Valleys
The northeastern flank of the Cordillera Real is known as the Yungas, from the Aymara word meaning "warm valleys." The steep, almost inaccessible slopes and peaks of this mainly semitropical valley area northeast of La Paz offer some of the most spectacular scenery in Bolivia. Rainfall is heavy, and lush vegetation clings to the sides of narrow river valleys. The land is among the most fertile in Bolivia, but poor transport has hindered its agricultural development. The government attempted to build a railway through the Yungas in 1917 to connect La Paz with the eastern lowlands. The railway was abandoned, however, after completion of only 150 kilometres.
The eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central descend gradually in a series of complex north-south ranges and hills. Rivers, draining to the east, have cut long narrow valleys; these valleys and the basins between the ranges are favourable areas for crops and settlement. Rich alluvial soils fill the low areas, but erosion has followed the removal of vegetation in some places. The valley floors range from 2,000 to 3,000 metres above sea level, and this lower elevation means milder temperatures than those of the Altiplano. Two of Bolivia's most important cities, Sucre and Cochabamba, are located in basins in this vast region.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Bolivia
Famous quotes containing the word valleys:
“I do like a little romance ... just a sniff, as I call it, of the rocks and valleys.... Of course, bread-and-cheese is the real thing. The rocks and valleys are no good at all, if you haven’t got that.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“But oh, not the hills of Habersham,
And oh, not the valleys of Hall
Avail: I am fain for to water the plain.
Downward, the voices of Duty call—
Downward, to toil and be mixed with the main,
The dry fields burn, and the mills are to turn,
And a myriad flowers mortally yearn,
And the lordly main from beyond the plain
Calls o’er the hills of Habersham,
Calls through the valleys of Hall.”
—Sidney Lanier (1842–1881)
“It was a comfort in those succeeding days to sit up and contemplate the majestic panorama of mountains and valleys spread out below us and eat ham and hard boiled eggs while our spiritual natures reveled alternately in rainbows, thunderstorms, and peerless sunsets. Nothing helps scenery like ham and eggs.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)