The trip back from Uyuni was much better. Even though I had multiple layers of salt and dust all over me which a geologist could examine and date me to the late Jurassic, I slept quite fine on this trip ;).
Back in La Paz, we quickly made plans to jet for Copacabana after a quick shower and lunch. Viva Bolivia!
I am in Copacabana right now. Not the famous brazilian beach, although Ill be there soon enough. This one is a beatiful small town nestled beteen two rocky hills on the shore of Lake Titicaca.
I am about to go by boat to Isla del Sol, island of the sun, where the aymara and quechua people believe the sun and gods were born. There are ruins and idyllic villages there...There is a fat music festival starting new years eve and going for three days straight. Its going to be magical...and more magical for costing about 7$ us...haha everything here is dirt cheap, and life is great because of it. I just had the best breakfast of my life for about 4$...wonderful!
I also got some traditional shamanic music, which is going to be fantastic as well!
Also, Ive solidified accomodations in Cuzco and Rio for Carnival! I was a bit worried about the latter, as every hotel is alrteady booked up! My plan was to just buy a hammock and sleep on the beach! But now, I have a place to styay to I might not need to do that, although might anyway beacuse it sounds fabulous! Also, the farm near Rio told me to come thruough for a couple weeks and practice sustainable agricultre and teach children English! What a great opportunity! Some other guy invited me to go to the amazon to some sort of medical community. He said it would be cheap, which is great because he said the amazon is usually more expensive than going to the US!! Ill make the decision on way or another, but a bad time isgona be impossible to have!
Sigh...life is great!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Salt Flats and Beyond
Uyuni was fabulous! However the bus down was foul...11 hours. It was cramped, cold, and incredibly bumpy. The bathroom had a nasty wash of brownish foul water sloshing around on the ground...I stayed as far away from it as possible. Imagine 11 hours of trying to sleep in a dark cold bus, but every time you near the point of sleeping, another rattle of bumpy dirt road shakes you awake...Needless to say, i spent the night in a stupor of half-sleeping discomfort. For the next one, I promise myself I´ll get a valium...or seven. Or at least get really drunk first and just pass out.
The only good thing about the trip was that I overheard two girls talking about how excited they were about carnival. I walked up to them and had a ´oh my god im going to be there too´ moment for a quick minute. After we got out of the bus around 7am, I went up to them and we decided to form a tour group. Luckily there were two more of them, which made six total with me and my dad, the perfect tour group size. We walked around past several Bolivians pushing pamphlets of their tour comanies on us, and found a good one who would take us on the three day two night journey all-inclusive for about 70 US. We agreed and set off.
Words cant really do justice to this incredible place. There are miles upon miles of flat salt deposits, covered by an inch or two of water. The effect is magical, the clouds mirrored in the ground, and we looked like we were flying rather than driving. I call it Jesus-Jeep.
Isla de Pescada, island of fish, is named so because apparently it looks like afish from a distance. PErsonally, I didnt see it, but the place was probably the most incredible place I saw on the whole trip. It was a random island jutting out of the vast expanse of nothingness of the salt flats. Cacti peppered the island, and the reflection off of the water on the flats created mirror images. The entire island was coral turned stone, which meant that the hundreds of square miles were at some point at least a hundred feet deep submerged with water. I can only imagine...
There is a salt hotel, made of bricks of salt. It was incredible, and also apparently illegal. I gues they bribe the right people, like those who operate route 36, the coke bar in La Paz. _They have a salt museum with salt llamas and salt people. They sell funny things made out of salt, miniature salt llamas and boxes and cool crystals.
At the end of the day, we stayed at a salt hotel outside of the flats, a legal one. Our guide, Pedro, was so helpful and cooked us great meals.
Day two we woke a dawn and my dad and I saw the sunrise. We set off for the lagoons. No longer in the flats, this day we drove through endless expanses of desert, Dali´s desert. I picture the crazy elephants and melting clocks everywhere. I can see the resemblence. The rocks are fabulous, craggy and formed by eons of wind and desolation. The lagoons are incredible, housing thousands of flamingos, whose pinkness looks so out of place in this land where nothing survives. The weather is actually quite hot, contrary to what everyone has said.
