La Cumbre , Argentina

Crossed the border into Argentina without problems , flat country riding ... boring desert like landscape , farmland , corn , wheat , rice in places .I was following a semi about to pass and it had a blow out on the back tire scared the shit out of me and rubber was flying... wow so cool to watch and I did not get hit ever better ! I arriver in Cordoba city late asked at the gas station if I could set up my tent at the back in a field , no problem . After I everything set up andf was about to go to sleep another guys came over and said it was too Dangerous ... so I packed up my gear again and left in the dark . Now I entered Cordoba in the dark .... shit well the only hotel I could find was a love hotel , what a dive ! Noisy , smelly and the guy kept phoning my room for some reason , he asked for 100 peso more after I paid him 100 , then he gave it back , Could not figure that on out !

Was glad to be out of the city and roode north to enter the small puebla of La Cumbre the mecca of paragling in Argentina , home of Andi Hediger and distribtor of Advance paragliders . No flying for 3 days , wind was from the wrong way , nice shop set up at the airport for repairs . Now I am in San Juan , wine country north of Mendoza ! Heading north to get some altitude to start acclimatising for Aconcagua. More later .........

I'm in Argentina now ....

Hi everyone ... well after about 400 hrs of travel, I made it to Uruguay safe. No bags lost, no hang ups.... oppps, yes the plane leaving Toronto was 3 hrs late so instead of leaving at 10pm they left at 1am ... yes, Air Canada ! Anyways does't matter I had a 8 hrs lay over in Brasil .

So went out to Punte del Este after Montevideo. My bike was in the shop and they were working on it when I arrived , how nice is that ! What service... tuned up the bike , put in new shocks, heavier ones for Cheri's big butt !! Whom will be joining me in Mendoza in after the climb .

So after spending 3 days in a Hostel with the kids, I was ready to leave .... did I used to drink that much . They were doing tequilla shots at 2pm in the afternoon and didn't stop untill 4am .... ahhhhh.

Well I hit the road and I must say yahhoooo it sure feels good to be back on the bike " yo soy libre " !

Nothing reall spectacular about the route really flat , I had 1 night camping where is poured out while I was camping ! Thunder , lightning and heavy rain , my tent was floating I had everything piled on my air matress water was inside the tent . Everthing was wet and mudddy ... north of where I was they had hail the size of baseballs.. so I was lucky, lots of big trees down everwhere .

Heading to Argentina .....

Well my season here in Canada is finished , a slow year in the Okanagan valley we are feeling the affects of the slumping economy! But on the other hand it gives me more time to plan a new Adventure !! This is what I am doing in December ... Flying to Uruguay , Ponte del Este. picking up the bike , yes my blue steed will be alive once again ! It needs some TLC, valve job ,new shocks and some new fangles for my trip to Mendoza ,Argentina. I am meeting a few guys to Climb Mt. Aconcagua and were going to try to fly from the summit . http://www.climbforprostate.com/ so check out my site and sponsor me if you have not do so already ! Hope we make it it will be a great adventure ! After the climb , I am meeting my girlfreind Cheri, were riding 2 up and Nick from Chile and were going to ride the bikes down to Ushuaia . The end of the road ,fishing and camping along the way so stay tuned for more pictures .... after this I will ride back up to Uruguay store the bike or sell it ? Anyone want to ride my bike back to Canada ? Then head over to Governador Valadares for my annual Paragling tour Feb 20-2nd March ... who wants to come flying, put up your hand or contact me and well arrange it !! So thats it, the winter is a planned and we'll keep you informed .... have a nice fall / winter everyone !! cheers

Win a free wing from Advance !

