The last leg of our Bolivian journey took us North East through Potosi and Sucre. At one point this region was the most powerful in South America but today......not so much. So, after another painful bus ride, this time only 7 hours of dirt roads, we arrived in Potosi.
Potosi is claimed to be the highest city in the world at 4,090m (i haven't had the time to confirm this fact but it certainly was tough walking around the streets) and was once the richest city in South America. We found this a little surprising given it's current state but there was some evidence of a once great coloniel town. The town itself sits below the 'Cerro Rico' (or Rich Mountain) which during the 18th and 19th Centuries supplied around 70% of the world's silver and thus providing the Spanish Empire with near unlimited resources. Sadly, once the volume of silver declined the mining slowed and the town suffered.
We decided a couple of nights in Potosi would be enough. We took a walk around the old town, checked out the main plaza and looked through a couple of catherdrals, it was all pretty standard stuff. The highlight of stay was the tour of the 'Casa de la Moneda de Bolivia' (or the National Mint), which given the silver mining was one of the biggest mints in South America. Overall, it wasn't the most exciting place we've visited but with such an amazing history it certainly made for a memorable stop off.
Next stop, Surce, only 3 hours on the bus, what a pleasure! Sucre is a beautiful city with white wash walls, bustling plazas and a few parks. The city was home to wealthy that benefited from the mining in Potosi, who preferred to live in the more furtile valley at 2700m. It's also rich in history, once the Capital of Bolivia (now La Paz) and also the starting point of the revolution that liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century. We ended up spending 3 days in Sucre, just soaking up the culture, and covering off the usual tourist sights (no, we didn't make it to all 12 cathedrals....).
From Surce, we took a flight to Santa Cruz (a hot and ugly city in Eastern Bolivia), spent 8 hours there and then jumped back on a plane to Campo Grande in Brasil, 'cause 'we're going to Rio.................de Janerio'
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Todos posible, nada seguro
'Todos posible, nada seguro' translated is 'Everything is possible but nothing is guaranteed', a statement which typifies the behaviour of a good number of South Americans we've met along our travels (particularly the Bolivians). They'll offer you the world to get you onto their tours, into their buses and in their accomodation but when it comes time to deliver they often fall short. It's certainly made us more cautious (and a little cynical). And our 'Salt Flats' tour, while an amazing experience, it was no exception.
......Two great powerhouses
On the 'Isle Pescali' surrounded by the salt flats
plenty of cracked pepper.....
The Salt hotel on our first night
Our bus arrived in Uyuni at 6am, after 8 hours of dirt roads (yeah, an overnight bus on unsealed roads.....arghh). Uyuni is the starting point for most tours into the 'Salar de Uyuni' (or salt flats) and 'Altiplano' (high planes) of south western Bolivia. The town sits at 3600m above sea level and is pretty much just desert, dust and tourist offices. We took one look around and decided to get straight onto a tour that morning.
We found a tour company leaving at 10am that day. We checked all the details; trip itinerary (3 days), food menu (pretty standard), type of 4WD truck (Toyota Landcruiser), number of guests (3 Slovaks, 1 American), guide (speaks some english, ok), it all sounded good. We also had time to stock up on the essentials, water and wine. So, we left at 11am, time is not that important in Bolivia and within the first 5 minutes of the trip it was pretty clear our so called 'guide' was actually just a driver, given his zero english skills (seriously, nada!) and we caught him reading a pamphlet with various facts about the region. We found out later he's been driving the tour for 4 years.....you can only laugh.
First stop, the train graveyard, home to the retired coal-powered steam trains which were replaced by diesel motors in the mid-1900's. It's an amazing sight, with around 100 engines and carriages all rusting in the desert. These were the trains that transformed the mining industry in Bolivia during the late 1800's.
We jumped back in the truck and headed to the salt flats. The flats cover an epic 10,000 sq km's and are the remains of a prehistoric lake which covered the majority of south western Bolivia. Driving across the salt flats was amazing (i've been using this word a lot recently but it's all true, Bolivia is a special place). On the flats you can see for miles, with an oasis (an illusion of water) in every direction. Once across the flats we arrived in San Juan, a small town on the edge of the flats, our accomodation was the local 'salt' hotel. The place was made entirely from salt bricks, it had 12 double rooms and one shower (and only cold water) and one toilet, which certainly made things interesting.
