Cathedral in Copacabana

Cathedral in Copacabana

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Cathedral in Copacabana

Cathedral in Copacabana

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Blessing Cars in Copacabana

Blessing Cars in Copacabana

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Blessing Cars in Copacabana

Blessing Cars in Copacabana

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Island Sheep

Island Sheep

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vilcabamba-friends

vilcabamba-friends

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vilcabamba-church

vilcabamba-church

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ushuaia

ushuaia

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tucuman-school

tucuman-school

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Bolivian Presidential Poll barrio flores: "Newest" Released Poll

Bolivian Presidential Poll barrio flores: "Newest" Released Poll

From http://www.barrioflores.net/weblog/archives/2005/09/newest_released_1.html:

I don't know Evo Morales, but I get the feeling he wouldn't be a bad president

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IMG_1496

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Gutter munching

Gutter munching

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The sheep on the right must be some strange hybrid of cow and sheep.

Sheep and landscape

Sheep and landscape

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Sheep in the park

Sheep in the park

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Curtains: Old and new

Curtains: Old and new

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A Bolivian street

A Bolivian street

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Population growth trends

Population growth trends

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Source: La Raz�n

Samaipata relax.. Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 ho...

Samaipata relax.. Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 ho...

From Don hace el amor a Sudamérica:

Samaipata relax..

Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 hour taxi from Santa Cruz (4 people - 2.5Eur each) and got encouraged by a local taxi man to stay in a hostel off the main square called La Posada - Bolivian Romance. Place is run by an American and his Bolivian wife and is very relaxed and the food is excellent. Samaipata itself is a big holiday destination for Santa Cruz, its a sleepy little town where most people are generally lounging around. Restaurants there are excellent, even though it has no ATM so bring enough Bolivianos (or you can change US dollars in various shops).

Centered around Samaipata are some Inca/Spanish ruins (El Fuerte), various treks and waterfalls. This is the kind of place you would come to write a book as you spend quite a lot of time taking in the scenery and generally taking it easy. It makes Cooraclare look like a crazy town. Went to El Fuerte and waterfalls on day 2 which was an interesting day. Got a taxi for the day for about 11 Eur. He took us up (picked up 2 other girls on the way) to the top of the hill where El Fuerte is located. The air here was quite thin so even though the 1.5 hour stroll around isn�t difficult, it took some time to adjust.

The main piece of El Fuerte is the giant rock which holds multiple inca carvings. This is listed as one of Unesco World Heritage sites. Off this are the ruins of various buildings (made by incas and then the Spanish), these are spread over several different areas. The trip was great (even though we should have taken a guide for more info). Check out : http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883 .

From there, we went to the waterfalls which again are located up a hill (everything in Samaipata is) It was quite a warm day so it was good to take a dip. Some of the waterfalls are nothing major (and packed - this was on Saturday) and the red clay ground ensures that the water does not match the clear blue that is on the brochure.

Back to Samaipata and enjoyed a meal at one of best restaurants in town (run by a french man and Bolivian wife) - 3 course meal for 2 - 10 Euro. This area is very much Che Guevara territory, we met a local man who as a kid had seen the legendary Che wander into town on several occasions. Our American host had tried to convince us that he was best mates with him and practically his brother.hmmm.
On from Samaipata, you can visit the place where Che died but we decided to give this a miss as there isn�t much there by all accounts.

We also managed some Spanish lessons which were usefull (but expensive in relation to everything else 5US per hour). Haven�t really tried to learn much since as there has been an abundance of english where we have gone.

Our final day, we met an Irish man (married again to a Bolivian) who runs a school in Santa Cruz. He was telling us of the various corruption that he has seen in the area."If you get robbed, don�t call the police unless you want to be robbed twice" kind of thing.

So left Samaipata and booked ourselves on a bus to Sucre (capital of Bolivia). An 11 hour trip around bendy dust roads high in the hills (Sucre is over 2,000 ft up). Our driver has brought with him several young lads who operated on one syllable conversations - �Boleto!� (ticket) etc. The bus was packed but we got seats and then the kid sitting next to us started puking into a bag. Niice. His mother had the notion that the window was the dustbin and various bits of rubbish, bag of puke were all forked out the window along the way. The wnidows has to be left slightly open to allow some oxygen in but this also allowed the bus to fill up with dust from the trip. Niiice. Travelling in Bolivia is an experience but we finally touched down in Sucre at 6AM and managed to get into a hostel (Hi Hostel) even though the porter was not impressed having to get up and let us in. But it turns out he�s a bit of moody bastard anyhow.

More on Sucre later..(photos soon, no really)..

Bolivia has been super so far, very relaxed country in general, helped somewhat by the siesta taken during the day. Food has been generally good and even though Nikki has picked up a bug, I haven�t heard of too many people catching anything. Altitude takes some adjustment as the next place appears to be higher up than the last. As with Brazil, loo roll is deposited in a bin beside the toilets not in the toilet itself (there was an unfortunate plumbing situation in Hostel number 1 in Rio - no details required).

Later..

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Silpancho, Chirac & British cuisine

Silpancho, Chirac & British cuisine

From No Solo Para Gringos:

Cochabamba is Bolivia's most famous region for food and there seems to be a culinary festival of one kind or another every week around the country. While I can suggest dozens of reasons for visiting Bolivia, cuisine is in truth not one of the country�s major selling points.

