Visiting Bolivia would have been a bucket list destination for us if we had known in advance how much we would enjoy visiting. After our earlier trips to Brazil and Peru, we began to look for trips to other parts of South America. Overseas Adventure Travel offered a trip to Southern Peru and Bolivia that included the Nazca Lines, Lake Titicaca and the Uyuni Salt Flats and we were sold.
This trip started in Lima. We began our visit to Machu Picchu here last year and were happy to be in a place we were familiar with. After visiting Lima for a day we drove for a few hours down the Pacific Coast on the Pan American Highway to the seaside town of Paracas. It is a small tourist destination that was relatively quiet as we were not visiting during their peak travel season. On the way we stopped at a fishing village for lunch and helped some local fishermen pull their boat out of the water. The catch was sardines. They literally flicked the fish out of the nets to gather them.
We had three excursions while we were in Paracas. After our first night we drove to the town of Nasca to catch a flight to see the famous Nazca Lines, carved into the ground centuries ago. It was a 12 seat aircraft and there was lots of banking and turning. Unfortunately, a couple of our travel companions spent more time concentrating on their air sick bags than the scenery below. I must admit that at times I felt a little queasy but didn’t feel at risk of tossing my cookies.
The next morning we took a boat to an offshore wildlife reserve called Ballestas Islands National Reserve. Locally they claim it to be the poor man’s Galapagos! There were many birds including pelicans and penguins residing on desolate rocky landscapes along with a number of sea lions.
Later that day we went for a dune buggy ride on nearby sand dunes. This part of Peru is very dry in spite of being next to the ocean. It was a blast!
After a short return trip to Lima we headed into the Andes! We flew to Arequipa which is at 7,600 feet in altitude. This was to prepare us for going to Lake Titicaca which is over $12,000 feet. The city was founded by the Spanish in 1540 and is often referred to as either the White City because much of its architecture was built with white volcanic stone. It has a beautiful central square surrounded by restaurants and shops. On one edge is the Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa. The Basilica is a gorgeous building that we had to wait until 5:00 PM to visit. We were allowed to take photos inside but the real beauty was outside where it was beautifully lit in the nighttime.
We left by bus to drive to the town of Puno on Lake Titicaca. We reached over 14,000 feet in the Andes before arriving in Puno which sits just above 12,000 feet. During the drive we stopped at a roadside stand and were offered a tea of coca and mint. We were starting to get headaches and a little light headed before this stop and this nice cup of tea really did the trick. We’d had pretty good success with coca tea when we visited Machu Picchu last year so we were not surprised by the results.
Puno is on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Near Puno are floating reed islands that are inhabited by some of the indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia. We visited one of the island villages. As with many places we visit, the local people are well tuned to the interests of tourists and had many things to sell. Just the same, it was interesting to see how these people have chosen a very unique way of life.
Leaving Puno, we traveled by bus around Lake Titicaca on our way to Copacabana. Probably not the Copacabana you are thinking of (the one in the song). This town is also on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. On our way we visited an elderly couple who made reed mattresses to sell at the local markets. Next was a visit to a school that is one of many around the world that Overseas Adventure Travel’s Grand Circle Foundation sponsors. From the school we went to eat in a nearby village where they are still weaving in their traditional style.
We crossed the border into Bolivia on our way to Copacabana. They require $170 in US Dollars for an entrance visa. The bills must be in perfect condition. We had carefully arranged our bills so as not to cause any problems. Unfortunately for Elaine, the paper clip we used to keep her set together put a small tear in the middle of a $100 bill. They would not accept it. Fortunately, we had enough acceptable $20 bills to get her in! A word of advice, if you travel to Bolivia (and you should someday after things settle down), get your entry visa in advance. It will cost a little more for the processing fee but it’s worth avoiding the hassle. Just the same, this little adventure made for a fun travel experience!
We got to Copacabana just in time for dinner. The next day we were on a boat trip to the Isla Del Sol (Island of the Sun) on Lake Titicaca. We hiked a ways up the island and then over to another boat launch where we had lunch. There are many ruins from ancient civilizations constructed in the style that came to be known as Incan. The island has approximately 800 families living a mostly agrarian lifestyle and their homes are scattered all across the island. During our hike we encountered an elder of the island who introduced himself as the island’s medicine man. The frittata’s you see in the picture below may be one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!
We got back to Copacabana in time or a beautiful sunset. The next day we were back on our bus headed to La Paz. We wound our way through the Andes Mountains having, at one point, to get off the bus as it was barged across a portion of the lake and we took a separate boat. They didn’t want us on the bus if the barge had an issue apparently!
