Jenna & Brian in Bolivia - Post #4
“What the f—?” I heard Brian say - well, shout. I´d heard all the noise, too, but I was too tired to do much more than shove my earplugs in further and try to ignore it. The noise sounded exactly like someone was mowing the lawn at 11 o´clock at night outside our “hotel,” though there was no greenery to be found anywhere near this dry, dusty town where we´d landed for the night…
I was glad Brian had taken steps to investigate the source of the ruckus. He came back, shaking his head, and told me they were fumigating for insects inside the hotel, with a gas-powered blower. It really was the last straw. We´d had no running water all afternoon, the place was way too expensive for what it was, and it had been noisy before even the fumigating had begun. We packed up quickly, and walked out of our room, gagging from the insecticide fog…
We rode a mile and set up camp outside the town (San Cristobal). We saved money and our sanity. It was the 6th night of what turned out to be an 10 day stretch of riding and camping in some of the most remote country I´ve ever been in. It´s also the reason I haven´t blogged in almost 2 weeks - we were certainly out there, far away from any internet cafes!
Or even a decent corner store, for that matter. We started out well supplied, from Tupiza. We had cheese and veggies for our pasta dinners, and for lunch Brian we had plenty of rolls and some of the fixings…But we´d decided to take the back route, and didn´t see a town until 4 days later.
Our first day riding from Tupiza did make us question our choice of going the hard way… It took us 5 hours to go 20 miles, as we climbed back up to the Altiplano and an elevation over 13000 feet. We were in remote territory - those first few days, maybe a couple of cars passed us. By the third day, we came to a section of road passable only to bikes - and then we were truly on our own. I loved touring on that road, knowing we had it all to ourselves and wouldn´t have to yield to any traffic. On the other hand, I was also a little spooked, knowing that if anything happened to us or our equipment, there would be no one to come to our rescue.
Fortunately, though, everything went well and that day remains a highlight of the trip. It was one of the most challenging physically - I can only describe it as mountaineering with bicycles. We were riding steep passes right in the mountains, and gasping for breath at the top. The snow capped peaks around us were quite literally breathtaking…Exhausted but exhilarated, we finally made it the following day to San Pablo de Lipez, a town we knew nothing about except that its name was capitalized on the map. We hoped this meant it would be a decent-sized town.
No such luck. Adobe walls and houses lined the streeets, and llamas and dogs wandered in and out of the courtyards. We found a store, but the owner didn´t have much, due to the washed out road from Tupiza. I worried some that we would starve, but we found another store, and bought some cookies and jam and crackers and canned food. Because the owner said they would have fresh rolls the next day, we decided to camp by the river and return the next day.
After San Pablo, our next town was San Cristobal. We continued the theme of taking the hard way, this time inadvertantly, as we got lost and rode at least 15 extra miles, many of them uphill. (There are very few road signs in Bolivia once you leave the big towns…) As you´ve already heard, San Cristobal was a town we could have done without, but we were at least able to get a selection of food there. From San Cristobal we rode up and over the mountains for a great view of the Salar de Uyuni. Instead of returning to Uyuni and completing a loop, we decided on a whim to take a left and ride into Chile….straight into a headwind. Whew. It took us 2 days to get to the border crossing. The landscape was starkly beautiful, and very lonely. Once we crossed into Chile and the Atacama Desert, we did see a few cars, but they were all travelling back to Bolivia.
To sum it all up, we´re now at the beach for some much needed R&R! I feel a world away from where we were a few days ago. We took the overnight bus to Arica from Calama, and we are staying right on the beach. The waves are great, and it feels good to be at sea level!
