Leela´s Monthly Update ©
February 1, 2004 – March 1, 2004
Edition 7

Travel Journals...

I sure have been busy since I last wrote. And you know what? I am worn out! Nonetheless, the past month I have gone through many adventures and seen an abundance of people, places and cultures. As I last left off, I was in Lima, Peru, where I was spending my last few days with Eckla, before I was to head off to Bolivia to meet up with Suzy.


Lima, Peru

Carnaval and the Festivities...

I’m sure all of you have heard of the world-renowned Carnaval, which is celebrated heavily in Brazil during the month of February but also celebrated to a great degree in Peru and Bolivia (although hardly at all in Chile). Well I got to observe some of the entertainment while in Peru and Bolivia, but not in the sense that you are probably thinking. Water balloons. Launched at me. From all directions. See, I told you it wasn’t what you were thinking.

What am I talking about??? Part of the Carnaval traditions entail water balloons, water guns, buckets of water, etc. being hurled at innocent bystanders! And guess who that happened to be on several occasions? You got it.  My first incident with this cruel tradition was as I was casually walking along the streets of Lima, enjoying a nice afternoon with Carlos and Eckla. He was taking us to some museums, and we were just about to go enjoy a cup of coffee when WHA BAAM a young (seven or eight year old) girl sprayed me in full frontal with a torque of water so powerful that it set me aback a few steps. I was in complete shock, as before the occurrence, I had had no knowledge about the ritual. Normally I would have made some sharp comment in response to what had just happened to me, but the surprise factor of the whole incident had me dumbfounded and at a loss for words! Instead, I just gave my death glare, which, in some cases, can be more powerful than words.  Needless to say, I was drenched and so was everything in my pack. I was not a happy camper. It happened again in Bolivia, where, on a cold day a balloon hit me splat on my back (and I was even watching out for them this time!) and soaked through my three layers of clothing. It did console me that I was not alone on this issue however, as many other tourists had also been the victim of the kids’ idea of fun. You would think that their elders would chastise them for such behavior, but it is quite the opposite. I saw many grandmother-aged ladies help fill up the water balloons for their little loved ones and laugh as tourists got pegged.

Smog

One day Eckla and I went downtown to walk around for a few hours, and we felt a layer of muck omnipresent all over our bodies. Shortly thereafter, Eckla pulled out a napkin from her purse and proceeded to brush it over her face to freshen up a bit. When she showed me the results from her actions, I was appalled, as I then proceeded to do the same. The two of us were staring in partial awe and complete disgust as we compared results from our napkin-wiping; they were both completely black. Later, after retelling the story to some Limeños (locals from Lima) it was like our recent discovery was a normalcy for them as they were not surprised in the least. Instead, they proceeded to explain to us why so many people seek work and homes outside of the city’s center. Needless to say, being in Lima doesn’t mean breathing *clean* air.

Bad Service

What I first thought was just a pattern of bad luck on my end, I soon realized was a trademark of not only Lima but my entire experience in Peru, at least on the customer service end. Maybe having worked in the food industry for four years makes me partially (ok, extremely critical) on this issue, but I can deal with failing service and move on without too many complaints. However, I solidified my theory about the deficient restaurant service after a particularly horrible incident. We went to a restaurant to try ceviche (raw fish and seafood ‘cooked’ with the acid of lime or lemon juice and adjourned with olive oil and spices, which is a typical Peruvian dish) in the late afternoon at a restaurant with plenty of available tables. We also ordered drinks (cold sodas). After about twenty minutes of no drinks appearing on our table, we started to get a little antsy, and at thirty minutes, we were just plain mad. At thirty-five minutes after flagging down a different waiter and reordering our entire meal and drinks, we had exceeded the point of lividness when at forty minutes he brought us our sodas that were so warm they were pushing on being hot. We got up and left and went to a different place with wonderful service and a waiter who was competent and extremely friendly. That was my only good restaurant experience during the entirety of my two weeks in Peru. (Consequently, I ate ceviche there, which was very flavorful, although my stomach didn’t like it so much.) 


Cochabamba, Bolivia

It was time to hit the road again as Eckla had a flight to catch to Córdoba, Argentina, and I had plans to meet up with Suzy who was in the middle of the Bolivian jungle volunteering at an animal refuge. Thankfully, Eckla had decided that she was going to meet back up with me and Suzy in our hometown of Viña del Mar within the coming weeks, so it was not a permanent goodbye (which made it much easier). After a week of being in Lima, meeting some wonderful people and going through a handful of experiences, I got on a bus, and a mere two and a half days later, I arrived to Cochabamba, Bolivia, which is its third largest city there. Luckily, I had a connection there and had a free place to stay, which was so nice after so many hours on a bus.

