We reaturned to La Paz to celebrate christmas in style- good food, good drink, good people and a jacuzzi! Then boxing day evening we got on yet another 12 hour night bus heading for Uyuni a little town at the bottom of Bolivia offering salt flat tours. Infact as soon as we groggily got off the bus at 7am we were approached by several companys and ended up leaving on our 3 day trek only 3 1/2 hours later. 6 of us clambered into a 4x4 and drove over the bright white salt flats, which were incredibly beautiful. We made several stops, one of which was in a small village where artesans made mini llamas, pots and keyrings from salt, and another was at the salt hotel where literally everything was made from salt- the walls, beds, floor, roof ect.. We ate lunch here on a table and chairs made entirely of salt. Before arriving at our salt hostel further on, we visited Isla del Pescado, a rocky island filled with cacti, bang in the middle of the irredesently white salt flats.
The next day we left at 6am and this time drove through different terrain. The roads were dusty and desolate and all around us were mountains, one with seven different colours. We passed lots of becoñas and llamas on our trip and stopped at Dali´s desert, the place that inspired him to paint the melted clocks. On this day we also saw five lagoons, the most beautiful was pink with 20,000 flamingos.
Day 3 called for an even ealier start... we left at 5am. The most amazing thing we saw was just before breakfast- geyseres... holes in the ground filled with steam and bubbling water of 90 degrees, ocassionally bursts of this water would shoot up into the air. A little further along the road were the natural hot springs. Here is where we ate pancakes, yoghurt with cereal and drank black coffee for breakfast, then changed into bikinis and jumped into the hot spring. Unfortunately the next thing we had to do was drop my friend at the chilean boarder, where we said goodbye (we´re meeting up again soon) after 2 1/2 months of travelling together.
We spent the night in Uyuni on our reaturn- it´s possibly the bleakest town I´ve been to on my trip and was glad to leave it the next day at 10am. The road from Uyuni to Sucre is really bumpy, I was thrown out of my seat most of the time and to top it off the wheel of the bus fell off- it´s all part of the experience though!
Thursday 31 December 2009
Friday 25 December 2009
Las Pampas
From La Paz it was an epic 20 hour bus journey to Rurrenabaque where we got a 3 hour jeep ride down a dirt track to Santa Rosa where we began our stay in Las Pampas... well worth all the effort though. Once we met our guide in Santa Rosa, we got into a wooden canoe with a little motor and slowly made our way up the river, through the amazon. We saw many aligators lying on the side of the banks, as well as turtles resting on logs, brightly coloured birds and a family of capibaras. The guide pulled up by a tree where a group of squirrel monkeys were playing- he held a bannana above our heads and all the monkeys jumped onto our heads and crawled over our backs, then he let us feed the monkeys.
Once we arrived at the lodge where we were staying, we shoved our stuff in the room before getting back in the boat to view the sunset futher up the river. After sunset went aligator watching- if you shine a torch at aligators in the dark... their eyes glow red- very cool! We stopped at the edge of the river at one point and the guide wandered off only to reaturn, moments later, with a baby aligator that he let each of us hold. Back at the lodge we were fed really well with yummy, healthy food.
The next day a breakfast of pancakes, fruit and pastries awaited us before we pulled on some wellies to go anaconder hunting in the swampy part. We trekked for ages and the guide told me that due to the overcast sky, it was a 70% chance that we wouldn´t find a snake... but we did and I got to hold an anaconder. We reaturned late for lunch and then chilled in hammocks until pirana fishing. My first ever time fishing was in the amazon and I caught 14 fish... 3 of which were piranas- I felt pretty proud! We then motored to another great view point for another beautiful sunset and got back to have our piranas with dinner- if not a little boney, they were delicious. We spent the evening lazying in hammocks, overlooking the water and chatting to our guide.
