tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46467567500888544982024-03-12T16:33:30.600-07:00Bip Bip AmericasFanny and Chris decide to go for a tour from Fredericton to Ushuaïa. Blablabla WHOOPS and NOW Paris to UlaanBaatar!Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-83461466083028810072015-04-26T10:08:00.002-07:002015-04-26T10:16:39.519-07:00On the mooove: new van, new adventureCome see our adventure towards Mongolia: <a href="https://biscotteadventures.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> Biscotte Adventures</a><br />
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Where 'Stroomphy' changed to 'Cookie' that evolved into 'Biscotte'Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-5789788223734877382014-10-30T08:33:00.001-07:002014-10-30T09:52:54.295-07:00Bip Bip Bro...or Maybe Bro-MeisterOr something. We are not sure yet what to call this Bip Bip-evo. They kinda look the same. Wear the same shoes. But the new one is the big brother. The brother of all Bip-Bips.<br />
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Looks kinda lika a STROOMPHY (the French version of the Smurphs) but Fanny likes COOKIE (because its a Westfalia James COOK)<br />
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We bought this 2001 Mercades-Benz Sprinter 313CDI from a guy in Austria. He only had it for 3.5 months we hear as he took his new wife on a honeymoon tour to Mongolia and back. We picked up this uber-clean van already decked out, hyper maintained (all the documentation and history from the first owner!) and upgraded and PRETESTED. How lucky is that: because that is just what our plan; Paris - UlaanBaatar. Niiiice!<br />
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Of course the idea is to meander. No fixed agenda yet. Thoughts of a spring departure with visits to friends in Italy, then on to Croatia, Georgia....I have my eye set on the far east of Turkey before heading into the 'Stans then up and around China to MONGOLIA. Yes and a return via the northern route Lake Baikal Russia. Fanny figures Finland/Sweden are in the loop too.<br />
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You can see more photos and details <a href="http://bipbipamericas.blogspot.fr/p/cookie.html" target="_blank">here</a> <br />
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So our first challenge? To matriculate an Austrian van in France. Peeooo.<br />
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I suppose we are going to have to modify our blog...maybe get a new one.Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-76010801921540248952013-07-20T02:15:00.004-07:002013-07-20T02:20:37.673-07:00Trans Labrador Highway by MOTO<span style="color: orange;">Voila, les voyages continuent... </span> The journeys continue: Bip Bip you are gone but not forgotten. In the spirit of continued travel here is a smaller adventure that took place between 26 June and 8 July 2013.<br />
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Feeling sorry that my F650GS DAKAR is imprisoned in the garage for these last two years, it was time to take it out and stretch its legs so to speak. So what to do to merit the 'adventure' status this bike carries? How bout 4000km loop up through Quebec and Labrador and finally to Newfoundland and again to revisit the Cabot Trail (see earlier in this blog for Fannys visit) back to the starting point in Fredericton, NB. The Trans-Labrador highway has been recently opened (2010) and there are still over 1000kms of gravel roads...<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Nous avons frappé un barrage routier à Labrador City en raison des feux de forêt là-bas. Nous avons passé la nuit, mais avons eu la chance d'obtenir le dernier convoi parti le lendemain matin. Vous pouvez regarder la reportage d'ici et nous voir a 1:10 and 1:59 minutes:</span><br />
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We hit a roadblock at Labrador City due to the forest fires there. We spent the night, but were lucky to get the final convoy out the next morning. You can catch us at 1:10 and 1:59 marks:<br />
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<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/NL/ID/2395084542/?page=5" target="_blank">CBC NEWS Report- Fires Labrador City</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oops...soft deep gravel and down you go. Goings slow enough to run off the bike!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cold and Rainy on arrival in GOOSE BAY Labrador<br />
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LIEN aux photos de Michael:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98619696@N03/collections/72157634573959286/" target="_blank"> Flickr McGarrett91</a></div>
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You can get the whole Ride Report from Michael here:<a href="http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=903321" target="_blank">My First Adventure...</a><br />
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Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-80259018248945104292013-05-19T15:25:00.001-07:002013-05-19T17:34:46.369-07:00Nos bons plans Buenos Aires/ Our Non-Guidebook Guide to BA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Voilà une liste des endroits qui nous ont plu à BA.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">This is it: the trip is over. </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Tomorrow morning we climb on the airplane and we jet back to the 'real world', to friends and family (good) and to work (bad). Here is a list of places and activities we enjoyed during our transitional time in Buenos Aires that are not necessarily listed in the guidebooks.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Our apartment in Palermo was smack in the center of it ... every afternoon after our gym session we hit the town. Hard. </span><span style="color: orange;">We liked it. </span><br />
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<u><i><b><span style="color: magenta;">Danser le tango:</span></b></i></u><br />
Il ne manque pas d'endroits pour danser le Tango à BA. <a href="http://lavirutatango.com/#" target="_blank">La Viruta</a> en est un. C'était près de chez nous et pour 40 pesos tu peux assister à un cours de Salsa, un cours de Tango et rester toute la nuit si tu veux. Ou bien t'installer à une table et regarder les gens danser. Même les boissons sont à un prix très raisonnables.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Dance the tango: Not to miss out in Tango-land, </span><a href="http://lavirutatango.com/#" target="_blank">La Viruta</a><span style="color: orange;"> is the place where for 40 pesos you get lessons in Salsa and Tango (and a really really good place to pick up chicks!). Later, after a few of the cheap alcoholic drinks you can watch the show.</span><span style="color: orange;"> Walking distance.</span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Manger une glace:</span></u></i></b><br />
Les heladerias (magasins de glaces) sont omniprésents à BA.Il y a beaucoup de chaines mais on a préféré <a href="http://www.heladeriacadore.com.ar/" target="_blank">Cadore</a> avec rien qu'une dizaine de choix de glaces au chocolat!<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Eat Gelatto: seems that the locals are mad about ice cream and well, it is truly good. It is so popular that there are a million different ice cream chains located at every street corner (like McDo in our land) but the best we gobbled was </span><a href="http://www.heladeriacadore.com.ar/" target="_blank">Cadore</a> <span style="color: orange;">who, by the way, had a selection no less than 6 chocolate flavors including Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Cointreau. Dude...</span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Boire une bière:</span></u></i></b><br />
<a href="http://www.cruzatba.com/" target="_blank">Cruzat Beer House </a>et <a href="http://www.bullerpub.com/" target="_blank">Buller brewing company</a> sont des brasseries qui proposent des bières artisanales argentines. On a aimé la selection d'échantillons à Buller après avoir flâné dans le cimetière de la Recoleta et la terrase verdoyante de Cruzat et sa carte sans fin.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">BEER: The big city means available micro-brewery beer. Check out the 'snack packs' at </span><a href="http://www.cruzatba.com/" target="_blank">Cruzat Beer House </a><span style="color: orange;">and</span> <a href="http://www.bullerpub.com/" target="_blank">Buller brewing company</a>.<span style="color: orange;"> After a trial run at Buller just TRY wandering around the cemetery at Recoleta or chill on the green and calm terrace de Cruzat where the beer list seems limitless. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bullerpub.com/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Buller brewing company</a><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: magenta;"><u>Ecouter de la musique live:</u> </span><span style="color: orange; text-decoration: underline;">LIVE MUSIC:</span></b></i><br />
<a href="http://www.thelonious.com.ar/" target="_blank">Thelonious</a>, un club de jazz. Possibilité de s'installer dans des fauteuils avec vue sur la scène. Sympa! <br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Jazz it in the classic interior of the</span> <a href="http://www.thelonious.com.ar/" target="_blank">Thelonious</a> <span style="color: orange;">better yet, slouch on the couch -WITH a Fernet/Coke overlooking the band stand.</span><br />
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A quelques mètres de chez nous, <a href="http://vicenteelabsurdo.blogspot.com.ar/" target="_blank">Vicente el Absurdo</a> passerait presque inaperçu mais il nous a tapé dans l'oeil un soir où il y avait un concert live. Depuis c'est devenu notre endroit préféré: jazz, samba brésilienne, tango... Petit prix et bonne musique.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Only meters from the apartment, </span><a href="http://vicenteelabsurdo.blogspot.com.ar/" target="_blank">Vicente el Absurdo</a> <span style="color: orange;">is a hidden gem but there is something going on each evening. Jazz or Samba live, or a course in Tango. Never had a bad show. Good food too.</span><br />
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Ambiance totalement différente à <a href="http://www.lapeniadelcolorado.com.ar/" target="_blank">La Peña del Colorado</a> mais tout aussi bonne. On y a été un dimanche soir, arrivés les premiers, le repas ne cassait vraiment pas des briques mais pas cher et le concert tardait+++ heureusement on a patienté parce que le concert était vraiment exceptionnel avec une très bonne ambiance. A 30 pesos la bouteille de vin de la maison one en a pris deux...<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Going further afield - I am joking now since it is only 4 blocks from the apartment - the more upscale dinner and show of </span><a href="http://www.lapeniadelcolorado.com.ar/" target="_blank">La Peña del Colorado</a> <span style="color: orange;">is a live music to the ears place. We arrived at 21hrs and wouldn't you know it - we were the FIRST to arrive to the 21h show! Ah Argentina runs a different schedule. Cheap traditional food and a bottle of wine for cheaper than a bottle of beer, er barman I'll take a second! What is not to like???</span><br />
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Encore différent, le <a href="http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/en/" target="_blank">Teatro Colon</a> pour de la musique classique. Ce qui est bon à savoir c'est que un ou deux dimanches matin par mois il y a un concert gratuit. Le théatre en soit est superbe. Pourquoi payer la visite pour entrer? Attention il faut récupérer les billets le vendredi pour le dimanche. Cela dit nous avons pu avoir des places le jour même.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Wanna go James Bond a la tux?</span> <span style="color: orange;">Need high-brow a cultural outing?</span> The <a href="http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/en/" target="_blank">Teatro Colon</a> , <span style="color: orange;">built in the early 1900's is the place where the rich and snobby go rub shoulders. Except on the special Sunday of the month when tickets are FREE for the poor and you get to watch a show in the ubber lux surroundings. Reminds me of the Strasbourg Opera house.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vicenteelabsurdo.blogspot.com.ar/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Vicente el Absurdo</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmRIYBCL3VlpfmUMIX99j8OgK4YGtMdB_Si6M_EQNVedv50MRossR6lJk3_ak8JbjB8LEMa9M-WcQEdOFMCt6d-2f6hUxieih-DKQbd98BwRD-kAz4NqqyVw90_nBj_SEVm0q7jGVcV0/s1600/DSC_7860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmRIYBCL3VlpfmUMIX99j8OgK4YGtMdB_Si6M_EQNVedv50MRossR6lJk3_ak8JbjB8LEMa9M-WcQEdOFMCt6d-2f6hUxieih-DKQbd98BwRD-kAz4NqqyVw90_nBj_SEVm0q7jGVcV0/s320/DSC_7860.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/en/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Teatro Colon</a></td></tr>
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<b><i><u style="color: magenta;">Manger une parilla:</u><span style="color: magenta;"> </span><u><span style="color: orange;">OOOOHHHH BBQ: grill me two times baby:</span></u></i></b><br />
<a href="http://www.sigalavaca.com/" target="_blank">Siga la vaca</a>: pour la petite histoire, on a fait la traversée du Darien Gap avec le proprio de cette chaine de resto. Le concept du resto c'est que tu payes 122 pesos en semaine qui comprend un buffet de salade, de la viande en grillade et des légumes grillés le tout A VOLONTE + une boisson au choix (qui équivaut à une bouteille de vin PAR PERSONNE ou soda, bière par pichet) + un dessert?????<br />
On ne s'en est pas privé! Et oui c'est super bon!<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">We met the owner while on our Panama-Cartegena sailing. Rubin said we should come on by, that it was not to miss. So we didn't miss it TWICE, ate so much at the all-you-can-eat meat buffet that was feeling drunk on protein for a week. Is that even possible? Probably expensive by local rates at 122 pesos for the full meal deal, but our blue-dollar exchange on the greenback meant that the bill - grill bar, salad bar, bottle of wine and desert all included - came to 12 DOLLARS. Each. Sadly this cheap date did not end in sex...who can move with all that food stuffed inside???</span> <a href="http://www.sigalavaca.com/" target="_blank">Siga la vaca</a> <span style="color: orange;">the ubber favorite of BA.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKyWH2L0b_X0JceVhCphpY9mSzskwdTqvgrnF8GW7RpT-xrX9GNPkoNk07uRDacSdnpPJDaEyLD6h7zpfsQRd0RnPAioq7v5kJ0PQSaFIGW-5x8aoBq312cqWrvBvJsYVOwl7rncRL4U/s1600/DSC_7881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKyWH2L0b_X0JceVhCphpY9mSzskwdTqvgrnF8GW7RpT-xrX9GNPkoNk07uRDacSdnpPJDaEyLD6h7zpfsQRd0RnPAioq7v5kJ0PQSaFIGW-5x8aoBq312cqWrvBvJsYVOwl7rncRL4U/s320/DSC_7881.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: magenta;"><u>Manger des sushi:</u> </span><span style="color: orange;"><u>Sushi - me:</u></span></i></b><br />
Un autre bon plan bouffe et une envie de sushi? A <a href="http://www.behihana.com.ar/" target="_blank">Behihana</a>, il y a happy hours entre 16h et 20h chaque jour avec boissons et sushi à moitié prix.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">No get this...we ate so much sushi that Fanny said "enough". For years she had been complaining we only eat pizza. Pizza, pizza, pizza. Our nearby (ok we had to walk 15 minutes) </span><a href="http://www.behihana.com.ar/" target="_blank">Behihana</a> <span style="color: orange;">has a daily (DAILY) happy hour that gets you rolls at HALF price. Who can resist? We sure didn't.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wKlsSNjOnTJS7F5vPgSWsbCmewW338_gy2XJYH-Lr3P4YfIyj5ujbdNhDeClWS6oZn4KlmvTZ2m_9XcjM8xgxfHk02dUD3kLJuQ_QoqlxOpQs3btwtuMd1fv4nM8DnyMtaNniHZyVyg/s1600/sushi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wKlsSNjOnTJS7F5vPgSWsbCmewW338_gy2XJYH-Lr3P4YfIyj5ujbdNhDeClWS6oZn4KlmvTZ2m_9XcjM8xgxfHk02dUD3kLJuQ_QoqlxOpQs3btwtuMd1fv4nM8DnyMtaNniHZyVyg/s1600/sushi.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Encore faim?</span></u></i></b> <span style="color: orange;">Urp - wanna go to another restaurant?</span><br />
<a href="http://www.cortaderas.com/" target="_blank">Las Cortaderas</a> est un bon resto avec du jazz en live le vendredi et samedi soir. Bonne musique + bonne bouffe = bonne soirée<br />
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<a href="http://www.cortaderas.com/" target="_blank">Las Cortaderas</a>, <span style="color: orange;">only a few blocks away provided a very nice dinner and show. Well done Jazz performed by a local groups Friday and Saturday nights. Why leave Buenos Aires???</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdiBC3EkZJgyWPB-4oz2r930qQSimbuUB0Vz7IsGY0SxBP1q4VV3yLctVm9zY1lqPOB17c7v5pNqpdfWRpa8TNz-Dk19EPW_nAw3N902MlnuTQG68SZ_BlhAhM4EoHiFAYZiEfadHZhg/s1600/t%C3%A9l%C3%A9chargement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQdiBC3EkZJgyWPB-4oz2r930qQSimbuUB0Vz7IsGY0SxBP1q4VV3yLctVm9zY1lqPOB17c7v5pNqpdfWRpa8TNz-Dk19EPW_nAw3N902MlnuTQG68SZ_BlhAhM4EoHiFAYZiEfadHZhg/s1600/t%C3%A9l%C3%A9chargement.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Boire un thé:</span></u></i></b><br />
<a href="http://www.teaconnection.com.ar/" target="_blank">Tea Connection</a> est un endroit parfait pour boire un bon thé après une balade au jardin japonais.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Coffee? You can get great coffee anywhere - INCLUDING the equivalent of 7-11 and corner kiosk snack shops. But the</span> <a href="http://www.teaconnection.com.ar/" target="_blank">Tea Connection</a> <span style="color: orange;">is where Fanny got to savor a selection of tea to make the Chinese quiver. Oh and the chocolate brownie that came as a side was THE BEST brownie in the world. Walk off your orgasm at the nearby Japanese Garden.</span><br />
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<i><b><u style="color: red;">Informations pratiques:</u><span style="color: red;"> </span><u><span style="color: orange;">Clues and Treats:</span></u></b></i><br />
<span style="color: red;"><u><i><b><br /></b></i></u></span>
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Changer de l'argent:</span></u></i></b><br />
Ce qui nous a permis de vraiment passer du bon temps à BA en plus du fait qu'on avait pas de location à payer, c'est le taux d'échange du dollar au marché noir. Sur le site du <a href="http://www.dolarblue.net/" target="_blank">dolar blue</a>, vous donne le taux d'échange officiel et celui du marché noir en tant réel. On a pu changer nos dollars entre 8,3 et 9,5 pour 1 peso alors que le taux officiel est à environ 5,1. Pas mal d'économie hein?<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><b><i><u>Change Money</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: orange;">While you can change on the street at Calle Floride (sketchy) we found a place acting as a false front 'tour agency' complete with photo of the Eiffel Tower on the blacked out window and plastic phony computer on the plastic phony desk. Ring the bell, wave at the camera and say the magic code at the Green door. Check out</span> <a href="http://www.dolarblue.net/" target="_blank">dolar blue</a> <span style="color: orange;">for the latest rate and go get your money. Official exchange rate is 5.1 peso per dollar and we got 9,5 (DollarBlue 9,8). The DollarBlue topped out at 10,5 last week and is currently just under 9 now. Caused sufficient stress that the local TV news reported on the increasing local money exchanging activities.</span><br />
