From the Altiplano to the Inca's

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Greetings from Quito in Ecuador. It's finally happened, we've gone full circle, in a manner of speaking. Some 3 months after we first touched down in Lima we have been back there, having more or less circum-navigated South America. As we head north our planned route for the next month see's us head to the Galapogas Islands before hitting central America for an extended period of R&R on the beach. This travelling is hard work and we feel we've earned it!!!! Last time we checked in we'd just finished with Brazil and let me assure you plenty has happened since then so grab yourself a coffee and biscuit before you read any further, this is gunna go on for a while........

Having spent a few days with our new Irish friends, Ian and Kathy, we have begun travelling with them and met them at the Bolivian border. From there we crossed the border and boarded the 17 hour 'Death Train' to Santa Cruz. The Death Train is thus named becasue in years gone by people would attempt to ride on the roof of it for free, along the bumpy track and were thrown to their death. Rather than risk this we took our seats in the cabin. For some reason none of the 10 or so westerners on the train were seated together and as luck would have it Hughie's travelling companion was a man of large proportions. For my part I was mostly seat with children but enjoyed my time as during the trip they screened Die Hard 4... in english. Arriving in Santa Cruz Hughie informed me it was called the death train because you'd rather kill yourself than ride it more than once. Decided not to stay in Santa Cruz that afternoon boarded a bus to Potosi. Since Argentina the buses have been getting steadily worse and this bus was no exception. As we left town some running repairs were made but this was nothing compared to watching the driver and some others trying to secure a bent back axle that had snapped the back spring to the chassis using old tire tube rubber. This coupled with the mountain roads made for a horribly nerve-racking night but early the next moring, after having to change buses at one of the towns along the way, we made it to Potosi.

Potosi is the highest city in the world, sitting at an elevation of 4070m. Arriving in Potosi we were all somwhat overtired, under-nourished and suffering the effects of the altitude but never the less soldiered on to a tour of the local silver mine that once made Potosi the most wealthy city in South America. After being fitted out with a miners clothes and light we headed to the market where all the miners buy their supplies. There we bought gifts of soft drink, alcohol that was 98% proof and like metho and caoco leaves that the miners chew like tobacco for the workers we would be visiting. Also while there we we able to buy one thing for ourselves to have a bit of fun with...... Dynamite. And it was the real deal to. We were able to buy dynamite, ammonium nitrate and a detonator and fuse off the street, no questions asked, for $2 australian. So we bought heaps. With all our goodies we headed of to the mine. There we experienced horrific working conditions as miners work 10+ hours a day in temperatures as hot as 45 degrees. There has been very little mechanisation of the mine and most of the work is still done by hand. In addition to this the workers are constantly inhaling the dust and arsenis and sulphur which gives rise to various lung diseases and significantly shortens life expectancy. After a couple of hours underground we emerged and everyone thanked their luck stars that they did what they did rather than working in the mine. As everone needed lightening up our guides set to work building bombs of the explosives we'd bought. One of these bombs we wedged into a goats head that we'd bought from a street butcher. With this done fuses were lit and everyone retreated to a safe distance and watched as the side of a mountain had holes blown in it and the goat had a mind blowing experience. For the record it was just a head. The goat had been humanely euthanased prior to having dynamite shoved in its mouth. After a trip down to the refinery we headed back to the hostel and with the death train, death bus and death tour all behind us we more or less colapsed from exhaustion. Two days later we headed to Uyuni and the Altiplano.

