Monday, July 26, 2010

¡Que linda!



The past few weeks have been really busy here in Bolivia but very exciting and full of new adventures! With traveling, volunteering, taking classes and soaking in the culture here in La Paz, I am exhausted by the end of each day but I am truly so happy with all that I am doing down here.

Trip to Salar de Uyuni and Southwest Bolivia

Let me start by saying that if I would have known what I was in for ahead of time during this trip, I likely would not have gone...so I am glad I didn´t know because it was an exciting adventure complete with 3 days of ¨ohh´s¨ and ¨aah´s¨ as we soaked in the amazing scenes of natural beauty. The weather was extreme (cold, windy, strong sun, dry) and the accommodations were...basic (no electric, no hot water, nasty bathrooms, etc), but we made the best of it and it turned out to be a wonderfully memorable trip.

Uyuni sits at an elevation of 3669m and is in the coldest part of Bolivia. The town of 20,000 doesn´t have much to offer (besides a train graveyard in the middle of nowhere) but it is the starting and stopping point for most travelers interested in touring the Southwest Circuit of Bolivia. I personally could not wait to get out of the town once back from our adventure...they had turned off all the electricity in the town due to extreme wind and we had so much trouble getting service, let alone food, at any of the packed restaurants. The inhabitants of the town don´t bat an eyelash when the electricity is turned off, they just light candles and serve pizza cooked in a gas oven. At that point I was soooo ready to get back to the comforts of La Paz (prior to this trip I never imagined I would say those words)!.

Anyway, Uyuni is where we (Sharon and I) met up with the rest of our group and set out for the trip. I could not have hand picked a better group of people to share this adventure with. There was Rachel from Wales, Alex from Greece, Matt and Erwin from Switzerland and our driver and cook Fabio and Maribel. We got along from the start which was such a blessing given what we were about to experience together (we even had to sleep together in the same room)! I enjoyed our conversations about learning and knowing various langauges and dialects within various languages... that´s the language scientist in me... it was fascinating. I got to work on my accents as well :)

The trip took us through Salar de Uyuni, a 12,106 sq km salt flat resulting from a dried up lake, I think. The pure white environment is blinding and leads to some crazy visual illusions. If it haden´t been so harshly cold, we could have played with photos a little more taking advantage of the skewed sense of depth perception. In the middle of Salar is an Island of rock and Cacti. I enjoyed climbing to the top of the island, which was a feat due to the wind :) Well worth the trek however!! The sights at the top were breathtaking...although that may have been due to the lack of oxygen at 3660m.

The hostal that we spent the first night in was completely made from salt (no I didn´t lick the walls to make sure)! I was so worried about freezing to death since me and Sharon forgot to rent sleeping bags and all advice we had received implied that we may die without sleeping bags :) We survived the night, obviously, but I had to wear every piece of clothing that I packed. Thankfully the blankets provided were warm and cozy as long as I ignored the fact that they probably don´t get washed often...eew!

We left the hostal in the morning for an exciting day of driving through southwest Bolivia on an unpaved route far far from any sort of civilization. We visited beautiful lagoons and volcano ranges that were sort of like oasis throughout our cold, DRY, bumpy, windy journey. We got out of the jeep at one point to check out some huge boulders that have been formed into interesting shapes (a tree). The wind was so severe (blowing sand and dirt like bullets) that everytime I touched someone I got a horrible electric shock. When I tried to open the jeep door I got shocked so bad that it threw me off and the wind blew me 10 feet back! It was awesome :)

The hostal that we stayed in the second night was like something straight out of a horror movie! Everytime the freezing wind blew, the air filled with dust from outside due to broken windows and cracks in the roof and walls. So freaky. Thankfully we all slept in the same room because I think everyone was a little scared. We even had to go to the bathroom in teams (one flashlight) with caution due to freezing pee and water on the bathroom floor! We were soo happy to leave that freezing place in the early morning.

The third day was my favorite because we had a chance to get into a natural hot spring...glorious in addition to being the first warm thing I touched in several days. Since I haden´t been able to shower in 3 days, I couldn´t resist the urge to dunk my head...sort of a bad idea but lovely at the time. My hair and wet underclothes froze instantly upon exiting the spring! It was so invigorating and, to me, the best part of the trip!

