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

When will it hit me?

Looking at the length, planned countries to visit, etc... this is a pretty big undertaking.
Not to mention, the sabatacle for a year. 


Work emails that nobody really reads become long updates to family and friends.  
Important decks and pitches become epic picture and blog uploads.
Urgent client requests become non urgent decisions about which overnight bus to take.


When we left about a month ago I continually asked myself when this trip would feel real?
I can say that feeling finally hit me.


It was just another tour; much different than the Inca Trail. This tour was mostly scenery.
Departing from Uyuni, Bolivia, we hit the road in a 4x4 land cruiser with an english speaking guide Gonzalas and a beauty driver - Saul (Sa-ule) "Shumaucker". You have never seen anyone rock out to Bolivian beats and rip up the desert and mountenous roads all at once. He could also smash Twix bars like crazy. When was the last time you had a Twix bar? I can say they are still UNREAL!!


On day 3, deep into southern Bolivia and centered between 2 other borders (Argentina and Chile), we made a picture stop. It was snowing (which was rattling because we thought we left the snow back in Canada), and we were surrounded by 3 volcanoes, each of which belonging to one of the countries mentioned above.

Volcano 1 and 2

Volcano 3_Vantage Point 1

Volcano 3_Vantage Point 2

Gonzalas introduced us to the mountains and said, "where do you feel like going?"
............and that was it. Of course he was joking, but as soon as he said that it dawned on me.


I realized it was that very decision (or very similar) that I would need to make for the rest of the year. Where should I go, what should I do..... TODAY.. Not tomorrow or the day after. Even a few weeks down the road. Unless we need a visa (which we need very few of), we are golden.


So now, when people ask how it feels, I can finally say.... FUCKIN EPIC, and mean it.


Tals will give a full on Bolivia update and a ton of epic pictures will get uploaded to facebook tomorrow-ish.


Until then, keep on keepin on.
OOO_Jonny

Salar de Uyuni - Scenery like you have never seen

After a rather interesting flight (more on that later) from La Paz we arrived in the Central/Southern city of Uyuni

The town of Uyuni is a rather interesting one - it is a tiny little town that looks a little like it is from an old western movie and the only things that exist in town are travel agencies to book tours through the Salar de Uyuni, tiny stores that sell only Pringles, cookies and water and Pizzeria`s. I am pretty convinced that Bolivian people think that foreigners only eat Pizza since in every city we have been to in Bolivia there is a ridiculous amount of restaurants that are serving Pizza. Lucky for us the pizza(s) that we got in Uyuni were much better than what we had elsewhere.

We came to Uyuni so that we could a book a tour through the Salt Flats or Salar de Uyuni - which are the largest salt flats in the world. We had originally tried to booked the tour while we were in La Paz but were finding it hard to find a reliable tour company that offered 4 day tours with an English speaking guide. Alot of the tour company´s will say they have English speakers on the tour but it usually just the driver who knows a handful of english words - so we decided to wait until we got to Uyuni to find a better company. It turned out to be a great decision because once we arrived and walk through the strip of tour companies we got hooked up with Gonzoles (Bolivia Native but went to Uni in the US so fluent in English) as our guide, and Saule (lovingly nicknamed Saule Schumacher) as our driver/cook of Andes Salt Exhibitions and they were fantastic!


After meeting Gonzoles in the shop we decided to book the 4 day tour starting the next day and for a whopping 1050 Boliviano´s (or about 150$....soooo cheap there) we were all set for our tour. This price included the driver and guide, all our accommodation and food. Once we were all sorted out we decided to go back to the hostel for a little siesta (we are really getting used to those) and then hit up a bar for dinner call the Extreme Fun Pub since we really liked the highly original name. After a few beers and a pizza of course we hit our hostels again for some sleep before our tour the next day. This tour start time was breath of fresh air compared to the others we have been on since it started at a much more civilized hour of 10:30am instead of 5am which was great.


The next morning we met up with Gonzoles and Saule at our jeep - a maybbbbbbbe 1995 Toyota 4 Runner, that had no seatbelts (sorry parents) and no working speedometer. At this point we also met the 2 girls that would be joining us on the tour, one girl from Holland on a 2 week  vaca solo in S. America and another Lovely Korean girl who works in Mexico. And then we were off! This tour was much more about the beutiful scenery so I will make this more of a photo blog so you can get an idea of just how amazing it was and give a little summary of what we saw each day.

Cedric hanging out in front of the tour company

Day 1:
After hitting the road with Saule Schumacher behind the wheel we made our first stop at the Train Cemetary. This is basically just a cool photo op spot now. At one time there were working trains that went through the area but in the early 1900´s they were just abandoned in this spot and were never taken away. It was pretty neat to see. After the train graveyard we headed into the actual Salar to see the Salt Flats. Given that this is rain season in Bolivia they are a bit flooded but that just makes it even more amazing because you basically get a mirror image of the sky off the salt. We stayed here for a few hours and had hour lunch here. We actually ate in the Salt Holtel which I was a bit on the fence about because the hotel in the Salar is actually there illegally because it pollutes the Salar so alot of places say you should boycott. If you have the opportunity you should. Our guides from the lunch and I didnt buy anything there or pay to use the washroom so I didnt really contribute anything to them so I felt a bit better. Ohh for lunch we also ate Llama meat for the first time..... I was a little sketched out at first but it wasnt all that bad. Basically tasted like a pork chop.


