Bolivia I: La Paz and Salar de Uyuni
After our civilized weeklong respite in Buenos Aires and Rio, we moved on to La Paz - the highest capital city in the world at 11,975 feet above sea level - and met back up with our friends JP and Annamaria. I must confess that I knew almost nothing about Bolivia before arriving, except for the fact that this is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a shootout.
Bolivia is also the second poorest country in South America. The economy is a disaster. The official exchange rate is <7 Bolivianos to the $USD, but access to $US dollars is so difficult for them that in any market you can find an exchange stall that will give you 11 Bolivianos for a $USD. Shortages of gas, and especially diesel fuel, result in lines at gas stations that remind me of the US during the 1973 Arab oil embargo.
La Paz itself is a city of striking contrasts, with many people living on the edge - literally, despite the very real risks posed by mudslides that occur annually during the rainy season.
Despite this reality for many of the poorer residents of the city, there are still plenty of good hotels, a surprising number of excellent restaurants, mostly frequented by travelers, and a vibrant modern art scene. The foodies out there may be interested to know that we had the opportunity to eat at Gustu - started by one of the co-founders of Noma (5 time winner of the World’s Best Restaurant); Ancestral - run by the former head chef at Gustu; and Amari - just opened a week before we arrived in Bolivia by Marsia Taha, named 2024 Latin America’s Best Female Chef, all for a small fraction of what fine dining would cost back home. And I got to continue my culinary adventure, eating local favorites like llama burger, grilled llama, dried llama, cow heart, cow tongue, pigs ear, and alligator ceviche.
For the artsy folks out there, we had the amazing good fortune of meeting and befriending the children of the late Gaston Ugalde, Bolivia’s most famous artist, often referred to as “the Andean Warhol”. They are incredibly genuine and generous people, committed to carrying on the legacy of their father (we hope that they will come to Boston this summer so we can at least begin to repay their hospitality 🤞). Here is just one example of Gaston Ugalde’s work
Bolivia has a much larger indigenous population than most South American countries, though the indigenous (and women) did not gain the right to vote, or the right to go to university, until 1952. The iconic image of Bolivia is that of an indigenous woman (typically of Aymara or Quechua descent) known as a “Cholita”, in her traditional attire including a large skirt, bowler hat, and long braids (and in this case, because modernity leaves no one untouched, carrying a Michael Kors handbag - yes, Annamaria and Melanie noticed that detail, not me)
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Bolivia is the “syncretic” nature of their religious and cultural practices - a blend of indigenous Andean beliefs with the Catholicism brought by the Spanish. One good example is the San Francisco church in the center of La Paz that features both the Virgin Mary and Pachamama (Mother Earth)
Even more striking are the items and offerings for sale at the Witches Market in downtown La Paz, where you can buy every charm and potion you can imagine, from love to curses to protection, as well as offering baskets to Pachamama (typically containing sweets, various charms for good luck, and a dried llama fetus). The baskets are burned and the ashes are then buried as an offering.
After exploring La Paz, we took a quick flight to visit Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flats, and a photographer’s dream, especially when a thin sheen of water atop the flats creates a mirror effect, and it’s nearly impossible to tell where the land ends and the sky begins. Melanie took so many incredible photos that it was impossible for me to pick the best one, but here are just a few examples
And in and around Uyuni are more incredible sites and landscapes
Before I conclude this post, just a quick word of advice for those who might consider paying a visit to Salar de Uyuni. It’s definitely worth it, but there’s a super high-end way to do it, and then there’s the way we did it - with a local Bolivian tour company. If you choose the latter, just be prepared for it, including a driver who has a constant wad of coca leaves in his cheek, vehicles that lack heat or working windshield wipers - a squeegee can do the trick, though it would have been more helpful if the driver had a longer left arm
And accommodations that likely would not earn a full star on the 1-5 star scale
I’ll leave this post there. Hope you’ve enjoyed, and hope you enjoy the second Bolivia post as well!
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