The Altiplano and Bolivia

The border to Bolivia lies on the edge of San Pedro so within minutes we were in the 'no mans land'. This was when the landscape started to get bleaker, colder and much, much higher.

Heeding the warnings of 'altitude sickness' most of us had stopped the booze and were doubling our water intake (6lits day). If you’re at home, work or anywhere else other than on a bus with 23 other (good bladder capacity) people on the flattest, no tree/bolder/loo shelter landscape I have ever seen, would be fine. I tried my best to match others loo stops but 1hr 10 was the longest I lasted, with considerable pain. People were using my wee stops like a sun dial- 'wow, half an hour passed already'. I tried in vain to look for hiding places - trust me - they do not exist.

But, despite the embarrassment, I didn't even get a headache. That day we reached the highest pass of 5020m (from 2436m) and it was surprising how the altitude gets you. People were acting drunk and giddy at first, then most got headaches. Just sitting was exhausting - you had to try to remember to breathe regularly. We stopped for lunch at the high part, it took twice as long to set up the kitchen as walking around was like having drank a bottle of whiskey (don't be righteous and pretend you don't know that spinning head/room feeling). Actually in all seriousness a couple of the guys were really ill, vomiting and disorientated, equating the feeling to severe flu with a knife sticking in the head. We'd passed the high point so we just had to carry on bringing them down, actually only 500m down, most symptoms had settled.

So why drive through this hostile and frankly, knackering piece of earth?! Its stunning. Driving through a flat valley you are surrounded by giant snow capped mountains, mineralised water gathers in massive pools to form huge powerfully colourful lakes - Laguna Verde (turquoise), Laguna Blanca (clear hot spring) and Laguna Colorado (blood red). Groups of flamingos (yes, pink) gather round the waters edge, intermittently taking flight overhead. So what if the colourful lakes are severely poisonous due to arsenic - its the same with all bright things in nature, the prettier the deadlier. Looks good on photos though.

That night, half way through the Altiplano we stayed in a small non tourist settlement on Villimar. Mainly an agricultural farm of quinoa, most villagers were intrigued by western visitors. After dinner the local head teacher brought round some students to sing and play music for us – actually, by the looks of them, he abruptly woke them up and made them play! But we ended up feeding them homemade chips and cheese, which their smiles told us they enjoyed. And the fact they asked for a doggie bag of any other dinner leftovers.

One of the head villagers took us for an early morning walk through his community. The first thing we saw, just off the main square were the untouched remains of half an aeroplane that had crashed 15 yr prior, killing all on board. The next was a small cave with 3 mummified bodies that had been found on top of the nearby mountain, again just off the main square. We were told they we tribesmen. The skulls showed at least adolescent age, but limbs and feet were Childlike- tiny statures. Weird? Yes, slightly scary? Yes, intriguing and fascinating - definitely. Which is probably why he showed the tourists something so gross. He made up for it with a walk round the village and a trip to the school - all niceness, no dead things.

Later that day we visited 'San Cristóbal' a 'new' town on the tourist tail. The history of the town made me quite uncomfortable. Granted, the story was one sided, but the guide told how the original town had sat on a massive potential wealth of silver. The locals were hand mining the silver but for survival, not great economic wealth. A massive Canadian firm realised the lands potential and demanded the town moved, villagers obviously refused so the company upped the ante, in the end the offer of electricity, a new school and running water was too hard for the villagers to resist. A new town was born the original area was handed over lock, stock and barrel to the corporation. All for the simple things we take for granted. This wasn't years ago - San Cristóbal is only 5 yrs old. In fairness, the company had some respect for the local culture. They moved the original church brick by brick including the inner art work using the latest technology, and each body from the cemetery was carefully relocated at a cost of thousands. A part of me thinks this highlights how humans have respect for others; the cynic in me believes there must be a hell of a lot of money sat under that land.

Onwards, and downwards, from the Altiplano to the Bolivian salt flats- and a hotel with solar heated showers, ooooh! What did I say above about materialism??!