Does anyone have any advice on a routing through Bolivia that doesnt include La Paz.....

Is Potosi easy to get to, also the Salar de Uyuni.

Cheers
Bunny

I thought Bolivia had only like 10% paved roads or something??

This is a couple of years old but there are some pics of the Uyuni - Potossi road which is dirt. It had been raining for days when we left Uyuni but it wasn't that bad and we totally loved the scenery.

Bolivia pictures by ya-honza - Photobucket

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Thanks so much for the link. Great photos and it has made our mind up that we actually won't do Bolivia, we knew this may happen - we just dont have the time either when our main goal is Patagonia...

Thanks so much for the words and the neat site.

Cheers
Jules

it was one of our big highlights. there's no asphalt to go border to border in any direction, but slow, careful riding is also rewarding. and we could bang on forever about how bolivia treated us so grandly!
i recommend giving it another thought... it's also the south american country most in need of your foreign exchange.
plenty of reading on our blog about bolivia.
cheers,
andy.

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www.outforaspin.blogspot.com

I believe it is possible to do Bolivia via all pavement. Of course, you can't get to Potosi or Uyuni without doing dirt.

You can take the Pan American highway from La Paz to San Juan (note, this is a 'spur' off the N/S Pan American from Colombia to Chile) - then the road south from there to Argentina was recently paved the entire way - or so I was told.

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quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Nooo! I wouldn't recommend missing Bolivia, the landscape is unique as are the people, it would be a real shame to miss out on it. We travelled with a couple 2 up on an Africa Twin so anything is possible. They actually put their bike on a train from Uyuni as they didn't fancy riding on the dirt after the heavy rain and we met up with them in La Paz again but they missed out on that cool dirt road to Potossi which was totally fine to ride on.

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Came across Bolivia about a month ago on a Buell XB12X (not good in dirt or loose gravel). Any road that is marked as paved will most likely be under construction. I did 175 K of construction from Argentina north. If you are riding solo and do not have someone on a dirt bike wanting to go faster, just slow down and you should be OK.

Every road (every single road I picked) in Ecuador was under construction. But I made it.

Blog at horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/thode

Road Hog aka Bob

I just left Bolivia last month. All the roads in the southern half of the country are dirt. Worse than that most are in the process of being paved and the detour roads can be a real drag - I wouldn't want to take many of the roads during or after rain, which they are now in the rainy season. The road to from Potosi to Sucre is paved, but I don't think you can get to Potosi on pavement - maybe by staying on Hwy 1(?) I went thru Huanuni and that is where the pavement stopped. No way of getting to Uyuni on pavement, and again, the road construction sucks. The road from Uyuni to the Arg. border is amazing and solitary - no construction.

Good luck avoiding La Paz, not a fun drive getting through there.

I do plan on returning to Bolivia in a month or two and will enter through Chile to avoid the southern dirt roads during the rainy season.

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Left Seattle March '09 for RTW trip.
'02 BMW 1150 GSA

just read some of the replies to your post, did you end up skipping Bolivia? I am just about to cross to Copacabana from Cuzco and will ride to Potosi on my Harley....would be interested to know if you did get there, maybe even meet for a if you are there, I too am looking for all the rest of us intrepid bikers...where IS everyone?!
e.mail lowlifedan@hotmail.com

Happy Trails

dan

Really sorry we are already past Dan.. We skipped it and are now in San Pedro in Chile..so HOT ! but great place for afew days..

Cheers
Jules

Sorry we didn't see this post earlier. Only in Bolivia last month and did a 3000 km + loop.

Just for the record the following roads are paved.

Yunguyo, Peru to Copacabana and San Pedro de Tiquina.

San Pablo de Tiquina to La Paz.

La Paz to Oruro to Potosi to Sucre.

Sucre to Tarabuco. After Tarabuco there is about 20 kms of new concrete then road works. There are a few short sections of concrete after this, more sections should open soon.

Vallegrande to Mataral some sections paved, rest road works with resurfacing being done.

Mataral to Santa Cruz, mostly paved with short sections of dirt.

La Paz to Cochabamba with only a few short sections of road works.

Cochabamba to Santa Cruz, lower road via Ville Tunari and Montero. Only a few short sections of road works closer to Cochabamba through the mountains.

La Paz to Arica Chile via Patacamaya and Tambo Quemado.

Roads not paved.

Potosi to Uyuni except for the first 30 kms. Major road works on this stretch with many soft detours.

Tarabouco to Vallegrande except for the 20 odd kms as stated above.

Tomina to Villa Serrano. There is a short cut between these two towns with some cobble stone road leaving and entering above.

We are two up on an old BMW and had mostly dry weather doing the above roads. Loved Bolivia and would not miss seeing it.

Hope this has been a help to others.

Carol and Ken

Copacabana - El Alto- Cochabamba - Montero - Santa Cruz- Yacuiba
Just about 100% asphalt......but there is this train bridge between Santa Cruz and Yacuiba that serves for the autos also. And if you venture out to the Jesuit Missions in Concepcion and San Xavier, there's another one.

Safe Travels