Words can hardly describe the immense natural forms, colors, and smells that make up Bolivia. It is home to the world’s highest lake that is deep enough to sail on and Salar de Uyuni – the world’s largest salt flat. This often overlooked land locked South American country is rich with diversity both geographically and demographically. From lowlands and forests to the Amazon and Andes mountains, desert scape and geysers, the country truly feels ‘wild’ and undiscovered.
Upon arrival in La Paz, the airport feels like a time warp of the 1970’s with brown and beige colors dominating decor. The Visa process itself is not digital, requiring paper copies, but manageable. Once outside the airport, you can see traditional Bowler hat costumes and dress in much of the population, even within the city limits. In contrast, La Paz as a capital city is a huge and populous with a mix of modern and traditional, especially demonstrated by the interconnected and easy to navigate modern cable car system.
The altitude in La Paz is definitely something to prepare for – ranging between 10-13,000 feet. Altitude medication and proper preparation, is strongly recommended, especially if venturing on to the Salt Flats.
In typical Outlaw fashion, I signed up for a somewhat sketchy adventure upon arrival in La Paz. After dropping my bags at the lovely Atix Hotel, I ventured out to explore the cable cars, the Witch’s Market and rappel front first down a 17 story building in the middle of the city! Urban rush, the company who runs the $25 rappelling activity was awesome – the building overlooks the city square and is somewhat deserted, but don’t let that intimidate you – the experience was so much fun, especially the free fall at the end – highly recommended! The Witch’s Market was a cute market that had a lot of great souvenirs for purchase and fun people watching – much better than the local flea market that is touted as the country’s biggest – El Alto – pretty much just junk for locals and not to mention pickpockets galore.
The next few days consisted of relaxing in Atix’s lovely spa and exploring restaurants and the Moon Valley – a park that has formations that look like the valley of the moon! You can rent quad bikes and explore the areas outside of the protected park and go paragliding – which was another awesome experience, not to be missed. I was lucky enough to ride the winds for almost an hour – what a rush!
After a few amazing days in La Paz it was time to hit the most famous landscapes in Bolivia – the salt flats. I chose to visit not only the Salt Flats but continue onwards to the Atacama Desert and Chile, and my was it an experience! Thankfully, the folks at World White Travel (not a typo!) were super helpful, accommodating my 1,000 questions and preferences – our tour went off without a hitch and our guide was so amazing – he spoke great English and took so many awesome pics! To begin my journey, I flew into the town of Uyuni, which is a very desolate (and cold) stopover into the flats. The airport has no baggage carousel, you just fend for yourself when the handlers drop it right inside the door! The town itself has a handful of interesting restaurants (llama burger or 1980’s CD’s anyone?) but nothing much to see. After grabbing a vat of coffee and some fruit, it was off for a full day of driving into the flats, visiting various landmarks – a hotel, lunch on an ‘island’ on the flats and finally watching the sunset over mirrored glass of the flats. Our night ended with a lovely but slightly chilly stay within the edges of the flats at a salt hotel.
The next day was a full 8 hours of driving through rough terrain and higher altitude. I experienced a bit of stomach issues which did not make for a pleasant ride. Lots of wildlife, beautiful scapes, flamingoes, llamas, vicunas, and lakes. Finally, I arrived at my hotel in the middle of the desert landscape. There was nothing but stars around for miles and miles and the hotel had a few basic rooms, with hot water only until 8pm and heaters until 10pm and no wifi. I quickly showered because the power went on and off and would turn the hot water into ice, then had a lovely meal at the hotel’s restaurant. The food was actually quite good for being in the middle of nowhere!
The next day was my final day of driving, seeing more wildlife, geysers, bathing in a hot springs right on the edge of a lake with flamingoes and vicunas all around me! As mid afternoon approached I reached the border to Chile and then thankfully began the altitude descent! I was glad I did not do the opposite route into the flats – my guide assured me that it was much smarter the way I did it because it is hard for people to adjust so quickly to the altitude. Visiting the flats was definitely physically challenging, but well worth it for a once in a lifetime adventure!
