Uyuni

Going for a 3 day "southern circuit" Uyuni tour.
Crossed the border to Bolivia, they didn't check any bags, so I got in with all my fruits and vegetables, meet, cheese and yogurt! Damn Chilenians ! :) In our group were 9 French, 2 from Finland and 1 girl Megan from California whom I've pretty much spent all the time with. That's the time when I realized that I don't like French and Dutch. All the French that I've met during this trip were either super weird, or super rude. They all gang up, and just speak French to each other, meanwhile ignoring every else, and they all know either Spanish or English, they just don't care! We went in 2 jeeps (there are no roads in there). First day we drove around 3 cooooool lagoons. The first one is a white laggon. It is actually white from Potassium. The 2nd lagoon was green from copper and the 3rd laggon was red from algie that grows in it. Then we saw some glazers which were different from the ones in San Pedro. These were bubbling from mud. It was like 1 big soup :) This was so beautiful. It's a huge desert, with snow caped mountains around us. The space was huge, and we were the only ones in it. It felt so peaceful. We drove, and stopped at all points of interests. At night it was so cold. I had 3 layers on, both pants and top, and slept under 5 blankets (with all the cloths on + the hat). Next day we saw a lot of different rock formations, a lagoon that was all frozen where we "skated". It was cool because that lagoon was in the middle of the dessert - which is usually hot. The 2nd half of the day there was more vegitation, more people, electricity lines, less stops, and less impressive views, and I started to get irritated. The 2nd night was much better. It was weird that there were 6 beds in each room, 13 of us, and I was the last one to get out of the car, so I got stuck in a room all by myself :S
Next morning we got up at 5am to see the sunrise. I think I saw more sunrises this month then in all of my lifetime. I like sunsets better though :) Good thing I knew where my flashlight was, since it was pitch black. We were driving and driving on the salt flats. It was a sea long long time ago, some of it has dried, and it's just salt. We did a bunch of perspective shots, saw a hotel that's completely made out of salt blocks and that's pretty much it.

Some history

Bolivar - El Libertador
"There have been three great fools in history: Jesus, Don Quixote and I". So Simon Bolivar the man who brought independence from Spanish rule to modern day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia summed up his life shortly before he died abandoned, poor and rejected.
Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783. His father died five years later, and his mother when he was nine yearld old. The boy was brought up by his uncle and was taught by tutor Simon Rodriguez, an open minded mentor who had a strong formative influence on his pupil.
In 1799 the younge Bolivar was sent to Spain and France to continue his education. After mastering French, he turned his attention to that country's literature. Voltaire and Rousseau became his favourite authors. Their works introduced him to the progressive ideas of leberalism and, as it turned out, would determine the course of his life.
In 1802 Bolivar married his Spanish bride, Maria Teresa Rodrigues del Toro, and a short time later the young couple sailed for Caracas, but eight months later Maria Teresa died of yellow fever. Although Bolivar never remarried, he had many lovers. The most devoted of these was Manuela Saenz, whom he met in Quito in 1822 and who stayed with him almost until his final days.
The death of Maria Teresa marked a drastic shift in Bolivar's destiny. He returned to France, where he met with the leaders of the French Revolution and then traveled to the USA to take a close look at the new order after the American Revolution. By the time he returned to Caracas in 1807, he was full of revolutionary theories and experiences taken from these two successful examples. It didn't take him long to join the clandestien pro-independence circles.
At the time, disillusionment with Spanish rule was close to breaking into open revolt. On April 19, 1810 the Junta Suprema was installed in Caracas, and on July 5, 1811 the Congress declared independence. This turned out to be the beginning of the long and bitter war, most of which was to be orchestrated by Bolivar.
Simon Bolivar's military career began under Francisco de Miranda, the first Venezuelan leader of the independence movement. After Miranda was captured by the Spanish in 1812, Bolivar took over command. Battle followed battle with astonishing frequency until 1824. Of those battles personallly directed by Bolivar, the independence forces won 35, including a few key ones: the Battle of Boyaca which secured the independence of Colombia; the battle of Carabobo which brought freedom to Venezuela; and the battle of Pichinca which led to liberation of Ecuador.
In September 1822 the Argentine liberator General Jose de san Martin who had occupied Lima, abandoned the city to the Spanish, and Bolivar took over the task of winning in Peru. On August 6, 1824, his army was victorious at the Battle of Junin, and on December 9, 1824 General Antonio Jose de Sucre inflicted a final defeat at the Battle of Ayacuchu. Peru, which included Alto Peru, had been leberated and the war was over. On August 6, 1825, the first anniversary of the Battle of Junin, Bolivia declared independence from Peru at Sucre and the new republic was christened "Bolivia", after the liberator.
Bolivar could now get down to his long awaited dream: Gran Colombia, the unified state comprising Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, became a reality. However the task of setting the newborn state on its feet proved even more difficult than winning battles. "I fear peace more than war", Bolivar wrote in a letter, aware of the difficulties ahead.
The main problem was the great regional and racial differences in Gran Colombia, which Bolivar, as president, was unable to hold together, even with strong central rule. The new state began to collapse from the moment of its birth. However, the president insisted upon holding the union together, although it was rapidly slipping from its hands. The impassioned speeched for which he was widely known could no longer sway the growing opposition, and his glory and charisma faded.In August 1828, he took drastic action: he ousted his vise presient Santander and set up a dictatorship, maintaining that "Our America can only be rules through a well-managed, shrewd despotism". His popularity waned further, as did his circle of friends and supporters, and a short time after, he miraculously escaped an assassination attempt in Bogota. Disillusioned and in poor health, he resigned from the presidency in early 1830 and planned to leave for Europe, just in time for the formal disintegration of Gran Colombia.
Venezuela broke away in 1830, approved a new congress and banned Bolivar from his homeland. A month later, Antonio Jose de Sucre, Bolivar's closest friend, was assassinated in southern Colombia. These two news items reached Bolivar just as he was about to board a ship for France. Depressed and ill, he accepted the inviation of a Spaniard, Joaquin de Mier, to stay in his home in Stanta Marta, Colombia.
Bolivar died on December 17, 1830 of pulmonary tuberculosis. A priest, a doctor and a few officers were by his bed, but none of these were his close friends. Joaqin de Mier donated one of his shirts to dress the body, as there had been none among Bolivar's humble belongings. Perhaps the most important figure in the history of the South American continet had died.
In took the Venezuelan nation 12 years to acknowledge its debt to the man to whom it owed its freedom. In 1842 Bolivar's remains were brought from santa Marta to Venezuela and depostied in the cathedral in Caracas. In 1876 they were solemnly transferred to the Pantheon in Caracas, where they now rest. Today, Bolivar is once again a hero, his reputation polished and inflated to almost superhuman dimensions. His cult is particularly strong in Venezuela, but he's also widely venerated in the other nations he freed. His statue graces nearly every central city plaza and at least one street in every town bears his name.
El Libertador - as he was called at the beginning of his liberation campaigns and is also called today - was undoubtedly a man of extraordinary gifts. An idealist with a poetic mind and visionary ideas, his goal was not only to topple Spanish rule but also to create a unified America. This of course, proved an impossible idea, yet the military conquest of some five million square kilometers remains a phenomenal accomplishment. This inspired amateur with no formal training in war won battles n a manner that still confounds the experts.
One of the final remarks in Bolivar's diary reads, "My name now belongs to history. It will do me justice." And history has duly done so.

