25th July 2013

Hello Everyone from La Paz, Bolivia

Yes, it is a long and tortuous mission trying to get internet contact.  We have it now but it is extremely slow.  Our plan was to travel on from La Paz last Tuesday but it was only this morning that I finally got a batch of photographs uploaded.

I’ll keep to-days comments short and most likely our next update will be in Cusco, Peru at the earliest.

Since we left Argentina, Jan and I crossed into Bolivia with no major problems, the little presents that we got at the border were all from tiny little flies. After our two hours of delay, when we got back into the camper to travel both of us noticed that we were covered in bites.  Nasty bites two and they managed to get quite a bit of blood from both of us. Now, four weeks later almost, we still have nasty marks on our legs.

Once in Bolivia, the first thing you notice is the elevation, to date we have not been lower than about 2,900m.  We visited Tarija later on the day we arrived into Bolivia and acquainted ourselves with how things are set up and presented in Bolivian towns and cities. We also noticed that unlike Argentina and Chile, it is not so easy to ‘overnight’ at their filling (fuel) stations.  The next day we took off and then headed for Tupiza.  The route we took (mainly piste) took us two days over several mountain ranges with the lowest elevation of about 3,600m.  Stunning scenery but a real test for Jan’s driving skills and Claire’s control of her fear of heights etc. I think it was the first time that I managed not to either verbalise my fear out loud and I also managed to take several photographs out of the window (never before done when we were on trails like this).

When we go to Tupiza, we ended up parking on the property of a resident there on his property.  We met with his family and extended family and they invited us to Sunday lunch and we are very grateful to him and all his family members for his courtesy and graciousness.

Our plan of course was to do ‘The sights’ in the area however upon research we decided to book a 4 day tour for ourselves as the local knowledge of the routes plus the logistics of the time it would take a big vehicle like ours we opted for a tour and have someone else do all the hard work.  The accommodation was hostel based and we ended up sharing with a French couple and their daughter.

Visiting Lagunas Verde, Blanco, Hondo, Colorado and many more, seeing geysers and a smoking volcano along with such a variety of landscapes was incredible. Finally on the last day, getting up at 05:00hrs to see the dawn rising on the salt flats was incredible.  We had our breakfast from the back of the pick up after we had climbed up the Isla de Pescado (a unique island is the middle of the salt plains with special Cactus plants growing) is a trip to remember.

We then were brought back to Tupiza via Uyuni and Atocha.

We departed from Tupiza last Monday week and headed slowly north to be in time in La Paz to pick up our friends Eamonn & May at 05:30hrs on Friday 19th July. We managed to drive slowly north, via Cucho Ingenio, Oruro and finally La Paz.  Every day we travelled through an ever changing landscape.  One expects it all to just stop, but the changes of scenery just appear to keep going on ad on.

Driving in La Paz with the large campers is an experience to avoid.  It was horrific, we plan to-morrow to try an alternative route out of the city having discussed it with other ‘large’ camper crews here that are also camping at the Hotel Oberland (about 10km south of the city centre).

When our friends arrived (by plane) they certainly felt and appeared to experience the affects of altitude.  We decided to allow for a few days here for them to adjust and get used to the altitude.  We visited the city centre a few days, went on a tour and did some shopping on Monday last. We have eaten out every evening as it is so cheap – everything is here in Bolivia even in comparison to Argentina and Chile and certainly relatively to Europe.

We plan tomorrow to visit Tiwunacu (a Pre-Columbian site in Bolivia) and then head for Lake Titicaca. After that then cross into Peru.

We hope that all is well with all our friends and family wherever you are.  Till the next time, all the best from Jan and myself……