Isla del Sol

Day 137 – Island of Sun… and no sunscreen

After saying our goodbyes to the girls (although it’s highly likely we will bump into them again in Colombia) we high-tailed it to the ferry dock to catch the morning ferry to Isla del Sol (Island of Sun).  We were alone again for only two minutes, before we bumped into Canadian couple, Peter and Jacqui, who we had met before in Púcon (the same hostel as we met the Dutch girls!) on the ferry.

The two hour ferry ride to Isla del Sol was long and uncomfortable, especially given I still wasn’t feeling well, although once we were on the island the sun and scenery (and Eucalypt trees!) were enough to cheer me up.

We were dropped at the North side of the island and walked toward the South almost down the middle, taking in the scenery Incan Ruins, passing through three “checkpoints” set up by locals to slog you another 10 Bolivianos ($1.50) to pass and catching up on what the Canadians had been up to over the last 6 weeks.  Lake Titicaca stretched as far as the eye could see and it was difficult to appreciate the fact it was a lake, given it looked just like the sea.  Three steps up each hill though and we were quickly reminded that we were nearly 4,000m above sea level!

The dock at Copacabana.

 
Lake Titicaca and the terraced farming technique adopted on Isla del Sol.

The view from Santuario ruins.

Matt and Peter walk ahead past some Eucalypt trees.

 
We follow a boy and his donkeys into town to find a well earned beer.

 
Church in Yumani on the South side of the island.

On the ferry boat on the way back we bumped into two more familiar faces, Nicki and Dane from the Salt Flats Tour, only to learn that Dane had lost all of his photos and that they are running out of money and so cutting their trip short by one month. 

Upon arrival back in Copacabana we quickly organised bus tickets to Puno (over the border into Peru) as, apart from being Easter Sunday tomorrow, it was also Election Day in Bolivia.  We were warned that all shops would be closed, bus services not running and even the borders would be closed.  Not wanting to be stuck in Copacabana until Monday or later, we high tailed it over the border and arrived in Puno late that evening.

Oh! And the sunscreen… we forgot ours and borrowed some too little too late… some extra special tan lines were found in the morning.

Copacabana

Day 136 – Co-pa, Co-pa-ca-baaa-na

After another all you can eat pancake breakfast, it was off to ring around for some last minute accommodation in Copacabana.  Today was Good Friday and pilgrims from all around Bolivia and Peru would be walking to Copacabana for a mixed Catholic / Cha’alla celebration.  We were aware of said pilgrimage, but actually thought it ended on Easter Sunday – wrong!

The 3 hour journey to Copacabana was nice and painless, although we were quite over like the discussion topics of our like young English co-minivan-inhabitants!  The journey also involved a trip on a ferry boat, van and all, to cross over part of Lake Titicaca.  We were also amused to see that many of the pilgrims had opted to cycle instead of walk, I can’t blame them given the altitude, hills, weather, etc.

Our first glimpse of the enormous Lake Titicaca.

Copacabana, was just as we had been warned, dirty and smelly, but a necessary stop if we wanted to visit nearby Isla del Sol.  Our accommodation was a bit nicer than usual (being all we could get) and after watching the pilgrims march into town singing and holding up huge Virgin Marys on platforms, we trotted up the hill to La Cúpula, a vegetarian restaurant with a great view over the town, to celebrate Hanneke’s birthday and also say goodbye to our Duchess travel mates as we would be heading in different directions in the morning.

La Paz – Take 2

Day 134 – Return to the big smoke (well, we felt like smokers again!)

Our flight was delayed 3 hours, but still able to take off despite the last 24 hours weather.  Very laid back after such a relaxing time in this town, we watched as almost every Israeli on the flight pushed in front of us at the check in desk, and then watched as the Israeli group’s appointed spokeswoman extensively and very rudely berated a timid young airport staff member over the one dollar’s worth of airport tax she was asked to pay getting on the plane.  We have met a number of lovely Israelis in our travels (many of whom are hitting South America after their military service) but our experiences in Rurre were mixed.  Many of the tourists in Rurre were Israeli, which is not surprising given their love of adventure activities.  In fact there are tour agencies and restaurants all over town specifically catering to Israeli groups, with guides who speak Hebrew instead of English as their second language.  The guidebook was not wrong with its comment that Israelis appear to run the town – we have never seen such a concentration of one nationality of tourist in all of our travels!

