Photos of Tupiza, Bolivia

The town of Tupiza, surrounded by nice scenery.

Saltenas, our favorite Bolivian food.

Buying Tamales on a cold morning at the Mercado.

Some sights reminded us of being back in Utah.

It was good to be out hiking in the desert again.

These fins were remarkably sharp and tall.

Arizona or Bolivia?

Mouth of "el canon" just outside Tupiza, right into the fins.

Tupiza, Bolivia

     We rode the bus for seven hours through the high mountainous desert, mostly unpaved road, to get from Potosi to the small desert town of Tupiza. We enjoyed the more comfortable altitude of 2950 meters. The town itself is rather unassuming (and extremely quiet on the weekend), but luckily it is surrounded by some terrific scenery of the wild west variety. We thought we had been transported to the southwestern USA.

     We walked and rode horses through some nice desert canyons and sampled the local food. Really there was not much else to do except roam the dirt streets and climb up to the large statue of Jesus above town and check out the view. We rested up and got ready for the next big thing, a 4x4 tour of Southwest Bolivia.

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Photos of Potosi, Bolivia

View over Potosi to Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), a silver mine for nearly 400 years.

Convent of Santa Theresa.  After all-white Sucre, it was nice to see some color.

Cathedral, main square.

A courtyard of Casa Nacional De Moneda, a mint from 1572 to the 1950's. 

This piece of machinery in the mint, driven by 4 donkeys, was used to flatten silver ingots, which were then made into coins.

Inca or pre-Inca skull, showing deformation characteristic of the ruling class. (Mint museum)

The mint museum holds many fine pieces of silver.

Lock mechanism, made of silver, on Spanish trunk used to transport silver ingots from Bolivia to Spain.

Did not read the sign to try and figure out the deal with the statue of liberty thing, but this pigeon did not seem to care one way or the other.

Feeding pigeons in the main square.

Potosi, Bolivia

     Potosi is an interesting place, for several reasons.  At 4060 meters (or so), it is one of the highest cities in the world.  Potosina, the local brewery, claims to be the highest (in altitude) brewery in the world.  Potosi's other claim to fame is that silver was discovered here in 1544, during the Spanish Conquest.  Spain took full advantage of this, forced the locals to do the dirty work, and the silver of Potosi funded the Spanish Monarchy for nearly 300 years.  In the late 1500's and 1600's Potosi was easily the most populated city in the Americas, and had nearly as many people as London or Paris.  Surely you knew that, right?
     Today some desperate souls still work the mines, which are now run as a cooperative.  Working conditions are terrible, and a few years in the mines is guaranteed to shorten your life considerably.  We passed on the opportunity to visit there.
     Otherwise Potosi is a fairly quiet town with loads of colonial buildings and churches to admire.  The day we arrived the town was very quiet, as it was a holiday - Corpus Christi.  We asked around, but nobody could tell us exactly what it was about, something having to do with 40 days since Easter.  We wandered around town (slowly, this is over 13,000 feet!!) and soaked in the sights.  The next day we visited the Casa Nacional de Moneda, or National Mint, where coins were made from 1572 until the 1950's.  The fortress-like building features a collection of manufacturing hardware from all time periods, as well as a great museum with siver pieces (even a bedpan) artwork, mummies, and Inca artifacts.
  While in Potosi we went to a local place for lunch, and the meal was amazing.  After a little potato salad, we were served a huge bowl of soup.  This was followed by a very full plate of meat with rice or pasta (none could finish), with some ice cream to finish.  We were bursting.  Cost was USD $7 - for 4 people!


Next - Tupiza Bolivia

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Photos Of Sucre, Bolivia

Church of Santo Domingo.

Convento de San Felipe Neri

Convento de San Felipe Neri

Plaza Anzures

Is This Boliva or Santa Barbara, California?

Apparently, selling veggies and baskets can be very tiring.

The potato section of the local market.

Cow noses anyone?

Parade in celebration of Santa Maria.

Young fans of Santa Maria.

Brass band on parade.

Sucre, Bolivia

       Next stop, the city of Sucre, billed as “Bolivia's Most Beautiful City.” We would not argue with this description (Not that we have seen much of Bolivia, yet) The old town of the city features many whitewashed buildings with red tile roofs. We thought we had been transported back to Santa Barbara, California.
     Sucre also has a rich history. This was the site where Simon Bolivar declared independence from Spanish rule in 1809, and is the judicial capital of Bolivia to this day. Also, the city features approximately 100 historic churches.
     We spent a good deal of time walking about the city, enjoying the scenery and eating far too much. We enjoyed the "low" elevation of 2700 eters, and the relatively flat terrain.  We found the local market and enjoyed ogling the fruits, veggies, meats, and of course the potato room (this is still the Andes, after all).
     We were also treated to a couple of unique parades (although not nearly as exciting as the big parade we saw in La Paz). First was a religious procession in celebration of Santa Maria, featuring many very well dressed young people, a brass band, and even a banner for Radio Santa Maria FM 95.5. Another evening, we were enjoying dinner on the main plaza, when a candle-lit procession came by. We asked the waiter what was happening, he replied it was a protest against the government. We asked what they were protesting, and he merely shrugged his shoulders.

Next up, Potosi Bolivia.

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Photos of Cultural Parade, La Paz, Bolivia

Here are some photos from the Cultural Parade we saw in La Paz.

Luckily Tana had her camera along.

Great costumes.  We saw several groups with this style.

Brass band.  Note policeman in foreground trying to talk on the phone.  It was LOUD.

Andean women strutting their stuff.

Some of the groups were huge.

More great costumes.