Advertisement
Published: August 9th 2007
Strange statue
In the plaza de armaz, Santiago de ChileSouthern Chile
Santiago After a long flight from Auckland we landed in Santiago, Chile. Fraser did not sleep at all on the plane, largely due to the fact that he had one of the largest men in the world in the seat next to him - his belly and arm were partly in Fraser's seat and his elbow was digging into his ribs. We think he should have paid for a couple of seats.
Anyway, we negotiated a taxi from the airport (paying well over the odds but knackered so went with it) to Hostal de Sammy, along with an Irish lad, Kenny, who we met at the airport. Since leaving Ireland, Kenny has been mugged in Thailand and been in two car crashes in New Zealand - his trip met another disaster on our second night in Santiago (explained later).
Apart from a brief walk around the city, we did very little on our first day in Santiago and got an early night. It is pretty cold here and it's only going to get colder - checked the weather forecast for some of our later destinations e.g. Potosi (where we never actually made it), and noticed it
Painting in the Plaza de Armaz
Some of the many paintings for sale in the main square of Santiago could get as cold as minus eighteen degrees in some of the evenings.
The following day, we toured the city, taking in the National History Museum, the Chilean Museum of Precolombian Art, Plaza de Armaz, the park with views of the city and the Palace. The central square of the City, Plaza de Armaz, is lined with artists painting their pictures and also has a few cafes along one side, reminiscent of the main square in cities such as Prague and Brussels. There is also a bandstand, full of tables with chess sets with plenty of locals playing in front of large crowds. The city is also full of shoe-shine guys who have chairs for their customers on the street and charge about 35p to shine someone's shoes whilst they sit back in the chair and read their newspapers.
The afternoon (and evening) was spent at the bars on Pol Nino in another district of the city, near the university. It was about 1,000 Peso (one pound - easy exchange rate) for a liter of beer and 1,900 Peso (one pound ninety) for a bottle of red wine. After a few bars, Marie and Fraser negotiated their way
Cathedral
In the main sqaure of Santiago back to the hostel via the metro, with Andy following home a little later via a taxi who didn't want to take him but did in the end as Andy refused to leave the car. Kenny, rocked up at the hostel around 7am, having been mugged (again) of his phone and wallet - it seems this guy has pretty bad luck.
The next morning, Fraser had to head across town to the hospital to see a doctor about his infected Tick bite - doctor didn't speak much English and ended up ripping off the scabs and prescribing antibiotics and some antiseptic cream. It cost 25 quid to see a consultant, which seemed pretty reasonable - he asked Fraser to head back the next day to check on it again. After the heavy previous night, little was achieved for the rest of the day, with the exception of an hour or two shopping by Fraser and Marie, purchasing another Spanish phrasebook and dictionary (Marie bought the same one as Fraser - cost twice as much in Chile as it had in New Zealand - crazy!).
Valparaiso After a luxurious hour and a half bus journey which cost about
Santiago from above
Taken from the viewpoint in the botanical gardens 2 quid, we arrived in Valparaiso, a port on the west coast of Chile. The city was almost completely devastated by the 1906 earthquake, and has now evolved into a mixture of ugly, modern blocks and many elegant buildings left over from the early twentieth century, built to house banks and other financial institutions. With much of the city built on the hillside, fifteen ascensores (funicular lifts) were built between 1883 and 1916 to link the lower town and the new residential quarters that were spreading up the hillsides.
In Valparaiso, we wandered around the many streets, taking in the beautiful architecture of some of the older buildings. We rode up in one of the ascensors (Espiritu Santo) to the Museo a Cielo Abierto, an "open air museum' containing approximately 20 graffiti artworks painted by various artists, and wandered around the streets of the Cerro Florida area of the city. After some lunch in the old city, we went up a few more of the ascensores to get some views of the city from above - unfortunately, it was fairly cloudy so the views were not as clear as we were hoping for. The city is quite pretty in
Nice backdrop
Gorgeous snow-capped Andes in the background of Santiago parts, with brightly painted houses sprawled across the hillside.
Argentina
For this section of South America we had some extra people joining us. At times it was up to 7 of us: Andy, Fraser, Marie, Ruth (Marie´s sister now known as Junior - amongst other things), Sanjay & Lindsay (work buddies) and Catherine.
People had different plans of how to spend their time in and around Buenos Aires for the two weeks we were all there. Junior is actually staying with us for 6 weeks until August 13th. Basically aside from myself (Andy) everyone visited Iguazu falls for 2 or 3 days, with myself spending longer in Buenos Aires having a week of language lessons. Everyone visited Uruguay, Fraser and Catherine together for 3 nights and the rest of us together as a day trip. Lindo and Sanj also visited Rio and had an exciting day trip to Paraguay that I am sure they will tell you about including a return taxi ride to the border town, a stop in an electronics shop and a beer in a petrol station. Everyone also spent a fair amount of time in Buenos Aires. In most destinations people did pretty much
Shoeshine
These guys popped up everywhere in the city the same thing - we will talk about Buenos Aires here then afterwards you can read about the various side trips mentioned above.
Buenos Aires As people did different things at different times we will just mention the highlights. Spending a long time in the city without an abundance of major tourist attractions means that we got to wander round a lot of different neighbourhoods, parks, shops etc. Its best to have a look at the pictures to get an impression of what we saw whilst wandering the city. BA is a lovely city with some superb architecture some, stunningly colourful neighbourhoods, and beautiful parks, churches etc. It is referred to by some as the Paris of South America. Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port. It is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata (also known as the River Plate where one of the major football clubs is based), Whilst in the city everyone spent a little time doing standard city activities such a shopping, internet etc.
We pretty much all visited each of the main squares. The city has many museums, historical buildings, shopping centres,
Concentration
Locals playing chess in the bandstand in Plaza de Armaz hotels etc. The main tourist attractions are concentrated around the downtown area near where we were staying and include Plaza de Mayo, Florida Street, San Telmo, Palermo and Plaza St Martin. In San Telmo, Sundays are devoted to tango shows on the streets and antiques trade in the bazaars around Dorrego Square so we spent a pleasant afternoon wandering round there and watching the Wimbledon final. Most people did a couple of museums as well, and we took in a tango show. We all visited La Recoleta Cemetery which is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires (another nice area to wander around). The Cemetery includes graves of some of the most influential and important persons of Argentina, including several presidents, scientists, and wealthy characters. Internationally, Eva Perón (Evita) is one of the best known persons buried in this cemetery. When Sanj, Lindo and Andy visited Sanjay got a picture taken with a policeman outside and we had a beer or two in the biggest sprots bar in BA. Fraser, Marie, Catherine and Ruth visited a lrage outdoor market. Andy and Marie went go Karting twice (Marie being lapped on one occassion). The first time
Valparaiso
Brightly coloured houses on the hillside of the port town whilst was when we were the only two in the city (a day spent wandering round the parks of the Palermo and some pre karting lunch time Vino Tinto and steak (Andy accidently ordering and eating a portion for two people) and the second on Andy´s birthday (see later).
Perhaps the primary activity was eating and drinking however. Argentina is rightly renowned for its steak. Some of the meals we had were truly out of this world, huge portions of delicious melt in your mouth steaks. There are also litre bottles of Stella and some othere very nice beers so we had a few evenings out the main one being to a club called Mint. Clubbing in Argentina is a completely different experience. We were in a huge queue in the freezing cold to get in well after 2am and when we got in it was still quiet. It got progressively busier as the night went on until it was rammed by the time the third of the DJ´s came on who was the best of a purely Electronica night. Barely anyone in the club was drinking (due to other activities on offer) so we barely had to queue
Open air museum
One of the many graffiti art displays in Valparaiso for drinks at all which was a bonus. It took Marie 5 mins to point out 5 drinkers excluding us! Very different. Andy and Lindsay left last sometime around 7am and people were still arriving! Mental. The next day was innevitably spent relaxing.
