01-04.03.11 Sorata

We had planned to go to Rurrenabaque in the Bolivian jungle after our stay in La Paz but due to flooding and burst river banks we had no choice but to post-pone the jungle action until Peru when the weather should have improved. 

Sorata is located approx 3.5hrs north of La Paz at the pleasantly low altitude of 2670m and a great place to walk in the surrounding mountains the 'Corderilla Real'.  We had to take a small 'collectivo' which is basically a 'sooty van' seating 16 people in very close quarters.  We had front row seats up next to the driver which was probably the worst place to be seated.  After about 2 hours of driving along the flat 'Altiplano' at around 4100m we started to climb over the peak of the mountains and decend into the valley.  The driver next to me was showing signs of some terminal illness, sweating and holding his head and neck every now and again, obviously in pain.  We hit some serious rain clouds and he did a couple of Hail Mary's.  We both thanked god all the way that he was on our side as suddenly as if the lord had spoken the driver started the most reckless decent of 1500m both of had ever witnessed.  Because Bolivia is full of mountains and high altitude altiplano the roads down to the valley are basically cut out of the side of the mountain - any accident was sure to be fatal.  Our driver seemed to have a death-wish and was hurtling down 40kmph roads at 65/70km on the wrong side of the road round blind corners in the thick fog & cloud.  There were several occassions when we were faced with traffic head on and Ryan and I nearly asked the driver to stop so we could get out.  I have never been so petrified in my life and Ryan said it was the second worst journey he has ever been on, second only to a kamikaze taxi ride from Krakow to Auschwitz when Jay nearly got out and refused to go any further.  Thankfully we arrived in one piece with clean underwear.

The weather of the previous few days had been pretty poor in Sorata and the road and footpath condions were pretty dyer.  Most of the roads with the exception of the main square were unpaved and extremely muddy but that didn't put us off our first day of hiking.  We chose a popular day walk to the Gruta San Pedro (cave of San Pedro), 24km there and back along the mountain roads and footpaths.  The walk was spectacular with fantastic views of the valley, if not green with corn fields and agriculture then multi-coloured by the minerals in the exposed rocks.  We found it such a shame that we didn't have our camera as it really was picture perfect. 

The next couple of days were spent making future travel plans whilst the weather changed from rain to sunshine with the odd walk in-between.  We were glad to have a few days of peace before the madness of Oruro Carnival on Saturday.

20 - 28.02.11 La Paz, Bolivia

The mist and rain welcomed us into La Paz which at over 3600m is the highest unofficial capital in the world (Sucre is Bolivia’s official capital at over 4000m).  Unfortunately the night bus from Uyuni dropped us off at the unearthly hour of 630am and check in wasn’t until 2pm, not great as I was suffering really badly from the altitude.  After some breakfast we headed back to the hostel who kindly allowed me to lie down whilst they prepared our room.  I felt rotten, had a headache, upset stomach and felt very lethargic.  

Ryan and I high above La Paz

Having started a course of altitude sickness tablets I was feeling a little better and 2 days later we headed out Tiwanaku, one of Bolivia’s most important archaeological sites.  Tiwanaku was an empire which lasted around a 1000 years well before the Incas were around.  Although the site was only partially excavated, our guide painted really good pictures of what the buildings would have looked like and talked us through the amazing sculptures that were found during excavations.   It was incredible to learn how advanced their knowledge of astronomy and astrology was from the symbols they drew on their sculptures.  3000 years ago they had already devised a calendar which included 365 days and 12 months in a year – incredible.  That night I had my worst night ever – I felt sick, had an upset stomach and a standing pulse of 120.  I could hardly walk home from the restaurant that evening and Ryan decided it was time to call a doctor.

Tiwanaku Pre Inca Ruins

We had fantastic service from the ‘Doctors for hotels’ service in La Paz.  He arrived the following day 20mins after Ryan had phoned him and within the hour we had been driven to the laboratory to give some blood samples.  The Doctor advised us that he would pick up the results that day at 430pm and would be back at our hostel by 5pm to discuss.  After he had examined me he advised that there was a 90% chance of Salmonella poisoning and 10% chance I had a parasite.  Ironically, we were pleased to find out that I had the former and we traced the beginning of my illness back 20 days to La Serena, Chile.  It was such a relief because I had been convinced for 2 weeks that it was the altitude!!  Excellent service and of all the places I didn’t want to be ill, La Paz turned out to be the best!

