Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) - Highlight of my trip

After traveling for so long, it is hard to believe that a site can generate such enthusiasm from me. I was slowly getting numb to "must-see" places, but low and behold, Uyuni and the desert of Atacama have jaw-dropping abilities!!! It left me, even for a weary traveler, with jaw-dropping impressions and renewed my curiosity for travel !!! Perhaps this is exactly what I neede to do a facelift to my spent/weary spirit.

The Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia, the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km2 and at an altitude of 3,656m altitude. When one visits the Uyuni Salt Flat, one must visit the complete tour which includes a 3 days tour which encompass impressive sceneries of virgin desert landscape unaltered by human with snow-capped mountains, lakes inhabited by elegant pink flamingos, two famous lakes, one that is pristine transluscent apple-green and the other blood-red!, incredulous rock formations formed and shaped by the wind over time, natural geysers and thermal spring!!!

The tour starts from the town of Uyuni, at an altitude of 3,670m up to desert area of over 4,000m. The sceneries one encounter during the whole trip, is one of the most incredible I've ever seen. It never ends to impress me. And I thought that my last 72hrs+ bus ride from the coast of Peru to Buenos Aires was beautiful (see pics on right column Across the desert : Peru to Argentina by road), but no... this trip blew me away. I think the most impressive part is to realize that there are still such pristine, undisturbed natural beauty, that human kind has not yet come to destroy... hence the beauty remains. Probably also due to the desert characteristics, human are not usually attracted to extremely dry area :)  For those of you who are reading this, Bolivia has such undiscovered, untampered natural beauties waiting to be discovered!!!  No wonder I fell in Bolivia the minute I stepped foot onto this country. To this day, I am still fascinated by what it has to offer, in terms of nature, different climates tropics, subtropics, altiplano, rainforests (yes, Bolivia has a part of the amazon as well!) and the weather varies a lot also due the altitude. A country that has so much to offer!!! :)

Of course any trip/tour is enhanced by the company. Since day 1, I was put in together on a Jeep with 6 Chileans, all very friendly, on the contrary of some stereotype :o They've made my trip, one that is very enjoyable to remember. These Chileans taught me a lot of the colloquial wordings specific to Chileans, and even themselves told me that although Chile is one of the most developped countries in South America, their citizens do not make a good example of their education as they are probably the nation in South American whom uses the most street jargon... to the point where they sound uneducated!

If anyone is planning to head for this trip, just be aware that the sun is really hot during the day and the evenings are BITTERLY COLD! One evening when we stayed at above 4,000m at a simplistic lodging where at such altitude, desert like weather, with no heating... it is realllyyyyy cold !!! In such conditions, would have been great to sleep hugging a loved one... where is he when I needed him!?! And of course, forget about shower... there is no such thing in the desert accomodations. One is lucky to have electricity, and forget about hot water also...

Although the conditions are a bit extreme, the beauties one witness makes you forget every discomfort caused by weather, actually it makes you feel and appreciate the presence of nature. Especially on day 2, after waking up at 4am in order to watch the geysers before sunrise, we were rewarded to a dip in a natural thermal spring in the altitudes :)  Dipped in thermal hot spring surrounded by incredible scenery in the altitudes, with no other living beings around (except for the hordes of tourists but still not that much compare to Peru!), is a feeling that one has to LIVE it to know it, a sensation of elation and connection with the purest of what nature has to offer... A MUST !!!

Carnaval de Oruro, Bolivia!

When one hears Carnaval, everyone thinks of the Carnaval de Río de Janeiro in Brazil, or what I'd refer to as "A display of silicon", whereas the Carnaval of Gualeyguaychú in Argentina (which is basically the same type of Carnaval but in a smaller scale and more recent creation), and that of Bolivia, which is a cultural heritage

The Carnaval of Oruro in Bolivia, is simply the biggest event in Bolivia!! Without really knowing exactly when I should arrive in Oruro, and with incredible luck on my side, I ended up in a Bolivian home in Oruro, celebrating the biggest festival in Bolivia with Bolivians whom treated me like a family member :) Knowing locals saved me the trouble of booking for ultra expensive lodging during peak season, and got to see the Carnaval genuinely with Orureños (people from Oruro), whom spoke and explained to me their passion and the pride for this sacred weekend of the year. Unlike other carnaval, the one in Oruro is actually a pilgrimage and a folkloric expression. The dancers prepare anywhere from 3 months to a  year for this Carnaval. This ain't no easy feast as Oruro, a mining town, is situated at an altitude of 3,706m, and the dancers dance along an upward climbing path of 8-10km, which ends in the church of the central plaza. Once arrived at the church, the dancers kneel and proceed kneeling through the church all the way in front of the Virgin of Socavón in order to pray for favor, anything but monetary. The love of Bolivians and their dedication to dancing is beautifully displayed in this Carnaval!!! Young and old, men and women, dance to the songs dedicated to the Virgin of Socavón!! Ok perhaps it is just me, but I'm a sucker to men whom can and willing to dance!! Very impressive and fascinating Carnaval :) Truly one of a kind and not enough publicized!

