Bolivia is probably famous for the world´s most highest everything and coca of course- with the highland areas (where I am at the minute) being completely isolated and rugged. Drove for hours over 3000m above sea level into the Andean chain of mountains called the Cordilleras. The drive was through dirt tracks with rubble everywhere & the journey was bumpy as hell - anything above you on the truck fell off and hit your head. Open the windows and the dust and dirt blew in choking us all.
Arrived in a small town off the gringo trail, called Tupiza, high up in the altipano. Everyone here looked completely depressed and sad. Even the murals on the wall have them all frowning. I don´t blame them with some of their dress sense and the fact that most of their restaurants are pizzerias that all look exactly the same. The older women or ´cholitas´wear bowler hats, pleated skirts, llama wool leggings and groovy cardgians with two plaits on either side of their heads. They all look the same also. I wonder if they wake up in the morning and have a hissy fit as to what shade of black bowler to wear?
To be honest, I haven´t found the highlanders very warm and welcoming. One woman spat at our truck and another was shaking her fist at us & they were the only two I managed to see. Lots of us have been screwed over a good few times when buying things. My recent one was in an internet cafe and the guy tried to charge me quadruple the price, but I caught him out and he near died..ha,ha..the shite. Four apples the other day cost me the equivalent of an arm and a leg to the locals, but there´s not much you can do when they don´t have prices on anything and your Spanish is rubbish.
My highlight of Tupiza was watching a parade up the local street with two friends. The men and women dressed up and played musical instruments - their dance composed of three side steps and a twirl whilst waving their hands and weaving their way up the streets to the same music over and over again. One wee man grabbed my hand and had me dancing in the street with him. He was the first I saw to smile also, so that was nice! The locals watching didn´t applaud and they all looked really peeved watching it...maybe antidepressants haven´t reach this country yet.
Drove, or maybe I should say, bounced for 10 hours yesterday through the isolated, bumpy, dusty,mountains filled with cacti all the way to Uyani - a town famous for its salt flats and coldness. No trip would be the same without stopping at a ´Servo ´ Station again for toilet stops etc...well, my God, never again. Most of us saw the state of the toilets, near vomited and decided it was more hygienic to go into the bushes. One of the girls on the truck shouts out "This country just smells of piss!" - quality!
No trip to Bolivia would be the same without trying coca leaves. One of the fellas bought a bag and shared it on our long (smelling of urine) journey through the mountains. Coca is completely legal here (unlike it´s derivative, cocaine) and is neither harmful or addictive and is meant to be high in iron and vitamins and wards of hunger, cold and keeps you alert over high altitudes. Some of us decided to have a few leaves to help with altitude sickness (as we were climbing to over 4000m) and help with the sheer bordom of being thrown around the truck like rag-dolls. We looked like cows chewing the cud. It wasn´t very tasty and numbed our gums for a bit & I managed to get a few mouth ulcers (??)..A throat losenge would have done a better job.
Heading to even higher altitudes tomorrow, to the highest town on earth - over 4200m above sea level - Potosi and then after that to La Paz. Looking forward to going to lower levels into the big city of La Paz (and the ´Death Road mountain biking), where the lowlanders are meant to be more warming and welcoming to strangers...and more smiles maybe?..here´s hoping!
What amazing adventures Mary, keep the stories coming. Tupiza sounds a bit like our office... btw have you got a sore head with all that bumping around?
ReplyDeleteHead´s constantly sore with the altitude here!
ReplyDeleteYour office sounds like some fun alright - not!!