TravelStream™ news feed for member srossb1971 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/srossb1971 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:42:16 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257266921/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257266921/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257266921/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:42:16 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Uyuni, Bolivia

It is a quiet start to the day...not too many of us are speaking at 4:30 as we quietly fold up our sleeping bags, pack our bags and get whatever resembles a shower that we can.  There are no showers - just 2 smallish sinks (with cold running water) in a bathroom space that also includes 2 toilet stalls.  We are 2 groups of 6 sharing this precious resource inthe 45 minutes before we depart.  Oh the humanity....It is still dark, and cold as we load our packs onto the roof of the 4x4 and huddle inside the truck.  We have not yet eaten - though nobody´s stomach seems to be awake anyway.  This all seemed like such a good idea a few days ago, but I am longing for home and my warm, clean, compfortable bed right about now.  And I find myself counting the sleeps unbtil I get home!  However, home is so far away, and we have a whole day of exploring today....The bumpy ride across the rocky desert terrain heading south from laguna colorada jars everyone awake, yet we are silent and sit grimly in our allocated spaces.  The first stop are the natural geysers that spew sulphur from the earth in a ridge of volcanic activity deep in the Andean highlands.  We are now only about 50Km from the Chilean border and peaking somewhere around 4,800m above sea level.We arrive at the geysers just as the sky grows lighter.  The dimming yet still bright full moon hangs low inthe west and the combination of lights gives an eerie glow to the plumes of steam coming from the many crevaces.  The stench of sulphur is overwhelming, even in the 4x4 with windows closed.As we pull up, we are able to get out and come right up to the edge of hte volcanic openings.  The signs warn travellers to keep solid footing, and the steamy haze wafts through the site making for tough navigation.We get some stellar photographs and linger for awhile listening to the hissing of gas as it erupts to the surface.Once our noses had had enough, we clamored back into the 4x4 and make our way up and over the volcanic ridge, and down into the valley where our next stop is the hot springs and what closely resembles a bath!  Happily, I thought ahead and brought my trunks, allowing me to join a handful of other brave travellers in the hot springs pool.  Ahhhh.....The water was hot initially, then just a wonderful warm while the outside air was still cold and with a frosty bite.  Tiffany and I stayed in the pool for awhile while most of the others opted to give it a pass, fearing the inevitable cold exit...which wasnt so bad, though the outdoor change wasnt the most graceful!We made for the nearby bulding where our guide had prepared an awesome breakfast of fruit salad and yougurt, and pancakes.  Mmmm...if only I hd maple syrup!  But marmalade and dulce de leche would do, and with breakfast and our swm out of the way 8and me now feeling a little less dusty after 3 days), we were on our way again.Next stop is laguna verde, the arsenic lake where nothing grows.  No falamingoes or birds in stark contrast to the other lakes we have visited.  Without a stiff breeze, the laje is calm and we do not get to see the vivid green that comes when the arsenic is stirred up in the lake, but it is still clearly green and very pretty.With our last laguna visit wrapped up, we make for the Chilean border, an unexpected treatm as we were not schedule to go there, but our Aussie companions David and Kimn are crossing over into Chile for their remaining travel days, and we will be leaving them there.At the border, there are only 2 ramshackle mud brick buildings straddling a lonely and dusty road that cuts through a dead and lonely desert.  In fact, both buildings are Bolivian, and nothing guards the Chilean side, with just 2 markers denoting where the division ought to be.  This represemnts a free invitation to violate Chilean soveringty, and so I boldly cross into Chile to take photos, before discovering an odd no-mans land between the respective border posts, where I get photographic evidence of my transgression.  The Bolivian border guards look on without interest.Having said our goodbyes to the Aussies, we clamour back into the 4x4 and start out on our 8 hour drive back to Uyuni, where we should arrive in time to have a quick pizza before boarding the night bus back to La Paz (an additional 10 hour drive!!)I´ll skip over the nitty gritty of our 8 hour desert drive back to Uyuni, as I choose to forget it myself....long dusty expanses of nothingness, though beautiful, is now all too common a sight.  I need civilizaton and a bath.  And for God´s sake, the Immodium has worked so well since leaving La Paz, I need a STRONG COFFEE to hel kick-start the system again....We get into Uyuni at 6pm, and hurry over to the main drag where we take a patio table in hopes of getting a pizza and some cokes.  Sadly, our waiter isnt all that interested in making the rounds, and as time slips away, we no longer have time to wait for the food and can only do drinks.  