Once we had passed Peruvian formalities, we crossed a bridge and waited in the line for the Bolivian side of things. Brennen discovered that he had to pay a visa fee of US$135, which needless to say, he was not happy about. After clearing Bolivian customs, we waited for the bus to make its way through the throngs of people and eventually rejoined it. But it was missing some passengers, so we had to wait another hour or so until everyone was on board.
It was three more hours to La Paz and we arrived at about 1.30pm, two and a half hours behind schedule. From the bus station, we walked down the hill to Plaza San Francisco and found a hostel, which was more like a hotel. It had hot showers, and private bathrooms. Luxury. Brennen hadn’t had a hot shower since he left Salta, about two weeks earlier. My last proper hot shower was in San Pedro de Atacama.
But before showering, I went to email Emily with our location. There was an email from her waiting for me that said she was very sick. Unu was correct again - she was going to need a hug. Brennen and I relaxed in luxury in the hotel for the afternoon, and I went to collect Emmo from the airport at 8pm. When she came out of the gates, she looked utterly terrible – totally grey. She’d been vomiting all the night before, and was still feeling terrible. And now she had flown directly to La Paz from sea level, adding altitude sickness to the mix.
We jumped in a cab and headed straight to the hotel where she remained for the night, while Brennen and I went out to get some street meat for dinner and then a beer at a Cuban bar.
The next morning after sleeping in a little bit, Emmo was feeling better, so we headed out to the Mercado Negro (Black Market). We walked around a bit, and saw some hilarious mannequins around the place. Brennen and I were giggling like school girls at them. Em found them less amusing. I’ll put pictures up of them up in another post.
We kept walking around and then a man tried to pickpocket me. I caught him in the act, and called him a thief, looking around to see if anyone cared. No one did. I grabbed his arm and said it again, to which he responded ‘Que pasa!!’, and pushed me away. It wasn’t really worth pursuing, because I’d caught him before he got anything, so he just walked away. But I spent the rest of the morning with my hands in my pockets and my camera stowed safely away, feeling very uncomfortable.
After the market, we headed to a lookout in a park called Laikakota, on top of a small hill near the centre of town. It was full of play equipment and families having fun, and the view was quite nice too.
Em and the Bren-dog at Laikakota.
Panoramic view of La Paz from the lookout
We headed back to the hotel to rest for a while and Brennen randomly bumped into Yasmin when he was getting money from the ATM. She was meeting up with Alex and Luci at a nearby restaurant, two girls from Uni who are doing their exchange in Santiago, Chile. We were invited to come along, and joined them at an Indian/Thai/Japanese/Korean (let’s just call it Asian) restaurant which had utterly, utterly terrible service, but quite good food. It would have been nice to know what the dish I ordered had tasted like, but the one they brought me was fine...
The next morning we headed to the Cementario district to find a bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. The bus was relatively easy to find, despite a taxi driver who was going to Desaguadero being particularly unhelpful;
- 'Where's the bus to Copacabana?'
- 'I'm going to Desaguadero, wanna come?'
- 'No, we want the bus to Copacabana.'
- 'What about Desaguadero?'
We boarded the bus for 15 Bolivianos and in around three hours we were in Copa – Copacabana. The price didn’t include a ferry crossing where we had to get off and take a smaller boat for 1.5 Bolivianos while the bus went across (looking slightly unsafe).
Once in Copacabana, we were accosted by people trying to sell us their hostels, and decided to head towards Hostal Sonia, on the corner of Tejada and Murillo. It was a nice place, with a roof-top terrace and a big room with private bathroom and a view of the lake. We checked in and headed down to the beach to have a trouty snack, and a beer while we played cards and watched the sun approach the horizon.
View from the roof of Hostal Sonia
Brennen and I decided to head up the hill to the north of the town, Cerro Calvario, but Em was still feeling the altitude, and decided to remain behind. We walked most of the way up quickly, watched the sunset and headed down when it was getting dark.
Sunset over Lake Titicaca from Cerro Calvario
Copacabana from Cerro Calvario at sunset
Moonrise over Copacabana
We headed home to play cards and book a ticket to the Isla del Sol for the following morning at 8.20.
