Car wash anyone?

I whizzed down the hill and out of Potosi for another easy run North to Oruro. The Bolivians don't spend a lot of money on sign posts so you do wonder whether you are going the right way half the time. I actually do take notice of where the sun is, just to make sure i am heading in roughly the correct direction.

There is nothing in particular about either Potosi or Oruro other than they are convenient stop overs on the way to La Paz.

The scenery was quite different to that over the last few weeks. At first it was the usual colourful mountains. It seems a bit harsh to dismiss them as "usual" - they are anything but and they never cease to amaze with their vibrant colours.

 Then you run in to a plain with more agriculture than I have seen since southern Chile. It is all smallholdings, lots of Llamas, some sheep, a few cattle and some crops. High in the hills you can see old stone walls. These walls appear to be miles from any settlement, go on forever, must be ancient and, from what I can see, serve little purpose. Shows what I know about farming.

The Llamas would hop over them without any difficulty, perhaps it is just to shelter from the wind. I don't know but the back breaking, lung stretching effort to build them must have been immense.

This is typical of the little hamlets you pass. There is often a car parked nearby so whilst they are not making millions they all seem to be living a decent life. I was expecting much more poverty than I have witnessed.   Funny thing is, even if there is only 10 buildings, they have a football pitch or a Basketball court! Figure that one out - especially as the average height here is about 5 foot nothing.

Further along the plain you ride to the side of the Lake Poopo (gets a laugh every time I am sure). I read that  this was all joined together with Lake Titicaca but over the years the waters have receded to form a string of lakes with the surrounding salt flats. Also started to get full grown trees again, not seen many of those over the last few weeks.

How about this! He drives in to the lake, gets his sponge and bucket out and washes the car! You would never get the "British Latvians" doing it like this.

The road in to Oruro is not a great advert for the town but once you find your way in to the centre it is really quite nice. I had the, now familiar, driving the bike in to the hotel foyer! Some bloody steep steps this time which didn't do the clutch any more favours.

There were still some celebrations going on, not sure what or why these soldiers were dressed in historical gear.

Hot water, heating and I must be getting used to the altitude as I have not had a headache in days. Just a one night stop again as La Paz beckons, where I will take a few days to explore the Capital