This year the Advance Competition Team got 2 great successes in the most renowned competitions, with Andy Aebi’s victory in the World Championship in Mexico in February and with Chrigel Maurer’s victory in the extrem race RedBull X-Alps in July. We wish to celebrate these new titles with all the pilots trusting our brand and took the opportunity of the Coupe Icare last week to launch as a world première the promotional offer Win your wing :
All pilots buying a new Advance wing between 17 September 2009 (opening day of Coupe Icare) and 28 February 2010 – date of the invoice - subscribe online ( http:/www.advance.ch/win) and take part to our offer. The draw will be made on the 10 March 2010 with as first prize the refund of the wing’s purchase price, then a personal 2 day seminar with Chrigel Maurer, 5 Thermore Jacket and 5 Walking Bags.We’ll send you soon the flyers to give to your customers and pilots. This flyer is now delivered with all new wings and sent by newsletter to the pilots. The information is also available in our homepage and sent to the magazines. You can forward to your customers the flyer attached to this email as a pdf file.The chance to win is quite high as during the time of the draw (a little bit more than 5 months) the amount of wings we’ll deliver will be much less than during a complete year. We are also convinced that the communication, promotion and interest of such an offer will have advantageous results for all our dealers.We remain at your disposal when you need further information and we send you our best regards from Thun.Daniel FrutigerTeam ADVANCE

Wow... is it september already ??

Well not much to report except this summer blew by ... I guess they all do , slow down you move to fast ! well Gloden Glass off this coming weekend and then the cold weather sets in ... ahhh well December lands me in Argentina , and we are Climbing Aconcagua to 23000ft and 5 of us will attempt to fly from the Summit, yahooo.... I hope we make it! I will be heading down on the bike to Terra del Fuego after this, then back up to Brasil to run my trip Feb 20 -2 March . Hope you can join us for more flying x-c fun, contact me if you want to come along ... thats all ... cheers

XC Fun Comp July 3-4th -5th

Hi everyone , we are getting some nice prizes being donated from Advance and Flytec for the competition coming up July long weekend. The X-C comp is open for all pilots and is a combined distance flown over 3 days from different sites in the Valley . Local pilots will be giving tips and advice on flying the area , it is good time to fly XC in our area with retrieves being provide by from the club ! Free Camping in my yard for the weekend ... cheers

Summer courses and more fun ...

Courses planned for the summer ... This Sunday the 26th April is a reserve throw and repack course , at the priest valley gym , behind the Vernon rec center . Cost is 40.00 , this will give you the opportunity to throw and repack your reserve. Course starts at 9:30-2:30 try to be on time !!
July 3rd-4th-5th is the X-C challenge , a fun comp for most pilots , we will fly from 3 selected sites in the valley , your best distance is recorded and the winner in each category is determined , Only dhv 1, 1/2 and 2 gliders can enter , cost is 100.00 for 3 days flying and $$ will be donated to the Climb for Prostate cancer http://www.climbforprostate.com/.
Also I am hosting another SIV course over the Mara lake site, July 25th-26th-27th. Cost of this is 675.00 for the 3 days , book early if you want a place on this course . Email me if you want details on any of these events I have planned ... good flying .. cheers

Back to work , lets go flying !

Ok so it is back to work now on everything ... paragliding defintely, house well I have to at least clean it .. the new shop yes , put power into it , thanks to Greg P ! Yard need lots of TLC as well . Never ending once it starts... lots of new equipment coming in , orders to Advance and woody Valley have been placed . If you want anything let me know asap before it is shipped , spring is backordered usually with most companies and some popular products ! we will be flying this week if this storm blows over , let hope we are so far behind already on spring ! lets go flying and get some spring x-c flight in ... cheers

I`m comming home ......

It seems like everything takes a turn in the right direction for me ... as I was riding along the coast of Uraguay , I noticed a Kawasaki dealership so after not seeing one for a few months ... not many Kawi´s here , only Honda and Yamaha and some Suzuki´s . I stopped in for an oil change , it been awhile..... the bike ! I was talking to the guy whom owns the place and he had someone who could store my bike for me whom he trusted , I looked at my import visa and noticed it was good for a year ! Yah !! Now I don´t have too go to B.A. Argentina, set it all up in 2 days , found a great hostel in Punte del Este near the beach in a nice area . Beaches on both sides of the hostel and lots of people to chat with , booked a ticket out of here for next week direct to Kelowna. This is so cool, great way to end my big adventure and feeling comfortable about leaving a nice country . Washed the bike lubed it up , unhooked the battery , drained the carb, put a cover on it and hopefully it will be waiting for the next trip in 10 months to Patigonia and ......

