Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Hitting the saddle
Thursday
Chilled out in Sorata for a day. About time I think. Visited Sorata in the morning. The biggest achievement of the morning was to crash everyone´s internet in the cafe when I turned my pc off. I always knew that 28k link was dodgy. Just as I was about to leave a shop the local Policeman came in to have a chat to the owner. That had an interesting discussion outside while I tried to lay low inside. Things can get heated around here quite quickly. Went back to the hotel and chilled out for the rest of the day, taking time out to think and talk about more important things. Practicaly the whole group chilled out. We then had a group meal and said our goodbyes as the group is splitting up today.
Friday
Up early to hit the road in the Gravity vans for the climb up to the 4800m pass where we begin the cycling. Great to have a leaving party at such an early hour in the morning.Great view os Illampu on the way up - the 2-3 hr ride up to the pass was worth it for the views of big country in itself. Then Guy and Travis (guides) kitted us out with bikes. I managed to score a Kona Stinky which is a freeride double suspension rig. Heavy but just the beast for blasting down, down, down - nearly 4000m for the day. It was 4WD road riding, nothing technical but there´s nowhere in NZ where you would get that decent in a single trip. Coming down through the mist, barely making out those in front at over 50kph was certainly the buzz I was looking for. Bill was certainly having fun on the downhills as well. At one point in the ride there was a bull half blocking the road for the frontrunners, I´m glad he didn´t take a liking to us like the local dogs do. We also tried hard to clean out a chicken in the villages , but alas there was no luck. I think the going rate was 3bs (50 cents NZ) - cheaper than a cracked windscreen on the journey back up. Jerry, Russell and I had fun blasting out the last few kms , the others struggling in as it had been a long day in the saddle. The dust certainly had taken it´s toll, Graham and I looked like collminers at the end of the day....The hostel reminded me of an Italian place as the garden was full of fruit trees - coffee, oranges, papaya...u name it.
Saturday
Another day in the saddle with a twist. We had to construct the road at one place as well !!! There was a complete washout, and we came across it with another 4WD. At the time what I didn't realise was that the washout was created by miners looking for gold. With the help of the locals we started to bridge it but then there was a rather large roaring noise. Alas seeing Geoff (one of the drivers hightailing it out of there) I was not sticking around. The locals stayed put until the last few seconds because they knew when the miners were going to trigger the slide. Then all kinds of stones and gravel came hammering down the river. How inconsiderate of them to destroy the stream crossing! Or was it unrealistic of us to expect the road to be there to mountain bike along? I guess we are in Bolivia afterall. Nature had done for us in 1 minute what would have taken maybe 20 minutes...A bit more building and then some pretty smooth driving later the trucks were accross - allbeit with people hanging off the side to keep them level. We were than trucked up a big switchback and through an old western town that would have been humming when the goldmingin wa at it´s peak 20 yrs ago. A quick 20 min blast down in to Mapiri for the night and the stinking heat. A couple of interesting thinsg to note are that the guides didn´t think we would have any worries with malaria (although everyone is still taking the tablets) and there aintmany bugs down the jungle as on the West Coast of NZ.
A few stories from the guides that seemed funny while yarning round the campsite...
1) One wet rainy day down the WMDR the guides changed 19 sets of brakepads for 15 rides. That must have been one costly trip
2) A guide and his driver Kerman were in the village of Cabanari for the night. The driver had a full load of bikes on the top of the jeep and was wodering about their security. He asked the guide who replied "I don´t think there are any Police in this town". Kerman was all smiles as he knew they´ll be just fine...
3)One of the guides & friends were staying in a mobile home in Sorata. However they had decided to stay in ther main Playa (or square). The first morning the local policeman came up and ushered them into his offuce. 40bolivanas (Bs) is the fee for camping overnight. Marty (one of the friends) replied that "there was no sign". Again the policeman tried to extort the 40Bs. THis time Marty replied "can I have a tax invoice - numbered as well thanks". This time the demand was for 20Bs. Marty just laughed and invited the local policeman for a beer at 3pm...
BTw - After the unrest in 2003 in Sorata it took the Police a whole year to go back there....
4)Last year when the miners were on strike they took to La Paz on mass and decided to throw sticks of dynamite around the central playa of the capital...
