Overview: Bolivia is the cheapest country in South America. Depending on your budget you can find cheaper places to stay than those listed here. Alternatively, you can splash out a little bit and stay in some very nice places. Our choices were largely above complete budget, but were, on the whole, great value for money. Copacabana – Fresh off the bus from Puno, Peru, we headed to La Cúpula to see if they had any rooms, as the hostel had been recommended…
We’d been told in Peru from travellers coming north that Bolivian food was rather underwhelming and that there was little choice for vegetarians. I’d had quite an easy time in Peru and so was bracing myself for a month or so of nothing but rice and omelettes. However, while it was true that Bolivia is less foodie than Peru, there were some good veggie options and I only ate about two omelettes in almost two months. (And they were nice…
Its a long way down! Before arriving in South America, I had read about the so called ‘death road’ in Bolivia, which according to Wikipedia claims up to 300 lives every year. I watched youtube videos of buses travelling along very narrow stretches of road, with sheer drops of over 600 metres. It looked horrible. Looking over the edge Then I started to read that it had become a bit of a tourist attraction. Travelling down this road where so…
In South America, peñas are or (are supposed to be) bars or restaurants where people get together to play traditional folkloric music, eat, drink and be merry. Intrigued, we first attempted to go to a peña in Arequipa, Peru. However, the one listed in the Lonely Planet just didn’t exist. We asked a couple of locals if they knew where it was. They didn’t. One of them looked it up on his iphone and found the Lonely Planet entry and sent…
Arrival La Paz is quite literally breathtaking. At an elevation of between 3,200m and 4,100m above sea level, even a leisurely stroll around the city centre can leave you feeling short of breath. Most people arrive into La Paz from El Alto, which is actually another city in itself, growing fast into the flat plains above the capital. The view of La Paz as you travel into the city from ,El Alto, is incredible. The cable cars are a…