Travelling around Bolivia with family & friends!
Now for a long awaited update... my apologies for the delay in writing this entry, however, after you read this one you will realize what I have been up to and that time to write has been pretty limited as I have been pretty much on the go since the end of my contract in December and whenever I did have some time to write it was devoted to writing my final reports for my last contract with Canada World Youth.
Since Christmas I have been on the road and have seen many amazing places throughout Bolivia. I have been quite fortunate to have had some good traveling companions along the way and in large part due to that I have been having a lot of fun!
I spent Christmas with Ali, my sister, and her partner, Arnd, in the beautiful subtropical mountains 3 hrs north of La Paz in my favorite little place in Bolivia – Coroico. We stayed in a gorgeous little hotel that is a lot like a resort for backpackers, simple but with a lot of extra comfort and some outstanding views of the area. Check out the website to see where we were www.hotelesmeralda.com
After Christmas we headed across the country to join my counterpart Jaime for New Years, in a little place called Samaipata- another small mountain town 3 hours from Santa Cruz (Jaime’s home town). Another Canadian friend living and working here, Jenelle, also joined us for New Years! We all had a great time and stayed in a very basic run down resort just outside of the town.
After our New Years celebrations Jenelle and I headed out for a border crossing to Argentina to renew our Bolivian visas. The road to Argentina from Santa Cruz was unbelievable, by far one of the worst roads I have ever traveled on. At one point the road was washed out due to the heavy rains and we had to wait for a couple hours for the road to be reconstructed so we could cross one river on our journey. And our bus was a far cry from some of the 5 star buses we have traveled on here in Bolivia, which at times resemble the level of comfort one would expect when flying first class on an airplane. It was very basic, no bathroom, and no air conditioning, which would have been a nice touch in the 30 plus heat with very high humidity. And finally the seats either didn’t recline at all or were reclined for the whole duration of the 20 odd hour trip we took to get there. Travel for the sake of travel it what it felt like at time and of course it makes a good story afterwards, doesn’t it!?!
We left Argentina after a short one night stay and traveled directly to Tupiza where we got on to a 4 day Salt Tour of the Bolivia’s mountains and the world’s largest salt flats. The views on that trip were incredible. We traveled with another couple from Argentina, our driver and our cook. We stayed in very rustic camps in some small villages along our journey. We experienced all sorts of weather, from below zero temperatures where at times we were driving through snowstorms (at near 5000m), to sleet, rain, and hail to 30 degrees plus in Uyuni when we reached the salt flats and slept in a hotel made entirely of salt. All, in all, the trip was amazing and I am really glad we did it!
After that trip we made it back to La Paz with a couple days to rest and relax. In that time “off” I took advantage and I finished my final reports. And before we knew it, it was the 13th and we were at the airport to pick up my mother who arrived from Canada. Soon after she arrived we traveled back to Coroico to take her to my favorite little getaway, back to the comfortable Hotel Esmeralda for a couple relaxing days of sauna, pool and good food.
Then we took mom on a bit of an adventure as we boated north into Bolivia’s Jungle, as part of a Jungle Tour we had booked in La Paz. Again the scenes and landscapes we saw along the river were spectacular; Bolivia really is a beautiful country. However, I think the boat trip was at times at bit much for mom. As is was fairly basic, as we camped in tents along the way, and didn’t have access to running water, so no showers nor latrines for the 4 day trip up the River.
Finally we made to Rurre, a cute little river town where many tourists base themselves before doing jungle tours and wildlife tours in the region’s lush tropical forests. There we got to shower, have some good food and sleep on a real bed- which I think we all really appreciated. After we did a 2 day “Pampas Tour” which meant we were back on a boat to do a little more sightseeing of the wildlife and nature of the area. That was a very pleasant trip, which which we all wish we could have more time to do it in. Nonetheless we enjoyed what we got; we saw lots of birds, animals and wildlife. At the river boat camp, where we were based, there was even a pet crocodile and alligator swimming under our rooms which were raised above the water up on stilts.
Now we are in all in Copacabana, a nice little tourist town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, 3 hours north of La Paz near the Peruvian border. We are staying a very beautiful hostel, called La Cupula. (Again if you wish to check it out, you can see their website: www.hotelcupula.com)
From here we plan to stay here for a couple days and then we will go to Cochabamba the city where Ali and Arnd have been living. It should be fun and I think it will be a little more relaxing as we wont be moving around as much but just enjoying each other’s company as it isn’t too often we are all together.
