Chloephaga hybrida. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yendegaia Valley (Chile), Tierra del Fuego Island. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vinciguerra Glacier (Unnamed Peaks : 1315 m, 1116 m, 1254 m, 1205 m) and De Los Tempanos Lake (716 m) (frozen) during the spring – Cordon Vinciguerra, Valley de Andorra, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina. Ramsar site no. 1886. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Torres del Paine from Lake Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

La Paz.

My first impression of La Paz was chaos. I arrived at the bus station in time for morning rush hour.  Through the backseat window of the taxi, I saw people running – running up the hill, down the hill, at intersections, weaving through moving traffic. Goods and baskets of pastries being laid out on the sidewalks amidst the runners. Everyone was running, men in business suits, children in school uniforms, and old cholitas with 2 braids swinging across their backs. Vans acting as mini buses letting people out in the middle of traffic and quickly refilling with new passengers. If someone in the back of the van was getting out, several other riders would step into the street so the person could exit and then they would rush back into the van, new riders running behind them and shouting a destination at the driver. If the van wasn’t going the way they needed, back into the traffic they ran, flagging down another ride.  Movement in the streets never seemed to stop.

Suddenly, I was smiling.

Imagine all the characters here, imagine all the stories this city holds. I was coming from a month of exploring the scenery of Northwestern Argentina and Uyuni and while spending time in nature had been incredible, it was refreshing to be back to the sensory overload that only a large city offers. I’ll share with you a few photos capturing what I saw during my week in La Paz.

Food and Drink

From street cart snacks to several course meals in gourmet restaurants, La Paz has it all. Having been in the area for about a month, I had already had my fill of Bolivian food. A couple weeks of food poisoning and eating crappy food in Uyuni had turned me off but if La Paz is your first stop or only stop in Bolivia then you will want to try the typical Bolivian dishes like salteñas, quinoa, and a variety of soups and chicken and potato based dishes. A great way to do this in La Paz is to walk around at lunch time, almuerzo, around 12-2 pm, and pick a place where lots of locals are eating. You will get a soup, main course and dessert, sometimes with a drink included and it’s a great way to try the typical dishes and also a great way to fill up on food and save money. Steer clear of raw vegetables if you are worried about getting sick and always drink bottled water.

My hotel was in the backpacker’s ghetto where you can find cheap hostals and tourist hangouts. My boyfriend and I had befriended some fellow backpackers so while we usually try to avoid tourist restaurants, in La Paz we spent some time here, watching football matches in the pub or grabbing a couple of Pacenas (a Bolivian beer) at the end of the night. This is the area if you are craving a burger and fries or a proper English breakfast. There are also a fair amount of foreign food places here like Thai, Chinese, Indian and Cuban and a good selection of vegetarian and organic food places. Some of the foreign food places were a big rip off, though. However, since La Paz has a fairly big Japanese population, you can eat authentic, Japanese food outside of the backpacker’s area at fair prices. While I was looking forward to a cultural experience in La Paz, I have to be honest and say the promise of Japanese food was what really lured me in. I got my fill of ramen, gyoza and sushi. Make sure to try the sushi with trucha, fresh trout. Similar to salmon, it is delicious!

If you are staying in a cheap hostal, you won’t have wi-fi in your room so if you want to spend some time on the internet, I recommend going to Blueberries Cafe. Go for lunch so you can try the teriyaki chicken! It seems out of place in a cafe but it’s a Japanese owned establishment and the sauce in this dish is to die for! We had been deprived of decent internet for so long that while I wanted to be out in the city exploring I was also giddy to be wasting a few hours online. Plus, it was rainy season so finding a place to be during the afternoon downpour was key. It had also been a long time since I’d had coffee that wasn’t instant so sitting next to a real espresso machine was heavenly. And in the bathroom there was SOAP, HOT WATER and a HAND DRYER! If you are coming straight from civilization to La Paz, internet, coffee and basic bathroom amenities won’t be exciting for you but if you’ve been backpacking around the region long enough to forget what toilet paper looks like, please come here and indulge! 

Cultural Areas

Depending on what you want to see, La Paz has loads of museums exploring the art, culture and history of Bolivia. Walking around you can also enjoy the colonial architecture, cathedrals, and be sure to check out some local markets, including the Witches’ Market, where you can see plenty of dried llama fetuses as well as find natural “cures” for whatever ails you. Something I didn’t see but that’s worth noting is the “Cholita wrestling” an event that happens in El Alto every Sunday, El Alto being another area you should explore. So, check out some museums of interest and get walking up those hills!

Plaza Murillo features a cathedral, the presidential palace and Congress building. The National Museum of Art is also near, featuring a great display of Bolivian art inside a beautiful, Colonial mansion. I never studied Latin American art in school so I found it informative and interesting to see how art changed as people were colonized and again when they had independence.


Calle Jaen, a street preserved in the Colonial style with a few museums and nice cafes.

VIEWPOINTS

La Paz is one of the world’s highest, elevated cities. So put comfortable shoes on and get climbing up the streets for some spectacular views. As you go up, the neighborhoods get poorer and you will get to how the neighborhoods change and you will also be shamed as you stop to gasp for air and a little old man carrying a heavy pack passes you on the incline.

