So, I left Sucre on the Monday after the first two days of Carnaval. I left at 8 AM and got a bus to Potosi, where I was hoping to get a bus from there to Uyuni where I planned on doing a three day tour of the salar (the world´s largest salt flat, basically a huge desert that has salt instead of sand). Once in Potosi, I found out I had missed the last bus to Uyuni and wouldn´t be able to get a bus until Wednesday. This was due to the fact that on Tuesday there was absolutely no public transportation in the entire country because, supposedly, everyone is drunk after Carnaval. I had planned to meet Ed, a good friend of mine that I met a few weeks before in Sucre that night in Uyuni, so I didn´t know what I would do. Luckily, I got an email from him saying that he was also coming to Potosi that day and didn´t think he would be able to get a bus to Uyuni until Wednesday. So I met Ed that night and we spent the next day in the main square engaging in a water fight that lasted the entire day. We were in the square, throwing water balloons and dumping buckets of water on people in the back of pickup trucks for five or six hours. It was so much fun.
I forgot to mention that before Carnaval I came to Potosi for a day (it isn´t far from Sucre) to do a tour of the Cerro Rico Silver mine in Potosi. It was an incredible experience. We spent about two hours in the mine, trudging through mud, climbing up and down ladders that would´ve sent my Mom into shock, talking the the miners, giving them gifts of soda and coca leaves, and learning about the mining process. I was not absolutely horrified by the working conditions, but they were bad. Many of the workers work up to 2 km into the mountain, so they do not get to leave the whole work day. We were there in the morning towards the beginning of the shift, and I saw several guys covered in head to toe with thick mud. Our guide also informed us that kids as young as 14 worked in the mines, full time. To make things worse, these guys make only 2000 bolivianos a month, about 265 USD. Allthought this isn´t a bad salary by Bolivian standards, it is by no means adequate for the job they are working. At one point, we all tried the alcohol that the workers drink throughout the day. This stuff makes vodka taste like grape juice. 96% sugar cane alcohol that left my throat burning for a good ten minutes, even though I had a sip that probably wasn´t more than a sixth of a shot. The miners drink this horrible substance straight, based on the superstition that drinking pure alcohol with bring them finds of pure silver. In my opinion, it just brings them a drunkenness that happens to be involved in and a huge cause of the leading cause of death in the mines (miners falling down open shafts). All in all, I consider this tour of the mine a very valuable experience. I saw, once again in Bolivia, how hard the lives of so many people are, especially in comparison to mine.
So, on Wednesday Ed and I caught a bus to Uyuni and arrived there around 7 PM. We didn´t do much that night besides checking out a few tourist agencies to get info on tours of the salar. The next morning, we booked a three day tour for 65 USD, all inclusive. An incredible price, if you ask me. Even better if you look at all the places we visited. We left at 11 in the morning, and I was in utter amazement for the next three days. Never before in my life have I seen so many incredible places that are all so different in such a short period of time. We were taken to places that were so cool I wanted to stay for the whole day, but nope, we would be hurried off to yet another place that blew my mind. Our first stop was the salar itself. As I mentioned earlier, Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world, but because there was tons of rain in the past few weeks, it was flooded. At first I was very dissapointed to hear this because we wouldn´t be able to visit one or two sites, but once we got out onto the salar my dissapointment dissolved. It was unreal. The surface of the water reflected everything. Clouds, the blue sky, cars, the mountains, people, etc. It was great. Then we were off the the train graveyard, where we were able to walk around and on several ´dead´ trains that were in use in the 1880s. The next day, our first stop was a valley near a volcano filled with volcanic rock! It was awesome! All sorts of rocks with crazy shapes and the lava tracks were clearly visible. We visited several lagoons, the most incredible of which was called Laguna Colorada. It was mainly a deep red with some blue and white along the sides. Not only was the color very bizarre, the lake was full of flamingos.
The third and final day began nice and early at 4 30 AM. We got to an area with tons of geysers right at sunset. It was, once again, a spot that instantly found its place among the coolest landscapes I´ve ever seen. After the geysers, we drove to some hot springs that are, hands down, the best hot springs I´ve every seen. Not only was the water perfect, especially after bearing the freezing temperature at the geysers, they were right next to a beautiful lagoon and we were there right after sunrise. After a good chunk of time in the springs, we had a great breakfast before moving on. Our next and final spot was Laguna Verde. When we first arrived, it was quite impressive, with a massive volcano on one side, but not that green. Our guides had explained that the colors of all these lagoons are really brought out when there is lots of wind, because the chemicals causing the crazy colors get mixed up. After half an hour and a lot of wind, Laguna Verde was very green indeed. All in all, I absolutely loved this tour and was very glad it worked out for Ed and I to do it together.
After Uyuni, I went back to Sucre and ended up staying for another week. It was great. All in all, I was in Sucre for four weeks and really enjoyed myself. After my extra week, I took an overnight bus to Santa Cruz, a big city that is quite weathly, very hot, and very big. Straight away, I didn´t like it and resolved to leave the next day. I bought my ticket on the infamous ´Death Train´ that would take me to Quijarro, a small town on the border with Brazil, for the next day. I strolled around the city, visiting the central plaza and a small park with an excuse for a lagoon. The next day I visited the city´s zoo, which was actually really cool. It had a large variety of animals from Central and South America that included pumas, jaguars, all sorts of birds, capibores, monkies, and a MASSIVE tapir. Later that day I boarded the Death Train at 4:30. The ride was mostly uneventful, except for one point when I was awoken from my sleep by a loud slamming noise. I looked out the window and saw that we were stopped on the tracks that were running through a swamp. The next five minutes we sat there without moving and I was very nervous. I arrived in Quijarro the next morning, Feb. 21st, and crossed into Brazil without any problems. Back in Brazil! Muito bom!
Monday 25 February 2008
Sunday 10 February 2008
Bolivia
So, unfortunately my flight out of Quito wasn`t until the evening of the day after my family returned to the states. I spent a lot of time on the internet taking care of this and that, and I took my first salsa lesson! It was enjoyable, but no easy task. My flight back to Cusco, Peru was horrible. I had arrived in Lima at 11 PM and my flight to Cusco wasn`t until 8 AM the next morning. I brought my sleeping bag along and tried to ignore light and noise without much success.
Once in Cusco, I got a bus to Puno, the city I visited before Christmas to see Lake Titicaca. The next day, I got a bus from Puno to Copacabana, Bolivia. The trip was quite uneventful, luckily, and I got my Bolivian visa at the border without any problems. Upon checking my email later that night, I found out that John was also in Copacabana and the two of us met up that night. It was great to see each other and to talk about what each of us had done since we last split up. Copacabana is a small city right on Lake Titicaca with mountains surrounding it`s other sides. Beautiful. John and I stayed in Copacabana for several days, checking out the sites, biking, kayaking, and relaxing. We even treated ourselves to the honeymoon sweet of a nice hotel and got ourselves our own awesome dome-shaped building with two floors, huge, comfty beds, chill hammocks, and huge windows overlooking the city and the lake. Brilliant.
From Copacabana, we got a three hour bus to La Paz. Both John and I were astounded with the city`s beautiful location in a valley surrounded by mountains, the city`s modernity, and the AMAZING juices and fruit salads found in the `mercado´ (market). John and I booked a tour on mountainbike of ´The World`s Most Dangerous Road.` It was so good, we did it a second time two days later. The road starts at 4800 meters, way up in the mountains, and ends at 1200 meters, down in the jungle. The first 2 hours or so was on a steep, curvy concrete road with awesome views and huge trucks that sometimes had to be passed at high speeds while going around sharp turns (just kidding mom!). The second leg of the ride was on a rocky dirt road that at times was no more than 6 feet across with hundred foot cliffs on the sides (not a joke). The views were spectacular and the path was often covered by huge waterfalls that had to be ridden through. The first day we did it, the weather was real bad. We got out of the van at the top and stepped into pouring rain which didn`t let up for the entire ride. The second day, we got lucky and by the end I was biking down in shorts without a shirt on. Oh man it was so much fun.