Since Christmas I have been on the road and have seen many amazing places throughout Bolivia. I have been quite fortunate to have had some good traveling companions along the way and in large part due to that I have been having a lot of fun!
I spent Christmas with Ali, my sister, and her partner, Arnd, in the beautiful subtropical mountains 3 hrs north of La Paz in my favorite little place in Bolivia – Coroico. We stayed in a gorgeous little hotel that is a lot like a resort for backpackers, simple but with a lot of extra comfort and some outstanding views of the area. Check out the website to see where we were www.hotelesmeralda.com
After Christmas we headed across the country to join my counterpart Jaime for New Years, in a little place called Samaipata- another small mountain town 3 hours from Santa Cruz (Jaime’s home town). Another Canadian friend living and working here, Jenelle, also joined us for New Years! We all had a great time and stayed in a very basic run down resort just outside of the town.
After our New Years celebrations Jenelle and I headed out for a border crossing to Argentina to renew our Bolivian visas. The road to Argentina from Santa Cruz was unbelievable, by far one of the worst roads I have ever traveled on. At one point the road was washed out due to the heavy rains and we had to wait for a couple hours for the road to be reconstructed so we could cross one river on our journey. And our bus was a far cry from some of the 5 star buses we have traveled on here in Bolivia, which at times resemble the level of comfort one would expect when flying first class on an airplane. It was very basic, no bathroom, and no air conditioning, which would have been a nice touch in the 30 plus heat with very high humidity. And finally the seats either didn’t recline at all or were reclined for the whole duration of the 20 odd hour trip we took to get there. Travel for the sake of travel it what it felt like at time and of course it makes a good story afterwards, doesn’t it!?!
We left Argentina after a short one night stay and traveled directly to Tupiza where we got on to a 4 day Salt Tour of the Bolivia’s mountains and the world’s largest salt flats. The views on that trip were incredible. We traveled with another couple from Argentina, our driver and our cook. We stayed in very rustic camps in some small villages along our journey. We experienced all sorts of weather, from below zero temperatures where at times we were driving through snowstorms (at near 5000m), to sleet, rain, and hail to 30 degrees plus in Uyuni when we reached the salt flats and slept in a hotel made entirely of salt. All, in all, the trip was amazing and I am really glad we did it!
After that trip we made it back to La Paz with a couple days to rest and relax. In that time “off” I took advantage and I finished my final reports. And before we knew it, it was the 13th and we were at the airport to pick up my mother who arrived from Canada. Soon after she arrived we traveled back to Coroico to take her to my favorite little getaway, back to the comfortable Hotel Esmeralda for a couple relaxing days of sauna, pool and good food.
Then we took mom on a bit of an adventure as we boated north into Bolivia’s Jungle, as part of a Jungle Tour we had booked in La Paz. Again the scenes and landscapes we saw along the river were spectacular; Bolivia really is a beautiful country. However, I think the boat trip was at times at bit much for mom. As is was fairly basic, as we camped in tents along the way, and didn’t have access to running water, so no showers nor latrines for the 4 day trip up the River.
Finally we made to Rurre, a cute little river town where many tourists base themselves before doing jungle tours and wildlife tours in the region’s lush tropical forests. There we got to shower, have some good food and sleep on a real bed- which I think we all really appreciated. After we did a 2 day “Pampas Tour” which meant we were back on a boat to do a little more sightseeing of the wildlife and nature of the area. That was a very pleasant trip, which which we all wish we could have more time to do it in. Nonetheless we enjoyed what we got; we saw lots of birds, animals and wildlife. At the river boat camp, where we were based, there was even a pet crocodile and alligator swimming under our rooms which were raised above the water up on stilts.
Now we are in all in Copacabana, a nice little tourist town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, 3 hours north of La Paz near the Peruvian border. We are staying a very beautiful hostel, called La Cupula. (Again if you wish to check it out, you can see their website: www.hotelcupula.com)
From here we plan to stay here for a couple days and then we will go to Cochabamba the city where Ali and Arnd have been living. It should be fun and I think it will be a little more relaxing as we wont be moving around as much but just enjoying each other’s company as it isn’t too often we are all together.
posted by Laura | 12:03 PM
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