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Published: September 22nd 2008
She was a showgirl, da,da, da, da, da,da, da..
So with the backing vocals sung by two Cornish girls, I launched my pop career into Bolivia and the people of Copacabana acted politely impressed as if they hadn't heard it all before (muchas gracias Hannah and Jennie).
What a beautiful little town..we were impressed by the 10 Boliviano hostal (70 pence) and the 12 Bol beer (700 cl) but not by the cold chip dinner. The first afternoon we caught a bull fight..or should I say comedy show.
The start attraction was Haymey, the local home boy in his Eminem T-shirt, he got charged, but people just left him there to suffer whilst attempting to be matadores. How we howled when another pissed up 'bull fighter' ran
into a wall and knocked himself out!! The bulls all ran away bored and unscathed.
The other treat in Copacabaña is watching the Blessing of the Automobiles, which happens twice daily in front of the beautiful Moorish Cathedral. Cars, buses, trucks queue up and are decorated with either strings of flowers
or tacky plastic decorations. They are also washed and polished in the queue. Then, a 'monk' wearing baseball cap and
trainers with his habit then comes to bless the vehicles and their owners with a bucket of 'holy' water.
Meanwhile you can pay a crazy lady to burn incense in and around your car for good luck. You can also buy miniatures of things you desire, also to be blessed by the Virgen del Carmen (such as university degrees, suitcases of dollars, a VW Beetle, shops and Barbie houses). Both men and women will then sit around drinking beer before driving away, safe in the knowledge that they can't possibly crash now!
What a beautiful sunset here too...we relaxed with a beer on the shore of Lake Titicaca and picked up two Chilean travel mates for tomorrows trek to the ISLA DEL SOL. The Lonely Liar strikes again: we were quoted in-between 2.5 and 7 hours for the walk to Yampupata. After assisting a group of uncoordinated campesinos lift Eucalyptus tree trunks onto a truck, we take the left as instructed and believe the path heads round a rocky headland...after nervously walking a high narrow unstable ledge we realise this is probably wrong and turn back to find the correct trail: to the right. More touristy than Taquile, The
Isla is still an experience when you remember that this barren windswept place is believed to be the birthplace of the Sun God; Manco Capac.
La Paz
Friday night saw us absorbing local culture by drinking pints of lager in the English bar, playing darts and eating lasagne. Later experiencing some posh Bolivian nightclubs complete with Oxygen bar. At 40 Bols for 10
minutes with a mask on your face sucking in flavoured oxygen, some would say we were mad...I say it was a breath of fresh air! I'd heard some bad stories about the city but absolutely loved it here.
Filled my days with a combination of siestas, museums (the Musical Instrument one being the best) and shopping. Fear not, I have spared you all a dried Llama foetus from the witches market! The city centre is very touristy but not in a hyped up way like Cusco, people are mainly mestizo or indian and are either just going about their everyday life or selling something. The difference with Bolivian vendors is that there is no pressure whatsoever and it sometimes feels that you have to beg them to sell you something!
The World’s Most Dangerous Road.
You may or may not have heard of this road. it got its name according to world bank insurance statistics. It descends from 4,800 meters to 1,700 meters in about 64k. On average, there is a death every 10 days. Two weeks ago, a bus went over the edge and 22 people were killed. The top bit is ok, as it is tarmac, but the second bit is basically a dirt track through the mountains. There are no crash barriers on the road and there are vertical drops up to 1000 metres on the outside. Vehicles going up the road have priority and they swap sides, so drive on the left. This is so that for vehicles coming down the driver is on the outside, so he can see how close to the edge and certain death he is. Most of the road is single tracked, pretty steep and just mud. Also water falls on it and occasional the road falls away down the cliff. Obviously the best way to travel is by mountain bike!! So, fully kitted up in the morning with orange jacket, goggles and full face helmet, 6 of us took the road to hell (including a
French dude with his 64 yr old Dad). I loved the first bit, you can speed along the tarmac, then there's an uphill section which I sat in the van for on account of my tonsilitis (i'm a warrior). Then the road is so bumpy and rough, the brakes are constantly on and the concentration is so enormous that you have no time to contemplate the drop. One momentary lapse had me somersaulting through the air as I'd hit a rock and span out...luckily not over the edge! Survived with a grazed elbow and lots of leg bruising and still have a large painful lump on my left thigh. But it was so worth it for the adrenalin rush and is one of the best things I have done here!!
