A Bumpy Road part 3: Tarija

Next stop in my travels was Tarija. This is the wine producing area and supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of Bolivia. It’s a short plane ride away from La Paz; unfortunately I was going by 16 hour bus ride.

Again I trekked off to the bus station, hopped on the bus and off I went, up through the freezing Altiplano area at night and as dawn broke we were driving through desert filled with cacti, jagged cliffs and low brush. This was the Bolivian desert.

Again Bolivian infrastructure started to get the best of me as we wound through the hills on dirt roads and crossed rivers with no bridges. I have to say I’m glad I didn’t go a few months later during the rainy season when those rivers are much higher.

Along the way we passed little clusters of houses surrounding churches or pasture. There was even a rooster waiting to cross the road. Each town bore the mark of the elections that had taken place earlier this year. Every wall was painted with political slogans and poles were plastered with flyers baring the faces of the candidates. There were no plastic signs with wire frames in sight. I wonder if these signs will be there until the next election when they will paint over them. I guess it saves the building owner paying to have someone paint it.

I finally arrived in Tarija, stiff and a little tired and then woke up very quickly when I realized that my backpack was not on the bus. Yes, it had been stolen. So the time I had hoped to have in Tarija turned into a tour of the local police station (FELCC) while I made a report on what was in the back pack (my laptop and my trip diary which had all my photos and memories; yes I cried). I think the police officer felt sorry for me because he gave me a ride back to the bus station.

So what do you do when you only have the clothes on your back and money to get home? You buy wine and Singani from the bus station and wait (yes I bought a tooth brush and tooth paste too Mom). People watching at a bus station can be fun, there’s the ice cream seller who won’t stop honking her annoying horn, the kid who won’t stop crying (I completely understood his point of view), and the ticket sellers who walk around every two minutes yelling out destinations and giving you a headache.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to do what I wanted in Tarija nor did I get to see the best parts of the area but I did finally make it back to La Paz, a little wiser and a little more jaded.

A Bumpy Road Part 2: Caranavi

The next stop on my travels around the country was Caranavi. This is a medium, well let´s say large town (Bolivian relativity theory), in what is called the Yungas; a large fruit and vegetable producing area north of La Paz, on the way to Rurenabaque.

I had tried to get there twice before but due to lack of funds the first time and then a blockade that turned violent on pretty much the only road leading in and out of the area the second time (I love Bolivia), it just didn´t happen. But this time I finally made it; loaded my self onto the bus and headed out.

Now, I had been warned the road was not good. The fact that there were fatal accidents on a weekly basis and it´s on pretty much all the lists of the deadliest roads in the world should have tipped me off that it would not be a pleasant jaunt to a quaint little village. But I decided I what the heck, I want to go. Just a warning, if you get car sick at all, give this one a pass.

It is 4 – 7 hours of dirt road that doesn´t have a straight stretch longer than about 100 metres. I especially like the fact that it is a two way highway that is only wide enough in many places for one vehicle. Backing up a bus or a large transport truck definitely takes some skill around the blind corners. It is mountain on one side and a sheer drop down to the river on the other.

As you go along you will see houses that seem to have no access road, people get off and take trails that lead into nowhere and there are one street villages that all seem to have livestock wondering the streets. If you´re lucky, your bus will drive into the side of an overhang and everyone will have to get out and discuss the best way to extricate the group from the situation while the poor driver has to endure the shameful tongue lashing. My recommendation, spend the extra few dollars and take a taxi but get a front seat.

Along the way you will see kids swimming in the river. It looks really tempting as you get a mouth full of dust from the road. I arrived with half of it in my lungs, half on my shoes and another other half in my hair and on my face (yes I know that´s more than 1/1 and I´m pretty sure there is more than a full road of dirt with the amount of dust kicked up).

Coffee in Caranavi is supposed to be amongst the best in the country and there is also chocolate, mmmmmmm chocolate. I personally recommend the yucca rellenos; they are fist sized balls of gooey yucca dough with a stew kind of mixture in the middle. Not bad, just be sure the place you buy it from is clean. The region is tropical so pack light and bring water.

Caranavi and Coroico (about 2 hours away) are great places to visit if you are adventurous (bungy jumping anyone?) and want a different atmosphere from La Paz. Just be prepared for some bugs and bumps.

A bumpy road part 1: Santa Cruz

Sometimes when travelling things don´t always go as planned; in fact I´ve never been on a trip where everything has gone as planned. This time is no exception. Over the last few weeks I have travelled to various different regional offices in various different parts of the country. Traveling in Bolivia is, well, an adventure. Some more interesting and fun than others.

Santa Cruz, my recommendation: a must see. Cruceños are very different from Paceños and so is their city. Situated in the tropical area of Bolivia to get there you take an overnight bus ride. After a few stops in the altiplno region and a stuttering sleep as you pass the short grass and grazing cattle of that region the sun wakes you up to a spectacular view of lush, dense jungle that seems absolutely impenetrable.

Once in a while you pass small towns with ramshackle houses, livestock penned in or tethered close by and a dirt road leading into the impassible mangle of shrubbery and palm trees. To me it seems incredible that people can live in such conditions but then I didn´t know how I would make it through almost 6 months in La Paz when I first arrived.

As you get closer to the city of Santa Cruz you see more concrete buildings and warehouses that mark it as the industrial capital of the country. The city seems shorter coming from the mountains and building of La Paz.

As you step out of the bus the difference in the atmosphere really hits you. If the condensation on the windows of the bus wasn´t a tip off, the short sleeves, relaxed atmosphere of the people and the heavy air all signal tropical. The buildings show the wear of humidity as you drive through the city. It looks like South America.