There you have it! Don’t you want to go explore La Paz now?

So on this beautiful Tuesday 9th of April, we leave early morning Tupiza city to start our journey through the Lipez desert in order to reach four days later the Salar of Uyuni.

Loading the 4×4

On that first day of our road-trip, we will sleep at San Antonio de Lipez at around 4250m, which is higher than we have ever been. Higher as well that the Annapurna Base Camp we « climb » (not drive) last march in Nepal.

Below is the detailed map of our journey: (not easy to realize as there is no marks on google map in that part of Bolivia)

Our first day journey is in blue and end up with the little red bed sign

Nice view from Sillar point of view

Around us is lamas, mines, small villages made of adobe as we keep going up on the altoplano, which is a high « plateau » averaging 3,300m of altitude and being shared between Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Chili (although most of it is in Bolivia)

Copper mine

Through that day, we went through some wonderful places such as the « Ciudad del Encanto ».

Welcome to “La Cuidad del Encanto” at 4,001m

From far, it looks like a city or something else, but this ancient volcano has been reshaped by the wind and the water. Now, you can find funny shapes or some very interesting such as the Cathedral, the monks or the Devil door.

A curtain made by the water and the wind

Inside the cathedral

This rock formations look like monks

This is the main highlight of our day.. We visit during a two hours walk the montain who used to be a hidden place for some of the local during the spanish invasion in South America. As well some stories about devil and noise at night, don’t get you to really want to stay at night.

The lion

Our group (from let to right: Nadine, Lea, Jacques, Naoimh and Anselmo our guide/driver, Caroline takes the picture)

Short gallery on the “Ciudad del Encanto”:

Another nice part of la Ciudad del Encanto

Someone forgot his head

La ciudad del Encanto

Detail of the natural bridge, la Ciudad del Encanto

Jacques on top of it

Panoramic

Overview from the top quite impressive

It is funny to see how the water create these shapes

Caro hidding behing one of these strange shapes

Some parts have perfect shape

This old volcano got quite hot as you can see the red colour (brick)

Inside the cathedral

The water work is amazing

Girls pausing

Us

Caro

We end up the day in the small village of San Antonio de Lipez, where during dinner time a kid comes to play one of the traditionnal instrument of Bolivia: the flute.

Before arriving ot San Antonio de Lipez

We won’t spend our best night at 4250m.

Below more pics of our first day of road trip in Bolivia:

Our first stop…

Group of lamas

Detail above the door

The little village of Cerillo

Caro

Mining truck coming to Cerrillo to pick-up the copper extracted

On the way to San Antonio de lipez where we will spend our first night at 4,100m

Straight road

Almost there and the sun goes down pretty quickly

Before arriving ot San Antonio de Lipez

The small village of San Antonio de Lipez

Us around the 5pm pre-diner

Blog you soon,

Jacques and Caro

Conchi nos explica entre otras cosas el sentido de este “pincho dulce

Os presentamos unas fotos de lo que fue el domingo 5 de “mayo en la parroquia de la Santa Cruz, Burgos.

La experiencia está siendo muy cálida y la respuesta por parte de todos aún mas. Hemos podido disfrutar la gran solidaridad que se respira en estas dos parroquias, La Santa Cruz y San Nicolás.

Avalancha solidaria

(…por cierto tienen un coro fabuloso…)

Por eso desde nuestro más sincero sentir 

MUCHAS GRACIAS

Nous quittons donc Tupiza le lendemain de notre arrivée en Bolivie c’est à dire le mardi 9 avril. De là, se profilent 4 jours de road-trip dans le désert du Lipez pour rejoindre à la fin du trip le Salar d’Uyuni.

Loading the 4×4

A la fin de cette première journée, nous dormirons au petit village de San Antonio de Lipez, situés à 4250m d’altitude, soit plus haut que le Camp de Base de l’Annapurna au Népal que nous avons fait en mars dernier (en marchant, pas en 4×4…)

Voila notre itinéraire détaillé de nos 4 jours de road trips sur Google Map (pas facile à réaliser étant donne qu’il n’y a aucun repère sur Google Map):

En bleu est notre première journée qui se termine par un petit lit rouge qui montre le village où nous dormons.

Nice view from Sillar point of view

Autour de nous, ce ne sont que cactus, lamas, poussière et roches mais aussi paysages magnifiques au fur et à mesure que nous grimpons et roulons sur l’altiplano, ce plateau gigantesque perché à une altitude moyenne de 3300 mètres qui se partage entre 4 différents pays, l’Argentine, la Bolivie, le Pérou et le Chili (mais dont la majeure partie se trouve en Bolivie)

Copper mine

La principale attraction de la journée est la visite de La « Cuidad del Encanto ».

Welcome to “La Cuidad del Encanto” at 4,001m

De loin, cela ressemble à un ville mais de près, on découvre le travail d’orfèvre réalisé par les éléments (l’eau et le vent) pour modeler cet ancien volcan. La cathédrale, les moines, ou la porte du diable nous font penser à une ancienne colonie légendaire.

