FindingNedo: Trip Across America

Hi guys,

Just a quick update from the roadtrip i undertook earlier this week to come with the pictures i uploaded this morning. I ve already left Vegas and am well on my way through the amazing parks of Utah…by bike this time. I m staying on a nice campground in pretty high elevation and will keep this post short not to freeze my fingers off while typing J

Well arriving in Vegas that early thursday afternoon i mainly just relaxed  in the hostel talking to people, later i  joined Bettina, a traveller from austria for a nice day in the pool of one of the nearby luxury hotels. She invited me to join her to the Valley of fire the next day, just 55 miles from the City. We had an amazing afternoon seeing the sun seeming to set the red rocks on fire while it set.

Back home in Vegas i rented a car myself, not as luxurious as the one Bettina drives but surely cheap. I invited a japaneese fellow to join me for the trip and was looking forward to his company for the next couple of miles on the road.

I got up early that Monday morning and picked up our little ford fiesta at the airport and off we took. I biked through Zion National Park today and that s where our first stop would be that day. It was very hot when we arrived there in the afternoon and we took our time before we started our hike up one of the many trails.

Angels Landing our hike was called, supposingly the toughest hike in the park. It wasn t that tough and we soon found ourselves sitting on top of the mountain (with angels) overlooking the whole canyon. On the way down we met Ross, one of the park rangers and joined him to the top again, when he told me that we d have the parks best sunset from up there. It had been a long day but i slept terrible in the car…it was just to warm and just too small of a car to get comfortable. Anyway we knew the next day would be a long one and went to sleep rather early.

We decided to see Bryce Canyon, about 130 km away by sunrise so we got up a 4:30 and drove off. It sure was worth it. Bryce Canyon really impressed me. The shapes of the towers were breathtaking. After a good morning coffee we got back in our car and drove to the Grand Canyon North Rim. I have to say i didn t expect it to be that great and various. There were three different lookouts within 20 miles which all gave us a different perspective of the hole J We spend a couple of hours there and we pretty much ran out of time. We still had a long way to go as my travel companion really wanted to see the Sedona National Park the next day. So we drove all the way to Flagstaff not very far from the south rim of the canyon. Well that just about took us five hours!!!… just to give you an idea how big that thing is. We stopped on one of the parkings in the city, it being way after the sun had set, cooked ourselves some nice dinner and fell asleep in no time. When you re that tired i can almost sleep well anywhere and i did.

I didn t really know what i was up for today as i hadn t done any research on Sedona. Takesh, my japaneese fellow s english is really poor and i guess we misunderstood each other a couple of times. We worked it out somehow though but it surely was a little frustrating at times. I thought he had the day planned out but he didn t seem to know where we were driving neither. Anyway, we visited some old ancient ruins close to the city of Sedona, which i don t really think was a National Park.

All after all it sure wasn t a waste of time and partly pretty impressive as well. By one of the lakes i even spotted my first alive snake of this trip. It crawled right across the path and made me jump half a meter into the air. From the  Green Valley Lake it was about a 5 hour drive back to Vegas through the Arizona desert. We were both to tired to stop at the Hoover Dam and returned the car again at the airport after a drive through the maze of highways in Vegas.

Back in the hostel i prepared for my leaving the next day and went straight to bed. I ve been on the road for three days know and i m feeling great. It s so amazingly beautiful and i meet so nice people every day. I can t put it in words how i feel…i ve been invited several times for dinner and conversation just comes so naturally. People here make me feel right at home and so does the scenary.

In my next post i ll give you some more details of my wonderful experiences from my bike trip out of Vegas and through Utah. I guess i ll be in Grand Junction, Colorado in week or so from where i ll give you another update.

Until then i wish you all the best. Hopefully the danish weather gives you some good time.

Cheers, Nedo

Hello everyone,

Greetings from fabulous Las Vegas. The city of sin and no limits. I arrived here yesterday after 9 days of riding from San Francisco. The 1200 km took me down the coast to about 300 km before Los Angeles. From there i faced my actual destination of the bike trip, east towards New York. Soon after leaving the Pacific with it s cool winds the envirorment changed rapidly into desert. During my first days of riding through this wonderful country i ve met many very nice people. These people make me feel at home and California one of the best places i ve rode through so far. I want to thank you all for that.

Well i left San Francisco that thursday morning with a strange feeling to my stomach. Over 6000 km ahead, many impressions to come. I rode straight to the coast and faced a head wind, rain and a lot of up and down. The weather wasn´t as you´d expect it in California. I stopped in this little surfing town where i camped on the beach. While I was setting my tent I met a nice couple from the area who I spend a warm evening with. Thank you for that.

Riding out of Davenport that morning I could feel that the wind had changed direction and so had the weather. I flew into Santa Cruz where a journalist stopped me and interviewed me. On my previous trips I had never been interviewed before…a new feeling. The reporter ensured me it would be online in a couple of days (www.register-parajovian.com). I was doing well on the bike that day and soon entered the Big Sur National Park. Highway 1 climbs and drops a lot here with cliffs falling right into the sea. I camped on the private property belonging to some people from Santa Barbara after asking of course. It´s forbidden to camp wild in national parks and there was another 40 km to the next camp ground. Actually i ve only stayed on an official campground once on my trip so far with no view at all in comparison to my wild camps. Anyway, I had a fantastic view from my camp and a good night.

Big Sur riding. When i get a family some day, we´ll have to do this (by car or RV;-) What a great area, tough riding with flat parts being seldom but the views made me forget all the pain.  I camped on a camping area on the south end of the park surely feeling my knees from a hard days ride.

I felt a little sorry to leave the coast today but going towards the monster city LA wasn t really what I would have enjoyed and south is not really in the direction of  NYC neither. The coastal mountains gave me quite a challenge and so did the temperature rise just about 30 km after the coast. The area became very dry and it took me the whole day getting used to the dramatic climate change. I stopped early and  camped right outside a truckers stop where the cook gave me a dinner i couldn t finish…and that takes some cooking, i can tell you that, especially when i ride.

