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Bolivian Roads - Current Condition?
Hi all
We`re in Sucre at the moment having worked on a hacienda for the last 3 weeks waiting for the rainy season to wind down. We`re hoping to start back driving this weekend firstly going to Tarija, then Tupiza, then Uyuni, then Oruro, then Cochabamba over the next couple of weeks. Has anyone driven any of these routes recently or can tell me whether any of it is paved (I know from Tupiza to Sucre is paved). At this moment I have no idea what the road conditions are like. Cheers Reece |
Here in Tarija, we ve experienced draught for the last 3 weeks in the middle of the supposed rainy season.
Hello Sunshine...:palm: |
going to ride these roads in about a week
Hi there - you have news already?
We're in Salta right now, on sunday heading north, San Pedro de Atacama, then Uyuni, Potosí, Sucre, La Paz and then Peru ... Heard Uyuni is under water and it rained a lot around Potosí for the last 10days... .k. |
Hey folks, I'm a couple of weeks behind you. Please keep the thread updated; I'm going to need it :)
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Hi,
I was in Bolivia last month. Sala de Uyuni was fille with water, high up in La Paz i had snow and everywhere else lots of rain but the main roads are all good: Bolivia: from Uyuni to the road of death part 2 Have fun, Tobi |
If you guys are willing to join, there is a group of motoqueros from Tarija that will head to the Salar around April 15. You guys are welcome to join.
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Hi Vorteks,
That sounds great. I'll hopefully be there around that time. I'm still waiting on bike repairs though, hopefully should be sorted out in a couple of days. I'll be in touch closer to that time and I look forwards to meeting you all. Dunc. |
Just come that way, san pedro, uyuni, potosi, Sucre, and about to head to cochabamba. bit of rain in potosi, but nothing major. road from uyuni to potosi 75% paved, potosi to Sucre all paved, road to Cochabamba mud and cobblestones apparently, but will know by this evening.
had no rain in uyuni, water on salt flats was still shallow enough to take bike out on it, though I now have a myriad of bike issues. worth it though :-) |
Vorteks
I would love to join you but I don't think my bike will be ready in time. Will look forwards to hearing what you found to be good, bad & indifferent as I will head up there when i can. Cheers |
For anyone who is driving Bolivia I thought I would update on the roads travelled.
La Quica (Argentina) to Sucre (through Potosi) - Paved Potosi to Uyuni - 90% paved, last 30km are a little tricky but its all getting paved Uyuni to Oruro - First 150km dirt, can be tricky with lots of washboard roads, paved from Huari onwards. |
La Quiaca to Tarija: First 10 or 20km paved, then turn right onto a dirt track at the sign.
Slow windy descent to a river valley, follow the river, slow windy ascent and then a humungous dirt straight through some of the biggest scenery I've ever seen. A couple of km of tarmac through Iscayachi and onto another twisty mountain track. Incredible views, an ascent to over 4000m and steep drops over the side. Watch out for the dust and wear eye protection. I wouldn't like to do this road in the wet but then my off road skills are somewhat limited. About 200km, it took me about 6 hours. Oh yeah, no petrol stations and maybe 2 or 3 hotels/hospitages along the way. Also, nowhere to buy water, food or cigarettes so stock up before you leave. |
you can check my webpage... the route can be found (tab-Route) and a movie of it ('movies South America)... think it might give you some info!
(wasthere about 2 months ago) |
Tarija to Potosi (RN1), about 50% paved. Some very good surfaces and some very bad. The last 60km before RN1 joins RN14 to Potosi are currently being surfaced and diversions are in place all around the tarmac. I had to do this bit after dark which isn´t recommended.
