Leaving La Paz after the obligatory Gilly-galloo we were on our way south to the Salar de Uyuni, the worlds largest salt flat, 12,106 square kms in area. People drive across it but one sure would not want to get lost out there!
Somewhere down the highway, we ran into a protest that blocked the highway. Buses, cars, trucks and yes even Motos had to cross a steep railway track to get onto a desert road to bypass the “mess”.
We figured we probably wouldn’t make the town of Uyuni on the east side of the flats and indeed we were correct. We traveled across the Altiplano which reminded us of Wyoming, the difference being that we were always over 12,000 feet.
By the time we reached Oruro we could see vicious storms to the south. A study of the Bolivia map showed the largest town en route was Challapata and we decided to get a room there.
We made it to town and dodged the storms. Unfortunately what was in the past a large town was now pretty much a ghost town. After a few attempts talking with the locals we found a place that rented rooms. At least they had done so in the past.
In stark contrast to the room we had in La Paz, this room was 10’ x 12’ had two rusty old single beds, a chair, and… well… that’s it. The bano was outside and common to the 12 rooms but it didn’t matter, we were the only “guests” at the hotel. We had secure parking for the bikes and that was the most important thing. Of course we had to pay up front, 30 Bolivianos (about US $3.75) for the night.
My biggest problem was the “Hobbit” sized door into our “suite”. I can’t recall how many times I cracked my head entering or leaving the room.
After check in we went for a stroll around town to see the sights which consisted of mostly abandoned buildings. This town boomed during the mining days but that has pretty much ended. There was however the main central square in town common to most towns in Bolivia, and it seemed to be a gathering place for locals to visit. Buying a few groceries in the local “7-Eleven” we went back to the room for a snack before hitting the sack. One good thing, we were going to get an early start in the morning!!
