Cholitas and Salt

the mess that is La Paz

La Paz is a beautiful constellation of city lights by night and an overcrowded, loud, hectic city by day. We arrived at night and from the top of the mountains we overlooked a valley full of lights. Unfortunately the next morning we saw how ugly the city was in the light of day. We had no desire to stay for very long.


Our English friend, Vernon, was determined to make it into the San Pedro prison. This is the prison that the book, Marching Powder, was written about. It is a community within a city. Apparently when you enter as a prisoner you have to buy your cell. If you can’t afford one you sleep in the floor. So in order to make money a whole community has developed. They have little stores, restaurants, bars, and drug trafficking. They also take stupid tourists for tours through the prison for a small fee of $400 bolivianos, which is equivalent to about $60 US. We went with him to wait outside the prison. How it works is you wait outside for one of the prisoners to send you a message, usually by one of their wives or girlfriends. Vernon managed to get a message scribbled on a scrap of paper. It said, “Hi this is Luis from South Africa if you want to meet me and see our way of life please call this number.” Vernon called and arranged everything with the prisoner. He was to get $400 bolivianos and put them in an envelope and give Luis his name and passport number so he could put him on the guest list for the day. Well we waited for a couple of hours and nothing seemed to be happening so we left to see some of the city. Unfortunately for Vernon, he never ended up making it in.

One night we went to see the Cholitas. These are the women Lucha Libre wrestlers who fight in traditional dress. La Paz is famous for them. We had front row seats and popcorn ready for the show. First the men fought, it was so staged it was funny. After a few matches the first Cholita match began. We were under the impression the fights were between two women, but in fact they were between one women and a man. It was still staged but the fights were rather brutal to the women. In the end the women always won, but it was after a severely humiliating and brutal beating from the men.

death by smelly shoe

classic spin move

a kid was having his birthday party at the cholitas match

The next day we left for Uyuni. This was our starting point for the salt flats. We arrived around 6am after an all-night bus and started our tour at 10am. We were in an SUV with two other couples from France and Spain. They were all very nice and we had a fun time with them on the tour.

We started the tour at the train graveyard. They have lots of old trains sitting in the middle of the dessert just rusting away. We looked around a bit, climbed on the trains, and snapped a few pictures then headed out for the salt flats. I didn’t know what to expect, but when we got there I was blown away, and the further we went in to the salt flats the better it got. It was flat and stark white for as far as you could see. We went to a spot where they refined salt. They make piles of salt and let them dry then send that to be refined further. I was surprised when I asked our guide if they exported the salt and his reply was no. Here we are on the biggest salt flat in the world and they don’t export any salt out of their country. Under the salt is also the largest lithium (used to make batteries) reserve in the world and they don’t exploit any of it. It is the country with the most natural resources in South America but it is also the poorest. It makes you wonder why they can’t capitalize on any of their resources.

old steam engines

drying salt

That night we stayed in a hotel made entirely of salt. Everything from the walls to the bed to the floors and tables and chairs were made from salt. In the morning we headed out and visited a pre-Incan archaeological site where there were lots of mummies. They lived in these little cocoon/caves made in the rocks. Their homes became their graves when they died, so all the homes contained bones and pots. It was one of the best archeological sites we visited. We also visited a few lagoons that were inhabited by thousands of pink flamingos. We saw a white lagoon, a green one, a red one, and a couple that where blue.

honeycomb pattern of dried salt

view from on top of a small island of rocks and cactus

the road though the salt flats

On the last day we drove through the dessert in between the mountains and volcanoes. It was beautiful. We stopped at a sulfur field in the morning and the steam rising from the crags created a foggy mystical setting. It felt like we were on another planet. One that smells kind of bad. We also saw a dessert full of large strangely shaped rocks. They called it the Salvador Dali dessert because it looked just like one of his paintings. We passed one rock in the shape of a tree. It was creatively named “tree rock.” All in all the salt flats were amazing. I have never seen so many landscapes so different than those I am accustomed to.

two thousand  year old cactus

Christina

Floating cities and Island of the Sun

Welcome arch on one of the Floating Islands

We arrived in Puno late after a long bus ride. After a good night sleep we wandered around the city a bit. We walked to the edge of Lake Titicaca and walked along the shore. The lake is huge. It looks like your standing next to the ocean, no sign of an opposite shore on the horizon.


