Difficult Splendor in Bolivia's Salty Wild West

*Aside from the first 3, the pics are in the following order: Uyuni, Tupiza, Bus Scenery. All are worth a look.

1) WORST TRANSPORTATION; BEST SCENERY:
I arrived in Bolivia from Brasil on the death train route. Although I opted for the air conditioned train instead of the death train (known as such because merchandise and animals sat inside while people sat on top and fell to their death during the train ride), my ride ranked the worst in South America at the time. Aside from the mariachi music and cheesy Mexican films they showed, the train was more like a boat. It swayed from side to side in addition to bouncing up and down, moving at snail pace and smelling like wet socks.

From Santa Cruz, my friends and I took a bus to Uyuni which outdid the death train. First, we were told the bus was a "cama" meaning bed bus. That was a lie because the chairs did not recline much. Next, we were promised air conditioning "but only when the bus would be running so as to save energy." We thought it was a little funny that the AC bus had its windows open when it rolled up, but it didn't take long to realize that what was meant by "air conditioning" was in fact natural air flowing through the open windows as the bus was moving.

As for the ride, it was another sleepless one. At one point, I looked out the window to see a giant cliff a few feet away. The lady behind me started screaming "peligroso" (dangerous), crying and praying to God not to take her life. This was because all of a sudden, our bus was turned off. It was sliding backwards in the mud and fish tailing right by a cliff. Next thing I know, I see another bus doing the same thing, but faster, and passing us going backwards on the narrow road. That's about when I started to get worried myself. And, with how bumpy the ride was because there was no real road, I wasn't able to relax and forget about it at all.

Believe it or not, the next bus I took was even worse. It took 28 HOURS to travel a distance of 500 KILOMETERS (310 miles). How ridiculous is that?! And, when we went to get our luggage, we learned there was a man sleeping on our stuff. Basically, he gets paid to sit with the baggage. What that means is that you get robbed. Fabulous!

Let's just say that in general, it didn't take long to realize I wasn't in Argentina, Chile or Brasil anymore. Everyone seemed to lie, hike up prices, try to take advantage of you, etc. Of course, this isn't anything new while traveling, but it really sucks to go back to it after being in other countries where things have a set fair price.

Despite Bolivia having worse bus rides than even Laos or Cambodia though, the scenery was WOW.. Just wow! Hands down the most unique and impressive in South America thus far.

2) UYUNI:
My first real stop in Bolivia was Uyuni, home of the world´s largest salt flat (created when a prehistoric lake dried up) and a place where at times, you don't know where the world ends and the sky begins.

Uyuni is a place where the pictures speak for themselves. I was lucky to be traveling with a group of Israeli's and 2 fellow Californians at the time and boy was it fun! It really made me question why people go to college campuses to film Girls Gone Wild when all you really need to do is throw a bunch of people in a salt flat to have everyone go naked!

On top of that there were geysers, beautiful lakes, giant cactus' and flamingos, thus making it my favorite desert ever!

3) TUPIZA:
Tupiza was like the Wild Wild West, but better. I will never forget the painters pallet of colors the mountains were: red, orange, grey, green, brown, etc. I will also never forget riding a horse and didn´t understand how to slow down.

---

---

---