Well, I said I wanted
to feel more like I was travelling and I certainly got what I asked
for.
We walked over the
border into Bolivia early this morning and I can honestly say it is
the most 'foreign' place I have ever visited in my life. When I say
foreign, I am trying to find a word to express just how different
Bolivia is to any country I have ever seen or any image I may have
had in my mind.
It is like something
you see in a book. I said to Jemma this morning, I feel like I am on
the set of a film or something. The first thing that strikes you is
the women. They are all traditionally dressed. If you have never seen
a photo of traditional Bolivian dress before, here is what it looks
like.
This is what the women
here really look like. The people look so different to the people in
Argentina because they are mostly of Indigenous heritage. When you
see pictures of Amazon tribes – that is kind of what the people
look like but with more clothes. Lots of brightly coloured woollen
clothes and funny little hats. And when you speak to them it is
almost as if they are scared of you because you are so different to
them.
Secondly, I was
expecting it to be poorer than Argentina, but not poor in the sense
of, 'towns' of half built little brick shacks, scattered sparsely
amongst the desert and mountains, with no supermarkets, no ATM and
often no running water.
We got to our hostel by
asking around for a bus, before eventually finding a man with a
minibus who loaded the bus to its full capacity with people (all
Bolivian) before driving for 3 hours across mountain dirt track
roads. All the way we were in awe at the scenery, and kept passing
small villages of about 10 'houses' scattered between the cacti. At
one point we drove through a rock tunnel that looked like someone had
just blown a hole in the side of the mountain with dynamite and would
collapse at any minute. And all the way I kept thinking to myself
'please let us turn this corner into a modern oasis and that will be
where our hostel is. Please let our hostel not be in one of these
mountain hamlets. Fortunately Tupiza did turn out to be slightly
bigger than most of these villages, however everything is still very
basic.
Luckily our hostel has
running water but the tour we have just booked to go on for the next
four days (the salt flat tour) will have no running water, no
toilets.... this is going to be the biggest test of my life. I have
never gone 4 days without a shower or a toilet!
On the positive side,
it is amazing to be amongst this intriguing indigenous culture – it
is absolutely fascinating and I really feel now like I am truly
travelling. Nobody speaks English and the landscapes are stunning.
The prices are fantastically low – tonight we ate like kings for
£4.50 each (the best pizza I have and for a private twin room in
our hostel we are paying £4 a night including breakfast!
There is very limited
access to internet (only internet cafés) so I am writing this
offline and don't know when I will post it.
We are staying here in
Tupiza two days to adjust to the altitude of 2950m before going on
our salt flats tour where we will be at altitudes of up to 5000m. We
are going on a horse ride tomorrow which I am very nervous about as
we heard about a boy who got bucked off the other day but it is
something Jemma really wants to do and seeing as though she did the
favella tour for me I am going to do this. It is only £10 after all.
I am stunned by just
how basic and undeveloped Bolivia is compared to its neighbouring
countries. I am not saying its a bad thing – I think it is amazing
that we are so far out in the sticks and experiencing such a
different way of life. It is nice to be away from the hustle and
bustle we experienced in Argentina and it is nice to experience the
'true' South American culture.
P.s. No matter how far
away you get from civilisation you can always find Justin Bieber
posters.
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