The Salar de Uyuni is not a lake in the conventional sense: though below the surface it is largely saturated by water.
Though the city originally covered several square kilometres, only a fraction of the site has been excavated.
It owes its existence to Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), which rises imperiously above the city to the south.
There’s a wealth of popular music connected with the various festivals that dot the year, or to key events in the agricultural calendar.
A moveable feast celebrated in late February or early March, the Oruro Carnaval is Bolivia’s most spectacular fiesta.
Set amid a hollow gouged into the Altiplano, the city is a scene of stunning contrasts.
These algae are a rich source of food for flamingos – the lake is to be the world’s single biggest nesting site of the rare James flamingo.
The stalls are all heavily laden with a colourful cornucopia of ritual and medicinal items.
The traditional weavings of indigenous highland communities are among the finest expressions of Andean culture.
Few highways have as intimidating a reputation as the original road linking La Paz with Coroico in the North Yungas.
Climbing the dramatic Cordillera Real is one of the best things to do in Bolivia.
Isla del Sol is the spiritual centre of the Andean world, revered as the place where the sun and moon were created.
Set among the steamy, tropical lowlands just beyond the last Andean foothills, Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s economic powerhouse.
The stretch of eerie, cactus-strewn badlands around Mallasa is known as the Valle de la Luna.
The animals have since made a dramatic recovery, and large herds can be found grazing north of the village.
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