Bolivia - How long to spend there?

Hey guys,

I have spare stop overs as part of my RTW trip and I have chosen Bolivia as one of them. Any idea on how long I should spend here? I'm not interested in going to every corner of the place, just the good places i.e. where there is stuff to see and do and safe.

Thanks

dory

You could easily spend a few weeks there. Def salt flats. I'd recommend going to Tupiza and starting the tour from there, you get to see more. Santa Cruz and Sucre are cool places to hang out in for a while. Potosi is weird but also cool. Then there's the rainforest and La Paz, and maybe even that big lake. Lots of places to see!
Lots has been said about the place on here so you could do a search for more info.

Thanks for the reply.

While I'm here, how long should I spend in both Brazil and Argentina? One month each enough?

james1234

In a month you could take in a lot in Bolivia, it's relatively small by South American standards.
Salt Flats at Uyuni, Rurrenabaque (the Amazon), Lake Titicaca if you have time, sucre I hear is worth it also.

For Brasil/Argentina a month in each would allow you take in the major hotspots, and leave a little time for relaxation. Bear in mind Brasil is more expensive that Argentina, and can be even more expensive than Europe for travellers, especially Rio and Sao Paulo.

Yeah thanks for the heads up. The currencies are looking pretty sexy at the minute though so I'm banking on that to get me through.

p to the e

if you're going to La Paz make sure and stay in Loki Hostel. best fun is there and they can organise a lot of your trips. make sure and do the bike tour down the worlds most dangerous road. it's fantastic if you don't mind a little cycling. there's also a tour in the prison there which is given by the inmates. someone staying in the hostel usually has a number but don't ask the people that work there. they won't help you regarding that. Rurrenabaque is great but a little hard to get to. don't expect to arrive on the day you're supposed to. the airline is prone to delays days at a time. if you are doing the salt flat tours try and finish it across the border into Chile and head to San Pedro De Atacama. Majorly laid back town with tonnes of adventure stuff to do. Sandboarding, rafting etc. then you can a decent bus to San Tiago (the capital of Chile) and fly out of there. the bus is about 18 hours but there's also some great stops along the way. skiing resorts and that kind of stuff.

Pat Mustard

And there is the mountain biking tour down the infamous 'Death Road'. Alas, one of my regrets, that I did not get to do it. Tis a day trip from La Paz. All and sundry told me that it was worth it.

Flynn

p to the e wrote: »

if you're going to La Paz make sure and stay in Loki Hostel. best fun is there and they can organise a lot of your trips. make sure and do the bike tour down the worlds most dangerous road. it's fantastic if you don't mind a little cycling. there's also a tour in the prison there which is given by the inmates. someone staying in the hostel usually has a number but don't ask the people that work there. they won't help you regarding that. Rurrenabaque is great but a little hard to get to. don't expect to arrive on the day you're supposed to. the airline is prone to delays days at a time. if you are doing the salt flat tours try and finish it across the border into Chile and head to San Pedro De Atacama. Majorly laid back town with tonnes of adventure stuff to do. Sandboarding, rafting etc. then you can a decent bus to San Tiago (the capital of Chile) and fly out of there. the bus is about 18 hours but there's also some great stops along the way. skiing resorts and that kind of stuff.

Yeah Loki is cool in la paz, there is also adventure brew & the wild rover..
Dont organize your trips from Loki, The tour operator located inside the hostel is a rip and walking around to the actual tour shops will save you a lot of money. Gravity offer the death road for 600 B´s while you can find it from equally reputable companies for as low as 400 B´s. (this does go down to 220 B´s but i'm sure the bikes wouldn't be up to scratch) Also if you want to get a bus anywhere just show up at the bus station, dont book with a tour company like gravity. This kind of applies everywhere.

Yeah people are supposed to get fired for sending you to the prison, but you don't need a number. Just head up there and ask the guards for Kenny. He's a black south african dude. There are 2 sides to the prison. Bolivian and International. Go to the bolivian side! its such a better experience and cheaper. International is basically a coke binge.

Have fun!!

