April 5, 2000
Day 166 Road to La Paz: A margarita day
We get up early, ready to sneak by the blockade.
But there are a lot of people still / already on the road and the blockades on both sides of the town have grown considerably. Over a stretch of a hundred meters the road is littered with rocks big and small. Through the town they have even dragged old, rusted car bodies onto the pavement and burned some old tires. We “buen dia” ourselves past all this and head for Sica Sica, the largest town on this stretch.
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Just before we get there a large convoy of trucks accompanied by military vehicles passes us going south. Very few cars pass us going north all day. We expect something major in Sica Sica, but except for a toll station nothing is blocking traffic or looks like it did. There are very few people on the streets.
The road is fairly flat, except for the rocks that seem to have appeared on the road wherever there is a house nearby, we keep up a good pace. When we get to the town we had planned to stay at, there is a major crowd on the road. We get by that, a lit bit scary, and stop at the gas station. No hotel in town, but its early enough to go on to the next. None there either, it is starting to look like we better go on to La Paz today.
We can see the suburbs on the Altiplano from a long distance away. But the road starts to rise and drop through several valleys before we finally reach El Alto. A sad, dusty collection of adobe and concrete boxes, stretching out far more than ten km’s. Looks like they are selling square lots of desert here in large subdivisions. People buy a lot and start by making adobe brick and putting up a wall around their property. No roads or anything. Looks a bit like a chess board.
We have to stop in El Alto for chicken, fries and coke. Traffic gets crazy, lots of trufi’s, mini-busses loaded with people. Then, all of a sudden the earth seems to be split, and spilling over the edge and down into the valley is La Paz. The road turns into a toll interstate. We ignore the “no bicycles” sign and cruise the final 10 km to the city center.
Of course to get to the hotel we were recommended by the Danish couple on our Uyuni trip, we have to go steeply uphill. Traffic is chaos, taxis and trufi’s fighting three abreast through narrow streets. The sidewalks are occupied by all kinds of stalls or squatting people selling stuff. Pedestrians therefore also use the street.
We find Hotel La Hoja and take a nice room with a large bed and nice bathroom on the third floor. There is a message from Maria and Jesper. They will be here also today, back from a trip to Coraico. We take a nice shower and then go in search of the Mexican restaurant recommended in our guide book. It was the thought of two margarita’s that got Rachel this far today. We did more than 140 km’s! The food is good. Afterwards we walk along the main road, “Prado” and find and internet place to check our email. A taxi gets us back up the hill to our hotel.
Today's ride: 140 km (87 miles)
Total: 5,639 km (3,502 miles)
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