We also watched a lot of football on the TV in BA (Andy in particular due to the concentration of games during the evening of my language course). Whilst we were there it was Copa America (the equivelent of the European championship for the Americas). Most evenings there were two or three games on that I watched in the hostel bar which was really friendly and met a lot of very interesting people in the process. I also went to watch one of the Argentina games in town in a local bar with an American guy which was a pretty interesting experience. We had to got to Recoleta to watch it though as it is considered one of the safer areas. i dread to think what it would be like in the suburbs as the atmosphere was pretty cool. Football is a passion for Argentines. Apparently Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of
Ascensors
Worth the money as the hills were steep any city in the world (featuring no less than 24 professional football teams) with many of its teams playing in the major league. The best-known teams are Boca Juniors and River Plate who are huge rivals. Diego Maradona, was born in a poor suburb of Buenos Aires and is widely hailed as one of the greatest football players ever and is an absolute hero here, you see his photo everywhere. He played for Boca so we learnt a lot about him on the stadium tour which we talk about later.
Also during my few days alone I had a week of language lesson with a good bunch of people, two Welsh lads, two South African ladies and a Dutch and a American girl. We had a couple of nights out together and few lunches and a Tango lesson where the lads both consumed two bottles of wine each before arriving. An interesting night with a lot of table tennis!
Also Snow is a very rare in Buenos Aires, but it snowed while we were there on July 9, 2007, the first since 1918!
Andy had a lovely birthday; we had a late start, which was nice, and
Congested
The houses are crammed in on the steep hills headed over to La Boca (a suburb of Buenos Aires) which is a fantastically colourful neighbourhood, as the houses were painted with the left over paint from the ships. We went to the Bombenera stadium musuem (home to Boca Juniors and Maradona) before being joined by the ladies for a stadium tour. Interesting tour if a little slow but as expected the girls were indifferent to it. Got to go in the changing rooms, press area etc and the tour was in English so it was well worthwhile. After that we headed to a popular bar area for a really nice pizza at lunch. 4 of us had the same pizza (spinach and bacon), 3 ordering large pizzas and 1 a small. The girl looked a little shocked and told us that was enough for 8 people and that we should just order 1 large 1 small between us. We were hungry though so we took a gamble and splashed out the extra 3 or 4 quid to get 2 large and 1 small. Lets put it this way - she had good reason to say I told you so at the end - we were all rather full up
Sunrise over the Andes
Made the 4am start in the cold of Santiago worth it of spinach. After that we took a stroll through a couple of nice parks (and a couple of building sites) to get to Go-Karting. Fraser had headed back to the hotel so there were 6 of us and I (Andy) finished a respectable 3rd. Other podium finishers were Lindo (1st) and Marie (2nd). Andy crashed a lot earning a yellow flag 3 times!
Headed back to the hostel post Karting, changed and had a few beverages waiting for people to get ready before heading out to eat meat (one of our favoured past times in Buenos Aires). Fraser and Andy shared a mixed grill platter which was huge and had chicken, pork, 2 or 3 types of steak, kidney, liver, a couple of types of sausage (including Chorizo a local speciality) and also intestine. Not a meal you all would have enjoyed but superb for the carnivors! Headed to a bar afterwards till about 2 or 3 which was just a chilled indie bar with a really nice ambience - which we spoiled somewhat by playing 2 to 3 hours of charades (including such classics as Forrest Hump and the rather difficult to act out Krypton Factor). We know
Litre of Stella
Just over a pound for a litre of Stella - bliss! how to large it up. After that, Andy, Lindo, Sanj and Marie headed to a funky lounge bar in the Palermo Vieja district till about 5.
With the exception of Fraser and Catherine (who wandered the city shopping for about 10 hours, with Catherine purchasing 3 pairs of trainers), everyone visited the Evita museum. Everyone seemed in agreement that it was rubbish and not worth the small entrance fee. We met early evening and went to one of the tango bars near Avenida de Mayo to experience the tango phenomenon. Andy had reserved a table at the front for us and just after ordering food, the band (including two acordian players) came out and started the show. A couple danced away on the stage and around us throughout dinner - it looked class and everyone was impressed. Lindo more so than anyone else so don´t be surprised to see him dropping his tango moves next time you are in Walkabout (we hear Sanjay notched up another Walkabout location after Nimita´s wedding - how many is that now?). After a fantastic steak dinner for all, except Sanj and Marie, we headed to another bar for a wind-down, with a number
Tres Frontiers
By the river where the 3 countries meet of interesting discussions, many focusing on social activities in Stafford.
Side trips from Buenos Aires
Summary of Sanjay and Lindsay´s trip to Rio, Brazil - The lads got taxis out to the Maracana football stadium two days running, having been told both times that it would be open, only to find it closed.
- When the boys went up sugarloaf mountain to get the postcard photo of Rio, it was so cloudy that they could hardly see the Statue of Christ, let alone Rio and the Copacabana beach
- The direct flight Lindsay was sold to Foz de Iguacu actually went via Sao Paulo, where everyone except him got off the plane and the cleaners began cleaning the plane with him sat on it.
- When Sanj tried to get a later flight to Buenos Aires, the same friendly chap that sold Lindo his flight said he could do it. It transpired that the flight would leave at 3am, with two stopovers before finally reaching Buenos Aires about 8 hours later.
- Sanjay´s flight to Buenos Aires was delayed by about 6 hours so he spent it drinking in the first class lounge at the airport. When he
Fraser & Catherine at Iguazu
It was so beautiful there, the photo doesn´t look real arrived in Buenos Aires, he wasn´t the happiest but not as aggressive as expected.
- After being told in Rio that he would not be allowed into the Iguazu Falls due to not having a yellow fever vaccine, he discovered Catherine had been without one. He therefore flew up to Puerto Iguazu (half way back to Rio) with Marie and Ruth the next day.
Iguazu falls - Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, and Foz de Iguacu, Brazil Having finally had a good nights sleep in the plush Marriott hotel in Buenos Aires, Catherine and Fraser flew to Puerto Iguazu, close to the Brazilian border and home to the Iguazu falls. Having discovered how to get to the falls the next day, we settled down with some 1 litre bottles of ´Estella Artois´ as the menu called them. Shame they don´t sell the litre bottles in England, although could get messy.
The next morning we headed to Iguazu falls. In guarani language, the term "Iguazú" means "great waters." It was discovered in 1541 by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and established in 1984 as Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Situated in Iguazú National Park, some 20 km from Puerto
Garganta del Diablo
The devil´s throat - appropriately named Iguazú in the north of the province, these falls are shared by Brazil and Argentina. Iguazú river is born in Paraná state in Brazil, and after crossing 1,200 km on a plateau where it receives several affluents, it reaches a fault forming a crack in the interleaved layers of sandstone and basalt where the river runs.
This river runs through a smooth geography until it reaches a series of faults, and suddenly an 80m canyon in the Devil's Throat where the water produces a thundering sound and then drains into the Parana river. A legend says that a big snake called "Boi" lived in the river. To calm its ferocity, aborigines sacrificed a woman every year as an offering. But once a brave guarani aborigini kidnapped the woman and saved her from the traditional rite escaping through the river. Boi burst in anger, bent its body and split the river forming the cataracts separating the man and the woman. There are more than 270 falls in an area where cliffs and islets are scattered in a half moon. The falls that can be visited are: Salto Floriano, Salto Deodoro, Salto Benjamín Constant, Salto Unión, Salto Escondido, Salto Mitre, Salto
Iguazu from Brazil
Great panoramic views from this side Belgrano, Salto Rivadavia, Salto Tres Mosqueteros, Salto Dos Mosqueteros, Salto San Martín, Salto Adán y Eva, Salto Bozzetti, Salto Ramirez, Salto Chico, Salto Dos Hermanos and Salto Alvar Nuñez .
