One of the joys of traveling in Southeast Asia are the night markets. I couldn’t have been happier – meaning while in the Beni – than when I spotted Yucumo’s night market. It was almost an exact replica of such institutions in Asia. A bit…Read More

One of the joys of traveling in Southeast Asia are the night markets. I couldn’t have been happier – meaning while in the Beni – than when I spotted Yucumo’s night market. It was almost an exact replica of such institutions in Asia. A bit too small, but considering the distance to the original item, it was perfect.

A few open stalls were arranged in a single row along the road to Rurrenanbaque, just in front of the bus company branch. Simple roofs provided protection from the rain. Customers sat in benches; the cooks prepared the food next to them in marvelously organized little kitchens. To make things merrier, a row of grocery shops was behind them, allowing the traveler to stock up with goods for the next leg of the trip. Probably as close to paradise as a traveler can get while still on Earth.

Yet, this was Bolivia, not Asia. In Bolivia, never sit at the first place you fancy. Look at the people enjoying the meal. Avoid groups of friends and people inviting you to sit with them before having had a conversation with them. Honest Bolivians are quiet and shy; they won’t speak with a foreigner unless properly address (avoid little jokes, always support Bolivia). Eventually I chose what looked as the best shop and studied the menu; I mean I took a long look at the grill in front of me.

All the stalls offered the same food, variations on barbecued meat. There were three main dishes. The first was "panza rebosada," a dish prepared out of cow’s stomachs (bottom right item in the attached picture). I’ll leave the task of reviewing it to some other traveler; recently I have publicly renounced my quest to review the entire Bolivian cuisine due to the nature of some of its dishes. The second dish offered was rice sausages (top item in the picture). The third was ribs. In the San Ignacio de Moxos entry, I comment on the varied used of the word "asado" in South America. In Argentina, it refers to barbecued ribs, while in Bolivia to stewed sheets of meat. Ribs here are called using the correct Spanish word – namely "costillas." In both cases they are cut across the bones, unlike in much of the rest of the world. An innocent enough dish, I ordered a portion despite my being almost a vegetarian. Some cuts of chicken were also in display.

One of the advantages in night markets is that addressing the cook is easy. I found out she was planning to serve the ribs with rice, baked potatoes and fried plantains. "Please, without rice," I asked to her surprise. Bolivian rice is more often than not a sad affair. Soon the barbecued meat was in front of served with spicy llajua sauce and peanuts sauce as well. Native of Bolivian lowlands, peanuts are used in a variety of ways to create extraordinary dishes. Their sauce and soup are by far the most common ones. Peanuts sauce and barbecued meat blend perfectly.

Everything was perfect, and while looking at the picture surrounding me while taking care not to analyze the sounds, I could imagine myself – an imaginary trip during a real journey - in a similar but better place.
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Despite all the Global Village talk, internet, Google Earth, IgoUgo and a myriad of new information tools, maps and information on remote routes remain sketchy; especially so information capable of putting all the relevant, but tiny, data bits available within a logical and workable format.…Read More

Despite all the Global Village talk, internet, Google Earth, IgoUgo and a myriad of new information tools, maps and information on remote routes remain sketchy; especially so information capable of putting all the relevant, but tiny, data bits available within a logical and workable format. A related problem is that denizens – even travel agents – of these areas seldom can perform these tasks because they lack a traveler’s perspective. They’ll repeat what the local tourism ministry says but they’ll get stuck with simple questions. "But, how do I travel from Trinidad to Cobija?" Embarrassed silence. Big smile. "I can offer you a flight to Rio! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap! Hey, why are you leaving? Come back! Rio! Rio!"

I left for this trip with no substantial information on the zone. Local friends had told me that San Borja was the travel hub of the Beni; usually travel hubs can provide all the relevant information, so I assumed that would be enough. Yet, a quick look at a map of the Beni made that statement look strange. Two main roads cross the Beni and they meet at Yucumo, fifty kilometers west of San Borja. In my way back from Trinidad I was in troubles since there wasn’t any direct transport from Trinidad to La Paz. Once in San Borja, I was told to wait 24 hours for the next bus. Instead, I found a lift to Yucumo. An hour later, the bustling village offered me almost instantaneous transport by bus and taxi to La Paz. Traveler’s instincts proved worthier than denizens’ ancestral wisdom.

Yucumo was incredible. On the meeting point between a hilly rainforest and a vast savanna, it is also the informal lower end of the Death Road. It also sits on a major junction of Bolivia’s roads network. It has all it takes to become a destination for itself; yet, this humble town is just a commuting point for travelers in northern Bolivia. All of them cross it – except for the flying ones – but few remember its name afterwards. In other words: a rare and valuable jewel. It allows experiencing the local culture and way of life – still largely unspoiled – while enjoying accessibility to transport and acceptable accommodations. What else can a traveler ask for? Wi-Fi? They don’t have. International airport? They don’t have. A 5–star hotel? They don’t have. This is the lower gate to the Death Road – a name earned with the almost constant flow of human blood – and not a high end touristy resort. It may not be the most comfortable spot in the world, but – hey – that’s the stuff travels are made of.

