Bolivia

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Bolivia impressed us and exceeded all our expectations. A country of incredible natural beauty, with mountains, volcanoes, multicolored lakes, volcanic rocks of all shapes, canyons, dry regions with cactus, tropical forests and the amazing salt desert. A diversity that will amaze any experienced traveler.

Also the people here will conquer you, though not as smiling, they are friendly, honest and really good people and they still maintain a strong culture. Your eyes will be hypnotized by the exotic cholitas, traditional local women with their huge colorful skirts, long double braids and their unique hats.

The downside? The cuisine. A cuisine without a great variety, greasy and certainly not very healthy. It is best to abuse the tasty fruits and you can easily find culinary from various countries to vary your menu.

What was worth it: The charming city of Sucre, Tupiza and its far west style region, the incredible tour in the salt desert, the valley of La Paz and the beautiful views of the Island of the Sun.
What was not so paid off: Santa Cruz (nothing special, just go there if you need a stop on your way) and Uyuni (a weird and depressing city, even if your tour in the Salt Desert start or end there you can avoid having to spend a night).
What we wanted to do but we didn’t: Spend a few days in the forest of the Madidi National Park.

A few tips:

• TRANSPORTATION: You will find coaches of all levels, some super modern and comfortable and others practically falling apart. So before you buy your ticket ask for locals about the best companies and roads, especially for night buses. Some roads are very dangerous and you will not want to risk your life, then it is better to pay a little more. When buying make many questions about your bus (number of seats, reclining angle, leg space, bathroom, state of the bus, …) and ask to see in person if possible. Sometimes they try to fool you, eg saying that is a full bed bus and when you arrive is normal. If you are too afraid about the road you can catch a cheap flight from local companies such as Aerosur, TAM, BOA and Amaszonas.
• CLIMATE: You can visit Bolivia throughout the year, due to differences in altitude the country has many micro climates. But overall, the winter is the dry season and very cold but the sky is always blue and summer is the rainy season and in some regions it is very hot and the days are partly cloudy. For those who want to see the magnificent Salar de Uyuni flooded making a huge mirror your only chance will be at the beginning of the rainy season, when you still have a chance to see both visual parts dry and flooded.
• ALTITUDE SICKNESS: Bolivia is a country of altitude. La Paz is at 3,660m., Tupiza at 3,000 m., Copacabana at 3,800m. and the tour of the salar gets to 5,000m. If you’re coming from sea level your chances of getting sick are certain, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, insomnia and lack of appetite. This should be taken seriously as very severe cases may even cause death from pulmonary or cerebral edema. Let your body adapt calmly, do not do much effort and don’t eat too much. If you feel very bad there are specific medicines for altitude sickness.
• TOUR OF THE SALAR: We strongly recommend that you make your tour from Tupiza. Besides you can spend a few days enjoying the wonderful visual of the Canyons region around Tupiza, the tour that comes from there has a day longer than the tours leaving from Uyuni and the views of the first day are amazing. You find options from 1,150 B for 5 people or 1,250 B for 4 people. Once there you can easily find other travelers to share with you.
• BIKE TOUR ON THE DEATH ROAD: From La Paz you will find several tour agencies offering the bike tour on the Death Road. The experience is amazing and the views are wonderful. Despite 15 tourists have died in the past 6 years Carol did it and she didn’t find it so dangerous. You just need to be cautious and responsible; after all it’s your life! The biggest causes of deaths are due to super confident tourists that exaggerate on the speed and others who use drugs. The agencies will offer you various kinds of bikes, ranging from 600 B to 300 B. If you have no experience with mountain bike you can easily go with the basic model, because you will only really take advantage of the best model if you are experienced and more radical.

Our itinerary (25 days)

We flew from Rio de Janeiro to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and from there we went directly to Samaipata, in the mountains, then returned to Santa Cruz and took a 14 hours night bus to Sucre, where we spent four relaxing days. From there we set off on another night bus for 9 hours to Tupiza, where we started our 4 days tour to the lakes and the salt desert. We finished our tour in the town of Uyuni and from there we took a 12 hour night bus to La Paz, where we spent 6 days. Then we took a bus of 3 and a half hours to the small town of Copacabana and from there we went by boat to Isla del Sol, where we spent one night and then returned to Copacabana to catch our bus to Puno, Peru.

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