Bolivia | Blue Lapis Road

AFTERTHOUGHT – South America

Before the trip, we have read and heard so much about other travelers’ awful experiences in South America: pickpocket during street events, robbery under gunpoint in broad daylight, caught in gunfire between guerrilla fighters and the military, tricked by dishonest tour operators, frustration over bus and flight delays, bribery demands from border officials, nasty storms in Patagonia, high-altitude sickness on the Andes, travel disruptions caused by violent protests and civil strikes, etc. However, except for a protest at the border crossing between Bolivia and Argentina, and a 28-hour flight delay in Ushuaia caused by a strike at the Buenos Aires airport, we can hardly recall any notable trouble or dodgy moment during our 3-month journey. After a few days into the trip, we began to shed off many of our worries, and started to enjoy ourselves in this diverse continent. We consider ourselves fortunate for meeting many kind people along the way, from honest taxi drivers, environmentally conscious tour guides, encouraging fellow trekkers, young fisherman showing us photos of his catches, skilful and responsible jeep driver, talented musicians on local buses, to a generous driver willing to take us along for an 1.5-hour free ride back to the city.

Many have asked us what was our favourite destination. This is a question perhaps we can never answer. There are simply too many lovely memories from almost every stop in our journey. All these amazing experiences together have become an incredible episode in our lives.

For Argentina, we will always remember the joy of tasting the juicy steaks and irresistible helado (ice-cream) in Buenos Aires, coming face-to-face with the Iguazu Falls on San Martin Island, wine-tasting in the mountains of Cafayate in Northwest Argentina, listening to the rumbling roars of ice carving at Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, upsetting our knees to get a close-up view of the majestic Fitz Roy Mountain near El Chalten, and sailing in the pristine water of the Beagle Channel in Ushuaia.

For Brazil, we will never forget the moment we braved the thundering water at Devil’s Throat in Iguaçu National Park, the instant we spotted a magnificent jaguar in the distant bush at the Pantanal, the time we dwelled in the utopian dream of Modernist Brasilia, the evening we wandered aimlessly on the steep and winding streets of Ouro Preto, the hours we stood under the shadow of Christ the Redeemer to share the unbeatable view of marvellous Rio with hundreds of other tourists, the night we spent pacing the flooded cobblestone streets over the splendid reflections of colonial Paraty, and the day we hustled ourselves between cultural institutions and design exhibitions in the hectic metropolis of Sao Paulo.

For Bolivia, we will forever cherish our experiences of hiking the Jurassic fern forest near Samaipata, admiring the white colonial architecture of Sucre from the rooftop of Convento de San Felipe Neri, absorbing the tragic history of Cerro Rico while acclimatizing to 4000m high altitude in Potosi, and confronting the Andean volcanoes, surreal deserts, and colour-changing lagoons on the Southwest Altiplano.

For Chile, the vibrant colours of its landscapes and cityscapes will live long in our heart, including the starry night and crimson sunset at the Atacama Desert, the vividly painted facades of the fairytale-like churches on Chiloe Island, the spring palette of wild orchids and glacial lakes in Torres del Paine, the black and white happy feet of Magellanic Penguins in Patagonia, the eye-popping display of some exotic catches-of-the-day at Mercade Central in Santiago, and finally the wonderful show of New Year’s fireworks in Valparaiso.

Many thanks to all the readers of the Blue Lapis Road.

January 9, 2014 | Categories: Afterthought, South America 2013 | Tags: 2013, Argentina, Backpacking, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, destination, journal, photo, South America, things-to-do, Travel | Leave a comment

DAY 42 (1 OF 1) – BORDER CROSSING, VILLAZON, BOLIVIA / LA QUIACA, ARGENTINA

At home, we read from other travel blogs that border crossing at Villazon/ La Quiaca could be a frustrating, chaotic and time consuming experience (waiting in line for up to 8 hours and so on). Therefore, we decided to start early hoping to beat the crowd. From Tupiza, we took a shared taxi at the bus terminal heading to Villazon, the border town on the Bolivian side. The ride was pleasant on a paved road, and it gave us one last opportunity to admire the landscape outside Tupiza. The ride to Villazon took only a little over an hour. After we arrived in town, we then switched to a local taxi to the international bridge separating Bolivia to the north and Argentina to the south. When we got to the bridge just before 9am, we saw a huge crowd gathered in front of the bridge, and the bridge seemed to be closed. We used our limited Spanish trying to find our way to the Bolivian immigration and the crowd kept on saying “No Paso”. They waved us to turn around to the next street. On the next street, a local man asked us to follow him. He led us down the street to the riverbank under the international bridge, where many locals were crossing the shallow river from both directions. Since the bridge was blocked, we thought we could first cross the river to reach the immigration offices, which apparently were located at the Argentine side of the bridge.

