Bolivian travels

The next four days of our Bolivian journey were NOT pleasant. But hey, here at blendingtogether we like to keep it real. As we have learned in other journeys, there are times when you have to pay the piper before you get the reward. On paper, or in this case, on a map, the idea was quite simple: after leaving Isla del Sol we would go to Southwest Bolivia to tour the Altiplano and Salar (more on those amazing places later). But as most developing countries have shown, infrastructure is sketchy, timetables have very strange times, and roads can be unreliable. Uh... let’s just get this next part over with.

Isla del Sol to La Paz, Bolivia. Returning to Copacabana was no problem other than a misunderstanding with the boat ticket which was difficult to rectify with our minuscule Spanish skills. In that matter persistence payed off, and once on the mainland we boarded a bus to take us to the un-official highest capital city in the world, La Paz, Bolivia. This trip was initially pleasant, but sadly we encountered the dreaded human road block on the outskirts of El Alto, the sprawling, dusty, developing suburb of La Paz. The small tourist bus quickly made a U-turn to avoid stagnation and proceeded to go cross-country over desolate rural country that offered heightened uncertainty, no pavement, canyons to circumvent, ditches to near topple us, saddening poverty to witness, and many moments that would qualify for either a four-wheeler’s dream or a buses nightmare.

La Paz. This was to be a day off for us. On a brief walking excursion I was disheartened by all the exhaust fumes and overloaded street commerce. So I choose to stay at the hotel, work at the computer, and take a nap. The hotel did have a wonderful restaurant, so that was a plus!

La Paz to Tarija, Bolivia. Rise and shine at 4:30 AM to catch a 7 AM flight south. In the nice city of Tarija we would spend the day. But we are here already at 9:30 AM and we have 10 hours before the next leg of our journey. What to do? What to do? Well, we walked around, had lunch, sat in the park, walked around some more, looked at rocks in a small anthropology museum, sat in the park, dosed in the park, had dinner, and then walked to the bus station. Lets just say that I now know that it takes a pigeon 45  minutes to dry after a bath in a fountain.

Our Park in Tarija

Tarija to Tupiza, Bolivia. We need to be in Tupiza to begin our tour of the most spectacular sights we’ve ever seen. As you now realize, getting to Tupiza is a challenge. Next we endured an overnight bus. Consider this: 8 PM departure, arriving at 3 AM, no heat (its freezing), and no toilet, on a non-paved road with a washboard surface. I’ll write no more of that memory because it truly was a low point.

Bolivia geography map

Tupiza! We were only in Tupiza for about four hours before departing on our guided tour. And that is what we will be sharing in our next post. After all of that effort, you don’t want to miss the magnificence of the Altiplano and the Salar!