The adventures of travelling Bolivia (paved road count = 2)

Our time in Bolivia has recently ended and we are now chilling-out-max in Argentina enjoying the Sun, Steak and Wine but before moving bragging about our time in Argentina I thought I would share just a bit more on Bolivia....specifically the adventures of travel in Bolivia since we had the chance to experience it by boat, bus and plane. 

How Bolivia ended up on the itinerary was a bit arbitrary. Neither Jonny or I had really talked about it in the initially planning phase when we were making our "wishlist" of places to visit but when we sat down and actually started to map it out we realized Peru and Argentina were on the list and you kinda go need to go through Bolivia to get from one to the other (unless you just fly right over of course) so we decided why not! Plus we got some good tips from the handful of friends that we knew who had been and so we decided to add it to the trail - And I am so glad that we did! It is a country like no other that I have been to. Compared to most of the other South American countries it is quite under-developed (for example many of the main highways connecting the country are still dirt/gravel/very dangerous roads, and according to our Uyuni tour guide Gonzoles they only mandated that all children have the right to go to school in the early 2000's) but none the less the landscape is amazing, the people were lovely for the most part.....and the fact that it is still dirt cheap doesn't hurt either 

While travelling through Bolivia we had the distinct pleasure of travelling by Boat (once on purpose once by accident), Bus and Plane and each time it was an adventure in its own right.  Our Bolivian travel adventures started just a few short hours after we left the Inca trail when we hopped a bus to Titicaca Lake to chill out. You start out with a few hours on the bus to Puno, Peru where we needed to switch buses to get on a Bolivian bus company bus to cross the border. We had paid a bit extra for the bus so that we could get the full recliner seats (or Semi Cama in case you find yourself in S.America) so that we could get some sleep during this overnight right. Unfortunately for us we were sharing this bus with what I can only deem a half-man/half-bear like creature who had the LOUDEST snore that I have ever hear in my life. Lucky for him he had taken a sleeping pill or something that kept him out for the whole bus right.... unlucky for us I don't even think an animal tranquillizer would have help us sleep because of this dude's snoring. We were hoping that he  would not get on the next bus with us to the border.....again no such luck. This guys stayed just a few seats behind us all the way to Titicaca lake. Even after one more bus switch. 

During this bus right we also had our first taste of the Bolivian border. VERY different then the border crossings we are used to. First off you get off the bus and walk into this tiny little dilapidated building where there is one dude standing at a desk who you give a paper to and then he stamps your passport.....he literally did not even LOOK at the picture page. YES - we made it through!.... After you get your stamp you need to actually walk across the border


After 3 bus changes and a walk across the border we finally arrived in Titicaca lake for some serious chill time. On our second day in Titicaca Jonny and I decided we would take a boat over to Isla Del Sol for the day. Isla Del Sol is a beautiful little island in the middle of the Titicaca Lake, it is also accordingly to old Inca Legend the birthplace of the Sun......so Jonny definitely needed to go there. We pull up to the boat and they didn't look so bad.....kinda like a ratty old fishing boat but it looked like it could float so no big deal.  As we were getting ready to board the boat was when we realized that the term "Max Capacity" doesn't exist in Bolivia, as they were loading people not just in the boat, but also on top of the boat......for a 3 hour ride! Jonny and I choose seats inside the boat.

Our Boat for the Day

Loading the Boat to Isla Del Sol

This was not our only experience travelling by boat in Bolivia, although it was our only attempt on purpose. After a few days relaxing in Titicaca we decided it was time to move onto La Paz but bus. It is only a short ride to La Paz, about 3 hours, although given that the number of paved roads in Bolivia has got to be somewhere in the single digits it feels a little like a 3 hour roller coaster ride. At one point the bus stopped and the driver said a bunch of things in Spanish (which none of us understood of course given our near lack of any Spanish words) but given that we had stopped near a little food stand and some washrooms we assumed he was saying we were taking a 15 min break for food and Banos (Spanish for bathroom). So as all the other passengers got off the bus we decided to stay on as we had already loaded up on snacks. Then about 5 mins later we all kinda looked around to each other and said "Are we Floating??" .....The driver then came back to the passenger part of the bus and this time with a bit of an angry face yelled a few more things in Spanish. At this point we realized we were supposed to get off the bus and take a quick passenger boat over the lake while the bus road over on a ferry. And I use the term ferry loosely as the bus (with us on it) was sitting on a tiny barge that looked like it had be haphazardly nailed together with scrap 2x4's.  Opps. We made it across, still afloat and then continued on to La Paz