The third day we travelled to geysers at the break of dawn. We waded through the foggy exhaust, foul and toxic gas. It bubbles up from some sort of primordial sludge which boils at 90 degrees Centegrade. Occasionally the mud will fly up if a particularly ambitious bubble pops. We take cool pictures...and are all reminded of Mordor. I imagine this sludge is what they make the orcs out of...
The next stop was amazing hot springs, at the edge of a lagoon. As we were driving to them, we saw the lagoon, steaming in the morning light. Flamingos, impervious to the steam and warm water, stick their beaks into the ground searching for breakfast. Borax and calcium top the lagoons in parts, looking like the salt flats again stretching across the top of the lakes.
I see some kid who flew into La Paz with me from Lima. I say whats up.
Next, we travel to yet another lagoon, Laguna Colorodo. This is the biggest one yet, and apparently ten thousand flamingos live in this lagoon alone. It is vast beyond words, with pink dots lining the middle of the waters.
Our guide points to a volcano. He says there is a lagoon in the top of the volcano, with inca ruins. There, apparenty, they took the most beautiful Inca virgin and sacrificed her. Ouch...
It is a separate trip, although I really want to go, it sound samazing.
From there, it was a looong journey home. An 8 hour drive, with seven of us in a 4wd. We made it fun though...until our jeep broke down on a hill. Luckily, Pedro was the shit, and he made it to a little town after some repairs, where he further fixed the jeep. We made it the four hours from there just fine.
Pictures soon, I promise they will be amazing...
The only good thing about the trip was that I overheard two girls talking about how excited they were about carnival. I walked up to them and had a ´oh my god im going to be there too´ moment for a quick minute. After we got out of the bus around 7am, I went up to them and we decided to form a tour group. Luckily there were two more of them, which made six total with me and my dad, the perfect tour group size. We walked around past several Bolivians pushing pamphlets of their tour comanies on us, and found a good one who would take us on the three day two night journey all-inclusive for about 70 US. We agreed and set off.
Words cant really do justice to this incredible place. There are miles upon miles of flat salt deposits, covered by an inch or two of water. The effect is magical, the clouds mirrored in the ground, and we looked like we were flying rather than driving. I call it Jesus-Jeep.
Isla de Pescada, island of fish, is named so because apparently it looks like afish from a distance. PErsonally, I didnt see it, but the place was probably the most incredible place I saw on the whole trip. It was a random island jutting out of the vast expanse of nothingness of the salt flats. Cacti peppered the island, and the reflection off of the water on the flats created mirror images. The entire island was coral turned stone, which meant that the hundreds of square miles were at some point at least a hundred feet deep submerged with water. I can only imagine...
There is a salt hotel, made of bricks of salt. It was incredible, and also apparently illegal. I gues they bribe the right people, like those who operate route 36, the coke bar in La Paz. _They have a salt museum with salt llamas and salt people. They sell funny things made out of salt, miniature salt llamas and boxes and cool crystals.
At the end of the day, we stayed at a salt hotel outside of the flats, a legal one. Our guide, Pedro, was so helpful and cooked us great meals.
Day two we woke a dawn and my dad and I saw the sunrise. We set off for the lagoons. No longer in the flats, this day we drove through endless expanses of desert, Dali´s desert. I picture the crazy elephants and melting clocks everywhere. I can see the resemblence. The rocks are fabulous, craggy and formed by eons of wind and desolation. The lagoons are incredible, housing thousands of flamingos, whose pinkness looks so out of place in this land where nothing survives. The weather is actually quite hot, contrary to what everyone has said.
The third day we travelled to geysers at the break of dawn. We waded through the foggy exhaust, foul and toxic gas. It bubbles up from some sort of primordial sludge which boils at 90 degrees Centegrade. Occasionally the mud will fly up if a particularly ambitious bubble pops. We take cool pictures...and are all reminded of Mordor. I imagine this sludge is what they make the orcs out of...
The next stop was amazing hot springs, at the edge of a lagoon. As we were driving to them, we saw the lagoon, steaming in the morning light. Flamingos, impervious to the steam and warm water, stick their beaks into the ground searching for breakfast. Borax and calcium top the lagoons in parts, looking like the salt flats again stretching across the top of the lakes.