The next bigger town, Bakersfield was about 85 miles away and i set it to be my goal for the day. The day consisted of alot of head-down-riding but was sure beautiful as well. I made good progress today, having good legs from the couple of hours of extra recovery yesterday. The heat didn t bother me as much today but coming into Bakerfield with 135 km on my shoulder i just wanted to find a place to set my tent and go to sleep. I couldn t find anything and the RV-camps wouldn t let me set a tent. While i was talking to some high school kids in a park they introduced me to their teacher Steven, who I rode home with. Things just seem to work out…when need them to. I camped in his garden and had dinner with his nice family. I want to thank the Duerr family for a wonderful evening.

I left together with Steven early that morning and he showed me the way out of the city. Ahead of me was now a mountain range to climb over before I really entered the Mojave desert. The heat and the partly steep climb gave made me something to sweat for until the town of Tehachapi in an altitude of 1300m (4000ft). It was cooler up here, all downhill and the wind was strongly behind me so i decided to proceed to Mojave (little town) where i stayed in a cheap motel with a comforatable bed.

Leaving early making sure to make it to Barstow before the afternoon heat the wind kept pushing me over the desert highway. I was a bit slow anyway and with me getting close to the town the asphalt got so hot i was afraid my tires would explode. Anyway i made it in time to an Indian ran motel and had myself an relaxing afternoon.

From here it was about 240 km to go to Vegas. Knowing i wouldn t be able to ride from 12-16 in the afternoons i left at half past six and made good progress with the wind behind me, again. Arriving in Baker at 12 with the heat baking i was considering to stay for the night, also because the coming 25 km would be uphill. I recovered well in the various fast food restaurants talking to people just killing time. At 1630 i decided to go for it anyway as i didn t like it very much in Baker and it would give me an easier day to Vegas the upcoming day. I loaded the bike with water and prepared to camp wild in the desert. Half way up the hill i realized i would be able to make it to the rest stop 40 km from Baker. I did it and arrived just before the sun set. I was a bit nervous not to make it before dark and didn t take as many pictures as i properly should have…well i took some at least, but i really didn t want to ride that highway by night. The rest stop attendants had seen me on the road when they passed me and gave me some snacks, coke and a nice place to sleep…the handicap toilet. It was spacious and not even smelly with a lock on it. But the night wasn t the best one with truckers and kids pulling on the door now and then wondering that it was locked J

The ride into Vegas the next day went smoothly. Already from far i could recognize the state line on deserty horizont  with an assembly of some enormous casinos just on the border. Leaving the highway 20 km before downtown, Las Vegas Boulevard took me right into the heart of Sin City. The Strip as the Boulevard is called downtown really impressed me. The huge casinos, some the size of approxemately 5-6 times townhall Copenhagen really impressed me. Everyone has a different theme ranging from Paris to Peter Pans treasure island. Quite a contrast to see that just coming from the desert.

Well now i m Las Vegas chilling out for a couple of days, but actually feel very fit already today. With the Grand Canyon and some other nice attractions just being around the corner i ve rented a car for three days next week and will make a little road trip with a japaneese fellow from the hostel. I m sure looking forward to that and will feed you with some hopefully nice pictures when i get back wednesday night. Thursday or Friday then my plan is to head out for the next section of riding out of Nevada and into the National Parks of Utah entering Colorado.

I wish you all the best and may your dreams come true…. make your dreams come true.

Love yawl,

Nedo

Hi dear friends,

It s been almost a year since my last post from Peru. I didn t  honestly have the motivation to write anything down during the last 3 month of my bike trip. I felt alot of sadness due to a family tragedy, selfpitty and frustration because my lime desease made me  have to turn back to Denmark for surgery and give up my plans to ride to Miami. But already back in Ecuador i made the choice for myself not to make myself and my surroundings miserable. I honestly feel in peace with myself today.

Well, i m writing to you from San Francisco now, from where i ll start my bike trip across the states tomorrow. After having worked i Denmark for a couple of month and gotten my eyes fixed i thought i felt now was the time to fulfill a child dream and ride from coast to coast in the united states.

So here i am. I arrived monday evening just in time for the free dinner at the Green Tortoise hostel in the center of the city.  Although very tired from the flight i couldn t wait to take the bike out of it s box and assemble it. Nothing was broken and i decided to take it for a test ride the next day. It became quite a long one and ended with my chain snapping just about a 30 min walk from the hostel. If that would have happened in Death Valley i would have been pretty fucked.

Riding over the probably most famous bridge in the world was a fantastic experience. Coming over the bridge i entered one of the various state parks that surround SF. It was a constant up and down but with the cool wind  It was actually comfortabble. The weather was fantastic the whole day…no fog at all, coastal fog is pretty common in Northern California. All in all a good day on the bike with a defect in the end.

Today i ll get the final things prepared and bought and hit the famous highway 1 tomorrow towards LA. 200 km before the city i ll leave the coast and head in direction Las Vegas. I m exited and a bit anxious to ride the California desert and Death Valley…but i m well prepared and will be alright. The 1100 km ride should take me about 10 days. My plan is not to waste anytime and avoid the summer heat in southern Utah later on my trip

I don t know when i ll have internet again, as i m planning to camp most of the times until Las Vegas. If i won t hae any i ll surely have alot to write about in 10 days for sure.

Until then i wish you all the best.

Love, Nedo

ps. the internet speed is really slow, especilly the upload…so i haven t loaded any pictures but will try to get them on facebook soon

two excited bikers

Hello everybody,

Finally i got to leave Cuzco…not that i was longing for it but I stayed there for almost two weeks and it was time to move on. I ve been riding out of Cuzco with Justin, who i rode with in the beginning of my trip and we have arrived to Ayacucho after 7 tough days of constant up and down. We re treating ourselves with a rest day in a nice hotel here in town before we head further north through the Cordilliera Blanca.

that mountain range is next

Arriving back from the Salcantay Trek my plan was to leave two days later towards Lima. I wasn t so keen on leaving by myself so I contacted some other bikers (among them was Jan who I ve had contact with before my trip) and we set a departure day together. All ready and excited we rode out of town but just a few km out of town my bike-technical nightmare continued when one of my spokes broke…third one during the last 1000km. It wasn t a rough road or that I rode into a hole, so I figured that there must had been something seriously wrong with the bike. Sad and angry I had to let my two newly made bike mates pass on while I pushed my bike back into town heading for the nearest bike mecanic. After some examaning he found a deep crack in my bike frame which came as a big shock for me as it was the worst that could have happened to the bike.

