After a fantastic couple of weeks celebrating Christmas with Deirbhle in New Zealand it was time to head for South America to continue my bike ride around the world.

I had changed my route through South America a few times before finally deciding on one which firstly fit in with my time frame (3 months) and one where I would get to see the main sites that I wanted to see during this leg of my round the world cycle. 

The main months for tour cyclists in this part of the world are from August to December as this is winter and the dry season.  I would be heading to South America in the rainy season but there was not much I could do about that, and from what people had said to me it should be a bit like Asia where you tend to get rain in the afternoon rather than all day.  

My final route would see me start cycling from La Paz in Bolivia south towards Argentina and Chile with my end point for this leg of the cycle ride at the glaciers of El Calafete in Patagonia, Southern Argentina.  The exact route that I will follow to get there is still open but I expect the total distance for this leg to be around 5000km and I would give myself 3 months to complete the ride.

My first stop in South America was Buenos Aires in Argentina as this was the only city that I could fly to direct from New Zealand to South America.  As I had never been there before it would have been a bit rude just to change planes and so I decided to have a four night stopover to see the sights of the city before taking an onward flight to La Paz in Bolivia from where I would start cycling.

In the weird world of time zones my plane actually landed before I had taken off – my flight took off from New Zealand at 8pm on the 1st of January.  I landed in Buenos Aires at 3pm on the 1st of January which essentially was 5 hours before I had taken off even though we had spent over 12 hours in the air.

I took a taxi from the airport as I didn’t want to unpack my bike and then have to repack it a couple of days later and so by 5pm I was sat in an apartment in Palermo in downtown Buenos Aires.  First thing on the agenda was to go out to get something to eat but when I did I found that as it was a Sunday/ bank holiday then everything was closed and so dinner that night was a pack of Oreos that I picked up from a cigarette kiosk.

The next morning it was time to head out and explore the city and I have visited South and Central America a few times before but what I found walking round Buenos Aires was a city whose architecture and culture that was far more European than South American. (not a refried bean to be found anywhere !!!!)   

For the next 3 days my time was spent walking around different neighborhoods, visiting museums, cathedrals and art galleries that I seemed to find around the corner of every street in the capital.


The city has a fantastic bus system and underground metro so getting around was very easy.  You can’t pay cash on any of the transport systems but once you have bought a Lube card, which you can pick up from most news agents and lotteria outlets, then getting around the city is cheap.

Buenos Aires was an amazing city to spend a few days in and before I knew it I was heading back to the airport to get a flight to La Paz in Bolivia.  I will definitely be back with Deirbhle at some point in the future to further explore the city.

My destination was La Paz which is the capital of Bolivia.  At nearly 12,000 feet La Paz is the highest capital city in the world and many people who fly directly into the city suffer from altitude sickness.  At such extreme elevations there is a decrease in atmospheric pressure which makes breathing difficult because you aren’t able to take in as much oxygen as you can at sea level. 

Symptoms include severe headaches, shortness of breath and nausea. In its mildest form, altitude sickness can occur at heights over 8000 ft above sea level, which is a common height for many ski resorts. However, the more severe symptoms of altitude sickness tend to occur at altitudes of about 12,000ft. It is recommended that if you fly directly into such an altitude then you need a few days to acclimatise to the conditions and so I planned to spend 4 or 5 days in La Paz and it’s surrounds before starting my cycle back south.

The city of La Paz is set in deep canyon created by the Choqueyapu River and sits in a bowl-like depression surrounded by the high mountains of the Andes Mountains.  The airport is located in the satellite city of El Alto which is the area to the west of the canyon and sits on the Altiplano (highland plateau of the Andes). 

Birgit and Roberto who live in La Paz had read my blog on facebook and had been in touch to say that they could put me up when I arrived and so when the plane landed Roberto was waiting to collect me at the airport which was fantastic as I arrived late in the evening and apparently the area around the airport is not the safest place to be at night.

Once we had loaded my bike and luggage into Roberto’s car it was a straight 700m descent to the bottom of the canyon to where he lived.  The road down was very very steep and climbing back out of the canyon when I left La Paz would be a baptism of fire into the lung busting  mountains that Bolivia is famous for.

