was going to take.After introductions,unpacking and being shown to our little apartment in the garden, Eduardo and Sergio left but had told us they'd be back later to collect us to go to a barbecue with the Bolivian HD Club.
The BBQ was fun and we were welcomed in by the other HDB Club members. Lots to chat about, good food and new friends made. All the members paid into a collection towards the food and drinks but as guests they would not accept any money from us. Muchas Gracias xx đ
The next few days back at our new home, (Carlos and Maria Elena´s house) many phone calls were made to German as to what was wrong with the Heritage?, could he fix it?, how long would it take?,were parts required?, how much was it going to cost? etc etc
So what was wrong?....Take a look...
Herman had discovered that the inner cam bearing had disintegrated and left bits of metal in the engine. This meant stripping the bike down, replacing the parts,getting all the broken metal bits out and rebuilding.....heck....German ordered new parts.He hoped to have them within a couple of weeks.This was our main worry. Having experienced a 3 month wait for parts in Peru (luckily I was laid up with the ankle that time) we were worried that the time scales would become an issue. There wasn't a problem extending our stay in Bolivia if necessary.....the problem was our destination....Ushuaia.....we needed to get there before the weather changed or we'd miss our window.Don't forget we're in the Southern hemisphere now and the seasons are reversed......the summer in Ushuaia being Dec/Jan and February. It's already nearly the end of January.
Resigned to the fact that riding in Bolivia was not to be, we altered our plans whilst waiting for the bike to be fixed. With our accommodation sorted, we arranged to catch the overnight bus to Uyunni to visit the famous salt flats.The other thing we'd planned to do was ride or cycle the infamous Bolivian Death Road.We'd realised it was going to be too much to double up on the Sportster and cycling was unfortunately ruled out due to my ankle recovery. We just couldn't afford any more accidents at this stage. Once again Carlos,Marie Elena and Vale came up with a great idea. They were going away for a Family weekend near Coroico, very close to the Death Road and invited us to join them. Carlos said he would drive us down it, no problem. So alternate plans made we set about organising our stay. First we were going back into the city of La Paz to meet new friends Jerry Romine and Jet Sy. We'd first met them in Lima,Peru, when I was laid up, then again in Cusco,Peru, when Jet had broken her leg and now La Paz. Jet is now on crutches and of course I've moved on to just using my walking sticks.
Vale (Carlos and Marie Elena's daughter) lent us a local travel card and drove us to the 'cable car station'.........cable car station???.....yes.....
La Paz is the highest capital city in the World at 3650 metres above sea level and has a unique cable car system operating. In fact it's the World's largest 'high altitude' city cable car system.The cable car only costs about 50p to ride.and the views range from the hills in the distance to a 'birds eye' perspective of life in the city below.For those of you who like the odd historical fact thrown in,La Paz was founded in 1548 by the Spanish led by Alonzo de Mendoza
Once we'd found each other, we spent the day catching up and exploring La Paz. Chris and Jerry got new sim cards for their phones and Jet and I kinda limped along đđ This time round Jerry and Jet were sorting out a visa for Jet for Argentina before they could continue.
Ending the day with a Juan Valdez coffee, we all headed to our humble abodes via the cable cars. It'll be interesting to see where we meet next.
For the rest of this week we spent time with our new family and had a look round the local area inbetween chilling, watching Netflix, making videos and of course in the background phone calls made to see how German was getting on with the bike. Oh yes and the rugby was on back in the UK. Lucky for us Maria Elena managed to tune one of the tvs into the Six Nations for us...happy days đ
Just up the road from our apartment was the Valle de La Luna,an impressive area created from years of erosion which have left some rather interesting earth formations.It's now a tourist site and around 15 Bolivianos (about ÂŁ1.70) to get in. If you don't have you're own transport you can get a trip from La Paz.
Also during our stay with Carlos and Maria Elena, the 'Alasitas' Festival was on. This runs for a whole month in La Paz from Jan 24th onwards. The 'Alasitas' Festival or The Festival of Miniatures is where you buy a miniature of something that you want,regardless of what that might be, a house,car, bike and then you have it blessed. The festival was originally started as a Harvest Festival by the Aymara people when they wished for a good season of crops and looked over by 'Ekeko', the traditional God of Luck and Prosperity. With Chris 'wishing' for his bike to be repaired,Carlos,Maria Elena and Vale bought him a miniature bike and had it blessed.
