From Peru my journey continues through Bolivia. Known as the poorest country in South America, having the worst roads and the extremest cold in some areas, I'm quite excited to cross the border and to experience the extreme!

The border crossing is easy and my first stop is Copacabana on the other side of Lake Titicaca. This town is definitely a tourist trap and my only reason for stopping here is to see the Isla del Sol, which offers beautiful views over the lake and has several ancient Inca ruins, as the Inca empire was founded here. After this short trip I take today's last bus to La Paz, leaving at 6:30 pm. La Paz is the de facto capital of Bolivia and its largest city. It directly reminds of Quito: squeezed into a valley at high altitude it's a crowded, chaotic but lively and pleasant metropolitan city. I check into quite a large and gringo-like hostel. Usually not my preference but the free pancake breakfast is appealing and good.

On my first day I explore the city by just walking around. Its steep streets directly remind me of Quito. The whole city seems to be like a huge open-air market. This is similar to many cities in Latin America, but I've never seen it like it's here: people literally selling everything from the early morning until late in the evening. Even at 10 at night people are still withstanding the cold to make a couple more bolivianos.

As La Paz is located at an incredible 4000 meters of altitude, it gets terribly cold at night. At daytime it's quite pleasant as long as the sun is shining. One of the museums in La Paz gives an interesting outline about the Pacific War during the 1800s. During this war, Chile conquered the coastal area of Bolivia and ever since the country has been landlocked. Realising myself that having no seaport means a significant drawback compared to most other South American countries I conclude this must be one of the causes for Bolivia being the poorest country in South America. While I'm in the museum a group of school children come in. The teacher recalls the Pacific War asking them: 'What did we lose during the war?'Chorally, the children reply: 'Our sea!' Another cool museum is the Coca museum in which everything about the production of coca, coca-cola, cocaine and whatsoever is outlined in an appealing way. Of course mate de coca is available to drink.

In Bolivia bus rides are challengeing and spectacular. Whereas in Peru more comfortable and luxury buses are easy to find and as a gringo you can pay yourself into a western way of traveling, in Bolivia this is far more difficult. It's especially challengeing when it comes to the less crowded routes. It's always a surprise whether you end up with half a meter of leg space, or hardly any space at all having a lama on your side. Roads in Bolivia are simple and many of them are unpaved. To and from La Paz, the majority of the roads is fairly acceptable, but in the southern or eastern parts of the country, one should not expect much more than a bumpy track through a desolate landscape. Just imagine yourself sitting in a supermarket trolley on a cabblestone road. For hours and hours, making 180 degree turns on rickety cliff roads and throug hairpin curves. Then try to imagine that it's minus 20 degrees outside while the windows of your bus will only partially shut or give some additional ventilation through the many cracks that are in it. Welcome to Bolivia.

After La Paz I make my way down to Cochabamba. This place has a milder climate as it's off the cold and high altiplano. I spend two days there on one of which I rent a bike to explore the indicated bicycle route. From Cochabamba I decide to take a flight to the capital, Sucre, to save myself a 12-hour bus ride. In 20 minutes I get into Sucre, the landing in the mountaineous area is just spectacular.

Sucre is outstanding. Being called a white city, it definitely is and it reminds me directly of Cuenca. Driving into town I see signs everwhere saying 'Sucre capital de Bolivia', just to remind people of its official capital status Today is Sunday and I've been told that there is nice indigenous market in the village of Tarabuco, about an hour from Sucre. I take a small collectivo (a minibus that you share with as many other people as possible so the drive makes as many Bolivianos as possible). I walk around the market, have lunch and buy some souvenirs. On the bus back to Sucre I share an interesting talk with a Bolivian gynaecologist. We talk about the economical and political problems in Bolivia and why it is so tough to make a living in this country. He gives me some great travel advices.

Leaving Sucre the taxi driver brings me to the bus terminal. The taxi driver is a friendly man well interested his passengers. Because there's a lot of traffic and the bus will leave in 25 minutes, he makes a quick and smart detour to make it to the terminal. Before arrival he asks me if it were possible to pay him in my own currency. The taxi ride is 8 bolivianos and as it is 10 bolivianos to the euro, I give him one euro coin of which I still carry a few in one of my pockets. Jokingly, I excuse myself for giving him a Belgian coin instead of a Dutch one and let him keep the change.

From Sucre my trip goes further south towards Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world. Even without having seen this highlight, Bolivia has already met my expectations being a country of extremes.