I HAD LONG DREAMT OF A TRIP ACROSS THE HEART OF South America, ever since learning Spanish during a year living in Seville as a student. I particularly liked the idea of being able to communicate with the local people I’d meet along the way. While in Bolivia, between visiting Peru and Argentina, I went almost everywhere by bus. That gave me a great chance to spend time with the locals. The buses were always packed and I enjoyed the atmosphere, with a man or woman often hanging from the door and yelling where the bus would head to next.
My route took me to La Paz, rising more than 3,500m above sea level. I needed a couple of days to get used to the altitude. The city has an extraordinary setting, forming a deep bowl in a high plain (the Altiplano). There’s a raw human energy to almost a million people living in this bowl, with everything tumbling towards its centre. I loved the brightly coloured houses of the outskirts, and wondered how they’d been contructed on such steep slopes. I was also amazed how many elder people could walk with ease up and down the steep streets.
Across much of La Paz you’ll ind stalls like the one shown in the irst photo here (see previous page). I thought it a special combination of objects: mirrors, books, TVs and Catholic paintings, like an art installation in a museum.