The drive to Salta was beautiful. It looks a lot like the Southwest in the US....lots of small mountains, dry land, tall cactus, and colored rock formations. We crossed the Tropic of Cancer and drove by a fascinating, 7 colored red rock formation (very similar to the stuff you see in Sedona). The city gave me a good vibe from the start....tall trees separate the paved streets from the colonial style buildings and people stroll through the Spain-like plazas all day long. We found a family run hostel with an Argentine man, his Brazilian wife, and 2 Brazilian children age 12-14. The kids were great and I quickly became friends with them (we were on a similar maturity level) through games of backyard dirt tennis and language exchanges. One of our travel mates was born in Argentina (moved to England when he was 2) and had been talking up the steak, empanadas, and wine for weeks. You can tell the Argentinians are of Spanish descent....because they claim to have the best of everything.....but I think they may be right about this one.
The first night we went out with 2 swedes, 2 brits, 3 americans, and 2 australians to the first restaurant that we saw. It looked a little shady, but we were starving and tired from our 8 million hour trip there so we didn't care. The steak menu was an entire page and I got nervous because I ALWAYS get food envy....so I decided to order the same things as everyone else. We got a massive steak with 2 fried eggs on top, french (freedom) fries and liters of wine. We stuffed ourselves silly and really enjoyed the food....but it definitely was not the BEST steak I had ever had, and Jonathon reassured me that this was average at best. We walked to liveliest street in the city and sat at a table on the sidewalk drinking the tasty (and economic) Quilmes Cristal beer. They usually sell it by the liter (about 3 regular beers) and runs about $3 at a bar or $0.80 at the grocery store. There was a live band playing and a fat guy dancing with a beautiful argentinian women. We then split up and some of us went to a dance club while the old people (myself included) went to a funky coffee shop/bar type place that had a live cover and playing. Really good music and company made for a nice evening. Went to bed fairly early and slept through breakfast the next morning.
We walked through the city and passed through multiple plazas with fountains, trees, and plenty of outdoor restaurants with people soaking in the sun and sipping on beer and coffee. My highlight of the day was going to the grocery store.....it was a REAL grocery store with doors, and prices, and deodorant, and sandwich meat. I think I walked around like a kid in a candy store for about two hours and popped out of there with a big beer, a jar of dulce de leche (this tasty caramel like spread....you could eat a paper towel with dulce de leche on it and it would still be amazing), an apple, and a pack of Ritz crackers. Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the covered patio of our hostel playing Rumi and relaxing. There isn't too much to do in the city, but it was exactly what I needed. We had made plans to go to this restaurant that caught our eyes the night before, it looked fancy but I decided that I would suck it up and pay the big bucks for one night. It was worth it....just think of the single most amazing filet mignon that you have ever had in your life, then quadruple the size and divide the price by 10. We paid six dollars for a steak bigger than my face and tender enough to cut with one swipe of a butter knife. I took that mother down along with a side of fries and a liter of sprite and entered a food coma that I wouldn't recover from for a few days.
I woke up feeling like I had clogged arteries from only 2 days in this place and decided to go for a hike. We found a path that led up to the top of a tree covered hill that overlooks the city It took about 40 minutes to get up and we were rewarded with a beautiful park and panoramic views of the city. The city is much larger than it feels like (500,000 people) and is placed in the middle of a large valley. We hiked down and I patted myself on the back and felt that I had earned the 5 beef empanadas that I would consume within the next 10 minutes.
We spent one more similar day hanging out, playing cards, strolling through the streets and taking in the Argentine lifestyle. I am still trying to figure out how everyone isn't a fat alcoholic with food and wine this good and this cheap....but I may never understand it. I am starting to see why dozens of people have told us that they stayed in argentina 3 times longer than they had planned to. We were forced to move on because we were meeting Kroopf's dad in Iguazu Falls (right on the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) and booked a 23 hour bus ride from Salta to Iquazu. The buses are amazing here....it's like flying first class in an airplane except you are not 35,000 ft in the air going 500 mph, so it is less scary and a tad slower. They played movies for the first 8 hours and then we pretty much slept peacefully the rest of the way there, except for the 15 hour torrential rainstorm (literally 15 hours straight). I woke up to the entire bus flooded with an inch of water and my left sleeve drenched. I have never seen a storm like that....but it could have been worse. I will try and get back on here to describe the wonders of Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires, the REAL city that never sleeps.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Flattest, Saltiest Place on Earth
So back to the bus trip.....
The first 3 hours weren't too bad...I listened to my ipod and maneuvered back and forth trying to find a position where my legs weren't being completely smashed against the front of the bus and I finally managed to doze off for a few hours. The bus didn't have a toilet, reclining bed seats, or leg space....but it definitely had a heater! I woke up drenched and confused. Apparently the heater was right under us and had been releasing it's fury on everyone. Our friend Sarah was sitting behind me and was equally as perturbed. Jonathon, Sara, and I were almost dying when I opened the window to cool us down a bit....until I got yelled at by some old Bolivian guy and the bus driver. I would not sleep again for the remainder of the trip. I was filling sick to my stomach and had one hand over my mouth and one over my butt, trying to make it through the rest of the trip. We finally pulled over in some tiny town in the middle of nowhere to go to the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. I had a moment as I hovered over a little hole in the ground toilet in the middle of the desert in Bolivia....it was one of those moments where things are so bad that you can do nothing but laugh. So I crazily giggled to myself until I felt better, then stepped back onto the bus....but it got worse. We would not see another paved road for the remainder of the trip. Riding for 8 more hours on washboard, dirt and gravel roads in the clunky Bolivian sauna. It was hell. My head ached from my brain bouncing back in forth in my skull and my bum and knees were aching from the uncomfortable position I was forced to sit in. After what seemd like an eternity, the sun started poking through and I saw some hope....my first glimpse of the salt flats. It was the same sensation you get when you approach the ocean....you first see land, then the wide, endless blue horizon starts getting bigger and bigger. It was just like that except we were in the middle of the desert and it was white instead of blue.
We finally pulled into Uyuni and were bombarded by a crowd of tour guides trying to get us to grab papers. Somehow somebody picked a guy and we followed him to his store ''Lipez'' to discuss an excursion to the Salt Flats. He was a pretty nice guy and he set up a 3 day, 2 night trip leaving at 10 30 am for $75 a piece. We discussed over a hearty breakfast and decided to take it. We booked and paid and wandered around the city through the local market, buying random, cheap crap that would break or get lost within the week. The group returned to the shop to pack up our 4 x 4 Toyota Landcruiser and head off on our journey. 7 gringos and Noel, the 40 something Bolivian tour guide, packed into our mobile home for the next 3 days....exactly what I had in mind after that lovely bus trip. The vehicle was fine and Noel was a really nice guy, soft spoken and didn't know a lick of english, but he was just a good person. The first stop was an old railroad track dotted with rotting trains and pieces of metal. These cars had been used to deliver minerals and metals to Chile in the early 1900's, but had been abandoned in the 50's due to its obsolescance. We used it as a grown ups playground, hopping from container to container and crawling in and out of the rooms. The fun had to end and we got back in the car to head towards the largest Salt Flats in the world.
