Viva Bolivia!!!

Hi everybody!

Yes, we are still alive!!! After 3 amazing weeks in Bolivia, we are now in Cuzco, Peru. In a few days, Vladi and I will celebrate our 7 years of wedding (and also our 7 months of journey) at the world famous Machu Picchu!!! But let me first tell you the love story beetween us and Bolivia, definitely our favourite country so far in South America...

3 DIAS EN EL DESIERTO DE SUD LIPEZ

From San Pedro de Atacama (CHILE), we booked a 3 days tour in south Bolivia for 80 euros, to cross the South Lipez desert and reach the city of Uyuni. With fellow travelmates from France, Japan, Australia and Italy, we started in a truck this awesome trip by the discovery of some lagunas (laguna blanca, laguna verde) and of the Licancabur volcano...

We stopped on our way at some hot springs, where only the brave (me included of course!) had a relaxing hot bath before a good lunch. A few kilometers later, we arrived at the suprising geysers "Sol de Mañana".  A mud bath was not possible unfortunately, unless if you wanted to get burnt at third degree... It was really a strange and unusual place in the middle of the desert...

Jumping in the truck again, we reached the incredible "laguna colorada". Here my camera was unable to seize the beauty of this natural scenery, but my eyes could. You can guess the colours on the pics below, but this natural wonder really deserves your visit... I hope one day you´ll come here and witness the show with your own eyes...

The first night (altitude = 4500m), we slept in a very old dormitory and it was goddam cold!!! Vladi and I decided to sleep in the same tiny bed, under 6 heavy blankets to warm our bodies. We could almost not breathe... But we did survived, and so Timothée (it´s him below playing the "charango", a traditionnal music instrument of Bolivia) and the others did. So after the breakfast, we had to wait cause we were about to change the vehicles for the 2 last days of the trip. Apparently the truck had a problem, so we ended up in 2 four-wheelers with 2 new and antipathic guides... Well, well, well... The sceneries were fortunately still amazing: we enjoyed the "arbol de pierda", some new lagunas, then we stopped in a small village to have lunch and take a nap. The rest of the afternoon was a long ride through the desert, with a stop in another "pueblo" (village). For the second night, we were more lucky and slept in an hotel with heat and hot showers... Ouf!

On the third day, we (at last) reached the wonderful "Salar de Uyuni", a huge white stretch of salt, where we took funny mind-altering pictures, and hiked on the fish island (Isla del Pescado), surrounded by hundred-year-old cactus... Bolivia has certainly much to offer... The Uyuni salar is actually a former sea: when the sea slowly disappeared, a thick layer of salt remained... Another amazing place! We also quickly visited a former salt hotel (yes, everything made of salt!), then arrived at Uyuni where we enjoyed a delicious pizza!!! Back in the civilization!!!

TUPIZA

We spent only one night in Uyuni, and left early in the morning to catch a bus to Tupiza, the bolivian far-west. We rested there 4 days (the Uyuni trip was really exhausting!), and discovered how cheap Bolivia is. Guess the cost of a lunch including a soup with bread, a main dish (rice, french fries, veggies and meat) and a fruit... 1€!!! A night in a hotel in a double room... 6€!!! (later in Copacabana, we even stayed in a cheap hotel for 1.50€ for 2 per night!). We of course avoided as usual the tourist restaurants, and ate in the local eateries and markets... Tupiza has some interesting colourful mountains in the surroundings, and we hiked one day in a valley to get closer to them. But mostly this stop was a nice introduction to the country, its people and its food. The beginning of a love story...

POTOSI

We choosed to vist the city of Potosi on our way to the capital city of Bolivia, La Paz. We were thinking at first to stop there for 2 days, but finally stayed 4 days! Potosi had some mountains which were in the past full of silver. Thousand of men (mostly slaves and indigenuous people) died in the mines to extract the precious metal, and Potosi was once the richest city in South America. I visited the very interesting "casa de la moneda", where were manufactured the silver coins and ingots. Now in Potosi, a thousand of men are still destroying their health and working into hell to extract some minerals...

