¨It´s Bolivia¨…
¨Its Bolivia¨.. This is a phrase i came to utter often after the first time i heard a local say it.. as i navigated my way through parts of this country i marveled at the beauty and warmth of the people, but became frustrated at the inefficiency with which everything seems to run here!! OF course i did not come to Latin America thinking it would be like home, but at the end of my journey, contemplating going home in less than 3 weeks, the things that would not have bothered me much were starting to get a bit draining!!
In general, the people of Bolivia are extremely kind and veryful helpful (especially in smaller towns).. and proud. It has got to be, though, the least efficient country in Latin america that i have seen so far!. Fellow travelers actually joke that whatever other country you cross the border from you notice immediately. Communications such as internet are slow and phonecalls are extremely expensive (please forgive me, sister-with-new-baby, for not calling you more!). There were also plenty of experiences where i just found myself scratching my head at how things were run.. for example– bus station in La Paz: trying to take an overnight bus to Sucre.. buy ticket, sit for one hour before noticing i have to pay a 2Bs (24 cents) ¨terminal¨tax (which no one informed me of), go outside to platform and stand for 15 minutes, watching some guy put bags on bus– ask him ¨what do i do with my backpack?¨.. to which he replies that i have to go INSIDE the station and wait in line at Luggage check. So, with 10 minutes left i get to front of line, only to be told im in the WRONG line.. (thats funny, the name of bus company is above the counter.. Only the company im going with has 3 DIFFERENT lines, with slightly different variations of name.. who knew!?). So i run to other line and ask to be let in front of other passengers.. Get bag ¨checked¨.. run back to platform and as bus is pulling away (5 minutes to spare according to my watch).. Ask police officer ¨Is that such and such a bus??¨.. He of course looks at me like im doing drugs and shrugs like ¨Who the hell do you think i am, a bus company attendant??¨Then, 3 kind locals argue over whether it is in fact my bus or not, and finally send me to the platform 3 doors down, where i find the bus! The first one had been ¨Cobacabana Express¨and my bus was ¨Copacabana M.E.M¨.. Of course, how silly of me!!
Imagine this kind of scenario happening over and over again, and youve learned a bit about how things run in Bolivia!!
In 1809 Bolivia started its fight for independence and finally, in 1825 was the signing of independence, in Sucre. Simon Bolivar was the hero of the fight to make what is now Bolivia, as well as the other countries of the region, free from Spain. In 1879 the War of the Pacific was lost to Chile, which was very important because it was due to this conflict that Bolivia (which had previously had coastline in present day northern Chile) was left landlocked. I found that people always wanted to mention this war, as if they are still a bit bitter over the loss of the coast (understandable). In 1952 there was a revolution which granted more rights to women and the indigenous population.
Copacabana- I arrived in Copacabana which was a beautiful site. A pretty town on Lago Titicaca. Now i know, thanks to my Mom, that ¨Copacabana¨ (the song by Barry Manilow) actually refers to a club in New York City.. Thanks, Mom.. i feel alot better now! Well, i was thrilled to meet up again with Amy and Steph after our brief seperation in Peru! i found them at the beach at midday and we immediately headed out to Isla del Sol, the principal island (pop. 5000) that is visited from this side of the Lake. Isla del Sol is said to be the birth place of the first Incas, called Manco Kapac and Mama Ocllo. We stayed in a town called Yumani, on the south side of the island. On the island we definetly discovered that it is a busy island, it was very touristy to begin with.. However, luckily we also discovered most of the tourists only visit during the day, so after our initial lung-busting climb up the hill to our hostel things were a bit more calm! On the hike, we had a brief tour and explantion of Incan history on the island. We stayed at a lovely place called Don Ricardos, where we all huddled into one room to keep warm! The first day we walked to the top of the island and walked along a ridge, with gorgeous views of the mountains and lake, found a great little place to have beers while watching the sunset, and having a nice time just relaxing and chatting. That night we learned a valuable lesson… do NOT think that the restaurant filled with people is necessarily the BEST restaurant in town! We entered a cozy-appearing place full of other gringos, thinking ¨well, they must know something great about the food here¨.. in actuality they all probably thought the same as us, so we all waited HOURS for our food (i am not exagerating, we ordered at 7 and ate at 930!) while the owners- a sweet couple– sent their daughter out to gather the ingridients as peopled ordered.. (we also suspected they were killing the meat for our pizzas, harvesting the veggies, and milking the cows). It was a funny experience though, as we all laughed everytime someones food came out, wondering which table was the lucky one, while we drank bottles of wine to stay warm and chewed our fingernails to stave off the hunger.