We passed through a little salt mining village and were stopped by some guy who asked our driver for insurance (that's a funny joke in Bolivia). Noel had us get out of the car and walk around as he dealt with the man....he slipped him a 5 bs and we were on our way. We passed through the edge of the Salar de Uyuni and accelerated towards some mini salt pyramids. We stepped out and inspected them as Noel explained the process of extracting the salt and how the salt flats continue to grow each year. I tasted some.....and it was definitely salt. It was spectacular. It looked like we were standing in the middle of Antarctica....except it was 90 degrees out and sunny. 12,000 sq km of pure salt, 30 ft thick, as far as the eye could see. We continued on and stopped at the world famous Salt Hotel. Everything is made of salt....the doors, the bricks, the chairs, the tables, the bed frames.....you get the point. You can't legally stay here anymore, so it has turned into a little museum/tourist stop. We took some of the perspective photos where one person stands close and others stand back to give an illusion of size perspective (please see photos when they are up, because I can't describe). I stomped on miniature Kroopf. We didn't spend much time there before making our way to Fish Island. It was another 1 or 2 hours of full speed driving over the barren salt flats. We pulled up and our cooks starting preparing our lunch as we hiked around the island. It is crazy....the rocky island is in the middle of the salt flats and covered with massive cacti. Some of the cactus are over 1,000 years old and 40 ft high, similar to saguaros, but a little fuzzier. We hiked to the top and took in the views of one of the worlds most impressive natural features. We hustled down to get our much anticipated lunch and rest and take in the warm sun. Our cook was great, she was cooking for a total of 14 people and always made prompt and delicious meals. There was still more driving to be done, so we left the island and passed a few more hours on the salt flats to get to our hostel. The hostel was just outside of the salt flats and was completely made of salt (just like the salt hotel). It was shaped like a huge igloo with rooms on the outside and a big dining area and bar in the center. Our rooms were great and we had electricity for some of the night. We dropped our bags off and drove out to see 2 more sights before the sun set. We arrived at a small set of caves and got a brief tour from the ancient Bolivian man who discovered the caves in 2001 and restored them for tourism purposes. One was a natural wonder.....fossilized corral and seaweed from a period when the entire land was covered cy an ocean. The other was a pre-Incan cemetery full of underground graves, tools, and markings. There weren't any bodies because they had all been looted before they had money to implement any sort of security at the site. It was really cool to speak with the guy and hear all about why he did it and the Bolivian culture that had ppreviously prevented them from restoring the area. He explained to me how their society had always relied on the cultivation of quinua (grain like food that they put in everything) and that the government didn't want to make tourism a big economic driver. Massive periods of drought in 2000-2002 forced the farmers to look for other means of living, hence, the search and restoration of this archeological site. Anyway....we walked throug here and climbed to the top of the cave to watch the sunset over the mountains in the distance, a nice cap to a very long day. We returned to the hotel and ate a great dinner, drank a bottle of Bolivian wine, and played cards for most of the night. We did take the time to step outside and admire the desolate position we were in. It was a full moon and clear sky and the sensation of being in the middle of nowhere in BFE Bolivia was indescribable. We hit the hay early knowing that we had to get up at 7 for another full day of driving.
Day 2 started off with another 2 hour drive to a huge field of fossilized coral. They stood about 3-6 ft high and covered the land like teddy bear cactus in the AZ desert. We then took off in search of a few lagoons in the middle of the desert. We made a few stops along the way including an active volcano and the lava fields that it had formed, a railroad track where we had a rock throwing contest because our other group got a flat tire, and a hike through the high desert to meet up with Noel as he drove through horrible terrain. I was surprised at how much wildlife thrived in the area. We saw picunas, which are a cross between a deer and a llama, small rabbit like things that had longer tails and kangaroo faces, foxes, birds, and lizards. Apparently they have mountain lions and andean cats as well, but they are much more difficult to spot. We continued driving until we reached the green lake where we set up for lunch and were given 15 minutes to explore around. I never thought I would see a clear blue lake in the middle of a 13,000 ft desert.....let alone one that was filled with hundreds of pink flamingos. They were everywhere....moping around, eating micro organisms in the water. The lagoon was huge, but only reached about 2 inches in depth, so you would see flamingos walking around in the middle of the lake. The mountains, lagoon, and flamingos made for some great picture taking. We finally left and headed towards the red lagoon, with a quick stop at the ''rock tree''. We drove through miles and miles of mars-like red desert until we came upon a small forest of giant rocks. We climbed up the big ones and looked down at the widely photographed rock tree, a giant rock formation shaped as a tree in the middle of nowhere. The day was winding down and we quickly got back in the car to head to our hostel. We drove by the red lagoon and got out for more photos. The lake is 4 times bigger than the previous one and is home to over 38,000 flamingos. It has a deep red tint caused by wind stirring up red microorganisms in the water. Again, amazing scenery, but by this time we just wanted to get out of the car....it was another 20 mnute drive to our hostel. It smelled like poop because they didn't have real toilets, but the rooms weren't bad.....just 7 beds lined up in a small room. It was absolutely freezing there, so we all bundled up in our sleeping bags to make it through the night.
The next morning was the worst, with a 4 30 am wake up call to go see the steam geisers do their job. We drove through more barren, red rock landscape until we reached the open air steam room. The active earth and the rising sun were a good combination. We walked up to the bubbling sulfur and snapped shots of our shadows in the steam, but the cold was unbearable, so we didn't spend much time there. The next stop was the natural hot spring, but only 2 of us got in there....everyone else was a weeny about the cold. The hot spring was amazing, not sanitary, but amazing. It was filled with stinky travelers (like myself) that had not showered in days. It was relaxing and rejuvenating and it warmed up sufficiently by the time we got out. We then had breakfast and got in the car for our last sight. We drove another 45 minutes, passed Dali Monument Valley (a group of brontosaurus sized rocks in the middle of the mountainous desert) on to the Green Lake. The tint of the lake was a perfect turquoise blue and was surrounded by dormant volcanoes. We had reached the corner of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina and gazed out at the similar lands. The other half of the group got out here to cross the border into northern Chile and we turned back for the 6 hour drive back to Uyuni.....sweet. The drive was pretty uneventful and I was very ready to get out of the vehicle when we got there. We then hopped on a 9 hour night train to the border of Bolivia and Argentina. It took 2 hours to cross the border and we got a mini-van to drive all 10 of us to Salta (another 5 hours) before finally ending the trip. I am tired just writing about this....
All in all, Bolivia was amazing. I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the people, the beauty and diversity of the land, and the deliciousness and cheapness of the food. However, it will be nice to be back in a developed country with paved roads and toilets that flush....
Gotta go check out Iguazu falls right now...I will be writing about how awesome Argentina is shortly.
The first 3 hours weren't too bad...I listened to my ipod and maneuvered back and forth trying to find a position where my legs weren't being completely smashed against the front of the bus and I finally managed to doze off for a few hours. The bus didn't have a toilet, reclining bed seats, or leg space....but it definitely had a heater! I woke up drenched and confused. Apparently the heater was right under us and had been releasing it's fury on everyone. Our friend Sarah was sitting behind me and was equally as perturbed. Jonathon, Sara, and I were almost dying when I opened the window to cool us down a bit....until I got yelled at by some old Bolivian guy and the bus driver. I would not sleep again for the remainder of the trip. I was filling sick to my stomach and had one hand over my mouth and one over my butt, trying to make it through the rest of the trip. We finally pulled over in some tiny town in the middle of nowhere to go to the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. I had a moment as I hovered over a little hole in the ground toilet in the middle of the desert in Bolivia....it was one of those moments where things are so bad that you can do nothing but laugh. So I crazily giggled to myself until I felt better, then stepped back onto the bus....but it got worse. We would not see another paved road for the remainder of the trip. Riding for 8 more hours on washboard, dirt and gravel roads in the clunky Bolivian sauna. It was hell. My head ached from my brain bouncing back in forth in my skull and my bum and knees were aching from the uncomfortable position I was forced to sit in. After what seemd like an eternity, the sun started poking through and I saw some hope....my first glimpse of the salt flats. It was the same sensation you get when you approach the ocean....you first see land, then the wide, endless blue horizon starts getting bigger and bigger. It was just like that except we were in the middle of the desert and it was white instead of blue.
We finally pulled into Uyuni and were bombarded by a crowd of tour guides trying to get us to grab papers. Somehow somebody picked a guy and we followed him to his store ''Lipez'' to discuss an excursion to the Salt Flats. He was a pretty nice guy and he set up a 3 day, 2 night trip leaving at 10 30 am for $75 a piece. We discussed over a hearty breakfast and decided to take it. We booked and paid and wandered around the city through the local market, buying random, cheap crap that would break or get lost within the week. The group returned to the shop to pack up our 4 x 4 Toyota Landcruiser and head off on our journey. 7 gringos and Noel, the 40 something Bolivian tour guide, packed into our mobile home for the next 3 days....exactly what I had in mind after that lovely bus trip. The vehicle was fine and Noel was a really nice guy, soft spoken and didn't know a lick of english, but he was just a good person. The first stop was an old railroad track dotted with rotting trains and pieces of metal. These cars had been used to deliver minerals and metals to Chile in the early 1900's, but had been abandoned in the 50's due to its obsolescance. We used it as a grown ups playground, hopping from container to container and crawling in and out of the rooms. The fun had to end and we got back in the car to head towards the largest Salt Flats in the world.
