TravelStream™ news feed for member erinc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/erinc en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:56:55 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1176331020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1176331020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1176331020/tpod.html Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:56:55 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Cusco, Peru

Cusco has experienced three main historical periods: Inca, Spanish Colonial, and modern times all have left their mark on this picturesque city. Much of the architecture in the central part of the city is Spanish, but some immaculately constructed Inca stone foundations still remain visible. The city is now dominated by flocks of tourists and locals seeking to make a buck pander everything from finger puppets to massages in an intrusive and annoying in-your-face manner. We stayed at Casa de la Gringa, a funky hippie hostel, in an attic room accessed by a ladder. The place was also home to three cats who were adept at climbing through our window for a visit and a snooze. It was nice to be in a classy and comfortable city after 3 weeks in Bolivia. Cusco´s popularity comes with it being the starting point for all visits to Machu Picchu. One way to see the ruins is by hiking the 3 day Inca Trail, but the popularity and limited permits available for this trek had left the trail booked solid until June. Not wanting to miss out on seeing the ruins, we bought train tickets to Aguas Calientes; a small town a few kilometers from the site. In an attempt to avoid as many tourists as possible, we planned to spend the night in town and wake up early to be at the gates when they opened. We hauled ourselves out of bed at 4:30 am, got our tickets and began the steep 8km hike. It was also possible to take a bus, but we opted for the more puritan approach. After an exhausting hour we reached the main gate and finally saw Machu Picchu with our own eyes. With distinct urban and agricultural areas, the ruins sprawl over the top of a mountain and have commanding views of the valley below. We spent several hours wandering the ruins captivated by the intricate stonework and complexity of the layout. We also climbed the steep winding Inca staircase to Wayna Picchu (temple of the moon) which overlooks Machu Picchu. Two things we can say about the Incas are they were not afraid of heights and they didn't mind a little heavy lifting. Machu Picchu is singularly one of the most impressive surviving human endeavors. Although perched in a most unnatural location, it seems to blend perfectly with its surroundings. We will end off here and leave the pictures to do the rest of the talking.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175982120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175982120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175982120/tpod.html Sun, 15 Apr 2007 19:35:08 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Copacobana, Bolivia

We caught a bus bound for Copacabana from "the cemetery district" of La Paz from which all buses to Copa leave instead of from the bus terminal; the logical location. The ride was a short one which was broken up by a short ferry ride where bus and passengers are loaded onto a barge and shuttled across a small narrows of Lake Titicaca. This quirky route actually cuts off 200 km of driving. Copacabana is a small, picturesque town perched on the shores of Lake Titicaca; the world's highest lake containing several famous islands and a large supply of trout, which is served by every restaurant in town. We sampled some of the tasty and abundant fish for dinner that night. The next morning we boarded an excruciatingly slow boat bound for Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun); the mythical birthplace of the Incas. This island boasts several Inca ruins and ceremonial sites. Despite its name, it was cloudy and rained all morning as we hiked the island's many trails. The landscape was fairly bleak although it hosts some interesting ancient terracing which is still maintained and farmed by the local inhabitants. The only noteworthy ruins were at the northern tip, a maze work of small rooms and passageways which formed a religious compound and a stone altar. Adjacent to the altar was a sacred rock which had two natural hollows in which the sun and moon purportedly hid during "the dark time" according to Inca legend. We stayed on the island that night in, by far, the cheapest hotel of the trip ($5 for 2). Surprisingly it was nicer than some we have stayed at. We returned to Copacabana to discover that it was Good Friday of Easter weekend in one of the holiest towns in all of Bolivia. The streets were packed with those visiting for religious reasons and even more who were there just for the party. Hotel rooms were in short supply and prices had tripled literally overnight. We ate out that night and had one of the best meals of the trip; nachos with 5 homemade salsas and fabulous fajitas. The next day we left the revelry and Bolivia behind and headed to the city of Cusco, Peru.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175618880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175618880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175618880/tpod.html Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:43:50 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

