Days 9, 10 & 11: Nearing the Final Push

India is a huge country, and as one of my friends told me, much changes as you explore it.  As we’ve headed further and further north, here are some of the major differences we’ve noticed compared to the south:

* There are considerably more women out and about, and in general they are much more attractive (to Western eyes at least).  Most of them are still wearing traditional dress, but we do see many in jeans and the like.

* There are less rickshaws!  Today I only counted five the entire day!  This is compared to the south where you could throw a rock anywhere and hit five rickshaws as it bounced around.  On the other hand, people try to wave us down here for a ride in the day, where down south they all just looked at us funny because of my paint job.

* We’ve been seeing some occasional nods and head-shake “no’s†up here, a stark contrast to further south.  The head wagging is still there but appears much less common.

* This may just be bad timing on our part, but it seems like wide-scale power outages are more common in the north.  Aside from the two nights in Bhaneswar, we’ve had power outages in every city we’ve been in for the last few nights.

**Day 9:**  forgot km, ~11 hours on the road

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FHUA3ZcI/AAAAAAAABLs/bgjL98jAk_g/s1600-h/P10904103.jpg)We started out expecting a smooth day with our newly serviced rickshaw and instead were unable to start it in the morning!  After a bit of messing around using some tricks I had picked up from various mechanics, I was finally able to get it started and on the road after around thirty minutes of mucking around.  A nerve-wracking beginning…

The day went very well from there as we made excellent time up the divided highway of NH5 until it became NH6 then forked off onto smaller roads.   In one of this very low population areas we had our first near “incident†in India – we stopped for gas at a completely empty India Gas station with no one around.  The attendant gave us our standard ten liters of petrol then wandered off to put 400ml of oil in and came back saying he had put a liter of oil in (way too much).  We tripped out a bit but then he backed off saying no, 400ml…  ugh. 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FOd8mHcI/AAAAAAAABL0/mfhQbIYjsTc/s1600-h/P10904123.jpg)He then proceeded to ask us to pay an exorbitant price, saying the oil cost 400+ rupees (it normally costs around 40).  I politely explained that this was too high and we would not pay more than 600 rupees total (500 for the gas and 100 for the oil, which was way overpriced) and then he started asking for 700 rupees.  At this point Tak got pissed and looked like he was about to start yelling at the guy (I think he may have yelled a little), but I stepped in and tried to settle things.  We ended up paying 650 rupees and driving off with most of our pride intact, but the last thing I wanted to risk was an altercation here with a random gas station attendant – a few bucks is a price I’m willing to pay. Nonetheless we have decided to stick to more populated petrol stations in the future.

Shortly after lunch-time, about twenty km short of our destination (we made awesome time) I stopped to ask for directions and it died – and wouldn’t start again!  I futzed around a bit and finally noticed that the spark plug wire that the mechanic had “fixed†yesterday was loose again, got it on tightish and we decided to keep driving the rest of the way to Mindapoor and try to get it fixed there.

[](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FVvpjCRI/AAAAAAAABL8/OBWNxF_15Jg/s1600-h/P10904153.jpg)A few minutes later I noticed a parts store on the side of the road and decided to stop there.  Of course it turned out they were closed and we couldn’t get the rickie started again – but it just so happened there was a mechanic across the street!  We sat in the shade with this cool older guy who appeared to be the block patriarch and messed around with a bunch of local children until the mechanic was able to dig up a new (to us) cable and get us all squared away, then we happily revved off to an early halt in a decent place in Mindapoor.

Mindapoor was a cool little town, but I crashed out early and didn’t really explore – was exhausted.

**Day 10:** ~430km, ~13 hours on the road

[](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FchUj15I/AAAAAAAABME/Asb39LUJ3BU/s1600-h/P10904183.jpg)Yep, night driving again!  Today did not start off well.  In a nutshell, after 45 minutes of trying to get the rickie started I eventually traced the fault to bad current to the plug again and was able to re-fit the spark plug connector by shaving a bit off the wire with my knife to fix the problem.  We also put in the “suspect†gas (that may have had too much oil) and I think it probably did because the thing drove quite poorly until we finally got new gas.

