Peru & Farewell South America

Leaving Bolivia was really sad for me. After leaving La Paz I went to Copacabana for a few days. I originally wanted to go to Isle Del Sol which is a 2 hour boat ride on Lake Titticaca from Copa. Unfortunately after my bike accident my body hasn't been terribly cooperative & I have been very tired & sore. 

Instead I spent a day lazing around the small hotel/hostel I was staying. On the second evening I hiked up the mountain to get gorgeous views of the town. 

I was taking some awesome pain killers which is how I was managing to get by. 

I left Copa with an Irish couple I had met along the way. When I walked across the Bolivia/Peru (yes, walked) I didn't notice a massive change except for the mini motorbike cabs. 

The bus ride to Cusco was definitely the worst I've had. It was about 3 hours late, there was no cool air & the bus was jam packed. We stopped along the way to pick up women selling cheese & bread & bits of meat that she cut up on the bus. 

A huge storm came through & then the bus leaked. 

I kept telling myself "this is a South American adventure". 

I didn't really have expectations for Cusco but it is definitely a pretty town. They've kept everything traditional & all in the same style. Unfortunately it's very touristy & you can't go far without someone trying to sell you something. 

My day in Machu Piccu started at 4.30am. I was catching the bus & train there & I had stupidly paid to hike Machu Piccu mountain & I had to be in the gate by 11am at the latest. 

After a taxi, a bus, a train & another bus I was in the gate. But there was no enjoying the sights as I had to be climbing the mountain by 11. I clocked in at 10.50 & after 20 minutes decided I didn't want to do it. My stubbornness kicked in & I pushed through. I briefly stopped along the way. People were telling me I had to pace myself, but when you're on a time constraint there's no time for that nonsense. 

They close the peak of the mountain at 1pm. And I made it to the top around 12.40. About 5 minutes from the top I completely lost my cool & sat & decided I couldn't do it anymore. I was so exhausted that I just wanted to cry.  But when I got to the top ... Wow! Was I so pleased with myself!

After the tricky walk back down I headed down to the ruins. I sat on the grass for a bit just looking & breathing & enjoying the lack of walking. I was covered in sweat & would have happily curled up in a ball & gone to sleep. 

But there were Incan ruins to see! So I headed down, camera in hand. 

And then ... it started raining. But I was prepared with my rain coat! Except my raincoat is not a proper rain coat. It's water resistant not repellant. Or is it the other way around? Anyway. You get a bit wet. 

So after wandering around I was sweaty & wet & after about 45 minutes I gave up, got back on the bus & sat in a restaurant eating soup until my train left. 

I spent another day on a sacred valley tour exploring more ruins & learning about the culture of the incans. 

I ate alpaca & Guinea pig in one day & was pretty happy with both. I haggled at the markets for the best price on beanies & scarves. I drank Peruvian beer. And I argued with taxi drivers who were charging me 'gringo prices'. 

And then I left Cusco for Nazca. 

The long trip into the desert was to see the amazing, almost magical, lines in the sand. My flight over the lines was only 30 minutes. The first drawing in the sand is the whale. I didn't see a whale & that's when I had a moment of panic. Was it a sham? Was I not going to see them? But it was ok. I saw the others plenty fine. There's still discussions about why there are lines etched into the desert sand but whoever did it & why is a mystery to me!

My overnight stay in Nazca was actually quite delightful. I'd found a cheap hotel that had air conditioning & a tv in the room! Is it bad that I was excited I was able to watch reruns of Friends episodes?!

Huacachina was my next Peruvian town. Arriving on the bus in Ica I was surprised it was such a large town. A city, even. But after only 10 minutes in a little bomb of a taxi that kept stalling, I was in a desert oasis. The only thing in huacachina is sand dunes & some water & places to sleep, eat & drink. 

My first night there was a bit lonely & I was also being approached by every Tom Dick & Harry. I continued to be polite but I struggled near the end of the evening. 

The next day I took a tour to the Ballestas islands near Paracas. I can't actually tell you much about the island as the tour was in Spanish but there's lots of birds & seals & sea lions. We saw them sunning themselves on the island beach & the noise they made was incredible. 

That afternoon I went sand dune buggying & sand boarding. I was more worried about the boarding to begin with but the buggying was a close dash with death (kidding). It was exhilarating & scary & I kept yelling "no no no" which just seemed to make the driver laugh & go faster. 

