Hikey hikey

Thanks to a handy facebook link from a friend, we read an article in The Age about Condor Trekkers while we were still in Argentina and decided to check it out once we got to Sucre. The non-profit organisation was started by an aussie guy who went through two frustrating years of Bolivian bureaucracy before finally opening the doors to Condor Trekkers a couple of years back.  

The company runs one to four day treks in the mountains outside Sucre- we opted for the three day option since there were already a few peeps signed up. The trek starts at Chataquila, a small chapel at around 3600m, where we had breakfast as the sun came up, and then started walking down the restored Inca Trail, shedding clothes as the temperature rose (and the incline increased!).

The trail follows the River Ravelo, with beautiful views of the multi-coloured valley on both sides and the occasional herd of goats/ cows/ donkeys being coaxed along by their seemingly ancient owners. It’s quite humbling to be labouring up a hill and see a 70 year old lady with rubber sandals overtake you and beat you by several hundred metres.

 

We stopped for lunch and a siesta under the gum trees before beginning the more challenging half of the day’s walk- a fairly constant uphill climb to the crater of Maragua, where we would sleep. The villages inside the crater are supported by Condor Trekkers and the people were very sweetly welcoming as we dragged our asses into Irupampa late in the afternoon.

In the morning we stuffed ourselves with yummy porridge in anticipation of a gruelling walk up out of the crater. Sadly the photos below don't really do justice to the gradient....must get Martijn to work on his camera angles in order to make me look tougher.

At the top though we had amazing views of the whole crater, and even back across to Sucre through a gap in the mountains. After lunch we went to see the famous dinosaur footprints at Niñu Mayu- there are loads of similar prints in the Sucre region and these were pretty impressive I have to say!

The rest of the afternoon was spent slowing making our way down to the village of Potolo, located in a valley and big enough to warrant a small shop which sold beer. Along the way we passed a school where the kids had just finished classes and flocked around the funny group of gringos shrieking and giggling at us (they cracked up when one of the girls lifted her arms and they saw her hairy armpits!).

We arrived into Potolo around 5ish and had a beer in the plaza as a reward for a long day of walking!! Followed by a few more rewards that night….

On the way back to Sucre the next day we were treated to the usual Bolivian love ballads played at top volume. It should be clear just how bad these are when I say that when Ace of Base came on, we were all REALLY happy (even when it was played three times in a row). Happily, the last hour of the trip was a 90's megamix of b-grade hits!! I've had that Be my Lover song (la da da di da da dada) in my head since Thursday....boo : (  Click below and crank it for a quasi- Bolivian bus experience of you own!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0_v__IOrE

Things we love about Sucre

1. El Mercado Central: or more to the point, the fruit salad section. I’ve been dreaming of this market since 2003 and it was awesome to come back and find the same dozen or so ladies, serving huge bowls of fruit, yoghurt and cereal for around $1.20 a throw. I am hoping to counteract what has mainly been a starch diet with a daily visit to the fruit ladies.

 

2. Vertically challenged: granted, Sucre is more than 2500m above sea level, but compared to Potosi and Uyuni it’s fucking tropical. Love, love, love daytime temperatures in the 20’s and waking up to a bedside glass of water that hasn’t frozen over.

3. Mirador de la Recoleta: another place I remembered fondly from last time. Some genius has created a garden paradise with amazing views overlooking the city- and sealed the deal with amazing juices and the best (actually, the only) iced coffees in Bolivia.

Did I mention deck chairs????

4. Condor Trekkers: a great non-profit organisation started by an aussie guy and offering treks throughout the stunning ranges to the north of the city. Fantastic value for money and all proceeds going towards the local communities you visit en route. Great concept, brilliantly executed.

5. Las Delicias: not unique to Sucre, but this version has to be one of the best.  The Torta de Hoja (kind of like a millefeuille) is the most ridiculously indulgent and delicious dessert ever invented- a layer cake of crispy pastry, dulce de leche & nuts.

Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

Yesterday we woke up at 4am in order to walk out of town to one of the hills overlooking the city and ring in the Andean New Year with the local Potosinos. Winter solstice means the start of the New Year to Aymaran and Quechuan people and is celebrated in true Bolivian fashion by lots of pan pipe laden music and LOTS of drinking.

