Monday 30 July 2007

South America, disappeared!!

We`re now in Santiago, the Capital City of Chile, after almost 24 hours by public transport to get here (from San Pedro). We spent 3 nights in La Serena which is a beach resort in Chile, but because the weather was cold and overcast we didn`t go to the beach we just mooched around the town centre, it only reached 11c during the day so it was a bit "chilly" for our suntan lotion and flip flops!
While we were in La Serena we booked a trip to go and see one of the many observatories there in a place called Mamalluca, it was a really interesting visit, we were picked up from our hotel by a mini bus at 7.30pm and it was about an hour`s drive. Once we arrived you are assigned a tour guide who then gives you lots of info about the stars, the planets, all the different constellations etc, he also sets up the telescope at different angles, we were able to see the moon (full), Jupiter and a few more that I can`t remember the names of!
It really was amazing to see the stars through the telescope, there are literally millions, all of which are not visible to the naked eye. The moon was also amazing, apparently the craters that we saw are up to 80km in diameter! There were far too many facts given to us for me to remember them all.
For anybody that is interested though there is a piece of software available for your PC, it`s similar to Google Earth in that you can view the night sky from where you are and it will tell you all the different stars etc. It really is an interesting programme and one we will be investing in when we get back. Check out this link for more info Starry Nights

Santiago is a massive city, and is actually quite similar to NY, although not as many high rise buildings. We did find a Dunkin Doughnuts this morning, and there`s the ever present Macdonalds (spit) The only place we haven`t yet seen a Mc`Ds is in Bolivia, that is because the Bolivian president (Juan Evo Morales Ayma) will not allow them into the country!!
He is very anti America (all political) as they are trying to insist that Bolivia stop the cultivation of the Coca leaf (used in the manufacture of Cocaine) in Americas "War on drugs" Again if you are interested in learning more about it then have a look on this link Coca erradication it`s really interesting.
Go Evo anyway, standing up to the mighty GB!!

Chile has a real European feel to it, and is nothing like any other place we have visited while being in Sth America. There is NO poverty at all, the country has an excellent infrastructure (by Sth American standards) and even has it`s own underground railway system, which we have been tearing around on.
The roads are all paved and extremely safe, with road lights and signs everywhere, it`s almost as if we have already left South America and are on a different continent. It still lacks the hospitality and warmth of it`s poor relation Bolivia though.

Today we booked our tickets to Mendoza in Argentina, Matt has visited Chile before, and I`m not that enamoured with the place so we`re not going to piss about wasting time (and money) here. There is lots of things we want to do in Argentina, visit the wine region, the Iguazu Waterfalls that border with Brazil, and spend lots of time in Buenos Aires, which is claimed to be one of the most exciting Capital Cities in the world. Oh and there`s the tango which were hopefully going to learn (NOT!!)
We get the bus on Wednesday, and it will take us about 7 hours, I don`t think Mendoza is that far from Chile in terms of distance, its just that we have to drive over/through the Andes to get there.
So that`s about all for now guys and gals, next post will probably be from Argentina!!

Saturday 28 July 2007

Salar de Uyuni

Well I better tell you about the fabulous tour we did on and around the Salar de Uyuni before I forget it all and it´s a distant memory.

The road to Uyuni from Potosi itself was long and bumpy but made agreeable by a little Bolivian girl called Erica who was sat behind us. As all the seats were taken her and most of her family had to sit in the aisles. I know this wouldn´t happen at home due to breaking god knows how many health and safety laws but hey this is Bolivia! For some reason this little girl (she was about 2 or 3) took a shine to me and just stood in the aisle staring at me. She was wrapped up in a few layers of clothes and a woolly hat as it was pretty damn cold. Anyway, she took great delight in wearing my sunglasses, pulling hairs out of my arms and trying to wink at me; she couldn´t quite manage it and just kept blinking at me. So after about 6 hours we arrived at Uyuni which I have to say is an absolute dump which is understandable as it is only really a dropping off point for tours into the Salar (which I think means Salt flat or just flat). Of course everything is twice the price, accommodation, food, drink which is understandable. A few people aren´t too happy about this and some even go as far as not doing something like a tour because they think it´s too touristy! What I say is what do you expect? This kind of thing happens all over the world (even England GASP - look at the price of a pint in a pub next to Tower Bridge for instance!) so just get over it. If you want to do something then just do it and stop friggin moaning about the price. One day you´ll be dead!

Anyway, we got our tour booked ($90 each before you ask) and stocked up on provisions. The original tour company we booked with phoned us on Monday morning and told us they didn't have enough people to fill the jeep so we were transferred to another. So Monday morning we hooked up with the remainder of the tour party (Beatrice, Marie, Charlie, Jeffrey and our now legendary driver, Ephrain - see below)


We set off at about 11am and after 20 minutes drive arrived at the train graveyard just on the outskirts of Uyuni. Apparently in its heyday this was the entrance point of train lines from Chile and Argentina but lack of support from the government and with roads now being used more the train lines are no longer used (or rarely). The trains which most of them were built in good old blightey just sit there on the tracks rusting away. They look really good though against the bright blue skies and make a good picture.

After leaving the trains and after a brief stop at the obligatory tourist "shops" at a little village we stopped at one of the two salt hotels on the salar. I think these are now open again after briefly being shut down for dodgy sanitation (seems a bit harsh to pick on these hotels as opposed to all the other dirty ones in S.America!!). Again this was really just a photo opportunity but quite interesting none the less. Thinking about it I wish that the refuge we stayed at was as "clean" as this "dirty" hotel, but more on that later.

