When traveling from country to country it’s normal that there are cultural differences. But you might be surprised to learn that this does not only apply to human culture. The truth is that dog culture also varies quite a bit. Yes, you read right, dog culture. So as you are sitting down reading this you are probably saying to yourself “they have finally lost their marbles”. And you would probably be right but the fact remains that dogs behave differently from one country to the next. We aren’t really sure why this occurs but a short explanation is in order. Here are the different dog types we have encountered so far:

Vocal dog:
Typically found: Guatemala
Typical behavior: Will bark any time, day or night (preferably at night). Will bark for no reason just to let you know it is there (except when sleeping in the middle of the road).
How to interact with this type of dog: Try to ignore it, unless it is in the middle of the road. Then you should avoid it unless you haven’t slept the night before due to all the barking in which case feel free to accelerate.

Crazed dog:
Typically found: Peru
Typical behavior: Very hard to pinpoint. It might just watch you drive by or it might decide that this mother f**** on the motorcycle looks like a tasty snack.
How to interact with this type of dog: Leave Peru

Cute dog
Typically found: Under your table at the restaurant
Typical behavior: Will patiently wait for scraps of food and try very hard to look cute knowing full well that this tourist can’t hold out much longer.
How to interact with this type of dog: Try and remember that in addition to being cute it also likes to lick its own butt as well as that of others. Not so cute anymore is it!

Obsessive compulsive dog
Typically found: Almost exclusively in Peru although there are reports of this type of dog elsewhere.
Typical behavior: If it’s got two wheels and a motor it needs to be taken down no matter what!
How to interact with this type of dog: Those big old motorcycle boots aren’t just for changing gears!

Lazy dog
Typically found: In all countries except Peru
Typical behavior: Will lie on the road doing its best impression of road kill. In fact it is very much alive but cannot be bothered by yet another tourist on a motorcycle
How to interact with this type of dog: Use extreme caution. It may be a “crazed dog” trying to lull you into a false sense of security. You have been warned!

Denial dog
Typically found: Ecuador
Typical behavior: This type of dog has heard rumors of what happens if you run in front of a motorcycle but chooses not to believe these “stories”. Here is a sample of what goes on in his head: “Besides, who ever heard of a noisy bicycle hurting someone. What do they weigh anyway, 20, maybe 30 pounds at most. Big deal. If I want to cross the street in front of one, well that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Why, here comes one now. I think I’ll just casually make my way across the …” SPLAT!
How to interact with this type of dog: Clean the front of your bike.

Truth be told we like dogs. Just not when they are chasing us.

Brian

Time for a little catching up. We arrived in Sucre over 2 weeks ago and are finding it a little hard to leave. The city is relatively small and it seems that whatever we need we can find here. And to top it all off we have been able to get by on relatively little money so reasons for leaving are few and far between. So you are probably wondering what we could have done during those 2 weeks : we relaxed, we (well… I) have spent some time fixing up the bike, we volunteered at a local orphanage, and we saw the new Indiana Jones movie (Marie-France is a fan).

First the fixing of the bike. After our last entry we left things hanging with our attempt at finding a fork seal. Turns out we found one the same day we started looking with the help of a local motorcycle repair shop. I had never changed a fork seal before but the procedure was relatively straightforward and within a few hours that problem was resolved. Next on the list was a much needed oil change, again resolved with a minimum of time and effort. Finally we installed a GPS holder made by yours truly out of wood, duct tape and a couple of bolts.

So when we weren’t busy with the bike we spent a few days volunteering at a local orphanage. This ended up being the highlight of our time here in Sucre. We had heard about the orphanage from a couple of tourists and decided to give it a shot. We didn’t regret the experience. Each day we were greeted by about 20 smiling 1 to 2 year olds who we desperately tried to keep happy which much success. These children have found themselves in the orphanage for various reasons. Some of them were abandoned on the doorstep of the orphanage or in nearby villages while others are the result of unprotected sex by prostitutes. Whatever the reason they ended up there one thing was for certain, they were well taken care of by the employees of the orphanage as well as by the volunteers (we were not the only ones). We enjoyed the experience so much we plan on doing it again in the future.

So now de we are getting ready to change country again. For the “where” our next stop will be the city of Potosi just two hours from here, then to Tupiza, before heading to Argentina. As for the “when” it all depends on our motivation to leave Sucre...

Brian

While traveling you often hear from other tourists that certain sites and cities cannot be missed. The city of La Paz fell into the category of “a great city to visit for a few days” and in some cases “my favorite city in Latin America”. For us, La Paz found itself squarely in the category of “yet another cold city without much to do”. But I must admit that the approach to the city was spectacular. After driving on the altiplano for three hours from Copacabana you come upon a giant bowl in which lies the city of La Paz a few hundred meters below. On either side of this bowl are buildings that climb their way up to the top of the altiplano. Despite having been disappointed by the city itself we did manage to rest up, get the site updated and watch some local celebrations...
 