The food is not bad, but for me it is very plain, consists in large portions of meat, the rather unusual combination of rice AND chips (carbohydrate crazy!) and there is a serious lack of vegetables. Some of the most famous dishes include silpancho (my girlfriend's favourite, opposite) which consists of fried, breaded meat with eggs, rice and fried bananas. The pique a lo macho is a delicious, huge dish of roast meet, sausage, chips, onion and pepper. I have also eaten such delicacies as aji de lengua (ox tongue) and roasted cow�s udders. The salte�a is borrowed from Salta in Argentina and is the local equivalent of a meat or chicken pastry. In the Altiplano grains and potatoes dominate, while around Lake Titicaca and in the Chapare region, there are some wonderful fish which with the exception of trout I do not think exist at home. My dad would also be very happy, whatever the temperature, they love their soup out here - peanut soup being one of the more interesting varieties.

I am constantly asked about British cuisine. I reel off a few dishes like the sunday roast, shepherd�s pie, cumberland suasage, English breakfast, bread and butter pudding, scones and cream teas and then I tend to get a bit stuck, though I try to explain one of the best things about my country is the sheer variety of cuisine on offer - Thai, Italian, French, Turkish, Spanish tapas etc.

According to the BBC, I am a bit out of touch though. Food tourism is booming in the UK with a smorgasbord of food festivals and did you know that it is now officially "British Food Fortnight"? Jacques Chirac, who complained that only the Finns have worse cuisine, would choke on his tete de veau to learn that Britain produces 700 regional cheeses (more than France), has 600 varieties of apple and 125 species of fish and shellfish in its waters. Food tourism has become big business, worth nearly �4bn a year. In a recent survey of tourist perceptions of the UK food industry, two-thirds of Britons said that food and drink influenced their holiday choice. The West Country, Wales and Scotland occupied the top three destinations. New additions include a wine trail around the South-East and a Lake District afternoon tea trail.

Food also holds a key place in the "think globally, act locally" debate. An article in The Guardian about two years ago made me think how ridiculous it was that the produce in my trolley had travelled approximately 12,000 air miles. Buying British (where possible) supports local businesses and protects the environment by avoiding foods which have been transported long distances. In Bolivia, one sees the "Hecho en Bolivia" label everywhere so in many ways they are more advanced than us as well as being very proud of what their country offers (but please, not chips or rice, not both together!).

Buen provecho.

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Tango in Bolivia

Tango in Bolivia

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Tango in Bolivia

Tango in Bolivia

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IMG_6792

IMG_6792

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A flamingo-filled laguna in Bolivia

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IMG_6843

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Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

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IMG_6738

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Laguna Colorada, Bolivia

Sofia and her grad ring

Sofia and her grad ring

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A teacher with well wishes

A teacher with well wishes

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Sofia and another friend

Sofia and another friend

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Padrinos with Sofia

Padrinos with Sofia

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Dad, Sofia and Mom

Dad, Sofia and Mom

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IMG_1493

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IMG_1505

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SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:54:20

SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:54:20

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SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:53:04

SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:53:04

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SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:49:32

SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:49:32

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SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:40:19

SinTitulo 2005-09-26 10:40:19

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Saludos from Bolivia...

Saludos from Bolivia...

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LinuxQuestions.org - Changing the language in debian

LinuxQuestions.org - Changing the language in debian

From http://64.179.4.149/questions/history/360371:

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Espacio GNU/Linux: castellanizar

Espacio GNU/Linux: castellanizar

From http://www.escomposlinux.org/fserrano/castellanizar.html:

how to, partly, get debian to be spanish after the fact

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alvicho

alvicho

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Spanish Playtime

Spanish Playtime

From Emily Mission Furniture:

So over the weekend our neighbors brought over a little gift for you Emily. They just returned from a mission trip to Bolivia where they were working at a school. They brought back some little hand knit finger puppets of animals. With these little puppets they printed up a nice little card with...

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Traipsing and Tasking

Traipsing and Tasking

From ann & the city:

Aye - I did them both today! I booked my bus ticket to Presidente Prudente (I got a bit excited whilst hanging out at the bus station - you can book trips to Bolivia and Uruguay). I re-scheduled the meeting I was supposed to have yesterday for tomorrow. ...

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isla del sol, bolivia

isla del sol, bolivia

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rad. photo by nollister.

Con el Hermano Eustiquio

Con el Hermano Eustiquio

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Castro's Web: Investor's Business Daily

Castro's Web: Investor's Business Daily

From http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&artnum=2&issue=20050921:

Bolivia has a presidential election coming up that could affect an entire continent. Maybe that's why the dictator of Cuba has "a big plan" to win it.

Bolivian Comedy in La Paz

Bolivian Comedy in La Paz

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These two were doing a routine in front of hundreds of people in the San Francisco Church square. They saw me taking photos and looked straight at me, as you can tell, and said (see note.) At that point all hundreds of eyes were upon me, I turned beet red and had to walk away smiling. It was a great and scary thrill in La Paz.

Statues in the square

Statues in the square

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