After that drama getting going, we wandered around through the back roads of India for most of the day before finally connecting to a slightly bigger highway to take us most of the rest of the way to Gangtok – all to avoid Kolkotta.  I’m too exhausted after driving well over an hour in the insane night driving of India to really summarize much, but when you see the video of some of the small towns we drove through you will understand.

It was both sad (the poverty, dirt, and squalor were among the highest we have seen yet) and uplifting (the people were equally helpful and polite and many seemed very happy).  I think at some point I’d like to spend some more time exploring these small roads and their small poor towns.`

[](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FkBOBtDI/AAAAAAAABMM/1y4l8M0iiOs/s1600-h/P10904423.jpg)I did however get to eat one of the Indian MRE’s that I bought back in Bhaneswar for lunch (the same ones I get in the States and love), it was quite awesome after being warmed up on the engine!

*(written April 6 @ 9:44PM)*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Day 11:**  ~325km, ~11 hours on the road

Darjeeling!  We’re now about five to six hours away from our final destination and we have a few days to spare thanks to making great time and having no major problems with our rickshaw.  Today we did have one short problem with putting oil in the gas tank after filling it and not mixing properly, but I sorted that quickly using some of the techniques learned over the past few days.

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FtIIO7zI/AAAAAAAABMU/YaYFgqj3Qng/s1600-h/P10904443.jpg)We started off driving through an amazingly idyllic countryside with green fields, farmers checking their crops, and cute farm animals doing their work all under a layer of minor fog (we were on the road at 5:35AM).  Our goal was to make the town of Siligiri, approximately 260km away, and pause there for the night before making the mountain run up to Darjeeling tomorrow.

The big surprise came about an hour into the trip – suddenly NH34 turned from a small country road crowded with towns and farms into a huge divided mega-highway!  This was great for speed, but incredibly boring.  I ended up pulling out my ebook reader and reading a book for awhile while Tak stormed us towards Siligiri.

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72FyJmev5I/AAAAAAAABMc/yNEdY5DDKz4/s1600-h/pano_view13.jpg) 

We arrived way ahead of schedule, pulling into Siligiri just shy of 11AM.  A quick consensus was reached – we would head straight up to Darjeeling and worry about lunch later.  I took over driving and we made the hill climb up towards Darjeeling, arriving by 3:30PM.  The drive up was absolutely incredibly, the scenery and views were fantastic, driving next to the “toy train†and making a game of passing it was great fun, but best of all were the beautiful people…  The mixture of Asian features was a welcome change, as was the abundance of attractive women to wave at on the side of the road (we’re not at all creepers, promise).

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72F5P_s13I/AAAAAAAABMk/crcF9ZetbBM/s1600-h/pano_view23.jpg)

[](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72F_H3p4aI/AAAAAAAABMs/UXl_5oFkpbc/s1600-h/P10905183.jpg)We also ended up going through a bunch of hill towns just as school got out and thus got to entertain huge crowd of kids – it’s hard to describe this feeling, but watching a bunch of kids suddenly go crazy laughing and pointing as you drive by waving and grinning is a great feeling.  I kept saying “everybody point at the crazy whities†and “laugh at the monkeys doing tricks for your amusement†but it was all in fun – we do look silly and loony driving this little piece of crap rickshaw up this barely functional mountain road  and I’m glad they enjoy it because we do!

Darjeeling town was so crowded with vehicles and people that navigation became a nightmare, all while we drove around honking and grinning and waving at everyone.  Eventually we were able to get our bearings and found the road of the hotel we were looking for, but no dice on the hotel.  A guy on his motorcycle with his wife asked us in perfect English where we were heading, then gave us some directions but it ended up being a different place.  Then we got some little kids on their bikes to show us another place, but it was empty and not the actual place (Dekeling Resort vs Hotel).  We went to another place but they were full, and this guy on the motorcycle with his wife drove by again.

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/S72GFkoSqZI/AAAAAAAABM0/dyYp4dS2mKA/s1600-h/P10905193.jpg)After telling him of our problems, he told us that he had a set of private rooms we could use for a thousand rupees a night.  I was sold just by the randomness of it so we went to take a look – I was impressed!  The bathroom was great, the beds were nice, and the view was AMAZING (though the walls needed paint, which twitched Tak a bit at first).  Plus he had a garage to part our rickie in, so, done and done.

