This GPX I have drawn in as close as possible to our actual route. Unfortunately the original GPX files became corrupted so I have had to reconstruct the route here using what was left, trail notes and satellite view
Day 1 Uyuni to Colchani
It had become necessary to take a bus from where our third member flew into Bolivia in La Paz to Uyuni due to an unfortunate bout of Giardia interfering with plans for a southerly rendezvous. We arrived in Uyuni at 0700 and spent some time reassembling and repacking bikes before having a big breakfast of pancakes at the only open cafe down the road. An obligatory visit to the train graveyard was followed by a prolonged, frustrating search of Uyuni's tiendas for appropriate food for the weeks ahead. We could see several possible resupplies along the route but our experience with pre-covid iOverlander information made us skeptical of what we could find.
Leaving town late thankfully the road to Colchani was fast and easy with occasional traffic but no real concerns.
We elected to stay in Colchani for an early start the next day, as the wind that afternoon was already extreme so heading out onto the salt flats was already ruled out.
A lone sign for Alojamiento led us to a lovely wee understated and cheap salt hotel in Colchani with plentiful space indoors for reconfiguring our setups. The place had running water, hot showers, use of a kitchen, and comfy beds. This made for a great base right on the edge of the flats for an early morning departure.
Day 2 Colchani to Isla Incahuasi
We left Colchani at 0700 in an attempt to get ahead of the wind. In later months of the trip we would leave far earlier in the morning, more like 4am, in order to get in enough distance before noon. As it happened leaving at 0700 was enough for the distance here given the riding was just as fast and smooth as we had hoped for with a surface well compacted into asphalt-like smoothness by jeep traffic. Thankfully we didn't feel surrounded by the jeeps, perhaps one jeep passed every 30-40mins, a few more on the horizon. The jeep tracks were generally easy to follow, occasionally diverging, however the routes indicated on OSMAND and Maps.me were accurate enough to navigate from. We had a few strecthes of damp salt which would spray up and coat the bikes in a viciously adherent dense white paste, something to be washed off as soon as we left the salars. The morning flew by with surreal scenes of cycling in white oblivion. I wore fishing sunglasses extended with strips of duct tape to form goggles more akin to skiing/mountaineering goggles as well as our DIY custom helmet/hat combo and the lightest longsleeve tops and bottoms we could find. A heavy zinc sunscreen I had brought from New Zealand did a good job of protecting the rest. Overall we didn't have any sunburn issues which was fortunate given some very nasty sunburn we saw other cyclists get and on jeep tourists later who had just visited briefly. At one point the light was so intense I had two layers of sunglasses (my spares) to give my eyes a rest. We weren't the most fashionable on the flats that day. We reached Isla Incahuasi just as the wind started, around 1.30pm. There is a 30Bs fee to be on the island, use the toilets and wander the loop up among the cacti. There is a small tienda only providing snacks and water. We had planned on continuing to Isla Pescados but we were struggling with a combination of the heat, sun exposure and questionable brackish water from this morning. The south side of the island seemed quiet so we wandered over and eventually set up camp on the SE side. There were numerous spots around the island, most of which felt completely hidden from the tours as they definitely tended to stick to the Northeast side.
The site had no wind issues but out in the open would have been challenging tenting although it did settle after sunset
The salt is either as hard as concrete or a mirey sludge when wet, so your tent pegs will not work. Bring rocks. Be warned that with an improvised tie-down compromising the tent integrity, the wind here could easily shred even the hardiest tent to pieces. On a side note, this was the first night out for the new MSR Elixir2 tent and despite not being the lightest nor strongest out there, it has blown us away with its roominess, durable construction and clever design, particularly coming from our cramped but 'old-trusty' Macpac Minaret which had actually weighed more and was bulkier when packed. The Minaret I donated to the Casa de Cyclistas in La Paz and last I heard had been gratefully received by a cycletourer from Spain in need of a replacement. It's almost impossible to find quality outdoors gear in Bolivia that isn't counterfeit or takes a month to order in, so I was pleased to be able to help someone out with a tent that still had a bit more life in it but not quite up to what we now needed from it. We were also incredibly lucky to have found this decent tent at 'The Wall' in Kantutani, La Paz as this could easily have derailed our trip- see the gear/equipment post for more.
