Got a flight from Brasilia to Belem with is at the very North-East of Brazil. It's 35 hours by bus, and the flight is 2 hours, and only $40 more expensive. The plane was great! There is so much leg space that if people pass in front of you, you don't even need to move. They served food, and drinks throughout the whole flight. Got to the hostel at 3am, couldn't sleep at all, and for some reason woke up at 8 ... why?
I got in some "era 13" now.
Bus from La Paz to Cochabamba, seat #13
Hostel in Brazil, room #13
Plane seat #13
Belem hostel, room #13
Walked around Belem, what an ugly city !!! I didn't like anything in it. The only reason I came there was to go to Morojo island, and thought well, if I'm there already, might as well look around. If I knew it would be that way, for sure I would've went to the island right away. I sweated like a pig, and drank like a camel. I was buying any juice/water I saw on the streets, and kept drinking and drinking, and it was never enough. All the museums sucked! Good thing that it was Tuesday and all the museums were free, otherwise I would've demanded the money back! One museum had a strange room with a lot of cotton and rollerblades, so you'd rollerblade in the "clouds", with some naked chick rollerblading on a screen :) And then another room with blinds ... weird ! Oh, and I had to store my bag in a locker! Saw another fort, but the most beautiful thing was a church. I kinda got into the churches lately. Before my opinion was "seen 1, seen them all", but now I'm really enjoying their designs. That's not to say that I spent more than 3 minutes in them :)
Next morning got up at 5am to get on the boat that goes to the island. That island is cool because it has over 40,000 water buffalos. Buffalo steaks, buffalo milk/cheese/ice cream, and buffalo mounted police force :) What a beautiful island, and it's so peaceful. There are almost no roads, grass streets with a little thin line made by bicycles (the preferred method of transportation), big trees, water buffalos everywhere, and it's just so green and nice :) I was really tired from 2 sleepless nights but took a bicycle for rent, and rode around. At 7 I was back at the hostel, and crashed out.
Got up at 8 to get to a posada for a trip. Rented a bicycle for rent again, and drove 40 minutes to a posada. What a nice trip we had (I have to learn not to count money. This 2.5 hours trip was $50. In Bolivia, a 2.5 day trip would cost that much). We walked through the jungle where we saw a pack of "strikazlov" :) Then had a nice canoe ride through the Amazon river, with beautiful surrounding. We entered a region where the Atlantic mixes with the river, and it got very windy and very wavy. Felt a bit scary on this little unstable canoe. Then we walked through a gorgeous mangrove on a bamboo bridge, and for the big ending, rode the buffalo back to the posada. Everything was perfect, except for the guide who kept yelling at the buffalos to move faster. Then it started raining, and I rode my bike back 40 minutes back in the rain. But it was cool, cause the rain took the heat away. Back at the hostel, I packed quickly, and took the bus back to the boat terminal :( I could've stayed on that island another week easily. In Brazil I'm much less paranoid about people stealing things. The bus was packed, and people who sit, usually offer to hold whatever you have. So I gave my bag with laptop, camera to a complete stranger, while standing far away from him, and I wasn't scared at all. Everything was last minute on that day. Got that bus the last minute, then took a taxi to the terminal, and there was crazy traffic, and instead of 5 minutes, we stood like 40 minutes, and I barely made it for the night bus to Sao Luis. I didn't eat anything that day (and at 2pm the day before that), cause there was just no time.
When I got off the bus, there was a backpacker walking beside me. We started talking right away, his name is Hans, and he's from Germany. What a nice guy!
We stayed in a very good hostel, actually all the hostels in Brazil are excellent, well they do cost 5 times more than in Bolivia, so they should be! They're cozy, clean, spacious, with good breakfast. Sao Luis is a reggae capital. We went out that night, and all the streets were full of so many people, with live reggae music playing on every corner, if not more often. Nobody danced though, just drank.
In the morning did 1 hour museum round, again, nothing spectacular.
Man it's hot in there !!!
I dropped my camera :( And the zoom stopped working. Oh man, here goes camera #4! I walked around trying to look for a technician. I asked around, but didn't understand what the people were saying, so basically I asked everybody I could and adopted a finger pointing strategy :) What do you know, I found it :) It took him 5 minutes to fix it ... Yeeiiii ... and when I asked how much, he said, oh doesn't matter, just enough for a beer :) well, I gave him $5. That would be enough for 3 beers :)
From guidebook:
Every month or so, when the alignment of the sun and moon make tides their strongest, powerful waves can form at the mouth of certain rivers and barrel upstream with tremendous force. The waves can reach 4m high and speeds of 30km/hour, and can rip full sized trees off the bank with their force. The record for longest wave is 37 minutes, covering nearly 13 km. Every year there are surfing competitions in March, on the full moon nearest the spring equinox, when the wave is strongest.
The phenomenon is called Pororoca. You can google it, and see pix.
There is a tribe in the Amazon. When one of the members dies, the corpse is hung from the tree until it gets dry. At which point it is burnt, and the ashes are mixed with bananas and are eaten by family members to preserve the spirit.
pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/BelemAndSaoLuis#
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Pantanal and Brasilia
Got to the first tour agency to go to Pantanal which is a wet land area full of wild life. It's less knows than the Amazon, but the animals can be seen better, because they don't have the trees to hide in. I knew the prices in advance, so I didn't have to look for multiple agencies (since you know, they're all crooks), I still got it down by $10. In half an hour which I had there before the bus, I booked the tour, booked a flight to Brasilia, got a new cell phone chip, and was ready to pay, but they didn't accept credit cards, so they drove me quick quick quick to a bank, which had a huge line up, so I missed the bus :( I had to go on a next bus which was in 2 hours. The bus went to the location where the lodge people picked me up. I could see so much already through the window, since the bus goes directly through Pantanal. From where the bus stopped, we drove for another hour until we got to the lodge. The activity of that day was piranha fishing, which I missed, but they still took me there, and I had half an hour to fish, and I actually caught 1 piranha !! Yeiii :)) When we caught them, because they can come off the hook quite easily, the guide would come running and kick it like a football ball further away from the shore :) Later on we sacrificed one piranha for sushi, and the rest were deep fried. They are such alive animals like wasps, nothing can kill them !!! Once we caught them, the guide made a deep cut into their brains, and they were out of the water, then he peeled them, and cut them to take the guts out, and they were still alive !!!! The guide took their hearts out, and they were still beating for a good 2 minutes all by themselves. Then he started calling "hey chicken chicken chicken, come here", and whistling meanwhile, and like 4 hawk came in flying, eating the fish remains. One girl took some and went to the river to feed the crocodiles, suddenly more and more kept coming, o well, there was food only for one. They said in the rain season, the water goes up right to the lodge, and there could be some crocodiles right in the kitchen ;S
The lodge was nice, it was fully open with nets instead of windows, and had like 60 hammocks in it. But the first night I was all alone there, because the rest decided to sleep in tents. It had hot showers, nice 3 day meals, a pool table, volleyball net, and was situated right on the river with crocodiles :)
Next day we got up at 7 to have breakfast and went to ride horses. It was nice, very relaxing, although the horses didn't listen to any instructions. It just followed the guide's horse. To make it run would require quite a lot of effort, or to separate it from the group. We didn't see that many animals, just a big hamster (that's what I call it), it's huge like a 1 meter long animal that looks like a hamster. We also saw jaguar footprints, but no jaguar. The guide said he sees it approximately once a year, but he makes presence approximately 2 nights a week in a farm where it kills some baby animal.
Later on we went to a jeep safari, we drove out for 1 hour, saw an armadillo, toucans in trees, of course a bunch of birds. Then we had 1 hour walk where we saw a deer, macaws (they're so loud, I thought they're going to attack us, but nope, they were just flying by), and some wild pigs. Then we stopped to see an amazing sunset. The sun was bright red and a full circle, so pretty. On the way back we drove in the dark with a huge projector. The caimans were cool, they would start moving once the light hit them, and when you take a picture, you can see a bunch of dots, which are their eyes. We spotted a deer and a baby feeding, another macaw, and a fox.
The next day we had a boat ride, which was another very very relaxing activity. Saw a bunch of birds, more hamsters, and that's pretty much it, but the setting was very beautiful. Back at the lodge in the kitchen, suddenly a toucan came flying in. He sat right on the table, like 1 meter away from me. The workers gave him food right away, so he stopped for good 5 minutes, I just kept taking and taking pictures. It's such a beautiful bird. Much more beautiful up close than on the trees, or on TV or on pictures. So colorful, it doesn't even look real, looks like a toy. I was super excited!!
