Hola amigos! In true South American style it has taken much longer than it should have to get this blog up and running, but here ´tis! We have now been in the amazing city of La Paz for 2 weeks and in a few words, everything is great! We feel very lucky how everything has fallen into place and we have really settled in to la vida boliviana. So, from the beginning. The flights were all on time, fun and fairly uneventful, bar the fact that I left my laptop on the flight between Tahiti and LA, which I am still [View Full Entry]

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Before I started this trip, I was sure that I wanted to see Machu Picchu and do the Inca trail, but there is a 3 months in advance reservation required. After further investigations I decided to join a tour for 3 weeks, so that I was sure to do the Inca Trail and have some company for a while. Even though I must say it is very easy to travel around Southamerica alone, I always meet people heading the same direction. So there we go, a group of 7 meet in Lima to join this 3 weeks tour through Peru to [View Full Entry]

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...after the mines we decided to continue our travels with Tanja and Francisco and went to Sucre. A beautiful town/city just noth of Potosi and the Bolivien capital. The bus drive here was fantastic, winding our way through the Altiplano along a dried up riverbed on the side of red soiled mountains speckled with trees. After 6h we arrived in Sucre and found a hostel to stay in. We then set off to find something to eat. We came a cross a nice looking and from our guide books recommended French resturant. This must have been a Bolivien upper class [View Full Entry]

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Nov 6, 2009 There were a few things Justin’s Grandpa was worried about before we left for our trip. One of them included how well we’d take the altitude at the highest capital city in the world at 3660 meters, La Paz. Since Justin and I had already been through our share of high altitude cities including Potosi, Bolivia (+4000 meters), and places throughout our Uyuni Salt Flat tour such as the site with the geysers at 5100 meters, we thought we’d be fine. Walking to the bus terminal in Arica, Justin and I decided that we’d watch our luggage carefully. [View Full Entry]

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The surreality of La Paz is perhaps expressed no more distinctly than in the "Valley of the Moon", or "Valle de la Luna" as it is known here. Where in England, could you find a city, where moonscapes flank its edges? Quite normal here though, normal in this capital of Bolivia, a microcosm of the strangeness of its mother country. We visited the valley this morning, but I'm still not sure what to make of it. What can you make of it really? It just is. On the way back we saw the country's Presidente; Evo Morales, or so we thought. [View Full Entry]

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Following our 3 day adventure around south west Bolivia hanging out in hot springs and amusing ourselves, with what we have all decided are the campest animals in the world, Llamas, we arrived in lofty La Paz, the second largest city in Bolivia. I had heard alot about La Paz, mainly so from the book i read last year called Marching Powder, which tells the story of a Brit who got locked up in a prison in La Paz for trying to smuggle a shed load of coke out of Bolivia to the UK, smart guy. But La Paz really is [View Full Entry]

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TITIKAKA 31.10.2009 SEKÄ LA PAZ, BOLIVIA 1.-2.11.2009 ”Kävele hitaasti, syö kohtuullisesti ja nuku paljon sieluparkasi vuoksi”, kuuluu bolivialaisten neuvo vuoristotaudin karttamiseksi. Reppumatkailijat kertovat legendaa, että kaikki aina sairastuvat La Pazissa, Boliviassa. En uskonut ennen kuin ensimmäisenä yönä sairastuin oikein kunnolla. En tiedä mikä osa siitä on vuoristotautia, mikä vatsatautia. Mutta nukkunut olen ja nähnyt sitäkin vähemmän La Pazia: ensimmäisenä päivänä nukuin kahteen asti iltapäivällä ja viime yönä yksitoista tuntia, minkä jälkeen jouduin pudottau [View Full Entry]

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Whilst on Lake Titicaca we visited the Uros Islands, which are floating reed islands anchored to the bottom of the lake, on which communities live, go to school, trade etc. Although the compacted reeds are 2 metres thick its still a strange floating sensation when you are on them. After some shopping opportunities our group made their way to another island - Amantani. Here we stayed the night with a local family in their house. At the dock we were met by our ´mama´in her traditional dress and taken for lunch to her home. It was basic but we were lucky [View Full Entry]

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Walking down the Prado (the main road) in the heart of La Paz I can´t help thinking of Detroit. My memory isn´t envoked for the similarities, but for the stark differences. And for that matter I might as well picture Any City, USA. There is a life here that permeates every corner. Every park bench. The life is outside. Walking down the street. Selling vegetables while huddling over a bowl of soup and a plate of rice. It´s eating ice cream at 10 in the morning, and walking hand in hand with a relative or a friend. It fills the futbol [View Full Entry]

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La Pazista San Pedro de Atacamaan Kolme viikkoa on vierähtänyt käsittämättömän nopeasti ja olemme jo päässeet matkan viimeiseen maahan, Chileen. Lähtö La Pazista oli lievästi sanottuna stressaava - olimme tulleet edellisenä iltana kiireesti viidakosta takaisin kaupunkiin ja koko päivän matkustamisesta uupuneina illalla ei oikein mihinkään tarttuminen huvittanut. Olimme kuitenkin suunnitelleet, että matkatavaroita olisi vähän kevennettävä kun laukut ovat päässeet matkalla jotenkin turpoamaan ja pelko Sky Airlinen tiukoista matkatavarasäännöistä vähän hirvitti. Muutenkin liian täyden k [View Full Entry]

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