A curtain made by the water and the wind

Inside the cathedral

This rock formations look like monks

Pourtant cet endroit a servi de repère aux irrésistibles hommes des andes contre l’envahisseur espagnol. On y raconte qu’on pouvait le traverser sous terre tout en restant sur son cheval.

The lion

Our group (from let to right: Nadine, Lea, Jacques, Naoimh and Anselmo our guide/driver, Caroline takes the picture)

Petite galerie sur la Ciudad del Encanto:

Another nice part of la Ciudad del Encanto

Someone forgot his head

La ciudad del Encanto

Detail of the natural bridge, la Ciudad del Encanto

Jacques on top of it

Panoramic

Overview from the top quite impressive

It is funny to see how the water create these shapes

Caro hidding behing one of these strange shapes

Some parts have perfect shape

This old volcano got quite hot as you can see the red colour (brick)

Inside the cathedral

The water work is amazing

Girls pausing

Us

Caro

Nous finissons notre journée dans notre petit village de San Antonio de Lipez où pour le diner un petit garçon vient nous jouer de la flute andine..

Before arriving ot San Antonio de Lipez

Nous ne ne passerons pas notre meilleure nuit à 4250m.

Petite galerie de notre première journée de Safari:

Our first stop…

Group of lamas

Detail above the door

The little village of Cerillo

Caro

Mining truck coming to Cerrillo to pick-up the copper extracted

On the way to San Antonio de lipez where we will spend our first night at 4,100m

Straight road

Almost there and the sun goes down pretty quickly

Before arriving ot San Antonio de Lipez

The small village of San Antonio de Lipez

Us around the 5pm pre-diner

Demain notre étape sera plus longue étant donne que nous partons sur les coups de 5h du matin.

After our tour of the salt flats and night in the isolated but quaint little city of Uyuni, we were excited to be headed to a big city again. We had consulted a map and our trusty Lonely Planet Guide and decided that Potosi would be the perfect place for a stopover on our way to Sucre, where we were planning on basing ourselves for a few weeks.

Unsure of the bus system in Bolivia after having read some interesting reviews, we decided to be safe and purchase our tickets the night before to ensure we wouldn’t be stuck in Uyuni for the rest of our lives. When we arrived to catch our bus, however, this apparently didn’t count for much and we were told that our bus had been cancelled. Luckily, there was another bus due to leave only an hour later so after being forced to pay the ticket difference (the next bus just so happened to be premium) we were on our way.

The bus itself was comfortable- although not quite up to the same standards as those in Chile and Argentina- but it didn’t have a toilet which is always a bit of a problem for those of us with less than ideal bladders. I tend to have this compulsion to drink my body weight in coffee on the morning of any bus trip (you could put it down to nerves but I think it’s just that I like coffee way too much) and so normally by the time we get to the bus terminal I’m ready for toilet stop number one.

But. And this is a big but. Uyuni doesn’t actually have a bus terminal. Instead, the bus just pulls up on the side of the road in front of the stand where you buy your tickets from.

And so I can’t tell you much about the first half of that bus trip except that it felt like an eternity. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, in and out, in and out. To the curious onlooker it may have appeared that I was a deeply spiritual individual undertaking my daily meditations but really I was just willing myself not to wee right there in the seat, and praying that we would soon stop somewhere. Anywhere.

My prayers were answered about 3 hours in when we stopped outside a little tienda (store) with a charming little open-roofed squat toilet that hadn’t been cleaned since it was constructed in the early 1500′s. I more-than-happily paid the 3 Boliviano wee fee (there’s no such thing as a free wee over here) and we were back on our way, thinking that the rest of the trip would be nice and smooth.

But this is Bolivia after all and there’s no such thing as a smooth, uneventful bus trip. About 10km out of Potosi our bus came to a sudden halt and when we looked out the window, we noticed that not only were we on the edge of a very steep mountain, we were also stuck behind cars and trucks for as far as the eye could see.

All of the passengers disembarked from our bus but Brad and I just sat, a little stunned and with absolutely no idea what was going. Luckily there was an English girl on the bus who could speak some Spanish and so she sussed out the situation and advised us that we were stopped due to road blocks.

Road blocks. Not like the ones in Australia, though, where the road is blocked due to roadworks and a alternative route is provided to access the place that you’re trying to go. No, these road blocks were a form of protest by transport workers who were upset about a new tax that the government was planning to introduce. They merely got their trucks, parked them across all major roads in the country and there they stayed for a good week. Never mind the inconvenience for anyone who wanted to get in and out of the cities, they’d just have to stay put or walk. Which isn’t always possible when you’re old and frail and your legs don’t quite work like they used to.

Luckily, some innovative individuals started using wheelbarrows to transport the elderly and infirm up the giant hills, but for those of us that didn’t fit into either category, we had no choice but to get our backpacks and hike past the blockades in extremely high altitude. It was a struggle to say the least, but eventually we were met by minibuses and taxis which weren’t really taxis, just locals with their cars who had obviously worked out that this was a great opportunity to make some quick cash.

And so eventually we arrived in the city of Potosi, claimed to be the highest city in the world at 4090 metres above sea level.

