urbaneer: Bolivia: Chaos, Salt & Pink Flamingos

Bolivia: 12 September - 19 September 2014

Our introduction to Bolivia was waiting in line for a couple of hours at the border for the sloth-like officials to process three coachloads of people. Airports clear these numbers in a few minutes, being generous it should not have taken longer than 30 min with 3 people working behind the counters. It's fair to say from this and our subsequent encounters with officialdom that admin and professionalism are seldom partners in Bolivia.

Luckily our first stop in Bolivia was the charming little Lake Titicaca shore-side town of Copacabana. After a quite hectic week following Machu Picchu, Train and Lake Titicaca excursions we welcomed our two days of rest before braving La Paz.

Our second taste of Bolivian organisational skill came at Copacabana bus station. After having confirmed our onward tickets on arrival as instructed by the bus company we went to double check on departure day as advised by a friendly Irish coffee shop owner in town. We were glad we did as our confirmed tickets were no longer confirmed and we were sent to another very grumpy tour operator who ended up shouting at us questioning whether or not we wanted his tickets. Determined not to lose these seats as well we collected our bags and returned to the office and just waited in his office until the bus turned up. Some people weren’t as lucky and ended up with no seat.

The ride from Copacabana for the first hour along the shore of Lake Titcaca was just beautiful. The closer the bus got to La Paz the more chaotic things became outside the bus. El Alto, the high plateau of La Paz is a sea of unfinished houses and dirt roads as far as the eye can see. Frenetic market activity was taking place along the roadside which included a masked man miming throwing rocks at the coach. As one approaches La Paz cuidad the road plunges down the valley with the city seemingly clinging onto the steep mountain-sides – it is a spectacular site as the high plain stops suddenly with houses apparently dangling over the cliffs. La Paz has three distinct areas. The lower area (¬3300m) with the mildest climate where the richest people live, the middle city area (¬3600m) where most travelers spend their time and El Alto, the high area (¬3800m) with the coldest climate for the poorer population.
The city was founded by the Spanish in the 16^th century in the lowest area and over the centuries the city grew up the valley. Roads are steep and most buildings are crumbling, but there are some pretty spots in town, such as: Luna Valley, which was so named after Neil Armstrong said he found similar landscapes on the moon; the oldest and only preserved colonial street, Maurillo Square, and the witch market where one can purchase Lama Foetus’ as offerings for Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). Recently the Austrian firm Dopplemayr, known for ski lift/gondola construction have pioneered a new public transport scheme for La Paz connecting different areas with ‘gondola’s’ and thus connecting and providing easy ‘above ground’ access to different parts of town. In total there will be 5 lines, currently 2 are operational. The modern, colorful gondola pylons and cars contrast markedly with the city's crumbling and jumbled backdrop.

All in all we were glad to leave La Paz behind and go on our trip to the salt flats. We flew to Uyuni a tiny propeller plane. The one hour flight saved an arduous 12 hour coach journey on dirt roads. Before heading out onto the salt flats we visited the 'train cemetery' at the edge of Uyuni. The trains were left there after international companies abandoned their mining operations in the area. All we can say about the salt plains is 'wow wow wow', the plains are really something else. Magnificent in concept and in scale (2000skm/80-100m thick) they are the remnants of an ancient lake. We drove for ¬1hr out onto the salt flats to Incahuasi Island to see the giant cacti, which are awesome! We visited the Colquesa Mummies, pre-inka mummies, in a natural cave which was a little creepy. And at the end we got to see some flamingos in the wild at the` edge of the salt flats and some more Lamas.

The next day we drove for ¬4hrs over vast plains of nothingness, just a few hills and grasses. We passed through several little pueblos before we reached the spot with interesting rock formations caused due to wind erosion. We also got to see some pre-inka cave paintings nobody has of yet studied.

Our final day in Bolivia was the best probably one of the best days of our entire trip. It included a visit to a borax lagoon, the red lagoon with pink flamingos, bubbling sulpheric geysers at 5000m and the green lagoon containing arsenic. The drive through the volcanic landscape was most spectacular and Ian declared it the best mountainous landscape to date! The red lagoon was probably one of our favorite places visited on all our travels. On arrival we had this magnificent lake all to ourselves. The mountains perfectly reflected in the lake waters and the pink flamingo’s defied all the odds in an otherwise bitter cold and barren landscape. Absolutely amazing.

Crossing the border into Chile after visiting the green lagoon was pretty funny. For days we had been driving on dirt tracks with a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. Once we passed the one man border control just behind the volcano on the other side, the Chilean side, the paved road started and 20min downhill of the lava slope was the bustling town of San Pedro de Atacama.

Leaving Peru and entering Bolivia: