Bolivia Travel Guide

Located in central South America, Bolivia is, with Paraguay the only southern hemisphere country in the Americas that has no contact with the ocean. The Altiplano is Bolivia so the Andes to Chile, a huge high block that gives personality to the relief of Bolivia. Of course, you can travel a little further and find great deals on flights Bogota or even continue to enjoy the best of the beach and opt for Dominican Republic flights.

The Bolivian Altiplano

With an average altitude of 4,000 meters, the Altiplano is a large block like a long corridor of 130 km wide , and over 800 miles long , which is enclosed between two mountain ranges that run from northwest to southeast: the Cordillera Western and Eastern Cordillera or Real.

The Cordillera Occidental , which arose in the Tertiary volcanic peaks houses culminating in the country’s highest peak, such as 6,520 meters of snowy Sajama.

The Eastern Cordillera is very important in guiding the drainage, and that divides the waters between the basin formed by the lakes Titicaca and Poopó, and the rivers that move into the Amazon and the Rio de la Plata.

Lake Titicaca

In half of the Altiplano , where the plateau is sheltered by the Andes at 3,812 meters high and 75 kilometers from the capital of Bolivia, La Paz , is the highest navigable lake in the world, the Titicaca.

With an area of 8,364 square kilometers and 36 islands in the inland sea , the waters of Titicaca not only belong to Bolivia, but also to Peru. After the Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela , is the second largest lake of South America.

The Lake Titicaca , which is divided into two parts by the narrow Siquina , is fed by rivers such as the Coati , Loave , and Suches . The only solution you have is the Desaguadero River , which flows into Lake Poopo.

The Titicaca is a sacred lake , and the legend is a sad day as the god Viracocha , the sun god and creator of the Andean cultures, wept, and her tears created a lake.

Ruins of Tiahuanaco

Across the road from Lake Titicaca to the capital La Paz, located at 3,844 meters in height the ruins of Tiahuanaco.

According to legend , Viracocha descended to earth in Tiahuanaco. There, the inhabitants of the Altiplano-built in the fourth century, a great ceremonial center in his honor.

Large megalithic gates dedicated to the Sun and the Moon lead to Kalasasaya , the main archaeological site and the center of Tiahuanaco . The sandstone stelae decorated with bas complexes such as the so-called “Friar” , that measure between 1.5 and 7.6 meters in heightReflect the essence of art and culture of Tiwanaku, her style compact and symmetrical.

The lattices main urban Tiahuanaco cluster around Akapana , a massive stone structure of 800 meters in circumference and 15 meters high which is lined with sandstone blocks that weigh up to more than 100 tons.

The Salar de Uyuni

In the southwest of the Altiplano does appear the desert with a vast wasteland of land whose dark color is immersed in salt . And that huge surfaces are formed by salt form a unique landscape in the world and make it the largest salt desert in the world , the Salar de Uyuni . Her measurements are spectacular: it has a surface of 10,582 square kilometers and is 3,600 meters high.

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