We then drove over the salt flats for about 30 minutes to Isla de Pescado. The only way I can describe the salt flats is like driving across a massive Christmas Cake! It is so bright that you have to wear sunglasses otherwise you can get "Snow Blindness". And yes it does taste like salt too (well why wouldn´t it , it is salt!) At fish island, we set off to climb it where we could really appreciate the expanse of the flat, whilst our driver prepared lunch of beef steak, salad and Quinoa, a kind of cereal like couscous. There are hundreds of Cacti on the island too , and Michelle managed to find some comically shaped one´s; "that one must be a man". After taking some photos of ourselves on the Salt Flats holding each other in our palms and general larking about we set off again.

After a while we left the Salt Flats and the terrain changed to desert (or dessert as the Belgians called it - they were obsessed with food!). Apparently, the salt layer gets quite thin at the edges, right down to 50cm, so the driver was very cautious when leaving it. The rest of that day was then spent driving to San Juan, the small (small being the operative word) town in the middle of nowhere where we spent the night. Again this was a fantastic place for photos, as it looked like a ghost town. They did have 3 basketball/football courts though - maybe they filled up during the summer, or held the National Bolivian basketball trials, I don´t know. Check out the pics on Flickr. That night was a fun one - about 4 tour groups sat in a long (cold) room, ate chicken and chips and were entertained by the local kids band. The usual mix of panpipes, guitar, drum and tambourine but this time played by under 10s! We gave them a couple of Bolivanos and sent them on the way, but then a second band turned up comprising of panpipe and guitar again of similar age. Now these really were terrible and I didn´t want to give them anything but Michelle told me to stop being mean and she gave them one of our Twix (we had a six pack with us). Well you should have seen the kids face anyone would think he´d won the lottery!

The next day was a fairly early start, breakfast at 6.30am and then setting off at 7am. It wasn´t too cold to be honest as the sun was just about up when we left. The morning drive took us up above 4000m to a viewing point of Ollague, Bolivia´s only active volcano. We could just about see a thin plume of smoke emerging from it which was pretty cool. Whilst we were messing about at the viewpoint an odd creature came running over the rocks and then quickly disappeared. It was like a cross between a rabbit and a fox (a fabbit?? or a rox??). The driver did tell us the Quechuan name for it (one of the indigenous languages in Bolivia) but I can´t remember it.

After the volcano we went even higher to one of the many glacial lakes. These really was pretty stunning as it was just thawing out from the night´s frost and there were a flock of pink flamingos on it. Apparently they´re pink because of the tiny micro-organisms that they eat. They must have been bloody cold whatever colour they were because it was freezing. After this lake we travelled even higher to more lakes and stunning scenery and then stopped for lunch. Now I know the English do odd things in odd weather; for instance sitting on the beach fully clothed with a windbreak out, but having a salad picnic at 4200m above sea level at -5 Celsius I think has to take the biscuit. Michelle was fairly reluctant to even get out of the jeep but I think she felt she had to make the most of it! After lunch more driving at even higher altitudes after which we arrived at our accommodation (in the loosest sense of the word) at the Laguna Colorada in the Reserva de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. This Lake had a red colour to it again due to algae that lives in the it. I climbed up a viewing point while Michelle sat down (she was suffering with the altitude about 4500m now) to get a birds eye view. It really was a cracking view but so goddamn windy it nearly blew me over. My nose and lips, about the only bits of me that were exposed, couldn´t take much more so we headed back to the "refuge".

Now a word about this so called refuge. I know that some (or probably most) Bolivians live in poverty and don´t have the luxury of running water or central heating but this refuge was the absolute pits. It did have windows in it, for all the good they did it felt like about -10 in there. Our group had a dorm but the beds in them looked like they belonged in a Japanese concentration camp (yes I have seen Tenko!). When you sat on the bed the springs virtually touched the floor underneath. Now I know they said it was basic but I don´t know why we just didn´t sleep outside. We were warned that some people get dodgy stomach as the food is prepared in unsanitary conditions. I had a look in the "kitchen" and the food was being prepared on the floor with one gas burner - that would explain why I had crippling stomach cramps during the night (ten times worse than the incident in Arequipa with the rubber gloves and the plunger - I´ve only told a few people about this as it´s too embarrassing). It also got to below zero in the dorm room and down to -15 outside at 5.00am when we had to get up. On the plus side though as the air is so clear and there´s no lights the star scape was amazing, it almost looked like you could reach up and touch them they were so close.

After a breakfast of pancakes we set off to the Geyser field. When we got there it was still below zero but the sight of the geysers erupting was impressive. There was even one that was a constant stream of steam (apparently it´s artificial but I´m not sure how they do it) which we quickly dipped our shooed feet and gloved hands into to warm them up.

After the geysers we got to the hot springs. After a quick Banos stop we all dipped our feet into the hot springs and God how good was it. The water was about 25 degrees and it did everyone the world of good. After 5 Min's of that we could feel our feet again (our own not each others!) and we hopped (pardon the pun) back into the bus.

After setting off from the springs we were on the last legs of the tour. We stopped briefly to look at some rocks that apparently resemble a Salavdor Dali painting (I think its the one with lots of rock pillars with elephants in it) and then we got to Laguna Verde which wasn´t as green as it usually is due to the weather. The green colour is caused by the Arsenic content and not algae. After a few photos we then headed to the Bolivian/Chilean border where we obtained the necessary stamps and left Bolivia behind.

Overall this tour was definitely the highlight of Bolivia and we are both really sorry we had to leave. Even though we struggled with the altitude constantly, the sights, sounds and people were absolutely great. The scenery just around the Salt flats is absolutely amazing and some of the best I´ve seen and the photos although good don´t do it justice. The hospitality of the Bolivians (which we´ve yet to see in Chile, although we may be being a little harsh on the Chileans) was unbeatable and for a people with literally have nothing they open their arms to us tourists.

