http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Bolivia , Oruro Department , Oruro en-us Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:55:00 BST Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:55:00 BST Catching the train from Tupiza to Oruro was bliss a real nice change from buses although being in Executive class probably helped as we had more room seats that reclined way back videos with english subtitles although the choice of films left something to be desired have you ever seen Tom and Huck and we got dinner and a drink in the buffet car included in the price. Most people took blan http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-290498.html There are four of us now Mark myself Hannah and Aaron our guide. We are on our way down to the Uyuni area to see the salt flats which is one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Bolivia in the first place. To get there from La Paz is a full day of travel. First a 3 hour bus ride to Oruro try saying that a few times fast then a train ride to Uyuni. In order to have to most au http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-275847.html Well Rach pretty much summed it all up but I will add some of my own thoughts. Many new experienes for me the day we went mountain biking first time mountain biking first time being groomed by a monkey and first time throwing up in a vehicle. Yes my stomach did not handle well the Altitude cold and driving through windy mountain roads . Pepto has been a dear friend these past 2 days. Ove http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-252016.html Hello. Where are you from England. Do you like Peru Yes it's very nice. What do you think of the foreign policy of your government Um I haven't lived there for a while I don't know much about it.Meanwhile some other bloke on the other side of me was trying to pickpocket the contents of my jeans pockets namely a torn photocopied map of Lima and a flyer for some di http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-244272.html Karneval in Oruro 2. 3. Februar 2008 http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-243245.html Wow its been a long time since I let the world know what ive been doing and its a lot Well to start with I am just going to let you all know that this weekend for the first time ever i got my phone stolen But that will all come later...Well last weekend and this weekend I went to Oruro for Carnaval last weekend was the dress rehearsal and this weekend was the real thing. Both weekends we left http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-243163.html We bought direct bus tickets to La Paz from Uyuni where we finished our 4 day tour. Normally it should be 67 hours journey. But unfortunatelly our bus got stucked in the mud after the 1st hour. Everybody tried to help. We spent there an hour trying to get bus back on the road. 3 other buses came and tried to help. But the bus did not want to continue anymore. So we were split to the other bus http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-242908.html The Carnaval in Oruro is the biggest in the country. The procession goes on for two days all day long. It was interesting. Its a custom to throw water balloons gringos are preferred targets and spray fake snow at each other. For a while it was fun but carnaval isnt over yet and Im still getting wet even here in Cochabamba where Ive been since yesteday. The carnaval bands sound surprisin http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-242804.html Here we go again. . . it feels like every time I come to update this a months worth of events have taken place. Ill do my best to catch the big events of the last weekish.Oh and today is a special day because you will have 3 new blogs to readglance over. Matt is writing his own take on the journey so far. I am as curious as you to see what he has to say about the adventureLast time I wrot http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-222618.html We did an overnight bus trip to La Paz and then a 3 hour bus trip to Oruru in a really hot bus that sounded like it was going to konk out at any time. I found this town to be surrounded by rubbish in particular plastic bags that blow and catch on any little plant. There is rubbish all around the town. We stayed in a Hotel across the road from the Train Station and bought train tickets for the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-194548.html So after the delights of Rio we had to retrace our steps a wee bitty. This involved getting a very long bus back down to Foz de Iguazu the bigdaddy of waterfalls that we'd previously seen from the Argentinian side for the benefit of those with shortterm memory issues. Here we did not go to the waterfall but to the ITAPU dam further upstream. It's a beast of a dam and we booked ourselves on http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-190927.html Bus og togturen fra La Paz til Tupiza lykkedes fint. Det var spndende at se landskabet i stedet for at flyve. Der var godt styr p bagagen den blev indleveret og udleveret mod bagagemrker. I toget sad vi p den bedste klasse. Der var TV der viste musikvideoer fra 60'erne til 80'erne. Vi spiste aftensmad i en spisevogn. Da vi skulle sove fik vi hver et tppe og en pude. Der var nogle metalskodde http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-179743.html Drunken Bolivian PartyRiding the Salar You should be carrying a gun... was the friendly advice of the owner of a restaurant in Oruro where we were treating ourselves to a slapup meal after spending 8 days cycling through a remote part of Bolivia. A journey involving a salt desert bad roads an adopted dog witchcraft a drunken party and surviving a violent sandstorm. It all started out in Uyu http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-156745.html Once an inland sea the Salar de Uyuni has a crust of salt about 7 inches thick. It is surrounded by volcanoes and volcanic mounds. It took 3 days to drive from San Pedro De Atacama in Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia. I shared a Toyota Lancruiser with Andreo the Bolivian driver and 3 girls Joss Austrailian Andrea Chillian and an Val Irish. Appologies for the limited pictures as most of the pic http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-147301.html 15 February Thursday... Well back in La Paz now. What to do Lie in and then drink Bock the Bolivian equivalent of special brew at 7 and quite moreish. Then some kind of carnavalvalentines party started at the hostel. Some kind of strawberry drink for free spray foam being directed at my eyes and streamers. It was all very messy. 