When Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the ex-president, visited the falls, she said "Poor Niagara". We haven't been to the Niagara falls (yet), but we can perfectly imagine what she was thinking. Words cannot describe this beauty of nature that is now in the running to become one of the new seven world wonders.
Iguazu Falls is a complex of around 300 falls, spread over 2.6 km. They form the natural border between Argentina and Brasil and both countries built a large park around them. Both sides offer a complete different view, so we reserved enough time to visit them both.
Argentina
On our first day we went to the Argentinan side, that contain most of the falls. We spent a whole day on the surrounding walking trails that pass by the falls. There are upper trails and lower trails, so you get the chance to see the falls from different perspectives.
We also did a truck trip through the jungle, followed by a spectacular boat trip at the bottom of the falls. The people of our hotel were kind enough to tell us upfront that you get wet on these boat trips. So as one of the only people on the boat, we took off our clothes (Joke in bikini and me in my boxers since I forgot my swimsuit). Man... were we glad that we did! We were not wet, we were completely soaked. The boat doesn't go directly under the falls, since that would kill us immediately, but still you get a full shower. Great experience though...
Apart from the falls, the surrounding nature is fantastic, so are the animals. There were Coatis running around, a relative of the racoon. Although they look adorable, there were signs all over the park that warn tourist not to feed them since they can attack when they smell food. Sadly enough (or luckily?) we didn't see pumas or jaguars that also populate the park.
Brasil
On our second day, we hired a taxi to drive us around to Brasil. Again, it didn't take us more than five minutes to get all formalities done and to cross the border while other tourists were standing in line in the burning sun.
We first visited the Itaipu dam, the biggest dam in the world. Very impressive construction, but of course our mail attractions for the day were the falls.
Where the Argentinan side provides close and detailed views, the Brazilian side gives nice panoramic views on the falls. The park is smaller than its Argentinan rival, but still worth a visit.
Crossing the border again took a little more time, because I told the Brazilian guard that I preferred the Argentinan side. Not very smart of me...
We had a great small hotel with a nice jungle garden and a swimming pool that felt like heaven after a long day at the falls. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to stay another day just to relax by the pool and to enjoy the steaming heath before we fly 4000km to the worlds southernmost city: Ushuaia.
maandag 19 april 2010
zaterdag 17 april 2010
Misiones (Argentina & Paraguay)
To avoid a 20h busride from Cordoba to Puerto Iguazu, we decided to make two stops on our way. We spent the night in Santa Fe, a small provincial city near Rosario. Nothing special to do here, so the next day we took a long overnight bus to Posadas, capital of the Misiones province.
Misiones is the narrow fingershaped province in the Northeast of Argentina, squeezed between Paraguay and Brasil. It is famous for its numerous Jesuit ruins, so we hired a private taxi to drive us around to the five mayor sites, including two ruins in Paraguay.
Although people in busses have to face long queues to fulfill the border formalities, taxi drivers seem to have a special treatment here. Our guy passed the whole queue and took care of the procedures for us. It took him less than ten minutes to cross the border. I wonder how much money is involved in this special 'relationship'.
Of course there is no big difference between Paraguay and Argentina, except for the money. The Paraguayan Guarani is worth nothing. It's cool though to see advertisements along the road for a haircut (12.500 PYG) or a steak (20.000 PYG). The ruins were nice to see, but we saw more impressive ones in Peru and Bolivia, so we weren't that impressed anymore.
One day was certainly enough in this expensive area and we were really looking forward to see the Iguazu Falls. So we took a bus (our last one) to Puerto Iguazu, our base for a couple of days to explore the falls and the surrounding national parks.
Misiones is the narrow fingershaped province in the Northeast of Argentina, squeezed between Paraguay and Brasil. It is famous for its numerous Jesuit ruins, so we hired a private taxi to drive us around to the five mayor sites, including two ruins in Paraguay.
Although people in busses have to face long queues to fulfill the border formalities, taxi drivers seem to have a special treatment here. Our guy passed the whole queue and took care of the procedures for us. It took him less than ten minutes to cross the border. I wonder how much money is involved in this special 'relationship'.
Of course there is no big difference between Paraguay and Argentina, except for the money. The Paraguayan Guarani is worth nothing. It's cool though to see advertisements along the road for a haircut (12.500 PYG) or a steak (20.000 PYG). The ruins were nice to see, but we saw more impressive ones in Peru and Bolivia, so we weren't that impressed anymore.
One day was certainly enough in this expensive area and we were really looking forward to see the Iguazu Falls. So we took a bus (our last one) to Puerto Iguazu, our base for a couple of days to explore the falls and the surrounding national parks.
vrijdag 9 april 2010
Cordoba (Argentina)
Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina, can easily compete with its Spanish counterpart after which it is named. It's a cool city with plenty of things to see, a nice atmosphere, a big pedestrian area, too many shops, trendy bars and really good restaurants. In fact, the latter means it's actually better than the Spanish Cordoba (Sorry to my spanish friends, but your national cuisine sucks big time).
