Bolivia

  Bolivia, Bolivia
Monday, July 30, 2007

We met up with Han´s brother Brendan in La Paz, Bolivia at the beginning of July. It was great to see B after nearly 2 years.  Brendan and Jamie immediately began a facial hair competition.  Han was part of the original challenge. but soon dropped out when she realised she was slightly out of her league.  B & J continued to competition throughout and were soon being mistaken for one another by the locals - I guess all hairy white guys looks alike.  Here´s a before, during and after shot of this 3 week competition.  You decide who the winner is...      

At the beginning

Do empanadas help growth???

You decide the winner...

 












So for a few general reflections of our time in Bolivia....
 
It is immediately apparent that Bolivia is an incredibly poor country, with over 80% of the population living in poverty and the average yearly income only $900 US.  However, Bolivia is rich in colour and cultural traditions. The majority of the population are indigenous people and colourful traditional clothing is commonly worn. The most intriguing pieces worn were the bowler hats (worn by women), and large mainly pink blankets which were tied across their backs. These were used to carry any number of items, often babies.  The majority of the population are Catholics, which in practice is a combination of Catholicism and their indigenous religious practices. Offerings to the Gods are common place, and the local markets full of various items ready for that purpose.  These included stone amulets, bottles of wine, llama foetuses, candy etc.

Backpack baby

Offerings

Popcorn lady & child

We had two weeks in Bolivia, exploring La Paz, the Salt Flats area of the South, and Copacabana. Here´s a snapshot of each of those places...


LA PAZ
La Paz, quite literally takes your breath away.  At nearly 4000 feet above sea level there is not a lot of oxygen to go around. The view as you enter the city is also quite breathtaking. We spent our time in a Paz, exploring the local markets and the surrounding landscape. Brendan and Jamie also did a trip down the ´Worlds Most Dangerous Road´, although by all accounts their masculine facial hair didn't assist and they were practically holding hands all the way down!

La Paz alley

La Paz

Flute player - valley of the moon

SALT FLATS
Our journey down and back was a bit of an adventure because most roads were blockaded by striking miners, and the main train had broken down.  We instead took ´secondary roads´ which apparently had yet to be discovered. The local farmers we randomly came across appeared surprised by a van load of white people and kept themselves entertained by giving our drivers directions into ditches etc.    

The Salt Flats themselves were massive expanse of white set against the blue sky.  The terrain in the area was incredibly varied, deserts, mountains, emerald and red lakes, mountains interspersed with llamas, flamingos etc. We had two very cold nights out there (it can drop as low as minus 20 at this time of year), but enjoyed our night at the Salt Hotel - yip made entirely of salt.  

Train Graveyard

Brendan gets the shove

Sunrise over the Slat Flats

COPACABANA
Copacabana is a lovely chilled out place beside Lake Titicaca and bordering Peru. We enjoyed a day trip out to the Isla del Sol, where we walked the length of the Island and explored the Inca Ruins.
 
Our next transport adventure was crossing the border into Peru.  Being careful little travellers that we are we booked a reputable bus company to take us across the border.  However, they´d overbooked and crammed us into a mini-bus and dropped us and our bags at the border with no onward tickets or obvious onward transportation organised.  We were relieved to find a slightly rundown bus on the other side, that was our onward transport to Puno.  However, due to ongoing teacher strikes in the area (and of course no public works schemes), the roads were still covered in rocks and glass and our bus was soon stoppèd at the side of road with a puncture. We were again crammed into another van, and eventually made it to Puno later that evening.

Church

Copacabana Sunset

Inka path