In the main square, 24 de septiembre, (yes they love to name things after dates here), there are men selling coffee out of thermoses (not bad actually), and benches to sit on and relax in the mid afternoon heat under the shade of palm trees. The government buildings have been restored to their colonial splendor and at night are strategically lit to be the pride of the city.

The main park, in the first ring (kind of like Paris where everything is built out from the centre), has a decent fountain display set to music and local kids use it as a rehearsal space for breakdancing. It is also a popular place for couples to take a romantic walk.

If you´re in the mood for shopping there are some good stores for cloths and jewelry. As the fashion capital of Bolivia Santa Cruz does have something to offer here. You can also have your picture taken with an alligator skin and buy some good quality leather goods. If you are into food there is fish and rice and yuka. I also recommend cuñape which is cheese and yuka flour pastry; crispy on the outside and chewy, gooey, mmm, mmm , mmm on the inside (yes this vegan loves cheese).

Just a word of warning, if you are a red head be prepared to get bothered by the guys. And if you´re wondering why I don´t have any pictures of the dense jungle or ramshackle towns, stay tuned for part 3.

Its tough but someone's gotta do it.

City life versus country life. We usually think of life in the country as laid back, simple. You know, idyllic. The last few days I got to see country living Bolivian style. Not exactly idyllic but definitely simple. The Altiplano region of Bolivia is at about 3 750 metres above sea level (that's very high). If you've heard of lake Titicaca, its in the Altiplano on the border between Bolivia and Peru. It's covered in short wheat, cattle, rolling hills surrounded by jagged mountains, sheep, some pigs but not very many, a kind of corn they call choclo and small towns. In between the small towns are houses without running water (the water pump is outside the house).

Just like the landscape looks different from the city, so the people are also distinct. While many urban women wear polleras, in the Altiplano region it is more common to see a woman wearing a pollera than pants. Aymara is a language spoken by many people and understood better than Castellano (Spanish) by the older population. Communication can be difficult sometimes if you don't have someone to translate for you. People are people however. Humour is a great way to communicate and humility is a necessity.

Life in this region is not easy. Its what we would picture as pioneer life. Rough, tough and connected to the earth. There has been a drought in the region combined with one of the coldest winters in living memory. This has caused many cattle and even some llama, an animal naturally adapted to cold weather, to die. Life here is directly connected to the land.

That doesn't mean that technology has not reached the area. Cell phones are a great way to communicate. Initiatives from the government are improving literacy amongst males and females. Its an interesting place to visit but this city girl just couldn't hack it here; I really need a manicure.

One more last bit of Futbol.

Well, its been a whole month of soccer mania. There have been bets (I won and lost some), game analysis and alot of "I can't believe he did that!, I could do better than that! *&%^$@" . Of course I'm talking about the world cup. If you've had enough then you can stop reading now, if you're having the post world cup blues because there are no games to look forward to there is good news; In just a few short weeks the European seasons will start up again and you can start yelling, jumping up and down and swearing all over again.

Bolivia ranks about the same in FIFA standings as Canada and did not make the World cup in South Africa but that did not dampen the spirit. There was an office pool here at ANED. No one won in the first round. ^@!#* I did win chocolate when I bet on one game (much more important). After the quarter finals the steam went out of the country when Brazil and Argentina were eliminated. As the South American favorites these were the two teams that most people were cheering for. Even though Uruguay was still in the running it was more of a spectator sport as July came around.

Despite not having a team from the continent in the final, the centre was packed on Sunday afternoon to watch Spain and the Netherlands battle it out. Everyone stayed for extra time and the partisan Latin crowd cheered when Iniesta scored the winning goal. So now lets look forward to 2014 in Brazil when the samba boys will hopefully have a better showing and England can regroup and show everyone their true ability.

What do you really want?

The G-20; it was everywhere over the weekend. If you weren't watching the world cup (I'm in mourning over England's loss) then you were into the G-20. The funny thing is, its hard to find out what they actually talked about. Meetings like this have turned into opportunities for huge protests and for some people, an excuse to act like a hooligan. Now I'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed to protest but there are more productive things to do than smash windows and destroy public property. I for one, resent my tax dollars going to pay to rebuild the damage caused when they could be going to other things like say development.

When there is so much that needs to be done in the world why are people so bent on destruction? I'm in a country right now where the government is shipping water to some regions because there is a drought so severe people are drinking contaminated water. I also spent a day going to regional offices on roads that are barely drivable in a 4X4. How can anyone expect to get basic goods like food, clothing and building supplies for houses to regions when you can't drive down the road?

Its easy to smash things and vent, its not easy to do something about the problems that exist in the world. So instead of tearing up a city every few months to show world leaders that your angry, try showing them how to make the world a better place.

I love AGMs. They are just so much fun. Especially when they last 18 hours on the first day and you have to come back the second day to hear the same thing again. This weekend ANED, the organization I'm down here working with had their annual general meeting. It was 2 days of banging heads together to come up with strategies followed by trying to stay awake the next day.

As is usual with things like this the schedule can be thrown out the window because its going to run over time. So when all the managers of the different regional offices and the national office gathered in the hotel on Friday morning we knew we were in for a long day. Bolivians love to eat so there were several breaks for mid morning snacks (saltenas) followed by lunch (3 course meal), and then an afternoon snack (sandwiches) and of course dinner. To help wash it down there was lots of coffee and tea. If anyone couldn't last there was candy as well.

The next day we all waddled back to the hotel, sleepy eyed, to meet up with the rest of the employees of ANED to go through what had been hashed out the previous day. With one more day until the start of winter down here and no heating in the buildings we huddled together, bundled up to listen to the strategic plan.

It was a chance to get to know people from the different parts of ANED as well as catch up with old friends.