Welcome to bolivia

Well, after kind of a hectic time in Cusco, I'm pretty happy to be in Bolivia. I took a night bus into Copacabana to see Lake Titicaca (yeah, laugh it up) from the Bolivian side. On the bus I met this really cook Alaskan named Victoria who introduced me to Amber, another cool brit chick. Together, we spent a couple of super-chill relaxing days in Copacabana. I definitely needed the vacation! We stayed at this amazing place called Hotel Colonial and it came out to about $4 a person per night! I read my book, ate some delicious salmon trout and just sat outside in the sun. It was so nice to just hang out.

The view of Lake Titicaca after the all-night bus trip. It was pretty disorienting but at least I got this lovely sunrise picture, even though its a bit off-center (hey, it was 5am!)

There isn't much of a beach at Copacabana but there are a bunch of colorful paddle boats.

View of Copacabana from the paddleboat. There isn't much except some hotels and trout restaurants.

Amber, me and Victoria post-paddleboat.

Amber and I climbed the nearby hill to see some religious statues there. We happened to be in Copa during the Festival of Little Things where people bring minatures of cars, houses, baggage, etc to the top to be blessed for the coming year.

Little things to be blessed.

The next day, Amber and I went up to the Isla del Sol. It had been raining that morning so we decided to go to the island in the afternoon. Too bad the boat took about an hour and a half to get there (sooooooo slooooooowwwww) so we actually only ended up having about an hour on the actual island. We scrambled up as high as we could to get some photos but we didn't have time for much else. In any case, the boat ride was lovely.

View of the lake from Isla del Sol.

Caught an old women in traditional dress. They are very superstitious about photos but I wanted to show everyone how they dress. I didn't steal her soul, I promise!

Some guys paddling through the lake. We were probably moving at the same speed in our motorized one. We were actually told to sit as far forward in the boat as possible to make it go faster.

We also ran into a couple of people, Jacklyn and Shane, who did the Inca Trail with me. We decided to meet for dinner but because things run so haphazardly in Copa, we went to the one restaurant that was open. It was packed (as the only one open) but there was only one waiter on duty. So we were patient, waiting to order, waiting to get our drinks and waiting for our food. Its amazing how slowly things can run in Copacabana. Its like they didn't want our money! When we finally got our food, it was horrible. Soup that tasted it came out of a can and pasta that tasted old and packagy. The only good thing was the trout but since they were serving it all over the place, they really couldn't have messed it up. We had a good laugh but it was disappointing after eating so well thus far. But I still enjoyed my time in Copa and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Bolivia.

It turned out that Amber and I had similar travel plans so we decided to travel together through Bolivia and parts of Argentina. It works out so well since we can share hotel rooms and just keep an eye out for each other. Not as many people speak English in Bolivia so it helps to have a travel buddy. We won't actually be spending too much time traveling on our own since we are hooking up with 2 tour groups while in Bolivia. The first is in the jungle, which will be a 5-day tour through the Amazon and the Pampas. We'll see bugs, rain, bugs and more bugs!! But we will also see pink dolphins, which I'm excited about. The other tour will be through the salt plains but we haven't finalized plans yet.

We are currently in La Paz, which doesn't have much to recommend it except it has EXTENSIVE markets, including a huge black market. We did a bunch of shopping and now I have a big package that I'm going to be sending home so Mom, you'll be able to see what I've been up to! I would have taken more pictures of the markets but Bolivians are more sensitive to photography, which is pretty understandable. The markets sell everything imaginable from food, lamps, DVD players, knock-off clothes, you name it. Insane.

Really, the city is pretty dirty and ugly but it is the highest city in the world (4,500m)!

I took a sneaky picture of the markets and its of the traditional women skirts.

I even got a picture of the Witch's Market. If you look closely, you can see some llama baby skeletons with dried fur on them. Gross!

We're heading up to Rurrenabaque tomorrow for our jungle tour so my next post will be after that. I'm sure the most I will have to report will be the insane number of bug bites I will get but thankfully I have a bunch of malaria pills to get me through it! Thank god for vaccinations!

Machu picchu (not pichu)

So I made it back safe and sound! The Inca Trail was really wonderful and I will definitely remember it for the rest of my life. The views, the ruins and the food! I went with SAS Travel and though they are at the top end price-wise, they are one of the best. Our group was really wonderful, with a wide-range of personalities and experiences but we got along so well, which is definitely hard to do with 16 people!

Luckily, when I was in El Calafate in Patagonia, I met this really cool brit chick, Alex, who was also planning on doing the Inca Trail around the same time as me. I mentioned to her that I booked with SAS for the 18th and she ended up booking the same trip! So it was nice to see a familiar face on the trip, especially since most of the people came in pairs. We ended up sharing a tent so I'm glad I ran into her.

