Once again George and I crashed the log cabin home of Dave and Lisa Adlard. Their Candle in the Woods.
Normally I join Dave on his morning run when I visit. But this year we were both injured and instead rode mountain bikes. Dave seemed to lag behind.
For some reason he kept the bike in the toughest gear all way round.
Morgen knew how to shift gears but is seen here begging me to slow down.
» next travelogue post on this trip – why I go to Coeur d’Alene
Kona “Blast” – C$674 with 2-year free maintenance package.
Like an old sick dog, I put my Gary Fisher “Marlin” to sleep. Sad, but more humane.
The next hospital bill would have been pushing $300.
Did you happen to see Darren Berrecloth’s uninterrupted ride down a steep arid mountain ridge in Utah?
Very cool!
It first aired on Discovery Channel’s Stunt Junkies Feb. 1st, 2006. But I notice they are replaying that episode frequently where I live.
Berrecloth is widely considered to be the top mountain bike freerider on extremely steep and technical terrain.
From Discovery Channel:
Bike Magazine’s 2004 “Rider of the Year,” Canadian Darren “Bearclaw” Berrecloth has spent the last few years radicalizing the already extreme sport of freeride mountain biking. His signature spins, hand grabs and no-hands seat grabs have redefined the sport and earned him tons of accolades in the biking world.
I’ve seen most of the popular hiking website / blogs on internet.
Beat’s Heim’s site is the best.
Great maps, great photos. Extreme travels!
You need a high speed connection as his stuff is graphic intensive.
More pics like this at betzgi.ch
I visited Peter and Joyce Long at their new active retirement community just outside Ocala, Florida.
It’s a perfect Truman Show gated community catering to those age 55 or older who no longer work — but who refuse to slow down!
36-hole golf course, softball fields, swimming pools, aerobics, dance studio. 80 clubs and organizations catering to every interest, even synchronized swimming. We were waiting for the fitness centre door to open at 6AM each morning.
Two neighbours were both recently widowed. They met through the Singles Club and are now getting married.
If you are currently living in a SITCOM (Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage) you want to email Peter — peter.long@longsworld.net — to learn more about what it is like to retire to Florida.
Also, check Peter’s photos of our Kayaking and Cycling day trips. Flickr (free) membership required.
Next travelogue on this trip >> Daytona Beach, Florida
From Cancun a half hour ferry delivers you to Isla Mujeres — the Island of Women.
Friends had raved about a beach paradise there. But that was decades ago. I was sure it was long since ruined.
I was surprised how laid back was my reception. Not a single taxi driver or hotel tout approached me on arrival.
I went directly to Pac Na, billed as the Club Med of Mexican hostels. This is their ocean front beach volleyball bar.
Tents are pitched in quiet sandy courtyards.
I wedged my Hubba under a coconut palm.
The best of many good coffee shops was just down the street.
Hurricane Wilma did a fair bit of damage to the island. Here the sea wall is being reinforced in advance of the next big blow.
The main draw of Isla Mujeres for me was snorkeling.
This was the best snorkelling area from town. About 2 blocks walk from the hostel.
Under the docks fish congregate, protected from diving sea birds.
The water was superb even in February. Warm and crystal clear. No wetsuit needed, I thought, though many did wear one.
Graveyard.
I had not seen this particular angel pose before.
Many are disappointed by the modest main plaza. And the remarkably simple cathedral.
I quite liked the plaza. Colourful, clean, simple. I ate tacos there in the evening from street venders.
Look at the pipes on that playground trestle.
The Hemmingway bar is a classic. He was not there when I popped in.
I booked a bike tour through the hostel. Excellent and inexpensive.
The highlight was the sea turtle farm.
Eggs are protected, harvested, hatched and the turtles are kept here until almost 3-years-old. When they are released they then stand an excellent chance of survival.
We marvelled at the lovely starburst shell patterns.
The bike tour finished with a sunset visit to the far south point of the island. A sculpture garden is installed there.
A nice setting, I thought.
This is the furthest east point of land in Mexico. It sees the sun first.
We walked down to reach the very edge of Mexico.
The best bike rides are cruising downhill in the Andes. To see all annotated photos, jump to the permanent webpage in Rick’s photo archive. 
Most visitors to Peru clog the southern Gringo Trail: Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca.
But many are banking on making the north just as enticing. The attractions are there but not yet the infrastructure. …
For the complete travelogue & photos jump to the permanent webpage in Rick’s photo archive.
» north coast Peru
» mountain biking the Andes
» hiking the Santa Cruz trek Trek
Go to Bolivia?
Everyone else was.
Beneath my radar, I had never heard good things about Bolivia. It is the prototype South American disaster: corrupt, turbulent history, over 190 leaders in 180 years, breakdowns, roadblocks, strikes. Mucho problemas!
Yet Stephan from Vancouver (yet another engineer) and I crossed the border to Copacabana, Bolivia — a classic hangout for travellers.
Bolivia looked good to us!
On the standard Island of the Sun tour I mostly ignored the ruins and dreamed about the mountains in the distance. The weather was perfect even though this was supposed to be the start of the rainy season.
Stephan returned to Peru to do the Inca Trail. I climbed on a local bus with my huge luggage, the only gringo trying to reach the tiny mountain town of Sorata.
I ended up in La Paz instead.
If you are planning your next family vacation to La Paz — reconsider.
I expected to like La Paz as most do:
But I did not thrive. It was very difficult to get anythingdone there. Accommodation & food were disappointing.