We passed through a little salt mining village and were stopped by some guy who asked our driver for insurance (that's a funny joke in Bolivia). Noel had us get out of the car and walk around as he dealt with the man....he slipped him a 5 bs and we were on our way. We passed through the edge of the Salar de Uyuni and accelerated towards some mini salt pyramids. We stepped out and inspected them as Noel explained the process of extracting the salt and how the salt flats continue to grow each year. I tasted some.....and it was definitely salt. It was spectacular. It looked like we were standing in the middle of Antarctica....except it was 90 degrees out and sunny. 12,000 sq km of pure salt, 30 ft thick, as far as the eye could see. We continued on and stopped at the world famous Salt Hotel. Everything is made of salt....the doors, the bricks, the chairs, the tables, the bed frames.....you get the point. You can't legally stay here anymore, so it has turned into a little museum/tourist stop. We took some of the perspective photos where one person stands close and others stand back to give an illusion of size perspective (please see photos when they are up, because I can't describe). I stomped on miniature Kroopf. We didn't spend much time there before making our way to Fish Island. It was another 1 or 2 hours of full speed driving over the barren salt flats. We pulled up and our cooks starting preparing our lunch as we hiked around the island. It is crazy....the rocky island is in the middle of the salt flats and covered with massive cacti. Some of the cactus are over 1,000 years old and 40 ft high, similar to saguaros, but a little fuzzier. We hiked to the top and took in the views of one of the worlds most impressive natural features. We hustled down to get our much anticipated lunch and rest and take in the warm sun. Our cook was great, she was cooking for a total of 14 people and always made prompt and delicious meals. There was still more driving to be done, so we left the island and passed a few more hours on the salt flats to get to our hostel. The hostel was just outside of the salt flats and was completely made of salt (just like the salt hotel). It was shaped like a huge igloo with rooms on the outside and a big dining area and bar in the center. Our rooms were great and we had electricity for some of the night. We dropped our bags off and drove out to see 2 more sights before the sun set. We arrived at a small set of caves and got a brief tour from the ancient Bolivian man who discovered the caves in 2001 and restored them for tourism purposes. One was a natural wonder.....fossilized corral and seaweed from a period when the entire land was covered cy an ocean. The other was a pre-Incan cemetery full of underground graves, tools, and markings. There weren't any bodies because they had all been looted before they had money to implement any sort of security at the site. It was really cool to speak with the guy and hear all about why he did it and the Bolivian culture that had ppreviously prevented them from restoring the area. He explained to me how their society had always relied on the cultivation of quinua (grain like food that they put in everything) and that the government didn't want to make tourism a big economic driver. Massive periods of drought in 2000-2002 forced the farmers to look for other means of living, hence, the search and restoration of this archeological site. Anyway....we walked throug here and climbed to the top of the cave to watch the sunset over the mountains in the distance, a nice cap to a very long day. We returned to the hotel and ate a great dinner, drank a bottle of Bolivian wine, and played cards for most of the night. We did take the time to step outside and admire the desolate position we were in. It was a full moon and clear sky and the sensation of being in the middle of nowhere in BFE Bolivia was indescribable. We hit the hay early knowing that we had to get up at 7 for another full day of driving.
Day 2 started off with another 2 hour drive to a huge field of fossilized coral. They stood about 3-6 ft high and covered the land like teddy bear cactus in the AZ desert. We then took off in search of a few lagoons in the middle of the desert. We made a few stops along the way including an active volcano and the lava fields that it had formed, a railroad track where we had a rock throwing contest because our other group got a flat tire, and a hike through the high desert to meet up with Noel as he drove through horrible terrain. I was surprised at how much wildlife thrived in the area. We saw picunas, which are a cross between a deer and a llama, small rabbit like things that had longer tails and kangaroo faces, foxes, birds, and lizards. Apparently they have mountain lions and andean cats as well, but they are much more difficult to spot. We continued driving until we reached the green lake where we set up for lunch and were given 15 minutes to explore around. I never thought I would see a clear blue lake in the middle of a 13,000 ft desert.....let alone one that was filled with hundreds of pink flamingos. They were everywhere....moping around, eating micro organisms in the water. The lagoon was huge, but only reached about 2 inches in depth, so you would see flamingos walking around in the middle of the lake. The mountains, lagoon, and flamingos made for some great picture taking. We finally left and headed towards the red lagoon, with a quick stop at the ''rock tree''. We drove through miles and miles of mars-like red desert until we came upon a small forest of giant rocks. We climbed up the big ones and looked down at the widely photographed rock tree, a giant rock formation shaped as a tree in the middle of nowhere. The day was winding down and we quickly got back in the car to head to our hostel. We drove by the red lagoon and got out for more photos. The lake is 4 times bigger than the previous one and is home to over 38,000 flamingos. It has a deep red tint caused by wind stirring up red microorganisms in the water. Again, amazing scenery, but by this time we just wanted to get out of the car....it was another 20 mnute drive to our hostel. It smelled like poop because they didn't have real toilets, but the rooms weren't bad.....just 7 beds lined up in a small room. It was absolutely freezing there, so we all bundled up in our sleeping bags to make it through the night.
The next morning was the worst, with a 4 30 am wake up call to go see the steam geisers do their job. We drove through more barren, red rock landscape until we reached the open air steam room. The active earth and the rising sun were a good combination. We walked up to the bubbling sulfur and snapped shots of our shadows in the steam, but the cold was unbearable, so we didn't spend much time there. The next stop was the natural hot spring, but only 2 of us got in there....everyone else was a weeny about the cold. The hot spring was amazing, not sanitary, but amazing. It was filled with stinky travelers (like myself) that had not showered in days. It was relaxing and rejuvenating and it warmed up sufficiently by the time we got out. We then had breakfast and got in the car for our last sight. We drove another 45 minutes, passed Dali Monument Valley (a group of brontosaurus sized rocks in the middle of the mountainous desert) on to the Green Lake. The tint of the lake was a perfect turquoise blue and was surrounded by dormant volcanoes. We had reached the corner of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina and gazed out at the similar lands. The other half of the group got out here to cross the border into northern Chile and we turned back for the 6 hour drive back to Uyuni.....sweet. The drive was pretty uneventful and I was very ready to get out of the vehicle when we got there. We then hopped on a 9 hour night train to the border of Bolivia and Argentina. It took 2 hours to cross the border and we got a mini-van to drive all 10 of us to Salta (another 5 hours) before finally ending the trip. I am tired just writing about this....
All in all, Bolivia was amazing. I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the people, the beauty and diversity of the land, and the deliciousness and cheapness of the food. However, it will be nice to be back in a developed country with paved roads and toilets that flush....
Gotta go check out Iguazu falls right now...I will be writing about how awesome Argentina is shortly.
La Paz
The bus stopped on the outskirts of the highest capital city in the world, La Paz (11,913 ft). Adobe colored buildings line the massive valley surrounded by towering, snow capped mountains. We snapped some photos and hopped back in the bus for our decent into the center of the city. The first thing I saw when I stepped off the bus were two smashed Bolivian guys sleeping on each other on the front door of a hotel. They tipped over without even attempting to brace the fall and one of the hotel employees cracked a joke about ''AA Meetings''....apparently alcoholism is not really a joke here, but I'll get to that later. We flagged down a couple of cabs to transfer our army of friends to the ''Wild Rover'' hostel and got lost along the way. We didn't have the address nor did we know the exact cross streets...so we just drove around asking random people where it was. We finally ran into an English couple that I met in Cusco and they pointed us in the right direction. We had a few beers and played 30 games of pool in the hostel (because I kept losing...stupid British rules) and went to bed.
