I took the LONG bus ride from Rurrenabaque to La Paz (18 hours - noon Monday until 6am Tuesday) in order to save money.I got to La Paz before 6am and then by 9am I was on a bus on my way to Copacabana, by Lake Titicaca .Luckily it didn't take me too long to get acclimatized again (3800m ASL) and I managed to check out the Basilica there with the famous Virgen de Copacabana and walk up 2, yes 2! big hills!I walked up this rocky hill which I think is called Niño C...

I did a special jungle tour w/ Mashiquipe, a group that uses indigenous people along w/ a French couple, Celine & Jack, and a Polish guy named Rafol.On our way on the boat ride on the Rio Beni (meaning wind) I saw some white egrits, blue herons, river gulls (white & black), a tiger bird and more capybara (even their footprints) - yeah!We then visited a family that processed sugarcane & oranges & grapefruit.We got to press our own sugarcane. It was...

I decided to take the Amazsonas plane from La Paz to Rurrenabaque instead of the 20 hour bus through winding treacherous roads!It was only a 40 minute flight and a very nice one at that - with great views of the mountains around La Paz along the way.At the airport I met Alicia, an American, & Phil, her British boyfriend and stayed at the Hostal Oriental with them & booked a pampas tour w/ them through Fluvial tours.It was hard to get used to the heat afte...

On the way to the pre-Columbian archaeological site, Tiwanaku we drove through the city of el Alto (1.2 million) which used to be part of La Paz (2 million) but became separate.The Tiwanaku culture lasted 2700 years - the longest in South America !The site has been declared a Unesco site and they will still be working on excavation there for years to come.We saw the local people working on the excavation of the Kantatallita pyramid but weren't allowed to take pi...

This was a very difficult 3 day exercise in insanity!A guide that I had met in Chile encouraged me to climb a mountain in Bolivia since it was fairly cheap and easy here, all things considered.Of course I had never even been above 3000m above sea level until this trip, but I guess you have to try sometime so I did!The first day I got equipment, and drove w/ 2 Germans & an Aussie (yes I was the only girl) to a lodge at 4700m.From there we walked to a glacier t...