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Published: June 11th 2008
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Bolivia
La Paz, main plaza We arrived in La Paz early on 29 April, and after a short taxi ride from the bus station, found a nice place to stay close to the centre of town.
La Paz (at over 3,600m) is often cited as the highest capital city in the world, but whilst the city is the seat of the national government, Sucre (located in the south-central part of the country) remains the constitutional capital.
Certainly, you can feel the altitude in La Paz. We had already spent a number of days at altitude in northern Chile and on the Bolivian altiplano, but the climb to our room on the 3rd floor of our La Paz hotel invariably left us both breathing deeply.
We spent a very enjoyable two days in the city, visiting a number of museums, monasteries and churches. Whilst there are tourist facilities (Internet cafes, international phone booths etc), local life seems to continue as normal, with the tourists far more peripheral than in the other large cities we have visited on this trip.
One particularly interesting museum told the story of the coca leaf, which is widely consumed by the Andean peoples of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Bolivia
La Paz, main plaza and Bolivia. Bundles of leaves are typically partially chewed and then inserted into the mouth (between teeth and gum) so that the effects can be realised slowly - it acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and can also help combat the symptons of altitude sickness. However, coca leaves also contain alkaloid cocaine, at a concentration of between 0.3% and 1.5%, so leaf crops have been heavily exploited by western countries in recent years. Given the well-publicised problems caused by cocaine in the developed world, there is ongoing pressure from the west to control a crop which has for centuries been an integral part of local culture!
The museum also suggested that Coca Cola used to contain small quanties of cocaine, although this was removed in the early 20th century. Even today, the company allegedly uses a non-narcotic coca leaf extract prepared at a Stepan Company plant, the only plant authorised by the US Drug Enforcement Administration to import and process the coca plant. Lecture over!!!
From La Paz, we took a bus to Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, at 3,860m often cited as the highest navigable lake in the world (in
Bolivia
La Paz, museum reality, there are many higher lakes that are navigable, but Titicaca may well be the highest commercially navigated).
We spent three nights at this pleasant lakeside town, slightly longer than planned due to us both falling ill (not helped when we were kept awake by a band who played all night - and into the next morning - as part of a local fiesta. Not only did they play loudly and enthusiastically through the night, but as is the custom apparently with all bands in Bolivia, there were completely of tune!). The highlight of our time in Copacabana was a day trip to the Isla del Sol, one of the lakes´ largest islands.
From Copacabana, we took a short bus-ride to the Peruvian border, and crossed to Puno, also on Lake Titicaca. Puno itself is fairly unpleasant, but we wanted to see the nearby floating islands, built of totora, a reed that abounds in the shallows of the lake. The original purpose for building these islands was so the indigenous people could move if a threat arose (a number contain watchtowers built of reed), but now - whilst they remain home to a few hundred people - they
Bolivia
La Paz, a little grid locked! also serve as a tourist attraction. Whilst traditionally, the buildings on the islands were built entirely from reed, a number now have tin roofs (some roofs were gifts from visiting missionaries for local people who converted to Christianity).
The islands were certainly worth seeing, although I´m not sure my stomach (having been given nothing all day, following my illness in Copacabana) appreciated me accepting an offer to eat some of the reed - Sarah sensibly declined!
We left Puno the following morning, and took a tour via a number of archaeological sights to Cusco, a beautiful colonial town and the closest city to Machu Picchu.
A real highlight of our time was meeting up with two of Sarah´s friends from home - Philly and Jo - who had come to walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We had a lovely afternoon catching up on news from England, drinking coffee and strolling through a local market.
We also ate well in our time in Cusco, perhaps the best bargain being a 4-course meal for GBP1.30, although as with a number of the cheaper restaurants in Peru and Bolivia, it was interesting to see staff running to
Bolivia
La Paz, homes cling to all sides of the valley the nearest supermarket to buy the ingredients shortly after your placed an order.
Our own plans to walk the Inca Trail were scuppered as it was fully booked months in advance - walkers on the trail are limited to 500 per day (including local guides and porters), and when we tried to book in February, there were no places left at all in May (or indeed, June). Instead, we walked the Salkantay trek, a four-day walk covering 84km to the village of Aguas Calientes, which lies about an hour´s hike from Machu Picchu. We were joined on the way by our Dutch friends, Laurens and Christina (who we originally met in Vietnam, and have since seen in Cambodia and New Zealand), as well as a lovely father and daughter from New Zealand.
The walk (recently named among the best 25 treks in the world by National Geographic Adventure Travel Magazine) was tough, especially given the altitude, but the scenery more than compensated. The trek circumnavigated Mount Salkantay, an outstanding glacier-capped summit of 6,271 metres, which was worshipped for thousands of years by local indians. In the local, indigenous language (Quechua), the name Salkantay means "Savage Mountain".
Having
Bolivia
La Paz, except when a mountain stops them! reached Aguas Calientes on our fourth night, where we enjoyed a bed and a hot shower, we rose at 4.45am on the 5th day to get to Machu Picchu before the gates opened. Our visit there was magical, with the entire sight shrouded in cloud for much of the day. As well as exploring the ruins, we also hiked to the summit of Huayna Picchu (Picchu means mountain in Quechua) and to the Sun Gate, which both gave us views of the sight from on-high. It was a real highlight of our trip thus far.
We returned from Machu Picchu to Cusco for a further stay. Although continued illness (we´re now both fully recovered, thankfully) meant we spent longer in Cusco than planned, we really enjoyed wandering the streets and seeing the cathedral, San Blas church and some local ruins. Our departure was further delayed when strikes in a nearby province led to the cancellation of most out-bound buses - our misery was complete when, as we discussed our options at the bus station, a local stray decided to relieve himself on Sarah´s backpack.
From Cusco we moved on to our last two stops in Peru. We really
Bolivia
Travelling from La Paz to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca, an unusual crossing for a bus! enjoyed the beautiful colonial town of Arequipa, but Lima is not a city we´d rush to return to. Whilst Lima´s main plaza is pleasant, the surrounding streets felt unsafe, although the more upmarket suburb of Miraflores (where the local park had a great display of Yann Arthus-Bertrand - ´Earth from the Air´ - photos) is somewhat nicer.
We spent our last night in Lima dining with Jo, who had joined us again. Having tried llama steak in La Paz, I felt compelled to try the local speciality in Peru, guinea pig - both tasted fine, but were nothing special.
The next morning, we taxied to the airport to catch a flight to Ecuador, our passage through security being somewhat delayed thanks to an idiot who´d left a pen-knife in his carry-on luggage (me!). The politeness of the security guard as he took my knife and dropped it into the bin mirrored that of many of the people we´d met in both Peru and Bolivia - Bolivia in particular is certainly a country we would love to return to.
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Jan Peters
non-member comment
Good report...
Good report...please read mine as well at http://www.jan-peters.net/MyLife/AndeanBlog --- it has loads of our Peru & Bolivia stories.