Day 3 Isla Incahuasi to Colcha K
The weather had become overcast making a welcome reprieve from the intense glare but a strange flat light above and below. We caught a magnificent sunrise from our easterly spot and made up a quick breakfast to get going again before the wind. Our friend who had just joined us from New Zealand had introduced the idea of adding Milo and Dulce De Leche to our already elaborate porridge mixtures and this combo won us over. Rocket fuel!
There is a direct route to Isla PhiaPhia but we weren't sure of surface conditions to return to the jeep track we needed to take south so we headed on this well established route south before making a close pass to see the surface and then a direct cross-country 7km line to the island. As it happens we shouldn't have worried as the off-piste surface was absolutely fine. The salt was crusted with large hexagons approximately 2m across, and our tyres would crunch across their little borders a few times per second making for a weird repetitive soundtrack and a road-feel quite unlike anything I've ridden before. It felt most like wind-affected crusted old snow yet had far more traction. Being off the jeep tracks felt far more surreal as now the subtle staining of the roads was gone and the full expanse of pristine white surrounded you. Given the conditions were so rideable I would highly recommend getting off the jeep tracks for a while, provided you are confident with several navigation tools to get back to them again as it does become rapidly disorientating when away from the islands. Isla Phia Phia would make a nice quiet overnight spot. We could see a string of old jeep tracks converging on the large cave at the Northwestern aspect but otherwise saw no-one. There would be plenty of tent-sites but wind-shelter would be a bit trickier, the cave of course would be a good option. The sleeping platform in the cave was small.
Skirting around the island and back across to the main southward route we made excellent time across the still asphalt smooth surface. The routes south seemed to run more widely parallel than other routes we had followed but it was easy enough to follow. The scenery became more bland as we approached the south shore and we were ready to move on by the time we hit rock. There is a small settlement at the shore with a few tiendas selling simple snacks, as well as what could have been a restaurant and some accomodation but seemed almost derelict. A comically disheveled car pulled up off the salar, I don't know how it had managed to survive. Its paneling hanging off, swinging from bolts, whole sheets missing. It coughed and spluttered smoke as it limped along in a lurching stumbling roll on under-damped suspension that did more harm than good on the washboard. It pulled into the hamlet and the driver filled it up with discoloured petrol from a questionable improvised siphon setup. It was every bit as cartoonish as you could imagine, and yet it seemed to be just at home.
We followed the road around to Colcha K over short stretches of washboard and sand with longer stretches of relatively smooth compacted dirt road. Fields of furrowed sand seemed an improbable place for growing anything yet we passed acres of corduroy combed down from dusty peaks, completely empty aside from the llamas and Vicunas roaming freely. Another cyclist we met later, who was an agricultural scientist, said she had puzzled over this herself until she saw the farmers loading the sandy troughs up with llama manure.
Colcha K was a charming wee town with its green vegetation and boulevards a wee oasis in an arid region. The central plaza had a few tiendas and restaurants, some fresh fruit and veges we rapidly stashed away. We found most places to be booked out but an unlabelled green facade building had been marked as Alojamiento on OSM and was indeed a small hostel with clearly no interest in marketing. The kind owner was also the baker for the town it seemed and had just finished an enormous tray of fresh rolls which filled the place with a delicious smell no cyclist could ignore. The evening was filled with a constant sound of heavy knocking at the main door in what seemed to be a very secretive way of selling bread as every 2 minutes another villager would come by for their supply and everything would be opened up again. It was a simple place with sparse rooms but a courtyard and tap to wash our bikes clean of salt. There was no hose so we dismantled our bikes and ran the parts under the tap, scrubbing away the briney paste which had set into a thick scale in places.