After some sweat and hassle we finally crossed the river with our backpacks and made it to the immigration office at the Argentine side. There we were told that we had to get an exit stamp from the Bolivian immigration at the window adjacent to the Argentine immigration office. We were relieved before finding out that the Bolivian window was shut with no one inside. We were told to carry our backpacks and return to Bolivia. Didn’t have a clue what to do next, we walked across the empty international bridge with our backpacks (wouldn’t want to cross the river again) to the Bolivia side, where there was a Bolivian police office. The protesting crowd was still yelling with banners in hands and occasionally igniting fireworks to gather attention. The bridge was closed and no Bolivian immigration officers could be seen anywhere. We asked the Bolivian police when the border would be reopened. We were told by 6pm perhaps, and it was only 9am! We were already tired and a little anxious about getting the Bolivian exit stamp. Looking at the crowd blocking the Bolivian side of the bridge, and the Argentine immigration office at the other end, we were the only two people stuck in the transitional zone between the two countries. We could see other tourists at either the Argentine or Bolivian side of the bridge, anxiously waiting for the reopening of the border.

We kept on bugging the police and anyone we came across on the bridge. Just after noontime, a man without uniform emerged from nowhere who seemed to know everyone at the border. We stood up and asked him when the border would be reopened. He asked us to wait for a moment. About half an hour later, he told us to follow him into an immigration office at the Bolivian police control, where he checked our passports and asked us a few questions. He then led us to cross the bridge again to the Argentine side. He took our passports and went over to the Argentine officers. They shock hands, chatted a bit, and looked at our passports. At last, he returned to us, summoned us to the Bolivian immigration window, and told the two officers inside to stamp our passports. After 3 hours of frustration, we finally got our Bolivian exit stamp! We thought the man who helped us must be a high rank Bolivian immigration officer.

We quickly went over to the Argentine immigrations with our stamped passports. At first, the officers in the office refused to accept our passports, saying the border was still technically closed. We were dumbfounded for about 30 seconds before a female officer came out and agreed to help us with the Argentine entry stamp. She took our passports to a tall and thin Argentine officer whom the Bolivian officer chatted and shock hands with 10 minutes earlier. From a distance, we could see the tall and thin Argentine officer nodded to the female officer. What a sign of relief! Two minutes after the nod, we got our Argentine entry stamps, got our backpacks through the “x-ray machine/ truck”, and were on our way by taxi to the bus terminal of La Quiaca (the border town on the Argentine side). Looking at the queue of people at either end of the bridge, it seemed that we were the first tourists of the day to cross the international bridge at Villazon/ La Quiaca!

At La Quiaca’s bus terminal, we hopped onto the first bus leaving for Jujuy. After a 3.5 hour bus ride and a backpack search at an intermediate checkpoint along the highway, we finally arrived at Tilcara, our destination of the day where we would stay for the coming three nights. By the time we stepped into the nicely decorated bedroom at Antigua Guesthouse, we immediately dropped to the bed and felt extremely grateful and relieved about the remarkable experience at the border.

streetscape of Villazon, Bolivia

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Next Destination – Northwest Argentina
Continuing on our journey from post Day 43.1

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South America 2013 – Our Destinations
Buenos Aires (Argentina), Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Pantanal (Brazil), Brasilia (Brazil), Belo Horizonte & Inhotim (Brazil), Ouro Preto (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Paraty (Brazil), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Samaipata & Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Sucre (Bolivia), Potosi (Bolivia), Southwest Circuit (Bolivia), Tilcara, Purmamarca, Salta (Argentina), Cafayate (Argentina), San Pedro de Atacama (Chile), Antofagasta & Paranal Observatory (Chile), Chiloe (Chile), Puerto Varas (Chile), Torres del Paine (Chile), Ushuaia (Argentina), El Chalten (Argentina), El Calafate (Argentina), Isla Magdalena (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Valparaiso (Chile), Afterthought

November 24, 2013 | Categories: Argentina, Bolivia, Day 41 to 50, Southwest Altiplano | Tags: Argentina, Bolivia, border, La Quiaca, Villazon | 2 Comments

DAY 41 (5 OF 5) – TRAIN CEMETERY, UYUNI, SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT DAY 4, BOLIVIA

Before we had our farewell lunch, we stopped at the last attraction of the tour, the Train Cemetery in Uyuni. Before the mining industry collapsed in 1940s, Uyuni was a major railway hub from the mines of the interior to the Pacific coast in Chile. After the collapse, the cargo trains and locomotives (mainly from Britain in late 19th century) were abandoned. Today it is one of the major tourist attractions in Uyuni.

