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Published: July 14th 2006
So stay in Cusco and relax we did. When it came time to leave it was sad, but high time to move on. Next on the agenda was Puno, from where we took a tour of Lake Titikaka. This involved getting the boat to an island, where we stayed with a Real Peruvian family, who served us potatoes in a scene very reminiscent of Van Gogh's Potato Eaters. Then they dressed us up in traditional gear- me in a poncho- and made us dance that oh-so-boring Static Peruvian Dance. Even worse than the awkward Scottish Shuffle.
Lake Titikaka itself was Blue. Very blue. And beautiful. We also visited the floating islands of Uros, which have been artificially-made since that community fled from Inca invasion. Now it's a way of life. And tourism. They had solar panels so as to beam in essential television and straighten their hair.
So that was it for Peru, the country I have now stayed longest in, except for Scotland. I really loved Peru, a country with the widest variation of historical and micro-climatic zones. One minute we were in cloud- or rain-forest, the next a high Andean pass, the next a glaciated valley, the
next out on the world's highest lake.
We headed for Copacabana on the Bolivian border. Most of my time was now being dominated by the World Cup, so there's not much to tell about there.
La Paz was our next destination, where we stayed in the Witches' Market. Madness. They sold dried llama foetus and general dead things. I wasn't lucky enough to have my fortune read by coca leaves though. However, the coca museum was interesting. It chronicled the history of one of the most important social and cultural crops in Bolivia's (and Peru's) history. It told how when the Spanish invaded they banned coca as it was seen as un-Catholic. Something important other than God?! The Shock! But when they realised the indigenous workers in the mines could carry on for longer hours by chewing coca it suddenly became legal again. In fact, mandatory. And taxed. Today obviously there is a different context. America, with it's War on Drugs (that replaced the Cold War as the focal point of politics, before the War on Terror), went about trying to irradicate coca production. Even though it's a deeply cultural symbol. You might say it's every Bolivian's right
to own or produce coca. Like it's every American's right to own a gun. I know which causes more harm. But who could take away an American right?!
From La Paz I went south for the tour of the Salar de Uyuni, the salt planes. It was the most deeply psychadelic experience of my life. For this trip I was adopted by a Bolivian family. We saw pink flamingos on red lakes, shooting geysers, hills/mountains of several colours (red, brown, yellow, green...), bizarre rock formations, an island of cactus surrounded by 12,000 square kms of salt, took a bath in hot springs, and generaly froze in sub-zero temperatures at night. All very cool. The Valley of Dali was a highlight- it was a Dali painting minus the clocks hanging over the rocks.
On our return we watched Italy triumph in the World Cup. Forza Italia!!!
Then it was on to Sucre, a nice little uni town, reminiscent of Arequipa in Peru, with its white colonial buildings. From there we went to see the world's foremost palaentological site, with over 5000 dinosaur tracks. It was awesome to think of those big brutes trundling across where we stood. Apart
from that it was all about the bars.
So now I am in Santa Cruz, a tropical city, and my last in Bolivia. Tomorrow I get what has been called the Death Train to Brazil. So if i make it, I'll add another blog when I leave the Land of Samba.
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LJ
non-member comment
Your pictures are gorgeous! Glad you're having a good time (save some extreme sports for NZ though...) Keep enjoying it and I can't wait to see you down under in a few months, LJ