Mimi in icy hights

So, now Bolivia. The border crossing near Copacabana was very quiet again. There was only a discussion of the visa duration. By default, you got 30 days at the border, which could extend later to 90 days. It was like on the Turkish bazaar and I agreed with the border guards ultimately to 60 days, because I was traveling by bike. Copacabana was a famous town also for the Bolivian tourists. Many locals visiting the neighboring islands such as ‘ Isla de Sol ‘ or ‘ Isla de Luna ‘ in the Lake Titicaca. So it was touristy… Interesting: I met backpackers from the past.

With backpack and tent packed for two days, I made a trip to the ‘ Isla del Sol’, strolled along the island and visited the ancient Inca ruins. Here the locals spoke much more often Aymara instead of Quechua. As you cross the island you had to pay for each community a donation. But I was a early bird and the islanders were still asleep so I saved my payment, . Overall, the trip was worth it, especially the northern part of the island is not as crowded and really scenic.

The trip to La Paz was only beginning at Lake Titicaca along nice to look at. I crossed the lake at the closest point in Tiquina on a small ferry. After that I cycled only through desolated villages and finally via the poor part El Alto to La Paz. Very dusty, headwind and with heavy truck traffic. Sooting trucks. Was oxygen on the Altiplano with 4000m anyway in short supply, so this was still taken by the overtaking polluters.

Arriving at the outskirts of El Alto, it went downhill in the capital of Bolivia. An impressive sight, the big city nestled in a large valley surrounded by white giants. Cycling was just cruel here. The steep and narrow streets, the traffic abnormal and in the city with insane crowds. The first hotels didn’t want to host me (because of the bike?!) , so I cycled through the city full of one-way streets and ended up in a classic backpacker hostel full of half-grown, party -giving Americans. After a night in a 16 Dorm I ended up finally at Cristian – again a ‘Casa de cyclista’.

After a lots of miles on the handlebar bag dangling Mimi has had quite a bit seen this time. It was time for a change, she climbed on the backpack hanging their first 6000m mountain. The house-mountain of La Laz, Huayna Potosi. A relatively ‘simple’ climb. The ascent may be made only with a guide. Thus, the equipment was tested on the first day, the next day we went to the base camp at 5300m. At night to 1 clock in the morning we start to climb the summit. On the nocturnal ascent, the view was still clear. A great night sky with an insane view of the underlying sea o lights from La Paz! Just in time for sunrise and the arrival at the summit it drew closer and the view was not more than 20m. Overall, very sad – but we were on top!

At the other two days in La Paz, I had the opportunity with other cyclists from the ‘Casa ‘ to help our host Cristian. In the somewhat abstruse idea we could convert an existing downhill race track to a national one. But we only shake our heads. ‘ Armed ‘ only with pimples, this will not work. To help on a car race on the Altiplano, however  was far more meaningful and interesting. So we took the times for the cars. But we realized that the whole organization and technology but was still very ancient. With some electronics it could be a lot easier and much more accurate. So we counted the rounds by hand and the times were taken with a stop watch. Very old school…

With the Dutch duo Maarten and Hans I went further south. Due to the salt lakes between Bolivia and Chile.