Luckily, we catch a glimpse of our mates from our original Inca Trail group, and we are now a group of 10.  The cokes turn to cerveza, and it is now an old fashioned reunion party, as we trade stories of our respective adventures over the past 3 days since we last saw eachother.With our brief reminiscing over, Kitty, Alison, Tiffany and I grab our stuff and make a dash for the Todo Turisom office to catch our bus.  The long ride back to La Paz is about to begin.Having boarded the bus, I am seated next to a rather huffy and un-chaty French girl.  She will likely be a perfect seat mate though, because I have no interest in chatting... just want to sleep, and I have 2 gravol waiting to be downed with dinner to ensure that happens.I should mention that while diner is good, the bus is hotter than hells´half-acre, and remains so for the bulk of the 10 hour trip.  It makes sleeping hard, and I think I got 4 hours total...mabe 5.  In any case, it was a trip from hell, with dude in front of me in full recline and my sweating slowly to death.  On the bright side, I didnt need to use the bathroom for the first 7 hours as I had sweat out all the beer I drank in uyuni.Our 7am arrival in La Paz couldnt have come soon enough, and I was never so glad to get off a bus in my life!  18 hours of driving in a 20 hour period is BRUTAL!!!  Good thing I only paid just over $160 for the 3 day deal including transit to and from La Paz.  SCORE!So, here I sit in La Paz....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257180510/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257180510/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257180510/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:07:58 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Uyuni, Bolivia

Today would be a long day of travelling by 4x4 into the out reaches of Bolivia....very far from civilization and smack dab in the middle of nowhere.We head south from San Joan in the early morning, and make for our first stop:  Laguna Canapa.  This is the first in a series of lagunas (lakes) that we will see today and tomorrow.  Each one is unique in terms of the mineral content that has been deposited into the laguna from the surrounding mountains and volcanoes - many of which that are still active.  The flamingoes are ever present in these lagunas (with the exception of laguna verde, which is poisoned with natural arsenic).  The lagunas are also extremely peaceful, as there are no human settlements anywhere around here.  The sun beats down on the still water and you can hear the flamingoes sift through the mud looking for mircoorganisms on which they survive.We stop frequently along the way from laguna to laguna, taking photos of beautiful mountain ranges, arid valleys with amazing colour and texture.  It is a weird and thrilling experience to be here in this vast, inhospitable nothingness.  There is so much to see and so many things to photograph, but I couldnt do justice describing it, you´ll just have to wait for me to post the photos.Continuing further southward, we stop at some natural rock formations that are the site of ancient volcanic shafts whose outer shells have been worn away by centuries of wid and sand, leavbaving only beautiful and eerie shapes that stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the barren desert.  These are called Arbol de Piedra (the tree rocks), as they look like stone trees.  We get the opportunity to climb over several of the less deliacate structures and get some sweet photos, but the afternoon desert winds are building and the flying sand stings exposed skin.  Our visit is complete, and we are back to the safety of the 4x4, heading for today´s highlight, the laguna colorada (red lake)The reddish tinge of laguna colorada is caused by the photoplankton that lives in the lake, feeding off the natual minerals that run down from the surrounding volcanic mountains.  The lake is vast and beautiful - even here the flamingoes live and they are stunning to watch.We are now in National Preserve known as Eduardo Avaroa, a huge national park that encompasses the laguna colorada, as well as the geysers and hot springs that will be tomorrow´s treat.There is a small settlement of traveller´s bunkhouses along the laguna side, and we break for the night here.  We are placed int he last of a long series of outbuildings that look more like blockhouses than residences.  We are warned that this will be basic - and indeed it is.  The long narrow corridor is floored with lkoose river rock rather than cement, making for an interesting walk to the central room that serves as a dining hall.  We continue down another long (paved) hallway to the very end, and are shown our room:  a small concrete cell with 6 beds.  This is going to be cozy!  It looks like a worker´s camp, really.  But I am not complaining, I am just happy to have a place to unroll my sleeping bag, and thankfully, we are located next to the shared bano!A quick rinse off in the sink to remove the dust of the desert, a quick unpack of our meagre ration of belongings in the room, and we are assembled int he dining hall.  We are the first group to arrive, and as we sit down to tea and cookies and a few games of cards, additional groups file in - 6 and 7 pèople per group, with 4 more groups arriving over the coming 2 hours.  