Where we have been so far.......

We thought you might like to see a map of where we have been so far. I had hoped to be able to draw a map to show you, but haven´t worked out how.

In the meantime, here is a map of where we have been on tours so far in South America.

After the San Fran we flew to Quito in Ecuador, and then from Quito to the Galapagos Islands to do the following trip over 8 days........

After that we joined a Tucan tour for 36 days in Quito and did the trip below ending in La Paz, Bolivia.......

And after that we joined a GAP tour, a map of which is below. Note that rather than looping back to La Paz on this tour, we got off when we where in the south near the Salt Lakes. This was so that we could drop down into the north of Argentina.

Hope this helps (and if anyone can tell me an easy way to map the rest of our trip through Argentina and Brazil, I´d love to hear it!).

Death road, Dynamite and Deserts

Hi everyone,

Hard to believe almost 3 weeks have passed since our last post. We have been having a fantastic time, in fact, we´ve experienced some of the real highlights of the trip so far since we last wrote.

Crazy Cusco

Last time you heard from us we were in Cusco. It was a beautiful city, although probably the most ´touristy´ city so far. Our time here was spent chilling out after the Inca trail, and as a result we didn´t see too many of the sights.

Probably the highlight of our time in Cusco was a party we went to. Our tour leader knew the owner of one of Cusco´s bars/restaurants called ´The Fallen Angel´. It is an amazing place and worth a visit if you are in Cusco, not only for the food/drink, but the interior decorating. I think the owner has a resident artist and even the toilets feature elaborate decoration (barbed wire etc). Anyway.... the owner, Andreas, was throwing a party for his boyfriend´s birthday, and we were able to go along. The theme was around movies, and you couldn´t get in unless in theme. At about 4 on the day we set off in search of costumes, and by 9 (with the help of some material, scissors and Tony from our tour) we had turned ourselves into Fred and Wilma. The party was crazy. There were two DJs from the UK there and everyone danced in the rain in an open air courtyard. Andreas enjoyed dress up, a lot, first dancing on the stage in a sailor´s outfit (albeit one with white lycra hotpants and an open fronted lycra top). Later he changed into thigh high black boots and black hotpants as he walked around pouring tequila from the bottle down peoples´ throats. Some of the costumes were amazing, one guy/girl had Nemo (from Finding Nemo) on his head and although it is hard to describe, looked awesome. Good times.... but a quiet day the next day!

Lake Titicaca - Reed boats and homestays......

After Cusco, we headed south to Puno, which is a bit of a hole on the edge of Lake Titicaca. From here we started a 2 day trip on the lake, which is the highest navigable lake in the world. We weren´t sure what to expect of the trip, as others we know have been less than impressed with aspects of the lake, but we loved it.

First stop was the famous reed islands. Built from reed, the islands float out in the lake and are home to local natives, who live in huts built from reed. Tourism is a key part of life for the island´s inhabitants, but the ones we met were extremely welcoming, friendly and genuine. We met a young family, a 16 year old girl with young husband and small child. Although their way of life is the reason tourists visit, it didn´t detract from the fact that these people actually still live on the floating islands in the way they always have. Having said this, there is a strange mix of old with new.... the children travel to Puno for school, the islands have solar panels for power and an eco friendly toilet to prevent pollution.

After this, we motored for a few hours to one of the lake´s large islands. Here our group was billeted out to local families for the night. Fair to say that I was dreading this part of the trip, but it turned out fine. Michelle and I stayed with a young solo mum, who had a very cute daughter. Everything was very basic, but we were well looked after. There was plenty of interaction with locals including a soccer game (us vs them..... although given the altitude they had a distinct advantage) and a dance (were we wore local dress.... no you will not see the photos!). Once again, interesting to see first hand how the people here live and not the lowlight of the trip that I was expecting!

On the way back to Puno we stopped in the middle of the lake for a swim. Michelle and I led the charge into the water.... which was freezing! Suffice to say we didn´t stay in long!

Into Bolivia......

Next we bussed further south and across the border into Bolivia and then onto the main city, La Paz. The border crossing was again relatively painless and fairly informal... no ´do you have anything to declare´ type formalities here.

La Paz was a very interesting city with huge contrasts. Obvious wealth (Gucci shops etc in some areas) and obvious poverty (old men relieving themselves on a busy city street).

