Check'em out!... Revisalas :)

We put new pictures in the Salvador, Brazil doozie! Check'em out, they're great!

Pusimos fotos nuevas en la entrada para Salvador, Brazil! Revisalas, son geniales!
If you want to translate this blog from english to whatever language go to http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=es#
and you can easily translate this page. I mean, it´s not perfect, but it´s pretty good!

Si deseas traducir nuestro blog de inglés a cualquier lenguaje, vaya no mas a http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=es# y puedes facilmente traducir la pagina de web. No es perfecto pero es muy bueno!

27.1.09

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: Sssssshhhh!!!!

Hostal Vilacoyo One block from the main plaza, 7000 pesos x person

Well we definitely weren´t in Bolivia anymore, the prices had risen, the temperature had risen, the number of laws had risen.

First, we had to get used to the new currency $1 = 600 Chilean pesos. What?! The hostal costs 7,000 pesos!!! (oh wait... just give us a moment to get out our rusty math skills).

Regardless, things were expensive. We definitely weren´t going to find any $3 hostals there. We knew right away that the moment we had crossed that Bolivian border, we had entered a new world.

San Pedro was hot, desert like and had zero cheap forms of entertainment. We tried to make our own entertainment but first got reprimanded in the hostal for talking too loudly at 10:30 p.m. and then, the following day, almost arrested.

Apparently, our drumming in the plaza was not appreciated by everyone. The local police promptly arrived on the scene and while one rudely questioned us and told us to follow him, the other flirtatiously winked at us (real professional, the ol´ good cop, bad cop routine).

Unfortunately, we couldn´t leave this expensive tourist trap as quickly as we had hoped due to a lack of buses. However, we did make the most of our time there with our new friends Sarah (England) and Rachel (New Zealand), a bottle of wine and funny, girl gossip.

Salar de Uyuni-Day 3: Adios, Ciao, Au Revoir Bolivia!

At 4:30am we robotically dragged ourselves out of bed after a sleepless night. We got in our freezer, I mean tour van and were off. First stop: the geezers, excuse me, geysers. (Our British friends kept saying "We´re going to see the geezers!" Laura and I couldn´t stop laughing at this pronunciation confusion... eccentric, old people? what? :)

As the sun rose in the distance, we shivered our way around the steaming pools, trying not to inhale too much sulfur. The smelly steam being shot out of the ground gave the appearance that we were on Mars. It was actually really incredible, smelly, but incredible.

We then made a stop at the hot springs (5000m above sea level!) where no one felt brave enough to peel off their warm clothes and get into (besides, of course, our own fish, Laura.) At 6 in the morning, maybe the water was hot, but the air was frigid!

The last stop on the tour was the green lagoon, my personal favorite. The two snowy mountains looming in the background are reflected in the water. Truly amazing.

After a rushed breakfast, we flew to the border and jumped in a different van, headed for Chile. What a finale to our month in Bolivia!

Salar de Uyuni-Day 2: We're Not In Kansas Anymore

The second day was a beautiful follow up to the first. Laura and I got to ride up front with our tranquilo tour guide while we rose to more than 4000m above sea level.

The day consisted of drive, stop, get out, walk around, use the natural bathroom, take pictures, get back in the van, drive some more. But honestly, we weren´t bored for a second. We saw lagoons in all shades and colors, with flamingo sprinkled shores, Vicuñas (relative of the Llama) playing in the hills, one volcano after another and a lot of beautiful nothingness.

The nicely paved road was about 7000km east of us. The path (which our driver was inventing) was strewn with boulders and bumpy enough to bring back childhood memories of unstable Rocky Point amusement park rides. Rocky would be one word to describe it.

One of the most interesting things we saw that day was a gigantic rock formation in the shape of a tree. How did that get in the middle of this desert?

Our second hotel was "basic" as our guide told us, no shower, no hot water, no electricity, dorm style rooms and it was cold enough to produce flashbacks of our Syracuse and Vermont days.

We survived the blustery evening with a stroll around the Laguna Colorada (we did not take a picture of this lagoon, we stole our blog´s last picture :) and an informative, but dull peek at the mating habits of llamas. At first, we could have sworn they were just cuddling to survive the cold (we thought they had the right idea... but wait...:) Anything was better than sitting in our Antarctic-like room.

