25/11/09 - Perspective

We started the day by clambering into three 4x4s and setting off to visit the train graveyard. This was a pretty cool place but I'll only post one picture of it as today was another one of those days where I took hundreds of photographs.

Afterward we set off to the salt flats which is one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever visited. We got plenty of the perspective shots that are essentially a must when you are here.

Unfortunately Rob lost the SD card he was using for most of the day so some of our best work is lost. There are still a lot of good ones though.

When the flats get rain it can make the views even better as the sky, mountains or whatever you happen to be looking at is almost perfectly reflected in the water.

I wish I could post some more pictures here. Every direction I looked in was incredible.

This shot was taken from Fish Island. Made famous by Lonely Planet, it looks like a fish from the air (apparently). Hopefully it gives some idea of the scale of the salt flats.

Me leaning on a Pringles can.

Our driver/tour guide for the flats took this shot for us. Playing around with cameras here is immense fun.

Traveling across the salt flats is one of the most memorable experiences of my journey so far.

At sunset we got out to watch it and the resultant colours it turns the sky. We also got in a short game of football. It is surprising how far the ball rolls if you put it past someone by accident. I don't think Christel will forgive me for a while...

24/11/09 - More Bus Riding... Wooo...

Today we had a bus ride in the afternoon taking us to Uyuni where we would be beginning our tour of the salt flats. Before that however Rob and I had these. A proper breakfast if ever I saw one.

When we arrived in Uyuni we ate what is apparently the best pizza in South America. It was nice but the claim is somewhat exaggerated.

23/11/09 - A Serious Matter

Today after getting up and having a very lackluster breakfast Luke and I headed out to explore Potosi. It is a pleasant place but it doesn't have a huge amount to do.

In preparation for the salt flats Luke wanted to buy a cheap football. This task was not as easy as it seemed as footballs cost massively more than pretty much anything else. They clearly take the game very seriously here although in South America this should not have come as a surprise. He eventually found one in the markets that was sufficiently cheap and useable.

When we went for lunch in a small cafe it was about 12 noon, the weather was glorious and there were throngs of people about. An hour later when we left the cafe (still loving the prices here) the sky was overcast and there was noone to be seen anywhere. It was somewhat eerie. We eventually recalled that this would be a siesta. I'd never witnessed this happen before.

Also of note is that we have three new members in our tour group now. Shirley is a middle aged Canadian woman and Christel and Sandie are sisters from Canberra in Australia.

22/11/09 - A long, uncomfortable, hot bus ride to Potosi

That is all.

21/11/09 - Good News Everyone!

...my rear end is much better than expected today.

Moving swiftly onwards...

Today was much more leisurely than yesterday. We had breakfast and then went for a wander around the city. Luke bought two entirely inadvisable pairs of trousers in the market, but it only cost him about £4.

We had lunch in a local cafe which continued the trend of not having most of what they have on their menus. It took three attempts for me to get something. I was once again baffled by Luke as he ordered an omelet and then didn't eat it because it tasted like an omelet when he thought it should taste like pancakes. Rob and I were understandably perplexed by this. Needless to say Luke wont be living this down for a while.

In evening we had dinner and went to a couple of bars. Any thought of getting a decent nights sleep in preparation for tomorrows bus journey were crushed, however, as a tour group that was finishing up in Puno partied into the small hours of the morning.

20/11/09 - The World's Most Dangerous Road

Today Rob, Luke, Di and myself rode down the Death Road. This is a 65km stretch of road which goes nearly continuously downward from 4700m to 1200m. It is named for the large number of deaths that occur (drivers - not usually bikers). From what I've seen of the drivers in this continent most of the deaths result from a fairly epic degree of stupidity. They'll try to overtake anywhere, even if signs say not to, and they are on narrow twisting roads with no visibility and sheer drps of hundreds of meters along every part of the road and track. I'll admit that the drops are fatal, but there is next to no chance of anyone on a bike going over.

Now for some photos.

This is us with our guide at the beginning of the road. No-one is entirely sure what Luke is doing in that stance.

The first part of the road is on tarmac and this was my favourite section as you could actually appreciate the view rather than having your eyes fixed to the ground looking for large stones.

