S M F G · A Counter-Clockwise Trip Around The World

La fiesta de San Isidro

May 21st 2010
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Happily couched in Cochabamba I have now time — and an Internet connection! — to update a little bit my Bolivian journal.

From the Bolivian border I went to Tupiza where I booked the tour to the Salar de Uyuni. I decided to save you the part about me whining for the temperature there ((Although I would say long-time friends probably can guess :-) )) and let you enjoy the beautiful scenery as I did.

The trip from Uyuni (appropriately nicknamed the Shithole by good old Matan) to Sucre was something that reminded me of India bus trips: we were stopping in the middle of nowhere to have lunch and use the toilet ((Still most male travellers preferred for that purpose to just use the street, given the state of the toilet itself.)), music — mostly cumbia — was playing at impossibly high volume from the bus speakers while the seat was passing on me without the minor softening every single bump of the unsealed road. But then again, I did it before.

Sucre was a nice stay, but really not much to do, plus the nights were still very cold. According to my fellow travellers the place to go was Cochabamba: nice warm weather, big CS community and lots of food!

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Plus, thanks to my beautiful host I had the opportunity of attending a local festival: the Fiesta de San Isidro. This was happening in her home town and she asked me to join (how I love the CouchSurfing experience: you are given a whole new range of opportunities).

The fiesta is basically a thank giving to the saint for the harvest and it is celebrated with a run of over-decorated bulls pulling a plough, traditional music and dance, food and lots of chicha ((Here a photo of a Tutuma con chicha.)), an alcoholic beverage made of fermented maize. As with every drink, you have to spill it three times to the ground, as an offering to the Pachamama ((More about Pachamama in an other article.)).

 

 

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One Response

  1. gigio says:

    Viva viva Sant’Isidro, protettore dell’anima mia…

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