Not long ago when returning to the country of my birth I decided to visit the lands where my grandparents' properties were located: Cairoma and Araca, south of the city of La Paz (-67.538221 -16.902729 approximately from Google Maps).
The stories I heard as a child of long journeys my mother, her brothers and sisters undertook as small children, travelling on baskets either side of mules through mountains, fertile valleys, high altitude planes and multi coloured lakes, on narrow paths, through wind swept canyons so windy that often the pack mules would be pushed to the precipice below.
As adults my father and uncles rode horses whenever visiting their lands. They journeyed from west to east, following the valley. My journey was from east to west.
These childhood images have stayed with me and I have travelled in my imaginations with the images in this collection.
The monochrome photograph shows my father to the right wearing riding boots next to his father, wearing a hat third from the right; my uncle Alberto (my mother's brother), third from the left and his wife to the left of my grandfather Enrique Molina. This seems to be a marriage of two young locals.
It is worth noting the various paths and roads and far away dwellings.
The snow peaks are part of the Cordillera Real, specifically Cordillera Tres Cruces
A remote dwelling... Imagine living so far away from anywhere?
Cordillera Tres Crucez
16.989619-67.387249
Cordillera Tres Cruces
The fertile lands (the brown strip) have been tilled and the villagers are planting potatoes
This lake is truly that colour due to the minerals on the hills
A football pitch and a woman washing clothes on the very left of the frame.