Once we were onto the track it was proper mountain biking for the majority of the road. Incredibly rough ground and stones making all of us wish for superior bikes as the suspension on those we were using was no where near up to the task of diminishing the vibrations we were experiencing (I don't think I'll be sitting down for a few days).

The next photo shows what the side of the track is like basically for the duration of death road. Even so, I think they talk it up a bit much. The only real danger is having your pelvis turn to dust.

By the end we were all glad we had done it (how could I come to Bolivia and not go down the world's most dangerous road?) but were very... tender in certain areas.

On the way back we found that Tucan had once again found the most slow mode of transportation possible as our minibus was being overtaken by everything, including lorries, on the way back. Note that this was on stretches of road with many no overtaking signs posted.

19/11/09 - My First (Proper) Border Crossing

Those in Britain don't count. Regardless, this was a very long procedure which involved waiting in the same queue twice. It took about an hour all told.

Thankfully we had this picture to keep us amused for about a minute. For a moment there getting through was almost boring...

The Japanese must be fairly gutted that they are represented by an obese man wearing a nappy.

Eventually we arrived at La Paz, the highest capital in the world. It is at 3650m above sea level and is a pretty col place. I especially like the prices here, the conversion rate is about £1 to 11 bolivianos and the really expensive restaurants around here have meals that don't exceed 100 bolivianos.

I'm rich. I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams (at least for the next week...)



In the evening we had a leaving meal for Maureen and then were told about the optional excursion The Death Road which is available tomorrow.

18/11/09 - Awesome Hat

After a breakfast of pancakes(!) we said goodbye to the families and set off in our immeasurably slow boat to a third island to have a look around.

Above a picture of the kitchen/dinning room of the family we stayed with. Below a picture of Steban the father of our household.

On this island they have special hats they wear with many meaning from marital state to occupation indicated by various patterns.

All of these Islands are very traditional and this is starting to cause some problems for them. It is rare and frowned upon to marry from outwith the community so by this point it is difficult for them to find someone they aren't somewhat related to. As a result birth defects are at around 3% which is extremely high. I can't see them changing their ways any time soon, however.

Rob naturally bought a hat to indicate that he was single. I'm sure he'll be beating them off with a stick now that he's wearing this...

17/11/09 - The Longest Journey...

Today we were on what must be the slowest boat ever to see various islands on Lake Titicaca. Seriously, it was excruciatingly slow. Before this however we traveled by tricycle to get to the docks and that was fun.

Our first stop on the lake was to visit the Uros. They live on floating islands built using blocks of the stuff (sorry) at the bottom of the lake tied together and with some sort of all purpose reed across the top in layers. The Spanish left them alone here because they had nothing considered of value. Originally there weren't many islands of this sort but with tourism there are now hundreds. I'm pretty certain that tourism is what keep these communities going because floating on the water all they have are fish to eat without money. They can't grow anything.

It was a very unusual existence they had going on here. Everything (except for the occasional solar panel and TV combo) was made from the reeds, even the boats. We got a ride on a small one which allowed us to see a lot of the islands.

When we arrived on Amantani island where we would be staying for the night with local families, Rob, Luke and I were thrilled to find we were basically staying at the top of the island in what must be the remotest house available. The family was very friendly although they only spoke Spanish and the local language Quechua which alarmingly left me most able to communicate with them. Our accommodation was very comfortable (I think they spend more on the rooms the tourists staying with them use than their own) but it did have a ridiculously small door which Luke managed to bash his head off of twice.

Once we had settled in we headed down to the football pitch so that we travelers who hadn't played football in years let alone as a team could play the village team at a height of 4000m above sea level. I think they took more pleasure in beating us than was strictly necessary considering we ran for about a meter before being out of breath. I think we did ok under the circumstances...

I played keeper until I had to switch with another out of breath tourist who was on the island at the same time.

After the match we had lunch with our adopted family. It consisted entirely of different types of potatoes. This, along with some vegetables, is all they seem to eat here. Lots and lots of potatoes. Possibly all the potatoes in the world. In fact, after lunch and dinner I think I could go so far as to say that if I never see a potatoe again it'll be to soon.

Before coming we bought gifts of food to bring to the families and ours seemed grateful for the variety we brought. I'm very glad we didn't buy them any potatoes...

In the evening we and the families dressed in their traditional attire went to a dance in the village hall.

