We had heard the darkest stories about Bolivia. "It is very dangerous, people will kidnap you and steal your money from your credit card until it is empty, they are very insisting, it feels like India in regards of touts, it is very dirty, be always careful" and more. All of this was in our mind when we crossed the border and found out - hey, this isn't so bad! Throughout the more than 2 weeks we were there we felt mainly safe - except in one very crowded avenue in La Paz where a guy behind me tried to open a pocket in my backpack - by chance I looked to my mirrored image on a store and saw him, immediately scaring him away. Argentina- Bolivia was a very easy border to cross (we literally walked over a bridge from La Quiaca to Villazon): one Argentinian stamp here, another Bolivian there and you are good to go! The first difference we noticed was how cheap the food was!! We ate a whole meal (soup, salad, main dish, desert and drink) for 2 € !! We learned a valuable lesson, always look for restaurants offering "menu" (the 4 courses menu)! As Villazón didn't have much to see, we got in the Wara wara train to Tupiza. It was a very swingly train and ran at a not-so-fast speed, nice to enjoy the view! Tupiza was not very exciting (particularly food-wise, there is only fat fried food everywhere! And we had the cheapest and thinnest hamburger ever/ 3 BOL or 0,40 € for a 2 cm piece of meat in a bun!)
But it was where we started the best road-trip so far !!! There is a lot of offer on excursions to the Uyuni Salar in Tupiza, we took the one offered by our hostel and we can only recommend it ! (Hostal Los Salares, tour guide Victor ) Usually you go in a Jeep in a group of 4 people + the driver + a cook, who will cook all meals whenever and wherever we stop. For us the driver was Don Victor and the cook Maura. They were very kind and we were feeling close to them by the end of the 4-day tour. Maura had something in common with Ines that she shared with us while laughing really hard: "mi hobby es dormir"! (her favourite hobby was to sleep!) That was indeed true as she slept all through most of the days, which we understood in the end when she explained us that she used to wake up at 4 am to prepare our breakfast and lunch!.. Victor was very funny and knowledgeable, by the end of the trip we were sharing jokes! With the company of our Swiss friends Zoe and Greg ("Mucho gusto!") we started the trip on the way to Uyuni Salar, unaware of all the surprises that awaited us! Our visit to the Iguazu Waterfall was amazing! Read about it! If you want to know more about our hike in Taffi go here. We had an amazing day visiting Quilmes and the Quebrada de Cafayate. One of our greatest adventure was hiking and climbing in Rio Colorado. Check it here! The Quebrada de Humahuaca has amazing colors! In Iruya, we went back in time: check it how.
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