The sand dunes are ginormous & we got to try 3 different ones to slide down which got steeper & longer. Because of safety we all slid down on our bellys & I decided to miss out on the last one as I still am sore on my stomach from my bike accident .... & I was petrified of the huge drop over the edge. 

We watched the sun set over the dunes & even today I was still getting sand out of my ears. 

Last stop ... Lima. I didn't have huge expectations but I've been pleasantly surprised. I'm staying in Miraflores & am a short walk to the coast. It has been 7 weeks since I saw the ocean & I was delighted to see it again. 

This morning I took a bus downtown & experienced an odd religious ceremony. People were carrying a replica of Jesus on a bed. There were police with huge guns everywhere & I couldn't get anyone to tell me what was going on. So I went to the markets. 

I fear I have done what I said I didn't need to do. I have shopped. I'm just letting you know ... Everyone is getting a beanie! I have no idea how I'm fitting everything in my bag tonight but I'm hoping I can do some fancy packing & get it all to squeeze in. 

And that's it. That's South Anerica. I just enjoyed my final meal, Pollo Saltado. A stir fried chicken dish with red onion, tomatoes, rice & fries. YES rice AND fries. I couldn't eat it all but gosh it's a good meal & I'm glad it & my bottle of cusquena beer were my last meal here. 

Tomorrow I depart Peru & fly to Havana, Cuba. There I meet my friend Sally & we spend a week exploring a few different parts of Cuba. I'm incredibly excited but I'm also disgustingly tired & feeling a little sick. But the sleep will have to wait as apparently there's mojitos to drink & salsa to dance. 

I heart Bolivia (even if I did almost die)

How do I explain my 3 days in the Bolivian desert? If I were to try & explain I would use words like amazing, unforgettable, spectacular, magical. And yet they still wouldn't be enough. 

We started our trip leaving Chile & entering Bolivia. The Bolivian entry was a little shack with one person stamping passports. 

We'd been informed by our guide that it was windy & cold & as we got out of the van we were shocked. We pulled extra clothes from our backpacks & I found myself changing into long pants in the back of a van with another girl. 

The first day we climbed to a height of 4900 metres above sea level & some of us struggled with the altitude. The headaches washed over me but I was doing ok. We visited lagoons & bathed in a hot spring. 

We listened to The Beatles & Bob Marley & while our guide spoke no English we had 2 Brazilian girls on the truck who translated everything for us. 

Day 2 was filled with more beautiful sights of mountains & lagoons & flamingoes. When you're there you can't believe what you're seeing & you realize how lucky you are to witness it all. 

The 3 guys in my truck serenaded us with a backstreet boys rendition & it became a theme song for the tour. 

On our last day we hit the salt flats. We watched sunrise over the salt lake & we watched in awe as the sun was reflected so perfectly on the lake. It was a beautiful moment & hopefully I never forget it. 

We took the typical tourist photos on the salt flat & as I'd been laying down to take photos my clothes were stained with salt. I don't know how everyone else seemed to keep themselves so clean & I looked like a mess!

We finished the tour in Uyuni. A town I never want to go to again. It was the last day of Carnivale & the whole town had shut down & 90% of it were drunk. 

Some of us had wanted to bus out of Uyuni that night but the bus street (it wasn't a station but a street with busses) was closed & drunk. No one was getting out of Uyuni that night! 

When I finally got on a bus the next morning I was glad to see the back of Uyuni & head to Sucre, supposedly the most beautiful town in Bolivia. 

And now I'm in La Paz. A big town built high up but in a valley. You're either walking up a hill or down a hill & when you're walking up, because of the high altitude, it's a struggle. 

It's a big, busy town with lots of busses & cars & everyone honks their horn just to let you know they're there. The traffic is crazy & I can't figure out if Bolivians are great drivers or super crazy. 

Bolivia is a mix of really old & then a bit of new. The traditional cholita women walk around wearing skirts with petticoats & long braids with little bowler hats perched on their heads. They wrap babies or whatever else they want to carry, in colourful stripey material on their backs. 

I survived my bike ride down death road. 

The day was spectacular. We were driven into the mountains where it had been snowing. We kitted up with pants, jackets, gloves, helmets & fancy mountain bikes. 

I was nervous but for the first 23 Kms we were on paved road & it gave me an opportunity to get some confidence. 

When we finally got on to death road I was ready. We were on rocky unpaved road but I felt confident on the bike. I did everything right. I was going so well. 

And then I hit a barricade. 

