Nico.Does.World

Problems and Playtime in Peru

nickygeeee — Tue, 8 Jul 2014 01:00:00 GMT

H and I were excited to be leaving Cuzco and making our way to the coast, we were on such a high. We were waiting in reception for a person from the tour (the 4 days tour stopping at a few places on the way to Lima we were about to begin) when I spotted this daypack in the lost property box which H had spotted almost 10 days earlier and kept an eye on as her bag was ripping around the zips. We have stayed at a few places where there are boxes of lost items you can take, with courtesy of leaving something behind. We had left a really good sleeping bag. So I grabbed it for her, she slung it over her shoulder and we carried on waiting, laughing and jumping around dancing like idiots celebrating being on the move again. We got picked up, got a taxi to the bus and while in the taxi H was checking out the bag and one of the zippers was broken which was the issue with hers anyway so we just left it in the taxi. We were sitting waiting to leave when one of the tour guides got on and came up to us and told us he had been told we had stolen a bag before leaving the hostel. We were baffled and when he asked if that was true strongly denied it, not even THINKING properly just panicking we were being accused of theft…it turns out it was NOT in fact the lost property box (a cardboard box next to the front door) but the box where the door man keeps his belongings and it was HIS bag OMG which is why it had been there for 10 days hahah NOT 10 days without being removed but obviously while he was on duty it would be there and that is when we would see it. AGH I am cringing just thinking about all of this. The bag felt empty because it only had his wallet in it. We tried to explain this, but in so much shock and mortified at the situation said so many things that looking back we can completely see how we would look guilty (such as when I gave her the bag I was then dancing around hyperactive).

Anyway, we left with the bus while trying to sort things out with the tour leader, getting phone calls back and forth seeing if maybe the taxi driver would hand it in but BAH this is PERU! The WORST 24 hours of my life I think as we then didn’t really want to mix in with other people on the bus thinking they would all think we were crims, then we were told the police would be meeting us the next night when we arrived at our next desitnation. I thought for sure we were going to be in an episode of Banged up Abroad…we were a mess! After a night on the bus with NO sleep the next afternoon we managed to work out with them that we would give the tour guide money to cover the security guards costs of replacing his ID`s etc so she could take it to him on her return to Cuzco. Thankfully he accepted. Life as a duo - strike 1.

What a mess, so our 4 day tour which was supposed to be a mini Contiki style break did not quite work out this way. We stopped at the Nazca lines to see them from a viewing point…this was ok but you would have to do the flight to really get a good look at them, we could only see part of a couple as were not high up. The lines date back to 400BC, carved only 4-5cm deep into the earth but have remained because of the lack of rain in the area. They are thought to have been a way of communicating with the Gods. Pretty amazing they have lasted all this time. Then we arrived in Huacachina – minus the police – the only desert oasis in South America. We had a day by the pool and then in the afternoon went sand boarding and dune buggying which was SOOOOO much fun. One of those times you are having so much fun you laugh uncontrollably. The scenery here of the dunes as far as the eye can see was spectacular, not to mention the colours changing throughout the afternoon and then at sunset when the orange becomes red and then somehow purple.

We then went to Paracas on the coast, filling up on ceviche and then going out on a boat to see sea lions and penguins….hmmm…since we had already seen them in a reeeally nice environment this wasn’t the best as the rock islands they are on here are where Guano – the poo of this type of bird – is harvested here every 8 years so it absolutely STINKS. I have a strong stomach but I was even gagging. Heading further towards Lima we stopped at a hacienda (an estate) where there are loads of underground tunnels used to smuggle slaves from Africa without paying taxes in the 17th Century. Very interesting hearing about this one, starting from a few slaves to thousands and the tunnels join several estates in the area, stretching over many kilometres as they were also used to hide from the common pirate invasions.

We arrived in Lima in the night, dodging through the traffic in one of the most dangerous cities in the world to drive in - you feel it even more in a taxi! Here, most public transport is illegal and the cities poorest people sit on a goldmine as the property prices soar and the people living in the shanty towns covering the hills (with the views) legally own the property after 10 years due to Peru`s laws so it is untouchable to developers. Nice huh. We arrived on the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo, a big Mexican holiday which H loves to celebrate) and we were lucky when we wandered down the street from the hostel and found a small Mexican restaurant run by a Mexican man…thought we would have a Corona and go to bed, next thing he is bringing out rounds of tequila shots, big sombreros and getting us to be in a bunch of photos with him and then his staff. We woke to look through our phones at photos of us in the hostel bar with some more Mexicans, with more sombreros on and drawn on moustaches...one of THOSE nights. We didn’t do too much in Lima, had good food which is what it is mostly known for, I met up with my Peruvian friend who I worked with in QLD, got my roots coloured, walked through fancy shopping centres gazing longingly into the windows, that's about it.

We then went up the coast to Mancora to continue our flourishing careers as bartenders at another hostel. We had 10 days there first to chill out on the beach. Mancora is a bit of a crappy town, loads of tuk tuks, beach bums and crime. It was basically built around the growing backpacker population passing through but is also sadly one of those places where many people do not appreciate the business this has brought and people are pretty hostile towards travelers. Basically, if you go out at night with any belongings, you will most likely not come home with them. If you are a male you may get bashed. Nice place. Luckily there is not much reason to leave – besides the all you can eat sushi – as the hostel is really nice, with a resort style pool and you can access the beach from here. So 2 months of sunbaking around the pool, lying on the beach – only when with other people otherwise you cannot get a moment to yourself to relax, taking up the free yoga on offer at the hostel (ok, once) and telling the surf instructors `tomorrow` every day. We originally thought we would try to fly under the radar at work so maybe the bar manager would forget to put us on the roster but when a couple of weeks in he was telling us we were his sisters and he would do anything for family we realized we had failed. Some of the rules in our introduction info sheets were A) Always wear footwear and a shirt - unless no shirt is a part of your costume, B) Your discount is for you, don’t take the pi%s and only use it for yourself. Exceptions: if you are trying to pick up a lovely lady of man. Our farewell speech from the newer bar manager was `To H and N, you are not the best workers, but you are good people`. Anyway it was a fun couple of months, good way to extend the trip and live on the cheap. I am a terrible bartender it is true and my Spanish continued to get worse.

Mancora is So dodgy. I got a tuk tuk one day to the medical centre to get my ear flushed out (oh the glamorous life) as I had been slightly deaf for about a month. In the end all the nurses in the centre had surrounded the lady doing it to see what would come out haha it was fun in a weird way. But the tuk tuk drivers ask you three questions. 1) Cocaine? 2) Marijuana? 3) Ok then, where to? as if THAT is a strange request. We went up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset one afternoon and a couple of Peruvian girls that we worked with left to return to town 20 minutes after us and got held up at gunpoint and robbed. The late night burger man down the road, although making absolutely amazing burgers, we later found out is also the big drug king pin in town. And then the fake money ahhh.

H and I went to the local market instead of the tourist shops one day to buy these really nice think cool pants our friend had bought. The ladies in the shop were really nice, H had been there before, and we paid her with a 100 sole note which she checked and nodded then put away and gave us our change. We carried on looking around the shops and 15 minutes late she came and found us and in Spanish was holding the note up and telling us it was fake. I knew straight away it was not my note as it was too new looking, plus we had been taught how to check notes at work and I knew all mine were fine and also I watch a LOT of tv and have seen this on Scam City (thanks Discovery channel). So I just kept saying no no no it is not mine in Spanglish and we started hurrying off. We have also been told not to mess with locals here mind you. We started walking faster as she followed us so we could get back to the main road and away from this back street, I kept yelling NO, telling her it was not mine. She mentioned the policia and by now my Spanish was out the door and I was just yelling `FINE, GO TO THE POLICE: F OFF!!!` and then tried my Spanish and asked `Entiende el scamo? I DO!`…so I from time to time try to add an `o `onto any word to make it Spanish, sometimes it works, in this case scamo is not Spanish for scam haha. Also unfortunately we had to walk by a police station to get back to the hostel and she zipped in there and as we turned a corner to try running to the beach we turned and saw she had an officer so stopped, he took me in and H went to the hostel to get help. You would think this was good, the police could help. Not in Peru and especially not in Mancora. The police chief came into the little room and he was the worlds` biggest … well I will leave out the rude words. They kept trying to get me to answer questions in Spanish, nudging me in the way of yes no matter how many times I told them I don’t understand Spanish and would not answer anything in Spanish. Then he went through my handbag and everything in it, looked through my money (luckily we had gone to go to the ATM before the market and there were some dodgy people hanging around so we didn’t stop), then he opened my phone and tried unlocking it – this was my breaking point and in my bad Spanish I was asking what he was looking for and that there was nothing in there he would need. Next it was my travel journals as I was also out to write an email and he was flicking through that so I had to slam that closed and tell him enough was enough. So he was never going to be on our side. H eventually came back with G, our Italian friend who would be `Bad Lawyer` and O, a Peruvian friend who would be `nice lawyer`. They both immediately looked at the note and laughed, saying that ANY person let alone Peruvian would know that was fake without sunlight – her excuse for not noticing straight away. In the end, the chiefs only defence that it must have been my note was that its folds matched how you may fold a note to fit my wallet. The woman from the store wanted to go to court which we were fine with until told they would remove our passports and we couldn’t leave the country until it was final. So we went with the call the embassy threat until H twigged and got out the change the woman had given us and the folds matched the 100 sole note, which meant that it could have been her note also. That cow got up, snatched the pants and said don’t worry about giving her the rest of the money back and left. So we won but also lost the pants and 60 soles, about $20. We were so glad to be leaving as O was worried about the whole `messing with the locals` thing and we were just starting to hate Peru thanks to the experiences we had there.

Really sadly it was at this time that beautiful Nanna passed away. H and I had a mini-ceremony one sunset on the beach, having picked flowers from all over this desert town to send off into the ocean. She will be soooooo missed. It's always hard to be around loved ones at times like these but luckily had a beautiful photo of Nanna and some cards.

We really met some amazing people during our time here, as throughout the entire trip. So lucky that we can travel the world and meet like-minded people, sad to say goodbye to the ones we may never see again but exciting to plan future reunions with others. We had a little family here at the hostel, I absolutely loved it.

We JUST made it onto our bus to Ecuador, thanks to the hostel tradition of getting people really drunk when they are meant to leave. Not that we needed any help as we spent the whole day at the bar enjoying our last slushies. We were a little nervous after all the stories we had heard about the border crossings and bus robberies but it was all worth it in the end.

Return to La Paz and Magical Machu Picchu

nickygeeee — Thu, 1 May 2014 23:56:00 GMT

It took 3 full days and nights of buses and trains to get from Rio back to La Paz for our new bartending careers. It was pretty hassle free except the border where we were dumped off the bus - we thought we were meant to be taken all the way to Puerto Suarez but this was not the case. It was so humid, then it started raining as we were running back and forth between the 2 borders soaking us but finally we found out where we were and how to get to Santa Cruz. The taxi driver was soooo helpful and as we had 15 minutes before the train departed he flew along those streets and then ran ahead to sort our tickets as we unloaded our bags. The train was apparently the safer option as the roads wind through jungles and farms and it is common for animals to jump out onto the road and cause accidents. As soon as we heard it was $16 for a 19 hour air conditioned train ride we were happy to be back in Bolivia and happy to understand people again. We were lucky to get our bus from Santa Cruz to La Paz after somehow we all 'heard' the man say 3pm (it was about 8:30am when we arrived) so we settled in for a long day at the terminal until 8:50am the ticket man, very panicked, managed to find us and tell us the bus was waiting for us....so apparently our Spanish is not all that we had hoped.

The main rule during the job intro was 'Everyone gets 1 chance at being sent to bed early'. I...I mean, 'Madonna', would later find out more about this. So for this month we had plenty of fun, toga nights, anything bus clothes, mexican nights, jenga tournaments, beer pong, zombie nights, karaoke, St Patricks Day, Rock Star night...kind of just a month long Halloween. It was pretty much as fun working as not. Staff meetings were very serious and involved discussing bar dancing - remove glasses and if someone looks too drunk get them down. Having been on the receiving end of a person falling off the bar onto me, I know that hurts. When the daily nosebleeds and crusty eyes healed (I think as the air can be so dry in La Paz), it was then a throat and tonsil infection, fever then a chest infection and so a trip to the medical clinic - which has an entire sign in book for this hostel's staff - was needed for me and one of my roomates. It was a nice bonding experience for us as after being sent around to a bunch of pharmacies and clinics having to byo medicine we were actually begging for the needle in the butt in the end. The worst part was them testing if you are allergic to the medicine and testing it on your EYEBALL!

We went to a soccer game between La Paz Strongest (the Tigres) and a Brazilian team. La Paz needed to win by 1 point to make it to the finals for the first time in 20 years so it was very exciting. We went with a couple of friends and her Dad. We bought 5cent polystyrene squares to take in as 'seats' and then entered through a path of very heavily armed police feeling like we were walking ourselves into a maximum security jail. It was a sell out of 35,000 and the crowd was a sea of black and gold. There were about 10 supporters of the Brazilian team in a top corner section surrounded by security. We didn't go to the fan club section as stabbings are regular, of course. The crowd was a constant chorus of songs and waves and flags the size of half the stadium. La Paz won and the dad - by day a politican - went crazy and honked his horn through crowds the whole way home, hanging a scarf out the window, cranked the replay of the game up on the radio and yelled at the police 'I KNOW MY RIGHTS' when they tried to stop him driving down a certain road full of crowds. It was great fun! We were happy to be accepted as fans of the Tigres as apparently the fans of the other La Paz team are widely know to be ugly.

The hostel was tipped off that police were raiding all the hostels in La Paz. On 'gender bender' night we watched from the bar windows as police swarmed the streets below and expected this was the night and god it would have been funny as every manager in the hostel was wearing a dress and make up. Well, at least the boys were.

