Its been a while since I did a kak aanjag thread so here goes >
Seeing as I cannot race it, next year I plan to chase the Dakar for 6 days with 3 of my friends starting in Lima, on the 5th January. Actually we will be riding for two weeks and the whole trip is going to be about 3 weeks long. We will be staying in cheap hotels and maybe camping one or two days. This is your official invite to join us.
You can join us for the first 4 days and cut things short end in Arequipa or you can cross the border with us and ride to Calama in Chile, returning via Bolivia to Lima/Arequipa. There will be 14 days of riding, and the whole trip will take about 3 weeks. Or if you want to chase the Dakar to Santiago, that would also be a nice option, but the route we are taking is more impressive.
Please note this is not a commercial venture, and we are not your guides. This will be a lekker ride with friends, just like any in RSA, without a very rigid schedule. While we follow the Dakar, we will be on black top for about 80% of the time, riding off piste in the desert to get to good viewing points for the rest. On our return to Lima, we plan to ride 80% dirt, and this will be in the mountains. Although spectacular, riding will not be tough from a technical viewpoint, but days will be long (8-12hrs).
When the Dakar goes to Argentina, we will ride into the Andes and follow the mountains back to Lima on the blue route shown below:
Our first stop will on the way back be in Uyuni in Bolivia which takes us past Lago Colorado,
some volcano's and the Salar de Uyuni.
From there we will ride back to La Paz, Lake Titicaca,
Cusco, (the will be time for you visit Macchu Pichu if you want, and ride the sacred valley which is TOTALLY awesome)
and finally back to Lima via Nasca.
This route basically tracks through the high Andes and will involve crossing numerous high altitude passes. Think of serious twisties, non stop, for over 2,500km. :drif: :ricky:
The way I see it the cheapest option is for you to ship your own bikes to Lima, and maybe ship back from Lima/Buenos Aires. If you do ship, you need to get your boney on a boat in September for it to be here on time.
If you want to hire a bike you can do so by clicking on this website. Some of us rented bikes this year and the bikes are in good condition. You also get a discount if you take the bike for longer. Please, if you are keen you need to book a bike in the next week as there are already hardly any bikes left apparently! Personally, I thought the rates were quite reasonable.
Here is a link to another bike hire crowd in Peru, but it is likely you will not be able to do border crossings with this option.
If you are interested but do not want to ride, here is another all inclusive 5 day Dakar Package that is organised by the Dakar organizers themselves, all transport included, but no biking.
Click here for the ASO VIP package
In Summary
Option 1 (Peru only)
Budget for a 10 day trip Lima-Arequipa (6 days on the bike, 2 days flying, 2 days R&R)
Option 2 (Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Peru)
Budget for a 21 day trip (18 Days bike hire, 14 days riding, 2 days flying, 5 days R&R)
Approximate costs apart from bike:
Flights - R8,500. (I have an english speaking reliable agent here who is R2-3k cheaper than anything you will get in RSA; email Adolfo [email protected] for a quote via Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires). Once you are here things are actually pretty cheap
Hotel Accommodation & food: R250-300/day
Fuel Peru & Chile: R8/l
Fuel Bolivia: R5/l (cheap hey!? Thank Hugo Chavez for that)
Gear: Bring your own. Temperatures are going to be extreme. In the lowlands will be 28-35 degrees, and freezing in the mountains, with rain, sleet, snow, hail, the works. Night temperatures are hit in the lowlands and freezing in the mountains.
Its going to be totally awesome.:ricky:
See you there! :thumleft:
Neilaw:
Seeing as I cannot race it, next year I plan to chase the Dakar for 6 days with 3 of my friends starting in Lima, on the 5th January. Actually we will be riding for two weeks and the whole trip is going to be about 3 weeks long. We will be staying in cheap hotels and maybe camping one or two days. This is your official invite to join us.
You can join us for the first 4 days and cut things short end in Arequipa or you can cross the border with us and ride to Calama in Chile, returning via Bolivia to Lima/Arequipa. There will be 14 days of riding, and the whole trip will take about 3 weeks. Or if you want to chase the Dakar to Santiago, that would also be a nice option, but the route we are taking is more impressive.
Please note this is not a commercial venture, and we are not your guides. This will be a lekker ride with friends, just like any in RSA, without a very rigid schedule. While we follow the Dakar, we will be on black top for about 80% of the time, riding off piste in the desert to get to good viewing points for the rest. On our return to Lima, we plan to ride 80% dirt, and this will be in the mountains. Although spectacular, riding will not be tough from a technical viewpoint, but days will be long (8-12hrs).
When the Dakar goes to Argentina, we will ride into the Andes and follow the mountains back to Lima on the blue route shown below:
Our first stop will on the way back be in Uyuni in Bolivia which takes us past Lago Colorado,
some volcano's and the Salar de Uyuni.
From there we will ride back to La Paz, Lake Titicaca,
Cusco, (the will be time for you visit Macchu Pichu if you want, and ride the sacred valley which is TOTALLY awesome)
and finally back to Lima via Nasca.
This route basically tracks through the high Andes and will involve crossing numerous high altitude passes. Think of serious twisties, non stop, for over 2,500km. :drif: :ricky:
The way I see it the cheapest option is for you to ship your own bikes to Lima, and maybe ship back from Lima/Buenos Aires. If you do ship, you need to get your boney on a boat in September for it to be here on time.
If you want to hire a bike you can do so by clicking on this website. Some of us rented bikes this year and the bikes are in good condition. You also get a discount if you take the bike for longer. Please, if you are keen you need to book a bike in the next week as there are already hardly any bikes left apparently! Personally, I thought the rates were quite reasonable.
Here is a link to another bike hire crowd in Peru, but it is likely you will not be able to do border crossings with this option.
If you are interested but do not want to ride, here is another all inclusive 5 day Dakar Package that is organised by the Dakar organizers themselves, all transport included, but no biking.
Click here for the ASO VIP package
In Summary
Option 1 (Peru only)
Budget for a 10 day trip Lima-Arequipa (6 days on the bike, 2 days flying, 2 days R&R)
Option 2 (Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Peru)
Budget for a 21 day trip (18 Days bike hire, 14 days riding, 2 days flying, 5 days R&R)
Approximate costs apart from bike:
Flights - R8,500. (I have an english speaking reliable agent here who is R2-3k cheaper than anything you will get in RSA; email Adolfo [email protected] for a quote via Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires). Once you are here things are actually pretty cheap
Hotel Accommodation & food: R250-300/day
Fuel Peru & Chile: R8/l
Fuel Bolivia: R5/l (cheap hey!? Thank Hugo Chavez for that)
Gear: Bring your own. Temperatures are going to be extreme. In the lowlands will be 28-35 degrees, and freezing in the mountains, with rain, sleet, snow, hail, the works. Night temperatures are hit in the lowlands and freezing in the mountains.
Its going to be totally awesome.:ricky:
See you there! :thumleft:
Neil
aw:
