El Alto, the new Bolivian metropolis (Bolivia)

Our cycling plans in Bolivia are very ambitious, with big physical and mental efforts including the crossing of the salares of Coipasa and Uyuni, the largest and highest " salt lakes" on the planet, the southwestern Altiplano including laguna Colorada, cycling to the top of volcano Uturunco (6020m), ride the "highway of death" named by the Bolivian tourism department as "the most dangerous road in the world" and at the end of the 3 months we plan to ride in Bolivia, leave the country by the Mamoré river in a propose-built boat with our adapted bicycles entering Brazil by "the back door" through the state of Rondonia.

But before we adventure in these stages of adrenaline cycling we have to comply with customs formalities and find someone to stamp our passports.
At the border of Janko Janko that we just crossed there was no soul in sight. We start our first cycling strokes in the country through a winding gravel road that resembled more an animal trail than a border road.





11 km later we arrived at the quiet village of Puerto Acosta. We presented ourselves immediately at the police station to announce our entry in the country. An official tells us that the next post of emigration is located in La Paz to 190 km away, and in an old typing machine writes the following statement:

We exchanged our remaining Peruvian pesos to Bolivianos in the village´s grocery store and took a room at the simple hotel 5 Noviembro, in which were also staying 2 military personnel indulging themselves in copious amounts of beer. I joined them for a drink and a Geo-politic introduction of the country. We just entered Bolivia at a time of great political instability. Reforms of nationalization of Bolivian industry applied by Evo Morales, the "presidente Cocalero ", as he is known for his support to Coca farmers, is dividing the country between the majority indigenous population that lives in the Altiplano provinces, and the richer and more productive provinces of the lowlands that recently proclaimed autonomy through various referendums.

Daily manifestations with road blocks across the country that make difficult the distribution of basic goods, with the consequent rise in prices, and fuel shortages are just some of the problems that people face and that would in some way affect our travel plans in the coming weeks.
We continued towards La Paz...






El Alto

We tried in vain to assert our presence among the thousands of people, mini-buses and cars that filled all of the available spaces of the avenue. Maintaining the balance was difficult and pedalling simply impossible. The deafening sounds of car horns, the street vendors, the micro-buses assistants shouting "La Perez, La Perez, one Bolivian, sube,(climb up) sube, sube, sube !!!". I look at the terrified face of Joana. We take a good 20 minutes to cross the avenue and push our bikes through the maze of street markets. I note a boy with his head covered by a black hooded lying on the path shinning shoes, his face hidden by the status of his work, alongside a "cholita" (Bolivian Andean women) sold hot quinoa. The sun had just gone behind the massive cluster of unfinished houses and the Altiplano´s biter cold was felt immediately.

We looked for a good couple of hours for a "alojamiento", lodging, The city had dozens of them, but none appeared to meet our requirements: shower of hot water. We had just completed another cycling stage, and since Puno in Peru that we didn't have a shower with hot water. The consensus was unanimous, this massive "rural village" of over one million inhabitants had only one hotel worth of the name, the hotel Alexander. For the first time in our travels we booked in a luxury hotel, with a porter to bring the luggage to the room, porter to take the bicycles to a garage, a doorman escorting me to the ATM nearby, and even a porter to show us the way to the bus station to La Paz (does that exists?), Sauna, nightclub with complementary drinks offered by the management and a suite on the sixth floor with views to the chaotic city.

All this for only $ 10 a person, the same price that many backpackers paid for a simple hotel in downtown La Paz just 30 minutes way. In the comfort of our suite we observe the human chaos in the streets below us.

During the 3 days it took us from Puerto Acosta to La Paz, we cycled the Bolivian Altiplano through many villages where one could see many abandoned houses like if they were part of some sort of contemporary Inca ruins. The human desertion of the cold and harsh Altiplano to the cities is a recent phenomenon and for thousands of people the destination is El Alto.







The city with the fastest growing rate in South America, whose population already exceeds that of the capital, La Paz. The reason why we choose to stay in El Alto and not in nearby La Paz as all tourists do, was simple: We didn't want to descend with our bikes the 500m that separates the two cities and climb it up again later, and also because we had a contact of a "casa de ciclistas in El Alto. On the following morning (accompanied by the doorman!) we face the human chaos and look for a micro-bus to La Paz and went to emigration announcing our presence in the country. We obtained without any objection a 3 months visa.

La Paz lies on a canyon sandwiched between the Altiplano to the East and the cordillera real to the west, at 3600 meters of altitude, is the highest capital in the world and also a "world" part from the satellite city of El Alto clinging 500 meters above on its northwest slope and exposed to the Altiplano cold winds. The contrasts between the two cities are enormous. El Alto is reminiscent of a giant Andean farmers village that "protect" themselves from the difficult and harsh life of the Altiplano behind the city`s markets, unfinished adobe houses, piles of garbage and chaotic traffic . La Paz was indeed a disappointment. Unlike what I imagined, the city centre of the highest capital in the world is 'very sophisticated and modern, and despite the constant backdrop of the white covered peaks of cordillera Real, the city did not reveal much character.



Walking the avenue del Prado, reminded me sometimes of the streets of Lisbon, and the only "old" part of town around the cathedral of San Francisco was so full of souvenirs stores and tourists with a dizzy look from high altitude, that one could think of it like another big souvenir market found in any other city of Latin America.

Casa de ciclistas of La Paz

Vilma and Jesus, a couple of professional veteran cyclists, already receive touring cyclists in their house for over 20 years, and are part of a wide network of free accommodation for touring cyclists that exists across Latin America. Their kind and loving hospitality led us to stay at their place for almost a week. Days passed exploring the chaotic city of El Alto, some visits to La Paz, or just enjoy the company of our kind hosts. One day before our departure towards Oruro, my new odometer arrives. The previous one had broke long ago and I`ve been anticipating a new one for quite some time A big thanks to Lynn Pilgrim and Chivas Coffee Rosters in Santa Fe, United States that have been so kind to send me a new altimeter and other delicious delicatessens, and that over the months have been an unmatched support in this journey.

Oruro

It was 3 days of easy and monotonous cycling from La Paz to Oruro through the Altiplano above 3500 meters altitude.


On the second day`s riding we ended the day with 3 digits on the odometer, the first time for Joana, and camped 25 kms from Oruro in an abandoned mine where we experience for the first time the cold nights of the Altiplano. That night the minus 5 degrees forced us to cook inside the mine in a rather surreal atmosphere.

Welcoming us in Oruro, by the side of the road, a billboard with Sherlock Holmes, a huge helmet of a miner who seemed more like a spacecraft and various sculptures in copper that showed evidence of the strong mining and carnival traditions of the city.

Oruro is a pleasant but uninteresting mining town where we spent several days preparing for our first major cycling stage in Bolivia: the crossing of salares of Coipasa and Uyuni. A stage that promises loads of adventure and breathtaking scenery and will be published on the next chronic.

You can follow my adventures also through the eyes of Joana on her site here

Nuno Brilhante Pedrosa
In Oruro, Bolivia.