So that´s it. We´re now in La Serena, Chile and are hoping to go on an observatory tour tonight as it was cancelled last night due to cloudy weather. I hope you´ve enjoyed this blog and the photos on Flickr. It has taken me over an hour to write and now I´m going for a lie down!

Adios,

Matt

p.s. I thought the rock landscape was similar to this Dali painting below, but looking at it I don´t think it really does. Still the landscape (and indeed the painting) are still good.

Friday 27 July 2007

Back down to earth..

So were finally back at sea level and it feels GREAT!!
We have been at altitude for so long now, it is great to feel normal again and not wake up with headache, or feel breathless when you bend down to tie your shoe laces, it`s difficult to explain the symptoms if you`ve never experienced it yourself God only knows how climbers do Everest without oxygen!!

Yesterday we took the bus from San Pedro to La Serena, which is on the Chilean Coast, we`ve not made it to the beach yet as we only arrived at 2am this morning, after 16 hours on the bus!
Buses and roads in Chile are by far the best we have experienced in Sth America, and I can honestly say that yesterday`s trip was really comfortable, with lots of leg room, and the bus was clean too!
The weather is cool and overcast here, probably as were near to the sea, just like being back at home, but without the rain!!

We are hoping to go to one of Chiles many observatories this weekend to see the stars, because there is no light pollution here or cloud cover there are literally millions of stars to see through the telescopes, really looking forward to that as it`s supposed to be a great experience.
We will ony be in Chile for anther week as we want/need 3 weeks to see Argentina, plus Chile is extremely expensive compared to the rest of Sth America that we have visited so far.
I can`t believe that in 4 weeks (today) we will be flying to New Zealand to take up life in a Camper Van. It`s going to be great especially after travelling on so much public transport, dirty buses, unpaved roads, no legroom, late departures, and also to be able to do some of our own cooking as we have now been eating out for 3 months, and it does get a bit repetitive.

Chile reminds me a lot of Spain, we have hardly seen any poverty since we arrived and not come acrss any beggars! They are not the friendliest of Sth Americans that we have met though.
Chile may be one of the richest countries in Sth America but I would much rather spend time in Bolivia with people who have nothing to give you but the time of day.

Matt posting some pics on the blog of our trip to the Salt Flats, they are superb, even if we do say so ourselves!!

Wednesday 25 July 2007

Through the barricades..

Well were back in the land of civilisation after 2.5 days out in the Bolivian Desert, but I`m not going to tell you about that now, I'm going to leave it to Matt.
I`ll tell you about the trip from Sucre to Potosi through the Miners road blockade.

We had only planned to be in Sucre for a couple of days, before heading to Potosi and then the salt flats then hopefully into Chile last weekend, but because of the miners strike, also coupled with meeting a really nice couple from Manchester we ended up in Sucre longer than we had intended.
Not that this was a problem as Sucre is a really nice warm, sunny place with plenty of opportunity for people watching!
So it got to Thursday and we were still no closer to leaving Sucre by bus as they were still refusing to book tickets at the bus depot, we made a few enquiries and some said it would end soon, others inhaled through their teeth and said they didn`t know (or care!).
So we made a pact there and then that one way or another we were leaving Sucre on Friday, as we couldn`t afford to waste another day, drinking coffee, frequenting the many cafes and just sat about doing sod all, especially as our schedule is now so tight (we leave for NZ on the 24th August!!)
We got back to our hostal and Sarah and Andy had put a note under our door to say exactly the same thing, that they needed to be on their way and that they had booked a taxi for 4 of us for 9am tomorrow morning!!
So the next morning we met in the courtyard with all our gear, there was a lot!!!
There were 4 of us (obviously) 2 x bikes (needless to say not ours!!) 2 big back packs and all of S & A`s road gear.
We loaded it up onto/into a Toyota Corrolla estate and Vamos, we were away!!
We were rammed to capacity and were in for a 160k hike (100 miles) the car was so weighed down with all our stuff that the driver had to keep dropping down into 2nd gear to get some speed up, this was on the straight!!
On the hills I thought the car would come to a standstill we were going that slow!!
Anyway we had been going a while when we saw some sheep in the road, well at this point we were going a fair speed (must have been down hill!) and thwe driver was showing no sign of slowing down to avoid them.
Well me being the animal lover that I am started to feel a bit panicky in the back, we were hurtling towards the sheep and still he hadn`t even attempted to alert them.
Anyway we must have being yards away from them when the driver honks his horn, I mean as if that would work? I don`t know if Bolivian sheep are different from ours in that they understand the highway code etc, anyway they never budged and all the time were getting nearer and nearer.
I couldn`t stand it anymore, I genuinely did think we were going to plough into the little blighters, I closed my eyes and just waited for the thud!
There wasn`t one, there was a few swerves, lots of dust and the sheep miraculously jostled across the road!
The taxi driver didnt bat an eyelid, having said that neither did the sheep, talk about a close shave!!
We hadn`t been going again 5 minutes when we saw a little dead donkey at the side of the road :-( it was as stiff as a board and it`s little legs were just sticking out, it had probably just collapsed after being worked to death.
RIP little donkey, no more heavy bags for you!!!
We were now well on our way when we got behind a people carrier, or should that be pig carrier?!
The people carrier was packed to the rafters with people, but... on the roof rack there was a sheep and a pig, they were both alive, well I say alive, the pig was strapped down within an inch of it`s life to this roof rack and he was trying to wriggle himself free, this was proving a little difficult though as he had a bike on is head! :-(
The sheep was also strapped to the roof rack but it appeared to be in a standing position (maybe they sellotaped it on!?), still obviously distressed though bleeting away.
God only knows where they were taking them and why, they have no respect for animals over here at all, I have seen so many disturbing things.
It really upsets me, but hey it`s all part of travelling and experiencing different cultures!
Anyway after that there were no more animal incidents and we arrived at the blockade.
The driver unloaded all our gear and we then had to walk a while with all our stuff.
We thought it may be a bit difficult or intimidating but we could`t be further from the truth.
It was a breeze (apart from the crippling altitude!)
We marched through lorries, cars, miners, indiginous women and their brood, cows, pigs sheep, chickens, military, dogs, police you name it and they were all out for the strike as if it were some kind of home coming.
It was a bizzare experience yet at the same time it was great to see it all.
The Bolivian people are the most hospitable and friendly we have met so far.
It is the poorest country in Sth America but God they don`t dwell on it, they`re so resourceful and helpful.
They don`t bother you like other Sth American countries, begging for money or hassling you to buy cheap souveniers, they just get on and do what they do, and if there is anything they can do to help you then you only have to ask.
I have a lot of time for Bolivian people and I hope their president gets the country into a better economic state than it is now.
Anyway politics aside..
We had our lunch at the side of the road amidst the blockade, a couple of cheese sarnies, some nuts and a bit of chocolate that our Manc hosts had rustled together for us all (proper hardcore!!)
We then jumped another taxi as we were still about 30-40k from Potosi, well this taxi looked like it was held together with stickers (quote Andy!) it was a shed, it should have been scrapped when the Spanish came across in the 1500`s, but the Bolivians cannot afford to part with anything, so everything is bodged together in a hotch potch way, this taxi was no exception!
Fair play to the guy though he took us about 20k before we had to get out again due to more blockades.
Here we had to jump another taxi, and it wasn`t much better to be honest, although this one was held together with blue tac so it did feel a bit more sturdy!
Anyway to cut a very long story short, we made it to Potosi, through the blockade, unscathed.
It was a brilliant experience and one I`m sure none of us will ever forget!
After that we spent a couple of nights there, we had only intended one by this point due to the delays in Sucre, but the next morning I was almost floored with the altitude (3900 metres) so we delayed our bus tickets for the next day and spent Saturday people watching again.
We also met another nice couple Hamish and Ema who are motorcycling their way through Sth America (among other countries) so on our last night we all went out for some food and fine wine.
To say we have met some interesting people this last week or so is an understatement, out trip has really gained momentum and I know there isnt going to be enough time to see all the things and places we want to see.
I absolutley loved Bolivia and would have liked to spent a couple more weeks there at least but we just didn`t have the time.
Anyway were in Chile now in San Pedro, I will let Matt fill the gap between Potosi and Chile, via Uyuni and the Salt Flats!!