I considered ending my bike trip at this moment but decided to continue somehow (there s always a way).

I m so gratful, Martin

While i was standing there in the shop, Martin a Dutch biker who i had first met back in Copacabana came by with his bicycle and suggested that I could take it for the rest of my trip. What an offer, I thought and I almost couldn t refuse straight away but still decided to look at my options. I mean what would I do with my own bike and it feels kind of strange taking someone elses bike. After a few hours of thinking I decided to go with Martins offer. We went out for lunch together and he explained me all the details as it is a totally different bike to mine (rohloff gear system and hydraulic breaks). Also this bike has smaller but wider tires which solved another concern of mine. I could now join Justin through the Peruan mountains on gravel roads and avoid Lima. Martin, a Norvegian fellow and the two of us had a couple of funny night before we finally set of Saturday morning.

it takes the bus 3 hours

Justin and I knew that the next 2-3 weeks would be very tough as we were facing the socalled “Rollercoaster” through the Peruan Cordilliera Blanca to Huaraz. It s 1600 km of a constant up and down variating between 1800 and 4800. In the last 7 days we have crossed 5 passes over 4000m and have climbed over 10000m in elevation, just to give you an idea. It wasn t the uphill that made me suffer as much though, although 65 km of climbing is very tough physically but the downhill on bad gravel roads which was mentally harder for me.

The views of the mountains were fantastic and compensated for the trouble. As we “jumped” from valley to another it was like entering another world. Also fascinating was finding ourselves on top of 4500m-passes with temperatures just above freezing and after just four hours of downhill being surrounded by tropical plants and mosquitos. As I mentioned we have covered 600km in the previous 7 days but I d say not more than a third of it as the crow flies. Some of the valleys were so narrow that we could see the following uphill while descending from one pass which sometimes gave me a strange feeling in the stomach. I guess it must be the same feeling for a boxer looking into his opponents eyes just before the fight. The day before yesterday we finally crossed the last pass before Ayacucho and just before the city the asphalt welcomed me (i m saying “me” because Justin prefers gravel) with the remaining 35km downhill being smooth 40-50 km/h cruising down into the city.

Both Justin and I feel great and enjoy each others company. Physically I also think that we re at a similar level which of course makes riding together easier. I personally can t wait to get back on my bike tomorrow. The following couple of hundred km won t be as tough as the last ones as most of it will be paved and we won t face climbs with 2500 climbs for a while. I guess it will give of the chance to prepare ourselves what s still to come before we hit Huaraz in about 10 days.

pavement...finally

I wish everybody all the best and hope you re enjoying your summer.

Best regards

Nedo

Hello,

I’m back in Cuzco having a nice time enjoying the great weather as you back home I hear. I just got back from the fantastic Salcantay trek (Machu Picchu) yesterday very early in the morning.

I wasn’t expecting much as I had seen Machu Picchu village on various post cards and didn’t find it mind blowing…but it sure was. In total we trekked for more or less 5 days. The tour took us from elevations above 4600m with almost no vegetation to humid lower regions with people selling fresh banana and passion fruit from their gardens.

It all started just before 4 o’clock in morning with a 3 hour minibus drive to a little village. Here we got a basic breakfast before trekking to the base of the Salcantay Mountain.  It was a steep but very scenic climb, especially when we got above the forest line. It was a pretty long as well and felt luxurious having our tents set and warm meal cooked when we arrived at the camp. The view of the 2000m high face of the Salcantay was amazing. Apparently it hasn’t been climbed before…but I surely have my doubts.

Next morning we got up very early climbing up to a pass right under the mountains wall. Our guide “Walter” let us be part of an offering of coca leaves to the mountain gods who should prevent us from accidents and bad luck. We had heard from Walter the day before that it would be a very hard day and it kind of stretched as we proceeded down to an elevation of 2800m for another 5 hours. Again I have to complement our cook who prepared 3 great meals a day for the entire trip, not having a kitchen at hand but just some pots and a few gas stoves.

After a tough hiking day we had a slack day in front of us this morning with the profile just being downhill at low elevation. We arrived at the little village called Santa Theresa where we got a little snack before heading for some nice hot thermal baths. They weren’t as nice as those in Bolivia but surely a nice place to relax. The agency and Walter (who was so drunk already before dinner) had planned a great party around the a camp fire that evening but only the French kept up to their expectations as everybody else including myself went for an early bed.

“Some of us” were pretty hung-over this morning, so we took it easy with a late breakfast at 08:30. The group that left this morning was reduced for sure as somebody chose to take the bus to the entrance of the Machu Picchu Park. After the 2.5 hour hike we were all in the same boat again when we hiked the remaining 12 km to Agua Calientes along the train tracks (none of us wanted to pay the 18 USD for the 20 min train ride). Machu Picchu is accessed from Agua Calientes, a little village with every house either being a hotel or a restaurant.

As just the first 400 people entering the park get the permit to climb the Waynapicchu right above the ancient Inca village, we were forced to wake up really early and hike for one hour to the parks checkpoint in complete darkness. It sure was worth it though. I spent the whole day hiking around the amazing village and hoping for my camera battery not to die (eventually it happened of course).

The Spanish colonialists didn’t find Machu Picchu and it remained a national secret until just a 100 years ago, when a boy led an American scientist to the village in 1911. He has been criticized for bringing mummies and other treasures with him back to the University of Yale but only through his discovery it has become the biggest tourist attraction in South America and a great income to Peru (although surely highly misused).

The journey back “home” to Cuzco started pretty late and with all the common delays and complications I arrived to the hostel 5 hours later and crushed to bed at 2 in the morning.

