276 CultureShock! Bolivia
Villazón, with the main stop at Tupiza, a small, underrated
and cultivated city where one can stretch out and tour
by renting a bicycle or stay overnight in any of several
economical hotels. At nearly 3,000 m (9,842 ft) above sea
level, Tupiza is comfortably mild, with rough and colourful
badlands surrounding the town.
The higher-class Expreso del Sur travels on Fridays and
Tuesdays while you can ride the Wara Wara on Wednesdays
and Sundays. Within these two broad classifi cations are three
subclasses in order of quality: executive, salon and popular
Service is evolving since the privatisation by a Chilean
company, and the future remains in limbo, since privatisation
of railroads does not have a good record for passenger travel
in other countries.
Tickets are purchased the same day at the railroad station,
and fi rst-class tickets may be purchased on the train with a
surcharge, but this system may change from one moment
to the next. Timetables are estimates. The jefe de estación
(stationmaster) may be the best source of information.
Travellers in La Paz will have to bus it to Oruro to
catch the train, as the passenger service from La Paz
was terminated.SELECTED TOUR COMPANIES
The following tour companies have been recommended by
multiple sources, and in several cases, used by the author or
his family. Many of the companies listed here sponsor tours to
places of difficult access, and Bolivia is one of those countries
where many organised tours seek adventure and interact with
local inhabitants, contrary to the ‘tacky’, encyclopaedic tours
in the mainstream industry. For other companies not on this
list, check out http://www.boliviaweb.com. One can discover
small and inexpensive tour companies on one’s own, near
main plazas of most cities and in the Calle Sagárnaga area
of La Paz. For the most part, these companies offer a good
product, but you can always double-check by making sure
they are approved by the Bolivian Secretariat of Tourism. Our
having mentioned specialities with each entry should not
imply that these companies are limited to one niche. Most