Argentina, Bolivia and beyond

For those of you keeping up with this blog, which there may be a couple/few of you, my apologies for not updating for some time now. 
A lot has happened over the past week or so that has kept me busy enough and more or less away from the internet enough not to post.   So I think it has been a week or so since I posted anything and since then I’ve been up to Paraguay for a few days and back to Argentina again, worked my way back to the mountain s and up and over some passes on my way to Bolivia which is where I am now.  On my way I’ve picked up a few travelers one of which is my buddy from school, Josh, and the others are a couple of German gals that are on break from doing social work in Bolivia.  All in all Kombi has seemed to be in steady decline this time through the Andes.  So today is the day that I dismantle the back end of the engine and try to figure out what is causing a fuel mixture/over heating problem.  We’ll see how that goes. 
I feel like there is just too much information to write down in a post with regard to the ins and outs of the  past week but suffice to say that it has been great and I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of people and share a bunch of beers.  Maybe I’ll get some motivation to type this evening.  Since the Andes in Bolivia are giving Kombi a run for her money I'm going to try and get some cool weather.  Kombi, Josh, Kati, and myself head out for Potosi at 3-4 tomorrow morning so I better get drinking soon so I can get to bed early.  From Bolivia with love-

Kombi and Mitch

Oh and I may rethink titling this blog- Kombi vs. Andy:  Payback

No pictures this time, the connection here is terrible, but there's a few on Facebook.  

Plains of Argentina and the Border

Just a quick update with some pictures for you guys.  I've been on the plains of Argentina for the past few days and surprisingly it seems this terrain is worse for Kombi than the mountains were.  It is really F'ing hot here, to the point that Kombi is trying to overheat pretty much right away and I'm having to limit my speed to about 60 kph to keep it in check.  So after I pick Josh up I think we may head for Bolivia and some cooler temperatures.  Who knows, we'll have to decide that tomorrow.  As for now I crossed into Paraguay today.  This border was a little more interesting than the previous two and i found out as I tried to cross that I needed a visa which had to be bought at the consulate in the town I had just come from.  Long story short I slid in just before they closed and sorted it out.  All in all it took about 3 hours and a couple of beers to get the job done.  So far Asuncion is beautiful but I just got here and need to check it out a bit.  Here's some pics of the border, a dude I drank a beer with, another beer stop, and a definite FAIL.  Later guys

 

Dakar in Perico

I said it on face book but I may as well follow it up here.  There are a couple/few ways to watch a rally race.  One is to go out on the coarse somewhere and watch as each moto, car, or truck rips by and cheer them on from there.  The other is to join the masses that gather at the finish of the stage to cheer all the drivers in.  I chose the later of the two, and by masses I mean over 150,000 people ready to have a rip roaring good time.  I spent the better part of the day trying to get a good position for viewing the melee but after a bit figured to hell with it and went to Kombi to get a beer and some water.  After a couple I figured it was worth one more shot  at getting a spot .  People had been gathering for over 6 hours at this point and only support vehicles(of which there are hundreds) had come in so far.  I’m pretty sure most of the spectators had no idea the difference between a support vehicle and an actual race vehicle.  They gave each and every vehicle with a sticker of any sort on it what so ever a hero’s welcome to the finish area.  The police did there best to restrain the crowd but over the coarse of the day  they were worn down and eventually just gave up.  I happened to be on the bridge just before the finish at the very moment the police gave in and with a full 24oz beer, a camera, and a smile I nestled into arguably the best seat in the house, directly over the road into the finish.  With no police restraint the first moto riders were completely mauled by the crowd.  To the point that it was definitely dangerous, but at the same time (from my vantage point) really entertaining.  Exhausted, dirty moto riders being molested by drunk, fiesta crazed locals, GREAT!  I rattled off a bunch of picture for a couple of hours then resigned to the fact that a really big party was about to happen .  Kombi was parked right in the heart of the action so after hanging a couple of flags on her(Chile/Argentina)  I posted up with a bottle of wine and proceeded to get to know the town folk.  After a couple hours of socializing, wining it up, and taking pictures with people/families I decided to catch a few hours of sleep before the party started again. 
I crawled out of Kombi at 4:45 in the morning to see a few thousand people still going strong and ready to cheer the drivers on as the rolled out on stage 4 of the Dakar.  What an amazing deal these people have managed to pull off.  This is the first time the Dakar has ever come to the town of Perico and they certainly made the most of it.  With 150,000 they set the bar for the most spectators yet this year!  After a solid downpour settled in around 6am I retreated to Kombi to get a couple more hours of sleep.  I got it together at 9 or so this morning then set out for Corrientes, Argentina and eventually Asuncion, Paraguay.  The plains of Argentina are enormous and beautiful if not redundant.  It reminded me a lot of something like combining Virginia with Nebraska.. . At 45mph.  But Kombi is running like a dream these days, I gotta thank my blessing for that. 
I’m picking my buddy Josh from Alaska up at the airport in Asuncion in a couple of days so it will be a bit of a change of pace having a co-pilot.  I’m looking forward to it.  I wanted to be alone and I’ve definitely had plenty of that.  Time to mix it up for 10 or so days.

Great God!

So I'm not really sure where to start on this one but I suppose I'll just get right into the meat of it.  I celebrated New Years in style in San Pedro then had one of the best new years on record the following day.  Hung over and feeling it I still managed to get a great mountain shred in and take in some more of the stunning beauty that makes up the Atacama.