I’m relaxing here for a couple days before I head further north. I’m calculating about 10 days to Lima with it being about 1100 km. The road will be very “hilly” as it climbs over several 4000m passes before it hits the PanAm. It won’t be the safest stage that I’ve rode as the criminality around Lima is pretty high. So I’ve been looking for somebody to bike it with. There are many bikers in town and I’ve been talking to some of them. It looks like I’m leaving town together with two guys from Spain and Germany tomorrow.

I’ve had a great time here but it I can’t wait to get back on the bike again as my ass has fully recovered and I’m full of energy.

I wish you all the best. Enjoy the summer.

Hugs and love

Nedo

Hi folks,

Greetings from the ancient Inca capital, Cuzco in the southern Peru. It’s been a rough ride from La Paz in the past week. Although very scenic with riding along the shores of the Titicaca Lake I’ve had some unpleasant experiences in the past week.

I left La Paz last Sunday knowing that there were heavy protests from the local population in the border province in Peru. Nobody in La Paz really could tell me some details about the situation and I heard from Lukas who had left a week ahead of me that the locals would be very bike friendly and let me pass through their road blockades.

After some 25 km of trash riding through the suburbs of La Paz and another 50 km stretch against the wind it was presenting itself to me: the Titicaca Lake. It’s the highest Lake in the world at an elevation of just over 3800m, which makes it higher than the highest mountain in Austria. The intense blue color and the surrounding mountains were very impressing. I enjoyed a nice evening with a delicious trout from the Lake for dinner.

The next day the road continued along the Lake with shorter and longer ascents giving me fantastic view of the lake from many different angles. Although just 75 km away, I arrived pretty exhausted in Copacabana. The little, charming city with the Isla de Sol very close is one of the main tourist destinations by the Titicaca Lake. I took a day off and visited the island with some apparently fantastic Inca ruins…they weren’t that impressive but the views and the boat ride definitely made it worth it.

From Copacabana it’s about 150 km to Puno in Peru and because I didn’t want to camp along the way and possibly get robbed in the night I left very early. At the Bolivian border the police man told me that it would be impossible and very dangerous to ride the remaining 140 km. I’ve heard a lot of ghost stories along my way so far and trusted in the email I got from Lukas a week before saying that it wouldn’t be a problem. Yes, and most of the way it wasn’t a problem, besides glass and stones all over the road.  I was waved through by friendly people at most blockades. Some villages though were very aggressive and equipped with sticks and whips and wouldn’t let me through until I had expressed my sympathy for them. I guess the scariest moment was seeing 3 young guys 300 m ahead with sticks in their hands surely planning to rob me. I hit the pedals and just planned to race past them. They formed a human blockade but I didn’t care and kept going, then when I was close and they tried to stop me I yelled “fuuuuckk” as loud as I could and for a split second they backed which was enough for me to pass. I guess I was lucky. I arrived in Puno in good time to find the hostel that Lukas had recommended, Inka’s Rest a great and safe place to stay. The city surely wasn’t in this time. Puno is the capital of the region and the locals were gathering to protest against the mining in the region. The thing with mining is that the use of chemicals can’t be avoided which will partly pollute the water. The locals need the water for their fields though and don’t want to give up their traditions. I can see their point very well and have understanding for their frustrations. But I don’t understand the use of violence and the destruction of the other people property. At night the city looked like it was at war, with the demonstrants destroying as much as they could with their sticks and putting things on fire.

I actually wanted to leave the city as fast as possible next morning, but I broke a spoke just a few km out of town. I brought all of my tools and spare parts to mechanics knowing that he properly wouldn’t have the spare parts. Suddenly one of the raids came by and within a minute everything closed down. The mechanics through all of their stuff into their workshops and sealed the shops with a metal fence. They must have tried it before. Me, first not knowing what was going on was advised to hide behind the street corner until they had passed. It just took a couple of minutes and then everything went back to normal. I asked the mechanic if he had put my tool bag into the workshop and everything seemed under control according to him. He was a good guy but I guess he was just stressed as all of us in this tense situation and had forgotten it. I suppose the demonstrants have taken it. Of course I was really pissed, mostly at myself. I spent the day getting a police rapport and making a couple of calls. It wasn’t so much the value of the stuff but the fact that it’s difficult to get a lot of the spare parts in South America. Fortunately I’ve found a pretty good provider here in Cuzco.

I figured and heard from locals that the situation had gotten a lot worse and it had totally escalated. I was also afraid that it would spread further north so I just wanted to get going. Rumors have gone around that the military will soon go in and bring it to an end. A similar situation in another part of Peru caused 34 lives in 2009.

So I got going early in the morning hoping not to have any punctures or broken spokes on the remaining 380 km to Cuzco. The first 45 km to Juliaca the road was still full of blockades, glass and violent people but then it got better and I could finally again allow myself to enjoy the beautiful landscape. The wind was great and pushed me to Ayaviri . I arrived in the town and found myself a cheap hotel. I was hoping to get a map here, but people looked at me as I was from Mars when I asked for it in a several book stores. I couldn’t help laughing.

I left at seven that Saturday morning, soon being presented the high peaks on the horizon. The end of the Altiplano was near and it ended with a climb over 4300m. It’s funny although people drive everything with wheels, 95% of the people I’ve met so far have no sense of time or destination. I guess I was about 7-8 km (and I knew it wasn’t more than 10) to the top of the pass when I asked a driver how far it would be. While he was thinking I asked again ironically if it would be 40 or 60 km. After some thinking he replied 35 km…”muchas gracias amigo” I said and of I was. I treated myself with a nice hotel for 30 soles (7 euros) and watched the Champions League Final.

I knew this would be a tough day because I wanted to reach Cuzco 140 km away. With a good wind on the Altiplano…no problem but with half of it being uphill it’s another world. Although very tough I enjoyed myself very much that day. People were friendly, the landscape was various and I was doing a good pace. Ok, maybe the end was a bit frustrating with the road to the center being really crap and just not seeing an end of the climb. After a picture at the main plaza I found my hostel and didn’t do much for the rest of the day besides a few ping pong matches against Lukas who I had agreed to meet at the same hostel.

