The next few days after leaving the Pantanal went by in a bit of a blur for us. We were moving from city to city with the over-arching objective of reaching the town of Tupiza, Bolivia by the morning of 2nd of August. How difficult is it to get around these days with modern technology and the internet? You're right - but we would still learn that Bolivia is one of the most difficult countries to travel into and within for the following reasons:
1) There is very limited official information on the internet about traveling in Bolivia - at least in English that we could find. We had to rely on forums and travel blogs based on the experiences of those who have gone before us.
2) You almost can't book your own flights or bus tickets online. Don't ask us why. We were at the mercy of the travel agents in the cities / towns we were in, whom we had to rely on to help us book our flights / bus tickets.
3) We don't speak the language (Spanish), which compounds the problem. Our fall-back was sign language and there were times when we had no idea if we actually bought the correct ticket or if we got the time right.
4) The roads / railway tracks in Bolivia aren't the best nor the safest. We read numerous accounts on the internet about extremely bumpy rides due to untarred roads. Or worse - buses crashing due to drunk drivers.
As far as we were concerned, we were going into "unchartered" territory. And that it was going to be a long 4 days.

Miranda, Brazil - Corumba, Brazil / Porto Quijarro, Bolivia
Our journey started at 2.15 am on 29 July from Miranda, Brazil, the town where we entered / exited the Pantanal. It was a 3-hour bus ride to the border town of Corumba. Once there, we had to figure out how to cross the border into Bolivia (there was minimal information about how to do it, just that it can be done). Fortunately, we met an American/Brazilian - Bolivian couple who were also crossing the border and also happened to be doctors. So we hit it off quite well with them. So well in fact, that we tagged along with them until we reached the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia's 2nd largest city. Back at Corumba, we shared a cab to the border where we had to wait about 2 hours for the immigration office to open. There were some initial confusion in the office and we were sent from counter to counter, possibly because they don't usually get Malaysian tourists so they were not sure if we needed a visa, etc. But after about half an hour and USD120, we eventually got our 30-day visa and entered into Bolivia.

Porto Quijarro - Santa Cruz
There are a number of trains and buses that ply this route daily. The couple we were tagging along with had decided to take the train as it was the more 'reliable' option, despite it being known as the "death train" (no need for alarm - the train was name as such because it used to carry yellow fever patients). As we were 'trusting' the locals, we decided to follow along on the train, which left at 4.30 pm. That meant that we had an entire day to check out Porto Quijarro and the neighbouring town of Porto Suarez. The highlight of our 8 hours there was the jacare (as in the thousands of caimans we saw in the Pantanal) nuggets we had for lunch. The 16 hours on the "death train" turned out to be pretty safe but extremely bumpy.
We spent the next 2 days in Santa Cruz. While the city is meant to be one of the most modern in Bolivia, compared to the big cities we've seen / living in, it's nothing remarkable. The highlight for us was Simon, the pet Toucan at the hostel we were staying in (Residencial Bolivar) - an incredibly friendly bird who hops around the dining tables in search of food.

Santa Cruz - Sucre
We had the "privilege" of traveling this leg by plane - the only flight we were able to take in Bolivia. And even then, we could only buy the flight tickets a day before and it was run by the military (best not to hit on the stewardesses). The flight itself was uneventful but soon after we arrived in Sucre, we were hit by our first taste of altitude sickness. Sucre, the official capital of Bolivia (but not the largest city), is situated at an altitude of about 2750 meters - not high by Bolivian standards - but for us "low-landers", it became a bit of a problem. For those who have not experienced altitude sickness before, think having a perpetual hangover, complete with nausea, migraines and shortness of breath. We did acclimatise somewhat after a day but by then, it was time to leave Sucre for even higher ground.
The highlight of this city is actually situated just outside it. 15 minutes away by the so-called "Dino Truck", we found ourselves at the site of the world's largest collection of dinosaur footprints. We didn't count but apparently there are over six thousand footprints from over 150 species of dinasaurs here. Interesting...if you're a paleontologist.

Sucre - Tupiza
Another overnight transfer - this time by bus. We knew we were in trouble when we saw that all the other local passengers brought along thick blankets on board. Reason being this route took us to an altitude of over 4000 meters and without heating on the bus, it got quite chilly. We would have gotten into serious trouble if not for the new winter jackets we bought just days ago.
8 cold hours later, we arrived at the little town of Tupiza at 3 am. As our tour was scheduled to start at 9 am, we opted not to pay for a night's stay in a hotel and instead crashed on the sofas in the lobby.
By this time, we could really do with a hot shower and some proper sleep, but we would later find out that we won't be getting either in the next 3 days. And all these, just to see one of the most amazing landscapes in the world.