Potosi to Cochabamba - Click here for map

Sorry for not updating- We have been having a fantastic time!

The mines in Potosi were fantastic. We were lucky enough to be in the area in the low-season, and got our own private guide. Thousands of miners toil within Cerro Rico in 19th century conditions. Interested? check out this link - http://www.emergingpictures.com/devils_synopsis.htm - We had a blast (literally) and emerged from the dark after 2.5 hours. The walk back to town was great, too. The street leading up to the mines are crammed with shops selling miners supplies - cocoa leaves, cigarettes, dynamite, poptassium nitrate. . . It was really scarry. The whole town could blow up with one mistake. Literally 10 Oklahoma City´s worth of explosives on one block. Kids were doing their homework atop 50 kilo sacks of Potassium Nitrate while their mothers hawked dynamite and detonators. Amazing.

We left Potosi, and hit pavement for the first time in two weeks. It felt fantastic. We speed along, and were in Sucre within a few hours. It is a beautiful city.

In Sucre, we were really lucky and found a great hotel with a huge courtyard for our bike. As we pulled in to park, was were stunned to see another motorcycle. It was a huge KTM, and had traveled from Mexico to Bolivia. Wow! We were stoked. Finally someone to share stories with. Jerome proved to be quite a guy. He introduced us to the many friends he had made in his three weeks in Sucre, and we all had a great time partying every night we were there.

While Valerie took Spanish lessons, Jerome and I worked on our bikes (not that there was much to do to Bee - I just changed all the fluids) and we took a nice ride into the countryside outside Sucre. Bee Handles awesome in the dirt unladen. We also had custom footpegs made for Valerie ($7 in Bolivia, $300 from Touratech) Valerie is a different passenger now. Her knees no longer hurt, and she is able to raise her body to help the bike take the bumps better. It was the best $7 we ever spent. They can make anything you want here. In La Paz, I will have a custom skidplate made with compartments for tools ( just like Jeromes - aka Romeo)

We traveled together, BMW and KTM, to Cochabamba, where we are now. Cochabamba is quite a big city, but lacks the charm and cleanliness of Sucre. It was great to finally ride with another bike. The road between Sucre and Cochabamba was mostly cobblestone, which felt slippery even though it was dry. It is amazing that it is cheaper to pave with cobblestones than asphalt here.

The only hotel we could find in Cochabamba that would allow us to park in front of our rooms had the most steps Bee had ever encountered. Four of them, each 8-10 inches high. We managed to get the BMW in with some effort. The stairs were nothing for the KTM. Look for the video soon. Jerome will post it on his site, and I will link to it.

Chaio.

A&V