Mar 17, 2013 - Bolivia

To-day, March 6th is a big day. We are up early to check out and store our big bags. We are the first to be picked up by Estrella del Sur and have a complete tour of town as others are picked up. We go quickly through customs (Chileno) and are on our way up to the first pass on the route to Pasa de Jama. We are almost at the top when we turn off on a dirt road and wind around the 2nd volcan and see the Bolivian border--a small post in the middle of a dry arid spot miles away from the closest town. There are two 4X4 jeeps waiting with...

Mar 7, 2013 - Salar de Uyuni

Uyuni is a small town in a remote part of Southern Bolivia. It isn’t close to any major cities, yet it has 14 Pizza places. It’s main purpose is the launching point for trips to the Salar, the world’s largest salt flats. In doing our research for the trip, this was one of those must see highlight points. It was a bumpy, sleepless bus ride to reach Uyuni, but it was well worth it. Here’s what happened in our 5 days in Southern Bolivia. We arrived in Uyuni about 6am local time after a long night on the bus. Our hostel wasn’t ready for us yet...

Dec 6, 2012 - Uyuni

Uyuni About 7 streets worth of dust...... Just an overnight stop to pick up our off road tour in the morning. Another great market packed with unwrapped carcasses in the back of an estate car and baskets of wriggling stuff  sold by jolly short ladies in 12 skirts and a tophat. We found another shifty cantina which appeared to be the only rugby supporters club in Bolivia and counted at least another thousand stray dogs. ( the dogs in central and Latin America are everywhere - always at least 5 per street)  Big dog breakdown Uyuni: dust bowl...

Nov 19, 2012 - Ohhhh Bolivia

Bolivia was full of surprises, most of them were good ones. After our trek we spent one last day of rest and relaxation in Cusco before making our way to La Paz, Bolivia. Here, we all got amazing and might I add really cheap massages, and really cheap, but far less than amazing manicures. After our day of pampering, we caught a night bus from Cusco leaving at 10 pm. Maybe it's the fact that we are all now working, and thus money isn't as big of a deal, or maybe it's that fact that we have smartened up a bit and realized that splerging an...

Nov 8, 2012 - Old trains and Salt Flats

The morning plan was for a guided walking tour of Potosi, including the mint - where the locally mined silver was processed to the first coins in South America. Instead, we rose to find that there was a municipal strike, which would close some of the roads with protests and the local police were insistant that they escort us out of town straight away. Luckily we had walked around the old centre the evening before and had just enough time to run down there for a quick photo in daylight. Potosi is the highest significant sized town in South...

Oct 17, 2012 - Von Corocoro nach Uyuni Teil 3: Traverse vom Salar de Coipasa und Salar de Uyuni

Nach dem fünftägigen Abstecher in Chile war ich nun offiziell wieder in Bolivien angelangt. Der Strassenmarkt von Pisiga mit seiner reichlichen Auswahl bot sich hervorragend dazu an die Lebensmittelreserven wieder aufzustocken - hier gab es Dinge, welche ich später nicht einmal mehr in Tupiza antraf z.B. Müsliriegel. Gemüse, frische Brötchen und meine geliebte Mayonaise in der Flasche besorgte ich mir dann im Zentrum des Städtchens/grösseren Dorfes. Erwähnenswert sind die vielen, recht neu aussehenden Scania Zugfahrzeuge mit schwedischem...

Sep 12, 2012 - Still trying to get out of La Paz

Hi Everyone, Things here seem to be escalating. We have booked a bus to get out of La Paz 2mrw morning at 4.30. We are going to try and cross the border as once we are in Peru things will be easier..no protests there. We are heading for Puno in Peru, this involves a stop in Copacabana, still Bolivia, for a couple of hours and then across the border to Peru. We should be in Peru, puno city by late tomorrow arvo, I will email then. If you don´t hear from us in the next 36 hours we may have had a few issues. In the mean time are still at the...

Sep 7, 2012 - 3 days in the desert

The trip from Potosi to Uyuni was lovely. The scenery was stunning as you will hopefully see if we get the photos downloaded. The bus was good and the road brand new. We got to Uyuni, found a hostel and booked a three day trip that included the Salt flats..a 265metre deep lake of hard salt,a train graveyard, mountains, lakes and pink flamingos, a natural hot pool and we got to see what 5000m above sea level is like...lets just say we wont be packing our bags and moving up there any time soon. We slept in a hotel made entirely out of...

Apr 23, 2012 - Il 3-days tour dal Chile alla Bolivia

Non avrei mai potuto immaginare che questo tour si potesse rivelare una tale meraviglia. Che al mondo potessero esistere paesaggi tanto vari e incredibili. Che questi tre giorni potessero essere talmente fantastici. Dall'inizio del mio viaggio mi sento di dire che questa é l'esperienza più pazzesca e sorprendente che io abbia fatto. Ha contribuito a questo anche il gruppo con cui mi sono ritrovata: due ragazze australiane, una spagnola, una tedesca e una cilena, divertenti e ottime compagne di viaggio. Noi e il nostro autista, Pedro, che...

Dec 23, 2011 - Uyuni

Dec 23 to 26 Uyuni Being in Uyuni was like being on another planet. The first day we visited a dry salt bed which went as far as the eye can see, far enough that you can see the curve of the earth. In the middle of the salt bed you find an island that is covered in very tall cactus's which was a very strange sight. Then it was fun trying to take pictures that don't correctly show depth in them. We stopped at a hotel made of salt for lunch, then continued our journey in a crammed land cruiser. Our guide did not speak a word of English which...

Jul 14, 2011 - Salar de Uyuni salt lakes

Salt lakes here we come...... through the snow! The Southern part of the lake had snow on them and so we couldn´t get to that part, but we saw the salt flats (one of the most beautiful places in the world), saw how they turned the ground into table salt, took a lot of silly pictures and stayed in a salt hotel, a whole building made out of salt, amazing. They only have electricity for three hours in the evening, so once the lights went out we scared ourselves silly with ghost stories and couldn´t go brush our teeth by ourselves, yes yes we...

Jul 9, 2011 - Salt Flats of Uyuni

To be updated later with photos and stuff, when we find a computer that isnt Vista retarded. And one has been found. Enjoy the few photos, there isnt much to say apart from how tranquil it all was. We did see a fox crossing the road, but we couldnt get a good photo. We also saw flamingos in flight, no photo was attempted. Worth every Boliviano (220 pp inc lunch)