Where are all the bike shops?

Hummmm..... steel bolt in aluminium frame, should be relatively easy to get out I hear you say, well no as a matter of fact it's not, well in Bolivia its not.  After chasing round the non existent bike shop, then a mate of the B&B owners we should have stayed at (more on this later), it all came down to a too risky hard drill bit so we decided to go the expensive route and order a new rack that can be fitted on the quick release of the rear wheel.

As this was the best option we also decided to order some extra special puncture resistant super duper tyres as Rich was getting sick and tired of repairing tubes! Therefore we find our selves staying longer than we had planned in Sucre, which is no hardship as we had specifically picked this place for Christmas as it was so nice.

So we are waiting for our parcel to turn up, how long UPS will take to get them here is anyone's guess, so far it has gone from Ireland to England to Germany to Kentucky to Florida and now it is in San Salvador so who knows where it will go next?? hopefully Bolivia but you never know.....so for now we wait.

We had much more thrilling things to worry about in the run up to Christmas, like where we were going to stay.  Should have been simple.... two weeks or so before Christmas work out where we are going to be..... look on web for reasonably prices good accommodation, email a booking, confirm booking, turn up, relax, enjoy Christmas.  Simple, straightforward, uncomplicated.  so why were we walking round on the 23rd looking for a new hotel?  Well it appears that while the owner is a great guy, very friendly and helpful his administration skills area little haphazard to say the least, we were not the only ones double booked!!

The saga went something like this (take a big breath), we arrived earlier than expected and had booked in to one hotel, bit soulless but ok, so we phoned up asking if we could book in early, sorry full, ok we will turn up on 23rd, byebye.  Then an email, oh oh i'll cancel booking as am sure you do not want to move, response.. NO we want to come to you for Christmas, OOOP's i have double booked you, have checked and you can stay next door.  come today, sorry can't today, OK tomorrow.  Yippee, have sorted nice quite B&B for Christmas.  Turn up, next door is full!! luckily 1 room for 1 night available as late cancellation. Don't worry I have booked you in somewhere else, nice place go tomorrow, I wander down and find paint peeling off the wall, drab brown bedspreads in cold soulless room, NOT staying here for Christmas, it sooooo depressing.  So that is the story of how we found ourselves walking round Sucre looking for accommodation on the eve of Christmas eve!!and like good budget conscious travellers like we are we threw money at the problem and it went away.

Now with this lovely hotel room in a prime location Christmas should have been more exciting than it was, however that is not counting my ability to catch a cold whenever we stop for a wee while after some serious riding!!  So Christmas day was spent with me alternating between boiling hot and freezing cold and feeling just plain grim, luckily it was just a heavy cold and not flu as I first thought.

We are now residing back at the original B&B where are bikes are and the parcel are turning up, we are keeping ourselves entertained by playing chess on the magnetic travel chess set I gave Rich for Christmas or faffing about on the internet, we are quite bored and are working on my tax return THAT'S how bored we are, oh and have finally established that you can not download music on to a linux system in Bolivia.

The Road... better make that, the Track to Sucre

In our last post I was somewhat unkind to Oruro, the town centre it turns out was delightful. The guide book is not overly enthusiastic from a backpackers point of view, but we found it a pleasant enough place to spend time.

Oruro Square

The road to the east heading towards Potosi and Sucre was sealed for 40kms or so. The only downer was that we picked up 3 punctures on the road from various bits of road debris. I think we need to have a look into a couple of replacements for the Specialized tyres that are proving to be none to resistant to, well, anything really.

The road splits just before the town of Machacamarca, and we took the left fork towards Huanuni, a mining town, whose centre piece is an open sewer running through the middle of it. We'd planned to spend the night here but, were disinclined to stay once we'd had a look around for a few minutes.

After asking around we found the track out of town. It was a river bed heading to the South East. It looked like we were on a diversion as they were working on improving the road. In fact once we'd found the road itself, it transpires that they were doing more than that, they were tarmacing it. Happy days! We sped along until it started to climb... this might not be so bad after all.

At the end of the first day's ride we even managed to find a lovely camp site across the river bed from the main road.

