Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 509

Quisiera comprar una agua sin gas por favor

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz September 4th 2006

The most important sentence in spanish for me at the moment. Can I buy a bottle of water with out bubbles please. I drink at least 2 litres a day and I´m beginning to think thats not enough as I have developed a pretty sore dry throat and a cough. Other then that still no other bad effects from the altitude so I consider myself pretty lucky. I finally caught up with James and Julie on Friday and have hung out with them during the weekend. Its great to catch up with some freinds and have a good all english yarn. If you want to get to know to know these poeple more and what they are doing check out their blog at James&Julie James and Julie took me to a spanish youth meeting at a ... read more

Salar De Uyuni

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Salar de Uyuni September 3rd 2006

Cactus Island

thatmikeandamy

We arrived in Uyuni after 8 hours on two chilly, smelly and generally grotty buses from Sucre. We managed to catch half an hour in Potosi on the way which is if not the highest, nearly the highest town in the world (apparently somewhere in Tibet is officially). It was, as could be expected, flipping cold. The giant silver mine mountain was pretty impressive though. Our first impression of Uyuni was that we had accidentally stumbled into some Russian backwater. Its pretty grim looking and again pretty cold. We checked into a nice hotel though and proceeded to search for a tour to the Salar de Uyuni and the surounding area. There are 72 tour agencies that offer tours in Uyuni so you can imagine the standard is quite variable. After being offered an extortionate US$85 ... read more

La voluntaria y el profesor

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz September 3rd 2006

The little cutie

James and Julie

Things in La Paz are settling down a bit and we've got into a bit of a routine. I've been going to an orphanage for four afternoons a week and helping with the 2-8 year olds... all of the kids are second generation street children, so I think most have parents that are still on the streets. Some of the kids have suffered abuse from their parents and have run away, some of them had been made to work on the streets by their parents... there's a 5 year old who is already an ex-gluesniffer! I mostly sit with them while they eat lunch and then help them with their homework... not an easy task when one's Spanish vocab is rather limited! I'm having to learn how to say words for things like... ok don't stand ... read more

La Paz

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz September 2nd 2006

Roadblock to La Paz

TimTam

Journey to La Paz Well... we got up in Copacabana all ready to set off to La Paz. Then we discovered there was a roadblock so we couldn´t get to La Paz... the farmers were making a stand about something and had put rocks on the road. So we decided to do the easy thing and head back into Peru and go down to a different border town, cross back into Bolivia and head to La Paz from there. How easy that sounds!!! Turns out there was a road block to the border but a nice taxi driver took us and a couple of Canadians we met to the road block... the photo sums up the specialness of the "roadblock". We walked across this and past a group of about 8 farmers drinking coke... and that ... read more

Bolivian Road Code

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz September 2nd 2006

La Paz shopping

low fat pudding

The Bolivian road code must be a small and simple document. For example the edge of the footpath, the curb, in no way acts as a border or defines where cars stop and pedestrians Begin. Stop signs are optional. Red lights are optional, unless you’re going straight through and there is no room on the other side. Pedestrian crossings are optional, unless you have a red light, but only if you’re not turning. Speed limits are optionally optional. There is no limit to how many people the cars can carry or how much luggage can be attached to the car. You do not need a warrent of fitness of any kind. If it can roll down hill and come to a stop of its own making its good to go. Indicators, what are they. Headlights, see ... read more

Salar de Uyuni

South America » Bolivia September 2nd 2006

Salar de Uyuni - the biggest salt lake in the world

Andrzej

Bolivians use the car horn as more of a Chorus.

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Tiwanaku September 1st 2006

Iqueique

low fat pudding

Not the full blown Anthem. I´m on my way to La Paz. Only 2 hours of sleep, I tried for 7, laid awake for 5 hours hating anyone who could sleep right then. Don’t know why I couldn´t get to sleep. Body’s still whack I guess. 4am wakeup, sorta, was still up, and a quick drive through the semi deserted streets and I’m at the airport. I can’t wait to get out of Santiago. It’s just a big old dirty city really... It could be anywhere in the world and there is something about it which is not right. When the plane finally cleared the smoggy straight jacket I finally realized why I was starting to dislike it. Santiago has no soul. The scenery and land around Santiago, hidden from all in its atmospheric prison, are ... read more

Lake Titicaca

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz August 31st 2006

Master and Comander Ian

mayhem

We finally left La Paz behind us, on the 17th of August, as I was feeling much better after being prescribed to take 6 different tablets a day by the doctor. We left El Solairio which we have agreed is the worst hostel we have stayed in so far, mainly due to the very unhelpful and unfriendly staff. We got to the bus station and booked a bus to Copacabana. We then later turned up to the bus station 15 minutes prier to the bus leaving. The staff looked at us dodgely and then rushed us into a taxi that took us across town to the bus. Which wasn’t there so the taxi driver paid a minibus to take us to Copacabana. The Bolivian way always amazes me. Driving out of La Paz was great finally ... read more

Rurrenabaque, the Jungle and up to Cuzco

South America » Bolivia » Beni Department » Rurrenabaque August 31st 2006

Equalizing the tan

mayhem

Stepping of a 17 hour bus journey in Rurrenabaque with our last meal and last shower a worryingly distant memory, we decided not to bother checking into a hotel and headed straight for a company which could take us up jungle. We found one run by a Bolivian who had lived in the States and were shocked by a return to occidental levels of service. In a bit of a rush we took it in turns to jump onto the back of his scooter with which he tore through to town and down to the “docks”, resembling a scene from apocalypse now with little boats plying up and down the river. We threw our bags in and jumped after as our pilot pushed the boat down the bank and jumped in after us. For about two ... read more

Potosi

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Potosi August 31st 2006

Potosi

Andrzej

gifts for the miners: coca leaves and dynamite

Brief history of Bolivia

Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in 1...more history

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