A few of us went quadbiking one day to Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Sol about 30 minutes out of the city and this area was so beautiful. For me it was more like a sightseeing tour as I felt in no condition to operate my own vehicle. After the previous nights' antics, it was a miracle we all made it. We hadn't brought licenses so had to pay the police off at each checkpoint. About $1 a pop. We had already paid for the tour so when we pulled up along the main street a bit late and had quadbikes racing along beside us calling out to us we assumed this was the company we had booked with so got out of the taxi and followed them to an office. All 4 of us equally as terrible at Spanish it took us about 10 minutes to realise this was another company who now wanted us to pay for their tour...we managed to get out of this and about 20m away was our company. We were FILTHY by the end of the day. I loved La Paz just as much this time around, it's grittyness, smells, and noises. Many mornings we would be woken by a parade marching by, or a wedding along the streets, or a car alarm...there is dress-up lane where a whole street is lined by shops full of bizarre outfits and 'sexy'alley as we called it, the traffic zebras, the merry-go-round which was a round platform with some plastic cars stuck on top that a someone would stand there and spin by hand, the homeless man who would always yell at us and we never knew why, and then really nice people who would just stop us and invite us to a party or gathering of some sort. And then Prince, the taxi driver who upon finding out it was our last night gave us his card for any 'party' needs. A proud moment in my life is a girl having my name tattoo'd on her butt cheek...best $10 ever spent.

We actually managed to leave La Paz - despite many predicting we wouldn't as is often the case here - and headed to Cuzco in Peru. Cuzco or Cusco (never did find out the difference or which name to use) is a really pretty city. It is pretty laid back, gorgeous at night, many plazas and parks and has a chocolate museum which we frequented. Every 2nd building is a laundromat. We met H's friend J who had flown from the USA to do the trek to Machu Picchu with us. We chose the 5 day Salkantay trek, being the avid hikers we are, but it was not a good idea to spend the night before the trek with a bunch of friends we had met at other points on our trip and get to bed at 2:30 before the 4:30 pick up at the hostel. Note to self: redbull does not give you wings the day after drinking it with vodka.

We started the trek at the small town of Mollepata a couple of hours from the city, walking up a muddy track for about an hour I was already on struggle street. Then we entered the luscious green mountainous region and the track wound around hills and down into valleys, it was beautiful. We walked 21km over 7 hours this day and as we rounded the last bend and snowy Salkantay appeared between 2 other mountains it was really something special. Our camp was in the shadow of these mountains on a farm and we arrived just in time for hot chocolates as the sun set. We sat around camp for a while comparing blisters and checking out the billions of stars and then rugged up for an early nights' sleep.

4:30am each morning we heard tapping on our tent flaps and 'Coca tea amigas, Amigas, coca tea' (by day 3 we were turning down the coca tea for an extra 30 minutes sleep. Day 2 is the hardest day of the trek as it is very steep and gets up to 4600m asl...so I took the option of riding a horse for the most difficult part as I wasn't 100% whether the struggle of the day before was due to my lack of fitness or the hangover. Better to be safe than sorry. It was really nice, starting the day off through the rocky valley following rivers and then beginning the incline to Salkantay. My horse, Hermiosa, was at the front of the group being led by one of the farmers, Elvis (I suspect a fake name as many people over here tell foreigners to make it easier) so I was quite comfortable with that until he gave me the reins and when I asked why her ears were covered with a bandana and was told it is because she is a nervous horse, I became a nervous human. They are taught to walk on the edge of the mountain so hikers can pass mountain-side so that was relaxing with all those steep cliff edges! After 4 hours we were finally at the 4600m point next to Salkantay just in time to witness an avalanche, the crackling thunderous sound awesome. We were told that Quechua people would cry at this as it was a part of the mountain dying - the mountains are worshipped by them as they provide everything they need in life. We had a ceremony for Pachamama (Mother Earth) up there and offered rocks we had brought from down the bottom of the mountain and coca leaves - only the best ones. By this point the horses turned back and the remaining 3 hours were pretty flat and downhill, through rocky, burnt yellow terrain, cloudforests, forests, rivers and then it started pouring as we huddled under a tiny shelter for lunch in a one family village and an hour was spent trying to balance going down steep hills of mud and poo. It was hard to dress appropriately as throughout each day we would climb or decline so much that it would go from being freezing to hot and humid. My ears blistered. Camp night 2 was on the property of a small community of 4-6 families - but had a hot shower for 10 soles.

Day 3 was through the lower rainforests, stopping and having lunch surrounded by pigs, chickens and dogs. We had the option to walk along a road for a shorter, easier trek or through the rainforest which we chose as it woud be a prettier walk. It was tough but well worth it, trying new fruits like granadinas along the way, sometimes walking on the rivers edge other times deep into the forest, swatting away bugs. This day covered 14km over 5 hours as we finished along the river to soak our feet in the coooool water and then got a van to the town of Santa Teresa where we would camp on the grounds of a hostel. We were there early enough to go to the local hot springs, surrounded by green mountains it was very relaxing and we felt a lot cleaner afterwards. We had a bonfire night at the hostel which was really fun, ended up just H and I dancing around the fire with Edwin, our guide, and a few other guides who were waaaaasted! It started absolutely pouring and so Edwin offered us the spare bed in their room which was nice for about 20 minutes knowing the others were suffering in the damp tents until one drunk guide was a little bit too annoying and we decided to join the rest of the plebs in the damp tents.

We went zipling the next morning across valleys - those who didn't would have to hike an extra few hours. No thanks. It was scary at first as we were in charge of breaking ourselves whereas last time there was someone else who would stop you at the end. Much prefer having no responsibility over my own safety. But it was fun by the 5th line and then the hanging bridge over the forest at the end. We then spend 4 hours walking another 14km along the train tracks through rainforest and finally spotted Machu Picchu mountain from behind and could just see the tips of some of the walls of the ruins at the very top and the original Inca path winding around the mountain. I can't explain the excitement upon sighting this for the first time, it really hit that we were about to see something so magical. This was a really nice day, very pretty walk and pretty relaxing especially since I splurged and threw my pack on the train to give my back a rest. We arrived at Aguas Calientes town at night, exhausted and at the sight of our beds barely wanted to go out for the group dinner.

At 4am on day 5 we began the final part of the trek - 1700 stairs remained between us and Machu Picchu. Through the morning fog and then rain we hiked up, the only thing that kept me moving faster than a snail was wanting it all to be over! It was bloody hard work! As the sun came up the surrounding mountains appeared through the forest and it was very very beautiful. We met up with the rest of the group at the entrance once we had made it and then stepped out to the ruin and......SAW NOTHING! The fog was soooo thick, it was rainy, and I won't lie - there was a tinge of disappointment thinking it may not clear. Edwin took us around the ruins and explained some facts to us but still we couldn't get the full view of it. 75% is in original condition which is quite amazing considering it is from the 15th Century...until the Spanish came and killed the poor Inca's. The ruins, some still covered by thick vegetation, include built-in observatories to see the seasons for particular crops, sundials, ceremonial sites, plazas, homes and palaces. The architecture is unbelievable considering it is from so long ago, all buildings are in a slight trapzium shape as the area commonly experiences earthquakes. The stones are fit so perfectly together that without any mortar having been used a knife still could not penetrate the cracks.

After the tour we all said farewells and continued walking around before it started raining. In the end, only 6 of us stayed around for about 5 or 6 hours until the rain stopped. No way I was leaving without a proper view. 4 of us huddled under a rock and jumped out whenever the clouds lifted to take a few photos, but when they finally lifted for good - WOW! My heart missed a beat, I couldn't believe I was there! It is like being IN a postcard. There are more than 700 terraces covered in bright green grass (and llamas) growing on soil transported here by the Inca's...I don't even know how to describe it all so I will just attach photos. All I can say is that it has to be on everyone's bucket list to visit Machu Picchu (hey, take the bus and train - those people at least looked really nice for their photos). The weather actually turned out to be in our favour as it did eventually clear and only meant there were way less people as many had gone back to Aguas Calientes earlier in the day. So we were able to sit completely alone in corner of the ruins overlooking the mountains and the river and traintracks we had followed to get there, 600m below. A still unbelievable experience, and I'm sure one day it will really sink in. After a few hours taking in the views, we got the bus back to Aguas (no need to take the stairs DOWN too) and then the train back to Cusco for a good nights sleep!

Back in Cusco for a few more days, we had some really nice dinners - plenty of cocktails, seafood and some alpaca and then tried cuy...guinea pig. We did this at a really nice restaurant rather than picking our own from a cage and having it roasted on a spit like at the markets so ours came with just one little stub leg as a reminder of what it once was. Still, it was not easy for me to get down as I just thought of my beloved Honey I had growing up. Awww. :(

H and I headed out for a day in the city, discussing how much we were looking forward to a day walking about until we were handed a brochure for an open top bus tour and before we knew it were riding around on that...really how we prefer to sightsee. Rapido. It took us up to Cristo Blanco - a smaller version of the Rio statue - overlooking the city, the Saqsaywaman Ruins (yep, pronounced 'sexy woman' which was a little bit confusing for us hearing about it over and over for the first half of the tour until we got there and saw the sign) also from the Machu Picchu era and a few other nice viewpoints. We did plenty of shopping and basically just enjoyed walking around such a pleasant town.

We go to RIO...de Janeiroooo

nickygeeee — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 23:26:00 GMT

Entering Brazil was so exciting, I didn’t realise before this how much I was looking forward to it. Especially when the bus stopped at buffets along the way where you pay for food by the kilo and the main food is RICE and BEANS! My favourite, woohoo. And I think I got back at all those travelling families mentioned in the previous email. When we finally arrived at our apartment – 150m from Copacabana Beach – J, our agent from the rental company, checked us in and offered a very good personal service giving us his work email for any problems and his personal email to keep up to date with parties etc. The apartment was really nice and we still pat ourselves on the back for the bargain we got in comparison to what people paid for hostels during Carnaval. We celebrated with some bottles of bubbly and face masks. I won’t say I was not singing Barry Manilow ‘Copacabana’ and Peter Allen ‘I go to Rio’ so much that by the time we left, the man in the apartment next to us was walking around whistling the tunes.

Copacabana Beach is everything you imagine. Long and lined with palm trees, kiosks selling cocktails and seafood and people with their souvenirs for sale sprawled along Copacabana’s famous wave pattern promenade. The ultimate people-watching place. There is the gay section, attractive section, family section etc. We actually felt self conscious on the beach wearing full coverage bikini bottoms, this is how we could spot the (surprisingly) few foreigners. There is really no age or size limit to the G-banger bikini; from 5 to 75 those cheeks are bared! We went shopping one day and all wanted new bikinis but couldn’t find anything apart from the G’s and I think that would take a lifetime of tanning if we wanted to avoid blinding anyone. But enough about butts…

Lying on the beach, with Jesus watching over from Corcovado peak, people walk along selling skewers of prawns, bikinis and sarongs hanging from umbrellas being toted around and delicious cocktails delivered right to you on your towel (or your new Rio sarong)! As the beach is so wide, there are hoses spraying out water all along the sand and guys practically yell at you to walk along the wet trail to save your feet from the scorching sand. I really think it is one of those ‘anything you want, I can find and bring it to you’ kinds of places.

Brazilian Portuguese … oh man. I didn’t even try to improve to be honest. After trying for the first day when I thought there was hope I’d pick up the basics I soon realized it would be impossible. Everyone seems to pronounce the same word differently, and nothing is as it is written…or I just had terrible pronunciation when trying to read out from my phrasebook and not many people ever responded to me. So we were the terrible tourists who got through 2 weeks in Brazil with ‘Hello’ (which is the same as in Spanish so no achievement there) and ‘thank you’. We didn’t think it would be a problem as being Carnaval had heard that Copacabana would be full of tourists and the locals would probably avoid the area but nope, in the end we were desperately searching for other gringos, spotting the backpackers beards and stalking whenever we could.

Our first night out was at a bar J suggested and we met him in line, all kisses hello and everything and chatted to him for about 10 minutes, entered together and he pushed me past the line to the front of the bar ... and then the real J turned up and said hi, haha apparently we didn’t know him well enough to recognize from a stranger yet. The club was great, a mix of Latin, Brazilian and western music but the practice of having to buy drink tickets before going to the bar kept getting us. The Brazilian boys were quick to inform us that their girlfriends always give them Carnaval time ‘off’ from the relationship, a ‘free pass’. Hmmm, ok. Sunrise from Copacabana beach was beautiful. We always planned another one, but that's the reason when travelling you just gotta do it now...you may never get back there.

Our habit of sleeping in, waking for a few hours on the beach in the afternoon (generally too hot for any longer) and going out until the weeee hours began. We met up with Q, a guy we met in Buenos Aires, and his Argentinian friend A who had come with litres of pre-prepared caipirinhas, bags of ice and a hammer to go to Ipanema and see the Ipanema Street Band perform. This was so much fun as you are encouraged to join in with the parade surrounding the band on the back of a truck and end up just drinking and dancing through the streets to this rhythmic music. You even get given hats to support the band you are dancing with. Luckily Q, dressed in a shiny silver outfit and hat for the entire Carnaval week, and A, dressed as Zorro, are two of the tallest people in the world so this really helped us if we ever got separated on any of these nights out. The street parties and band parades are the way to do Carnaval. Clubs were expensive for drinks but here you either take whatever you want from home or buy them on the streets for a few dollars. Some people stand along the street and just hand out cans of beer for free in the spirit of Carnaval. Once again, as in Asia, Subway was what broke my so called 'stomach of steel'. It's always worth it.