Once fit and fighting well it was time to properly explore La Paz.  The city is unlike any other we have visited.  A vast manic metropolis fused with indigenous Aymara culture on every corner.  People sell allsorts in the streets just to make a living. There is a Witches Market selling dried Llama foetus’s, good luck charms and potions for non-existent or undefined illnesses. Stalls selling huge bags of coca leaves adjacent to the usual gringo tat of ponchos and pan pipes. We’ll buy those later! We visited the coca museum chronicling the traditional use of coca as an offering to the gods to the crack cocaine smuggled illegally around the world. Bolivia, in particular the Yungas region just outside La Paz, is the world’s largest producer of coca which is still legal here for traditional purposes. For example, you can buy coca tea in almost every restaurant and Aymara women with their bulging cheeks from chewing leaves in the street is a common sight. 

 Streets of La Paz 

We walked past the entrance to the infamous San Pedro Prison in the centre of La Paz (Written about in the book ‘Marching Powder’). A prison ran wholly by the inmates who work to pay for their rent. There are no wardens or police on the inside only at the gates allowing family and friends, even tourists, entry. No thanks! We kept on walking having heard all sorts of rumours of trapped tourists, extortion and drug related incidents.

Friday 25^th Feb was Ryan’s birthday so we decided to celebrate by tackling the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Road’ made famous by the Bolivian episode of ‘Top Gear’ a few years ago (check out You-tube to refresh your memory).  For those who are unfamiliar with it, the WMDR was named such when the Inter-American Development Bank conducted a study on how many deaths occurred on the road each year.  Don’t quote me but each year up to 250 people were falling off the edge into the sub-tropical abyss.

We were notified that day that there was a pending transport strike and it just so happens our friend Line from Puerto Natales was in town!!  We set off before the strike started and at 8am we reached ‘La Cumbre’ at 4700m.  We were given our bikes and lots of safety gear before the guide gave us a lecture on road safety and our riding style. We then performed a ritual to Pachamama (mother earth) involving some 97% alcohol, our lips and their tyres.  The first 20km section of the 63km ride is on the ‘new road’ which is paved up until the start of the WMDR.  This allowed us to get used to the bikes, the brakes and the sleet which was pounding in our faces at the beginning.  There is then an ‘optional' 8km uphill stretch which Ryan and two other lads found pretty tough going at 3600m.  I found it a breeze along with the other girls as we jumped in the support bus!!  

 Death Road in dismall weather

Rach at the river crossing. Not a foot down - Honest!

After paying the road tax and crossing a drug check point, we were at the top of the WMDR.  Weather conditions not great, our guides undertook another brake check and off we went.  Ryan at the front, Rach at the back with hands on brakes at all times.  The road is unpaved and the first section was loose gravel and lots of pretty large rocks.  It being my first time on a full suspension bike I slowed and swerved past nearly all of them.  The guides were very patient though and soon I was racing down with the odd nervous eye on the perilously close road edge.  After a fair bit of rain, the clouds cleared and we started to appreciate the valley views on the way down.  We cycled though snow peaked mountains, waterfalls, lush greenery and finally into jungle where at 1200m we came to a stop in a small village called Yolasa.  We were both pretty shot after we returned at 830pm and instead of going for a birthday curry we ordered take out pizza and fell asleep at 10pm – rock and roll eh?!

The following morning I left Rach snoozing at 7am to meet my group of 6 riders for some serious single track mountain biking in the mountains surrounding La Paz. After getting geared up with bikes, full face helmets and padding our bus dropped us of at the start of the Collana Trail for 3 hours of continuous downhill mayhem. The heavy rain brought with it copious amounts of mud making the riding hard and the falling soft. That said, hitting a cactus at full tilt wasn’t fun. I was still pulling the needles out of my fingers hours later. In the valley basin we had to cross a river bed. Usually dry, the rains had turned it into a raging river. ‘The best technique is just to ride down it’ said our guide Phil – When in Rome! After a picnic lunch in the valley we headed to La Paz’s downhill race course at Muela Del Diablo for 3 runs of jumps, berms and drop offs. We were dropping 1000 mtrs in altitude in 10 minutes. The pro’s do it in 4. Hmm! I have been missing my bike a lot so the past 2 days have made up for it. Well, almost.

Ryan on La Paz's downhill mountain bike race course

After Ryan’s tough day of single track we took the opportunity to spend our Saturday evening experiencing some local culture at a Pena – a restaurant with traditional Bolivian dance and live music.  We were pleasantly surprised with the steaks that we ordered which is more than we can say for the first act.  It was a dance troop of two men and two women doing little more than prance around the stage in strange costumes.  I hate to compare but it wasn’t a patch on the Tango show we had witnessed in Buenos Aires.  I couldn’t stop laughing as the women twirled around with blank expressions out of tune with each other and the music.  This went on for far too long and when the ‘real’ musicians came on we weren’t expecting much.  Again we were surprised as they the four musicians and one singer started belting out their tunes on small traditional string instruments and the ubiquitous pan pipes.  By 1230am though we were past it and called it a draw.