The Inca Trail is a 4-day, 3-night trip that ends at Machu Picchu, an almost intact Inca city that was discovered only in 1911. The only thing I had to carry for the trip was my personal belongings, sleeping bag and mat. There are porters, usually local farmers, who carry the rest. I mean tents, utensils, food and anything else that we would use as a group. It doesn't sound like much except that we ate 3-course meals in these huge mess tents. These porters carried tons of food, gas cookers, propane, tents, chairs, platters, you name it across the Inca Trail. They carry over 50 pounds each, not in backpacks but just tied across their shoulders. And then they run the trails to beat us to each point and have our meals and tents ready when we get there. I've never felt more like a grotesque tourist than on this trip.

Porters taking a well-deserved break. Their packs are ridiculous.

The flash on my camera sucks but to give you guys an idea of all the FOOD we ate!

But I was really lucky to get a good group. 16 very different people but we were able to stick together for the most part on the trail and we had a blast hanging out. We would laugh ourselves silly during meals, usually over incredibly inappropriate topics like the state of our toilets (which were pretty atrocious) and personal habits. But it definitely made the time go faster and a ton of fun. The trail was definitely a bonding experience. After 4 days of no showers and tough trails, you get to know someone pretty fast.

Happy to climb the first pass called Dead Woman's Pass (Deidre, me and Alex). Yes, 4,125m!!

Me and the other Alex at yet another Inca ruin.

Screwing around during downtime. The last night, we ended up at a lodge where we could enjoy some well-deserved beers!

The trail itself was also pretty tough. We started at 7,200ft and we climbed to over 12,600ft (twice!!) and back down again, all over over 50km. I was really sick the first day so I was DYING. The flu I had before blew up the night before the trip and I decided to go on antibiotics to try and kick it quickly. So on top of being tired from only a couple of hours of sleep, I was dizzy, achy and pretty delirious. I seriously thought about turning back a couple of times but I soldiered through. I felt much better by the second day, which was good because we had to go over 2 passes that day, each over 12,00ft. Since I was ill, I elected to hire a porter to carry my stuff that day. I know, how weak am I? Especially since Christine and I had done similar altitudes on the Rae Lakes Loop all with 40lb packs! (Seriously, Christine, after the Inca Trail, I have NO IDEA how we did it!) The trail was pretty ridiculous at times, steep with a bazillion stone steps. Actually on the 3rd day, we climbed down over 2,000 steps, aptly called the "gringo killers." Well, it was all worth it when we got to Machu Picchu!

Welcome to the Inca Trail!

Taking a break. We all had these ridiculous ponchos because of the constant rain. We stopped near some houses where there were chickens and pigs scavaging for food. Gross!

It was rainy/cloudy the entire time but it made for beautiful vistas like this.

Beautiful Inca ruins along the way. This was definitely one of the best, set up in the hills.

High above the clouds.

Ruins and mountains.

The amazing view from our tent!

Machu Picchu (pronounced Pick-chu. It means Old Heights and its very important to get the pronounciation right. In Quechua, pichu with a softer 'c' means willy, according to our guide, Victor. Oops!) is a monastery from Incan times, which was abandoned way before the Spanish conquerors came. The Spanish actually never knew of its existence so its pretty much entirely intact except for deterioration over the last 400 years. So its an amazing look into the religious life of the Incans, especially since a lot of understanding of Incan life was lost after the fall of their empire. We had 2 great guides, Victor and Julian, who helped edify us Incan culture with helpful but sometimes long-winded lectures. After 6 hours of hiking, stone ruins tend to look the same! At least they were cheerful. Especially Julian, whose constant "Buuueeeeno!" became our team motto.

Classic view of Machu Picchu.

Llamas everywhere, just hanging out at Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu used to house the beautiful virgins groomed for ... sacrifice! These are their quarters.

We got incredibly lucky with the weather on Machu Picchu day. It had been raining on and off throughout the trip with clouds covering pretty much everything but it was actually sunny when we got there. We woke up at 4am to catch the early light over Machu Picchu and spent a couple of hours touring around the ruins before the crush of tourists who come up on the trains. Apparently, there are over 500 people on the Inca Trail and over 2,000 visitors to Machu Picchu a day. I thought we would spend all day around the ruins but by 11am we were exhausted. We sat around in the heat and then headed back to Cusco on the train.

It was a hard, long 4 days.

It was simply an unbelievable trip. It was great to see all the amazing site along the way but more than that, I was able to share it with my great group. A million thanks to the guides, the porters and the crazy characters in our SAS group! Now I'm spending one last day in Cusco tying up loose ends before heading to Bolivia on the night bus. I took a shower (and scrubbed and scrubbed 4 days worth of sweat and grime off), did a bit more shopping and now I'm ready to say goodbye to Peru!

Thanks, guys!!

I know, tons of photos this time. It was just that great of a trip!

Andean adventures in cusco

So I've been in South America for less than a week and I´m already sick. I thought I was just reacting badly to the altitude but today I have a headache, body chills and overall fatigue. (Faye, sound familiar??) Well, at least I have a couple more days before I head out on the Inca Trail. And also, since I´m so neurotic, I brought a bunch of medicine so I´m going, no matter what!