We had about 5 days in La Paz and it marked the end of our 36 day trip with Tucan and the starting point for our next tour. It was sad to say goodbye to the Tucan group.... we had such a fantastic time with them. We had a farewell dinner at a french restaurant (La Comedie). Although this place was extremely flash by Bolivian standards, it was still very cheap. I had a leg of lamb (which was big enough to feed a family) that cost just US$5! A few sneaky mohitos after dinner.... and a very slow day the next day!

Death road......

By far the highlight of our time in La Paz (and one of the highlights on the trip so far) was mountain biking down Bolivia´s infamous ´Death Road´. This road is regarded as one of the most dangerous in the world. It winds along the edge of a river valley, is extremely narrow in parts, has waterfalls flowing on and over it and has an almost vertical drop of around 500m alongside it. Despite this it is heavily used by large trucks and buses and because of this is an adrenaline rush for those tourists who choose to cycle it.

The cycling part of the trip starts at 4,900 metres on a tarseal road. It ends about 60 kms later at 1,200 metres in a jungle town. We started in extremely cold and wet conditions on the tarseal. After about 1 1/2 hrs of mainly downhill riding we reached the start of Death Road. Still raining, but now warmer, we set off. Our guides were very good. We had 3 guides plus two vans with our group of about 16. In the worst parts a van would go ahead and radio back to the group to let us know a truck etc was coming the other way. The 2 hr ride down was awesome. In parts you fly, but always conscious of the possibility of a large vehicle coming the other way on the largely one way dirt road and wary of getting too close to the edge!

The drive back out on the road after the cycling was pretty scary, as you are no longer in control of your destiny and our van was much smaller than much of the traffic coming the other way. Fortunately we had right of way and could keep to the right side of the road (the side away from the cliff) when being passed by on coming traffic. The trip is a mix of adrenaline and beautiful scenery. Some question whether doing the trip is in good taste and worth the risk, but we both rate it as a real highlight of the trip so far.

For those interested in Death Road, one of the guys in our group sent us this link to a recent BBC article on the road: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6136268.stm

Joining the GAP group

From La Paz we flew to Sucre, the highest capital city in the world (although in some ways La Paz is viewed as the capital too). In contrast to other flights in South America so far, our Bolivian plane was old...... a 727-200 with 3 engines mounted on its rear fin. Like other flights here, the landing is a little disconcerting, as the pilot weaves between mountains and valleys before dropping onto a runway.

At the airport the four of us joining the GAP tour from La Paz met the 7 others already on the GAP tour which had started a couple of weeks earlier in Rio in Brazil. The group was also really good...... a mix of Aussies, Brits and Americans. There was also a Canadian tour leader (Megan) and Vanessa, a Peruvian trainee tour leader.

Sucre was a great place and one where we could have stayed longer (no coincidence that it is also famous for its chocolates!!!). While still having a distinct South American feel, it is very clean, has heaps of old colonial buildings and has a slower pace of life. We did a bit of shopping here (DVDs for about US$1) enjoyed good food and drink. We had one night out...... first and last time in a Bolivian night club.... although as 3 time South American dance champion, Vanessa was a sight to see on the dance floor.

Mining with dynamite

From Sucre we headed to Potosi - the highest city in the world, and home to what was once the most productive silver mine in the world. We did a tour of the mine which was pretty cool. Once decked out in ´miners gears´ we bussed up to the mine. The mine is home to about 20,000 miners, all who work for themselves and sell their produce via small co-ops. The miners have short lives, due to the conditions in which they work (dust, chemicals etc and no protective breathing gear lead to disease) and usually can take only 10-15 years in the mines. First stop was to purchase gifts for the miners we would encounter on our trip........ included in the bag of treats we each purchased were special miners cigarettes, coca leaves and a stick of dynamite, fuse, detonator and bag of ammonium nitrate.... hmmmm. We also tried some of the miner´s tipple..... at 97% alcohol it is like drinking meths (not that we´ve tried meths....).

We headed into one of the many small mine shafts, trying not to think too much about how each of the miners know what the other is doing and how (or if) monitoring and identification of weak spots is managed. The shafts were cramped and dark and it was amazing to see how the miners do everything by hand (with assistance from their dynamite!). In the mine we talked about how the miners work and their superstitions, while sharing a miners cigarette.... conscious always of the proximity of our dynamite to the cigarette! Once safely back on the surface the guide demonstrated the detonation of one of our dynamite sticks. The explosive was created in front of us, then lighten in front of us, before being passed to a young miner who ran off with it to a nearby hillside. Once aware of how close the explosive was, our guide politely asked us to move back....... and then a short time later it went off!