Camp site

The next morning we continued to climb... and climb. To over 4400m in fact. The road was steep. The gentle gradients of Peruvian road builders are clearly not followed by their Bolivian equivalents. It was hard going all day, and at Uncia the tarmac stopped. We'd finally found the dirt!

We decided to camp, so we pushed on past Cala Cala and another steep climb. A few miles past the town we found a dirt track that appeared to head nowhere, where we decided to have tea and to wait out the remainder of daylight until we could put up the tent. It was just as we finished eating that we realised our mistake. The first of the llama herders, complete with accompanying llamas headed past on their way home for tea. After the 10^th group we realised we may have made a mistake, but it was too late to move on. Certainly there was nothing up the steep sided valley. So we stayed put, and fortunately had a sound night's sleep.

The climb the following morning was gruelling, but seemed not as long as the previous day. We reached the top to be met with a hugely deteriorated road. 6 inch corrugated ruts caused by cars travelling too quickly along the unsealed road.

Roads and Ruts and Mines

Passing by a high altitude lake, we came across, bizarrely, a pedallo in the shape of a swan moored up ready to go. The plain gave way to a sharp sided valley, and we followed the this down for over 1000 vertical metres. The road was littered with rocks and soft sand traps, which meant our speed had to remain low. I'd guessed we'd travel 35 miles a day at an average of 5 mph. A bit optimistic in these conditions as it turns out. We were averaging single figures even on the down hills. When the road turned upwards, to eventually climb back over 4000m, our speed was oh, maybe 3mph.... when we were cycling. 2 more punctures on the climb, this time in the heavily worn Schwalbe tyre on the back of my bike. Oh, and Den's chain snapped. 

Mining using hand tools.  Hard way to earn a living.

 

By the time we reached the village of Pocoata, we were both thoroughly exhausted and in need of a comfy bed. Unfortunately, of the two hostels in town, one was full (in Bolivia, we've started to suspect that some hostel in remoter parts have a dislike of strangers and say they are full even if they may not be) and the other was locked up. Looks like another night in the tent was calling. Fortunately, one of the team was not in the mood for three days more of bumpy dirty roads. So we resorted to plan B. Taxi. Now it's not far from Pocoata to Sucre, but we clambered into the taxi at 7pm expecting a long and bumpy trip.

The reality was worse than we could expect. 8 hours of being thrown around. And this was us taking the chicken's easy way, cycling's too hard route... well it would have been murder on a bike. Got to Sucre at 3am and went in search of a hotel. Got let into one on the town square after hammering the door bell for a while. Had to have two showers to get rid of all the road dust before we could climb into the white sheets on the bed. Ahhh, bliss.

Sucre by Night

The following day we found that the head of a bolt that holds on Den's rear pannier rack had sheared off at some point, possibly during the taxi ride, but we'll need to get that fixed before we can carry on. Oh well, it's Christmas so we'll deal with that later.

Happy Christmas everyone!!

High Plains Drifting... Or La Paz to Oruro

Had a lovely day off exploring La Paz, doing a bit of shopping and checking out the ex-pat pubs in search of cider.  There's not a lot in terms of land mark tourist sights.  The hotel we stayed in was fairly centrally located so a lot of the things we needed were an easy walk away.

The climb out of the canyon that La Paz sits at the bottom of is over 500m.  Seeing as how we were only retracing our steps from on the way down, we cried off the 2 hours of hard work that cycling out would have entailed, and caught a taxi back to were we started the decent from.

After all the ups, downs, rain and wind of the last month, the ride to Oruro was essentially 230km of flat straight road.   So fast but sooooo boring!  The desolate altiplano stretched for miles to the horizon.  It might have been the kind of desolated isolation that could have inspired had it not been for the constant passing of trucks and coaches about 2 foot from your left shoulder.  Luckily we managed to avoid any actual contact with several tons of metal long enough to reach Oruro.

  

The road to Oruro

The first day out of La Paz, we reached the town of Patacamaya.  Which offered a choice of none too salubrious accommodation for the night.  In it's defence, the cost was about 3 quid.  But, as they say, you get what you pay for.  I was a bit worried when we went to the restaurant downstairs and I was told that I couldn't have a beer if I was staying in the hostel.  I guess there may have been some problems in the past.

