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Published: December 19th 2008
Alright alright, so the funk odyssey has hit Bowel-livia ... what a great country and of course, many adventures to be had. So I´d like to start this entry with a confession: I have been the victim of my first backpackers´scam. I know that some of you probably aren´t surprised however, hey, I fought the good fight for a long while ! Basically, when I entered Bolivia, the tards at Customs stamped my passport with an entry date of 16 November vice the 12 December ... bastardos ! This means that where I currently sit, I have overstayed my visa by 3 days and consequently, may have to pay a $US fine tomorrow when I hit the Argentine border. I´ll see how I go weazling my way out using my charm, skill and ample Spanglish abilities ... fun fun fun !
So now, let´s talk about Bolivia - a country where the lack of cleanliness and hot water is more then compensated for through the majestic landscapes and ever-changing scenery. I love it here ! Kicking off in La Paz, I wandered around the city centre and had a gander in the San Francisco monastery which was originally founded in 1550. Some of the artwork there was wonderful with the best part being that it was by indigenous artists (not forgetting that most of the paintings were from the 1600s). Thus, it was interesting to note how the traditional beliefs such as the pregnant Mary assuming a triangular body similar to a mountain (in Quechua ´Pachamama´meaning ´Mother Earth) was melded with Christian beliefs of heaven / hell and good / evil.
Wandering through the market, a rude lass barged by me, causing me to fall into an old dudes astrology stand - funny, my stars said nothing about that shit going down last week. The consequent 10 boliviano damage bill assuaged his initial anger and most importantly, probably gave him some much needed business. From here, a dinner involving Llama was calling to me, well, I thought that it was high time to gorge down on a defenseless, dumb animal as I was yet to partake in this ´Babineau tradition´ during my current travellings.
Prior to din-dins though, I ensured that I made full use of my hostel´s best feature - free home-brewed beer ! That´s right, for each night´s stay, I was entitled to a pint of either their lager or stout ... yum yum yum. My palate moistened, it was down to the business of the four-course meal (involving the defenseless Llama), soup and fried bananas all washed down with a bottle of La Paz´s finest pilsner. Thanks La Paz !
I was toying with the idea of travelling out to Tiahuanaco which is meant to be one of the best pre-Incan sites in the Americas however, the four hour each way ride put me off this idea and instead, I booked in to visit Chacaltaya, a mountain 5400m AMSL and also drop in on the Moon Valley. The views from Chacaltaya were absolutely breathtaking ... as was the altitude (see my pix) ! I became all excited when we stumbled across snow and decided that a snow-ball fight with my newly acquired friends from Northern Ireland and Holland was in order. Yes, I was victorious and yes, I did (accidentally) get the poor Irish lass in the head with one. Of course, the Irish sense of humour won through in the end and she consequently smacked me in the face with a well-timed shot.
Enough with the clowning around though ! Onto the Moon Valley. I must admit that I was just a little underwhelmed by this place. Essentially, it is a bunch of formations created through water and natural erosion over millions of years. As I don´t have the most active of imaginations ... well, for certain things ... I couldn´t see ´Grandpa´s face´, ´The Turtle´s Head´or ´Benjamin Franklin, George Washingtons and John Adams signing the US Declaration of Independence´(alright, perhaps I made that last one up !). Anyhoo, about an hour of this was enough for me and heading back to the city, I packed and prepared to leave for higher places the following morning.
This is where Potosi comes into the frame. Cerro Rico is what Potosi is famous for and for the benefit of the uninitiated, this was once the largest silver mine in the world. The Spanish, as with all good bastard colonists, exploited the local population to the brink with, at one time during the 1500s, Potosi producing all the silver for the Spanish empire both at home and abroad. Today it is a much more scaled down affair, producing largely tin and zinc with exports hitting the US (not so much at the mo´) and Germany. We crawled around for about 3 hours inside the shafts and here, I participated in the traditional pre-mining ritual of drinking pure alcohol ... farkin´yum ? Aww, c´mon, it´s all the rage in the Norther Territory so why not join in !
From Potosi, I then headed on a nice long freakin´drive to Salar de Uyuni - the world´s largest salt flat and also the largest area of flat land in the world. Unfortunately kids, this is where the tales of adventure must end for today. It´s 630pm, my stomach is growling and I feel the need for cheap Chinese ! So stayed tuned for more craziness in the coming days when I recount how I licked the salt of the earth, destroyed a local basketball court and white-washed Sucre with two delightful lasses from Brazil !
Hasta luego !
Babs
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sarah
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llama...
You ate a llama???Why???? Poor llama! Did it have a name???