Ladies in La Paz

Since arriving in Bolivia, I have been loving the fashion big style! The ladies with their long plaits, bowler hats and ruched skirts. However, I did feel a little bit uncomfortable taking photographs of them… They don’t live in a zoo! I did manage to get around this in La Paz, photographing from a afar. As I ventured up through Bolivia the ladies fashions changed a wee bit. In the south, where it’s warmer, the skirts were shorter – I’m not talking micro mini, just to their knees. As I reached La Paz, longer skirts, trousers or leg warmers and shawls – its not surprising they need to layer up given the speed the weather changes here.

Here’s some of my favourite ladies; you’ll notice they tend to be rear shots, Tim, are these the pix you have been waiting for 😉

A magical mystery tour! Ok i got lost…

La Paz is canny big, one wrong turn and you are sooo off where you want to be… But that is the pleasure. If I had not taken a wrong turn I would not have seen this. Thanks god (again) for wrong turns x

I’ve still the shoe shine boys and the fashions to talk about; think I need to leave them for another day. Buenos noches x

Bolivian tunes

We visited a music museum. Some of the instruments were familiar, but many a mix of the old and new, a bit like La Paz itself.

My favourite part of this museum was the miniature dolls depicting the ‘carnival’ costumes. I think they celebrate in June. The first pix is joker’esq, the guy who leads the procession. Apparently Class can be measured by how ornate your costume is…

BTW here’s some of the masks they use to dance in, apparently they are very heavy x

Living the high life in La Paz

Hurray, I have eventually caught up on my travels and I am so excited to tell you all about La Paz! I was not expecting much, I knew it was super super high with an altitude of 3660m, I had also read that travellers had to be aware as they are targeted by scams, what else? Mmm, there’s the witches market and a baroque church; also a pal said she really did not like it here… Different horses for different courses, that’s what I say. The city is unlike anywhere else I have been and has totally blown my mind, hey in the best way possible!

Given, I was not expecting all that much here, I decided that this was the place I was going to blow my accommodation budget, if the city was not for me I was confident that I was going to have a lovely place to stay and close my door.

I arrived from Sucre at 7am, check in was not until 2pm. Luckily I met a fellow Brit as I disembarked from the coach (yeh, the one that had no loos!). We killed an hour having coffee and cake; he went off to find a hostel and I had another coffee and people watched outside the terminal until I thought it was a reasonable time to turn up at casa fusion and ask if I could leave my bags until check in. I arrived just after 9am, after a 10 boliviano (£1) taxi journey – I think, please don’t trust my currency abilities! In the typical English manner I apologised for arriving early, asking if I could leave my bags… The lovely lady on reception was phenomenal; she told me as I was lucky, my room was ready and progressed to get me a lovely cup of coca tea. Sometimes I wish I believed in god so I could thank him! She also said there was a lunch being served at 12! Hooray! A wee recce, A bite of lunch, a sleep, up at 5pm, found the supermarket, vino, cheese, meat and olives; I was ready and excited for my morning tour!

I decided to stay in the suburbs, apparently sopocachi is the upmarket commercial and residential zone – I had heard the centre is a bit like a travellers ghetto, not what I fancied. As such, my tour was out of the zone and I had to make my way down to the centre to meet my guide. Mmm, not a happy bunny, it meant half an hour walk and getting up at 7am… As it transpired it was more a
Iike an hours walk. Obviously I was late and I was convinced the tour would have started without me. No! I had a one on one guide who, despite me being 15 mins late was waiting and ready.

First stop the witches market, where he described the contradiction of the Bolivian psyche; the faith of Catholicism combined with traditional beliefs – hedging their bets I’d surmise, why not? Again, I was nervous of taking pix, thinking my camera would be ripped out of my hand! Sometimes you can spoil the moment by believing everything you read!

Next stop, San francisco church – bling central! You can’t take pix inside, but the outside was cool. It took 40 years to build and again it was a mixture of the old and new, the Spanish folks homage to the indigenous population.

Back in the day, there was a river that ran in front of it which divided the Spanish settlers with the natives (can I use the word natives?). We headed to the Spanish quarter, colonial heaven and the central plaza – plaza Murillo (named after a successful rebellious leader). You’ll be pleased to know i got my camera mojo back! The square is lovely, cathedral, administration buildings and parliament (so I believe).

We the went down some proper narrow streets and headed to the music museum. Think this deserves a separate post 🙂

Home sweet home

I heard heard that travelling in Bolivia is as cheap as chips! I knew I spent a lot in brazil and Argentina, especially in Rio and Buenos Aires; but they are big cities and they cost the equivalent of the UK. However, by the time I got to Chile, I had my currency all mixed up and could not tell you the prize of anything 😉 however, what I did note was the cost of hostels of Bolivia seemed a lot more economical than elsewhere. As such, and due to the fact that I had spent the last six weeks or so in dorms, I decided I was going to be extravagant on my accommodation in Bolivia. As such, all rooms I booked in bolivia were private with an en suite, well a gal has to treat herself. It seems here is where an extra £5 makes all the difference.

