Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
While we are glad we came to Bolivia, it was not our favorite of the 2 South American countries we have seen so far. Here are some fun Bolivia facts to ponder:
1. They don't seem to have working bathrooms on buses in the entire country. Even if there is a bathroom on board, which is rare, it's likely to be out of order. Given that we both have to pee every hour or 2, we have found this to be a form of cruel and inhumane torture. The drivers claim that they stop for bathroom breaks, but from our experience on a 5 hour ride from Uyuni to Potosi, the bus only stopped one time and that was so the driver could urinate. We were basically locked on the bus and it didn't seem to occur to him that anyone else would have to go. Not cool.
2. There are tons of pigeons in all the main plazas. Tons of them. It makes sense, as feeding them seems to be a form of great entertainment for the youngsters.
3. A much cooler bird we have seen are the small green parrots that also hang out in the plazas. They prefer to hide in the treetops while the pigeons take over the ground space. They are not too good at hiding though, because they make as much a racket as a flock of crows. But they're much prettier than crows so they're allowed to be noisy.
4. There are lots and lots of people begging on the street, more so than in Peru. When they see white people they thrust their hand or hat in our face and look at us with poor sad puppy dog eyes. I try to give them something when I can but I know it's not enough and there are just too many of them that I can't help them all. It's almost all older people, so that tells me that they either don't have family to help them (or their family doesn't care) and/or Bolivia doesn't have a system in place to care for the elderly. We saw a strike a few days ago in La Paz of retired people, and one a few weeks back of indigenous merchants demanding more rights. So apparently there needs to be some changes. Hope Evo Morales is up to the challenge.
5. Speaking of the current president Evo, we learned that there is a national law that one can't speak about him in public. I think it more applies when a person is drunk at a bar, where one is not allowed to drunkenly debate politics ...or fútbol. Strange.
6. There are lots of shoe shiners, almost as many shoe shiners as taxi drivers. Apparently there's a high demand for shoe shines or there wouldn't be such a large quantity of them. Most wear masks to cover their faces so they won't be recognized by friends. Shining shoes (or working with feet at all) is considered a dirty job in Bolivia, as feet are considered to be the dirtiest part of the human body.
7. Smog testing has not made it's way to Bolivia. There is an insane amount of pollution from the buses and trucks, mostly in the big cities. They emit horrible plumes of awful-smelling black smoke that we then have the privilege of breathing in. If you like fresh air, stay out of La Paz.
8. The Bolivian diet consists of meat, bread and starch, in the form of potatoes and corn. It is difficult to find vegetables in restaurants as they are not a fan of healthy food here, though to be fair I suppose the same could be said of Peru.
9. We read in Lauren's guidebook that you are supposed to tip 10% in restaurants (in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) but service has been pretty awful everywhere so we rarely tip. Usually we have to get our own menus and I think we had to ask for the check at every single restaurant we ate at in Bolivia, so we don't feel the need to tip. Also we're pretty sure the locals don't, so why should we?
10. The Cholita women oftentimes wear shorter shirts (knee length, watch out!) than in Peru and they are very fond of bowler hats, which they think are fashionable. They also use them to indicate marital status depending on the placement.
11. They have coins for 1, 2 and 5 bolivianos (just like the soles in Peru) but the 1 and 2 are often the same size, which is strange, so you have to carefully inspect each coin before spending it. To be fair I suppose I have to carefully inspect all foreign money before spending it, as it is, well, foreign.
12. Just like the Peruvians, the Bolivians are very fond of fireworks. They shoot them off in the daytime, in the evening, whenever it strikes their fancy. They use them for birthdays, weddings, parties, and I'm pretty sure they use really loud ones during their strikes just to prove some kind of point, though the reason is not immediately clear to me.
13. They love donuts in Bolivia, love them. Mostly they don't look very good to me because they like using strange frostings of all different colors, which looks very unappetizing, but we have seen them sold at many a place here so they must be popular.
14. Sundays are a pain because everything is closed. This goes for Peru as well, and probably will be the same in Ecuador and Colombia. As a nonreligious person, I simply want to eat lunch on Sundays and perhaps buy a bus ticket for a reasonable time. But that's usually too much to ask.
15. The favorite national food of Bolivia is undoubtedly the salteña. These little empanada-type pastries come in a variety of flavors, that unfortunately for us don't include vegetarian. They look decently tasty, but I couldn't bring myself to try one because meat just doesn't sound appetizing. But Bolivia is known for them so if you're ever down here, I'd definitely recommend trying one. Our favorite Bolivian pastry was hands down the cuñapes, delicious little balls of cheesy bread. Like with anything they are not all made the same, and the best ones we found were in La Paz and only in La Paz, on Calle Illampu. Thank you for being delicious cuñapes, we will miss you.
All in all Bolivia is a great country with some wonderful natural areas and lively big cities. I'm glad we decided not to skip it, and if I ever come back I am definitely going to fly my way around the country. No more Bolivian buses for me. Goodbye Bolivia, thanks for the memories. Ecuador and Colombia here we come!
- comments
Chris Fun info - glad you are having an amazing trip! We got your post card here at the WI. Thanks for thinking of us.