Hi Folks:
Carnivale has ended and peace has once again descended over the land of Bolivia. Samaipata was dead quiet when we left this morning except for the milkman`s "mooing" car. When I frist heard it, I was certain that there was some ritualistic animal torture going on and had to investigate. It has the sickest sounding "moo" that you ever heard. But that is all that it is, a farmer selling bulk milk out of the back of his station-wagon.
After Joy having 2 days of painting and me reading 2 books, we were off this morning in a taxi for Santa Cruz. It was the usual 8 person micro-bus with 10 people in it. Other than a 1 hour wait for the road to be cleared after an explosion, we arrived safely in the city. We didn`t pause, but were off to the train/bus station, where we found out that we could not catch today`s "ferrobus", which is a kind of bus on rails. So we settled on tomorrow`s "Oriental Express" and will stay over tonight in Santa Cruz. The "Oriental Express" is also known as the "train of death" so we thought that it might be fun. It runs from Santa Cruz, over-night, to the border of Brazil. As we depart South America from Sao Paulo, Brazil on the 5th, getting into Brazil seems like a good idea. We will still have to cut across most of Brazil by bus, but Joy says that she loves the bus (not!).
With a view to getting into Brazil, and not wanting to be stuck at the border at least 15 hours away from the nearest Brazilian visa issuing entity, we then visited the Brazilian Consulate here and confirmed that our visas were good for 90 days from our first entry. Seems like we are good to go.
Next entry should be from Brazil, if all goes right.
Jim
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Fun in Samaipata
Hola All:
Before I forget about Santa Cruz, I want a tell you why it didn`t make a good first impression. The taxi driver couldn`t find the hostal that we wanted, and wouldn`t take directions from me even though I knew where we needed to go once I had seen the main plaza. he kept asking for directions from everyone else and got a real mixture of directions, eventually winding up at the Hotel Bolivia rather than the Residentiale Bolivar. Then once he got the right directions he made the wrong turn ending up with us facing another lap of the block in virtual gridlock. At that point, we got out and the trek began. It wasn`t far to the hostal that we were looking for and Joy loved the ambiance, with the palms, bananas and Toucans in the courtyard. Unfortunately, while I travel pretty simply, I do ask for a private bathroom and those rooms were all taken for Carnivale. So then we started hiking to find the perfect combination of both with Joy hoping that we had to go back. Finally, exhausted, we found the compromise place with a view of the roof-tops and a private bathroom. Then, after an hour and a half hike to find one of Joy`s selection of perfect places to eat (all either closed or abandoned) we had dinner. On the way back we were stopped by 2 of Santa Cruz`s finest fake police officers, who barely had the opportunity to get their fake ID out of their pockets before I told them (in my finest English) to "get lost" or words to that effect, and proceeded to call "Policia, policia!" at the top of my lungs. It was some sort of gut reaction based on the fact that there had been a similar stunt pulled on us in La Paz last year. You never saw a white SUV go down the road and around the corner faster than those guys. My reaction last year had been to grab Joy and run, but this new one just came out of nowhere, but it worked. It was funny that they didn`t hang around, because one of the things that we had noticed about Santa Cruz was the absolute absence of police (real ones). This was especially true after seeing the police presence in La Paz! Unfortunately, after this episode, I had some trouble sleeping. It is an old tired scam, which should have been stamped out by now.
The next day we were off early to find the taxis/buses to Samaipata. Eventually, having located the taxi driver from H---, we were off for 150kms of terror. I vaguely remember the guy shaking the car vigorously to get more gas in and seeing (most of the time my eyes were closed) a car with 6 mattresses stacked on top! The driver spent most of the 150kms on the left side of the road passing every vehicle in sight and then stopping, with some excuse, while they passed us again, so that he could start the routine again. We sis arrive safely in Samaipata to get the last room in a town packed with partiers. For the past three days (seem to be still going today) we had the cacophony of bands competing for attention with a dance party along with them, usually well lubricated with something alcohol. Of course, there are the squirt guns, water balloons and shaving cream. Everyone gets into the act! It is a great party time for those who like that sort of thing. Girls make a circuit of the main plaza, seemingly to prove that they are the most popular because they got the wettest. I don`t understand that, so it must be a female thing.
Yesterday, Joy and I went up to "El Fuerte" the nearby pre-Hispanic ruins. Very different than others as the very large rock surface at the highest point has been carved into various symbols and was used as a religious site. The work involved to do the carving without metal tools, is quite amazing to contemplate. We walked the 10-12kms back to town in the mid-day sun (isn`t there a song that says "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun!"). The first stop for a cold cervasa was appreciated! I did say that it was hot, right?
Today is a painting day for Joy, so I will wander and chill. We have to start planning our return to Brazil.
Jim
Before I forget about Santa Cruz, I want a tell you why it didn`t make a good first impression. The taxi driver couldn`t find the hostal that we wanted, and wouldn`t take directions from me even though I knew where we needed to go once I had seen the main plaza. he kept asking for directions from everyone else and got a real mixture of directions, eventually winding up at the Hotel Bolivia rather than the Residentiale Bolivar. Then once he got the right directions he made the wrong turn ending up with us facing another lap of the block in virtual gridlock. At that point, we got out and the trek began. It wasn`t far to the hostal that we were looking for and Joy loved the ambiance, with the palms, bananas and Toucans in the courtyard. Unfortunately, while I travel pretty simply, I do ask for a private bathroom and those rooms were all taken for Carnivale. So then we started hiking to find the perfect combination of both with Joy hoping that we had to go back. Finally, exhausted, we found the compromise place with a view of the roof-tops and a private bathroom. Then, after an hour and a half hike to find one of Joy`s selection of perfect places to eat (all either closed or abandoned) we had dinner. On the way back we were stopped by 2 of Santa Cruz`s finest fake police officers, who barely had the opportunity to get their fake ID out of their pockets before I told them (in my finest English) to "get lost" or words to that effect, and proceeded to call "Policia, policia!" at the top of my lungs. It was some sort of gut reaction based on the fact that there had been a similar stunt pulled on us in La Paz last year. You never saw a white SUV go down the road and around the corner faster than those guys. My reaction last year had been to grab Joy and run, but this new one just came out of nowhere, but it worked. It was funny that they didn`t hang around, because one of the things that we had noticed about Santa Cruz was the absolute absence of police (real ones). This was especially true after seeing the police presence in La Paz! Unfortunately, after this episode, I had some trouble sleeping. It is an old tired scam, which should have been stamped out by now.
The next day we were off early to find the taxis/buses to Samaipata. Eventually, having located the taxi driver from H---, we were off for 150kms of terror. I vaguely remember the guy shaking the car vigorously to get more gas in and seeing (most of the time my eyes were closed) a car with 6 mattresses stacked on top! The driver spent most of the 150kms on the left side of the road passing every vehicle in sight and then stopping, with some excuse, while they passed us again, so that he could start the routine again. We sis arrive safely in Samaipata to get the last room in a town packed with partiers. For the past three days (seem to be still going today) we had the cacophony of bands competing for attention with a dance party along with them, usually well lubricated with something alcohol. Of course, there are the squirt guns, water balloons and shaving cream. Everyone gets into the act! It is a great party time for those who like that sort of thing. Girls make a circuit of the main plaza, seemingly to prove that they are the most popular because they got the wettest. I don`t understand that, so it must be a female thing.
Yesterday, Joy and I went up to "El Fuerte" the nearby pre-Hispanic ruins. Very different than others as the very large rock surface at the highest point has been carved into various symbols and was used as a religious site. The work involved to do the carving without metal tools, is quite amazing to contemplate. We walked the 10-12kms back to town in the mid-day sun (isn`t there a song that says "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun!"). The first stop for a cold cervasa was appreciated! I did say that it was hot, right?
Today is a painting day for Joy, so I will wander and chill. We have to start planning our return to Brazil.
Jim
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A Long Way Away!
Hello All:
Yesterday started as planned with us getting the mini-bus in the village plaza of beautiful Sorata, after a solid night of rain. A night of rain causes one to worry about the road being passable, but off we went in a 15 passenger Toyota (16 on board). There is about an hour and a half climb to get out of Sorata and the road is mostly dirt/gravel with an occasional stretch of pavement. Maybe it is the other way around, but early on, the driver had to get out and move rocks off the road that had been put there by a mud-slide, earthquake, or, as turned out to be the case and errant bulldozer operator working up-hill from the road. Once past that we climbed and climbed into the clouds, with me on the down-hill side (if you don`t know by now, I don`t like heights, and these are HEIGHTS!). But I kept the van on the road and we made it to La Paz and booked for the 5pm bus to Santa Cruz. Once we got settled in the bus and Joy managed to last through the obligatory Steven Segal "shoot-em-up" movie, we had a peaceful night.