People were friendly. On my second stop there I had arrived tired and hungry – I didn’t dare eating again in San Borja – and people were happy to provide advice, even while buying nothing from them. An oddity in Bolivia. After getting a bus ticket for the night bus from Rurrenabaque to La Paz, I got a good meal at the market and a few hours in a pastoral hotel.

The first of these events was important. In contrast to the events in San Borja, the local branch of the bus company – Flota Yungueña – was aware of the timetable. Later on that night, I returned to their office on time for the bus, but the bus didn’t appear. They called the Rurrenabaque branch and confirmed the bus had left. Nothing else could be done, since in this wild part of the world cellular networks are limited in their range. Yet, I was allowed waiting at the office despite the late hour. Eventually the bus arrived with a two hours delay (it locked me on the Death Road next morning, keep reading), but Yucumo had proved again being a travel hub worth of its title.

As in much of Bolivia, wild dogs were of concern, fighting and chasing each other even within the nigh market tables. If one of them gets menacing the solution is picking up a stone from the ground; they recognize the movement and run into the nearest police station.

By now, a picture of this uncomfortable trip is forming. A key survival point is stocking on everything you may need along the way beforehand, and this includes food and drinks. Yucumo excelled on this, offering a friendly row of grocery shops next to the night market. Travel hubs definitely are one of the traveler’s best friends.
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I had been told San Borja was the Beni’s travel hub. The last tend to be good friends of travelers, thus I have a weakness for them. Since I expect returning to them in future adventures, I pay special attention to details, especially those related…Read More

I had been told San Borja was the Beni’s travel hub. The last tend to be good friends of travelers, thus I have a weakness for them. Since I expect returning to them in future adventures, I pay special attention to details, especially those related to travel. The first relevant sight of San Borja was encouraging. Its bus terminal was unexpectedly large for a tiny village in an Amazonian backyard. The large sign identifying the terminal (the place were I found out this was San Borja; Bolivian roads seldom have signs or milestones and the town apparently preferred to ignore its own name) belonged to a local transport union. Most of the Bolivian society – including residential neighborhoods – is organized in unions. This meant all booths and shops in the place were related. Sometimes that’s good – it avoids exploitation of the poor – but it also facilitates violent schemes targeting foreigners. Bolivian bus terminals (though not this one!) and hotels are full of police warnings on these. Bolivian newspapers are full of violent stories resulting of these. Yet, unions decide everything – tariffs, operation hours, allowed merchandise, even the ubiquitous carnivals and marches are organized by them – and members obey due to fear of losing their membership.

But, I’m rushing ahead. The first sight of two out of the three towns reviewed in this journal was misleading. Yucumo – the main junction and travel hub of Beni – seemed irrelevant. San Borja – allegedly a travel hub - almost looked like one but turned out being little else than a food stop. In my first pass through the town, the odd points were too subtle to materialize into a certainty in time. The gas station was far from the terminal. So what? The alleged travel hub was far from the only major junction in the whole Beni. So what? Both could be explained. You don’t expect efficiency in places like Beni or Bolivia. Yet, both were bothering. Principles of economy do not change. Everything signaled this terminus was not important; its size seemed as a shiny cover on something else.
The village wasn’t organized as a travel hub. Restaurants were few and bad advertised. There were no hotels in the immediate surroundings of the terminus; this was a very worrying sign. Yet, the area was charming. Reddish earth and the greenest trees could be seen reaching the horizon. A silence unusual in Bolivia completed the peaceful scene. "The perfect set up for a horror film," I thought, still innocent.

Meanwhile, it was time to learn how San Borja could help me in future trips. The ticket selling booths were void of travel information. All served the main La Paz – Trinidad line and nearby settlements. When asking for trips to the north of the department, I got evasive answers. Timetables were unclear, while even remote travel hubs are usually fastidious about their lifelines.

After a few minutes like these, I had an odd feeling: I was looking at an oversized, family owned coffee shop, despite what the large signed posted everywhere stated. Not only due to the police warnings I’m worried about personal safety, recently I had a very bitter experience. Yet, it was breakfast time and after a long trip through the Death Road in which a long delay during the night had kept everybody awake, I was hungry. There was a row of stalls in front of the terminal, but I preferred one placed on the building’s roof because I wanted to see the landscape. Flat places are troublesome in this aspect. As I began climbing the stairs, someone placed a box on the stairs below me, innocently blocking them to other passengers.