     
Our flight back, on our slightly larger plane this time, was thankfully uneventful and we were back puffing up to Brew Too at 3,800 metres of altitude before we knew it. 

The afternoon was spent having a look at the markets (including all kinds of potions and dried llama fetus at the Witches Market) and sourcing an agency with which to take the death defying mountain bike plunge down “The World’s Most Dangerous Road” or affectionately known as “Death Road” in the morning.

Successful on both fronts, we met up with Gerard, Jack and Tif from the Pampas and went out for some Chinese.  All still tired and feeling the effects of being back at altitude, it was early to bed for all and ready to be up again at 6am (at full alert!) ready for the Death Road.

Day 135 -  El Camino de la Muerte

The Death Road is 69km long and descends 3,450m from the cool antiplano above La Paz to Coroico down in the humid rainforest, with only one small uphill section the whole way.  Much of the road is a 3m wide dirt track carved into the side of a valley with drops of up to 600m off one side.  Despite this, we decided we would do, as most tourists in Bolivia do, and cruise down this road on mountain bikes.

Before we even start, a sign warns of the 43 deaths this year on this stretch of road.

The bus ride up to the take off point was quick and soon we were kitted out in very attractive green and orange tracksuits, helmets, goggles, knee and elbow pads and were off down the first, thankfully bitumen, section of our journey to “test our bikes” and for some of us – remember how to ride again!

“Test” was correct given my chain was off in the first 5 minutes, quickly leaving me a few minutes behind the rest of the group.  The guide’s solution to this problem was simply: “Don’t change the gear” which probably should have worried me, but not hard to do when the journey is more than 90% downhill as fast as possible.

With the 20km or so of bitumen section quickly done, it was back onto the bus for a stretch of 5km or so deemed too dangerous to ride.  This section had been taken off the program as it was up hill and caused the majority of accidents, with cars tearing around corners and down the hill in the opposite direction. 

Next, it was back off the bus for the main event: gravelly if not rocky, narrow, wet and steep – The World’s Most Dangerous Road!

 
At various intervals our guide would stop and give us instructions… more like warnings of various obstacles like larger than normal ditches and waterfalls on the road!

A familiar sight.

Happy to be almost done and with no damage.  Hanneke was not as lucky though, skidding around a corner and smashing her camera in the process.  At one point I also witnessed a girl from another agency slip off the edge, only to be caught by bushes – worrying given most sections were a sheer drop!

After lunch and a swim, we were back on the bus for the long journey back to La Paz.  Since this activity first became available, a new road from Coroico back to La Paz had been paved, meaning we and all the other agencies did not have to drive back up the Death Road to get back to La Paz.  We had been told the night before that we would actually be driving back up Death Road due to a rock fall on the new road, but this fear turned out to be quickly disarmed when we learnt that the rock fall had been cleared in time for our journey back.

That night we were back at the British Curry house with a few of our new friends and then everyone else went back to the Brew Too bar to join their 4th anniversary party and also make sure Hanneke’s 28th birthday began to be celebrated at the stoke of midnight.  I, on the other hand, was feeling the effects of some bad salad (first time in 4 months! Amazing!) and so went back to the hostel to enjoy some delightful discussion with our coke snorting roommates and get some rest.

La Paz – Take 1

Day 122 – Adventure Brew!

Arriving early in the morning at our hostel, ‘Adventure Brew Hostel’ (how could I resist a name like that), we found a modern clean looking building with rooftop bar and a microbrewery next door. However, as ABH was full we were redirected down the road to ‘Brew Too’ a near derelict building with a certain rustic charm. The rooms were big and clean though and the showers the best in ages.

The ‘courtyard’ at Brew Too.

We were especially pleased to hear that panpipe music was forbidden.

After a delicious pancake breakfast at the hostel we set out to explore La Paz on foot. Geography buffs will know that La Paz is the world’s highest capital city (though it shares capital status with Sucre). When planes land at the city’s aptly named Aeropuerto El Alto (The Heights Airport) the cabin pressure drops when they depressurise the cabin, meaning some passengers suffer from altitude sickness walking between the plane and the terminal. So between the altitude and the smog, our walk was a breathless one!