Potosi to Uyuni (RN5 but Google maps says RN701) nearly all paved with quality twisties and a surface so good they make you wish you´d brought a FireBlade. Mind you, the 20km or so left to do makes me glad for my XT. All apart from about 2km of this road has a pristine new surface apart from between Uyuni and Pulacayo. By the time you read this, they will have probably finished. |
Hi Duncan
I am still here in Santi, was hoping to get bike back today (thats what they told me last week. today they tell me they still haven't got the part & it iwll be 2 more weeks! Do I believe them? i don't know! Glad your bike is till going strong & thanks for the info regarding the conditions, I hope to get there soon!!! cheers Delb |
Hey Delb,
I'm actually back in Chile at the moment, a town called Tocopilla on the Pacific coast. It's taken two days to ride from Uyuni, I couldn't cope with the altitude any more and the bike liked it even less. Uyuni to Ollague: I followed the only route on my "GeoCentre World Maps South America Southern Region 1:4M" . Uyuni to Ro Grande: I took the wrong road out of town and had to turn off 30km before San Cristobel. Good fast dirt. Rio Grande to Julaca: Good fast dirt. Julaca to San Juan: Good fast dirt and a detour on a causeway over the salar. San Juan to Chiguana to Olllague: I took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the Salar De Ciguana. Too soft to ride across so I kept going. Didn't see another human being for about 2 hours. The track went from to worse and I fell off several times in soft mud. Scary to be so far away from people but exciting at the same time. Eventually got to the Chillean border and stayed overnight. Forgot to get a Bolivian exit stamp btw. Ollague to Calama: Mostly dirt, some good, some bad, some scary. Last 50km are blacktop. There is no petrol anywhere between Uyuni and Calama. That's 450km or so. I managed to persuade a nice lady in Ollague to part with 8 litres from a jerry can. Good luck with your shock, you must be pretty bored of Santiago by now. Give me a shout when you're back on the road. Dunc. |
San Pedro de Atacama heading to Uyuni
Thanks for posting that info Dunc, I was just about to ask if anyone had done Ollague to Uyuni recently. Sounds a bit too rough on a 1150GSA solo, that bike is a nightmare to pick up.
I probably head to Uyuni via La Quica. Anyone else heading that way during the next week? Dunc, are you heading north along the coast now? Thanks to everyone who has posted on this thread, very useful info |
Hi Rssler,
The only really scary bit was between Chiguana and Ollague and like I said, I took a wrong turn. In fact, slippery mud about 5km from Ollague was where I fell off. Twice. Within 100 metres. Just follow the piste next to the railway line for the way that I went. Once you get over the mud (and it doesn't look like mud either) you'll probably be fine on a GS. There may be another way around, there were 4WDs full of backpackers on the three day Uyuni trip going the back way around the mountain, one of the drivers said they were coming from RN5 which is tarmac and terminates at the border post/railway station. The tracks join up near the railway line just west of Chiguana. Just don't go off piste. It looks OK but it's soft and deep and a GS is no fun to push. I'm up in Arica now, heading north once I've sorted out the whirring noise in my starter clutch. Hopefully nothing more than the solenoid. See you up the road with a bit of luck. Dunc. |
Oh and btw, Google Maps is about as much use as a catflap on a submarine when it comes to roads in out of the way Bolivia.
Same as that RN21 Ollague to Calama. Looks lovely on the map but it's gravel, sand and salt. Do ride this road if you get the chance though, it goes from desert up through volcanoes to salar and more volcanoes. One of the most beautiful (and desolate) things I have ever seen. Dunc. |
And another thing ...
I'm no hardcore dirt rider. I had never ridden off road before Bolivia and although I've now got about 1000km under my belt I'm still about as green as they come when it comes to green lanes. Furthermore, my bike (3AJ Tenere), already notorious for having a high centre of gravity is very heavily loaded and quite difficult to handle. One thing though, do make sure you can pick your bike up when/if you fall off. There's some YouTube clips showing a trick where you squat down against a fallen bike and push backwards. If I hadn't learned that trick I'd probably still be sitting in a pool of mud outside Ollague waiting to attract the attention of a passing 4WD. Dunc. |
Hi Rsstler
I am right now in Puerto Iguazu, on Monday I will be in Asuncion to pick up a tire and on tuesday I will heading north with the wife, so two up, to get into Bolivia, just checking the information on the roads and deciding the route. If you would like to connect and adventure those roads together, please fire me an email. joca.canada@gmail.com |
Joca, meeting up would be great, just dropped you an email
Dunc, great tips, thanks again Has anyone done Tupiza-Uyuni recently? What's that road like. Most people seem to go via Potosi? |
I met a Swiss guy in Uyuni a few days ago that came up Villazon -> Tupiza -> Uyuni. He said that he really enjoyed the road.
