7 Most Breathtaking Views of Bolivia

Published on 12/8/2008 under Cool Places - 64,955 views
TAGS: Photos Bolivia, Views of Bolivia, Places in Bolivia

Tweet

On July 2008, Oddee's crew went to one of the most beautiful countries in the world: Bolivia. Located in the Altiplano (spanish for "high plain"), it's the most extensive area of high plateau on earth outside of Tibet. Its height averages about 3,300 meters (11,000 feet), and unlike the Tibetan Plateau, the Altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the west. Along with photographer Robert Dam, we took some of the most surreal views of this fascinating country.

Illimani Mountain and the Milluni Valley

Illimani (from Aimara, meaning "golden eagle") is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real (part of the Andes) of western Bolivia, next to La Paz. The best view you'll get is from the Milluni Valley, an hour from downtown La Paz. The valley itself is absolutely beautiful, full of llamas, rocks and fascinating lakes.

Uyuni Flats

The Salar de Uyuni (spanish for Uyuni Flats) is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km2 (4,085 square miles). It took a 7 hour train from Oruro (3 hours from La Paz) to reach the city of Uyuni, and another 2-hour drive to the flats. Located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, it is 3,650 meters high. Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. The Salar is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually.

Chacaltaya Mountain

It takes about an hour to climb up to the top, but the view is outstanding. The glacierial mountain of Chacaltaya is located near Lake Titicaca, with an elevation of 5421 m (17,785 feet). It's about 30 km from La Paz, near Huayna Potosí mountain, and it's one of the highest glaciers in South America. Although the glacier is over 18,000 years old, over 80% of it has melted since 1987 and it is expected to disappear by 2008.

Siloli Desert

Part of the National Reserve Eduardo Abaroa, the Siloli Desert is famous for its tree-like rock formations, specially the one known as the "Stone Tree", which was formed during the uprising of the Andes.

Moon Valley

Located on the outskirts of La Paz, the Moon Valley (Valle de La Luna) is an incredible rock formation caused by erosion, giving the sensation to be in a real lunar landscape. They say it was once visited by Neil Armstrong himself.

Red Lagoon

Not far from the Uyuni Flats, the beautiful Red Lagoon (Laguna Colorada) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, close to the border with Chile. The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts nicely with the reddish color of its waters, caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.

Frozen Lake

Not far from the Red Lagoon we found this unidentified frozen lake; absolutely beautiful.

Not jost desert and rocks by Joost on 12/31/2010 2 votes I think the subtropical foothills of Bolivia deserve at least a mention between all these Altiplano (...) (Source) Have a great addition to the article? Contribute!

Subscribe by RSS: Subscribe by E-mail:	Share this: E-mail it Del.icio.us Share Tweet Corrections? Factual Grammar/Spelling

provided by: and

	Purple Squirrel Found In Pennsylvania
	The Morning-After Pill Vending Machine
	The Single Most Powerful Quote From California's Prop 8 Ruling
	CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Sex Shop Robberies Hit Nation's Adult Stores
	Guinness Declares 102-Year-Old Sisters As World's Oldest Twins
	Is This The Legendary Worm Monster Of Iceland?

 

 

	10 Far-out Valentine's Gifts
	10 Geekiest T-Shirts
	10 Coolest Bathroom Accessories
	10 Coolest Computer Mice
	12 Funniest Wedding Cake Toppers
	12 Strangest Ties
	10 Coolest Bottle Openers
	10 Most Creative Holders
	10 Coolest USB Accessories
	10 Coolest USB Flash Drives

	11 Things You Won't Believe Governments Have Banned
	10 Gorgeous Women (Who Were Born Male) (NSFW / 18+)
	10 Handsome Men (Who Were Born Female) (NSFW / 18+)
	14 Craziest Pregnancy Portraits (NSFW / 18+)
	12 Most Embarrassing Family Portraits
	Another 10 Even Cooler Photos You Won't Believe Are Not Photoshopped
	12 of the Best – and geekiest – Cosplays Ever
	12 Worst Tattoos of 2011 (NSFW / 18+)
	Another 10 Hilarious TV Photobombs (NSFW / 18+)
	12 Disturbing Child Pageant Photos
	11 Hilarious Examples of False Advertising
	10 Most Shocking Cases of Anorexia
	Another 12 Creative Bras
	12 Disturbingly Weird Body Shapes (NSFW / 18+)
	10 Most Disturbing Ad Campaigns Featuring Kids (NSFW / 18+)
	16 Hilarious Roommate Notes
	10 Unexpected Optical Illusions in Photos
	10 Hilarious Historical Facebook Updates
	Before and After Pics: 7 Amazing Transformations
	12 Most Inappropriate Halloween Costumes for Kids
	10 Craziest Pictures of Scarlett Johanssoning (NSFW / 18+)
	12 Hilarious Summer Pictures (NSFW / 18+)
	13 Hilariously Stupid Signs

Oddee by Category:

Amazing Art

Cool Ads

Funny Signs

Funny Names

Cool Places

Strange People

Cool Objects

Cool Gift Ideas

Weird Science

Strange Stories

Bizarre Medical Stories

Fun Tech

Cool Home Design

Misc

Quickee

Search Oddee.com:

Sites we like:
I-am-bored | 2leep
CollegeHumor | Leenks
Gajitz | UniqueDaily
Uncoached | Unreality
DRB | Inspiratorium
WebUrbanist | Ecoist
IncredibleThings | Dornob
GorillaMask | Eat Liver Neatorama | Uphaa


Oddee.com makes PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites of 2008!

Great articles on other blogs: