Bolivia and beyond by bicycle

The End...

2007-04-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

And so to the final week...

From El Bolson, it was a final scenic, albeit rather hilly, 130km ride north to the chocolate heaven of Bariloche. Sitting on the edge of a large and beautiful lake, Bariloche is the primary destination for holidaying Argentinians, and for good reason. Situated in the Argentinian Lake District (a bit like the one in the UK, but on steroids), it is surrounded by national parks and has enough outdoor activities to keep one happily occupied for a good couple of weeks.

It was a beautiful place, but also marked the beginning of the end of my trip for me. It was a very sad moment when I came to dismantle my bike, wrap it in bubble wrap (if anyone knows the spanish word for bubble wrap, I would really love to know it...) and carefully stow it in a box for the journey home. The bike did me proud, I could scarcely have dreamed of it giving me so few problems. No mechanicals (the rubbish front pannier racks aside), 3 punctures and just shy of 3,000 kms on generally "challenging" roads.

The cycling part of my trip over, I spent the remaining time doing the more regular tourist things, first in Bariloche, and then finally in Buenos Aires.

Testing out a couple of different transport options, I explored the edge of the Patagonian steppe on horseback,

and then pottered around in a kayak on a nearby lake. A thoroughly relaxing way to spend an afternoon!

My time in Buenos Aires was generally spent wandering all over the city, probably best illustrated by a few photos,

The colourful buildings in Boca, the vibrant, slightly dangerous area near the football ground.

The graveyard! I've never seen such impressive "streets" of tombs...

I couldn't quite work out if these cranes were still being used, or had become part of the designer look of Puerto Madero, the newest district. I quite liked them though!

The infamous obelisk in the centre. When I saw it, there was a huge demonstration going on, blocking the whole of the centre of town. Apparently, it's a common occurrence!

And that's it really. I'm now back home in England, still struggling to put my thoughts and experiences into words. What should I say as an appropriate ending to my final entry in a blog of such an incredible trip?? I saw and did so much, that I really don't know where to begin, and if I did, I probably wouldn't know where to stop!

Looking back to the first entry I posted, back in December, I ended up doing everything I'd vaguely intended, and then some. I really feel that I saw both Bolivia and Patagonia, not to mention dipping my toe into Antarctica, and I love South America. It's such a vast, varied and exciting contintinent to explore. Fortunately there still remain huge tracts of it that I've yet to visit...

Bye for now,
Helen.

And back to Argentina

2007-04-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hello again! This time, from Argentina again - the number of stamps in my passport is now becoming a little ridiculous given I´ve only actually been to a couple of countries!

Since it seems that for some unfathomable reason, people are still apparently reading my ridiculous ramblings, I´m sitting here in an internet cafe in the quiet town of El Bolson, having spent most of yesterday sampling some local Artesanal beers (all rather strong), sweating under the pressure and wondering what on earth I can write of interest... Don´t worry, no more about the roads! I survived them, and the rest should now all be paved...

It was really sad to say goodbye to my cycling companions from the Carretera Austral. It was great fun cycling together through such beautiful and wild surroundings, and I would have loved to have joined them for the remainder. Especially when I saw the bus I was doing the next section on...
Twelve hours on this beauty. Its only saving grace was that my bike was nice and safe from harm on the roof. I, however, had a splitting headache and was thoroughly exhausted when I finally manoevered my stiff body off the bus over thirteen hours later (one tyre change, numerous stops for I´ve no idea what, and one complete search of the bus by the police for stolen booze from a local shop... I could go on) in my destination, a tiny village called Villa Santa Lucia. Give me a bike over a bus any day!

Next morning, I was back on my bike heading east to the village of Futaleufu, and the border with Argentina. It was a lovely ride - no tailwind (of course), but a beautiful sunny day and gorgeous views.
The view from my campsite was just fantastic.

It was then a very easy ride over the border (hilariously, in their perpetual battle with Argentina, the Chileans had paved the last stretch of road to the border, despite the fact that for miles beyond, it was a terrible gravel road. Reassuringly, they had still somehow managed to incorporate some hideous ruts into the tarmac though...) and onto the Welsh town of Trevelin. Meeting up with a Welsh lady I´d run into a month earlier further south, we spent a very enjoyable afternoon in a Welsh tea-house. There are a number of towns in Patagonia that were founded by Welsh immigrants, and Welsh tea is a tradition they brought over with them... although not one that either she or I had ever heard of in Wales! Especially the cake filled with dulce de leche, a thick caramelised condensed milk, ubiquitous in Argentina, but not something I´m convinced has made it to Wales... Still, the immense pile of cakes was delicious, and rapidly devoured!
Sunset in Trevelin.

Between Trevelin and El Bolson lies the National Park los Alerces, and a lovely ride through rich forests, past massive lakes and mountains. Quite similar to some of the scenery on the Carretera Austral in some ways, but with different vegetation.

In fact, the range of vegetation I´ve seen in Patagonia has been enormous. Where else do you see glaciers and snow-capped mountains, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, eagles, condors and vultures, cypress trees, giant rhubarb and bamboo, to name just a few of the things I saw and could actually recognise? The diversity is remarkable. And as I leave the north of Patagonia and head from El Bolson to Bariloche, in the Argentinian lake district, the climate is now lovely and hot, and the area is known for its wonderful fresh fruits and honey.

And, consequently, there are rather a lot of bees around... Although I hadn´t really given them much thought. That is, until, having just suffered through 60kms of gravel roads, I was relaxing, enjoying my first fast descent on tarmac when one decided to fly into my lip... Thinking positively, at least it seems that I´m not allergic to bee stings! And as my lip swelled nicely, it gave me something else to focus on rather than the headwind... Although when a second one stung me on the neck, I wasn´t so amused...