We jumped back in the truck and headed to the salt flats. The flats cover an epic 10,000 sq km's and are the remains of a prehistoric lake which covered the majority of south western Bolivia. Driving across the salt flats was amazing (i've been using this word a lot recently but it's all true, Bolivia is a special place). On the flats you can see for miles, with an oasis (an illusion of water) in every direction. Once across the flats we arrived in San Juan, a small town on the edge of the flats, our accomodation was the local 'salt' hotel. The place was made entirely from salt bricks, it had 12 double rooms and one shower (and only cold water) and one toilet, which certainly made things interesting.
Next morning we headed south, driving higher into the Bolivian Andes, we passed five lakes, Laguna Cañapa, Hedionda, Honda, Chiarkota and Colorada (or Red lake). The lakes are home to Flamingos which offered up some great photo opportunities. We also stopped at the 'Arbol de Piedra' (or stone tree), a volcanic rock eroded over hundreds of years, and yes, it was also amazing. The second night was spent in "the refuge' next to Red lake, at 4800m above see level, the accomodation was a mud brick house with some rooms, pretty basic accomodation (as warned, with no showers). After a few beers and a chew on the customary 'coca leaves' it was time for bed. Our room was only 9 degree but fortunately we had secured 4 blankets!
We woke at 4:45am on Day 3, to see the sun rise above the mountains, the colours were spectacular. Before sun rise I also had my first glimps of the Southern Cross from South America, it was upside down, not sure why (need to check Wiki). Our first stop of the day was the Sol de Mañana (thermals blasting out of the ground, driven by the nearby Volcan Licancabur). We pushed on to our breakfast stop at Termas de Polques which included a dip into the thermal bath on the lakes edge, a toasty 37 degrees, very soothing. Next stop was Laguna Verde (Green lake) and Laguna Blanca (white lake), by this stage it was just another lake but still pretty impressive.
From here, it was back to Uyuni, and 5 hours of driving ahead of us. We passed the Valle de Rocas (more volcanic rocks) and San Cristobal catherdral, some impressive stuff. We arrived back in Uyuni at 5pm, headed straight to the hostel for a warm shower, followed by a couple of beers and dinner. We're leaving at 10am the next morning for Potosi.
......Two great powerhouses
On the 'Isle Pescali' surrounded by the salt flats
plenty of cracked pepper.....
The Salt hotel on our first night
At Volcan Ollague (smoking in the background)
The flamingos in Laguna Honda
Our transport
The stone tree and me
At Laguna Verde, with Volcan Licancabur in the background
Monday, 19 October 2009
Welcome to the Jungle
Our journey to the 'jungle' started after 2 rescheduled flights (only one we were told about), two trips to the airport and one hell of a hangover. Flights often get rescheduled because the landing strip in Rurrenbaque (the entrance to the Bolivian jungle) is only grass, so when it rains the runway is too slippery for planes to land. We flew on a 19 seater plane, you could see straight into the cockpit. The flight to Rurrenbaque was uneventful, the flight back to La Paz a different story, lots of wind and the plane was doing crab moves in the sky. The pilots looked very relaxed whilst the passengers were holding on for dear life.
Morning of day 2 it was time to search for Anaconda's. We headed to the savanna and walked about 3 hours in search of what I thought would be a huge Anaconda (like the one you see in the movies). I was slightly disappointed when I only saw a 2 metres long anaconda which was very skinny. As it is the dry season, there is not a lot of food so they don't eat much and therefore get very skinny. The older they get, the longer and thicker they get. We headed back to camp and had a pretty lazy afternoon snoozing in hammocks, it is very hot, mid 30's.
At 3pm it was time to go swimming with the 'pink dolphins. Apparently the alligators don't like the dolphins, so it is safe to swim. Should we really believe the locals? Half of our group swam, I didn't, the thought of jumping into brown murky water and not knowing what was underneath was way too scary for me. Thankfully everyone survived! We then headed to a local football pitch, where the boys played football with the locals as we watched the the sunset. On our way back to camp, it was pitch black on the river, so it was time for some alligator spotting. With a spot light, the eyes of the alligator's light up, I lost count after the first 20. Another successful day.
Day 3 and our pampas trip was coming to an end, but one last activity, Piranha fishing, we baited up some fishing wire with meat and threw our lines in, incredibly the piranha's started biting immediately. Slippery little suckers, most of our bait was taken without catching one of them. In the end 3 people in our group caught 4 -10cm's long piranha's, so very small and they were all thrown back in to the river (no doubt for the next tour group to torment).
We then headed back down the river to be met by our jeeps back to Rurrenbaque. There was a Bolivia/Brazil football match on at 4pm so we made it back in record time, not necessarily a good thing. We headed to the 'Mosquito Bar', very suitable considering there were way too many mosquitos lurking around, and met up with some mates, got quite drunk (suprise suprise) and passed out in bed at 1am. Our flight out of Rurrenbaque was at 1pm the next day. An amazing 3 days and would recommend it to anyone coming to Bolivia!