At night we ate terribly disappointing spaghetti (Dad, where are you!?!?) and drank wine with some talkative Argentinians. Although freezing, we took a moment to view the clear and mystifying sky before going to bed. The Milky Way had never looked so bright.





Salar de Uyuni-Day 1: Welcome to a White Paradise

Salar de Uyuni 3 day tour, all included - 560 Bolivianos plus 45 blv for park entrance fees = $85 Colque Tours 54 Potosi - Highly Recommended. Tip: Bring a few bananas to snack on in between meals.

We showed up at 10:45 a.m. to meet the rest of our 11 person tour group: 2 English girls, a Swedish couple, 2 Brazilian chicas and 3 guys, and of course las dos americanas (that´s us.) We hopped on our tour bus headed for the Salar. (The Salar was a salt water lake that dried up and left an impressive, salt covered expanse of 12,000 sq. km.)

First we stopped by the train cemetery which our tour guide prefaced by saying "It´s just a heap of trash, but it´s part of the tour, so we have to stop." We actually thought it was pretty cool and took the opportunity to take some creative photos.

We then moved on to the entrance of the Salar which isn´t completely dried up, so there is still shallow water that you can stick your feet in. The salty bottom was surprisingly warm and massage-like on our feet. (Everything is so white and blinding, you almost expect it to be snowy and cold!)

From there we made various stops over the course of 5 hours, around the massive, white paradise. Everywhere we looked was a glistening, never-ending white horizon. Our group got a little carried away with the picture taking. There were plastic dinosaurs, Brazilian flags, a furry llama and an Arabic drum that all made an appearance on the Salar. Since the Salar is a huge, white desert, there is nothing to measure depth. Therefore, you can take some pretty wild and amazing pictures with a few amateur tricks.

Due to our group´s picture taking frenzy, we didn´t make it to the designated lunch spot, but instead had a much more spectacular lunch, sitting in the middle of our white universe.

The next stop was the Isla del Pescado (Fish Island) where we walked through paths lined with gigantic cacti. From the peak of the island we had a beautiful view of the out of this world landscape. (Yes... more white!)

We arrived to the hostal around 6pm and went outside with our drum and riq (Arabic tambourine) to make some noise. This is when we met Hiro (our hero), an Asian dance teacher, easily identified as Japanese by his "funky hi-tops" (according to our new British friend, Ianthe). While I drummed out Arabic rhythms, he busted out techno, Japanese, break dance moves, while some curious onlookers watched from a distance. He eventually begged us to stop playing because he literally couldn't keep his feet still while we played. It was almost as amazing as the Salar ("Not the coolest thing we´d seen all day, but absolutely the coolest human thing we´d seen all day.") Ianthe said it was definitely better than watching TV.

We spent the rest of the night chain tea drinking with Ianthe and Holly (our new British friends) and laughing like old friends while discovering some funny differences between American and British English. When the electricity went out, we joined in on a Brazilian-led sing along with of course, a few Arabic intermissions which continued on through the night.

26.1.09

Tumbleweeds and short showers Uyuni, Bolivia

Inti Uyuni near the bus terminal, 25 Bolivianos x person, includes a 4 minute 59 second shower

There´s not too much to say about Uyuni. Honestly, I expected a cowboy to swing through some tienda doors with guns ablazing and his fine steed waiting for him to run off into the dusty sunset.

We stopped here long enough to eat some street hamburgers, meet 2 girls from England and 2 more from Brazil (a tour group, perfect!) and plan our trip to the Salar de Uyuni (The Uyuni Salt Flat.)

We had the shower Nazi from hell, timing our shorter than 5 minute shower and yelling a lot.

Nothing to see here folks... off to the Salar.

The Bus: Part 2

It would only make sense that we left Tupiza the way we arrived... The bus trip from Tupiza to Uyuni was shorter, but equally as painful. The road was also so bumpy that we thought the windows might break. Of course there was no bathroom, no leg room and it was raining again... in the bus. The best part of this trip however was the music; cumbia, blasting at full volume the entire time. (As one Bolivian told us, "Without cumbia there is no life." We let him know that we have surrvived 25 years of our lives just fine without it.) If you don't know what cumbia is, you should look it up and you'll quickly see why Laura and I almost threw ourselves from the bus half way through the trip.

