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