One late afternoon I made it to the finish line of my last leg in Bolivia. La Paz. With a big grin I inhaled and took in the glittering view of the massive city. With Andes all around the whole thing just seemed so utterly misplaced. Like one of the surrounding mountains had gotten bored one day, and decided to spit out this loud and chaotic urban jungle just for the heck of it.
I was excited to get to lay eyes on the bustling city everyone kept talking about. Relieved to get to give my tired legs some proper rest. But more than anything else, endlessly joyous to finally get to meet what I already considered to be my friends.
Adriana and Juan Pablo were waiting. Sister and brother of my good friend from home. And the last part of family Koria, who’d taken care of me like one of their own ever since I crossed the border into their country.
There were days of laughter and delicious food. A soft bed and warm showers. 17th floor views to die for. And what I love more than anything – a feeling of home. There are simply no words for this family.
Eastern came and while my own family was skiing and eating chocolate eggs back in Sweden, we spent La Pascua like Bolivian catholics do most and a few days of mass reached it’s crescendo with a massive Sunday procession.
…and the crucifixion of a plastic Jesus doll.
I liked this photo.
Religion sure is a curious thing.
I loved this break. Though after a few days I found myself spending more and more time up on the building rooftop. Not looking at the city views, but gazing off into the distance and to what what behind them.
It was time. I was mountain bound again.
What do you see..?
If there’s one thing messier than cycling into million-people cities, it’s cycling out of them. On the morning of leaving La Paz I met up with Swedish adventure cycling extraordinaire Lars Bengtsson (read his stories from 100k km in 100 countries on lostcyclist.com), and we quickly decided to start off our ride together by cheating out of town.
Instead of spending the day pushing them up the mad hill we’d both come down when arriving in town, we crammed our fully loaded bikes into the city telefericos to literally get flown out of the city center. Totally the way to go.
Can you believe this is actual La Paz public transport?
Before we even knew it we were out of the chaos that is La Paz. Back on the countryside, and back to normal. With the one exception being that we all of a sudden had found ourselves a riding partner.
Fresh air smiles!
Just before sunset we had made it to lake Titicaca. The border to Peru was merely kilometers away and endless adventures laid ahead. Pitching our tents we watched the sun set, and I think there was something telling us both that whatever was waiting – was going to be good.
‘So.. I’ve heard you too like cycling?’ lol
Until next time,
Fredrika