The boat didn’t really leave Copacabana until about 9.20 and we arrived at the northern port of Isla del Sol (Cha’llapampa) at about 11.30. We were met by a man called Jorge who told us he’d be taking us on a tour of the island. But he wasn’t very good, and managed to lose half of us in the first five minutes. We saw a small museum near the port, and then continued on to the ruins of the temple of the virgins of the sun, and then to Chincana. Then, once the tour was over, he told us that he doesn't earn a salary, and the cost of the tour would be 20 Bolivianos per person. We gave him 10 each. My god we’re cheap. That’s about 1.5 US dollars.
The packed boat on the way to the Isla del Sol
We were planning to walk the 15 or so kilometres back to the Fuente del Inca, where we could catch a return ferry, but with the ferry arriving late to the Isla del Sol, and the tour taking much longer than we expected, it was going to be a crazy rush. The walk was very difficult due to the sun and the altitude, and we really had to push it to make it back to the ferry in time. We almost felt like the tour had been slow on purpose to make us miss the boat and buy another return ticket.
View of Lake Titicaca from the path to Fuente del Inca.
We made it back to the port as the ferry was pulling away, but it was very full, and the driver asked us if we wanted to get the later one. There was a later one? We didn’t know that, and had ended up pushing ourselves to make it to the jetty for no reason. The later one was scheduled to leave at 4pm (in half an hour), but didn’t end up actually going for another hour. We were back in Copacabana by about 5.45, got some dinner and had an early night.
On the ferry back to Copacabana
The next morning we got up early and headed into town to get a bus back to La Paz. It was easy to find a lift, and we were out of Copacabana by about 9am. The ride back to La Paz was uneventful, and once we were back, we headed to the bus station to buy tickets to our relative destinations. Brennen found a 40 hour bus leaving for Buenos Aires immediately (or so he thought) and Em and I booked a bus to Uyuni leaving that night at 8pm. When I was back in BA I found out that Brennen’s trip had actually taken 4 days. If he can be bothered writing about it, I’ll post his nightmare here.
Em and I left our bags with the bus company and had a little wander around La Paz before deciding to go and see a movie. We saw the Karate Kid, which was almost a word for word remake of the original. And quite enjoyable. My favourite scene – Jackie Chan beating up a bunch of 12 year olds.
Then it was back to the bus station and on to Uyuni, after being warned by a traditionally dressed man that we’d need a blanket for the trip. For some reason, we ignored him and threw our bags into the luggage compartment of the bus...
The bus left on time, and we initially got some sleep, but woke at about 1am, frozen to the bone, when the bus made a stop. I jumped off and luckily, some other people were rearranging their things in the baggage-compartment. I saw my bag, grabbed it, and removed the sleeping bag.
From then on things were slightly more comfortable. Em and I huddled under the blanket and got a little more sleep before waking when the sun was rising. The windows of the bus were frozen, as was my water bottle. It’s a little hard to see in the photo, but trust me - it was frozen.
Our bus window as the sun was coming up.
My frozen water bottle
Arriving in Uyuni, we were immediately accosted by people trying to sell us their tour of the region. We were pleased to hear that there were tours leaving that morning at around 11, meaning that we wouldn't have to stay in the town of Uyuni for the night. Everyone seemed to offer the same price – 600 B for three days - so we went with one of them to their office and got organized - had some breakfast, bought some warm things like scarves and gloves, and left for the tour with a French couple who didn't speak much English, and a Belgian couple who did.
OK, the commentary for this section is going to be more boring than normal. We went to a lot of places, OK? So just look at the photos if you get sick of it.
The first stop was the train cemetery about three kms from the centre of town. It was at this stage we realized just how many other people there were doing the same tour. There were about 20 other jeeps and people climbing all over the train engines.
These train tracks were actually still in use.
Next stop was Colchani with its ‘museums’, which could be more accurately described as ‘shops which sell tourist crap’. I took this photo of a car that could've used a lick of paint.
Next stop was the Salar (salt flat) itself, and some of the areas that are being mined for salt. It’s the biggest salt flat in the world with an area of 12,000 km2. Then we visited a hotel made of the stuff.
The salar with little mountains of salt ready to be collected and refined
Next was Isla Incahuasi, aka Isla de los Pescadores with its huge cacti (some of which are over 1000 years old) and it’s geographically isolated community of Viscachas. We climbed to its lookout and had lunch there, and then Em and I walked around the island.
