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Published: August 5th 2011
Caro: Our last night in Salta was one of indulgence, some nice steak, red wine and a pizza. I am glad that we did indulge to be honest as we had no idea of what was to come. I boarded the bus wearing (as you can see on the pics of the previous blog) flip flops, leggings and a dress. I had my fleece, a cardigan and a pair of socks in my bag, just in case it got a bit cold overnight. I was getting some bizarre looks at the bus station but this didn´t surprise me; people tend to stare at you when you have light coloured eyes and white skin. The men in Argentina also stare quite blatantly and comment quite a lot, it is probably just as well I don´t really understand it! Anyway I probably looked like your average ignorant tourist (gringo). Well I was!
The bus left Salta at midnight and headed out into the countryside. The lights were immediately turned out and as a result of the reading lights not working a snooze was the only option. After 7 or so hours we arrived at the border, the windows of the bus were
In the salt hotel
All ready for bed!!frozen inside and out. We must have been at quite an altitude because I felt quite unwell and the temperature was well below freezing. We managed to pick up a German chap from Hamburg who spoke good Spanish, so as I was putting on another pair of trousers, a jacket, scarf etc. He suggested that we share a taxi to the border. I was feeling really unwell at this point. We queued about an hour to get our exit stamp from Argentina then it took about 30 mins to get into Bolivia and the poor German guy had to go back through no man´s land because they hadn´t actually stamped his passport. Once we were all through we went to the bus station but were offered an "express taxi" to Tupezia for not a lot of money so we gladly took this option. Although not heated and having the windows partially open it seemed considerably warmer than the temperature outside. In spite of this, every extremity was pushed to the limit just to remain attached. We arrived in Tupezia and were what I can only describe as underwhelmed.
Looking back our time in Bolivia has been exhausting but exciting,
hideous yet hilarious not to mention intriguing and interesting. I don´t think that we have been anywhere so diverse thus far and I´m so glad that it has been on our itinerary. I can only describe Bolivia as being like Marmite and I have to say I both loved and hated it.
On arrival in Tupiza we checked into the Valle Hermosa Hostel which was the closest accommodation to the terminal and came recommended. The lady spoke very little English, but quite good French so we muddled through in a Franglaispangol kind of language! Our room was perfect but one thing that seems to be lacking in Bolivia is auga calientes (hot water). Bearing in mind we were at altitude and completely freezing, a nice hot shower would have been perfect. I had to do something about the altitude sickness though and was quite proud of myself that I managed to go into the Pharmacy and say what I had and that I was allergic to penicillin! I was pleased that my Spanish was hopefully improving!
The next thing that we needed to do was find an ATM. Well they don´t have such advanced machines in Tupeiza so
you have to go into the bank with a photocopy of your passport and they give you a cash advance on your card. I pause before I use the word "backward" as I have to describe the scene, it is both backward and extremely modern. The women as hopefully you can see from the photos wear: granny sandals, thick woolen tights, skirts with a pinafore and a bowler hat. Then in the bank there is a lady sitting in front of a computer -which makes a BBC or Spectrum look advanced - but she is dressed in quite modern clothes. It is just crazy when the lady in the bowler hat pulls out a mobile phone from her pocket, such extrememes of tradition mixed with new technology. The lady in the bank swipes your card and the computer either say yes or no. Fortunately for us computer said "yes" so we had some money to live off! We had a quiet evening and found a film to watch on TV, the next day we were setting off to see the Salt Plains and it was going to be one hell of a journey!
We woke early, packed, showered in
auga frio and went down stairs. Again in the mélange of the languages we understood that one of the girls who was supposed to be on our trip was ill and we couldn´t go, however the hostel lady wouldn´t charge us to stay the extra night and we could get breakfast the next day on the house. We couldn´t say no really...well we didn´t actually have a choice! So it is 8am and we are already to go. Time to find a cafe for breakfast! We found a "cafe" on the main square and managed to order coffee and medialunas. Clearly coffee is not often ordered here as the lady had to run out across the square somewhere and returned with a pot of treacle like coffee. That said once mixed with hot milk this made exceptional coffee! Somehow everything in Bolivia takes ages to do. Considering there was a pile of medialunas on the counter it took the lady the best part of 30 mins to transfer 2 medialunas to a plate and make two cups of coffee to our table! I guess she won´t be getting offered a job when Starbucks finally hits town in 2200.
