It's fascinating
how adaptive we human beings are. How fast we're able to get used to a new life
and a new culture is as amazing as how fast we are able to forget all of it and
return to our daily lives back home. In the end, everything is just temporary. Every
moment, all the feelings, everything we experience will eventually pass and
make room for new experiences. Feelings that have been unbearable and things
that at one moment have felt hopeless, are gone the next. On the other hand
it's also emptying to notice how quickly your eyes have become used to
something that took your breath away the first time you saw it. You realize
that things that you had a hard time adapting to in the beginning slowly have
become a part of your everyday life, a part of you. Then there come's a moment
when you start wondering how you'll be able to adapt back to your normal life,
in a world that is so different from the one you've finally started to get used
to.
In Bolivia you can
never know for sure how your day is going to turn out. It sometimes feels like
every day is an adventure. Maybe a tree has fallen during the night and blocked
the road, or maybe there's a protest or roadblock that messes up the whole city
or at least your plans. Or maybe you get lost because the bus that particular
day chooses to drive a different route than normally. Or maybe a clown on the
rush hour bus entertains you!
It might take a
while to get used to never knowing what will happen next, but once you accept
it you start enjoying it. It's liberating to constantly let yourself be
surprised and enjoy the chaos around you. I guess when you have so much chaos
around you, you feel less chaotic yourself. At least I somehow just
couldn't get enough of all the absurd moments that spice up your day and leave
you with a "what just happened?" face. And believe me, we've had more
of those moments than we can count for.
It's two days
since we left Corazon Grande and we are now coming closer to the end of our
journey. Here we are now at the airport of Amsterdam, confused, amazed and
excited. It feels like I've been away from home for ages, in a world of it's
own, on another planet. Being here where everything is so familiar already
makes the world we are coming from feel so far away.
I want to thank
everyone who has encouraged and supported me to share this experience through
this blog, it has been fun and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. And at last
I want to mention Julia, who practically has been looking at my face 24/7 for
the past three months. And trust me I'm not always the easiest person to deal
with (and neither is Julia), but what matters is that we're returning home as
friends, and maybe a bit tipsy as we have had five hours to kill at the airport
haha :D
All in all this
has been an absurd, exciting and mind blowing experience, and even though there
still are so many things I can't understand about the world I've been a part of
for the past three months, Bolivia will always have a place in my heart. And I
can say for sure this is not the last Bolivia or South America has seen of me!
A peek into Julia's and my adventures in Bolivia, as we as volunteer workers follow the everyday life at the girls home Corazón Grande for the next three months.
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Monday 2 December 2013
Escape to the white desert
On Thursday we jumped on the bus to Oruro which is a small city about 4-5 hours away from Cochabamba. We spent the night there and left towards Uyuni the next afternoon. For the first time we got to travel by train, and I have to say the seven hour ride was very dusty and bumpy at the same time as it provided us with breathtaking moments. Shortly after leaving Oruro the train goes through a lake which is a popular breeding place for the famous pink flamingos. The lake was so shallow that it looked like the flamingos were walking on the water. And when the train came closer to them the flamingos spread their wings and lifted towards the sky in huge flocks. The sight was amazing, but unfortunately impossible to catch on camera. Another very special creature we got to see during our trip was the vicuña. It is a relative of the llama and said to be the wild ancestor of alpacas. Our guide told us that as they only live in the wild and are endangered, they are protected both under the rule of Inca and the law and you get five years of prison for killing a vicuña.
Vicuña on the rails |
On the way to Oruro |
In Bolivia every road is a death road..... |
The train to Uyuni |
A poor try to take a picture of the flamingos...through the window of the train. |
Julia and our "matrimonial bed" |
Starting the tour |
Afterwards we also found out some facts about the Salar. Apparently more or less 30 000 to 40 000 years ago the area was a part of the prehistorical lake Minchin. About 15 000 to 10 000 years ago the lake started to diminish until only a few small lakes were left. When even the last of the water evaporated one thing led to another (it has something to do with limestone, rock salt and gypsum :D), and the bottom of the lake was formed to a few meter thick white layer - the Salar. Unfortunately I won't get any smarter within this matter so I'll just leave it there. I personally prefer the other "theory" about how the Salar was formed, and that is the love triangle between three people-mountains. The Ayamara legend tells that the mountains surrounding the Salar; Tunupa, Kusku and Kusina were giant people. Tunupa marriend Kusku, but Kusku ran away with Kusina. The grieving Tunupa cried while breast-feeding her son, and her tears that mixed with milk formed the Salar. Bujaa!
Salt in process... |
"Eyes of the salar" - water bubbling up to the surface from over a 150 meters depth. |
Necessary tourist-picture |
Lapsi on terve kun se leikkii. (Picture by Julia) |
Former hotel made of salt. It is reconstructed to a museum. |
Our guide preparing lunch at the desert. |
In the middle of the Salar |
Nowadays the area is said to have about 10 milliard tons of salt, and in addition to rock salt and gypsum the desert also contains more than half of the lithium resources in the world. There are also more than 30 small mountain islands at the Salar, which are the remains of volcanoes that submerged during the era of Lake Minchin. The most famous one is the Incahuasi island (also known as "Isla del pescado") which we visited during our trip at the Salar. The Island is covered with huge cactuses and the volcanic terrain gives a coral-like structure the rock-formations.
Incahuasi island |
FLAFS? :D |
Me hyping (picture by Julia) |
Llamas!! |
Llamas taking a walk... |
Train cemetery |
Killing time at a bar in Uyuni. (Picture by Julia) |
Early morning view from the train |
And back to Cochabamba... |
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