The next day we took a beautiful walk around half the island, visiting the sacred sites of the Incas. The thing i preferred about the Bolivian side of the lake was the view of the snow capped peaks of the Cordillera (mountain range) Real in the distance. We ended our walk in a beautifully situated town called Challapampa, where we caught a ferry back to the south end, had lunch from a cliff overlooking the lake, and then headed back to Copa. In Copa we tried to stay warm with more wine!!, we had a great dinner together and stayed in a nice hotel for our last night together.. A nice backpacker ¨splurge¨for me!
La Paz- after a sad goodbye to A and S, i headed to La Paz. The bus experience was yet another trial of travelers´patience, since every bus company in town seemed to have oversold the trip, and all the backpackers were turned into crazed animals, trying to fight for their spot on the bus.. FUN. The ride was actually beautiful, and involved a barge crossing for the Buses, while the passengers rode on a little ferry across a lake. As we pulled into La Paz the bus driver stopped at a Mirador (viewing point) above La Paz. STUNNING. The city is in one of the most beautiful settings i have seen. It sits in a bowl-shaped canyon, 400m below the canyon ridge (at 3660m) with huge mountains around it, including the triple-peaked Mt. Illimani, among others. La Paz was loud, crazy, smelly and i LOVED it. That is, until day three when i got weary of glomming onto locals to cross the streets unscathed, being bumped into on the street, and getting walked around while supposedly standing in lines for public services! The city only has the population of Seattle, but due to the above mentioned geography feels MUCH more packed! Like a typical Latin American city the streets were filled with crazy traffic, people yelling from packed Micros (local buses) constantly, cab drivers honking, etc. La Paz had some fantasic food, very interesting markets– in one of which, called the Witches Market, you could see items sold for traditional ceremonies- Llama fetuses at various stages of development (eeeewww), paper money, models of houses/cars, candies, spices etc. etc. I bought a little sac full of good luck charms but when i tried to inquire about the use of the Llamas (in a respectful way, mind you!) i was told -Pase, Pase-, (move along basically) but an annoyed old lady with a grouchy face. OOPS.. well, in Incan culture there are many ceremonies using the Llama, whether its draining the blood into the earth for good harvest, or burying the llama fetus under a house for protection. Other markets in La Paz were interesting too, mixes of everything under the sun, from food to household items, and all were surrounded by a strange mix of smells (think urine and spices. yummy). While in La Paz i visited all the important museums (this is where i learned about the loss of the coast in the War of the Pacific while being flirted with by a Bolivian police officer!), including the Coca Museum, a museum presenting the history of coca leaf use in Andean traditional until today, a great explanation of how coca is NOT cocaine, as well as a subtle condemnation of the War on Drugs- fascinating and a great learning experience! I also visited the ruins of Tihuanaco, the remains of a Pre Incan Empire that comprised 1/2 of present day Bolivia, Southern Peru, NW Argentina, and nearly 1/2 of Chile– impressive! The plazas and streets in general in La Paz (and i would later learn in other Bolivian cities) were full of Policemen- one day i was told it was because of an upcoming protest, but there definetly was a great police presence regardless of event. My last night in La Paz i enjoyed eating at a Parilla, an Argentine grill, where i splurged on a huge steak and reminiced with the Chilean waiter, about my visit to Argentina two years ago.
Sucre- after getting on the night bus to Sucre (see above -Its Bolivia- bus station story), i met Diego and Alberto, locals who sat with me on the bus and entertained me by teaching me Bolivian slang (too dirty for Moms to read here). We arrived early morning in Sucre and Ursula (Ursi, my new friend who i met through the bus station chaos) and I headed to find a hostel. Sucre was the perfect spot for 3 days of relaxing, warming up in the sun, and taking it easy. Our favorite place to hang out was on a hill at the site of a monastery, overlooking the city, where there was a fantastic cafe. (spent many hours there– once one of the musicians asked if i would practice english with him and we spent a lovely hour with Pedro..) During the 3 days in Sucre, we listenend to traditional Andean music, ate some traditional foods, including Salteñas (empanada-like pastries, called Salteñas because they originated in Salta, Argentina), and saw all the requisite museums. Sucre was a beautiful city, full of white-washed Colonial achitecture. The people here were also quite proud of its history, being known as the official capital of Bolivia- where the cry for independence was first heard and where later, the declaration was signed. They still retain the Superior Court while La Paz has the home of the President and the Congress. I visited a fascinating museum of indian textiles, and then the following day, Ursi and I visited the town of Tarabuco for their sunday market, where we saw people dressed in and selling the traditional textiles. Hopefully you will see in some photos the traditional Conquistador-style helmets worn by the Tarabuco people. In Sucre i also had the great experience of meeting the uncle of a friend from Seattle. Armando is a lawyer and judge in Sucre, and he and his wife, Miriam were kind enough to offer me a tour of the city, and open their home to me. They were very kind, and i was sad that i only spent one evening with them, as I learned so much more about the culture by being with people who live it and know it, then from any museum, of course!!