In addition to me staying with Margaret, she also had two of her Argentinean friends simultaneously visiting, so it was like a big happy family at her apartment. We mostly laid low but did go to one part of the city to which I hope to never return.

La Cancha

La Cancha is the largest market in Bolivia, which spans over fifteen blocks in the southern part of the downtown area of Cochabamba. Because of the agricultural importance of the region of Cochabamba, La Cancha is also the central market for all of Bolivia. In addition to fruits and vegetables, you can find anything and everything else for which you are seeking; literally. There were some things I saw there that I never hope to find out what their contents contained; so much better not to know. I have never seen so many people in such a dense area; I felt as if I were suffocating and as if I were never going to exit the premises. This is not to say that it doesn’t have use, because it does, but if I had the choice, I would never return.


The Quest to Find Suzy

Who knew that being a friend of Suzy would embark me on an adventure I did not forsee in the least? Needless to say, finding Suzy at her animal refuge was not as easy as it had originally seemed. When, at the beginning of her volunteer experience, she arrived to her camp, she took a boat and a taxi for 45 minutes to email me to let me know where she was staying so that at the end of the week I could just come and meet up with her and we would go from there. She had told me that she wanted to leave on a Monday and from there go to Santa Cruz, then finally Sucre. I thought, well I will go to Villa Tunari (that is where she was staying) on Sunday afternoon in order to meet up with her, and then we can leave together on Monday morning (the day she had wanted to leave). So I get there on Sunday afternoon only to find out that she wasn't there! I didn't know what to do nor did I know where she went because there was no internet access there. Apparently, one of the volunteers at the sick animal refuge told me I had missed her by 5 hours. I was so frustrated!

My next plan of action was to figure that she had gone to Santa Cruz as she had specified in her email, so I figured it was no big deal and that everything would be okay; I would just take a bus the next morning to Santa Cruz. Boy was I wrong about it being easy!! In order to take the bus to Santa Cruz, normally I would have had to take a taxi from Villa Tunari to where the buses leave right across the river. However, when I got to the river in the taxi, there was one small problem; the bridge had collapsed!!! (It had shattered due to the powerful currents of the river because of the rainy season. It was a huge tradgedy as a bus had driven off of it right after it had occurred, resulting in the death of fifty people.) So that presented a bit of a problem for me to get to the other side of the river. Luckily, there was a canoe system in place by the Bolivian government for people to cross. (And I definately got pictures of this whole experience.) As soon as I reached the other side of the river, I had to hike up this hill with all of my luggage to where the buses left. Once there, it was so depressingly fouled with litter that I had to put my sweatshirt over my face in order to breathe to handle the smell. (Unfortunately littering is not looked down upon in Latin and South American countries as citizens throw their garbage onto the streets in plain day sight.) As I finally boarded a bus to Santa Cruz (which looked straight from the ‘60’s or ‘70’s) they of course packed too many people on than there were seats available (also extremely common). Normally this is bearable, but atop the 90 degree weather plus humidity, it felt like a burning inferno! As my luck would have it, I sat next to a lady with her extremely sick baby with a pussy eye infection and visible bugs crawling on him who kept touching me. So THAT was fun. When I finally got to Santa Cruz, I was so excited to find and meet up with Suzy and tell her all about my interesting adventures, but first off I needed to get settled in. So I calmed down after my temerarious journey, found a hostel, TOOK A SHOWER (very important after sitting next to the baby), got something to eat, and went to an internet cafe to figure out where my partner in crime happened to be, only to find out that she completely bypassed Santa Cruz and went in the oppposite direction to Sucre (fifteen hours from where I was)!! At this point, I think I completely freaked out. I was so tired and delusional and had just taken that bus ride from hell only to find out that she was not there.

