I only had – as always, for reasons of economy – a plate of quinoa soup and the Bolivian national drink Coca Cola, but the view was edifying enough. I had just returned from a hike to the uninhabited Kakayo Queña peninsula on the opposite side of the bay. And then a hummingbird came by, sucking the nectar from the flowers on the terrace in its typical helicopter-like flight, not allowing itself to be disturbed by my presence in the least.
Walking through the Valle de la Luna outside of La Paz, you not only encounter exceptional rock formations, but also flute players who are performing on one of those rocks, daringly and hopefully free from vertigo.
In Bolivia, I have already seen hummingbirds several times. Sometimes, they even come to the garden of the house where I live in Cochabamba.
But by the time I get my camera ready, the birds have left. Or they move too fast. When I try to take a photo, it looks like this. Yes, the blurry thing on the bottom left is the hummingbird.
My last encounter with one of these birds was on Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca, while I was having dinner. Instead of trying to capture a photo, I simply filmed it for you.
My arms were weak from hours of rowing the small boat. The horses had spotted the secluded bay with lush meadows. So I went ashore on Isla del Sol for a break.
Because the bay was surrounded by steep and scraggy slopes, I could let the horses roam freely. If you have eagle’s eyes like mine, you can spot them to the right of the boat.
These are the places and moments when only a cigar can increase happiness. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to find a single cigar in La Paz, nor in Copacabana, nor on the Isla del Sol. Thus, for the first time in 30 years, I bought a box of cigarettes.
How good that the camera didn’t capture my subsequent bath in the lake. And cigarettes definitely aren’t a proper substitute for cigars. So if any of you will ever visit me from Europe, please bring some Italian Toscano cigars.
Llama at Lake Titicaca:
Llama on Isla del Sol:
Llama with curry:
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One thing that Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca is missing is a library or a bookshop. Because it’s a perfect place to read. Luckily, I never go on a trip without a few books in my backpack.
Where else can you lay down in the soft grass next to an Inca palace (Pillkukayna) with a view of a dark blue lake, a green island (Isla de la Luna) and snow-covered mountains?
This was my view:
From the following day, the clouds were gone and I had an even better view of the Cordillera mountain ranges beyond the shore of Lake Titicaca.
If I correctly interpreted this sign in Salvador in Brazil, it’s asking children to fight with each other.
I also found it troublesome that the boy is kicking the girl, cementing negative gender stereotypes.
You remember the Bolivian ladies who climbed Huayna Potosi?
Well, these ladies were not satisfied with conquering one mountain above 6,000 meters. They have set out to climb eight mountains in Bolivia, each of them higher than 6,000 meters.
This week they climbed Illimani (6,439 meters).
I have been in La Paz for more than a week now, admiring the view of truly imposing Illimani every day.
But the weather has been tough, with rain, storms and a bitter cold all week. It was cold enough for me to postpone my hiking plans, and I hadn’t even planned to go all the way to the top.
Respect for the ladies (they are between 42 and 50) who had no such qualms. But once you are above the clouds, you don’t need to worry about rain anyway.
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At the hostel La Casona in Potosí, Bolivia, there was this world map in the reception office, indicating where many of the visitors had come from. (Click to enlarge.)
It’s obvious that many Bolivians would travel within their own country, just as visitors from neighboring South American states will drop by or pass through. The empty spaces on the map of South America are largely areas where not many people live, like the Amazon rainforest.
This map in one hostel in one city in Bolivia is not representative at all, but for the rest of the world, this map mainly shows where people have (1) money, (2) a passport which is useful for traveling, and (3) nothing else to worry about.
Many visitors from the United States and Canada, but millions more from Europe. In Asia the main source countries are Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. From Africa, almost only South Africa. From the Middle East, mainly Israel (maybe the one place where reason no. 3 is to escape from the things at home that one would need to worry about).
China and India, by far the two most populous countries in the world, are completely underrepresented. So is Russia. And almost all of Africa. Although, to be fair, many refugees from Africa and the Middle East get to “travel” quite a bit, and under much more adventurous circumstances than any “backpacker” can claim.
So what do you make of this?
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