24/06 Little time has passed since my last post. However, many things have happened since its start-line that can not resist the urge to write a new one. Furthermore, since this morning I stay in bed because of severe indigestion pique a lo macho (to understand what it is, here's a list - not exhaustive - of its components: chips, plantains (fried) onions (fries), tomatoes, sausage, chorizo, chunks of beef, boiled eggs, the whole swimming in a cooking liquid fat thick and well ... This dish is certainly the worst enemy of the Bolivian diet ... (and now mine too)). To avoid details, except to say that the type of food is less pleasant to regurgitate (but one hour, I'm better, I just gobble up a plate of white rice with a piece of bread. I expect a positive output of my digestive system The answer will come in a few more minutes!) ...
Today I will begin by talking Maragua crater where Coline, Gaëlle and Michael (two French friends who also work in Ayni), Bruno and I were two weeks ago. We meet at 9 am on a Saturday morning in a suburb of Sucre. According to the "Routard" my "travel bible", from there buses leaving for Chaunaca, a village located 3 hours walk from Maragua and its crater
Instead of bus, jumped on a freight truck! We set up the driver's cab, foot a few inches from the faces of peasants sitting below us in the middle of bags of grain and other agricultural products
Indeed, most of the time here foodstuffs are still on track to small villages on the backs of man (or woman)! Bolivians are able to travel impressive distances loaded like donkeys! (Pausita because rice does not go ... I will exchange the computer for a bedpan and wait.'ll See what happens)
25/06: Since my post yesterday, I gobbled a bit of love Kouign ( delicious cake prepared by Gaelle Breton), I vomited in the middle of the night. And today a piece of bread and a banana, which are still locked up in my esophagus. As a result, I keep the bed well today, and take the opportunity to resume my story ...
few minutes after our departure from Sucre, surprise: a cow got in the truck! Several minutes were required to make up and reposarla harm than good to the bottom of the trailer, but then I peep the whole trip. From my side, considering how hard it was for us to keep the balance in a sitting position, suffered when he saw her thin legs just keep your body upright (and I ended up at the slaughterhouse, that tragic, right?! But unlike the industrial farm animals (stored throughout their life) is all his days will be spent outdoors!)
After a good hour and a half of truck routes on narrow mountain switchbacks, the driver we landed at an intersection where the road we were looking out. Full of encouragement, we started to walk.
In general, when you go hiking in Bolivia, it is very difficult to know precisely how long it will take your walk. The people have little sense of time and distance. That weekend, when we asked people how much time remained to Maragua, some responded quarter of an hour and a few feet away others said "an hour" ... Farmers know how many turns are left before to reach a village, or what time is based on the location of the sun, but for some Westerners accustomed to accurate, may seem too rough! Finally a good walk as we waited 4 hours were needed to reach Maragua (thought need maximum 2.30). We got there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, starving and rushed to find a place to camp. The village with its streets deserted, the only small shop (closed on our arrival), and damaged church, resembled a ghost town. Located at the center of a giant crater obscure origins ("meteorite? Volcanic eruption? Everyone has a different version), its inhabitants agriculture and livestock live why they have to go regularly to the city to exchange their products for other staples.
After another half hour of wandering in the village looking for a good soul to tell, just to find beautiful waterfalls within walking distance of town. Decided to camp there. It was time for the night began to fall! We set stones in a circle and went to pick the few branches that were lying around to heat the soup Gaëlle After the preparations were ready for a short but delightful evening by the fire, drinking soup and playing singani tarot. But the 10 had won the cold intensity and each was put into a sleeping bag.
The next day's program was very uncertain: some of the people we had announced that a "working meeting" was to take place in the village at noon and, therefore, a truck to Sucre was going to leave in the afternoon. In contrast, regarding your departure time, the versions differed greatly: 12h, 14H, 16H, 18H? ... Impossible to know! As was our only opportunity to reach Chaunaca motorized transport, we were determined to wait. At noon, we settled on the church square. Several hours passed. By 3, Coline, above a close with a long view in his hands, eventually distinguish a vehicle parked in the central plaza. Indeed, the truck was expected but their drivers were busy fixing a tire. We had to wait another hour. We left at 5.
