Day 46 - 53. Tough days, spectacular scenery and perhaps some decent coffee to be had soon.

Day 46 Altiplano (bus crash)

Loooong day with 146km which was relatively flat with only 416m of climbing over the whole day.

This is the altiplano, or in english high altitude flat plain.

We stayed together for the most part, and throughout the day I was riding with a group. It worked out that we took turns at the front to push through the wind, including myself.

Lunch was protected from the wind in a building that had hot baths should we have chosen to indulge. I was too eager to keep going, like most of us.

With land this flat, even at a respectable 30km/h, the scenery changes very slowly. I know my room mate Lee was not looking forward to this day because it's such a slogging it out grind, even though he's one of the strongest riders. He prefers to be challenged and see faster changes in the terrain.

Towards the end of the day I was riding with 5 other people. I let slip that with the ground being so flat, we'll have a great view of the night sky, so then I said "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with S". I was referring to seeing many stars later that night. Yet somehow that became a game between us as we rode to camp. When the letter S came up again, Malcolm volunteered the answer "subsistence farmers" to which I volunteered a quick 2 word expletive in return. Kevin added he couldn't have said it any better himself (my expletive, not Malcom's answer) which got a chuckle or 2. What an unexpected way to finish the ride. Playing I spy.

The camp site is called bus crash because there was a bus crash there some years ago, and the shell of the bus is still at the side of the road as a memorial to those who died.

The site had mud brick buildings that weren't finished and didn't have a roof on any of them. Someone in our group had taken the time to mark out signs to be like a hotel, such as the lobby, dining room, free wifi ( and a few other signs marking out who had claimed a particular spot. A nice touch.

Day 47 Meteorite Crater!

A much shorter day of 83km and 483m of climbing. Not that the numbers meant much. This is where we saw our first example of Bolivian dirt roads. ROUGH. Sandy and corrugated. Quite often the locals drive beside the road and create their own much smoother track, but also often quite sandy.

So the day still presented a challenge. This was also a very good day to have dual suspension like how I do with my bike, and also Fred and Adrian Moye also have dual suspension. Still, sometimes the corrugations are spaced in such a way that it causes both wheels to lift at the same time which can be quite unsettling. Go over them too fast, and it can become too difficult to even focus to see where to go.

Still, despite the adventurous ride, we were treated to camping beside a meteorite crater. Best guesstimates of the crater were between 600m and 1km wide, and 30m deep. A special place to visit.

Taking a photo of Ilkka taking a photo of the crater

Not only that, some of the locals have recognised the tourist potential of the place, and over the last year they'd started building a visitor's centre. So we had toilets, and they even stocked up on beer for us which was appreciated and we bought quite a few!

Camping here was not one of the things I knew to expect, so what a pleasant surprise. I've never had the opportunity to see a crater, let alone camp beside one.

Day 48 Tahua

Again a short day of 73km with 509m of climbing. Again, not that the numbers meant much. A tough day with some of the climbs being through deep soft sand.

At one stage I was climbing up the hill riding sideways. My back wheel out to the side spinning in the sand. That takes a LOT of energy and effort!

In the later part of the day we all rode together at a group, stopping at each dirt road intersection as it could get confusing with so many ways to go. The directions list was a full page. So Wilbert led the way.

Yes, we even get to ride around a volcano!

The scenery was regularly changing and enjoyable. Especially when we reached the top of the last hill. It was then that we could see the huge Salar de Uyuni. The world's largest salt flat.

The first view of Salar de Uyuni

When we dropped down to our lakeside camp site, it was just fantastic. Soft grassy ground to put our tents on, and the view of the salt flat.

That night we had the coldest night (I think it was anyhow) that we had yet when camping. I normally keep my camelbak (backpack with a 3L water bladder) with me in the tent. Not only did the tube to the mouthpiece freeze, but also a crust of ice inside the bladder itself. Best guesses was it reached -10C that night. Not that I minded, I had the right tent and sleeping bag for the job.

Day 49 Salar de Uyuni

So on this day we had 102km of riding, with 0m of climbing. Nada, zilch. Dead flat.

After taking the short track to the edge of the salt flat, there was a little bit of shallow water to ride through, then we were on the salt.

Normally salt flats have the reputation of not only being flat, but also smooth. The ride to lunch at the Isla del Pescado was rough. Very rough. So Yolande who has a cyclocross bike which really is a mildly adapted road bike, she had a very tough time.

After lunch however, we were following the traffic tracks to the hotel near the edge of the salt flat, so the last 60km of riding was much better.

