Well I did manage to write a bit about my journey up to La Paz, Bolivia, but that's only about half of it. The morning after I wrote that, we got up before 6 AM, and had breakfast prepared by a Bolivian lady who gave us directions to "Calle de las brujas" (Witches' street) and told us what to look for- "The little dolls, you have to give them a little food and water, and if you ask them nicely, they'll make your wishes come true!" We went to the street, and it's got mostly animal and plant parts, including dried baby llamas. Those were incredibly abundant, and smelled wonderful. We ate a four course meal in a nice restaurant for 40 Bolivianos- about $5.
From La Paz (where we spent two nights), we got on a bus to Copacabana, a city on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. We took an excursion on boat to the Island of the Sun, an important island in the Aymara (Pre-Incan) culture, where plenty of Aymara still live. We took a very unofficial tour from a local (for a little over a dollar) for an hour around the island and the ruins of the temple of the sun. He failed to mention that a very insistent group of locals charge admission to the temple of the sun... upon exiting. A nice strategy, and one I think I'll use.
We spent the night in Copacabana, where we went to the theater to see a play called "La Sandwichera," about a lady who runs a sandwich stand in La Paz. We were starving by intermission and left to go eat.
The next morning we were in Puno, for a short tour of the floating islands, where more Aymara constructed islands from a floating reed abundant in lake Titicaca. This was their strategy to get away from the Incan Warriors, and since they survived longer, I guess they won. We left that afternoon and got a night bus to Cuzco, which was the Incan capital of all South America. Needless to say, it's an incredible city. We spent a night in Cuzco and from there went to Machu Picchu, which was decent. Of course, by decent I mean without a doubt the most impressive thing I've seen in my entire life. You take a train to a tiny village whose only purpose is a stopping point at the base of the mountains, and then a 20 minute bus up a mountain, on a quite narrow path, to the walls of the city. There's not even so much as a bathroom on the mountain, much less a place to buy food or water, so our day of 5:30 AM to 6 PM was quite exhausting. We took a guided tour, and after that they let you go- to climb the mountains or explore or whatever you want to do. We opted for a nap on a terrace overlooking a cliff and the valley below, and then explored the city a bit and climbed (by climbed I mean walked) the mountain on the side of Machu Picchu where they take the picture you'll see if you google image search Machu Picchu. As soon as I get another transformer, I'll put the pictures up. Well, at least some of the 1056 pictures I took over the two weeks.
We slept in the village below that night and then headed back to Cuzco, caught a bus to Arequipa, got into Arequipa the next morning, ate breakfast, walked around, bus to Tacna, colletive taxi to Arica, bus to Iquique, Chile, and from Iquique straight to Santiago. That total journey (Machu Picchu to Santiago) was something like 45 hours in bus/car, with the last leg being 24 hours straight. Overall, it was a quite fast-paced trip, covering 3 countries in 2 weeks, without planes. The total time spent in bus/car/jeep was 137 hours. I think it was 5 overnight bus trips total, with a total of 7 showers. 2 of them had hot water, and 3 of them had flickering/decent/warm water. 2 were showering in ice.
Overall, it was incredible.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
In Bolivia!
So, for the first time in a week or so, I've got a computer for more than just a minute or two. So, I'll relate what's happened on the 3-country, 2 week vacation.
First, I arrived 30 minutes early to the bus terminal... the wrong one, and thanks to cell phones, taxis, and friends willing to stall a bus driver for 10 minutes managed to not miss the bus. Although, in my defense, I was told "Estacion Central" which is the name of a metro stop where there is also a bus station. What I didn't know is that there are two terminals, about 4 blocks apart.
The bus ride was 22 hours to a town called San Pedro de Atacama, where we saw the most arid desert in the world. It's actually quite beautiful, during sunrise and set you can see the colors of the mountains changing opposite the sun.
