Bolivia is an untouched natural paradise. The alpine scenery, the jungle, the salt flats, etc. Bolivia’s stunning nature and unique folklore culture make it one of the most visited country among backpackers. Major cities are generally crammed full of backpackers who come for a cheaper stay than elsewhere in South America.
I loved Bolivia, it’s probably among my favorite countries so far. Yet whether it’s a easy to travel around or not is debatable from an independent traveler’s perspective. There are many reasonable trekking opportunities. When I checked the trekking spots around La Paz, I’ve found loads of them and also found many day or 2-day tours to go there.
Not a big fan of any tour, Bolivian ‘tour mentality’ annoyed me a bit, from Uyuni Salt Flats to the Alpine lakes in the South. Tours, tours, tours.
I didn’t find much information regarding how to get there by yourself so today I’d like to share with you dear Steemit friends my trekking experience in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia.
玻利维亚是背包客在南美最爱的国家。这里有很多民俗和风景。玻利维亚高达 62% 的人口都是原住民。除了印第安文化的吸引力，玻利维亚有着独特多变的地形，有安第斯山有乌尤尼盐湖还有亚马逊丛林。加上这里的物价很低，很多背包客喜欢把玻利维亚当做南美游的基地。
我也特别爱玻利维亚，是我最喜欢的国家前几名。但是我也觉得玻利维亚看似发达的旅游业还有很大的进步空间。虽然在主要城市遍地是旅游公司，遍地是一日团三日团，但是这些团也不知不觉局限了这个国家的旅游市场。
我旅游的时候喜欢有自由的空间，不太喜欢跟团，哪怕是一日团。所以在拉帕斯的时候，看到地图上周围都是山，但是山区交通和住宿信息都很难找，只有限定的一日两日团。于是我觉得还是直接去当地探探。
今天我想跟朋友们分享我在拉帕斯附近山区徒步的有趣经历。
I took a taxi from La Paz city to Patamanta, a small town at the crossing point of the main road onward to Copacabana and the unpaved road to the Cordillera Real . The country’s road system wasn’t that great, due to the topography and lack of maintenance.
Once in Patamanta, the taxi driver drops me on the side of the road. A lady contacted Rorelio to reach Tuni. Rorelio and his brother were the only two who can host visitors in their little house. The mobile signal in Tuni is extremely bad, only when Rorelio was outside Tuni he could reach the phone. I had to wait a bit till he picked me up.
Rorelio showed to me the little school and football field along the way. But there were too few kids in the area so those were shut down a few years ago.
早上的时候，我搭了出粗车从拉帕斯到一个叫Patamanta的小城。这个小城从地图看在从拉帕斯去的的喀喀湖路上，离 Cordillera Real山最近。我想着如果找不到交通就直接去的的喀喀湖了。我告诉小城里一个小卖部的老太太，她帮我联系了Rorelio。还好Rorelio和他弟弟提供在Tuni的住宿。玻利维亚的山区手机信号很不好，Rorelio说每天他都要开车离开山区，才能联系到外人。去Tuni的路上，他指给我看居然那么偏僻的地方还有一个小学校，不过这里的孩子太少了，孩子们都去大一点的城市上学，而这个小学校也被迫几年前关掉了。
Tuni is a little town about 1 hour away along the unpaved road from the main road.
海拔4448米，没有见到什么村民，倒有一群草泥马欢迎我。
The village, the house I stayed and photo of all the villagers. Rorelio brought me some tomatoes noodles and eggs. I was allowed to use the self-served kitchen to cook some food. Because of the height, the rice and noodle couldn’t be cooked thoroughly. I was too scared to use the high-pressure cooker. XD
村子真是小，我在Rorelio的房子的墙上发现了所以村民的合照。由于附近也没有餐厅，Rorelio给了我几个鸡蛋和番茄，我本来想做个番茄炒饭，结果发现海拔太高，饭根本煮不熟，又不敢用高压锅…… 于是吃了两天没味道的意大利面，你们如果要来这里旅游的话，别忘了多带几包泡面。
View of the Huayna Potosi and the alpaca group under the sunset.
夕阳印照下的远处的雪山和羊驼群。
There were different trekking routes in Tuni/ Condoriri. I wasn’t feeling that great that few days, partly because of the height. So I just did a full day trekking from Laguna Tuni, which is next to the village, to the lagoon Chiar Khota, where you can get a great view of Huayna Potosi.
在Tuni附近有很多山，可以进行各种路线的徒步。由于有一点高反加上可能没有什么酱的意大利面实在无味，我在Tuni的几天有点不舒服，所以只进行了一天的徒步，从Tuni湖走到远处可以看见雪山的Chiar Khota湖。
Lovely emerald colored Laguna Tuni.
村边的湖
The trekking route was calm. I only met a guy transferring some goods with his donkey and some cows and llamas. The trekking was stunning, I walked passed a few small lakes. It was cold and icy. The route wan’t that difficult, high altitude probably made it slightly more difficult. There were no signs or anything, I asked one lady on the way (there weren’t that many in the area) if I was going the right direction and how much further it was. I was a bit sick that day but still it was a wonderful experience. If you ever traveled to La Paz or Copacabana, consider trekking in the region.
徒步路线并不难，虽然我有点不适应，高海拔让人还是觉得有点累。很少人来这里徒步，一天中，我只发现了一个用驴子运货的当地人，一些羊群，一个当地老妇人，还有从拉帕斯来的3个跟着一日徒步团来的游客。沿路风景非常美，路过了几个小的湖。气温真的是很冷，看到一些小溪都结冰了。
我觉得这次徒步经历非常棒，如果哪天旅行到拉帕斯，不要错过去周围爬山啊。
Thanks for reading!