The Altiplano is a weird place. That's about the best way to describe it. The first morning there having joined a tour we headed out to the salt flats which cover 12,000km square and are blindingly white. The average depth of salt is around 2m but most interestingly within the salt flats are 28 small 'islands' of stone and soil on which some plant life and animals live. Because of the surrounding salt each islands wildlife is totally unique with the land based animals having evolved uniquely from on the other islands. Having used the landscape to create some interesting photo's we headed off the salt flats to some caves which have some remarkable pefrified algae in them, as well as being a burial sight for some of the pigmy tribes that lived there several hundred years ago. Having seen this we headed to our accommodation for the first night which was a hostel made entirely of salt bricks. Everything including the tables, chairs and bed frames were made of salt. Being such a dry environment as the sun set the night sky was absolutely fantastic. The next morning we left and headed to a lookout that took us to the highest point of our trip so far, just over 5000m. From here we could see a smoking volcanoe that is still listed as active despite not having erupted for a couple of thousand years. That afternoon we headed to a place called the red lagoon, which is so named because of an algae called Duinella that gives it a red colour. Because of the algae, the flamingo's that feed there are also a far more brilliant pink colour than they would otherwise be. The next morning we were up at 5am and off to what are officially the highest geyser fields in the world at almost 5000m. Apparently we were lied to in Chile when told they had the higher geyser fields. So again freezing cold we set off to these geyser fields and were suitably impressed by the geysers that whistled like a steam train and also by the pools of molten mud that have been superheated to over 200 degrees. Driving towards hot springs of a more suitable temperature for swimming we passed through a valley where the ground had been covered by a heavy frost. With the sun rising in our rear view mirror the ground seemed to sparkle before us giving the the entire landscape a very winter wonderland feel. After bathing in the 'almost too hot' springs we began the long and bumpy drive back to Uyuni before boarding a bus and heading to LaPaz where we arrived early the next morning.

The first few days in LaPaz exist as a slightly blurred memory as we hit the town with suprising gusto for two days. This included visiting and meeting some of the seedier characters of the town before somehow winding up at a midget wrestling contest that would have most civil libertarians seething with anger. Upon seeing one wrestler pick up a midget and use it as a weapon to hit his opponent we decided it was time to see the sights and experience the activities La Paz had to offer. Having picked our theme for Bolivia (death) we decided to tackle the World's Most Dangerous (Death) Road. The death road was so named in 1983 after a worldwide survey concluded that it claimed the most lives - some 350 the year the survey was completed. In the worst accident to occur on the road some 30 lives were lost in a single vehicle accident when a truck filled with people careered over the cliff that ranges from 60 to 600m in height and borders the road for some 64km as it descends from 4200m to 1800m linking La Paz with Coroico. Unperturbed we boarded our mountain bikes (worth a lazy $3500US a pop) and began hurtling down this gravel road at up to 70km/h. After some close encounters which resulted in me nearly getting hit by a car and Hughie trying to take on the cliff wall we made it to the bottom unscathed before boarding a bus and coming back up the same road. If anything the ride back up the road was more frightening than the ride down as we actually had the time to look around and see the smorgasboard of detroyed cars and trucks that little the valley floor beneath the road.