Roberto and Birgit have just finished building their new house in an area called Isla Verde which is towards the southern end of the canyon and about 8km from downtown La Paz.  Isla Verde translates as the Green Island and it gets its name as it is located next to the world’s highest golf course. From what I could make out on the journey from the airport it is the only bit of flat land in La Paz and something that I wasn’t expecting to find that high up in the mountains.  Birgit and the kids were still away visiting family for New Year and so Roberto would be my tour guide for the next few days.

The first job when I woke the next morning was to put my bike together to check that nothing had been broken en route. 

To save weight for the flight I just wrapped my bike in a plastic bag rather than a box and it seemed to do have done the job as when I put it back together the bike had arrived unscathed.

It was then time to head off to go for a walk to check out how I was fairing with the high altitude and so we headed to a place called Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) to go for a walk. 

Valle de la Luna is a maze of canyons and giant spires. According to local legend it received its name after Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, visited the site and remarked how the landscape resembled that of the moon. Whether this is fact or fiction doesn’t matter as it makes for a great story.

The formations, composed mainly of clay and sandstone, were created by rain eroding the glacial sediment in the valley. What remains is a serene setting, full of wonderful formations.

The whole area is fairly baron and little vegetation grows but several species of cactus do grow among the stalagmites whose brightly coloured flowers really are striking against the beige background. 

Walking around the valley I definitely could feel a shortness of breath but luckily it seemed that I had escaped the headaches and nausea that other tourists experience.

After spending a very pleasant afternoon at Moon Valley we then headed into the nearest town of La Florida. As the whole area is composed of compacted glacial sediment then the roads have been carved out through the sediment and a series of tunnels take you to the town which lies at the bottom of the valley.

There are always a few jobs that I need to do when I first arrive in a new country – buying SIM cards, changing money and stocking up on basic provisions for when I finally leave on the bike are the main ones.  

When buying SIM cards in all of the countries that I have cycled through so far on this trip I have just bought them and put them into the phone and they have worked.  Here in Bolivia, you need to register them with the phone company before they work and thankfully I had Roberto around who could do this for me.

When I am cycling in a new country I like to have two SIM cards from different companies as I have found that coverage changes and where one company may have strong coverage in one area there may be none in another.  Having two SIMS has definitely proven useful so far on this trip.

Once all of the tasks were done it was early evening and time to head for my first taste of Bolivian food and beer. 

My introduction to Bolivian cuisine was Fricase.  There is a European version of Fricasse which tends to be chicken in a white béchamel sauce but Bolivian Fricase is as far removed from this as humanely possible.

It is a spicy pork meat stew and is simply delicious and I would definitely be looking out for this on my cycle ride south. By the time that we got home and to bed it was gone midnight and thanks to Roberto I had had a fantastic first day in Bolivia.

The following morning my plan was to head into downtown La Paz to see for myself the city which has a reputation for organized chaos.  For those of you who have never seen a picture of La Paz here is an example of what it looks like:

The city is set in a canyon and every square inch has been built upon.  To make getting around the city slightly easier they built a teleferico, or cable car, which was completed in 2014.  There are currently three lines operating with a further seven planned.  The end of one of the lines is in La Florida and so I walked out of the compound where Roberto lives in Isla Verde and jumped a collective mini bus for the 4 km ride into the town where I would pick up the teleferico. 

Cathing the cable car was definitely a very unique way of getting into the city as it literally passes over the top of houses for much of its journey towards the  centre.  

The end of the first line is in an area called Sopocachi which is near the very centre of the city.  Here you can change lines and take the teleferico all the way up to the top of the canyon at El Alto.  When I was changing lines I saw a guy getting on with a bike and he was heading to the top of the canyon to cycle (or coast) back down to the city centre.  This was my route out of the city sorted – instead of climbing nearly 9km and 700m out of the canyon I could catch the cable car when I left La Paz in a few days time.  It may be slightly cheating but after nearly a month off the bike it would be a much better experience.

When I reached the end of the line at El Alto the view back down into the city was pretty spectacular.
There is a cafe at the teleferico station and whilst enjoying the view over a coffee I met a guy called Mark who is an author and journalist who lives part of the year in La Paz and part in France. 