That night we went out to celebrate, ate something other than Indian food for the first time in 15 days, and consumed copious amounts of wine.  It was a good day.

*(written April 8 @ 8:26AM)*

* *

Day 8: The Caravan Splits

There is always a certain amount of stress and conflicting personalities on any sort of adventure like this, which is one of the main reasons I generally prefer to do them alone.  While I did enjoy the company of Mucho Nacho, it has been clear from the beginning that I’m just considerably more laid back yet want to focus primarily on the experience of the journey.  I simply don’t believe that driving a 7hp three-wheeler 3000+km across a country is a mechanism for tourism, if I want to go to tourist spots I will travel as a tourist or a backpacker.

As a result of this difference in attitudes and my desire to drive during the daylight (meaning being on the road by 6AM), our caravan has split up today – we may attempt to reform at some point, but honestly I don’t think it’s terribly likely (**April 5 @ 5:45AM – We may do a shorter day today and see if they can catch up after talking it over with them)*.  It has been building for a couple days as Tak & I have gotten up and forged 2-3 hours ahead then stopping early while they caught up, but today it came to a head – I wanted to service my rickshaw today (very important) and stay in the nice hotel here while Malena & Adam wanted to drive *south* (the “wrong†way) to a tourist spot and get their rickshaw serviced tomorrow.  I really enjoyed their company in the evenings around the dinner table but I’m not willing to lose nearly a day to stick with them at this point.

In an interesting twist, Tak is with me (we’ve been getting along quite well and have similar attitudes on this journey) and will probably stay with me for the rest of the trip, thus splitting up the Macho Nucho team.  I’m really enjoying his company and am quite happy to have found someone who has such a similar attitude of looking to enjoy the experience to the fullest and not just check off a list of things to visit from a book (much like Rob & Will on the Mototaxi Junket).  Too bad he’s not a hot single woman.  ;)

Today, we wandered around the city and took care of many important errands.  Our rickshaw has been fully serviced and tuned, including changing the engine and transmission oil (which was some of the blackest, nastiest looking stuff I have ever seen come out of an engine), replacing the head gasket, tuning our air/fuel ratio, replacing our broken rod sleeves and re-greasing the joints, fixing the duct taped spark plug wire, getting our speedo/odometer cog replaced and fixed (it broke yesterday), getting our replacement inner tube and tire mounted, and rotating our tires so that our almost bald rear-right tire is now our spare. 

It was also great fun to hang out with the mechanics working out of a hut on the side of the road and shoot the breeze with them while they worked, as well as learn a lot more about the engine and the rickshaw (I have definitely learned a ton about this little 150cc beast) – this was the type of experience in India that no tourist will ever get, and it’s more meaningful (in this situation) to me than seeing a temple.

Additionally we removed all the built up trash from the rickshaw (water bottles, wipes, etc.) and cleaned it out of dust, dirt, and spilled oil/gas.  We went grocery shopping and bought healthy snacks, hand cleaning fluid, extra rags, and window cleaner (the crap that accumulates inside and outside the front window is incredible).  Finally we grabbed some beers and vodka to celebrate a bit tonight.

Tomorrow we expect to get ~430km closer to Kolkotta on NH5, then break off around it and take slower roads up towards Darjeeling.  Depending on how things turn out, we’re hoping we will overshoot a bit and be able to spend a day in Darjeeling (I really want to see the snow leopards at the zoo) before an easy final jaunt up to Gangtok to finish things off next Saturday.

(Written Sunday, April 4 @ 5:01PM)

Video - Part 1

Edited at various hotels, hostels, and resorts in India as the Rickshaw Run goes on, here are some video highlights from the first four days showing the roads and experience of travelling across India on a rickshaw:

[Direct Link to Vimeo Video – Rickshaw Run Part 1](

Rickshaw Run Is GO!

Quick update from an internet cafe, I will do a longer one tomorrow hopefully...  Nutshell, we got out of Kochi successfully!  It was a bit crazy but it happened. I ended up caravanning with the team Mucho Nacho as they were also headed towards the east coast, and just like the Mototaxi Junket the team I was with ended up having mechanical problems all day!  Eventually they were traced to a bad spark plug and we were able to get things moving after many hours of false starts. Total travel today, 162km in about seven hours...  Not very good, but mechanical delays were the killer.  2900km left?  Eep. Chillin' for the night in Munnar, tomorrow we head towards Pondecherry (though we won't make it all the way), then Chennai and up!

