Coming out of Bolivia into argentina gave us quite a start. We left bolivia on an overcrowded bus that cost us about $.50/hour travelling down a dusty gravel/dirt road. An old man was actually sitting half on my lap most of the way as the bus was so overcrowded. The border town of Villazon was an absolute mess of vendor stands selling all kinds of indigenous wares, so much so that we had to walk on the street because the stalls were pouring out onto the sidewalks. Then we entered Argentina...
Argentina (at least what we have seen) is a very neat and orderly country. We started off by heading to Salta where we spent a few days. Salta is relaxing city and we enjoyed wandering the streets but were blown away by how european it was. The streets were lined with trendy coffee shops filled with buisnesmen and women in their nice suits. Many of the people even look European with fair complection (we dont stand out so much anymore). We felt it in our wallets as well as we tried to get a bus ticket and found that it was over three times as much as in Peru(which had been by far our most expensive tickets). Among other things we enjoyed riding the gondola to the top of scenic point over the city and a tour of Cafayette. Cafayette is a town a couple of hours from Salta. Very similar to Tupiza it was like stepping back into a cowboy cliche with brightly colored canyons and tall cactus dotting the landscape. In cafayette we got to tour the town as well as one of the wineries which are quite famous. Although we had a number of days planned for Salta we felt like we had really seen what we wanted to of the city and we decided upon returning from cafayette to take the night bus to Cordoba.
I should point out that yes the busses here are expensive but they sure are nice. We enjoyed a smooth bus ride that included a great supper and the best part of all, there was only 4 passenjers on the whole double decker bus. We rolled into Cordoba to a bustling station at around 7:30 and spent the next hour trying to find a hostel at the internet cafe there. Cordoba is somewhere between 1.2 - 4 million people(depends who you talk to), and is bustling with energy. It is sure a different feel however to exchange rambling markets for clean orderly stores filled with expensive north american clothing. We spent the day and wandered around town. Tomorrow we are hoping to head out to explore the surrounding area and likely take a bus on to Mendoza. Although we are sort of missing the dusty streets and worn down houses we are used to we are excited about the adventure of Argentina.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Crossing the border...
So where do I begin...back in tupiza which despite being only a couple days ago feels like months. we left on saying that we had booked in to go horseback riding and that we did. Wow, the scenery around tupiza is absolutely stunning. It is a landscape coavered by colorful red canyons, caves and magnificant rock formations dotted with cacti and thorn bushes. Our tour guide gave us fake little cowboy boots(A cover over our calves and shoes) as well as cowboy hats to enrich our experience. Its been a while since either of us have been on a horse but we quickly got the hang of it. Dennis´s horse was super lazy and would only gallop for a few seconds and then decide to start walking again. This was allright though as we enjoyed the scenery. We only wish we had some more time there to camp out in the canyons like real cowboys(girl).
We returned to the deserted town in search for some food with our 22 boliviano´s (just over $3.00)...not to much option! We did find a hamburger and fries for that price. Although we were very thirsty and had no more money for a drink...well the table over some tourists left half a bottle of Coke...so Dennis scammed it and we finished it off! Now why didn´we have any money? Well we didn´t calculate quite enough money to get us to the border, and in Tupiza we were not able to take any money out of the bank. So we ventured on as we had already bought bus tickets to the border hoping to get some money there. Loading the bus we discovered a bus terminal tax, and we gave the remainding change and she let us go on only paying one way. We arrived at the border town of Villazon, and we tried to exchange chilean money we had, but were unsuccessful and hoping we could exchange it on the other side. So we went through the procedures and were through quite easily....dennis started to have his bag searched and when he saw how packed it was he left it! Now we walked to the town on the argentina side and came across no way to exchange money! What a situation...so we went on to the bus station quite desperate and praying we would find a company that would except credit card. Luckily enough we found a bus and bought tickets although sure he scammed our credit card (we´ll have to wait and see). We didn´t care at this point and starving we sat and waited for the bus (a forced fast). Anywho the bus arrived and then they wanted money to put our baggage underneath....well dennis talked our way out of it when the guy realized we truly didn´t have any money! So due to this ordeal we had to skip a stop to Humahuca, which is a small town that was suppose to be very beautiful and traditional, but had no bank. So we headed on to Salta through the night and this bus stopped many, many times so we didn´t get much sleep. We also had to stop at a control station at midnight and have all the bags checked...again we got off easy when they took a look at our bags!
We arrived in Salta around 4am and ventured out to find a hostel. Walking of course as we don´t have any money for a cab. So loaded down we walked for over an hour looking for a hostel finding that many were full. Finally around 530 we found a hostel and went to sleep. We snoozed for quite some time and awake around 11 just starving...as it had been 24 hours since we had anything to eat! We were both quite groggy and very sore from carrying our bags we found a bank and thankfully we got money out!!! We found the first place to eat and not realizing it was pretty pricey for a very small amount of food...who knew empanadas were bite size! Anyways we ventured to the super market and bought a few things to fill our stomaches.
