Making The Most Out of One Week In Bolivia

At a Glance:

Airport: El Alto, elevation; 13,615 feet.

Stay in La Paz, elevation: 11,913 feet (higher than Leadville, Colorado)

Language: Castellano; biggest tip – learn your basic phrases in Spanish because there is very little English spoken.

The One Week Itinerary:

Day One: Adjust to altitude and walk around Plaza De San Francisco to take in the views of the city and find some killer street vendors. Eat healthy, invest in a three liter bottle; and drink it. Advil and Ibuprofen help for headaches and the overall affects of altitude sickness. Take care of yourself or your week adventure could end up a week in bed. If you're prepping for your trip here and flying into El Alto try to hydrate before hand by taking in extra water and water dense nutrition.

Day Two: Do the walking tour with Red Cap Tours; retails at 3USD! They go twice a day at 11am, and 1pm, plus you can just show up; no reservation necessary. On the tour you’ll walk the streets learn about La Paz’s history, descend though the witches market and countless street vendors trying some of Bolivia’s most authentic street food and customs. Also plan your tours. Now, since you just got your tour around the city take some time to visit some agencies and book your tours. I suggest the Three Day Salt Flat Tour in Uyuni, and the Death Road Challenge.

Day Three: Do the Death Road Ride. Don’t be too intimidated there are plenty of people who make it through without even a scrape, but also tread lightly it can be dangerous if you're not comfortable on a bicycle. Oh for the love of paradox; just go

for it you can always jump in the van if you don't trust yourself to finish. Spoiler Alert: it’s called Death Road because of the cars not the cycles so you’re not going to die, honestly. I used No Fear Adventures located in downtown La Paz. Included in the tour was breakfast, lunch, all of our gear, two guides and a small group which made everyone feel more comfortable, plus a CD with all our photos and pictures and T-shirts! Everyone hands out T-shirts I've noticed. Note to fellow travelers; don't over pack shirts you'll have plenty of tourist accomplishment T-shirts. Well worth the experience and the price. Everyone's prices are comparable but you can negotiate and I suggest you do to get the best deal. Also ask about what’s included. For example with any tour agency these vary; is food included? All your equipment? What about emergency services? Never hurts to cover all your bases.

The ride it's self is going to be challenging, it’s 64 Km with 85 percent downhill, 10 percent flat, and 5 percent with some small uphill along the way. If you know how to ride a bike and you're confident you can do this ride. It will be scary at times as there are sharp turns, plenty of rocks, and very few guard rails. However, as I said before, it’s well worth it. You’ll feel a very strong sense of accomplishment at the bottom. You can say you survived. After the hill is complete you stop at restaurant for a buffet dinner. You can also swim in their pool and visit the fresh water river at the basin, just bring your bug spray! The bus for the tour leaves early in the morning around 7am and brings you back in the evening around 6-7pm.

This is perfect timing to hop and bus to Uyuni. The buses leave between 8-9pm each night and arrive the next morning around 6am. They only leave in the evening so grab a semi-cama for budget travel or full cama for a little extra room. Both of these options are affordable and comfortable. And after a hard day of riding you’ll crash anyway.

Day Four-Six: Arrive in Uyuni and grab breakfast at one of the small cafes. Many of them open as early as 4am, they are used to people arriving early from the buses. Your tour of the flats will start around 10am so you’ll have time to enjoy a slow breakfast. Many tour agencies also open early. You should be able to drop your bags off in the office and explore the city a little bit. Uyuni is a small town that caters to mainly tourism. Markets and shops open early, walk around and get your bearings for the day, the first day of your tour is long but truly a highlight.

This first day of the tour will bring you through the Train Graveyard and then out to the physical flats where you experience something like nothing else. If you have a

great guide they will be interactive and energetic about having a few laughs with some fun photos and allow you to take your time to absorb the vast flats. Make sure you wear sunscreen! The sun here is bright and reflects off the flats like snow. I managed to burn the underside of my nose, my eyelids, and my forehead along the underside brim of my hat. I was impressed with myself until I couldn’t touch my face for over a week. The next two days are spent completely unplugged, where you'll be enjoying the company of new friends, eating family meals, and sleeping in authentic salt hotels.

The second day you will explore the changing scenery. You'll visit lagoons, see flamingos, and climb mountains. The changes in the landscape are breath-taking. I found it hard to believe that we could venture from the flat white salt deserts to mountains with endless ridges. Its impressive and unbelievable how much you can see in such a short amount of time. You will find yourself in a sense of wonder and awestruck in the creation of it all.

Finish your salt tour on day six. This morning you're getting up early and watching sunrise. You'll also be seeing more lagoons on your way home and geysers and paint pots! Think Yellowstone National Park. When the day is done you’ll be arriving between 4-7pm and trust me you will be tired. It’s nice to have a plan but take the next day to recover form your adventure. SLXLMThe combination of long car rides, hot temperatures, and constant sun exposure are a combination for exhaustion, allow yourself time to recover and process. It's hard still for me to summarize the experience I walked away with. What I can say is that for the first time I had to sit with my struggles and really evaluate for myself what was going on for me throughout my trip and during my current adventure. It was a hard thing to do but when it’s you and hundreds of miles of flats you can’t face anyone but yourself, and it’s liberating.

Day Seven: Leave from Uyuni and head West to Chile, South to Villazon to cross over to Argentina, or north back to La Paz and on to Peru. There is a ton if options for traveling on to wherever you're going. Remember that if you're heading to Brazil or Paraguay especially as a US citizen you need a visa and they cost 160USD and you need to apply for them before you get there. Don’t make the same mistake I did. If you're heading to Brazil there is one option to get your visa next day at Iguazu Falls but this is frowned upon and not always fool-proof, you still need all the required documents and a cash payment for the visa price. The price should be 160USD but they have the right to charge you whatever they want so just do it in advance and be safe.

"Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward." - Drew Houston