The day in between our two biking adventures, John and I did a private city tour. It was great. We visited a few awesome spots with views of the entire city, and a strange place called ´La Valle de la Luna´ (the valley of the moon). I am not even going to try to describe this place. Check out pictures on the internet. John and I also did a tough 5 hour hike to Lago Condorirri, a stunning lake located about an hour from La Paz. It was awesome, with crazy colored lakes and insane looking mountains. Unfortunately, at the lake I decided to walk across a path of rocks going across a small part of the lake. The rocks crumbled under my weight and before I knew it I was totally soaked, with camera in pocket. The camera stopped working, but luckily a week or so later I was able to get it fixed for a decent price.
I left La Paz to go to Sucre feeling like I had really gotten a feel for the city and had packed many activities into the week I was there. The busride to Sucre was about twelve hours long, and horrible. Not only was the road very bumpy, a few hours before I left John and I had a tasty but evidently toxic dinner of street burgers that left my stomach painfully churning for days.
In Sucre, I figured out my housing and the volunteer work I would be doing for the next three weeks. I stayed at a nice hostel 2 blocks from the main plaza with a great balcony, nice beds, a kitchen, and lots of space outside. I volunteered at Tata San Juan de Dios, an government funded, Christian ran orphanage. It was great. The orphanage houses 50 kids between the ages of two months and five years. All of the kids were either abandoned or abused by their parents before coming to the orphanage. I worked with the 23 big kids, who are between 2 and 5 years. They are nuts! My first whole day, I was left alone with them for a significant period of time and I soon realized I had basically no control over these kids. They swarmed me, hitting, kicking, and yelling when I asked for silence. One of the rascals even spit on my pants!
My days began at 7 AM. I would wake up, get some breakfast (fruit salad at the mercado central was a big hit), and get the bus to the orphanage. Once at the orphanage, I would help the kids eat breakfast, after which play time started. During playtime, I did many things. I played with the kids, broke up fights, punished children that hit others or stole toys from others, and comforted crying children (sometimes there were at least 5 kids crying at once). After the kids at lunch, I would take off around 12 and get lunch. I took spanish lessons for my first week there in the afternoons, but decided they weren`t worth my money so decided to stop.
I spent Carnaval (Feb. 2 and 3) in Sucre, and it was great. The only problem was that the friends I had made had all left, so I was alone. Since my arrival in Sucre, there were always people on the streets throwing waterballoon. The main targets were girls and gringos! As a result, I was often targetted. During Carnaval, the water fights were taken to a whole new level. I went to a few parades, and there was a constant flow of balloons flying through the air. It was great! Only problem was, as a gringo, a couple times at least 20 all started throwing balloons at me! The Carnaval took place on a weekend, and on the Sunday I went to the orphanage to help take the kids to the parade. When I walked in, I was totally surprised to find all of the kids dressed up in fancy costumes! They were going to dance in the parade. Someone asked me if I wanted to dress up with them, and of course I say yes! When myself, one other volunteer, and all the children were dressed up we took off. At first we marched/danced down a street with very few people. After a while, I noticed up ahead the sidewalks were completely packed! There must have been well over 500 people there. Right before we finished the march, all of the spectators decided to nail the big gringo! I got hit with 15 or 20 balloons, shot by countless water guns, and covered in foam!
All in all, my time in Sucre was great. The kids were great, and I felt like I really made a difference in their lives while working with them. I am still a little behind, and I will do my best to write another post in the next few days!
Once in Cusco, I got a bus to Puno, the city I visited before Christmas to see Lake Titicaca. The next day, I got a bus from Puno to Copacabana, Bolivia. The trip was quite uneventful, luckily, and I got my Bolivian visa at the border without any problems. Upon checking my email later that night, I found out that John was also in Copacabana and the two of us met up that night. It was great to see each other and to talk about what each of us had done since we last split up. Copacabana is a small city right on Lake Titicaca with mountains surrounding it`s other sides. Beautiful. John and I stayed in Copacabana for several days, checking out the sites, biking, kayaking, and relaxing. We even treated ourselves to the honeymoon sweet of a nice hotel and got ourselves our own awesome dome-shaped building with two floors, huge, comfty beds, chill hammocks, and huge windows overlooking the city and the lake. Brilliant.
