A week in Sucre, Bolivia

I decided it was time to give my terrible language skills a boost and enrolled in Spanish lessons in the beautiful city of Sucre, judicial capital of Bolivia. There is some confusion as to which city is the actual capital of this country with Sucre being the constitutional capital and the legislative and executive branches of the government based in La Paz.

Bolivia Coat of Arms

What a colorful and vibrant city Sucre is with something going on in the main plaza almost every lunchtime and evening. The Bolivians love their brass bands

Police Brass band

This little old lady decided she was going to join the police band as they practiced in the gazebo in the plaza

and started dancing much to the delight of the crowd and members of the band

Sucre is sometimes referred to as the white city with many of the old colonial buildings painted brilliant white with red terra-cotta tile roofs

Mercado Centro

The Mercado Centro was a great place to go at lunchtime to either pick up some fruit or to get a two course meal of soup ( a meal in itself ) with a chicken or beef dish with rice and potatoes for the incredible sum of less than $3

University of Saint Francis Xavier

The University of Saint Francis Xavier was founded in 1624

The Supreme Court

Recoleta District

View down on the city from Recoleta

After ten days in the city it was time to hit the road again with a two day ride to La Paz passing through some magnificent scenery along the mountain road with small villages and farms dotting the countryside.

Lunch stop in the village of Macna

Stone walled fields

And now to explore La Paz

To the Mines

What does it take to become a miner in Potosí Bolivia

All decked out and ready to go mining

Apart from the required work clothes, helmet and headlight a few other supplies were needed before heading off to the silver mines at 4000 metres ( 13,000 ft ) in the Cerro Rico ( Rich Mountain ) in Potosí.

Dynamite

It was easy enough to pick up some dynamite ( Nitoglycerin, Ammonium Sulphate and fuses ) at the local miners market.

A bottle of 96 proof grain alcohol to lighten the mood and make the work day a little more enjoyable

Coca Leaves

Coca leaves to give energy and to counter the effects of the rarified air

Volvo - not!

All pile in the "tour bus" and enter one of 1500 working mines in this silver mountain that has been continuously mined since 1545

Mine Entrance

Each of the mines is run as a co-operative with the miners setting their own working hours, deciding on where they want to dig in the mines and also deciding, with little warning when they are going to set off their dynamite charges.

A little cramped in here

The mines brought enormous wealth to the Spanish and incredible hardship to the early miners / slaves and built the city of Potosí which was considered in the late 16th century to be the richest city in the world.

Cerro Rico standing watch over the town

A wet ride of a couple of hours through beautiful scenery brought me to the capital city of Sucre

Swollen rivers from all the rain

Welcome to Sucre

I stopped outside a hostel and went in to enquire if there was accommodation available and not five minutes later an over-ambitious cop had given me the BOOT - NOT VERY NICE!! It took a little while to work out how to get Moto Naranja released from jail.

Beautiful buildings surround the plaza

Off the (beaten) Track - Bolivia

Uyuni Train Cemetary

I crossed into Bolivia from Chile at the southern most border post of Hito Cajones and entered one of the most stunning landscapes I have ever seen. I can only describe it as lunar but with towering snow capped volcanoes standing guard over a high altitude desert of immense proportion

Frontera at Hito Cajones

The road was anything from hard-packed washboard to thick sand but standing up and putting the power down made this one heck of a ride. The only tough part was trying to pass the numerous Land Cruisers that put up a huge plume of dust as they weaved along the tracks

400 km of dirt riding heaven

Confusing tracks

This is know as the Lagunas Route and the lakes were incredible with flamingoes casting refections in the water under impossibly blue skies

Laguna Colorada

These llamas watched me with distain as I crossing over this stream near the little settlement of Villa Mar

If you litter in this village you could get swift justice so make sure you are on your best behavior

Villa Mar for a lunch stop

I ate lunch in the village and had a soup that was flavored with local herbs which was absolutely delicious. I just wish I knew what the suspicious pieces of meat were that lurked at the bottom of the bowl

The town of Uyuni is a dusty, not very spectacular town on the edge of the famous Salar de Uyuni. These large salt flats stretch on seemingly for ever. However with  the recent heavy rains they were transformed into a shallow lake. Four wheel drive tours still drove out onto the flats but the salt laden waters are extremely corrosive and play havoc with vehicle electronics so I decided to stay safely on the edge.

