Tegan & Ingrid's world adventure

A journey home.

tk_inks — Fri, 1 Jun 2012 23:33:00 GMT

Well here we are. The home straight. The final frontier. Our last stop and our last blog for our round the world adventure: California.

Arriving in California we had already planned (for a change) pretty much everything we wanted to see before we landed. Having already booked car hire, camping sites and even scouted the best places to buy camping gear, our time in California went like clockwork. Perfect to end our epic journey with.

So after picking up our sexy ride, who we aptly named ‘Natalia’, from Enterprise Rentals (seriously great car rental company – everyone travelling to the States should consider them), we had no time to lose. With only 8 days in California and almost 1500 miles to be covered, we had to get moving.
Our first stop was Walmart, for those who don’t know - a big department store chain in America. While doing her research on camping gear, Ingrid had found that it would actually be a lot cheaper to buy all our camping gear new rather than hiring it for a week. So we decided that after the week was over we would donate it all to Good Will. I gotta say, Walmart did not disappoint. We picked up a tent, two sleeping mats, two pillows, a full comforter and sheet set, a gas stove with fuel, a cooler box, a fry-pan, a pot, plates, cups, cutlery and cooking utensils, two camping chairs, a California street directory and close to a week’s worth of food, all for under $300! Incredible.

Then it was time to hit the open road. However, it wasn’t the first time we had driven the Californian highways. Three years ago we had road tripped the US south west with our good friends from Denmark, Jill and Jesper. It was an amazing experience with only one real disappointment; the California State Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, the famous stretch of which pretty much spans from LA to San Fran. While it is one of the premier drives in the world, it unfortunately is also subject to some pretty serious fog – which we encountered. So, we always said if we were to return to California we would drive it again, and that’s what we were gonna do!

This time around the weather just couldn’t make up its mind. It was overcast, then clear, then overcast, then clear. As we approached the beginning of the Highway we started to get a bit excited because it was staying clear. But wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we got within about 10 miles of the coast the fog set in and it was in no hurry to leave. DAMN! Given our limited time we couldn’t wait it out. The Pacific Coastal Highway would have to wait yet again.

We headed inland and north through some incredible scenery. It changed so quickly too, from amazing rolling hills to vineyards as far as you could see and then to vast farmland, looking increasingly like a scene from Superman’s hometown ‘Smallville’. Having used up a lot of our day shopping and detouring courtesy of the fog on the coast we didn’t quite make it to our destination. But it worked out quite well because it was much better arriving in the morning to be greeted by such a vibrant morning sun. We both admitted to having butterflies as we drove into Yosemite National Park.

Known as one of the first wilderness parks in the US, Yosemite is a true wonder to behold. Entering the park from the south gave us a chance to get what people call the ‘wow factor’. Winding our way through about 40 miles of forest we suddenly found ourselves in a long, carved out tunnel. But once we exited on the other side both of our jaws immediately dropped. Tunnel View is perhaps one of, if not the most breathtaking sight of my life. I felt like a blind man seeing the world for the first time, realising that ‘oh, this is what the world is supposed to look like!’ Now, I’m not a religious man, but I have to admit at one stage while gazing upon this wonder I had a quick nod to the heavens saying “Nice one, mate”.

We continued down into the Park with quick stops at Bridalveil Falls and Mariposa Grove – home of the giant Sequoias. Mariposa Grove was actually used as one of the original promoted tourist attractions at Yosemite. In the early 1900’s a large hole was cut out of the base of one of these giant trees, large enough for an automobile to fit through. A terrible thing to do to such a beauty of nature and in no way or form would this be allowed now a days, however in retrospect it kind of had a positive effect of the Park. Not only did it increase the number of visitors to the park dramatically, but over the years it has been pivotal in educating millions of visitors in respecting nature. What I found most incredible about this tree is that not only did the tree (somehow) survive this mutilation, but over the last century you can see the outer bark layers have been creeping inwards through the tunnel trying to protect itself from the elements. In fact, the Park itself has been built for longevity. When you consider that some of these trees are upwards of 2000 years old, and the park has had a major fire sweep through once every 4 years on average, that’s a bloody lot of fires to survive.

We arrived at our campsite, Lower Pines, in the middle of Yosemite Park. A perfect location on the banks of the Merced River, and within walking distance of most of the trails and attractions. After setting up all our newly bought Walmart camping gear we wondered over to the local store for some essentials: Firewood, Jerky and Smores! Smores are so typically American and simply delicious. What you do is shove an oversized Marshmallow on a stick and slow roast it over the campfire (so it’s nice a gooey inside and not too burnt on the outside) then take a thick wafer-like biscuit and place a thin layer of chocolate on it, then add the hot Marshmallow and squish it all in with another biscuit. Sensational after dinner activity in such a sensational location. We were really pinching ourselves wondering whether this was all real.

Over the next couple of days we wandered through the amazing wilderness along the trails of Yosemite. We passed picturesque waterfall after waterfall including the highest waterfall in North America, Yosemite Falls. We gazed upon monolithic rock formations such as El Capitan, 900 meter vertical granite face and one of the world’s favourite challenges for rock climbers. (We actually managed to spot a few climbers half way up the face just chilling in their suspended harnesses. Crazy.) But perhaps the most extraordinary moment of our stay at Yosemite occurred when we didn’t expect it. We were walking along a trail on our way back to camp when up ahead we saw a couple of girls in shock, almost hyperventilating. We asked them what was wrong and all they could manage was “Oh my god, it literally just walked out in front of us! We were totally not expecting it!” Before I had a chance to question what “it” was, Ingrid had spotted a beautiful Black Bear, only 5 or so meters away from us slowly walking away into the woods! It was so incredible, to see a wild Black Bear in Yosemite, just walking around totally OK with human presence.

Once it was time to leave Yosemite, we had planned to drive over the mountain plain and down the east side of the park before driving south to Death Valley National Park. However, the high road was still under 8ft of snow and impassable. We therefore needed to backtrack the same way we had driven into Yosemite and cross the mountain range at the next possible point, about 400 miles away. It didn’t turn out so bad, the detour. We got to spend the night in the very pretty lake side town of Lake Isabela before continuing to Death Valley. After crossing the mountain range you emerge on the other side into a vast flat desert similar to the landscape which surrounds Las Vegas. We travelled through this towards another, yet lower mountain range with marked the entrance to the Valley.

Death Valley, while quite arid and void of life in parts, was not totally what I was expecting. In fact there was loads of life everywhere. Flora and Fauna was abundant all over and of course, it was pretty damn hot there too. Up until a few years ago Death Valley NP was known for the highest recorded temperature on Earth, and we immediately could feel why. Though not even summer yet the temperature was already reaching 40 degrees or so while we were there!

There are some incredible sights to see in Death Valley. Badwater Basin is the lowest point on the North American Continent at an elevation of 85 meters below sea level. This vast bed of salt seems to stretch forever, especially when you spot some crazy dude trying to cross it. Scotty’s Castle was a ‘different’ kind of attraction. The story goes Walter Scott born in 1872, started his career as a cowboy on a Nevada ranch, before ‘striking it rich’ with gold prospecting. He never really found any gold, but convinced magnate Albert Johnson to build a huge mansion which became a popular hotel during the Depression. These days the mansion is pretty empty except for guided tours and rangers. Ubehebe Crater is a great example of the volcanic activity ever active in the valley. Even some cool little ghost towns are littered across the valley – remnants of the old gold rush days.

After a few days seeing as much of Death Valley as we could in our limited time it was time to make our way back towards civilisation (and a much needed sleep on a real bed). Arriving back in LA one day before we were to fly home (oh my god, sounds so weird to say that) we spent the day checking out Long Beach in the south of LA. A pretty groovy area on the waterfront, similar to that of Melbourne’s Docklands, we finished the day going to visit the Queen Mary cruise ship which has been permanently retired at Long Beach but now functions as a world class hotel. We were only there for a visit but we thought, what the hell, it’s our last night on our adventure, let’s spend it in style. So once again Ingrid was able to work her wily travel consultant ways and managed to get us a nice discount on one of the best suites onboard. We spent the end of our journey in opulence and stark contrast to some of the lesser forms of accommodation that we had experienced in the 11 months prior. Wouldn’t you know it, just as we thought our adventure had finished up, the world threw us one last curve ball in the form of not one but two fire alarm evacuations off the ship during the night! We weren’t annoyed though, it was a fitting end to an adventure of epic proportions that’s for sure.

So the next day, after donating all our camping gear to Good Will, and returning Natalia to her dealership home it was onto our Qantas flight back to Oz. It was so nice to hear all the familiar accents on board, which was something I didn’t expect – finding them nice that is. (Whenever we had heard them on our travels it was usually a bit like “Oh no, do we really sound that nasally?”)

We stepped off the plane in Tulla Airport, collected our bags, went through customs and even shopped a bit in duty free all the while not even really registering that we were back! I guess we had been through that many airports over the past year, it was kind of second nature. But once we walked through the arrivals door and saw our parents, that was when my heart lurched a bit and it hit me. As happy as I was to see them all, a part of me wanted to turn right around and just keep on going. After embracing everyone and starting to walk back towards the car, I had to have a little moment to myself before a stepped through the door of the airport and back onto Aus ground. It was over, for now.

I think in a way I had been putting off writing this blog just because it would make the reality that we are back home and that our epic journey has concluded seem more real. The steady weight of responsibility is starting to press ever so slightly on my shoulders once again. Part of me wants just yell “NO! Not ready for this yet! I’m hitting the road again.” While another is welcoming the sense of normalcy and the prospect of finally having some sort of routine to fall comfortably into. Either way, Ingrid and I are glad to be home for many reasons, most of which is to see family and friends again. But other things we missed in a big way as well, such as not constantly having the feeling that you need to pack up all you stuff and move on within a few days, or having a fully functional kitchen that you can actually cook something half decent in (hostel kitchens just don’t cut it in my book).

All in all, this has truly been a life changing experience for the both of us. We both feel as though we’ve come so far, learnt so much and that our attitudes towards life in general have also changed. Travelling in countries like Bolivia, where the people are so desperate and poor that they risk their very lives every time they clock in for work, or in India, where a man can slave away at a sewing machine for 12 hours in order to earn as little as $5, has taught us not to take our own lives for granted, and to embrace every opportunity that comes our way. Meanwhile, travelling through more established countries such as Iceland or Denmark, where for decades they have been practically running their entire countries on Hydro, Wind and/or Geo thermal power, has taught us that it is quite possible for a society to live comfortably while respecting this Earth that we have been blessed with.

I personally feel that a life has not truly lived until it has experienced what it is to live in someone else’s shoes. To see and experience other cultures, other ways of life, and to laugh, cry, smile, stress, eat, drink, envelop and embrace all the wondrous things this world has to offer along the way. I truly hope that all of you reading this may someday be so lucky.

As far as ‘what next’ is concerned… I don’t think we’re quite done with our globetrotting. But I’m quite sure we won’t be heading off again anytime soon. Peace to you all.

Photos: California

tk_inks — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:07:00 GMT

Photos: Mexico Part 2

tk_inks — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:14:00 GMT

Mexico - Part 2 - Beaches and Pyramids

tk_inks — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:59:00 GMT

Most people would not have heard of the Yucatan Peninsula, or at least more people would have heard of Cancun – the premier destination for American College kids on their ‘Spring Break’. Cancun is one of the cities located on the Yucatan and the most common port for travellers in and out of the region, and we were no different. We flew into Cancun airport late in the evening, however with limited time to spend in the area, we decided against spending the night in the famed party town and headed further south to an equally infamous destination for partying, Playa del Carmen.
A friend we made on our travels explained the difference between the two cities quite well; Cancun is where you go if you want to party to get wasted, Playa is where you go if you want to party to dance. In essence, Playa has more of a European chic about it, with thousands of sun lounges and umbrellas strewn over the beach and a more ‘subdued’ and family orientated demographic – much more like a place we wanted to spend some time in when we arrived.

