Zoe Harrison Travel Web Site

Bolivia has been the most interesting and cultural country we have visited so far. It seems like we've finally found a 'real' South American country with lots of traditions the other major cities seem to have lost.

Women in huge brightly coloured skirts and their bowler hats stand by market stalls and the countyside is worked in traditional ways, the buses are cramped, break down and you share seats with animals, singing children and sales people shouting to the passengers to buy their goods - we have found the real South America.

Bolivia is also the poorest of the South American countries and as a result of several wars with all it´s neighbours it is 50% less in size than it was 100 years ago. It´s main assets are minerals and coca leaves, the first being lost in the many wars and the second being made illegal by western super powers due to it's similar properties to cocaine. Yet strangely, America ´allows´ Bolivia to export legal Coca leaves to Coca Cola USA - just for the taste of it! Even if the taste is bitter in the mouths of the Bolivian farmers.

La Paz 17th - 19th June 2004

La Paz is breathtaking. The international airport is the highest in the world at almost 4000m above sea level and the city is 500m lower giving us amazing views from the plane. However, the main reason for breathlessness is the altitude and lifting the luggage from the baggage claim to the taxi left us both exhausted.

We booked into our Hostel Arcabucero, taking about 20 minutes to walk the 150m from our drop off point. The problem is that the altitude sickness gets worse when you walk up hill and La Paz is a city built in a deep canyon. Like an illusion, it only ever appears that you walk up hill, never down. So we spent the first day catching our breath and sleeping (something I seem to be getting very good at!). The second day we explored the San Fransico area and the Mercado de Hechiceria (witchcraft market) which sells charms, herbs and lots of gruesome articles like llama foetuses.

Spending a night at a tradtional Pena (Folk Music and Dance) allowed us to confirm that everyone in Bolivia actually does play the pan pipes. It felt more like we were sat in a South London shopping precinct than watching a show. But a glass of wine and a dance too many resulted in a bad night's sleep as the altitude continued to win its battle.

The only option to see La Paz without walking was the tourist bus! Not too proud, but needs must and all that. It turned out to be OK actually and as we made our way up and down the hills of La Paz with other hardened travellers, we understood that the climate can change in a matter of meters, hence the poor people live at the highest points and the rich in the warmer oxygenated valleys.

The trip included a stop at the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) which has some very wierd rock formations. In the afternoon we caught the overnight, overcold, overlack of toilet bus to Oruro and then onto Uyuni for our visit to the world´s largest Salt Lake.

The Salt Lakes at Uyuni 20th - 21st June 2004

Arriving at 5am with no sleep and sub freezing temperatures, even the prospect of a freezing hostel bed for a few hours seems a bonus so we had a few hours sleep and joined Carl, Victoria and our guide Stefan for our 2 day, 1 night tour of the Salar de Uyuni. They say that travelling is about the people you meet and Carl and Victoria made for great company and a few laughs along the way.

The salt lake is in Uyuni is the largest and highest salt lake in the world, 30,000 years old and 12,000 square kms. Driving across its 140km width takes some time but with no roads or any other traffic makes it very difficult to get any perspective. Part of the deal was to stay at a hotel made entirley of salt, even the bed. The food, local exploring of caves and mummies, a few games of cards and a beer all proved a unique experience.

The evening entertainment (I use this term lightly) was local children who, suprisingly, could ALL play the pan pipes, and despite several attempts to get them to stop, our Bolivianos were welcomed in their cold hands. The next morning we visited Isla Pescado (Fish Island) - no fish, just shaped like one - in the middle of the salt lake and then on to see the 800 year old mummies in hollowed out caves on the volcano. On returneing to Uyuni, the bitter cold helped us make the decision to spend the evening in a local bar with Carl and Victoria, eating pizza, drinking beer and keeping the wood burning fire stoked.

Potosi 22nd - 23rd June 2004

Potosi is the highest city of it's size in the world (I hope you are getting the general theme about altitude here). The main reason for anyone visiting is to take a tour to it's primitve mines and it´s miners. However, not wanting to follow the crowd we decided to tour the local hospital in the early hours of the morning as my altitude sickness took over. A couple of hours on the oxygen and some magic pills made me feel slightly better but I had to duck out of the tour to the mines and spent the day in bed with an additional trip to the hospital at lunchtime.

It was disappointing not to have visited the mines but after Jason's tales and tribulations I'm quietly relieved. Yes, boys will be boys and when dynamite is on offer for only a pound (including a fuse and detinator) how many could resist. He puffed out his chest and proudly announced how he had blown a hole in the mountain only 20 feet away. Am I really that safe?

Potosi to Copacabana (via La Paz) 23rd - 24th June 2004

We left Potosi on the overnight bus to La Paz on the Fiesta of San Juan - a celebration of the longest day of the year. It was quite magical to travel through the mountains lit my hundreds of fires and fireworks. Everyone takes part and stays up partying and drinking through the night until 5am.

Copacabana 24th - 25th June 2004

Oh how I wish it was like it's name sake in Rio. Unfortunately we arrived on a miserabley cold and damp day so I guess our opinion of Copacabana was flawed from the start. Our reason for visiting was it´s proximity to Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. But we didn´t get the opportunity to visit the Isla del Sol or Isla del Luna as we left in rather a hurry.

We were unfortunate to be the victims of a 'peeping tom' at our hotel in the early hours of the morning, and after having to expain the sordid event to the local police in graphic detail we took the first bus out of town and the country! After Jason's (not the police´s) detective work we established it was the waiter from the hotel's restaurant (sounds a bit like Cluedo!). He was put in prison for 24 hours but the best bit was that the police wanted us to pay $10 for the privelege! No chance! We insisted the money be taken out of his wages....justice?!!