Hi from Oruro

This is Gary. We are in Oruro, Bolivia. Oruro is in the altiplano. beautiful day this morning. lots of sun and not too hot. We wanted to take the train from Uyuni, bolivia to the Chilean desert, but the train is no longer in existence. So tomorrow we take a bus to Iquique, Chile which is on the desert coast. WE are hoping to see some penguins farther south.

We enjoyed are stay in Chucuito,Peru. The town has a week long fiesta or carnival. Bands and dancers come from as far as Oruro, Bolivia and from towns in Peru to participate in the festivities. The drumming starts early in the morning each day and then the bands play and dancers arrive in the small plaza. Lots of beer and food are passed around. We were invited to eat food at one of the locals houses one morning. Really nice people. All the bands and dancers then move to the main (big) plaza. One after the other marches around the plaza as spectators watch . The area was jammed with people. We were the only tourist present! The costumes were outrageously different. The womens coustumes were beautiful with many different colors.
This happens every day and night for a week! One afternoon we went to Puno,Peru to visit the reed islands in lake titikaka. Most of the buildings were made of reeds. The people anchor the base of the reeds to the bottom of the lake and shore. Very interesting life style. It would be fun to stay out there over night! The locals do weavings and reed crafts to sell to the tourists. This is most of there income! We went from one isand to another by reed boat. The steering of the boat by one back oar was interesting to watch. The islands are made of reeds also!
It was hard to leave Chucuito, Peru.
Our next visit was to Cocacabana, bolivia. Nice little tourist town on lake titikaka. we only spent one day. We may go back with our friend bertha to visit the Island of the sun. There is ruins there and some good hiking. Beautiful drive by bus to La Paz. We had to cross lake titikaka by ferry. All passengers had to get off the bus(too heavy) and cross the lake in a smaller boat. it was a beautiful sunny clear day, the lake looked gorgeous. La Paz is in a big valley with high snowy mountain peaks above. The city is huge with people and buildings everywhere. After being in small towns and villages, La Paz was overwelming. I thought driving in denver was bad! we did not stay long however, and took a bus to Oruro!