Blogs from Oruro Department, Bolivia, South America

Around thrее in thе aftеrnoon and my dad an' Sarah pick mе up an' drivе mе to Tilcara and whеrе wе say our goodbyеs an' I wait for thе bus. Thе bus is dеlayеd by roughly thirty minutеs. I snoozе throughout thе еntirе thrее hour drivе to thе bordеr. I risе an' walk to thе Bolivian city of Villason from thе Argеntinе city of La Quiaca. Dеspitе thеrе bеing a road and cars do not and for somе rеason and cross thе boundary. At thе documеnt chеck and though and thеrе arе a good numbеr of pеoplе waitin' and an' thе linе is movin' quitе slowly. I spеnd approximatеly onе an' a half hours in linе. This placе is unbеarably cold—+5+8—I am not surе what This city is at a high altitudе and but thе mountains ... read more

Geo: -17.9753, -67.1108La Paz to the Amazon En route to La Paz we stayed in Samaipata for a few days. The first time we walked to the main plaza who should we meet but Axel. He was camping which in his case means sleeping in a hammock on a campsite but as Samaipata is 1,500 metres high he was finding the nights very cold and thinking of moving into a hostel. He had been walking in the hills the previous day and had severe sunburn on his shoulders and back.Samaipata has a number of waterfalls around it but the main reason for visiting is to see La Fuerte, ruins going back to 400 AD which had been home to many different peoples over the centuries. It is one of the places where Erich von Danniken proposed ... read more

Carnival in Sucre was a blast. Carnival in Oruro was completely over the top. For most of the year Oruro is a grim mining town with nothing much to recommend it, but a week before Lent it explodes into a frenetic fiesta of colour and music. It's the most raucous and outrageous party of all. Aida urged us to go, telling us it was 'different'. She though, was content to watch it on the TV. We dithered; wandering about the cost - hotels put up their prices five-fold - and worrying about all that water-throwing. Finally, we bit the bullet, booked a hotel and seats for the procession, and off we went. 'What time does the Entrada begin'? I asked the man in the hotel lobby on the Saturday morning. He nodded towards the street, took ... read more

We spent our last days in Chile in the town of Arica, where we visited some of the oldest mummies in the world preserved, as they were found under one of the houses. We also watched a world class bodyboard competition here; I have never seen such large and powerful waves as those on the shores of Arica´s beaches. We left Arica on a morning bus headed for the Chile/Bolivia border. We´d decided to make our first stop in a small village, Sajama, in a National Park and the bus literally dropped us off on the roadside soon after the border. Luckily there was a man with a minivan, so we got a ride to Sajama along with an old Bolivian lady who was dropped off in the middle of nowhere to herd her Llamas! We ... read more

Vakar grįžau vėlai, td šiandien ilgiau miegu. Šiandien karnavalo programa beveik tokia pati kaip ir vakar, tik dalyviai nedėvi didžiausių kaukių. Pasirodo vakar bent 10 iš 40 mokyklos gyventojų, nukentėjo nuo kišenvagiu, vieni prarado fotoaparatus, kiti pinigines, o viena voietė mergina prarado ne tik piniginę, bet ir pasą. Panašu, kad keliaujant po pietų ameriką anksčiau ar vėliau beveik visi gauna po pamoką. Karnavalo dalyviai šiandien atrodo labiau atsipalaidavę, nedėvi didelių ir sunkių kaukių, kaikurie atrodo vakar taip pat pašventę ir dar nespėję atsigauti po šventimo. Bet atmosfera nė kiek neblogesnė nei vakar. Oruro mieste ant kalvos yra didelė marijos statula, tad pažiūrėjęs kelias valandas karnavalą nutariu ten užlipti ir pažiūrėti kaip mietas atrodo iš viršaus. Ten aišku irgi pilna žmonių, kaikurie šokėjai baigę pasirodymą taip pat ten. Nedaug čia daugiau yra įdomių objektų. D... read more