September travels
It's been a month of leaving Cochabamba and coming back again, which might become an October trend as well.
I started out going east to tropical, sexy "camba" Bolivia for my birthday:
Ashley and I rocking out to Julieta Venegas with teeny bopper Bolivians in Santa Cruz. She brought in my birthday at midnight with Andar Conmigo.
Absorbing energy from the ruins outside of Samaipata, south of Santa Cruz on a lovely road full of haciendas and what must be some of the richest, most well cared for pueblos in Bolivia. Maybe this should be expected from one of the richest departments in Bolivia, but it's still surprising in contrast to pueblos in Oruro and Potosi, for example.
Ashley and I spent our last day in gorgeous Buena Vista, a friendly little pueblo looking over the tropical Amboro national park. We hiked, sunbathed, swam and pampered ourselves in the intense humidity -- it was decadent to wander around in sandals and scant clothing and feel comfortable, no catcalls or looks in a region where intense heat is the norm.
After a week back in Cochabamba, I spontaneously set out on quite a different journey, southbound to the cooooold altiplano. My original plan was to spend a quick weekend revisiting Potosi, but when I found out there were train tickets to Uyuni, I decided to go to the Salar de Uyuni (the biggest salt flat in the world) first:
Sunset from the train
Appropriately, we got a flat tire and the giggles less than a half hour into our three-day tour.
An "island" in the middle of the salt flat.
Only the first day of the tour is actually spent on the salt flat, after which we headed down into the expansive, icy, windy, almost entirely uninhabited Bolivian southwest. Much of the trip is spent driving through dramatic vistas of lakes, rock formations, and volcanoes like this one.
Train tracks to Chile in the middle of nowhere with German Max and Brazilian Joao, from my multilingual tour group.
We visited several lakes that come in startling blues, reds and greens due to the high level of mineral deposits in the region. Chilean and Andean flamingos flock to the lakes and live together in peace!
The last morning we got up at 4:00 in the morning in freezing cold at a 5000 meter altitude and watched the sun rise behind a family of geysers.
We moved on to hot springs steaming dramatically in the morning frost. Getting in was tempting, but I couldn't conceive of getting out again in the intense cold. I stuck my numb feet and hands in and warmed my whole body.
A ch'alla (ritual offering for good luck) on the way back to Uyuni, for safe travels on a dangerous road.
From Uyuni, I headed to Potosi, one of my favorite cities in Bolivia -- for its history, beautiful architecture and friendly people.
On top of Potosi (and the world) with a view of Cerro Rico, a primary source of the modern world's riches.
Wandering through the city at sunset.
I started out going east to tropical, sexy "camba" Bolivia for my birthday:
Ashley and I rocking out to Julieta Venegas with teeny bopper Bolivians in Santa Cruz. She brought in my birthday at midnight with Andar Conmigo.
Absorbing energy from the ruins outside of Samaipata, south of Santa Cruz on a lovely road full of haciendas and what must be some of the richest, most well cared for pueblos in Bolivia. Maybe this should be expected from one of the richest departments in Bolivia, but it's still surprising in contrast to pueblos in Oruro and Potosi, for example.
Ashley and I spent our last day in gorgeous Buena Vista, a friendly little pueblo looking over the tropical Amboro national park. We hiked, sunbathed, swam and pampered ourselves in the intense humidity -- it was decadent to wander around in sandals and scant clothing and feel comfortable, no catcalls or looks in a region where intense heat is the norm.
After a week back in Cochabamba, I spontaneously set out on quite a different journey, southbound to the cooooold altiplano. My original plan was to spend a quick weekend revisiting Potosi, but when I found out there were train tickets to Uyuni, I decided to go to the Salar de Uyuni (the biggest salt flat in the world) first:
Sunset from the train
Appropriately, we got a flat tire and the giggles less than a half hour into our three-day tour.
An "island" in the middle of the salt flat.
Only the first day of the tour is actually spent on the salt flat, after which we headed down into the expansive, icy, windy, almost entirely uninhabited Bolivian southwest. Much of the trip is spent driving through dramatic vistas of lakes, rock formations, and volcanoes like this one.
Train tracks to Chile in the middle of nowhere with German Max and Brazilian Joao, from my multilingual tour group.
We visited several lakes that come in startling blues, reds and greens due to the high level of mineral deposits in the region. Chilean and Andean flamingos flock to the lakes and live together in peace!
The last morning we got up at 4:00 in the morning in freezing cold at a 5000 meter altitude and watched the sun rise behind a family of geysers.
We moved on to hot springs steaming dramatically in the morning frost. Getting in was tempting, but I couldn't conceive of getting out again in the intense cold. I stuck my numb feet and hands in and warmed my whole body.
A ch'alla (ritual offering for good luck) on the way back to Uyuni, for safe travels on a dangerous road.
From Uyuni, I headed to Potosi, one of my favorite cities in Bolivia -- for its history, beautiful architecture and friendly people.
On top of Potosi (and the world) with a view of Cerro Rico, a primary source of the modern world's riches.
Wandering through the city at sunset.
posted by Kristin at 8:51 AM
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