Beans23
Nicole Burgess Joined: October 11th 2009
Logged in: November 20th 2009
Logged in: November 20th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Huayna Potosi
Lately we have felt a little lazy, just biking down the world´s deadliest road and walking the hilly streets of La Paz at an elevation over 12,000 ft.....so we decided to attempt a 6,088 meter mountain named Huayna Potosi in Bolivia!!!! Here is how it went! ... read more
La Paz
We made it to the world´s highest capital city..La Paz. This is an old city that has retained much of its past as well as incorporated some of the future, all packed into this city in the mountains.... read more
Death Road
We decided to temp fate and try out our biking skills down the ¨World´s Deadliest Road¨! We were driven up to the top of a mountain at La Cumbre some 4,500 meters up, and began an almost 70 kilometer ride down to 1,100 meters on one heck of a road. They call it the death road because more than 150 people die on it each year. Mostly in motor vehicle accidents. As of now, only two bikers have perished off the 1000 ft cliffs this year. Thankfully we were not a statistic. We went with our French friends and had a blast. Our guide told us we were the fastest group he had ever riden with!!!! Thats right!... read more
Laguna Cejar
We rode bikes to this lagoon from San Pedro. What a great day. This Laguna has more salt in it then the Dead Sea. As soon as you got into the water you could floot. Just dont put your head under our your eyes will burn. After getting out of the water your body has so much salt on it that you need to rinse it off.... read more
Mendoza
We crossed the border once again into Argentina. This time we have to make the most of it. After Argentina...goodbye yummy pastries for breakfast for lunch and goodbye postres after dinner. We have been in a sugar coma since we got here, but it all ends when we leave Argentina for the last time! But for the moment we are in wine counrty. We rented bikes and toured around visiting vineyard after vineyard. If you are expecting to see Napa Valley like vineyards, you will be just as disappointed as we were. But the wines were great and the day was a blast! ... read more
Valpo
So we left the quaint village of Pucon and headed North to the city of Valparaiso in Chile. Everyone told us we must come here....its so beautiful.....a photographers dream. Well we didnt quite have the same opinion!! It could be because of a few circumstances. Nicole left Eamon alone for 5 minutes while she bought bus tickets for the next segment of our trip....and when she returns....Eamon is involved in a Spanish lesson and we are staying at a hospedaje run by his teacher!!!! The hospedaje itself was in a nice part of town, and the living area for the people who owned it was very pretty.....but our accomodations lacked any, if not all creature comforts!!! Our room was OK, it had french doors opening up onto the busy street below, but thats where the good ... read more
San Pedro
Well back to Chile! Our passports are filling up quickly with all this jumping back and forth! We boarded a bus from Salta, Argentina and embarked on our journey over the Andes Mountains....a journey that should take 8 hrs approximately. Well our bus made it up the first ¨"hill" and then it died. We were stranded in the middle of the Andes for 2 hours while our new bus came to pick us up! The funny thing was that there were only 4 of us on the huge bus and 2 drivers. We waited and waited....threw rocks for fun and we all comiserated how the last 15 minutes of the movie "I am Legend" was not able to be seen because it kept skipping and getting stuck! To make matters worse, when our new bus arrived ... read more
Volcan Villarrica
We crossed the border back into Chile. This will be a phenomenon that repeats itself over and over while we make our way north in South America. We came to Pucon for one reason....to climb the one of the worlds most active Volcanos.....Volcan Villarrica! And boy did we hike it!!! Starting at an elevation of 1300 meters we hiked and climbed our way to the summit reaching 2847 meters! If you would like this translated into the Imperial system...thats about a vertical gain of 5000 ft!!!! We were decked out in gear including crampons, ice axe and of course our awesome Neon Green jumpsuits! We began our trek at 5:30 am so we could see the sun rise over the steaming Volcano. We proceeded upward for the next 6 hours, choosing our steps wisely as to ... read more
Cabalgatas
We went horseback riding on land owned by Mapuche Indians. We rode horses for a few hours, riding up and down a nearby mountain on a small little trail. After we were finished riding, we had a traditional Mapuche meal prepared for us and we were able to dress up in their clothing and see instruments that they play in ceremonies. It was a very nice day. Our guide was a young Mapuche Indian and he let us trot and gallop our horses. What an experience!... read more