Being at such high altitude meant that we spent our three days in Potosi suffering from headaches, nosebleeds and shortness of breath. Despite this, however, we did get to do some sightseeing and learn about the tragic history and modern-day issues surrounding this fascinating city.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Potosi was once the worlds largest industrial complex with the city’s main hill, Cerro de Potosi (also referred to as Rich Mountain), the site of masses of silver ore which brought a lot of money and a lot of people to the city. Unfortunately, a lot of these people were here against their choice, forced to risk their lives working in the dreadful conditions of the mines for little to no pay.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Indigenous and African slaves have died over the years at Cerro de Potosi and sadly, the unsafe working practices continue to this day.

Despite the mines being depleted of silver in the early 1800′s, the mining of tin still occurs here and around 8,000 people still work on this hill. Of these, it is estimated that 10% are children, lured away from school with the promise of making some quick $$ (the average wage for a worker is around four times better than the average Bolivian wage).

Whilst our adventures are mostly lighthearted and fun, our time in Potosi made us reflect on the more serious side of travel, where it’s impossible to turn a blind eye on the tragedy and heartbreak that surrounds you. With the life expectancy of a miner being no more than 40 years of age (and that’s if they don’t die beforehand from explosions or collapses within the mine) it is truly horrifying that the government still allows these work practices to continue.

For more information on mining in Potosi, check out the documentary The Devil’s Miner.

Coroico is a town in Nor Yungas Province, in the La Paz Department of western Bolivia.

Last November was the first time our family travelled ‘solo’ through the roads of Bolivia. Our car had finally arrived, and the time to explore our surroundings had begun!

Some 2 hours from the capital, La Paz, the city of Coroico was the choice made for an extended weekend of adventure and relaxation during the cold months! Also, it’s a fantastic way to test one’s skills when driving/biking with no road shoulders, endless cliffs; and in the Winter, through thick fog and heavy rain, overlooking the so-called, ‘death road‘! From tour buses to brave mountain bikers challenging the road of death; from volcanic rocks to water falls exploding from within the rocks… From green tropical vegetation to snow-capped mountains… Quite an experience – and I’m glad the husband got to do it! Two parents trying it at the same time… errrr… One always has to come back home for the kids :o

This past Saturday [Mother's Day Weekend!], it came time for ” Cycling the World’s Most Dangerous Road”!

It’s a bike ride like no other, many have said.

On its upper reaches, the clouds hug the cliff edge, obscuring the abyss.

To the left, there is an unobstructed 600m drop off a cliff while on the right, a vertical rock-face. And the unpaved surface, resembles a rough, dirt track more than a road.

The scenery, if you dare take your eyes off the road, is breathtaking, with the lush rainforest of the Yungas stretching out before your very own eyes! But the stone and wooden crosses that line the route are a sombre reminder that not everyone cycles the full 40 miles (64km) safely to its conclusion.

The man who started the phenomenon in 1998, New Zealander Alistair Matthew, says good instruction and sensible behavior can overcome the dangers. He came up with the idea while trying lots of new rides on his mountain bike in the region near La Paz. His company, Gravity, was the first to offer tourists the chance to cycle the road.. Note to Readers: Alistair is our personal friend. Him and his family, have been our social sponsors since our arrival in Bolivia. We couldn’t have asked for a better choice!

water falls from within the rocks

Stay tuned! There’s more to come your way! After the amazing ride, bikers were taken on a Zip Line adventure… photos to come soon!

Related articles

• 4 Most Dangerous Roads in the World (absolute-adventure.com)

Rowling extols that ‘failure of some form or another is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might well have not lived at all – in which case, you fail by default’. By extension, she argues that to really appreciate the peaks, the troughs must be endured. Now, while I do not plan on now embarking on constructing seven novels about a gay wizard, I certainly feel that I appreciate the natural highs I have had the fortune of experiencing in my time in La Paz all the more for having endured some lows in the past few weeks. And so, rather than wasting time in this blog lamenting everything that has gone wrong in the past few weeks, I move to the second half of Rowling’s speech, in which she implores us to ‘have the power to imagine better’ and recall some of the best times in La Paz that I haven’t so far mentioned.

A dusty side road by a cemetery littered with a striking stench and stalls selling chola hats, it seemed an inauspicious start to our search to find the best trout in La Paz. The interior design did little to raise our expectations. Rather than reminding us of the power Jesus had to feed the five thousand, the religious posters adorning the patchy walls merely inspired us to pray for forgiveness to our own stomachs – I still never met the shop’s health and safety officer. How wrong we were. A platter of Karachi plaiced before us pounced into our hands and down, down to bottomless perdition without a second glance. The full, juicy flavour itself would be enough to convince a judicial hearing that Bolivia deserves access to the sea, simply so that Senora Lucy and her crack team can spread their wealth of experience to the rest of the world. A sight for sore eyes, sure, but a tantalisingly taste to trap the customer forever. Hook, line and sinker to the senoritas silkly skills.

