It aint chilly in Chile

Spent my first few days in Chile but Bolivia is still on my mind. Prices are shockingly expensive (except for the wine) so im back on my tuna/tomato/bread diet with the addition of avocado (yum). San Pedro is really hot (about 30C) since its located at the edge of the Atacama desert (driest place on earth). Ive spent some time relaxing, visited places like The Valley of the Moon and The Valley of Death where i invented a new sport...sand dune jumping. Hard to explain, but ill attach a picture later.

Un-bolivia-ble!

My two weeks in this amazing country has come to a close. It seems like my south america trip is following a similar pattern to Europe. That is, once again, a place i had no prior knowledge of has surpased my wildest imaginations and engrained a strong positive impression into my mind. Yo amo Bolivia. Over the last three days, i have crossed Salar de Uyuni (the largest salt flat in the world), passed countless volanoes, visited a train cemetary, touched 1200 year old cacti, and photographed beautiful alpine lakes inhabited by flamingos. After spending 3 days driving in a 4x4 truck, i found it kind of amusing when we crossed into Chile and hit pavement. Our driver remarked "Bienvenidos a Chile" with a smile on his face. Ill let pictures tell the rest of the story...


Typical bolivian bus


Salt as far as the eye can see...french fries anyone?


...translate for yourself


Llama at sunset


Older than your grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand.........parents.



Nice reflection in mud


Giant snot


Rock tree


Rule 1: Never photograph into the sun


Hotspring i bathed in for a couple hours at the end of the trip...water was 26C while the surrounding lake was frozen.


Green lake

Silver anyone?

What do crackers, coca leaves and dynamite have in common? These are the gifts i purchased to give to miners on my way to the worlds most mineral-rich mine, San Miguel. The mine, is located in a volcano next to the town of Potosi. BTW, Potosi is the worlds highest city at 4010m. My guide and i ascended into the depths of one of south americas busiest mines, we got to level 6/12. It´s dark, cold at times and stuffy at times, cramped, dusty and the smell of dynamite fills the air. This is no tourist destination, this is the real deal. Currently about 6000 people work here, and as we passed various miners, we made some chit-chat and gave them a small gift. The stick of dynamite was first to go...followed by the coca and crackers. These men work hard, and i mean hard. I met a few miners as young as 12 years old running down shafts with wheelbarrows filled with rocks. Silver is the key mineral, and as you can probably guess, the spanish had a hay-day here. The mine, about 500 years old, took the lives of (an estimated) 8,000,000 indigenous people. At an early age, men were lowered into the mine destined to worked their days away, never to see the light again. Of course there were many protests and revolts... the solution? Religion of course! The clever spanish created a Devil idol within the mine and convinced the indigenous people that he would kill them unless they continued to work. Today, local people still respect the idol, lighting him a cigarette and drinking some 96% alcohol before starting to work. A really eye-opening experience.

What a World

Yesterday, Andrea, a Romanian-born Australian and I, a Polish-born Canadian shared fondue at a Swiss restaurant in Sucre, Bolivia. Thought that was kinda cool. Other than that, ive enjoyed the last 4 days chilling out in this beautiful colonial city.

11hr Hike

Yesterday was a long day...but very rewarding. There is plenty of hiking around La Paz, ranging from day hikes to multiple week expeditions. We covered around 20km, went as high as 5350m, stood on a glacier and took pictures of multiple alpine lakes. Of course as with the Inca trail, i ate Coca leaves the entire way to help deal with the elevation. Got to love Bolivia. I should have left the city this morning, but the roads are blocked due to protests so we´re flying out tomorrow.


Condor Glacier


Llamas

Got to love Bolivia

Only a few days in Bolivia so far and i must say im enjoying every minute. On the way from Puno we crossed the border and stopped for lunch on the Bolivian side at a town called Copacabana. Beautiful little place on lake Titicaca, feels almost mediteranian. Although i dont write about food most of the time, i figure id let you know what you get for 1USD at a restaurant here: big soup, fresh lake trout, rice, salad, fries, and fresh banana juice. The town also had a magnificent white church that looked very mosquish...on one side, there was a separate room with hundreds of candles and graphitied walls.




Now im in La Paz, the highest capital in the world. Spent the entire day at various markets looking for some warm clothing to buy. Bought a nice hand-knit sweater for 5 bucks...and then i found an unique store where i spotted the coolest scarf and tuque (beenie) that ive ever seen...all hand made in a small village outside La Paz...cost was about 10 times the amount youd pay for the similar stuff on the street but the quality was just so good i had to buy. Still only cost me the equivalent of $25 for the two. (will post the web address of the store later...they export).

Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is the worlds highest navigable lake (at 3800m). I took a boat trip around the lake and visited a few islands. Two of the islands were inhabited by the Uru people, who actually make their floating islands out of dried totora (bamboo-like plants that grow in the lake). These people fled to the lake during Inca times and have lived there ever since.


Very strange to look at the peruvian flag and not see a maple leaf in the middle.

Cuzco

Just thought Cuzco deserved one last post since it has been such a great city. The final night we partied until the early ours of the morning...all free. In the main square, there are people whos job it is to lure gringos into various bars. If you pressure them enough, they give you free drink tickets. Spend about 10 minutes doing this (really easy, they come to you) and you end up with more tickets than you can drink. All the bars/clubs have no cover, so you end up bar hopping all night...great mix of backpackers and locals...really a unique place. Today spent the day on a long bus ride to Puno.

Oh, i also ate Cuy (Guinea Pig) and Alpaka (small llama) in Cuzco.


Cuzco

Highs and Lows

I just came back from the four day, 43km long, Inca Trail which finishes at Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. Overall i was really happy with the experience...but the whole trek was filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The first 2.5 days of trekking were nothing but clouds, rain and fog. It was very frustrating to come up to vistas only to see nothing but white...also, rain, rain, and more rain gets to you after a while. We passed Inca ruins everyday and my only joy was the mysticism caused by all the fog around the ruins...actually the word "mystical" was a theme word used by optimists in my trekking group quite frequently. In the afternoon of the third day, the clouds opened to reveal a beautiful valley surrounded by snow capped mountains and a rainbow to boot. Big smiles from everyone, we were optimistic about the final day. Unfortunately, the weather turned again...and as i crossed the infamous Sun Gate (located on a mountain pass), the moment ive been waiting for for so long, 4 days of hiking, all i could see was clouds, rain and a faint machu picchu. Ive thought about it a bit, and i stand by the notion that this was the most disappointing moment of my life. Not my worst moment or most difficult moment, but most disappointing. Im pretty sure if there were any people contemplating suicide then the view would have pushed them off the edge. All is not so bad...a few hours later the weather turned again for the better and i had my long awaited time with machu picchu. I hiked up Huayna Picchu, which is the mountain you see behind Machu Picchu in all the photographs. I also met a crazy mexican guy named Alexandro, who had spent the last three weeks walking around Machu Piccu in his bare feet feeling "the energy" of the place. At one point be broke out into some Tai Chi, followed by hugging the walls for energy. In the end, i wouldnt have changed the trip one bit...working hard for a goal makes it so much more enjoyable when you reach it.


"Mystical"


Another inca ruin


Finally a view


Me & MP

Almost Inca´d Out

Cuzco, what a town. The center square is beautiful and very very touristed. Luckly all of the tourists are of the backpacker type. The nightlife has been the best in all of south america thus far...most bars giving free drinks just to enter. During the days ive been visiting Inca ruins in the area, including a trip to the Sacred Valley today. Ive also purchased my first peruvian hat at the Pisac market, i need something warm for the 4 day Inca trail that starts tomorrow.


Biggest inca ruin near cuzco called Sacsayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman")


Corn at Pisco market


Everyone loves Jesus

The Rebel Sell

Smart, witty book about countercultural rebellion. Ive lent the book to other people in my travel group and it has the topic of endless discussions. Here´s one of the many great quotes from The Rebel Sell (american version here)

Consumers are like crabs stuck in a bucket, each one trying to escape but getting pulled back in by the others. It´s not that the crabs want to stay in the bucket. It´s just that as soon as any one crab makes any progress toward the rim, the others try to crawl over it, using its progress as a way of furthering their own escape. As a result, they all wind up back where they started.

Donkey Pull

Ever tried to pull a donkey across a bridge? Spent the last three days on a trek though the Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world (generally accepted as such, although there is another canyon nearby that some claim is the deepest) at 3400m. Thats twice the depth of the Grand Canyon btw. So day 1 we decended to the bottom of the canyon, where we had to cross a bridge and thats were the donkey trouble began. We had two donkeys with us carring our camping gear and they had no intention of crossing the bridge. It took myself and three other grown men about 10 minutes per donkey to cross the 40m long bridge. Im sorry, donkeys are plain dumb...even when there was only one meter left to go, they would resist and try to walk backwards. Day 2 we hiked along the base of the canyon until we came to an oasis where we spent the rest of the day swimming, relaxing in the sun and listening to bob marley. Day 3 we woke up early in the morning and climbed out of the canyon. As a final reward after the hike, we went to a hot spring. I slept outside both nights under the stars, life is good :)


Inside the beast


Don´t play with fire