Part 2: Cochrane to Coyhaique

2007-03-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

It was with some trepidation that I got back on my bike for the next stage of the Carretera Austral. After raining solidly the night before our departure from Cochrane, by the time we´d packed the tents, it was clear, and blowing a gale... The weather changes so fast, and the wind really was rather strong...

For the first 2 days I felt great - rested and keen to "attack" the hills, I found the gusting winds fun, adding a new element to the daily battle of negotiating the roads. By day three, the novelty of being blown all over the place, sliding around on the gravel, and jolting over the ruts had worn a bit thin though... My whole body hurt, and in places the road was unspeakably bad. There are no words really adequate to describe it, you have to ride on it with loaded panniers and no suspension for several days to really appreciate the full glory. I dreamt of reaching the tarmac just one day away...

At one point, after a particularly bad patch of road that is painful just to recall, we reached a beautiful stretch. A smooth, hard-packed mud road winding through the trees and I found myself grinning from ear to ear. The sheer joy of being able to ride effortlessly was so intense, it was quite remarkable, and rather thought-provoking. I will remember the feeling forever, but was it really such a good thing that something so simple as a few minutes of easy cycling could give me so much pleasure? Being as we were in the middle of nowhere, life had been reduced to nothing much more than sleeping, eating and cycling. I think it´s great to get away from the regular bustle of everyday life at home (and things like blogs...), and to appreciate the small things, but if something so minor was so wonderful, didn´t that mean that the rest of the time was just too hard?! It`s something I´m still pondering...

The views though were just great, and the sun often shone - we saw a heumal, a rare local deer, just metres away, and of course lakes, rivers and mountains...

Despite the condition of the roads and the wind, we made good progress, and after four days, reached the long dreamt-for tarmac. And started climbing immediately. Which was fine - we knew that we had to go over a high pass, and it was rewarding to reach the top - great views and nothing but 80kms of flat roads between us and our destination, the town of Coyhaique. But then we rounded the corner and found... WIND. Parallelling this road north through Chile, there is the infamous Ruta 40 through Argentina - miles of dirt road through the flat and windy pampas. The Chilean road is much wetter and hillier, but there is more to see, and the whole point is, it isn´t windy. That´s the deal - the risk of rain, endless hills, but no wind. Or so I´d thought as I battled ahead at 4-8 kms an hour. I´m sure that in the UK, less strong winds blow rooves off houses... The others laughed at my frustration (having cycled across tierra del fuego, they´d dealt with days on end of much stronger winds, and were more than entitled to tease me!). It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that there was nothing I could do but continue to grind ahead in my lowest gear with the wind whistling in my ears and I found it soul-destroyingly horrible. There was nothing enjoyable about it in the slightest, and there wasn´t even anything interesting to look at! Not that you could really look anywhere but a metre ahead without risking being blown off the road...

Coyhaique itself is the biggest town on the carretera austral, and a pretty chilled-out place to spend a few days of wind-recovery therapy (which involves eating lots of chocoate cake...). As I´m running out of time to get back to Buenos Aires in time for my flight home, unfortunately I´m going to have to say goodbye to the winds and take a bus for the next section though... And then its back on my bike to cycle across the border and back into Argentina. More hills and bad roads, but fingers crossed, since I´m heading East, I might even have a tailwind... I can always hope!

The Carretera Austral

2007-03-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Having spent rather a long time travelling "with" my bike (as opposed to "by" bike. I´ve been bumping into people from the trip to Antarctica ever since leaving the boat, and having initially thought that I was a tough cyclist, they think its hilarious that I´m taking the bus everywhere...), I decided it was time to get back in the saddle. Having done some hiking, to ease my way back in, I started off by combining the two - trying the well-known "hiking carrying a bike". A once-only in the life-time experience, I wouldn´t recommend it... Crossing from Argentina into Chile, I was making my way from El Chalten, past Lago del Desierto to Villa O´Higgins, which involved man-handling my bike 5kms along a footpath that looked like:
Great fun with a fully-loaded bike, as you can imagine... I thought it was going to be 7kms, so I was extremely glad when I got to the end early, to find the long-awaited sign telling me I´d arrived in Chile!

It was then another 15kms ride down a terrible road, dragging my bike through an icy-cold river to get to a tiny hamlet called Candelaria Mancilla, the border control and Lago O´Higgins, the next obstacle:

A massive (and beautiful in the sun) lake, the boat across it goes supposedly every Saturday, but its schedule is a little "subject to change", and is one of the reasons (along with the path and road) why this border is very seldom used. It only seems to exist as both Argentina and Chile want the land around it, and the whole area is in dispute. Still, having made it thus far, there was NO WAY I was going to drag my bike back up the road and through the forest again! In the end I was lucky - the boat was only one day late. I stayed in a little estancia with a wood-burning stove (actually, the only place to stay), and it was the perfect enforced rest that I needed after all the hiking. It poured with rain outside, but I just sat inside drinking tea, eating freshly baked bread and talking to the other "intrepid travellers" who had made it there.

The goal was to get to the Carretera Austral, a road leading 1,200 kms north through Chile from Villa O´Higgins to Puerta Montt. And disembarking from the boat, in torrential rain in the pitch dark, I´d made it, along with four other cyclists. We pitched the tent right where the boat docked, unable to cycle anywhere in those conditions, and for the last five days, we´ve been pedalling our way north. The area is incredibly remote, and the weather extremely changeable, so it´s been fantastic to cycle with others - a French couple cycling around for 6 months, and a crazy Austrian couple on a tandem who´ve been cycling for two and a half years, so far...

As for the Carretera Austral. Hmm. This is my favourite sign (after the one indicating that the road is about to go downhill of course). Chile, the most developped country in South America, is proud of the fact that it has built a bridge... And the road, initially pretty good, doesn´t really bear mentioning. A dirt road, it´s actually more like a gravelly, rocky, pot-holed and hideously rutted track with a big pile of stones running up the centre. The great debate (taking up many hours) is whether to cycle on the gravelly stones in the centre, slip around all over the place and use up loads of energy, or whether to take the ruts along one side and jar every bone in your body. Its a difficult choice, and as neither seems really good, endless hours of fun can be spent trying first one, then the other...

