I, Tourist

I, Tourist

South America » Bolivia
November 20th 2005

Published: November 22nd 2005

Arriving in the small village of Copacabana, nestled on the shores of Lake Titicaca, in landlocked and underdeveloped Bolivia, Kim and I both experienced a strong sense of culture shock. Too many tourists. Too many backpackers. Too many travellers, uniformly dressed, sporting local alpaca headgear and huge rucksacks, wandering around looking unsure and lost. Che Guevara, whom quite a few of these ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 91, Displayed: 21

Sol de la Mañana

The art of travel

Aguas Termales Salvador Dali

Volcan Lincanahur (5920m) and Laguna Verde

Spitting distance from the Chilean border and the Atacama desert.

Happy kid, Villa Mar

Religion, Colchina K

Colchina K, desert town

The new church, San Cristobal

Go inside and you'll find original 16th century frescos - pleasant enough in themselves but quite amazing in this remote location.

Train Graveyard, Uyuni

Wardy's equivalent of Dorian Gray's portrait.

Train Graveyard, Uyuni

Illimani (6439m)

From our hotel window in central La Paz

Beggar, La Paz

Intimidation, La Paz

One man's shoe-shine boy is another man's freedom fighter.

Central La Paz

Old and new, La Paz

Colonial and modern architecture.

Film Crew, La Paz

Freedom fighters are big news in this area.

Typist, La Paz

Get your official documents typed up on the street.

Beggar, La Paz

I have a policy of never giving money to begging children. This tyke looked so unhappy I made an exception. After a while he managed a smile.

The Tailor of Panama ...

takes a holiday in Bolivia.

Bus, La Paz

These ubiquitous multicoloured old bangers seem reminiscent of Cuba, not that I've been.

Beggar, La Paz

Les Dawson lives, La Paz

22nd November 2005

dannyboy
Daniel

AMAZING
Wow, you describe everything a reader might want to know! Your narrative and pictures are phenomenal. This is easily one of the top 5 blogs I've ever read. It certainly thickens my anticipation as I am going to Bolivia this winter... Being half-Bolivian, but never having been there, it should prove an amazing experience.

22nd November 2005

The Nomad
Camo

Fantastic as always!
Forever inspirational pictures. Loving it. Good work guys!

25th November 2005

al "paca" Buckley
non-member comment

I have read a great deal of travel blogs and normally enjoy this particular one immensely. However, on this occasion i feel it necessary to point out one particular factual inaccuracy. That's an alpaca and not a llama. I expect better in the future or the house gets it.

25th November 2005

Cumberland Sausage
Kim Buckley and Richard Baxter

Hairy horses
Dear Mr Al ´Paca´, there are three photos of hairy horses on this page. Two I was assured by local Bolivian´s were Llamas, the last one to be honest I didn´t check. Not wishing to stand in the way of ethnographic progress, please can you enlighten us as to how to tell the difference ?

28th November 2005

Ken (to know)
non-member comment

scuse me...
...Three? I thought that was a man with a hat on.

1st December 2005

Meredith
Meredith

wow
I am inspired by your photography...shots like this confirm my addiction to TravelBlog

11th December 2005

Al "paca" buckley
non-member comment

Sorry its taken so long to reply but i've been struggling with ethnographic progress. Alpacas are smaller than Llamas and i think they have narrower faces. In fact niether of us are actually incorrect as Alpaca is a type of Llama. Llama being the genus and Alpaca the species; Llama is also as species under the genus Llama. Please pass this information onto your peruvian freinds so that they don't mis-inform any more bloggers.

15th December 2005

Yorkshire Pud
non-member comment

Africa
I am very impressed with your photos. They are stunning. I liked Dove Lake especially. I have a question about Africa if you can find time answering: With 2-3 weeks in Sept and not being to Africa before would you go to Botswana/Namibia or Kenya/Tanzania/Zanzibar? It sounds as if you were disappointed with Botswana. Could that been down to the season? Many thanks in advance.

20th December 2005

Cumberland Sausage
Kim Buckley and Richard Baxter

To Yorkshire Pud
Your question is difficult to answer without knowing more about your budget/motivations etc. Perhaps send an email via travelblog and I can answer in more detail. Botswana is great, and ranks as the best game viewing in Africa. The Chobe game cruise was one of the highlights of our trip. However game viewing in the Okavanga delta is hideously expensive. Otherwise I would say East Africa is more game and people whereas Southern Africa (where we visited) is more game and landscapes. East Africa is difficult to travel around independently whereas for Namibia and South Africa at least self-drive is an option. If you are new to Africa you might also consider South Africa, which is a more gentle introduction. For me the ideal trip would be Cape Town to Vic Falls via Namibia and Botswana, but then I like deserts!

3rd April 2006

Mark
non-member comment

Highest "Navigable" Lake
I think they just want to claim Lake Titicaca as the highest something in the world. I know Lake Tilicho in the Annapurna region of Nepal is higher (between 5,000m and 5,200m depending on the map you look at), so I guess the fact that Lake Titicaca is used and navigated constantly by people as part of their daily lives gives it the title of highest "Navigable" Lake. Who knows though!!!

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