travel

From Cusco we travelled South (and up) to the city of Puno on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at about 3,800m. The altitude is significant here because the light is so good (making the reflection brilliant) that the lake appears luminescent. Some locals found the lake so attractive that they decided to live on it. A few hundred years ago the indigenous people of the region, the Uros, wanted to escape the control of the expanding Inca empire and so they built floating islands out of reeds. They built their houses on these reed platforms and created a new way of life. They caught fish in the Lake which they traded for other goods at Puno port. Although the Uros did inter-marry with the mainlanders, this way of life has been maintained until today. We visited an island to learn how they create these giant floating reed structures. They really are like small islands (50m x 20m), although the "residents" have to build a new one every twenty-five years because by that point the reeds are so waterlogged that there is a serious risk of drowning! Walking on them is a bit like treading on a water-bed but they have managed to construct fully-functional houses, some with electrical appliances through excellent use of Solar panels (which Frog would have loved).

Puno was our last stop in Peru after an excellent few weeks there. Our next intented destination was Copacabana in Bolivia, although how we were to get there posed some tricky questions. During our time in Peru there had been lots of protesting by farmers, which was not worrying in itself because protesting is a way of life here and everything we had seen thus far had been peaceful. We were actually pleased to see well-organised protests showing that there is at least free speech in the country, something not present everywhere else we have been. They were protesting predominantly against the law that prevents the growing of Coca, the plant from which Cocaine is derived. Coca erradication programs have been encouraged/enforced by countries like the US. In our opinion the problem lies with the insatiable desire of these consumer countries for the drug. Erradication programs which involve using chemicals to destroy the Coca that also destroy other crops are surely not the way forward?.... So we do have some sympathy for the farmers who also grow the leaf for legitimate purposes (purposes which are safe and traditional, such as that lovely coca tea that Emily has grown quite a liking to!). However, the protests had turned ugly in the town of Ilave which is on the 'highway' between Puno and Copacabana. The farmers had been blocking this highway for weeks causing serious disruption. They also decided to shoot the town mayor dead! A little worrying!? So we were faced with whether we should try to pass through this trouble spot. Were we taking too much risk considering it? Should we drastically re-think our plans? Would tourists be targeted?.... With much deliberation and an equal amount of advice from the locals, we decided that the worst that might happen would be being sent back to Puno.... Thankfully, we passed through the town without event. We saw just a few boulders that were scattered on the roadside, clearly used as blocades a couple of days earlier.... oh and we also saw a recently demolished bridge!

So, on to Bolivia and the lakeside retreat of Copacabana. It was immediately obvious on arrival that, as stated in the guide book, the country's population is the most indigenous in the region at 50% pure Amerindian blood. The facial features are distinct and the traditional dress is charming. The ladies are particularly well presented, typically with large layered dresses to fit their "well-built" frames, long dark plaited hair (which merges into one plait at the bottom if they're married but remains as two separate ones if they're single) and topped with a bowler-like hat from one of the 120 varieties available (milliners are not out of work here!). This is great to see because, unlike in alot of Peru, they dress like this for style and tradition rather than to attract tourists' cameras.

Another distinct feature of Bolivia is the altitude. The Spanish invaders called the region "Alto Peru", Alto meaning "upper" and we can see why, most of the inhabited areas (on the west side) range between 3,000 to 4,000m. There's just no oxygen up here! Fortunately, we've gradually "gone up in the world" literally (certainly not figuratively), so apart from being a bit out of breath when walking around town and being dizzy most of the time (coca tea, anyone!?) we have not suffered too badly.

Politics here? Well, they've had 188 changes of government in their 167 years as a republic so you could say things have been a "little unsettled"! It's still pretty turbulent and nobody seems to like the government. Everywhere we go there is a protest of some kind and there appears to be no shortage of people on soap-boxes. Although it causes us disruption because roads are blocked and people are on strike, we are again pleased to see that people have free speech and quite enjoy being surprised on a daily basis by the 'latest' protest which sometimes comes complete with a marching band and community standing-ovation.

Compounding peoples' discontent, Bolivia has also lost just about every conflict it has been in! It has sustained chronic land loss over the last few hundred years, most notably the loss of access to the Pacific as Chile grew north to exploit the rich nitrate resources. Although this land was lost over one hundred years ago, Bolivians are still bitter towards the Chileans. Having said that, they may now have an opportunity to get their own back because some natural gas resources have recently been discovered here. Bolivia will want to export this but in order to do so they need access to the sea. There's no way they will want to route pipes through Chile and it looks like Peru will get the contract to help them export it. Two fingers to Chile!

Coca growing is also a big issue here, as we learnt on a visit to the Coca museum in La Paz. There's a lot of Cocaine production in the jungle, several thousand units producing the drug to be sold at ten times the price of production and shipment to developed countries. It is the largest export and a lot of money is made, but certainly not by the farmers growing or processing it. Coca erradication programs like that which we described in Peru are also in force here. However, it's a hard call to say whether this is the "right" course of action because although 90% of Coca goes towards the production of Cocaine, the leaf is part of Bolivian tradition, culture and heritage. Drinking Coca tea and chewing the leaf are a part of everyday life. How do you maintain this tradition and remove the illegal drug problem?

Other than a get-yer-southamerican-textiles-in-this-great-market shopping spree, the Coca museum turned out to be the most interesting thing in La Paz, the defacto capital. Did you know that the Coca Cola (parent) company still has the right to produce 500Kg of Cocaine annually? Presumably for medical use?... And that Coca Cola still uses Coca for flavouring? And that the US accounts for only 5% of the world's population but uses 50% of the world's cocaine?.... Shocking!

We guess that these points we have noticed abut Bolivia may sound a bit difficult and that you may wonder why we're here at all when we could be spending our time on Brazilian beaches? On the contrary, these things make the place a stimulating experience! There are real issues here. The people are alive and opinionated. This is real life with an "in-ya-face" style. We love it!

Chris and Ems