If you have followed the last few journal posts you probably know about all the brake troubles. I did the north of Peru to Cajamarca braking by foot and 1 brake pad until it wore off, then foot and whatever was left of the pad's metal backing plate. Although it was quite fun at the time I could not continue that way as I was hoping to take more trails on the way south. Getting more pads, brake bleed and replacing the rotor would have been easier and cheaper but its like trowing money in the wind so there had to be a beter solution.

While talking with chris, who built both my sets of wheels about the possibility of mounting a motorcycle brake he mentioned that it would be good to try and see if I can get a set of Magura MT7's. Few emails back and forth and it turned out that some of the people at MaguraUSA have seen my videos and would be happy to help me. There was obviously the problem of getting the brakes here.

With very unclear regulations about shipping and possible import tarifs of 30% as well as delays, it seemed easier to send the brakes along with a friend going to Chile while I hitchhike there to pick them up, along the way dropping off some extra stuff with friends in Bolivia.

I headed on south and took a short ride out of town then onto the slow cement truck.

The fact was that there were just too few personal vehicles and public transport was cheap. I ended up hitching few rides on the shared cars but it felt a little inconsiderate not paying like the rest. There was a nice first class truck ride with beds and a refreshing top of a moto-truck with locals.

I really regret passing forward my album, the driver WAS NOT LOOKING ON THE ROAD!

I set up under a half house for the night with the permission of the locals and not too far away frommthe cellphone towers. My planned route to Huaraz was not exactly well planned, it turns out nobody drives that and even if they do it would be at best a pickup truck transport for most of the way.

So I decided to go with the buses and I just have enough money to make it there and back. First was a 17 hour to Lima with 6 hours there in the day and another 20 or so to Arequipa. While certainly more legroom than the Greyhounds in Canada and USA, the buses were overpacked, kept hot and with poor ventilation, very humid.

But hey! I also went to Macchu Picchu!

Arequipa seemed like a nice town and I got to meet with Josh who will be mailing my parts from Santiago a week from now, he had ridden down with a motorcycle from USA. The town was nice and a little too touristy but it was nice because I could fit right in and sunburnt people with funny hats and packpacks stood out more.

I also heard of Fjallraven Polar and while I was definitely planning another winter trip in Alaska or Canada, this would be an excellent way to learn a bit about dogsledding and see the Norwegian Arctic and make it back in time for the Patagonian winter in 2018. Short video below:

I took the day bus from Arequipa to Puno, by now building up some admiration for the brave backpackers who travel this way, its exhausting and tiresome and somehow makes you wonder why they have not installed some sort of an apparatus like in submarines to allow the driver to look ahead from the second floor while passing. We came to a complete stop twice on an unsuccessful slow semi passing attempt.

There were few options from here to the border, a big bus, a faster minibus and a fast car. I went with minibus since the locals said you will die faster with the fast car. Then a bike taxi to the border where we waited a good hour for our turn to be stamped out.

Bolivian side was a little more complicated since I need a visa for my Bulgaria passport and it is not as simple as the information on the web made it sound. There was some online application, proof of flight out, bank statement, hotel reservations and all. In general a little more than I was comfortable forging. I went back to Peru and entered and left with my Canadian passport and at Bolivian immigration they did not even want to look at my fake flight ticket. Lunch was easy but it was also the first time I was questioning the quality of the food and cleanliness. Then I took the fast car to La Paz which drove a good 140-150km/h most of the way.

I met up with friends of a friend there and was very happy to learn they don't live in the city but a ways out. I spend few days recovering from the bus rides and walking dogs around. They all had their nicknames, old fat dog (felipe), coco, shy brown dog (bruno), friendly colombian dog (lulu) and the white dog who doesnt listen and does what he wants (i later was told he is actually deaf). Most of them are teriffied when putting on the leash, coco plays dead and bruno peed himself the first time but they all like the walks!

It was another bus ride to Chile and a border crossing at 4600m. The poor truckers formed enormous lines waiting for something.

It was hot, overpacked and on top of it we get to Arica at 1am. Eventually I had enough of it and asked the bus driver to drop me off but he asked me to wait until a road stop. At 3500m it would surely be much better sleep than in a hot bus. I went up the hillside and set up my tent in a flat spot, sat down inside to flatten these plants. Nope. They werent plants but cactii. After pulling most of the thorns out I moved the tent and carefully kicked off all of them, picked more thorns from the tent bottom and hand checked to make sure nothing was left over. Then I inflated my sleeping pad.

I slept under the constant distant buzz of engine brakes and was ready to hitch a ride down in the cold morning.

I think it holds true that the crazies drivers pick up hitchhikers, we made amazing time down the hill. Samuel had waited only 6 hours yesterday and another 3 at the scales on the Chilean side and was doing Arica-La Paz deliveries. All the trucks here are european and to his disapointment I did not have any contacts in Bulgaria who can help him buy and import a truck.

I opted for the $6 car instead of bus across the border and I got lucky with the 3 grandmothers with us, we skipped most of the line as a group and customs did not ask me why I have so many brake parts with me. The bus ride was a breeze with a friendly bus attendant and a life size chilean baby jesus statue.

So 2 weeks, 3 countries, over 100 hours in buses, cars and trucks later...