http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Bolivia en-us Tue, 01 Dec 09 09:04:04 +0000 Tue, 01 Dec 09 09:04:04 +0000 Our final stop in Bolivia was a more or less compulsory visit to the Salar de Uyuni and the surrounding area. This salt flat which was once a giant lake is the largest in the world and roughly the size of Lebanon. Admittedly Lebanon isnrsquot perhaps the most impressive country for size comparison purposes but you get the picture itrsquos big. As well as a tourist destination the are http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-456517.html A 4.00 am start to the day waking up within these walls of salt I had to question where I was. Many times recently I lose track of where I am in my semiconscious state. Wersquove often been moving so quickly itrsquos disorienting and at times quite disturbing to not know where you are let alone what day it is. Your conscious mind kicks in though and corrects the anxiety and today I remem http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/blog-455620.html Before I started this trip I was sure that I wanted to see Machu Picchu and do the Inca trail but there is a 3 months in advance reservation required. After further investigations I decided to join a tour for 3 weeks so that I was sure to do the Inca Trail and have some company for a while. Even though I must say it is very easy to travel around Southamerica alone I always meet people heading http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-454848.html Hi it is Omer In Uyuni we went to a desert called Salar. Actually its not a sesert its a desert made out of salt and only now starts the adventureDay 1 We went to visit a cemetery of trains. The trains that are there are not in use a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-454503.html Making our way up the rio Beni it felt like we were embarking upon a real adventure. The jungle you read about as a child those tales of mysterious Africa felt real as we headed up to our jungle lodge deep in the Amazon basin. This definitely felt different to our jungle trip in Peru. There was just something about it that made you feel like you were venturing into the unknown. This was the jung http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Madidi/blog-453380.html The surreality of La Paz is perhaps expressed no more distinctly than in the Valley of the Moon or Valle de la Luna as it is known here. Where in England could you find a city where moonscapes flank its edges Quite normal here though normal in this capital of Bolivia a microcosm of the strangeness of its mother country. We visited the valley this morning but I'm still not sure what to m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-453342.html Hi it is Nitzan and I am going to write a long blog. From La Paz we drived 20 hours in a bus to a small town called Rurenabaque. There we found a hostel that was full of Israelis but we had no choice. The next morning we found an agency to go to the Pampas.The Pampas is a kind of a savanna.The next morning we woke up early and got on the way with our group to the Pampas. We drived in a jeep for t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Rurrenabaque/blog-453192.html Semaine 15 TupizaBolivia Humahuaca IruyaArgentinaComme a l'accoutume le bus de Uyuni a Tupiza fut grandiose et mit un temps pas possible pour faire pas bp de kilometres. Les Boliviens ont le chic de vendre des places de bus sans verifier si elle n'ont pas deja ete vendu dans d'autres villes que le bus traverse Dans un petit blede a 2h de route j'ai donc laisse ma place a une femme qui http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-452746.html We're now in Peru. Thank god. They nearly didnt let me leave Bolivia...i'll get to that in a minute but first an update on our last few days in 'lovely' Bolivia i only write that with muted sarcasm becasue Bolivia has really pissed me off in the last 24 hours i love it reallySo we ended up getting delayed in our Amazon oasis Rurrenabaque for another day as we were rained in meaning no planes http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-452475.html The next stop on our journey west through Bolivia was Sajama National Park home of the eponymous volcano Boliviarsquos highest peak. For some reason this beautiful area receives relatively few visitors and therefore has no public transport links. Or perhaps more likely the lack of transport explains the lack of visitors. Either way wersquoll be surprised if this situation continues for http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-452057.html Nov 6 2009There were a few things Justinrsquos Grandpa was worried about before we left for our trip. One of them included how well wersquod take the altitude at the highest capital city in the world at 3660 meters La Paz. Since Justin and I had already been through our share of high altitude cities including Potosi Bolivia 4000 meters and places throughout our Uyuni Salt Flat tour such http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-452014.html Nov 1 2009I expected to wake up late since we didnrsquot go to sleep around 330AM but when I looked at my watch it was only 700AM. We only slept for 3.5 hours but we both slept well and were wide awake. We were still in awe and partially in denial that my pack got stolen the night before. Since my clothing didnrsquot take up too much space I had all of our toiletries and other items we u http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-452011.html I was not supposed to go to Bolivia at all I was supposed to travel from Peru' to Brazil BUT I did a very silly mistake I didnrsquot check whether I needed any vaccination coming from Peru' and guess what I needed a yellow fever vaccine which I didn't have When I checkedin in Lima they asked me whether my injections were up to date and when they explained to me that Brazil would DENY me en http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-451718.html The chicken bus to Potosi only cost me 2.80. I felt somewhat over charged considering the the death trap on wheels which I was about to board would be lucky if it make it to the end of the street never mind Potosi. When I got on the bus a lady was sat in the seat which I had booked. Now under normal circumstances I would have let her sit there without a problem but the amount of times I have b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-451239.html Our transport to Bolivia lived up to the Bolivian reputation breaking down for 5 hours in the middle of the night and then stopping for a further 2 hours to have a good number of tyres changed. The tyres did not look in a good state at all bald and with chunks missing. It's a wonder the bus which also had a severe crack across the front window on the upstairs level was ever allowed to leave P http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-451001.html Most people arriving for a tour of the Amazon would be well prepared in advance drink plenty of fluids the night before get a good nights sleep and brace yourself for the humidity heat and general uncomfortable ness of Amazon life. Not us.Drink fluids we did the night before just the wrong type and lots of the wrong type. And so on the morning of our flight the night after our hostel trivia http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Rurrenabaque/blog-450768.html Following our 3 day adventure around south west Bolivia hanging out in hot springs and amusing ourselves with what we have all decided are the campest animals in the world Llamas we arrived in lofty La Paz the second largest city in Bolivia. I had heard alot about La Paz mainly so from the book i read last year called Marching Powder which tells the story of a Brit who got locked up in a pri http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-450475.html TITIKAKA 31.10.2009 SEK LA PAZ BOLIVIA 1.2.11.2009rdquoKvele hitaasti sy kohtuullisesti ja nuku paljon sieluparkasi vuoksirdquo kuuluu bolivialaisten neuvo vuoristotaudin karttamiseksi.Reppumatkailijat kertovat legendaa ett kaikki aina sairastuvat La Pazissa Boliviassa. En uskonut ennen kuin ensimmisen yn sairastuin oikein kunnolla. En tied mik osa siit on vuoristotautia mik http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-450313.html Still a bit drowsy from the overnight bus from La Paz I arrived in Uyuni on Wed 2810 still undecided on whether to do a 1 or 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni the worlds largest salt flat. Given my recent bus experiences I didnt want to sit in a Jeep for 3 days they let you out for 20 minutes at a time so I chose to do a 2 day tour of the Salar and a couple of the lagunas. The Salar was ab http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Potosi/blog-449762.html Last Friday 2310 I arrived in La Paz from Copacabana. I spent pretty much the entire day trying to obtain my Paraguayan Visawhich I recently found out was actually a planning mistake and now Im traveling to Paraguay because I feel that I HAVE to given the expense. I took the 615 flight from La Paz to the jungle town of Rurrenabaque which borders Parque Nacional Madidi. Even making the fligh http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Rurrenabaque/blog-449754.html