But after a day off in Jujuy, we finally felt able to start the final push up to Bolivia. We had 3 days of fairly steady climbing up to the border, including our record daily climb of 1163m which felt like a fair acheivement. We started feeling the altitude after about 2500m, but were chuffed that it didnt seem to make life too hard, just had to breathe a little deeper when we were climbing. The only upsetting thing about the altitude has been that we cant sing anymore as it takes too much air. Rich has lost all the sustain from the end of 'My Way' and its just not the same anymore.
Jujuy is the poorest province of Argentina, and after we left town it really started to show. As we climbed towards the altiplano, we saw more and more houses made of mud-bricks and corrugated iron, and the culture and the people became noticeably more Bolivian. Still, the North of Argentina generally has been probably the friendliest area we've been through, and the Jujuians were just as nice to us.
The only other news from the ride to Bolivia was that we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Even though its jsut an imagined line around the earth, it was good to see some official confirmation that we were getting further North all the time. (As always, photo to follow
The crossing to Bolivia was hectic but oddly simple at the same time. Hundreds of people milling about, waiting to cross one way or another, but a fast-track system for us Gringos straight to the front of the queue. There, we were stamped into the country straight away by a 12 year old boy, as he couldnt find the usual bloke. No checking of the photo or anything. This was Bolivia then...
Despite receiving the executive treatment at the border though, we were late setting off that day for Tupiza, our first port of call in Bolivia. So it was a hard, hard day on some terrible roads that got us into town just before dark. After being on good Argentine asphalt for a couple of thousand kms, the muddy tracks of Bolivia were a bit of a rude awakening, especially as we set off in heavy rain which made it like riding through treacle. But the sun dried out the mud as the afternoon went on and the amazing scenery took our minds off the riding for most of the way... or maybe it was the big bag of Coca leaves we bought at the border that got us through... we'll never know for sure. We've met people who took the train from the border to Tupiza. Apparently a 3 hour journey took over 17 when a freight train shed its load on the line in front. We got from the border to Tupiza in 7 hours riding, which makes us roughly two and a half times faster than a train. By those maths we could do London to Manchester in about 45 minutes. Richard Branson could well be in trouble.
The next day we set off on a 4-day jeep tour of the South West of Bolivia, finishing up with the Salar de Uyuni. We were in a car with 2 Danes (Aesgar and Villads - really great Danes they were, and apologies for the spelling guys 2 Germans (who did a lot of stopping and filming of stationary countryside,) and our very happy and lovely driver and cook - (Irinui and Varya). The first three days were spectacular - scenery like i really never dreamt i'd see, peaks and Volcanos, Hot springs to bathe in, lush valleys full of grazing llamas and Vicuñas, desert, colourful lagoons, and more flamingos than you could shake a stick at. Breathtaking stuff. We stayed in little villages along the way as well, and a small group of kids in one place robbed me of all my snacks for the trip. They had their hands on my camera and the GPS as well, but i just managed to fight off a 6-year-old girl and get them back.
But the fourth morning was the icing on the cake, as we got up at 4.30 to see the sunrise over the salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni. It really was one of the most incredible things we've ever seen, as the Salar is covered in a thin layer of water at this time of year, and as there was no wind, the sun and clouds were reflected perfectly in the huge mirror of the salt flats. Then, driving across the vast expanse (12000km - or 4times the size of Essex of shallow, salty water, you couldn't see the horizon at all for huge stretches. With the perfect reflections of the clouds, you could really believe you were in a small plane, zipping through the sky. We made two stops, one at the island in the centre of the Salar, where we could take some stunning shots from a decent height above the salt, and one at the unspectacular but much-vaunted 'Hotel de Sal'. A hotel made entirely of salt. A grubby, brown and not particularly luxurious building a few miles out into the salt flats.
We also saw the men who harvest the salt from the Salar, working entirely by hand with shovels and rakes, apparently this small group of men (we only saw 20 or so out there) provide the majority of South America's salt. Im not sure about this, but maybe someone out there wants to check it out?!