What is this about the prison? Are you not allowed there as it is? Also about the cycle down death road, i'd be well up for that but would my girlfriend? She is fit but I doubt her bike skills are any good. (Sorry girlfriend)

kraggy

I'd say

La Paz 4 days (make sure you do The World's Most Dangerous Road)
Uyuni 5 days (incl. travel to Uyuni)
Rurrenabque 5 days (incl. 3 days pampas trail and travel to Rurrenabaque, some bus it, others fly, it's one hour from La Paz)
Potosi, arrive one day, do mines the next morning then leave that afternoon
Sucre, 1 or 2 nights. Lovely historic city to look at but not much to actually do
Lake Titticaca, 2 nights?
If you go to Copacabana, just on the Bolivian side of the Bolivia/Peru border, BE REALLY CAREFUL WITH YOUR BAGS, WALLETS, NECK WALLETS ETC. They are lethal there. What is really common there is that you could be standing waiting for a bus with your rucksack between your legs and one guy distracts/pushes you while another steals your bag - in broad daylight. It's unreal. Another thing that's common is somone spits in your face and you're so shocked that you don't have the wits to stop the other person from taking your bag, wallet etc. We heard of these type of things happening before we arrived and then both of these things actually happened to 2 people we were talking to. The stealing of the bag thing happened right beside us while tens of people waited for a bus in the middle of the day. Copacaban was the only place where I felt I really had to have my wits about me in all my travelling in S.America. So be careful.

That's about 24/25 days altogether. You could spend much longer in Bolivia if you wanted but I wouldn't spend any less. Otherwise you won't enjoy it as much.
That's in no particular order. Look a at a map of Bolivia and see which way you'd like to do it. Obviously, where you're coming from and where you'd like to go next would have a bearing on your plan.

To those who got into the prison. When were you in Bolivia? We tried and couldn't organise it. Tried ringing a number that didn't work and then went up to the gates but were told they don't do it anymore. It was last summer.

For the World's Most Dangerous Road, only go with gravitybolivia.com. They're the safest. And cycle carefully. It really is dangerous. A guy that was with us nearly went over the edge. He came off the bike. He survived but his bike fell over the edge. It was that close. Seriously, take your time. But definitely do it. One of the highlights of my trip.

I second the Adventure Brew hostel in La Paz. Nice top floor bar and the staff are cool. You can organise TWMDR from there.

Obviously do your travelling at night. You save time and you save money on accommodation.

Flynn

Everything kraggy said there is on the ball... except i do disagree with the gravitybolivia.com. There is no need to trust a company because they are the most expensive. No-one will cycle beside you to make sure you don't fall off the edge. It can happen regardless of who you go with. It happened when i was in la paz too (can't remember the tourgroup) He was lucky though. All the reputable tour operators have ex-downhill bikers as staff. B-side is a good one for 470 B´s. radical rides do it for 400. This includes breakfast and a few hours in a 4 star hotel with shower & swimming pool + 3 course meal. (as does gravity)

As for the prison i think only the international side used to be open to backpackers as when we did the bolivian side (a month ago) the south african dude was pleading with us all to tell our friends to come as it makes money for everyone involved. So maybe there was a temporary stop to the international side visits... or both? Very crazy tour though. Our body guard was a cartel. "El Condor!"

You will hear of many ways of people try tricking you into stealing your ****. from kidnappings to ¨accidental¨ wet floors on a bus to force you to put backpacks overhead. Dont take any **** from locals.

And yes your girlfriend will be up to the challenge. I had mine nearly in tears when testing the bike and then passing me out on parts of the road 3 hours later. The first 45 minutes are on a main road with fresh tarmac so you get a good feel for the bike before you go on to the dirt / gravel section with rain, stones & dust in your eyes... They will assign a guide for every 5 riders so you can go at your own pace.

If you like animals and want to do something different check out intiwarayassi.org .. magic.

Give Bolivia as much time as you can afford to.

For bus trips - Diazapam

Thanks Guys, gonna post my itinterary now in another thread for feedback. Appreciate the help.