That’s me next to a huge cactus on Isla Incahuasi
I suppose you’ve gotta do one of these when you’re there. It’s worked surprisingly well considering it was a self-timer shot.
Next stop was a place that they collect salt blocks to make buildings, or to carve into touristy trinkets such as salt llamas or ashtrays.
The salt block collection place
An interesting salt crystal which I picked up out of an evaporation pool
Salt encrusted hands.
Then we headed to our lodgings for the night – a hotel made entirely of salt. I wouldn’t have liked to work there because there was a constant mist of salt dust in the air and I felt thirsty the entire time we were there. Not to mention it was frickin’ freezing.
The salt hotel
Sunset from the salt hotel
My God, dinner was ordinary that night. I think they call it Pique a lo Macho, a tradition Bolivian dish. It consists of French fries with chopped hotdog meat, boiled eggs, fried onions and tomatoes heaped into a brown mushy pile. No one could finish a whole plate.
We were up early the next morning, woken by the guide. It was absolutely freezing before sunrise. The guide told us it got to minus 20 outside during the night. We left the hotel around 7.20 and visited the town of San Juan at about 8.15.
Then we passed thru Salar de Chiguana, the military post at Chiguana, and stopped to get a photo of the Ollague Volcano.
Volcan Ollague.
Then – Lagunas Canapa and Hedionda (where we lunched) and some beautiful Jame’s Flamingoes.
Flamingoes at Laguna Canapa
Flamingos in flight at Laguna Hedionda
Flamingos in flight again at Laguna Hedionda
Then we passed Laguna Chiar Kota, Laguna Honda and Laguna Ramaditas, then through an unusual rocky valley filled with more viscachas, and then continued to La Montana de Siete Colores, el Desierto Siloli and stopped at the Arbol de Piedra.
Em with the Arbol de Piedra (Tree Rock)
Then on to Laguna Colorada, which is coloured red due to the algae that live in its waters.
Laguna Colorada
We stayed the night in a hotel called San Marcelo which was much more rustic than the previous night, but we were given a bottle of wine to keep us warm and a there was a fire which burnt llareta (photo later).
View from the front of Hostal San Marcelo
We woke early to see the geysers nearby, but it was dark when we arrived, and hardly any of my photos turned out. They were much more interesting when I saw them 7 years ago, mostly because we could, um... see them. It was utterly, bitterly cold and windy too. I had ice on my jacket when I got back into the car. We didn’t wait for the sun to come up, and headed on to Salar de Chalviri at 4800m where we watched the sunrise and had breakfast. Some lunatics swam in the thermal baths there.
Salar de Chaviri at sunrise
Salar de Chalviri at Sunrise, with Andean Gull
Emmo and I at Salar de Chalviri at sunrise
Then we drove for about an hour via Laguna Blanca to the beautiful Laguna Verde which is backed by Volcan Licancabur. I had already seen Licanabur from the other side with Brennen while we were in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. It marks the border between Bolivia and Chile.
Laguna Verde and Volcan Licancabur
Panoramic of Laguna Verde
We returned through Salar de Chalviri and had lunch in Villa Mar a pretty little town in a small, cliffy valley of volcanic rocks.
Villa Mar
Then we visited the Valle de Roca before passing through the Pueblo de Alota, Mina de San Cristobal, and the Pueblo de San Cristobal and arrived back in Uyuni by about 5.30.
The mossy looking llareta which is burnt to keep people warm.
Valle de Roca
Valle de Roca
We caught the train to Villazon later that night, but it broke down near Tupiza, and as a result we had to get a bus from there to Villazon, have an excruciating wait at the border crossing, change buses, get one to Jujuy, and then one to Salta. We arrived in Salta around 7pm, after nearly 21 hours on different forms of transport. We found a comfortable and private place to stay and went to bed early.
We didn't do much the following day... Again, it was a Sunday, and almost everything was shut. But we did go to the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña (MAAM), which is the home to three incredibly well preserved pre-Colombian mummies. Although only one is on display at any one time. The one we saw was really quite amazing. She was totally intact, with original clothing. There's a picture here, or put 'La Doncella' into google images.
We took a plane to BA the following morning.
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