After waiting for the bad weather front to pass through San Pedro de Atacama, we finally set off on Thursday. We didn’t get very far, though: our journey came to a halt at the customs checkpoint in San Pedro, since the Bolivians hadn’t yet opened the border due to the snow from the past few days. Shortly after 10 a.m., however, the border finally opened, and we set off. But we only made it about two kilometers before we were stopped again.

D The reason this time: First, all the waiting trucks had to get onto the road. That meant we had to wait yet again. We were starting to get a little nervous, since we had to cover about 2,200 meters of elevation gain in two days to reach the Bolivian border… Finally, around noon, we were allowed to set off after all. Unfortunately, we’d lost too much time, so with our fully loaded bikes (food for 10 days and water for 2 days), we only managed to climb just under 900 meters before we decided to set up camp. But the view was beautiful, at least.

The next day, we continued up the mountain. But we soon realized that the remaining 1,300 meters of elevation gain would simply be too much for that day. So we kept an eye out for a ride. The pickup trucks driving by, however, either ignored us or waved back friendly. We had almost given up when, luckily, a couple of tourists from Geneva agreed to give us a ride the 10 km to the pass summit at just over 4,600 meters.

We were very relieved. And so, that day, we managed to make it to Laguna Blanca after all—and thus to Bolivia.

We took a day off there to get used to the altitude again, since the next few days would all be above 4,000 meters. That day at the Refugio at Laguna Blanca, it also became clear to us that, unfortunately, we’d have to contend with the wind on this leg as well. It rattled the cabin all day long…

The next morning, we set off. And since this route is also very popular for jeep tours, here’s another photo of the two of us.

Even the stretch along Laguna Blanca was a challenge: a bumpy dirt road alternated with sandy sections. All of this was topped off with a nice headwind.

The trail got a little better, but the wind continued to blow. So we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached the next lagoon, Laguna Chalviri, that evening. But we were rewarded there with a hot spring, which we enjoyed together with the locals.

The next day, breakfast was already at 6:30 a.m. The man at the hostel said that was already too late. But we had the impression anyway that the wind was blowing practically all the time…

But we set off anyway, full of enthusiasm. And at first, we were still sheltered by the mountains.

Unfortunately, that changed shortly afterward as we began our climb. From then on, we faced a fierce headwind, and the only place we could find a bit of shelter for a break was behind a large rock.

We battled our way through veritable sandstorms during the final meters to our campsite at 4,950 meters near the Sol de Mañana geyser.

Our tent was then buffeted by the wind all night long, despite the “windbreak” provided by a ruin. Yeah, unfortunately, it wasn’t really fun anymore.

The sight of the bubbling mud pots and fumaroles made up for it somewhat.

But our batteries were already pretty low, and the road wasn’t getting any better.

So we finally decided to flag down a group of pickup truck drivers. They gave us a ride for a bit. We later realized, though, that this was on the easiest part of the day: the drive down to Laguna Colorada. But it was still better than nothing.

But the most challenging part of the day was still ahead of us: more than 10 km along the lagoon on a track with extreme undulations and very sandy terrain. For several kilometers, it was impossible to ride, and we had to push our bikes through the sand.

By the time we finally reached the refuge at Laguna Colorada, we were completely exhausted. So we didn’t have to discuss it for long: While the lagoon route is scenically beautiful, it was too much for us under these conditions. We therefore decided to end our Laguna Colorada adventure and look for a ride to Uyuni. Finding that ride, however, was anything but easy, since the few cars that pass through there are headed in a different direction.

And so we spent an entire day waiting. This gave me plenty of time to focus on my gasoline stove, which had also stopped working.

Unfortunately, this didn’t work out (maybe the gas we got in Argentina was just too low-quality).

We had almost given up hope that day when a last-minute opportunity arose: The director of the local national park was driving to Uyuni that evening with a few other people. And they still had room for two people (and, after a moment’s thought, for two bikes as well). And so, at times traveling at very high speeds, we practically flew over the gravel roads to Uyuni (almost 300 km) in just four hours. Susanna and I were both relieved when we arrived there in one piece that evening…

And so here we are in Uyuni, earlier than expected and with one more experience under our belts. The only thing left is our trip to the white Salar de Uyuni. We’ll probably make up for that in the next few days, now that we’re feeling a bit more motivated to get back on our bikes :-). Hopefully this time without a headwind…

Best regards from Uyuni (Bolivia),

Stefan and Susanna