Bolivia Sum Up And The Heart Speaks

It is that time where I speak my mind on events that have unfolded, good, bad and all, no sugar coatings.

Bolivia ......Deceit, Robbery, lies, distrust, arguments, more lies, bullshit, wrong doings, these are the good days, Bolivia is not for us.

All the time there are riots, blockades, strikes and other stupid bullshit, these guys really want to do nothing and get paid for it with expectations that everyone else will support them. I have to say without being a whinger that Bolivia really fucked me off and while I respect their culture I DO NOT respect them for being lazy bastids and everything is someone else's fault and I certainly DO NOT respect someone that disrespects us blatantly and for no prior reason.

Never have I felt so much anger each day in one country.

In Bolivia there is a whole lot of not a lot happening and until they pull their head out of their arse and wake up they will remain in the same predicament, their wonderful corrupt government slowing sinking the place into a big hole along with corrupt everything in which you deal with daily.

They insistently want all the westy toys but have no want to earn it but to have it handed to them, they want foreign money but will not serve you at petrol stations and when they do they want you pay 3 x the price, for a country trying to move forward supposedly they are seriously heading backwards with their attitude.

Everything and I mean everything there is an issue and just needlessly hard work and 99% of the time involves pissed off long faced Bolivianos not wanting to serve you, I have to admit I struggled with the place given it is (was) the country of most interest to me.

Since Ellens robbery and beating I have gone very dark on the Bolivianos as this was pretty much the last straw and I had revenge on my mind for everything we did so anyone who tried anything against us got the full blast of "get fucked", not a nice way to travel but when a country backs you into a corner of this amount of crap then that is the game.

Some good, we saw one girl in Sucre who smiled, we caught that picture, she is beautiful and has a beautiful smile, she made our day.



In a small town called Morochata we found two more girls that smile, actually the whole town was friendly which was so unBolivia, although shy they were interested and yes I had my picture taken so that was three smiling people we found in total.



Indigenous people in the higher land seem to be the main contenders for anti white faces and they have no bones about sticking it to you, we then adapted and pulled that attitude too, in Santa Cruz they tried to charge us $50 Bolivianos to park our two motos for 15 hours, the going rate was $30 Bolivianos for a day.

When it came time to pay a different guy was there and we told him we had been quoted $25 Bolivianos for two bikes and he was not sure so I just reinforced it with a raised voice and he agreed, now if they had been normal and charged us the $15 Bolivianos it should have been they would have been better off so I just stick it back to them with no qualms given they start the game of screw the white face.

While Bolivia has some nice parts they are few and far between and at least for us the amount of bullshit and torment you have to go through to get there we believe all of their neighbours backs yards are superior, easier to travel and you can actually enjoy the people which forms a huge part of the trip.

Sorry for the non shiny report but being a Kiwi is my downside as I say it like it is and don’t try and sugar coat shit.

The Heart Speaks

Related vary much to the above but after Ellen was robbed and beaten I really wanted to damage someone, if I had found the robbers it would have been pretty bad for them, most probably I would have served some time too.

The anger I had inside is something I had not felt before and I was having serious thoughts in my mind as to the way I felt, I had doubts that I could contain myself if presented in a shitty situation which seemed to be on a daily basis.

For some strange reason we were not double crossed for a couple of days which left some essential cool down time for me.

When someone you love gets attacked and injured it places your (my) heart on defense mode and I would stand to the death, it came to a slight head when we struck the blockades, we went through and the fat lady nearly became traction only her arse was too be to be fast enough, that was her saving grace.

I hated that aspect of feeling the way I did but it was brewed and made in Bolivia by Bolivians.

To finish, without sounding racist (which we faced everyday towards us, my white face particularly) the main problems we had (baring the fuckwits in the petrol stations) were in the higher land with the indigenous people, once down in the amazonas and the peoples colour changed so did their attitudes and all for the better.

So not to offend anyone, my general sumup of Bolivia is fuck it and fuck them, go to the neighboring back yards where you will be treated normally and more fairly and sometimes even outstandingly.

While Bolivia was not a total waste of time I would not set foot there again, to me it went from the place of most interest to a shithole full of neanderthals who don't give a shit, if there is such thing as 4th world they are heading there.

Now to Brasil ... onward and definitely upwards

Santa Cruz To The Border

Ok, no more chatter, this is what been happenin

Saying farewell to Gail we set east on good advice from Nicholas from Andar BMW in Santa Cruz, bloody nice guy and he is Colombian, seriously if you need something he will sort you out regardless of what make you are riding.

Heading out of town the overnight heavy rainstorm had played havoc and it was as wet as a swimming pool.

This from the previous night in Santa Cruz at about 9.00pm





First stop was Chochis, an extremely beautiful little town and nice Hotel, the only stupid thing was a local guy with a PA system that started at 6.30 am and went through till 8.30 pm staining the air with what he sells, the hotel owners said he is a dick and some people have cut the cable but no one seems to do anything about it despite no one liking it .... good ol Bolivia going forward.

The roads are a brilliant red clay, Amazonian typical and when it rains not even knobblies hold onto this shit.



Maya at our hotel



So at this particular town there is a rock stickin out of the ground and they call it the devils tooth or formally La Torre, it is pretty spectacular and it is free.