Instead of flying back to La Paz, we decided to take an alternative and much more interesting route. We opted to spend 3 days in another dug-out canoe motoring up the Beni River towards the capital. This section of river passes through some spectacular, mountainous terrain. Rene was still our guide and Emily came back from the pampas with us to be the cook. Our group members remained the same with one addition; Liz from the UK. Another 3 local crew members joined us too; a driver, a navigator and a bailer (these boats leak constantly). The Beni River, especially in the rainy season, is wide and fast flowing with many sections of small rapids which we would have to navigate. About an hour into the trip, we pulled over to the shore where another larger dug out was moored. We transfered our gear and motor to the other boat, but quickly realized it leaked far too much for a comfortable trip, so returned and traded back to the original. Something always goes wrong with Bolivian travel plans. Our first stop was at a small settlement where a couple families still eked out a living by traditional means. They were in the process of drying meat and grain and also cultivated a small banana and coconut plantation. Back in the boat, we headed upriver to a small jungle clearing where we had lunch and went for a short jungle walk with Rene through the lushly dense forest. The biodiversity was amazing and many of the plants had medicinal and other practical uses. We saw two particularly interesting trees; one´s bark could be used as a garlic substitute and smelled delicious, and the other produced a white, tacky substance called chiclin which is used in chewing gum. We set out on the river again and after a few hours came to the first night´s camp; a collection of screened in thatch huts serving as bunk and cook houses. That night, after another of Emily´s wonderful meals, we went on a night hike to see the sights and hear the sounds of the not-so-sleepy jungle. The jungle is amazingly noisy at night, but unfortunately the creatures making the noise are not so easy to spot. We did sight an elusive night monkey, or rather saw the reflection of its eyes in our flashlight beam. Surprisingly, there were very few mosquitoes, even after dark. It made being out at night quite enjoyable. The next morning Rene took us on another hike and pointed out more interesting flora and fauna. The afternoon´s boat ride involved navigating a number of rapids, and some were too large for the boat to do fully loaded. We were the dead weight that was ditched and forced to bushwhack along the bank up to calmer water. It was always a relief to see the boat struggle through the turbulent waters intact and upright. These were also the only times when "the bailer" earned his keep. Due to high water levels, the campsite usually used for the second night was deemed too close to the water line and had too many alligator and jaguar footprints to be considered safe. (The guides couldn´t care less about the footprints, it was the water that worried them.) Instead, we pushed on another hour and set up camp next to the pigsty of a small homestead. Our camp (expertly set up by Rene) consisted of a tarp and bug nets strung up on bamboo poles. Neither the pigs or children were very impressed with our intrusion; the pigs grunted haughtily and the children remained stubbornly silent, even when Erin tried to bribe them with candy. That night we had a campfire and Rene told us a story, the meaning of which definitely got lost in translation. After a surprisingly good night´s sleep in our jungle abode we were back on the river and on our way to the afternoon stop; a wide clay bank on the edge of a murky tributary. There, we had a chance to swim and Nigel and Rene got a chance to fish. Something BIG was lurking in that water. It broke two high test lines and bent a large hook. Nigel would have happily stayed all day to try to catch it, but we had to move on. We made our last night´s camp at the edge of a banana plantation and Emily whipped up another delicious feast over a campfire using only a couple of beat up pots and pans. The next morning as we motored up towards Guanai we began to see a number of gold panning operations of various degrees of sophistication cropping up along the river bank. At Guanai, we left the boat and crew behind and rendezvoused with yet another jeep to take us on the final leg of our journey to La Paz. We spent yet another night in the city, and went straight back to the Lebanese place for dinner. No reason to mess with success or another bout of traveler´s gut.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175306460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175306460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1175306460/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:59:53 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

To see the rainforest, we opted to fly to the jungle town of Rurrenabaque. The 55 min flight was a surprisingly inexpensive and attractive alternative to the 18 hour (and sometimes 3 day) bus ride along a rutted dirt track. Unfortunately, our original departure was pushed back 24 hours and we spent another depressing day in La Paz praying that it would go the next day (which it did). The twin prop 20 seater plane bounced us to a safe landing on Rurre´s grassy airstrip. We stepped off the plane into the heat and humidity of this little tropical paradise; a small palm-thatch village perched on the shore of the Beni River and surrounded by lush jungle. Looking into tours, we were faced with choosing between a wildlife rich pampas and mysterious rainforest. Playing it safe, we decided to cancel our return flight and do both. The next morning, we piled into a jeep with Chris from Vancouver, Ryan and Sean from the UK, and our local guide Rene, a very Rambo-esque figure. We bumped 4 hours up a hot dusty track to the pampas waterways where we loaded ourselves and our gear into a large dugout canoe powered by a semi-reliable 15Hp outboard. Because it was the end of the rainy season, the water level was