Its not really so bad, and when the going gets hard, I just have to look up and remember that I´m cycling through Patagonia, in one of the remotest parts of the planet. The first couple of days it rained a lot (my tent loved it...), but after that, the sun came out and we had a spectacular couple of days. Cycling in the sun through beautiful valleys, alongside lakes and rivers glistening in the sun, past mountains with dollups of snow sprinkled here and there and the odd glacier. Again, maybe some photos can describe it better than me...

We´re currently in a little village called Cochrane, the first place we´ve come to, and taking a day of rest (laundry, drying everything, internet, maybe even a glass of wine later!). The last few days we´ve been camping next to a river, literally in the middle of nowhere, eating around a campfire and watching the stars. Its an incredible experience - not easy, I won´t pretend it is, but then the best experiences rarely are... Tomorrow we confront the rutted road again for another 6-ish days cycle ride north to Coyhaique, the next "town" on the route. I´ll see if I can come up with some more choice words for the road then... In the meantime, I hope you´re all safe and having fun! Helen.

Glaciers galore, and SUNSHINE!!!

2007-03-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Continuing my journey (by bus) north, I headed back into Argentina to see the Perito Moreno glacier. A massive, advancing glacier, I saw a photo of it a few years ago and have wanted to see it ever since. And it was huge! 5 kms wide, and 40-60 metres high, it was impressive. I´d have loved to get right underneath it to appreciate its real size, but as chunks keep breaking off, it´d have been rather dangerous, to say the least, and we were kept well away. The noise it made was fantastic - a constant cracking and crashing emanated from within it, and every now and again, a huge piece would fall off into the water. At one point, a piece the whole height broke free and crashed into the lake. It was hard to appreciate watching from a distance that it was the size of a building!

From one huge glacier, to many smaller ones - my next stop was the gorgeous little climbing village of El Chalten, a little further north still. I knew I´d like the place as soon as I saw it, nestling in the valley with mountains towering all around. The clouds parted as I arrived, showing the two main mountains, Cerro Torre and Mt FitzRoy, in all their glory, and the sun shone the entire time I was there. I was incredibly lucky, and made the most of it, hiking my heart out. How to describe the scenery - the photos hopefully will do it some justice! The first couple of days, I explored everywhere I could with Sue-Ann, a Canadian girl I met on the bus. And she killed me. An avowed knitter, smoker and avoider of all exercise at home, I practically had to run to keep up with her on the hills... and I had thought I was fit!

After climbing to a lookout point on the first day (first photo), we then hiked to see Mount Fitz Roy on the second day (the big, solid mountain behind me), and then every valley around... It was amazing - huge mountains everywhere, beautiful lakes, trails meandering (usually uphill) through enchanted-like forests, and crazy glaciers tumbling and falling off the mountains into the lakes, sparkling in the sunshine. Stunning.

Cerro Torre itself is a crazy mountain - tall and pointed with a snow-cap on top making it a nightmare to climb. I can´t imagine how you´d even begin! I was more than happy looking at it from a distance!

The glacier leading to it though was cool - and I got to fulfill another long-held desire: to use crampons and an ice-axe. Having hiked our legs to exhaustion on the first two days, Sue-Ann and I decided to give ice-climbing a try, and headed up to the glacier. True to form, she made it look incredibly easy, dancing up the ice on her first attempt. It didn´t come quite so naturally for me, but unfortunately, I think I´ve found a new sport... I loved it! The guide was great, teaching us everything we wanted to know about climbing techniques, knots, putting in the ice-screws and the like, and then we went hiking on the glacier. Now I just have to find some more ice to go and play on!

Torres del Paine

2007-03-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

Arriving in Puerta Natales, the wind was just silly (I felt fully vindicated in baling on the ride from Punta Arenas; I´d have never made it!), so I donned my hiking boots (finally, it´s been worth lugging them with me these past months!) and headed into Torres del Paine national park for four days of hiking.

It seems you use very different muscles for hiking than cycling... being a little overzealous on the first day (probably to prove to myself that I wasn´t a wimp for taking buses, why am I so stupid?!), I was practically lame the next couple of days, hobbling around the mountains like an 80-year old. It was embarrassing!

The park was stunning - forests, massive turquoise lakes, some with glaciers tumbling down into them, and huge rocky "towers" - the Torres that the park is named after. Breaktakingly beautiful and unbelievably windy! At times it was impossible to do anything but go (stumble, trying to lift my useless legs over the rocks and tree-roots always trying to trip me up...) with the wind, at speed! But the weather, despite not being particularly good (ok, generally pretty terrible), actually added to the whole thing. Along with the wind, one minute it was raining so hard you couldn´t look up, the next it was sunny, and then it was snowing! It made it really interesting and fun!

Some nice lakes - the second one has chunks of really blue ice floating in it that have broken off the glacier further north.

A couple of the glaciers - and an indication of the weather!

On the final morning, I got up and hiked up to a view point of the towers for sunrise. 5.30am alarms, how I love them! Losing the path, I ended up struggling for an hour across a snow-covered boulder field in the dark, but coming to the top and seeing the sun hitting the Torres made it all worth while! It was beautiful and peaceful up there, and within ten minutes, the clouds had come in, obscuring the view, so I was really lucky.

Tierra del Fuego

2007-03-02T05:11:00.000-08:00

So now I think I have an idea what people mean when they say it can get a bit windy in this part of the world...

