Bolivia
Area: 1,098,581 km2 (11% the size of Canada, 3x the size of Germany, 424x Luxembourg)
Population: 10,907,778 (31.44% of Canada, 13.33% Germany, 21x Luxembourg)
Capital: La Paz (seat of government), Sucre (seat of justice)
Currency: Bolivianos (BOB)
Time traveled: 8 days
Distance travelled: 1,928 km (overland by bus, train and car)
Highlights in chronological order:
- Colour of Lake Titicaca
- Women’s puffy and colorful dresses and funny bowler hats
- Cholitas Wrestling show in La Paz
- Train ride from Oruro to Uyuni
- Salar de Uyuni (Salt desert)
- Laguna Colorada and flamingos
- Meeting nice people on the Uyuni tour
Our stay in Bolivia was very short, but interesting. There is so much more to see and do that we didn’t this time around, but hopefully there will be a next time. The altitude does make a big difference, that is for sure.
People: The people are pretty friendly and not as focused on tourism as in Peru, even though tourism is an important source of income for this country. To whomever we talked, they seemed happy that we were visiting. Bolivia has the highest percentage of indigenous people in South America and this is visible.
Culture: The indigenous people have kept their traditions and costumes, so you see most women wear the colourful puffy dresses and bowler hats even in the capital, La Paz. Although catholic, the Bolivians also kept their traditional beliefs, burying a llama foetus under a new house for good luck, for example. We heard that the song “Lambada” is inspired by a Bolivian song, but we haven’t heard something coming close to it. The Bolivians like to celebrate, but they also like to protest. They take their democracy seriously.
Food: The food was pretty boring, consisting largely of potatoes with rice. But if you consider the poverty and the arid landscape, you know why. On the high altiplano they grow lots of quinoa, and we passed several plantations on our Uyuni tour. We also had llama steak in La Paz, which was good. Vegetables and fruits are a rarity however.
Landscape & Climate: Bolivia has 2 very distinct regions: the altiplano at 3,000-4,000 meters and the Amazon forest. We were only at high altitudes, it was really high and we felt it! Luckily we didn’t suffer from altitude sickness, but were definitely short of breath. It is also winter in South America, so it was cold, especially this high. Did we mention it was freezing on the Uyuni tour?!
Economy: Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America. Their economy relies heavily on mining. The extraction of salt and lithium from the Salar de Uyuni will also play an important role, especially since it’s on the rise. Quinoa, the famous Andean grain is pretty widespread and grows well in the arid altiplano region.
Transportation: We didn’t travel extensively in Bolivia. Actually the Uyuni tour was a big part of our trip, but there we were in a private jeep. Travelling by bus was ok for us, although not as comfotable as in Peru. This is ok though since distances are usually pretty short, never being on a bus for longer than a few hours. That is if there are no strikes, of course. We heard about strikes and protests delaying buses by 4-10 hours, but we were lucky & didn’t have any. We also took the train as much as possible to avoid them. The train is slow but good. It’s ironic that the poorest country in South America has the best passenger railroad network, no?