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7 Days in Bolivia

nomads plant-based slow travel non-luxe

We visited Bolivia during a 2-month trip stopping in Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Chile in early 2024.

We are Ella & Ryan, digital nomads, exploring the world mindfully. Between getting married, becoming nomads, and starting our own businesses, we’re sharing everything we learn along the way.

Highlights

Digital nomad couple looking out to beautiful Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni

Uyuni Salt Flats

It's hard to put into words what the Salt Flats are like. Not being able to see the horizon is an unimaginable experience.

Beautiful vibrant and colourful La Paz village passing over teleferico

La Paz's Teleferico System

La Paz's cable car system is insane and an ingenious way to get millions of people around this mountainous city.

Man sleeping on bus ride overnight between La Paz and Uyuni in Bolivia with eye patch and sweater

Overnight bus ride

We took a memorable night bus ride from La Paz to Uyuni to visit the Salt Flats.

Staying in La Paz.

📍 La Paz is one of the highest cities in the world at more than 3,500m above sea level. We felt the altitude immediately after getting off the plane, feeling winded in the customs line. A couple days to acclimate and coca leaf tea are highly recommended.

During our ~8 day trip in Bolivia, we spent the first 5 days in La Paz. This city is unlike anything we have ever seen.

🚡 It took us a couple days to get to grips with the new oxygen levels. We ventured to the grocery store and took the local cable car system (Teleferico) around the city which required minimal exertion. The Teleferico system is unbelievable. For CAD $1.50 you can ride around the entire city with mind blowing views of the Andes, see the entire sprawl of La Paz, and not sit in a second of traffic. Public transit here is on another level.

💰 La Paz is undoubtedly the most affordable city we've visited on our travels. Our 5 night Airbnb was CAD $330 total (insane). The public transit was $1.50 per ride and most of our meals were easy to keep below $10 each.

🌱 Cafe Vida: One of the best plant-based meals we had in our 2-month trip was at Cafe Vida where we had delicious, fresh, and vibrant vegan burritos with hummus and dip.

🌑 Valle de la Luna We visited Valle de la Luna which is a unique rock formation a few kilometres from downtown La Paz. We took the Teleferico to the end of the line and a quick $5 uber to the entrance. Great way to spend the afternoon.

Beautiful vibrant and colourful La Paz village passing over teleferico
📸 Teleferico
Valle de la Luna Moon Valley in la paz Bolivia digital nomads
📍 Valle de la Luna
Orange line of the La Paz Teleferico network going over the city in Bolivia
📸 Teleferico
Old style retro bus in La Paz Bolivia
📸 Local Bolivian bus
Digital nomads travelling throughLa Paz in Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Beautiful and colourful street.
📸 La Paz Laneway
Digital nomads travelling throughLa Paz in Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Umbrella street.
📸 Umbrella Street
Digital nomads travelling throughLa Paz in Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. High elevation and altitude requiring coca leaf tea.
📸 Coca tea for altitude
Digital nomads travelling through the Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Posing on the Salt Flats.
Digital nomads travelling through the Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Posing on the Salt Flats.
Digital nomads travelling through the Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Posing on the Salt Flats.
Digital nomad couple looking out to beautiful Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni
Digital nomads travelling through the Salt Flats in Bolivia near Uyuni. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Posing on the Salt Flats.

Visiting the Salt Flats and staying in a Salt Hotel.

We treated ourselved. For Ella's birthday, we visited the Salt Flats in style by staying at the Luna Salada Hotel de Sal, a hotel made entirely of salt.

After taking an overnight bus from La Paz, arriving at the bus terminal in Uyuni, the hotel picked us up for the 30 minute drive north to the hotel that overlooks the Salt Flats.

The hotel even upgraded us for reasons we're still trying to figure out so we had a spacious room to enjoy during our 2-night stay.

💰 Budget tip: Stay at a hotel within walking distance of the Salt Flats (like us) to avoid long, expensive, and exhausting organized tours. We borrowed rubber boots from our hotel and walked 2km out to the flats where we were able to do anything we wanted and stay for as long as we wanted.

Digital nomads travelling through Salt Flats, Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Budget luxury hotel made of salt on edge of Salt Flats near Uyuni. Walking distance from Salt Flats. Bar, spa, sauna, pool, games room, nice rooms, restaurant.
Luna Salada Hotel de Sal
Digital nomads travelling through Salt Flats, Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Budget luxury hotel made of salt on edge of Salt Flats near Uyuni. Walking distance from Salt Flats. Bar, spa, sauna, pool, games room, nice rooms, restaurant.
Digital nomads travelling through Salt Flats, Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Budget luxury hotel made of salt on edge of Salt Flats near Uyuni. Walking distance from Salt Flats. Bar, spa, sauna, pool, games room, nice rooms, restaurant.
Digital nomads travelling through Salt Flats, Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Budget luxury hotel made of salt on edge of Salt Flats near Uyuni. Walking distance from Salt Flats. Bar, spa, sauna, pool, games room, nice rooms, restaurant.
Digital nomads travelling through Salt Flats, Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Budget luxury hotel made of salt on edge of Salt Flats near Uyuni. Walking distance from Salt Flats. Bar, spa, sauna, pool, games room, nice rooms, restaurant.
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Travelling to and from Bolivia.

Arriving in La Paz, Bolivia:

🛫 Coming from San Jose, Costa Rica, we flew with Avianca with a connection in Bogota.

🚘 We then took a 30min Uber to our Airbnb.

(🚍 Overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni)

Departing from Uyuni, Bolivia:

🚍 Our next stop on the South America tour was the Atacama Desert in Chile. We hopped on a 6am bus back in Uyuni to take us on the 8 hour (ended up being 12 hours) journey across the border into Calama, Chile.

Man sleeping on bus ride overnight between La Paz and Uyuni in Bolivia with eye patch and sweater
Digital nomads travelling through Bolivia. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel. Over night bus from La Paz to Uyuni to see Salt Flats in Bolivia.
Digital nomads travelling through Bolivia. Overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni, Boliva. Couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, budget travel.
Digital nomads travelling the world. Itinerary of Costa Rica based on couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, and budget travel. Picture of the forest, waterfall, and trees.
⬅️ Costa Rica
Digital nomads travelling the world. Itinerary of Chile based on couple travel, slow travel, working remotely, vegan travel, and budget travel. Picture of the Santiago, Chile skyline with Andes Mountains in the background.
Chile ➡️