We climbed up to the Altiplano (the second largest high plateau on earth) a few hundred kilometers south of Cusco in Peru, and have been riding high on the plateau through Bolivia. We have not dropped below 3,600 m for over a week now and have been enjoying the impressive geographical features of this area: lake Titicaca, high alpine desert, impressive views of different nevados and the Salar de Uyuni.
The mostly flat terrain has made it possible to put in some longer days. We rode 206 km one day, which is our longest day yet on this tour. We were surprised to see that we ended up making it that far, since we woke up late and did not start riding until 9:15 am. Good tailwinds made the first half of the day easy, and when we saw we could stay in a small hotel at the end of the day, we decided to push the last 4 hours through the rain.
Overall, however, the rain has not been as bad for us here in Bolivia as it was in Peru. It still rains every day (it’s the rainy season), but the pattern of rain is much different. Often only coming at night, we have been able to ride several days totally dry! These nightly thunderstorms (we have seen some huge lightning and been woken up multiple times by thunder) combined with the flat open plains has made it nearly impossible to camp, so we have been staying in a variety of ‘alojamientos’ every night here in Bolivia.
We had a long debate about whether or not to ride through Bolivia. When we initially planned this trip, we thought we would ride through the north of Chile and skip Bolivia. But as we got closer, we realized that it would make more sense for us to ride through Bolivia and avoid the headwinds in the Atacama desert. As Americans, it is expensive to get a tourist visa to Bolivia: $160 per person and a bit of paperwork, the equivalent for a foreigner to get a travel visa in the US. We wondered if it would be worth the cost and extra work, but decided to give it a go and we are glad we did. After getting our visa in the consulate in Puño, Peru, the border crossing was very easy. We have learned a bit about the history of the country and have enjoyed the cool high climate for riding.
Today we are in Uyuni, the main tourist hub for the Salar, which, because of the tourism, is a bit more expensive than we are accustomed. One of our friends sent us a gift, some funds for a nice hotel, and we decided this was a great opportunity to use it. We got a room at a nice hostel, where I spent the entirety of yesterday afternoon in bed, sick with some sort of stomach bug.
This morning we are taking it easy and enjoying the simple breakfast of bread, jelly, coffee and tea. It seems like the turn around for this bug is fairly quick, and I think I will be able to ride today, although we will probably take a shorter day.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/markandnic
Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8sK1ryrupSjneZ9BA
Thanks for reading! -Nic