Larry Memmott's Blog

If you are going to Tiwanaku, you should certainly visit the town and its church.  It is certainly worth noting that most of the stone used to build the town, and all of that used in the church, was taken from the Tiwanaku ruins.  For modern sensibilities, that would be a crime, but I suppose […]

Laja was founded as La Paz on October 20, 1548 by Alonso de Mendoza.  It lasted for three days, as the city was transferred to its current location on October 23.  Laja remained an important location and the first cathedral in Bolivia was built in the mid-17th century.  It is an imposing stone building with […]

Tiwanaku is mandatory, even if you are in Bolivia for only a few days.  It is the premiere archaeological site in the country and provides an opportunity to learn about the longest lived empire in South America.  On the way to Tiwanaku, you can visit the first cathedral in Bolivia and the site of the founding of […]

The trip to Tiwanaku is a “must-do” excursion from La Paz.  The remains of the capital of the longest-lived empire in South America is something you don’t want to miss.  The ruins are impressive.  The history behind them is even more impressive.  I’m not going to get into all of that here, so you definitely […]

Alex got here Thursday morning and we’ve been having a good time since then (even though work has been completely insane).  Friday night we went to the video taping of a concert by Bolivian metal group Armadura at the Ministry of Culture.  It was a blast. Saturday we went down to the Valley of the […]

Well, the blog is basically about anything I want to write about, right?  And I’ve never written about food, but that’s no reason not to start now.  Bolivian food, or at least Bolivian ingredients, seem to be a bit in vogue right now.  Quinoa is all the rage in the U.S.  The New York Times […]

Every corner of Bolivia has its own mysteries.  On the way back from Tarija, we decided to travel from Sucre to Oruro across the mountains, rather than circumnavigating them through Potosi, as is usual.  This is NOT a shortcut.  Though the route may look shorter on a map, the serpentine path and bad roads mean […]

  A group of friends went up to Luna Llena Rock Bar last night to check out The Vampire Shadow’s Nigth.  It was my first time there, so I figured it was worth a short review, both of the bar, and of the show.   Luna Llena is considered to be one of the three […]

One of the great things about Bolivia is that wherever you go, even if it is not where you wanted or intended to go, you will likely find excitement of some sort.  Twice now I have tried to find my way to Laguna Arkhata, nestled as it is in the upper folds of the skirt […]

On Sunday, for the first time, the press took note of this blog.  Pagina Siete, one of Bolivia’s most important newspapers said, “. . . the leader of “a” embassy, Larry Memmott, has a very professional blog (www.memmott.us) about tourism in Bolivia, in which he promotes the places he visits.” Very nice of them.  Thanks! […]