This place is filling up, and the bathrooms are going to be crowded!  The only solace is that our grop is waking at 4:30am to get started (that´s right...4;30am!), and hopefully we will not have too much competition for bathroom resources while getting ready.Our group vows to stay up until 9m to ensure that we don´t ruin a good solid sleep.  As dinner arrives, we are all beginning to feel pretty beat, and it is onlt 7pm.Dinner is the most amazing natcho-like assortment I have ever seen:  a plate of french fries topped with sauteed red onion, hot dog slices, tomatoes, boilded egg slices.  As awful as it sounds, it is beautiful and delicious!  Thank God we have the second bottle of vino at hand...this time a $5 Bolivian vintage, which also turns out to be a winner!!After dinner, we manage to stay awake playing cards until 8:30pm, anmd at this point we throw in the towel.  It is off to bed, and with alarms set for 4:25am, we six hunker down to a rustic night of rest.  The wind is howling in the background and the temperatire outside is expected to be -10C.  Thankfully a small room with 6 bodies in it stays pretty warm.  Sadly, we are resting at about 4,200m above sea level in an extremely dry atmosphere.  Nobody gets a good night´s rest, and I am up a couple of times to clear my sinuses and otherwise get some fluids in me.4:30 comes painfully slowly as I lay in bed wide awake from 1:30am onward.  Me and just about everyone else....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257094104/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257094104/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257094104/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:38:58 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Uyuni, Bolivia

Stepping off the overnight bus from La Paz, we were met by a representative from the agency that we arranged our Salt Flats tour through.  Keeping in mind, our expectations for this trip were EXTREMELY LOW, since we found it online and the total cost of the 3 day tour, including transport, food and accommodations was $99USD.  The agency information was packed with disclaimers about the quality of food and shelter, about safety precautions, the lack of water and additional food while travelling....the toilets that (where they existed) ´look like they are in need of a good scrub´.  Yeah, so we had zero expectations except marvellous scenery in a most desolate and inaccessible part of the world where few people go.Our agency rep led us though the dusty and desolate town of Uyuni, we 4 with daypacks and sleeping bags in tow.  Oh, and of course Alison´s now infamous ´Hag Bag´, an ugly utility shopping bag that she picked up  in La Paz to act as an overflow bag for everything we wanted to bring but could not fit into our daypacks.We arrived att he agency, and signed in, and with a couple of spare hours to kill before our 4x4 would leave, we decided to doa walkabout of this old rail town to see what local life was like.The streets are wide and grand in a frontier town kindof way.  The plastered mud brick buildings that lined the streets seemed generally absent of life and very few people were milling about, save the few dozen touristas also killing time before their respective tours into the Salt Flats began.We managed to find a local marketplace that to our surprise was open (it is Sunday morning after all), and soent some time looking at the local produce, meats and flowers in the vendor stalls.  Our grand haul for the shopping spree resulted in 2 rolls of pink toilet paper (about 13 cents) and 6 pieces of bread, a round pita-like thing that was still bready on the inside but about the width of a bagel.We continued walking through the main streets of the town, stopping here and there for photos or to look at the locak craft vendors stalls.  We did manage to stop for a qiuck lunch at one of the pizzarias (this is just about all there is in the way of restaurants), and coming full circle to the tour agency office, we loaded up on water and vino for the trip.  We wre ready to go!We were joined by an <australian couple for the 3 day tour, making us 6 passengers and our driver, whose name <I will never remember.  IN any case, once safely ensconced in our Toyota Land Cruiser, we were away and first stop would be at the old train graveyard just about 10 minutes outside of Uyuni.  The train graveyard is exactly as it sounds - a series of rail suprs where rusting and decaying trains rest, some toppled over, some stripped of sheet metal and other usable parts, but generally several long lines of iron hulls just left to die in the desert.  Uyuni once served as a great rail junction between various parts of Bolivia and the countries that border it:  Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru.  Now it is largey sidelined, and hence we had to take the overnight bus from La Paz as the train only runs 2 days per week through Uyuni.Having pciked through the rusting trains, we piled back into the 4x4 - I should mention at this point that whil ethe temperature is only in the 20´s, the sun is oppressively hot and my spf30 is no match for the super stong UV rays here.  The skies are clear, the sun bright and we sit somewhere at 3,600m above sea level.  