Salt Flats Archives - In Search Of Umami

After Argentina it definately feels like a relief that there are cheap countries in South America! And Bolivia is one of them.
During our 49 days in Bolivia we spend a total of 2329 euro which means that our budget per day was 23.76 euro per person. And that including Jandirk's really intense spanish course for a month:)

Where did we go?

We entered Bolivia from Argentina going first to Tupiza later on a 4-day tour to Uyuni. Afterwards we stayed for over a month in Sucre where Jandirk took an intense spanish course. Later we continued to La Paz and to Copacabana at the coast of famous Lake Titicaca.

How did we travel?

We travelled mostly by local buses which were very, very cheap. In total on buses we spent only 129 euro. They were not very comfortable as Bolivians have a different definition of full so they try to put as many kids and people as possible also when it means that you will have kids and adults in between your legs. But Bolivia is generally small and so the bus trips don't take that long and they are quite entertaining:)

Example: Bus from Sucre to La Paz was 80 bolivianos (around 10.40 euro) and it takes around 12 h, bus from La Paz to Tiwanaku was 15 bolivianos (around 1.95 euro) for 1.5 hour trip.

Where did we stay?

On accommodation we spend 583 euro spending 10 days in private rooms and the rest in dormitories. The differences in prices between the cities were not really that big (night in a dormitory was around 35-45 bolivianos per person so around 5-6 euros). In more rural area accomodation was even cheaper (on Isla del Sol we paid 25 bolivianos per person).

What did we eat?

We spend 652 euro on food, mainly cooking ourselves but we did eat out every now and then (definately more than in Argentina). We cooked a lot of quinoa and fresh vegetables and herbs, all of which are really cheap and easy to get on the local markets. We also didn't deny ourselfes local, extraordinary fruit.
We also went out for a few drinks, not too often and nothing extravagant.
Eating out: eating out is either cheap or super cheap. On Isla del Sol we ate a 2 course menu (soup and for main fish, rice and salade) for 25 bolivianos each (around 3.25 euro), in Sucre main course for dinner would be around 40-50 bolivianos (around 5.2-6.5 euro).

How expensive are museums, tours etc?

On tourism we spent 393 euro of which 344 euro was a 4-day excursion for us both to Salar de Uyuni, going through lagoons, mountains and hot springs. Entrance to Tiwanaku was 80 bolivianos per person (around 10.40 euro). Less known museums like textiles museums are around 22 bolivianos (around 2.86 euro)

How much does it cost to learn spanish in Bolivia?

Bolivia is definately one of the best countries to study spanish. Bolivians speak were clear and slow spanish and it's really cheap to take spanish lessons. Jandirk took an intense course (5 days per week, 4 hours per day) for a month for 363 euro.

An hour of spanish class: an hour of class starts with 25 bolivianos (around 3.25 euro) in local cafeterias and ends around 45 bolivianos (around 5.85 euro) for an hour in a school.

What else did we spend our bolivianitos on?

209 euro went for different kinds of medication as we were both a bit sick and I had an eye inflamation, we also washed our clothes a few times (around 9 bolivianos per kilo so around 1.17 euro). 520 bolivianos (around 67.61 euro) went for our new day pack.

P.S. Exchange rate used 1 EUR = 7.69 BOB

If you have any questions or you would like to take a look at our spreadsheet, let us know:)

From Salta on we started seeing familiar faces more and more. The famous "Gringo trail" where we all meet to see the must sees of South America. And the fellows we meet were divided into two groups: those who have already visited the Salt Flats and those who, just like us, were on their way. From the experiences of those who have already seen it, we found out about crazy drunken tour drivers and made a decision which one we should take. We went for 4 day tour offered by La Torre tour and we packed ourselves into their cool jeep with a pair of Canadians. Carlie and Scott were a young couple. We immediately got to know each other pretty deeply as Carlie had a bad food poisoning. It still didn't stop her from being cheerful and super social in breaks between one bag and another. And so we hit the bumpy, non- existing roads of Bolivia together to see countless lamas and their wild brothers vicunas. Both beautiful and graceful. Obviously I made millions of pictures like a Chinese tourist of which none turned out to be good. We also saw countless lagunas and flamingos of three different types (before I thought that a flamingo is just a flamingo).
For those who think that South America is hot everywhere, all year long the Salt Flats tour would be a freezing wake up call. During the trip we went as high as 5000 m and the temperature difference between day and night was huge. Our second night was definitely the worst I have ever experienced... -15 to -20 C, holes in the walls and windows. Even our two sleeping bags, full clothing or even gloves or hat couldn't protect us from the cold. Taught by the mistakes of other travellers we slept with all of our electronics to wake up with a sigh of relief that only the window got frozen. I'm not even going to mention that the toilets that we got to experience were a chapter on their own...
But it was all worth it, the views were spectacular and on our third and last night we got to sleep in a nice salt hostel. All the bricks and furniture were made of salt blocks taken from the salt flats, even the floor was covered in salt. For few extra bolivianos we took "ducha caliente" (unfortunately it was an over promise as the water in the shower was far from hot but at least there was water) and after a short but finally enjoyable night, all four of us were excited to finally see the Salt Flats of Uyuni. The Salar is the biggest in the world with it's 10 582 km2 surface. It's also pretty high, on the altitude of 3656 m above the sea level. Once a lake, now an ocean of salt, it definitely took our breath away. It's absolute flatness, the contrast of the infinitive, white salt with a blue sky and the company made us forget the cold and just enjoy. We visited one of the islands which is an incredible green point and gives a crazy view on the Salar. We also saw a hostel in the middle of it all which unfortunately got closed after sanitary problems. To finish our journey all four of us got lost in the crazy tradition of taking insane pictures. Jumping, laughing and balancing on different objects we ended up our trip definitely hoping to see each other again.