After
breakfast it was about 8:45 so we decided that we would add a couple of hikes to our itinerary for the day. First, we hiked to Cerro Corazon Jesus which looked over the town. In daylight the place seemed very different and we were able to pick out several places to which we then walked. Following this we walked to the Quebrada de Palala which is right by where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had their finally showdown with the Bolivian army at the Alamo. To get there, we were advised to walk along the train tracks and just see where we got to. We had a rudimentary map and so set off in the blazing sunshine which was actually very warm once you got a march on. Apparently there are only 3 trains a week and the engines are all diesel so we would be fine walking along the tracks. We walked for a couple of hours until we were really in the middle of nowhere. Having been in a number of pretty remote places on this trip, I can say that this was by far the most remote!! In spite of the odd goat hearder we were
completely alone in a hot dusty land. Looking back at the likes of Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, it must have been incredibly daunting coming here although we had been advised that very little has actually changed since! On reflection this was blatantly obvious!!
We walked back to town covered in dust and pretty shattered and went in search of some food. We decided on Mexican as we had eaten in the same restaurant twice before so we thought it´d make a nice change. We hit the hay early as tomorrow we were going to be heading to Uyuni and the Salt Plains! The lady had promised this time!!!
JOFF: We woke early had a shower, breakfast and headed down the road to where we were going to be picked up. We were met by a French couple Max and Sophie and a Canadian guy called Pierre with whom we were to take the trip. There seemed to be some issue with the driver having got drunk the night before so they located a new driver and he turned up in a Toyota 4x4 which had seen better days...in the 60s! To say it had seen better days
is actually being very generous! The tires were bald, the windscreen had a huge eyelevel crack in it and the petrol cap was held on with selotape and naturally there were no seatbelts!! Not the most ideal transport for a mountainous road with no tarmac and precipitous drops for thousands of feet on either side. Still I think the whole trip has made us more open to danger albeit usually quite calculated. We shrugged our shoulders and got into the vehicle. The driver was called Benjamin and the cook was called Natalia and they both seemed very nice. Benjamin was being seen off by his wife and tiny baby so that boded well for a guy who hopefully didn´t want to die on this trip either!!!!
We left town and headed off on dirt tracks into the wild mountains. The scenery was spectacular and it wasn´t long, say 30mins when a general consensus was made to stop and take pictures. We got out took our pics and saw that Benjamin was adding some air to one of the tyres. Well at least he was aware of tyre pressure etc. On returning to the vehicle we noticed a hissing noise
emitting from the said tyre. Benjamin assured us that it would be fine and ushered us into the jeep. We continued for a further 10-15mins and then stopped in a tiny village in a valley in the middle of nowhere. Benjamin suggested that we went for a walk explaining that farming and agriculture were incredibly important for the village. During which time he decided that he better fix the tyre. We returned having not had a great deal to look at. Benjamin and Natalia had the jeep jacked up with the tyre off and were in the process of applying an industrial sized puncture repair kit. All that was missing was a bowl of soapy water to locate the hole. Somehow with incredibly limited tools and assistance from the Natalia, he fixed the puncture, got the wheel back on and then we were back on our way.
I guess we had lost some time and judging by his driving Benjamin had every faith in his patching work! Having just passed a similar jeep on its roof we came across a petrol station in the middle of a river valley. Once again Benjamin suggested that we have a walk and
look around as there was a large queue for the juice! Having filled up we were back on our way this time down the river which was currently a trickle. About 400 meters from the petrol station the radiator blew out and Benjamin and Natalia spent the next 30mins trying to fill bottles from a stream and replenish the water level so we could continue our journey. It was actually hilarious albeit slightly concerning as we had not seen real civilisation in quite some time!! They managed to get the radiator sorted and we continued our journey. The scenery was once again amazing and we were looking forward to dinner and a bed before the salt plains the following day. Just as Ben informed us that we should be arriving in Uyuni in 20 minutes and subsequently Colchani in less than an hour, the problem tyre blew. As the sun began to set Ben and Natalia went through a now well oiled routine! The wheel was off and the spare was back on just in time for the sun setting!
We arrived in Colchani in pitch black and -20 degrees. We were in for a cold night in our
salt hotel! Having eaten dinner in a dining room constructed entirely from salt we said our good nights and headed to bed. Sleeping fully clothed including hats, in a sleeping bag under several covers we all just about managed to get some sleep and rose at 5am so we could make it to the salt plains in time for sunrise. Romantic it was not! I think in our somewhat crippled jeep we needed to leave considerably earlier than the majority of people making the journey.
