(September 16 – written by Nancy)
Okay, this will be a very short post as we are both bushed from a long day on the bikes. We left Atocha this morning at just after 7 am and rolled into Tupiza just after 5pm. While the total kilometres today don’t seem all that much, we had a lot of up and down for the first 60k and about 25k of unpaved roads. Those things, together with the wind (wow does it blow here in Bolivia) and the river crossings we had to make toward the end of the day to get to Tupiza, all made for a long and hard day.
But here are the highlights:
- Freezing cold morning (okay, not necessarily a highlight but it’s amazing how cold it gets here overnight)
- Stunning scenery – lots of colours, rock formations, gorges, mountains
- New pavement – most of the road was newly paved over the last couple of years so was very smooth. Thank goodness, as we had so many ups and downs that I think I would have put my thumb out to hitchhike if it had all been gravel! We did have a bit more gravel than we expected though, including on one very steep hill that had me pushing for a bit.
- Lunch behind a steam roller – it was the only place out of the wind we could find to eat our PB&J sandwiches.
- River crossings – the final 20k or so into Tupiza was crazy, as we had to cross the river twice – and I mean cross it not on a bridge but in our bare feet pushing our bikes across the water. The water wasn’t too deep, but deep enough that you couldn’t just ride through it. So off came the shoes and socks twice.
- The wind – thankfully we mostly had the wind behind us today, but because the road was full of so many twists and turns we did feel the brunt of it several times. Even when it was behind us it was a force to be reckoned with. I was very glad not to be going the other way, that’s for sure.
- A nice hostel at the end of the day – we’ll write more about that tomorrow as we are taking a day off to recover before we make our final push to the Argentina border.
Junior editor’s note – too many photos today but the scenery was stunning, photo overload follows:
View of Atocha in the morning
Badlands of North Dakota perhaps
Our nice new road – a ribbon of smooth asphalt most of the day
More badlands
Nancy cresting
A white mesa
Nancy on the long road south
A lovely red mountain
More nice new smooth pavement
Lunch – wind coming from behind the equipment
Red rocks on the hillside
Down near the river – red rocks everywhere
A nice red mountain
We love this sign when we see it
Another red mountain
River crossing 1
River crossing 3 – no photo of the number 2 with shoes off
White hoodoo
More hoodoos
No idea how this one stays standing
Sunset from our hostel – ready for sleep and no alarm!!!
Leave Without Pay 
Great scenery!
Hey thanks Mark – I could see you and Steve out here on your motorbikes. And perhaps Kathy and you at the salt hotel. Your only dilemma would be which one of them to bring along!
Wow, the river crossings are pretty impressive. Scenery is beautiful, very rugged though. Love reading the blogs, you look like you are both really enjoying the experience. xoxo
Nancy is brave, shoes off, can’t see bottom, just go for it. Boy did I (Dave) win the wife lottery!
Great photos. Is there much traffic? I don’t see signs of any in the photos.
We are in “car an hour” territory – perhaps more near the towns but near zero traffic all day – perfect really.
Hi Dave (and not-met Nancy), I’m following your trip as your posts are evocative of a trip I did in 2011 with a friend. We travelled from Peru, thru Bolivia to Argentina. A trip of a lifetime. Like yours is I guess tho longer. Wonderful posts and photos, reminding me of the rocks, rivers, gravel, cold and grand mountain ranges folding into the ground like very large elephantine feet. Dave I met you when you were helping out on a SthAus Bike trip. I was travelling bikepacking style. Stay safe and thanks for the vicarious living. B
Hey Brenda – nice to hear from you. I just caught up on your trip to Japan last year. Keep on keeping on, you inspire us!
“Brenda” is close enough! Keep on keeping on yourselves… 👌😂b (Belinda)🤣
I told Nancy that it was “B” when we were walking around town today – hoped to correct it before you got up today – woops, sorry about that B!
Beautiful Country! The first river crossing photo looks like a party, lots of people about. Enjoy your day off!
The river crossing was just that. And funny, these two skinny, costume wearing gringos with really white feet come past for afternoon entertainment. It was a riot for the locals.
Great photos of the colorful desert! Okay, so I remember once when you, David, were in my classroom (at my other school) and you purposefully said something wrong to see if I would catch it. That’s the only reason I’m telling you that the Badlands are in South Dakota, not North!
Good catch, I wish I could say it was a plant, however, it’s more than likely just because I was tired when I wrote the post. Keep on keeping us honest.