Arequipa to La Paz

We arrived in Arequipa to find all the riders accounted for – some sleeping and some still sorting their things and roadbooks. Dakar had organised a passport control centre, which made the border crossing into Bolivia a total dream. We had to set our watches an hour forward to Bolivia time which made our arrival after midnight. There was still plenty to organise for the next day and I finally left Peggy, still working, and went to sleep for 90 minutes before we had to be up for the stage from Arequipa to La Paz in Bolivia.

The riders had a good day of riding, slowed down by the rain and slippery Bolivian roads. While it was long, it was certainly not as hectic and challenging as the previous two days. Peggy and I had the most incredible day of driving through scenery which will be indelibly imprinted in my mind forever. It was magnificent. The drive took us 13.5 hours in a camper van and my biggest struggle was to fight the altitude, which kept trying to put me to sleep. It was a very bizarre feeling but we figured out a system of stopping every 30 minutes and pouring water over my face and head and then continuing. I found Eddie Veder and Pearl Jam to be good driving company. 🙂

The border crossing was seamless and our arrival into Bolivia soon took us past Lake Titicaca – what an incredible treat. I had been told that Bolivia is Dakar nuts, and our arrival was like something out of a movie. We drove through 14km of screaming fans and it honestly felt like we were some kind of royalty.

As with everything, there is light and dark. A poster which jumped out at me was being held by a 30-something woman and read: “Help us. We are in a dictatorship.” Again, I need to do some research as I know very little about this country, its history, industry or current political situation. I had to concentrate hard to navigate the camper through screaming fans being held back by the military and the police. The border post had been closed and the main road into La Paz was shut down as well. Peggy told me to look to the right at one stage… and there it was… La Paz. It is best described as something out of a 90s science fiction movie, crossed with the latest Mad Max film. I truly can’t believe that a place like this exists. We were taken by one of our Bolivian team members to our hotel in La Paz. I have never been so excited to have a real shower and clean sheets. The showers in the bivouac are cold and are effectively a porter loo with a shower head… and while I love camping, just sometimes it’s nice to be a princess. 😉

We have a rest day in La Paz and are staying in our hotel for two nights. The riders embark tomorrow on a marathon stage where they spend the night in tents without any assistance from mechanics or us, and then continue their ride in the morning. We will be driving from La Paz to Tupiza in the morning and will be ready for them when they come in from the second part of their marathon stage. Dave explained that the marathon stage is included to make riders self sufficient, manage their riding style in terms of general bike preservation and of course test their endurance mettle. I can’t believe that they want to put these guys through more tests. This race is just crazy.