Travel photos from Bolivia, part 2

Photos from Bolivia, part 2.

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27 December 2003 - 29 January 2004, Samipata, Sucre, Tarija & Tupiza:

El Fuerte is a stiff 2 hour walk from Samaipata. It is the largest slab of rock in the world which is covered in high relief carvings/sculptures. It is nearly 2km long. Carvings date as early as 1500BC. It was once also the eastern outpost of the Incas.

No buses leave from Samaipata to Sucre. They do pass by en route from Santa Cruz. So there was nothing else to do than try and stop passing busses and lorries. In the hotel I had met up with Emilie, who was going back to her voluntary work in a place between Samaipata and Sucre. If a bus for her place came passed before a direct one to Sucre, I'd catch it with her. Hers was the first bus that passed and stopped. It probably only stopped and let us on because the driver recognized her. After three hours we arrived at her village, which is near where Ché was murdered. Here I heard that busses to Sucre, about 10 of them, passed from midnight to 2am. All transport had to stop at the local police checkpoint. So after staying at Emilie's for some hours, I took my post at the checkpoint. Not long after twelve the first arrived. Full, as were the next six. The 8th said it had a seat. They had to kick someone out of it who joined many others on the floor, but I got my seat. At the same price as if I had boarded it in Santa Cruz. A price that was also double the normal Santa Cruz fare as it was Christmas.

Early in the morning I arrived in the White City, as Sucre is also known. It didn't give me that much of an all white impression. Probably because it was overcast with a slight drizzle. Later I did get a better impression. Just about all buildings in and around the center are painted white. By local law. The law which has it's main seat (justice) in Sucre.
Sucre is not only known for it's white buildings, but also for it's chocolate and it's wall with dinosaur footprints. Being a chocolate fan I visited a chocolate factory, under the guardian eye of my Spanish teacher. Even though she lived in Sucre, she had never visited one. Yes, I actually followed a Spanish course, concentrating on the different tenses. I couldn't stand not being able to get past the present tense any longer. Getting back to the dinoprints, the wall they are on is enormous. The prints were found by workers of the cement factory who own the ground. Digging the ground away for their factory. They probably would have destroyed the wall if they could have used it to produce cement. But it is in fact the first layer they couldn't use. Sadly the dinoprints are eroding away. I liked the one some Dutch tourist asked how the dinos managed to climb the wall.
The local cemetery is also worth a visit. Much history to be told here, which is done by local kids for a Bs or two.
My Spanish teacher introduced me to Roberto & Silvana who live in Sucre and were looking for someone to practice their English. I moved in with them for just over a week. They practiced their English on me, I my Spanish on them. I later met up with them at the Oruro Carnival and in Cochabamba.

I left Sucre for what it was, thinking of coming back after doing a circuit of southern Bolivia. Coming back after I'd put some of the Spanish I'd learnt into practice and then having a short Spanish course to refresh all I'd learnt. The long 16hr haul to Tarija was uneventful. Passing through Postosi I wondered if I should scratch it from the list of places I intended to visit. It was cold, wet and grey. Everything I saw was most unappealing. Arriving in the Tupiza area at dawn was quite the opposite. Warm, dry and bright. The sunrise gave great lighting in the rugged red and grey hills.

Tarija is a very pleasant city with a nice climate. I suppose the climate should be good, being the Bolivian vineyard and wine producing area. At my hostel I teamed up with Ulrika to visit some bodegas in El Concepción. We arrived there at siesta time so we decided to investigate the area (vineyards) first. This involved getting wet while crossing some streams and a river. After a meal at the community 'restaurant' we did some wine tasting at a bodega where the made traditional wine. That's by making grape pulp by treading on the grapes in a large bathtub. The wine was surprisingly sweet, tasting a bit like a port or desert wine. The red being sweeter than the white.
The following day Ulrika left for Tupiza, but Melissa came and occupied her room. With Melissa I went to San Lorenzo. In San Lorenzo there's not much to do. It's a very small village with a small museum. We walked around the area heading for nowhere in particular just enjoying the views. Ending up at a small rock face where we thought we might find some fossils. We didn't hang around there too long as the rock face was just too crumbly. That night we ventured into a local disco. Here again the people were friendly. Coming up to talk and dance with us while we were already on the dance floor. Quite a few turned out to be Bolivians on holiday. Needless to say the women from Tarija are better looking than in the rest of Bolivia, at least to me. Maybe it's got something to do with being so close to Argentina. Or was it just the wine? Melissa also left for Tupiza, while I hung on for a while just enjoying the area.