2010 Spring Rickshaw Run - I'm in!

Not only have the Adventurists made good on their option for free entry to an event due to all the paperwork and delay hassles with the Pioneer Mototaxi Junket in South America, they were able to also slot me into the spring Rickshaw Run!  I'm amazingly stoked about this, as I get to try something entirely new!

 

I'll be updating this over the coming weeks with more plans and details, but it looks like I will be in India come March!

 

**SPRING:** 28th March - 11th April

http://rickshawrun10s.theadventurists.com/index.php?page=theunroute

http://rickshawrun10s.theadventurists.com/pete

 

Motoventure Recap

I've now been back in the States for just over a week - still adjusting in some ways, but the motoventure is also rapidly fading from visceral experience into warm memory. With most of the media from the trip and the fallout all sorted, I figured it was a good time to end with a final recap: - [Rob & Will from Valsalva Victory](http://valsalvavictory.wordpress.com/) made it! They were the first team to actually drive a mototaxi all the way from Huancayo to Asuncion. Of everyone on the Junket, I spent by far the most time with them, from carrying their extra weight on mountainous terrain to the hectic side by side drive down towards Abancay in the pitch black because their lights randomly cut out... Definitely stoked that they pulled it off! - [Danny Smith from 633 Squadron](index.php?mode=teamwebsites&name=633-squadron&page=blog) also made it, along with some others. What makes Danny special is that he's the craziest most accident prone loony in the entire Junket (while also being a stand up guy and great to hang out with). His mate had to leave partway through and he decided to go on alone through some of the most insane problems including multiple full crashes, lost paperwork, and almost crossing the border into Bolivia dressed as a giant bunny. All in all very exciting - I'm not sure if I'm glad to know that the trip is absolutely doable in two weeks without paperwork problems, or if it just pisses me off because the paperwork screwed so many people. Maybe a bit of both... I really hope The Adventurists learn from this - they're running a proper business now, they can't leave things like this to chance next time. Multimedia: - I've uploaded a few hundred full resolution original pictures to flickr. Anyone can feel free to use these, just follow the right licensing (nutshell, use it wherever you want but give me credit - and I'd like it if you dropped me a note and let me know!). [Entire collection is available here.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/pete_waterman/collections/72157622517898875/) - These pictures are also available on Facebook for tagging/etc., but you'll have to find me first - when you're logged into Facebook, just hit my URL: [http://facebook.com/petewaterman](http://facebook.com/petewaterman) - I'm working on a recap video which will probably come in around 15min and will hopefully include some cool voiceovers and GPS location animation. Until then, I put together a 2.5 minute teaser trailer with a sequence of clips to highlight some of the amazing stuff we did. [Please watch and share (feel free to link anywhere)!](

Day 23: Random Location to Uyuni

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[](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8M3JKvBBI/AAAAAAAAA2k/QoEddH1dzDk/s1600-h/P10507803.jpg) (written 11/12 @ 7:30pm)  I cried today for the first time in over thirteen years.  Literally wept.  When I arrived at the salt flats and started blasting away towards the horizon on my little jaumoto all the emotions and stresses and joys of the past few months crashed in on me while I was completely overwhelmed at the unreal beauty and intensity of the Salar de Uyuni.  Unhappiness with my job, my friend with cancer, the insanity of the motoventure, the last few days of wondering if I could make it, and so many other things…  there I was driving jaumoto 70kmh at 8000RPM in 5th just bawling my eyes out.

 

It was so intense, but then today was an epic day.  From intense lows to massive highs and back to intense lows, I can't imagine I'll experience anything like this again for quite a long time.