My introduction to Tierra del Fuego could not have been easier or more beautiful - Ushuaia. I love it there - a fun town, amazing views of mountains and sea, a beautiful national park, outdoor pursuits galore, last-minute trips to Antarctica, and great steak! Plus, it was always sunny when I was there. Or maybe that is why I have such fond memories of the place. Likewise Antarctica - I saw both the Drake crossing and Antarctica itself on its best behaviour. Seeing the glaciers sparkling in the sun, I just wanted to put on a pair of skis, grab a tent, and head inland to explore... luckily I wasn´t allowed (this time).

So back to Tierra del Fuego. Disembarking from our ship nice and fresh (hungover and horribly short on sleep) and raring to go after ten days eating onboard, I spent a day in Ushuaia sorting myself out, had a final dinner with people from the boat, and then early to bed for my first day of cycling. I should have gone out partying - not used to being onshore, the bed felt like it was moving as if at sea, and I only got two hours sleep due to comings and goings and snorers in my dorm...

I left in the morning anyway, disgruntled and tired, but after a while, the sun came out and I had a beautiful ride through the mountains to camp next to a lovely lake. I slept like a baby listening to the waves lapping gently a few metres away. A great day´s cycling, and the only one I managed... Since the next day was rainy and windy, I jumped on a bus. Feeling guilty later, I went for a ride out of town, and got my first taste of the wind. Riding was horrible, and I don´t even think it was particularly strong...

The end of the road, west of Ushuaia, right in the south of Argentina.

Cycling out of Ushuaia, through the mountains and past some lovely lakes.

I get the impression from the trees that it can get a bit windy here... Idyllic camping by Lago Fagano, one day´s ride out of Ushuaia.

The next day I bused it to Punta Arenas in Chile - and my guilt about taking a bus disappeared as I saw the terrain.
Miles of nothing - grass (being blown flat by the horrendous winds), sky, road and a few sheep. In good conditions I´d have made the trip in four days by bike; in those conditions, probably never... Crossing the Magellan straight by ferry, at times the wind was so strong it was hard to stand up, let alone walk.

Now, out of Tierra del Fuego and in southern Patagonia, things didn´t improve. My plan was to cycle to Puerta Natales, 250kms north, but after 30kms, my feet were blocks of ice, I was making just 8kms an hour, there was nothing to see, and I had the prospect of several days of the same... In the interest of my sanity, I therefore decided to turn back to Punta Arenas, and my bike, I, Jimmy and Jemima (the omnipresent squeaks from my left and right pedals, respectively) got on another bus.

The plan remains to do some more cycling; but only when the scenery is more interesting and/or the wind drops!

Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

2007-02-21T07:14:00.003-08:00

Gateway to Antarctica...

Fully recovered from the chest infection, I made it to Ushuaia, right on the southern-most tip of Argentina. This time by plane through Buenos Aires, despite the fact that I some how managed to miss my connection. Apparently to check in two hours before a flight leaving at 12.18, its a good idea to arrive at 10.18, and not at midday... Its still a mystery how I managed to get it so wrong, given I triple-checked my ticket that morning...

It all worked out though, and glancing up from my book as the plane began the descent into Ushuaia literally took my breath away. I was transfixed - the snow-capped mountains surrounding the Beagle Channel were breathtakingly beautiful, and my first sights of Tierra del Fuego were just magical. Glued to the window until we landed, I spent the first few hours in Ushuaia wandering around in a trance with a grin from ear to ear. I love it here! Walking around, I feel like a child in a sweet-shop, not sure where to look next. All of which may go part way to explain how, less than 45 hours after arriving, I was boarding a boat to Antarctica...

It all happened so suddenly, that before I really knew where I was, we were being welcomed onboard with a glass of raspberry champagne (!) to learn about the delights of the Drake Passage - the chunk of water south of Cape Horn which it would take us two days to cross, and is infamous for its vicious storms...

But we were lucky - both in the crossing of the Drake, and throughout the 10 day trip. Not only were conditions generally calm(ish) at sea, but the weather cooperated whilst we were there, enabling us to go ashore twice a day, and we got to see so many whales it became a bit ridiculous. We stopped to watch so many orcas, humpbacks, minkes and fin whales hunting and playing by the boat that the captain could never keep to his schedule!

I´m not sure what to write, or how to really describe the last ten days, it´s still all a bit surreal. And having had just 3 hours sleep (final night party...) after our return crossing of the Drake (not quite so calm on the way back...), I´m finding it hard to verbalise anything, let alone my thoughts. Antarctica is a continent that I never dreamt I had a realistic chance of visiting, and it`s going to take me a very long time for me to come to grips with everything I experienced there. It was obviously amazing, breathtakingly beautiful and completely unforgettable, but it was so, so much more.

Pictures being worth a thousand words, I think that all I´m capable of sharing at the moment is a few of my (800 odd) photos...

Penguins, just funny birds to begin with, seem to develop more personality the longer you watch them, they are just hilarious. Watching the young learn to swim and seeing them chase each other around the beaches will remain with me forever. As will their potent stench...

Along with the penguins, there were numerous Weddell, Fur and Elephant seals. They also smell terrible...

Visiting the continent was not enough, we also had to swim there... Yes, it was freezing. Being extremely mature and sensible, five of us decided to have a competition to see who could stay in the longest. General consesus was that someone would give up within the first minute... however, we hadn´t accounted for the stubborn streak suddenly apparent in all of us. No-one being willing to give in, we´d have probably got hypothermia if the expedition doctor hadn´t made us get out after 3 minutes! At least we´d proved the Lonely Planet wrong - apparently you can´t survive more than 3 minutes in Antarctic waters... you might not be able to feel much of your body after that time, but thankfully, we all came out alive! And it was brilliant fun! (Our boat is in the background.)

My favourite days were those we spent furthest south - I just loved all the glaciers and icebergs.

We visited one British and two Argentinian bases whilst we were there. In addition to learning about the history and work of the bases, we also just had to join in a snow-ball fight with some of the Argentinian navy... they played dirty!