The entire city is absolutely crazy! Public buses fly by, overcrowded with people dressed up – there is never a theme – and hanging out the window singing and chanting. The subway station is like a big party, a whale might enter the train or someone else in a particularly amusing outfit and the whole train will start chanting and cheering for them. Someone will come up to you and try to start dancing with you on the train or you may be chanted at until you do a little dance by yourself…yep, this happened to me. It is madness and impossible not to be swept up in the excitement. We went to a really nice shopping centre for party outfits and even here people are dressed up. I wore my best rainbow flowered lei for the occasion of course. A family of Where’s Wally or bumble bees walk by, dogs even look happy to be dressed up for once and if you decide 10 minutes before heading out you need a wig, that’s ok, just walk 10 metres from the apartment and someone will have a stall or a blanket laid out with every colour and style you can imagine. Dogs are really pampered in Copacabana. One rainy day we saw one go by with little boots and a raincoat. Another man we saw getting saturated by the rain but he was bending down to hold his umbrella over his dog haha.

Picking up our tickets for Sunday nights’ Sambadrome Parade was soooo exciting. The major groups supposedly performed on the Sunday and Monday nights before the final a week later. We were supposed to meet the boys at a train station near the Sambadrome but as usual what seemed like an easy plan wasn’t for us as we were on the wrong train line. Brazilians are REALLY friendly and helpful. So helpful! On the train a man told his wife to tell us to really hide our tickets and then later in the trip when we probably started looking a little confused at each stop they asked where we needed to get to. When we told them and they realized we were on the wrong line, they found a couple of older ladies standing nearby with their families and asked where they were going. It turned out they were going to a stop that we could get to where we needed to be from and they walked us out, found someone who spoke English to explain the way and this English speaking lady was even going to pay to go out and reenter the station again to take us there! This way was scenic anyway as we passed the backstreet where all of the floats were having finishing touches added. Spectacular! Turning off from here towards the Sambadrome turned out to be quite the ghetto and just by absolute chance we walked by a shop the boys were in after waiting for us for a long time at the proper meeting spot. They said even with our masks on they could see the panic in our eyes before we spotted them. This area is Centro and is basically the remnants of what were once nice buildings, long since forgotten by the government in favour of areas like Copa and Ipanema. You can see why there are issues regarding this. The street cleaners were on strike during Carnaval, very noticeable after the parades…

The Sambadrome, 700m long, seats over 90,000 people on a mixture of concrete steps and some VIP seating areas. On entering we were handed a bunch of pamphlets about the parade and schools and several condoms each. I became paranoid about my choice of outfit when I was given 9 instead of the 3 they gave everyone else. Then the parade lane became visible and my heart fluttered with excitement! We got a great spot and the French/Colombian man next to us was HILARIOUS and kept us very entertained throughout the night, not that we needed it. There were 6 schools parading this night, about 3,000 people in each. There were only breaks of 20 minutes between each and still the parade started at 9pm and finished at 6am! Talk about value for money. I was absolutely entertained the entire time, it never gets boring as the floats as truly spectacular, the outfits of each and every person dancing are so elaborate and the songs are so catchy. So much work must have gone into each float and so many rehearsals for the people involved so I can understand why there were several VERY heavily pregnant women dancing on floats. After all that work you would not want to miss out. A pirate was SHOT OUT OF A CANON! There was a water fountain on top of another float! Sorry Sydney Mardi Gras but there is some work to do. There is a queen of each school who dances at the front of each group in a FABULOUS outfit and pumps up the crowd. The groups who obviously manage to collect the most donations hand out flags and banners to the crowd to show support. You worry when bartenders at a 90,000 people venue soon know you.

Attending a Sambadrome parade should be on everyone’s bucket list. Absolutely amazing and surreal to be there, H and I grabbed each other and screamed so many times throughout the night, trying to believe we were actually experiencing this. We all Samba’d the night away (to the best of our abilities) watching all of the amazing performances and left on such a high when the crowds cleared and the sun rose, the night had flown by. The streets were already littered with the parade costumes by the time we made it out – a great souvenir if you had the space – so much work just dumped in gutters. The rubbish was by now piled metres high due to the strike, and later in the week on the way to the bus station there were these amazing floats literally dumped on sidewalks and medium strips. All through the week of Carnaval, there was an indescribable atmosphere and energy throughout all of Rio, all day every day. We didn’t even bother to wash the glitter off from one day to the next. I found a speckle of glitter on my eyebrow a week after Carnaval was over.

For the final night we met a new Brazilian friend in Ipanema where there was meant to be a big street party. He left early on and for the first time it was just us 3 girls to fend for ourselves. We managed for about an hour before we got ourselves into trouble. Well, it turned out to be a gay street party and usually I would be in my element except this meant boys AND girls trying to lunge at our faces because ‘during Carnaval everyone kisses everyone’, so we tried to escape and find a gringo bar, got caught up in a huge packed crowd and – this is where we missed the 2 tall boys and shiny hats – I turned around for one second and H who had been behind me was gone. Long story short, her phone she uses as camera which she brought out for first time ever and all money was gone, she is the shortest person in the world so we all spent a couple of hours searching, I was pulled aside and had a guy make his friend perform a wedding ceremony so I would kiss him - did not work, we went to the apartment in case she came home, called tourist police and told to wait until morning, she made it back at 8am as we were leaving to go to the police - H luckily found some people to help her, we made future emergency separation plans (had not updated since Santiago).

A week into our 10 day stay and we still had not done any sightseeing and wanted a few days on top of that to work on our tans, so we extended to 2 weeks. We did a day trip to the islands of Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande a few hours away and then on a boat which reminded me just a bit of an asylum seeker boat, not the yacht we saw in photos. It was a bit rainy but our guide Tanya was great, very ‘fabulous’, she had the personality and energy of a drag queen and pumped everyone up all day, singing, chanting and talking crap. Only problem was passing the band on the boat to get to the bar and being forced to samba or salsa or whatever dance – I can’t do any of them – in front of the entire boat and see how ‘low can you go’...not very low, thanks Tanya. We stopped at a few islands to swim, or just off the side of the boat with noodles, had seafood for lunch, met a really nice Argentinian family who adopted us and had a really fun day.

Then, as we like to speed sightsee, we had a full day city tour the next day which would take us to all of the major attractions that alone would probably take US hopeless lot a few days to manage. We started driving through the favela (what the many slums of Rio de Janerio are called) which was used in Fast and the Furious 5 – a completely different world to that we were living it up in Copacabana. One third of people in Rio live in favelas which is quite shocking. Then we drove up through Tijuca Forest – the largest urban forest in the world – to Corcovado (hunchback) peak which looms over Rio to see the iconic Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The views from up there over the city and the coastline we awesome and it sunk in that we were in RIO DE JANEIRO! #715 of 1000 things to do to make the most of your time on earth ‘Show no restraint in Rio’ DONE. Next on the tour we passed by Maracanã Stadium (football fans will know), Catedral San Sebastian which was beautiful inside with it’s dome shape stained glass walls and then a drive by the Sambadrome. Police wouldn’t let the bus stop to let us out for the tour which was fine with us because they added a new destination not usually included – the Escadaria Selarón. This staircase in the very edgy Santa Teresa area of the city is the legacy of Chilean artist Selarón who tiled the 250 steps using 2000 tiles from 120 countries – people would send them to him and yes Australia has a couple. He worked on this from 1990 until allegedly dousing himself and setting himself on fire here under ‘mysterious’ circumstances in 2012. I could have spent hours here looking at all the individual tiles, some quotes he had written and listening to the street performers here. Such intricate details – fact : used in U2’s Walk On clip as well as ones by Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg. Last stop of the tour was Pão de Açúcar, Sugarloaf Mountain which will be featured in any image of Rio or Copa or Ipanema. We reached the top by cable car where you can walk around and see views of all sides of the city and coastline. Sightseeing – check.

We ended up in a favela one day when we tried to get to the main bus terminal. So there is another bus terminal, which looks nothing like the main one but we panicked when we saw the name and jumped off the bus. Woh, G.H.E.T.T.O! Typical us. Our final days were spent on the beach, sipping caipirinhas (sounds idyllic but only one of these, not a fan) and indulging in my sarong and Havaiana addiction. Last morning breakfast was at a beachside restaurant where we could watch the prostitutes and leftover partiers from the previous night ‘romance’ (even the menu mentions this and apologises for the ‘shady characters’ which are out of their control) and play ‘spot the pimp, our new game. We then had 3 full days and nights of travel ahead of us to reach La Paz.

Tango, Futbol and Biking in Buenos Aires & DO "Go Chasin' Waterfalls"

nickygeeee — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 23:21:00 GMT

Leaving Puerto Madryn for Buenos Aires was such a beautiful bus trip. There was one of the most stunning sunsets I´ve seen as the clouds almost met the horizon so the vast, sprawling plains of inland Patagonia were framed by this vivid pink-orange strip of sky. This was almost enough to distract me from the smell of toilet, pooey pants and child-vomit in the aisle next to me.

We arrived in Buenos Aires and went in search of ´cambio´(cash) along Calle Florida which is lined with men calling out ´CAMBIO, CAMBIO´as you walk by, despite the many police about. We chose one, who of course became our friend over the next week, and he whisked us away to one of the many magazine stands, through a side door to a tiny back ´storage´room to continue the transaction and check for fake notes. It´s like what you would imagine an undercover police operation to be working out of. Calle Florida is lined with shops and cafes and it is common to see musicians, artists, cello players and tango dancers performing on the paths. By the first evening, I was already in love with BA. There always seems to be something going on (except during siesta time) and after dinner we heard music (& smelled meat) up the road and found an outdoor dance competition and of course a BBQ with choripan (beef & pork sausage) & chimichurri. Sadly there were also LOTS of kids running around with silly-string (equals new phobia) so I had to run through the crowd away from them all after I was sprayed in the face, then the hair ... I was scared to lose my choripan!

A lot of the time we spent in Buenos Aires did involve partying, but we hear that´s what it is all about so I don't feel too guilty. It was best when we became accustomed to the times in Argentina, as many afternoons we would wander around for a bar or something (and we know there are MANY about) but this is the time everyone lays low before the night. It is common to eat dinner at 10 or 11, then hit the clubs at 1 or later. This is how we got to know the man at the cafe near our hostel as we would come home from nights out at 9am and he would know to sneak us an end of 'night' beer – as long as we hid it. Then it is time for bed until about 2pm when it becomes unbearably hot and you wish you paid an extra $1 for a room with air con. We also thought someone in our hostel was constantly having REALLY inappropriately loud sex for a couple of days until we found out about the adult movie cinema sharing a wall. Although after 10 days at the hostel we became aware it would have been just as likely to be backpackers in the hostel bathrooms.

One night we went to see La Bomba del Tiempo (The Time Bomb) perform one of their regular shows. There are 15 or more percussionists on stage, all really enjoying themselves and following hand signals of the leader to improvise based on the crowds' reaction. That was awesome and a true reminder that I have no rhythm. We did some shopping and found BA-worthy dresses for Tango night, also invested in a straightener to share between the 3 of us...very un-backpackerish. The night started off with a BEAUTIFUL dinner at the intimate venue, all you can drink wine – to help with your lessons which are next – (I suck but we had a lot of fun). I assume everyone who pays gets the tango lesson certificate and it is not a very selective process. After lessons, the Tango Show began. A Tony Bennett like character sang and entertained us throughout and the show was dancers performing tango styles throughout the centuries. It was beautiful, such a romantic dance (when done right of course).

H and I did a bike tour of Buenos Aires, which was great. Our guide wasn´t lying when she said ¨Here in Argentina we have road rules...but there are also no rules¨. Scary! We saw government house at Plaza de Mayo which is where Evita would famously address the crowds on the balcony. Of course we did NOT sing ´don´t cry for me Argentina´at this point...sure. There is also a memorial in the square for the ´disappeared children´of the communist era who were taken from jailed parents and given to other families or who were ´missing´youth suspected to be involved in movements. It´s quite a sad story; older ladies still gather here once a week to pay their respects and some are still being reunited with their families. Evita is a huge figure here, very controversial. There are artworks of her face on buildings throughout the city – it is of a smiling face towards the poor areas and a scowl towards the wealthier areas. Near the main BA bus terminal people don´t even live in houses, you would think they are demolished buildings until you see some clothes hanging from a line amongst the rubble. A real city of contrasts as we then passed through to wealthiest area where many multi-million dollar apartment blocks are left empty as investments for South America´s 'dodgier side'. We were a group of about 20 blondes and maybe 2 brunettes, so it was funny riding past guys and hearing lines such as ´hey Barbie, I want to be your Ken¨, or simply ¨Argentinian boyfriend?¨. I have to say, all the lookers of South America seem to congregate in BA.

Next it was on to La Boca area, one of the poorest, and Caminito and so we tightened any belongings well on to our bikes. Caminito is an outdoor museum and tourist strip lined with bars and restaurants and waiters asking ¨Would you like some lunch señorita?¨- ¨No gracias¨- ¨Get drunk with me?¨ haha. It has a very cool, vibrant atmosphere. This is where you will come face to face with the common image of BA, the row of colourfully painted houses and likely a couple in Tango pose in front. Artists line the old cobblestone streets, musicians perform and dancers pose. Even the trees are decorated in colourful crochet covers. The painted houses represent how the area used to look when Europeans escaping the war came to live in filthy, cramped conditions and wanted to make their houses a little nicer however couldn´t afford paint. They would go down to the shipping wharf and steal leftover boat paint which often wouldn’t cover the entire front of a building, thus creating the colourful patchwork effect. On the way home we passed La Boca soccer stadium – La Boca is worshipped in Argentina, particularly BA where many buildings in the area are painted the blue and yellow team colours. It is a truly beautiful city.

