Wild Wild (South)West!

If Peru is the Jennifer Aniston of South America; nice, well put together, and attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way, then Boliva is the Angelia Jolie; a little trashy, rough around the edges, but definitely not boring. My time recently spent in Bolivia was some of the wildest, most fun times I've had in South America thus far. Hold on tight..

Just to give everyone a brief intro to Boliva, in addition to my poorly attempted celebrity metaphors, Bolivia is one of the few land-locked countries in South America (sorry beach lovers) and also the poorest with over 20% of the population living below the poverty line. For that reason, Bolvia is not really a touristy country and often lacks things like internet faster than dial-up or hot showers, but for those who are willing to go off the beaten path it will give you an unforgettable experience.

Click Here to see where we are on the trip!

The adventure started when we left Lake Titicaca and headed for the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. La Paz is an interesting city in its own right, but the real attraction for me laid far outside the city limits. About 50 miles North of La Paz is perhaps the most notorious and infamous road in the world. This dirt road, aptly named "The Death Road" winds its way through the Bolivian mountains and is lined with sheer cliffs on its side, giving views that are equally beautiful and deadly. In 2007 it was named by the World Development Bank the most dangerous road in the world due to an average of 27 vehicles per year plunging over the edges and into the abyss below. Needless to say, I had to see this for myself and take the wild ride down the road.

Click Here to see all my photos from Bolivia!

The Death Road

One of the many sheer cliffs on the road

To that end, I rented a mountain bike so I could ride down the death road for myself (Elizabeth decided to sit this one out) and see why it gets its name. I assure you the road lived up to its hype, nothing quite gets the blood pumping like looking to your left and seeing a 400ft cliff and knowing that if you make a mistake, that's all she wrote. If you can get over the nerves though it's an incredible ride with gorgeous views. Although I will admit that its a very disconcerting feeling to pass a cross on the side of the road every 20 meters, the Bolivian version of a traffic warning.

On the death road

Thankfully though (you can breath easy now mom), I survived the ride and can say that I conquered one of the most dangerous roads in the world. After getting my adrenaline fix, we continued the adventure by traveling South to our next destination, Potosi, a old mining town that is home to a number of cooperative mines. Back in the day, Potosi was mined by the Spanish for silver and was so productive that the joke used to be that the Spanish could have built a silver bridge from South America to Spain with all the silver from Potosi (ok so humor wasn't their strong point). Unfortunately though the silver ultimately ran out and now Potosi is now mined for iron ore and other materials.

The mountain where one of the mines are located

What's makes Potosi unique is the fact that people can visit the mines and see the grueling and dangerous conditions in which the miners are forced to work. We spent about 2 hours walking, crawling, and climbing through the mine seeing the various parts and taking time to stop and talk to the miners. It was an incredibly humbling experience. To say that they work in hell would be an understatement. The temperature in the mines can reach up to 90 degrees, apart from the tiny head lamps the workers have everything is pitch black, and the spaces are cramped enough to make anyone claustrophobic.

Miners transporting their materials

In fact, the average lifespan of a miner is 15 years after the start working in mines as a result of the noxious fumes amongst many other dangers. Some of these miners start working at 15 years old...you do the math on that one. Because of these impossible conditions, the miners have adopted a number of very interesting customs and beliefs. Probably the most interesting being that while working in the mine, they worship a devil like figure, the Pachatierra, who they believe will protect them in the mines. As they describe it, the mines are like hell, and God can't help them in hell. As our guide told us, "Leave your religion at the entrance, it has no place down here."

The pachatierra idol that the miners offer gifts to for protection

After showering off the stench of sulfur and sweat from the mines, we packed up and headed to our final destination in Bolivia, the southwest antiplano, the section of Bolivia about the size of Pennsylvania that contains a staggering diversity of nature and sights; ranging from canyons and vistas reminiscent of Yosemite to huge salt flats unlike anything I had seen before. To visit this awe inspiring section we did a four day Jeep tour that allowed to go off the beaten track and really see everything. 

View of one of the biggest canyons in Bolivia

What was so interesting about this section of Bolivia is that it has a very arid, desert type environment, but the altitude is about 12,000ft so there are still snow capped peaks and beautiful small lakes juxtaposed in this harsh environment. 

Desert with snow capped peaks in the distance

Crystal clear lake with a perfect reflection of the mountain in the background

As if those views weren't enough, we also passed by spewing geysers and lagoons that had water as red as the flamingos living the lagoon. 

The Laguna Colorado, with flamingos in the background

Spewing Geyers

However, the tour definitely saved the best for the last as we visited the largest salt flat in the world near a city called Uyuni. Essentially, millions of years ago the salt flats used to be huge lakes which have since dried up and left huge salt deposits in their stead. The views in these salt flats are incredible and I have no doubt they will haunt my day dreams for years to come. They are so large that in every direction you look all you see is a sprawling white ground. What's more, in this time of year the salt flats have just a little bit of water in them which reflects the sky perfectly and makes it seem as though your standing on one huge mirror. 

Due to this reflection, the sunset that we saw in the salt flat was probably one of the most impressive sunsets I've seen in my life. 

Sunset over the salt flat

At the end of the day, sometimes all you can do is stand back and soak it all in.