Saturday 21 July 2007

Watch this space...

Hi all,
Im not posting much today as feeling really sick from the altitude.
We are now in Potosi the highest City in the world, and God don`t we know it.
I almost crashed into the TV this morning when I got out of bed I was that dizzy.
Anyway I will update the blog possbly tmw or maybe later in the week when we get back from the Salt Flats.
Our journey from Sucre to Potosi through the road blocks was an amazing experience and one I can`t wait to share with you all.

Have a nice weekend everybody I hope the sun comes out soon!

Wednesday 18 July 2007

Still in Sucre..

We were hoping to go to Potosi today to continue our way through Bolivia, but unfortunately we have had to stay put due to a major road block.
The road block is being caused by the Miners, they are up in arms with the way the mines are managed and so have downed tools and stopping people from getting into Potosi (by bus)
This is a bit of a pain really as nobody knows how long it is going to last, everybody is waiting for the Bolivian Government to intervene, but apparently the Miners will only speak with The President himself, God only knows how long this will last.
We will give it another day or so before we start to consider our options.
On the plus side we have met a great couple from Manchester, Sarah and Andy.
We met at the hostal we are staying at, Matt recognised the Northern accent straight away, not something you hear a lot of in Sth America.
They are only travelling through Bolivia, I say only, it`s probably just as well as their mode of transport is a bicycle each!!
Fair play to them me and Matt say, we are meeting up with them tonight for a few beers and some food.
We did meet up last night but Andy was ill so went back early, we then got chatting to this Belgian guy who they had met earlier, he too is cycling, but he is doing the length of the continent, same as our trip but in reverse order.
He started in Argentina in January, and to date he has clocked up 7000 kilometres, he is thinking of going right up to Canada, through Central America and The States, again good luck to the guy.
He has previously cycled through Pakistan and China to name a few, he is an interesting guy with a lot to say for himself (I guess that comes with travelling alone!!)
So were having a pretty good time of it at the moment, we have being drinking more than our fair share of the local Bolivian wine, at 2.50GBP a bottle it`s rude not too!!
We have just come back from a local trip to see some dinasouar footprints, I can`t even begin to bore you with the details as there aren`t any, it was a waste of money.
It did pass a couple of hours though.
There are lots of markets here and we have been enjoying a daily fruitshake, cost something like 30p, that includes unlimited top ups :-)
It has being commented on that we (or should I say I) blog a lot, so that means you probably think we spend all day in internet cafes?
Well more often than not there is internet access at the hostal, and if there isn`t there are internet cafes everywhere so if we are in the towns/cities we can`t help but pop in.
Plus we like to keep up to date with the news, emails, researching our trip, booking hostals/tickets etc.
So that`s about it for today folks, hopefully the next time I/we blog we will be shivering in Potosi wishing we were back in sunny Sucre!!

Monday 16 July 2007

That`s Life..

