When I arrived in Bolivia, Roberto my driver and partner for the next three weeks was already waiting for me. The altitude of the places to be visited was 80% at an altitude between 3600 m and 4300 m. To avoid altitude sickness, I had already been preparing myself in Germany by temporary acclimatization at home to imitate these altitudes with an altitude chamber, blood oxygen test and the test under load. The evaluations were good, and the risk was negligible. I was well prepared.
From La Paz, 3600 m, the road led us over the “La Cumbre Pass” at an altitude of approx.. 4700 m, before the road fell in many serpentines over steep mountain slopes in Coroico to 1200 m. After a short time we cross several climatic zones, from the cold climate of the Altiplano to the warm and humid climate of the Yungas rainforest. The change is very extreme.
Back in La Paz, we visited Copacabana on Lake Titicaca the next day. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in South America and at an altitude of approximately 3800 m above sea level. It is also one of the highest lakes in the world.
The next place in our itinerary was the salt lake "Salar de Uyunai" for the next two days. The journey there took more than 600 km of a super good asphalt road (of which only the last 100 km were gravel roads) to the village of Salina Garcia Mendoza, which is situated at the northern end of the lake, a super isolated village.
After visiting the Salar de Uyuni we head south through a 4000 m high Altiplano landscape with its many strange rock formations, volcanoes and lagoons. For me it was my personal highlight!
Before returning to the border crossing to Bolivia, we were blocked from the road for about 3 hours. During the night there was a heavy snowfall and the police let us through only after it had passed and cleared. The day was very long.