August 11 & 12 

After our beer and selfie at The Turf (Paul may have bought a cap) we boarded the train to Shrewsbury. It was a highlight for Paul as he had never actually ridden this route. Meant we got to pass by many of the landmarks we knew so well from our time there, particularly the aqueduct at Chirk.

John Buckley picked us up at Shrewsbury station and took us back to his and Fiona’s for a lovely tea in the garden, and a walk to fend off the jet lag and supper. 

The next day we (re) explored Shrewsbury, walking down to the river, first for coffee, then to meet up with a different Fiona (Loveday). We wandered through and past old favourites: the Dingle, the Market Square, down the High Street back past (Charles Darwin’s) old Shrewsbury school, the castle and the station and back to the river. 

Our destination was the refurbished flax mill. Again visiting  part of the country that was always close, but one we never had visited. (This became a thing). 

Whomever came up with the idea for somehow converting flax into linen was insane. So laborious. Interestingly it was the US War of independence coupled with the concurrent advances of the Industrial Revolution that was the impetus for the industrialization of the process to replace the sudden loss of access to cotton. 

And it also created the milieu for the design of the mill which is recognized as the first multi-storey building that became the blueprint for the skyscraper. 

After returning to Fiona’s car she dropped us out by the hospital where we got to have another lovely tea in the garden, this time with Czes and Jola who were Paul’s registrars when he was an SHO at Shrewsbury. Then another pleasant walk back to John & Fiona’s for supper. 

Getting our kms in, in preparation for Offa. 14km. 

10 & 11 August 2024

30 years ago, newly married, we moved to Shrewsbury UK so that Paul could do a year of anesthesia. Lori acquired a job in Chester as a medical writer for ADIS. When Paul’s year was up we decided to stay on so Lori could continue that job and so we moved up to Wrexham for 6 months (Paul working at the hospital there) and then LlayLLay so that Paul could work in nearby Chirk.

Yes Wrexham. Back then we never thought it would become famous. 

And we remember so little about it. Probably because there was very little going on there at the time and so, each weekend we had off, we would be exploring the many opportunities that surrounded it.

One such opportunity was part of Offa’s Dyke, built in the 8th century to mark the border between Mercia and Wales.

But first Wrexham, which we had not been back to in 30 years.

Friends had picked us up in Manchester and had driven us down to Wrexham with a plan to have dinner there. When arriving into town Lori exclaimed, “What are all these police and people doing here?”. It was then we realized that there had been a game on. The opening game of the season. AND that Rob and Ryan had been there. We missed them by a couple of hours! (not that we could have possibly got tickets).

However, the next day we did make it to the Turf for a drink.

May 16

We arrived back to our hotel from the salt flats quite late and so nothing was open. It was left over granola bars for supper.

Thus we were quite hungry for the hotel breakfast the next morning. After breakfast it was back to the airport and back to La Paz.

Upon arrival back at the hotel, based on Meghan and Jason’s recommendation, it was off for “the best coffee in La Paz”.

And then what to do?

Well what else but do a tour of the city entirely by gondola?

Because of the topography and the instability of the soil La Paz was never going to be able to build a subway and buses got jammed in the never ending gridlock of the narrow winding streets. What few rail lines had been removed and there is only a remnant at the central station. Which of course demanded inspection.

Instead they have built a series of gondola lines as an above ground “subway”

Thus it was possible for us to do a loop of the city, totally on the gondola lines. As Thea observed “Nothing to see here. Just a boy loving pubic transit”. What wasn’t to love? A fantastic way to see the city.

Our last night with in South America was spent sharing pizza (and bequesting  our remaining toilet paper) with Jason, Meghan and Jason’s parents. Before heading to bed because, yes again, up at 0330 for the ride to the airport. 

Sunset Shenanigans

May 15

After wandering around admiring the various salty constructions we returned to our vehicle to be greeted by our guide and gumboots. Again with little explanation.

We drove to a section of the flats where a thin layer of the wet season rains still lingered. From there we watched the most amazing sunset, while enjoying some of the red wine that had previously featured. 

Spectacular doesn’t begin to describe it. 

