Hitchhiking the World: Chap 10 (Bolivia & Paraguay)

---May 3rd 2016---

It was time to explore what was my most anticipated destination. In our car was a couple from Germany, a brother and a sister from Switzerland and a guy from Thailand. We first stopped at the train graveyard, before heading into the Salt Flat. Having already visited the Salt Flat, I didn’t take much picture, and didn’t care much about that part of the trip. That night, we stopped at San Juan for the night.

The next day was for me the beginning of the fun. The road was rough and getting lost through the millions of track heading in all direction, the simple drive made the tour worth it. Our second day started with the lava flow of the Ollague Volcano. The mixer of gas pocket trapped by the lava and the erosion of time sculpted the red rock in all sorts of shape. In the background, the active volcano was steaming out of its blueish hill. We stopped for a few photos before heading toward the three lagunas (Canapa, Edionda and Honda). The first two were filled with flamingoes, definitely highlighting these sights, whereas the Laguna Honda didn’t have a single flamingo. Therefore, due to the borax dissolved in the water, its water was milky looking, almost white. To exit these lagunas, we crossed a narrow canyon before seeing the road completely vanish. It was pure desert; no fauna, no flora, no water, and not even a single rock, just dirt and hills. It may not look like the nicest part of the drive, but it was. This near emptiness was surrounded by amazingly colored hills welcoming us to the Siloli Desert. A huge brown hill covered with different tones of red, beige, yellow and white covered part of the horizon. The 4600m high viewpoint may not have had much oxygen, but the lack of obstacle sure didn’t stop the wind from blowing. Frozen hands and body, we all fought as best as we could to take a few clichés of this natural masterpiece, but one after the other, we all abandoned, leaving the freezing high altitude wind the win. This desert eventually finished at the Arbol de Piedra, a huge rock sculpted like an upside-down tree root sticking out of the ground. About three time my height, it sure was impressive. We took a few minutes to walk around the other rocks, but eventually had to get back in the car; this time, our goal was the red Laguna Colorado. This was to be the last destination of the day. Due to the Nina phenomenon, the “rainy season” didn’t fill the laguna as it usually does once a year. This left the level of the water quite shallow. This shallowness also changed the usual deep red into a milkier one. Despite it all, the color of this laguna still stood out from the other lagunas we had seen earlier. Amazed by its color, I stayed watching and photographing the lake for quite a while. As for my companions, they couldn’t fight the cold, and ended up cutting our stay at the laguna short. We drove our refuge and finished our day playing board games.

The Laguna Colorado with one of its old time friend

It was now our third and last day. The list of sights was still long, but our guide and everyone in the car were starting to be tired. We woke up at 5am and drove to the Sol de Manana, I tried to enjoy the site, photograph the geyser, and the colored dunes, but got pushed back in the car, we then got the thermal pool of the Laguna Salada, and rather than staying the 45min told by the guide, everybody pushed their stay for over an hour. Now I didn’t care for these thermal pools, I wanted to see and enjoy the wonders of the area, and these extra minutes at Laguna Salada meant we couldn’t stop at the Dali Desert, and it started to aggravate me. I had paid quite bit to see these landscape, and I didn’t like the fact we couldn’t stop to enjoy it. So as we skipped the Dali Desert I took a decision, not a good one, but one. And so, after a quick stop at the Laguna Verde, I asked my guide if I could exit the tour. He looked at me very oddly, and tried to understand, but it was futile. There was nothing to be understood in asking to be dropped in the most remote place I had ever seen. Finally, he accepted and removed my bag from the car’s roof. I shook everyone’s hand, and waved goodbye as the car disappeared in the desert.

