![\"Destination](\"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/MG_0786.jpg\")
<\/a>Destination Caquiaviri<\/p><\/div>\n
Caquiaviri is a small town on the road to Chara\u00f1a, which is on the border with Chile and Peru, north of Tambo Quemado.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great destination for a day trip from La Paz, and it will soon be an even better destination.<\/p>\n
According to German Ambassador Philipp Schauer, in his book, \u201cTour Guide of Iglesias Rurales: La Paz y Oruro\u201d (Iglesias Rurales = Rural Chapels), \u201cThe chapel in Caquiaviri (The chapel of San Antonio Abad) is one of the masterworks of sacred architecture on the Altiplano.\u201d\u00a0 It was built in the 1560\u2019s, making it one of the oldest churches in the region.\u00a0 In the 1730\u2019s, three altars and a pulpit were added, decorated in baroque mestizo style.\u00a0 It also harbors 30 paintings.\u00a0 Like most paintings in the Altiplano chapels, these were probably intended more for didactic, than artistic, purposes.\u00a0 The large painting of the \u201cTriumph of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders\u201d gives a hint at the history of the church, which was built by the Franciscans, but taken over by the Dominicans in 1581.\u00a0 (By the way, get Ambassador Schauer\u2019s book. At most, I am giving you a taste of the great information and hints from the book.)<\/p>\n
Caquiaviri itself apparently pre-dated the arrival of the Spanish.\u00a0 It was a capital under the Incan Empire, and was on the road to Cuzco.\u00a0 Today it is a small town, but a cute one, set against a hillside.<\/p>\n
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Getting There<\/strong><\/p>\n From El Alto, take the road (carretera) La Paz-Viacha (Avenida Tihuanacu) south.\u00a0 From its intersection with Avenida Litoral, it\u2019s about 10 miles to Viacha.\u00a0 You hardly even leave the urban area, as the growth of El Alto threatens to extend into Viacha, which means that you will likely be fighting traffic all the way, and even if you aren\u2019t, watch out for the \u201cshock busters\u201d or \u201cdonkey backs\u201d as the Bolivians call them, the speed bumps which are laid across the road at frequent intervals.<\/p>\n You can find directions in this .gdb file<\/a>, which can be opened in Google Earth or used directly on your GPS.<\/p>\n (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n Viacha, itself, is a bit of a difficult passage right now.\u00a0 You want to continue on straight through town after jogging to the right, or west,\u00a0 by some three blocks, past the central plaza.\u00a0 However, the main street out of town, the continuation of Road 19 which brought you from El Alto, has been completely torn up for repairs (utility installation?) for most of the past six months.\u00a0 If it has been completed by the time you get there, that will make the passage easy.\u00a0 Otherwise, you probably need to stop and ask how to get out of town towards Coro Coro.<\/p>\n The work is over, at this point, as you have left the urban area behind, and the trip is pleasant.\u00a0 For the next 18 miles you pass through rolling hills.\u00a0 Emerald green in the rainy season, they turn various shades of brown and red when the vegetation dries up.\u00a0 There are also several small lakes and ponds on which you are likely to see a variety of water birds, including flamingos, if you are lucky.\u00a0 At 15 miles, you pass through a customs checkpoint.\u00a0 The principle illicit activity here seems to be smuggling gasoline, so if you don\u2019t look like a smuggler, you should get through without a hitch.\u00a0 That said, you\u2019ll probably need to stop and chat with the officers for a few minutes.<\/p>\n The First Bridge<\/p><\/div>\n Three miles further, you come to the first of a series of bridges which are under construction.\u00a0 Although the stream here hardly exists in the dry season, if there has been recent rain you won\u2019t want to try to ford it.\u00a0 Happily, the local population have come up with a temporary solution while waiting for the government to complete the bridge.\u00a0 They have built their own temporary bridge, for their own use.\u00a0 You will pass over two such bridges, the second soon after the first.\u00a0 They are narrow, and have no railings.\u00a0 I crossed them in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, but I would not try it in a Suburban or a Land Cruiser; they are just too wide and heavy.\u00a0 Actually, before you can cross them you first have to negotiate with the locals.\u00a0 To me, their initial line was that \u201cwe built this bridge just for ourselves, you can\u2019t cross.\u201d\u00a0 The guy in charge seemed a bit surprised when I offered to pay, but didn\u2019t take long to offer a price \u2013 actually, several prices.