(September 7 – written by Dave) We said our last goodbyes to Philipp and Tine this morning. And I think this time it could be for real. They borrowed our Aeropress for one last coffee this morning and now they are on their own. Tine really liked our Aeropress and it may have actually been … Continue reading Team of two again – Patacamaya to Oruro (127k/20,150k, 1,450ft)
Author: Dave & Nancy
Into the Altiplano – La Paz to Patacamaya (97k/20,033k, 1,320ft)
(September 6 – written by Dave) We’ve escaped La Paz, woohoo. It wasn’t easy. We had to ride about 2k to reach the teleferico station and what fun those 2k were. It was rush hour in central La Paz and one of the roads was very steep. So steep in fact, Nancy walked up the … Continue reading Into the Altiplano – La Paz to Patacamaya (97k/20,033k, 1,320ft)
La Paz – Witches, good food, supplies and a tram ride
(September 5 – written by Dave) We’ve really enjoyed our time here in La Paz. It’s a big city for sure, but we landed in a nice area (Quarter Juan XIII) where there everything we need is close by – grocery stores, restaurants, markets, hardware stores and outdoor stores. The road south of here will … Continue reading La Paz – Witches, good food, supplies and a tram ride
The big city – Huarina to La Paz (76k/19,937k, 1,400ft)
(September 3 – written by Dave) Yesterday was amazingly scenic. Today wasn’t. We had glimpses of the Cordillera Real Mountains but mostly it was through the general haze of the massive city of La Paz. La Paz and the surrounding cities are Bolivia’s largest urban area with 2.3 million people living here. It is often … Continue reading The big city – Huarina to La Paz (76k/19,937k, 1,400ft)
Bolivia – Copacabana to Huarina (81k/19,861k, 2,900ft)
(September 2 – written by Dave) Wow, what a day. To be honest, we knew that we were riding along Lake Titicaca today but our expectations of the scenery were not high. Boy did we underestimate Bolivia on its first proper full day. For starters, the shoreline here on the southern end of the lake … Continue reading Bolivia – Copacabana to Huarina (81k/19,861k, 2,900ft)
Bolivia – Juli to Copacabana, Bolivia (63k/19,780k, 800ft)
(September 1 – written by Dave) This will be just a quick post to let everyone know that we made it into Bolivia safely. We had a nice 50k ride to the border, mostly with a tailwind but with a 15k headwind section as well. Our route mostly took us along scenic Lake Titicaca but … Continue reading Bolivia – Juli to Copacabana, Bolivia (63k/19,780k, 800ft)
Bikes everywhere – Puno to Juli (82k/19,718k, 1,000ft)
(August 31 – written by Dave) We rode out of Puno this morning thinking that we would be riding by ourselves today. Boy did we get that wrong. We met up with 11 other cyclists today and much to our surprise, two of them were Philipp and Tine. We thought they were taking a different … Continue reading Bikes everywhere – Puno to Juli (82k/19,718k, 1,000ft)
Lake Titicaca and Puno food
(August 30 – written by Dave) So here we are at the famous Lake Titicaca. Our main activity of the day was taking a boat ride out to the floating islands of the lake. Lake Titicaca is a large lake in the Andes that spans the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is claimed that … Continue reading Lake Titicaca and Puno food
Private road short day – Juliaca to Puno (45k/19,635k, 850ft)
(August 29 – written by Dave) We reluctantly said goodbye to Philipp and Tine this morning. We are probably taking different routes from here to La Paz. I say probably because they are sometimes a bit ‘fluid’ with their plans (a good practice to have on long cycling trips) so you never really know. At … Continue reading Private road short day – Juliaca to Puno (45k/19,635k, 850ft)
Speed demons – Ayaviri to Juliaca (98k/19,590k, 950ft)
(August 28 – written by Nancy) It rained hard overnight and given how cold it was in our room we wouldn’t have been surprised to see snow on the ground when we opened the door this morning. Thankfully, we had blue skies and no snow - but boy was it cold. We had a mostly … Continue reading Speed demons – Ayaviri to Juliaca (98k/19,590k, 950ft)