I`m in Uraguay !!

Well what a ride ... 3500km in the past week from GV . The riding became better past Sao Paulo when it started to become less populated. The ride thru Rio and Sao Paulo were easy but you did have to battle traffic and sqeek by everyone, othwise it would have taken hrs in a car , bikes rule !! I did get stuck one night between towns at dark and it started to pour , I got soaked , could not see and their were about a thousand trucks on this road. I had to pull into a gas station and wait until 9pm for the rain to stop . Found a hotel ordered pizza ! haha , Yesterday I entered Uraguay after a nice few days riding in the south of Brasil and last night stayed at Rio grande . I had to stay here, I liked the name ... it was a cool city on the coast , lots of fishing and prawning ! Brasil border was confused ... I had to check the bike out then ride 20 km back into brasil to get my passport stamped to exit myself , figure that one out ! Uraguay was a breeze no computor work , just paper ... the customs guy wanted a tip he put a jar in front of me , I played stupid and went and got my drivers license out for him instead , ha . That`s how it works just act stupid ! I really like the feel of this place easy laid back , temp is nice and it is really rural , it seems like a cross between the foot hills of Alberta and New Zealand .... time to head south again toward Argentina ... 200 km away .

Riding Riding Riding ....

Ok , I am ready to come home now , too many restraunte meals to many hotel rooms and wearing the same cloths for months now ahhhh ok well I do know it still sucks at home , as doug sent me a picture of my backyard... 2 feet of snow still and just about April ... that sucks as well ! I have spent a few days touring Vitoria area and Buzious with a friend, it was cool .. Buzious was nice but a tourist trap , beaches were nice ... now i have headed toward Sao Paulo and am planning to go south into Uraguay and Argentina ... so well just see what happens I´m taking the toll rd south , shit they eat up the money fast , I´m sure glad we don´t have them at home anymore . This road south is just full of trucks and I am getting headaches from the diesel fumes. My face is black with soot after a couple hrs riding.... nice !!!! Racoon face.... I am looking forward to spring and flying and getting some work done... chow

Flying is so nice ....

We are just winding down the tour group now , Frank Tracy and Chris have gone back to Canada .... Roger , Chris E, and Phil are still flying and gettting in their personal best flights , cloud base has been high but the launch has beeen fickle witht the wind comming up the road instead of up the north or south launch, so we have to move back and forth looking for the best cycle to launch in . most days the guys are logging 2-3 hrs airtime and reaching cloud base . Everyone is blown away who have not been here before and are improving nicely. I have been flying 60+ km every flight and landing early to catch the bus back . Greg went up north to Puetro Seguro with Lisa to catch some sun and travel a bit. I am finished here on Thursday and will be heading home via Argentina , looks like I cannot sell my bike or store it here , and Buenos Aries is the place to store it for a while untill I decide what to do with it . Your allowed 8 months to keep a bike in Argentina ... so looks like I will be heading out on my bike again south to Argentina again .... hmmmm I was kinda looking to just fly home and get back ... oh well more riding to come ....

Back to GV

Hey, the group of us are back in Governador Valadares after spending 1 week on the coast , we visited 2 new sites both which were non flyable. Too bad as they looked like fun and had incredible scenery ... we did fly Costello and chris and I had good flights the others had sort of extended sledders as the overdevelopment moved in . I was nice for me as I flew back to Costello and had a nice flighyt which I had been wanting to do for a few years now . Wer ended up flying Alfredo Chaves for the last day and spent 1 day on the beach in Vitoria . Frank, Tracy and Chris Frank´s son left for Sao paulo and rio to catch carnival ... we travelled by over night bus to GV arriving at 430 am ahhhh brutal ... so hooked up a room and went flying at 10 am . Flew 80 km for the first flight in GV with Kevin from Santa Barbra. Greg and Chris wilson flew well greg was at about 65km and Chris set his personal best at 55 km ! The past 2-3 days have been so so flying around the mtn and playing .. over deleloped today , rest day waiting for the sun to come back and bake us again.... ahhh the heat is nice ! cheers

Paragliding in Alfredo Chaves .....

