Bolivia Abridged

When we arrived in La Paz, the city was in a state of chaos in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections. The current Bolivian president (Evo Morales) is indigenous, so most indigenous citizens wanted to vote to keep in him office. Since most indigenous Bolivians live in the country and the voting takes place in La Paz, the city becomes completely overrun with people rushing in to vote. The traffic was unbelievable and I don´t think I have ever seen so many people in one place. Additionally, for some reason, La Paz officially goes alcohol-free for election weekends, which caused an uproar amongst some of my traveling companions. Luckily, they soon figured out that is possible to buy contraband rum in anti-freeze containers from certain variety stores.

Our first day in La Paz, I just walked around the city. We visited San Pedro Prison, one of the most notorious prisons in the world, where prisoners allegedly have to pay for their own cells and in which the vast majority of Bolivia´s cocaine is produced. Prisoners in San Pedro used to be able to give prison tours to tourists, but apparently those have been shut down recently. So we couldn´t get into the prison, but it was interesting to see. It is right in the middle of the city, just beside a lovely plaza, and it surrounded by police who try to prevent tourists from taking photos of it. While loitering outside, we met a South African woman who was visiting her husband who was jailed for drug trafficking. Interesting place.

We also visited the Witch´s Market, which sells some very weird stuff. For example, you can buy llama fetuses, which are supposed to be buried outside your home to keep out evil. It´s disgusting really, but worth seeing.

The next day definitely a trip highlight. We went mountain biking down Death Road, so named because it is, literally, the most dangerous road in the world. You bike for about 60km downhill on a winding, one-lane, gravel road. On one side, there is a mountain and on the other, there is a sheer drop. It is very scary and VERY fun. But don´t worry, nobody has died in a few years.

On our last day in La Paz, everything was closed for the election, so I did nothing of consequence. The next morning, we drove to a bushcamp for the night and then on to Uyuni the next morning.

When we arrived in Uyuni, it was time for me to leave the Oasis truck. Although I definitely miss the group, it was really nice to get out on my own and have a bit more freedom. From Uyuni, I joined a three day tour of the Salt Flats. On our first day, we visited the Isla de Pescado, which is a coral island in the middle of the flats and the Salar de Uyuni. The Salar is amazing, it´s the biggest salt flat in the world and it looks like an endless plain of pure white. That evening, we stayed in a small town called San Juan.

The next day, we visited a series of lagoons and volcanoes and saw flamingos. The lagoons are really cool because they contain sulfur and various other minerals, which makes them look very colourful. Laguna Colorada is bright red it looks spectacular against the backdrop of mountains and salt plains. We then drove through the Siloli desert at stayed at a small hostel for the night.

On my final day of the Salt Flats tour, we woke up at 4 30 am to drive to the Sol de Manana geysers. It was really an amazing sight, with steam shooting up from the ground and mud bubbling up everywhere. It makes for a very eerie sight, because the steam is so thick. Next, we drove through the Desierto de Dali, named for the unusual, Dali-esque rock formations, to Laguna Verde. There are no flamingos there because there is so much arsenic in the water, but it looks incredible, bright green water crusted with white salt. After that, we drove the Chilean border where I got on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama.

I am currently in San Pedro, enjoying the town and the surrounding desert and tomorrow, it´s upward and onward to Santiago.

Hasta luego!

Sarah