Things to Do in Bolivia

About Bolivia

Step off the plane in El Alto—4,150 m up—and the air hits thin, metallic. First smell? Diesel from micro-buses mixing with eucalyptus smoke drifting up from the witch markets below. La Paz tumbles down the canyon like someone kicked a bucket of colored pencils: brick-red roofs, turquoise tin, and the sudden green rectangle of Plaza Murillo where old men in bowler hats feed pigeons. Three blocks uphill, Calle Linares hosts the Witches' Market. They sell dried llama fetuses for luck—15 BOB / $2.20—beside women in polleras frying salteñas that drip orange grease down your wrist. The red line of Mi Teleférico glides overhead. A ski lift, but it is public transport, linking El Alto's chaos to Sopocachi's craft beer bars where a pint runs 35 BOB ($5). Down in the valley, Calle Jaén's colonial mansions hold museums obsessed with gold leaf and coca leaves. After dark, Calle Sagárnaga swells with backpackers haggling over alpaca sweaters and cholitas sorting 3 BOB ($0.40) plates of rice and mystery meat. The altitude will punish you for 48 hours—headaches, nausea, the feeling someone is squeezing your skull—but the payoff arrives at sunrise when Illimani's 6,400 m peak catches fire and you realize a three-course lunch here costs less than your morning coffee back home. Bolivia won't make things easy. It will make them memorable.

Travel Tips

Transportation: 280 BOB ($40) for the La Paz-Uyuni flight—if you book domestic flights through Boliviana de Aviación's website two weeks ahead. Wait, and you'll pay 480 BOB ($70) last-minute. Total rip-off. Micro-buses in La Paz cost 2.50 BOB ($0.35). They'll get you anywhere. Learn to yell '¡Bajo!' for your stop—drivers won't slow otherwise. Tourist buses to Uyuni leave from Calle Sagárnaga at 9 PM. The 12-hour journey costs 120 BOB ($17). They'll hand you a questionable blanket. Use it or freeze. Download the 'Mi Teleférico' app for cable car navigation. The red line connects downtown to El Alto in 8 minutes for 3 BOB ($0.40). You'll save 50 BOB ($7) in taxi fares.

Money: Bolivia still runs on cash—cards only at high-end hotels and tour agencies, and they'll slap on a 4% fee. ATMs in La Paz never break, but they spit out 100 BOB ($14) notes that nobody will touch. Change dollars at Casa de Cambio on Calle Sagárnaga—rates beat the banks—or pull US dollars from BNB ATMs and swap them at the border. The blue rate isn't a thing here, so forget street-corner money changers. Hoard coins for micro-buses and street food; vendors will simply refuse to break a 100 BOB note for a 6 BOB snack.

Cultural Respect: Ask first—always—before photographing cholitas in traditional dress. Many will demand 10 BOB ($1.40) per photo. No exceptions. Markets have rules. Don't handle produce unless you're buying. Locals call it bad luck. Simple. When offered coca leaves, take them. Both hands. Chew gently. Refusing? That's like rejecting someone's grandmother's cooking. Don't. In rural areas, elders first. Handshake plus "Buenos días." Skip this and you're marked rude instantly. No second chances. Here's what most travelers miss: Saturday is family day in La Paz. Small restaurants close early. Plan accordingly or you'll be eating gas station empanadas.

Food Safety: Locals queue? Eat there. Skip pre-made salteñas sweating under heat lamps. The cholita on Calle Linares has grilled anticuchos—8 BOB ($1.15)—and 15 years of regulars prove why. Bottled water everywhere; coffee is fine, it is boiled. Rodriguez market overflows with fruit—peel anything you can't rinse with bottled water. Taxi-driver trick: the 12 BOB ($1.70) almuerzo at Mercado Lanza fills them up daily without a trip to the ER.

When to Visit

May through October is Bolivia's sweet spot — the dry season delivers 18-22°C (64-72°F) days in the highlands before plunging to -5°C (23°F) nights in Uyuni. That's when the salt flats become a perfect mirror, and when Uyuni hotel prices jump 60% above off-season rates. June-August packs tour groups plus the Aymara New Year (June 21) where locals party all night at Tiwanaku. September-October brings thinner crowds and wildflowers across the Altiplano — daytime temps hover around 15°C (59°F), good for 3-day Uyuni jeep tours costing 1,200 BOB ($175) instead of 1,500 BOB ($220) in July. November kicks off the rainy season — flights to Rurrenabaque for Amazon tours drop 30% while the jungle steams at 30°C (86°F) with daily afternoon storms. December-February means flooded salt flats (spectacular photos, zero tours) and washed-out roads nationwide. La Paz gets hammered daily, but hotel prices fall 40% and the cholitas' skirts shine brighter against gray skies. March-April brings clearing weather and Semana Santa (Easter week) processions in Copacabana, where 50,000 pilgrims transform the lakeside town into one massive street party. Budget travelers should target shoulder seasons (April-May, September-October) when La Paz dorm beds cost 60 BOB ($8.50) instead of 100 BOB ($14), and when Death Road mountain bike tours drop from 350 BOB ($50) to 280 BOB ($40). Luxury seekers score the best deals November-March — the five-star hotel in Uyuni drops from 1,800 BOB ($260) to 1,000 BOB ($145) per night, though you'll swap perfect weather for dramatic skies and fewer tourists.