What's next.. o yes another day in Paradise

We woke up, and the only thing that we could do was stare at the landscape that we had right in fron of our eyes in our cabin in Coroico. I remember staying there just in silence admiring the beauty of nature. Damian was also like mute just looking everywhere.

After some long hours of this, we decided that it could be a good idea to go for a walk just to justify that we were in Bolivia in such a far away place that we could visit and discover better.

So we got out of the Hostel, and went for a walk to th town also to buy some basics such as drinks, and snack to make it up for next few days. Also we bought some meat to make a barbecue the next day.

Here you can see our crew holding the pieces of meat we bought in a very filthy and non refrigerated Market - Bolivian Style.

We thought that maybe we could by enough stuff so as to be able to stay as long as possible just in there without living that place where we were staying.

We returned right before the sunset.... it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I ever had.

The Stress in Coroico, Bolivia is killing this Backpackers

We arrived to Coroico the night of the 24 of December, and after meeting shorty and spending some time in our amazing cabin we decided to go for a walk around the hostel to see what was going on, and then we found the bar of the place.

In there we met again with Shorty and he introduced us his friend Jan, also from Germany... we talk for a while and agree to go for dinner in the town, because that night was Christmas eve, and all the places to buy food and even the bar of the hostel were closing...

Then we went to swim a little bit... got dress and left the places to walk around the beautiful town of Coroico.

Check the swiming pool of the backpackers in Bolivia... not bad hum???

First Minutes chillin out and making new friends.

So we were there in the Hostel, I was lying in the Hamak, and Damian was siting in a chair, both of us in complete silence almost confused for the beautiful view we had right there in the place where we were living... when somebody comes with his camera taking some pictures right next to our cabin.

His name was Shorty he was Backpacking for some months by then and he was from Germany. We talk for a while, Backpacker's conversation about places, transportation, hostels, prices etc.... for a while. he was a really nice guy, and he told us that he was now traveling with another german guy that was sharing one of the bedrooms in the Hostel...

"you are lucky people" he said, apparently all this cabins where only available through reserve, but somehow we ended up getting it.

So he stay for a while, we talk, he took some pictures and then left.

Hostel "Sol y Luna" the place where to be in Cororico..

We got to this Hostel called "Sol y Luna"... actually this place was the one of the reasons why we travel to this little place called Coroico in the middle of nowhere, one of our friends told us that spend her last summer on this Hostel and out of her stories and descriptions of this place that she used to call Paradise, we decided to see it with our own eyes.

So there we were, we got in, ask for a a room and the lady asked as, if we wouldn't mind to sleep in a cabin instead of a bunk beds on a share bedroom....

And there we were, this two Backpackers in the middle of all the beauty of nature in Coroico Bolivia, in our Cabin with 3 walls...

Just paradise, check some of the pictures.
This picture was taken from the our beds and as u can see we had a courtain instead of a wall... just like in a dream.

Paradise = Coroico, Bolivia..

So we got there, to this beautiful town called Coroico really close to la Paz but really distant because of the strange location of it. We got down in the center of the city where the main square is. We took one of the few taxis that were there in the city straight to the Hostel Sol y Luna to leave our Backpacks, because this small town was way to high to be explore by Backpackers carrying heavy weight.

Backpacker in Bolivia Arriving to Coroico, through the Road of Death

We traveled around 3 hours through one of the most amazing landscapes I've ever seen in my life, saying this after Backpacking around Europe, South America, Central America, and Asia). We were around 8 people in the track that only went up for the 3 hours around beautiful jungle and huge trees.The interesting thing about this "Highway" besides how dangerous it was back then. before they increased the wide of the road... was the way they charged buses for transiting through it.
After 2 hours of ride we felt that the bus was slowing down and the driver was pulling down his window... One minute later we saw through the window this little Bolivian peasant with a swimming pool net (those long sticks with a net, to clean the swimming pools), and our driver through some money on it, to keep on moving!!! Hey ya!! this is technology, this Backpackers are totally amazed.

Finally after a very very long ride.... we were there!!!

Goodbye to Uyuni this Backpacker want to visit other places in BOLIVIA

From Uyuni we took a bus straight to la Paz, the capital city of Bolivia. The center of this town is at 3,650 meters above sea level, so you can imagine how hard it is to walk around the city with a huge Backpack in your back... and as soon as we arrived there we took another bus straight to Coroico, which a small town at around 70 km from la Paz but because of the place where it is located it takes around 3 hours to get there,,..
Here is a picture of the "bus station " where we took the small bus to start our 3 hours adventure.One of those cars took us all the way up into the valleys inside the mountains... close to La Paz.

Bolivia, Uyuni there is a Hostel made of Salt and two curious Backpackers.

