The next stop for the Boys in Green was the amazing country of Bolivia. Landlocked Bolivia is regarded by many as the cheapest in South America; and with all its excellent attractions and great knock off clothes, it is a must for all travellers. Check out how the lads got on below.
“The final crossing from Peru to Bolivia turned out to be a bit of a disaster to put it mildly. What was sold to us as a direct bus to La Paz, turned out to be 4 bus changes which made for a ridiculous long trip. The border crossing itself went completely fine as we only had to trek 100 metres or so from Peru emigration to the Bolivian immigration without many difficulties. Once on the Bolivian side we were greeted by hundreds of locals all in typical Bolivian attire you see on postcards. It would be a bit like landing in Dublin airport to find everyone dressed in little leprechaun outfits and a pint in hand…well maybe forget the pint bit. Once over the border we made a short trip down the road where we were promptly told to get off the bus as we needed to cross Bolivia’s biggest lake. So we were hoarded onto a dingy and sped across the lake to wait for our bus to be ferried (very loose term, more like paddled) across the lake. As we were waiting for the bus to arrive, Kev spots some action on the boat and low and behold, there are two lads frantically throwing buckets of water out of the boat. Luckily the boat made it to the other side and we were on the final stretch to La Paz, taking in some breath taking view en route.
La Paz
We arrived in the highest capital city in the world around 5pm and were promptly dumped in the middle of nowhere, outside a beer factory. Could have been worse! We then headed to the Wild Rover hostel in the city centre which is a must for all backpackers and got unpacked after the epic trip. 2 hours later we had jobs at the hostel bar which boasted that it is the highest Irish bar in the world. Poor Johnny Foxs’ won’t be too happy with that.
We arrived in the highest capital city in the world around 5pm and were promptly dumped in the middle of nowhere, outside a beer factory. Could have been worse! We then headed to the Wild Rover hostel in the city centre which is a must for all backpackers and got unpacked after the epic trip. 2 hours later we had jobs at the hostel bar which boasted that it is the highest Irish bar in the world. Poor Johnny Foxs’ won’t be too happy with that.
To say that we are not the most experienced bar staff in the world would be a slight understatement and we began work the next evening a little nervous and a tad more hung over. That first night we had one wish, and that was that no one ordered cocktails. If they did, they were just getting a bottle of beer. Eventually the disastrous moment arrived when someone ordered a Cuba Libre from myself and I made the error of putting the Coke into the shaker, closing it and giving the whole thing a mighty good shake. Queue a huge explosion and Cuba Libre all over the bar and half the workers too. I put it down to faulty Bolivian bar apparatus. As we caught a hang of the bar work, we became increasingly aware of the bar manager’s musical preference, in particular the song “Get Lucky” which was played on the hour every hour. The song itself is not that bad, but its repeated playing stirred up images of an oul Linda Martin on the Late Late, hands in the air, murdering an alright song. So we stealthy put together a 90’s pop playlist which had people (including ourselves) up on the bar in no time.
The main advantage to working at the bar was that we received free accommodation and a free meal everyday which saved a lot of money. However, the main disadvantage was that we didn’t venture out of the hostel for the first 5 days and spent the entire saved money in the bar itself! Irish Economics, by the Wirld 2013. After a few days spent at Wild Rover, we felt it was time to see a bit of La Paz itself and headed for the ATM down the hill. That went fine until we had to head back to the hostel. Trying to do any physical exertion at nearly 4,000 metres is no easy chore, so we set up camp on the banks steps and made for the summit the following day.
Early the following morning we headed to Bolivia’s famous Death Road, located about 2 hours outside of La Paz. It is essentially a tiny road which wraps itself around a huge cliff. So if you fall, you are brown bread. After a tentative start the three of us were like Stephen Roche bombing it down the cliff. Kevin had a minor fall which hurt the man ego more than anything else, but apart from that we all returned in one piece and went straight for a celebratory pint. Once we returned to the Wild Rover that night we made a last minute decision to go into the jungle as many friends had recommended it in Bolivia, for its accessible pricing and vast array of species you can see. With that in mind, we made sure we went out with a bang in what we thought was going to be our last night in Wild Rover. Poor call from the Boys in Green.
Early the following morning we headed to Bolivia’s famous Death Road, located about 2 hours outside of La Paz. It is essentially a tiny road which wraps itself around a huge cliff. So if you fall, you are brown bread. After a tentative start the three of us were like Stephen Roche bombing it down the cliff. Kevin had a minor fall which hurt the man ego more than anything else, but apart from that we all returned in one piece and went straight for a celebratory pint. Once we returned to the Wild Rover that night we made a last minute decision to go into the jungle as many friends had recommended it in Bolivia, for its accessible pricing and vast array of species you can see. With that in mind, we made sure we went out with a bang in what we thought was going to be our last night in Wild Rover. Poor call from the Boys in Green.
