BOLIVIA for INDEPENDENT TRAVELERS:
CULTURAL ADVENTURE TRAVEL IN THE ANDES, ALTIPLANO and AMAZON BASIN
Like a bewildering vista from another planet, the stunning Salar de
Uyuni mirrors the Andean landscape to perfection.
Bolivia is the hidden jewel of South America: stupendous Andean vistas with
exotic, other-worldly features like the Salar de Uyuni; lush jungles teeming
with wildlife now protected by vast parks and reserves as yet little-known to
the outside world; peopled by a fascinating mix of indigenous cultures still
preserving their age-old native traditions (Aymara, Quéchua and many
others), with Europeanized modern Bolivians living in cities that also reflect
the nationwide mix of the traditional and the flamboyantly modern.
We at Rutahsa Adventures believe that Bolivia is on the cusp of being
"discovered". But it hasn't really happened yet-- So NOW is the time to go to
Bolivia. Foreign travelers remain relatively few in number; the costs of
traveling in Bolivia are quite reasonable (meals are especially inexpensive);
and Bolivians in the tourism industry are especially friendly and eager to
please. Furthermore, the infrastructure has been sufficiently improved in
recent decades so that Bolivia is no longer the hard-to-get-about-in country
it once was famed to be. There are now quite a few reliable providers of
in-country services for travelers.
Rutahsa Adventures has worked with several Bolivian tour providers since 1999
and we have made arrangements through them that allow us to book their services
at reduced rates. We are able to provide customized services such as lodging,
transportation and guided excursions for our travelers, and at a savings. Not
only can we help you arrange the trip you want, we can do it at costs less than
what you would pay if you made the reservations directly through the Bolivian
agencies themselves.
Two of the best known Bolivian travel companies are TRANSTURIN and
MAGRI-Turismo. These two companies both offer comprehensive services-- They
can get you to almost anywhere in Bolivia you want to go, in private or group
transportation, reserve hotels from three to five stars, provide bilingual
guides, etc. Rutahsa Adventures can book almost any service offered by
MAGRI-Turismo at 10% off their price to the public. We can also offer
Transturin's many services at similarly discounted prices. For Lake Titikaka
crossings we recommend Transturin, as they own a fleet of modern catamarans
complete with excellent food service and cabins for overnight cruises. To
learn more about these two agencies and what they offer, visit their websites:
TRANSTURIN, LTD.
Take a look at Tranturin's varied services. The company owns a fleet of modern
catamarans and can can offer both day trips and overnight trips on Lake
Titikaka, featuring visits to their well-done cultural complex and museum, an
Aymara village, Inka ruins and Aymara shamanic ceremonies on Island of the Sun.
You can contact Transturin directly through their website and enquire about any
services you need, but return to Rutahsa Adventures to book the same services
at a savings.
MAGRI-Turismo, Ltda.
MAGRI's website lists their extensive Bolivia travel services, from day
trips to lengthy trekking, and provides a link for you to contact them for
details of the particular trip or trips that interest you. Take a look at
their offerings, find out the details, but come back to Rutahsa Adventures for
a booking at a lower cost.
We also use a smaller company, Turisbus, which we have found to be well-run and
offering competitively priced services. Because of their pricing structure we
cannot discount all of their services, but we can discount a variety of their
services up to 5%, especially their La Paz and Titikaka area services. Their
website is:
TURISBUS.
SOME OF THE PLACES and SERVICES WE RECOMMEND:
N.B.: This section is not yet complete. More information and images will be
added in the near future...all we need is time!
LA PAZ:
If you are flying into Bolivia, it is likely your trip will begin in the city
of La Paz. This metropolis of nearly a million
inhabitants seems to have been poured down into a deep gorge, with its gleaming
new skyscrapers struggling to soar up and out of the canyon, but in fact only
the poorer barrios actually climb up the canyon walls to spread out on
the altiplano in the sister city of El Alto surrounding the international
airport. It is an interesting and very colorful
city.
If you are entering Bolivia by land from Peru, we highly recommend a visit to
Copacabana and then crossing Lake Titikaka by catamaran to reach La Paz-- We'll
detail this in a later section.
In La Paz, our favorite hotel is the 3-star Hotel Rosario. The Rosario is
quite nice, and very well run, with colonial style construction adding to the
relaxed ambience. They have a good restaurant (breakfast is included), free
e-mail, and the location is great: very near the famous "witches market", and
just a three block walk from the Prado (main street in La Paz). Their website,
if you want a peek, is: Hotel
Rosario.
Should you want to book your lodging here, just let us know what kind of
room(s) you want and for what dates, and we will get you a discounted room
rate.
EXCURSIONS in LA PAZ and VICINITY:
- La Paz City Tour: Plaza Murillo, San Francisco Church, Witches Market, and
Gold Museum.
- Valley of the Moon excursion: Weirdly eroded spires and pinnacles, reminiscent
of Bryce Canyon.
- Supper and a show at a Peña: Bolivian food, folk music and
traditional dances.
- Tiwanaku Ruins excursion: Monumental and magnificent thousand-year old
ruins of the capital of a once mighty
empire.
LAKE TITIKAKA EXCURSIONS:
Lake Titikaka is famed in Inca legend as the birthplace of the Sun and of the
first Incas; in more modern times it has been hailed as the "world's highest
navigable lake". For these and a multiplicity of other reasons, this stunning
lake should not be left out of any Bolivia or Peru itinerary. The best way to
visit Titikaka is to plan a several-day visit which might include overnight
stays on the Island of the Sun or another of Titikaka's islands, an overnight
on one of Transturin's luxurious catamarans, and/or an overnight in the
charming religious/resort town of Copacabana,
with its great Moorish-styled basilica.
