The road from Huancayo (in the Peruvian Andes) to Ayacucho to Andahuaylas is rugged, yet awesome! Here are a few pics:






Toby (charapa) Around the Block 2007 |

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'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

The road around Volcano Tungurahura in Banos, Ecuador to Puyo.

Tungurahua, Ecuador. photo - rtwrider photos at pbase.com

Nice twisty riding. Make sure you stop at the little Italian joint for lunch.

The only downside is the long dark unlit tunnels with buckets of water dumping from the ceiling.....I certainly did not ride through them mumbling MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY in a high pitched voice.

AR Ruta 68 from Calayate towards Salta to Alemania the Qubreda de los Chochos was super fun a couple of days ago. Brilliant twisties amongst stunning redrock scenery. Take a relaxing ride through seeing the sites the turn around a buzz straight through all the curves. I had so much fun in a 5km strech that I found myself going back to take pics, but ended up going through twice more.

AR ruta 33 from Cachi to Salta is also special. A spectacular (some ripio some asphalta) pass leads from redrock desert to verdant forest in about 50 km and finishes with 50km more of brilliant tight twisties. Going from Calfayate to Cachi you get a little sand, charming villages, strange sandstone formations, a serious mountain pass and verdant forest in a single day.

AR Ruta de Siete Lagos from San Martin to Bariloche is spectacular. It could take 4.5 hrs ridden through, but I ended up taking the better part of two days.

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India Himal, 3mo,2x; Kazak/Krygyz/Tajik, 3 mo; Kashi-Lhasa, China 219! 6 wk; Nepal, 4 days/trekked 55; Santiago-Ushuia-Cusco, 7 mo; Peru, 3 mo; Chile-Medellin 3 mo; Medillin-Arica, 3 mo

I'll list three because South America is too big for just one.

The road from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, to Jama, Argentina. 100 miles. I liked it so much, I did it three times. I left San Pedro at 6 AM, arrived in Jama at about 10- stopping for tons of pics. I had a cup of coffee (with a fly in it- made me vomit), then I rode back to San Pedro de Atacama. I gassed up (thanking the gods of gas tanks for my 11 gallons) and rode as fast as I dared (100 mph, baby!) back to Jama. I think the road tops out around 16,500 feet.

The road from Nasca to Cusco. Holy shit this was ****ing epic. I've heard it described as beautiful but it kicked my ass. At one point coming around a curve there was a bus down a cliff a few hundred feet. People were building a shrine. They said 28 people died. I hit a bad stretch of potholes and broke my speedo cable. I rode the whole thing in one sitting- 660 km. I saw my first flamingos. Amazing and the hardest ride I have ever done.

The road from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia- and back. On the way back, leaving Ushuaia, the snow on the mountains is amazing. The views were kind of like the Rocky Mountains in the fall- only more beautiful and more amazing. Snow covered jagged peaks and red forests and perfect road, except for about 100 miles of ripio in the rain with the mud coming off in a fine bloody mist. And it was windy. I finished the ripio completely covered in red mud. The mud stuck to the exhaust on the bike and it's still there, even though I'm with the bike in Wisconsin. The mud baked on like fancy ceramic.

There were other great roads- if we can count Central America, I really liked the road from San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, to La Mesilla. And the coast in El Salvador was nice. Add all of Colombia.

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I have to agree but would extend the recommendation from Jama to Purmamarca (Ruta 52). This route, over the Passo de Jama, must certainly be one of the most scenic routes in SA.

I completed this route yesterday and took 2 days to do this ride. My average speed was dictated mostly by the amount of stops I made for photos. It is certainly doable in one day. The whole route is paved.

I stayed in a nice hotel in Susques, located next to the highway.

There are plenty of service/gas stations on this route: Tilcara (20 km north of Hwy 52), Susques, Jama, and of course, San Pedro de Atacama.

Argentinian Immigration & Customs are at Jama and the Chilean officials are in San Pedro de Atacama.

Enjoy!

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