One Saturday night we went to watch one of BA´s local teams San Lorenzo play against Racing Club. WHAT an experience – a highlight of the trip! A bunch of us got the bus from the hostel, sipping as many beers as we could when everyone freaked out upon hearing no alcohol is served in the stadium. Each seat is given a piece of white, navy or maroon cardboard (San Lorenzo´s colours). We tried to learn some chants but ended up just picking up on the swear words we already knew – why are these so much easier to remember than useful phrases? The atmosphere was wild, the crowd was up and singing and banging on any noisy item throughout the entire game, sometimes getting so excited they just had to take their shirts off (to which we had mixed feelings, depending on the person) and swing it around. I wish I could love ANYTHING as much as these guys love football. A dog wandered onto the field. San Lorenzo won. The party rolled out into the carpark and then the street. Amazing!

Sad to leave Buenos Aires but certain we´d be back, we then headed north to Rosario where Che Guevara was born. We actually came hoping to find some beaches along the river (having read good things) but I think our hostel owner Juan was the most entertaining thing about Rosario. He sounds like Borat, calls everyone ¨motherF...er¨ and teases everyone´s nationality. He was a character. The river was again nothing special (supposed to be the place to see), but we did get to have a photo out the front of Che´s family home – very La Dee da – and I had one of the best empanada´s I´ve tried – finally managed to get a snack without dulce de leche, the sweet sweet caramel Argentinians love with almost everything.

´Sadly´ the only bus option to the next destination, Puerto Iguazu, was Cama class (luxury) for the 20 hour trip. Well, this trip raised our expectations to an unsustainably high level as we were first offered red wine with dinner. The bus was pretty empty, so we asked for a top up and he brought us back the whole bottle. After dinner, sparkling wine was offered and this time we didn´t even have to ask – he just poured us a glass each and left the bottle along with some cookies his wife had baked.

Puerto Iguazu was HOT! you can feel the sun pinching your skin within minutes. The town is nothing too exciting – some great food – but is the place to stay to visit Iguazu Falls. Iguazu are the 2nd largests falls in the world – considered higher than Niagra and longer than Victoria Falls. We spent a day on the Argentinian side and wow, these waterfalls are spectacular! They are surrounded by tropical jungle and it is huuuumid! Luckily a lot of the paths take you so close you get plenty of spray so I could disguise the sweat as water. From this side you get to walk over falls, 1m from where they drop off, walk under them and see them from a distance. The many rainbows finish the view off perfectly, especially at ´Devil´s Throat´ where the wide river compacts into a narrow fall and the water pounds down so heavily you get absolutely saturated on the viewing platform above. You would think an entire day looking at the same falls would be enough, but we were back the next day – this time from the Brazilian side. Here you get more of a panoramic view and it really puts into perspective how many falls there are and how much area they cover. This side was even hotter and had less waterfall spray so we were speed sightseers. And dear people - there is an etiquette when having our photos taken at major tourist sights: get in there, get the shot and get the heck out! Do NOT stay in position flicking through 20 photos to see if you got it - you got it! And don't then nudge US to please move out of your shot. This is clearly not an issue we had ;)

The following day we hopped on the bus bound for Rio De Janeiro, bursting with excitement that in 24 hours we would arrive at our apartment in Copacabana and get ready for Carnaval!!!!

Lakes District and Patagonia - Zig-zag through Chile / Argentina‏

nickygeeee — Sat, 8 Feb 2014 12:02:00 GMT

So after leaving the thieves behind in Santiago, we headed to Pucón and were lucky enough to meet an Aussie guy on the bus who was living and working at a small guesthouse there so he called ahead to book for us and the owner came and picked us up from the terminal. Pucón is in what is known as the Lakes District in Chile and is so so lovely. It is what you imagine thinking of American snowy mountain towns, with the timber lodge-style buildings and smell of firewood. The black-volcanic-sand lake is really pretty and full of activity, as is the harbour which is lined with beautiful gardens and the active Volcan Villaricca looms over town. Coming to South America, we did not know we wanted to climb a volcano…

The guesthouse was really nice and family run so they invited us to have breakfast with them and then as it rained all day took us with them to the Los Pozones hot springs that evening, apparently best in the rain. A few lazy days in Pucón as we kept forgetting to book the volcano trek actually worked out perfectly as by the time we did it, it wasn’t so icy and our sicknesses were on the mend. This remains one of our favourite places so far, and up there with the most awesome experiences.

Hailey, me and 3 others of the group chose – against the guides´ advice – to trek the first part of the mountain while the others took the chairlift. It is meant to be most difficult as the gravel here is loose but of course, being seasoned hikers (not) we wanted to do the entire mountain. We didn’t realize that this meant once we got to the next section, we would have to play catch ups with the rest of the group. We were literally jogging up the volcano slopes at times. This is when the first thoughts of ´WHY do we do this? We hate hiking!´ entered our minds. Then as we reached the snow, Gianni, our lacking-people-skills-guide, started yelling at us ´CRAMPONS! CRAMPONS!...PUT ON YOUR CRAMPONS´ and we eventually had to yell back ´WHAT THE HELL ARE CRAMPONS????´ so he dug through all of our packs and pretty much threw them at us. This didn’t help, as Hailey and I still had no idea what to do with them so he huffed and puffed and strapped them on for us. He became even more pleasant when he yelled at us for taking photos (does he KNOW who he´s talking to??) and then for stepping out of line. Eventually he gave up on us and intercepted another guide, Ricardo, palming Hailey, me and another girl off to him while he carried on with the other 2 running up the steep climb. We cheered. Ricardo was awesome, couldn’t understand the hurry and no photos rule and literally held our hands as we made our way up. The views over the area were beautiful, lakes, forests and distant volcanoes and we were lucky it was the perfect clear day. As we zig-zagged our way to the top, the air becomes painful to breath and it tasted and felt like we were swallowing sharp metal flakes.

Then WE MADE IT to the top, which is freeeeezing and so windy, you can only really enjoy looking into the mouth of the volcano for a second before it becomes unbearable, and then it was time for the most fun part of the day – sliding down the slopes! Half of the time it´s in carved out snow shoots (like a water slide) and you may or may not use the plastic seat in your pack, the other times one of the guides will just slide down to clear some snow and you are on your way. It is the kind of fun where you are screaming hysterically laughing. You get some speed too, actually getting airborne (bruised bums were worth it). What a blast, you forget the pains in your legs, the blisters, the sunburn, the exhaustion for 2 hours of childlike fun. Pucón, we love you.

Next was Bariloche, crossing back into Argentina but still in the Lakes District. Another beautiful area but as we had just done Pucón and were in a hurry to complete Patagonia before Carnival we just had one night there and the most amazing steak before the 28 hour bus to El Calafate. When the sealed roads ended and the gravel began, we were happy we hadn’t hired a car ourselves. Plus, the bus was Cama class again which meant too much food and English movies. The people by now were getting friendlier too.

Time for our first destination in Patagonia! El Calafate was freezing, but a pretty town. We did a day trip to Parque Nacional de Los Glaciars and even the drive there was stunning as the lakes in the area are the colour of the Great Barrier Reef. Entering the National Park, the road winds around the milky blue lake and then we spotted our first iceberg! At the last bend the Perito Moreno Glacier appears between two mountains as though it is a frozen tsunami. The icey blue colour of it is spectacular. We spent a couple of hours viewing it from different angles along the boardwalks – you would think hours spent looking at the same glacier is too much but no way – and everyone scrambles for their cameras when you hear the thunderous cracking of huge chunks of ice falling off and crashing into the water. We then boarded a boat to take us to the glacier to trek on for an hour, after being strapped up with our crampons….now aware what they are. While on the glacier, the colours take on an almost fluorescent tone when the sun highlights it. It is the height of a 20 storey building and while most glaciers in the world are shrinking, Perito Moreno is stable and even advancing. At 2575 sq kms it is the worlds´3^rd largest icefield. Facts! As we turned the final corner, we were met with a table set up with whiskey to have over glacial ice. This place is so beautiful!!!

We then got the bus back into Chile to Puerto Natales, the base for Torres del Paine National Park. Most people come here to do a famous 3 or 4 day hike through the park, however having decided we don’t actually ENJOY the act of hiking only the destination, we settled for a one day bus trip to the main viewpoints of the park. But first I took the bus to the park by myself for an 8 hour day hike to the Base del Torres viewpoint. Easy, right? Not if you´re me. The bus stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere but for a few buildings, so I thought this may be the park entrance where the shuttle buses come to take you further into the park. I started to get my things ready and once the guy next to me moved for me to get up and only 3 other people on the bus got off I was for some reason too embarrassed to stop even though I had a feeling it may be the wrong stop and continued to exit the bus. I tried to convince myself that maybe the rest of the bus were doing the 4 day hike and there could be another stop for them. Nope…and the long line of people at the ´information office´ were in fact lining up for a border crossing. What. An. Idiota. I found a café and tried to ask the lady where I was in my limited Spanish. A bit later another bus showed up – the same company as I had taken – and a ranger got out. He kind of understood me and told the driver where I was supposed to be going so he let me on. Arriving at the REAL park (about an hour further away) the driver tried to take my ticket but it was the one I needed for my return. Then LUCKILY the 2 men that had been working on my original bus walked past and being able to point to them along with ´estoy ESTUPIDA!´ was just enough for the driver to understand and laugh at me for being sleepy.

As I was now running late to start my trek I was jogging for the first part and really had to rush, having 1x5 minute break on the way up, 10 minutes at the top and then a bit more of a relaxing return. It was a really nice day, being alone for the first time in a while was peaceful and the hike took me through a variety of landscapes. It started off in hilly grasslands, then wound between 2 mountains until after a couple of turns the snowy mountains appear through the valley. The day started cloudy and rainy but just in time cleared for this view. Stumbling across rocky rivers with crystal clear water, balancing over rickety bridges, then heading back up through the forest where when it rains it is hard to tell whether you are on track or walking up a stream. Then it started snowing and I just felt ecstatic at my luck. Each time I considered turning back as I was struggling and the clouds rolled in it would clear up and some other fantastic view would appear. The last hour was rough but by then the 3 towers (The Torres del Paine) appeared and finally I reached the striking blue lagoon at their base. On the way back down I was happy to have people stop me in desperation asking how much longer until the top, reassuring me I was not the only one struggling.

After enjoying too many banana and nutella crepes in the cold weather of Puerto Natales and too many Chorillanas (hot chips over beef, chicken, chorizo, eggs and veggies) this had been my day to cut down on food (poor timing)….so by the time I returned to the starting point, a nice lodge in the park, I was exhausted. And freezing. And early as I had rushed so much panicking I would miss my bus. I asked a driver of a tour company who was sitting in his van where my return shuttle would pick me up from and then curled up on a bench trying to warm myself after finding the kiosk for food closed. He must have seen. About an hour later his tour group loaded into the van and started to drive off then he must have spotted me still huddled there looking hopeless and a lady jumped out of the van and came over to me and said the driver had seen me there for a while with nothing to eat and he didn’t need his lunch pack and wanted me to have it. Scores! Chocolates, chicken and avocado sandwich (still warm!), cokes and biscuits. I just love people!

The next day the 3 of us headed back to the park in the safety of an organized tour getting us there without a hitch. The mountains in the park are so imposing, although we have seen higher I think these ones seem larger as they are dark granite and almost eerie looming over spectacularly coloured lakes. There are 4 seasons in one day here so again we were lucky the day always cleared when it needed to.

Our final stop in Patagonia was Puerto Madryn, back in Argentina on the southern coast. This was a last minute decision as it looked like a good halfway point to shorten the 40 hour journey from Puerto Natales to Buenos Aires. Once again, the unexpected are some of the best places we find ourselves. The main reason to visit is for the Reserva Faunistica Peninsula Valdes as the area is a major whale watching point at certain times of the year. We got to arranging our activities here straight away and our possibly-involved-in-illegal-businesses-as-well-as-his-day-job seal tour guy Peter – or his ´friend´- sorted us out with some money, dropping it off at our hostel for us after stopping by his ´friend´ after work. We then became known as ´Peter´s Angels´. Another thing I didn’t realize I wanted to do in life was to snorkel with sea lions. But I´d better add that on to my bucket list and tick it off because it was awesome. Even better that they don’t encourage them to come to us with food, they are just so playful they approach you by themselves. As soon as we jumped in the water they were all around, and for 45 minutes we swam with them, patted them, high-fived them and had our arms ´playfully but firmly´ bitten by them. Oh my gosh soooo much fun and probably the only time I´ve been kept entertained the entire time snorkeling.

We had another non-backpacker style meal of Patagonian lamb and of course more Argentinian wine before our Peninsula Valdes tour the next day. Juan, our guide, was one of those amazing guides that you can tell is actually so passionate about the area and Orca´s – the big hope for the day – and in turn the whole bus gets really excited. He shared his mate (aka yerba mate, the caffeine rich drink Argentinians are constantly sipping on) with us all as we went from one point to the next. First Punta Norte, the beach lined with thousands of sea lions and the odd elephant seal. The pups are born in January so there were so many in their little daycare sections. In March, the Orca´s stalk this beach as the pups enter the water for the first time but we were a few weeks early for this. Along the dry coastal scrublands we saw plenty of Ria´s (the emu of Patagonia) and Guanacos (the Patagonian llama with the most expensive wool in the world). Then we stopped at Punta Cantor to see more elephant seals slumped on the shore, looking too heavy to move on land. Then Juan yelled for us all to run to another point on the cliff – he had spotted orca´s!!! we were all sooo excited and bolted to get to the front of the crowd to see the 2 adults and one calf swimming along the shore. We ran alongside them, viewpoint to viewpoint as we realized they were headed for where the seals were beached. I have never wanted a seal to be killed before…haha. We were so lucky, in February you only have a 10-20% chance to spot them and we watched them catching the waves to shore metres from the seals teaching the young one ´intentional stranding´, the hunting technique only practiced here, nowhere else in the world! So lucky. We then watched as they continued along the coast out of sight, and then we carried on to another point to get within metres of Magellanic penguins. What an amazing day! Patagonia was so spectacular and I can´t believe how many amazing things we saw in a few weeks.