16 February Friday... Woke up watched some movies then wa http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-141599.html So the mission was nearly complete accommodation had actually been sorted out for us thanks to Bella and Glen old friends we had met in Buenos Aires who had booked and paid something for us legends and we were on the bus from Uyuni. We arrived at about 6am in Oruro and the festivities had already commenced. The town was a sea of colour and everyone was dressed up to the nines.The carn http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-133120.html After much anticipation and planning Laurence and I arrived in Oruro Bolivia for this countrys version of Carnival. The exerience was something else one that I will not soon forget. Arriving late Thurday afternoon I explored streets filled with onlookers and drunken dancers. These groups marching dancing and singing in the streets prior to the main event on Saturday represented the small http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-132741.html This will be a relatively short entry as not much really happened this Saturday that I spent in Oruro. My goal for this trip to Oruro was to find a hotel for my friends and I for Carnaval as it was coming up in less than a month and the rooms were going quick. Friday after work I zipped to the bus terminal to try to catch a 7PM bus to Oruro so that I would arrived at around 1030PM. After wai http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-132220.html The days are just packed. Once I got to La Paz I had a whirlwind of a week. Two weekends ago saw me exploring more of La Paz but by Monday I was ready to see the surrounding area. My trip on Monday took me to La Calle de la Muerte in English it's called The Death Road or The Road of Death but to me the latter sounds a lot more sinister so that is what I will use. The Road of Death is a littl http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-131522.html Carnaval de Oruro Fenruary 1518 2007The Carnaval in Rio Brazil may have acquired an international reputation throughout the years but the Carnaval in Oruro Bolivia definitely deserves a visit I will even say that this Carnaval is intimate as the stands along the road where the dancers and musicians parade are located only few meters from this colourful and loud spectacle The Diablada wh http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-129856.html Had breakfast with John Rach Sophia and Teresa. Then later said goodbuy as everybody was either staying in La Paz or off in another direction. Infact John and Rach were going to attempt to cycle the worlds most dangerous road and I saw the opertunity of having limited time as a way of getting out of it.After breakfast I went out in search of munchys for my bus journey to Uyuni 13 hours plus sto http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-128020.html La Pazin lentokentlle saavuttuamme totesimme ett ei ollut en niin kuumaa kuin Chiless. La Pazin ollessa maailman korkeimmalla oleva pkaupunki 4000 metri happeakaan ei ollut liikaa kytettviss. Ei silleen ett oltaisiin haukottu happea viimeist piv mutta pienikin urheilusuoritus kuten rinkankanto 100m pisti pikkaisen puuskuttamaan. Lentokentll sitten pidettiin pieni palaveri http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-126377.html After spending a couple of days in Cuzco relaxing after the inca trail Bryce went white water rafting and Georgie had a massage and much needed pedicure we headed into the jungle for 2 nights. This was an amzing experience very hot and humid dense rainforest. We saw quite a lot of wildlife mainly monkeys macaws bats priranhas capybara a rodent the size of a wombat and cayman rela http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-124425.html Finally it is Boxing Day or otherwise the first day of almost a two week adventure of southern Bolivia. My destination for today Uyuni the home of the largest salt flat in the world. It has been on the top of my list of things to see in Bolivia so I was going to check it off first. Karin my roommate was heading that way as well so we decided we'd travel together as far as Uyuni. Believ http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-120177.html Petite ballade dans la trs jolie ville d'Oruro ironie quand tu nous tient....Clemente arrive avec 4 heures de retard Romain est malade et de mauvais poil mais c'est aussi les joies du travail en groupe. Je comprends rapidement que je ne dois pas me mettre en travers de son chemin aujourd'hui et j'attends que la tempte passe. Le chemin pour Salinas est assez long et Romain est vraiment mal j http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-81045.html I survived the 3650m descent 64km down the worlds most dangerous road We started on bitumen at 4760m in the freezing cold and ended up in the tropics at 1100m... A fabulous ride leaving our arms sore from bumping down the rocky road We were lucky there were hardly any trucks to contend with however as there had been a landslide over part of the road we made our way over the rocks carrying http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Oruro-Department/Oruro/blog-51532.html