From the visitors center, we first walked around the Paseo Superior (upper circuit), which gave great panoramic views from the footbridge and was an unforgettable experience. After this, we tackled the Paseo Inferior (lower curcuit), which leads to the base of the falls, where you get wet from the spray. In this circuit, we also took a short boat over to Isla San Martín, which gave different views of the falls. Alter lunch, we went on one of the 10 minute speedboat trips, which takes you right up to the falls. The driver took great delight in ensuring that we all got soaked under the waterfalls. Our final part of the trip involved getting a train to the footbridge on the upper part of the river. We walked out to a balcony on the Devil's Throat, the biggest fall with such a big flow of water that you become overcome by the grandeur of the scenery. The noise and sheer volume of water takes your breath away. During the
Walkway
Getting right out into the heart of the action day, as can be seen by the photographs, there were rainbows everywhere which made the experience even better. It is the most amazing natural thing I have ever seen in my life.
After negotiating a couple of local buses, being stamped out of Argentina but driving straight through Brazilian immigration, we arrived at the national park. We walked the 1.2km pathway which has amazing panoramic views of the falls, enabling you to aprecciate the sheer size of them. Once again, rainbows appeared everywhere as did racoons scampering around. Before heading back to Argentina, we went into Foz de Iguacu for a Brazilian BBQ at Buffalo Branco. A number of waiters bring round all sorts of meat on skewers and you can eat as much as you like. We ate pork ribs, lamb, chorizo, fillet, rump, sirloin and many other meats until we could eat no more. Even then, they tried to get us to go up to the dessert table which was also included. In the evening, we went to the Tres Frontiers to watch the sunset over the river. From here, you can see Brazil and Paraguay across the river from the edge of Argentina. We flew back
From viewing platform
From up high above them - more rainbows to Buenos Aires the next morning.
Sanjay, Lindsay, Marie and Ruths trip to Iguazu falls was pretty similar to the trip above, with the exception that they went out to a club in Puerto Iguazu after visiting the Argenitian side of the falls. After some innocent question answering by Marie as to whether or not Sanj was single, Sanj was approached by a gay Irish lad in the toilets and made a sharp exit. The next day, only Lindsay managed to get up to go and visit the Brazilian side of the falls. As mentioned above, Sanj and Lindo went on a brief trip to Paraguay, hoping to get passport stamps. They didn´t get stamped and they didn´t spend long there. If you want any more details, ask them about it. Basically taxi, beer in a petrol station, electronics shop, taxi.
Uruguay - Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento - Fraser & Catherine After a short ferry ride to Colonia and a 3 hour bus transfer from the ferry port, Fraser and Catherine arrived at the main bus terminal in Montevideo. Passing through the edges of Montevideo and seeing the area around the bus station, we were wondering
Tres Frontiers Sunset
Standing in Argentina, looking into Brazil and Paraguay what we had let ourselves in for. We jumped in a Remise and got taken to our hotel in the nice area around Puntas Carretas optimistic for the next days sightseeing.
We got dropped off in the Plaza Independencia, expecting it to be quite grand - it wasn´t. We had heard that Uruguay had deteriorated alot from days gone by when there was quite a lot of wealth but we were expecting more. After walking around the Ciudad Vieja (old town), avoiding dog crap with nearly every step due to the large amount of gammy stray dogs about, we stumbled upon the Mercado del Puerto. Finally, somewhere that lived up to what we had expected and more! This is an indoor market with restaurants with open barbeque grills ready to serve you the meat of your choice at the bar with a cold beer. We sat there, consumed some Uruguyan beers, and some awesome beef, including rump, sirloin and fillet. Alter this, we headed out to Pocitos, the plus area of the city and walked along the beach there - shame it was only about 12 degrees.
We walked from Pocitos to the national football stadium. This was
Mercado del Puerto
The best thing about Montevideo the venue for the first FIFA World cup in 1930, where Uruguay triumphed over Argentina in the final to be crowned the first football World cup champions. There was a museum in the stadium, with signed shirts by the likes of Pele and Maradona, along with various World cup memorabilia including the Jules Rimet replicas from Uruguays two World cup victories. Although given the status of a World football icon by FIFA, the stadium is in a state of disrepair. We were given a tour of the stadium, including (much to Catherine´s delight) the filthy changing rooms. After sitting for a few minutes on the uncomfortable concrete seats near the pitch, we were shocked to discover that the stadium is still regularly used. Despite the state of the stadium, it was a good visit and you could see that the stadium, as with much of the city, had the potencial to be great again if some money was invested in it.
The next morning, we got the bus back to Colonia. Colonia is an old port town and is the destination for many daytrippers from Buenos Aires. It is a pretty little place with old buildings and cobbled streets,
Montevideo Beach
Shame it was only about 12 degrees with the focal point being Plaza Mayor. We meandered around the cobbled streets for a short while before heading into one of the many bars around Plaza Mayor to escape the bitter cold. The next morning we returned on the ferry to Buenos Aires. We had enjoyed aspects of Uruguay such as the Mercado del Puerto, the nacional stadium and Colonia, but have no intention of returning to the country.
Uruguay - Colonia del Sacramento - Others Andy, Marie, Ruth, Sanj and Lindos headed for a day trip to Uruguay Colonia del Sacramento. We got an early morning ferry which involved a very early wake up and the Burgin´s (utilising Juniors DOE skills) negotiated the way to the port by train and foot saving everyone almost 30p each. The ferry each way involved sleeping (it was only 1hr).
We knew in advance that there wasn´t loads to do in Uruguay at this time of year (the cold time) but it would be silly not to visit a country right next door to where we were. It turned out to be a pretty good day which basically involved walking to a rent a car shop, hiring a golf
First World Cup Stadium
Nice museum but stadium is falling apart buggy and riding it round town for an hour. We then returned the buggy, had a lager, had some lunch, had a wander around including a trip up the lighthouse and took several photos of Sanjay by anchors. Killed some time at the port after having a beer and then headed home.
Have a look at Fraser´s report for what is in Colonia. To give you an idea though even at golf buggy speed we got to see everywhere about 4 times. Took the gulf buggy on a dual carriage way (which was interesting), were followed by the police, and picked up a hitch hiker (a dog) that had given us a guided tour of the city for the first half hour. What was evident is that Sanj is not a dog fan. Lindo spent a long time trying to lose its tail.
Northern Chile
Friday 13th - After an emotional goodbye with Sanj and Lindo (Sanj was the only one crying) Andy, Junior and Marie got in a taxi to the airport to meet Fraser and Catherine who had left from their apartment a little earlier. Part way along the only motorway to the airport, we hit
Comfy seat
Third one from the left looks a bit tough on the back a standstill and the taxi driver started asking us what time our flight was. He looked a little concerned when we told him. His breath was also terrible, he had awful taste in music and he was a little bit odd but thats another story. We arrived an hour later than Fraser but in time for the flight which had been delayed a while. The flight then got diverted a little and we ended up arriving when our connecting flight was about to leave Santiago. The next phase of the day involved a lot of panic at the airport, running, skipping queues, waiting around, getting told we had missed the flight, trying to get booked on a new one, being told our original flight had been delayed and was waiting, running to the gate, getting straight on to an almost full plane and then waitting another half hour before the plane took off 2 hrs late due to operational reasons.
San Pedro del Atacama After arriving in Calama, we were then a bit concerned how we would get to from Calama to San Pedro as we would have missed the last bus but thankfully caught a more expensive
Colonia
Beautiful cobbled streets and buildings shuttle. Arrived in San Pedro late at night (9ish) which is late to arrive in a small town without accommodation when a lot of the town is shutting down. Had a brief scary spell to complete a Friday 13th to remember when the first three hostels we checked had no vacancies. It was also very cold. Luckily we found a tourist office where a guy was happy to phone around and he found us a reasonably priced quad room. $13USD each which will be the most we pay in a while. Had some dinner and hit the sack. In fact, Marie and Junior headed straight to bed - we think this was because they are having a sleeping competition between themselves.
