Collecting stamps….
Again I am blown away by the beauty, starkness, harshness and just sheer diversity of another country, in fact the whole continent of South America.
After being stuck at the Bolivian border as it was closed due to Bolivian elections, I finally made it into La Paz. La Paz is literally breathtaking in all aspects. It is the worlds highest capital city, something which you sure notice walking up the hill. Or even just on a straight stretch of road. The altitude sure has its effects. Apart from that, La Paz is also just exhausting by its chaos. The traffic is horrible… there are a lot of cars and buses to squeeze in a small valley and the roads wind around, over and under each other everywhere. I ended up somehow spending a week in La Paz with an old friend my aunty used to work with. I could not have asked for better hospitality… my own little house, bathroom, cable TV, not to mention someone who could cook nice food and just be good company.
During my stay in La Paz I also ventured out to the countryside to some valley about 3 hours away. The town was called Coroico and it was perched halfway up a mountain which sloped steeply down to a river. I had been expecting sunshine, tropical plants and just some relaxing times away from the large an hectic city. Coroico was indeed stunning, yet funnily enough for a rainforest in the wet season, it rained the whole time! Still beautiful, but different to my expected sunny retreat.
I returned to La Paz and spent my time exploring the many different facets of bolivian life, from the little ladies at their stalls in the witches market selling dried animals of all varieties, amulets, special cactus juices, powders, pastes and all such things, to the rich life of the suburb of San Miguel, observing BMWs and mercedes drive past as I sip a coffee worth more than a 3 course meal I could have bought in a different area of time. Not only is South America a land of geographical contrasts, that between the wealthy and those with nothing is perhaps even more eyeopening.
A brilliant example is the very common setting at a bank. A homeless man, wrapped up in a plastic sheet-the best he can do for a blanket lies curled over the doorstep of the bank, just near the atm. He looks up pleadingly, yet automatically without hope and prepared for rejection, at those who rush by, quickly tucking away a wad of cash just withdrawn from the bank into the pocket of their expensive black tie attire. How a difference just one of those notes would make to his life, and how little significance a lack of one would make to the other is incredible. I realise I am just as bad though. I didnt give the beggar anything either.
Anyway, after a week in La Paz, I met up with two Aussie girls, one a volunteer from Peru and the other a friend of hers. Together with a canadian girl and a danish couple we began a three day tour in the south west of Bolivia. No trip would be complete without the mandatory epic bus trip, and this trip was no exception. 12 hours of bumpy and freeeeeeeezing bus fun! We then loaded up our jeep, were introduced to our driver and off we went.
We visited Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt fields in the world… great ancient lakes which were now endless white crusty salt fields. The sky radiated the most brilliant of blues, melting the white of the salt and combining as one. The mountains in the distances were mere blue smudges as the white stretched for seeming eternity. Mirages tricked the eye, was that an island? a mere dark patch? nothing at all?….. Halluciogenic, inspiring, scary and just so startling obsure. I have never seen anything like it. We visited an island in the middle of the salt field…. barren and dry except for hundreds of giant cacti. Truly out of this world! With the apparent lack of horizon, we had a lot of fun creating many optical illusions using objects such as a hat or shoe and placing them right up to the camera, while others stood far away seemingly inside the object. Very entertaining!!!
The next day was even more spectacular if possible. We drove through more salt which faded out into brown and golden sands of the desert. Amongst the desert we explored countless lagoons of the most incredible colours…. reds, greens, yellows, blues… all from the mineral rich surrounding earth. In the distance giant volcanos silently stood their ground, quite for now but ready to assert their authority at any given time. To top all this off, at the high 4500 metres that we were at, flocks and flocks of brilliant pink flamingos thrived in the lagoon, picking at the pink algae that sustains them and also gives them their colour. Simply majestic!
The desert and surrounding mountains later in the day reminded my very much of the aussie outback, in particular the flinders ranges in SA. Listening to the likes of Xavier Rudd, the Waifs and other aussies not scared to show their accents in their songs, Nicky my aussie friend and I had a moment or two of nostalgia. Yet then I realised just how hundred percent happy I was to be exactly where I was. Yes, it was a dry, harsh and impossibly cold and windy desert in the middle of nowhere in Bolivia, yet here I was with great people and on a great adventure. It was strange to feel so content in a place where I imagine many in different situations have felt far from that.
Awaking the next morning at an impossibly early hour, we left in the dark to then watch the sunrise at a volcanic site of geysers, volcanic mud and lots and lots of sulphur. Watching the sunlight filter through the clouds of white smoke spurting from the ground sure was a sunrise to remember! The day improved even more by ending up at the side of a large lagoon in a small rock pool of natural hot water. Watching the sun rise higher in the sky across the endless colours of the lagoon, the ice crusts of the main lake meeting the little hot river all complimented by the flamingos elegantly grazing their algae. It was a truly powerful moment. A moment of deep breaths and whispering wow, a moment of just thinking how nature is amazing and we live in a special special place in the universe.
After a morning so eventful I was dropped off at the southern tip of Bolivia at the border of Chile. Here, together with my canadian friend, we waited for another bus. This border was one of the most insignificant and invisible I have yet to see. No fence, only a little sign welcoming us to Chile. So much has been fought for borders just as irrelevant as this one. They mean nothing, yet somehow it felt rather substantial. On to another country and another adventure.
There is not much to say about Chile. I did not have enough time to visit the south, something that will have to wait for another time. We were impressed by the busses and the roads but that was about it. The people are different, less open and friendly. It is much richer and everything is more expensive. We stayed at a beach hostel and while it was nice, it was nothing special. The beach was comercial and city like, a bit like the glenelg we all like to avoid. I suppose I am just spoilt when it comes to beaches!
From Chile after a few days I got a series of buses and collectivos back to Lima in Peru, waiting for my flight up to Bogota, Colombia. It took a long time even though it was straight up along the coast. Crossing the border back into Peru I had a strange sensation of being home. I felt welcome and just like I knew where I was again. Funny how feelings can change so dramatically from when I first arrived!
I spent the last few days of my time in Peru in Lima. Its a hectic city, and has a reputation to be quite dangerous. While I didnt feel in danger at any point, I honestly couldnt really be bothered to see much. Lima is known as the grey city because it is always covered in a grey fog… a combination of pollution and mist coming off the sea. This lack of sunshine really really depressed me and made me quite lethargic. I really dont know how people survive without sunshine. I know I couldnt.
I met up with a friend I went on exchange with in Germany when I was 16 and that brightened my mood significantly…. what are the chances of us both being in south america in the same city at the same time after not seeing each other for some 4 years or so.
So with another stamp in my passport showing my last exit from Peru I made my way to fly to Bogota in Colombia. sitting in the airport I tried to remember just how different things were 4 months ago when I first arrived. I will miss Peru and all those who made it so special. Peru was my home for some time, and that is something I will not forget….
Adios!
Tags: 1, Tag Index
gperuandbeyond