Potosi the highest city in world, at 4000m — sits below Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain) at 4824m. This mountain made Potosi the biggest city in the Americas and one of the richest in the world, during the 16th century, rivaled only by Paris, London and Seville. Potosi was a fascinating and freezing cold place! Ursi and I stayed in an old hostel, which in the 17th century, housed friars from Santo Domingo. All i cared about was the in-room heater (a rare thing to find)!! One of the highlights of Potosi was the Casa Nacional de Moneda, the building that housed the Mint which turned the silver into coins for the Spanish. We also saw a few Peñas, folk music shows. The traditional instruments are the quena (reed flute), zanpoña (pan flute?), drums, and charango (a small guitar with a body traditionally made from an armadillo).
The real reason that i had wanted to come to Potosi though, was for a visit to the mine at Cerro Rico. I can say without a doubt that it was one of the best experiences of my life, to date!
The mine we visited was called Candaleria baja. Cerro Rico (they jokingly call it Cerro Pobre now since its only got about 10 years left of production) was discovered by the Incas in the 1500s, and 20 years later the Spanish came and started to exploit it, taking silver for the crown in spain– in the process, countless thousands of Indian slaves.
Currently, 12,000 miners work to extract the silver, lead, tin and zinc, in a Cooperative set up. 2,000 of the miners are kids of 13 to 14 years old (which is legal), but many more are under that age. Because the law in Bolivia against child labor only protects kids to age 12, many children start working at age 13 or 14, and we saw many of them inside the mine! According to our guide, the govt turns a blind eye to the young kids working, because as long as they are working they are not in the street and needing assistance from the government. The miners are said to have a life expectancy of about 45 years. Conditions in the mine were primitive, equipment was very old. Apparently 8 miners died in last 5 months, per the statistics, which i was glad to find out AFTER safely exiting the mine! The miners usually work 8 to 12 hour days, 5 to 6 days per week, depending on the decision of individuals and groups. The miners only earn from 500 to 3000 Bolivianos (Bs) per month, depending on production (800 Bs = 100 dollars). Bags of 250 kilos were lifted by electric winch but others lifted by hand with an assembly line system weigh up to 40 kilos. (we tried helping and it was incredible). The cars that speed down the rails delivering the rock ñooked like something from Indian Jones, ricketly and old. We learned about the process of grinding up rock and the use of chemicals to filter out the minerals. A survery of the miners that our guide told us about revealed that 90% do the job for necessity, 4% for tradition, 3% because they ¨like it¨. During our tour, we descended 150 ft. into the mines, crawling on all fours at times. The temps changed from about 40 deg.F to over 90 deg.F at the lowest point. We had sore throats and sometimes trouble breathing. Men do not wear masks.
The traditional of ¨El Tio¨.. in the times before the Spanish came, the Incas worshiped many gods, one of which was a god of the underworld. They would pray to this God to assure their safety in the mines and help with a good production of minerals. The Spanish saw this God as the Devil, since he was from the underworld.. They forbid the indians to pray to this god. SO, the indians developed the God into the form of a Diablo or Devil so that the Spanish would approve. Today he somtimes can be seen in the form of a tradition image of the devil– red,. with horns etc. He is called El Tio and each group of miners has an El Tio in their part of the mine. The miners give him gifts of tobacco and alcohol especially on the 1st and last Friday of each month. Also, women have traditionally been prohibited from entering the mines,- the thought being that El Tio may be attracted to the women, thereby making the Patchamama (mother earth) jealous and then she may not help the miners with a good production of minerals. It was such an incredible experience seeing the mine operations first hand. We were all awed– By the physicality of it, by the horrible conditions and of course by the thought that 3 hours was quite enough for US, yet these men are down there for 25 years sometimes, day in and day out.. It was truely one of the most interesting and saddest experiences i have had in my life. I had read about Potosi in Eduardo Galleanos book Open Veins of Latin America, and this was what sparked my interest in Bolivia and this area of the country specifically. Since i had read about it, i felt that i, on an intellectual level understood. But, it was an entirely different thing to go into the mine!