The last day was great- we found a spot in the river to go swimming where pink dolphins popped their heads up every now and then. I was terriffied that an aligator would come and rip me limb from limb, but swimming in the amazon was incredible. Following an early lnunch, we made a quick get away, motoring back up the river to Santa Rosa. We managed to get a night bus back to La Paz (another hellish 20 hours) and arrived in time for christmas eve in the lively city.
Saturday 19 December 2009
La Paz
La Paz is a massive city and arriving in it can be daunting, however once me and Allegra arrived, ate and had a black coffee at the market place, we did manage to navigate our way across it to meet our two friends where we found them sat in a hot tub in their (much nicer than our) hostel. And this is where we learned that the amazing DJ Tiesto was playing in town that night. Very excited we ran to the reception to get tickets... only to find out they´d all been sold, leaving us no choice but to jump in a taxi and run to the gig to get tickets from a tout, which we did with sucess. The guys we bought the tickets from ended up being really fun, we queued with them, they bought us drinks and we all danced together during the concert. The concert itself was incredible! It was jam packed and Tiesto played just about every great song that I know, we had such a fun evening.
The next morning (or should I say afternoon as that is when I lazily woke up) I went to the market for a delicious fruit salad topped with honey, yoghurt and popcorn. Then me and my friends spent the day wandering around the witches market where they sell all sorts of things from alpaka jumpers to incense sticks, lucky charms, guitars and bongo drums. We even found a coco museam there, describing the impotance of the coco leaf in Bolivia's culture. That night we went to a bar that played a mixture of latin american and american chart music, followed by a much less local feeling bar which we didn´t leave till 6am.
Next day we explored the city by visiting various plazas and going to the mirador where there´s a fabulous view of La Paz. We then came across a little christmas market, which sold christmas decorations, cards, gifts, toffee apples and chocolate. We had another market meal for dinner (I love this as it´s so bussely and has such a local feel) then went out to an urban music bar with funky murals over the walls and live music- a really cool afro-bolivian band played as well people rapping.
On our last day in La Paz (as for the moment) me and my friend got our fortunes read by a witch doctor who uses coco leaves and looks at the way they fall on his cloth. Apparently I´m going to be lucky in love and work... but won´t reaturn to South America...we´ll see.
Thursday 17 December 2009
La Isla Del Sol
We got an 8.30am ferry to Isla del Sol, ditched the tour and got a one way ticket. We walked to the Inca ruins in the south of the island and then got trout for lunch in the town close by and filled up our water from the Inca fountain. We did a 3 hour trek to the north of the island, the views of lake Titicaca were gorgeous. The village were we stayed Challapampa, was so cute, donkeys and pigs wandered around the beach and lamas roamed in the hills above. We went for a wander before dinner and watched the locals playing a volleyball match by the beach. Dinner was in a really sweet restaurant on the beach where we had red wine, soup and trout- yum!!
Me and Leggra went to see 'El Templo del Sol' the next day and the sacred rock- there were loads of little passages and tunnels to explore. when we reaturned, we chilled on the beach where a little girl was hassling me for sweets. I gave her a sweet and then we made sand statues together and buried eachothers feet, such a sweetie.
By then it was time to hop on the boat back to Copacabana, stopping at the floating islands. We cooked dinner in the hostel and then headed down to a bar.
Me and Leggra went to see 'El Templo del Sol' the next day and the sacred rock- there were loads of little passages and tunnels to explore. when we reaturned, we chilled on the beach where a little girl was hassling me for sweets. I gave her a sweet and then we made sand statues together and buried eachothers feet, such a sweetie.
By then it was time to hop on the boat back to Copacabana, stopping at the floating islands. We cooked dinner in the hostel and then headed down to a bar.
The amazingness of Copacabana!!