Wining and dining in Bolivia and Argentina‏

nickygeeee — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 11:38:00 GMT

We left off getting the bus to Sucre in Bolivia which was a pretty short (11 hours) however butt-hurting ride. Sucre is beautiful, meant to be the prettiest city in Bolivia and you can see why. It´s also a UNESCO world heritage site. Neon signs are banned, and the buildings - mostly Spanish colonial architecture with pretty patios - are all required to be whitewashed yearly. It´s so clean too! Although 5 minutes away up the hillsides from the centre of town the painting gets more and more dilapidated and there will be the odd pig on the side of the road. We spent most of our time here eating really good food - my first taste of llama mmmm - and just walking around the city, up to viewpoints and then having early nights as we were all sick. We went horseriding with our guide with the broken arm - he assured us not from the horses - which took us through the hills surrounding Sucre and some of the surrounding farming villages. The only issue I had, as the horses pretty much sorted themselves out, was when the dogs would come chase us and Rudy really did not like dogs. We were lucky to be around on a Sunday and headed out about an hour away to Tarabuco where there are huge markets. That was fun, except for the old ladies trying to sell things that put on a sad begging face and drape the ítems in your face, no matter where you are or what you are doing. While we were waiting for our bus to leave Sucre I got my tragus pierced, because I am apparently having a quarter-life-crisis, and then we headed south to Tarija, Bolivia´s wine región. Woooh vino!

This was our first lesson going into the high season to book hostels in advance as we arrived at 5am and couldn´t find any that were open and/or had space so we spent several hours going from café to café trying to find one where wifi worked so we could find beds! We managed to find one eventually after looking like bums in the park for too long and they cooked a big delicious dinner at the hostel the first night to farewell the hippie who had been painting the wall mural. Tarija was larger than I expected, it´s nice though with tree-lined avenues, colonial architecture, paved streets, many plazas and fountains.

We did a wine tour which stopped at a few vineyards and then a few sights around the área, which is very pretty. We were all forced to try Singani, the 96% alcohol distilled grape spirit and the guide had a laugh telling the first girl it was water so she took a big sip. It is potent! We met a really funny Bolivian family on the tour, the Mum was in set-up-my-son mode. The second half of the day we had another tour which took us to a dam, a canyon, a waterfall and some town but nothing exciting. Plus we were so tired from drinking the first half of the day and then sitting on the bus in the sun.

This was the end of Bolivia for the time being. It worked out cheaper to get a taxi to the Bolivia/Argentina border and we thought it was going to be an easy day, cross the border, get a bus on the other side to Salta and relax. Not with ´AMERICANOS! ´. Stamp to exit Bolivia - easy! Scan bags - fine, apart from the swarms of bugs in the humidity. Then came the confusión...where do we enter Argentina? 1km away up the hill in the stinkng hot sun being eaten by insects. That was´t toooo bad. Then we got intercepted in line by THE DEVIL! He took the girls American Passports and told them they needed to pay for the Argentinian visa on the Bolivian side. We had researched but hadn´t found anything saying it´s one you need to get in advance. (I love being British). Anyway, they ended up having to walk back and forth between the 2 borders 3 or 4 times, being told different things each time and not fully understandig the problem as the Devil doesn´t speak English. Oh he was such an A**hole, I caught him smirking as he walked off. Renee ended up throwing her money at him in frustration at one point. They had had to cross back into Bolivia and get a taxi to the nearest town to find an internet café and pay for their visa online then come back. When they passed the baggage scan again, a nicer man asked ´Americanos? ´as he could see there was a problem, so it must happen a bit. Meanwhile, I - whose stamp took 30 seconds! - was waiting with all of our baggage, had this one policeman keep making me move with it all for no particular reason, had the cleaning lady throw her bucket of wáter over the path and then sweep it towards me and all of the bags as I tried to move them screaming ´UN MOMENTO!!!! ´to which she did NOT wait un momento. The Devils wife? I was so mad when I fell asleep/passed out in the heat and the policeman poked me to wake me...then tried to tell me something which I didn´t understand. I hated him at this point, until he walked away on his phone for a bit and came back having used google translate to tell me to be careful of the bags. So we became friends.

4 hours later and we were ready to go, with our taxi driver Jose who had seen the girls doing laps and drove them up the hill the last time for free. There were no buses (well planned) so we got him to drive us 4 hours away to Salta which was actually pretty cheap. He got us through the many pólice checkpoints without a hassle, talking his way out of having them check our bags each time (assuming drugs often come in from Bolivia) and lent us money for snacks and wáter as we had no pesos. Even though I was ready for him to drive off with all of our stuff at each petrol stop (they often make you get out of the vehicle when filling up over here...this was our first time experiencing this) he ended up being so nice ´ok my darlings ´and even assisted us with our first money Exchange on the blue (black) market as you get so ripped off with the USD by the official rate. We were so nervous about this before arriving but you are almost halving what you get if you do it properly. So it was a drive-by transaction and he even gave us a lesson on how to differentiate fake notes from the real ones.

Salta is a nice town from what I saw - about 10 minutes. We stayed at a hostel 1/2 hour out of town surrounded by farms and with stunning mountain views from the POOL (needed for the heat). it was free to stay here as they are still finishing it off so even though some days there was literally no food and nowhere else to go except back to town until mid-afternoon it was worth it. We pretty much lazed around the pool the whole time, slept in and had fun times at the bar. We did have to leave the pool área one day and get a make-myself-feel-better slushie when the Argentinian girls showed up in their thong bikinis. Ummm does gravity not affect them? The boys were very happy when we brought their attention to it so we all sat outside with our perve-glasses on. Well, mostly us 3 girls, while downloading butt exercise aps we were sure we would use daily until Rio.

We decided we couldn´t work at this hostel due to the fly problem. I´ve never seen so many! Amongst them sandflies we would later find out as bites started appearing. One morning was weird waking up in the room to our Brazilian roommate playing the didgeridoo and then offering us LSD (don´t worry I said no). Only in South America. Luckily he checked out that day. We met some good Friends here, a bunch of guys motorcycling from North America down to Ushuaia, the Southernmost point in South America, and have since run into lots of people (mostly other bikers) who know them as by now everyone was on a similar route to us. This is fun when arriving somewhere like Buenos Aires and meeting people from La Paz etc.

Next destination was Cordoba, supposedly a 12 hour overnight bus trip. About 8 hours in we woke to hear the sound like an aeroplane engine (if you were IN the engine), drenched in sweat as the air-con had carked it and had to leave the bus and wait for another, slightly crappier bus. This bus NEVER worked properly. For several hours we drove at a snails pace as it kept overheating and then we would have to stop for 1/2 hour. It was equally as hot on the bus as off by now. Finally it died for good and no amount of wáter bottles could fix it. So then we waited on the side of the road for 2 hours - found a service station that sold beer and enjoyed this with an old Bolivian couple - for another bus to arrive. Cama class. The fancy class with only 3 seats across and even wifi so that I could let Couchsurf host #2 know that we would be late as 12 hours turned into 23!

Humid Cordoba is Argentina´s 2nd city, it´s really nice with lots of fountains, a few rivers passing through and beautiful buildings. You feel like you could be in Europe. And there is Subway. Couchsurf host #2 apartment was really centrally located and nice...he was nice and sweet as well but this was to be our last couchsurfing attempt as what we saved on accommodation we spent on dinners and drinks trying to avoid him at the apartment as we are finding that hosts are possibly people who.....lack social skills? His family were over for lunch one day visiting from Germany and we briefly met them - they were AWESOME! We tried to get to Alta Gracia where Che Guevara grew up but were too late for the bus that day so saw The Wolf of Wall Street instead and then lied about the time were were getting a bus just so we could get out of there and the awkwardness and instead spent an extra couple of hours at the terminal. We didn´t want to sit around and watch him ´play ´the guitar any longer. By now we were already noticing many Argentinians dislike of Americans and to be honest, weren´t loving most in return. ´Where are you from? ´- ´United States ´- *grunting noise* ´and you? ´- ´Australia ´- ´Oh! AUSTRALIA! Wow ........ *conversation with me, ignoring the girls completely*.

Next - Mendoza for some wine time! Hailey and I wasted no time getting out and looking for some good restaurants. Here they sprawl onto sidewalks and the atmosphere is great. Mendoza is another lovely city with plenty more tree-lined avenues (needed to escape from the sun) plazas, fountains, parks etc. I read that there are so many plazas in Mendoza as in the 1800´s the city was flattened by a huge earthquake so now they are all evacuation zones. Wondering if that is why all of South America so far love their plazas. OMG. Good. Wine. In. Argentina. Is. So. CHEAP. At. Restaurants!!! HEAVEN. And then there is the steak! We definitely splurged on meals throughout Argentina.

Instead of a tour, we got a bus to Maipu and hired bikes for the day for $6 from Mr Hugo. I had the BEST day. Wish I could do it all again. We just got a map and rode around to whichever Bodega´s we wanted (ran out of time for the Olive Oil farms). It was 40 degrees so we were some of the only idiots...i mean people... biking around. My favourite winery was this 100% organic one - you can drink as much as you want and not feel bad - where all bottles are hand labelled and bottled and we were able to simple the most expensive bottle which you usually wouldn´t as the owner had opened it up the previous day and with no preservatives it needs to be consumed within 24 hours. We helped. This was our first stop and we were already struggling in the heat. Plus, being dressed for bike riding in dresses and thongs made it easier. Not. We soon realised we were continually being followed by a policeman on a motorbike and worried that as an Argentinian he was going to target us for not wearing helmets. But as we held up our map looking lost at one point he came over and asked where we wanted to go then told us just to follow him. From this time he had him for the rest of the day. He would wait outside the bodegas and then ask where to next and lead us there. It was great when, as after a few wines you lose respect for time, we realised we were running late to return to Mr Hugo and Renee was sick and struggling so the entire way back he blocked a (the only) lane of traffic so that we could follow him back and told us not to worry about going too slow for the cars. SERVICE! He delivered us to Mr Hugo and explained our tardiness. A group of other people who had returned were sitting around Mr Hugo´s and all cheered when we arrived with the policeman, by this point we had forgotten this was not normal.

Until now we had managed to avoid doing our own blue market exchange - the biker boys did it for us in Salta - but it was time. We had our escape plan all worked out haha but all you do is walk down one Street in particular and men with bumbags see you are a foreigner and start saying ´CAMBIO (change) , cambio, cambio´until you pick one. He will then take you into a shop - ours was a jewellery & handbag shop - and disappear behind the counter and come back with your money. Done. Easy. And then he will help you find the bus stop.

We took a day bus to Santiago as had heard the drive through the Andes is beautiful and it WAS! And this border crossing back into Chile was easy, I asume because Argentina is happy to get rid of the Americans. Although it was funny that they kept bringing the sniffer dogs past us in line, SO many times we were laughing in the end, it was as if to say ´come on are you SURE you don´t smell any drugs on them?´. Snow capped mountains, vineyards, pisco plantations. Through these mountains you realice how miniscule you are on the earth. We had the best seats - front row so with extra leg space and full front window views (the driver is downstairs) so we were very please with how everything was going, bus timing and connections working out perfectly etc. until Hailey got pickpocketed at Santiago bus terminal with the few hundred dollars she´d just exchanged and more from the ATM we had just been to. We are sure we know who it was - 2 girls - and possibly how it happened - an older man who was trying to tell her something in Spanish...this could have been him being involved to distract her or him trying to warn her as they were hanging around for a while. Argh! So annoying. But we had plenty of hours to put together this theory, heading to Pucon in Chile´s Lake District.

Death Road, Lake Titicaca and The Pampas...some love and hate in Bolivia‏

nickygeeee — Fri, 3 Jan 2014 11:27:00 GMT

After piling into one of the mini-vans that transport people around La Paz – with all of our luggage to much huffing and puffing and one Hail Mary – we arrived at the bus stand to take us to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. We were confused when a few hours into the trip we arrived at a water crossing and were forced off the bus as it was loaded onto a barge which seemed to be just old, rotten looking planks of wood on some tyres. Luckily that was just for the bus and we crossed on another boat. We carried on to Copacabana and followed a girl that met us at the bus stop with a free taxi to a hostel. I´m sure we do everything you are not supposed to. Another nice private room for $5 a night each, with a lovely rooftop terrace with fantastic views of sunset over the lake.

Copacabana beach is pebbly and lined with duck pedal boats and Bolivian families having picnics and playing games. We went for a hike up Cerro Calvario which looks over Lake Titcaca and Copacabana town, which looks much bigger from up here. Halfway up the hill is a statue – Mirador Sagrado Corazon de Jesus – which is located between the twin hills San Cristobal (male) and San Barbara (female). The path follows 14 stations of the cross and leads to a very spiritual place at the top where there are ceremonial tables, crosses and boxed in shrines where people come to light candles and pray for loved ones ill and passed.

In the centre of town at the very beautiful Catedral, cars line up daily to be decorated with streamers, flowers and sprayed with champagne for the vehicle blessing known as La Benedicion de Movilidades´, asking the Virgn de Copacabana for protection. The Virgen de Copacabana is a statue encased in glass in the church only taken out for special fiestas, otherwise it is believed catastrophic floods will occur. This statue is so highly regarded that Copcabana in Rio de Janeiro was named after this Copacabana because of it. We were lucky enough to see the statue paraded through the streets when we were sitting having our morning coffee at a café. We heard distant drumming and trumpeting and eventually up the street marched hundreds of people throwing confetti and flower petals and the Bolivian navy marched through and then finally the statue was paraded by. Lucky us. We do think it´s funny Bolivia has a navy, but I suppose they want to protect whatever borders they can now. I loved Sergio´s explanation that while Bolivians party for Carnival and other celebrations, Chile takes their land and that is why they have no ocean border now.

