We find our selves in the seat of luxury in Corioco with our every need catered for including a swimming pool and Sauna and are truly relaxed. We´ve slowed down considerable since our last blog through a mixture of one slightly bad stomach (Catherine) and just an ongoing desire to enjoy ourselves as well as to catch up with ever so exciting news from home.
We are Uncle and Aunt! Sarah and Simon Sellars our brother and sister have had a baby boy- Joel!!! |
| Picture of La Paz from Hotel Room |
La Paz served us for 5 days of which only in two days were outstanding tourist achievement points scored. La Paz is a great city, one that revealed really quite good eating out and just general joviality. We´re spent the first few days relaxing, pottering around the small streets and enjoying a pretty luxury hotel room that ever so obligingly made itself cheaper on the threat of us moving to another abode, so we stayed. I should mention having some lovely dinners with new friends- Lorenzo and Thim, we made a cosmopolitan group with an Irish, English, Italian and Malayasan; it paved the way for good entertainment in the mixture of cultures: Namely an efficient Malayan demanding good service and nearly never getting it, a very relaxed Ital and a very confused couple in the middle.
The first of the two days were spent in Tiwanaku; the site of the centre of the most ancient of all civilisations in South America; the lesser known Tiwanakus. Lorenzo, I and Catherine had a full briefing from a local guide: The civilisation was around between 5,500 and 1,000 years ago and was a civilisation of peace, good agriculture, funny customs and spanned throughout all Bolivia, North Chile and most of Peru.
Funnily enough their big breakthrough was the cracking of a 13 month calendar, well laid out plantations of potatoes (which brought other cultures into their fold), their understanding of the stars and their religious beliefs (being lesser understood). In comparison the Incas lasted for about 500 years! Anyway, some truly amazing facts as well as a partially uncovered Pyramid, a ´temple of faces´, the main temple with a sun gate and as well as really interesting information about how the rock which built it all was brought from around 100 kms away and was all cut the same size and out of different material (the volcanic rock that made up a big part of the ceremonial area of the pyramid actually was magnetic meaning it changed the poles of anything that is put near it (he showed us with his compass!!)!) Also was revealed the stone gate (made out of one piece of stone originally) that held the dates of the year, which were revealed at different times of the year when the sun went around the building. Anyway, some strange things to add; they mummified their corpses and bound the higher class children's heads so they grew oblong (they thought this improved brain development!). Anyway, one of the most interesting things I´ve done and definitely one of the oldest cultures I´ve bothered to understand so definite tourist points!!!
The other triumph I achieved was cycling down the most dangerous road in the world. It´s a 3,000 meter drop over 65kms on bike- only 2 kms of flat and 1 slightly uphill so no points for exercise! Left Cath in bed and headed on this expedition; 7 tourists, 12 bikes, 3 guides, 1 van and a lot of hilly land later we were off. Started at 4,700 meters and hit 70kms per hr on the way down the tarmac section then onto foggy, dusty and rainy section along ´the most dangerous road in the world´ (well it used to be when cars actually went along it!- with cliffs to the side of 500 meters you want to be careful)! I kept close to the top speed of the guide and kept in a close knit first ´speedy´ group which went without injury and left the other group behind- they were also fine... It was great, fast and furious activity in which your life was in question at most corners- that´s if you didn´t have great guides, all protective clothing in the world and obvious skill... A swim and lunch later I was back in La Paz to find Cath in bed ill- bad stomach and good sympathetic husband.
A few days later and news of Peru boarding crossing not being good across lake Titicaca (semi anarcy has broken out in Puno about mining) has resulted in us moving to Corioco- it´s quieter, lower (the altitude at La Paz is 3,600 meters, here is 1,700), has a great hotel with a lovely room and after two nights stay with initial packing and prep for one night we returned to La Paz to get the rest of the bags and come out for a few more nights. There´s some really nice walking here, great views and just the ability to have a nice holiday all for the cost of 30 euros a day with all food and drink included- who can complain at that! We´ve already seen the water falls, played about 20 games of backgammon, conquered a dozen cross words, swam 50 lengths (that´s just me, Cath thinks the waters too cold) and spent 3 hours in the Sauna- Zero Tourist Points!!!!
We have big plans- a 5 hour walk tomorrow (that is if we feel up to it!). Anyway, we´ve decided next stop will be Lake Titicaca at Copacabana (which sounds pretty exciting thanks to Barry Manolow), a possible crossing to Puno if the election has stopped public outcry and definitely the reed islands and the ´Ísland de Sol´. Our crossing to Peru may come via Chile once again (I hear sighs from the border police stamping our passport for the 3rd time with Chilean stamps) and probably will resulting in a brief stop to the beach in Arica before heading to the magnificent canyons of Arequipa. No way will these political tyrants ruin our run in Peru!!!
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