http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kevyn-and-Dave/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Kevyn and Dave en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:54:52 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:54:52 +0000 Playing FroggerIn Cochabamba Bolivia's third largest city 900000 we were able to further hone our Frogger Skillz. You know leaping between the cars and trucks to make it to the other side of the street without getting flattened. Well we're still three dimensional so those days at the Atari after school really paid off Maybe next year we'll see if Pitfall really taught us how to swing http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Cochabamba-Department/Cochabamba/blog-255794.html Finding ourselves with a layover day in La Paz we decided to take a short little day trip to a nearby archeological site called Tiwanaku or Tiahuanaco. We boarded a little bus with a bunch of other tourists from all over the globe and rode about an hour and a half to the site which is near the south eastern shore of Lake Titicaca. Our guide took us into the small museum and around the site e http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Tiwanaku/blog-257397.html The Long Hike The second day started off with a very nice breakfast in the main hall with its screened walls thatched roof and insanely beautiful mahogany floors. Sergio wanted to take us for a long hike to another river where we could swim and fish.The only people in the lodge at this point was our group of 5 the two of us a couple from Ireland and a Dutch guy so we all piled in the dugout http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Madidi/blog-250694.html Getting there is half the funWell thats what they say right For us it was a wee bit stressful. You see in order to visit the Amazon area of Bolivia we needed to fly into a small town called Rurrenabaque. The runway there is grass...which during the rainy season is often too wet to land. There are also storms that prevent flying. So you just dont know if youre going to make it ther http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Beni-Department/Madidi/blog-249301.html Welcome to the funnel La Paz BoliviaIts sort of like a funnel. A vast suburbia on the flat antiplano and La Paz plunges down a canyon. They say if you get lost just walk down hill and youll eventually run into the main road through town. But first you have to get here....After Isla Del Sol we tried to hook up with the same bus company that facilitated the smooth border crossing route into http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-246633.html ISLA DEL SOL ...means island of the sun and as the Incas tell us is the birthplace of the sun. Either way the sun was quite intense here and I Daveam glad I picked up a trendy hat in Copacabana to protect my head from burning. We woke up late and decided to forego breakfast in order to catch the boat that would take us to the southern part of the island. A nice 2 hour boat ride which was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Isla-del-Sol/blog-246645.html Were in Copa...CopacabanaWe left Puno after getting some sleep amongst the fireworks and festivities of the night before and arrived in Copacabana Bolivia on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca. We opted for the tourism bus that took us all the way through the border instead of the normal transfers that are usually made between countries. Of course as Americans we received very special att http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-246632.html Heading up the long hill to Puno Peru After a fairly short and beautiful 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa we arrived in Puno elevation approx. 12500 ft and found a nice place to stay the Hotel de Los Pinos. We sure do feel the affects of the altitude but are managing quite well. Those few days in Arequipa did us right in the acclimatization factor as well as the Diamox and tons of water. S http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Puno/blog-246631.html Beginning the climb towards the sun....After a whirlwind 24 hours in Lima we caught a flight out to the city of Arequipa. The ticket buying experience was a different one for us. We did it online at the airline office and then had to walk to the nearby grocery store to pay for the flight. This was probably the nicest grocery store I have ever been in let alone ever seen when traveling. If on http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-244605.html From CA to Lima......via a few stops on the way. Our adventure started early in the AM in San Jose CA where we caught our first flight to Dallas. In Dallas we got stuck in one of those midwest weather holds. There was about 50 MPH winds so we sat and sat in the plane which was queued up with all the other planes waiting to use 2 of 6 runways available. We were lucky enough to be able to tak http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-244251.html Don't hate us cuz we can't come with a creative title. We hope the travelling will inspire us. So here we go for the travel journal part dos.First we drove...We left home on the 11th of December with the truck packed and the dog happily riding in the back seat. Spent a night in Anchorage with friends and then left early in the morning for the day long drive to Whitehorse Yukon. We stayed t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Santa-Cruz/blog-242214.html Okay time to Dave another turn...So after a nice night wandering along the streets of Uyuni we were up at 440 AM to get back in the very slow moving jeep to hit the salt flats before sunrise. We were ready by the 5 AM deadline but our guides were a little slower in getting ready who could blame them since I doubt they even really slept. So at about 520 Am we rolled out of town again basi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-135096.html We totally understand now why people rave about Buenos Aires. It really is a beautiful city and remember that's coming from confirmed NONcity people. We rented an apartment in the Palermo Viejo barrio and thoroughly enjoyed that. After so much travelling around we enjoyed coming back to the same place to sleep for a whopping 5 nights in a row. But did we kick back and relax NO No time http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-135031.html Dave even said so. But alas our travels are over for a bit. After 24 hours of airplanesairports a day and a half in Anchorage thanks Nick and Jess and a 4hour drive we arrived back home to our wee little house. Our lovely little fourlegged friends who live with us are back too. The house looked great and all seemed well. We're still working on getting unpacked and getting the road http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Homer/blog-138286.html I keep forgetting to mention a little something I only recently discovered about this site. You can double click on a photo to pull it up in a larger format and then slide show through all the photos in the entryAnother entry where I'll mostly let the photos do the talking. The scenery got more and more spectacular as the days went on. This day we started by going to Laguna Colorada first http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-135095.html San Antonio de Lipez to Laguna Coloradaalso known as a VERY VERY long day in a JeepWe started the day early...wake up call at about 6am. Most everyone was feeling pretty rough as the altitude affected the ability to sleep. A lil' Nescaf mixed with Chocolike this creation dubbed the Bolivian Mocha and some bread with jam and we were on our way. We drove past ruins volcanoes wee villages http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-135094.html Quilmes and the Museo PachamamaWe got up early the next morning to drive the 55 miles south to the preColumbian ruins at Quilmes. The settlement is located at 1978 meters above sea level and dating from around 1000 a.d. it was the largest human settlement before the Spaniards arrived in Argentina. Covering about 75 acres the city supported a population upwards of 5000 in terraced structure http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Cafayate/blog-137115.html So we had come all the way to southern Bolivia to do one thing the Salar de Uyuni tour. Actually we were doing the extended Tupiza version. We were to embark on a big loop through southern Bolivia and end up on the world's largest salt flat.We were not leaving the first day until 930 the first morning so Kevyn and I took the opportunity to wander around town and we stumbled into the already http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-135090.html Salta to CachiThe road from to Salta to Cachi starts out going through the lush Lerma Valley. Things quickly changed from the green to the colorful rocks of the Quebrada de Escoipe. This was the first place in South America where we saw cactus. This mostly gravel winding road climbs to over 10000 ft. You may have heard of the famous Train to the Clouds but we felt like we were in the Rental http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Cafayate/blog-131869.html Kevyn here We decided a few weeks earlier that we probably had time to visit Bolivia. Our friends Pete and Ashely who travelled around South America for several months last year spoke very highly of the 4x4 tours of the slat flats in the southwestern part of Bolivia. Of course always wanting to emulate our friends we decided we had to add that to the itinerary also. But we really didn't http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Tupiza/blog-135030.html