Bolivia
Trip Start
May 27, 2007
1
19
27
Trip End
Dec 23, 2007
Potosi to La Paz,
Bolivia
Saturday, October 6, 2007
I left Argentina and crossed the border into Bolivia with no problems. However, while driving along a rather questionable road (but quite normal for Bolivia) Moose (our truck) made a very wierd noise! Cameron the driver checked it out and we had completely broken some part of the truck (iīm no mechanic but it didnīt sound good) and couldnīt continue driving. We had decided that the guide and another person would hitch hike into town and organise transport for us... by some miracle the first vehicle we tried to flag down was an empty bus who agreed to take us to our destination!!!
Moose was not going to be fixed in time for us to continue with our journey so we hired another bus to take us to our next destination. We arrived in Potosi (the highest city in the world) but our driver refused to drive up a hill to take us to our hotel so we had to walk with all our baggage! As I may have mentioned before I had a lot of stuff with me: my main backpack, a suitcase, my daypack and my camping stuff... I nearly died walking up that hill! I was seriously considering just dumping a few bags when a couple of the girls came back to help! I spent my afternoon in bed asleep, recovering! I felt better by dinner so joined the group in the poshest restaurant in town and had a Llama steak for dinner. It tastes a bit like a cross between pork and beef and was cooked to perfection!
I still wasnīt feeling great after the walk up the hill so missed out on going to see a local mine where the other guys got to explode things with dynamite! I did however managed to drag myself to the markets and bought a few pairs of earrings for practically no money at all!!! Bolivia is so cheap even by South American standards...
Our next stop was Uuyuni where the largest salt flat in the world is. We stopped at a little village to see the process of bagging the salt before heading off into the salt flats in 4x4s. We stopped at an island for lunch and then tried to take some pictures using the complete lack of anything to confuse perspective... doing a handstand on a pair of pliers etc. Not many of the pictures worked very well as it was really hard to see the camera screen! We drove to another part of the salt flat where the salt had formed into raised hexagons on the ground! Our last stop was at a salt hotel (yes a hotel made almost entirely from salt) before heading back to our hotel. Once back at our hotel I realised that my glasses case (containing glasees and sunglasses) had fallen out of my bag and into the 4x4. We tried to get them back that evening but the drivers had already gone home and wouldnīt be contactable until the morning, unfortunately for me after we left! I was told that they would be following us on a bus that day to La Paz. I was doubtful after my bag incident but had no choice!
La Paz is the highest capital city in the world and is very busy! We went on a tour of the city and to the Moon valley (looks very much like Bryce Canyon in USA except for the colour). We visited the witches markets where you can buy Llama foetuses to bury under a new house for good luck!
We were called to a meeting that night where we were told that Ewen our current tour leader would be taken of our tour. This came as a shock to some people but it was definately the right decision as he wasnīt good at his job and had been overspending our money so we may have had to pay more at the end if he had continued! We were given a new tour leader who was far more organised!
The plan for La Paz was to cycle down death road. As I had lost my glasses and was feeling really unwell I wasnīt able to go and was gutted... possibly a good thing in the long run as itīs called death road for a reason! Most of our group cycled it and about 6 people came off their bikes. One girl eventually ended up in hospital for cleaning and stitches when her wound got infected!
Well thatīs it for Bolivia.... next up Peru!
PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59657&l=60579& id=562300227
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