ENTERING BOLIVIA THROUGH PERU

Hello everybody,

Me and my girlfriend are planning to go to Bolivia and we wounder if you can help us to plan better our journey there.

we will start my journey in Peru and stay there for 1 week or so. After that entering Bolivia through Titicaca and stay for 1 week (less or more depending on what it there to do). After that we're planning to go to Brazil, probably Northeast (Natal or Salvador).

Some questions that we haven't solved yet:

- Entering through titicaca is a good choice? what is the best way? go to the islands first and enter by boat? by road?
- we heard about trains and all the nice train rides that exists. What do you suggest? Cusco-Puno Train ride?
- La paz. How long do you think is necessary there and what things should we look for?
- Santa Cruz, Sucre e Potosi is it worth it?
- Can we travel by car or do you suggest train and buses?
- We are into a Jungle visit (puerto ??????) and after go to brazil. Can you recomend a nice route? or the plane is the best thing to do.
Thanks a lot to everybody
Andre & Raquel

Hi there. Entering through Lago Titicaca is a perfect choice, either by bus or by boat. It's a super popular route. You don't have to stay in La Paz too long, I didn't find it very interesting actually. More interesting is Sucre, which is absolutely beautiful, and so is Potosí. But if you have to choose, go for Sucre. Santa Cruz is a convenient gateway to Brazil, whereever you are going. You can stop on the Brazilian side and do a Pantanal safari.

//Susanna

Pantanal is more accessible from the Paraguayan side. Snatter, I don't agree, La Paz is a hidden treasure, but it takes insistance to find out :-)

But Sucre is very nice, too.

i'm planning to do the same train ride from Cuzco into La Paz in the fall, I look forward to your impressions.

Sucre is definetly a beautiful city, a must-see. Potosi is so interesting because of it's mining history but remember that it is VERY high up (I had some serious altitude sickness here) and very cold in the winter months (July-August). But it's quite small and I found I "did" Potosi in about a day or so. If you can pass through Cochabamba DEFINETLY do - it's my favourite city (although maybe I am biased because I always travel there!). It's the city of eternal spring, great climate, set in a valley surrounded by mountains, the continent's largest outdoor market that you can literally get lost in for days probably...what else can i say.

I've only been to the Santa Cruz airport so I can't comment on that. But the east side of Bolivia is very different from the west, so it would be worth seeing to compare. SC is the economic capital & a more wealthy city compared to the others.

Hope this helps - ask more if you need to.