Potosi, Bolivia

Here in south central Bolivia...high in the Andes. My South America leg seems to have a recurring Andes theme, no? Apparently the town I'm in one of the highest towns in the world. I´m staying in an old monestary. The walls didn't shake upon my arrival, so I think I'm good to go.

Today, I visited a working silver mine. Holy smokes. The working conditions are mid-evil!! The tour company gave us jump suits and helmuts (good thing) and flash lights. Our first stop was a store the miners visit daily before their shifts begin. They supply their own dynomite, and fuses. Some of them are lucky enough to have air compressed power drills, but those are the chosen few. We climbed and crawled around for two hours. Working in the mines is one of the more high paying jobs here, so people disregard the lung damage to put food on their tables. At one point I thought I was going to have a panic attack. We climbed some loose rubble and crawled into where they were drilling some newly discovered silver viens. I couldn´t see or breath (the high altitude didn´t help with the breathing) and thought I might pass out. Then I thought, how are they going to drag me out of here if I do, that thought did not help my situation. *WAIL* I quickly left my gift (we all brought small gifts to the workers. I brought alcohol...TGIF, baby) and shimmied back down where it wasn't as dusty and I could see a little better. Plus I could stand up, after I put my head between my knees. I can not imagine having to do that everyday. One of the guys, a lovely Irish chap, in my tour gave me coca leaves (and nooo...the leaves are nothing like the by-product) to help with the altitude. You stick a wad of them in your cheek, like chew. It tasted nasty, but I was desperate. I spit it out shortly thereafter, yuck. One of the girls in the tour, from Switerland, took about 3 steps into the mine at the start and turned around and waited outside for us. I think she had the right idea.

Tomorrow, I head out for a 7 hour bus ride to the town of Uyuni where I'll book a 4 day tour to the Uyuni salt flats. http://bolivia.gotolatin.com/eng/Attr/htm/Bolivia-SalarUyuni.asp
Everyone says it´s sureal when there is rain water on it. It reflects the sky like a mirror and is amazing. I´m not sure there will be connectivity there, so I might be 5 days or so before I post again.

This evening I watched a parade. I love parades. Not sure what it was about, but there was a band and lots of folks with banners and whatnot.

Love to everyone!

Bolivia

Made it across the border with no problems and bussed it to the capital city of La Paz the same day. La Paz is HUGE. It's set high in the Andes and is well built up on the hillsides. There are beautiful snow capped mountains in the distance. It's a busy, busy city with lots of people watching to do. Spent a few hours at a market. Everywhere I´ve been, I keep expecting to find big thick wool sweaters, but what they have (which are quite nice) are thin alpaca and baby alpaca sweaters. I´ve been holding out on doing any real shopping, as the last thing I want is to haul more stuff around. I did some some Cape Cod baseball caps that made me wish I'd brought my camera along. A couple of weeks ago I saw a Filene´s Basement shopping bag. That was wierd too. Stuff that doesn´t sell back home gets shipped down here. They LOVE American clothes.

Everywhere I´ve been, without exception, there are shoe shine people. Some are old men, most are little kids...6 or 7 years old..covered in shoe polish. But here in Bolivia, the shoe shine guys are outright creepy. They were ski masks so all you can see is their eyes. My Lonely Planet travel book comments on it. They think it´s because the shoe shine guys are ashamed to be doing that kind of work. Which doesn´t make sense. Here, I think, most people are just grateful to be earning some money. Dunno.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. I believe it. The bus ride through the city...where some of the roads aren´t even paved, makes Colombia Road look like Newbury Street. In La Paz there are tours offered to bike Bolivia's Death Road. Uhh...no thanks, I passed on that one. Mama didn´t raise no foo! I saw the History Channel documentary on the Death Road before I left and there is a reason it's called that. It's a single lane, dirt road, along the winding peaks of the Andes. There is NO room for error.

I met some people who while out in the sun, for 2-3 hours got some nasty second degree burns. They were all blisted up. People forget that even though it´s cool (because of the altitude) you really must where sun block. Ouch!

I did get nervous last night, on my way back to my hostel I ran smack into the middle of a political rally. Bush is coming (or already here..don´t know) to South America. I don´t even know if that´s what it was about. Regardless there were hundreds of people and many, many cops in riot gear. This gringa kept her head down and RAN back to my hostel. My knees were knocking for a bit thereafter.

Today I flew south to the city of Sucre. I'll be here a day or so before moving along.

