Northern Chile and Bolivia recommendations

[lucha54]

Thanks for the details. And your last line........trip planning is half the fun.

I'm from India and will need visa for both Chile and Bolivia.So I want to restrict my travel to one country Bolivia.
Or should I go for Chile if I have to choose one?

I'm planning to fly to Salta from BsAs and then take bus to Salar de Uyuni Bolivia, spent 3 days in Salar and return by same route. Can you please give more details on Salar - details about Salar Salta journey and trip you did in salar?

I will try to advise you well but I'm a little bit confused by what you are asking.

I went to Uyuni from San Pedro de Atacama Chile, and then back to Chile before I crossed over to Salta, Argentina on the bus. If you are going from Salta to Uyuni, you take a bus to La Quiaca (border town where you cross to Villazon, Bolivia), and then you can take a train from Villazon to Uyuni!

If I had to choose between Chile and Bolivia, I would choose Bolivia because it is half the price and equally, if not more, beautiful. There are some unique things in Chile but I found that all of the activities/tours I did in the north of Chile around Atacama desert, there were similar things (beautiful and bizarre landscapes, geysers, lagoons - although different looking but you see so many lagoons it can get tiring) but Bolivia is just SO MUCH CHEAPER. But the locals are not as friendly and the chance of getting robbed is slightly higher than in Chile; I only speak from personal experience as I was robbed in Bolivia (in La Paz) but never in Chile, north south nor center. But if I had to choose out of the two, it would be Bolivia.

The Salar de Uyuni is one of the coolest places you will ever see. Nothing in Chile can compare to that level of amazing. But I will try to explain this well... all the tours from Uyuni are either 1 night or 2/3 nights. The 1 night tour (or even just a day tour is possible? I don't know) only go to the SALAR- the salt flats. Hopefully if it's not wet season you can go to the island full of cacti in the middle of the salar. I didn't get to go because it was end of wet season and too dangerous to drive on water. If you get the tour that is 2 nights or more, then you will go south of the salar also to see the many lagoons and the "rock tree" and the hot springs which are all at much higher elevation. Then you spend pretty much an entire day (or 2 days!) driving all the way back to Uyuni.

On the tour I did from San Pedro to Uyuni, we stopped in those southern places first, and ended at the salt flats. Actually it was great this way because we stayed in the town of Uyuni on the last , and then we got to go to the salar (which is just outside of town less than 1 hour drive) for SUNRISE!!! This was the best. I know that a lot of the tours that leave from Uyuni which go to the Salar first, they start in the middle of the day and you don't get to see the sunrise. So if you are going from Uyuni on a salt flat tour, see if you can do one where you get to go at sunrise. It's unforgettable!!

 

[bkoustav]

I will try to advise you well but I'm a little bit confused by what you are asking.

I went to Uyuni from San Pedro de Atacama Chile, and then back to Chile before I crossed over to Salta, Argentina on the bus. If you are going from Salta to Uyuni, you take a bus to La Quiaca (border town where you cross to Villazon, Bolivia), and then you can take a train from Villazon to Uyuni!

If I had to choose between Chile and Bolivia, I would choose Bolivia because it is half the price and equally, if not more, beautiful. There are some unique things in Chile but I found that all of the activities/tours I did in the north of Chile around Atacama desert, there were similar things (beautiful and bizarre landscapes, geysers, lagoons - although different looking but you see so many lagoons it can get tiring) but Bolivia is just SO MUCH CHEAPER. But the locals are not as friendly and the chance of getting robbed is slightly higher than in Chile; I only speak from personal experience as I was robbed in Bolivia (in La Paz) but never in Chile, north south nor center. But if I had to choose out of the two, it would be Bolivia.

The Salar de Uyuni is one of the coolest places you will ever see. Nothing in Chile can compare to that level of amazing. But I will try to explain this well... all the tours from Uyuni are either 1 night or 2/3 nights. The 1 night tour (or even just a day tour is possible? I don't know) only go to the SALAR- the salt flats. Hopefully if it's not wet season you can go to the island full of cacti in the middle of the salar. I didn't get to go because it was end of wet season and too dangerous to drive on water. If you get the tour that is 2 nights or more, then you will go south of the salar also to see the many lagoons and the "rock tree" and the hot springs which are all at much higher elevation. Then you spend pretty much an entire day (or 2 days!) driving all the way back to Uyuni.

On the tour I did from San Pedro to Uyuni, we stopped in those southern places first, and ended at the salt flats. Actually it was great this way because we stayed in the town of Uyuni on the last , and then we got to go to the salar (which is just outside of town less than 1 hour drive) for SUNRISE!!! This was the best. I know that a lot of the tours that leave from Uyuni which go to the Salar first, they start in the middle of the day and you don't get to see the sunrise. So if you are going from Uyuni on a salt flat tour, see if you can do one where you get to go at sunrise. It's unforgettable!!

Thanks again for detailed information. From your previous post I assumed you did san pedro de atacama - salar - salta.

 

[bkoustav]

I went to Retiro bus station yesterday to check out the bus options. There was a bus company Potosi Bus that travels directly to Bolivia without any transfer at border.

I tried to understand if they can take care of my visa at border but did not understand clearly the reply (due to language issues). Anyone travelled in direct bus to cross border destination?

 

[Lulu-Kyoko]

When I flew to Bolivia, I was able to get the visa at the airport. When I took the bus to Paraguay, it had to be arranged 24 hours in advance.

If you have time, maybe you should go to the Bolivian embassy?

 

[bkoustav]

When I flew to Bolivia, I was able to get the visa at the airport. When I took the bus to Paraguay, it had to be arranged 24 hours in advance.

If you have time, maybe you should go to the Bolivian embassy?

I will do that. I wrote a mail earlier but no reply.

Btw where did you visit in Paraguay? How was the trip?

 

[splaying]

It was three years ago we stayed for two weeks in a hostel/hotel in Iquique -- then a few days in a small hotel in Arica, Chile
Later we spent five nights in a small hotel in La Paz, Bolivia. In all three locations we had no problem with internet connections. Three years would have improved whatever we enjoyed at that time. I doubt you would have any problems whatsoever. You should look via the net to develop some friends in those areas to get more immediate feedback too. walter

 

[lucha54]

serious question and i dont wanna thread hijack but for people who have been to south bolivia, north chile and argentina, what is the internet like there ?

If you wanted to live in the middle of nowhere for a while, but need a constant though not fast internet connection to work and survive, is it possible ?

Not a good idea.

 

[splaying]

I cannot see why you say it is not a good idea when at the time I was trading stocks on the New York Stock Exchange .. all the day.. your answer does not make sense to me.. I am a very active trader.

 

[lucha54]

i didn't find any fast internet in either place, maybe i wasn't trying hard enough. i thought it was that the capacity was not good enough in the region. i might be wrong but i wouldnt ris kit unless i know for sure.

 

[TomAtAlki]

This is a great thread!! Thank you all. Nancy and I are going to plan a trip to Bolivia.

This thread is one of the best reasons for this forum.

Tom