When we awoke, the world had changed! No, Obama wasn`t on our bus! But, we had gone from the Altoplano, where the predominant colour, with many exceptions that Joy will point out to me later, is "adobe brown" with touches of pale green. It is also dry and relatively cool this time of year (the rainy and summer seasons), but we love it. Suddenly the next morning it was warm/hot and humid and the countryside was Green, green! From the book I have been reading, it seems clear that this area has been the economic engine for Bolivia for the past 20 years after the mines became less important. Here there is oil, gas, soya, sugar-cane (for bio-gas) , iron ore and there was coca until the U.S. eradication program may have limited it`s economic impact. Santa Cruz has become one of Bolivia`s largest cities over the past 20 years and shows it with fewer colonial buildings and many modern ones among the usual unfinished building put up in a hurry by newcomers. After we got in we spent the rest of the day relaxing and hope to find transport to Samaipata, about 150km east of here, to avoid the worst/best of Carnivale.
Tomorrow may be another of those cozy mini-bus rides, without which any visit to South America is incomplete. I might add the over-night bus rides to that list too.
Jim (Suddenly in Santa Cruz)
Yesterday started as planned with us getting the mini-bus in the village plaza of beautiful Sorata, after a solid night of rain. A night of rain causes one to worry about the road being passable, but off we went in a 15 passenger Toyota (16 on board). There is about an hour and a half climb to get out of Sorata and the road is mostly dirt/gravel with an occasional stretch of pavement. Maybe it is the other way around, but early on, the driver had to get out and move rocks off the road that had been put there by a mud-slide, earthquake, or, as turned out to be the case and errant bulldozer operator working up-hill from the road. Once past that we climbed and climbed into the clouds, with me on the down-hill side (if you don`t know by now, I don`t like heights, and these are HEIGHTS!). But I kept the van on the road and we made it to La Paz and booked for the 5pm bus to Santa Cruz. Once we got settled in the bus and Joy managed to last through the obligatory Steven Segal "shoot-em-up" movie, we had a peaceful night.
When we awoke, the world had changed! No, Obama wasn`t on our bus! But, we had gone from the Altoplano, where the predominant colour, with many exceptions that Joy will point out to me later, is "adobe brown" with touches of pale green. It is also dry and relatively cool this time of year (the rainy and summer seasons), but we love it. Suddenly the next morning it was warm/hot and humid and the countryside was Green, green! From the book I have been reading, it seems clear that this area has been the economic engine for Bolivia for the past 20 years after the mines became less important. Here there is oil, gas, soya, sugar-cane (for bio-gas) , iron ore and there was coca until the U.S. eradication program may have limited it`s economic impact. Santa Cruz has become one of Bolivia`s largest cities over the past 20 years and shows it with fewer colonial buildings and many modern ones among the usual unfinished building put up in a hurry by newcomers. After we got in we spent the rest of the day relaxing and hope to find transport to Samaipata, about 150km east of here, to avoid the worst/best of Carnivale.
Tomorrow may be another of those cozy mini-bus rides, without which any visit to South America is incomplete. I might add the over-night bus rides to that list too.
Jim (Suddenly in Santa Cruz)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Peace and Quiet in Sorata
Hi Folks:
A short entry today as we haven`t been doing too much that is exciting. Sorata is a place of great beauty, but not very many attractions for the tourists. The few young tourists in town are hikers or street buskers selling their own home made articles. One young Chilean guy plays a great pipe, which is actually a piece of plastic water pipe with holes of different sizes carved in it and a sort of mouth-piece cut in the end. Sounds really good and I can hear him as I am sitting at the computer.
I am reading a book entitled "Bolivia - Between a Rock and a Hard Place" written by an "ex-pat" who runs a restaurant here in Sorata. Unfortunately it is closed at the present. The book is giving me a great in-sight into how Bolivia developed, it`s economics and politics. Between this book and the museo in Sucre and our travels to much of the rest of the Altoplano, I feel that I am coming away with a much better understanding of Bolivia than I had as a result of last years visit. The opportunity given to us by Ivor and Ivonne to visit and talk to some of Bolivia`s great artists also helped.
As we chill out by the plaza, the sounds of daily life here fill the air. The roads in Sorata are very narrow so that there are basically only two ways in and out of town. As a result all the minibuses of the 2 companies that service Sorata are parked over-night by the plaza, along with all the trucks of any size. So all day there is the call of " Lapa...Lapa.....Lapa.....La Paz" as La Paz is the only destination out of Sorata. There seem to be hundreds of youngsters hurrying off to school in unforms of wine and grey, making kids noises. The big garbage truck is doing it`s rounds with a guy on the back with a handerchief over his mouth and nose, banging two pieces of metal together and making quite a noise. Up the road, on a corner away from the plaza, I can see "La Pintura" (also known as Joy) with the usual crowd of people, adults and kids, watching intently. There is a big Volvo truck that seems to be continuously going around collecting and delivering "bombas" gas containers, and cases of cervasa (empty and full). I am amazed that such a vehicle can get around in the tiny streets, but we haven`t seem an accident yet. Women in traditional dress are scurrying everywhere and seem to be carrying the business of the town on their backs. They have shops set up selling very basic groceries, or in the "mercado" they have wonderful displays of fresh fruits and vegetables. Dogs wander everywhere, but the dogs of Sorata appear better groomed and happier than those that we ahve seen elsewhere.
Yesterday we went for a walk down the valley to the river and back up. The hills here are steep and the road we walked back on looked like it was just one step from a wash-out. This is the road we hope to use today to go and see the "Gruto de San Pedro". Hope that it holds up!
Jim
A short entry today as we haven`t been doing too much that is exciting. Sorata is a place of great beauty, but not very many attractions for the tourists. The few young tourists in town are hikers or street buskers selling their own home made articles. One young Chilean guy plays a great pipe, which is actually a piece of plastic water pipe with holes of different sizes carved in it and a sort of mouth-piece cut in the end. Sounds really good and I can hear him as I am sitting at the computer.
I am reading a book entitled "Bolivia - Between a Rock and a Hard Place" written by an "ex-pat" who runs a restaurant here in Sorata. Unfortunately it is closed at the present. The book is giving me a great in-sight into how Bolivia developed, it`s economics and politics. Between this book and the museo in Sucre and our travels to much of the rest of the Altoplano, I feel that I am coming away with a much better understanding of Bolivia than I had as a result of last years visit. The opportunity given to us by Ivor and Ivonne to visit and talk to some of Bolivia`s great artists also helped.
As we chill out by the plaza, the sounds of daily life here fill the air. The roads in Sorata are very narrow so that there are basically only two ways in and out of town. As a result all the minibuses of the 2 companies that service Sorata are parked over-night by the plaza, along with all the trucks of any size. So all day there is the call of " Lapa...Lapa.....Lapa.....La Paz" as La Paz is the only destination out of Sorata. There seem to be hundreds of youngsters hurrying off to school in unforms of wine and grey, making kids noises. The big garbage truck is doing it`s rounds with a guy on the back with a handerchief over his mouth and nose, banging two pieces of metal together and making quite a noise. Up the road, on a corner away from the plaza, I can see "La Pintura" (also known as Joy) with the usual crowd of people, adults and kids, watching intently. There is a big Volvo truck that seems to be continuously going around collecting and delivering "bombas" gas containers, and cases of cervasa (empty and full). I am amazed that such a vehicle can get around in the tiny streets, but we haven`t seem an accident yet. Women in traditional dress are scurrying everywhere and seem to be carrying the business of the town on their backs. They have shops set up selling very basic groceries, or in the "mercado" they have wonderful displays of fresh fruits and vegetables. Dogs wander everywhere, but the dogs of Sorata appear better groomed and happier than those that we ahve seen elsewhere.
Yesterday we went for a walk down the valley to the river and back up. The hills here are steep and the road we walked back on looked like it was just one step from a wash-out. This is the road we hope to use today to go and see the "Gruto de San Pedro". Hope that it holds up!
Jim
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sorata
Hi Folks:
Based partially on the advice we received on Friday night from Ivor, Ivonne, Mario and Victor, we are here in Sorata.
The day started well as we got up and checked out and got a taxi without a problem. We arrived at the minibus stop, high on the hill by the La Paz Cemetary, just in time to be placed in the bus that was about to leave. Unfortunately to accomodate the ¨gringos¨they forced others to change seats, but then with our bags on the roof, we were off. We took one of the 2 lane roads up to El Alto (see one of my earlier posts) and our driver developed a good case of road-rage with the driver of a much bigger bus. Back and forth we went blocking the angry bus driver from passing. Climbing out of La Paz is spectacular with pretty steep drops off the side and the city many, many metres below. He finally pulled off to check the load on the roof and things calmed down. At the peak of the 3 hour trip we had 20 people in a Toyota mini-van. Anyone coming to Peru or Bolivia, really must try a ride in one of these. The ride was quite smooth and level while we drove the Alto Plano to Lake Titicaca and then turned into the mountains. The last 25kms were twisty and windy as we climbed through mountain passes and down into the steepest valleys to drop people at tiny villages clinging to the side of the mountains. Eventually into Sorata, our objective.
