The Bolivian Dream

After spending two weeks in the greater Patagonia region, Thalia and I were ready for our next leg of our adventure. We took a chaotic red-eye flight which had us running through the Santiago airport to catch our flight to La Paz, Bolivia. I was personally really excited for La Paz, and Thalia was looking forward to it as well but we knew it was going to be very different from Chile and Argentina. The first notable difference was the elevation. La Paz is the highest metropolitan city in the world, sitting at roughly 14,000ft, akin to living atop Mt. Whitney. We stocked up on elevation sickness medication and made sure to take it 48 hours before arriving. Additionally, Bolivia is far less developed than Chile and Argentina, with known food and safety issues. La Paz is unlike any city I’ve been to before. It sits on the side of an Andean mountain. You descend into the city from El Alto where the airport is located, offering spectacular views of the city and mountains in the background. The first impressions of La Paz were the colors of the buildings, creating an almost rainbow-like city skyline. This, coupled with the picturesque background of the Andes mountains, paints a beautiful contrast of a busy city surrounded by jagged peaks and valleys. The city itself is heavily dense, with tons of auto and foot traffic. Thalia and I got our first dose of indigenous folks, as almost half of the population is considered as such. The Quechua culture is extremely fascinating and predominately the way of life for most Bolivians. The rich traditions include many ceremonies, celebrations, and paying respect to Pachamama, which translates to mother earth. Quechuans are impossible to miss wearing colorful alpaca ponchos, blankets, and Charlie Chaplin-styled hats. There are over 30 different dialects spoken by the indigenous people. One of the defining characteristics of La Paz is Mi Teleférico, the largest public cable car transit system in the world. We spent one of the five days in La Paz touring on the cable cars as there are 36 dedicated stops. We stayed in Sopocachi, in the center of La Paz. From Mi Teleferico, you could hear the vibrant music culture of the city with many outdoor concerts and orchestras ringing through the city. The people of La Paz were extremely hospitable and always willing to give recommendations on things to do. They were very proud of being from Bolivia. The food in La Paz was hit or miss; we had some amazing food but also some misses. We did have one of the best meals I have ever had at Gustu, a world-renowned restaurant that sources food locally and creates unique plates to represent traditional Bolivian cuisine. Both Thalia and I were impressed by the abundance of vegan/vegetarian options within La Paz. Other highlights of La Paz included visiting cultural museums, vibrant markets, Valley of the Moons, and daily rides on Mi Teleferico. Luckily neither Thalia and I suffered from the elevation sickness that we were told was inevitable. La Paz was one of my favorite cities so far in South America, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in visiting. After spending five days in La Paz, we hopped on an overnight bus and headed to the Uyuni Salt Flats.

The Uyuni Salt Flats were recommended to us by someone we had met in Patagonia as a must-visit in Bolivia despite how out of the way it was on the map. Taking an overnight bus, we headed to southern Bolivia, where we took a two-night, three-day tour of the salt flats and highland desert. We didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up for this tour, and it was certainly memorable. The first day we spent on the endless salt flats of Uyuni, the world's largest. It was fascinating learning about the rich mining history of the area, with many surrounding mountains being mineral-rich with iron, salt, zinc, copper, tin, and uranium. But the Salt Flat itself was mesmerizing as it stretched as far as you could see. When in the middle of it, it seemed as if you were sitting in the middle of a flat ocean, similar to the water scene in Interstellar. We visited some of the main attractions like cactus island and took some awesome forced perspective photos. One thing we did not anticipate on the tour was how much driving we would be doing. We spent most of the day driving in a land cruiser going from area to area, which became pretty tiring by the end. The second day we woke up early and hit the road towards the southern desert of Bolivia. Along the way, we stopped at many different spots to take photos and learn about the geography of the surrounding areas. Our guide spoke about the names of the different live volcanoes and numerous mineral lagoons that accompanied most. We drove up to above 16,000ft in elevation; it was fascinating to learn about this diverse highland landscape. The third day, we made an extended pit stop at a natural hot spring, my personal favorite part of the trip. It was even more satisfying because of how cold it was outside, 20 degrees. We made the long drive back to Uyuni where we ended our tour. Overall, it was a great but extremely tiring tour that included all the highlights of Uyuni and the surrounding volcanic desert.

After Uyuni, we flew back to La Paz for the day and then headed to Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is where the Incas considered the birthplace of the sun and the moon. So this place rightfully had a large amount of significance to the Incan Empire. We traveled to Isla Del Sol, a small island in Titicaca that had about 1500 inhabitants. Nearby Copacabana was the Peruvian town of Puno, where we stayed for a few nights as well. Puno is famous for being a gateway to Uros Islands, a network of manmade floating islands that over 1000 people lived on. These floating islands supported houses, markets, and schools and were built entirely on totora reeds! It was a wild sight to see. Overall, Bolivia brought a new perspective to our trip, in a great way. After previously spending time in the developed areas of Chile and Argentina, Bolivia provided a rich cultural experience that vastly differed from the other areas we had been to. This, along with the people, stunning landscapes, and history, is a must-visit for anyone traveling through South America.

TrekBytes

The Bolivian Dream