It will only get stronger as we head into the desert.From the train graveyard, we have a relatively short drive to the edge of the key attraction¨ The Salar de Uyuni or Salt Flats.  These are an amazing sight to see - you have to google them to appreciate in part what they look like¨ Huge - endless looking sheets of crusted salt in pure bright white hexagon slabs.  They are amazing - stunningly beautiful. We drive across these flats, stopping to take photos of the piles of harvested salt that will be sold for consumption, at small geysers that bubble minerals of green and black from beneath the earth´s crust, and of course smack dab in the middle of the endless salt expanse, which gave us great photo opportunities.  I hope they turn out, as the brigh white light reflected off the salt made the camera settings tricky!We stopped to visit the original salt hotel - a building made entirely of carved slabvs of salt sitting in the middle of the flats.  It is now closed and being restored as a tourist centre, as the original hotel contributed to the polluting of the salt flat from the toilets.The highlight of the Salt Flats tour however, is INcahauasi, an island that is completely surrounded by salt.  Ity is a volcanic remnant that is now covered by cacti - some as high as 12 meters tall and up to 1,200 years old.  The hiking trail across the island leads to a couple of awesome peaks where the vista is superb!  Great photos here.  We break for lunch of Llama, rice and veggies, and watermelon for dessert!  The first meal is WAY better than we expected.Having spent several hours on the salt flats, we make for the border and the town of San Juan, where we will be staying for the night.  It is a few hours of travelling, so we arrive around 4pm and some time to explore the area on foot, which Kitty and I do.  Our findings in our desert travels include tons of garbage (especially plastic bags, which tend to get caucgt in the desert shrubs) and some bones...including the leg of an animal with the fur still on it!  Not sure how that got there and why, but we decide not to stray too much further and instead go take photos of the ostriches that are penned in by the hote.The hotel itself is amazing - a round building with rooms all around the outside wall, and a common dining area in the middle.  It is made entirely of salt block, and the floors are combed salt.  I suspect this means nobody vacuums, and walking on salt is neat, but donñt do it in bare feet!We are the only people staying at this hotel besides a group of Belgians who number about 6.  They are a quiet bunch, and we suspect they are somewhat put off by our boisterous nature.  In any case, we enjoy our afternoon tea and cookies sitting at the salt slab table with salt slab chairs, and playing poker until dinner comes.Dinner is awesome - chicken that is really tasty, and crispy fried potatoes.  We pop open our first bottle of wine - a terrible Chilean red that cost all of $5, and no wonder....I didnt drink mine, but Kitty and Alison doubled down and made up for the lack of enthusiasm over the wine.  Myb contribution was fashioning a wine glass out of an old water bottle...very elegant!It was another early night, in bed before 9:30.  By now I am thinking it is the desert air....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257007695/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257007695/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1257007695/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:59:50 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Oruro, Bolivia

Today the Gap trip ends, and a new adventure begins.  Tonight a small number of us will break from the main group and head south to Uyuni, and then onward to see the Salt Flats and the vast expanse that is southern Bolivia, which list in the high Andes along the Chilean border.This morning we would meet for breakfast at the hotel lobby, and spend the day shopping and touring La Paz on foot.  The key objectives were to visit the Presidential Palace, see the old colonial town, buy some handicrafts (not me, though I did bail on the shopping in favour of a haircut), and finally, rendezvous with the larger group at Alexander´s Coffee for a stellar dessert.We got some excellent photos of the old city, which is beautiful in a decayed glory kind of way.  The streets are filled with people and vendors selling anything you could imagine.  It is an excellent place for a walking adventure.Having regrouped at the hotel after my haircut, we all headed out for the coffee and cake rendezvous, after which we were desitened to start packing.  We said our goodbyes to the group and Kitty, Tiffany, Alison and I made our way by taxi to the bus station, where our overnight (10 hour) bus ride to Uyuni would begin.I was NOT looking forward to this bus ride.  10 hours is pretty extreme, and even moreso since I tend not to sleep well on the bus.  As it turned out, the bus was extremely clean, modern with generous leg room between seats and awesome food.  All in all, I think we did well as I slept most of the trip, arriving in Uyuni at about 7amMy biggest complaint:  In my sleepy daze, I left behind a bag that contained most of the snacks that I had bought for the coming 3 days driving the wastelands of Bolivia.  DÓh!  Someone somewhere is overjoyed at their luck of finding a bag of cookies, trail mix peanuts and chocolate!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256921273/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256921273/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256921273/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:49:28 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

