Paul Bridgeford's Blog

This is supposed to be one of the toughest days of the trip. Started off along the river bed which was quite soft in places. All dirt of course. Then out of the river and climbing. First part climbing a pretty country with rocky mountains around. Gradual climb from 3600 to 4000m. Tough going, narrow roads and tight hairpin bends. Climbs up to 17%. Into the granny gear for the first time. Hills surrounding and the road passes over the top of them. Constant climb up then drop back. Punishing. Think you are at the top of a pass and as you reach the corner the road continues to climb. Bus passes and I’m forced into the steep gutter fortunately onto the inside as the other a steep drop.
From there on when I hear the sound of a truck or bus I stop.
Forced to walk on some of the climbs as lungs and legs can’t take it.
In all 7 peaks. Punishing. Get to lunch just as it is packing up. Just in time. Decide to carry on.
Last pass to get over. Back up from 3800 to 4000. Make it. Walked a lot. Stopped to take something out of my shoe and a truck driver stops and offers a lift. Tempting as tiring fast but determined to finish the day and the long downhill. Finally hit the top and the downhill stretches before me. Wonderful. Take it easy as a few buses and 4wd on the road and many of the corners blind and soft sandy dust. Navigate ok
Scenery stunning. Get to the bottom and 20 k to go to rest day. Decide to go the road not river. Rock formations stunning including the penis rock pointing up to the sky.
Get closer to Tupiza and the last killer hill. Forced to walk as getting exhausted and know I need to get in before 6. Instructions poor getting into town and got lost. Asked a taxi driver and he put me on the right track. Got in at 6.15. Pretty tired but made it. Shower out to dinner but stomach couldn’t face food.
Stomach bug with the usual effects so try drinking lots of water. Fortunately a rest day tomorrow
As up and down in the night

Set off on the dirt road out of town. Beautiful hilly country with road disappearing into the distance. Reached lunch at 55 k. Set off again tougher riding through sand in part. Had to walk that bit. Then around a corner in the dirt and unexpectedly confronted buy a stunning red rock canyon. Quite some time taking photos. Good downhill ride to a river bed. Rode along it into the edges of town. Trickle of water in the centre mainly colored yellow. Mining arena so heaven knows what is in the water.
Opposite a great black rock face a cemetery with bright blue headstones. A somber place of great quietude. Headed along the river into town but soggy riding so took to the train line.
A mining town but with a station. Dogs and dirt everywhere. Communal shower and in a 3 bed room one of whom has had the stomach bug for the past day so both asleep.
Hot shower. Great soup and salad on arrival including a pasta salad. Sat in the town square which was very clean in comparison with others we have been in. Found a not too good eatery and a plate of pappa fritas and a beer for dinner. Bed

Looking forward to this as 7 days after starting. A bit slow after the beers last night. Found moisturizing cream for the split hands and Nivea for the lips. Caught up with the blog and generally relaxed as a couple of big days ahead on the dirt. Dinner at the hotel of pizza. A tribe of Adelaide motorcyclists arrived. The size one would expect.
Great breakfast of eggs potatoes cereal and fruit.
Sorted out washing. Of course on the last morning no water
Forgot we went to the train graveyard. Was a big mining area and the British set up a train system in the late 1800’s. As they aged and mining petered out they pushed th old engines and cars to the end of the line and dumped them. as the air is so dry they haven’t been affected by rust and just sit there. All the easy bits have ben stripped like tubing in the boilers etc.

First we start off with a 7 k time trial from the salt hotel to the edge of the flats. Started off spinning fast but soon realized could not suck in enough air to keep it going so settled down but managed to keep an average of 30 31 and ended up in the middle of the field.
Then a short ride to out rest day at Uyuni. This tourist side of the lake looks terrible. Brown salt and earth. Dusty dirt roads and lots of 4wd and trucks. Corrugated roads.
Just before the town helped Tamsin with her puncture. A big nail through the tire. Tamsin a bright young woman with a degree in astrophysics and a doctorate but now into it.
Reached our hotel next to the Military base in town. Cleaned bike to get the salt off and set off to explore. Pleasant town square but rather touristy. E mails in the afternoon and shed a tear as Polly had to be put down.
Dinner that night lama meat in a kind of soup with two eggs on top. Then on to a bar to have a wake for poor Polly. Back at 12. The others managed to get invited to a wedding party on the way back.
I got the lama again as managed to pick the wrong tube of stuff and ended up putting tooth paste on my sore backside instead of nappy ras cream! Under the shower again quickly as would not recommend it it stings.

