Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

 

So this is a city of contradictions. I both love and hate it.

I hate that within an hour of being here some naughty opportunists tricked my poor friend and made off with my backpack with my beloved camera in it (along with plenty of other goodies). It was a present from my parents for my graduation and it is (was) the most favourite thing I own. I feel like travelling is incomplete now I cannot see my world through a camera lens and transport a little of it to you. I hate that there are such marvellous things to see and I cannot show you and I know that with time I will not remember them as I did in that moment. I hate that in 24 years of travelling it was one of the first times I have felt really vulnerable.

I love the cobblestone streets that wind between European buildings of grandeur and mystery. I hate playing hop, skip, jump with the massive amounts of dog poo. I do however, love watching one person struggle to take a dozen of these playful pups for walkies. I hate that I have now put pepper spray in my bag for those dark walks home. I love that my eyeballs feel like they are going to fall out of my head because I am greedily trying to soak up every last sight. I love the colours and the sounds of this city. I love that I have to carry a map on me because we wander down street after street chasing beautiful buildings, street festivals, the smell of choripan, sounds of tango dancing, flashes of colourful houses, little glimpses of lives bathed in sunshine and music. 

Okay, I love it.

 

 

the road less travelled

 

Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white

- Mark Jenkins

Gypsy girl

In the shadow of the Andes I spent the day galloping like a wild gypsy with my very own black beauty. It was marvellous

wanderlust

Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all the familiar comforts of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things  

-air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - 

all things tending towards the eternal. or what we imagine of it.

- Cesare Pavese

Chacaltaya, Valle de la Luna and Tiwanaku

So the adventures continue. Yesterday I went to Tiwanaku and the day before to Chacaltaya and Valle de la Luna.

Chacaltaya is now an abandoned ski-resort and a perfect example of climate change (listen up skeptics). Once the highest ski-resort in the world, sitting at a massive 5,421 meters above sea level, Chacaltaya´s glacier was 18, 000 years old. In a mere 69 years it completely disappeared. Due to missing precipitation and warming temperatures, this range of the Bolivians Andes has now been reduced to a few small patches of snow and ice near the top of the mountain. Locals from La Paz and El Alto depend on the melting of this ice for their water supply during the dry season, as well as hydropower that generates electricity for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Not only will the disappearance of this glacier threaten the very existence of these people, it has been estimated by The World Bank that many of the Andes' tropical glaciers will disappear within 20 years, threatening the water supplies of nearly 80 million people.

From battling altitude sickness as we climbed the last 200m of this snow-capped mountain we then headed to the Valle de la Luna, or the Valley of the moon. Its only located about 10km away from downtown La Paz but we could have been on another planet. Over the centuries the elements have eroded a clay mountain leaving behind an otherworldly landscape. Stalagmites and spires of sandstone rock rise out of the earth creating a dramatic otherworldy landscape.

After a night involving me getting bullied into playing pool in our hostel in which I very nearly hit a guy by bouncing a ball off the table (whoops, sorry) I struggled out of bed in time for a tour to Tiwanaku. After clarifying to the tour guide that yes, Louise is a girls name and I am her, not a boy, we set off to these archaeological ruins about 70km out of La Paz.

Tiwanaku was magical. Set in a wide valley surrounded by imposing snow-capped mountains it is the remains of a pre-Inca city village that was founded in 200BC. It swelled to a population estimated anywhere between 200,000 - 1.4 million inhabitants in the period around 600 to 800BC. What is truly remarkable about this city, besides its stunning location, was that it contained one of the most remarkable ancient civilizations ever discovered. The people of this city were believed to be more advanced in pottery, astronomy and math than the Incas whom they predated. On par with Ancient Egypt and the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, the temples, ritual platforms and surrounding structures were built with such mathematical precision that there are theories that aliens helped the humans create these incredible archaeoastronomical places of worship.    

Oh and I finally ate Llama! Esta rica!

gypsy soul

We live in a wonderful world that is

full of beauty, charm and adventure.

There is no end to the adventures we can have

if only we seek them with our eyes open

- Jawaharlal Nehru

South American Wanderer

So after 3 solid days of travelling I have finally arrived in La Paz, Bolivia!