Watching the sunset

Lake Titicaca

When one first mentions Lake Titicaca, it usually evokes giggles resulting from its rather unfortunate name. However, as we found in our most recent adventures, Lake Titicaca offers far more than cheap laughs. Lake Titicaca gains its fame from being the world's highest navigable lake at an elevation of 12,500ft and is large enough to stretch between Peru and Bolivia, allowing both countries to have a piece of the fame. Apart from hosting beautiful views, Lake Titicaca also is home to some of the world's most singular, unique cultures that trace their ancestry back the this lake. In fact, according to Inca legend, the sun, moon,a nd man were created in this very lake (take that Great Lakes). To get a better look at both the lake and the people who call it home, Elizabeth and I decided to setup a series of home-stays which would allow us to live with the people and really get to know them and their culture.

Thus, we left our last adventures in Cuzco and headed to Lake Titicaca! Click Here to see where we are on our trip!

Click here to see all of our pictures from Lake Titicaca!

Our first stop in at Lake Titicaca was a small city called Puno, which would be our jumping off point for visiting some of the isolated villages located around the lake and on some of the islands in the lake. After getting situated in Puno, we did some digging to see if we could arrange a host-stay with some local, indigenous peoples. Sure enough, we found a nice couple, Emelio and his wife Yonny, who was willing to take in a couple of gringos for a few nights. Emelio and Yonny live in a small village (and by small i mean 70 people live there) located about 2 hours from Puno. It was great being able to stay with Emelio and Yonny and learning all about their way of life. Emelio and Yonny have never left their small village (and have no plans to) for as they told us, they have everything they could ever need. This includes growing and raising their own food and even using medicinal plants grown around their house for everything from painkillers to even birth control! It's quite humbling to see how an entire family can live on so little and yet be so content with what they have. Perhaps makes you take pause when you get upset that your cable goes out.

Emelio, Yonny, and I!

Unfortunately after bidding adieu to Emelip and Yonny, illness decided to strike and both Elizabeth and I came down with what, in retrospect, I think was strep-throat. This holed us up in our hostel for a day, but after purchasing an antibiotic (here you just need to walk into a pharmacy and ask for one) we were up and running just a little while later.

After recovering from our bought of illness, we set off for our next destination, Taquille, a remote island on Lake Titicaca that a culture known as Taquillenos calls home. What makes this location so unique is that due to its isolation, the culture of the Taquillenos has remained relatively unchanged over time. Thus, visiting Taquille gives one a rare chance to quite literally step back in time and experience this unique and singular culture. What's even better, on Taquille, families take turns allowing tourists to live in the homes which not allow allows us to get a glimpse into their culture, but also the Taquillenos to benifit from the tourism visiting their small island.

The beautiful coast of Taquille

View on the way to Taquille

Thus, we hopped on a (excruciatingly slow) boat and set off to the Island of Taquille. Upon stepping off the boat, the islanders told Elizabeth and I which family we would be staying with. We learned that we would be staying with a Taquillena Maria and her two sons, Abdon and Saul. After getting settled in their house, Maria set off to make some dinner, and we got to hang out with Abdon and Saul which was a blast! Being in Latin America, we obviously played soccer...Abdon and Elizabeth vs. Saul and I. Unfortunately, after a poorly timed run up the middle by yours truly, the goal was left wide up and Saul and I lost!

From left: Abdon, Maria, and Saul!

Saul and I after the soccer game

After getting our full share of exercise, Saul and Abdon, become our tour guides of sorts and gave us a tour of the island. Apart from the natural beauty of the island, we also got to see Taquilenos in their traditional dress, which for them is a big part of their culture. One of the most interesting parts of their dress is the traditional hats that the boys and men wear. All the the boys and single men wear a hat with a strip of white color on it which signifies that they aren't married. Upon marriage, they have to change their hat that is fully red. 

Saul and Abdon (in his traditional dress) playing music for us

Not only did we get to see the traditional dress, but Maria also allowed us to view her working at the traditional loom she uses to create the clothing for her family. It was very interesting to be able to see first hand the culture and customs like that of a completely differnt culture. 

Maria using her loom to create a traditional Taquille belt for Abdon

That night, we got to enjoy some delicious Taquilleno food and see stars that seemed like we reach out and touch them. After saying good bye, we hopped on a boat and headed back to the mainland to plan our next excursion in Lake Titicaca. 

That next excursion came in the form of heading to the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca to visit the famous Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), the island that according to Incan Legend, gave birth to the sun and as one might imagine is famous for its natural beauty and views. Thus we had the immense pleasure of dealing with Bolvian customs as we crossed the border to head to the Island of the Sun. Presently, the Bolivan government forces American citizens (and only American citizens) to pay $135.00 to enter Bolivia as reciprocity due to the difficulty in entering the United States. I'll try not to get out my soap box, but I believe that to be an absolutely absurd policy. Not only is it wrong to single out a single nationality in my opinion, but that policy only serves to alienate the type of US Citizens (ie travelers) that would actually be likely to support Bolivian interests. But I digress..

The sign that cost us $135.00 to get passed

So after forking over my $135.00, we hopped on a boat and set off for the beautiful Island of the Sun. The island lived up to its reputation for beauty and then some. Not only were the views reminiscent of the beauty one usually associates with the Mediterranean, but in the distance we could also see the snow capped Bolvian Andes. Elizabeth and I decided to grab a bottle of wine, climb up to a great lookout, and watch the sun set. It was absolutely breathtaking, and it was one of the those moments that you just know your going to remember for the rest of your life. As has happed countless times in my trip, words seem to come up short in describing the views so I'll just let the pictures below do the talking. 

The view from a hill atop the Island of the Sun

View with the Bolivian Andes in the background

The sun setting over the island

After spending the night on the Island of the Sun, we headed back to the mainland and got ready for our next adventure, Bolivia! More to come soon!