Travel-Stained Life

On our trip and previous travels, little culture shock has attacked us.  Sure, we have been surprised, puzzled and joyed, but nothing quite as severe as “shock” in seeing something or being somewhere for the first time.  We would have expected it upon our arrival in South America, being exposed to new cultures, mountainous indigenous [...]

Things we learned: Currency: Bolivianos (7 Bolivianos=$1 USD) Cities Visited: La Paz, Potosi, Uyuni, Tupiza Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, but it is a budget traveler´s paradise. Three-fourths of the roads in Bolivia are unpaved and the buses are back to basic with no air-conditioning, lots of stops, and aisles full of [...]

Throughout our short time in Bolivia, we heard much about a tiny little town as the tourist track moves toward the Argentine border.  It was rumored to be small, very pleasant and in a gorgeous setting.  It was the nearest town to the final stand of Butch Cassidy they say.  Today that culture supposedly lives [...]

In Uyuni, we arranged a 4-day tour of Salar de Uyuni or “Salt Flats” immediately upon arrival.  To us, the town of Uyuni was unimpressive on the whole and we were happy to have scheduled the tour for the next day to make our stay as brief as possible.  Because our Spanish was still poor, [...]

Potosi, Bolivia was once the richest city in South America.  With the find of enormous reserves of precious minerals by Spanish colonialists nearby, money poured into the economy.  Today, the city is smaller and not nearly as wealthy, but mining carries on.  Although it is one of the most beautiful small towns we stumbled upon in South [...]