Page 37 - South America

Downtown
Providing Fascinating Travel Experiences
Whyvisit Bolivia?
Leaving for Bolivia is to discover an exceptional wealth: sublime land- scapes between the Andes and the Amazon, a history shaped by ancient civilizations, conquistadors and revolutionaries, a preserved culture and traditions ... Going to Bolivia means treat yourself to an authentic trip!
Nestled in a valley, La Paz is nonetheless the highest capital in the world (3660m). Its market is also one of the most picturesque on the planet. Huge, exuberant, with clearly identified sectors: food, accessories, fabrics, sweets... Each stall is a spectacle and often an enigma. How can you resist these mountains of flower petals where you dream of diving fully dressed, these women selling puffed cereals...? It will probably not be necessary to bring back a llama fetus... But perhaps to try a vegeta- ble dye to the hair, or, less reckless to taste the salteñas, these delicious savory-sweet empañadas
El Fuerte, the largest carved stone in the world (220 m long, 80 m wide), is a real enigma, a mountain carved in our Middle Ages on the border of the powerful Inca Empire. Abandoned before the arrival of the Spaniards, this World Heritage site remains a mystery. Perched in the Altiplano at an altitude of 4,000 meters, the city of Tiwanaku is another Bolivian enigma ... Lost in the middle of a desert plain swept by winds, this high archaeological site seems to speak to the visitor about its strange past. As for those phantom locomotives stuck in the sand in the middle of the desert, aren't they surreal? In the train cemetery, as you walk through the abandoned wagons, you will have the impression that you have fallen into the last Blade Runner ... In Bolivia you keep moving f rom one mystery to another.
Bolivian landscapes often take you into settings worthy of Sci-Fi mov- ies. "We walked the moon," you might say on the way back. After having traveled the Valley of the Moon, you will get lost in the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt desert in the world with a horizon as far as the eye can see ... You will venture on the shores of Laguna Colorada, this immense salt lake with blood-red waters against a backdrop of snow-capped Andean peaks, populated by thousands of pink flamingos.... You will go slalom between the fumaroles of Sol de Mañana ... And always this impression of feeling very small in these disproportionate landscapes of the Altiplano, void of any human presence.
Throughout the journey, traditional costumes parade, as varied as the many official languages (36) recognized by the Bolivian constitution. In the Andean villages, we have our eyes on this large bayadere woolen cape, the Agayo, which is used for everything: carrying babies, shop- ping or covering the shoulders. In the markets the "cholitas" wear the traditional long skirt over a pile of petticoats and perch their tiny "bowler" hats on endless plaits. Headgear makes a spectacle every- where: samurai helmets, kinds of cylindrical towers adorned with pompoms, sequins, flowers, leather borsalinos.... And everywhere there is color, color, color.
Why Bolivia?
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