All that and a bunch of rocks! Tupiza, Bolivia

Hostal Tupiza Florida and Pedro Arraya, 25 Bolivianos x person

After the bus ride from hell, we fought all urges to flop in our beds like a bag of rocks and sleep the day away. We made the usual rounds: main plaza, market, internet and mirador. Beautiful, as always. (In California we always said "Another beautiful beach." In Germany I imagine my parents said "Another beautiful castle." We have our South American version :) We also organized our (upon Lori´s request) horseback riding tour for the next day.

Horseback riding? Lori? You´re confused. So was I.

One "must see" in our guide book is the rock formations around Tupiza, which you can visit hiking, biking, jeeping or horseback riding. Lori surprised the pants off me by suggesting we check out horseback riding prices. We decided that the next day, we´d take a 3 hour tour (possibly 5 hours, depending on the pain in our butts.)

Bright and early, we met with Milton, our 19 year old, conversational, friendly, "Have you ever had a boyfriend for 3 hours (or 5, depending on our tour choice)?" tour guide. Although every chance he got, he tried to convince us to do a 3 day tour, he was a great, harmless guide.

We saw amazing, mysterious, dark red colored, clay, rock formations, in literally all sorts of shapes and sizes. We visited visited La Puerta del Diablo (The Devil´s Door), El Valle de los Machos (The valley of rocks shaped as male reproductive organs), El Cañon del Inca (The Inca Canon) and finally, El Cañon del Duende (The Elf Canon.) It was amazing that this little hole-in-the-wall town housed such natural wonders. It was a chill, rocky day.

Through all the rock sightseeing, we did pick up the pace and nervously gallop a bit, pretending we were in a western movie with John Wayne. Little did we know, Tupiza was nothing compared to the tumbleweeds and wild wild west we were about to see in our next stop.

The Bus: Part 1

What I remember about Bolivia from 5 years ago (when I made a quick trip through while living in Argentina) is mostly the buses. Old, leaky, cramped, uncomfortable, really hot or reaalllly cold... Surprisingly Laura and I hadn't encountered any of this while traveling through Bolivia. Our trips had been mostly pleasant, well, up until Sucre that is.

So what happened from Sucre to Tupiza? What was supposed to be a 10 hour bus ride, turned out to be a 13 hour trip from hell. First of all, the seats were so small that we could feel the knees of the person behind us digging in our backs all night. We tried to ignore this and just fall asleep, but it was so cold that even with our blanket we couldnt's stop shivering. It was also raining (yes, in the bus). By the end of the trip our stuff that was on the floor was all wet. Not to mention, we were traveling down a dirt road (buMP bUMP BUUUMMP!) However, our "favorite" part of night was probably the ONE bathroom-less rest stop that we made in the whole 13 hours. (Nope, no bathrooms here.) We did eventually doze off for a while to wake up around 4:30 a.m. and see that we weren't moving at all. Drifting between awakeness and sleep for the next 2.5 hours we wondered why we were parked somewhere. When the sun finally came up around 6:00 a.m. we could see the looooong line of buses and trucks stopped in the road because one bus had slid in the mud and blocked the entire path.

When we FINALLY made it to Tupiza, we made a mad dash for the bathroom; tried, cranky, but glad to have our feet on the ground.

16.1.09

Giddy Up! Sucre, Bolivia

Wasi Masi Urcullo 233, 50 Bolivianos x person, private bathroom!

Though we spent little time in this big village/little city, we wanted to spend more! But, capucha, it´s been a month and we´re still in Bolivia- we need to giddy up!! :) Sucre was originally the capital of Bolivia until one president, way back when, decided to move himself and the congress to La Paz. The supreme court still lives in Sucre but as you can imagine, as La Paz is much bigger and has the president, there is always the argument as to where the "real" capital of Bolivia is.

