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 Life on the TopBack to Altiplano AdventuresBy Mike Beris - 2009-10-27
Altiplano Adventures First of all, let me save you the time: wikipedia tells us that Altiplano is "Spanish for high plain, in central South America, where the Andes are at their widest, is the most extensive area of high plateau on earth outside of Tibet." From our experience, the wikis got it right. It’s high. It’s plain. And it feels really good knowing that we rode across the second most extensive area of high plateau in the world. Riding out of the town of Cochabamba (one of the most fun-to-say town names we came across), I could tell that the geography we were in was unique. Like hot fudge drizzled on top of a sundae, the road we would be following for many days hugged the top of a ridge. We faced long, gradual climbs with remarkable views into bottomless valleys. Some of the surrounding hills had a spattering of durable vegetation, but most were wind-wracked and lacked any growth but low grasses. All of the hills were notched with erosion. Like patchwork quilts, corralled grazing fields marked distant hillsides. The sky was blue every day, and the air was cold, dry and thin. So thin in fact, that on the big climbs, we had to take a breather every few minutes. After a few days of this kind of riding, we got into a rhythm: - We’d wake up around 7:00 and break down camp. - After about an hour of riding, we’d do breakfast: oatmeal and cold instant coffee for me. - By about 11:00 am, my feet would finally be thawing out (can’t say the same for some of the water bottles yet though). - We’d try to cover as many kilometers as we could amidst frequent breaks to suck down low-oxygen air. - Hunger would kick in again, so we’d stop at a roadside restaurant for a lunch of soup, rice, potatoes, and some kind of meat - More riding, stopping for photos and chats with locals, some of whom don’t see many gringos. - Just before sundown we would start looking for a safe, hidden, flat patch of ground. - After the tents were up, we’d take turns cooking pasta or filling up on bread, cheese, and jelly. - The cold temperatures would send us to sleeping bags as soon as we’d be done eating, around 9:00, with just enough time for some reading and bringing the water bottles inside the sleeping bag. To add to the excitement, our Suunto altimeters were always telling us that we were close to breaking our elevation record, so each difficult climb could have been "The One". "The One" turned out to be about 4,500 meters, or 14,764 feet. July 4th was celebrated here in Bolivia with some fireworks we picked up back in Potosi. In red, white, and blue t-shirts we picked up from a friend in Uyuni, we had a new appreciation for what it meant to be an American. Check out the video! 
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