3601 Bolivia I

La Paz and Sajama
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The drive to LaPaz was quite spectacular along the lake Titicaca with an amazing ferry service between the two sides of the lake. The cars were transported by small barges with tiny engines across the channel of about 1km. Our camper wobbled like a big jelly pudding and made the entire barge twist. I could not look without being too worried, but we made it across. However, arriving in LaPaz and trying to avoid the city by going around to get to our camping place was much more complicated. Despite multiple request to policemen and pedestrians we only managed to avoid part of the town. But is was amazing seeing this multimillion people city wedged into narrow valleys between 4000 and 3300 m. It looked like being on another planet.
In the end we found our great hotel parking site. A swiss hotel with swimming pool and excellent restaurant offered camping on their parking for 6 $ per night. We stayed in LaPaz for 3 nights partly due to the very late arrival of our parcel but as well because we were quite intrigued by the city.
I was still looking to replace my footpump for the tyres and we wanted to talk to some travel agencies about going through Bolivia to the South (rather than leaving to the West and avoiding the deserts of the South). So we walked the town for two days. In the end we met an older swiss fellow who had lived in LaPaz for the last 24 years. He was a mecanic and rented out 4-wheel-drive vehicles to cross Bolivia and further South. He was tremendously helpful to us and (for a small gratuity) he spent a couple of hours with us showing on his detailed maps (and giving us copies) where we could attempt to go off-road to enjoy the beauties of the country. He inspired a lot of confidence in us and we decided to change the plan and to attempt some off-road driving in order to experience this country.
A day later (we had picked up the parcel that contained 8 letters to Anna and numerous letters from their current and future classes to the girls) we were on the road to the National Park Sajama. We discovered that the main roads in Bolivia were in perfect condition and we rushed at 100 km/h towards the volcanoes that were already visible several hundred kilometers before actually standing at their bottom. We entered the park on the dirt road and drove (with numerous camera stops) to the Thermales, some hot springs just of the road. There we met a swiss and a german couple who had themselves been travelling for more than a year.
The following morning we rushed to the springs and had a bath at outside temperatures around 5-10°C, while the water had a comfortable 40-45°C. It was one of the most spectacular baths I ever had. The scenery of three volcanoes close to 6000 m surounding the area, lamas in the background and wonderful blue sky. I used the afternoon to go for a little run on one of the little hills that I had discovered just behind the 筺絼罾膀莂薄螆覈變趌辎醐鎒閔
the camper. A closer look at the map made me aware that the little peak was actually not so little but just above 5000 m. This did obviously not discourage me, on the contrary: my first 5000 m peak was just what I needed. Surprisingly, the 700 m of difference in altitude went much easier than I thought and after two and half hours I was back at the camper. The body must have adapted to the altitude since by now we had spent about 4 weeks constantly between 3500 and 4300 m. We decided to stay another day and drive a bit deeper into the park to a lake where flamingos were supposed to be. We did not find the flamingos but enjoyed the calm and landscape nevertheless.
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La Paz and Sajama

The drive to LaPaz was quite spectacular along the lake Titicaca with an amazing ferry service between the two sides of the lake. The cars were transported by small barges with tiny engines across the channel of about 1km. Our camper wobbled like a big jelly pudding and made the entire barge twist. I could not look without being too worried, but we made it across. However, arriving in LaPaz and trying to avoid the city by going around to get to our camping place was much more complicated. Despite multiple request to policemen and pedestrians we only managed to avoid part of the town. But is was amazing seeing this multimillion people city wedged into narrow valleys between 4000 and 3300 m. It looked like being on another planet.

In the end we found our great hotel parking site. A swiss hotel with swimming pool and excellent restaurant offered camping on their parking for 6 $ per night. We stayed in LaPaz for 3 nights partly due to the very late arrival of our parcel but as well because we were quite intrigued by the city.

I was still looking to replace my footpump for the tyres and we wanted to talk to some travel agencies about going through Bolivia to the South (rather than leaving to the West and avoiding the deserts of the South). So we walked the town for two days. In the end we met an older swiss fellow who had lived in LaPaz for the last 24 years. He was a mecanic and rented out 4-wheel-drive vehicles to cross Bolivia and further South. He was tremendously helpful to us and (for a small gratuity) he spent a couple of hours with us showing on his detailed maps (and giving us copies) where we could attempt to go off-road to enjoy the beauties of the country. He inspired a lot of confidence in us and we decided to change the plan and to attempt some off-road driving in order to experience this country.

A day later (we had picked up the parcel that contained 8 letters to Anna and numerous letters from their current and future classes to the girls) we were on the road to the National Park Sajama. We discovered that the main roads in Bolivia were in perfect condition and we rushed at 100 km/h towards the volcanoes that were already visible several hundred kilometers before actually standing at their bottom. We entered the park on the dirt road and drove (with numerous camera stops) to the Thermales, some hot springs just of the road. There we met a swiss and a german couple who had themselves been travelling for more than a year.

The following morning we rushed to the springs and had a bath at outside temperatures around 5-10°C, while the water had a comfortable 40-45°C. It was one of the most spectacular baths I ever had. The scenery of three volcanoes close to 6000 m surounding the area, lamas in the background and wonderful blue sky. I used the afternoon to go for a little run on one of the little hills that I had discovered just behind the

the camper. A closer look at the map made me aware that the little peak was actually not so little but just above 5000 m. This did obviously not discourage me, on the contrary: my first 5000 m peak was just what I needed. Surprisingly, the 700 m of difference in altitude went much easier than I thought and after two and half hours I was back at the camper. The body must have adapted to the altitude since by now we had spent about 4 weeks constantly between 3500 and 4300 m.
We decided to stay another day and drive a bit deeper into the park to a lake where flamingos were supposed to be. We did not find the flamingos but enjoyed the calm and landscape nevertheless.