Blog 9 2nd – 6th April Tupiza to Salta (489km) Total distance – 2080km To keep to schedule I planned to step on the gas from Tupiza to Salta – almost 500km to do in four days. I thought it was achievable though because it was all on tarmac and there would be some great […]
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The Lipez Range – Quetena Chico to Tupiza
Blog 8 28th March to 31st March Quetena Chico to Tupiza Total distance – 1591km My rest day was indeed a break from the bike, but it was an opportunity to see a little of what Quetena Chico, a town of about 500 people, had to offer. Rolando arranged for us to visit the museum, […]
Licancabur and Uturuncu – two sacred mountains
Blog 7 24th – 27th March Sol de Manana – Volcan Licancabur – Quetena Chico and Volcan Uturuncu Total distance – 1307km The southwest corner of Bolivia is an unworldly place. Just before reaching Laguna Colorada, I entered the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, home to a treasure trove of natural wonders. The reserve’s […]
Salt pans, lakes and rugged tracks
Blog 6 18th – 23rd March Uyuni to Lake Colorada Total Distance – 1227km Before leaving Uyuni, I hadn’t mentioned the reason for its existence – the railway. The town was established in 1893 when the railway line was built to link the nearby silver mines to the coast at Arica. From there it was […]
Lake Poopo and the heartland of the Altiplano
Blog 5 13th – 17th March Turco to Uyuni Total distance – 915km With Reza flying out of Uyuni, Toby, Rolando and I drove back to Turco, the town where I stopped cycling due to my illness. I was much better than the last few days, but feeling weak, still on antibiotics. I wasn’t really […]
An adventure makes it’s own path
Blog 4 9th – 12th March Sajama to Turco, Uyuni Total distance – 501km Originally I wrote this blog as a part of the previous blog, but then realised it was a bit too big, so I have cut it to make two blogs. Plan C There was always a risk that we could not […]
Acotango & the Cholitas Escaladoras for International Women’s Day
Blog 3 6th – 8th March Acotango Climb, Sajama 6th – 8th March Day 7 we set aside for catching up on everything and organising our border crossing into Chile. Prior to starting the expedition, Rolando and I had done a lot of research to find out whether it would be possible to cross; I […]
Diving straight into Andean culture, past and present
Blog 2 28th February to 5th March La Paz to Sajama Village Total distance – 373km I apologise for not sending a blog sooner but we have been having trouble with the satellite communications device for now. To see where the places I mention are, please check the tracking map: https://kateleeming.maprogress.com/andes_altiplano_atacama El Alto – Tiawanaku […]
The Andes, the Altiplano & the Atacama 2022
Blog 1 The Andes, the Altiplano & the Atacama 2020 Exactly two years ago, I arrived in Cusco, Peru, ready to begin my South American altitude cycling expedition, The Andes, the Altiplano and the Atacama. The plan was to pedal a winding 3500km path from Cusco, Peru to Ojos del Salado, the world’s highest volcano, […]
The Lights Up Ahead
Its almost four months since my crash on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert, but unfortunately I am still stuck in Melbourne. I was cleared by the surgeon to restart the journey six weeks ago, but the state borders have remained closed ever since, and most of that time we have been confined to stay […]