Folk dancing in Coroico
This little village is a weekend destination for rich people from La Paz. I felt the need to recover in the sunshine after the arduous journey. My new friends from Wiltshire helped me do this with the aid of cold beer! Despite
having a limp, I found that I could still dance to folklorico and we joined in the jigging with the locals in the
'eau de urine' discoteca.
Road to hell...
The night bus to Rurrenabaque has to be the worst ever. After being dumped at a police station and told to wait for a yellow Volvo bus and a driver called Jesus, in the rain, it eventually showed 4 hours later with our seats
double booked. Then proceeded on the bumpiest road ever...Thank god for valium, I was the only one snoring that night but still woke up aching from being thrown around all night.
On safari...
Booked a pampas tour for the next day, after a couple of hours in the jeep we boarded a long boat expecting to see a few animals here and there...but whoah, it was like Longleat safari park! Alligators, caiman, birds of
paradise, storks, turtles, pink river dolphins, Capyburras (the worlds largest rodents) sloths, yellow monkeys, ostriches...Absolutely incredible, none of the animals were particularly bothered about us being there either.
We swam with the dolphins, fished the piranhas, caught a baby alligator at night for a closer look and went wading through the swamps to catch an anaconda!! Thanks also for the game of ibble dibble guys!
Rurrenabaque
Returning to civilisation, we spent the
night celebrating and another night in the karaoke bar singing 'my heart must go on'...very much like Celine Dion does actually!
Back to La Paz
Caught a flight back to La Paz to avoid risking my life again on the death road. After some podium dancing and much hugging of old men in the market for the national day of Bolivia it was time to leave. But the hotel had now 'lost' the backpack I had left with them containing all the presents I had bought. After a day of them ummming and ahhing I went to the tourist police, who were extremely efficient; rang them up, gave them telling off and wrote me a crime report. Upon returning to the hotel, the bag had then 'magically' reappeared after I'd been to buy a new set of musical instruments.
Cochabamba
Such a contrast to the poor altiplano, this city is rich from agriculture and full of 4WD’s, tennis clubs and even a French style mansion built for a 19c tin baron. Hotels in Bolivia...weird that they never think of putting a mirror in the room yet everywhere will have an old fashioned coat stand.
Santa Cruz
Another
wealthy city. Visited the zoo and befriended a 1 yr old jaguar called Thomasina. The leaf sweeper saw me admiring here and asked if I wanted to come into the cage for a closer look and actually got to stroke her!
Samaipata
This is a pretty weekend destination for the rich people from Santa Cruz, also full of US ex-pats...spot the shoeless hippies. Trekked to the condor pass to see, you guessed it. Visited a fern forest, which was really beautiful...did you know tree ferns were one of the first plants and have been around since the dinosaur age? The national park here is stunning and ranges from the dry chaco into cloud forest in a few hundred metres. We learnt about corrupt Indian leaders who bring peasants from the altiplano to farm here for a fee, then the peasants are driven away by the locals as this is a protected area and illegal to farm, hence they're left even more penniless.
Sucre..the worst journey EVER
No worries, says the guy from the hostel 'just wait for a bus and hop on, they always have a seat for one'. After 15mins, the first bus comes along, 'yeah, no
problemo, we'll have a seat after the next stop'. Next stop arrives and no seat emerges, when ask the driver again, he takes me to the back and offers a beer crate with a cushion on top. So I try and read with my torch, than manage a small sleep on the floor of the bus but they also put their children to sleep on the floor, who are lying all over too, then someone drops a bag on my head. 'Por favour señor' I beg for a seat. So then he stops the bus and gets out and opens the luggage compartment, where they have a blanket laid out for afternoon naps. By this time I am desperate and agree, there is a light and a fan, can't be that bad eh? Well it feels like I'm in a coffin and could quite easily die in here if there's a side impact but got some kip and arrived dazed and confused in Sucre.