Casa La Tronco was highly recommended in Lonely Planet and although there were no singles available (it only has four rooms), I splashed out on a twin room just for me. What a call. For about £20 a night I was treated to the style and hospitality of this gorgeous guest house in the lovely area of recoleta in sucre.

The couple who owned it, along with their son and their dog, had the utmost style and an incredible eye for detail.

Tania, the lady of the house had prepared a hand written guide for visitors, filled with history and really useful information about the city – it was truly special. What’s more, they also wrote my name on the the visitor chalk board…

And if this isn’t enough, they had a delightful balcony which provided gorgeous views of the city.

The only problem I had with Casa la Tronco was that I had only booked two nights here!

Sucre – sweet by name, sweet by nature

Hey, it’s 7.45pm and I’m enjoying my second night in my boutique hotel in La Paz. Had a fab day today which I’m dying to tell you all about, but first here’s some of the loveliness which in Sucre.

I arrived from Potosi late afternoon and a friend (Lisbet) I met in Buenos Aires was also in town, so hey, time for dinner and some wine. We met in the main square and decided on a restaurant with a view. We both opted for the Bolivian speciality, I’m afraid I can’t recall it’s name, but it was beef (or lama!), chicken and sausage in a tomato and vegetable sauce and it had the added extra of some French fries hidden at the bottom of the bowl. Given it was a BA reunion, a bottle of vino or two was definitely on the cards!

After the second bottle and some catching up we were having fun, so on to pub (the joyride cafe) and then some dancing where we met some French folks. Needless to say I did not arise until mid afternoon, so late lunch and early night was necessary.

I was determined, however, that my last day in sucre was not to be wasted – I had some serious sight seeing to do, plus i had to check out of my hotel at 11am and my coach was not until 7pm. I had decided to stay in the Recoleta part of town at the lovely casa la tronco (so lovely infact, it deserves it’s own post!), a lot of the cool things to see where just around the corner, so off with a hop, skip and a jump and camera in hand! I have rather stupidly thrown out my map of sucre, so I’m unable to let you know what these are, but sure you’ll enjoy regardless.

The views of the city were pretty amazing.

I was really keen to visit the Museo Textil Indigena which feature traditional weavings from the local area; the museum is a project which has been set up to revitalise traditional crafts. on arrival I was even given an English translation guide, which I was loving until I found out that my timings were off and it was shutting for lunch; I really should check out these things before going! Although you are unable to take any photographs in the museum, these are some of the goodies available in the gift shop.

I even got to see a local lady in action; I loved her outfit!

Next stop the local market. What a sight to behold! I felt a bit voyeuristic taking pix but did take one of the fruit stall I visited to get a freshly pressed mango drink – tasty!

Sucre’s centre is a delightful plaza, ranked by some beautiful buildings. Most folks congregate here to have a chat, chill out and feed the pigeons. It was a beautiful place to people watch.

Well what a delightful day in Sucre. Next stop La Paz, just a night bus (with no loos) to negotiate, although I did have a lie down bed – once I understood the instructions, lol!

From the salt flats to Sucre

Hey, I know I’m cheating a bit amalgamating two stop offs into one post, but to be honest there’s not too much to say about uyuni and potosi, plus I was there only for a night and was enjoying my private room status too much to explore…

Uyuni is the stop over pre, or post, salt plains, it’s predominantly catered for tourists. It is however, kind of my romantic view of what i pictured south America to be; unpaved roads, animals roaming the streets, undeveloped yet so very quaint. Mind, I’m not too sure whether this is the locals’ picture perfect view!

Amidst this, there is some darn pretty architecture, they’ve had a go at ‘modern art’ with the sculpture that frames the church, but I must admit I particularly love the toy soldiers!!!

Potosi, on the other hand, is a much larger place, steeped in history (it made its cash, back in the day through silver mining) and is a unesco world heritage site. As such, although today the silver has been depleted you can tell it was a very important town through the beautiful architecture it owns.

Despite its illustrious past, it seemed like a ‘real’ working town with most folk earning a decent buck at the local market place. I’m not sure what the bolivians take on carnival is, but by looks of my hotel they had been celebrating hard!

And this was really evident across the town. Amidst the hustle and bustle, you’d hear fire crackers, bands playing and signing. I was lucky enough to see a band dancing its way though the traffic and another having foam fun in the market place. Sounds a bit weird, but all the festivities brought a tear to my eye – and yes, that was before any wine 😉

After all that emotion, there was only one thing to do… Grab some empandoes from the market and a bottle of vino Tinto and head back to my private room with a double bed and sky tv! Actually, I ended up eating potosi bread an donuts! How was I tell the difference? X

Blown away by Bolivia!

Oh my lord, what a treat I was in for; a three day adventure across the desert in a 4×4. I did not have any preconceptions about Bolivia, although Stewart said I’d love it here; how right could a chap be?

