Lobsters to Llamas, Maritimes to Argentina

Dwight,

I just stumbled across this when I went looking for posts from Bubbletron to see where she is.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=853108

Have you heard anything about this, or met the people involved?

What's your take?

I don't know much about it except for the story. I however did meet Jeb very briefly in Lima. They were just leaving the Hitchhikers Backpackers Hostal as I arrived and he related the story of the story of the attack for me as he was getting ready to go to Cusco to retrieve his truck. Very scary. he said he had no idea what set the attack off and that they were in fear of their lives at the time.

Kedgi

Me too!

I watched the Peru vs Colombia football game tonight at Nortons. Too bad Peru lost after their big win last week against Brasil. Can't win them all.

Wow! Those are beautiful! Do you sell any plans for building them? I'd love to do something like this with my son during the downtime when not riding!

Thanks

I'm not that clever!

These boats are actually kits you can buy and build. It takes about 150 hours to assemble one.

The upper kayak in the picture is from Pygmy Kayaks in Port Townsend Wa.

The lower kayak is from Waters Dancing Kayaks in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Both kits can be shipped to your door by courier, complete

Rewarding to build!

Kedgi

It's a beautiful morning here in Cusco. I'm going to ride up to Machu Picchu today

Kedgi

well, why not..

Awesome!!!

hi i've been following your report from last week to now,it had taken a bit of time to catch up...IT'S FRIKKIN GREAT! you are a real person on an average bike doing a ride of a lifetime,and to go a step further this report has been full of real stuff,fears,disappointment,,and after a day of crap you pull a string of wins!the view the scenery.it's great.
You will get suggestions and advice from all over the place,but from what you are doing and have done...the awesomeness of this ride far outweighs the down days.
As a fellow eastern Canadian,Cheers and ride safe!
all the best JJ.

Dwight, good to hear from you! Before I get into Bolivia, make sure that you take the Santa Theresa route if you are going to Machu Picchu.

As far as elevation, if you're going to Bolivia, it's only going to get worse. Yesterday I rode 330 miles and it was all above 12,500 feet. Some of it was over 14,000 feet. If you are going to do the death road, you'll go over a pass that's 15,200 feet tall! At this point, I think the only thing you can really do to help yourself is to lay off the smokes and booze for a while.


Here's the skinny on fuel: Bolivians pay about 3 Bolivianos per liter; all forigheners pay three times that amount! The Bolivian government doesn't want people crossing into Bolivia, buying a bunch of gas on the cheap, then heading into Peru or somehwere else and selling it for profit on the black market.


Now, there's a pretty easy way to get around this. You won't get it as cheap as the Bolivians do, but it won't cost three times as much either. To make this work, you kind of need to be able to speak a little bit of Spanish.


Pull into the gas station (make sure it's a small less devolped one) and ask them how much the gas is. If you are lucky, they'll just give it to you at the normal price. Most likely they won't. If they tell you it's three times as much, just laugh and tell them that you paid 5 Bolivianos at the last gas station.


If they point at the survaillance camera, just tell them it's okay and that nobody will know, it'll just be "our little secret". Also, tell them they don't have to do all the paperwork and they don't need to give you a recipt. This should let them know that your willing to deal and hopefully they'll be in the barganing mood. They may want you to pull out of sight of the camera and fill up your bike using a jerry can or even empty coke bottles, but that's a small price to pay for the money you are saving.


Essentially, you're bribing them. You get gas cheaper than you normally would, and they get to skip the hassle of filling out paperwork, plus they get to pocket the difference in price. I'd say that's pretty win win. This little proccess has worked every time with me so far.

Hope that helps! Just went and rode in the water on the Salar today....epic! You've got to do it! I'll be out in the desert for the next few days on my way to chile, but if you have any other questions I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can.

Excellent!

Thanks Bryce, Ride safe!

Kedgi

I only have a couple minutes this morning. While I'm having breakfast I Have internet, but I had to show you these pictures I shot yesterday while riding the Sacred Valley. Needless to say it is an epic road. I love being out of the desert and back on wonderful roads.







I have lots more photos and will post as soon as I can

Stay tuned

Kedgi

certainly is the ride of a life time eh?

Dwight:

glad to see you are happy again. That Sacred Valley Road looks great ! I've never been on a road with so many curves.

You're going to wear out your sidewalls


bob

wow amazing road!! to ride that would be amazing on anything bigger than a unicycle :) hope the trip helps with your spirits

It is, until I do the Africa ride. hehe

Kedgi

It is awesome, thanks so much for your input.

I have a lot of pictures to post but my hotel doesn't have internet. I'm in a coffee shop next door uploading pictures now. Stand by for a picture rich post.

Kedgi

Agreed, at least everything except the part about "Trusty" being average. haha

I think I left my GPS on yesterday when I parked the bike. I won't be back at the bike until tommorrow. Oh! Oh!

I don't think it will kill my battery. Yikes! It is at Hidroelectrica and there are plenty of vehicles down there. I'm sure I can get a boost if I have to.

Kedgi

I'm doing fine now. being on the road, alone since October is bound to take it's toll on me from time to time, but today I'm back to my old self again. The hiking around Machu Picchu never even left me winded, and MP is freaking high!

That road is awesome and i do it again tomorrow to get out of here.

Kedgi

What a road for a small sportbike, or something like the old Yamaha RD 350. You don't need a lot of power, just something lightweight and nimble. The KLR with the load I have on it, is neither, but it was still a hell of a lot of fun.

Kedgi