Cuzco is amazingly beautiful and understandably full of tourists. There is so much to see and to do. Of course the world famous Inca city ruins of Machu Picchu are the main attraction but besides that there’s so much else from cultural, fun sport and nature.

I’ll stay here for about a week and of course do the “obligatory” 4day tour to Machu Picchu. I’m hoping to meet up with somebody to bike to Lima with as Peru’s capital hasn’t been recommended to me.

I hope you all have a great week.

Cheers

Nedo

Ps. Sorry, no fotos this time…computer problems. But I uploaded all of them to facebook the other day

Hi everybody,

I’m still in La Paz, the highest capital in the world. But I can’t say that I’ve been bored for the last week or so. As I mentioned in my last post I would climb some peaks in the surrounding Cordilliera Real.

Huany Potosi 6088m

Sunset from high camp with Illimani on th right

The Huany Potosi situated just about 25 km northwest of the city with an altitude of 6088m is supposed to be the easiest 6000er. Fine enough the mountain doesn’t require much of technical skill although the final ridge is very exposed with an almost vertical drop to each side and barely enough space for two feet besides each other. In addition to that the high camp at 5100m makes it a summit day with less than a 1000m in altitude difference. These facts might make it the easiest but a mountain over 6000m is surely no picnic.

On the summit...not with a lot of space

5min later

Lukas decided to give himself some extra rest days because he didn’t want to risk getting sick again. With the plan climbing the mountain with an agency by myself the next day I wondered around the bar of the hostel when I met Darren who I could persuade to join me. The following day then we went to the agency where we met our guide William. We picked up our equipment and off we were in a taxi passing the chaotic El Alto and driving towards the impressive Huany Potosi. We had booked the climb for two days instead of the regular three, that’s why we skipped the base camp hut and headed straight to the high camp shelter. The 2 hour hike was pretty tough already but we made it in good time to have a good rest before dinner. Right after sunset we went to bed but I bet not many of the about 15 brave lads got a lot of sleep this night due to the altitude. We left the hut at about 02:45 after a minimal breakfast (not that I would have enjoyed a huge buffet much more). Darren was doing really fine considering that he had never had any experience with crampons before. After a while he could feel the altitude showing itself in a massive head ache though. Just before the summit he felt so ill he wanted to turn back but William and I could convince him that it would just require a final push. And so after just under 4 hours we stood on the summit just in time for sun rise. The descent was fast and in the early afternoon we were back in our hostel.

looking down the ridge

Back here it was time to make a decision, would I leave with Lukas the next day towards Cuzco or would I stay for another climb possibly a bit more technical. The offers I got from different agencies for Illimani I didn’t consider reasonable so I had almost made up my mind when I picked up a great offer the evening before our planned departure. I couldn’t refuse it and said my farewell with Lukas the next morning. We might meet up in Cuzco for a beer where I should arrive next weekend.

Off we are to Illimani

what a contrast to La Paz

Anyway so I was off to the agency the same day to get the details about the climb. It would take 4 days and everything was included such as porter, donkey, meals and transport for just over 300 USD. Compared to Switzerland or France this is nothing although there aren’t many certificated guides here. The following morning I met up with my guide Super-Mario as he humbly introduced himself.  At 11 we finally left the city in a truck packed with people on it’s load. With some difficulties getting through a river and some motor problems we finally arrived at the village where we would set our first camp. It’s amazing the locals sat on that load, old people, families and children for over 4 hours. I felt kind of bad for them but any kind of help carrying the heavy rice or potato bags was refused not to talk about me offering my comfortable seat in the driver cabin. Although not very high in altitude (what actually made me a bit critical) I slept very bad, not because of the altitude but due to the bad surface under my private tent. The reason I was a bit skeptical was because the first night was spent in about the same altitude as La Paz at just 3600m and that would mean an ascent of almost 3000m in the next 48 hours. Anyway I didn’t have a choice but decided to go for a little hike the evening before where I enjoyed a fantastic sun set and met the two local kids Ivan and his sister asking for some candy. I didn’t have any on me so I told them they’d have to come down to camp. I guess Ivan was about 8-9 years old carrying his little sister all the way. I rewarded them with a bag of butter scotch and the glimmering in their eyes made me feel warm inside.

Illimani massive with the main summit right

The next morning we were off to high camp, again skipping base camp at an altitude to about 5000m. 1400m climbing the next day and then descending to the village at 3600m the same day: head ache programmed for sure. Knowing that I packed a lot of cereal bars and went into my sleeping bag after a again great sunset and a delicious dinner cooked by Super-Mario. We left just past midnight after almost no sleep.

View from high camp...in the background Titicaca Lake

The snow was very hard, partly ice so it required concentration with every step plus that you have to place your crampons really hard to get hold. The route was very exposed at times and wouldn’t have allowed major mistakes. At a breaking point after about 2 hours when I offered Mario one of my snacks the bag slipped out of my gloves and of it went down the icy slope into the next crevasse. I didn’t think a lot in that moment but I would properly have turned back if I would have been in the lead. Up we went and my tank was slowly getting empty and so was our pace slower.

another view from high camp

high camp

About an hour below the summit there was a very technical part with an icy slope of 70 degrees steepness. It was about 5 pitches long (250m) and we had to secure each other for it which took a lot of time. Finally on the summit at 7:30 we could defreeze our fingers in the nice morning sun. It was pretty late so we had to hurry up as we had agreed to meet our porter in high camp at 10, this was of course not possible but we didn’t want to let him wait for too long. After the descent of the technical part and the tension release my head ache really showed itself. In the following exposed parts I had to make sure Mario secured me as I was totally dizzy and not able to 100% concentrate anymore.

La Paz never sleeps

Shadow of the mountain from its summit

Back in high camp after 11.5 hours I collapsed into my tent. Somehow I forced a soup into my system before we left for the village. A descent of 1400 m would normally take 1.5-2 hours but with me it almost took 4. At base camp I left the soup behind that I had consumed 2 hours before and kind of stumbled into our camp at 17 o’clock after an almost 17hour day. This was surely one of the hardest days of my life (properly the hardest)….yes, you can hike for 17 hours but you need fuel into your system especially at high altitude. After two liters of Pepsi and a banana I slept for 11 hours this night and didn’t even feel the really bumpy surface they had set my tent on.