The night at the Pena. What was that all about?

We chose to stay another night in La Paz as our camera, which has been temporarily not working for ages, finally packed in.  We knew of a man who could ‘fix’ any camera problem but he wasn’t open till Monday.  This gave us the opportunity of witnessing Sunday’s ‘Cholita Wrestling’.  Now I can assure you that this is no wrestling like you have EVER seen.  We were shipped up the ‘El Alto’ the fringe city of La Paz, in an old American children’s’ school bus.  Not sure what to expect, we were ushered into a sports hall and directed to our ‘tourist’ seats at the ring side.  We collected our popcorn and drinks just in time for the show to start.  We’d heard a little about the ‘Cholita’ wrestling but nothing could prepare us for the spectacle we were presented with.  After a relatively tame warm-up act of man v man and women v man we were hit with the real comedy.  Picture this.  A woman dressed in typical Bolivian clothing, bowler hat, layer skirt, hair in long black plats and ballet style pumps.  Another woman dressed in white slashed leggings, biker boots, thong leotard and striped (on view) fluorescent knickers.  To add to this frenzy, two blokes, one topless wearing a pair of blue cycling shorts and the other dressed in a red devil gimp mask.  A pretty random and non ‘PC’ addition was a dwarf dressed in a similar suit to a power-ranger complete with gimp mask.  What followed can only be described as hilarious mayhem.  Men fighting with men, women fighting with women and men, dwarf getting tied by his neck to the ropes on the ring, men being kicked in the nethers.  Unfortunately, as our camera was not working we were unable to take piccies but trust me when I say it was the craziest, funniest, non PC debacle we have ever witnessed. 

Not our pics but you get the picture...

16-19.02.11 Tupiza & Uyuni, Bolivia

Our first stop in Bolivia was Tupiza, an isolated mining town marooned in the harsh desert landscape of the Southern Altiplano. We understand that the Bolivians do not allow Argentine buses to travel into the country and it is only possible to catch a bus to the Bolivian frontier, where it is then possible to catch the 1-a-day 3.30pm train to Tupiza. Our bus from Salta was delayed which meant we got to the frontier at 3pm instead of 1pm.  Missing the train meant spending 24hrs in the ramshackle frontier town of Villazon with literally nothing to do.  The queue at the Argentine immigrations was huge and ‘Latin-American’ slow. We were stamped out at 4pm before walking across the bridge over the river to be stamped into Bolivia. Miraculously the Bolivian immigration process was 10 minutes max with no questions asked or dubious looks. A Spanish traveller asked me if I was getting the train. ‘We’ve missed it’ I replied ‘It’s 4.15pm’. ‘No it’s 3.15pm, Bolivia is 1hr behind’ replied the Spaniard.  ‘Go go go…' With 15 minutes to spare we exchanged some Peso’s into Bolivianos and dived into a taxi, at least we think it was a taxi! Our driver, oblivious to traffic or people, sped to the train station like a man on a mission. With no time to even buy a ticket we were ushered onto the train to Tupiza. We were literally the last people on the train as it started to move. Welcome to Bolivia…

The train from Villazon to Tupiza - through the cactus-strewn badlands

After a spectacular train journey through stunning cactus-strewn badlands and canyons Tupiza itself was a let down. We decided to stayed one night and took the opportunity walk through the nearby canyons we had viewed from the train window.  We got lost and I got sunburnt –again! 

That day I went for a hair cut.  It cost £1.50 and the guy, in his 70’s, used similar scissors to the ones I cut bacon with at home.  It was worrying to say the least.  I nearly passed out when he got the cut-throat razor out to finish off.  Yes, really! 

Check out his scissors - and my worried face in the mirror

That evening we caught a train to the cold railway town of Uyuni, the jump-off point for exploring the Salar De Uyuni, by far the largest salt lake in the world.

The Salar De Uyuni covers 9,000 square kilometres, which is a lot of football pitches. The salar is not a lake in the traditional sense. It’s upper layer consists of a thick crust of salt though below it is mainly saturated with water. In the rain season (Dec-April) the surface is mostly covered by water, usually only a few inched deep, but it is possible to drive over the surface. We hired a guide with a 4x4 which we shared with some other travellers. As we approached the salar the lake seemed very deep yet our guide, armed with his Land Cruiser, ventured into what felt like the ocean. 

