Deadly Roads and Broken Bones in Bolivia

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We crossed the land border into bolivia by foot. Immediately you notice the difference, its all hustle bustle, mountains of coca leaves for sale and all the ladies with plaits and bowler hats. We bought our bus ticket to Tupiza and waited. Whilst we were waiting a street parade of school kids and brass band came marching and dancing about the streets (we were about to find out that this is always going on in Bolivia).

So we bought a bag of coca and some bicarbonate (used to release the alkaloids from the leaves). Coca helps with just about everything apparantly, from stomach upsets, tiredness, altitude sickness, depression, healing etc..... Coca leaves are legal and as the saying goes here, "Hoja de Coca, no es Droga" (i.e. coca leaves are not drugs). We took wads into our cheeks and got going. After chewing for the 3 hour bus journey when we got off, we noticed a numb mouth and a mild increase in energy a bit like too much coffee. It does settle stomachs too and get rid of hunger pangs. It is also high in iron and vitamins. You can also have it in tea which is pleasantly refreshing. Coca leaves are a good thing and as another saying goes here, "Coca Si, Cocaine No!" And finally another saying that has a nice ring that we heard, "Coca para la Boca" (Coca for the mouth) the Bolivian equivalent of our saying back home "Voddie for ma body".

OK, enough with that. We found our bus (off-road tyres are never a good sign) and after 3 hours driving on a gravel 'road' we were in Tupiza, a nice little town surrounded by canyons and great for horse riding, so off we went for 3 hours. Pleasant enough, but we dont think that we were taken to the best parts (as we were to see when we were leaving). For the 3 days we were in Tupiza there was a parade each day, some in the morning and a military one at night. There was some kind of celebration for the town and there was performances of dancing, pan pipes etc. The organisers threw pens and tennis balls out into the crowds and they were all going wild to catch the stuff in the excitment of it all. We had an early night, but the celebrating seemed to go till 4am. We realised by now that we really liked Bolivia, the people are also a lot warmer and friendlier than the Argentines. If you are heading to Tupiza bring lots of cash, there are no ATMs and we had to pay a hefty charge to get a cash advance.

So we headed off from Tupiza in a Jeep with 2 French guys and a Swiss girl, our driver and cook for 4 days in the andes/salt flats. We got out of the town and made our way up a steep winding road with sheer drops off the edge and no barriers or wall to give Vik a false sense of security. The canyons and rock formations were incredible on the way out. After this we spent the whole day driving on towards a little village we would stay in at 4200m of alltitude with snow covered peaks in the backdrop. The village (like all in this area) was made from mud bricks. There is no shower, heating or hot water. We went to bed with all our clothes on and were frozen all night. Outside temperature was probably around -10C, so with no heating or fire etc. you can imagine how cold we were. We got up early and headed off and this day we seen some incredible coloured lakes, geysers and hot springs. This scenry has to be some of the most impressive of our trip to date. Even the mountains were coloured orange and pink in some places. We were at 5000m of altitude at parts of this trip, the highest either of us have been and akin to being almost at the top of Mount Kilamanjaro or Mont Blanc. Our second night was at 4800m of altitude and once again, no shower or hot water and again it was bitterly cold. The next morning we got up and checked the surrounding lakes of pinky chocolate colours and flamingoes there too. We drove on all day until we reached the salt flats.

Once at the salt flats we checked into our hotel made of salt (not the one in the middle of the salt flat). Incredible as the building blocks are crytalised salt, the beds, the seats, the tables and the floor is just crushed up salt. Pretty cool place, and now after 2 days without showering we could finally have a lukewarm one which was absolute bliss. We had come down in altitude to about 3800m so it was slightly warmer and possibly the salt is a better insulator than mud?

Next morning we arrived at the grand finale, the Uyuni salt flats. The biggest salt flats in the world. We got out into the middle of the flat to admire the otherworldy environment during sunrise. It was incredible! and also freezing, with numb feet and hands we pressed on to the isla del pescadora. The isla is like an oasis in a desert of salt, with plenty cacti thriving here. The salt flat is actually an ancient sea that dried up and the island is a coral reef. You can clearly see that it had been coral. We left after taking breakfast and headed to take the famous silly pics that all tourists do and seems to be essential for your world trip. We finished up and we stayed in Uyuni town for the night before taking a bus to Potosi the next day.

