Wednesday 29 January 2014

And More... Further Notes from The Navigator

Following the last exercise, the brain has started recalling other moments:

Standing in line in São Paulo airport to get our boarding passes for the flight to Buenos Aires. There were 5 folk in front of us. The process took one and a half hours. Just as well the layover was 8 hours. São Paulo is not a recommended transit hub.

No surprise, then, when the bags did not arrive in BA at the same time as us. But hey, that meant someone else had to carry them while we hopped on the bus into town with just hand baggage :-)

Walking miles across Asuncion to the Apple store to get a connector to transfer photos from the memory card to the iPad. We had one, but it had disappeared - reckoned we'd left it in BA. It did turn up sometime later, in a safe place in my barbag. You really wouldn't think that we could lose stuff among the tailored kit we carry. Anyone need an SD to iPad connector?

Discovering that the iPad always knows where it is - even without a mobile or wifi connection. Scary. Makes for lazy map reading.

Seeing toucans flying overhead in southeast Bolivia

Riding past Potosi airport on our way to Sucre. At 3936m, not quite as high as La Paz which is at 4061m. Did you know that the airport code for La Paz is LPB?

Watching the marching bands in Potosi, and not quite believing my eyes as the girl bands marched past, with white gloves, brass and drums, on the steep cobbled streets in stiletto-heeled boots.

Discovering the unexpectedly peaceful order of Sucre bus terminal.

Meeting no fewer than 8 other long-distance cyclists staying at the Hotel Avenida in Uyuni at the same time as us. All in pairs, from France, UK, Japan, Germany.

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour when we discovered the state of the roads on the west side of the Salar de Uyuni - and taking a different route to Chile.

Spotting a rhea with 19 babies in tow.

Gaping at the huge sand dune that resides between the town of Iquique and the cliffs at the edge of the coastal range behind the town.

Remembering the relief at the clinic when the credit card took the hit of 2,000,000 Chilean pesos without any argument...

Buying beach clothes. A new experience!

Overcoming terrors from childhood, and actually swimming in the sea. And I love it! Not up to playing in the waves yet, but working on it.

Riding my bike on the beach. So wicked!

Stepping out from the British Hospital in Montevideo (where I'd failed to get anyone to remove the stitches in my elbow) and slipping on the wet and uneven pavement. 'Measuring my Length' as they say, into a deep puddle, instinctively protecting my mending elbow and proceeding to break a rib.