 At this stage is wasn't at all what we expected!

After 2km or so the water became much shallower and we were able to venture onto the salt flats on foot to take in this natural phenomenon. It felt like floating in the sky and at times it was difficult to determine where the land stopped and the sky began. The photos say it all, here you go Mum.

The Salae De Uyuni - The following photos say far more than words

 

 

Back in Uyuni our guide took a slight detour to show us the Uyuni train graveyard. These trains have been resting here for at least 30 years, subject to the harsh desert environment. An ideal photo opportunity made even more atmospheric, in my opinion, in black and white.

 

Bolivia itself is completely different to any other country we have visited so far. The majority of the people here are of indigenous origin, unlike Argentina or Chile which are very European. Here the majority of the people are very poor, the buildings crumbling and the roads unpaved. It seems unorganised and chaotic yet so far everything has run like clockwork and the culture and the people are bewildering. We can’t wait to see more. La Paz and 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Road' next…Gulp.

10-15.02.11 Salta, Argentina

We had planned to cross the frontier from the Atacama Desert into Bolivia, that was before some friends recommended we spend a few nights on a 'Sayta' ranch (known as an estancia) in Salta, Argentina to exprience the gaucho lifestyle, the cowboy way of horseriding and farming. Not to mention endulging once more in the Argentine tradition of the asado. Immense BBQ's of fillet steak, pork and sausage. We decided to cross back over the Altiplano of the Andes at altitudes in excess of 5,000 metres above sea level back into Argentina. We had 2 days exploring in Salta prior to our horsriding adventure where we walked up Cerro San Bernardo for panoramic views of the city before heading into the micro centre to explore. Plenty of walking made us less guilty about the parillada, a mixed meat banquet, we had eaten the night before!

Iglesia San Francisco, Salta city centre

The following morning we were picked up by Roberto who drove us to the estancia called Sayta for our 2 day stay. Upon arrival we were greeted by our hosts, the hilarious and out-going owner Enrique, his daughter Laura and other family and friends. In Enrique's broken English 'Ryan - this is my effing ex Mother-in-law'!! The ranch itself was awesome and full of rustic charm. After breakfast Catia, the very friendly German volunteer ranch worker, gave us our chaps and led us to our horses. Rachel's horse was called Gypsy and I had Scruffy. A bit like they knew we were travellers I suppose. We were taken on a 2 hour ride through tobacco plant fields led by the uber cool Sergio, an experienced gaucho who made it look so easy. Although somewhat perplexed by Rachels high pitched 'yeee haaa's' Sergio was very patient and full of good advice.

Rachel on Gypsy with the uber-cool gaucho Sergio

Ryan and Rach on Scruffy and Gypsy

After our ride Rach and I were invited to join the family for the asado. Enrique had been slowly BBQ-ing the meat since we stated our ride. We were served copious amounts of fillet steak, sausage and pork with all the trimmings washed down with far too much vino tinto before our afternoon ride. For a further 3 hours Sergio took us through some very challenging terrain through rivers and streams. I thought we would just be doing circles in a small field.  After 5 hours on the horse for our first day were were shattered and ready for bed but not before Enrique cooked us pasta washed down with yet more vino.

Enrique´s and Laura´s family and friends

The hilarious Enrique with his asado

The following day 7 more guests arrived to join Rach and I, who had been the only guests on the ranch.  We had a 2 hour ride in the morning where we were able to gallop a short distance. Once again, this was followed by yet another huge asado. Enrique's BBQ's are the stuff of legends and need to be seen, and sampled, to be believed. Enrique is a larger than life character and when he says 'eat' you eat. After dinner we simply could not move so opted out of a further ride in favour of a lazy afternoon  relaxing on the ranch. As the other riders returned it was obvious we, and some other guests, had been 'relaxing' a little too much, made evident by the empty wine bottles. Most of the other guests left that evening apart from German and Alicia, two Argentine friends from Buenos Aires. That evening we all ate another huge dinner washed down with more vino. We had a fantastic time laughing, joking and practicing our Spanish with new friends.

Enrique's legendary asado lunch enjoyed with fellow guests and gauchos

Rach, Alicia, Ryan, Catia, German, Laura saying goodbye at Sayta

Rach on Gypsy

The following morning we were driven back to Salta with German and Alicia. We met up that evening at 7pm to go for drinks in the Balcarce area, the prime nightlife area in Salta. It was fantastic to meet such friendly people who were extremely patient whilst we praticed our Spanish. After a couple of Fernet and Cokes it was time to say goodbye to our new friends. Our last night in Argentina could not have been spent with two nicer people. A lasting memory of times in our favourite country so far. Boliva tomorrow, things are going to get a little more unpredictable.

