* Peru, Bolivia and Chile 2002
The last time I was in the USA for a couple weeks. I spent the last several days in Miami doing very little except siting in South beach and drinking mate (tea) until I caught my flight to Lima.
Peru:
I arrived in Lima at 530 am and tried calling the hostel where I had made a reservation (the first time I have ever reserved) but being unable to reach them I took a taxi there directly. When I arrived they turned me away as they were full regardless of my reservation. Infact thats why the phone-line was cut they were full . Peruvian etiquite I guess.
The next day I got on a very hot, uncomfortable bus to the desert.
In Nazca we hired a 5 person plane (tiny) to fly over the famous Nazca lines. Some were immense straight lines and others in the shapes of animals. Some believe the were made by Indians predating 400bc and others say they are messages left by aliens?It was quite an intense flight since our pilot was a little crazy. I am glad I didn´t eat before the flight.
After an even longer bus through the Peruvian Andes we arrived in the ancient Inca capitol of Cuzco. A very charming city with beautiful architexture and plazas. It's completely surrounded by green hills and mountains. It is very lively at night. All the bars kept giving us free drinks to enter. I had too many cuba libras this week.
The surrounding region has dozens of Inca ruins. One of them- pisac was a good climb to the top. I realised at the summit (a little like in life) that I had taken the wrong path. The one most traveled! The road less travelled was a bit steeper but much better to get down the mountain (quicker and easier).
After Pisac I took a train to the spectacular ruins of the lost city of the Inca (Machupichu). Also a hell of a climb. It was really amazing except for the rain which stopped as I was leaving (of course). Not a fan of the Incas- the sites were beautiful but any culture that is obsessed with thousands of steps and likes that much walking in high places , are not my type of people.
Bolivia:
When I arrived it was the middle of elections so there were demonstrations everywhere. They did however seem quite festiv . I found the people freindly but that waiting for everything is a big part of their culture. The locals drink a lot of mate de coca and are always chewing coca leaves to deal with the high elevation.
The ceviche was good and I tried a specialitly dish which was ok but hard too stomach(heart on a skewer,brochette). They also have an obsession with rottisserie chicken and chips. They don´t have much refrigeration so beer, soda and water is always served room temperature. Good luck trying to find a cold drink.
I got stuck in Lapaz for several days waiting for a road block strike to end. A good measure of the chaos of the city is the bus station. All the companies have people yelling out prices and destinations all at once as if they were selling stocks or fresh fish. But it was cool negotiating the price of my bus ticket to the desert.
Lapaz was a very vibrant city begining in the alto (highlands) decending into the valley. It had some spectacular views and a lot of uphill walking. It´s also so inexpensive at $2 for a hostel and $1 a meal.
I had a good time there and met a lot of cool people. I stayed in a little rundown hostel called el Carretro with a cool ambiance. It was full of artisans. From Argentina, Colombian, Chile, Ecuador, Germany and Spain. These travelers moved from one country to the next selling crafts, jewelry, paintings or playing music in the street.
After Lapaz I met up with 2 french, a canadian and a german girl in the desert of Uyni where we took a 4 day jeep tour across the bolivian desert. Dramatic views, amazing colors, terrible roads (if there were any ) and unreal landscapes. Cactus, salt deserts, lagoons, thermal springs, hieghts of almost 5000m....,
Some spectacular scenery! However we encountered a few problems with the bolivians who were our tourguides. They wanted more money! We refused and ran into a lot of extras (and they screwed us on the food) which for those of you who know me, is very important. Survived it though. It was overall a great trip.
Chile:
We crossed over from the Bolivian desert to the chilian desert of Atcama and I headed for the coast. It was nice to be in chile. Comfortable luxery buses, nicer food and after spending weeks in the highlands and deserts it was nice to back on the beach.
I stoped at a little beach town called Bahia de ingles. The bus dopped me off at 5am in pitch darkness 6km away from the town . A gas staion a taxi and hotel later I spent a relaxing day on the beach before heading to la Serena (a big beach with a real colonial city) and then to Santiago.
