Welcome to the website of the Casa de Ciclistas in La Paz, Bolivia. It was set up starting march 2009. It is run by Cristian, who is a cyclist himself, and Luisa, his girlfriend. They have hosted aproximately 260 touring cyclist by january 2011. The “house for/of cyclist” is a non-profit institution held by good will and passion. This is a description of it in the form of a questionaire.
The important things first:
How do i get to the house?
First contact Cristian by mail, cdc at conitzer dot de and anounce yourself. The casa itself is not at the cafe, it is somewhere else, but the actual address should remain not public. When in La Paz go to the Chuquiago Bike Cafe, located at Linares 903 corner Sagarnaga, 2 blocks away (going up) from the Plaza San Francisco.
The entrance is not easy to find due to the amount of artesanias which cover the number, but, walking up, at the corner there is a pole with both street names written on signs, turn left and look at the left side. There, high above, is the sign with the logo.
Who is Cristian?
I love to cycle: road, mtb and track, i also learned to monocycle, i love to play frisbee and repair things.
I am a physicist and enjoy meeting travellers and help them out in this city. I have been riding bikes since 10 and never stopped. Now i am an UCI-Bolivia oficial, so from time to time I am working in races. I am always making bike trips, races, working at the workshop or driving around the city and i will ask you to be of the party. Surely you will enjoy that.
I work at the Chuquiago Bike Cafe Restaurant & Internet that Luisa and i set up almost two years ago.
And who is Luisa?
Luisa is a phsycologist. She respects Cristians natural love for cycling and cyclist. She is a passionate cook and shares with Cristian the idea of having guests, specially the ones on two wheels. After a few number of guest she noticed that cyclist are the “good guys” among the travellers, the ones who have more respect towards nature. She admires these “crazy guys” and enjoys when they give her some aid or teach her how to prepare a new meal.
Where do you host the cicloturistas?
Cyclotourists need a safe place to sleep when they reach big cities. La Paz is a quiet city but it is expensive to stay at an hotel. I offer the fellow cyclists a place to stay. At the beginning i hosted them at home, but since i was seldom there it bothered mum, who lived there. Then the place was the cafe itself, normally you can extend your mattres there but there are a few a disadvantages. As time passes by, and as the amount of visitors grow, we made other places available for them to stay: Luisas home, the empty old house of grandmother, an empty apartment and a piece of land in the shore of the city.
Does it cost something?
The short answer is yes. Some 15 Bs. a day and person, but it can be negotiated or traded. Read further.
Long answer: Yes, it costs us, the hosts, and since the number of guests was growing large it menaced our economy. We decided to charge a fixed rated of 15 Bs. per person and day regardless where they stayed. It showed out that this is a good compromise.
At the beginning i just asked for a contribution but it turned out that the “contribution” was far below the net costs and that sometimes ruined things, excesive use of water or electricity exceeded the budget planed for hosting cyclist.
A also asked for a helping hand on different tasks like at the beginning setting up the computers, painting furniture, doing some garden work, mechanics on the bikes or car, painting walls or signs, etc. I have enough ideas. It depends on the skills they have.
Since we work at the cafe, the most usual thing to do is make the dishes. We were more than thankful when the guests helped us there. There is not a lot of customers, so it is not so painful. Some of the cyclist surprise us! They run the business: they prepare the breakfast, buy in the market, cook and open customers late at night.
Of course touring cyclist have a limited budget, and therefore the price can be negotiated. You can do some work, or leave something that can be sold later. You can also ask us to give you the space just saying that you will pass the word, or something else. You can do something at the place you stay for the amount you are supossed to leave. See this video. We are open to your ideas and necesities. Read also below: How exactly does the CdC work?
What do a cyclist get for these 15 Bs.?
15 Bs. is a bit more than 2 US dollars. In the case of the apartment, you get a quite apartment which you share with other cyclist with hot shower and a gas stove. There are some chairs and a cupboard. There are also a couple of mattresses and pads. It is a quiet place in the center of the city. Internet is available (not always) from the university that is across the street.
The lawn is the best place to set up your tent, it is even quiter and you get a beatiful view of the moon valley. A real place to relax. If you like arts, it is also the spot. My father, Juan Conitzer, a well known artist, had its atelier there and lots of its paintings are there.
At the cafe you have internet all the time, you wake up early to help with the breakfast and you get in touch with the business, you are very close to museums, laundry, markets, etc.
In every case you have free coffee (or tea) and internet at the cafe, and a discount on all our dishes (lasagna, spaghetti, quiche, cakes, beer, drinks, …)
There is also the posibility to use the workshop, which is in the big house, and to accompain me to cycling trips or other local cycling activities at, say, net costs.
Which are the dissadvantages at the cafe you mentioned before?
I have a contract for breakfast at 6:45 with two companies which customers go to the Death Road. If you sleep in the cafe itself in the morning the space has to be clear. So you gotta wake up early. Your stuff is stored next door in a kind of storage area. It is also possible to sleep in this storage area but not wished. At night, we close early, around 20:00 and you can use the kitchen, prepare yourself a meal, and go early to bed… for the next day…
If you like to sleep in, you may like the appartment, or the lawn/house in the shore of the city, in both places you can relax.
What exactly is a Casa de Ciclistas?
A Casa de Ciclistas, short CdC, is mainly a house of and for cyclists. It is born after an altruistic, say disinterested, idea of a person, mostly a cyclist itself, that provides the touring cyclists a space in its home. The CdC is not always a real house, it is more an institution that you can adress.
The CdC is the meeting point for cyclist coming from all directions into town. It is the place to share experiencies and speak to the ones who have been at the opposite direction. As Luisa says, it is the place for group-therapy. You all need to talk and work on your (survival)-experiences….
The one who runs the casa will offer you its propertys and knowledge so you can rest and gather energy and information for the next leg of your trip. You can also send your things over its adress and get them when you arrive, or store them to later forward you.
Since it is not a real house, the “casa” can be anything that provides you a home during your time in that town. In La Paz many people said they felt at home while beeing at the cafe, or at Luisas, or at the big old house, etc. It is more our way of treating and providing them all the comfort possible, and solutions to their problems, rather than the roof itself which make them tell that.
There is a number of people around the world that give help and shelter to touring cyclist. Most of them are listed in the warmshowers.org list and at the grenzelos.ath.cx list. They offer hospitality to touring cyclist too. Members of those lists are bound to offer their hospitality, or whatever they offer, for free. That is possible mostly because the number of guest per year is not bigger than the number of fingers one has.
Read further in the Other questions and helpful answers page
