4 days of amazing Andean magic. Photos to come.

Wednesday 1^st October 2014. Stage 47, 120 kms, 70% paved, riding the Altiplano at 3800 metres all day. A beautiful day of solace.

Our night in the hotel in Oruro was pretty good, unfortunately I didn't read the sign that said breakfast was at 7.30am. So here I am sitting down at 6.50 am waiting for breakfast wandering where is everybody. Obviously they were still in bed where I shouldn't have been.

I'll stop whining and get on with today's ride.

We packed the trucks and were riding out of town around 8.30 am. Today would be a long ride along the Altiplano all day. The first part of the ride was on good road with a flat landscape as far as the eye could see on either side of the road. The flat landscape with small chunks of grass scattered over the fields and Llamas in the hundreds enjoying what was left in the fields.

As we rode onto lunch at the 50 km mark the road turned to hell. Rutted, corrugated, sandy and mud roads for the next 10 kms. What amazed me was the buses and trucks don't seem to worry how rough the road is and just plough on through. Even though the road was terrible I didn't care, the scenery was now turning green, a bright blue sky, llamas on either side of the road, and more importantly a strong tailwind.

The first time I got to see the fire engine was when it came up from behind around the 50 km mark. We found out their was a minor incident in town which caused some police intervention, but eventually the truck was allowed to leave and catch up to us in time for lunch. Walter pulled over and made some bread rolls for us and made sure we had enough water for the rest of the afternoon's ride. All the other cyclists were in front of us because we stopped off at the town of Toledo to have a look around. This was a very small village with a couple of shops and the usual plaza in the centre of town. I did manage to be chastised by some old lady for taking some photos of the children. I respected her wishes and stopped photographing. I personally think the gorgeous smiles on these dirty little faces are priceless and should be shared, so others outside this part of the world can see how beautiful the Bolivian people really are.

After lunch we continued on the dusty road and found everyone at a little village at the 60 km mark. We got the chance to full our bottles up again and take some more snacks. The entire group of riders took off together and finally hit the paved road. The story behind the paved road is that the current president of Bolivia has parents up the road from where we're staying tonight and decided his parents should have a paved road. Not sure on whether this is true or not.

We rolled along for the rest of the afternoon admiring a beautiful landscape which was now changing. We could see the salt seeping out of the earth all over the fields, indicating we were getting to our next challenging destination, the salt pans of Bolivia.

Around 2.30 pm we arrived at the small town of Andamarca. The fire engines were parked up the dirt road near a large hall. The tables and chairs were inside and we were given an opportunity to either put up the tent and hope it doesn't rain or sleep in the building. I chose the easy option and decided to sleep upstairs on the air mattress. Why would I put up a tent if I didn't have to.

Later that even we were invited to see the old Spanish church which was built around 1623. The gentleman who invited us was the head of the region. His story is fascinating in itself. The church has the tallest tower in all of Bolivia. History says that 4 noble people were sacrificed in the tower and now each year the region celebrates these 4 people's sacrifice. The inside of the church is quite nice but in need of some tender loving care. The head man or mayor as I call him gave us a great history lesson on the church, the Spanish who came to the region on horses carrying huge loads of tin but when crossing the river got into difficulty. Many died during this long journey. As a result of this the Spanish leaders directed that the church be built.

I returned to my little apartment and got my bed ready. I staying in a huge room about 20 metres long by 10 metres wide. Sleeping on a tiled floor. Dave and Diderick are the others staying with me. A couple are staying downstairs and I can hear the laughter and music playing nice and loud at 9.30 pm. Time to put the ear plugs in and go to sleep.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Thursday 2^nd October 2014. Stage 48, Bushcamp to Bushcamp Meteor Crater. 154 kms, 80% paved, 810 metres climbing, summit 3830 metres. A long day with Llamas and headwind.

Today we were given the option of either riding the dirt road or taking the paved road for about 40 kms. We were given the option because of the huge storm during the night could have made the sandy track very hard to get through. Barry and I opted for the paved section which would give us 60 kms of dirt after lunch. Now this is how it was suppose to pan out.

We left the penthouse around 8.15 am an hit the road for the 40-60 km ride on paved road to lunch. The other cyclists left us around the 20 km mark and hit the dirt/sandy road for the day. There ride was about 100 kms long.

As soon as we left the other cyclists we turned to the left and was hit smack bang in the face with a strong headwind. We were pushing hard to maintain a speed of 20 kph. As we approached the 40 km mark I started to hope the lunch truck would come into view, because this is where the road turns right and we take the unpaved road and would get the tailwind. Well, it didn't pan out that way. At the 60 km mark I had eaten 1 banana and 4 muesli bars and finished 2 bottles of drink, I was now riding without anymore supplies.

