Exactly two years ago at this time, I just had arrived in a town that I didn’t know anything about, and wouldn’t have known anything about it if it wasn’t because I went there.  And why I went there? Yes, that is part of the story.

In January 2018, I traveled to South America.  A change of scenario was my first blog post from that trip. I had planned only a few things before my departure.  I had a round trip ticket. I knew where I was going to stay my first two weeks after arriving in Brazil, and my return trip was from Lima in Peru.

When I was ready to leave Brazil, I was determined to get to Peru by land. I wanted to see most of that continent when I first had the opportunity.  I considered traveling by bus and train to Bolivia and continuing from there to Peru, but when I started looking at the map, the vast distances made me reconsider my plans, and I ended up booking a plane ticket to a city in Bolivia, that I had never heard of before.
Since I’m not the type who wants to see most in the shortest possible time, I also booked a week Airbnb stay for my arrival. I arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia On April 2, 2018. After having spent two months in idyllic lush rural areas of Brazil, coming to a crowded and hot city, in the middle of a country, was a real downturn. Without offending anyone, I found Santa Cruz a charmless big city, but since I was traveling on a budget, and had booked a place for a whole week, I felt compelled to stay.

The day after my arrival there, wandering around the narrow streets, looking for a place to eat, I kept asking myself, “how am I going to survive the week?” In the end, I found a lovely little cafe in the back yard. I was the first customer of the day. I recovered quickly out that the owners of the place were foreigners, and they spoke English. While I was waiting for my order, two young Bolivian ladies showed up. By the sound of it, they were regulars, and they also spoke English. It was through meeting these two young ladies that my real journey in Bolivia began. Not only I got busy editing an interview I did with them, but they also recommended me where to go after Santa Cruz. And once I started traveling, I fell in love with that country.

Bolivia is for sure one of the most beautiful countries I have seen, and I could write so much about it, but I will devote this blog post to the unbeatable nature of Bolivia that captivated me.I remember, arriving at my Airbnb apartment in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, I thought; “What am I doing in this country, and why am I here?” The answer came when I was leaving the country.

During that month, I had met many beautiful people, and seen some of the most amazing spots on earth. The nature of Bolivia was a daily reminder of the great mystery, life, and creation. No wonder they have such close ties to Mother Earth or Pachamama as they call it.