Larry Memmott's Blog

The mine tour in the Cerro Rico de Potosí is not to be missed if you can handle the physical demands and the tight spaces involved.  I’ll provide more details later, together with my recommendation for a tour guide, but for now, just a few reflections about the tour and the mountain, itself. Legend has […]

Today we drove from Sucre to Potosí. Tomorrow Christina, William and I will take the mine tour down into the famed Cerro Rico. Wish us luck!

We visited Cal Orck’o and the Cretaceous Park this morning. It’s definitely a worthwhile stop in Sucre, and from the management we understood that it will be getting even better. Cal Orck’o is the site of a major cement plant of the disputed Fanesca cement company. It is also the quary where Fanesca gets its […]

We’re in Sucre, our first stop.  If you haven’t been to Sucre, you certainly should go.  It’s a beautiful whitewashed colonial city of great historical importance.  It’s a pleasure to walk, has at least one great hotel, and a number of sights well worth visiting. We got here this morning and immediately checked into the […]

The church in Jesus de Machaca looks quite different from other churches on the altiplano.  It also looks quite out of place for such a large and sumptuously decorated church to stand in such a small town in such an apparently poor region.  With its whitewashed facade and blocky look this church is an example of late renascence architecture.  German Ambassador […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]