Sucre, Bolivia

One of the best parts of travelling is when you accidently find yourself in the middle of some national or provincial celebration. This has happened to us nearly every day for the past week and the challenge has been to work out exactly what is going on when everything is in Spanish.

Sucre is the judicial capital of Bolivia and nice city of white archways and colonial, well kept housing and churches. This week marks the bicennetary of independence, and we have found ourselves in the middles of parades of school bands, city marches and potlicial speeches from the balcony of the goverenment building in the plaza. Add to this, dynamite explosions (positive, we think) and chants and signs and general proudness of this citys liberal accomplishments. And then a similar parade about tubercululosis the next day? Alas, we know little about the detail but it´s fun to be part of it!

In Sucre we have chilled out and slowed the pace down a bit. We visisted the highly regarded Musuem of Indigenous Art yesterday which details the weaving and clothing of Bolivian and Andean people, and the stories of the designs and labour-intensive hand woven, methods of the unique clothing here. Really intersting place, and we have a increased respect for the weaving culture now and are off to buy a piece for our wall back home. Also checked out the Casa de la Libertad (House of Liberty) which is a beuatiful colonial house where the declaration of independence was signed and historical and political artifacts are on display. We aslo visited a Dinosaur park where hundreds of dinosaur tracks measuring up to 80cm in diameter were found in the quest for mining. Quite amazing to see (even if not up very close), and hopefully something they can presevere long term.

Have been eating lots of local food including saltenas - a folded pastry dish with chicken or meat, spice, potato, and date which is excellent. Have been adventourous with local food (within a fairly safe hygiene level still) and have not had any unwellness yet which is great. There are no real supermarkets in Bolivia and all foods are purchased from markets which are a fantastic array of colours, and smells and any goods you can want. The very exposed displays of meat and chicken and innards make me a little squeamish, but the fruit and veg area is fanastic.

Tonight we are going to watch a movie called The Devils Miner which is a Bolivian film about the mines in Potosi and the life of a 14 year child who worked in them. Tommorrow we are going to a indigeous village where there have great cultural markets, before taking a overnight bus to La Paz which is technically the capital of La Paz after taking the trophy from Sucre in the recent past. But dont tell Sucre that.

Potosi - Bolivia

Potosi was once the wealthiest Spanish city in the world due an enourmous resource of silver. The streets were literally paved in it. But the area was mined to the extreme and the silver is now vitually depleted. Potosi is no longer a wealthy city but a very intersting one as it remains a mining town. Another intersting thing about Potosi is that it is the highest city in the world at a height of 4090 metres, and yes, it is cold.

Today we went on a mining tour through the cooperative mines where these days, they mine for other minerals most commonly zinc these days. The conditions in the mines are terrible and often miners will die within 10 years of entering the mines. The safety and health provisions are virtually non-existent and we encountered alot of asbestos inside. The potenetial earnings though for miners is double the minimum Bolivian wage and so men continue to work here although the number has dropped in recent years from 15000 miners to only 4000, and thankfully only about 15 children work here now.

For the tour, they equip you with a hard hat, jacket, pants, gum boots, and a head torch, and you only stay inside for 2 hours. Before entering, you buy presents for the miners inclusing coca leaves, dynamite, alcohol(96%!!) and cigarrettes. And we bought ourselves a face mask to help with that little problem of asbestos. Heading towards the mine shaft, we stopped to blow up some dynamite we bought which for Jeb was the highlight of the day/week/month...?!

Inside the mines, we scrambled through dark, wet shafts, down rickety ladders, and through tiny fuse-blown tunnels. Crossed paths with workers along the way and gave them our gifts, plus we were introduced to the Devil Tio which their pray to below ground for good luck. Work in the mines is really hard and very dangerous as there are no maps and teams could potentially blow up areas where other miners are working. There are 5 levels of about 25 metres each, so an áccident´would easily be fatally if the respitory problems dont get to you first.

Very intersting experience, glad to have seen what this town is really about. But now, our lungs need some cleaning as there is alot of pollution from diesel buses and trucks here too, and so we are off tommorrow for Sucre about 2-3 hours north east of here.

Salar de Uyuni and the Southwest Circuit - Bolivia

We returned on Saturday from the Bolivian highlands where we did a 4 day jeep tour through widely diverse landscapes including the Salt Flats. This was true 4WD country from beginning to end and we crossed rivers and mountains on very narrow and often barely distinguishable rocky roads. Luckily we had an excellent local driver and a great Bolivian guide Archie who spoke English and also cooked us delicious huge meals throughout the trip. There was also an Irish couple with us, and 6 was a good amount of people for 4 days in a vehicle together.