A 2 metre anaconda.
A rather large crocodilian (alligator or crocodile we are not sure).
One thing that needs clarifying is, we didn't really go to the jungle (that is what people generally call it), we went to the Pampas (wetlands) along the Yucuma River that feeds the Amazon River.
We arrived in Rurrenbaque on Friday morning at 7am. We had 2 hours to find a tour, which we managed to do after visiting about 10 tour agencies, all with varying prices. It was very frustrating as it is hard to tell the difference between them all. Our tour group consisted of 4 other Aussies, a South Africian and a guy from Japan. We were in our jeep at 9.30am and on the road (a dirt road for 3 hours) to where our boats would take us up the river.
The boat ride to our accomodation was amazing, so much bird life but way too many alligators for my liking. We meet a troop of squirrel monkeys along the river, they jumped on our boat (no doubt looking for food) and put on a good show for us, there was about 20 of them in total, cute little creatures. As mentioned the bird life was sensational, to list a few, we saw: tiger herons, amazon kingfishers, flycatchers, great kiskadees, southern screamers, cardinals and a toucan. The boat ride took us about 3 hours and we arrived just in time for afternoon tea. The accomodation was pretty average, 8 of us in one room, but the food was pretty good considering we were in the middle of no where.
Morning of day 2 it was time to search for Anaconda's. We headed to the savanna and walked about 3 hours in search of what I thought would be a huge Anaconda (like the one you see in the movies). I was slightly disappointed when I only saw a 2 metres long anaconda which was very skinny. As it is the dry season, there is not a lot of food so they don't eat much and therefore get very skinny. The older they get, the longer and thicker they get. We headed back to camp and had a pretty lazy afternoon snoozing in hammocks, it is very hot, mid 30's.
At 3pm it was time to go swimming with the 'pink dolphins. Apparently the alligators don't like the dolphins, so it is safe to swim. Should we really believe the locals? Half of our group swam, I didn't, the thought of jumping into brown murky water and not knowing what was underneath was way too scary for me. Thankfully everyone survived! We then headed to a local football pitch, where the boys played football with the locals as we watched the the sunset. On our way back to camp, it was pitch black on the river, so it was time for some alligator spotting. With a spot light, the eyes of the alligator's light up, I lost count after the first 20. Another successful day.
Day 3 and our pampas trip was coming to an end, but one last activity, Piranha fishing, we baited up some fishing wire with meat and threw our lines in, incredibly the piranha's started biting immediately. Slippery little suckers, most of our bait was taken without catching one of them. In the end 3 people in our group caught 4 -10cm's long piranha's, so very small and they were all thrown back in to the river (no doubt for the next tour group to torment).
We then headed back down the river to be met by our jeeps back to Rurrenbaque. There was a Bolivia/Brazil football match on at 4pm so we made it back in record time, not necessarily a good thing. We headed to the 'Mosquito Bar', very suitable considering there were way too many mosquitos lurking around, and met up with some mates, got quite drunk (suprise suprise) and passed out in bed at 1am. Our flight out of Rurrenbaque was at 1pm the next day. An amazing 3 days and would recommend it to anyone coming to Bolivia!
Our plane landed at Rurrenbaque airport.
Travelling up the river on our motorised canoe.
Cheeky squirrel monkeys
Relaxing in hammocks, not such a bad to way to spend an afternoon!
A 2 metre anaconda.
A rather large crocodilian (alligator or crocodile we are not sure).
Our tour group at sunset.
Fear and Loathing in La Paz
We arrived into La Paz late on Friday night, just in time for the weekend! The last few weeks have been pretty quiet on the party front, with plenty of early mornings and long bus rides. So we decided to stay at "The Loki", one of the big gringo party hostels in La Paz. And like all the big hostels there's never a shortage of people looking to party, and we bumped into some English guys we'd met along our travels, so needless to say, we shot the lights out on Saturday night, Boom! Our night included a few of the local discoteques, Ram Jam, Blue and Traffic (and no, these weren't 'gay friendly' venues). Anyway, Sunday was a write off.
Monday morning we headed for the Brazilian Embassy to organise our entry visas and like most thing in South America it turned into a bit of shit fight, requiring passport photos (at a moderate level of annoyance), proof of departure from Brazil (our documentation was questionable), payment (very annoying, having to cross town to the Banco del Brasil, then back again) and photocopies of everything (only slightly annoying). Anyway, our passport was held by the Embassy for 2 days, keeping us in La Paz until at least Wednesday. The rest of the day was spend ticking off some admin, checking out the sights, a few beers and into bed early!
