Chile 2006, part 18 (Santiago and La Paz, BOLIVIA!)
Having returned from Easter Island, I was full of energy and plans about what else I wanted to visit in the relative vicinity of Santiago. I had none of that! Simply, I was suddenly overcome by cold. I felt extremely embarrassed for being sick while I was a guest at somebody’s place, but there was nothing I could do about it. But there was neither any chance to visit anything. And yet, I was soon to fly to La Paz since I had already had a return plane ticket. For this reason, I mostly stayed in bed at the flat of Saška, Dragi and Mare, taking some pills and hoping it would get better, but there was hardly any change. It just had to take time and the bacteria just had to finish whatever it was that was important for them to do.
Additionally, I was trying to collect as much strength as possible, because in a few of days I had to move and move seriously. Namely, back in Belgrade I had already bought that return plane ticket in order to go to La Paz for four days and visit my beloved friends, the Duran family (see my texts describing my stay in La Paz in 2005).
The fact that I changed planes in Iquique, in the north of Chile, didn’t help. What I want to say is that the pressure in my head clogged with cold kept changing, since the plane went up and down. And then from Iquique it went up again and there I more or less stayed. Namely, the airport in La Paz is located at incredible 4000 m above sea level!
Still, before landing it was nice that the plane flew parallel to the Pacific coast and I could be reminded from the air of all the places I had visited earlier.
As the plane approached the La Paz airport I started to see fenced plots of land where people had started to build their homes. Namely, the international airport in La Paz is located in El Alto which in the past used to be a wild place in town-planning terms and a poor suburb of the capital, but nowadays is considered as a city in its own right.
As I’ve said, the airport is located on a high altitude plain that is at over 4000 m above sea level, which makes it the highest commercial airport in the world and right as you leave the plane, you are exposed to the lack of oxygen. So, I arrived in La Paz with a cold and then the high altitude and the dry air only exacerbated my situation. I felt completely without any strength at all and I kept coughing. I cannot begin to describe how sorry I felt for coming to visit my dear friends in a state like that.
Still, as I was taken from the airport in a taxi, my heart began to pound with excitement and joy. First, going through El Alto I started to see women in those wonderful dresses, covered by ponchos and with the cute hats on top of their heads.
And then the road started to descent towards La Paz and I could see the city spreading in front of me. I shivered with excitement and felt as if I was coming home! If my voice hadn’t been hoarse and if I had been alone in the car, I would have shrieked with happiness!
The Durans, i.e., Ximenita and Madame Maria greeted me with their arms wide open and I was beside myself with joy for seeing them and hugging them again. In the meantime, they had moved to the part of the city called Achumani. It was a little bit more tucked away in comparison to where they used to live before, but it was undoubtedly a very nice area. The house was exceptionally beautiful and they had apparently rented it from some architect who had originally had it built for himself. Furthermore, the house was located in a private zone and there was a guard regularly standing at the entrance checking everybody who was entering the gated community in which the house was.
Other than having the aim to see my friends again, this time I also wanted to buy a couple of things I hadn’t bought the previous time because I hadn’t had space in my luggage then. One of those things was a small tapestry that belongs to traditional crafts. There is one style which is produced in Bolivia and that is considered particularly valuable, but I don’t like this one at all. I like another, made in a simple style, and such tapestry, which is not expensive at all, may be used as a small rug, as a wall-hanging, as well as a cloak for a woman to wrap herself in.
In addition to this, I also wanted to go to the shop kept by one of the sons of the Duran family, Juan Javier, who is an architect and a designer. Namely, among other things he produces and sells beautiful things made of wood, adorned with small ceramic tiles, and in his art gallery I bought an exceptionally pretty jewellery box which I keep admiring at my flat in Belgrade to this very day. In his shop I also bought a T-shirt with a slogan “Coca no es cocaina!” (Coca is not cocaine!) which I often wear with pleasure. If you go to La Paz, make sure to go to the Art Gallery “Caleidoscopio” or look them up on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/caleidoscopiobolivia/).
So, bearing in mind that I wanted to do all of this, I took a taxi that first afternoon and went all over La Paz, following the principle “the sooner, the better,” which turned out to be very wise. I passed again through the modern part of the big city, but I also enjoyed the old quarter.
Finally, very much satisfied for accomplishing everything I wanted, I went back to the Durans completely exhausted. What was surprising was that I had no major issues with the altitude as such, other than it accentuated my bad state and I kept losing my breath when I climbed up the stairs in the house.
