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Published: March 27th 2008
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Picturesque La Paz street
This lovely little street is home to several museums. One we visited was a fantastic collection of musical instruments, principally Bolivian but also including instruments from all around the world. From Salta, we decided to take a flight to Santa Cruz in the middle of Bolivia. In total we probably spent four days in Santa Cruz and came to know of its best restaurants around the central plaza. One, the Cafe Lorca, often has very good live music which we enjoyed. Close to Santa Cruz is the village of Samaipata where we spent a week. It is one of my favourite places in South America and definitely in Bolivia and while staying there and visiting nearby places of attraction I found a small house to rent to which I would return after reaching Cusco when Jane will leave for England (more on that in the next blog).
From the Santa Cruz area of Bolivia, we then travelled by plane to La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. I had visited it before, but always in transit, so was happy to explore more of it this time. We arrived in the middle of the carnival celebrations and the street outside our hotel was full of stalls selling all kinds of costumes as well as paper streamers and balloons which, we discovered, were to be thrown, full of water, at whoever was
Selling Ponchos in La Paz
La Paz is full of amazing and interesting shops and of course the poncho proliferates. There are extremely beautiful handmade cloths for sale, some antique and for relatively high prices, but a wander through the area where they are for sale is well worth the time. nearby during the carnival festivities. The first day of processions down the main street of La Paz, I was hit several times either by water balloons or squirty cream stuff. Luckily, I was prepared by wearing a raincoat, but I could have bought a plastic poncho on the street for a few pence. In the evening there was dancing outside our hotel and free Bolivian cocktails. Jane unfortunately was struck with altitude sickness so couldn´t fully appreciate all the festivities, but did join us outside and neither of us could avoid being pulled out to dance by some of the beautifully attired dancers, some of whom, it seemed had been dancing and drinking all day.
From La Paz we took a bus through the altiplano to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca. What a beautiful town it is with many good restaurants and small hotels. On one of the days we were there (Jane still suffering altitude sickness), I took the boat to the Island of the Sun where one could walk up to an ancient Inka ceremonial site and settlement. It reminded me so much of Greece with the vast blue lake below and dusty white trails.
Our dancing companion
For two evenings during Carnival, groups of dancers came to dance outside our hotel and on this evening Jane and I both danced with this colourful gentleman at the same time! On the other side of the lake both Jane and I paid a visit to a couple of the small communities that live on floating islands near the city of Puno. The people live very simply but are extremely friendly and the small boy who rowed us across from one straw island to the next in a straw boat sang to us in six different languages.
From Puno we took a special tour bus to Cusco that visited an Inka site, a beautiful church decorated with murals painted by local indigenous people, and a hilltop that was more than 4000 metres above sea level. Then our arrival in Cusco where we stayed with my friends Jamey and Elena, with whom I had originally planned to live and help them run the hostal they were running. Unfortunately, during he course of my travels the owner of the building had decided to sell it, hence my change in plans. However, we spent some lovely days with them, visiting most of the Inka sites of interest in the area including Macchu Pichu, Olantaytambo and Pisac. We also very much enjoyed a visit to the village of Chinchero near Cusco where we
Mysterious Macchu Pichu
When we arrived in Macchu Pichu for this, my second visit but Jane´s first, it was shrouded in mist, adding to the already impressive atmosphere. Its location is absolutely stunning and the experience is unforgettable. were entertained by a community of women weavers. There they work together and are happy to show visitors how they die the wool with natural dyes made from flowers, plants and other sources of colour, how they then spin and weave the cloths and what the different patterns mean.
From Cusco Jane returned to England via Lima, Amsterdam and Paris (illogically the cheapest route) and I went on to return to Bolivia, initially with Jamey and Elena. For some days it seemed strange to be travelling without Jane, with whom I had spent every day for three months. Neither of us had ever spent such a long time with any one person and at times it was taxing for both of us, but equally enriching and I am grateful to her for her support and understanding along the way. It was an extraordinary three months, rich in landscape and interaction with others. We came to appreciate the different qualities of people in each of the countries we visited and what we learned from them. In particular, a growing admiration of the indigenous cultures that continue to exist in this part of the world emerged and both of us, I
am sure, will continue to feed that admiration through further study. So, thanks to the people we met in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. We are grateful for every moment.
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