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Published: November 7th 2015
Bolivia takes your breath away, whether you are admiring the wonderful and spectacular scenery of the Altiplano, are walking the heavily polluted streets of the once famous silver mining city of Potosi or are simply hurtling down the most dangerous road in the world on your pushbike. Bolivia has far surpassed my expectations. It really is a country of contrasts, with dry desert conditions in the south and the rainforests of the Amazon to the north. The population is equally interesting, with indigenous ethnic groups and particularly the women dressed in bowler hats and apron style traditional dresses, mixing alongside others dressed in modern European style clothes in the larger cities of La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre.
From San Pedro de Atacama, in Chile we hired a car to take us and our bikes, the 45 Km up to the Bolivian Border. As we departed the Chilean desert town we gained an extra 1800m altitude ending up at 4300m at the border. I had a good feeling about Bolivia having been shown You Tube videos of scantily clad women dancing at festivals for more than 1 hour by the Bolivian Consul in Santiago.
We approached the passport control hut
and were welcomed into Bolivia by the Official. From there we bade farewell to our Swiss friend who had accompanied us up to the border in our car and cycled the 7 Km to the first Refugio (hostel) where we stayed for 2 days to acclimatise ourselves to the altitude.
During this period we spent one day walking down to the beautiful Laguna Verde (Green Lake), where we saw Flamingoes and Vicuna and spent the rest of the time simply resting, talking to the border guards and preparing ourselves for the adventure that lay ahead.
As we commenced our journey, we already knew that the road was going to be bad, but hadn't prepared ourselves for the strong headwinds and additional challenges associated with cycling at high altitude. After just 45Km I stopped for the day at Agua Clientes where I met up with a Dragoman Overland tour and soaked my bones in the naturally heated water pools.
Setting off the following day, the predictable north-westerly wind picked up at around 0930 and by the time I had reached 4913 m altitude, I was battling with a 30 KM headwind. Each day, 4 x 4 tours passed
me at horrendous speeds forcing me to cover up my face with my buffy as clouds of sand engulfed me.
I finally reached Laguna Colorado later that evening and was surprised at how red the lake appeared. I booked in for a further night in a Refugio where I was surrounded by heaps of French people who were doing the 3 day tour excursion of the altiplano.
The following morning I set off early to reach Quedeno Chico, a small town located 58 KM to the east, but first of all took advantage of the early morning light to take photos of Laguna Colorado in all its splendour and glory together with 1000s and 1000s of Flamingoes.
In Quedeno Chico we stayed in a Refugio for 2 days to recover from the previous days challenges and were warmly welcomed by the Condori Family who allowed us to use their Kitchen facilities and generally made our stay as comfortable as possible. On one occasion Noushin was preparing food in the kitchen when the family all knelt down to pray and immediately began to cry their eyes out. Noushin quickly joined them in prayers on the floor.
In
the evening, we got our Apple computers out and used the Photo Booth application, which distorts peoples' faces on the camera, to have a bit of fun with the kids, but the Mother in her traditional Bowler Hat also fell about laughing as she saw her own reflection in the camera together with her elongated twirly nose and forehead.
We also took the opportunity to cook an Iranian dish for the family and they were grateful for something else other than llama steak and soup with rice. They introduced us to a plant called Poposa which you put in boiled water and helps against flatulence.
As we wandered through this small dusty town it was surreal watching Llamas trapesing through the streets in front of an internet cafe sign.
The following day we made our way to Villa Mar. The locals had described the journey as flat all the way, but this was the steepest "flat" road, I had ever encountered in my whole trip around the world and it was the most difficult 73 Km I had ever cycled. Arriving at my destination I collapsed in my bed with heavily burnt lips and a red nose
and was grateful to have made it all the way.
Our journey took us further north-east to the town of San Cristobal famous for its beautiful stone church and where I rested up for two days having come down with a stomach complaint and used this opportunity to catch up on some Hollywood films.
Of note in Bolivia and quite peculiar, is that many house doors and internal doors are only fitted with a door handle on one side. On the other side there is a thin piece of cord which is passed through a small drilled hole to the first side and the person pulls this cord to operate the door handle. Bizarre!
Arriving in Uyuni, we took the opportunity to rest up for more days and visit the train graveyard as well as cycle to the Salt flats, where we took many snaps of us using props to create photos of us banana surfing or standing on top of beer cans etc.
From Uyuni we headed further north to the city of Potosi, which was formerly the richest city in the whole of the Americas due to its silver mine "Cerro Rico". Here we
embarked on a tour of the mine, but first we headed to the miners market where we had the option of buying cocoa leaves, alcohol or even detonators and explosives for the miners. We bought some cocoa leaves and some fizzy drinks, and fully spurred up in protective clothing, helmet and lamp and face mask we entered the mine. Here we were came face to face with the working conditions of the miners, which haven't changed much since the 16th century. Most of the miners didn't wear facemarks and sadly the average age of a miner is just between 40-45 years old with most of them dying from lung disease from the arsenic and dust in the mines, smoking and drinking 96% alcohol.
