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Published: November 19th 2008
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Bolivia has definately been an interesting experience.
Day 1 (Monday) - I am put into a group with 2 German and 2 Japanese girls. We leave San Pedro, Chile at 8am. Get to the Chilean customs fifteen minutes later. The customs office is on strike and will only let through about one vehicle every 30 minutes if at all. We wait at customs till half past 11. We then travel about 15 minutes to the Bolivian border. Everyone else has an easy time at customs. As an American, I do not. They do not have a full customs office so they give my passport to the driver of our tour who is less than enthusiastic to have a tour without any native spanish speakers. It is cold outside, probably less than 50 degrees F. And it is very windy. So what do we do, have lunch outside of course. We begin our journey heading in an old model Toyotal Landcruiser, increasing altitude as we go. We stop at lagoons of different colors, with and without flamingos (I didn´t know that flamingos lived in the cold). The landscape is dry and beautiful. Each new mile brings another panorama that could inspire
Laguna Verde
The copper gives it the greenish tinge. artists with natural color. At around 3, we make it to our night´s lodgings. The five of us are to share a room. Kumiko and Mayu have altitude sickness and go to bed around 4. We are staying at around 4,700 meters. It is cold and I often have to stop walking to catch my breath. The shower is not working, which is quite a disappointment. The German girls and I eat dinner that night after some rousing games of Skipbo. Wiebke beats Ute and I handly. Dinner comes at 8ish, Spaghetti. It is very good but we are all so tired that most of the taste is lost on us. We all head to bed but are surprised that we have trouble sleeping.
Nighttime - No one sleeps well. The German girls get altitude sickness and Wiebke goes to the restroom. Ute tries to follow her but has trouble standing up and unbeknownst to me falls to the ground. I thought she was rummaging through her bag for something in the dark but it turns out that she is just trying to stand up. I get maybe 2 hours of sleep and am not that bad off comparably.
Hot Springs
The German girls and I enjoy a dip in the Hot Springs, which is 37 degrees Celsius, compared to the 15 degrees Celsius air temperature. Day 2 (Tuesday) - Breakfast is served at around 7. Everyone else is sick so not eating. Breakfast is like cornbread, which is less than appetizing to my stomach when I first wake up. I eat a couple little pieces but find more comfort in the coffee. We are back on the road looking at more lakes and more magnificent mountains. The beauty is somewhat lost on the group as we are all exhausted and the lakes aren´t as magnificent as the ones from the day before. Though we did see some interesting rock formations and an active volcano, which were nice changes of pace. We arrive at the town we are supposed to stay in and the guide realizes that we are booked in hotels in different towns. This becomes a problem as the Japanese girls wanted the double room they were promised and the German girls and I booked this particular tour because it was more environmentally friendly, with disposal of trash and waste. The German girls and I gave in and went to the other hotel. I decided not to take a shower and to take my trash with me so as not to be a
Laguna Colorado
At 4700 meters in altitude, this lake turns red in the afternoon. further burden on the environment that we were there to see. We have a chicken dinner around 8, which isn´t bad after playing some more Skipbo. I still feel bad about contributing to the Salt Hotel but I am exhausted and need to sleep.
Day 3 (Wednesday) - Wake up on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, the largest Salt Flat in the world. It is a little nippy but I go outside to catch the sunset. We drive through the Salt flat and it burns my eyes with how bright the reflection is off the salt. I can see why people find this place so alien. Unfortunately, all of the lakes that present mirror images have evaporated. I am a little disappointed but have enjoyed the landscape and the company. We get to the town of Uyuni about 1pm after the German girls bought me a little present at the town before. I have to go to immigration then bid all the girls farewell as they take off towards Argentina. My bus doesn´t take off till 8 so I walke around town and talked with a local elderly gentlemen who used me to practice his interest, then
First night's lodgings
Also at 4700 meters in altitude, it was cold and hard to breathe while here. some Dutch and spent the last 2 hours with Brits. My bus is taking off for La Paz so I am about to go. I booked my trip with the same tour company as my trip through the salt flats so I hope the accompaniment is as enjoyable. Though, sleep will be the primary objective as it is a 12 hour overnight bus ride.
It is starting to hit me how few Americans travel for the sake of traveling. I met a couple in Santiago but in looking through all the registers since, have not seen one USA national. Interesting....
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Brian Merrill
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James Bond in Bolivia
You are not going to believe this but I just saw the new Bond movie this last weekend at the theatre and it was all about Bolivia. The Salt Desert and La Paz had tons of scenes. You will probably get a kick out of seeing it. I started laughing when I realized you were currently there when I was watching the movie. Crazy