He too is a cyclist and is currently heading a campaign for the local council to put in place a dedicated cycle route through the city.  As the centre of the city slopes fairly dramatically from NW to SE it will be one hell of a ride if they do so.

After enjoying a great chat with Mark it was time to head back down into the heart of the city

As you can see every square inch of the canyon has been filled and the only green space that can be seen is a football pitch.  At nearly 12000ft above sea level and I would say that the local team have a definite advantage over their rivals. In fact, two times when they have hosted the Copa America they have won it and  placed second.

Many of the streets in the centre of the city are cobbled which always gives a city a lovely feel and I spent a couple of hours just wandering around the maze of narrow streets

Orientation was fairly simple though as the major roads through the city tend to  run north to south and I knew that I had to hike up hill to get to the centre.  There are minibuses which ply most routes and a ride anywhere on their route is just 2 Bolivianos (BOL). As this was my first time in the centre and I wanted to acclimatise to the conditions I stuck to walking.

Many of the streets in the city centre had been closed to traffic as the Dakar Rally (Dakar Rally 2017) was arriving in town that day.  For those who have never heard of the Dakar Rally is an annual offroad endurance event which began in 1978.  The original route was from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegl but in 2008 the race had to be cancelled due to security threats in the area.  Each year since 2009 the race has been held in different countries and this year it was based in 3 countries – Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

The previous stage before the competitors arrived in La Paz had been cancelled as there had been a 12 hour downpour which had turned the sand roads into a mud bath and both roads and vehicles had been washed away in flash floods.  (click here)

In Bolivia, there is only one main tarmac highway which runs down the centre of the country and the majority of the other roads are mud and sand.  As I want to take many of these through the Altiplano Mountains south towards Chile I will have to wait and see how practical it is in the rainy season.

Back in La Paz the town had turned out in force to welcome the competitors and the streets were lined four deep to catch a glimpse of the cars as they paraded through the city. 

It was a high octane spectacle as many of the vehicles burned rubber on their way through the center of the city.

The one job that I needed to do while I was in the centre was to book a bus to Lake Titicaca for the following day.  Whilst I acclimatized to the elevation Roberto had recommended that I head for Lake Titicaca which is South America’s largest lake whose northern shore is in Peru while the southern shore is in Bolivia.  

My destination was Isla Del Sol which is an island on the lake and I decided to take a bus to avoid having to cycle 150 km to the ferry port of Copocabana and 150km back again along the same road to La Paz in order to pick up the southerly road towards Chile.

It turned out that a one day tour with accommodation was 700 BOL but I could do it myself by taking a bus for 45 BOL to the town of Copocabana and then paying 25 BOL for a boat to take me out to the island and find a place to stay once I got there. As this seemed much cheaper that is what I decided to do.

Once I had booked the bus it was time to catch the teleferico back to La Florida as I had arranged to meet Roberto at 7pm for dinner.  As I arrived early and it was raining I headed for a bar and waited for him to arrive.  The bar was completely empty as it seems that Bolivians tend to eat late and it is not unusual for them to head out for dinner at 10pm.

That evening we were also meeting Roberto’s brother, Lucho, for dinner but that was not until much later so after a couple of beers we made our way to the parc ferme area for the vehicles in the Dakar Rally to watch a few bands that were playing on a stage that had been set up. 

After 30 minutes of glamrock/heavy metal we headed for the restaurant and when we arrived  we were joined by one of the race teams from the Dakar Rally as they were old friends of Lucho’s.  Dinner that night was at a Peruvian restaurant and it was another great night eating fantastic food among brilliant company.

The following morning the coach left from the city centre at 7.30am and although Roberto had called a taxi to take me there it never turned up and so he dropped me off just in time to catch the bus.  This was my first bus ride on this journey and I shared the space with 34 backpackers. 

At the half way mark we all had to get off the coach as we had to cross over a 300m stretch of water and they loaded us onto small boats while the ferry was loaded onto a barge and taken across the span of water.

I can easily say that getting to Copocabana was certainly much faster by coach than by bike (it would have taken me the best part of two days as opposed to 5 hours by coach) but I would rather have been riding my bike as being on a bus flying at 100kmph is no way to see Bolivia. 