La Paz, Bolivia

Despite great efforts, it was a relatively early night.  Travelling really takes it out of you...plus the altitude, early mornings and lots of trekking around (or riding on a bus), and there is little energy to stay up past 9pm!!  We had a quick breakfast at the hotel this morning.  We had a morning date with some Inca ruins located about 2 hours north of La Paz at a site called Tiahuanaco, and for those intent on seeing some additional local sites,. and afternoon excurions to the Moon Park after lunch.  I opted to pass on the second part of the tour and instead did a walkabout of the city centre with Dave.  We managed to find a brilliant coffee shop along 16 de Julio called Alexanders....and that coffee was perhaps the best I´ve had in a long, long time.  And the huge slice of chocolate cake didnt hurt, either!As for the Tiahuanaco tour in the morning, I have to say that it was nice, but I wouldnt opt to do it over again.  4 hours of travelling to see the site was a bit much, and as the bulk of the riuns have yet to be excavated or restored, it probably deserves to be visited in 10 years time when there is more to see.  Or it could be that I am just runied out..I mean, there is only so much you can see and be amazed by, and I have now reached my limit.With my free afternoon spent on such mundane things as coffee shos, market shopping and getting laundry done, we are now staring dinner in the face.  This will be our last night together as a big group, before we split up and go our seperate ways:  Nick and Jemma onward via Chile, the main group onward to Potosi, and myself, Alison, Kitty and Tiffany to the Salt Flats.  John, Laurie and Dave will be making for home tomorrow also.  So tonight is the night to turn it on.We start out with a cab ride to a downtown Thai restaurant.  Despite my lingering digestive condition, I opt for the Chicken Tikka Masala, which is really nice.   The group polishes off several m,ore bottles of local suds and vino, and as we begin to hit our stride, we make for the local dance club called Mongo´s just up the street.The place is packed and as the night goes on it gets hotter and smokier.  We are successful in getting a table (no small feat), but the action is on the dance floor, where we carve our a 20% share of the floor and cut some rug first-world style.  Things go rapidly downhill when Aaron and Fraser introduce some of their finer moves including the work and of special note - the Alison sandwich.  I donñt think I need to elaborate further, I just wish I had had my camera at the ready!!Mongo´s was a blast - we had a ton of fun and for a group that had hiked the Inca Trail only days before, the dancing legs were in full effect.  About 1AM, I made my exit for the hotel, having lived the day to the fullest and in desperate need of sleep.  For many of my fellow travellers, the night was only beginning to get exciting...The group, having migrated to the Hard Rock Cafe (a local knock-off with absolutely no affiliation or simiarity to the real thing) were shoulder to shoulder with some of La Paz´s hearttiest party people.  As the story goes, a cadre of 3 local females descended on the men in the group, chatting them up and asking for information like what hotel they were in, what their telephone numbers were, etc.  The women proceeded to dance and make out with a few of the party (no names Fraser, Dave), though it would become apparent that their real intent was to get the guys to drink from a bottle of beer that they had slipped a drug into, so that the women could lead them away and mug them.  Thankfully, our local guide Jesus was wise to this common scam, and when he noticed one of the women discreetly calling someone on their cell phone, he knew the group was being targetted to be robbed as they left the club.  With that, he got everyone out of there pronto.  Ad the group left the club, the three women followed them out and onto the street.  A car with 2 well dressed men drove up, and Jesus yelled at the group to make a run for it back to the hotel....and everyone complied.  Luckily the club was only a block and a half from the hotel, so everyone arrived home safe.  Everyone dodged a bullet that night, except for Fraser.  Having made out with one of the local man-traps, he will await his STD tests with some worry....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256834862/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256834862/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256834862/tpod.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:29:30 -0500 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

La Paz, Bolivia