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Trouver un restaurant:</span></u></i></b><br />
Pour trouver un resto selon vos envies et votre quartier voici le <a href="http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/" target="_blank">Guia Oleo</a> l'équivalent de Trip Advisor juste pour Buenos Aires.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><b><i><u>Find a restaurant:</u></i></b> check </span><a href="http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/" target="_blank">Guia Oleo</a> <span style="color: orange;">out for finding out hidden spots specifically in Buenos Aires</span></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="color: magenta;">Se déplacer à BA:</span></u></i></b><br />
Au fait, comment se déplacer à BA? Il y a un super bon réseau de bus et quelques lignes de métro et c'est très bon marché mais pour le bus il faut bien se préparer car les arrêts de bus n'ont pas de nom et ne sont pas clairement indiqués ni sur le site web ni sur le guia T. Heureusement il y a un arrêt tous les 2-3 pâtés de maisons.<br />
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Nous avons opté pour l'achat d'une <a href="http://www.sube.gob.ar/" target="_blank">carte Sube</a> à 15 pesos qui est valable pour autant de personnes que nous le souhaitons et que nous avons obtenu dans un bureau de poste avec un passeport et il y a de nombreux point dans la ville pour la recharger (notamment dans le métro). Ensuite vous indiquez l'endroit où vous descendez au chauffeur et il vous débite la somme voulu. <br />
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Pour trouver quel bus vous emmène à la destination voulu le site web <a href="http://www.omnilineas.com/argentina/buenos-aires/city-bus/" target="_blank">omnilineas</a> ou le <a href="http://guiat.site88.net/" target="_blank">Guia T</a> disponible dans les kiosques à journaux.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><b><i><u>Gettin' Around:</u></i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: orange;">Turns out, when you figure out the system, getting around by bus or metro is the way to go. You see, the bus stops are NOT announced and if you are not watching...adios amigo. Then TRY to find the bus stop you want... Still, a bus trip costs 1,6 pesos! </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">The way to go is to pick up a debit card </span><a href="http://www.sube.gob.ar/" target="_blank">carte Sube</a> <span style="color: orange;">for the price of 15 pesos and get it recharged as you need. It is valuable to the owner but you can travel in a group and use the same card, no problem. You can pick up the Sube at a branch of the Correo with your passport ID.</span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange;">A way to FIND your bus is to visit </span><a href="http://www.omnilineas.com/argentina/buenos-aires/city-bus/" target="_blank">omnilineas</a> <span style="color: orange;">or buy the hardcopy</span> <a href="http://guiat.site88.net/" target="_blank">Guia T</a> <span style="color: orange;">for 12 pesos at any newspaper kiosk. T</span><span style="color: orange;">hen spend the next 4 hours trying to figure out the system - kinda like the Indian train schedule, dammit.</span><br />
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Enfin pour aller à l'aéroport, nous avons choisi de prendre le <a href="http://www.taxiezeiza.com.ar/" target="_blank">taxi blanc</a> (195 pesos en réservant par internet)car à deux çà revient moi cher que le shuttle. Biensur il y a toujours la possibilité de prendre le bus mais c'est 2 fois plus long et pas toujours très pratique avec des valises...<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Getting around from or to the <b>AIRPORT</b> is easy with the</span> <a href="http://www.taxiezeiza.com.ar/" target="_blank">taxi blanc</a>. <span style="color: orange;">At 195 pesos (with online reservation) you get door-to-door service that works out way cheaper than paying two seats in the airport shuttle bus; IF you can FIND where the shuttle hubs are...</span><br />
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-58400418574866233502013-04-30T20:40:00.001-07:002013-11-08T07:12:52.481-08:00PAN AM Learning Lessons<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Sitting here sharing an evening with
another overlanding couple, the conversation naturally turns to the highlights
and low-lights of the last 2 years of voyaging between Canada and
Argentina. There is a random staccato of
ideas and methodologies to possibly make for a smoother trip resounding over
the dinner table. So for future PanAm
overlanders, here is what<i> I</i> learned:</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">1. START at the end</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. </span>What this is to mean is
that it would have been more fun to finally arrive at ‘home’ rather than arriving
at the ‘end of the world’ and THEN have to face the stresses and concomitant
costs inherent with either selling the vehicle or shipping the vehicle back
home. Particularly as the trip winds
down and overlanding-fatigue sets in how much nicer is it to have in the light
at the end of the tunnel to be an anticipated arrival with your family?<br />
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Speaking of overland fatigue; imagine running
out of time or money or motivation, it is always easier to make a decision to
‘skip’ a country by considering visiting ‘another time’. Not so easy living in Canada to visit
Argentina another time, but the nearby USA is possible.</div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">Finally, it is so much easier to arrange
for shipping your vehicle from Canada (Europe) to Argentina in your native
language then it is to undertake finding and coordinating a container share or
risking RoRo shipping FROM Argentina.
Furthermore since most Overlanders are looking to offload their
expedition tested and proved rig in Ushuaia/Buenos Aires there is a reasonable
choice in vehicle should you opt to buy in-situ rather than ship your car.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The down-side is that it is a rather large
‘culture shock’ to arrive in Argentina, buy a car and start the trip as you are
far from home in a foreign environment with not much nearby familial support. Our time travelling the USA and Mexico was a
great ‘shakedown’ opportunity and permitted to resolve problems closer to home
before diving deeper into the PanAm.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">2. Learn Spanish. </span></b>Nothing makes
life on the road and enhances local contact and by extension the ‘experience’
with a capacity to say more than Si or No.
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">3. Go on, take a
VACATION! </span></b><span lang="EN-CA">Well
since travelling is such a stress, it is good to schedule a ‘vacation’ from
your vacation to reconnect with family and friends at some regular interval– 2
years on the road is a long time to be away.
But mostly, it is a way to transport all the stuff home that you THOUGHT
you needed, and return with the things you actually DO need. Maybe you DO have space for that gas-powered
tailgate mounted Margarita mixer???<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">4. Vehicle Choice</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. There are a million choices
on what vehicle to take, and every decision is predicated on ‘needs’ and
‘wants’ of the Overlanders – who often find difficult to distinguish between
need and want. Or more predictably in
their excitement of the impending trip, spend too much time trying to resolve
solutions to potential problems which never actually arrive (while the
unexpected always do). North American
vehicles (both NA brands and NA Japanese brands) are globally a poor choice for
Overlanders for a mitt-full of reasons– but it is what we have to work with.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">I might suggest the best vehicle for the
PANAM would be a Japanese vehicle over 10 years old. Older is better than newer as older vehicles
are less ‘mission dependent’ on electronics, are more familiar to mechanics in
the regions being traversed and have relatively easy access to parts. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">North American brands are rare and can only
be found in scattered countries along the PANAM and are SUFFICIENTLY different
from so called local ‘third-world models’ that engines are frequently different
as well as most of the critical parts.
Similarly North American models of Japanese vehicles are also different
from these ‘third-world’ vehicles found south of the US/Mex border. Case in point: I actually got turned away from Mitsubishi
dealerships in Nicaragua and Costa Rica flatly as they believed my van was a
North American model, they would not touch it.
No discussion.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Ultimately too much time is invested in
mulling over the vehicle choice. The
best solution is to move your current vehicle out of the garage, fill the tank
and GO!</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">5. Discretion is the better
part of Valor</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">.
A vehicle that carries all your possessions and dreams should not stir
the interest and dreams of the locals and more importantly the local
hoodlums. A plain, white panel van is
the way to go, or at least a vehicle as common as possible to blend into the
scenery.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">One thing that Bippers was NOT was discrete. On one hand we loved having people come by
for a chat and gawk on Bip Bip. This
opened channels of contact with the locals.
In fact, Bip Bip was SO flashy that we believe it actually provided
security as nothing went unnoticed around Bip Bip. Furthermore, the Right-Hand drive drew lots
of interest but since it was such a confused concept to the local psyche, no
one could consequently conceive of stealing the van. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">It was, on the other hand, tiring to answer the same questions time
and again and, more importantly, extremely tiring to worry at every Police and
Military checkpoint to have to ‘inspect’ the van or to play the
rich-tourist-backsheesh game. Low key is
better we learned.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA">6. Buy as cheap as possible</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. Best to go as simple and
inexpensive as possible. Read: better
buy a 1990 Isuzu Rodeo for $2500 than a 2010 Toyota FJ for $30 000+. You can be assured that both will break down
on the trip and shipping parts for the FJ would be an additional stress and
expense.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA">We often spend years dreaming about the trip, planning and re-planning mulling over vehicle choice...a van or a SUV or a pick-up, camper
or roof-top-tent, toilet or no, ARB fridge or not...the permutations are
endless. Keep it simple, KISS, has
always and will always be a sound principle. </span>The more complicated the rig, the more probability of having some sort of 'mission ending' failure.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Ultimately, when the vehicle gives up its last gasp and shutters to
a stop in the middle of some inhabited wasteland you are free to ‘shoot the
horse’ and <i>move on</i> with your life. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Those of us who poured our soul in our car, constructed and invested
in the dream, and truly over-designed solutions for every eventuality - while we enjoyed and were positively
occupied during the pre-trip preparation - are so invested that it is nearly impossible
to take the final and objective decision to part ways with your ride at the
appropriate time. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA">The moral of the story is JUST GO – fill the tank of the car in your
garage and stick it in drive. Forget
trying to fabricate the 'perfect overlander machine'. These exist only in our
dreams and maybe in Europe as North American car companies do not even have a
basic concept in this market.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA">7. Smaller is better than
bigger</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. Having smaller vehicle meant that we got to
traverse the narrow roads of Guatemalan villages without too much stress. We got to park in regular parking spots –
even sleep in the car in the Zocalo (Town Square) overnight. Ultimately travelling as low-key and discrete
as possible helps security but also means less questioning at Police and
Military Checkpoints.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Finally having a small light 4x4 van meant
we spent a whole lot of time visiting places otherwise inaccessible to the
larger, heavier and more top-heavy unstable vehicles.
We found that we had more fun and interesting visits to ‘off road’ sites
rather than an endless series of town center Cathedrals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA">8. Interior Space. </span></b><span lang="EN-CA">On the other
hand, going small means ‘living beside’ rather than ‘living inside’ your
rig. We lived beside our van for over a
year without having any complaint. Then
we got to Ecuador and started climbing higher in elevation. Days of rain or wind (and even snow) meant we
had to find indoor protection. Living in
our van gave us the minimum interior space possible to pass long days. We learned that these cold windy rainy days
would have been hard to take in a tent... so having at least a minimum space in
our van meant at least a minimum of comfort. We appreciated this.</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><b><span lang="EN-CA">Permanent Bed</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. We learned that having a
permanent bed was indispensable It
meant that after a long day of driving we didn't have to reconstruct the bed to
sleep. It also meant we could use it at
any time we wanted. It meant that the
mattress was a dedicated mattress and thus much more comfortable than a
collection of seat cushions. Ultimately
it meant we could have sheets and blankets and pillows like grown-ups. </span>From a security point of view, our permanent bed meant we had
secure, locked storage underneath which prevented any smash-and-grab hoodlums
from having access to our stuff.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b><span lang="EN-CA">Security. </span></b><span lang="EN-CA">Having inside
space in the van meant we could live and boondock in relatively open
environments in security. We thus could
sleep in town squares or in parking lots or in gas stations without risk of
being noticed as sleeping inside (au contraire to having a roof-top tent up).
Boondocking meant we could reduce our daily expenses by not renting
hotels (or the other risk of parking the van unaccompanied on the street).</span></li>
</ul>
<b><span lang="EN-CA">9. Wrench-it!</span></b><span lang="EN-CA"> Learn how to use a wrench
and know the basics of mechanics. I can
say that just about every mechanical problem we had related directly to the
(poor) work of the previous mechanic. Every
visit resulted in at at least three more visits to resolve the add-on
issues. This got to be such an
irritating domino effect that I finally just gave up on mechanics and did all
the work myself. </span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA">10. Range</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. I would have appreciated a
vehicle that gives at least 800km (preferably 1000km) on a tank. You never know when the next gas shortage is
(read : Uyuni)...or just how far it is to cross the Bolivian South-West
Circuit.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>11. Lay off the Gas!</b> I wanted a diesel powered van before we left. We all believe that the diesel engine is the way to go, however we got lucky: it turns out that our gasoline engine helped us on this Pan Am trip. While we had slightly less fuel economy, we got a more powerful engine that was quieter and had greater access to local spare parts. More than that, we did not suffer excessive power losses when over 3000 m elevations (common to many naturally aspirated diesel engines, and some like the Izuzu diesel actually goes into limp mode at 3000m I hear!). Nor did we suffer any issues with fuel quality as we heard our colleagues had while in Peru and Bolivia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-CA">12. Toilet and Shower? </span></b><span lang="EN-CA">We didn’t have a
toilet; and it never became an issue.
Except in moments of intestinal distress, there are ways to work around
not having a toilet. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">A shower however – though relatively easy
to source on the PanAm – would have been nice.
The truth is that inside showers are generally not used by most
caravaners due to moisture and humidity it creates so an outdoor shower (with
hot water) would have been nice in a pinch.
Downside means having to carry water which increases weight and thus
stresses on the already overloaded vehicle chassis but also increases fuel
consumption. Another downside might be
that trying to have an outdoor shower on the Altiplano, at 5000m elevation, in
full gale-force winds would have been relatively challenging.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">You can get showers at trucks stops or gas
stations in Canada, USA, Peru, Chile and Argentina and I am sure the other
countries. In Central America paying for
the odd campsite or hotel will not break the bank (and besides all that time on
the beach who needs a shower???)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-CA"><b>13 Brrrr Coooold.</b> Skip the fridge - we spent almost 2 years and never felt at a loss for not having a fridge. It is a big investment that gobbles storage space in the truck and makes you electronically dependent- thus you need a big investment in solar electricity, or run the engine to charge the batteries or find a way to plug in (ie paid camping). Costs nothing to stop and stop every couple of days for food and gives you a reason to mingle with the locals. You can throw away tonnes of spoiled food before you match the price of an Engel or ARB fridge. Ultimately this is not Africa where you can go weeks between (empty) markets. And if you need that ice-cold beer - do happy hour at a beachside bar.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span>
<b><span lang="EN-CA">14. Document Management</span></b><span lang="EN-CA">. Make good scans and color
printout of all the important documents – Driver’s License, Passport, Vehicle
Registration. Never give your real
documents to Mexican or Central American cops.
