Poor But Happy

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La Paz

Next stop in Bolivia was lovely La Paz, one of our favourite South America cities. Loads of charm, lots of lovely buildings, great hostel & nightlife and really, really good icecream.

At a height above sea level of around 4000m the central part of town is within a valley surrounded by several large mountains. It makes for a dramatic and chilly setting and unfortunately means that you are guaranteed to lose your breath every time you step foot out of our hostel which, conveniently, is half way up one of these large mountains.

Despite these drastic hardships we managed a great time wandering the cities in search of fabulous gloves, scarves, beanies and other fun market-ware to send home in preparation for our purge of winter goods. We were told that Bolivia is the cheapest reliable mail service in South America, so took the opportunity to empty our backpacks (a little) and sent a total of 13kgs home (yes, it has safely arrived thanks very much). Despite this, Rachel´s still lugging around 20kgs around and Cazz is on around 16kgs.

Another highlight of our La Paz experience included a walk past San Pedro prison. Housing 3000+ prisoners, inmates actually have to pay their own way including purchasing a cell. Many people have their entire families living with them and eke out an income by setting up small stalls within the prison. It´s not much to see from the outside unfortunately, they banned the guided tours for foreigners that prisoners were offering when two gringos were assaulted inside the prison.

Worlds Most Dangerous Road

Worlds Most Dangerous Road Coroico is a 64km road leading from La Paz to Coroico. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the "world's most dangerous road". One estimate is that 200-300 travellers were killed yearly along the road. The road includes christian crosses marking many of the spots where such vehicles have fallen.

Upon leaving La Paz, the road first ascends up to around 5 km, before descending to 330 m (1079 ft), transitioning quickly from cool altiplano terrain to rain forest as it winds through very steep hillsides and atop cliffs.Because of the extreme dropoffs, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above.

Despite the above statistics, 11 years ago a Kiwi fellow started taking backpackers on guided mountain bike tours along this 4.5km downhill road at breathtaking speeds. 11 cyclists have died on this road to date including an Israeli and a Canadian this year. The bikes and gear is of an amazing quality and the freedom of a 64km cycle with no downhill had me breathless - cycling has NEVER been so much fun!!!

Rurrenabaque

Needing a bit of a nature fix after our time in ski-fields, deserts and cities, we headed to the tiny town of Rurrenabaque, 400km east of La Paz. We flew in on a 19 seat plane, landed on a grass runway and exited the plane in a stifling 38 degrees.

There are two main tours available in this region; Pampas (wetlands) and Rainforest. We selected Pampas due to the greater likelihood of seeing some wildlife. We were not disappointed! We saw the much sought after sloth, capuchin & howler monkeys, toucans, macaws, fireflies, frogs, caimans (which are like black crocodiles) alligators, an anaconda and loads of sweet capybaras.

The tour was 3 days long with a lot of hot, dusty and uncomfortable travelling there and back... a warning to any prospective travellers - there´s not really such a thing as a relaxing Bolivian holiday, despite that it is an amazingly rich and exciting culture with some truly fascinating landscapes. The poorest country in South America certainly has a lot to offer.

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Photos

La Paz
Ridiculously high (4000m), charming and surprisingly not that dirty.

Smoothie Bar
Delicious, healthy and cheap. Just how we love our smoothies.

Witches Market
This lovely lady sells lollies, various minerals and animal and plant species for medicinal purposes and for good measure, llama fetuses.

Death Road
Also Grove's Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, El Camino de la Muerte, Road of Death, and World´s Most Dangerous Road.

Cazz con Bicicleta
I felt completely safe on $2500 bikes with front and back suspension and disc brakes.

Rainbow
A perfectly round rainbow - I never knew such a thing existed!

Dusk
Dusk on the Beni River, Rurrenabaque... when mosquitoes come out to play.

Friendly Locals
Just one at least, this fellow´s name is Peter... the scaly one that is, the other one is our guide Pedro.

Capybara
These oversized guinea pigs were all along the riverbank. They graze on grass and are the favourite food of the bigger predators in the area.

A Big Puddle
What´s left of the floodplain. In wet season the water spreads across the entire region, and this area is only accessible by boat.

The Hunt
Our guides looking for an Anaconda the old fashioned way... just hoping to step on one and see what happens.

Rachel´s New Friend, Ana
The 2m Anaconda found in the pampas by our guide, Pedro.

Road Trip
Our deluxe jeep. 13 hours on a 3m wide gravel road through the Bolivian highlands thanks to Rurrenabaque´s airport being closed.