‘Esta noche, tenemos que ganar’ – and while the negros did not overcome, we certainly borrowed Charlie Sheen’s infamous catch phrase and spent a good two hours ‘winning’ when we went to El Clasico. Anonymous amidst the very core of the Ultras, we immediately felt embedded in the fabric of Football’s Strongest team as we drew the last ounce of sound from our lungs to roar – Vamos Tigre! Admittedly, there was a secondary purpose for our animated support. I have never been to North Korea. I imagine that in this highly strung autocratic state, displays of public emotion are occasionally exaggerated; motivated by phenomenal fear. The same could be said of being a supporter of Tigre, of that I am quite clear. Mere metres in front, the head of the ultras prowled, snarling on occasion to beckon the raucous masses to turn up the volume. In fact, so uncanny was the resemblance that I have come to the conclusion that this monster of a man himself is both the ‘Tiger’ that the club are named after as well as being the inspiration for the clubs nickname – ‘The Strongest’. He goes to my gym. I fear he will read this, so must speak in code about him. Let’s just say he is most ‘likeable’ in a china shop at times. 

All the same, the match was a brilliant experience, spent jumping up and down passionately about players we had never heard of before, starting chants with varying degrees of success and delighting in the three red cards of the otherwise abysmal game of football. The beautiful game? Not here, that much is clear. 

One of my favourite things to do in La Paz is to go to a Charango concert in Calle Jaen with Ernesto Cavourt playing the charango – a small guitar traditionally made with the shell of an armadillo. It is at these concerts that the second half of Rowling’s speech truly comes to the fore. Rowling dictates that,  ’In it’s arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity imagination is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared’. The mesmerising power of the quena to transport the mind to another place is comparable to a strange kind of Andean magic; its mastery at inspiring imagination knows no bounds.

I will end my first blog in quite a while in the same way as J.K Rowling does in that speech, as I feel it does justice to my time in La Paz – now over and surely not long enough, but a brilliant couple of months nonetheless.

‘I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, (as they sum up my time in La Paz better than I ever could)

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.’

While my times is La Paz has been short, it has certainly included some of the best times. And that is what matters.

Noisy people

This morning I woke up to a lot of commotion outside my flat.  I looked outside and the road had been blocked by a policeman and I could hear faint chanting and shots in the background.  I had half an hour before I had to leave the house for work but I knew that if the roads were blocked then I wouldn’t be able to get a bus anyway.

The Bolivian culture for striking is block road access to all trying to pass, it happens around the city but also across the country.  Last weekend we were supposed to go to the city of Sucre but couldn’t as the road was blocked.  Seeing how it is going in La Paz this week I don’t have very much hope that it will get sorted in time for next weekend either.

The union is the Bolivian Worker’s Centre (COB) and whenever there is an issue a group of workers want to dispute they bring everybody together; teachers, miners, bus drivers etc.  This most recent strike is in demand for an increase in the pension.  However there tactic has become so over-used that it is an almost futile method.  The strike before negotiating, and what they are asking for in this case is not feasible.  The increase in pension they are asking for is more than the state can afford and is way more than the average wage in Bolivia.  According to the Argentina Independent, the miners are asking for US$1,147 a month, and the state has offered them  US$570.

Yesterday the state thought that COB had agreed to stop striking as there would be no further dialogue on the matter however they have obviously continued.  In the mean time the Mario Virreira mine has apparently lost half a million dollars, 30 people have been injured and 3 policemen have been kidnapped.

Ironically this is a method of striking adopted by President Evo Morales when he was active in farmers and workers unions.

Can you tell which are Argentine and which are American?

I expect that my family and I will stick out like sore thumbs. We have lived in places where we have managed to blend. We are of European decent and that means during our assignments to Europe we could blend fairly well. Living in Buenos Aires it wasn’t too hard either. Both Germans and Italians immigrated to Argentina. I am a tad paler than most, but my husband looks like he could have some Italian blood and my boys might be dark blond Germans. Unfortunately, our accents gave us away! Less talking, more listening!

In Ecuador, the population will be shorter and darker. Our pale skin and my very tall sons will give us away immediately. I think the best we can hope for is to be mistaken for Brazilians or Argentines. And why should we care, you ask? The last thing we want is to be thought of as tourists and most Americans in South America are that, tourists. All tourists are targets for crime, especially petty theft, but Americans are thought to be rich and tend to be targeted often. Therefore, we’ll work super hard to improve our Spanish and to blend where possible… the stereotypical American doesn’t speak other languages nor do they wear anything other than blue jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes.

Pasteles served with Api, a Bolivian drink made from purple corn. I wonder what we’ll find in Quito?

I expect that we will find wonderful fruits and vegetables and that we won’t recognize what all of them are. And that’s exciting. I love to try new foods.

We’re going to see animals, insects, flowers, and plants that we’ve never seen before!

I expect that some items for sale will be super expensive and other things will be a bargain and it won’t always make sense which is which. We’ve been warned that clothing costs a lot of money as do electronics of all kinds. It won’t be common for everyone to own an iPhone or an Android nor an iPad or an iPod but I bet the rich of Ecuador own them all. We were amazed in Argentina at how many people did own those items even though they cost so much more than in the United States. Which brings me to poverty… I expect to find extreme poverty and extreme wealth and am unsure what to expect in the middle. I’m even less certain where we will fit in this equation though I know we definitely will be thought rich by the locals.