The girl in front of me had slowed down & I thought she was falling. I didn't want to hit her & I was coming around a bend so I made the smart decision to hit the metal barricade. 

It was not a smart decision. 

I came off the bike. I hit the barricade & flipped over it. My legs smashed through an extra wooden barricade & I lay near the edge of a cliff. 

I was put in the support bus but after 20 minutes riding in the bus I got them to take my bike down. I was going to finish. Yes I was hurting but sitting on a bus feeling sorry for myself wasn't making me happy either. 

Apart from feeling like a champ for finishing, the scenery was spectacular. We started in freezing cold temperatures & ended up in the jungle. We rode through waterfalls & past gorgeous rock faces.  We stopped for photos & amazed ourselves at how far we had come. 

Clearly it is a highlight for me. 

I find myself brave & eating from markets or street sellers & I only hope that my stomach can handle it.  I trade funny bad stomach stories with other travelers & we laugh at our embarrassing misfortunes.

I'm seeing beautiful countryside & llamas galore. The mud houses still amaze me. I see people picking quinoa in fields & living simple. I am drinking Bolivian fanta like it's going out of fashion because it tastes so bloody good. 

I love Bolivia. It is incredible. 

Adios Argentina, Hola Chile!

Chilean people are very affectionate. And by affectionate I mean gross public displays of affection EVERYWHERE! Seriously you can't walk through a park or a bus station or ... Just trust me on this. It's just a bit much ok?!"

I was walking back to my hostel the other night in Santiago & I'm sure people were having sex in the park. 

The most excitement I got that night was when I was electrocuted at the hostel. True story. 

But wait ... There's much more to fill you in on. 

So I finished my 3 weeks in Argentina. After I left Salta I spent 2 amazing days in Cordoba. 

Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina but it doesn't feel like it. It's cultural & the people are lovely & the architecture is amazing. 

I finally went tango-ing. Well I went to a lesson & I hated it. It was all in Spanish & then we had to pair up & of course I get stuck dancing with a girl & I'm being "the boy". After a bit I just lost enthusiasm. Partner dancing does not come easy to me. Anything where I have to touch someone's hands is pretty much going to make me uncomfortable. 

I learned the hard way that nachos in Argentina is not the same as Canada. Nachos in Argentina is a plate of corn chips with a small bowl of nasty melted cheese on the side. Such a disappointment. 

My final Argentinian destination was Mendoza. I was looking forward to drinking some wine & chilling out. 

After almost 3 weeks traveling through the country it wasn't until I was in Mendoza that I finally felt clean! I suspect this feeling won't last long. 

I met an amazing girl in my room in Mendoza. I was sitting on the floor combing my hair & we were sharing stories & it was right then that I realized I was meant to be in Mendoza if even just to meet her. 

I went on a wine bike tour. Yes. Sounds dangerous. But I have to say I was a little disappointed with the wines. I think being Australian I'm spoilt. 

And then I left Argentina. I left the women wearing platform shoes & the cheap food & the crazy traffic & the broken sidewalks & I crossed the border. 

Santiago is gorgeous. It's a big cosmopolitan city. And it's not cheap either. After Argentina it was a bit of a shock. I had to lessen the amount of icecreams & milkshakes I'd eaten as they weren't as cheap.

I spent some time learning of the dictatorship of Chile & the people who were killed. I feel like I'll have lots of reading up to do when I get back home. 

I took myself off to Valparaiso for the day. A town on the coast where all the houses are layered up the hills & are all different colours. 

I had a mini travelers breakdown that day. I wept & wept behind my sunglasses & then I pulled it together & bought myself a present. 

I met some Australian girls at my hostel, 2 of them from Perth & one of them born in the same hospital as me. We went out for Chilean food, I ate razor clams with cheese, I probably wouldn't eat them again ;)

And then I got on a bus for 24 hours. I knew it was going to be bad & it was. 

I think there's something wrong with my bottom. It hurts to sit for long periods. And I mean HURTS. So 24 hours is really a bit much for this girl. But I won't have any more 24 hour bus trips for the rest of my travels. 

I arrived in San Pedro de Attacama this morning. It's the desert. It's remote & it's beautiful & odd all at the same time. In a couple of days I cross the Bolivian border & travel through the desert for 3 days. Apparently I will see amazing sights. But I feel like I've seen a lifetime of amazing-ness already that I just don't know how it can get better. 

Canadian rock, llama & $23 shoes

Did I ever tell you the story about when I bought a rock?

