Enjoying Bolivia 189Various foreign visitors to Bolivia interviewed for this book
have testifi ed with delight that, from the indigenous highlands
to the primeval jungles, seemingly impenetrable cultural
barriers break down when they play football with the locals.
Oruro is neither as picturesque as Sucre nor as culturally
stimulating as Potosí, but in my short stay, I had nothing but
positive experiences. If you get lucky, you’ll fi nd peña music
or several legendary women cooks who’ve been selling home-
made food from stalls at the market (see Restaurants- Oruro
in the Resource Guide at the back of the book).
Oruro is the gateway to the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s
highest saltlake, twice as large as its counterpart in Utah.
Get there by bus or if you’ve got more time, a picturesque
railroad. The Salar has a split personality. In the dry season,
it defi nes the meaning of infi nity. If the rains are fi erce and
the lake reappears, other-worldly refl ections will give you a
natural high. You’re above the treeline. Our friend, the artist
Walter Solón Romero, originally from the railroad town of