Well i stayed a day in GV , put the bike at Pablo´s house , locked it up and jumped on the bus for Vitoria , met Greg and Lisa at the airport when they arrived , good to see my friends again !!! Lots to talk about , checked into a Hotel on the beach , went into the city for supper !
Picked up the rest of the crew Chris , Chris , Frank and Tracy at the airport the following night , went for supper and beers ... too many beers !
We rented 1 combi van and 1 car to transport everything and headed to Alfredo Chaves , just spent the past 3 days flying , conditions were nice some rain but about 4-6 hrs flying in 3 days . Evening spent going to the beach and trying to not drink too much with the boys , they are on holiday mode ! Chris k , is geting lots of hrs in and is flying well , the others are trying new wings and getting used to them everyone is starting to chill out from the long trip down here and de stressing . Today 18th , some rain inland we are at the beach , trying to figure where to go next , flying to Costelo , beach or head further inland to get better weather .... Carnival is starting on Saturday so it will get busy here !! Nice to be flying again ......

Oro Preto to Valadares ...

After Petropolis I headed inland towards Belo Horizonte, a small mining town where they found and stored the gold . This town was also amasing to see, lots of 16-17th century Churches, gold painting and small narrow streets . I recommend this to everyone whom comes to Brasil to see how it was back then ...I could have spent a few days here interesting and relaxing , nice foor and pubs . I only spent 1 night then headed out for Governador Valadres the next day . The ride to Valadares was nice rolling hills , up and down the small mountains they have here , heating up as I get closer to Valadares, rode into town about 5 pm went to the landing area ... was greated by a bunch of the locals , they thought i was crazy to ride here on my bike ..... So I accomplished what I set out to do .. Ride to G.V. on my bike to meet my group !!! Checked into a hotel , washed up went for beer with the boys .... A nice feeling !

Paraty , Petropolis and Oro Preto .. the gold trail !!

After travelling up the coast.... I was recommended to visit in Paraty, a colonial town on the coast . It was so neat a whole 17th century village of portuguese construction , re done and so well , Old town is now hotels, shops and resturantes. I ended up going on a boat cruise to get off the bike for a day and it was perfect . 5 hrs on a larger sail type boat 40ft , went to 5 different islands and snorkeled and swam , met some people from all over , but mainly Argentinian´s in this area on holidays ! Enjoyed beers with some friendly Argentina girls after. I also had the best burger and milkshake of the trip here !
Next day loaded up early 11am and headed out up the coast to Petropolis , which is near Rio just north west of the city . Very enjoyable ride into the coastal mtns and up in elevation so cooler now , found a hotel late at dark and some rain again ! This city has no place to stay and it´s a tourist town ? what gives ? Next day I walked around and explored the old city of Euro´s and Germans , Relaxing city , great temperature , I can see why they settled here . Coastal hwy was so nice, but hot ... nice to be back in the mountains .

I found paradise....