Las Pampas
We arose early the following day at 4am and went straight to the airport to catch our flight. Having spent the previous day downloading jungle themed songs onto the iPod, we were ready. That is of course until we arrived at the plane that more resembled a bullet than a functioning plane. It made Ryanair look class! A bit nervous and freezing cold, we eventually landed safely in Rurrenabaque airport, which looked like some lad’s back garden.
We arose early the following day at 4am and went straight to the airport to catch our flight. Having spent the previous day downloading jungle themed songs onto the iPod, we were ready. That is of course until we arrived at the plane that more resembled a bullet than a functioning plane. It made Ryanair look class! A bit nervous and freezing cold, we eventually landed safely in Rurrenabaque airport, which looked like some lad’s back garden.
We then took a 3 hour jeep trip through the roughest of terrain, constantly smacking our heads of the roof until we finally reached the Amazon. The next three days were spent doing a variety of activities including alligator watching, swimming with pink dolphins, star watching (pretty amazing), piranha fishing and anaconda hunting. Without doubt it was amazing to see so many creatures but after a while it felt a bit like an adult adventure centre where the animals were just planted around a big circular river. Cynical Irish! This view might not have been helped by the fact out tour guide was not exactly the most giving in terms of information. For example, the day we went swimming with the dolphins, I had the cheek to ask, “Why don’t the alligators come into this area then?” to which I had the assertive reply, “They just don’t.” Grand so! The anaconda hunting didn’t exactly go to plan either as the only thing we uncovered were wet socks and pants after. On the trip we also had the chance to meet a lad from Hong Kong, who we could only be compared to the person who dies first in a horror movie. The poor lad had a death wish throughout and his parents must only be pleased he is making it home in one piece.
After 3 days of jungle rehab and having been excellently fed, we recorded some Irish dancing (alligator behind) and got the boat back to the harbour to head back to La Paz with the aim of watching Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Sweden. The tops came off in search of some last minute tannage! We got to the field in time for take-off and were back in La Paz in no time. The airport made Weston look like Heathrow.
La Paz (again)
No sooner had we returned to the Wild Rover in buoyant mood were we shot down to earth with the bitter realisation just how poor of a football team Ireland have. The original plan to leave that evening for the famous salt flats was suspended and some drowning of sorrows was put on in place. The next day we felt it was finally time to leave the Wild Rover and took in some last minute shopping (cheap as chips) before we bid an emotional farewell to the bar that had raised us from a young age. As a parting gift, the bar manager put DWIC on the big screen and we departed to a round of applause from all. Emotional times indeed. We left with the intention of getting the night bus to Uyuni to visit the salt plains and then going straight to Paraguay. If only Bolivia’s bus system had the same plans as us!
Uyuni
In what would turn out to be the first of 4 consecutive night buses, we were dealt a poor hand. What felt like an eternity to Uyuni, can only be described as the feeling of driving across Bray beach for 8 hours straight. Not one wink was had. We arrived at 7am in the ghost town of Uyuni and were promptly harassed by everyone to sign up for their Salt Flats tour until we finally found a decent deal and set off at 10am with another 2 lads.
No sooner had we returned to the Wild Rover in buoyant mood were we shot down to earth with the bitter realisation just how poor of a football team Ireland have. The original plan to leave that evening for the famous salt flats was suspended and some drowning of sorrows was put on in place. The next day we felt it was finally time to leave the Wild Rover and took in some last minute shopping (cheap as chips) before we bid an emotional farewell to the bar that had raised us from a young age. As a parting gift, the bar manager put DWIC on the big screen and we departed to a round of applause from all. Emotional times indeed. We left with the intention of getting the night bus to Uyuni to visit the salt plains and then going straight to Paraguay. If only Bolivia’s bus system had the same plans as us!
Uyuni
In what would turn out to be the first of 4 consecutive night buses, we were dealt a poor hand. What felt like an eternity to Uyuni, can only be described as the feeling of driving across Bray beach for 8 hours straight. Not one wink was had. We arrived at 7am in the ghost town of Uyuni and were promptly harassed by everyone to sign up for their Salt Flats tour until we finally found a decent deal and set off at 10am with another 2 lads.
The drive to the flats was surreal and something that everyone must visit sometime in their life. We were whisked around for about 6 hours to visit numerous attractions, take some famous photos and have some lunch in a deserted town. There we picked up two extra tourists who were returning with us. Queue hilarious scenes, as the girl, who was clearly a nervous passenger, met our driver, who was clearly falling asleep at the wheel. She made it her duty to keep the lad awake, by asking him a range of things from his favourite colour, to his favourite Ronald Reagan speech. The poor lad couldn’t blink without the girl asking another question. But we made it back safely anyway and after some food hopped on the bus to Sucre, as we had been told that there were no buses directly to Paraguay from Uyuni.