It's now the weekend, German the mechanic is still waiting for parts to be delivered and so we're going away with our new Family for the weekend to a hotel near Coroico. The Rio Selva Resort, not what we were normally used to and definitely not what you'd expect to find in the depths of Bolivia.But first Carlos wanted to drive us down the famous Bolivian Death road on the way to the hotel.Unfortunately our first attempt was thwarted by a 'derrumbar'....landslide. That's the word that I was taught from the locals whilst we've been travelling.I think it's just one of many that means the same thing as it can be translated as collapse.
No worries, Carlos said it would be cleared within a couple of days so he'd take us up it on the way back.We all get back in the car and continued on the ride out to the hotel.Once checked in, we enjoyed a weekend of lol...eating, drinking,pool volleyball, Mexican dominos (like our domino games but with a twist) and a visit to Coroico.
The village of Coroico was originally a gold mining village close to the Rio Quri Wayq'u, Quechua for Gold Valley and was founded during the Spanish invasion of South America.It was often attacked by the indigenous Aymara moved to it's present location in a more 'defensive' position.Here the settlers managed to hold out during the Bolivian War of Independence. With a main plaza and church, today this lively village is busy with locals of all origins going about their business and tourists visiting the colorful markets.
Whilst we were enjoying our weekend away, the locals carried on regardless. This area in Yungas is one of Bolivia's traditional coca growing areas.In the 1980's Bolivia was one of the World's largest growers. Demand from the USA for cocaine encouraged illegal growth but since then programmes have been introduced to persuade the local farmers to grow alternative crops like fruit and coffee. The war against drugs and the politics that surround it continues to this day.Out walking you would often come across coca leaves drying out in the sun. Chewing the leaves of the coca plant is very common in Bolivia and other South American countries as it helps to relief altitude sickness.Bolivia itself is around 5000 metres above sea level and La Paz is classed as the World's highest city at 3640 metres. With reference to the gold mining times previously mentioned we also saw an old mine shaft whilst out walking .The hotel was in stark contrast to life around it, with some people still having to wash their pots outside as the houses did not have running water.
With the weekend now over it was time for Carlos to drive us all home.......via the 'Death' road.
The 'Yungas Road' earned it's name 'El Camino de La Muerte' or 'The Death Road because driving on it in the early years was horrendous. The road was built in the 1930's by prisoners from Paraguay during the 'Chaco War' (1932-1935), a war between Bolivia and Paraguay over a land dispute.Built in a mountainous region , this winding road had no safety barriers or pavement and was a main route from La Paz to Coroico. As the years went by, cars,wagons and buses would drive along the sometimes single track road with very few passing places. Bad weather made the drive treacherous and many people went over the edge,plunging down the steep cliffs.. The fact that they even attempted overtaking others is incredible. With so many losing their lives by 1995 the road had become known as one of the World's most dangerous roads. It wasn't until 2009 that a new road was opened and traffic diverted to safety. Today the original road is still open but only locals,cyclists and walkers use it now..It's more of a tourist attraction and slow scenic route now with mountain bike tours cycling down it.The road is so infamous even 'Top Gear' did a show about it, you can see a clip from that here đŚ
If you're in Bolivia, the 'Death Road' is well worth a visit. Though it's not as dangerous as it used to be,it's in a beautiful area and the views are breath taking. One thing that has been enforced on this road is that you must drive on the left. Despite the fact that you normally drive on the right in Bolivia, here in the Yungas area it swaps over to the left so that the drivers can see how close to the edge they are.......well here goes....Carlos is a good driver and also rides the Death road on 'ride outs' with the Harley Davidson Club Bolivia....yes....on Harleys.....it's normal for them to ride on roads like this....đ˛ Check out the slideshow below.
Mini adventure over, Carlos drove us all home. Once back we caught up with Herman to check on the bike....it's not ready....nothing we can do but get ready for our next excursion.The overnight bus had already been booked and we were excited about visiting the famous Uyunni Salt Flats.It´s now 28-01-2019 in real time. Marie Elena calls us a taxi to the main bus station in La Paz and off we go.For travellers information, I booked the overnight bus online using ´Bookaway´. The cost for a return journey per person from La Paz-Uyunni was $104.40 (approx £83.88). This tourist Night Bus leaves La Paz at 20.00 and arrives in Uyunni at 0600 the following day.
When you arrive at the bus station in La Paz when you enter the main building you will see lots of separate tour/bus company stands going to different places. Find the stand for your destination/company and hand/show your ticket. They will then give you a boarding pass and show you which bus to get on.The bus was surprisingly comfy and they provided a blanket. Personally I don't sleep much on these but I think we got a few z's in.
