Travel - Salt flats and silver mines...

Occasionally overlooked, Bolivia has plenty to offer travellers who have an open mind and an adventurous spirit. By Craig Sisterson
Travellers are often drawn to South America by iconic experiences like Peru’s Inca Trail or Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. It seems like no one goes there specifically for something in Bolivia. But maybe they should. The only landlocked country in the massive continent, and the most affordable in which to travel, is packed with a wildly diverse range of fascinating things to see and do.

Incan birthplace

Although Peru is considered the centrepiece of Incan civilisation, legend has it that their genealogy traces back to Isla de Sol – a rugged island on the Bolivian side of Lago Atitlan – the highest navigable lake in the world. Ferries to Isla de Sol depart regularly from the sandy beaches of Copacabana, a lakeside town near the border crossing. On ‘Sun Island’, a walking circuit takes you past ancient terraces, ruins and sacred spots, and a couple of small but fascinating museums.

Copacabana itself has a relaxing atmosphere befitting its waterside location. Stroll the markets for colourful knitted goods or tasty saltenas, or wander up to the hilltop cemetery for spectacular views. And Copacobana has another attraction – entering Bolivia overland from Peru minimises the risk of altitude sickness, which can easily strike those who err by flying directly into La Paz, the highest capital in the world, from sea level.

La Paz

Even if you’ve acclimatised to the high altitude, La Paz can take your breath away… literally. There’s plenty to see wandering its maze of streets, but after a few short blocks you might be puffing, regardless of your level of fitness.

La Paz is a sprawling city, but many key sights are reasonably central: ancient churches and monasteries, statue-centred city plazas rimmed by impressive government buildings (some still sporting bullet holes from past coups), museums displaying impressive Incan gold, and the colourful and occasionally grotesque “witches’ market” – complete with superstition-based treatments like dried llama foetuses.

La Paz’s location also gives travellers great access and options for many other Bolivian places of interest. You can head north for riverboat trips through the wildlife-packed Bolivian rainforest, or to grab a mountain bike and hurtle down ‘the world’s most dangerous road’. To the south, there’s Sucre, silver mines and salt flats.

The White City

The ‘other capital’ of Bolivia gets its nickname from the hue of its colonial architecture – which eschews the bright and pastel colours popular elsewhere. But beyond its historic plazas, buildings and churches, Sucre also provides something completely different – a taste of the prehistoric.

In a nearby quarry, fossilised dinosaur footprints were found. Now travellers can hop on the ‘Dino Truck’ for a bumpy open-air ride up to Parque Cretacico (Cretaceous Park), where life-sized models of the extinct reptiles are part of an informative walk leading to a lookout. It’s a strangely cool experience viewing millennia-old marks in the mud; tangible reminders of creatures we’ve only ever seen in books or special effects-heavy films.

El Diablo’s realm

The quarries in Potosi don’t contain dinosaur footprints but still provide adventurous tourists with another very unique experience. Once the richest city on the planet (and still the highest), Potosi has for centuries been a centre for silver mining. In amongst pastel-hued colonial buildings, travellers can visit the Minting Museum, learning the history and technology behind the coins created for the entire Spanish empire. You can even emboss your own coin from high-quality silver.

For those who prefer more action, a tour of a working mine is highly recommended. Kitted out in overalls and safety gear, you’ll first stop for supplies (for yourself and for gifts for miners and their god, El Diablo). Then after witnessing a detonation on the surface, it’s down into the dusty deep. It’s completely surreal: coca-chewing workers bustling past with wheelbarrows of ore, the absolute blackness when headlamps are switched off, and the gifting of cigars and cheap alcohol to a person-sized ‘devil’ statue. It’s no longer the richest city in the world, but Potosi still provides rich adventures.

More than a pinch

While Potosi centres on silver, nearby Uyuni is all about salt. The rustic, even ramshackle, town is the gateway to the spectacular Salar de Uyuni. The best way to explore this stunning landscape is via a three or four-day guided jeep tour.

It’s hard not to get The World’s Fastest Indian flashbacks as we head out onto the shimmering salt; whiteness stretching as far as the eye can see. On the first day, we stop at a rocky outcropping for lunch – a rare island sprouting from the sea of salt. Nearby are great spots for all sorts of photo-taking shenanigans – the white flatness messing with perspective and allowing plenty of size-altering playfulness.

Our nightly hostel is itself made almost completely from salt – everything from the floors to the stone-like walls to the bed bases. We’re surrounded by salt; a dietician’s nightmare. The first day alone was worth the (very affordable) price of the tour, but there’s more to come.

As we head further south toward the Chilean border over the next day and a half, our jeep rides through a myriad of stunning landscapes: stark rockscapes that inspired Salvador Dali; llama-filled fields; lakes tinged bright red, green and blue (some home to hordes of pink flamingos); and geysers and hot pools amongst scenery that seems like someone mixed Rotorua with the moon.

Bolivia may be more about minerals, but for travellers it’s simply a gem.