Naughty Boy- La la la (feat. Sam Smith)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O1_3zBUKM8

Naughty Boy- La la la (feat. Sam Smith)

It seems that this music video is based on a 19th century Bolivian legend, but has been produced as a story within a story, so parallels are made with The Wizard of Oz. The boy, from an abusive background, begins in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia, progresses to the salt flats in Uyuni, and then ends up in Potosi. The boy finds a dog, resembling the lion, then the tin man, who gets a heart and finally the scarecrow.

A strong mining theme runs throughout; shots of the train cemetery, which once connected Bolivian mines to further afield. Potosi, debatably one of the highest cities in the world, famous for its mining of silver and disheartening 'chisel and head torch' working conditions.

It's not often you see a music video that is as impressive as this, with great visuals. I may be biased, seeing as Bolivia is one of my favourite countries with lovely people and an interesting history, but the scenes are beautiful and so what better place than to film a music video in the desolate southwest of the country. Amazing.

These are a few snaps of my experiences of these areas of Bolivia. The photos don't do it justice, but it gives you an idea:

Lagoon with pink flamingos

Potosi

Red Lagoon

Salt Flats

Potosi miners

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/man-writes-lengthy-complaint-airline-sit-next-thought-infant-hippopotamus/

Maybe I should have written a more comical letter of complaint to Fiji Airways like the one above...

Salt Flats

DAY 1:

Packed, eaten, paid, ready to go. We went to the 'Red Planet' offices and got in our jeep. There are four jeeps in total, two guides, and one driver per vehicle, so the group was split in two for the purpose of the guides. We all travelled as four jeeps together though. The first stop was at abandoned railway tracks and trains. We had a great time exploring and taking photos. The weather was really windy and it was starting to rain. We drove to this place where we stopped for lunch, picked up a few props for the salt flats and were shown the process from taking the salt in its purest form to bagging it up and taking it to be sold. We then set off again and drove to the salt flats. They are 12,000 square kilometres. We drove for quite a way to this small land island in the middle with loads of cactuses on. It was pretty cool and the views of the salt flats were incredible. It was so white and just disappeared into the horizon. It was such a shame it was such bad weather though. We tried our best to take some cool photos, distorting the perspective, but our props kept blowing over. We drove and drove, the views being absolutely amazing. As the day went on the rain stopped and it cleared up a bit. The water on top of the salt created reflections of the mountains in the distance. It was pretty stunning. We stayed the night at a salt hostel (everything being made out of salt) in the middle of nowhere. We had a questionable dinner, which we barely touched, consisting of egg, hot dog, chips, onion... It was all very bizarre. We got chatting to various people in the group, everyone was very friendly!

DAY 2:

Up at 6am and leaving at 7am, we left the salt hostel and headed off on the road. We ended up driving for ages today. I feel like I've seen a lot of Bolivia's beautiful landscape from this tour and have really enjoyed it. Throughout the day we regularly stopped off at different points. One of the first ones was by loads of massive volcanic rock where you could see the active volcano in the distance with smoke coming from it. The desert terrain we were driving on was rocky and our guide, Gonzalez told us it was once at the bottom of the ocean, which was hard to comprehend! We then saw loads of llamas crossing the road, all belonging to one woman. A train passed us in the middle of nowhere too. We then went to see loads of flamingos on a lagoon. I've never seen wild flamingos- they were so pink and stood on one leg like flamingos are meant to do! That wasn't the end to the flamingos though; we kept seeing them again and again throughout the day at various lagoons. My favourite was the final one we saw: it was massive, had white, green, blue and red colourings in the water, caused by sulphur, the sun, different minerals. It was beautiful. As we drove I also found a great sense of remoteness and scale. It was amazing, like nothing I'd ever seen before. On our right as we drove, Chile was located just over the mountains, so we were very close. We also saw geysers and hot mud pools boiling away when we were stood inside the crater of a volcano. We got very close and the steam was so fierce. We also saw the big rocks where Salvador Dali was inspired. There was one rock which I distinctly recognise in one of his paintings. It was so surreal seeing it in person! After arriving at our hostel in the evening in the middle of absolutely nowhere, we ate, watched to sun go down and once it got dark ran down to the hot water springs and relaxed in there for probably two hours! We saw lightning in the distance and watched the stars. The moon lit up quite a lot of the landscape considering it was pitch black. It was chilly once you got out, but we dried off quickly and are all now tucked up in bed. It was a great day!