Once we arrived at Copocabana I had an hour wait to catch the ferry across to the island of Isla Del Sol.  I think that the town was beautiful at some point in the past as it is set in a lovely sandy bay but today it is very much a transport hub for people heading north to Peru and the hundreds of day trippers heading out onto Lake Titicaca. 

The town is wall to wall  of travel agents and the beautiful bay is full of hundreds of ferry boats waiting to take the tourists out onto the lake.


Again, I was so thankful that I had just booked a bus and a boat to the island rather than a whole overnight tour.   

At 1.30pm it was like somebody had fired a starter gun as all the tour boats started their engines and headed out into the lake.  

One of the problems of running engines at high altitudes is that their power output can be reduced by upto 40% and the engines on this boat were definitely at the upper end of reduced power.  Still, it gave me a chance to have a sleep as for the last two nights I think that I had only had 6 hours sleep.

There are two getting off points on the island – the village of Yumani in the south or Challapampa in the north.  I had opted for the southerly point as it was faster and this was where many of the traditional villages were located. 

I had not booked a hotel but when we arrived this was not an issue as there were lots of locals waiting to greet us.  One of the locals was an 11 year old called Rodriguez and I decided to let him be my guide to find a hotel room for the next couple of days. 

Rodriguez told me that the best views were from hostels on the top of the ridge line which ran along the centre of the island. (at least that is what I thought he said as he only spoke Spanish) This meant a 800m hike straight up the side of the hill from where the boat dropped me off and for the first time I could feel the effect of the high elevation. 

After only a few minutes of climbing I was really struggling for breath and I could feel my heart literally beating in my chest.  The 11 year old lad was running up the hill in front of me. To slow him down I gave him my bag to carry which certainly helped me to get to the top of the ridge line.

Later that evening I had a skype interview with a teacher recruitment agency for a job in August and so I needed to find a hotel with a wifi connecton.  This is easier said than done on an island in the middle of the Andes Mountains but my man Rodriguez knew a few places.

After about 20 minutes of climbing we had reached the ridgeline and the view over the water was pretty spectacular

Thankfully the ridgeline was flat which was a relief from the pain that I had been in on the way up the hill. Hopefully, a lack of sleep over the last few days had exacerbated my tiredness otherwise biking through Bolivia was going to be one hell of an ordeal.

Normally I avoid being taken to hotels by people as the rates can go up but as I had specific needs having Rodriguez guide me was a godsend and the first hostel that he took me to was a winner.

It may look a bit rickety but for 100 BOL it had wifi, private bathroom with hot water, a balcony, breakfast and la piece de la resitance was the view from my room.

 The sunset that night was beautiful as I sat sipping a beer on my terrace as I watched it set over the headland directly in front of me.  Another fantastic end to the day.

The only problem with being at 12000 ft is once the sun went down it was like being in the arctic as the temperature plummeted to close to freezing.  Instead of going out to paint the town red by 8pm I had put all of my clothes on and was lay in bed trying to stay warm.  To cap it off a storm was now raging outside and seemed to be blowing through the room as the workmanship on the doors and windows was not the best.  At least I wasn’t in my tent and instead I was tucked up in a nice warm bed.  It’s the little things that make such a difference.

After taking the skype call that I had needed wifi for it was gone midnight and that night I slept like a log and didn’t wake until gone 10am the next morning.  I went down to get breakfast and after being told that breakfast finished at 9 the owner took pity on me and shouted to the kitchen to make me some eggs and toast.  It seems that there is a definite lack of coffee in this country as everywhere seems to offer either tea bags or fresh tea leaves and this hostel was no different.

After a late breakfast it was now time to get on with the reason that I had come all the way north to Isla del Sol and that was to hike around the island. This is in the top 5 things to do in Bolivia and during the next 6 hours of hiking I can safely say that it did not disappoint.

The village of Yumani where I had slept the night is located at the south of the island and as I set off uphill north along the ridgeline I had a spectacular view of the village.

As there are no roads on the island a circular stone walking track connects the many villages and bays on the island.

It seemed that many of the day tourists get transported between the bays on the island by boat and so I had the track very much to myself and shared it only with the odd alpaca, donkey or pig

To make a living from tourists the villages charge an entry fee and you need to buy one ticket to hike the north of the island (15 BOL) and another to hike the South (10 BOL). 