If they demand the originals then you KNOW that they are trying to hold
you hostage to some false accusation.
The response is to offer to show the original documents AT the police station. This will end any further discussion as the
cops do not want to be ‘outed’ at the station for trying to rip-off a tourist.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Second to this, make 20 copies of the DL, Passport and Registration
along with the originals and put them in separate pockets/sleeves in a
binder. When you go into a Central
American border post you will look organized and prepared and that, in itself, will limit phony ‘fees’ charged. Central American customs guys seem to love
copies so better to be prepared than have to run around making copies (to the
profit of the copy guys because to be realistic the customs guys don’t really
need or care for the copies...).</span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><b>Other Interesting Reading:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/92249-What-to-do-for-personal-defence-Nightmare-in-Peru?s=f3a73b9b3275b9d21332480596f20ed0">Nightmare in Peru</a> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-CA"><a href="http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/equipment/choosevan.htm">Selecting an OVERLAND Campervan</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-CA"><a href="http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/83959-Hindsight-20-20-what-did-you-wish-you-had-left-behind-What-did-you-need">Hindsight 20-20 What did you wish you had left behind?</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<a href="http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/61287-Top-10-Used-Overland-Vehicles-Do-you-agree?highlight=top+overland" style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Top 10 Used US Vehicles suitable for OVERLANDING</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-CA"><a href="http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/82250-Family-Planning-overland-thru-Pan-American-Toronto-Ushuaia-Jun-2013">Forum discussion regarding vehicle choice for Pan Am</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<b>Resources</b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<a href="http://www.drivetheamericas.com/">Drive the Americas</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<a href="http://www.drivetheamericas.com/">Pan Am Camping Lists</a><br />
<a href="http://www.dare2go.com/camping.html" target="_blank">Blog: Dare to Go. Good list for camping spots</a><br />
<a href="http://fromatob.org/category/camping/" target="_blank">Blog: From A to B. Great for camping spots and border Xing</a><br />
<a href="http://www.liferemotely.com/travel-advice/camping" target="_blank">Blog: Live Life Remotely. Great for camping and border info</a><br />
<a href="http://panamnotes.com/campsite-listing-south-america/" target="_blank">Blog: PanAm Notes. Camping info, SW Circuit Bolivia</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<a href="http://www.drivetheamericas.com/"><br /></a></div>
Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-78426829760788734652013-04-26T09:28:00.000-07:002013-04-26T15:18:00.512-07:00Argentina Top to Tip / Du sud au nord, Argentine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyVVYZpoYz4AIrNDL7VQWsXotP1Sdltl00HCFlTXf5rnr6-XGrE0059-O-9w74_nkDGqPPDa8C39cMCnsui2Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Après quelques jours à Ushuaïa, il était temps de remonter et de penser sérieusement à notre retour. Nous nous sommes donc concentrés sur la vente de Bip Bip ou éventuellement son expédition par bateau au Canada.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">After a couple of (cold) days in Ushuaia it was time to start figuring out what to do about our return. We redoubled our efforts in selling Bip Bip and we started research on sending Bippers back to Canada by boat.</span><br />
<br />
Nous avons roulé tranquillement vers le nord sur la route 3, des centaines et des centaines de km ennuyeux au milieux de la pampa. Cependant, nous nous sommes arrêtés pour visiter une colonie de pingouins au moment où les bébés approchaient la maturité et étaient dans le dernier stade de la mue presque prêts à partir de la maison.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">We started working our way northward along Ruta 3, a long and flat and long stretch of Pampa. We were able to stop along the way to visit the Penguin colonies as the babies approached maturity and were in the final stages of moulting and moving out of home. </span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
En continuant plus au nord, nous avons été récompensés par des températures plus chaudes. Une longue route sinueuse en gravier nous a mené à travers la pampa jusqu'à deux bosques petrificados (forêts pétrifiés). Bon bivouac, bon climat, et incroyable phénomène natural ont fait que ce détour valait la peine.<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange;">Moving northward we were rewarded with warmer temperatures. A long gravel road winding through the pampa took us into the wild center where we visited 2 of the national parks that protect el bosque petrificado - the petrified forest. Great boondocking, great weather and cool natural phenomenons made this a worthy side trip.</span><br />
<br />
Encore plus au nord, nous avons été attrapé au milieu de la foule du week-end de pâques et nous sommes restés coincés dans les bouchons en traversant Buenos Aires en ayant vaguement en tête l'idée de visiter le Paraguay et l'Uruguay. Nous en avions eu de bons échos et sans avoir d'idée fixe sur la façon dont nous allions gérer Bip Bip, nous tendions de plus en plus vers l'envoi du véhicule à partir du Brésil. La circulation était tellement mauvaise, nous avons finalement décidé de nous arrêter dans la petite ville de Colon et de camper sur la plage herbeuse au bord de la rivière Uruguay faisant face à l'Uruguay lui même. Nous avons constaté que nous captions le WIFI de l'hôtel d'à côté et c'est ici que nous avons finalisé la vente de Bip Bip.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Travelling nothward still, we got caught in Semana Santa, Easter week, crowds and found ourselves nose-to-tail in traffic as we traversed across Buenos Aires; still heading northward with vague ideas of visiting Uruguay and Paraguay. We had heard some great things and without a fixed idea of how to deal with Bippers and an increasing likelihood of shipping out of Brazil we meandered northward. The crowds and traffic was too much to deal with so we finally we decided to bunker down in a small village of Colon bivouacing on the grassy beach on the Uruguay River facing Uruguay itself. We found we had WiFi from a nearby hotel and it was there we finallized the sale of Bip Bip.</span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
Cela a changé nos plans et nous a donné une date limite. Donc avec le nombre de jours qui nous restait, nous avons calculé que nous pourrions faire la course jusqu'aux chutes d'Iguazu, car en réalité ce n'était que quelques centimètres sur notre carte... Nous avions anticipé une opportunité de bivouac au parc national El Palmar que nous avons oublié à la vue de la queue sur l'autoroute à l'entrée du parc. A faire au retour! Presque 1000km après nous sommes arrivés aux chutes. Durant cette course vers les chutes, nous avons traversé le département de Entre Rios. Visiblement plus pauvre que le reste du pays. Et voilà nous avons été harcelés par la police corrompu pour la première fois depuis l'Honduras. Nous avons eu une amende mais n'avons pas payé le prix réduit sur place en liquide.... Il y avait une étrange conversion du montant de l'amende en nombre de litres d'essence qui nous embrouille encore un peu.<br />
A la fin, nous n'avons pas du tout payé l'amende. Quel moment désagréable dans un pays autrement merveilleux.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">This changed our plans and gave us a deadline. So with our remaining days we calculated we could make the run to the Falls at Iguazu, since really it was only a couple of inches away on our map! We anticipated a bivouac opportunity at the NP El Palmar only to see the Samana Santa crowds backed up several kms along the highway to enter the park. Skip for the return. Almost 1000kms later we made it to Iguazu. In running this gauntlet towards the falls we also ran the gauntlet of the state of ENTRE RIOS. A visually poor part of the country seeming closer to Honduras than the Argentina we had experienced. And voila...we got hassled by the corrupt coppers suddenly and shockingly for the first time SINCE Honduras. I got a ticket but didn't pay their proposed discounted fine insitu. There was some funny business of converting the 'fine' into litres of gasoline that still has me confused. In the end, did not have to pay the phoney ticket. What a distasteful moment in an otherwise wonderful country.</span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
Iguazu est à la frontière de l'Argentine, du Brésil et du Paraguay. Ce qui signifie près de la jungle soit chaud, pluvieux, humide et plein d'insectes. Cela faisait une éternité que nous n'avions pas connu ce type de climat. Nous étions contents d'avoir la clim dans Bip Bip puisque nous avions passé les 5 derniers mois en jeans et pull-overs et n'étions pas habitué à ce type de climat.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Iguazu is on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Meaning it is close to the jungle and it was HOT and RAINY and MUGGY and BUGGY. It had been ages since we had this kind of weather and we were happy to have AC in Bippers as our last 5 months we have been in jeans and sweaters and were in no way accustomed to the steamy weather.</span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<br />
Nous sommes maintenant installés dans notre appartement à Buenos Aires. Nous sommes dans la "phase de transition" de notre voyage ce qui signifie que nous sommes transition entre notre vie dans Bip Bip et Paris. Nous pouvons maintenant de découvrir Buenos Aires ... On vous racontera!<br />
<div style="color: orange;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">We are now settled in our apartment in Buenos Aires. We are in the 'Transition" phase of our trip meaning we are transitioning between our life in Bippers and the 'real world'. We now get to experience Buenos Aires...keep in touch.</span><br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-27214798779837307242013-04-19T10:49:00.000-07:002013-04-19T10:49:18.812-07:00Bip Bip gets adopted out.... Bip Bip a été adopté...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGT4ZJmldOQBLf1MaZnXbkqcfXkU3uucxSBSXU6r1PnN6bcKFmaCEX-Ql2JFQyKI3zComLoIod0Knk0eMEjcWus3TRTVQUlxLr_k3h7OlUe2wyzNtEStC9jfDtorjPBy7h_pCLzeIP68/s1600/P1010677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGT4ZJmldOQBLf1MaZnXbkqcfXkU3uucxSBSXU6r1PnN6bcKFmaCEX-Ql2JFQyKI3zComLoIod0Knk0eMEjcWus3TRTVQUlxLr_k3h7OlUe2wyzNtEStC9jfDtorjPBy7h_pCLzeIP68/s400/P1010677.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before/Avant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTOqf2IPnpi8nzbnuJtXqXP0_9zKfoZXvWpnVbcQJM2E63XRYdbRcYaI9bTtzO8vckGWJD51c9ipjMoCI2bq50iXgKipPCDO0DV3lJjMvUoO_1ZXP9L8C9Ru_bddS-mBy10Z1uDBqQh0/s1600/DSC_7410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTOqf2IPnpi8nzbnuJtXqXP0_9zKfoZXvWpnVbcQJM2E63XRYdbRcYaI9bTtzO8vckGWJD51c9ipjMoCI2bq50iXgKipPCDO0DV3lJjMvUoO_1ZXP9L8C9Ru_bddS-mBy10Z1uDBqQh0/s400/DSC_7410.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After/Après</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Kicking back in the new pad - our 'interim'...a vacation. Or rather our transition. Thanks to Jere, we have sold our home-on-wheels and we have relocated into a Palermo-center apartment in Buenos Aires. While the apartment is a 'studio' we have effectively quintuppled our living space and Fanny is fairly dancing about the joint (and without boundaries her STUFF is everywhere!). AND, embarrasingly, there is all together too much time spent in the bathroom. A clean and fresh-smelling bathroom available at all hours. What a luxury! Ca change la vie, quoi!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Installés dans le nouvel appart' - notre «intérim</span></span><span style="color: orange; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">»</span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">... des vacances. Ou plutôt notre transition. grâce à </span><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.99652862548828px;">Jérôme</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> nous avons vendu notre maison roulante et nous avons déménagé dans un appartement à Palerme, quartier du centre de Buenos Aires. Même si l'appartement est un «studio», nous avons effectivement quintuplé notre espace de vie. ET, nous passons trop de temps dans la salle de bain. Une salle de bain propre et fraîche, disponible à toute heure de la journée. Quel luxe! Ça change la vie!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">We have been spared the hassle of shipping and selling our Bippers back in Canads AND we arranged an apartment in the deal. Double SCORE.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Nous avons été épargnés des tracas de l'expédition et la vente de Bip Bip au Canada et nous avons négocié un appartement dans la transaction. Double réussite!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">We were lucky to catch the last days of summer in Patagonia and get out before the cold sets in for real. Now we get to spend the wonderful fall days in the big city. We get to act all grown up and city slick (read: Sushi gobbling) for the next 30 days and then we jet off to the 'real world'. Just in time for the northern hemisphere spring. wowsers. It did work out nicely.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Nous avons eu la chance d'attraper les derniers jours de l'été en Patagonie et partir avant que le froid s'installe pour de vrai. Maintenant nous pouvons passer les </span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">merveilleux</span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> jours d'automne dans la grande ville. Nous apprendrons à vivre comme les grands </span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> (lire: se gaver de Sushi) pour les prochains 30 jours avant de nous envoler pour le «monde réel». Juste à temps pour le printemps dans l'hémisphère nord. Pile poil!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">hmmm. So what next? I personally find the mind-crushing possiblity of having to return to work and having it turn into a state of permanence a bit depressing. It doesn't have to be that way; someone I knew used to say 'your life is what you make it'. Time to pony up to bar and pull a draught and roll the dice. I'll probably buckle into a quick gig somewhere in the Middle East, although I am angling for something in Afghanistan. Quick and easy; the world is in turmoil and doesn't look like it will improve soon. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">hmmm. Alors qu'allons-nous faire? Personnellement (Chris et Fanny aussi d'ailleurs...), je trouve la possibilité d'avoir à retourner au travail et d'avoir à le transformer en un état </span><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.99652862548828px;">permanent</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> un peu déprimant. ç</span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">a n'a pas besoin d'être comme ça, quelqu'un que je connaissais avait l'habitude de dire «votre vie est ce que vous en faites». Il est temps de faire un projet et de lancer les dés. Je vais probablement signer pour un contrat de courte durée avec un ONG quelque part au Moyen-Orient, ou bien en Afghanistan. Ce sera plus rapide et facile, le monde est dans la tourmente et il ne semble pas que ça s'améliorera bientôt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Fanny is super excited to return to Paris and visit her friends and family. Seems in the middle somewhere of our trip the powers in charge of Paris have started a publicity campaign to convince the Parisians to be more friendly to the tourists. THAT would be something to confirm. Fanny is swimming deep in the internet to scope out working and upgrade training opportunities - she is dying to get back on the saddle and into the hospital and refresh her skills, rebuild her nurse-muscles.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Fanny est super excitée de retourner à Paris et rendre visite à ses amis et à sa famille. Parait- il quelque part dans le milieu de notre voyage la France a lancé une campagne publicitaire pour convaincre les Parisiens d'être plus convivial avec les touristes. Ça reste quelque chose à confirmer! Fanny est à fond sur </span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">le net</span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> à la recherche de travail et sur les possibilités de formation - elle meurt d'envie de se remettre en selle à l'hôpital et d'actualiser ses compétences, de reconstruire ses muscles d'infirmière.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Two years 'on the road' has not quenched the fire of adventure. More likely it has self-evolved into a little monster....Since it is way cheaper, and </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">not at all likely I will ever be able to afford my Stonehouse Gite in the French countryside, I can see a moving, rolling, advancing, circling future. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">A summer wedding in Edmonton sounds fun. Another European Camino maybe (more likely Turkey's Lecian Way)? Hiking the length of the Great Wall of China, ON the Wall, would be sporty. Maybe more 'out there' is to walk across the Sahara. Or time to dust of the motorcycle for a rip across Africa? Growl around the perimeter of India in a Bajaj 3-wheel Rickshaw? The 'Everest' of trips for us would be a 4x4 Merc Sprinter across Central Asia. Yea right. Good to keep the dream outside one's reach.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Deux ans sur la route n'a pas éteint le feu de l'aventure. Il est plus probable que ce se soit auto-transformé en un petit monstre .... Comme c'est une façon de vivre économique, et que il soit peu probable que je puisse acheter mon gîte en pierre dans la campagne française, je peux voir une vie en mouvement, roulant, coulant vers l'avenir. Voila qu'un mariage en été à Edmonton serait amusant (la fille de Chris). Un autre Camino européen peut-être ( ou plutôt </span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">le Lecian Way </span><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">en Turquie ) ou plus intéressant une randonnée le long de la Grande Muraille de Chine, SUR le mur, serait sportif. Peut-être plus «extrême» serqit de flâner à travers le Sahara. Ou bien c'est le bon moment de </span><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.99652862548828px;">dépoussiérer</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> la moto pour un périple en l'Afrique? Rugir autour du périmètre de l'Inde dans un rickshaw Bajaj à 3 roues? Le «Everest» du voyage pour nous serait un Mercedes Sprinter </span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.99652862548828px;">4x4 à </span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">travers l'Asie centrale. Oui bien sur! C'est bon de rêver!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">We hope that our trip has polluted many minds with aspirations and lofty journeys. Don't dare, just <b>go</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Nous espérons que notre voyage a pollué </span></span></span><span style="color: orange; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 21.99652862548828px;">beaucoup d'e</span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">sprits avec des aspirations à des voyages possibles. N'hésitez pas, lancez-vous!</span></span></span><br />