DAY 3:

Our first stop was the Salvador Dali desert. There were massive boulders of rock scattered sporadically around the area. It just reminded me of Dali's paintings, so for me it was really interesting. We then drove to the Laguna Verde- the 'Green Lagoon'. It literally appeared as it is called and we spent a few moments there taking group photos. Gonzalez pointed out that we we stood in Bolivia, to our right was Chile and to our left was Argentina. We then drove a short way to the Chilian border to drop half the group there as they were catching the bus. For the rest of the day we drove back to Uyuni. The drive wasn't that bad as the scenery was very beautiful, stopping for lunch around midday. We arrived in Uyuni at about 4pm and are back at the hostel. We spent ages sorting ourselves out. I've lost my black cardi, which is a slightly annoying as it is so useful- I don't know where I've left it at all. Possibly, mislaid it after picking up washing. At least that's all I've lost this whole trip- touch wood. There's no power here, so we're waiting for it to be turned on for a hot shower... It's on now!! Yes, can't wait to feel clean again! Overnight bus to La Paz to tonight.

Potosi

Potosi- highest city in the world at 4,067m. Once we got to our hostel in Potosi, located right by the main square, we headed out for something to eat and found one of the only places open was a Mexican place called 'Coyote'. The woman who worked there had a really tiny puppy that was only one month old. I asked to hold it- it was so cute and just wanted to play and bite everything. It made Jenny jump at first because it was walking around in the restaurant on its own and she felt something rub against her leg. It gave everyone there a good laugh!

In the morning we took the 8:30am Potosi mines tour, along with loads of people from our hostel. The guides got us dressed up in protective over trousers and coat, wellies, a helmet, torch and some trendy bags to put our cameras and water in. We drove a short way to the miner's market, which was a street selling all sorts of different things, like dynamite, ammonium nitrate and wire with gunpowder in. Basically everything to make an explosion in the mines. There was also a load of alcohol- 96%. So pure ethanol, which the miners drank. We realised that this is what we'd swigged on death road. We were encouraged to buy 'gifts' for the miners, so we bought an orange juice drink, alcohol (a decent amount priced at the equivalent of 80p) and gloves. We then drove to the entrance of the mine and waited to go in. On a normal day 12,000 miners work inside, all male, working up to 24 hours in one go. They manage to go all this time by chewing coca leaves, which surpress their hunger. We went inside. I found it very unsafe. The rocks were crumbling as you touched them and it was a bit of an obstacle course, climbing through small holes, scrambling onto pieces of unstable wood and climbing down ladders to another level. There was arsenic in the rocks too, which formed a red colour. The mine isn't government run and so the conditions they work in are terrible. The only thing helping them is the compresed air in pipes. It was interesting to see but not enjoyable one bit. I couldn't believe people worked like this still. A man was working in there with a chisel, seperating the silver and tin. We were told he'd worked there for fifteen years. A few people stayed to watch the lighting and the hear a dynamite explosion. I really didn't want to as it wasn't the most fun experience of my life and I didn't fancy risking rocks falling on me after an unsafe explosion, so I headed out with Jenny and a couple of other women. I was pretty relieved to see daylight to be honest- there's light at the end of the tunnel, literally!

That afternoon we received confirmation from our buses, had some lunch, picked our laundry up, made our way to the bus station. Waiting in the bus station was quite funny- women shouting 'siete media a la Uyuni' or 'ocho a la Uyuni'. I think they even found it funny, competing against each other and sounding like a broken record. We then caught a four hour bus to Uyuni which got in at about half ten. We arrived on a deserted random street, with no one around, especially no taxis. We didn't know what to do. We went in some doors to a hostel (the only place open) and asked where our hostel was. He said it was a couple of blocks away on the main square. We risked it, and hurried quickly to our hostel, using the small map with directions that he'd given us. We were pretty scared but five minutes later we were there. We went to bed and eventually got to sleep, despite the guy snoring in our room!