Reality TV.....

From Potosi we took a private bus to Uyuni, the gateway to Bolivia´s Salt Flats. The trip there was along a very basic dirt road. Partway there we crossed paths with contestants on a reality TV show. The idea is that 8 Dutch and Flemish couples must hitchhike from Rio to Lima with the slowest being eliminated from time to time, similar to the ´Amazing Race´. They have very little money and must knock on doors to find a bed whereever they end up at about 4pm each day.

Two couples got off the local truck they had hitched a ride on and asked to join our (much faster) bus. We convinced the driver to take them.... and they enjoyed the comfort and food that us and our bus could offer them. It was very funny..... in the middle of nowhere in Bolivia with 2 TV cameras and 4 glamorous contestants. Single boys.... this could be a show worth watching, although it will only air in Belgium and Holland.



The Salt Flats

From Uyuni we started a 3 day 4x4 tour of the Salt Flats and Bolivian desert. This was fantastic!! Probably the highlight of the trip (so far).

The Salt Flats are a vast area of salt (funnily enough) and are unlike any other place we have ever seen. Everywhere you look is a brilliant white, with hills on the horizon. In the middle is ´Fish Island´, also known as Cactus Island (yes... due to the many cacti there....). We climbed the island which provides 360 degree panoramic views of the Salt Flats. It was breathtaking.

After lunch we went to work on the Salt Flats creating ´surreal photos´. The white backdrop of the Salt Flats means you can create all sorts of illusions with some props and a camera...... we´ll attach some of our work........ Soooooo much fun and the list of things you can do is endless.... would love to do more one day.

From here we drove further south on the Salt Flats and found a spot to watch the sunset over them. More photo opportunities and a last chance to take in the Flats and how much we had enjoyed our time on them.

The next 2 days were spent cruising around rough tracks through the Bolivian desert in our 4x4s (3 Landcruisers). The 4x4s took a hammering, and the drivers were always tinkering with this and that and replacing tyres when we stopped. Good to see the 4x4s doing what they are supposed to, rather than clogging up city streets.

The scenery we saw over the 2 days was also amazing. There are many lagoons, often filled with pink flamingos - in some cases thousands of them. One lagoon was red in colour. Another that really stood out was Lagoona Verde. It is right on the border with Chile, is a brilliant green colour and backs onto a large volcano. It is truely breathtaking, and blew us all away. We were very lucky, in 4 trips our tour leader had never seen it as green as we did. There are also mudpools and geysers, similar to NZ, but without all the barriers and warnings as you walk around them! We soaked in a natural hotpool on the edge of a lagoon early one morning - this was the best hotpool ever.... so nice and very natural, with a rough sandy bottom. There were also small tornados popping up all over the desert - one even hit our 4x4, leaving us spitting sand from our mouths and brushing it from our hair!

These were 3 amazing days..... and it is strange to think that at over 4,000 metres, all of it was spent higher than Mt Cook!

Overall Bolivia has been a top spot and we think that anyone coming to South America should seriously consider coming here. It is very cheap, very beautiful and offers some amazing experiences.

Travelling solo

After the Salt Flats we left our GAP tour and are now travelling on our own. Although the tours were great, we are enjoying now being on our own and the flexibility it offers.

The start of our time without the comfort of a tour leader could have been a baptism of fire... but turned out alright. At 2am we caught a train from Uyuni to the border with Argentina. We could not get tickets for tourist class, so had to settle with the ´local´ carriage. Although we had ´allocated seats´ this meant little and there was much jostling just to get on the train.... for a while we didn´t think we would be allowed on! Once on we sat with all the locals, many of whom were in traditional native dress. As we had been up since 4am the day before much of the night and following day is a bit of a blur, but we recall some stunning scenery as the train plodded along towards the border.

10 hours later, and a couple of hours late, we arrived at Villazon, the border with Argentina. We crossed over and found a connecting bus south to Salta in Argentina. 6 1/2 hours later we arrived in Salta, found a hotel and enjoyed a cold beer and some food. A long day... but satisfying that we managed to get there without incident on our own!

It´s been a long blog entry.... so we´ll save thoughts on Salta and Argentina for next time. We´ll be here for about 5 days before heading south to Mendoza.... wine country!

Thanks for your emails and for reading the blog. We hope you are enjoying it.... we are enjoying sharing our experiences with you. Hoping to find the ABs on TV tomorrow... if we do it will be the 3rd time lucky! Take care, love Ross and Michelle.