The pilgrimage started around 7am on Saturday, March 6 and the procession goes on until around 3am. On this day, the dancers do not partake in the audience's beer drinking dance fest but solely dedicate on their dedication. However, on the Sunday, March 7, it was party for all :) The audience are also allowed to come down and take pictures with the dancers and dance amongst them. I learnt a few steps from the dancers as well !! They were all super friendly and willing to share a moment of their fame with us with a few snapshots for me to bring home. One of them even thanked me for partaking in this beautiful Carnaval. It is a party not to be missed!!!

By speaking with the locals, I found out that Bolivians, although the poorest country of South America, locals save all year in order to dance in this Carnaval. The inscription fee starts from $200US. The more important the character of the dance, the pricier it is, such as the angel in the "Diablada" dance for instance. Additionally, every year the costume has to be made new, thus the cost of it also starts around $200US. For dancers that are out of town, will have to come to Oruro for the dance practices as well!! Just to put it into perspective, minimum wage in Bolivia per month is a little over $100 dollar a month. This only goes to show how dedicated they are to this Carnaval and how important it is to Bolivians!

The whole preparation was a bit last minute, but Pepe, Gustavo and I managed to find last minute transportation from the village where we were, Villa Tunari, to Cochabamba. Once there, we picked up Gustavo's sister, Kelly, had a quick dinner and were off in a midnight bus to Oruro. We arrived bleary eyed at around 4am and were greated by aunt Nadez and a nice bed to take refuge in. A few hours later, we woke up in order not to miss the Carnaval! We stayed at the home of aunt Nadez, who is the mother of Pepe, whom is the cousin of Gustavo. Incredibly enough, the house of Aunt Nadez is actually RIGHT ON the path of the procession :) We were able to view the Carnaval in the comfort of the house, on the 3rd floor!! When that wasn't enough, Pepe had generously invited us to front seats in front of the church in the central plaza, where the dancers finish their pilgrimage. I really couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the Carnaval !!!

We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the comfort of the home, and delicious meals cooked by aunt Nadez who cooked all day for the family and the extended family. Us 4 were not the only ones of course. There was a constant influx and outflux of people in the house: cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews, nieces, relatives of all kind! and me the adopted niece :) A few times we went out to enjoy grilled "anticuchos", which is a popular grilled skewed meats (all kinds of meat with beef hearts being the most popular) and comes with a boiled potato at the end of the skewer. After the salty food, we'd have a warm api and a pastelito! (described previously in my La Paz post) Yummm!

Although it only lasted two short days, we had the time of our lives!!! Especially that it was the first time for all Gustavo, Kelly and I !!! The Bolivians and I were all thrilled and left exhausted but with a satisfied smile :)


Note: The Carnaval of Oruro came to constitude a model of  "Masterpieces of Oral Heritage and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" (UNESCO)

Bolivia - a jumpstart in the rainy season (Cocha & Torotoro)

(For more pics, please refer to the link on the right hand portion of the site!)

Cochabamba - Plaza de Colón

Christian de la Concordia

Cochabamba, situated at the center of Bolivia, located at 2574m with spring like weather all year round, probably the most comfortable weather in all of Bolivia. I toured the city with detachment and unperturbed by the beautiful church and the city centre. To me, Cochabamba is a transit city before my next destination. Nonetheless, I visited the biggest statue of Christ in the world (yes, bigger than that of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) called "Cristo de Concordia" up on a hill in Cochabamba.

Other than that, a stroll in "La Cancha" (one of the biggest outdoor market in Bolivia) is always an enjoyable experience where ALL THINGS are sold on the streets, from rolls of toilet paper, to clothes, to cheese and electronics. I was later told that this outdoor market used to be very dangerous, where locals don't even dare to go with a group no less than 4-5 people!! People would shop quickly and leave ASAP, otherwise assaults and robberies happen very often. However, it is a lot better nowadays, a blessing to know!