We’d been warned by multiple parties that getting to and from our next major destination (the Amazon jungle town of Rurrenabaque) could be difficult. Opting to avoid the 20 hour bus ride, including a 70km stretch along “the world’s most dangerous road”, we’d booked tickets for the next day to fly 40 minutes on a diminutive airplane to Rurre’s grassy airstrip. The catch was that the plane can’t land in Rurre if it’s been raining heavily, not an infrequent occurrence in the jungle. So we booked a flight for the next day deciding we could do any of the attractions we missed in La Paz this time around on our return .

The most rewarding part of the walk was probably the glimpses of the suburbs climbing into the rarefied air around central La Paz.

After a dirt cheap Chinese set menu for lunch we headed for the Coca Museum, where in about 20 panels of photos and information we learnt all you might want to know about Coca, Coca Cola and Cocaine, including the interesting tid bit that the Coca Cola company still buys tonnes of coca each year for ‘flavouring’!

On the way to the Coca Museum we walked past San Pedro Prison, made famous by the book Marching Powder. A few years ago it was popular to do ‘tours’ of the prison where a guide (from the inside) bribes guards to get you in and then pays for your protection to get you through. The prisoners must buy or rent their cells, many ‘work’ inside to make the required money, often running crude cocaine laboratories. ‘Tours’ are much harder to organise now, generally requiring you to contact someone with a relative inside and arrange a visit as a ‘friend.’

For dinner we hit the ‘British Curry House’ and had our first decent curry since leaving Australia!

Sucre

We got to Sucre just after dark, checked into our beautiful hostel, Hostel Dolce Vita, and headed out in search of dinner. I had a really nice Quinoa Pie, Erin a Thai Salad and we sampled some more of the local beers.

Bolivians beers with very intricate labels.

Church spires lit up at night.

Day 120 – When too much weaving isn’t enough

Sucre is primarily known for its colonial architecture, so well preserved that the old part of the town is UNESCO World Heritage Listed. For breakfast we headed halfway up the hill out of town to a café overlooking the the town.

The view from breakfast.

Church bells on one of Salta’s many whitewashed churches.

That afternoon we headed for the Museo de Arte Indígena, where I learnt more than I’ve ever wanted to know about weaving and Erin barely enough. Erin also had time to fall in love with a particular style of weaving indigenous to the Tarabuco region. We’re still searching for a reasonably sized and priced example to bring home.

At the suggestion of the hostel’s Swiss owners, we splashed out and had dinner at their favourite French restaurant – very posh. I had Cow’s Tongue in a Chilli Chocolate Sauce, it was very nice!

Day 121 – Dinosaur footprints

Aside from colonial buildings Sucre is also known for the giant dinosaur footprints discovered at the quarry on the outskirts of town. Overcoming our fear of all things touristy, we boarded the ‘Dino bus’ and headed toward the quarry (yes, the bus had a dinosaur head sticking out the front – took us back to school excursion days. Sadly, everyone on the bus was over 21!)

Erin making a call on the dinosaur in town.

The interpretation centre at the footprints didn’t turn out to be any less corny than the Dino bus, it was however even more expensive.

OK, so the footprints are the really faint lines you can see on the wall opposite, tourists are not allowed any closer as the wall is unstable (as you can see from the landslip in the middle).

A close up of one of the sets of prints, they are in fact 80cm in diameter.

What can I say, takes me back to childhood visits to the Dinosaur Park in Creswick (but even then my most lasting memory is of a pissed-off emu chasing Tim).

A few days later we found out there is a second dinosaur footprint site near Sucre. This one hasn’t been commercialised yet and a guide takes you right up to the footprints, sounds much better. Apparently the locals are withholding the finer details of the location from palaeontologists in the fear that they’ll no longer be allowed to bring in tourists.

In the afternoon before our night bus to La Paz I decided that the literally dozens of barbers and hairdressers in the same block as the hostel (dubbed Barber Street for the duration of our stay in Sucre) were a sign that it was time for the hair to go. The knowledge that we’d soon be hitting the jungle and the weather would be heating up very soon helped cement the decision.

The longest my hair’s ever been, maybe the longest it’ll ever be. Though many kind people chose to tell me after I’d gotten rid of it that they liked it long, thanks!

Tupiza and the South West Circuit

Day 114 – Road trip!

Up early to accomplish our pre-departure task list, including “out of office” message to mums, getting cash, stocking up on water and the added task of finding drugs to combat the stinking cold I seemed to have developed overnight, we were still at “Tupiza Tours” before 9am with time to spare (for once!). We were directed to one of three 4X4s being loaded up with supplies, ours looking to be the most decrepit of the three vehicles and our group of travellers the most odd-ball!