Man, these computers are soooo slow. I certainly miss do my Comcast high speed internet, that´s for sure, not to mention my super cool boss and work peeps.

Well mi familia y mi amigos..gotta run. Hope all is well. Love to everyone.

Arequipa, Peru

I´m here in Arequipa today, having returned from a two tour of the Canyon del Colca where I saw some condors flying this morning. We were way high up in the Andies, snow capped mountains and a volcano were in the scenery. Here you are served coca tea to help with the altitude. Llamas and alpacas abounded. We got to pet some alpaca(the Quechua Indians have them at their craft stands) the fur was amazingly soft. They tie red or pink bow onto their animals. Usually on their ears or necks. It's funny to see them grazing in the fields with little bows on them.

Arequipa is pretty cool. I met up with some friends again for a few days, but we´ve since gone our own ways. Visited a cloistered convent from the 1500´s a few days ago. A portion of it is still in use today. Traditionally, the second daughters born to wealthy, aristrocratic families would be sent, at the age of 12, to begin training to become a nun. There she would remain for life, cloistered away, like it or not.

Okay, so I´m getting down to crunch time now and I´m going to try to fit Bolivia in. I can probably dedicate 10 days to Bolivia while still allowing time to see Cusco and Machu Picchu back in Peru. And, I fly home from Lima, Peru. Tomorrow, I´ll head to the Peruvian town of Puno where I´ll stay one night. The next day I´ll bus it to the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia. From La Paz I´ll catch a flight to my next destination, which is looking like Sucre at this point. I´m getting excited about Bolivia. Everyone I talk to says it´s amazing.

There is an issue though, the Bolivian government is about to require US residents obtain a visa before entering the country. We require visas of Bolivian residents, so fair enough. The problem is no one in the Bolivian government can agree on a start date. The latest I´ve read is April 1st, which would be fine, because I´ll beat that date. They aren´t difficult to get, I´d need to go the the Bolvian consulate in Puno and complete the paperwork pay some money (probably $30-$50 US) and wait a few days. But if they change that date to sometime this week, I´m in trouble. I don´t have a few days to wait.

I flew over the Nazca lines earlier in the week. Very cool! They were smaller than I imagined.

Ciao for now!

Peru

Greetings from Peru! Finally a computer that will open Blogger up, phew! I was having a heck of a time getting on.

Peru, along the coast is desert. Really dry desert...it´s actually giant sand dunes, which suprised me. South of the equator weather patterns orginate east travel west and the Andes trap all the percipitation. It´s jungle and amazon on the eastern side and desert on the western side. I´ve heard from more than one person this is the driest (but not the harshest) desert in the world.

The town I´m in now is called Ica, and its claim to fame are its sand buggy rides and sand boarding. This morning I went on a buggy tour and although I only went down the dunes sitting on my snow (sand) board, I did manage a spill that got me a round of applause at the bottom. I´ve got a pretty bad headache at the moment and am slightly scraped up. The sand was so hot that when it got in your shoes, you had to empty it out immediately.

Prior to Ica, I met some friends (one of whom is a girl from Spain that I met a few months ago in Honduras) in Lima. It was great to see her again and I traveled with them a few days. I´ll see them tomorrow in Nazca, I think. Cool group of people, 3 swiss guys, my Spanish amiga and another cool chick from Australia.

Lima was pretty cool, I really liked it there. I stayed here http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/hotels/lima/hostal_espana.html it´s a former private home from the 1600´s. Gorgeous art work on the walls and original architecture. There is a nice rooftop terrace that is home to two good size turtles and a cool cat. A number of people commented that the main plaza in Lima was cooler than Buckingham Palace. Now I haven´t been to London, so I can´t verify this information. I went on a tour into the catacombs of a church and saw many, many old bones. They were nicely sorted into bins. A bin of leg bones here....a bin of skulls there. One enterprising monk made a gruesome display of art with various bones. I snapped an illegal picture, so I can show you all when I get home next month.

I did see Pink Floyd, it was a really great show...the venue was outside, which is the best way (in my humble opinion) to see a show. Although they did cheap out on the laser, and Roger Waters could have stepped up to the plate and learned more Spanish than ¨gracias...muchas gracias¨. I went with a friend from Britian...who I had met back in Ecuador. I got a seat in her section...but mysteriously enough, my row (the last in my section) did not exist. No one put chairs out for it. Lucky for them I´m a champion seat mover, so it was a simple exercise of moving on up. The show got a little political. At one point there was a giant floating pig on ropes (think the size of the Macy´s Thanksgiving day parade floats). All the names of the evil world leaders were written on it. Bush, of course, was on the bum. Well, wouldn´t you know it, but they released the ropes and it sailed away. I´m still wondering where in the hell in Lima this giant pig landed and what havoc it caused.