The border crossing from Peru to Bolivia deserves a separate entry in itself as it was so crazy! We got a 6 hour bus ride to Puno and then a little local bus to the border, however they´d under-estimated our journey so we ended up arriving 30 minutes before the border was due to close. As the local bus didn´t drop us right to the border but instead in the middle of nowhere we had to make our way passed a very insistent taxi driver and into a collectivo which drove painfully slowly, not to the border, but to the dodgey border town. I checked my clock and was pretty sure the border would have closed but a police man told us that if we caught a taxi from the next square, we could still make it. So through the town we ran with our extremely heavy backpacks and jumped into a taxi... luckily the border was still open and we made it through, however as we left the border shut right behind us. We got into another taxi to Copacabana when suddenly the taxi driver pulled over on the side of the road and opened the boot and in jumped a woman. She smiled at me and said 'hola´as she snuggled up against our big backpacks. It was really wierd, it felt like she was some kind of hostage... but she seemed happy enough.
After checking into a cheapy hostel and eating we came across a bolivian folk band playing in the square so went to watch. It turned out that we´d stumbled across a street party in order to celebrate the day of the police and the day of the virgin of copacabana. Fireworks were randomly let off throughout the evening, the sparks showering the audience. An old man walked amonst the crowd with a big steel pot filled with té con té (a hot drink of tea, sugar cane and strong alchole). Another man was handing everyone coco leaves to chew on and then later in the night someone came round handing us free sandwidches too! we ended up dancing with a massive group of guys from La Paz who were lots of fun. Part way through the night there would be sketches of how the police helped and what they did and then there would be more live music. To end the night was an even bigger display of fireworks.
The following morning there was a procession for the police and the virgin of Copacabana and as it turned out, the group we´d been dancing with the previous night were all police and in the procession. All the locals were gathered to watch the procession which began outside the church. There were tonnes of police with either swords or brass instruments marching from the church to the lake. Leading the procession was the chief of police in robes and behind them a large statue of the virgin of copacabana was being carried. We followed the procession and got given posters of the virgin and rose petals to throw at her. When we got down to the lake the statue was raised on to a boat with the chief of police. We saw our new policeman friends in the crowd and went to chat with them, as they were about to get on another boat to follow the statue we got to go on too and motored around lake Titicaca for a while.
After checking into a cheapy hostel and eating we came across a bolivian folk band playing in the square so went to watch. It turned out that we´d stumbled across a street party in order to celebrate the day of the police and the day of the virgin of copacabana. Fireworks were randomly let off throughout the evening, the sparks showering the audience. An old man walked amonst the crowd with a big steel pot filled with té con té (a hot drink of tea, sugar cane and strong alchole). Another man was handing everyone coco leaves to chew on and then later in the night someone came round handing us free sandwidches too! we ended up dancing with a massive group of guys from La Paz who were lots of fun. Part way through the night there would be sketches of how the police helped and what they did and then there would be more live music. To end the night was an even bigger display of fireworks.
The following morning there was a procession for the police and the virgin of Copacabana and as it turned out, the group we´d been dancing with the previous night were all police and in the procession. All the locals were gathered to watch the procession which began outside the church. There were tonnes of police with either swords or brass instruments marching from the church to the lake. Leading the procession was the chief of police in robes and behind them a large statue of the virgin of copacabana was being carried. We followed the procession and got given posters of the virgin and rose petals to throw at her. When we got down to the lake the statue was raised on to a boat with the chief of police. We saw our new policeman friends in the crowd and went to chat with them, as they were about to get on another boat to follow the statue we got to go on too and motored around lake Titicaca for a while.
Thursday 10 December 2009
Arequipa and the Colca Trek
We got to Arequipa at 5.40am and checked into a hostel then spent the day wandering through Santa Catalina, a monestery filled with gorgeous courtyards then headed to Casa Verde, a cafe where the money goes to help the 25 street children they´ve housed who also help out in the cafe. I´ve never done so much good just by eating chocolate cake.