05-09.02.11 San Pedro De Atacama

San Pedro De Atacama is a small unpaved oasis town of single storey mud and clay 'adobe' houses in the middle of the Atacama Desert at 2,436 mtrs above sea level. Needless to say, it’s hideously hot during the day whilst temperatures plummet at night. The town draws travellers from all over the world who come to see the volcanoes, geysers, sand dunes, lagoons and salt flats.  The bus ride here was unique. Vast planes of nothingness interspersed with ear popping changes in altitude. 

It hadn't rained here for 3 years but it rained heavily a couple hours after we arrived and were told it was the 3rd day of rain. The rain comes between 6 and 7pm but heavy down pours here have catastrophic effects on unpaved access roads meaning the El Tatio Geysers and the Ojos De Salar were not immediately accessible.

For our first day we booked a guide to see the antiplano salt lagoons. Rach was suffering from a stomach bug so we very nearly postponed the trip. Forever the brave, Rach decided to go ahead with the tour. Our man Pedro picked us up from our hostel at 6am in his 4x4 and drove for 2 hours on unpaved roads to Lagunas Miscanti and Miniques at 4,200 metres above sea level. We were quite literally left breathless both by the stunning scenery and the altitude. Unfortunately Rach wasn’t feeling too well and decided to chew on some coca leaves, a well known, and legal, local remedy for altitude sickness. No joy, it just made her feel more sick. We are not sure of it was the bug or the height but it was a stark reminder that altitude needs to be respected and proper acclimatization is vital. 

Early moring at Laguna Miscanti where we had breakfast

 

Rach with our guide Pedro

The huge pools of azure blue were ringed by white ribbons of salt with herds of wild llamas, known as vicunas, grazing along the shore. After visting a couple of other high altitude lagoons we arrived at the salt lake Lago Tuyajto. The salt formations were staggering an unlike anything I have ever seen. Later in the afternoon our mate Pedro drove us to the Salar De Atacama’s Laguna Chaxa, a weird lake of bizarre salt formations doubling up as a national reserve for numerous types of flamingos.

Rach and I at Salt Lake Tuyajto at 4,000 mtrs

Agua Calientes salt lake with volcanoes in the distance

Incredible array of colours. Hot to cold

Flamingos in the desert

Lake Chaxa, Salar De Atacama

Upon our return Pedro stopped on the ancient Inca route to Lima where rocks are formed into cairns to make a wish. Oh, not touristy at all, not one bit. Yes, of course we did!  See below...

We had originally planned just 3 days here but a lack of buses meant we had 5 days. In reality this was a bonus allowing the quagmire on the El Tatio access road chance to dry up. With time on our side we decided to hire some bikes and cycle through open desert to the Valle De La Luna, Chile's Moon Valley.  Luckily the 20km ride to the valley was beneith a blanket of cloud away of the sun's brutal rays. The valley itself was stunning and more like mars we thought. We took occasional stops through the valley visiting strange otherworldy geographical formations. Our favourite being the Star Wars-esque canyon with pitch black caves where head torches were necessary to complete the loop. An experience made even better given the fact we were completely alone.

Enroute to the Valle De La Luna, the Moon Valley

The start of the canyon loop

 The cave. It was actually pitch black in here without the flash, and 'no' there was no booze involved!

The formation on the right is known as the ampitheatre for obvious reasons

With luck on our side we were able to get to the famous El Tatio Geysers on our last day in San Pedro. We were picked up at 4am to get to the worlds highest geothermal field (4,320 mtrs asl) where the geysers are most active from 6 to 8am. The 2 hour journey took 3 hours as our driver worked his magic through landslides and rivers to arrive around 7am. The geyser were sporadically spewing steam and jets of boiling water. They seem to be alive 'erupting' every 3 to 5 minutes. An incredible sight but to be honest I was expecting them to be a little higher and a bit more dramatic. Not that I am asking for much of course...

 The geothermal field from a distance

Up close and personal. Well over boiling point

I took this without even knowing the bird was there. Lucky eh?

San Pedro is amazing. A true oasis in the middle of the desert and an absolute must if visiting Chile. Just watch out for the dogs. Like any other town in Chile, they roam the streets in gangs and chase anything with wheels, they even sandboard.

Gang of 5 dogs on their way sandboarding, the 6th wasn't invited...

Sorry, it must be the altitude!