In recent months we have seen that flights have reduced their prices, but within Bolivia the price of bus tickets is much more affordable even in high season, for this and other reasons, we want to discuss the benefits of traveling by bus in this beautiful country.
1 Accessible prices
As a result of the great competition that exists in the market for different routes within the national territory, the prices of land travel have dropped considerably, we can see that for example for routes from La Paz to Uyuni the prices range from 100 bolivianos to 200, depending on the service. We can see other examples of quite affordable prices for different destinations and routes.
In Bolivia the variety of travel by different transportation means, for example, air travel, is quite limited by having reduced schedules and frequencies, compared to the frequency of bus departures, which have a range of schedules at our disposal.
In contrast to air travel, the bus trip through the national territory is a spectacle that is undoubtedly unmissable.
Due to the diversity of climate and geological characteristics, we can travel through the different roads and be amazed by the views of the snow-capped mountains, different shades and different tones and colors thanks to the vegetation present in each area of the country.
4 Improved comfort and service
In recent years, ground transportation companies have improved their service, improved the characteristics of the buses, some companies not only have normal type of seat, the variety has been extended to, semi bed, bed and in some cases Suit with an inclination of almost 180 °.
In some cases they already have luxury services, at a very accessible price, these with individual screens in each seat and wifi, as well as most of the buses have bathroom, reading lights, blankets, and independent cell phone chargers.
5 Buying bus tickets is now fast and affordable
Today there is a quick and easy way to use from any mobile device or computer: https://www.ticketsbolivia.com. This website provides information on different companies, routes, schedules and prices, in a simple way, including in many opportunities the selection of seats.
The purchase of land tickets, apart from being affordable in price, is now easy and safe to purchase with a few clicks.
We know that Bolivia, especially the capital of the government, La Paz, is a wonderful territory full of diversity of landscapes, flora and fauna, but before entering a wonderful tourist destination we have to take some precautions regarding the altitude.
Arriving in La Paz from different destinations, and take a walk through the streets of La Paz is certainly a fascinating journey, as we see contrasts of colors, the traditions reflected in the streets, and even streets that will leave us surprised, but before taking this challenge, we provide some recommendations for the issue of altitude is not a detriment.
Upon arrival at the bus terminal go directly to the hotel, take some time to rest so the body can acclimatize to the new conditions of the altitude, and avoid common symptoms, dizziness, difficulty breathing, nausea, headache, it is recommended to take a couple of days to adapt, but if you do not have much time for to visit La Paz, at least take half a day.
Hydrate continuously, it is essential to drink pure water, between 1.5 or 2L is recommended to stay hydrated and avoid dizziness.
In Bolivia it is usual to drink coca leaf infusion, which helps prevent altitude sickness and aids in better digestion.
How to prepare coca tea or coca infusion, the preparation is quite simple, you can place several coca leaves in a cup of boiling water, wait a couple of minutes and drink. Another option is to use an infuser sachet with coca tea, in Bolivia coca tea has been legally commercialized, since it is common to drink it with digestive and other problems.
Maintain a balanced diet, the gastronomy in this tourist destination is amazing, it contains many condiments and variety of chili, although it is attractive to try the full range that this territory offers, it is advisable to avoid excessive consumption of spicy to avoid stomach irritation, we also suggest avoiding the consumption of foods with a lot of salt, It is also important to emphasize that digestion in La Paz is more complex because of the altitude, so some combinations of foods are very bad for example pork with avocado, milk with peanuts, milk with pork, milk with avocado and others, which in general the population avoids eating.
Other tips
-Avoid alcohol and cigarette smoking
If the lack of oxygen is persistent, it is possible to take over-the-counter pills for altitude, which help the blood supply to the brain and improve breathing capacity, but it is better to foresee the consumption in people with heart conditions.
-Once you feel ready for the challenge go at a gentle pace.
How can I fight altitude sickness?
