Casa de las Ciclistas! La Paz

Well, after the ride to Potosi destroyed our bodies we took a few days off. First in Potosi - which is a beautiful city, colonial and very old - then at El Ojo de las Incas - a hotspring just 25 km outside of town. The ride there was beautiful and mostly down hill since the city of Potosi is at 4000m and the rest of the altiplano is between 3400m and 3900m. The Ojo is a spring that the Incas of Peru used to travel to in order to bathe for medicinal purposes - natural salts and sulfur in the water are great for one's health. We still weren't feeling 100% but we moved on.

A little rest after our ascent to the Ojo de Las Incas, Bolivia

The Ojo (spring) at sunset.

Typically, we skipped the easiest riding. From the Ojo, we got a ride with some really friendly Portenos (people of Buenos Aires) who had also spent a couple nights there. They had constructed a mobile home (prefabricated but with their own design) and were working their way up north eventually to the United States. We all went to Oruro together. Courtney and Chris got a hostel and they went off to the place that mobil homes go when they are in a city. The car ride did not fair well for Courtney, we aren't accostomed to motor vehicles at this point. So, this combined with the cold we got as we ascended the mountains, kept her in bed for the night, while Chris made her spicy potatoes to clear the sinuses.

The view back as we left Oruro, Bolivia

In the morning we were all excited to bike to La Paz but the boring flat road didn't appeal to us. So we hitched a ride with a truck driver who was going to leave in a few hours. A few hours later, however - right around the time when it is getting much too late to bike - he informed us that he wasn't leaving after all. He would be getting minerals from the nearby mountain and then heading north the next day. Another night of alojamiento for us. Fortunately, outside the city center, the hostels cost half the price - about $5 for us to share a room. The woman who owned the place was very nice and excited to have clients. She has the only alojamiento in the area but it's newly opened.

The next day we failed in getting a ride out of the city and the polution was driving us crazy. So we finally shelled out 40 bs (another $5) for a bus to La Paz. Buses in Bolivia are much easier to navigate when it comes to bikes than in Argentina. No one cares that the bike is big and bulky. Throw it on, they say. We will see what happens in Peru.

So we made it to La Paz! We got of the bus 10km outside the city in the satalite city of El Alto - 300m higher than La Paz - so we could ride into the city and see the stunning view from up high. Paul, one of the two Belgian cyclists that we spent a couple weeks with, had suggested this. he was right to suggest it. The view is stunning.

The city, the altiplano looming above, and the mountains. La Paz, Bolivia

Once more, the city with the mountains above Remember that the city is at 3600m, the mountains tower above at 6 and 7 thousand meters tall The first snow capped mountains we´ve seen since Argentina. Stunning. La Paz, Bolivia

Unfortunately, just as we began to descend the canyon that is La Paz, it began to rain. And then hail. We have one pair of gloves between us and had to stop several times to warm our hands on our necks and stomachs lest they fall off. But we made it down the canyon and and into the hands of Cristian and Luisa of the Casa de las Ciclistas. We stayed last night at Cristian's house and spent today wondering around La Paz - a really fantastic beautiful and old city. One of two capitals of Bolivia. Sucre still holds the judicial power, but La Paz has usurped all the rest. We walked by the great buildings of government today and then moved on to the great markets of illicit goods.

The city at night. The lights of the houses tumbling down the canyon resemble stars in the sky, La Paz, Bolivia

Now we learn the ropes so that we can help out at the cafe. Cristian is sure that we will stay much longer than we intended because ''everyone seems to stay twice the amount of time they think they will'' but we're anxious to get on the bikes tomorrow and head toward Lago Titicaca and the Peru! 12 days and counting of bike tour, then we meet up with Courtney's dad and sister in Cusco for the final 12 days of travel (maybe some riding without all our luggage?)

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