I began my trip at 8.30am, not the advertised 7am start which I was expecting – transport times in south America dictate their own rules! Set off on a mini bus to the border, as sometimes is the case I was the only gringo on the bus. Luckily, some folks from Uruguay took pity on me and translated! Border control was relatively quick, just an hour and before I knew it we turned off the main road and headed into the desert. We arrived at Bolivian border control and were divided into 5 groups for our 4×4 adventure. The two couples from uruguay who had kindly helped me en route, asked if I wanted to join them, so I had my crew all set and was ready for what was to become the highlight of my trip to date.

Aside from the salt flats, I had little knowledge of what the trip entailed… But here’s some of the wonderful treats I experienced on day one; I had to keep pinching myself to ensure I wasn’t dreaming.

It was so surreal, at one point you’d have your hats and gloves on, half an hour later you’d be sitting in a thermal pool in your bikini – all the seasons in one day. Whoosh! What a first day. Due to the weather looking decidedly dodgey we headed to base camp for the evening.

The hostel, in the middle of desert was very basic; no showers or heating. Regardless, we all layered up, got fed (albeit in our hats and gloves, oh i forgot to note that it was snowing at this point!) and met the rest of the group which included a 4×4 crew of english speaking folks who introduced me to the card game ‘shit head’, more later.

Day two, up and out for 8am and what a way to start the day.

Evening stop, a hostel with hot water! What’s more, steph and I scored by getting a double room with an en suite – result! The hostel was proper old school…

Pre dinner, I was somewhat delighted when Julian pulled out his trick for the evening, a coffee grinder an cafeteria; first proper coffee since leaving the uk. Well done that man!

We had steak and chips for dinner and even a couple of glasses of vino. The evening continued with a couple of hours of ‘shit head’, here’s the rules…

Day three, a visit to the train cemetery, a craft market (whereby I have begun the hippy demise by buying a sling bag!) and if course the salt flats. Enjoy xxx

Fly me to the moon

Whoops, I seem to be 10 days behind… I am truly not sure where the time has gone, but lots of stories and pix to update you with!

First thing’s first; San pedro de atacama… It’s a tourists paradise, a tiny wee town, made up of a few clay roads paved with tour operators and gift shops.

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As per my previous post, my first impressions of the town weren’t great; no power, soggy roads and the whole place in disarray due to inclement weather. however, the hostel I ended up in, by change, was fab!

Hostal rural reminded me a wee bit of my stay in Montevideo, however, it was spotlessly clean! So what if we did not have any power on our arrival, it all added to the romance of the place. Plus, it was super quirky.

In addition, it had the added extra of Enrique; one of the chaps who worked there who had the most English accent a non-Englishman could possibly possess and a heart of gold. But, San pedro de Atacama is all about the desert, a trip to salar de atacama and Valle de la lunar – moon valley to you and me. The place is so reminiscent of the moon, it’s where NASA sends astronauts to climatise. Enough said, here’s some pix.

We also visited ‘death valley’, the scale of this place was unbelievable; it’s also a haunt for the fool hardy sand borders!

Pretty cool, eh? Well next stop Bolivia – I was really excited for my 4×4 journey thought the desert!

On the road to Chile

Made my 7am bus journey from Salta to San Pedro de Atacama just in the nick of time, this was one occasion that I was glad that the buses were running late. It was supposed to be an 11 hour journey, however I had my first taste of border control and getting out of argentina saw us stuck there for three hours! We therefore arrived in San pedro de atacama at 9pm and guess what it was bucketing down… Here I am in the middle of the desert and it’s raining cats and dogs! Luckily, Arnica who I had met en route to salta was also arriving, and we also hooked up with Simone from Germany, so there was the three of us in the pitch black dark (there was a power cut with the rain) rucksacks on our backs negotiating the roads that had turned into rivers.

We were directed to the Police Station, as I had to get a taxi as my hostel was out of town. Although very friendly, helpful and young, they were unable to order a taxi!!! Plan b, Arnica’s hostel was not far from the police station so I headed there with her and hooray there was room at the inn! Hola Hostal Rural! More to say about this place in my next post.

I digress, the bus journey. What with the 7am start I had a wee snooze on the bus and when I woke up I was surrounded by cacti.

Where was I? Im still not sure what mountain range we were crossing but the landscapes were phenomenal, I was quite gutted I had slept through the beginning of the journey as this was one occasion where a book was not needed!

I also got my first glimpse of a salt plain on the horizon…

Close up was more amazing! Ive lots of pix, but I won’t spoil my post about the salt flats, but I need to at least show you this one pix.

Heading towards Chile, the landscapes were ever changing and the colours were amazing, it made me wish I had my paints with me.

So, here I am in Chile, country number four so far in South America. I have trip to moon valley to see sunset tomorrow (yep, expect some more pix) and a day chilling before I head of in a 4×4 for a three day expedition to Boliva. Ciao ciao xx