After a month in Peru we headed into Bolivia, although leaving Peru was nearly an issue as we had stayed one day too many on our Peruvian visas (31 days rather than 30 – oops!). Entry into Bolivia was very easy though and we even risked changing some money with the row of money changing ladies at the border (we checked the notes thoroughly and it was in fact a cash machine that had given Adrian a fake 100sol note!). Having reached La Paz, Caz, Andrea, Alex and Melissa left our group to either head home or continue their travels independently so we bid them farewell.
Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, despite its extensive natural resources as it has suffered at the hands of corrupt presidents and greedy overseas conglomerates. As soon as we crossed the border from Peru you could see the difference with far more shanty houses and rubbish everywhere, along with terrible roads. Also hungry dogs were a theme at all our breakfast and lunch spots along the way. Despite this, the country has a lot of charm and beauty, with amazing varied scenery. The road into La Paz provided spectacular views over the city, nestled in the mountains. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 3,660m, meaning that it is exhausting walking up and down the steep streets!
On our first night in La Paz we had a fancy dress party at one of the bars and we all chose an outfit for someone else based on names being pulled out of a hat. Lindsay picked me and totally stitched me up by making me wear a tight catwoman suit! A few drinks were required to get over the embarrassment and the night was a pretty merry one for all. The next day was a free day to explore La Paz so we had a lazy day of shopping and eating to get over the night before. Le Roux and Adrian had not been well so didn’t make it to the party and therefore they were up and out early to buy various electronic devices from the black market. We’d been told that things were cheaper in Bolivia, but it turned out not to be the case. However, Le Roux was so desperate for a baby laptop of his own that he bought one anyway!
Le Roux and I decided to mountain bike the Ghost Ride rather than the World’s Most Dangerous Road as the first half is off road and more challenging but with similar scenery. Having driven for an hour to the top of the mountain we then spent all day riding down from steep loose shale slopes at 5,000m to the dirt road and haunted house at 2,000m. The top sections were quite tricky and scary and I have to admit to bottling out of a few bits and taking the slightly easier route, but as I gained more confidence I tackled some of the tricky bits - I only fell once and not badly - Le Roux captured the moment on camera and Adrian captured Le Roux rolling around laughing at me!! It rained when we got to the dirt road so by the time we reached the haunted house we were so muddy and wet but happy at having made it down safely from a great ride.
Next stop was Potosi, the highest city in the world at 4,070m, known for its silver mines. Unfortunately I came down with a tummy bug for 36 hours so I didn’t visit the mines but Le Roux did and he thoroughly enjoyed the dynamite demonstration and even bought a stick for later use.
From Potosi we headed to Sucre, the cultural capital of Bolivia. It was yet another public holiday so most of the town was closed which was a shame but it was a very pretty city, with its white painted colonial buildings and many churches. Le Roux was a little hungover following the celebrations for Shabana’s and Claire’s birthdays the night before, and he wasn’t impressed when I persuaded him to climb the hill for a “spectacular view” as per the guidebook only to find that the view was very average and the cafe wasn’t open for a much needed cold drink after the hot climb!
Uyuni, the gateway town to the Salar (the Bolivian Salt Flats) was our next destination, for an overnight excursion out onto the salt flats. The road from Potosi to Uyuni was incredibly bumpy and bad so we were all glad to arrive after feeling pretty ropey the whole way. Uyuni does not have a lot going for it and the only cuisine you can get is pizza. Luckily the pizza restaurant attached to our hostel made excellent woodfired pizzas and had amazing “death by chocolate” cake for dessert. On the walls of the restaurant were many funny photos taken by previous patrons on the salt flats. We collected some ideas and bought the necessary props from the market the next morning.
The salt flats stretch for 12,000 sq km, further than the eye can see, and it is impossible to really appreciate their size. We visited a salt factory, complete with salt souvenirs (little pots and llamas made entirely from salt!) the bubbling thermal pools, Fish Island – a hilly outpost with its many cacti surrounded by white hexagonal tiles of salt, and the volcano, which we climbed for spectacular views over the salt flats. In between these activities we fitted in a fair bit of time taking silly photos due to the lack of perspective which was great fun. Overnight we stayed in a dormitory in a deserted village on the edge of the salt flats and Le Roux had a rude awakening when Adrian, Matt and Mike decided to bundle him as they’d got up to watch the sunrise and had then got bored waiting for everyone else to get up! Last stop before returning to Uyuni was the train cemetery which was a lot of old rusting steam engines that had been abandoned in the 19th century – not quite sure why it is in the guide books as it really wasn’t a highlight!
Tupiza was our next destination, via Potosi again! I think the reason for travelling to everywhere via Potosi was the very bad roads, as it really didn’t have anything going for it to warrant that many visits! As we were going to be crossing the border into Argentina the next day, Le Roux decided it was time to use his dynamite, much to all our relief as we weren’t massively comfortable with it on the bus, especially when we discovered one day it had been sitting on top of Scoota’s overheated drill battery! Having eaten lunch in the shade of some nice trees, Le Roux and Adrian set off to find a suitable spot for the explosion. The fuse was plenty long enough and gave them a good 4 minutes to get back to a safe distance. We all watched on and despite being ready for the bang, we all (well all the girls anyway!) jumped and screamed when it actually went off. Adrian captured it on video, including the screams, but the explosion was not as big as Le Roux would have liked, but at least we were all still in one piece, much to Max’s relief.
It was yet another birthday in the group that day - Aoife’s - so we created Irish day, with us all wearing something green during the day, followed by a roof top party at our hostel in Tupiza that evening. Lynne and Steph had miraculously found a party shop in Potosi so we had green balloons, party hats and little shamrocks to wear. Some of the girls even bought green material and made dresses for the occasion. The takeaway dinner wasn’t much to write home about, but we had plenty of alcohol and music so a good time was had by all on our last night in Bolivia.
Complete photo album:
On our first night in La Paz we had a fancy dress party at one of the bars and we all chose an outfit for someone else based on names being pulled out of a hat. Lindsay picked me and totally stitched me up by making me wear a tight catwoman suit! A few drinks were required to get over the embarrassment and the night was a pretty merry one for all. The next day was a free day to explore La Paz so we had a lazy day of shopping and eating to get over the night before. Le Roux and Adrian had not been well so didn’t make it to the party and therefore they were up and out early to buy various electronic devices from the black market. We’d been told that things were cheaper in Bolivia, but it turned out not to be the case. However, Le Roux was so desperate for a baby laptop of his own that he bought one anyway!
No comments:
Post a Comment