Backtracking: thoughts on Bolivia

So I realized I never wrote about my incredible 5 day experience in Bolivia towards the end of my South American journey. Truth is, it was a stop I hadn't planned on, yet turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the overall trip. I love when people or places surprise you in that way that your expectations are completely exceeded and that is certainly what happened on my Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats of Uyuni) 3-day Jeep tour. During my earlier travels in South America I had met many backpackers who raved about the Salar de Uyuni, so I filed it as something I wanted to try and do if time permitted. When I realized after Brazil, I would have a couple of weeks before I needed to head back to Santiago, I thought that it seemed like the ideal time. My original plan was to come in from Sao Paolo to Santa Cruz (there is a non-stop flight on a budget airline offered daily) and then make my way to Sucre as I had read about it on travel sites and in books and thought it sounded like a perfect stop over. From Sucre I would bus it to Uyuni to begin the tour. Unfortunately, as I've learned now multiple times, traveling (especially by plane) rarely goes how you'd like or expect and when my flight was delayed an extra day from Brazil I found myself making choices about where I would stop over before Uyuni. What became the best option was to get to La Paz since I could do that from Santa Cruz on the same night, stay over in La Paz and then take an overnight bus the next night to Uyuni. I wasn't thrilled about this new plan because A. I was missing out on Sucre and B. I had not wanted to go to La Paz at all, especially by myself, as I have heard many friends experiencing safety issues while traveling there. Needless to say, things happen for a reason and I made a fellow traveler friend who had also been stranded in Brazil and was planning the same route so we bunked up in La Paz, took the bus the following night to Uyuni and joined up on the same jeep tour. The experience the next 3 days completely made up for the travel horrors and unplanned stop in La Paz. The company I chose to go with, Red Planet, was fantastic. Our guide was awesome, the drivers were sober (seriously this is an issue with others), the group had a great dynamic and the tour itself was incredible. I never knew that Bolivia was such a breathtakingly beautiful country. It was truly a special treat of salt flats, lagoons, mountains, deserts and hot springs. At the end of the 3 days, I crossed the border into Chile for my final few weeks in South America, definitely a trip I would recommend to others.

The group at the Salt Flats

Hot springs

Green Lagoon

Now, why did I start thinking about my time in Bolivia and decide to post months later. Well, I recently read a book called Marching Powder, by Rusty Young told in the words of Thomas McFadden, a convicted drug smuggler who was sentenced to 6 years time in San Pedro Prison in La Paz, Bolivia. Thomas' story was absolutely incredible and shed new light on what I already knew to be a corrupt society in Bolivia. San Pedro prison is like nothing you've ever heard of before. The prisoners essentially run and control the entire facility. New inmates must pay for a cell and it is not uncommon for families to live inside the prison with their inmate relative, insane right?! The story told in Marching Powder describes the unbelievable life in San Pedro filled with drugs, fear and knowing who to compensate inside. When Thomas was living in San Pedro, he began offering tours to visitors. No joke, it was even featured in Lonely Planet as "one of the world's most bizarre tourist attractions". Since he was freed apparently the tours aren't quite as legit/safe/legal so it is not as common these days. I couldn't help think of the incredible stories the backpackers who toured the prison and spent the night probably had...unlike anything you'd ever experience in a lifetime. I was very fascinated with Thomas' story and the whole idea of a place like this that exists and would highly suggest it for your future reading list, although I heard they are making a movie if you don't get to it….