Scarcity

September 26th 2024 – Tupiza, Bolivia

Downtime in Sucre turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. We couldn’t have picked a better time and place for a break. The apartment was super nice, the weather pleasant, the city charming and the locals likewise.

We stayed on Cerro Churuquella at the edge of the oldest neighborhood with a panoramic view of the whole city. It was worth the steep walk uphill every time we returned from shopping, restaurant visits, the gym or other errands downtown. We could have taken a taxi for $1 but the exercise was good for us and we had several scenic routes to choose between.

Our first weekend in town was strongly flavored by an event called “Virgen de Guadalupe”. The highlight was a Saturday parade that started 9 in the morning and continued non stop until 7 in the evening. Groups of people singing and dancing, accompanied by their own band, followed a route through the city to the central square. There were thousands of people involved. Aside from the parade there were all kinds of events and concerts throughout the weekend.
A visit to the General Cemetery provided a peaceful interlude from the festivities.

Our house was located right where the pilgrim route to Cristo Del Sagrado Corazón exits the city and climb Cerro Churuquella. One day we followed the stairs to the top of the hill. It was a nice walk.

Sucre was founded in 1538 and became the first capital of Bolivia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic center covers around 4 km². It is well preserved and very picturesque but at the same time a vibrant and bustling city.

Thursday night, a week into our stay, we walked down to a cafe at the local square, Plaza Pedro de Anzúrez, to have a cup of coffee and watch the sunset. The tranquility was broken by the sound of high performance car engines. It turned out to be the opening night of the biggest national rally racing event “Rally Sucre Capital”. All cars and drivers were present at the plaza. There was a great atmosphere. When one of the drivers showed me a map of the following day’s special stages and a time table it dawned on me that we wouldn’t be able to leave the city Sunday as planned. The one road that headed in the right direction would be closed from 4.30 in the morning and until sometime mid afternoon. We decided to postpone our departure until Monday and use the opportunity to watch some of the racing.

Both Katrine and I had enjoyed our time in the city but I’m easily bored and routine makes me restless. I had been ready to hit the road for a couple of days when we finally did. We left town early Monday morning. It felt good to be on the move again.

We passed through Potosi around noon. The town was one big traffic jam. The main reason was huge lines at the gas stations. The lines meandered through town and more or less blocked the roads. There is a shortage of fuel (especially diesel) in Bolivia and long lines at the gas stations are not uncommon. Sometimes people wait in line for days to get fuel. The main reason for the shortage is that Bolivia is unable to purchase and import sufficient fuel for its needs due to a shortage of US dollars. Much of its dwindling foreign reserves are spent on fuel subsidies. It seems pretty stupid to me, to subsidize the fuel when the result is that people can’t get any… I find it very reasonable though that foreigners have to pay the full price for fuel – why should the relatively poor Bolivians financially support foreign travelers? (I know that I fucked up on that account earlier before I figured out how the system works).

Kat and I performed some moto-parkour and made it through Potosi without much delay.
Once out of town we made good time across the Altiplano all the way to Uyuni.
The one gas station in town selling fuel to foreigners was our first chance to refuel since we left Sucre in the morning. 360 km between fuel stops is fortunately not an issue on the Hondas.

With full tanks we checked into a hotel on the edge of town. Uyuni feels like an old school frontier town. Most streets are not surfaced. There is dust everywhere. There is a charm to that. The town was founded in 1890 as a trading post. Nowadays it primarily serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the nearby Salar de Uyuni.
There is a small downtown area where the majority of the tourists hang out and everything is ridiculously overpriced compared to the rest of the town.

After a good night’s sleep it was time to have a look at the world’s largest salt flats.
We left the main road 20 kilometers north of town. Another 7 km on dirt roads took us to the edge of the Salar. It was a special feeling when the dirt turned to salt.
Salar de Uyuni is a few meters of salt crust covering a pool of brine. It’s located 3,656 m (11,995 ft) above sea level and covers 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). The salt crust has an extraordinary flatness. The elevation variation is within one meter over the entire area of the Salar.

First stop was the Dakar monument. We had arrived early so we had it all to ourselves.
Then we set a northwestern course and continued until we reached an area with no trace of humans. It was an extraordinary experience.

Eventually we left the Salar and headed back towards Uyuni. We passed through town and visited the Train Cemetery.

We had done close to 100 km since breakfast and decided to top off the bikes. There was a long line of cars when we got to the gas station. We rode to the front to see what was going on. The station was out of fuel but the fuel truck had just arrived and they should be up and running in about 15 minutes. Kat and I spent the time chatting with the attendants. When the pumps reopened they served us first.
Even though the bikes showed surprisingly little sign of having been out on the salt flats I would like to have them washed before returning to the hotel. I had learned that most of the car washes in Uyuni reuse the water. I didn’t like the idea of my bike being hosed down with saline. By asking around I found a small one man business that only used fresh water. He initially asked for 40 BOB per bike. I offered him 20 which he immediately accepted.
Back at the hotel I used the opportunity to go over the bikes and lube everything.
In the evening we had one of the best dinners in a long time. The place only served skewers with different kinds of grilled meat accompanied by roasted potatoes, rice porridge and salad ad libitum. Simple but delicious food!

It always gets cold at night in Uyuni and there was still a chill in the air when we left town in the morning.
With Uyuni disappearing in the mirrors we continued our journey across the Altiplano.

The terrain became more undulating and the roads curvy as we climbed above 4.000 meters (13.000 feet) and entered Sud Chichas Province. There was evidence of mining activities, both current and past, on several locations along the road. This is also the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are said to have been killed in a shootout a few days after they robbed a courier carrying the payroll for the Aramayo Franke and Cia Silver Mine on November 3, 1908, near the small mining town of San Vicente.

It was still early afternoon when we arrived in Tupiza, the seat of the province. First order of business was to refuel the bikes. It took 3 tries before we found a gas station that could accommodate our needs. With that out of the way we went to the hotel in town where I had booked a room for the night. The place turned out to be a proper oasis. We decided to stay an extra night. That would allow us time to do laundry, visit the gym and for me to update my travelogue.