We arrived in our fancy bus cama (bus bed, where the seats recline alot, practically into a bed.) Lori wasn´t impressed, but I was loving it! With an entire window to ourselves, it was like having a big screen TV in my bedroom (and lots of strangers... that part was weird.) It was Discovery Channel live... we had a full moon that was so bright that I thought I could touch it. I imagined a guy with an Australian accent describing the lightening and thunder storm happening behind the mountain range in the distance. People pay lots of money for TVs this good, I paid 60 Bolivianos (and it´s a gamble, usually we get uncomfortable seats and a window glued shut :)

Sucre was quite charming. In the market (our usual first stop in a city for some quick, cheap grub. Ask my mom about the market in Baños, Ecuador. Not the classiest of places but always a treat) the women were so friendly and helpful. What a nice change!

We packed a lunch and headed up to the Mirador (a high spot where you can get a nice view of the entire city.) We arrived and started preparing our favorite Lori Andrea sandwiches when we were approached by an artesano, "Volleyball when you finish?" "Sure!" Then a little girl comes over, "These cookies are for Laura." "What?!?" We look over and see a familiar face- Daniel the (inexperienced) other drum player from La Paz when we performed in the street! (see entry La Paz III.5)

We finished our delish sandwiches and joined Daniel and his friends for the rest of the afternoon, bruising our forearms with 2 and a half hour volleyball game and a terribly hard ball. After the game, Daniel invited us to his house for cookies (his mom is a cookie maker) and tea. The most innocent request we´d heard in awhile, we accepted and hung out at his house with his funny nieces and some dumb American movie about Oktoberfest and an international beer drinking competition. Do we really miss the states? :)

Pooped, we headed back to our hostal and bathed ourselves in our fancy, private shower (with hot water and everything!) Done and done.

The next day we decided to visit Ñucchu, a pueblito outside of Sucre. In a very unhurried, South American fashion we waited on the corner at the cemetery, with no sense of urgency, for 2 and a half hours for the one bus a day to bring us to Ñucchu. How we´ve changed from our fast American ways.

Finally, a tagless, empty van passed, we flagged it down, the driver mumbled something. "Fine, lets go... wherever..." "I´ll take you a quarter of the way, half way or the whole way for 5 bolivianos..." the driver told us. I guess we´ll go... the whole way? How about for a quarter and a half of the way? :)

Finally, we arrive at Ñucchu. Our driver drops us off at a lonely river, "Cross the river and when you want to go back to the city, come here. There should be transportation. Chao!" No time to decide, he abandons us at the river.

We wade across the river and across a bridge to a town. It seems that, besides the two people working in a field far away, a few chickens and a pig- we´re the only life here. We crossed town (in 5 minutes and 32 seconds) and laughed and laughed and laughed at the "tourist attraction-ito" we had just visited.

We finished our last supplies of Lori Andrea sandwiches while practically being plowed over by herds of cows and spent the afternoon watching the red clay colored river pass us by (which apparently is good for the skin.)

After about an hour, we slowly crossed back through town again. This time there are signs of life (though minimal.) We wade across the river again and thankfully, transportation is ready to take us back to Sucre (a small miracle.)

That´s enough adventure for one day. Tomorrow to Tupiza.

Cochabamba, Bolivia: 10 Pounds Heavier

Residencial Familia 25 de Mayo, between Colombia and Ecuador, 35 bolivianos x person

After a quick stop back in La Paz, Laura, Sergio and I were finally moving south. First stop, Cochabamba: known for its warm climate, good food, breathtaking scenery and tough women. These things all proved to be true.

Our flip flops made an appearance for the 1st time since Arequipa, Peru. We could go outside without a jacket. Amazing!

As for the food, we starting eating our way through Cochabamba. The first night we ate in the market. (The place we once feared most has become our favorite eating stop; one after another, open stalls, long benches and tables you share with strangers, generally very large women with several pots calling out names of dishes you've never heard of, where most customers are called "mamita" or "papito". The hygiene might be questionable as they often put the food on your plate with their bare hands, but the market is so crowded that the food must be fresh. You just have to look past the partially skinned cow heads and hanging intestines on the way in.)