Potosi is now a nice city to visit, with plenty of old buildings, churches, houses and innumerable "plazas". We continued here a food marathon, trying to taste different dishes every day. The bolivian cuisine is not very various, but I liked it: milaneza de carne, picante de pollo, salchipapa (the local "frites-saucisses", perfect for my sister Marie!), empenadas, sopas... Bolivian people seems to love brass bands too: we were randomly at the right place at the right moment to enjoy a school celebration with a contest of brass bands from Uyuni, Sucre and Potosi. Great! At last, most of bolivian women are dressed in a traditionnal and beautiful way, with colourful clothes, nice dresses and lovely hats. Vladi quickly adopted their way of carrying things (and even babies) by buying the same cloth, as  you will see later...

LA PAZ

Remember I told you we were chewing coca leaves to fight against the altitude ache? Here is a picture of some of our stock. In buses or while walking, we tried to chew them each day and it helped! You can also see under the leaves the cloth Vladi bought in a market a few days ago... Beautiful, isn´t it?

From Potosi, we took another cheap bus to reach La Paz (altitude = 3600m), where we were hosted by a great bolivian couchsurfer, Ronald. He welcame us in his big house in the southeast suburb of "Achumani", where we had a room and a bathroom for ourselves! We also met at his place Alberto, a cool fellow traveler from Italy, and Stephanie from Quebec for a couchsurfing dinner prepared by Vladi: veggies pies, salad and wine! Yummy! The next day, Alberto cooked some mean "tagliatelles carbonara" and a delicious risotto! And later Ronald a spicy meal of his own and an amazing tiramisu as well! We stayed 5 days in Ronald´s house and enjoyed his company a lot. He gave us all we need to enjoy our time there: map of the city, useful tips, a wonderful and comfy house... But above all his friendship! We went together in La Paz to some good places and markets he knows. He also helped me a lot to improve my spanish! Muchas gracias Ronald, eres un tipo genial, me gusté mucho conocerte, estoy seguro que vamos a encontrarnos de nuevo, tal vez en Belgica despues de nuestro viaje por el mundo... Hasta luego amigo!

With Alberto, Vladi and I went for a small hike an afternoon to the "moon valley" close to La Paz. Interesting and odd rock formations, under a sunny weather, as usual since we arrived in the north of Argentina. But beware of the cactus!!!

So La Paz was a good stop, but mostly thanks to our new friend Ronald. It´s still a big city swarming with people and crazy minibus and taxi drivers though. Pollution and noise. Horns all the time. By the way, I had to tell you that unfortunately, bolivian people are not the ecology champions... They just don´t care about environmental issues, and litter almost everywhere... Shame! I think they are even worst than african people...The country needs a huge campaign to raise public awareness, but I guess they have other concerns for now... It´s really a pity!

 LAGO TITICACA: COPACABANA Y LA ISLA DEL SOL

3 hours of bus from La Paz, we arrived on the Titicaca Lake shores, in the small city of Copacabana. A nice cathedral, a nice view from the hills surrounding the town, and a nice little harbour to reach the lake north islands. Also as I already told you the cheapest hotel of our trip so far: 1.50euros!!!

Thanks to the information of our "Lonely Planet", we did a phenomenal 17km trek from Copacabana to Yampupata, visiting some floating islands and hiking through wild sceneries. We had lunch on one of the islands: we picked  some fresh trouts in a net in the lake, then some women cooked them for us with rice and vegetables.  We took a short but delicious nap afterwards, listening to the little waves of the "lago Titicaca". Hard life, we know!

As usual, we met a dog while hiking and as usual he followed us for kilometers, acting as he was our pet for ages! Once again, when we found a micro (little bus) to come back to Copacabana, he wanted to get into the bus to stay with us. We felt like abandoning him when we left... We really have a problem with dogs: we love them so much that they can feel it, and so they love us too! Good luck my friend!

The day after this trek, we took the boat to the island of the sun, which was the birth place of the sun for the Incas. We stayed 3 nights on this lovely island (one in the north, in the Challampapa village, two in the south), and visited the Chincana ruins, where the Inca legend creation started. Now 5000 people live on the island. No roads, no cars. The noises you hear are only made by donkeys, lamas, sheeps, pigs, chicken, cats and dogs. Plus the lake waves, and the wind. Well, just the kind of place I´m really fond of. I loved it! The first day, we hiked in the northern part, the best for me, look at the pics!

