Exciting journeys in Bolivia

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Travelling through Bolivia is the craziest I’ve experienced in any country. This started with my entrance across the border. All the passengers on the bus were herded off to pay for an extra ticket to cross a river. This was no normal bridge crossing though. We clambered into a tiny dingy/boat and had life jackets thrust upon us, whilst our coach holding all our possessions was driven onto floating planks of wood to meet us on the other side of the river. Apparently bridges haven’t reached Bolivia yet.

Then, when we tried to leave La Paz on another coach the union’s strike over pay and conditions contributed to another interesting journey. In Bolivia a strike is a little more disruptive than a tube strike back home. A journey that should have taken 3 hours actually took 7. It also involved reaching a road block guarded by hundreds of angry miners setting off sticks of dynamite in their hands, which meant we instead turned down a dirt farm road where the bus got stuck on the uneven mud and we all traipsed out to watch the hundreds of riot police march down the road to face the protestors.

Even a normal journey involves painstakingly slow speeds over extremely bumpy roads with no toilets on the bus and windows which don’t open.

It was actually a pleasure when we went on a 3-day jeep tour of the salt flats and desert as it meant decent suspension and flatter terrain than I’d become accustomed to, heaven!

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