Bolivia

In Bolivia we hung out in La Paz, took the train across the high plains to Oruro, then on to Uyuni, the most god-forsaken town I've ever visited, on the edge of the vast Salar de Uyuni, biggest salt lake in the world. We crossed the lake in a jeep, and then spent three days driving through the Atacama desert until we reached the Chilean border.

From Titicaca to La Paz

The bus took a couple of hours to skirt around the shores of Lake Titicaca, to the border town of Yunguyo. We changed our remaining Nuevo Soles into Bolivanos at a poor rate. Peruvian immigration was a simple formality, and we soon found ourselves walking across the border, through a stone arch into Bolivia. Perus nicely paved road instantly became a dirt track.

Bolivia is one of South America's poorest countries, crippled by poor government, a history of labour relations problems, low exploitation of natural resources and a mammoth national debt. Same old story but worse! Only four percent of Bolivias roads are paved, and the bus bumped along slowly to Copacabana, a bolivian lakeside resort town. From a distance, it appeared enticing, a Mediterranean Riviera -style paradise with a stretch of sandy beach at the foot of aromatic pine clad hills. Up close, it was a dusty somewhat grubby town. We stopped for lunch and a beer. Coincidentally, we bumped into our friends from the Inca Trail, Will and John. They too were on their way to La Paz, though on a later bus. We agreed to meet up for dinner that evening. We had to change bus here, for the onward journey to La Paz, a fact we only realised when we saw the original bus driving with our rucksacks aboard. Katie stalled the driver by standing in front of the bus, whilst I grabbed the bags. Ours were by no means the only ones still on the bus! The new bus to La Paz was smaller than the one we'd come in to Copacabana on - which meant that some people had to be sadly disappointed. I was determined we weren't to be amongst the disappointed ones, and joined the scuffle to load bags on the roof and get a seat fast.

About an hour out of Copacabana, we came to the Straights of Tiquina. Lake Titicaca is shaped a little like a lopsided dumbbell, with a very large lake joined to a fairly large lake by a narrow straight. It was this straight that we were about to cross, about a mile wide. The Bolivian navy was waiting for us on the side of the lake, a sorry collection of small naval cutters. Since losing the War of the Pacific against Chile in the 1870s, Bolivia lost its seaboard and the Navy had nowhere else to go. We had to get off the bus at this point, and cross the lake separately on a motor launch. It was a dodgy old wooden tub, dangerously overloaded, and it rocked precariously across the lake. The bus, meanwhile, had to be poled across the lake on a wooden raft. They were right to have us disembark.

The remaining journey to La Paz was very picturesque. The bus followed the line of a ridge, from which we could see both halves of the enormous azure lake. Then we moved inland along a straight flat road, crossing the arid Altiplano. To the left and in the distance were the peaks of the Cordillera. The peaks were strangely small, giving the impression of a vast horizon and the wonderful feeling of being on top of the world.

La Paz

La Paz, population 1.2million and highest capital city in the world, is crammed into a large bowl-like valley, sunk below the level of the Altiplano. It has grown so much in recent years, it now climbs up the side of the bowl and spills over the top. The outer suburbs of the newer part of the city, known as El Alto, are uninspiring, but the sight of the old city spread inside a vast crater as far as the eye can see is awesome. The bus took the toll road down, spiralling like a marble into the bowl. In the centre, the streets are narrow, crammed with traffic and people, The buildings all look a bit past it, scruffy and dusty.

We stayed in the Hotel la Joya, which is in the heart of the market district. What a market too! The streets are crammed with stalls selling every imaginable item, for dozens of blocks. It took us quite some time to weave our way through the crowds of leather skinned locals to the hotel. It was very luxurious by our standards, with a fancy en suite bathroom, woodblock floor and a fine view of the city, and at $22 USD per night it was expensive too.

In the evening, we headed down the steep streets towards the city centre to meet our friends Will and John (from the Inca Trail). The market was still in full swing, the bowler hatted indian women jostled about us. We were ignored as tourists - until that is we tried to take a picture, whereupon we were shouted at in no no uncertain terms - cries of no "No saces! No Saces" followed us down the hill. We had agreed to met Will and John at the café Verona, which we'd selected at random from our guide book but it didn't exist anymore! We were early anyhow, so we ducked into the Café Fiesta - on one of th main streets, th Santa Cruz. The atmosphere was more like doctors waiting room than fiesta though. I had a local beer called Paquena, which takes first prize as the gassiest brew so far on our travels - 70% froth, despite carefully dribbling it down the side of the glass. Later, we did eventually meet up with Will and John, on the corner of the street where the Café Verona should have been. There is a real lack of good restaurants in La Paz, and we ended up having a luke warm pizza at a formica table in Eli's Pizza Express.

Mooching Around La Paz

La Paz for the most part is a modern city, with few historic landmarks of interest. Probably the biggest attraction is its markets. We spent almost a whole day mooching around in awe at the incredible range of goods on offer. At first, we didn't buy any goats heads or anything particularly interesting, just mundane stuff like oranges, tissues and batteries. Later we came across the witchcraft market in Calle Linares. As you might expect, this stocks some pretty nasty specimens, such as dried Llama foetuses piled in wicker baskets, for use in ritualistic offerings to Pachamama - the earth goddess. There were many lucky charms, small statuettes designed to help you with everything from fertility (guess what that statue looked like) to wealth, health and wisdom. We bought a few in the hope we wouldn't get robbed again.