The second day, we woke up late, then started the path through the island on the ridgeline of the hills to reach the village of Yumani. We stopped one hour to drink a well-deserved beer, taking advantage of the good weather. Hi hi! Hard life, we already know! Once arrived in Yumani, we discovered a cute little village, and the idyllic "escalera del inca". We found a sunny double room for 5 euros per night, in an "alojamiento" runned by a nice woman who also cooked for us a few times. Most of the tourists come on the island in the morning, rush off their feet to cross the island and catch the afternoon boat back to Copacabana. Instead of following the herd, we stayed more and took our time to communicate with the locals and feel the islanders everyday-life.

The third day, we hiked in the south to the Pilko Kaina ruins, then off the beaten path where we had to climb in some parts. But we enjoyed the peacefulness so much! Vladi came back to the village, while I continued my random walk along some high cliffs, then going down to some beaches on a very steep (kind of) path. I got a litlle bit lost, actually the walk was longer than I first thought! I stopped to rest for a while and met Angél, a friendly bolivian guy living in a small house on the island. We talked during one hour about life in Bolivia and travels. For us european people it´s so easy to travel, but for bolivian people it´s almost impossible due to their low currency. Moreover, the french passport and nationality are also very good to travel the world. So lucky we are! Then I finished my day-hike "climbing" the steep (again!) path back to Yumani.

When I arrived at our hotel "chez l´habitant", Vladi was playing with some kids, actually the niece and nephew of our host. While their parents work in La Paz, making a living, David and Mariana live on the island with their aunt. They were very proud to show us their out of use toys, and happy to play with us. Mariana even tried Vladi´s sunglasses and posed like a moviestar, with her cute red cheekbones! So cute, so cute!

You certainly understood that we loved those 3 days on the "Isla del Sol". Like always, we just love being on islands. In Africa, the islands on the Malawi Lake are one of our best souvenirs. A few years ago, we also loved Guadeloupe, and La Reunion. In Central America, we had a great time on the panamean "Isla Bastimientos". And soon, we will go the "Isla Utila" in Honduras, and of course to French Polynesia! Youhou!!! But for now, we are in Peru! See you later for some news, amigos!

IN FRENCH FOR THEO

Salut filleul! Dis merci à maman de ma part pour les dernières photos qu´elles m´a envoyées, OK? J´ai pu te voir lors du tournoi de foot, et aussi découvrir les belles lunettes d´Eléa, cool. Je suis maintenant dans un nouveau pays, le Pérou, et dans quelques jours je vais découvrir le Machu Picchu, tu sais la citadelle des incas perdue dans les montagnes. Cet article du blog te parle de la Bolivie, notre pays préféré en Amérique du Sud jusqu´à maintenant. C´était vraiment génial: volcans, geysers, lagunes colorées, sources d´eau chaude, le salar d´Uyuni (les grandes étendues blanches que tu vois sur certaines photos, c´est du sel!), le lac Titicaca (drole de nom, hein?) et l´ile du soleil... J´ai encore vu plein de beaux paysages! Ici, la vie n´est pas du tout chère pour nous européens, c´est à cause de la différence de monnaie. 1 euro = 9 bolivianos. En fait ici tu peux manger une soupe + un plat principal + un fruit pour juste un euro. Mais beaucoup de gens sont pauvres en Bolivie, les enfants n´ont pas de jouets et travaillent souvent très jeunes pour aider leurs parents. Encore une fois, on peut s´estimer heureux, c´est une des leçons du tour du monde. Toi car tu as beaucoup de jouets, tu as de belles tenues de foot, tu manges bien tous les jours. Moi car je peux voyager autour du monde, car j´ai gagné beaucoup d´argent en France avant de partir. Par exemple un bolivien, meme s´il travaille toute sa vie, ne pourra pas faire un voyage comme le mien. La vie est parfois injuste, n´est-ce pas? Bon c´est pas tout ça, il est tard et je vais aller manger un bout. Des bisous à toute la famille comme d´hab. A plus Théo! Parrain.