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Bolivia 1 - Salar De Uyuni & WMD Road |
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Casapagina |
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After arriving in La Paz we hooked up with Bird, Darryl`s old roommate and his girlfriend Lary. It was nice to see someone from back home and while Bird refused to play pack mule for us and ship some stuff home we did have a good time catching up on their travels. The next day we headed down to Uyuni (via Oruro) by train, which was a good change from the interminable buses of South America. We then undertook a 4 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni, the world�s largest Salt Lake. As it�s rainy season the entire 12,000 square kms were covered in 3-6 inches of water which made it into the world�s largest mirror. From there it was into the desert and up to 4900m. We made it all the way down to the southwestern most corner of Bolivia and the Chilean border. Sleeping was a little difficult and it was frigid at night but the volcanoes, flamingos and thermal pools were worth it, and the coca leaves made it much more bearable.
After returning to La Paz we biked the world�s most dangerous road, from La Cumbre (just outside La Paz) at 4,700m to Coroico at 1,200m. The road drops 3,500m in just 80km, and that�s not the dangerous part. The road itself is almost entirely a one lane dirt highway with a 300m drop on the left side dangerous enough, but when you add in the transport trucks that use the road at the same time it makes for a crazy combination. You travel down on the left side so the bus and truck drivers can see the edge as they make passes. Thankfully the guides are well versed in the �right of way� and you have to stand on the precipice of the cliff each time a huge Mac Truck goes rumbling by. 4 hours later your happily enjoying a beer in the jungle and recounting which huge transport had your name on it. I still get chills thinking about it. |
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Lary, Bird, Me and Darryl after our first night in La Paz. |
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Racing across the Salar is a lot more fun riding on the roof! |
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When we stopped we had a chance to practice our gymnastics.
I really like Darryl`s form in this one. |
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The local transport is a little more crowded than ours was. |
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After the Salar we traversed the desert which Bolivia shares with Chile. This is the Arbol de Piedras (Stone Tree). |
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Surprisingly there`s a fair bit of wild life in the stagnant lakes. Flamingos live on slime, who knew? |
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I caught this fat fellow napping in the shade. �Hey Fatty!� |
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This was our first truck `The S-Bomb`. We named it that because...you know...I can`t remember why the hell we named it that. |
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We changed trucks for the trip back from the border and were lucky enough to jump in with 4 Porte�os and a crazy Austrian (Far Left). They were a great bunch as was Edgar, the Driver. |
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Some local kids horsing around. |
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This was taken in La Cumbre at the top of the Worlds Most Dangerous Road (WMDr). |
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The self - Take with the road winding it`s way down the mountains in the background. |
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Every corner was dangerous, as this 4WD found out.
On some of the most dangerous corners there are people who signal the oncoming traffic of potential danger. This started after a mother lost her whole family off the cliff and she took up the vigil. Now there are a half dozen or so of these brave fellows, mostly relatives of the deceased. |
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Riding under waterfalls is one of the bonuses of doing the ride in rainy season... |
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...showing up in Coroico covered in mud is the another.
Note: Our Pint sized guide Luis and
the French guy on my left - he was a massive spankster. A danger to himself and others. |
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Let�s See Bolivia 2! |
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Back to the Casapagina |
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