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Statistics/<span style="color: orange;">Statistiques</span>:<br />
2 months advertising/<span style="color: orange;">2 mois de pub</span><br />
24 inquiries/<span style="color: orange;">24 demandes d'infos</span><br />
3 lectures on being crazy - somehow, some reason, folks feel free to comment on not-their-shit<br />
<span style="color: orange;">3 leçons de morale sur le fait d'être fous, d'une manière ou d'une autre certaines personnes se sentent libres de commenter des choses qu'ils ne les regardent pas</span><br />
4 offers of 6000USD or less - WTF? Get away cheapskate! Smoke another reality-check.<br />
<span style="color: orange;">4 offres de 6000 USD ou moins- Pardon? Allez chercher ailleurs!</span><br />
3 offers of cash same weekend<br />
<span style="color: orange;">3 offres de versement le même weekend</span><br />
1 winner/<span style="color: orange;">1 gagnant</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">AND THE WINNER IS...Jerome Blum. Jere is pretty excited about his upcoming journey and you can follow it, him and Bip Bip here: </span><a href="http://how-i-met-the-others.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">How I Met the Others</a><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">ET LE GAGNANT EST ... Jérôme Blum. Jere est très enthousiaste à l'idée de son prochain voyage et vous pouvez le suivre, lui et Bip Bip ici: </span><a href="http://how-i-met-the-others.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">How I Met the Others</a><br />
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0Buenos Aires, Argentine-34.6037232 -58.381593100000032-34.813938199999996 -58.705689600000035 -34.3935082 -58.057496600000029tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-63292096071509598412013-04-10T07:50:00.001-07:002013-05-04T19:59:05.795-07:00Trip StatisticsOur trip is winding down...I suppose it is about time. So let's look at some interesting statistics.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">578 Nights</span></b></div>
Thanks to Bippers, we had a home as well as a set of wheels. Being in the shape of a van, we got a little more interior space than other 4WD alternatives and so we were able to take advantage of boondocking (free parking/camping) opportunities as we got more and more comfortable with the idea. For example our as we started out in the USA we opted for more paid campings and when we finished - Chile and Argentina - the ease of finding a highway rest-stop with shower, clean toilet and wifi meant that we never ever had to go to a campground.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPJbLFtkFQTlDAd9YMnvQRqgFBDbG_kfRvnLSYBrhMjne2guZHYho_XUPN6VUKXBPJhMGj5ysXzhGxS_DZeeRaDWPZyllyiJiQvcmdgoVMnunqZ9kYTOgMButT4d3fgKvYkFMf0zenno/s1600/1001nights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPJbLFtkFQTlDAd9YMnvQRqgFBDbG_kfRvnLSYBrhMjne2guZHYho_XUPN6VUKXBPJhMGj5ysXzhGxS_DZeeRaDWPZyllyiJiQvcmdgoVMnunqZ9kYTOgMButT4d3fgKvYkFMf0zenno/s400/1001nights.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And if you want to see a photo-representation of the above breakdown go to <a href="http://bipbipamericas.blogspot.com.ar/p/1001-nuits-1001-nights.html">Bip Bip 1001 nights</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">DAILY EXPENSES</span></b></div>
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It was interesting to see our daily expenses...This includes everything from laundry, to internet, to customs and border crossing fees to food and gas and camping (and to the odd restaurant). It must be pointed out that we did not start tracking our expences <b>until</b> we hit Belize and thus it is a shame we don't have costs for Mexico. We liked Mexico but have no more than a gut-feel that it was cheap. Food was great and that goes without saying. </div>
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There are a few notable comments -</div>
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1) Panama was expensive, as most developed country in Central America...but mostly because we sped through to catch up with our shipping partners. Thus the daily tally includes the $1200 shipping of Bippers AND the $1100 for the 5 day 'cruise' from Portobello to Cartagena (noted as 'hotel' above). Stink!</div>
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2)The daily average for Chile shocked me, but probably because I liked Chile; it should not have been such a shock as we had heard that it was an expensive land. I found the landscape reminiscent of Canada, and the people calm and respectful (as opposed to the loud and sometimes hot-headed Argentinians). But as you will see below, daily costs are directly related to price of gas and Chile was expensive in gas.</div>
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3)Argentina came in the bottom-half of the collective. Not surprising since we were able to capitalize on the black-market exchange for US dollars. While the 'official' rate for the period we were there was 5 pesos per 1 USD we were able to get 6.3 (in the early days) to 8.3 pesos per dollar. Thus more than 60% more purchasing power. Oh and the fuel is subsidized to half-price south of the Patagonia line and that is where we spent most of our time.</div>
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4)Rate of travel - faster you go the more costly it is. You use gas (#1 factor, did I say that already?), you cannot find the cheapest restaurant, you cannot set up camp on the beach with your neighbourly aligator, you cannot develop a relationship with your favorite Nene in the veggie market....</div>
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5)We got lucky and didn't have to bribe any cops or pay for any accidents. This could run into thousands....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1MlKKMo-pXrxcWBKBjkJNiIKA_SY-dhfxsg901w1Ft7TrZkVak7QebWI0vhwa_Om1muOiM7JaR61v3xlPRxeeKhbnTRdeTZtrB7VXInAtY6YZ8K3hYzQa04LYveiplaUwTnFcEM03Uk/s1600/PERDAY+ORDERED.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1MlKKMo-pXrxcWBKBjkJNiIKA_SY-dhfxsg901w1Ft7TrZkVak7QebWI0vhwa_Om1muOiM7JaR61v3xlPRxeeKhbnTRdeTZtrB7VXInAtY6YZ8K3hYzQa04LYveiplaUwTnFcEM03Uk/s400/PERDAY+ORDERED.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">FILL-'er UP</span></b></div>
<span lang="EN-CA">Today Fanny was driving so I
distracted myself with a small analysis of the fuel tracking sheet I have been keeping. I was shocked, initially by the total amount
of money (14 000USD!!!) we spent on fuel on this trip. Wowsers, I don’t like to think of what the
total MAINTENANCE costs were! However, doing
the calcs shows us we spent 24USD per day on fuel (for two people). That is not so bad eh? Phew.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA">The ranking of most-to-least cost per country
was surprising; countries I thought expensive were actually not so bad (the
converse is true...who would have thought that NICARAGUA was so expensive?).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">The ranking USD/Litre reads like this: </span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD">CHL-BLZ-CR-NICA-PER-COL-GUAT-CDA(!)-HON-ES-ARG(N)-USA-PAN-BOL-MEX-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">ARG(S)-BOL(Local price)-ECU</span></div>
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After all that...and two years on the road, the average cost per litre calculating for all countries is <b>1usd/litre</b>. I find that interesting.</div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">The photo below gives a short-list (66%less) of our fill-ups. There are some anomalies to discuss:</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">We will probably have to acknowledge that Ecuador gets our ‘most
favorite country’ now. Mexico goes down
to number 2!</span><br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Argentina was quite cheap on gas for two reasons-</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Fuel subsidy south of the Patagonian line effectively charging half
price per litre</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">The capacity to capitalize on the ‘blue market’ value of the US
dollar. We got between 6.3-8.3 pesos per
USD where the official rate is about 5 which slashed our fuel costs.</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Argentinean beef wasn’t that great and we preferred the Chilean
wine. What’s up with that?</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">While we loved everything about Chile – our daily costs were absurd
(100usd-ish per day) and since our daily expenses are directly linked to fuel
prices, fuel ranged from 1.6-2USD per litre.
BAM.</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">In Bolivia fuel-life depended on your ability to negotiate – Local price
OR Foreigner price. Either way it seems,
considering the global picture, the foreigner price is middle-of-the-road. Thus it was not necessary for us to be so
critical or anal regarding fill-ups...bummer that the people were less than
interested in tourists.</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Costa Rica- aka Gringolandia- was rudely expensive we found, considering what you get
and where it is located vis-a-vis its neighbours. Where the aging pony-tailed staggering drunk gringos outnumber the poor working and landless peasants, well you can imagine the influence on the local economy. Thus it is not surprisingly the fuel costs
were high. Too bad the surf wasn’t
better when we were there.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Panama doesn’t show up on our short list – we only fueled up 4
times. However the price per litre is
smack in the middle of the range of USA.
Does that surprise you?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Colombia had a black market in Venezuelan gas (read jerry-can
peddlers on the side of the road) that took the price of fuel on the border
region down to 60 cents/L! Otherwise
Colombia was quite expensive. Colombia
has a trade agreement with the USA now so I wonder if costs will change now.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-CA">8.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-CA">Fuel costs in Peru are almost identical to costs in Canada. Peru
suffers a duality in its economy – the rape of the bumbaclad tourists and the
rape of its indigenous.</span></div>
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-20239613898645028492013-03-14T13:50:00.000-07:002013-03-14T13:50:05.669-07:00This is the End of the World...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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et voila....</div>
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not much to say...here it is. Beautiful scenery.</div>
<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-5276634288998111132013-03-10T13:14:00.000-07:002013-03-10T14:36:22.147-07:00Rainbows and Rabbitser, what's up doc? Feburary 14 arrived with sunshine and the skies cleared the way for rainbows. The rabbits came out to frolic in the magic air; a St Valentine's day to remember.<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Quoi de neuf? Le 14 février est arrivé avec des rayons de soleil et des arc-en ciel. Les lapins sont sortis gambader dans l’atmosphère magique, un jour de Saint Valentin qu'on se rappellera!</span><br />
<br />
We beat our way south from Puerto Montt to the end at Villa O'Higgins and then if that wasn't enough of a beating, we backtracked to Cochrane to overland it to the Ruta 40 in Argentina. Over 1700kms of gravel road has knocked the nuggets out of us and we are happy to see the pavement (so much so that we decided to drive on the new pavement of Highway 40 despite it not yet being open to traffic! LOVE Bippers 4x4!)<br />
<span style="color: orange;">On a tracé notre chemin vers le sud de Puerto Montt jusqu'à la fin à Villa O'Higgins puis comme si çà ne suffisait pas nous avons fait chemin arrière et récupéré la route 40 en Argentine. pPus de 1700 km de piste. On était tellement content de voir des routes asphaltées que nous avons décidé de conduire sur la route nouvellement pavée bien qu'elle ne soit pas encore ouverte au traffic...</span><br />
<br />
Not thinking very far in advance (oops, who would have thought?) we arrived at the ferry port at ........ to find that the ferry requires RESERVATIONS and is in fact, reserved for the subsequent 15 days. At which point we had two options - 1)wait it out (not our style) or 2) backtrack (a detestible idea both from the aspect or covering familiar terrain but the last 60kms were so bad that it was really really really unrepeatable). Hum and haw we finally got some good intel (took three ferry agents to finally cough up the goods) that there was, that very night, a 'special ferry' to assist the 4 PAGE overflow waiting-list! That was worth waiting for and so that night the OVERBOOKED ferry started loading cars. Then the waiting list was announced - it was like a lottery but with a companionable spirit. And there it was, we got called second to enter the boat - seems that the 4 pages of names decided to give up and go somewhere else - and without a moments hesitation we backed up the gangplank and parked. Dove into bed and slept in our new waterbed for the night as the boat was due to arrive at 04hrs. Lucky us.<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Sans prévoir à l'avance, nous arrivons les mains dans les poches à l’embarcadère du premier ferry pour découvrir qu'il était nécessaire pour cette traversée de réserver à l'avance et qu'en effet c'était complet pour les 15 prochains jours... Nous avions 2 options 1) attendre (pas vraiment notre genre) 2) revenir en arrière (une idée qui ne nous emballait pas trop d'une part parce que c'était un terrain déjà connu et d'autre part parce que les 60 derniers km étaient tellement en mauvais état que c'était inimaginable). Hummmm, alors comment faire? Après avoir parlé avec 3 personnes différentes nous avons réussi à avoir de bonnes informations... Il s'avérait qu'en fait un ferry "spécial" pour le soir même était organisé pour dégorger une liste d'attente de 4 pages!!!!! Ça valait la peine d'attendre et d'insister. Nous avons donc attendu que le ferry commence à charger les voitures ayant une réservation. Puis la liste d'attente a été annoncé (vu la longueur honnêtement, nous avions à peine l'ombre d'un espoir). C'était comme joué à la loterie, nous avions le C32 ou quelque chose comme çà.... Étonnamment, tout le monde rigolait et à chaque fois qu'un nombre était annoncé et que personne ne répondait, les gens s'exclamait "tombé à l'eau!". Il semblait que pas mal de gens découragés par la longueur de la liste ne s'étaient pas présentés. Finalement notre numéro a été annoncé et en quelques secondes nous étions à bord. Et Voilà! Départ à 23h arrivé à 4h du mat'. La chance nous a souri. </span><br />
<br />
Stunning scenery and beautiful fish and all together too many rabbits. Never ever again.<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Paysages incroyables, magnifiques poissons et beaucoup de lapins. Chris ne veut pas le refaire (en tout cas pas avant que ce soit pavé) moi demain j'y retourne!</span><br />
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-69143354460450023642013-02-26T09:31:00.000-08:002013-02-27T08:31:32.141-08:00Km 0 Panamerican, Chile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="FR">Cette partie du
Chili est un «Canada espagnol »: montagnes au sommet enneigé, lacs
transparents avec des poissons qui sautent et dansent, les forêts de pins, les
gens sympas et ouverts … <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><span style="color: orange;">This section of
Chili is a Spanish Canada : snow capped mountains , chrystalin lakes
full of fish that dance and jump, pine forests, the folks open and warm …</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">On est passé de
lac en lac, dormi à la plage et vu des Mitsubishi Delica par
centaine !!! Chris était tout excité au début et leur faisait des coucous
et des appels de phares jusqu’à ce qu’il comprenne que c’est comme saluer les
Clio en France ... Il y en a partout et les gens ne comprennent pas ce que tu leur veux...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><span style="color: orange;">We played connect
-the-lakes, chillaxin’ on the beach. Here we are seing Delica !!! Chris
was all exited that he wave at everyone and finally he gave up understanding
it’s like waving at a Renault in France.</span></span></div>
Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-70961605932192753022013-02-01T11:16:00.001-08:002013-02-05T10:24:59.231-08:00Le début de la fin / The beginning of the end<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-CA">Le début de la fin... Nous </span><span lang="FR">avons</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="FR">atteint les 2 derniers pays de notre liste
(bien que ce ne soit pas les plus petits), et nous avons encore du chemin à
parcourir! L’Argentine et le Chili sont comme le jour et la nuit. Les argentins
ont un style de vie proche des espagnols : magasins ouverts le matin
puis fermés pour la «sieste» jusqu’à 18h pendant laquelle ça devient un
challenge de trouver quelque chose d’ouvert… Ils sont plus festifs, bruyants et
mangent tard. Les chiliens, eux sont plus calmes et font une pause entre 13h et
15h que nous pouvons plus facilement gérer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">The beginning of the end....we have arrived
at the last two countries on the PanAm journey (though not the smallest ones,
we still have waaay to go!). Argentina
and Chile are like night and day. The
Argentineans live a life close to the Spanish energy – stores are open in the
morning but closed from noon to 18h for ‘siesta’ and it is difficult to even
eat lunch during this time let alone find a store open for business. They are more festive, noisy, huggy, emotive
and eat at such a late hour that I’d rather sleep and go hungry than bother to
get into a restaurant. The Chileans, on
the other hand are calmer, warm, easy to approach; whereas their lunch siesta
is ONLY from 13-15hrs and thus much easier to manage. The people and the scenery is kind of like
Canada, and it makes me pine for home.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Nous avons été
très bien accueillis dans les 2 pays. Les gens sont curieux et viennent nous
parler facilement, parfois en anglais, et nous offrent quelque chose à manger.