It was a fairly long bus ride from Puno to La Paz.  We had to exit the bus twice - once to clear the border into Bolivia (which was nothing close to what we are used to), and then again as the bus and its passengers made seperate trips across the Tihunaca (sp?) straight.  I swear our bus looked like it would topple over and sink into the lake at any time given the rickety nature of the wooden barges plying the crossing.We survived, and completing the drive to La Paz across the dusty plains of the Alto Plano, we reached the outskirts of the capital.  El Alto is the massive, sprawling and dusty suburban ring that surrounds La Paz - it reminds me of parts of India, actually - an organized chaos teeming with people, traffic, animals and unfinished construction.We navigated slowly through El Alto until we reached the edge of La Paz, a brilliant vantave point that overlooks the valley in which La Paz and its 1.2 million people reside.  Stunning photos taken from here showing human settlements clinging to every mountainside and a teeming metropolis below.Having made our way down the winding autopista and into the city centre, we crawled through the crowded streets.  Every inch of pavement was cluttered with cars, people, street vendors selling everything imaginable...including Halloweén garb.  Who knew?  We were dropped off around the corner from our hotel - the Diamante Azul (Blue Diamond), a nice little place that would be home for the next 2 nights.  Of course the first order of business would be to clean up and change...and then we would hit the town to see what La Paz has to offer!We had a bit of free time before meeting back up with the tour group, so I decided to brave the crowded streets and with Laurie in tow, we snaked up the narrow alleys filled with street vendors, on the lookout for anything special, and nothing in particular.  What we did find - loads of knock-off shoes and clothing, pirated software and DVDs, local herbs and baked goods, and I swear a boiled cow´s head that was being carved off for street side sandwiches.  (I tiik a pass on this one....)After about an hour of discovering the immediate neighbourhood, just above the Witche´s Market, Laurie and I made for the hotel where we regrouped in the lobby.  We were led by our tour leader Jesus to a nice local restaurant that would serve as our dinner spot.  I don´t remember the name, but I do know that it was just along one of the key alleys that formed the Witche´s Market, a district of handicrafts and such.Cerveza was first up, and the group made good use of the sald bar...at least that´s what they called it. A nice selection of local pickled delicacies, hard and pungent cheeses, fresh vegetables (by now I wasnñt worried about the effects of produce washed with tainted water!), rice, vecegatles and bread.  It made for a nice break from soups and fried foods....though I am not sure the beer was the perfect pairing!After a fine dinner, the proprietor decided to treat our group to a house delicacy:  Snake alcohol.  And it is exactly as it sounds...a bottle of spirits that also contains a whole snake...some poisonous Peruvian variety, but surely he was drunk before he died and this bottle is the remains of that marriage.  It looked absolutely disgusting, and only 3 of our party were brave enought to do a shot...all credit to Grant, Kitty and whomever the third person was, because you couldn´t pay me to drink that!!  Yuck
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256748451/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256748451/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256748451/tpod.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:14:36 -0400 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Puno, Peru

The host family house was an improved mud-brick building, with our room forming part of the courtyard wall.  It was clean, warm and had 3 beds (with real mattresses), and an adjoining bathroom with running water and a flush toilet!  This ended up being a major score, given that some of the other travellers stayed in homes without an indoor bathroom or running water inthe bathroom itself.  A few even had straw mattresses for their beds, though I´d say I could have slept on anything at that point!!Breakfast was early, as we were to be setting sail back to Puno via the reed island of Lake Titicaca this morning.  That said, we had a breakfast of fritters of some kind (maybe corn or quinoa), tean and them we were off.  We exchanged a few nice goodbyes with our host family, and I got their mailing address to send a few of the photo we took with then during our stay.Once aboard the boat, we travelled for a little over an hour to the islands of Uros (sp?), which are essentially flating reed islands constructed by a tribe of people that were forced off the maimland by competing tribes centures ago.,  They have adapted their lifestyle to being a floating set of small villages that live almost entitrely off the reeds that grow naturally on the lake, and the fish that live around them.The villagers welcomed us and demonstrated how they construct their floating islands - and how they abandon and rebuild them every so often to ensure they continue to protent them from the fluctuating levels of the lake.  Also, they show us their houses - some with solar panels and electricity powered television sets and lights, though these are more recent and rare ammenities.  In abny case, every building is reconstructed every 3 to 6 months as the reeds decay, so the entire civilization is in a constant state of redevlopment.  