We flew across the salt plains and stopped just in time to see the sun break the line of mountains which ring the flats. The salt plains we not quite what we expected. Although dry in some places there is also a great deal of surface water which sprays everywhere when you drive through and provides perfect reflections of everything around! We drove to an cactus covered island and ate a breakfast of pancakes, dulce du leche and coffee. It was delicious and we were finally warm again basking in the sun!
We continued on until we were entirely surrounded by a brilliant white salt where we stopped and had some fun playing
around with cameras and the effects of the salt. We ate lunch and finally returned to Uyuni where we visited the Cemetery of the Trains which was really a bunch of old rusting locomotives in a desert-like landscape. By this time I think everyone had had enough so we asked Benjamin to recommend a "hotel" and drop us off. We checked in and promptly crashed out for a couple of hours. Having had a hotish shower we headed out to book our bus for the following day to Sucre grab a bite to eat (Llama Steak) and then back to bed. We were leaving early the following day.
The bus to Sucre was relatively uneventful if extremely uncomfortable and dusty. We arrived in the dark but following the last week or so we had decided to book ahead and had found an absolute gem of a place on the outskirts of town just by the cathedral. Within 10 minutes of the bus stopping we were in our digs and in another 10 mins we were sat at a table in a restaurant overlooking the city! My, what a difference a day makes! In spite of sounding posh you can
never spend more than 10 quid on dinner no matter how hard you try. Filet Steak wrapped n bacon, chips and salad and a chicken dish for Caroline and drinks, 8 pounds! I was beginning to think we may like Sucre! Our room was exquisite and had a seating area which looked out over the city. In addition to this, it had hot running water so we were both well chuffed! It doesn´t take a lot to make us happy, our standards have certainly dropped :-)
The following day we hit the town got a few jobs done such as booking our flight to La Paz and then went to watch the Copa Americas final between Uruguay and Paraguay and have a few beers. We wandered around in the sunshine enjoying the views and incredible architecture our faith in Bolivia having been completely restored. We finished up with Tiramisu in a cafe at the top of the hill overlooking the town. We went to bed early for a change and woke once again early. We were leaving for La Paz today and we wanted to hike up to the top of the hill behind town and see the statue
of Jesus which overlooks Sucre at about 3200m. The trek was pretty steep and having been told it would take between 2-3 hours there and back we were please to return with an hour and a half! Not that we are remotely competitive! We spent the rest of the morning at the cafe we had visited the day before having breakfast, drinking coffee and chilling in the sun before our flight.
Now we had decided to fly as it was very cheap and only took 45 minutes as opposed to a 14 hour bus ride. Having looked online at crash records in South America Aerosur has scored quite highly meaning that they hadn´t had a fatal crash in quite some time! We arrived at the airport to find the plane delayed but unperturbed we checked our bags in and wandered about a bit. Finally, we were ready for the security checks which as we previously experienced are somewhat relaxed in comparison with those in Europe. Unless you were openly holding a knife, gun or bomb you were permitted to walk straight through. Liquids in bags, laptops out etc does not seem to matter! On viewing the plane it became
apparent that guns, knives and hijacking were the least of our concerns. It was the type of plane which you see on old films where part of the tail drops down and you walk up its rear, for want of a better phrase! Having boarded the plane we noticed it was old and filthy and we were both starting to feel a little like the 14 hour bus ride may have not actually been all that bad after all! The plane was a real $hitheap and that is probably being pretty rude to $hitheaps all over the world. We staggered into the sky with everything shaking and the somewhat transvestite like stewardesses looking decidedly uneasy. A combination of these factors and pretty significant turbulence due to the mountains made it the longest 45 minutes of our lives! We finally landed with a bang in La Paz and with great relief left the plane, pick up our bags and jumped in a cab to our hostel.
Having heard nothing good about La Paz from anyone (people getting mugged, robbed, beaten up and altitude sickness) we met or know we were actually pleasantly surprised to find our hotel to be of
the highest standard and positioned right next to the most well know landmark in La Paz San Francisco Cathedral. A muggers and pickpockets paradise but also our home for the next couple of nights. Due to our later than expected arrival we just had some dinner in a cafe downstairs and crashed out our nerves having been somewhat shot during the flight.