I surely didn't feel my head ache in this moment

Totally exhausted i had to take this final foto

I felt a lot better in the morning just with some dizziness in my head left. After breakfast we got a minibus back to La Paz. In Europe this kind of a vehicle (Toyota Hiachi) is allowed to carry maximum 9 people, well not in Bolivia. For most of the 3 hour drive we were 16 adults plus a child cramped up inside the car. You can imagine the smell inside, it might have come from myself J but it sure made my nausea come back. Finally back in La Paz we dropped our stuff at the agency and then I headed straight to the hostel.

I’m allowing myself a rest day before I’m heading to Peru passing the highest fresh water lake in the world, the Titicaca Lake tomorrow. The border has been blocked for the past 2 weeks due to some internal problems in Peru (nobody here really knows anything accurate about the situation) but I’ve heard from Lukas that its passable by bike…I don’t know about the road blockades though. I’ve heard the rumor that the government in Lima is sending a lot of police up to the region to fight the protestors down. Let’s see what the next days will bring…I’ll be safe. There’s always the option to sail around this critical region for a couple of pesos.  But no way I’m going to fly over this fantastic region.

Next time I’ll write from Cuzco one of the big tourist magnets in South America such as El Calafate or Torrer del Paine. The big ancient Inca city just beyond the mountain Macchu Pichu is sure worth a visit although they really know how to milk the money out of the tourists there.

I wish you all well and am looking forward to seeing you again.

Take care.

Nedo

Hi dear friends and family,

what is this danish truck doing here??

Finally Lukas and I arrived in La Paz the day before yesterday and have been treating ourselves nicely after some tough 7 day riding over the Bolivian altiplano (high plateau). We’ve both been on antibiotics for the most time of the ride and I can’t say if it has affected my riding positively or not, but at least I’ve gotten rid of my diarrhea.

plaza of Potoso

the canyon right after Potosi

We left Potosi on the 5^th May and enjoyed a nice downhill to start with. It was pretty overcast but we never really got wet. It was some beautiful riding through a canyon to start with and then the road entered the mountains. Lukas and I weren’t feeling so well and Lukas shouldn’t get better until today actually. That of course made it extra hard and at a little ugly truckers village we decided to call it a day just having done 45km.

pretty hilly

The antibiotics were slowly showing it’s affect on me and the next day I felt a lot better in the 15 km climb towards the pass right after the village. Our goal for the day was to reach Ventilla, a little town from where it apparently would just be flat altiplano riding until La Paz. I arrived a little before Lukas and found us a nice family posada for the night. In the evening we wandered around town and talked some locals into a little game of football. Football in 4100 m, that was an experience for sure. Of course the team with the two heavy breathing “Gringos” lost the game after a good fight. I just love these experiences with locals, which are just hard to experience when you travel from tourist spot to another by bus.

Lukas pumping uphill

The next morning we expected some flat riding into Chalabata, the first major town after Potosi. But it wasn’t to be. Right after Ventilla the road climbed for 15km and at the end of the day I wouldn’t have called it one of our flat stages. It was amazingly beautiful though with the altiplano shining in its different bright colors with lamas grassing on it. I biked my own rhythm and arrived in Chalbata 2 hours before Lukas and organized us a place to stay. I heard Lukas had gotten a puncture and seen some nice fresh lama meat in the middle of the road (I wasn’t so unhappy to have missed that sight). There was a huge market going on in town where we wasted some time before we got ourselves an early sleep.

We wanted to reach Oruro today about 120km away. I’m a breakfast person and I made sure with our host that we could have breakfast at about 7:15 this morning. I should have learned by now that you very often get a “yes” here but it doesn’t really mean what we understand as “yes”. This really pissed me off as I was in strange mute this morning anyway. We got riding with some dry bread and some dulce de leche (basically just caramelized milk) in our stomachs. Yes, now it was pretty flat with a headwind, but nothing in comparison to Patagonia. It changed direction in the afternoon as predicted and we flew into Oruro where we quickly found our hostel. Finally we got some decent internet again and some western food (crap). Unfortunately Lukas forgot his mobile in the internet café and of course somebody had taken it. It wasn’t just a mobile, but as well a camera and Ipod which was extra frustrating.

slowly leaving the mountains

In addition to that frustration Lukas woke up feeling really week, so we decided to treat ourselves with a rest day in a 4star hotel with cable tv and warm showers. Hopefully he’d feel better after that bit of luxury. I woke up with great legs and felt kind of strange just doing nothing the whole day but Lukas really needed the time.

rip it of and give some truck and bus drivers a slap with this sign

Breakfast was not as great as I expected but we really stuffed ourselves knowing it would be a long day to Patacamaya, 130km from Oruro. Riding out of the city was through some of the ugliest areas I’ve seen on my trip so far. Stinking trash everywhere you looked and people and dogs in the middle of it. I would believe that a city of that size would be more under control especially with a socialist in power. I felt like I could go far with my legs today and went for Patacamaya leaving Lukas in a town just 50 km before that. I left Lukas about at 15 o’ clock and thought it would be some easy riding into Patacamaya. But I was wrong, I was anxious not to make it before darkness as it isn’t the safest city to bike into. It was about half way uphill and then my fears of a altiplano storm with rain in about 3-4 degrees came true just 15 km before my goal. I just made it to a primitive stay before darkness with freezing fingers and being pretty much trashed. I went out for dinner with some local workers and had a really nice time. The boss spoke perfect English and gave me some hints of how to ride through the slum (El Alto) of La Paz the next day

Dennis from Slovenia

view of La Paz from El Alto

I can’t say that I enjoyed the ride into La Paz very much. Biking on a two lane road seeing a truck coming from the opposite direction with a bus behind it, you would think the bus driver would wait with overtaking until you’ve past…but wrong. As a biker you have two options in this kind of situations: Hold your position and get killed or pull out into glass splitters and other shit risking a puncture. But here’s to mention that I haven’t had a single puncture with my Schwalbe Marathon Touring Plus tires for over 7000km. With a strong tail wind behind me I soon reached El Alto and after some 25 km cycling, that you could compare to smoking a package of cigarettes I reached La Paz. I quickly found the Irish Wild Rover Hostel and got myself organized. Later in the afternoon Lukas arrived to my surprise, I had expected him the next day but he was feeling better and the wind of course as well treated him accordingly.

