Tupiza, Sucre and La Paz

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For some weird reason, the buses from Uyuni to Tupiza all leave at 6am. At that time in the morning it is freakin' freezing, and our bus was as basic as they come (no heating). We were the only tourists on the bus (we were travelling with Mike - a chap we met on our salt flats tour), and everyone else looked on pitifully as they loaded their bags, laden with blankets (at least 4 each). It was a very long seven hour journey through mountains on only dirt tracks, but by the time we reached Tupiza, the feeling in our toes had started to return!

Tupiza is Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance kid territory. The breathtaking scenery is straight from the Wild West, and could best be appreciated on horseback. Lucy talked the boys (with only a donkey ride at Blackpool between them counting as “experience”) into a three hour trek through the hills and canyons surrounding the town. Luckily, the horses were amazingly well behaved, and apart from breaking into the occasional (unintentional) trot, all went very smoothly.

One evening we watched the Butch Cassidy film, in preparation for a jeep tour the next day that would take us to several of the outlaw’s old haunts, including the place of their last robbery.

Next stop was Sucre, Bolivia’s second city and a really great place to kick back and enjoy some great food and drink (happy hour cocktails - 70p a pop!). The great atmosphere was helped by the seemingly endless reasons to throw a party in the main square each night, (possibly due to the imminent 200th anniversary of Bolivia’s independence).

Feeling uncharacteristically energetic, we bounded up to a lookout over the city, then spent the rest of the day recovering in a café at the top, occasionally being visited by humming birds.

Moving on to La Paz on our last night bus (hoorah!), we arrived to a truly frenetic city pace we hadn’t seen in a while. The steep valley sides surrounding the city are strewn with crazily perched houses, making for a unique backdrop. Luckily our hostel was pretty central, located in a maze of cobble streets and brightly coloured stalls (more woolly hats than you can shake a stick at). Our hostel also had the first hot showers we had encountered since arriving in Bolivia - what a treat!

Mike and I were feeling the need for an adrenalin fix, so we went off for the day to mountain bike down the “World’s most dangerous road” - a 64km down hill stretch, about an hour out of the city. The road narrows to about 3 metres in parts, which doesn’t sound too bad until you take into account the oncoming traffic and 100 metre vertical drop off at the edge. Lucy opted out, and seemed a little relieved when we returned. Although we made it through the cycling part of the day unscathed, Mike was out-foxed at the last minute by a step while returning to the bus and managed to sprain an ankle!

Leaving La Paz we bid farewell to Mike, and boarded a bus to Copacabana, our last stop in Bolivia.

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Comments

[tom]

Cycle pic
I'm sure there is a need for the Hi-Viz tabbard on that lonely, desolate, barren landscape!