(202) Tangram Touchstone 9

THE MOTORCYCLE ODYSSEY:
CHE GUEVARA’S LIFE-CHANGING 8000-MILE TREK THROUGH SOUTH AMERICA

On 4 January, 1952, two young men jumped on an old motorbike and left Buenos Aires for - South America! There was the whole continent lying ahead! The journey carried them (1) vast pampas of Argentina. Their first stopover was (2) Miramar, where Ernesto visited his girlfriend. After a few days they moved on, heading (3) Chile. They travelled (4) Patagonia, and after 1,809 kilometres on the way, they arrived (5) Piedra del Aquila, Argentina. Farmers and inn-keepers gave them a place to sleep during their nights on the road. On 31 January, they got (6) San Martìn de los Andes, Argentina, 40 kilometres (7) the Chilean border. From there, they left (8) Lake Frias where they took a ferry (9) the border with Chile. Now they had to travel (10) the Andes. There was a lot of snow and they fell (11) their motorbike several times. At times, their old motorbike broke down and they had to push it (12) high mountain passes. On 18 February, they arrived (13) Temuco, Chile. They took their motorcycle to a mechanic. In the evening they went (14) a dance where they got involved in a fight. So, they left Temuco in a hurry and drove (15) Los Angeles, Chile. On their way (16) Valparaiso they crashed the motorbike. So, from here on they had to travel either (17) foot or hitch-hike. They headed north, deeper and deeper (18) the Andes, travelling (19) the Atacama Desert, Chile. Luckily, people gladly gave them lifts (20) their vehicles. They arrived (21) Peru (22) a lorry. After 6,932 kilometres (23) the road, they came (24) the heart of South America - Cuzco. From there they climbed (25) the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu. On 12 May, they came (26) Lima. After two weeks they left (27) San Pablo, a leper colony (28) the banks of the Amazon, deep in the Peruvian rainforest. They travelled (29) San Pablo (30) ship. The journey lasted five days. They stayed at the leper colony for a month, treating lepers. They left the leper colony (31) a self-made raft, travelling to Leticia, Colombia. They passed (32) Columbia, ending up in Caracas, Venezuela. On 26 July 1952, the two friends got (33) the airport in Caracas. They had made a journey of 12,425 kilometres. Ernesto took a plane and flew (34) Cuba. The two friends met again eight years later.

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E-Touchstone 9 – (1.0)