So, after the strikes blocking all outbound roads yesterday, today was the day I said goodbye to Bolivia.
Despite all the warnings I read in the guidebooks, nothing bad happened to me during my six weeks in Bolivia. No robberies, no pocket picking, no accidents, no encounters with fake police. Quite the contrary: in many places there was a high presence of tourist police. They made me feel quite safe - and they were also friendly and helpful when asked for directions :-)
So now I've left the country - where people called me either mamita (without intending to comment on my age, I think) or amiga. To be honest, I'm looking forward to leave the altitude behind me for now. I hate being constantly out of breath! But there are also things I'm gonna miss, for example the fresh orange juices to be had on every street corner. So here is my farewell look at La Paz:
The border area was very busy. There were long lines of trucks on both sides. Since Bolivia doesn't have a port, all imported goods or raw materials must enter the country by truck... I found it very impressive to see this fact illustrated by trucks without end for kilometers.
The landscape was also very nice, on both sides of the border. This is Bolivia:
And this Chile:
So now, in Chile, I remembered the Chilean chant I first heard at the triathlon in Pucón:
Chi chi chi le le le
Viva Chile!
I'm happy to be back!
Despite all the warnings I read in the guidebooks, nothing bad happened to me during my six weeks in Bolivia. No robberies, no pocket picking, no accidents, no encounters with fake police. Quite the contrary: in many places there was a high presence of tourist police. They made me feel quite safe - and they were also friendly and helpful when asked for directions :-)
So now I've left the country - where people called me either mamita (without intending to comment on my age, I think) or amiga. To be honest, I'm looking forward to leave the altitude behind me for now. I hate being constantly out of breath! But there are also things I'm gonna miss, for example the fresh orange juices to be had on every street corner. So here is my farewell look at La Paz:
The border area was very busy. There were long lines of trucks on both sides. Since Bolivia doesn't have a port, all imported goods or raw materials must enter the country by truck... I found it very impressive to see this fact illustrated by trucks without end for kilometers.
The landscape was also very nice, on both sides of the border. This is Bolivia:
And this Chile:
So now, in Chile, I remembered the Chilean chant I first heard at the triathlon in Pucón:
Chi chi chi le le le
Viva Chile!
I'm happy to be back!