Travelers en route from Peru into Bolivia and vice versa should plan a crossing
of the lake, which can be done in a single day or, much better, with an
overnight stay en route. A good plan is to leave Puno, Peru, at the north end
of the lake in the morning, headed for Copacabana, just inside the Bolivian
border. At Copa one can board one of Transturin's catamarans and head for the
Island of the Sun for a visit at an archeological site and cultural complex
that includes native plants, a chance to see vicuña up close, reed boat building demonstrations, a fine
museum, and an Aymara shamanic ceremony. It
is possible to continue on to La Paz in the afternoon, or to overnight at
Island of the Sun and continue to La Paz the following day.
Rutahsa Adventures strongly recommends a multi-day stay in the Lake Titikaka
area to appreciate the dramatic lake and its many scenic, historic, and
cultural treasures.
COROICO and the YUNGAS:
Coroico is a small town, picturesquely sited on a jungle-covered mountain ridge
low on the eastern flanks of the Andes in the region known as the Yungas. It
is reached by what has been widely reported as the "world's most dangerous
highway" and dozens of crosses along the way testify to the bad luck of many
travelers over the years. However the road is not so dangerous that it
prevents thousands of people from making their way safely between La Paz and
Coroico every year, and it is indeed a thrilling ride. A paved highway leaves
La Paz and climbs through dramatic, bleak alpine valleys to the high pass of
La Cumbre at 4725 m (15,502 ft). Here the pavement ends and a gravel
road plunges downwards, quickly entering a world of waterfalls and lush
greenery on the wetter Amazon Basin side of the Andes chain. For a number of
kilometers the road has been reworked, but then comes the exciting part where
downhill traffic must keep to the outside (so the driver can keep a better
watch on how close he is to the edge), and pull over in tiny "wide" spots to
allow up-bound traffic the right-of-way. In places waterfalls cascade down on
top of vehicles, or completely over-arch
the road where it is hacked out of the cliff face.
The trip to Coroico is one where getting there is definitely at least half the
fun! Rutahsa Adventures recommends private transportation (which we can book
for you, naturally) so that you can stop and take photos whenever you wish.
But if economy requires you to take public transporation, then we recommend
that you purchase an extra seat on the minibus so that you won't be crowded.
Note: This road will soon be a thing of the past, as a new highway is
currently being constructed to replace it. The new road will eliminate the
most exciting parts of the old road by passing under the mountains through a
long tunnel. So if you are interested in this trip, you ought to make it
soon.
In Coroico we recommend the Hotel Esmeralda, which is quite nice, located just
above the town (about a five-minute hike from the plaza) and has rooms with
spectacular views. They have recreational facilities and a good food service
with an optional full board plan that is very economical. Here's their
website: Hotel Esmeralda.
And once again, Rutahsa Adventures can make you reservations at a discount.
Things to do in Coroico: The main attractions are the town itself and its
physical setting. At a mere 1760 m (5774 ft) above sea level, it is blessed
with mild temperatures and tropical vegetation. It is a nice place to just
hang out. There are a number of day hikes from the town, and several local
tour operators who can take you on more extended trips. One interesting
excursion is to visit a coca plantation; Coroico is in the heart of Bolivia's
legal coca growing district.
ORURO CARNIVAL:
The dazzling Carnival de Oruro, with its spectacular processions of dancers in
colorful costumes takes place every February.
The dances have pre-conquest origins, and some of the costumes, such as those
in the Diablada, defy description.
Carnival is a three full days of music, dancing in the streets, good-natured
mayhem with water bombs and spray foam, serious consumption of cerveza,
and religious ceremonies, too. You gotta be there to believe it! Reservations
for lodging during Carnival have to be made and paid early (Oruro has little to
offer travelers except Carnival, and for this reason there is not a plethora
of hotels, and they all fill up for Carnival).
While in Oruro for Carnival or at any other time, be sure to visit the colonial
mine museum inside and underneath the Church of the Socavón. Also, the
early 20th-century mansion of the "Tin Baron" Simón Patiño, now
the Casa de La Cultura is well worth visiting. To see live condors up
close, and also the hairy Andean armadillo, visit the Oruro zoo.
SALAR de UYUNI:
We hardly know how to begin to describe the Salar de Uyuni as this
other-worldly feature is surely Bolivia's most unusual natural wonder. In dry
scientific terms, it is the world's largest salt flat, extending over 9000
square kilometers (10,582 sq km by some reports), occupying the bed of a lake
that dried up after the last glacial stage. In speculative terms it possibly
represents the future of Lake Titikaka if the warming trend continues. As for
descriptive terms, we must consider two different seasons. In the dry season
the salar is a dazzling expanse of blindingly white salt. In the wet season
the salar becomes covered with a thin layer of water and is transformed into
the largest mirror on earth (in the solar system?) and the salar is truly
kaleidoscopic and mind-boggling.
By far the coolest place to stay when visiting the Salar de Uyuni is the
Palacio de Sal, a rustic hotel out on
the salar and built entirely of rock salt.
In the wet season the Palacio may be surrounded by and
mirrored in shallow salt water.
In the dry season you can roar out across the salt flats at highway speeds to
reach Isla Pescado some 80 km from the Salt
Palace. In the wet season it's slower going, as the drivers of the 4WD
vehicles have to take care that not too much salt spray gets up into the engine compartment (if the water gets
over 50 cm deep most drivers will not cross the salar), and it may take two or
three hours to reach