Bolivia is the poorest of the South American countries, and it was apparent shortly after crossing the border from Peru.  Our guidebook estimated that only 5% of the roads in Bolivia are paved, and I'm pretty sure that all of those are in and near the capital of La Paz.  Once getting out of the capital, though, I found what must be some of the most unique and fascinating adventure tourism in the world!

Copacabana   (November 13, 2004)

Our first stop in Bolivia was the city of Copacabana on the Bolivian banks of Lake Titicaca.

distant view of snow capped mountains jutting out of Lake Titicaca	island of the sun - some Incan legends say that the first man walk up out of the lake climbing the path of these steps	island of the sun - Incan sacred natural fountains

La Paz   (November 14, 2004)

La Paz, the highest altitude capital in the world, was the most visibly rough city we visited in all of Latin America.  We arrived at about 10PM and no one was out but the drunks, and they were many.  There's no bus station so we were dropped right onto the poorly lit street.  All of the other passengers disappeared quickly, so we immediately flagged down an old taxi and asked to go to a hotel recommended in our guide book.  On the way, our taxi was welcomed by a drunk slamming his empty bucket into our windshield for no apparent reason.  Our driver just kept on speeding down the narrow alleys.

La Paz is famous for its scams, and we had been warned of many, like the mustard on the backpack trick, before arriving.  One afternoon, I was walking alone, when a bag skidded from behind up the sidewalk in front of me.  Next, a man ran past and dodged through the cars in the street and quickly disappeared out of sight.  Moments later, a middle-aged man in a business suit stepped up, picked up the bag and showed me that it was full of US and Bolivian cash!  He asked me in Spanish what he should do, and then he offered me half the money.  I told him, "No gracias.  Tienes suerte." -- "You're lucky."  He tried to insist, but I kept walking.  I think the entire scam would somehow involve me giving him some of my real money as change when he gives me my share of the bogus bills.

plaza in central la paz	a couple cents to use a scale on the street was a pretty common site

Death Road   (November 15, 2004)

The first of the backpacker favorite stops in Bolivia is a downhill bike ride known as the Death Road.  The path is 40 miles (64 km) long and descends 11,000 feet (3345 meters) in a 5 hour bike ride!  Shannon and I chose a company called Downhill Madness and decided to upgrade bikes to ones with disc brakes instead of traditional rubber pads.

The path itself did not turn out to be the major threat.  It was the trucks that would pop from around the corner on the single lane dirt highway.  Traffic going towards the capital city always has the right-of-way.  That means that anyone going downhill needs to pull over to the cliff edge and wait for the uphill traffic to pass.  Usually, this means driving on the left side of the road.

our ride with the bikes to the top	the morning was chilly at the 15,000 feet above sea level starting line (4570 meters)	waterfall that splashes onto the road
a view of the path from above	one of the many corners clinging to the mountainside	path cut into the mountainside
trucking swinging around the corner of the path	stay left	not much passing room on this road!

Coroico   (November 16, 2004)

Coroico is a small town near the base of the death road.  The next afternoon, I would take a bus onwards to a jungle adventure from here.

veggie mart - notice the twin braids, bonnets, and aprons that all of the local women wear	meat market	convenient store
that's me in the middle of the kids on the makeshift school bus	locals selling snacks through the windows of a passing bus	our bus for the 22 hour ride to Rurrenbaque arrives

Rurrenbaque   (November 17, 2004)

The town of Rurrenbaque serves as a base for trips into the jungle and pampas.  The nearby river is a tributary that feeds into the Amazon.  By definition, pampas is a treeless grassland, and outside of the riverbanks, this is how the area appeared.  Most of the life we saw was in the tree-lined area near the river.

The all-inclusive three day tour, at an unbelievable $15 per day, included fishing piranha, nighttime canoe rides to see crocodile eyes reflecting red in our flashlights, hunting anaconda in the swamps, swimming with pink-nosed freshwater dolphins, and crafting jungle nut jewelry.  The wildlife is truly fascinating and beautiful.

much dirtier than when we left the afternoon before, our bus gets to Rurrenbaque	After a rough 4-hour jeep ride on wooden benches, we found canoes waiting to take us deeper into the pampas	3 more hours by motor canoe
camp is within sight	hanging out in front of our screened barracks	mud boot art
crocodile waiting in the brush	croc waiting in the river	black cayman waiting on the bank
croc waiting on the bank	group of capivara, considered the world's largest rodent species	mama capivara and baby
turtles basking in the sun	bird and turtles	bird
another bird	hawk	eagle
spider monkey	we were among the lucky few to spot a sloth - the laziest animal in the world - climbing a tree in slow motion	sunset
piranha fishing	guide with his catch	a small fish with big teeth
canoeing	guide and me	bribed my way onto a plane back to La Paz

Potosi   (November 19, 2004)

Since Shannon wasn't interested in the crocodiles and mosquitoes in the jungle, she took an alternate trip to the mines of Potosi.

...The inside of the mine is dark, claustrophobic, and dusty. It consists of over 3km of tunnels and caverns through the mountain rock, and descends five levels deep. Several men were drilling into cavern rock walls with huge hand-held drills, and were making so much dust that it was difficult to breath. Other men were loading the extracted rock into the wooden railroad carts, and then manually pushing the heavily laden carts on the rails up and out of the mine...

...Our tour group waited a ways off to experience the dynamite blast from inside the mine. Our tour guide asked our group if we wanted to experience this – and the group said yes?!?! As for myself, being in the small, dark, dusty mine tunnels was difficult enough. Being in the tunnels and waiting for dynamite to explode not too far away from me was miserable. Claustrophobia began to kick in and I just wanted to get out of there. I asked how far we were from the entrance to the mine, hoping I could make my way back alone, but learned we were a few levels down. I had become completely disoriented inside the mine. I couldn't find my way out alone. So, instead I just concentrated on breathing.  Fortunately for me, the dynamite never went off. ..

shannon dressed for mining with gifts in hand	motorized wooden cart the tour group took into the mine	shrine where the miners leave spiritual offerings
miners drinking pure spirits at the end of the work day	guide playing with lit dynamite	dynamite blast

Salar de Uyuni   (November 21, 2004)

Shannon and I met back up in Uyuni for a three-day jeep trip across the salt deserts of the south.  Some millions of years ago, the area was ocean bottom and has left behind massive salt deposits, exposed coral, and even islands jutting up from the salt flats.