Chilled out in Sorata for a day. About time I think. Visited Sorata in the morning. The biggest achievement of the morning was to crash everyone´s internet in the cafe when I turned my pc off. I always knew that 28k link was dodgy. Just as I was about to leave a shop the local Policeman came in to have a chat to the owner. That had an interesting discussion outside while I tried to lay low inside. Things can get heated around here quite quickly. Went back to the hotel and chilled out for the rest of the day, taking time out to think and talk about more important things. Practicaly the whole group chilled out. We then had a group meal and said our goodbyes as the group is splitting up today.
Friday
Up early to hit the road in the Gravity vans for the climb up to the 4800m pass where we begin the cycling. Great to have a leaving party at such an early hour in the morning.Great view os Illampu on the way up - the 2-3 hr ride up to the pass was worth it for the views of big country in itself. Then Guy and Travis (guides) kitted us out with bikes. I managed to score a Kona Stinky which is a freeride double suspension rig. Heavy but just the beast for blasting down, down, down - nearly 4000m for the day. It was 4WD road riding, nothing technical but there´s nowhere in NZ where you would get that decent in a single trip. Coming down through the mist, barely making out those in front at over 50kph was certainly the buzz I was looking for. Bill was certainly having fun on the downhills as well. At one point in the ride there was a bull half blocking the road for the frontrunners, I´m glad he didn´t take a liking to us like the local dogs do. We also tried hard to clean out a chicken in the villages , but alas there was no luck. I think the going rate was 3bs (50 cents NZ) - cheaper than a cracked windscreen on the journey back up. Jerry, Russell and I had fun blasting out the last few kms , the others struggling in as it had been a long day in the saddle. The dust certainly had taken it´s toll, Graham and I looked like collminers at the end of the day....The hostel reminded me of an Italian place as the garden was full of fruit trees - coffee, oranges, papaya...u name it.
Saturday
Another day in the saddle with a twist. We had to construct the road at one place as well !!! There was a complete washout, and we came across it with another 4WD. At the time what I didn't realise was that the washout was created by miners looking for gold. With the help of the locals we started to bridge it but then there was a rather large roaring noise. Alas seeing Geoff (one of the drivers hightailing it out of there) I was not sticking around. The locals stayed put until the last few seconds because they knew when the miners were going to trigger the slide. Then all kinds of stones and gravel came hammering down the river. How inconsiderate of them to destroy the stream crossing! Or was it unrealistic of us to expect the road to be there to mountain bike along? I guess we are in Bolivia afterall. Nature had done for us in 1 minute what would have taken maybe 20 minutes...A bit more building and then some pretty smooth driving later the trucks were accross - allbeit with people hanging off the side to keep them level. We were than trucked up a big switchback and through an old western town that would have been humming when the goldmingin wa at it´s peak 20 yrs ago. A quick 20 min blast down in to Mapiri for the night and the stinking heat. A couple of interesting thinsg to note are that the guides didn´t think we would have any worries with malaria (although everyone is still taking the tablets) and there aintmany bugs down the jungle as on the West Coast of NZ.
A few stories from the guides that seemed funny while yarning round the campsite...
1) One wet rainy day down the WMDR the guides changed 19 sets of brakepads for 15 rides. That must have been one costly trip
2) A guide and his driver Kerman were in the village of Cabanari for the night. The driver had a full load of bikes on the top of the jeep and was wodering about their security. He asked the guide who replied "I don´t think there are any Police in this town". Kerman was all smiles as he knew they´ll be just fine...
3)One of the guides & friends were staying in a mobile home in Sorata. However they had decided to stay in ther main Playa (or square). The first morning the local policeman came up and ushered them into his offuce. 40bolivanas (Bs) is the fee for camping overnight. Marty (one of the friends) replied that "there was no sign". Again the policeman tried to extort the 40Bs. THis time Marty replied "can I have a tax invoice - numbered as well thanks". This time the demand was for 20Bs. Marty just laughed and invited the local policeman for a beer at 3pm...
BTw - After the unrest in 2003 in Sorata it took the Police a whole year to go back there....
4)Last year when the miners were on strike they took to La Paz on mass and decided to throw sticks of dynamite around the central playa of the capital...
# posted by Greg @ 7:10 AM 