\u00a0 First he said, Bs20, then Bs40, and finally settled on Bs10, all before I could even enter into bargaining.\u00a0 I would have paid any of those prices and felt good about it, just to know I was contributing to such a virtuous effort on the part of the local population.\u00a0 I suggest bringing along some kind of small gift for the locals standing around there (I always carry a supply of decorative pins, myself, for such occasions).\u00a0 They will certainly appreciate it.<\/p>\n Oops!<\/p><\/div>\n Shortly after crossing the first bridge, you will find yourself at the second.\u00a0 We arrived at this bridge just in time to see a truck, and then a bus, attempt to ford the river to the side of the bridge (they wouldn\u2019t have fit on the bridge, itself).\u00a0 Both vehicles got stuck in the clay we were told forms the bottom of the river.\u00a0 We forded the river ourselves, hardly more than a small stream, when we were here in the dry season, though.\u00a0 This bridge is actually worse than the first, seemingly made of leftover construction materials and stones and mud picked up at the location.\u00a0 You will find yourself paying again (it\u2019s maintained by a different community).\u00a0 There are lots more crossings, but at least when we were there, in January, these were the only two that were really problematic for a serious 4WD vehicle.\u00a0 None of them would be a problem in dry season.\u00a0 And, more importantly, the bridges all seem to be well underway, so there should be fine cement bridges at all the crossings in a matter of months, making this an easy trip.\u00a0 From the looks of road crews grading the road in between the bridges, it looks like they plan to pave the road, too.<\/p>\n Crossing the bridge; Tatyana was shaking so bad with fear for me that she couldn’t hold the camera steady<\/p><\/div>\n For now, though, the pavement extends for less than half mile from the second bridge before giving way to a dirt road.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty well maintained road, so that\u2019s not a huge problem, but you will, of course, make much slower progress.\u00a0 The terrain changes, as well, from rolling hills and small scale agriculture, to much rougher broken terrain; the scenery is wilder, and the occasional houses take on the colors of the surrounding soil, mostly reds and purples.\u00a0 Some ten miles from the bridge, you will see a small village with a pretty large, maintained-looking church, off to the left of the road.\u00a0 This is apparently the Comunidad Labra.\u00a0 Just over the next ridge, is an outcropping of minerals being mined on a small scale.\u00a0 This is the first of several mineralizations along the road, and explains the large trucks you\u2019ve been seeing as you drive.<\/p>\n South, towards Canambari<\/p><\/div>\n Another mile down the road and one more river crossing, and you come to an unmarked turnoff to the south.\u00a0 This dirt road extends to the small town of Canambari, and the Coro Coro-Achiri road, which could make a loop of the trip.\u00a0 One could also make it a loop by continuing south from the second bridge, instead of crossing it, to Comanche<\/a>, then on to the mining town and provincial capital Coro Coro and around to Achiri.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t done that trip, but will eventually.<\/p>\n Another eight miles from the turnoff toward Canambari, is Caquiaviri, nestled up against the hillside to the southwest, the chapel prominently overlooking\u00a0 the town.\u00a0 We were there on January 21, and the local fiesta, San Antonio de Abad which reportedly begins on the 17th, seemed to be just coming to a close.\u00a0 It is reportedly celebrated with a running of the bulls.<\/p>\n From Caquiaviri to Achiri is another 30 miles, but we\u2019ve only made it to Vichaya, about half way.\u00a0 The terrain changes significantly after Caquiaviri.\u00a0 From the bridge until Caquiaviri, it is rough but seemingly relatively fertile.\u00a0 Sheep outnumber llamas and small scale agriculture is in evidence.\u00a0 After Caquiaviri, it becomes noticeably dryer and less arable.\u00a0 Sheep are no longer visible, and llamas appear only occasionally.\u00a0 Old mines and new are in evidence on the sides of the road.\u00a0 Some seven miles out of Caquiaviri is a very noticeable set of eroded washes, mostly on the south side of the road, which is interesting for the gorges cut into the plain.\u00a0 If you get out and walk around a bit, you will likely find some strange square and rectangular stones which weather out of the dirt, as well as old pottery shards.\u00a0 This area must have been populated sometime in the past, but all that\u2019s left are the shards.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>