My hotel was last modernized in the 1950s. But I loved the location beside central Murillo Plaza & theRoyal Palace (known as the Burned Palace for historical reasons).
The statue is President Villarroel, dragged from the Palace and hung on this spot in 1946. Coincidentally, much the same thing happened to President Murillo in 1810.
Ancient history? Plaza Murillo was riddled with bullets a year ago. (Oct. 2003) The then President Lozada fled to Florida rather than face the mob.
So is La Paz safe?
Surprisingly, yes. It is one of the safest large cities in South America. Dunno why. Perhaps because there are more armed personnel here than any city I can recall aside Mexico City.
The most frequent crime in La Paz is theft of ladies bowler hats, worth on average US$40.
The wonderfully colourful indigenous costumes some say were imposed on natives by the King of Spain in the 1700s. They are charming. Bolivia has the highest percentage native population of any South American country.
Actually, I was twice approached by awkward scam artist / pickpockets. My usual tactic of walking into busy traffic dissuaded them.
I note 2 interesting things in La Paz, though:
1) Shoeshine boys are everywhere, dressed as bandits! Ski masks protect the identity of the young men and their families. It is lowly work of last resort.
2) No need to own a phone. Everywhere are people in uniform leashed to mobile phones. Local calls are US$.15 / minute.
Like La Paz, hiking in Bolivia has great potential, but is surprisingly undeveloped. Access to trailheads is problematic. Bandits are a concern. In the end I did none of the major treks.
But for climbers, Bolivia is a paradise. No restrictions. No permits required. No fees. Screw the Himalaya, come to Bolivia!
The Royal Range (Cordillera Real) near La Paz offers 6 peaks over 6000m.
photo source unknown
The most popular mountaineering peak is Huayna Potasi— though it is no cinch due to altitude. The last 200m is a steep scramble above 19,000ft. Roped together, keeping the line taut, you have very little control over the pace of ascent. I was exhausted for two days after.
Climbing Potasi was a wonderful experience though. Perfect weather! I saw the grandest shooting star of my life up close through the thin air. (My climbing amigos were so tired & focused they barely acknowledged it.) Climbing a mountain at night by full moon was unique. This photo shows the knifetop summit ridge.
Annotated climbing photos with Into-Thin-Air-likedetail.
Many climb Potasi first in preparation for peaks of 6300 – 6500m, very doable for the average Edmund once acclimatized.
Not me. I prefer carbogganing & hiking. I will be back to Bolivia to do the major mountain routes. (May – June are probably the best months in the central Andes if you want to join me.)
Most every backpacker in Bolivia bikes the world’s most dangerous road. Something like a 3000m descent from high peak to steamy jungle in one go.
It reminded me of Going to the Sun highway in Montana. (Bikes not allowed there, of course.)
The title of most dangerous was designated by the Inter-American Development Bank. Can you dispute the claim? An average of 26 vehicles a year were disappearing over the brink.
The bank helped fund (US$120 million) a safe road on theopposite side of the valley. The new road was paved with good intentions.
But the day I biked the new road was closed yet again for repair. All traffic took the dangerous road. In fact, we learned that buses & trucks always take the old road with the cyclists. The new bridges were under built — they cannot support heavy vehicles. That is Bolivia for you.
It was good fun. The torrential rainstorm on the way down cut the dust until the complimentary beer at the bottom.
Rainy season had finally arrived in the Central Andes.
Time to head for sunny northern Chile via the fabulous 3-day salt lake jeep trek.
I travelled by train to Uyuni, in remote SW Bolivia with Jenni from Finland. She’s a gamer having just toured North America by Greyhound from sea to shining sea.
Kid, the next time I say lets go some place like Bolivia, lets go some place like Bolivia!
Paul Newman
Our train had been robbed by 2 Americanos. But a posse from Uyuni tracked down Butch & Sundance in 1908. Cornered & wounded, Butch shot his partner and then himself rather than surrender. (That’s not how the movie ended, you may recall.)
Che Guevara died too in Bolivia in a rash attempt toliberate the country from a U.S. backed (one of the George Bushes, I think) military dictator.
El Puro’s end was sad. Age 38, emaciated, sick, defeated; shot on a schoolroom floor by a lowly CIA-trained sergeant bolstered to the task with beer.
Che is dead as Elvis. But his icon lives on, a vague symbol anti-capitalism, pro-revolution. An ex-girlfriend says Che would be mortified to have become a consumer product. But I bought the t-shirt.
Rather than read the much edited Motorcycle Diaries, I recommend Chasing Che (2000) by journalist Patrick Symmes. He retraced Che’s early footsteps giving a more accurate & entertaining account.
Bolivia is named for Simon Bolivar, one of the few hombres who deserves a statue.
There have been three great fools in history: Jesus, Don Quiote and I.
An idealist who could get the job done — he liberated Venezuela, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia & Bolivia — but none the less died broke & abandoned. Bolivar dreamed of unifying Spanish America into a single country.
Why is North America so advanced, Bolivia & South America so slow to develop?
Bolivar knows.
Last Bolivian stop — gorgeous Laguna Verde on the border. See you in Patagonia!
Ricardo
There is a particular anonymity about being in tents. … Once the zip is closed, all sense of location disappears. You might be in the Rockies, the West Coast Trail — or in the Andes with Joe Simpson. …
For the complete travelogue & photos jump to the permanent webpage in Rick’s photo archive.
» hiking the Huayhuash Circuit
» hiking Alpamayo
» mountain biking the Andes
» canyoning
Rick McCharles 