Thea  and I took to turning our backs for a moment to admire the equally spectacular sight of the sun dressing the surrounding mountains and then we would turn back to be further amazed by the changing vista of the sunset reflected in the water. 

But I should let the photos speak

May 15

When researching the Salar de Uyuni we saw lots of fun forced perspective shots achievable because the flats are, well, so flat. At one stopping point Thea and I tried to do our own. And failed.

Fortunately our guide was better prepared.

Much better. 

After the photo fun our guide then told us to give him all our phones and put all our gear in the car and line up on the salt. We all gave each other nervous looks and voiced the same thought “Is he just going to drive off and leave us?”

But once he had finished driving around us in circles all became hilariously clear. To great effect. 

May 15 

To the salt flats. Where Lake Titicaca is a fresh water collection in a basin in the altiplano, the Salar de Uyuni are almost the opposite. It is speculated to have formed after a huge prehistoric lake, called Lake Minchin, dried up over 40,000 years ago. 

And they are huge (check them out on Google Earth).

We embarked upon our journey across just a part of them complete with our own pan-pipe soundtrack…. Which got a lot of airplay that day (see.. erm listen to the video). 

First stop was the salt hotel for lunch. Yes the name is structurally descriptive. 

After exploring around the hotel we both admitted to thinking “Ok, seen the salt flats. Do we really have to keep going?” 

Well we were about to be disabused of our skepticism. 

We crossed further into the centre of the flats (pan pipe accompaniment included) to the “island” of Isla Incahuasi, a volcanic and coral outcrop festooned with astounding cacti. Because of their isolation they were well protected from parasites and infestations and thus have grown for several hundred years to become huge and Seuss-like. 

We got to walk amongst them (but not touch them.. 🤕) while admiring the incredible expanse of the salt flats surrounded by the ancient mountains and volcanoes. 

We were suitably impressed and humbled. 

But it was to get even better. 

May 15

Due to flight schedules we were not booked to leave La Paz until May 17. 

Totally serendipitously Thea’s cousin Zia had asked (prior to the trip) “Are you going to the salt flats at Uyuni while you are in Bolivia?” 

So of course I had to look and thus found  that, yes, we could get there and back and still keep our La Paz departure. 

Well it seemed like a good idea at the time. Not so much when we were up at 4 am (again!) to get to the airport. 

At least we were able to get coffee at the airport. 

Uyuni was a stark contrast to the colour and bustle of La Paz. Dusty, almost desolate streets. Square ramshackle buildings. One could easily imagine this was where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their last stand. But this hid a colourful interior. 

We had the taxi drop us at the meeting point for our tour but, as it was not open yet, we went in search of, well , coffee of course. 

And found a lovely colourful cafe. 

Back at the tour office all seemed a little chaotic and unreassuring. Everyone else who entered was on a three day tour. Water to fill our bottles that we actually didn’t have to empty for our flight? A hand wave outside and vaguely around the corner. Departure time and itinerary? Unclear. How many on our tour? 🤷‍♂️ 

Eventually, reassuringly our vehicle arrived with already four other passengers on board (picked up from where?) and away we went.  

First stop was the railway graveyard. Apparently Uyuni was a  transportation hub for trains in South America beginning at the end of the 19th century. Plans to expand and build an even bigger network of trains out of Uyuni in the 19th century were halted by the collapse of the mining industry in the 1940s. Many imported trains from Britain were abandoned outside Uyuni creating the mass train cemetery

Anthea opined “this was the real reason we came on this trip isn’t it?”  

But no…. 

May 14

On our several wanderings through the Witches Market we stumbled across El Caldero Chorreante. Well where else would you expect to find it? Anthea was determined to visit this establishment. Megan and Jason expressed similar interest as they had been reading the books. Jason’s parents ( Malcolm & Sharon) similarly thus expressed interest. Quickly it became everyone. Which proved a challenge to the staff as the interior was as cramped and circuitous as one would expect of an establishment of this name. However they graciously moved stuff around to squeeze us in. 

