We left Uyuni around midnight by train (with the crazy experience of boarding a train carriage without a train…) – and arrived in Oruro about 7.5 hours later; from here we continued to La Paz by bus, where we arrived at around 11:00 – and in time for a quick tour around the city center.
After our return to Uyuni, we made it over to the train cemetery. The cemetery consists of a collection of decaying steam trains and fitting rail cars. Obviously it is the cheapest option to leave the trains rotting on instead of getting their metal re-used or putting them in a museum – anyway an interesting playground for us (i.e. the male part of the group…).
After the train cemetery we returned to Uyuni and the hotel to get a shower, internet, some sleep and a slice of one of the best pizzas I ever had – thanks to Chris 🙂
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We had an early start today – to be in time in the Salar for sunrise. After sunrise and breakfast at the Isla de los Pescadores (once more) we drove through the Salar to Volcan Tunupa. Here we had a … Continue reading
This gallery contains 16 photos.
Today we started out two day excursion around the Salar de Uyuni. we were picked up at around 10:00 by our guides and their 4WDs – and went off for two amazing days into the Salar de Uyuni, the biggest … Continue reading
We left Potosi in the morning; quickly the road became a bumpy dirt road, no good outlook for this six hours bus ride.
However – as soon as we left town also the scenario opened, revealing amazing views and more amazing views, some reminding me of the Grand Canyon, others of the Black/White Desert in Egypt, others of the area around Lake ErHai near Dali, China (except for the lake, of course). To summarize – for me it was the most amazing bus ride so far, independent from the road condition.
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Today we were heading out to explore the mines of Cerro Rico. After having been picked up at the hotel, we were brought to a place to get our mining gear. The Miner’s Market was the next step to buy … Continue reading
This gallery contains 16 photos.
Potosi, located at 4090 meters above sea level – the highest city (of its size) in the world – and historically the silver city. Some time in the 16th century silver was discovered in nearby Cerro Rico, this led to … Continue reading
Originally my plan for this day was to do a hike (Joyride‘s hike 3) – but it could not take place, as they did not have a guide for this hike. Instead of following Kathleen and the others to Locots (where they have been able to book a similar hike), I signed up for a horseback ride.
The ride was scheduled to start at 10:00 in the morning, however was moved into the afternoon due to bad weather conditions. This gave us some more time to discover town and visit the market, the Casa de la Libertad, as well as the cathedral.
In the afternoon (around 13:30) our horseback ride started, after about 15 minutes on the back of mine (named Tobacco) I realized that I got the slow one (thank god) – and that David got the crazy (= unstoppable) one.
After another hour I promised myself that the next time I will see horse, it will be on a plate and either cooked, grilled or smoked.
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Our second day (or first complete day) in Sucre – most of the group joined the half day organized city tour; John, David and myself decided to do a city tour on our own. Our plan was to catch the … Continue reading
We left Santa Cruz in the late morning; by bus we made it to Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) to get our plane (an aging 727) to Cochabamba. In Cochabamba we had about two hours until we boarded the next (even older) 727 to Sucre.
We arrived at our hotel in Sucre at about 16:00 after a quick transfer from the airport (the smallest airport I have ever seen – with just one arrival and one departure gate).
After a short time to get settled, we met again for an orientation walk through town (laundry, cambios, activities, etc.) and ended up having dinner in the Joyride Cafe.
Often La Paz is referred to as the capital of Bolivia – however this is not true, the official capital of Bolivia is indeed Sucre. In the end power is shared between both cities (with the legislative and executive body being in La Paz and the prime/constitutional court being in Sucre) – Sucre though remains the constitutional capital of the Republic of Bolivia.
