Three days riding has brought me to Tupiza. The road is rough and unimproved, though they are also busy with a massive road construction project. Overall, I was actually on the pavement for ~40% (80 kilometers) of the distance with the remainder varying between smooth “to be paved” segments as well as awful rutted, washboard, sandy roads.

Day One – Uyuni to Atocha

Left Uyuni after a rest day and ready to ride. Getting out of town was bumpy but once I was out, there was 30 kilometers of newly paved road. Hooray! There were one or two diversions such as above, but I could mostly keep straight.

At 32km there was a big split with still new pavement ahead and a sandy track splitting off to the right. One blogger had cut through the left road, but I decided to follow the rules and take the signs on the official bypass.

A small cemetery I passed.

At 55km was this small settlement. No actual stores or businesses but a cluster of small brick buildings to keep out the worst of the cold.

Just as I passed, felt my rear tire was soft. Sheltered from the wind, I took everything apart and then found the problem (small wire) and fixed the tube.

Wide open spaces with an occasional llama herd.

Unfortunately it became sandy for a kilometer or two. I mostly pushed my bike through this section.

This was a section of road construction with the new road to the right and a bypass road on the left. These bypass roads were of varying condition.

Construction workers pouring concrete for a culvert.

The last 10km to Atocha were actually pavement again. Also several steep hills with one approaching 10%.

Made it to town past 5pm as the sun was already low on the horizon and the town was mostly in the shadows. Found a basic hotel where the room had just enough space for a bed as well as my bicycle. It had been a long 100km day with 60km of gravel, but also nice to find a place inside where the room would be just slightly warmer than camping.

Day Two – Atocha to High Camp
This was a tough day. Only 63km, but more than 1300m of climbing and a moderate amount of gravel roads.

It was cold leaving Atocha. My cycle computer told me -6.5C (20F) as I came up a sharp little ravine leaving town. You can see Atocha in the distance.

Here was the climb heading up.

As I got to the top, there was a beautiful wide open landscape. At 3km the road became paved. It was still steep at times. It also became warmer with the sun.

Wonderful landscapes along the way.

I had forgotten to fill my water, so found a small store at 13km and bought some water to top things off.

At 13km my front tire was flat. Another small wire. These barrels were handy to lean everything against. Inside the water was still frozen.

It was a much hillier ride today.

At 38km the pavement stopped.

The only photo I took all afternoon was of these llamas.

However, it was a slow grind cycling. There were a few steep gravel hills where I found it easier to walk my bike than ride. I would also occasionally try the new road even when it was closed. Sometimes this worked well but on at least one occasion I found myself lifting my bike up and over a closed up berm.

I kept going until 5pm and by then was tired and spent. I saw this gravel dump on the left side and found a space behind it to camp out of view of the traffic. I was at 4000m (13,200ft) and expected a cold evening.

Day Three – High Camp to Tupiza
Suprisingly warm last night. My water bottles didn’t freeze and am fairly certain it stayed above freezing all night. The sun came out and quickly warmed things up. Only drawback was that my rear tire was soft again. I couldn’t find the hole, but did end up swapping in a new tube.

The first 15km were sharply downhill as I descended 800m/2500ft to the valley below. The road was surprisingly good. Sections were graded like this one and even a short stretch was paved. I perhaps could have ridden it the previous day, though didn’t know that. Also from the icy puddles in the valley, suspect my high camp was warmer than in the valley.

The short section of pavement ended.

A view of the last little bit in the valley.

Once I was in the valley, the new road was being constructed off to the side. Instead, the bypass road was graded in the bottom of the canyon itself. Some sections were smooth but a lot of it was a washboard mess.

Coming through one of the canyon sections.

Waiting for traffic to clear.

These guys were using the stream to wash their truck.

The road itself crossed the stream half a dozen times. As a temporary road, there weren’t bridges. The stream was just wide enough and big enough that I would end up with wet feet, though not so high that my front panniers had troubles.

