Roughly circular, at first sight Bolivia looks as an easy country to plan a trip on it. The second sight reveals a more complex reality. A big part of the country is occupied by the Altiplano – the Andean Plateau –, which rises up to four kilometers above the sea level. The oriental part of the country is within the Amazonian Basin and is partly flooded during January and February. The third important zone is what the locals call the Valleys – the steep slopes connecting the Altiplano with the Amazonian Basin. Such a complex environment is an invitation for troubles.
Sadly, there are no good roads in the country. The only highway is a four lanes avenue (two in each direction) connecting downtown La Paz with El Alto and is only fifteen kilometers long. This reality transform any travel by car or bus into an almost Herculean task, even before taking into account the endless police control posts every few kilometers. Moreover, usually round-shaped countries offer several paths to reach a given location, but the roads and political situation in Bolivia do not allow doing so. For example, it makes sense for a tourist to begin the trip by visiting La Paz, then continuing to the Titicaca Lake and Copacabana and then reaching the southern Altiplano through Oruro… oops! There is no connection between Copacabana and Oruro since they belong to different political subdivisions of the country. The visitor needs to return to La Paz before continuing south. It is possible to travel between different "departamentos" only through the line connecting their capitals – and even that is not always possible.
Taking inland flights is only a partial solution. The flights are relatively cheap but they are also unreliable, schedules are problematic and recently problems with ticket payments have been widely reported. The "no-direct-connection" problem exists also here. Even many international flights are sarcastically called "milk-trucks" because they stop in all the major cities along the way - leaving from La Paz, the plane will stop in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz before leaving Bolivia.
Hence, it is essential to plan a trip to Bolivia carefully. Just "wandering-around" does not work here. Being the biggest city in the Valleys, Cochabamba offers a natural solution to the problem. It is possible to land in its international airport and then to explore the rest of the country following three axes connected at their beginning in this nexus city.
The first one connects Cochabamba with Sucre and Potosi. Sucre is the Bolivian official capital, though in reality it is a small town – the best preserved colonial one in the country. Potosi sits atop a silver mountain and offers a fascinating view into the silver mines of colonial times.
The second axis climbs the Altiplano to the north and reaches La Paz (the capital de facto), Copacabana and the Titicaca Lake. If enough time is available, it is possible to descend to the Amazonian Basin through the north and reach the trendy Rurrenabaque and the nearby Amazonian Natural Reserves.
The third axis advances eastwards to Santa Cruz, the second biggest city in the country: such a trip is recommended only during the dry seasons. The main attractions are the Jesuitical Missions. The area provides – when it is dry – comfortable exit points to brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
Such a trident-shaped approach would allow sampling the main sights of this amazingly varied and attractive country in a user-friendly fashion.