Day 1,103
More butterflies
After a few days' rest in the tourist town of Rurrenabaque, we sadly left our pool, favourite restaurant and coffee shops behind and set off for our final few days riding through the jungle. It will come as no surprise to learn that this meant more climbing, more heat, rough dirt roads but hey it beats answering work emails!
Straight away we were hit by just how tough life is for those that live out here. Dust gets everywhere. There is no running water in homes, little electricity, long drops for toilets and a river or bucket for a shower. Meals are cooked on open fires. Food is sourced locally, so little variety, although the quality of the fruits available is awesome. We stopped at one ‘shop’, basically a family's home with one room, open at the front with very few items for sale. Bolivia's economy is suffering and this is reflected in what is available to buy. We were able to purchase some bread but nothing to go in it, no fresh food at all, just a few random tins of meat. We sat eating our dry bread, when the owner's son served us two bowls of piping hot vegetable soup. No charge, they were happy to share what little they had, with us, two complete strangers. As we ate, a family arrived by car. They had come to deliver petrol, handing over a large plastic container. Soon they were sitting with the owner's family enjoying a meal and each other's company.
Over the next few days we climbed, we descended, and climbed again, over 13,000 feet gained and lost. The road was better than we'd hoped but every now and again it deteriorated into a surface of loose stones some bigger than my hand. Not easy to cycle over. There were rewards though, stunning views, and more butterflies. Tom was able to photograph quite a few. The variety was amazing, one of our favourites, Anna's 88, of which up to now we had only seen one dead one, were now in abundance.
We stayed in the cheapest hotel of our trip, £3.44 for both of us for the night. A brand new building, with an ensuite bathroom, cold shower, but it was so hot that was fine. Crazy! From our room we watched the local children heading to school. Their school uniform was a choice of shorts and t-shirt, in blue and white, or the girls had a second option of a bright white dress. Seriously, why? How hard it must be to keep them looking so pristine.
One morning we managed to buy bread and jam for breakfast. The shop also had some instant coffee for sale, so we bought a packet. Most shops have a porch area, with a table and chairs, so as we sat eating, I asked the owner if she sold hot water, she said no, but looked puzzled. I pointed to the packet of coffee, 5 minutes later she was back, and kindly filled out mugs to the brim. At another small shop, which only had a few cans of fizzy drinks for sale, the young assistant, Lesley, chatted to us. She was keen to learn a few phrases in English. As we left she handed us a massive bag of oranges as a gift. I could go on. In a country that is clearly suffering we are humbled by people's kindness and generosity.
Finally after four days cycling we reached the small town of Caranavi. We booked a hotel, and planned our next few days. La Paz was our next destination, but to get there was another 13,000 plus feet of climbing and we would be riding to over 15,000 feet altitude. On dirt. With low oxygen levels. Tom's bike needs attention with his bottom bracket in danger of ceasing up, and I knew I would struggle. It would take around 4 maybe 5 days, on busier roads, with few chances to resupply on the way. Our decision to ride every mile on our trip if a road was available was weighing heavily on our minds. We decided to sleep on our decision. Find out what we decided in the next post!