We were looking for a place of peace and quiet, where Joy could do some painting. This seems to be it as she has already done a 1/4 sheet painting. It is a small town of about 3,000 souls, lying in a deep mountain valley surrounded by lush green mountainsides. The smell of eucalyptus as we descended into the valley was very strong and from our window there are fuscia blooming as well as Pontsettias in there natural state. At least 2 kinds of hummingbirds were zipping around the flowers as I read my new book on Bolivian development written by a resident of Sorata.
I think that things will be a little quiet for a few days, but first to eat!
Jim
Based partially on the advice we received on Friday night from Ivor, Ivonne, Mario and Victor, we are here in Sorata.
The day started well as we got up and checked out and got a taxi without a problem. We arrived at the minibus stop, high on the hill by the La Paz Cemetary, just in time to be placed in the bus that was about to leave. Unfortunately to accomodate the ¨gringos¨they forced others to change seats, but then with our bags on the roof, we were off. We took one of the 2 lane roads up to El Alto (see one of my earlier posts) and our driver developed a good case of road-rage with the driver of a much bigger bus. Back and forth we went blocking the angry bus driver from passing. Climbing out of La Paz is spectacular with pretty steep drops off the side and the city many, many metres below. He finally pulled off to check the load on the roof and things calmed down. At the peak of the 3 hour trip we had 20 people in a Toyota mini-van. Anyone coming to Peru or Bolivia, really must try a ride in one of these. The ride was quite smooth and level while we drove the Alto Plano to Lake Titicaca and then turned into the mountains. The last 25kms were twisty and windy as we climbed through mountain passes and down into the steepest valleys to drop people at tiny villages clinging to the side of the mountains. Eventually into Sorata, our objective.
We were looking for a place of peace and quiet, where Joy could do some painting. This seems to be it as she has already done a 1/4 sheet painting. It is a small town of about 3,000 souls, lying in a deep mountain valley surrounded by lush green mountainsides. The smell of eucalyptus as we descended into the valley was very strong and from our window there are fuscia blooming as well as Pontsettias in there natural state. At least 2 kinds of hummingbirds were zipping around the flowers as I read my new book on Bolivian development written by a resident of Sorata.
I think that things will be a little quiet for a few days, but first to eat!
Jim
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Last Day in La Paz......... Maybe
Hi Folks:
First let me correct my spelling.......... again! I am told by Joy that Ivor`s partners name is Ivonne not Yvonne. I am so sorry.
Yesterday we were off to a great display of watercolours on the characters of the up-coming Carnivale. Quite exceptional, as was the display of the masks of these various entities. This was all at the National Museum of ethnography and folklore. After, we went to find the place where we will catch the bus to Sorata tomorrow. It didn`t seem far on the map and is up the hill past the Witches Market by the cemetary. It seems much harder hiking up the hills here with no pack, than the hills of Virginia with 40 lbs on your back. Once again I swear to get back into shape. We were puffing by the time we got up there and it looks like it will be a crowded minibus for 3 hours tomorrow. On the way down we shopped! You should see Joy bargain, which the women seem to enjoy! She should be made Minister of the Budget when we get home!
Today we visited Tiahuanico, an early (about 1000 years before Macchu Picchu) temple complex near the shore of Lake Titicaca. I was embarassed the other day when I had to confess to Ivor that I hadn`t been there. The site is not the spectacular mountain/river valley of MP, but the middle of a gentle valley on the Alto Plano at about 4,000m in altitude. The excavation is really just in it`s early stages, but the work seems to be proceeding quickly. The temples are partially constructed or dug out and re-constructed and the monolyths are really quite huge and special. The tour was worth it and, in addition, we were there on a Sunday and knew that the market was in the town square that day. Our tour guide didn`t want us to go into the town, but rather to go to the scheduled lunch (I am pretty certain that there is a commission involved), but Joy insisted and we were given 30 minutes. After the sprint to town we saw the church built in the 1500s, partially of stone from the temples. The square was filled with Cholitas in trasitional dress and Joy went wild. We then sprinted back to find out that the group had barely given their orders.
We came back to town to a big meal and ice cream (Pasas Ron is exceptional here......... oh yea Rum and Raisin) and now to pack. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be in Sorata, chilling for a week until we figure out how we will get to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the flight home. Joy has some paint boxes for the kids of Sorata and she hopes to do some serious painting.
Jim
First let me correct my spelling.......... again! I am told by Joy that Ivor`s partners name is Ivonne not Yvonne. I am so sorry.
Yesterday we were off to a great display of watercolours on the characters of the up-coming Carnivale. Quite exceptional, as was the display of the masks of these various entities. This was all at the National Museum of ethnography and folklore. After, we went to find the place where we will catch the bus to Sorata tomorrow. It didn`t seem far on the map and is up the hill past the Witches Market by the cemetary. It seems much harder hiking up the hills here with no pack, than the hills of Virginia with 40 lbs on your back. Once again I swear to get back into shape. We were puffing by the time we got up there and it looks like it will be a crowded minibus for 3 hours tomorrow. On the way down we shopped! You should see Joy bargain, which the women seem to enjoy! She should be made Minister of the Budget when we get home!
Today we visited Tiahuanico, an early (about 1000 years before Macchu Picchu) temple complex near the shore of Lake Titicaca. I was embarassed the other day when I had to confess to Ivor that I hadn`t been there. The site is not the spectacular mountain/river valley of MP, but the middle of a gentle valley on the Alto Plano at about 4,000m in altitude. The excavation is really just in it`s early stages, but the work seems to be proceeding quickly. The temples are partially constructed or dug out and re-constructed and the monolyths are really quite huge and special. The tour was worth it and, in addition, we were there on a Sunday and knew that the market was in the town square that day. Our tour guide didn`t want us to go into the town, but rather to go to the scheduled lunch (I am pretty certain that there is a commission involved), but Joy insisted and we were given 30 minutes. After the sprint to town we saw the church built in the 1500s, partially of stone from the temples. The square was filled with Cholitas in trasitional dress and Joy went wild. We then sprinted back to find out that the group had barely given their orders.
We came back to town to a big meal and ice cream (Pasas Ron is exceptional here......... oh yea Rum and Raisin) and now to pack. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will be in Sorata, chilling for a week until we figure out how we will get to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the flight home. Joy has some paint boxes for the kids of Sorata and she hopes to do some serious painting.
Jim
Saturday, February 14, 2009
A Day of Art
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
Yesterday started with a visit with Ivor and Yvonne, to the Academia Nacional de Belles Artes with introductions to the Executive Director, Max and many of the faculty. We sat around a table while greetings were exchanged and Joy showed them the sketches that she had done on this trip. I was so proud of Joy when she explained to them the value to her, as a painter in Nova Scotia, of the opportunity to view and paint another culture. She explained how it helped her see the culture and environment back home through refreshed eyes. She is quite the budding ambassador for Nova Scotia. The faculty of the Academia is obviously dedicated to their students but lack the facilities and equipment to support a student enrolment of 300. We all agreed that an association with a school like NSCAD would have a great impact and be beneficial to both institutions. We viewed a display, in the school´s gallery, of student work made completely from recycled material. Ivor sponsors an annual competition among the students.
After Joy and I went to the Museo de Arte Contemporaria and later (after cervasa and ice cream and siesta) we went around the corner to the Nacional Museo de Arte. We had a wonderful guide and the access to the collection has improved greatly since last year. It is housed in a beautiful "colonial" house with and alabaster fountain and stairs in the main courtyard. There is also a new section on contemporary art and we immediately recognized the Mamani mamani because of our meeting with the artist the night before.
In the evening we met Ivor, Yvonne and 2 of the greats of the Bolivian art scene; watercolourist, Mario Conde Cruz and sculptor, Victor Hugo Echeverria, at Villaserena. The restaurant includes a gallery, of course and serves the finest in Bolivian cuisine. We were ably assisted in our selections by Ivor and Yvonne and had the finest wine and absolutely delectable food. That plus the delightful company of Mario and Victor, both charming and interesting gentlemen. Despite the language issues it was marvellous when Joy and Mario started to compare techniques and I couldn´t understand either side of the conversation. Then we managed to get Mario and Victor arguing, good-naturally, over whether painting was more difficult than sculpture.