Now we are wandering around the city and everything is closed until late this afternoon. We go checking our email and find that we are an aunty and uncle again to little Jordy Austin, that was a shocker as were expecting news anyday from Lorraine and Christiaan who are expecting. So Wendy and John have been waiting to adopt for awhile, so we are excited and hopefully they will have him home soon!!
We returned to the deserted town in search for some food with our 22 boliviano´s (just over $3.00)...not to much option! We did find a hamburger and fries for that price. Although we were very thirsty and had no more money for a drink...well the table over some tourists left half a bottle of Coke...so Dennis scammed it and we finished it off! Now why didn´we have any money? Well we didn´t calculate quite enough money to get us to the border, and in Tupiza we were not able to take any money out of the bank. So we ventured on as we had already bought bus tickets to the border hoping to get some money there. Loading the bus we discovered a bus terminal tax, and we gave the remainding change and she let us go on only paying one way. We arrived at the border town of Villazon, and we tried to exchange chilean money we had, but were unsuccessful and hoping we could exchange it on the other side. So we went through the procedures and were through quite easily....dennis started to have his bag searched and when he saw how packed it was he left it! Now we walked to the town on the argentina side and came across no way to exchange money! What a situation...so we went on to the bus station quite desperate and praying we would find a company that would except credit card. Luckily enough we found a bus and bought tickets although sure he scammed our credit card (we´ll have to wait and see). We didn´t care at this point and starving we sat and waited for the bus (a forced fast). Anywho the bus arrived and then they wanted money to put our baggage underneath....well dennis talked our way out of it when the guy realized we truly didn´t have any money! So due to this ordeal we had to skip a stop to Humahuca, which is a small town that was suppose to be very beautiful and traditional, but had no bank. So we headed on to Salta through the night and this bus stopped many, many times so we didn´t get much sleep. We also had to stop at a control station at midnight and have all the bags checked...again we got off easy when they took a look at our bags!
We arrived in Salta around 4am and ventured out to find a hostel. Walking of course as we don´t have any money for a cab. So loaded down we walked for over an hour looking for a hostel finding that many were full. Finally around 530 we found a hostel and went to sleep. We snoozed for quite some time and awake around 11 just starving...as it had been 24 hours since we had anything to eat! We were both quite groggy and very sore from carrying our bags we found a bank and thankfully we got money out!!! We found the first place to eat and not realizing it was pretty pricey for a very small amount of food...who knew empanadas were bite size! Anyways we ventured to the super market and bought a few things to fill our stomaches.
Now we are wandering around the city and everything is closed until late this afternoon. We go checking our email and find that we are an aunty and uncle again to little Jordy Austin, that was a shocker as were expecting news anyday from Lorraine and Christiaan who are expecting. So Wendy and John have been waiting to adopt for awhile, so we are excited and hopefully they will have him home soon!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Salar de Uyuni
We ventured out and joined up with our tour group which included 3 dutch girls, 1 swiss and us (and our driver of course). We threw our bags on top of the 4x4 jeep and crammed in. We set off to see the train graveyard, which consisted of delapitated, rusted old trains that were used to transfer the salt. Then shortly we arrived to the salt plains that are very white!! It is the biggest salt reserve in the world. It is a endless sea of blinding white and we were glad to have our sunglasses. Our guide, Elias, explained the salt plains. We had met up with a german journalist who had come to write about the large lithium reserves under the salt plain, but they can´t harvest it. We drove on the salt which was quite hard and after we stopped to take some silly pictures we continued on until.... off popped our tire! I also didn´t mention that we stopped at a small town were we also had a flat tire and we had put our spare on. Being quite the handyman our guide set to work whistling away and he inflated a new tube which was leaking. So he scrambled with some scraps until he was satisfied the leak was sealed for the moment. We arrived at Inkawasi which is a rock hill covered with cacti. The cacti were very big and one was over 9 feet tall and dated back...1 cm a year? We had a lovely lunch on tables created of salt after which we continued on to our sleeping quarters for the night. We managed to stay warm with our team huddled all in one room. The second day we set off to various locations to see different lagoons, rock formations, and flamingo´s. We arrived at our hostel which was not quite so nice or warm...thankful for the duck tape on the cracks of the windows! Our group bundled up for supper and as soon as we were done we hit the sack to hopefully sleep through the cold. That night it reached down to -27, although we managed to stay warm (I had rented a second sleeping bag, which was a lifesaver). We had an early start to the day at 5:00 to change into swim gear...um that was difficult task. We saw geysers and then arrived at the natural hot springs shortly after sunrise where we ventured into the hot water. There were only a few of us brave souls as there were many onlookers from other groups (it wasn´t so bad, considering we´re from Canada). We then enjoyed a pancake breakfast out the back of the jeep. Off we set again for a long day of driving back to Uyuni bundled in our sleeping bags.