I was alone on the roof, with a cook that was smiling widely –too widely – at me. A hand written menu announced a few options. I asked for a "tortita de carne" ("little cake of meat" in Spanish) which turned out being a meat patty. I asked for one, but two were served. Yet, they were picked from a large pile of them, tasted reasonably good and fresh and – most important of all – I was really hungry. Bolivian food is so salty that it makes you thirsty and these patties had been apparently cooked on the Uyuni Salt Flats. A coffee was offered and I accepted immediately. Then, a kid appeared from nowhere and stood between my table and the tiny kitchen, so that I couldn’t see how it was being prepared.
Seconds later, the cup was in front of me. it wasn’t right. It had the diluted brown color of "sultana" – a drink made of coffee bean husks. Yet, Bolivians tend to make a mess of orders. I took a careful sip. It wasn’t coffee; it wasn’t sultana. It had a thick and strange texture and an odd taste. Danger! I threw a banknote on the table, didn’t wait for change and run into the nearby bus. The headache lasted all the way to Trinidad.

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"It’s like Coroico, but smaller, less important and deeper in the Amazonian Basin," was what my Bolivian friends told me about Caranavi. With such an introduction, my delaying a visit there was expected. Once there, I found they were very wrong. It isn’t right to…Read More

"It’s like Coroico, but smaller, less important and deeper in the Amazonian Basin," was what my Bolivian friends told me about Caranavi. With such an introduction, my delaying a visit there was expected. Once there, I found they were very wrong. It isn’t right to expect from people who never traveled to describe accurately places they barely know. Moreover, the relevant traveling parameters are a mystery to them. Looking at a map can always help judging such claims. Coroico is a resort town on a hill; it is reached via a detour from the Death Road at Yolosa. Caranavi is about forty kilometers deeper and sits on a narrow valley. In contrast to Coroico, the main road connecting La Paz with the Bolivian north crosses the town. Considering these, Caranavi was expected to be larger. Accordingly, Coroico is a small town with a million-dollar view, while Caranavi – nowadays often marketed as vacations’ alternative to Coroico – is a bustling town on the verge of becoming a small city. As such it is worth very much a visit. The Bolivians’ assessment may have an historic source; Caranavi was part of Coroico until it was separated into an independent municipality in 1992. Later on, its northern side and the last stretch of the Death Road became what now is "Alto Beni," (High Beni).

Once in Caranavi, I found its similitude to La Paz striking and the appearance of insects – the Altiplano is almost sterile - shocking. Oversized specimens decorated many shops. Despite the sharp climatic change, the cultures were practically identical. Food, speech patterns, houses setup and decorations were all identical to those in the big city. As such this is a tropical alternative to La Paz, which is 160 kilometers south of there. "Tropical alternative" means better food and higher temperatures in this case. Caranavi is famous also for its fruits and sometimes is referred to as the Coffee Capital of Bolivia. One of the main coffee shop chains in Bolivia uses Caranavi coffee as one of its two major sources (the other one being the National Park Madidi). Considering they use just Robusta beans – without using Arabica ones to form a high-quality blend – the result is remarkably good.

In this trip, I found myself crossing Caranavi twice. In the way down we made a long night stop there and in the way up we stopped during the morning. Since it seats at the bottom of the most dangerous part of the Death Road, it is used by all drivers as a relaxing point after or before the punishing path. Exploring the main sights of the small town was simple and pleasant. Its importance was obvious. The bus terminal was at the very center of town and was busy at all times. A narrow stream added some color to the dominant green; dense rainforest covered the steep hills around. Not thinking of South East Asia was impossible, especially while studying the food stalls and restaurants at the town’s center. At night, the bus terminal area resembled very much an Asian night market. Some of the foods met here were unusual, others very expected.

Barbecued meat was obviously the favorite dinner. Some of the cuts – guts and stomachs – were questionable, but the smell from them didn’t allow me to stay and ponder on this issue for long. Next to them, large bottles of local honey were for sale. Supporting their sweetness were rectangular blocks of chocolate, which is native of the area. It is interesting to note that in Spanish the word "cacao" denotes the fruit, while "cocoa" designs the processed powder. The final product – chocolate – appears in two shapes. Small medallions are sweet and used for preparing a drink with the addition of hot water; they contain granulated sugar and are quite unpleasant for consumption as a chocolate snack. The rectangular blocks – see pictures - are used for cooking and are very bitter. I didn’t find cacao fruits in Caranavi (I was told to return for the market days – Wednesdays and Thursdays), but I saw two other fruits worth mentioning. One was the "seditas" ("little silks" in Spanish), tiny bananas covered with a thin, silky skin. The other was the motaku nuts (see pictures). Sized like a large nut, the motaku features a fibrous and hard skin which must be broken with some pointy object. Then it can be peeled – it takes determination and force – to reveal an orange fibrous meat covering a very large brown stone. The meat is the edible part and it tastes like a fibrous, soft almond; a wonderful reminder of nature’s biodiversity in the tropics.
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At the center of South America, what is now Bolivia was a central player in the complex history of this continent. The Inca Empire was born here by the migration of people from the Altiplano to Cusco. Then, the Spaniards transformed Potosi into the richest…Read More

At the center of South America, what is now Bolivia was a central player in the complex history of this continent. The Inca Empire was born here by the migration of people from the Altiplano to Cusco. Then, the Spaniards transformed Potosi into the richest and largest city in the Americas. Its silver shipping routes shaped the imperial administration. Alto Peru (High Peru in Spanish) was moved from the jurisdiction of the Peru Viceroyalty to the Plate River one and then became Bolivia in the early 19th century. Roughly twice its actual size, it was divided in five departments. Giant in size, tiny in population. During the next few decades it lost much of its territory and the five departments were divided into the modern nine. Beni was created by splitting Santa Cruz in 1842 and occupies an area known as "Llanos de Moxos" – the Moxo Plains – named after the native culture of the place.