Once again, we found ourselves on a bus that is riding too fast round roads with sheer drops off the side and just couldnt wait to get off. Potosi, is the highest city in Bolivia and therefore probably the world. It sits at 4100m. Unfortunately we had to head uphill with our back packs on for about 1km or something. Our hearts were pumping hard and we were pretty breathless. This was the altitude really kicking in. We got our room which was the smallest one so far, but they even managed to cram a tv in with cable so we were quite happy. We discovered the channel AXN, which just shows CIS, Law and Order, Lost etc. and it was nice to chill with a tv. When we did venture out, we realised that we didnt like it here. It is so so busy and the people are not very courteous. They will never move out the way and they will never let you out your seat when your on the bus and they push forward for everything. We are probably just too British! Potosi is famous for the silver mines. You can take a tour down, but apparantly its extremely dangerous, and there are plenty of nasty fumes and asbestos to inhale, so we decided against it. We visited the Casa de Moneda, an interesting house that was used to press out silver coins for the conquistadors.

After Potosi we headed to Sucre. Thankfully this time the road was paved, the first paved road we had encountered so far. Sucre is gorgeous with whitewashed buildings and a beautiful plaza with well kept gardens. We could have taken some treks, but it seemed to be a bit of a rip off and after learning from the French guys in our jeep tour, walking unguided is a mistake. They were robbed at gun point in this area looking for the 7 waterfalls off their own steam. We checked the famous Dinosaur tracks, but again this was a rip off. You can not get close enough to properly make them out, so you can see some sploges up a wall and then see casts of them in the museum. Where these tracks are is in a position owned by a concrete company and thats why you cant get up to them. They have not been treated to preserve them due to lack of money so they are gradually wearing away. They hope to cover them with silicone next year, but we got the impression there may be some dispute with the concrete company.

We had thought about going to the jungle in a remote area in Bolivia and were about to head off for this, but it was going to take us so long to do it that we decided against it, especially as we hoped to get to Columbia and Venezuela. We took a night bus to La Paz. Lonely Planet and common sense tells you that travelling at night on Bolivian roads is probably not a good idea but what Lonely Planet fails to mention is that you dont actually have a choice. The buses only ever go overnight for long distance. So on we went. Vik had a cold and was miserable anyway but matters only got worse. The buses dont have heating and they are freezing. The locals have cottoned on to this and they all travel with thick blankets. We were wrapped up warm but we were not prepared that the bus would actually freeze up, yes thats right, there was ice frozen on the inside of all the windows and we were stuck here for 14 hours. Hypothermia is a real risk. So after the worse bus journey ever, we arrived in La Paz and then Neil fell over! Then we got lost! and then we had to hike back up hill at altitude with the backpacks and Vik sniffing all the way. We were miserable!

Eventually we found somewhere to stay and with AXN to cheer us up from all the recent misery. We headed down to the Gravity mountain biking shop to arange our tour down the worlds most dangerous road. Vik was not so keen to do it but was also not keen to have Neil with bragging rights to it. The day started out and our guide did inform us that they usually send 1 person a week to the hospital and only 3 weeks ago someone was killed as they cycled off the edge of the road. We were driven to the mountains to start cycling downhill from 4300m or something like that. It was freezing. After a little tuition etc we headed off. The first part is on tarmac so you have time to build some confidence. However, it was extremely windy and the bikes were more wobbly coming down. You also manage to get some serious speed up. We stopped a couple of times and Vik was always at the back more nervous than the rest of the group. On our second stop our guide informed us that there had been an accident with one of our group. He had crashed into a barrier and flipped over the other side breaking his leg. The guide went back to help and the guys were brilliant getting him organised and off to hospital. We all waited and now realised more why this ride is quite dangerous but we all decided to continue cautiously! Eventually we made it on to the actual worlds most dangerous road. It was bumpy, gravelly and with shit scary drops off into an abyss. We were even above the clouds! So we all kept going, again with Vik at the back. Vik thought she must be really wimpy for not keeping up with the group and so started to speed up only to realise that it was much bumpier and scarier than she liked so slammed on the breaks and took a nose dive over the handle bars. Feeling extreme pain in her arms followed by the bike landing back down on top of her. The guide was excellent, got her in the van and gave her some pain killers. It was not obvious that the arms were broken at this point, i.e no scary bones sticking out or blood out but there was swelling and agony if she tried to move them. Not wanting to upset the rest, she sat in the van till everyone was finished, had lunch and was trying not to show how sore it was.