Patacamaya

The second day into Oruro was a longer than average.  75 miles.  We were in two minds when we set out whether to do this trip in two or three days.  In the end, it was the lack of (open) accommodation along the way that made us decide to go for the extra mileage.

Oruro is apparently the folklore capital of Boliva.  There are a number of big festivals that occur throughout the year, and some interesting art on the way into town.  Unfortunately, it just goes to prove that that you can have all the culture you want.  If the side of the street is covered in dust and rubbish, then your town is still going to appear down at heal.  Anyhow, we are off to investigate to see if there is any more to this town than first impressions suggest.

Welcome to Oruro

Having looked on the web, the unsealed road between here and Sucre could be one of the hardest of trip so far.  Only, 210 miles.  It should take us about six days.  Let's hope so.  Looking forward to having Christmas in comfort.

68 miles to nowhere on the road to La Paz.

We had to cross two climbs that topped out at over 4100m on the first day out of Copacabana. Between the two, we crossed the lake on a rickety wooden ferry. Which felt okay when loaded with a couple of 4 x 4's and our bikes but I wouldn't have been very sure about, say a bus...

Came across a cluster of hotels 20 miles or so later, but since we hadn't reached our target of 50, we decided to ride onto the next town to crash there. Bit of a mistake. There was nowhere to stay. Neither there, or the next town, or in fact the next either. So as the sun set, we crept off the road to put the tent up.

The good news was that when we got up we were only 30 miles from La Paz. The traffic built steadily as we got closer to the capital. Not a problem, bar the collectivo drivers pulling in front of us at any moment to drop off a fare. Then an easy cruise down the Autopista into town and hopefully a decent night's sleep. Should be. The hotel has a strictly enforced curfew, of, oh 3am. Maybe not.

La Paz...

Puno to Copacabana

Our final full day in Peru. Really am disappointed to be leaving. We've both really enjoyed touring in Peru. Brilliant scenery and sights, very friendly people, easy to find decent accommodation and some challenging climbs... what do you mean Den? Oh, apparently big climbs are not a good thing.

50 miles on the road to the Bolivian border brought us to the town of Juli. The road mostly followed the shore of the lake so it was comparatively flat, well up until we reached the outskirts of Juli itself when the road climbed steeply to the town centre. There was a festival on in town. By the time we got there, it seemed to have been going on for most of the day judging from the drunkenness of the male population of town.

We took a room in the first hostel that had a spare room. We headed out to catch some of the parades and to stock up on provisions for the next day.  On the way back we met this guy.

The next morning, we stopped off at the beach.

On the way to the border crossing with Bolivia, we saw 3 cycle tourists in as many miles. Two of which were on a tandem going the opposite way to us, on their way to Lima from Buenos Aires. We were both quite missing Bertha after that.

From the border, it's only 8km into Copacabana. We picked a midrange hotel from the guidebook and checked in. The town is compact and it took us no time to look around. After changing some money and fixing ourselves with an early dinner we decided to get an early night. Unfortunately, there was a tour group who just wanted to PARTY in the function room downstairs. I must be getting so old. Anyhow, once the music had stopped at about midnight, one of their party decided to start a fight. Hurrah!! 

 

Final Push to Puno

Feeling a little the worse for our 85 miles yesterday, we had a bit of a late start from Juliaca. It's just under 30 miles to Puno, and the road is fairly flat and arrow straight for the majority of the time, so we started just after 10am after a filling breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

Getting out of Juliaca was easy. Out the door of the hotel and head south. We ended up running out of town on a 6 lane highway with big no cycling signs up.... which we continued to ignore until the road reverted to two lane type. There were no police to witness our law breaking thankfully, although after a while I got the feeling that it may not be strictly enforced anyhow as we over took yet another pedal rickshaw.

Had our fifth puncture of this leg of the trip just a few miles later. The Specialized tyres that came on Den's bike just aren't made for touring. A small piece of wire had punctured the carcass of the tyre and given her a slow flat on the rear wheel. As the tire had been wearing quickly we swapped it with my front tyre and hopefully we'll have fewer punctures for a while - there is less weight over the front wheels, so thorns etc. won't be forced through the tyre quite as easily. 

On the road to Puno...