On Tuesday we conquered the 'Death Road', once considered the most dangerous road in the world with over 200 people dying on the road each year when it was the only route between the Amazon basin and La Paz. Now days, it only claims on average 2 lives per year, with a new road built to take the trucks and buses, still it's pretty extreme with some 400m cliffs and narrow gravel road sections. The downhill ride covers 65kms, decending from 4600m to 1800m, on a mix of paved and gravy roads. Our tour company Vertigo provided us with all the kit, full suspension downhill bikes, full face helmets, body armer, gloves and protective clothing. On monday afternoon Victoria was still debating whether she was up for the challenge but after seeing the impressive gear and chatting with the owner she decided it was 'go time'! At one stage I was following Victoria down the gravel section thinking "Fark, she's flying!", I must say, I was a pretty proud husband at the bottom of the ride.
Wednesday morning was some more admin, we picked up our passports (visa issued, no problems), dropped into the post office to sent some gifts home (all the crap from all those markets) and booked our plane tickets to Rurrenabaque (the main Bolivian town in the Amazon basin). In the afternoon, we checked out the front of San Pedro Prison in the centre of La Paz (the prison reportedly produces the best cocaine in South America according to the book 'Marching Powder', we can't confirm this fact). We also took a look at the '2009 World Press Photo Exhibition' which was showing in La Paz. So, after a long day we had a few beers that night, then it was time for the jungle (Amazon Basin) on Thursday!
Monday morning we headed for the Brazilian Embassy to organise our entry visas and like most thing in South America it turned into a bit of shit fight, requiring passport photos (at a moderate level of annoyance), proof of departure from Brazil (our documentation was questionable), payment (very annoying, having to cross town to the Banco del Brasil, then back again) and photocopies of everything (only slightly annoying). Anyway, our passport was held by the Embassy for 2 days, keeping us in La Paz until at least Wednesday. The rest of the day was spend ticking off some admin, checking out the sights, a few beers and into bed early!
On Tuesday we conquered the 'Death Road', once considered the most dangerous road in the world with over 200 people dying on the road each year when it was the only route between the Amazon basin and La Paz. Now days, it only claims on average 2 lives per year, with a new road built to take the trucks and buses, still it's pretty extreme with some 400m cliffs and narrow gravel road sections. The downhill ride covers 65kms, decending from 4600m to 1800m, on a mix of paved and gravy roads. Our tour company Vertigo provided us with all the kit, full suspension downhill bikes, full face helmets, body armer, gloves and protective clothing. On monday afternoon Victoria was still debating whether she was up for the challenge but after seeing the impressive gear and chatting with the owner she decided it was 'go time'! At one stage I was following Victoria down the gravel section thinking "Fark, she's flying!", I must say, I was a pretty proud husband at the bottom of the ride.
Wednesday morning was some more admin, we picked up our passports (visa issued, no problems), dropped into the post office to sent some gifts home (all the crap from all those markets) and booked our plane tickets to Rurrenabaque (the main Bolivian town in the Amazon basin). In the afternoon, we checked out the front of San Pedro Prison in the centre of La Paz (the prison reportedly produces the best cocaine in South America according to the book 'Marching Powder', we can't confirm this fact). We also took a look at the '2009 World Press Photo Exhibition' which was showing in La Paz. So, after a long day we had a few beers that night, then it was time for the jungle (Amazon Basin) on Thursday!
In front of the parliment house
Markets on the streets of downtown La Paz
Calling in an airstrike!
(at a street stall, it was only 0.10 Bolivianos a minute)
Front of San Pedro Prison
Locked and loaded at the top of the 'Death Road'
Still in one piece about halfway down
Victoria rippin' it up!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca, one of the world´s highest navigable lake, sits on the boarder of Peru and Bolivia. We visited both sides, first stop Puno in Peru, famous for its 'floating islands'. The floating islands are home to the Uros people, an indigenous group which fled the mainland seeking protection from their more aggressive neighbours.
Our boat tour took us out to the islands, about a 30 minute ride from Puno. We stopped on one of the many islands and met a couple of the families living on it, they showed us how the islands are made and shared with us their daily way of life. They actually use the reeds that grow around the lake to make the islands, they tie the roots together (which are very boyant) making a base, then they lay reeds over the top of them, making the ground very soft and spongey! Pretty facinating, there are about 40 islands with up to 5 families living on each (and these islands are not big - you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 steps!). We took a boat ride on one of the local boats (made of more reeds), I even had a row - see photo below. After a few hours on the islands it was time to head back to Puno. We had a bus to catch across the boarder into Bolivia.