several meters above the level of the dry season. This made our navigation easy but wildlife viewing more difficult. We cruised through the surreal flooded forests and grasslands to our rustic camp. Along the way we saw many interesting trees and birds, an alligator, some pink river dolphins, and we even got to play with a troupe of squirrel monkeys. Our camp was situated on one of the dry patches of land. It consisted of a bunkhouse, kitchen, outhouse, and a shaded hammock lounge. The camp was run by a husband and wife with their 3 cats and one pet alligator. "Juan Pedro" was a constant presence at the water's edge and earned his keep as a garbage disposal. Feeding here is quite a show. The climate was oppressively hot; sitting perfectly still was enough to break into a full sweat. During the day the mosquitoes were tolerable, but the second the sun went down they came out in force and rivaled the ferocity of their northern counterparts. Thankfully, we were supplied with good mosquito nets. After a delicious dinner (the first of a succession of delicious meals- Emily the cook was great) we retreated to our mosquito free beds and struggled to drift off in the heat. The second morning we set off further upstream in search of anacondas. Along the way our guide spotted tow well camouflaged sloths and several howler monkeys. We wandered around in a knee deep marsh looking for the elusive snakes, but came up empty handed. On this little trek we were introduced to and sampled several pampas edibles. In the afternoon we got to swim in the tepid river water amongst a couple pink dolphins. In fact, you ONLY swim with the dolphins here; they scare away the alligators. That night we went for a boat ride in search of caimans and gators by scanning for the reflection of their eyes with a flashlight. Again, we saw nothing, but it was still fascinating to see and hear the pampas at night. The following morning we tried our hand at fishing pirrhanas, and guess what? We didn't catch any! (it was still fun to try though). Afterwards, we started the long route back to Rurre and arrived hot, dusty, satisfied, and craving a cold beer and shower. The tour company, in a stroke of marketing genius, provided us with free promotional t-shirts which we immediately put on and wore around town because they were the only clean thing we had to wear.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174870740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174870740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174870740/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:59:12 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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La Paz, Bolivia

The road from La Paz to Coroico is considered the world's most dangerous due to the high number of accidents. Due to the precarious nature of the road, most of these are fatal. An increasingly popular thing to do is hop on a mountain bike and go whizzing down this 70 km stretch of road which descends about 300m. We handed our lives over to the company which originally started this trend, Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking. Early in the morning we met our guides and took a bus to La Cumbre; the highest point and starting location of our ride. The area was covered that morning in heavy snow. (Is it just me or is snow factoring very heavily into a trip that is supposed to be in SUMMER?) Luckily we were outfitted with jackets, rain pants, helmets, goggles and gloves to go with our spiffy, high end Kona full suspension downhill bikes. After a few pointers, a safety lesson, and a sip of 180 proof for ourselves and a splash on the tire for luck, we were on our way. The beauty of this ride is it is 99% downhill and little pedaling is required. The first 20 km section is paved and two lanes, and as such you can go really, really fast. The spray kicked up from the melting snow had us soaked after only a couple turns. After making our way through a drug check point we left the pavement behind and got our first glimpse of the death road. It is a single lane dirt track that clings precariously to the edges of the steep mountain range. On your right it goes straight up and on the left it goes straight down upwards of 400m. There are only two things to stop you going over the edge: the pitiful few guard rails (we counted 3 short sections) and the stone markers commemorating the dead (of which there were many).The most recent death occurred 2 weeks prior when an Israeli guy went over the edge. Going down was a blast, not quite fast enough for Nigel, but plenty fast for Erin. Traffic rules on the death road are unique. Uphill traffic stays on the inside and downhill traffic has to navigate the edge, and since there is only one lane, with few places wide enough to pass. The other rule is downhill gives way to uphill. The road winds sharply making most corners completely blind. A car's attempt to avoid a collision consists of giving the horn a toot before winging around the curve. Fortunately, a new paved road has recently opened to replace the death road, and as such, we saw very little vehicle traffic. Just to make things more interesting, waterfalls and streams crossed the road in several places, assuring that our shoes remained soaking wet. The vistas were spectacular and as we descended, the climate changed from alpine to blissfully tropical. We all survived the trip and ended our ride at a small ecolodge where we showered, swam, and ate. The ecolodge also supported a wildlife rehab centre which housed parrots and several species of monkeys. The highlight was being able to play with an inquisitive and acrobatic 8 month old spider monkey. To round out the day, we drove back to La Paz, luckily along the new road this time.

