The March 15, 2018

Nice downhill

96.5km
832.3m
2405.5m

Little surprise this morning in the breakfast room of the hotel, the manager and other family members must have had something to celebrate yesterday, they are all drunk and some are sleeping deeply, including the manager himself. We must wait until the wife of the manager comes to move this little band and clean as best as she can so we can have breakfast. Nevertheless we manage to leave the hotel early enough.

The exit of Potosi takes us time: there is a lot of traffic and the relief isn't to our advantage. It takes more than 30 minutes to get out and arrive on the road to Sucre, the next city. Sucre is much lower than Potosi, so the road leading to it includes long descents. The countryside around Potosi is very cute, we cross farms, herds of goats, cows or sheeps, small cultivated fields and hills all around.

We manage to do a lot of kilometers this morning despite the little slow exit of Potosi , it's soon time to lunch. On the other hand, the sky that was all blue until then becomes very threatening: big gray/black clouds amass in front of us and we hear the thunder. When we reach the edge of the cloud, a little rain shower begins. Unfortunately, this little rain shower turns into a torrential rain, then a heavy hail storm. Mistreated by these small ice blocks, we flee as quickly as possible to the nearest house. We are soaked to the bones. We take advantage of the roof above our heads to eat the previously purchased meal. The meal consists of a soup and a piece of grilled meat with rice and potatoes. It's a very classic meal here, but on the spot, soup is served in a soup plate, we have it in a plastic bag, not very convenient to eat.

Once the rain stops, we take the road with our bellies stomach and the rest wet. Just 10 minutes later the rain resumes. Once again we find a shelter as soon as possible. The rain is intensifying and the hail is coming back too. Streams of water form everywhere around the house where we found refuge. We wait there a moment, looking for a plan B if the rain doesn't calm down. But the rain eventually calm down a bit. We almost swim in the new torrents to join the road. The clouds are still there but it doesn't rain anymore.

The descent increases rapidly and we find ourselves in the hollow of a deep green valley. Once at the bottom, you have to go back up. After one or two climbs under the rain (yes it's back), we arrive at a reasonable distance from Sucre. Despite the rain, we are happy to have been able to progress that far, and to be able to reach Sucre tomorrow. The village inhabitants where we decide to stop offer us to sleep in their cheese dairy. It's warm and we can dry here, what more can we ask for.