I believe that the people will be very nice. That has been our experience with every move and I see no reason to think otherwise. People love to have others enjoy their country and their culture We will be arriving with open minds and open hearts. The combination should be a good one.

La Paz is the highest capital in the world. Quito is the second.

I know we are all going to get sick. First, we will all experience some level of altitude sickness but we’re hoping it will be nothing worse than headaches and a sour stomach for a day or two. We know from our travels in Peru and Bolivia that one of us might even spike a fever but that all of us will recover within a day or two after the symptoms start. I’m told we won’t be drinking coca tea but there will be other local remedies that we might want to try. Second, we will all get some stomach bug that has nothing to do with the altitude. Although we will avoid drinking water from a tap, it is unrealistic to think that we will escape all those strange little bacteria. We’re not going to visit, we’re going to live and that means eating fresh fruits and vegetables that will likely be washed in local water. Better to get the bug early and be done with it, in my opinion.

We will also experience homesickness. It’s impossible not to. We are going to a culture very different from our own and though we are excited to start our new adventure, there will be a point when each of us just wants to escape back to the United States. Those are the moments when we’ll pull out the Indiana Jones movies, break out the popcorn and the hidden stores of Sour Patch Kids, and pretend we’re back home. A little mini-vacation of sorts and we’ll be ready to explore Ecuador once again.

What would you add to my list? Let me know in the comments below or at the NotYourAverageAmerican facebook page.

Juan Carlos Menacho has designed the Jardín del Asia restaurant as part of the Los Tajibox Hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

From the architect

CHALLENGES

Jardín del Asia restaurant is part of Los Tajibos Hotel, the most luxurious and important hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the largest urban center in Bolivia’s eastern region. This solution takes advantage, through a minor constructive intervention, of an old warehouse, located between the hotel’s Convention Center and parking lot. The structure is divided in three sectors: outside garden, dining area and service area. Located on an important avenue, the outside garden allows for a convenient independent and direct entrance to the restaurant, taking care not only of the guests but also the external clients. The kitchen, and supply areas enjoy the advantage of being directly linked to the hotel’s main service areas and corridors, leaving the urban front completely free of obstacles in order to present the entire proposal The tropical warm and humid climate of the country’s economic capital, conditioned both the conceptualization of the program as well as the morphology and technology that was used.

The program demanded a restaurant where six microenvironments could develop simultaneously an in an integrated but subtly separated fashion, under the same roof: lounge, liquor bar, sushi bar, fusion tables, private areas for groups and teppanyaki tables. To meet the functional requirements of a restaurant for 150 diners, the symbolic demands expected from a facility oriented to serving the guests of a five star hotel had to be added. The public and private, the formal and informal, the festive and romantic, the individual, the couple or the group should be able to find – and appropriate – a corner, a niche, a sector of the dining area. In general, the response was to generate an atmosphere that was simultaneously artificial and natural, where spatial Asiatic concepts articulate technology and materials that are typical of the ‘pampa area’ and tropical forests of Bolivia’s Eastern region, through the integration of landscaping, urban, architectonical, cultural and technological concepts.

SOLUTION

The spatial intention to offer clients a warm alternative to escape from the pressures of daily life, became concrete with a proposal enriched with luminous hues, intimate jalousies, sceneries and symbolic suggestions, that harmonically build a landscape, which in spite of having been invented and cloistered, is perceived as natural and infinite. To attain greater emotional effectiveness, guidelines are established, paths are suggested, pauses are defined, and finally various sojourns are proposed under an artificial firmament; a scenography that as a whole produces an almost magical spatial confusion in the visitor, although intentional, that is translated into a virtual visit to a native village, in the middle of Bolivia’s Amazonian tropical jungle.

A Zen garden, with a water mirror and tropical vegetation, strategically inserted between the street and the entrance, welcomes the guests while it sets the limits with the chaotic outside world. It motivates contemplation and releases tensions, the erratic swimming paths of multicolored carps and the breeze perceived in the water mirror is appreciated during the paused walk while crossing the wooden bridge that connects the sidewalk with the building. As the visitor approaches the entrance, it becomes evident that monumentality anticipates an imminent transition, which implies at the same time an end as well as a beginning, the end of the noise and the beginning of peace. The entrance reproduces the silhouette of a drop of water, a shape that anticipates upon entering the generating idea of the proposal. The first steps of this transition imply a second pause, generated by the warm welcome of a vault-shaped area built with chuchío reeds and jatata, which leads to a cubicle, that acts as the reception area, and in reality constitutes the third pause, the last one before concluding the transfer process. The aim of this complex transition that was carefully planned by the architect is to prepare the guest for the full enjoyment of an environment where peace, silence, time and solace reign.

The landscaping dimension of the inside is attained through a series of artifices generated from two metaphors, water, the source of life and by extension, a source of culture and traditions; and the firmament, a mystical expression of what is eternal, universal, as well as spiritual. Thus, under the light of the stars, from the somewhat elevated lounge the sinuosity that suggests a micro-valley is appreciated, which hosts the pond where three huts were built with intertwined chuchío reeds that simultaneously resemble water drops and native housing, imitating a village landscape whose backdrop is regularly disturbed by the intermittent fire from the three bar-tables destined to teppanyaki.

