April 2017

Uyuni

Absolutely stunning. Difficult to describe...magnificent...12.000 square kilometres of salt. White until it gets lost in the horizon, we travelled in a 4x4 at 100 km per hour, crossing the "salar". Then, as if this view wasn't crazy enough we stepped into Incahuasi island. An island in the middle of the "salar", covered in vegetation...cactus of 10 mts! To finish the excursion, an incredible sunset reflecting on the "water"...that is 5 cm of water that covers the "salar" as leftovers from the rain. The colors we saw here...full of reds and pinks...and the few cars and the mountains reflecting like mirrors on the water. After a full day we were tired but wanting more!

And so, the day after, we took our bikes and off we went to the "salar" again! The noise of the bike in the salar is something I would never forget. It was as if we were riding on thin ice and it was about to crack open at every second! Something amazing is the shapes of hexagons that forms the salar. It looks like mosaics! We ended up again in the hostel of salt, and then we searched for the "water". During the day it look like ocean!. Decided to take a shortcut, we ended in tons of mud and the last 10 km was heavy going. We got into our home after 6 hours of riding, no lunch, bit of water, covered in salt, desperate for food and rest....what a unique experience!!!!!!!!!!!

Arrived in Tiahuanacu, a place Hector wanted to visit because of the important archaeological site. About 70 km of La Paz. After a full day of visit and half day trying (almost in vain) to cook a BBQ (the lack of oxygen at such a high altitude!) we heard a knock on the door and soon enough we found ourselves talking with this native family who needed some help to bring about a community project; that is showing tourist how their ancestors and still they live today.

La Paz

There is no better way to learn and to experience a place like doing it with the locals! Such a great opportunity. We took a minibus and we started our “tour” on the San Francisco church, walking up and down all the hills to the main square, the government house and the courts; spend some light time in the Bolivian musical instrument museum and walked though the Jaen street, a street very similar to a cute European place. A stop to eat some “saltenias” (empanadas) and off to the biggest street market in south America! And how do you reach 4,500 mts altitude? By cable cars! The cable cars here are used like the buses. Such a great way to see La Paz!!! All the houses against the side of the mountains, all of bare brick colors- you have to pay more taxes if you paint the houses!- The markets are such a crazy place! You can find from cars to toothpicks and everything you could ever need! By the time we finish seeing just a tiny bit of the market we are exhausted! Thanks to our hosts- uni graduates in turism that we met in Tiahuanaco!!!!

Copacabana, Lake Titicaca

I am writing this overlooking the magnificent lake from the edge of a mountain and the snowy mountains further down. Reflecting on the incredible few days we just experienced.

So eager to see/be in the water again; I just keep my breath in suspense when I see the big promenade in front of me. Huge disappointment as the rubbish around is difficult to avoid. But it is a great spot to just relax and if we move a few hundred meters away from the main street then it is a bit better. And the main attraction is to catch a boat and cross to Isla del Sol. Which we did. I said "we" as our friends are back! And "we" minus Hecti who has flown to BsAs for a week to be with his mum who is sick :(

There is such a beautiful view from Isla del Sol and we slept just on the cliff overlooking the bay. We ventured into a walk up to the other side of the island; always moving just a tad slow given the altitude. At this stage, after more than a month in high altitudes I am wondering when we will get back to "normal".