Yup, I'd say that's flat!

The hotel was made of blocks of salt. So definitely a novelty factor there. Later in the afternoon there were rally cars roaring past doing a training run. This is what I was expecting to see!

Hotel made of salt

It was great with most of us sitting outside watching the sunset until the sun dipped below the horizon and the temperature plummeted. At this altitude like everywhere else, the sun may be warm, but the air is always cool. On  the salt flat even more so, as the salt doesn't warm up as much, but rather bounces the sun's rays back off. We've been spending quite a lot of time at over 3500m above sea level, and I'd been riding the whole day with arm and leg warmers on. My bike computer in the middle of the day may say the temperature was 30C, but that's because the sun was on it. Cover up, and still feel not too warm, and not have to bother with sunscreen for the covered areas.

Dinner in the hotel was by candle light given the lack of lights.

Day 50 Uyuni

What's this? Only 35km?! Anyone would think we're on holidays!

So we start the morning with an almost 7km long time trial. I tried warming up and had ridden an extra 8km before my turn (so I rode 43km in total for the day), but asthma still kicked in when I started. Pity! The time trial was fun and something different.

Once off the salt, we had the usual dirt road full of sand and corrugations to Uyuni.

The hotel was quite comfortable, and a small group of us visited the nearby train graveyard. The trains were left to rust when there was no further use for them when the local mining industry collapsed partly due to mineral depletion in the 1940s.

Day 51 Atocha

A 103km day with 689m of climbing.

Once again deep sand on the roads, and corrugations. Acceptance of the surface is sinking in, and just appreciating the day for what it is.

The scenery was clearly showing more mountainous country rather than the usual flat altiplano. The deep red and purple colours in the rocks towards the end of the day was quite spectacular.

Kevin and Graeme admiring the change in landscape

For the last part of the ride, quite a few of us took the option of riding on the river bed rather than the road. The river bed was by far a better surface, and a bit of fun too before arriving in the mining town of Atocha.

Christine and myself about to cross the river again and reach Atocha

Day 52 Tupiza. Thanks Bolivia!

109km with a more mountainous 1541m of climbing.

No doubt about it, a very tough day.

At first, after following the river bed again and crossing through water with soft silt, the climbs were gentle enough. The road weaved around and over the rolling hills at first. So I got the feeling I was riding in a big playground. Probably not the best way to describe it, but that's how it felt and the word playground came to mind when I was riding it.

Then the road got serious.

STEEP in parts. Up to 14% incline. This is still on sandy corrugated dirt road don't forget. The climbs got more brutal approaching lunch.

At lunch Susana asked me if I was hitting the wall (running out of energy) yet. I replied I was close. She mentioned that most of the other people were feeling the same way.

There was still 1 last climb before a downhill. Another steep climb, at one point I measured 10% incline. It was one of those climbs where I saw a corner way up and decided that must be the top, then when reaching that corner, see another corner way up again. That happened 3 times.

The downhill wasn't too bad, had to be careful with the corrugations, and once again when it flattened out a little, opted for the river bed.

Riding along the river bed was fun, and the scenery changed noticeably until I thought I was in roadrunner (the cartoon) country complete with tall skinny red rocks and canyons.

The day may have been tough, yet the scenery throughout the day did not disappoint. So exhausting, sore and enjoyable would be a way to summarise the day.

So in Tupiza we had a rest day, and our final stay in Bolivia.

Day 53 La Quiaca Argentina. Hello Argentina! I hear that in your cafes you have real coffee! If so, we'll get along fine.

A 93km day with 1296m of climbing.

It starts with a gentle downhill, so a good speed to warm up with and watch the scenery go by. I should mention we start and finish this day on beautiful, smooth new sealed road. So out of character compared to what I'd seen up until then in Bolivia, except for the first 2 or 3 days in to Bolivia from Peru.

At one point we went through a dark tunnel which was unnerving as I didn't have any lights on my bike, and going from bright daylight to dark tunnel meant at first I was guessing where I was going. Lucky for most of us, no potholes or surprises.

After perhaps 35km of cruising, it turned uphill for a 7% incline climb for roughly the next 10km to reach 600m higher. Climbing on paved road is SO much easier! I also discovered that since my previous climbs on sealed road, I was noticably stronger in the legs and so faster at climbing.

Lunch was at the top, then for the rest of the day there was just rolling hills all the way to the Bolivia/Argentina border. Crossing the border was uneventful, and our hotel was just on the other side.

Let's see what Argentina offers.