We stayed the night in Uyuni as the train was still not running due to blockades so we took a morning bus to Tupiza. The drive started out very cold, but as the sun rose, the bus warmed up. The roads around here are all gravel/sand roads so very dusty and bumpy. The drive was quite pretty teh closer we came to Tupiza with rolling hills, with rock formations from errosion, and cacti covering the hills. The place has a very western feel and Dennis was wanting his cowboy hat! Anyways we are booked for a horseback ride through the canyons tomorrow morning, before catching another bus out to the border into Argentina. We´ll let you know how that goes as the last few times I have been on a horse it was a white knuckle ride! I should mention that this is a western town in more than just scenery. A small town outside of Tupiza is where the infamous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their match, just a bit of Tupiza history for you.
P.s Happy Fathers day!!!
We stayed the night in Uyuni as the train was still not running due to blockades so we took a morning bus to Tupiza. The drive started out very cold, but as the sun rose, the bus warmed up. The roads around here are all gravel/sand roads so very dusty and bumpy. The drive was quite pretty teh closer we came to Tupiza with rolling hills, with rock formations from errosion, and cacti covering the hills. The place has a very western feel and Dennis was wanting his cowboy hat! Anyways we are booked for a horseback ride through the canyons tomorrow morning, before catching another bus out to the border into Argentina. We´ll let you know how that goes as the last few times I have been on a horse it was a white knuckle ride! I should mention that this is a western town in more than just scenery. A small town outside of Tupiza is where the infamous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their match, just a bit of Tupiza history for you.
P.s Happy Fathers day!!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
a bolivian drive and a bolivian winter
So you might be wondering why we are blogging so soon when we have just recently done so., perhaps something catastrophic happened... Actually it is ripping cold outside, as well as in our hostel and this internet cafe is wam so here we are.
So to start when the lonely planet "strongly suggests" taking a train because the bus is bad they mean it(as well as a friend who had the unfortunate experience). We boarded our bus at 8pm in oruro, popped some gravol and settled in for a good ride. I was expecting switchbacks and craziness(which we were used to) but was actually surprised to find it rather tranquil and we soon fell asleep. All of the sudden we were awoken from our sleep by an earthquake of unbelievable magnitude. I quickly realized that there was not in fact an earthquake but only an infamous bolivian gravel road. This destructive washboard road rattled us untill it felt like our lungs were all mixed up in the bottoms of our stomach. Everynow and then we would get a small break (which we hoped was the end) and seemingly each time the earthquake would begin again. The funny thing is that the locals didnt seem to mind one bit, and as the bus was oversold as ussual they were comfortably sleeping in the seats as well as the aisles.
The bus ride itself was really cold(even with the help of our sleeping bags) and when we arrived we found that it was -13 explaining the cold ride. We grabbed a taxi with some cool germans we had met at the train station and searched for a hostel(at 4 in the morning). Thankfully we found a bed and curled up for a few hours. This is an interesting town, which would probably be a ghosttown except for the tourist draw of the salar salt plains. It is quite and a bit rundown but at the same time safe and easy to explore. We are going into their winter and the temperatures drop to -12 to -20 at night which is chilly considering they dont have much indoor heating. So needless to say Liana and I hit up the market today for some much needed warm alpaca socks, mits, and scarfs. We also booked a three day tour of the salt plains leaving tomorrow morning and are quite excited. Liana(although a canadian) is somewhat nervous as to the cold temperatures as they are exceptionally cold in the barren salt plains with no escaping the cold.
So to start when the lonely planet "strongly suggests" taking a train because the bus is bad they mean it(as well as a friend who had the unfortunate experience). We boarded our bus at 8pm in oruro, popped some gravol and settled in for a good ride. I was expecting switchbacks and craziness(which we were used to) but was actually surprised to find it rather tranquil and we soon fell asleep. All of the sudden we were awoken from our sleep by an earthquake of unbelievable magnitude. I quickly realized that there was not in fact an earthquake but only an infamous bolivian gravel road. This destructive washboard road rattled us untill it felt like our lungs were all mixed up in the bottoms of our stomach. Everynow and then we would get a small break (which we hoped was the end) and seemingly each time the earthquake would begin again. The funny thing is that the locals didnt seem to mind one bit, and as the bus was oversold as ussual they were comfortably sleeping in the seats as well as the aisles.
The bus ride itself was really cold(even with the help of our sleeping bags) and when we arrived we found that it was -13 explaining the cold ride. We grabbed a taxi with some cool germans we had met at the train station and searched for a hostel(at 4 in the morning). Thankfully we found a bed and curled up for a few hours. This is an interesting town, which would probably be a ghosttown except for the tourist draw of the salar salt plains. It is quite and a bit rundown but at the same time safe and easy to explore. We are going into their winter and the temperatures drop to -12 to -20 at night which is chilly considering they dont have much indoor heating. So needless to say Liana and I hit up the market today for some much needed warm alpaca socks, mits, and scarfs. We also booked a three day tour of the salt plains leaving tomorrow morning and are quite excited. Liana(although a canadian) is somewhat nervous as to the cold temperatures as they are exceptionally cold in the barren salt plains with no escaping the cold.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
killing time
So here we are in the little town of Oruro killing some time. We arrived this morning on the bus from La paz.
Our time in la paz was nice and relaxing. Yesterday we spent the morning wandering the "black market". This is not actually a black market, but a labrynth of thousands and thousands of stalls selling everything from shoes to electrical odds and ends. Although a bit claustrophobic it was a cool experience. Then in the afternoon we relaxed with a fruit smoothie(for a dollar) and wrote some long awaited post cards(sorry).
