My previous visit to Bolivia had to be cut short unfortunately. Strikes, explosions and roadblocks made the country unsuitable for travel. So, I changed plans and quickly made my way to Uyuni for a salt flat tour towards Chile. This time around, I was very eager to explore this country more.

The Bolivian plan

To give myself an easier border crossing into the country I opted to use the same point of entry as when I was backpacking. I knew it would be a small and easy border and before I knew it I sat on the shores of lake Titicaca again. Fresh trucha, and suddenly a lot of tourists. The first real milestone in Bolivia would be the city of La Paz. Famous for its cable cart transport and since I was desperate for a rest day I decided to hang around for a while. This ended up being almost a week because I found myself a nice little group and I felt like a real tourist for a while.

After La Paz my rough plan was to head to Sajama national park for more volcanoes and vicunas, and then south to the largest salt flats in the world: The salar the Uyuni. Crossing this on a bicycle had been on my mind for almost 4 years now and I was very keen to get there.

An unexpected side quest

One of my favourite things about travelling in general is staying flexible and having spontaneous plans. An example of this is when Ian, who I met on the Peru Great Divide, asked me if I wanted to climb Huayna Potosi with him. A 6088m mountain summit attempt, complete with ice picks, ropes and crampons.

It would be a three day tour. Day one for training on a glacier with equipment at 4700m, then on day two I’d be a hike to high camp, a mountain hut on 5300m. The last day would start at midnight for our ascent towards 6088m, hopefully summiting at sunrise.

We all slept really well at base camp but I struggled a little at high camp. Nerves, and altitude didn’t make for a comfortable sleep but I did get some rest. One of our group felt too sick unfortunately and decided not to attempt the summit. Me and Ian got ready in the dark and José, our guide, checked all the equipment and before we knew it we were walking up a mountain. Some sections would be 70-80% incline, using our icepicks and crampons to stay on the mountain side. The most memorable, crossing a narrow ice bridge above a deep crevice.

Every 100m ascending we would take a break, trying to catch our breath, before continuing again. I tried to eat snacks and drink water, but at 5600m the nausea hit me. Every step was harder and harder, before unfortunately vomiting at 6030m. My guide, and Ian, looked at me and all of us just laughed and went on our way to the summit.

Reaching the summit was one of my more emotional moments. Both Ian and I just stood there, crying. Exhaustion, frozen gear, altitude and an immense feeling of pride overcame us, we did it! 6088m, incredible.

The final lonely stretch

With the Peru Great Divide being my last epic stretch of remote riding, I missed getting out there and camping. Luckily Bolivia has a massive empty salt flat you can cycle across. Heading south from Sajama I followed mainly a paved road to make more progress and avoid the worst weather in the mountains. As I got closer to the salt flats, the scenery got more dramatic too. The monotonous altiplano suddenly got interrupted by volcanoes and smaller mountains, and what seemed almost suddenly I stood in front a seemingly never ending white expanse: The Salar de Uyuni. This would be my final challenge.

With no landmarks to navigate I relied highly on my gps. Just a pink line to roughly follow. Due to El Niño, the salt flat had seen a lot of rain the week before I got there, so although it was supposed to be dry season the salt was a little spongy at moments. Nothing too bad and I really enjoyed the first day of riding into nowhere.

Because of the flatness, you can spot islands and mountains from almost 60km away. At this distance they all seem to float but it also makes for interesting cycling conditions. I thought I had been riding for 30km already but it turned out to be only 10km. After a full day in the burning sun, trying to keep a straight line I arrived at Isla Incuahasi. An island with very old cacti in the middle of the Salar. This would be my campsite for the night. It is also a popular tourist destination so I had the luxury of a toilet and a small shop to refill water.

The next day was even more intense. With sunrise I left, riding 80km towards Uyuni. The whole day I covered every bit of exposed skin, just to not burn to a crisp. I made countless photos, including the traditional ”naked cyclist on the Salar”.

Passing the Dakar rally monument I conquered the salt flats. These were definitely a highlight of this trip and it felt epic. My bike was in rough state with all the salt but I found a motorcycle mechanic who offered to help me clean it and treat it with an anti-rust spray.

Onwards to Argentina

With my last real highlight now done, it was time to start looking forward. Having changed my plans quite dramatically I decided to fly home from Salta at the end of October. This also meant I had only 700km left on the bike. The scenery would change dramatically again as I descended down from the altiplano. Below 3000m I was suddenly surrounded by trees again, warmer air and after being on altitude for so long it felt like I had twice the amount of oxygen. Salta was quickly getting closer and in what felt like a blink of an eye, I sat on the plaza.

Listo.

Thoughts on Bolivia

Beforehand I knew Bolivia would be the poorest country I’d visit on this trip. Also large sections of altiplano with a lot of fenced of farmland made camping a lot more difficult. The people are incredibly friendly and always smile or ask curious questions when you roll into a village, and the drivers on the road are mostly careful going around you. Food however, is limited. Outside the bigger cities you’ll mainly eat rice and chicken with very occasionally some vegetables, the villages usually have very affordable Hospedajes but don’t expect any luxury. For me, it was perfectly fine and I enjoyed having a bed.

The Western part, bordering Chile, is where most adventurous cyclist go. With more unpaved wilderness to explore it might have been a better option to break up the boring altiplano. Unfortunately due to El Niño there has been a lot of snowfall and rain which meant it wasn’t the right time for me to go there. Bolivia hasn’t captured me as much as Peru did but I’m very glad to have experienced this interesting country for a month. It gave me a valuable insight in the life of smaller communities and how little we need to build a life.

Gracias, Bolivia. Por todo.