Bolivia

Bolivia

There are some places where time has stood still

Praying to inca gods and rejoice in the kill

I arrived in the town on a day of a feast

Summoned to task we helped kill the beast

With blood on my hands, I helped stoke the fire

We ate the Llama meat - a tribal desire

3 animals we killed to feast on that day

The first struggled. The others resigned to their fate

We thanked the gods. the devil too

It was authentic and primal and didn’t feel cruel

In their culture, Life and death are both honoured.

Everything is used. Nothing for granted

I hiked deep in the mines of Potosi

Offered cigarettes to a devil effigy

For the altitude we chewed coca leaves

We wore Llama wool coats, without we would freeze

A bus to La paz, short breaths up the streets 

In the Witches market A guinea pig I would eat

I tried everything – didn't want to be rude

Who am I to judge? When we waste so much food

In La Paz I met a new friend for life

Its effect  counteracted my overactive mind

As my Spanish improved, I travelled soltero

Lost in the mountains. Care factor zero

I met a student in Sucre on the day I arrived

She was a tour guide she said - but I felt that she lied

I leant her my walkman - she took me to mass

I met her family - they wanted marriage no less

She was beautiful and catholic and everything right

But I planned my escape and fled in the night

With my Paraguay potatoes bag on my back

I boarded a bus, and returned to La Paz

I found my companions. We planned a jungle hike

We bought provisions for 6 days and for 6 nights

With no guide or support - only a map

We slept in mud huts. Walked with feet chapped

The trek was extreme. The jungle grew thick

Many lives in the past this journey had took

I learned to survive and not to give up

Took the death road home on the back of a truck

In terms of surprises Bolivia came through

But we had to move on to the land of Peru 

Bolivian locals

Trekking in Bolivia 

Helping out with the bbq

Brad practicing good dental care in trying circumstances

Letting the Israelis go first- Jungle river crossing

This experience not is tour guides

Yes that is real dynamite and yes I was young and dumb

Sucre

My Sucre tour guide