MUNGO EATS Latin America

We were going to leave the La Paz area today, but near the campsite, there are some cool rock formations, in the Valley of the Moon.  We drove by this area a few times, and I decided to hold up the migration south, for one more day, so that I could have a close up look at the place.  Glad we did, it turned out to be a very cool place. 

Yesterday we spent the day in La Paz, visiting the Witch Market.  This is a market where various “potions” and “remedies” are sold for ailments.  They also sell talismans to protect you and promote various things.  Sean bought a couple of talismans, one is a turtle, that brings long life, the other is a skull, that wards off evil spirits.  Sara bought an owl talisman, that is supposed to bring her intelligence…we’ll see!  I bought a talisman in the shape of a condor, that is supposed to bring us safe journeys.  We have a St. Christopher charm in the van, that has served us very well, but I think St. Christopher could use a bit of a vacation, never hurts to have a little help!!

Oh, and guess who we ran into, AGAIN?  Our motorcycle boys, Joel, Elliott and Andy.   Seriously, their obsession with us has got to END!!!  No really, it was fun seeing them again. 

We awoke this morning to a little noise, as the caravan of Germans, moved out.  We are now alone in the parking lot.  For a gang of 15 or so campers moving out, they were very quiet.  Must be a pretty strange way to travel, in a large caravan.  Not for us, that is for sure. 

Anyway, back to the moon.  The valley is only about 10 minutes from the campsite, so we walked there, with Mungo in tow.  We had to pay an admission charge to get in, but nobody bat an eye at the fact that the dog was entering as well.  This is what we entered.

There are hundreds and hundreds of sandstone spires, carved by wind and water erosion.  You follow a marked path, and every once in a while, there is a sign, pointing to a particular spire, that is named something specific.  Truthfully, I think the folks that put names to the spires, must have been chewing even more coca leaves than the archeologists in Machu Picchu.  Made the  condor and guinea pig of Machu Picchu seem blatantly obvious!!! 

Anyway, it was cool wandering around in this area for a while. 

In addition to the spires reaching upwards, the kids had fun looking down in  the gaps between spires.

Suddenly, we heard the sounds of a flute, or similar, echoing through the valley.  We saw an indigenous fellow, standing on a spire, playing his flute. 

He even posed for me.

When we got close enough to speak to him, he told us that he was Aymara, which is a civilization older than the Incas, and he was selling the instrument that he was playing, called a quena.  He had three different version, for sale for different prices.  We ended up buying the nicest type, which is carved out of wood, and has a mouthpiece made of llama bone.  He then showed Sean how to play it.

It’ll take some practice, there is no reed and the sound production is totally dependant on the position of the instrument.  Even if we never learn to play it, it is a beautiful instrument to look  at. 

Perfectly happy with our visit to the valley of the moon, we sat down in some shade just outside the gates, to have a snack to eat, just below Mt. Crumpet (of Grinch fame).

Shortly after we got there, two vans full of Bolivian musicians and dancers, pulled up and started posing for pictures on the rocks.  They asked us if we would take a picture.  I thought they meant that we were supposed to take a picture of them, but as soon as we said yes, both vans emptied out, some 15 or 20 people, all with different instruments, different flutes, horns, drums, etc.  They all posed around us, including Mungo, gave everyone except me an instrument to play (I was the animal trainer), and started playing.  One of their friends was videotaping the whole thing.  I’m not sure, but we may just have been extras in a Bolivian “rock” video!!!  When they were done playing their tune, they shook our hands, kissed us on the cheeks, loaded up into their van and drove away.  We really are famous!

One last note.  In case you are not sure what gift to buy your Ridgeback…we have a new suggestion.  Apparently, they really enjoy alpaca sweater pillows, to lay their weary heads on, after a hard day of walking on the moon!