The next stop on our journey west through Bolivia, was Sajama National Park, home of the eponymous volcano, Bolivia’s highest peak. For some reason this beautiful area receives relatively few visitors and therefore has no public transport links. Or perhaps more likely, the lack of transport explains the lack of visitors. Either way, we’ll be surprised if this situation continues for much longer. To get there, we needed to board a La Paz bound bus from Santa Cruz and ask to be let off at the small town Patacamaya, from where we could charter a taxi for an hour or so [View Full Entry]

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The chicken bus to Potosi only cost me £2.80. I felt somewhat over charged considering the the death trap on wheels which I was about to board would be lucky if it make it to the end of the street never mind Potosi. When I got on the bus, a lady was sat in the seat which I had booked. Now, under normal circumstances I would have let her sit there without a problem, but the amount of times I have been asked to vacate a seat whilst in South America because it has been booked then it felt quite good [View Full Entry]

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Most people arriving for a tour of the Amazon would be well prepared in advance - drink plenty of fluids the night before, get a good nights sleep and brace yourself for the humidity, heat and general uncomfortable ness of Amazon life. Not us. Drink fluids we did the night before, just the wrong type, and lots of the wrong type. And so on the morning of our flight (the night after our hostel trivia quiz and celebratory shots at winning best team name) to Rurrenabaque a small town in the Beni region of North East Bolivia from where we would [View Full Entry]

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Following our 3 day adventure around south west Bolivia hanging out in hot springs and amusing ourselves, with what we have all decided are the campest animals in the world, Llamas, we arrived in lofty La Paz, the second largest city in Bolivia. I had heard alot about La Paz, mainly so from the book i read last year called Marching Powder, which tells the story of a Brit who got locked up in a prison in La Paz for trying to smuggle a shed load of coke out of Bolivia to the UK, smart guy. But La Paz really is [View Full Entry]

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TITIKAKA 31.10.2009 SEKÄ LA PAZ, BOLIVIA 1.-2.11.2009 ”Kävele hitaasti, syö kohtuullisesti ja nuku paljon sieluparkasi vuoksi”, kuuluu bolivialaisten neuvo vuoristotaudin karttamiseksi. Reppumatkailijat kertovat legendaa, että kaikki aina sairastuvat La Pazissa, Boliviassa. En uskonut ennen kuin ensimmäisenä yönä sairastuin oikein kunnolla. En tiedä mikä osa siitä on vuoristotautia, mikä vatsatautia. Mutta nukkunut olen ja nähnyt sitäkin vähemmän La Pazia: ensimmäisenä päivänä nukuin kahteen asti iltapäivällä ja viime yönä yksitoista tuntia, minkä jälkeen jouduin pudottau [View Full Entry]

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I am about two weeks behind on this blog now so should really start speeding things up, as I write this Jack and I are waiting to cross the border from Bolivia into Argentina but I´ll try and backtrack to our crossing from Peru into Bolivia...our time in this country has been so busy and gone soo fast! The night bus from Cuzco to Puno wasn´t too bad, although the driver decided to lock us into the downstairs section (i think it was his solution to our loose door). This was fine until about 1am when i needed a wee and [View Full Entry]

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Still a bit drowsy from the overnight bus from La Paz, I arrived in Uyuni on Wed 28/10, still undecided on whether to do a 1 or 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni, the world´s largest salt flat. Given my recent bus experiences I didn´t want to sit in a Jeep for 3 days (they let you out for 20 minutes at a time) so I chose to do a 2 day tour of the Salar and a couple of the lagunas. The Salar was absolutely beautiful, although I imagine it can get old very quickly. However, despite my [View Full Entry]

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Last Friday, 23/10 I arrived in La Paz from Copacabana. I spent pretty much the entire day trying to obtain my Paraguayan Visa--which I recently found out was actually a planning mistake and now Im traveling to Paraguay because I feel that I HAVE to, given the expense. I took the 6:15 flight from La Paz to the jungle town of Rurrenabaque, which borders Parque Nacional Madidi. Even making the flight was very lucky, as there had been rain for several days prior, and flights cannot land in Rurre after rain because it is made of dirt. The flight in itself [View Full Entry]

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Whilst on Lake Titicaca we visited the Uros Islands, which are floating reed islands anchored to the bottom of the lake, on which communities live, go to school, trade etc. Although the compacted reeds are 2 metres thick its still a strange floating sensation when you are on them. After some shopping opportunities our group made their way to another island - Amantani. Here we stayed the night with a local family in their house. At the dock we were met by our ´mama´in her traditional dress and taken for lunch to her home. It was basic but we were lucky [View Full Entry]

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Walking down the Prado (the main road) in the heart of La Paz I can´t help thinking of Detroit. My memory isn´t envoked for the similarities, but for the stark differences. And for that matter I might as well picture Any City, USA. There is a life here that permeates every corner. Every park bench. The life is outside. Walking down the street. Selling vegetables while huddling over a bowl of soup and a plate of rice. It´s eating ice cream at 10 in the morning, and walking hand in hand with a relative or a friend. It fills the futbol [View Full Entry]

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