Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 516

Arriving in Potosi at five in the morning was not good for several reasons. 1. Potosi seems to be one of the only cities in South America that doesn't't run on a grid system. 2. None of the streets are signposted. 3. One and two combined with the fact that we didn't't arrive at a bus stop meant we got hopelessly lost. Yes we are admitting it for maybe the first time ever that we go lost. 4. Being the first time our stubbornness prohibited us from taking a taxi, meaning we wandered around. Lots. 5. Being the highest city in the world at 4090 meters, we quickly got tired of wandering around. Eventually we succumbed to the horror of taking a taxi something that is deeply against both our morals - especially if i have ... read more

The world´s largest salt flats lie on top of an enormous lake 12 meters at its deepest. The salt here it toxic, and needs to be refined (iodine added) before you eat it. The flats are just outside the town of Uyuni, and for 120 bolivianos you can join a one day tour. I recommend Cristal tours, who were very professional and who supplied an awesome lunch of fried llama meat, salads, pasta and amazing oranges. The first stop on the tour is the Salt Hotel, a no longer operating hotel built entirely of Salt. The roof is made of grass, but the beds, walls, toilet, etc are all salt. It shut down for hygenic reasons, I wonder why… The second stop is the oddly named ísland of the fisherman, where for 10 bolivianos you can ... read more

After a couple of days resting in La Paz, experiencing the craziness of the street markets where you can buy anything from dried llama foetuses to a new toilet, we bit the bullet and signed up for the infamous downhill mountain biking experience along the world´s most dangerous road. Everybody we´ve met who has the t-shirt recommended Gravity Assisted in La Paz as the company to go with. Excellent bikes and the best guides. As well as a great safety record. They certainly were a splendid organisation. We went for the full package. Top notch full-suspension Kona bikes, protective clothing, goggles, etc. But nothing quite prepared us for the madness of the ride - over 60 km downhill almost all the way. We started out at 4,700 mts and descended to 1,600 mts - from snow ... read more

I’m in Sucre now, having shared a taxi from Potosi with a lovely German couple. The drive from Potosi was beautiful, from arid high plateau to eucalyptus trees and green parks. Sucre is the other capital city of Bolivia, holding the legislative and judicial branches of government (La Paz being the other, having the executive branch). Sucre has a famous university, and a real college down feel. Only 150,000 people live here, but this weekend there isn’t an empty hotel room, as people are here to celebrate their country’s independence AND the rewriting of their constitution. There is a great feeling here, a feeling of ´out with the old, in with the new´, and people taking a keen interest in the politics and re-writing of the politics. The Bolivian president is of aboriginal ancestry, and for ... read more

So after our climb up Huayna Potosi we deserved a 2 day rest in La Paz doing very little except watching cable TV, eating and buying new jeans for Anne. July 26 saw us set of in a taxi to 4800m and the start of the Choro trek. This time our guide was Sixto who also was our cook and carried all the food. Normally Anne carries the food and fuel so her rucksack was light whereas James still carried the tent so there was no change for him. The great thing about the Choro trek is that it is essentially a 3 day walk downhill 3800m down into the Yungas rainforest part of the Amazon basin. Starting at high alpine mountains we passed through the La Cumbre pass before starting our descent on the 500 ... read more