For those of you who have seen pics from the flats you know that is the perfect place to take really hilarious photo´s because the salt basically acts as a blank canvas......and so that is what we did for many hours. There is just a little sample below but we will get some more up on flicker and facebook when we get the chance. After we finished in the Salts we headed to the town of Villa Lota for our first nights sleep. There isnt too much to report on the town.... like much of Bolivia it looks like a deserted old western town but the sunset that night was amazing and everyone was trying to get a shoot of it. After the amazing sunset we sat down for our first nights dinner - Soup, then this French Fry thing covered in onions and eggs.....it wasnt too bad. And then tea and canned peaches for dessert.  During dinner Gonzoles also gave us a bit of a history lesson which I though was pretty amazing.

Jonny in the Train Graveyard

Giant Jonny and Midget me experimenting in the Flats

This prop was courtesy of Gonzoles.... pic was also his idea

The token jumping shot

Jonny and I in the Flats..... it was VERY bright there

Sun setting over the empty square in Villa Lota

Day 2:

After some breaky around 8am we were on the road for day 2 which when we really started heading south and were getting back into the high altitude again. Unfortunately for us day 2 involved alot of rain. We still got to see some amazing moutain scenery, some time in the desert and beutiful lagoons but we called it a day pretty early since it was very cold and wet. Since the day 3 pics were alot better due to better weather I didnt include to many day 2 ones. One really cool thing on day 2 was our first view of the Bolivian Flamingo´s.... there are hundreds of them! And it is cold there...... these are not your standard Florida Flamingo´s

After seeing the days sights we headed to hostel number 2. Now the tour company had warned us that accomadations for night 2 are very basic.....they were not kidding. We all shared 1 room where each bed was a block of cement with a very small mattress on top and there was only electricity from 7pm to 9pm. We made the best of it though and broke out the cards for a wild game of Asshole where Jonny and I emerged as the power couple (J.J was not happy and we havent played asshole since lol). We also sampled our first bottle of Bolivian wine....after which we decided that we would not drink wine again until we got to Argentina because it was so bad. The off to bed for our 4am wake up call

The famous rock tree made from focilized coral that is all over this area

Day 3:
Day 3 started bright and early at 430am (on the road 5am) to catch the sunrise at our highest altitude 5000m.  Typically we have hated this break of dawn wake up calls but given the cement beds that we were sleep one  everyone was up and at it right on time. Now the salt flats themselves were really amazing but I don't think any of us were expected the beautiful scenes we saw on day 3. It started with a very very cold drive through snow.....YES snow, we thought we had left all that crap back in Canada, but even during the summer there is snow at this altitude, and we stopped to see the sunrise over the mountains and the Gesyers (def: A hot spring in which water intermittently boils, sending a tall column of water and steam into the air......or basically in this case boiling mud) and the sunrise was incredible. The rest of the drive in the morning remained this way and we kept making Saule stop so we could take the amazing moutain sunrise pics. But about 8am we were ready for breakfast, which was also the stop that included a dip in the hot springs....much needed after the snow in the morning. 


After our swim we headed down the the Laguna Verde which is a gorgeous lagoon in the valley of 3 mountains on the border of Chili, Bolivia and Argentina, that when the sun hits it right it looks turquoise. As you can see by the photo's we were lucky that day. Word of warning.....don't step food in the laguna as it naturally contains Arsenic. After our stop at the Laguna we headed to the Chile border to drop of the other two girls we weren't coming back to Uyuni and then we started on our 5 hour drive back to Uyuni, which we actually made in 4.5 hours even with a stop for a flat tire based on Saule Schumachers extreme driving skills. We made it back just in time to grab some dinner (more Pizza) and then make it for our 8pm bus to Tupiza......which was a whole other adventure. More to come on that 


OOO_Talia

Sun starting to rise as we approached the Geysers

Sun rising over the jeep (our home for 4 days)

The whole crew in the snow

Jonny enjoying the view

Both of us at the Laguna Verde

I survived to most dangerous road in the world (La Paz, Bolivia)

They say you should do one thing every day that scares - well I think I am good for the next six months as yesterday I mountain biked down the worlds most dangerous road just outside of La Paz Bolivia and let me tell you, it was very very scary - well at least for me it was.  We had heard about this mountain biking excursion from a few friends before we left for our trip and going in I was pretty sure there was no way I was going to do it. The thought of riding a gravel road that ranges from only about 4.5m to 3.2m wide at its narrowest part, down a mountain from 4,700m (15,400 feet) all the way down to 1,100m (3,600 feet) that has 1,000m+ (3,300 feet) sheer drops off the side scared the living crap out of me. Oh and did I mention that at parts we also had to bike under waterfalls, past landslides and over 1 river on this road.  They really don`t call this the dangerous road for nothing! One of the sections of the road is even the site of the worlds deadliest 1 vehicle accident, where a bus went over the cliff with 112 people onboard (112 people I know.....but this is Bolivia). They are also many biker injuries - in our day alone there was 1 dislocated shoulder and 1 guy with a totally smashed up face and wrist injury.