I start the Inca Trail on Wednesday and until then I´ve been wandering around Cusco and visiting some of the Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley. Cusco is a really beautiful city with a blend of Inca and Spanish colonial architecture. Its also up in the mountains (over 10,000 feet!) so there are these ridiculous hills everywhere. I´m staying at the Loki Backpacker Hostel, which is pretty nice except its up this ridiculous hill that I have to walk up every time I go back. That wouldn't be a problem except that with the altitude, I´m dying by the time I reach the top. At least there are some beautiful views from there (I will post those pics later).

View of the main square (Plaza de Armas). Its really lovely except for the touts. I´ve said ¨No gracias¨ so many times, I hear it in my dreams.

The Cathedral in the main square. Remnants of Spanish rule after the fall of the Inca empire.

Putting the mountains around Cusco to good use.

Cusco would be wonderful city except for how ridiculously touristy it is. There are kids and women mobbing tourists constantly, trying to hock belts, toys, postcards, everything that they can possibly sell, including pictures of themselves! The people in Cusco are primarily Quechuan and wear these lovely costumes. They also speak a mix of Quechua and Spanish here. But some of the people wear the costumes for the tourists and charge money to take their pics! Crazy. I sneaked in a few candid ones.

These girls were actually carrying baby llamas around to entice tourists to take photos.

Yesterday, I also went to the Sacred Valley to see some of the Inca ruins. We went to the ruins in Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chincero. Its really amazing to see these ruins up close and see how advanced their society was. Their stone work is really amazing and complex. The walls are so tightly built that not even water can get between the stones. To think how they cut and shaped these stones is amazing. They are also so strong that the town of Ollantaytambo is actually built on the Inca foundations. It was all so beautiful and now I can´t wait to see Machu Picchu!

Me at the top of the Sacred Valley.

The ruins at Pisac. This was originally a religious and astrological center.

Classic view of Pisac, high in the mountains.

The Incas made these agricultural terraces on the side of the mountains so they could cultivate the land. Still intact and perfectly formed!

Look how tightly the stones are stacked. And also the the shapes they carved out of the stones.

Our enthusiastic and knowledgable tour guide, Martin Martinez. His belt buckle has a huge M on it.

An actual Inca plaza still in use. You can see the buildings in the background with the stone foundations. The foundations are the actual Incan ones.

So I have a couple of days left but since I´m feeling a bit under the weather, I´m just wandering around. The big thing to get is stuff made of alpaca. Its finer than wool but not as fine as cashmere. Its really nice and makes for great scarves and sweaters. The other odd thing about Cusco is the crazy backpacker culture. Cusco is full of young backpackers either waiting to go on the Inca trail or who just came back. The nightlife here is huge with a bunch of clubs and bars that cater exclusively to this crowd. Its really strange because its the first place I´ve been to in South America that is just full of foreigners. Its a bit out of control.

Well, my wait is almost over! Everyday that I´m in Cusco, I hear stories of the Inca Trail so I can´t wait! Hopefully, I´ll feel a lot better tomorrow. My next post will be post-Machu Picchu and hopefully the weather will hold enough for me to take some great pictures (summer here = lost of rain). Until then!

South america, round dos

Buen dia from Peru! I´m back in South America and its nice to be back. I spent a lovely month at home, relaxing and fattening up on my Mom´s cooking. You just appreciate home so much more when you are constantly on the move and always having to be responsible for everything. At home, food is magically cooked and clothes get magically cleaned. So it was actually a little hard to get motivated to be on the move again (I know, life is SO rough). But I´m here now and I´m so excited!! It was a little hard to get back into Spanish mode but it´ll all come back soon, I´m sure.

Well, I just got into Cusco where I plan on doing the Inca Trail to see Machu Picchu. I´ve been talking to people in my hostel (Loki Backpacker Hostel - really lovely but on top of a gigantic hill) who just came back and it all sounds so amazing. I can´t wait to get going! But I´m in Cusco for about 4 days so I can get acclimated to the altitude. I think its upwards of 10,000 feet here in Cusco, which is quite a shock to the body after flying in from sea level. I have a bit of a headache and I´m a little woozy but I think I´ll feel better tomorrow. I plan on walking around town a bit so I will post pictures soon.

After Cusco, I´m going to head down to Lake Titicaca, which is on the border between Bolivia and Peru. Its supposed to be lovely and there are these islands you can visit so I will be doing that. Then it will be down to La Paz for a few days to check out the capital. Finally, I plan on going down to Potosi to see the silver mines (and throw sticks of dynamite) and also to Uyuni to see the salt flats. I heard Bolivia is really amazing and the people are really nice so I´m excited to go there.

Finally, I´ll make my way back to Buenos Aires and back to ¨work.¨ I don´t really have a place to stay yet but I guess I will try to find a homestay one more time. Hopefully, it´ll work out this time. I think that was the one thing missing from my stay in BA during round uno. Well, I´m starting to get a bit shaky in the limbs so I probably should head to bed. Ahh, welcome back!