I see some kid who flew into La Paz with me from Lima. I say whats up.
Next, we travel to yet another lagoon, Laguna Colorodo. This is the biggest one yet, and apparently ten thousand flamingos live in this lagoon alone. It is vast beyond words, with pink dots lining the middle of the waters.
Our guide points to a volcano. He says there is a lagoon in the top of the volcano, with inca ruins. There, apparenty, they took the most beautiful Inca virgin and sacrificed her. Ouch...
It is a separate trip, although I really want to go, it sound samazing.
From there, it was a looong journey home. An 8 hour drive, with seven of us in a 4wd. We made it fun though...until our jeep broke down on a hill. Luckily, Pedro was the shit, and he made it to a little town after some repairs, where he further fixed the jeep. We made it the four hours from there just fine.
Pictures soon, I promise they will be amazing...
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Uyuni
Today I make the 11 hour bus journey to Uyuni, the launch point into the vast salt flats inthe southwest of Bolivia. There used to be a sea, but it dried up, leaving hundreds of miles of flat salt beds...For a price you can jump in a 4WD jeep and cruise around...me and my dad are doing this for four days!! It will be quite crazy...every boliviano I talk about uyuni to says ´muy frio!´ I can only hope its not really that cold...Needless to say, I´ll update on the exact nature of these flats (as I can only imagine) when I get back...
Also, I´m going to send postcards to all the awesome people! If you want one, comment with your address!!
Also, I´m going to send postcards to all the awesome people! If you want one, comment with your address!!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Viva La Paz
La Paz is a crazy city, to say the least. There are rows and rows and tiers and tiers of brick houses. Stay dogs run everywhere, and the drivers are crazy, of course. When I arrive its totally foggy, and I can´t see most of the city. But the next day, the city smacks me in the face with its epicness. Its situated in a bowl-like valley that stretches for a vast expanse.
The downtown area is a crazy commotion of packed vans, old schoolbuses packed to the brim with people, and street vendors everywhere. My dad says he thinks the vendors outnumber the buyers, and I can certainly see that. Hundreds and thousands of people have their little areas staked out, they cram more stuff into small areas than I thought humanly possible. Imagine the LA fashion district times about 10 in size, and about 20 in people. Hectic crowds navigate the nooks and crannies of vendors, each taking up no more than two square meters of space.
Crossing streets is crazy...whenever they can, hordes of people weave past exhaust pipes and in front of revving grills and frantically beeping taxis. On larger streets, the people on the other side were usually born there, its so difficult to get across.
The downtown area is a crazy commotion of packed vans, old schoolbuses packed to the brim with people, and street vendors everywhere. My dad says he thinks the vendors outnumber the buyers, and I can certainly see that. Hundreds and thousands of people have their little areas staked out, they cram more stuff into small areas than I thought humanly possible. Imagine the LA fashion district times about 10 in size, and about 20 in people. Hectic crowds navigate the nooks and crannies of vendors, each taking up no more than two square meters of space.
Crossing streets is crazy...whenever they can, hordes of people weave past exhaust pipes and in front of revving grills and frantically beeping taxis. On larger streets, the people on the other side were usually born there, its so difficult to get across.
Mi Familia!
The anticipation for meeting my lost family has been great for some time. What will they be like? D o they think I´m a sellout for not visiting before and not knowing Spanish?
When I arrive, they greet me with smiles and hugs, like long lost friends...or family. Its a good feeling.
I hope they won´t put themselves out too much on my behalf.
When I arrive, they greet me with smiles and hugs, like long lost friends...or family. Its a good feeling.
I hope they won´t put themselves out too much on my behalf.
Bolivia Go!
My first destination on this blog will be South America. My flight stops in San Salvador, El Salvador, then Lima, Peru. The airline has overbooked the flight, so they were asking for someone to stay the night and fly the next morning to La Paz. They offered total accomodations and a 500 dollar credit to fly anywhere. My original plan was to travel overland from La Paz to Rio, but this was tedious, and I knew it. I decided then and there to change plans. I would instead travel north from La Paz to Lima, through Cuzco, and fly from Lima to Rio (la Paz is a small airport and there are no flights to Rio through the airline I had credit at). I accepted, walked through customs, and was in Lima for the night. The airline gave me a penthouse suite on the 11th floor of a fly hotel in downtown lima, complete with kitchen, full bathroom, closet, and a stellar view. My trip began in style...
