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Other entries in São Tomé das Letras

Back to civilisation!!!

Well, since the last update we have been constantly on the move, only occasionally spending 2 nights in the same place, and with bad or inexistent Internet connections. We've covered a long distance, but let's start from Tupiza.

So we left Bolivia! The 6th of September we took the badly corrugated 100kms trail to the border. As we saw the sign "welcome to Argentina" I had a big grin on my face! I always had something for that country and wanted to spend some time exploring it. There was something about Argentina that always sent me dreaming, the Pampas, the glaciers, the gauchos.... Not sure why, but I was very keen on visiting the country. I had high expectations; I was hoping I would not be disappointed!

From the border we were finally back on tarmac, after over 800kms of trails! We rode to a little town   called Humahuaca, through stunning canyons and sceneries! The town was fairly touristy. We found a nice little hostal and spent the following day cleaning the bikes, washing our riding suits, everything... After so much riding on trails everything was covered in dust, sand and mud! We were filthy! Then, looking smart and sparkling once again (really!) we made our way to Salta.

We spent another couple of days there, in the local campsite.  Prices in Argentina, after Bolivia and Peru were quite a shock! It was time to use all the camping gear we had been trailing around for the last 7000 miles for nothing! The campsite was good and had the biggest swimming pool in South America, huge, but unfortunately empty! Shame as it was so hot! There we met few over Landers. Few French (they seem to be everywhere in SA!), including a French couple and a Belgian couple, on mobile homes, both with 2 young kids each! If you think we're crazy!!! Also there was a retired Swiss couple in the biggest truck/mobile home that we've ever seen!

From Salta we rode to Cafayate, a small town in the wine region that a Polish biker we met on the Salar de Uyuni recommended to us. We spent another couple of nights there as we visited a vineyard and tested the local wine! Well, we can recommend Argentinean wine, it is very good! If you find down your local supermarket wine produced by Etchart, get a bottle, it's nice! After Bolivia, Argentina was paradise, good wine and cheese, excellent roads...

rom Cafayate we kept moving, making our way toward Iguaçu falls. That meant crossing some Pampa and the region called "El Chaco", probably the most boring road you could ride! Day after day of flat straight roads for hundreds of miles! After several days you still had the impression you were at the same place! Also with the weather turning cold and wet it was even worse! We stopped in little towns to sleep in relatively expensive hotels, just doing mileage.

When we stopped in a town called Santiago del Estero one evening, looking for a hotel, we did as usual: park the bikes on the main square; I was left guarding the bikes while Alistair went to check few hotels. I saw with some worries 2 women in uniform coming toward me! Our bikes were parked under a huge sign that clearly said it was forbidden to park there, except for official vehicles. The 2 women started with the usual questions, where we came from, our trip etc... As I told them we were looking for a hotel they went off to the local tourist information office, round the corner, and came back 15mins later with a pile of prospectus and a list of all the hotels in town! They left me after wishing me luck and giving me a huge kiss on the cheek! I wish parking attendants were that friendly in the UK! 

Anyway, as hotels in town were a bit expensive, a guy came to talk to us and recommended to go to a village 30kms away which had good inexpensive accommodation. So we went there and he was right! Following advice of people on the street  doesn't always work! Crossing El Chaco region, we stopped at the entrance of town and asked few women selling some craft if there were hotels (note the plural!) in town, they said yes. Well after going all around we found one, and it was quite horrid! Someone told us the next town, 100kms away, had lots of hotels. So we went. The town had one hotel, and it was full.

That region is testing our patience, finding accommodation is hard, and expensive! On Sunday 13th we slept in a place that was down to Bolivian standards, the kind of place you would pay a dollar per bed, except it was 5 times that and was fairly awful, but we had no choice! Why there are so few hotels in this region is a mystery, but we haven't even seen a French tourist, that says it all, as they are normally everywhere around here!  

So after several days on the road we finally arrived on the 19th Sept to Iguaçu!  On the way we spent a couple of days stuck in a small town, due to a massive storm that made impossible to carry on. We were hoping to catch up on our emails and blog, but the constant power cuts made it impossible!

Bolivia had not been kind with my bike. At the border I noticed the windshield had snapped on the left side. We repaired with superglue and Duct tape. Not sure how this happened, maybe the result of 100s of kms of corrugation or someone smashed it in the car park when we left the bikes for our 4 days tours in Tupiza? Then for few days I kept looking at the front wheel, thinking something was wrong! And then I realised! I used to have a small mud guard above the front wheel! What happened to that? On close examination a tiny bit of plastic was protruding from the forks, where it used to be!  