On the way back we got some expensive van to go to a near by city. The driver was an ass. He told us 2 hours, and 5 hours later we were finally there. The seats were uncomfortable, and once we got to the terminal, he didn't even help us take out bags out. I went to the public washroom, which had toilet paper!!! It was sparkling clean, had soap and paper towels, and it was free! I must be in heaven!! :))
It was already late, and I was almost praying for there to be an overnight bus to Brasilia. Yei there was !! At 10:30 pm, a 15 hour bus. The buses are so expensive in here, it's incredible ! That 15 hour bus cost around $90, in Bolivia it would've been about $10. In the bus, it turns off all the lights, and everybody sleeps, well, not one guy. He started playing some music on his phone. I was so annoyed, how disrespectful. Nobody said a thing, and I don't understand why I was the only one who doesn't speak any Portuguese, had to tell him to stop playing the music. In Bolivia it would never happen! There are no these cool guys, with cool phones and cool cloths showing off. There is just first of all no opportunity to be that way, and they grew up differently. The life there consists of survival, and kids at 5 are already grown ups. A lot of them either help their parents, or sell something on the street to help their parents. In the early morning it stopped at some terminal, and told everybody to get out, and then the bus drove away. I asked where did it go? And people told me, that it went to a garage, and will be back in half an hour. Ok, I bought a snack, and sat where it let us off, and waited. Waited, waited, where is the bus? More than half an hour has passed. I walked around the terminal, and didn't see any people who were on the bus. I went to the agency, and tried to explain them that I'm still waiting for it. He said, the bus has already left !!! It's in the middle of nowhere, nobody speaks any English or Spanish, and they don't get it that when people don't understand what you're saying, you should speak slower and use simpler words, for me in was blah blah blah bus, blah blah blah ticket .... I couldn't understand anything !! First he was a bit mad at me, said something like, where did I go? Was I walking around the terminal and not paying attention, I said no, I was waiting where it let us off. And then I just started crying and crying. It's not that I missed the bus, it's just I'm all alone there, in a new country, I don't understand the language at all, and I can't even make it to a freaking bus !! I was trying to calm myself down, like it's not a problem, those things happen, I'll just take another bus, but they didn't stop. The agent was very nice with me after that, he tried to calm me down and said that he's gonna arrange everything. So he bought me a ticket on another bus company, for a 4 hour ride to another city, and they called my bus, and stopped it at that city. When I got there, the driver of my bus waited for me at the exit, and all the people were so happy to see me, I was soo happy to see them too!!! They all surrounded me, and talked and asked, and I had no idea what they were saying, just kept nodding and smiling :)) They weren't even upset with me that they had to wait until I got there. I don't know why, the bus was going very well, but we arrived in Brasilia after 20 hours, not 15.
Brasilia is the capital of Brazil, and it's a future city, and the first planned city and with addresses like SQS 704, and restaurants like ZUU a.Z.d.Z it definitely is. It's design is actually a plane, and everything has it's own location. Residential properties are on the wings, hotels are in the center, monuments and museums are on the actual plane, and the government offices in the cockpit. The addresses are impossible to understand, I got on a subway where I was supposed to be, and needed to go only a few more blocks till the hotel, well ... nobody knew where we are on the map, or where I need to be. I walked around for a bit, and didn't find anything, so I took a taxi, which was a fortune to get to some hostel way out of town. It's an international hostel, but nobody speaks any language except for Portuguese. All I have to say is thank god for Spanish, I could understand maybe 10% of what they're saying. Outside the hostel there is absolutely nothing, it's in the middle of a highway, so I didn't eat for a whole day. The only thing I had was 1 little snack where the bus has left. So a day and a half without food, I was quite drained. In the morning during the breakfast, for some reason, I didn't even have any appetite.
During lunch went on the bus to the terminal. I gave the money to the driver, and he pantomimed something, I tried to figure out what he was trying to show, and thought to myself, poor man, he's deaf. Then he pointed to the sign which says "do not talk to the driver". really??? that is way too beaurocratic for Brazil !
The nice thing about Brazil is that most restaurants have buffets for lunches, so I don't have to understand what they're saying, and just go and grab what looks good. A good size portion which I can barely finish costs around $3, so it's not too bad.
Bought fruits and vegetables in a store that has one price, which is 75 cents/kilo. This is cheap !!! Brazil is expensive, but some things are surprisingly cheap.
Took a tour of the city because the distances are huge, and the tour is supposed to cover all the important points. Saw national museum which looks like Saturn, saw the most amazing cathedral which I fell in love with. It's so bright and open, cause all of its walls are made out of stained glass. People who go there are normal, not some religious fanatics. They have happy music playing from a dvd, and they wave their arms from side to side. After went to a square that has all the statues, some palace; a building that has floating islands, a building from which there are waterfalls, some place where a president is buried, and a cool bridge which goes over an artificial lake. It's all nice, but we stopped to walk around only in 3 places, and I wasn't very satisfied. The next day I wanted to see more of the city, but got only to the national museum, and another incredible church. All the walls are made out of blue stained glass, and when I got in, I had to feeling back of when I was a child, and saw this huge Christmas tree on the main square. Something that's very very special. It was amazing :)
The Brazilian people are the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met in my life. They look normal, but wait until you ask them a question. They'll show you, tell you everything they know about it, give you other options, and are very patient if they see that I don't understand. I went to an office to get a hostel discount card. They didn't have it, and the receptionist gave me an address of another office (which is hell knows where). A girl was standing beside me, and when she saw that, she said that she could give me a ride there. In another office, I asked how to get to that church because it's impossible to find the addresses in here, so I just want to be sure, and she gave me a card with a phone number, and told me to call incase I get lost. Just absolutely every case was eye opening. Do these people actually exist!?!
From guidebook:
Brasilia is a result of an ambitious urban project which was set in motion by heroic President Juscelino Kubitschek, and orchestrated by architect Oscar Niemeyer. The whole thing was built in just 41 months. Dom Bosco, a Salesian priest living in Italy, prophesied a new civilization would emerge in Brazil, somewhere between the 15th and 20th parallels. That caught Brazil's attention and land was allocated in the 1891 for a new capital. Still, it wasn't until 1955 that Brasilia started to become a reality. The capital was officially moved from Rio to Brasilia on April 21, 1960.
Kubitschek made the building of Brasilia a symbol of the country's determination and ability to become a great economic power. He successfully appealed to all Brazilians to put aside their differences and rally to the cause. In doing so, he distracted attention from country's social and economic problems, gained enormous personal popularity, and borrowed heavily from the international banks.
Today, Kubitschek is heralded as a national hero. For some, the city represents the outstanding capabilities of this great and vast nation, a world model fur urban development, architecture and society. On the other hand, some consider the city a wasted opportunity, full of pretty buildings but lacking a soul.
The question remains: does it work? Brasiliense, as locals are referred to, regard the capital as a well-organized Brazilian utopia: roads are well maintained, grass is green, vehicles actually stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and there are no favelas in the city. Large trucks are forbidden from entering the city limits, keeping pollution in check, and there is a height limit to signs and billboards, ensuring the city's big, open skiers remain unobstructed. For Brazil, it's an impressive standard of living. On the other hand, most folks in the rest of the country see the city as a soulless bore, a sterile metropolis full of bureaucratic nonsense. Dig a little deeper and you'll find holes in the city's perfect plan, mostly concerning traffic. If a bus breaks down or there's an accident, it can be snarled for hours. With very few exit points on the city's roadways, a missed turn can be disastrous.
It remains the only city in the world constructed in the 20th century to achieve World Cultural Heritage designation by Unesco.
--------
Addresses for the logical mind.
Brasilias addresses are as futuristic as its architecture, a series of numbers and letters that look baffling at first but are easy to decipher once you know what all the acronyms mean.