We chatted with Amanda, a quiet 46 year old English lady travelling on her own and met Nicki, the complete opposite – loud and boisterous 25 year old, also English. It wasn’t until we were all getting into the car that we met Dane, Nicki’s travelling companion, who had settled into the front seat, plugged in his iPod and was busy whistling and hassling Bolivian ladies as they walked by the car! Matt and I gave each other a knowing look as our backpacks were passed up to the roof and we hoped into the back.

Our first photo-op was only 10 minutes out of town where we turned the first left up a dry river bank and there opened up a huge red-rocked valley, apparently reminiscent of the Kimberleys (we were told by the Poms who had all been there!)

We then continued up and up and up along the ridges of the Palala and Sillar ranges which provided stunning views back over the valleys. We had reached 4,400 metres by our first pee stop – and a dialogue began that became very familiar over the four days: “Marco…” (our driver) … “Si” … “Baños naturaleza por favor!” (Outdoor bathroom please!) The other being: “Pare – Quiero sacar un foto!” (Stop, I want to take a photo!).

The tour, covering the best natural bits of the south west corner of Bolivia, was another one of the things we have seen and done that just can’t be adequately described with words. Unfortunately being down to just my beaten up little digital it was hard to get photos too! So very sorry, but hopefully you get the idea from these…

Back over the valley at our first pee stop.

A lady (yes, in the middle of nowhere) selling cheese by the side of the road. She must have walked ages from one of the estancias and had ice blocks in her sack as the cheese was cold when we bought some.

The local transport stopped at one of the many small estancias scattered in all kinds of difficult places in these hills.

Sheep intermingled with goats perched on a hillside.

Lunch – a potato ball filled with spiced llama meat.

Bird (big), sorry Graham can’t remember what it’s called in English or Spanish!

We passed through many abandoned estancias along the way.

Our first llama sighting!

An adobe church in the centre of Nazarenito.

A typical streetscape in Nazarenito.

Villa Uturunco (6,008m) looming as we head into town for the night.

A perro pequeño sitting outside our accommodation in San Antonio de Lipez.

Our accommodation in San Antonio – very simple and we could feel every spring in the mattress!

Once we had arrived in San Antonio (a town of only 250 people) and had a cup of tea, it was straight to bed for me for a nap before dinner as added to my cold was a splitting headache, probably made worse by the 4,200m in altitude we were currently at.

Matt on the other hand went for a stroll (to find beer!) with the guys from our jeep and the other jeep of four who were also staying in the same accommodation and took this snap back down over the little settlement in the process.

After a huge dinner (complete with vegie options for me!), we all retired to bed early as we were to be up at 4.30am the next morning to fit in all of tomorrow’s huge day of driving. As we stepped out of our dining room to walk through the dirt to the sleeping quarters it was difficult not to stand in awe of the most glorious starry night I have ever experienced. I stood for ages watching shooting stars and have never seen the milky way and other formations as clear. I tried for ages to get a snap, but just ended up attracting and chatting to a group of local kids (who spoke at my level given they were only 5 or 6!) They were fascinated to see the photos on my camera of their area!

Day 115 – Not another f-ing lagoon!

Leaving in the dark we had no idea why we needed to be leaving so early, but by the variety in scenery we had seen by the end of the day, and the amount of times we wanted to stop to take snaps, we can see why Marco wanted to get an early start!

The sun was rising just as we reached Quetena Chico, a former Spanish colony situated here because of the silver mining prospects. There were originally a few thousand in the settlement, however numbers began to dwindle when greed set in and the Spanish began to fight over entitlement to the point where they wiped themselves out!

Quetena Chico was at 4,690 metres… we were promised we would hit 5,000 metres today.

Laguna Kollpa and Volcan Licancabur emerging in the background.

Some random rock formations along the way.

Laguna Verde. At various points along the trip, Marco let us out for a little walk to stretch our legs and take photos. He would drive a little way up the road and we would catch up. He let us out at the Green Lagoon to takes photos, however we were unaware that this was one such occasion where he would take off, leaving us to wade through! This is our jeep driving away, despite us jumping up and down and yelling not to drive off!

Llamas who followed the jeep into the lagoon. They each had coloured wool tied to their coats, presumably to denote ownership and identity, however the two Swedish girls in the other car had dubbed this “Llama fashion” and got everyone started on voting on their favourite.

