Bolivia, I think, is the most diverse and authentic county we have travelled so far in south America. And while we were staying at the campground Las Lomas, relaxing a bit, visiting La Paz and mending the van, I found some time to do a bike ride too.
Valle Las Animas
And what a ride. I took the advise of the campground owner, Marcus, and rode up to the Mirador Sur Mallasa first, from where there is an excellent view over the valley and also the Cerro Muella del Diablo. I followed a gravel road that passed the community of Chiaraque, a road that is closed with a barrier. I think you need permission to go here by car. But with a bike it is, as always, no problem.
Soon I reached a pass and from there on the track went down into a beautiful canyon with lots of bizarre rock formations. Some road workers offered to make a picture and were proud to hear that the landscape was so beautiful.
But soon after that I reached a normal road again, which I took to ride up again, out of the city and to San Geronimo de Uni. And then it was a bit further, still going up, to reach Tacapaya, a really small village.
But at Tacapaya I could finally leave the asphalt and climb (yes, some more climbing) to reach the Achachi Qala, a mountain top of no interest actually. But it is at 4500masl, the highest point I would reach today. From here on it would be mostly down hill, so the hard work was done, and the joy of rolling down could start. but also, from this point on, I would reach the back door of the Valley of Las Animas, a very beautiful valley that ends in a canyon -that is, If you go down. Again, there were a lot of bizarre rock formations to see. Enjoy the pictures I would say.
Salar de Uyuni
Iconic. World famous too. And it really is surreal to be in such a place. At an altitude of 3650masl, it’s surface area is about 10.582 km², making it the biggest salt flats of the world. We were here in dry season, making the salt flats dry and crystalline. During the day the climate is sort of pleasant, but the nights were freezing. We camped two nights on the flats, close to Isla del Pescado. So there was some time left to take the bike for a spin… But which way to go? It is all flat and mostly featureless for 70km, regardless of the direction you take. I decided to go to Incahuasi, a small “island” too, about 24km away. I could already see it from the start…
Riding on the salt flats is all that you could imagine: flat, a bit boring, lonely, no surprises (hey, that’s a song by Radiohead). Luckily not too much wind. Enough time to have random thought while cycling away.
Prachtig!!