On waking Saturday morning in San Pedro Andy and Fraser set about looking into the available trips to report back to the sleeping Burgins later in the morning. We decided on a trip that evening to the Valle de Lunar, the best part of which was watching the sunset and impact on the Andes which was pretty spectacular. There was also a stop at a few other places including the Three Maries and the Death Valley.
The
Colonia car
Strange car to see over there next day having had very little sleep, Fraser was picked up at 4am for the 95km journey north of San Pedro to the Tatio Geysers whilst the others slept in. The sky was pitch black with the exception of a large number of bright stars dotted around. Fraser arrived at the geysers at 6.30am and was hit by the minus 18 degrees as exiting the minibús. Around 4,300 meters above sea level, it is considered the highest geyser field in the World. Between 6am and 8am, countless blowholes full of bubbling water send billowing clouds of steam high into the air. This is caused by a frozen underground lake making contact with the hot rocks. At the same time, the spray forms pools of water that are streaked silver as they catch the first rays of sun. They were truly spectacular and after breakfast, Fraser returned to San Pedro, via some thermal pools, frozen lakes, snow-capped mountains and Machucha village. On the way back, we saw countless species including llamas, alpacas, vicunos, guanacos and rodents that look like large rabbits called vizcachas.
In the afternoon, Andy headed off on a 7km round trip walk to some ruins which had
The Burgins at Iguazu
At the Boretti falls on the lower walkway been used to hold off the Spanish for 20 years. The ruins were set on a hill and you could wander around them to the top where there were excellent views of the surrounding area including San Pedro and several snow capped mountains. We all visited the museum in the town, which was quite disaoppointing having been told to expect lots of skulls - there was one from memory! Andy and Fraser watched the Copa America final before meeting the Burgins for an ace pizza dinner.
Bolivia
San Pedro del Atacama to Uyuni - 4WD salt flats trip We booked our 3 day 2 night 4WD trip from San Pedro to Uyuni in Bolivia to set off at 8am the next day (Monday morning). We booked our tour through Cordillera traveller (costing $95 USD inclusive of taxes and entrance fees) and would recommend this company for anyone doing a similar trip. There were three 4WD in all with the four of us in one together with two Dutch girls (Lieke, 23, and Lenny, 22). They were a lot of fun, definitely a good addition to the group, although neither spoke spanish meaning the extent of Spanish knowledge in
Gaucho market
Shopping at the market in Buenos Aires the car was the few lessons Andy had in Buenos Aires which didn´t exactly cover nature and geography. Whilst we got the jist of some of what the driver said (we will call him Dave - who was about 50 and a real hero) I think it was a pretty dull 3 days for him. He kept making the effort to be fair to him though and looked pleased as punch with his tip at the end.
The first day of the tour we visited Laguna Verde (the green lake), Laguna Colorado (the red lake) and some hot springs where Fraser and Andy took a dip whilst the girls hung around in the cold. The landscape throughout was beautiful, the mountains almost looked fake beause their were so many colours. That evening we spent the night in a very cold hostel in the middle of nowhere. The temperature plummeted and we were all freezing. We slept in all the clothing we had including hat, scarf, gloves and as many blankets as we could find over us, thermals and sleeping bag. Even then, Marie was cold.
The next day we visited the tree-shaped rock, caused by the harrowing winds
Cool hats
Ruth wishes she had bought one and several more lagunas, seeing a number of flamingoes. This was probably the least interesting of the three days and there was a fair bit of driving involved however the scenery was still stunning all the way - the fact that part of the lakes were frozen added to the views. That evening we stayed in a hostel made of salt. Everything from the walls to the beds and tables was made of salt. This hostel was a lot warmer and we even had hot water for a few hours that evening. People actually lived in these hostels and it is hard to beleive they live like this day in day out. The food on the tour was really good though, served to us in handmade pottery dishes and typically soup for starters followed by rice with some type of meat.
Our last day on the tour we visited the main attractions - the salt flat (Salar de Uyuni) and fish island. The salt plains are known as Salar de Uyuni and are the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km². It is located in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, 3650 meters above sea level. Some
The Boys at Mint
No smile from Patel 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó and Uru Uru, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually.
That morning we opted for an 8am start rather than the 5.30am start offered to catch the sunset and were relieved with our choice when we woke up and it was cloudy. The salt plains were as white as snow and seemed to go on forever. We spent quite a lot of time taking pictures to get the right shots (see below) and had some fun trying to capture some of them. The strange thing about fish island was there were no fish but hundreds and hundreds of cactuses, small ones, big ones and of all different shapes. Again it was fantastic scenery and like nothing we have ever seen before. As we left the salt plains, you could see the salt was being piled into pyramids and then taken back to a very small town on the
Snow in Buenos Aires
For the first time in over 80 years edge for processing. We had lunch there and then headed onwards to Uyuni via an interesting train graveyard (see pics). We arrived in Uyuni at the end of the tour later that afternoon.
Uyuni Arrived in Uyuni, a small pokey town in Bolivia, that is on the edge of the desert and Salar de Uyuni. Knowing there is very little to do in the town and also that accommodation is in short supply we booked ahead for our first night to avoid sleeping in the train station waiting room in sub zero temperatures, which is apparently quite a normal practice. We had also heard it is sometimes difficult to leave the town, not as is often the case due to the outstanding beauty of the town, rather the available transportation options. Having dumped the bags in the hostel, which was guarded by a Rotweiller of a 7 year old we headed straight out to book an outbound bus.
We originally planned to go to La Paz via Sucre, Potosi and Cochamba but were told by all and sundry outside the bus station that this route was not running currently due to protests which could last between 24hrs
Argentinian Beef
Probably consumed that much between us in the few weeks there and a month. It was incredibly handy having travellers around who were proficient in both English and Spanish to ascertain the options. After some deliberation, and a fair bit of stress, we opted to get a direct bus to La Paz the next day on a public bus. The tourist bus, being the one that takes 13hrs Vs 18hrs ish and where you have heating and closed windows rather than sub zero temperatures and dust, was booked out for the next 4 days which seemed too long to hang around.
Having settled on a way we had a bit of a chill and headed out for a drink with the Dutch girls from our Salt plains trip and a Danish guy (Sebastian) who was on the same trip in a different 4WD.
Had a lazy morning the next day due to a shortage of activities available with which to pass the time until the 8pm bus. Checked out as late as possible and had a wander round a local market (purchasing blankets for the forthcoming journey) before meeting Sebastian for lunch (slowest service in the world, one 12 year old working with over 40 diners - took over
San Telmo
Pretty part of town with great artwork on the walls 100 mins) then spent the afternoon wandering and internetting before eating again and getting the bus.
La Paz The overnight bus journey was nowhere near as bad as expected or comparable to the horror stories we had heard. I think we lucked out with a bus that had working windows. It was cold but nothing the blankets couldn't handle. Fraser actually managed to sleep for 3hrs or so which is a makor compliment to the bus. We arrived at 7am and were allowed to check straight in to our hostel. We were pretty relieved to get in to La Paz (the world's highest Capital city) as that day the city was completely closed down for a major rally. The rally was to make La Paz constitutional and judicial capital (currently Sucre) as opposed to the jsut being the administrative capital. Walking down the street was like walking away from a football match with the streets rammed with flag carrying people.
Andy and Stefan got a breakfast of unlimited pancakes before getting a bit more rest while the others went straight to sleep as soon as we checked in. We all got up at lunch for a BBQ
that was put on for guest due to counter the fact that noting was open in the city. Had a wander round town in the afternoon and then met up with the Dutch girls in the evening for a meal and a night on the beers including a club with an oxygen bar (supposed to be good given the altitude). The Burgins took full advantage of a drinking night and were throwing some crazy shapes on the dance floor.
Due to arriving in La Paz earlier than anticipated (as a result of coming direct from Uyuni) and needing to stay around till Aug-13th when Ruth flies home, we booked a couple of side trips from La Paz. See below for details of these.
