havecarryonwilltravel

Our hotel in Villa Mar.

We blow into a village, not much different from any of the other villages. Car turns off the main four wheel drive track and there is a non descript building ahead. The driver says ‘hotel’ and we pile out onto a dusty parking lot. The wood door we enter through could be hung on any of the adobe houses in town. The lobby is the first indication we are in a special building. This place is really nice. In fact it is beyond nice. Our hotel for the night has decor to match any boutique hotel in any city in the world. The rooms are furnished funky stuff that give it real character. Wow, who woulda thought. And this happens over and over.

We were warned that in the spring and fall and anytime really, on the altiplano, it can be very hot in the day and really cold at night. We came prepared for this each bringing long underwear tops and bottoms as PJ’s. The hotels did have heat we could access but the thing is they have these amazingly heavy, amazingly warm wool  blankets. I do not know how anyone could be cold under covers such as these.

The days are sunny and the sun is hot but there is this icy wind that blows through. So even though you think you should be hot it is quite cool. The ladies for the most part are wearing puffy jackets even with the noon day sun over head. Something I was not quite prepared for is the dust. We stomp it up when we walk, it blows up with the wind, we sit in it and it seeps in all the cracks and crannys of the car when we drive on the road. A shower is in order before dinner every day.

The altitude is silly. When we left Santa Cruz we were at 416M. Nothing to fret about. A couple of days later we are in Sucre at about 2800M. Another couple of days and we arrived at Potosi, 4090M. We then dropped to 3650M in Uyuni. After that we went higher and higher until today we topped 5000M for a part of the drive to Chile. Last night we again slept at over 4000M in a small village of Villa Mar. It was last night the elevation finally got to a couple of troop. N and T both had headaches at supper so Liz treated them with 15 minutes of oxygen. A didn’t have a very good night and received oxygen in the morning. The thing about altitude sickness is there is no way to determine who will be affected and when it will be a bother. Fortunately O2 is available all over the altiplano and our guide just happened to have a couple of bottles with us. A few breaths of oxygen can do wonders! Once we crossed the border into Chile, the road went down, a long way down, 2000M lower then we had travelled today and that drop seemed to alleviate the problems for our friends.

Our journey is planned to take in a sight or two on the way to San Pedro de Atacama. The most spectacular today is the Laguna Verde, (Green Lagoon), and man is it green. There is arsenic in the minerals in the lake and when the wind stirs up the chemicals they display the most vivid green color. In contrast to the cloudless blue sky it is a jaw dropping sight.

Laguna Verde

The mountains here are somewhat different than the Rockies of western Canada. The mountains at home are not nearly as high in meters above sea level but may be as tall from the base to the tip. The big difference is the ruggedness. The mountains in BC and Alberta are jagged, sharp edged and mostly rock faced. Here they are much softer. The features are rounded and even though the tops are above treeline there seems to plant growth to the top. These are no less impressive just different.

This country is full of contradictions and suprises. Every day, every hour we experience something new and different.

We are off the bus, not even figuratively. The bus took us as far a Uyuni and we traded it in for 3-4 wheel drives. Yesterday was across the salt flats. Just shy of 4000M. We get on the salt and it is a b line to our destination. No lines, no signs, no speed limits and the smoothest damn road you will find anywhere. It is like travelling on a concrete road but without the regular clack, clack of the construction joints. We spend most of the day on a canvas of white.  Even though the surface is hard, the vision is soft like freshly fallen snow or a top of a cloud as seen from an airplane.

Today we are to travel the Ruta Laguna. This is real 4 wheeling. Two track roads that braid across terrain with absolutely no indication as to where we are going except the tracks under tire. Up and down, bounce, bounce, sand, rock, grassy sections, and every centimetre untraversable by any other type of vehicle.

Laguna Canapa

Laguna Canapa, our first flamingo gathering place. Hundreds of photos taken. I have seen flamingos before in a few places but they are usually far away and only distinguishable with a telephoto lens or field glasses.

Laguna Hedionda

Laguna Hedionda is also about flamingos. Only hundreds more and very, very close. Hundreds more photos taken. Three kinds of flamingos ply these waters, Flamenco Andino (Andean), Flamenco Chileno (Chilean), and Flamenco James (James). Everyone is impressed, the birds are so close and their colors are so vivid. It is going to be hard to top this and we have just started.

More treacherous roads, if they can be called roads. It is well after noon and we are headed to lunch. All of a sudden we are on a super highway. Gravel, but as flat as can be and wide enough for two lanes and shoulders. A short while later we arrive at Laguna Turquiri, the black lagoon, guess what? the water is black! As far as we can make there is no creature. The tables and chairs are brought out and we have lunch overlooking the lagoon. Somewhat like an 19th century picnic for the aristocracy.

Laguna Turquiri

Lunch finished and we are off to our last destination for the day. Amazing enough we head north on the super highway again. Soon we turn right and onto a double track, driving closer to the massive lava flow we have been driving amongst for the past hour or more. The cars pull up at a place of no apparent importance. A short 15 minute walk and in front of us lays the most beautiful laguna we have seen today. Laguna Catal, the water is bordered by 15M vertical walls of lava rock, the sun is low in the sky behind the wall and setting, creating deep shadows and reflecting off the water.

Laguna Catal

The hotel is a big suprize. A funky place in a totally non descript village. The drive was tough but the sights are worth every body shaking bump.

Our room for the night!

Today is market day. Anyone travelling in southern Bolivia has heard of the Tarabuco Sunday Market. Most towns shut down on Sunday. Tarabuco opens it doors. It is our first intersection with the tourist trail.  We have not seen this many tourist since Miraflores over a week ago.