Even though we heard about, the Salt Hostel is something that has to be seen to be believed, the mandatory stop for any Backpacker around Bolivia. This beautifull place is all made of salt and people say that you can see from there at night one of the most amazing sky full of stars of the world. Imagine, no pollution, no civilization salt that makes your lips taste funny, dessert all around, and a Hostel in the middle of nowhere.!!
The spell of that amazing destination for Backpackers of all over the world did not last long because unfortunatelly we couldn't find a room to stay so we had the chance to walk around for a while and we got into the car again to start our way back to the civilization after the beautiful ride around the dessert of salt in Uyuni, Bolivia. Definetly one of the most amazing places I've seen in my life as a backpacker.

We are visiting the Salar of Uyuni, Damian is almost dying!!

After breakfast we took a car with a guide that took us to visit the Salar of Uyuni which is the biggest salt dessert of the world. We travel around one hour until we found ourselves in a big white dessert where all the floor, and the only thing we could see through the window was WHITE.
Salt Salt and more Salt,,,, nothing else.
As you can see all we could see was salt and more salt, we travel for around 2 hours, I fall asleep and when I woke up we still were surrounded by this white beauty. We drove until we got to "La Isla del Pescado" where we had lunch,,, here is a picture with the sick Backpacker almost dying, in that beautiful mountain standing in the middle of all the with salt.


They call it Island, because during the rainy season, the water covers all the dessert of salt with up to 1,5 meters... so in those days this mountain standing in the middle of the withe dessert becomes into an island in the middle of the crystal water.
So there we were two backpackers visiting one of the biggest wonder of Bolivia, El Salar de Uyuni...

The sun rises in Uyuni, Bolivia,,, I am feeling well but..

I woke up really fresh and ready to visit the "El salar de Uyuni" that was one of the most amazing things we saw while we were Backpacking in Bolivia. We had breakfast (it was included in the hostel tea and a loaf of bread with jam), Damian only looked at me with face of dissgusted....

Here I am a hungry Backpacker, against a sick one.... he was feeling really really bad...
Here is a picture of him Waking up after his looooooooooong night!

Don't leave me my Friend do not want to be a lonely Backpacker

4 Am, I am sleeping and suddenly I wake up because of some weird noise.... and I turn around to see my Friend Damian throwing out really bad in the trash can....
Man what's going on how are you what's going on....He just gave me look in between rounds of......
So when he got a little bit better, he gave a daring look and yield at me..... WHY YOU ARE NOT TAKING PICTURES!!!!... wow what a brave Backpacker I found... so here is the picture I took of him after the great idea of drinking a creamy drink in Uyuni Bolivia.

Brave Backpacker YES... SMART??? not that much!!.

Let's rock the night in Bolivia

The night arrived and Damian and I decided to go for a walk to see how was the crazy life around the town of Uyuni. We walked for a while searching for an open bar, or some lights in the total darkness..
After around ten minutes we heard some music coming out from a small place and we
We sat there and order some drinks, I order a Kaipiroshka, and Damian had the smart idea to order an Alexander....

Alexander Cocktail recipe
1 oz
1 oz white creme de cacao
1 oz light cream
nutmeg

As you can see in this recipe one of the components of this drink is light cream!!!... and we WERE in UYUNI, BOLIVIA where we only saw 1 refrigerator in the town.

We stayed there for a while, we talk or even more heard all the funny stories of this guy about his Skydiving anecdotes, and then we returned to the hostel.

When we took this picture we didn't know what was going to happen to my Friend.

Uyuni we arrived!!!!

Anyway nothing was going to stop this two backpackers discovering Bolivia, so there we were after a loooooooong and packed trip we arrived to Uyuni. We got off the bus, and went straight to leave our Backpacks in the Hostel named "Hostal Marith". This hostel was really nice with a big patio in the middle as you can see on the picture below.

So we decided to go for a walk and look around what Uyuni had to offer to this Backpackers around Bolivia. First we walked through the main street , up to we reach the fruits and vegetables Market where we bought a really nice whatermelon!!!. Then we kept on walking around the town until we made a break to enjoy our little friend...
That little kid on the back of picture after being shy for a while joined us in the feast!!!

Do you think we fit there???

Tupiza to Uyuni, bus is ready... all set!!!

Anyway after some time we started getting inside the bus, that had capacity for around 6 people but to our surprise once we sat there more and more and more people were getting in until we got literally totally packed. That was it, we were in this tiny bus with complete families sitting next to us, there was no room at all, for 6 or 7 hours, no complains, just eye contact with my friend, also amazed about this place called Bolivia. You can see in this picture people over people!!!

Bolivia, Tupiza's bus station !! ---Don't spit in the bus!! -

HAHAHA yes exactly what you read, while we were at the bus station in Tupiza, Bolivia and the
bus that would take us to Uyuni arrived it had an interesting sign inside of it!!. DO NOT SPIT, amazing definetly there is no better way to start backpacking than this...

Bolivia was definitely going to show to this two backpackers a new reality!!

Early wake up Backpackers in Bolivia have to take a Bus

We woke up around 700 because we were supposed to take an early bus around 8 at the "Main Bus Station" of Tupiza in Bolivia. So we woke up, grab our Backpacks and stuff and left the Hostel. We walked to the bus station but first we stopped in a small shop where we bought some crackers for breakfast.

