Adventures in Bolivia
As a graduate student, I finally had the opportunity to work on a project in southern Bolivia.
Although I had spent previous summers camping alone while conducting fieldwork in remote areas, this was to be my first journey overseas, to a country known variously for coca growing, revolution, and the final resting place of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.La Paz is nestled in a series of steep valleys that are eroded in a jagged, blasted moonscape of sun-baked volcanic rock.
One of the city parks is called "Valle de la Lunas" or Valley of the Moon.
The city has sprawled up the valley slopes onto the Altiplano, or high desert.
As my taxi drove from the airport over the lip of the high desert, the city was spread out below, partially obscured through a haze of heavy smog.
After finding the company office, a driver took me to a hotel in the old part of the city, popular with young, dominantly British and Spanish backpackers.
Left to my own devices for several days, I taught myself the phrases and words to order breakfast and dinner, and wandered through the open-air market to practice my nascent Spanish skills on vendors of flashlights, jeans, and trilobite fossils.
I found Bolivians to be the friendliest of people, who seemed to delight in talking to a Norteamericano.
At first, I felt no ill effects from climbing the steep streets in what has been described as the World's highest-altitude capitol city.
After several days, altitude sickness left me with a feeling of exhaustion and constant headache in spite of six weeks of hiking in the Colorado Rockies.At last I was to depart for the exploration camp in southern Bolivia, as the pickup laden with fuel drums and survey stakes arrived to collect me.
My driver, Nicco, guided the pickup through the bustling, chaotic streets of La Paz and we rolled south on a two-lane, newly paved highway toward Oruro, a hot, dusty, windblown town that represents the end of pavement.
There, the sun-baked main street was covered in a one-inch layer of dust that was excited into whirling vortexes as lines of Volvo flatbed trucks trundled through.
Gray, windblown silt covered the cobblestone street, sidewalks, building facades, and withered decorative trees to produce a desolate dreamscape devoid of color.
We rolled through a featureless landscape beneath an endless expanse of blue sky and mercilessly bright sun.
As the daylight began to wane, the highway degenerated into a pair of deep ruts across the featureless desert, passing desolate adobe towns.
We forded streams of frigid meltwater from the Cordillera Oriental, often breaking a thin film of ice.
Night fell and still we rolled south, now across the Salar de Uyuni salt flat.
Despite the heater in the Mazda 4x4, the cold crept in, and in the ghostly play of the headlights, the shimmering white deposits of salt might have been snow drifts.
Time dragged, with only the constant rumble of the tires on hardpan marking a cadence in the darkness that surrounded the small, heated compartment of the pickup.
At last we reached a town, a sign of human habitation in what seemed increasingly like a harsh wilderness.
Not a single light bulb was evident as we thumped slowly over the cobbled streets.
Dark shapes shuffled along the sidewalks, and the shadows of adobe buildings rose and fell, capering in the glare of the headlights.
Stars, bright and brilliant as diamonds, but equally as cold, seemed to provide the only other light.
Amidst this scene of harsh desolation, the corpses of dogs littered the streets, frozen stiff where they had ultimately succumbed to the uncaring elements.After another three hours of crawling through the frigid darkness, the road seemed nothing more than a gully, with sagebrush whipping the sides of the truck.
Almost imperceptibly, we left the desert and a sheer rock wall suddenly loomed out of the darkness.
The truck climbed the rapidly rising road, which clung to the side of the cliff, and the engine whined in protest at the exertion caused by the steep grade and thin air.
In the days to come, my own heart and lungs would register a similar wheezing protest.
We passed through a looming cleft in the rock wall, beneath towering ramparts massed in the impenetrable gloom.
Suddenly, the truck stopped and we had arrived.
Arrived where?
In the dim light, I could barely discern an adobe wall.
There were no lights, no sound of people or animals, and no hum of machines that we have come to expect virtually everywhere in North America.
In the dead quiet, pitch black surroundings, I might have been standing in a cavern instead of in front of the quadrille where I would live for the next four months.
I had arrived in Bolivia..
I have written journal articles from a scientific viewpoint, but thought it would be fun to write about some of my travel experiences on a more informal level.
I have other photos and geology related items at http://sedward.home.netcom.com/petrography.htmlsedward@ix.netcom.com
GMC Canyon: A Functional Vehicle
The GMC Canyon has been in the automobile world since the year 2004. It arrived at the auto scene with its relative the Chevrolet Colorado. The GMC is a truck and actually are produced and manufactured in Thailand.
When the GMC Canyon first arrived on the scene in 2004, it was a pretty impressive truck. It held plenty of power along with a very spacious interior that had the consumers and aficionados flocking to see what the truck was all about.
It also was functional for it could transport not only people but cargo as well.