Today we got into Oruro(about a 4 hour drive) and quickly made a b-line for the train station to get our tickets onward. However when we got there we were informed that there was a blockade and the train would not go out today. So back to the bus station we went with some cool german travelers who had the same luck. We managed to get a bus out tonight at 8pm. However this is one of the most notably rough roads in bolivia and we arrive at 4 in the morning so it may be a long night. Did we mention there are no bathrooms on the bus...it stops twice(or so they say). Nontheless this is part of the adventure and we are happy to at least be on route to Uyuni. Once there we hope to catch a tour of the salt flats for a few days so it may be a few days before the next blog.
Our time in la paz was nice and relaxing. Yesterday we spent the morning wandering the "black market". This is not actually a black market, but a labrynth of thousands and thousands of stalls selling everything from shoes to electrical odds and ends. Although a bit claustrophobic it was a cool experience. Then in the afternoon we relaxed with a fruit smoothie(for a dollar) and wrote some long awaited post cards(sorry).
Today we got into Oruro(about a 4 hour drive) and quickly made a b-line for the train station to get our tickets onward. However when we got there we were informed that there was a blockade and the train would not go out today. So back to the bus station we went with some cool german travelers who had the same luck. We managed to get a bus out tonight at 8pm. However this is one of the most notably rough roads in bolivia and we arrive at 4 in the morning so it may be a long night. Did we mention there are no bathrooms on the bus...it stops twice(or so they say). Nontheless this is part of the adventure and we are happy to at least be on route to Uyuni. Once there we hope to catch a tour of the salt flats for a few days so it may be a few days before the next blog.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
soccer, sun, and friends
Well we have made it to la paz and it is nice to be here. It is a bit chilly but all in all we are enjoying ourselves and had a nice day.
I guess I should start by backing up just a bit to our time at isla del sol. We took a ferry for a couple of dollars from copacabana to ISla del sol(island of the sun). This is said to be one of the most important inca sights, in a sense it is an inca mecca. This is kind of funny because there is nothing there, just some simple ruins of a temple, a stone table, and a big rock. Other than that it is a desolate little island with sparse vegitation here and there. I guess this place holds significant value in their creation, worship, and calender.....we werent that impressed. Nonetheless we checked out the ruins (on the north end of the island) and set off on a trek to the south end of the island. IT took us about 2 hours from where we caught our ferry back home. We got home and quickly realized that we were quite red. I should say that Liana was more of a purple then a red. I owe it to my big beard that I never burned my face(tried to get a picture but the macro setting wouldnt focus in). So tired from sun and hiking we went to bed to rest before our next move.
We set off early in the morning on a bus for La paz, about 3.5 hours or so. Everything was cool untill we drove through this small town and came to the beach where the road ended. I was confused and quickly became somewhat nervous when our bus drove on to this super rickety old...boat I guess you would call it. Now I figure the bus ways a good bit but the old boat seemed to have no problems and we were propelled along by a little outboard motor. We are safe!!!
On the bus we started talking to some people who were actually from lethbridge!!! Now thats a coincidence. They are pretty cool and after the bus we shared a taxi and found a hostel. We were all hungry and so went out to eat together. On the way back to the hostel I heard someone listening to a soccer game on the radio and after asking found out that there was a game on in la paz in an hour or so. We all decided to go and caught a taxi to the game where we bought some soccer jerseys(lee and I payed $4 for two) and bought our tickets. The game was two teams from the Bolivian league and after a slow start picked up in the second half. I really enjoyed this and I am sure Liana did as well as she is used to watching the slightly slower pace of the browns(my team in lethbridge) . Tonight we went out of sushi(a welcome change) and are relaxing abit before a promising day tomorrow of some sight seeing and a bit of shopping.
I guess I should start by backing up just a bit to our time at isla del sol. We took a ferry for a couple of dollars from copacabana to ISla del sol(island of the sun). This is said to be one of the most important inca sights, in a sense it is an inca mecca. This is kind of funny because there is nothing there, just some simple ruins of a temple, a stone table, and a big rock. Other than that it is a desolate little island with sparse vegitation here and there. I guess this place holds significant value in their creation, worship, and calender.....we werent that impressed. Nonetheless we checked out the ruins (on the north end of the island) and set off on a trek to the south end of the island. IT took us about 2 hours from where we caught our ferry back home. We got home and quickly realized that we were quite red. I should say that Liana was more of a purple then a red. I owe it to my big beard that I never burned my face(tried to get a picture but the macro setting wouldnt focus in). So tired from sun and hiking we went to bed to rest before our next move.
We set off early in the morning on a bus for La paz, about 3.5 hours or so. Everything was cool untill we drove through this small town and came to the beach where the road ended. I was confused and quickly became somewhat nervous when our bus drove on to this super rickety old...boat I guess you would call it. Now I figure the bus ways a good bit but the old boat seemed to have no problems and we were propelled along by a little outboard motor. We are safe!!!