Beni is almost empty; in its roughly 214 thousand square kilometers live just over 400 thousand people, a shocking density of below 2 persons per square kilometer. A third of them live in its capital city: Trinidad, so that its countryside is truly desolated. In this situation, understanding its layout is important since the distances among neighbor settlements are large and the logistics involved are complicated. In the whole department – larger than many countries – there are just two main routes; both of them are largely unpaved and subject to seasonal floods. One runs from south to north, arriving from La Paz through the Death Road and reaching the Guayarmerin border crossing to Brazil. The second runs from west to east, arriving from La Paz, crossing the departmental capital and then continuing to Santa Cruz. The first runs roughly parallel to the Beni River, while the second crosses the Mamore River just before Trinidad. The roads meet at Yucumo on the southwest and next to the Death Road exit point, while the two rivers meet at the border with Brazil, where they form the Madeira River, a major tributary of the Amazon. A popular misunderstanding – presented in the previous entry by the denizen requesting a picture – is the topic of cattle; often it is presented as a traditional occupation of the area. Yet, there was no cattle before the Spaniards arrived, the savanna was an agricultural zone displaying an elaborate fluvial control system. Once the last was destroyed, wild cattle took over the place and shaped modern Beni when settlers arrived from Santa Cruz and created large "ranchos."

Few travelers reach this remote area of Bolivia. Those who venture do that due to two major attractions. San Ignacio de Moxos attracts many visitors for its day, every 30 and 31 of July. It offers the best possible contact with the Moxo culture, the native inhabitants of the area. Before the Spaniards arrival, their fluvial engineering skills surpassed modern ones, as described in the dedicate entry in my next journal. The other main attraction is visited at all times. Rurrenabaque – north of Yucumo – is a meeting point between the rainforest and the savanna; it is located on the eastern shore of the Beni River, on the border with the La Paz Department. Savannas are called here "pampa," a Quechua word meaning "open space." It appears also as a "bamba" suffix in many names of places, like "Apolobamba," and it may refer to open spaces in high valleys and the Altiplano as well. Truth is Rurrenabaque became popular with tourists only twenty years ago after a book related to it was published. Nowadays it’s so touristy that is better avoided. Most local travel agencies can help organizing visits to spots of similar interest. Riberalta – in the far north of the department – is becoming an attractive alternative. Beni has more to offer. Some of the Moxos hydraulic works can be visited. Four of them (Lomas Somopae is the main one, just 30 kilometers from Trinidad) are just east of Trinidad. Unluckily, these fluvial engineering wonders do not function anymore.

All these are more than enough to justify a visit, and a few journals.

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Sometimes, taking great pictures is simple; the location is so amazing that dropping the camera on the floor while ensuring it will shoot on impact is enough to provide breathtaking images. In other occasions, you remember tips on how to take good pictures: you wait…Read More

Sometimes, taking great pictures is simple; the location is so amazing that dropping the camera on the floor while ensuring it will shoot on impact is enough to provide breathtaking images. In other occasions, you remember tips on how to take good pictures: you wait until the soft sunset light and do not face the sun while shooting the camera. You begin feeling like a pro when you reach a high altitude destination with awesome views. You remember and apply all the photography tips you ever heard of, but nothing helps. Great views, horrific pictures.

Over time, I visited two high altitude destinations: the Himalayas and the Andes. By high altitude I mean being over 4000 meters above the sea level, where all humans need an acclimatization period. There, I learned the hard way that most photography rules are bent by high altitude radiation. Here are some tips.

You walk through downtown La Paz in a breezy afternoon. Out of the blue, Mount Illimani appears in its full glory. Excited, you take out the camera, make a fast - but attractive - composition, shoot the picture and move to viewer mode. Everything is vivid and nice, but Mount Illimani is nowhere to be seen. You enlarge the picture and after a while find out a vague whitish shape. The Illimani became an outline. Is the camera bad? Nearby, Bolivians dance in one of their crazed carnivals. You try photographing them. Most of their dresses colors and details disappear. You see glory, the camera captures garbage.