We got to the Peru-Bolivia border in the late afternoon where we had to get exits stamps on the Peruvian side and then an entry stamp on the Bolivian side. Pretty uneventful except for the fact the driver explained the details to us in Spanish and we all noded like we knew what he was saying. When we came out of the Peruvian immigration office, our minibus was gone, out of sight with all our bags. At first we thought he had taken off, until a nice guy on a motorbike explained to us that he has driven up to the border so we wouldn't have to carry our bags, what a nice thing to do, but maybe we should have been a little more cautious! There's always someone trying to rip you off in Peru!
An hour later we were in Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (not the beach in Brazil). After each bus ride we are always glad to be alive, especially as most driver's make the sign of the cross around every blind corner and have no regard for the speed limit.
The following day we went on a day trip out to the Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. The boat dropped us off at the north end of the island and we walked 8km's to the south end. Although the walk was pretty spectacular with water surrounding us, there weren't any significant Inca ruins as we'd been sold by the ticket office. Amusingly, every town we walked through charged us a 10 bolivianos (US$1.20) entrance fee, not a bad racket!
Overall an interesting couple of days, but it was time to move on the bigger and better things, we headed back to Copacabana for a late bus to La Paz, big city here we come! Another interesting bus ride, this time our bus had to cross Lake Titicaca on a barge, all the passengers were thrown off the bus and told to cross the lake by boat! It was pitch black, the boat had no lights and it was freezing cold. Why didn't anyone tell us this before we got on the bus? Maybe they did (in Spanish.....)
On approach to the 'floating islands'
Some of the local ladies singing.
Giving it a go, it was bloody hard work!
View from Isla del Sol.
Our lunch spot on Isla del Sol, not a bad view.
Our boat tour took us out to the islands, about a 30 minute ride from Puno. We stopped on one of the many islands and met a couple of the families living on it, they showed us how the islands are made and shared with us their daily way of life. They actually use the reeds that grow around the lake to make the islands, they tie the roots together (which are very boyant) making a base, then they lay reeds over the top of them, making the ground very soft and spongey! Pretty facinating, there are about 40 islands with up to 5 families living on each (and these islands are not big - you can walk from one side to the other in about 20 steps!). We took a boat ride on one of the local boats (made of more reeds), I even had a row - see photo below. After a few hours on the islands it was time to head back to Puno. We had a bus to catch across the boarder into Bolivia.
We got to the Peru-Bolivia border in the late afternoon where we had to get exits stamps on the Peruvian side and then an entry stamp on the Bolivian side. Pretty uneventful except for the fact the driver explained the details to us in Spanish and we all noded like we knew what he was saying. When we came out of the Peruvian immigration office, our minibus was gone, out of sight with all our bags. At first we thought he had taken off, until a nice guy on a motorbike explained to us that he has driven up to the border so we wouldn't have to carry our bags, what a nice thing to do, but maybe we should have been a little more cautious! There's always someone trying to rip you off in Peru!
An hour later we were in Copacabana, the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (not the beach in Brazil). After each bus ride we are always glad to be alive, especially as most driver's make the sign of the cross around every blind corner and have no regard for the speed limit.
The following day we went on a day trip out to the Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. The boat dropped us off at the north end of the island and we walked 8km's to the south end. Although the walk was pretty spectacular with water surrounding us, there weren't any significant Inca ruins as we'd been sold by the ticket office. Amusingly, every town we walked through charged us a 10 bolivianos (US$1.20) entrance fee, not a bad racket!
Overall an interesting couple of days, but it was time to move on the bigger and better things, we headed back to Copacabana for a late bus to La Paz, big city here we come! Another interesting bus ride, this time our bus had to cross Lake Titicaca on a barge, all the passengers were thrown off the bus and told to cross the lake by boat! It was pitch black, the boat had no lights and it was freezing cold. Why didn't anyone tell us this before we got on the bus? Maybe they did (in Spanish.....)
On approach to the 'floating islands'
Some of the local ladies singing.
Giving it a go, it was bloody hard work!
View from Isla del Sol.
Our lunch spot on Isla del Sol, not a bad view.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Flight of the Condors
It was time to leave Cusco, we took an overnight bus south to Arequipa, arriving at 6am. We went straight for the hostel, had a shower, a quick power nap and some breakfast, then headed out to explore the town centre. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru but has all the charm of a typical colonial town, with it's white wash walls and hosting about a dozen cathedrals.