Peru:
I arrived in Lima at 530 am and tried calling the hostel where I had made a reservation (the first time I have ever reserved) but being unable to reach them I took a taxi there directly. When I arrived they turned me away as they were full regardless of my reservation. Infact thats why the phone-line was cut they were full . Peruvian etiquite I guess.
The next day I got on a very hot, uncomfortable bus to the desert.
In Nazca we hired a 5 person plane (tiny) to fly over the famous Nazca lines. Some were immense straight lines and others in the shapes of animals. Some believe the were made by Indians predating 400bc and others say they are messages left by aliens?It was quite an intense flight since our pilot was a little crazy. I am glad I didn´t eat before the flight.
After an even longer bus through the Peruvian Andes we arrived in the ancient Inca capitol of Cuzco. A very charming city with beautiful architexture and plazas. It's completely surrounded by green hills and mountains. It is very lively at night. All the bars kept giving us free drinks to enter. I had too many cuba libras this week.
The surrounding region has dozens of Inca ruins. One of them- pisac was a good climb to the top. I realised at the summit (a little like in life) that I had taken the wrong path. The one most traveled! The road less travelled was a bit steeper but much better to get down the mountain (quicker and easier).
After Pisac I took a train to the spectacular ruins of the lost city of the Inca (Machupichu). Also a hell of a climb. It was really amazing except for the rain which stopped as I was leaving (of course). Not a fan of the Incas- the sites were beautiful but any culture that is obsessed with thousands of steps and likes that much walking in high places , are not my type of people.
Bolivia:
When I arrived it was the middle of elections so there were demonstrations everywhere. They did however seem quite festiv . I found the people freindly but that waiting for everything is a big part of their culture. The locals drink a lot of mate de coca and are always chewing coca leaves to deal with the high elevation.
The ceviche was good and I tried a specialitly dish which was ok but hard too stomach(heart on a skewer,brochette). They also have an obsession with rottisserie chicken and chips. They don´t have much refrigeration so beer, soda and water is always served room temperature. Good luck trying to find a cold drink.
I got stuck in Lapaz for several days waiting for a road block strike to end. A good measure of the chaos of the city is the bus station. All the companies have people yelling out prices and destinations all at once as if they were selling stocks or fresh fish. But it was cool negotiating the price of my bus ticket to the desert.
Lapaz was a very vibrant city begining in the alto (highlands) decending into the valley. It had some spectacular views and a lot of uphill walking. It´s also so inexpensive at $2 for a hostel and $1 a meal.
I had a good time there and met a lot of cool people. I stayed in a little rundown hostel called el Carretro with a cool ambiance. It was full of artisans. From Argentina, Colombian, Chile, Ecuador, Germany and Spain. These travelers moved from one country to the next selling crafts, jewelry, paintings or playing music in the street.
After Lapaz I met up with 2 french, a canadian and a german girl in the desert of Uyni where we took a 4 day jeep tour across the bolivian desert. Dramatic views, amazing colors, terrible roads (if there were any ) and unreal landscapes. Cactus, salt deserts, lagoons, thermal springs, hieghts of almost 5000m....,
Some spectacular scenery! However we encountered a few problems with the bolivians who were our tourguides. They wanted more money! We refused and ran into a lot of extras (and they screwed us on the food) which for those of you who know me, is very important. Survived it though. It was overall a great trip.
Chile:
We crossed over from the Bolivian desert to the chilian desert of Atcama and I headed for the coast. It was nice to be in chile. Comfortable luxery buses, nicer food and after spending weeks in the highlands and deserts it was nice to back on the beach.
I stoped at a little beach town called Bahia de ingles. The bus dopped me off at 5am in pitch darkness 6km away from the town . A gas staion a taxi and hotel later I spent a relaxing day on the beach before heading to la Serena (a big beach with a real colonial city) and then to Santiago.
posted by Marco at
11:00 am
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