On the bus we started talking to some people who were actually from lethbridge!!! Now thats a coincidence. They are pretty cool and after the bus we shared a taxi and found a hostel. We were all hungry and so went out to eat together. On the way back to the hostel I heard someone listening to a soccer game on the radio and after asking found out that there was a game on in la paz in an hour or so. We all decided to go and caught a taxi to the game where we bought some soccer jerseys(lee and I payed $4 for two) and bought our tickets. The game was two teams from the Bolivian league and after a slow start picked up in the second half. I really enjoyed this and I am sure Liana did as well as she is used to watching the slightly slower pace of the browns(my team in lethbridge) . Tonight we went out of sushi(a welcome change) and are relaxing abit before a promising day tomorrow of some sight seeing and a bit of shopping.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Bolivia
Well so as not to keep you in suspense for too long we managed to make it to bolivia this morning. It was an eventful night as Liana´s stomach started becoming upset prior to departure on our night bus. It was a problem too tough for even for a good dose of gravol and after considerable discomfort the vomitting began at about midnight. This continued on untill the early morning managing too keep everything contained (although disturbing those around us I am sure). We rolled up to a fork in the road at about 8am where we were told that those heading for copacabana were to take this little combi(small van) the rest of the way. I guess the first sign should have been when the driver asked me to help pushstart the van....ya right. Finally we got a boost and took off down the road which lasted about 10 minutes before the combi completely died. So here we were sitting on the side of the road, Liana still feeling quite sick and weak while our driver pulled out the passanger seat and started tinkering with the engine(which is apparently under the front seats). Thankfully another combi came by and we hopped on and headed to the border. This part was actually quite smooth and we were soon enough off in another combi to copacabana, just a few minutes away.
Copacabana is a small little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the biggest and highest lake in the world. It is an intersting landscape, they call it the altiplano (high plains) and it is quite different than what we have seen thus far. It is a more dry climate, mostly flat with some low rolling hills dotted here and there with some vegitation. Liana is starting to feel a bit better, we got a nice little hostel room and had a light lunch. If all is well we will head off to the island of the sun tomorrow to see some ruins.
Copacabana is a small little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the biggest and highest lake in the world. It is an intersting landscape, they call it the altiplano (high plains) and it is quite different than what we have seen thus far. It is a more dry climate, mostly flat with some low rolling hills dotted here and there with some vegitation. Liana is starting to feel a bit better, we got a nice little hostel room and had a light lunch. If all is well we will head off to the island of the sun tomorrow to see some ruins.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Machu picchu and more
So here we are in cusco, resting from the adventures of Machu Picchu, and what an adventure it was! Our journeys began as we boarded a train to the town of Aguas Calientes (the gateway to machu picchu). The train is really the only way to get to machu picchu and they make you pay for it dearly. However it was worth it and we both enjoyed watching the mountain scenery go by while listening to the clicking of the train of the tracks. After about 3 hours on the train we pulled into Aguas Calientes at about 11AM where we were met by a hostel liason who brought us to our hostel.
Realizing that time was short we headed off quickly on a hike over machu picchu that had been recommended to us. What a hike. I should start by saying that Aquas Calientes is nestled in beautiful jungle clad mountains. We felt like we were on the set of Indiana Jones as we hiked up our trail which included numerous sets of long, high and steep rickety ladders that stretched on and on. The hike left us somewhat short of breath but our reward was worth it as we crested the mountain to see Machu Picchu spread out in the mountains before us. We snapped a few pictures and headed back down to the natural hotsprings to rest our weary legs. Finally after some good food we headed back to our hostel for a few short hours of sleep before our big day.
Our machu picchu experience started bright and early as our alarm went of at 3:45am. The reason for this craziness is that there is a hike above machu picchu that is only open to the first 200 people(as another 200 are reserved). So rather than waiting for an expensive bus to take us up we hiked up the thousands of stone stairs that take you to the entrance. The experience was worth it as we headed off under a beautiful moonlit sky hemmed in by the silhouette of the mountains all around us. We climbed up the stairs and switchbacks with the light from our headlamp and what an exciting experience. It was an exciting hike and we were feeling pretty good as we got to the gate and realized we were within the first 20 people there!We relaxed and waited for the gate to open(at 6am) and then ran to get our tickets for the Huaynu Picchu hike. The view of Macchu Picchu almost stopped us in our tracks, it was absolutely beautiful and after getting our tickets we headed up to the guardhouse (view point) to sit and watch the sun crawl down the mountains and light up the city.
Machu Picchu isnt really that huge as it was only a retreat center for royalty, probably hosting only a few hundred people in peak times. However the natural setting mixed with the ingenious building make it a sight to behold. They say that 60% of machu pichu is underground, providing a flat base in the mountain to hold the buildings as well as provide drainage for the city. What is above ground is an impressive use of stone to provide a naturesque feel to the city. It is truly fantastic.