Finally, I was back on my feet and hitchhiking. It felt great, but I knew this was to be the hardest hitchhiking I was going to face. I couldn’t make any mistake crossing this desert as the risks were big. To start with, the only car using these roads were guide’s car, meaning despite a decent traffic, no one was to stop. Add this with the 4500m-5000m high altitude, leaving little oxygen, and freezing weather, and you got some of the hardest condition you could think of. Obviously, the high wind in your face makes the already hard walk harder as you are constantly blown dust into your face by the passing guides. Not to forgotten, the water doesn’t exist in this landscape, so you can’t just drink by all means, but only on extreme thirst. Of course, at no point is the water dangerous, since if anything happen, there are guides you can force into stopping, but let’s keep that for last resort, I don’t want to cheat. But out of all of the scary factor running through your mind, the worst is the getting lost. Due to the horrible road condition, everybody goes in different directions. You are constantly on a none indicated intersection, and if you pick the wrong one, first, you will see the few potential car passing in the distance, but if you walk to far following the wrong track, you might end up too far from the correct road making water a serious problem. To avoid getting lost, you need to stop and wait for a car to appear and then take that road. These multi-track also means you got to anticipate where the next car will pass, as if it takes one that isn’t the one you chose, they will not stop for you, but it also means that camping isn’t an option, as car go wherever they want, so you are never safe to camp (only at the refuge, every 60km). All in all, it wasn’t to be easy, and could be disastrous, but as long I play it logically, there shouldn’t be any problem.

It took me 10min to have a first ride, a guide with three clients. He asked permission to the clients as it wouldn’t be fair for them to pay and not for me (despite I had paid), and they accepted. The ride was rough, so rough that we eventually lost one of the back wheels. The guide repaired everything, and we got to my first stop: the Dali Desert. Like the Siloli, the mountains of that valley were painted in shade and colors, but this time, the scale of the valley made it even better than the Siloli Desert. I saw the car leave, and started taking pictures as I walked toward the Laguna Salada (next water point). Just 5min later, an 18-wheeler stopped. The guy was from Paraguay, and extremely nice. At every gorgeously colored mountain, he would stop to let me take a few more pictures. Eventually, I had to separate myself from that ride as I was heading back to the Sol de Manana. Disappointed from the mere 10min on sight, I decided to revisit it. This time, the color stood out. Less geyser hiding everything, fewer tourists, more light and more time, I truly took the time to fully explore the area. But the exploration wasn’t with a certain level of difficulty. It was noon, I was hungry and thirsty, but worst, I was carrying 45lbs (20kg) at 5000m altitude, the highest I have ever being in my life. Lastly, the lack of tourist meant I had for a long wait, and needed to find the “main road”, thus walking for a while. I walk uphill for about 45min, until I finally got my third ride, another guide who brought me to the Laguna Colorado. I had now seen what I had missed, and it was time to head to Uyuni. The refuge of Laguna Colorado was located in the messiest road system of the desert. That being said, I had to find a way to the other side of the lake. This was another refuge, with two main road heading to Uyuni, a place to camp safely and water. About 9km from my dropped-off point, I started a long and painful walk. I meet to cyclist along the way that helped me out getting my bearing and knowing how long was the walk to the refuge. I kept on walking and walking, and after 2h30min, I finally saw a car passing by… passing by. Seeing another coming, I kept my thumb up, and got myself a ride. They didn’t have place for me on the inside of the car as they were 6 in a 5 room car, but I got to ride the back of the pickup. It turned out quite nice as they were transporting mattress. They had come to help a couch bus who had sunk in the sand, and so, I got to help digging the bus out of the sand. It took us an hour, but eventually, the night fell down, and my drivers left in the direction of Uyuni. This time though, I was inside the car as the temperatures were too cold for me to be exposed to the wind. It sure wasn’t comfortable, but I got a ride back to civilisation. I may have loved the overall experience, the level of difficulty, and may have crossed the most remote road of my trip in just a day, but NEVER will I recommend someone to try it. It may be possible, and there may be a safe way of hitchhiking through it, but a small mistake can leave extremely bad result.

No, I'm not hitchhiking on Mars, its just the Dali Desert

Back in civilisation I was, but not out of the wood (figuratively as I was in desert), I still needed a place to sleep. I looked and looked, but couldn’t find anything. Finally, I walked along the train track and through my tent along it. That night, I froze!!

