http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Stax-of-Jax/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Stax of Jax en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:59:36 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:59:36 +0000 MendozaYouve probably gathered by now that there are at least four things that are very important to me when I am travelling. In no particular order landscape and culture good companyfriendship great food and last but not least red wine my dad will contest to this one when I visit Oz I arrived in Mendoza the principle wine region of Argentina very excited about my fourth aspect red win http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/Mendoza/blog-350708.html Having arrived in Salta safe and sound with no problems at the boarders we were all ready to let loose and party. First things first was to eat as much delicious steak as possible. Arriving by bus late at night first stop was to dump the bags at the hostel find the best restaurant and devour some Argentinian steak and red wine...... ahhhh yum Its quite odd going out for a meal at midnight http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Salta/Salta/blog-346619.html Next stop after the desert was San Pedro de Atacama a small colonial town in Chile not far from the boarder. This route seemed like the obvious way to get to Salta Argentina which is where I was keen to spend some time on recommendation of friends. Had I known what it would entail I might have thought twice and travelled the extra ten hours back to Uyuni and caught the trainDoes anything actua http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Antofagasta-Region/San-Pedro-de-Atacama/blog-346613.html Theres nothing like waking up at 5am to catch the sunrise. I just love it Whether it be in the mountains or the desert the light does amazing things to the landscape and it is such a special time of day. Yesterday morning was one such occassion where I was up early to catch the sunrise. I sat outside waiting for the others man it was freezing reflecting on the past few days in the desert an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-343374.html Mum you might want to sit down.... Yesterday I rode 64kms and travelled vertical distance of 3650m down the most dangerous road in the world on a mountain bike I survived with no injuries apart from a dozen or so nasty mosquito bites. I first heard about this a couple of years ago from a friend whod been travelling in south america and its something Ive wanted to do for ages. As Heather say http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Yungas-Road/blog-342396.html La PazIve never really thought much about Bolivia as a place to visit. What would it be like Would I like it Up until the point that I arrived in La Paz I didnt really have too many expectations. Id heard a few mixed reviews from other travellers about the city so was keen to check it out for myself. The journey from to La Paz passes through some spectacular mountain ranges. These ranges app http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-342355.html After our experiences tying to get to Puno we were really happy to be able to get to see Lake Titikaka.Eros the floating islandsFirst stop was the Eros floating islands which are man made islands made out of reeds that grow on the lake. There's 45 islands in total with approximately 2000 inhabitants. It's pretty amazing They have to lay all the reeds and remake the houses every 3 months so it's a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/Uros-Island/blog-340656.html CuscoAfter Macchu Pichu we had a free day in Cusco which was fantastic. I spent the day pottering around exploring the city with Julia and Dan a lovely couple from England. I really enjoyed Cusco and wished I had been able to spend some more time there. Its got such a great vibe. Loads of friendly people from all over the world heaps of good resturants bars and clubs. We were out every night http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/Cusco/blog-340640.html Visiting local communities in the sacred valleyWe visited a local community on the way to Ollantaytambo to see how they make the wool and weave the materials. They use traditional methods to dye the wool using local plants and rocks. We spent a bit of time browsing their markets and bought a few things knowing the money goes straight to them. OllantaytamboThe journey from Cusco to Ollantaytambo i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-339457.html As all of the the Inca trail permits were sold out months ago we decided to book the Lares trek instead. It was supposed to be 4 days 3 nights and moderate challenge. Unfortunately for us the weather was really bad so we had to change the route and miss out on pretty much a full day of walking. There was snow on route to the first destination so the llamas couldnt pass. We didnt want to risk i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Lares-Trek/blog-339453.html Right this is a huge blog entry Im so awestruck by my trip to the jungle that Ive gone crazy writing. Ive no desire to bore my friends and family to death so Ive done a quick summary. If you want to know more read the sections below.Met up with new group and travelled toa lodge called Refugio Amazonas a couple of hours upstream from Puerto Monanoldo.I loved my time in the jungle it is so http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Amazonas/blog-339448.html My final days in Lima were very enjoyable. I felt like I had learnt a decent amount of language considering the short amount of time made new friends and had some fantastic experiences. BarrancoOn Saturday I went to visit an older area of town called Barranco. Funnily enough we spent a a fair while driving around Lima the night before trying to find a particular bar so I had already seen a bit of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Barranco/blog-339428.html El busIts fair to say that Ive been here a good five days or so now and should probably understand how the buses work considering I catch them to school every day. But no I still have no idea Let me set the scene. Lima has a population of about 7 million people. The roads are pretty busy not Delhi busy but getting there. The drivers are crazy. Its chaos. Somehow it all seems to work okay. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-335169.html After much anticipation Im finally in South America I arrived in Lima Per a couple of days ago and I already having a fantastic time. This week is all about learning Spanish and the way of life over here. I booked a weeks worth of classes at the local language school and am staying with a Peruvian family to get an insight into life over here to practice my Spanish and help teach some English http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/Lima/Miraflores/blog-334335.html