dont worry, despite the title, the rest of this post will be english! i just got to Quito, Ecuador yesterday where i have some legitimate internet, so i can actually update this thing! its probably better that i waited till the end of my trip to Bolivia to write about it because it gave me time to contemplate the odd yet beautiful country. let me start off by saying that being there was extremely humbling, the majority of the people there have nothing, and it was hard to see. people in Bolivia are much more poor than in Ecuador, so being in Ecuador last summer didn't really prepare me. it really made me appreciate everything i have and realize how much have. i definetely want to do some more volunteer work there in the future, especially with the indigenous people. which brings me to my next topic;the fact that Bolivia has such a strong indigenous culture and population. I've heard people say that 80% of Bolivians are indigenous. But that is not necessarily true. It appears as if almost the entire population has at least some indigenous influence in their bloodline. There are three main indigenous groups in Bolivia: the Aymara, the Quetchua, and the Guarani (of the Amazon). There is no black population or asian population in Bolivia, as there is here in Ecuador. There is also very little tourism, i think i saw about 20 tourtists in the 10 days i was there. Also, there are no American tourists. This is mostly because of the leader of the country, Evo Morales. He is the first indigenous leader of the country, however many people are skeptical of him because his name is Spanish and he looks like he is'nt 100% indigenous, a.k.a. he definetely has some Spanish in his blood line. Nonetheless, he is very anti-american, just like his aly Hugo Chavez, the leader of Venezuela, and is also racist against people with a lot of Spanish blood, or people with light skin and eyes. Any ways, he makes Americans pay a visa to come visit, no matter for how long, so they pretty much just don't come since there are so many other destinations in South America. What makes Bolivia worth visiting are two things; the most unbelievable, pristine natural beauty (other than the cities of course), and the rich indigenous culture, which is absolutely fascinating. In Bolivia, the majority of the people you see walking around, especially the women, are dressed in their traditional indigenous atire. I have never been to a country with such strong indigenous culture. What makes Bolivia odd for visitors is the lack of tourism, making it somewhat difficult to get around and figure stuff out, and the anti-american attitude, which isn't too overwhelming, but you can definetely sense it to some extent. Also, La Paz, one of the capitals, the other being Sucre, is not the prettiest or friendliest city; there are no trees or flowers anywhere and the architecture is boring and/or just plain ugly. Nonetheless, i thouroughly enjoyed my time there for the two reasons i listed. So let me talk a little bit about one of the most gorgeous pieces of natural scenery i have ever seen (the others also being in Bolivia); Lago Titcaca, or Lake Titicaca (please try to get past the funny name). It is a huge lake which is shared between Peru and Bolivia. We drove from La Paz to Copacabana, a pretty little town right on the lake. On the drive through the mountains, approaching Copacabana i got my first views of the stunning lake. The water is as blue as the Ocean! Yet freezing cold and salt-free. The scenery in and around Titicaca is breathtaking. From Copacabana we took a little boat to Isla del Sol, or Island of the Sun, which lives up to its name; sunny and beatiful. It was also very mountainous. We hiked the mountains to get to some ruins, and it felt like we were the only people on the island. And, it was almost true. There are only a couple of really small towns on the island. We stayed in a little hotel overlooking the water. It was also really cool because from the top of one of the mountains on the island, where the Inca ruins were, we could see Peru! Although i tried, words do not do it justice. The pictures above are all of lake titcaca. The last picture from the top is a view of Copacabana and the lake. The second picture is a view of some mountains on mainland Bolivia from Isla del Sol. And the first picture, my personal favourite, is a picture i took on Isla del Sol shortly after sunrise, as we were hiking back down the mountain. I have much more to write about Bolivia, so hopefully i can catch some more good internet in the near future!
