Hi Peeps,
Last time I was in the middle of Bolivia in Santa Cruz. From there I got a bus to the border with Brazil and crossed over to see the Pantanal (large wet area!). Then to La Paz (the highest capital city in the world at 3,600m), followed by Corioco, Lake Titicaca, then into Peru to Puno and then Cusco, the capital of the old Inca Empire and the start of the Inca trail to Machu Piccu.
The lows first because I´m sure that you find them more entertaining !
Remember that bus to Santa Cruz, Bolivia which arrived 74 huors late - well things didnt get much better after that. After only 1 night in a normal bed it was back to the bus for a 19 hour journey to the Brazilian border - unfortunately the bus was pre war (pre any war you would care to mention) and it was not only late leaving it broke down within half an hour and we
waited 1.5 hours for them to fix it. The ´road´ if that be the correct name was sometimes rubble, sometimes sand and at other times just plain bad. It didn´t help that I was feeling really ill with Parasitic diahorrea (although I didnt know what it was for another week+). To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement and with breakdowns punctures etc it arrived 11 hours
late (total 30 hours). Actually it never arrived at the destination - Just to cap it all the road was blockaded (by taxi drivers it seems ) a few miles short of the destination - so we had to .... take a taxi !!! the rest of the way at our own expense ! Cos we got there so late the border was closed and we had to stay in Bolivia another night.
- After that I had to traverse the whole length of the country agan but decided there was no way I was going to go by bus and flew to La Paz for US$150 - and who said Bolivia was a cheap country?
- My travelling schedule being completely screwed up by the strikes and of course the football! What a silly time to be travelling without much time......
- Having to get up at stupid times to go and watch the football. In the early stages in Bolivia it ran from 2.30am to 9.30am and later on in Peru, 1.30am to 8.30am. I have got used to hauling myself out of bed at ridiculous times of the night after 2 or 3 hours sleep and immediately
immersing myself in a beer. I do not necessarily think this is a habit I will keep up now the footy is over ! (I did miss a few matches by oversleeping - but I missed more by not being able find a TV showing it in the towns I was staying in - caught all the biggies though!)
The floating islands in Puno, Peru - The Uros people have lived on island made of reeds for over 1,000 years. They still live their today and still practice their traditional skills of fishing, bird catching and maintaining the islands so they dont sink. However most of the time they sell stuff to the tourists who turn up to see them. Proabbly the most touristy place I have been anywhere. They now have solar panels, TVs etc and stay there cos (according to the tour guide) they have an easy life. Tourism has changed so much about their way of life - but hopefully for the better. Although I have my doubts. These people are now just a tourist attraction ...... but
as I was told by another traveller ..... ´there is a reason for that !´
And just a few highs
- The Pantanal in Brazil. If I ignore the angony of the journey and the wasted week I spent getting there (from Sucre it took almost exactly 7 days) and the expense of the flight back to La Paz, then I can be positive about the experience. I spent 4 night in a hammock (surprisingly comfortable) and the days spotting alligators (over 2m long), capybarras (the worlds largest
rodent - at 80cm long they looked like extremely large guinea pigs), deer, howler monkeys, a large anteater and birds (Macaws/parrots, herons, black vultures, toucans (yes the ones from the old Guinness ads), and the 1.5m wingspan Jabiru stork).
Also went pirhana fishing (although I was slightly hesitant about wading into the water to fish) and caught two, each 30 cm long. Ate them for lunch - very tasty but a lot of bones.
The most dangerous road in the world! - About 1 truck every 2 weeks falls off this narrow ledge carved into the mountain down a 300m+ vertical drop.
So the best thing is to go down it by bike! OK maybe not the best idea ever but its nearly all downhill - imagine going 63km and dropping 3,500m in height at speeds of up to of 60kph. Just try and keep an eye out for trucks coming the other way as there is no room to pass them on most of the road.
The prison in La Paz. This may be one of the worlds oddest tourism attractions but guided tours (by a New Yorker imprisoned for drug smuggling) are available. The prison is a whole series of little communities where prisoners have to buy or rent their own cells (top penthouse cost $15,000 to buy). Whether they get to live in a 5* part, a 3* part or a no star part entirely depends on how much money they have. To occupy themselves and to earn money there are hundreds of businesses inside from shoe shine, fresh veg stalls to restaurants - for prisoners who do not want to eat the prison food with possible sedatives etc in it. And of course the 3 things that keep a prison running - drugs, sex and alcohol are all available. You can have a woman stay over for $4 a night (note : this does not include the cost of the woman) so many prisoners have their girlfriends/wives stay over. And one more oddity - once sentanced the prisoners must pay a $4 entrance fee to the prison - if they can´t they have to work for 30 days in the kitchens (not a nice place).
England v Argentina - Whilst it must have been fantastic to watch it in London it was altogether a different experience getting up at 2.15am and spending all night watching the football in a La Paz bar. I knew I was in SAmerica but I didn´t expect everyone in the bar to be supporting Argentina (I mean how many people in England wanted Germany to win the final just because they are European !?). But there I was, 7.30am in the morning the bar was full of 300 pro Argentine supporters and 3 England fans. I´m pleased to say I made more noise than the 300 put together! - and only got a few dirty looks - and we won!!
Five minutes after the finish I was out on the La Paz streets where it was if nothing had happened. Did we really win or had I been dreaming .......
Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca - the Incas believe that this is where the sun was born. There is a rock at one end of the island with a orange patch where it was actually born - and it has a lovely big smile! How nice is that!
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (MP) - There is actually a stone trail (mainly stairs) that the Incas built for the several hundred people a day who undertake the 4 day trial - now that is far sighted eco-tourism! OK so maybe they actually built it for important Incas to undertake pilgrimages to MP - either way it is still there today as are many of the Inca built earthquake proof buildings despite a huge number of earthquakes in the area (all the Spanish colonial stuff regularly falls down). Actually the Incas are hardly an ancient civilisation - they existed for a few hundred years but are only really important from 1430 (when they started to expand their
empire) to 1532 when the Spanish arrived. MP was built from 1450 to 1532 when building of the incomplete structure was stopped in favour of fighting the Spanish (in a few years the Spanish won but it is thought never found MP).
It actually wasn´t too difficult to do the trail although we had to climb to 4,200m above sea level at one point - it really is a case of the top seeming further away after every step due to the altitude. The worst part was actually having to get up at 2.45am on the final morning to trek the 3 hours mainly on the dark to see the sun rise on MP. Worth getting up for though. MP itself is not the most wonderful collection of buildings however -some (badly restored) nice close fitting Inca stonework of course - but it is the very spectacular setting amongst near vertical peaks and deep valleys and the views from above which make it easily worthwhile.
Anyway off to see the Nasca Lines, Lima and then into Ecuador for a few days in the Galapagos (if I can afford it) before heading home in just a few weeks.........
Love
Pete
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