Bolivia

Landlocked and Isolated, Bolivia is one of the South America's most unlikely treasures, attracting the most intrepid visitors for its rich cultural heritage and literally breathtaking mountain scenery.

     Geographically, Bolivia takes you from the heights of the Altiplano, the Andean plateau which elevates northeastern Bolivia, down to the balmy valleys of the Yungas and east to the fertile lowlands of the Oriente.  linking these physically dissimilar territories are, in the north, hair-rising zigzag roads which cling to near-vertical cliffs. Further south, the plateau shelves off a little more gently, in the area known as the Valles.
     Bolivia is also noted for its material highs and lows, particularly the vast gulf between rich and poor. The poverty is obvious - just look around on the streets of La Paz, behind the cheerful smiles of the traders ad colorfully dressed campesinos (farmers), or drive past families toiling in the fields early in the morning. Bolivia's wealth is not so obvious, but is hinted at in certain genteel cafés in La Paz. Much of it, like the riches of the silver and tin mines, was concentrated in the hands of a few, and spirited away to Europe. Much of the country's physical wealth was taken by neighboring countries in a succession of disastrous wars. Today, Bolivia is the sub-continent's poorest nation, with about two-third of its population, many of whom are subsistence farmers, living in poverty, and the highest infant mortality rate in South America.
    La Paz The Highest Capital - If you're going to fly to Bolivia's unofficial capital, La Paz, try to get a window seat. The views are extraordinary as the airplane sweeps across Bolivia's highest mountain ranges to dive in to de city, which sits in a natural canyon. The one disadvantage is that some travelers arriving in the airport, at an altitude of almost 12,000 ft, are struck by the nausea and headaches of soroche, or altitude sickness. A day or two of taking it easy is a certain cure.
     Most visitors to La Paz us the opportunity to visit the Bolivian side of the nearby Lake Titicaca, the great high-altitude expanse of water shared with Peru.