On arrival at Uyunni, all was quiet, nowhere open ....or was there? Thankfully the local cafe people were up and pointed us weary travellers off the bus in the right direction.As it was too early to get into our hostal we had our breakfast and a few extra brews to waste a bit of time. As the sun finally came up fully we had a brief look around Uyunni as we worked out where we were staying.Again for those who want to know, I'd booked into Hostal Quinua Dorada (using Booking.com) just outside the main streets of Uyunni. Here we had a room with a shower and breakfast was served daily. A small but friendly hostal, a great breakfast and superb staff. They also sold some of the local wares here, jumpers etc.On arrival after our breakfast at the cafe we got checked into our rooms and ha,ha....went to sleep for a bit.
Revived we went for a further look around Uyunni and found the tour operator that I had booked with online for our day trip to the salt flats. I used Skyline Traveller. The day trip cost BS200 per person including lunch,boots,a visit to the train graveyard and would run from 10.30 -20.00.
A point to remember whilst you wonder why there's photos of water above is because it's rainy season here in Bolivia. It floods nearly everywhere. So why visit then? Despite the fact that it's wet season the salt flats are just as beautiful and a photographers joy for reflection photos. Let's see what we can get......check out the video below......which way is up????
For those that have never heard of Uyunni or the Salar de Uyunni.....this place is the largest salt flats in the World. It's in Bolivia and covers a vast 4000 square miles (just over).This fascinating place is not only a tourist attraction, it provides a breeding ground for flamingos,25000 tons of salt per year, satellite calibration and was used as a film location in 'The Last Jedi'. You can view that clip here đŚ
With our second mini adventure in Bolivia over it was time to board the overnight bus back to La Paz. With fingers crossed we hoped for good news on Chris's bike. If Herman hasn't fixed it we're going to have to extend our stay.
Our patience and the excellent skills of Herman, the mechanic had paid off, he hoped to have the bike ready for the day before our passport stamps ran out. Chris was thrilled to hear the news, it's certainly been a worrying time. The next few days we spent time with Carlos, Marie Ellena, Vale and a few of their friends, Antonio and Patricia from HD Bolivia.As our last fewdays arrived we were treated to another meal out and popped round to Antonio's to see his small collection of old bikes from which he gave me a 'guardian bell'.....muchas gracias đ
And finally, after a few more days Chris got the phone call he´d been waiting for German had finished the bike and was bringing it back .....massive smiles all round...đđ
Ecstatic at the bike being back, this also meant that it was time to leave Bolivia,something we were sad to do in the end. We´d had such a brilliant time here despite the fact we hadn't done any riding. In fact our total riding in Bolivia was 'riding in'and 'riding out'....such a shame but as every traveller knows......plans (if you make them) can only be loosely made,you have to be ready to adapt and make changes because you never know down the road what's going to happen.
Saying Good Bye ......Adios mis AmigosđđĽ
We've now been in Bolivia for a month, as sad as it was to leave, it was equally as exciting to be moving again. This time we're heading for Chile.I'd booked a hotel in Oruro for the first night on our way out.The ride down there was easy, we'd already been down here once on the bus but the hotel.....oh dear......easy to find but could we get to it.....er....nope.....remember I've already mentioned that it's rainy season here.As soon as you come off the pavement/tarmac roads you've got issues, especially so for our bikes. Chris walked up the short road to the hotel to see if there was another entrance,unfortunately not and the road was slippy with the ruts waterlogged.After watching a 4 x 4 slide around coming up the road,even Chris wasn't happy about trying to get in. The owner could see our predicament and kindly agreed to waive any booking charges. That sorted we rode a little further into town and found somewhere else to stay. Just in the nick of time too, as the heavens opened and it poured down.
Ha,ha......armchair readers.....I can see you saying ......'it doesn't look that bad'......ask Chris when you see him đ
We slept soundly through our last night in Bolivia and next day we were up bright and early, breakfast had, packed and away. The roads initially leaving Oruro were slippy. All the mud from the side roads had been dragged onto them. Once out of town we hit route 12 (all paved to the border at Pisiga. The sun was out and we could just take it steady as Chris needed to break the Heritage back in after all German's hard work. In a few hours we'd be in Colchane, Chili.
See you there đ
For a visual story line of this blog on video see below.
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Gracias a German Condori Mercado,Juan Carlos Terceros, Maria Ellena Reyes, Vale Terceros,Antonio Lopez, Patricia Lopez,German Fernando Ramirz Saliz,Eduardo Adrian Montes Segui, Sergio Montes Segui, Juan Carlos Darras y Harley Davidson Bolivia por su amabilidad y hospitalidad y no olvidar Fico xx đđâ¤
For more photos from Bolivia, click here đ
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