Distance: 77.23 km
Ride time: 5:22:47
Average: 14.39 km/h
Altitude: 3631 m
Total: 27927 km
When I was cycling in Australia I remember thinking that after arriving in South America it would probably not be safe to camp anymore. Then, in Patagonia I was always wild camping, but I thought that when I came to the northern part of Argentina it would be too unsafe. Once I got there, I did of course continue to camp, but I thought that when I got to Bolivia I would have to stop. And now, here in Bolivia I continue to wild camp, feeling just as safe and comfortable as I did in Australia.
It’s a bit colder in the night though – still around -10 which means that my water bottles are always frozen in the morning. On the other hand the days already feel warmer than they did further south in Uyuni.
I had only cycled an hour when I had an early lunch in Quillacas. This village would mark another milestone, as this was where the dirt road ended and the asphalt started. The average speed promptly increased a couple of km/h – yet a steady head wind prevented it from going through the roof. I was still happy enough to make a steady progress to the north, something that hasn’t been happening a lot in Bolivia.
In the last 15 km of cycling the road got even bigger, and I passed a payment booth. There is still not a lot of traffic out here, so I can’t really imagine that the payments the few cars make is enough to pay the salary of the people working at the booth. Oh well, it’s all a sign that I’m getting closer to civilization.
In Challapata I found a nice and clean hostel for 50 bolivianos or 7 USD. I knew that if I looked around I would have been able to find a room for 30, but these days I seem to be willing to pay a few more dollars for a bit of comfort. The room even had cable TV, so I could watch the last updates from the world cup before going to sleep.