The next day, I tried to hitch toward Tupiza, but after over an hour without a car, I abandoned the idea thinking it may look nice over there, but Valle de las Animas was pretty similar. And so, I crossed town again, and hitched toward Sucre. I was to be a long ride, but got very lucky as an RV stopped to bring me to Sucre. Wilma, a German lady, was the driver. We manage to keep the conversation going for the totality of the ride, which is rare on long rides. A little past Potosi, we stopped for the night. I through my tent next to the RV and slept like a baby. The collection of the 5am wake up, crossing the Uyuni Desert by foot and hitchhiking, and the freezing night, really tired my body. Finally in Sucre, I guided Wilma though the street as I knew them from my parents visit, and once in downtown, I walked to the edge of town.

It was now time to cut across to Paraguay. I got a few small rides, but eventually got a 4 to 5h ride bringing me to the end of paved road. The night had fallen, but the stars weren’t out. Rain felt like the forecast. I looked and looked around but couldn’t find anything. All I knew was that there was a bridge down the road. Having had to back track a little to find food, I knew what was down the next few kilometers. I hitched in the night ti that bridge, and within a minute wait, I got a truck to pull over. I hopped in and soon realized I was in for the night. I took the tarp of the truck, built myself a tent on the flat bed, and slept as the truck was bouncing around the wet and dirty road. At two in the morning, the truck stopped which woke me up. We were stuck. The mud had made the road impossible for us to keep on going. Furthermore, another truck was stuck a little uphill blocking any night attempt at climbing. We pushed the truck out of the mud, and went to bed, as for me, I stayed in my improvised tent.

The next day, we took our speed, and with all the misery in the world, got to the top of the hill. We drove up to Montegudo, where I was invited for breakfast. After getting lost in town, I got back in the mud, and hitched the few cars needed to make it back to asphalted road.

Now in Camiri, I needed a place to stay. I found a decent place, but not protected from people, I decided to head for a deserted park. Bad move that was as not only did the park filled up with people playing football (soccer) right next to my tent, but it rained that night, waking me up totally wet. Definitely, my tent isn’t waterproof. Without any choice, I packed everything at 3 in the morning, and got back to the first spot. I put up my tent under the roof and finished my night protected from the rain. I snoozed until 7am; my tent was a little drier, but not totally. A got back on the road and without too much wait; I found a ride to Villamonte.

I got a ride from a petrol truck. Since it is illegal for them to pick up hitchhikers, the driver dropped me just before Ibibobo, the last town in Bolivia, and therefore, the immigration office. This was a little problematic as I had to lie on how I got to Ibibobo to the army. I told them some guy working on the field had picked me up and dropped me a few miles from here. They didn’t believed me, but I stayed with my lie, and could get me to brake, so they’ve eventually gave up, and let pass. I bureaucratically left the country, but still needed to exit it. I waited and waited as there were no cars on this road, other than the truck that legally couldn’t help me out, but finally, one took the risk and stopped for me. I was finally heading to Paraguay.

To enter my 16th country, I needed to go through a very mean border officer. I don’t think he wanted me in his country, but having all my paper and doing anything illegal, I got my stamp. I then I tried to change my money, but faced a problem. The remoteness of the border made money changing impossible. To change my money, I had a 10$ tax. It may not sound like much, but the biggest tax I paid in 16 country was 0,50$, I fought my case against the “exchange office”, and the border patrol, but couldn’t get anything. I asked the local truckers and got a guy to by me a few dollars, but that was it. Finally, with a horrible change, I managed to limit my lost at 7$. If ever you decide to head from Bolivia to Paraguay, change your money before entering Paraguay, they will rob you.

I guess this is not the best border to enter Paraguay

I then had to find a place to sleep. I knew the Paraguayan side didn’t like me very much, so I got back into Bolivia for the night, and slept in the middle of the official trailer park of the border; with their permission of course.