After the Train Cemetery, our group had our farewell lunch at a hotel in Uyuni. We were the only two in the group returning to Tupiza. The rest of the group would depart from Uyuni for La Paz. The end of the Southwest Circuit also marks the end of our journey in Bolivia. Tomorrow, we would head south to Argentina.

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November 24, 2013 | Categories: Bolivia, Day 41 to 50, Southwest Altiplano | Tags: Altiplano, Bolivia, cemetery, highland, Southwest Circuit, train, Uyuni | 1 Comment

DAY 41 (4 OF 5) – SALAR DE UYUNI, SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT DAY 4, BOLIVIA

The Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flat) is one of the most well known geographic feature in Bolivia. About 40,000 years ago, the salt flat was part of the prehistoric Lake Minchin. When Lake Minchin dried up, it left behind two lakes and two major salt flats, with the biggest being Salar de Uyuni. Today, Salar de Uyuni is the biggest salt flat in the world, and is visible even from the space. The Salar de Uyuni stays dry for most of the year, except for the wet season when it would be flooded by water. Every year during wet season, incoming water would bring salt from the surrounding area. When the water evaporates, a new layer of salt would be formed. The annual layering of salt deposit is clearly visible from the salt blocks that the locals sometimes use as building materials. Apart from tourism, salt and rare earth extraction are some of the major industries here. In the near future, the government is planning to expand the mining of lithium (vital component for electronic batteries) at the salt flat.

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November 24, 2013 | Categories: Bolivia, Day 41 to 50, Southwest Altiplano | Tags: Altiplano, Bolivia, flat, highland, mountains, Salar de Uyuni, salt, Southwest Circuit, Uyuni | Leave a comment

DAY 41 (3 OF 5) – ISLA INCAHUASI AT UYUNI SALT FLAT, SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT DAY 4, BOLIVIA

It was such strange beauty when we first saw Isla Incahuasi (Inca House Island). Located in the middle of Uyuni Salt Flat, the unique island is full of giant cacti. Many rocks on this former volcano are actually fossilized corals, reminding us that 40,000 years ago the salt flat was once Lake Minchin, a prehistoric lake that has since dried up. On Isla Incahuasi, the tallest cactus is about 9m tall. At the top, Isla Incahuasi offers a good views of the salt flat and distant mountains.

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November 24, 2013 | Categories: Bolivia, Day 41 to 50, Southwest Altiplano | Tags: Bolivia, flat, highland, Isla Incahuasi, mountains, Salar de Uyuni, salt, Southwest Circuit, Uyuni | Leave a comment

DAY 41 (2 OF 5) – SUNRISE AT UYUNI SALT FLAT, SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT DAY 4, BOLIVIA

Finally we were on our way out to the Uyuni Salt Falt. The sky was already pretty bright as our 4×4 rushed out to the open whiteness looking for the perfect spot to see the sunrise. The moon was getting lower and lower on our left, and gradually disappeared under the horizon. After half an hour, the driver stopped our 4×4. We opened the door and made our first steps onto the famous Uyuni Salt Flat just after dawn. The view to the distant mountains under the early morning sunlight was sublime.

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November 23, 2013 | Categories: Bolivia, Day 41 to 50, Southwest Altiplano | Tags: Altiplano, Bolivia, flat, highland, Salar de Uyuni, salt, Southwest Circuit, Uyuni | 1 Comment

DAY 41 (1 OF 5) – SALT HOTEL, SOUTHWEST CIRCUIT DAY 4, BOLIVIA

Today was the last day of our Southwest Circuit tour. Finally it’s time for the Uyuni Salt Flat! We got up at around 4:30am to prepare for our early departure to see the sunrise at the salt flat.
Compared to the last two accommodations, this last guesthouse was quite unique. It’s a large complex built with salt blocks located near the salt flat. The facilities were still quite basic, but at least there were hot showers for sell.