I knew it was going to be okay, but I needed to calm myself down. So I got a good nights sleep and told myself that come morning everything would be sorted out because as soon as I woke up I would go to the bus station and get a ticket to Sucre so that we could be together. (Suzy felt HORRIBLE by the way- - she had miscalculated her stay in Villa Tunari by one day but since there was no means of communication where she was, she had no way of conveying her plans to me. Also, since I had not arrived the whole week she was volunteering, she figured I had changed my plans and done something else instead.) In the morning, I felt like a new person. I had calmed down, gotten a good night’s sleep, was mentally prepared for my fifteen hour journey to Sucre, and was ready to get my bus ticket. However, when I went to the bus station, I encountered a slight problem- - as of that morning, Bolivia had declared a national transportation strike for the next forty-eight hours!! So as you can imagine, I had a bit of a nervous breakdown at that point. All I wanted to do was be back in Chile where things were dependable. However, back to reality, I was stuck in Santa Cruz and would be there for the next two days. And there was nothing I could do about it. Since I did not have any choice in the matter, I decided there were one of two things I could choose to do: be a pessimist (which is normally not in my nature, but at this point I was leaning towards that option) or cough it up, deal with the fact that I could not budge from Santa Cruz, and enjoy it as much as possible. After a heavy internal debate, I opted for the second choice. Normally, I would explore the city and what it has to offer to the upmost extent, but due to my recent experiences over the past few days, all I wanted to do was relax. So besides venturing out around the downtown area a bit (which is much more impressive than Cochabamba, and a lot more clean) and finding a bookstore, I did not move much.

One good thing about my stay in Santa Cruz was that I had a lovely, centrally located hostel, which not only had hammocks for its guests, but there were also five toucans that pranced around the courtyard. In addition, because Santa Cruz borders the Amazonian part of Bolivia, its tropical weather produces an abundance of the tastiest fruit I have ever eaten. I had delicious milkshakes every day- - mango, papaya, pineapple, etc. What a shame these fruit are so expensive in the USA and only cost me pennies in Bolivia.

Anyhow, after my two days were up waiting for the strike to end, I finally got a bus to Sucre. However, like most of my luck the past few days, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Keep in mind that most of Bolivia is extremely mountainous, as the majority of it has an extremely high altitude. The road from Santa Cruz to Sucre was not exempt of this generalization, and the only vehicle available from one to the other was the night bus. This meant that the chauffer would have drive in the complete obscurity on the extremely curvy (and not always paved) road to get to our destination. Right as I was having a dream about being in an airplane that was emergency landing, I was awakened by the horrified screams of my fellow bus passengers. As I jolted upright, I realized that the bus was starting to head straight off the cliff!! If we would have continued for two more seconds in the direction we were proceeding, I would not be alive to tell this story; I kid you not. The driver had fallen alseep at the wheel and it was the screams of the passangers that kept him from a fatal accident. It was more than scary; I thought I was definately going to die. While my life did not flash before my eyes, I realized I was extremely scared of dying alone. That puts me at two near death experiences in 7 months, not bad, eh?

I FINALLY arrived to Sucre, and was reunited with Suzy.  Estatic does not describe how I felt to be with her again. Although it had only been not even two weeks since we had parted ways, I felt as if an eternity had passed. I have thus entitled my near week trying to find her, ‘The Quest to Find Suzy.’ We spent a wonderful weekend together in Sucre and Potosí, met some new friends, and had a fabulous Valentine’s day.


Sucre, Bolivia

As one of the capital’s of Boliva (there are two- - La Paz, where the president and senate reside, and Sucre, which is the home of the justice department) Sucre is not only the prettiest city I saw in Bolivia, but definately the cleanest as well. Its denizens take pride in its up-keep, as it is extremely colonial, and is dubbed by many as the ‘White City’ due to all of its white and cream colored buildings because of the past Spanish influence. Sucre’s main industry is cement, as it has a few factories on the outskirts of town.

However, definately the most interesting attraction (for me at least) were the fossilized Dinosaur Footprints that are the largest in the world. They were discovered by the cement workers as they were chipping away at the nearing mountains when they came across too large of a coincidence to ignore. Soon scientists were analyzing the findings as they confirmed that they were indeed the footprints of many (over twenty) types of dinosaurs. The bad news is that the rock on which the fossils lay is extremely soft, which means that it chips and harms easily. This also means that within a time frame of a few months, fossils that were once extremely prominent can be barely notable, but it also means that new underlaying fossils are discovered. A group of paleantologists from the United States tries to come out to the sight once a year to further analyze the findings since unfortunately, Bolivia does not have any of its own.

The funniest part about this tour was taking the Dino Truck, which was an experience all in its own. Since the sight was out on the edge of the city, you could either take a taxi to the reserve (expensive) or take the preorganized Dino Truck, which is cheaper. This truck was completely old-school with wooden panels and dinosaur drawings attached on the outside to make it look and feel touristy friendly, but it pretty much looked hideous. It was so embarrassing riding the truck through Sucre as we caught the glances of many people, especially since the truck could not exceed 25 miles per hour! It was so corny (yet at the same time so funny) and it quickly became the butt of all of our jokes. However, once at the site, we were all amazed by the irrefragable evidence of the pre-historic beasts that once ruled our planet.