We happened upon a little lady renting paddle boats. We picked a very fancy looking duck boat and headed out on the water. We paddled through the reeds for a while chasing ducks. I don’t think they knew what to make of us in our giant duck boat. It was pretty amusing. Michelle had another freak out moment. Every time we would start getting a little further out she would start yelling at me to steer us back to shore, if the boat sank we would drown. She supplied many humorous moments while we traveling with her.

The floating island we visited

That night we booked a tour for Uros, the floating islands. The next day we met a nice guy from Manchester, England who was on our tour with us. We kind of kidnapped him and he spent the next week traveling with us. The tour was cheesy and overly touristy, but the floating islands are like nothing I have ever seen. When you walk on them the floor squishes below you. It’s like walking on a giant pillow. If you got tired at any point in the day you could just lay down anywhere and take a nap. The Islands are made from the reeds that grow in abundance in the lake and their hollow structure makes them float very well. They make everything out of these reeds, from their homes to their boats and they even eat them. We took a ride on one of their reed boats and wandered around a bit. Oh, I almost forgot. Michelle walked too close to the edge of the island and fell through. Luckily she caught herself before she fell all the way through and under the island. She got her pants all wet and was screaming again. It was just another hilarious moment from Michelle. The men from the island said she was lucky because if you fall all the way through you can get trapped under the island and drown very easily.

Houses made of floating reeds

Islands are solar powered

Boat made out of floating reeds

We got back to the mainland and ate a quick lunch and hopped on a bus to Copacabana, Bolivia. Yes, it is called Copacabana. I did not make it up. We crossed the border and paid the $135 entrance fee for Americans, while all of our friends from other countries got in free. No bitterness behind these words, I swear. I guess it’s only fair. The US charges some of the highest visa entrance fees of any country. The bus driver told me that Bolivians have to pay $280 to enter the US. For a country so poor that is a large amount to charge its people compared to what they charge us.

We arrived to Copacabana and found a hostel for the night. Copacabana is a sleepy coast town overrun with hippies. It made for an interesting atmosphere. It is also on Lake Titicaca, so the next day we got a boat to take us to the famous Isla Del Sol. This is where the Inca’s believed that their people began. The myth is that their first people emerged from the lake here. There is a sacred rock that marks the spot.

Isla Del Sol with Andes in the background

Sacred Stone

Ruins on the Isla Del Sol

Sacred Rock

The island itself was beautiful and reminded me of the Greek Isles. The water was rich shades of green and blue with sharp rocky walls forming coves protecting calm, white sandy beaches. If we had more time I would have loved to camp on the beaches. From the top of the island you could see for miles. The snow covered peaks of the high Andes were visible in the distance. It was a spectacular view and I can see why the Incas were inspired by the place.

Funny picture of us on Isla del Sol

Me, Laura, Michelle, and Vernon on the Isla

On the way back to the mainland the tour also offered the chance to visit their floating islands. I was a bit skeptical since the only floating islands in existence were the ones we saw in Puno. When we arrived I was in disbelief at what I was seeing. They had fashioned wooden docks and covered them with reeds. The docks were maybe ten feet by ten feet. It was such a poor job you could still see the wood underneath in most spots and you could see the giant pieces of Styrofoam strapped to the underside keeping it floating. What a tourist scam! I couldn’t help but laugh and I strongly suggested that no one visit them, especially since they were charging an extra fee to go onto them.

Amazing fresh fish on Lake Titicaca in Copacabana

Christina