Trying to escape from San Pedro de Atacama! (And why you need patience if travelling through Argentina and Chile in winter)

Trying to escape from San Pedro de Atacama! (And why you need patience if travelling through Argentina and Chile in winter)

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   Now don’t get me wrong, we liked San Pedro de Atacama. We really did. But we also very thankful to get away! Some of our bad luck from the salt flats tour lingeredon and not only were we forced to stay an extra couple of nights, but we also had to change our travel plans. We managed to get stuck in a snow storm in the driest desert in the world! We had planned to go on to northern…

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Hanging out in San Pedro de Atacama

Hanging out in San Pedro de Atacama

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Sunset from Valle de Luna with the Licanbur volcano San Pedro de Atacama is really cute and chilled out little town in the middle of the driest desert in the world. It is now largely centred on tourism, but this hasn’t ruined its small town outpost feel.  San Pedro’s main drag – Caracoles It is very wild west and you could easily imagine cowboys riding into town to challenge each other to a duel. Happily, this doesn’t actually happen ……

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Being vegetarian in Bolivia

Being vegetarian in Bolivia

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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…

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The highs (and lows) of our visit to the Bolivian salt flats

The highs (and lows) of our visit to the Bolivian salt flats

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Our trip to Bolivia’s salt flats and other worldly landscapes of the country’s southwest was somewhat cursed from the start. First off we missed the bus that we had intended to take to Uyuni (where most tours to the salt flats start), as we struggled to find a taxi and then the police decided to check our taxi drivers papers. We arrived at the bus station, just as the very full bus was leaving. This was not too much of…

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Siete Cascadas and the road to nowhere

Siete Cascadas and the road to nowhere

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One Sunday in Sucre, we decided to go for a relaxing afternoon to the Siete Cascadas (seven waterfalls). We’d been told it was a beautiful spot, with pools to bathe in and areas where you could jump in. And it was only a short ride outside of Sucre. By the time we’d got ourselves ready, it was getting a little bit late and so we decided to “splash out” and get a taxi rather than work out where to catch…

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Highlights of Sucre

Highlights of Sucre

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The main square in Sucre We spent 3 and a half weeks in Bolivia’s constitutional capital, Sucre. Independence was officially declared in the town and while most of the administrative functions of Bolivia have moved to La Paz (with the exception of the Supreme Court), Sucre is still officially the capital, according to the constitution. It is considerably smaller than La Paz though and you can get to know it, or at least the central area in a matter of…

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And into the jungle!

And into the jungle!

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Madidi Travel’s resident parrot A trip to the Amazon basin is on most travellers’ bucket list. But it doesn’t come cheap. Our research showed us that Bolivia was one of the more affordable entry points into the jungle. In Peru, we met people travelling north from Bolivia – all of whom recommended different trips and tour companies.We decided fairly quickly against a ‘pampas’ or wetland savannah trip, as although you have a higher chance of seeing animals, due to the…

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The world’s most dangerous road

The world’s most dangerous road

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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…

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Our quest to visit a Peña

Our quest to visit a Peña

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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…

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La Paz: In pictures

La Paz: In pictures

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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…

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