Bolivian Adventure

by Jita Shah

I expected our 2005 trip to Bolivia to be well-organised, an interesting itinerary with comfortable accommodation, and a nice small group. That was before the Bolivians decided to make themselves heard...

Witches' Market, La Paz

The flight to Santa Cruz via Sao Paolo was uneventful, and the warmth of Santa Cruz in the south hit us as we landed. Our plan was to start at low altitude and build up to La Paz. The following day we set off early for the northeast part of Bolivia - home to the Jesuit Missions and not a part of the country visited by most tourists. We hit a roadblock just after 11am, the first sign that trouble was stirring in this country. Half an hour later, on the dirt road we were diverted to, we hit another one - this was a bit uglier with farmers wielding sticks against our tour bus. Retreating rapidly, we only had one more option left - a very long dirt road that would, in the end, lead to a diversion of over 400km. So we took it and managed to get some lunch at 4pm at a roadside 'restaurant' in a hamlet (there had been nothing en route at all) where they cooked us chicken and rice. Bizarrely, the bottles of red wine they produced were not bad at all (or was that just exhaustion telling after 2 days of travelling?)

We checked in at 3am that night, in a hotel and village we hadn't planned on stopping at, totally exhausted from the bus trip. And we were still a few hours from Concepcion where we were meant to check in.

The following day, Monday, we left for Sucre, the beautiful colonial administrative capital of Bolivia, now a Unesco World Heritage Site. 'Sucre', because all its buildings in the centre are whitewashed every year. On our flight over, our tour leader pointed out a man to us in the minuscule business class - he was one of the 'Presidents-in-waiting', Eduardo Rodriguez. The demonstrations in the country had escalated (over the earlier privatisation and foreign ownership of the national utilities) and the current interim president Carlos Mesa was proving to be too soft and ambiguous in his handling of the situation.

The day after we arrived, Carlos Mesa resigned; by this time more roads were being blockaded, and thousands of Indians had poured into La Paz to protest. Sucre was declared the place for an emergency Congress meeting to be held on Thursday, and it was looking increasingly as if we would not be able to leave as we'd planned. On Wednesday, we visited the Casa de la Libertad, the place where the declaration of Independence was signed. Even there, we were shooed out as the television crew moved into the very room we were in, to film it prior to the meeting. And yes, some of us appeared in that clip that night on Bolivian TV as we were being hustled out.

We had to spend Thursday barricaded in our hotel, as the town centre was packed with demonstrators, although we did manage to sneak to the end of the road to mingle! Eduardo Rodriguez was voted in that night, but only as an impartial and popular 'interim' until a full election took place later that year.

We were eventually able to leave mid-afternoon on Friday, having lost a full two days from our itinerary. A German tour party who were in the same hotel had their trip curtailed, and they were to be flown back at the next available opportunity. Thankfully, our tour leader decided it was worth carrying on, but from now on, it would be a race to complete the itinerary.

Our next stop was Potosi, the highest city in the world. At one time it was the biggest city in the Americas, on a par with London, Paris, Seville, on account of its rich silver mines. I found it to be a beautiful, yet desolate place, despite the stunning colonial architecture.

By now the altitude and the cold had hit us, with temperatures at freezing point. We stayed in the beautiful Hacienda Cayara outside the city, with very spartan facilities, freezing temperatures and practically no heating in the bedroom. The cold was to become our companion for the next few nights.

The following day we whizzed around the town before leaving for Uyuni, which was our stay for the night en route to the spectacular Salar de Uyuni, the world famous salt flats at a height of 3,650m. The next day and night were going to be our most memorable of the trip - the beauty of these incredible salt flats through to the long, cold trek to La Paz, as we scrambled to make up time.

We set off across this incredible white expanse, not dissimilar to a snowy scene but the dazzling blue sky and glare of the sun reminded us of how high and south we were from any snow. We really needed shades to protect us from the ferocious glare. The Salar is covered in pentagonal and hexagonal shapes which look as if they were man-made, but aren't. Small piles of salt lay around as this is collected, iodised and then sold. We made the obligatory tourist stop at the Salt Hotel, where everything is made entirely of salt except the roof. We finally got to our destination - the eerie 'island' - Isla Incahausi, where we wandered amongst the huge cacti on the island, up to 10m tall (and some over 100 years old). There is a longer trip that people make over 3-4 days covering other strange phenomena such as the coloured lakes and the flamingo colony, which I would love to do another time.

