Wow, Bolivia!

Bolivia! Its scenery is mind-blowing, its culture diverse and intriguing, and its civic engagement inspiring.

In just one week, we enjoyed the shores of Lake Titicaca from Copacabana; we spent the night on Isla del Sol, the car-free “birthplace” of the Inca culture; we took in La Paz from the ground and from the green, impactful, and beautiful cable car system (winner of the 2018 LatAm Smart City award for sustainable urban development and mobility and one of five finalists for the 2019 World Smart Cities Awards in Mobility); we observed intense civic engagement supporting and opposing the hotly disputed reelection of President Evo Morales; and in the end, due to concern about said civic engagement and its impact on our own mobility, we left this amazing country sooner than anticipated. Below is a brief slide show with shots from each of our four stops.

We journied from Peru to Bolivia by overnight bus. Though we were not warned when we purchased the tickets, it turned out our overnight bus dropped several of us off just before the border at a particularly unattractive spot filled with a trash-a-plenty. We were skeptical that, as promised, a van would appear in five minutes to pick us up. But five minutes later, there it was!

The van then dropped the group off again to walk through the border area (see the first picture above), obtain our exit stamp from Peru and our entrance stamp from Bolivia, and board another (very crowded) van to Copacabana.

Copacabana, at 3841 meters (12,600 feet) above sea level, sits on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, which spans between Peru and Bolivia. Lake Titicaca is both the world’s highest altitude lake and South America’s largest freshwater lake. The town is chock full of hostels, mediocre restaurants, stunning vistas, and boats.

My first day in Bolivia was a bit rough, as my lingering cough made it more difficult to breathe at altitude. But we rested up in a fantastic hotel, and I awoke the next day finally feeling like myself again.

We stayed in the Las Olas hostel, which featured wonderfully whimsical architecture and a multitude of spots from which to take in the incredible views.

From Copacabana, we took a boat to spend the night at Lake Titicaca’s Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), which is known as the birthplace not only of the sun itself but also of the Incan people. According to one Inca creation story, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, the founders of the Inca dynasty, were sent to earth by the sun god, and appeared on Isla del Sol at the site where the below temple was later built.

Today, Isla del Sol is populated by indigenous communities and a healthy number of foreign visitors. The island has no cars, and people use donkeys to haul goods up its steep paths. The donkeys below are loaded up and ready for action.

The island is small and relatively easy to navigate without cars.

Unfortunately, just as I regained my strength, Peter lost his, finally succombing to the cough and cold he had been fighting off for weeks. It was my turn to enjoy a sensational hike while he slept.

For the past couple years, a dispute has brewed between inhabitants of the southern and northern sections of Isla del Sol, and, as a result, tourists are not permitted to cross between the two. My understanding is that the trouble stems from something of a turf war over tourist dollars, as well as an argument about who did or did not build hotels over sacred ground.

As directed by those in Copacabana, we visited and stuck to the southern side of Isla del Sol, but I later read that there is a way to go directly to the north end, which may be even more interesting. But the south side was pretty great!

After visiting Isla del Sol, we took a crowded boat (pictured below) back to Copacabana, where we then hopped a taxi for La Paz.

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The road from Copacabana to La Paz required crossing a narrow strait along Lake Titicaca, where rickety platform boats carried vehicles and passengers. When I sent my daughter pictures of the boat, she asked if I panicked. I was proud to report that I did not!

We were most pleasantly surprised by La Paz, which is the highest “administrative” capital in the world, at least 3500 meters (about 11,500 feet) above sea level. The reason for the qualifier is that La Paz is the seat of the executivie and legislative branches of Bolivia’s government, but its “official” capital (and the seat of its judicial branch) is in Sucre (which we visited next).

Our minds were blown by the incredible Teleférico transportation system in La Paz. The world’s largest urban cable car system, it currently includes 10 lines, 31.6 kilometers and 37 stations. It runs in part on solar energy, and services some of the city’s poorest communities, for whom commute times have been slashed from an hour to ten minutes. In the words of theTelegraph, “the cable-car makes all other forms of public transport seem obsolete, as well as very boring.” And the system has only grown since the Telegraph article was written!

In addition to providing clean, fast, and inexpensive transportation, the system offers the best possible views of the city and surrounding mountains.

In contrast to Copacabana and Isla del Sol, which seemed fairly insulated from the current political strife in Bolivia, the situation was clearly impacting the rest of the country. On the way from Copacabana to La Paz, we passed by a fair amount of pro-Evo Morales signage and graffiti.

Evo Morales is the first indigenous leader of Bolivia (whose population is approximately half indigenous). He is a prior union leader for the coca industry, which, despite United States concerns about drug trafficking, plays an important role in Andean culture. For milennia (and continuing today), Andeans have used coca leaves for a variety of medicinal and religious purposes.

Though the country is sharply divided (sound familiar?), many Bolivians acknowledge nuance. They explain that Morales contributed significantly to the well-being of the country by reducing poverty, creating consequences for discrimination, and promoting economic development. At the same time they lament that of late Morales has become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt. Many of the activists are not necessarily in support of Morales’ primary opponent, former (also corrupt) president Mesa, but they are deeply opposed to Morales’ continued rule.

