Bolivia
BOLIVIA | Monday, 6 October 2008 | Views [208] | Comments [1]
Isla Del Sol
Sunday, October 5 - Saturday, October 18
On my way to Copacabana, Bolivia we had to cross a portion of Lake Titicaca, so they put our bus on top of this ferry that only had enough room for the bus and nothing more. This little ferry deal was built out of wood and did not seem to be built very well. Then they put us passengers from the bus in these little boats which took about 20 minutes to get to land. It was a interesting adventure. I eventually arrived Copacabana, Bolivia, and spent my first night there.
The following morning I caught a boat at 830 am {1.5 hours} to Isla Del Sol (15 bolivianos = $2). I went with 5 others from Israel, and we planned to spend the night in Isla Del Sol, but decided that one full day (6 hours) of hiking there was plenty and we caught a boat back at 430 pm.
It was an amazing hike though...Isla Del Sol (Island of Sun) is the legendary Inca creations site and is the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. The island is surrounded by Lake Titicaca which borders Peru and Bolivia and has a population of roughly 5000 people. The Lake is the largest in South America and is at an elevation of 3820m, and more than 30Km long and 97Km wide. It also has a crystal blue look to it. It is also known for trucha criolla, one of the worlds largest trout. I had this trout at several places, and it was awesome and amazingly cheap.
On Tuesday, October 6, myself and two of the guys from Israel caught a bus at 8 am (20 bolivianos =$3) (3.5 hours) to La Paz {3,600 M}. Once we
arrived we checked in hostel Loki and did some research for some tours and just walked around the town all day.
On Wednesday morning at 745 am I went on a crazy bike adventure {www.radicalrides.com} with five guys from Israel down what they call "Death Road" because it is the most dangerous road in the world. It is the most dangerous because it sees the most fatalities annually (over 100 on average), but the raod itself is not that treacherous. It is extremely narrow and can be muddy, slippery and deeply rutted, but there are many other bad roads as well. What makes the road so dangerous is the drivers: a combination of weekend warriors, macho bus drivers, and tenderfooted tourists. After we were done with the bike excursion they took us to a hotel and we spent the night in Coroico which is on the way to Rurrenabaque. The next day we caught a bus to Rurrenabaque which was a 15 hour ride.
Once we arrived about 8 am Friday morning we went directly to a tour agency to book a 3 day Pampas Jungle tour that day after the roughest bus ride that I have ever been on. We were all quite tired after that bus ride, but we all wanted to start this tour the day we arrived if possible. After booking the tour we had to all jump into a van and head our way 3 hours to the jungle area.
After hearing all five of these guys talk Hebrew for the whole 15 hour bus ride, and now during the three hour ride to the jungle, I was already almost all Hebrewed out. I guess this agency that we went with is an agency that all the Israel people take, so once we arrived there was another group of 8 other people from Israel as well. Of course, I was the only American wondering what the heck I did this for.
The first day consisted of the 3 hours in the van and three hours of boating down the river where we saw all sorts of animals. I have never seen so many alligators, pigs, turtles, and birds in my life. I think all of us eventually fell a sleep in the boat because we were all so exhausted. Once we arrived our camp area we had dinner and we all crashed out quite early with no problem.
The second day we went on a long walk to find Anaconda Cobra snakes...the guides found a couple and let us all hold them...you needed to keep their mouth closed though because they are poisonous snakes. In the afternoon we got to go fish for some pirannas. They were all very small fish, but it was kind´ve cool. Later we had some dinner, and I was still quite exhausted and crashed out early the second night as well. Then we got up at 500 am to have breakfast and catch the sunrise on the last day (Sunday, October 12). We had some amazing meals, and it was an excellent experience. I would recommend the company if you want to practice your Hebrew, but otherwise you might want to look for another company. I was amazed that I lasted that long hearing Hebrew the whole time!
On Tuesday, October 14th, I returned back to La Paz about 530 am after a 21 hour bus ride from Rurrenbaque. That was by far the worst bus ride I have been on so far. I ate some food at one of the stops and my stomach was killing me...not to mention all the bumps that we were hitting along the way on these dirts roads. I was planning to spend another night in La Paz, but I heard back from my couchsurfer that I plan to stay with in Acuncion, Paraguay that he could only host me on the weekends. As a result, I got a bus ticket to Uyuni (80 bolivianos = $11.40) 12 hours and also booked my 3 day trip the salt flats with Olivos Tours (595 bolivianos = $85).
I arrived Wednesday, October 15, to Uyuni around 7 am after another rough 12 hour bus ride. When I jumped out of the bus I had about 10 different agencies hounding me to sign up with their agency to Salar de Uyuni. Of course I told them all that I already had an agency.
My tour did not leave till 1030, and the owner owned a hostel as well, so she told me I could shower and had some breakfast as well. The first day we went to Salar de Uyuni (3656 M) which is the world´s largest salt flat and covers 12,000 sq km. It was a part of a prehistoric salt lake, Lago Minchin, which covered most of the southwest of Bolivia. When it dried up, it left a couple of seasonal puddles and several salt pans, including the Salar de Uyuni and Salar de Coipasa.
Eventually after stopping at a few sites along the way and having lunch we arrived our destination of Atulcha (a small little village town) around 5 pm. This was actually a really nice place that we stayed at with hot water and electricity from 7 pm to 9pm so I could charge up my camera battery that died.
On Thursday, October 16, we woke up at 530 am for breakfast (just bread, jelly, and hot tea) and then left around 6 am and arrived our destination of Laguna Colorada (a beautiful red lagoon with pink flamingos all over) and paid a 30 boliviano ($4.50) entrance fee. We stopped at a few other sites on this day as well, and stayed at a dumpy place next to this lagoon which did not have showers or running water. I was not too impressed, but I guess it is all part of the experience.
Our last day was a long day. We woke up at 430 am and jumped into our 4X4 shitty Toyota and started driving until the sun came up. They dropped us off at some hot springs along the way and then we ate breakfast there as well. I was not too impressed with our guide because our food was pretty bad, but he was a nice 65 year old man that loved his job I guess. This day was pretty much just 10 hours of straight driving in the vehicle...we continued a ways further south until you reached this beautiful green lagoon. At this point you are pretty much at the Chile border, and we had to head back up north for a long haul, and returned back to Uyuni at 530 pm. Then when I returned I asked the lady if I could use her shower at the hostel again, and then killed some time on the internet until I caught a 9 hour train to Villazon (Argentina border city) at 1030 pm. It was difficult to get to Paraguay from Bolivia because usually you go to Santa Cruz, but right now that is a not a safe city, so I went south to Argentina to see if I could find a bus to Ascuncion, Paraguay. When I arrived to Villazon at 7 am (Sat Oct 18) I was unable to find a bus to Ascuncion, so I ended up taking a little mini van (55 pesos/3.2=$18) with 9 other people that I had met on my salt flats trip in Uyuni. We ended up arriving to Salta around 5 pm and all checked into the same hostel (Hostel Yatasto).
15 days in Bolivia was enough...ready for some awesome STEAKS in Argentina!!!
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