Returning to Vietnam for a few days, Ms. Phan Thi Hien Giang (51 years old, Hanoi) still feels attracted to the moments during her 15-day trip to South America. A not-so-long trip through 3 countries Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. This female tourist has more stories to tell about the lands of Bolivia.
The dream is fulfilled
Before stopping in Bolivia, Ms. Giang and her husband had 5 days and nights in Peru. After that, they flew to La Paz - the administrative capital of Bolivia. Because they did not have much time in La Paz, Ms. Giang and her husband found a local tour guide to take them on a tour at a cost of 25 USD/person, including all travel and snacking expenses.
In 4 hours, the couple visited the most prominent places in La Paz, traveling by many typical means of transport of the capital from taxis, buses to cable car. Vietnamese tourists have moved to 5 different cable car routes during the tour. This is a typical public transport method of La Paz.
La Paz is like a giant basin struggling between the majestic mountains of the Andes. The streets of La Paz wade on the mountainsides, towards the plateau more than 4,000m above sea level, where the satellite city of El Alto is located.
With this special terrain, La Paz has only a few departmental roads, a single highway. Traffic in this tallest capital in the world is extremely difficult and chaotic. Everything changes when the cable car system comes into operation. The vehicle was originally designed to limit traffic congestion and connect densely populated areas in the complex mountainous terrain of La Paz and El Alto.
Today, cable car is not only a unique public transport associated with the lives of local people, but also an attractive experience for tourists. Mi Teleferico is an urban cable car system that holds the world record for both height (700m) and total length (over 33km). When coming to La Paz, visitors must definitely try the experience of riding a Mi Telefetico cable car to see the whole city as well as admire the majestic beauty of the Andes.
One of the prominent tourist destinations in La Paz is El Mercado de las Brujas market, also known as the Market of the Sea. Located just a block away from San Francisco Cathedral, this market displays colorful products, handicrafts, various herbal remedies and especially worship items serving the spiritual life of the people.
It is necessary to mention the world's largest Salar de Uyuni salt field with an area of over 10,500km2 and a reserve of about 10 billion tons of salt. I have planned to visit here since 2018, but for personal reasons I missed it and I have to wait until 2025 to fulfill this dream, the Vietnamese female tourist expressed.
Ms. Giang revealed her experience, visitors should visit Salar de Uyuni in the dry season, to access the dragon bone island but the salt fields will be dry. On the contrary, if you go in the rainy season, the water stagnates on the salt layer, creating a mirror reflecting the magical sky, but the dragon bones are also flooded.
Ms. Giang said: "I chose to go to Uyuni in early February, when the rainy season had just ended. Thanks to that, my wife and I had a "three in one" experience: While watching the dry salt fields, watching the flooded salt fields, and visiting the dragon bone island".
Another beauty of salted copper in the dry season is that the surface will have strange motifs such as giant beehives, hexagonal or five-season planks. This structure is formed during the process of evaporation and crystallization of salt water; or when the salinity of the salt water is different in convective movement in the field. The Salt River in Uyuni attracts millions of visitors each year, less than 10 minutes drive from Uyuni Airport.
High speed
What Ms. Giang regrets most is not being able to visit Titicaca Lake located on the border between Peru and Bolivia - a profound cultural symbol of South America. Located at an altitude of 3,800m above sea level with a large area of up to 8,372km2, Titicaca Lake has an impressive turquoise color.
If you have the opportunity to visit Titicaca Lake, visitors will certainly immerse themselves in the place that possesses the wild, peaceful beauty that ancient lifestyles have been preserved for centuries. Around the lake are islands with interesting cultural habits such as famous Totora grass Uros Island, Taquile Island and handicraft weaving recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2005...
During this trip, Ms. Giang suffered from a high shock because the tourist attractions were all located at 3,500 - 5,000m, suddenly changing her height and operating in a low-oxygen environment. She had some mild symptoms of high shock such as shortness of breath, numbness in the face and 10 fingertips despite taking anti-high shock thuoc for 3 days before departure and staying there throughout her time.
Ms. Giang shared: "I met an American companion who was shocked more than me and gave her the last two pills. Before that, I had two friends who had also been to Bolivia, had fainted and had to call a doctor, and one of them almost had to abandon his trip to emergency fly to Lima to lower the altitude. Therefore, tourists should still bring medicine to prevent high-level shock".
In return, on this trip, the female tourist met many international friends from different countries around the world. When they learned that we were from Vietnam, they were all happy and boasted that they had been to Vietnam or were planning to visit Vietnam soon. I introduced famous landmarks and connected them with a company specializing in welcoming inbound customers in Vietnam. Hopefully they will have a memorable trip in the S-shaped land, Ms. Giang excitedly recounted.