The region changes constantly and we experienced sun, snow, wind, hail and mountains of lofty heights of between 4000 and 5000+ metres. For the most part, we were not affected by altitude sickness, but you can definitely feel the shortness in breath and sometimes a headache for me. At such heights, it is really cold, expecially when you are getting up at 4.30am when it was around 0 degrees.

This corner of the world is largely volcanic but nothing has erupted for the past 1000 years. The landscape changes from hard rock mountains to gentle slopes with spiky shrubbery and cactus, with animals such as the vicunas and llamas which are everywhere and a industry for the local villages (yes ive eaten llama meat, and its quite good, maybe like lamb?). Villages are populated with only a few hundred people who live in small thatched homes made of mud bricks, and we stayed in these villages along the way. On the first morning, we walked through a long abandoned village and ruins dating back to the 16th century which was very cool to see in the early morning mist.

Other things we experienced along the way were the green and red lagoons, as well as other lagoons in the National Park which are breeding grounds for 3 different types of rare flamingos. We went in the sulphurous hot springs at a toasty tempreature of 30 degrees, plus visited the geyer basin where you have to be careful not to fall in the boiling mud pots of various colours. The area of course, is very importanant geologically and throughout the trip, we were constantly learning about the minerals that we derived from this whole area of Bolivia, including borax, iron, sulphur, copper, zinc.

On the last day, we were on our way to the Salt Flats to watch the sunrise. The Salar de Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flat with an area of 12 000 square kms of salt and sits at 3653m above sea level. It is white as far as the eye can see, with mountains on the horizon at times, but often you feel like you are in the middle of a white desert of nothing. Its quite astounding and was a unique experience. People use salt to build houses in the area and the accommodations for the last night was in a salt made house, with bed bases, tables, stools, walls and floors completely made of salt. Slightly novel to us, kind of like a gingerbread house but salt. On the actual salt flats, there is no housing, excpet for one illegal structure which apparently features the portrait of the president and indicates a level of corruption here.

The whole trip was great and we learned alot about the geography of Bolivia, the industries, minerals, local food and cultures of the highlands. We stayed a night in Uyuni and then got the bus yesterday to the town of Potosi which was a tedious 6 hour bus ride. We have yet to drive on a paved road in Bolivia (except for within the immediate town centre now of Potosi), so the bus charged through some very rough roads and through creeks with the only bathroom being behind the back of the bus at irregular stops.

Will write more on Potosi later as we have a meeting with the mines...

Horseriding in Bolivia

I was hoping to upload some photos today of the past month to give some visuals to my ramblings. But internet is very slow here in Tupiza, and no CD drive on computers. Internet cafes are however very popular with school kids doing their homework and playing computer games, and this would be the kinda shop to own around here.

Jeb and i went horseriding for 3 hours today in the wild west of South America. Went all up through the canyons and rock red mountains of the area. Our horses galloped (yes galloped), and the thing i learned today is that you should not wear a backpack with a heavy camera in it, whilst riding through the wild west on a galloping horse without a helmet. But all good and lots of fun (except for a sore bum), and very cool to be horseback in this area.

Tommorrow we heading off for a 4 day trip through the Salar de Uyuni - the Salt Flats. Should be awesome.

Bolivia

We arrived safely in Bolivia yesterday, after taking a few hours bus ride to the border. The terminal on the Argentinian side was a bit sketchy and we were prepared for the Bolivian side to be worse, but all was ok. We took a taxi from the Argentinian bus terminal and then literally walked over the border into Bolivian customs (which is not much more than a shack). No bag search, xrays, nothing. Walking through the main strip of the border town Villazon, we could instantly sense that change into a pooer, third world. There were lots of stalls on the main street selling black market and all kinds of necessities. We changed some money to Bolivianos and then got to the bus terminal. Lots of people, bit confusing with our new money and the exchange rate, and keeping our wits about us at all times, we managed to get tix for the next bus to Tupiza (about 2-3 hours from border).

The bus took off about 40 minutes late which isnt too bad for Bolivia. We were very cautious about our bags and making sure that they definitely went on that bus as we have heard some horror stories of people having things snatched from under their eyes. Bolivian buses are not great and certainly not like Argentinian buses so we were grateful for the shorter trip as our bums were already a little sore after 2 hours!