From Copacabana, we got a three hour bus to La Paz. Both John and I were astounded with the city`s beautiful location in a valley surrounded by mountains, the city`s modernity, and the AMAZING juices and fruit salads found in the `mercado´ (market). John and I booked a tour on mountainbike of ´The World`s Most Dangerous Road.` It was so good, we did it a second time two days later. The road starts at 4800 meters, way up in the mountains, and ends at 1200 meters, down in the jungle. The first 2 hours or so was on a steep, curvy concrete road with awesome views and huge trucks that sometimes had to be passed at high speeds while going around sharp turns (just kidding mom!). The second leg of the ride was on a rocky dirt road that at times was no more than 6 feet across with hundred foot cliffs on the sides (not a joke). The views were spectacular and the path was often covered by huge waterfalls that had to be ridden through. The first day we did it, the weather was real bad. We got out of the van at the top and stepped into pouring rain which didn`t let up for the entire ride. The second day, we got lucky and by the end I was biking down in shorts without a shirt on. Oh man it was so much fun.
The day in between our two biking adventures, John and I did a private city tour. It was great. We visited a few awesome spots with views of the entire city, and a strange place called ´La Valle de la Luna´ (the valley of the moon). I am not even going to try to describe this place. Check out pictures on the internet. John and I also did a tough 5 hour hike to Lago Condorirri, a stunning lake located about an hour from La Paz. It was awesome, with crazy colored lakes and insane looking mountains. Unfortunately, at the lake I decided to walk across a path of rocks going across a small part of the lake. The rocks crumbled under my weight and before I knew it I was totally soaked, with camera in pocket. The camera stopped working, but luckily a week or so later I was able to get it fixed for a decent price.
I left La Paz to go to Sucre feeling like I had really gotten a feel for the city and had packed many activities into the week I was there. The busride to Sucre was about twelve hours long, and horrible. Not only was the road very bumpy, a few hours before I left John and I had a tasty but evidently toxic dinner of street burgers that left my stomach painfully churning for days.
In Sucre, I figured out my housing and the volunteer work I would be doing for the next three weeks. I stayed at a nice hostel 2 blocks from the main plaza with a great balcony, nice beds, a kitchen, and lots of space outside. I volunteered at Tata San Juan de Dios, an government funded, Christian ran orphanage. It was great. The orphanage houses 50 kids between the ages of two months and five years. All of the kids were either abandoned or abused by their parents before coming to the orphanage. I worked with the 23 big kids, who are between 2 and 5 years. They are nuts! My first whole day, I was left alone with them for a significant period of time and I soon realized I had basically no control over these kids. They swarmed me, hitting, kicking, and yelling when I asked for silence. One of the rascals even spit on my pants!
My days began at 7 AM. I would wake up, get some breakfast (fruit salad at the mercado central was a big hit), and get the bus to the orphanage. Once at the orphanage, I would help the kids eat breakfast, after which play time started. During playtime, I did many things. I played with the kids, broke up fights, punished children that hit others or stole toys from others, and comforted crying children (sometimes there were at least 5 kids crying at once). After the kids at lunch, I would take off around 12 and get lunch. I took spanish lessons for my first week there in the afternoons, but decided they weren`t worth my money so decided to stop.
I spent Carnaval (Feb. 2 and 3) in Sucre, and it was great. The only problem was that the friends I had made had all left, so I was alone. Since my arrival in Sucre, there were always people on the streets throwing waterballoon. The main targets were girls and gringos! As a result, I was often targetted. During Carnaval, the water fights were taken to a whole new level. I went to a few parades, and there was a constant flow of balloons flying through the air. It was great! Only problem was, as a gringo, a couple times at least 20 all started throwing balloons at me! The Carnaval took place on a weekend, and on the Sunday I went to the orphanage to help take the kids to the parade. When I walked in, I was totally surprised to find all of the kids dressed up in fancy costumes! They were going to dance in the parade. Someone asked me if I wanted to dress up with them, and of course I say yes! When myself, one other volunteer, and all the children were dressed up we took off. At first we marched/danced down a street with very few people. After a while, I noticed up ahead the sidewalks were completely packed! There must have been well over 500 people there. Right before we finished the march, all of the spectators decided to nail the big gringo! I got hit with 15 or 20 balloons, shot by countless water guns, and covered in foam!
All in all, my time in Sucre was great. The kids were great, and I felt like I really made a difference in their lives while working with them. I am still a little behind, and I will do my best to write another post in the next few days!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)