Pour cette raison et le niveau de vie, </span><span lang="EN-CA">l’</span><span lang="FR">arrivée au Chili a été pour le moins qu’on
puisse dire un choc culturel. Les paysages autour de la frontière avec la Bolivie ne sont pas
tellement différents et même la route
qui mène jusqu’à la première grande ville n’est pas pavé mais c’est plutôt à
l’arrivée à cette ville et les courses dans l’énorme centre commercial qui nous
a donné un choc avec la quantité et la variété des produits disponibles ainsi
que leur prix… Nous n’avons pas vu un seul centre commercial en Bolivie, toutes
nos courses se faisaient dans les marchés.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">We have been well hosted in both
countries. Folks are friendly, warm and
curious, coming to talk to us easily, sometimes in English, and sometimes offer
us something to eat. For these reasons,
when we arrived in Chile we did – you can say – suffer from a sort of
culture-shock. The countryside around
the border with Bolivia was not much different, and in fact the gravel road
that took us to the first large city in Chile was considered ‘normal’. However arriving at that city to land in the
paved and awning-ed parking of the supermarket was a jolt; so was the quantity
and variety of selection of goods to be had– and so too the prices. You see, in Bolivia we had to battle the
street markets as there were no supermarkets.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Ici nous sommes en plein été et ce sont les vacances scolaires, exactement comme
en France au mois d’août : les autoroutes sont chargées de voitures
remplies avec 5 personnes, le chien et
la grand-mère et les bagages sur le toit. Jusqu’ici nous avons voyagé hors
saison et c’est la première fois qu’on se retrouve en pleine saison haute ce
qui implique des prix plus élevés, les sites touristiques chargés et un nombre
impressionnant de jeunes voyageurs «hippies»
(avec un i-phone) qui font du stop à la Jack Kerouac. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Les journées sont longues maintenant, première fois depuis le Canada
avec la nuit qui tombe à 21h30.Le
camping est à la mode et on n’a jamais vu autant de zones de camping (qu’on
n’utilise pas car çà n’a jamais été aussi facile de trouver des douches et
internet (dans les stations essences) et de bivouaquer en pleine nature).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Here we are in the
guts of summer and so too the summer break for the students. THAT means the highways are overcrowded with
cars so packed that the faces are hard-pressed into the windows and Granny has
to sit sideways in the trunk while Rufus-the-dog gets stuffed on the dashboard drooling
on the instrument gauge and the luggage pile on the roof risks a roll-over on
the harder corners. Until now we have
been ‘stuck’ in the low-season, so this is the first time we have seen the
horrors of ‘high’ season- high prices, screaming babies, rugrats hyped on
sugary cola energy drinks, packed tourist sites. Furthermore, we have never seen so many
‘hippy’-esque lazy-assed dreadlocked young (with iphones)(who says I’m a grumpy
old man?) hitchhiking a la Jack
Kerouac. Who needs it?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange;">The days are long
now for the first time since leaving Canada with the night falling after
21hrs. Camping is a-la-mode here and we
have never seen so many camping facilities – that we never use because 1)price
2)kids and their screaming mothers and drunk fathers 3)we have found some
beautiful natural and tranquil boondocking
4)showers and WIFI can be had in all major gas-stations.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Nous avons du mal à comprendre en quelle saison nous nous trouvons. Tout rappelle la
fin de l’été : les journées chaudes mais les soirées et les nuits fraîches, sur le marché on trouve
déjà du maïs, dans les champs, le blé est déjà jaune, les arbres commencent à
changer de couleur cependant on est en plein été et les enfants ne retournent à l’école que le 26 févier. Il y a encore du
temps avant d’arriver en automne.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">We struggle to
understand where we are in the ‘season’ of summer. The days are hot but the evenings and
mornings cool, there is corn available in the market and the wheat stocks are
yellow in the fields. The grass is
yellowing and the first trees are changing color. All this indicate that we should be at the waning
days of summer but the kids don’t go back to school until Feb 26 so we still
have a way to go before autumn falls. Darn
it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">L’Argentine et le Chili sont réputés pour son vin et ses steaks (surtout
l’Argentine) et c’est pourquoi notre séjour a été ponctuée par la visite des
vignobles et des distilleries de Pisco qui semble-t-il font concurrence aux
vins et eaux de vie français.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Ah yes, Chile and
Argentina are noted for wine; and steaks.
Thus we have made the small and easy effort to detour to the various
wineries for a tasting session or two.
The wineries we have visited are all well recognized and have won many
global awards. Still, the only liquids
that caught my attention (not that i am a French wine snob) was the Pisco 40* -
a really nice version of brandy that does NOT need to be mixed with lemon and
sugar (Pisco Sour) to make it drinkable ! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Enfin, comme nous étions plus ou moins bon endroit au bon moment, un petit
détour de 300km nous a permis de voir la fin de la 13<sup>ème</sup> étape du
Dakar où Chris a été interviewé perché sur le toit de Bip Bip, surplombant tous
les autres spectateurs. Il est probablement possible de voir Chrissy sur des
vidéos de Youtube car il n’est pas passé inaperçu (sur sa chaise de plage
installée sur le toit de Bip, avec ses jumelles et son verre de Pisco). Je n’ai
pas montré autant d’enthousiasme… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Finally, since we
happened to be (almost) at the right place at the right time, we did a short
(300km-Chile is one big long country) detour to check out the Dakar Rally
2013. We were able to be present at the
staging area at the end of the 13<sup>TH</sup> day. Since Bippers is such a bad-ass rig competitive
worthy of the Dakar, and since we are near invisible where-ever we go and since
I was perched on the roof above all other spectators (with my binos, my chair
and my Pisco) I got to be interviewed by the Chilean journalist…and I am sure
that if you check out the youtube vids of the 13 Stage you might catch a
glimpse of me and Bippers. Fanny on the
other hand was busy knitting….really couldn’t be arsed.</span></span></div>
Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-24606561607142527822013-01-21T06:45:00.001-08:002013-01-22T05:18:55.797-08:00Nice and quiet, Bolivia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bolivia was the land of mystery for me for many years. So many years that I built a great expectation, and like all great expectations the reality comes crashing down. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: start;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Nous étions impatients de découvrir la Bolivie. Tellement impatients que nous avions beaucoup d’</span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">attentes et comme toutes les grandes attentes, la réalité a tout réduit en miettes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: start;">
<span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: start;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Poor Bolivia suffers much in this region. It is the poorest nation in the South America – although I bet Honduras and Guatemala cannot be much removed; the air is rare, the land poor, it is cold and rainy (December) and yet this country has many many natural resources which could bolster it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: start;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Pauvre Bolivie souffre beaucoup dans cette region. C’est le plus pauvre pays d’Amérique du Sud; l’oxygène y est rare, la terre est pauvre, il fait froid et c’est pluvieux (décembre) et pourtant ce pays a beaucoup de ressources naturelles,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">We find, as tourists, this country is less than hospitable, this is NOT the land where locals greet us with ‘welcome to my country and thank you for visiting’ like we heard in Colombia. No, here, we are hard pressed to get a “Buenos dias” in response. No, here, when we ask for a piece of bread or some gasoline we are greeted with a piece of stale crust or a turned back. Gas purchasing is difficult, complicated, and it has become an all-consuming occupation. Foreigners have a official government published rate of 9,26 Bolivianos versus the local rate of 3,74 BOB – a difference of 2,5 times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Nous trouvons, en tant que touristes, que ce pays est moins que </span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">hospitalier</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">, </span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">ce</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;"> n’est pas le pays où les locaux te souhaitent la bienvenue et te remercie de visiter leur pays comme nous l’avons entendu en Colombie. Non, ici, on a du mal à obtenir une réponse à notre “Buenos dias”. Non, ici, quand on demande du pain ou de l’essence, nous reçevons du pain rassis ou on nous tourne tout simplement le dos. L’achat d’essence est difficile, compliqué, et c’est devenu une occupation et préoccupation à plein temps. Le prix official fixé par le gouvernement pour les étrangers est de 9,26 bolivianos versus 3,74 BOB pour les locaux.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">While we generally support the concept that foreigners paying more for museums and tours (to help the economy and because we can and we should support a system to permit local tourism too) we do not support excessive abuses. An 80USD, 100km train ride to Machu Picchu is an example where we do NOT support foreigner pricing – whereby this price of the train and the 58USD entry represents considerably more than the monthly income for the average Peruvian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Bien que généralement nous supportons le concept que les étrangers paient plus cher pour les musées et excursions (pour aider l’économie et parce que on peut se le permettre et aussi pour </span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">soutenir</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;"> un système qui favorise le tourisme local) mais nous ne supportons pas les abus excessifs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">Thus we find ourselves running the circuit to ‘modify’ our gasoline expenses. We have heard that should you approach a station with empty Jerry cans you might just get them filled at the local price; whereas should you drive into the station to fill your car you will be obliged to pay the higher official rate since the ‘cameras’ are watching. After visiting over 25 stations in our first two days is: 1) filling Jerry cans is officially illegal (but possible in smaller farming outposts); 2) Jerry cans or cars, foreigners are easily spotted and thus you pay the official rate; and 3) over 60% of these gas stations visited simply refused to sell (even when we were prepared to pay the official price) and the staff would turn their back and simply walk away. We have heard that in the more touristy centers and in the larger cities (La Paz) the gasoline vendors will be much more regimented, and so far this is true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Ainsi, nous nous sommes retrouvés à faire des efforts pour réduire le prix de l’essence. D’autres touristes, nous ont dit qu’en se rendant à la station d’essence avec des bidons vides, nous devrions pouvoir les faire remplir au prix local tandis qu’en y arrivant directement avec notre voiture, nous serions obliges de payer le prix fort. Après avoir visité plus de 25 stations au cours de nos 2 premiers jours, le résultat est: 1) remplir des bidons est strictement et officielement interdit (mais possible dans des villes plus reculées); 2) Avec des bidons ou en voiture les étrangers sont facilement ciblés et paient le prix fort; 3) plus de 60% de ces stations services visitées ont tout simplement refuse de nous en vendre (meme quand noud étions prêts à payer le prix officiel) et le personnel nous a juste tourné le dos et s’en est aller. Nous avions entendu que dans les endroits plus touristiques et les grandes villes les stations services sont beaucoup plus réglementées, et jusqu’à present, c’est vrai.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">We have however mined some success with this kind of talking – Hello, yes gasoline. No need for a ‘factura’ but we will pay 5 BOB per liter. Imagine if we take 50 liters you can pocket over 60 BOB and since it is Christmas you can buy your children some presents. Yes? This worked for us in Coroico.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Nous avons cependant eu plus de success avec ce genre de discussion – Bonjour, oui de l’essence SVP. Pas besoin de facture mais nous paierons 5 BOB par litre. Imaginez que si nous prenons 50 litres, vous pourrez empocher plus de 60 BOB et puisque c’est Noel vous pourrez acheter un cadeau pour vos enfants. Oui? Ca a marché pour nous à Coroico.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">In the end, it was good to visit because we did see some incredible scenery. Everything was NICE and QUIET. We did find some nice folks notably in the south and in the tiny villages. We had plan the ultimate overland journey called the “Bolivia Southwest circuit”, 3 days of off-trail driving through the desert and the colored lakes, home of the flamingos. Sadly, the route was cut by an ongoing dispute between the park administration and the park inhabitants. So we took the short route to Chili and got to see the flamingos anyways...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">Tout cela valait la peine car nous avons vu des paysages </span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">époustouflants</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">, non comparables à rien de ce </span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">que nous avions vu auparavant et même en persévérant nous avons rencontré des gens plus sympas notamment dans le sud et dans les petits villages paumés. NICE and QUIET. Nous avions planifié le dernier voyage hors piste appelé le </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">“</span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;">circuit du sud-ouest</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #ffc000;">“</span><span lang="FR" style="color: #ffc000;"> qui passe à travers le désert et par des lacs colorés, maison des flamants roses. Malheureusement, la route était barrée à cause d’une dispute entre l’administration du parc et les habitants. Nous avons donc pris la route plus directe pour le Chili et vu malgré tout les flamants roses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">STATISTICS / <span style="color: orange;">STATISTIQUES</span>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">18 days spent in Bolivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">18 jours passés en Bolivie</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">2784 km driven<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">2784 km parcourus</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">Price of gas (nationals) 3,74 BOB; Price of gas (foreigners) 9,26 BOB.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Prix de l’essence pour les locaux 3,74 BOB; Prix de l’essence pour les étrangers 9,26 BOB</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">Average daily cost 49 USD/38 euros<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Dépense moyenne par jour 49 USD/38 euros</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">1 night spent in a hotel/2 nights in a garage/4 nights in a camping/11 nights boondocking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">1 nuit passée à l’hôtel/2 nuits dans un garage/4 nuits dans un camping/11 nuits en bivouacs</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">3 km driven in the snow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">3 km parcourus sous la neige</span></span><br />
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-24825000422924180722013-01-06T07:16:00.000-08:002013-01-06T15:25:53.918-08:00Peru on film<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Voila les films du Peru que nous n'avons pas pu telecharger avant....</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Here are the films that we couldn't upload before....<i>Argentina</i> has great wifi!</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwQzqKADZa-pNvZGMTRBfqb6u2CiVxLqljonLJH2ri1YXD8vGdidRdA2ikyYNd9OuUKrJVNEpBDwkfT-b_rgw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-47233816266059800032013-01-02T16:13:00.001-08:002013-01-02T16:16:50.200-08:00Cusco and the sacred valley/ Cusco et la vallée sacrée, Peru<br />
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<span lang="EN-CA">Comme dans le dessin animé qui me plaisait
tant, les mystèrieuses cites d’or, nous avons exploré </span><span lang="FR">les ruines incas de la vallée sacrée. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Like
the i</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a;">mages in the magical
cartoons of mysterious cities of gold, we explored the Inca ruins of the Sacred
Valley.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Tout çà, nous a
paru une grande arnaque touristique non pas que les ruines ne soient pas belles
mais plutôt qu’ils te forcent à acheter un billet combiné et que bien sûr les
tickets ne peuvent pas s’acheter
individuellement. Evidemment çà coute
bien plus cher que toutes les autres ruines que nous avons visitées au Pérou…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Sadly
the whole package seemed to be one huge touristic rip-off – not that the
ruins were uncool- but to be forced to purchase ‘package tickets’ for a group
of different sites, many of which were not on our list to see, was a
bummer. The Sacred Valley sites were the
most expensive entries in the whole of Peru.</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">La plupart des
ruines se concentrent autour de la belle ville de Cusco. Nous y sommes arrivés,
comme de bien entendu, un jour férié. Et
c’est là qu’on nous a envoyé d’un bureau à l’autre pour acheter des billets
pour le Machu Pichu (qui ne se vendent pas sur place), des bureaux tous ouverts
mais … fermés. Je veux dire par là, avec des employés mais qui ne vendent
pas les tickets puisque c’est férié!?! Puisque lendemain était un dimanche,
nous avons patienté jusqu’au lundi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-ansi-language: FR;">The
majority of the ruins were centralized around the very nice city of Cusco. We arrived, as usual, on a statutory holiday
and guess what ? After visiting
several of the ‘open’ ticket vending offices, complete with seemingly
overworked and harried employees, the final analysis was it as impossible to support the Peruvian
Tourist Authority by purchasing tickets on the holiday and thus we had to cool
our jets two days in order to purchase tickets for Machu Picchu ; Peru’s
most important and wealth begetting event – tickets which cannot be purchased
on the site !<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">En attendant,
nous en avons profité pour découvrir les ruines de Saqsaywaman. Les Inca
Pachachutec avaient imaginé Cusco en forme de puma dont Saqsaywaman en tant que
tête et dont les 22 murs en zigzag en seraient les dents .<span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Meanwhile
we poked about the ruins of Saqsaywaman.
