09/15 Very short day leaving my shed near Huancane. I wanted to get to the last big town, Challapata, so I could stock up on some fresh bread and vegetables before heading for the Salar. Found Residential Diar in town and paid up for the night (Bs.40). The shower was nice and hot and the rooms are all the first floor so no lugging bags up stairs. There’s even a decent looking bike shop a couple doors down.
Disaster struck when I was getting ready to go to sleep. My ear covers were gone! I must have left them at the hotel in Oruro. I guess I could have taken a bus back to see if they were there but the lady probably hid them because I complained (a lot) about the price of my laundry. This really sucks because I loved those things. I went to bed with them on almost every night since I brought them back from Florida. Now I have to listen to stupid dogs barking again. 
No more paved road. I stretched it out as long as I could though. There are two ways to get to the town of Quillacas; take the sand/dirt road outside of Huari or take the paved road heading south and following it as it curves to the west all the way to Quillacas. I opted for the paved road. They are still finishing up the paved section so for the last 3 or 4 km it was dirt and some loose sand. Right before the top was a fairly wicked climb. The plan was to stay in town for the night but there were only two places to choose from. One was full and no one was answering the door at the other one. I wasn’t big on the place anyway. There was some kind of festival going on and everyone was drunk and shooting off fireworks. I ended up just having lunch before heading out.
The road was washboard in parts but not too bad for riding heading southwest. It was in much better shape than I thought it was going to be. After about 10km I found a good camp site way off the road and the timing worked out perfectly. Not long after getting my tent set up a storm hit but it was just wind and a bunch of dust. It did end up raining a little bit in the evening.
There are still too many people around here. Some kind of vehicle went by every couple minutes (and it would honk of course) and I’d see people way more than I thought I would. I was hoping this area would be completely devoid of all 2-legged life but no such luck. Mostly it was just sheep herders but people were walking down what I thought was a dead-end road, a guy came out of nowhere riding a bike and a truck cruised by on a hidden dirt road not 200 meters from my tent. I don’t think anyone spotted me except a sheep guy but I don’t think anyone cares I’m out here anyway.
The road the next day sucked. The gravel road is just horrible to ride on. Lot’s of loose rocks and washboard. Average speed most of the day was about 5mph. Off to the side there was usually a trail running across the hard-packed salt fields which made for much better riding. That never lasted long before it turned to sand and I had to crank as hard as I could back onto the gravel road. Then the hills started and with them came a few steep climbs. I ended up getting water from a well maybe another mile or so down the road from where I camped so I had plenty of that for the day.
My camp site the next night was a winner. I found a spot right on the rim of a giant meteor crater. For some reason they stacked up rocks to form a little wall around the rim but it did help keep the wind at bay. It’s next to the village of Jayu Outa. The crater is pretty impressive in size. I don’t think it’s as wide or as deep as Meteor Crater in Arizona but it would take quite a while to hike around the edge. Some German tourists showed up in the morning to check out the crater. They didn’t stick around long and seemed kind of arrogant. I should have warned them not to kick over any big rocks while they were tramping through the underbrush but I didn’t.
The road from the crater to Salinas was tough riding. It was frustrating more than anything because of how bad the washboard was. If it wasn’t washboard it was very bumpy loose rocks. I didn’t need water but there were a couple little pools alongside the road. No villages of any kind. Tonight I’m staying in a resort of sorts for these parts. Nice place just on the outskirts of town on the side of a hill (Bs.45). While I was crusing through town another cyclist came around the corner. His name is Jiri (George) and he’s riding from La Paz down to southern Argentina.
Tomorrow I head out possibly onto the Salar de Uyuni. I’ll be on there at least two nights.
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