The alarm didn’t go off as planned, I had set it for seven thirty to get up at six thirty due to the clock on my IPhone not changing over to Bolivian time for the last week or so. For some bizarre reason it decided to change during the night and therefore the alarm did not go off at the planned time. Not to worry we decided to have the breakfast provided by the hotel and forgo the full English breakfast at Cosmos to save time. We hailed a taxi with all our gear and headed to Motocar. The bikes were ready with the tyres next to them. Niki had gone over the entire bikes tightening loose spokes, changing oil and filters, spark plugs even making a new nylon block for my chain guide that had been lost a while back. 1340 Bolivianos around 200 Australian including the tyre, unbelievable, I wouldn’t even get the tyre for that at home let alone a full service. (For info on Niki look in the resources and links page).
After packing, which took awhile as we had to figure out how to get the tyre on as well, we set Maps.me and off we went. This time I was let down! After travelling on what appeared to be an unfamiliar but as usual great bike road we stopped for a sensational Almuerzo for lunch then continued on. Not long after continuing the road deteriorated and we both knew something wasn’t right. We pulled over to check Maps.me to find that we were way out and after travelling over a hundred kilometres we were still two hundred and thirty kilometres from Potosi which is only one hundred and sixty seven from Sucre. Really pissed off I turned the bike around and headed back toward sucre chastising myself and berating Maps.me for letting me down.
Maps.me didn’t stop there, back in Sucre it kept trying to send us back the way we came. We ended up using a street map of Sucre and Paul’s memory to get us on the right track. In the end it was quite late and we ended up staying in a pension which is not really great, really bad in fact. The toilets aren’t hooked up to water and stink to high heaven and it is part of an incredibly noisy restaurant that is still cranking at ten o'clock while I write this. The only saving grace is that the bikes are parked in the court yard after taking them through the restaurant and Paul had a lot of fun drawing one of the kids, we had entertainment from everyone from then on.
1st May
An early start today, the least amount of time spent in this particular pension the better, it is a genuine health hazard. The toilets are the most disgusting yet and the smell is horrific. The pack up was quick, as was getting the bikes out of the restaurant and loaded. The plan was to get a few kilometres under the belt before breakfast. It turned out that getting something to eat would take a long time as it was a Sunday and most things were closed, that is if there was actually a town to get something in. So one hundred kilometres and a couple of hours later we stopped in a place that was having a soccer match. Across the road was a little shop where I thought I may as well get a chocolate bar as I was famished. To my surprise the lady was cooking up egg burgers so Paul and I ordered a couple each. They were sensational and just what the doctor ordered. While we ate we were swamped by local lads from the soccer and the local constabulary all interested in our bikes.
The riding as usual was fantastic, the roads smooth and the mountains providing great corners. Having said that the going is slow due to the multitude of curves and the ascending and descending. It is also physically taxing, by the end of the day having covered around three hundred kilometres you feel a little disappointed. We rode from 8.30 to 4.30 stopping only for our breakfast, lunch and refuelling just outside Oruro. The attendant was quick to tell us that the cost would be eight Bolivianos per litre as we were internationals. I told him the last service station charged six, no he said it was eight. No problem I said, don’t forget to fill in the documentation! A quick word with his mate and it was back to six and this was with no documentation. No problem! Wonder where the extra went???
A little farting about for accommodation, started at the Plaza hotel, bit dear for Paul so then rode around trying for a cheaper place. We found one but couldn’t get the bike into the foyer so ended up back at the Plaza. $45 Aust. each but quite upmarket for us. We went out for a lasagne that was disappointing and a banana split that was very good, then off to a very nice room and bed, got to love the luxury.
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