Fiesta of the Moxos Indians
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2004
1
23
57
Trip End
Sep 22, 2004
San Ignacio de Moxos, Bolivia
Sunday, August 1, 2004
It was an interesting journey of four hours. There were three rivers to cross, each by a balsa, a small raft, which the camion edges gently onto before being shuttled across. It was a nervy crossig the first time as I really didn't believe these tiny boats could support the weight! The rest of the journey was on long sandy roads and whenever another vehicle passed us in the opposite direction, we all cowered underneath blankets to protect us from the dust. I was so pleased not to be wearing my contact lenses!
On arrival in San Ignacio I started to look for a hotel, but my progress was delayed somewhat by a procession in the centre of the village. These processions were to be the main feature of the fiesta and went through from 9am to 11pm every day! There were groups of schoolchildren in brightly coloured costumes accompanying the adults dressed either as Moxos Indians, complete with feathered headgear representing the rising sun, or as Spaniards in dark suits with haunting masks. I'm still not completely sure what it was all about but I gathered it was to do with the repression of the indigenous indians by the Spanish conquistadors. Every hour the parade stopped outside the church. Those dressed as Indians remained outside and performed ritual dances whilst the others were allowed entry into the church.
After taking far too many photos, I wandered for two hours around every hotel, guest house and whatever else. There were no rooms available because it was fiesta time. Finally the Hotel Plaza, funnily enough on the plaza, agreed to give me a triple room if I paid for all three beds. I hadn't travelled all that way to get on the first bus home so I paid. Prices during fiesta are twice the going rate anyway, so I was paying at least six times what I should have done for a bed. No hot water either, the showers were freeeeeezing!
The music was relentless during my two days in San Ignacio. Small brass bands played on different street corners and joined in the processions when they began again. There were also lots of stalls in the plaza, some selling gifts and souveniers, others inviting you to play a tombola, shooting gallery, or other similar games. I spent some time watching a group of men get progressively drunk gambling with dice. I never really did figure it out but I think it was based around the casino game "Craps". Later on I sat with a beer in the plaza and was serenaded by two drunks dancing together singing "Viva Bolivia".
Saturday continued pretty much as Friday had been with music, processions, drinking and games. I met a couple of Israelis in the hotel who felt similarly ripped off. One challenged me to a game of chess and with the score at Israel 0 England 2, he gave up!
I took some time out to wander half an hour up the dusty road to the local lake. It was clearly the place the locals go to escape from the heat as it was packed. There were loads of birds around, but I never saw any fish in the water.
Having booked a place on the last bus back to Trinidad at 3pm, I wandered around the village again. A giant bullring had been constructed for a bullfight that afternoon. The bulls were in the middle anxiously awaiting their fate. The canon fired the start of proceedings as the bus pulled away. I'm not really sure I wanted to see the spectacle of bulls being slaughtered anyway!
