Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Bolivia « Thread Started on Jul 7, 2009, 4:56pm »
So, it's about 95% sure we will be going on vacation to Boliva next month. Neither of us has been. Has anyone here gone, rikita maybe? I have been trying to come up with an itinerary. We'll fly into Arica (flights Santiago-La Paz are insanely expensive), bus over to La Paz. We definitely want to go back to Chile via the Salar de Uyuni tour. We're trying to figure out one more destination in the two weeks. I am thinking of either Coroico or Cochabamba. Santa Cruz sounds interesting, but the bus trip is long (and uncomfortable according to a friend) and flights are pretty expensive. Any thoughts? I am kind of leaning to Coroico since it sounds like transport-wise it is easier. Both seem to have similar things to offer as far as climate and nature.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #2 on Jul 9, 2009, 7:14pm »
Yeah, that is my one concern, not so much for me, but for my husband. See my thread here http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/ind....ead=1768&page=1 . We are allowing some leeway in the itinerary in case we run into delays, which should help.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #3 on Aug 14, 2009, 4:16pm »
We head out tonight, wish us luck! US citizens require a visa. I tried to get one from the consulate beforehand but they were out of the stickers to put in my passport and can't issue them. Supposedly it should be easy to get one at the border, but I am a little nervous, you just never know how the border officials will act. Crossing over to Argentina a few years ago they gave me a major hassle about my insurance documents and almost sent me back down the mountain to buy another policy. We decided that if for some reason they give me problems, we'll to to Peru instead.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #5 on Aug 14, 2009, 4:37pm »
Thanks . With the change in plans we will be heading directly from the airport to the bus station to get a bus to La Paz. They mostly leave between 7-9 am and our flight arrives at the ungodly hour of 6:40 am, so we should be able to get to La Paz by tomorrow afternoon.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #8 on Sept 1, 2009, 2:58pm »
We made it back Saturday AM. I have started uploading some photos on facebook, for those that are there. I still need to go over my notes and write up a little trip report for here, with photos too, of course. I probably won't get to it until this weekend, I have the bosses from Chicago here so there are lots of meetings, dinners, etc.
We ended up scaling back the trip a whole lot upon discovering that it tends to take longer than the guidebooks and bus companies say. The trip Arica - La Paz was supposed to take 7-8 hours but ended up being 10, and the border crossing was fast. We decided to save Salar de Uyuni for another time, leaving from San Pedro, which we want to see anyways and which means less travel time.
In summary:
Favorite place - Coroico, about 90 km from La Paz, subtropical paradise Overrated - Lake Titicaca/Copacabana, if we had it do over, we would have gone somewhere else for those days Surprise - La Paz, liked it a lot more than I thought and we spent more time there than planned, the altitude is brutal, though
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,317 Location: Mexico
Re: Bolivia « Reply #9 on Sept 1, 2009, 4:32pm »
Hooray -- you are back safe & sound! Sounds like y'all had a good time overall. Can't wait to hear and see the details.
Gringalais -- do you know how to capture the url from your Facebook pictures? If not:
Mouse-over image. Right-click. Choose "Properties" Choose "Location" & copy. Paste here, highlight, & click on image button. Just remember you have to do it from the full-sized Facebook picture and not from the thumbnail.
oh you didn't like lake titicaca? i really liked it... did you stay overnight on the isla del sol? if so, did you stay in the village where everyone else stayed, or hike on first (then you get to more quiet places)... i like la paz too... else, the only other place in bolivia i visited is sucre... did you cross the border up near arica? the first pictures remind me of the national park there (forgot the name) and some people cross the border from there...
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #15 on Sept 3, 2009, 1:47am »
Thanks everyone!
Rikita, yes, we crossed from Arica by bus. The cost of plane tickets to Arica, when compared to La Paz was about US$450 per person less due to LanChile promotions on domestic routes and the bus ticket was only about US$12.
I didn't like Copacabana from the moment we arrived. For the amount of tourists it receives, the place was really run down and had an edgy/border town vibe. I would have least at thought it would have more nightlife due to being a more touristy place, but it was dead. Restaurants kicked you out at 10 pm. At night we couldn't sleep. The stray dogs that seem calm during the day form packs that bark all night and then the hotel closed early so that people arriving later made huge amounts of noise to be let in.
Then, when you walk the streets, no one lets you be. they want you to go to their restaurant, take their tour, buy their handicrafts, etc. I know we are tourists, but I have been to lots of touristic places that are not so much in your face like that.
I did like the cathedral. It was beautiful and we came across a wedding procession leaving the cathedral, accompanied by a mariachi group and a group of traditional Bolivian musicians, alternating songs.
We didn't stay long on Isla del Sol. I think part of our opinion was already formed by the negative experiences in the town, plus being on an overloaded boat next to a guy who had probably drunk a bottle of rum before didn't help. The island looked totally overrun with hikers and the vegetation was just dry grass. There was a charge just to set foot on the island, and then we were overrrun with people wanting us to hire them as guides or to go to their restaurants. We went to one of the Incan ruins and it was not too impressive. The combination of factors meant that we didn't feel a draw to stay longer.