When it came round for me to leave, also for Tupiza, I checked out of the hostal and headed for the bus station. Having dropped both Ulrika and Melissa of at the bus station I knew which companys there were and their time tables. All leave at 10:30. Not. Both girls had wanted to travel at night. Both had to travel by day as the road was too dangerous to travel at night. Rainfall. I wanted to travel by day to see the scenery. Impossible. The road had been opened for night travel again. There were no day buses. Melissa later told me that there were great views, but that you really just didn't want to look. Very narrow dirt roads along very steep and deep mountainsides, with no guardrail. I missed most of that, but did unexpectedly catch the sunrise. Unexpectedly because we were due to arrive in Tupiza at 5am, before sunrise. But 45 minutes outside Tarija the bus broke down. Within minutes the bus driver entered the cabin, holding a piece of the engine, he enquired if anyone had a mobile phone. He tried tree phones. Alas, there was no reception out there. He hitched a ride with a passing truck, leaving the bus and us in the pitch-black without any lighting, arriving back with a spare piece nearly 3 hours later.

Tupiza is a small town in the middle of nowhere. Like so many other places in Bolivia. Tupiza is not only known for it's red mountainous landscape, but also as the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid spent their last days.

In Tupiza I happened to check into the same hostal as Melissa was still staying. Alas, she was leaving the next morning. But before she left we took an early morning hike along the railroad to find some rockformations we'd read about. We never really got there as we followed the railroad too long. We did get some good views though, as well as noticing how friendly everyone on the route was. Melissa left by jeep to Uyuni. Seeing how many people they crowded into it, I soon decided that when my time came to leave, it wouldn't be by jeep. Many tourists come to this small place, many ended up in the hostal I was at. Together we explored the palce and it's nightlife. The nightlife turned out be nearly dead, so we ended up in someones room with some singani. No, thanks not a word for girl, but for a clear brandy.

29 January 2004 - 04 February 2004, Tupiza, (Salar de) Uyuni:

The following photos give an impression of the two day horseback ride I took in Tupiza. The best horseback trip to date.

The next set are photos of my journey to Uyuni and the 4-day Uyuni Salt Lake tour I took. See Bolivia-3 for a continuation of the Salt Lake tour photos and an explanation of the tour.

South-Am  (Country overview)

Venezuela (21-02-2003 thru 15-08-2003) [Overview]
Brazil         (16-08-2003 thru 28-08-2003) [Overview]
Peru          (12-09-2003 thru 04-12-2003) [Overview]
Bolivia        Overview
Bolivia-1    (05-12-2003 thru 27-12-2004) [Copacabana, La Paz, Toro Toro]
Bolivia-3    (08-02-2004 thru 23-02-2004) [Uyuni, Potosi, Oruro]
Bolivia-4    (21-02-2004 thru 09-03-2004) [Oruro, La Paz, Cochabamba]
Bolivia-5    (21 February 2004)                    [more Oruro carnival]
Chili           (01-03-2004 thru 09-03-2004) [ Overview]
Argentina   (02-05-2004 thru 08-05-2004) [ Overview]

HOME

Updated: 19 February 2004
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	El Fuerte is a stiff 2 hour walk from Samaipata. It is the largest slab of rock in the world which is covered in high relief carvings/sculptures. It is nearly 2km long. Carvings date as early as 1500BC. It was once also the eastern outpost of the Incas.