PS: if you want to see pictures of the road, go to www.gravity bolivia.com, we were too busy riding to take any.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174784220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174784220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174784220/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:01:36 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz is a low-rise city of over a million people which has erratically grown to fill a massive valley and creep up its sides. The winding streets form a confusing maze which coupled with a lack of street signs makes finding your way rather difficult. In La Paz, you walk either downhill or uphill, the latter made more difficult due to the excessive elevation and choking exhaust fumes. The city is alive with people who crowd every sidewalk and taxis and minibuses that crowd every street. Markets and street vendors are everywhere selling everything from flowers to pirated DVDs, deep fried fritters to dried llama fetuses. The dried fetuses and other similar oddities can be purchased at the Witches Market where you can also stock up on potions, charms, good luck omens, extremely stinky herbs, and other associated fried animals both pre and post partum (the llama fetuses were the most popular though). Another popular market area bustled with tourist souvenirs and handicrafts. This is the place to find the perfect poncho, a wonderful wall hanging, or anything alpaca. We helped ourselves to some cheap and interesting mementoes... no fetuses though; we wouldn't be able to explain those through customs. Erin was happy that she finally had a chance to shop. We stayed at a great hostel which offered free movies, internet, pancake breakfasts, and beer. The beer was courtesy of the hostel's on-site micro brewery. Unfortunately, fear of contaminated food made sampling of the local street meat a gamble at best. Luckily, and to our surprise, we found a great Lebanese restaurant which served up dishes which would rival even the best shwarma joint in Ottawa. All in all La Paz was an interesting place to spend a couple days, but the smog and crowds made us happy to leave.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173748080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173748080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173748080/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:59:48 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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La Paz, Bolivia

We arrived back in Uyuni with just enough time to grab dinner and match our bus to La Paz. Things seemed to be going so well and this is when everything started to go wrong. Upon arrival at the bus office we were informed that no buses were going to La Paz. Miners, in protest to the government's high taxation, had formed human blockades along the only road leading to La Paz from the south. We were assured the bus would leave at 6am the next day, so we spent another night in Uyuni. Up yet again with the dawn we returned to the bus stop but there was no bus, only a herd of cold gringos. After several hours the office finally opened and they informed us that there would be no bus; so much for the Bolivian guarantee. Not wanting to spend anymore time in Uyuni and hoping to make some progress to La Paz, we hopped on a 7 hour bus to Potosi. Here again we tried to get to La Paz, but with no success. We again decided to make as much progress to La Paz as possible and booked seats to Oruro, the closest city to the capital. The bus didn't leave until 11pm so we went out to dinner with Joe, a fellow Canadian in the same traveling predicament, drank some beers and watched a local soccer game. We arrived in Oruro at 4:30am, parked ourselves in the terminal and waited for the ticket offices to open. With a little pushing and shoving we managed to get seats on one of the only buses attempting to go to La Paz with the blockades still in full swing. Our bus driver was by far the most determined we have ever seen; nothing was going to stop him from getting to La Paz. We skirted all 5 of the road blocks by driving through villages on poorly maintained dirt roads not meant for traffic any larger than a donkey. Along the twisting route we had to hop off the bus several times to build stone and dirt ramps to help the bus negotiate stream banks. We also filled deep ruts with stones and helped to dig, push and pull when the bus got stuck. At one point, we came to a small bridge where a local woman with a baby in her arms was determined to prevent our passage. She was convinced that the bridge would be damaged by the heavy buses and trucks passing over it. Like the miners, she decided to form a human road block of one. Having come this far the bus driver was not about to let this be our undoing. He started across the bridge and seeing