Bolivia!

So we crossed the boarder into Bolivia! We´ve been having stomach problems ever since! It´s been great. Actually it has been a mix of great and not so great. We arrived 10 days before we were supposed to be in Tarija due to a last minute change of plans so we figured we would use that time wisely and catch the train to Uyuni to see the famous Solar de Uyuni - the largest salt flat and the flattest place on earth. We are certainly wiser because of it, but it can´t really be called using our time wisely.


We first caught the train to Tupiza, which was beautiful in all directions. We hiked one day together just in the hills that break the town in half and Courtney took off for a hike through the canyons north of Tupiza the last day. We spent the time there in a Hostel which cost an amazing 7 dollars US for two for a bed and shower. Bolivia truely is cheaper than Argentina. By a lot! People were friendly enough but pushy when it comes to buying and selling. The gringo price is very real.


We only stayed for 2 nights because of our dream to see the salt flat and our limited time. The salt flat was TRUELY UNFORTUNATELY under water on all the edges making it very difficult to bike so we decided to leave our bikes in Tupiza and take the expensive but breathtaking (so everyone informed us) tour of the area. This includes lakes that change color with the wind, deserts at 5000 m above sea level, rocks that look like trees, flamingos and volcanos. The whole tour is 3 days in jeep. The landscape truely is breathtaking. There were too many highlights to catalogue. We colaborated with Paul and Coline and all shared a jeep through Juliet Tours. We felt pretty good about the whole thing the night before we left but things rapidly became clear.


The driver and his wife (the cook for the tour) hated us. Hated us. From the moment we met they were apethetic at best and on the final day they sat in the tour office and told us we were the worst kind of tourists because we didn´t buy tons of things we don´t need. They refused any offer to talk and specifically refused to learn our names by saying it was too hard even before the words were out of our mouths. They told us we were greedy for trying to get a good price on the tour. This was the information they had before getting in the car with us that made them decide that we were awful. The tour office promised many things that they didn´t mandate the tour guides to follow through on (and probably didn´t pay them enough to follow through on) such as water and a night in a hotel made of salt. So we spent 3 days with hate spilling out of the backs of the heads of our guides. Rather uncomfortable. They refused any offer to talk and specifically refused to learn our names by saying it was too hard even before the words were out of our mouths.


So we did learn something: the beautiful, not to be missed landscape that is more than challenging - life risking? - by bike, was also not worth the tour. Parts of the tour were breathtaking, but it was still a tour - 10 min here for pictures, back in the car, 10 min there fore pictures. We were too slow for the driver´s comfort, but they were too fast for ours. We had heaps of fun with Paul and Coline and took some great pictures, just like a good tourist should. But all in all, the bike tour would have shown us beautiful things in those 3 days that would have meant more to us in the end. Coline kept wondering aloud whether this spot or that was bikeable, and we worried for the safety of our bikes back in Tupiza and Courtney´s back began to ache due to the many hours of sitting in a car.

We also learned quite a bit about the mining projects beginning in the area. There is a whole town that has been relocated due to a Japanese interest in cutting down a mountain the people used to live in due to the silver inside. The school, hospital and some other services are free thanks to the money the silver brings in. The mines are employed by the Bolivians and run by the Japanese. There is also an interest in the Lithium in the salt flat. Enough Lithium for 10 generations, our guide says. But in 10 generations, there´s no salt flat, right? They are in negotiations to build a plant on the northern edge of the flat as we speak. A French electric car manufacturer is especially interested.

Bolivia is traditionally rich rich rich with minerals and natural resources, such as gas, but as a country, is poor. Other countries have the means to mine the resources and Bolivia is left with nothing to show for it.

Well after the tour was over we busted ass to get out of Uyuni the same night and spent the next day biking around Tupiza and camping in the beautiful, stunning, canyon filled, countryside. Our few hours after the tour and before the train we made a lovely goodbye dinner with Paul and Coline who we had been biking and traveling with for 2 weeks or so. We also saw a little more of the tourist trap that is Uyuni. The town would not exist if it weren´t for the salt flat. People have become bitter and money grubbing because of it. The tourist is there to take advantage of the Bolivian and visa versa. It´s an ugly scene all around.

So we spent another couple days in the area around Tupiza and then biked back to the city and took a bus to Tarija. Here we´re working with Mauricio on his small organic plot within the city limits and his artisan projects and getting to know the town. Hopefully we´ll get a chance to work with the other organic projects going on in the area. A winery, cabañas etc. Pictures to come.

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