Days 65-69, Walking on Water

The following takes place between Monday, January 31 and Friday, February 4, 2011

South America is full of world wonders and Bolivia does not get left out of this fact. My decision to completely skip out on going to Santa Cruz came out of the fact that in order to see Bolivia’s natural wonder, I would’ve had to take a two day bus ride had I gone to Santa Cruz. As it were, from Cochabamba, it would still be a full day of travel to get to Uyuni, the town at the start of the Uyuni Salt Flat tour.

Created when the Andes rose up from the crust of the earth, trapping part of the ocean inland. When evaporated, the water left behind an area over 12,000Km squared of salt over 7 meters deep. The Salar can be argued as Bolivia’s single most important tourist draw. And considering at least half the town’s population could be counted as gringo tourists, it’s easy to see why.

Days 60-64, Getting Lucky in Cochabamba

The Following takes place between Wednesday, January 26 to Sunday January 30, 2011

What happened to Days 57 to 59? Well, somehow I don’t think anyone would really want to hear me spout out how I spent most of those days curled up under the covers of my bed back in La Paz, throwing up every hour. I was not a pretty sight. And my mom can attest, when I’m sick, I kinda turn into a snivelling baby demanding attention and pity.

When I finally felt better I grabbed a night bus and headed off to Cochabamba. A beautiful city that isn’t really on a lot of backpackers radar. Which is just my luck. It was like I had the whole city to myself. Plus, there were other things that occured that made Cochabamba one of my favorite cities I’ve visited thus far.

Days 55-56, The Selva

The following takes place between Friday, January 21 and Saturday, January 22, 2011

As if three days covered in mud, mosquitos, and swamp water wasn’t enough, I had signed up to take off on the two day trip into the Selva or Bolivian Amazon jungle tour immediately after the end of the Pampas tour. Mind you, I did get one nights sleep in a hostel. But there’s something to be said about filling your time up too much. With the tour to Tihuanaku, the City Tour, and the Pampas before, I was pretty much exhausted.

Sadly, I think this really played a factor in my enjoyment of the Selva.

Days 52-54, The Pampas

The following takes place between Tuesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Amazon Rainforest is huge. It is the largest rainforest in the world, and expands into many countries, including Bolivia. Bolivia is one of the cheapest places one can go to visit part of the Amazon. And from Rurrenabaque, one can take a couple different tours to see the different environments that make up the Amazon in this part of South America. For me, the first tour would be the Pampas, the Amazon Wetlands.

Day 51, A Short Tour

The following takes place on Monday, January 17, 2011

It’s my last day in La Paz before my flight to Rurrenabaque so I decided to actually see a bit more of the city in the way of a paid City Tour with a private guide. It would be a short tour, only three and a half hours, but we saw a lot in those few short hours.

Day 50, E.T. Was Here

The following takes place on Sunday, January 16, 2011

You gotta love conspiracy theorists. They like to claim aliens hands in many things. The pyramids of Giza. The Nazca Lines. How George W. Bush got elected a second time(well, maybe that’s just me). At times you can easily laugh it all off. But then there are times where you have to step back and wonder if it is at all possible. Especially when it comes to these ancient monuments. The precision, the undertaking that had to have been taken to erect these structures, and even the simple question as to “why?” is enough to make one think “maybe, just maybe.”

Day 47-49, Maybe the Witches can help

The following takes place between Thursday, January 13 and Saturday, January 15, 2011

La Paz is often touted as being the highest capital city in the world, and at over 3300 meters above sea level, it’s pretty hard to top it. The city itself is actually two cities. The top, flat portion of El Alto, and the portion within the valley called La Paz. It’s a city filled with many hills which does not help with the whole trying the breath normally thing. It’s probably why these first few days in La Paz have been rather uneventful.

Day 45-46, It’s a small world after all . . .

The following takes place between Tuesday, January 11 and Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I have been on the road for about a month and a half. It was bound to happen that I would start running into the same people over and over again. Ben from Lima I met again in Cuzco. Patrick from Arequipa, Cuzco again. The Argentinian boys.

It makes for some good times when you meet up again. Lots of “OMG! How are you doing? Did you see this? Oh, man! That sounds like it was fun.” You’re on this huge trip, away from family and friends. Seeing a familiar face, even one you had only known for a day or two is comforting.

I’m in Bolivia now. It’s still a small world after all.

Day 44, Lake Titicaca Bolivia Style

The following takes place on  Monday, January 10

There seems to be a consensus among traveler’s I’ve talked to, as well as among those online, the Lake Titicaca is much nicer on the Bolivian side. Not that this motivated me to check it out from Bolivia, but it was certainly an interesting observation from people.

Now, whether this pre-conception would eventually taint my final thoughts, I’m not sure. I like to think that I’m very open minded and can make up my own mind even with such previous visitors thoughts swimming around in my head.

I guess we’ll see.