South west of La Paz, near the border with Chile, lies Sajama National Park, Bolivia´s first.  We spent 2 nights in the small pueblo of Sajama (4200 metres) below the majestic, snow capped Sajama Volcano.  When the sun set behind the twin volcanos on the Chile border, the temperature dropped to well below zero.

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Inside the park we walked in a forest of keñua trees, the highest in the world, at over 4400 metres.  We cooked eggs in a bubbling geyser, ate llama, soaked in an open air hot springs surrounded by volcanos and observed llamas, alpacas and vicuñas.

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On the way we passed many ancient Aymara funeral towers, made of adobe brick and almost always facing the rising sun in the east.  Many still contain  human remains.

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A striking adobe and thatch church stands proudly above the humble dewllings in many of the local villages.  The largest and best restored of these is the church of Santiago de Carangas, built between 1587 and 1608.  Inside the walls and ceiling are covered in original frescoes of bible scenes in the Mestizo style.

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