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Published: March 21st 2007
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Laguna Verde
It actually was this colour ... no photoshop manipulation honest Untitled Now, where were we...?
San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile if memory serves.
We were joined in sunny San Pedro by friends we made on the Navimag and in discussion over a Pisco Sour or two our plans evolved into joining the four of them on a 3 day jeep trip into Bolivia (surely had to be more comfortable than endless hours on Chilean buses). So off we went with the lovely Alberto as driver/guide/cook/mechanic through some extraordinary scenery in the altiplano of south west Bolivia - volcanos, geysers, red lakes, blue lakes, green lakes, white lakes, flamingos by the hundred and very thin air (we were around 4000m up most of the time and occasionally over 5000m - bless the coca leaf). The end of the trip took us across the Uyuni salt flat, a shimmering white expanse of salt about the size of Wales, the sunrise was breathtaking.
Next port of call was La Paz after an enforced night in Uyuni itself waiting for the train (only goes once a week). La Paz is a buzzing, vibrant mass of humanity built in a canyon (biggest place we'd been to since Buenos Aires, so a bit
Fisherman's Island
A cactus-covered island now surrounded by the shimmering Uyuni salt flat of a shock to the system) and, despite our fears and the warnings of others about it being a hotbed of petty crime, we felt no threat at all. We visited some pre-Inca ruins at Tiwanaku, wandered round markets where there was an extraordinary array of dried animals - apparently it's good luck to put a dried baby llama in the foundations of a new house (not sure what the dried guinea pigs were for - more on this later) and cycled down the 'World's Most Dangerous Road'; before a new road was opened in December it averaged 7 deaths a week, you might have seen a picture of it on a circular email entitled 'world's worst commute'. Anyway, it drops 12,000 feet in about 40 miles, so there's not much pedalling just sheer drops into the jungle on one side and waterfalls pouring on your head from the other! Fun. We´ve even got the t-shirts to prove it! At the lunch stop at the bottom there was a monkey sanctuary ("les singes et dans l'arbre"), one of which was apparently quite a horny little blighter as Rob found to his disgust when he jumped on his head and started
'having a go' at the back of his neck. Eeuurrggh!
We left La Paz the day after.
Next stop the beautiful Lake Titicaca, still travelling with our new friends from Leeds, Nancy and Darren. Lake Titti is the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,000ft. Fact! We had a wonderful couple of days on the peaceful Isla del Sol, site of the Inca creation myth, and stayed in our cheapest accomodation yet (except for El Calafate bus station) 70p a night each - bargain.
And so to Cusco. What a beautiful city, Spanish colonial architecture built on Inca foundations in a stunning mountain setting. It has also provided us with a base to do trips to the surrounding area, most notably to Machu Picchu, which is as extraordinary as you would expect, as much for where it's built as for the ruins themselves (but even they are stunning), perched on a precipitous mountain top in the middle of the jungle. There weren't the hoards of tourists we were expecting and when it started to rain there were even fewer! As part of the tour we were on we visited a number of other Inca sites, the
Machu Picchu in Mist
The cloud just added to the atmosphere of this amazing place country is littered with ruins and more are being uncovered all the time.
After a month at altitude we decided it was time for some full-oxygen air, so we went on a 3 night trip to the jungle, staying in a lodge on the Madre de Dios river in eastern Peru. It was everything you would imagine a tropical rain forest to be - rainy (at times), hot, humid, and full of trees and animals including lots more monkeys - imagine Rob's delight when a French-Canadian asked him where the monkey was....
Our fantastic local guide, Elias, helped us see lots of parrots/macaws, caiman, turtles, tapir, tarantulas. We also swam in the pool, swung in hammocks and emerged relatively unscathed by mosquitos (all pray to Deet). Also had a close call with the local shaman.
And here we are again in Cusco, home of the infamous guinea pig supper... yes we did! Tomorrow we fly to Arequipa for a couple of days before heading back to Chile.
Despite our nervousness about both Bolivia and Peru they have both been wonderful countries to travel in, the people are open, kind and very friendly and even though it's the
rainy season the weather has been pretty good.
Nadine and Rob xxx
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Di
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WOW!
This leaves me breathless just reading it - it just keeps gettng more amazing! Lovely to see pictures of you two lovlies, and the assorted wildlife which is attaching itself to you.... Take care!