Rides in south america?
 

I'm going to South America in two weeks, and am hoping to hire a bike in a couple of places for some day trips or possible overnighters with the gf. Just wondering if anyone has done this in the following places and has any comments on how well suited the location is, how easy bike hire is etc?

- Tupiza, Bolivia
- Uyuni, Bolivia
- La Paz, Bolivia (there's the "world's most dangerous road" but I'm not keen...)
- Cuzco, Peru
- Arequipa/Colca Canyon, Peru
- Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia
- Pucon, Chile
- Bariloche, Argentina.

It seems there are plenty of places that do guided mountain bike tours, including transport to the trailhead, but I'd probably rather just get a map and go myself - but that could make transport a problem. How do you hire a bike, then get up a mountain?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Steve

I can't help you with much but I can point you to an on-line map of Chile: http://www.turistel.cl/secciones/mapas/index.htm

Ray

I was in and around Cuzco this summer and was thinking the same but we were so busy we never got around to it.

There are tons of outfitters/guide shops of all kinds of Cuzco; you can ask around when you get there.

Better, I think, would be to take a bus down to the Sacred Valley and bike around there. The town of Ollyantaytambo is nice - a good place to go regardless of whether you are biking or not. There was one place in town that rented bikes out but we didn't check it out.

Here is a guide to a mountain bike tour outfit in Ollyantaytambo:

http://www.elalbergue.com/en/tour07.php

I've biked in both Pucon & Bariloche, but I was touring on my own bike (it's a wonderful trip from Puerto Montt, Chile, to Bariloche, Argentina).. I'd say it's likely that you can rent bikes in both towns, because each town has lots of outfitters for outdoor activities. In both places, the number of paved roads in minimal, so I imagine it would be mountain biking you'd find yourselves doing.

In Pucon, I did an excursion with an outfitter to climb Villarica volcano. I have no idea if they're still allowing it, since the volcano is not dormant. We climbed up thru the snow to the rim of the volcano. It was amazing to look into the caldera and see the mini-eruptions of red-hot lava. The fumes there can be deadly, so you cannot stay around the caldera for very long. In restrospect, it was probably pretty dangerous. A couple of the mini-eruptions came halfway up to where I was standing looking down into the volcano.

>In Pucon, I did an excursion with an outfitter to climb Villarica volcano. I have no idea if they're still allowing it, since the volcano is not dormant. We climbed up thru the snow to the rim of the volcano. It was amazing to look into the caldera and see the mini-eruptions of red-hot lava. The fumes there can be deadly, so you cannot stay around the caldera for very long. In restrospect, it was probably pretty dangerous. A couple of the mini-eruptions came halfway up to where I was standing looking down into the volcano.

Yep, it's high on my list of things to do :)

Steve

OOOhhh! No advice to offer, just wanted to say I`m very jealous! The Andes look so incredible in pics - it`s the number one place on my "one of these days..." list.

BTW, after my trip to Peru, I'd also strongly recommend the area around Chachapoyas (Northern Peru)...look at www.kuelap.org. Hard to get to but many fewer tourists than the area around Cuzco.

Near Cuzco, we really like Pisac and Ollyantaytambo. Macchu Picchu is of course spectacular but the other stuff in the area is amazing and much less crowded. We did lots of day hikes and would love to go back for more.

Dear Steve,

It looks as if you're planning on flying in to one of the many locales you've listed, and then setting out on a ride for a day or two. But some of these are remote (Uyuni, Bolivia), and some are not (La Paz, Bolivia), and the more remote are unlikely to have bikes for hire. As another post mentioned, Bariloche is likely to have bikes, but be warned: it can be terribly windy. Check out the photos on my web site from ride through Bariloche (from Puerto Montt, and then onwards to the Atlantic coast of Patagonia).

Good luck in your travels,