I was able to ask both of them what was the biggest issue facing the arts in Bolivia. They agreed that the lack of government funding for the arts was the biggest area of complaint, as the available funds are all spent on the promotion of the various festivals and the colourful dances which are the centre-pieces of these events. It is interesting to compare our 2 societies in this regard, as there are galleries all over La Paz and most of the other cities that we have visited, while in Canada where there is some support for the arts from government, we have only one gallery in Halifax plus the one at NSCAD. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable and we owe a huge debt to Ivor and Yvonne for providing us with 2 exciting days which have been the high-light of our trip so far.
Our plans from here are still being formulated. We are unable to get to Aucapata as originally planned, so we have to find an alternative peaceful place for Joy to do some painting. I prepared a list of possible options and asked the dinner table last night for their suggestions. They narrowed the list to 2 places; Samaipata and Sorata. Both have a reputation for being quiet and beautiful, so we may try both.
Off to another gallery for a watercolour show and then the Witches Market for trinkets to bring home.
Jim
Yesterday started with a visit with Ivor and Yvonne, to the Academia Nacional de Belles Artes with introductions to the Executive Director, Max and many of the faculty. We sat around a table while greetings were exchanged and Joy showed them the sketches that she had done on this trip. I was so proud of Joy when she explained to them the value to her, as a painter in Nova Scotia, of the opportunity to view and paint another culture. She explained how it helped her see the culture and environment back home through refreshed eyes. She is quite the budding ambassador for Nova Scotia. The faculty of the Academia is obviously dedicated to their students but lack the facilities and equipment to support a student enrolment of 300. We all agreed that an association with a school like NSCAD would have a great impact and be beneficial to both institutions. We viewed a display, in the school´s gallery, of student work made completely from recycled material. Ivor sponsors an annual competition among the students.
After Joy and I went to the Museo de Arte Contemporaria and later (after cervasa and ice cream and siesta) we went around the corner to the Nacional Museo de Arte. We had a wonderful guide and the access to the collection has improved greatly since last year. It is housed in a beautiful "colonial" house with and alabaster fountain and stairs in the main courtyard. There is also a new section on contemporary art and we immediately recognized the Mamani mamani because of our meeting with the artist the night before.
In the evening we met Ivor, Yvonne and 2 of the greats of the Bolivian art scene; watercolourist, Mario Conde Cruz and sculptor, Victor Hugo Echeverria, at Villaserena. The restaurant includes a gallery, of course and serves the finest in Bolivian cuisine. We were ably assisted in our selections by Ivor and Yvonne and had the finest wine and absolutely delectable food. That plus the delightful company of Mario and Victor, both charming and interesting gentlemen. Despite the language issues it was marvellous when Joy and Mario started to compare techniques and I couldn´t understand either side of the conversation. Then we managed to get Mario and Victor arguing, good-naturally, over whether painting was more difficult than sculpture.
I was able to ask both of them what was the biggest issue facing the arts in Bolivia. They agreed that the lack of government funding for the arts was the biggest area of complaint, as the available funds are all spent on the promotion of the various festivals and the colourful dances which are the centre-pieces of these events. It is interesting to compare our 2 societies in this regard, as there are galleries all over La Paz and most of the other cities that we have visited, while in Canada where there is some support for the arts from government, we have only one gallery in Halifax plus the one at NSCAD. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable and we owe a huge debt to Ivor and Yvonne for providing us with 2 exciting days which have been the high-light of our trip so far.
Our plans from here are still being formulated. We are unable to get to Aucapata as originally planned, so we have to find an alternative peaceful place for Joy to do some painting. I prepared a list of possible options and asked the dinner table last night for their suggestions. They narrowed the list to 2 places; Samaipata and Sorata. Both have a reputation for being quiet and beautiful, so we may try both.
Off to another gallery for a watercolour show and then the Witches Market for trinkets to bring home.
Jim
Friday, February 13, 2009
Meeting Folks from Home
Good Morning:
Happy Friday the 13 th! Afterwe recovered from the bus ride on Wednesday we spent the day renewing our familiarity with central La Paz. We ate at the same places as last February and went to the information kiosk to get a map. Nothing too adventurous. The police presence was noticeably increased with small groups of bored riot police on many street corners, complete with shields, body armour, and tear-gas projectors. Not certain whether it was because of the questioning on charges of corruption of the president of the government oil company or just the small indigenous demonstrations that no one seems to understand. The police presence slacked off to normal by yesterday. We are located very close to the centre of political action so the near-by square always has something going on.
I have another "Joy-ism" to share. I should start a collection of these. I must first confess that I made just as many mistakes as Joy does, but she forgets mine and hers are cute. This time I was ordering lunch in my finest Spanish (thanks Marco) and was expected (by agreement) to order a large cervasa for both of us. I started by ordering a sandwich and Joy jumped in to ensure that there were "dos copas" (2 glasses) included. The waiter really did a double-take wondering why the nice lady wanted to get 2 glasses with my ham and cheese sandwich! Things went downhill for a while, as I tried to explain that either she wanted them with the cervasa that I hadn´t ordered yet or that she was under doctor´s care back home.
Yesterday we were picked up by Ivor Mendez and Yvonne and off we went to "El Alto". I would like to tell everyone more about Dr. Mendez, but I will limit it to the fact that he is a neurosurgeon from Halifax, of Bolivian origin and has been terrifically active in various projects in Bolivia, including the arts. He is a wonderful sculptor and photographer on the side. A little about "El Alto". It is an area above La Paz which has been a collecting point for indigenous people coming into the city from the country. It has grown in size so that it now is larger in population than La Paz itself, although still considered a satellite city. The airport for La Paz is located in "El Alto". Yvonne took us to the Museo de Arte Antonio Paredes Candia, which is virtually unknown and is located in an old water storage tower which has been re-built into a beautiful facility. But it is what is inside that is so special. It certainly houses the finest collection of Bolivian paintings that I have seen, and the same can be said of the sculptures. Absolutely spectacular! This was the first time Ivor had seen this museo and it houses the best collection of "Mollo" culture ceramics he had seen, which come from the area in which he has one of his projects. It is a very special place and should be on the "must see" list for anyone visiting La Paz. As an additional treat the sculptor Victor Sapana was working on a sculpture in front of the museo and we were invited to take up the chisel and hammer for the honour of taking off some rock. What a great opportunity!
In the afternoon, we went to get our 30 day visas extended and found it a very simple process. Once we obtained the requisite photocopies, we were quickly (and the process was free!) given 90 days. We thought that the original 30 day visas might make it a bit rushed trying to get out of Bolivia, depending on what we decided to do from here. We also went up and down hills in the market area hunting for bloomers. Don´t ask! I am finding that the hills and altitude combination is a little more difficult this trip. I guess because I am not in as good shape as I was last year.
We were picked up again and after juice and some Bolivian munchies with Ivor and Yvonne, we met the man who is probably the most successful artist in Bolivia, Roberto Mamani Mamani. We went, in a terrific rainstorm (picture boulders being washed down the streets), to Zona Sur which is the other direction of expansion of population around La Paz. This is further down the valley below La Paz centre and is affluent and up-scale. Roberto, being a good businessman as well as a great painter, located his gallery there. Roberto is a charming individual with a quick smile and a resemblnce to his friend, Evo Morales, the president. He is very proud of his Aymara heritage and it shows in the beautiful colourful paintings which have been shown all over the world. It was a delightful visit and it was fun to watch he and Joy comparing notes through their volunteer interpreter, Ivor Mendez. They talked business, prints and serigraphs, and the amount of agreement and commonality across cultures and thousands of Kms was very impressive. It would be nice to have a Mamani Mamani show in Halifax.
Thanks Ivor, Yvonne, Victor, Roberto, and many others for a marvelous experience and the honour of seeing and learning about this intriguing and beautiful country. More adventures today.
Jim
Happy Friday the 13 th! Afterwe recovered from the bus ride on Wednesday we spent the day renewing our familiarity with central La Paz. We ate at the same places as last February and went to the information kiosk to get a map. Nothing too adventurous. The police presence was noticeably increased with small groups of bored riot police on many street corners, complete with shields, body armour, and tear-gas projectors. Not certain whether it was because of the questioning on charges of corruption of the president of the government oil company or just the small indigenous demonstrations that no one seems to understand. The police presence slacked off to normal by yesterday. We are located very close to the centre of political action so the near-by square always has something going on.
I have another "Joy-ism" to share. I should start a collection of these. I must first confess that I made just as many mistakes as Joy does, but she forgets mine and hers are cute. This time I was ordering lunch in my finest Spanish (thanks Marco) and was expected (by agreement) to order a large cervasa for both of us. I started by ordering a sandwich and Joy jumped in to ensure that there were "dos copas" (2 glasses) included. The waiter really did a double-take wondering why the nice lady wanted to get 2 glasses with my ham and cheese sandwich! Things went downhill for a while, as I tried to explain that either she wanted them with the cervasa that I hadn´t ordered yet or that she was under doctor´s care back home.
