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Published: January 28th 2008
Bolivian border
New country - crossing from PeruWe decided to cross to Bolivia via Copacabana, a touristy little town on the banks of Lake Titikaka with white beaches and a relaxed feel about the place. Before entering Bolivia we made sure we were up to speed with the latest scams in the country, as there have been a few incidents over the last few years...fake police asking to search bags, fake taxi drivers etc all resulting in loss of possesions. We also took an organised bus that departed Puno, stopped in Copacabana for an hour (changed buses too) and then finished in La Paz. This made the border crossing simple and ensured we were traveling in a large group of people.
Our lunch consisted of grilled trout in basic huts on the beach overlooking the lovely bay filled with pedalos, canoes, and yachts. Thereafter we went up to the bus terminal...only to find a less than airconditioned, less than comfy...ancient bus to take us further along our trip - our first taste of the real Bolivia! The scenery heading towards La Paz was simply stunning! Snowcapped mountain ranges either side with green valleys and animals roaming free. There was a constant hissing sound throughout the trip though (somewhere
Copacabana
Fishingboats in the bay between a kitten being squashed and an asthmatic man climbing stairs!) which alarmingly turned out to be the driver pumping the brakes ten seconds before they were required! The high level view of La Paz as we entered the city was impressive. There was not a square inch of land spared and houses were clinging precariously to each mountain side. We had arrived in the highest capital city in the world!
What a bustling place it turned out to be. Streets crammed with people, cars and market stalls. Various smells filled the air from mouth watering to stomach turning (llama foetusses). It was evident that this city (country) was much poorer than Peru, but quite interesting at that. Always a moment or sight to be seen - whether shocking or amusing.
We spent a couple of days here, mostly within the city walking around. We treated ourselves to pizza and football at Olivers pub too! We tried to book the tourist bus to Uyuni but this appeared not to have returned from Uyuni...with the only explanation being rainy season. So we had to resort to a 4x4 local bus - 12 hours overnight, with no loo on board!
The
Copacabana
Table football on the beach journey started smoothly and we made good time through the villages to Oruro. Katy had a dodgy seat which meant that she was permanently reclined (and hence fell asleep straight away!). We stopped for a midnight snack somewhere...and then, very noticably, continued on a gravel road (bone shaker is an understatement!) The following morning it was evident why the tourist bus did not return from Uyuni...the roads were inpassable! We arrived to a scene where six buses were queued up at a steep descending muddy road and a truck was stuck half way coming up. All of the waiting bus occupants were throwing clumps of grass and managable boulders onto the road from a steep bank alongside, whilst men with spades were frantically trying to dig out the truck and then repair the edge of the road. Our bus driver shouted ´loo break´ and everybody got off, expecting a service station... we got a muddy hill. Most people were taking their time as it appeared we were going to be stuck here for a while ...and then the bus engine started. He slowly started driving - Henry thought he was going to turn around and join the queue and Katy
was...behind the hill! The bus and its kamakazi driver drove straight at the people on the bank, who scattered, and the bus started lurching down the sloped side of the bank to the road below. People were running everywhere: Some towards the hill, some towards the bus to avoid being left behind and others just avoiding being run over! The bus nearly tipped over and we were glad not to be with the handful of passengers still onboard. But he made it - to everyone´s amazement! And the people on the hill started to throw grass and rocks the other way to shore up his route. We had leapfrogged six buses and were on our way again! We soon realised that the driver was either experienced or crazy, as we bypassed several other more cautious parties. But our bus was a workhorse and ploughed her way through rivers, potholes and mudslides. We passed a couple of casualties - one bus had nosedived 45 degrees into a mudhole. Another truck had its wheels half submerged and we cracked on, even to passenger applause at one stage! We were the first to arrive in Uyuni, a mere 3 hours late!
After
Route map
Original plan and ammendment thus far. our arrival, we found out that the route to Tupiza, which was our next stop, was inaccessible - one bus had overturned and the route was blocked by several rivers. We considered the train but this was fully booked for a week, so we had to change plan. A tour agency advised that the only alternative route was via San Pedro in Chile where we would be able to get a bus (and tarred road) to Argentina. This would mean that we would not return to Uyuni after our 3 day tour through the salt flats, but head straight to the border.
The town of Uyuni was small, personal and muddy. We were informed that at this time of year rain should be falling for an hour every 3 - 4 days but this year it had fallen for 3 - 4 hours per day! Our arrival day was overcast with a few showers. We met a Danish couple who had lived through the bus ride with us, and the four of us booked a 3 day tour to the salt flats and surroundings for the following day. This consisted of the hire of a 4 x4 (Toyota Landcruiser) for
La Paz
by night the four of us with a driver and guide, enough water, food and 2 nights basic accommodation.
