Larry Memmott's Blog

This hotel was a real surprise.  I did not expect such comfort south of Uyuni. Jardines de Mallku Cueva is in Villa Mar, some x miles south of Uyuni and x miles northeast of the Sol de la Mañana “geyser” field.  That puts it about 90 minutes from Sol de la Mañana, so if you […]

This drive takes you south from Uyuni towards the colored lakes of Los Lipez.  Start out along Highway 5 from Uyuni.  Villa Mar is the location of the very pleasant Jardines de Mallku Cueva hotel, a great jumping off point for further explorations.  At x miles is the unmarked turnoff to the right to the […]

Luna Salada is probably the premier hotel at the Salar de Uyuni.  Constructed almost entirely of salt blocks, it has the local uniqueness factor down, but it also doesn’t skimp on the most important aspects of comfort. The hotel is beautiful from the inside. The whites and grays of the salt blocks and rock salt […]

The Salar is perhaps the premier tourist destination in Bolivia.  I’ve been there three times and I don’t think it gets old.  It does get cold. Most people use a tour agency and guide to explore the Salar, but I never have, so I can’t help with that side of things.  However, I can give […]

The mine tour in the Cerro Rico de Potosí is not to be missed if you can handle the physical demands and the tight spaces involved.  I’ll provide more details later, together with my recommendation for a tour guide, but for now, just a few reflections about the tour and the mountain, itself. Legend has […]

Today we drove from Sucre to Potosí. Tomorrow Christina, William and I will take the mine tour down into the famed Cerro Rico. Wish us luck!

We visited Cal Orck’o and the Cretaceous Park this morning. It’s definitely a worthwhile stop in Sucre, and from the management we understood that it will be getting even better. Cal Orck’o is the site of a major cement plant of the disputed Fanesca cement company. It is also the quary where Fanesca gets its […]

We’re in Sucre, our first stop.  If you haven’t been to Sucre, you certainly should go.  It’s a beautiful whitewashed colonial city of great historical importance.  It’s a pleasure to walk, has at least one great hotel, and a number of sights well worth visiting. We got here this morning and immediately checked into the […]

The church in Jesus de Machaca looks quite different from other churches on the altiplano.  It also looks quite out of place for such a large and sumptuously decorated church to stand in such a small town in such an apparently poor region.  With its whitewashed facade and blocky look this church is an example of late renascence architecture.  German Ambassador […]

Maybe it should not have surprised me to find natural arches in Bolivia.  After all, the scenery is often reminiscent of that of Utah, my home state.  Still, it was a big surprise to look up from my sandwich as we picnicked on a rock outcropping south of Tiwanaku and see two natural arches.  They are only […]