As we neared Puno the road climbed for a 150 metres (vertical) over a few miles, before allowing us to coast into town, just ahead of the afternoon rain. We checked out a few hotels and ended up plumping for the Hotel Sillustani. A bit on the pricey side compared to some of the places we've stayed, but hey, welcome to Puno, tourist-tastic Gringo-ville. Luckily it's the low season so we wangled a discount.

Lake Titicaca....

Puno and around...

Just been out for an authentic Peruvian pizza.... mmm yum, oh and Den bought some Alpaca socks... mmm, questionable.

Machu Picchu

We've been climbing a few hills lately, here's one of them snaking it's way up the hillside, from back on the road between Nasca and Abancay

Sometimes, even though they look flat, they are in fact climbing...

Anyhow, we had a day off in Cusco.  The area surrounding the Plaza de Aramas in Cusco is picture postcard stuff, there's a couple of colonial era churches and alleys with Inca stonework foundations.  Reading up on it and there is lots to see and do in the city.  One of those times when you simply don't have long enough.  Our main reason for coming here though, like 90% of the other tourists I would imagine, is to see Machu Picchu.

First things first, how expensive is it to get to Machu Picchu?  Makes you wish that we'd visited the other free to view Inca ruins further back on the road to Abancay.  We took a kamikaze collectivo to Ollytambee.  Made it alive, just.  Then took the $34, 1 and a bit hour train to Aguas Calientes.  Which is the stop for Machu Picchu.  Guide book described it as most awful small town in Peru, but since that book was written they've spent lots of money doing it up.  Can't say there was too much wrong with it, and certainly unlike some cities in Peru, you never felt in imminent danger of being mugged.  Stayed in a fairly decent hotel, and got up at 4am to be ready to board the first bus up to Machu Picchu.

I won't even try to describe Machu Picchu, it's breathtaking.  Even if it does give the appearance, from a distance, of having been colonised by North Face attired ants.  So even if you are paying for the privilege of visiting, it's money well spent.  It even has a hotel at the entry gate.  Sanctuary lodge – cheapest room, $800 per night if you please.  

Returned to Cusco in the afternoon by the same route that we had arrived.  Not quite ready to get back on the bike the next day.

Short day to Urcos.  Mostly flat or downhill following broadly a river valley.  Stopped off en route to see a pre Inca structure that was later modified by the Inca civilization to act as both aqueduct and toll gate to control the flow of traffic into and out of the sacred valley.  Stayed in a wonderfully tranquil hostel.

58 miles to Sicuani.  The road followed the course of a river all day.  It's fairly flat going.  The hard shoulder was intermittent for a while but the only obstacles were the dogs, who like to chase tired cyclists.  The town of Sicuani looks like a bit of a tip, but found what looks like a reasonable hostel and the central plaza was quite pleasant. 

Final 4000m pass before getting to Lake Titicaca.  Had an early start from Sicuani in order to climb the last major climb before Puno.  Saw an interesting sight on the way up the climb.  A chap was riding his moto with a 12 foot plank of wood strapped to the back...now that's not inline with the bike, you understand, that's across the back of the bike.  Like he was out to clothes-line oncoming trucks.  Still he was happy with the set up. 

Anyhow, the ride was all going well until the afternoon wind and rain kicked in for the day just as we approached the summit of the Abra la Raya pass.  We got a bit of a soaking before we reached the top.  Where I got to pet my first Alpaca.... can see why they make jumpers out of their fur... very soft.  All set for the rewarding downhill bit, and the headwind sprang up with gusto.  How frustrating!  We made it to the village of Santa Rosa about 20 miles down from the summit and called it a day.  Stayed in a very friendly guest house, whose main attraction was that the toilet was in the same building as our room.  Unlike the other hostel in town.

Here we go, the rain cloud that was about to engulf us. 

85 miles.... and Den's still talking to me.  With the shorter than intended day yesterday, we had an early start today and managed to put in 45 miles to the town of Pucará in time for an early lunch.  Our plan was then to push on to Calapuja before looking for somewhere to stay.  Unfortunately, there was nowhere, so we knuckled down and rode into Juliaca, some 85 miles from our start point just before dusk.  Our guide book warned that there was nothing special about the place, and they were right.  It was however the longest day's cycling of our entire trip to date.