South America

Ailailai! The Bolivian Dice Game

Ailailai is an UBER-popular dice game in Bolivia that I'm told resembles Yahtzee. The picture above is my sad attempt to explain the rules to myself. If you can decipher that, you are pretty smart. Try playing yourself, and with beer, and see how fun it really is:

Obtain 5 dice and a cup. Roll. You get to rolls per turn. The dice count either face-up, or whatever the die is sitting on. That's the cool trick (ie - a 1 can be a 6) In the spaces marked 1-6 on your scorecard, you mark the highest value in that number that you get (ie roll 4 4's and mark 16) In the middle spaces, record (from top to bottom, and if you roll this in one try add plus 5 to yr score) 12345, or 23456 3 of a kind, and 3 of a kind 4 of a kind Then, in the hash marks on the bottom, mark 5 of a kind (you need it twice, and it's worth 50 in case you don't get it)

Now drink like hell. To score it, add up your columns and drink more. Congratulations, you are now Bolivian. I know you always wanted to be!

On your Bikes Down the World's Most Dangerous Road: Mountain Biking from La Paz to Coroico

If you visit La Paz, ever in your life, you pretty much HAVE to "do" the world's most dangerous road on a mountain bike. It's a travel must.

In my particular case, nothing makes me forget about national political crisis like 40 miles of aggressive downhill (3600m drop) mountain biking. So, in the midst of the Bolivian president's resignation, Liz and I went down the "World's Most DANGEROUS Road" on bike, and survived.

Disclaimer: I'm not EVER paid, kicked back, or influenced by ANY companies, places, or events that I suggest in this blog. I'm completely independent, and I only suggest things I would want my best friends to do. Even though I don't get paid, mention the blog to the companies or you friends if it helped you make a good travel decision, and leave me a comment so that I can feel cool.

That said, Kory from Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking is my hero. If you are in La Paz, and you decide to do the treacherous La Cumbre to Coroico track (aka Death Road, Worlds Most Dangerous Road, yada yada), go down to the Prado across the street from Dumbo Ice Cream, and book with the dudes from Gravity.

First of all, our bikes where awesome. Mine was named Hoss, which made me very happy. It had pretty swan stickers on it too, which made me less happy. Anyway, the gravity guides stress safety and professionalism to an excessive point, so much that I thought they might be BS'ing.

That was until I saw the bikes the other companies give you to get down the mountain; Crappy old GT bikes like what you had in the 'burbs when you where 16. This is a serious trail, with real danger of death and dismemberment, and you will want something a little better than the bike equivalent of an '86 two-tone Ford Bronco II to make it down safe.

In a group of about 17 people, all 17 lived, which is always cool. In fact, except for a few cuts and scrapes, we all made it down the road without injury. I was able to not injure myself, or those around me, in an action activity for the first time in recent history, so I was pretty psyched.

Actually the most dangerous and frightening part of the whole trip for me was the bus ride home back up the road. On a bike, by myself, I don't mind the steep dropoffs and dangerous curves because I had contol of my destiny. In the bus, I was scared for my very life. This road is no joke. Take a look for yourself...
http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/GravityBolivia/March2005/20050308

Password: photos (only up for about a month after this post hits)

You gotta be half crazy to drive on that road, but our man Santiago got us back home safe. When I went to sleep that night, kinda like after a day of boating, I felt like I was still riding down the mountain. It's an awesome, intense, insert other strong adjective experience that I would recommend to anyone, anywhere. Stop reading the internet now and go do it, and tell Kory and Allister that Austin says hi.

THE STRONGEST!

If you ever go to South America, you pretty much HAVE to catch a soccer game (futbol match, whatever).

Went to the Toyota Copa Libertador match between The Strongest (possibly the dumbest name for a Bolivian team ever?) and Sao Paulo (from Brazil, Duh).

Anyway, playing at 98,000ft, Tigre (local nickname for The Strongest because honestly the locals cannot say either "the" or "strongest") should have whupped up on Sao Paulo, but ended in a 3-3 tie.

a 3-3 finale is a pretty dope soccer game to catch, and for 6 bucks each, Liz and I basically had front row seats. I would have to say the best part overall, other than the fact that one Uruguayan player for Sao Paulo (number 9 if you are counting) was literally twice the height of his defender, was that at the end of halftime they shot off a 5 minute fireworks display from the crowd sitting at the curve.

It was tough to tell, but I would have to guess at least 3 people died in that fireworks display. As the second half started, the fireworks started spilling onto the field over the players heads. All in all, it was awesome.

Oh yes, and briefly - they do not sell alcoholic beverages in Bolivia at games. Instead, men with gasoline containers walk up and down the aisles offering hot coffee. I cannot make this up.

CAFE! FUTBOL! Tigre, Tigre...

James, The Planet Biker

James, the Planet Biker, wheeled into the Milhouse hostel the other day. Email him.

At first I thought he was kidding, but he´s 100% for real. He rode, on a bicycle, from Alaska to Buenos Aires. Of course, he´s headed for Ushuaia to complete the north - south trip. F&$%ing crazy.

James is a 24 year old (I guess) British dude with a lot of time on his hands and a lot of packs on his bike. I asked him how hard it was to make the trip, and he said it really was pretty easy. I don´t believe him for a second, but he said people are generally friendly and he was able to make the trip over a really long period of time. He also was able to fix up his bike along the way, and in case you where wondering, he looked to be in excellent shape, which I think is a prerequisite for this kind of travel.

If you are considering this kind of a trip, I suggest emailing James first. He has some hot tips on what not to do on the highway in Brazil, and of course, will suggest crossing Columbia by airborne means. James, if you are reading this, keep on keeping on.

Amazing!

Buenos Aires Weekends

Buenos Aires, at least in the downtown-ish neighborhood I'm staying in, is quiet on weekends. Especially Sunday, when the whole town is basically watching Soccer, or at church or something.

It's even hard to find an open Locutorio, or internet cafe, downtown, so this post is coming from the hostel. BOOO hostel computers! 94mb of RAM!?!?!?!?!?