The major trip was on the Sunday morning, Fraser, Marie and Ruth headed to Tiwanaku, the most important ruins in the whole of Bolivia. Situated about 85km from La Paz, Tiwanaku, one of the first empires in the Andes, displaced Pukara as the largest urban center in the Lake Titicaca basin. The first truly massive monumental structures of the Titicaca Basin were constructed at Tiwanaku between AD 100 and 300. By 500 the center was
Dinner in Palermo Vieja
Nice area but ropey mexican restaurant, especially Sanjays dinner functioning as the capital of an expanding empire that endured until about 1000 AD. This expansive state society eventually exploited regions in the coastal desert and the humid eastern Andean slopes. A significant, long-term drought and the abandonment of Tiwanaku and of the intense agriculture system was nearly simultaneous. After 1,000 AD the empire collapsed and complete de-urbanization occurred. Localized raised field cultivation continued, but large-scale systems were not restored.
On the Sunday night Andy headed out to a suburb called El Alto to watch something called Cholitas wrestling. This is very much like a hybrid of American and Mexican wrestling. It´s all about action although it was all obviously fake, the floor work was really impressive and there were some awesome costummes. There were 8 fights in total two involving Cholitas and others having assorted characters. A Cholita is a women who lives in the city but continues to wear indigenous clothing (see previous pictures). They really are everywhere, usually wearing the big flowing dress, braids, and bowler hats. One of the best things about watching the cholitas wrestling was watching all the other cholitas in the crowd rooting for them. The wrestlers frequently get chucked in to
Welcome to Uruguay
Not sure about the mascot a crowd one landing on a Cholita who was bus knitting and looking after four mad for it kids and within 20 seconds she was knitting again. The crowd got pretty crazy and there was a constant stream of tomatoes and orange peels being tossed at the ring at the wrestlers people didn´t like which I participated in.
Copacabana For the first trip we headed out on the monday morning to Lake Titicata the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at 3,812 m (12,507 feet) above sea level. The lake is located in the Altiplano high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. We headed first on a morning bus to Cococabana on the Bolivian side. More than 25 rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated. we intended to visit a couple of these.
Having more or less recovered from the previous days stomach bug - food poisoning helped by a good nights sleep in a decent bed with an absence of noise I knocked for Fraser to see if he fancied going to the Isle De Sol. Having just woken up Fraser was
Golf buggy
Picked up a hitchiker not to keen so I set off for breakfast and then headed to the port where Fraser had boarded a boat having changed his mind. The boat trip was a slow two hours to the north end of the island, from where we walked 10km to the Southern port. Arriving three hours before the next departure to Cococabana and keen to make it back for an early start for Marie´s birthday I collared a local fisherman who had dropped of a lady and he kindly gave us a lift to a village on the tip of the mainland in his motorised dingy. From there we did another 17km walk back to Cocococabana (again spectacular) and reached town an hour earlier than if we had waited for the boat. After a quick shower and change we headed off to meet the Burgin´s who had just finished off their first bottle of Vino Tinto (red wine) and headed to a restaurant where we had failed to get in the two previous evening due to it being full.
We arrived at 6pm so spent an hour or so just drinking wine and having some super appetisers before ordering mains. After a very
Riot van
Better than the police cars leisurely (and tasty) dinner and a fair bit of Vino Tinto, Fraser headed home still feeling a bit unwell and the three of us headed to local bar to watch some live music, after a painstakingly slow set up the atmosphere was reaching a climax. The band where being recorded by two video cameras and a sound mike and had carefully selected positioning and lighting so we were expecting good things. Despite being tired we stayed for the start of the set which was in a word rubbish. Its difficult to make a clarinet and saxophone sound bad but they managed.
Sorata After leaving the Burgin´s we headed to get a quick cash advance before boarding a micro (a small minibus) headed for Huarani which is a small town on the junction of one of the more major roads half way back to La Paz. The micro ended up holding 24 people which was somewhat crowded (there were seats for 14) a number of kids being stuffed in to each and every corner. We actually ended up leaving before the Burgin´s (combined age fast approaching 50) whose comparatively luxurious bus was supposed to leave 30 mins earlier than
The pitbull where he belongs
At the Bombanera but could have been Molineau our micro. After an uncomfortable but spectacular journey we reached a gravel patch by the side of the road near Huarani and waited to flag down a micro or bus headed to Sorata from La Paz which were supposed to pass regularly. Over an hour later having only seen one micro which was full we caught a micro to town 20km closer (13p each) from where we managed to catch a taxi (sharing the cost with a French couple) having ascertained there were no buses going to Sorata that day (some kind of strike again). The taxi driver quoted us 150 Boliviano´s (10GBP - a fortune in Bolivia) which we thought was on the steep side for a journey that looked about 40km on the map but off we went.
The journey actually took close to 2 hours because of the windy roads descending from well over 4000m to 2000m with 30km max speed limits (definitely necessary). It was one of the most spectacular journeys (see pictures of the area) and well worth the money even if just as a sightseeing trip. We arrived checked in to a very good hostel room (costing <3GBP between us), and spent the
La Boca
Colourful buildings painted with paint left over from the ships afternoon relaxing, and sussing out the town. In the evening I (Andy) went out with a guy from the hostel and had a few beers with a few others (whilst at the same time as trying to arrange our forthcoming mountain bike trip - their office is a bar). Fraser tried to sleep off the remnants of his illness.
The next day we set off on a local walk (22-25km roundtrip) to a huge cave with a lake inside it. The cave was about 500m deep and had its own micro climate (22 degrees and 75% humidity) which encouraged bats (possibly one of the most annoying things that can fly behind pigeons). The lake in the cave was complete with pedellos and you could also swim in it though we skipped both activities (although I did accidentally step the lake and as a result walked home with a wet shoe). Whilst the cave was great it was the walk itself that was most spectacular. Sorata is a truly beautiful place as you can see for the pictures (which do not do it justice).
The other treck we did in Sorata was an all day affair climbing from Sorata
Gasolina
After multiple requests on Andys birthday, it got played to a Lake Chillata a lake near the bottom of a Glacier. This was a stunning though difficult treck (due to the speed of our guide and previous illness). The ascent was from 2600m to 4200m which is 1600m (to give you an idea the tallest mountain in England is less than 1000m). Up takes about 4 hours, we stopped for some lunch that we had prepared the previous evening and then treckback that would take about 2.5hrs but toook a little longer as Fraser knee played up (which looked pretty painful). The guide Eduardo was a pretty interesting chap and I (Andy) had a good chat on the way down trying to practice my Spanish. At one point he speeded up somewhat as he spied some Scandinavian girls he liked which was quite amusing.
Sorata to Rurrenabaque bike and boat trip The main purpose of coming to Sorata was to complete a 5 day trip to Rurrenbaque. This got recommended to Andy by a girl in La Paz and sounded like a spectacular way to get to Rurrenbaque taking in a lot of the diverse Bolivian scenery. The trip needed at least three people to operate so
it was a bit of a gamble heading over to Sorata but the trip would have been worth it just to see the town. Fortunately three other people signed up Jon (a Canadian guy who had visited Sorata 25 years previously and was a trecking machine) and a German couple one from Stuttgart and the other from Neurenburg Matheus and Llena. Again we got lucky with the group with everyone being a lot of fun and easy to get along with.
Below is the promotional material for the trip which pretty much outlines our journey. The biking was one of the best activities we have done, the bikes were fantastic and you could go so fast you could really scare yourself. A common trip from La Paz is the worlds most dangerous road bike trip but this trip was far better from what we heard. Not massive crowds of people, longer descents, and the same type of scenery and roads. Really was great.
As per usual part of the enjoyment came from the evening activities however and random experiences enjoying some nice meals in different town or on beaches by the river banks and having beverages with new
Tango
Argentinian tradition found friends. The night in Conzata was particularly funny as there were no hotel rooms though we did eventually get two rooms and Jon pitched his tent only to be woken at 4am to have to let a car out. The guides slept outside or in the car. Travis (the trip organiser) also had to pay a lady to use her kitchen to prepare the meal (for dinner and breakfast) as there was nowhere else for food. Definitely another unique experience (see photo). We also had a few drink by the local square with Andy and Matheus upholding Europe´s reputation at table football against some locals. It was about 1p per game!