We were still overloaded with touristical excursions, museums and guided trips, so basically we continued doing what we started in Salta: wandering through the city and a lot of eating and drinking. The city is quite big, so it took us some days to see everything, but that didn't matter. We really enjoyed these relaxed days without any time pressure.
Joke invented a nice game when we were sitting on a terrace: counting the short-haired girls, which are really hard to find here. On four days, we saw two short-haired girls. Yeah, people do interesting things when they're getting drunk on a sunny terrace... :-)
We were still overloaded with touristical excursions, museums and guided trips, so basically we continued doing what we started in Salta: wandering through the city and a lot of eating and drinking. The city is quite big, so it took us some days to see everything, but that didn't matter. We really enjoyed these relaxed days without any time pressure.
Joke invented a nice game when we were sitting on a terrace: counting the short-haired girls, which are really hard to find here. On four days, we saw two short-haired girls. Yeah, people do interesting things when they're getting drunk on a sunny terrace... :-)
woensdag 7 april 2010
Salta (Argentina)
With one small backpack less to carry, we arrived at Salta in the middle of the night. I wanted to surprise Joke with a nice 4* hotel, because it was her birthday and because she was really upset after the theft. So we took a taxi to my hotel of choice. However, the night guard told us they were full and sent us to another hotel. They were full as well, so they sent us to a small nearby hostel. It looked so terrible that we decided to look a bit further. So, we started walking from hotel to hotel, but all of them were full. We don't know why, but probably it got something to do with Semana Santa. Tired of walking, we stepped into the first internet cafe we encountered and started looking for hotels on the internet. After plenty of telephone calls, we finally found a hotel that had a free room for 3 nights. What a start in Argentina...
Beside the bad start, Argentina seems pretty nice after the first few days. What a difference with Bolivia!! People look much more like Europeans, which means they are bigger than 1,5m. The cities look like any other modern European city. In fact, Salta looks more western than for example Granada (Spain). Nice promenades, nice bars with cosy terraces, fantastic restaurants and comfortable places to spend the night.
Because we are pretty tired of organised tours and excursions, we mainly spent our days walking, eating and drinking. It is a cliche that Argentina is famous for its meat, but it is sooo true! After a disappointing parilla (too much liver and kidneys for us), we had the best 600g steak ever for less than 10€. The meat literally melts in your mouth. We both lost several kilos in Peru and Bolivia, but with this food we will gain it all back...
Beside the bad start, Argentina seems pretty nice after the first few days. What a difference with Bolivia!! People look much more like Europeans, which means they are bigger than 1,5m. The cities look like any other modern European city. In fact, Salta looks more western than for example Granada (Spain). Nice promenades, nice bars with cosy terraces, fantastic restaurants and comfortable places to spend the night.
Because we are pretty tired of organised tours and excursions, we mainly spent our days walking, eating and drinking. It is a cliche that Argentina is famous for its meat, but it is sooo true! After a disappointing parilla (too much liver and kidneys for us), we had the best 600g steak ever for less than 10€. The meat literally melts in your mouth. We both lost several kilos in Peru and Bolivia, but with this food we will gain it all back...
zaterdag 3 april 2010
Bye bye Bolivia
After our last basic week in Bolivia, it's time to move to regain some energy in Argentina. Both of us were very tired of the Uyuni tour and we were really looking forward to this. However, it didn't go as smooth as I hoped...
From Tupiza to Salta is around 10 hours, but there's no direct bus. So first we had to take a 3 hour busride from Tupiza to the border town Villazon. Man, this was the worst bus we ever saw. It must have had over one million kilometers, nothing was working anymore and it smelled like hell in there. This bus wouldn't even get a chance in Belgium, but in Bolivia it is all they have. Of course, there wasn't a paved road, so we were constantly asking ourselfs when the weels would fell off or when the windows would break. Surprisingly, we made it to Villazon without any problem.
Next stage was to walk over the border en get all formalities done. The formalities at the Bolivian side were easy, but in La Quiaca on the Argentinan side, we had to stand in line for a luggage control. Every bag had to be opened. It took ages before we actually crossed the border... While we were waiting we met an Israelean girl that shared a taxi with us to the bus station of La Quiaca.
We immediately got a comfortable bus to Jujuy. It was so nice to ride on paved roads again and to sit in a bus where you don't have to bear the stench all the time.
In Jujuy we had real bad luck. still not recovered from Uyuni, we were really tired of sitting in busses all day. And we had to wait two hours until our last bus to Salta. Right before we left, Joke and I went to the bathroom while the Israelean girl was watching our backpacks. when we came back, Joke´s backpack was missing. Luckily enough not the big one, but a smaller backpack with an iPod, our travel guides, books, a notebook, sunglasses, some usb sticks with pictures and other small stuff... After the hard days in Bolivia, this was too much for Joke and she crashed. Nice detail: this all happened 45 minutes before her birthday...
