Oh the long and climbing (shit) road to Potosi....
Hi All,
Day 25:
Well I finally dragged myself away from Tonitos (after my second breakfast) andgot onthe road at 11am...I had been told by many local folks that the ride to Potosi was going to be tough. I thought I ride till 6pm (look for a safe place to stay) see how far I got and then ride the remainder in a day or 2.
The ride started with a long climb from 12,500ft to 14,000ft. My belly was full of good food and my legs still strong so it went pretty well.
I would stop and look back over the Salar and vow to return...again, an amazing place.
After about 18km I crested the climb and mistakenly entered an almost abandoned mining town (Pulacayo)....this place was spooky! I saw all of 2 people....one of whom was a crazy and drunk old ....he just keep screaming at imaginery people...very Stephen King feel tothe place. As soon as i realized my mistake I was outta there!
A deserted playground complete with vintage car???
Where old trains go to die!
The remainder of the day went well... a few more similar climbs but my legs and lungs did well.
The desert scenery is getting a bit tiresome :) but it still impresses me...I do wish for better roads....ass bruising ruts or and/or deep sand tends to wear down my morale but if it was easy everybody would ride... wouldn't they? ;)
Around 5pm/65km I entered a river valley that was almost green :) as I followedthe road downhill there was actually patches of water and a tree!....amazing!
Along with the water came a smallviliage. By now it was about 5:30pm...I´d rode a pretty tough 78km and decided to call it a day...it gets VERY cold at night and often extremely windy so I wanted 4 solid walls.
The villiage had a school so located the professor...with my limitedSpanish I asked him fora place to stay and I
made a small donatio to the school.
xHe led me to a small1 room hut that had a foam mat and an oil lantern...perfect! I set about cooking a meal and checking out the villiage.
Simple but it proved quite cosy :)
I met two young girls herding up Llamas just on nightfall...cute girls although that dog wanted a piece of me!
I got asked to dinner with the Professors family and thhought I'd contribute my food to the meal....I had a Mountain house mal (Pasta Permavera) anda some dehydrated mashed pototoes.
Day 26:
I woke early, around 6am...I had felt pretty sick during the night and had taken some flu medicine ...it got me some much needed sleep. I had some coffee and deep fied bread with the professor's family and was on my bike just after 7am...I had 130km to ride and thought I´d be able to knock that out in 12 hours....oh silly me! ;)
I´ll post somedetails and some pics when I feel up to it....I arrived a 9:30pm after pushing my bike up and down some huge hills in almost complete darkness. I was completely physially and mentally spent when I finally arrived in Potisi that I strugged to even eat...I found a hotel and forced myself to find food...I fiound a pizza place but could only eat 3 slices and drink a litrer of beer before struggling back to the hotel. I stopped and called my Mum to let her know I was safe but I was way too tired to chat.
This morning Iam feeling better but unsure about riding tomorrow... I had a big breakfast (4 eggs etc) and am off soon in search of a big lunch. I will do a mine tour....Potisi is a mining town and the local minors last about 15 years before dying of lung disease...conditions are attrochious....all this so we can buy our fancy copper cookware :(
I hope everybody is well!
Cheers,
Neal
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