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When you are taking your motorcycle to Bolivia you will certainly end up becoming a climber. Most life of this South American country is happening on the Altiplano, a plateau on an altitude of about 4000 m. Bolivia’s landscape is further made up of the Andes and Llano, a tropical lowland. Within the mountains as well as in the “valleys” there are only a scattered number of traveling routes. Altogether Bolivia owns about 3000 km tarred roads. The rest are gravel and dirt roads, on which it is not possible to travel year around.
La Paz (“Peace”) is a metropolis, one of the highest in the world. The air in about 4000 m is rather thin. Walking and especially riding a bike might become extremely strenuous. The city presents itself to its guest as a gigantic and colorful market place. People are trading everywhere. But the idyll is deceptive. Many people trade to earn their money for living. The higher up and further out in the city a house is build, the poorer are its inhabitants. People with money rather stay were the air is filled with more oxygen.
The winding roads are regularly blocked with traffic. Oftentimes cars and vans get stuck in the narrow roads. To the right and left sides of the roads one finds historical witnesses: San Francisco and Santo Domingo, churches in baroque style, Díez de Medina, the palace, or Calle Jeán, a typical Spanish lane. From downtown one might enjoy a beautiful view to the green slopes of the Andes and the Ilimani, a 6300 m high glacier. Starting from La Paz there are a variety of sights to discover. Tiwanaku is one of the most important archeological excavation sites in Bolivia. The Titicaca Lake is certainly worth a visit. If you rather want to spend some time further down the hills you might want to tour the tropical valleys northeast of La Paz. Breathtaking tracks lead 2000 meters downhill passing coffee and cocoa fields.
Traveling up the mountains again one reaches Potosí. The town became rich and famous for its silver mining in the 17th century. Today Potosí belongs to the World Cultural Heritage. One might want to visit the richly decorated mansions and churches. The “rich mountain”, the Cerro Rico (4700 m) towers beyond the town in the Andes. Similarly formed by the colonial times is Sucre, Bolivia’s official capitol (La Paz is where the government is located). It is also called “White City” because of its numerous white painted house fronts. Sucre, too, belongs to the Unesco World Cultural Heritage. In Tarabuco, which is about 60 kilometers away one gets to visit the famous Bolivian craftsmen market every Sunday. No matter where to one is traveling in Bolivia - to Oruro, to Cochabamba or to Santa Cruz – the roads which lead there are spectacular and the landscape is fascinating.
The Bolivian cuisine is also incomparable. National dishes are Empanada Salteña (meat, chives, raisins, potatoes, spicy dip and paprika baked with dough), Lomo Montado (tender steak with two eggs, with rice and grilled banana), Picante de Pollo (chicken, roast potatoes, rice and salad with chili), Chuño (freeze-dried potatoes cooked in a Chairo soup) and Lechón al Horno (sucking pig with sweet potatoes and cooked bananas). With the food they drink domestic beers. Due to the high altitude one is advised to drink lots of water and juice.
Some geography:
Bolivia stretches over an area of about 1 million square kilometers and has 8.5 million inhabitants. 65 percent of them are indigene, 35 percent mestizo and white. Language of the country is Spanish, besides that they also speak regional dialects. Most of the Bolivians are Catholics. National holiday is celebrated on August 6th. On that day in 1825 Bolivia became independent.
Black & white:
Bolivia is a very poor country. Unrests erupt time and again. It is a common situation to erect roadblocks and it is extremely dangerous to break through them. Best, one waits until the strike is all done. Be aware of drugs in the country of drugs! The Coca fields in Chapare are an extremely dangerous region because of the fights between the government and the Coca farmers. If you want to try Coca tea you can do so in Bolivia. It is illegal to import it to your home country. Otherwise you might be prosecuted for illegal drug possession. |
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