Ok , So where I was again , getting lost in the days and the travel , I entered Brasil thru Foz do aguazu (sp) great set of falls on the Argentina -Brasil border, it´s national park... so really quite nice , expensive and touristy but ... they were nice to see . Driving up from B.A. was nice as well ,small towns ,great courtyards, freindly people . Met some bikers whom own bike shop and went to a B Party they fed me and got me drunk , we talked about bikes and my trip... it was cool . Crossed the border without problems , not having a license plate is a pain in the ass , it fell off between Chile and Argentina !
Lots of police in Brasil .. got stopped once for driving without my helmet on, they let me go and I had to show them the note from the Chile police about the lost licence plate !
I crossed over to the east coast near Joinville to see Larissa a freind, she showed me around her town and rest for a day .Then up the coast to Santos which is a city off of Sao Pàulo , nice area ...went to the flying site met some guys , next thing you know i´m flying a Fresh Breeze paramotor on the beach over the city. You have to love it , city was nice, flying site in the city, landing on the beach, Great !!
Moved up the coast between Santos and Rio , incredible beaches and feels like you in California except the weather is warmer . Ahhh this is what I have been looking for ... white sand, warm water and small surfing towns all over . Found another flying site heading out of town and got invited to fly , flew 1.5 hrs thermalling and dynamic , landing on the beach ! hmmmmm I can get used to this ..

Still in BA. Argentina ...

Well hagin out at a workshop /hostal /campground ... Dakar Motors is really a workshop and anywhere you can find a place to sleep in ok, with the owner . Thier are about 8 others staying here right now a french couple , heading to Aussie , A german heading to South Africa, A swiss guy going to NZ and a few Americans heading north to brasil then upwards home . Two to the americans bikes are down , one has a oil leak which has been very hard to fix on a bmw and ahas already spent 2000 on it to fix it, the other claims someone took off his oil filler cap and it leaked all the oil out , on a KLR . So both are waing to get their bikes repaired . The others are waiting for shipping quotes and or flights for bikes and themselves . 4 of them are doing round the world trips cool.... hmmmm....So I applied for an entry Visa to Brasil... and the told me to come back after 12 noon in 2 days, not before ... so I came back at 2:30pm thinking that will give them some leeway , well it turns out you have to be here between 12-1pm . Otherwise you have to come back the next day haha.. why did they not tell me this!!! So now I guess I have time in the city to continue my blog .. changed tires again went to more of a street tire 50/50 heading into Brasil...you get about 5-6ooo km from a set of tires this trip is my 3rd set ! Changed oil and ready to go again... am wound up, ready to get out of here and head north , I planned on stopping in Florinopolis for some Kitesurfing lessons then up to see the boys , Greg , Lisa, Chris , Frank , Tracy and Frank´s son now Chris in Vitoria ... see yah soon , lets hope for nice weather !!

Wow , the days ride by.....

After a day in San Martin, I headed south to Barriloche , it was so nice ,incredible waters , many lakes and so clear , simular to New Zealand much much larger .Camping and fishing for the next week , staying for free on the river banks . Lots of camping in this area and packpackers .. headed south of Barrailoche about 150km then decided to head Northward to Brasil , Will have to leave far south of Argentina for next year, as their is much more to see and waters to fish . Now i"m in Buenos Aries , applying for a visa into Brasil. Staying at Dakar Motors with a bunch of other Motor bike travellers in a small place. The trip over took 3 days on and off road but so hot and windy... 43c on the bike . I had to stop every 1.5 hrs to water myself off , which was sticking a hose in my suitand letting it go , or laying in a river , people thought i was crazy .... but it saved me big time !! I met a fellow rider whom I had been emailing at a gas stop in the middle of nowhere ... we had been talking for about 2 months and last i heard from him was before newyears.. and we just hapened to be at the same place at the same time ... kinda strange how that works out , he is headed south , I am headed north ..... small world, we exchanged stories and went on our own ways! cheers from B.A.

Back in Argentina !

I decided to head back to Argentina instead of heading to Puerto Monte, left Pucon after a nice night drinking wine with a bunch of Mountain guides , good music and lots of wine at the hostel !
Headed east around the back to the Volcano and was rewarded with some nice riding on 4x4 tracks . Camped beside a lake and watched the sunset and had a fire . A good way to enjoy life .... today was rain all day as I headed for a ferry , which crosses a lake called ? Towards San Martin , in Argentina ... this place is simular to Pucon , like a mini Banff and Jasper nice but expensive and lots of Tourists ... oh well that s me included . cheers

Wipe out ! No skin off my Ass !!