We thought we bought a day tour to Isla del Sol and while this sounds greedy to expect for a few dollars, that is how it was explained. So we were confused when we arrived by boat on the island and found we had to walk the entire length of the island (4 hours in the scorching sun…which we were not dressed appropriately for) to meet the boat to return to Copacabana. So in fact, we would not just spend the day cruising around on the boat, docking at important sites and boarding again the lazy tourist way we have come to enjoy. All we had was the boat ticket. We had to try and follow other people who had been on our boat to find a guide, and thankfully a girl in our group spoke Spanish and English and could translate for us. We tried to miss a few sites we weren’t interested in but without a ticket you could not pass and you had to pass to get across the island. Then there were several check points you had to pay a ´toll´ at to get past… ¨for the children¨ in the end we were so hot, sweaty, sore (thongs are not hiking shoes) and burnt we were yelling ¨WE JUST WANT TO GET OFF THIS ISLAND!!! WE DON´T WANT TO USE YOUR PATH!!!¨….looking back, it was a beautiful day, a beautiful island with Inca ruins and the island was one of the most important religious sites in the Andes as the place the sun and moon were created. Crystal clear water along the shores, ancient sacrificial tables, important history, and surrounded by the endless azul ´ocean´of Lake Titicaca – but we hated it at the time. At least we can appreciate it now and appreciate it even more as we did not stay on the island because as we arrived at the far end we met people arriving with their big backpacks and saw the hill they had to climb (at this high altitude) and how unaware they were that this would be necessary.

I also like to think that being in such a spiritual place was the best place possible to hear of beautiful Grandma passing away and I was happy that if I couldn´t be home with everyone there was a place I could go and feel that I could say goodbye and have some sort of farewell. Hailey & I trekked up Cerro Calvario again with some candles and flowers and had a lovely little ceremony for Grandma and all loved ones we´ve lost. It was really nice and then we sat on the end of a rock with a beer overlooking the lake and watched other families celebrate loved ones too, throwing bungers at each other and spraying alcohol around. Then we tipped some alcohol onto the ground to officially end the ceremony – an offering to pachamama (mother earth) so that your prayers are heard – and sat there for sunset.

Now the tone of the trip changes from this spiritual, sightseeing journey to a drunken, party holiday for the festive season. Bar dancing, countless bloodbombs (the official Loki shot, red bull and grenadine dropped into a glass of red bull…you will not escape without many), bars lined with shots and then set alight, many mangina´s in the bar (again,mostly Australian boys), forgotten nights, lost articles of clothing after clubs, wasted days…but you never have to feel ashamed the next day as everyone else at this hostel was always just as drunk or more so.

We spent a week in La Paz, so that we could be at a good hostel for Christmas and they really did do a nice day. We had a proper Xmas dinner and the bar was decorated sooo nicely and the staff were amazing and made it really special and as homely as possible for everyone. At 12 on the dot my birthday celebrations began and for some reason it seems tradition amongst backpackers to buy the birthday girl THE. Most. Disgusting. Shots. Possible! I awoke with a stiff feeling face and when I looked in the mirror I was covered in UV paint. Hmmmmm. I remember singing Enrique Iglesias songs in the taxi on the way home from a local bar where the manager would not let us buy any drinks all night and instead just kept bringing over his own trays of flaming concoctions. Just another night in La Paz.

We then decided it would be a good idea to mountain bike down the road known as ´The World´s Most Dangerous Road´ a.k.a. Death Road. It was awesome! We started early in the morning as it was a couple of hours drive away, through the finally quiet streets of La Paz city and up the surrounding snowcapped mountains to a car park where we got acquainted with our bikes – mine was Evil Santa - and passed around a bottle of 96% alcohol to sip, pour on our bikes and then onto the earth to ask for Pachamama´s protection. Pachamama appears to be an alcoholic. Our guide was great and as we started on an asphalt road to get used to our bikes he stayed at the back with Renee and I and chatted to us so we concentrated less on pooping our pants as trucks and buses flew by and more on removing our white-knuckle grip on the brakes. It was a shame I couldn’t move any part of my body and more fully appreciate the beautiful scenery of the surrounding mountains, but I chose life. I was just getting used to riding and was able to release the brakes from time to time when it was time to board the bus (except the overachievers who wanted to ride the extra hour – this part was up hill so most of us chose to eat our chocolate bars and bond on the bus…we had a really good group of people) and head for Death Road. Arrrrghhhh toilet stop por favor? Talk about nerves.

You start up in the dry bushy mountain tops and as you descend it becomes more humid and tropical. It is really beautiful scenery when you can appreciate it, but as we were always at the back we never had much time to stop before starting again, as the rest of the group had already been waiting.but on Death Road, I felt no need to go any faster than I felt comfortable and the guide was constantly fixing my brakes as I don’t think I let go once. He also warned that I would suffer from ´prison butt syndrome´by the end of the day as I also didn´t lift my butt off the seat the whole time. But it was my cramping hands that were more the problem. We road through waterfalls and creeks – a time I did actually have to speed up – and dodged ´baby skull rocks´ which commonly knock people off their bikes and when we finally made it to the little village at the end were warned to look out for dogs and children as they also often knocked people off at this point. I ignored many high five requests because of my inability to remove my hands from their moulded position.

When we made it to the end we celebrated our lives with a beer and then went ziplining which was a lot of fun, in Superman position (so that braking was not my responsibility), 350m high above the bush and rivers below. We then piled into the back of a truck to take us to meet the rest of the group at an animal sanctuary but as we were running late (ahem…not our fault for being too slow) we only had time for a shower and food. Up until this point we hadn’t even thought about how we would get back to La Paz, but I had specifically screamed throughout the day ¨thank god we are on bikes not on a bus¨ as the road didn’t seem so narrow for us on bikes. WELL, how did we have to get back???? Along The Worlds Most Dangerous Road…on our bus. Luckily a small 20 seater one but it still took several beers on our bus party to calm the nerves. We stopped under one waterfall , mid-creek, and they opened the doors so we could look out and there was about 5-10cm between the edge of the bus and the edge of the road and the vertical drop. So this is when we started to hear the death stories of Death Road. At its peak there were about 300 deaths a year. There is now a new road but vehicles still use this one and it sucks when 2 vehicles meet in opposite directions, trust me. Here cars drive on the right hand side but on this road they switch so that the driver is at the edge of the road.

We heard about a truck who had to reverse to give way to another car and it´s tray was filled with 100 or so people and as it reversed its wheels slipped and it went over the edge, killing them all. We hoped we would never have to reverse along this road…stay tuned for the trip to Rurrenabaque. Especially in the wet season remains are usually never recovered as the vegetation grows over so quickly.

A sad story was of a man whose wife and children died when their taxi went over the edge. He quite hit job and became a human traffic light to stop this happening to anyone else and relied on food and money donations. At one stage there were about 10 human traffic lights like him. Anyway, we made it back safely! Hurrah! Never again would we drive along Death road. Surely once is enough right?

The next day we set off for our bus to Rurrenabaque and our Amazon pampas tour. We had been warned, for our sanity, to fly (about $70 and one hour), but for $15 who could resist a 20 hour Bolivian bus ride. We thought that the ´for our sanity´ may be due to bumpy roads or the long journey and we can handle that fine. Nope, it is because after using the ´new´ road it merges back onto Death Road. Not the one officially used for the bike tours, but the same width, the same vertical drops, the same scary sh*t where you end up laughing because you are so scared and do begin to lose your sanity. Hailey was practically sitting in the lap of the old lady next to her, Renee had her eyes closed but I was at the window seat and couldn’t help but look as the edge of the bus appeared in line with the drop over the edge. And then, when we thought it couldn’t get any worse – we had to reverse!!! It was horrible. I was on the very back seat so the back wheels of the bus were in front of me – because of this, at one point reversing I was actually OVER THE EDGE OF THE ROAD!!! We swore we would get the flight back – until several days later we thought ¨ah, we did it once let´s just bus it´. The bus trip was bumpy and dirty. Ah Bolivia. And hot, especially arriving in the humidity of Rurrenabaque even at 6am. I was excited when there were no taxis – it is a town of mostly motorbike taxis – so we each got to squeeze on one with our packs and zip around town to the tour office.

We had time for a wet wipe shower at the tour office and then into the 4wd for the pampas tour. After very bumpy 3 hour ride we arrive at the Yemani river and spotted some pink dolphins before even boarding the boat. Then we met our guide – no English even though we booked an English tour – but to be fair he didn’t speak AT ALL really so everyone got the same deal – and hopped into the boat to make our way to our camp in the pampas. Ok, so we booked this tour cheap cheap, knowing it was not ideal season for pampas as the water was high so animals may not be so easy to spot. And we were well aware that we would get what we paid for. And that is sadly not an eco-tour. When our guide - who I cared so little for i can’t even remember his name – spotted some little yellow monkeys in the bushes overhanging the river, he RAMMED our boat into those bushes to get close, pulled out a banana (just tampering with nature, ahh) and fed them, let them jump all over him, let anyone in the boat do the same etc. etc. I think this is when we started hating the pampas and our tour group. After driving around in our little motor boat, creating a lovely haze of fumes and noise pollution, to spot alligators (camens….are they the same or different?) we arrived at our camp, a collection of rickety wooden rooms connected by a boardwalk because…..our camp had a resident alligator, Pepe. When the boat pulled up onto the SHORE he was there waiting, lurking in the water. Amazon diva Nicole started here and I refused to help unload the boat of anything but my own bag because Pepe was about 3m away!

We went to another island for sunset and met another tour group who told us about a crazy camp with an alligator, one of the biggest you will see in the pampas. Yep, our camp! Then the sun set and the mosquitos came out and we were sweating and you cant go to the toilet without your butt getting bitten and you cant shower really because you need to put your clothes on so quickly that you are still wet and if you decide to wet your hair to cool your body down it will stay wet for 2 days and you will get the worlds itchiest scalp and you will go alligator searching at night in the dark with a guide who can´t tell you what to do in a dangerous situation and when you arrive back Pepe´s red eyes are staring at you and there is a bat in your room….soooo I looooooved the pampas you can tell. And there was a couple and their kid from VALPARAISO!

Other activities included piranha fishing, which ended up with us being stalked by several alligators and shitting ourselves about the smell of raw meat on the boat. I also asked if there were pink dolphins in this area as I didn’t want to nab one and of course was told no….1 minute away as we drove off there were several. We ´swam with pink dolphins´ but as soon as our noisy boat chugged along they of course bolted. We were also told there were no alligators in this area then turned the corner and there was one on the shore. Here, while waiting for the stupid kid to have enough swim time a massive storm hit and I remember seeing Hailey´s face and it really sums up the entire experience. On NYE we went anaconda tracking, so had knee high gum boots with holes in the bottom and while Australia counted down to 2014 I had cow manour smelling muck seeping into the top and bottom of my boots, then fell and had some splash into my mouth. I think at this point I had an outburst of ¨AT HOME THEY ARE POPPING CHAMPAGNE NOW!! I HATE THE PAMPAS!!!!¨. then the guide found a rattle snake and decided to stat poking it with a stick for our amusement.

We sat around the campfire for a bit that night but Hailey and I were last to arrive and so our backs were facing the water and every time I turned around Pepe´s red eyes were there, we hated our entire group, and decided this would not be NYE so we went to bed at 10:30 because if you aren’t awake for it, it never happened! We headed back to Rurrenabaque on new years day (the official one) and we ignored our groups invite to meet up for dinner that night. Yep, we were THOSE people. We had planned to meet up with a couple from one of the other groups for a NYE repeat, as they went to bed early too so we went for dinner & drinks first and then when the club we planned to go to was closed we had to follow any music we could hear as it was 11:55 and at 11:59 we burst into a cement room of a local bar (with possible brothel upstairs) and all screamed HAPPY NEW YEAR! To some confused looks. We spent the night drinking cheap, warm beer, sweating to the point our clothes were absolutely drenched, salsa dancing with a couple of 60 year old Bolivian men. Better than in the pampas.

We arrived at the bus station the next day and encountered for the first time the problem with rocking up without a ticket – no seats left. We were devastated as were well & truly mentally prepared to leave this place. Back in Chile, a French girl had told us when in Rurrenabaque if we need help, ask for Luis and everyone knows him and he can help with anything. We had completely forgotten about this. Then, as we were begging the bus people to let us sit in the aisle or anywhere, a man (or…an angel?) turned up and asked what we needed. After much back-and-forth with several bolivianos here and then to get the job done, he managed to get us 2 seats and the promise of a 3^rd temporary seat to be set up in the aisle. Well, although this never appeared, we did get 2 seats so for the first 8 hours Hailey and I swapped turns lying in the dusty aisle of the bus. Luxury. But at least we had escaped! Death road this time was met at night time so although there were several falling sensations brought on by reversing in the darkness, it was also too dark to see the edge of the road so surprisingly wasn’t as bad as the journey there. 20 hours on this bus, 14 hours freezingin La Paz bus station – at one point I was told my lips were turning blue – and another 12 hour overnight bus to Sucre – no surprise we all got sick

First taste of Bolivia

nickygeeee — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 11:21:00 GMT

We arrived in Uyuni on board our smelly bus (no one even tucked us in….there weren’t even ANY BLANKETS ON BOARD!) and were followed by a strange Canadian girl who had latched onto our trio and found a hostel…$5 night for a private triple room. I was already in love with Bolivia!

