lmh
Linese Hunt Joined: August 26th 2005
Logged in: February 14th 2012
Logged in: February 14th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
'Cerro Rico' or 'Rich Mountain' dominates Potosi
Uyuni didn’t look any less depressing after a nights sleep - it was just much muddier as the thaw was well advanced, It was actually the first large town in Bolivia that we had been to that had predominately dirt streets - we had been expecting to see many more then we had, The roads connecting all the main towns were mostly surfaced as well, It wasn’t long ago that only 200 kilometres of main roads were paved. The bus was late leaving and we spent the time trying to dodge the drips coming from all the roofs - they were heavier than rain. There was total chaos on the street which served as the bus station as the previous day most of he buses out of the town had been cancelled due to road closures ... read more
Tupiza, surrounded by hills of many colours
Our first day in Tupiza - set at 2950 meters above sea level and surrounded by an amazing landscape of rainbow coloured rocks, hills and canyons - was spent recovering from our night of no sleep. It was near this town that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed after robbing a payroll from a small settlement 40 klms away from Tupiza. The colours in the hills really were vibrant and it was easy to appreciate them as we explored the town in the late afternoon as they were very close - Tupiza is only tiny. Jerry climbed to a hill above the town and had a great view of the surrounding countryside but that seemed too hard for me - I stayed in the hotel with my book! Next day we visited three of ... read more
Church window
We spent part of our 36th wedding anniversary on a bus driving across the dusty altiplano from La Paz to Oruro. It is a dusty windy city once renowned for its silver mines, since exhausted, then tin mining, also now exhausted. Today one of its main attractions is the Carnival held here yearly. This festival, now considered second only to the Rio Carnival is similar to the Gran Poder, as wonderful masks and costumes are worn by all the participants as well. The festival in La Paz went for only 24 hours - the Carnival in Oruro involves similar festivities for a week. Oruro is set at an altitude of 3770 meters on the altiplano (high plains) region which stretches from Lake Titicaca and extends nearly 1000 kilometres to the south western corner of Bolivia. The ... read more
That mountain was very close...
The day after enjoying the Gran Poder parade in La Paz was spent quietly - mainly watching the locals clean up the immense piles of rubbish from the day before and dismantling all the temporary stands lining the streets. We had been told that there was to be another transport strike the next day - not good news for us as we were to fly to Rurrenabaque, the small town which was the gateway to the Bolivian Amazonian basin. The planes are never included in transport strikes (the strikes were because the government was threatening to take all cars over 12 years off the road - most taxis and mini buses) but it meant that we wouldn’t be able to get to the airport. The airport is high above the city - at least a half ... read more
Before the parade
The Gran Poder parade is La Paz´s biggest street party. It's not sponsored by Kodak but so many of my photos seem to have their logo in them. We were just sitting opposite the store. It's actually a religious festival that involves an enormous carnival-like parade through the centre of La Paz. Dancers, bands and street performers from all over the city and surrounding hinterland descend on La Paz for a spectacular show. And spectacular it was! Sixty four groups danced this year - and we presumed before the event that each group would only have a couple of hundred dancers. How wrong we were - in total over 100,000 people danced through the streets that day in a never ending stream of colour. The parade started at 7am with the President of Bolivia marching with ... read more
Copacabana
We arrived in Copacabana, the town which sits on the edge of the sapphire blue waters of Lake Titicaca, late on Sunday afternoon. We had been passed reroute from Sorata by many cars decorated with flowers and upon our arrival in Copacabana we saw cars being decorated in front of the Cathedral in the main square. The fascinating custom - the Blessing of the Automobiles, takes place here every weekend. It is like a spiritual insurance policy - once you’ve had your car blessed presumably you’re less likely to have a car accident. Since our arrival in South America though we’ve seen dozens of roadside shrines to road accident victims (many decorated with the broken windscreen or tyre from the car) - unlike most Australian shrines there are very rarely only one cross - we’ve regularly ... read more
Sorata, in the far distance of the photo!
We left La Paz for the lower altitude of the tiny town of Sorata hoping that by the time we returned to the capital my bronchitis would be much better. Sorata is in a valley between the Amazonian jungle and the high peaks of the Andes. Our first problem was actually finding where the bus left from La Paz as nobody seemed to have an exact location. We took a taxi to the cemetery area of the city where all the small bus companies have their offices and our taxi driver kindly asked around until he found the correct bus company (there were dozens scattered around half a dozen city blocks) - it involved a few journeys in reverse down the very crowded streets of the area - thankfully we weren’t driving! We had been warned ... read more
Our first view of La Paz - on the way from the airport
La Paz was an amazing city - we ended up spending a few days longer there then originally planned due to me not being well. We flew from Cusco in Peru over the massive Lake Titicaca - it was a very impressive body of water seen from above! We could see the snow capped peaks of the Andes mountain range as well and combined with the bleak treeless contours of the Altiplano it was a memorable flight. We had pre-booked accommodation at the lovely Hostal Naira and arranged a taxi pickup from the airport. The airport is higher (4060 meters) then the city, which is only at a breathtaking 3660meters! Thankfully as we had already spent time at altitude it didn’t cause any major problems for us - though the hills were never easy to climb ... read more
Machu Picchu just before the sun came over the mountains
The train trip to the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu from Ollantaytambo a distance of 46 klms - in a very modern train (but not cheap!) - took about one and half hours. It followed the river most of the way and we had regular sightings of the mountains in the distance. The river - Rio Urubambo - was very fast flowing though didn´t appear very deep. We saw severe damage to the river bank though from major floods last year which closed the site down totally for a few months. We also passed the beginning of the famous Inca Trail, a 4 day walk to the site. The trek is 43 klms long but goes over 3 high mountain passes to get there. Only 500 people (including porters) a day are allowed to walk the ... read more
Sisters at the colourful market in Huilloq
Along with another Australian lady staying at our hotel in Cusco we left for a day trip through the Sacred Valley, (ending in Ollantaytambo where we were going to spend the next few days) in a taxi. Our young driver was a law student during the week, a taxi driver on weekends, driving his brand new car, which he unfortunately dented slightly that day. An hour driving through very pretty countryside took us to the Inca fortress near Pisac, a small village renowned for its tourist markets. The agricultural terraces surrounding the fortress, set high on a hill above the village, were very impressive. We spent a couple of hours walking the cliff-hugging footpaths and staircases around the large site. After that we headed into the Pisac markets - dozens of stalls all selling the ... read more