We spent the next day or two in Playa just soaking up rays on the beach and wandering up and down Avenida 5 – (what seemed like an) endless walking street running parallel to the beach front absolutely chockers with gift shops, restaurants and bars, nightclubs, jewellery stores, cafes, street performers and countless store merchants trying to lure you into their shops by any means (this got quite annoying). On top of this, you are constantly hassled by taxi drivers wanting a fare – kind of pointless considering we were all ‘walking’ up a ‘walking street’ if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, Playa del Carmen is one world class beach destination, just a bit too touristy for my tastes.

The touristiness was fortunately not to last much longer. We took a local ‘Collectivo’ an hour or so south along the coast to the somewhat sleepier resort town of Tulum. Now, I just want to say straight off the bat that Tulum would probably be my all time favourite beach destination in the world! This place is amazing, and I could have stayed for weeks given the chance. Tulum is divided into two main sections; the beach front and the town centre. The beach front is approx 15kms long and spanned by hundreds of resort style hotels and cabanas (beach shacks) as well as excellent restaurants and of course one seriously incredible turquoise water front. The town is about 5kms inland from the beach but is not quite as long. The benefit of having the town this far inland is that it provides much cheaper options for accommodation and dinner to that of the beach front. The downside however is that it costs you 50Pesos (about $4) every time you want to take a taxi to or from the shore.

We spent three days of absolute bliss in Tulum. Each night we had a slightly different sleeping experience. The first night we stayed in a funky little hostel in town where we slept in our first double-bed bunk-beds. The second night we splurged a little and got ourselves a nice hotel room with a great coffee breakfast (somewhat of a rarity in Latin America). Finally on the third night we found some fantastic little Cabanas on the beach – quite literally stepping out our door onto white powder-like sands. While our nightly situation was changing, our daily routine stayed somewhat the same; sun, water and relaxation. I cannot talk up the Tulum beaches enough. The water is so warm and so calm and so blue-green it’s ridiculous. The sand is so fine and so white, yet not too hot to walk on and doesn’t get blown in your face while you are lying down. And, it’s quiet. So nice and quiet, this just made it seem so much more like we had our own little tropical paradise going on.

Then you visit the ruins. Oh my god. I’m pretty sure the ancient Mayan Wikipedia would have had a picture of this place next to the entry on ‘Paradise’. While the Tulum ruins themselves are not as grand or well preserved as others on the Yucatan, its setting makes up for it and more. Perched high on a cliff top overlooking the Caribbean Sea stands the small Fort ruins of Tulum. Built as an Ocean watch point for the Maya there was no need for grand Temples and the like, just watch towers, defence posts and some accommodation. But I tell you what; these guards seriously lucked out by getting posted here.

We left Tulum around lunch time after having visited the ruins and caught a short bus ride inland to the ruins of Coba. The ruins of Coba are quite unique from other sites on the Yucatan for one main reason – they haven’t been excavated as much as the others. This means that there is still plenty of Jungle surrounding the structures full of wildlife. Lonely Planet puts it really quite accurately when describing Coba – they say “… It feels like you’re in a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.” And they’re not wrong. We spent all afternoon wandering the huge site that is Coba, and due to its size, most of the time we were on our own trudging through the Jungle (so cool).

The next site on our list of ruins to see was the world famous Chichen Itza. After spending the night in the nearby colonial city of Valladolid (and enjoying in my opinion the best Mexican meal of our entire stay in the country, Burros –a huge, fat Burrito filled with seared meat and veg and topped with sour cream, cheese and lettuce *drooooooool*) we met a really cool chick from Brooklyn, Leticia, who actually grew up in Uruguay so helped us out for the day with her much better Spanish skills. So once again, it was really nice to meet someone new and enjoy the awesome sight that is Chichen Itza with her.

Ever since Chichen Itza was named as one of the new wonders of the modern world every single tourist on the Yucatan makes their way here. Day tours from all over the peninsula as well as Backpackers and self guided tourists absolutely swarm to this site every day. So we made sure to get there quite early to beat most of the crowds. I’m glad we did. We had about 30mins around the main Pyramid, El Castillo, pretty much by ourselves (except for the handful of Yoga and ‘Natural Energy’ absorbing hippies littering the grounds), so we were lucky enough to manage some photos without any other tourists. While the main Pyramid is the major draw card, Chichen Itza has so many other amazing sights to explore; from the ancient Great Ball Court*, the largest in Mesoamerica to the Group of a Thousand Columns. A lot of travellers that we had spoken to on our journey through the Yucatan had told us how they thought Chichen Itza was overrated and that the only reason it was named a wonder of the modern world (over other ruins in the area) was because of its convenient location to Cancun, etc. I must disagree. Chichen Itza is incredibly impressive and is by far the most well preserved and maintained of all the ancient ruins that we saw. A true ‘wonder’ in my mind, and a great way to conclude our journey through the Yucatan Peninsula.

*The Mesoamerican Ballgame, or Ulama, was pivotal in Mayan society and is quite interesting. Many historians believe it was the earliest form of the sport that evolved into what we now know as Football, or Soccer. Not only was the game played as a form of recreation, but it was also commonly used as a form of religious ceremony, a way of settling neighbourly disputes and even as a form of warfare between rivalling tribes. In the most widespread version of the game, the players struck the ball with their hips and forearms, although some versions allowed the use of rackets, bats, or hand stones. The ball was made of solid rubber and weighed as much as 4 kg, and sizes differed greatly over time or according to the version played. The aim was to keep the ball in play and try to strike it through your opponent’s goal, which was about a foot in diameter and usually about 3 meters above the court on the side walls. More often than not, if the match was not of a social nature, the game would conclude with the losing player/team captain or in some cases the entire losing side being sacrificed through decapitation.

I must admit, after flying back into Mexico City we had planned to spend a few days further north in the town of Morelia, however after so much travelling ( we were now up to 10 months and counting) the idea of staying in one place was just too appealing. So we planted our stuff in the hostel and stayed in the city for the next five days. Our time was by no means uneventful however. One day we visited the home (and now museum) of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter (you may remember the film about her life played by Salma Hayek) and also the home of Leon Trotsky after he was exiled out of Russia. Both museums were fantastic because they were maintained in the way that the two would have lived inside them, all the furniture and working instruments still in their rightful places. We also spent an afternoon at the Museo Nacional de Antropología (Anthropological Museum), which is incredible and covers the entire history of civilization throughout Mexico from the earliest forms of man through to traditional cultures still existing today.

Just before we were to leave Mexico we had one more amazing sight to see. The ancient site of Teotihuacan is located roughly 30kms from Mexico City and houses two of the largest pyramid structures in the world; Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. Joined by the ‘Avenue of the Dead’, these two gigantic structures are over 2000 years old and tower above the surrounding landscape. It’s also home to the largest collection of locals trying to flog off cheap and tacky souvenirs I’ve ever seen anywhere. You seriously couldn’t take 10 steps without being hassled to buy something useless which was always described as “almost free”. Hilarious.

Anyway, all great things must come to an end, and so it was time for us to leave this astonishing country. Mexico truly surprised us (in a good way), and we can’t wait to come back someday.

But for now it was on to the final stop on our round the world adventure, California!

Mexico - Not what you'd expect - Part 1

tk_inks — Tue, 8 May 2012 12:51:00 GMT

When we first decided to include Mexico in this trip we really didn’t know too much about the country. We knew of course where it was geographically, and that it was the land of Sombreros, Corona and Tequila. But in all seriousness the things we did know was that there were some amazing beaches (definitely confirmed that part), some awesome Mayan Pyramids (little did we realise just how awesome they were) and some great tasty and spicy food (although we soon found out that the Australian version of a taco is somewhat different to the real Mexican one.)

However our main reason for choosing to come to Mexico at this point in our trip was because my youngest sister, Erica was studying in Mexico City for a semester and we thought what a good excuse to combine a new country we know really nothing about with a visit to family!

So we arrived into Mexico in the week preceding Easter as that was when Erica would get her week long school break so could spend some time exploring the country with us. As she had already finished up a few days earlier than we arrived we agreed to meet her someway south of Mexico in a town called Villahermosa and from there we would travel together to Palenque. Well it all went smoothly, we arrived in Mexico City, transferred to our domestic flight, arrived in Villahermosa and took a taxi to our hotel and then after just 5 hours sleep we were up and taking another taxi to the bus station to meet up with Erica, her housemate in Mexico city, Solene from France, along with Solene’s sister Loriane and her boyfriend Alan who were also visiting Mexico at the same time as us. So it was a bit of a sisterly reunion all round.

Our time in Mexico was originally going to be just a couple of weeks, then three weeks and eventually we decided on a full month as Erica convinced us that there was just too much to see to make it any shorter than that. Even then we actually only visited Southern Mexico and saw nothing further north of Mexico City. But for a first time tourist to Mexico we think we made a good selection on destinations. Whilst with Erica we visited Palenque, and stayed in basic cabins in the middle of the jungle with monkeys swinging through the trees and also went to San Cristobal de los Casas for an amazing cultural experience. Then we headed to the Pacific coast and the small backpackers town of Zipolite and from there to Oaxaca, the capital of the famous Mexican Mole sauce and Mezcal. Then it was time to visit Erica at her current home in Mexico city as well as a quick visit to a lovely little village outside of Mexico city called Taxco. This was all just in the first two weeks of our stay and we saw and did so much that I am just going to share with you a few of our highlights from each destination.

Firstly Palenque – well our favourite spot has to be the Mayan Pyramids, dotted throughout the jungle, it made for a magnificent setting, all the better as it was our first of many Pyramid visits and a great way to be inspired by the work of these amazing people from centuries ago. But we also made it to a beautiful swimming spot with clear blue crystal waters called appropriately “Agua Azul” or in English “Blue Water.” Highly original names there but hey, to be honest we’ve found that with most of our trip. It’s amusing to say the least.

San Cristobal de Los Casas is a beautiful old town set in the southern Mexican mountains and is famous for its more laid back lifestyle and colonial buildings. Also, a big plus for Erica, its Vegetarian food. We actually enjoyed some fabulous vegetarian food and Mexican food in general whilst we were in San Cristobal. It was our first taste of a Mexican taco and definitely not the best but it introduced us to a new understanding of a taco. Made with simply meat in a soft tortilla and topped with raw onion, lime juice, coriander and hot sauce of your choice. Very tasty bundles of eating pleasure. But perhaps our highlight of our stay in San Cristobal was when we took a local minibus out to a nearby village, San Juan Chamula, famed for its local craftsmen who still wear the traditional dress of woollen skirts for women and woollen ponchos for men. It was fantastic to see this, especially as it was Easter so there were celebrations happening in the street and the local “Zapatistas” who are the freedom fighting clan in the area, were parading in the street, weapons and all. It was really exciting to see. There were also some rituals happening at the front of their church however we felt rude getting too close to a religious ritual, especially at Easter so we just watched from afar.

It was in San Cristobal that we parted ways with Erica, Solene, Loriane and Alan and we went on our way to Zipolite. Our days in Zipolite were literally just spend lazing on the beach swimming and drinking beer by day and enjoying a big seafood lunch in the late afternoon before chilling out with a couple more beers in the evening. This was of course besides my bout of food poisoning which was definitely not a highlight so won’t be explained any further. The beach at Zipolite was incredibly rough with a huge rip so we had to be careful when swimming but it was totally worth it as the place itself was so chilled out. A great backpackers destination plus we stayed at a hostel with the most lovely owner who even let us use a beach umbrella and cooler box for free. Definitely a big bonus.

From Zipolite it was time to travel back inland to Oaxaca and I can’t go without mentioning the amazing bus ride. We decided to take a minibus as it was the cheapest and quickest option. But that also meant it was a very narrow and winding mountain road as the other bigger buses travel around the mountain instead of over it. But it made for a beautiful, if cramped trip.

As I mentioned earlier Oaxaca is famous for its food and drink. In particular its Mexican Mole which is a particular type of savoury sauce poured over meat which comes in many flavours, the most famous including chocolate within the recipe! The drink Oaxaca is famous for is the Mexican Mezcal, which comes from the Agave plant. Many foreigners have never heard of Mezcal and simply have heard of Tequila. Well, we found out that Tequila is simply a type of Mezcal from a particular type of Agave plant in one area of Mexico. Many people in Mexico much prefer the taste of Mezcal and it is made in many different flavours including different fruits, coffee and spices. Our Oaxacan highlight was definitely the food. Tegan completed a cooking course. Those that know him well will also know how much he loves to cook and when we read that Oaxaca was one of the best places to learn Mexican cooking we decided it couldn’t be passed up. So he enjoyed a private cooking class with a chef at a local restaurant where they got to plan a 4 course menu, shop at the local market, cook and then eat it for lunch. It of course included a traditional Mexican Mole sauce for main meal and a glass of Mezcal. If you’re keen to sample the goods from his newly found Mexican cooking skills hit him up when we get home, oh yeah and don’t tell him I told you that.

From Oaxaca it was on to Mexico city and a brief stay at Erica’s current home which she shares with four other exchange students, all from France! I think she feels a bit like she should be learning French rather than Spanish sometimes. When we arrived at Erica’s my other sister Sonja had also arrived in Mexico the previous day. So it was another sisterly reunion with a big house party that night to top it all off.

Whilst we were staying with Erica for a couple of nights we really loved our evening visit to the Xochimilco canals in Southern Mexico City together with Erica’s housemates. We had a great night in long boats called “Trajineros” gliding down the canals whilst enjoying a few Sunday afternoon beers. There are even Mariachis (a traditionally dressed Mexican band who play and sing for you if you pay them to) who had their own boats and when someone flagged them down they’d just attach their boat to yours and play for you. It was great to watch. There were also floating sales people selling everything from teddy bears to roasted corn and hot tamales. The landscape was also surreal as Mexico City is just so huge and busy everywhere you go but out on the water you would never even know you were in one of the biggest capital cities in the world. It was just so peaceful. Two hours of that for just $20! A well worthwhile spend, particularly considering that was split between 7 of us on the boat together.

After a couple of nights spent at Erica’s place we decided to give them all a bit of space as let’s face it 8 people in one house is pretty damn hectic! So we headed off for the small town of Taxco just two hours south of Mexico City by bus. It was recommended to us by both Erica and her housemates as a great place to see close to Mexico City and is known in Mexico as a “Magical Town” or in Spanish, Puebla Magica. Really this just refers to a beautiful quaint town, generally colonial in architecture and a great place for a weekend getaway, or in our case, a mid week getaway. We really enjoyed wandering the streets of this gorgeous place, taking the gondola for a great view above the town and sampling some more fantastic Mexican food. Here we had a yummy Pozole, a type of Mexican soup filled with meat, white corn and other yummy veggies topped with avocado and a type of pork crackling called Chicharron. We also had Tacos Dorado which are crispy shelled taco tubes stuffed with spicy chicken and then topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and avocado. Simply delicious!

One thing we especially enjoyed during our time in Taxco was a visit to some caves close by. These caves were absolutely massive, we’d never been in caves that big before. We had to take a guided tour in Spanish which was pretty useless to us, as let’s face it, whilst our Spanish has definitely got better we are NOT at the stage where we can actually understand sentences. But still we got a few of the jokes the guide made and had a laugh along with everyone else. What we really loved was that the structures inside the cave we just so huge and so amazing to look at. We walked for two kilometres inside the cave and at some points the roof was as high as 70m. They had even built an auditorium where they told us they sometimes hold music performances and in the past have hosted people like Pavarotti, Domingo, Andrea Boccelli and many others. Then he went on to proudly mention that this year they would be hosting Lady Gaga, we just thought, hmm wouldn’t have quite put her in the league with everyone else you just mentioned, but hey…

From Taxco it was an adventure back to Mexico City, with having to just trust that a bus was going to eventually arrive by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere to take us where we needed to go. Ahh the joys of travelling! 45 minutes later than the time we were told it would arrive it eventually did. We love Mexican time. This time we stayed in the middle of the city where we got to visit the Templo Mayor. Sonja came into the city as well and we all went there together. Templo Mayor is basically an Aztec temple which was found just 30 years ago when they were doing some renovations on a building in the city centre. They were digging up the floor when suddenly construction workers came upon a huge Aztec calendar. It was decided that this must be of significance and the Mexican government decided to tear down 13 buildings, many that the Spanish had built on top of this ancient Temple. They are now still uncovering this temple but the public are now able to wander in amongst the ruins of what is now left of this place that is quite literally next to the central square in Mexico City. A truly unique experience.

I’m going to leave it there for now and we will continue on our Mexican adventure in our next blog when we headed off to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Photos: Mexico Part 1

tk_inks — Tue, 8 May 2012 12:28:00 GMT

Magical Machu Picchu

tk_inks — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:45:00 GMT

Well, after our delayed border crossing it made for a late night arrival into Cusco. We were glad we had pre-booked a hostel room as we were feeling pretty exhausted. Our hostel was on the outskirts of town but the room was nice and they made us fresh pancakes for breakfast. That’s always a bonus.

But of course our main reason for being in Cusco was to visit Machu Picchu. After much advice from fellow travellers throughout South America we decided that the best way to do it was to take a Jungle Trekking tour. This tour was a combination of some downhill bike riding, trekking, rafting and zip-lining along with accommodation in comfortable guesthouses on the way. So our first morning in Cusco was spent scouting out the cheapest possible tour. Pretty much all the tours offered the same thing so it was simply a matter of finding the price we liked. It didn’t take us too long and we had booked and paid for a tour to leave the following day. So that left us with only a little time to enjoy the sites of Cusco.

Cusco is a really beautiful city nestled amongst surrounding mountains and with some gorgeous buildings to explore. It is of course also a tourist town with pretty much every visitor to South America using it as a stepping off point to see Machu Picchu. But still to us, it really didn’t feel that bad. Often those really touristy cities turn us off as we don’t like to be constantly badgered by people wanting your business however there were plenty of areas in Cusco where we could just wander freely and enjoy the architecture and some local food without all the tourist hoards around us. That first day we even managed to find a small local festival happening with some live music and dancing on stage. But with an early start in the morning it was a reasonably quiet day for us and we cooked a low key dinner in the hostel before getting some sleep.

Firstly let me just give you a quick overview of the tour we were about to begin. The entire tour goes for four days. The first day was a three hour drive and a three to four hour downhill bike ride. We then had the option for white water rafting in the evening. Our second day was an 8-10 hour trek and the third day was two hours of zip-lining in the morning followed by a three hour trek in the afternoon. The fourth and final day was the trek up to Machu Picchu then back down and the train & bus back to Cusco. We were in for a busy few days.

We were packed into the minibus with 15 people in our group and only 15 seats available. In fact our guide, Guido ended up sitting on a little stool he picked up along the way. So most people had to nurse their luggage. We were however once again so happy to quickly realise we had scored a great group of people for our tour. We were a mixed bunch from Australia, France, Israel, Germany, South Africa, USA & Sweden.

Our first adventure for the trip was downhill biking. You can just imagine how thrilled we were to arrive at the starting point to find the weather cold and wet. So it was on with the jumpers, gloves and ponchos before jumping on our bikes. Not the most pleasant beginning to our trip. But hey, a bit of rain never hurt anyone so we went on our way down the mountainside. The bikes weren’t the most modern things and certainly weren’t as good as those we had used on Death Road in Bolivia but still, they at least had some suspension and most had decent brakes. Although poor Tegan got stuck with a real dud because he was such a gentlemen and agreed to swap with one of the other girls in the group who was having trouble with the bike. He then ended up with a sore arse for the next week. But he looked amusing trying to pick up speed down the mountain. His poor bike required a lot more effort than anyone else’s to actually gain some speed. Halfway down we were happy the rain stopped and off came the jumpers and ponchos. Although unhappily we soon all found out that there were many huge puddles/mini rivers we had to ride through and by the end of the afternoon we all had soaking wet shoes. Luckily for us there was a family with a knack for money making. They had a wood-fired oven and knew that the tourists always had wet shoes when they arrived so for three pesos ($1) we could hand our shoes to them to dry overnight and then pick them up before our trek the following morning. About half the group, Tegan included, tried their hand at white water rafting that afternoon. The rapids were class 3 and the river had actually only reopened that very same day after a tree had taken out a bridge earlier in the year and the debris had only just been cleared away. The group managed to all stay in their boat and had a good couple of hours on the water. That night, after dinner we all pretty much went straight to bed after a pretty exhausting day. I, however, had some very bad luck and contracted food poisoning. I won’t go into details but I’ll just say that I didn’t get any sleep between midnight and 5am due to running to the bathroom. It was probably one of the worst nights I have ever had in my life. I felt absolutely rotten and was trying so hard the whole time not to keep Tegan awake because of the big trek happening first thing in the morning. Needless to say when morning did eventually come my entire body was so drained that I was not trekking anywhere so I had to be put in a taxi to the next town whilst the rest of the group had a gruelling day ahead of them.

But before we get to the day of trekking a little note about the shoes…We all got our shoes back as promised the following morning and were very happy to find them dried as promised. However, when Tegan went to put his shoe on he found a screw in the back of one of the soles. We worked out that they must have put the shoe too close to the oven and the whole sole had actually melted off the shoe! Their way of fixing it was a screw in the back and they didn’t even say a word when they gave it to us. Needless to say Tegan was quick to get our guide, Guido’s, attention and his help in explaining to the shop owners that he couldn’t trek in the shoes like that and we needed to fix them another way. Sure enough, there was a cobbler down the street who could fix the shoes in half an hour. Tegan’s shoe came through the surgery with flying colours and he was ready to go.

So whilst I suffered an unpleasant day of lying in a room trying to make myself feel a little better the rest of the group hiked across rivers, down roads and small paths and even a small part of one of the original trails used by Incans on the side of a massive cliff. The plus side for them was at the end of the day they got to enjoy some thermal baths to soothe those tired muscles. That night was a bit of a party, with lots of cocktails enjoyed with dinner and some dancing at a local club afterwards where one of our new friends Joe gave Tegan his first ever break dancing lesson.

The following day I woke up to be feeling much better and ready for the day. I actually managed to eat my breakfast and decided to participate in the zip-lining. We got to do 6 zip-lines across the valleys before we headed off to lunch. After lunch we started our afternoon of walking. This walk was just 10 minutes uphill and then the rest was following the railway tracks all the way to the town of Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu. It was a beautiful walk with magnificent views of the sides of Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu and some other great ruins along the way.

The next morning was an early morning get up of 4am so that we were ready at the entrance gate for the trail up the mountain at 5am when it opened. There were probably 50 people waiting at the bottom of the mountain ready for an early morning climb to reach the top by sunrise. Tegan and a few of the boys went racing off ahead and actually managed to get to the top in about 40 minutes. Tegan said when he got up to the top there were only about 11 people who had already arrived so he did pretty well. On the other hand myself and my new Swedish buddy Ines decided to take it a little easier and in fact managed to also get ourselves lost. You see, when we started out it was completely pitch black and the staircase up the mountain crosses over the main road in places. So at one stage we missed the staircase in the dark and then it took us three turns in the road before we actually managed to spot it again. We were not happy as we had to be at the top by 6am or our tour group was leaving without us. Needless to say at about 1 minute to 6 we finally hit the top and were so happy to be there. I had asked Guido the day before how many steps there were to get to the top and he had told us 700. I was like, oh well that’s pretty easy then. Ines and I were not impressed when we were counting and reached 700 and looked up to see we only looked around half way. I asked a couple of people once we reached the top and found out that actually there are 1772 steps… Thanks Guido, you were out by 1000!

But it is completely worth the tiring climb when you finally get inside those entrance gates. Wow, what a site. It is just so hard to describe. We arrived just after the sun had come up and the whole site was completely fog free. It just looked magical. There was fog hanging below in the trees and above us on the mountain tops but right in the middle where Machu Picchu sat there was just nothing. And as we were some of the first people to enter there was also no one around. It was completely quiet. So beautiful. However all that quickly changed. Within just 15 minutes of our arrival the fog rolled in and it stayed that way for the next hour or so. We were so glad we had arrived when we did to see the whole site in the first light of day. Guido took us on a guided tour of the site, sharing the history and stories of how it was first found in the early 1900’s. Our tour lasted around 2 1/2 – 3 hours, at which time Guido bid us farewell and we were on our own for the rest of the day. Most of us had pre-booked tickets to climb Huayna Picchu at 10am. Huayna Picchu is the big pointed mountain you see in the background of most postcard pictures of Machu Picchu. It is supposedly a gruelling climb but personally I found it easier than the one up to Machu Picchu. Although others said they found it harder. So maybe I just got my second wind at the right time. One thing that did confuse us was that we knew Incan people were generally very short and small however the steps up Huayna Picchu which were built by the Incans were massive! We were really stretching our legs to climb up them so I am amazed at how they managed to climb up and down that mountain. We all relaxed and ate some snacks once we reached the top. That was our time to really take in all the glory that is Machu Picchu. It is truly an amazing site and the past four days of effort to get there really makes it all worthwhile just to see that site. It also makes you feel like you really achieved something. We really felt for those people who did the gruelling original Inca Trail. You need to book months in advance and you basically walk 12 hours a day for four days. The few people we met at Machu Picchu who had completed it were so exhausted that they could hardly enjoy everything Machu Picchu had to offer as they were just too tired. After a few more hours we were ready to start our descent and looking forward to a beer at the bottom. But of course, knowing our luck, we had just decided to opt for walking back down the steps instead of taking the bus down the mountain when it started to rain and rain and rain. About half way down my knees started playing up so I had to slow right down and Tegan, the gentleman, stayed with me. By the time we got to the bottom we were actually walking down a fast running river that had drowned the steps below. It was just incredible how much water built up in such a short timeframe. We were definitely ready for that beer and some good hearty food when we got to the bottom.

The train and bus back to Cusco that night all went relatively smoothly other than the fact that our bus driver kept nodding off at the wheel! I was the only one awake in the whole bus as it was 1am. Everyone else just fell asleep but I was so damned terrified that I stayed wide awake the whole 90 minute bus ride back and just kept nudging the driver with my elbow every time he’d fall asleep. I was so happy to get out of that bus! I think Tegan wondered why I looked so wide-eyed when we arrived back. That night was a well needed long sleep.

The following day we enjoyed a relaxing day in Cusco before having a reunion dinner with those of our group still in town and then a few drinks at a local bar. The next day it was farewell to Cusco for Tegan and I as we flew back to Lima for our final two nights in South America.

Tegan managed to catch a cold/flu thing after all the busy times over the last few days so he wasn’t feeling great whilst we were back in Lima. We decided not to do a lot and just spent a lot of time in the area of Miraflores, enjoying the parks and cafes in the area. Then it was time to bid farewell to South America after almost three months here. It has been such an amazing three months. We have done so much and our Spanish has definitely improved a lot. We’ve made some wonderful friends along the way and now looking forward to the penultimate leg of our round world journey, in Mexico!

Photos: Cusco & Machu Picchu

tk_inks — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:20:00 GMT

Bolivia Part 3 - Salt Flats tour and an epic battle to La Paz

tk_inks — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:19:00 GMT

South America had thus far proven to be a land of awe inspiring sights and experiences and we were starting to think that it couldn’t possible top what we had already seen. How wrong we were. The Bolivian Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni) are a remarkable phenomenon, but anyone who visits this area is really missing out if the Salar is all they see. A three or four day tour will take you to not only the Salar, but also deep into the National Park, way off the paved road (or even gravel road for that matter) to explore what else this amazing region has to offer.

We had opted for the three day tour which started with an unusually late start; 10am at the tour office. It was a pleasant change from other tours we had been on which usually involved a wake up time of about 5am or earlier. The previous night the four of us (us and our two new Welsh friends Clare and Judy) had been discussing whether we would be lucky enough to have an entire jeep to ourselves or whether the tour company would throw more people in with us to maximise profits (max of 6 per jeep). As it turned out we were lucky, but not because we could have had the jeep to ourselves, it was because we were teamed up with two more awesome people; Yoav and Liron from Israel.

Next it was time to meet Eddie. ‘Sexy’ Eddie, as he was known throughout the tour companies and hostels, (due to his tallness, deep voice and ‘creamy’ skin as Ingrid would put it) was our driver and tour guide for the next three days, and quickly had the girls swooning J. He didn’t speak a word of English but made up for it in attitude, he was totally chilled and always seemed to be having a good time – even having a bit of a driver dance to some Adam Cousens when I plugged my mp3 player in to the car stereo. Luckily Liron spoke enough Spanish to help with translations for the rest of us (when she hadn’t fallen asleep in the Jeep, hehe). While Eddie was great quality to have with us, his Land Cruiser was another story. I noticed as soon as we started driving that his steering wheel was turned to about 5 o’clock in order to keep the Jeep going straight, which was confirmed once I saw the alignment of the front wheels – a bit like Charlie Chaplin’s feet if you know what I mean. However, we didn’t really have many issues with it over the tour, just a brief hilarious stalling moment which I’ll get to later.

Day 1 of the tour:

Once we set off towards the Salar, our first stop was in a small nearby village where the locals refine, package and sell the salt wholesale in order to make ends meet. It looked like an arduous process and didn’t really reap much reward – the locals would only earn approximately 18 Bolivianos (about $2.50AUD) per 50kg of refined salt which would probably take the equivalent of 4 man hours to produce. It was a bit humbling seeing how hard these families worked for not much income, so to show our appreciation we tipped them and bought some funky Beanies that they were selling.

Next it was straight on to the Salar. Oh my god, what a sight. This vast, white plain stretches on to the horizon in nearly every direction. The heat created mirages mirroring the mountains in the distance making them look like giant floating diamond shaped rocks spinning on the earth’s surface. In parts the Salar was covered in a shallow layer of water and so it appeared that people and jeeps were floating.
We drove for about 15 minutes out onto the Salar until we reached what is known as Hotel de Sal, or the Salt Hotel. Every part of this hotel bar the iron roof has been carved out of Salt taken from the Salar, even the Tables and chairs inside. Here, we stopped for a quick lunch prepared by Sexy Eddie before we all succumbed to the temptation of acting like typical tourists and creating all kinds of crazy photos using the Salars unique depth perception quality. We created some pretty cool looking photos I must say; Yoav eating Liron, Ingrid and a mini-me fighting on top of cups we turned upside-down, and everyone propped up on, leaning against and peering over the top of my guitar (my personal favourite). With all the fun though, there was a slight downer, our clothes ended up absolutely saturated with salty water. See, the Salar is quite wet. It only dries for 3 months of the year, the rest of the time it is drenched with water. We later learnt what happens to clothes that have been drenched with high salt levels and dry, they solidify. I could hold my shirt up in nearly perfect shape holding only one sleeve, crazy.

After all the photo fun we headed out of the Salar (due to the amount of water on the flats at this time of year this would actually be the only time we would visit the Salt flats during the whole tour). We headed down the highway and pulled into an old train yard. As we got closer I realised that all the locomotives and carriages were red with rust, Eddie explained that this was El Cemetario los tren – The Train Cemetery. It was kind of eerie exploring all the trains once used to transport Salt as well as Silver and Zinc from Potosi out to the Pacific, now nothing but aged, red relics disintegrating in the harsh Uyuni conditions.

Our guesthouse for the night was pretty cosy, all six of us in a little room. But dinner was tasty and the town was wonderfully rustic, as we walked around ruins of farm stables and houses and chased a heard of Llamas trying to get some good pics.

Day 2:

A reasonably early rise saw us hit the track for a 3 hour drive deeper into the National park. The drive was by no means tedious. We had plenty to keep us entertained; spotting Llamas, Vicunas (a smaller, slenderer Llama-like animal), Road Runners and even Ostriches! Oh, and as mentioned before, the Jeep decided to stall in the middle of a 3 foot deep pond crossing. Sexy Eddie was forced to scale the outside of the Jeep to get under the bonnet and make adjustments. He did well to make it both ways and fix the Jeep without so much as getting his feet wet!

First (scheduled) stop was Laguna Colorada (red lagoon), known for its red colour and a popular feeding ground for thousands of Pink Flamingos. They were seriously cool, but unfortunately a bit timid and it was near impossible to get a close picture. The red colour of the Laguna is a result of red sediments and pigmentation of some algae, and with the snow capped peaks behind it, it kind of looked like we were on the road to Mordor (a Lord of the Rings reference for all the non-nerds out there).

We quickly arrived at two more Lagunas; first Laguna Blanca (white lagoon), known for its white colour due to high amounts of minerals in the water, then Laguna Verde (green lagoon), known for its (you guessed it) green colour due to sediments containing copper minerals. Laguna Verde was definitely the most spectacular. Situated at the base of Licancabur, a volcano on the Chilean border, and enclosed by surrounding natural walls, along with its tropical beach turquoise colour made it look like a spa for the gods. The wind here however was super crazy so we couldn’t stay too long, but we did hang around long enough so that a couple of the girls could make the 500 meter or so hike to a big enough rock to squat behind. Much easier being a guy sometimes J.

We continued on, and began to climb even further up. We had already been hovering around the 4300m.a.s.l. (meters above sea level) mark while visiting the lagunas, but now we were steadily approaching the illustrious 5000. After arriving at the site of many natural Geysers venting steam from the Earths underbelly Sexy Eddie explained that we were now at 5010masl – the highest I have ever been! He further explained that some of the Geysers are man-made and used to power many of the nearby villages (green energy = ‘tick’). Then we descended once again down to the shores of another Laguna, this one with a natural hot spring on its banks – it was amazing. Bath temp water and just us, lazing around watching the Flamingos do their thing – a great end to Day 2.

Day 3:

After a rude early wake up in the morning by a screaming hoard of silly Korean tourists scrambling for the bathroom sinks, we set off headed for the ‘arbol de piedra’ (petrified tree). This area was the site of an ancient volcanic eruption which not only petrified this particular tree but also created some amazing rock formations. By the time we arrived hundreds of tourists were already turning the formations into their adult-sized tree club cubby houses.

Day three definitely had the most ‘off the beaten track’ driving of the tour. We would make our way through caverns in the desert, across vast expanses of volcanic rock and eventually into the Valles de Rocas (Valley of Rocks); again the amazing result of an ancient volcanic eruption. A quick lunch down and we drove back to the dust hole that is Uyuni. We spent the rest of the afternoon sinking beers and chatting with our new friends before it was time to head back to La Paz on the overnight train. Yoav and Liron left us late in the afternoon to catch their bus to La Paz, so the four of us chilled out for the evening.

The epic journey to La Paz:

Little did the four of us know when we boarded the surprisingly comfortable 2^nd class carriage of the overnight train bound for Oruro, that we would be beginning one of the craziest ordeals we’ve had getting from one town to the next.

There were no problems with the train. In fact it was one of the best overnight travels we’ve had, and a very pleasant break from travelling on buses. However once we arrived in Oruro (which is where the train line finishes) we needed to catch a bus to La Paz. We caught a taxi over to the other side of town to the bus terminal only to find out that there were no buses running to La Paz! Apparently there was some kind of strike on. So after chatting to an American traveller in the same predicament we decided to try our luck on the street and see if we could find some transport. It was surprisingly easy. There was a mini-van ready to go so we all jumped on board and headed for La Paz.

One and a half hours later I was woken up by the loud horn of a truck we were parked next to. Looking around I could see nothing but dust, parked vehicles littered all over the road and a steady stream of people walking toward La Paz. Our driver explained that this was as far as he could go and we all needed to walk now. We had no clue as to how far we were, we couldn’t even see houses, but we had no choice and off we set, bags and all. Over the next hour the line of parked vehicles never stopped. We passed homemade barricades and flaming tyres on the road restricting traffic and even people setting up make do tent-style shelters next to their trucks. Eventually we found some kids who told us that they could carry our bags in their wheelbarrow up the road to where the taxi’s were. We jumped at the opportunity, but 20mins later the kids seemed to just stop in the middle of nowhere. They said that this dirt track on the side of the road would have taxis on it in no time. Needless to say we thought they were BS’ing us, but some nearby ladies confirmed it and so we waited. About 30mins passed and finally a car with a little taxi sign started coming towards us. As soon as it appeared, so did a group of Bolivian chicks quickly running past us to get the taxi before us (clearly ignoring any taxi line etiquette). This simply would not do, so I ran to the taxi as quickly as I could, passing the girls with a smirk and held the taxi for us. The taxi driver (and what appeared to be his wife and kid along for the ride) seemed to say that he could take us to La Paz, so off we went. Road after road littered with debris restricting cars caused us to backstreet bash it for the next 45 mins before suddenly the taxi stopped and the driver said we needed to walk again! Unbelievable! So we were on foot again. Another hour passed which involved main roads as well as backstreets, and a close encounter for Judy with a pack of stray dogs. Then we arrived at a car with a man saying he could drive us to La Paz. We were over it all, so we just agreed and jumped in. Twenty mins later he too stopped and we were forced to get out and walk – he however sincerely looked annoyed and said that earlier in the day he could get through, but not now.

We walked through what we discovered was finally the last barricade and hopped onto a local bus which was able to take us into La Paz Centro! So one train, two minivans, two taxis, one random guy with a car, two hours of walking and about 280Bolivianos later we eventually arrived at our hostel to meet up again with Yoav and Liron who had made the wise decision to arrive in La Paz very early in the morning. We had been blocked about 40kms outside of La Paz, and we learnt that the reason for the blockades was no union action, but a public uprising! Apparently the public transport prices had dramatically increased by so much recently that the local people could no long afford it. So in protest they were frequently blockading all roads into the city. Good on them I say J.

We were only in La Paz for a couple more days. We spent more time with Yoav, Liron, Clare and Judy before we hugged them all goodbye with promises to visit both Wales and Israel, and boarded a bus bound for Cusco, Lima. Another annoyance, just as we cleared the Bolivian boarder – there was no power on the Peruvian side, so the border control office could not clear anyone through. We waited outside in line for about 3 hours in the heat before it was finally up and running. However, this delay was nothing compared to what we had just gone through trying to get into La Paz, so for us it was a breeze J.

Photos: Bolivia Part 3: Salt Flats tour

tk_inks — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:53:00 GMT

We heart Bolivia

tk_inks — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:28:00 GMT

Can I just firstly say that surprisingly that overnight bus we took from La Paz to Sucre was the best overnight bus we had in all of South America. Not only did it only cost us $20pp for a 12 hour bus ride but it was also the only bus we had which had completely flat bed seats including a leg rest which you could move into position as a full length bed and a lovely warm alpaca blanket to combat the air-conditioning. So good! For anyone reading this that may still be considering buses in Bolivia we highly recommend the full cama bus seats on the El Dorado buses. The actual driving is a whole other matter and we’ll get into that more a little later…

Sucre, also known as the white city, has a reputation as the most beautiful city in Bolivia and for us it definitely lived up to that expectation. Most Bolivian cities have the pretty standard red brick façade and are not entirely attractive but Sucre has some beautiful old colonial style buildings and most of the city is white, hence the nickname.

We really loved our time in this city and actually decided to extend our stay as we were enjoying it so much. It is actually a really popular place to learn Spanish and if we had more time I think we would have loved to do that as well. But unfortunately we didn’t quite have that much time up our sleeves as there were still a few more things left we wanted to do with our time in Bolivia. So we had to settle for just enjoying the sites of the city of which there are many.

We stayed at a lovely guesthouse called La Dolce Vita, right near the centre of town. It is run by a French/Swiss couple who moved to Bolivia a few years ago and they provide some wonderful rooms with a great guest kitchen and patio on the rooftop. To make the fact that we had such a great kitchen even better is that Sucre has one of the best fresh food markets we have seen on our travels. It was brilliant! We had fresh fruit with yoghurt for breakfast each morning and could then go and buy fresh juices or fruit salads during the day and fresh vegetables for cooking in the evening. It was a nice healthy change for having to eat out all the time and trying to pick a dish on the menu that at least gave you a small handful of greens on your plate. Unfortunately South American food is not really known for its vegetables and salads. It is mainly just a lot of meat, rice and potatoes.

Our time in Sucre was spent very relaxingly. After breakfast we would go sightseeing and in the late afternoons a traditional South American siesta before preparing for the evening meal. We visited numerous museums including a free folklore museum with some amazing masks used for traditional dances and ceremonies across the country, a beautiful old colonial building which now houses a history of Bolivia’s wars within South America and our favourite, a gorgeous textile museum. The textile museum held traditional weavings done by the different indigenous people of Bolivia. It is an art form which is sadly dying out but there is now a trust set up to help men and women to continue their work. It is sold through fair trade shops throughout Bolivia as well as the museum itself and they even had a woman working on a weaving in the museum shop. It is such intricate work and each piece tells a traditional story and takes the artist between 2-3 months to complete. Traditionally the pieces were used as clothing but nowadays in order to sell the pieces they are also made into beautiful wall hangings.

As well as some great museums Sucre offers a great social scene. We found some great local bars which offered live music, drinks and also local films. On our final evening we visited the Amsterdam bar where for a small donation we watched a showing of a documentary on the Potosi silver mines called ‘The Devils Miner’. It was an amazing documentary showing the life of the miners, filmed just 7 years ago and we thought extremely worthwhile as our next destination was Potosi.

Potosi is a silver mining town and also apparently is the highest city in the world. Its main square sits at an altitude of over 4000 metres above sea level. The main mountain they mine the silver from looms above the town so you can imagine just how high that would be and additionally how difficult it would be to work in there. Our main reason for visiting Potosi was to experience the mines in action. I couldn’t bring myself to visit them, I feel a little claustrophobic in mines at the best of times, let alone ones where you have to crawl through on your belly and are in total darkness. I decided to give this tour a miss and let Tegan go on his own.

The tour starts by taking you to get suited up; long sleeve top, mining pants, Gum boots, Helmet and a battery pack with head torch. Once you’re looking the part it’s off to the refinery to see how the local people produce the Silver and Zinc that they mine. The operation looked really primitive and we were always warned not to touch anything due to the high levels of arsenic in the place (reassuring). Next it’s onto the Miners Market – a market where one can buy anything a Miner could require (including Dynamite). Here we bought ‘gifts’ for the miners; Juice, Gloves and yes, even Dynamite. Then it was onto the mines. Driving up the mountain it is quite clear that this hill has been heavily mined for centuries. The entire face, on all sides, is scattered with roads, shacks and Dump trucks. Plus the amount of mines on the mountain give a certain ‘honeycomb’ look about it. Our guide explained that over the last 500 or so years the mountain has claimed up to 8 million lives. Hence why it is known to the locals as ‘the mountain that eats people’. Before we knew it we were entering the mine, but no disused mine, this was a fully functional and very live mine as we were to quickly discover. As we walked along the mine cart tracks, after no more than 3mins it became increasingly difficult to breath. The dust was already grating at my throat and I found myself gasping for breath after every 20 steps. First stop in the mine is to pay homage to the mine’s ‘Tio’. The Tio is an idol that is present in every mine on the mountain. While most Potosians are Catholic on the Earths surface, underground however they believe the Devil is in charge and therefore they must honour the Tio, a demon idol. (The history of the Tio is quite interesting. Back in the 1500’s when the Spanish discovered the existence of silver in Potosi, they enslaved the indigenous people to work in the mines. Twenty hour shifts and only four hours sleep most of the time. Eventually the locals had had enough and they rose up against the Spanish. However, the Spanish knew how superstitious the indigenous people were and so created a giant statue of a demon and proclaimed that if the people did not work the Demon would kill them. So they all went back to work. The name Tio was derived because the word for demon was Dio but the local people had no ‘D’ in their language so it became the Tio.) Anyway, after offering a few Coca leaves to the Tio for safe passage, we continued into the belly of the mine. We continued around 600m more into the mountain and descended down three levels before we arrived at the working end of the mine. By this time the temperature was soaring at around 40 degrees and the air was so thin and dusty even sitting still was a chore. Then it happened. We heard a loud crack and thud, then all of a sudden we felt the air in the tunnel slam against our chests. Small rocks were starting to fall from the ceiling as our guide explained that the miners had just let off some dynamite. It was of the single most spine tingling moments of my life. Made worse by the fact that our guide had just finished telling us a story of how a miner and two tourists had been crushed after a dynamite explosion. When we met the miners, they were all in surprisingly high spirits (perhaps they had just found another Silver vein, who knows). But they spent some time with us, explaining what they do, etc. It really struck a nerve with me realising how humble these men were. Knowing full well that their life expectancy was not a day over 42 or so, this was their life, this is what they have to do to feed their families. It was quite moving. In all, we were in the mine for just over 2 hours, and it was tough, really tough. But these guys do it for up to 16 hours a day, 6 days a week until they either die or make enough cash so that they do not need to work there anymore. It made me realise that I could never again validly complain that my job sucks. The whole experience was one of my most memorable from the last 9 months and a lesson I will never forget.

After our brief stay in Potosi it was time to travel to Uyuni for a tour of the famous Bolivian salt flats. As we were leaving the hostel we were paired up with Clare and Judy from Wales who also needed a taxi to the bus station to Uyuni at the same time as us. We decided that we should all go looking for a tour together when we arrived in Uyuni. We had heard that it was better to form your own group before arrival in Uyuni if possible. That bus ride from Uyuni was magnificent. Probably my favourite for scenery whilst we have been in South America. The bus wound around the mountains on these tiny roads which switched between dirt and asphalt constantly. We went through some tiny villages with indigenous people working away on their land and the snow capped mountains soaring above them. It was 6 hours of pure beauty.

Uyuni on the other hand, a complete and total wasteland! What a contrast. As we wound around and came out of those mountains we spotted the town immediately just sitting in the middle of nothing. Considering this town is built purely on tourists arriving and leaving for tours they haven’t put in a whole lot of effort. Buildings were falling down everywhere, rubbish piled up and plenty of buildings just boarded up altogether. To make matters worse there is a constant dust storm blowing through the streets which makes it very unpleasant to walk around in as well. I felt really sorry for the locals who had to live in such a desolate place. The one thing Uyuni had going for it was that it has quite a nice main square with some greenery and a couple of bars which were serving drinks in the centre of it.

After visiting five different travel agencies and speaking with a few travellers who had just returned from Salt flats trips we made our decision and paid for our trip to depart the following morning. That night we took the opportunity to visit Minuteman pizza which is possibly the only thing in Uyuni which is regularly raved about by visitors. The pizza restaurant is in the back of a local hotel on the outskirts of town. In fact it looks like nothing special when you first walk in. It’s also pretty pricey by Bolivian standards but we were well rewarded when the pizzas we received were absolutely delicious and well worth every cent.

