Salty Salt — OWN THE UNKNOWN

After being in the wilderness of Bolivia for over a week we took a few days off in the small city of Uyuni to take advantage of luxuries such as hot showers, restaurants and fresh fruits and veggies. Uyuni is full of tourists due to its proximity to Bolivia's famous salt flat and we welcomed the chance to take advantage of the strange plethora of pizza restaurants that actually served decent pizza. Our favorite hangout became a pizza joint owned by an American that had a delicious salad bar free with your pizza order. We stocked up on as much salad as possible to ward off any onset of scurvy we may have had coming our way. Our second favorite meal became llama steak served with salad, rice and French fries.

Stocking up on fresh veggies courtesy of the free salad bar

The only downside to Uyuni was the bone chilling cold that lingered while we were there. As virtually no buildings are heated it made it necessary to wear our jackets even indoors.

Any visit to Uyuni requires a visit to the nearby train cemetery. A strange graveyard of trains that were abandoned when the mining industry in Bolivia collapsed in the 1940s.

Stocking up on our staples for surviving in Bolivia: pasta, oatmeal and toilet paper

After stocking up on food supplies and stuffing as much food as we could into our bodies it was time to say goodbye to city life and head out for a completely new experience, riding on a massive salt lake.

On the ride out of Uyuni we got to experience one of the greatest joys of cycle touring, getting to ride on a brand new paved highway not yet open to vehicle traffic. While the vehicles drove on a terrible dirt road we enjoyed our smooth wide ride.

Before we knew it we had entered a completely different world. A white flat expanse of salt in every direction as far as the eye could see. If you want to feel like an insignificant speck upon the earth I recommend a trip to the Salar de Uyuni on a bicycle. With nothing on the horizon to help you reference how far you have gone time warps in strange ways and 5 minutes of cycling can feel like an hour. It was disconcerting to be cycling for hours on end with no way of knowing we were going in the right direction except by checking our GPS occasionally to make sure we were still on track.

As we followed the "road" towards a small rock island and our planned home for the night two specks appeared on the horizon and eventually we met our first pair of other touring cyclists, a couple from Spain headed in the opposite direction. A strange, but welcome meeting in the literal middle of nowhere. It was nice to have the assurance we were on the right track. We shared our accounts of what was in store in each direction before saying goodbye and heading back into the nothingness.

Exciting to see some fellow cyclists in the middle of the salt

In the late afternoon after battling the head winds and the strange thoughts that the desolateness brings about we arrived at Isla Incahuasi. We could see the island in the distance 30km before we reached it shores. Unsettling to be able to see your destination for so long. It felt like we were never getting any closer. Isla Incahuasi is a strange rocky outcropping full of jurrasic sized cactuses. The island attracts the hordes of tourist jeeps and it was strange to spend the day feeling utterly alone only to arrive to a parking area filled with over 20 jeeps. The greatest thing about the island is that all the tourist jeeps left by 5pm leaving us with an absolutely silent private camping spot.

We experienced a truly magical evening as the sun began to set on the empty surroundings. It made our mentally exhausting day of cycling seem completely insignificant compared to the immense beauty surrounding us.

Freewheeling while the sun begins to set

We set off the next morning for another day on the salt. Little did we know that the salt had more surprises in store for us as we headed back towards land.

The salt conditions changed as we ventured off the road. We passed through bumpy sections of strange salt formations and got our feet wet passing through flooded sections.

As we neared land and the massive volcano that had been our landmark all day the salt turned into a soggy mud flat and we slogged our way towards solid land and a dirt road.

We faced more tough road conditions as we made our way towards the nearest town with a hotel. Passing through quinoa fields and a gentle valley as we reacquainted ourselves with riding on land again.

After checking into one of the least friendly hotels imaginable we were excited to walk around the plaza in front of the hotel. It was full of various market stalls and the first trees we had seen in months. The next morning as we hauled our bikes out onto the street to get ready to leave we were greeted with a very busy market scene. Ty made an old lady angry by leaning his bike on the wall behind her little drink stall while he was trying to get packed up, but there was no where else for us to go.

Before and after: My very dirty bike gets a salt coating

Decided to take some of the salt with me as a souvenir

The plaza outside our hotel and Ty just before he was put in his place by an old lady

We left for our final day riding on gravel roads, well at least for a bit. The country became flat with large hills looming in the distance. More partially finished asphalt roads meant more smooth riding minus traffic.

Road all to ourselves again just have to push around the occasional road block

Yet another lunch of bread and sardines in tomato sauce. Often the only thing we can find in the tiny village stores we pass through

Our first paved road in weeks finally made it to the highway

In the next town we reached we asked every person we saw about a place to stay. After riding around to three different places that were all shut we had to admit defeat and headed out of town worried about where we could hide our tent for the night. Fortunately we found the perfect spot completely hidden from the nearby road

Awesome campsite and post ride stretching

The next few days passed by in a bit of a blur. Riding along paved highway with a wide shoulder until we reached our first actual city, Oruro.

Finally found a stream to wash the salt off our bikes in

Sampling some street food. Random animal parts and potatoes.

Sometimes you have to make your own kitchen facilities

Riding into Oruro was a bit hectic with lots of buses and vans to contend with.

Train runs right through the middle of town

In Oruro we had fun wandering around the many markets and sampling pizza topped with llama jerkey and local peppers.

More pizza, this time with a local twist

From Oruro we opted to take a van for the remaining 230km to reach La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia. La Paz is like no other city I have ever seen. At an altitude of 3600m the buildings cling to narrow valley sides. Every square inch of usable land seems to be occupied. A crazy network of steep streets, strange mix of buildings and street stalls everywhere. We sampled lots of street food and were very excited to visit an actual supermarket to replenish our supply of gummy candies.

After a few days off in La Paz we are now ready to hop back on the bikes and head to Lake Titicaca and then into Peru.