Day 4 Colcha K to Chiguana:
We left Colcha K about 0800. Road conditions from here were 50% sandy washboard but 100% rideable. A few jeeps, no significant worries. This put is in San Juan for lunch, a pleasant but poorly serviced town despite having three expensive football pitches. A sole tap was found in a small square on the Northeast entrance to the village. There was no restaurant, Tiendas were OK for some basic carbs and grains, eggs, usual high energy snacks, but no veges were found. We had hoped this would be a good resupply point but again, pre-covid IOverlander information was hopelessly out of date.
We made a simple but strange lunch of noodles, eggs and corn and left San Juan at 1400
Road conditions from here were initial flat washboard and sand which was manageable then changed to a fast compacted mud surface, however a gale afternoon SW headwind slowed our progress from 25kph to 6kph.
The Open MTB map roads are very inaccurate as the roads appear to flood seasonally, but we could navigate mostly following Mark Watson and Hana Black's GPX route. Without wind this section would be fast. With rain this section would be very challenging.
Due to these conditions we reached Chiguana at 1800, where we asked at the military base about camping which as per previous notes, was fine. We saw a water tank by the base later on. We are unsure if it is available and/or works as we had carried enough to not need more and it was rather confronting to go back to military base to ask.
Day 5 Chiguana to First Lagunas Road camp.
0700 we left camp to get ahead of the wind. The surface across the salar was great, becoming slower and sandy approaching the pass but still fast. Again, in the wind or rain it would be very exposed and likely slow. We quickly reached the start of the climb after about 1.5hrs riding.
Unfortunately, this is where the infamous Lagunas sand begins.
{Talking to some friends who followed through later it seems continuing from Chiguana to Estacion Avaroa near the Chilean border before turning southeast on Rt701 was a much faster alternative, albeit more likely to encounter traffic.}
The trail here was 25%rideable. Deep ruts filled with sand, unstable sides, bikes needing to be dragged. Ruts are discontinuous and with sudden stops. There is an extremely slim possibility that a very skilled driver and a very technically capable 4wd could traverse some of this road but it is doubtful given the depth of the ruts and discontinuity. Intermittent riding on our part was managed by finding patches between roots of plants beside the track. Others bike tyre marks and foot prints suggest similar. It was a gruelling climb despite the shallow gradient. Slowly we reached the first campsite, noted on Andy and Eileen's notes at 1100. From there the road became increasingly rideable but still it was challenging. On the plus side the opening view now looking down across the volcanic plains was quite spectacular.
The hill crest we reached at 1220 after a final diabolical hikeabike. After the crest, these flat sections were much easier to ride. We stopped for lunch at the stone shelter at about 1300. The flat saddle was still prone to sand bunkers, rock gardens and sudden ruts that could swallow a wheel but we were happy to ride ~85%.
The descent was ok, and we rode 95% of it. It was nice to have gravity on our side but we still struggled with our heavy loads on the unstable and slippery surface.
We reached the main road Junction at 15:00 after a final few hundred metres of deep sand through quite beautiful rocky lava flow. The lava flow could make for good camping as it had sheltered pockets from the wind.
The main road, RT701, was pretty good travel. Sure it had many trucks, some washboard and some dust but it was fast and 100% rideable.
We arrived at Museo La Nina de Quemes at 15:25, unsure what to expect and were pleasantly surprised by the ample supplies and amenities despite steep pricetags. (Bano 5bs!, bottle water 12b/2l!).However the proprietor was a friendly guy, who welcomely filled a niche for travellers in this empty corner. The restaurant had pretty reasonable prices for soups, llama sandwiches, pastas and all the usual high energy snacks.
We left the Museo at 1600 before a short fast ride along the main road again to turnoff to the Lagunas road proper.
The first few kms of the Lagunas Road proper seemed pretty good, some washboard but it was easy and 95%rideable.
We powered up the first hill by 1700 but already the low sun and wind had the air temperature plummeting so we started looking for a campsite. We continued to the second small hill, across the end of the first flat plain.
