Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Selected Views for You

When we travel with Casa, more than half of the time my view is the back of Q’s helmet, less than half of the time it is completely dark because I tend to doze off during the boring parts. Only occasionally – as occasional as one spots a Cindy Crawford I suppose - we come across some views that are so gorgeous that they are stuck in our minds. Here are some to share with you:

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;

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We have just ridden through the Lake District of Argentina – another wonderful sight for all of us:

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Now on the front porch of the mystical Patagonia, and see what greeted us:

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And for the first time in South America, we know exactly where we are heading to for the next two weeks! This is very exciting, and I shall share with you once we reach THERE!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Our Luck in God’s Office

“People in the province are fond of saying, ‘God is everywhere, but his office is in Santiago.’” - Lonely Planet guidebook

We have been very lucky during our travelling so far: whenever something goes wrong with Casa, help always come along our way very quickly. This time, we were so lucky that we already had the help before we knew about the problem.

This occurred last Friday. Just as we pulled into Santiago de Chile city, Casa started making some really loud and disturbing clunky sound. We had to pull an emergency stop off a highway and take a closer look.

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It turned out that Casa’s rear wheel ball bearing was completely shot. So there we were, in the middle of nowhere, stuck again. Fortunately we had pre-arranged couchsurfing for Santiago, and our host Javier was quick to rescue. He called the local BMW shop, and was able to arrange for a pickup transportation for Casa.

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When we finally dragged our tired and hungry bodies to Javier’s house later that night, you can imagine the look on our faces when we were immediately greeted with delicious lentil stew and carrot rice. Talking about experiences that money cannot buy. (Sorry I was too eager to eat and forgot to take photos!)

Later on that weekend, fearing that we will be stuck in Santiago for a while for spare parts, I sent out a few more couchsurf requests, and received overwhelmingly positive responses. Thank you, Santiago hosts!

CS Hosts

The truth is that more and more, our travelling is less and less about tracking from point A to point B. The most interesting experiences often happen after the most frustrating incidents. In addition to tourist attractions, our journey are landmarked by friendly faces and warm families. It is incredible.

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Stuck as we are, we are more than happy to count our lucky stars in God’s office. Thanks, dude!

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Finally a big THANK YOU to Chile Moto Rent on their kind offer of test-driving their BMW F650GS. Good luck with your business!!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Good Morning from the Pacific Ocean!

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It took us a while to get back on the road since returning from China/Toronto, but we finally managed. And here we are in northern Chile, riding down south along the Pacific Ocean coast line. Personally I am loving the dramatic and gorgeous scenery of mountain-meets-ocean!

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Oh, and I have always wanted an opportunity to say this: we ate yummy CHILI in CHILLY CHILE!