The problem is called glare, namely reflections of light by nearby objects. At sea level is a small problem. However, La Paz is oriented towards the southeast, facing Mount Illimani. The snow of the mountain reflects the sun radiation, especially during sunrise and sunset. Most pictures during those times would come out bad if facing the sun, Mount Illimani, or anything reflecting their light. Understanding that solves part of the problem – you’ll take the pictures about half an hour after sunrise or before sunset - but it still would leave you without good pictures of Mount Illimani. Learning to take advantage of the clouds is important; at high altitude, heavy, dark clouds occulting the sun are the photographer’s best friends. That works fine in the wet Himalayas, yet, the Andes are next to the planet’s driest desert; clouds are an oddity even in La Paz, almost completely across the range from the desert.

Yet, solutions can be found even without pro equipment. If you look at my picture in my IgoUgo profile page, you can see me next to the Everest, wearing Ray Ban sunglasses #1 (the opacity number, #3 is the darkest). They were perfect there, but rather useless in La Paz due to the wild glare in the last. In La Paz, I used #3, polarized sunglasses. Even then, looking at the direction of the sun during sunrise is difficult, that’s how intense the glare is due to snow reflections. Yet, polarized glasses are important since they diminish the strength of the glare. Thus, while taking a picture of the mountain, just take off the sunglasses and place them in front of the camera lenses. It may distort the view a bit, but almost always it would solve the glare issue without using expensive filters.

Then, you walk around and see a pretty street framed by an awesome forest and hill. You take a picture and then realize the street is in almost complete darkness, while the bald hill top glares as a miniature sun. You can either see the street clearly or the hill clearly, but no both at the same time. There is no magic solution for this one, but it is useful to realize many digital cameras allow you to define the contrast of a picture. In such a case, diminish the contrast as much as possible, sometimes, that would result in decent pictures under these heavy constraints.

Is that all? Not exactly, but these tips solve the main problems of high altitude photographing with simple and accessible methods. As always, the main point is awareness to the glare and contrast issues, then, solutions to other secondary effects can be devised on the spot.
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Manners are geographical in nature; while reaching one of the world’s roofs it is only natural to meet some unusual etiquette. Here are some of the most unusual things a traveler may see while exploring Bolivia.Spill the CokeIf spending some time with a group of…Read More

Manners are geographical in nature; while reaching one of the world’s roofs it is only natural to meet some unusual etiquette. Here are some of the most unusual things a traveler may see while exploring Bolivia.

Spill the Coke

If spending some time with a group of Bolivians, invariably somebody will bring a large bottle of soft drink. More often than not, it would be accompanied by just one plastic cup, which would be filled time and again while being passed around. Just before the last sip, the drinker would spin the little liquid left and then spill it on the floor, and then hand the cup over.

At first you may think this is done for hygienic reasons. Then in another event, when everyone has his own cup, the spilling goes on. After a while you ask a local friend about the ritual. "It’s an offering to the Pachamama" the answer would be.

Shake the Coke

Now fascinated by local drinking practices, you can’t help but noticing other peculiarities. Soft drinks are sold in small bottles (190ml, a cup-size serving) on kiosks that cover almost every available spot in the cities. First, you note that this 190ml lasts for an unusual period of time. Then, before they sip, they shake the bottle.

"Why?," you ask the same local friend, who is not amused anymore by your questions.

"Too many bubbles, it takes them out."

"Why don’t you drink non-carbonated drinks?"

"We like the carbonated ones."

Cool the Coffee

The Andean High Plateau can get cold. Eventually, if not standing under the sun, the place is cold at all times. During Oruro’s winter nights, temperatures can drop to minus twenty Celsius, despite the relative closeness to the equator line.
Given the circumstances, one desires hot drinks. Yet, the scenes at the markets are surprising. The already tepid coffee and tea served there is often cooled down by passing it from one cup to another; in a similar way used by Burmese coffee shops to add froth to their chai. "Too hot, too hot" they explain to me, while protecting themselves from the cold under thick layers of wool.

Press the Tea

"Only Bolivians do that," I said while pointing at the tea bag of my afternoon coffee companion.

"If you don’t do that you waste tea!" was the indignant answer.

Tea bags are pressed to the spoon and then squeezed to death with the help of their string.

Clean the Cutlery

It actually made me uncomfortable. In several occasions I was eating with local hosts in upmarket restaurants. Invariably, they would pick up their napkins and begin cleaning their cutlery. The same happens everywhere cutlery is used.

"Don’t you think that’s insulting the restaurant?" I asked at the first opportunity.

"But maybe it isn’t clean!" was the truly unexpected answer.

Cut the Burger

My cutlery-related adventures didn’t end there. Bread is a foreign food in America, despite the few hundred years of history it has here. It reflects in the way it is prepared, served and consumed. Proper etiquette has never evolved and behavior varies.

However, a recurring theme – especially in upmarket institutions – is the use of cutlery with bread related products. I’ve seen toasts and burgers – not to mention a large variety of sandwiches – eaten with knife and fork and always accompanied by a great show of self importance. I have never dared asking for the reason of this one.