The Wild Rover is a great place to stay with a lot of partying and some nice international people. Yesterday I got a lot of things done, like finding a mechanic and getting my eyes checked. La Paz is surrounded of the Cordilliera Real with various peaks over 6000m. I can’t leave this place without having climbed a couple of them if you know me. Huany Potosi is one of the easiest 6000m peaks in the world and I’ll try myself there this weekend before I’ll try to ascent the much more technical Illampu on a 4day expedition next week.

Lukas is leaving as soon as he feels better because he has a plane to catch in Lima in two weeks. It was nice having some company on the road again….thank you for that, Lukas.

I wish you all the best. Take care.

Cheers.

Nedo

Hi everybody

Greetings from the highest city in the world: Potosi. Potosi is about 700 km from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and I’ve just biked about 200. Together with Lukas the finish cyclist I met in Chile we´ve experienced a spectacular border crossing on a 3day jeep ride to Uyuni. The biking into Potosi has been short but really tough due to the high altitude. We´ve decided to take it really easy and get totally acclimatized and then head to La Paz together tomorrow.

Well, back to San Pedro. It was pretty frustrating looking for the right agency as some of the agencies wouldn´t take our bikes. We finally got a good deal with Estrella Sur, although the driver made a little bit of a scene when he saw our bikes in the morning of departure.

From San Pedro it was a steep uphill drive to the border. We were both already not feeling so well waking up, me having a diarrhea and Lukas feeling kind of light headed. After just 30min drive at the border to Bolivia at almost 5000m the altitude of course showed it´s effect. Especially Lukas was feeling really bad, vomiting and shitting his breakfast out. After trying different kind of medication and drinks the driver offered Lukas an old traditional herbal drink that calmed his stomach.

We shared the jeep together with two girls from Denmark. We had a really nice time singing and playing silly games in the car. The jeep took us along the famous Lagune route passing wonderful unrealistic colorful mountain lakes. The most impressive and for me the highlight of the whole 3day trip was the Laguna Colorado. After we had stopped at our night camp, eaten some very late lunch we drove to this very close lake. The driver Primo, told us that it´s the birth place of the flamingos in this region. The water is indeed full of small red crabs that color the water. It was amazing to see the sun set with the mountains mirroring in the  silent water.

The next day we woke up early knowing that it would be a long driving day to Uyuni. We stopped several times at nice places. In the middle of the desert for example we stopped at a place with some strangely shaped stones, one of them looking like a tree. A few hours before Uyuni we stopped at little mining village and played some volleyball with the locals. These are the experiences I love the most when I mix in with the locals. We arrived by the fall of darkness to Uyuni and were set off at our hotel. We went to bed early knowing of the day ahead.

Primo was supposed to pick us up at 07:30 but had some problems with his jeep. We finally got going at about 09:00. The biggest Salt Flats (lake) in the world just 25 km outside the city (Uyuni) that gave it it´s name were totally amazing. Totally white as far as I could see, only interrupted by the black silhouettes of the far away mountains. Over millions of years the minerals and salts of the Uyuni Salt Lake have concentrated themselves year after year. Salt lakes can only exist in very dry regions with some kind of a water source around, I guess mostly high mountains. We took some funny pictures and then returned to Uyuni to conclude our 3day trip with Primo.

Lukas and I allowed ourselves some days to acclimatize and hopefully get rid of my diarrhea. But the body just doesn´t spend enough energy to regenerate from sickness when it´s not acclimatized. Bolivia is really cheap in comparison to Chile or Argentina and it´s just not worth cooking yourself with a good meal being 1-2 Euros. The two Danish girls left 2 days before us but we agreed to meet up in Potosi.

We stayed at the hotel for 2 extra nights and (tried) to organize our 200km stretch to Potosi. We knew that there was a really bad gravel stretch for the first 25km and I didn´t want to put my bike out for that so we paid a pickup to bring us to the next village from where the road would be asphalted.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and we learned that we couldn´t really rely on any kind of information we got from my map or most locals me met along the way. Seeing the smiles in the faces of the people possessing barely enough to survive but still wanting to give made me forget about the false information I would get from them…they just wanted to help.

We stayed at a little village at about half way to Potosi. There weren´t really any accommodation and we didn´t want to set our tents as temperature falls way beyond freezing at night. Natalia a little girl on her bike then showed us the house of an old lady that had a shed with two beds where we could stay for 2 usd

We didn´t expect the remaining 95km to be that tough. It was constant up and down in an elevation between 3600 and 4400m. Not enough with that we had to cross a river coming from a salt lake (you don´t want concentrated salt water touching your gear system) and face partly really bad gravel road. Besides from all this pains we rode through amazing landscape. At one point the road dropped 150m into this beautiful little canyon. In a few years they´ll have finished the bridge over the gorge and people will hardly recognize this little paradise. Finally just before nightfall arriving in Potosi we could see the whole city as it´s situated on one of the slopes of the famous Cerro Rico. We hoped that our hostel wouldn´t be at the far end of town but of course the centre is situated almost at the highest point in town. This 5km steep climb really killed us. Dehydrated and my stomach playing crazy we arrived in the hostel.

I woke up not feeling very well and Lukas´ ass was killing him so we decided to take a couple of days off. Potosi is situated in an altitude of over 4000 meters making it the highest city in the world. The huge amount of silver in the Cerro Rico Mountain just above the city made Potosi the richest city in the 17^th century.