We found a well sheltered rocky campsite atop this hill at 1745 (have nowmarked on iOverlander) Approx S21.443722° W67.995662°. Completely hidden from road. As you just start to descend off the little saddle after the first open flat of this main lagunas road there is a large flat area about 60m away off to your left hidden from the road by a low ridge of rocks. What appears to be a fault line heads ESE and has formed some beautifully sheltered pockets from the wind. Viscachas hide amongst these hollows but are shy. We could fit one large 2p tent well out of the wind or several small 2p tents spaced around in pockets would work too. No water here.
Day 6 Campsite at start of Lagunas Road to Chinchilla Canyon
We left our campsite at 0745. Unfortunately the road was poor to Laguna Canapa, rutted sandy washboard. 90% rideable, 20% enjoyable. The views, however, made up for all of that.
We spent 30mins at this first lake mesmerised by our first sight of Flamingos. After this the road slightly improved to Laguna Hedionda and became 100%rideable. We arrived there at 10.45 and spent a long time watching flamingos. Down by the shorefront you could get very close to them without disturbing them. We had sandwiches from the ecolodge (the Llama one was pretty delicious) then left by 1330. The road was then fine past subsequent lakes all 100%rideable, with a few rough patches but nothing major. So far this fabled unrideable dustvalley was turning out to be not quite as bad as imagined. There were now more jeeps however, approximately 2 every 30minutes, but mostly they were very kind and considerate and dust wasn't a problem. Traffic on the Yungas roads had been easily 100x worse by comparison. Similarly we had fine travel across the large ash field provided we carefully picked our lines. This ash field gradually transitions to a shallow climb with deteriorating condition. Eventually this became unrideable (for us) with heavy sand for long sections. Payment for our enjoyable morning riding perhaps. Because of this our speed dropped to 4-6kph riding or walking and we arrived at the camp Valley of Vizcachas ('wild camp in canyon' on IO) approx 1730 absolutely exhausted. The IO marked sheltered spot was not sheltered, with gale gusts through the canyon. We tried camping in the gully off to the true right, however despite some partial shelter the tent blew away in some sudden freak gusts whilst we were pitching so we returned to the valley and found better shelter further up. This was a very cold night. We lost the sun early in this spot and the altiplano desert freeze bit deep. This camp was at 4800m, so overall it was a difficult night's sleep.
Day 7 Camp in Vizcacha canyon to Arbol de Piedra
We had a bit of a sleep in to compensate for the poor sleep, and allow the sun to reach our tent and warm things up. Once the sun was up however the canyon warmed up and had beautiful lights and shadows.
It was a speedy route up the canyon, as a muddy stream in the centre had stabilised the dusty surface. We encountered more sand just before Desierto Hotel but it only took 1hr approximately. Here we had a prolonged coffee break and were kindly given fresh bread!! The staff seemed to be lovely kind people. Here we also stocked up on water.
Beyond here it was a somewhat sandy and washboard 10k to Vizcacha rocks but fine, 100%rideable. We encountered a fierce crosswind that was reasonably tiring as it would keep us fighting to stay on our chosen tracks. This stretch only took about an hour. We stopped at the Vizcacha rocks for a long lunch with Vizcachas clambering all over the steep rocks and comfortably coming right up to us.
From Vizcacha rocks to Arbol de Piedra the road surface was really good, strong cross/tailwind had us flying along with speeds up to 30kph when NOT pedalling!!! We easily reached Arbol de Piedra in 2hrs. I suspect a grader or dozer has been through here as the conditions are suddenly much better compared to previous notes.
The park ranger and family who look after the area and live beside the newly built Bano waved us over and offered free camping inside a spare room and outside their small cabin. We had found no decent wind shelter amongst the rocks on that particular day so it was very welcome. Signs of old campsites amongst rocks are spoiling the place so camping by the cabin, although not as scenic, is perhaps in the best interests of conservation here. The Bano was 5bs per time and awkward to find the person to unlock it unfortunately. The ranger was very friendly and informative. Reportedly he has cyclists staying here at least a few times a week. Water is only availble bottled(10Bs! for 500ml) and a few simple snacks available to purchase.
