Short and Sweet – Ecuador

Short and Sweet – Ecuador

By roychinnorNo Comments
We had crossed the border into Ecuador with my feeling uneasy about the route I had chosen. I should have researched the Pan American more deeply but having looked at the map I believed that the route I had chosen was the Pan American. However the condition of the road does not comply with any description I have seen of the Pan American Highway. Bridget has just undertaken the toughest challenge she has faced so far. The road surface no longer exists on much of the route taken, but I have checked my maps and this really is the Pan American Highway. The conditions are as bad as those between Cusco and Nazca when I refused to take her further. In this instance I have little choice short of returning to Peru and trying the other route, but in Australia I established the policy of not going back because it was tough. The road climbs thousands of feet and then plunges down...
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Birthday Special

By roychinnorNo Comments
It is precisely one year since Bridget and I left the UK on this adventure. I had no idea of the challenges and experiences ahead of us or even if we would get much beyond Germany. I have been fortunate enough to meet hundreds of beautiful people and made some marvellous new friends. My thanks go to all those I have met, especially those that went out of their way to help so much, and in particular all the MG’ers in Oz. My thoughts recently have also been very much with those new friends that I made in Iran and Pakistan. I hope things improve for you all so that you are free to live your lives the way you want. Finally my special thanks go to my family who have been so supportive rather than just humouring the poor old man....
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Goodbye Peru

Goodbye Peru

By roychinnorNo Comments
I returned to Nazca from Cusco by the same means that I had gone there, bus, and the second trip was no better than the first. I was pleased to see Bridget again and gave her a wash, then took her into town and found a garage that would weld repair her exhaust. That done I was ready to get back on the road towards Ecuador. Driving has become so much less stressful now that Bridget is running properly. I have decided not to visit Lima as I have had enough of major cities for now, particularly Capitals that are not at all representative of the country as a whole. The Pan American highway seems, if anything, to be getting even better. The scenery continues to be interesting although it is changing from the southern half of the country and must be far more fertile as commercial agriculture is very evident here. As I get nearer to Lima the traffic gets worse. Congestion...
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Cusco and Machu Picchu

Cusco and Machu Picchu

By roychinnorNo Comments
It is 13th June 2009 and I am exhausted, partly due to a nightmare of a bus journey and partly to the altitude of the town of Cusco where I have arrived. My decision not to push Bridget through the Nazca to Cusco route has been vindicated. I did catch a bus, actually a very modern ultra smart Marcopolo coach, which took almost nine hours to cover the first 250 miles of the road which we had turned back from. Even with the size, weight and suspension of the bus, I still felt every bump. Knowing the driver was Peruvian and that the drop at the side of the road was often 2,000 feet didn't help either. I am convinced Bridget would not have made it too, and return from, Cusco had we pushed on. It is a great shame because the last 200 miles was generally as good as the Pan American Highway has been and Bridget would have been made so ‘at...
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Chile/Peru Border to Nazca

Chile/Peru Border to Nazca

By roychinnorNo Comments
The run up to the border today was truly breath taking. Much of the time I was driving through flat single coloured desert but from time to time without any warning Bridget would turn a corner around the crest of a mound and there was a valley with drops of between 1500 and 3000 feet. Eventually I realised, the reason that such a huge change could appear without warning is that whilst driving across the desert the landscape appears flat, so that massive valleys are not evident until you are right on the rim. The roads drop right to the bottom of the valley only to climb up the other side. Long stretches of the road has no crash barriers even though the drop is almost vertical. If you lose control of your vehicle, for any reason, there is nothing between you and the long drop. We ran out of petrol today and Bridget’s jerry can came in useful once again. We...
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