the determination in his eyes and the bus creeping towards her, she stepped aside and let us pass. Although there were more than a few times when we thought we wouldn't make it, we arrived in La Paz dusty, tired and annoyed. The trip had taken 9 hours when it normally only takes 3. In total it had been over 36 hours to get to La Paz from Uyuni. The first items on the agenda were shower, food and sleep; the rest could wait until morning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174355340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174355340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174355340/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:50:24 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Armed with cocoa leaves to combat the altitude, we met up with our driver/guide Leonardo, his wife (the cook) and our four other tour group members. We heaped all our backpacks and supplies onto the roofrack and piled into our home ofr the next three days; a 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser. As we drove out of town, our first stop was the locomotive graveyard. This was a large field filled with a collection of rusty locomotives and cars which had long since been stripped of any useful parts. Our next stop was a small village where salt taken from the Salar was dried, iodized, and packaged. We took a brief tour of one of these basic facilities which consisted of a crude wood-fired drying pan, ancient hand cranked grinder, and two young children filling and sealing bags of salt by hand. 50kg worth of this bagged salt retails for only $8 Bs.- about $1.20 Can. We then drove to the edge of the Salar, a salt flat of 12000 km2.The depth of the salt ranges from 30cm at the edge to almost 13m at the deepest point in the centre. Although this area of the flat was covered by several inches of water, we watched workers shoveling up mounds of salt and then transfering them by hand again into the backs of waiting trucks. For the next leg of the trip, Erin and a couple other group mambers opted to perch atop the luggage rack to fully appreciate the mind-bending views of the sky being perfectly reflected in the this calm, shallow sea. We stopped for lunch at the Isla Pescadora (fisherman's island). We were lucky that this area of the Salar was high enough to be drained of water, allowing us to partake in the trick photography this area is famous for. The stark vista of blue sky and perfectly flat, white salt alters one's perspective and makes it difficult to distinguish close up from far away objects. Take a look at our pictures when we post them and you will see what we mean. For lunch, we were served a local staple food called Quinoa (keen-wah; a round, millet-like grain which is very high in protein. The rest of the afternoon was occupied with the drive to the opposite edge of the Salar before continuing along a rocky dirt road to the town of San Juan where we spent the first night. Due to Leonardo's cautious (ie. slow) driving, we were the last tour group to arrive in town, and upon inquiry, we forund that the "nice" hostel was already full with other groups. This meant we were relegated to the other hotel in town. The rooms were simple concrete cubes with two beds and a bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It was clean, however; there was no place for dirt to hide. After finishing our late dinner, we were informed that we had 15 min to get to bed before the owners turned off the generator. The next morning we were up with the sunrise and had a delicious breakfast of hot, jam slathered fried dough (like a funnel cake). These were eaten with gusto after spending a sub zero night in an unheated concrete cell. The second day was characterized by lots of mountains, volcanoes, strange rock formations, salt lakes, vicunas (wild llamas), flamingoes, and an annoying 80s techno-pop mix CD repeated ad nauseum. These high plains in the Bolivian Andes are flat, dry deserts, sprinkled occasionaly with scrubby growth. There are no real roads here either. The flat dry landscape is traversed only by 4x4s. That night we stayed at a more comfortable hostel near the edge of Laguna Colorado. This lake is special due to the various types of microorganisms which change the water's colour throughout the day,. When viewed just before sunset, the lake takes on an odd rust-red hue. That night at dinner we had a great conversation with our guide and learned more about his family and life in that part of the country. This all thanks to the translating abilities of one of our group members who was from Mexico. We called it an early night because we had to be up and on our way by 4:30 the next morning. Just as the sun was rising, we reached a field of thermal steam vents, geysers, and bubbling mud pits at our highest elevation yet; 4800m. Even though the steam and geysers stank of sulfur, the