The day arrived with blue skies, sun and not a cloud in sight. Our first stop was the ´Train Graveyard´ just outside town. This consisted of dozens of old rusted locomotives and carriages (scrap metal worth thousands), which had been dumped in the 1800´s. Thereafter we headed to a salt manufacturing house, where salt was dried and bagged for sale within Bolivia. The government apparantly has not explored the export market and the salt farmers are making a pittance. They probably make more money from selling tourist ornaments made from salt.
The next site was awe inspiring. The world´s largest salt flats sized at 14000 sq km which used to be part of a prehistoric salt lake. With a thin layer of water covering the salt flats, it mirrored everything visible on the horizon, almost giving a euphoric feeling of being above the clouds! Absolutely gorgeous. We also visited the salt hotel which had carvings of clocks, animals, tables and chairs from salt. The hotel used to pollute the salt and therefore it now exists as a ´museum´ as an agreement between the
La Paz
San Francisco Church owner and Unesco was reached to have money donated for the building of another hotel just off the salt flats. It is still used as an hotel illegally on the quiet.
The weather turned and we headed back to Uyuni for a lunch which consisted of beef soup, steak and bananas covered in honey. In the afternoon we headed south to San Cristobal where a Canadian silvermine was in use. Years ago an agreement between the locals and the Canadians meant that the old town was rebuilt in another location to ensure that the mine did not cause the collapse of the town. The locals would only agree on the condition that the old church was moved stone for stone to the new town. The Canadian company spent more on getting experts in to move the church than rebuilding the entire town.
We arrived at our accommodation after having a pitstop...another flat tyre! Katy and Henry were deemed to be bad luck as we had relayed our previous experience! Fortunately the driver was a dab hand at fixing the tyre (except that he left a spare wheel bolt behind!) and we were soon on our way. The town had
La Paz
Shop front one road through it and was surrounded by flatland and mountains in the distances. Several tour groups were crammed into one living room and our respective cooks fought over space in the kitchen to provide us with dinner. We had an enjoyable evening with beers and cards and went to bed at a reasonably early hour!
The following day we travelled south, parallel with the Chilean border and the Andes. On the way we passed through a valley with amazing rock formations caused by erosion of old lava fields from once active volcanoes. Then we climbed higher (approx 4500m) into a beautiful arid landscape punctuated with endless magnificently coloured lagoons filled with flamingos and surrounded by llamas and vicunas. With the sun shining, the air clear and the mountains refelcted in the still water, it was a beautiful sight. Our second night´s accomodation was even more basic than the first, but the rooms were warm and we had plenty of blankets (important as it regularly drops below zero at night here and in the winter can go as low as -20 C). We had an evening of coinage games around the wood burner and had to resort to a
La Paz
Bustling streets bottle of the lethal local spirit as all the beers had sold out.
The next morning we rose at 5am and bleary eyed headed for the Sol de Manana, a geyser basin at 4950m. On the way we broke through the 5000m barrier (a first for Katy!) and saw the sun rise over the mountains. Despite the smell of the sulphur the steam was an impressive sight in the morning sun, bellowing high into the air. One of the geysers was man made, the result of an experiment to determine whether the pressure of the steam could be used to generate electricity - unfortunately it failed. After this we went to the hot springs where we stripped off (to swimming cossies!) in the freezing morning air to drop into lovely warm water (32C) which we then didn´t want to leave! Breakfast persuaded us out of the water and we were on our way again. The last few stops were more lagoons including the Laguna Verde with the stunning Volcano Lincancabur as a back drop.
One of the other tour 4x4´s gave up the ghost at this point (despite some interesting methods of jump starting including pushing it along
La Paz to Uyuni
Tracks of our bus on right! with another jeep) and we were joined by 3 other gringos heading for the border. Half an hour later we arrrived at a hut in the middle of the desert where we said our goodbyes and loaded onto a minibus to take us into Chile. We accidentally unloaded the guides bag and had to send it back to Uyuni with another tour party - we wish we could have followed the bag back to Uyuni as it was such a beautiful experience.
So that was Bolivia - short and sweet, from the ridiculous to the sublime!
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Tony and Steph
non-member comment
Mudlarks
The adventures are becoming gripping stuff - mainly grip the bus with white knuckles from the sound of it. Terrifying stuff and exciting at the same time. What beautiful spots you are visiting and what great photos you will have to remind you. How dull life seems here for some of us although Steph says her life is not as dull as Tony's. Keep up the tales of derring-do and adventure. Did you know they are remaking Indiana Jones - you should be on for a part. Hugs and kisses XX