Bolivia - part 1

From Cuzco, we planned to take a bus into Bolivia with a brief stop at Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world at ~12,500 ft, and the largest in S. America), located at the border of Peru and Bolivia. Unfortunately, our plan was diverted due to protests and road blockages on the Peru side of the border. According to this article, the protests have to do with a Canadian silver mining operation. (Those Canadians - always mucking around and causing trouble in other countries. They need to learn something from their friendly neighbors to the South and mind their own business!)

So instead of taking the bus, we took a quick flight Cuzco to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia (or not - more on this below). But hey, at least we could see views of the big lake from the plane.

La Paz is a really vibrant city, and at 12,000 ft., it's super high, which led to diversion #2 - altitude sickness that sent Ryan headed to the low(er) lands of Sucre a few days sooner than planned, which is where we are now (cause 9,000 ft. really isn't that low, but thankfully low enough).

But before Sucre, we took a short one-day tour of the Uyuni salt flats, the largest salt flat in the world. (Our tour was bookended by bumpy overnight bus rides to get there and back. Needless to say, it was a long 36 hours.) The salt flat was once a massive salt lake that has dried up over time. Today, a layer of briny water sits below the salty crust and it's the main source of how the salt is forming. It's really an amazing site. Standing on the salt flat, it felt like we were on an enormous sheet of ice in the Arctic.

Some interesting/random things worth noting about Bolivia...

• Our salt flat guide told us the story of how Bolivia "lost" the Pacific Ocean. According to our guide, in 1879 Chile invaded Bolivia at night during a major Bolivian celebration, and because all of the Bolivians were drunk at the time of the invasion, they couldn't defend the coastline, which Chile went on to annex. REALLY? This is why you are a land-locked country - because one evening you collectively got wasted, and instead of drawing on your face, Chile decided to just redraw the whole freakin' border?!? We had trouble believing this story, and after doing some internet searching, I still can't find anything about the invasion occurring during a big celebration and drunk Bolivians. For what appears to be a more accurate description of how Bolivia lost the Pacific, here's some info on the War of the Pacific. Turns out, the War of the Pacific was centered around a dispute over limited natural resources. Some things never change...

• Speaking of natural resources, the briny water under the salt flats contains a lot lithium, and by a lot, I mean over half of all the world's lithium resources. Lithium is used to make batteries that are being used to power many of the new electric vehicles that are starting to hit the market. If electric vehicles really take off in the future, Bolivia might experience a pretty big economic transformation. Could it be possible that in 10-20 years from now, our energy dependence will shift from places like Saudi Arabia to countries like Bolivia that are rich in lithium and other resources that are needed for the energy technologies of the future?
  

• Bolivia can't seem to settle on one capital city, as both La Paz and Sucre claim to be Bolivia's capital. Apparently, this is an ongoing dispute, and to keep everyone happy, the call Sucre the constitutional capital and La Paz the administrative capital.

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The view from the streets of La Paz

When we arrived to La Paz we drove right past this street parade. These happen at least a few times a week in the city...and passers-by usually don't even know what the parade is for! Neither did our driver.

La Paz is full of superstition and mystique. At the Witches Market, just down the street from our hostal, you can buy dried llama babies in case you want to make an offering to the gods! We did not do this...

The perimeter of the salt flats are still covered with rain water from a few weeks ago. In the distance are big piles of salt that local people build to dry for a few days. Then they transport this salt in trucks to villages on the outskirts of the salt flat to dry and process.

A local man packaging salt, in a house made of salt.

















Salt crystals forming on the underside of the flats. (This photo's for you, Rebs!)

Incahuasi Island, in the middle of the salt flats. Local people hold religious festivals here to "Pachamama" (Mother Earth) during the winter solstice (in June).

How did we get so small, and why are we jumping out of a Pringles can?!?!

A wild vicunya, wandering at dusk

More photos HERE