The penguins weren´t at all shy, and being hungry would try anything in search of food!

A humpback whale surfacing close to the boat. We were incredibly lucky in the number of whales we saw. At one point, we witnessed a pod of Orcas trying to kill a humpback - it was amazing. They failed, but several penguins weren´t so lucky!

Tomorrow I get back on my bike. It`s going to hurt - I´m not sure ten days on board a boat is going to have done anything for my fitness! Wind-permitting, the plan is to cycle north from Ushuaia across Tierra del Fuego to Punta Arenas and then Puerto Natales. Cycling directly into the prevailing wind direction in one of the windest places on the planet... I think I´m going to get all the time I need to reflect on my Antarctic memories!

La Paz - by bus and taxi...

2007-02-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

So we made it to La Paz in the North of Bolivia, but not quite as planned... Leaving Potosi on the 31st of January, it was fantastic to be back on my bike. It felt wonderful to be in the saddle after a week off, especially as the first day we just cycled 25 kms downhill to a thermal crater where we spent the afternoon relaxing. Watching the sun setting over the crater and surrounding hills was beautiful. The only blemish on a lovely day was the fact my lungs ached. A strange feeling I attributed to pollution in the Potosi and thought would go...

... wrong again. The next two days were hard. The road the first day was "fairly flat" we were told - always between about 3,200 and 4,300 metres in altitude, we climbed somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 metres. Never trust anyone regarding road descriptions! The scenery was stunning, not in a particularly rugged way, but with lovely mottled rolling hills interspersed with little villages. And I discovered that when things were too much, the sun-baked road was fantastic for lying and dying quietly on. So nice and warm! After escaping a thunderstorm by staying the night in a wonderful Norwegian Lutheran mission, the next day became progessively less hilly and my lungs became progressively worse...

So, just 2 days into the 3 day ride to Oruru I had to give up cycling and rest. A bus to Oruru, two days lying in bed watching old films on tv, and then a taxi to La Paz. Not exactly how I´d hoped to get there, and typically I missed the easiest riding - 300kms FLAT, but nevermind. La Paz itself had a great atmosphere - I really liked it there, helped by the fact that some nice antibiotics (its fantastic that you can get anything you like over the counter here without any questions asked!!!) were succeeding in the battle with my chest infection. I´ll be back on my bike again yet!

Next stop: Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego... did I say I wanted to go somewhere remote?!

Of silver mines and dinosaurs

2007-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

A holiday from a holiday more or less sums up the last few days! Since arriving in Potosi in a massive thunderstorm on the 24th, I haven´t done anything more onerous than walk around. It feels very strange! The biggest town I´ve been in since arriving in South America, Potosi is a great place. Extremely wealthy during colonial times due to the local silver mine, it is extremely lively, with great markets and numerous richly decorated churches. The perfect place for a few days relaxing and sightseeing. Or lying in bed sick in the case of Lisa... somewhere the food or water came with some added bacteria...

The original mine basically comprises the whole of the mountain towering over the town. Whilst much of the silver has now been extracted, several small mines are still active, producing tin and zinc in addition to silver. And it is possible to go down them...

Having the chance to chat to the miners was fascinating and entering the mines was quite an experience. The conditions the miners work in day after day are horribly tough; a couple of hours was more than enough for me! Since I went on a Friday, it was also obligatory to join the miners in shots of Ceibu, the local 96% firewater... I´m not sure whether this had a positive or negative effect! I don´t really like small enclosed spaces underground, and as we descended deeper into the mountain, the tunnels got smaller, the heat, dust and smelly gasses increased, and the lack of oxygen became increasingly apparent. Just trying to help raise a bag of rocks (left) was exhausting! I now have a very healthy respect for anyone that works down a mine - I certainly couldn´t and it was a relief to see the sky again!

From Potosi, we took a side trip to the town of Sucre to the East for a couple of days. At 2,800 metres, it felt postively oxygen-rich after the 4,070m high Potosi! With a fantastic climate and loads of beautiful old colonial buildings, its a wonderful town and a great place to relax and recuperate. Famous for its sausages (delicious) and chocolate (hmm), we could have stayed there for days! It is also the site of thousands of dinosaur footprints - some of which can maybe just about be seen here to the left of the fault on the right.

The scenery around Sucre was again totally different from anything we´ve seen so far in Bolivia, and also stunning - high mountains and altiplano, with deep gorges and then rolling countryside.

Bolivia is truly a beautiful country and I´m really looking forward to getting back on the road again and seeing more of it. We´re now back in Potosi and leave tomorrow for Oruru and La Paz to the north. The road is paved all the way, but that´s about all we know...!!

Uyuni to Potosi

2007-01-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

After our tour of the salar, we left Uyuni for Potosi on Jan 21st. The maps and local information being what they are, the road was a complete mystery and it felt a bit like cycling into the unknown. The road was apparently hilly and apparently in a terrible condition in parts, so we set off with plenty of food and water, not really knowing what to expect...

The first day was tough, and in hindsight, we could have probably done with an extra day of recovery in Uyuni. The area was incredibly hot and dry and the road out of town rapidly turned into a lung-scorching beast of a climb with not an inch of shade to be seen anywhere. Exhausted, we then had to negotiate an increasingly sandy road before our reward - camping next to a fantastic hot spring. Relaxing in the hot, sulphurous waters was the perfect way to recover, and the sunset from our camp was really quite something:

With low expectations for the remainder of the route to Potosi, the next couple of days were a dream - good quality road (there were even bridges across the rivers!) and fantastic views. The area felt a lot richer than previously, and the little villages scattered across the countryside were beautiful. Llama strolled everywhere and a highlight was having a young llama running alongside my bike - hilarious given its funny gangly gait!

