2002
La Paz
Iglesia de San Francisco
The Iglesia San Francisco was founded in 1548 by Fray
Francisco de los Ángeles. The original
structure collapsed under heavy snowfall in about 1610, but it was reconstructed
between 1744
and 1753. Architecturally the church reflects a blend of 16th-century Spanish
and mestizo styles.
The Flower Market
The Flower Market is appropriately located opposite the cemetery.
The Cemetery
As in most Latin American cemeteries, bodies are first buried
in the traditional
way or placed in a crypt, the within ten years, they're disinterred and
cremated.
Mercado de Hechicería
The Mercado de Hechicería or Mercado de los Brujos (the
Witches Market) sells mainly herbs and folk remedies. You can
also buy things such as a llama fetus to bury beneath the cornerstone of a new
building as a cha'lla (offering) to Pachamama.
Carnaval
Lake Titicaca
Copacabana
Copacabana is on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca which straddles Bolivia and Peru.
Isla del Sol: Cha'llapampa
Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) was known to early
inhabitants as Titi Khar'ka, the "rock of the puma," from which Lake
Titicaca
takes its name. The island has been identified as the birthplace of several
revered entities: the bearded white
leader/deity Viracocha and the first Incas, Manco Capac and his sister/wife Mama
Ocllo, mystically appeared under direct
orders of the sun. Most modern-day Aymará and Quechua peoples of Peru
and Bolivia accept these legends as their creation story.
Isla del Sol: Escalera del Inca
Potosí
View of Potosí from Cerro Rico
Situated at 4,090 meters, Potosí is the world's highest
city. The city was founded in 1545, following the discovery of ore in
silver-rich Cerro Rico. For two centuries, silver from Potosí underwrote the
Spanish economy and its monarchs' extravagance.
By the 18th century its population grew to 200,000, making it the largest city
in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
Plaza 10 de Noviembre
Selling water-filled balloons for carnaval.
Mercado Central
Cooperative Mines
About 6,000 miners still work in Cerro Rico in conditions not
much changed from the 16th century.
Work is done with primitive tools, and underground temperatures vary from below freezing to
45ºC. Miners usually die
of silicosis pneumonia within 10 to 15 years of entering the mines.
Miners chew coca leaves to help alleviate the effects of altitude and fatigue.
Casa Real de la Moneda
The Royal Mint was originally constructed in 1572 under the orders
of Viceroy Toledo. The present
building was built between 1753 and 1773
to control the minting of colonial coins right where
the metal was mined. These
coins, which bore the mint mark "P", were known as potosís.
Coin dies.
Minting machine, powered by horses.
Chest with multiple locks for transporting minted coins.
Map of Cerro Rico from the 17th century.
Christian icon.
A mummified corpse in the museum.
Salar de Uyuni and the Southwest Circuit
Salar de Uyuni
The 12,106-square-kilometer Salar de Uyuni is Bolivia's
largest salt pan. About 11,000 years ago Lago Tauca
rose to 3,720 meters and lasted for a relatively short 1,000 years. When it
dried up it left two large
puddles, Lagos Poopó and Uru Uru, and two major salt concentrations, the
Salares de Uyuni and Coipasa.
Hoteles de Sal
The Hoteles de Sal (Salt Hotels) are built of salt blocks, but are now closed for environmental reasons.
Isla de los Pescadores
Isla de los Pescadores is covered in Trichoreus cacti.
The island's tallest cactus.
Árbol de Piedra
This "stone tree" is made of wind-eroded igneous rock, and rises from the bleak expanse of the Desierto Siloli.
Laguna Colorada
The rich red color of the Laguna Colorada is derived from
algae and plankton that thrive in the mineral-rich
water, and the shoreline is fringed with brilliant white deposits of sodium,
magnesium, borax
and gypsum. All three South American species of flamingo breed here: Chilean,
James and Andean.
Quetena Chico
San Antonio de Lípez
Now a ghost town, San Antonio de Lípez is home to llamas and viscachas.
Llamas
Llamas are one of the four species of lamoids in South
America, the others
being alpacas, guanacos and vicuñas; all are members of
the camel family.
Viscachas
Mountain viscachas or mountain chinchillas are large-eared and rabbit-like.
Vicuñas
Vicuñas are one of the four species of lamoids in
South America, the others
being alpacas, guanacos and llamas; all are members of the
camel family..
San Pablo de Lípez
San Vicente
At 4,800 meters above sea level, San Vicente is the legendary
spot where the outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Alonzo
Longabaugh--better known and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid--met their
untimely demise. Supposedly they were buried in the cemetery
A view near San Vicente.
Tupiza
Formation dancing is a popular evening pursuit.
Cochabamba
Mercado Cancha Calatayud