In the mine we were introduced to "El Tio". Most Bolivians are Catholics who attend church on a regular basis, however they also believe in Pachamama meaning "Mother Earth" and El Tio (The devil) when they enter the mine. Each shift they dedicate cocoa leaves, alcohol and other items to El Tio and prey that he keeps them safe whilst they are working underground and also that they may prosper finding a shaft that provides plenty
of silver or other valuables. The miners generally work for a cooperative and get paid based on the quantity of good minerals they recover from the mine. No minerals means no pay. All of our tour were introduced to the 96% alcohol which burnt a hole in our stomachs. We just had a sip, but the miners drink bottles of the stuff.
Sadly we also heard that children as young as12 are employed in some of the cooperatives and a famous documentary film has been made about this.
During our time in Potosi we were also fortunate enough to see a religious festival where a statue of Mary was paraded through the streets with all the school children taking part in the music extravaganza, playing musical instruments and all neatly dressed in their own school or band uniforms.
On the same day we also witnessed Miners with metal masks and Bolivian women adorned in traditional dress dancing to a band in the street.
The only down side to Potosi was the amount of pollution spluttered out by the buses which constantly drive up and down the narrow city streets.
From Potosi we headed further north
to Sucre where along the way I experienced 4 punctures in 2 hours which was pretty frustrating. En route we met a fellow cyclist called Alejandro from Columbia and we joined him for a couple of days to cycle the route in unison as well as camp and cook together.
Arriving in Sucre we were taken aback at how beautiful the city is in the centre. Old Spanish colonial buildings surround the Plaza de Mayo and this is apparently the Catholic stronghold of Bolivia. We booked ourselves into a very comfortable hostel in the centre of town and we loved it so much that we spent an entire week and a half there learning Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish it costs just £4 an hour for a private lesson and the teachers at Colors Cafe Hostal, particularly Mirina and Patricia are excellent. Each morning we awoke to a Policeman blowing his whistle and shouting "Adelante, Adelante" or "Pase Pase" as we ate our breakfast.
Each afternoon, people in Zebra costumes manned the roads in the city centre and helped people and particularly children cross the roads. Somehow it just gave the city a feel good factor.
On one afternoon , our hostel organised a trip to a chocolate factory where they offered us copious amounts of chocolates for free. I was in heaven!
Of interest is that there were mass demonstrations in Sucre only 8 years ago where 3 people were killed and hundreds injured when the people demonstrated against La Paz being the capital of Bolivia. Apparently, at one stage, the Police let out all the convicts from the local prison and then abandoned the City.
Bolivia and Sucre in particular is also famous for its Dinosaur Footprints, but we also particularly enjoyed visiting some of the local churches, the Recoleta, an area overlooking the whole of the city, as well as the cemetery.
The cemetery literally has thousands of glass encased tombs where people place flowers, alcohol and toys inside them and also a memorial dedicated to the 3 people who died in the riots
Reluctant to leave Sucre, and with limited time on the visa we took the bus from Sucre to Cochabamba where we visited Christo de la Concordia, the largest statue of Jesus in the World, even surpassing the one in Rio de Janeiro.
La
Paz beckoned and here we took the opportunity to hurtle down the most dangerous Road in the World. On average 200 motorists were dying here each year until the new road to the capital was opened about 7 years ago. There have even been 33 cyclist fatalities over the past few years, but fortunately our group made it all the way to the bottom without even a graze to our limbs. When you cycle down this stretch though, you really know why it is called Death Road as crosses are evident along the entire route. Even the TV programme Top Gear featured the Death Road in one of its series.
Our final day in La Paz was spent visiting the general cemetery, as Bolivia was celebrating the Day of the Dead, where people visit the tombs of their loved ones and bring with them food and drink and items from the deceased. They usually spend the entire day in the cemetery, and here we witnessed several people playing laments and saw hundreds of tombs adorned with bread, bananas and other items.
From La Paz, a long hard climb endured taking us to the city of El Alto before
we continued with our journey to Copacabana and the Peruvian Border. It wasn't long before we saw Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable Lake in the World. At one stage we had to embark on a barge to cross the Lake. These barges of dubious construction transport buses and lorries across the lake using a large outboard motor. It looked pretty risky, but I suppose they have been doing it this way for many years!
And so we continued west past stunning views and incredible landscapes for our onwards journey to Puno in Peru. I apologise for the number of photos but we really loved Bolivia and what it had to offer. The journey continues.......
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RJT
Rachael
Wow, impressive!
I recently visited Bolivia and was one if those people on the 3x day 4x4 tours. I loved your pics, they reminded me of how amazing the scenery is. I can't believe you cycled it! Apart from the roads being atrocious and the traffic and dust, it's quite an achievement at that altitude. However it would have given you a unique perspective and the opportunity to see so much more than the average traveller. The rewards of your efforts! I've enjoyed reading your adventures, looking forward to the next installment. Happy travels!