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Trip Report

Two Weeks in Bolivia

Short trip in some of Bolivias main attractions.

  • Uyuni+ 3
  • Copacabana
  • Copacabana
  • Two Weeks in Bolivia
KBennett
About Me:"The world is big and I want to have a look at it before it gets dark" -John Muir read more

South AmericaBolivia11 days / December 2018

Highs & Lows

The Uyuni Salar -the salt flats!

Busses in Bolivia are horrible.

Itinerary Overview

As I crossed the frontier from Perú to Bolivia my first disappointment was the Bolivian Migration Police, they were not very friendly. The Bolivians are leery of strangers because of historical reasons but don't be scared as you can find some very cool people. As I crossed the boarder my first stop was Copacabana which is one of the small villages on the lakeside of the highest salt-lake in the world, Lake Titikaka (3800 meters approx.). Copacabana is a small village and it was absolutely worth it to spend 2-3 days there but after seeing the Sun and the Moon island there is not much more. I liked it because of the wonderful sunset there, it's unique but the altitude makes itself tough. Advice: drink coca tea or Argentinian mate tea because of the altitude so you don't get sick.

After a few days, I decided to move forward to Uyuni which is on the other side of the country so a quite long ride because of the mountains. I had to stop in La Paz to get another bus with the final stop in Uyuni. When I arrived at 5 a.m. the first thing that happened was that a huge amount of people yelling for hotels, tours, breakfast, etc. My advice: look ahead for a hotel or hostel. Uyuni as Copacabana is small and hasn't that much to offer but the thing they have is this huge salt flats where Star Wars and basically everything that has to see with the moon was filmed ( (its the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni). The climate is a dry desert and with the wind, I recommend you bring sun block. I decided to do a 1 day tour of the salt flats of salar and it was amazing (costs up to 10$-20$). They picked me up in the morning and at the first stop they showed how the salt is made, after that they bring you to a train cemetery what was fun (this whole trip is the best for people who love to take photos). The tour is in 4x4 jeeps and as you are in the salt flats the tour guides have to go fast to reach the different locations so they are driving at like 160 km/h but it feels like 50 km/h. The next stop was a salt restaurant (yes it's made of salt) where we ate a great meal and in the afternoon we took funny perspective photos (see more in the photos). We finished the day with a wonderful sunset.

My last stop was the border with Argentina in Villazón. I took the night bus in the evening to arrive early in the morning and cross the border as soon as possible. The bus ended up getting stuck and we were in the middle of nowhere. The men got out of the bus and started to shovel and soon we got moving. In the early morning, we arrived at the bus terminal, and then I took a taxi to the border. Everything went smoothly.

  • 5 Nights: Copacabana
    Lake Titicaca is impressive!
  • 5 Nights: Uyuni
    Huge salt flats
  • 1 Night: Villazon
Copacabana - Lake Titicaca is impressive!
1

Copacabana Lake Titicaca is impressive!

Copacabana - Lake Titicaca is impressive! - null
Copacabana - Lake Titicaca is impressive! - null
Copacabana - Lake Titicaca is impressive! - null
Uyuni - Huge salt flats
2

Uyuni Huge salt flats

Uyuni - Huge salt flats - null
Uyuni - Huge salt flats - null
Uyuni - Huge salt flats - null
Villazon - null
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Villazon

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    I would love to have more time to visit Bolivia it has a lot to offer.
  • Anything go wrong during the trip?

    I wasn't really comfortable with taking the bus. Everything was fine.
  • Tips you would give a friend?

    Drink a lot of coca tea or argentinian mate tea for the altitude
  • Packing tips?

    Warm clothes and a good camera
  • Transportation Tips?

    While I wasn't comfortable, I wasn't scared by taking the bus. Make sure to ask about the price.
  • Any surprises?

    Bolivia is really inexpensive, but people will ask for money on all kinds of things.

Lodging