After spending a few hours exploring the bottom half of the city of a maze of buildings and stairs. It included the temple of the condor, living quarters, and agricultural terraces. We set off on our climb of huaynu picchu, a mountain overlooking machu picchu. We braced ourselves for a tough 1hr. hike and were quite surprised when after only 40 minutes we were standin on top with out too much effort. We took in the panoramic view and explored the few buildings and guard house on top before dropping back down to finish our tour of the upper half of the city. The top half included the royal housing, the temple of the sun (the place where they believed the sun was tied too) and other sacred areas. I should add that the selfguided tour book liana bought me for Christmas proved an awesome guide as we worked our way through the maze of stone buildings. Finally, we said our sad farewell to machu picchu and hiked back down the thousands of steps to aguas calientes to wait for our train.
So here we are in cusco and it looks as though it might stay that way for a while. There has been some conflicts in the jungles of peru regarding oil, taxes and borders. This has resulted in numerous clashes between police and natives. There have been quite a few mortalities and although this is in the north of peru there have been solidarity marches all over. These are quite peacefull and well controlled however both the bus station and airport have been shut down for cross border transportation. There is a chance we will get through tonight but everything is up in the air. If we cant get through we may try to get to Puno, which is close to the border, alongside lake Titicaca. We will keep you posted on how this goes.
Realizing that time was short we headed off quickly on a hike over machu picchu that had been recommended to us. What a hike. I should start by saying that Aquas Calientes is nestled in beautiful jungle clad mountains. We felt like we were on the set of Indiana Jones as we hiked up our trail which included numerous sets of long, high and steep rickety ladders that stretched on and on. The hike left us somewhat short of breath but our reward was worth it as we crested the mountain to see Machu Picchu spread out in the mountains before us. We snapped a few pictures and headed back down to the natural hotsprings to rest our weary legs. Finally after some good food we headed back to our hostel for a few short hours of sleep before our big day.
Our machu picchu experience started bright and early as our alarm went of at 3:45am. The reason for this craziness is that there is a hike above machu picchu that is only open to the first 200 people(as another 200 are reserved). So rather than waiting for an expensive bus to take us up we hiked up the thousands of stone stairs that take you to the entrance. The experience was worth it as we headed off under a beautiful moonlit sky hemmed in by the silhouette of the mountains all around us. We climbed up the stairs and switchbacks with the light from our headlamp and what an exciting experience. It was an exciting hike and we were feeling pretty good as we got to the gate and realized we were within the first 20 people there!We relaxed and waited for the gate to open(at 6am) and then ran to get our tickets for the Huaynu Picchu hike. The view of Macchu Picchu almost stopped us in our tracks, it was absolutely beautiful and after getting our tickets we headed up to the guardhouse (view point) to sit and watch the sun crawl down the mountains and light up the city.
Machu Picchu isnt really that huge as it was only a retreat center for royalty, probably hosting only a few hundred people in peak times. However the natural setting mixed with the ingenious building make it a sight to behold. They say that 60% of machu pichu is underground, providing a flat base in the mountain to hold the buildings as well as provide drainage for the city. What is above ground is an impressive use of stone to provide a naturesque feel to the city. It is truly fantastic.
After spending a few hours exploring the bottom half of the city of a maze of buildings and stairs. It included the temple of the condor, living quarters, and agricultural terraces. We set off on our climb of huaynu picchu, a mountain overlooking machu picchu. We braced ourselves for a tough 1hr. hike and were quite surprised when after only 40 minutes we were standin on top with out too much effort. We took in the panoramic view and explored the few buildings and guard house on top before dropping back down to finish our tour of the upper half of the city. The top half included the royal housing, the temple of the sun (the place where they believed the sun was tied too) and other sacred areas. I should add that the selfguided tour book liana bought me for Christmas proved an awesome guide as we worked our way through the maze of stone buildings. Finally, we said our sad farewell to machu picchu and hiked back down the thousands of steps to aguas calientes to wait for our train.
So here we are in cusco and it looks as though it might stay that way for a while. There has been some conflicts in the jungles of peru regarding oil, taxes and borders. This has resulted in numerous clashes between police and natives. There have been quite a few mortalities and although this is in the north of peru there have been solidarity marches all over. These are quite peacefull and well controlled however both the bus station and airport have been shut down for cross border transportation. There is a chance we will get through tonight but everything is up in the air. If we cant get through we may try to get to Puno, which is close to the border, alongside lake Titicaca. We will keep you posted on how this goes.
Pictures
We have had the chance to copy our memory cards onto a DVD, so we thought we take a moment and put a few random pictures onto the blog before we send them home in the mail for backup. Enjoy...there are lots more. Difficult to find a computer with a DVD drive to upload. We will try for a few more down the road.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Well we have finally made it to cusco, and are only a short night's sleep from catching the train to machu picchu. It was an adventure to get our train tickets to say the least but everything seems to be in order. We realized as we looked at our blog that it is alot of what we are doing, so in an attempt to explain what life is like we thought we would write a blog on the south american experience.
It is incredibly difficult to explain what you see when you look out your window here. Although things change from the mountain villages to the coast there is one thing that remains is balagan. This is a hebrew word taught to us by some israeli's we were travelling with and it means chaos, or mess in every sense of the word. From the constant blarring music, honking taxis and busses in overcrowded streets, street vendors, colorful signs, unfinished buildings, stray dogs, and and so much more it is very much so balagan for all the senses. However when you are in it for a bit things seem to have a rthym to them and it is quite enjoyable.
