Che Guevara

Friday Septenber 30,2011
Alta Gracia (Cordoba)
Explore day.

After a long and enjoyable breakfast socializing, we walked over to the former home of Che Guevara's parents where he lived for eleven years during his adolescent period. This afternoon was spent relaxing and catching up with my blog posts.

The Family home and now a museum

Bedroom

The bike from Motorcycle Diaries

Che with second wife and four children

Kitchen

Our unique hotel in this former residence in Alta Gracia

Four Fat Guys on the Campaign Trail

Thursday September 29, 2011
Catamarca to Cordoba 605km

Todays long ride took us across the flats along the bottom end of the Salinas Grades (large salt lake) used for the production of potassium and sodium and also provided an endless vista across its 8290 square km of dry salt. The long, flat and strait morning ride turned into rolling hills and sweeping curves this afternoon as we approached the hills of the Cordoba region and travelled through numerous small towns before reaching our hotel in the town of Alta Gracia on the western outskirts of the city of Cordoba. Tonight we wandered the streets and witnessed the electioneering campaign of various candidates for an Oct 3 Municipal election.

Fireworks are common during these events

Watch for falling hot ashes

Most candidates hire locals and pay them to attend political rallies

Making new friends

Four fat guys on the campaign trail

Sugar Cane and Speed Bumps

Wednesday September 28, 2011
Cafayate to Catamarca 350km

Our short ride today took us over the high mountain road through the Sierra Aconouija and town of Taffi del Valle before heading down into the more jungle area of this region. After lunch we took main route 48 south to San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. Having a different feel than other towns of this size in this region the local authorities have been energetically promoting the province's natural products of wines, walnuts, olive oils and jams.

Construction and rock slides delay our trip briefly

Stopping for lunch in the smoke filled air of the lower
lying green belt known for sugar cane production

Sugar Cane Harvester

Tony still feeling the effects of food poisoning acts as our resident speed bump

Stone Frog

Tuesday September 27, 2011
Salta to Cafayate 200km

Today was an excellent ride through some of Argentina's most stunning scenery with a winning combination of rugged landscapes and attractive adobe villages. Cafayate is known for its world famous torrontes white wines. We arrived early afternoon an after a quick lunch I spent some time exploring with Milt, Robin and Silvana.

Salta Province Mountain Road

All of our bikes have Aussie plates 

Salta Province Landscape

Silvana and I explore canyon during a quick lunch stop

Stone Frog

Cafayate Wall Art

He wouldn't let me take it for a spin

Salta

Monday September 26, 2011
Salta ( Explore day )

Today was a rest day to catch up with some laundry, get caught up with my blog and e mail and do a little exploring of this historical city. With a population of 370,000 Salta is one of Argentina's oldest cities, founded in 1852 by Spaniards moving south from Peru. The city is the capital of the Salta Province. The area produces tobacco, grapes, timber and livestock as well as borax and salt mines.

A man and a pigeon share a lemonade

Andrew and Robin and I explore the city this afternoon

City central square

Convento de San Bernardo

San Francisco Church

Butcher at the Farmers Market

Four Fat Guy's at the Tropic of Capricorn

Sunday September 25, 2011
Humahuaca to Salta 219 km

Today was a very relaxing day driving scenic paved narrow roads through northern Argentina to Salta. With a few stops for photos, a visit to a local village outdoor market and a stop at the Tropic of Capricorn we arrived late afternoon in the heart of this historic city. Tomorrow will be a rest day to explore and enjoy this part of Argentina.

Standing at the Tropic of Capricorn

Debbie and Linc

Left to right is Andrew, Milton, Hans, Paul, Debbie, Linc, Margie and Tony.
Kneeling is yours truly and Robin.

Four fat guys at the Tropic of Capricorn

Village Market

A fun, narrow, winding road through the Argentina countryside

Four fat guys under an armidillo

Border Crossing

Saturday September 24, 2011
Tupiza to Humahuaca 251km.

Starting off on gravel roads we headed southwest to the Bolivia/Argentina border town of Villazon arriving after driving approximately 70 km. Most of the day was waiting for endless paperwork and inspections of the bikes and baggage before continuing on to the town Humahuaca on excellent blacktop roads through stunning scenery.

The morning start

Stuck in no mans land between the Bolivia border
 in the background and the Argentina border.

Looking south at the Argentina border

A photo stop near Humahuaca Argentina

And Now We Are Nine

Friday September 23, 2011
Uyuni to Tupiza 240km.

Departing around 9 am we begin the gravel portion of our journey through the badlands of Bolivia. It is not far out of town when Milt and I discover Sandra's motorcycle, side down, in the middle of the road with her sitting on the shoulder. Overreacting to a dip through a small water course she lost control and ended up laying the bike down. Unfortunately she broke her wrist and had to depart the tour. Silvana arrived not long after and we loaded the bike onto the trailer and sent the girls back to Uyuni to get Sandra medical attention. Todays journey was extremely difficult as we had to travel through sand, loose gravel, small rocks, rutted, potholed and washboard terrain all on mountainous roads with hairpin curves. Most of us ended up dropping our bikes today mostly in deep sand helping us to avoid injuries.
The harsh landscape was absolutely stunning with amazing rainbow colored rock, small Bolivian villages, deep canyons and high mountains. Unfortunately due to severe vibration over rutted surfaces my camera shook apart and stopped functioning as I made the mistake of storing it in the motorcycle tail bag. With my spare camera locked away in the support vehicle I did not get any pictures of this beautiful and remote landscape today however I managed to borrow a few from Andrew. Days end brought us to Tupiza which is close to the reputed site where the demise of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid took place. Exhausted I felt like I needed two weeks sleep to feel normal again, as did most of the group.

We have this far to go on the map

A break for the broken

Dirt and more Dirt

Gravel and more gravel

Military Checkpoint

My new buddy

Four Fat Guys On An Island

Thursday September 22, 2011
Uyuni Bolivia ( No ride day )

Holding over seventy percent of the worlds supply of lithium, Bolivia holds the key to an environmentally sustainable future. With deposits of over 5.4 million tons, a mineral essential for hybrid and electric vehicles is found under the salt flats of Uyuni. Under the current government of Evo Morales, Bolivia's natural bounty will not be subject to foreign exploitation. Faithful to his anti-capitalist rhetoric, he has continuously rejected bids from international mining companies.

Today starts with a visit to the salt flats where we witness salt farmers hacking out small piles of salt with picks and shovels. The piles are moisture laden and the conical stacks allow this moisture to drain away. Most of the salt is sold to refiners with a small portion being refined locally by small operators and distributed mostly to Bolivians. Our journey continued by four wheel drive land cruisers across the salt flats to Fish Island where we stopped for lunch and explored the ecological uniqueness of this isolated island. Late this afternoon we returned to Uyuni and visited the nearby train cemetery where Bolivia's retired steam trains were sent and abandoned in the early nineteen hundreds.

I feel so tiny

Flags on the Salt Flats

Driving across the Salt Flats. Below is vast amounts of lithium.

Standing on the Rim

Four fat guys at the top of Fish Island
Left to right is Tony, Jim, Andrew and Paul.
Sunglasses and hats are mandatory as exposure
to the sun at this high elevation is dangerous.

View of the salt flats from Fish Island.
In the foreground is trichoreus cactus.

Train Cemetery

Silvana and I explore the iron remains

Most of the internal machinery has been removed over the past decade.

Night Market in Uyuni