Day 1,578

Back to Bolivia

We experienced a weird feeling of culture shock combined with familiarity as we headed down into La Paz on the Teleferico, their chairlift system that connects El Alto and different areas of La Paz. We stocked up on food, well as much as we could. Prices have gone crazy since we left, a jar of good instant coffee was £13 and a tin of chickpeas £6. This was definitely a shock to us, we knew Bolivia is experiencing rapid inflation, but recent changes to isolationist policies, a new government, increased tourism etc., though all signs of hope for the future, the reality at the moment is life is hard. 

The wonderful La Paz - it felt like we were only here the other day

After a couple of days acclimatising to the altitude we set off out of El Alto. This in itself was quite an undertaking, with incredibly busy roads, mainly trucks and ‘collectivos’ (mini buses for locals to get around). They appear to operate to a different set of rules to everyone else on the road, as in they rule, pulling to a stop apparently at random and back on the road again with equal indifference to other road users. The surface of the road was, to say the least, interesting. Some tarmac, but much of it was in a terrible condition, often due to it being dug up to create a road block when locals are protesting, and they do that a lot. Plus the road for about 15 miles is being widened, much needed, but it all added to the chaos. So with one eye on the road surface, another on the collectivos, with the stunning views of mountains as a backdrop, off we went. It was fast, fun, and a little bit crazy but we survived.  

In El Alto we had become accustomed to seeing many of the local women dressed in the traditional dress, big colourful skirts, warm tops and leggings all finished off with a bowler hat. In the countryside it was definitely the style of dressing for the majority. They look so colourful, especially against a background of half built buildings, dusty rubbish strewn roads, and virtually no green spaces. 

The further from the capital we got the quieter the roads became. Mile after mile of long straight roads, the hills also giving way to the flat of the altiplano. Still at over 12,000 feet this was a relief as we were still struggling to breath. The weather was wonderful, warm sunny days, but due to a series of evening thunderstorms, tiredness, and lack of places to wildcamp, we spent the first few nights in hotels, but at all less than a tenner a night we weren’t blowing our budget. We loved the, to us, fun name of one town, Poopo, named after the nearby lake. The hotels were all pretty basic, but we had a bed, they were happy for us to cook our own food in their yards, and we stayed dry. During the day we usually found a spot to sit and eat our lunch, bread buns we had bought from a small roadside shop plus whatever filling we could find, at the moment tuna is king! 

As the miles increased the landscape became wilder, the few houses we saw were often derelict, and in most villages we saw many empty properties, just rotting away. We even passed whole villages with every house clearly abandoned. On the plus side, we were excited to see many vicunas roaming around, less timid than those in Peru, plus groups of llamas and alpacas being herded along to better grazing. 

Vicunas - so elegant

After 4 days on the road we were nearing our destination, the Salar de Uyuni. The weather was improving so we took the opportunity to wildcamp at a particularly stunning spot, a volcanic crater just on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet, just a few houses really, of Jayacota.

Jayacota - looks like a meteor impact crater, but really a type of volcano

Just before we had reached here we had bumped into two fellow Brits on bikes, Claire and Storm. In their mid twenties, both Ironman veterans, on lightweight bikepacking set ups, riding together wasn't an option, but we arranged to camp together at the crater, and we had a great evening until the usual fierce evening wind arrived and we dived into our tents. 

The following day we had a few hours on tarmac before we headed onto a dirt track around the stunning, thankfully dormant, volcano Tunupa. A sacred site for the local communities,  we admired from afar, though apparently the caves at the base are home to the remains of ancient mummies. One sight best left to the locals.

Tunupa was incredible, but we were here for something else, and as we finally rode past the volcano, we got our first sight of it. The Salar de Uyuni lay before us. A vast area of salt flats and we were here to ride across it!

Salar de Uyuni - here we come!