Hello!
Carrie and I are in Cusco, Peru, having just gotten back from our 4 day Inka Trail trek to Machu Picchu. That was quite the experience -- something that will require a separate post... We have the photo album uploaded if you can't wait (click on the Machu Picchu photo below), and here's a movie from that trek to wet your appetite...
Before the trek, there were plenty of adventures worth writing about. After horseback riding in Salta, Argentina, we got ready to head for Bolivia. We found an overnight bus from Salta to La Quiaca, the border town with Bolivia. We had heard that Argentinian buses were good, but this bus was rather unfortunate. To start, the person in front of me reclined virtually into my lap. After that, the heat came on, and it REALLY came on. It was extremely uncomfortable. I practically had to hug the window pane, in order to absorb some of the cold air outside. When we finally arrived, I was quickly cooled off by the FRIGID temperatures outside! The sun hadn't yet come up, and since the border hadn't opened yet, we had to wait outside for about 45 minutes! Needless to say, I wasn't enjoying myself so much...
After crossing the border, we found the bus area, where we were immediately approached by several people trying to convince us to board their bus. One woman was mentioning Tupiza (our destination), but we were initially skeptical of people approaching us, so we said no and headed to the "terminal" area. We eventually realized that the people approaching you were actually the main way to get on buses, so we boarded this woman's bus. After talking to other people before our trip, we were worried that we'd be sitting on the floor of a school bus with chickens, but on this bus we actually had fairly comfortable seats. The bus flew through the streets, honking its horn relentlessly. We quickly learned that Bolivia does not specialize in paved roads, and the ride was rather bumpy. What was amusing was that the bus would randomly stop seemingly in the middle of nowhere and pick people up or drop them off. One French tourist fell asleep for the ride, and when he woke up, his bag was missing from the rack above him. Luckily for Carrie and I, our bags were in the storage area underneath the bus, and they were still there at the end of the ride.
Tupiza, much like other Bolivian tourist towns, was small, cute, and very touristy. There were small markets, a few internet cafes, some hostels, and lots of "Italian" restaurants selling pizza and pasta. Apparently this is the default tourist food. From here, we began our search for a tour company to take us on the 4 day jeep tour to the Salar de Uyuni. This was somewhat stressful, because we were speaking in broken Spanish or broken English with people explaining routes, options, the potential for English speaking guides. To add to the stress, the cost was dependent on how many people were in the group, and since it was just Carrie and I, we were relying on other people wanting to go on the same tour. We finally settled on a company, and ended up with a group of 5 tourists, one guide, and one cook. Carrie's 5,000 meters post has a photo of our entire group.
Our guide was named Rubén, and he was an outstanding driver who managed to navigate road conditions that were brutal at times.
Our chef was named Augustina, who was very friendly and cooked quite good meals! The other tourists included a French couple, and a Colorado College student taking a semester off. We were all packed into a Toyota Land Cruiser, with our backpacks thrown on top of the jeep, along with other supplies. After spending a few hours on the road, we were thankful that our group was not the maximum size of 6 tourists, which would have required 3 people in both the middle AND back rows. The weather was frigidly cold at night, so when we left in the morning, we eagerly waited for the moment that the sun would rise high enough to reach the jeep. As for the altitude, we found that sitting in a jeep was a good way to get used to things, because it didn't require any physical exertion. Chewing coca leaves also helped.
There were many times on this tour that I thought I was on another planet. There were no real roads to speak of, and the landscapes were like nothing I had ever seen before. We might drive for hours in fairly barren desert, and suddenly we'd approach a picturesque lake with flamingos! Below are some of my favorite photos and movies from the jeep tour:
After the Jeep Tour, we took an overnight bus to La Paz, the capital. The bus was once again very bumpy, but the temperatures were more comfortable, and we actually managed to sleep! The city was very crowded, but it was nice to have fairly modern amenities. We went to some interesting museums, one of which was the coca museum. Bolivians and Peruvians have very interesting opinions about the coca leaf. Basically, the coca leaf has been used in its natural form by people of the Andes for hundreds and hundreds of years without problems. It is helpful for altitude, digestion, and energy. The problems came when outsiders came and figured out how to make the concentrated form of cocaine.
After La Paz, we rode a public bus to Copacabana, on Lake Titicaca. The highlight of the public bus was randomly being told to get off the bus and board a boat, while leaving our bags on the bus. While we were initially very skeptical, we later saw our bus floating on a boat next to us, and felt better. Copacabana is a cute small town, and has a church which "blesses" cars that come to it. In fact, our jeep from the Salar tour had been blessed there! From here we took a boat to the Isla del Sol, where we had an English speaking guide take Carrie and I on a tour. Here are some pictures:
After Isla del Sol, we took a bus to Puno, Peru, on the other side of the lake. Since this post has gotten rather long, I'll wait and write about our Peruvian adventures in my next post. ¡Hasta luego!
