INTRODUCTION
Where are you heading to? Tupiza Last name von Wartenberg. It is spelled with a short v. . . I know. I am not deaf! The only time someone not acquainted with me wrote my last name correctly was in Bolivia. Some of my closest friends spell it wrong. Even when traveling around Germany, some receptionists at supposedly sophisticated hotels have written “Mr. Waterman” when I checked in. But this tiny Latin American country is a land of surprises—and possibly one of the best places on earth for a road trip on motorcycle. Regardless of the country or the distance covered, these border crossings become great adventures. It doesn’t matter whether we ride around the neighborhood on a classic 1948 Norton ES2 or cross Mongolia on a modern BMW R1250GS, every motorcycle brings its charm and makes each trip unique. For the past forty years I have been riding bikes on a daily basis, but in the last twenty years they have become the best excuse to turn work into pleasure and pleasure into job opportunities.
Henry drawn by the Spanish artist Emilio Cabañas (©cabanaem)
My first motorcycle, a Honda PC50 (50cc), was a gift from my mother. I was eleven years old, and we lived in a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of Mar del Plata, Argentina. In the beginning, my “authorized ride zone” was the block around my house or a store some blocks away, but no further. Slowly I began to expand the boundaries. The adrenaline rush I experienced while running away to more distant neighborhoods compensated for the scolding I got once I returned home. During one of those clandestine rides, I hit a huge black dog and crashed the motorcycle. 11