Each body is different and acclimatization may differ according to physical condition and other characteristics, but if you begin to perceive some symptoms of altitude sickness such as lack of oxygen, dizziness or excessive fatigue, you can use a tank of oxygen, most of the guesthouses and hotels in the city have emergency oxygen tank, if you do not feel better, consult a doctor to avoid strong symptomatology.
La Paz the wonder city, has many beautiful places to visit, such as Jaen street, the famous street of witches and cross the city using the “Teleférico” and not to mention the varied gastronomy, the gastronomy of La Paz is exquisite!
May this beautiful city leave you breathless for the beautiful views and not for the altitude!
Even those who love traveling can fall prey to pre-trip anxiety once in a while. Will you be safe? Will you be able to work and stay in touch with loved ones from your destination? Should you be traveling somewhere else, instead? Should you be traveling alone? Just because you have these feelings doesn´t mean you should not travel. But you should definitely take them into account, find out what is triggering them, and take measures to put your mind at ease. In this post we share with you five tips (and a bonus) for doing just that.
Identify the source of anxiety
It´s important to figure out the source of what’s bothering you, to see if there are any measures you can take to feel better about the trip. Are you nervous about being robbed? Not being able to communicate with anyone? Are you afraid of flying? Or that you’ll be lonely? Do you think you’ll miss an important event at home?
Once you identify the source, see what you can do to fix it. Would you feel more confident about not getting your stuff stolen if you bought a camera bag that locked? If you’re nervous about meeting people, you could post a message on the local Couchsurfing group or book yourself into a dorm or private room at a social hostel.
With traveling so affected recently by the closing of borders and cancellation of flights and other services, it´s normal to feel nervous that your trip could suffer unforeseen changes. To be safe, you shoud deffinitelly buy travel incurance. Check out this article about the best travel isnurance companies for packpackers.
Sometimes, the only problem is you´re worried about the unknown, and that is normal. But then, going out into the unknown is probably why you travel in the first place. To help ease the anxiety, it´s important to follow our next tip:
Do your research
If what is bothering you has to do with lack of information, then getting information is essencial. If not knowing is a problem, then plan at least the first days of your trip in detail, just to put your mind at ease. You can always cancel tours, move to another hostel, or go somewhere else once you´re feeling more confident.
So, find out about the best hotels, the safest tours, what the people are like, cultural dos and dont´s, how you should dress. Answer questions such as: are there ATMs? Can you pay with debit or credit cards? What are the safest neighborhoods? What local food should you eat and what should you avoid?
Of course, find out what health measures you should take. For example, if you´re traveling to Bolivia or Peru, you might be uneasy about the altitude (3600 meters above sea level in La Paz). Check out this article about how to deal with it and stay safe. Once you have all the information, you´re ready for our next tip:
Plan (and book) ahead
Aside from relieving anxiety and stress, planing and booking ahead can be a great source of pre-trip joy. Like we said before, planing the first few days in detail can help you feel secure.
So, what will you do as soon as you step off the bus or plane? Decide now if you will want to change money at the airport/bus terminal, or can wait to do it downtown. How will you get to your hotel or hostel? In Bolivia, the covid-19 crisis has made traveling in public transportation a less safe option, so we recomend you book a hotel that can send a cab to get you from the airport. They follow all the mesures to ensure bio-safety.
Ok, so, you´re at your hotel. What then? Depending on what time you arrive, you might want to rest and leave the sightseeing for the next day. You can book a tour of the city to get your bearings in a controled way. No matter which city in Bolivia you are visiting, click here for a comprehensive list of certified tours you can book right away.
Same thing goes if you are traveling by bus. You can buy your bus and train tickets online for dozens of destinations in Bolivia and to neighboring countries. Just click here, write in your origin and destination and the date you want to travel. You will be able to compare prices and services and choose the best option for you.