Yesterday we were picked up by Ivor Mendez and Yvonne and off we went to "El Alto". I would like to tell everyone more about Dr. Mendez, but I will limit it to the fact that he is a neurosurgeon from Halifax, of Bolivian origin and has been terrifically active in various projects in Bolivia, including the arts. He is a wonderful sculptor and photographer on the side. A little about "El Alto". It is an area above La Paz which has been a collecting point for indigenous people coming into the city from the country. It has grown in size so that it now is larger in population than La Paz itself, although still considered a satellite city. The airport for La Paz is located in "El Alto". Yvonne took us to the Museo de Arte Antonio Paredes Candia, which is virtually unknown and is located in an old water storage tower which has been re-built into a beautiful facility. But it is what is inside that is so special. It certainly houses the finest collection of Bolivian paintings that I have seen, and the same can be said of the sculptures. Absolutely spectacular! This was the first time Ivor had seen this museo and it houses the best collection of "Mollo" culture ceramics he had seen, which come from the area in which he has one of his projects. It is a very special place and should be on the "must see" list for anyone visiting La Paz. As an additional treat the sculptor Victor Sapana was working on a sculpture in front of the museo and we were invited to take up the chisel and hammer for the honour of taking off some rock. What a great opportunity!
In the afternoon, we went to get our 30 day visas extended and found it a very simple process. Once we obtained the requisite photocopies, we were quickly (and the process was free!) given 90 days. We thought that the original 30 day visas might make it a bit rushed trying to get out of Bolivia, depending on what we decided to do from here. We also went up and down hills in the market area hunting for bloomers. Don´t ask! I am finding that the hills and altitude combination is a little more difficult this trip. I guess because I am not in as good shape as I was last year.
We were picked up again and after juice and some Bolivian munchies with Ivor and Yvonne, we met the man who is probably the most successful artist in Bolivia, Roberto Mamani Mamani. We went, in a terrific rainstorm (picture boulders being washed down the streets), to Zona Sur which is the other direction of expansion of population around La Paz. This is further down the valley below La Paz centre and is affluent and up-scale. Roberto, being a good businessman as well as a great painter, located his gallery there. Roberto is a charming individual with a quick smile and a resemblnce to his friend, Evo Morales, the president. He is very proud of his Aymara heritage and it shows in the beautiful colourful paintings which have been shown all over the world. It was a delightful visit and it was fun to watch he and Joy comparing notes through their volunteer interpreter, Ivor Mendez. They talked business, prints and serigraphs, and the amount of agreement and commonality across cultures and thousands of Kms was very impressive. It would be nice to have a Mamani Mamani show in Halifax.
Thanks Ivor, Yvonne, Victor, Roberto, and many others for a marvelous experience and the honour of seeing and learning about this intriguing and beautiful country. More adventures today.
Jim
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
We´re Home ......... Not Really
We are now in La Paz and in the same room in the Hotel Torino that we were in last February. I don´t think that it has been occupied since, but it has a window that looks over the roof-tops and the Cathedral roof. We get the hourly chimes really clearly!
I apologize for not being as regular with my blog entries, but it has to do with "regularity" and the fact that Dukerol, the vaccine that we took before coming to prevent intestinal problems obviously isn´t 100% effective, or Bolivian bugs are serious, unstopable organisms. Both Joy and I have been "sick" of and on for the past week, but soldiered on. As a result I will not give our last 2 stops the coverage both deserve.
Potosi:
This was the first town since Asuncion, Paraguay, in which the history is palpable. Over the city is the incredible "Cerro Rico". The mountain was literally bi-sected by east/west veins of silver, which funded the Spanish empire for hundreds of years. There is a saying locally that I liked that says; "Enough silver came out of the Cerro Rico to build a bridge to Spain and still have silver left to carry across it!" Probably an exaggeration, but the mint in Potosi provided all the silver coinage for Spain until it closed in 1953. Now Spain provides all the coins for Bolivia, except the bi-metallic 5Bs piece which is made in Canada. The most recent (about 20 years ago) finding of a Spanish galleon off Florida was loaded with Potosi silver, in bars, coins and various other pieces. The value was 100s of millions of dollars and the folks at the Potosi mint (now a museum) received only 2 coins and feel a little put out about it. Understandable when you realize that 8 million slaves and indigenous people died over the 300 years that the Spanish were taking the silver and that wreck contained some of the results.
On the positive side, we were both able to get out of bed long enough to see the miners annual festival. We did not take the tour of the mines because of asthma and plain "chickenness" (me), but were up the mountain for the morning start to the celebrations. The miners, who still mine on a cooperative basis, in terrible conditions (cramped, dangerous, silica dust, gases, etc), get up the mountain and start the celebration with drink and dynamite. Against the back-drop of the periodic explosions moving closer down the mountainside, they have the most colourful and long parade of dancers and bands representing various mines and coops. We were sitting on a wall with 2 new friends; Mike, a motorcyclist from Holland, and Alister, a chap closer to my age from New Zealand who has been travelling the world for the past 5 years, when we were noticed by a radio guy doing a live broadcast of the event. When I waved to him after I heard him mention that even tourists were watching the parade, he immediately came over to find out our names and where we were from. I managed my best "Soy Jim de Canada". After that it was down-hill! When the parade stopped (as all do) we had a chance to interact with dancers and bands and get a share of the orange and alcohol, which seemed to be the standard drink. We had learned to spill a little on the ground for "Pachamama" or Mother Earth, and this had a side advantage of reducing the amount that you reserved for yourself. What was left had to be "thrown back". It was a great morning despite the water bombs and squirt guns that are part of any celebration around this time of year. Tourists are not normally targetted, but with the amount of water air-borne you are bound to get wet. There is a real economy around selling water bombs, shaving cream, and ponchos. Alister and I were sitting in a cafe having coffee and watching a great battle surging back and forth between to groups of about 50 teens each. One would charge until they ran our of ammunition and then the other would charge. To and fro they went while a police officer held up traffic on a cross road when the groups went by that point.
Sucre: This was the capital of Bolivia (Alto Peru) during the Spanish rule and the early years of independance, until there was a battle with La Paz and the title was wrested away. As a result the only national function left in Sucre is the Supreme Court of Bolivia. Sucre is beautiful and a little lower (2600 metres) than we have been used to recently. There are many colonial period buildings and someone who had lived in Spain said that it was just like old Spain. We went to a great textile museum which is private and run by an anthropological foundation. They are trying to promote weaving amoung local indigenous groups to show them how valuable and worthwhile these skills are. They even have a group of men who have had to learn the skills anew and are developing their own male style and art form. There were 2 women there working away with their rough wooden looms, producing the most beautiful designs and each one is orginal and they cannot reproduce them.
The next day there was a demonstration near the Plaza, which is not an uncommon occurance. In this case, a group of indigenous folk had come into town and sat in one of the important intersections, effectively snarling traffic. The police stood around very peacefully and not too much seemed to happen. We strongly suggest that any visitor to Bolivia who wants to get a grasp of Bolivia´s history go to the Casa de la Libertad, on the main plaza in Sucre. This is a former Jesuit church, then the university, and finally the first seat of government for independant Bolivia. A spectacular building, in which the Bolivian Declaration of Independance was signed in 1825. The English tour guide gave a very balanced view of Bolivian history and also was able to clarify for us many of the questions we had about current Bolivian politics and affairs.
That evening we took our still less than certain digestive systems out for the 12 hour bus ride to La Paz. When we got there we were told that we were up-graded to "Cami" at no extra cost. "Semi-cami" are reclining seats which go back to 45 degrees. "Cami" recline into a bed, which sounded like the answer for an over-night bus ride. It was a big new-looking yellow busand all "cami", but after a short way some short-comings became apparent. First the "bañyo" (bathroom) was locked and not available. The air circulation system was only put on for 4 short blasts during the entire trip so the air got stale and hot. Then at 2:30am they let on another passenger for whom there was no seat so she ended up sitting on a ledge beside me which made using the "cami" awkward as her face was right against mine if I reclined all the way. The bus crew, I suspect, pocketted her fare and I was told that she was only on for a short time. Turned out the short time was the rest of the trip. However, we did get here and both got lots of sleep.
Now I am caught up! Whew!
Tomorrow we hope to make contact with Ivor Mendez and get to see the Bolivian Academy of Arts. We are a little psych for that.
Jim
I apologize for not being as regular with my blog entries, but it has to do with "regularity" and the fact that Dukerol, the vaccine that we took before coming to prevent intestinal problems obviously isn´t 100% effective, or Bolivian bugs are serious, unstopable organisms. Both Joy and I have been "sick" of and on for the past week, but soldiered on. As a result I will not give our last 2 stops the coverage both deserve.