Don’t Touch the Fruits

Bolivia offers an awesome variety of fruits, the result of its various climate zones and very fertile ground. One of the joys awaiting the traveler is visiting the markets and buying all kind of unusual fruits. However, a word of warning. Never touch the merchandise in the markets. You may be offered to taste a bit of the fruit, but touching fruits (or any other fresh product) to be sold is almost a death-sentence carrying taboo.

In the same topic, while purchasing items allowing that, asking for a "yapa" or "yapita" is expected; bargaining is not, unless a ridiculous price is asked from the obvious foreigner. "Yapa" is an Aymara verb meaning "to add;" "yapita" adds the Spanish diminutive to it. It refers to a small gratuity added to a purchase. If buying a whole watermelon don’t expect any yapa; however, if buying a slice from your "casera" ("homey," a market seller that knows you), expect an added bit.

Spicy but without Condiments

Spicing practices vary faster than latitudes; Bolivia offers an almost unique environment also here. Large amounts of sugar, salt and llajua are added to everything. A regular coffee at the market is regularly served with three large spoons of sugar added; more sugar is available nearby. Salt is used at such a rate that the Uyuni Salt Flats may run out of salt in the nearby future. Llajua – a sauce prepared mainly with spicy aji or locoto chilies, tomatoes and water - is added to most dishes. Cinnamon is occasionally used for coffee, but very seldom for tea. Yet, any other spices are almost a taboo. No saffron, no paprika. Even mentioning them may be considered as gross and semi-barbaric.

Bon Apetite!
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If arriving from the Andean Plateau, the first sight of La Paz is unforgettable. The ground drops hundreds of feet, creating a wide amphitheatre surrounding the northern side of Mount Illimani, one of the highest in the Americas. "La Hoyada" (the hole) – as locals…Read More

If arriving from the Andean Plateau, the first sight of La Paz is unforgettable. The ground drops hundreds of feet, creating a wide amphitheatre surrounding the northern side of Mount Illimani, one of the highest in the Americas. "La Hoyada" (the hole) – as locals call it – is completely constructed of precarious brick and adobe houses clinging to cliffs at the most unexpected and dangerous places, especially in the remote areas. Every year, a few houses slide down during the rainy season.

Soon after arriving for the first time, I was looking for a market, always the best place for finding a local meal. Not that it was difficult, central La Paz is one huge market with stalls occupying the sidewalks. As in medieval cities, people and vehicles share the streets, seldom peacefully. Once in the market, I immediately noticed a sweetish smell, with leafy qualities in it. A sweetish lettuce? Its source was in huge bags. Old ladies strangely dressed – later I learned they call themselves "cholitas" – sat behind them with a strange solemnity. The bags were covered with a small cloth called "tari" which is a small version of the colorful "awayo." The last is used for carrying around children – and other weights - on the mothers’ back. Atop the tari were a few leaves, hinting what was the content of the whole structure. The leaves look like citrus, slightly rounded and with a deep, dark green upper side. "What’s that," I asked with my – back then – basic Spanish. "Coca" was the answer. Shocked, I left the market as fast as I could.

Mate de Coca

Later, I found locals often drink "mate de coca," an infusion prepared out of the leaves, without any other treatment. This last point was important. The point is that without chemical treatment, the leaves do not contain drugs. In Bolivia, the consumption of coca tea – or the chewing of the leaves – is perfectly legal; my scare in the market was undeserved. The almost immeasurable amounts of alkaloids in the blood after the consumption of tea are no high enough to cause addiction or any other of the effects caused by the dangerous chemicals derived from it. It must be considered the same way poppy seeds are seen in Western bakeries.

The tea is served with plentiful of leaves floating on the cup. When is it ready? When the leaves sink. A point to keep in mind is that the infusion has already a slightly sweet flavor; if you use little or no sugar for your regular drinks, there would be no need to add sugar.

Chewing Coca

Eventually, the moment arrives; most probably during a long trip to the countryside. A Bolivian would hand a dark green plastic bag to you and offer sharing coca. Dark green plastic bags are used for storing coca since the plastic was invented; no other color is good enough for the task. You may be a bit worried, but after all you have seen by now plenty of Bolivians chewing coca and obviously it isn’t harmful. You also want to be polite to your host. Hesitantly you pick a few leaves and a bit of "lejia." It’s coca-chewing time.

Since ancient times, the coca was chewed in the Andean Highlands – most notoriously by Inca messengers running up and down the mountains – since it suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. The last occurs only if it is chewed together with "lejia." The last promote a chemical reaction in the mouth that turns some of the alkaloids in the leaves active. Yet, these aren’t the infamously chemically derived drug.

Trekking and long-distances walking are sports that suit me. As such, any enhancing tools used by Inca messengers is of special interest. Their main such tool was the coca. They left a post with enough coca to reach the next one. Food and water were inconsequential. They run on the mountainous Andes without bothering to stop until the mission was accomplished.

