Nasca

My final stop in South America, besides the Lima airport, was Nasca (back in Peru). Located in the middle of the desert about seven hours south of Lima, Nasca is home to the Nasca lines: mysterious and mind-bogglingly large-scale geoglyphs etched into the desert by the ancient Nasca culture. They can only truly be appreciated from the air (which is part of what makes them inexplicable, since the Nasca obviously didn't have airplanes), so I signed up for an airplane tour.

While the most famous and recognizable geoglyphs are the animal pictures (monkey, hummingbird, etc.), the whole desert around Nasca is covered with more simple designs of geometric forms and lines:

But of course the real excitement was spotting the more complex forms...

A map the airplane provided showing the geoglyphs we'd see

The whale

The monkey

The hummingbird

Bolivia's southwest

A big chunk of my time in Bolivia was spent in the southwest, a Patagonia-esque treasure in its rugged, vast, and largely untouched quality. Salt flats, red rocks, geysers, volcanos, deserts, multi-colored lakes and mountains, flamingos, ostriches, vicuñas, llamas - the list goes on!

Landscapes similar to those of the American southwest just outside the town of Tupiza (near where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were finally killed)

Rock formations formed by water and wind erosion

Vicuñas! (in the llama family but much smaller, native to the Andes)

This was a typical scene on the jeep tour - fording semi-frozen rivers through deep ice

Laguna Celeste (sky blue lake) with a volcanic peak in the background

This area was called the Desert of Dalí, because the mountain's mixed color palette resembled that of the Spanish painter

Laguna Verde (green lake) alongside Licancabur volcano. I saw this same peak from the Chilean side back in 2009.

Bubbling lava and geysers at 5,000m (16,400 ft) above sea level

Laguna Colorada (pink lake), with its native flamingos

Pretending to hold up the "rock tree" with tour group friends

Hanging out literally 2m away from beautiful flamingos

Watching the sunrise in the middle of the Uyuni salt flat

The whole floor of the salt flat has these hexagons, formed by the tiny bubbles that rise when the salt crystals form

One of many fun pictures from the salt flat - it's all about perspective :)

Last stop: the train cemetery in Uyuni

La Paz

La Paz was a warm and welcoming place, despite its chilly temperatures (it's the world's highest capital, and winter at 12,000 feet is no beach vacation). The city is quite interesting in its own right, but it also fascinated me in its stark contrast to Lima. Peru's capital is totally disconnected from the rest of the country, both economically and culturally. In Bolivia, which recently added "Plurinational State" to its official name, the rural indigenous cultures are celebrated not as historical heritage, but as an essential living component of Bolivia today. Half the people on the streets of La Paz were wearing traditional (not western) clothes, and the few wealthy skyscrapers were not the center of focus. The city's red-brick buildings spill down over the ridges to coat the entire valley, with the snowy peak of Illimani looming large above the rooftops.

Looking out over the city towards Illimani

San Francisco church and plaza

Evo's name and face are frequent sights, always accompanied by both the Bolivian flag (left) and the indigenous wiphala flag (right)

Plaza Murillo, on the Spanish side of the city, is home to the cathedral, the legislative and presidential palaces, and many many pigeons

Tucumanas and salteñas are the Bolivian version of empanadas, and are sold at street side carts on every corner

Also on many corners are La Paz's shoe shiners, who typically wear ski masks to cover their faces. As the feet are the most shameful part of the body for the Aymara, those who work as shoe shiners don't want to be recognized as such.

Rows of stalls in one of the central markets, set up in a multi-level building reminiscent of a parking garage or library stacks

In addition to regular markets, La Paz's witch's market offers amusing home remedies and unique items like llama fetuses (used in traditional rites to bless newly constructed buildings)

Anything unusual in this photo? Traffic-herding youth dressed as zebras are part of a new government program for disadvantaged youth - still don't really understand the connection there, but those zebras were everywhere!

Sopa de maní (peanut soup) is a traditional La Paz dish

I also got to visit Tiwanaku, a set of pre-Incan ruins outside La Paz

Leaving La Paz on a set of looong bus rides, I decided to break up the journey by stopping in Sucre, a beautiful city of white colonial buildings and cobblestone streets. Tranquil and temperate, Sucre made me wish I could stay longer!

My other in-transit stop was Potosí, known for the wealth extracted from nearby Cerro Rico's (Rich Mountain) silver mines