The next day we went to the museam of Juanita one of the girls found in the mountains sacrificed by the incas. It was really interesting to learn about the sacrifices of the children but obviously very eery as we actually got to see the girls body which had been preserved by the ice on the mountain where she was buried. The chosen child had to trek up the mountain with only sandles on their feet, surviving on nothing but vegtables and coco leaves. 8 hours before their death they were only allowed to eat coco leaves and right before the fatal blow to the head was given, they were made to drink large amounts of chi cha, a strong corn beer.
On a much less morbid note we woke up at 2.30am the following morning to get ready for a trek through the colca canyon, which was amazing. We began with a buffet breakfast and then started the trek which was only 3 hours and really easy the first day. Walking through the dusty mountains was amazing and for the last 20 minutes we scrambled up the rocks to a lodge with the most amazing view of the canyon where we relaxed in the sun had dinner and slept. The lodge was made of mud bricks with a bamboo door, the roof was made of palm leaves and the floor was just earth, there was no electricity. It was a really sweet lodge though and I loved it there. Breakfast was at 7.30 and then we began the next bit of our trek to the oasis. After 3 hours of trekking in the hot sun it was amazing to arrive at the next lodge which had a swimming pool with a waterfall! We got in our bikinis and swam in the pool straight away then lay in the sun until lunch. Once again our sleeping arrangments were basic with no electricity (but plenty of mosquitos) and we had to get up at 4.30am the next day to begin the 3hour trekup the steepest part of the mountain. The trek up was really hard but me and my friend Tracey were the first from our group up and actually did it in 2 and a half hours- yay! Then we all had to walk across corn fields for 20minutes before getting our well deserved breakfast. After lunch in a town called Chivay (a buffet that I really made the most of) we spent an hour in hot springs which was amazing for our aching muscles.
We got back to Arequipa at around 6.30pm and afew of us got together later to begin making Pisco Sour coctails using the blender in our hostel. That evening we went out to sample Arequipa´s nightlife and the verdict is that it´s very fun!
The next day we went to the museam of Juanita one of the girls found in the mountains sacrificed by the incas. It was really interesting to learn about the sacrifices of the children but obviously very eery as we actually got to see the girls body which had been preserved by the ice on the mountain where she was buried. The chosen child had to trek up the mountain with only sandles on their feet, surviving on nothing but vegtables and coco leaves. 8 hours before their death they were only allowed to eat coco leaves and right before the fatal blow to the head was given, they were made to drink large amounts of chi cha, a strong corn beer.
On a much less morbid note we woke up at 2.30am the following morning to get ready for a trek through the colca canyon, which was amazing. We began with a buffet breakfast and then started the trek which was only 3 hours and really easy the first day. Walking through the dusty mountains was amazing and for the last 20 minutes we scrambled up the rocks to a lodge with the most amazing view of the canyon where we relaxed in the sun had dinner and slept. The lodge was made of mud bricks with a bamboo door, the roof was made of palm leaves and the floor was just earth, there was no electricity. It was a really sweet lodge though and I loved it there. Breakfast was at 7.30 and then we began the next bit of our trek to the oasis. After 3 hours of trekking in the hot sun it was amazing to arrive at the next lodge which had a swimming pool with a waterfall! We got in our bikinis and swam in the pool straight away then lay in the sun until lunch. Once again our sleeping arrangments were basic with no electricity (but plenty of mosquitos) and we had to get up at 4.30am the next day to begin the 3hour trekup the steepest part of the mountain. The trek up was really hard but me and my friend Tracey were the first from our group up and actually did it in 2 and a half hours- yay! Then we all had to walk across corn fields for 20minutes before getting our well deserved breakfast. After lunch in a town called Chivay (a buffet that I really made the most of) we spent an hour in hot springs which was amazing for our aching muscles.
We got back to Arequipa at around 6.30pm and afew of us got together later to begin making Pisco Sour coctails using the blender in our hostel. That evening we went out to sample Arequipa´s nightlife and the verdict is that it´s very fun!