The final night before arriving in Potosi, we stayed in a little mining village called Castilla. Nestling in the hills with the mine in the background, you couldn´t find a more authentic place to stay. Sleeping in a miner´s "hostel" that stank of cat´s urine, was I suppose, an experience, but on balance, I think that camping in the countryside is more my thing!

Uyuni and the salar de Uyuni

2007-01-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

Uyuni, as well as providing us with the chance to recuperate (best done by sampling the local pizzas and beers as frequently as possible!), is home to a train cementary.

It was very bizarre seeing the wrecks of decades of trains piled up in the middle of nowhere!

The highlight was a trip to the nearby Salar de Uyuni though. The plan had been to cycle across it, but since it was totally flooded, we made do with the luxury of a day trip in a 4x4.

Seeing it completely covered in water was really quite special.

The salt sparkled in the sun and the surrounding mountains just seemed to float in the air.

Southern Bolivia Photos...

2007-01-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

Crossing into Bolivia from Chile, once I´d worked out how to stay upright on sandy roads and could look around me, the views of Laguna Blanca were pretty special!

Hard to capture on camera, the flamingoes were beautiful, especially in flight.

And waiting around the corner, Laguna Verde (very green...), with a massive volcano in the background.

The views were stupendous!

The roads, less so...

And quite desolate at times!

Laguna Colorada, so beautiful in the books, wasn´t particularly red when we saw it, but beautiful nonetheless. Although the memory of this particular lake is tied inexorably in my mind with hours of pain, negotiating the unridable "roads" around its perimeter!

The roads and climbs that followed as we made our way across country to Uyuni were tough... I blame the altitude, but the exertion required frequent stops to collapse and inhale as much oxygen as possible!!!

My cycling-clothing fashion aside, the front left pannier went on the back and I did my best to make the most of my useless (and broken) front rack.

Descending into (slightly) more hospitable territory, we still got fantastic views of the high surrounding mountains.

The roads didn´t improve much though...

Wierd and funky rock formations. Tempting to try and climb... but cycling shoes don´t make the best climbing shoes and it was a bit too remote to risk an accident!

So beautiful, if it didn´t also happen to be the road! I think I´ve still got bits of pondweed in my cassette...

My cycling companions, Lisa and Tom.

The view from the windswept road into Uyuni. We followed these pylons all the way to Potosi - they were great for seeing where the route went, although a bit soul-destroying when you saw them scale the highest ridges in the area!

South-West Bolivia

2007-01-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

So the last week... where to begin?! After leaving (the bankrupting) San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile and crossing the border into Bolivia on Jan 12th, we have spent the last seven days traversing one of the, if not the, most beautiful region of Bolivia. The destination of numerous guided tours, we started by working our way north from the volcano ringed Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde (you can work out the colour of each lake... Blanca being White, Verde, Green...), through high mountain passes, past geysers and hot springs (so good after a day´s riding...) to the famous Laguna Colorada (this one is red) stuffed full of thousands of flamingoes (stunning, especially in flight, but they don´t half smell bad!). The first couple of days weren´t too bad, once I got the hang of riding on rutted gravel, the effects of the altitude aside.

The day to Laguna Colarado deserves special mention, however, as the hardest day so far... and completely unanticipated (see comments about maps and roads below...). After a terrible night´s sleep on the floor of a smelly room at a hostel at a place called Polques (ok, it might deserve a name, but there was just one building there...), the bread for breakfast was mould-infested, and then Lisa and Tom had their battery charger stolen. So we started riding uphill in good spirits... and I with a horrible headache from the altitude. Why does it take me so long to acclimitise?!

Its currently rainy season in Bolivia, and I suppose anyone with a brain might realise that rain at 4,800 metres is usually, er, snow. So as we climbed, we entered a blizzard, and got colder and colder as we climbed higher and higher. Especially as my expensive gloves proved unable to tolerate more than 5 minutes of snow before being soaked through. Unperturbed, we layered up and hunkered down, riding on one pedal stroke at a time. The worst was, with the poor weather, we couldn´t even admire the views which I´m sure were stupendous.

Then the tour groups started passing us... 4x4s driven at speed through the muddy puddles metres away, covering us from head to foot in mud and grime. I won´t bother to share my words for the drivers...

As we approached 5,000 metres, the highest point on our route, we were pretty tired and cold but still in reasonable spirits, happy in the thought that the weather was improving and that Laguna Colorado would be stunning, and most importantly, a lot lower at just 4,350 metres... Then Tom´s front gear cable snapped leaving him just the smallest gear. Seeing him spinning his pedals just to stay still would have been hilarious at any other time... In fact, it was hilarious. And we were very proud of our patch job, forcing his front mech into the position we wanted using an old inner tube (don´t ask!). We made a few metres of progess, and then Lisa punctured. Colder still and now covered in grease as well as mud and water, we slowly picked our way down towards the lake.

And the sun came out. We could see the red-tinged water and flamingoes and happily wondered about the location of the hostel we´d heard about... Assured that there was just "one" road leading to it, we negotiated about 53 junctions, heading in what we assumed was the right way (guaranteed by the fact that it was directly into the gale-force wind...) to find that the road petered out, leaving us in the middle of a sandy windswept plain. With no option but to get off and push (it was completely unridable), we staggered into the hostel an hour later, utterly exhausted. Described hilariously by a tourist we met there as "like death row without the 3 meals a day", for us it didn´t matter. It was heaven to be inside and out of the elements. And someone even kindly cooked our dinner for us!

From this point on, the sun shone, and things were much easier. Although I am now very wary of any route that goes close to a lake - they are usually unridable sandy bogs with no discernable roads as the drivers tend to go in whichever direction they feel like!

