¨There might be a party here next week¨

It really figures that I would find a fast internet connection in Bolivia, but then not have my hard drive work to be able to upload pictures! I really was planning on it, but I digress...

Jan Willem, the Dutch cyclist we sometimes have ridden with, often asks me what was my favorite part of the trip so far since he and Gudrun have basically done the same route. I was honest in my answer when I said I wasn't really sure since there have been so many fantastic places that we've passed through. However, that being said, I would have an answer for him the next time the question pops up: the valleys of central Bolivia.

One a tangent, there is a reason why I did not update the blog in Sucre. I didn't want to raise any alarms because I wanted to tell it like it is. Our museum tour guide provided the quote at the top of this post, ¨There might be a party here next week¨. Protesting seems to be a national passtime, only after soccer, of course. There is always some sort of protest going on every day in every large city I've been to thusfar. The general road blockades were a bit different. At one point I asked if there was the possibility of a civil war in Bolivia to which the guide responded, yes. Basically, there is a power struggle between La Paz and the rest of the country. It reminds me of the city-states of ancient Greece in which various cities struggle for power over the whole country, in this case La Paz, Sucre, and throw Santa Cruz into the mix.

As it stands, Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, but La Paz is the de facto capital, where comrade Evo Moralez resides. Ever since Evo took the presidency, things have gone downhill a bit. Last November, the mass protests were actually able to push out the government forces from the city of Sucre. Upon leaving, however, the police opened the doors of the city prison and evidence suggests actually helped the convicts before evacuating themselves. The city was left to anarchy for 6 days before the forces came back to attempt to restore order. This was not before they warned the city that the next time similar protests were to happen, they would use lethal force. Fast forward to my visit!

The truckers created a general blockade in every city in the country (consisted of dozens of transport trucks parking their vehicles across the roads leading out the cities in an irregular pattern to prevent anything bigger than a motorcycle from getting through) . To get from city to city, people would have to either take a flight, or take a taxi/bus up to the blockade, walk across, and then catching a waiting taxi/bus on the other side. Transporting goods across was basically impossible. Bicycles, myself and my companions included, were free to pass through and in my experience actually cheered on by the protesters who seemed to have created a festive atmosphere at least when I went through, at the start...

Sucre, Cochabamba (the next destination), Santa Cruz formed the heart of the blockade, but it also extended to La Paz. Since those are the only cities linked by paved roads, the whole country was for the most part affected. The day after we left, however, the government and protesters had talks and things calmed down for the moment and probably long enough for me to get out of the country before anything errupts. Ah, Bolivia, what a place! Back to the ride.

Potosí is the world's highest city, at over 4000m altitude (the place runs up a hill, so it ranges from 4000 to 4300). Sucre sits at a gorgeous 2500m, a vertical mile difference in altitude. So between Potosí and Sucre is one hell of a downhill!! We rode out of the city and easily passed through the blockades, which actually worked in our favor to reduce traffic en route to Sucre. The first day started with a beautiful descent over about 80km that gradually put us onto a flat pampa-like plain staring into a valley system, behind which lies the Amazon, which we would soon plunge into. This is where I curse the computers here again, because the pictures, while simply amazing, can't even begin to capture the spectacular scenery that we experienced. First and foremost, it was much warmer. This was my #1 grievance, the cold of the antiplana, aka puno, aka plateau over 4000m that was freezing at night. Imagine the smile on my face when I got to wear just a short-sleeve shirt and riding shorts, only, for days on end since leaving Potosí. One we entered the valley, it was a repitition of plunging deep down by the river, riding downstream or upstream, and then climbing 1000+ vertical meters every day only to repeat. The descents, the climbs, everything was spectacular. Riding at the bottom and craning my neck up to the ridgelines on either side of me, the faces of the hills dotted with cacti, the ever-increasing amount of tropical vegetation, and of course the tiny settlements with farm animals and small plots of land for growing crops, all of this combined is why this area is my favorite of South America as a whole.

The two days toward Sucre passed by without incident, but I did have a sore throat on the ride, so I wasn't 100% happy with the ride. Arriving in the city, I found myself somewhat unimpressed at first. When I was able to walk around a bit, I quickly turned my opinion around 180 degrees. One of my favorite aspects of Sucre were the nightly high school parades that just seem to form and snake down the streets complete with dancers and a small band formation, traffic be damned. I loved seeing cars pull into one street, see the procession, and the put the gear into reverse and seek another way. Makes walking down the street quite easy as well. I also learned to appreciate the older colonial architecture, with most of the buildings' walls painted white in the center of the city. Then, there was the beautiful market. For a pound of delicious goat cheese, $2. For a full meal, lunch or dinner, $1.50. For a mountainous fruit salad, $1, or a blended fruit milkshake, your choice of about 8 kinds of fruit solo or in combination, $0.30, and that includes a refill! We could eat and eat and eat, and never get bored of the Bolivian gastronomy. Yummy!

The blockade on the way out of Sucre was just as easy to get through, though the people seemed less friendly. On the way toward Cochabamba (featured in the movie Scarface for one chapter at least), it was more of the same beautiful valley system. Day 1 - fantastic, downriver, paved, bottoms out at 1700m. Day 2 - horrible, uphill 40km straight, not paved and quite dusty, scenery not as nice, and my ass hurt. Day 3 - oh my god, what a jaw-dropping valley, mega-downhill, followed by a mega-uphill when we got out of valley on the other side. Day 4 - still beautiful area, but is this the road that never stops going up? We climbed back up to 3400m!! Heaven forbid I have to put on a jacket to complete the ride. The winds were also like those in Patagonia, literally whipping the Amazonia cloud system up and over the mountain toward us, and unfortunately not at our backs. Day 5 - We only have a bit to climb before reaching the top at 3700m, and then it's on our way to Cochabamba at 2500m. Oh do I love cashing in my gravitational potentail energy!! The 90km passes by quickly and even without the serious downhills, I am motivated to haul ass along the way partly because a few rain drops are falling, the first since Iguazu.

The city of Cochabamba, while not anything special, is a launching point for the the next and final portion of my trip in South America. Markus wanted to leave with the Dutch and French couples, and I chose to stay and rest a day after all the climbing of the past few days. Tomorrow morning, I will bus into La Paz, and from there decide where to next. We have plans to visit Lake Titicaca, perhaps climb a 6000m peak, riding down Bolivia's 'death road' toward a place called Rurrenbaque (sp?) from which I plan on doing a jungle and pampas tour that will take my via riverboat into the Amazon to see, among other things, gators, caymans, anacondas, pirhanas, capybara (one of the coolest names for an animal), jungle plants, birds, and butterflies to name a few. After that, it's back to La Paz, and then probably up to Lima to come home! (tickets are less expensive from there than from La Paz, by about half)

So there you have it, the past week, and the future weeks all laid out. Will update when Markus and crew arrive in La Paz in about 5 days. Ciao till later.