Truly amazing!After 90 minutes spent visiting Uros, we get back aboard the boat and eat a quick lunch en route back to Puno, where we walk up to meet our local minibus who takes us on a quick ride back to the Balsa Inn where we will have one last night in Peru.Since we have arrived back in Puno relatively early, a handful of us decide to go on a walk toward the city centre.  We fina local cafe and decide to have a java and some dessert - a well earned treat after several days of roughing it!!  It is here that the great ´plastic´incident occurs, with Alison finding a smallish sheet of plastic floating in her coffee....leading to a free dessert later that day.  The incident (and more appropriately, the unusual reaction of the waiter to the issue) becomes part of trip folklore and by now the plastic is the size of a pillowcase!Kitty and I decide to hit the internet cafe, and then the supermarket to get snacks and water for the upcoming trip, and then it is back to the Balsa for some downtime and reading.  We have about 3 hours to chill out, and after this we regroup with the full 16 and make our way out for a nice dinner, complete with table karaoke and heaps of Bryan Adams, who seems to have become a celebrity on this trip for some poorly understood reason.  In any case, we managed to chase all the other restaurant patrons out with our alcohol induced singing, and great fun was had by all....The evening ended with a trip a few doors down to a reggare & rock bar, where the group kicked back and raised several glasses to toast our trip.  Good cheer had by all
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256662041/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256662041/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256662041/tpod.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:57:14 -0400 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Puno, Peru

We head out from Puno early today.  First, we are to take a boat ride to the island of Taquile, about 3 hours away.  We will make a foot crossing of the hilly island in the morning, visiting the locals and experiencing their local culture.  The climb was challenging - I can tell my legs have not fully recoveredHonestly, this island looks like a Greek island in the Mediterranean - hot, sunny, dry with nice little buildings on hillsides overlooking a beautiful blue body of water.  Very nice!Our hour and change on Tequile ends with the group getting back on board our boat, that will take us on another 2 hour trek to the peninsula (INSERT NAME HERE), where we will be met by the villagers that live here - distant and remote from the mainland and most of Peruvian civilization (as far as city dwellers go)As out boat pulls up to the pier, the local women, in full traditional dress form a welcome line to greet us in the traditional Amyara (sp?) language, while the men have formed a small marching band and strike up a tune.We are warmly greeted by all, and then marched up the hill to the school yard, which has been fashioned as a paved soccer pitch.  It is here that we are to challenge the local boys to a football match - locals versus Gringos!  We are soundly defeated in the first match..and although I did a stint on defence, my true glory came out in goal, though if only because the altitude here made running and breathing more than a chore.  It was in the second match that we really pulled up our socks, and with some skillful play from the Kiwi contingent, we held the hosts to a 2 goal margin until they finally finished us off.  A great match, though and we were wiped out!!After the footie, we were introduced to our host families.  The group of 16 travellers were split into groups of 2 or 3, and paired up with a local family whose role would be to feed us and billet us for the night.  This was an interesting part of the trip - the host family I got (along with Dave and John) spoke only Amyara and Spanish, no English...and we spoke only English.  That said, with some effort on our part we found a common way to communicate....a deck of cards!We were introduced to a sort of competitive matching game courtesy of our hosts, and we played a few hands until dinner was ready.  At that time, we joined the father, mother and 4 children upstairs for a meal of rice and a stew made from potatoes, green beans, carrots and probably a chicken base.  It was hard to tell, but we were hungry and we ate as much as we could.After dinner, we were dressed up in local garb (for the men, this meant a black felt brimmed hat, a brown wool or alpaca poncho, and a side bag adorned with colourful pom poms.  We were also given a sort of string with a loop on one end, and severañ pom poms attached to the other...we would only find out later what this was for.As soon as we were ready, our host family led us down to the school building where the locals proceeded to sit us around the sides of the room (school dance style), and perform a number of local dances to the music of the local band who were belting out traditional tunes.  The spectacle was quite something - men and women in colourful multilayered outfits spiralling and shuffling around the room, swinging their pom poms around.  It was apparent that we were not to be spared the dancing, and soon enough we were all up and being run through the finer points of traditional dancing a la Lake Titicaca!  I have some great photos....After about an hour or so, and a couple of drinks, we were back to our host family residences, and soon off to sleep!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256575578/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256575578/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256575578/tpod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:26:37 -0400 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Puno, Peru