The next morning we and the Irish were up and flying out of LaPaz north to Rurrenabaque which is a small town that sits on the border of the Amazon and the Pampas. Shortly after our 19 seat plane took off from La Paz we were treated to some spectacular sunrise views of the Andes with some peaks reaching over 6000m high. The excitement of seeing these views however was short lived as I almost caused a panic when I asked Hugh the innocent question "mate, why is the cabin filling with smoke?" As genuine corcern set in the pilot's vented the cabin and turned off the interior lights which were apparently resonsible for the smoke and we continued on our way before touching down on the grass strip in Rurrenabaque. The next day we headed out the the Pampas, west of Rurrenabaque, via first a 3 hour 4WD and then 3 hour boat ride on what was allegedly and Eoc-tour. Shortly after the boat ride had began we had both fed monkeys and hit a snake with the outboard we realised the tour was taking a fair few liberties with the word Eco. This feeling was further increased later that day when our guide used a spot light to catch for us a baby aligator. The next day we took off on the second anaconda finding expedition of our trip. Unfortunately after 3 hours of slogging through the mud (it was actually 1 hour as our guides left us under a tree for 2 hours while they tried to find an anaconda themselves) we were once again anacondaless although one of the guides did manage to catch a green mamba, which is a cousin of the famous black mamba only slightly less deadly. That afternoon we went to a lagoon like part of the river and spent the afternoon swimming with the pink dolphins that inhabit the river. These creatures were quite inquisative and after they'd brushed past us a few times came in for a closer look. More or less being able to pat these creatures was really cool but having them appear under you in water that is totally murky that means you can't see them and first contact was a fairly frightening experience. The playful dolphins however soon revealed their more sinister side and the biting began. I never realised that dolphins had such sharp teeth but after they managed to draw blood from my foot and the feet of others in water that contained pirhana we decided that enough was enough and we hopped back in the boat and returned to camp. For our final day in the Pampas we paddled down the river early to observe the sounds of nature at day break which included howler monkeys and other exotic species. That afternoon we made the long and dusty journey back to Rurrenabaque. The next day we headed 3 hours down the River Beni to the Madidi National Park which is some of the last remaining primary Amazon rainforrest in the region. After arriving at our terrific campsite we were totally blown away by the magnificient trees that inhabit the rainforrest. Some of these trees were 500+ years old, are 5 meters in diameter and had the most massive and amazing buttresses. Also in the jungle were some seriously amazing insects including butterflies at least 15cm in diameter and electric blue as well as leaf cutter ants that strip the leaves from trees and then farm them in their burrows farming them turning the leaves into fungi which they then feed to the queen and young. In a final attempt to find and see an elusive anaconda we also spent several hours paddling around a lagoon and although we did see where they had been sleeping they eluded us once again. As we returned upriver we were treated to a tropical storm which made the trip a total nightmare as standing two foot waves crashed into our boat and left us soaked to the skin. The next day after some serious delays due to the previous days storm we boarded the same trusty plane we had arrived in and headed back to La Paz for a single night only before leaving there and heading for Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca straddles the Bolivian and Peruvian border and is absolutely massive some 220km long and 90km wide. At 3850m above sea level it is one of the highest, largest lakes in the world. Arriving at Copacobana on the Bolivian side of the lake we spent on night in town before heading for Isla del Sol, or the Island of the Sun. We had decided to walk to a small port town that the famous lonely planet told us was an easy 3 hour hike from Copacobana. I dont know if the author of Lonley Planet's Bolivian section has ever been to Lake Titicaca but hiking 17km at almost 4000m takes slightly longer than 3 hours. Added to this was the fact that Hughie had decided to get sick and the day was average at best. One consolation were the views from Isla del Sol which looked out firstly over the lake which was bordered by the snowcapped Andes. The next morning Hughie bailed out on the first boat back to the mainland and his waiting supply of drugs for which you don't need a presciption to buy in South America. I spent the day walking the island looking at the ruins of the houses and temples built there by the Incas as they believed that Isla del Sol was the birth place of the sun. Returning to Copacobana we spent one more night there before heading to the next country on our itinerary, Peru. Puno in Peru is also on the shores of Lake Titicaca and only a short distance out in the lake are the totally unique floating reed islands. These islands were built by some of the natives tribes as a way to escape the encroaching modern world in preserve their way of life. Unfortunately though these islands have been almost totally destroyed by the tourist dollar and is seems almost everything the natives who still live on these islands do is squarely aimed at seperating gringo's from their cash. Still the islands were completely fascinating and the reed boats used by the islanders constructed incredibly well. Visiting the islands was great but we were glad to leave and as we did we headed for Cuzco and what we'd hoped would be one of the highlights of our trip - the four day trek along the Inca Trail to fabled Machu Picchu.

