Larry Memmott's Blog

Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, approximately 4:15 to either the north or south rim of the canyon.  The south rim is the more common destination, and is what I was thinking of as a side trip from Las Vegas, but the north rim is an interesting alternative which fits right into the Southern Utah itinerary. […]

This is a favorite place in the DC area for my family and I. And it’s surprising how many people have been to Ocean City, Maryland, and never taken the short side trip to the Island. The beaches on Assateague Island are the best preserved wild beaches I’ve seen in this region. What’s more, with […]

I’ll get to some of the places I like in Washington, itself, eventually, but for someone like me, someone from the open spaces out west, the most important thing to know when you live in a city like Washington is how (and to where) you can escape.  My favorite escapes from Washington are Dolly Sods […]

Curahuara de Carangas is the largest town in the area, and host to two churches, one of them renowned as the Sistine Chapel of the Altiplano for its spectacular murals.  It is also one of your few choices for provisions and accommodations in this area of the altiplano.  Curahuara was a population center long before […]

There are many incredible biological reserves and national parks in Bolivia which are relatively little known.  Somehow, those seem to be the ones I usually get to.  The Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve sits on the edge of the altiplano, above Tarija.  We were driving to Tarija in March, 2013 and took the opportunity to […]

It takes almost an hour to fly the 150 miles from La Paz to Rurrenabaque.  Alternatively, you could drive.  The road is almost twice as long, at 270 miles, but is reportedly pretty poor and slow going.  Still, it would be an adventure.  Flying is an adventure, too.  Not the adventure it used to be, […]

This is our favorite museum in La Paz. It’s especially fun for kids, since there are many instruments you can play and play with. The number and variety of instruments is impressive. The museum is at the bottom of Calle Jaén which is well worth exploring anyway.

The trip to Tiwanaku is a “must-do” excursion from La Paz.  The remains of the capital of the longest-lived empire in South America is something you don’t want to miss.  The ruins are impressive.  The history behind them is even more impressive.  I’m not going to get into all of that here, so you definitely […]

Every corner of Bolivia has its own mysteries.  On the way back from Tarija, we decided to travel from Sucre to Oruro across the mountains, rather than circumnavigating them through Potosi, as is usual.  This is NOT a shortcut.  Though the route may look shorter on a map, the serpentine path and bad roads mean […]

  The Valle de las Animas, or Valley of Souls, is seriously misnamed.  It is not a “valley” but a region, and I for one fail to see why there is any reason to believe that the rock formations therein have any resemblance to “souls.”  After all, isn’t their lack of a physical form a […]