Valle de la Luna

Last week we met with some friends from Denmark here in La Paz, Sandy and Lasse who live at the moment not far from Santa Cruz, here in Bolivia, and Sabine who came for a visit. As they were going to visit the badland landscape of Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), we decided to join them. We took an alternative route to what is recommended and took the cable way, which is an attraction in itself and then a taxi. The badlands are located near the village of Mallasa and it was definitely interesting to see, although it was much smaller than we expected. Different types of cactus, succulents and desert type shrubs grew on the eroded soil. We just managed to see all what was to see, before the rain came. After that we went back to La Paz and ate nice vegetarian food at Magick restaurant in Sopocachi, just one minute from where we live. It was nice to spend our day in good company.

On our way with the Teleférico to the Southern part of La Paz.

In the background the peak La Muela del Diablo (Devil's Tooth) can be seen, which we want to visit before we leave.

At Magick in good company!

Pura Pura - a eucalyptus forest in La Paz

Last year in Denmark we saw a documentary from La Paz about the making of a skatepark. It looked pretty cool, in the middle of a forest and with a view over La Paz and Illimani. So when we came here we tried to go looking for it. On our first trip we followed an abandoned train track through the forest and found a fenced-in park, where we walked several kilometers on a small path along the fence in the forest before we found the entrance. We hung out there the rest of the day, saw a humming bird, had our lunch, but we never found the skatepark. The next week we checked again on the internet where the skatepark was, and this time we found it - almost right next to where we had walked but hidden from view the week before. It wasn't in the middle of a forest as I had remembered it in the documentary, but next to a playground and a residential area. But those playgrounds were pretty awesome, with the longest slides we've ever seen, with kids riding on flattened bottles, blankets or pieces of bark down the slippery concrete slides. 

Abandoned train tracks in the forest outside Pura Pura park

Hanging bridge inside Pura Pura park

The snow-covered Chacaltaya can be seen in the background

The longest slides in the world (that we've seen)

Pura Pura skatepark

Illimani - the 6438m high mountain

La casa del Montículo

Our house in La Paz. It lies next to a park with a pretty awesome view. The park is called Montículo and is a kissing park, where many couples go and kiss, or many school kids go and write romantic things on the walls. We often go and eat our lunch there under the huge eucalyptus and cypress trees, while we're trying not to feed the dogs that wander by, and while we kiss each other once in a while so we can blend in with the crowd. The view from the park looks over the eastern and southern part of La Paz, with Illimani a 6438m high mountain looming in the background. It's an incredible mountain, but doesn't show itself very often in the rainy season. The picture of it at the end of this blogpost is a rare sight...at least for the 2 weeks we've been in La Paz. 

We came to La Paz by bus two Sundays ago, and found a cheap hostal in the middle of the tourist area. Right across from the hostal was the best vegetarian restaurant ever, with really good food and a cosy atmosphere. To find a more permanent place to live we bought a newspaper and looked through the apartment rentals. We found 6, of which 2 we went to look at the next day. The one we settled for was perfect for us: really cheap, not too fancy but still cozy, hot shower and kitchen!, next to a park, very close to the office Andrés is collaborating with on his thesis, and friendly neighbours, in a big house divided into several apartments where mainly foreigners live. However, we had to wait before we could move into the apartment because the guy that lived there before had not moved all his stuff, and apparantly in Bolivia you can't just throw people's things out on the street if they are too lazy to move it themselves. But luckily he took it two days later and we were able to move in. 

We really felt God has been helping us so much. We felt that it wasn't just luck that we found this place, where we could focus on studying, but still hang out with neighbours that not only speak Spanish. It's also close to a Spanish language school, where I'll begin courses in April. There's a market close by, it's close to a Teleférico (cableway) station, it's only 20min walk from the centre with all the restaurants and tourist shops, but still in an area where you can hear the birds and walk one minute to a park with huge trees. We felt like God's trying to show us that we really can trust him to take care of us and that we don't have to worry about the future (which we were doing while we were waiting to get the apartment). Because we're his children and he's a father that has no limitations and an endless love toward us. So why wouldn't he take care of us? Any good father takes care the best they can of their children. The dads in my family: my oldest brother, my dad, my cousins (and my other brother soon to become a father too) are all really awesome (or will very soon, in June, be awesome) dads to their children, they do so many things for them! And I couldn't imagine a God who created the world, who's above everything else and who is love and goodness himself, shouldn't take care of us and give us joy in our lives, and give us good things if we ask for it, or even when we don't ask for it sometimes. That's what he's promised us. I especially like two places in the bible that talks about us and God: "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." and the other one: "to know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory...by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever."  I especially like the parts about how we make God happy, just because we're his children I guess; that he will calm all our fears even the small ones; and that what we ask of him he will help us with, even in much better ways than we had thought of. 