I only saw Gustavo and his wife Anita in the evening, but by that time I was so tired that I gave up going to Juan Javier for the celebration of Christmas Eve and I just sent a gift for his child. Still, the long night spent in bed did not help me much with getting better.
I spent the following day, 25 December, i.e., the Christmas, mostly in my room, lying down and watching TV, which helped a little, but not completely. I did attempt occasionally to go down to the kitchen and help as much as I could to Madame Maria with her preparation of food, but I didn’t stay down for long. I simply did not have the strength.
In the evening, some friends and relatives came to celebrate Christmas together. I was delighted to see again some dear faces gathered in one place. It was very joyful, with a lot of songs, dancing, happiness and laughter, but all I could do was sit on the side and watch. At one point Madame Maria, as the hostess, gave a toast and then she mentioned me in particular saying that my visit was a great gift for them, that she hoped I could feel how much they love me, that they consider me to be a part of the family, and that I have a family and friends there. I was moved to my core and was only sorry that I don’t speak Spanish well enough to be able to express how much I love them and how happy I was to see them all again.
Then the music started again, as well as songs and dancing, while I, with a terrible cold and with no strength at all, but happy, enjoyed it, watching my dear friends with a smile on my face. Still, eventually, no matter how hard I tried to be well and to take part in the celebration, I could no longer go on and withdrew to my room on the first appropriate occasion.
The next day, I finally started to feel a little better. But very slowly. I spent the morning at the house, admiring from the back yard the area in which the house was built. Namely, around the lawn behind the house there are some high rocks that got their unusual shape thanks to a combination of the ground and erosion. Similar to Djavolja Varos in Serbia or the Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna) a little more to the south in La Paz itself (see: https://www.svudapodji.com/en/salar-de-uyuni-peru-and-bolivia-summer-of-2005-part-3/).
I could also finally help Madame Maria in the kitchen a little, as well as write down a recipe or two, or take a photo of some food that I found unusual.
In the afternoon, Ximenita insisted to take me to her uncle’s for a check-up, since he worked at a medical centre. I was actually not worried about my health, I knew more or less what the matter with me was, but I went there nevertheless so that my hosts could have a peace of mind. In any case, going out was good for me. When we got back I spent some time chatting with Ximenita, Madame Maria and Flor, a girl who worked on the same project with Madame Maria which was in connection with the use of plants from Amazonia for medical purposes. I felt slightly better, but later on I started to feel tired again, so once more I went to bed early.
When I left for the airport the next morning, Madame Maria came with me as far as the city centre. When parting from each other, she gave me a card in which she wrote a little note and that is one of my dearest souvenirs from my travels.
The quote in the upper left corner is rather well known in the Spanish speaking part of the world and it is linked to Christianity and appears in several versions. Its translation is a bit challenging, but it roughly means: “He who serves others gives meaning to his life.”
“Greetings, dear Verica, I wish you and your family to be filled with joy. Thank you for your visit, here you also have a family. Lots of love, M. with children.”
I turned to mush and in such a state I came by taxi to the altitude of 4000 m and soon headed south by plane watching again through the window and remembering all my visits from the previous weeks – Atacama, La Serena, the dry chains of the Andes cut through by fertile valleys...
In Santiago, I had joyous meetings with my friends again, and I also went out and had a lot of fun, but I had a free day as well which I used for going to the Los Dominicos park, where in addition to a church there is also an artisanal village all of the same name.
Right next to the churchyard, there is the artisanal village, full of shops with products from all parts of Chile. I had already bought everything I was interested in, so I only walked here, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the exhibited goods.
Actually, there was one thing left which I wanted to buy for taking home with me and that was Chilean wine. And not just any. Before I came to Chile, I had heard of some very good red wine, syrah. That was the first time I had heard of biodynamic production, applied in the case of this wine, which is even more advanced than the organic one. While walking in the area in which Saška, Dragi and Mare lived, I started to stop at vineries I was passing by, but I was quite surprised. Namely, I’m not a great connoisseur of wine and therefore I’m not used to spending large sums of money for it. The wine I was keen on buying fell into the very expensive category as far as I was concerned. So? What to do?
And just as I started asking myself this question, I came across a vinery that offered a 50% discount. I rushed in, bought two bottles without much ado, while they packed them well since the bottles were going into the check-in baggage. In this way, after returning home the following day, I managed to keep the taste and aroma of Chile present in my life for a little while yet. And it was worth all the money!