Saturday 5 December 2009
The Inca Trail and Cusco
When we arrived in Peru´s capital city, Lima, we checked into the hotel and got free Pisco Sours at our inca trail meeting that evening. We met three other women doing the trek and all went out for dinner together that night.
The next day we all flew to Cusco and recieved cups of coco tea when we arrived at the hotel to help us with any altitude problems. We had a welcome meeting where we met one other girl and then all went out for lunch -3 courses for under a pound. Then we wandered around the typical peruvian markets and i became the proud owner of an alpaka jumper and 2 pairs of alpacka socks. The haggling is fun but can become tiring, it´s worth it though to get a good deal. In the evening, the full group of 16 gathered for another meeting on a day by day break down of our trip.
The next day we all had breakfast in the hotel, put our bags into storage, packed duffle bags for the inca trail and set off. First we stopped off at a project that our tour company ran where we went to a village and watched the women there weaving, we saw the process from the wool spinning, dying (they use leaves to create different dyes) to the weaving which they used condor bones for. All the women and children wore traditional clothing- long dark hair in two plaits tied together with string at the bottom, long skirts, plain tops, brightly coloured cardigens and shawls. After looking around the market village, we had a guided tour of the sacred valley before being to explore the incredible ruins amongst the mountains.
Next stop was an amazing place for lunch followed by a trip to Inka Bar where they brew corn beer. We learned about the beer making process before sampling the different flavours- the best beer I´ve ever tried. After this packed day we were driven to a tiny town called Ollantaytambo were we all spent the night before the big day ahead.
In the morning the trek began. Day one was to ease us in gently- after walking to camp we had luch and looked around a little ruin close by and watched the porters (who crazily still had energy) play football. To end the evening was hot choc , biscuits and a three course meal before heading to the tents for sleep.
Day 2 of the trek was hard as we climbed a long steep pass to Warmiwañusca (dead woman´s pass) which is 4200metres above sea level and the highest point of the trek. Though it was tough we had so much fun chatting with everyoine in the group and playing distraction games. At the top it was freezing and took an hour and a half to climb down. At camp we had a late lunch and a chance to chill abit before dinner.
Day 3 we trekked up to the second pass 3398metres, the trail went through this beautiful cloud forest, we then had lunch before continuing up the third pass and walking through a causeway and tunnel. Before reaching the town above the clouds (ruins called Phuyupatamka) we passed a double rainbow over the mountains which was so beautiful. Then we dorddled down to camp, the whople day was 9 hours of trekking, but we loved it and trhe group was so close by this time. This evening was a bit of a celebration with cake, pop corn, beer and cocktails. I went to bed at 12am so had 4 hours sleep before we got up to start trekking on day 4. After breakfast we trekked to the sungate in the pouring rain and then onto the stunning Machu Picchu, where lamas were grazing amonst the ruins.
After lunch all together in Aguas Calientes we got the train then bus back to Cusco. Our last night all together was amazing- my favourite of the trip so far. We all had dinner with our guide too and tried the local delicacey- ginea pig- as a starter. For mains, i was less adventerous with a burger, but i did try some of Allegra´s alpaka. Then, after some coctails we all went out dancing til 5am- the perfect way to spend the last evening of everyone together, we all had so much fun.
Once we´d said bye to everyone on the trip, us girls spend a couple more nights in a cheapy hostel. We had a chilled couple of days going to the market, seeing an art gallery and we climbed up a hill in Cusco to El Cristo Blanco and get a great view of the city.
The next day we all flew to Cusco and recieved cups of coco tea when we arrived at the hotel to help us with any altitude problems. We had a welcome meeting where we met one other girl and then all went out for lunch -3 courses for under a pound. Then we wandered around the typical peruvian markets and i became the proud owner of an alpaka jumper and 2 pairs of alpacka socks. The haggling is fun but can become tiring, it´s worth it though to get a good deal. In the evening, the full group of 16 gathered for another meeting on a day by day break down of our trip.