We walked from the town centre which is approach two km then it winds its way up steep and narrow path ordering you to keep you mind on the job and reminding you where to put your feet.



The entry building, beautiful



Lookin to the sky



I was here





The rail from Bolivia to Brasil also runs past at the base and we were there to see the trains come past and swap lines in Chochis.

First one passes



Next one comes up



Our our way down



On walking back we spotted this owl way up in the trees, beautiful bird



We stayed two nights in this town as it was a nice stopover heading to the exit gate.

Also at the back of the town there is a cool wee waterfall with a tree carved with animals





The following day we only went 70km to Aguas Calientes, I was stuffed and managed to pick up yet another head cold, its my year for these free unwanted things.

Promising hot water to stodge around in it was a perfect place to stop and relax as we had not done this since yesterday.

The town is certainly no tourist trap but we found an ok place to stay and we hit the water .... noice ... very very noice.

This is what satisfaction looks like.



The depth varies from ankle to booby height so you can sit in or walk around



These must be strong fish as it way hotter than the human body temp wise .... you would want a shitload too to make a reasonable lunch



After our plunge I spent half the afternoon in bed gathering a good fever but managed to get out for another plunge, in hindsight we should have stayed there a few days as my headcold thingy worsened. Not being too sure of what was happening we thought Dengue fever or Malaria being in the Amazonas but it just turned out to be a viscous headcold.

Leaving Agua Calientes to the border was an easy ride except for .... you guessed it, get petrol, more bloody dramas and they couldn’t decided whether our plate was Colombian or Bolivian, unreal, the manager came out and didn’t want to get his hand dirty so he started kicking our number plate to kick the Bolivian concrete mud off so I yelled at him cos it was bending our plate ... fucking idiot!!! ... no respect.

So we paid our respect, the bill was $69 Bol at local price so we gave them $70 Bol, I started the bike, Ellen got on and we ride off ... end of argument!! .... again.

Finally our secret to getting fuel, not necessarily at local prices ... just getting fuel, the bonus is local price.

So we had a sticker made for 20 cents to mimic their Boliviano rego plate, this confused the shit out of them completely, we deliberately left our plate dirty as they would always clean the top bit and soon as they saw part of Bolivia they generally stopped cos they hate getting their hands dirty.



This worked for 90 % of our gas fills, the occasional time they challenged us and Ellen just got loud which they didn’t want and she would say Boliviano!!!! most would then go ouwh ok, sometimes we said it a new style plate and they didn't know so they just agreed, the occasional one would just refuse so we would go to the next station and start the whole process again, very frustrating just trying to fill.

On exiting we had our final lunch in a nice place to try and leave Bolivia on a nice note which kinda worked but I have to admit when we crossed into Brasil I was relieved, once in Brasil I turned around and swung the finger back at Bolivia .... it made no difference but I felt better.

You can't see it well but there is a huge lake here so a nice location.



Next up Brasil ... looks boring but we will deal with it

Trinadad To Santa Cruz

Trinidad, a surprise of niceness, people we differing in colour and attitude which was refreshing surprise.

Although no tourist trap it was a great place to stay and relax a day after wrestling mud and bog for three solid days.

The owners wife had a wee daughter who took kindly to the white faces, the white face that looked like me played soccer (kid style) and she could not get enough so it was a very refreshing thing to be welcomed as equal.



Maya and Gails BMW tucked up safely



Our interesting neighbour from Brasil making jewelery, he was very good at it too making nice stuff.



The wee girl couldn't wait to get her photo on Gails bike, he grin giving us all a cool as smile to take with us on our ride



Gail on his R1200GS, very nice piece of kit



We all enjoyed our tarseal cruze, Maya achieving 4.5 liters / 100 km or 51.69 mpg, very happy with that.

Santa Cruz, Gail needed a coupla things fixed and we were looking for our stator solution so that was destination.

More later

San Aborje To Trinidad

235 km, flat, easy what can possibly go wrong.

First up, gas up ... join the line





Well, today is Sunday, last Sunday it rained BIG time and blew a lot of the road out, they had half a years rain in one day and it was evident with heavy trucks and buses damaging the road, in places the ground was as soft as Harley rider and the truck had created ruts that would see our cases do bulldozing.

After waiting for an hour to get gas we were finally on our way, our journey taking 7 hours to do the 235 km, so down to first gear trying to negotiate mud and and other parts we actually found and used 6th gear.

This was common theme for the day



Some good spots, very shorts lived



A short shadow stop



We had two river crossings today, both on barges and their entry and exit ramps were a little unusual creating a bit of interest.





HMS Bolivia



Nice glide across the river



Today seemed to be national shift your cattle day



Arriving in Trinidad we arrived for the world cup final between Argentina and Germany, the main square had a BIG screen ..... 5 meters x 3 meters and most of the town was watching, we rode between them and and the screen so it was kinda funny, wasn’t long and Germany scored the goal that confirmed their title.

An icecream was had as it was 38 degrees C and accommodation was sorted.

The evening settled in and we sat and had tea (dinner) and watched hundred of motos go by again and again, chicas calientes riding past as well ... boys had to behave!!!

All in all Trinidad certainly not a tourist trap we felt more welcomed here than anywhere else in Bolivia, this really is the cool place at the end of what can be called the Trans Bolivian Trail via Ruta 3.

We stayed two night here because it was nice