Met my friend Michelle from Oz in the hostel and continued to remain dazed and confused, but I blame Ron for that. It's a beautiful city to just wander round, painted white buildings, poetry plaques on
street corners...nice places for a manicure/pedicure and opticians to buy cheap glasses too. The Sunday market in Tarabuco was interesting to see the campesino people in all their finest glory. I have been able to buy some hilarious hats, which I can't wait to wear out back home! The roundhead that smells of meat is my favourite. Who would imagine that in the middle of Bolivia, posh folks would be standing on tables chanting 'ooh, aah, I wanna knoooow will you be my girl?', who brought DJ Otzi over here anyway????
Potosi...mindblowing!
Quite literally, as well as being the highest city in then world, Potosi is also famous for it's 'cerro rico' silvermine.
CERRO RICO: THE MOUNTAIN THAT EATS MEN
Over 65,000 tons of silver have been mined here since the Spaniards arrived. Potosi was once the richest city in the world with whores from Paris and Turkish carpets being shipped here. Now, the glorydays have gone and
working conditions at the co-operative are primitive to say the least. Tourism is still alive though and for $10 you can join the miners...after signing a disclaimer that states the biggest cause of death is cave-ins and tourists are at the
same risk as miners should this occur. Kitted out in overalls, wellies and hard-hats (at least they have some H&S) we set of to buy some dynamite and cola as gifts for the miners. Just over a pound got us a stick of the best and a bag of fertilizer with a 4 min fuse...which we set fire to and passed round the group! Inside was absolutely horrific, the air was thick with dust and the ceilings low, every so often rail wagons came racing round the corner. Natural asbestos grew like silk and you could feel the arsenic in the air burning your lungs. Climbing through the shafts, daylight was just a distant dream as you felt the earths' core heating the tunnels. There is little of value to find here anymore, miners search for copper, zinc and silver with the hope of one day finding a strong vein. The life expectancy is on 45 (many die from lung silicosis), yet the pay (1000 Bolivianos a month/600 av. wage in other professions) and the hope is addictive. Our guide was forced to go down the mine to afford to provide for his wife and baby. At 46kilos, he said
he could carry 50 but had an accident falling off a ladder and now works in tourism and is studying for a linguistic degree. The mountain was said to be stable for only another 7 years, this was 11 years ago but 12,000 men and children still work here every day. The refinery plants are as primitive, raw silver is sold worldwide but we should remember those men that die from cyanide, acid and mercury poisoning in it's production.
Uyuni
Arrived to this cold desolate town in the midst of a fiesta. The procession was a mix of traditional and modern dancing with large cuddly toys strapped to the top of cars. Booked onto a tour the following day to the SALAR DE UYUNI...check the photo's this is one of the most impressive places on earth. It's like nature has gone mad and all the minerals that are normally hiding under the earth are on display here in all their glory, the most amazing images will be etched onto my mind forever. Words cannot do this justice...from the incredible endless horizons of the salt plains, the 2000 yr old cactuses appearing from nowhere, flamingos dancing in a toxic lake,
Daliesque rocks carved by the wind, turquoise blue arsenic lakes, red lakes with borax beaches, smoking volcanoes, wind so cold that you think your eyeballs will freeze, geysers, bubbling mud and hot springs...gosh it's making me emotional just thinking about it!
Tupiza..a bit of luxury
£1.70 buys you a room in a hotel straight from the Costa del Sol, complete with pool (freezing) and the best breakfast I've seen this side of the Atlantic. A few nights of relaxation were needed here, soaking up the sun, eating pizza and again entertaining the locals with our karaoke skills..Janine and Emma, when are we getting our recording contracts?
Tarija and beyond...
Well what can I say...we found 2 nice restaurants and lived it up there twice a day...steaks, gnocchi, burritos, lashings and lashings of red wine, coffee...and the bill was never more than £3.50 each! Vertigo nightclub was also a great discovery, full of rich students and a REVOLVING dance floor (and I thought the Tuxedo Princess had the only one). Apart from that, we went on a wine tasting tour and marvelled at the sights of the fiesta de San Roque. The miracle and beautiful noise of men playing
3m long cane horns was simply astounding...trump, trump, trump, trump.... Then the procession with the men wearing skirts, veils and feathered tall hats!
It was here that I said goodbye to my good friends and karaoke partners Janine and Emma before crossing the border to Argentina... but that's another story...I'm half way down Argentina now so still have catching up to do.
Love to you all...especially Willis for turning 30 and getting married and Nik and Craig with their new baby girl!
xxx HRH
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