Larry Memmott's Blog

This post is the first of two that serve as the “backbone” of this guide.  They focus on providing directions to the churches and other sites of the Curahuara de Carangas and Sajama areas and link to descriptions of each of the sites.  The guide is written from the perspective of someone traveling from La […]

Note: This is the first of a multi-part guide to the churches. As further portions are completed, they will be linked from this post and from the Bolivia Guide Index. This is a route for exploring the beautiful churches of northern Oruro Department, including 12 which have been restored/repaired in recent years and others, which […]

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 […]

Lago Chungara is just across the border into Chile at 14,600 feet of altitude.  In fact, you will be at the lake before you pass through Chilean immigration. The lake, set among volcanoes, is spectacular and thus often photographed. You should make a point of looking to the south for Nevado Guallatiri (sometimes Guallatire or Wallatiri), a 19,918 […]

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, […]

We spent three days exploring the pampas of Bolivia southwest of Rurrenabaque.  It was a great time and a fun explore. From Rurrenabaque, there are two directions the tourists take.  You can go upriver into the jungle, or downriver onto the pampas.  Several people, and some online investigation, suggested that the pampas is actually more […]

The incredible and incredibly preserved wooden machinery of the colonial mint Another unfinished post. I’ll come back to these in La Paz to finish them. La Casa de la Moneda is one of the most incredible and interesting places I’ve visited in Bolivia. The building itself is spectacular – all the woodwork without a single […]

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 […]

The Train Cemetery is not a train museum, even one with limited maintenance and development like the one in Putumayo.  No, the Train Cemetery in Uyuni is where trains end up after they die.  Don’t let that put you off, though, it’s a blast. The cemetery is an open air space with the remains of […]