Well , after a great couple of days getting my bike up to speed again ...new brakes , oil change, chain oiled air cleaner cleaned ,we went and watched part of the Dakar rally it was good ! I want to do it now !!!
I left nick´s house and headed south on the Toll hwy , about 1 hr into the ride it was getting windy from the sea breeze and I was getting buffeted around , I was going down the hill behind a rock bluff and I was like holy shit these are crazy winds here ..... ahhhhh my front tire had blown out, I got big time front wobble, thought i´d got it under control a few times trying to slow down and pull over .... then I was on my ass sliding down the highway watching my bike hit the guard rail and slide across the highway into the ditch. ! I finally came to a stop after a few rolls and stood up and went a picked up my bike .. holly shit that was fast ! Lucky for me ... i´m still alive !! hahahah and no skin off my ass , my suit and gloves saved me ! A few people stopped and helped me and I got the bike loaded up in a truck and taken to a tire shop to get the tire repaired. 2 hrs later , back on the road ! Yes, my bike is looking now like it is on a trip !!!!
The fairing is wired together and my suit has holes all over it , it´s ragged ! So now i´m in Pucon in the lakes district simular to banff - going to get some fishing supplies and go fishing and head further south to camp and enjoy the nature out here. It is really nice in this area , just like home ! cheers

La Serena , Chile at Nick's and Anna Marie's house ...

Yeh , I made it on the 8th in time for the Dakar rally . Which I was racing to catch but found out it is not untill the 11th . Nick and his wife , have a new house and a new little baby boy ! 1 month old... I wonder who the father is ? Sitting by the swimming pool having a beer in his backyard and watching the sunset over the ocean . I acutally never made it to his house the night I left Customs in Chile the tire went flat and it was just too dark to ride about 10:30 before I found a campsite . The campsite charged me a whopping 1$ for staying the night ... good value !
Took the bike in for a service today , new chain , new sprocket, new brakes pads front and back , oil change and a cleaning.... don't know how much it all cost haven't figuerd out the exchange rate yet. Everyweek a new currancy and new rates and trying to figure out how much everthing is worth , keeps you on your toes .. Bike is running great again will catch the Dakar rally on Sunday it is 2 hrs south of here so I will leave nick's and ride south towards Santiago and monday should put me in the big city to get my Visa for Brasil ... time is ticking down i don't really know if i will make it all the way south , it is such a long way still and these 500km days are taking their toll on me... chow !

Heading to La Serena, Chile.

Days go by quickly when riding and not knowing or caring what day it is or what time it is , you just ride, eat sleep and talk to yourself well sort of ... at least think alot about stuff , not always really important just stuff ! It started to get really hot 35c -40c and very dry desert like southern California , kinda boring and straight roads , had to stop a few times to sleep or nap , was falling asleep while riding in the heat . Not good ! But in Argentina you have rest stops and Gas stations which are very simular to Canadian ones . One stop shopping ! Ok last day before heading into La Serena was to cross a 4800m pass, no problem !! Customs was easy , leaving Argentina great roads mix of on and off road and very dry , wound my way higher and higher. Looking out for the Condor ! Amazing ride up to the pass Agua Negro , it just kept going higher and getting colder and windy. Nice photos which will be posted today !! Promise ! This ride really blew me away like nothing I have rode yet , I felt drunk and tingly at the top... stopped for photo's and down the other side toward Chile . I made it to customs at 7pm and found I had lost my License plate and also was getting a flat tire on the front. Well about 1.5 hrs later I finised , I found most of the customs offices down here are staffed by men usually police which usually suck at office work, typing and filling forms out . Most were finger plucking the keys and phoning others to find out how to to do something . It took them about 40 minutes and 4 guys to find out first how to fill out the form and then print it .... oh well . Left customs at dark again and rode an other hour towards civilization , stopping to pump my front tire up with a hand pump every 30km ! Very tired and dirty and hungry !

Wow .....