Before we arrived in La Paz the boys were pretty certain they wanted to do it, Kait was still a bit on the fence but was pretty sure she would do it if the boys wanted to and I was still undecided on the matter. Part of this trip is supposed to be stepping out of my comfort zone and this would be a great way to do it. Once we arrived in La Paz and spoke to a few others who had done the ride and told us that is wasn't that bad and the scenery was not to be missed we set out to some tour companies to get an idea of what the damage would be. While in the Gravity Bike tour office, in a sudden surge of confidence I decided I would do, signed all the appropriate waivers, sized all my gear and handed over my credit card in preparation for the ride the next day! After all the girls I spoke to at the hostel said it wasn't that bad and since they introduced a new paved alternative road there was almost no more cars on the road so I wouldn't have those obstacles to worry about - now you only see about 5 cars/day

A little info about this road - until 2007 when an alternative paved road was introduced for cars,  this was the only road to take through this part of Bolivia and upwards of 200 cars/trucks/buses per day took this EXTREMELY rocky, narrow and dangerous road. Each year upwards of 26 cars would disappear off the side and bikers also (Yes this did do this bike tour when cars took this road - To my dear friend Erin Mutrie who did it during this time, I now understand your description and you must have nerves of steel to have been able to do that)

After another early morning wake up call to make it to the meeting spot for 7:30, we set off on the bus to get to the starting point and get used to the bikes. We do a few KM on a paved road to get used to the bikes before hitting the gravel to start the actual mountain biking.I would not really call what I was doing actually mountain biking, it was more mountain bike breaking down a massive, jagged rock faced, death dropping cliff, gravel road only mountain. I am pretty sure that there was not more than a total of 2 minutes where completely laid off my breaks during this 3-4 hour bike ride so needless to say my hands and arms are quite sore today. After hours of riding at the very back of the pack, death gripping my handle bars, a few speed wobbles (well in my case they may have been lack of speed wobbles) and a couple near wipe outs I finally made it to the bottom unscathed and could not have been more happy about it! It really was an amazing ride and I am really happy that I did muster of the courage to do it......but I can say with total confidence that I will never do it again! (just counting the number of memorials that are set up along the road for both bikers and vehicle passengers pretty much secured that for me) 

In my surge of confidence at the bike tour company I also pre-signed up for the optional zip-line add on at the bottom that takes you on 3 rides across the valley of the mountain range over the town of Yoloso. Based on the degree to which my hands and legs were still shaking from the ride I wasn't so sure about it anymore but bit the bullet and did it anyways and it was also amazing. 

 After the zip line the tour company we went with takes you to La Senda Verde Animal Refuge for dinner, drinks, hot showers etc before heading  back to La Paz. At just about the time that my fists where starting to unclench again our guide announces that we are about to head out  on the bus back...... oh and guess what we are actually not driving back up the MOST DANGEROUS ROAD IN THE WORLD. I thought that the downhill mountain biking part was scary trust me the ride up in the 15 person van, that had probably already seen better days in the '80's was much more terrifying. 

All and all I am very glad that I did it. I do not know if I would say that I conquered my fear but I was able to push though it and make it all the way along for the ride. 

Local kids trying to ride our Guides bike at a snack stop..... Always safety first in Bolivia lol. 

Smiling through the fear mid-way as we stopped to look at the scenery

Finally Done the road!! Then off to Zipline

 If any of you should ever find yourself in La Paz, Bolivia and have the desire to do the bike trip down the World's Most Dangerous Road, you should DEFINITELY only do it with the company called Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking (check out the link below) - They are almost double the price of the other companies but so worth the price and then include more in the day's trip (a whopping $105 dollars for the full day trip including EXPERIENCED mountain bike guides in English and Spanish, pick up and drop off, bike and full safety equipment, water, gatorade, lunch, snacks and dinner, bandanna and t-shirt, CD with video and pics from the day,  plus the visit to the animal refuge). But the most important reason I recommend that you only use Gravity is because in Bolivia there are absolutely zero safety regulations for companies offering these tours and Gravity operates under some pretty tight regulations on their own accord i.e. no more that 14 riders for 2 guides (1 always in front and 1 in the back), bikes are no more that 2 years old (then they sell them to other tour operators), they also carry full mountain rescue gear and the bikes are serviced after each ride. 


LINK: http://www.gravitybolivia.com/index.php?mod=homeb

Youtube special on the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtUaherTC50