Blogs from Sorata, La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 2

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South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata September 28th 2008

"We saw shadows of the morning light Shadows of the evening sun Until the shadows and the light were one" - "Three Days" by Jane's Addiction Day Two The leaf of a coca plant contains an alkaloid known as cocaine. This alkaloid has a variety of effects on the human body such as hunger suppression and pain relief. More notably, it can greatly increase the body's ability to absorb oxygen into the bloodstream. This makes it useful for fighting off the symptoms of altitude sickness and gives a bit of an energy boost. Keeping a wad of the leaves in your mouth is hardly equivalent to snorting cocaine (obviously named for the key alkaloid). For one thing, to produce just 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of the narcotic, you need 363 kg (~800 lbs) of dry ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata September 26th 2008

The traveler stopped at the side of the road where a man wrapped in a heavy fleece and an aging hat pulled down low over his brow stood adjusting the straps of the bundle piled on the back of his pack mule. "Buen día, Señor. Do you know the way to Bolivia?" Not looking up, the man swung an arm out behind him. He pointed with a stubby, worn finger to the West. He then lifted his arm to not only point west - but up at a 45° angle to the tops of faded, hazy mountains in the distance. Pausing only to move a wad of coca leaves from the inside of one cheek to the other with his tongue, he responded, "There. Arriba." We look at maps of the world and see two-dimensional sets ... read more
Sorata
Sorata
Sorata

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata August 27th 2008

There are many stunning snow capped mountains belonging to 'Los Andes' which over look La Paz and most are available for tourists to trek, hike or climb. One of the most popular is Hyuni Potosi which is meant to be one of the easiest climbable 6000 meter plus mountains in the world, we seriously considered attempting this one but when we looked into it a bit more we found out that to get to the top requires 6 hours of climbing up a near vertical ice wall in darkness not tied onto anything and hanging on only by your ice pick and crampons. After speaking to a few people about it we also found that only about 50% of people who do the climb actually make it as far as the top because it's so difficult. ... read more

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata July 5th 2008

Hi all, Nick here: Our next adventure takes us to the heights of the andean cordellias, and then deep into the jungles of the amazon basin in Bolivia. Having essentially acclimatized to the altitude, and getting into the swing of traveling in bolivia, we had actually decided to travel from Uyuni to the silver mining town of Potosi. However due to road blockages by the campesinos (peasants) and minders, we had to strike this off the itinery. Uyuni is a great place to visit the salar, but there is bugger all else to do there. So a quick few investigations and we found out we could leave on a train at 2am in the morning. Apparently there were tickets but we weren't able to buy them until the ticket office opened. Guess what time. 1 am ... read more
Sorata plaza de armas
Ooohhhh cheap fireworks
high altitude sheep

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata May 4th 2008

Relaxing in Sorata After one and a half week in La Paz, with all its noises and stress, it was time to get out of the city. Sorata is a proper laid-back place, 4 hours drive outside La Paz It's situated on a hillside in a valley beneath the peaks of Illampu and Ancohuma. In the colonial days, Sorata provided a link to the Alto Beni's goldfields and rubber plantation, and was the gateway to the Amazon Basin. Today it's a great place to relax and it's also one of the better destinations for trekking. I chose the first option, relaxing, for a few days before I headed on. Or, I actually went for a 11 km walk (each way) down to Gruta de San Pedro, some caves further down in the valley. The caves it ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata March 21st 2008

I'm ending my first week in Bolivia. 51 more to go! As I wite I'm in Sorata- it's part of the La Paz department but five hours away from the city. To come here, we had to cross lots of mountains - HIGH MOUNTAINS. At one point we were in the Cumbre which is the highest place of the mountain we were crossing, and the clouds right next to us. It was crazy! My eyes saw the most amazing view; the cordillera of the Andes, the peaks covered with snow and going on endlessly, also the Lake Titicaca. Its huge and beautiful. Words and pictures cannot describe the majesty of Creation. It's night already and Im feeling sick. Sore throat, aching body, no energy and fever - I want my mommy! I cant sleep because of ... read more
Alkali Oasis
Relaxing
Mountains and Tress

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata July 28th 2007

Hola chicas y chicos. Wat doe je tussen 2 trektochten door? - Genieten van de prachtige, zonnige Andeszon! - Een stoffig namiddagje doorbrengen in de laadbak van een vrachtwagen temidden de bergen. - Rondslenteren in Cusco en je buikje vullen met lekkere Chicha (dubieus gebrouwen maisbier, dat geserveerd wordt in bouwvallige huisjes, waar een rode plastiekzak aan een stok buitenhangt ). We drinken er de kleinste potten (bijna 1 liter /pp), wat nog weinig is gezien de locals hier hele bidons (8 liter) komen vullen. - Een treinreis die ons vanuit de vruchtbare Urubamba-vallei in Cusco, naar de droge Altiplano aan het hoogste bevaarbare meer ter wereld Lago Titicaca (de natuurlijke grens tussen Peru en Bolivia) brengt. - We genieten van de gezellige Zuid-Amerikaanse sfeer op de straten van Puno, waar bij laatavond de mensen massaal ... read more
Isla Del Sol caminando
Copacabana
Laadbakavontuur door de Andes

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata May 28th 2007

I wrote this on my 8 day treck high in the bolivian mountains. It's about the kinda travel we do--it's not just thru space, we actually travel thru time. TIME TRAVEL 14. time travel 9 months travelin—in a little bit, that's what It'll be, it wasn't about a destination, but a destiny… been travellin 9 months, but ain't been gone a day I know nothing has changed while I been away People all the same with the same point of view Yet all your friends seem different to you That's cause you've changed, no going back now Time was frozen and you traveled around It's like the twilight zone, you go back home But it's gone so again you roam Knew I never shoulda started on this project Now I'm so deep in it, I ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata April 24th 2007

Sorata is a beautiful place hidden in a massive valley that takes about two hours just to get into by bus!!! Not surprisingly where we stayed was a hippies paradise - Altai OIasis was the name of our place, owned by a hippy who followed his dream and settled here to build his home...sweet!! But not so sweet was the bus journey to and from....first off it was the smell, it was a great experience though...a real Bolivian one!! Me n sal were the only Gringo´s that boarded the bus at La Paz and were the only ones not carrying corn or chickens!!! It was pretty hot and as the bus filled up it was pretty sweaty, the bus would stop every half hour or so and someone would have to pump something at the ... read more
us and the dogs on the mad hike
cool hike
cool hike

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Sorata April 4th 2007

As I am trying to get back to date on my blog entries this will be a pretty short one, mainly just to display some pictures. After rushing back from a border crossing to obtain a new tourist visa, since this could not be done in La Paz, for a meeting with CUSO and my employer, I decided I needed a few days to relax so I decided to go to Sorata again to do this. Jumping on a bus later in the afternoon, it took a good four and half hours to get to Sorata. Kind of wished that I took a minibus instead of a full-sized bus to Sorata as they are quicker and probably can manouever better around the corners as you have to descend quite a bit to get to Sorata. ... read more
Street stand selling everything from bananas to backpacks
Courtyard of Residencial Sorata
Courtyard of Residencial Sorata




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