For example, the address to Pansao de Zenilda is SQS 704, Bloco Q, Casa 29. That means it's in Super Quadrea South 704, building Q, house 29. The first digit of the address (7) shows the position east or west of the Eixo Rodoviario (the main north-south arterial road) - odd numbers to the west and even to the east, increasing as they move away from the center. The last two digits (04) show the distance north or south of the Eixo Monumental. So Pensao da Zenilda is four bocks to the south of the Eixo Monumental and four blocks east of the Eixo Rodoviario.
pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/PantanalAndBrasilia#
The lodge was nice, it was fully open with nets instead of windows, and had like 60 hammocks in it. But the first night I was all alone there, because the rest decided to sleep in tents. It had hot showers, nice 3 day meals, a pool table, volleyball net, and was situated right on the river with crocodiles :)
Next day we got up at 7 to have breakfast and went to ride horses. It was nice, very relaxing, although the horses didn't listen to any instructions. It just followed the guide's horse. To make it run would require quite a lot of effort, or to separate it from the group. We didn't see that many animals, just a big hamster (that's what I call it), it's huge like a 1 meter long animal that looks like a hamster. We also saw jaguar footprints, but no jaguar. The guide said he sees it approximately once a year, but he makes presence approximately 2 nights a week in a farm where it kills some baby animal.
Later on we went to a jeep safari, we drove out for 1 hour, saw an armadillo, toucans in trees, of course a bunch of birds. Then we had 1 hour walk where we saw a deer, macaws (they're so loud, I thought they're going to attack us, but nope, they were just flying by), and some wild pigs. Then we stopped to see an amazing sunset. The sun was bright red and a full circle, so pretty. On the way back we drove in the dark with a huge projector. The caimans were cool, they would start moving once the light hit them, and when you take a picture, you can see a bunch of dots, which are their eyes. We spotted a deer and a baby feeding, another macaw, and a fox.
The next day we had a boat ride, which was another very very relaxing activity. Saw a bunch of birds, more hamsters, and that's pretty much it, but the setting was very beautiful. Back at the lodge in the kitchen, suddenly a toucan came flying in. He sat right on the table, like 1 meter away from me. The workers gave him food right away, so he stopped for good 5 minutes, I just kept taking and taking pictures. It's such a beautiful bird. Much more beautiful up close than on the trees, or on TV or on pictures. So colorful, it doesn't even look real, looks like a toy. I was super excited!!
On the way back we got some expensive van to go to a near by city. The driver was an ass. He told us 2 hours, and 5 hours later we were finally there. The seats were uncomfortable, and once we got to the terminal, he didn't even help us take out bags out. I went to the public washroom, which had toilet paper!!! It was sparkling clean, had soap and paper towels, and it was free! I must be in heaven!! :))
It was already late, and I was almost praying for there to be an overnight bus to Brasilia. Yei there was !! At 10:30 pm, a 15 hour bus. The buses are so expensive in here, it's incredible ! That 15 hour bus cost around $90, in Bolivia it would've been about $10. In the bus, it turns off all the lights, and everybody sleeps, well, not one guy. He started playing some music on his phone. I was so annoyed, how disrespectful. Nobody said a thing, and I don't understand why I was the only one who doesn't speak any Portuguese, had to tell him to stop playing the music. In Bolivia it would never happen! There are no these cool guys, with cool phones and cool cloths showing off. There is just first of all no opportunity to be that way, and they grew up differently. The life there consists of survival, and kids at 5 are already grown ups. A lot of them either help their parents, or sell something on the street to help their parents. In the early morning it stopped at some terminal, and told everybody to get out, and then the bus drove away. I asked where did it go? And people told me, that it went to a garage, and will be back in half an hour. Ok, I bought a snack, and sat where it let us off, and waited. Waited, waited, where is the bus? More than half an hour has passed. I walked around the terminal, and didn't see any people who were on the bus. I went to the agency, and tried to explain them that I'm still waiting for it. He said, the bus has already left !!! It's in the middle of nowhere, nobody speaks any English or Spanish, and they don't get it that when people don't understand what you're saying, you should speak slower and use simpler words, for me in was blah blah blah bus, blah blah blah ticket .... I couldn't understand anything !! First he was a bit mad at me, said something like, where did I go? Was I walking around the terminal and not paying attention, I said no, I was waiting where it let us off. And then I just started crying and crying. It's not that I missed the bus, it's just I'm all alone there, in a new country, I don't understand the language at all, and I can't even make it to a freaking bus !! I was trying to calm myself down, like it's not a problem, those things happen, I'll just take another bus, but they didn't stop. The agent was very nice with me after that, he tried to calm me down and said that he's gonna arrange everything. So he bought me a ticket on another bus company, for a 4 hour ride to another city, and they called my bus, and stopped it at that city. When I got there, the driver of my bus waited for me at the exit, and all the people were so happy to see me, I was soo happy to see them too!!! They all surrounded me, and talked and asked, and I had no idea what they were saying, just kept nodding and smiling :)) They weren't even upset with me that they had to wait until I got there. I don't know why, the bus was going very well, but we arrived in Brasilia after 20 hours, not 15.
Brasilia is the capital of Brazil, and it's a future city, and the first planned city and with addresses like SQS 704, and restaurants like ZUU a.Z.d.Z it definitely is. It's design is actually a plane, and everything has it's own location. Residential properties are on the wings, hotels are in the center, monuments and museums are on the actual plane, and the government offices in the cockpit. The addresses are impossible to understand, I got on a subway where I was supposed to be, and needed to go only a few more blocks till the hotel, well ... nobody knew where we are on the map, or where I need to be. I walked around for a bit, and didn't find anything, so I took a taxi, which was a fortune to get to some hostel way out of town. It's an international hostel, but nobody speaks any language except for Portuguese. All I have to say is thank god for Spanish, I could understand maybe 10% of what they're saying. Outside the hostel there is absolutely nothing, it's in the middle of a highway, so I didn't eat for a whole day. The only thing I had was 1 little snack where the bus has left. So a day and a half without food, I was quite drained. In the morning during the breakfast, for some reason, I didn't even have any appetite.
During lunch went on the bus to the terminal. I gave the money to the driver, and he pantomimed something, I tried to figure out what he was trying to show, and thought to myself, poor man, he's deaf. Then he pointed to the sign which says "do not talk to the driver". really??? that is way too beaurocratic for Brazil !
The nice thing about Brazil is that most restaurants have buffets for lunches, so I don't have to understand what they're saying, and just go and grab what looks good. A good size portion which I can barely finish costs around $3, so it's not too bad.
Bought fruits and vegetables in a store that has one price, which is 75 cents/kilo. This is cheap !!! Brazil is expensive, but some things are surprisingly cheap.
Took a tour of the city because the distances are huge, and the tour is supposed to cover all the important points. Saw national museum which looks like Saturn, saw the most amazing cathedral which I fell in love with. It's so bright and open, cause all of its walls are made out of stained glass. People who go there are normal, not some religious fanatics. They have happy music playing from a dvd, and they wave their arms from side to side. After went to a square that has all the statues, some palace; a building that has floating islands, a building from which there are waterfalls, some place where a president is buried, and a cool bridge which goes over an artificial lake. It's all nice, but we stopped to walk around only in 3 places, and I wasn't very satisfied. The next day I wanted to see more of the city, but got only to the national museum, and another incredible church. All the walls are made out of blue stained glass, and when I got in, I had to feeling back of when I was a child, and saw this huge Christmas tree on the main square. Something that's very very special. It was amazing :)
The Brazilian people are the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met in my life. They look normal, but wait until you ask them a question. They'll show you, tell you everything they know about it, give you other options, and are very patient if they see that I don't understand. I went to an office to get a hostel discount card. They didn't have it, and the receptionist gave me an address of another office (which is hell knows where). A girl was standing beside me, and when she saw that, she said that she could give me a ride there. In another office, I asked how to get to that church because it's impossible to find the addresses in here, so I just want to be sure, and she gave me a card with a phone number, and told me to call incase I get lost. Just absolutely every case was eye opening. Do these people actually exist!?!
From guidebook:
Brasilia is a result of an ambitious urban project which was set in motion by heroic President Juscelino Kubitschek, and orchestrated by architect Oscar Niemeyer. The whole thing was built in just 41 months. Dom Bosco, a Salesian priest living in Italy, prophesied a new civilization would emerge in Brazil, somewhere between the 15th and 20th parallels. That caught Brazil's attention and land was allocated in the 1891 for a new capital. Still, it wasn't until 1955 that Brasilia started to become a reality. The capital was officially moved from Rio to Brasilia on April 21, 1960.
