Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. --- Mark Twain

Friday, July 26, 2013

Bolivia, Aymara New Year


20.06.2013 – 21.06.2013

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Bolivian currency is bolivanos . 10 BOL = 1,1 EUR or 1.45 USD
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About fuel prices - in Bolivia for local population there is one price and foreigners must pay another price - "international price".

The reason - all fuel is imported , and the government will keep fuel prices artificially low.
Local price: 3,72 BOL or 0,41 EUR
For foreigners : 9,48 EUR or 1,04 BOL

Now – about foreigners buying fuel in Bolivia. Beforehand I had read on the Internet various stories about red tapery at gas stations. Could be difficult and complicated, may take about twenty minutes etc. In reality, of course, it was quite a different matter. Nowhere, not in any gas station, fuel sales was denied.
Only the diesel quality was variable, there was decent diesel - the bus moved on as it should, but sometimes the fuel „worked“ only on smooth land. There was the total loss of power. But one can get poor quality of diesel from any country.

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Another museum of La Paz, - worth visiting.

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Miniature instruments.

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The workshop of a craftsman.

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These pictures of the museum were otherwise planned into the previous post, but then again, there were uploading problems .

June 21 is a national holiday in Bolivia since 2010, on that day the beginning of The New Year of Aymara is celebrated. (In the Aymaran language - Willka Kuti , in English - Return of the Sun ).

Aymaras are indigenous people living in the Andes of Peru, Chile and Bolivia, Aymaran is spoken by more than 2.2 million people (the official language of Bolivia and Peru). And also the current President of Bolivia Evo Morales is an Aymaran .

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So in June 21, 2013 - the Aymaran year of 5521 began.

The new year celebrations take place in various places all over the country. The most grandiose and festive one was said to be in Tiwanaku , and the closest celebrations were held 400 meters from the present overnight place - Moon Valley .

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Half an hour before sunrise.

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The first rays of the sun of the New Year on the top of the mountain.

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The sky turns brighter and brighter.

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And the crowd greeting the sun , palms toward the sun.

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MapSource vision " of how to drive out of La Paz in the direction of Coroico“ was easy at first glance - just drive along the purple line and turn at the right intersection on the right side.

In practice, there were a lot of one-way streets and super-narrow streets and then a wider street, which was entirely packed with vehicles which means that in the end the road taking out of the town has been found.

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Higher there were mountains covered with snow.

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In La Cumbre Pass (4650 meters altitude ) , the New Year Celebration was in full swing

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Further on the road takes downwards again.

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A warning was exhibited but those long-tailed rabbits were nowhere to be seen, probably because of the cold they were hiding themselves somewhere.

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Some clouds further and on the other side of the mountains the climate is quite different.

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Control station, but here it took no time at all. I was simply asked where I was going . I replied to the direction of Coroico, and after that I was gestured to drive on.

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The road continued descending lower and lower and the weather turned cloudier and damper.

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And then ...

These two labels were next to the road

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But about all of this in the next post.

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