The next day we woke up and booked our bike ride down the ''World's Most Dangerous Road'' for 2 days later and set off in search of food. The Bolivian working at Gravity Mountain biking told us about a ''tucumanas'' stand and said that they were similar to empanadas, only better. We spent the next 2 hours walking around the city trying to find these mysterious tucumanas, but to no avail. We finally gave up and looked to Kroopf's travel book for answers. It said there was a great ''saltenas'' restaurant on the other side of the city, so we headed over there. There was nothing at the address....there wasn't even anything that resembled a restaurant on the entire street. So we asked a nice looking older lady where we could find a good saltena restaurant and she gave us the name and crossroads of the best one in town....back on the other side of the city. I swear to God that the Bolivians have some tv show called ''Screw With the Americans'' and we are the stars and every Bolivian is in on it. We walked back over to the other side and couldn't find the place, so we asked another person where we could find saltenas. Apparently that is like asking a New Yorker where to find a piece of pizza....but I didn't see the problem. After another 2 hours of deception and 10 more Bolivians laughing in our faces we finally stumbled upon a restaurant that had fresh saltenas. They were like sweeter tasting, baked empanadas with a surprise. The surprise is that there is steaming hot juice in the middle that explodes in your face if you don't eat them right. We are Americans and we just devour.....I ate 3 the wrong way and burnt everything from my ankle to my eyebrow before someone explained the proper technique to us. We were exhausted from our wild goose chase and got some doughnuts for dessert.
We had one more free day before our big trip, so we went to the infamous ''Witch's Market''. The market was a few streets of creepy shops with things ranging from alpaca fetuses and dead alligator babies to powders that claim to make you rich and smart. I was tempted to buy the rich and smart dust, but I think it was an illegal substance...so I stayed away from it. Apparently the alpaca fetuses are used to bless new homes. They bury the fetuses under the foundation for good luck...it just seems weird to me, but who am I to judge? After being thoroughly creeped out, we continued strolling through the side streets trying to get lost. The city is way more interesting than I had expected. It is 450 years old and has some very unique architecture. Old colonial style buildings line the side streets and the main street, ''Prado'', is filled with newer and nicer restaurants and stores. I went back to the mountain biking store to have the guy show me where the illusive tucumanas are. He left work and came with to the stands. Walk down the main street then duck up the stairs with the rooster statue and follow until you get to the top. They had 2 stands with dozens of locals standing around trying to get in on the action. Each stand had a section set up with 6 different sauces and a bowl of onions. The tucumanas were top notch. Empanadas on steroids.....stuffed to the brim with beef, chicken, potatoes, onions, hard boiled egg, and some other stuff. I tried all the sauces until I came up with the perfect combination and woofed down 3 of those suckers. I told them I would be back, but I don't think they believed me...or liked me...not sure what that look was that they gave me. Later that night I hit the jackpot in the midst of this admiration of the city.....a cheap Chinese restaurant. You could get soup, entrée, dessert, and a drink for $2. As you can guess, the waiter knew my name by the end of the trip.
The alarm clock went off at 7am the next day to wake us up for our 65 km bike ride down the World's Most Dangerous Road. I am sure you are wondering why it is called that....well, the government was trying to get funding to build a new road from the north and needed evidence to support their claim that the current road was too dangerous. They discovered that this road had more deaths per number of drivers than any other road in the world. The 300-1,500 ft sheer cliffs, 10 ft wide ungroomed dirt roads, hammered Bolivian drivers, and lack of medical and emergency accessibility all contribute to the number of people that fly off the cliff each year. We took a bus to the top of the pass at over 15,000 ft, 22 km before the start of the actual road, and received our speech from the guide. He made sure to point out the fact that there is a reason this is a thrilling trip and that is because you can actually die from it. In fact, 13 people had died that Wednesday when two buses collided on the road and fell off the cliff. He also made us watch the Bolivian truck drivers dump out a clear liquid as they went over the pass. I thought it was water, but it was actually a liquor that tastes like jet fuel. They dump out a little for their homegirl ''Pacha Mama'' and then quench their own thirst with 3 to 4 big gulps....like I said, they have a little alcohol problem here. It seems more like a commons sense problem. Anyway....the weather was freezing up top and a thick fog rolled in just in time for us to start our ride. The first part of the trip was amazing. We were given permission (and encouraged) to go full speed, reaching 70+ kmph speeds as we passed buses and trucks. The scenery was stunning....massive mountains, waterfalls, and valleys the whole way down. We stopped to pay a toll and then made the decision to do the hardest part of the trip (a 5 km uphill ride at 10,000 ft elevation) on our bikes instead of hopping into the van and driving through it. Supposedly we were one of 3 groups to have everyone make it to the top...so we were very proud of ourselves. The road split off into a gravel road to the right and we stepped foot on the most dangerous road in the world. We had a snack and another pep talk before embarking on this winding and sketchy section of the ride. We had another 44km and 5,500 ft in elevation to go down. We started off going a little slow, as the 400 m cliffs were a little daunting....but some got accustomed to them and zoomed down in the $3,000 mountain bikes. It was quite a thrill to dance on the edge of the steep drops and cruise through tight corners at high speeds. We stopped every once in a while to have our guide explain car debris and crosses on the side of the road and the bottom of the valley.
We decided to go to the Bolivia vs. Peru soccer game with very little recovery time. We had our Team Gringo Bolivia jerseys on and bought a few flags along the way (we are always the biggest fans). This game wasn't as fun as Ecuador because half the stadium was filled with Peru fans and I think the fact that they didn't sell beer made it a little less appealing to me. Regardless, we had a blast...Bolivia won and the stadium spewed out cheering fans at the end of the game. Just another notch on the belt for me.
We spent the next 3 days doing pretty much the same thing....waking up, eating tucumanas, walking around, eating chinese food, then repeating steps 1 through 3. Some of our friends went to tour the infamous prison in La Paz, where you can pat to meet murderers, thieves, and drug dealers that work with the guards to sell cocaine to visiting tourists. The tour costs almost $40 and I didn't feel like supporting a bunch of scum bags, so I spent that $40 supporting the tucumana stand ladies. We finally decided that it was time to leave after I had a batch of bad tucumanas and purchased a ticket to Uyuni in southern Bolivia. We paid extra to get the ''good'' bus that had a toilet and reclining seats. But we got caught in another episode of ''Screw With the Americans'' and were told that the good bus didn't arrive so we had to take the public bus....they kindly returned 30 Bolivianos (the equivalent of $4) for our troubles. This was the start of the worst bus ride of my entire life.....
Next up....the bus ride from hell, the salt flats, and the struggle to get to Argentina.
The next day we woke up and booked our bike ride down the ''World's Most Dangerous Road'' for 2 days later and set off in search of food. The Bolivian working at Gravity Mountain biking told us about a ''tucumanas'' stand and said that they were similar to empanadas, only better. We spent the next 2 hours walking around the city trying to find these mysterious tucumanas, but to no avail. We finally gave up and looked to Kroopf's travel book for answers. It said there was a great ''saltenas'' restaurant on the other side of the city, so we headed over there. There was nothing at the address....there wasn't even anything that resembled a restaurant on the entire street. So we asked a nice looking older lady where we could find a good saltena restaurant and she gave us the name and crossroads of the best one in town....back on the other side of the city. I swear to God that the Bolivians have some tv show called ''Screw With the Americans'' and we are the stars and every Bolivian is in on it. We walked back over to the other side and couldn't find the place, so we asked another person where we could find saltenas. Apparently that is like asking a New Yorker where to find a piece of pizza....but I didn't see the problem. After another 2 hours of deception and 10 more Bolivians laughing in our faces we finally stumbled upon a restaurant that had fresh saltenas. They were like sweeter tasting, baked empanadas with a surprise. The surprise is that there is steaming hot juice in the middle that explodes in your face if you don't eat them right. We are Americans and we just devour.....I ate 3 the wrong way and burnt everything from my ankle to my eyebrow before someone explained the proper technique to us. We were exhausted from our wild goose chase and got some doughnuts for dessert.
We had one more free day before our big trip, so we went to the infamous ''Witch's Market''. The market was a few streets of creepy shops with things ranging from alpaca fetuses and dead alligator babies to powders that claim to make you rich and smart. I was tempted to buy the rich and smart dust, but I think it was an illegal substance...so I stayed away from it. Apparently the alpaca fetuses are used to bless new homes. They bury the fetuses under the foundation for good luck...it just seems weird to me, but who am I to judge? After being thoroughly creeped out, we continued strolling through the side streets trying to get lost. The city is way more interesting than I had expected. It is 450 years old and has some very unique architecture. Old colonial style buildings line the side streets and the main street, ''Prado'', is filled with newer and nicer restaurants and stores. I went back to the mountain biking store to have the guy show me where the illusive tucumanas are. He left work and came with to the stands. Walk down the main street then duck up the stairs with the rooster statue and follow until you get to the top. They had 2 stands with dozens of locals standing around trying to get in on the action. Each stand had a section set up with 6 different sauces and a bowl of onions. The tucumanas were top notch. Empanadas on steroids.....stuffed to the brim with beef, chicken, potatoes, onions, hard boiled egg, and some other stuff. I tried all the sauces until I came up with the perfect combination and woofed down 3 of those suckers. I told them I would be back, but I don't think they believed me...or liked me...not sure what that look was that they gave me. Later that night I hit the jackpot in the midst of this admiration of the city.....a cheap Chinese restaurant. You could get soup, entrée, dessert, and a drink for $2. As you can guess, the waiter knew my name by the end of the trip.
