DAY 37 – 2/18/12 ORURO --> EL ALTO

230 km / 55 kph ave / 130 kph max
5 hrs tot / 4 hrs mov / 3738m --> 4120m

We slept in until 0900, knowing the Carnival parade would go all day. After breakfast we cleared out our room, but left our gear with the bikes in the courtyard and got some great seats in the front row of the parade route. After seeing a while we wanted to move further down the parade route, but from where we were we could only walk down the route ourselves. We were prime targets for the bubble spray from people in the stands and we both got doused good while we were in the open.













After a cheese sandwich for lunch we headed out around 1300 with rain gear on. Luckily, this would be the second day in a row we wouldn't need it. When we got closer to La Paz, the traffic became terrible, made worse by Carnival closures and celebrations. We found a hotel in the suburb city of El Alto for $44 USD. It was on the 5ht floor with a decent view, but unfortunately, there was a karaoke club on the 6th floor and we spent the night listening to awful Japanese singing.

DAY 38 – 2/19/12 EL ALTO --> COPACABANA

170 km / 57 kph ave / 110 kph max
4 hrs tot / 3 hrs mov / 1 ferry crossing

We took a taxi ride from El Alto to La Paz in order to pick up my front brake pads for $800 Bs. A big thanks to Julio for coming in on a weekend and meeting me with the brake pads. The taxi ride into and out of the city was pretty impressive. I can see why it is called the city in the clouds. We were definitely glad we weren't trying to navigate the confusing streets without the benefit of GPS directions.






Back on our bikes heading out of town around 1200 we passed through a shower, but it only lasted about 10 minutes. Interestingly, when there was a raining/low visibility situation in Argentina 9 out of 10 cars would drive with their headlights on. Here in Bolivia it is the opposite and only 1 in 10 cars actually uses their headlights. the ferry crossing was a unique experience on a ramshackle barge (10Bs. each). There were large trucks and buses crossing, so they must be plenty robust. The ride from the ferry to Copacabana was great, as we were riding a ridge with Lake Titicaca on both sides.












Once in town, we found a local welder who fixed my right mirror for $10 Bs. and stayed in a hostel with secure parking.

DAY 39 – 2/20/12 ISLE DEL SOL

No riding

Today we woke up early at 0730 in order to catch a 0830 ferry to the Isle Del Sol. As we left the hostel, the clouds were dark, but it wasn't raining, but as soon as the boat left it started raining. The ride took 2 hours and was not very rough. It stopped raining and the sun came out about 15 min after we got to the island. The ruins were a nice 45 min hike along the ridge of the island. We had some lunch we packed with us at the ruins, then headed back to catch the 1330 return boat. The boat ride back was about half full so we got to stretch out and lay on the benches. When we got back to town, we bought some gifts and dinner stuff and headed back to the hostel to make dinner.