Sucre

Sucre is a really nice city. We stayed for two days, one night. I received some sad news that first morning from home, so we spent the morning at the hostel while I skyped my family. In the afternoon we headed out to the town and had some lunch on the square. We then walked around a bit and tried to find a tour agency to book our Salt Flats tour. We didn't have much luck, and found an internet cafe. We booked/ emailed/ called a few places to get it sorted. In the evening we walked around the square. The lights were so pretty and Christmassy and it was full of children. We proceeded to buy a Santa hat and thought it would be a good idea for the salt flats. We were suprised by the peacefulness of Sucre and wondered why it wasn't even more busy. I suppose it was so nice and quiet compared to La Paz.

On our second day we went to Casa de Liberatad and had a look around and to San Felipe cathedral (which was closed). We've tried to be travelling or on a tour or something on Sundays in Peru and Bolivia because nothing is ever open so we just had a wander around. We had something to eat and then went to catch our bus at 3pm from the bus station. It was about a three hour journey to Potosi.

La Paz

Loki is a crazy hostel. Maybe because we stayed in a 14 bed dorm, but it was loud, (not so much in the dorm,) and we had an eventful night. At 11am the following morning we started the 'Red C&P' walking tour of La Paz. It was a really entertaining tour done by a girl and an eccentric guy. We started by San Pedro prison in the centre of the city and then made our way to the markets, the witches market and San Francisco square and cathedral. It was interesting to discover La Paz's history and how it was built as a midpoint between Sucre/Uyuni and Cusco. It is also built in a big basin, with the poor living higher on the hill and the rich at the bottom, unlike any other city. The guides also talked of the women and their dress. They wear big patterned dresses with many layers, which make me feel hot just looking at them, but they put their calf on show as this is the most desirable trait to a man. If a woman is strong and has big hips, she therefore has strong calf muscles. At the end of the tour we finished at the top of a a five star hotel, with great views of the city.

After the tour finished, we weren't that hungry so decided to get going and do some shopping. We went to the area near the witches market. Oh, I forgot to say, that the witches market is so weird. It has dead llamas and weird herbal concoctions everywhere. It's a bit scary! We spent the afternoon searching through the small, jam packed shops and bargaining with the women. My best purchase was a big black and brown leather weekend bag. We got some great bargains, and knew we'd spend a fortune on these items at home. We got a bit carried away and lost track of time. We'd been shopping for three hours! We felt like we were a target, walking around with our leather bags and nipped into somewhere for something to eat. We went to catch our El Dorado bus at 7:30pm to Sucre. The bus was really nice, but we were very on edge with our bags because of the stories we'd heard about in Bolivia. We arrived in the morning at about 9am and felt like we'd slept which was good!

Death Road

Our first night in La Paz. We stayed in a 14 bed dorm in this crazy hostel. It was nice enough and there were people everywhere. We chatted a to few people in the room, then decided to see whether we could book death road for the following day. We booked with 'Barracuda' who were cheaper than 'Gravity'. We wondered what the difference in price was and discovered that Barracuda just use Gravity's old equipment. That evening we were recommended a restaurant called 'Cafe de Sol & Luna' on Cochabamba street, a short walk from the hostel. La Paz is mentally busy. We kept wondering what all these people were doing on a Wednesday evening. It was a mission to get anywhere. So we found this restaurant and went in. The food was amazing! We had beef, which we never normally do. It was such a posh meal in a lovely restaurant, and only a fiver... Bolivia is super cheap. It sounds like Jen and I elate eating out loads, which I admit is true, but the hostels here don't have kitchens and it would actually be more expensive to cook yourself! We've bought fruit and things from markets and street food too and it just works out so cheap. Their equivalent of a consumerist society is consuming the street food. In La Paz, or anywhere for that matter, you'll struggle to find a supermarket, but surety food and markets places with cheap set menus are everywhere!