The following day we woke early had breakfast and headed out to see the sights of La Paz in the daylight. I must say that we were both very pleasantly surprised. Although one can buy llama foetuses all sorts of dried creatures etc in the street, the place is actually quite clean and the architecture quite amazing. This combined with the backdrop of the Andes makes for a spectacular city (it reminded us a lot of Katmandu but it is a lot cleaner). We visited the main attractions before heading home to get ourselves sorted for the next part of the adventure. The following day we were taking the bus to Copacabana on Lake Titikka!
The journey from La Paz to Copacabana was only 4 hours and in spite of having to take the bus across
a river on a boat and Caroline having to visit, quote "The worst toilet in the world! Even worse than Trainspotting!" the journey was generally uneventful! Caroline did suggest that they "just build a bridge" I ignored this comment... We arrived and having being dropped off by the bus we realised that our "Hotel" was half way up the steepest hill in town which at nearly 4000m and fully laden, made for a pretty strenuous hike. We finally got to the Hotel and found that in spite of a drab brick exterior the interior looked like it had been prepared with the hosting of a Eurovision Song contest in mind! Wall murals and even flags all stuck into a bright green floor! All incredibly tasteful but sadly no Union Jack!!
We took a walk around town and decided that as it was a sunny day and that we had a few days to kill here we would go and have some coffee and a bite to eat. The town itself was pretty unimpressive but the surrounding countryside and lake were beautiful. Having sat there for a while it seemed that the majority of people in town, who were not native, had a "South American" cold which had nothing to do with cocaine or any such other undesirable habits! We went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and it was at this point Caro realised that she had picked up the dreaded lurgy!!
That night I went to dinner alone promising to return bringing something which Caro could eat. I chose a pizzeria which was run by a woman who looked like a witch and lo and behold she had a horrific cold too which didn´t make for the most pleasant culinary experience. In fairness the pizza was lovely but we were beginning to get a bit fed up with pizza and pasta as there seems to be the staple diet of the majority of South American´s, particularly in Bolivia! Unless you want to eat "Cuy" which is Guinea Pig, we haven´t had that yet.
Anyway the following day Caro was feeling somewhat better so I decided that we would walk up the two highest peaks around town. Ever thoughtful! One peak being a Christian pilgrimage to statues of the 12 disciples undertaken generally carrying a heavy load of some sort. You know that when even the locals are struggling it is going to be difficult but after about an hour of walking we reached the peak and enjoyed the view of the bay and the surrounding countryside. The next peak was not so taxing although the path petered out about halfway and I made Caroline undertake a brief rock climbing exercise to reach the top! This second peak had been my idea as being Inca mad I wanted to see the "Hor del Inca" or Inca horns. On reaching the summit we realised that the Inca horns were in fact two rocks poking out of a bigger rock. Not all that impressive and certainly not worth the 10 Bolivanios each we had paid. Slightly disappointed we returned to town and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The following day we were heading to the Inca Isla Del Sol which involved an early start and a pretty sturdy hike.
We woke early and got a lift down to the wharf where we boarded our boat. Filled to capacity and with 1 engine working out of 2 the journey took somewhat longer than expected. The lake was a wonderful sapphire colour and the surrounding hills and mountains made you feel so tiny and insignificant. We arrived at Challapampa and decided that we would find our own way to the pickup at the other end of the island some 10km away. This may have been somewhat foolhardy as everyone else seemed to be hiring guides or staying at hostels on the island. Unperturbed we set off uphill with the intention of hiking along the ridgeline to reach the other end. On the way there were some ruins to stop and look at as this had been the place where the Inca’s said the sun came from. There were also stunning views and plenty of wildlife. On arriving at the place we were to be picked up at we realised that although we had kept up a good pace and not been overtaken quite a number of people from our boat were already there! It transpired that there were 2 routes to the opposite end of the island. 1 which just went round the coast and another which went over the mountains! Us being us had taken the considerable more difficult longer route! We took the boat back and finally the captain had realised that if he turns the second engine on then the boat generally goes a bit faster! We reached land and headed back to the hotel for a shower. On arriving at the hotel I was surprised to realise that I recognised the girl standing in the reception. A couple of seconds passed and then I realised that it was Rosalind Morgan someone who I had know most of my life and I was even taught by her mum! We agreed to meet for dinner later and went our separate ways. What made the whole thing more random was that I had met her parents on the night before we had left for Beijing back in February! We met for dinner and agreed to meet up again in Cusco in Peru as both parties were heading there in the next few days!
Next stop Peru!!
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