We were dropped off before we got to LaPaz to take a gondola system into the city. We believe that the system was built by the same company that installed the aerial tram here in Portland. The La Paz system is like many large city metro systems except it’s all above ground. There are five lines with two more to come on line in the next few years. It created a dramatic entrance into LaPaz!
LaPaz sits in a geological bowl. The top is about 13,000 feet and the bottom, where our hotel was fortunately, is a little over 10,000 feet.
The airport is in the nearby community of El Alto and is the highest commercial airport in the world at 13,300 feet. As you can imagine, the runway is really long, almost twice as long as runways at major sea level airports.
The next day we went to the Death Road. Perhaps you’ve seen programs about this on television. It was built in the 1930’s to connect LaPaz to the Amazon region of Bolivia. Before the new road was completed, this was the only route for commercial vehicles. The road is gravel and very narrow and it is estimated that 300 people died driving here before a modern road was completed in 2006. We took two vans instead of our usual bus as vehicle size is limited, although, they did let us out to walk along the road for a couple miles.
There were mountain bike groups riding down the road as well. We saw some of them at the end and asked them if they enjoyed their ride. Many said that they were concentrating on the road so much they couldn’t enjoy the view. Elaine and I were in agreement that it did not look fun enough to try. We enjoyed our walk.
On the way down we visited a local coca farmer. She had a small plot of land that she had inherited producing coca leaves. You can find large bags of them at the local markets all over the country. The leaves are simply picked and packaged for delivery. They would need a great deal of processing to become cocaine.
The next day we were back on our regular bus and visited Tiwanaku, an old community where researchers are trying to maintain ruins of the ancient civilizations. Very few remain as a result of the Spanish destroying cultural icons in order to convert the local population to Catholicism. It was an impressive display none the less and left us wondering what it would have looked like had most of it not been destroyed.
We flew from LaPaz to Uyini, which is on the shore is the world’s largest salt flats. It covers 6,000 square miles and is over 400 feet deep. We drove into the hills above Uyuni to get a view of the salt flats and the Andes before going to Pulacayo, a UNESCO Industrial Heritage Site. An old silver mining town, it was the home of Huanchaca, the world’s second largest silver mine. Inside the town we visited the town’s machine shop where they were still maintaining and replacing parts for equipment that is decades old from all over the world including the US, Germany and the old Soviet Union. Notice the reindeer display on the mining car.
Our first stop on our final day in Uyuni took us to a site where old train engines and cars from the mining times have been abandoned. It’s so flat here that the train tracks met as a point at the horizon.
Next we visited another small town that sort of acts as the entrance to the salt flats. We toured a local salt manufacturing business and browsed the local trinket shops.
We drove out onto the flats to an island called Isla Incuahuasi. They created a tented set of tables for us to have lunch before we hiked to the top of this island in the middle of the salt flats. The starkness of the flats and the distance to the horizon made for some fun photos! Elaine, I think, always wanted to hold me in the palm of her hand. Afterwards, we drove back to Uyuni by way of an old salt hotel. As the sun was setting we went outside for a glass of wine to accompany the colors of the sunset.
Our final full day was back in La Paz. Our bus driver took us through the hilly narrow streets to get grand views of the city before taking us to the famous, but touristy, Witches Market. We visited shops, view points and, of course, churches and squares. It was a delightful way to end our visit to Peru and Bolivia.
While we were in Bolivia the controversy surrounding their president, Edmund Morales, attempting to stay in office longer that their constitution allowed was in full swing. As in many countries, the population is split along demographic lines. In particular here are the interests of the more indigenous peoples. Morales did a great deal for the country’s economy early in his tenure but, as with many leaders, his effectiveness seemed to have wained yet many people still supported him. Many tour companies have canceled their 2020 trips to Bolivia. This is difficult for the many people who have gotten an education in the hospitality industry. We hope this ends soon. Given recent events there, we feel fortunately to have seen a little of what was happening there up close and personal.
We both felt like this was one of the best trips we have ever taken, and I haven’t even mentioned the good food. We’re grateful for the way Overseas Adventure Travel runs their small group tours. The guides are local and are well trained about how to take good care of their guests. There’s more of this continent we would like to visit and look forward to going there again in the not too distant future.
I’ve created a large set of photos from our trip at the link below. If you don’t like watching peoples slideshows when you visit them then you may want to pass on this. Otherwise, it’s a good review of the diverse geography and sites of Peru and Bolivia we visited.
Click here