We woke up early for Death Road and got to the meeting point at Oliver's pub at 6:45am. We left at about 7:30am after breakfast and when we were all signing off the list. There were two groups. Jen and I were in a group with 8 other boys. Our guide, called Gus, introduced himself and we had two guys named Jimmy and George from NZ on the tour from our room in the hostel who we'd chatted to the night before. We were all given helmets and gloves and a jacket which we had to wear. After the hour drive outside the city we were dropped off at a very high altitude of 4600m. We were each given our bikes, with incredible suspension, and we tested the brakes and gears and adjusted the seat before setting off on our adrenaline fuelled day.

The guides were great. There was two of them, one stayed at the front, one at the back at all times and the bus followed with all our stuff. We were filmed and photographed the entire journey by the other guide, called Cese, and were given it on a CD at the end of the day. We were briefed on how to use the bikes properly before we got on different terrain throughout the day; what brakes were best to use and how high your seat should be etc etc. We were wished good luck by Gus and he made us go round the circle, drop a bit of alcohol from his bottle onto the ground, the front wheel of the bike and then take a swig. We passed it around and everyone did it, eventhough the spirit, whatever it was, was horrid! The first hour or so was before Death Road and on tarmac. It was very smooth and we just went downhill on the mountain bikes. It was great fun and the views were amazing. They kept stopping every five minutes so we could get photos, admire the view and have the group stay close together. We kept going all the way down to Death Road. We got back on the bus for a small uphill section and got off at Death Road. The terrain was all gravel and rocky, therefore it was going to be very bumpy. The views were amazing and you could just see the road cut into the edge of the cliff. It was amazing. We stopped often at first as the track had a steep drop on the side we took photos and cycled through waterfalls. Some parts were really muddy and so we got wet got mud on our faces. The further down we went, the lower altitude it was, so it was hotter. I did get a little nervous nearer the end. I think I was hot and tired and it was hard to keep the bike steady on the gravel, stay slow and in control. It didn't help being in a group of fearless boys, who went ahead, however the guide constant lye stayed at the back, so I just took my time. Where was Jen? Way ahead- adrenaline junkie!

After another hour on the road we stopped at the lunch spot. We all got in the river and had a swim. It had a pretty strong current so we held onto the edge at first and walked upstream and found a nice spot on the rocks. The sun was strong and we felt like we were being burnt so we got out the river and changed our clothes and had lunch. The tv was playing with photos and footage from the ride- a 'crazy llama' picture was there! I spotted a parrot outside and we went to had a look. I gave the blue and yellow parrot some crusty bread, which he enjoyed. The feet, beak and tongue looked so strong.

So we were all on the bus and we  had the option to drive back up death road to get back, or go on the newly built road. We thought, 'okay, let's go on the new road because it will be tarmac es hopefully'. We found out it took longer and it was partly tarmaced and would be open in half an hr from that point as it was 'broken'. Reassuring. We decided on surviving death road twice and took the risk. We were only reassured in our driver's 35 year experience when he made a U-turn and landed in a ditch. Tying the van to another with a rope didn't work as it broke. They tried to double it up- you know what happened next. There was a reason for all the boys in our group: they all pushed the van out of the ditch. We got going, the journey being a little more terrifying than we had anticipated. The road only fitted one car, so much so that you could not see the road when you looked out the window on the cliff side. We stopped a couple of times to see car and van remains from recent accidents. More car accidents happened than cyclists, but they still happened. After a 2-3 hours and some tunes blaring in the van, we arrived safety back at the hostel.

We ended up going for dinner with Jimmy and George and an Australian girl from our room. We headed to the Christmas market. It was massive and had loads of stalls. We had an array of street food all costing about two quid in total. Dessert was the most interesting, although us girls were too full to fit anything else in, there were loads of similar stalls one after the other. They all had a tv in place playing a movie on repeat, with rows of table and benches. It was like a outside, Christmas market, street food cinema. It was bizarre, but good fun. The smurfs was our choice of film. Back at the hostel we bumped into Ian and Marie-Lou again and had a good chat with them. We intended on getting a drink and socialising, but we just went to bed!