heat they offered was welcome in the frigid morning temperatures. After exploring this area and taking some pictures, we piled back into the jeep and drove off towards the hot springs and the promise of a hot breakfast. A natural hot spring gushed 350C water into a man-made pool built into the side of a lake. We were happy to soak and warm up here until our pancake breakfast was ready. After eating we drove to the nearby Chilean boarder and dropped off one of our group members before beginning the long trip back to Uyuni. The return drive was highlighted by another collection of interesting rock formations rising 40 ft up out of the flat plain, and lunch in a green llama-filled valley. We returned to Uyuni tired, but very happy with the whole trip. The sights were amazing, the food was great and the accomodation acceptable. The only downside was our guide's poor taste in music. We must have heard that 80s euro-techno-pop CD 20 times. The songs are still stuck in our heads.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174785780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174785780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1174785780/tpod.html Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:23:12 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Uyuni, Bolivia

Climbing to an altitude of 3100m and durrounded by spectacular views of barren mountains of vibrantly coloured rock, we bused our way from Salta to the boarder town of La Quiaca. We were let off at the local terminal from which we walked the short distance to the boarder. The crossing was a breeze, but appeared to be far less relaxed for those crossing from Bolivia to Argentina. Villazon (the town on the Bolivian side)had a distinctly different feel. Many women were wearing the traditional garb consisting of a long, full, pleated skirt with leggings , knitted sweater, several shawls, and braided hair topped with a percariously balanced bowler hat. Awaiting the departure of the train the following day, we checked into the best hotel in town costing the princely sum of $80 Bs. (bolivianos) which works out to about $12 Can. For this we got a nice private room with cable TV and our own bathroom. Hot water was provided by an electric element built into the shower head, seeming to defy all common sense. That night we watched a terrific thunderstorm and a shitty movie on HBO. The next day at 3:30 pm we boarded the Warawara train bound for Uyuni. Luckily, we "splurged" for first class seats because 2 hours into the trip the train was forced to stop due to landslides. We were allowed to get off the train to stretch our legs and wander among a resident herd of goats. It quickly became apparent that we would be stuck where we were overnight, but at least they were playing moviesand we had access to the dining car so we could get a good hot meal. The one plus to this delay was that we were able to complete the rest of the trip in daylight and appreciate the marvelous scenery. We arrived in Uyuni later that afternoon and were luckily able to book a tour of the salt flats leaving the next day; it wasn't the sort of town where one would want to spend a lot of time. With this mission completed, we gladly collapsed into bed for a good night's sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173811140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173811140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/erinc/south_america/1173811140/tpod.html Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:54:56 -0400 From Andes to Amazon- Erin and Nigel's 3 month trekking adventure in South America.

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Salta, Argentina

Another overnight bus brought us to Salta; a large city in northwest Argentina which sits in a valley between two lush green hills. Like most Argentine cities, Salta boasts a large, leafy central plaza, numerous ornate cathedrals, a couple of food and craft markets and public schools which look like prisons. Our days in Salta were unfortunately uneventful. We had tried to book tours for either white water rafting or visiting cloud forests, but both fell through. Regardless, we enjoyed a couple of lazy days wandering local markets and eating good food. Craving some spicy food, we concocted a mexican feast one night. We made our own guacamole and salsa to go along with our jurry-rigged tacos made with empanada pastry and stuffed with beef, cheese, onion and pepper. A hefty addition of chilli pepper gave the meal the spiciness we had been craving. We also sampled another couple tasty Latin American specialties at a local restaurant; humitas and tamales. These are a dought mix of corn, cheese, meat and spices wrapped in a corn husk and steamed.
After a couple of restful but anticlimactic days, we set off for the Bolivian boarder.
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