A couple of Bolivian guys who had taken us to the mines swung by the hostel at 4:30am to walk up with us. They went over a few ground rules- one, if someone offers you a drink, you have to drink. Two, if someone asks you to dance, you have to dance. They filled two giant bottled with tea & ‘Bolivian whiskey’ (i.e 96% proof Ceibo) and off we went.

 

At the top of the hill were hundreds of people playing music, drinking and stamping feet waiting for the first rays of the sun. It was freezing, but the hot tea (and toxic booze) helped ward off the cold a little. Once we finished our two bottles we bought more spiked cinnamon flavoured tea…it’s weird, despite the fact that you are basically drinking metho it didn’t seem to get us drunk. Judging by the state of our Bolivian friends though, this is not the case for everyone.

 As the first rays of the sun peek over the horizon, the local shaman performs a ritual, sacrificing a llama, throwing its blood over the crowd and then, bizarrely, blowing up the animals lungs so that they resemble a giant horn.

Then all the people in the crowd turn to the sun with their hands up, waiting to receive the sun’s energy and presumably, good fortune for the year to come.

Once the sun had properly risen, we walked down the other side of the hill to a small village where the drinking and dancing continued. We abandoned Bolivian whiskey in favour of beers & chicha (a fermented maize beer tradition across Bolivia & Peru) and boogied in the plaza with the locals.

 

Eventually our Bolivian mates became so wasted they were no longer capable of coherent conversation and we decided to head back to the city!!

I love you man

Potosi, Potosi, Potosi

At every bus station in Bolivia, scores of touts stand around chanting the name of their bus’s destination, always in threes and always in quite a high pitched, plaintive voice. In Uyuni (where we finished up the Salar tour), people generally head to either Potosi or La Paz, so you get a kind of song-in-the-round effect as the touts compete for business.

Last time I was here the ride from Uyuni to Potosi took about 8 hours along a bone-shaking dirt road. The road has now been freshly asphalted and the trip now takes half the time!!! Yay!

Potosi is the world’s highest city and was at one time also one of the richest, thanks to Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), which has been pouring out thousands of tons of silver, lead, zinc and tin since the first vein was discovered around 500 years ago. It is said that a bridge of pure silver could have been built between Potosi and Madrid with the amount that the Spaniards extracted (plundered); certainly the architecture of the city hints at far more affluent times.

 

We did a tour of the mines, which I wouldn’t exactly say was enjoyable…but it was definitely interesting, confronting and made us happy as hell that we’re not Bolivian miners.

We bought presents for the miners- coca leaves, cigerettes and…..Ceibo, Bolivian booze with a brain damaging 96% alcohol. As we chatted to some of the miners inside the mines, our guide presented them with the gifts and then invited us to share some Ceibo with them. Christ- the shit is so potent it evaporates on your lips almost before you can get it down you (which is a blessing). Nothing like working in already dangerous conditions when you’re hopped up on metho!! My favourite part was when our guide tried to convince us that Ceibo is actually better for you than other alcohol because it’s PURE!! Right!!

 

Surrealism in Bolivia

Almost everyone who comes to Bolivia does a tour across the Salar de Uyuni- it’s one of the most unique, surreal and incredible landscapes on earth. Coloured lagoons, towering volcanic peaks, flamingos, vicunas and more than 12,00km2 of flat, white salt plains create a bizarre dreamy world where only the unbelievably brutal cold brings you back you reality!

 

We left Tupiza Tuesday morning, travelling southwest through the last of the regions crazy rock formations before climbing up to 4400m and crossing the pass to descend slowly past herds of llamas and tiny pueblitos, arriving into San Antonio de Lipez late in the afternoon. All around the village were huge snow capped peaks- which seem even bigger when you remember that you’re already over 4km above sea level.

Day two we woke up at 6am in time to see a deep pink sunrise, which was so beautiful it almost made up for the fact that it was well below zero and f-ing freezing. Our first stop was Pueblo Fantasma (Ghost Town), a village which was abandoned in 1993 after the residents heard various hauntings, which sent a few people crazy. The village had been founded by the Spanish, who kept the local population as virtual slaves as they were forced to extract the gold & silver of the surrounding hills…a fairly common theme across Bolivia. We saw viscachas bounding across the fallen walls of the old church and buildings, which helped ward off the slightly creepy feeling the destroyed village had.