The oriental, in its Asian sense, is expressed and perceived not only with the suggested or concrete presence of the four natural elements: water, air, land and fire, but also the subtlety of indirect light, the furniture and most importantly, the atmosphere that is achieved. For its part, the oriental, in its Bolivian sense, is expressed in the tropical Amazonian vegetation composed by shrubs and palm trees, and materials such as wood, chuchío reeds and jatata, that are still being used nowadays by native cultures in the forests and pampa region of Chiquitos and Moxos.

To sum up, the freedoms allowed by this gastronomic fusion, have served as a pretext to establish a setting that blends landscaping, urbanism and tropical architecture, oriental and contemporary interior decoration and provides subtle perceptions that favor the enjoyment of the senses in a peaceful and harmonious environment. As pointed out at the beginning, architecture as a scenography to be experienced, complements the gastronomy and offers an integral and holistic environment that is characteristic of the flavors and odors that are typical of oriental fusion, this time, not only Asiatic but Bolivian as well. http://www.contemporist.com/2013/05/02/jardin-del-asia-restaurant-by-juan-carlos-menacho/

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First, the positive things about our trip. The people of Bolivia are the most kind and gracious people I have met. As I was regaining confidence in my conversational Spanish, Bolivians were gentle with me and encouraged me to keep talking. I feel like my conversational abilities improved a ton and by the time we left, my knees didn’t shake every time someone asked me a question. Keith definitely grew as a clinical at CEMFY (the clinic) and got to do health screenings for Compassion International children. We made wonderful friends while in Potosi and I look forward to sharing their stories with you over the next few weeks.

Another great memory was getting to explore Bolivia. We got to experience Yawisla (a small town in the campo where Steve & Mary lived while their kids were growing up), visited the Salar de Uyuni (largest salt flat in the world), discovered the origin of American money at la Casa de la Moneda (the colonial-era mint), lived near Cerro Rico (the silver mine that funded the Spanish Inquisition), and explored the Sta. Teresa Convent and museum. There were certainly other fun little excursions, but those are the highlights.

Steve & Mary Hawthorne

We encountered many challenges during our four weeks as well. As you might imagine, life abroad with a 5-month-old was difficult. All three of us lived in the same room, so the only time I was not with Caleb was when I was sleeping. Also, Keith ended up working in the clinic a lot more than we had anticipated, so that meant a lot of time fending for myself in a city that was nearly impossible to navigate. For me, the altitude (14,000ft) was daunting. I could barely walk up stairs without having to take a break; the city of Potosi is on the side of a mountain, so we were constantly walking up hill. It was difficult to find food that our stomachs could handle, but liked having our own kitchen to cook for ourselves. Naturally, there were some cultural differences that we had to learn to navigate. For me, taking parenting advice from everyone on the street got old pretty quickly. When I got tired and didn’t feel well, I needed some time alone and didn’t realize that my need for space was misinterpreted as social anxiety and rudeness. Sometimes I made myself go out and sometimes I did what I knew Caleb and I needed most.

CEMFY staff and families

In the end, we are really glad we went. It has taken a week to recover physically and emotionally, but what we learned is totally worth it. Keith and I have always considered international, long-term missions work as something we might pursue in the future, so it was wonderful to have a real, on the field experience as a family (as opposed to a 1-2 week trip where we stayed at a hotel or with friends). We have no illusions about the challenges full-time missionaries face. Also, we came home thankful to have experienced the work that our missionary-friends are doing; there is a huge difference between receiving newsletters every month and actually being on the field! Lastly, I can say that I am so thankful and appreciative that we are moving East and closer to home.

As similar is the landscape was to Southern Nevada, I still found myself in awe of the beauty.

As I mentioned above, I’ll be posting some stories of our friends over the next few weeks.

Oh, and one last thought: how unfair is it that both Keith and Caleb lost weight and are now desperately trying to gain it back, while I lost nothing and still need to shed the Caleb-pounds?!

I roamed the streets of Potosi, famished and dehydrated for 45 minutes, struggling up and down hills with my packs, as locals sent me one way and back the other. I was swearing under my breath! Sweating profusely and struggling to breathe because of the altitude and the hills, there was a split second where I was fighting back a tear. I had hoped to make an afternoon mine tour that day and then move on to catch an overnight bus to a small town in Southern Bolivia but plans change depending on the people you meet…

I spent the afternoon with a super animated, middle-aged Argentine man by the name of Miguel, that was dressed in his denim vest and cowboy hat. I decided to stay the night in Potosi and that evening. I was invited to see Miguel’s friend’s band play at the University. Our group of eight were the only gringos in this basketball stadium full of Bolivian students, that housed the performances that evening.

The most frightening experience of my life

There is an entire page in Lonely Planet South America dedicated to warning travelers about the risks of entering the mines but it mentions that if you take the risk, it will be an unforgettable experience. Putting the thought of poisoning my lungs with asbestos and inhaling all the harmful gases aside, my curiosity to see what a working mine was like urged me to embrace this opportunity.  

