November 12 consisted of more driving to the base of operation for the next leg of our journey. The next leg of our journey would be our climb of Poquentica, our second major ascent for this expedition. Our base of operation would be small houses in a village called Julo at the base of the mountain.

The drive would continue in the same manner as described in our Nov. 10 update to this website. In other words, although this update will describe intermittent scientific observations during our drive, this update will mainly describe the drive, the country side, the towns and people we encounter during our trek across Bolivia.











Here we stopped to stretch our legs and look at local geology.





We stopped along the side of the road so that Dana could take another UV sample.



We stop at a hot spring for lunch and to take water/biological samples. Lynn and Dana retrieve the samples.



Lynn.



The hot spring.



Our truck breaks down. Our Bolivian drivers, seem used to this. They clean out a filter and soon we are rolling again.



The filter.

After hours of driving and passing many fascinating geologic formations, we begin to approach our first major Bolivian city since the expedition began. We were entering a city called Oruro.

Oruro

From earlier updates to this website, you may note that we entered Bolivia through a very remote corridor from Chile. We explored remote lakes on Earth and passed through tiny villages and towns with very little human civilization in between. The smaller towns appeared influenced by Incan and European traditions. In the small towns, many people wore traditional Bolivian clothing and the towns contained features that were reportedly descended from Incan traditions.

As we passed into Oruro, these similarities persisted. However, as we drove deeper into the outskirts of the town, I started to see the same kind of industrialization that one sees at the edges of larger American cities. These consisted of industrial structures separated by vast, non-human scale spaces that were geared for large trucks and heavy equipment. The distinct difference from American cities, was that there were a larger number of people traversing the fast open, industrial spaces on foot and bicycles while still wearing traditional clothing.

As we drove deeper into the city, the city grew more dense. Traditional clothing persisted, but more non-traditional clothing became more prevalent.

Soon we were in a bustling metropolis. On this night we would stay in a hotel. After our time in the Refuge, a hotel seemed like a luxury. We parked, moved our bags inside, and then met for dinner in the hotel lobby.











We pull into a town called Oruro to spend the night. This was the largest city we had entered since the expedition began.

The hotel connected to a large bus station. A large tube-like hallway connected the street to the hotel reception area over a confusing conglomeration of buses and cars.

Connected to the reception area was what appeared to be a bus or train terminal. I had not seen an ATM since I entered Bolivia and hoped to find one here. I went into the terminal toward what seemed to be an ATM. When I walked closer, I saw that the unit was not an ATM, but was a kind of coin-operated rock video display system. Sitting in front of it were a group of people attentively watching it while they appeared to be waiting for a bus.

Later that night we regrouped in the lobby to go with Carlos [our host/guide] to dinner. Four taxis pulled up, with markings that resembled race car decals blended with taxi markings. Drivers jumped out, and wore outfits that also resembled race car style jackets. Inside the particular cab that I clambered into were neon lights and ornate carpeting across the dashboard. I don't know if all off this ornamentation was part of a marketing strategy or individual taxi driver personal expression.

A series of twists and turns took us through the dense Oruro streets until we reached our final destination outside of a restaurant. We went inside the restaurant and sat down to order. Carlos and Cristian [a member of our team and our Chief Logistics Officer] tried to translate the menu for us but even Cristian was having a hard time understanding what the dishes were [Cristian is Chilean who is fluent in both English and Spanish but is less familiar with Bolivian cuisine]. At this point in the trip and the day I longed for simplicity. I ordered the only thing on the menu that I recognized.

Others ordered more exotic dishes and then we discussed logistics for the climb.

Nathalie started with the basic questions relating to our ascent:

First, we needed to outline the final version of our scientific objectives and experiments for our Poquentica ascent.

Andy and Lynn outlined their goals of retrieving water samples and deploying the UV detector at the Poquentica high lake. Lynn and Andy would not ascend Poquentica. Therefore, Rob would deploy their experiments.

Nathalie outlined what it would take for her and Clay to deploy the bathymetry boat that would map the high lake on Poquentica using sonar.

Rob, Andy, Cristian and Nathalie brainstormed other logistical considerations that related to the climb, including the number of porters we would need to carry equipment up the mountain, the number of tents, and how much water we would need. We then settled into dinner.

After dinner, the race car-style taxi cabs pulled up again and after more twists and turns we were back at the bus station-hotel.

I still needed an ATM and so I did my best to communicate with hotel staff [with Melissa's assistance] and then strode outside to find the ATM.

This was a fun walk because it was my first on-foot experience in a larger Bolivian city. I saw many stray dogs wandering the streets. Some fellows sitting in a dark van next to a bar called "Club Miami" shouted "griiinnnnnnngoooooo!!" My search for the ATM was fruitless. I also was getting the feeling that I was in a bad part of town during a tough part of the night.

I turned around and after walking for a few blocks toward the hotel, I spotted Andy and Cristian. They sought water and Coca Cola. I tagged along because I wanted to see more.

Coca Cola corporation's market penetration into Bolivia is strong. Finding a sign with a Coca Cola emblem is easy, even in remote villiges on the Altiplano [High Plateau of Bolivia]. In one small village/mining oriented truck stop, almost every sign contained a Coca Cola emblem [this is similar to small American towns where Coca Cola provides a free or low cost sign to small businesses as long as the Coca Cola emblem is displayed]. However, Andy's quest to find a -cold- Coca Cola was interesting. We never found a cold one, and so Andy bought a warm one at a place that was labeled as a Chinese restaurant but sold nothing but chicken with french fries [pollo y papas fritas]. Incidentally, people eat a lot of chicken in Bolivia. I have eaten a lot of chicken in Bolivia. This dish usually tastes good.

On the way back to the hotel, Cristian filled us in on Bolivian history and then Andy and I related this to U.S. history. During the same time that there was a large Chinese immigration into the United States to build the U.S. railroads, a similar trend occurred to build infrastructure in Bolivia. As a result there are many people of Chinese descent in Bolivia.

We were to meet the team for an early departure at dawn and so we headed back to our hotel with the water and the Coca Cola. We all headed to our rooms to get sleep.