Tarabuco Market

The market is very big. It has out grown two market buildings and fills about 4 square blocks of the surrounding streets. Terabuco is at the intersection of roads heading in all directions and all that live along those roads congregate to ply their wares and purchase what is needed. It is a bit of an unusual market as a good portion of the commerce taking place is barter. A farmer with his wheat for sale will trade another seller for what ever they have, say potatoes, and completely skip the cash stage.

Selling coca leaves.

Our whole group splits up and we all go about purchasing something we see that has tweeked our interest or something quite ordinary we might need. T heads off to buy a razor as his seems to have waundered off at the last hotel we stayed at. He finds a pack of 2 for about a $1.50. N went off in search of some things on her list, ogled a ‘jumper’ and in the end decided not to buy it. Debbie wanted to find a table cloth to add to the collection at home. She thought a woven piece of fabric might be nice but we have a hard time finding one large enough. After traversing every street a second time we find a suitable piece, bargin a bit and make a solid purchase for about $12.

Back Carrier used by locals.

Onward to Sucre. Upon arriving in town we head straight for Parque Cretacico. The highlight of this park is a huge vertical wall imprinted with dinasaur footprints. I was personally quite disappointed. The wall is 300M away across a gorge made by the excavations of a cement plant. The prints are visable, but barely, and definately not identifiable as the markings of a bygone era. There is several castings of the prints in the park’s buildings and one real chunk of rock with four prints on it that are more what I was expecting and worth a look but the rest of the place I would give a pass.

Dinosaur footprints.

All in all not a hard day with the market being the highlight. Debbie and I have visited many markets, in many different places but I think Tarabuca, although quite ordinary in some ways, is one of the most impressive. The sheer size of it, and the variety of goods available is worth the visit.

The last two days have basically been a road trip. 7 or 8 hours each day seated in a 4 wheel drive. Road conditions vary greatly. The roads from Samaipata are mostly paved but in poor repair. The majority of yesterday’s journey is one lane gravel roads in very rough shape. We went through pass after pass using steep switch backs. Today we started on the same gravel roads and then progressed to recently constructed cobblestones and on to a super highway (two narrow lanes) of newly paved asphalt.

Part of out route through Bolivia.

The switchback roads traversed mountain pass after mountain pass. I have to guess it has been at least 15 passes and valleys. We also passed through as many ecosystems. From out and out desert, to pine tree forests, to the altiplano.

Yesterdays objective was to follow the Ruta de Che. Che Guevara was captured and executed in Bolivia. After accomplishing the goal of revolutionizing Cuba he wanted to convert the whole of South America to socialism. The idea was to start in the center, Bolivia, and work out to the edges conquering one bit at a time.

Two bands of revolutionaries, with a total of only 52 fighters, set out to recruit the local Bolivian population to join in and take over the existing government then handing control to the people. In August 1967 the first group of fighters was found and all were killed in a battle with the Bolivian army. On October 8, the army, with help from a local farmer, located Che’s group. Four of the group were killed in the ensuing battle, Che and two others were taken prisoner. The next day an order from the CIA to execute the prisoners was carried out and they were shot in a school house in La Higuera. Their bodies were helicoptered to the near by city of Vallegrande and put on display to show the world Bolivia had helped to rid the globe of a menace. I suppose it is debatable as to whether or not socialism is a system that should be thrust upon any population and/or if in fact it would be a better system than what is in place and your opinion on this would be what you base whether or not Che was a hero but he was a champion of the poor and many love him for that. I would venture to guess he is more of a hero because the CIA was sticking their nose in what was not really their business resulting in a folk hero being snuffed.

Point of interest, I asked our Spanish speaking driver if che had any meaning in Spanish. I’m quite sure he said, Che is a sort of slang used to describe an Argentinian. A perfectly good reason to call Ernest, ‘Che’.

Besides again passing through some amazing countryside our one task enroute is to visit the world’s largest charango, a type of Bolivian guitar. When we enter the museum where it is kept I am surprised to find this thing is a real cheranga. It can be played and is on special occasions. It takes four people to make music, 3 to work the frets and 1 to strum and pick. It is 6M long and 1.5M wide. It was made by a sculptor but with help from an engineer, and several other experts to make sure it makes the proper sound.

Our convoy of 4 wheel drives pulls into our next destination about 4.30 pm. A hacienda, first built in the 1600’s in the smallish town of Candelaria, more or less south of Sucre. This is where we say good bye to our chauffeurs of the last 2 days as we are stationed here for the next 2 nights.

Candelaria Hacienda

Shortly after we arrive the other two guests E & S get back from their outing. They are geologists studying the rocks of the area. Soon they are part of our group and we sit in the kitchen (the warmest room in the place) and chat while dinner is being made. Moving to the dining room our conversation traverses many subjects and you would think we had been friends for a long time.

Our group of 7 J,J,A,N,S,T, Debbie and I ,and our guide Liz. Have gelled quite well. Every single person has travelled extensively and we all trade stories of other places. From my point of view it does create a bit of a problem. We already have a list of too many places to visit before we die and the list is getting longer. It is amazing the ideas that are presented. Some of course are easier. Japan, always exotic and not hard to travel in so it seems natural for it to on a list of to be visited. Then North Korea pops up, I would never have thought of going to NK with the crazy person they have for a leader but T insists it is not only a good place to consider but should be upgraded to a must.

Our day ends with setting a shower schedule so we don’t blow a breaker drawing too much electricity with the on demand hot water heaters. The road conditions will not be much of a concern tomorrow as we stay put.