Nazca

OUT OF SEQUENCE: ( Back in Peru )

The desert township of Nazca is booming with the tourists travelling there to view the Nazca lines. The village itslf is typical of the other villages I rode through except this one charges twice the price for everything.



The hotel had a small terrace to catch the evening breeze and look out over the town and desert.

Tourists travel for hours in buses to visit this area. My advise is don´t. Spend your money on something else. The lines are underwhelming. For $100 USD you can fly over the lines and be underwhelmed.

Might just be me because a couple French girls thought it was wonderful. Each to their own but they were considering alien interaction, etc.

Pleasant surprise - Irquique, Chile

Kilometre after kilometre of harsh desert country and then I peep over the top of a sand dune and what do I see - it was a pleasant surprise.

The city has been given special tax status to attract people to live and work in the area. They need it because it is in the middle of nowhere.

Got myself to a hostel and the place was packed with Aussies. Half a block from the beach with roof top views and a party atmosphere.

Got involved in a friendly game of beach soccer. Aussies v´s the rest ( couple of Poms and various South Americans ). We creamed them.

An Australia young couple I met have ties to Hamilton. Tessa Franklin is related to Jenny and Peter Fran klin as well as John and Jan Franklin. Andy Clements is related to Micahel and Kat Kerr. How about that?

There is a BMW accredited mecanic in town and I tried to track him down. The staff at the hostel eventually got onto him and he will try and service my bike for me if his schedule allows.

Arica

Arica is the first town after coming down after crossing the Andes for a second time.

Pretty little place. Gustav Eiffel, who designed the tower in Paris, designed th odd looking church and art gallery. Both built almost entirely of wrought iron.

Chile

Arriving in Chile at 4400 metres above sea level. The mountain in the background is Mount Nevad at 6542 metres.

None of the landscape is what I was expecting. Cold and stark - yes but flat tablelands - no.

Hot springs. There were bath tubs you enjoy the water but I didn´t have the time.

These people are Aussies touring by mini bus. Chilean immigrants to Australia who were visiting their homeland. Very Australian and missing ´home´but enjoying visiting family.

Lazy Saturday afternoon

Quiet and sunny Saturday afternoon. Nothing on tele. and nothing to do. Might ride across central Bolivia into northern Chile. Yeah why not?

La Paz

Cold, high altitude and cheap. 80% Indian.

Bolivia

Crossed the border into Bolivia at the southern tip of Lake Titticaca. The country is as flat as a table top and all at 4000 metres above sea level. Only a hundred odd kilometres from La Paz.

The floating islands of reeds are further north at Puna. Did not see them.

Into the Andes

Leaving the comfort of another Peruvian oasis town I headed up into the Andes toward Bolivia. Not what I expected. Just a steady climb until it flattens out at about 5000 metres.

Starts off as sand then hardens up to rubble and then gravel looking ground. Eventually the country turns to rock and snow capped mountains towerin up to 6500 metres.

Spectacular.

Indian huts abound.

This mound of dirt, at the start of my climb, is similiar to Masada in Israel. Not only in looks but it also was the fortress of an ancient civilisation.

Head first into a dune.

The dunes had taken over the roadway for about ten kiometres. You could tell where the road was supposed to be by the tracks other vehicles had left.

My chance to practice my Paris to Dakar skills. It turns out that I have none. How those riders do it for thousands of kilometres has got me tossed. They are tough.

Doing well until I got a bit to confident ( pride comes before a fall ). How true that is because just as I stared to build speed I rammed my head into a dune. The bike didn´t suffer to much - only a front indicator light torn from it´s mount.

Left shoulder and back have been a bit sore but nothing long lasting I hope.

Great Ocean Road or what?

Winding down the coast of Peru and Chile there are huge deserts. The PanAmerican Highway in turn winds it´s way through these deserts. Thousands of kilometres of dunes and mud brick villages but precious little else.

Fortunately I like desert scenery. The road follows the dunes up and down and I mean up and down as the dunes rise thousands of metres above sea level.