So I was traveling through Canada & was all the way up in the Yukon. Getting there was an adventure in itself. I think it was a 2 day bus ride & then I caught a tiny plane (I always refer to it as the silver bullet of death) before I arrived in Dawson City. It's a mining town & somewhat touristy in the summer months. I had just missed summer by 2 weeks. 

I was staying in a hostel across the river that you caught a barge across. The hostel was rustic. Log cabins & fire pits galore. When I arrived there was 1 other person there. And he was leaving that day. There was no heat in the rooms. Nothing but a few blankets for warmth & no electricity. I lasted only by using every blanket in my cabin & keeping a steady supply of tea lights lit. The bathroom was an out house & I would put all my clothes on at night to run there & hope that a stray bear wouldn't eat me. 

Anyway. Apparently the area is known for dinosaur era stuff. And one day I was looking in a store & the guy was telling me about the rock, about how old it was. Dated back to blah blah blah. 

Anyway. I bought it. 

I have never put that rock on display. It is still wrapped in the paper bag it came in. And when I open it the stench is disgusting. I can only assume from the millions of dinosaur feet that have trampled on it. 

Needless to say I learnt my lesson about buying things while traveling. 

When I travel now I don't really get the urge to buy things for myself. My gifts are the moments I get to experience & memories as well as photos. 

That being said I bought myself a little something in buenos aires :)

Tonight I leave Salta. In the north. I am about to experience my third overnight bus in 2 weeks & I have more to come. 

Salta is a cute town. I took some day tours to small villages which was eye opening & the sights along the way were gorgeous. Salta is all luscious & green & the clouds are low. But a few hours out & it's hot & sunny & the green mountains turn to red rock which has been eroded by the wind.  

In one of the villages we stopped at I ate llama for lunch. I figured that a few days before I had fed a llama so I may as well eat one. *shrug* it was ok. Quite tender I guess. Although part way through I looked up & said "is this like eating a horse?".

I have met some people along the way & had some interesting conversations. One morning over breakfast, a German girl was telling me about her dating woes. She told me that men online seemed to not tell the truth about how high they are. (I love it when Germans speak English). I almost spat out my croissant because I couldn't believe that men in Germany lie about their height too!

I've been traveling for 2 weeks & it still feels like I just started. I'm tired every single day but I still have so much to see & I'm itching to move on to Chile in a few days. 

I realize that although I'm excited about my travel through Bolivia in a few weeks, I'm actually really super nervous about it. But I'm trying to focus on right now. And I guess I'll worry about Bolivia when I get there because I have lots to see before then. 

I can only hope that my $23 sneakers last until the end of the trip because they're already looking a bit sorry 😄

Hold your head up ... moving on

So I was sitting in a bus, ready for a 15 hour journey from BA to Iguaza Falls, and all I wanted to do was cry. My time in BA was over and I was happy to be moving on.  But with change comes fear.

I got to the Central Bus Station only to find it about as busy as an airport.  People everywhere and someone speaking very loud and fast spanish over the loud speaker.  I had no idea what to do and no one seemed to speak english but I managed to get a few words of something sensible from a nice woman in a chocolate shop.

Long story short, I got on the bus.  I was sitting in a very comfortable seat.  And as the bus left I shed a few tears.  What a stupid gringo I was.  What idiot comes to South America without knowing a lick of spanish?  What the hell was I doing here?

Some music came on the loud speaker.  I found it odd that it was white 90s music.  I smiled but still felt sad.  And then I found myself humming along to the Eurythmics ... hold your head up ... movin on ...  Sweet dreams are made of this ... Now I don't know what the song is meant to be about - if it's about sex I'll be really disappointed.  Anyway, it stuck in my mind and I felt like for that moment it was my theme song.

You can do this girl!
So what if you don't know spanish!
Do it!
Do it!
DOOO ITTT!
(ok so I got a little pushy with myself right near the end).

Not long after this they started playing Elton John and I was busy watching nighttime BA out my window.  I saw my first South American prostitutes hanging around dodgy roads and I saw a man on a scooter with 2 people on the seat after him and one tiny child perched on the seat in front.

My bus trip to Iguaza Falls was actually pretty great.  I had paid a bit extra to get a comfy seat, and it was as big as a business class seat on an airplane.  It reclined and had a foot rest and it is probably the best bus ride I've ever taken.  And I've taken a lot in my time.  They even fed me!  I was so excited when I got a tray of food that I started shoveling it in my mouth before I realised I was also getting hot food!!!  HOT FOOD ON A BUS!  I tucked my crackers and cookies in my bag for another time.

