Honeymoons

We had such a nice Christmas together with our Barcelona people :D Ceci, Charlie, Guillem and the funny Stefano.

Here we stopped in small town to get some gas and lunch.

The nature did not stop amazing us.

Wild, but knowing how to enjoy our honeymoon ;D
Swimming with the dolphins.

Born to be wild :D

If you ever hear Mart saying that he does not like kids, well, there is a proof against it.
It is quite usual to drink freshly squeezed juice from plastic bags :D Our super nice group on the way to the Pampas.

La Paz is just an incredible place where tradition, rituals and magic braids with a capitalistic society.
These are pics of the "Witch Market" (read more in the entry) A wedding picture ;D and the mother is so sweetly dressed.

Just outside the city one can get lost in the "moon like valley". Tihuanaco, the ancestors of the Incas and Aymara cultures, was one of the most amazing cultures that lived on the southern continent. Cultivators of more than 400 types of potatoes, performers of brain surgeons and readers of stars, Tihuanaco built big pyramids and carved in stones of more than 20 tones.

These four pics really represent Bolivia seen by many travelers. A picture next to the Evo Morales president, of whom Bolivians seem to be very proud.
The nice sunrise on the Salar de Uyuni.
Salar de Uyuni - a great place to play with your imagination.
A just a beautiful cactus flower.

These surroundings really made us feel part of Dali´s paintings... In fact, Dali got inspired from this very desert.

And here we start another road, another country, another almost virgin nature - Bolivia.
It is just a spectacular feeling seeing all these animals and birds about which you´ve been reading since a kind.

The picture should be quite relevant to the "Silver Mines in Potosi" entry.

As already said, we had a great time in Salta.We wandered through the streets of small villages, visited their cemeteries, wondered about their culture, got amazed by the beauty of the nature and went on with living the dream.

La Paz is actually a quite a funny city and its inhabitants, as well :D

When entering the city, one gets a nice panoramic view. A huge valley with thousands of tiled-colored houses. The houses all look the same. One of its inhabitants, a guide for travelers, states:"We, Bolivians, are very intelligent people, we build our houses, but we do not finish them. We decorate the inside part of the house. Decorating and finishing the exterior of the houses means taxes to pay. We know how to avoid taxes. We are intelligent people." La Paz, the so-called "the highest capital in the world", is the dwelling place to app. 3 mln. people. Its downtown, situated at 3600m has a thicker layer of oxygen, a better transportation system, markets and nice plazas and inhabits of the higher social classes - 1 mln people. The other 2 mln. people, live on the hills of the town, where it is colder and windier.

Descendants of Incas, many of the inhabitants are still superstitious, believe in sacrifices, rituals and (black) magic. This makes the "Witch market" in La Paz survive. Dried fetus of llamas, dried frogs filled with golden balls, snake or jaguar skins, tea for arousing love feelings or other amulets makes the market a boom. It is a crazy thing to see all these things and to hide behind people and stands in order to take pictures, but still avoid the witch-seller.
Still, we cannot ignore the fact that the city becomes more and more capitalistic. Huge skyscrapers and well-dressed people populate the inner part of the downtown. Rarely can one see ladies wearing their traditional clothes with their English-borrowed- hats. The business environment marks this world.

Bolivia has just a spectacular nature. Just outside the city, one discovers the "multi-cratered" scenery, the Valley of the Moon.

A very big and hectic city, which one should visit and understand.

Mart:
I did it. With a nice hardtail bike, our guide, two gentle New Yorkers, a sick Canadian, and a Spaniard on a business travel, I went up to 4700 meters just to go 3500 m downhill.
Up on the pass, it was raining, then we entered into clouds and thick fog before getting to see how deep the fall actually would be. As we were such a small group, we made the tour in less than three hours, being the quickest this month. But of course I took good care :D Crazy views, but mostly I would just get a glimpse of the canyon 30 cm next from the tyre, before concentrating on the road again. The others, Jesse, Andy, Jeff, were actually on a moto bike trip from North America to Tierra del Fuego. Nice thing to have done, really nice indeed. Now we are in Coroico, Cris came by bus, we are staying in a jungle cabana and go to Rurrenabaque tomorrow.
PS: Being above 3000 m is so nice, without moskitos!