Other Observations

One really interesting thing about Bolivia is the way the streets in most of the towns and cities are organized, at least as far as consumer products. They are broken down such that on one road, you will find all the same goods. So if you want to buy a mattress, you go Street X, where all the mattress stores are located. The same goes for most anything; barber shops, stationary outlets, bookstores, etc. I have never seen anything else like it. In one sense it makes for good selection opportunities and ensures the lowest price and highest quality possible due to competition; however if you want a multitude of goods, it is not the best idea. I guess that is why they have markets like La Cancha.


Potosí, Bolivia ~ The Highest City in the World

Once, booming and rich, Potosi, founded in 1545 by Spaniards, used to be the most thriving city of all South America. This was mainly due to the abundance of minerals, namely silver and zinc, in its surrounding mountains, especially during the silver rush in the 1500´s. It also ranks as the highest city in the world, at 4,200 meters. One would think that after 450 years of silver extraction the encompassing mountains would be depleted, however, it is quite the contrary. There continue to be well over 300 mines in use today, and the region has enough silver and zinc to go for another 80 – 100 years. The horrifying sad part about Potosi is that since the city’s foundation, over 8 million people have died due to poor working conditions in the mines. When the Spaniards had control of the city, they took advantage of the indigenous Quechua and Aymara Indians in the region because they thought their life had little or no value. Thus, people were dropping off by the thousands.

They say that with all the silver that has been extracted from Potosi, a bridge could be built from the city’s center all the way to Spain. That is also said of the people’s bodies. One would think that with so many people killed from working in the mines, that present-day conditions would be up-to-par. Unfortunately, the reality that Bolivia is still one of the poorest countries of South America, and that the conditions (at least to me) appeared awful. The average life expectancy of a present-day worker is 45, and that is a good number! The sad truth of the matter is that working in the mines pays well (up to $200 per month) and that many families sacrifice the early inevitable death of a family member for the money earned. Plus, as our tour guide explained to us, it is a pride and tradition matter; if one’s father worked in the mines, to maintain the family name and respect, the son also will.

Dynamite is sold throughout Potosi like candy or cigarettes. Anyone over eighteen years of age can purchase dynamite without a second glance from the cashier. While in the mine, the workers set off five rounds of dynamite so we could get a real feel for how things function around there. It was scary; although it was far away from us within the mine, I felt the waves as clear as day and I have never been more claustrophobic as I was at that moment; I felt like we were going to get trapped in the mine. The workers just laughed at me. Visiting the mines was one of the most interesting things I did in Bolivia; however, it was equally (or more) depressing to see the real life conditions with which the workers deal on a daily basis. The most that one can hope for them is that they are working for a corporate mine so that they are entailed for benefits.



On the Road Back Home…

After Potosi, it was time to head back home to Chile! I don’t think I have ever been happier to get back to Chile. It is not to say that I didn’t learn a lot in Bolivia nor appreciate being there. However, I also appreciated leaving!! It is truly amazing how poor Bolivia is. I said this earlier when I had visited Bolivia for a few days with Sam, but the neighboring country to Chile is like a totally different world. I was especially ready to leave when one of the tour guides I had informed me that Bolivia is the 2nd most corrupt country in the world. When I asked him, ¨What about Colombia?¨ His response to me was, ¨Lady, the Colombians are like little kids to us.¨ At that point, I was extremely ready to get back to Chile; you know it is not good when your tour guide is telling you how corrupt the country is! It is really funny though because it shows how many experiences in life are all based on perspective. I remember when I first arrived to Chile, I was quite unimpressed (I was using my American standards) by the advancement of the country (especially since I had done much research on the country, and one of the top reasons I chose it was because of how it was the most developed in South America). After I returned to Chile from Bolivia, I thought (and still think) Chile is HEAVEN!!! One more side note, I had a double negative during my stay in Bolivia. I am an American who is living in Chile! The Bolivians LOATHE the Chileans (because of a war 100 years ago in which Chile expanded their land territories and robbed Bolivia of an ocean outlet, thus leaving Bolivia with no exit to export their goods). They also aren’t too keen on Americans, as they think all Americans have an easy lifestyle and are rich, thus bearing a huge resentment towards them. Yikes!