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Tinku - the art of ritual mayhem
Native to the northern part of Potosi department, tinku fighting ranks as one of the few Bolivian traditions that has yet to be commercialized. This bizarre practice lies deeply rooted in indigenous tradition and is thus often misunderstood by outsiders, who can make little sense of the violent and often grisly spectacle.
Tinku may be best interpreted as a means for campesinos to forget the hardships of daily life. Festivities begin with singing and dancing, but participants eventually drink themsleves into a stupor. As a result, celebrations may well erupt into drunken mayhem and sometimes violence, as alcoholically charged emotions are unleashed in hostile encounters. While some may claim that these brawls serve to release stress, frustration, anger and grudges, the sense of it all normally escapes any Western spectators.
A tinku usually lasts two or three days, when men and women in brightly colored traditional dress hike in from surrounding communities. The hats worn by the men strongly resemble those originally worn by the spanish conquistadores, but are topped Robin-Hood-style with one long, fluorescent feather.
On the first evening, the communities parade through town to the accompaniment of charagos and zamponas. Periodically, the revelers halt and form two concentric circles, with women on the inside and the men in the outer circle. The women begin singing a typically repetitious and cacophonous chant while the men run in a circle around them. Suddenly, everyone stops and launches into a powerful stomping dance. Each group is headed by at least one person who uses a whip to urge on any man whom he perceives isn't keeping up with the rhythm and the pace.
This routine may seem harmless enough, except that alcohol plays a significant and controlling role. All of the men and most of the women carry clear plastic bottles filled with puro (rubbing alcohol), which is the drink of choice if the intent is to quickly become totally plastered. By nightfall, each participating community retreats to a designated house to drink chica until they pass out.
This excessive imbibing inevitably results in social disorder, and by the second day the drunk participants tend to grow increasingly aggressive. As they roam the streets, they encounter people from other communities with whom they may have some quarrel, either real or imagined. Common complaints include anything from land disputes to extramarital affairs to the theft of farm animals, and may well result in a challenge to fight.
The situation rapidly progresses past yelling and cursing to pushing and shoving, before it turns into a rather mystical - almost choreographed - warfare. Seemingly rhythmically, men strike each other's heads and upper bodies with extended arms. To augment the hand-to-hand combat, the fighters may also throw rocks at their opponent, occasionally causing serious injury or death. Any fatalities however, are resignedly considered a blood offering to Pachamama (mother earth) in lieu of a llama sacrifice for the same purpose.

pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Uyuni#