Bolivia travels

Bolivia! Yeah! Was so excited to go there and I stayed for the whole length of my visa. Three months!
I think I didn't do anything wrong with this decision, I had so much fun here.

Well, first I went traveling to the best places of Bolivia before working as a volunteer. When I arrived in Uyuni I met Grady again and we started a tour to the salt flats and the national park in the south west. What an amazing place on earth. The landscape dry like a desert, but with snowy volcano peaks, rock formations that appear alien like as from another planet, then colourful lagoons in white, green and red and as well pelicans and llamas everywhere. It was just incredible. I think I took a thousand pictures because it was so inspiring and stunning.

It was very cold at night but sunny every day. We stayed one night at about 4600m and it was freezing. But from there we were going to see some geysers going off early in the morning and could jump into a volcanic heated pool.

And at the end of our tour we got to see the big white salt flat which was a highlight itself.

Salt as far as you can see and a blending white that your eyes start to burn. Without sun glasses no chance. But so amazing! With the white clouds and a blue, blue in the sky it was overwhelming! And we had fun with the camera and took the photos that have these special effects because of the wideness of the flats.

When we got back to Uyuni town we just took a shower and continued to Potosi, cause Uyuni itself is only the start or end point for the salt flat tours and therefore a bit boring. But Potosi was interesting, it is located at an altitude of 4000m and you can feel how easy you get breathless when walking somewhere. We visited the mines and had to crawl through some pretty narrow tunnels with almost no safety precautions. So I got a little worried, but it was adventurous in the end. For the miners inside we bought some presents like Coca Cola or dynamite. And because it's so crazy to buy dynamite legally, we just bought some more to try it out and have some fun. We hired a taxi, went out of town and hiked into a little deserted valley. There we blew up a cactus and some stones. The explosion made a big pressure wave and even I was 50m away, I could still feel it and thought to sense some cactus needles blowing over as well. ;-) And because it was so funny, we had to buy some more including the catalyst to make the explosion even bigger the next time. But because our bus was leaving soon, Grady had to carry it in his bag. Weird feeling to travel around with some explosives in your baggage. ;-)

In Sucre we enjoyed some warmer weather and great food. It is a super nice town with lots of colonial architecture and nice cafes. We went to the recoleta cemetery, the view point, the centre and to a castle outside town. There we blew up the dynamite again, finally got rid of this dangerous accessory. ;-)

Wish we could have stayed a little longer in this nice place with the sweetest mangos ever. But we wanted to see some more places before Grady had to fly home and my volunteering started.

So from Sucre we went to La Paz, the highest capital in the world at 3800m. It got colder again and the air was thinner. Because the city lies in a valley with hillside extensions, it goes up and down when you walk the streets and makes you gasping the whole time. But it has great party and good food. We found the best Thai place in town.

We explored the city and wandered through the witches market where they sell llama foetuses and other ritual or witchcraft accessories. Odd place but interesting.

It was nice to hang out in La Paz for a few days and we went as well to Tiwanaku to see some Inca ruins and hear some history.

Not to miss, of course, was the death road biking and it was a spectacular ride. From freezing cold and fog into beautiful green mountains and a swimming pool finish. Only thing, the next days I couldn't sitm because my but was in pain. ;-) But still highly recommendable.

But then it was time to say goodbye and I went to Cochabamba to find some volunteer work.

Cochabamba is the city of eternal spring and the weather is like it, sunshine every day and warm temperatures daytime and cold at night. Surrounded by mountains and an overlooking Cristo statue on a hill in the middle of the town. There were not many tourists, but that made the place so special. I liked it a lot and found the organisation Sustainable Bolivia where I got a volunteer assignment.

Finally I started to do something useful during my trip! ;-)