We pushed on along the flat Altiplano roads with hundreds of running in the fields and running in front of us until we could see the fire engine in the distance. It was 80 kms that we had to ride before we could get some food. I was feeling hungry 30 minutes ago and that's not a good thing when you're riding a bike. Barry, Jurg, Hartmud, Michelle and Buck and myself took our time eating lunch and wandering if we had ridden 80 kms when it should have been 40 kms, then how far have we got to ride to end the day at the Meteor Crater.

Lunch was over and it was time to get back to riding. Still pushing into the wind for another 20 kms until we finally reached the road that would take us due south and a tailwind. We were expecting terrible dirt/sandy roads from this point on, but fortunately for us it was nice new paved road.

With about 25 kms to go we could see the sky's getting darker and darker and appeared that we were on a collision course for one hell of a storm. We could see the storm on the left of us was going to join with the storm coming from our right. It was at this time we met up with some of the cyclists who took the dirt road earlier on in the day. They had just finished the dirt section and entered the paved road to join in with us for the final push to the end of the stage. We stopped for some photos of the storm and quickly got back on the bike to try and avoid the rain. Barry, Jan Willem and myself went pretty hard for the final 10 kms to the Meteor Crater. As we got to the finish, I quickly got my tent and bag, put up Tent Hilton inside a llama pen with metre high walls, got changed and headed to the eating room for some soup. Well the sky's opened up and the wind blow so hard it would blow a dog off a chain, (old aussie saying). There was no way I could go outside and check on the tent, the dust that had kicked up was blinding. I've never been in such a sand storm in all my life. You couldn't see the village about 500 metres down the hill, and we still had a couple of cyclists still out there.

The storm had calmed down by dinner time and my tent was nice and dry and in 1 piece. Some of the other cyclists were not so fortunate. I spoke to about 5 who said they had water all through the tent and ½ their gear was wet. Buck had a big problem putting up his tent and had to move it because of the howling winds. He also copped the worse of the storm and he ended up freezing and wet.

As I sit inside Tent Hilton at 8.20 pm the rain is starting to fall once again. The temperature is now 6 degrees C and we're sitting at 3740 metres altitude. Tomorrow's ride will take us closer to the Salt flats, but before we get there we have a very hard 75 kms of unpaved, corrugated, sandy road to navigate.

I mentioned that the end of today's stage finished at the 'Meteor Crater'. I did get to see the sign pointing in the direction of the crater but because it was pouring down I never did get to see it. I hope to get up early enough to check it out tomorrow before we head off.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Friday 3^rd October 2014. Stage 49, 73 kms, 0% paved, 509 metres climbing, summit 3800 metres. Bushcamp Meteor Crater to Bushcamp Tahua.

No photos of crater, still raining in the morning. I put off pulling my tent down as it looked like it was going to clear. I went for breakfast and by the time I had finished the rain had finally stopped. It actually rained all night interspersed with dogs howling just to make sure we didn't fall off to sleep too easy.

After packing up the tent I was once again the last person to leave camp. I think I've got to get my act together and stop sleeping in. I didn't worry about chasing anyone as today was only 73 kms of unpaved, corrugated, sandy, rocky road. Now that should be a simple day out on the bike. After a couple of kms I caught up to Elizabeth and we rode together for a km or two. As we rode along, the scenery of a reddish brown flat landscape that went all the way to the mountains in the distance was beautiful to see. The road continued up to a crest which allowed us to have a great view down into the floor of the valley below. This was a time for more photos of a stunning landscape that has has no human interference except for the terrible roads we were riding on.

Each time we stop for photos we are joined by other cyclists doing what should be done on a tour of this nature, take photos. As we continued on to the lunch stop at the 36 km mark we rode through a small mud brick village of about 10 homes and it looked deserted. I think the problem in this area is that the young ones grow up and move into the city looking for work and they never returned. I don't blame them, to live in this environment would be extremely harsh.

We rolled into the town of Salinas for lunch. It was only ½ a km off the dusty road but it was smooth and I needed a rest from all that jarring for the past 3 hours. You don't move fast on these roads, and you have to work for every metre.

As we rolled into the central plaza of the town all the riders were eating lunch and enjoying the morning break.

After a 30 minute break we hit the road again for part 2 of the stage. Another hard section of worse conditions, with bigger rocks, bigger holes to avoid and now my back brake has stopped working. Within 10 kms of riding we pasted through a village that was having some sort of ceremony. The name of the village is not even on our maps. We found out that one of the village ladies had been struck by lightning yesterday afternoon during that horrific storm and died. I just couldn't believe how tragic this was. There were men and women inside the village (we stayed outside) and the children were out with us playing around and having their photos taken. Life can be taken away so swiftly, so enjoy every breath you take.