Sucre
The bus to Sucre was not the may west but did the job. The only problem was that it dropped us in the city at 4am and wouldn’t even enter the bus terminal as it was too early to open. After waiting a little while we got in and went to the bathroom to wash up a bit. At one stage we had a silent and mutual understanding where we all looked in the mirror and realised we were worse off than homeless people. There was one homeless lad having a shave in the sink and a mini wash. For the first time in our lives we were jealous. What have we become! 2 hours later, we were able to leave our bags in for storage and headed to the city centre to spend the day. Sucre is a beautiful colonial city, but does not have a lot going on at 7am, so we kept in line with our hobo status and went for a sleep in the main plaza. Living the dream!
The bus to Sucre was not the may west but did the job. The only problem was that it dropped us in the city at 4am and wouldn’t even enter the bus terminal as it was too early to open. After waiting a little while we got in and went to the bathroom to wash up a bit. At one stage we had a silent and mutual understanding where we all looked in the mirror and realised we were worse off than homeless people. There was one homeless lad having a shave in the sink and a mini wash. For the first time in our lives we were jealous. What have we become! 2 hours later, we were able to leave our bags in for storage and headed to the city centre to spend the day. Sucre is a beautiful colonial city, but does not have a lot going on at 7am, so we kept in line with our hobo status and went for a sleep in the main plaza. Living the dream!
Later that morning we went for a stroll to see some of the city and have some food. We also went to price some plane tickets to Asuncion as bus travel was proving a disaster. We got priced $650 for one way each so promptly headed for the exit and booked a bus to Santa Cruz which would at least be only one more bus journey to Paraguay! That afternoon we found the local Irish bar and watched Ireland get smashed once again, a defeat which dealt a killer blow to our Brazil ambitions. After such a defeat we felt things couldn’t get much worse. That is until we got on the bus to Santa Cruz. Now I know I have said in the past that some of the buses we have been on have been terrible but this bus tops them all. We were seated at the back on a bus which was absolutely filthy! I mean, the seats were full of muck and every time the bus hit a bump the dirt was shot in the air all over our faces. Added to the fact that the suspension on the bus was broken, we constantly smacked our head off the roof ensuring no sleep was had.
Santa Cruz
We arrived in Santa Cruz at 6am and as we were taking our bags off the bus came across one of the most unusual sights we have seen on our travels. There beside Chris’ bag in the undercarriage were two human feet. For a second we thought that maybe it was dead and the family wanted to skimp on funeral expense. Then it started moving. So we promptly grabbed our bags and legged it. After a few hours we eventually booked our tickets for Paraguay which would be leaving that night. So we dumped the bags, not before being asked for photos with locals, and hit Santa Cruz for the day. By now the days were blurring into one, so the town was identical to Sucre for us. The day was spent trying to spend as little cash as possible, so we lounged around the plaza and internet café. Our plan to go see the new One Direction movie was dealt a hammer blow when we were informed it was sold out. At 6pm, we headed back to the bus station and hopped on the bus for what we hoped would be the last leg of an excruciating exit strategy from Bolivia. Oh Lord please!
As always, thanks to all the amazing people we met at Wild Rover and beyond. Bolivia is without doubt a beautiful country which is extremely accessible to travellers with any budget. Just one tip…demand to see the bus before you get on it!
See you in Paraguay (for a few days!)
The Lads.
Santa Cruz
We arrived in Santa Cruz at 6am and as we were taking our bags off the bus came across one of the most unusual sights we have seen on our travels. There beside Chris’ bag in the undercarriage were two human feet. For a second we thought that maybe it was dead and the family wanted to skimp on funeral expense. Then it started moving. So we promptly grabbed our bags and legged it. After a few hours we eventually booked our tickets for Paraguay which would be leaving that night. So we dumped the bags, not before being asked for photos with locals, and hit Santa Cruz for the day. By now the days were blurring into one, so the town was identical to Sucre for us. The day was spent trying to spend as little cash as possible, so we lounged around the plaza and internet café. Our plan to go see the new One Direction movie was dealt a hammer blow when we were informed it was sold out. At 6pm, we headed back to the bus station and hopped on the bus for what we hoped would be the last leg of an excruciating exit strategy from Bolivia. Oh Lord please!
As always, thanks to all the amazing people we met at Wild Rover and beyond. Bolivia is without doubt a beautiful country which is extremely accessible to travellers with any budget. Just one tip…demand to see the bus before you get on it!
See you in Paraguay (for a few days!)
The Lads.