Ohh oohhh! I met him...yes..that´s right...my doctor...my doctor without boarders!!! But, God damn it..he´s a married grandpa. Lovely gentleman. We were on the same bus that crossed the border from Ecuador as we both continued onto to Lima on the same flight, too. The boarder crossing by the way, was a nice simple road and bridge with a couple small buildings where you go to the windows to do your business. Also on the bus, I did get to chatting with a cool chick from Mexico..she´s living in Ecuador, owns a restaurant, and like me was heading to Lima for the Pink Floyd. Poor thing though, she got denied entry to Peru because as a Mexican citiizen a visa was required. I had a moment of panic hoping that I had my information correct and that I did not need one too. I´m not sure if she was able to get her visa in one day (doubtful) and if she ever made it to the concert . oof! Anyway back to the doctor. He is from New Brunswick, Canada and just a really nice guy. He´s here taking auxiliary classes on..you guessed it... tropical medicine.

I´ll be heading to the Nasca Lines tomorrow where I´ll take a flight over the lines. Then from there, in a few days, I´ll be continuing south to the city Arequipa. I´m going to take my first overnight bus. It´s a 10-12 hour bus ride, and from what I´m told the bus is way swanky with seats that recline all the way into small beds.

Take care...love to everyone. I hope you all are well.

Vilcabamba, Ecuador

I arrived in Vilcabamba on Monday. This is known as the valley of longevity. I can see why. It´s just beautiful. Very peaceful and relaxing. I´m staying at a really great lodge. At the lodge, I had a massage and Reiki treatment yesterday for 105 minutes, costing only $25.00. Very cool! I´m going to get another one today.

On Tuesday (but in town) I got a 45 minute reflexology foot massage for $4.00 and then a pedicure for $3.00. Top Line Nails...eat your heart out. So what if the woman´s husband hung out with us while he trimmed his nose hair, I´m down with that.

I´ve met some really, really nice travelers here. Very friendly people. There isn´t a lot to do, which is nice. We´ve been watching movies and chowing pretty much every day. The owners are German and they cook some fine food. I have my own cabina, with private porch and hammock. Hammocks are pretty much my only criteria when selecting a room.

I just booked my flight to Lima, for Sunday evening. I depart from a Peruvian town called Piura. Flying internationally from Ecuador to Lima was going to cost $495.00, ouch! But, by taking a bus over the border to Piura (for 8 hours, which IS going to suck ass) I can then fly to Lima for $125.00. This flight avoids another 12 hour bus trip from Piura to Lima.

Pink Floyd is playing on Monday, the 12th in Lima. I tried to get an e-ticket but they don´t them, so once in Lima, I´ll buy one in person. A British girl I met on the Devil´s Nose train ride is going and has a ticket already. I ´m going to try to sit in her section. We both have reservations at the same hotel in Lima as well.

After Lima I´m excited to explore Peru. I´ve been in Ecuador 2 months now and I´m definitely ready to move on. I will head down to see the Nazca Lines here: http://www.exn.ca/mysticplaces/nazcalines.asp and then to a Colca Canyon, it´s larger than the Grand Canyon and hopefully I´ll see some Condors. http://www.llamatravel.com/peru_colca_canyon.cfm All of this before heading to Machu Picchu...which needs no introduction.

I´ve updated my Random Observations post, so feel free to revisit that.

Hope all is well with everyone. Love to you!

On the road again

I spent the weekend in the colonial city of Cuenca, having flown down from Quito. We flew over a snow capped volcano and the pilot tipped the plane so we could see into the cone. It was very cool.

Cuenca is a neat city, I spent the day on Friday at a really cool museum which is built next to some ruins. The other night I was chatting with a very nice older man at the hostel bar. The bar and restaurant is very popular with locals. He grew up here, in Cuenca, but now lives in NYC. We met for lunch yesterday and then walked around a bit. It was nice to get a insiders view of the area.

I´m starting to price out flights to Peru. They´re pretty costly flying from Ecuador, so I may need to suck it up and take a bus across the border and then fly domestically. In the meantime I´m heading out this afternoon to a very cool mountain town called Vilcabamba (still in Ecuador). From what I´ve read and heard it´s a very low key place with beautiful mountain scenery. I picked up a brochure for this place: http://izhcayluma.com/ yeah, I´m down with some cheap massages. I won´t get there until probably tomorrow, as I´ll most likely stay the night in the town of Loja along the way..to break up the 7 hour bus trip.