After the mistakeof making a phone call which ended up costing me about 100 USD, I decided to haggle and pretended not to have money to pay. I´m sorry, I said, I cant do anything about it, I only have 120 soles, which i put down on the table, my hand palming the 100 extra soles I had in my pocket. I owed about 260 soles. They complained, told me to make calls to the embassy, or to get a friends credit card number. Eventually, my taxi back to the airport was about to leave and I had to catch the flight. I forkd over the amount by slipping it under the 120 i put down earlier. I said im sorry, but this is all i have, spreading the bills. The guy looked at it and did a double take. He asked the girl how much I had there. She said 120. He said count again, clearly seeing the extra 100. I was a good 15USD short, but they grumbled a bit but let me go.
Close call, i thought. Without my pretending not to have enough, I would surely have been trapped there. Slick hands...
Anyway, my flight to La Paz was reasonably uneventful.
In countries like those in central and South America, people sometimes clap when the plane lands. This can catch you off guard if you´re not ready for it. TYhey are just happy to have landed safely. In the US, nobody gives a shit, its just expected. I think its the sense of entitlement americans have. US passe¡gers, when the plane lands, seem to be thinking ´That´s goddamn right you landed safely! If you didnt...oh the lawsuits!´
Everyone else in the world is just grateful...
The La PAz airport is a joke. There is one guy who we all go through for immigration. Customs is partially cordoned off by a row of chairs. One could leap the chairs and make it into Bolivia. Before customs, I see they have (of course) lost my bag. This is the bag I meticulously packed with everything I need. Its a huge black army surplus bag, and it basically has my life in it. I whine a bit and some guy helps me fill out a lost bag form. By the time we´re done, there is nobody at the customs station. I literally walk through customs. Nobody sees me. I pocket my declaration form. What a country, I think!
After the mistakeof making a phone call which ended up costing me about 100 USD, I decided to haggle and pretended not to have money to pay. I´m sorry, I said, I cant do anything about it, I only have 120 soles, which i put down on the table, my hand palming the 100 extra soles I had in my pocket. I owed about 260 soles. They complained, told me to make calls to the embassy, or to get a friends credit card number. Eventually, my taxi back to the airport was about to leave and I had to catch the flight. I forkd over the amount by slipping it under the 120 i put down earlier. I said im sorry, but this is all i have, spreading the bills. The guy looked at it and did a double take. He asked the girl how much I had there. She said 120. He said count again, clearly seeing the extra 100. I was a good 15USD short, but they grumbled a bit but let me go.
Close call, i thought. Without my pretending not to have enough, I would surely have been trapped there. Slick hands...
Anyway, my flight to La Paz was reasonably uneventful.
In countries like those in central and South America, people sometimes clap when the plane lands. This can catch you off guard if you´re not ready for it. TYhey are just happy to have landed safely. In the US, nobody gives a shit, its just expected. I think its the sense of entitlement americans have. US passe¡gers, when the plane lands, seem to be thinking ´That´s goddamn right you landed safely! If you didnt...oh the lawsuits!´
Everyone else in the world is just grateful...
The La PAz airport is a joke. There is one guy who we all go through for immigration. Customs is partially cordoned off by a row of chairs. One could leap the chairs and make it into Bolivia. Before customs, I see they have (of course) lost my bag. This is the bag I meticulously packed with everything I need. Its a huge black army surplus bag, and it basically has my life in it. I whine a bit and some guy helps me fill out a lost bag form. By the time we´re done, there is nobody at the customs station. I literally walk through customs. Nobody sees me. I pocket my declaration form. What a country, I think!
Wanderlust Go!
This is the blog of my travels around the world.
I may have a non so uncommon disease known as wanderlust. I hope to satiate it, but the odds are slim.
Welcome!
I may have a non so uncommon disease known as wanderlust. I hope to satiate it, but the odds are slim.
Welcome!
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