The guides were also pretty awesome, on one night while camping by the river we gave them a couple of beers each we had brought in a market town we stopped at in the day and they sat around the camp fire we set up drinking with us. Both were a little tipsy and gave a random nature tour chasing some small animals. They then decided to fish by lauching a knife in to the water in random places were they could see fish by shining the
San Pedro
The church in San Pedro del Atacama torchlight. When we woke up in the morning one had caught an enormous fish - though by more traditional methods - (see picture) which I expect he could sell at the market for a fair bit so I bet he was pretty chuffed.
Trip details:
An epic journey flowing with the watershed from the Andes to Amazonia. 2 days by bike, dropping 4,000 meters (13,300 feet) in 100 kms down a seldom-traveled jeep road. 3 days by boat through the wild jungle of the Rio Beni, past gold panners, ancient petroglyphs, and Madidi National Park. Incredible ecological diversity- by bike we drop from the uppermost headwaters of the Amazon basin in the high Andes through an arid rainshadow, down to the tropical Yungas. We continue by boat down through the rainforested Andean foothills arriving to Rurrenabaque and the pampas.
Day 1: Travel by truck to a 4,800 m. pass above Sorata. Descend by bike from the High Andes, through the clouds and down an arid cactus canyon to the tropical yungas town of Conzata. A FULL day of riding, ending at a nice hotel with a fruit-filled garden.
Day 2: Continue by bike down the dramatic
canyon of the Rio Conzata, through the lush forest and past cascading waterfalls. Cool down in the crystalline waters of the Rio Vagante. The ride ends in the wild-west gold mining town of Mapiri.
Day 3: Flow downriver from Mapiri, lunch in Guanay, continuing down into the roadless jungle. Hike up a side canyon to a waterfall and swimming hole, arriving to camp at a jungle cowboy acampamento.
Day 4: After heading downriver from camp for a few hours, we have an interesting side hike following a jungle trail to an arroyo, full of animal tracks and passing an ancient Inca cemetery. Back in the boat for a short time, we arrive at camp on the beach in a beautiful canyon in Madidi National Park. Here we can fish, relax, or climb up a side canyon with cascading waterfalls and natural slip ‘n slide swimming pools.
Day 5: The final day on the river takes you from the beach downstream to where we enter the jungle for a hike into a wildlife- rich area where monkeys are commonly seen. We continue downstream past the infamous Rio Tuichi and the dramatic canyon de la Bala, to the happening
The Ledge
Probably the second best Ledge in the world....... town of Rurrenabaque.
The Burgins in Puno and Arequipa (Peru) Whilst Andy and Fraser where in the jungle Marie and Ruth went off for a few days not being too keen on the trip we had planned. They visited Puno which is again on Lake Titicata and visited the floating islands and also headed to a town called Arequipa which is Peru´s second largest town. They then headed back to La Paz spendinga couple of days before flying to Rurrenbaque the same day we arrived. You will have to ask the Burgins if you want more info but it sounds like a fair few Vino tintos were consumed of varying quality (one apparently like fizzy vinegar), a lot of sleeping was done and Ruth´s hat continued to get more smelly.
Rurrenabaque Having all safely arrived in Rurrenbaque (which is part of the Amazon basin and is abudent in wildlife) we confirmed our tour of the Pampas (a trip down river in to the jungle). The tour was scheduled to start at 8.30am (so we were told) though we were waiting round till about 10. There were two boats run in tandem with our boat being all
The four Maries
Burgin with the 3 Maries in the background English bar a girl from Ireland.
The day before the tour we went out for dinner and whilst the others sensibly headed home after a few games of pool I (Andy) decided to have a largish night out (with Jean - the Canadian from the Sorata trip and some Irish girls). I had expected a relaxing boat ride in the morning where a hangover or lack of sleep whould not be an issue however I didn´t know the full itinerary and was somwhat surprised to be crammed in a jeep for three hours along bumpy roads inhaling copious amount of dust first thing in the morning.
This ride was followed by a more pleasurable three hours on a boat to reach the camp (a 2 hour journey). We stopped a lot because as soon as we were out of the jeep we start to notice 100s of species of very colourful small birds in all directions, as well as larger fishing birds, alligators, turtles and various types of monkeys. You find yourself a matter of feet away from large Alligators and there are a lot of them, it feels like every 5 metres you see another, just barely
Black and White
Watching the sunset on the sand dunes near San Pedro del Atacama visible above the waterline or sunbathing on the shore. One of the favourite animals however were the Capybaras (for those who do not know they are the largest rodents in the world), who are just chillin´ on the banks of the river. I believe they are very rare to see in the wild as they are very timid but here they are in abundance and we even saw a whole family on the last day.
Fraser´s favorite was obviously the monkeys, and these guys are so cute. They look a little like Squirrel Monkey and are very playful. They come right down onto the boat, unfortunately probably for food, but still great fun to have them run around all around you. We also saw some howler monkeys at different times on the trip.
That evening we headed to a jungle bar for a couple of beers and to watch a sunset and then headed back searching for Alligator in the dark with a flashlight- You simply shine a flashlight down the river and staring straight back at you is a set of very shiny eyes, very similar to cat’s eyes in the dark.
In the morning of
Andes sunset
Sunset over the Andes in San Pedro day 2 much to the delight of the Burgins we headed out on an anaconda hunt, donnning wellies and trudging through swamp land. After a couple of hours (it was pretty hot) the Burgin´s were less than enthused. Ruth fell over twice in the swampy water not helping matters. Our guide seemed frustrated by our pace and told us to sit and wait by a river for 30 mins why he had a speedy solo search for Anoconda. Lounging around by the lake where several alligators and Marie was somwhat surpirsed asking Oscar the guide if he really meant we should wait around with the alligators (he did).
Oscar returned empty handed and we started to treck back. On the way back we found a small dead anoconda but that was the extent of our truimph. After a few hours walking in the sun it was back to the camp to chill in the hammocks until it was time to swim with the fresh water pink dolphins. Great to be close to them, but we four opted not to swim having just showered and having no real desire to swim in muddy water with the amount of mossies around.
The mossies and mud where actually more of a concern that the Alligators and Piranhas in the nearby waters as apparently the Alligators don´t lurk where the dolphins are. Two from the group took the plunge though and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Day 3 involved Pirahna fishing in the morning followed by lunch and hammock time before repeating the outbound trip. Fraser and Andy both caught some fish (though they returned as they were tiny) though Ruth and Marie struggled with the rod action and returned to their books quite quickly. Ruth being by far the most entusiastic of the two. Overall it was a really good trip but we were all happy to leave partly due to a desire to be wearing clean clothes again but primarily due to the number of mosquitos. There were loads of them and they were biting through clothing and also seemingly oblivious to repellent. For all of us the bites would be of significant annoyance the following days.
The return stop in Rurrenabaque was pretty lazy again, dinner with fellow trip mates and a trip to a swimming pool for Marie, Ruth and Andy but other than that not much really.
Geysers sunrise
It was minus 15 Nice to be able to sit outside in the sun though which has been a rarity to date.
La Paz (again) We had 4 days back in LA PAz after our trip which was another pretty lazy city affair highlights being a football match (see below). Andy took another three days of language lessons (individual ones) and started to feel the benefit for the first time. We had a meal out with an American guy and the German couple from our Sorata´s trip which was awesome at a place called Mongo´s which played some cool tunes afterwards. Ruth was dropping the Bo´s again. We also watched a fair few films and wandered round the markets.
