7940 km La Paz

22 augustus 2017 - La Paz, Bolivia

Hi everyone,

On my last night in Uyuni I met another cyclist, so the next morning I headed of to the Salar together with Isa from Germany. The entrance to the Salar is not far north from Uyuni, so we were on the Salar in just a couple of hours. Cycling on the Salar has been a dream of mine as well as of many other cyclists and it is indeed a magical experience. We cycled up to the Dakar monument and put up our tents for the night in the adjacent salthotel. The next morning we headed of while it as still pitchdark to see the sunrise on the Salar, a very special thing to witness.

After making plenty of pictures we headed back west for the main road north to Oruro. The weather was not in our favor, we faced some serious sandstorms and headwinds making the ride a challenge despite being on a decent road. Isa suggested to hitchhike several times, but of course I wouldn't have any of it. When the going gets tough, just be tougher..... We cycled together up to Oruro, but there I decided it would be better to continue the journey alone. It was very nice to have some company, but I'm on a little bit of a schedule to make it to Quito in time for a flight to the Galapagos and the pace we were cycling with was also just a bit to slow for me. Continuing together would mean I have to take a bus to quito and I really want to cycle as much of this trip as possible. A bus will likely be taken later north of Trujilo in Peru for safety reasons, but the less busses the better as far as I'm concerned ;)

I cycled from Oruro to La Paz in 2 days and am doing some sightseeing as well as taking some r&r here in La Paz. Cycling into the city has been a very chaotic experience to say the least. People are driving like crazy here, it almost feels like the traffic in Bombay as I experienced it on the previous trip. The city is bustling with energy. Nice streetfood to be found everywhere and just a general sense of chaos at all times. I quite like it, it feels uniquely different from the other South American cities. 

I visited the Etnografia museum here, which had a very interesting display of all the customs and identities of the indigenous people of this region of the Andes. The distinct patterns and ways of making clothing as well as a very nice display of all the masks used by the different tribes. 

The hostel I stay in here has a nice group of people, so I've been enoying quite a few beers in the bar here the last couple of days. Tomorrow I will continue however, because there is so much more to see on this continent. I'm heading of to Titicaca lake tomorrow and from there it will be onwards to Puno and Cusco in Peru.

Take care everybody and untill the next message.....

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Foto’s

2 Reacties

  1. Paul:
    22 augustus 2017
    Gave foto's van die zoutvlakte!
  2. Patrick Descsmps:
    23 augustus 2017
    Beste
    Leuk u te ontmoeten vandaag.
    Hou het save en geniet ervan. Zeker Peru heeft veel te bieden als u v oude culturen houdt.
    Patrick Descamps