The nice thing about eating in Cochabamba is that the food is meant to be shared. The same plate might have a 20, 30, or 40 boliviano option depending on how many people are going to eat it. Laura, Sergio and I spent one afternoon eating duck. 3 people, 2 ducks, perfect. While at the restaurant we saw several cats and one dog go in and out of the kitchen... (They must have been the hunters.) We also shared Pique Macho, a typical Bolivian dish heaping with meat, sausage, chicken and potatoes and Silpancho, more meat, eggs, and potatoes.

Another day we went to a small town, Punata, outside of Cochabamba where we ate chicharron, fried pork.... mmmmm, after eating humitas, a corn filling cooked inside a corn husk and banana juice. We ate a lot of food that day, but it was probably the chicha (corn liquor, typically drunk by several people from one, dried, squash-skin cup) that put us all to sleep on the ride back to Cocha.

Although eating was the highlight of our time in Cochabamba (at one point, even Laura said, "I'm never going to eat again!"), we also visited some spectacular sights. One being "the biggest statue of Cristo in the world" of course on a mountain, 1200 stairs to the top. The view of Cochabamba from the top was fantastique! Plus we needed the walk after all the eating we'd done.

We spent one afternoon at the botanical garden (where we ate...ice cream), a very romantic place actually, which apparently created the need for a large sign outside asking couples to abstain from "obscenities" in the park. (Too toot! whistle blows)

Another day we took a combis (van) up to a beautiful park 1 hour outside of the city. There was a big river and it was so quiet and peaceful you could fall in love. No wonder it was also full of young couples... doing obscenities (there was no sign to prohibit it, like in the botanical garden.) More impressive was the walk down from the park through a green farm village; corn fields, cows, little kids playing, people selling homemade liquors (of course we bought a bottle from some lady's back yard). It was almost story book like.

As I said, Cochabamba lived up to its reputation: nice climate, good food, beautiful surroundings and as for the women of Cochabamba...why are they so tough? Well, if you just take a look at them, they're not exactly tiny... That's for sure. But more importantly, history says that when the Spanish invaded Cochabamba, the men were off at war and the women were the ones who protected the town and fought the Spaniards out. In fact, the women won hands down. Nowadays women seem to run the show in Cochabamba. The men just do as they're told. (Hmmm sounds good to me).

The Tranquil land of Tranquilidad, Sorata, Bolivia

Residencial Sorata (at the top left corner of the main plaza) 20 Bolivianos x person shared bathroom

Before heading South in Bolivia, we escaped with our friend Sergio to warmer, greener lands. It doesn´t get much more peaceful than here. Sorata is sort of between the mountains and the jungle, so it´s steep and green. A beautiful get away.

To get to Sorata you start in Copacabana and go north, crossing the Cordillera Real. What is the Cordillera Real? Something you can´t miss - this long string of snow covered mountains is mesmerizing as you see them across the green plains. Basically the idea is: South of the Cordillera = cold (Copacabana), North of the Cordillera = nice and warm (Sorata)

Our hostal was an amazing labyrinth of rooms with gardens, humming birds and mountain views everywhere (as well as a few friendly ghosts, as our guide book said.)

Sorata´s claim to fame is La Gruta de San Pedro which is a big, underground cavern about 4 hours walking distance from the town. The walk there was beautiful (and downhill) with green fluffy mountains for as far as the eye can see, a little humidity and the occasional stop along the way to sit and relax (could we possibly do more of this?!? :) We played a little music with invented woodland instruments we found along the way. Marayka (a traveler from Holland we picked up along the way) was scared but interested as we picked up sticks and twigs and jammed out our rickety songs.

We arrived at La Gruta, ate some signature Lori-Andrea Sandwiches (invented by our very own Lori Andrea: Avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches. Mmmmmm good!) and entered the 75% humidity cavern, 3000m underground (claustrophobics, relax... I swear.) As you dodge low hanging rocks for a few minutes and descend lower and lower and lower, you eventually enter a huge cavern. You can hear the bats overhead squeaking in their bat language. Following the path you see sparkling, crystallized rocks and a lagoon (where they say some Japanese scientists entered looking for the bottom and never returned... oooohhhh...)

After about 40 minutes of heavy air breathing, we left satisfied with our hike, music break and cave discovering. Regular Indiana Jones´!

Tomorrow back to La Paz and off to Cochabamba!