Kubitschek made the building of Brasilia a symbol of the country's determination and ability to become a great economic power. He successfully appealed to all Brazilians to put aside their differences and rally to the cause. In doing so, he distracted attention from country's social and economic problems, gained enormous personal popularity, and borrowed heavily from the international banks.
Today, Kubitschek is heralded as a national hero. For some, the city represents the outstanding capabilities of this great and vast nation, a world model fur urban development, architecture and society. On the other hand, some consider the city a wasted opportunity, full of pretty buildings but lacking a soul.
The question remains: does it work? Brasiliense, as locals are referred to, regard the capital as a well-organized Brazilian utopia: roads are well maintained, grass is green, vehicles actually stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and there are no favelas in the city. Large trucks are forbidden from entering the city limits, keeping pollution in check, and there is a height limit to signs and billboards, ensuring the city's big, open skiers remain unobstructed. For Brazil, it's an impressive standard of living. On the other hand, most folks in the rest of the country see the city as a soulless bore, a sterile metropolis full of bureaucratic nonsense. Dig a little deeper and you'll find holes in the city's perfect plan, mostly concerning traffic. If a bus breaks down or there's an accident, it can be snarled for hours. With very few exit points on the city's roadways, a missed turn can be disastrous.
It remains the only city in the world constructed in the 20th century to achieve World Cultural Heritage designation by Unesco.
--------
Addresses for the logical mind.
Brasilias addresses are as futuristic as its architecture, a series of numbers and letters that look baffling at first but are easy to decipher once you know what all the acronyms mean.
For example, the address to Pansao de Zenilda is SQS 704, Bloco Q, Casa 29. That means it's in Super Quadrea South 704, building Q, house 29. The first digit of the address (7) shows the position east or west of the Eixo Rodoviario (the main north-south arterial road) - odd numbers to the west and even to the east, increasing as they move away from the center. The last two digits (04) show the distance north or south of the Eixo Monumental. So Pensao da Zenilda is four bocks to the south of the Eixo Monumental and four blocks east of the Eixo Rodoviario.
pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/PantanalAndBrasilia#
Friday, August 13, 2010
Sucre, back to La Paz, and goodbye Bolivia
Took a 3.5 hours bus to Sucre. It was so uncomfortable. It was going on a dirt road, and I sat shaking all the way through. I really don't like day buses. Sucre is very nice. It's an ex capital, and is known as a white city. It's very clean, with a very nice central square, fountains, and statues, and a bunch of trees and flowers. In there, absolutely everything is closed 12-3. So it was difficult to sight see, because I'd get up late, and by the time I eat something and get out, everybody would be on a lunch break. And 3-5 doesn't allow much for sightseeing. I stayed in the worst hotel ever that's called "Friends", guess what? It's not friendly at all. One guy would just give you yes/no answers and without even looking at you. I was super nice to him, and 2 weeks later, he actually told me "hi" first !!! :))) Everybody was surprised :)) It was so dirty, I don't think they swapped the floors for whole 2 weeks that I've been there. Somebody stole my towel, of all the things !! And to go to the washroom, it's a good idea to close your eyes first, and the shower is in the washroom too. I tried to change hostels every day, but they were all full, so I just stayed there.
Went to a Bolivar museum, and didn't understand anything :( The guide was speaking way too fast, and wasn't pronouncing the "s"s. It's some Spanish accent to speak without "s"'s. So I got a bit down especially that in the last 2 tours I understood almost everything, I thought I was on the roll :) Went to the market the next day to buy a phone, it broke the next day, and it didn't help that I dropped it in the toilet :) So I got $1.5 back for it :) Went to the market the next day. I took the wrong bus (which said "market" on it), yeaaahhh ... it didn't go to the market. I got out and started walking. "How far is it to the market?" ... ooooohhhh.... it's way too far, they make that serious/concerned face, you must take a bus, it's wow, I don't have enough fingers to count the blocks ... anyways ... 5 minutes later I was there :)
Since I liked Sucre, and there is not much to do in there, I decided to sign up for Spanish classes. I paid $90 for 20 hours of classes, and since I missed Monday (cause I only signed up on Monday) I got 4 hours of private make up classes. They made me write a test to see at what level I am, I actually got nervous! Test??!! I haven't written one in years! They put me in intermediate 1. There were 4 people in the class, but 1 guy never showed up. The classes were so good! I didn't even feel that 4 hours have passed. The only bad thing about them, is that they started at 8:15. They were really structured, and really get into your head. We sang, watched and discussed a movie, had to write and to talk, and got homework, and with extra private classes, that's a lot of homework ! I made friends with the 2 guys who were attending the class. That was great! I didn't really meet anybody that interesting for a long time, so with them we hung out almost every night in the bar. On the last day for a few hours we went to some festival. It was interesting as usual. Not only they had these offerings plates, but now they had miniature almost toy like things which you could buy, and that will bring you luck to have the actual thing. So there were mini cans and bags of food, little cars and houses, stores, like textile store or even an internet cafe :) What's interesting is that they have a miniature suitcases with money, like 1 million dollars, and every bill will be printed! Some woman a while ago bought a real size suitcase with 1 million dollars, on each note it said "Feria de Sucre", and she brought this suitcase to Canada, they stopped her on the border, and claimed that it's fake money, and gave her 30 years in prison! She of course argued with them, so they lowered it to 6 years. Since then nobody is allowed to make dollar bills the exact size as original. Poor woman, I couldn't believe it !! :((((In the hostel I went out 4 nights in a row with 4 different groups of people. That felt very strange.
Went to a show! That was the first show I think I saw since I started travelling. It was so interesting! It was in a restaurant, and it was about different dances of different regions in Bolivia. The costumes were extraordinary!! So colorful, different with every dance, so many little details, and humongous costumes with huge masks with feathers and bells and anyway, so much imagination needed for that! The dancers had a high energy all throughout 2 hours, and it cost only $5 :) They welcomes all the guests by name and country :) I ordered cheesecake and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was way too sweet, so I didn't drink it, a waitress came by and asked if everything's ok, I said that it was too sweet, and she brought me a new hot chocolate, wow! first time in Bolivia !! :) No pix again, since it was another $5 for the right to take pictures :S
Went rock climbing. What a difference between this wall and the wall in Banos. It looks like there is absolutely nothing to grab onto, and the wall is just vertical and flat. But because it's made of a different material, the climbing shoes just stick to it, and I felt like a spiderwoman :) Climbed 5 walls no problem (in Banos I couldn't do more than 2), and still felt fine. I wasn't satisfied just yet, so the guide put another rope beside a more difficult route. And oh it was difficult. First of all it had a 1 meter roof, with some hole to put the left hand in, a space for the right leg, then lean back, so I was almost horizontally, and then straighten the right leg and reach far far above for some rock to grab. I fell again and again and again :) Then the guide told me that I could climb a different route, but again I was stuck then fell, and the rope brought me to that roof again. I was almost ready to give up, but decided to give it another shot, and what do you know, this time I made it !!!!! Only when I grabbed the rock above, I had no energy to pull myself up at all, so I hung there and whined :) Then I got it together, and made it. On the way to the top it didn't get much easier. There were a lot of balance spots, and I was scared all the way to the top. A few times completely stuck, I had no idea what to do next, but made it again and again :) This time was nice because the guide didn't tell me where to step, what to grab, and I only asked him 3 times maybe. He said that I was good ! Yeiii :)))
Took an overnight bus to Cochabamba, that's the access point to park Torotoro where they have dinosaur prints. Got there at 6am, checked in the hotel, slept till 1pm and went out to eat, absolutely everything was closed (because it was Sunday), all the restaurants, all internet cafes, there are no people on the street. On top of that I found out that the buses to Torotoro leave very early Sunday and Thursday mornings. So I missed it :( I made a little circle in hopes of finding anything, came back to the hostel, checked out and took a 7 hour bus to La Paz.
In La Paz, I think my favourite big city so far (I think I can hear Eva swearing ;) but for me the beauty of La Paz is in it's ugliness, and it surprises you on every corner ), I went to the Brazil consulate. Speaking of efficiency! There is no information on the internet, so I got there, and they gave me a link to a website to print the form. I printed it, filled it out, came back. Ok, now you have to go to take pictures, it's 3 blocks up. Ok, went to do pictures, came back. Oh good, so now you have to go to the bank to pay!!!!! Couldn't it all be done in the first visit?? But the good news is that it takes only 2 days (in Toronto 10) and the longest I waited to see the clerk was no more than 5 minutes.