Our kitchen. The stairs lead up to a half-floor with a large matress on the floor. To the right of the staircase is a small toilet and shower with hot water!

Dinner with our neighbours. A basque with his kid and a French-Venezuelan couple. They made ratatouille for us :)

The view from the Montículo park.

The Teleférico with a very eroded landscape in the background.

The Montículo park, seen from the Teleférico. 

Illimani, when it is visible.

Peruvian and Bolivian animals

While we were living in the mountains in Peru and during our holiday in Copacabama, we met so many cute animals that I thought we have to share it with you. Even the pigs are cute here...

Isla del $ol

Not far from Copacabana, you can sail to Isla del Sol or Titi'kaka, as it is called in Aymara. The island is full of archeological ruins and is beautiful in a peculiar way. The Incas believed that the sun god was born there. Today it looks more like they have learned about the money god, and they use any excuse to ask for money. Besides tourism, they are/were selfsufficient and grow and fish their own food. They still use the old terraces from pre-Inca times and grow mostly organic potatoes, quinoa, horse beans, lupin and oca roots.

Spot the totora boats.

Woman hoeing oca roots. Even if agriculture and fishing is still important in the island, tourism is taking over.

Maria touching the "holy" water, which still attracts people that want to be healed or need luck in their affairs. The guide gave us some of the water to drink, but Maria used it to wash her hands instead because she didn't want bacteria from the water. Ironically enough Maria probably already had giardia at the time...

From the north to the south there is an 8km path, which we took, but you have to pay at each of the villages just to enter them.

Copacabana

After over a month in Peru, we took a few holidays in Copacabana (Bolivia). We enjoyed it, even though the prices are overinflated and unrealistic. For example, we went to a "restaurant" where they charged 30 Bolivianos (same as Danish kroner, and about 4€) for a guacamole salad, that consisted of half a tomato, half an onion and half avocado cut in a few pieces without any dressing, literally! Andrés told the owner that we could have bought the same vegetables at the market for 3 Bolivianos and wouldn't pay more than 15 Bolivianos for it. The owner did not want to listen, until Andrés threatened to tell everybody on the street about it.

But Copacabana is a nice a cozy town, with many cute shops, interesting pre-Incan and Incan ruins, and from where you can take boat trips to the historical 'Isla del Sol' and 'Isla de la Luna'.

Our hostal room :P
More precisely, a traditional Aymara house.

'Inti watana' used for astronomical purposes by the pre-Incan culture, the Chiripas.

Copacabana, with 'Isla del Sol' in the background.

'Kusijata' or the Incan baths, a place with huge eucalyptus trees.

Giardia and the Elusive Toilet Soap

Giardia is a small bacteria or parasite or whatever, that can contaminate humans and animals through water, food and direct contact to infected people/animals. It is especially prevalent in countries with not much hygiene or clean water. The water in Peru and Bolivia seems clean enough - but still we have always either purified the water with pills or boiled it. But with the food, we haven't been so careful, and we have ofcourse shaken many people's hands and patted dogs and cats (or that was just me - Andrés knows better ;-). Moreover, soap is never found in public toilets or in most hostels, and so on. And I wonder how much it is used after going to the toilet... But I guess people here would have stronger immune systems than someone from a country of hysteric hygeinic rules that forces shops to throw good food away and is the only place in the world where eggs are refrigerated from it pops out of the hen's butt till it hits the frying pan.

So for a few weeks now I have been sick in the stomach, on and off, with alternating constipation and diarrhea. And the last few days also fatigue, where it's been a whole mountaineering exercise for me climbing some stairs or walking up a small hill. It's not certain I have Giardiasis, but next week I'll probably buy the medicine against it anyway.