The highlight of town was our tour of the 'Monasterio Santa Catalina', a catholic monestry established in 1580 which had remained shrouded in mystery for near 400 years until it was opened to the public in 1970. Now ordinarily walking around a monestry wouldn't rank that highly on our list of 'must see' places but this place was impressive, some of the buildings dated back to the 16th century and had remained largely unchanged all this time. The building also housed some interesting art works, including plenty of depictions of the baby Jesus holding council with his followers, a little creepy.
The next moring we were picked up at 3am for our day trip to the Cañon del Colca. The canyon is the second deepest in the world, at 3191m, second only to the neighbouring Cañon del Cotahuasi. The Canyon has been an important farming region for over 1000 years, well before Inca times, it's covered in terraces which help to maximise the farming land, trap water and heat to help grow crops. It's an amazing sight.
The canyon is also home to the Andean Condor, a massive bird with an average wingspan of 3-4 metres. The Condors fly up and down the valley in the early mornings (thus the early wake up) and typically only when the sky is clear, these birds fly for pleasure! We arrived at the 'Cruz del Condor' at 9am, the best place to see them 'buzz the tower', we jumped out of the mini van as two Condors approached. When we reached the edge of the cliff the two birds flew right above us, using the updrafts to cruise through the sky, simply magestic. What an impressive bird. About 10 mins later another Condor flew over head. It was starting to cloud over now and that was it, they we're finished for the day. Our guide said we were lucky to see any that day. Gravy!
The bus ride back to Arequipa took us over a mountain pass at 4500m, offering amazing views of the surrounding volcanos and plenty of Llama, Alpaca and Vicuña (the national animal of Peru). We slept for the rest of the trip back to town. Another amazing couple of days. Next stop Lake Titicaca.
taking a moment in the Monastery (surrounded by the holy)
Above the Caynon, at the Cruz del Condor
One of the Condor cruising over head
'Beware the Llama' on the high plane
The highlight of town was our tour of the 'Monasterio Santa Catalina', a catholic monestry established in 1580 which had remained shrouded in mystery for near 400 years until it was opened to the public in 1970. Now ordinarily walking around a monestry wouldn't rank that highly on our list of 'must see' places but this place was impressive, some of the buildings dated back to the 16th century and had remained largely unchanged all this time. The building also housed some interesting art works, including plenty of depictions of the baby Jesus holding council with his followers, a little creepy.
The next moring we were picked up at 3am for our day trip to the Cañon del Colca. The canyon is the second deepest in the world, at 3191m, second only to the neighbouring Cañon del Cotahuasi. The Canyon has been an important farming region for over 1000 years, well before Inca times, it's covered in terraces which help to maximise the farming land, trap water and heat to help grow crops. It's an amazing sight.
The canyon is also home to the Andean Condor, a massive bird with an average wingspan of 3-4 metres. The Condors fly up and down the valley in the early mornings (thus the early wake up) and typically only when the sky is clear, these birds fly for pleasure! We arrived at the 'Cruz del Condor' at 9am, the best place to see them 'buzz the tower', we jumped out of the mini van as two Condors approached. When we reached the edge of the cliff the two birds flew right above us, using the updrafts to cruise through the sky, simply magestic. What an impressive bird. About 10 mins later another Condor flew over head. It was starting to cloud over now and that was it, they we're finished for the day. Our guide said we were lucky to see any that day. Gravy!
The bus ride back to Arequipa took us over a mountain pass at 4500m, offering amazing views of the surrounding volcanos and plenty of Llama, Alpaca and Vicuña (the national animal of Peru). We slept for the rest of the trip back to town. Another amazing couple of days. Next stop Lake Titicaca.
taking a moment in the Monastery (surrounded by the holy)
Above the Caynon, at the Cruz del Condor
One of the Condor cruising over head
'Beware the Llama' on the high plane
Chachani Volcano looming above Arequipa
Saturday, 3 October 2009
It's the big one, Machu Picchu!
The most popular way to Machu Picchu is via the famous Inca Trail, a four day trek through the mountains, unfortuntely there's a limited number of people allowed on the trail each day which means it's now booked up 4 months in advance. We missed out on the trek but with Victoria sick in bed for 3 days it was proberly a blessing in disguise. So, we took the less adventurous route, the train.
The 2hr train journey takes you along the narrow valley floor, with pretty amazing scenery, and into the town of Aguas Caliente, at the base of Machu Picchu. It's an ugly little town, set up to exploit the millions of people coming to see the famous Inca site. We had some lunch, bought our tickets for the next day and got into bed early.