After a picnic lunch, we got back and set off on the long, long journey via Oruro to La Paz. One thing I forgot to mention - the buses are not heated and neither do they carry additional blankets. Temperatures dropped to freezing, and by this stage of the trip, tempers were beginning to fray, as cold and hunger, and discomfort hit us. We entered La Paz at 3am, after a late dinner at 11pm.

After a quick look in town the following day, and a visit to the unusual Vale de Luna with its spectacular rock formations, we finally had a normal night's sleep before the final stage of our journey. This was to Lake Titicaca, via Tiahuanaco, the site of the longest running Andean civilisation (supporting 125,000) and a significant pre-cursor to the Inca Empire. This was a pretty impressive site - monumental in scale, and setting. Unfortunately, the treasures of this site were scattered all over the world after the Spanish arrived who, incidentally, looted all the gold (no surprises there).

We had a delightful lunch with views of the Andes on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Little did we know, but we had one more adventure left, and perhaps one adventure too far! The plan was to go across the lake to stay the night in the town of Copacabana, and have a day on the lake before a last night in La Paz and the flight back. The boats to the lake were on strike.

The tour leader had a conflab with a couple of us to see if we wanted another night in La Paz, or we could go to the Yungas, an almost tropical paradise. We were assured that although we would have to go through La Paz there was a new road to Coroico and we would not be having another late night.

As luck would have it, the tunnel on this new road had caved in, so without being informed, we proceeded down what is officially known as the "world's most dangerous road". This road is little more than a rocky ledge carved into the rock face and sometimes with 1000m drops on the side. It was nightfall, and there is a rule that says if there is oncoming traffic, on the way down, we had to reverse.

There is no way I can describe what it felt like, sitting over the back wheel, watching our bus reverse, several times, in the dark. Sufficient to say that there were no smiles, and a few green faces when we finally got to our hotel at 10pm. Maybe it only really hit us the next day coming back, when we saw the drops in daylight that we hadn't been able to see at night and crosses to mark the (mostly) mountain bikers that hadn't quite made it.

This was an eventful and unforgettable trip. Despite the demonstrations and blockades, I still felt safe and everywhere we met such friendly and helpful Bolivians. I can only feel privileged that we were there to experience a tiny bit of history and managed to survive that last hair-raising trip.

First published in VISA 80A (Aug 2008)

South American Notes

by Maxine Bates

 PERU

 Lima is nice but nothing special. I get the impression people use it as a gateway to Peru and as an overnight stop to recover from a long haul flight before heading inland to Machu Picchu. We flew from Lima to Cuzco, which is at high altitude so you have to take things steady. Luckily we didn’t suffer from altitude sickness but places sell coca tea to combat the effects if you do suffer. You should be OK - just don’t go jogging up any hills and get out of breath!

In Cuzco you can buy a ticket that admits you to all the tourist attractions for 70 sols (around 22 dollars). Such stuff as various Inca ruins sites, some interesting museums, a monument to climb and a folklore show 7-8 pm every evening. The church in the main square is interesting but I think you’d need a guide to explain everything. If you go there look at the big painting of the Last Supper and spot what’s on the table - the disciples are eating guinea pig! Foodwise there are loads of ridiculously cheap eateries around the square and we even found the British pub (The Real McCoy) selling Heinz baked beans! It was full of backpackers and a great place to hang out and meet other travellers, with comfy sofas and a sort of library with guide books.

We took the train to Machu Picchu from Cuzco. The journey is 4 hours each way (departures at 6 am and 7 am) plus 30 minutes in a coach up the mountain from the train station. You’ll need to book train tickets in advance and they’ll ask for your passport number. Machu Picchu itself is awesome and so remote! From next year we were told they are going to reduce the number of tourists allowed onto the Inca site by two thirds to preserve it and also bump up the entrance cost. There’s a large handicraft market and lots of restaurants in the village of Machu Picchu itself. You can also trek there and catch the train back. That takes anything from 1 to 5 days and you'll need to pre-book with an agency.

I loved Lake Titicaca and the people who live on the floating Uros reed islands were fascinating. We visited one of the islands and sailed in one of the reed boats. Nowadays they cheat and fill the insides with empty plastic Coke bottles to make it float rather than using all reeds. Kind of shatters the illusion!