In addition to the suspect way the vote count unfolded, people are upset that Morales ran for re-election in the first place. The new constitution that Morales himself put in place prohibits presidents from running for more than two terms, but Morales just ran for his fourth. He justified the third on the grounds that his first occurred when Bolivia was still the “Republic of Bolivia” and not the “Plurinational State of Bolivia” as it is now. As for the fourth, Morales requested a popular vote a couple years ago to authorize his repeated run. He lost. But he then took his cause to the courts, which ruled that he had a “human right” to run again. Sounds crazy. And then I remember Citizens United.

On Thursday (Halloween) multiple civic groups supporting Morales’ opponent Mesa (or, at least, opposing Morales) convened in La Paz. We did not encounter them, nor did we witness any of the violence that ensued, but we did pass by a pro-Morales march, pictured above and below.

Also on October 31, we took a fascinating walking tour, beginning in San Pedro Plaza next to the San Pedro prison. The guides (pictured below) began the tour with a long discussion of the inmate-run prison, which has been supported by a cocaine-based economy. In the prison, inmates must pay rent, families can reside with the prisoner, and an underground prison tour industry has thrived.

The guides provided a colorful (if likely apocryphal) explanation of the traditional outfits worn by indigenous Bolivian woman. Per the guides, the long multi-layered skirts worn by many Bolivian women are designed to accentuate their hefty builds and coquettishly hide their sexy thick calves. Men who wish to flirt with one of these women, the guides claimed, often throw small stones around her feet. When she then scampers away to encourage a bit of a chase, he continues along. At the end, our guides added, if the woman is pleased with her pursuer, she will flash some calf.

The guides then went on to explain the placement of these women’s traditional bowler tall hats that totter atop their heads. Per various urban legends, the hats caught on after a large shipment of hats intended for Europeans turned out to be too small, were sold to Bolivian women and became a lasting trend. I volunteered as a model for the tour’s hat explanation. Purportedly, a centered hat means the woman is married, while a hat tilted to the side indicates singledom.

The next stop on the tour was the main square. But due to the dueling protestors there, the square was blocked by police. Unfortunately, try as she might, our guide was unable to talk the police into letting our tour enter.

Later in the day, Peter and I were admitted on our own, with a most clever tactic: we answered in the affirmative when the police asked if we were tourists. By the time we entered, protestors had moved along and we found the square to be underwhelming after all that effort.

The protests did not deter children from coming out to trick-or-treat for Halloween. This girl stood outside the lobby to our hotel, where candy was distributed to trick-or-treaters.

I love the mix of cultures in Bolivia. Not far from the business center of the city sits the Mercado de las Brujas, or the Witches’ Market, where medicinal herbs and sacrificial llama fetuses and babies are sold alongside the usual tourist fare (tshirts, sweaters, blankets, and the like).

Even more striking (to me) are the indigenous symbols featured on the reliefs on the Catholic Basilica of San Francisco in the center of La Paz. Below is an image from the outer church wall depicting the Inca earth goddess, Pachamama, giving birth to a flower.

We also enjoyed the dining scene in La Paz. Below, I tasted llama for the first time—as a tartar on a cracker.

La Paz also offers another form of entertaining visitors: an opportunity to rapel down this building dressed as one’s favorite superhero. We did not partake.

After visiting La Paz, we headed to Sucre by plane. As mentioned above, Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and houses the judicial branch. It is nicknamed “La Ciudad Blanca” due to its whitewashed colonial buildings. And it was at a refreshingly low 9,000 feet (2,800 meters) above sea level!

Sucre also happens to be more of a hotbed of anti-Morales activism (though we also saw a smattering of pro-Morales signs). The opposition activists successfully shut down most of the city. Schools and universities have been closed for weeks, and it appeared a good 75% of businesses were shuttered. In seemingly random fashion, various streets throughout the center of Sucre were blockaded, accessible only on foot or by motor scooter. Our taxi driver took us most of the way into town from the airport, but had to stop a couple kilometers from our final destination as the streets became impassable. We headed down the hill with our baggage and walked to the hotel.

The “Prem” restaurant pictured below on the left was recommended to me, as it purportedly offered gluten-free delights, but like most of the city’s businesses, it was shuttered closed.

Once in the city, we were able to appreciate the positive side of the blockades, as it was lovely to walk around with no cars on the streets.

The blockades themselves were fascinating and were constructed from a variety of materials, ranging from crime-scene type ribbon to flags to furniture to bricks and large stones to cars. Most were manned by a couple of activists sitting calmly to the side. Despite that some blockades were pretty flimsy, everyone respected them.

On a few occasions, the activists manning an individual blockade would facilitate a vehicle’s passage. No one attempted such a feat without first asking permission.

The spirit of the activists was inspiring. We heard no compliants. We saw no acrimony. But we also saw no end in sight. When asked how long the blockades and strikes would likely go on, people calmly stated, “Until the President leaves office.” They exuded a quiet confidence that they will prevail. The civic engagement and faith in the process was inspiring. We certainly could use some of that in the United States. And yet we saw no signs that Morales intends to give in.

On Sunday, we learned that the activists intended to intensify the blockades and their grip on the city beginning at midnight. Concerned that we may end up unable to leave for quite a while, we made the last-minute decision to head to Argentina. We found a flight that night out of Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, we had to spend the eight hours between flights in the small ill-appointed airport, because the city of Santa Cruz, too, was impassable.

We have ten-year Bolivian visas now, and there is much more to explore. I am on the edge of my seat tracking the news out of the country, as I hope for a happy ending for all. I am certain I will be back.

But in the meantime, Buenos Aires set the stage for our first night in Argentina with the most incredible double rainbow either of us had ever seen!