Into Bolivia

The plan was to leave San Pedro and get to the border at around 12.30 leaving about four or five hours to cover the last 200km into Uyuni. Well that was the plan. The last 100km to the border on the Chilean side is dirt road, and not very good at that. 

The Bolivian border

So I arrived at the border at three o’clock and departed Chile no problem in about 15 minutes. Then I rode the 2km to the Bolivian border. It was four thirty when I finally got the importation papers for the bike stamped and I was able to continue. The next 70km took me three hours! It’s some of the worst road I think I have ever taken the Wombat onto. Loose gravel, dust, and patches of sand all came at me without warning or rhythm. A strong tail wind and reasonable temperature kept the motor temperature on the maximum for the whole time and luckily the average speed was low enough to give me very good fuel consumption, because there was nowhere in sight to get fuel (why hadn’t I filled the spare container??) So when the first small village came into sight and there was a picture of a bed on one of the signposts, I thought that would do for the night. $7 bought me a bed, a shower and a good hot meal, in one of the poorest looking places I think I have seen. But I was really thankful for it.


The First nights Hotel for $7


The Village in the morning


The local brick works


Villa Alota village square


Down onto the first small Salar. The signpost is for mines either side of the road!!

I set off again the next morning at what I thought was 08.30. In reality it was 07.30 as the clock should have gone back an hour when I crossed the border! I spoke to three Argentinean lads on various 650’s going towards the border, and they confirmed my fears that the road did not get any better before Uyuni. So the next 130km was a bone-rattling ride with the last 50km consisting of the worst corrugations I have come across. I seriously had a good look at the Wombat the next day to make sure nothing had broken.


Scenery good, road bad!!

Uyuni has one thing going for it, it’s next to the Salar. If not for that then nobody would go there. I booked a tour the next day with one of the many companies in town. I didn’t want to do the three day excursion which most of the backpackers do, I figured two days and one night was as much as I needed.


Uyuni


The train graveyard



The Salar is a spectacular sight. It’s the larges salt flat in the world, followed by Utah, and the Salar de Atacama. Fleets of land cruisers head out every day, and usually end up in the same place at the same time. The only way to have it any different is to use your own transport. If I had been with someone else, or if I had the knowledge I have now I would have done it, but I don’t think it’s the place for taking chances. The overnight accommodation was interesting. A hostel made entirely out of salt, but no showers and beds that would make a door look comfortable. I was the only one that got up to see the sunset out of our party, although there were two Argentineans that had arrived the night before in their own car, and had been there before, set off to see the sun rise over the salt. A visit to the island Incahuasi, which is a coral island in the middle of the salt flats, not only gives you some magnificent views of the flats, but also is covered in Cactus.


The Salar De Uyuni


The Volcano


Flamingo's at dawn




Overnight accommodation in the Salt Hostel


The Hostel on the edge of the Salar


Dawn on the Salar


Incahausi Island



One more night in Uyuni to recover and get clean before heading out for Potosi. The road is about 70% tarmac and 30% dirt. They have obviously been working hard recently to complete the valley sections of the road which is now very nice smooth tarmac, until you come to the hills which are still dirt and in places soft sand.


They're working on it


The down side is that people will miss this when the road is done

Potosi is one of the highest cities in the world at 4000m. Perched on the slops of the hill that contains the Cero Rico mine, and has brought prosperity to the place since the 15th Century. When the Spanish arrived the spirits had already told the locals, that the silver in the mountain was not for them but for strangers that would come from far away. There was little opposition to the Spanish who then started to mine, and process the silver here. Pieces of eight

Were sent from here to the Spanish Main to be transported to Spain with the Privateers and Pirates waiting to try to stop them. The mint today is a museum, which gives a fascinating insight into how important a place this was. The other main tourist attraction is to visit the co-operative mines that still work the hill behind the city. I passed on that. The elevation combined with the potential danger of visiting what can only be described as sub standard working conditions at best, to see people working there way to an early grave did not appeal.


Potosi




Cero Rico Mountain


The Old Mint

So after two nights I headed out again for Sucre, and the promise of tarmac all the way.