bowls Bolivia

Outside of town, deep into the countryside by foot, we find a family workshop for functional and decorative ceramics. Between the chicken and children in diapers running underfoot it's amazing what is created here.

The clay used is literally dug up from different areas around the workshop and kept in large tubs of water after it is sifted down to varying degrees of fineness. The bowls are then turned on simple wheels powered by foot, left to dry in the hot sun and are prepped for glazing. The pigments they use are also direct from the land. There are several minerals, when grounded and mixed with a binder, make perfect pigments. Juan shows us a nugget of what will become yellow paint.

There are several homemade kiln ovens on the property. Each have been modified over the decades to best bake the ceramics and some of them have been made into figurative sculptures to boot. The bowls are all painstakingly hand painted by several different skilled family members.
It's hard to describe the remoteness and bareness that surrounds this little business oasis.

bolivian road trip

these snaps show the first 2 stops we made outside of Cochabamba: Valle Alta and Tarata. Tarata, where our car first broke down, was also where I got a lesson in the Cathedral's wine making history by an old hippie who I think maybe Santa Claus.

Cathedral of Tarata is also where the remains of a mystifying Bolivian president, General Mariano Melgarejo, are kept.

Villa Rivero

Villa Rivero, location of a new phenomenon where huge ditches in the earth are opening up without a known cause. We visited there as they were setting up for a big festival, the towns population is only about 700 and it looked like they are all really into foosball.

Villa Rivero Pepe the Loom Weaver

On a large loom he made himself from fallen trees, Pepe shows me how he weaves in his spare time. Pepe's day job is tending to the local tienda that he owns with his wife; his real passion seems to lie in his award winning rugs. He uses traditional motifs in his preliminary sketches and then goes to town deftly pulling strands trough the loom and tightening them with a horizontal branch.

Here Pepe proudly shows off pictures of his rugs and family.

Monte Puncu - regional market

Before heading into the Carosco National Park to camp, we made a stop at the regional market where locals buy and sell everything from T-Shirts to live cattle.

Chimboata_Canton

Back on the road- next stop Chimboata, a colonial town of a whopping 69. It seemed largly deserted which could be due to the really impossible unpaved roads (which stalled our little beater car once again).

Cliza, Bolivia

Cliza, we passed through, is a town of quechua origin. It's main economic activity is arts and crafts and it's produce fairs

Incallate Ruins and waterfall

After camping and a warm up around our campfire for breakfast, we hit the ground running to check out the remote Inca ruins Incallaita. The first Bolivian Opera, called "Incallajta", was created in 1980 in honor to these ruins. Before leaving the deserted park we repelled down the side of the craggily cliff to view the exceptional hidden waterfall.

Aiquile- Charango makers

A 1998 earthquake hit Cochabamba’s Southern cone, badly affecting Aiquile, the after-effects of which can still be seen to this day in the cracks which run through some of the town’s streets. Most of its population is Quechua , and its residents are reputed to be the best charango makers in the country. They even have a giant Charango statue in the center of town.

It is made by hand in many little workshops in town from a large block of wood most often instead of the traditional dried armadillo shell. A single piece for back and bowl is roughly carved out and hand sanded smooth. The result needs to be stretched and weighted to find the perfect balance before glueing the face on to little tabs along the rim. The string is used to keep the balance during the drying. Next the fine inlays and decorative edging is carved and applied before the findings are added.

When the Spanish conquistadores came to South America, they brought with them a traditional spanish guitar. There are many stories of how the charango came to be made with its distinctive diminutive soundbox traditionally made of armadillo. One story says that the Spaniards prohibited natives from practicing their ancestral music, and that the charango was an attempt to make a lute that could be easily hidden under their ponchos.

Bolivia-- Sucre Activities

I hiked up the hill and found a festival full of games.

Then took a tour of a monastery.


I also took a workshop on jewelry making. Later, I went to a little crafts museum that had these awesome dioramas.

Tarata, Bolivia

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

I've had just about enough of Technology issues. I still can't seem to get the download of my photoshop software right and now my Kindle has exploded. It's my last day in Bolivia so I'm heading out to this crazy nature park to see the butterflies before spending the night working out the software issues so I can get back to blogging right!
photos from http://www.biocentroguembe.com/eng_mariposario.html  

stars tonight

Today and tomorrow, I travel by private car to remote and hard to reach villages to explore some craft workshops and indigenous culture. Tonight I camp out under the stars, I can hardly wait!