Adventure Accounting

I didn't know what to expect from Bolivian cuisine. There wasn't a lot of familiar fastfood chains when I wandered around the streets of La Paz . It took me a while to find an ATM that accepts my card so that I could get more Bolivianos. I was hungry and I picked up the delicious scent of friend chicken. Sold! Pollos Copacabana With my hand gestures and limited Spanish, I ordered a meal set with a sad chicken leg, sad plantains, soda and some fries. It was a sad meal for BOB 27. That dang fried chicken scent! Sad chicken meal. We stopped at Mercato Lanza during the walking tour. has a lot of stalls that serve fruit salad, fruit juices, fruit shakes and fruit sandwiches. There were also stalls that serves meals but we didn't go there. I learned that Bolivia grew 600 different types of potatoes. For someone like me who loves fries...that...is...awesome. Fruits fruits fruits

I was looking fo r a pla ce to stay on the day of my flight from La Paz to Uyuni , and the night when I return from the Salt Flats tour. I though it would be good to catch some rest when I arrive and before I leave Uyuni. Somewhere w ith h ea t : hot water, heater rooms and hot break fast. Hostel reviews in the Uyu ni area are mixed - some sing praises while throw curs es in their reviews . I we nt with Hostal Oro Blanco . B ooked 2 nights in Booking.com ($29/ BOB 200 per night).  This i s quite expensive for a backpacker like me but I've been travelling for a while so comfort and wa rm th are a must as t his point - I'm not 21 and backpacking for 8 months, y a k now. ;P . T he hostel is just a couple minutes away from the small Uyuni airport . T axi fare from Uyuni airport to Uyuni town costs 1 0 BOB. The frontdesk staff spoke limited English but we managed. There was one helpful guy who spoke above average English and he came to the rescue when I ran out of hand ge...

I had another restless night. I fell asleep because I tried to lull myself to sleep while reading. I tossed and turned around because I has wearing four layers of top and two comforter blankets. And I was in a winter sleeping bag. Brrrrrrr. Our third and last morning started as cold, as expected. With chattering teeth, we brushed our teeth, had a quick breakfast then packed our stuff to the ever reliable Toyota Land Cruiser. Seriously, I have a whole new respect for Land Cruisers nowadays. That vehicle has a lot of traction that can withstand the terrain of Uyuni.  After an hour of driving (wherein I spent my time sleeping), we arrived in the geyser area. We were warned to be careful because we might slip and end up in the geyser. You don't want to end up in the geyser because the nearest medical facility is miles and miles away.  Geyser in Uyuni Not a lot to do there. We were still sluggish and it was freezing cold even with all that geyser smoke. I took some ph...

I woke up early. I was able to sleep but I was not able to rest. After a quick breakfast and toilet time, we hauled our now salty bags back to the vehicle. Here comes Day 2 ( here's Day 1 ).  We were miles and miles away from the Uyuni (Funny how I use miles and miles as an expression but I have a better idea of what a kilometer is vs. a mile. It is not nice to say kilometers and kilometers away). Good morning Uyuni view. We drove so early in the morning and stopped in these tracks. Our driver told us to get down from the vehicle because he had to get over this train track and we were heavy (He said that in Spanish) It was a beautiful sunny and cold morning in Uyuni. Here's my lying-down-in-the-tracks pose. I should've ditched the bag. We drove for almost an hour to our next time. The landscape in Uyuni reminded me of the Savannah in Indonesia , but it is emptier. And definitely colder. 

You are  here! I peppered this post with a lot of photos.  It will probably take a while before they are all loaded but do stay with me.  After countless hours of research and a whole day of preparing for the 3-day trip, I was still worried about... lots of things. Looking back, those were all useless worrying. The strip of restaurants and travel agencies in Uyuni are busy and bustling from 9:30AM to 10:00AM everyday. The tourists just keep on coming and it seems that the supply can meet the demand. I saw Toyota Land Cruisers scattered all over, piling up the stuff of the tourists for the next 3 or 4 days.   I met my jeepmates (what should I call them?) for the day: me, Julia - a female fresh graduate from Canada, Maud and Julian - a couple from France, Jairo - a male professor from Columbia and a couple from…I cannot recall, but the guy spoke English and they both spoke Spanish. That makes 7 of us in the van. A typical Uyuni tour consists...

South America is a huge continent, with countries differing in their terrain. With all the variety that the continent offers, choosing which countries to visit can be daunting. Matt Harding dancing in the Salt Flats convinced me to choose Bolivia.  Matt Harding of Wheretheheallismatt Salar de Uyuni  is the world’s largest salt flat. The Salt Flats. Uyuni, Bolivia. That is not best photo to capture the magnificence of the Salt Flats. Magnificent is an understatement to begin with. I wasted a couple of minutes trying to select what photo to put in here.  Getting to Uyuni is not easy. Getting to Bolivia is already a challenge , from where I live. While there is an overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni (which is is only around $30), I was scared of bus robbery, and I was a female travelling alone. I bought expensive tickets from La Paz to Uyuni airport via Amaszonas for BOB 2,272 (approximately $330). As far as I know, this is the only airline that ...

H ostel Ananay was an easy choice. They have high consistent reviews in Tripadvisor and they have a website (this is impor tant for me). I also appreciate how the y responded to all my emails swiftly . The hostel's location is perfect to explore the city. The cobblestone street is a picturesque sight. Every major sight is walking distance from here. The hostel gave me a map and showed me some city tour flyers. Wifi was spotty, so don't expect to be online for a long time. It also worked in the common areas only. The staff was really helpful, spoke good English, and warned me about scams.   One particular scam is the fake Bolivian police scam . Someone approaches you, claim they are also a tourist, chat will you, try to gain your favor, and they speak good English. Then a person pretending to be the Bolivian police approaches you and asks you guys to show him your passport for inspection. Your new tourist companion (the accomplice of the fake police) says that...