Day 8 Arbol de Piedra to Huallajara
This was a short day to allow finding a hostel for a rest.
Our first few kms went just fine, but in good lagunas tradition the road conditions were soon appalling. At times pushing... downhill... through sand. Alternately for a change of texture, the dense washboard was unavoidable. Very grateful for our 100mm of front suspension yet again! We managed to ride 90% but it was distinctly type 2 fun. Laguna Colorada was a nice stopover with many flamingos and stunning colours but not quite as characterful as the previous lakes when we passed. I hear the south side at dawn/dusk is the place to be.
I am unsure why there is a 150Bs fee per person for this park as roads are far worse and there really is no sign of any public services or conservation measures, although I would love to hear if I have missed something. As far as I could tell it was in worse condition than the more northern landscape.
Approximately 4hrs total of cycling today to Huallajara. We felt exhausted only because of the relentless wind and washboard. A few nutritional deficiencies were probably creeping in by now too. Here there were four tiendas, only two were attended, they had the usual basic carbs, high energy snacks/junk food and drinks. The others, alas remained closed for the two days and appeared derelict. It is possible that one is still in business but this couldn't be relied upon.
Be aware that iOverlander hostel names do not match reality well and locals were misleading about their neighbouring competition (naturally). However, there are plenty of options which all seemed ok when we asked around. We found Luna Dorada, halfway through town, there was no sign but it has large concrete animals embedded in walls and colourful decorations. The owners were obviously busy but very generous and welcoming. 50Bs pp shared room. Clean, sunny lounge area. 40Bs pp for afternoon tea, huge delicious vegetarian 3course dinner (mixed vegetable soup, spaghetti, rice pudding) and huge breakfast (eggs, toast, dulce de leche, marmalade, pancakes, cereals, yoghurt, coffee). The shower was weak, only just warm and cost 10Bs. Electricity is from solar array by day and by generator/power outlets for variable hours in the evening. Wifi is available for a fee but Entel 4G reception is ok here so we didn't need it.
Day 9 Huallajara to Laguna Chalviri
We had a rest day here which was very pleasant, being so easy to pop back to the Laguna, do bike repairs, read inside during the day etc, just remember to byo lunch.
The next day we left at 7am after a 6am breakfast at Luna Dorada, strangely this being a lot smaller and limited food than the day prior, seemingly because a large tour group was now there and naturally attracted the priority. We chose to first head back out to main road due to notes about he mapped direct shortcut being poor and the main road was fine so no issues here. The climb up to the 4700m saddle was gradual and road condition was fine, the usual few lumpy and loose patches but 100%rideable and enjoyable mostly. After that it was 95%rideable with suddenly more sand and washboard to 4900m. We reached 4900m approximately 12. About 200m past the military base we found shelter for lunch in an excavated ditch off to the right of the main road. Here was a very long lunch due to the low temperature boiling of lentils at altitude! Left at 13.30 What followed was easy fast downhill for us with front suspension but this could be a bit annoying without. Pretty good road surface overall. Stunning views here, so we took many photos, but otherwise it could be much, much faster. Chalvari reached at 15.30. The hot pools in town were great, 37 degrees, empty at this time, but they became very busy later.
All the hostels were full apparently, and given there was no reception or number with which to call ahead, impossible to book it seems. The hostels available were very different from iOverlander descriptions. All declined us even paying for sleeping on the floor somewhere. Only one accepted us camping outside but only in a field without shelter from gales. We were also told we were not allowed to shelter by pools or other unoccupied buildings without reason.
We were refused paying for food or meals as the food is only enough for tour groups. There was a sparse range of simple high energy snacks and drinks including water for sale (Oddly variable prices for water based on brand, 10-20bol/2l). These were available at the yellow store opposite the pools and at the first of the hostels on the little hill north ( the friendliest and only ones welcoming of cyclists in principle, apologetic for being full, others oddly very unfriendly).
