Into the Altiplano

The Altiplano of Bolivia, a vast, desolate plateau at 13,000 feet above sea level, is one of the most sparsely populated places in the world. We were supposed to go to the village of Challacota to watch a total eclipse of the sun. But we got lost and ended up sleeping in the schoolyard of a village where the people said that they'd never before seen foreign visitors.

We left La Paz, Bolivia's capital, in a bus. At first we drove on asphalt roads through arid countryside, with cultivated fields that looked just like raked gravel. We passed many Aymará Indians, who make up most of Bolivia's population. Although the men look very modern in their sneakers and jeans, most of the women were traditionally dressed in derby hats, flaring multi-layered skirts, and brilliantly colored shawls.

We stopped at several barricaded police checkpoints. Each checkpoint had a shrine, nominally Catholic but with clear animist themes. At one such checkpoint we bought bananas and cookies in the surrounding village while our drivers negotiated with the police. Later, when the food ran short, we'd be very glad of these little extravagances.

We had two possible destinations: one was Río Mulatos, where the Bolivian government had staked out rows of tiny compounds in the desert, The other was Challacota, a remote village many miles northwest of Río Mulatos. Río Mulatos would be crowded and unpleasant, but Challacota was very remote and with no facilities at all. The decision: we would go to Challacota. Our guide was confident that he could find it. From the drab town of Oruro we took the road that led southwest into the desert.