Potosi:
This was the first town since Asuncion, Paraguay, in which the history is palpable. Over the city is the incredible "Cerro Rico". The mountain was literally bi-sected by east/west veins of silver, which funded the Spanish empire for hundreds of years. There is a saying locally that I liked that says; "Enough silver came out of the Cerro Rico to build a bridge to Spain and still have silver left to carry across it!" Probably an exaggeration, but the mint in Potosi provided all the silver coinage for Spain until it closed in 1953. Now Spain provides all the coins for Bolivia, except the bi-metallic 5Bs piece which is made in Canada. The most recent (about 20 years ago) finding of a Spanish galleon off Florida was loaded with Potosi silver, in bars, coins and various other pieces. The value was 100s of millions of dollars and the folks at the Potosi mint (now a museum) received only 2 coins and feel a little put out about it. Understandable when you realize that 8 million slaves and indigenous people died over the 300 years that the Spanish were taking the silver and that wreck contained some of the results.
On the positive side, we were both able to get out of bed long enough to see the miners annual festival. We did not take the tour of the mines because of asthma and plain "chickenness" (me), but were up the mountain for the morning start to the celebrations. The miners, who still mine on a cooperative basis, in terrible conditions (cramped, dangerous, silica dust, gases, etc), get up the mountain and start the celebration with drink and dynamite. Against the back-drop of the periodic explosions moving closer down the mountainside, they have the most colourful and long parade of dancers and bands representing various mines and coops. We were sitting on a wall with 2 new friends; Mike, a motorcyclist from Holland, and Alister, a chap closer to my age from New Zealand who has been travelling the world for the past 5 years, when we were noticed by a radio guy doing a live broadcast of the event. When I waved to him after I heard him mention that even tourists were watching the parade, he immediately came over to find out our names and where we were from. I managed my best "Soy Jim de Canada". After that it was down-hill! When the parade stopped (as all do) we had a chance to interact with dancers and bands and get a share of the orange and alcohol, which seemed to be the standard drink. We had learned to spill a little on the ground for "Pachamama" or Mother Earth, and this had a side advantage of reducing the amount that you reserved for yourself. What was left had to be "thrown back". It was a great morning despite the water bombs and squirt guns that are part of any celebration around this time of year. Tourists are not normally targetted, but with the amount of water air-borne you are bound to get wet. There is a real economy around selling water bombs, shaving cream, and ponchos. Alister and I were sitting in a cafe having coffee and watching a great battle surging back and forth between to groups of about 50 teens each. One would charge until they ran our of ammunition and then the other would charge. To and fro they went while a police officer held up traffic on a cross road when the groups went by that point.
Sucre: This was the capital of Bolivia (Alto Peru) during the Spanish rule and the early years of independance, until there was a battle with La Paz and the title was wrested away. As a result the only national function left in Sucre is the Supreme Court of Bolivia. Sucre is beautiful and a little lower (2600 metres) than we have been used to recently. There are many colonial period buildings and someone who had lived in Spain said that it was just like old Spain. We went to a great textile museum which is private and run by an anthropological foundation. They are trying to promote weaving amoung local indigenous groups to show them how valuable and worthwhile these skills are. They even have a group of men who have had to learn the skills anew and are developing their own male style and art form. There were 2 women there working away with their rough wooden looms, producing the most beautiful designs and each one is orginal and they cannot reproduce them.
The next day there was a demonstration near the Plaza, which is not an uncommon occurance. In this case, a group of indigenous folk had come into town and sat in one of the important intersections, effectively snarling traffic. The police stood around very peacefully and not too much seemed to happen. We strongly suggest that any visitor to Bolivia who wants to get a grasp of Bolivia´s history go to the Casa de la Libertad, on the main plaza in Sucre. This is a former Jesuit church, then the university, and finally the first seat of government for independant Bolivia. A spectacular building, in which the Bolivian Declaration of Independance was signed in 1825. The English tour guide gave a very balanced view of Bolivian history and also was able to clarify for us many of the questions we had about current Bolivian politics and affairs.
That evening we took our still less than certain digestive systems out for the 12 hour bus ride to La Paz. When we got there we were told that we were up-graded to "Cami" at no extra cost. "Semi-cami" are reclining seats which go back to 45 degrees. "Cami" recline into a bed, which sounded like the answer for an over-night bus ride. It was a big new-looking yellow busand all "cami", but after a short way some short-comings became apparent. First the "bañyo" (bathroom) was locked and not available. The air circulation system was only put on for 4 short blasts during the entire trip so the air got stale and hot. Then at 2:30am they let on another passenger for whom there was no seat so she ended up sitting on a ledge beside me which made using the "cami" awkward as her face was right against mine if I reclined all the way. The bus crew, I suspect, pocketted her fare and I was told that she was only on for a short time. Turned out the short time was the rest of the trip. However, we did get here and both got lots of sleep.
Now I am caught up! Whew!
Tomorrow we hope to make contact with Ivor Mendez and get to see the Bolivian Academy of Arts. We are a little psych for that.
Jim
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Rest of the Tour
On day three of our tour from Tupiza we awoke with everyone at least a little sick, including our driver and cook. About the only food we had in common was the wine that we had had the night before. Mandy and I seemed in the worst shapem but we pressed on to the ¨stone tree¨which is a group of lava rocks in unusual shapes. I found a small daisy-like flower in the gravel that doubles for soil at these altitudes, but while it was rooted there was no sign of a plant, and the flower was green with the centre being a slightly lighter green. Gerardo thought that it was the beginning of a mound of moss waiting for water to arrive, but .......
We passed atotal of five lagunas (lakes) all with Flamingos, and got some great close shots at the one lake of at least 2 types. We finally passed an active volcano, although the steam was only rising from a side vent. But we has lunch in the middle of an old lava flow, looking at a field of rocks which had been thrown there during a previous erruption. That evening we arrived at the Salar de Uyuni and bunked down in a building made of salt blocks, on beds of salt. They were actually quite comfortable and we slept well. Joy did a nice painting in the village and made some new friends as she always does when she gets her paints out.
Naxt day we were up and on our way by 5;30am to catch the sunrise on the Salar. The Salar is a huge salt lake about 12,000 sq. km in size and up to 20+ meters deep (or is it thick?). It is etched by a pattern of lines amd was quite beautiful in the morning light. We stopped at one of the ïslands¨in the salar, and this one is made of coral attached to volcanic rock, indicating the 2 phenomenons which created the salar. Joy did a lovely painting of the island and then did sketches for Gerardo and Sylvia, while our 2 Australian friends were off with Matthew (from London) doing funny photos out on the flats. We later saw holes filled with salt water from springs beneath the salt. We were a little nervous because it felt like walking on thin ice back home. We visited the famous salt hotel which is now a museum and has been replaced by new salt buildings near-by. We also saw the salt workings and arrived at Uyuni after a visit to the ATM.
Uyuni is mainly used for a military base, railroad town, and salt mining. One of the few tourist sites in town is an area of scrapped railroad equipment and Joy and I decided to walk the three Km to see it the next morning. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I spotted 2 young men heading out from town on an intercepting course. You must realize that the three kms cover flat, but desolate area with no people and the train wreckage would be the perfect place for us to be freed from the weight of our cameras. I could not think of any reason for them to be going out there, so we spun on our heels and walked briskly back to town. They carried on for a short while and then returned the way that they had come. They may have had some reason for their walk but they were paying a lot of attention to us, so it was right to skip the train graveyard.
Nect post I will fill you in on our visit to Potosi, once the richest city in the world, and the miners festival that we stumbled on to.
Jim
We passed atotal of five lagunas (lakes) all with Flamingos, and got some great close shots at the one lake of at least 2 types. We finally passed an active volcano, although the steam was only rising from a side vent. But we has lunch in the middle of an old lava flow, looking at a field of rocks which had been thrown there during a previous erruption. That evening we arrived at the Salar de Uyuni and bunked down in a building made of salt blocks, on beds of salt. They were actually quite comfortable and we slept well. Joy did a nice painting in the village and made some new friends as she always does when she gets her paints out.
Naxt day we were up and on our way by 5;30am to catch the sunrise on the Salar. The Salar is a huge salt lake about 12,000 sq. km in size and up to 20+ meters deep (or is it thick?). It is etched by a pattern of lines amd was quite beautiful in the morning light. We stopped at one of the ïslands¨in the salar, and this one is made of coral attached to volcanic rock, indicating the 2 phenomenons which created the salar. Joy did a lovely painting of the island and then did sketches for Gerardo and Sylvia, while our 2 Australian friends were off with Matthew (from London) doing funny photos out on the flats. We later saw holes filled with salt water from springs beneath the salt. We were a little nervous because it felt like walking on thin ice back home. We visited the famous salt hotel which is now a museum and has been replaced by new salt buildings near-by. We also saw the salt workings and arrived at Uyuni after a visit to the ATM.