Cuzco is a city set spectacularly in the mountains at the head of a valley and was once the heart and capital of the Inca Empire. When the Spanish first arrived in Cuzco in 1533 some 470,000 people lived in Cuzco. By 1900 this number had been reduced to 14,000 people and today some 350,000 people live in what is arguably THE tourist Mecca in South America. Surrounding Cuzco are many Inca ruins all open for visiting provided you are happy to pay. Over the first few days we spent in Cuzco we visited Sacsayhuaman (when pronounced it sounds like 'sexy woman') which was the main ceremonial site of the Inca's. At this site so much blood was spilled in battles with the spanish the Condors used to flock there in great number to feed upon the dead and dieing. So numerous were the condors that through these actions they earned a place on Peru's national flag. Many of the ruins that were constructed towards the end of the Inca reign are amazingly well crafted with stone blocks of granite that were carved down into a managable size of several hundred kilograms where fitted so perfectly together that no mortar was required. The manpower required to construct these ancient building must have been huge. So after a couple of days of sight seeing in and around Cuzco we set off early the morning of Anzac Day to begin our Inca trail trek. Our group consisted of 16 guys and girls from Aus, New Zealand, The US, England and South Africa and amazingly we struck it lucky and had no painful people amongst us. Arriving at the starting point for the trail the excitment was palpable and we were soon underway, begining to wind our way into the mountains on the track to Machu Picchu. The first day we hiked around 12km before a steep climb saw us arrive at our camping site for the first night. This was to be the first of many spectacular views but more spectacular than this was the food served up to us at dinner. Rather than typical camping fare our porters, who were all carrying around 25kg compared to our 8kg or less, had managed to cart up the hill food to rival any restaurant in South America. Unfortunately for me the food may not have been quite as good as first assumed and after waking up the second morning I promptly started throwing up with what I assumed was a mild case of food poisoning, but which Hughie informed the rest of the group was me being a sook. So feeling great we set off for the hardest leg of the trek which involved walking around 7km along and climbing 600m vertically to the highest point of the trek, Dead Woman's Pass at 4200m. Arriving there I thought they were going to have to change the name to Dead People's Pass but after a lunchtime sleep, and getting one of the porters to carry my pack for the afternoon, I made it to the campsite that night before crashing out completely. The next day was a far more enjoyable experience as not only was I not spewing my guts up, but we had only to walk for about 4 hours before we reached our final campsite. A short distance from this campsite was one of the more interesting Inca sites we saw in Peru. An experimental agriculture plot. Most of you reading this will probably shake your head's and laugh but it was really interesting to see this site where the Inca's, some 700 years ago, were conducting their own field trials to find out which varieties of maize and rice grew better than others. The final morning we were up at 4am for the 3 hour hike to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu. The day dawned spectacularly and shortly after we arrived for our first look down onto Machu Picchu. It did not disappoint. Machu Picchu is set on a lower mountain top in what appears to be the centre of a valley. All around mountains rise up keeping Machu Picchu totally isolated from the outside world. To find this place in the time of the Inca's would have been no mean feat. Staring down over Machu Picchu is the mountain of Huayna Picchu and after a tough 45 minute climb we were greeted with a complete aerial and panoramic view of Machu Picchu. It was absolutley sensational and totally lived up to the hype it generates. If anyone is considering coming to Machu Picchu or completing the Inca Trail as a holiday activity I cannot recommend it highly enough. After spending the afternoon exploring Machu Picchu we descended to the local town and took the much easier option for visting Machu Picchu and boarded the train back to Cuzco. The following day while Hughie nursed a hang over, I took a trip up the Sacred Valley, which is so named because it is the richest valley in the region in terms of soils, climate and thus, crop yeilds. It was again amazing to see just how advanced a race the Inca's were. The following morning we said goodbye to Cuzco and an absolute highlight of our trip thus far and boarded a plane for Lima.

Arriving in Lima the first thing that stuck us was the smell. Home to almost 8 million Peruvian's Lima is a dirty and polluted city. After taking a taxi to the 'nicer' part of town we had a quick look around before once again reaffirming our thoughts that cities are mostly the same and looking forward to getting out. The next day, after a 4 hour delay, we did exactly that which has now put us in Quito, Ecuador. After some total nightmares trying to organise things we have a sembelance of a plan and tomorrow morning we jet off to the Galapogas Islands where the father of evolution Charles Darwin completed much of his work. After being denied the chance to see an anaconda inthe wild we are hoping our trip to the Galapagos will give us the chance to scuba dive with giant turtles and whale sharks.

So that's it. If you think it took ages to read you should've tried writing it.

If anyone would like to talk to either of us at any stage we're happy to do so using the modern marvel of Skype. Our user names are daniel.s.gilmour and girdwoodhg respectively so if you've got skype available let us know. It'd be great to have a chat.

Hopefully this finds everyone well and for those of you back in Oz waiting on the rain I hope it pours for you soon.

Cheers
Dan

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Comments

[Sam]

Wow
Hey Gilmore and Hughie, I finally got through your blog, I actually printed it off and read it whenever I got a chance. Awesome stuff! I'm really impressed with the photos too, I think you have found your calling Gilmore.... Maybe Lonely planet could do with a writer too.... Anyway all the best on the remainder of the trip, it sounds like ripping good fun Jackson

[Kel Robinson]

The Whole School Enjoyed Yr Blog
I have to 2nd Sam's comment Lonely Planet is where you should be!!! That was an awesome read and not only for myself but most of the teaching staff here at the school were most impressed!!! Mel says hi and keep having fun!!