Café Angelo Colonial

Café Angelo Colonial as one of the pleasantest places we ate at in the whole of Bolivia. Halfway down c/ Linares, beyond all those witches and their stalls is a pleasant colonial style courtyard with this upstairs café that had just opened. The walls are tastefully hung with antiques, such as guns, clocks, and even a few 78rpm Andy Williams records. The food selection was limited, but the quality was superb.

The Calocoto - Posh end of La Paz

The centre of La Paz is shabby and devoid of much to do in the evenings, so we decided to visit the Calocoto district, some 8km from the centre, where all the rich people and ex pats live. We took a collectivo - or shared taxi. It was already pretty full when we got in. I was laughing though because I got the front seat and Katie had to squeeze in with three others in the back. My smile disappeared as an an enormously fat lady soon climbed in next to me. I had no option but to rest one buttock on the handbrake, and the driver had no option but to stroke my leg every time he changed gear. La Paz is the complete reverse of Quito, where the rich people live in the hills. Alocoto is down the valley, at the bottom of a steep ravine. The houses started to get very large and plush. We were looking for a street called Ballyvian, but got dropped at a shopping centre called Bollivan about a mile short - disaster. When we finally reached Calocoto, it was a disappointment, a lifeless with US style ribs and burger style restaurants. We had ribs and a burger at ribs-u-like - could have been anywhere in the world. The table next to us was occupied by a bunch of ex-pat American adolescents who were nauseating. We didn't linger.

The worst drugs smuggler in the world

We went to the central post office in La Paz to post some films home. This was after we'd been to the museum which was shut and the railway booking office which had moved. All overseas packages need to be taken to a customs desk for inspection and stamping. A young swiss chap came up to the desk next to ours with two brown parcels. "What's in these?" demanded the customs official. "Mate de Coca" replied the Swiss lad - which is essentially coca leaves packaged up as an infusion. "Do you have a problem with that?" asked the Swiss lad. "No, but you do!" replied the burly customs official, clearly astounded. The Swiss lad started to protest that they were a gift for a friend, just some harmless tea …no no, please not the rubber gloves!

Hot Food Tip - Silpancho Cochabambina

Try this local dish if you come across it, it's breaded fried meat with eggs and rice, and by comparison with most Bolivian food, it's excellent.

Historic La Paz

La Paz doesn't have a lot left of its colonial and pre-colonial heritage. To get a glimpse of the history, you need to visit the museums. Most of them can be found halfway up the side of the valley on C/ Sucre. You can visit all four museums on one bargain bucket ticket for about fifty pence. Unfortunately, there were about six very loud Bolvian school parties doing the rounds, so it was a bit chaotic. Katie got lots of wolf whistles from hormonal young lads, which cheered her up, since she'd been feeling a bit off colour. The Metals Museum had a good collection of Inca gold that somehow managed to escape the greedy clutches of the conquistadors. The Museo Casa Murillo was the old home of Bolivian national hero and freedom fighter Pedro Murillo. It had been restored with period furniture and artworks. The Museo Costumbrista next door had a great collection of old maps dating back to the 1500s. Its fascinating to see how the political geography of South America has changed so dramatically over the years. Ecuador didn't even exist until relatively recently, being part of Columbia, as was Venezuela. Argentina was called La Plata, and encompassed most of southern Chile, and Bolivia had a seaboard!

The Pena

They say "if you go to South America and don't get to see a Pena you must be an arse!" Penas (pronounced peyn-ya are venues for traditional folk music and basically a bit of a party. They're popular all over South America, and well worth a visit. We visited the Pena La Parnasa near the cathedral in La Paz. The place was set out in cabaret format, and we ordered a slap up meal with wine. There were three or four groups on the bill for the night, and the fitst, Hiru Yicyu claimed to have two gold discs. Since we'd arrived early, we had great seats right at the front, and of course we were first to be yanked up to dance. The second group looked like a bunch of cavemen, and they shuffled around in a wide circle puffing on pan pipes and beating big drums. It was a very primitive sound. The third group were a bunch of jokers who in between songs took the mickey out of various members of the audience. Being English, we were of course identified as football hooligans. The quality of the music was great though, a very enjoyable night out, and a good way top end our time in La Paz. The next day we were heading south.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

More stories and more photos to follow - Oruro, The Ghost Town for Trains, Uyuni, The Salar de Uyuni and the Atacama Desert
Sorry for any disappointment

But meanwhile, to whet your appetites, a few snapshots of our three day jeep trip across the salt lake and deserts of southern Bolivia, where the scenery was just wild:

Photos of Atacama Desert
Toyota Landcruiser Our desert transport for 3 days			The Salar de Uyuni largest salt lake in the world viewed from Isla Pescados.
Desert Night - Day 1.			Geysers at 4800m
Gypsum Fields at the Laguna Colorada, 4000m		Strange rock formations in the desert.

You are reading the story of Adrian and Katie's travels through the Americas between May and August 1998.
Adrian and Katie put the rat race on hold for a year to travel the world.

                           

Adrian & Katie's World Tour News - Bolivia                                             Last Updated: 3 September 1999
Web Page by Adrian Ball  (email: adrian.ball@virgin.net)