What we never imagined was that the entire state also truck was inadequate. After a few kilometers, was first gearbox to be teased. Fortunately, some arrangements (and shots of alcohol for the driver) later, it was repaired and we could leave again.
A few dozen yards away, a tire exploded. The driver deemed it unnecessary to stop for something so small (such as tires go in pairs, the second was still running ...). On the bus, the atmosphere was a little tense: whites evacuated stress cracking jokes, Bolivians silently prayed for it to yet another path-Sucre Maragua not last. Fortunately (or miracle), arrive safely at Sucre, around 20pm, tired and hungry, but very happy this weekend so exciting!
Three days later, was to leave for Arica, Chile, to meet with Christian and Juan Luis, two friends, and spend a few days of vacation with them. As my passport was still in the hands of migration, Nelly had prepared for me a letter to the immigration services of La Paz in order to obtain a passport outstanding loan Bad luck: after four hours of waiting in front of officials very uncooperative, told me that my passport had not arrived in La Paz and they could not do anything for me. After getting angry just enough (at this rate, it is always best to know content), packed my bags and walked away, furious. Finally, while Bruno was going to wait Olivier (one of his friends), in Peru, I was waiting for Christian and Juan Luis in La Paz. Cristian arrived the next day at night, and Juan Luis a day after
week in La Paz went really well. I thought to know the city, I discovered a lot of new places and lived many new experiences. The hostel, for starters, was a good distance from the noise of the center, with flowers and animals, I did well. The descent of the route of death by bike, of course, was an unforgettable experience.
For about thirty euros, he comes to look to his hostel at 8 and was driving at the beginning of a long descent that leads to Coroico (city of the Yungas as mentioned in the message "Cocoroicooo). There, after breakfast, served at roadside, each gets their equipment (pants and a plastic jacket, plus a helmet, and protections for those who paid a bit more (ie not me)). Then, start down 3 good hours, first in a paved road for twenty miles, then a rocky path that winds to the mountainside for about forty miles The first meters, each clings to handle and opens eyes as a forum to avoid falling, but then learns to absorb the impact and take curves well ... and gets used ..
As the only girl in the group, I can proudly say that I was not so bad. This route, which was taken by trucks and buses a few years ago, recorded hundreds of deaths (150 per year on average, or the equivalent of three busloads ...). Today, apart from the more adventurous tourists who do not realize the danger and eventually come off the road, accidents are rare. The main reason is that motor vehicles now take another route, much better equipped and therefore less dangerous!
We all down safe and sound, sweating in our orange vests, and thirsting for brutal change in temperature that occurs during the descent (it is a tropical zone!). On arrival, after a last "photo-memory" (which I find so funny that I can not resist the urge to put it online ...), the agency left us in a hostel with showers, swimming pool and buffet. Sure, it was very nice, although a very 'fixed' for my taste. Is that all agencies place their "death-roadeurs" in the same hostel (with respect to Club Med) and give them a shirt stamped "Death Road Survivor 'not very my style ... In any case, despite the obligatory passage by an agency, Believe me down the path of death in bike worth it! I would not hesitate a second to do it again!
The next day, my companions and I decided to go to Sorata, a town two hours from La Paz Peru towards noon, after completing all the administrative formalities, Cristian was able to get behind the wheel of the (unclean) golden jeep we rented for the occasion (there was no other available ...). We take the motorway in the direction of El Alto, a passage almost forced to leave La Paz. Along the way, it was surprising to see no signs (or speed limit), and even more amazingly, almost no other vehicle. But it was only coming to the toll of El Alto we knew the reason for this temporary absence (light vehicles, no signal): block!