As we continued on the road just didn't let up, more steep climbs with rocks throwing you bike all over the place. I had to hang on so tight to the handlebars just to keep the damn thing straight. By now there were about 8 of us riding together heading towards the summit that would allow us to see Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kms. It is located inty he Potyosi and Oruro departments in sout5hest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3656 metres above sea level. What a spectacular sight looking out into the distance to see this enormous salt plain before us. Tomorrow we get to ride across it, and that will be another brutal day on the bike. We entered the town of Tahua around 1.30 pm but had to wait another hour for the trucks to find a good place to camp for the evening. Well they didn't disappoint us, we are camping on the grass on the shore of the lake, nice and flat for the tent and free of llamas.

Dinner was back up the road in the local hall and once again Ellen did a great job. On the bike side of things, I had to have my centre bracket replaced because it was stuffed. Lupcho our bike mechanic did a great job and I should be ready to rock and roll tomorrow morning. After dinner it was back to Tent Hilton and get a good night's sleep. My health is good, my bike is good and I'm still having a fantastic time. I'm really keen on tomorrow as I've watched documentaries on the salt plains in the past. I think we get to stay in a hotel made entirely of salt tomorrow night. Now that should be interesting.

It's now 8 pm and I'm turning off the light and going to sleep.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.

Saturday 4^th October 2014. Stage 50, Bushcamp Tahua to Salar de Uyuni. 102 kms, dead flat riding on a the world largest salt pan. Altitude 3600 metres.

I woke today to a beautiful morning with the sun out and not a breath of wind. First we had to meet back up in the town at 7am for breakfast. I got dressed, left my tent in a mess and headed up for breakfast with Barry and the rest of the crew. I thought I would pack up Tent Hilton when I got back. Breakfast was the usual affair but today had a difference, we had ridden close to 5000 kms to reach a significant junction in the tour, the largest salt pan in the world.

After breakfast we headed back to the campsite, packed up the gear and got ready to hit the salt pan. We all rolled out together with the 2 trucks behind us. As we entered the salt pan it was just surreal. Lay before our very eyes was an oasis of flat salt pans as far as the eyes could see. Our destination was an island at 40 kms where we would be having lunch. I rode along with different people all morning, each stopping to take a photo of this amazing landscape. Over the years I've got to see some spectacular places, but to see a vast open landscape of salt which we were going to ride over 100 kms on today made you feel pretty damn cool.

I would ride along for a couple of kms and stop to take photos and just sit on the bike and just dream about being in a place that not many people will ever get to see in their life times. I know my good friend Peter & Ema Felvus travelled here recently and they told me just how beautiful Salar de Uyuni really was. I followed the track all the way to lunch and then took a moment to take in the past 40 kms. We had arrived Isla Pescado and island in the middle of the oasis. Myself and Elizabeth were the only ones to climb the island to get the most breathtaking panoramic 360 degrees views over the entire Salar de Uyuni salt pans. From the top of the island we could see the lunch trucks down below and the cyclists leaving on a path that led 60 kms along a thin salt strip to the final destination of the day. I should say we are staying at Hotel Playa Blanca which is made entirely of salt. Even the beds are made of salt.

By the time we came back from the island we were the last 2 to get back on the bikes and start the 60 km ride to our hotel. We just rolled along at a steady pace with a huge tailwind making the journey so much easier. We stopped a couple of times taking photos and just admiring this incredible part of the world. There was no plant life or bird life on the plains, only a smooth path made by vehicles that crossed this land each day. Even though I had my trusty Garmin I did manage to take the wrong track, but luckily the lunch time fire engine came past to show us the right way.

We caught up to JR and rode with him for the final 30 kms. We could see other riders off to our right who must have taken a wrong track, and looked about 10 kms away, but distances in this part of the world are hard to judge. As we got closer to the finish line we could see the outline of a building and riders and cars out the front. It appears that this is the location for the start of the greatest car rally race in the world, 'the Dakar rally'. There were plenty of flags out the front of the hotel, but my first goal was to find out where I was sleeping and more importantly who with. I found out I was sleeping with Max and Jurg.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with cleaning, eating and sitting outside and admiring the sun going down over the salt pans. I can't remember a more finer sunset in many a year. During dinner stories were exchanged about the ride, the photos taken and the excitement of crossing a salt pan which was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago. I think that this has to be in the top 10 of the finest days of cycling I've had in my life.

Tomorrow we get to ride 35 kms, 7 of which are an individual time trial. I'll be having a crack at it and hope to get in the top 5. It looks like another fantastic day tomorrow and one that leads into a rest day. I need to my ass a break from the seat.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.