Went ice climbing. I didn't like it the first time in Huaraz-Peru, but my theory is, if you don't like it once try it at least one more time. But nope, didn't like it 2nd time either :) The group was great though, but they all continued climbing up to the top of the mountain, and no, I'm not doing that the 2nd time! :) We had a lot a lot of fun, and the mountain was beautiful, but there is no technique, and you just climb vertically up. There were only 2 routes, and only half made it up the 2nd one. 1 girl gave up almost at the bottom, and the other didn't even try. I took so many breaks, and half way there, I thought that I won't be able to make it, so like 20 minutes later, I made it :) When I came down, the guide who was securing me told me that he's more tired than I am :))
Before leaving Bolivia, I stocked up on everything, socks, underwear, bought a few souvenirs, I think they're the most beautiful in Bolivia. I love the indigenous art, it's so bright and colorful.
Wanted to buy some nuts and dried fruits, and they have a lot of them in La Paz. So I wanted a mixture. I asked the lady if I can have half/half. She told me "no", because they're different prices. I said, it's ok, I'll pay for the higher price, she thought and thought, calculated something, and said "no, can't mix". I told her, why not, you'll be winning money, still no mixing :)
One day there was a "back to school" carnival, I swear those Bolivianos find any excuse to party :) I was out all that day, and for the whole day it was going. It was huge !!! Thousands of participants, all in costumes, all dancing on the streets, it just never ended! They take their festivals seriously!
I waited until Saturday so I can be back in Cochabamba on Sunday morning to try to go to the park Torotoro again. For that I need to be in Cochabamba at 5am. Took the 8 hour overnight bus, I couldn't fall asleep at all, I don't know why. I was comfortable and it was a nice bed bus. It wasn't full enough so it was stopping and waiting and waiting, so it only got to Cochabamba at 5:55. Not again !!! I got out of the bus, and before I reached the entrance to the terminal, I heard "Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz", leaving in 5 minutes, so I got on that bus, another 10 hour bus ride. I was so tired, but I couldn't sleep because the scenery was so beautiful. It was going through a jungle like setting, with a lot of river crossings, very nice! I really wanted to go to the washroom, cause I didn't have time to go between buses, at 1 stop, I got out, but it was still closed, with a bunch of people just going on the street. I tried to go, even unzipped my pants, but with all these people and cars going by, I couldn't "I just can't" I said :) They laughed at ... yeah, I didn't have a skirt like they did :)
Got to Santa Cruz terminal, and half an hour later was on another 13 hour bus going to the border of Brazil. Saw some stupid movie, and fell asleep at 7.
Got to the border, and had to wait 2 hours until it opens. There was some strange guy sitting beside me, and while I was reading the book, he asked me if that Chinese I'm reading?!? Um ... noooo. Then he talked to me for a bit, asked me if I'm going to some touristic place in Brazil, I said no, cause I don't have time right now, and I only have time for important things. "Oh, important, huh? Then you have to go to this zoo in Sao Paulo" :)))
There is some military school beside the border, and while waiting, they all came out, and marched and sang. They didn't look to happy, and for me it looked very stupid ... all these huge steps, turn right, easy, attention!!! And then they pointed their gun forward, which was right at me. That was a bit freaky, I was hoping that it's not loaded!
Pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Sucre#
& added to http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/LaPaz#
Went to a Bolivar museum, and didn't understand anything :( The guide was speaking way too fast, and wasn't pronouncing the "s"s. It's some Spanish accent to speak without "s"'s. So I got a bit down especially that in the last 2 tours I understood almost everything, I thought I was on the roll :) Went to the market the next day to buy a phone, it broke the next day, and it didn't help that I dropped it in the toilet :) So I got $1.5 back for it :) Went to the market the next day. I took the wrong bus (which said "market" on it), yeaaahhh ... it didn't go to the market. I got out and started walking. "How far is it to the market?" ... ooooohhhh.... it's way too far, they make that serious/concerned face, you must take a bus, it's wow, I don't have enough fingers to count the blocks ... anyways ... 5 minutes later I was there :)
Since I liked Sucre, and there is not much to do in there, I decided to sign up for Spanish classes. I paid $90 for 20 hours of classes, and since I missed Monday (cause I only signed up on Monday) I got 4 hours of private make up classes. They made me write a test to see at what level I am, I actually got nervous! Test??!! I haven't written one in years! They put me in intermediate 1. There were 4 people in the class, but 1 guy never showed up. The classes were so good! I didn't even feel that 4 hours have passed. The only bad thing about them, is that they started at 8:15. They were really structured, and really get into your head. We sang, watched and discussed a movie, had to write and to talk, and got homework, and with extra private classes, that's a lot of homework ! I made friends with the 2 guys who were attending the class. That was great! I didn't really meet anybody that interesting for a long time, so with them we hung out almost every night in the bar. On the last day for a few hours we went to some festival. It was interesting as usual. Not only they had these offerings plates, but now they had miniature almost toy like things which you could buy, and that will bring you luck to have the actual thing. So there were mini cans and bags of food, little cars and houses, stores, like textile store or even an internet cafe :) What's interesting is that they have a miniature suitcases with money, like 1 million dollars, and every bill will be printed! Some woman a while ago bought a real size suitcase with 1 million dollars, on each note it said "Feria de Sucre", and she brought this suitcase to Canada, they stopped her on the border, and claimed that it's fake money, and gave her 30 years in prison! She of course argued with them, so they lowered it to 6 years. Since then nobody is allowed to make dollar bills the exact size as original. Poor woman, I couldn't believe it !! :((((In the hostel I went out 4 nights in a row with 4 different groups of people. That felt very strange.
Went to a show! That was the first show I think I saw since I started travelling. It was so interesting! It was in a restaurant, and it was about different dances of different regions in Bolivia. The costumes were extraordinary!! So colorful, different with every dance, so many little details, and humongous costumes with huge masks with feathers and bells and anyway, so much imagination needed for that! The dancers had a high energy all throughout 2 hours, and it cost only $5 :) They welcomes all the guests by name and country :) I ordered cheesecake and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was way too sweet, so I didn't drink it, a waitress came by and asked if everything's ok, I said that it was too sweet, and she brought me a new hot chocolate, wow! first time in Bolivia !! :) No pix again, since it was another $5 for the right to take pictures :S
Went rock climbing. What a difference between this wall and the wall in Banos. It looks like there is absolutely nothing to grab onto, and the wall is just vertical and flat. But because it's made of a different material, the climbing shoes just stick to it, and I felt like a spiderwoman :) Climbed 5 walls no problem (in Banos I couldn't do more than 2), and still felt fine. I wasn't satisfied just yet, so the guide put another rope beside a more difficult route. And oh it was difficult. First of all it had a 1 meter roof, with some hole to put the left hand in, a space for the right leg, then lean back, so I was almost horizontally, and then straighten the right leg and reach far far above for some rock to grab. I fell again and again and again :) Then the guide told me that I could climb a different route, but again I was stuck then fell, and the rope brought me to that roof again. I was almost ready to give up, but decided to give it another shot, and what do you know, this time I made it !!!!! Only when I grabbed the rock above, I had no energy to pull myself up at all, so I hung there and whined :) Then I got it together, and made it. On the way to the top it didn't get much easier. There were a lot of balance spots, and I was scared all the way to the top. A few times completely stuck, I had no idea what to do next, but made it again and again :) This time was nice because the guide didn't tell me where to step, what to grab, and I only asked him 3 times maybe. He said that I was good ! Yeiii :)))
Took an overnight bus to Cochabamba, that's the access point to park Torotoro where they have dinosaur prints. Got there at 6am, checked in the hotel, slept till 1pm and went out to eat, absolutely everything was closed (because it was Sunday), all the restaurants, all internet cafes, there are no people on the street. On top of that I found out that the buses to Torotoro leave very early Sunday and Thursday mornings. So I missed it :( I made a little circle in hopes of finding anything, came back to the hostel, checked out and took a 7 hour bus to La Paz.