I woke up with rain dropping on my tent, so got up, packed my wet stuff, and got back to Paraguay. Just to piss the mean border officer, I placed myself right in front of his office. He didn’t like hitchhikers, but I wasn’t illegal, so he couldn’t do anything. He tried to force me into taking the bus, but I responded that with all the money lost because of his money change, I couldn’t and that if he wanted me out, he had to pay from his pocket. He didn’t. And so, after over an hour wait, I found a pickup. Paraguay suddenly changed. I rode the back with another two guys. They offered me food, and got a huge ride through the dirt road of the back country of a back country. The car was shacking left and right, up and down, but my moral stayed up. The wind in my face, and a smile to my ears, I enjoy seeing the flat scenery pass by.

Eventually, we reached the main road, stopped to eat, drove until the intersection of Filadelfia. As we got closer to the intersection, we got intercepted by a road block. I was the center of attention, and unlike all the road blocks of the 15 previous countries, this one didn’t enjoy my statue. He gave trouble, but couldn’t get anything; we got through that one. Eventually, we split as they were heading to Filadelfia. As for me, I manage to reach San Miguel by the end of the day.

As I was looking for a place to camp, a small kid came to me asking what I was doing. When I said I was looking for a camping place, he told me to come to his house. I knew his parents weren’t going to let me stay, but followed just in case. As foreseen, his mom didn’t look too happy to have me around, but didn’t say anything. I started playing with the kids, and just like that, the mom started laughing, and decided to take one of the mattresses to make me a bed on the pool table. After a few hours playing with the kids, I abandoned and went to bed. It was a cold night, and woke up due to the many mosquitos, but I stayed dry for the first time in a while. The mother invited for breakfast, and asked for a picture of her family, and once taken, I packed my stuff, and got back on the road.

A typical family from Paraguay

It surely was hard to hitchhike, but after near half-a-day of tiny ride mixed with huge wait, I found myself a ride to Asuncion. The driver invited me to eat lunch, and as we were getting closer to the capital, we tried calling Rut, a girl a meet in Panama who lived in Asuncion. Not able to reach her, my driver invited me to stay at his sister’s house until I could figure things out. Then, things started to be more and more complicated. Elena, my driver’s niece, and I tried to contact Rut, but she was unreachable. I contacted Ninive, a friend of hers living in Panama, to make sure her phone number was good, by doing so, I got connected to Jonathan, from Brazil, which was in Asuncion for a few days. Finally got a hold on Rut, but she couldn’t help me out as her parents didn’t wanted a stranger in there house. So, Jonathan found me a place to stay at a local church. Things got a lot more complicated, but at least, you get a glimpse of what finding a contact can look like when you don’t have a phone. Finally, to add insults to injuries, my computer broke down, so all the useful information I had could be accessible. Later in the evening, Jonathan came to pick me up at Elena’s house, invited me to try the local food, and walked me to the church. Finally, things are going well again.

These two days in Paraguay really gave me a good idea about its people. To start with, the Paraguayan police have to be some of the strictest I have seen in all my trips, much worse than the American one. They do not mess around. I was told there is a lot of corruption, and as for the white man from Canada, I’m an easy prey for extra money. Unfortunately, they quickly realise I’m no good; the advantage of being a hitchhiker, you aren’t a good prey, so people leave you alone. As the rest of the country, they are afraid of strangers. They do not have the risk taking culture making hitchhiking very hard and long. On the other hand, they and some of the most helpful people I’ve seen. Once you break the ice and proof you are nothing to be afraid of, they will do everything they can, and more, to make sure you have everything you need. This country has always being a mystery for me, but I now know how helpful they can be, and can’t wait to see how the rest of my visit will look like.