But, wait. Are you anxious too much planning wil stifle your freedom? Are you not ready to commit to a tight schedule? Well, that takes us to the next tip:
Know you can always change your mind or cancel
Planning and booking ahead is a tool you use to ensure you get a room you like and you have your tickets secured for your trip, as well as giving you a feeling of safety and control. But this is your trip. You can cancel a hotel booking after a few days if you don´t feel comfortable, or have found a place that better suits your needs. You can cancel bus and train tickets and get most of your money back, as long as you do it 48 hours before the trip. Same thing applies for tours.
Of course, if you are tight on cash, your cancelling options might be fewer. But, if you book with Tickets Bolivia, you can even just change the destination or date of your trip, so you don´t need to cancel but you still enjoy the freedom of improvising as you go along.
You can do whatever you want on this trip. You can be more adventurous, or more easygoing. You can be social or a loner. You can have the peace of mind that comes with booking everything ahead, with the thrill of making your trip your own as you go along.
Bring extra cash for safer options
Speaking of tight on cash, it is a very real thing that you should have extra cash you can count on in order to stay safe, especially if you are having doubts about the trip.
Safety and freedom to change your mind are things you should really invest in. For example, if you need to take a cab because you don´t feel comfortable walking or taking public transportation, or booking into a more expensive but safer hotel, or cancelling a bus ticket without the possibility of a refund because you simply changed your mind.
You may never need to use it, but you will be reassured just knowing that the extra money is there to spend it if you need it.
Bonus tip: know you will probably be glad you came
99.9% of the time, you’ll be glad you came. You will look around you at the landscape, the view, the food in front of you, the new friends you´ve made and say to yourself: I´m so glad I went on this trip. But often you don’t realize that until you’re on the ground in your destination. Feeling the different temperature, the language of people, the streets full of different smells and colors. That may be all that it takes to remind yourself why you love traveling in the first place.
Uyuni Salt Flat (by Gaby Iturri)
Of course, there are occasional instances when cancelling a trip altogether is the right way to go. Maybe the time is not right and you can make this trip later in the year. Maybe it´s something else you need to solve. In any case, se hope these tips are useful for making up your mind.
Museums are wonderful places that allow us to travel through time through physical objects, be they pieces of artwork or historical relics. In this time of staying behind closed doors, many of the best museums in the world have opened their collections to virtual visits, allowing their expositions to be enjoyed online.
This has been wonderful for museum lovers, but we cannot deny that being there is just different; breathing the air, seeing the light on the objects, listening while a specialized guide lets us in on all the secrets. Just like theater and dance need the presence of spectators to come alive, museums are complete only with the living presence of visitors.
Colonial artwork at the National Museum of Art in La Paz
In this post, we tell you all about the best Bolivian destinations for you museum lovers, explaining how you can travel to each city from different points in the country and which are those museums you just cannot miss, so you can plan your trip for when lock-down is over.
La Paz
La Paz is the seat of government of Bolivia, a city of two million inhabitants, at an altitude of 3600 m above sea level. As one of the liveliest cities in the country, it has a large cultural and historical tradition, and a wide array of museums you just can´t miss. Here, we tell you about our favorites:
National Museum of Art: located in a majestic colonial house just a block away from the Palace of Government, the National Museum of Art takes you on a journey of Bolivian art from the times of the colony to today´s contemporary pieces, with work from the best artists like Gil Imaná and Gastón Hugalde, among others. The museum is under the administration of the Cultural Foundation of the Central Bank of Bolivia (FCBCB).
National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore: This museum is located only a few blocks away from the first, and is also under the administration of the FCBCB. Here, you will get to know the different artistic expressions of Bolivia´s indigenous peoples and its cultural and biological diversity, fromtextile art to feather clothes and ornaments. Make sure you don´t miss the impressive collection of ritual and festive masks. This is one of the most original museums you will see in Bolivia.
The mask collection at the Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore
You can travel to La Paz from Peru easily, through Puno, and make La Paz your first stop in Bolivia. You can also travel to La Paz from Chile, with direct bus trips from Arica or Iquique with bus companies that offer comfortable buses and a very good service. If you are in any other city in Bolivia, you can take a bus to La Paz very easily and at different schedules. All buses from other departments arrive at the Bus Terminal of La Paz, located on Peru Av.
