Week 38: Bolivia

We have had such a mix of adrenaline and tranquility this week!

We started things off with a night bus from Sucre to La Paz. We were lucky enough to get a bus with chairs that folded flat into beds, so the ride was pretty smooth! 

We landed in La Paz in the morning, and quickly adjusted to this massive, sprawling city. We stayed in a particularly busy part of the city, which was awesome for accessibility to everything, but we had to be SO careful on the streets. The drivers here had a different formula for driving, and it didn’t seem to involve traffic lights or attention given to pedestrians. The city has had such an issue with pedestrians being hit on crosswalks that they have hired teenagers to wear zebra costumes and dance on the crosswalks between green lights!

In order to orient ourselves with the city, we joined Red Cap walking tour, where we learned all kinds of interesting things about the city. I was most interested in hearing about San Pedro prison, situated next to a park in the middle of the city. This prison houses 2500 low-level criminals, and their families are able to live inside the prison with them. There is a 200-2000 Boliviano entrance fee for all inmates coming to jail, and inmates have to pay for their cell, food, and clothing. For those who can afford it, there are cells outfitted with king sized beds, TVs, and even hot tubs! The prisoners run businesses inside, including cafes (only permitted to sell Coca-Cola products) and hair salons. Of course, there are shadier businesses being run here as well. The most surprising thing we learned about this prison is that there are no police inside, and only 20 police guarding the outside of the prison. Given this information, it wasn’t surprising to hear that there are no legal tours of the prison, and it is not advisable for tourists to enter.

With Red Cap tours, we also visited a huge fruit and vegetable market, and learned that everyone has their preferred cholita that they buy their produce from. In exchange for their loyalty, the cholitas save the best produce for their regular customers and give deals on their purchases. We then moved on to a very different market than we had seen before- a witches market. Here, women were selling herbs, trinkets, sweets, and much more disturbingly, dead llama fetuses. The Bolivians believe that llamas are the ultimate sacrifice, and they use the items sold at the witches market to make offerings to Pachamama, or Mother Earth. It was interesting to hear about the various potions sold here! We finished off the tour with a bit of a history lesson in Murillo square.

La Paz has grown rapidly, and with this, road traffic has become a serious problem. They are unable to construct a subway system because there is too much water below the city, so they have decided to use their mountainous landscape to their advantage. The first teleferico lines were established in 2006, and already the city has 6 routes, and there are plans for many more. Since the telefericos are set up for local commuter traffier, it is a very inexpensive mode of transportation (approximately .50 CAD per ride). We rode the red line up to the top of El Alto (4016m), where the massive market, Feria 16 de Julio, is set up each Thursday and Sunday. We walked the streets of this sprawling market, and then soared above the innumerable tarped stands on the blue teleferico line. From here, we could also see the massive snowy mountain around La Paz.

We also took a minibus out to visit Valle de la Luna, where we walked on a dirt path surrounded by a mass of hoodoos. This area was very scenic and peaceful. Here, we met Maike, a fun German girl, who we would spent the next day with as well.

Oh boy. Now we’ve reached the “adrenaline” day. At the end of June, one of my students gave me this unique gift certificate that could be used for an adventure in nearly any country in the world. After scouring the Tinggly website and pouring through all the cool options available, we finally settled on using it here in Bolivia. The chosen adventure? Mountain biking down, ‘the World’s Most Dangerous Road’, Death Road. What better way to spend Friday the 13th??! Will and I didn’t want to freak anyone out beforehand, but now that we’ve officially survived, we can talk about it. Our group consisted of 13 riders, two guides, a support van, and bikes with great suspension (and brakes). We were driven to the top of the mountain, but had to start riding a little lower than usual because there was snow on the road! We had a pretty cold start to the day, but were given jackets, pants, and riding gloves that made things a lot warmer. We started out on tarmac, where the riding was pretty smooth and fast. However, we soon switched over to narrow gravel road littered with ‘baby heads’ (large rocks that can give you lots of trouble if you hit them). We were instructed that we had to ride on the left side of the road, aka the cliff side. Dropping down 3500m in the matter of a few hours, riding on gravel road as skinny as 3.5m wide, and facing cliff drops of up to 400m, I would be lying if I didn’t say I rode those brakes A LOT. We even rode through a couple rivers and waterfalls! We were told not to enjoy the stunning scenery while riding, but we had enough stops that allowed us to soak it all in. Will had the time of his life riding fast with the crew at the front and I... made it down without breaking any bones or falling flat on my face. We both slid a few times, and Will even managed some accidental front wheelie action for a short bit, but neither of us ever fell. I was super nervous at the beginning, and for weeks leading up to this day, but I knew I would be happy I had done it afterwards. What’s that about doing something that scares you every day? I think I’m good now for the year! With many crosses along the side of the road, and an overturned transport truck en route, we were provided with plenty of reminders of how dangerous this road could be. Thankfully, this road is no longer used as a main road, so we were only passed by a few vehicles. I got more comfortable as we rode, and ended up having a really great time too. I’m not leaving with any medals for fastest rider- I can tell you that when the guide told us to ‘scrub our speed’ around the corners, he was not talking to me- but I was more than happy with the Cool Riderz at the back. I did walk away with really sore arms, hands, and butt as precious keepsakes though! We finished the ride at an animal sanctuary, where we saw a tapir, tortoises, a deer, monkeys, and tons of macaws and parrots. I want to say a huge big thanks to Dustin and his amazing family for such a cool gift that brought so much thrill and excitement, and a healthy dose of fear!

