150 - Bolivia in 10 days or less

We've spent the last ten days in Bolivia, which isn't really enough
to do it justice. But we've had a great time and have learned a lot
about travel in this beautiful South American country. Border
crossing The border between Peru and Bolivia is easy to cross. We
went by bus, and the bus stopped outside the police station to
allow us to hand in our tourist cards - it's really important that
you don't lose this little piece of paper! You'll get it when you
enter Peru. After the police station, we went to immigration for
our exit stamp, then walked about 200m up the road to the Bolivian
offices, where we filled in forms and got our entry stamps. Despite
the fact that as Kiwis we can stay for up to 90 days, they only
gave us 30-day visas ... apparently we can extend them in La Paz,
but we didn't get the full quota automatically. And the border
crossing wasn't easy for all of us. Ange's passport had been stolen
in Cusco, and though she'd got a replacement travel document and
had a full police report of what had happened, apparently this
wasn't good enough for the Peruvian border guards. She needed an
entry stamp, which she apparently had to get back in Cusco, but of
course her travel document was only valid for that one day. Luckily
a one-off fee solved the problem, and we were allowed to leave the
country. Copacabana and the Isla del Sol Copacabana is a tiny
little tourist town perched on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Its lack
of ATMs made it difficult to get cash - always make sure you have a
stash of emergency money for this kind of situation. US dollars are
definitely the currency of choice to carry around in South America,
and we found the exchange rates at the border and in Copacabana to
be very reasonable. Copacabana is a good jumping-off point for
tours to the Isla del Sol. You can camp or stay in a hostal on the
island, but we chose to do a one-day trip. It was very well-priced:
it would have cost us about the same to do the same thing
independently. We were dropped off at one end of the island, and
the boat met us on the other side. We've noticed that the Bolivians
are much more concerned about time than the Peruvians - both boat
trips left very nearly on time, and anyone who wasn't there to get
on the boat was left behind. Bus journeys Bus travel in Bolivia has
been an experience. It's a step down from Peru, which in turn was a
step down from the excellent service in Chile. The trip from
Copacabana to La Paz included a surprise boat trip, which we hadn't
been told about and had to pay for. We had planned to get more cash
from an ATM in La Paz and so didn't have much money, but luckily
we'd changed a little more just before we left. We went across on a
motorboat while the bus crossed by a wooden barge. It was
interesting, to say the least! The bus from La Paz to Uyuni had a
different seat configuration from the one we'd been shown when we
booked our tickets, so we weren't in the seats we wanted, and our
group wasn't sitting together. There also seemed to be a lot of
extra stops along the way, despite the fact that we'd been told
that it was a direct service. La Paz La Paz is a sprawling city
with a lot of markets and hills. It's the highest city in the
world, so altitude might be a problem for some - luckily coca tea
is easy to come by, which should help you out. There's also a lot
of excellent street food to try, like papa rellena (deep-fried
stuffed mashed potatoes), freshly-squeezed juices, doughnuts and
other gems. There are a lot of taxis to choose from in La Paz, but
use ones with a radio for security. They should call their base to
let the base know where they're headed and with how many people. As
always in South America, agree on a fare before you get into the
car, and if you don't feel safe, choose another taxi. For more
visit http://indietravelpodcast.com/podcast/travel-bolivia-safety/