Before going to live in México, I was a little apprehensive of what it would be like. Similarly to many others, I was not immune to the prejudices and stereotypes that exist. After only a short period of time, I couldn’t believe how such a beautiful country with an amazing people could have acquired such a bad reputation to influence me so strongly. I vowed never to let that affect me again; but now I see this is an ongoing life lesson.

Before coming to Bolivia, I have to admit I was very apprehensive. Not only media perception, but many people I spoke to and even books I read about it told of the violence, the extremely poor state and the unkindness of the people. I imagined a country on the brink of poverty, full of bitter inhabitants. Although Bolivia is far from first world, I once again found myself pleasantly surprised.

So don’t get me wrong, it was definitely a step down from Perú. The buses really are awful- we once had a bus that had heating on when it was over 30°C outside (all night), one where the windows kept opening magically when it was freezing and one of our buses got moved to six hours later and we were asked to pay more even though we had reserved tickets, because a bank delegation decided they would prefer to travel in the night.

The food is also not great. Fried chicken is everywhere (accompanied by-you guessed it- rice and potatoes). People in this continent just love their carbs- one fellow traveller once got a full meal of just rice, potatoes, pasta and quinoa. Vegetarian options were also a little more difficult to find for Monika and on more than one occasion we had to explain that yes, sausage and ham are meat.

And just an example of how appearances can be deceiving: in La Paz there are many shoe shine boys on the streets (people are obsessed with shoe shining they even shine their trainers) and some of them wear quite scary looking balaclavas. They genuinely look like guerrilleros or terrorists and I was sure they are criminals until I spoke to one Bolivian. He explained that many of them are poor students who can earn quite a decent wage shining shoes all day (by Bolivian standards of course). They cover their faces because they are embarrassed of their family finding out they are working on the street.

In general our experience was a great one. Most people are kind and willing to help and the atmosphere in the country is a relatively happy one. Undoubtedly poverty and slow economic development are the status quo, and although great inequality exits, general inhabitants seem to support Evo Morales and his move towards greater social inclusion. Whether this is blind optimism, I don’t know enough to comment, but people say his reforms have made an obvious improvement in the much poorer mining communities of the south. Unions have been set up to protect workers and their families, many of whom are left fatherless very early on due to the harsh conditions of the mines.

Bolivia is rich in natural gas and minerals (remember Uyuni and the world’s largest lithium deposit) but Evo’s nationalisation of all these businesses has caused foreign investment in the country to crash and while many Bolivians are of the opinion of “we’re better off without those exploiting gringos anyway”, I can’t help but worry it’s not the best approach to developing the country and making friends in high places. Economic growth is not as strong as it should be, over half of Bolivia still lives in poverty and strikes are a daily occurrence. Nonetheless, Evo’s social entitlement programs are sure to keep his popularity high and his campesino loving ass in power; you can’t go wrong when you’re president is an ex-cocalero, right?! (Coca grower)

Highlights

La Paz; I really loved this lively and colourful city
Surviving the death road
Lying in the hammock in Samaipata enjoying the peace and tranquility of one of the most beautiful places in Bolivia
Galloping through the wild west scenery of Tupiza on our sexy Bolivian horses
Experiencing sunrise at the salar de Uyuni

Going to miss

The amazing fruits- especially Gabi’s best ever 8 boliviano salad in La Paz
Finding amazing chocolate in Sucre
Pollo milanesa; a popular dish in Bolivia, these wannabe shnitzles are a far cry from my granny’s but they still beat the fried chicken you find on every street corner
The prices- the comfort of knowing you are almost certain to find a decent place to sleep for £3

Not going to miss

The buses; and many an uncomfortable sleepless night they caused
The food- this time there was slightly less rice and more pasta but it is still nothing to write home about
The immense pain in my butt and thighs after our 5 hour horse ride in La Paz
Puking my guts out for a day in the Salar de Uyuni
The awful internet- trying to speak to loved ones after 3/4 days when you can barely hear a word is frustrating to say the least

Shoe shine boys

Adiós Bolivia!