He is on a KTM Adventure 990 and is an experienced dirt rider but was two up with his (visually handicapped and altitude sick) girlfriend on the back. I've been told that the Villazon -> Potosi road is fully paved. I can't remember who told me or how reliable they are though. Fill up with petrol at La Quiaca and just head straight on after the border to find the road. You can get a cash advance from the bank on this road and as with anywhere in Bolivia, bring plenty of water (and cigarettes). |
Just another tip. All the backpackers places in Uyuni are charging B$50 to B$60 a night for a bed in a shared dorm. There's a salt hotel a few hundred metres from the salar itself charging B$70 for a room with a bathroom.
It's at S20 18'41.0" W66 58'20.4" Go north from Uyuni for 20km or so to Colchani and follow the "Ingres la Salar" sign and you'll find it on the left. |
Fled the rain
Hi
I fled the rains last week and continued to Peru. I found the major routes in quite good condition as mentioned before. I'll add: -St. Cruz to Cochabamba via Samaipata: through the sibirian mountains dirt = slightly muddy in the rain but drivable. COLD! -Sucre to Samaipata (ruta del Che) good dirt road, little travelled, small road with many curves. Takes 2 days and no facilities after Villa serrano. -Cochabamba (Quillacollo) to Villa Independencia Nr 25(wanted to continue to chulumani/Coroico): not open for the next months (years?). Big mudslide washed the road away on about 200m, no machinery in sight. Villagers didn't know anything, i had stopped at least a dozen times to ask for the road (nothing signed) and everybody told me that I'd reach Villa Independencia in 2h or so... hahaha! seems there is zero traffic on this road. -Coroico to Caranavi: at least 2 roadworks and mudslides 10 days ago. They closed the road from 8 to 12h and from 13 to17h which means you had practically to drive through the night. Therefore i turned around and didn't go to Rurre into the jungle :-( Cheers karinmoto |
We are currently in Rurre trying to plan our way to La Paz, We drove from Santa Cruz to Trinidad which was all paved and from Trinidad to Rurre proved to be the toughest road of our entire trip (we`ve travelled over 20,000km). Took us 8 hours to cover 70km one day. A lot of mud with some parts impassable which resulted in us taking little boats around the really muddy bits. Seems like the rainy season is still winding down.
We want to travel from Rurre to La Paz which we hear is a tough road but have been unable to leave due to mass blockades near Rurre, this hasn`t been so bad as we`ve done the Jungle and Pampas tour which is amazing. We have heard the blockades have been cleared today though there`s also not a lot of petrol. If it doesn`t rain today we`ll try head out tomorrow. |
Tupiza - Uyuni
Tupiza - Uyuni. 200km of good dirt. The first 100km is a fairly steep winding ascent. The 2nd half is good flat dirt, with a few sandy bits but not too bad. Took better part of a day with a few decent breaks in between
Was a great road with some stunning scenery. |
Hello All
Thank you for all the road news. I notice no one talks about Sucre. I understood it was a nice place to see. Anyone been there? Thanks Delb |
Potosi to Sucre is good tar the whole way. Great road with good twisties.