At the entrance to the villages locals sit by the path selling the tickets or checking that you have already bought one.

You can walk the circular path around the island in either direction as it makes no real difference if you are doing the full loop.  The western path follows the ridge line which has spectacular views

While the eastern track follows the coastline and the path climbs between the numerous villages that are located along this side of the island.  As fishing is still one of the main sources of food on the island most of the inhabitants live within the bays on the east coast.

Life in the villages is pretty simple with the houses made out of mud bricks with straw or tin roofs.

Farming is the main industry and the majority of the locals are subsistence farmers

Pork seems to be part of the staple diet, not only on Isla Del Sol, but in Bolivia in general.  Each house on the island has a pig pen attached

And everywhere I went I saw pigs roaming around – on the beach, in the street, in the forest

I decided to follow the coastal route first as I thought that would be more interesting.  Each of the inhabited bays along the coast has a sandy beach.

The water in Lake Titicaca is clear and if it was a bit warmer I would have been tempted to dive in for a swim

After hiking over 3 bays I was crossing the fourth when one of the locals offered me a lift in his boat to the next village of Challapampa where I had planned to stop for lunch. 

As he was only going to charge me 5 BOL I decided to take him up on his offer and jumped aboard.

Lunch was pork steak and fried egg sandwiches washed down with a dreadful coffee that tasted more like dishwater than coffee. 

After lunch it was time to head up to the ridgeline to pick up the western track which would take me back south towards the village of Yumani where I was staying. 

Once I reached the ridge line the views across the island were pretty spectacular.

Lake Titicaca is split into two – the southern end is located in Bolivia while the northern end is located in Peru.  The view to the east was the snow lined mountains of Bolivia.

On the ridge line all signs of life vanished except for the odd derelict house that were dotted here and there.

After a couple of hours of hiking the ridge line I came across a shop and stopped for a rest and a snack – a beautifully ripe mango that tasted amazing

After sitting and enjoying the view it was only another 20 minutes hike back to the hostel where a cold beer and another beautiful sunset were waiting for me.

The next day it was time for me to leave the island and catch the bus back to La Paz. My ‘guide’ back down to where I would catch the boat was a lady who was taking her donkeys for a walk and the hostel owner had arranged for her to show me where to get the boat from.  

On the bus back to La Paz I met Pamela who runs her own tour business and had been visiting the island to learn more about it.

So if any of the above has tempted you to want to visit La Paz/Lake Titicaca/Bolivia then check out Pamela’s website www.shuttle-safe.com  and I am sure that she will make your visit even more memorable as she lives in La Paz with her family, speaks fluent english and is very proud to be from Bolivia.

Now that I was back in La Paz I had one more item to tick off my bucket list before I cycled south towards Chile – to ride the ‘Death Road’.  It is a 60km downhill ride that starts from at an altitude of 15,260 feet (Everest base camp is at 17,600 ft) and ends at 3,900 feet. With narrow passages, hairpin turns, no guardrails, deep cliff drop-offs, thick fog, waterfalls and their runoff, corroded ditches, rock falls and rain, it’s no wonder The Inter-American Development Bank dubbed it “the world’s most dangerous road.”

If I survive I will let you know how I get on with the rest of my ride south towards Chile in my next update.  It may be a while though as Bolivia is ranked as one of the poorest countries in South America and internet connectivity is sparse.

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Hola America Del Sur
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4 thoughts on “Hola America Del Sur

  • January 13, 2017 at 9:58 am
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    Looks and sounds good, Stewart! Can’t wait to go there!

    Reply
    • January 21, 2017 at 7:34 am
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      It is really an amazing place to cycle through and the people I meet are amazing. It looks like we may now be living in South America next year so come and stay!!!!

      Reply
  • January 11, 2017 at 2:00 pm
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    Slept a night at 4950m at a monastery 2 km from Everest Base Camp (on the Tibetan side) and I was afraid to fall asleep as my breathing was so ragged – I thought it would stop all together.

    Glad that you’re back on the wire. Chris

    Reply
    • January 21, 2017 at 7:35 am
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      I know what you mean about difficult to breath. The first few days of cycling at +4000 m really took it out of me.

      Reply

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