Finally made it to Tupiza. Nice to get into this more touristy town as well as be back to reliable pavement again. My rear tire was soft again, so patched that this afternoon. Not sure why I’m having as many issues with flats, but will see what happens on pavement from here.

Tupiza is at 2850m/9350ft so just a bit warmer. This area was last known place for Bonnie and Clyde and otherwise the area is known for hiking.

Four days riding from Oruro have brought me to Uyuni and the salt flats.

Day One – Oruro to Poopo

An easy ride today to the small town of Poopo. Yesterday was a relaxing day in Oruro. I found the market streets and bought some items for next few days of quiet roads. This morning no rush to leave as I made my way out of town.

Looking back on outskirts of Oruro. I was surprised at how similar many of the brick building were. Also could see the smog across the city.

I left behind the double lane highway and route today was this single lane road.

After 27km, the road split with left branch to Sucre and right to Potosi as well as the salt flats. It became a little quieter on the road after this.

A bus stop or former shed.

I saw a bicycle sign and even saw some cyclists that looked like recreational cyclists on this next stretch.

Both llama and sheep being herded here along the railroad tracks.

Off to the left was the small town of Poopo.

It had a nice old hotel and next door a swimming pool. Otherwise, I found a restaurant and found some shops though tough to find too much to eat in this town.

From yesterday, a photo of a bus in Oruro.

Day Two – Poopo to Huari

A nice ride today with a chilly morning and pleasant afternoon temperatures. The sun was shining brightly as I packed up in the hotel and rode back through town. The dog above was in town watching as I left.

The road continued as a two lane with occasional bumps and not much traffic. It went through a few small settlements as pictured above, but these didn’t have services.

At 27km, was a slightly larger village of Pazna. There were a few vendors along the road, but not much else.

Ladies selling shoes.

Pazna church

After this open road again. The route was flat and I made good time.

Another church and very small at top of the hill was a shrine.

Occasionally there would be a field like this one where hay had been grown and cut up and placed in small piles.

At 65km was slightly large place of Challapatta. I reach here just past noon.

There were at least two places such as this one where I could have stayed if wanted. It was early enough that I got some snacks and continued further to Huari which was only another 12 kilometers further.

In Challapatta, there road had split into a road to Potosi and my route which continued to Uyuni. Traffic also became less frequent.

Entrance to Huari.

I found this small residencia a block from the main square. It had nice sunny courtyard.

Across the street, I found a place to have lunch. The sign says “almuerzo” and generally there is a fixed menu. Each place will have something slightly different.

Otherwise a nice ride and pleasant afternoon in town.

Day Three – Huari to Rio Mulato

Another nice day cycling on mostly flat terrain. Not sure it froze last night, though starting out my odometer briefly recorded 0.7C (33F). In any case the large barrel of water to throw into the toilet didn’t have ice on it this morning.

Pumped up the tires, packed the bike and set off from Huari. Smooth road today with not much traffic. Looks like the bus frame above had been there a while.

At 18km there was a split in the road. The right road headed southwest to the north of the Salar de Uyuni salt flats. In winter one can ride across the flats this way. In summer this usually isn’t possible because rains turn sections into a salt lake. I took the left road since I figure I don’t need to ride across all the salt flats but instead just visit from the side.

The road after this was just a few years old and smooth.

One of the birds along the way.

The new smooth road bypassed village of Sevarayo, but did have this bus shelter made from plastic bottles.

A lot of wide open spaces on the road today.

A few llamas.

One is prohibited from washings ones car. However, there wasn’t water in the river, so it would likely be difficult in any case.

I have seen a few rivers such as this one with water in them.

By early afternoon I reached Rio Mulato. The town seemed to be mostly along the road and railroad tracks.

I found this hotel, least expensive price so far 20 Bs ($3).

