Bolivia | AllCheapFares

 

The historic heartland of Bolivia lies on the 3700 meters high plains around Lake Titicaca. This is the cradle of Altiplano civilisation: the sacred Lake gave birth to the founders of the Inca Empire, and at its shores lays Tiwanaku, where the roots of Andean culture were invented. When the Spanish arrived, attention shifted to the South.

 

The biggest bounty of their colonial plundering was found there in Potosi. The amount of silver found in the Cerro Rico was enough to create a city bigger than London and richer than Paris at an altitude of 4000 meters, and is believed to have fired off the industrial revolution in Western Europe.

 

The Vice-Ministerio de Turismo's slogan is Lo autentico aun existe which roughly translates as "The real thing still exists". This refers to the fact that many aspects of Bolivia have changed very little over the centuries. The country is underdeveloped which means that it still has virgen forests, pristine waterways, and untouched rural landscapes. Many indian groups have maintained their cultures, languages, and folk traditions. Colonial architecture in places such as Potosi, Sucre, Tarija, and Cochabamba have not given way to modern development.  This means that Bolivia is now able to offer international visitors a unique, safe, affordable, and extremely interesting place to visit.

 

One of the biggest tourist attractions of the country lies in the Southern Altiplano: the South-West Circuit is a surreal four day experience along a colourful desert, flamingo filled lakes and the largest salt flats in the world. No excuse is valid to miss it. The small southern city of Tupiza is a good place to wave goodbye to Bolivia. The landscape comes right out of a Western, and lends itself to the best horseback riding in South America with excellently bred and kept Argentine horses.

 

The best and cheapest jungle tours of South America are in Rurrenabaque, at the first ripple of the Andes. Starting at 15 US$ a day you can visit the Amazon forest, where you’ll see several types of monkeys, 10% of the worlds birds species and even pumas if you’re lucky,… In the nearby wetlands you can spot the biggest rodent in the world (the capybara) or take a chance and swim with the river dolphins (which scare the harmless caiman away).