Bike travel, commuting and more

Panamericana

Peru XVII: Ilave to Pomata

Road around Titicaca

Ondulating road around Titicaca lake

Still cycling along the Titicaca lake

The distance to the Bolivian border is still too much for us in one day. So we will try to be as close as possible so we can cross the border the following day without much stress.

Ilave market
Buying some food in the Ilave market

Jose, our riding partner for yesterday, decided to stay longer in Ilave. He still had some paperwork pending for his entrance in Bolivia, and he wanted to sell some of the crafts he makes in the Ilave market. The kids missed him.

Public toilets in Ilave
There were public toilets in the market. Great for the morning business and to filter water

After leaving the town, we got closer again to the Titicaca shore, always on relatively straight and flattish roads.

Leaving Ilave
Leaving Ilave

At lunch time we got closer to Juli, the only big climb of the day, which we do crossing the village to avoid the traffic of the main road. We took the chance to stop for lunch in a restaurant in front of the market, which had too many stairs for our bikes.

Juli the Rome of South America
Juli claims to be the Rome of S. America due to being among 7 hills
Restaurant in Juli
Our restaurant, bikes parked on the steep street
Owners kid
Simon and Thomas playing with the owner’s kid

The climb continued with a full belly, luckily not for too long, until we joined the main road again. The positive of these occasional climbs is the great view you get from Titicaca, which you don’t appreciate when you are cycling next to it.

Climb out of Juli
The climb out of Juli was steep
Titicaca view
But with a good view

We passed next to a nice wetland on the other side of the road, full of birds despite some rubbish, before the last small climb of the day, to go around a hill on the lake side before arriving to Pomata.

Blue peak ducks
Nice ducks with bright blue peaks
Last climb of the day
Last climb of the day
Cycling into Pomata
Pomata, not worth the extra 50 mts climb

The village itself is relatively big and has a couple hostels, but since it is on top of a hill we decided to skip it and search for a place to wild camp.

Trout fish farms in Titicaca
Plenty of fish farms in this area, mostly for trout

Another km later there is a big parking place with a big house that serves as market but also houses many informal food places where Pomata’s women sell food to truck drivers, buses, and passengers waiting for the bus. We decided to have some fried trout for dinner, not particularly cheap giving the location and basic facilities, but at least it was freshly made for us.

We then picked the opposite side of the big building to set our tent in one of the empty stalls. Full of dust from the road and visible from it, it was not the best of places, but at least we were under a roof and with a wall against the lake, so we were protected against the frost and the cold winds that usually blow at night.

Camping in Pomata
Our room, the following morning

We had a good night once we managed to ignore the continuous noise coming from the road and the occasional stop of truck drivers to rest or take a pee while leaving the engine on.

4 Comments

  1. Anabel

    Qué gran aventura! Muy chulo todo. Sois mis heroes! Hasta cuando tenéis pensado estar por esos lares?
    Un abrazo fuerte

  2. Katherine G

    Definitivamente toda una aventura. No solo es cycling under warm conditions pero tambien es camping donde les agarra la noche. De sacarse el sombrero! 👏👏👏. Me encanta la vista de la carretera y el lago titicaca. Pregunto, sienfo Bolivia mas alto ..les afecta la altura?. Saludos!!!

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