Friday morning, we wake at 4am and rushed down to the bus stop to get in line, you ask why? The first 400 people into Machu Picchu also get a stamp to climb 'Wayna Picchu', the mountain which rises above the great city (It's the big cone shaped one in all the photos). Anyway, I was about the 20th person in line, so we might have slightly over estimated the demand for these tickets but by 4:30am there were hunderds of people in line. Net/net, a good result.
It's 6am now, we're inside the Machu Picchu park, we're walking up the steps through some trees. Well, we reach the top, come out of the trees and there it stands, Machu Picchu, in all it's glory. At first, the size and scale of the site was breathtaking, it's massive! I kept wondering, how did these guys build all this, and at the top of this mountain.
At 6:30am the clouds (and rain) came rolling in, we couldn't see further than about 20metres. Damn it! Our day was potentially becoming quite disappointing. We decided to take cover under a rock and read our books for an hour. We then ventured out, trying to make the most of the day. By 9am, the clouds we're lifting, and at 10am it was all clear. We walked the entire site, checking out the temples, the stone work, the terraces, it's all amazing.
A little after 10am, we climbed Waynu Picchu, it was 40mins of steps heading straight up. Hats off to Victoria, she pushed on to the top despite suffering a mild case of vertigo. And it was all worth it, the view back over Machu Picchu was epic.
It was midday, we'd been up since 4am, Machu Picchu was now crawling with bus loads of tour groups, and we'd seen all we needed to see. We headed back down into town, had a shower, some lunch, then checked out the craft market (just more of the same old crap). Our train departed at 6pm back to Ollantaytambo, the last town serviced by road along the valley and the site of more Inca ruins (but nowhere near as impressive as MP). We stayed the night, walked around town in the morning, then jumped a bus back to Cusco. What an amazing experience.
The scenery from the train
Our first view of MP
The clouds start rolling in
some frustration starting to set in.......
nice stone work
and the clouds have lifted, amazing
MP from Wayna Picchu
The 2hr train journey takes you along the narrow valley floor, with pretty amazing scenery, and into the town of Aguas Caliente, at the base of Machu Picchu. It's an ugly little town, set up to exploit the millions of people coming to see the famous Inca site. We had some lunch, bought our tickets for the next day and got into bed early.
Friday morning, we wake at 4am and rushed down to the bus stop to get in line, you ask why? The first 400 people into Machu Picchu also get a stamp to climb 'Wayna Picchu', the mountain which rises above the great city (It's the big cone shaped one in all the photos). Anyway, I was about the 20th person in line, so we might have slightly over estimated the demand for these tickets but by 4:30am there were hunderds of people in line. Net/net, a good result.
It's 6am now, we're inside the Machu Picchu park, we're walking up the steps through some trees. Well, we reach the top, come out of the trees and there it stands, Machu Picchu, in all it's glory. At first, the size and scale of the site was breathtaking, it's massive! I kept wondering, how did these guys build all this, and at the top of this mountain.
At 6:30am the clouds (and rain) came rolling in, we couldn't see further than about 20metres. Damn it! Our day was potentially becoming quite disappointing. We decided to take cover under a rock and read our books for an hour. We then ventured out, trying to make the most of the day. By 9am, the clouds we're lifting, and at 10am it was all clear. We walked the entire site, checking out the temples, the stone work, the terraces, it's all amazing.
A little after 10am, we climbed Waynu Picchu, it was 40mins of steps heading straight up. Hats off to Victoria, she pushed on to the top despite suffering a mild case of vertigo. And it was all worth it, the view back over Machu Picchu was epic.
It was midday, we'd been up since 4am, Machu Picchu was now crawling with bus loads of tour groups, and we'd seen all we needed to see. We headed back down into town, had a shower, some lunch, then checked out the craft market (just more of the same old crap). Our train departed at 6pm back to Ollantaytambo, the last town serviced by road along the valley and the site of more Inca ruins (but nowhere near as impressive as MP). We stayed the night, walked around town in the morning, then jumped a bus back to Cusco. What an amazing experience.
The scenery from the train
Our first view of MP
The clouds start rolling in
some frustration starting to set in.......
nice stone work
and the clouds have lifted, amazing
MP from Wayna Picchu
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Getting closer to the Inca's
We arrived in Cusco on Sunday morning (and my birthday), after a 21 hours bus ride from Lima, fortunately we decided to travel with 'Cruz del Sur' (the Rolls Royce of peruvian bus companies, you pay a little more but you know where that extra money goes). Once we found the hostel, I went out and treated myself to an hour massage session, 'es mucho relaxo'.