Then, the tricky part comes. You can’t chew just the leaves; it would shred your gums. A lejia must be chosen (look at the pictures). There are sweet and salty varieties. Sometimes they are made of quinoa ashes – resulting in grey bars - others with "camote" (a sweetish, bright orange yam from the Altiplano), and shaped as black squares. Most foreigners would find both this flavors too strong. The natural alternative is quinoa bars flavored with stevia, a natural sweetener. Instead of being called "lejia," this one is called just "estevia."

A few leaves are wetted in the mouth; then a bit of the stevia bar is chewed together with them. The leaves texture seems to disintegrate immediately; a sweetish flavor follows the surprise. Then, the whole mouth becomes numb. The leaves are kept in the mouth, treated as a candy. For as long as the mouth is numb, hunger is suppressed. And the runner has all the mountains of the world waiting ahead.
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The revival of the Aymara - and to some less extent also the Quechua – culture in Bolivia is one of the most fascinating things awaiting the visitor. The most visible aspect – at least from the international angle – was the recent change of…Read More

The revival of the Aymara - and to some less extent also the Quechua – culture in Bolivia is one of the most fascinating things awaiting the visitor. The most visible aspect – at least from the international angle – was the recent change of the country’s name from "Republica de Bolivia" to "Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia," a change that emphasizes the many cultures forming this country. However, changes do not end there.

I commented on the past on the peculiarities of the Bolivian Spanish, especially of the dialect spoken on the Andean High Plateau. It uses many archaic Spanish words, and is spoken slowly, for the joy of foreigners confused by the usual Spanish race to maximize the number of vowels pronounced on any given second. This sluggishness is the result of Aymara (and Quechua) vowels having diffused into the local Spanish. Three main vowels exist in Aymara, namely "a," "i," and "u;" each can be pronounced in a short and long variations; very unlike the length-fixed Spanish vowels (the vowels represented here follow the Spanish pronunciation). Aymara speakers often exchange "e" with "i," and "o" with "u." Whenever Bolivians want to emphasize a word, they use a long Aymara vowel in one of the syllables, forcing them to slow down the Spanish-fire. The revival of Aymara is resulting also in a better transcription of Aymara names; the new names feature "k" and "w," two consonants that are seldom used in Spanish. Thus, what in the past was "Tiahuanaco" (other spellings exist) became now "Tiwanaku." I’ve heard Aymara people pronouncing the name and must admit the new spelling is much clearer.

This cultural aspect of a visit to Bolivia transforms the country into a key location for experiencing what is left from the Inca, much more than the Spanish-oriented Peru. Yet, beyond language, the regional old cultures had left few signs. Their houses melted down into the ground, returning to the earth they were made of, and they did not possess any significant writing system. Little had survived, and the stories told about the origins of Tiwanaku vary with the tellers. Moreover, the Inca moved populations around constantly, as a cruel control method over civilians. Then the Spaniards worked hard on the destruction of the original cultures. After a few centuries, all that is left are smeared shadows.

Tiwanaku was probably contemporaneous to Angkor, apparently dating from the late first millennia. Apparently – again this ambiguous definition – the denizens were Paucara (or Pucara) people, who spoke a language closely related to Aymara. Then a calamity occurred and they migrated across the Titicaca Lake, founding Cusco and the Inca Empire. This short lived empire succumbed to the Spaniards after a few generations. Many Bolivians like telling stories about secret passages underneath the lake. Sadly, many misconceptions on the topic bound among guides in the area, instead of saying "I don’t know" they prefer telling very imaginative stories; on the specific journal linked here I gave specific examples and corrections.

If wishing to meet what is left from the Inca Empire, there are two key locations for the international traveler: Cusco and La Paz. Both are very high; unluckily, most travelers completely obliterate altitude acclimatization considerations. Despite Machu Picchu the attraction not being at an extreme altitude, a significant percentage of people would experience mild altitude sickness symptoms there. Invariably, all human bodies would experience an acclimatization process to the decreased air pressure; I’ve described that extensively in the past. That means bad news for travelers rushing through the area from sea-level Lima, especially if unaware of his – or hers – reaction to altitude; everybody is different with respect to that. Well, that is unless you descent into Cusco.

Despite Cusco being higher than the vast majority of human settlements, La Paz is even higher. Acclimatizing in La Paz before reaching lower Cusco makes more sense since most of the activities and attractions in La Paz require less effort (unless engaging in trekking or climbing). Moreover, large cities – as La Paz is in comparison to any other settlement in the area - provide a more comfortable environment for resting and acclimatizing during a few days. Moreover, there is another reason for choosing this path. It closely follows the source and heart of the Inca Empire, which was deeply related to the Andean High Plateau and not to the arid coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Making a round trip between La Paz and Cusco allows visiting also the Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku, both related to the birth of this high altitude empire.