In La Paz, I think my favourite big city so far (I think I can hear Eva swearing ;) but for me the beauty of La Paz is in it's ugliness, and it surprises you on every corner ), I went to the Brazil consulate. Speaking of efficiency! There is no information on the internet, so I got there, and they gave me a link to a website to print the form. I printed it, filled it out, came back. Ok, now you have to go to take pictures, it's 3 blocks up. Ok, went to do pictures, came back. Oh good, so now you have to go to the bank to pay!!!!! Couldn't it all be done in the first visit?? But the good news is that it takes only 2 days (in Toronto 10) and the longest I waited to see the clerk was no more than 5 minutes.
Went ice climbing. I didn't like it the first time in Huaraz-Peru, but my theory is, if you don't like it once try it at least one more time. But nope, didn't like it 2nd time either :) The group was great though, but they all continued climbing up to the top of the mountain, and no, I'm not doing that the 2nd time! :) We had a lot a lot of fun, and the mountain was beautiful, but there is no technique, and you just climb vertically up. There were only 2 routes, and only half made it up the 2nd one. 1 girl gave up almost at the bottom, and the other didn't even try. I took so many breaks, and half way there, I thought that I won't be able to make it, so like 20 minutes later, I made it :) When I came down, the guide who was securing me told me that he's more tired than I am :))
Before leaving Bolivia, I stocked up on everything, socks, underwear, bought a few souvenirs, I think they're the most beautiful in Bolivia. I love the indigenous art, it's so bright and colorful.
Wanted to buy some nuts and dried fruits, and they have a lot of them in La Paz. So I wanted a mixture. I asked the lady if I can have half/half. She told me "no", because they're different prices. I said, it's ok, I'll pay for the higher price, she thought and thought, calculated something, and said "no, can't mix". I told her, why not, you'll be winning money, still no mixing :)
One day there was a "back to school" carnival, I swear those Bolivianos find any excuse to party :) I was out all that day, and for the whole day it was going. It was huge !!! Thousands of participants, all in costumes, all dancing on the streets, it just never ended! They take their festivals seriously!
I waited until Saturday so I can be back in Cochabamba on Sunday morning to try to go to the park Torotoro again. For that I need to be in Cochabamba at 5am. Took the 8 hour overnight bus, I couldn't fall asleep at all, I don't know why. I was comfortable and it was a nice bed bus. It wasn't full enough so it was stopping and waiting and waiting, so it only got to Cochabamba at 5:55. Not again !!! I got out of the bus, and before I reached the entrance to the terminal, I heard "Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz", leaving in 5 minutes, so I got on that bus, another 10 hour bus ride. I was so tired, but I couldn't sleep because the scenery was so beautiful. It was going through a jungle like setting, with a lot of river crossings, very nice! I really wanted to go to the washroom, cause I didn't have time to go between buses, at 1 stop, I got out, but it was still closed, with a bunch of people just going on the street. I tried to go, even unzipped my pants, but with all these people and cars going by, I couldn't "I just can't" I said :) They laughed at ... yeah, I didn't have a skirt like they did :)
Got to Santa Cruz terminal, and half an hour later was on another 13 hour bus going to the border of Brazil. Saw some stupid movie, and fell asleep at 7.
Got to the border, and had to wait 2 hours until it opens. There was some strange guy sitting beside me, and while I was reading the book, he asked me if that Chinese I'm reading?!? Um ... noooo. Then he talked to me for a bit, asked me if I'm going to some touristic place in Brazil, I said no, cause I don't have time right now, and I only have time for important things. "Oh, important, huh? Then you have to go to this zoo in Sao Paulo" :)))
There is some military school beside the border, and while waiting, they all came out, and marched and sang. They didn't look to happy, and for me it looked very stupid ... all these huge steps, turn right, easy, attention!!! And then they pointed their gun forward, which was right at me. That was a bit freaky, I was hoping that it's not loaded!
Pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Sucre#
& added to http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/LaPaz#
Friday, August 6, 2010
Potosi
From Uyuni took a very uncomfortable 6 hour bus to Potosi on a dirt road. It was funny on the way there, there were some donkeys on the road, and the bus driver would beep and beep at them, and they would run as fast as they can, but stay on the road. So for like 5 minutes the bus was driving and beeping like crazy. Poor stupid donkeys :) but who knew they could run that fast :)
Potosi is the highest city in the world with altitude of 4060 meters. It needs a 5km runway for the planes due to air density, and the planes have to have special engines to land in there. A few centuries ago, it was also the largest city in the world with population over 200,000.
Here is some interesting history about the town:
No one is certain how much silver has been extracted from Cerro Rico (the "rich hill" in Potosis' backdrop) over its four centuries of productivity, but a popular boast was that the Spanish could have constructed a silver bridge to Spain and still had silver left to carry across it. The Spanish monarchs, who personally received 20% of the take, were certainly worth more than a few pesetas.
Although the tale of Potosi's origins probably takes a few liberties with the facts, it's a good story. It begins in 1544 when a Peruvian Indian, Diego Huallpa, was tending his llamas. When he noticed that two of the beasts were missing, he set forth to search for them. By nightfall, however, he still hadn't found them and the cold grew fierce, so Diego stopped to build a fire at the foot of the mountain known in Quechua as "Potojsi" (meaning "thunder" or "explosion"). The fire grew so hot that the very earth beneath it started to melt, and shiny liquid oozed from the ground.Diego immediately realized he'd run across a commodity for which the Spanish conquerors had an insatiable appetite. Perhaps he also remembered the Inca Huayan Capac had been instructed by a booming voice not to dig in the hill of Potojsi, but to leave the metal alone, because it was intended for others.At this juncture, accounts of the legend diverge. One version maintains that Diego kept his discovery secret, lest he upset the mountian apus (spirits). Others relate that he informed a friend, Huanca, of the discovery, and together they formulated a plan to extract the silver themselves. According to the account, the vein proved extremely productive, but a dispute between the partners escalated into a quarrel about the division of profits and Huanca, now weary of the whole mess, told the Spaniards about the mine.
Whatever the case, the Spanish eventually learned of the enormous wealth buried in the mountain of Potojsi and determined that it warranted immediate attention. On April 1, 1545, the Villa Imperial de Carlos V was founded at the foot of Cerro Rico and large scale excavation began. In the time it takes to say "Get down there and dig", thousands of Indian slaves were pressed into service and the first of the silver was already headed for Spain.
The work was dangerous, however, and so many Indians died of accidents and silicosis pneumonia that the Spanish imported literally millions of African slaves to augment the labor force.
In order to increase productivity, in 1572 to Viceroy of Toledo instituted the Ley de la Mita, which required all Indian and black slaves over the age of 18 to work in shifts of 12 hours. They would remain underground without seeing the light of day for four months at a time, eating, sleeping and working in the mines. When they emerged from a "shift", their eyes were covered to prevent damage in the bright sunlight.
Naturally these miners, who came to be known as mitayos, didn't last long. Heavy losses were also incurred among those who worked in the ingenios (smelting mills), as the silver smelting process involved mercury. In all, it has been estimated over the three centuries of colonial rule 1545 - 1825 as many as eight million Africans and Indians died from the appalling conditions.
Inside the mines, silver was smelted in small ovens, which were fueled by wood and spiky grass. The silver was then transported by llama train to Arica (Chile) on the Pacific coast. From there was carried by ship to Spain, providing spoils for English, Dutch and French freebooters along the way.
In 1672 a mint was established to coin the silver, reservoirs were constructed to provide water for the growing population, and exotic European consumer goods found their way up the llama trails from Arica and Callao. Amid the mania, more than 80 churches were constructed, and Potosi's population grew to nearly 200,000, making it one of the largest cities in the world. One politician of the period put it succinctly: "Potosi was raised in the pandemonium of greed at the foot of riches discovered by accident".
As with most boom towns, Potosi's glory was not to last. During the early 19th century independence struggles in Alto Peru, Potosi was naturally coveted by both sides. The city's many churches were looted, its wealth was removed to Europe or other parts of the Spanish realm and the population dropped to less than 10,000.
At the same time, Cerro Rico, the seemingly inexhaustible mountain of silver, began to play out, and by the time of Bolivian independence in 1825, the mines were already in decline. The mid 19th century drop in silver prices dealt a blow from which Potosi has never completely recovered.
In the present century only the demand for tin has rescued Potosi from obscurity and brought a slow but steady recovery. Zinc and lead have now taken over from tin as Bolivia's major metallic exports. Silver extraction continues only on a small scale, but reminders of the grand colonial city are still evident throughout the city.