Seems the Incas designed Cusco in the form of a puma whereby the head of
the puma was Saqsaywaman and the 22 stone walls zigzaging are the ‘teath’. Whatever, at least it didn’t rain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Ensuite sur le chemin vers le Machu Pichu nous nous sommes arrêtés à Pisaq et sa citadelle Inca, perchée au-dessus du village sur un plateau avec des gorges plongeantes des deux côtés. C’était une balade spectaculaire entourée par les flancs de montagnes, entre les terrasses, sur des sentiers étroits</span><span lang="EN-CA"> défendus par des massives portes en pierre.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA">Later, moving towards Machu Picchu, we stopped for a tour at Pisaq and the Inca citadel perched on the mountain peaks, tiny communities connected by winding climbing trails that at times tunneled though the rocks. The areas surrounding the stone villages were terraced down into the clouds, and the trails defended by huge doorways of stone.</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Finalement après
avoir obtenu nos tickets, nous voilà en route pour le fameux Machu Pichu. Il
n’est pas possible de s’y rendre en voiture. Nous avions le choix entre le
train pour 80USD chacun puis le bus ou aller en voiture jusqu’à Santa Teresa et
marcher à pied puis le bus. Nous avons opté pour la 2<sup>ème</sup> option. <span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>La balade jusqu’à Agua Caliente au bord du chemin de fer était facile et nous étions accompagnés d’un guide local aux petits soins avec nous<span style="color: #e36c0a;">…</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">So
finally we got our tickets to Machu Picchu and we made our way to Santa
Teresa. There is no way to access the
site by car, and the 80USD ticket for the train seemed yet another unreasonable
fee. So from Santa Teresa we hiked three
hours along the SAME rail line to Agua Caliente. Fanny was happy to be accompanied by the
local dog population and we rested comfortable in the free guide service.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR">Enfin, le
lendemain matin nous sommes partis de bonne heure au Machu Pichu escortés par
une pluie torrentielle. Evidemment les
tickets sont achetés pour un jour spécifique et il serait trop facile de
pouvoir les échanger. Résultat au sommet de la colline après avoir grimpé une
bonne heure sous la pluie et payé 60 USD chacun plus 17 USD de bus et l’hôtel, voilà
ce qu’on a vu: TADAM !!!<span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Like
all excited tourists looking for the perfect photo shot of Machu Picchu we
rolled out of the sack at 5am and worked our way to the bus station for the
final leg to the site. THESE tickets
were another 17 USD each for the 8 km journey up to the site. The site entry cost only 60USD and for that
we got the right to climb one hour uphill to the lookout – IN THE RAIN. All that cash and what did we see ? A wonderful perspective of clouds !<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR">Heureusement avec un peu de patiente et l’appareil photo
prêt:<span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Determined
to get SOMETHING we hung around for a bit and suddenly :<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">On est content de
l’avoir fait mais on est aussi content que ce soit fini …<span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">Been
there, done that, not to do it again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Pour finir, sur
le chemin vers la frontière nous nous sommes arrêtés au complexe Inca de
Ollantaytambo avec ses énormes bloques de pierre. Cela parait incroyable qu’ils
aient été transportés jusque là depuis d’autres montagnes…<span style="color: #e36c0a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">We
wrapped up this Inca tour de monde with a visit to the Ollantaytambo site – the
question is where did they get the huge chunks of rocks and how did they
transport them here ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">Adios
Peru.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNSgaxml4htzZ-35OP7MfkP2AjYD3D34n03NJgD7A1UdJBD5-MHGRm3ENpy2zAkzAkqCHeWnSaVRgOI41LVOlguE0BuNfulGn-85e99Fz_Juk8lNvk6SuQn_vtOeOatBc4uzEJ37OGWg/s1600/DSC_5387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNSgaxml4htzZ-35OP7MfkP2AjYD3D34n03NJgD7A1UdJBD5-MHGRm3ENpy2zAkzAkqCHeWnSaVRgOI41LVOlguE0BuNfulGn-85e99Fz_Juk8lNvk6SuQn_vtOeOatBc4uzEJ37OGWg/s320/DSC_5387.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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\</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNQIf6Z0ZUF_tk3k9HL1S6K9_MUd0VcmeSdyfxcReuSuO6ngYZTyLAhUyILRdzAyZOHndhKPqlcnoPCXFBFt_P2KdqnS3G-7dPWRwH6BwvsfjfPprN4bzBzzYewYYu2mq6Tw3b9-lgRo/s1600/DSCN3467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNQIf6Z0ZUF_tk3k9HL1S6K9_MUd0VcmeSdyfxcReuSuO6ngYZTyLAhUyILRdzAyZOHndhKPqlcnoPCXFBFt_P2KdqnS3G-7dPWRwH6BwvsfjfPprN4bzBzzYewYYu2mq6Tw3b9-lgRo/s320/DSCN3467.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<b><span lang="FR">Statistics:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">4839kms
travelled in 30 days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">Highest
elevation gained 4700m (hiking) 4300 (driving)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">748
L gasoline purchased at an average price of Soles 12,83/galon or $1,30USD/litre,
at a respectable consumption rate of 18l/100km. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #e36c0a;">
<span lang="FR">Maintainence
consisted of oil and filter and replaced airfilter. FIRST time in a looong time without
mechanical issues despite the steep climbs and the slow, rough tracks of the
Cordillera Blanca and overlanding at Paracas.
Yippee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: orange; font-size: 12pt;">Daily expenses : 59,93 USD
46,10 €<span style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-59634477085335195252012-12-28T08:20:00.001-08:002012-12-28T08:20:57.476-08:00In the desert, PeruLa connexion internet est tellement mauvaise que je ne peux pas télécharger mes films. En attendant, quelques photos...<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138;">Internet in Bolivia is crap. Thus while we search for someplace with stronger internet to upload the vids, we leave you with a few photos and 1000 words.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA">La première image qui me venait en t</span><span lang="FR">ête en pensant au Pérou était un petit
village dans les hauteurs des Andes avec des amérindiennes en costumes
traditionnelles et les hommes mâchant des feuilles de coca et certainement pas des kilomètres et des kilomètres de désert .
Parce que la côte péruvienne c’est bien cela, du sable à perte de vue…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138;">The first thoughts of Peru may be some lost village stuck in the mountians, with a bunch of indigenous folks, traditionally garbed, huddled around a llama-poo fire, with cheeks all puffed out from gnawing on coca leaves; not some endless horizon of desert and blowing sand. So this is what we found...</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Nous sommes
arrivés par le nord bien sûr et c’est
à Zorritos que nous avons fait connaissance avec cette race de chien typique du
Pérou qui n’a pas de poils dont la température corporelle est plus haute que
les autres races et qui était traditionnellement utilisé comme « bouillote »
pour les gens avec de l’arthrite!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e69138;">Coming into Peru from the north, we bumped into this hairy bastard in Zorritos. Sadly this bald pooch has more HAIR on him than I got on my head. Seems that these doggies sport no hair and a body temperature higher than normal (see the connection?) and is otherwise substitute for a hot-water bottle for the arthritic. Or your granny.</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Nous avons
continué notre route jusqu’à Mancora, petite ville balnéaire, réputé pour le surf,
hyper touristique et pas dans le bon sens du terme. Nous y sommes restés quelques jours pour y
faire des affaires et çà a bien fonctionné puisque nous avons vendu la planche
de surf de Chris et notre vélo pliable. Le tout très rapidement, les péruviens
adorent la marchandise d’Amérique du nord alors il a suffit de dire que la
planche venait de Californie et le vélo du Canada (ce qui était vrai) et le
tour était joué!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e69138;">We continued tracking southward to Mancora, a small fishing village, reputed for surfing. Turns out just a gringo slum sort of inner city 'projects' kind of feel. How many times were we hit up by some aging American - sunburnt and drunk - looking for a hand-out because he had 'just been robbed'. The bastard was living a nice saucy life on the good will of others. CAN'T do that at home I guess. We hung around town long enough to sell the surfboard and the bicycle. Turns out the Peruvans love american gear so it took maybe a couple of minutes to sell out.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhZn2NZOTaU5Lx4zoNkAQTNMq1aSd5EXHmb6-3oA77y5IM8QoYTqvg8zwIU0g-crWHj5CpoeAgjy5Nxc1UufNKr7A4bjoVzHEpOxamcI7PoTdoLHEUzuRYvs20dK26EaJ_-IpcixQ4s4/s1600/DSCN3141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinhZn2NZOTaU5Lx4zoNkAQTNMq1aSd5EXHmb6-3oA77y5IM8QoYTqvg8zwIU0g-crWHj5CpoeAgjy5Nxc1UufNKr7A4bjoVzHEpOxamcI7PoTdoLHEUzuRYvs20dK26EaJ_-IpcixQ4s4/s400/DSCN3141.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Se vende /A vendre/To sell</td></tr>
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<span lang="FR">Un peu plus au
sud, nous avons profité de la jolie plage de Huanchaco où les pêcheurs
utilisent des bateaux construits en paille et où nous avons visité de belles
ruines celles de Chan Chan et Huaca de la Luna.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e69138;">Next stop southward was the very nice and empty stretch of beach at Huanchaco where the fishermen use their reed boats - cabaillitos (little horses)- to fish the day away. There were some cool ruins nearby also at Chan chan et Huaca de la Luna.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMJlN28rpLOCuiAaeqCuS_j3UixzhCAXEbnyLEp8GpA_FpTd5GZFyLur1BEIOXEg59JYbNqGiJatwNx14CL5WsXzNqIEVy0wJmHefM89BMcQwkfsKzeTM4d1y4mSK-cyV2exD5r3jljo/s1600/DSCN3305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMJlN28rpLOCuiAaeqCuS_j3UixzhCAXEbnyLEp8GpA_FpTd5GZFyLur1BEIOXEg59JYbNqGiJatwNx14CL5WsXzNqIEVy0wJmHefM89BMcQwkfsKzeTM4d1y4mSK-cyV2exD5r3jljo/s400/DSCN3305.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chan Chan </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUoGxbkHgDKoMPBdbQDcWUxg7U2hknGTrkP9tOkyZfea_RwNBERKCb4kuhdAH-rYSFtokp8XNIxBmJIETwelcPARn5sxEpVxHYhHaDdstbHYv3LZwlvfMmg8bXpytpxbCKQwoNqbSk9XU/s1600/DSC_4886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUoGxbkHgDKoMPBdbQDcWUxg7U2hknGTrkP9tOkyZfea_RwNBERKCb4kuhdAH-rYSFtokp8XNIxBmJIETwelcPARn5sxEpVxHYhHaDdstbHYv3LZwlvfMmg8bXpytpxbCKQwoNqbSk9XU/s400/DSC_4886.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chan Chan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNVEG6mtn5xzhoB3v8IyhdlalSuZcX2bS5wVBG8bnMY5q1Hi227Q0ZYueybUnx3tHNORkYdGGer_D3FxdHxE7rbCdn-gw5vPinUrEF0lfqakg04f1_u815vtPF_WU5Q_hEWENDA0hLvI/s1600/DSC_4894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNVEG6mtn5xzhoB3v8IyhdlalSuZcX2bS5wVBG8bnMY5q1Hi227Q0ZYueybUnx3tHNORkYdGGer_D3FxdHxE7rbCdn-gw5vPinUrEF0lfqakg04f1_u815vtPF_WU5Q_hEWENDA0hLvI/s400/DSC_4894.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chan Chan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ3DH5dg7MWyJ4JlSRFya5u_tXT5DqmGqxoeBsDHVWGmFhkLJOQHAYHIp6QF0k1CxqMRJUJ8bZ98nsItgZQaqX0xnnf38flj20aPF23b4Vp92rMf7lpM2EgaCpW2VgqYa2C4XXMcmv9A/s1600/DSC_4906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJ3DH5dg7MWyJ4JlSRFya5u_tXT5DqmGqxoeBsDHVWGmFhkLJOQHAYHIp6QF0k1CxqMRJUJ8bZ98nsItgZQaqX0xnnf38flj20aPF23b4Vp92rMf7lpM2EgaCpW2VgqYa2C4XXMcmv9A/s400/DSC_4906.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huaca de la luna</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjJI8z0IyJeHegJomjv4k-Q6TLVBZVljH68qpU8ObjVX9YOHGkWIpFhG1GPIdIjk401Cv3zczkswdcPI3tm9Gcug5bm9GIUdzIJjwgLzXUQbi49HHZbhGkkobQ9d5G2hZiSx3dSGCuzQ/s1600/DSC_4919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjJI8z0IyJeHegJomjv4k-Q6TLVBZVljH68qpU8ObjVX9YOHGkWIpFhG1GPIdIjk401Cv3zczkswdcPI3tm9Gcug5bm9GIUdzIJjwgLzXUQbi49HHZbhGkkobQ9d5G2hZiSx3dSGCuzQ/s400/DSC_4919.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huaca de la luna</td></tr>
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<span lang="FR">Encore plus au
sud, nous avons fait une boucle dans le parc national de Paracas. Très bel endroit,
toujours désertique …</span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e69138;">And farther south still along the coast we took a 2-day off-road adventure (never been more off-road before) at the National Park of Paracas.</span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Enfin, les mystérieuses
et énigmatiques lignes de Nazca, parait-il mondialement connues, de
gigantesques dessins dans le désert.
