One of many lagunas on our pass, the colours were amazing

   Laguna Verde, renowned for it's Green color

   Believe it or not, although it was freezing cold out, a few of us braved the tempting bubbles of a local hotspring. Note our fellow travelers in the background decked out in coats!

   The great group of people I traveled with, posing at a unique rock formation

   Being a jeep full of women, we of course stopped to pick up a local hitchhiker which all the other (male, hmmm) filled jeeps had skipped. This little 9 year old came with an unexpected passenger..the carcass and blood of the Llama his father had hunted. A slight challenge for a car load of vegetarians.

   This desolate town is smack in the high Andes in Bolivia, a typical scene in this area

   The hostal in this town was limited in space. We dined by bringing table into our bunk bed room and using the beds as seats.

   One of the highlights of Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni. A high altitude salt lake, and yes, I am standing on salt.

   The surface of this lake is so hard (salt) that vehicles drive across it.

   That truck in the distance is locals harvesting the salt which will eventually end up on some table, maybe yours!

   Kees and Ophir, on a pit stop to Potosi. The hut in the background is typical of houses in the altiplano

   Gringos are always easy to spot, they are the ones towering above the locals! Here at the sunday market in Tarabuco

   One of the colourful images of bolivia, where first nations people still dress in the traditional outfits

   The arrival into la paz was breathtaking. You travel along the altiplano which, all of a sudden, drops to expose the valley containing the city. Although there is still evidence of the Spanish influence in some buildings in the downtown core, the city itself long ago outgrew its original confines. Having now travelled a few weeks in Bolivia, I realized cycling in this country, alone, would be much too difficult and decided to ship my bike home in exchange for my backpack. As difficult as this was, in the longterm, this move afforded me the opportunity to travel to places I would have never seen on two wheels. Plaza Murillo at the heart of La Paz

   The valley containing La Paz, viewed from El Alto, the sprawling poor city surrounding it. Here, looking right

   and here, looking more at the center

   La Paz has a wonderful, HUGE sunday market, filled with exotic and local goods. Here, a local flower lady

   One of things I loved about La Paz, and SA in general, was the freedom with which vendors take over large chunks of a road to sell their wares. This is a typical street in La Paz

   These faces are part of the ruins at Tihuanaco

   I lucked out and happened to be in La Paz for the biggest street festival, Gran Poder, dedicated to the power of Christ. The festival boasts thousands of such dancers

   Dinner with some friends at a local upscale pub

   my girlfriend Michal and I ventured out to the Valle de la Luna, a 45 minute ride on a very SLOW bus

   Just outside of La Paz starts the infamous DEATH ROAD, which I tackled twice. Once by bicycle (that I rented) and once by motorbike. Here is a pic from the bike trip

   Traveling further North to Rurrenabaque, I joined a tour into the local Pampas. Note the ruts in the road, these are typical of the roads here..and it is not the rainy season! We spent three days touring the Beni river area by boat and foot, and here are some of the things we saw:

   (Looking for Anacondas)

   I also did a tour of some eco tourism projects in the jungles near Rurre and saw a variety of trees and vegetation that were splendid. This is a walking Palm,

     and this is a local house

   From Rurre, I set out to find a biosphere reserve I had heard about, which in the end was tucked between San Borja and Trinidad. It was a spectacular place, and the trip there was full of beauty.

  , This was a traffic jam on the way there!

   The peaceful El Porvenir Biosphere Reserve, right smack in the middle of the Pampas

   Some of the local scenery on route to Trinidad After a brief stay in Trinidad, I made my way to Santa Cruz and then to Inta Wari Yassi, a volunteer run animal refuge. This was an AMAZING place, well worth a visit if you are ever able. It is beside the town of Villa Tunari, between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba. Here are some of the animals:

  : me and one of the monkeys I was tending to

   a Tajor, from the racoon family

   a spider monkey hanging out

   feeding time, a monkey prepping a banana for a mackay (I think)

   Everywhere you look in SA there is a figure of christ overlooking just about any sized city. Had to include one here! This one overlooks Cochabamba

   Cochabamba, city of perpetual summer

   At this point in my trip, I hooked back up with my friend Kees (whom I had met on the tour into Bolivia) and we decided to tackle death road by motorbike. Here I am at the head of the road. The first 20 km are paved, to lull you into comfort..

   This is the reality of the road. Single lane, dirt. Lots of squeezing by. Here a local bus negotiates the road.

   Having survived the 60 km of death road, we ventured into little visited Yungas, a memorable trip that no pictures can do justice to.

   In 3 days on the bike, we had two flat tires. The local method of fixing involved 3 hours and many kids coaching the tire back to health!

   before leaving Bolivia, Kees and I decided to do one hike into the Andes from the famed village of Sorata, acclaimed for its beauty. The trip there was beautiful, as this photo of the valley shows.

   And so we began what ended up being the most gruelling hike of my life. A mere 1700 meter elevation gain (2500 m to 4200), however typhoid was well circulating in my blood by this time although I did not know it! This hike was worth every agonizing moment

   At the top, standing above the clouds in the morning

   On our way back down

   A typical view of the altiplano, various shades of brown, gold and green with no trees. Here with Lago Titicaca peeping in the background And that ended my 3 months in Bolivia, onto Peru!