The next day we all had breakfast in the hotel, put our bags into storage, packed duffle bags for the inca trail and set off. First we stopped off at a project that our tour company ran where we went to a village and watched the women there weaving, we saw the process from the wool spinning, dying (they use leaves to create different dyes) to the weaving which they used condor bones for. All the women and children wore traditional clothing- long dark hair in two plaits tied together with string at the bottom, long skirts, plain tops, brightly coloured cardigens and shawls. After looking around the market village, we had a guided tour of the sacred valley before being to explore the incredible ruins amongst the mountains.
Next stop was an amazing place for lunch followed by a trip to Inka Bar where they brew corn beer. We learned about the beer making process before sampling the different flavours- the best beer I´ve ever tried. After this packed day we were driven to a tiny town called Ollantaytambo were we all spent the night before the big day ahead.
In the morning the trek began. Day one was to ease us in gently- after walking to camp we had luch and looked around a little ruin close by and watched the porters (who crazily still had energy) play football. To end the evening was hot choc , biscuits and a three course meal before heading to the tents for sleep.
Day 2 of the trek was hard as we climbed a long steep pass to Warmiwañusca (dead woman´s pass) which is 4200metres above sea level and the highest point of the trek. Though it was tough we had so much fun chatting with everyoine in the group and playing distraction games. At the top it was freezing and took an hour and a half to climb down. At camp we had a late lunch and a chance to chill abit before dinner.
Day 3 we trekked up to the second pass 3398metres, the trail went through this beautiful cloud forest, we then had lunch before continuing up the third pass and walking through a causeway and tunnel. Before reaching the town above the clouds (ruins called Phuyupatamka) we passed a double rainbow over the mountains which was so beautiful. Then we dorddled down to camp, the whople day was 9 hours of trekking, but we loved it and trhe group was so close by this time. This evening was a bit of a celebration with cake, pop corn, beer and cocktails. I went to bed at 12am so had 4 hours sleep before we got up to start trekking on day 4. After breakfast we trekked to the sungate in the pouring rain and then onto the stunning Machu Picchu, where lamas were grazing amonst the ruins.
After lunch all together in Aguas Calientes we got the train then bus back to Cusco. Our last night all together was amazing- my favourite of the trip so far. We all had dinner with our guide too and tried the local delicacey- ginea pig- as a starter. For mains, i was less adventerous with a burger, but i did try some of Allegra´s alpaka. Then, after some coctails we all went out dancing til 5am- the perfect way to spend the last evening of everyone together, we all had so much fun.
Once we´d said bye to everyone on the trip, us girls spend a couple more nights in a cheapy hostel. We had a chilled couple of days going to the market, seeing an art gallery and we climbed up a hill in Cusco to El Cristo Blanco and get a great view of the city.
Friday 4 December 2009
San Jose
We spend the day with Vee, Jaz and Maya wandering around the artesan market after having had a lazy morning eating pancakes. In the evening me, katie and Leggra cooked up a yummy dinner- mexican eggs, frijoles and platanos- we felt preety proud of ourselves. The next morning we said bye to Maya, Vee and Jaz which was really sad, as they were heading off to the pacific coast and then we headed off to the central market, where we got the most delicous meal for next to nothing and bought dinner.
On our third lazy day in the city we visited a butterfly garden- the butterflys were incredible- so huge and colourful. We had lunch at a soda then went to a contempory art and design exhibition. The exhibition was amazing and had loads of photos showing different asspects of central american life. We ended the day with a mocha and a film then packed for our flight to Peru.
On our third lazy day in the city we visited a butterfly garden- the butterflys were incredible- so huge and colourful. We had lunch at a soda then went to a contempory art and design exhibition. The exhibition was amazing and had loads of photos showing different asspects of central american life. We ended the day with a mocha and a film then packed for our flight to Peru.
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