Next week, in Lima there is a Pink Floyd concert. I´m going to try to time it so I´m there for that.

Ciao for now. Love to everyone.

Random Observations

These are things I´ve noticed throughout my trip. They´re not specific to any area or country.

1. Change. No one, not vendors, not restaurants nor stores have change. The problem is compounded by the fact that the ATMs only give large bills ($20.00 is considered a large bill). There is always a stand off to see who`s going to produce the change first. I´m pretty good at holding out.

2. Fried food. If you order it, they will fry it. The Latin American diet is based heavily on fried food, not rice and beans, as I once thought.

3. Street food. Most guide books recommend against it. But I´ve found some delicious cheap eats from folks cooking and selling food in stalls on the streets. The best was the chicken lady on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. I along with some friends had our dinner there almost nightly. Often, for extra cash locals will buy a giant 3 liter of soda and sell it by the cup full. It appears to be a profitable business venture.

4. Keys in the door. If you leave your key in your hotel room door and go to bed, don´t be suprised to be awoken by a strange man in your room lecturing you in Spanish about leaving your key in the door. Oof!

5. Wolf calls. No, they don´t think you´re super cute. It´s a national sport and they do it to pass the day.

6. Busses. Vendors will board busses to sell their wares. They´ll stay on the bus for a stop or two before getting out. You can buy food (fried of course) ice cream, water, soda, belts and snake oil. You will almost certainly learn about the Lord Jesus Christ. If it will fit through the doors, they will transport it. One of my more memorable trips involved climbing over two kitchen cabinets in the isle of the bus to get to my seat. I´ve also seen mattresses folded in half and stuffed into the storage area below the bus. Bed frames fit nicely in the isle. Busses are NEVER too full. In particular the chicken busses. If you stop it, they will board. One recent trip I notice a woman with 3 geese secured in a large sack with their necks sticking out. Imagine my suprise at the end of the trip (5 hours) when they got them off the roof of the bus for her. They were alive and well. The roof of the bus will also do as a seat if you´re desperate to get somewhere.

7. Ceviche. Ceviche here is cooked, which mind you, I don´t think is necessarily a bad thing.

8. Athlete´s Foot. Who knew it would be so itchy?

9. Dogs. Most are strays, however there are some pets. The cutest thing is seeing them with homemade harnesses made out of twine. And of course, they are permitted on busses. Strays however are regularily kicked.

10. Service. If there is a good conversation to be had in the kitchen, most waitresses will let you starve before taking your order. There is simply no sense of urgency. Getting the check usually involves flagging someone down and then arm wrestling.

11. Drinks. Getting drinks to go is not a problem. They pour it into a little bag and send you off with a straw. How convienent!

12. Child labor laws. Simply do not exist.

13. My Backpack. I have come to loathe my backpack. It weighs more than I´d like to know, despite giving away as much as I can. I constantly am bruised on my upper arms. Sometimes I fantasize about it getting stolen.

14. Traffic lights and stop signs. These are treated more as suggestions than requirements. The most unique stop lights I saw was in Flores, Guatemala. It was a guy putting out orange cones on the road and then moving them off.

15. Coffee. Coffee in Latin America (with a few notable exceptions) is total schwag. Most of the times it´s instant coffee or Nescafe. It´s just wrong and broken. I once had hot milk served with a side of coffee syrup. Most of the good stuff is exported so what remains is slim to none. Milk, to go with the coffee is usually powered milk and water, heater. I´m becoming pretty good at skimming off the skin. EW!

16. Waiting in line. Most people don´t get the concept of waiting in line. They cut, push and shove with little regard for anyone in front of them.

17. Toilet paper. Last but not least, it pays to keep a roll in your bag, at all times. And it is NEVER put in the bowl and flushed. It goes in the trash barrell. I´ve finally gotten accustomed to it, and it´s not as foul as it sounds. Trash is emptied daily.

More observations...

18. Number of hotel rooms inexplicitly missing toilet seats: 2

19. Number of hotel rooms sporting exposed, sketchy wiring: 11

20. Sadness. There is nothing sadder than seeing a monkey chained to a tree.

21. Plants. It´s amazing to see so many gorgeous plants (that I have potted back home) just growing naturally in the wild.