I decided to stay in Asuncion for three nights in total. During the days, I wouldn’t much other than relax. As for evenings, I would hang out with the church group. One of the night was used to experience the Mother Days church ceremony where I got to meet up with Rut, and as for my last one, I went to play volleyball and football with everyone. I must say it was pretty impressive to see them play. There foot play had to be the most amazing that I’ve seen in all my life; they really are the football culture. Finally, as the sporting slowed down, we got back in the church for a little jam using the church’s instrument. Of course, as I used to back in my younger years, I was behind the drum.

Just like my teenagehood

After two days in the capital, I felt it was time for me to head out, but not before taking a shower. It had been 14 days since my last wash, and after having crossed the Uyuni Desert hitchhiking, my hairs were itchy from the sand. I tried the first shower, but after 5-10min with my hand in freezing water, I gave up, and went for the second shower, not much better. Unfortunately, I knew I had no choice as leaving Asuncion meant no shower for the next week or so. I forced myself under the freezing shower and washed myself using only water as I had no soap. After trying my best to wash all the dirt, I closed the shower and rinsed myself. Once fully dried, I noticed there was a shampoo bottle lying under the near sink. The happiness of being actually able to wash was shared with the fear of taking a second freezing cold shower; unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t avoid it. So, once more, I too all the courage I can possible come up with and got back under the shower. As I tried the wash the shampoo from my head, I caught a massif brain freeze from the water. The pain was big, but now with shampoo, there is nothing to do. Finally everything off, I closed the shower and rinsed myself another time. The only problem was that the freezing cold weather made the now wet towel as cold as everything else. I had to fight hard to get washed, but I must admit; it felt good to be clean again.

Jonathan showed up at around 9am to shake my hand one last time and to exchange contact information. Finally, as I was getting ready to start my 9km walk to the edge of town, he offered me one last present. He offered me a bus ride to the end of town, where my next destination was: Cerro Koi.

I went around the park of Cerro Koi, and got very impressed by the geological wonder of it. The park had some sort of basalt columns looking formation, but unlike basalt, the column didn’t come from the solidification of the magma, but was actually made of sandstone. It may not sound like much, but for a geology enthusiast, which has come to understand a little about these types of geology, it simply doesn’t make sense. Nevertheless, the park was amazing. From that point, it was time to raise my thumb again and do what I do best; get a ride someplace. As expected, none of my rides were heading far, always just a few kilometers down the road. But, unlike the west of the country, I barely had to wait at any point, making progress decently interesting. Finally, as the mid-afternoon came along, I found my good ride. My target was to reach “Kilometer 30” by the end of the day. This important intersection was my turn off point to head for the Salto de Nacunday. And so, being in a car heading for Ciudad del Este, meant I was going to reach my destination on time. On time indeed!! We got to the intersection about half hour before sunset. Not having any light with me, I needed to find a place before dark, and so I did. I found, just next to the main road, an abandoned house. With a flat floor, I was bound to get a comfortable night on the concrete. This was great, as the comfort came with much needed protection from the rain, but one thing wasn’t as perfect in all this; it was only 5:30pm and I had no light and nothing to do. To kill time, I sat down, and waited until seven finally showed up, and go to bed. The nearing winter will definitely make the next few nights boring.

The odd geology of Cerro Koi

The next day, I headed toward the waterfall, still with the day before’s luck. It took me two cars at an average of 2min wait to reach the park entry. Unfortunately, from there, I had 5km to walk. At the moment I arrived at destination, I got intercepted by the park ranger. As typical of the country, he was a real nice guy. We talk a little while and he finally invited me to tag along with him back to his place for lunch. Furthermore, as we were eating, he invited me to stay for the night at the park ranger headquarters. It may have only being noon, but this early invitation meant I could take the time to wash my dirty cloths.

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Country's Statistics

Number of nights : 6

Numbers of days on the road: 5

Percentage of invitation at night : 83%

Overall waiting time : 13h

Average wait : 22min

Longest wait : 1h 10min

Male vs female : 96% male – 0% female – 4% mixed

Total amount of rides : 24

Average spending per day : -20,79$/day

Place visited : 2