Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 575

30.07.05 Wir standen frueh auf, um mit dem Boot rauszufahren fuer den Sonnenaufgang. Die Sonne war fast so rot wie beim Sonnenuntergang von gestern. Nach dem schoenen Erlebnis fuhren wir wieder in die Lodge zurueck zum Fruehstueck. Danach erhielten wir alle unsere Stiefel fuer das naechste Abenteuer. Mit dem Boot fuhren wir ein Stueck flussabwaerts. Dann begann unser Marsch durch die Suempfe. Es war teilweise recht schwierig zu laufen. Man blieb oft im Sumpf stecken oder verlor fast das Gleichgewicht. Nach etwa einer halben Stunde begann die Suche nach der Anaconda. Ich fragte mich schon auf dem ganzen Weg, was wir hier ueberhaupt Sinnloses machen, denn anscheinend war nicht die Saison fuer Anacondas. Wir wateten also weiter, nur diesmal durch knietiefes Wasser. Unsere Stiefel waren nicht mehr so richtig nuetzlich, denn das Wasser trat staendig oben ... read more

Death train? pfft. It was a bit dissapointing actually. 14 hours, two american films (in spanish, though we got subtitles for the second one... then fell asleep) and some bad food. It was nothing more than a slightly bumpy train. If anyone died on it it was probably from some nasty meal rather than any train induced injury. One nice thing about it was the people selling things at the stations - when we arrived we would open our windows, lean out and buy cakes, breads, drinks, set meals.. it was great. Super-pullman class (one above 1st class) turned out to be little more than British Rail´s 2nd class, but it was good enough to survive the journey with some sleep to boot. We were tired when we arrived here, so booked into th first hotel ... read more

I spent another couple of days in Samipata, enjoying the peace and the sunshine but there was no ATM and I was running out of money and time so I thought I should head back to the city. I´ve only been in Santa Cruz for one day and I planned to leave for Brazil today but I´ve already had to delay until Tuesday! I had a nightmare day yesterday trying to organise posting stuff, travel plans and getting supplies and by the end of the day I´d pretty much acheived not that much at all! Oh well, nevermind, its really hot here and now that I´ve explored the city a bit further its really quite nice. Last night I went to a concert in the stadium in the city with two really fun irish girls from ... read more

I´m back in Samipata and its hot hot hot!! woopie! finally! Today I visited the Amboro nationl park. Its absolutely huge and covers areas of rainforest, semi tropical forests and mountains. I visited a region called the Volcanes which arent the lava spewing type of mountains but just weird, huge, beutiful red mountains nestled together and surrounded by gorgeous forests. I went with two french tourists (who were a little strange and werent half as fun as my previous french friends!) and a guide who spoke no english. I managed to understand most of what he said but it was hard going at times. Before we started off he pulled a huge machette out of the car. I asked him why he needed such a huge knife and he said "serpentinas" I guessed thats that meant ... read more

I arrived in LA Paz on Saturday night from Cochabamba. Forgot how fun it is to try to breathe at an altitude over 10,000 feet. Met up with Paddy and Suzi From Ireland at a bar they work at. this is the fourth time i have seen them, the first time was in Bariloche, Argentina. I´m sure this won´t be the last time. Also ran into Gary and james from Sucre, probably won{t be the last time for them either. oh before i forget, if you want to see full size pics or down them click here FOTOS On Monday Paddy and I did the Death road bike trip. We did it with Madness mountain biking. The trip starts at over 14,000 feet and drops to about 4500 feet more or less. The trip cost a ... read more