Loaded
with gasoline from Peru we ride into a gas station where we agreed to
meet with David again. We want to keep the good gas for when the going
gets rough down South so we line up to fill our almost empty tanks. “No
we don’t sell to foreigners but the next gas station will”. We had heard
about this and were sort of mentally prepared for it. So we ride to the
next gas station. Nope! The next one and the next one... With every
station we get more desperate and we try to talk to the attendants. Some
of them say they can’t handle the paperwork, some of them just don’t
want to help.
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| No we don't help foreigners. And can't you see we are too busy drinking Pepsi... |
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| We are really too busy but do try the next gas station down the road! |
In
short: Bolivian Law mandates that foreigners pay 3 times the amount a
local pays for gas in Bolivia. Although this is painful it is not a
problem. The problem is that they need a computer to do the math for
them and to print a receipt for the people with foreign license plates.
Most stations don’t have a computer. Add to that the “enormous amount of
work involved” and you end up running out of gas. We tell them we will
pay the amount which we will calculate for them and that we don’t need
the receipt. They point at the cameras above and tell us the police keep
an eye on them. This whole problem started with the people of
neighboring countries coming over the border to buy up all their fuel
and so Bolivia took these measures to solve the problem. What had been a
warm welcome to Bolivia is completely wiped out within a matter of
miles. If you rely on the availability of gas it really takes away the
fun of traveling if they just won’t sell you any.
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| 5 Liters! No more!... |
After
10 or so stations, we are on a stretch of road between small villages.
We haven't even seen a station to ask at for a while and Azure runs out
of gas. We use one of the precious "good" bottles of spare fuel and
continue to a small settlement where there is no gas station. All three
of us go door to door asking where to find gas until Azure finds a lady
who will sell us 5 liters of gas "but NO more!." She gives Azure 5 liters
out of a big drum. Azure pleads with her for more. OK, but NO MORE.
Another 5 liters. Azure begs again and we get another 5 liters before
she takes our money and closes her door. We just can’t wrap our brains
around it! Why do you people not want to make some money?
We
continue with the fuel we have and still enjoy our ride. At least the
pavement is immaculate! We find another gas station and the guys are
willing to fill us up for the foreigner rate but without the paperwork.
This simply means the money will disappear in their pockets but hey, we
have full tanks! It seems that further away from the big cities there
are fewer cameras and less control by the police so it’s easier for us
to fill up.
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| Successfully dodging the downpours so far... |
We make it to Oruro and since we have not gotten any
compulsory insurance in La Paz, we try our luck here. The rate of the
insurance depends on the chance of getting an accident. This chance is
simply smaller in rural areas with less traffic. However the offices are
still open they can’t help us because their system shuts down at 4.30PM
so we have to come back the next day. With dark clouds gathering over
our heads we find a cheap hotel and settle in for the night. Just before
we ride in to the hotel lobby, the skies open up. Absolutely soaked we
ride in. The downpour is so bad, the water comes through the ceiling and
waterfalls come down the walls of the lobby. But our room is dry so no
worries.
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| This friendly guy asked us if we needed help with directions. Always nice in a big city! |
The
next day we go back to the office and figure out that we can only get
the compulsory insurance for a year. It is a significant amount of money
and we decide not to buy it. We could have bought third party insurance
but this does not seem to be the same as the compulsory insurance.
Screw this. Let’s get out of here. We just have to hope that we don’t
run into a police checkpoint.
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| When the "Friendly Giant" showed up to help hang the traffic light... |
Along
the road we had purchased a 10 Gallon container for gas. With a helpful
taxi driver we try to get some gas for the normal price by having him
fill up the container. I check out the progress from afar. “The
container is too big and he is not allowed to fill it”, the taxi driver
tells me upon his return. Oh well. The driver feels bad for us and does
not charge me for our little fuel run.
We
leave Oruro, which is actually a very nice town with very nice and
helpful people, and gun it South. The road is perfect and the scenery
keeps surprising us. At another gas station the fill up is remarkably
easy. Azure takes a look at iOverlander (an app used by overland
travelers to mark points of interest, hotels, etc.) and notices a post
about a police checkpoint just down the road. They check paperwork…
Evasive maneuvers are made through town where we get strange looks from
the locals. Riding over a soccer pitch we make it back to the main road
about a 1000 feet past the checkpoint that has a barrier over the road.
With big smiles on our faces we ride towards a dark cloud on the
horizon.
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| This guy had run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. It is hard to get for us but I couldn't really say I did not have any... so we topped him up and we were all on our way. :) |
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That moment when Azure's bike got hit by lightning and shrunk into a 150cc dirt bike.
...or just another guy that ran out of gas. |
We
manage to dodge the rain for a while but just before we make it to the
salt flats of Uyuni the dust gets rinsed off our suits and bikes. The
rain does not bother us but we are worried about the conditions of the
Salar.
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| The moment of truth... will it be wet? Or dry? |
After we ride down a bumpy dirt road we make it to the Salar and
our fears become reality. The biggest salt flat in the world looks like a
giant mirror. It is very beautiful but we cannot ride further. We could
but we don’t want to do that to our bikes who have taken us so far
around the world. David, who had loved riding on the dry salt on his
previous Bolivian adventure, is as disappointed as we are. He would have
loved to do it again and to show us around on this massive playground.
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| Not a good sign. |
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| and no further... |
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| Although beautiful, this is not what we hoped for. |
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| The bikes even looked disappointed. |
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| David is not giving up yet. There has got to be a way in! |
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| But No! |
We
ride into Uyuni and after checking out some of the Dakar monuments we
ride to a train graveyard where we set up camp for the night. The next
morning I set up the breakfast bar on an old carriage and we entertain a
steady stream of tourists. The Japanese are thrilled to see their old
Honda’s get around the world.
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| Azure does not cease to surprise me. Why not do some yoga while working on your bike? The "3 Lever Tire Change Pose" |