Because I know the symptoms from previous experience! When I was in Cambodia about 8 years ago I got Giardiasis over several periods, even though I was on medication several times. I guess patting the dogs, playing with the kids and giving them swimming lessons in the mud pond didn't help much to avoid it. And the side effects have been with me since, as a constant souvenir from my time there. Ever since my time in Cambodia I've been struggling with irritable bowel syndrome. My mum made me go to the doctor and ask if I still could have Giardia. I could hardly make myself ask the doctor because I thought they would think it was stupid, especially if I said I had read about Giardia persisting for years, on the internet - because it seems like doctors don't like it when you talk about things from the internet. But so many websites and online forums mention cases with people getting irritable bowel syndrome after having Giardiasis. And so many people write about their doctors waving their persisting symptoms off with stress, bad lifestyle and so on, without taking tests. But even the tests seem to be quite precarious in proving Giardia as it only sometimes shows positive, even though the victim has it in him or her. I'm sorry for saying this but sometimes doctors don't seem to give a shit about taking the time to study about or think about the causes their patients might have to their symptoms, and just tell them some common cause like stress.

Here's a link to a study from Bergen University that concluded the existence of chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or chronic fatigue, years after patients had Giardiasis:
http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/12/cid.ciu629.abstract

Finally Bolivia!

After one month in Peru, we finally entered Bolivia, with some days of relax in Copacabana.We will upload a couple of posts from here.

Foreigners not welcome!

Our last days in Peru have been very hectic. We were in four different towns/villages in one day and slept in dirty hostels, but Andrés got some valuable data. Thanks to the help of Kelluyo Tambo's manager, Alonso, we managed to get in contact with otherwise suspicious local people. And they have all the right to be so. In may 2011, a Canadian mining company got the rights to exploit the silver mine of Santa Ana in Huacullani, which lead to massive protests all around the Puno region, mainly because of environmental reasons and small benefits to the local communities. This event is commonly known as the 'aymarazo'. And still today this area is very suspicious of white people. Luckily, and thanks to Alonso's help, we did not encounter any problems, and the locals were very helpful, as they learnt about my thesis project and wanted to help in order to get a better commercial option for their qañawa, which is one of their main incomes.

Qañawa field affected by a dry spell early in the season. The plants are small and the yield will also be.

Huacullani, the place where the 'aymarazo' protests started. Further up to the left, out of the picture, the mining activity  is plundering the mountain of this valuable resource.

Kanccora Yacango

For a week we went higher up in the mountains where qañawa is grown. And lived in a Tambo in Kanccora Yancango, with no running water, but this time with a kitchen. A Tambo is an official governmental building for the development of rural areas. They serve as a link between the Peruvian government and the rural farming communities. In these high areas, many locals tend to be quite suspicious of strangers, because they have experienced exploitation of their resources by foreigners without real benefits to the locals. This made it difficult for me, Andrés, to gather some data, but I figured out that most of the qañawa crops there were mainly for self-consumption. And since my thesis is about value chains, the information I could collect here was not very relevant to my thesis project.

A QAÑAWA field at last!! They are similar in characteristics to quinoa, but a much smaller plant.
It has different names: in Peru it's called Cañihua and in Bolivia Cañahua. The Aymara call it Qañawa.

Another Qañawa field, but red. Next to the Qañawa field is a potato field which has been affected by the frost - the tops of the plants are black and dried out, giving a very low harvest for this year. But the Qañawa are much more resilient and have not been affected by the frost. 

On our second day in the mountains we hiked up to some cliffs to see a cave with old drawings on the walls. 

We didn't have a bag to carry food and water for our hike, so Andrés used our 'Awayu' blanket like the Aymara carry things.

Thanks to the help of the old community leader, we found the cave paintings. This woman was in amazingly good shape and could walk up the mountain faster than all of us.

The manager of the Tambo, Miguel, and Andrés talked to and learned from the local farmer communities about agricultural practices.

In front of our Tambo, was a vast plain where herders had their sheep, alpacas and pigs, and where we went to fetch water from a well.

To one of the meetings Andrés held for the authorities of the district, one of the men came by horse, like in an old western movie. It is the first and last horse we have seen in Peru. Donkeys, bikes, motorbikes or walking are much more common means of transportation.

In the top right our Tambo with red roof can be seen.