Through a splash of salt water at the edge and onto the salt. The salt I guess is formed by the water table rising and the in the summer temperatures the water evaporated over the years.
In fact at the edge it’s not flat but salt lumps sitting above the surface. Hard to ride on – as bad as dirt road corrugations. Lots of photos as quie surreal whiteness so huge that it disappears through the earths curvature.
We aim for an island in the distance 35k away. Salt lumps flatten but replaced by salt hexagons just like badly laid paving. So constant vibrations. We get to the island for lunch. Temperatre drops a bit a tourist bus a 4wd turn up.
We were lucky to come in the side we did as no tourists and seeing the flats in its purest beauty with at one side a towering mountain in the distance covered with a glacier and behind us the volcano with its multicolored peak.
After lunch 70 odd k to the salt hotel ( not really a hotel by our standards as no water or electricity). Follow the black rubber tracks of the busses and 4wd. Smoother riding as they grind down the surface. Watch out for the holes in the salt some of which are large enough to damage a wheel. Half way we encounter saloon racing cars heading straight to us. Only doing around 200+k. A race to the island and back.
Salt hotel made out of salt blocks and all salt inside including tables. Good dinner of pasta and bologna isle sauce red wine and passed around the whiskey flask. Harmonica and lama stores. The lama is given to the person with the silliest mistake the previous day. I got it for my attire with red leg warmers etc. passed it on to malcome as he persisted in sitting on the rubber marked road with racing cars heading straight to him and moving off at the last moment.

All unpaved today with 500m total ascent. Will all travel together after lunch as tracks are confusing. Altitude acceptance getting better but some stretches through soft fine sand difficult as need that extra strength to push through. Riding around the base of a volcano in the distance with sights of salt appearing at the base of the hills.
As we are circumnavigating the volcano to get to the salt lake we start to climb through mountainous country.
Fortunately no wind
At last we head up a rise and this huge expanse of pure white is below us. Seems to stretch forever. Photo stop Anna and I. Certainly nothing like I could have expected. So we head down into the little town all shut and onto a camp right on the edge of the lake. Green spongy grass right up to the edge of the salt. Truck tyres sink into it. Was a bit slow getting organized as had to clean bike running gear and oil chain from the dust of the day. Ended up putting up the rest of the tent in the dark. As soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops dramatically. Very cold night say -10 from daytime of mid 20’s. Slight wind. Local shepherd or rather lama herd turns up with dog which he then drags off with rope around its neck to a host of squeals.

First day on unpaved roads. However lucky that ey are building new dirt road alongside the old road. To stop traffic the put gravel mounds regularly along. Great to jumpmover on the bike.
50 k to lunch – refuel and off to the crater. Interesting country with lamas some sheep and ploughged land. Very dry everywhere. A couple of hills and at least one good downhill. No real wind a big benefit.
Arrive at camp site mid afternoon after 83k. Dry stone walls provide some wind shelter. A hall has been built and we have dinner inside. The local owner also sep up a stock of beers. Very welcome after a dusty day. Crater huge and good photos at sunrise and sunset.
Cracked out the harmonica again and a good fun night. Cold again but quite warm in the sleeping bag.
A good day

Set off with the leading riders and hung in for the first 27k but couldn’t get enough air in to stay with them. Rode to the lunch stop with one of the Australian women Yolanda as Anna long gone as a timing day. A tough ride but the country more interesting with hills surrounding. Had to stop to sort out a bleeding nose. Must be the altitude.
Lunch a welcome stop at thermal baths. Continued out after lunch for 15k but totally ran out of puff. Stopped for the truck to pick me up. Reached the bush camp with the shell of buildings around. Wonderful shadows on the surrounding hills and great sunset. Got the tent up for the first time – easy. Getting ready for a cold night. The icebreaker long johns and top very useful as down to – 3 or 4 degrees overnight.
However as the sun comes up in the morning it does warm up quickly by around 8. Gets light around 6.15. Into the routine of packing up sleeping bag thermorest liner and tend. Cold fingers. Porridge for breakfast.

A 99 k day again along the same La Paz to Oruro road with plenty of coaches speeding past. Similar dull country with hills in the distance on all sides. Highlight was a small village with a procession to plant trees. Was a great event and we participated. Burnt a lama fetus as an offering. Lots of speeches from local dignatories. Wonderful to see the women in their traditional dresses and bowler hats.
Oruro a large town. Anna great at directions so we made our way to our hotel with no trouble.
A fascinating old hotel – rather worn, but a good hot shower. Headed out to the central squares, two of them with traditional Spanish influence buildings surrounding. Found a non traditional restaurant with a chicken Milanese!

The advice was to only ride after lunch for the first day to get used to the altitude. Wise advice as the hill out of la Paz was long and steep from 3600m to 4000m. So picked up riding after the lunch stop. Anna rode with me. Sun to hail to rain.
Heavy traffic in particular coaches who dont give much room. All sealed road but littered with burnt tyres and othe rubbish. 75k in all to a charming hotel with a single hot shower. Fantastic. Was enough space to have a bed rather than the tent. Rooms were with thatched roofs and simple plaster inside curved. Pretty flat and rather dull country. Good meal.