Ok so I`ve had a serious word with myself and am now officially "cheered up"
I don`t know what was wrong with me last week, but I`m feeling much better now, so apologies for anybody who received a miserable email or read the blog and thought I was being a miserable tw@t!
I don`t even think Matt was homesick to be honest probably just Michelle Sick for being so fed up!

We are now in Sucre, Bolivia and it`s a really nice place, it is not too dissimilar to Cusco in Peru.
There are lot`s of nice Colonial Buildings and Restaurants and it`s nice and sunny, which always helps!
We arrived by bus this morning at about 6am, the journey was actually ok and not as bad as we thought it might have being.
I think our bus trip from La Paz to Cochabamba was a bad one and we were just unlucky.
We left Cochabamba at about 8pm last night, we hadn`t being on the bus 5 minutes when it pulled up outside the Bus Terminal and more people started to get on, which was a little concerning as we were packed to the rafters!
It was the locals and indigenous families, and it seems that they bypass the ticket system at the official terminal and just flag the driver down, give him a back hander and jump aboard.
These poor buggers had to sit in the aisle of the bus though, for 10+ hours.
It just goes to show how poor these people are and the conditions that they have to travel in as they cannot afford the full fare, which is less than 3.50GBP!
At one point we thought that a woman and her 2 children were going to get thrown off as it was obvious that she hadn`t bought a ticket, yet she was sat in somebody´s seat who had paid.
We were all ready to pay for her and her kids to stay on the bus or get on another one, but they seemed to come to some agreement with the drivers assistant and off we went.
We hadn`t being on the road an hour when we stopped for a toilet/eating break, so EVERYBODY got off the bus and we were there about 30 minutes, everybody back on again and off we go.
Less than another hour later, we stopped AGAIN for ANOTHER toilet/eating break (either the driver had a weak bladder or he liked his grub?!) again everybody got off and we were there about 20 minutes (no wonder it takes so long to get anywhere)
We were then on the road until about 2am before we stopped again so it wasn´t too bad.
One thing is for sure is that the Sth American`s do love their food, for all the poverty here you never see anybody undernourished, quite the opposite in fact.
It seems that eating is the only consistency they have.
The roads are really poor in Bolivia, which is obviously why journeys do take so long, the roads we travelled last night were no more than a cobbled path, there are no motorways or dual carriageways, almost everything is a single dirt track winding road, again another thing to be thankful for back home.
We were stopped by the Police at about 5am, for what seemed like a routine spot check, we were all asked to present our passport`s, and were shone in the face with a torch, this went on for about half an hour before we were finally sent on our way again.

We will stay in Sucre for two night`s before we head off for Potosi to see the Silver Mines, this will be an experience in itself.
There are kids as young as 13 working in these inhuman conditions, life expectancy for anybody working in the mines is 15 years, with most miners falling victim to Silicosis, which is a deadly lung disease caused by inhaling silicone dust.
Apparently the visit is a wake up call and an experience that you won`t forget, which judging from the above I can well believe.
Your are urged to take drinks and sweets in for the miners, who are apparently proud of their work and the daily hardship that they endure.
Again another reason I will never complain when I`m having a bad day at work in an air conditioned office, with internet access, a cafeteria where I can afford anything on the menu, lighting, heating, comfort etc.
After Potosi it`s to Uyuni to the salt flats, and we are then hoping to be in Chile by about Monday next week.

We are just trying to upload some pics now that we took in La Paz, Copacabana, Cochabamba, and a few we have taken in Sucre today (hot off the press)
There is an absolute classic that I cant wait to upload, it`s of a car that is extremely overloaded, this is no YouTube stuff either, this is live from Matt and Michelle`s Nikon in Bolivia.
The car looks like the chassis is going to snap in half, enjoy!!

Saturday 14 July 2007

Bloomin` Bolivian Buses

We`re now in a place called Cochabamba where we arrived yesterday by bus.
La Paz was quite an uneventful few days for us to be honest, for a few reasons.
We were both ill with cold`s (me worse than Matt) the altitude, the pollution from the cars and we were both feeling a bit homesick.
We tried to make the most of it, but it was a struggle as it it such a hilly place and all of the above did nothing to help our spirits.
We were in a great Hostal (4*) though with cable TV and hot water 24hrs, which as any traveller will vouch for is an absolute bonus!!
We took a cab yesterday morning to the bus terminal, and within seconds of arriving were escorted to the bus ticket office and sold our tickets for the 10.30 bus, it was 10.35 at this point!
We didn`t think too much of the time as I don`t think we have got away on time yet, so we idled about, got a drink, paid our departure tax(!) and started ambling towards the gate where we needed to be.
Once we got through we saw our bus about to pull away (typical) so we started hurtling towards it, trying to establish that it was the correct bus and that our backpacks had been loaded onto it.
We were just told to get on the bus (Vamos!!) by the driver as they obviously wanted to be away.
I couldn`t help but think the worst at this point (being Friday 13th too) and started to worry that our bags hadn`t been loaded, anyway they had luckily.
The bus was to take 6 hours from La Paz to Cochabamba, 8.5 hours later we stepped off, this was after we had to stop 3 times as there was some kind of problem with the bus, and again there are no breakdown services or roadside assistance in The Andes, you just have to hope that the driver knows something about buses, other than where the steering wheel and the loud pedal are!
The bus was horrible, again it was filthy, full of locals and their offspring (of which there were many) and it stank of the deep fried chicken that they clog their arteries with day in day out.
There was no leg room either and the people who were in front of us reclined their seats for the duration, which meant that their heads were literally in our laps.
It was bad enough for me, but I did feel for Matt who is a good few inches longer than me in the leg department, he put on a brave face :-)
We didnt have a hostal booked but we had managed to pick out a decent one from our Rough Guide, which was only a couple of blocks from the bus station (no taxi required) we did struggle to find it though as the place was absolutely packed, and NONE of the streets had name plates.
Matt asked one of the locals eventually where the street was, and luckily we were heading in the right direction.
Tomorrow we take the night bus to Sucre, booking the tickets for this journey was an experience in itself, but I can`t be bothered to go into detail.
It`s another mammoth bus ride (12 hours) but hopefully we will be able to sleep most of it.
We`ve not done a great deal since we arrived in Bolivia, but then we never really planned to see that much here, we are visiting the silver mines in Potosi later this week and then we go to a place called Uyuni where we will go on an organised trip to see the Salt Flats after this we will cross into Chile, which will mean 3 down two to go!!