Surce is definitely worth spending a few days in |
Hi
Just a different take on the Tupiza to Uyuni road. I agree with Russ that it is alot of up and down mountains for the first 100 km. But when he says FLAT for the remainer. He probably means LEVEL and doesn´t mention the Rippio. I found it horrible and certainly the worse I have ridden. Impossible to find more than 500 meters of smooth running and hardly out of 3rd gear. You also have two streams to cross and one of the deeper part of the sand had me off. I also think i have some damage to the bike from the relentless rippio, not the fall. 208 kms took me most of the day too, although 1 hour was trying to help a local guy with a puncture. His tube was so worn and had more patches than Captain Pugwash. Unless you really like Rippio, i would go the long way round via Potosi as I believe this is much better condition, i ride it tomorrow so I hope so. But as they say, you pay your money and take your choice. Happy riding Delb |
Hi Delb, sorry to hear you did not enjoy the Tupiza Uyuni stretch, I hope your bike is Ok. Yes, there is a lot of ripio. They were grading the road when I did it, so not sure it was that bad at the time.
It helps if you can build up a decent speed, that way you skim over the tops of the bumps. Try get into 4th or 5th gear then pray you don't fall! As they say about ripio, ride fast and it will damage your bike slowly, ride slow and it will damage your bike faster. Enjoy the salar |
Russ
I did try to get up a bit of pace but it didn't seem to help! I managed to swap some bolts around to sort the screen but the headlight protector is buggered. I was very happy to have an easy day to Potosi. The tarmac is nearly to Uyuni. About 20 kms of road works and then very good empty road. And pretty views than Tup to Uyu. Getting up the Potosi hill is a good test of the clutch! cheers Delb |
Trinidad-->Rurre-->La Paz conditions?
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Hey duder, been following your ride a bit--bravo. We are about to head towards Santa Cruz from Sucre via Padilla/Vallegrande, then north possibly to the Missions Circuit (anybody have some info on it?). I glean that it is pretty tough driving from Trinidad to Rurre. Do you think it would be equally difficult now that we are in the dry season? Any advice? Also, how did the road from Rurre to La Paz pan out for you two? We are also hoping to do that road as well, provided that it won't be too hard for 2-up on a loaded klr... If anyone else would like to chime in that would be swell. |
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From Rurre to La Paz the road has a stone base so not so slippery. The biggest safety concern on this stretch of road is that once you pass Yucumo you are expected to swap sides a few times and it is NOT sign posted. The rule is, traffic heading toward La Paz hugs the mountainside. Traffic heading into the jungle (ie toward Rurrenabaque) holds cliff side(the drop). It is a great stretch of road and a fantastic part of Bolivia. Don't miss it if you think you can do it.:thumbup1: |
Cory is bang on!
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New Update to Uyuni - San Pedro de Atacama
Hi there
just came the road from Uyuni to Chile, now it's all closed because of snowstorm! Okay, here are the details (we're riding 2 Transalp, not the best for dirt, and after 20'000km on this trip with some dirt, still not the most experienced riders either) - Sucre-Potosi: 3hrs, nice curvy road, all paved bier - Potosi-Uyuni: all paved until the last 20km, these are under construction for over 3months now, but the dirt road is in okay condition :D - uyuni: stay at Hostal Maryth /Marith?, 3 blocks south of the Mainplaza, we paid 60 Bol each for a matrimonial, 10 extra for the bikes, then you can get free towls and toilet paper, hehe, nice tv and american breakfast included. It's pretty cold at night, so we slept in sleepingbags on the bed - - salar de uyuni: 20km north, in cachani, is the entrance to the salar, bad dirt road, washboard-style, but once on the salar, feel free to get lose!! Pay attention to the few holes where even cars can break into the salt water, we road with a compas straight 20kms west, camped on the salar and it was just a surreal experience, no sound, no nothing, just the plain white , the sky and yourself; bring nails to tag your tent... :scooter: - uyuni-villa mar (ca.150km): we have 3 maps for that region and none is any good. ask the locals, but the best advice you get is from the tour guides, in uyuni alone there are 70 tour operators cruising the area daily! Uyuni -San Cristobal: great fast dirt, have lunch at the mercado, people are most friendly there! Last option for gas!! San Cristobal-Alota, nice road, don't miss the intersecion to Villa Mar, 1km out of Alota there