Potosi
Potosi is a city of colonial architecture, with a very rich history and culture. It is key for understanding Bolivia´s history. It was declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1987, due to it´s contribution to universal history and its architecture and art attractions. The city was founded on the foothills of the Cerro Rico de Potosi, literally a mountain of silver that provided funds for the Spanish Crown for centuries. At it´s summit, Potosi had more inhabitants than Paris. Today, the city has several museums that might interest you, but we bet this one will be your favorite:
Casa Nacional de la Moneda: It is said that, if you took all the silver mined from the Cerro Rico de Potosi during the spanish colony, you could build a bridge from America to Spain. Well, it was here, at the Casa Nacional de la Moneda, where silver coins were minted for the Spanish Colony. Visiting this museum will help you understand the relevance of Potosi in universal history, the way the coins were made, and the importance of our indigenous peoples and cultures.
Icon of the Casa Nacional de la Moneda. Image by jo vanel from Pixabay
Potosi is a very easy city to travel to, with completely paved highways if you´re coming from La Paz, Villazón or Sucre. If you´re coming from La Paz, you can buy your bus tickets online here. The buses depart from the Bus Terminal of La Paz at 21:30 and arrive in Potosi early in the morning. If you come from Sucre, you can buy your tickets here online. The trip from Sucre to Potosi takes only 3 hours in normal buses.
Sucre
Sucre is a colonial city in the Bolivian valleys, the constitutional capital of the city, despite the seat of government being in La Paz. Known for its streets of white walls and houses with red tile rooftops, its churches and castles and… its beautiful museums. Birthplace of intelectuals, historians, political leaders and writers, it was on the streets of Sucre that the first cry for liberty came about in Latin America, in the 19th century.
Interior – Casa de la Libertad
House of Liberty: If you are interested in Latin American history, this is the museum for you. The house of liberty is the place where the Act of Independence of Alto peru was signed in 1825, establishing liberty from the Spanish Colony. Among its treasures is the original Act Of Independence of alto Peru, declared in 2019 as Memory of the World by the Committee Comité Memory of World-Bolivia (MOW-Bolivia-UNESCO). It also has ancient portraits of the liberators Simón Bolívar, Antonio José de Sucre and José Ballivián, the tomb of captain Juana Azurduy, the first independent flag of South america and other relics.
Museum of Indigenous Art ASUR: Unique in it´s style, this museum is a must for those who appreciate and want to know more about the arts of indigenous peoples of Bolivia, specially centered around their textiles. It is said that the indigenous peoples of Tarabuco and the jalq’a, in the department of Chuquisaca, tell their stories and express their cultural identity in their intricate weavings. In this museum, you will see exquisitely woven pieces and you will aproach an understanding of the artistic and philosophic depth of these cultures. You also get to see and meet weavers as they work on their textiles!
Jalka textile
Traveling to Sucre is easy from any main city in Bolivia, such as Santa Cruz or Cochabamba. All you have to do is buy your tickets online and show up at the bus station at least 30 minutes before the trip. Trips from Potosi to Sucre by bus are very frecuent, since the two cities are not far away and the highway that connects them is in very good shape.
Bolivia was, technically, the first Latin-American nation to declare its independence. This took place on 16th July 1809 in La Paz where insurgent and revolutionary Pedro Domingo Murillo took arms, somewhere around where the current Plaza Murillo stands today. However, this lasted about 6 months until the Spaniards took back the control of the capital and the country. Bolivia waited another 16 years to be independent again, on 6 August 1825.
This is why, July is a very special month for all paceños and the best time to visit Bolivia. The city is known to celebrate with concerts, theater and dance. Most of the celebration is held on the evening of the 15th, during what is called verbana. People celebrate in the streets of La Paz while drinking hot drinks such as sucumbe. Sucumbe is a tradition on its own, only available around this time of year. It is a Bolivian version of the eggnog with milk, eggs and singani, the Bolivian grape-base liqueur.
