Bus-capades. That’s how I would describe trying to get from the Uyuni Salt Flat back to Peru. The jeep driver told me if I went back to Uyuni, I would be stuck by the roadblock for possibly several days. There was no solution in sight and I was obviously going to miss my scheduled trip to Sucre. He suggested I go through Chile to get back to La Paz and finally to Cusco. Lasting over 2 ½ days, it ended up being the longest bus trip of my life.
Finally, I made it to Uyuni after successfully breaking through a Bolivian roadblock. I had booked a three day all inclusive tour of the Uyuni Salt Flat (Salar de Uyuni) and the Eduardo Abaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve for an incredible price. I was looking forward to starting the tour the next morning.
An hour after the bribing incident, we pulled up to Copacabana, a tiny town on the shores of Lake Titicaca that happens to be the namesake for the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro.
One of the fascinating things about La Paz are its seemingly never-ending maze of street markets in the city center. Tents, stalls, or sometimes just blankets on the ground line the streets selling just about everything you can imagine. Do you need vegetables for a big dinner party? Head to the streets. Are you looking for a pair of socks, a light bulb, shampoo, and perhaps a toilet seat? You’re in luck!
Nuestra Señora de La Paz, or simply La Paz, is an eccentric place. As soon as I arrived in the city, I was ready to leave, but I felt I had an obligation to see it. I’m glad I did. The city is unique if not only for its altitude, which ranges between 3200-4000m. That means different zones of the city have entirely different climates!
There really isn’t too much to see in Belo Horizonte, but I was pleasantly surprised by this city. It was clean, friendly, organized, and in a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains.
Although I didn’t include Foz do Iguaçu in my original plans for Brazil, I decided that one of the must-sees on my trip had to be a visit to Iguazu Falls. I cut off a few days in Ilhabela to make it happen.