The Bolivian Lagunas (Uyuni > San Pedro de Atacama)
Magnificent scenery. Absolutely terrible ‘roads’. One very sore arse.
The last post was rather long. I’m going to keep this one short. This was six days of hell, to be honest. Six days of hell, in heaven. If that even makes sense…
The route takes you from Uyuni (on the edge of the Salar/salt flat) West and then South through an area known as the ‘Lagunas’, much of the 450km route well above 4000m.
The scenery was absolutely fantastic and improved further towards the end – I can’t complain on that front – but the riding was purgatory. Six days of constant washboard, deep sand or deep sandy washboard, usually accompanied by a headwind or, at the very least, a strong crosswind. I was lucky as my setup allowed me to ride pretty much the whole route without pushing (other than to get a few metres out of sand traps), but it was still incredibly hard work.
This route is somewhat legendary among tourers and I was aware that the road conditions can be testing but, frankly, not as bad as this! Actually, to call them roads is generous – they are jeep tracks in the sand, some of which (to the south) are moderately ‘groomed’ by a machine which makes them a little more passable. However, in general, the jeeps appear to use one set of tracks until it washboards and then just create new ones next to it. This has the effect of scarring the landscape with tracks – admittedly in places this is just driving across sandy plains but elsewhere vegetation is decimated. On the flip side, where the jeeps do stick to the road (in the Southern parts), they race past at high speed and cover you in dust. The fierce headwinds do at least tend to clear this dust away reasonably quickly but, seeing as you are mainly well above 4000m, holding your breath is not really an option! Add to that, a bike heavily weighed down with 7-8 days worth of food and overnight temperatures as low as -10C (this is the warmer season too), and you ought to start to get a feeling for the challenge!
For those of you in the UK, the area is featured in the recent Episode 2 (Mountains) of Planet Earth II – see the flamingos at 33mins in…
Laguna Colorada
Grandpa Dave states that, up here, exposed human skin burns in 4 mins! I’m not sure that’s strictly true but it certainly gives an idea of the harshness of the environment.
My body was really yearning to get down to lower altitudes – I’d been above 3000m since leaving Lima at the beginning of September (two months prior) and was getting really tired of the regular shortness of breath (especially just before falling asleep) and somewhat poor health (I’d had a cold and bit of a cough since La Paz). The very limited Bolivian cuisine, with a severe lack of fresh fruit and veg, was not helping either!
Needless to say, I was very relieved when I finally descended, after a fairly speedy (for this route) five and a half day traverse, into the desert oasis of San Pedro de Atacama!
Here’s the journey…
Thomas and Tina head off two days before me...
The train cemetery at Uyuni
The train cemetery at Uyuni
The train cemetery at Uyuni
The train cemetery at Uyuni
Bolivian music video in production!
Neil
Me, Neil and Vicky
Sunset at the train cemetery
The trails of rubbish continue
Sunset over the train tracks
Sunset over the train tracks
Neil prepares a fantastic dinner of burgers and veg on the bench opposite the hostel
Neil and Vicky head off the day before me...
Sally very heavily-laden (note the extra green drybag full of fruit/veg/bread)
Fairly uninspiring cycle out of Uyuni
Sunset was nice though
With a strong wind, I found protection inside a concrete water tank!
Glad I chose a free-standing tent!
My protected campsite...
Having remarked a few days earlier about not having had any punctures in Bolivia...
Laguna Honda
Flamingos at Laguna Honda
Flamingos at Laguna Honda
Good chance to test out my vastly improved off-road skills!
Which track?!
I forget which Laguna?!
Cracking on...
Neil and Vicky in the distance...
Leaving Neil and Vicky behind to make it to the Hotel del Desierto before dark!
Farming? Or just jeep tracks... 🙁
Camping behind the driver's lodge at the Hotel del Desierto (at minus 10C overnight)
The Cordon de Inacaliri
5km of soft, sandy washboard... urgh.
Cerro Negro
The Arbol de Piedra
Interesting rocks at the Arbol de Piedra
Interesting rocks carved by the wind at the Arbol de Piedra
A prize if you can figure out what the right-hand most symbol is!
Waking up at 5:30am to leave early (before the wind gets up) and then discovering a puncture is always a little trying!!
Proof it got chilly overnight - I was grateful for a night in a hospedaje!
Looking back at Laguna Colorada
Heading down through the martian landscape towards Laguna Chalviri
Heading down through the martian landscape towards Laguna Chalviri
Well-earned drag downhill to Laguna Chalviri
Supermoon-rise over Laguna Chalviri
Sunrise at Laguna Chalviri
Sunrise over the thermal springs at Laguna Chalviri
Early start = frozen beard!
The distant Desierto de Dali
Cerros Poderosa and Amarillo
The beautiful Cerro Curiquinca
The beautiful Cerro Curiquinca
Exiting the national park and nearing the border at last!
The Bolivian immigration post and the border!
Crossing into Chile at last - the quality of the border signs say it all! And the road was immediately asphalted on the Chilean side!
Oh yes, it's descent time at last!
The 2400m descent down to San Pedro de Atacama
The 2400m descent down to San Pedro de Atacama
Looking back up at Volcan Licancabur and Cerro Juriques
The reward - a fantastic French boulangerie in the middle of the desert!
...and their amazing olive baguettes and pan au chocolat!
Back into the 1st world!
Even the markets are well-organised!
Click on to the next page for a select few 360s…