The alarm clock went off at 7am the next day to wake us up for our 65 km bike ride down the World's Most Dangerous Road. I am sure you are wondering why it is called that....well, the government was trying to get funding to build a new road from the north and needed evidence to support their claim that the current road was too dangerous. They discovered that this road had more deaths per number of drivers than any other road in the world. The 300-1,500 ft sheer cliffs, 10 ft wide ungroomed dirt roads, hammered Bolivian drivers, and lack of medical and emergency accessibility all contribute to the number of people that fly off the cliff each year. We took a bus to the top of the pass at over 15,000 ft, 22 km before the start of the actual road, and received our speech from the guide. He made sure to point out the fact that there is a reason this is a thrilling trip and that is because you can actually die from it. In fact, 13 people had died that Wednesday when two buses collided on the road and fell off the cliff. He also made us watch the Bolivian truck drivers dump out a clear liquid as they went over the pass. I thought it was water, but it was actually a liquor that tastes like jet fuel. They dump out a little for their homegirl ''Pacha Mama'' and then quench their own thirst with 3 to 4 big gulps....like I said, they have a little alcohol problem here. It seems more like a commons sense problem. Anyway....the weather was freezing up top and a thick fog rolled in just in time for us to start our ride. The first part of the trip was amazing. We were given permission (and encouraged) to go full speed, reaching 70+ kmph speeds as we passed buses and trucks. The scenery was stunning....massive mountains, waterfalls, and valleys the whole way down. We stopped to pay a toll and then made the decision to do the hardest part of the trip (a 5 km uphill ride at 10,000 ft elevation) on our bikes instead of hopping into the van and driving through it. Supposedly we were one of 3 groups to have everyone make it to the top...so we were very proud of ourselves. The road split off into a gravel road to the right and we stepped foot on the most dangerous road in the world. We had a snack and another pep talk before embarking on this winding and sketchy section of the ride. We had another 44km and 5,500 ft in elevation to go down. We started off going a little slow, as the 400 m cliffs were a little daunting....but some got accustomed to them and zoomed down in the $3,000 mountain bikes. It was quite a thrill to dance on the edge of the steep drops and cruise through tight corners at high speeds. We stopped every once in a while to have our guide explain car debris and crosses on the side of the road and the bottom of the valley.
We decided to go to the Bolivia vs. Peru soccer game with very little recovery time. We had our Team Gringo Bolivia jerseys on and bought a few flags along the way (we are always the biggest fans). This game wasn't as fun as Ecuador because half the stadium was filled with Peru fans and I think the fact that they didn't sell beer made it a little less appealing to me. Regardless, we had a blast...Bolivia won and the stadium spewed out cheering fans at the end of the game. Just another notch on the belt for me.
We spent the next 3 days doing pretty much the same thing....waking up, eating tucumanas, walking around, eating chinese food, then repeating steps 1 through 3. Some of our friends went to tour the infamous prison in La Paz, where you can pat to meet murderers, thieves, and drug dealers that work with the guards to sell cocaine to visiting tourists. The tour costs almost $40 and I didn't feel like supporting a bunch of scum bags, so I spent that $40 supporting the tucumana stand ladies. We finally decided that it was time to leave after I had a batch of bad tucumanas and purchased a ticket to Uyuni in southern Bolivia. We paid extra to get the ''good'' bus that had a toilet and reclining seats. But we got caught in another episode of ''Screw With the Americans'' and were told that the good bus didn't arrive so we had to take the public bus....they kindly returned 30 Bolivianos (the equivalent of $4) for our troubles. This was the start of the worst bus ride of my entire life.....
Next up....the bus ride from hell, the salt flats, and the struggle to get to Argentina.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Bolivia's Not So Bad
Bolivia has been all over the news lately....and most of it has been negative. The US Embassy was temporarily kicked out, the US Peace Core left the country, American Airlines suspended flights indefinitely in and out of Bolivia, and the US Department of State issued a travel warning telling americans not to travel to Bolivia unless completely necessary. All of these things seem scary, but the media always exploits situations. We talked to people who lived or have recently traveled through Bolivia and discovered that it really is not as bad as it sounds...so we decided to take a calculated risk and hop the border into Bolivia.
We took a night bus from Cusco that arrived at the Bolivian border where Americans are ''unique'' in the respect that we are the only people that have to pay to enter the country. $135 for a 30 day visa.....our British and Australian friends walked through unscathed. I left the customs building broke and violated..... I could tell from the start that this would be a different experience, as we drove past mud huts and abandoned buildings along the way to the small city of Copacabana. The city is located on the shore of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world (still not sure what that means), and has about 6,000 inhabitants. We checked into a hotel that had been recommended to us by a friend and quickly set off in search of food. We stumbled upon a local market and enjoyed the stares of the locals as the large group of gringos walked through the packed buildings. We sat down at a table and ordered this purple drink that everyone was drinking and a 6 pack of deep fried balls of bread with honey on them. The drink was ''api'', made from a purple corn, lemon, and sugar heated up to 4 million degrees. I (of course) disregarded the steamy warning sign rising from the glass and burnt the crap out of tongue....but it was delicious and nutritious and only cost about $0.25. We moved forward and ran into traffic jam of vehicles decorated with flowers and beads. I asked a local guy what was going on and his response was quite amusing. Apparently the Bolivians like to bless their cars every Saturday and Sunday to protect them from accidents......the funny part is that they do this by getting hammered off of beer and liquor and then driving home. He said it was really just an excuse to drink and get together.....not sure what Webster's definition of irony is, but I am sure that this scenario would fall under that category. The guy was so nice and pleased to have us in his country. It was great to talk to a person and find out that a lot of the news is b.s. and these people really don't want to stone Americans.
We went back to the hotel to take a nap to make up for the lack of sleep on the bus and I was woken up 3 hours later and told that my friends had just rented a sailboat. This definitely would not be allowed in the states....7 idiots given an 18 ft sailboat for 3 hours without any formal training or waivers to sign. None of us know how to sail....we set off with our stick sail boat and started taking in water within 5 minutes. We paddled with a set of 4 x 4 pieces of wood until we were outside the bay. The sea was angry that day and we had absolutely no clue what were doing....after 45 minutes of swearing and maneuvering we somehow managed to get the sail full of wind and began to glide over the crystal clear water at abrisk pace. It was awesome for about 10 minutes until we realized that we had to get back somehow. We looked back and could barely see the city. We tried to sail into the wind, but couldn't muster the brain power to get anything going. We spent the next hour and a half saying ''only 10 more mintues of rowing'' and ''we're almost there''. Thank god I wasn't a sailor. We ate burritos and drank Bolivian wine for dinner and returned to the hotel to sit on the roof and stare out at the mysterious Lake Titaca.