Interesting episode : The amont of ambulant merchants selling chicklets (unanimously name given for gums), candies, rolls of hygienic papers and popcorns ABOUND in Bolivia, as well as in Peru. To which, I normally declinde politely with a "no, gracias", until today. One mid 20-something youngster approached me with a bag full of kleenex and asked me buy some from him. He first pleaded in with his hands in a prayer position, to which I refused and then approached and kissed me gently on my cheeks. I was a bit stunned by his behaviour and immediately agreed. At that moment, I haven't yet internalized the reason why I agreed, but I felt confused and dazzled. I believe it was partly confusion and a heart-felt human connection. After the purchase, he kissed me again on the cheeks and was about to kiss me on the mouth, out of gratitude?! He said lightly something in English to thank me, and left me dazzled with a pack of scented kleenex in my hand... His forciful marketing scheme worked...

On the day of my birthday, I decided to go Parapenting. I had to get up at 5:3am in order to be on top of the hill by 7am. Since it was still during the rainy season, one needs to get up early before the rain pours down and ruins the day. As we got ready, me strapped in tandem to the instructor in my back, I was instructed to run towards the cliff and keep running into the abyss. The sound of it made me cringe... but as an exemplanary student, I put my instinct in parking, swallowed my doubts and lept...!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......

As soon as the ground disappeared under my feet, we were pulled upward by the warm air. The view downards is that of beautiful greens hill, houses and cattles. The rest of the ride was smooth and serene. As I have no handling work to do, I contended myself to be carried into and out of the clouds. The especially strange feeling was when we rided into the clouds, where up, down, left and dright, every direction I looked, I was floating in white fluffiness! We were riding into the clouds :)

The whole ride lasted less than 15min of swirving up and down, leaping from a height of 2600m.

It was an enjoyable first time experience, however not as I have imagined. I had expected more adrenaline rush, but aside from the initial leap of faith, it was almost too smooth! Bird's eye view or fish's eye view ya say? I much prefer shark's eye view or better, a sea turtle in the ocean, crusing the "underworld" for eternity :)


National Park Torotoro - An authentic virgen paradise

Torotoro lies at 148km from Cochabamba but the local bus ride lasted 6hrs and was later told that we were lucky, as times it lasted up to 9hrs!! Cuz it is pure gravel road and riverbeds. We left Cochabamba on a standard school bus at 6pm, parked at 6:30pm for dinner... (now you know why the ride takes soooo long!), for half an hour, when we continued trodding onto the bumpy road. I vaguely recall waking up several times and saw the 3-4 younsters that were sitting almost directly on the dashboard, getting off several times off the buss, in a rumble, in order to remove some massive size stones out of the road and got back on in a hurry. Other times they got off to give directions in the dark, or to help push the bus through what used to be road but turned into mud by the rain.

The next morning, I woke up to a gorgeous yet serene view of the mountains. Which was a pleasant surprise in the midst of the rainy season! I decided to spend the day crusing through the town and ended at a river crossing, where on the other side, 2 ladies were washing clothes with 2 children playing in the river. She saw me perplexed at the opposite side and waved her hand at me and invited me to cross over, indicating that one must remove the shoes. What a fantastic day it was. I ended up hanging out with her and her daughters all afternoon, shared some crackers with her and her, some cooked potatoes with me as she washes the clothes and i dipped in the river and then sun-bathed with the kids in the sun.

With luck on my side, I met the founder of the National Park of Torotoro, a Bolivian Mason, who is in the process of building the most beautiful hotel in the village, with a touch of arabic artwork. We had a very engaging conversation and he invited me to a typical Bolivian dish called Silpancho, consists of breaded meat covered with a fried egg and salad, the whole sitting on top of a bed of french fries.

That evening, as we parted, he offered me to stay at the blue suite of his hotel, the most elegant and luxurious room (basically the presidential suite!) when he saw the condition of the hostal in which I was staying, lol. It's rather rustic, but I don't mind as I have a nice view of the mountain on the 3rd floor :)

The next 2 days were full of adventure, where the real tour began !!!

• Dinosaur footprints! of biped and quadruped dinosaurs, theropods and sauropods from the cretaceous period 120 million years ago.
• A stunning canyon: where the canyon floor is surrounded by sheer rock faces 250 meters high (watching from above the canyon gave me more vertigo than parapenting!!! I kid you not!)
• Dipped in the refreshing freezing pool and waterfall at the bottom of the canyon
• Walked over stone bridges and a natural stone stage
• Climbed in and out of Cueva Humajalanta, for miles northwest of the town of Torotoro, 4,600 m long and 164 m deep, one of the longest and deepest caves in Bolivia, with stalactites and stalagmites, blind fish and waterfalls.