Today there isn´t much left but the mountain´s still having 15000 miners digging after tin and the last remains of silver. The conditions are horrible and the salary is low. It´s being said that the average life expectancy of a miner doesn´t extend more than 40 years. Slavery is still present in our world that´s for sure…we have to be aware of that. I could experience the conditions myself when I went on a guided tour through the mines. The minimal ventilation (only installed for the machines) made it hard to breath at some places. It would be interesting to see how long a western spoiled worker such as myself would survive in a mine like that.  We bought some presents for the miners such as coca leaves, cigarettes, “Bolivian whiskey” (basically pure alcohol 96%) and juice to make life a little less stressful “in there”. We were in there for 2 hours and I was happy to get out of there. I´m stunned by the toughness of the people in the mine and them still being able to manage a smile on their faces.

I like Potosi, but It´s time to get going. The altitude doesn´t border me much anymore, I just wish I would get rid of that f… diarrhea. Anyway if it doesn´t get much worse we´ll leave tomorrow. It´s about 550 km to La Paz from here and mostly over 4000m in altitude. According to our information there should be a bed to sleep in every night but you never know. We should be there in about 7 or 8 days. I´ll properly spend a couple weeks there, servicing my bike, climb some mountains and maybe take a Spanish course.

I hope you´re all doing fine and my thoughts are with you.

Take care. Nedo

Hi from San Pedro de Atacama

Gracias Orlando

Since my last post i’ve had quite alot of things to think about and the conditions have been perfect for that. People have told me that i would find absolutely nothing but desert between Chanaral and Antofagasta (a over 400km stretch). Although the landscape i biked through for the last weeks has been very monotone and tough, i would put the experiences i got there up with thouse from the Lake destrict and Patagonia. The only concern in this area is water as it hasn’t rained for over 50 years in some spots. So i had the choice of carrying a huge amount or plan my trip between the few oasis.

nice plaza in Caldera

Caldera was a great place to stay with a very scenic little plaza and a pretty beach. I stayed with Georgio who offered me a stay for really cheap and begged me to stay another night the next morning. He was really strange but i felt safe with him and as my knee wasn’t feeling that great i decided to take a day off.

coast north of Caldera

The next day i left early with quite a day in front of me. The first 90 km the road took me along the rough very scenic coast to Chanaral. On this stretch i already got an idea how remote the next 400km to Antofagasta would be. After lunch i left Chanaral with the heart of the Atacama in front of me. Until Antofagasta i should only pass one gas station and 3 or 4 trucker stops (Posadas), climb over 2000m elevation and face strong head winds.

road turns east after Chanaral and now it gets really dry

Muchas gracias a todo el personal de la Posada Flora del Desierto (el mejor Posada)

There’s one Posada in the oasis Agua Verde called Flora del Desierto that gave me such a nice place to stay. I asked if i could set my tent beside their shed but they insisted of me sleeping inside. In the night i joined them for a trip to the bakery in Taltal just some 80 km away. Taltal is situated on the coast and the only little city between Chanaral and Antofagasta  but it was pretty much out of my way so i didn’t pass it by bike. In the morning i wanted to give them 20 dollars for my stay but they wouldn’t accept and i found myself leaving with tears in my eyes moved by their great hospitality.

As Agua Verde is already on 1300m the 2100m pass wasn’t as tough as expected. After 135km i arrived at my destination the Rosario Posada just with two old people telling me that it was closed. With the next Posada being 40km away i kind of made it clear for them that this was my only opportunity beside taking a ride with a pickup. I was gratefull that they let me set my tent in the back. When the old man told me about his joint problems and i gave him my muscle and joint cream i guess i had won their hearts. I spend a nice evening in the kitchen of the closed posada with two old men watching some horrible Saturday reality show.

From here it was just 90 km to Antofagasta and apparently downhill all the way. Ok…a slight 90km downhill dropping from 1200m to 0m…but with a head wind it doesn’t really roll faster than 25km. I passed the “Mano del Desierto” 50 km before the city. I don’t know why they put it there but it sure is impressive and funny.

Antofagasta

Antofagasta is the biggest city in the north of Chile and provides everything a biker needs. I stayed a extra day and got a spare chain at the last Oxford bike shop until Lima and asked the mecanic if the clicking sound from my pedals was anything serious….and of course it wasn’t.

Hard workers in Caldera

The 300 km road to San Pedro pretty much flows with the wind…well it just climbs a 3400m pass. After a 100km i stopped at a petrol station and set my tent beside the Posada. The clicking had gotten worse and i was sure that i needed a professional mecanic in Caldera but was pretty sure to make it there biking. When i packed my bike in the morning the guys working in the petrol station had organized a truck to Caldera for me. Caldera is a little mining city with the biggest “hole” in the world right beside it. Unfortunately the tour was booked out. I quickly found a mecanic who knew what he was doing and relaxed the rest of the day around the city.

boring???...noooo

The last 100km to San Pedro were spectacular. It took me through the driest places in the world and offers views of the Bolivian frontier Andes range with it’s numerous 6000m peaks. After the 65km climb to 3400m it’s basically a 35km steep downhill into San Pedro de Atacama.

The Domeyko range hasn't seen water for at least 50 years

Bolivia not being so far away

I’ve been staying here since Thursday and gone on some tours around the area. At the camp ground i stayed i met a finnish biker who i will bike Bolivia with and 2 nice couples. Saturday we biked out to this Lagune with a simular salt consitency as the Dead Sea. I had never tried it before, but i would say that with some effort and discomfort you would be able to read your newspaper on the water. Arriving back at the campground after that 60km ride i must have drunk some bad water as i lost everything through my exit- and entrance hole. After a day of recovery i feel much better now and am ready to face Bolivia. We will take a jeep that will bring us over the big Salt Flats to Uyuni tomorrow. Then we will bike to La Paz together where i’ll stay for at least 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe there’s even some work as an assistent mountain guide.

I’m relieved to have found another crazy biker to bike Boliva with as i’ve heard some not so nice stories of people being mugged around the cities. Well you’re just such a easy target on a bike espicially alone.

I hope you had a nice recovering easter holiday. Take care everybody.

Greetings

Nedo

some impressions of San Pedros

Biking into San Pedro with the view of the Moon Valley

San Pedro de Atacama

Tour to the Salar de Atacama with a little Lagune

Same excursion, different lagune

Bike tour to the Salt lakes with some friends