The buildings here are made almost without exception from concrete or brick(both cynder block and mud brick) with a finish of bright pastel colors. In the more arrid climates the roofs are flat with clothes lines hanging on everwhere, and rebar sticking out for future building potential. In the mountains the houses all have a type of spanish tile, which gives the cities a unique feel. The cities themselves boast a strong colonial feel. There are loads and loads of immaculate churches and state buildings encircled by cobblestone streets. Every city has a plaza de armas which includes some sort of fountain, some trees, a massive church or two, and these beautiful state buildings. The streets are a constant hum of taxis and wild buses with employees leaning out the winow trying to get more people crammed onto their already full bus. Lining the streets are all kinds of small restaraunts and artisan shops(especially in places like cusco). These artisan shops boast loads and loads of alpaca sweaters, toques, mits, tourist shirts and hats, woodworking, blankets and weavings, clay mouldings and other trinkets, once again the word balagan comes to mind.
We have talked alot about the nature in our blogs, this is a truly diverse land with humid jungle, intense mountain scenery, desolate deserts, and beautiful coastal cities. However one thing seems to be for sure, when you think you are in the most remote place in the world you will find a small adobe hut with cows roaming around, kind of funny to see.
The people here are great and generally quite friendly with a fun loving way about them. They love their country, their soccer, and their catholic church. Here in the mountains the people have a very different look with all kinds of brightly woven alpaca shalls, skirts, pants and socks. And of course there is the funny bowler style hat that is extremely popular.
The food here is great. Peru and ecuador are quite similar however we are still waiting to see the other countries different foods. At lunch time we ussually hunt out the ever popular menu. This is a set group of choices including a starter, a main course and a drink(sometimes a dessert). Liana and I can ussually get away for about $5 for the two of us although it is not uncommon to be less than $3. Supper is a bit more expensive usually ranging from about 5to10 dollars for the two of us. There is a lot or rice, beef, chicken, noodles, as well as lots of vegetables like avacadoes and tomatoes. We have really enjoyed the food although it is safe to say that we are missing one of grandma's home cooked meals.
Our hostels have been on average pretty fair. They range in price from $10 to $20 for the two of us and for the most part have at least a little hot water and sometimes a tv. Usually its best not to look too closely and we have often slept inside our sleepingbags on the beds.
Other than this we are safe and sound. A few rough fights with some foreign bugs but nothing too bad. The sun is shining and we are enjoying ourselves. Liana has been busy buying more souviners and not sure how we will carry it all with us!
It is incredibly difficult to explain what you see when you look out your window here. Although things change from the mountain villages to the coast there is one thing that remains is balagan. This is a hebrew word taught to us by some israeli's we were travelling with and it means chaos, or mess in every sense of the word. From the constant blarring music, honking taxis and busses in overcrowded streets, street vendors, colorful signs, unfinished buildings, stray dogs, and and so much more it is very much so balagan for all the senses. However when you are in it for a bit things seem to have a rthym to them and it is quite enjoyable.
The buildings here are made almost without exception from concrete or brick(both cynder block and mud brick) with a finish of bright pastel colors. In the more arrid climates the roofs are flat with clothes lines hanging on everwhere, and rebar sticking out for future building potential. In the mountains the houses all have a type of spanish tile, which gives the cities a unique feel. The cities themselves boast a strong colonial feel. There are loads and loads of immaculate churches and state buildings encircled by cobblestone streets. Every city has a plaza de armas which includes some sort of fountain, some trees, a massive church or two, and these beautiful state buildings. The streets are a constant hum of taxis and wild buses with employees leaning out the winow trying to get more people crammed onto their already full bus. Lining the streets are all kinds of small restaraunts and artisan shops(especially in places like cusco). These artisan shops boast loads and loads of alpaca sweaters, toques, mits, tourist shirts and hats, woodworking, blankets and weavings, clay mouldings and other trinkets, once again the word balagan comes to mind.
We have talked alot about the nature in our blogs, this is a truly diverse land with humid jungle, intense mountain scenery, desolate deserts, and beautiful coastal cities. However one thing seems to be for sure, when you think you are in the most remote place in the world you will find a small adobe hut with cows roaming around, kind of funny to see.
The people here are great and generally quite friendly with a fun loving way about them. They love their country, their soccer, and their catholic church. Here in the mountains the people have a very different look with all kinds of brightly woven alpaca shalls, skirts, pants and socks. And of course there is the funny bowler style hat that is extremely popular.
The food here is great. Peru and ecuador are quite similar however we are still waiting to see the other countries different foods. At lunch time we ussually hunt out the ever popular menu. This is a set group of choices including a starter, a main course and a drink(sometimes a dessert). Liana and I can ussually get away for about $5 for the two of us although it is not uncommon to be less than $3. Supper is a bit more expensive usually ranging from about 5to10 dollars for the two of us. There is a lot or rice, beef, chicken, noodles, as well as lots of vegetables like avacadoes and tomatoes. We have really enjoyed the food although it is safe to say that we are missing one of grandma's home cooked meals.