 

After lunch we arrived at the Aguas Calientes (thermal springs), stripped as fast as possible and jumped in the heavenly 35 degree water. It was bizarre sitting there, sweating in the steam, with snowy mountains and a frozen lake just a few metres away.

That night we stayed at Laguna Blanca, where the wind was absolutely howling and the temperature must have dropped to around -15 or so. Even Martijn’s rum couldn’t keep the chill off.

Day three we headed to El Desierto del Dali, named after the world’s most famous surrealist and for obvious reasons- a huge sandy expanse strewn with enormous volcanic rock formations; all that was missing was a melting clock.

 

We got to visit the thermal pools again to warm up before lunch, and then continued to Sol de Manana Geysers, the highest point of the tour at 5000m. The geysers belch clouds of sulphurous gases and the bubbling mud pools reminded me of the Bog of Eternal Stench in Labrynth. Apparently some unlucky bastard fell into one of the deeper craters a few years back and was instantly incinerated- the nod to safety standards in Bolivia means that there is now a small advisory sign (which you don’t see until you have already walked all around the craters).

 

Our third night was spent on the shores of Laguna Colorada, in exactly the same hostal that I stayed in last time I did the tour! This time though, the lake looked an amazing deep red and there were hundreds of flamingos feeding at the edge. Here’s an interesting fact for you- flamingos are born a greyish-white colour and only acquire the pink tinge from the pigment of the various minerals they feed on. So the pinker a flamingo, the greedier he probably is!!

Day four we drove along a string of different lagoons, one of which was filled with very tame and relaxed flamingos, quite amazing considering how nervous they usually are. Between the four of us we must have taken a million pics of flamingos feeding, flying, prancing and preening- they are very elegant and picturesque subjects!!

 

That night we stopped in a village where they actually sold beer, and as such, we felt compelled to buy lots.

On our last day we left before dawn, driving across the Salar de Uyuni to arrive at Isla Incahuasi just in time to race to the top of the island to watch the sunrise. There are about 35 ‘islands’ spread across the Salar but Incahuasi is the favourite among tour companies & tourists for its huge and spectacular cactus, the tallest one at over 9m. As the sky brightens, the huge white expanse of the Salar becomes evident and massive cactus are silhouetted against the horizon- definitely one of the most memorable sights you will ever see.

After breakfast we played some Frisbee to warm the extremities and then headed off to take some silly pics, the flat white background ideal for distorting perspective.

 

 

  

The Rum Diaries Part V

Our first ever taste of Panamanian rum….and we liked it!!!! Ron Abuelo was super tasty, and appreciated even more once we hit 4000m and the nights got down to minus temperatures!! At around $12.50 a bottle, I think this one will be getting a reprisal before we leave Bolivia.

The Rum Diaries Part IV

The Rum Diaries seem to need almost constant updating!! It´s going to be scary to see how many bottles we get through in a year! This one was Methusalem, a Cuban brand but made in Bolivia. The price alone should have sent a warning- about $6- not to mention the dodgy photocopied label and painted bottle cap. Oh well, it didn´t make us blind (in either sense of the word) so I guess we came out on top!

This is Martijn´s sceptical face!!

Iruya

The village of Iruya must be one of the most isolated spots in Northern Argentina. There is just one dirt road leading in, which snakes over a 4000m pass before descending through a seemingly endless series of switchbacks to the village (2780m above sea level); despite being just 55 odd kilometres from Humahuaca, the trip took over 3 hours.

The day we arrived it was bitterly cold, the clouds having descended to street level. We spent the day not so bravely huddled under three llama blankets, emerging briefly for dinner, before diving back under the covers. The hostess of our Casa Familia did some washing that afternoon and hung it out on the clothesline- the following morning we found it frozen solid…making us feel at least a little bit justified in our hibernation.

The next morning the sun eventually made an appearance, transforming the gloomy valley & craggy peaks into a beautiful, colourful vista on all sides.

 

The Rum Diaries Part III

This one was a bit of a cheat, and we are claiming medicinal, rather than exploratory purposes. Bacardi Oro is hardly interesting, or even particularly good, but it was close to freezing, and we needed warming. It did the job.