We attempted to find shelter out of town but only one plausible rock shelter was seen, right next to road and in sight of town, so we returned to the one offered spot out in the open parking area in the gales.
One of our party was using a Hyperlite tent that had really exceeded it's otherwise excellent design in these alpine conditions and so we squeezed three into the MSR Elixir2.
Overall we found Laguna Chalviri generally unwelcoming to cyclists, with refusal to even camp being extraordinary, which was quite unusual compared to other places on our route. The settlement exists solely for jeep tours and prioritises this at the cost of other tourism opportunities. I would not rely on this place for anything which is a tragic shame when the area is so spectacular and has brilliant hot pools.
Day 10 Laguna Chalviri to Laguna Blanca
There was a beautiful sunrise but deep freeze overnight and we had had an awful sleep in such a windy site, so we had a late departure at 0800. The road was fine and no problem riding up to 4700m saddle but noticeably more jeeps compared to north and a few trucks now too. Unfortunately this increase of traffic and narrowing of jeep routes meant frequent stops with dust thrown up at us by the passing traffic. Ironically most of them were cheerfully waving and photographing us yet speeding past which was at least friendly but rather unhelpful. Previous reports of jeeps stopping to chat and even giving gifts of water etc are far from reality in our experience. in this area 50% will slow down and be courteous the rest are indifferent or a minority dangerous. We reached the summit by 10.30
Scenery over and down from the saddle was however some of the most spectacular thus far. We found more washboard and sand on the descent but it was ok. An Andean Fox that seems to have habituated to being fed by Jeeps came up to us on the long flat between Cerro Nelly and Saciel. There were a few rock shelters seen around here for a mediocre campsite. Lunch here after many photos and scenery stops slowed our pace. We took the road close to the shore of Laguna Blanca around, noting that the Open MTB map roads were initially wrong and the surface bad then down by the shore the views of Flamingos, Vicunas and the green algae were spectacular and made up for it. Reached Refugio at 1400, but could have been much faster if we'd ignored the scenery for example if needing to reach San Pedro de Atacama that day, Naturally, why would you though,
Refugio/Hostel licancabur was simple but great for us, very welcoming and easy going. Bikes in hallway no problem. 50Bs pp for room shared between the three of us and shared bathroom. Water not running in Bano/bucket flush. No shower. Solar charging, Sunny lounge area. Big vege dinner (simple soup and pasta) and simple breakfast (coffee, bread, eggs) for 30 and 15 Bs respectively. Contains usual basic shop/stand with snacks, drinks and Toilet paper. Cold and draughty inside.
Addit: Unfortunately due to my carelessness I forgot to retrieve my treasured InReach device I had placed to transmit on the windowsill that night and it was left behind. In San Pedro we realised where it must be and tracked it to the Refugio remotely. Unfortunately when a Jeep driver we had asked to ask in there about it visited the next day, the Refugio owner denied it was there despite the GPS continuing to transmit its location there at the time of the visit and show signs of someone operating it. The device had been played with as numerous waypoints had been created around the refugio and the carpark. Subsequent cyclists also asked and knowledge of the device was denied. I cancelled the subscription remotely with Garmin. I don't mean to cast accusations but it seems likely that the owners of the Refugio have my InReach and have been dishonest to the Jeep driver about it. Unfortunately our last night in Bolivia left a bad taste. We had got through the country much more fortunate than most not to have been robbed or threatened but alas an opportunity sometimes is all it takes to make desperate and otherwise honest people dishonest.
In retrospect the owner had also asked probing questions about the cost of our bikes but this has been a common, albeit alarming, question throughout Bolivia which we have become used to dismissing away with abstract answers about old secondhand bikes of little value.
Day 11: Laguna Blanca to San Pedro de Atacama
We didn't have far to ride today but many border logistics unknowns so after a simple breakfast from the refugio we were away by 8.
