High Altitude

What am I doing here!!  I arrive in a plane circling tin shack rooftops above a desert town from the bible. I'm in La Paz and it's winter. It's cold when the sun goes down and central heating doesn't appear to have been invented yet..  I've had to buy clothes, a coat, a hat. I haven't been able to go anywhere or do much while I acclimatise.. drinking water and mate tea and sitting with my feet up. Which is quite a difficult thing to do for two days.. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to try.

.. I was an extra on Mexican TV last week skiing in the Andes in 80s rented skiwear and a woolly hat  which had gone baggy from the snow.  Rastafari. Froze my face off .
I could actually do with a balaclava for sleeping. It's been so cold.
On a mission to ride Region V Ritoque Dunes farside Valparaiso 'only the British go to the beach in winter'. After the initial shock of finding I had to hold the reins with one hand and on no account rise to canter or gallop but sit back in the saddle and shout like a cowboy. I had a great time. and because it's winter and no-one else is interested in being outdoors, we had the forest,  the river,  the dunes, and laguna all to ourselves. I saw three otters swimming, ducks & gulls. Then we galloped along an empty beach in beautiful mist. Low visibility . Crazy fun.

The main threat in Chile is the risk of an earthquake.. & there was a mild one in the north.. Fully prepared to stand under the doorframe of the house, and on no account run out into the street screaming, the door rattled violently as if someone was trying to come in. Everything juddered shook then, it stopped.
  

Wondering what -backpackers- do all day..   I asked a few and they asked me if I wasn't one.. sometimes I wish I had a suitcase on wheels.. but I do have a rucksack which seems to qualify me to -look about - have breakfast - go sightseeing which I'm not crazy about, it tires me out and depresses me. Especially as most of the notable buildings seem to have been constructed for the glory of the few by the back pain and death of the many..  I don't mind museums and art galleries.  So mostly I just look about. And read and draw. and search for food that won't poison me.. and make 2 day friendships and move on, which is the real beauty of it all. I'm much better at saying 'goodbye'.
 

I've been out for a couple of gentle walks and do find it strange the ladies all wear shawls and bowler hats.. which were dumped on the Bolivian market years ago.. and caught on. It's an odd site. I wonder if I should wear one to fit in.  It seems there's a higher risk of being robbed and ripped off here - as soon as they hear your accent double the price. Maybe a bowler hat would help. But then, I always seem to lose money on my first day anywhere so maybe not. The main threat here seems to be the risk of a demonstration being broken up with tear gas. But so far everything seems calm.. The people are colorful.. and playful.. more so than Chile which I found steady and safe with no good skateparks for the youth. They love young people in Argentina.. and in Brazil you can party all night at full volume and the neighbours like it! In Chile they indulge their young with material goods but the children don't look like they're having much fun.

The sun is shining and this computer  is strange as you have to stand up to use it. Guess that stops me staying on for too long.. The server connection keeps going down, so I'll post while I can.  Before my feet do the deep freeze.  Must remember to keep breathing.!

Title: Out of Time Description: Seek alternatives, resolve old problems. Leaving La Paz

Rio

Rio is gorgeous.
Long sandy beaches, hazy blue skies. Copacabana has seen better days - the waves crash onto the shore - still compelling. Ipanema is the place to be seen with your face corrected by surgery in swimming trunks walking your dog. It was named by the Indians and means dangerous water because of the undertow. Im staying away from all that pazazz in a 100 year old house on the side of a hill not far from a shanty town. You' re never far from one in a city of 6  million with 1 million people in favelas.  We heard machine guns and rifle shots not far from the house. The city is full of contradictions.  Street kids backflip in traffic for loose change while the rich roll by with their car windows up- air-con on. Man-made and nature vie for space along the tropical coastline. The big
Jesus the great equaliser looks down over us all.
We misjudge the weather and arrive on Corcovado in an envelope of cloud. Zero visibility. Is this being blind?  Blank Bright White Light. We saw his feet. No view. and an eerie silence high up above  everything.. then a break in the clouds and everyone snapping pictures. Strangest thing, there are escalators up there.. on top of the mountain..

I'm taking quite nicely to not working .. like a duck to water. Hanging around doing nothing much seems to come quite naturally to me. My worst mistake was going to the hairdressers where I let a man called WELLY who clearly couldn't understand a word I was saying loose with a pair of scissors on my head.  I'm embarassed to say I cried like a baby on the way home.
The roads here are mad. Eveyone is competing in the Grand prix. No one stops at red lights, taxis dont slow down and there's a lot of lane switching.  I'm seeing traffic from a Fusca - a South American Beatle - which in my eyes is - travelling in style.

I bought a football shirt. Fluminense were playing. I was caught up supporting the local team and chanting like a hooligan in the street. They take it all very seriously here and have ID cards and DVLCs stamped like true Geordies.  It's a part of their identity. I have it on good knowledge,  Brazilians are more skilled because they play with smaller balls in schools but still cry like people with Ipanema mullets if anyone tries to  tackle them.

No one ever seems to sit down here. They're either  doing pressups backflips pull ups or some other kind of activity on traffic islands, in parks, beside the sea.

I just returned from a weekend in Sao Paolo. One daunting place. The size of London but all
high rise. Glad I was with people who knew where they were going. To a house belonging to one Carcaraca which means nutcase and his freind Cabeza which means Headcase. What a laugh. Even without translation they were high in entertainment value. Best night out in Rio so far was in
LAPA which is like nowhere I have ever been. A non stop party of soundspeakers spilling out on the streets. Gave me an idea of how crazy the carnival must be. .  La Festa.
Heading to Iguacu - major waterfall
just in time for the rainy season

Hope all goes well in
your lives there.
From here.