Bolivia, a world unto itself

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The air is thinner. It's harder to breathe. It's cold. Welcome to Bolivia, La Paz - the highest city in the world. I'm acclimitised to the altitude now, but this city is still dizzying in every respect. Homes are tightly built towards the sky on eroding, narrow mountains. It defies gravity. I have no idea how 1.5 million people live here or how the masses of buses get through the irregularly-shaped streets and the grid-lock traffic. This city is frenetic compared to it's little brother Cusco in Peru, and to top it off, I was greeted by an attempted bag-snatcher!

I was more impressed with Bolivia 3 hours earlier, when we had arrived at the border, left stranded by our Peruvian bus driver. (Expect to be left 8km short of your destination if you intend on buying a ticket to Copacabana from Peru). This lakeside town, which is surrounded by 8400sqm of water looks more like an ocean than a lake! It's beautiful and it's the largest high altitude lake in the world.

Peru shares this vast lake wtth Bolivia in the north, so I have no idea why the Peruvians do not fancy the Bolivians and why the feeling is mutual. But the Peruvians arn't too fond of the Chileans either; and the Bolivians arn't fond of the Chileans.

My guess is that Bolivia drew the short straw after the war. This country has been land-locked ever since they lost their coastline to the Chileans, and their envy continues to escalate with seemingly smaller employment prospects compared to their neighbours. It seems Bolivia is one of South America's poorer countries. You travel most of its land and taste red dust,

but as you head in the deep southwest towards isolated desert lands, it becomes more apparant that this country is not without its natural beauty and treasures. Bolivia claims 12,000 sqaure km's of slat flat white plains surrounded by geysers, hot springs, world heritage-listed national parks, white-capped volcanic peaks, flamingos, blue lagoons, and other colour-changing sulphur lagoons. It is one of the most extraordinary and isolated places like nowhere else in the world. It seems un-worldly! I felt like i was exploring Luke Skywalker's home town of Tatooine when we took a 4WD across these salt lakes which stretch
for miles. It was unforgettable experience with our Canadian, Brazilian and Hong Kong friends.

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Photos

llama
share the main street with us

Solar de Uyuni's many stunning backdrops
Laguna Colorada

flat tyre in the desert
not a good sign!