As for the clothes, you can clearly see from the picture; pulling them off.

16/11/09 - Andes Again

Today was another long bus journey through the Andes. The only difference here is that approaching Lake Titicaca the mountain chain splits into two and goes off down both sides of it.

Puno is a nice city and the hotel is probably the nicest we've stayed at so far. I'm sharing a room with Luke at the moment and it turns out that he is (or at least was) a gamer like me so we had plenty to talk about.

On an unrelated note while on the internet I realized that my net book is now operating above the recommended altitude. It had never occurred to me to check but most hard disks are only checked up to 3000m and we're considerably above that here.

In the evening I had a meal with the new guys and they all seem pleasant enough.

15/11/09 - The Return of the Group

The rest of the group returned from the Amazon today, and from the sounds of it not going was a sensible idea. Thy all agree that it was an experience but most are shattered from not being able to sleep or ill. 35 degrees Celsius with 80% humidity is remarkably uncomfortable apparently. Who knew.

I also met the new additions to the tour today. Cheryl and Julie are 50 something women from Australia. Diane is a 30 year old from Australia. Marco and Petina are a couple from Switzerland (not Patrick?!?). Lastly Luke is an Irishman about my age.

12/11/09 - Urk...

I've managed to pick up a stomach virus at some point in the last few days. This sucks to a degree usually associated with vacuum cleaners as I wont be able to go on the amazon trip. Instead I will spend the next three days in Cusco recovering until the others return. Therefore I wont be updating until I do something more productive than lying in bed and groaning every so often.

11/11/09 - I'm Finally Here

Rather than write much I thought it'd be better to inundate you (well, sort of) with pictures of Machu Picchu.

As you may have gathered it was very misty today. That wasn't really bothering me though...

The mist adds to it a little, no?

Temple of the Sun. Note the perfectly shaped stones with no mortar indicating a building of importance.

Temple of the Earth (possibly) placed below the temple of the Sun.

Here you can see the standard building design. Rougher stones with mortar in between.

The Incas built in harmony with their surroundings. Their buildings all merge seamlessly with the natural rock formations and plant life is everywhere.

The edges of the city are followed immediately by sheer drops. Doesn't exactly seem child proof...

The soil from these fields came from different areas. Apparently the Incas were trying to get different crops to grow at different altitudes.

Me with my stylish poncho. It was raining, ok?

Wayna Picchu, the mountain seen at the back of the classic Machu Picchu shots (note that Machu Picchu us the name of the mountain so the correct title for the city is "the Inca city of Machu Picchu"). It was too misty for me to get that picture though.

Close up of a building (felt I had to comment...)

Remind anyone else of the film Labyrinth?

The city has a lot of stairs, this is one of the smaller sets.

Look! Multiple stories!

Nearest to the classic shot I managed to get. I like it.

10/11/09 - Ruins

Today was the most interesting and by far the longest day of trekking. We explored half a dozen Inca ruins and walked along tracks past some truly breathtaking scenery. You'll have to forgive me for only posting five pictures...

The first ruin we came across was called Runkuracay, but after moving further up from it I've decided that it would be better known as Durlag's Tower (I imagine about three people will get that...).

That the Incas built such cities among the mountains is very impressive, it must have taken a staggering amount of effort. Some of the stones used in the construction of these places weigh several tons. I'd be wondering why they'd bother doing it if the photos didn't already give a good enough explanation. It is beautiful up here.

Ruben explained to us (in painstaking detail...) that the Incas believed in three planes of existence. The mother earth below is represented by the snake and is from where we come. This plane where they lived is represented by the puma. The sky above is represented by the condor and is where the gods are. At least I think this is what he meant.

My favourite of the ruins I saw today was also the last place we went to; Winayhuayna. It features the terrace structure used for farming as well as a village to explore. Only Rob and I got to see this particular set of ruins as by the time the others got to the camp site it was getting dark, and a couple of the ruins required leaving the usual path.

We did meet some other people in Winayhuayna though, and I got a picture with some of them in the cool window structure shown above.

This was the last day we would be with our porters so we had a small ceremony where we said goodbye and thank you and gave them their tips. Here the cook who had been incredible throughout the trip outdid himself by baking a massive cake. This certainly wasn't the type of food I recall on my previous camping trips.