We woke up the next morning and booked a boat ride to the Isla del Sol to hike through the ancient Incan worshipping grounds. The boat went 0.2 miles an hour....seriously. I could have swam faster. We eventually got there and were weclomed by food stands and hippies playing weird instruments and selling bracelets. Not sure how these hippies manage to get everywhere...but they do. Anyway, we started hiking to the temple of the sun ruin near the north rim of the island when an old man popped out from behind a building and told us that we had to pay to hike the island. We waitied in line to pay the 10 Bolivianos ($1.50) and set off. The scenery was amazing. The islands are surrounded by massive rock formations poking out of the blue-green water. The view from the ruins was equally spectacular....20,000 ft snow capped mountains to the east and water as far as the eye could see to the west. We continued hiking and enjoying the scenery and couldn't stop talking about how peaceful and beautiful it was....we ran into a Bolivian sitting in the middle of the path and he told us that we had to pay 5 bs to continue on the hike, because the previous ticket was only for the community on the north and that we were now entering his community. We argued with him for a bit but finally gave in and paid the stupid fee after he promised that this was the last one. I was a little annoyed, because this crap happens everywhere. They lie to you and try to nickle and dime you everywhere. I finally got over it and we continued our hike only slightly perturbed for another 20 minutes......then HE showed up. An 80 year old Bolivian man with no teeth and a little badge hanging around his neck giving him the power to piss me off. Apparently we were entering the south community now (the other two were both north ones) and we had to pay another 5 bs to get to our boat. He tried selling us on the fact that the ticket included entry into the world's second worst museum and a bathroom, but we just wanted to get to our boat. I have never wanted to slap an old man until this very moment (of course I am just kidding grandma....kind of). We argued in spanish for about 15 minutes (please keep in mind that this is over 70 cents) but finally paid up after he threatened ''trouble'' at the boat. Now I was just annoyed...we got to the port and I went to the bathroom just to get my money's worth. The boat back was equally fast and we made it back in time to run up the mountain overlooking the city to catch the sunset. I almost didn't make it up in time (apparently 5 empanadas and 13,000 ft elevation don't bode well for running), but did get there before the sun slid behind the mountains. It was a peaceful end to an stressful day.
We booked a bus to La Paz for the next morning and I slept like a rock in our freezing cold room. We went and got more api and more deep fried balls of bread with honey in the morning to stock up for our 3 hour bus ride. The only interesting thing happened was that we were lied to again....the guy told me the bus crossed a bridge to get over to the other side of the lake....45 minutes into the ride we stopped at the shore of the lake and were told to get out of the bus. They put the bus on a floating log and sent it across with a 25 horsepower motor as we watched from shore. Oh....and they charged us 1.5 bs to cross the river in a little ferry....of course they couldn't include that 20 cent charge in the $10 price of the bus ticket.
Next up will be the devouring of everything in site in La Paz, the ride down ''The Most Dangerous Road in the World'', and the Salt Flats excursion. Unger out.
We took a night bus from Cusco that arrived at the Bolivian border where Americans are ''unique'' in the respect that we are the only people that have to pay to enter the country. $135 for a 30 day visa.....our British and Australian friends walked through unscathed. I left the customs building broke and violated..... I could tell from the start that this would be a different experience, as we drove past mud huts and abandoned buildings along the way to the small city of Copacabana. The city is located on the shore of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world (still not sure what that means), and has about 6,000 inhabitants. We checked into a hotel that had been recommended to us by a friend and quickly set off in search of food. We stumbled upon a local market and enjoyed the stares of the locals as the large group of gringos walked through the packed buildings. We sat down at a table and ordered this purple drink that everyone was drinking and a 6 pack of deep fried balls of bread with honey on them. The drink was ''api'', made from a purple corn, lemon, and sugar heated up to 4 million degrees. I (of course) disregarded the steamy warning sign rising from the glass and burnt the crap out of tongue....but it was delicious and nutritious and only cost about $0.25. We moved forward and ran into traffic jam of vehicles decorated with flowers and beads. I asked a local guy what was going on and his response was quite amusing. Apparently the Bolivians like to bless their cars every Saturday and Sunday to protect them from accidents......the funny part is that they do this by getting hammered off of beer and liquor and then driving home. He said it was really just an excuse to drink and get together.....not sure what Webster's definition of irony is, but I am sure that this scenario would fall under that category. The guy was so nice and pleased to have us in his country. It was great to talk to a person and find out that a lot of the news is b.s. and these people really don't want to stone Americans.
We went back to the hotel to take a nap to make up for the lack of sleep on the bus and I was woken up 3 hours later and told that my friends had just rented a sailboat. This definitely would not be allowed in the states....7 idiots given an 18 ft sailboat for 3 hours without any formal training or waivers to sign. None of us know how to sail....we set off with our stick sail boat and started taking in water within 5 minutes. We paddled with a set of 4 x 4 pieces of wood until we were outside the bay. The sea was angry that day and we had absolutely no clue what were doing....after 45 minutes of swearing and maneuvering we somehow managed to get the sail full of wind and began to glide over the crystal clear water at abrisk pace. It was awesome for about 10 minutes until we realized that we had to get back somehow. We looked back and could barely see the city. We tried to sail into the wind, but couldn't muster the brain power to get anything going. We spent the next hour and a half saying ''only 10 more mintues of rowing'' and ''we're almost there''. Thank god I wasn't a sailor. We ate burritos and drank Bolivian wine for dinner and returned to the hotel to sit on the roof and stare out at the mysterious Lake Titaca.
We woke up the next morning and booked a boat ride to the Isla del Sol to hike through the ancient Incan worshipping grounds. The boat went 0.2 miles an hour....seriously. I could have swam faster. We eventually got there and were weclomed by food stands and hippies playing weird instruments and selling bracelets. Not sure how these hippies manage to get everywhere...but they do. Anyway, we started hiking to the temple of the sun ruin near the north rim of the island when an old man popped out from behind a building and told us that we had to pay to hike the island. We waitied in line to pay the 10 Bolivianos ($1.50) and set off. The scenery was amazing. The islands are surrounded by massive rock formations poking out of the blue-green water. The view from the ruins was equally spectacular....20,000 ft snow capped mountains to the east and water as far as the eye could see to the west. We continued hiking and enjoying the scenery and couldn't stop talking about how peaceful and beautiful it was....we ran into a Bolivian sitting in the middle of the path and he told us that we had to pay 5 bs to continue on the hike, because the previous ticket was only for the community on the north and that we were now entering his community. We argued with him for a bit but finally gave in and paid the stupid fee after he promised that this was the last one. I was a little annoyed, because this crap happens everywhere. They lie to you and try to nickle and dime you everywhere. I finally got over it and we continued our hike only slightly perturbed for another 20 minutes......then HE showed up. An 80 year old Bolivian man with no teeth and a little badge hanging around his neck giving him the power to piss me off. Apparently we were entering the south community now (the other two were both north ones) and we had to pay another 5 bs to get to our boat. He tried selling us on the fact that the ticket included entry into the world's second worst museum and a bathroom, but we just wanted to get to our boat. I have never wanted to slap an old man until this very moment (of course I am just kidding grandma....kind of). We argued in spanish for about 15 minutes (please keep in mind that this is over 70 cents) but finally paid up after he threatened ''trouble'' at the boat. Now I was just annoyed...we got to the port and I went to the bathroom just to get my money's worth. The boat back was equally fast and we made it back in time to run up the mountain overlooking the city to catch the sunset. I almost didn't make it up in time (apparently 5 empanadas and 13,000 ft elevation don't bode well for running), but did get there before the sun slid behind the mountains. It was a peaceful end to an stressful day.
We booked a bus to La Paz for the next morning and I slept like a rock in our freezing cold room. We went and got more api and more deep fried balls of bread with honey in the morning to stock up for our 3 hour bus ride. The only interesting thing happened was that we were lied to again....the guy told me the bus crossed a bridge to get over to the other side of the lake....45 minutes into the ride we stopped at the shore of the lake and were told to get out of the bus. They put the bus on a floating log and sent it across with a 25 horsepower motor as we watched from shore. Oh....and they charged us 1.5 bs to cross the river in a little ferry....of course they couldn't include that 20 cent charge in the $10 price of the bus ticket.
Next up will be the devouring of everything in site in La Paz, the ride down ''The Most Dangerous Road in the World'', and the Salt Flats excursion. Unger out.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Machu Picchu: Vale la Pena
Just got back into Cusco from our 5 day/4 night hike up to Macchu Picchu. I am battered and bruised. So far I have counted 1 sprained ankle, 3 sun burns, 167 mosquito bites, and a 2 non-functional legs.....but it was well worth it.
Our trek began in Cusco where we were woken up at 4:30 AM by a cab driver who took us to something that resembled a bus station. We had 11 people in our group and our "bus" only fit 9, so we had to hire a cab to drive 2 people 2.5 hours to our destination in the Peruvian highlands. I was in the back seat and it was like I was sitting on a bouncy ball as we drove over the bumpy, cliff-side roads. Our driver still found it necessary to try and pass large trucks even though the roads were only wide enough for 1.5 cars. I was feeling a little weezy from the rodent the night before and was just trying not to poo my pants...