Uyuni is mainly used for a military base, railroad town, and salt mining. One of the few tourist sites in town is an area of scrapped railroad equipment and Joy and I decided to walk the three Km to see it the next morning. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I spotted 2 young men heading out from town on an intercepting course. You must realize that the three kms cover flat, but desolate area with no people and the train wreckage would be the perfect place for us to be freed from the weight of our cameras. I could not think of any reason for them to be going out there, so we spun on our heels and walked briskly back to town. They carried on for a short while and then returned the way that they had come. They may have had some reason for their walk but they were paying a lot of attention to us, so it was right to skip the train graveyard.
Nect post I will fill you in on our visit to Potosi, once the richest city in the world, and the miners festival that we stumbled on to.
Jim
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Great Attempt at Words
Hi Folks;
Before I try my best to describe what we saw during our 4 day tour, there are a few more routine matters to finish.
The day before we left Tupiza, we chilled out around the pool reading, before we went on the search for the illusive Tupiza ATM. I will warn you now that no matter what you are told, there is not one in all of Tupiza. This probably makes it unique in all of Bolivia, but there isn´t one. Fortunately, we were allowed to wait until the end of our tour to pay the final installment. I picked up and extra layer of clothing just in case we were cold as we were warned that the temperature would go down to -2C. Another nice, but fragile Alpaca sweater will be coming home with me.
THE TOUR: I hope that everyone has read Joy´s poem on this part of the trip. She comes as close as possible to catching the feeling of the event. Those that have taken the tour pretty much agree that we humans have not been given the capacity in our many languages to capture the majesty of the Salar and the Conservation area South of it. We had amazing sight after amazing sight, all set among towering volcanic mountains, coloured lakes, and absolute grandeur. I would have loved to have been dropped off anywhere for a day just to sit and absorb the peace and quiet, only interrupted occasionally by a recognition of the absolute insignificance of we mortals.
To the details because those are much easier, as long as it is understood that the scene for all of these events is the most spectacular spot on Earth.
The first day, after meeting Gerardo, Sylvia, Steph and Mandy we climbed into a Toyota Land Cruiser of unknown vintage and went up and up on a twisting gravel road. We quickly gained confidence in Gerardo as he navigated past wash-outs as the road hugged the cliffs. As we got higher the scenery became more special as the views down from the cliff-side. The first animals we came across were Llamas with many cute babies. We stopped for a great car-hood lunch among some Llamas, as thunder roared around us, but didn´t destroy the picnic. We shared the pasture with 2 other cars from Tupiza. We would pretty much stay with them for the entire trip. A deserted adobe villege was next with a loveny little church. A short drive on we came across our first Flamingos and a small flock of South American Ostriches. A corral filled with Llamas a little while later answered my question about how they sheared Llamas; in the field or corralled. Joy thought that it was a cemetary which is understandable because the Llamas all have bright ribbons in their ears or fleece and the bunch crowded together behind adobe walls looked much like the cemetaries in this remote area. We stopped in a village under snow-capped mountains at 4000 metres. Joy did a nice sketch of a little girl and gave it to her. The chica them decided that it would be nice to have Joy´s paint box, too. Later that evening we had a thunderstorm with hail changing to snow so that we awoke to the white world that we thought that we had left in Portaupique.
The next day we were up and off, in the snow, before 6am. We did some more climbing in the snow until we crosed the highest point on the trip at 5000 meters. On the way we saw lots more Flamingos and were reduced in importance by the volcanic peaks all around. We visited hot bubbling mud geysers which didn´t do much more than bubble and steam. The various coloured ¨lagunas¨followed; a green lake, a white lake, and a red lake, all with flocks of flamingos. We saw an area which was the subject of a painting by Salvador Dali, and lots of Llamas, Donkeys and Vicunas. The later are a wild, slimmed, down version of Llama. Llamas are domesticated and used for food and wool. Vicunas are wild and protected. Next, your intrepid travellers were off to the deserted mining village of ¨Fantasma¨which was started in the 16th century and then more recently another attempt was made (which failed). The village was filled with large rabbit-like creatures called ¨Piscatchio¨(I hope that the spelling is right). Although they have rabbit-like ears, they have a long tail and seemed to hop like a kangaroo. Outside of a flat tire, which didn´t hold us up at all, and Joy mistaking wart-remover for lip-balm, it was a great day. That evening we met up with another 6 of the Aussie women that Steph and Mandy are travelling with and Joy and I taught them how to play ¨Wizard¨. Great fum and what wonderful young people. Joy and I are so lucky to meet these great people (mostly young) from all over the world.
Enough for now. I will try to catch up the other 2 days, our time in Uyuni and what we are seeing here in Potosi.
Jim
Before I try my best to describe what we saw during our 4 day tour, there are a few more routine matters to finish.
The day before we left Tupiza, we chilled out around the pool reading, before we went on the search for the illusive Tupiza ATM. I will warn you now that no matter what you are told, there is not one in all of Tupiza. This probably makes it unique in all of Bolivia, but there isn´t one. Fortunately, we were allowed to wait until the end of our tour to pay the final installment. I picked up and extra layer of clothing just in case we were cold as we were warned that the temperature would go down to -2C. Another nice, but fragile Alpaca sweater will be coming home with me.
THE TOUR: I hope that everyone has read Joy´s poem on this part of the trip. She comes as close as possible to catching the feeling of the event. Those that have taken the tour pretty much agree that we humans have not been given the capacity in our many languages to capture the majesty of the Salar and the Conservation area South of it. We had amazing sight after amazing sight, all set among towering volcanic mountains, coloured lakes, and absolute grandeur. I would have loved to have been dropped off anywhere for a day just to sit and absorb the peace and quiet, only interrupted occasionally by a recognition of the absolute insignificance of we mortals.
To the details because those are much easier, as long as it is understood that the scene for all of these events is the most spectacular spot on Earth.
The first day, after meeting Gerardo, Sylvia, Steph and Mandy we climbed into a Toyota Land Cruiser of unknown vintage and went up and up on a twisting gravel road. We quickly gained confidence in Gerardo as he navigated past wash-outs as the road hugged the cliffs. As we got higher the scenery became more special as the views down from the cliff-side. The first animals we came across were Llamas with many cute babies. We stopped for a great car-hood lunch among some Llamas, as thunder roared around us, but didn´t destroy the picnic. We shared the pasture with 2 other cars from Tupiza. We would pretty much stay with them for the entire trip. A deserted adobe villege was next with a loveny little church. A short drive on we came across our first Flamingos and a small flock of South American Ostriches. A corral filled with Llamas a little while later answered my question about how they sheared Llamas; in the field or corralled. Joy thought that it was a cemetary which is understandable because the Llamas all have bright ribbons in their ears or fleece and the bunch crowded together behind adobe walls looked much like the cemetaries in this remote area. We stopped in a village under snow-capped mountains at 4000 metres. Joy did a nice sketch of a little girl and gave it to her. The chica them decided that it would be nice to have Joy´s paint box, too. Later that evening we had a thunderstorm with hail changing to snow so that we awoke to the white world that we thought that we had left in Portaupique.
The next day we were up and off, in the snow, before 6am. We did some more climbing in the snow until we crosed the highest point on the trip at 5000 meters. On the way we saw lots more Flamingos and were reduced in importance by the volcanic peaks all around. We visited hot bubbling mud geysers which didn´t do much more than bubble and steam. The various coloured ¨lagunas¨followed; a green lake, a white lake, and a red lake, all with flocks of flamingos. We saw an area which was the subject of a painting by Salvador Dali, and lots of Llamas, Donkeys and Vicunas. The later are a wild, slimmed, down version of Llama. Llamas are domesticated and used for food and wool. Vicunas are wild and protected. Next, your intrepid travellers were off to the deserted mining village of ¨Fantasma¨which was started in the 16th century and then more recently another attempt was made (which failed). The village was filled with large rabbit-like creatures called ¨Piscatchio¨(I hope that the spelling is right). Although they have rabbit-like ears, they have a long tail and seemed to hop like a kangaroo. Outside of a flat tire, which didn´t hold us up at all, and Joy mistaking wart-remover for lip-balm, it was a great day. That evening we met up with another 6 of the Aussie women that Steph and Mandy are travelling with and Joy and I taught them how to play ¨Wizard¨. Great fum and what wonderful young people. Joy and I are so lucky to meet these great people (mostly young) from all over the world.