Nous n’avons pas trop été impressionnés. Il faut dire que pour avoir un
réel aperçu il aurait fallu qu’on se
paye un vol à 90 USD par personne hors de notre budget. Nous avons donc juste
gravi la tour métallique à moins de 1USD chacun, certes moins cher mais très décevant. Je cois que c'est supposé représenter un arbre.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="color: #e69138;">Finally we pitched up at the 'observatory' for the Nasca lines. erm yes lines in the desert. Seems the only way to truly appreciate the lines is by a 90usd per person plane ride. Others say that the planes only make you sick. Who pays to get sick??? Not us. So we ponied up the 1USD to climb up a 4m tower and say awwwww. They say this is a tree. Sure it is.</span></div>
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Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-83899031220340258542012-12-16T13:23:00.000-08:002012-12-16T15:27:02.683-08:00El Cañon del Pato y la Cordillera Blanca, Perú<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Perú begins to solidify its identity as we move upwards into the mountains- not surprisingly where the <i>Indigenes</i> have lived and left their mark for thousands of years and have since been marginalized in modern times.. This voyage through the Cordillera Blanca is breathtaking - both from its beauty but also due to its elevation. We are mostly above 3000m and have slept at 4200m and hiked up to 4700m. </div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Le voyage à travers la cordillère blanche nous a coupé le souffle dans les 2 sens du terme par sa beauté mais aussi par son altitude. On a passé la plupart de notre temps au-dessus de 3000m, dormi à 4200m et marché jusqu"à 4700m d'altitude. </span><br />
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To get there we started the journey by following the River Santa into the Canon Del Pato (Canyon of the Duck) where we saw the inside of the belly with some 35 hand dug tunnels.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Pour atteindre la cordillère blanche; nous avons traversé le canyon del Pato (le canyon du canard) avec ses 35 ou plus tunnels.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canyon del pato</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canyon del pato</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canyon del pato</td></tr>
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In the last video, the drive to Cajamarca left us tipsy and dizzy with vertigo (and a bit timid of oncoming traffic!) but the lack of oxygen in the mountains leaves us breathless; and not a little bit cold too. Laguna Paron (after digging out of the mud) was a glacier fed lake at 4200m. Later we visited Laguna 69 even higher in a mountain bowl whereas the pre-Inca archaeological site of ancient pilgrimage and finally our visit to the rare Puya Raimondii trees, all in the Huscaran National Park, drove us to almost 5000m. </div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Dans la dernière video, la route jusqu'à Cajamarca nous a laissé étourdi et avec le vertige (et un peu peureux avec la circulation en sens inverse), mais le manque d'oxygène dans les montagnes nous a laissé à bout de souffle, et gelés... Laguna Paron (après s'être embourbés) est un lac alimenté par les glaciers à 4200m d'altitude. Plus tard, nous avons grimpé jusqu'à la Laguna 69, une superbe randonné encore plus élevé (on a marché jusqu'à 4700m d'altitude dans le creux des montagnes, puis visit</span><span style="color: orange;">é</span><span style="color: orange;"> le site archéologique pré-inca Chavin de Huntar, ancien lieu de pélerinage et finalement notre visite</span><span style="color: orange;"> des Puya raimondii, des arbres rares (qui me font penser à des danseuses tahitiennes) le tout dans le Parc National Huscaran qui nous a conduit à près de 5000m d'altitude.</span><br />
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At the Laguna Peron we, erm, went a little too far and found ourselves a bit 'stuck in the mud', but Bippers amasing 4wd system got us out of a bind with the help of the sand-plates. Cleaning up was a bit more of a challenge as the water was cooooold!<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">A la laguna Paron, nous nous sommes embourbés dans de la glaive gelée. Il a fallu creusé, mettre des pierres, etc pieds nus puis aller rinçé le matériel dans le lac gelé... </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laguna Paron<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz6M3lzxeh-g8I_g-E_X2s1FaX2TaCNZKcKr3MDmVOJRIWxj9kAg3EeJReYVunkLyerUhUY2B-zH4xsp-i7ZimYUtyZALoGgupvC9tC91kvM7aG3prCjUNErtC5SxIX4smIBt0gdbis4/s1600/DSC_4942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz6M3lzxeh-g8I_g-E_X2s1FaX2TaCNZKcKr3MDmVOJRIWxj9kAg3EeJReYVunkLyerUhUY2B-zH4xsp-i7ZimYUtyZALoGgupvC9tC91kvM7aG3prCjUNErtC5SxIX4smIBt0gdbis4/s400/DSC_4942.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lagunas Llanganuco</td></tr>
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This section was the prettiest part of the Andes we have seen to date. The mountains climb upwards over 6000m elevation and have snowy caps. Lakes are emerald green and glacier fed. Waterfalls are omnipresent. Our climb up to Laguna 69 took us to 4700m and we lost our breath - AND we lost our backup fog-lamps. 'I will keep an eye on your car, no worries' are some famous last words.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Cette partie des Andes a été la plus belle que nous ayons vu jusqu'à présent. Cette région montagneuse du Pérou est pleine de lac émeraudes entourés de glacier, de pics enneigés et de cascades. La randonnée qui nous a amené jusqu'à la lagune 69 en est un bel example.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking Laguna 69</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking Laguna 69</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking Laguna 69</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laguna 69</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laguna Llanganuco</td></tr>
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Exhausted and frustrated by really bad dirt roads (cheers for Bippers for keeping her legs under her this time!) we decided to take a TOUR to the ruins of Chavin. We stopped for the compulsary photo-op with dirty frozen children with their fluffy baby animals...at Laguna de Querococha. Fanny took her coca tea.</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Fatigués par les routes non pavées, nous avons décidé de laisser un peu de repos à Bip Bip et au chauffeur et de prendre une excursion organisée pour visiter les ruines de Chavin. Nous avons fait un arrêt à la lagune de Querococha où j'ai pu prendre mon thé aux feuilles de coca, très bon pour lutter contre le mal de l'altitude.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laguna Querococha</td></tr>
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The ruins of Chavin were constructed as a pilgramage site way before the Incas way back between 1200-800 BC. They say they are the most ancient evidence on the continent. All about peace and mathematics I hear...</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Les ruines de Chavin ont été construites entre 1200 et 800 avant JC par une des civilisations les plus anciennes du continent.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chavin de Huntar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chavin de Huntar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chavin de Huntar</td></tr>
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The final scenes of the Cordillera Blanca found us climbing yet again over 4500m in the rain and cold to check out the famous and interesting Puyas Raiimondi trees. Folks cuddled in tiny stone huts with wisps of wood smoke spoke of an ancient past.</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Voilà la dernière partie de la Cordillère Blanche que nous avons exploré: encore des lacs mais surtout les arbres Puyas Raiimondi, les minuscules maisons en pierres où vivent les amérindiens de cette région et un pietroglyphe.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puyas Raiimondi</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puyas Raiimondi</td></tr>
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Our long drive from Nasca to Cusco crossed the Cordillera above the 4000m (twice) until we descended into Cusco at 3500m. Piece of cake..... It will be a long time now before we see the sea.</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">La route entre Nasca et Cusco traverse la Cordillère (pas la blanche) 2 fois jusqu'à la descente à Cusco à 3500m. Les doigts dans le nez!!! Nous ne reverrons pas la mer d'ici peu...</span></div>
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-43953518918770897592012-12-02T04:24:00.001-08:002012-12-02T04:24:13.726-08:00Ramble on, Peru<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #e69138;">After the warm reception of Colombia and
then the warmer embrace of Ecuador we are finding Peru a bit troubling. We are having a hard time coming to grips
with Peru and its identity. For example,
we find, at times, ourselves thinking we
are in Burkina Faso or Sudan or Mali – brief some lost, poor, dusty, dry
crumbling mud-brick African landscape, and needing a wake-up reality
shake. The fabled beach at Máncora
seemed an overly rustic cut-paste of KaoSan Road Bangkok in the worst
connotation. There were times north of
Trujillo where I found the rubble and garbage piles and desert not any
different than southern Iraq. The gap
between the rich and the poor is much greater here than we have seen since
Guatemala – and that might have something to do with the strikingly high
percent (45%) of the population <i>indígenas</i>. Folks are in survival mode, less inclined to accept whimsy – and maybe it is the greater tourism here than
either Colombia or Ecuador that leads folks to be less accommodating to foreigners. We have been challenged by coppers here for
the first time since Nicaragua and we are having to redefine our margins.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #e69138;">There have some notable and exciting
moments and landscapes too – Chiclayo-Chachapoyas-Cajamarca route, some 840kms
gave us chills and thrills as we drove the high sierras on barely-wide-enough
goat tracks perched on vertigo-giving, cloud high, cliffs of doom. I doubt much (we will see) if the Bolivian
Death Road can even compare... This is
where we were able to march to and salute the third highest waterfall in the
world, and to clamber over the ruins of Pre-Inca hand-made! table-top terraced
fortress of Kuelap. We check out the
Laguna de Condor mummification program at a cool museum in Leimebamba. For the first time we had a ‘private’
hotspring (HOT HOT DAMN HOT) bath at
Baños del Inca where we got to steam-soak degrime after 4 days of rough dirt
track driving and unserviced boondocking.
The beach at Huanchaco (out of town, with the fishermen and their reed 'caballos') was restful, proving to be the best pacific beach since
Costa Rica, well Cojimes, Ecuador was really nice too.</span></span></div>
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Après l'accueil super chaleureux des colombiens puis des équatoriens, on a été refroidi par les premiers contacts avec les péruviens, en tout cas sur la côte (peut-être du à la grande affluence de touristes). Bizzarement, on est monté en altitude, perdu quelques degré et rencontré des gens plus sympas et des paysages époustouflants. </div>
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Influencés par d'autres blogs, nous nous sommes lancés dans une route non pavée dans les montagnes entre Chachapoyas et Cajamarca. Cette piste nous a donné des frissons et des sensations fortes: nous avons roulé sur des chemins à peine assez larges pour Bip Bip, perchés sur le flanc de la falaise de telle façon que çà nous donnait le vertige. Nous doutons que la route de la mort en Bolivie puisse faire concurence (on verra!). <span style="text-align: center;">C'est là que nous avons pu marcher et saluer la </span><span style="text-align: center;">troisième </span><span style="text-align: center;">cascade la plus haute du monde, celle de </span><span style="text-align: center;">Gocta, et grimper sur les ruines pré-inca </span><span style="text-align: center;">de Kuelap</span>. Nous avons également jetté un oeil au musée de Leimebamba avec son incroyable collection de momies, qui ont été retrouvées à l'inaccessible lac des condors.</div>
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La fin de la route nous a mené à Baños del Inca où pour la première fois, nous avons profité d'un bain thermale privé, ce n'était pas de trop après 4 jours de camping sauvage dans les pistes poussièreuses.</div>
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Enfin, repos bien mérité pour le chauffeur, sur la plage de Huanchaco, qui s'avère être une des plus belles plages du Pacifique depuis le Costa Rica quoique Cojimies en Equateur était très agréable aussi.</div>
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-1851828108091277802012-11-17T10:44:00.003-08:002012-11-17T13:13:13.608-08:00Le coeur de l'Equateur<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx5e6ojjyhjHIUbrqmNhbKbNYNm8Hb4YvVcqPB7L-6GTBF5qNGk4GZiVkHwYVi4dlSRTKaKGveeLS5e6Neehw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span id="goog_1244863921"></span><span id="goog_1244863922"></span><span id="goog_632818805"></span><span id="goog_632818806"></span><br />
<span id="goog_313179394"></span><span id="goog_313179395"></span>Je ne sais pas trop quoi raconté mise à part qu'on a beaucoup aimé l'Equateur. On a continué notre périple dans les hauteurs qui contraste pas mal avec la côte du pays.<br />
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<span style="color: #e69138;">We really grooved on Ecuador - the price was right, the folks outstandingly helpful, the ROADS so smooth and new, the 3-day-in-jail-for-speeding made driving so nice and calm (mostly), the beaches nicely juxtaposed with the mountains which fit nicely with the Amazonian jungle. Free access to some of the best National Parks. Warm days, cold nights. All nice contrasts.</span><br />
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Tout d'abord, j'ai trouvé dans le guide du routard un village réputé pour son fromage, son chocolat et sa charcuterie alors je n'ai pas laissé le choix à Chris (pas vraiment difficile à convaincre) et nous y avons foncé! Et c'était sans regret car même la route qui y menait était magnifique. La route nous a fait grimper à plus de 4200 mètres d'altitude et passer au pied de l'impressionnant volcan Chimborazo et ses lamas sauvages.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">Fanny scored a free French travel guide where...?...oh yea the place known for cheese and chocolate and sausages. She was in a French kind of heaven- if the French can ever contemplate being outside of Paris. So we packed on the kms climbing to over 4200m and back down to the sea to the beaches. The high flat-lands of the snow-capped Chimborazo where we caught the first sight of wild lamas (vicunas)...</span><br />
<br />
Ambiance différente mais pas moins agréable à Baños, où nous avons passé quelques jours. C'est vraiment le pays des cascades. Nous avons même osé visité un zoo avec un peu de réticence pourtant nous devons avouer que ça nous a bien plu... et faire un descente en tarabita, petite nacelle pendue à un câble, accompagnés par le chien de la propriété.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">A different ambiance - all sport and thrills - was no less agreable in Baños. The land of waterfalls it seemed hosted one of the best zoos we ever visited (not that we support or agree with zoos) and then we did a screeming sliding decent on an Astec (twentieth century version) tarabita with our new friend, the local pooch.</span><br />
<br />
La boucle de Quilotoa était superbe: visite de jolies marchés nottamment un marché aux bestiaux (lamas, cochons, poules...), contemplation du lac et route entre des volcans.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">We cruised the Quilotoa loop for the local colorful markets - and more fun the ANIMAL markets full of Cuy and rabbits and lamas and pigs on ropes all destined for the...erm...kitchen. We also enjoyed the scenery of high lakes and snowy volcanos.</span><br />
<br />
Puis, encore un autre volcan celui de Cotopaxi avec son sommet enneigé et sa forme conique parfaite qui nous a époustouflé au moment du coucher de soleil. Malheureusement, en sortant du parc notre pare-brise arrière s'est brisé en 1000 morceaux mystérieusement. Et là, ça a été le début d'une autre aventure pour le remplacer!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">There is more!- we grunted up Cotopaxi to the end of the trail, but decided against climing the remaining few meters to the refuge, for a top-of the world view around before skidding down back to the lake for a night's chilly camping but a stunning sunset over the volcano. Leaving the next morning is when our rear window shattered into a billion pieces with a resounding explosion. Yet another adventure sourcing parts lead us to finally just making one - and THAT is possible. What a place.</span><br />
<br />
Enfin, le sud avec Cuenca et le parc national de Las Lajas puis plus au sud celui de Podocarpus où nous avons randonné littéralement sur la cime de la montagne. Pourquoi se priver des parcs nationaux en Equateur puisque leurs entrées sont gratuites et qu'il semble qu'ils soient tous plus beaux les uns que les autres!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">Finally (not finished yet) off to Cuenca and the National Park Las Lajas and later a bit farther south the reserve Podocarpus known for the tree (another fancy pine tree as far as I -the forester- can figure out). Better yet was the excessively difficult climb up the the top of the mountain and around the scary-narrow crest back to the refuge and Bippers. We found that the NPs in Ecuador were some of the best we have yet visited. Ever. Nice job Ecuador.</span><br />
<br />
Vraiment l'Equateur, j'adore!!!!!!!!!! <span style="color: #e69138;">Ecuador ranks #1 in our books now.</span><br />
<br />
Statistiques Equateur:<br />
<br />
Nombre de jours passés en Equateur/<span style="color: #e69138;">days in Ecuador</span>: 42<br />
<br />
Nombre de km parcourus/<span style="color: #e69138;">Kms made</span>: 4368<br />
<br />
Bugdet moyen par jour pour nous 2 (maintenance du véhicule comprise): 38,65 euros<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">Average cost per day: $50 USD</span><br />
<br />
Repas incroyable: cochon d'inde à la broche (cf page repas incrediiiible)<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">I am particularly fond of the BBQ full spit roasted PORK!</span><br />