The mining reforms of 1952 brought the Pailaviri mine under government control, and mining conditions improved immensity. Most of the Cerro Rico operation, however, are now in the control of miner owned cooperatives. The government mine was closed, having been plagued by strikes, protests and general dissatisfaction, while the cooperatives continue operating under conditions that have changed shamefully little from the colonial period.
In 1987 Unesco named Potosi a World Heritage Site in recognition of its rich and tragic history and its wealth of colonial architecture.
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I think this was the only city which I've seen so far where I felt something. This was kind of a heavy feeling that I felt in my heart for the whole duration of my stay in there. I also felt very embarrassed not having a single clue about the history and significance of this place. And after learning more and more of history of South America, I dislike the Spanish more and more. Would've been nice if Spain provided some sort of compensation for what it did.
Went for the tour of the mines or "the mountain that eats the men alive". On the way there we stopped at the store to buy presents for the miners which include coca leaves and soft drinks. Oh, and we also bought a dynamite to explode. Currently there are 5000 miners of whom 800 are children. I think they bypassed a law which states that children under 15 cannot work in the mines, but I don't think it enforced what so ever. All the workers die after 15 years of working from a condition that develops from too much dust. That's very sad :( They lose about half of their lung capacity only after 7 years.
The tour itself wasn't too exciting. Inside we walked through the tunnels full of mud, low ceilings, some loud hissing sounds that come from some tubes, and temperatures ranging from 5 - 45 degrees. Saw 3 carts that carry approximately 2000 kg, with 4 miners pushing/pulling it, and a few workers. The carts don't have any breaks, so the guide was always walking in front, and told us to hurry up on the corners. And then FAST FAST FAST go to the walls, and watch your knees! The working conditions haven't really changed much since almost half a century ago because the mines are cooperative, meaning the miners will have to pay out of their own pockets. In some areas there were toxic gases, and all of us started caughing right away. For all 2 hours that we were there, I had a strong feeling that I want to get out as fast as possible. Inside the mine we visited the devil. Every mine has one. The workers believe that since the conditions are so terrible inside, then there is definitely no god in there, so they worship the devil. They offer the devil (which is a statue made out of mud with 2 open palms) coca leaves, 98% rubbing alcohol (which the miners drink), and put cigarettes in its mouth. Once a year for 3 consecutive weekends, they sacrifice llamas, and throw it's blood on the entrance walls to the mines so that the devil will drink it, and not the workers blood. As they say "we sacrifice to the devil, so he won't take out lives instead". When we got out, we blew up the dynamite, but that was only as a presentation. The guide lit up the cord and was just standing there explaining us stuff while it was already burning, we all got a bit nervous. But she was so calm, talking, then bringing it to the explosion area, barely in hurry. When it finally blew up, all of us jumped a bit, since we put some other chemicals in there to make the explosion stronger :)
There is a documentary movie "el minero del diablo", about a 14 year old child worker. It really shows the life in Bolivia well. It's with English subtitles. Here is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqk-Scp6Lw8
Megan and myself went to the super posh restaurants, with candles, and a beautiful decor, and had the best salad ever for $1.80. I love Bolivia !! :))
Afterwards went to the coin museum. We had a 1.5 hour tour in there. So interesting ! Potosi was producing silver and coins for all the world. First just slammed the silver with a hammer producing shapless coins, then Spain brought in the machines to produce round perfect coins. The machines were huge, each one of a size of 5x5 meters, and 3 meters high, working like a clock system. And a level below, there would be 4 donkeys walking in the circle, thus spinning the wheels.One ship sunk with millions of dollars on the way to Europe beside Florida. They just discovered it, and recovered all the treasures. Instead of sending it back to Bolivia, they opened a museum in Florida, and only sent back 1 coin.Inside the museum was a big room with minerals. I've never seen so many rocks before. It was amazing! And the way that they form, it doesn't even look real. One rock looks like gold, but it's made out of little perfect squares. There were also baby mummies, and they were fully dressed, so only the feet, hands and face were visible, I felt like in a horror movie !
There were also super cool chests which I've never seen before. They require 3 keys to open. The whole top on the inside of the box is a huge lock, so if someone tampers with it, it will break the lock, and the chest would never be opened. The chest by the way, is made of 100% silver, so it's shipped back to Spain tax free.
Currently it's too expensive for Bolivia to make it's own currency, so now ironically Spain, Canada and Chile make coins and bills for Bolivia. A country which made coins for all the world is now accepting the coins made for it from the whole world.Unfortunately there are no pictures, although I downloaded some from the internet. Here is Bolivia while everything is super cheap, they tend to charge you for anything they can. So in almost any museum you go to, there is almost a double charge for a permission to take pictures. And since I don't want to pay for something when I don't know what I'll get, I never purchased the permission.
Next day went to a monastery. Since Potosi was one of the richest cities in the world, this monastery was one of the best. There were lineups to get in since there was a space for only 21 nuns admitted at age 15. The only way to get in was if somebody inside the monastery had passed away. Also they had to pay 2000 gold coins, which is today's equivalent of $100,000. Each young girl would be admitted with one maid (slave) who would look after her till the rest of her life. They got in in a very expensive dress, which was cut up on the entrance along with their hair, and the material was used to decorate various religious figures, like for ex virgin dolls. The nuns were allowed to speak only 2 hours a day while working, had no contact with outside world, parents could only visit for half an hour a month, the contact was established through some door and with a presence of another nun. Since they spent all their time praying and sawing, they had to learn all the crafts before entering the monastery. So before the age of 15 they already knew how to saw, sing, play, languages ... They prayed 7 times a day anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Slept right on the wood.
In the dining hall there is a skeleton, which would remind them of death. At the entrance to the dining hall they say "we're all going to die", and the answer would be "yes, I know".
While visiting the monastery, a group of Russian tourists came. They were so rude, and disrespectful. Everybody else tried to keep their calm not to tell anything to them. They left in the middle of the tour, and everybody got so relieved. I think I met Russian tourists 3 times, and all 3 times were very bad experiences. I don't even approach them, or pretend to know Russian.
Both tours were in Spanish, and I understood it all. I was so happy :))
link to the song that I like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbFaFm7yO4
pix at: http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Potosi#
Potosi is the highest city in the world with altitude of 4060 meters. It needs a 5km runway for the planes due to air density, and the planes have to have special engines to land in there. A few centuries ago, it was also the largest city in the world with population over 200,000.
Here is some interesting history about the town:
No one is certain how much silver has been extracted from Cerro Rico (the "rich hill" in Potosis' backdrop) over its four centuries of productivity, but a popular boast was that the Spanish could have constructed a silver bridge to Spain and still had silver left to carry across it. The Spanish monarchs, who personally received 20% of the take, were certainly worth more than a few pesetas.
Although the tale of Potosi's origins probably takes a few liberties with the facts, it's a good story. It begins in 1544 when a Peruvian Indian, Diego Huallpa, was tending his llamas. When he noticed that two of the beasts were missing, he set forth to search for them. By nightfall, however, he still hadn't found them and the cold grew fierce, so Diego stopped to build a fire at the foot of the mountain known in Quechua as "Potojsi" (meaning "thunder" or "explosion"). The fire grew so hot that the very earth beneath it started to melt, and shiny liquid oozed from the ground.Diego immediately realized he'd run across a commodity for which the Spanish conquerors had an insatiable appetite. Perhaps he also remembered the Inca Huayan Capac had been instructed by a booming voice not to dig in the hill of Potojsi, but to leave the metal alone, because it was intended for others.At this juncture, accounts of the legend diverge. One version maintains that Diego kept his discovery secret, lest he upset the mountian apus (spirits). Others relate that he informed a friend, Huanca, of the discovery, and together they formulated a plan to extract the silver themselves. According to the account, the vein proved extremely productive, but a dispute between the partners escalated into a quarrel about the division of profits and Huanca, now weary of the whole mess, told the Spaniards about the mine.
Whatever the case, the Spanish eventually learned of the enormous wealth buried in the mountain of Potojsi and determined that it warranted immediate attention. On April 1, 1545, the Villa Imperial de Carlos V was founded at the foot of Cerro Rico and large scale excavation began. In the time it takes to say "Get down there and dig", thousands of Indian slaves were pressed into service and the first of the silver was already headed for Spain.