After all of this excitement, we set off on a bus to Copacobana, situated on the edge of Lake Titicaca. As the world’s highest lake at 3812m, with a surface of 8562km2 and maximum depth of 283m, Lake Titicaca was something to be marveled. In order to get to Copacobana, we had to cross the lake, which involved all passengers getting off the bus and taking a small boat across, while our bus was loaded onto a flat bed boat to cross the water. When we arrived, we walked around Copacobana, a fairly touristic town dotted with restaurants with rooftop seating and little shops. Since Bolivia is a landlocked country, this lake is one of the few places people can come to have fun in the water. We saw many people in inflatable tubes and swan boats! In the evening, we hiked up a steep, steep street and then up steep stairs to reach the top of Cerro Calvario for sunset. We enjoyed a great view of the lake, Isla de la Luna, and Isla del Sol.

In the morning, we headed down to the dock and took a 2-hour boat ride over to Isla de La Luna. We had a great crew onboard, and spent the time sharing mate with Argentinians and travel stories with girls from Germany and Belgium. We even had a guy from Toronto on there! When we arrived to this tiny island, we spent an hour walking around the ruins of the Temple of the Virgins. We also walked to the top of the Inca stairs on the island. We enjoyed some great views upon this island inhabited by only 80 residents. 

We then travelled another hour over to Isla del Sol. These islands are said to be some of the most sacred Inca ruins, the birthplace of the first Incas. Many legends revolve around this place. Neither of these islands have any roads or cars, further contributing to the tranquil feeling of these islands. As we walked up the Inca steps on this island, we watched the water from the fountain of youth tumble down the hill beside us. 

Since we had opted to stay for one night on the island, we were not rushed to explore like the others who had to return to the boat after only two hours on the island. Will and I hiked to the mirador, the scenic lookout on the island’s highest point. From here, we had an amazing view of the water, the snow capped mountains in the distance, and the northern part of the island, which is closed to tourists because of ongoing conflict between island residents. 

We then hiked down to one of the Inca ruins on the waters edge, which was so interesting to explore. 

Later on, we walked up to our hotel and settled in to soak up the sun and the stunning view.

We woke to a beautiful sunrise over the lake and the mountains, and then enjoyed breakfast with the same view. 

We returned to Copacobana later that morning, chatting away with an Irish couple this time. Once in Copacobana, we got a bus that would take us across the border into Peru. This will likely be the last land border crossing we will do (requiring stamps), and we’re happy to report that it was another painless crossing. We landed in Puno later in the afternoon, and spent some time catching up on blog posts and doing some travel planning!

Since mentioning my bout of food poisoning in the last post, I feel it’s especially important to write about some of the incredible food we’ve had in Bolivia. After a couple days on a solid bread and cracker diet, I was eager to test some restaurants! We had delicious gourmet burgers at Fenomeno in La Paz, followed by three really special dining experiences. On a whim, we ventured into this tiny restaurant called Toga in La Paz. We went in expecting a simple noodle dish, and were pleasantly surprised by a five-course dinner, each dish beautifully presented and made with fresh ingredients. The owner, a fine dining chef who has worked in restaurants across Europe, decided to open his own small restaurant only 10 days before we arrived in La Paz. We chatted with him for hours as he presented us with the most flavourful dishes. 

A couple days later, we popped into Popular Cocina Boliviana for lunch. This restaurant is only open 12:30-2:30pm, and offers a set menu with choice of 2 starters, 3 mains, and 2 desserts. We were able to sit up at the bar and watch the kitchen magic happen.  Again, the food was just outstanding and the whole experience was really cool. 

Finally, while we were on Isla del Sol, we ventured up to Las Velas, a restaurant situated at the top of the island. Since the restaurant had limited electricity, we enjoyed a beautiful candlelight dinner with another couple from our death road days, Linda and Kris. All of the food was prepared by one single chef, so we were very happy to talk and play cards during our 2.5 hour wait for dinner. However, the beautiful Lake Titicaca trout, quinoa and vegetables were well worth the wait!

People have commented on our many layers of clothing worn in photos recently. Although we are quite close to the equator, we are also hanging out at high elevation. During the day, it’s usually fairly warm and the sun is very strong. As soon as that sun goes down, though, it can get quite chilly!

When we originally looked at places to visit in South America, we chose Bolivia as something of a transition point between Argentina and Peru. We had a few things picked out that we wanted to see here, but we hadn’t expected to love the country as much as we did. This really is such a beautiful country. We would highly recommend it to others!

10 Reasons to Add Bolivia to Your Bucket List:

• Vibrant culture and lots of celebration (festivals/fireworks nearly every night, and so many street parades)
• Beautiful cities with so much character (and such steep cobble stone roads!)
• Hang out on Salar de Uyuni (salt flats)
• Examine dinosaur footprints
• Markets unlike any other, where you can find cars, car parts, pellet guns, TMNT figurines, padlocks, cookware, potions, and pretty much anything else you can imagine
• Bike the Death Road, or a number of other amazing trails through the Andes
• Amazing wildlife, including flamingos, fox, pumas, llamas and vicunas
• Beautiful, diverse landscape- lakes, mountains, desert, sunsets
• Incredible food (aside from aforementioned chicken soup)
• Very inexpensive