Why spoil a good rest from a five star hotel in Sucre with at least a 15 hour bus ride to La Paz. So we did the smart thing and flew for $88 CND. It was the most pleasant flight I have ever been on. We got on the plane. It took off immediately, flew for 40 minutes, landed immediately. I walked from the plane straight to the baggage claim (3 minutes) my bag was already there, the girls bags followed 2 minutes later. Grabbed a taxi and HELLO LA PAZ! La Paz is a crazy place. To begin, it is built in a canyon that keeps going and going and going. The buildings are built along the slope. Walking around is a challenge due to the elevation of over 4000 meters, going up and down, ... read more

Sucre was exactly what we needed after our Salt Flats excursion. We decided to splurge and stay at a ***** hotel. (That´s right, a 5 star hotel) For 4 nights and some room service, it cost each of us under $100 CND total. The hotel was called Hostal de su Merced. (http://www.desumerced.com/) Their rooftop terrace was breathtaking. A great place to refuel. In Sucre we did lots of walking around. The main plaza is very pretty and very clean relative to some of the other places we've visited. One night we decided to do something different so we went to a show called ¨Origines de fantasia.¨ It was a dance show demonstrating Bolivian folklore from around the country. The dancing was nothing spectalur but seeing the costumes and the differences in the dances was. Tickets cost ... read more

On the morning of our fourth day, there were rumors floating around that the transportation sector and most other businesses in the city of Uyuni were on strike. This meant all access in and out of the city was blocked and most businesses were closed. As you can gather this was a large concern to us, considering our excursion was supposed to end in Uyuni . From what we were able to understand, the main demand was for a paved road stretching from Uyuni to Potosi. When the rumors were no longer rumors and seemed to become the truth, the drivers and guides of all the tours (8 jeeps) gathered and decided it was best to travel as a group and to stop in the town of Calchaci. This town is on the border of the ... read more

From Tilcara we took the bus north towards La Quiaca. The buses do not cross the border so we needed to find our way to the border crossing from the bus terminal. After working with conflicting directions we finally made it to the crossing. Crossing was much easier than we expected but we could have just gotten lucky so follow the suggestions in your guide book. As soon as we crossed into Bolivia, we knew we were in a different country. The clothing, streets, people, products were all different than Argentina. On our way to the bus station on the Bolivia side we ran into a few gringos and made good friends quickly. We teamed up with Dave and Lisa, then headed for the bank and the bus station. The bus to Tupiza is 10 Bolivianos ... read more

This entry will be short since words cannot do justice to the beauty of Cafayate. In short: WOW, WOW & WOW! We arrived at night after a long day of travels. Be warned if you are going from Valle de Fertil, it is a long trek to Cafayate. First we had to bus to La Rioja then Catamarca then Amancha de Valle then finally to Cafayate. Luckily, in the small town of Amancha de Valle there is a delicious restaurant across from the ¨bus station¨. It was really off the ¨gringo trail¨ and it was amazing, we got to know the owner of the resto, what a nice man!! In Cafayate, we stayed at Rusty-K Hostel owned and run by Walter and his wife. (If you visit Cafayate, you must stay there too!) This family run ... read more