Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 6

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About 10 kilometers from Bolivia’s capital of La Paz lies the stark, alien landscape of El Valle de la Luna, or Moon Valley. Thousands of years ago, it lay at the bottom of the ocean. The rains and winds of the Andes here have created these unusual formations, making the area almost a forest of stalagmites out in the open. It isn’t a valley at all, but a bizarre, eroded hillside maze of canyons and pinnacles technically known as badlands. Several species of cactus grow here, including the hallucinogenic choma (San Pedro cactus). Our virtual guide was great, taking us to a high viewpoint and was able to get quite close to some of the formations. Although the area of Moon Valley currently rests at 3,650 meters / 11,975 feet above sea level, thousands of years ... read more

Another border, another experience! But this time I have our previous experiences to help us. Crossing from Peru to Bolivia had a similar plot to that of Mexico/Guatemala; a bus that leaves you at the border of the leaving country, then change all the money left into the new currency, then walk into the new country, having the passport stamped and then leave with another bus. At the point of changing my last Peruvian Soles for Bolivianos (the local currency in Bolivia) I moved away from the crowd, checked before what the current exchange rate is and then asked another cambio (as the Japanese girl did at the Mexican border) and yes I got a better rate, actually some pennies more that what internet said. I got £5 more than what the first guy offered me. ... read more

Auf meiner nächsten Etappe begleitet mich eine weitere Freundin: Mandy. Zusammen erkunden wir nochmal Santiago de Chile. Und auch für mich gibt es immer wieder Neues in der Stadt zu entdecken. Und auch ein weiterer Tagesausflug nach Valparaiso schließt sich an. Und auch hier begeistern mich die Graffities in der Stadt wieder und wir genießen einen relaxten Tag in der Hafenstadt. Unser nächstes Highlight wurde schließlich ein Abstecher für 3 Tage auf die Osterinsel, eine abgelegene vulkanische Insel in Polynesien, welche zu Chile gehört. So flogen wir passend in der Osterwoche nach Rapa Nui, wie die Insel in der Sprache der Einheimischen heißt. Nach fünf Stunden Flug kamen wir schließlich im feucht-warmen Klima auf der Insel an. Alles erinnerte mich spontan an die pazifischen Inseln. Denn schließlich waren wir auch nur ca. 4.000km von Tahiti entfernt. ... read more

We have a bus back to La Paz at 13.15. First we are going to visit Horca del Inca, an ancient astronomical site on a hill just outside town. We try to check out but reception is empty. We soon discover why – spitty llama is giving birth. It’s an exciting and unexpected start to the morning. We walk through town where there is a festival taking place; people in their Sunday best, cars decorated with flowers, bands playing. On to Horca del Inca, described by Google Maps as a 14 minute ‘mostly flat’ walk. 45 minutes and 389 steep stone steps later, we finally reach our destination. Quite a tough ascent at 3800m altitude. We return to the hotel. We have just enough time to get some brunch and see baby llama one more time ... read more