Blogs from Uyuni, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 14

Como dije mi paso por este pais fue muy corto pero intenso. Estuve algo asi cmo 10 dias. Los problemas con el sector agrario en Peru no eran distintos en Bolivia y se hablaba de la inestabilidad del pais y de la posibilidad de que las carreteras esten cortadas. Pero parece que mi buen karma esta volviendo otra vez a mi porque no tuve ningun incidente, ya tuve bastantes en Peru no? A mis amigos Argentinos los encontre de casualidad en Puno, el dia antes de cruzar la frontera. Con unas cervezas me adviritieron de todos los peligros de Bolivia. Ellos me aconsejaron ir a comer empanadas a Argentina mejor mmmmmmm..... estuve muy tentada pero el Salar de Uyuni era algo que tenia que ver, se lo habia prometido a un amigo italiano en Nueva Zelanda. ... read more

From San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile, the easiest way to head north is on a 3 day journey across the high altitude altiplano of Bolivia to arrive in Uyuni, Bolivia, on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, the largest and highest salt flats in the world. Day 1: Crossing into Bolivia and the Multi-Coloured Lakes After leaving San Pedro at 8am on Friday morning, we quickly arrived at the Chilean exit border post for the obligatory stand around for a while before being let out of the country. Following a further 30 min drive then through no mans land (With signs along the edge of the road warning not to stray off the road, as there are still land mines around, dating from the Pinochet regime!), we arrived at the Bolivian border post. ... read more

Well we dutifully headed down to the bus stop in Potosi with all our bags at 6pm. And there we sat, on the pavement, with a growing number of other tourists and some locals, until eventually at 7.30pm they said the bus was not coming! It wasn´t totally clear what the problem was, but it seemed there was some sort of blockade and their bus was stuck behind it. There were a couple of other bus companies going, but they said they were going round the blockade, and that it would take 10 hours instead of the 7 or so it should have. We also couldn´t get our money back, so decided to sit tight and give it a go in the morning. So we traipsed up the road with another couple to try our luck ... read more

After a horrendous drive along what felt like mostly rocks, we arrived in Uyuni early evening. We've really started to reach altitude now, from memory the town is 3,600 m above sea level, though luckily I've not been overly affected by it. Bolivians seem to love their Italian food as again that's pretty much all we could find to eat. Which is fine, just a bit boring, so we spiced dinner up with more drinking games (NB the Australian girl on the trip doesn't seem to know who anyone is when playing drink while you think). Whilst in Uyuni, we took a trip out to the largest and highest salt flats in the world. All around was just white, it was really quite bizarre. And because it's so flat we took loads of kerazy photos where ... read more

Bolivia is, by a long shot, the least developed country we have visited so far. The conditions are rougher - lodging is a lot more basic; clean, flushing toilets are rare; hot water even more so; food is way more risky; and only 10% of the country’s roads are paved. The temporary discomfort is, however, rewarded with the most unique and authentic culture this continent has to offer. The vast majority of this country’s people are the indigenous tribes of the Quechua and Aymara people. The women, from girls to grandmothers, wear exuberant, large, pleated dresses of various colours; thick, llama wool stockings; and bowler hats over their black, double plaits. All of them remarkably resembling each other like a never-ending Russian matryoshka doll set. Many of them speak only their indigenous languages, and those that ... read more