During the verbana, there isa huge street party at Plaza San Francisco where people can eat, drink and enjoy free concerts. Thus, tourists in La Paz will be able to enjoy much more than the usual breathtaking sights, cable car rides across the city and towering mountains.
The celebrations include cultural events, with art and photography shows, food festivals, folklore and poetry readings. On the 16th there is a parade and the day is a local bank holiday.
But festivities don’t stop here. Since 1988, every year between July and August takes place the Entrada Folklórica Universitaria, it is a dancing celebration organised by the Unversidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) in La Paz to honor local traditions. University departments all dance in a long parade that starts at about 8:30 in the morning and lasts all day turning eventually into a party.
Tourists and locals can enjoy watching traditional dances performed by the students in folkloric outfits: Suri Sikuris, Salaque, Tinku, Doctorcitos and the Morenada, Diablada and Caporales.
Usually this event is on the last Saturday of July. This year it will be held on August 3rd.
Because National Independence Day is on August 6th, the month of July and August are celebratory months, the streets are decorated with the colors of the department of La Paz (green and red), giving it almost a Christmas-y feel.
July and August may be winter months and the coldest of the year but the constant blue sky and warming sun make it a very enjoyable time to walk around La Paz and explore its surroundings.
Enjoy the sunny days and stunning views of the mountains around during which is arguably, the best time to visit La Paz.
Every year on 24th January starts the annual Alasita festival in La Paz, Bolivia. It lasts for a month with stalls covered with miniature versions of houses, money bills, cereal boxes, passports, iPhone, diplomas, and all the items one may aspire to acquire during the year.
What is the alasita festival in Bolivia?
In Bolivia, Alasita is a place where one can also look for love in the shape of a rooster or a hen. To ensure that you will find love during that year, the rooster/hen has to be given to you. You cannot purchase it yourself. The birds have come to represent love and they come in different colors, each representing something: black ones are for widowers, yellow (or gold) are for people looking for a (very) rich partner, white ones represent purity and the red ones are more passionate. Some of them even have professions and different qualities depending on what you look in a partner.
Everything purchased at the fair needs to be blessed by priests and then offered to the Ekeko, the Andean God of Abundance. He’s easily recognizable by the bags of goods he carries, the chullo (traditional hat) and the cigarettes he’s smoking.
Other traditional and typical items people purchase are golden toads which represent Pachamama (Mother Earth) and are meant to bring fortune and prosperity to your home. Suitcases filled with money are also popular implying that money won’t be missing and that there will be opportunities to travel during the year. Food is another common purchase people make, with miniature boxes of pasta, rice, quinoa and other staples that you can buy.
lilapagola – via Wikimedia Commons
Alasitas is popular festival that mixes indigenous beliefs and Catholicism, tradition and modernity, illustrating perfectly Bolivia’s complexities and idiosyncrasies. On the first day of Alasitas, at around 12:00pm people gather in and around the churches to have their items blessed by the Catholic priests in a vibrant display of syncretism. And it’s also more than that; Alasitas is a fun, convivial place with food and games, enjoyable for the whole family, where one can also find hand-crafted and artisan goods. Make sure to go and try the plato paceño, a local specialty with corn, cheese, meet and fava beans, and the unmissable api con pastel, a purple-corn drink accompanied by a deep-fried cheese empanada.
Alasitas can be enjoyed throughout the city during 30 days, especially on the first day but the fair is held in Parque Urbano in La Paz. The fair then moves to Santa Cruz in September, where it also stays for a month.
If you are travelling in Bolivia in January/February or September make sure not to miss the Alasitas fair. You can easily travel to La Paz and Santa Cruz and plan ahead your trip with Tickets Bolivia.
A Bolivia Travel Guide