Flat roads of the Altiplano feel like rolling downhill
We hugged our cyclists friends goodbye in Cusco as all our paths, as amazing as it was to cross at the same time in Cusco, now went in different directions – with the hopes to cross again. We made one more stop at our favorite French bakery in town before hitting the open road once again. With full bellies and happy memories, we took off for our next destination, La Paz, Bolivia. We were told it could potentially be ridden in five days, but that was with a high average of 130-150km per day – a number we had not neared yet on our bikes.
We were quite surprised when the day after departing from Cusco, we made it over a climb to 4,200 meters (where we met a french organized cyclists tour group who kindly gave us bread, cheese, and mandarins – Merci Beaucoup!!) and then down to the town of Ayaviri – 158km/99 mile day! To celebrate we ordered inexpensive pizza… and I believe Justin consumed 7 scoops of ice cream (but to his defense, two scoops in Peru is about one in the states).
The next day, we flew once again to the incredibly cute harbor town of Puno along Lake Titicaca. Our legs were just so excited to do something besides climb uphill! The high Andes planes were breathtaking, not just because we were at 13,000 ft, but because of the harsh, arid climate, flat valley surrounded by hills, and long stretches of blue skies and a light wind.
To our cycling buddies – on the way to Juliaca, there is a long stretch of construction along mostly flat roads – can someone please explain why Peruvians choose to have 15km stretches of road construction!? Also, there is a mini climb to Puno, I mean itsy-bitsy but terrific views of the Lago.
Lago Titcaca and the floating islands
Lake Titicaca´s claim to fame is being the largest, highest commercially navigable lake situated at 12,500 ft above sea level. After riding around the southern part of the lake, I can confirm that it is HUGE. We found ourselves continually stopping to take pictures and admire the big, blue beauty.
In Puno, on September 27th, the morning of Justin´s birthday, we decided to take a half day off the bike and ride a boat out onto Lake Titicaca to visit floating manmade islands known as Uros. There are over 70 islands that float using the root system of a hollow reed. As we puttered along in a little boat to the entrance of the island city, a local handed our guide a piece of paper with the name of one of the tiny, floating homes- apparently the island families take turns giving guided tours in hopes that tourists will buy crafts they have made. As we made our way to the small floating island we were chosen to visit, a family greeted us in colorful, traditional dress and started to show us how they lived on their unique home. From the kitchen, to the fishing hole, and the small, dry reed homes, it was quite a place to witness. Every two weeks, the family must do maintenance adding more reeds to the floor of their island as the reeds along the water decompose quite quickly. As we stepped off the boat to our island, I questioned whether the squishy flooring would sink into the water! The reeds not only provide shelter and flooring, but are also a main source of food. The white stems look similar to cattail found in ponds and marshes in the States, and taste somewhat like hicama.
We did get a sense that these island have greatly been impacted by tourism – I questioned whether these families still live on these manmade floating homes or use them primarily as an income and ride back to the mainland at night. The islands were originally made over 500 years ago when a small set of Ayamara dialect people living in the altiplanos felt threatened by other civilizations such as the Inca. They decided to protect themselves by living on the lake, making it difficult to be conquered. The “president” of the little island we visited, explained that if there was ever an issue with family on their island, they simply sawed the roots and reeds in half and sailed away from each other. If you disliked a neighbor, simply cut your anchor and move! While the islands may have been taken over by tourism, the fact they have maintained for centuries is absolutely amazing.
The Transcontinental Triathletes
After our morning as tourists, we changed back into our traveler’s attire, and set out again on bicycles with our next major destination being La Paz, Bolivia. We road along about 25km out of town and stopped for a break admiring the Lake and munching on a common snack of cheese and bread. We used a concrete wall as shade in the afternoon sun and were surprised when three cyclists rolled by on the street. We shouted out to them and realized they were three of our buddies from the La Estralita Hostal that had left the day before but had run into a bit of bad luck on the road.