Tupiza is a very dusty town (we have surely swallowed tonnes of dust already and my thoat is perpetually dry). Its nearly 3000m above sea level so you can feel the change in altitude here. Its advised to take things slow in Bolivia so we have done that today. My favourite thing here so far is the old ladies everwhere in their traditional clothing of knee length swivel skirts, top hats, stockings, cardigans, and their hair plaited in 2 long plaits. They sit in the markets selling food and fruits (which is good here). The country has a very old culture and you can see it most in the weathered faces of the older genreations. People live in mud brick housing in villages along the roads or at the base of mountains. As in Argentina and Uruguay, the streets are quiet from after lunch for siesta and the action picks up again after 5. Even school kids break the day in two for siesta, and go back in the afternoon.

Tupiza is the final resting place of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids and you can follow their footsepts around the outskirts of town. We are going horseriding tommorrow which will probably be a typical way to check out the area.

Cafayate, Salta, Tilcara - Argentina

This afternoon we arrived in a small town called Tilcara which is just a few hours south of the Bolivian border. Tilcara could be straight out of a gaucho film set. Its dusty and dry, and surrounded by huge mountains. The Andean culture is apparent now as we head further north. The locals have darker skin and artisean offerings are of colourful ponchos and hats made of llama wools for warmth. Its very pretty here and we are staying in a great hostel perched higher above the town. Tommorrow we head to Bolivia which will be a whole new world, and one that we are really excited about.

Before we reached Tilcara, we spent 2 nights in Cafayate and did a tour through the Quebrada de Cafayate. The quebradas are a spectacular mountainous range of of distinctive formations and colours, mostly red but with sulphur green linings through parts. Wind erosion shapes the quebradas and some very cool strcutures have formed which you can climb on and around.

The next day in Cafayate, we went for a hike to the Cascadas waterfall which should be a 1 hour hike from the base of the mountain. Jeb, Arendt (our Ducth friend) and myself set off and said no to a guide as he only spoke Spanish. Bad idea. We hiked through some seriously intense mountains and creeks for over 3 hours before nearly giving up. Having a breather, we saw some people! til now it had only been insects and a herd of goats!. We crossed the creek again (shoes off, sketchy jumping etc for about the 8th time already). The local guide laughed at how long we had been walking and showed us the way to the falls. Which was only 10 minutes so very glad we didnt turn back, and stoked to have only 1 hour back. Freezing so i didnt swim but nice to have made it and appreciate the hidden water source. Despite the length, it was a very cool hike and we felt sore and satisfied afterwards.

We then spent 2 nights in Salta but didnt do much. Took the gondola up the mountain for views of the city and walked down (1070 steps). Like we needed more exercise! Salta is a nice town with an open city plaza area, but really really busy at night when everyone in town seemed to be out. Also students seem to overwhelm the place, but we think there was a teacher strike or something that day.

We are now going to eat our very last Argentinian parrilla before we head to Bolivia tommorrow.

Iguazu Falls, Tafi Del Valle, and Cafayte - Argentina

Spectaular. Iguazu Falls truly is a wonder of nature.

Firstly though, we survived the bus there which was no hard feat when you are sitting in the upstairs front seats of a double decker bus and have a panoramic view of the landscape along the way. The further north we travelled, the more lush the scenery was. Plantations of sugarcane, bananas, orchids and just trees and grass and greenery everywhere, with rich red brown soils that bleed everywhere onto the highways.

Arriving in the middle of the day, we were grateful the hostel we stayed in had a pool as the humidity was intense. But perfect blue sky summer weather and we headed to Iguazu early the next day on the local bus. Its about 30 mins from the town centre of Puerto Iguazu. The entry fee is about $30 aus to enter Parque Iguazu on the Argentinian side and walking through the gates almost felt like a amusement park. But you quickly disperse from the entry and the shops, and lose any crowds around you. There are 3 trails you can walk which meander through the park before you see the falls. And when you do, its breathtaking and so beuatiful, and really loud with such an immense amount of water. We took the lower trail first upon advice and you can so close to the falls that you get wet (not so much on the Brailzian side which we didnt go to). Footbridges take you around every vantage point possible and needless to say, we took hundreds of photos as its just so picturesque and lush. You can take a free boat across a section of the falls and then hike up a mountain in the centre for amazing close views. And then, you can swim! How cool to swim in Iguazu Falls! There is a train which takes you to the Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat) which is the main semi-circular section of the falls where the world literally seems to drop away. Its awe inspiring and we were either lost for words, or could simply mutter basics like ´wow´.

