Through The Cordillera Blanca – a Videologue
YOU’VE READ THE BLOG. NOW WATCH THE MOVIE…. Related Posts: Read the accompanying post, A Ride Through The Cordillera [read more...]
TRAVEL
A Ride Through The Cordillera Blanca
Deserts, mountains, jungles, coastlines…. over the years, I have visited and travelled through or along them all, but it is always the mountains that call me back. The [read more...]
Tuning-In in Chavin
As I mused on ‘The Travellers’ Dilemma’, I spoke about the difficulty of truly detaching from the moto – physically, mentally and emotionally – [read more...]
To Huaraz – Through Mud, Rocks and Snow
I am back in the ‘high mountains’ – the Cordillera Blanca, a cluster of dramatic, ice-covered peaks, surrounded by glaciers and lakes, rising at the highest [read more...]
To Stay or To Go – The Traveller’s Dilemma
As I drove through the outskirts of Arequipa a few weeks ago, the bike loaded and and the open road ahead, I felt a sense of sadness and loss. I was leaving a place I had [read more...]
Rain Almost Stops Play – Ayacucho to Huancayo
We awoke to the tail end of a night of persistent, heavy rain. The forecast predicted more, but soon after setting off the weather began to clear. Our new motoquero friends, [read more...]
People of Ayacucho – a Pictorial
Nowhere I have been so captivated by the people of a town or city. Ayacucho feels more like an oversized village, such is the feeling of intimacy in the markets and on the [read more...]
Ever-Changing Landscapes – Pisac to Ayacucho
I am finally venturing into new territory. Pisac is behind us now as we look to the north-westerly horizon, plotting a course through Peru’s central highlands. From the [read more...]
Whips and Rain – Arequipa to Pisac
Arriving in Pisac on Friday afternoon, it felt that I had completed a major cycle in my journey. I am back at my most northerly point, the place from where I reversed the [read more...]
Not Your Average Yamaha Service
I shouldn’t have been so pessimistic about the Yamaha dealer here in Arequipa. I got the most personalised service of any garage I have visited in South America to [read more...]
Back in Peru – Calama to Arequipa
The Suzuki conspired to keep us in Calama. When it finally decided to let us go, the Yamaha picked up the reigns, doing its best to prevent us from leaving Chile. After [read more...]
Going Nowhere in Calama
Calama has trapped us. Just as Santiago seemed to exert some form of gravitational pull on me – I kept returning, four times and for several months in total – [read more...]
Chapter Three – a Testing Start
At exactly 5.23pm yesterday, my journey around South America underwent a major shift in character. As I rolled out of a warehouse in the grubby port of Antofagasta and [read more...]
The Dakar – a Pictorial
The Dakar continues south towards Valparaiso, but for me the spectacle is over. Following the race for a week has been something special: a whistle stop tour of South [read more...]
Bolivia – My Own Mini Dakar
Following the Dakar in Argentina had been straight forward. On arriving in Bolivia, this was about to change. The ride north from Salta to Tupiza was easy – 400km of [read more...]
Dakar Fever in Argentina
Dakar Fever has struck north west Argentina. Everyone has caught it, including me. I’ve been following the race for three days, yet it already feels like three weeks. [read more...]
Waiting for The Dakar
I’ve been making my way slowly north. The infamous Dakar Rally, the world’s longest and toughest motor race and a thing of legends, starts today. It will reach [read more...]
A Short but Eventful Ride to Callingasta
I left Uspallata yesterday after lunch. The 120km drive to the next village, Barreal, was straight, hot, very windy and monotonous. At least a 30km stretch of loose gravel [read more...]
Uspallata
The first village of any significant size that you reach when entering Argentina from Santiago is Uspallata. It sits on a green and fertile plain, flanked by the Andes to the [read more...]
A Brief Trip Home
My two week trip back to the UK is coming to an end. This evening I shall fly back to Buenos Aires, where I shall stay for a couple of days before travelling onwards to [read more...]
Farewell to Santiago…. Again
Yesterday I left Santiago and crossed the Andes to Argentina, for the second time. When I did the same trip in February, riding over the mountains through the night under a [read more...]
Poacher Turned Gamekeeper
After weeks of riding on the back of my Tenere, my amiga Paulina has decided she wants to become a motoquera herself. So she has bought a little Honda 125, a helmet and a [read more...]
Rapa Nui – a Pictorial
Motoqueros of Rapa Nui
On Rapa Nui, you won’t find wealthy businessmen cruising on their brand new BMW 1200s. Here, the motoquero is a very different breed to those in Santiago. The [read more...]
Rapa Nui – A Long Way From Anywhere
I am on Rapa Nui – or Easter Island, as it is known to most of the world. I arrived yesterday afternoon, after flying 3700km across the Pacific Ocean from Santiago. [read more...]
Without The Moto
The contrast between my life as a motoquero on the open road and my life as an urbanista here in Santiago has become even more pronounced. I am now without my bike, and thus [read more...]
Santiago – a Culture Shock
After three months in Peru, spent mostly in the idyllic Sacred Valley, Santiago has come as a bit of a culture shock. It’s strange enough to be back in a city that was [read more...]
The Long Road to Santiago – Tacna to La Serena
Tacna to La Serena… about 1700km and a lot of desert. The Atacama Desert – the driest place on earth apparently – goes on, and on, and on. It took me [read more...]
Back On The Road – Pisaq to Tacna
I’m back on the road – destination Santiago. 755km down, 2120km to go… It has been a long time since I was last doing proper ‘adventure [read more...]
Portraits around Pisaq – a Pictorial