This is our barge passing another barge

From La Paz we had originally planned to bus to Uyuni, which is supposed to be about a 12 hour ride. As we began to ask around we found out it was actually going to be closer to a 16 hour ride because some of the roads are flooded and so bad they had to take back roads (I am not even sure what back roads would look like given that sight of the actual roads) so we decided to ask about flights as well. Turns out we could get a "direct" flight to Uyuni for under 90$ CDN each so we decided to take it and safe ourselves the day long trip. So first thing in the morning we head out of our hostel to the airport - the night before we actually realized we were leaving from the Military airport.... no wonder it was so cheap it was actually a TAM military flight. After arguing with our cab driver for a little while who was trying to scam a little extra money out of us (we had already pre-paid for the cab at our hostel who told us we DO NOT need to give him more money) we finally got rid of him and we attempted to get into the airport.......although it was not open. We had arrived about 1.5 hours early just to be safe, but apparently when they tell you that you only need to be there 1 hour before they mean it. Finally around 50mins before our flight, still without any  other passengers arrived, the check in desk lady arrived and we checked in for the flight. About 10 mins before the flight they asked everyone to leave the waiting room so that we could come back in 1 at a time to clear security. Airport security consisted of 1 guy at a desk who would look in some of the bags (but not all), no scanners, no metal detectors, nothing. I have been through tougher security going to a Blue Jays game. Finally we boarded our flight, after climbing over all the checked baggage and we took off. No flight attendants, no security announcements or anything - the plane just took off. 
About an hour later the plane touched down so logically we start to get off, until someone who had been standing near us in the airport says to us... "this is not Uyuni, this is Sucre". Slightly confused we sit back down, apparently a "direct flight" still makes a few pit stops to pick up passengers in other towns lol.  Another hour in the air and we finally land in Uyuni. We get off the airplane, onto the tarmac of course, and start to look around. NOTHING, Nothing is all we see around us. It looks like we have stepped off the tarmac into what looks like the beginning of a "the world has just ended and we are the only survivors movie". Now there is a terminal at this airport but it there is nothing in it. IT is basically just 4 walls that you walk-through. There is not even a bathroom in the terminal. After waiting around for a while trying to figure out how we are going to get into the town a cab pulls up (maybe a cab, or maybe just a guy willing to drive us into town for 20 Bolivianos each) and we head to town. That is our experience with the plane.

Getting on the Plane in Uyuni

View from the Tarmac in Uyuni

Where are we??

After our time in Uyuni was up we knew we wanted to head to Tupiza, a town a bit south of Uyuni close to the Argentinian boarder to hang out for a few days before we headed to Argentina, so we booked an overnight bus. When we arrived at the bus stop and our bus pulled up, it was certainly not the bus they sold us in the brochure but we hopped on anyways. When you travel by bus in Bolivia (so far all of S. America actually) you get assigned seats on the bus, however on this bus the driver decided he would make a little extra cash on the side so he would take a little money from the locals who would stand in the asiles the entire 7 hour, overnight ride. In this situation we all slept with one eye open because the bus was so overcrowded that it was an easy situation to easily "lose" some of your stuff. On top of that is is difficult to sleep straight up on a roller coaster ride for 7 hours when there are people literally standing over you. In the end however we made it safe and sound to Tupiza at 3:30 am where we proceeded to sleep on the couches of our hostel until check in time at 11am.


After tupiza we had one last travel adventure in Bolivia before moving on the country # 3 - a quick bus ride to the border and then cross over to Argentina. We thought this would be a pretty quick process since coming into Bolivia was pretty quick...but we were sorely mistaken. The bus ride was rather uneventful - the driver drops you off about 1km from the border then you walk over and as we pulled around the corner to the immigration building we realized that there was a bit of a line.......not just a bit but a MASSSSSSIVE line. It was a 6 hour line up to be exact, and that is even after played dumb tourists and jump in front of about 60 people in the line. It was a coming together of many events that made this line so ridiculous 1) it was Saturday, so always a bit busier on the weekend 2) There was a strike happening in another town not to far away that had shut down the other border crossing near but so everyone was coming to this building and 3) the Bolivian border still consists of a guy in a tiny room sitting at a desk with 1 stamp for all the people entering and exiting Bolivian. When we finally got the the front (again after 6 hours in line in the blistering heat) they didn't even want us all to go in. 1 person could go in and get all 4 passports stamped......they don't even need to see you!!  So that is what we did, then we all cheered for freedom and headed over to the Argentinian border to enter Argentina. After a much more civilized wait of 30mins we were official in Argentina!!
Now don't get me wrong, all these events did not turn me off Bolivia, I would still recommend it for a visit to anyone who asked. After all it all just adds to the Adventure!


OOO_Talia