A long day of travel today, as we make our way from Cusco to Puno.  This is a 7 hour trip, leaving Cusco about 8am and getting into Puno about 330.  We took a public bus, but far from the image of chickens running up and down the asile and locals hanging off the sides of the bus...this was quite compfrtable and clean, aside the fact that the bathroom had no light!We stopped only once to use the bano, and the food available for sale was limited to chips and chocolate bars (which were promptly cleaned out), and so by the time we arrived at Puno, the group was eager for a decent meal!Dropping our gear at the Balsa Inn, we headed off for a late lunch or early dinner (the former proving to be the case), and a walk about Puno - a city of 350,000 on the shores of Lake Titicaca.Travelling by bus made everyone quite tired, and most were off to bed by 730pm, though Kitty and I did decide to seek out some drinks at a nearby pizzaria and had a quick bite.  Bedtime by 930pm!Tomorrow we are off on a cultural exchange, and it is going to kick ass!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256489167/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256489167/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/srossb1971/2007/1256489167/tpod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:19:07 -0400 Peru, the Inca Trail and the Bolivian Andes

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Cusco, Peru

Today is a free day to unwind.  I hve already seen much of Cusco, so I start the day at 7:30am with breakfast at the hotel. With a whole day, and a short list of to-do´s, I decide to take in Sunday mass at the Cathedral, which is huge and beautifully constructed by the Spanish.  I confess I dont know a lick of Spanish, but I remember enough Sunday mass to know what is going on, and the English responses.  Yeah, so I don´t stick out like a sore thumb!After mass, I head up to a coffee shop for the first real coffee in a long time...it is a funky bohemian kindof place that I have all to myself.  So I order a cafe con letche and read one of the local magazines for about an hour.  I decide by this time I´d better get moving around or my leg muscles will permanently sieze up from the Inca Trail hike. Camera in hand, I decide to walk the steep cobbled streets of the artisan district of Cusco called Sun Blas.  It is really quite pretty, and many great photo opportunities.  By this time, I am up to about 1,000 photos for this trip!  And I still have over 12 days to go.The streets of Sun Blas are nowhere near as steep as the Inca Trail, but every up`hill stretch burns in the muscles.  The cold I have caught the previous night is also putting an additional strain on my lungs, so I have to take things a little slow.  No matter, it is a free day and I am in no hurry!After several hours of wandering the city, I decide to duck into a pub that overlooks the main square - the Plaza des Armas.  It provides an excellent vantage point from wyhich to photograph the parade that is being held below...apparently October is a major festival month celebrating local Saints, so there is activity everywhere.  The pub also affords the opportunity to have a pint!I have yet to run into anyone from my group in all of my travels today, so I decide to hit the grocery store to stock up on snacks for the big bus trip to Puno tomorrow, and then up to a little shop I passed earlier in the day to get a Peru patch for my collection.Back at the hotel, I find one a handful of the group chilling out in the lounge and Aaron, one of the Kiwi crew already 3 bottles into a 6-pack of cerveza.  I decide to dump my things in my room, do a little pre-packing for the next few days, and return to the lounge.  Cerveza would be nice, but coca tea is in order as the cold is still doing a number on my lungs!The group decides to head out for an awesome post-climb dinner at a local restaurant, having already agreed that tonight is the night to try the local delicacy- Guinea Pig!  Kitty is the key instigator in this, but about half of us agree to go along and at least taste the little rodent.The roasted Giunea Pig comes to the table whole - head, ears, teeth, claws - everything intact.  It rather looks like a rat, but we have already committed to it and there is no turning back!  While Kitty, Alison and a few others dig into their respective share (NOTE- the Guinea Pig is chopped into chunks before eating), the technique involves eating with your hands, and tearing the skin and meat from the carcass.  I have a few choice photos of this, not that the image will leave my brain anytime soon.....After dinner, about half of the group heads back to the hotel to hit the sack (including myself, as I have now taked a dristan nighttime with my dinner), while the other half ducks into a local bar where the first drink is free, and Salsa lessons are a requirement.  As I understand it, our good mate Aaron makes an abrupt exit after his 8th cerveza, making quickly for the nearest bano!  Perhaps an Immodium chaser would have been in order!!
]]>