The ride from Bolivia to Uruguay was really spectacular although thanks to a lot of dirt road ridding sometimes extremely slow and tiring.
After leaving Lake Titicaca I drove south to Uyuni Salt Flats with a little detour to modern city of Cochabamba. The dirt road to Uyuni was well over 100km but was spectacular although little scary because this part of earth really is an isolated and sometimes lawless place. From Uyuni I headed on a semipaved road to Potosi and then to Sucre where I stayed for a few weeks studying Spanish.
After Sucre I rode to Santa Cruz. Here I had to take the worst road anywhere on my journey and I suffered a small accident that could have ended much worse than just with a broken light. After Santa Cruz the roads were vastly better and so I had more time to appreciate surrounding countryside and “enjoy” hundreds of butterflies crashing into me while ridding :).
Road to Paraguay’s border that according to Lonely Planet was already finished really WAS NOT (local military told they think one day it might be finished). Fortunately on a bike asphalted portion was more or less passable although one had to get around obstacles that construction company put on the road to block traffic while they are working on the road. In Paraguay the road was nice again and the 40 C temperature did not feel that bad while riding a motorcycle. Although passing Christmas in empty Asuncion made me feel a bit melancholic.
In Argentina I made some biker friends so I was not forced to drive into somewhat chaotic Buenos Aires and pay expansive parking there. I was in Bs. As. for New Years and I was able to spend it with my Austin roomate Mauro and his friends eating some excellent asado and drinking some good wine. Without much sleep next day I went to enjoy the start of Rally Dakar. In neighboring Uruguay I felt almost like I was in Europe. I really enjoyed my short stay in Monte Video and spent a bit of time on a few beaches but I was getting excited about crossing to Brazil. I had 3 days to pass 2000km and look for an apartment in Rio where I was gonna stay for a month with my mom.
Watch my video essay from this portion of the journey:
