Everyday is the one

by Rafael Liberatore de Lima (Ireland)

A leap into the unknown Bolivia

I can still close my eyes and remember: fresh wind kissing my face, cold, 2 am, the light of the moon illuminating our paths, on my back the track from the day before, in front of me the days hike, but then I looked on my left. Down there was the shiny bright city of La Paz, the valley all lighten up by houses and cars, standing out in the dark night. Definitely that was one of the highlights of my hike on the Huayna Potosi located at the “Cordillera Real” at 6088 meters above the sea. An amazing experience on a trip full of beautiful landscapes, amazing people, good food and challenges, always with my camera in hand. From Peru to Bolivia, our journey started in the charming city of Cusco, once the capital of the Inca empire,with the predominant architecture from spanish colonial time and Inca ruins. A must stop before me and my friend Tiago head to the sacred city of Machu Picchu, with your unique aura, and constructions, was impressive to see how much advanced was the Inca Empire regarding community living, architecture, agriculture and how the city was so well hidden between the mountains. Back in Cusco and after exploring around the city, me and Tiago headed to the Vinicunca Mountain, more known as the Rainbow Mountain, located 5200 meters above the sea. Besides the “great” idea of doing the trekking on a small hangover, we actualy made it and it was exuberant, passing throw the valley between the vertical and high desert mountains covered on snow, arriving in the beautiful mountain consisted of many layers of colours. Safe and sound and with the lesson learned, about: “don’t have a hangover and go for a trekking”, we were on the road again, destination: Bolivia. After a bus to the border and a boat from Copacabana, not the Rio de Janeiro one, we got at Isla del Sol situated on the middle of the Titicaca lake, a chill and exuberant place. From there you can see the golden sunrise coming from behind of the frozen mountains of the Cordillera Real, and do a trekking around the island. After two very chillout days was time to hit the road again and head to the chaos of La Paz. As a big city La Paz has a lot to offer, most of all on the surroundings and that's what we searched for. From exploring the city chaotic center, the famous “mercado de las brujas” , checking out the chairlift and the Vale de Luna, one astonishing geological site near La Paz, we went for a quick visit to the abandon ski station of the Chacaltaya Mountain. From there we could see from the top all the Cordillera Real, included the place we were gonna spend the next days, The Huayna Potosí mountain. The days on the mountain were tuff but one of the best of my life. Even being acclimatized, the Soroche “mountain sickness” hit us hard. Including the training, ascension and descension, was total of 3 days. The sunrise from 5900 meters was indescribable, as well as the way down where I could take many pictures. The last stop of our trip was a 3 days tour on the Uyuni desert, the world's biggest salt desert in the world, with your crazy variety of landscapes, like the Cactus island, mountains, rock formations, geisers, a immense flat land of salt and also the bright and cristal clear sky full of stars that we were blessed to see every night. Looking back now, I see that this trip was an awakening, making me realise that the world is actually “small”, and there is no better way of knowing it then traveling seeing with your own eyes and meeting new people and different cultures. After flying back to Brazil, it took me 1 year and half to actually make from my life a long trip. In this period I planned, saved money, sold things, got documents and learned italian, and got a one way ticket to Bologna in Italy. Living in Ireland now I keep traveling everytime I can. Check out my pictures website: https://rllartproducao.wixsite.com/rllphotography