Well, what a day and 3900meters makes.... I decended into the east side of Bolivia, I guess they call that the Amazon side or next to Paraguay. The decent was incredible and scenery excellent , most of it was gravel single lane and very curvy into the jungle like bush. Millions of butteryfly's were everywhere for the next 200km towards the Argentine Border . I arrived at the border called Yacuiba! I went pretty easy only about 1 hrs to clear while some were saying they waited for already 2 hrs . By the time I cleared it was about 6pm and I headed south for a hotel , bordertowns tend to suck and aren't very nice. Usually dirty , busy and a lot of stange people wanting to enter and leave , like myself ! Another 13 hrs day riding and so tired !! 550km day !
The next few days were spent riding in a varity of farm land, bush and desert , depending on how close to the mountians you were at thje time. I found an excellent area Between Salta and Cafayate, again incredible scenery , vineyards , lakes and rivers simular to the Okanogon area . It also hade some canyons simular to Zion park in the USA , brilliante red colors in the evening and lots of tourists in the town of Cafayate itself . I ended up eating in town and riding into the canyon to set up my tent . It seems like riding into Argentina from Bolivia is like going from Mexico into the USA, things are just well normal ...

Heading out of Bolivia !

Well new years in La Paz was boring, boring, boring ! I walked arounf looking for a place to have a beer and found nothing , no pubs or bars to be seen. I guess they dont drink here ! Well i saved myself a hangover ! Got up the next day and the Garage where i parked my bike was locked and i could not get my bike out all day as well as a few other mad car owners . The number listed on the door would not answer.. haha good new years joke ! Well all the busses leaving the city were also closed as well as the main bus station itself... trapped in boring La paz wtih other travellers ! Went to see the movie Australia, don´t do it, it is terrible ! More hollywood crap ! Traveled over to city called Potasi in the south 500km away made good time untill I hit the pass at 4pm , went up too 4200m and of course it was raining which turned to hail 2 "worth , Visability was crap my visor always fogs over and their was lightning all around ! ahhha very tense for about 1 hr. Made it to Potasi at dark , found a Hotel with a sauna to defrost ! I took about 2 hrs to warm up again !! Today the 3rd, i´ve decided to head over to the east to warm up drop altitude and head south for Argentia . Tonight i´m is a small town called Paddilla , 3 hrs south of the capital Sucre ... yahooo always fun and good riding .... chow

Feliz anos ! 09

Well, it is a new year ... happy new year everyone ! well where was i last ... oh yeah, I did not make it to Cuzco untill the 27th in the evening , and of course it was raining hard and trying to find a hotel at christmas at night in a new confusing city, which also has parking for bikes is well ... I got really wet . And spent more money than I should have, 50 usd for a 4 star hotel . I was tired and wet and they had parking for me in the hotel ! Most of these place also include breakfast so... I can fill up before I ride and don´t eat again untill supper. The next day I spent riding and looking at some ruins and a paragliding site , which was cool , I wish I had a wing with me ! I rode towards the Inca trail and to a town at the end of the road, called ? which leads to Matchu pithcu.
Anyways you can catch a train from here to Matchu Pithcu town , which is really cool. I spent the 29th at Matchu Pithcu , it was amazing and stunning ! Some nice hikes up here as well . I missed my train ride back , no watch it had been stolen from my hotel room by someone and I misread my ticket it was on 24 hr clock and showed 15 minutes too late. Shit I had to pay again and it is not cheap ! Oh well, I won´t eat for a few days to make it up !
From here I rode to Lake Titikaka in the south of Peru , the bike was running rough , carb need cleaning again . I went thru heavy rain again and never was below 3300meters all day so it was a bit chilly . The ride was nice but my bike is sick , no power and cutting out .
Made it to a comfy hotel and went on a boat ride to the lake to visit the floating village, where 2000 people live on floating islands and have everything made of reeds , pretty cool as well . Crossed the border on the 31st into Bolivia no hassles but had to pay a small bribe fee the the cops and this border is very confusing and not really any signage but ... i´m in Bolivia now !