Anyway, i've gone on long enough and im getting hungry. Incidentally, Bolivian food so far has been great, not the buckets of blandness we'd been told to expect.
Photos soon. Promise.
Blenk
Jujuy is the poorest province of Argentina, and after we left town it really started to show. As we climbed towards the altiplano, we saw more and more houses made of mud-bricks and corrugated iron, and the culture and the people became noticeably more Bolivian. Still, the North of Argentina generally has been probably the friendliest area we've been through, and the Jujuians were just as nice to us.
The only other news from the ride to Bolivia was that we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Even though its jsut an imagined line around the earth, it was good to see some official confirmation that we were getting further North all the time. (As always, photo to follow
The crossing to Bolivia was hectic but oddly simple at the same time. Hundreds of people milling about, waiting to cross one way or another, but a fast-track system for us Gringos straight to the front of the queue. There, we were stamped into the country straight away by a 12 year old boy, as he couldnt find the usual bloke. No checking of the photo or anything. This was Bolivia then...
Despite receiving the executive treatment at the border though, we were late setting off that day for Tupiza, our first port of call in Bolivia. So it was a hard, hard day on some terrible roads that got us into town just before dark. After being on good Argentine asphalt for a couple of thousand kms, the muddy tracks of Bolivia were a bit of a rude awakening, especially as we set off in heavy rain which made it like riding through treacle. But the sun dried out the mud as the afternoon went on and the amazing scenery took our minds off the riding for most of the way... or maybe it was the big bag of Coca leaves we bought at the border that got us through... we'll never know for sure. We've met people who took the train from the border to Tupiza. Apparently a 3 hour journey took over 17 when a freight train shed its load on the line in front. We got from the border to Tupiza in 7 hours riding, which makes us roughly two and a half times faster than a train. By those maths we could do London to Manchester in about 45 minutes. Richard Branson could well be in trouble.
The next day we set off on a 4-day jeep tour of the South West of Bolivia, finishing up with the Salar de Uyuni. We were in a car with 2 Danes (Aesgar and Villads - really great Danes they were, and apologies for the spelling guys
2 Germans (who did a lot of stopping and filming of stationary countryside,) and our very happy and lovely driver and cook - (Irinui and Varya). The first three days were spectacular - scenery like i really never dreamt i'd see, peaks and Volcanos, Hot springs to bathe in, lush valleys full of grazing llamas and Vicuñas, desert, colourful lagoons, and more flamingos than you could shake a stick at. Breathtaking stuff. We stayed in little villages along the way as well, and a small group of kids in one place robbed me of all my snacks for the trip. They had their hands on my camera and the GPS as well, but i just managed to fight off a 6-year-old girl and get them back.But the fourth morning was the icing on the cake, as we got up at 4.30 to see the sunrise over the salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni. It really was one of the most incredible things we've ever seen, as the Salar is covered in a thin layer of water at this time of year, and as there was no wind, the sun and clouds were reflected perfectly in the huge mirror of the salt flats. Then, driving across the vast expanse (12000km - or 4times the size of Essex
of shallow, salty water, you couldn't see the horizon at all for huge stretches. With the perfect reflections of the clouds, you could really believe you were in a small plane, zipping through the sky. We made two stops, one at the island in the centre of the Salar, where we could take some stunning shots from a decent height above the salt, and one at the unspectacular but much-vaunted 'Hotel de Sal'. A hotel made entirely of salt. A grubby, brown and not particularly luxurious building a few miles out into the salt flats. We also saw the men who harvest the salt from the Salar, working entirely by hand with shovels and rakes, apparently this small group of men (we only saw 20 or so out there) provide the majority of South America's salt. Im not sure about this, but maybe someone out there wants to check it out?!
Anyway, i've gone on long enough and im getting hungry. Incidentally, Bolivian food so far has been great, not the buckets of blandness we'd been told to expect.
Photos soon. Promise.
Blenk