 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NEnOrwAI/AAAAAAAAA2s/ZwvPQmJoNoY/s1600-h/P10505843.jpg) It started waking up in a quarry for construction, after getting well lost in the dark the night before.  I watched the sunrise, then got my gear packed in the freezing cold, checked my coordinates against the map and set off.  Within 30min I finally seemed to be back on the right road, but the inconsistency of this road continued to burn.  For some stretches it would be flat, compact, and fast (though dirt) – yet it was constantly interrupted by "desvios" (detours) that took me through horrid terrain, and it was nearly impossible to follow at times.  At one point I got stuck in the sand on a farmer's tractor road and had a great time getting out and back to the real road…

 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NOytiqeI/AAAAAAAAA20/5SYYN9YlQIE/s1600-h/P10506777.jpg) Eventually I got to the town that signaled the turn towards Tahua – and they had a gas station!  This was good because I am constantly low on gas due to my leak (I basically keep it under 1/4 tank and refill from my gas can).  This time I just filled the tank and took off towards Tahua…  augh.  I went down this sandy side road for a bit then finally asked a local – he told me this would get me to Tahua and that it was better than the main road because the main road was bumpy.  I hate bumps, so off I went…

 

Through fields, through mud flats, through all sorts of craziness I wound about this mountain heading south.  A few times I got stuck in sand and had to slowly dig my way out, then suddenly I found myself embedded in a solid patch of six inch sand at least thirty yards long…   I wished I wasn't alone then, heh.  It took me a good hour to get out, slowly digging and pushing the moto about five feet at a time.  Eventually I had the bright idea of taking off all my gear, and with about a hundred pounds less I was able to get it the last third really fast. 

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NXFO4PQI/AAAAAAAAA28/ub9fTkPYPrg/s1600-h/P10507393.jpg)

I immediately turned off onto another more solid looking side path, but this one ended up super bumpy – I actually almost rolled the jaumoto a couple times on this trail, thank goodness it has independent suspension in the rear.  As I continued to bounce down this road, I saw white off ahead and began to get very very excited…  a few minutes later I pulled onto a bumpy one lane gravel road that headed directly towards this white, and the salt plains unfolded before me.

 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NeL-h_JI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ZkJZtl4-ekM/s1600-h/P10507413.jpg) The road turned right, hugging the mountains, but the salt plains beckoned and I took off towards them, bumping my way offroad for a few meters until suddenly I was on salt!  It was so smooth and beautiful, I could see the crystals shining and watch them kicking up behind me.  I pointed the jaumoto towards this huge gap in the horizon ahead – with mountains to my left, right, and behind I knew I had to break free.  As I ripped along at full speed I became completely overwhelmed.

 

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NmAUy3OI/AAAAAAAAA3M/pyCW9lUCtoo/s1600-h/P10506793.jpg)  I just sped along for at least half an hour towards the center of the plains, then it started to get a little more rough.  The salt was less smooth and noticeable cracks started to mar its surface, then it changed into weird hexagonal shaped plates of interlocking salt.  The jaumoto handled this fine and I continued to just buzz along for what felt like forever.

 

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8NtbOjCiI/AAAAAAAAA3U/BlacWD0EZ-M/s1600-h/P10507497.jpg) I stopped for lunch after awhile and pulled my my GPS coordinates – I thought I had been heading generally towards where the fish isle was, but it turned out I was headed more towards Uyuni.  Changed my angle a bit and ran across the most amazing thing…  this huge ten+ lane wide highway through the salt flats.  Not of concrete or anything so complex, just smooth salt smashed flat by thousands of cars and buses.  I followed this to fish isle, then headed back towards Uyuni.

 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8Nxy2639I/AAAAAAAAA3c/r4034YHRxpg/s1600-h/P10507883.jpg) I was so high on emotion at this point that I started to get reckless.  I just drove around at full speed, spurning roads and trails as I had in the morning – but the flats here were rougher.  At about 1PM with a huge CRUUNK my rear chain snapped and went flying off.  I rapidly replaced it with my "heavy duty" spare that was awaiting this occasion, then immediately hared off again.  Around 30min later, my heavy duty chain came off after a huge series of bumps and rammed itself into the bolts on the sprocket – the same problem Rob and Will had.

 

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8N8g54f4I/AAAAAAAAA3k/G1jHlELU78I/s1600-h/P10507863.jpg) After a bunch of prying and banging I managed to get the heavy duty chain sorted, but it looked a bit bent.  I figured I'd try it out and carefully headed back towards where I knew there was a mashed-flat trail.  Only a few meters later it popped off again, wedged even worse.  I had to destroy the chain to get it off, though it was already fairly mangled.  Then I discovered that the other two spare chains I had (pillaged from the moto death yard) were too short!  I didn't have enough bits to lengthen them, so I finally took the master link from the heavy duty chain and used it to re-attach my original chain.