BOLIVIA

We crossed the border on the edge of Lake Titicaca and moved our watches forward one hour. Then we took an afternoon catamaran cruise on the lake stopping off to visit the sacred Island of the Sun. We thought being the highest navigable lake in the world it would be cold, but in fact we were sunbathing on deck at 6pm. Do use lots of sun cream though as the altitude makes the sun much more fierce.

La Paz is the highest administrative capital in the world. The actual capital of Bolivia is Sucre. The city is set in a valley with houses built up the sides. It looks very pretty with all the lights at night. In my opinion La Paz was the roughest place we visited. Look out for llama foetus for sale in the Witches’ Market! 

A couple of places offer a meal, drink and folklore show and we did that on our own. I ate alpaca stroganoff, llama kebab and had a taste of guinea pig!!


ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires is a total contrast to Peru. Avenido 9 Julio is the widest in the world and the only street we saw in the city with lane markings. Everywhere else they just seemed to drive where they liked and honked at each other!

For the best views go to the top floor of the Plaza Hotel near the Obelisk on Avenido 9 Julio. You can do that if you’re non-resident. We had lunch up there quite cheaply for such a posh hotel and admired the views. 

Our city tour included La Recoletta where Eva Peron (Evita) is buried. Look for the black Durante family tomb (or follow the tour groups!) but she is actually buried in the ground just outside the tomb. She died only 33 years of age, loved by some and hated by others. You can see the balcony where she addressed the crowds - and the one next door where Madonna sang in the film Evita - at the governmental pink palace in the main May square. Also on the square is the cathedral with the mausoleum of San Martin who was an independence hero. It is guarded and draped with the Argentinian flag.

For shopping try the pedestrianised Florida Street. We picked up some nice things in the colourful La Boca district too - safe by day but not recommended at night. We took a tour of the Teatro Colon (theatre on Avenida 9 Julio) lasting around 1 hour 15 minutes. We got to see the auditorium where an orchestra were rehearsing, the practise rooms where the ballet company were rehearsing, the wardrobe rooms, etc. That cost 7 dollars. The tours in English are roughly every hour from 10 am to 4 pm.

Highly recommended is a tango show and we did the Madero Tango show near the harbour. It cost around 65 dollars but well worth it for the food alone. The menu was created by the Argentinian equivalent of Jamie Oliver/Gordon Ramsey and was superb with excellent service and washed down with the best local wine - unlimited! The show included tango dancers and singers and a very good 7 piece band.

URUGUAY

We caught the ferry from Buenos Aires to the historic town of Colonia del Sacramento. The crossing was an hour. We would have liked to visit the capital Montevideo, but that crossing is 2.5 hours each way and the day much too long considering what we had planned around it. Colonia was pretty. We had a guided tour, a three course lunch (at a place we thought the Uruguay equivalent of a Harvester restaurant!), chance to walk on the beach etc. Looked like a nice country from the little we saw.

Had we had time to nip a bit further north I hear the town of Fray Bentos is the most macabre tourist attraction on the continent! We got some extra stamps in our passport that day!


BRAZIL

 Go to Iguassu Falls on the Argentina/Brazil border - definitely my holiday highlight! Unlike Niagara there are around 250 falls depending on rainfall. You can stand so close you get very wet from the spray. The “Devil’s Throat” is the big horseshoe section of water and spectacular. A train runs along the Argentinian side with stops at the best viewing platforms. We took a speedboat ride down the river and got a real soaking as they took us right under one of the thundering falls. The trip cost 40 dollars but was amazing fun and an experience of a lifetime!

Our final destination was Rio. Despite its reputation I felt safer there than anywhere else on our trip. You have to take the cable car up Sugar Loaf Mountain for the super views. And don’t miss the statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado. There’s the option of cog railway or taxi to the top. Walking isn’t recommended as there have apparently been some muggings. We took a taxi with a couple from our tour so it worked out at 8 dollars per person with the taxi stopping at a couple of view points on the way up. You then catch a lift and an elevator to the base of the statue itself. Be a real tourist and stand in front of him with arms outstretched being a copycat version! We had lunch at an Irish bar off the square in Ipanema and if you’re there on a Sunday there’s a market. We walked the length of Copacabana beach which took around half an hour.

First published in VISA issue 66 (Apr 2006)