AricaBoliviaButch CassidyChileChungura LakeIrelandLa PazLiderLidlSajamaSouth AmericaThe Sundance Kidvolcano
A Volcano and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
The day before we leave Arica, we need to stock up on our shopping. There is no particular reason for this - conceivably, La Paz’s stores have plenty to offer. I guess more than anything it’s the novelty factor, that whatever you can get here, you probably won’t get elsewhere, unless it’s McDonald’s or Blockbuster.
We ask for a grocery store, and an inhabitant says ‘Lidl! Lidl! Muy, muy grande!’ Now I know Lidl very, very well, being from Germany and all. I know it certainly is a nice little grocery store, but big? Not unless the average size of a shop in Arica is that of a phone booth. But then again I am thinking, why not? Lidl has always had good stuff. I remember Ireland three years ago, and the Emerald Isle was full of them! I never thought Lidl would make it to South America, at least not this fast, but that’s global capitalism for you, as McDonald’s and Blockbuster can attest.
Of course we can’t find the damn thing and we have to ask for directions again. Just to be on the safe side, we ask again where one might find a supermarket. The Chileans won’t give in. ‘Lidl! Lidl! Muy grande!’ Lidl it is, then. Maybe they’ll even have the German yogurt gums I am so fond of. When we finally do find the place, it turns out that ‘Lidl’ is actually ‘Lider’ and indeed very, very big. We spend all of our money, let the boys take a few rides on a toy rocket and a tractor outside, then head back for the hotel.
At a traffic stop, Liebi is startled by the sudden appearance of… a mime. This guy came from out of nowhere. Of course, if I were a mime hater I wouldn’t think twice about stepping on the rubber and see how well our mime can imitate a road kill, but instead he does his spiel, we drop a few coins in his hat, and are on our way.
The trip back is absolutely gorgeous. Now that we have a little more time (the Hollys left the day before we did), we can enjoy the scenery a little more. We take the obligatory break at the border station, which, at 4,660 meters, must be the highest in the world. Imagine, just a little more than 100 meters and you’re on the Montblanc, the Alps’ highest peak. The border station itself is near Chungura Lake and the volcano Sajama. Here is a fine picture I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chungara_Lake_and_Volcan_Sajama_Chile_Luca_Galuzzi_2006.jpg
You have to see it to believe it, that’s how gorgeous the place is. The place is teeming with wildlife. Lamas, flamingoes, the long necked deer as pictured (I still don’t know their real name) - they graze on green grass with crystal blue water in the background. This must be the place if you’re an animal in South America.
For some reason, it takes us less time to travel back to La Paz (about 7 hours), even with the steady climb from sea level, but we don’t complain. We even take rest stops along the way (the boys get sick again), and you can’t help but marvel at the wild west scenery. It’s as if at any moment you expect a lonely rider or cowboys herding their cattle to pop out of the canyons at any moment.
Supposedly this is the land where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid kicked the bucket in their duel with the federales, although that still remains unproven. What we do know is that they spent a considerable time in Bolivia after the ground became too hot for them in the States, and it’s easy to see how they could have fit in here.
La Paz greets us with… rain and hail! Hail clumps the size of ping pong balls pelt our car and Liebi swears up and down that this isn’t hail but snow. I pick up a handful when we get out of the car and, sure enough, my fingers pack the snow into a tight little ball. Our lawn is full of white hail when we get home, and there are tracks of the dog and the cat running in circles.
How’s that for a vacation? Sun and beach in the morning followed by snow, rain, and hail in the evening. Nice trip. We have no doubt there will be some awesome encores here in South America.
We ask for a grocery store, and an inhabitant says ‘Lidl! Lidl! Muy, muy grande!’ Now I know Lidl very, very well, being from Germany and all. I know it certainly is a nice little grocery store, but big? Not unless the average size of a shop in Arica is that of a phone booth. But then again I am thinking, why not? Lidl has always had good stuff. I remember Ireland three years ago, and the Emerald Isle was full of them! I never thought Lidl would make it to South America, at least not this fast, but that’s global capitalism for you, as McDonald’s and Blockbuster can attest.
Of course we can’t find the damn thing and we have to ask for directions again. Just to be on the safe side, we ask again where one might find a supermarket. The Chileans won’t give in. ‘Lidl! Lidl! Muy grande!’ Lidl it is, then. Maybe they’ll even have the German yogurt gums I am so fond of. When we finally do find the place, it turns out that ‘Lidl’ is actually ‘Lider’ and indeed very, very big. We spend all of our money, let the boys take a few rides on a toy rocket and a tractor outside, then head back for the hotel.
At a traffic stop, Liebi is startled by the sudden appearance of… a mime. This guy came from out of nowhere. Of course, if I were a mime hater I wouldn’t think twice about stepping on the rubber and see how well our mime can imitate a road kill, but instead he does his spiel, we drop a few coins in his hat, and are on our way.
The trip back is absolutely gorgeous. Now that we have a little more time (the Hollys left the day before we did), we can enjoy the scenery a little more. We take the obligatory break at the border station, which, at 4,660 meters, must be the highest in the world. Imagine, just a little more than 100 meters and you’re on the Montblanc, the Alps’ highest peak. The border station itself is near Chungura Lake and the volcano Sajama. Here is a fine picture I found:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chungara_Lake_and_Volcan_Sajama_Chile_Luca_Galuzzi_2006.jpg
You have to see it to believe it, that’s how gorgeous the place is. The place is teeming with wildlife. Lamas, flamingoes, the long necked deer as pictured (I still don’t know their real name) - they graze on green grass with crystal blue water in the background. This must be the place if you’re an animal in South America.
For some reason, it takes us less time to travel back to La Paz (about 7 hours), even with the steady climb from sea level, but we don’t complain. We even take rest stops along the way (the boys get sick again), and you can’t help but marvel at the wild west scenery. It’s as if at any moment you expect a lonely rider or cowboys herding their cattle to pop out of the canyons at any moment.
Supposedly this is the land where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid kicked the bucket in their duel with the federales, although that still remains unproven. What we do know is that they spent a considerable time in Bolivia after the ground became too hot for them in the States, and it’s easy to see how they could have fit in here.
La Paz greets us with… rain and hail! Hail clumps the size of ping pong balls pelt our car and Liebi swears up and down that this isn’t hail but snow. I pick up a handful when we get out of the car and, sure enough, my fingers pack the snow into a tight little ball. Our lawn is full of white hail when we get home, and there are tracks of the dog and the cat running in circles.
How’s that for a vacation? Sun and beach in the morning followed by snow, rain, and hail in the evening. Nice trip. We have no doubt there will be some awesome encores here in South America.
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