Our hostels have been on average pretty fair. They range in price from $10 to $20 for the two of us and for the most part have at least a little hot water and sometimes a tv. Usually its best not to look too closely and we have often slept inside our sleepingbags on the beds.
Other than this we are safe and sound. A few rough fights with some foreign bugs but nothing too bad. The sun is shining and we are enjoying ourselves. Liana has been busy buying more souviners and not sure how we will carry it all with us!
Friday, June 5, 2009
huacachina,nasca and arequipa
So its been a few days since we have blogged and I guess we should backtrack a bit. We left Lima on a bus and arrived around lunchtime in the city of Ica. From there we took a taxi for about 5 minutes to the town of huacachina, pop. 200. Talk about a change, going from a city of 9 million to 200 people and it was a welcome change. Huacachina was unlike anything either of us had ever seen, it was an oasis in the desert. The town was surrounded by these mammoth sand dunes on every side and if you climbed to the top you could see them stretching into the horizon. We found ourselves a hostel, got a little food and quickly rented a sandboard for an afternoon in the sun. I wont say that sandboarding compares with snowboarding but it was a lot of fun to play around in the dunes. After a good day we retired to our hostel for some good peace and quiet...oops, or maybe we accidentally registered into the biggest party hostel in southern peru. Once again the earplugs saved us (as much as I love latin dance music at 4 in the morning). Even so we both loved huacachina and were sad to see it go when we set off for nasca the next day.
We rolled into Nasca around noon and after storing our bags at the bus station we hopped onto the same bus we were just on to take us back to the mirador(lookout point). IT was from here that we climbed up a tower to catch our first glimpses of the nasca lines. They were interesting, especially how they are only made by removing a top layer of gravel from the desert sand and yet they are still there. The funny thing is that the panamerican highway runs smack through the middle of some of them(so much for the lizard). We flagged down another bus heading back into town and then tried to decide how best to kill the afternoon untill our 10pm night bus. After some meandering through the streets we decided that we had better splurge and fly over the nasca lines. We headed to the airport hoping for a late afternoon flight. After some searching around we landed one of the last flights for the day. It was a bit more expensive than we had hoped for but we really didnt want to kick ourselves later for being too stingy. The plane was a little 6 passenger cesna with no doubt the red baron himself for a pilot. We whipped and twirled around the lines in the sand so both sides of the plane could see(should have taken a gravol beforehand). nonetheless there were ample bags for us just in case (liana came close). The lines were really cool, interesting how the shapes could be made without arial vantage. We finished our flight(about 40min.) and headed to wait for our bus. We were scheduled in for 10, and about 20 to 12 we were on our way to arequipa.
We have spent the last few days here in arequipa just relaxing a bit and taking in the sights. It is a nice town, famous for the white blocks used in building that come from the volcano (sillar) that lies just outside of the city. Today we went to the monastary santa catolina, built in the 1500´s(and on). Although there are still nuns living in one sector the rest of the monastary is open for public viewing. The monastary takes up a full city block, a city within a city. IT is a maze of passagways, streets, and living areas. It was neat to see for sure. Anyways that is about it for now, we have our tickets for cusco on saturday night and are excited to take in this rich historical experience.
We rolled into Nasca around noon and after storing our bags at the bus station we hopped onto the same bus we were just on to take us back to the mirador(lookout point). IT was from here that we climbed up a tower to catch our first glimpses of the nasca lines. They were interesting, especially how they are only made by removing a top layer of gravel from the desert sand and yet they are still there. The funny thing is that the panamerican highway runs smack through the middle of some of them(so much for the lizard). We flagged down another bus heading back into town and then tried to decide how best to kill the afternoon untill our 10pm night bus. After some meandering through the streets we decided that we had better splurge and fly over the nasca lines. We headed to the airport hoping for a late afternoon flight. After some searching around we landed one of the last flights for the day. It was a bit more expensive than we had hoped for but we really didnt want to kick ourselves later for being too stingy. The plane was a little 6 passenger cesna with no doubt the red baron himself for a pilot. We whipped and twirled around the lines in the sand so both sides of the plane could see(should have taken a gravol beforehand). nonetheless there were ample bags for us just in case (liana came close). The lines were really cool, interesting how the shapes could be made without arial vantage. We finished our flight(about 40min.) and headed to wait for our bus. We were scheduled in for 10, and about 20 to 12 we were on our way to arequipa.
We have spent the last few days here in arequipa just relaxing a bit and taking in the sights. It is a nice town, famous for the white blocks used in building that come from the volcano (sillar) that lies just outside of the city. Today we went to the monastary santa catolina, built in the 1500´s(and on). Although there are still nuns living in one sector the rest of the monastary is open for public viewing. The monastary takes up a full city block, a city within a city. IT is a maze of passagways, streets, and living areas. It was neat to see for sure. Anyways that is about it for now, we have our tickets for cusco on saturday night and are excited to take in this rich historical experience.
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