There are two engine choices for this vehicle. There is the standard 2.8 liter Vortec engine with four inline cylinders. This engine could produce some 175 units of power as well as 185 pound feet of torque. As per the optional engine, it is the 3.5 liter Vortec engine with five inline cylinders.
This is the first engine with five cylinders to be used in consumer pickups. It has the capacity to produce 220 horsepower...
GMC Canyon: A Functional Vehicle
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Chevrolet Trailblazer 2005: The Weekly Driver Review
With the addition of the 5.3-liter, 325-horsepower V8 extended cab (EXT), eight Chevrolet Trailblazer models are on the road in 2005. And as the largest and most powerful Blazer available, the new EXT has plenty to offer.It's comfortable and provides a confident drive. It offers vast cargo space, has an attractive two-tone interior, a well-designed console and boasts of plenty of impressive option packages.But sometimes subtle qualities or subtle deficiencies are more impressive or problematic than a vehicle's overt characteristics.So it is with the new Blazer. While recently showing the car to several friends, one sat in the second row of seats. Surprisingly, his head easily hit the roof.
My friend is 6-foot-3, and while that's tall, he's not a giant by any stretch."I've got a Scion and there's plenty of rear seat headroom," my friend commented.The quick analysis made a good point. As the largest and most powerful Blazer available, shouldn't a 6-foot-3 person sit comfortably...
Chevrolet Trailblazer 2005: The Weekly Driver Review
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Mexico's Mayan Riviera has something for everyone
Playa del Carmen and the Mayan Riviera have an exceptional array of attractions and activities from the Mayan ruins at Tulum to the Playa del Carmen nightlife, you will love your Mexico vacation. Here is a listing of some of the popular ones:Beaches and sport activitiesThis area has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Most of the beaches have been manicured and have fine white sand. The water is a turquoise blue of the Caribbean Sea.Scuba diving and snorkellingJust off the coast is the world's fifth-longest barrier reef. The reef, home to hundreds of species of marine life, is perfect for snorkelling.
Scuba dive and snorkel in the magnificent Caribbean waters. Scuba lessons for beginners and diving tours for the pros are available. Most resorts offer scuba/snorkel tours and/or lessons. Most of the ecological parks have great areas for snorkelling.For more information: www.sealifedivers.comCozumelOnly 45 mins from...
Mexico's Mayan Riviera has something for everyone
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Maintaining Your Tires Keeps Your Car Healthy
We often ignore our tires unless they're flat. But they play a vital role in the overall condition of your car. Maintain them properly, and you'll save money on repairs and on fuel costs.Keeping your tires properly inflated ensures that they wear longer and can prevent accidents. Your car likely has a card or sticker attached to the door edge or the inside of the glove box door. The right amount of air your tires need is specified here.
In case your car doesn't have this sticker, you can check your owner's manual.Serious accidents can happen if your tires are under-inflated or overloaded. One of my tires blew-out on me and caused an accident. Luckily I was on a little traveled country road and was going slowly. I hate to think of what might have happened if I had been in major traffic.Buy your own quality tire gauge. You can't tell if tires are inflated properly just by looking.
And the air meters at your service station may not be correct!Ask your auto supply dealer for...
Maintaining Your Tires Keeps Your Car Healthy
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tires Adventures in Bolivia Atv tires
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Posh Angels Sees Increase in Sexy lingerie, Clubwear, Dancewear, Exotic Dresses and Party Clothes for Valentine's Day
(ContentDesk) January 28, 2006 -- Now that the holidays are finally over and with Valentines Day looming ever so close, it is time to take a look at what people are buying for their sweethearts and loved ones. "One thing I have noticed is that people tend to do a couple things to celebrate this lovers holiday," says Jacqueline McCarthy founder of www.poshangels.com. "One is purchasing sexy lingerie for private viewing only, the other is buying...
Posh Angels Sees Increase in Sexy lingerie, Clubwear, Dancewear, Exotic Dresses and Party Clothes for Valentine's Day
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Auto Repair
Modern-day automobiles are complex, as most auto manufacturers are using high technology to make the cars more durable. However, being machines, automobiles also encounter the usual problems related to breakdowns as well as normal wear and tear. Repairing automobiles can be very confusing and finding someone qualified to make the correct repairs is becoming even more difficult.
It's a common proverb that "prevention is better than cure." Similarly, the best way to avoid auto repair...
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VoIP Providers
In the legacy system, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure is high, forcing call costs, such as long?distance calls, to be high. Hence, the services are dominated by large telecommunications companies like as AT&T. Small companies, such as local exchange carriers, find the cost of installing legacy systems prohibitive. Hence, they are restricted to local geography.
Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is an open architecture that can be seamlessly upgraded and can have new...
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