From La Paz we headed to Potosi, the highest city in the world (as opposed to La Paz which is the highest capital in the world). Potosi is the home to what was once the richest silver mine in the world. Wanting to escape the cold that has been following us for over a month now we decided to speed things up and head to Uyuni, home to the largest salt flat in the world. Turns out the road to get there was among the worst that we have ridden on this trip. But the scenery was spectacular…







Once we arrived in Uyuni we noticed that in addition to testing our limits, the road tested the limits of the motorcycle. The frame had cracked due to the rough condition of the road. So we had it fixed by a local welder, a repair that was to last all of one day. What we were to find out later is that, in addition to damaging the frame, the road caused one of our front forks to start spewing oil.
The town of Uyuni is the starting point for trips on the Salar de Uyuni, a massive expanse of salt left over by a pre-historic sea. It’s impressive to see so much white in one location. It looks just like snow and when you walk on it the effect is similar walking on snow at -20°C. Here are a few pictures…





The town also hosts a train cemetery…





There are four roads to get out of Uyuni. One of the worst goes through the Salar and eventually makes its way to Chile and the Atacama desert. Another equally difficult road goes north to Oruro, a town which we had already passed through. The third goes to the town of Tupiza, 200km and 8 hours away on the worst of the 4 roads. To get out of Uyuni we opted to backtrack on the road we took to get in, the one that claimed our frame, front fork and our self-confidence. Rather than stop in Potosi we wanted to stop in Sucre, where we currently are. We noticed that the fork had leaked oil on the day after we arrived here. So we had to take it apart to find out what the problem was…



We still don’t know exactly what the problem is but we suspect that the seal has failed (a recurring theme on this trip, it seems that all of our seals have failed). So tomorrow we begin shopping for a new seal. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Across Latin America there are several types of speed bumps. Before describing them in greater detail it is important to understand the basic concept behind the speed bump. Their origin can be traced back to the need to reduce speed. This essential tool of Latin American traffic control supposedly serves as a back-up to regular signage which more often than not is completely ignored by drivers. Strangely enough, the amount of speed bumps in Mexico are way higher than that of any other Latin American country. Therefore, we are of the opinion that Mexican government officials (specifically those working for public works and road construction) may be taking bribes from the burgeoning vehicle suspension repair industry as well as the brake pad replacement industry. This theory could explain the omnipresence of these speed bumps, especially in Mexico.

In general speed bumps appear in groups. When you encounter one you can be sure to encounter others. The challenge comes from the fact that the first one often comes as a surprise due to bad or non-existent signage. Here are a couple of hints to avoid unwanted “speed bumps shock”:

In order to avoid being ejected from the motorcycle, slow down as soon as you see a village (speed bumps and villages go hand in hand)

When seeing vehicles in front of you suddenly hitting the brakes you can be sure that there is a speed bump nearby. Proceed with caution.In order to better understand the speed bump phenomenon, here is a list of the different varieties that you might encounter in Latin America.

1- The Regular. This is the basic form of these bone jarring bumps. They usually stretch from one end of the road to the other, perpendicular to the driver, and may vary in width. As a general rule, the wider the speed bump the greater the comfort for the driver, and passenger. The shorter ones can wreak havoc on the underneath of your vehicle so you want to exercise caution if you are riding low. The regular, as well as all sub forms mentioned below, is normally painted white and yellow, with sometimes red or blue for a more intense effect. However, it might be the case that there is not paint at all, such as when it has just been constructed.

2- The Cigar: The Cigar can best be described as a half-length-Regular except that it never stretches all the way to the exact middle of the road. As they often appear in pairs one might mistake them for a Regular but the space between them makes the passage of motorcycle tires very smooth. Like the Regular, the Cigar can vary in width and length.

3- The Vibratores : This subgroup can best be described as a series of thin Cigars very thinly spaced. What they lack in height they make up for in numbers. The effect when passing over these is a not entirely unpleasant vibration, hence the name vibratores.

4-The Balls : Actually a series of metal half balls that are spaced in such a way that you can’t quite get a motorcycle wheel between them. And to add to the fun the yellow paint with which they were once covered is more often than not faded to the point that you can barely see them. To fully appreciate them one must pass over them when it is raining.

5- The Anticipators : This type of speed bumps is similar to Cigars but are very narrow, low and spaced out. They are always several in quick succession, usually about a dozen, and the distance between each one gets shorter and shorter until you come upon the Regular. They kind of serve as a warning of the doom to come. The effect is quite interesting: boum…………… boum…………. boum……….. boum……… boum……..boum…… boum….. boum…. boum… boum.. boum. boum BOUM !

6- The Phantom : This illusion of a speed bump occurs when the driver of a vehicle sees the telltale speed bump paint on the road up ahead. But in reality there is no speed bump, just paint. The idea behind this is probably to save money on concrete (the material of choice for speed bumps). We doubt that the Phantom is very effective in the long run. Some Latin American drivers might drive like their IQ is smaller than their shoe size but this doesn’t mean they are stupid. Eventually they might catch on. Also, we think this might be a form of corruption. If no money was spent on actually making the speed bumps, where did the money go? Humm…

7- The Attempted Murder : Fortunately this is a very uncommon form of speed bumps but you only need to come across one… Obviously this type of speed bump comes without any warnings and is usually found in the middle of a hairpin turn (preferably with a mountain on one side and a sheer drop on the other).

8- The Redundant : This speed bump is usually found on particularly nasty, potholed and dusty dirt roads. They exist only to prove to the driver that no matter how bad you think that road is, it can always be made worse.

Our first stop in this country was Copacabana, right near the border with Peru. The village is set on the shores of the beautiful lake Titicaca…

Now we are in La Paz. This city is known as the highest capital in the world (about 3600 meters high). The city leaves much to be desired (bad driving habits, pollution, lack of oxygen at this altitude, etc.) but we did manage to find a tent! It weighs only 2.5 kilos (important when you are on a bike) and is relatively small. Unfortunately we won’t be able to use it in Bolivia (too cold) but it will certainly come in handy in Argentina. Until then there are several interesting sites to see in Bolivia, namely the Salar de Uyuni, a sea of salt a couple of days away and the town of Sucre.