Residencial Sorata (at the top left corner of the main plaza) 20 Bolivianos x person shared bathroomBefore heading South in Bolivia, we escaped with our friend Sergio to warmer, greener lands. It doesn´t get much more peaceful than here. Sorata is sort of between the mountains and the jungle, so it´s steep and green. A beautiful get away.
To get to Sorata you start in Copacabana and go north, crossing the Cordillera Real. What is the Cordillera Real? Something you can´t miss - this long string of snow covered mountains is mesmerizing as you see them across the green plains. Basically the idea is: South of the Cordillera = cold (Copacabana), North of the Cordillera = nice and warm (Sorata)
Our hostal was an amazing labyrinth of rooms with gardens, humming birds and mountain views everywhere (as well as a few friendly ghosts, as our guide book said.)Sorata´s claim to fame is La Gruta de San Pedro which is a big, underground cavern about 4 hours walking distance from the town. The walk there was beautiful (and downhill) with green fluffy mountains for as far as the eye can see, a little humidity and the occasional stop along the way to sit and relax (could we possibly do more of this?!? :) We played a little music with invented woodland instruments we found along the way. Marayka (a traveler from Holland we picked up along the way) was scared but interested as we picked up sticks and twigs and jammed out our rickety songs.
We arrived at La Gruta, ate some signature Lori-Andrea Sandwiches (invented by our very own Lori Andrea: Avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches. Mmmmmm good!) and entered the 75% humidity cavern, 3000m underground (claustrophobics, relax... I swear.) As you dodge low hanging rocks for a few minutes and descend lower and lower and lower, you eventually enter a huge cavern. You can hear the bats overhead squeaking in their bat language. Following the path you see sparkling, crystallized rocks and a lagoon (where they say some Japanese scientists entered looking for the bottom and never returned... oooohhhh...)
After about 40 minutes of heavy air breathing, we left satisfied with our hike, music break and cave discovering. Regular Indiana Jones´!Tomorrow back to La Paz and off to Cochabamba!
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