Day Four – Rio Mulato to Uyuani
The hotel seemed temperate, but it turned out to be cold once I left Rio Mulato. My odometer gave -3C (27F) and didn’t get above freezing until 9am. Sunrise is at 7am and I try to get on the road around 8am.

Lots of signs on this road. The first says no hunting and the second warns for animals on the road. Both signs seem to use a similar llama/vicuna image.

Several spots with llama herders today. The protective guard dogs would come running out and barking as they saw me on my bicycle. Fortunately, these particular dogs were well-behaved and came back when the owner called.

At 55km was this town of Chita along the way. I had expected a bit more roadside business to get some lunch, but the road bypassed the town and not clear there was much business to be bypassed.

Somewhat after this I saw the salt flats on the horizon. Access to the flats from this road was via the town of Colchani.

At Colchani was this sign indicating five kilometers to the salt flats. I decided I would do one of two things, either (1) ride via Colchani to the salt flats and stay in a hotel there or (2) visit the salt flats and then cycle to Uyuni and come back to take a tour from there. It depended a bit on what I found for hotels in Colchani.

Also interesting to see all the stickers that had been placed on this sign.

There wasn’t too much in Colchani itself other than this museum. The road itself was washboard and rough to ride, so it was a slow cycle.

On the edge of the salt flats were several hotels such as this one.

This was actual hotel down the road.

Finally reached the salt flats where this memorial stone was found.

I cycled about a kilometer further out into the flats to get some views of the vast expanse.

After that I cycled back and tried one of the salt hotels. It was a fancy place, but some cyclists recently reported staying there on a discount. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any rooms.

Rather than go down the roads for the other different hotels, I decided to ride on to Uyuni and try to come back on a tour.

Saw this truck carved out of salt.

Back to the main road and into Uyuni.

Uyuni is a larger town of ~10,000 with many hotels and otherwise a tourist center. I booked a reasonable hotel for two nights and then found a day trip tour that I’ll take tomorrow to go back to the salt flats and explore, though this time in a vehicle and with a guided tour. Also prior to the tour, will try replacing/patching my rear tire which still has a slow leak, though that leak has been letting air out more quickly.

Nice to get to the salt flats as this was one of the reasons I picked this route via Bolivia. Looking forward to exploring further tomorrow on the tour.

A ride from quiet lakeside roads to the middle of a busy city.

Today I made it to Bolivia’s second largest city, El Alto. Interestingly, La Paz, the capital, is the third largest city. La Paz sits in a deep canyon with El Alto on top. Supposedly, the wealthier neighborhoods are lower down, where it is warmer and poorer neighborhoods up top in El Alto.

I decided not to drop into La Paz since the main road south continues on from El Alto. Descending ~300m/1000ft into the middle of a busy city only to ride back up again isn’t strictly necessary.

This morning continued on the road along the lake. It was still being expanded to four lanes and this first town showed some of the construction zones.

After this, the road expanded to four lanes. I was pretty much on this large four lane highway until outskirts of El Alto. Traffic progressively got busier, but never too bad on the highway. The shoulder had some debris so I would also ride on the white line as well.

It was Sunday and I could tell this was a church from music coming from within.

A new verb to look up, “girar” or to turn.

El Alto started simple enough, this was about 10 kilometers from the center.

There is a cable car system that goes between La Paz and El Alto. This was about 5 kilometers from the center. The road had gone through multiple construction zones and now got to the zone where all the little vans keep trying to dart to the right for passengers and then come left again to get around all the other vans that are still stopped. Rather chaotic, though it also keeps the speeds down. The trick is to figure out where to ride. Too far right and you keep having to wait for the vans to clear. Too far left, and you are dodging the other traffic.

Made it to the middle of town and found a reasonable hotel. All around are market areas.

Lots of fruits. I bought one from an older woman who was busy eating her own wares. A friend/family member next to her helped work out the cost and change.

and bread

and eggs

and general little shops.

Nice to be in a big city with all the shops out on the street since the little hamlets I’ve passed on the road don’t seem to have much.