In Tupiza we went for a walk into the local countryside (very dry) following the map given to us by our hotel which had some trails roughly marked. We aimed to walk to the Puerto del Diablo but managed to miss a turning and ended up at the El Duende Canyon instead. According to the map this was actually much further than we thought we had walked and it was well worth it. We walked up the dry riverbed for a way as the canyon was very pretty before going back to the road we came along and turning back toward Tupiza. On the way back we saw a horse track to the side of the road and decided to follow it as it was more interesting. It led us to the Puerto del Diablo which we'd been trying to find earlier. From there it was only a few km back to town. It was a good 4 hour walk at altitude and in dry dusty conditions but was worth it.
The next 4 days we spent on a tour of the altiplano and salt flats finishing in Uyuni. This is a standard 4 day jeep tour with a driver and cook one of which is also a guide. There were 4 in our jeep, us and a Dutch couple who spoke enough Spanish to translate most of what the guide said for us. The tour involves long hours in the jeep, cold nights in very basic hostels and fantastic food and views. There are lakes of every colour, thermal ponds, strange rock formations caused by ancient volcanism and geysers. We also saw lots of vicunas and llamas and flamingoes.
The Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world, was partially flooded so we couldn't see all of the interesting features. We did see one of the salt hotels and had lots of time on the salt lake to compose pictures using the strange lack of perspective. We did the tour with La Torre tours in Tupiza and would recommend them.
From Uyuni we took a bus to Potosi, about 4 1/2 hours to see this old colonial city. In the 17th century Potosi was the richest city in the world and bigger than London, New York and Paris were at that time. This was because of the large mountain that stands over the city and has been mined for silver, tin, zinc and other minerals for nearly 500 years. Potosi was the centre of the silver industry until the 19th century. The mines still exist but now produce a lot less than they used to and are very dangerous places to work. We did a mine tour and spent about 1 1/2 hours in the dusty cramped and poisonous conditions. Miners can expect to work there for only 10-15 years before getting silicosis so bad they can't mine anymore. The tour was very interesting and guided by an ex-miner who spoke very good English. We did the tour with Koala Tours. We also visited the Casa de la Moneda (The Mint) which was also very interesting. It houses a unique example of 3 huge mule powered silver rolling mills which are very impressive.
From Potosi we caught the overnight bus to La Paz where we stayed in the Estrella Andina hotel which has beautiful murals all over the walls and serves a very good breakfast in its rooftop bar. From La Paz we did the World's Most Dangerous Road bike ride, a downhill mountain bike ride on the old road to the jungle. It is downhill from 4700 m to about 1000m and about 63km. We did it with Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking who were very well organised and worth paying extra for. At the end we had lunch in La Sende Verde, an animal rescue centre, which has lots of animals and is very relaxing. You can also spend the night there or volunteer with them. I also did the zipline after the bike ride which was excellent. It was in three sections across the valleys and an amazing thrill with great views.
We also did a 3 day/ 2 night Pampas tour with Bala Tours. This involved flying from La Paz to Rurrenabaque and a 3 hour jeep ride to the Yacuma river. Both our flights were delayed which is common. The flight there took off on time but when we arrived the pilot couldn't see the runway through the fog so turned around and went back to La Paz. The flight took off again 1 1/2 hours later. The return flight was delayed 2 hours because the previous days flights hadn't been able to make it. The lodge we stayed in was lovely and relaxing and it would've been nice to spend more time there. We had two boat trips down the river, a walk, swam with pink river dolphins and fished for piranha. We saw capybara, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys, caiman amd lots of birds of many species. Swimming with the dolphins was a highlight. They were amazing and came up really close and brushed against you and we stroked them gently. They were amazing! I also caught six small piranha and threw them back which was quite fun. Another highlight was getting really close to very curious squirrel monkeys at the end of a long (and chilly) boat ride. We had to spend one night in Rurre after the tour as the flights do not go late enough to avoid this.
Back in La Paz we discovered that the roadblocks at the Peruvian border were still in place and probably will be until after the Peruvian elections on June 7th. The protests have turned quite violent with buses and ferries being stoned and customs and immigrations being burnt down. Also Puno now has riots in the streets. Astonishly tour operators in La Paz still seem to be selling through tickets to Peru! The reputable tour agnecies we spoke to said there's no way through and the only way to Peru is to fly to Cusco or Lima so we've paid $340 US each for tickets to fly to Cusco tomorrow (Sunday). This means we won't see Lake Titicaca but we don't really fancy getting stones thrown at us.
On our last day in La Paz we walked up to the Killi-Killi viewpoint to look out over the city and to Calle Jean which has lots of colonial buildings and museums. The precious metal museum was most interesting. I also did an open top bus tour of the South area of La Paz and the Valle de la Luna. This was well worth it and allowed for a 1/2 hour guided stop of the Valle de la Luna. We have also eaten well in La Paz, I would recommend the Star of India, a British run curry house that was fantastic, Sol y Luna (Dutch owned), La Cueva (Mexican) and Olivers Travels, a friendly 'fake' Bristish pub!
Overall Bolivia has been much easier to travel in than I expected. It is still cheap and there is lots of interesting things to see. We could've have spent much more time here.
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