Santa Cruuuuz!

The new day started already at 6 am. We grabbed a taxi down to the bus station and started looking for breakfast. I ended up with some donut-tasting bread (just like the second day of the Salar de Uyuni trip) and some dry pieces of bred. We jumped on the bus and cruised off  to Sucre. Some three hours we arrived  Sucre. As we were not very keen on having yet another bumpy bus ride for minimum 15 hours through the desert to Santa Cruz, we immediately got into a taxi and headed for the airport! We quickly booked a flight that was leaving to Santa Cruz within 50 minutes and went for a snack [...] Read more

Through the mines of Potosí

We got picked up at the hostel at 9 am. It was time to dig for that shiny metal in the mines of the the highest city in the world – Potosí! Potosí is located 4,090 m above sea level. But first off we had to get dressed for entering the mines with a helmet, head lamp, pants, jacket and sturdy boots. Then it was time to buy the miners some gifts. We bought dynamite, fuses, explosive powder, coca leaves, chewing tobacco, juice, and 96% alcohol on plastic bottles [...] Read more

Salar de Uyuni – part III

We got up already at 4.45 am and were supposed to leave at 5 am, but the car wouldn’t start.. Instead we had some more sleep and breakfast. We then left off to some incredible geysers and hot springs bobbling with muddy water at 180 degrees! The gases oozing up from the geysers smelled very strongly of rotten eggs and reminded me of some hot springs I visited in Japan, easter 2007. However, this smell was not that strong. The hot springs were located very close to each other and the desert sand between them was quite mooshy and sticked to your shoes. In some areas it felt like walking in quicksand and I had to step very carefully not to fall into one of the hot springs [...] Read more

Salar de Uyuni – part II

The morning started by having a bread for breakfast that tasted like a donut. We then drove off into the desert, which had once been a sea some ten thousand years ago. The only remains was sand, salt and corals. Some fossils of sea creatures had been excavated, but most of them were either scattered around or destroyed by erosion [...] Read more

Salar de Uyuni – part I

Arrived Uyuni at about 7am feeling dead tired after a 12 hour bumpy ride through the desert. There was actually no road, the driver just aimed for the place that had the deepest existing tracks. Maybe no wonder the ride was bumpy like hop-a-long-cassidy! However, the landscape outside was amazing! The desert was illuminated by the moonlight (it was full moon) giving you the sense of driving on the surface of the moon! [...] Read more

the Soccer Derby

Kris, Mary, Colin, Tom, Milan, Robert, Angelica and I checked out of the Wild Rover and went to a soccer match between Bolivars and the Strongest – a local La Paz derby! We decided to be fans of Bolivars and went all in as hardcore supporters. We ended up buying shirts, wristbands, hats and even a big Bolivar flag! It was game time. [...] Read more

the good doc & Halloween celebration

This morning I was really tired and feeling a bit sick. After a shower I got a doctor to come over. He told me that I had contracted an infection in my stomach and was suffering from a condition somewhat similar to bronchities. The good doc then prescribed me six(!) different medications! I managed to get five of them at the first pharmacy, however it turned out to be extremely difficult to locate a pharmacy for the last one. [...] Read more

Wild Rovers in La Paz

Once in La Paz, around 6pm, we checked in at the Wild Rover – wicked backpackers place. I absolutely recommend staying in this place if you´re visting La Paz. At this point almost everyone from the Inca Trail were reunited! We shared a dorm with Colin, Milan, Tom and two others. Had some drinks at Mongo´s for a couple of hours – a pub with a nice atmosphere. Then headed off to Traffico (which were promoting a Bock Tiesto party at the time) for some techno, house and club music the rest of the night! [...] Read more