So we had a greta day, did all the trails, and saw lots of wildlife including spiders, and millions of colourful butterflies that land on you as they please, and birds with blue crests, and these animals (cant remember what they called, but they have short legs, a long tail which sticks up and a long pointy nose and are about the size of a wombat maybe). They are really quite tame and cruise about the rainforest. We came across about 20 of them and they could smell something sweet in jebs bag so they were right into and we had to really fight to get the bag back. Very cool.

We had wanted to go from Iguazu to Salta but the bus was full so we took a bus to Tucuman instead (still 22 hours). Have to tell you about the bus food for this trip...for dinner there was 3 different types of sandwichs all with ham and cheese! And, we had already had the same thing for lunch! And they cut the crusts off bread here. Gotta laugh...

Tucuman is just another city, so we deicided to get on another bus for 2 hours north and go to a small town called Tafi Del Valle with a population of 4000, and and an elevation of 2000. The bus ride was amazing as you drive through an amazing rainforest valley which looked like it was out of a fairytale. The lushest place i think ive ever seen, there was no sense of where one tree finsihed and the next began. Everywhere was just green and mossy with a big creek running through the middle of it. So glad we didnt go straight to Salta, because to arrive in Tafi was a blessing. There are mountains surrounding this valley and we hiked one for views of the area with a Dutch doctor we met. It rained all night which was unfortunate, so we left the next afternoon and came to Cafayte which is where we are now. The bus ride again was scenic but this time the vegetation changed to arid landscapes with huge cactus marking the hills everwhere you looked.

Cafayate is a wine producing region and is also surrounded by big mountains. We did a small wine tour yesterday. The best grape in Argentina is called the malbec. Wine here tends to be very dry and my favourite tasting was of the rose which is unsual for me. Last night, the hostel we are staying in put on a huge bbq feast, local wines and tunes. Ahh life is hard...gotta go now as we are taking a trip through the canyon area.

Rosario, Argentina

Rosario in the province of Santa Fe, and is considered the third biggest city in Argentina. It lies on the Western shore of the Panama River so there is a fishing industry here and to give myslef a break from meat, we went for dinner last night on the river and ate fish. It kinda tasted like roast chicken though. Not that im complaining! It was really tasty and good and fresh water fish tastes different anyway, but yeah, it kinda tasted like chicken. We have been eating very well here (albeit with little greens) and not always the regular backpacker diet as you may expect from Jeb and i. At least you can do it fairly cheaply here. But you also realise what you miss about home and food is one of them. In particular, we are missing brocooli and good salads, and spicy foods and thai. The fruit it pretty good, but vegies not so. Its all meat, potato and cheese, so a breakway fish meal was great last night even if it did taste like chicken.

Rosario is the birth town of the revotionary leader Che Guevara, and we stopped by his house yesterday. Its just a signpost on the street now, and there is also a mural monument, but he really was born here and Rosario can wave their hands high about that title. We also checked out the Flag Moument which is a massive structure and overlooks the river. The city is a little cleaner and nicer than Buenoes Aires and apparetnly has a cranking night scene, but we have mostly chilled here for 2 days as the hostel we are staying in is new and has almost no-one here so the peace and space has been appreciated.

Our bus to Iguazu Falls leaves at 7pm tonight, and we arrive at 1.30pm the next day. The seats fully recline and we get feed and attended to so should be a pleasant road trip even if it is 18 hours.

Carnavale, Colonia, Uruguay

Carnavale in Colonia, Uruguay

Colonia, Uruguay

Gates to Colonia
Parillas are everywhere
Carnavale in Colonia

Lighthouse in Colonia, Uruguay

The lighthouse in Colonia


From the top

Colonia, Uruguay

In Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Buenos Aires from Ferry

Buenos Aires from ferry. Haeding to Uruguay

Our Argentinian friends, Marte and Michael

Mercado del Puerto, Montevideo, Uruguay

Mercado del Puerto is a market of parrillas (steakhouses). This is Montevideo, capital of Uruguay.

Recoleta Cemetary

Recoleta Cemetary houses generations of elite Argentinians.


Evita´s grave. More modest than alot of others.

Buenos Aires

Argentinians just love cheese. Quilmes is the beer.
Cafe Tortoni. Nightly tango shows take place in this old but beutifully restored cafe.

Palacio del Congreso

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

Cathedral Metropolitana
Plaza De Mayo
Casa Rosada - The pink Presedential Palace and the famous balcony where Evita embraced her adoring crowds.
Political demonstrations are popular in the Plaza De Mayo area