It had all the expected trappings of an establishment designed to reel in the tourists.  And we lapped it up. I partook of the Fire Whiskey. Thea and several others enjoyed their Butter Beer, complete with the “frothy” moustache. 

This was also the last night that the whole tour group was to be together. Ibolya, Péter, Neil, Nadia, Alexandra, Adrian & Lynn were to continue on with a different Intrepid trip through Bolivia. Megan, Jason, Sharon & Malcolm were ending their trip as were Thea and I. As we were enjoying our wizarding drinks Thea came up with the inspired plan to borrow uncle Simon’s idea of asking everyone’s high points and low points of the tour. Each person would tell their highlight and low light before nominating the next person. We heard the various retellings of the highs of the Inca Trail or Machu Picchu or the family stay or the museums of Cusco or Rainbow Mountain. And the lows of various encounters with altitude sickness or other challenges. 

Quite by accident I ended up being the last. As I was sitting there hearing most of the highlights, and realizing most of mine were getting “taken” mine occurred to me. The expectation and wonder on Thea’s face as we approached the Sun Gate and got our first view of Machu Picchu. The culmination of many years of expectation and planning seemed captured in the joy of that moment. 

And it made me quite emotional relating it to the group. As it does now just retelling it. 

May 14

Another early start meant we weren’t able to dash across and start the day with Puno’s best coffee. 

Today we were finishing our Peruvian experience and continuing down the altiplano into Bolivia. I will have to admit that I really hadn’t paid much attention to this part of the trip as, at the time, it was simply listed as the ending point of this tour that took us to Lake Titicaca. I was about to be amazed.

First we enjoyed cruising in another swanky public bus along the shores of Lake Titicaca before crossing the border into Bolivia. 

La Paz is spectacular. A vibrant mix of colour and  semi organized chaos. No better demonstrated by the electrical wiring.! How one would sort out where the break or short had occurred? 

Upon arrival our new guide took us walking through the Witches Market. So named as a pejorative by the Spanish. It was then to the Plaza Murillo, renamed as such from the ubiquitous (colonial) Plaza de Armas in honour of Pedro Murillo who played a key role in Bolivia’s Independence. It now seemed to be home for a massive flotilla of pigeons. 

La Paz is quite an anachronism. It is often listed as the “highest capital city in the world” however the actual “constitutional” capital of Bolivia is a bit further south at Sucre. So it gets fudged a bit as “La Paz is the highest administrative capital”. Still it’s dang high.

It was founded by the Spanish (on the site of the Inca settlement of Laja), predominantly because of silver found in the area but it became a connecting point on commercial routes in the region. Not exactly the most practical place for a city as it is in a bowl surrounded by the mountains of the altiplano, divided down the middle by the Choqueyapu river which is now buried under La Paz’s one main arterial road.. Having outgrown the confines of this bowl the city now spreads out onto the (even higher) El Alto region on the plateau to the west of the original city. Lots of steep narrow streets and steps in a city at this elevation makes for a lot of rests when taking a walk.

After such a rest at the Plaza Murillo it was back to the market area for a late lunch/early dinner.

After a long day with lots of travel one would have thought we would have been done by that point… but Thea had spotted a destination on our wanderings that she wanted to return to and check out.

And it would seem she (again) convinced the group to come along…. But that will be the next post.

May 13

4 blankets was just about right. 

In the morning we headed back down to the water to re-board our boat. But not before an ankle dip in Lake Titicaca. 

I note that not once did I see someone swimming in the lake … 🤔

Today’s morning destination was Taquile Island a little further out into the lake. Taquile is a UNESCO site on the basis of its traditional textiles. The knitting is traditionally done by the males. 

Here we were given demonstrations of the local crafts and dancing. And once again we demonstrated that gringos can’t dance. Especially at altitude. 

After a short walk to a beautiful spot for  lunch we continued our walk across and around the island back to our boat and back to Puno. A boat journey just long enough to listen to Taylor’s new album apparently. 

Back in Puno we found that “Puno’s Best Coffee” was just across the square from our hotel. 

At dinner we were treated to some more traditional dancing for our list night in Peru. Tomorrow it was off to Bolivia.