Top Menu

Navigation

Archive | Bolivia

The Salar De Uyuni

By on 16. November 2007 in Bolivia
The Salar de Uyuni, the biggest Salt Lake in the world, as big as half of Switzerland! Southwest Bolivia, South America

The Salar de Uyuni, the biggest Salt Lake in the world, as big as half of Switzerland! Southwest Bolivia, South America

The Salar de Uyuni or salt flats near the small town of Uyuni are surely one of the highlights when visiting Bolivia, if not South America. At 3.653 meters, with a surface of 12.106 square kilometers, this is the largest salt lake in the world. It covers as much as half of Switzerland! It is 40 meters deep in its centers and the most fascinating fact is that this salt lake grows every year: 2 to 3 centimeters in depth and also in surface. Continue Reading →

So Many Technical Problems

By on 15. November 2007 in Bolivia

 

One of four stops in four days because of a flat tire ...

One of four stops in four days because of a flat tire …

It had to be bad luck! For so many technical problems in only four days, there can be no other reason. True, driving conditions are terrible on the Southwest Circuit: the worst bumpy dust roads ever and salt simply eats up cars. In four days we drove no less then 35 to 37 hours. Our jeep was in a very good state when we left. For that, Tupiza Tours has a very good reputation, which in my opinion they deserve, no matter what happened. Continue Reading →

Breathtaking Tupiza

By on 12. November 2007 in Bolivia
Canyon del Inca, near Tupiza, Bolivia

Canyon del Inca, near Tupiza

Tupiza is a small and rural town mainly living from agriculture and mining. Tourism is only a very recent phenomenon: the first tourism agency here, the highly recommendable Tupiza Tours, opened 12 years ago and has remained without competition until 3 to 4 years ago. Now the number of tourists is increasing very fast, partly because of the astonishing countryside around this town. Another important reason is that travel agencies here offer much more reliable tours to the Salar de Uyuni than the ones in Uyuni, where problems have immensely increased in the past 18 months. Continue Reading →

Rough Trip From Sucre To Tupiza

By on 11. November 2007 in Bolivia
In the South of Bolivia, you only find terrible bumpy dirt road ... This is the main link from Potosi to Argentina!

In the South of Bolivia, you only find terrible bumpy dirt road … This is the main link from Potosi to Argentina!

Immediately after returning from Tarabuco in the afternoon, I left Heidi to her Spanish class and started out for my journey to Tupiza, in the very scenic south of Bolivia. Continue Reading →

Let’s Change Everything…

By on 8. November 2007 in Bolivia
La Carratera de la Muerte or Death Road, going down from 4.650 meter to 1.250 Meter in only 64 Kilometer, between La Paz & Coroico, Bolivia

La Carratera de la Muerte or Death Road, going down from 4.650 meter to 1.250 Meter in only 64 Kilometer, between La Paz & Coroico, Bolivia

Maybe not entirely, but… Until two weeks ago, we perfectly stuck to our travel plans, spent less than what we had budgeted, in a word we were on track. Something very unusual when traveling “Round The World”. Then … Then we arrived in Bolivia! Fell in love with this country, we really did! Decided we needed more time to enjoy our travel here and finally threw our itinerary over board!!! Continue Reading →

Sucre, “Capital Plena”

By on 5. November 2007 in Bolivia

In The Midst Of Bolivian Politics…

Parlament in Sucre, "La Capital Plena", Bolivia, South America

Parlament in Sucre, “La Capital Plena”, Bolivia, South America

Presently there are daily demonstrations here in Sucre. Every single day there has been some kind of event on the main square, Plaza 25 de Mayo, mainly students or school groups participating. In the beginning of September students and police forces were fighting all night long on the main square … Continue Reading →

First Steps In Sucre

By on 4. November 2007 in Bolivia
View of Sucre from the top of the Iglesia de la Merced, Bolivia

View of Sucre from the top of the Iglesia de la Merced

The morning we arrived in Sucre, we immediately set out to explore our new “home town” since we plan to stay here for one week. Well, we found ourselves in a place worlds apart from what we have seen so far of Bolivia. The city itself is beautiful with lots of bright white colonial architecture. It is so obvious that this place is much wealthier than other parts of Bolivia we have visited. Continue Reading →

Going From Coroico To Sucre

By on 2. November 2007 in Bolivia

 

For the trip back to La Paz we ended up in the most banged up, worn down minibus to be ...

For the trip back to La Paz we ended up in the most banged up, worn down minibus to be …

We left Coroico on November 2nd, “El Dia de Los Muertos”, just in time, because the same morning wealthy Bolivians from La Paz descended on this lovely village chocking its narrow streets with their big SUVs and completely booking up all nice hotels. For the trip back to La Paz we ended up in the most banged up, worn down minibus to be. Nevertheless we made it, but what followed that afternoon was failure after failure. Continue Reading →

Yungas – The Land Of Coffee & Coca Plantations

By on 1. November 2007 in Bolivia

 

Heidi in the middle of a Coca plantation, Coroico, Bolivia

Heidi in the middle of a Coca plantation, Coroico, Bolivia

The Yungas is an area north of La Paz which is best described as the transition zone between the dry Altiplano and the humid Amazon Basin. Coroico, a small sleepy village, is one of the major settlements in the region. We got a first glimpse of this village perched on the mountain slope with amazing scenery all around when biking down “Death Road”. We knew then that this was a place where we wanted to chill out for a few days. Continue Reading →