I’m back in La Paz again after spending 5 days lazing around the small town of Sorata. I needed to recover from all the travelling I’ve been doing recently, and thankfully I feel much better for it now.
The town of Sorata is nestled deep in the Andies. Although it’s only 115Kms from La Paz the final part of the bus journey zigzags down some steep roads, so it takes ages to get down to the town. I was suffering a bit from altitude sickness so when we finally started losing height the large drops, that normally bother me, had no effect.
One the first things I noticed was the number of gringo restaurants along one side of the square. I learned that the town is well known for the local trekking it offers, so it usually attract a good number of travellers. However, the country’s recent political troubles currently are continuing to deter travellers. I didn’t mind in the slightest because I wanted to hang out somewhere warm and with a lower altitude than La Paz for a few days.
Shortly after I arrived I guessed my friend Wolf, who I met in Mendoza, wasn’t in town and was probably up in the mountains somewhere as he likes to trek - much more than me. We had both studied Spanish and stayed in the same homestay for 4 weeks, so we knew each other pretty well. From the information I’d found I learned that the treks last for up to 7 days, so there was a chance that I’d have left before he got back into town.
So, the next day I was pleasantly surprised to see him wandering up the street from my hostel and more so when we worked out that I’d taken the room he asked the hostel owner to reserve for him. If I was a real friend I would have offered to move, but I was too busy laughing to think of it at the time.
While I was there I walked the 24Kms to San Pedro Caves. They were still building the tourist reception building when I visited. Well, in truth, there were several men sitting around a partly constructed building looking very bored. I guess they did some work when I wasn’t there. As I rested for the return journey I wondered if the building wasn’t a bit optimistic as I saw no other tourists come by to visit ‘La Gruta’.
On Friday the town celebrated ‘Virgin del Carmen’. For a small town it was a big event. What looked like all the children from the nearby schools dressed up and marched around the plaza. Some marched, other walked, a few of the youngsters hopped around. Most of the adults stood and watched. After the first circuit a few well-to-do people started giving speeches. After a while I began to wonder if it was going to turn into a Castro-like effort - he rambles on for 6-8 hours at a time. It didn’t, thankfully. The procession finished off with another circuit of the plaza. Finishing in good time for the sun to go down. What I found most interesting was the colourful traditional dresses the local women wore. I have a photo somewhere.