Enough for now. I will try to catch up the other 2 days, our time in Uyuni and what we are seeing here in Potosi.
Jim
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
I´m In Awe!
Hello Again,
This may require more than one blog. First for the mundane. As soon as we got in to Bolivia, I broke down and bought a bottle of Bacardi Dark, my favourite rum. The very next store had the illusive ´mickey´(small bottle) of rum, and every store since has it. Love Bolivia!
I strongly encourage everyone to read Joy's blog about the last few days. Not only can she create beautiful paintings of what she sees, but she also paints with words. My first reaction was to record a lot of minutia about what we saw and the events as they occurred, but that hardly is sufficient to do justice to one of the most amazing areas on the face of the Earth.
First, we were very fortunate in our choice of Tupiza Tours, as we met 2 wonderful folk in Gerardo, our driver and guide, and Silvia, our cook. At the end of the four days we developed a close friendship with them both, and both were great at their jobs. Driving sounds like an easy job, but try wrestling a 4x4 over twisty, rocky ground for 4 days. For Sylvia, it was hopping out and whipping up great hot meal for the 6 of us, 3 times a day, and making certain that she had the ingrediants with her. And they do it every week! Fortunately, Joy was able to present them with sketches of themselves before we left the Salar de Uyuni. The jokes that were flying around as Gererdo was poising for his! He has been at this for 9 years, and knows the ground intimately. We hardly noticed the 2 flat tires, as they were fixed and back on while we were resting or eating. We will remember them.
The other friends we made were our 2 Aussie lasses. When you are our ages (mine anyway), you have never stayed in a coed dorm and it has the potential to be a somewhat uncomfortable situation and was what I dreaded on the tour. These 2; Steph and Mandy, were just the greatest travelling companions and we got along like the proverbial 'house on fire', despite my twisted sense of humour. It was a riot watching them trying to make the perfect strange photo. That is the reason why there is a photo amongst ours which has Mandy holding out her hands with Joy and I apparently standing on them. They are both 22 years old and at various stages of their university, having already hade many life experiences, and strong families at home. I even had to pretend that they were my daughters when a 'creepy' guy came along. We later met another 6 of their friends who were going the opposite direction to us. The coed sleeping arrangements proved to be no problem as is usually the case with those fears. Our 2 Aussies made it easy.
I will have to leave my description of the trip for another blog, but if you only see one thing in your life, it should be this. I love Canada very much, but this area of the world defies description.
Off for the laundry.
Jim
This may require more than one blog. First for the mundane. As soon as we got in to Bolivia, I broke down and bought a bottle of Bacardi Dark, my favourite rum. The very next store had the illusive ´mickey´(small bottle) of rum, and every store since has it. Love Bolivia!
I strongly encourage everyone to read Joy's blog about the last few days. Not only can she create beautiful paintings of what she sees, but she also paints with words. My first reaction was to record a lot of minutia about what we saw and the events as they occurred, but that hardly is sufficient to do justice to one of the most amazing areas on the face of the Earth.
First, we were very fortunate in our choice of Tupiza Tours, as we met 2 wonderful folk in Gerardo, our driver and guide, and Silvia, our cook. At the end of the four days we developed a close friendship with them both, and both were great at their jobs. Driving sounds like an easy job, but try wrestling a 4x4 over twisty, rocky ground for 4 days. For Sylvia, it was hopping out and whipping up great hot meal for the 6 of us, 3 times a day, and making certain that she had the ingrediants with her. And they do it every week! Fortunately, Joy was able to present them with sketches of themselves before we left the Salar de Uyuni. The jokes that were flying around as Gererdo was poising for his! He has been at this for 9 years, and knows the ground intimately. We hardly noticed the 2 flat tires, as they were fixed and back on while we were resting or eating. We will remember them.
The other friends we made were our 2 Aussie lasses. When you are our ages (mine anyway), you have never stayed in a coed dorm and it has the potential to be a somewhat uncomfortable situation and was what I dreaded on the tour. These 2; Steph and Mandy, were just the greatest travelling companions and we got along like the proverbial 'house on fire', despite my twisted sense of humour. It was a riot watching them trying to make the perfect strange photo. That is the reason why there is a photo amongst ours which has Mandy holding out her hands with Joy and I apparently standing on them. They are both 22 years old and at various stages of their university, having already hade many life experiences, and strong families at home. I even had to pretend that they were my daughters when a 'creepy' guy came along. We later met another 6 of their friends who were going the opposite direction to us. The coed sleeping arrangements proved to be no problem as is usually the case with those fears. Our 2 Aussies made it easy.
I will have to leave my description of the trip for another blog, but if you only see one thing in your life, it should be this. I love Canada very much, but this area of the world defies description.
Off for the laundry.
Jim
The Train Ride
Hi Folks,
Given the date I have some catching up to do, so this will be a multi part blog(more than one today, if I can pull it off). First let me correct one of my many spelling mistakes. Last blog I referred to Tupizi when it is Tupiza.
We got our train tickets for Tupiza as I had been looking forward to trying out one of the few Bolivian trains left that provide passenger service. There are 4 trains northbound from Villizon, 2 are express and the other are the Wari Wari. We booked on the express as that was the one available on the day that we were leaving. The Wari Wari is a mixed train and has a reputation of being less reliable. We decided that the price to Tupiza was so reasonable that we would go executive class which included dinner, for which we received a chit. The scenery was quite beautiful and there were many opportunities to see the engine as we twisted down into valleys. The ride to Tupiza was only a few hours and we arrived on time. The meal was a sandwich (ham and cheese of course) and coke, served to us in our seats. Everyone else, who were not as fortunate as us, had to go and sit in a lovely dining car with flowers on the table and silverware as well. Poor folk, having to suffer while us upper class types had our sandwiches in our seats.
Tupiza has a great market on Thursday which made Joy very happy, so after we hiked up into a canyon to view some great scenery, featuring ´fins´which are mountainous slabs of red coloured conglomerate left after erosion, we visited the market. Joy revels in any market that is part of local life and not geared for tourists.
We quite enjoyed the Mitru hotel in Tupiza which is a little more than we wanted to pay, but has a lovely ambience, especially around the pool. Unfortunately, they also have a bar which was near our room and the subject of some revellry, which went well into Saturday morning. I recommend staying there, but not in room 114. It is also the home of Tupiza Tours which seemed to be relatively highly recommended by folks on ´Thorntree´the ´Lonely Planet´posting site. So we also signed up to leave on Saturday morning for a 4 day tour with them. It cost B1200 each which is probably at the top of the prices for this tour, but we were willing to pay a little extra based on their reputation. There are a number of tour agencies in Tupiza and many, many in Uyuni, and choosing is a bit of a crap shoot. We picked well as you will see from my next blog.
Got to go pick up photo cds.
Jim
Given the date I have some catching up to do, so this will be a multi part blog(more than one today, if I can pull it off). First let me correct one of my many spelling mistakes. Last blog I referred to Tupizi when it is Tupiza.
We got our train tickets for Tupiza as I had been looking forward to trying out one of the few Bolivian trains left that provide passenger service. There are 4 trains northbound from Villizon, 2 are express and the other are the Wari Wari. We booked on the express as that was the one available on the day that we were leaving. The Wari Wari is a mixed train and has a reputation of being less reliable. We decided that the price to Tupiza was so reasonable that we would go executive class which included dinner, for which we received a chit. The scenery was quite beautiful and there were many opportunities to see the engine as we twisted down into valleys. The ride to Tupiza was only a few hours and we arrived on time. The meal was a sandwich (ham and cheese of course) and coke, served to us in our seats. Everyone else, who were not as fortunate as us, had to go and sit in a lovely dining car with flowers on the table and silverware as well. Poor folk, having to suffer while us upper class types had our sandwiches in our seats.
Tupiza has a great market on Thursday which made Joy very happy, so after we hiked up into a canyon to view some great scenery, featuring ´fins´which are mountainous slabs of red coloured conglomerate left after erosion, we visited the market. Joy revels in any market that is part of local life and not geared for tourists.
We quite enjoyed the Mitru hotel in Tupiza which is a little more than we wanted to pay, but has a lovely ambience, especially around the pool. Unfortunately, they also have a bar which was near our room and the subject of some revellry, which went well into Saturday morning. I recommend staying there, but not in room 114. It is also the home of Tupiza Tours which seemed to be relatively highly recommended by folks on ´Thorntree´the ´Lonely Planet´posting site. So we also signed up to leave on Saturday morning for a 4 day tour with them. It cost B1200 each which is probably at the top of the prices for this tour, but we were willing to pay a little extra based on their reputation. There are a number of tour agencies in Tupiza and many, many in Uyuni, and choosing is a bit of a crap shoot. We picked well as you will see from my next blog.
Got to go pick up photo cds.
Jim
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