thoughts about Bolivia
I wrote this on my last day in La Paz:
I like the city of La Paz, its alot busier than Sucre but considering its status as centre of government its surprisingly peaceful, I get the impression that this is actually unusual and only because of the general election. In the month that I've been here there has only been one blockade/protest whereas normally there are a couple every week at least. Its easy to see how this happens the discrimination against the indigenous people is terrible and there are no laws to prevent it and this lack of respect plus the high degree of poverty (in contrast to the very well off) in both the cities and country makes unrest inevitable.
The weather here seems to have turned, its cooled grown alot during the day which is directly due to the increased cloud cover preventing any sunlight and its rained twice in the past two days (bringing the total up to 3 thunderstorms in 2 months). Apparently this is pretty normal and during the summer its normal for it to rain pretty much every day. Hopefully the weather will hold for the inca trail, it would be miserable to walk in the rain and the claer blue skies make everything seem much more beautiful. Cusco is a fair bit lower than La Paz, so hopefully I'll have a bit more energy and be less tired all the time (I'm feeling much better here and certainly think that coming down in altitude plays a part).
Other thoughts on Bolivia:
Bolivia is a wonderful country the scenery is spectacular and hugely varied and everywhere I've been the people have all been amazingly welcoming and interested in talking to you about pretty much anything. Hopefully I'll be able to come back some day and visit all the areas I didn't have time to see on this trip.
I like the city of La Paz, its alot busier than Sucre but considering its status as centre of government its surprisingly peaceful, I get the impression that this is actually unusual and only because of the general election. In the month that I've been here there has only been one blockade/protest whereas normally there are a couple every week at least. Its easy to see how this happens the discrimination against the indigenous people is terrible and there are no laws to prevent it and this lack of respect plus the high degree of poverty (in contrast to the very well off) in both the cities and country makes unrest inevitable.
The weather here seems to have turned, its cooled grown alot during the day which is directly due to the increased cloud cover preventing any sunlight and its rained twice in the past two days (bringing the total up to 3 thunderstorms in 2 months). Apparently this is pretty normal and during the summer its normal for it to rain pretty much every day. Hopefully the weather will hold for the inca trail, it would be miserable to walk in the rain and the claer blue skies make everything seem much more beautiful. Cusco is a fair bit lower than La Paz, so hopefully I'll have a bit more energy and be less tired all the time (I'm feeling much better here and certainly think that coming down in altitude plays a part).
Other thoughts on Bolivia:
Bolivia is a wonderful country the scenery is spectacular and hugely varied and everywhere I've been the people have all been amazingly welcoming and interested in talking to you about pretty much anything. Hopefully I'll be able to come back some day and visit all the areas I didn't have time to see on this trip.