The "road" to Uyuni

When we left Oruro (by the way nothing to report in Oruro except the fact that this town is a tip) we had 2 concerns.
The first was that we heard rumors that the road to Uyuni was blocked by striking campesinos.
The second was that apparently most of the road wasn't paved (170 kms of it!)
Unfortunately both rumors were correct.
In fact as we approached Challapata we were met by hundreds of campesinos in the middle of the road, blocking the passage with stones and planks of wood.
We have been told that they are striking against the president of Bolivia, an indios like them, who hasn't kept his promises......sounds familiar?
Anyway, unlike trucks, buses and cars we were lucky enough to get through....I guess the charme of the bike worked well!
We thought it would be better not to push our luck and take pictures of the blockade, however we managed to take a few pictures of the road after the block.

One of the effects of the blockade was that from then on there would be no traffic whatsoever.
Eventually we reached the fork to Uyuni just to find out that also the second rumor was correct....

As far as we are concerned this was the worst day of the whole trip.
If you are a motocross buff probably 170 kms of dirt road, dust, sand dunes, river crossing, corrugated rock and salt, under the scorching sun, might sound heaven. For everybody else, including us, this was pure hell.
For the whole journey I barely touched the 3rd gear, giving me an average speed of 20 kms per hour.
After 2 hrs (2pm) we had only covered 35 kms and 145 were still ahead of us.
At this pace we would have been left with a good 30 kms to be covered in the darkness!
This time petrol wasn't the issue; we had in fact filled up at Challapata.
Our bones were beginning to sore and so my wrists.
I think the continuous change of ground was a major issue. As we adjusted to drive on corrugated soil the road would turn into sand, then gravel, then hard rock again.
Just before half way through we landed into a huge sand dune and got completely stuck with the bike leaning on one side.
This is when adrenaline comes to help.
At 30 degrees, fully geared, with helmets on, at an altitude of 4000 meters we managed to lift the 300 kgs bike back up and push it outside the dune.
Our hearts were pumping really fast.
Luckily a village was just in sight where we were able to get some Coke (no water!!!) and some shade where to gather our thoughts.
It was 4 pm and 100 kms still remained.
What was really taking a toll was the fact that we could not take breaks to drink or rest as we were really running short of time and we definetely didn't want t drive in that road at night.
20 kms later however we had to stop again for a "toilet break".

As we approached 5pm I eventually saw in the mirrors a jeep approaching fast.
We stopped on one side and began to waive.
The jeep stopped and a nice old man popped out.

We then asked him kindly whether he was going to Uyuni, and since the answer was positive whether he would agree to take Elena and all the luggage with him........he agreed.
150 kgs lighter and most importantly without the responsibility of carrying Elena I was now able to pick up speed.
It is a strange feeling when you are so tired that all your limbs are going numb.
At some point I was engaging corners in the sand as you do when you ski: in derapage.
The salar the Uyuni was now on site with only 30 kms to go and the sun settingon my right.
I made it to the hotel by 7.30pm with only one thought in my mind: had Elena been delivered safe and sound?
At the counter they told me the following" your wife is here but she went out to check some tour agencies......." typical Elena!