The poverty level in Bolivia is really a shame because the country really has so much to offer. 60% of its land is within the Amazon, which could provide for fertile lands for an abundance of fruits, vegetables, coffee, or other goods. It also has natural gas (many of you know about the latest controversy on that issue), amazing mountains, the largest salt flat in the world, and is filled with awesome wildlife. However, the corruption and poverty level are too high to ignore, and the Bolivians don’t look in the long-term vision window because they cannot afford it (literally and figuratively). Instead they look for the short-term solution (like many countries and politicians often do), which is why there is so much cocaine production there; it provides money quickly that people can use and see.


El Festival…

I arrived back to my hometown of Viña del Mar after 47 hours on a bus and I practically yelped for joy once I crossed back into the border (literally). I was there just in time for the international music festival of Viña de Mar, which is world-renowned. It was a lot of fun to go the festival; my hometown seemed like a different place. There were so many people there! Eckla and Suzy both arrived and we all got to go together, which provided for a happy reunion for the three of us. The most famous people we got to see were Juan Gabriel from Mexico, and Alex Ubago from Spain. In addition to the two of them, there were a plethora of other singers and entertainers from all over the world (including a horribly sad performance by Toto from the good old USA). If I had to guess how many people were at the festival on the night I attended, I would estimate 50,000 +.

After one more day of spending with Eckla and recovering from my long bus ride back to Chile, I had to pack everything again to go down to as close to the south pole as I probably will ever get! It was time to go on my last excursion of my summer; Punta Arenas and the Torres del Paine National Park with Suzy and her visiting dad and step mom from North Carolina. This time (thankfully) by plane. By the way, I tallied all the hours I have spent on a bus since my arrival to Chile in July, and I currently sit at 486 hours - - twenty-two full days. It is quite disheartening to think that I have spent nearly a straight month on a bus!


Punta Arenas, Chile (The End of the World)

The most populated continental southern city in the world (and the capital of the Magellan region) Punta Arenas was founded in the 1800’s because of (similar to Potosi) a silver rush. That soon ended however and today Punta Arena’s major industries are sheep, fish, and tourism. Not only does it contain a very accessible airport, but a lot of cruise ships stop through Punta Arenas, pouring thousands of tourists into the city. It is also the place from which to get Antarctic regions and the large island of Tierra del Fuego. (FYI, Chile claims many Antarctic lands.) It also has a very aesthetically pleasing cemetery.

Honestly, Punta Arenas, while fine, has not impressed me much. I could definitely not live here, although it is interesting to observe. And luckily, I am not here during their winter, as being that it is currently summer and I have to wear several layers of clothing. What surprised me most of all about the area is how flat it is! Because geographically speaking, it is so close to the impressive Torres del Paine National Park, I assumed it would be at least hilly. I was completely wrong- - it is extremely flat.

Suzy, John, Dee and I spent a day and a half in the city, walking around, going to museums, visiting the cemetery, and visiting the penguin reserve, which was my favorite event. We went to the Otway Penguin Colony, which houses just over 6,000 breeding pairs. They were so cute and much smaller than I had imagined. After our time in Punta Arenas, the four of us then headed off to the spectacular Torres del Paine National Park.


Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Truly breathtaking, I recommend the Patagonia Torres del Paine to anyone! I loved it. The mountains seemed painted in the foreground as we pulled up to our ‘working ranch’ hotel. It reminded me somewhat of the Teton National Park in Wyoming, though more impressive. We were there a total of three days, trying to get in as much as we possibly could. We went on a few hikes (one large one), went glacier spotting, and drove around to view the rivers, lakes, wildlife, and picturesque visions the park provides. I don’t think any of us were ready to leave when it was time. The four of us spent a great time together and had much fun exploring, wining, and dining. Suzy’s dad and step mom are wonderful people.


Back to Punta Arenas

As we came back to Punta Arenas for the three of them to catch their flight out (there were no available flights left on the day they were leaving, which is why I am still here) we said our goodbyes as they boarded the plane. Since their departure, I have been laying low, reading, writing, walking around, etc. However I am ready to get back home and not live out of a suitcase.


What Next?!?

I head back to Viña del Mar tomorrow, thus concludes my three months of straight travel. Although I know there is a lot I didn’t get to see, I feel extremely privileged to have visited the majority of Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. And you know what? I am ready to be in one place for awhile. I really don’t have that much time left in Chile and I want to enjoy my life there as much as possible. Plus, I am out of money and time, as school starts within the week. I look forward to the start of the semester and to see my Chilean friends, get into a routine again and just enjoy life. I’ll keep you all updated.

The End