Unbenanntes Dokument

Tupiza, set in a landscape of colourful eroded mountains, was our first stop after having crossed the border at Villazon. From there, we set out on a 4 days round trip in a Landrover, accompanied by a driver and a cook, to the Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa. Until recently, the Reserve’s wonders were unreachable and the unmarked, rugged truck tracks were impassable during the wet season. Some of the beautiful places we visited were so high up, it made our heads spin. Laguna Colorado, at 4’280 m is just one of the highlights of the reserve, its shores encrusted with borax and salt, arctic white, makes a great contrast to the red algae-coloured water of the Lake. The different colours and its setting, with many flamingos feeding on the algae, were extraordinary to see. This high altitude scenery with coloured mountains and lakes, towering volcanoes, weird rock formations and thermal activities are unique and one of the most fabulous landscapes in South America! A must for every Bolivian traveller! On the 4th day of our trip, we crossed the Salar de Uyuni, the largest and highest salt lake in the world. Driving across it was an almost mystic experience, especially since it was still covered with water. The colonial mining town Potosi, with its twisting, steep streets was the highest city we visited. Spaniards formerly extracted immense amounts
of silver from the hills around Potosi. Mining still continues – mainly tin, zinc, lead and wolfram. Sucre, referred to as “La Ciudad Blanca”, owing to the tradition that all buildings in the centre be painted white (UNESCO/World Cultural Heritage site), was one of our favourites. Tarabuco with its indigenous Sunday market was also quite an
experience. Villagers still wear their traditional costumes and hats on a daily basis. La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, at the bottom of a canyon and surrounded by snow-peaked mountains, took our breath away – literally. We therefore decided to move to the valley of Mallasa (2’900 m), since breathing and sleeping in La Paz was a problem
for us. Another breathtaking experience was the downhill mountain bike ride on the “World’s Most Dangerous Road”! The unpaved road is steep, twisting and clinging to the side of sheer cliffs and drops from 4’700 m to 1200 m over a distance of roughly 60 km. Its reputation for being dangerous is more than matched by the beauty of the scenery.
From La Paz we flew to the tropical northern lowlands around Rurrenabaque, before heading towards Lake Titicaca.

Bolivia 25. March 2011 until 26. April 2011
Tupiza, set in a landscape of colourful eroded mountains, was our first stop after having crossed the border at Villazon. From there, we set out on a 4 days round trip in a Landrover, accompanied by a driver and a cook, to the Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa. Until recently, the Reserve’s wonders were unreachable and the unmarked, rugged truck tracks were impassable during the wet season. Some of the beautiful places we visited were so high up, it made our heads spin. Laguna Colorado, at 4’280 m is just one of the highlights of the reserve, its shores encrusted with borax and salt, arctic white, makes a great contrast to the red algae-coloured water of the Lake. The different colours and its setting, with many flamingos feeding on the algae, were extraordinary to see. This high altitude scenery with coloured mountains and lakes, towering volcanoes, weird rock formations and thermal activities are unique and one of the most fabulous landscapes in South America! A must for every Bolivian traveller! On the 4th day of our trip, we crossed the Salar de Uyuni, the largest and highest salt lake in the world. Driving across it was an almost mystic experience, especially since it was still covered with water. The colonial mining town Potosi, with its twisting, steep streets was the highest city we visited. Spaniards formerly extracted immense amounts of silver from the hills around Potosi. Mining still continues – mainly tin, zinc, lead and wolfram. Sucre, referred to as “La Ciudad Blanca”, owing to the tradition that all buildings in the centre be painted white (UNESCO/World Cultural Heritage site), was one of our favourites. Tarabuco with its indigenous Sunday market was also quite an experience. Villagers still wear their traditional costumes and hats on a daily basis. La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, at the bottom of a canyon and surrounded by snow-peaked mountains, took our breath away – literally. We therefore decided to move to the valley of Mallasa (2’900 m), since breathing and sleeping in La Paz was a problem for us. Another breathtaking experience was the downhill mountain bike ride on the “World’s Most Dangerous Road”! The unpaved road is steep, twisting and clinging to the side of sheer cliffs and drops from 4’700 m to 1200 m over a distance of roughly 60 km. Its reputation for being dangerous is more than matched by the beauty of the scenery. From La Paz we flew to the tropical northern lowlands around Rurrenabaque, before heading towards Lake Titicaca.
Itinary Villazon, Tupiza, San Antonio de Lipez, Quetana Chico, Aguas Calientes, Laguna Verde, Laguna Blanca, Disierto de Dali, Laguna Colorado, Huayluara, Villa Mar, Valle de Rocas, Uyuni, Salar de Uyuni, Corregimiento de Caltapi Puneu, Potosi, Sucre, Tarabuco, Oruro, La Paz, Masalla, La Cumbre, Coroico, Rurenabaque, Copacabana	Highlights Lagunas Verde, Blanca and Colorado, Salar de Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, Tarabuco, Masalla, Rurenabaque
Bolivia
Crest of Bolivia	Road to Tupiza
Starting our 4 days trip	Altiplano
In the highlands	In the highlands
Our Landrover	In the highlands
Laguna	Thermal springs
Our cook and driver	Local beer
Laguna Blanca	Geysire
Laguna Colorado	Laguna Colorado
Driving through the desert	Desert mountains
Valley of the rocks	Salar de Uyuni
Salt pyramids	Loading the salt
Salar de Uyuni	Salar de Uyuni
Yoga in Uyuni 79	Train cemetery Uyuni
Me and the cooks	Repairing a flat tyre
Mine in Potosi	Typical Potosi house
Sucre	Market in Sucre
Market in Sucre	Market in Sucre
Sucre	Sucre
Tarabuco market	Tarabuco market
Tarabuco market	Tarabuco market
Tarabuco market	Tarabuco market
Strike in La Paz	Strike in La Paz
La Paz	La Paz
La Paz	Valley of the moon/Mallasa
Slippery road in Coroico	Juerg and Pepe in Rurrenabaque
Airport bus	Flight back to La Paz
Lake Titicaca	Crossing to Copacabana