I live in the deserts of Arizona where summer is sweltering hot, in 2019 I also traveled to Australia for New Years, which was sweltering expensive. Summer was great but rolling by fast, I had about 3 weeks to travel at the end of August, I wanted some place to cool off, and some place easy on the wallet. It had been almost 4 years since I last traveled to South America so Bolivia with a side dish of Paraguay seemed to be perfect for me. It was Northern Hemisphere August so Southern Hemisphere winter. I managed to do some good crash research and had a great plan to see a few cities exploring the country all the way to the Chilean border, I had a great plan... But had not planned, on the altitude.
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| Church and market from the Teleferico View |
No issues in Paraguay, the 3 days there went great and I was really happy with the trip. But the second I stepped off the plane in La Paz... It hit me... I have been to Cuzco, Peru once before and had no issues. Other than that I'm not really sure how many high altitude places I have been. But I do remember arrogantly telling my co-workers the day before my flight, that I don't get altitude sickness. So what does altitude sickness feel like? For me, imagine you got your ass kicked in a fight, you have the worst hangover of your life, and someone puts you on a spinning merry-go-round. The first 3 days were rough, I didn't get to do much. I remember being in my bed in my apartment googling at what point do I go to the hospital. I had plans to see Cholita Wrestling, rap jump off a high rise, see some museums, all canceled. Hey we are budget travelers, we must plan on things never going as planned. Thank Goodness I knew La Paz needed more than 3 days as I would be not be totally okay to sight see the first 3 days, but really good when I got back the last 2.5 days.
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| Local Food when I finally was able to eat |
I took some meds from the pharmacy, drank a lot of water, and tea, but honestly what got me better I think was just time. The 4th day I flew to Uyuni which is even higher, but by then it was magically gone. So life lesson learned.
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| Local drinks when I was finally able to drink |
I loved the people in La Paz, didn't really go to the night life scene because my sickness, loved the Coca Museum, the winding alleys of Zona Rosario, the great shopping (I lost my $200 coat in an Uber in Paraguay, found a nice $20 replacement in La Paz), and the nice chill weather. But what really blew my mind, I'm embarrassed to say, was the public transportation! The Teleferico is a great way to see the city! I have been to 48 countries, yet somehow riding this thing around was one of the best parts of my trip. I had a friend living there guide me, muchas gracias Cynthia! But if you don't I highly recommend getting a guide for about $10 USD.
After La Paz it was off to Uyuni, then the Salt Flats. I went with Andes Salt Expeditions due to reviews, a great price, and the option to stay at the Salt Hotel! The flight to Uyuni is an early morning flight and most tours don't leave till 11ish, so no issue if you are flying out the same day. Just make sure you arrange transport from the airport as that is the only way to get there to the town besides a long walk. The town itself is good for a half day or so of walking around and checking out. Good food, and a slight party scene due to all the hostels. My last day I had 6 hours to kill and wanted a shower and nap. For $7 I got a hotel room, a hostel may have been a dollar for all I know.
The Salt Flats are the beauty you will imagine, I will say I went in the dry season, I think in the wet season it may be more photogenic, but no regrets here. You will eat at restaurants made from salt, see how the salt is made at the factories, and I highly encourage you to stay at a Salt Hotel!
We also checked out the train graveyard before that. The next day was spent exploring the Bolivian desert. The photos I think here will speak for themselves. The trip is at least 50% off road, and the cars will be booked, so you are in close proximity to the other passengers unless you book a private tour. Remember this is 3rd world, so if you have medical problems or even just travelers diarrhea on the way there will not be immediate resources available for you. We had a dude on our jeep that got sick, I kind of wish I had brought some meds from home with me for him, but he ended up being okay after the trip. No photos below, but I also recommend trying to stay in a hotel on the 2nd night with a hot spring, the stars we saw while sitting in the warming waters under cold star exploding lit sky was something magical that the camera just didn't capture. Anyway... the Bolivian desert:
Laguna Colorada, one of the craziest things I've ever seen
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| Last stop at the Chilean border |
From Uyuni I took an overnight bus to Sucre, I wish I booked the cama (full bed) instead of the semi cama (half bed) but I managed to sleep pretty good anyway. Not sure why I hadn't booked it, maybe lack of research the $3 price difference or so would not have been an issue. I stayed in the city center of Sucre. The town itself is fun to walk around, really really great food here and it's cheap so go for the luxury restaurants you normally would not splurge on back home. Nightlife was okay here as I was able to go out a bit to some bars/clubs. But the two real highlights for me were rock climbing with Climbing Sucre and the dinosaur foot prints!
It had been years since I rock climbed, but luckily most of the skills came back, the last course I couldn't get to the summit because my fingers were screaming but still had a great time. If you are in shape I highly recommend this. They pick you up from the hotel/hostel/Airbnb and drop you off door to door service, one minute you are in bustling Sucre the next you are on a mountain climbing in Bolivia.
The last stop was Parque Cretácico. I am a guy that as a kid loved dinosaurs, I saw Jurassic Park twice in theaters. I loved the skeletons of the dinos at the Museum Of Natural History growing up in NYC, and finally in 2019 I got to see first hand the footprints of these giant pre-historic animals.
The life size replicas and Museum in the park are of course amazing, but nothing beats looking at the footprints that were almost destroyed during mining that stopped there.
Then it was back to La Paz for the final few days, and to mountain bike the world famous, Yungas aka Death Road. If you are thinking about doing it save the YouTube views for after you have done it. My only advice for Death Road besides checking for good reviews, is don't go too fast! I took a damn good roll off my bike that I probably should have broken a few bones, but luckily the God's of travel were with me!
Minus the flights and hotel the total spending money on Bolivia was less than what I paid for my one night in Sydney on New Year's. My final night I ate at a local restaurant in La Paz, I had an early morning flight but also had an amazing apartment overlooking the amazing city, which now I was no longer altitude sick from. Just short of midnight I watched the Telefericos one last time while drinking a local red wine blend. I was there just short of 3 weeks but somehow felt a connection oddly as I had gone from feeling like death to feeling like I could mountain bike and mountain climb at top speed this country, one of which I was wrong about. But either way, a perfect ending to a perfect trip, Gracias por todo Bolivia.
Enjoy my YouTube video of this trip!
Choose the continent!!!!
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