Day 52

 39,310 – 39,715  405 Miles today (17,015 Miles Overall

Coroico, Bolivia – Uyuni, Bolivia

I had a lovely Saturday in Coroico. I woke up quite early and went for a hike to the top of the mountain and hung out there alone for about an hour taking it all in, spent the rest of the day by the pool tanning like a lizard and then went into town for dinner.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed and itching to go explore.  I went out for breakfast and met a lovely beautiful couple. Yuli and Jordi. We chatted for about 2 hour that morning about so many things and it made me so happy. I wish we all spent another night there or we met sooner at the hostel but this is life! We all were checking out that morning and almost missed the check out time because we were just chatting forever at breakfast.

I packed up the rest of my small belongings and threw them on the bike. I decided I would aim for Uyuni today. I got on the bike and was nearly shaking with so much energy. I felt so damn good about today and what’s ahead of me. I was ready to go explore and get back on the bike and also very sad to leave Coroico. It’s on my list of the top three places I’ve visited on my trip. I don’t think it’ll come off that list.

I rode down into town and down the mountain into the valley on the windy twisty newly paved road. I went the long way this time I guess you can call it and the temps slowly went from 96 degrees to 45. I made my way back into La Paz to get fuel where I got it on the way to Coroico. I stopped in La Paz for a little bite to eat and was on my way to Uyuni. I kept checking my GPS and my arrival was at 9pm but I figured I could cut it back to 7Pm for sunset. I didn’t want to stop in Oruno because it’s a shit hole. The ride was quite boring from what I’m used to and very windy. I pulled over to put my earbuds in and kept on rolling. I was trying to haul ass to beat the sunset but I wasn’t doing that great at it.

I stopped in Oruno for fuel and once again no issues. I just got charged double the local rate which is fine with me as long as I get fuel. It’s still the same price as what fuel costs in NY. I go to start my bike and boom the fucking nightmare is back. I can’t believe it. Well I can at this point. I turned the key on and off a few times and tried to start it again and made some progress. The bike started with the CEL on but no throttle response. This hasn’t happened before when the issue arises. I turn the bike off and turn the key back on and we’re back in action. It works. I messaged the BMW techs that worked on my bike and no reply. I figured i’ll go to Uyuni. I’ll figure out this situation there.

Back on the road and hauling ass yet again. The winds were so strong from the side and front that at one point I was full throttle in 6th gear and I couldn’t get the bike to go over 70MPH. I was getting there but slowly. I watched one of the nicest sunsets in the desert that ive seen in a while on the bike since I never ride this late. It was gorgeous. The road into Uyuni was quite deserted and I barely saw any cars for hours. The road was brand new and very twisty. It was incredible. I pulled into Uyuni at 7:15pm. Not bad for a 400 mile day starting at 11:30am and dealing with some issues.

I’m in a big group chat on WhatsApp with a bunch of guys traveling via Moto right now and one of them told me to go to a pizza place in Uyuni run by a guy from Boston. I parked right in front and rang the doorbell. A man opens the door and I say to him “Are you the gringo from Boston that makes good pizza” he started cracking up and invited me right in. The place was packed and I got a pepperoni pie which was hands down the best and last pizza I’ll have in Central and South America. I talked to another guy that rides bikes and does big trips that is a local now and got pretty hammered off of one beer. I jumped on my bike nearly drunk after dinner and rode about a mile away and got myself one of the nicest rooms I’ve had my entire trip for pretty cheap. I unloaded a few things and showered and crashed really hard in bed. I was beat.