It's gorgeous. So unlike anything or anywhere I have ever been before. After battling with altitude sickness, jet lag and discovering the limitations of my español, I set off on a free guided walking tour that traversed 3km of the city. Combine this with the fact that La Paz is 3,660 meters above sea level, it made for a tiring day. But so interesting. La Paz is unoficially divided into two areas, the Indigenous and the Spanish. In the Indigenous side we wound our way through cobblestone streets, insane drivers in ancient looking buses who seem adament to score their 10 points by hitting civillians (miracusously this somehow manages not to happen) and women from hilltribes in traditional dress including the brilliant bowler hats, to discover the streets of La Paz. We started by the Carcel de San Pedro prison which not only houses inmates but their families too. Apparently in Bolivia the justice system works off the belief that you are guilty until proven innocent. Hence the cramming of 2,5000 people into a space designated for 400. Also, apparently the rumors of foreigners illegally entering the prison and leaving with cocaine is also true although it is not as lax as it used to be and the police won't help you if the inmates decide they dont like you. 

  After promising myself no sneaking into prisons to taste crack cocaine, we made our way to the witch markets. Probably the best sort of markets I've ever seen. Colorful fabric was everywhere, the sweet smell of coca leaves and tea drenched the market and its inhabitants, along with drums pounding in the background. It was incredible, right down the llama fetuses. Yep, see below picture. Apparently llama fetuses are used in house building rituals to bring prosperity and visitors. More wealthier residents might also use an adult llama and the really rich use a human body. Apparently, this poor victim is often a drunk, who has been purposely inebriated and kidnapped for this purpose. Our guides explained that whilst they haven't personally seen this it is a well-believed rumor so who knows? 

  After finally dragging ourselves away from the markets we headed into the Spanish quarters via the San Francisco church, which gave a very interesting glimpse into Bolivian mind/spirit/7 souls who can escape at anytime duality.  Amazing colonial archetitecture exists here, although apparently totally impractical as the Spanish keep every aspect of the house true to its original design, right down to the house´s weather capabilities which is designed on the warm Spanish coast, not freezing La Paz (in saying that I got sunburnt, wtf). Although the centre of the Spanish side, the Plaza Murillo, has been renovated one building has been left with its bullet-riddled facade to commentate those who died in numerous riots that took place. Apparently a few months ago another riot was ripening based on the comments from President Evo Morales on hearing about the under population in Bolivia. Something to the effect of 'we are going to solve this by taxing condoms and also women who are of child-bearing age but have not born children' and 'pollo (chicken) creates gays'. After seeing the response he quickly apologised (take note Tony Abbott). 

  Anyway, to finish of a close to perfect day (just bring me some beer and loved ones please), I survived my first attempted passport/bank card scam. A lady came up to me when I was wandering the streets by myself and asked for directions. I immediately thought it was a bit odd as obviously I'm not local and she informed me that she was a tourist from Santiago, so would obviously have fluent Spanish yet chose to ask the gringa for directions. Almost immediately a very slick looking man joined us asking if we needed directions. Suss faux-tourist said that we were both tourists and the man then pulls out an identification card that says he is the police and asks to check our passports. She immediately complies and pulls out her passport and they both indicate I should too. So thanks to some light Lonely Planet reading at 4am due to jet lag that warns tourists that faux-policemen would then declare my passport illegal, demand I come to the police station with him, bundle me into a car and then take me to an isolated ATM to steal my hard-earned Happy Wife dollars, I reply 'No lo siento, yo necessita ir' and saunter off. I later look back to see them slinking off together. Pfft as if a real cop would let you run off like that with that much attitude (I didnt mean to have an attitude, i´m not that much of a smartass but I am quite certain my español is still fairly sing-songy). 

  Anyway, I survived with passport and bank card intact and had a brilliant day in La Paz. And my new found German friend wants to get a beer so aidos amigos! 

  Love xo

dance under a foreign sky and marvel at the world

Twenty years from now you will be 

more disappointed by the things that you

did not do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe habour.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain