At this point my head was banging and would stay with me until I eventually go to a lower altitude in Arequipa.

On the way back from the restaurant last night I was targeted to appear in a street entertainers production. I put it down to them wanting to increase the percentage of stunning people in their show but it was probably down to the novelty factor of blonde hair, blue eyes and clearly a 'gringo'. Des was ill overnight and we have stayed in Arica for another day. I went out to a piece of local coastline to take a single picture of some sea lions and to look at the surf. That said had a good walk and saw the tsunami defences that are currently under construction.

Massive sand dunes, not a lot of sleep in the petrol station and a big bird on Daisy

The night we spent in the Petrobras station in Calama is not one that will be remembered for the quality of the sleep. To say that I got 20 minutes would be a lie but the company was great and Des had a wonderful time interacting with the canine squatters on the forecourt.

The only route available for us to get north, now that El Senor clearly had something against us entering Bolivia, was to take the Pan Americana along the coast. This meant heading west to the rather unmemorable town of Tocapillo straight across the Atacama Desert. Our choice was to camp the night next to the sea and the first site that we came across had a strong resemblance to the municipal rubbish dump. Because it is in beautiful setting the locals had decided to use it for BBQs and decided to leave behind all of their waste which included hundreds of nails from the wooden pallets they had used as fuel for the fires. These we tried to remove to save the hassle of a puncture. We decided to search along the track a bit further but all potential campsites told the same story. Rubbish, rubbish and yet more rubbish. Why do people do it? I put it down to a lack of education! When we returned to our site there was a water tanker filling up with sea water. The driver told me that this was the best site around. Maybe he likes having his BBQ with the indicators of human presence all around. None the less we slept soundly and were refreshed for the next days ride.

Today involved travelling along the coast road to Iquique. It was a beautiful ride with the sea on our left and the desert on the right. We stopped at a road side cafe and had fried local fish for breakfast and were treated to a show of pleasure as we interacted with a mother and her 2 daughters when they were allowed to sit on Daisy.

It made her day, which made mine though I am glad that Triumph had decided to up rate the strength of the side stand. The hostal was in the old area of town which still had wooden buildings and the owners were very friendly. We had dinner in a great restaurant that had only been open only a month or so and must have been a big risk for the owners since they was no walk in trade and must have relied on word of mouth. I can see that the reputation of the chef must have had a lot to do with it since it was the best steak that I have had and the waitress made the whole experience memorable with her chirpy, vibrant and friendly personality.

The next morning we tried to get into Bolivia again but the police at a road block

close to the turn off we needed told us that there was ice on the road some 500m below the height of the pass. So inevitably we were thwarted again and continued north on the road to Arica. The road was amazing and I remember it from the last trip. All around was what looked like huge sand dunes. They were in fact mountains covered in sand but the effect was still the same.

Once at Arica we headed east for another pass into Bolivia hoping to sleep at Putres but were thwarted by a track of sand that the GPS had suggested we take. I had abandoned my belief that a GPS is for checking that you are following your map derived. OK on a lighter bike with no luggage but it was a tad testing. So we are in Arica staying at a great hostal and had a rest day today before attempting to take the right road tomorrow.

If we had continued on the sandy

track for another 10km we would have hit tarmac and this blog would be coming from La Paz rather than Ariva. Es asi la vida!!!!

In Arica I found three guys playing touch rugby and in the square was a young girl running around the statue in the middle and then doing star jumps etc. I am liking Arica more and more.

Nieve en la Ruta

Yesterday was spent chilling in San Pedro and sorting out food, spare fuel and the route for today's foray into the Salar de Uyuni.

This is a massive salt plane at about 400om altitude and apparently truly stunning. Google it and check out the photos. An early start and a hassle free departure with heavily laden bikes saw us passing through Chilean border requirements without a hitch.

It was then a steep climb towards the Bolivian Border and the inevitable customs. We had ridden this portion of road, in the opposite direction, hacer dos dias and I did not remember seeing so much snow in the hills ahead. Then we saw a broken down lorry covered in fresh snow and soon the snow was creeping from just off the road into the middle. For those of you unused to riding motorbikes, a heavily laden bike and snow on the road makes for dangerous conditions.

We stopped had a quick discussion and decided that in order to preserve life we should turn around and find another way onto the Salar further north soI set Calama into the GPS and we headed back through the Chilean border control post. Our route took us deep into the Atacama Desert and past the Valle del Luna which we went to see down 6km of ripio (dirt track). About 2km from the valley our way was barred by a gate clearly

designed to stop people driving into the park. No problem a couple of fit guys could walk there in no time until having passed through the gate and wearing our 100SPF c

lothing we realised that it was a seriously steep climb. So for the second occasion in the day that we failed to achieve our goal :-(

Undaunted we proceede north towards Calama and reached it in good time. A quick spot of lunch in the Petrobras petrol station and we headed for Ollague about 180km away. Lovely smooth tarmac soon gave way to ripio but good ripio and we rode

on for 45km climbing into the Andes and hopefully another way into Bolivia. There was loads of snow in the mountains ahead that nestled beneath very very dark storm clouds.

Another quick conflab and again sense prevailed and we retraced our steps to Calama with Ollague still 130km away. Calama was reached not long before dark. Just north of Calama is Chuquicamata one of the largest copper mines in the world. Consequently Calama is toppers with miners many of which come here to work during the week and so available accommodation is like the proverbial rocking horse stuff. So where am I writing the blog? In the same 24hr Petrobras petrol station where we had lunch. I suspect that we will not get much sleep!!

We are 140km from San Pedro having ridden 370km. A trying day and for the second bike trip I have failed to ride the Salar de Uyuni :-((

Over the Andes into Chile

Having thought my head was going to explode due to the altitude when I went to see the Dakar we decided to do the ride over the Andes in 2 days to allow time to acclimatise. The road was stunning and remote and made us appreciate riding a motorcycle. Reaching the proposed campsite I felt fine though a little light headed so the decision was made to press on. I put my lack of altitude sickness symptoms down to the local remedy of chewing coca leaves. Tasted horrible, turned my lips green but it worked.

The road was stunning though if you were an overloaded lorry it was perilous.

Our planned fuel stop was found after much searching amongst some mud huts

but the owner was at lunch and since we had sufficient to reach the next stop we decided to carry on.

As we descended into San Pedro we found ourselves firstly in a bizarre and then a potentially dangerous but mind blowing situation. We were above the volcano ahead of us that was covered in snow but strangely we were snow free. Odd that somewhere lower than us was apparently colder. I seem to remember something about temperature inversions or something from meteorology classes. We descended a little lower and were dismayed to see the road turning towards a huge thunderstorm. Getting wet was not a favoured option. So into the storm we rode. The lightening was striking the ground all around us. Probably a strike every 3 or 4 seconds. It was stunning. Where each bolt touched down it produced a huge cloud of steam. I do not suppose that a bolt came closer than 300 metres but I was expecting to feel the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck which apparently indicates that you have been targeted. I kept checking my mirrors half expecting to see Des's bike coming up behind me being ridden by his charred remains. I was trying to decide whether I could survive a direct strike and then survive the inevitable crash. Fortunately we came through it OK and arrived in San Pedro cleared Chilean customs and found a good and cheap, for San Pedro, hostel. Today was easily the best day of the trip so far.

Well on our way

Here we are in San Salvador de Jujuy and 5 days into the trip. The morning of 5 March did not get off to a great start when the letting agent forgot that they were supposed to be accepting the flat back and more importantly returning 1500 pesos for the security deposit.
Consequently we departed a little later than expected but thanks to the GPS Buenos Aires was soon disappearing in our mirrors. Thankfully our stop in Rosario was only 3 hours down the road though we were not thankful that it was finished in torrential rain. Cheapish hotel and a good nights sleep had us raring to go the following morning though we were tripped up by the same roadworks that had thwarted us the previous night and we were soon heading towards Cordoba rather than our intended destination. Luckily Cordoba was delightful!! and even better no rain.

So now we are in San Salvador and very pleased to be here since the town has a great feel. Today is a rest day so we are doing some work on the bikes and preparing to camp at the border with Chile tomorrow night. Daisy even got a wash to thank her for giving undying service and to bribe her into giving good service for the net 4 months.

The Spot Tracker is proving to be a hit with a number of you and seems to have been a good purchase by Des.