day 1 and 2.. southern bolivia offroad expedition

decided to do 5 day total off road excursion with the couple we met from germany from uyuni thru southern bolivia into chile.....adverse adventure

loaded up on supplies...gas... enough food for 5 days/ 5 people...mostly spaghetti bread water tuna cheese and chocolate...added about 20 lbs to each bike, a noticable difference bought a sleeping mat and rode across the uyuni salf flats. camped on an island about midway
Riding was flat and simple…few paths cut out but could really go where ever you wanted… great felling of road freedom….mind the water holes.
Reminded me of what it must be like in Minnesota now with the frozen lakes and ice driving/ fishing….minus fish houses. there are a few cactus islands on the flats but able to find a rocky one to sleep the fisrt night...wind was wreched
Somebody drew the short end of the tent stick…or wishing they hadn’t left theirs in texas.
Tuna spaghetti dinner was cold … somebody also didn’t have a plate so had to wait til others finished.

Middle of night… open to elements sleeping was cold…farkin cold-10 at night….moon was full gleaming as closest annual day to earth. when it came up looked more like a sunrise...later it light up like dayday 2

Woke up with the sun heat and scarfed down some bread and cheese…couple more pictures and on the way out of the salt.

thought if this kid is riding with a dog how bad can the paths be? not to bad...at first
Got out of flat salt and into dirt gravel rock and sand….riding got tougher as went along…sand worst part. Passed a few ghost like towns and had lunch in one….saw a total of 2 people in the town….got some water to cook with there…on the way out I dropped bike twice in big rocks going slow to stopturns , feet down..nothing there…shite, down we go.
On to the first decent size town (tiny) able to find some gas…that came sold in a bucket… filled the tank and spare cans/ 2 liter bottles …….noticed fork seal blown and oil coming out but not too fast……keep moving ,,,,terrain harder to more and more sand….several falls in the group but I managed to stay up( pure luck sand riding is a bitch and catching edges happens every 5 seconds) unfortunately bike overheats when I go slow sometimes having to stop and let it cool as gas spills out the overflow..not a fun feeling…hours later exhausted made camp in big open area surrounded by volcanoes…..dan insisted he wanted to sleep under the stars so let me use his tent….welcomed difference from the wind which blasts in the afternoon til dark and sporadically thru the night….corn beef sandwiches for dinner and some rum…

nope.. osama not in these caves

salar de uyuni

salt salt and more salt got to uyuni and was told the salt flats were under water....huh?

took a day and drove 20 mile into the flats to check before crossing...no water only bright sun and everything salt

salt riding as fast as you want wherever you want

salt water

salt hotel on flatssalt dining tablesalt resting/ salt nap

salt bird

salt clocksalt llama and jockey salt dork unsuccessfully trying to do depth deceiving pictures

went back to uyuni after flats and stopped at an old train graveyard....cool place

"all we got left are them amtrack things"

ride of rides

....potosi to uyuni
Only 25% of Bolivia’s roads are paved and they ended in potesi.

just out of town met a german couple two up on a dr650....didi and martina. martina has been riding solo across americas for 7 years! boyfriend didi came over for 6 weeks to ride bolivia and argentina. also met a land cruiser couple also from germany.

Certainly one of the best rides was from potesi to the solar de uyuni…all off-road with various conditions loose gravel, hard gravel, mud, red clay, sand, big rock, little rock, embedded rock, and regular dirt. more canyons filled with 1000's of llama grazing (dots) in addition to being all over roads Riding went from……loose gravel-sand…find a line…stand up weight in back…gun it….knee squeeze the tank….hold the line, shite lost it…slide out in sand..get back on line….loosen grip, weight in back go fast to avoid front tire twist….hold the line…..don’t forget to look up, when I am going to ever see this part of world landscape again…quick slip….shite watch/hold the line
Rock…sit down, watch the for big ones…dodge sharp ones…shite hit one, two, three etc…hoping not to pop a tire…looking down, come up to creek 2 ft water…oh man hope no jagged rocks in there….keep watching the road….big dip great shocks. Mud….instincts do what you can to not slide out especially around curves…lost it once…front tire slide out around corner sending back one out, counter steer….back tire slides left…this is gonna hurt…counter steer back goes right less…getting up right…counter again and slides left im almost straight…..managed to pull out of it after back and forth slides for about 30ft….whew…heart pounding.

stumbled on a place to eat just as the rain came Clay…slip slide after light rain but smooth….like it.
Washboard gravel…..whats coming loose now….dadadadadadad for miles…stand up to stop head shaking…listen to clanky noises hoping nothing rattles off and thinking I need to tighten chain. off in the horizon, nearing the flats could see a haze between land and sky
couldn’t help but to think of mad max and the thunderdome especially when finally came upon uyuni….could see forever..... one lonely road leading into town that you know by car dust trails… then this sculpture one of the first things i see in town Lets steel their gas and get out

salar de uyuni

crossing the worlds largest salt flats tommorrow and next then few days offroad- sticks- camping...before getting to chile..no power-internet. no posts 5-6 day no tent either.
lentils for breakfast, lentils for lunch, i hate lentils.