If adopting this strategy – centering the high altitude trip between La Paz and Cusco – then visiting the Titicaca Lake and Puno is unavoidable (flying over the spectacular landscape of the area in a single hour would be a waste). Lake Titicaca is vast, offering the traveler two main routes between La Paz and Puno. Most travelers chose the shortest past through Copacabana. It allows exploring of the "Isla del Sol" (Island of the Sun), a pivotal point in Inca mythology, as well as visits to one of the most important cathedrals in Bolivia and its adjacent "Calvario." Yet, I have described in the past also the crossing via Desaguadero, the town at the southern tip of the lake, which is split between Peru and Bolivia. Each one of these trajectories offers special views and thus is worth experiencing both of them. Buses and taxis to Puno are available from the Peruvian side of both borders. Both paths are relatively easy and straightforward. The only point of concern is security, and that holds for both sides of the border. Eventually, Peru and Bolivia are pretty similar societies, what holds for one is usually true for the other.
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As described in the first entry of this journal, if choosing to make a comprehensive tour of modern Bolivia, then the Trident Approach is recommended. If picking it, then advancing from Cochabamba - the epicenter - to the northwest is the way to explore the…Read More

As described in the first entry of this journal, if choosing to make a comprehensive tour of modern Bolivia, then the Trident Approach is recommended. If picking it, then advancing from Cochabamba - the epicenter - to the northwest is the way to explore the northern Bolivian Andean High Plateau, Oruro and La Paz are the main destinations along this path.

Oruro

Carnival is the main - and some say the only - attraction in Oruro. UNESCO recognized it as a Human Heritage event and since then the city is called the Folkloric Capital of Bolivia. La Diablada - (The Devilish) as the event is usually called - takes place on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday and is a huge parade of devils performed by dancers in elaborate masks and customs, which attracts crowds from the whole country.

Plaza 10 de Febrero is the town's focal point. It features less important buildings that its counterparts in La Paz or Sucre, but that creates a good opportunity for enjoying the stylish Spaniard plaza itself. Beyond that and the fact nowadays Oruro is the northernmost stop of the Altiplano railway, there is one more site worth visiting: Socavon. If the traveler has time to see only one attraction in Bolivia, then the Socavon should be it. In this small enclave, the visitor can get a pretty good view of the Bolivian society: an extraordinary church, a mine turned into a museum, a museum of local sacred art, a monument to Bolivian miners and comprehensive views of the downtown area. All in one; reviewing this demands an entire journal.

Roughly halfway between Potosi and La Paz, and halfway between Cochabamba and La Paz, Oruro is too close to be connected to them with flights. Buses and cars make the way from La Paz in roughly three hours; a trip by bus costs less than three dollars. The road to La Paz is fully paved but narrow and features the highest number of fatal accidents in Bolivia; driving it at night is not recommended.

La Paz

La Paz is one of the few world cities you won't forget your first view of it; like Rio de Janeiro, Venice and Hong Kong, it was built on a unique environment. This effect is especially true if you arrive to the city by bus from the south (like from Oruro); then, after passing its twin city, El Alto, which sits flat on the plateau, the land breaks down and you will see a city occupying a crater-like space. That combined with the lack of oxygen at that extreme altitude, you would experience a perfect illusion of having landed on another planet. After recovering your breath you will take a second look and discover that the crater is open in one side and just there, filling the whole of that opening is Mount Illimani. You will fail not to fall in love with it at first sight; its snow-covered trinity of peaks is the permanent stage of that huge amphitheatre called La Paz. Dusk or dawn, rain, sun or clouds, the mountain always provides an ever-changing focal point of beauty.

The city's last sight - if departing by air - is not less dramatic. El Alto International Airport is on the plateau's edge; thus, seconds after the take off, the ground drops below the airplane and La Paz appears on the tortuous slopes; not unlike Lukla in Nepal. The view is especially beautiful if leaving at night, when the city lights create a yellow on black topographical map of the area.

Mallasa - the lowest borough of the city - is 3100 meters above the sea level, while the upper part of the city touches the plateau at 4020m. Downtown La Paz is around 3600m. The altitude span is immense and unmatched by any other city on the globe, causing some of the odd effects described in Seasons. Kathmandu - at the Everest feet - is much lower, and Lhasa on the Tibetan plateau is about the height of downtown La Paz but below its upper neighborhoods. Care should be taken until the body acclimatizes.

In the context of the Trident Approach presented in this journal, La Paz is the last point in the visit. Even if not including Inca related sites (see next entry) there is plenty to see and do here. I reviewed the city in many other journals, - including Calacoto, Apaña and other less common destinations - so I won’t repeat myself here. Yet, it is worth to remark possible tours to the immediate vicinity – depending on the time available. Those could include the Mount Illimani area, El Alto, Chacaltaya and Huayna Potosi and if having more time, venturing also a bit into the Bolivian Amazonian Basin: Coroico and the Death Road and Sorata provide unforgettable views of tropic rainforest blending with snowed mountains in perfect – though unusual – harmony. Finally, reaching the area and not visiting the marvelous Titicaca Lake and the famous town next to it – Copacabana – would be almost unforgivable.
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