March 26 Fantasy rock city and hidden valleys, llamas and dainty plants

 

Today was a day of rocks and valleys and other surprises. So much of what we are seeing is off the road, off the beaten track and today was no exception. First stop we headed beyond a tiny llama-herders community, probably one family. Once passed the dwellings and yards, we headed into a breathtakingly beautiful, gentle valley. Not a soul in sight anywhere – the silence was heavenly.  Of course we got out and walked. 

The valley was covered in peat moss with rivulets meandering through

We were to wander up a valley for about an hour where few people venture and where we would likely see some wildlife. As we walked we saw a few wooden pegs close to the rocks which it seems were to indicate where we should walk.  The rest was squelchy fragile peat moss. 

I was still struggling with the altitude and my legs weren’t too happy doing long walks so after a while I stopped and let Lindsay and Freddy go on.  I was happy and quite able to entertain myself in the gentle silence – I was completely alone. It was wonderful after weeks of always being surrounded by people. Freddy assured me that I would be safe from pumas which until he mentioned it I had not given a thought about.  Actually I wasn’t concerned at all – he would never have left me there if there had been any danger.  So while he and Lindsay were tramping down the valley I looked at plants and rocks and took pix and a video. All of a sudden as I was staring off into the distance a small group/family of llamas came wandering past. Such gorgeous things.  

Lindsay and Freddy finally came back (Lindsay was quietly a bit altitude-stressed). He’d seen a chinchilla (long tailed rabbit), Andean foxes, lots of birds and was happy. Back in the car we headed for an amazing, jumbled bastion of eroded rocks which Freddy called ‘rock city’. 

We wandered through weird and wonderful, unlikely shapes and teetering boulders. I found lots of tiny plants and flowers tucked into crevasses and cracks. 

These are yareta. Bottom L densely packed tiny leaves with we flowers. Bottom R some of the resin from the plant

And a number of the strange moss-like plants that I had seen in the valley and had puzzled over. It was a moss-like cushion often spreading. Turns out it’s called a yareta, a cushion plant. They grow very slowly, many only 1mm per year, and can grown up to 6m. Many are estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Freddy told me that during the war when fuel was scare they were used instead of coal. Fortunately their very slow growth makes the traditional practice of harvesting it for fuel unsustainable which is a relief. Evidently the menthol-like ' resin’ they exude has been traditional used for medicine.  Incidentally they are native to South America and grow quite happily at high altitude – which is where we were! You can imagine I was in my element photographing tiny flowers amongst the rocks and lava. 

Once down on the high plains we saw acres of quinoa in all colours spreading across in the distance. It's a staple part of Bolivian diet.

In the background is a wall of lava 

We headed for the tiny village of San Cristobal for lunch.  This village was an eye opener for us. In order to reopen a mine, or extend it, BHP rebuilt and revitalised the town. That entailed shifting the church stone by stone because it was sitting over a huge silver/tin deposit. It is a huge concern with an open-pit silver, lead and zinc mine near the town. They brought in services and schools and generally the whole thing worked (very different to another mining company which i won't mention).

The roof is made of reeds

We ended the day at Luna Salada, a hotel made from salt blocks - even the bed base and some of the dining chairs are huge chunks of salt. And the floor in most places is loose crushed salt. Fascinating! the hotel looks out over the huge salt plain. 

The floor is covered with crushed salt - very hard to wheel a case across!