Overall, I appreciate the harsh conditions so much because I realize that if these places were easy to get to, then there would already be paved roads, hotels, and Starbucks all around! The beauty and mystery that I experienced were well worth all the discomfort that I had to endure ;) By the way, no one is EVER allowed to call me High Maintainance Amy ever again!













Beautiful weekend in Lago Titicaca- Copacabana and Isla del Sol

After last weekend´s harsh adventures in Uyuni, me and Sharon decided to strive for comfort for our next trip to Lago Titicaca! Even without sparing expense, living in ¨Bolivan Luxury¨ for the weekend was not too costly. Lago Titicaca is a huge (8400 sq km) lake sitting at 3808m and is the world´s largest high-altitude lake....and it is absolutely sapphire and brilliantly georgous straddling both Bolivia and Peru.

Copacabana is an interesting place to visit...it´s a cute town with a beautiful Church and two mountains with religious shrines on top. I climbed to the top of the Catholic mountain but had no energy left (or time) to trek to the top of the other. I didn´t partake in any of the superstitious rituals that take place both atop the Catholic mountain and surrounding the cathedral in the middle of town (I took pics though). I felt like it was sort of sacreligious, actually a mix of both ancient religious practices (i.e. Aymara) and Catholic. The rituals include purchasing miniature items (cars, luggage, homes, fake money) then praying over it, throwing confetti on it, lighting it on fire and then pouring beer on it!! If the hike up the mountain wasn´t hard enough (altitude) the smoke from all the rituals made it even worse! I was further shocked to see the ritual in front of the Cathedral where people bring their new cars, decorated with ribbons and confetti, and pour beer all over them (including the motor) as a sacrifice for its protection. My car is almost 3 years old and I would freak out if someone poured beer on it...culture shock!

That was Copacabana (very nice for one night of exploring). The best reason to go to Copacabana is to catch a boat ride to Isla del Sol. The beauty of this island is so striking that pre-Incan peoples and the Incas connected it with mystical events, including the the birth of the sun, moon, god ¨Viracocha¨, and Incan civilization itself!! You can´t immagine the beauty of this place!!! I never knew such beauty existed. We were blessed with perfect weather and hot, strong sunshine! Once docked on the Island, we had to hike for about an hour up up up to nearly the top of the island where our ecolodge (La Estancia) was located. Talk about short of breath...I had to stop every 20 steps to slow my heartrate. I gave the man who carried all of our luggage up a huge tip (by Bolivan standards) because I could barely carry my shirt, let alone 150 extra pounts of weight!

The trek was well worth the pain, our accommodations were splendid with excellent food, HOT WATER (solar heated), warm beds, solar heated clean rooms, amazing views and excellent company. I was in paradise..I would only barely hesitiate to call it heaven!
The worst part of this trip was that Sharon ended up getting very sick (likely altitude sickness since the Island is even higher than La Paz). I felt so bad that she couldn´t enjoy a lot of the sights that required tough climbing to more remote areas. I ended up doing a lot of the exploring alone but found the time to be so wonderful and peaceful...just me, the sounds of undisrupted nature and all the spactacular views! ...I guess I could have waited for our guide, but he was hard to understand and a little akward so I left him in my dust :)

I met a lot of interesting people during this trip...from various parts of the world and on various parts of their journys. Some people have been traveling for months and months and others were just beginning their adventures.









Trout was introduced to Lago Titikaka about 80 years ago to improve the protein intake of the locals...I had trout 6 times during this trip :)

I´ve been back in La Paz now for a week and am not planning any trips for this weekend. Sharon and Ariel are leaving this weekend :( So I want to be here to spend time with them. There is also a big celebration in the city this weekend with a parade and a full day of traditional dancing, eating and drinking :) I hope to go to the Amazon next weekend for my last weekend before leaving for Peru. I am in love with the volunteer work that I have been doing during the week...it is exhausting but amazingly rewarding and much needed. I am going to really have a hard time leaving...it makes me sad to think of it just for a second!

Next post will be all about my volunteer work and some exciting changes that I hope to see happening for the kids soon :) Being down here has made me so much more aware of my blessings and I go to sleep every night going over them in my mind...my friends and family back home always come to mind first...love you all and miss you xoxoxoxoxox!

2 comments:

  1. Amy, Wow, great adventure. The journey you take in the world prompting an equaly valuable journey in your heart!!! Just lovely!! Good for you to have and share these experiences but.... We want you home too Amy!!

    Love, Love, Love,
    Auntie Anne

    ReplyDelete