Having just returned from 4 days in a 4x4 travelling around South-West Bolivia I have a few more pics to share. All taken on The Uyuni Salt Flats, these were just soooooo much fun to set up.
I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did taking them :-)))
FUN ON THE WORLDS LARGEST SALT FLAT - UYUNI (11 Photos)
More months have passed by and so has another country - Bolivia. I'm now in Peru and have just returned from the Inca Trail (a bit tired!). As usual i'm playing catch up as I haven't posted anything from Bolivia.
There's many highlights to write up: From Butch & Sundance territory, the salt plains of Uyuni, Cities & Jungles and the "World Most Dangerous Road." All to follow, but for now, heres the photos...
COMPLETE BOLIVIA PHOTO GALLERY (53 Photos)
Enjoy.
Now it must be said that before I came to South America I knew almost nothing about Bolivia, AND, given that one of my favorite films is 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' it is very possible that the ideas I DID have were a little off the mark. Even so, for some unknown reason it was THE place that appealed to me most.
My first stop in Bolivia was the small town of Tupiza some two hours over the border from Argentina. A dusty little town with more than its fair share of Italian restaurants - I have to admit I'd been expecting the food options to be more along the lines of 'rice with beans' or 'beans with rice' rather than "would you like parmesan with your Bolognese."
So, a pleasant enough little place and although it may not be full of bandits, mules, and people in large sombreros, one of the things that I did have right was that there was Cacti EVERYWHERE! As soon as you reach the edge of town (typically only a few blocks in any direction) you're heading out into the dry, dusty, rocky, catctus filled valleys. Just the place to get ambushed by Bandits if you ask me!
Potosi is famed for its mines. It is the mines of the area that drive the local economy and the enterprising mining community has discovered that it can make money not only from what they take out of the mine (a variety of minerals and metals), but also from what they take in - Tourists!
There is a continual stream of tourists flocking to Potosi to spend a couple of hours underground, squeezing their way through claustrophobia inducing tunnels, trying not to impede the high speed, wheelbarrow toting miners and avoid the large, very deep shafts that appear out of the dark as you stumble along
Deciding that this sounded like fun, Jose, Amelie and myself signed up and went to get kitted out. Not a trip for the 'fashion-conscious' - which fortunately i'm not (as anyone who knows me will vouch for.) I suppose the final effect is somewhere between 'Fireman Sam' and the WWII Air-Raid Warden Hodges from 'Dads Army'. To finish off, we were hooked up with headlamps, marginally more effective than a mini-maglite and led off to the mining store. I was slightly disappointed not to receive a canary in a little cage.
Imagine Trinidad... Thinking sun, beach, rum, reggae and cricket? Think again, this is Trinidad Bolivia - so think oppressive heat, mosquitos, open sewers and the 'road' from hell!
Jose and I had left Amelie back in Potosi and made our way to Sucre. A very pleasant city. Nothing specific to define its 'niceness' but certainly enough to provide a few chilled days of doing very little before hitting the roads again. From Sucre to Santa Cruz, which, on the other hand had very little in terms of character, charm or attractions. However, en-route between the two lies the lovely little escape of Samaipatha.
Well its a catchy title! I'm sure that there are many places around the world with very dangerous stretches of road or track. Infact, I remember spending an 'interesting' few days travelling up the Thai/Burma border about 10 years ago (Yes, I know its called Myanmar now, but everyone knows the name Burma.) At this time it was still a dangerous area and one that was referred to as "No. 1 Death Highway" due to the large number of 'sniper' attacks and cross border shelling.
Still, in those days I was young and foolish - and although it could be argued that only one of those has now changed, the point is that 'in general' I do believe that things with the words "Death" or "Worlds Most Dangerous" in the title should be given their due consideration before plowing ahead regardless. That is unless its clearly a cunning marketing ploy devised to attract the attention of thrill-seeking Backpackers and to sell T-Shirts with catchy slogans .... "I survived the ... [insert 'death defying' tour of choice.]"