On our last day in La Paz, after some crazy pirate DVD shopping by Fraser and Andy, where complete series of many TV shows such as Family Guy, were purchased, we headed to the national stadium in La Paz to watch the local derby between Bolivar and The Strongest. We got there a few minutes before kick off and there were huge queues. We managed to find some touts who were selling tickets at a 50%!m(MISSING)ark-up (it cost 1 pound to
Geysers sunrise 2
But when the sun hit the smoke and water, it was worth it watch the game rather than about 70p) and purchased two so we didn´t have to queue. The stadium was quite impressive and it was very different to a football game in England, mainly due to the number of families with babies in there. The Strongest won 2-0 and it was hilarious watching players being assaulted with oranges whilst trying to take corner kicks. At points, police with riot gear and shields were protecting the players taking the corners.
Peru
Cusco Cusco is a beautiful town full of history from the Inca times often referred to as the 'Archaeological Capital of the Americas.'
The Plaza de Armas (main square) was the centre of Inca Cusco and, still today, remains at the heart of modern Cusco. During Inca times the Plaza was known as Huacaypata (the Place of Tears or the Weeping Square) and was a place of ceremonies and military parades. It has been said that when the Inca's conquered new lands they would bring back some of the soil to be mixed with the soil of Huacaypata, as a symbolic gesture to incorporate the newly gained territories into the Inca empire.
Two sides of the Plaza are
Frozen lake
More stunning Bolivian (and English) scenery now lined by arcades with shops and travel agencies with many restaurants, bars and coffee shops with beautifully carved wooden balconies overlooking the Plaza - a great place to relax and enjoy the view. The Plaza's is dominated by the Cathedral which is flanked on the right-hand side by the El Triunfo church. On another side there is the smaller but more ornate church of La Compania de Jesus. It really is a beautiful square and together with the markets and nigtlife makes Cusco a very nice place to relax for a few days (as recommended by the Howlster).
During our first stop in Cusco we didn´t get up to loads. Fairly tired when we arrived due to 16-18 hours on the bus (changing three times). We just sorted out our walking tour to Machu Pitchu for a couple of days time (see below) and chilled out in the afternoon. We had one big night whilst in Cusco (the hostel having a rum night where for 2.5 hrs it was unlimited rum - or Ron in Spanish for 3GBP). A messy night indeed Fraser and Andy heading out from the hostel with some others to No. 7 bar to
The trip begins
About to arrive at Bolivian immigration end the night. This is a very strange bar where you can pretty much buy coke (of the non liquid form) from the counter and where every other table has people doing line after line. Neither of us indulged but it was definitely an interesting experience all the same and evidence of wide use of the drug in Bolivia.
Fraser returned from No. 7 bar to discover that Marie was not in the room. She had written a note saying that the American guy, Randy, had gone to the toilet on her bed (whilst she was asleep, which had woken her up), so she had moved rooms. As Fraser was struggling to read the note in the dark, he turned on the light. At that precise moment, he turned around and saw Randy going to the toilet in the corner of the room. When he saw Fraser, he started to get quite angry so Fraser went to reception and asked if he and Andy could also move rooms. The night porter and a guy who works in the bar came into the room and Randy went for them. They wrestled him to the floor, whilst an Irish girl who
Bolivian immigration
Formalities were cumbersome was seeing the barman was hitting him on the head. She rushed to get one of the owners who came dashing in with a truncheon. Randy calmed down after seeing that and had no recollection of any of it in the morning. When we all got back to the room in the morning, Randy had moved on and had left some flowers and a note for Marie (see picture of the note). Whilst we have always thought the bottom bunk beds are better, maybe we were wrong. Someone would have to do something pretty special to piss on your bed if you are on the top bunk!
Other than chilling in town Andy visited the Inka museum (interesting but not unmissable) to get a heads up for Machu Pitchu but not much else was done in the way of tourist activities.
Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu The Inca trail in August gets booked up pretty quickly. We had heard various reports from people we met along the way that sometimes if you had a week or so to spare you could just turn up pay less and get on the treck but to be safe we looked
Us at Laguna Blanca
The scenery continued to get better from here at booking it 4 months in advance (they recommend 3 months for peak season). To our surprise all the permits for the trail were booked. We were a little disappointing but it doesnt mean you cant visit Machu Pitchu just that you cant walk there on one specific trail and there are alternatives.
We settled on the Salkantay treck which involves 4 long days of walking followed by an early morning walk up to Machu Pitchu on day 5. The treck is billed as "a remote and ancient footpath in the same region of the Inca trail, but less traveled with more spectacular views. A magnificent wilderness alternative for those who wish to escape the more congested trekking routes. The trek is only a little more difficult than the Inca Trail, and horses can be used to carry food and equipment. But it is worth it! There are less tourist and better scenery and views!" The treck is a day longer than the Inca trail and the price was also about half that of the Inca trail so we managed to get over our initial disappointment. We had a long drawn out Saga trying to transfer $360 each via
Laguna verde
Green lake on the salt flats trip Western Union (who are appalling) and eventually decided to just turn up and pay which ended up saving us nearly $200 each. Western Unions incompetence turning out to be a blessing.
The trek is named after the mountain of the same name, Cordillera's second tallest peak, it is at the eastern end of the chain and rises to over 6200 meters above sea level. The name Salkantay means 'Savage Mountain' which may refer to the swirling clouds that rise up from the jungle lowlands and engulf the peak. It is considered to be like a god to the locals.
Below is a brief breakdown of the daily trecking partly adapted from the company´s literature.In our group we had 15 people and we all got on fantastically. It sounds like a big group but there were two guides and you don´t all walk together most of the time people walking at different paces. You generally found yourself walking with different people at different times of the day which was interesting because you got to know everyone better. There were two Welsh girls (Amy and Emma) the same age as us, two Canadian´s travelling together (who used to be a
Van repairs
The first of many couple), two American lads (similar ages again) one from LA (Walt) and one from NY (Ryan), a French couple (who were a little older) and an Irish and French guy who now live together in Italy. All in all an excellent group with some vey interesting people and no one who you wouldn´t want to get stuck in a conversation with or who would get irritating over the course of 5 days which is a rarity for a big group.
Day One: Cusco - Mollepata (by bus 3 hours 5am departure) then walk Mollepata - Sillacancha - Soraypampa
7 hours hike to an altitude of 3,800 metres... You will be collected from your hotel at 4.30am in the morning (OUCH!), and within two hours we will arrive the small village of Mollepata (more like 3) where we will have breakfast and organise our mules. From this village we will begin our hike and progressively ascend to Siccllacancha, passing by pretty farming countryside and cows grazing the whole way. At Siccllacancha we will have a delicious lunch (surprisingly good infact)while enjoying views of the mountain peak of Huamantay. After lunch we will continue with a gentle hike to our
Amazing views
The secenery throughout the drive was spectacular first campsite where we enjoyed dinner at about 9.30pm and a couple of beverages to stave off the night cold. Accommodation: Camping Soraypampa (this was a pretty cold night camping at altitude)
Day Two : Soraypampa - Salkantaypampa - Paso - Warracmachay - Arrayanniyoc - Challhuay
8 hours hike finishing at an altitude of 3,000 metres... On this day we climb for three hours to arrive at the Pass, which is the highest point of the trip (4,800 metres). Andy and Walt managed it in 2! After reaching this high point, we descend for five hours passing through puna vegetation (small plants) and a glacier before reaching the high jungle, which is rich in plant and bird life Accommodation: Camping Challhuay. Again you we had dinner at the campsite and a couple of beverages. Andy then had the misfortune of Walt not being able to exit the tent quick enough having had a bad reaction to the beef served with dinner (that was his explanation nothing to do with beer or altitude) and thus the tent didn´t smell the best and was open all night for ventilation making it a little colder.
Day Three: Challhuay - Colpapampa
Laguna Colorado
Red frozen lake - Wiñaypocco - Lluscamayo - La Playa
6 hours hike to an altitude of 1900 metres... After breakfast we walk through the high jungle (known in Spanish as the eyebrow of the jungle”, enjoying the landscapes which offer us much natural beauty. The day follows a gentle descent to the small high jungle village of La Playa where we had lunch before boarding a bus for 45 mins (a beautiful but somewhat scary journey) to Santa Theresa where we spend the night in the best campsite yet. In the afternoon all but Fraser and Marie headed to some spectacualar thermal baths set next to a sheer cliff face and overlooking the mountain ranges. We also enjoyed a shower for the first time in three days after letting the muscles soak.
