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La Paz to Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)( thurs 30 Oct- Mon 3rd Nov)
Arrived in La Paz after a 3 hour bus journey from Copacabana. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at about 4000 metres above sea level and walking about is still hard work. Like Lima there is not a great deal to do and a couple of days is long enough to have a look around and get a feel for the place. We visited the Coca Museum. The coca leaf is one of Bolivia's biggest crops and exports.The locals chew the leaves in the side of their mouth until it becomes a soggy ball and apparently this gives them a high, more energy and possibly also used as an aphrodisiac. It is also obviously an important ingredient in cocaine.
We also walked about the centre for a few hours but to be honest the highlight for me was getting a decent haircut. I was pleasantly surprised at the end result. (don't know why - there is no reason why a barber in Bolivia should not be as good as one in Scotland) it took half the time and a fifth of the price to the one I get back home.
After 2 days in La Paz we headed for Salar de Uyuni. These are salt flats that cover 12000 square kilometres in the south of Bolivia. They are an amazing sight (see photos) and well worth a visit . However the downside is that they are in one of the more remote areas of the country and getting there is hard going. We took the overnight bus from La Paz, a journey of 600 kilometres of which the last 200 are on dirt tracks. I had been warned that roads in Bolivia were bad but I was not expecting this (I blame you Laura !) Sleep was impossible but we reached our destination and went via jeep soon after for a day trip to see the salt flats. They are a spectacular sight (see photos). Nobody in our hotel spoke any english and our tour company hopeless and it was difficult to find out what was happening and how to escape from the place.
The following day we were up at 5 am to catch a local bus to the border. The distance is about 150 miles max. The journey took us 12 hours !! The roads again were dreadful and involved mountain passes, stopping at every village and small town including some pretty gruesome places. It seems strange that as a popular tourist destination like Salar de Uyuni the government have not spent some money in investing in a decent road system. The bus itself rattled most of the way and many people had to stand for several hours before getting a free seat. We finally reached the border and crossed into Argentina monday evening.
To be honest both Gwen and I were glad to see the back of Bolivia. From our admittedly limited experience of one week, the plumbing did not work - it was a bonus if the hot shower worked , the roads were dreadful and the buses very slow (probably a link there somewhere) . We also got tired of the half truths told us by various tour guides. We also had problems finding a decent coffee or tea. And another thing - for some strange reason all the maps handed out by hotels and tour guides seemed to be upside down. Hopefully Argentina will see an improvement.
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