From San Pedro, we took a 3 day bus trip to Uyuni, Bolivia, across the 2nd largest salt flat in the world (The largest is in Utah). The ground and all buildings are made of salt. It almost looks like the ocean... except salt. The first night, after ascending to an altitude of 4500m, (around 13,000 feet) we all felt a bit under the weather, except for one Spanish girl whose diet consists of chocolate, beer, and steak. We went to bed quite early, and since at that altitude in winter the temperature can easily get to -20 degrees, and since the place we were staying at had no heat, no hot water, and walls that were in need of repair we all slept in layers, in sleeping bags, under blankets, and three to a bed. At 1:30 I woke up because my brain was politely informing me that if it didn't get more oxygen and water, it was going to kill me. Imagine the worst hangover possible, but in several degrees below zero, and at an altitude where you literally cannot walk at a normal pace and hold a conversation. So I drank as much water as I could, and got to bed about 2 hours later. Then, I hear movement while I'm awake at 4:30, and the Portuguese girl asks herself, "Where the hell is the flashlight..." to hear 4 of us answer. So, the 5 of us got up and had some water and medicine and got to bed about an hour later. The next night was much better, and had only a mild headache the morning of the third day. From Uyuni we went to Oruru, a small town half way between Uyuni and La Paz. We took an overnight train to La Paz, where I am now, and tomorrow we go to Copacabana, on Lake Titicaca.
Bolivia is running up the list of favortite countries quite quickly. In fact, we just ordered a pizza that's about 4 feet in diameter for $15. Lunch today, including salad bar, small buffet, entree and soup cost about $5.
Until next time, which will probably be sometime next week-
Dan
First, I arrived 30 minutes early to the bus terminal... the wrong one, and thanks to cell phones, taxis, and friends willing to stall a bus driver for 10 minutes managed to not miss the bus. Although, in my defense, I was told "Estacion Central" which is the name of a metro stop where there is also a bus station. What I didn't know is that there are two terminals, about 4 blocks apart.
The bus ride was 22 hours to a town called San Pedro de Atacama, where we saw the most arid desert in the world. It's actually quite beautiful, during sunrise and set you can see the colors of the mountains changing opposite the sun.
From San Pedro, we took a 3 day bus trip to Uyuni, Bolivia, across the 2nd largest salt flat in the world (The largest is in Utah). The ground and all buildings are made of salt. It almost looks like the ocean... except salt. The first night, after ascending to an altitude of 4500m, (around 13,000 feet) we all felt a bit under the weather, except for one Spanish girl whose diet consists of chocolate, beer, and steak. We went to bed quite early, and since at that altitude in winter the temperature can easily get to -20 degrees, and since the place we were staying at had no heat, no hot water, and walls that were in need of repair we all slept in layers, in sleeping bags, under blankets, and three to a bed. At 1:30 I woke up because my brain was politely informing me that if it didn't get more oxygen and water, it was going to kill me. Imagine the worst hangover possible, but in several degrees below zero, and at an altitude where you literally cannot walk at a normal pace and hold a conversation. So I drank as much water as I could, and got to bed about 2 hours later. Then, I hear movement while I'm awake at 4:30, and the Portuguese girl asks herself, "Where the hell is the flashlight..." to hear 4 of us answer. So, the 5 of us got up and had some water and medicine and got to bed about an hour later. The next night was much better, and had only a mild headache the morning of the third day. From Uyuni we went to Oruru, a small town half way between Uyuni and La Paz. We took an overnight train to La Paz, where I am now, and tomorrow we go to Copacabana, on Lake Titicaca.
Bolivia is running up the list of favortite countries quite quickly. In fact, we just ordered a pizza that's about 4 feet in diameter for $15. Lunch today, including salad bar, small buffet, entree and soup cost about $5.
Until next time, which will probably be sometime next week-
Dan
Saturday, September 8, 2007
I'm off!
Well- going to San Pedro de Atacama, BOlivia, and Peru- in an hour. I'm gonna get stuff ready and get out the door!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Birthday
So while a country where the legal drinking age is 18 (and in Chile it's actually somewhat enforced... somewhat) and in the middle of test week is hardly the ideal setting. So, at least partially just to defy tradition, I didn't drink anything alcoholic on my 21st birthday. I did, however, have some wine after midnight.
Jean and a few of my other friends here cooked tacos for me, to remind me of good Texas food. I'll admit that I was skeptical of the French/Chilean tacos, but they were actually quite good. It was kind of like a family celebration, if your family is all the same age and from origins scattered around the world.
Jean and a few of my other friends here cooked tacos for me, to remind me of good Texas food. I'll admit that I was skeptical of the French/Chilean tacos, but they were actually quite good. It was kind of like a family celebration, if your family is all the same age and from origins scattered around the world.
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