We set off by foot walking through hillside towns and farmland, passing tobacco fields, coca plants and cows along the way. The scenery began to change halfway through the hike. We turned a corner and felt a chilling breeze in our faces as we spotted the massive glacier settled between two mountain ranges. It got colder and more impressive as we marched along. The 19 km hike took us from 9,000 ft to 13,000 ft and we set up camp at the base of one of the glaciers in the vicinity. Just beyond it you could see Salkantay Mountain peaking over with its 19,200 ft frame and a glacial river flowing through the east side of the campground. The porters set up our tents and dinner table in a small shelter. We sat around and played cards in our winter gear as the temperature dropped. This was really the first time that we all had a chance to meet, chat and get to know eachother. The people were fantastic and I knew that we would get along well....especially after 3 games of hearts and a couple of beers. Out group included 2 Swedish students, 2 married Norwegian engineers, 2 young and spunky Australian girls, an older, bad-ass Australian crime scene investigator, and 2 other amazing friends that we met in Quito. We ate our crappy dinner....some sort of meet that had the taste and texture of a zip-loc bag, rice, and multiple cups of the coca tea, which they make out ot be the miracle tea (supposedly it helps with altitude sickness, stomach issues, sore throats and loss of voice, weight loss, and gives energy). I received none of these benefits....the only thing I noticed was that my tongue went numb when i chewed on the leaves, so i did that a few times.
Wake up call was 6 am and i woke up with a sore back and frozen feet. Apparently they provided sleeping mats and I was the only one that didn't receive the memo. Today was to be the hardest day, walking 21 km and passing over 15,200 ft between the 2 glacial mountains. It rained intermittently and clouds rolled through the valley, blocking our view of Salkantay. We made it to the top and rested on a boulder, catching glimpses of the peak and listening to the sound of massive chunks of ice crashing down the side of the mountain. Apparently nobody has ever summited this mountain and dozens have died trying....didn't look THAT hard to me. The hike was difficult and some did better than others. We descended down from the highest point and watched as the landscape changed from snow and rocks to a grassy river valley with mountains on all sides. We saw eagles and some giant white birds with black tails hopping on the ground.... which our guide said were wild turkeys, but he was an idiot. It was warm when we stopped for lunch and I took off my jacket, but the wind picked up and it began to rain before lunch was served. One of the girls was suffering from mild to severe altitude sickness and I thought she was going to vomit on me at lunch. She didn't and I was thankful for that. The path after lunch led us down from the valley and into lush jungle. The mountains were just as prominent, but were covered with weird looking rainbow trees (that's the scientific name I invented for them), vines, and ferns. It seemed like an eternity but was enjoyable the whole time. Waterfalls would show up every now and then and the changing climate made for some great photos. It started raining again about 4 km from our campsite and we arrived right before the torrential downpour hit. It rained and rained and rained...and I drank hot chocolate and read a book to the soothing sounds of water hitting the straw roof and thunder. We ate dinner and chatted until bedtime. The sky cleared and revealed an amazing display of stars and constellations. I slept on a mat this time...and it is really nice not having rocks jamming into your hip.
Woke up at 6 am again to the porters knocking on our tents and handing us coca tea with sugar. We ate bread and jam for breakfast (again) and wasted no time in starting the days trek. The path lead us down the side of the mountain and with a huge river below. From there we hiked up and down the river floor, crossing waterfalls and streams on more shady south american bridges. Everything was going great and we were really enjoying the hike until we got to La Playa, a little town on the edge of the river. This is when I noticed the bugs. They were everywhere....it was like the worst Minnesota summer swarm following me around everywhere I went. I swear to God that there was a cloud of them following me around....I was like Pigpen, the stinky kid from Charlie Brown. I put on 100% deet bug lotion (strong enough to melt skin) and the bastards would't cease their onslaught. Maybe they were attracted to the scent of 4 day old underwear and man sweat. Everywhere we walked someone would giggle and tell me in spanish that the mosquitos "loved me". Yeah, real funny....anyway, we ate our best lunch of the trip and bought big beers at lunch to take our minds off of the bugs. We took a bus to Santa Teresa, where we were to camp with 100 other people. There was a monkey running around and we fought to pet him and hold him...until we watched him pee in his hands and wipe it all over his body....I am just going to assume that was the first time he had ever done that. From here we all took a short bus to a large hot spring on the outskirts of the city. It looked ok, but was probably the most disguisting hot spring in the world because the only clients are hikers whom haven't showered in days and go there strictly to wash off. Ate dinner in a cloud of bugs that night and I consumed a moth that flew into my tea for 5 soles ...which is worth about $1.65. I make $0 an hour, so $1.65 in 3 seconds seemed like a steal.....you gotta do what you gotta do when you are unemployed. One of the girls got sick that night and vomited in the tent...she had some sort of stomach bug...so that was our excitement for the night.
Everyone was tired and sore on the fourth day, but we got up at 5 am to try and make it to Aguas Calientes as early as possible. Our guide told the sick girl to walk it off, and that he would stay back with her to make sure she was ok. He disappeared after about 30 minutes and the girl was so pale that we sent her off in a taxi. The worthless guide had stayed back and hitched a ride with the cooks. He didn't even know anyone's name and forgot about the sick girl. He got a mouthful at lunch and had his tail between his legs the whole way to Aguas Calientes. We had to walk along the railraod tracks for the last 6 km, but the scenery was changing...the mountains began to look like Machu Picchu mountains and I got excited. We passed by the back of the ruins and could see the Incan bridge and a few terraces. We arrived into town, exhausted from our 70 km hike and settled into our hostel. Ellie the Canadian and I decided that we wanted to climb to the top of mount Picususu (or something like that). It is the second best viewing point for Machu Picchu, and a great hike. We had to climb wooden ladders straight up the side of a mountain and trampled over stone stairs on our way to the top. We got our first glimpes of the surrounding area and of Macchu Picchu ruins. The mountains look fake....shooting straight up into the heavens with cloud crowns and sun rays lighting up portions of the hillsides. I took a hundred pictures and sat up there taking in the views. We hiked down and ate a massive meal.....tomorrow was the big day. We woke up at 4:30 am and 2 of us decided to hike up to the ruins instead of taking the 30 minute bus ride (me because it was $7 for the bus and Ellie because she is insane). We hiked straight up 1,700 stone stairs in the dark to the entrance of Machu Picchu....we were 17th in line (not that I was competing). We waited there and entered the ruins at 6 am. We ran to the end of the ruins, snapping photos like a japanese tourist (no offense) and made our way to Waynupicchu, where they only allow 400 people in each day. We got our tickets and waited for the gates to open. We hiked up the steep mountain attached to the ruins. It was straight up and took an hour. The views were amazing. We were walking in and out of clouds and passing incan structures and lookouts. We were first up top and jaws dropped as we looked down at the ruins and mountains. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen (even better than the Galapagos and the cliffs of Moher). This is what I would think heaven would be like....except instead of Incan ruins I would have an 18 hole championship golf course, 4 basketball courts, free Chipotle burrito stands, and all of my friends and family. Words and pictures don't do it justice....I will post pictures soon so you can try to grasp its beauty. The ruins were much larger than I had imagined, and I sat there, on top of a mountain, looking down at one of the world's greatest accomplishments. It is mind boggling to comprehend how sophisticated and infallible these peole were. It is the greatest clash of mankind and nature...can't imagine anything better. Eventually, too many people showed up and we headed down to tour the ruins. 4 of us ended up leaving the tour and just sitting in silence staring at the ruins from the famous postcard viewpoint. We eventually headed down after 7 hours of amazement. I walked again.....so I could eat 2 dinners. The whole group met for dinner and we found a 4 for 1 happy hour where we discussed our lives back home and the surreal day that we just experienced.
I couldn't feel my legs, I was delirious from dehydration and pisco sours, and the mosquitos continued to munch on my flesh....but I stopped for a second, and said to myself "Vale la pena".
Next stop is Bolivia....and I haven't shaved my mustache in almost 4 weeks.
