VIA VIACHA
We spent two days in Oruro checking things out. Much like the other cities we visited our experience was generally based around the markets and downtown. The city of Oruro seemed to be one big market with people selling their wares left and right. The food was good and we encountered plenty of good people. We enjoyed the fact that there were fewer tourist there than in the previous cities. This of course would not be the case during carnaval, when Oruro becomes one of the top touristic attraction in Bolivia.
The road out of Oruro was flat and a four lane, divided highway. Not the most scenic route we've encountered but there was a large shoulder and most of the traffic moved over for us. We encountered our third touring cyclist on the road, a solo Brazilian female, quite bold she was. Despite the major highway we still managed to find a camp spot with relative ease. The next day was a nice gentle rise to the town of Patacamaya, a bustling city with heavy trucks, buses, and taxies. This was our junction; we planned to break away from the main route to La Paz and head to the Peruvian border at the town of Desaguadero. We asked a few locals and the strongly suggested we head to La Paz and from there grab the main highway to Desaguadero. We stubornly resisted their advice because we wanted to take back roads and cut across directly to the highway. After insisting we wanted back roads, they pointed in the direction we were heading. Slowly we started realizing we were not on the road we intended to be on, wrong cardinal direction and towns that were on a road south of our intended rout, nonetheless it appeared that it would get us in the right direction. Unfortunately, 30 Km down the road, we accepted the fact that the road was a major transport route to Chile, going in the wrong direction with heavy truck traffic and zero shoulder - unpleasant to say the least.
Resisting the fate of backtracking 30 Km, we tried to take back roads north towards our desired highway. As we road, a huge thunder storm rolled towards us. We were atop bare mountains, drenched in cold rain and lighting striking near us. As we encountered locals and asked for some bearings, they all pointed in different directions while looking at us like we were insane. As the storm intensified, our feelings of safety dissipated and feelings of cold penetrated deep. Finally, we gave up and back tracked…a rough day and 60+ Km in vain. We treated our frozen toes to a cheep hostel that night. The next day we continued on the mission towards Desaguadero, hitting dirt roads mid morning. The road off of the main highway, headed towards Viacha had huge potholes. When the rain hit us again things got sticky due to the clay content in the soil. We dealt with a flat tire right as the eye of the storm blew over us.
While I stocked up on H2O in the town of Viacha, Aaron had the most amusing encounter with an elegant cholita. She was very excited about our trip, and was talking his ear off when I cam back with the water. She shared some stories with us and as we go ready to leave Aaron gave her a kiss on the cheek as a good bye. What happened next I will never forget. The cholita squealed like a school girl having been looked at by her forbidden crush. I take it, it was her first time to be kissed by a man with a beard. Ha! Still cracks me up, just thinking about it. From Viacha we headed towards Laja (it is crazy to think this small unimpressive town is the the place where the city of La Paz was first founded).
Leaving Viacha the road was terrible, 6" of liquid mud atop a hard surface made it ridable. Unfortunately, we had bike problems. Aaron's front rack broke in between Viacha and Laja. Zip ties made it temporarily functional but the solution surly would not last for long. We decided that instead of heading for the border town of Desaguadero, that we should enter the capital city of La Paz in search of a solution for the broken rack. After a few disappointing days of seeking a new rack, which evidently does not exist in La Paz, we found an aluminum welder that was able to repair the rack and get us on our way north to Peru.