After relaxing for a couple of hours we headed back to the campsite and joined Fraser and Marie who had already started with the beverage consumption. Had a pretty nice meal and a few Gato Negros (Black cat wine - classy stuff) before hitting the tent.
Day Four: La Playa - Hydroelectric - Aguas Calientes
5 hours hike to an altitude of 2000 metres. The morning
Ice skating
On the frozen Laguna Colorado started across the Vilcanota River in a flying fox (see the pictures - this was a pretty interesting experience). After this exciting crossing we hike for two hours more until we arrive at the impressive Machu Picchu Hydroelectric System. After this, we will walk for 2.5 hours more along the train tracks to arrive at the village of Aguas Calientes. Accommodation: Hostel in Aguas Calientes (yes no more tents!) We had a meal in a restaurant in the evening (prepared by the smae chefs) and then a few of us headed out for some happy hour drinks until about midnight (which I - Andy - regretted when the alarm went before 4am the next day).
Day Five: In the morning the three of us opted to walk up to Machu Pitchu rather than take the bus. You have to treck up incredibly steep stairs for a little over an hour and it was pretty hard work given the lack of sleep. Some people took the bus up and you can understand there thinking. When we arrived we had to queue a little while to get in to Machu Pitchu and then again to get a ticket to climb Wanu
Dutch card cheats
Conferring in Dutch in an attempt to take down Andy Pitchu which wasn´t a great start to the day but things soon improved.
Our guide gave us an interesting 2-3 hour tour of the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu. At 10am Fraser and I then climbed up the peak Wainu Picchu which you can see in the photos, this overlooks the city and itself has ruins on top. It was an easier climb than the morning taking only about 40 mins but difficult all the same in the heat. Well worth the walk though as the views were stunning. After returning to Machu Pitchu we explored a little more before getting the bus back to Aguas Calientes and replacing any lost weight with burgers.
Thankfully we managed to change our train ticket back to Cusco to the 2.30pm train rather than waiting round till 8.30pm. This meant we arrived back in Cusco at a sensible 6pm rather than midnight and were thus able to join the others for a meal (where we bargained for 4 glasses of wine free each). Despite being shattered from a long day we all headed to an English bar and then on to Mama Africas the favoured haunt of the Welsh
Tree rock
Strange rock formed by the whizzing winds girls for some dancing.
In all it was a really good treck, with excellent guides, cooks and in particular a brilliant group.
Cusco (again) As mentioned above we had a night out when we arrived back in Cusco and thus the next day was a bit of a right off. The next evening Fraser and Marie headed out for a Mexican while I opted for the steak in the hostel and joined in the Rum night (same as previously 3GBP unlimited rum) witha bunch of different people from the hostel before heading to No 7 bar, a street party witha hat theme and then Mama Africas for the second night running where I met up with Walt and the Welshies from our treck.
The last full day in Cusco was again a pretty lazy affair Me (Andy) sleeping having got in at 4am and Fraser and Marie taking a walk around town and up the hill a little for a view over the city. I met Fraser in the afternoon 2pm to watch England Germany (with Marie going back to bed). After that we headed back to the hostel and played a bit of pool enjoying
Getting better
Our ice skating form is improving a leisurely afternoon in the bar. In the evening we met up with Holly from Leeds whom we met in Fiji and as usual she kept us in stitches even making Fraser laugh to the point where he fell spectacularly off his chair. Marie had been apprehensive that the afternoon in the pub might make it difficult to wake Andy in Fraser in the morning for our early flight (which has never been a problem). Events tooka different turn however when Marie headed to an Irish bar with Holly and Andy and Fraser returned to pack and sleep at about 11pm. Lets just say Marie looked and smelled fantastic when we woke her at 5.45am having only been back 3 hours and had issues over things such as the air hostess blocking the isle for too long with her trolley.
Lima Arrived in Lima before lunch and checked in to the hostel. Decent enough hostel but a little dissapointing given it had been recommended twice. We have four days in Lima (Peru´s capital) and are pretty much just relaxing. We are going to visit a couple of museums, eat well, have a couple of drinks and watch a
Flamingos
Must have been cold as most of the lakes were frozen few films but other than that not much planned. Lima is another city with a bad repuation among travellers partially due to the fact the weather is pretty gloomy being covered in fog for almost 10 months of the year but it also has a lot of charm. Lots of mini restaurants with about 5 tables where you can enjoy 4 course set lunches of decent food for 1GBP. Also has a very nice shopping centre set in to a cliff face overlooking the ocean. Not a place thats ever likely to be a highlight of a trip but a decent city to relax in with all the conveniences you could need, decent food, parks and interesting buildings.
The story of Andy´s cash card
Dec 16th 2006 - After a night out in Phi Phi with Rich we had to get a boat back to the guest house 4 bays down. After asking several boat men everyone refused to take us due to the sea conditions. Finally we managed to persuade one to take us for the extortionate price of 800 Baht (close to 15GBP). At the start we thought we had been conned due to the calm conditions
Train to nowhere
Apparently to Argentina but when we turned around the headland we understood drivers reluctance. Rich was reaching for the life jackets. When we pulled in to the beach the boat smashed in to some coral and we had to run off the front and on to the beach so he could turn around quickly. The wallet was lost in the process and as it turned out the boat beached with large holes in though we didn´t realise at the time.
Dec 17th 2006 - Cash cards re-ordered to home address to be brought out by Amy
Dec 27th 2006 - Amy arrives minus the Nationwide cash card due to delays caused by Christmas post.
Early 2007 - Jon sends cash card POST RESTANTE to Ho Chi Minh City central post office
Late Feb 2007 - Arrive in HCMC to find they do not have the cash card. Cancel card and reorder to home address.
June 2007 - The bowyers visit bringing out the Nationwide cash card but the pin has changed and the envelope with the pin cannot be found.
Late June 2007 - Reorder pin
July 8th 2007 - Recieve new pin via email and
Salt hotel
Tables, chairs and bar made from salt go to the cash machine in a jolly mood.
July 8th 2007 11pm - Cash machine swallows card
July 9th 2007 - Visit the bank and try to explain situation in Spanish before asking for someone who speaks English. The card wasn´t there so cancel the card to be delivered to home.
Mid July 2007 - Card to be sent POST RESTANTE to Lima for collection in late August.
The story continues.....
Comments of the moment:
• Historical, sounds breezy (Sanj talking about the old part of the city)
• Pop tarts are dangerous (Fraser talking about the merits of various breakfast options)
• Ryanair is politically as important as the EU for certain countries (19 year old English lad in Sorata)
• Are we deliberately following the dog (Sanj)
Other Random stuff:
• Sanjay is scared of dogs
• Stella plus beef equals Stella Belly
• Lindsay was once the youngest person in the UK to have performed a specific bell ringing piece, lasting a number of hours
• Sanj is particularly prouf of the 11 years service he gave the boys brigade
• Service in Bolivian restaurants is not quick
• It
Isla Pescado
Cactus island in the middle of the salt flats is not unusual for a 8 year old to be the only serving member of staff in a restaurant
• Ruth is pretty competitive and has been known to cheat
• Its pretty cold here
• Ruths hats are rarely washed and stink pretty bad
• The roads in Bolivia are rubbish
• Most journeys in Bolivia require some car maintenance along the way
• The women wear top hats for no apparent reason in Bolivia
• Qantas customer service representatives are generally clueless and incompetent
• You can pretty much buy anything you could think of from a street stall in La Paz
• The mosquitos and sand flies in the Amazon basin must be the worst in the world
• People do some strange things after too much alcohol.
• There are an awful lot of parades - carnivals in Cusco.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.26s; Tpl: 0.034s; cc: 10; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0732s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