That night we went out for dinner at one of the 'nice' restaurant to celebrate the birthday. It was a pleasure, after almost 2 months on the road, to feel normal for a night. We even ordered a whole bottle of wine, which was a treat as we've been drinking the 1 litre 'box' wine from Argentina (Imported bottle wine is really expensive in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the local stuff is cat's piss).
We woke on Monday, with 3 days in hand before our tour of Machu Picchu started, unfortunately Victoria wasn't feeling too good but she pushed on. We walked around Cusco, checking out the sights and sounds, it's a pretty little town but vert touristy, with the locals touting for tours, restaurants, taxi, massages, you name it, and they're trying to hard sell it. And everything seemed to cost twice as much as the rest of Peru. Anyway, our walk took us past some Inca sites, including Qorikancha (or 'Temple of the Sun') where the Spanish had built a colonial church on over the site in the 17th century, which was later revealed during an earthquake in the 1950's , impressive.
Tuesday morning, Victoria has taken a turn for the worst, so off to the english speaking doctor (who spoke no english....). Victoria needed some rest (and medication), so we move from our hostel into a little hotel called 'Hotel Niños', an converted Spanish house around a courtyard. I put Victoria into bed and went off exploring. I hiked up to the Inca site 'Sacsayhuaman', which is pronounced 'sexy woman', which sits above Cusco, with an amazing view of the town and surrounding mountains. Back in town, checked out a couple of churches and the main square.
Wednesday arrived, and not much improvement for Victoria, so I booked myself on an all day motorbike tour of the Scared Valley. It was me and the guide, a 20 year old motorcross racer. We took off at 9am, after 30min it was all dirt roads and amazing scenery. I spend the next hour trying to keep up with the guide, and a couple of near misses, I decided that it was a good idea to slow down a little, after all i'm 31 now.... We got back about 4pm, I checked on Victoria, she was feeling a little better, we had 'pizza in bed' for dinner.
Thursday morning, Victoria was smiling again, and it was time to head for Machu Picchu.
Victoria over looking the main square
Inside the Inca ruins
Overlooking Cusco (with the 'Sexy woman' ruins on the right
Man and machine
Up and down to Lima
So, it was time to leave the beach and head south. We decided to break up the trip to Lima with a few days in Huaraz, at 3100m above sea level, the hiking capital of the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash mountain ranges.
Again another interesting bus ride, we caught an overnight bus to a town called Chimbote where we were told the bus ride to Huaraz would take 5 hours, we guess what...it took 10 hours. Firstly, we were on a locals bus so plenty of chickens, we were packed in like sardines. About half way through the journey the road was closed for road works and wasn't going to open up until 6pm that night, it was now 9.30am (classic South American stuff). Thankfully, as we had children on our bus we were allowed through at mid-day to continue our bus journey along a dirt road right on the edge of a cliff. A rather scary experience, to say the least, but we made it to Huaraz in one piece.
The highlight of our stop in Huaraz was the 'Laguna 69', a 6 hour hike upto a mountain lake at 4700m (it's the 69th lake in the region). The day started at 6am, we jumped into a minibus and headed to 3800m, we had an 8km walk ahead of us (at altitude). The scenery was amazing- snow capped mountains, waterfalls and massive rock walls all around. JD and I reached the lake first, in just under 3 hours , which was pretty good considering we were told it should take 4 hours. It was an amazing sight, when we reached the final crest the lake appeared, the water was bright blue against a massive rock wall with a waterfall flowing into the water. We heard the glacier cracking whilst we were there, it's an amazing sound. We had lunch by the lake and then it was time to head back down. On the way down we ran into a bull on the track, not sure who was more scared of who.
That night we were on an overnight bus to Lima. We arrived in Lima early in the morning and headed for our hostel in Miraflores (quite a nice part of town). We were glad to welcome some creature comforts of the big city. After a couple of months of eating bread and jam for breakfast the Starbucks next door to our hostel was very appealing. So we ordered a coffee and muffin each, it cost us 26 soles (equivalent to $10AUD, basically our daily food budget in one go) but it was worth it.
We actually had a really nice 36 hours in Lima, contrary to the reports we'd heard from other travellers about Lima. We visited the old town (more churches and old colonial buildings) and checked out the local shopping mall which had 'normal' shops and heaps of fancy restaurants. Probably the nicest big city we have visited thus far. Lima is set on the coast as well so we went for a run along the beach but unfortunately no swimming as it was pretty cold and overcast, apparently pretty standard for Lima most of the year.
Hiking above Huaraz
At the laguna 69
.......some freestyle moves
The beach in Lima
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