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Anna's Blog: They say ignorance is bliss. I beg to differ. Ignorance is getting on a coach in Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca and expecting to remain on the vehicle until the final 'directo' destination written on your ticket, which happened to be La Paz. This was not the case and it was certainly not blissful to find that in fact after you have argued your way out of Peru (misunderstanding over a missing entry stamp thanks to a moronic official at a different border) and pleaded your way into Bolivia that you are required to pick out your heavy back pack from the coach and store it on top of a beleaguered looking minibus before cramming yourself inside. This new surprise vehicle took us to Copacabana (a resort on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca) where we met a new completely different coach (randomly labelled 'Diana tours') which continued the journey. You can imagine our continued surprise when this coach then stopped at a dock, disembarked us along with our fellow passengers and proceeded to mount a barge across the lake! It appeared we were required to now buy ferry tickets in order to join it across the water. Oh the chaos and randomness of South America, will I ever tire of you?! It was actually a pretty nice ride and a brilliantly cheap way to get a boat trip onto the world's highest altitude lake. I am pleased to report that once back on board Diana's bus we met with no more unexpected transport mediums and eventually saw ourselves arrive in La Paz.
La Paz…what can I say to express this thoroughly? Chaos doesn't really cut it. Mental, noisy, smelly, incessant, crazy, random, hectic, rough and ready go some way to explaining our first view of a city that loomed into view clinging to the surrounding mountains in a higgledy piggledy array of red brick and corrugated iron. Once down at ground zero our first impressions were proved correct. The narrow streets winding up and down the steep hills teemed with life. Local women lined the pavements with crafts and wares spread out on bright blankets, dressed in traditional Andean garb of bright layered skirts and peculiar bowler hats perched forward on the heads. Unending lines of traffic beeped and lurched their way through the network of cobbled roads, filling the air with choking pollution which only barely covered the smell of the drains. Whilst in the midst of it all, businessmen strolled purposely between their office buildings and the lonesome Subway marooned amongst a barrage of fast food chicken houses. Now we really were a long way from home! Further exploration of this fascinating city found a witches market and a museum about the controversial Coca leaf. The witches market proved rather gruesome with piles and piles of dried llama fetuses decking the front of every stall. I have since been led to understand that these are used in place of live llamas during ritualistic sacrifices. The Coca museum took us through the history of the leaf which has been cultivated by pre-inca tribes for thousands of years. It contains a number of alkaloids which are released when the leaf is chewed or made into a tea. The reason for all the controversy is one of these alkaloids, is the infamous Cocaine. In fact coca leaves are actually very good for you with many essential vitamins and minerals. When chewed, the alkaloids including cocaine, are released which causes a feeling of wellbeing, suppresses hunger and increases alertness, however it is only a mild affect and certainly does not give you any kind of rush or high. They are particularly good for altitude sickness and quelling nausea and often used for this purpose amongst travellers. For thousands of years the Andean cultures have chewed this leaf with no documented ill effects; however it is the evil incarnate to many western governments and is blamed for the poverty of Peru and Bolivia. In fact it wasn't until the west got involved that problems began. Not content to simply chew the leaf in Europe, as had been done for centuries in South America, they found a way to synthesize the cocaine alkaloid directly. This has, as we know, caused all sorts of mayhem since.
Moving on from La Paz we headed south to the Salar de Uyuni, the biggest Salt flat in the world for a 3 day trip in a 1995 Toyota Landcruiser with Alejandro, the moodiest man in Bolivia. Joining us on our excursion was Richard and Sophia, a lovely Scottish couple on a year-long world exploration trip and Sylvia and Raoul, an older couple from Argentina exploring their home continent. Despite the fact that Sylvia and Raoul spoke native castellano (latin American Spanish) it was clear Alejandro was not interested in speaking to any of us and thus confirmed his reputation for the rest of the trip. The setting however was too magnificent to allow any interference from one moody Bolivian. A vast expanse of white, brighter than snow but as warm as the ground stretched for 6,000km in every direction. After spending some time messing around with 'perspective shots' it was enough simply to sit back and take in the surreal scene before us. Along the way we saw an island marooned in the salt flats made of coral from the long forgotten time of the sea, which harboured giant upright cacti and a house believed to have been made by Incas (but my golly these people got everywhere didn't they?). Day one ended in a hotel made entirely of salt including salt beds, chairs and tables, interestingly the potatoes that came with dinner were a little bland, but a quick rub on the table soon sorted that out. On day two we left the flats to take in some fantastic lagoons sporting bright pink flamingos living off the algae formed as a result of the briny conditions. The colours vary vastly between the lagoons due to the different types of algae and plankton which dominate. We took in bright green, white and even a brick red lagoon lapping against dusty volcanoes and desert. Spiderman made an appearance and was glad to pose against our various dramatic landscapes. The third and final day came with the most impressive otherworldly scene possible, the geysers. We were by now nearly 5km above sea level and driving into the crater of a volcano is an experience I will never forget. Steam jetted into the sky from holes in the ground no bigger than a 10p piece and lava bubbled and boiled far down into broken holes choking the air with gas and sulphur. If I landed here by accident, I would definitely have put Earth as the last place I was likely to be, it was phenomenal. Thankfully Spiderman was here also to escort us safely to breakfast, after which it was time to head back to the town and board the bus back to La Paz.
Bolivia is a country with unequal assets and amazing landscapes, an hour on the internet costs 30p and meals out for two cost less than a tenner. It has been without a doubt, the most adventurous country we have been to and experienced. However, even the strongest constitution can only take so much and after a few more stomach bugs we felt it was definitely time to head back to Peru and begin the biggest challenge of our trip…the Inca Trail.
Much love, Mrs Hughes xx
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