We absolutely adored Coroico, where we had been before, so maybe that made us expect a lot from Copacabana and the lake, but still, if I had it to do over I would have considered other destinations, maybe Sorata.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,317 Location: Mexico
Re: Bolivia « Reply #16 on Sept 3, 2009, 1:53am »
Wow, Gringalais -- that whole Copacabana experience is like the opening to some kind of noir movie. Thank goodness for the lovely experience in encountering the wedding. It's awful to spend time and money getting someplace that turns out to be not at all pleasant.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #17 on Sept 3, 2009, 2:05am »
Yeah, the wedding was definitely the most interesting part, along with the cars all decked out to be blessed (with the way they drive, I guess they need it). We were surprised also in other places that there seems to be an interest in Mexican things, mexican music, tacos and chili con carne on the menu in places offering in general Bolivian food.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 437 Location: Chile
Re: Bolivia « Reply #18 on Sept 3, 2009, 2:14am »
And, yeah, to give an idea of travel times, it took over 9 hours to make the trip from Coroico to Copacabana, changing busses in La Paz.The total distance is only about 230-40 km. It definitely was a good idea to scale back our plans.
ah, lauca national park it was called, now i remember... have you visited it (other than riding through it by bus, i mean) yet? it's one of my favourite places in chile...
well, i didn't really stay in copacabana, so i guess i can't say much to that - i only got there to catch the boat to the isla, and then got back to catch a bus back to la paz. though i must admit i often like a run-down, boarder kind of feel... though touristy can be annoying, yes... that is why in isla de sol i ignored all the people trying to sell me stuff or get me to their hostal. i had seen on the map there is another village in the middle of the island, so i walked on (getting a bit scared this might have been a mistake when it started getting dark) and ended up finding a nice hostal where i was the only guest (and only guest in that village) with a very nice owner with whom i chatted a lot, a beautiful view for sunrise, and next day i hiked alone for about the first hour, before other tourists started catching up with me... i guess had i always been surrounded by other tourists, i might think more like you...
as for the entrance fee, i understand that, though... also the people all trying to get you to their hostal - bolivia is very poor, and the people living on the islands are very poor. they get a huge influx of tourists that probably also destroy quite a bit of the nature (by walking through it) and traditional way of living, so i guess at least trying to earn some money out of it is understandable... and in the end, neither the entrance fee nor the hostales were particularly expensive... but i agree that it still can get annoying when everyone wants to sell you something...
No whining and wimping from the husband? Isn't he supposed to prefer more comfortable travel?
He had a few moments, mainly about the longer bus rides and schlepping luggage around, but generally was fine and liked most places once we got there.
Rikita, yes I know there is a lot of poverty and people do depend on tourist money in many places, but that doesn't justify harrassing tourists constantly like we experienced in Copacabana. Coroico had tourists, too, but it didn't have that vibe. And funny that the fee on Isla del Sol was supposedly to provide money for keeping the island clean when there was garbage everywhere. The waterfront in Copacabana was really dirty and abandoned too. People come there to see the lake, so I would have thought at least that part would be maintained better.
dunno, i didn't think there was that much garbage in isla del sol... as for the people hassling - of course, as i said, i find it annoying too. justify is a difficult word though - thing is, if there are only very few sources of income (hostal, restaurant, souvenirs) for quite a few people (the whole population of the island) and there is no regulation about it, there will be a lot of pressure and rivalry. if some start hassling people, the others have to either do that too, or they won't get many tourists, because most tourists will go with those who first offer something to them. one option is of course to go to those who don't hassle (like me walking to that other village, where as i said, i was the only guest in the hostal). i know, it continues to be annoying, and yet, i think one has to understand the action of the people... i guess the vibe gets very strong if it is a place that is particularly touristy (and i suppose copacabana is a lot more touristy than coroico, though i haven't been to coroico, so i don't know) and has not much other options... of course you still have a right to be annoyed about it...
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Neither of us has been. Has anyone here gone, rikita maybe? I have been trying to come up with an itinerary. We'll fly into Arica (flights Santiago-La Paz are insanely expensive), bus over to La Paz. We definitely want to go back to Chile via the Salar de Uyuni tour. We're trying to figure out one more destination in the two weeks. I am thinking of either Coroico or Cochabamba. Santa Cruz sounds interesting, but the bus trip is long (and uncomfortable according to a friend) and flights are pretty expensive. Any thoughts? I am kind of leaning to Coroico since it sounds like transport-wise it is easier. Both seem to have similar things to offer as far as climate and nature.
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. With the change in plans we will be heading directly from the airport to the bus station to get a bus to La Paz. They mostly leave between 7-9 am and our flight arrives at the ungodly hour of 6:40 am, so we should be able to get to La Paz by tomorrow afternoon.
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