No Sign of Paddington

Well as we´ve been in Bolivia for almost a week now I thought I´d give you all a brief summary of Peru. It seems like an age away now, but it was 15th June when we crossed the border from Loha in Ecuador to Piura in Peru. I think Michelle was looking forward to a bit less poverty but I didn´t have the heart to tell her it would be pretty much the same as Ecuador. Anyway, the first sight we saw, which made both our hearts sink, was what looked like a rubbish dump! It was in fact the outskirts of Piura, although I´m sure there was a rubbish dump nearby as the smell was horrendous and as it was hot the smell was even worse!

Still we braved it and once we entered the main city it improved. Onwards from Piura brought us to Trujillo and the ruins at Chan Chan. These were very impressive (thanks again to Ozelyne for the tour) and I´m sure if the money invested into the South of Peru (specifically around Cusco) was invested in the North then there would be a lot more visitors.

From Trujillo we headed to the capital to Lima, which was fairly uneventful, and then to Cusco by plane. I´m sure you´ve read about our struggles with the altitude (no not attitude!) but this is where it hit us the most. It´s hard to describe how bad it is; I was thinking it can´t be as bad as that surely, but it does cripple you. There were stories from other travellers we talked to who were in bed for days, throwing up, not eating, etc. We weren´t quite there but still it was tough.

Still, after a few days acclimatising, nothing could prepare us for Machu Piccu, it was fantastic. To think that ruins that big remained hidden for so long is amazing. The setting too is unbelievable, literally perched between two mountains with gravity defying terraces, the Incas sure had a head for heights!

After Cusco, there was Arequipa and the Colca Canyon and then Puno and Lake Titikaka. To mention them in such a short sentence doesn´t do them justice as both are easily worthy of a trip to Peru.

Overall I think Peru has more sights to see than Ecuador but Ecuador has more of an untouched feel to it (and Bolivia even more so). Sometimes the locals give me strange looks when I´m taking photos of scenery. "Why are you taking a photo of that for, it´s only a mountain?" The country they live in is so diverse and scenic, but then they have lived in it all their life and don´t know any different. Also the Peruvians are really friendly and always seem to be smiling even though a large percentage of them have absolutely nothing compared to the luxury we have back home. I´m not preaching but it really does make you realize how lucky we are at home, even people who can´t (or in some cases won´t!) work usually have a roof over their head, running water, heating and Sky TV. And in some of those cases they still spend all day moaning as if they are owed a decent life by the government.

So that´s it. We won´t be spending as much time in Bolivia as Peru which is a shame as there´s loads to do here too, but time is pressing. The main highlight in Bolivia will be crossing the salt flats into Chile which we should be doing next week sometime. It´s a 3 day tour and you camp out in sub-zero temperatures which will be nice!

Adios,

p.s. We didn´t see Paddington Bear although he´s from Peru. He must be getting on a bit now though, so he probably doesn´t get out much!

Wednesday 11 July 2007

Luxury in La Paz

We arrived in La Paz yesterday, although it was touch and go as to whether we would get here or not.
I dont know if any of you have being following the news but Sth America have been experiencing some heavy snow these last couple of days, and Im sorry to say that Bolivia was no exception!!
We arrived here on Sunday as you know and booked into the grottiest hostal to date, why we booked in here I don`t know as we have a budget that affords us nice accommodation wherever we are.
Basic doesn`t even begin to describe the services that weren´t on offer.
The shower was a death trap with bare wires exposed on the shower head, we did wonder what the wooden block on the shower floor was for and the rubber flip flops!!
Anyway while we were in Copocabana we had really bad storms and the power went off on the 1st night we were there.
Luckily for us we were in the pub, and that`s where we stayed as it was snowing, haling and raining all at the same time, not to mention blowing a gale, it was horrible.
So two bottles of wine later we stumbled out into the freezing sleet in total darkness, with only the glow from my mobile for light.
We made it back to the freezing cold hostal (or should that be hostile!) and just crawled into bed almost fully clothed, and because we were half cut managed to get a decent night´s sleep despite the elements!
The next day we were due to go on a boat trip to see the sun and the moon islands, needless to say we sacked it off, which was just as well as when we eventually got up the lake looked extremely choppy with boats bouncing all over the place.
The power was off for 24hrs, I dont think I have ever spent so much (non stop) time in a pub, it`s the only place where we could stay relatively warm, and because they cook by portable gas bottles we were able to get some hot drinks and soup (along with some more wine)
So we just mooched our way through our time in Copocabana, and didn`t really see or do much as the weather was against us.
The buses were all over the place too yesterday because of the weather, and the one we were scheduled to get, first had to go to the border with a bus full of tourists before he could take us to La Paz.
I think this was a blessing in disguise, becuase of the six tyres on the bus only 2 had any tread on them, and I think only 3 had any air in them!
We hung about not really knowing what was going on, there were lots of frustrtaed people not knowing where to go, where their bus was, and how they were going to reach their destination.
We stayed calm (kind of) as we knew losing our rag wouldnt get us another bus.
Anyway eventually after about an hour of uncertainty, the girl who we booked our bus ticket with came across and ushered us onto a bus and said this will take you to La Paz.
The bus was a Rolls Royce of buses, in that it had wheels, seats, air and tread in it`s tyres, a steering wheel, a windscreen with no cracks in it etc, so we jumped aboard and off we went to La Paz.
And here we are, we didn`t do anything last night as Im full of cold and wa sin desperate need of a hot shower and a good night`s sleep in a warm and comfy bed, which we got as we are staying in a fab hostal in the centre.
It has unlimited hot water, an electric blanket on the bed, big fluffy towels and it`s spotlessly clean, they also do a cracking breakfast and it`s free internet access.
What more could you ask for..
So now we are off out to see the delights of La Paz.
It is the highest capital city in the world at 3600 metres (rising up to 4000 in parts) and is the most unlikely place to set fire due to it`s lack of oxygen (fact not fiction!!)
Altitude is bad enough when you`re feeling well but when you`re blocked up and full of cold it makes it even more difficult.
Even though we have become more and more acclimatised it is still tough at times and we welcome any opportunity to not have to climb a steep hill, not that theres much chance of that here as it`s more hilly than Sheffield.
One last thing (Matt is tapping his foot impatiently wanting to go) everywhere we go or every bus we get on we have to fill in a form that states our name, age, sex (no thanks) passport number and occupation.
Well this occupation bit was starting to get a bit boring, partly because I have quit my job so am officially unemployed.
So we have decided to put in spureous job titles (starting yesterday) so Matt is now a Professional Boxer and I am a Weightlifter!
We will be changing these each time we have to fill in one of these silly forms.
Suggestions welcome :-)