 

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8OG7ctYKI/AAAAAAAAA3s/E7M1WUeaVG4/s1600-h/P10507903.jpg) I then very very carefully moved off towards Uyuni, finding a trail and sticking to it.  The rebuilt original chain seemed to hold up well (though it desperately needs oil) and I was able to limp into town for the last 15km on this horrible horrible road.  I rolled into Uyuni and bounced around until I found what appeared to be the center and grabbed a hostal and some food.

 

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8ONpQoYPI/AAAAAAAAA30/K6zZorEarqo/s1600-h/P10507853.jpg) Now I need to figure out what to do next…  Head towards Potosi then back to La Paz?  I'm not sure if I can do that in two days anymore, I've heard horrible things about the road to Potosi…  ugh.   How to get out of here on time?  Losing that flex day really sucks, as I'd like to have someone check my chain and get some spare bits in case it breaks again…

 

Either way, today was awesome and I'm done now!  I'd leave the moto here if I could and just bus back to La Paz, I've had my fun.  Now I just want to go home!

Day 22: Oruro to Random Location

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[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8LQtzSXTI/AAAAAAAAA14/TaABkXv-Clw/s1600-h/P10505873.jpg) (written 11/2 @ 5:45AM)  I just watched an amazing sunrise over a desert after sleeping under the most beautiful sky of stars I have ever seen.  I'm also typing this with gloves on so apologies for typos.

 

 

[](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8Lj9jNCuI/AAAAAAAAA2A/uSsXLxClXXc/s1600-h/P10505583.jpg) I think my bright idea of heading to Tagua then across the salt flats may have been a bit more ambitious than I thought.  The roads here have been insane – ever since Chalapatla I have been fighting sand, immense rocks, huge potholes, and generally very inhospitable terrain.  On top of that, parts of the road are under construction and are very confusing – especially since I decided to continue on at night.  Apparently my current coordinates are a good 10+km south of the main road right now according to my map, woops – guess it's a good thing I stopped when I did.

 

[](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8LxH8Jp3I/AAAAAAAAA2M/POCQ5ztjzcE/s1600-h/P10505353.jpg) On the other hand, what a day yesterday.  Rob & Will and I left Oruro fairly early, with me deciding I would wait to get my jaumoto fixed until the next smallish town because Oruro was just so huge.  We caravanned a few miles out of town then sadly separated ways – they decided to make a race for Asuncion while I was still destined for the salt flats.  Even though I've been on my own a lot over the last couple weeks, I always knew someone was behind me to catch up to me – no longer, as no one is taking the route I'm taking from here on.

 

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8L-1Tv_gI/AAAAAAAAA2U/FH4WLAZcvJM/s1600-h/P10505443.jpg) In Chapatla I found a mechanic who helped me out with my header – couldn't fix it the right way, so we literally wedged the header on with a welded bolt against the frame.  Awesome fix, and it has really held up over some super rough terrain.  We'll see how many days it lasts…

 

 

[](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rWRhetumRmg/Sv8MIdepabI/AAAAAAAAA2c/w2UFEqKwrL0/s1600-h/P10505513.jpg) I can't really say a whole lot about last night as it's impossible to explain the experience.  I will say that I felt really good about it and aside from getting lost (woops) I am very happy with what I pulled off, but bummed I didn't get to see the sunrise over the salt flats.  Now I need to get in gear for a very long day of riding…  hope I have enough gas in my gas can to get me out of here!

* edit added 11/12 @ 7PM in Uyuni:  This day was pretty emotional and contained a lot of different experiences, from leaving Oruro, driving on nice roads, and saying goodbye to Rob & Will to getting stuck in sand, getting lost many times, driving on soul destroying roads, and thinking I might not make it after all.  Then I spent the night wrapped in a blanket in a construction quarry at about –10 degrees F, constantly waking up due to the cold and staring at the stars until I fell back asleep (I don't know why I didn't get out my sleeping bag or other gear).  It was very intense and this lackadaisical blog spot reflects that.