Salar de Uyuni

Uyuni

At an altitude of 3669 metres ( over 11,000 ft ) I found it difficult to sleep the first night in this town and awoke with a headache which I believe was from the altitude rather than the Bolivian cerveza I had to test just to make sure it was up to my very exacting standards

Llama - It's what's for dinner

Buying a donut in Valparaiso.

So much of the fun and excitement of travel comes from the interaction with people and the challenges that are presented when undertaking what would be a mundane task at home.

A Berlin

At home buying a donut takes 2 minutes

In Valparaiso buying a donut takes 15 minutes

Here was the process.

1) Locate a Panaderia ( bakery ) —- easy, just follow your nose

2 ) Stand in line at the counter

3) Point to the delicacy you want and ask what is the name in Spanish for a fresh, strawberry filled, donut

4) Armed with this knowledge stand in a second line to pay for the donut

5) Request to pay for una BERLIN

6) Told to go back to the counter to get a ticket for the purchase

7) Stand in line at the counter

8) Request a ticket for una Berlin

9) Stand in line at cashier

10) Pay c$ 500 ( about $0.30 )

11) Receive a receipt for payment

12) Stand in line at the counter

13) Hand over receipt to what is now an old friend

14) Receive una Berlin wrapped in brown paper inside a brown paper bag

15) Gobble down a delicious Berlin

Worth every minute !!

Valparaiso and Northern Chile

With a two day ride up the coast from Puerto Montt I arrived in the old port city of Valparaiso. It seemed to me like the only thing holding up many of the crumbling old buildings is the paint from the amazing street art that adorns countless walls

Monument in training

The city creeps up the hills from the port with iconic funiculars offering a respite from the thigh burning steps 

Funicular

Valapraiso had it’s glory days as a supply port for vessels making the passage round the Horn on their way to the gold fields of Californian in the 19th century. A massive earthquake in 1906 did major damage to the city and then the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 sealed its fate.

Chile navy training ship Esmeralda

My next stop was the seaside resort town of La Serena a 5 hour ride north up the very good Ruta 5 highway.

La Serena

La Serena beach

Just east into the desert from La Serena is found the beautiful valley of Elqui, famous for its vineyards that produce the fiery spirit, Pisco. 

Vineyards in Elqui Valley

Pisco

This area is known for its clear skies and is home to many observatories allowing for the un-interrupt sight of the heavens. I took a nighttime horse-back ride up winding mountain paths that seemed at times were leading directly into the black, star studded night.

This truly is an enchanted valley and welcome stop before taking the northern reaches of the Atacama desert.

The main road leading north in the Atacama is a very good paved road and it was easy to make good time although endless hours through the desert could be very tiring. They say that this is the driest desert on earth and there were long stretches where there was not a hint of vegetation.

Atacama Desert looking east

The National Parque Pan de Azucar on the edge of the cold Pacific Ocean was a good night stopover with the waves putting me to sleep and the seagulls waking me in the morning 

P. N Pan de Azucar

Early morning in the desert

Mano del Desierto near Antofagaste

Desert art

Ever northwards through the ugly industrial mining town of Antofagaste and then northwards and eastwards towards the Andes and the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama. What a gem of a place in the middle of the desert with the high snow covered volcanoes towering over this town built out of adobe. The underground aquifers fed by the nearby snow covered peaks have transformed the dry desert into this green island in a sea of sand and rock.

Back street of San Pedro

Iglesia de San Pedro

Volcan Licancabur

Laguna Miscanti

Vicuña

I learned a little about the seemingly shy Vicuña. Two males fight for dominance of the herd, and all the benefits that that entails, by hitting each other with their necks (much like giraffes do) In this high mountain environment with very thin air this soon leads to exhaustion by one poor luckless fellow who drops to the ground. The winner then bites off the balls of the loser !!! -- a little harsh I thought.