More llamas follow us.

Safely across the other side we can see why the llamas like to hang in this little oasis.

Another lagoon… this one with lovely pinks and purples that my camera could not pick up.

Salar de Chalviri where they were excavating borax as well as salt.
Another lagoon… although with an added bonus…. Aguas Callientes! (Hot springs)

A well earned break in the hot springs with Dane and Nicki in the background and Amanda to the right.

Desierto de Dali, named by whoever as the rock formations (chunks of lava) and hills made them feel like they were in a Dali painting.

Another lagoon…

Geisers Sol de Mañana – some bubbling volcanic geysers coming up out of the desert. Needless to say…. both boys had to pee into one to see what would happen!

Shortly after the geysers our promised 5,000m point. The highest point we’ve been!

A humungous erosion crack and some further changes in plant life.

Kids and their pet llama and dog following them about their town, Huaylljara, our stop for the night.

Matt’s selection of Bolivian beer delights from the local bottle-o.

Day 116 – Flamingo city

Up again for another 4.30am start (although our guides were not!) it was off to see the red and purple colours of Laguna Colorada and the hundreds of flamingos that hang out there.

Laguna Colorada.

Marco on the roof of our jeep looking for the others who had fallen behind due to increasingly more frequent car troubles. Over the 3 days parts were pilfered from our car to fix them!

Árbol de Piedra – The Rock Tree, formed by lava.

Other lava formations.

Matt at the top of the tallest formation he could find.

Me through Matt’s eyes…. well his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas glasses!

Desierto de Siloli.

Volcan Ollague.

Some more funky erosion.

Our stop for lunch… a bunch of random buildings made from salt bricks and soft drink bottles.

A little foxy watching us as we passed by.

They are pink not white!

A settlement we passed through just as the train was coming up from Chile.

More troubles for the other jeep… this time something simple though – a flat!

Quinoa fields, a grain that is cross between rice and couscous, a bit more tasty and a new favourite staple of ours.

Tonight we stayed somewhere a little different – a hotel made of salt! Chairs, tables, beds, walls – all salt! This is the dining hall.

Just testing!

Day 117 – The amazing illusionary Salar de Uyuni!

This morning we were happy to get up for our 5am start as today was the moment we had all been waiting for… driving across the amazing illusionary salt flats!

Our first stop was sunrise in the middle of nowhere…

Trying our best to look awake at 6am!

Marco our very happy driver. Marco was very quiet when we all first met, only speaking when spoken to and giving info when asked questions, but was joking around and out of his shell by the last day, especially as we insisted he had a turn with his iPod too.

Our first stop after sunrise was the cactus island. This is its resident Rhea who hung around while we were eating breakfast, presumably because other groups feed him. Unfortunately, he was captured as a baby and brought to the island, and with coffee and cake for food and tourists his only friends, we don’t think he was living the best life.

Cactus fun!

And some salt flats fun!

A little Matt to keep in my pocket. Everyone should have one!

Lil Nicki giving Dane a kick up the butt.

How terrible…. being squashed by a giant Toblerone!

The team surfing on the hood.

Matt lending his expert illusionary photography skills to another group.

And getting squished by a giant wine bottle.

The patterns in the salt.

Yipee!

The now illegal Salt Hotel that has been turned into a ‘museum’. There were a few of these hotels made of salt built right on the flats (ours was in a town) that have been outlawed due to eco-issues with waste disposal, etc and ordered to be dismantled. This one has been kept as a museum and contains some kind of eco-toilet system, but having had to visit same, we were glad not to be staying long – a very stinky experience.

A cheeky ride on a salt llama in the museum.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds! Salt piles excavated and waiting to be collected, reflecting off the water flooding the flats. Other minerals that can be extracted from the flats include borax, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous.

Back onto made road.

A jeep that took a little tumble not 5 minutes back onto the road. The driver was going way too fast and luckily the four girls inside were not hurt, but the driver had a decent head injury and refused to go to hospital. We were even more thankful for Marco!

Me and the Swedish chicks Celia and Karin and our colourful sunglasses.

Matt and the beanie crew Dane, Celia and Karin.

The whole team at the end of the tour!

Upon our arrival in Uyuni, a reasonably horrible place, we had a quick bite and beer with the crew and then it was onto our dodgy night bus to Potosi.