Impressions of Bolivia

   After 2.5 months I finally left Bolivia, but there is still more there that I want to visit but couldn´t because of the flood waters. By most travellers standards, I did spend a long time there. Bolivia is cheap, I liked it a lot, and I took my time because I planned to be there for carnival.   Here are a few general things, impressions, I thought I would share about Bolivia.

   Firstly, it seemed to me that the women do most the work, and mostly even Bolivians seemed to agree with this. I didn´t like it.
   Then on top of them doing most the work, the men never give them a hand. A woman might be carrying a heavy load, struggling to get it and herself onto a bus, but no one will help unless it is to their benefit (like she is in their way, so they help to get her moving). Even as a blonde traveller who received numerous requests for my hand in marriage (!) I didn´t get assistance with my pack, ever.
   Skirts, big skirts, don´t stop a woman doing anything! Wow, I saw professional wrestling by women in skirts, they run, hurdle over street barricades, shepherd, dig fields.... anything!, skirts didn´t seem to hinder them in activities in which western women would say "Give me a moment, I´ll just switch into something more practical".
   Yogurt, apparently, doesn´t need refrigeration!
   Bolivia has the lowest GDP of any South American Country, but they do miss a lot of opportunity to make money. Order a meal and they never ask if you´d like a drink, and they never come back to the table to ask if you´d like anything else (another drink, desert). Hotels rarely suggested things to do in town, those that did were foreign owned.
   Another thing that bothered me was that 4 major tourist towns I visited didn´t have ATM´s (to withdraw cash from your card) suitable for foreign cards (there was a machine for local cards). Instead you could get money by waiting at a bank, with passport and photocopies of it, and pay 5% commision. This makes most tourists very careful about their spending, trying to budget and limit their stay to the cash they have. I really think that it´s very likely that corruption is keeping these towns from having an ATM.
   My favourite place in Bolivia? It´s a tough call between Samaipata, for the natural beauty, and Rurrenbaque, for the edge of the jungle vibe.
   And I definately recommend Carnival in Oruro to everyone!

I averaged about $USD220 per week in Bolivia. I ate well, did tours and even took a flight.