Blogs from Tupiza, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 7

So! Nachdem wir Córdoba schon nach zwei Tagen hinter uns gelassen hatten gings gleich ab Richtung Norden. Wir wollten erst noch einen Stopp in Tucuman machen, aber entschieden uns dann doch direkt nach Salta zu fahren, was insgesamt nur knappe 14 Stunden Fahrt bedeutete. Dort haben wir dann ganze fuenf Tage verbracht, was recht viel ist, aber wir waren an die Busfahrten nach San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) gebunden. Und diese Busse faehren nur 2-3 Mal die Woche. Aber wie die Ueberschrift ja schon dezent hinweist, sollte unser Weg nach Bolivien fuehren. Mehr dazu spaeter. Dienstag nachmittags angekommen in Salta bei gefuehlten 45 Grad mit unserem schweren Gepaeck bemerkten wir auch gleich den Unterschied zu Cordoba und Buenos Aires. Die Menschen sehen alle eher aus wie Indios und die Stadt sieht total kolonial aus, d.h. es ... read more

I really shouldn't complain considering that ALL the buses I've taken in Bolivia have been far better than any I had the pleasure of 'experiencing' in Africa or India. I mean in Bolivia I've not been on one where it seems everyone but me is puking (some into a receptacle, others not...), I've not sat next to a young girl with diarrhoea and a bus driver who refuses to stop for her (I'll let your imagination do the rest with that one....) and hey, I've even had a whole seat to myself! But you see Argentina and Chile have spoilt me. These days I'm used to smooth roads and 'semi-cama' buses - fold out leg rests, seats that recline so far you can almost convince yourself you were in a bed, empty buses that mean as ... read more

Hi folks, sorry for the delay, but we are on holiday! (and lack of internet access / electricity) Arrival in Corumba was surprising as it was still damn hot. We were expecting that further inland it would be cooler, so a few more pints of sweat were lost getting to the hostel. Our guide book suggests that Corumba is just a place to change between the Bolivian train and buses in to Brasil. As first this seems a reasonable assumption, but further investigation reveals a town that is waiting to happen. Corumba is set on a small hill overlooking the Paraguay River and the flood plain of the Pantanal. The views from the town over the plain are quite good. Walking to the old port, noting that Bolivia is landlocked (thanks to Chile) you stumble upon ... read more

Salvi and I took an early bus to La Quiaca, the border town with Bolivia. It was interesting in the bus seeing people leaving or boarding the bus in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no towns, nothing just desert. How far do they walk to get to the road? Crossing the border was interesting as both countries are separated by a river so in each side there was each of the border patrols. It was a slow process to get into Bolivia but we knew that anyway that here everything is very very slowly as otherwise you can get altitude sickness (or you can just chew some coca leaves!). As soon as we entered Villazon (the Bolivian town in the border) we could notice the big difference in both countries as Boliva is poorer than ... read more

Day 23 - Jeep tour day 2 Alberto wakes us up early as we have a long day ahead. After Sylvia lays on breakfast we pack up the Jeep and head off to San Antonio a small ghost town that was once famous for its wealth in gold. It was very cold at this time in the morning so it wasn't long when we all jumped back in the Jeep for our next stop. We saw many lagoons including one where they extra the chemicals for making soap. The highlight of the day was stopping at the natural hot springs for a wash! The water was very hot (40 degrees Celsius) so we could not stay in too long but it was very refreshing. After lunch we see volcanoes and Laguna Verde and Blanca both coloured ... read more