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Bolivia
La Paz
La
Paz, the highest capital city in the world, looks
like a moon crater. The city is 4km (2mi) above
sea level, situated on a canyon floor which shows
only a hint of greenery. Even oxygen is at a premium.
Fortunately, the life and color of La Paz is found
in its people and culture. Find a good vantage
point and simply watch the passing throng: women
wearing bowler hats (worn on the side if they're
single and on top if they're married) and voluminous
skirts; white-shirted businessmen and politicians;
and more.
People
congregate around the splendid San Francisco church
(construction began in 1549) with its arresting
blend of mestizo and Spanish styles. Behind the
church is the Witches Market where you can buy
a bizarre assortment of goods including amulets,
potions, delicately crafted silver jewellery,
sweets and dried llama fetuses. La Paz also has
a number of museums, including the Pedro Domingo
Murillo, which contains a mixed sample of colonial
art, and traditions, and the Gold Museum, which
houses three impressively presented salons of
pre-Conquest silver, gold and copper works. Standing
guard over all this is Illimani (6460m/21,188ft),
some 60km (37mi) to the east, which is arguably
Bolivia's most famous peak.
Around
La Paz is the aptly named Valle de la Luna ( Moon
Valley), which is an eroded hillside maze of miniature
canyons and pinnacles 11km (7mi) east of the city;
the spectacular Zongo Valley, 50km (31mi) north
of the city, which has ice caves, turquoise lakes
and the peak of Huayna Potosi; and the historical
ceremonial center of Tiahuanaco, (Tiwanacu) 70km
(43mi) west of the city, which is Bolivia's most
important archaeological site.
Lake Titicaca
Traditionally
regarded as the highest navigable body of water
in the world (though there are higher lakes in
Chile and Peru), Lake Titicaca is immense: its
dimensions measure 233km (145mi) from northwest
to southeast and 97km (60mi) from northeast to
southwest. The lake has an indented shoreline,
36 islands and exceptionally clear sapphire-blue
water. Titicaca is revered by the Indians who
live on its shores, and the Isla del Sol and Isla
de la Luna, (Sun Island and Moon Island), two
islands in the lake, are the legendary sites of
the Inca's creation myths. The main town in the
area is Copacabana, which has a sparkling white
Moorish-style cathedral and is host to the Fiesta
of the Dark Virgin. Isla Suriqui is world-renowned
for its totora boats (reed boats), Isla Kalahuta
for its stone tombs.
Travelers
should wear protective head gear around the lake
because the thin air results in scorching high
levels of ultraviolet radiation. Half of the lake
lies within the borders of Peru; Puno is the principal
settlement and main center for excursions on the
Peruvian shore of the lake.
Cochabamba
Reputed
to have the world's most perfect climate, the
city of Cochabamba occupies a fertile green bowl
in a landscape of fields and low hills. The city,
founded in 1574, is Bolivia's largest market town
and was once the nation's granary. It is still
prosperous and progressive, and has a clutch of
historical and archaeological attractions, including
the 400-year-old cathedral, the Convent of Santa
Teresa and the Museum of Archaeology.
Sorata
Often
described as having the most beautiful setting
in Bolivia, this sleepy town sits at an elevation
of almost 2700m (8856ft) in a valley beneath the
towering snowcapped peaks of Illampu (6362m/20,867ft)
and Ancohuma (6427m/21,080ft). The lush valley
and vegetation attract a steady stream of travelers,
nearly all of whom fall in love with the place.
Most visitors make the 10km (6mi) walk to Gruta
de San Pedro to see the cave and underground lake.
Tupiza
Tupiza,
located in the heart of some of Bolivia's most
spectacular countryside, is a real gem for anyone
who loves desert landscapes. It's a young, cultured
city which lies in the narrow valley of the Tupiza
River. It is surrounded by the rugged Chichas
Range, whose attractions include multi-hued rocks,
mountains, chasms, clear rivers, cactus forests,
brilliant skies and wide open spaces.
Santa
Cruz
Santa
Cruz has long been reputed to be a drug trafficking
center, but this is apparently on the wane. It's
now enjoying something of an agricultural boom.
Over the past four decades, this big city near
the edge of a retreating wilderness has mushroomed
from a backwater cow town of 30,000 to its present
position as Bolivia's second-largest city, with
a population of over 1 million. Though growth
continues at a phenomenal rate, this cosmopolitan
city retains traces of its dusty past. A hub of
trade and transport, it has direct flights to
Miami and Europe, but forest-dwelling sloths still
hang out in the main plaza. Visitors enjoy the
tropical ambiance and frontier feel, and use the
city as a base for exploring nearby rain forests
and 18th-century Jesuit missions.
Off the Beaten Track
Salar
De Uyuni
This
12,000 sq km (4680 sq mi) saltpan at an altitude
of 3650m (11,970ft) was once part of a prehistoric
salt lake which covered most of southwestern Bolivia.
It's estimated to contain 10 billion tons of fine
salt reserves and produces 19,700 tons per year,
largely using traditional methods. Isla de Pescadores,
in the middle of the saltpan, has spectacular
stands of cactus and is home to a stranded colony
of vizcachas (long-tailed rodents related to the
chinchilla). The village of Uyuni, southeast of
the saltpan, is the best base for excursions.
Northwest of Salar de Uyini is the Salar de Coipasa,
on whose northern shore is a unique Chipaya Indian
village. Residents of this village may be descendants
of the lost Tiahuanaco (Tiwanacu) civilization.
If you travel this far off the beaten track, be
sensitive to local culture; photography of people
in this region is discouraged.
Laguna
Colorada
This
fiery red lake in the far southwest of Bolivia
is in a remote highland area surrounded by a surreal
treeless landscape spotted with gentle hills,
which resemble spilt chocolate sundaes. Birdwatchers
will be particularly interested in the rare James'
flamingos that inhabit the lake. Temperatures
drop below -20°C (-4°F), but the bitterly
cold air is heavily perfumed with the scent of
yareta, a shrub used as a fuel. Fifty kilometers
(31mi) south of the lake is the 4800m (15,745ft)
Sol de Mañana, where a geyser, bubbling
mud pools and hellish fumaroles fart and belch
stinky sulphurous fumes into the fresh mountain
air.
Laguna
Verde
This
stunning blue-green lake situated at an elevation
of 5000m (16,400ft) is tucked into the southwestern
corner of Bolivia, almost 100km (62mi) from Sol
de Mañana. Behind the lake rises the 5930m
(19,450ft) cone of Volcan Licancabur, whose summit
shelters an Incan crypt. If you get goose bumps
up here, it may not just be the weather. Young
Inca men were marched to the summit without protective
clothing and forced to freeze to death as a sacrifice
to the gods.
San
Vicente
This
one-mule village in the southern Altiplano would
be of no particular interest if it were not the
place where the legendary outlaws Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid supposedly met their demise
at the hands of the Bolivian Army in 1908. There
are several contending last resting places of
this infamous pair, but if you buy into the tale,
then this trip should be a pilgrimage.
Rurrenabaque
This
bustling little frontier settlement on the Rio
Beni, 300km (186mi) north of La Paz, is the loveliest
of the Bolivian lowland villages. The original
inhabitants of the area - the Tacana - were one
of the few lowland tribes who resisted Christianity
and Western-style civilization. The surrounding
Amazon rainforest is abundant in wildlife, and
jungle trips from the village are unbeatable.
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