Once back in La Paz that night it was becoming more obvious that there was something wrong, so we decided the next day we will get it checked at the hospital. After a crap sleep we headed off and got seen to immediately, x-rayed and were informed that both arms were broken. One was more broken than the other (left), the other arm it was more difficult to tell, so Vik was given a CAT scan. The bed moving backwards and forwards and banging her head off the big spinny thing. It was agony trying to lie with her arms out. The doctor confirmed that the other arm was also broken at the elbow and that both arms should go into full cast. She even said "game over" for our traveling but she didnt know how stubborn Vik could be. She decided that as the right arm was not quite as bad that she would put a smaller cast on and leave the right hand free for eating etc ....Neil was informed he would need to now help with everything. So the plasters went on and we had to go back to pay the bill, around 800GBP!!!! Thank god for insurance. So basically, both elbows cracked across the radial head and the top of the bone in the left arm slipped off to the side. The right arm also cracked but didnt move out of position. They have to be in cast for 1 month.

It was gutting. We had plans to go ice climbing and mountaineering! We had so many treks planned that might now be too difficult. We decided that sitting at home wasnt going to fix the arms any better, we can still sight see and do some easier trekking, so we decided to stay but it was difficult. Neil was having to feed Vik and there was still some pain, but not too much problem in Bolivia as you can buy what you want at the chemist!

We headed off to Lake Titicaca. It was great to be beside the water. We hiked for 15 km through some villages and finally a man came running out in the last village to offer us a ride in his straw boat for a voluntary contribution. Successfully in the straw boat we floated about for 10 minutes. The man offered to take us in his other boat to catch yet another boat back to Copacabana where we were staying. He spoke Aymara (indigenous language) and we are not sure if his spanish was that great as we couldnt fathom out with our poor spanish what was happening. He took us out into the middle of the water and we waited. Then realised we were catching the boat in the water not at a port. So now having to tackle boat to boat transfer, but once again, successfully acheived! It gave us a lift to see that we could still have a bit of adventure in the situation we were in. Second day, another boat ride and we were off to beautiful Isla del Sol. We again hiked all day through lovely villages, up hills, on beaches and with amazing mountain scenery in the backdrop. We enjoyed our lunch of trout and Vik had figured a way to hold her spoon and eat herself thus taking a little bit pressure off Neil.

A couple of interesting things about Bolivia - No one wants to give you change ever, but they still expect you to have the correct amount. If something is 2 Bs. and you give 5 Bs. they may not have change, then give you dirty looks, demand the correct change and hope that you are going to say "dont worry, keep the change", this happened to us continuously but we never gave in. This would often result in them running around to other shops trying to get the change. All tourist restaurants are pizzerias, we can quite get why they think all we eat is pizza! Also, they do not know how to make pizza and what we had was just melted cheese on bread with zero flavour. The local food is excellent value for money! so we tried to go with that instead.

So our time in Bolivia had come to an end! We were sad. Despite some of the misery and the accident, it had been an interesting and beautiful country and would be well worth another visit when we are both able to get stuck in more to the adventurous side. We had an amazing time at Lake Titicaca and it was so peaceful especially after the chaos of La Paz. We felt ready to keep going and off to Peru we went.

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Photos

Protest in Tupiza
Protests and parades, a Bolivian past time

Leaving Tupiza
The road we just came up

Ice Maiden
Vik holding a slab of ice she's lifted from a stream in the road

Green Lake
Gets its colour from all the arsenic inside

Mud geysers
At 5000m and with strong Sulphur fumes, its hard to breathe

Vik and Neil, frozen on the salt flats
At sunrise

Sucre
We love the rasta style Bolivian flag

Choclatey pinky Lake Colorado
Also spot the flamingoes there too

Viscotchia (spelling???)
A type of Andean rabbit with a long tail

After the cycle!
Hiking round Lake Titicaca

Incredible Titicaca scenery
A really really chilled place to sail away

Comments

[Tara]

great adventures and tips
Great writing about great adventures. I'm enjoying following your blog and your very helpful tips. When I head to SA next year, I may forgo Venezuela and the Bolivian bike ride. I'm also shocked at the high price of health care--yikes.