The work was dangerous, however, and so many Indians died of accidents and silicosis pneumonia that the Spanish imported literally millions of African slaves to augment the labor force.
In order to increase productivity, in 1572 to Viceroy of Toledo instituted the Ley de la Mita, which required all Indian and black slaves over the age of 18 to work in shifts of 12 hours. They would remain underground without seeing the light of day for four months at a time, eating, sleeping and working in the mines. When they emerged from a "shift", their eyes were covered to prevent damage in the bright sunlight.
Naturally these miners, who came to be known as mitayos, didn't last long. Heavy losses were also incurred among those who worked in the ingenios (smelting mills), as the silver smelting process involved mercury. In all, it has been estimated over the three centuries of colonial rule 1545 - 1825 as many as eight million Africans and Indians died from the appalling conditions.
Inside the mines, silver was smelted in small ovens, which were fueled by wood and spiky grass. The silver was then transported by llama train to Arica (Chile) on the Pacific coast. From there was carried by ship to Spain, providing spoils for English, Dutch and French freebooters along the way.
In 1672 a mint was established to coin the silver, reservoirs were constructed to provide water for the growing population, and exotic European consumer goods found their way up the llama trails from Arica and Callao. Amid the mania, more than 80 churches were constructed, and Potosi's population grew to nearly 200,000, making it one of the largest cities in the world. One politician of the period put it succinctly: "Potosi was raised in the pandemonium of greed at the foot of riches discovered by accident".
As with most boom towns, Potosi's glory was not to last. During the early 19th century independence struggles in Alto Peru, Potosi was naturally coveted by both sides. The city's many churches were looted, its wealth was removed to Europe or other parts of the Spanish realm and the population dropped to less than 10,000.
At the same time, Cerro Rico, the seemingly inexhaustible mountain of silver, began to play out, and by the time of Bolivian independence in 1825, the mines were already in decline. The mid 19th century drop in silver prices dealt a blow from which Potosi has never completely recovered.
In the present century only the demand for tin has rescued Potosi from obscurity and brought a slow but steady recovery. Zinc and lead have now taken over from tin as Bolivia's major metallic exports. Silver extraction continues only on a small scale, but reminders of the grand colonial city are still evident throughout the city.
The mining reforms of 1952 brought the Pailaviri mine under government control, and mining conditions improved immensity. Most of the Cerro Rico operation, however, are now in the control of miner owned cooperatives. The government mine was closed, having been plagued by strikes, protests and general dissatisfaction, while the cooperatives continue operating under conditions that have changed shamefully little from the colonial period.
In 1987 Unesco named Potosi a World Heritage Site in recognition of its rich and tragic history and its wealth of colonial architecture.
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I think this was the only city which I've seen so far where I felt something. This was kind of a heavy feeling that I felt in my heart for the whole duration of my stay in there. I also felt very embarrassed not having a single clue about the history and significance of this place. And after learning more and more of history of South America, I dislike the Spanish more and more. Would've been nice if Spain provided some sort of compensation for what it did.
Went for the tour of the mines or "the mountain that eats the men alive". On the way there we stopped at the store to buy presents for the miners which include coca leaves and soft drinks. Oh, and we also bought a dynamite to explode. Currently there are 5000 miners of whom 800 are children. I think they bypassed a law which states that children under 15 cannot work in the mines, but I don't think it enforced what so ever. All the workers die after 15 years of working from a condition that develops from too much dust. That's very sad :( They lose about half of their lung capacity only after 7 years.
The tour itself wasn't too exciting. Inside we walked through the tunnels full of mud, low ceilings, some loud hissing sounds that come from some tubes, and temperatures ranging from 5 - 45 degrees. Saw 3 carts that carry approximately 2000 kg, with 4 miners pushing/pulling it, and a few workers. The carts don't have any breaks, so the guide was always walking in front, and told us to hurry up on the corners. And then FAST FAST FAST go to the walls, and watch your knees! The working conditions haven't really changed much since almost half a century ago because the mines are cooperative, meaning the miners will have to pay out of their own pockets. In some areas there were toxic gases, and all of us started caughing right away. For all 2 hours that we were there, I had a strong feeling that I want to get out as fast as possible. Inside the mine we visited the devil. Every mine has one. The workers believe that since the conditions are so terrible inside, then there is definitely no god in there, so they worship the devil. They offer the devil (which is a statue made out of mud with 2 open palms) coca leaves, 98% rubbing alcohol (which the miners drink), and put cigarettes in its mouth. Once a year for 3 consecutive weekends, they sacrifice llamas, and throw it's blood on the entrance walls to the mines so that the devil will drink it, and not the workers blood. As they say "we sacrifice to the devil, so he won't take out lives instead". When we got out, we blew up the dynamite, but that was only as a presentation. The guide lit up the cord and was just standing there explaining us stuff while it was already burning, we all got a bit nervous. But she was so calm, talking, then bringing it to the explosion area, barely in hurry. When it finally blew up, all of us jumped a bit, since we put some other chemicals in there to make the explosion stronger :)
There is a documentary movie "el minero del diablo", about a 14 year old child worker. It really shows the life in Bolivia well. It's with English subtitles. Here is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqk-Scp6Lw8
Megan and myself went to the super posh restaurants, with candles, and a beautiful decor, and had the best salad ever for $1.80. I love Bolivia !! :))
Afterwards went to the coin museum. We had a 1.5 hour tour in there. So interesting ! Potosi was producing silver and coins for all the world. First just slammed the silver with a hammer producing shapless coins, then Spain brought in the machines to produce round perfect coins. The machines were huge, each one of a size of 5x5 meters, and 3 meters high, working like a clock system. And a level below, there would be 4 donkeys walking in the circle, thus spinning the wheels.One ship sunk with millions of dollars on the way to Europe beside Florida. They just discovered it, and recovered all the treasures. Instead of sending it back to Bolivia, they opened a museum in Florida, and only sent back 1 coin.Inside the museum was a big room with minerals. I've never seen so many rocks before. It was amazing! And the way that they form, it doesn't even look real. One rock looks like gold, but it's made out of little perfect squares. There were also baby mummies, and they were fully dressed, so only the feet, hands and face were visible, I felt like in a horror movie !
There were also super cool chests which I've never seen before. They require 3 keys to open. The whole top on the inside of the box is a huge lock, so if someone tampers with it, it will break the lock, and the chest would never be opened. The chest by the way, is made of 100% silver, so it's shipped back to Spain tax free.
Currently it's too expensive for Bolivia to make it's own currency, so now ironically Spain, Canada and Chile make coins and bills for Bolivia. A country which made coins for all the world is now accepting the coins made for it from the whole world.Unfortunately there are no pictures, although I downloaded some from the internet. Here is Bolivia while everything is super cheap, they tend to charge you for anything they can. So in almost any museum you go to, there is almost a double charge for a permission to take pictures. And since I don't want to pay for something when I don't know what I'll get, I never purchased the permission.
Next day went to a monastery. Since Potosi was one of the richest cities in the world, this monastery was one of the best. There were lineups to get in since there was a space for only 21 nuns admitted at age 15. The only way to get in was if somebody inside the monastery had passed away. Also they had to pay 2000 gold coins, which is today's equivalent of $100,000. Each young girl would be admitted with one maid (slave) who would look after her till the rest of her life. They got in in a very expensive dress, which was cut up on the entrance along with their hair, and the material was used to decorate various religious figures, like for ex virgin dolls. The nuns were allowed to speak only 2 hours a day while working, had no contact with outside world, parents could only visit for half an hour a month, the contact was established through some door and with a presence of another nun. Since they spent all their time praying and sawing, they had to learn all the crafts before entering the monastery. So before the age of 15 they already knew how to saw, sing, play, languages ... They prayed 7 times a day anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Slept right on the wood.
In the dining hall there is a skeleton, which would remind them of death. At the entrance to the dining hall they say "we're all going to die", and the answer would be "yes, I know".
While visiting the monastery, a group of Russian tourists came. They were so rude, and disrespectful. Everybody else tried to keep their calm not to tell anything to them. They left in the middle of the tour, and everybody got so relieved. I think I met Russian tourists 3 times, and all 3 times were very bad experiences. I don't even approach them, or pretend to know Russian.
Both tours were in Spanish, and I understood it all. I was so happy :))
link to the song that I like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbFaFm7yO4
pix at: http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Potosi#
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