Cuzco, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia

for more pictures of the last days in Peru and Lake Titicaca click here

We left Calca after a nice pancake breakfast with Andreas and goodbyes to our new friends. The road was flat, the sun was shining, we were clean and rested, we would be on paved roads for the next few weeks, and we felt good. It was great to get back on the bikes again after such a nice break and we were excited for new adventures. We had only one last climb over two days to a pass of 4300m/12,900ft before we would reach the Altiplano – the high Andean plains stretching from southern Peru to Bolivia and northern Chile. We would still be at or above 3700m/11,100ft for the next 800km/~500miles or so but it would be mostly totally flat. Although the ascent was extremely gradual and we were rested and eager to be moving again we felt slow – it seems that after breaks of longer than 4 days your butt forgets about the bike saddle and you have to spend a few days breaking it in again.

We had noticed that with the exception of a few days, during our nearly two months in Peru we had traveled with other cyclists we met along the way – a much different way of traveling for us than the previous 7 months of cycling pretty much by ourselves. It had been nice and fun, but now we were also enjoying being the two of us again. That changed the 2nd day out of Calca – we stopped for the night to camp at some hot springs along the highway and met a French couple traveling on recumbent bikes who were also heading towards Bolivia. We rode together the following day, enjoyed each others company and so happily accepted that Peru would be a group-cycling experience for us. And it is for the better because with Peru's steep and constant climbs it feels much easier in a group to tackle and get over these mountains. And after the initial confusion mixing up French and Spanish, Kat was happy to know she hadn't forgotten all her “francais” 1.5 years after leaving Africa!

Once over the pass into the Altiplano the scenery changed incredibly. We felt open and free in these high plains, the riding was easy, the weather was nice and we were happy. The Altiplano is a special place. There is this feeling of loneliness, of a land without boundaries, of wide open spaces in this general scarcity and barrenness without trees. It reminded Swen a lot of the Tibetan plains he had cycled through many years ago. We marveled at large flocks of pink flamingos along the high altitude marshes and lakes.

We visited ancient pre-Incan and Incan burial towers made of large stones on a little peninsula in a lake off the road. The Incas frequently adopted the beliefs and traditions of the people they conquered, and continued them in their own way. A stark contrast to the destruction of the Spanish conquerors. Finally we made it to Puno, and had our first glimpses of Lake Titicaca – a massive body of water 230km long and 100km wide (130x60 miles) at 3800m/11,400 ft altitude!

From a small city on the coast we took together with our French friends Chloë & Nicolas a very slow boat the 35km over calm blue waters to Amantani Island – no electricity or running water, no cars or motorbikes, we only saw one bicycle on this island with no roads only stone-paved walkways.

Along the way we stopped briefly at the famous “floating islands” - Aymara speaking natives created these islands out of reeds that are tied together really tight, and then fixed with rope anchors to the ground of the lake floor. Some little huts they live in are made out of reeds as well, and the boats and firewood are reeds as well. They seem to use reeds for everything, they even eat it and called it the “Lake Titicaca Banana”! Today these islands are mainly a tourist attraction, but it was still very interesting to see how these people really still live on these floating islands that can be moved around the lake with wind and water currents.

We stayed 2 days on the non-floating island of Amantani with a family recommended by Andreas to relax and experience the Quechua island life. It was beautiful and calm, the only nuisance was that whatever intestinal bugs Kat had before came back again for what seemed like the 10th time in two months.

Returning to mainland, the 4 of us shared a room at the hotel where we had stored our bikes the past few days and prepared for the 4 day ride through Copacabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca to La Paz. Unfortunately Swen's intestinal bugs came back as well and so the two of us were in bed most of the afternoon, hoping to be able to head off the next morning.

Luckily that was possible, and so the 4 of us were cruising next morning at high speed in a Tour-de-France like racing line over the flats over the Altiplano. Our last night in Peru after nearly 2 months in this mountainous country we camped on the shore of the Titicaca lake, with great views of the Cordillera Central of the Andes on the other side of the lake in Bolivia, with lots of snow on it. We woke up to perfect sunshine on the shore, had a nice breakfast, and headed off towards the border to Bolivia.

The border formalities were quick and easy, but the $135 visa Kat had to buy made a big dent in our monthly travel budget (only Americans are charged that much, in revenge against US border formalities towards Bolivians). In the small beach town of Copacabana just after the border we stopped for a fried trout lunch, then had to climb over the mountains of a big peninsula in the lake towards the ferry to mainland Bolivia.

It got late that night on the climb, and we had a very hard time finding a camp-spot. It was all just open grasslands, and mostly quite steep terrain. The few flat spots were all very visible from the road, and we don't like camping somewhere were we can be seen from the road. So we headed on and on, starting to get tired and frustrated of not finding a spot to camp, thinking of having to ride in the dark till the next village with a hostel. We disregarded camp-spot after camp-spot as none of them were ideal, and pushed on till the start of dusk, when finally we found a small dirt road leading off to the left onto a ridge. There we could camp, as we were far enough off the main road, and had a great view with the lake to both sides of the ridge. We fell to bed without a proper dinner that night, being too tired to cook...

Early the next morning we reached the ferry at the narrowest spot of the Lake Titicaca, only 600m wide here, and crossed on an old wooden boat just big enough for the bus that was with us on it to mainland Bolivia. We continued following the lake shore, the sun was nice and warm, very nice riding.

It took us another 1 ½ days to get to La Paz, the crazy capital of Bolivia nestled in a steep gorge that cuts abruptly through the plains of the surrounding Altiplano. Already on the plains we had to head through kilometers of ugly suburbs, till reaching the sudden drop-off to the city with some crazy views of crowded city center and snowy mountains surrounding it.

We are housed here in La Paz in another Casa de Ciclistas, we have met our old cycling companion Max from Austria again, we cook lots of good food with Chloë & Nicolas (they make great crepes) and have hour-long breakfasts to put on some extra kilos (Swen is 4 kg down for the first time in 15 years!!! He was shocked about it. Kat on the other hand...).

La Paz is a bustling, busy town with street markets all over, a big shaman market where lots of Llama fetuses are sold (you have to bury one under the first stone of the house you build for good luck), abounding artesania shops all over, and a modern banking and shopping district. We enjoy the rest, the city, strolling around and getting sucked into the bustling street life. In 2 days we plan to get back on the bikes and head towards the small town of Pucara, where Kat lived 8 years ago.