25th January Potosi – Oruro 188 miles

Woke this morning to hear that my shock is on its way to Miami courtesy of Virgin Atlantic and should be in La Paz at 1am on Friday, that is a day early but given the weekend if I can clear it Friday it will save us 3 days, result or at least I hope so.
Received the airways bill by email and our hotel owner/manager has kindly printed off 2 copies for me so we should be set.
Off to Oruro today which is about half way to La Paz from here, settled our bill for 4 nights bed and breakfact and also laundry for bath of us, 55 pounds, hmmm not bad.
The first challenge is to get the bikes out of the hotel, down a 10 inch step and an 8 inch curb into the morning traffic, all done no probs, to the gas station and we are on our way. Very soon after leaving we come to a peage, ah so this is a toll road, we pay up and off we go. Although it is a toll road it is very bumpy and quite windy so I am taking it easy as with no shock it is like a fairground ride if I try to go too quickly.
The road is fantasic and as Martin stops to take pictures I soldier on and he will then catch and pass me until the photo opportunity. It has to be said that occasionally I stop and wait until he catches up so stunning is the scenery. It is actually pleasant going a little slower to take in the views. The countryside is quite dramatic at times looking like a waste land and then others of this beautiful rock formation, and the area is vast.
On the way we passed some workers working on the road and they had obviously been issued bicycles to get to their work spot for that day and each of them carried a cone and a flag. A bit further on we came across another group but this time they each had a motorcycle, still with the obligatory cone and flag, they must be the long range workers. I must point out here that the terrain is hilly and that is a gross understatement, so far we have gone from 4000 masl down to about 3600 and back up to 4200, so you can see that it undulates.
Also along the roadside are locals, some sitting on the side of the road and others tending animals, sheep, llama and donkeys. It is incredible as at one point we were on a stretch of road with a sheer drop of one side and a shepherd was herding her sheep up the road on the side that had a sheer drop without a care in the world, obviously something that is done on a daily basis.
We stopped at yet another peage and paid our dues, 90p each and a small community had grown up there, I don’t know what came first the peage or the community. Children swarmed the peage every time a vehicle arrived and were trying to sell something, we couldn’t make out what it was.
Its tablet time for me so we stopped about half a mile up the road and had a spot of lunch, just a roll with tuna onion and garlic, to keep the ....... away. Whilst we were there, possibly 20 or 30 minutes the peage must have taken at least 3 pounds, so goodness knows what they are doing because I doubt it will cover costs.
After lunch the road must have improved as the miles seem to melt away and we approach Oruro, Martin spotted it about 20 miles out and at 8 miles it is obvious off to our left a City sprawling up the hillside. As we approach, usual story the traffic slowly increases and builds to a crescendo, here the dominant vehicle is the Toyota Hiace minibus which are used as taxi’s, but not in the normal fashion, people get in and out of these things allm the time, at traffic lights, whilst they are still moving, whenever. Most of them are full and if there are 9 seats, quite a few have 12 in them. We think someone sits by the door and takes the money and is frequently heard shouting so that may be to indicate where they are going.
Every time we get to a town or city here it seems to be market day but we now think that that is their trading style and every day is market day, Whilst looking for a hotel to stay in we end up driving right through the middle of a particular market area, not sure we should have been there and given choice we wouldn’t have been.
Finally found a hotel and they have parking, checked out the room and all OK, so where is the parking, we went to follow the lady outside and get directions but she opened both doors to the hotel and said drive them through here. So mount up and drive straight through the front door right throught the ground floor corridor and out to a courtyard at the back wher we also saw a tandem parked.

In my Lonely Planet guidebook there is mention of a gourmet cuisine restaurant, it is only 2 blocks away so we thought we would give it a try. Well on entering we were not blown away but we will see. The decor is a little tarnished and a plain carpet with worn runners, the tables and chairs are simple and functional. So we check out the menu and it is very interesting with lots of dishes and we both plump for the house speciality which is lamb. I asked for red wine and expected to get a wine list, instead I got a glass of wine to sample the one red wine that was on offer, it was very nice. When the food arrived it was fantastic, a huge peice of lamb still on the bone done to pertfection, it was fabulous and deserved its reputation.