<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-86203413016059199732012-11-06T11:58:00.002-08:002012-11-06T11:58:27.616-08:00La costa pacifica, Ecuador<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Quand on pense à l'Equateur, ce ne sont pas forcément ses plages qui nous viennent en tête et pourtant... Nous avons longé la côte de Esmeralda à Canoa. Ce n'était pas forcément la meilleure saison ni pour le climat (saison des pluies) ni pour observer les baleines que nous tentons de voir depuis le Canada (je commence à me demander si ce n'est pas une légende comme le monstre du Loch Ness?!?) mais nous avons été agréablement surpris par cette côte entre les plages désertées de Cojimies, la jolie île de l'argent (isla de la Plata) avec ses fous à pattes bleues, les pêcheurs de Puerto Lopez et le coucher de soleil sur la plage de Canoa.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;">When one thinks of Ecuador, beaches do not normally come to mind. However, we cruised the coastline from Es;eralda to Canoa and found some of the nicest beaches to date. Bummer we didn't have the greatest weather due to the seasonal rains and bummer we just missed the baby-whaling season too (we have conveniently missed every season since Mexico..) but we have been truly surprised by the deserted beaches of Cojimes, and the 'poor man's Galapagos' at the Isle de Plata was, what we hear, way cheaper and just as anamalistic as the real Galapagos AND the hatching season for the Blue-footed Boobies. Our best sunset to date can be considered off the beach of Canoa.</span><br />
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-90785391872128969992012-10-28T17:57:00.000-07:002012-10-29T06:02:16.048-07:00Ecuador, j'adore! Ecuador, I adore!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Voilà la première partie de notre voyage en Equateur soit le nord du pays. Nous avons passé une dizaine de jours chez Graham, un australien qui vit à Ibarra et qui accueille les voyageurs comme nous chez lui. Il faut dire que nous en avons bien profité. Merci+++ Grâce à ses conseils, nous avons pu réparer Bip Bip (elle n'a jamais été autant en forme que maintenant!) Et nous avons pu aussi visiter la reserve écologique de l'ange: un superbe parc naturel qui n'est marqué dans aucun des guides ainsi que trouver un magnifique spot de camping sur les hauteurs du lac de Cuicocha!!!!<br />
Nous avons ensuite eu la visite des parents de Chris à Quito et eu droit à une chambre d'hôtel pour 4 jours et des ravitaillements du Canada! Merci+++ Avec eux, nous sommes allés sur la ligne de l'Equateur et nous nous sommes bien amusés avec les photos... Enfin, de belles photos de Chris du marché d'Otavalo!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">And so it goes, here is the first installment of our time in Northern Ecuador. We hung out with Graham in Ibarra where we found a great garage and took the time to resolve a bunch of niggly hanger-on details on Bippers and now she runs better than ever. Graham gave us space and was a king of a host. Based on Graham's suggestions we got some wild camping at the Volcano Cuicocha with stunning views (a bit cold brrrr) and did a day trip through some amazing scenery off the beaten bath through the Angel Reserve noted for its bizarre and rare tree species. Bip Bip passed the off-road driving test with colors!</span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #e69138;">We got to hang with my folks for a couple of days in Quito (luxury hotel, I might add) and visited the regional highlights of Otavalo and the 'middle of the world' hotspot of the equator. Cool...</span><br />
<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-51889873940673879032012-10-13T13:27:00.000-07:002012-10-13T13:27:00.701-07:00Colombia, on reviendra / Colombia, we will be back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin! Voilà, nos dernières visites en Colombie: le désert de la Tatacoa, le site archéologique de San Agustin (maintenant je sais que je veux être enterrée dans un cerceuil crocodile avec une statue qui montre les dents devant mon tombeau, en toute simplicité...hihihi) et le sanctuaire de Las Lajas à la frontière de l'Equateur.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">All good things come to an end. So there it is, our much anticipated visit to Colombia. We finished with a the desert of Tatacoa, a romp through the archaeological site of San Augustin (NOW Fanny figures a stone crocodile casket is the way to go...) and the sanctuary of Las Lejas on the Equadorian border.</span><br />
<br />
Et non, aucune photo de Popayan. Notre visite à Popayan a été bien raccourcie. Nous avons atteint le centre ville et eu un petit accrochage avec un motard (qui, je dois préciser était derrière nous), il nous a crié dessus comme du poisson pourri (se disant qu'il allait pouvoir estorquer de l'argent à des touristes) jusqu'à ce que Chris sorte de la voiture et crie plus fort que lui. Pas besoin de vous dire que Chris peut être impressionnant et que ça a calmé le mec qui a bredouillé "je vais appeler la police", "vas-y" lui-a-t-il répondu! Il a prétendu appeler la police en espérant qu'on lui propose un accord à l'amiable mais que dallle!<br />
Voyant que nous n'étions pas prêts à nous faire soutirer de l'argent, le type a pris la fuite 3 minutes après et de même pour nous! Début et fin de notre visite à Popayan!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange;">erm, sorry we don't have any photos Popayan...we hit a bit of a snag and decided to blow through town before we had an unfortunate visit with the police (and who wants that?). We had an unfortunate incident with a motocyclist (HE ran into OUR butt) and he was not a little bit insistant on some retribution (read: payola). I met his fury with a little of my own and well, things got a bit quieter, but were followed by threats to call the coppers. I met THAT bluff too and with squeeling tires he was off like a shot. GUARD YOUR DISTANCE I reminded him as I shook my fist at the back of his helmeted head. We followed his shot with our own shot and we were off....Popayan downtown didn't really appear all that interesting; yea.</span><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Maintenant quelques statistiques pour la Colombie/Some statistics of our time in Colombia:</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Nb de jours passés en Colombie/ <span style="color: orange;">Number of days</span>: 60</li>
<li>Nb de km parcourus/<span style="color: orange;"> Kms made</span>: 6206</li>
<li>Nb de nuits dans Bip Bip/ <span style="color: orange;">Number of nights in Bippers</span>: 48</li>
<li>Nb d'arrêts moyen par jour par les flics/ <span style="color: orange;">Number of irritating 'checkpoint' checks per day (blablabla)</span>: 3</li>
<li>Expressions favorites/<span style="color: orange;">favorite expressions</span>: "¡chévere!", "¡sabroso!", "¿Que más?"</li>
<li>Budget moyen par jour pour nous 2 (maintenance du véhicule comprise): 58 euros ou 47 euros sans compter la maintenance</li>
<li><span style="color: orange;">Ave per day expenses for 2: $75, without the endless maintenance $61- mostly on tolls and gas!</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0Désert de la Tatacoa, Villavieja, Huila, Colombie3.23359 -75.166143.1701765 -75.245104 3.2970034999999998 -75.087176tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-78103077412639588982012-10-06T16:39:00.000-07:002012-10-07T09:19:41.285-07:00Familia Mojica!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: magenta;">De paso obligado para la familia de mi amiga de la infancia Caroline. No es sólo una recepción cálida, pero como si fuéramos miembros de pleno derecho de la familia. Pasamos 3 días maravillosos con Irmele, Ricardo y su hija Anna-Maria a reír, descubrir y disfrutar. Nos mostraron Tunja y sus alrededores : Villa de Leyva, Raquira un pequeño pueblo conocido por sus artesanias de barro, Tibasosa el pueblo de la feijoa, Mongui conocida por su fabricación de pelotas y un relajante baño en las aguas termales de Paipa. Mientras saboreando las delicias culinarias! Es cierto, muchas puertas de las iglesias y los museos estaban cerrados pero no importaba: se me permitió tener una buena colección de fotos de puertas y cerraduras, pero también es un buena excusa para volver! Nos trataron como reyes! Les damos las gracias de nuevo con todas nos fuerzas por todos estos momentos con ellos. Era difícil de salir. Nos faltan mucho! Regresaremos...</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Passage obligé
chez la famille de ma copine d’enfance Caroline. Ce n’est pas seulement
chaleureusement qu’elle nous a accueilli mais comme si nous étions des membres
à part entière de la famille. Nous avons passé 3 jours exceptionnels avec Ricardo, Irmele et
leur fille Anna-Maria à rire, découvrir et déguster. Ils nous ont fait visiter
Tunja et ses alentours : Villa de Leyva et </span><span style="text-align: center;">Raquira </span>un petit village de potier, <span style="text-align: center;">Tibasosa le village de la feijoa (fruit local) </span>Mongui connu pour sa fabrication de ballons et un bain relaxant dans les eaux
thermales de Paipa. Le tout en savourant des spécialités culinaires ! C’est
vrai, beaucoup de portes d’églises et de musées étaient fermées mais ça n’a pas
d’importance : cela m’a permis d’avoir une jolie collection de photos de
portes et de verrous mais c’est aussi un bon prétexte pour revenir ! Nous
avons été traités comme des rois! Nous les remercions encore de tout cœur pour
tous ces moments passés avec eux. Il a été difficile de partir. Vous nous
manquez ! On reviendra…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Turns out that a childhood friend of Fanny
has family in Colombia, and thus the phone wires were burning to make it
possible to connect. What a great
opportunity and great luck to be able to take this once in a lifetime
moment. We crashed back northward to
Tunja to meet these strangers, to be met so warmly like long lost members of
the family. It is no joke to say Colombianos
are the worlds friendliest people (do you think Shakira will invite me home
too??). We spent a very joyful 3 days
with Ricardo, Irmele and daughter Anna-Maria laughing, visiting and eating. We got to check out Tunja and around: Villa
de Leyva and the ‘pottery’ place Mongui to check out the making of soccer balls
and had a great sidetrip out to the thermal pools in Paipa. We worked our way gastronomically through the
region where Fanny tried some new fruit smoothies (HOW many different fruits
can one country have?) while got fat on Picada a nice healthy rounded plate of
mixed bbq sausages. Ohhh boy. Bummer about
all the photos of locked church doors- Tunja is known for its collection
of churches but turns out Monday is no day to go sightseeing...</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">We were treated like royalty and so it
would not be too difficult to be convinced to come back when the churches are
open! We wish to thank our new ‘family’
for being such great hosts and such wonderful people and for the good times we
had. It was difficult to leave, so we
will be back.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: orange;">Oh, anyone willing to host young Anna-Maria
so that she might perfect her English in the Great White North, please let us know. That would be really cool.</span></span></div>
Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0Tunja, Boyacá, Colombie5.5333333 -73.36666675.4068963 -73.5245952 5.6597703 -73.2087382tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-67263473638514145522012-09-29T16:29:00.000-07:002012-09-29T16:31:17.728-07:00La Serrana, Selento<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Ayant un peu de
temps à tuer et ayant trouvé un site magnifique, nous avons décidé de rester 2
semaines en tant que volontaire à l’hôtel La Serrana à Salento.
Attention ! Rien de compliqué, un peu d’aide au petit-déj et au diner,
servir quelques boissons et accueillir les gens. En contrepartie, nous étions (très
bien) nourris, pouvions camper gratuitement et étions libres entre 10h et 16h. Cela
nous a permis de nous pauser un peu, de diminuer nos dépenses et de pratiquer
notre espagnol (et surtout notre anglais…).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Having a bit of time to kill, in order to meet up with my
folks in Quito, we rolled into Selento
and into the hotel La Serrana agog at the magnificance of scenery and decided
that THIS is where we need to chillax.
Nothing is free although this was very nearly so; a two-week gig giving a small effort to help the staff during the breakfast rush, an
assist during supper and once in a while pull a beer for the paying customers
and we got to camp and hang for free with a solid breakfast and hearty supper. Not to mention
learning to joke (being the joke?) with the ‘girls’ can only help with the Spanish,
no?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Le site, à 15
minutes hors de la petite ville pleine de couleurs, est entouré de montagnes et
juste à côté d’une étable ce qui m’a permis d’aller «aider» à traire les vaches
à 5h30 du matin avec trois acolytes. Salento est également localisé à quelques
kilomètres de la fabuleuse vallée de Cocora, dans laquelle nous avons randonné
au milieu des immenses palmiers de cire, jusqu’à une réserve de colibris que
nous avons pu observer en liberté à quelque centimètres de nous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">The site, a mere 15 min hike from the picturesque and
colorful village, (wait! Some rat-kids stole the caps off my tire valve stems
in plain daytime! I take it back; stinky
village!) is surrounded by mountains and rolling grassy hills filled with cows.
Cows that Fanny got to pull milk from at 0530 in the frickin morning. Not to mention that Selento is just a few
klicks from the famous Valle de Cocora where a days hike will bring you face to
face with a hummingbird and also to the immensely tall Wax Palms localized at
some 2800m elevation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Ce ne sont pas
les activités qu’il manquait puisque j’ai pu, non pas avec Chris qui préférait
traîner, mais avec Amy, une autre volontaire, visiter une finca (ferme) de café
et faire une balade à cheval. Je dois avouer que j’ai apprécié mon vrai café
avec du lait frais chaque matin, moi qui suis habituellement une amatrice de
thé…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Fanny got to explore more –I got to drink beer and read –
with Amy, the other ‘volunteer’. They were able to check out a coffee Finca
where Fanny fell in love with ....NOT Juan Vadez but dottering ol’ Signor Elias. Later they went for a horse ride where the
horse did NOT kick in my door this time.
One visit to a Finca and now Fanny drinks coffee in the morning. Weird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Le personnel de
l’hôtel était super, toujours très patient pour nous comprendre et discuter
avec nous en espagnol. Il nous a souhaité chaleureusement une joyeuse fête de
l’amour et de l’amitié en allant danser avec nous dans un petit bar de la
ville : merengue, cumbia, salsa ! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">The staff in the hotel were great and we enjoyed hanging with
them. They let us gabble on in poor Spanish
helping us over the bigger words. Fanny
got gifted a pair of earrings from Bibiana so I guess they liked her.
We got invited out to dance inn the local bar on the National Day of
Love and Friendship...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="FR">Je crois que je
pourrai vivre ici… </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">I
suppose we could live here….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #e36c0a; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="FR">Viva
Colombia !<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4646756750088854498.post-24857606653647166272012-09-19T11:54:00.001-07:002012-09-19T12:29:16.494-07:00Colombia, Tierra Querida, la suite/the continuation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">Plus nous allons dans les terres, plus nous sommes accueillis à bras ouverts!</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">Une très belle route nous a mené au parc très peu fréquenté de Las Estoraques avec ses formations géologiques inhabituelles, à côté du superbe petit village de "La Playa de Bélen" où Adrian, un jeune du village nous a pris en charge et nous a fait connaitre l'eau de vie locale.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">Sur le chemin vers Pamplona, nous avons profité de la proximité avec le Vénézuela pour nourrir Bip Bip avec de l'essence illégale mais tellement moins cher (2 dollars pour un gallon)!</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">On a aussi passé pas mal de temps dans des garages ce qui me permet d'être très douée poour taper la discute avec les autres clients et d'apprendre que la Renault 4L a été déclaré emblème national en Colombie! Quand a Chris, il devient imbattable sur le vocabulaire mécanique...</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: inherit;">Entre Giron, une autre jolie ville blanchie à la chaux et San Gil, nous avons traversé le spéctaculaire canyon de Chicamocha où nous avons rencontré un couple d'américains qui font le même trajet que nous mais à vélo!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Continuons avec les jolis villages blanchis à la chaux: nous avons laissé Bip pour faire une ballade à pied "le camino real" entre Barrichara et Guane où il promeuvent le lait de chèvre à la place du viagra!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nous sommes ensuite tombés sous le charme du lago de Tota, qui se situe à 3200 m d'altitude. Ce fut une superbe petite balade bien raffraichissante!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ben non! Ce n'est pas fini avec les jolis villages blanchis à la chaux puisque nous sommes passés par Villa de Leyva connu pour son festival de cerfs-volants et sa grande place centrale entourée par les montagnes! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pour finir cette video, l'étrange et étonnante cathédrale souterraine de sel. Semble-t-il une des principale attraction de Colombia!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange; text-align: left;">A beautiful drive to Ocana and the crazy geologic formation of La Playa
(where the local force fed us the local hooch that had a hint off anis – along
with diesel fuel). </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange; text-align: left;"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange; text-align: left;">We are not blind, gratefully), a skid through Cucuta for a gas stop
(cheap illegal Venezuelan gas $2 a gallon) on the way to Pamplona, a sleep in
the town square of the whitewashed old Giron, a stunning and stunningly scary
dangerous creep of 80kms along the Canon del Chicamocha, where in a fit solidarity we stopped to give water
and calories to a pair of American bicyclists on the long grind to the top – and who were even
more happy to partake of our solar
shower on the curb.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange;">We continued the trail through stunning scenery of mountains and valleys
to yet more tiny chalk-white villages to leave Bippers fend for herself while
we stepped out on the interesting hike along a German initiated trail – a
colonial effort in road building - from Barichara to Guane. </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange;"> Guane, where goat-milk is better than Viagra!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">We fell under a spell of the Lago de Tota where at 3200m it was
certainly refreshing. And yet again we
found ourselves camping in another blindingly white village surrounded by green
hills and crystalline blue skies. Villa de
la Leyva is known for its kite festival in a town square larger than the zocalo
in Mexico city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: orange;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We will leave you with images of the strange and colorful subterranean
salty Cathedral; seems to be the number one attraction of Colombia.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br />Bip Bip Americashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221954596957542721noreply@blogger.com040 - El Colegio, Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombie4.570868 -74.297333-11.424770500000001 -94.5121765 20.5665065 -54.082489499999994