The initial 15 minutes in the mine were extremely unpleasant; I am not going to lie. The deeper we got, the less air there was (and mind you, there was already a lack of oxygen outside considering the town’s elevation) and the warmer it got. I felt faint and was short of breath and felt sick in the stomach. I had trouble breathing because of the bandana plastered over the lower half of my face to help filter out the dust in the air. The thought of continuing on to explore the three levels below us with the conditions worsening, had me almost ask the guide to escort me the hell out of there for the sake of my health. Nonetheless, I pressed on to explore the three lower levels, up to 50m below ground.

It certainly was an eye-opening experience. We witnessed men drilling holes in the rock to house sticks of dynamite (and we felt the vibrations from the explosions which happened not to far away from our group). Debris would get carried out of the mine in wheelbarrows or containers via a pulley system.

I was disappointed to learn of the poor health of the miners and to witness their poor working conditions. These miners have a life expectancy of 45 years and the pulmonary problem of silicosis is the most common cause of death. Why do the miners put themselves through this? The money, of course. A miner can earn around 3000 bolivianos/month here, which is triple the average wage of a worker in the town. Unfortunately most miners waste their money on alcohol and prostitution, instead of better providing for their families. They believe in rewarding themselves for their hard work in this way.

Tourists began entering the mine some forty years ago. They are appreciated by the miners because they bring gifts, such as bottled water and soft drink, cocoa leaves and sticks of dynamite. The miners would have a lump in their cheek from the ball of cocoa leaves nestled on their gum. This helps prevent altitude sickness and stimulates good health.

Like many of us, I LOVE quinoa! I love its taste, its versatility (it can be used in baking, as a rice substitute, and so much more), its nutritional content! It really is “the mother of all grains” just like the Incas had described.

Quite recently this seed, often mistaken for a grain, has just gone off the charts on the popularity meter. As the new health craze, this protein and nutrient rich food has quickly become one of the most popular ingredients in today’s western cooking. In addition, because quinoa is a complete protein, it is especially loved by vegetarians and vegans.

However there is a big downside to the consumption and demand for quinoa, and that is what it’s production and demand are doing to the people and land of Bolivia and Peru.

What is the quinoa controversy?

The production, demand and consumption of quinoa are doing a number of things:

1. Land conflict: With the high demand of this superfood, farmers are using violence and fighting over property rights for valuable land to grow quinoa their crops.
2. Environmental effects: Farmers are now expanding their farms to areas where llamas have been grazing for centuries. Llama manure is one of the main reasons the regions where quinoa is grown possesses such fertile soil, and with their absence, chemical fertilizers are now needed.
3. Increased consumption of junk foods: Ironically, the increased demand for this highly nutritious superfood is also supporting junk food consumption in two ways:

a) the price of quinoa has now risen 3-fold since 2006* causing it to be extremely expensive for the bolivian population to consume their native food, thus junk food is the next option.

b) with rising profits, quinoa farmers and their families are now able to afford western foods, which they prefer, resulting in a nutrient deficient diet

The economics of quinoa

In addition to a tree hugger and vegan, I also went to university and studied business courses for a while. I love economics and even worked in sales for a while.

To make the rise in price of this seed more easy for my mind to understand, I needed to draw out a simple graph.

With an increase in demand for quinoa, the Demand Curve shifts rightwards, making the new intersection, or equilibrium, rises. This means there is a rise in price as the y-axis represents price in this graph.

As a consumer, I don’t think that I’ll completely stop buying quinoa, however I would like to make sure that the manufacturers and producers of the quinoa I am buying are paying the farmers a fair wage so that they, too, can enjoy this amazing superfood.

* Source: http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/quinoa-boom-lesson-global-economy/story?id=18643075#.UZF9TZV7lUQ , 2013

Related articles

• The International Year of Quinoa: UN has dedicated 2013 to the year of the ‘superfood’, but has its meteoric rise done more harm than good? (ecoeatsuk.wordpress.com)
• For Bolivian Farmers, Quinoa Boom is Both Boom and Bane
• The Ancient Grain Quinoa: Basic Cook Instructions (lowfat.answers.com)

We cruised across the desert, stopping at the many lagoons along the way; from Laguna Blanca with its borax minerals, to Laguna Verde with its copper and arsenic.

Laguna Blanca

We bathed in a salt lagoon spring at 4850m and it was here that some of us began feeling the effects of the altitude. We became a giggly and light-headed bunch!

The landscape was barren, with the odd lagoon here and there and the occasional llama, vicuna and flamingo frolicking. Between the desert and the salt flats, quinoa fields fenced off with bunches of branches tied together became prominent. This is Bolivia’s biggest export.

We stayed in a Hotel de Sal (Salt Hotel) on our second night which was pretty special!

‘Morning Sun’ geyser basin where the stench of sulfur lingered and volcanic pools of mud bubbled in the craters.

Clemence and I at Laguna Colorada

The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat and stretches over 10,000 square kilometers. Some 30,000 years ago, it took form as a giant lake and became a salt desert when it dried up. Just how much salt is there on the flats? 10 million tonnes!

The train cemetery in Uyuni. The town used to serve as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals en route to Pacific Ocean ports. The town served in the past as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals en route to Pacific Ocean ports. When the mining industry collapsed, partly because of mineral depletion, many trains were abandoned.

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