It took us two days, on "challenging" roads, but amidst amazing scenery to reach the metropolis of Villa Mar (did we really expect to be able to buy bread?!) where we enjoyed a beer looking over the remains of a crashed aeroplane, before the last leg to Uyuni via the strange mining town of San Christobal. The weather has held really well, and the roads got better and better as we approached Uyuni, the tourist hub for trips onto the salt flats. Unfortunately our plans to cycle onto the salt flats themselves have been foiled by the fact that they are deep in water, so we´ll have to go by car, but regardless, the trip hasn´t disappointed. It may have been hard at times, and I "may" have dwelt on a particularly hard day, but it has been fun and rewarding.

I will endeavour to share some photos to give a flavour of the scenery that we´ve been battling through, but suffice it to say, it has been phenominal, and there is no better way to cross it than by bike. The hard bits have just made it all the more enjoyable (over a pizza and beer afterwards...).

Next stop? Potosi. 8 hours by bus, although apparently the roads aren´t in great condition, so the bus journey is currently taking anything up to 15 hours...

Some thoughts...

2007-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

We are now in Uyuni, southern Bolivia, near the famous salt flats. Before trying to upload some more photos, or attempting to put into words my experiences of the last seven days, cycling across some quite crazy terrain, I thought I would share some brief thoughts regarding

Maps

An interesting concept. Bad in Argentina (distances, altitudes and the like never corresponded between maps, let alone with reality), they are terrible in Bolivia. At least for the part of the country we´ve covered so far. Roads in practice bear zero relation to those on the map - those shown just don´t exist. And let´s not talk about the "real" position of mountains, lakes, passes... The best bet to find out about the route is to ask the guides who drive it all the time. Unfortunately a typical conversation with one person can tell you that the road is totally flat and yet also incorporates a 5,000 metre pass. Within the space of a few minutes. And without the purveyor of information realising the contradiction...

Roads

Well at least I knew these would be bad... Having only ever ridden a mountain bike with suspension on anything similar, the amount of sand and gravel and the extent of the ruts came as a bit of a shock initially... Riding a rigid bike, fully laden, through deep sand, mud and gravel and up and down what would usually be described as technical rocky sections has proven frustrating, exhilirating, fun and painful in turn. And it got even more interesting when half of my front rack broke, forcing me to put most of the weight on the back rack, and to use just one front pannier... negotiating the never-ending gravel with my bike so unbalanced just must have improved my bike-handling ability. Surely!

Wind

Ratio of tailwinds to headwinds experienced so far: 0.00000000135.

Equipment

Surly frames are fantastic. The bike is holding up brilliantly, despite the ineptitude of the builder/rider and the difficulty of the terrain. Not true for a couple of other things which I just have to name and shame.

Sealskin gloves - waterproof and breathable. Not. Soaked through within minutes. Never buy them.

Dawes barbag - rubbish. Is it really impossible to make a barbag that doesn´t let in water, and attaches to the handlebars without sagging and interfering with the brake cabling?

Blackburn lowrider rack - looks great, but the frame attachment is horribly weak. Break it at your peril. There is no work-around...

Since these, and many other similar thoughts, have filled far too many of my waking hours, I thought I just had to share them...

More photos from Argentina!

2007-01-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

Finally a computer to upload some more photos...

Adobe houses and multi-coloured rocks in Purmamarca.

The road up to my first pass at 4,170 metres... it went on a bit!

The top! (For now...)

The amazing scenery greeting us as we descended the other side... into the sun!

And the sky that night! The massive electrical storms of earlier having finally finished.

The (exciting) road across the salt flats... usually accompanied by a nice headwind.

One of my favourite signs.

Headwind or not, the views were incredible!

My pictures just don´t do them justice unfortunately.

Camping in a smelly, dirty, wet, oily and noisy generator shed at the Pasa de Jama, 4,200 metres.

Dinner was revolting - cheap, stale pasta with tomato puree (not sauce, as that might have had some flavour...). Perfect food after a long day on the road...

The views the next day made dinner and our (lack of) sleep a distant memory. Stunning.

Our next campsite was a bit more like it... We thought we were in the middle of nowhere until, on arrival in San Pedro de Atacama the next day, we saw postcards everywhere of exactly these rock formations... metres from where we pitched our tents!

Awe-inspiringly beautiful!

Across the Andes to Chile

2007-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Wow. Where to begin, and what to say... We are now in San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile, a very fun, but horribly pricey place where we are recuperating from the last few days of cycling across the Andes.

The maps here being terrible, we didn´t really know how much climbing was in store for us, or at least I didn´t! And maybe that was a good thing in hindsight. Our first climb out of Purmamarca took us to 4,170 metres and was a slog, but a great sense of achievement - especially as I was carrying 11 litres of water in addition to my small library of books, tent, hiking stuff, and the like. Travelling light?! Er, no... but we made it and the views as we descended were breathtaking. I didn´t realise that rocks could come in so many different colours, and catch the light in so many ways. And shimmering in the distance as the sun caught them were the salt flats next to which we camped, watching the violent electrical storms on the other side, hoping they didn´t come any closer...

The next day we traversed the salt flats (why did we always have a headwind?!), to overnight in a dustbowl called Susques which promptly turned into a mudbath as the heavens opened on us. Too tired to really eat, we stocked up on supplies at their one "shop", and prepared for the last leg to Chile - over the Pasa de Jamas, what we thought was the highest point...

The three days it took us were very hard, but extremely rewarding. The scenery as we reached the tops of passes and descended into valleys of red and pink sand dunes with funky rock formations, traversed areas of high altiplano and puna with grazing vecunas and huge salt flats shimmering in the sun with their resident flamingos, the whole lot ringed with massive snow-capped mountains and monstrous volcanoes was just undescribably beautiful. We´d suffer up the numerous climbs, but then turn the corner to see a view so stunning that I didn´t know whether to cry or shout with joy at having the opportunity to see it. The pain and deprivation (intense headaches from the altitude, camping in a wet, oily generator shed next to the Argentinian border, and living off stale, tasteless bread and pasta with tomato paste for three days, to name just a few...), so all-enconsuming just minutes before, would vanish instantly as the views unfolded. I just wish I had the words to convey what I saw, nothing seems adequate!