After a good nights rest I set sail for Argentina and the town of San Salvador de Jujuy.  I was told that by car it takes about 7 hours and by bus it takes 10 so I figured I was somewhere behind the bus at about 12 or so. I was sorely mistaken.  18 hours later I arrived in Jujuy thoroughly "Kombi'd" out.  I knew going into this day(s) it was going to be the most difficult we'd faced thus far and possibly the toughest of the entire trip.  I was not, however prepared for the fact that Kombi simply will not run above 15,000 feet and the fact that the majority of our route was above 12,000.  This made for an incredibly slow pace and frequent, very frequent stops due to over heating.  Over all we cover about 400km in about 18 hours(just over 20km/hr average).  That doesn't include the night I spent on a mountain pass after Kombi said "enough already".  We woke up to sub-30 degree temps at about 6 am this morning and there again she didn't want to start.  All in all she really knew what she was doing.  If she hadn't have stopped I would have missed argueably the most beautiful sunrise I've seen in my life and definitely the most amazing auto decent I've ever bared witness to.  Highlights from this leg of the trip included being towed up the Paso de Jama by a semi, seeing wild lamas and flamingos, and the feeling of triumph and relief as we descended to something resembling sea level.  Kombi is happy and running great now that we're back in her element and my O my has the scenery changed.  I'll post a bunch of pics on facebook and a few here(again facebook is much faster).  When I see all of you I'll have to relay more detail.  There is something about the last two days that stands out and is really difficult to put into "post" form.   Maybe I'm just a shitty writer... got it

We did it, Kombi and I conqured the Andes for round one.  It wasn't easy and we certainly didn't do it alone, but we did it.  Time to relax and get the Stoke up for the Dakar Rally tomorrow and the next day.  Cheers!

Role

Here's some pics of being towed, the beauty of the Andes, how different the terrain is, and just how slow Kombi and I were going at times.

Kombi in the ER

I've been working on Kombi seemingly from the very first day I've been with her.  Wait, actually from the very first day I was with her. We've made it through some interesting roadside repairs and other more calculated adjustments that I could plan for.  This morning was by far the most intense repairs need thus far.  It was planned, sort of, so with plenty of time I set up to meet with the local mechanic here in San Pedro and go over a small list. 

For about four days or so now Kombi would only start sometimes, then never, then sometimes.  After testing the battery and the alternator it came down to the starter motor.  I removed and disassembled the starter and with the help of Willis(that's the mechanic's name) we diagnosed that it was the bushing that aligns the starter with the actual motor.  The chances of him having the right bushing were slim.  After searching his garage/yard we did not in fact find the right bushing but we found one that was close and ground and drilled it out to fit our needs.   We reassembled the starter, installed the bushing, installed the starter, and gave the ol girl a go only to find out that she runs like a dream. Perfect!  In only a couple few hours Willis and I had fixed yet another problem with Kombi and driving away I could tell she was more than happy, purring as it were.  I felt the need to relay this story of repair and triumph because not only would i forget the details but I have a hot Internet connection and I need to take advantage of it.  

So far on this trip the repairs to Kombi are as follows:  separated shifting assembly, 2 flat tires, broken throttle cable, broken clutch cable, new fuel filter, complete separation of left axle from transmission (on the road) and reinstall with 4 out of 6 bolts(added one more with Willis this morning), installed lighter, and removal of and repair to starter motor and bushing.   I'm one third of the way through the trip, I wonder what's next. 

On the second of January Kombi and I attempt arguably the hardest day of the trip traveling over the Paso de Jama from Chile to Argentina.  We'll spend a hundred or so kilometers above 12,000 feet with our max altitude somewhere over 15,000.  Should be interesting, but I have faith in and love for Kombi and after today I feel the same from her.  I also must give credit where credit is due.  If it weren't for Hoyt I wouldn't stand a chance on this here trip.  So, thanks Dad.  

Talk to you guys soon.

William

Oh and this would have been a great time to take pictures but I suck at that.

"The Road" - Chile (more pictures)

Pictures from the road in Chile.  I posted a bunch more on Facebook(for some reason it's faster).  The last is from a lagoon on a massive salt flat outside of San Pedro.  I'm  not sure if you've had the chance to swim in a salt flat lagoon or possibly the dead sea, but it's a very weird feeling.  You float on top of the water due to the salinity and you can just float there.  Float around on your back and not move a muscle, just look up at the clouds.  There were also flamingos and the whole deal is set in the shadows of massive volcanos.  I'll try to come up with more ways to convey exactly how legit this shit is.  But here's some pics-

Further into Chile

I bid farewell to Arica a few days ago in pursuit of something different.  I'd say bigger and better but that would be setting a bar that would strictly contradict the notion of going with it, no plan: that's the plan.  No set bar: bar achieved.  Unfortunately my surfing for the first part of the trip officially came to a close yesterday morning as I hit the town of Tocopilla and headed east into the Andes.  By this point I know Kombi pretty well.  Her likes, dislikes and so forth and so on. Three things really hurt Kombi:  wind, heat, and altitude.  The Atacama is the epitome of all of these combined.   
This headed into the Mountains of the Atacama desert is going to be something.  The Atacama is the driest desert in the world and I found that out kilometer by kilometer yesterday.  Kombi and I struggled through the second mountain pass in first and second gear on three cylinders for about two hours.  Every 5 kilometers or so she had to take a break, so without question(without a choice) we sat on the side of the road for 20 or so minutes and relaxed.  I got a lot of reading done and Kombi got to take naps on a stretch of road she's probably never seen before.  Win, win I suppose.  We finally made it into San Pedro de Atacama at about 10 pm and stumbled around town on little to no fuel to find a hostel and gas.  I'll have to take some pictures of this city as it is entirely different than any other town I've been to thus far.  I've attached a couple of photos but I'm also posting another group of photos from "the road" in Chile.  Happy new year guys.  Talk to you soon.