Another Travel Blog

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay in Sucre for more than one day (the city is wonderful, laid back and still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, La Paz is de facto the capital now) I won’t find such great accomodation for this value but I need to make the loop back towards Rio and I am longing for some beaches, too. You won’t find any beaches here in Bolivia, being one of the landlocked countries in South America (and being famous for it as it lost it’s coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific in the 19th century and is still claiming the coast area). Sucre has a nice center including a large plaza with many colonial buildings and I spent the day with walking around the town and having a nice dinner. I headed towards Santa Cruz in the evening (one of the biggest cities in Bolivia which meant another 15hrs bus ride) Fortunately, I opted for a expensive bus which meant more sleep and less hopping as the road didn’t get any better than on the journey from Uyuni to Potosi. It is my second time in Santa Cruz (the first time was Santa Cruz, CA, US though) so I wont’ start to compare! The bus arrived in the morning and I used the day for lingering around Santa Cruz as the previous days have been full of rushing through Bolivia. My next matter of business was going to buy tickets for the horrific bus trip through the Gran Chaco to Asuncion in Paraguay (as in of my loop needs to get towards Rio) The journey is supposed to take 30 hours or more and I opted for the bus which was $5 more expensive in hope of getting one which doesn’t beak down and has proper wheels as this has been the case on the journey from Uyuni to Potosi. But it will might be a Paraguayan bus and I have no idea how their standard of vehicles is.. Also, I have been warned by some people taking this bus ride, already back in Rio as it is supposed to be an adventurous and torturing trip. The Gran Chaco is located between the Paraguay river and the Andes and is sparsely populated having a unique, more or less unexplored ecosystem. Also, I will be definitely leaving the standard ‘Gringo trail’ with this journey, as Paraguay is less visited by travellers.

The saltflats were wonderful, with clear blue sky and just white salt as far as one can see, so white that I got the snowblindness, with the sun burning down in the noon.. The saltlake developed from a prehistoric lake which dried out and resulted in the gigantic white salt desert. We visited an island, which had all kinds of different cactus formations and a salt hotel in the middle of nowhere, which was supposed to be illegal, but nevertheless, tolerated. Another, newer salt hotel has been built to the edge of the lake. The climate at 4000 meters above sea level is rough, dry (during that time of the year) hot during the day, but ice cold during the night. The saltlake is very touristy, and so is the village (Uyuni) which is the starting point for most of the tours, except if crossing from Chile (San Pedro de Atacama). Every tourist in Uyuni seems either seeking a tour operator or buying tickets for the onward journey. It is advisable to get recommendations from fellow travellers if choosing a tour operator (Lonely Planet doesn’t recommend one in particular) but in the end it seemed that they don’t differ that much (except in food quality). At least a little comparison is necessary in order to not get ripped off (the prices can range from $80-$150 for a 3-day trip, and I am sure that there have been people who paid even more) The tour was supposed to start at 1030, but none of the groups left before 1200 noon. And so far, I haven’t met anyone who actually had an english speaking tour guide.. Which was ok with me, as I have started to understand basic spanish, if spoken slowly.

The dark stripe on the photo is a road (even on a such a plain, roads seem to exist)

I wanted to head straight to Sucre after the trip but all the buses were booked out for the evening. It didn’t seem to be easy to get out of this remote village. I opted for a cheapie hostel ($3) this time, for a quick night’s sleep, having no idea how cold it could get. After sunset, the cold started to bite.. I had 6 layers of clothing on for sleeping (including the jacket!), gloves and two pairs of socks (wool socks) and was still freezing. Not to forget the 4 additional layers of thick covers which were provided by the hostel. The bus towards Potosi (highest town in the world, at around 4800 meters above sea level) left in the morning at 10pm (and was supposed to take 7 hrs) and the journey was by no means driving. I could call it bumping, jumping hopping or crusing as the road was horrible and I was again all covered in dust. But I was glad not having taken the nightbus as the landscapes in the central highlands of Bolivia are incredible. After every hour, a different setting of landscapes appeared, mountains in yellow, dark brown or white, occasionally a small settlement passing by with the light brown houses surrounded by walls built from rough stones which is a typical style for the highlands and the only animals I spotted were lamas, as they seem to be the few ones who can handle those extreme weather conditions.

I stayed one hour in Potosi and didn’t plan to stay there overnight as the experience of the night’s cold in Uyuni was enough and I didn’t want to retry.. Sucre in the lowlands of Bolivia was only a 3 hrs additional bus drive away. Sigh! Only 3 hrs (this is an exeptionally short amount of time for a bus ride in South America) At my arrival, the town just seemed to go mad – carnival time! Fireworks and the streets were full of people. I found my way through the people to the hostel which was in the middle of the happening. The hostel is wonderful, $5 per night for a nice colonial room with an inviting courtyard. As we weren’t that high up anymore, the weather was comfortably warm, and heaters were’t a topic either. Also, the people changed dramatically. In the highlands, a lot of traditional dress is worn by the women and most the people seem to be of homogenous, of indian descent, whereas In Sucre, I felt almost underdressed in my travellers gear and I also encoutered many mestizos.

We arrived in the cold morning hours at the Argentinian border town La Quiaca and the night has been horrible, screaming children in the bus, so no sleep for us all (we hooked up into a group of 5) It was freezing cold! The border crossing went without any problems, and we headed to the train station to buy onward tickets to Uyuni, which meant a 30 minute walk including the backpacks across the town. Bolivia is one hour ahead of Argentina, the train was supposed to leave at 0330pm and it was 0700am. Almost another 8 hours to kill.

We headed back into the town, (by now already a group of 8 groggy backpackers) and located the only open cafe at this time which was right across the bus terminal (I had troubles identifiying this as a bus terminal though) for breakfast. After having a delicious coffee and a sandwich, I found some time to have a stroll around the small town (Villazon) Just transfer yourself 200 years back in time and the description would fit.. Many women wearing the traditional Bolivian dress, noone speaking english (not that I would have expected it), horses used as a transportation, straying dogs, and the only supermercado meant a couple of schacks behind the bus station. On the other hand, a couple of the newest offroaders passed the road. Otherwise, this eerie village doesn’t hold one’s attention for long except for that is, having a first impression of Bolivia.

The first hours in the train showed a nice and unbeliveable Bolivian landscape, no trees, some cactuses, the colour brown dominant in the deserted landscape, as we were already high up at the plateu (altiplano) at around 2000 above sea level. However, the concept of garbage recycling hasn’t arrived yet in Bolivia as rubbish was spread all over the place, especially when coming close to a city. I was all dusty, I felt like having a flim of dust overall. We arrived around midnight in Uyuni and I opted for a splurge ($10 hotel including heaters, and with a room just for myself, wow..) I have caught the cold and am having fever and at least little bit of comfort should lessen the symptoms. Being at 3600 meter above sea level probably won’t help getting better soon as well. The temperatures here can range from anything, -20 during the nighttime at the saltlake to plus 25 (around noon in the border village) I will look out for a one to two day trip to Salar de Uyuni and not for a 3-4 day one as the most of the people do, as time and my health is an issue. I think I could not handle currently -20 during the nighttime!