Well, when in the space of one day you get smacked in the head by the side mirror of a passing bus, get bit by a small dog, AND almost poop your pants (that DAMN altitude gives me diarhhea!!), you know its just about time to go home, dontcha??!! HA. This in no joke, these things all happened to me in one day and i thought at that point, ¨Hmm, i might be ready to head back to the Good Ol US of A!¨
Uyuni, Salar de Uyuni- after Potosi i headed to the post-apocalyptic looking town (ok, i stole this description from the guidebood) of Uyuni.. Imagine a town with all one story buildings, freezing cold and with a nice wind blowing! FUN. Well, most people only come to Uyuni, as i did, to arrange for a tour across the Salar de Uyuni. I did, however, stay in a nice hotel that had a fantastic pizza restaurant run by a guy from Michigan! The next day i, along with 5 others in my tour group, hopped into a Toyota 4Runner with our guide, Wilson, and our cook, to start the 2 1/2 day trip. The Salar de Uyuni is the highest and largest salt lake in the world, at altitude 3650m, covering 12,000 sq km (twice as big as the Great Salt Lake). The first day we drove across the lake, an immense expanse of white contrasted with the bright blue sky. I kept imagining that it was ice, very strange. During the trip, we also saw Laguna Verde (4400m, green in color due to magnesium, calcium carbonate, lead and arsenic!), and Laguna Colorada (4278m, red in color from the wind and sun´s effects on micro organisms in the lake). The shores of this lake were encrusted in Borax, which was a bright white. Besides these highlights, we also drove through a red rock and sand landscape to reach the Siloli desert at 4600m, saw the bizarre Arbol de Piedra (rock tree) a balanced piece of wind-eroded rock, high peaks (such as the Volcan Licancabur at 5868m, which is on the border of Bolivia and Chile), and saw numerous Alpacas and 3 different types of Flamingos. Being cooped up in the truck for a few days (we walked some, but logged MANY hours inthe 4Runner) would be a total nightmare if it were with a bad group, but i was lucky enough to have the best tour group! Tanni, Donna and Amy were Brits (who insisted on ¨taking the piss¨out of me, any chance they got, about my being American), Stephan from Switzerland, and Nicolina from Bulgaria. We all had an amazing time together, whether listening to old 70s and 80s music (Kansas, Michael Jackson, Scorpions.. OUCH!), and commiserating about the cold. At night it was frigid, and we stayed in ¨rustic¨accomodations, with no running water and electricity only part of the time. The Guide and cook were great, though, making sure we at least ate well.
After a sad goodbye to my group, i hopped on a microbus headed for Chile! Everyone on the bus joked that as soon as we crossed the border, things were different. Literally, the road did change, from dirt to pavement- it was strange! I spent part of a day in San Pedro de Atacama, with my friend Stephan from the Salar trip. We enjoyed a tour of Valle de La Luna some awesome food with a couple from Colorado..Then we left that night for Arica, in the north of Chile. There I hung out at the beach for a few days– such a nice change from the cold of Bolivia, even if it wasnt REALLY that hot!!!! From Arica, i went to Tacna, in Peru just an hour across the border, then flew to Lima.. and HERE I am.
Im going home tomorrow night and i cant believe it. It is a very strange feeling to be leaving. For 6 months, ive been living out of a backpack, sleeping in different beds every few days, meeting new people, seeing crazy/wonderful/interesting things, constantly learning about others and myself– Now, in 48 hours ill be back with my family and friends and everything familiar to me! I have mixed feelings of course, though im SO excited to see ¨My people¨ !
I was reading the book Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, during the last days of my trip and found the perfect quote to describe my feelings about the end of my travels:
¨You get a strange feeling when you are about to leave a place. You will not only miss the people you love, but you will miss the person you are now at this time and in this place, because you will never be this way ever again¨
Love to everyone and thanks for your support. See you soon!
jennie
2 comments Posted by jennie on August 3rd, 2006