It was time for some well needed rest before our departure to the Salt Flats the next morning.

Photos: Bolivia Part 2: Sucre & Potosi

tk_inks — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:09:00 GMT

“Holy Crap! Where’s the oxygen gone?!?!”

tk_inks — Mon, 2 Apr 2012 06:18:00 GMT

It is so hard to describe Bolivia. It’s the land that time forgot yet held so close to its heart. It’s a place of incredible beauty yet a lot of its people have a hard way of life. It’s a country that everyone should experience and that no one should take for granted.

We arrived in Bolivia into the town of Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Being situated at an altitude of around 3800masl (meters above sea level), it’s the highest navigable lake in the world. This was also the first time the altitude started to affect us in a notable way. A simple 20m walk up a road now felt like a half marathon due to the lack of oxygen in the air. Meanwhile headaches, dizzy spells and shortness of breath became a common occurrence. However we were going to have to get used to it as 80% of our time in Bolivia was going to be spent up at around 4000masl. A hostel was quite easy to find as there were guys ready and waiting to snatch up any potential clients for their accommodations as the bus arrived in Copacabana. The hostel was quite OK but it had a wicked breakfast (too big to finish).
We spent our first day in Bolivia slowly (very slowly) wandering the streets of Copacabana. The town is quaint, not very large and full of countless stores selling Alpaca and Llama knitwear, which we pretty much needed straight away as it was quite cold being at 4000masl. So before long both Ingrid and I were rocking some funky Alpaca jumpers and ready to see more of the town. The main street of Copacabana starts at the port on Lake Titicaca and gradually climbs the hill towards the centre of town. It’s lined with all kinds of restaurants, clothing stores and hippies. Yep, Copacabana is pretty much hippy central. The streets are filled with dozens of dreadlocked and patchwork clad travellers trying to earn a buck through either street performing or selling their handmade jewellery.

The next day we checked into a new guesthouse, one that we had been advised on staying at while in Peru. Las Olas Guesthouse is, in a word, incredible. It has 7 self-contained, uniquely designed and built cottage-like cabins situated high on a hill overlooking Copacabana and Lake Titicaca. Our Cabin was so amazing. It was cylindrical, and split over two storeys, the first being the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom with a giant circular bed in the middle and fireplace to the side, the second storey containing another day bed and two indoor hammocks overlooking the lake. That night I cooked up a nice dinner and we enjoyed a bottle of wine overlooking the twinkling lights on the lake. However the lovely night was soured by the fact the Ingrid fell quite ill overnight and was pretty much bedridden the entire next day. We had planned to take a boat ride out to Isla del Sol (Sun Island) on Lake Titicaca the next day as we had heard about the wonderful Inca ruins and treks over the island, however Ingrid was in no state to get on a boat. As it turned out, her sickness could almost have been taken as a blessing in disguise as it rained most of the day – not great weather for trekking.

Luckily, it seemed to be a 24hr bug and Ingrid was feeling better the following morning, which was good as we had planned to travel to La Paz. We threw on our bags and headed down to the bus terminal, where I think it may have been a total of 30 seconds we were there before we were offered the cheapest bus fare I’ve ever heard of. Sixteen Bolivianos (around $2.20) per person to travel around 4 hours to La Paz! So we boarded a minibus with all the locals and set off. The road out of Copacabana is quite breathtaking; it climbs all the way up through the nearby mountains before descending once again into another lake side town. Here we were asked to get out of the Bus and board a little tug boat to cross the Lake, and I thought to myself, ‘OK. But what about the bus?’ My thought was quickly answered when all the Buses and Trucks started rolling onto little barges which carried them across the water. Why build a bridge when you can keep transporting people across the lake in the same way that has been done for hundreds of years hey?

Arriving into La Paz was pretty crazy. We didn’t know it at the time but La Paz is situated in one of the most spectacular settings for a metropolis in the world. The city resides within a mountainous bowl surrounded by stunning snow-capped peaks. At the top of the bowl, in the surrounding area of La Paz is the city of El Alto. Driving through El Alto we were thinking we had arrived in La Paz, and that it wasn’t very impressive at all. Then all of a sudden the buildings stopped, and the view opened up to a jaw dropping view of La Paz. As the road spiralled down around the bowl into La Paz Centro we could see that no matter where you were in this city, you could see the other side of the bowl, resulting in amazing views absolutely everywhere.
Just as a side note: while anywhere else in the world the higher positions on the mountainside, and therefore better views would be considered more lucrative real estate, it is actually the opposite in La Paz. Here, everyone wants to live lower down as the elevation is less and everyday life is easier.

I can definitely say that we loved La Paz. By the time we arrived, our acclimatisation to the altitude was coming along well, and walking through the bustling, market filled streets on our way to our hostel was a great welcome. The good vibe was slightly dampened once reaching our hostel when we were told (for the THIRD time in South America) that they had overbooked and our room was not available. However, unlike the previous two occurrences, this one worked in our favour. The receptionist walked us to a much better nearby hotel and told us that we could stay there for the same price! Good vibes flowing again.

Over the next two days we explored the streets of this thriving market city. In the old town section of the city, most of the streets are transformed into endless fruit, vegetable, clothing, toys, hardware, cosmetic and even witching stalls. Yes, in fact, La Paz has a renowned street where Bolivians and people of all walks of life come to fill their bags with all matter of dark art and traditional ceremony materials. In this ‘Witches Market’ you will be able to find and purchase such goods as exotic spices, herbs and dried insects, all kinds of aphrodisiacs, dreamweavers, worry dolls and even deceased Llama foetuses. (The Llama foetuses are used for interesting rituals called Challa or Pago which means ‘payment’. During these sacrificial ceremonies the Llama foetuses are burned as an offering to ‘Pachamama’ - meaning ‘Mother Earth’.)

One of our ‘must do’s’ for Bolivia was to cycle down the infamous Death Road, or ‘El Camino de la Muerte’, which while it was still in full use would claim the lives of up to 400 people every year. Now a days there is a newer and much safer route from the 4800masl pass of La Cumbre to the town of Yolosa at a very tropical 1000masl, and so the original Death road is now primarily used for tour groups to cycle, quad bike and (still) drive down.
Shopping around for a good tour company was tougher than expected. With hundreds of agencies haggling for your business, it’s quite difficult to decipher the good, reliable and most importantly safe companies from the rest. In the end we went with Pro Downhill Mountain Biking, which turned out to be a fantastic company to go with. They provided full safety gear, snacks, lunch and drinks, good bikes with front and rear suspension as well as full hydraulic disc brakes, and even provided breakfast (something all other companies didn’t).
Our actual riding experience will forever be remembered in my mind as one of the most incredible things we’ve done. Starting at 4800masl it took us a little over 3 hours to descend 3500m down the winding roads with 1000m drop cliffs to the sides. The views are spectacular (when you’ve got enough guts to take your eyes off the gravel road for a second), and the feeling you get from knowing you’re on DEATH ROAD is enough to get your adrenaline really pumping. While you may read that since being opened to cycling group tours the road has claimed 34 cyclists’ lives, don’t be too intimidated, the road really isn’t that dangerous. At no stage did I feel like I was in trouble (you need to remember that the road is pretty much wide enough to fit two buses on and you’re only on a bicycle), and even when Ingrid had a pretty heavy fall it never looked like she would go over the edge, she was just waving to the camera when her tyre hit a rock J.

We had one final day in La Paz before we were to set off further into Bolivia, and we thought we’d walk down to the central lookout of La Paz so that we could take the entire view of the city in. The lookout was pretty cool, it had been converted into a big children’s playground (and I mean BIG). So it had something for everyone. Oh, and the view definitely did not disappoint.

Next it was onto another overnight bus, this one to take us to Sucre in central Bolivia.

Might I just say, while we’ve found that South American people are generally quite friendly and welcoming, they really don’t have much care when it comes to disturbing people with their audio devices, hand-held game consoles and loud conversation, especially while people are sleeping on overnight buses. That is all.

Photos: Bolivia Part 1: Copacabana & La Paz

tk_inks — Mon, 2 Apr 2012 06:03:00 GMT

Sand dunes & Canyons

tk_inks — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:06:00 GMT

We arrived in Lima, Peru with not much more of a plan than a list of some places we wanted to visit and just under 6 weeks to do it in. Our first job was to work out a rough idea of the route we were going to take to avoid backtracking as much as possible and also to try and avoid as much of the rain as possible. We decided in the end that it would be most sensible to split Peru in to two parts. We would focus along the southern coast and then making our way into Bolivia to start with then upon returning to Peru, finishing with Cusco and Machu Picchu, hopefully when the rain has eased later in March. So with our basic plan mapped out we decided to firstly spend an extra night in Lima to have a look around. We were staying in what we think was the office area of the city. There were a lot of banks and other modern buildings around along with a few very wealthy looking residential houses and it was super quiet in the evenings. So there wasn’t a lot to do or see around there. On the other hand it was super safe and easy to walk around which is always a plus. We decided it might be better to walk in to the Miraflores neighbourhood. We expected it might take us 20-30 minutes. I think in the end the walk was more like 1 – 1 ½ hours! But it was a lovely sunny day so it was worthwhile. Miraflores is the main tourist neighbourhood of Lima. Lots of restaurants, cafes and shops by the seaside along with some beautiful parks and designated bicycle & walking trails in the surrounding area. We enjoyed just wandering around for the afternoon. But to be honest we didn’t really know much about Lima so after a couple of days we preferred to get out of the capital city and see a little more of the countryside. We caught a bus the following day to the small city of Ica and from there a taxi another 5 km’s down the road to the oasis town of Huacachina.

These days Huacachina is most famous for its sand dunes. It’s a backpacking tourists mecca. People come from all over to try their hand at sand-boarding, incorporating a bit of fun dune buggying while they’re at it. Despite the fact that the place was pretty much overrun with tourists and prices were a little higher accordingly we really enjoyed the laid back feel to this town and decided to stay an extra night. The weather was lovely and warm and we took the opportunity to lay in hammocks and take a swim in the hostel pool. But of course the main reason we came was to try sand-boarding. We booked through our hostel and they took us up late in the afternoon as it was starting to cool down. It would be unbearably hot in the middle of the day. First of all our driver took us on a great ride in the buggy across the dunes. It was like a rollercoaster on sand. It was awesome fun although perhaps a little minor whiplash and some sore bums by the end of it. The dunes just seem to stretch on forever when you are out there and we had some great photo opportunities whilst we were up there. There is so much space that you basically didn’t even see any other tourists up there other than the obligatory “scenic photo stops.” It was actually a little strange to think that this vast stretch of sand looked like it went on forever yet 5 km’s down the road was a mini-city where you wouldn’t even know the dunes where there.

Eventually we arrived at our groups own little isolated space of dunes to learn to sand-board. Those who had experience snowboarding seemed to pick it up pretty quickly. They just strapped themselves in and off they went. The first dune was of course the smallest, for practice sake. I was glad that I wasn’t the only one who had never surfed, skateboarded or snowboarded so I wasn’t alone with my struggle down the slope the first time around. But our guide was great. He gave me some good tips and by the third time down the introductory slope I went all the way down on my feet with no problems. In fact, by the end of the hour I was having no issues even on the bigger slopes. Mind you, the whole time I was going down I was thinking how strange it felt and a little scary to be standing sideways with your feet strapped together and just trusting your balance so you wouldn’t fall over. As those who know me are probably aware, I do tend to be quite clumsy when it comes to my body. Whether it’s bumping into things, tripping over things or just doing minor damage to myself in general. It can be very frustrating at times but it seemed that sand-boarding was something I picked up pretty quickly and I was very happy about it. Plus a big bonus was that sand doesn’t hurt when you fall over! Tegan, on the other hand, was a natural with his snowboarding experience. He had no problems and in the end I actually swapped boards with him because mine was going faster than his. I was more than happy to be moving a little slower, especially down the bigger dunes. On the very last dune we had a bit of fun and Tegan went down “skeleton style” lying on his stomach, head-first down the hill, whilst I used it like a toboggan. I was actually surprised to find that took more balance than being on my feet. Sand-boarding & Buggying fun over and done with, it was time to board an overnight bus to the southern city of Arequipa.