We arranged our tour to Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats for the following day and I´m sure most of you will be shocked to hear we chose a tour that was almost twice the cost of most! We decided this because we had heard so many horror stories of salt flat tours-gone-wrong. Drivers getting so drunk the tour group found them 10km away passed out with pooped pants. Guests who had to drive the 4wd back to Uyuni themselves as the driver was so wasted. Guides and drivers who at all of the guests food such as eggs and meat and served them up a small portion of rice each or a slice of bread. Tours which crossed the border into Chile and the guides trying to set up the guests at the border and tell the police they have stuff on them so they would get searched, in the hope they would find something and they would be rewarded. This and many reports of people who paid for English tours and did not get it made us very bit wary but when we were in the Red Planet office another group returned and were raving about it and hugging the guide Juan and driver Jose. We asked if we could get those 2 but they couldn´t guarantee it, but were so happy to arrive the next morning and find that Juan and Jose would in fact be our guide and driver.

Bolivian Spanish is so much easier to understand than Chilean. We have since heard from Spanish speakers that even they have trouble understanding Chileans. On top of this, Bolivians are sooo nice and friends and patient and helpful. We were all instantly in love.

Our tour started at the Uyuni ´Railway Graveyard´ which was a good site for photos. Fossilised coral can be found all over the ground, which seemed strange at 3600m asl. We stopped in another town for lunch – heaps of food, we were happy to see it hadn’t been stolen – and to shop at the markets for souveneirs where at $3 for a beanie, haggling seems rude! Here the traditional dress of Indigenous Bolivians lives on, the women wear long pigtail plaits, multi-layers puffy skirts, an apron like top over their shirts, and everyone is tiny. All throughout Bolivia any ´average height´ or taller person is guaranteed to hit their head on a market tent/tarp or some other structure at least once. Hailey, at 5ft, has not had this problem.

We then ventured on until everntually we entered the salt flats. The first several hundred metres were a bit wet as the rainy season had just begun and this is where the salt was starting o be harvested and piles – abandoned and also those awaiting collection - could be seen all around as well as trucks shoveling the salt into the trays like snow. After a photo stop and realized Juan and Jose loooove taking photos for us (woohoo) we separated from the many other tour vehicles and continued to the REAL salt flats, where the dry plains start and appear to carry on endlessly in each direction (size of Northern Ireland). The cracked pattern left on the ground is beautiful and we stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere for more photos. Juan was lying on the ground to get our hilarious photos where we would appear to be eating each other, holding miniature versions of the others in our hands etc. but photos really can’t capture the spectacular landscape. Note to future visitors...the salt flats are reeeeally white! Wear sunscreen!!!!! Swollen, burnt face is not a good look on anyone.

We drove through some areas covered with a thin layer of water which combined with the salt made the entire earth glitter as if covered in millions of diamonds. The sky and distant mountains reflected perfectly onto the ground. We stopped at Inkahuasi Island, one of the many cactus islands of the Tunupa salt flats. These cactuses grow 1cm a year and some are about 10m – 1000 years old! We had a couple of hours to walk up the jagged rocky stairs to the top and around the island, passing the 2 embarrassed looking llamas dressed up in ribbons and other decorations. The views up there are ridiculous! 360° view of the salt flats, white, glary sprawling flatlands, distant islands and mountains. Absolutely spectacular…and verrrry windy!

We then drove on to our lovely salt hotel for the night, tables, walls, beds (minus the mattress) all made of salt. Funnily enough salt is not served with any of the meals. But you can scrape some off the wall if you really need it. Pique Macho for dinner, the traditional Bolivian food of hot chips topped with beef, few veggies, egg and chorizo. By now we were good friends with the other couple on our tour, and the 3 of us had added working or studying a TEFL course in Costa Rica to our travel plans. Goodbye near-future education.

The following day began with a drive through quinoa fields and eventually up to the tops of mountains which were amazing colours due to the minerals and were patterned in reds, browns, greens and white. We stopped in a beautiful little spot amongst rock formations for lunch, and as we drove down U2´s Beautiful Day came on and it really fit the moment. We were joined at lunch by a few Viscacha, also known as Sqrabbits as they look like a rabbit with a squirrel´s tail. We then drove on past amazing rock formations and active volcanoes to a huge salt lake edged by beautiful mountains and dotted with pink flamingoes. Again, driving down to this view and having ´We live in a beautiful world´ play made us all grab each other as if it was the perfect moment. We ranged from 3600m-5000m asl this day at the highest point driving through the Silolli desert, also known as the Dali desert as artist Salvador Dali (who apparently I SHOULD know) painted this often. Stopped at ´stone tree´, a stone in the shape of….a tree…. And then the Musical Mujers (what we have called ourselves as we often break out in song) made their debut performance to Mariah Carey.

Several salt lakes and many more flamingoes later I became the stinky girl of the truck when I got carried away taking photos and sunk knee deep into sulfur smelling muck at the edge of one of the lakes. We saw a very cute Andean fox being attacked by birds, then carried on to Re Lagoon which is a truly beautiful sight and well named. Partially salted over we could see salty ´dust storms´ at the other side. The lake is so colourful and the surrounding mountains again make the scene even more beautiful with their vivid colours and shapes.

The second night was at a very basic hostel, one where you chose to go to the loo in public rather than in the actual toilets. We met many friends this way. But it is built a couple of hundred metres from more hot springs, this time averaging about 38° and although I tried to resist, knowing the experience of getting out in again verrry cold temps would be horrific (not being dramatic) Juan guaranteed us all it would be worth it and it was, especially when we got some bottles of wine to enjoy in the water and watch the distant lightning.

We started the next day with a visit to Sol de Mañana geysers, just over the mountain from the Chilean ones and even higher at 4900m asl. We weren’t as excited driving towards them as they at first don’t seem as impressive but they ended up being equally as awesome just in a different way. These were more deep holes in the ground with bubbling and spitting cement-looking substance (is this sulfur) and as we are now in Bolivia, there were no paths so we followed Juan vvvveeerrryyy closely as you can hear the bubbling liquids below the ground you are walking on, and it sounds pretty close to the surface! But wow the smell here definitely beat El tatio! It was difficult to breath because of it. After more rock formations we were back to Uyuni for our wet wipe shower in the Red Planet office and then our overnight bus to La Paz! We chose the local bus instead of the ´tourist bus´, against the agents advice as she really made it sound like ´you will definitely wake up with no bags´ and it will take many hours more but we didn’t and it didn’t and al was fine. We thought La Paz would be an overnight stopover on the way to other places in Bolvia…until we checked in at Loki hostel. Oh my.

The drive in to La Paz is one we have now done MANY times and one that is never any less jaw-dropping. Another place you cannot capture in photos. La Paz is a big city located in the middle of a valley of mountains. It´s slopes covered in houses, built where you would think should be left bare, terrible traffic and fumes (more so on cloudy days), constant noise, no road rules, car alarms obnoxiously ringing 24/7 (anyone How I Met your Mother fans will know this tune from the wedding dress episode), constant protests, dodgy police, stinky drains, the sounds of firecrackers from the protests ring throughout the day and into the night when you can´t be sure that is what the cracking noises are any more, poverty, wealth, the question of who walking around is on a day outing from San Pedro prison, muddy sidewalks, street food, markets, and all of these things and more have made me fall in love with it.

Our first stop was for a Salteña across the road from the hostel, and this place has set the standard for all of Bolivia as we have never found one quite as perfect. A slightly sweet pastry crust filled with juice chicken or meat and egg. Heaven! But warning – it is not served with a bowl of green capsicum. It is chillis. And they are HHOOOOTTT so unfortunately I could only actually taste half of my salteña. I couldn’t feel half my face for hours. We wandered up and down the hills of La Paz for a while until it started raining and ducked into The English Pub. After the flow of free shots, this began our first big night in La Paz (what it is known for) out for Indian dinner which ended in hugs & kisses from the staff, then carried on back at the hostel and to the clubs afterwards. Renee and I secured jobs at the hostel (which we did not follow through with…this time).

We did not check out the next day as planned. I bought a book to learn Spanish from a proper school of which I am up to page 9, over 3 months later…sadly some of those pages are the index. Another crazy night in La Paz BEGAN with Hailey telling people it was my birthday and my receiving a lap dance and strip tease from, of course, an Aussie guy (who we would come to know as Marky Mark and know very well) which ended in nudity which my sober eyes were not prepared for. Sadly the video of this is on Hailey´s stolen phone. On the way to the club that night some guys tried to rip off Renee and I and jump out without paying so we got to put our very first rude phrase to good use which translates to ´your whore mother who birthed you´. Thanks Juan. It is not fun being hung over in La Paz. The altitude and the hills and stairs you must tackle to get anywhere, then the fumes and noise, really don´t make it enjoyable.

Many cities in South America offer free walking tours, usually run by young uni students based on tips. We did the Blue Hat one here (a rival to the Red Hat tour) and it was fantastic. Our guide Sergio was fantastic, so sweet and interested in what we have to say, as well as passionate about La Paz so that made the day even better. We started at San Francisco church, a huge beautiful building and the area around which was at this time very decorated for Christmas. Bolivia is very extravagant with its´ Xmas decorations. Even crumbling houses have lights up. The tour was really interesting as it offered some great facts about La Paz. Here, there are shoe shiners everywhere and people are constantly getting the dirt of La Paz polished off their boots (spot the gringos by their thongs). Sergio explained why the shoe shiners mostly wear balaclavas- this is because people often associate them as thieves and it is considered the lowest job and they are ashamed to show their faces. You often see them packing up their box and heading to ATM booths for their nightly shelter. It was actually really sad and we have made an effort to acknowledge them and say hi when others just pass. Most are quite young and many have run away from home abuse and are simply trying to survive on a couple of cents per job.

The council gave them a wall to paint to display their talents and they have painted a beautiful mural of the covered faces and sad eyes you will see all over the city. On the way to the huge market – we had to make Sergio stop so we could get some food – we saw the La Paz zebras. These guys are volunteers and dress in a zebra outfit to help people cross streets, and also run courses on road safety for children. They are always happy and bouncing around and can be seen randomly throughout the city. The tour also took us to the ´old town´ of cobblestoned streets and Spanish style buildings to the haunted street where several 1800´s freedom fighters were executed. Another street is believed to be haunted by a black widow and Sergio is sure it´s not just because there is a bar up the road that serves very strong drinks.

There are many plazas around La Paz and the Bolivian and rainbow Indigenous flag frequents them, as do pigeons and people seem to really really like them! As the president is Indigenous, the culture seems really well respected in the country which is nice to see. La Paz is a blend of modern and traditional societies seemingly working together, although most of the poverty is of course seen in Indigenous society.

We saw the Presidential Palace which has been rebuilt 8 times due to the numerous uprisings in Bolivia and this is the first target, and one particular building nearby has been left unrepaired of bullet holes as a reminder of the most recent rebellion in 2003. We went by San Pedro prison (of the book ´Marching Powder´ fame) somewhere you would rather die than end up, and were strongly advised against taking anyone up on the offer of one of the unofficial tours – darn – as not long before this the 13 year old daughter of one of the prisoners was raped and they have apparently started moving out all of the families living in there with their husbands/fathers. This prison is so interesting. The book is actually banned in Bolivia, although you can secretly find some dodgy photocopied versions. Families live in there, businesses are run by prisoners, houses can be purchased, drugs are made inside and smuggled OUT. Marky Mark and his friend did the tour, organized by tall, bald English Martin on the outside and run by a prisoner who is a member of the Mexican cartel on the inside. An apparent ´untouchable´ in there. They spent the entire day in his cell doing cocaine, apparently some of the finest in the world. For the tour, you are just recommended to take plenty of money as the tour cost is separate to the cost to bribe the guards to actually let you out. The guards who do not even dare enter the prison. No. Thank. You! I will give that one a miss.

On to the witches market where baby llama fetuses hang from shop fronts and the smell of incense fills the air. We found out the llama fetuses along with other items available in the markets, are buried under the foundations of a new house as an offering to Pachamama (mother earth) and an apology for digging into her. There are rumours that some of the larger building may be built on the offering of homeless people, llama´s not seen to be a large enough offering. Rumours. Then boarding ´chicken bus ´, the too-wide-for-La Pazs´-narrow-winding-streets vintage looking bus to take us up a hill too unpleasant to walk on a tour to a lookout with 360° views of the city which was spectacular. We heard that here the rich live down low and the poor up high (with the views) and most of the houses on the hills are left the brown brick colour as once they are painted they are deemed complete and taxes increase. La Paz at night is beautiful, as the millions of lights of the hills surround the city centre.

We had one experience with a dodgy cop. Apparently the undercover cops are under strict instructions not to bother tourists, so they are no problem. It is those in a uniform to be wary of as there are many fake ones. Trying to pass a blocked road – another protest, which you are told to avoid but they were on every corner this time of year it seemed – to pick up our washing, one asked for our passports which is a big no-no for the real police. We just said we didn’t have them and walked off and on the way back to the hostel I noticed he was STILL following us. We made some wrong turns to be sure and yeup, he was. So we just ran down the street to the safety of Loki, opposite the big police station.

Everyone who had joked we would not be leaving the next day were almost right when we tried to get a taxi to the bus terminal to get to Lake Titicaca and were told by several that it was impossible to leave that day as so many streets were closed due to protests…we JUST managed by walking to the other side of the city – Naughty Natalie, my evil alter-ego, made her first appearance as my backpack is way too heavy for these hills and lack of air – and finally got a taxi as we had passed the main road blocks. Escape from La Paz and heading for Copacabana

The city of Santiago to the world´s driest desert

nickygeeee — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Hola Amigos!!!

