By: MJ + PJ
“This huge salt flat looks interesting on the map – what country is that in?“
We never intended to go to Bolivia. It was not on our priority list like Brazil and Peru were. This shows how little we knew about Bolivia. And this is a real shame, as a) there are probably a lot of other people who know very little about it, and b) we had such an awesome time we are embarrassed about our previous ignorance. Go Bolivia!
We thought we had seen the best Copocabana in Rio, but it turns out a very awesome one is on the shores of Lake Titicaca in western Bolivia. This is where we got our introduction to the country. Staying at probably the best hostel and surprise of a location to date, we spent three days/two nights exploring the area. It was like living an island lifestyle, at 3800m elevation, with alpacas.
After Copacabana we headed to La Paz, which was where we paused for another two days. These pauses were to keep the pace slow, to have at least a quick look around, and to get a feel for the locations. It also gave us some buffer time for getting to our much anticipated three day tour of the Salar de Uyuni region.
La Paz is an old city that has spilled up and over the edges of the valley it started in, and has very limited diversity of architecture. But what it lacks in urban design it more than makes up for in history, culture, innovative public transport, and a people who are proud but realistic, observant and direct, and who value their independence. We learned much about their end of life ceremonies and beliefs, and being in town during the two day celebration of All Souls Day (think Day of the Dead/Halloween) was fascinating. We did visit the huge and elaborate main General Cemetery in the city on our second day. Sadly, we were not in town for the tail end of the celebration known as All Skulls Day, which is a week later.
The city tour we went on in La Paz was excellent. We learned so much in a few hours about the country it was like a crash course in history. The waxing and waning of disastrous elections and presidents is strangely balanced by the strength of the peoples’ will. They claim to protest at the drop of a hat – whether its because of something critical to democracy or because their favourite TV show’s airtime (the Simpsons) is to be replaced by a reality TV show (the TV station nixed the reality show and tripled the Simpsons coverage). We saw colorful and endless markets, civil fighting points, old cathedrals, a self-regulated prison (see book link below about the inside view; we saw it from the outside!), and the main city cemetery.
(In making recommendations the site owner may receive a commission if a purchase is made on any of the following Amazon links.)
An overnight bus took us to Uyuni, due south of La Paz. If you saw our Instagram or Twitter photos (@cakesncampfires), or follow our Facebook page, then you’ll have seen how much fun we had there on the Salar de Uyuni. It was amazing and though it sounds cliche: You really have to take time to explore that place over a day or two to fathom it. Beyond that location on our three day tour, we visited high altitude deserts, lagoons, volcanoes, lava fields, geysers, and hot springs. Our guide and our driver, were awesome. We drank wine on the salt flat at sunset, stayed in a hotel made of salt, observed flamingoes in the wild, watched a distant thundercloud sunset, gazed at constellations in crystal clear skies, and met some great people.
How good is Bolivia? That good! In fact, it’s this good:
It is worth mentioning again that the salt flats were what drew us out of Peru and into Bolivia. A somber note on visas is needed. Over 50 countries’ citizens don’t need a visa to visit Bolivia. However, coming through Peru on US passports, we had to pay the reciprocal visa arrangement fee, and prepare quite a thorough visa application document. This requirement is loosely related to an ex-president of Bolivia living in the US in political exile. We prepared these visas over the course of about 5 hours one day before we headed off on our Ausangate Trek. There was some drama and tension in obtaining US cash to pay the USD$160 each and compiling printed evidence and a list of other technical things. However by the end of the afternoon we were granted our 10 year visa. There are a few crazy stories we experienced associated with this process – too long to recite here. Dual citizens also can’t switch passports at these borders – you must show the Peru exit stamp in the passport you use to enter Bolivia.
Another overnight bus took us to Sucre, where we had booked an AirBNB for 9 nights, this making up the majority of our Bolivia time. This old, beautiful colonial city, is the capital (I bet you thought it was La Paz…). It’s where you learn proper Spanish, and it’s where they only recently found an enormous wall of dinosaur footprints. There is a bit of dino-mania evident in the city which is fun for the kids and dinosaur fans. We filled our days in Sucre with sleeping in, wandering the streets, cooking dinners at our ‘home’, checking out museums, and visiting the main city park numerous times. To AJ’s dismay, we were yet to find a city in this part of South America with convenient playgrounds in suburban areas.
The only other part of Bolivia we saw was Santa Cruz, twice from the air on a connection flight.
Throughout the country (we did not visit the forested north east regions) we encountered astute and helpful local people, who gave you good but not overbearing attention, and who spoke forthrightly about the world they lived in. Bolivia is known as a great place to learn Spanish, as they are quite particular about speaking accurately and correctly, and pride themselves on this (a point of national contention it was reported).
We happened to arrive in Bolivia when the 130 year old ‘ocean access’ problem took some turns. The country had again failed to reclaim Pacific Ocean access (conceded to Chile in an 1884 truce) as denied by an international court in Europe. But soon thereafter a waterway and port access was granted by the nations to the south of Bolivia, giving them less barriers to an Atlantic Ocean access. Kind of a win, but they are still apathetic towards Chile. Being landlocked and having enormous mineral wealth that you can’t export easily, is a significant frustration.
Sometimes it is a good thing to visit a place with no expectations, and no pre- or mis-conceptions. Check out our PHOTOS: Bolivia album to wee what else we got up to during our 18 day stay. If we have not painted a clear enough picture of Bolivia, then no need to re-read this entire post… just plan a visit to Bolivia!