is a damadged yellow sign saying Sancrato (or something); on the way the the road gets pretty bad, some water crossings with rocks and tiny bridges, if crazy, take the bridge, we almost dropped the bikes twice! They're building bridges, i think, the concret thing is there already, but no one working... Bolivia. We camped on the way, 20km before Villa Mar, freezing cold!! But you can make a fire with roots and dry bushes. There is basic accomodation in Villa Mar, we sould have done that doh - Villa Mar-Laguna Colorada (ca.110km): The road gets very bad, sand, washboard etc. There are often alternative roads, just follow the best one in the correct direction and ask the tour guides when passing. Right before the Laguna Colorada there you enter the parc, they want 150 Bol each. Ride around the Laguna for Logging, very basic, but warmer then outside. 30 Bol each, 15 extra for a hot shower, food just for the tours, basic shop, nothing nice anyway. (if you have veggies left which you can't bring into Chile, don't give them to the guys of the hospedaje, they won't thank you, high on coca anyway) :confused1: - Laguna Colorada-San Pedro de Atacama (ca 160km): The road is very challenging, it was also freezing cold and started to snow somewhere halfway to Laguna Verde. There is a very nice Saltflat with a hot terma, but we didn't stop as we wanted to reach Chile badly. Some sand, a few washboard sections, we just rode in 1rst and 2nd gear. The bikes had problems with the oxygen so we couldn't go faster anyway. The following depended on the weather conditions: The wind was tricky, too. At Laguna Verde there is a slightly better hospedaje, people were stuck there (and sent back to Sucre!) because the Pass was closed. The guardaparque adviced us not to ride any further but it was snowing, nothing frozen yet, so we rode on. Some real deep snow until the bol.border, where they told us to turn and get the stamp for the bikes at the Aduana in Achapata (or something, there is a sign on some point after the salt lake saying 5kms east). Well, after some discussion they asked for 15 Bol. and the topic was solved. I guess you can get this stamp also in Uyuni, but I'm not sure. Or pay, or wait till the price drops, or go back to get that dam stamp. After that the road got even worse, we broke into holes in the middle of the street several times, due to the snow covering them. After 5km we reached the paved road from Paso Jama (that took us more than 1hr), where the busses usually ride to Argentina. Road frozen, and steep down. But ridable - - 40km to San Pedro where we were greated by sun and a pissed police officer, because, of course, the border is closed so it was his day off. :mchappy: Because it's winter now, noboday can tell when the borders open again, they have no snow machines or anything to clear the way - I hope you get better weather if you ride that road! The officials don't give a sh** about that, didn't even ask us about the conditions, they say if you ride, it's your risk, so they don't even show interest on how it looks up there--- It's not easy, but if you get sun, enough cloths, fuel, cash and food, some wine for the nights ;) and good humour, it's definitly worth it! Good luck, suerte! .katharina. :palm: |
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So be prepared to make this a two day journey with a stop in Saipina. There is an inexpensive hotel in Saipina and a gas station. I actually returned from SC to Sucre and road the same route. There were two small motorcycles waiting at the constuction area. They convinced the dirt digging machine to pick them up and place them on the other side of the construction. I would not have believed it unless I saw it happen. They road on. I and my DR650 had to wait until the construction was cleared at 18:00. I would have liked to have tried the lift, but my bike wouldn't fit. Enjoy! |
La Paz to Rurre
Just a heads up, looks like they are closing the road for longer hours nowadays than what was posted in prior comments.
There are several Trancas (closures) between Santa Barbara and Yacumo. Signs say they are closed from 06:00hs to 16:00hs. It seems they don´t work on weekends. Roads are in decent conditions, but be prepared for major dust inhalation. Cheers |
gasoline consumption
Hi,
we are two germans who want to make the lagoontour in Oct. this year with two BMW F650GS. We want to stay in that area for about one week up to 10 days. Where can we get drinkingwater on that area between SpdA and Uyuni? How high was your gasoline consumption of the bike. Was it much higher than under normal conditions? Samby |
Hola!
Anyone here did the roads between Samaipata - La PAz and Villa Montes to Paraguay recently?? THX!!! Sunny greetings from Santiago Werner+Claudia |
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