So the mission was nearly complete - accommodation had actually been sorted out for us (thanks to Bella and Glen, old friends we had met in Buenos Aires, who had booked and paid something for us - legends), and we were on the bus from Uyuni. We arrived at about 6am in Oruro, and the festivities had already commenced. The town was a sea of colour, and everyone was dressed up to the nines. The carnival is actually officially known as the La Diablada carnival and is celebrated in honor of the patron saint of the miners, Vírgen de Socavon (the [View Full Entry]

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After much anticipation and planning, Laurence and I arrived in Oruro, Bolivia for this country´s version of Carnival. The exerience was something else, one that I will not soon forget. Arriving late Thurday afternoon, I explored streets filled with onlookers and drunken dancers. These groups, marching, dancing and singing in the streets prior to the main event on Saturday represented the smaller rural campesinos who also celebrate carnival. These small groups made up of dancing women and music playing me were a great introduction to the festivities to come and were a treat to watch. All [View Full Entry]

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Carnaval de Oruro: Fenruary 15-18, 2007 The Carnaval in Rio, Brazil may have acquired an international reputation throughout the years but the Carnaval in Oruro, Bolivia definitely deserves a visit! I will even say that this Carnaval is intimate as the stands along the road, where the dancers and musicians parade, are located only few meters from this colourful and loud spectacle! The Diablada, which started on February 17, represents the entrance of the devil in the city and consists of a multitude of orchestras and of colourful dancers with amazing costumes! We arrived at our seats a [View Full Entry]

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Had breakfast with John, Rach, Sophia and Teresa. Then later said goodbuy as everybody was either staying in La Paz or off in another direction. Infact John and Rach were going to attempt to cycle the worlds most dangerous road and I saw the opertunity of having limited time as a way of getting out of it. After breakfast I went out in search of munchys for my bus journey to Uyuni (13 hours plus stop and change at Oruro). I had the urge for cheese and onion pringles and couldnt find the dam things anywhere (I swear there were loads [View Full Entry]

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After spending a couple of days in Cuzco, relaxing after the inca trail (Bryce went white water rafting and Georgie had a massage and much needed pedicure!), we headed into the jungle for 2 nights. This was an amzing experience - very hot and humid dense rainforest. We saw quite a lot of wildlife, mainly monkeys, macaws, bats, priranhas, capybara (a rodent the size of a wombat), and cayman (related to the crocodile). The accomodation we stayed in was a lodge which basically meant that it was pretty open air - we had mosquito nets over us at night and we [View Full Entry]

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La Pazin lentokentälle saavuttuamme totesimme, että ei ollut enää niin kuumaa kuin Chilessä. La Pazin ollessa maailman korkeimmalla oleva pääkaupunki (4000 metriä) happeakaan ei ollut liikaa käytettävissä. Ei silleen, että oltaisiin haukottu happea viimeistä päivää, mutta pienikin urheilusuoritus (kuten rinkankanto 100m) pisti pikkaisen puuskuttamaan. Lentokentällä sitten pidettiin pieni palaveri koskien seuraavaa päämäärää. Päätettiin ihmetellä La Pazia myöhemmin ja lähteä suoraan Oruroon, noin neljän tunnin bussimatkan päähän etelään. Juuri ennen bussimatkaa kävimme syömässä. Paikkaan ilmest [View Full Entry]

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This will be a relatively short entry as not much really happened this Saturday that I spent in Oruro. My goal for this trip to Oruro was to find a hotel for my friends and I for Carnaval as it was coming up in less than a month and the rooms were going quick. Friday after work, I zipped to the bus terminal to try to catch a 7PM bus to Oruro so that I would arrived at around 10:30PM. After waiting in line for a few minutes, the bus company said they were full. Then they came around saying they [View Full Entry]

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Bolivia has been good to us. We took a 9 hr. train that might or might not have derailed for a minute from Uyuni to Oruro to connect with a bus to La Paz, at 3,600 meters is the highest capital in the world. La Paz is an incredible city. It is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, if Jackson Hole had 10,000,000 dirty little people and no toilet paper. The city sprawls itself to fit inside a bowl formed by snowy mountains. We strolled around the city two days; admiring architecture, visiting museums (one agricultural and one cultural/folklore), and shopping the black market. [View Full Entry]

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Finally it is Boxing Day, or otherwise, the first day of almost a two week adventure of southern Bolivia. My destination for today, Uyuni, the home of the largest salt flat in the world. It has been on the top of my list of things to see in Bolivia, so I was going to check it off first. Karin, my roommate, was heading that way as well, so we decided we'd travel together as far as Uyuni. Believe it or not, on Boxing Day morning, Karin had a schedule meeting with someone that worked for the city, so when she went [View Full Entry]

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I have some parasites or bacteria in mi estomago... not such an unusual thing in Bolivia, but still not the most pleasant of experiences when they have been habitating your insides for more than a week. I think it was from eating ceviche (a Peruvian dish of raw fish) which tastes great but can cause long term consequences not so favourable to your bodily systems. My doctor wondered whether I was trying to commit suicide. No... but ceviche is so good! Probably not a good idea to eat it when you are more than 6 hour drive from the ocean... and [View Full Entry]

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