Well, this has been a long time coming.

Hopefully everyone is well and 2014 is going great so far. I was just saying today it definitely doesn’t feel like 4 months since I left! The girls (Hailey – I met in Africa, and Renee – Hailey knows from home) and I get along really well which is perfect and tend to agree on most things, everyone is independent although we do get separation anxiety when facing the world alone as we are so used to being together now.

117 days, 379 hours of buses and trains to travel 18,621km brings us back to La Paz for the 3rd time. We´re now working at Loki hostel in the bar for about a month so that we can arrive in Cusco after the rainy season ends for Machu Picchu…plus I looooove La Paz and this hostel and we had so much fun here the last 2 times it was impossible to resist. It is hard work – even off shift we are required to be fun at all times. Tough life.

Starting in November in Santiago, Chile…

We stayed the first night in a hostel and had fun navigating the area and practicing our Spanish – or lack of it. Us ignorant English speakers were surprised that English doesn’t seem to be very widely spoken there but we still managed to score an invite to the apartment of an old couple we were buying snacks from who were very patient with us using our book to speak to them and had fun pointing at things in the store and telling us the translation.

After exploring the centro area of Santiago, the next day we went to our couchsurfing host, Gus´s apartment by metro and walking…we were still determined not to taxi anywhere at this point of the trip and were soooo sweaty by the time we arrived. Providencia is a nice residential area and from the balcony, over the pool (no a bad first couchsurf score), we could see the Andes Mountains. Nice apartment too, and he gave up his room for us which was great. He cooked dinner for us that night and we had some good laughs over wine – especially interesting hearing his stories about the big earthquake that hit a couple of year ago. He said he was at a friend´s apartment and was looking out the window and a minute later it was as though he was looking out another window as the view had changed so much due to the building swaying.

Santiago is the perfect temperature, warm, sunny (my skin is finally building up a tolerance), with a nice breeze. We had a day around this area of Santiago, seeing the must see ´river´ which we are learning not to bother seeing in South America as they usually look more like water run-off systems, but the streets are all tree-lined and we eventually found ourselves in Bella Vista which is a really pretty area with cobblestoned streets and lots of nice restaurants and bars sprawling onto the sidewalks. One of the waiters told us about a funicular train that takes you to the top of a hill overlooking all of Santiago. We later found out this is Cerro San Cristobal. Lucky we found out about it as there were fantastic views. There is a zoo, gardens, pools and up the top the Virgin statue overlooks it all and it is quite a spiritual place. We then went to the city centre and saw Plaza de Armas, some cathedrals and then headed back to Bella Vista in the evening. There was the Paris Parade on which explained why we could not cross the main roads as they were all blocked off and also explained why there were so many kids dressed up in crazy costumes running about. We eventually made it to a bar and there just happened to be a Euro-Chilean jazz festival on we could enjoy from the balcony. Lucky us, these things seem to happen where we just turn up somewhere and there are these lively events going on.

After 2 nights with Gus we headed off to Valparaiso on the coast, one of the places in SA I was most excited about. The famous Chilean artist Pablo Neruda summed up ´Valpo´ perfectly when he wrote ¨Valparaiso, how absurd you are…you haven’t combed your hair, you´ve never had time to dress, life has always surprised you¨. It’s a really cool city of hills, with crumbling old mansions mixed amongst colourfully painted lofts and graffiti art covered homes. The best thing to do is just head out and walk the streets. If ONLY the people were nicer here it would have been an absolute highlight but they weren´t…they were mostly rude and arrogant. When we were a little lost and standing on the footpath, a man stopped and made us get out of his way!!! As if he couldn’t just step aside. This was a new experience for us as we are used to Señors loving us, so maybe we have just been spoilt. But no, everyone is too arty, too-cool-to-be-happy. Those types. Lucky they have an amazing city to attract people. I´m sure cars sped up to try and run us over.

There were some exceptions to the people there. Jose at the bottle shop, but he is from Mexico/Florida. We ended up visiting him whenever we had questions and needed Spanish help and when we would leave would be yelling out ¨ANYTHING ELSE???¨ he was just so happy to meet the girls from Florida. When we first approached him and said ´we have a question´ his first response was ´I don’t sell drugs sorry´. Apparently we look dodgy.

Another exception was Nicolas, the manager at a local restaurant. I ordered a glass of wine from the old waiter, pointed to it on the menu and all just to be sure. He brought the bottle over to show me so I thought he was just making sure it was the right one. Then he left the bottle and glass so I tried to explain no I don’t want the bottle, just the glass. He told us he´d thrown out the cork even though we saw it in his pocket. Eventually I asked for ´el jefe´ and reluctantly got him. Thankfully Nicolas spoke English and was very apologetic, told us they have problems with the old man and made him be the one to come over with my glass of wine – filled to the brim – to the cheer of a table of young guys near us who had been watching the whole drama. Didn´t realize a glass of wine would cause such a scene…then he tried to rip us off with our change too! We called Nicolas over again and he sorted it out, then said if we need any more help, or to dance, to call him and wrote his number on a serviette. Also, the very friendly construction workers near our hostel who would pamper us with our daily dose of complments such as bonitas (beautiful), Chica or chiquitas (kind of like chicks), Linda´s (cute) etc. I will refuse to simply answer to my name in the future, I need a compliment as well.

We walked up to Pablo Neruda´s house which as amazing views over the coast and the city, although didn’t bother going inside as it was too expensive considering we don´t really know of him. #691 on the list of 1000 things to do to make the most of your time on earth – Neruda´s casa. Close enough.

The waterfront is also nice. Although just a port, it´s ramshackle and colourful boats give it charm. Also many tsunami warning signs around. Valparaiso is known for its many Ascensors which help residents tackle the steep hills, but unfortunately for us UNESCO had been there a couple of days before we arrived and one `that they were on broke while they were on it (as well as members of the group being robbed) so they have all been closed for maintenance. We didn’t realize how dangerous Valparaiso is apparently until speaking to Chileans later in our travels and it now makes sense that one older man was almost mad at us for carrying our cameras around, scolding us like daughters. We can be pretty clueless, though never know it until a later ´derrr´realisation. One of my favourite things here was the outdoor museum, Museo a Cielo Albierto which is an area of streets with graffiti art of students in the 1960-70´s. The area is also popular for teenagers smooching, smoking and drinking and we got offered a lot of weed, as in Santiago. I didn´t realize I look like a pothead.

Next, we headed north and inland to Vicuña, which we didn´t know much about but still reminisce about as it was so small, quaint and the people were soooo nice, as EVERYWHERE else in Chile so we don’t judge based on Valparaiso. As the coastline ended, the terrain became dry and rocky until we started seeing our first cactuses…cacti? The journey became more interesting when a couple of teenagers in front of me kept ducking into the toilet and suspiciously the bus would fill with the scent of marijuana. We ended up in a tiny town parked out the front of the PDI (Policia Investigaciones de Chile) and after a long wait a couple of policemen came on board, pulled the kids off and searched all of their belongings. After about an hour they were allowed back on, looking a little sheepish, and we were on our way again ending with a sunset drive through the valleys which was really pretty.

Vicuña is a sleepy town surrounded by pisco plantations. We did a tour of a pisco factory with some tasting at the end, did some hikes for views over the area, ate one of my favourite foods so far – Copao ice cream which is found only here as the fruit is from a cactus only from this area, and went to Mamalluca Observatory one night . It was so dark here as is a fair way out of town so the stars were pretty awesome and we got to see the moons craters, star clusters (excuse lack of knowledge) and the next supernova. Apart from the reeeeaaaally drunk Aussie on the tour, it was great. We all told him to shut up in the end, to some applause. Mamalluca Observatory - #689 on the list of 1000 things to do to make the most of your time on earth. Tick.

We then made our way to Northern Chile, to San Pedro de Atacama. We had a really sweet man and his daughter help us at one bus stop. Buses are often late but we were worried we may have missed it, tried to ask for their help which they did and when their bus arrived the dad went to find someone who could speak English, told them what we needed and told them to look out for us. He then gave us some chips for the road and his daughter wrote her details so we could visit them. On the overnight bus we got tucked in by the bus man, who also put a pillow under each of our heads and reclined our seats for us. This terrible life! I assume this is how everyone experiences travel in Chile.

When we arrived, we were a bit worried as it was like a desert ghost town. Luckily after a few wrong turns and then some right turns we ended up in town and were intercepted by a crazy-looking dreadlocked man with a hostel brochure so of course we followed him on his bike through town to the hostel which turned out to be really nice, probably the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed at as I’m sure once the cleaners finished the floors they would just start again. It´s very dusty in San Pedro, with cold desert winds at night. This is the driest desert on earth with an average of 365 days without rain per year. It is an oasis of a town, bustling with travelers, with unpaved streets, whitewashed adobe houses and can make you thirsty just looking outside it is so dry.

We were snapped into the reality of traveling with our first proper tour of the trip, waking t 3:30am for the tour to Geyser del Tatio, the Tatio geysers within the El tatio geothermic basin, 4320m asl makes it the highest on earth. After a couple of hours drive to get there, as we arrived it was like a scene from a movie with the sun beginning to rise dimly lighting the area dotted with fumaroles spewing out steam and boiling water. The people from other tours walking around make the scene extra other-worldly as their figures lurked in the steam. As it was -4 degrees, of course we decided that is the ideal time for a swim in the thermal pools which get to about 25 degrees. It was great in, but the run between the pools edge and my clothes felt like kilometers and I have never been in so much pain!

El tatio geysers we really amazing, like when you look in the sky and more and more stars appear – as you look around the basin thousands of steaming holes appear. It is a good idea there is a path marked by rocks that you should not pass as some of the earth is very fragile and you can hear the boiling water underneath. After breakfast and of course stealing some extra boiled eggs for lunch (our budget was doing well at this point) we visited Machuca village in true llama territory, population between 7 & 40 depending on the season and enjoyed a goats cheese empanada – another favourite food to date – then continued on to drive through the very aptly named cactus valley and back to town.

Now adapting to the siesta times of South America that can range from a couple of hours anywhere between 12 and 6pm, we had an afternoon nap before our afternoon tour to Laguna Cejas – a big salt lagoon in the middle of the desert that is so salty you cannot sink. There´s a second lagoon partially attached but the salt crystals are so sharp in that one it is too dangerous to swim in. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour but also so salty you cannot put your head under. Renee also found out the hard way that you should not use your bath towel as your beach towel here when she showered later and the salt remaining on her towel left her unable to see for a while. Our skin and clothes were so white after our swim and hair so stiff I think it could have snapped, so the next stop was to Ojos de Salar, a fresh water hole to rinse off. The final destination was Laguna Tebinquiche (who would´ve thought there´d be so many lagoons in the world´s driest desert) for sunset. This is a huge salt lake that has mostly dried up, leaving a thick salty mass like snow. Sunset over the desert with as pisco sour was the perfect end to the day.

Day 2 in the desert we spent wandering around town, until we realized why siesta time here is from 2-6 as the sun is so strong, so we enjoyed another nap (4 months in a difficult habit to break) and then went on our tour to Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley). We stopped at a few canyons along the way and heard some interesting facts on the area e.g. some of the mountains still have lakes from when the area was covered in ice over 1000 years ago (does that make it the ice age? Must pay more attention). Some of the areas we drove through looked like they were covered in snow it is so salty. We walked through some crystal salt caves and had a few more photo stops. The landscapes here are amazing, the shapes of the rocks that have formed by the strong desert winds, salty terrain on one side of the track and red sand dunes on the other. So varied. it is easy to see why so movies have been filmed in Valle de la Luna as it really does look like another planet. NASA also used the area to test the Mars-bot. Just before sunset we walked up a half rocky half sand dune to get our spot for sunset. Ok it wasn’t as spectacular as I expected for #673 on the list (tick) but when am I going to be in the Chilean desert on a sand dune watching the sunset again? and it actually was beautiful watching the tones of the earth changing colour as the sun went down.

After seeing what we could of San Pedro de Atacama desert, we hopped on the bus for Calama – a mining town a couple of hours away as it is the only place we could get the bus to Bolivia. Hailey barged a man out of the way who had started opening the front zip on my bag as soon as we got off the bus – common here apparently so that boo-boo´d our idea to spend the night in the bus terminal. As a mining town, it is pretty expensive so we managed to find a ´cheap´ $16 room at a hostel which when we met the characters frequenting the halls seemed a little more like a drop in centre. Once in the safety of our room, inspecting the stains on our sheets and the hair in the bathroom, we realized the lock was a little dodgy so Hailey and I went out for supplies while Renee held the fort. Supplies were a couple of boxes of wine and we actually ended up having our first drunken bonding night as drinking in Chile was otherwise expensive and we had had a maximum of 2 beers in a night. We played some premature Christmas carols and realized we are all at the same point in our lives and excited to leave in 5 months to begin studies etc (hahahaha, that´s what we thought then). The door didn’t lock at all from the inside so my bed was pushed to the door as a barricade but we were out of there at 5am for the bus to Uyuni, Bolivia.

Passing through snow-capped mountains and steaming volcanoes, the standards of bus travel had dropped dramatically on the way to the border and for the first time I felt a bit of the effects of altitude as we exited Chile without hassle then the bus stopped in the middle of the 2 borders, about 500m apart for several hours and we had no idea why. Finally the connecting bus from Bolivia came and met us and after some suspicious trading of boxes between the 2 buses – conveniently out of the view of either border as the buses blocked the way – we were on our way to the Bolivia border. The girls were told they were have to find the immigration office in Uyuni for their stamps ¨AMERICANOS!¨ is becoming a common phrase at borders as they are always a hassle but as I am now British mine took 2 seconds. We then had to literally run as the bus started driving off and jump in the door as it was rolling. And on to BOLIVIA!