We spent two nights and days here exploring the old city, doing a little window shopping, enjoying the café culture and also a visit to the wonderful Santa Catalina Monastery in the centre of the town.

The Santa Catalina monastery is a wonderful old city within a city. It was built in 1580 and at one stage housed more than 450 people in the cloistered community. It was in fact an extremely wealthy nunnery. Most of the nuns who lived there had between 1 & 4 servants each and their families were required to pay hefty dowries to allow them to live there. In the 1870’s this was all reformed when a nun was sent by the pope to free the servants and send the rich dowries back to Europe. Today there are just 20 nuns who live in a small part of the convent which isn’t open to the public. But the part that is open is quite amazing. You can visit the nuns quarters, or cells, as they were called, as well as the old gardens and the many different streets and alleys which wind around the complex. There is even a café when we enjoyed some coffee and a slice of delicious cake baked by the current nuns who live there.

However, our main reason for a visit to Arequipa was to see the Colca Canyon. We decided to do a 2 night, 3 day trek which we booked through our guesthouse. We were picked up by minibus at the spritely hour of 3am! We then had to drive 3 hours to where our breakfast was served and from there another hour on to see the “Cruz del Condor” where you can supposedly view Condors, the largest bird of prey in the world. We however didn’t have any luck at the viewing spot itself. It was a little further down the road when we saw a huge condor just sitting on a log above the roadside looking down at everyone.

By 10am we had arrived at our starting point for the trek. There were 5 people in our group plus our guide, Juanito. We had two French girls, Celine & Muriel, a Belgian guy, Wim and Tegan & I. It was a really great group and we had a lot of fun together over the three days. The first day walking was almost all downhill. Now perhaps that sounds easy. But I can tell you it really isn’t. Walking consistently downhill winding 1200m vertically down the side of a mountain on a rock pathway that is constantly slipping and sliding beneath your feet is definitely not easy. However a few hours later we had made it to the bottom with a few blisters forming on the tops of peoples toes from them pushing into the front of your shoe constantly. From the bottom it was only a ten minute walk uphill and then 30 minutes along the plains through veggie and flower gardens of the local village community to our stop for the day. We enjoyed a much needed hot lunch on arrival and then a shower and some rest in the afternoon. After a 3am start that morning everyone needed a bit of downtime. The evening saw us playing some cards by candlelight before having dinner and then an early nights sleep.

The following day was perhaps what you’d call the easy day. We had a 45 minute fairly flat walk out of the village where we had spent the night and then a little tough 30 minute walk straight up to the next village. When we were resting at the top we met up with an American man who decided he wanted to walk with us the rest of the day as he was out on his own. So he tagged along as we walked through the next few villages. We had a couple of hours walking on fairly flat ground just admiring the villages as we passed them by and Juanito, our guide, pointed out a few bits and pieces along the way including giving us a taste of one of the cactus fruits. Eventually though it was time to power through those blisters and walk down into the next valley where our second night would be spent. The place where we spent our second night is known as the oasis. All of the lodges have lovely swimming holes where you can rest your feet after two days of walking and prepare for the epic climb of the following day. The third day is definitely known as the most difficult and involves a 5am start with a 3 hour, 1200m vertical climb back out of the canyon and back to the village at the top. As I mentioned earlier I do have a tendency to be clumsy and what did I manage to do the night before we had to that huge climb. Well I said goodnight to everyone who was still playing cards by candlelight and even though I didn’t have a light I thought, no worries I can get back to my lodge. Hmmm yes and I didn’t see the little concrete step right in front of me. I was wearing open toed shoes and bang, that was the end of my walking. I stubbed my toe so badly and didn’t realise until I had limped back to the cabin and got out my torch that I was bleeding everywhere and had managed to split the top of my big toenail. Majorly painful and extremely annoying. So when all the others in my group set off at 5am I had to sit there and wait to be picked up by a mule to be taken to the top. Yes, in the end I did get the easy way out but I still think I would have liked to have been challenged by walking up myself. Oh well. These things happen. Tegan said afterwards that it was one of the hardest walks he has ever done, and that’s saying something as he likes to be challenged. So I thought afterwards maybe hurting my toe was really a blessing in disguise. We were given breakfast at the top and then it was time to board the minibuses to drive back to Arequipa. On the way we made a few brief stops for some photo opportunities, some thermal baths and a lovely traditional Peruvian buffet lunch which was simply delicious.

Then it was time to say farewell to Arequipa as we boarded an overnight bus to bring us closer to Bolivia.

Photos: Southern Peru

tk_inks — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:40:00 GMT

Photos: Carnaval in Brazil

tk_inks — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:53:00 GMT

Gringos in Paradise – Our Carnaval experience

tk_inks — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:48:00 GMT

A year ago, if someone mentioned ‘Carnival’ (spelt Carnaval in Portuguese) to me images like flamboyant parades, massive floats, scantily clad Brazilian women and Rio de Janeiro would immediately spring to mind. While all these images are quite accurate, there is so much more to Carnaval than this.

Historically, the ‘Carnaval’ of Brazil is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter, or during ‘Lent’. On certain days of Lent, Catholics traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat, hence the term "Carnaval". Carnaval has roots in a pagan festival called ‘Saturnalia’, which was adopted by Christianity and became a farewell to bad things in preparation for Christ's death and resurrection. This, to me, sounds like more like a religious discipline to practice repentance. However over the centuries the theme has obviously shifted from a sacrificial fasting to more of a celebratory ‘bender’ for the entire population (which is much more fun let’s admit). Locals would tell us that the meaning of Carnaval is ‘the last great party before Easter/Lent’, and let me tell you, the Brazilians do not disappoint.
Let me throw some stats at you: it is said that the week of Carnaval accounts for 80% of Brazil’s annual consumption of Beer, 70% of the annual tourism intake and the highest government annual output of free Condoms nationwide (in an attempt to prevent the spread of AIDS). In fact the entire country practically shuts down for the week to celebrate – with the exception of any Carnaval related workers, industries, hospitality and malls.

Prior to leaving Australia we had already made up our minds as to where in Brazil we were to be spending Carnaval. While the grand spectacle that is Rio was tempting, we had heard through a few friends who had been to Rio for Carnaval that it was just that, a spectacle, rather than an interactive celebration. At the advice of our friends we decided to spend Carnaval in Florianopolis, or ‘Floripa’ as the locals call it. We even booked our accommodation before we left home expecting a mad frenzy of tourists battling for what beds were available in town.

Floripa is a small scale metropolis situated on a large island just off the coast of the Brazilian mainland. It is made up of the main city of around 1 million people, and many smaller coastal towns scattered across the island. We stayed, and spent the majority of our time in the town of Lagoa – about 40mins outside of the main city. The beautifully quaint town of Lagoa is littered with Café’s, Pubs, retail outlets, handicraft stores and restaurants. It also has its own small bus terminal which made it quite easy for us to get around Floripa and enjoy all of what the island, and Carnaval, had to offer.

Perhaps the number one reason, aside from Carnaval, for visitors from around Brazil and the rest of the globe to visit Floripa would be its beaches. To be exact, there are forty two world class beaches all around Floripa to the north and the south. Apparently there is even a famous nude beach on the island, but unfortunately (or fortunately – I’m not too sure) we did not make it there. We did however manage to spend two amazing days lazing in the sun on a couple of incredible beaches in the south of Floripa; Pantano do Sul a really long beach which begins in a funky little sea shanty town of the same name and spreads across most of the south of the island, and Lagoinha do Leste. The day we spent at Lagoinha do Leste beach was one of my absolute favourites on our entire trip. First of all, it is by no means an easy task getting to Lagoinha do Leste. It’s a 90 minute climb and descent over a mountain, made even more difficult by the fact that ‘someone’ (not naming any names… Chloe) told us that it was super easy and could be done in Thongs, even if you were carrying your Guitar. Yeah, not so much, haha. But we did make it, and am so glad we did, because you are greeted with a pristine and almost deserted bowl shaped Beach, surrounded by mountains and covered in white sand: a true paradise. We spent the day there with our hostel made friends Leah, Noora and previously mentioned (and despite incorrect Thong advice – still friend) Chloe J, playing music, eating fruit, swimming in a tropical yet surprisingly cold south Atlantic Ocean and generally thanking the gods for how lucky we were (especially me, on a beach in Brazil with four hotties – Winning!) Later on we were to also spend the night in the south of the Floripa Island, but I’ll talk about that later.

Oh, and another thing you immediately notice about Brazilian beaches is that bathing suit material seems to have become a scarce commodity in this country. What’s more confusing, is that it is actually quite insulting to wear nothing at all on public beaches. We found that sometimes the difference between polite and insulting was a fine line, or should I say a fine string. And this is not only restricted to women’s attire, the general consensus is that budgie-smugglers are an OK thing to wear. Just please dude, for the love of god, keep them pulled up OVER your butt cheeks!

On another and less emotionally scarring note, our hostel too was pretty awesome. We had our own private room with ensuite, there was a Bar, Pool table and Jacuzzi out the back, and it came with a wicked breakfast (which unfortunately we only made it to 50% of the time as we would regularly sleep in past breakfast time courtesy of Carnaval festivities the night before). You wouldn’t say the hostel is known for a ‘party’ atmosphere, it’s more of a place to regenerate and relax, which was perfect for us. Still we made some great friends here from all over the globe; Finland, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland and Australia and regularly had company during the nights festivities. We all quickly fell in love with the resident barwoman’s Caipirinha’s (Brazil’s national drink), and would enjoy many said cocktails before venturing out for the evenings happenings.

There seemed to be something new happening every night throughout the week and all over the island, not only restricted to the city centre. Our first night of partying took us up north to a massive outdoor dance music complex, where we shook it all night to the sounds of Swedish House Mafia and Fergie. Well, Swedish House Mafia were amazing, but Fergie was more like Karaoke where a DJ would spin her songs and she would occasionally sing over them – most of the time she just spent shouting random “what”s, “sing it”s and “Whoo”s at the crowd L.

Our more ‘traditional’ experience with Carnaval happened on our second night, when we ventured into the City Centre to watch the Floripa Carnaval Parade. When I say ‘watch’ I don’t mean sit in the Grandstand and watch the official Parade go past, I mean more get in and watch the Parade.
Firstly, I should explain what the Parade’s are all about. The Parade’s are made up of various Samba schools (gigantic in numbers) competing in a huge costume, dance and music-off. Each school presents a different theme, usually revolving around historical happenings or some sort of cultural or political movement, which they present through their costumes, dance, music and floats (or the “carros alegóricos”) - huge vehicles decorated according to the theme and constructed specifically for the parade.
Now, before and after the schools actually make their way down the official ‘parade strip’, they all mill around dancing, singing and drinking (still in full costume) in the back streets behind the Grandstands and that’s where we were. There is traditional music playing loudly from the back of pick-up truck PA systems and there is a real party atmosphere about it. Imagine if you will, a giant parade ‘before and after party’. This generally starts around 11pm and continues right through until daybreak. So cool.

