Margie Thompson , from Wellington , on the Salar de Uyuni ( salt lake ), which is over 10,000km 2 of salt plains . Previous page : Some of the group stare over the abyss on the ‘ Death Road ’ ( AKA North Yungas Road )
I
hopped out of the four-wheel drive to see my toes hanging over the edge of a precipitous drop of roughly 1000 metres . In the gathering gloom I could see the twinkling lights of a village , still engaged in fiesta , which we ’ d passed through at the beginning of a mad day on the road . Contrary to popular lore , your life does not pass before your eyes when you find yourself in this type of situation , well mine didn ’ t , instead I found myself thinking , “ How the hell did I get here ?” So ... how the hell did I get there ?
IGNORING THE NEGATIVITY I have been married to a motorcycle enthusiast for 40 years . He likes adventures , preferably muddy , often dangerous , surrounded by the noise and smells associated with off road motorcycles . I call him Captain Grumpy . About 18 months earlier , he came home and began enthusing about something called ‘ Bolivia High Andes ’ a By The Backroads Adventure . It included the “ Road Of Death .” My interest was piqued , and I began to think seriously of accompanying Cpt Grumpy , but
travelling in the support vehicle . I tentatively mentioned the plan to friends and family ; their reactions were unexpected . They ranged from my brother ’ s , “ Don ’ t expect me to pay the ransom ” to “ what for ?” said , in slightly puzzled and aggrieved tones , from friends . Faced with this almost unanimous wall of negativity , I went ahead , booked the trip and began taking Spanish lessons .
TOUCH DOWN We flew to Bolivia and met our tour organisers at Cochabamba . Mike Britton - tall , tanned and almost completely unflappable , if there were a quintessential kiwi bloke competition , Mike would win - and Angela Bruce - organiser and fixer par excellence , and possessor of a dry , wonderful wit . If Angela ever writes a book , buy it ; it will be a great read . South America can be a confusing place ; the first hurdle our tour organisers faced was a nationwide ‘ Pedestrian Only Day ’ declared with little warning . Starting our tour a day late would mean tipping all the other dates on their sides , throwing careful planning into chaos . Somehow ,
KIWI RIDER 27