We finally arrived at Iguaçu. The last few days of continuous riding led to our first road kills! After 1000 of miles avoiding suicidal dogs, lamas, vicunas, and all sort of farm animals left roaming free by the side of the road, it finally happened! One small snake for me, few birds for Alistair. The problem with the birds was that they were feeding by the side of the road and would fly away in front of the bike when we got close. Most of the flock would get through but the last one was sometime hit. As I saw their tiny bodies falling on the tarmac I felt sorry for them, but there is little we could do to avoid them as they fly toward the bikes!

In Iguacu we found a nice if expensive campsite for a couple of nights. After being fairly cold and wet during the last few days, the weather turned warm and humid, tropical actually! Unfortunately, as much as I wanted some warmth, it came at a price: insects! A lot of them and big! So here we are surrounded by thousands of things flying around us and waiting for an opportunity to bite us! The other problem is their size! Forget about rescuing a spider with a glass, get a bowl. They are THAT big!!!!

We then went to see the `mighty falls´ as they call them in my guide! And they are mighty and magnificent! They are so big that we spent most of the day hiking through the national park from one view point to the another, from seeing them as a whole or viewing individual falls, it was splendid!

The following day we crossed the border and got into Brazil! The custom officer that dealt with our bikes was a nice young Adonis wearing tight jeans and a white tight T-shirt revealing how hard he must be working down the gym! Phoar! I’m going to love Brazil!

That same day we visited the Itaipu Dam, a joint project between Paraguay and Brazil, it provides 25pc electricity needs of Brazil, 95pc that of Paraguay. Almost 8km long and with 20 generators it is the biggest hydroelectric plant in the world! We were able to visit inside, down to the generators. Impressive!

After that it was getting late, we rode for about an hour to get away from the border and stopped in a small town. A guy in a shop came out and asked us few questions. As we told him we were looking for a hotel he got back in the shop and reappeared with a helmet, he them went into a courtyard and came put on a big Yamaha Tenere! He then led us through town to a very nice inexpensive hotel, and rode off!

The 3 following days we rode long days through heavy rain and blazing heat, to get to our next destination: Sao Thome. Few adventures on the way! One evening, we arrived in a big town and started looking for accommodation. The only hotel we found was over 50 dollars, too much for us! We decided to get back on the road and look for a place in the outskirts of town.

We were riding around, a bit lost. A white car looked like it was following us. It then overtook us and someone inside made us sign to stop! Well, what would you do? Our guide warns us about helpful strangers and tends to be a bit on the paranoid side really! We stopped behind the white car! A 50-year old man came out and asked us if we were lost and where we were going. We told the guy the name of our next destination, as it was too complicate to explain what we wanted. After some explanations in Portuguese, that we half understood, we followed the white car around town, until the driver got us on the right road and waved us to carry straight on! That’s the Brazilians, incredibly friendly and helpful so far!

Still looking for some accommodation, the only places we could see were Motels. Now, Motels are not cheap hotels. In South America it is the kind of place where you rent a room by the hour! Each room has its individual car park, fitted with a door for maximum discretion. It is possible to come in and out without anyone seeing you!  Our guide said that it is a cheap option to hotels. Indeed, after checking one, the price for the night was around 20 dollars! A bargain! And we never resist a good bargain, so we got a room! The décor was interesting with a massive mirror on the ceiling above the bed and some of the TV channels were definitely not for children… What the guide forgot to tell is that one night in that sort of place is 12 hours! As we arrived a bit after 5:30pm, we had a wake up call at 5am! As it was very expensive to stay longer, we never packed so fast!

Few things you should know if you consider using these Motels. Indeed they are cheap, as long as you know about the 12 hours deal; also you should bring a sheet as the bed only had a fitted sheet for the mattress. But most important of all, don’t forget your ear plugs! Not only is the continuous traffic of cars and mopped in and out all night very noisy, some couples are very ´vocal´! I can tell you there are a hell a lot of shenanigans going on in Brazil!!!  

Few words about Brazil as we have been surprised! We expected a lot of poverty, shanty towns, but the regions we have been crossing so far have been very prosperous, clean, wealthy towns, stunning villages, beautiful countryside….It could be anywhere in Europe! Roads are superb but expensive; road toll is high, even for motorbikes. Also the petrol is pricey, and with the distances we are covering it is a big dent on our budget! Accommodation is the most expensive of all the countries we’ve been through yet, and we are struggling to find rooms at less than 25 or 30 dollars a night! But the breakfast that is always included is huge and enough to fill us for the day! Save on food!

The people have been incredibly friendly, coming to talk to us at every opportunity. The fact that they only speak Portuguese and not us never seems to be a problem! For now, after nearly 3 weeks on the move we are going to spend few days rest in Sao Thome, a sort of New Age village surrounded by beautiful caves to visit and apparently the site a most UFOs sightseeing in Brazil! We will report on anything unusual we may spot in the sky!

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