So there we were right on time at the bus station at 8 in the morning, backpacks in our backs, sunglasses to welcome the new rising morning in Bolivia...

That was the first lesson we learn, schedules and timetables in Bolivia are only an estimation of what could be good.... because we wait for the bus that would take us Uyuni for more than two hours, sweating like pigs, under the burning sun... mosquitos all around strong smells and lot's of dust...
Welcoming us to Bolivia.


So there we were waiting and waiting at the main bus station that as you can see had nothing but a big parking lot where the buses would stop for some hours.
It was a sunny and beautiful day, and as you can see on this pictures desolation was the only guest that morning, so we wait and wait and wait.

The bus from Tupiza to Uyuni was supposed to last 7 or 8 hours...

Backpacking in Bolivia ,Tupiza first Day

We woke up and there we were our small backpack full of candy's and cookies as u can see in the picture, and we were ready to start walking around the small town of Tupiza in the beautiful Bolivia. So we grab our important things, such as passport and Money, we put it all in our safety belts (You can see more information about this in my Backpacking around Europe Blog), and we left the Hostel.

We started walked around the town trying to see what it had to offer, starting from the Market that had lot's of stands at both sides of the road with different products to buy and later we went to check at the bus station at what time we were supposed to take the bus that would take us to Uyuni in the south of Bolivia at 3670 meters above the sea level. We wanted to start big, visiting the Salar of Uyuni that it's the biggest Salar of the world!!! so this Backpackers deserved to see it with their own eyes.

Two Backpackers in Bolivia passed out in a bus!!

As soon as we crossed the bridge carrying our heavy Backpacks in Bolivian territory, we met again with the little boys that offered to guide us to cross the border, asking for some money for their "service"... No way we are Backpackers we replied!!.

Then we asked where was the bus station to which we had like a 200 meters to walk till we got there. We arrived to the place and we asked to one bus driver at what time was the next bus going to Villazon (Our first city to visit in Bolivia), and he replied us right now!!!!,,,,, SO WHERE DO WE BUY THE TICKETS.... and he pointed us a small window at a 10 meter distance....

We started running, to get get our tickets (we paid with argentinian pesos), and returned running with our Backpacks... We made it!!, we got in the bus....and suddenly!!!! I start feeling really really sick, like fading away in slow motion.... I was about to pass out (we were running in a very very high altitude city with heavy backpacks as if we were in the flat Bs As almost at the see altitude), and started saying to myself in mi head Why here why like this.... and I passed out and Damian did as well, one next to the other....

Really bad experience, that's what I wrote in my Backpacker Diary afterwards....
Like 10 minutes later we woke up and decided that whatever havened Bolivia wasn't the right place to run with heavy Backpacks..... not even for backpackers like us!!

Let's pass from Argentinia to Bolivia, Customs??.. NO what for??

After a 24 hours exhausting trip, we got to the border between Argentina And Bolivia. We grabbed our Backpacks and we realize that we didn't have a clue where to go or how to do become backpackers in Bolivia.

So we were there waiting and asking around until 4 little kids, very little (not more than 7 years old), came to us asking for money or candy.

We asked them how to get to the other side and one of them pointed to us a cement bridge around two hundred meters from the place where we were. He offered to guide us for some money to which we replied NO!!, we are Backpackers we don't pay for directions.... and we started walking with our heavy Backpacks towards the border.

While we were walking one of them offered to us to pass whatever we might need from one side to the other... wich then made me realize how easy was to pass whatever you might want from one country to the other (by that I mean Whatever!!). We got to the bridge and we saw a small door at the right really crowded which we of course didn't want to check because we were with our big backpacks.... so we kept on walking and suddenly I looked behind the bridge our little guides crossing to the other side through their shortcut...

When we reached the end of the bridge we read a sign saying "WELCOME TO BOLIVIA", so I looked to Damian, a little bit confused because somehow we were on the other side, YES we passed from Argentina to Bolivia without going through any checkpoint customs or whatever...

So then this guys in a big hurry comes out from the little door yielding at us that we are supposed to make customs in that small crowded office!!.

We got there SORRY!! SORRY!! SORRY!!, yes Backpackers at the beginning hit people with their backpacks all the time.... it's was full of people and no place at all.

We wait there around an hour, then they call our names, we got our Tourist stamp on our Argentinian passports... and that was it.

We got back to our old road, and finish crossing the bridge. Walla Backpackers in Bolivia... this is true.

All set, Bolivian Backpackers going there..

The day was on, I woke up took a shower and put my last things in my Backpack. Damian's mother was picking me up at 11 in the morning because our bus was expected to leave at 1:00 in the afternoon...

Got it all done, grab my backpack said goodbye to my Cat, and went downstairs to wait for them.

We drove up to the bus station, got down... big backpacks in our backs and tickets to Bolivia in our pockets.

That was it, me and my friend Damian waiting for the bus that would drive us for 24 hours to Jujuy province and from there walking with our Backpacks through the border crossing to the other side of the bridge Bolivia was waiting for us.