Bolivian Rhapsody

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Spring 2019.

A point in our wanderlust, where we were “instigued“. Yes, a new word to me too. I learnt that it equated to “when you no longer desire to go somewhere beautiful because you have seen a lot of it in social media”!! Rurrenbaque’s Amazon, unlimited remote photography in Uyuni flats and quirky La Paz in land locked Bolivia came close to this new found term. Hmm..it would be fair to state we had the most touristy times in non touristy Bolivia! Bolivia was quirky, mystic and we set out to unravel parts of this ultimate rhapsody! As you can see in the picture, this holiday, simply took our breath away as we scaled new heights at 4500m+ altitude!

La Paz

Good possibility that it won’t be love at first sight when you arrive here. 100% guaranteed that one would be utterly fascinated by this unusual city!

Chaos!! Frenzied rush hour traffic, gold toothed cholitas, wrinkled and etched faces of indigenous people, Aymara ladies in bright layered skirts, fascinating street markets, bobbing bowler hats..my eyes dialated in hope of squeezing all the sights in. I can only think of La Paz as a big bowl with Andean peaks on the outside, terracotta coloured unfinished houses on the slopes and high rises in the bottom the cup. Our boutique hotel was quirky and situated a stones throw from the famous witches market (a blog on its own) Cobblestoned and colonial.

The witch market-my touristy highlight costed 60Bolivians in a plate. the shop lady had a started platter ready- cocoa leaves, a dead llama fetes, some stone inscriptions. She urged me closer to her hair where she sat with her blue whole- and I caught sight of a live armadillo!!All to be offered to Pachamama-mother earth!

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Every street corner was a picture of life.

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Time stood still here. THIS is La Paz time!

Salar di Uyuni

A short flight from La Paz and we ascended one surreal level higher into a magical territory. Our Quechuan guide beamed a welcome smile and manoeuvred the weather worn 4WD through a vastness without a track or road. The deserted train cemetery was our first stop.

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Abandoned and attractive indeed! A train track for miles and miles from 1920s.

Next stop- the much awaited salt flats. 10 million tons of salts , 10meters deep ..We simply gazed around for minutes. Is this the beginning of the very end of reality? Have I jumped off the edge in La Paz into an adjacent planet!! Or am I simply living a stunning dream!!!

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Salt and rust …a heady combination!

The rhapsody in Bolivia evolved into a powerful structureless composition. So many firsts for me I mused. To share a few, a road trip without a map -actually, without a road! A sweet sensation when driving on salt, sleeping in a salt hotel, sleeping with a oxygen cylinder close to the pillow, eating quinoa loaf for toast, spending Tamil New year in a kanjeevaram in salt flats and starting the year with more than a pinch of salt!! …..

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The Journey continued to Laguna Colorado and verde. We watched hundreds of flamingos flock in the lakes. They flashed white plumes with a coat of orange. I took a million pictures with my eyes and Ram did not look up from his camera for most day.

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And then there were hot springs, epic cyclists and rolling Andes along the way were like opaque rainbow prisms along quinoa fields.

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Peruvian Amazon ..at Rurrenbaque was a change from cold nights to humid rainforests! 6hrs on a basic boat in Beni river from Rurre airport took us to Ecotourism in Chalan Lodge. We watched the night skies with lightening and listened to wild birds instead of netflix before drifting to a deep sleep!

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Lake Titicaca on easter weekend exposed us to a super busy Copocabana .

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Having been to Titicaca a decade ago, I dug out my old picture to remind that little had changed in some walks of life!!

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As the flight soared off the run way in our journey back, I looked down longingly at the fascinating land now lead by Eva Morales and wondered what Brexit realities were in store back home…

Bye for now…hope to get another stamp in my passport soon to share!!

Other travel blogs from the past https://wp.me/p9Uob9-c for Alaska and https://sakurablog2018.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/konnichiwa/ for Japan and https://blogkalpa.wordpress.com for India