At the first Bolivian immigration post right beside the refugio we queued for 20mins and filled out the forma 250 on our phones with provided free wifi and showed our passport. Next was a gradual straightforward cycle 5k up hill on usual lumpy road to the second Bolivian control. Passport exit stamped quickly as we were there about 9.30, after the main early flood of jeeps.
There was a further 5k climb up to the Chilean border Control. The road was oddly broken up half washboard sandy garbage and half smooth asphalt which was hilariously poignant of the transition from Bolivian to Chilean roading standards.
5mins with Chilean immigration police passport control, then 1hr with their customs first filling out a bicycle details form including serial number and then the expected food search. They did a strange charade of a seemingly thorough yet very unsystematic and ineffective search of panniers but were pretty relaxed as we had already eaten our dried nuts/seeds, had no honey/fruit/Dairy/meat/elaborate untanned animal skin ornaments (for all those cyclists who managed to carry that all the way from Uyuni!). Out from the border buildings there was a small undulating stretch on asphalt then we had an incredible fast straight downhill 2000m descent to San Pedro de Atacama. The sight of asphalt was spectacular. I'm definitely more of a gravel/singletrack fan but this was a welcome luxury anyone could appreciate. The ability to sit on your saddle again without the 3Hz backside bashing of the Bolivian road network. It was magical. I didn't pedal for an hour and averaged 35kph even into a headwind. Others in an aerotuck were going 60kph. San Pedro de Atacama was reached by 2pm. We stopped at the nearest restaurant near the bus station which seemed an oasis after the recent weeks but if you get into the touristy area around Caracoles you will be surrounded by outstanding food options, admittedly expensive. I would highly recommend the incredibly varied flavours of the gelateria at corner Tocopilla x Caracoles and their other shop east on Caracoles. I would also recommend the exquisite bakery/courtyard cafe of Franchuteria with the best pastry and sourdough we've seen for months.
We stayed at Eden Atacameno on advice of other cyclists and it was great. Central to town, tranquil spacious tree shaded courtyards with hammocks, plenty of room for bikes and washing gear. 45,000 Chilean pesos for a triple room (quite pricey, but similar to nearby it seems) with hot showers included (taps temperamental), big kitchen with fridge, Wifi present in a small area (slow when busy at night), washing for 2,000CP per Kg. Seeing a flush toilet with toilet paper was mind-blowing after Bolivia.
Subsequently, to save money fast, we stayed at Hostal La Casa del Sol Naciente. Great value. 6000pesos PP sheltered camping near town centre with full use of a big lounge, kitchen, wifi (variable quality it seems), hot showers. The best value dinners are at 'food stands by stadium' as per ioverlander for 6000pesos with good quality but simple food, and big portions. Also La Picasa del Indio does an excellent menu del dia through dinnertime for 8000 and in a slightly nicer setting, albeit smaller.
Excellent bike service was provided at Bbikes. Very capable, friendly and pretty well stocked. The mechanics for Rutas Atacama were nice too and had decent stock but were very busy with tours.
SPDA is a bit of a social desert oasis for travellers so we met a number of other passing bikepackers including Annie, here to join our friends on the road Liam and El for the Seis Miles and Karsten from Germany on his fatbike heading north on the Lagunas.
So after a refreshing few days in SPDA it was time to say goodbye to our friend from NZ, heading home again via bus to Calama then La Paz, and time for us to decide on the next stage of our journey. With slim pickings for cheap, light, dehy energy-dense food around the town and our own concerns around our level of fitness to make the daily distances required of the recently rerouted Seis Miles Norte route we elected to set off in the direction of the picturesque canyons at Purmamarca. We would share the Paso Jama crossing with the new Seis Miles route but then continue on east from there into the Jujuy province. All covered in the next post!
Half Bolivian sand and half Chilean asphalt
Old Bolivian Immigration building
The long downhill
Eden Atacameno
Franchuteria