Our trek began in Cusco where we were woken up at 4:30 AM by a cab driver who took us to something that resembled a bus station. We had 11 people in our group and our "bus" only fit 9, so we had to hire a cab to drive 2 people 2.5 hours to our destination in the Peruvian highlands. I was in the back seat and it was like I was sitting on a bouncy ball as we drove over the bumpy, cliff-side roads. Our driver still found it necessary to try and pass large trucks even though the roads were only wide enough for 1.5 cars. I was feeling a little weezy from the rodent the night before and was just trying not to poo my pants...
We set off by foot walking through hillside towns and farmland, passing tobacco fields, coca plants and cows along the way. The scenery began to change halfway through the hike. We turned a corner and felt a chilling breeze in our faces as we spotted the massive glacier settled between two mountain ranges. It got colder and more impressive as we marched along. The 19 km hike took us from 9,000 ft to 13,000 ft and we set up camp at the base of one of the glaciers in the vicinity. Just beyond it you could see Salkantay Mountain peaking over with its 19,200 ft frame and a glacial river flowing through the east side of the campground. The porters set up our tents and dinner table in a small shelter. We sat around and played cards in our winter gear as the temperature dropped. This was really the first time that we all had a chance to meet, chat and get to know eachother. The people were fantastic and I knew that we would get along well....especially after 3 games of hearts and a couple of beers. Out group included 2 Swedish students, 2 married Norwegian engineers, 2 young and spunky Australian girls, an older, bad-ass Australian crime scene investigator, and 2 other amazing friends that we met in Quito. We ate our crappy dinner....some sort of meet that had the taste and texture of a zip-loc bag, rice, and multiple cups of the coca tea, which they make out ot be the miracle tea (supposedly it helps with altitude sickness, stomach issues, sore throats and loss of voice, weight loss, and gives energy). I received none of these benefits....the only thing I noticed was that my tongue went numb when i chewed on the leaves, so i did that a few times.
Wake up call was 6 am and i woke up with a sore back and frozen feet. Apparently they provided sleeping mats and I was the only one that didn't receive the memo. Today was to be the hardest day, walking 21 km and passing over 15,200 ft between the 2 glacial mountains. It rained intermittently and clouds rolled through the valley, blocking our view of Salkantay. We made it to the top and rested on a boulder, catching glimpses of the peak and listening to the sound of massive chunks of ice crashing down the side of the mountain. Apparently nobody has ever summited this mountain and dozens have died trying....didn't look THAT hard to me. The hike was difficult and some did better than others. We descended down from the highest point and watched as the landscape changed from snow and rocks to a grassy river valley with mountains on all sides. We saw eagles and some giant white birds with black tails hopping on the ground.... which our guide said were wild turkeys, but he was an idiot. It was warm when we stopped for lunch and I took off my jacket, but the wind picked up and it began to rain before lunch was served. One of the girls was suffering from mild to severe altitude sickness and I thought she was going to vomit on me at lunch. She didn't and I was thankful for that. The path after lunch led us down from the valley and into lush jungle. The mountains were just as prominent, but were covered with weird looking rainbow trees (that's the scientific name I invented for them), vines, and ferns. It seemed like an eternity but was enjoyable the whole time. Waterfalls would show up every now and then and the changing climate made for some great photos. It started raining again about 4 km from our campsite and we arrived right before the torrential downpour hit. It rained and rained and rained...and I drank hot chocolate and read a book to the soothing sounds of water hitting the straw roof and thunder. We ate dinner and chatted until bedtime. The sky cleared and revealed an amazing display of stars and constellations. I slept on a mat this time...and it is really nice not having rocks jamming into your hip.
Woke up at 6 am again to the porters knocking on our tents and handing us coca tea with sugar. We ate bread and jam for breakfast (again) and wasted no time in starting the days trek. The path lead us down the side of the mountain and with a huge river below. From there we hiked up and down the river floor, crossing waterfalls and streams on more shady south american bridges. Everything was going great and we were really enjoying the hike until we got to La Playa, a little town on the edge of the river. This is when I noticed the bugs. They were everywhere....it was like the worst Minnesota summer swarm following me around everywhere I went. I swear to God that there was a cloud of them following me around....I was like Pigpen, the stinky kid from Charlie Brown. I put on 100% deet bug lotion (strong enough to melt skin) and the bastards would't cease their onslaught. Maybe they were attracted to the scent of 4 day old underwear and man sweat. Everywhere we walked someone would giggle and tell me in spanish that the mosquitos "loved me". Yeah, real funny....anyway, we ate our best lunch of the trip and bought big beers at lunch to take our minds off of the bugs. We took a bus to Santa Teresa, where we were to camp with 100 other people. There was a monkey running around and we fought to pet him and hold him...until we watched him pee in his hands and wipe it all over his body....I am just going to assume that was the first time he had ever done that. From here we all took a short bus to a large hot spring on the outskirts of the city. It looked ok, but was probably the most disguisting hot spring in the world because the only clients are hikers whom haven't showered in days and go there strictly to wash off. Ate dinner in a cloud of bugs that night and I consumed a moth that flew into my tea for 5 soles ...which is worth about $1.65. I make $0 an hour, so $1.65 in 3 seconds seemed like a steal.....you gotta do what you gotta do when you are unemployed. One of the girls got sick that night and vomited in the tent...she had some sort of stomach bug...so that was our excitement for the night.
Everyone was tired and sore on the fourth day, but we got up at 5 am to try and make it to Aguas Calientes as early as possible. Our guide told the sick girl to walk it off, and that he would stay back with her to make sure she was ok. He disappeared after about 30 minutes and the girl was so pale that we sent her off in a taxi. The worthless guide had stayed back and hitched a ride with the cooks. He didn't even know anyone's name and forgot about the sick girl. He got a mouthful at lunch and had his tail between his legs the whole way to Aguas Calientes. We had to walk along the railraod tracks for the last 6 km, but the scenery was changing...the mountains began to look like Machu Picchu mountains and I got excited. We passed by the back of the ruins and could see the Incan bridge and a few terraces. We arrived into town, exhausted from our 70 km hike and settled into our hostel. Ellie the Canadian and I decided that we wanted to climb to the top of mount Picususu (or something like that). It is the second best viewing point for Machu Picchu, and a great hike. We had to climb wooden ladders straight up the side of a mountain and trampled over stone stairs on our way to the top. We got our first glimpes of the surrounding area and of Macchu Picchu ruins. The mountains look fake....shooting straight up into the heavens with cloud crowns and sun rays lighting up portions of the hillsides. I took a hundred pictures and sat up there taking in the views. We hiked down and ate a massive meal.....tomorrow was the big day. We woke up at 4:30 am and 2 of us decided to hike up to the ruins instead of taking the 30 minute bus ride (me because it was $7 for the bus and Ellie because she is insane). We hiked straight up 1,700 stone stairs in the dark to the entrance of Machu Picchu....we were 17th in line (not that I was competing). We waited there and entered the ruins at 6 am. We ran to the end of the ruins, snapping photos like a japanese tourist (no offense) and made our way to Waynupicchu, where they only allow 400 people in each day. We got our tickets and waited for the gates to open. We hiked up the steep mountain attached to the ruins. It was straight up and took an hour. The views were amazing. We were walking in and out of clouds and passing incan structures and lookouts. We were first up top and jaws dropped as we looked down at the ruins and mountains. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen (even better than the Galapagos and the cliffs of Moher). This is what I would think heaven would be like....except instead of Incan ruins I would have an 18 hole championship golf course, 4 basketball courts, free Chipotle burrito stands, and all of my friends and family. Words and pictures don't do it justice....I will post pictures soon so you can try to grasp its beauty. The ruins were much larger than I had imagined, and I sat there, on top of a mountain, looking down at one of the world's greatest accomplishments. It is mind boggling to comprehend how sophisticated and infallible these peole were. It is the greatest clash of mankind and nature...can't imagine anything better. Eventually, too many people showed up and we headed down to tour the ruins. 4 of us ended up leaving the tour and just sitting in silence staring at the ruins from the famous postcard viewpoint. We eventually headed down after 7 hours of amazement. I walked again.....so I could eat 2 dinners. The whole group met for dinner and we found a 4 for 1 happy hour where we discussed our lives back home and the surreal day that we just experienced.
I couldn't feel my legs, I was delirious from dehydration and pisco sours, and the mosquitos continued to munch on my flesh....but I stopped for a second, and said to myself "Vale la pena".
Next stop is Bolivia....and I haven't shaved my mustache in almost 4 weeks.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