Once on the toll was impossible to pass. Cars and trucks turned gave one after another. One police officer explained the reason for the strike: as the price of public transport had increased, the inhabitants of El Alto had decided to express their dissatisfaction by blocking access to the city throughout the day. We announced it would last until 6 (time of sunset). Turned around, a little shoker by the news, and determined not to let discouraged so quickly, we got to go the streets of La Paz in search of another passenger. By 4 o'clock, after several attempts, we managed to enter El Alto by an indirect route. It was a bad idea because we did not know that the blockade had moved into the city. On the streets, few cars were spinning desperately seeking a way out, but there was nothing to do: the roads were blocked by stones, burning tires or Bolivians stubborn. Personally, I felt comfortable, I, with my face gringa (pejorative term originally referred to the Americans, but that was extended to all foreigners), driving a jeep gold, lost in El Alto have blocked ... best moments had. We need to know that El Alto is the center of Bolivia's anti-imperialism. In all parts of the city can read slogans pro-Evo Morales (and against the incursion of foreign firms in the Bolivian economy)
Finally, around 17:30, getting dark, we decided to fall back to La Paz and return the car ... . Given the danger of the roads in Bolivia, Sorata out for so late would have been crazy.
After returning the car to the agency (which fortunately we did pay a single day), we alleviated by going to the Valley of the Moon. This valley, situated at a small time micro (name given to public transport here: trucks of all sizes, age and nationality, although Now many come from China ...) from downtown La Paz, is well named: it really looks like lunar landscapes. The erosion has given birth to strange rocky forms among which you can walk. Reminded me of Death Valley in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile: very dry, very disconcerting ... and very nice!
Wednesday night, after my goodbye to Christian and Juan Luis who returned Chile, went to settle at Daniel's house where they were to meet with me three days after Charlotte (who had gone to climb Machu Pichu with three friends Breton Sucre who left a few weeks back), the other accompanied by Guillaume Charlotte, her boyfriend, visiting for a few weeks, Hill, Olga, and Bruno and his friend Olivier. I took three days of calm to work on my workshops and attend a lecture on the achievements of the process of change in Bolivia (state reform, constitutional reform, nationalization of hydrocarbons, practical adaptation of multiculturalism ....) The event was organized by the Alliance Francaise in collaboration with the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore. Consequently, several French researchers, among which some had been useful to me in my dissertation on Bolivia for two years, were invited. I was very happy to put my foot back in the world of research and policy, but I still have no remorse for having left, then "shoemakers in their shoes." For now, I need something concrete!
why we had to meet in La Paz? To go on Sunday June 21 in the morning, "wilkakuti" (Aymara New Year) in the ruins of Tiwanaku, an ancient pre-Hispanic city, and even pre-Inca, located in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca. Indeed, for the Indians of the Altiplano, the winter solstice is consistent with the start of a new agricultural year. For this occasion, have the habit of meeting before the famous Puerta del Sol to get beyond the first rays of sun (and capture energy astral). This year, the Aymara entered the year 5517 in your calendar).
The twelve we left La Paz on Saturday afternoon in a rented minibus. Along the way, we distributed masks police intended to prevent a possible spread of swine flu, which we got everyone laughing, to take them from a few feet away.
When we got to Tiwanaku, the first thing we saw were dozens of meters of samples of hats, scarves, socks, gloves and other warm clothes. In the winter, as we know, the problem in Tiwanaku, is the cold. At night, temperatures drop to 6 degrees or less (that is the temperature recorded at dawn, when he was climbing). As result to stand, Bolivians are sheltered from the hot way they can, and then dance and drink all night. In my case, after some tea with tea (tea with lemon and singani cinnamon, delicious!) And dance steps in the central plaza, I returned the truck to sleep a few hours. At 6 o'clock, we all rise. Sleepings shoulders, went out in the direction of the ruins. There, with his hands up at dawn, hundreds of Bolivians were present to greet the sun. Before the people, indigenous leaders came to rituals: llama sacrifices, spells ... but did not see much, the excitement was there!
Then we went to taste a few trout on the banks of Lake Titicaca (the trout is almost the only fish consumed in Bolivia. Obviously, it is a freshwater fish ...). We only saw a small part of the lake but I go again ...!
After those ten days of vacation, it was time to return to Sucre No way to miss most of my workshops! In addition, for some days we are working on a project: mid-July to organize a "fair food and games» What will it consist of? Heeeee ... is a bit long to explain. It will be for the next message!
Give me news!
Kisses to all, Marion
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