Friday, May 23, 2008

From Nazca to Curahuasi





We took a bus from Nazca to Abancay. The 10 hour bus ride was well worth it. We crossed over a 14,500 ft passin the bus. It was very cold in the bus and outside would have been miserable. Also the elevation is making Jacky a bit ill. We are resting and drinking the Coca mate. We are in a beautiful valley now and the route from Abancay to Curahausi was spectacular. 4 hours and seven minutes of climbing an d 1 hour to descend.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

We are now in Peru.


As we left you last time, I was having a terrible time with computers that actually worked. We made it out of Paraguay in great shape. Attending a Rotary meeting in the Asuncion area proved to be extremely beneficial. We met fellow Rotarian Oscar and he took us around Asuncion for the day. Great to have a tour guide. To leave Paraguay we took a boat across the Paraguay River and then a canoe across the Rio Negro. It was difficult to get back into Argentina. We rode the Chaco for 6 days. The roads were very straight, less than 1 percent change in the grade and there no towns. One day we went 133 km with a flat straight road and no towns. It was very boring. Our friend Jeff Freidhof is going to meet us in Cuzco. He moved up the date. So we hopped a bus to get to Peru. Passing into Chile for the 5th time was exciting. We were at the border and the elevation was 13,000. People from the bus were fainting from the light air. It took 8 stamps at the border of Peru to get in. We are very cautious as I had my sunglasses stolen while we ate dinner. We were distracted and the glasses walked away. Jacky´s camelback almost developed legs one day also. The Nazca lines were really cool. Look them up on line to get the details.

Monday, May 5, 2008

From the Andes to the Jungles of Paraguay

Blogging is sometimes a bit of pain. I am now typing for the second time what took me a half hour to write.

I am going to do bullet form so we can get on the road.

March 17th in Bariloche, Argentina

Heading north into desert.

Hospitality is amazing

Gifts of food and lodging and invitations to asados and birthday parties.

a trip to San Diego for Ross´s Graduation from the Marine Corp

New friends in Santiago Chile, And and John Walker former Luther College Graduates.
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a visit to Foz de Iguazu,

Many Rotary meetings.

increased personal and items danger. Safety issues now a concern.

Paraguay has changed from 1985. but still jungle.

I had opportunities to ride off road in the desert and the Andes with local riders.

Things are going well and computers are slow.