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Bolivia! What a place!
They have started wars with just about every country they border and lost
all of them! They have a navy and yet are completely landlocked!
One
thing that Bolivia does have, it has the original Copacabana. Copacabana
was totally different to any town in South America we had previously been
to. A very quiet, picturesque place without the traffic of Peruvian
cities.
We went
on a day trip to the much anticipated Isla De Sol. If we are honest, it
was a bit of a let down, apart from the very rocky boat ride back which
scared the hell out of those without sea legs! Maybe because we had been
to Machu Picchu? The Templo El Inca looked more like a deserted
farmhouse, the Mesa De Sacrificio (Sacrificial Table) and Roca Sagrada
(Sacred Rock) were worth the walk, if you have a good imagination! Also
the walk up the Fuente Del Inca was a walk up too many steps for no
apparent reason! The Templo El Sol, which we were really looking forward
to, was the biggest let down of all! We'd been built up to it all day and
we just sailed past it!
When we
got back to shore, the storm that hit made up for everything! The
lightning bolts were spectacular! The hostel we stayed at, La Cupula, was
on a hill overlooking the bay and whilst we sat and had a superb meal in
their restaurant, we were treated to great views of the storm coming in!
We only
stayed in Copacabana for a couple of nights before we caught the bus to La
Paz. We had heard about "people power" in Bolivia and when we arrived at
the outskirts of La Paz, above the crater, we were treated to an example
of it! Women were sat across the main road into La Paz and consequently
all traffic had to use side streets and the chaos was incredible.
Apparently, or so it seemed, other than the main road, there is only one
bridge that gets you either in or out of La Paz and every car, bus, wagon
and motorcycle was trying to cross it! There are also no road markings,
so the most aggressive driver wins, which is usually the one with the
biggest vehicle! As a passenger it was wild to watch, but I would have
hated to be behind the wheel!
When
you get to the top of the volcanic crater that La Paz is built in you
cannot believe what you see. La Paz has three different climates
according to each zone's altitude. The centre of town is at 3,650 metres
above sea level, the zone of Aranjuez (where our hotel was) is at 3,300
metres. El Alto, where the protest was going on, is at 4,082 metres.
This is also home to the highest international airport in the world, where
the arrivals lounge has rows of oxygen tents for people who pass out from
altitude sickness!
La Paz
was just like New York in so much as most of the taxi drivers were not
locals, didn't speak any recognisable language and had no idea how to get
to wherever you wanted to go!
One
thing we can assure you of is that even after seven years as a couple and
five weeks travelling together, we still created sparks in bed! The
sheets we had, apparently combined with the altitude, meant that if you
lay on the bed and slid your arms and legs around sparks literally flew
off you! It was quite bizarre to see!
We took
a ten hour, overnight bus journey from La Paz to Uyuni, in southern
Bolivia, to spend three days in a 4X4 with a Brit, an Israeli, an
Australian, two extremely rude and inconsiderate Brazilians and a mad,
Bolivian driver travelling across the Salt Pans!
The
Salt Pans, on the central Andean Altiplano and at an average height of
3,600 metres above sea level, were amazing. Firstly you see the Salt
Pyramids in Colchani, created by the farmers who work on the salt pans.
Soon after, you arrive at the Hotel De Sal, which is exactly as it sounds,
a hotel made almost entirely of salt and then in the middle of the Salt
Pan, Isla Pescado, a cacti-covered oasis, where you stand atop of this
"island" and can see nothing but salt!
Overnight we stayed in a little village called San Juan, where they have a
cemetery that has had all the volcanic rock graves (Chullpas) opened, so
you can see the remains of the "mummies" inside. Although I went to look,
unlike my fellow travellers, when I got there I felt I was being intrusive
and did not take any photos as I felt this would be disrespectful. I'm
not sure how I would feel if someone wanted to open my relatives’ graves
and let tourists take photos of them?
Over
the three days we saw several lagoons, but Lagunas Cañapa, Hedionda and
Colorado, at 4,278 metres above sea level, had to be the most impressive.
The first two because of the vast numbers of Flamingos they were home to
and Colorado because of the red colour of the water.
We were
incredibly lucky to both see and hear a volcano, Volcan Iruputuncu, blow a
side vent. We all stood in awe whilst this volcano firstly blew ash and
steam from a side vent near its top and then give us a gentle reminder, by
way of a long rumble, that it is only sleeping and still very much active!
The final day saw us make
our way to the Chilean border, via Sol De Manana, where we saw some great
Geysers and bubbling mud pools. |