Sunday 8 July 2007

Peru to Bolivia

Well we´re now safely ensconced in Bolivia, seems like we´re tearing through Sth America!!

So just to let you know what we´ve been up to the last few days (apart from thinking about English grub and home!)
On Friday we took the bus from Arequipa to Puno, we were supposed to leave Puno on the 11.30am bus, it was 1pm by the time we pulled out of the bus station, we were a bit peeved as it was a 6-7 hour journey and we´d not booked a hostal in advance, which meant we would not be arriving til late.
All the time the bus was late all the locals were shouting at the driver and banging on the bus floor shouting "vamos" (which means "Let´s go") it was quite funny and even me and Matt took our turn!
The bus was really grotty, despite the fact that we had paid over the odds with a travel company (rather than book the tickets ourselves, we´re getting lazy!!) it was full of smelly locals with the contents of their houses, and no this time I´m not kidding!
There was one woman with the entire contents of her house in the underside luggage compartment of the bus (maybe this is why we were late getting away?)
I have even seen animals been bundled in there in Banos (Ecuador) but that is a visual I would rather forget!
Anyway the bus journey was pretty uneventful, the locals on the bus turned out to be really friendly, and one of them even asked us to keep an eye on his bags while he got off for a while, others were telling us how much longer it was before we arrived, where to get off etc, we felt like royalty!!
Once we got to Puno we were offered a hostal at the bus depot, luckily it´s one we had seen in our Rough Guide handbook so we jumped in a cab and got a nice room for 10GBP a night, with free internet access!!
Puno is a really nice place, despite what we had read about it, very touristy (if you like that kind of thing) lots of nice places to eat, the usual souvenir shops, internet cafes etc and the weather was decent too.
We booked a trip straight away to go on Lake Titicaca to see The Uros Floating Islands
They had just finished building a boat when we arrived so they cajoled us all into helping them launch it into the lake!
We then went another 2.5 hours by boat onto another Island, Taquile, which is often described as the closest you can get to heaven?!
There are only 2,200 inhabitants on Ths Island and it really was beautiful, although Matt was extremely ill with altitude sickness so we missed the tour guide and all the info he was telling us, so I can´t really tell you much about the place.
While the tour guide was telling us about the place I was patting Matt´s back while he threw up all over the beautiful Island ;-)
He was green in the face, I have never seen anybody that shade before and he was all cold and sticky, bless him, anyway he was a brave soldier and insisted on climbing up to the top despite his weakness and nausea, I´m pleased to say he´s much better today and back to his old self (looking at pics of food on the internet)
We have posted some pics today though of The Floating Islands and the Indigenous folk who live there, I´m sure you´ll find them extremely colourful!

Today we got the bus from Puno across the Bolivian Border to a place called Copacabana (I haven´t seen Barry Manilow yet??)
The border crossing was a breeze, which is a relief as you do hear quite a few horror stories as I´ve mentioned before.
The bus journey is only 3.5 hours and it was full of backpackers, and the bus was actually playing decent music!!
So when I say decent, I mean George Michael, Sting, The Stones, Supertramp, The Eagles etc, now I know Ben will be reading this and thinking "that´s not decent music" but when you have come by bus from Ecuador to Bolivia (which is a lot of miles!!) listening to the incessant tra la la la, diddle le de de bullshit that we have had to endure, then believe me this becomes decent music!!
Tomorrow we are back on the lake to The Isla Del Sol and The Isla De La Luna, which should be good, I´ll post more about that once we´ve returned.
It involves a strenuous 3 hour trek, I think we´ll be able to cope with that (GASP!)
The trip cost us $4 each, which is cheap as chips and it´s a full day on the lake with an English speaking guide!

On Tuesday we are getting the bus to La Paz (the capital) we have to be a bit tighter with our schedule now if we want to see and do everything that we have planned, plus the hostal that we chose this time is an absolute dump ($7 for the night, for us both!) so it´s an incentive for us to get our @rses into gear.
If I told you the bathroom was painted in pink gloss would that give you an idea??
The bus into La Paz is only 3.5 hours, which compared to some of the mammoth journeys we´ve done so far is like getting the bus at home into town!
This is another reason why we can´t afford to hang about anywhere as bus trips take up so many valuable days, night buses are available quite often but if you take the night bus then you don´t get to see anything, so it´s a bit of a compromise.