	No buses leave from Samaipata to Sucre. They do pass by en route from Santa Cruz. So there was nothing else to do than try and stop passing busses and lorries. In the hotel I had met up with Emilie, who was going back to her voluntary work in a place between Samaipata and Sucre. If a bus for her place came passed before a direct one to Sucre, I'd catch it with her. Hers was the first bus that passed and stopped. It probably only stopped and let us on because the driver recognized her. After three hours we arrived at her village, which is near where Ché was murdered. Here I heard that busses to Sucre, about 10 of them, passed from midnight to 2am. All transport had to stop at the local police checkpoint. So after staying at Emilie's for some hours, I took my post at the checkpoint. Not long after twelve the first arrived. Full, as were the next six. The 8th said it had a seat. They had to kick someone out of it who joined many others on the floor, but I got my seat. At the same price as if I had boarded it in Santa Cruz. A price that was also double the normal Santa Cruz fare as it was Christmas. Early in the morning I arrived in the White City, as Sucre is also known. It didn't give me that much of an all white impression. Probably because it was overcast with a slight drizzle. Later I did get a better impression. Just about all buildings in and around the center are painted white. By local law. The law which has it's main seat (justice) in Sucre. Sucre is not only known for it's white buildings, but also for it's chocolate and it's wall with dinosaur footprints. Being a chocolate fan I visited a chocolate factory, under the guardian eye of my Spanish teacher. Even though she lived in Sucre, she had never visited one. Yes, I actually followed a Spanish course, concentrating on the different tenses. I couldn't stand not being able to get past the present tense any longer. Getting back to the dinoprints, the wall they are on is enormous. The prints were found by workers of the cement factory who own the ground. Digging the ground away for their factory. They probably would have destroyed the wall if they could have used it to produce cement. But it is in fact the first layer they couldn't use. Sadly the dinoprints are eroding away. I liked the one some Dutch tourist asked how the dinos managed to climb the wall. The local cemetery is also worth a visit. Much history to be told here, which is done by local kids for a Bs or two. My Spanish teacher introduced me to Roberto & Silvana who live in Sucre and were looking for someone to practice their English. I moved in with them for just over a week. They practiced their English on me, I my Spanish on them. I later met up with them at the Oruro Carnival and in Cochabamba.

	Tarija is a very pleasant city with a nice climate. I suppose the climate should be good, being the Bolivian vineyard and wine producing area. At my hostel I teamed up with Ulrika to visit some bodegas in El Concepción. We arrived there at siesta time so we decided to investigate the area (vineyards) first. This involved getting wet while crossing some streams and a river. After a meal at the community 'restaurant' we did some wine tasting at a bodega where the made traditional wine. That's by making grape pulp by treading on the grapes in a large bathtub. The wine was surprisingly sweet, tasting a bit like a port or desert wine. The red being sweeter than the white. The following day Ulrika left for Tupiza, but Melissa came and occupied her room. With Melissa I went to San Lorenzo. In San Lorenzo there's not much to do. It's a very small village with a small museum. We walked around the area heading for nowhere in particular just enjoying the views. Ending up at a small rock face where we thought we might find some fossils. We didn't hang around there too long as the rock face was just too crumbly. That night we ventured into a local disco. Here again the people were friendly. Coming up to talk and dance with us while we were already on the dance floor. Quite a few turned out to be Bolivians on holiday. Needless to say the women from Tarija are better looking than in the rest of Bolivia, at least to me. Maybe it's got something to do with being so close to Argentina. Or was it just the wine? Melissa also left for Tupiza, while I hung on for a while just enjoying the area. When it came round for me to leave, also for Tupiza, I checked out of the hostal and headed for the bus station. Having dropped both Ulrika and Melissa of at the bus station I knew which companys there were and their time tables. All leave at 10:30. Not. Both girls had wanted to travel at night. Both had to travel by day as the road was too dangerous to travel at night. Rainfall. I wanted to travel by day to see the scenery. Impossible. The road had been opened for night travel again. There were no day buses. Melissa later told me that there were great views, but that you really just didn't want to look. Very narrow dirt roads along very steep and deep mountainsides, with no guardrail. I missed most of that, but did unexpectedly catch the sunrise. Unexpectedly because we were due to arrive in Tupiza at 5am, before sunrise. But 45 minutes outside Tarija the bus broke down. Within minutes the bus driver entered the cabin, holding a piece of the engine, he enquired if anyone had a mobile phone. He tried tree phones. Alas, there was no reception out there. He hitched a ride with a passing truck, leaving the bus and us in the pitch-black without any lighting, arriving back with a spare piece nearly 3 hours later. Tupiza is a small town in the middle of nowhere. Like so many other places in Bolivia. Tupiza is not only known for it's red mountainous landscape, but also as the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid spent their last days.

	In Tupiza I happened to check into the same hostal as Melissa was still staying. Alas, she was leaving the next morning. But before she left we took an early morning hike along the railroad to find some rockformations we'd read about. We never really got there as we followed the railroad too long. We did get some good views though, as well as noticing how friendly everyone on the route was. Melissa left by jeep to Uyuni. Seeing how many people they crowded into it, I soon decided that when my time came to leave, it wouldn't be by jeep. Many tourists come to this small place, many ended up in the hostal I was at. Together we explored the palce and it's nightlife. The nightlife turned out be nearly dead, so we ended up in someones room with some singani. No, thanks not a word for girl, but for a clear brandy.