So we arrived in Uyuni at four in the morning after the bus journey from hell. It took two hours longer than it was meant to and the driver hopped off the bus every half our to perform the very technical act of banging the front wheels with a piece of metal! However we got there and were on a Salar de Uyuni tour by 10:30 am that same morning. In fact we had our choice of tours and had tour operators following us around the central plaza (competition is fierce). We decided on a group called Reli tours as they [View Full Entry]

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The highest city in the world So the day that we arrived in Potosi, the highest city in the world, we booked a tour to the famous Potosi silver mines. The next day, we started the tour by suiting up in special trousers, jacket, wellies, hard hat and head torch (complete with stylish belt). We went to the miner's market where we were able to buy as much explosive material as we wanted (as can the Bolivians for their fight against the destruction of the Coca fields by the Americans, in fact a miner can send his children to buy explosives!). [View Full Entry]

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We were so excited to be heading for La Paz...the guidebook makes like theres tons of good outdoor activities around the city and lots of interesting museums and markets to visit in the city... Well, it´s definitely an interesting place...but after Todd spent the whole of our first day with altitude sickness...fever, and throwing up, we aren´t feeling so up for adventurous undertakings. So, there will be no bike ride down the World´s Most Dangerous Road, no long, bumpy, and for Todd, who gets the motion sickness, nausea inducing bus rides to beautiful little Andean towns, and no boat rides [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Sucre (the constitutional capital) after a pretty good bus journey, comfy semi-cama seats (reclining with foot rests) and we bought travel cushions - aren´t we good to ourselves?? The road was pretty good if unpaved, and I woke up in time to see the sun rise. When we arrived we met a nice taxi driver who drove us around some places to stay (probably his drinking buddies) for no extra cost. We found a really nice place called Hostal Independencia and settled in there. We decided to spend the day walking around a couple of the museums as [View Full Entry]

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On Friday before leaving for Sucre we went to visit Tiwanaku(or Tiahuanaco). This is Bolivia´s most famous archaelogical site. It is believed to be the capital city of the pre-Incan Aymara civilisation who lived around Lake Titicaca. The city consists of temples, dwellings and a huge (and as yet to be fully excavated) pyramid. The pyramid is said to rival any of the others found in Mexico or elsewhere in South America and excavation is currently underway and due to complete in the next five years. It has seven different levels and no peak, so quite different to the Egyptian version. [View Full Entry]

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We got to Rurrenabaque on the 27th November after a fantastic flight in a Cessna Grand Caravan (for the flight enthusiasts, a 12-passenger single prop aircraft). The flight was 1 hour, early in the morning, and you can see some of the pictures we took - the views were spectacular as we headed for a gap in the mountain range, and then flew over the land as it dropped down, first through cloud forest all the way to jungle and pampas below - we landed over 3200 metres lower down than we took off. And it was hot, and very very [View Full Entry]

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Monday morning we met at the offices of 'Refugio Huayna Potosi' Climbing School at 9am, paid and went to the equipment store where we picked up our Ice Axes, waterproof pants, jackets, crampons, boots and gloves. It was a totally disorganised shambles but eventually we got our gear (not in the best condition) and ourselves up to the first refuge (4400m) in the company's old Toyota Land Cruiser. Training on the Glacier After lunch we trudged up to the glacier where we were to train in using the gear. Putting the stuff on in the refuge was tiring enough, but we [View Full Entry]

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Saturday - Arrival at La Paz So, we quickly found a taxi and crossed to the touristy bit of La Paz to find a hostal we'd been recommended - El Solario on Murillo and Santa Cruz. Basic, but with in-house internet (on which I am writing now) and only 50Bs - about 3pounds20 a night, we thought it was a good base. A very nice coincidence was to bump into two people we'd met along the way, Dominic and Catherine - two friends travelling together before getting jobs. Dominic wanted to book onto the trip up Huayna Potosi too so we [View Full Entry]

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Lake Titicaca situated between Peru and Bolivia in South America is the world’s highest navigable lake. It is 3811 m above sea level! We decided to visit the lake from Copacabana in Bolivia rather than Puno in Peru as Puno was, not to put to fine a point on it, a hole! We had an interesting border crossing between Peru and Bolivia involving buses, a taxi and a rickshaw. The rickshaw man insisted on cycling us and our backpacks up a hill to the border controls and even after one of his pedals broke and Pete was helping him push the [View Full Entry]

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And so after my little whistlestop Peru side trip, back to Bolivia. After another uncomfortable overnight bus journey, this time back to La Paz, I embarked on a whirlwind of activities and tours with the idea of getting as much out of Bolivia in the shortest possible time... So with Rachael doing some charideee work in Cochabamba, and then visiting Sucre; I have been busy with climbing Bolivias 3rd highest mountain, Huyana Potosi. This is advertised in the backpacker agencies as a "non technical, easy 2 day hike to a 6000m peak". Well, this aint so.. climbing it was one of [View Full Entry]

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