So that´s about it for the time being, will probably post again when we get to La Paz on Tuesday
Adios Amigo´s

P.S Matt has had a fry up for his brunch today (Bacon, Egg and Tomato) he seems a bit happier ;-)

Friday 6 July 2007

Food, Glorious Food!

Hi, hope you are all well. Over the last few days (we are in Puno right in the south of Peru) I have been day dreaming quite a bit about food we have back home. Now I wouldn´t go as far as saying that the UK is well known in the gastronomy stakes, but there are a few dishes that I´m missing. For instance, roast dinners, a good fry up and a decent Indian curry (I know it isn´t technically a British dish, but people do say the balti was invented in Birmingham or was it Bradford?). This is not to say that the food we´ve been having in S.America is bad, far from it. There´s only been a few times when we´ve struggled to get a decent meal and you can always rely on Huevos y papas fritos in emergency (that´s egg and chips for the non-Spanish speaking).

So during my time on the Internet I´ve been searching through flickr photos for good pics of my favourite grub and added them to my favourites (in Flickr). To view these go to the Flickr button on our blog then click on it. Then click on Matt and Michelle Photostream and then click on Favourites (or just click here). Hopefully, you´ll agree that the photos are pretty good even if you don´t/can´t/won´t eat the food itself. (I´m thinking of Ben particularly who doesn´t eat meat or fish, commonly known as a vegetarian. Although he does he say he likes the smell of bacon even though he´s never eaten it.

Anyway, more posts to follow soon when we hit Bolivia on Sunday.

Adios.

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Colca Canyon, Peru

Hi all! Well were back from the Colca where we have been for the last 2 days.
We went on an organised trip, with about 18 other tourists, there were a few religious Americans, some Ozzies (as you would expect) a Lithuanian, a French Canadian and some other Nationalities that I couldn´t fathom.
It´s about a 5 hour drive from Arequipa through the desert, you see some stunning scenery and lots of wildlife, we also passed the Misti Volcano which stands very proud in the middle of nowhere.
We stayed overnight at a place called Chivay, it wasn´t a very nice place with lots of poverty, luckily we were only staying one night.
We went to the thermal baths in the evening, I´ve never been to one before so was a bit apprehensive, especially being a non swimmer as I don´t really like water, but they were great!
We got chatting to some USA medical student while we were there who had been in Bolivia carrying out minor surgery as part of their studies!!
Anyway one of these guys had been to the UK about 8 years ago, after a lot of questions and trying to find out where he´d been it turned out it was Hull of all places!!
He wasn´t very impressed with the place (it was 8 years ago) although he was mortally embarrassed when I told him that´s where I was from.
The baths were lovely, we were outside bathing in the warm water under the stars, how romantic he he!!
After the baths we arranged to meet some of the other tourists from the trip for dinner, we went to a local place that was reccommended by the guide on our trip.
We walked in and we were the only ones in there, plus it was freezing, there is no heating anywhere in Peru, and in some places (Chivay being one of them) night time temperatures drop below freezing (this night was no exception)
We were a bit unsure wether we should stay or not, but decided to brave it out as nobody else was complaining.
Within about half an hour the place was full of other travellers and tourists and it was quite jovial but still fluffin freezing!!
Anyway we had our meal, I ordered spaghetti with pesto, well in Peru they have no idea what Pesto is (after my 2nd attempt with this dish) they just serve you a dish of spaghetti with a dollop of radio active green stuff on the top, with no taste whatsoever, I left it.
After our meal was over it got a bit noisy as a Peruvian Band came on with the pan pipes etc and started banging out some Andean music, to be fair it turned out to be a good night, with Peruvian men and women in their local costumes dancing and singing and trying to get the tourists up too.
To say they don´t have a pot to pi55 in between them they sure know how to enjoy themselves and make you feel welcome.
The next day we were up at 5.30 to get to the Colca Canyon in time to see the condors in flight, apparently there is a particular time that these are best viewed, which is early morning once the sun is up.
Again the drive there was stunning through the mountains, bright blue sky and sunshine, although really chilly.
We saw the condors and they were a sight to see, they are massive and move so gracefully, they just glide through the air, I´m not really a bird lover to be honest but it would be difficult not to appreciate the condor in full flight.
The size of them you would think they would pick one of us up and fly away, they are HUGE!
Matt took some pics of them but they don´t do the setting justice, the Canyon is 1200 metres deep and they just fly overhead.
After that we were back on the bus and then dropped off at various photo points and small towns to buy souveniers (we didnt buy any and we didnt take many photo´s)
The highest point that we reached on the trip was 4910 metres, which is pretty breath taking believe me.
One of the girls on the bus was really ill and had to dash off to be sick, it really does make you feel ill.
Luckily because we had previously been in Cusco (which again is really high) we didn´t feel too bad, just a little light headed.
Tomorrow we are heading for Puno which is even higher so I dread to think what it´s going to be like there.
We get the bus which will take us 6 hours, once were in Puno we will visit Lake Titicaca and The Floating Islands, after that we are off to Bolivia so we should be there by the weekend where we will definitely need our woolies and hat´s as the night time temperatures there can fall to -15!!

Sunday 1 July 2007

The new 7 Wonders of The World

When we were at the Machu Picchu on Thursday we were asked to vote for our favourite 7 Wonders of The World, which we did.
See below link if you feel like voting:

Vote 7 Wonders of The World

The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07.