San Pedro is like a dream for a tired cyclist - a lovely, relaxed hostel, great food, and nothing much to do except wash everything, eat steak, drink wine and relax! The headaches, headwinds and endless 4,800 metre passes are quickly fading into hazy memories. Tomorrow we head North into Bolivia and up to Uyuni across the famous salt flats. Back up to over 4,000 metres, and this time, none of the roads will be paved... hopefully the headaches won´t be so intense this time!

Some photos from the previous blog...

2007-01-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

Arriving in Salta, northern Argentina on Dec 30th after a 35 hour journey... We put my bike together at the airport and cycled it into town!

The countryside around Salta - we went for a short ride, returning down the (disused) railway line. Some locals thought we were crazy!

Somewhere on the route north from Salta.
I just had to get an Argentinian cycling jersey... especially as I totally forgot to pack one!

Our lunch spot - rather reminiscent of Wales...

... but not for very long! One day later and we were surrounded by cacti!

And very odd rock formations. I´ve never been anywhere like it!

Purmamarca, Jan 4th 2007

2007-01-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

Well I´ve arrived! And after two whole days in the saddle, I suppose I can say that I´m now a touring cyclist. Although the pain I´m feeling in various bits of my body says otherwise!

Where to start? The journey I´ve already tried to forget - 35 hours from home to the aiport at Salta in Northern Argentina where my trip started. I was just a little vacant (more than usual) and shell-shocked when Lisa and Tom met me from my flight and we reassembled my bike, put on the panniers and cycled into town. An experience in itself, it reminded me of the time I "learnt" to ride a moped in Santiago de Cuba. Foolish, crazy but great fun and somehow survived without incident... I´m not sure if it was the lack of sleep from the journey, the fact it was dark and we had no lights, the crazy drivers, one-way streets, or the fact that this was my first ride ever with fully loaded panniers... hmm.

The next couple of days we spent in Salta and passed in a blur - we rode into the countryside and down a disused railway in amazing scenery, I saw my first Gauchos riding their horses, ate steak and sampled the local vino. Oh and celebrated New Year. Maybe that explains the blurred memories... Lots of meat, red wine, the dodgiest fireworks I´ve ever seen (always best let off whilst very drunk, I´m sure we are all pyromaniacs at heart!), local Champagne and then a huge street party and a club where I´m sure they must have played Gasolina numerous times... Salta reminds me of a cross between Spain and Cuba, and is very typically Spanish.

After a day of literally nothing to recover from the celebrations, we started our journey - first North and then West. Our first stage takes us to San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile. I had notions of a couple of days easy cycling, with the vague understanding that the Andes might impinge in some way and require us to climb a bit... ha ha. This "easy" introduction to touring will take us 7 days (probably), involves a salt plain, high desert with nowhere to get water, and, er, two passes over 4,000 metres. Maybe I really should have done some training for this trip!!

I think its going to take me a while to adjust to cycling with huge panniers. I still see a light racing bike and suffer a fit of envy... but I´m getting there. My super-comfy saddle has never been so hard in the wrong places, and I seem to have cut off circulation to the little fingers on both hands, but I haven´t fallen off yet... there is always a plus side!

The first day the countryside resembled Wales far too much for my liking with rolling green hills and fields, especially when it started pouring with rain and we got soaked and my poor bike got covered in mud... Until of course you factored in the rather aggressive snake in the middle of the road, the fields of tobacco plants and the myriad birds with their amazing calls...

And where we are now is a far cry from almost any scenery I think I´ve ever seen. Yesterday we climbed up to Purmamarca, further north, the trees changed to scrub, then cacti, the sun beat down on us and all the buildings are made of adobe. Its beautiful in a very arid way - amazing rock formations, in a variety of colours from red to green, huge cacti, and of course the mountains all around us. Tomorrow we head up to the salt plain - a mere 2,000 metre climb to 4,100 metres... The only certainty is that it´s going to hurt!!

If I can work out how to do it, I´ll now endeavour to attach some photos... and probably lose everything I´ve written in the process! Fingers crossed.

Happy New Year to you all,
Helen.

My first post...

2006-12-21T01:19:00.000-08:00

So, I think this is the point where I write something witty, erudite and inciteful to start off my first blog. But, at nearly 2am, with 24 hrs to go before I leave Oxford, an academic paper to finish, my Christmas shopping only just begun and the horror of packing looming ever closer, the words may not flow quite as I intend.

I also don't have anything particularly exciting to say at this stage as my trip preparations so far involve

1 flight to Argentina on Dec 29th
1 return flight to London on April 11th
plans to cycle across Bolivia with Lisa and Tom (www.bottombracket.org) once our New Year's hangovers have worn off
the vague notion of exploring the mountains of Argentina and Chile on foot or by bike

Oh, and I have built myself a bike. I don't have a photo of it yet, and it's missing various crucial bits and pieces, so I thought I'd put up another foolish cycling photo to prove (to myself) that cycling across the Andes with a hangover won't really be the crazy endeavour that everyone's reaction to my plans suggests. Well, no more crazy than some of my previous escapades anyway! The photo from Fuji is a reminder, that although I suffer horribly with the altitude, there is usually something worthwhile waiting at the top - this time about 1,637,293 Japanese hikers and a bowl of noodles.

Suffice it to say, before I start waffling even more incoherently, that to give me time to adjust to the fact that I now have a PhD, I'm about to embark on an amazing three month trip to South America. The details just, well, don't exist yet. But I promise to post them here as they unfold...

Ironman Canada 2004
Hours of fun on a bike

Heaven in a bowl of noodles at 3,776 metres
Mount Fuji August 2006