So here I am in Puerto Iguazu.  Today I took the bus out to the falls and walked all the scenic routes.  It was an amazing experience to see something so huge and beautiful and wet!  The spray from the main part of the falls was crazy and everyone was soaked and wiping off cameras.

I saw monkeys playing in trees, they threw berries at me.  And I saw these weird possum like animals.  Oh so cute looking but with teeth and claws that can really hurt.  One of them stole my lunch and everyone who saw it laughed so hard.  And I just grimaced and thought about how much I really wanted that lunch.

Tomorrow I take another bus, this time for 24 hours, to get to Salta.  Thankfully it's cooler there because IF is about 40 degrees celcius and I'm sweating through my pants.

I have met some lovely people.  I talked to some strangers yesterday and they shared their mate (mar-te) with me.  It's a kind of tea which they drink cold up here.  Everyone walks around with a cup full of the green tea and then a water cooler which they use to constantly fill up the cup.  It has a metal straw (and you know how much I love straws!).  They generally just have one cup and they pass it around to everyone.  I tried not to think about hygeine as I sipped from the straw but it was a nice taste and the people were very kind to share with me.

I am enjoying not just the travel but the opportunity to stop and rest.  Yesterday I ate ice cream and then bought a beer from the local supermercardo and sat out the front and people watched.  And then on my way back to the hostel a man wolf whistled at me.  I looked around to see who he was whistling at but he was looking at me.  It's silly but it made me smile.

Until next time ... S.

América del sur - the beginning

Hola!

I am writing this from Palermo, Buenos Aires.
How did I get to Buenos Aires?  Well that´s a long story.
But I got to Palermo by taking the subway (subte) and then a bus.  My new Swedish friend, Sarah, and I were helped by an Argentinian girl, Paola, as we were lost and didn´t understand where we were or why the subte had stopped and what to do.
On the bus Paola asked me if I knew what Palermo was like.  I replied that I didn´t but what did she think it was like.  She said to me ... it is full of people who are (she paused here trying to find the right word) ... trying to be something they are not.
Ohhhh, I replied ... hipsters!
SI Exactly.

I have been in Argentina for 5 days and each day brings new excitement and adventures.  Unfortunately it doesn´t bring new clothes and I have been wearing the same shorts for 5 days in a row now.  By my second day I had sunburn and I am covered in mosquito bites, I haven´t had a peaceful nights sleep since I arrived thanks to the men snoring in my dorm room at the hostel, but frankly I am having the greatest time regardless.

Last night I sat on the roof top patio at the hostel.  There is a bar and the girl behind it had never even opened a bottle of wine before.  She poured me and my friend 2 HUGE plastic cups full of cold malbec wine which only cost 20 pesos each ($2.50USD).  And we sat under the stars looking at the huge beautiful building across the road.  In such a big city there was so much silence and I filled it with funny stories to make Sarah laugh.

This is just the start of my trip.  I have over 7 weeks left to travel through parts of South America and Cuba.  Tomorrow night I will leave BA and travel on a bus to Iguazu Falls, they are bigger than Niagara and border both Argentina and Brazil.  BA has been a blast but I am looking forward to getting out of the city.

On my second day here I took a bike tour around the city.  It has been a highlight for me so far.  We dodged busses and taxis and crazy BA traffic.  I almost ran someone over and I am sure I came very close to being hit by cars.  The tour took us through touristy parts of town but also the very quiet ones.  Children lined up on the side of the road to hi5 us as we road past.  And I thought to myself how I felt like I was in a movie.

I visited the cemetery to visit Evita Peron´s grave and to take photos of amazing mausoleums.  I wandered around snapping photos shocked at how extravagant they were.  There were stray cats living in the cemetery and I sat and chatted to an ear-less one for a while.  Though I am not sure if he understood my english.

I am hoping that my Spanish improves rapidly.  And by improves, I mean, I really hope I learn some spanish.  I have picked up words and a few phrases but I struggle to remember them.  I practice things in my head but when I go to use them my mouth forgets how to work and I end up looking as stupid as I feel.

I know I haven´t answered the question of how I got to Argentina.  Itś a long story of hope and heartache.  It´s a part of my life that I don´t want to think about right now.  Instead I shall eat empanadas and walk in the sun.  I may even tango!¿