"I´m high as a kite and I just might..."

...is what we sang (or yelled) when we could finally see Lago Titicaca and the long down hill that would take us there. Yesterday was deemed to be physically the hardest thing that either of us has ever done! We traveled 75km in 6hrs of riding time (that's SLOW!), including the 30km hill that topped out at 4,275m (14,000ft).

We woke up early to cows that were tied next to our tent - after hearing them breathing, munching and moving around all night. Since we were sleeping in someone´s front yard, our morning business had to wait. However, the area was incredibly populated and there were no public baños so a couple tufts of high grass on the side of the highway had to do. :)

Christine had two flats within about an hour of riding. This was frustrating since it was only day two on the new tires. Other than that, the morning was great with a bit of a climb and then a good downhill into San Pablo de Tequina. The views of the snow capped Andes and Lago Titicaca were amazing!

There were a bunch of big wooden barges waiting their turn to ferry people and their vehicles across from San Pablo to San Pedro. We rode our bikes on and were slowly floated across the water. We were a little concered when we first pushed off as the little outboard engine on our barge seemed to take quite a lot of convincing to start...

Ok, this is where we began the hardest hill of this entire trip! It is true what they say about everything being harder at altitude! At the top of the first hill we were stopped and bent over our handlebars wondering if we were going to pass out or puke! We took our heart rates and they were both >200bpm. weeeee!

From there we slowly climbed up for the next 30km. We passed people hanging out with their sheep, crops planted all over the terraced hillsides, children playing, and houses scattered throughout the hills. There were also roadworkers that ride their bicycles up these crazy hills every day to do maintenance - they must be the fittest people on earth. We were even passed by a guy flying down the hill with a wheelbarrel bouncing along behind his bike! Several people said hi and waved, some yelled "Da-le, Da-le!!" (give'r, give'r!) and one group of kids 'yipped' back and forth with us as we pedalled by. My favorite was a sheep herder who played his horn for us; he first played up on the hill with his sheep, but after we passed, he ran out onto the road and played loudly until we were out of sight. These small but special moments were so wonderful and they gave us all of the extra energy we needed to keep pedalling.

Upon reaching the final summit (after several false ones) we were so exhausted that even the downhill seemed like it would be work. It was all worth it though! We had a blast winding down through the beautiful views, past houses, locals on bicycles, music and even a dance, to the rewarding destination of Copacabaña, where we celebrated with a cerveza and a long deep sleep in a comfy bed!

Jodie