Yannick and Shirley are a couple from the States (Yannick is from France but has lived in California for ten years) who decided to go on a big adventure together – they left Alaska by kayak, rowed to the US/Canada border, and then proceeded to hike the PCT southbound in 2010! We passed them heading North and shared stories of friends we both knew from the trail last year. After completing the trail, they continued on by bicycle through Central and now South America. They seem a bit tired and ready to complete their adventure so they are excited whenever they have friends to enjoy road with. You can check out their story by googling “transcontinental triathlon.”
In Lima, they met a friend through a website called warm showers where people open their homes to others on the road (sort of like the website couch surfing popular in the States). Steve Harrison, a Peruvian from Lima, is a sweet sidekick who is fun to share jokes with and nice to have for his fluent Spanish and English (he went to college and grew up partially in the States). Yannick and Shirley convinced Steve to join along riding so he rigged his mountain bike with equipment he found around Lima. He originally planned to only ride to Lima but has continued on to La pax and now further! Go Steve!
We all rolled along Lake Titicaca, chatting away and sharing stories from the road.
Happy Birthday Justino!
I am so mean – instead of counting down until Justin´s 29th birthday, I have been counting down to his 30th… he has not found it as funny as I. We were excited to explore Lake Titicaca for his birthday as well as tasty treats from home such as Kraft blue box mac n´ cheese (a rare treat here) and some good ol´ Betty Crocker´s just add water chocolate chip muffin mix (a favorite discovered on the PCT last year). Myself, Yannick, Shirley, and Steve sang Happy Birthday to Justin at our campsite off the road in some remote plains a ways away from the next small town.
Adios Peru, Bolivia here we come!
Since before departing for our trip, we were extremely nervous about entering Bolivia. They have made it quite difficult for Americans to enter their country. First off, you must pay $135 to enter (they do this since we make almost everyone pay to enter our country… the longer you travel, the more you come to understand why many dislike our country). There are no credit card or ATM machines – they expect US cash that has no tears, wrinkles or creases at all! In the states, we spent over a half hour at a bank making sure to get the crispest, cleanest bills possible for this border crossing. We had to carry these bills the entire time through out Peru, so Justin purchased belts with zippers on the inside where we gently folded all the bills. The border patrol questioned the creases so we both had to show our belts and explain why they were folded in a such a way.
In addition to the cash, Bolivia requires two passport photos, a copy of your passport, and a visa application. If you try and get your Bolivian visa in the States before arriving at the country, you must also show proof of a place to stay in the country, yellow fever vaccinations, financial solvency, and copies of your travel itinerary! Yowsers!
As we rolled out of Peru, and pushed our bikes to the Bolivian entrance, the border patrol stepped out to look at our bikes. All seemed calm though, and while I watched our bikes, Justin worked with the border patrol to complete our visas, which are good for five years in Bolivia. One officer kept trying to talk to me, but I soon realized that Bolivian Spanish is much different than Peruvian – faster and less pronunciation of words. I kept shrugging my shoulders and telling him to speak slower.
Soon enough, we were granted entrance into the country, and rolled along to beautiful Copacabana for a late lunch of delicious trout and rice before riding up into the hillside. Our campsite for the evening was spectacular overlooking the gorgeous blue lake with the Cordillera Real mountain range glowing in the distance. La Paz would be a reality our next evening and we could not be happier snuggled under the stars for a peaceful night’s rest.
La Paz. is. Massive.
Our peaceful first night and relaxing morning in Bolivia was a 180 from our entrance into La Paz. The last 20kms before La Paz you roll through thick, smoggy, chaotic traffic through the city of El Alto. I kept yelling at the top of my lungs as cars cut us off and treated us like we were also wrapped in a metal box. Finally, the flat altiplano rolled to a cliffside, and it seemed like a wave of buildings just rolled down the steep cliffside from El Alto into the MASSIVE city of La Paz. The Cordillera Real mountain peaks stood tall, covered with snow as a backdrop to this valley packed with brick homes rolling down to a downtown skyscraper city. I was speechless. We raced a dark ominous cloud rolling over the cliffside and after navigating city streets that make San Francisco seem flat, we made it to the Casa de Cyclistas and sighed relief as the storm washed over La Paz.
~ Melissa
Lost Movie from the past:
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