We had to pay 23 pound for the 11 hour trip to Salta and by far the most expensive bus journey we have taken, looked like it was going to be another expense for Chile! The border crossing was easy enough as the bus company was brilliant and took care of most things and everything went smooth. We also got two meals out of them which made us feel slightly better for what we were paying. We finally arrived in Salta at 11 pm and looking forward to a nice shower and comfy bed to sleep in. We got to the [View Full Entry]

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First impressions of San Pedro was a typical backpackers town but with high prices and this was confirmed when we went for breakfast and it cost us over 10 pound, the things we could buy in Bolivia for that, there was no comparison and we were starting to feel ripped off or even worse that we were back at home! One of the plus sides of San Pedro was the night time dinner special. Due to the number of restaurants they would all have set meals, starter, main, desert and free drink for between 4-5 pound which was a bargain. Our [View Full Entry]

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Bolivia to Chile We don’t half have some fantastic border crossings and I have read back some of the previous ones and its even hard for me to believe that I haven’t made them up, honestly I’m not. Of all the borders we have crossed including the last trip around Asia this one has to top the bill. As I’m writing this I must be in a good mood as I have not swore once, well not yet! It all started at 3am waiting at the bus office in Uyuni, so I suppose we asked for trouble starting so early but [View Full Entry]

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Apologies - currently unable to restore. If you have a backup please edit this entry and save/publish [View Full Entry]

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After Potosi we headed to Tupiza a small place 8 hours down a shitty road on a clapped out bus. The reason I wanted to come her as it was the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid finally got caught by the authorities and apparently died in a blazing shoot out. I have loved the film with Paul Newman and Robert Redford since I was a kid and when I found out the place was actually real, I had to come! I have looked on the net for some background information for you, but so many stories, so if [View Full Entry]

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Potosi was next up for the world’s highest city at 4070m above sea level. The city has prospered at this height due to the large mine and was once so prolific that it was South Americas largest and wealthiest city. Even today the mine is still in operation and the main attraction for the tourist. It was the reason we came as you get to visit inside the mine and even blow up some dynamite, it was too tempting to resist! We were expecting it to be cold but it was still a bit of a shock when it started to [View Full Entry]

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Next up was Rurrenbaque and a tour through the jungle and Pampas region of the Amazon basin. The tour worked out fairly cheap at 25 pound each for a 3 day tour including all food and accommodation. The only other expense was getting there which was either 18 hours on a bus for 7 pound or a 45 minute flight for 50 pound return with the Bolivian Air Force F.A.B for short...Fuerzas Areas Bolivianos! Thunderbirds are go! They had to be safe and reliable! We took the easy option or so we thought! The flight on paper was easy enough, turn [View Full Entry]

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After La Paz we traveled 8 hours south to Cochabamba arriving fairly late at 9pm and then the usual lovely walk around trying to find somewhere to stay. Luckily it was a safe enough place and we stayed in a nice place where the owner gave us loads of local advice telling us where’s safe and places to stay away from. Cochabamba doesn’t have much to offer and we only used it as a place to break up our journey to Sucre. We only stayed 2 nights and the highlight, well for Michelle anyway was possibly the largest market we [View Full Entry]

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We finally arrived in Coroico all pumped on adrenaline and booked into a fantastic hostel, Sol Y Luna (www.solyluna-bolivia.com/ )the best place we have stayed on the whole trip it was amazing. Check the website out. They have a number of rooms and cottages. We stayed in the Bamboo cottage for 3 nights and loved every minute of it. The place was expensive for Bolivia and more than we usually pay but 10 pound a night was a bargain for what we got. The cottage was built on the side of the hillside and had amazing panoramic views of Corioco and [View Full Entry]

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Some info about the famous Death Road! The Yungas road was built by Paraguayan prisoners of war in the 1930s as a route between Coroico and La Paz and is a spectacular 38-mile ride, descending more than 3600m from the Andean mountains at 4800m to the Amazonian jungle at 1100m. It was first called the death road in 1995 when 200 hundred lives were lost the previous year and which prompted them to build a safer modern road. Unfortunately this route is twice as long so many locals still take the old route to save time and money! On average 26 [View Full Entry]

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