The night after we visited Lagoinha do Leste beach, we decided to stick around in the nearby town of Pantano do Sul after seeing the huge beach-front stage the locals had setup on the shore. As the five of us sat down for an amazing seafood dinner, we listened to local bands pumps out some awesome traditional style tunes over the beach. As the night wore on, we watched as the crowd grew bigger and bigger until you could no longer see any sand between the people. It was enough sit-down, thigh-slap dancing for us by then, we paid our cheque and hurried out onto the beach to join all the locals. It was such a wicked night and a perfect end to our day on Lagoinha do Leste beach.

Our final night of Carnaval we decided to stay local. We were pretty worn down by all the partying, and simply couldn’t fathom heading out into the city for more. The idea of just having a few cheeky beverages in Lagoa town then having a (relatively) early night was just too appealing. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into…
It seemed that Lagoa had saved its traditional street party for the last night! In the local park there was a huge crowd gathered around a tribe of 100 or so dancers, drummers and assorted musicians all singing and dancing to traditional local and national songs. It was infectious and we could not hold back. The rhythm and beat of the drums were resonating through our bodies and the dancing was so that it looked like too much fun. We were hooked for the evening. Dancing until our legs could not hold us anymore. Then suddenly, it fell silent. No applause, no cheering, nothing. We looked at each other thinking ‘What the…” Then some of the performers began a slow rhythmic build up. Then the rest of the tribe gradually joined in, then the crowd, then us. The sound was almost deafening and lasted for ages, yet was so intense – like when a rock band extends their final song of a gig to an almighty climax. It all finished on a beat and the crowd erupted in jubilation. It seemed to be the final expulsion of energy, the final farewell to bad things for the year. Looking around as the feeling calmed down, it was clear that everyone, not just us, were ready for some long and well earned rest.

As much as we wanted some long and well earned rest, it was on the road again. Peru was calling us. So it was onto another overnight bus to Sao Paulo, then a flight to Colombia, then finally a flight to Lima (all in the name of saving $$ of course J). Hopefully we could get our recovery there…

Lastly, I thought I’d just mention a few ‘Things to note when in Brazil’:
1. If you are a female, simply acknowledging a Brazilian man with a grin is to them like saying ‘Yes, I would love to have sex with you. In fact, you don’t even need to find a room, we can do it right here.”
2. While the local population frequently walk around pretty much starkers, do not think for a minute that the lack of sunburn will also apply to you.
3. An umbrella is not good protection for beach wind. In fact it usually results in an embarrassing yet hilarious race between man and rain dispersing device blowing down the beach.
And finally, 4. You will generally get a nicer reception from the locals once they establish that you are in fact Kangaroo-Gringo, not Yankee-Gringo.

Photos: Iguazu Falls

tk_inks — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 08:05:00 GMT

The majesty of Iguazu

tk_inks — Wed, 7 Mar 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Iguazu falls, otherwise known as Iguassu and Iguacu depending on which country you are in at the time. Iguazu falls, as I will call them in this blog, are some of the most famous falls in the world. High up on every visitors wish list and pretty much on every South American tourists itinerary. Therefore I have decided that whilst recounting our own personal experience of Iguazu, I will also write this blog as a kind of guide for those who wish to have more information regarding travelling to and staying around the falls.

For those that are not aware Iguazu can be viewed from three different South American countries, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. However the falls themselves and split between Argentina (80%) and Brazil (20%). The falls actually consist of almost 300 different waterfalls cascading over rocks with the main feature being the Devils throat (La Garganta del Diablo), 150m wide and almost 100m tall, in a giant U-shape.

We decided to visit both the Argentinean and Brazilian sides of the falls and would highly recommend everyone take the time to do this if they can.

Firstly we started with the Argentinean side. We took a luxurious 20 hour bus from Salta to the town of Posadas where we then had to purchase an additional ticket for the final 5 hour trip to Iguazu. It was a long journey but the first bus was so super comfortable, leather seats, blankets and pillows, free meals, non-alcoholic drinks and movies one after the other during the time when we weren’t sleeping. It was like being in business class on an airline. We had decided to book a hostel in advance as we weren’t sure how long it would take us to find one when we arrived and figured after such a long bus ride we would want to know exactly where we could go to relax and take a well needed shower. However we soon discovered on arrival at Puerto Iguazu, the town on the Argentinean side of the falls, that it would have been fairly easy to find somewhere to stay. The town is basically a tourist hub. Everywhere you look there were signs for either a hostel or B&B lodging. The town is also very small and the bus station basically sits right in the centre of it so it makes it very easy to walk anywhere you need to go from there.

We stayed in a hostel called El Guembe house hostel. It had a lovely pool and hammocks in the front garden as well as a big spacious kitchen, a lounge with computer and free wifi. We were lucky enough to get a room with air-conditioning which made sleeping a little easier. It was about 35 degrees each day we were there so the pool and air-conditioning were much appreciated. We had two priorities on arrival. Firstly we had to find a laundry. Luckily for us there was one right next to the bus station which did a load of washing for a flat rate of 30 pesos (about $6). We were happy to pay that in this tourist town as we really needed the clean clothes. The second job was to find where the Brazilian embassy was so that we knew where to go first thing the following morning.

All Australians require a visa to enter Brazil. In fact residents of USA, Canada and Japan (amongst some others) will also require one. Being Australian was actually a lucky thing as residents of the USA had to pay more than three times what we did for our visa. We knew before we arrived that we needed a visa. We could have opted to get this in Buenos Aires but had heard stories of the embassy there making things extremely difficult for travellers to get visas and that it could take more than a week sometimes. On the other hand from everything we had read it seemed that the Puerto Iguazu embassy was more than happy to process visas in 24 hours in most cases. That sounded like the best plan to us. The embassy is open Monday to Friday from 8am – 2pm. We had arrived on a Sunday evening so we decided to work out where the embassy was and then get all our paperwork printed and sorted so we were ready to hand everything in on the Monday morning. Sure enough, it was an easy process. We handed in our forms, a photo and paid our money and were told our visa would be ready for collection tomorrow at 11am. Hurrah! So by 9:15 we were out of the visa office and on our way to the bus station for a bus to Iguazu falls.

The buses to Iguazu run every 20 minutes throughout the day and we paid 10 pesos ($2.40) per person each way for the ride. It takes about 30 minutes to get there. The buses are always pretty packed so we were lucky to get a seat. On arrival at the national park entrance you have to pay an entrance fee of 100 pesos ($22) per person as a foreign resident. Argentineans and members of Mercosur (the South American version of the European Union) can enter for less.

The entrance ticket includes both the “jungle train” and the boat to Isla San Martin in the middle of the falls. The Jungle train takes people from the entrance of the park to the start of the walkways to the upper and lower falls and then on to the Devils throat. We however decided to walk to the start of the falls walkways rather than taking the train. The first walk takes you through the jungle part of the national park where you get to see little Coatis, otherwise known as Brazilian aardvarks. These cute racoon like animals are everywhere around the falls. Making mischief and keeping tourists entertained with their antics.

Everything we had heard said you needed a full day at the park. We always doubted this and wondered how on earth one could spend a whole day looking at a waterfall! We soon found out. We started with the Upper Trail of the falls. This is an approx 1 hour walk along the top of the Argentinean falls and back. It gives you a great view to look down into the falls although you can’t see the Devils throat from here.

We then did the longer Lower Trail. This basically took us about 3-3 1/2 hours including a visit to San Martin Island. The lower trail winds down on boardwalks through the jungle and then along multiple view points where you get a front on view to look up at the falls you were just standing at the top of from the Upper Trail. We got some great photos from this trail. There is of course an option to purchase tickets for what is called the “Jungle adventure” where you have the opportunity to take a boat out under the waterfalls and also a jungle eco-adventure drive amongst other things. We decided to skip this simply because we felt we didn’t have the time in one day. We wanted to make sure we made the most of the 100 pesos we already paid to enter the park. So next we took the boat out to San Martin Island. This is a small island in the middle of the river and can give you your first view of the Devils throat and a close up of some of the other larger falls. We had a picnic lunch on the island whilst watching beautiful birds and cheeky monitor lizards. There aren’t that many places to buy food in the National park and it is of course quite expensive so we were glad we had taken the time to purchase some sandwiches from the bakery in town that morning. We also enjoyed a much needed quick dip in the river after hours of walking in the humid heat.

Our final destination for the Argentinean side of the falls was of course The Devils Throat. This powerful waterfall was simply magical. There was so much mist coming up off the falls that we were all getting wet just standing on the platform looking down at them. In fact the mist is so thick within the Devils Throat that you actually cannot see the base of the falls. It looks like the water is kind of disappearing into the Earth! The only way to get to the Devils throat is on the “jungle train” which is a tacky tourist thing but included in the entrance ticket and also gives your legs a rest after all of the walking on the trails. From the train ‘station’ it’s a flat 1km walk along a boardwalk out to the falls. We got a good look at some birds, Tortoise, Catfish and gorgeous butterflies along the way. The boardwalk also crosses over the river in a few places which was pretty cool. Our day spent on the Argentinean side really gave us an awe-inspiring view of how big the falls are as you get to view them from both the top and the bottom. Even though we didn’t do the boat under the falls we still felt that we got the full experience of the Argentinean falls.

Day 2 was time to check out of our hostel, pick up our Brazilian visa then take a bus to Brazil. Again buses to Brazil are quite frequent, every 30 minutes or so and only cost us a few dollars. When we got to the Argentinean border everyone gets off the bus, you get your passport stamped by immigration then back on the bus to the Brazilian border. Here the bus driver gave us a little coupon which indicated the name of the bus company we were travelling with and told us to get the next bus. He left everyone with their bags and we then had to go to the Immigration office, fill out an immigration form and have our visa and passport checked and stamped. We then walked back over to the bus stop and waited probably around 20 minutes until our bus came. There are a few different companies and your ticket will only allow you to get back on a bus with the same company as you arrived with. Otherwise you just pay again if you want to get on the first bus that arrives. We were happy to wait to save a few dollars.

Foz do Iguacu is the name of the town on the Brazilian side of the falls and that is where we were headed to. It is about a 40 minute drive from the border and we stayed in a hostel called Supernova, again with a lovely little pool. Foz itself is more of a mini-city. It is very big and spread out and nowhere near as quaint and peaceful as Puerto Iguazu. We took it easy the rest of the day and found a great Sushi restaurant close to the hostel for dinner. We hadn’t had Sushi since arriving in South America so that was a delicious meal.

The next day we visited the Brazilian side of the falls. The bus stop for the falls buses was only 100m from the hostel we were staying at so that made it easy. It is about a 40 minute drive to the falls from Foz do Iguacu and the bus goes via the local airport on the way. On arrival we once again needed to pay the National Park fee which was just a few dollars cheaper than that Argentinean side. This time however you need to board a bus which takes you along the National park road. There are options to get off along the way and purchase tickets for different jungle trails and bike and boat trips if you wish but we just got off at the start of the falls trail. There is just the one trail on the Brazilian side so it means that there are quite a lot of people and it can be slow moving when it is a skinny pathway and people are always stopping to take pictures. Whilst there is much less of the actual water of the falls on the Brazilian side it means that you get an awesome overall panoramic view of all the falls on the Argentinean side. There are multiple viewing platforms including one where you walk out over the top of the falls in front of the Devils throat. You get plenty wet from all the spray coming off them but it was an amazing experience as you really got to see how huge the Devils throat is as you are halfway down it on the Brazilian side instead of just looking down in to the mist from the Argentinean side.

Because it is just the one trail on the Brazilian side it only takes a couple of hours and then you take the park bus and then the city bus back into town. It probably took us four hours in total from when we left the hostel until we got back. Again the bus back into town goes via the airport so if you had a flight it would be easy to get there directly from the park.

We had the most amazing couple of days at Iguazu. Absolutely loved every minute. So if you ever go to South America make sure you don’t miss it. Our next destination for Brazilian Carnavale, Florianopolis!