The Israelean girl really felt bad and she told us that an old lady came to ask her a question. This is quite a common approach in South-America: an old lady asks something and while you´re distracted for a few seconds, someone else takes away your stuff. She even offered us to pay for the loss, but of course it wasn´t her fault... We learnt a valuable lesson: never leave your stuff alone, even if there is someone to watch it.
So our first idea of Argentina wasn´t really nice. But we still had our passports, money, credit cards and our camera... so time to forget all this and to enjoy the last weeks of our trip.
From Tupiza to Salta is around 10 hours, but there's no direct bus. So first we had to take a 3 hour busride from Tupiza to the border town Villazon. Man, this was the worst bus we ever saw. It must have had over one million kilometers, nothing was working anymore and it smelled like hell in there. This bus wouldn't even get a chance in Belgium, but in Bolivia it is all they have. Of course, there wasn't a paved road, so we were constantly asking ourselfs when the weels would fell off or when the windows would break. Surprisingly, we made it to Villazon without any problem.
Next stage was to walk over the border en get all formalities done. The formalities at the Bolivian side were easy, but in La Quiaca on the Argentinan side, we had to stand in line for a luggage control. Every bag had to be opened. It took ages before we actually crossed the border... While we were waiting we met an Israelean girl that shared a taxi with us to the bus station of La Quiaca.
We immediately got a comfortable bus to Jujuy. It was so nice to ride on paved roads again and to sit in a bus where you don't have to bear the stench all the time.
In Jujuy we had real bad luck. still not recovered from Uyuni, we were really tired of sitting in busses all day. And we had to wait two hours until our last bus to Salta. Right before we left, Joke and I went to the bathroom while the Israelean girl was watching our backpacks. when we came back, Joke´s backpack was missing. Luckily enough not the big one, but a smaller backpack with an iPod, our travel guides, books, a notebook, sunglasses, some usb sticks with pictures and other small stuff... After the hard days in Bolivia, this was too much for Joke and she crashed. Nice detail: this all happened 45 minutes before her birthday...
The Israelean girl really felt bad and she told us that an old lady came to ask her a question. This is quite a common approach in South-America: an old lady asks something and while you´re distracted for a few seconds, someone else takes away your stuff. She even offered us to pay for the loss, but of course it wasn´t her fault... We learnt a valuable lesson: never leave your stuff alone, even if there is someone to watch it.
So our first idea of Argentina wasn´t really nice. But we still had our passports, money, credit cards and our camera... so time to forget all this and to enjoy the last weeks of our trip.
Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)
The promising highlight of our trip through Bolivia was going to be a 4-day trip to the Uyuni salt flats and the countless lagoons and volcanos in the deserted area of Southwest Bolivia. It is so remote that you can only go there by driving hours and hours in a 4X4. And believe me... you really need a 4X4, since there are no roads.
The success of this tour depends heavily on the agency. Before we came to Tupiza we heard good stories about Tupiza tours and especially about their English speaking guide Archie. And for once, we were very lucky: we got Archie as our guide/cook and Martin as our driver, Ttwo great Bolivians that did everything to nake these four days as pleasant as possible.
We shared the 4X4 with two Australian girls that appeared to be very nice. This is not to be underestimated, since you don't only share the car, but also bedroom, toilets, food, etc... Basically it's four days without any privacy. But we had good fun with them, so that wasn't really a problem.
Going on this tour is quite an adventure. The facilities in this part of Bolivia are really poor, so there are no hotels, no restaurants, nothing... The two first places where we spent the night were basic, very very basic! A room with four beds and 2 smelly and dusty blankets on each bed, that was it! No closet, no sheets, no showers, no heating, nothing... The whole tour takes place between 3500m and 5000m altitude, which means the nights are freezing. We slept three nights with all our clothes on, including our hats and gloves. Not that easy I must say... The last night we spent in a 'hotel' conpletely made out of salt and - best of all - they had hot showers! You cannot believe how this feels after three days and two nights in your clothes. The downside was that there was only electricity from 7 pm to 10 pm, which was a bit weird. Especially because we had to leave at 5 am, when it's still completely dark.
The nature during these four days is hardly to be described: colored lagoons full of flamingos, hot deserts, inpressive semi-active volcanos, boiling geishers, snall villages without electric power or running water, etc... But the most impressive was the salt flat on the last day. The Salar de Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flat and it's one of the largest lakes in South-America. We drove one hour to the middle of the lake very early in the morning. Then, during a magnificent sunrise, the white lake slowely became visible. We never saw something like this before and we'll probably never see it again. Truly a unique view in the world.
We visited the Incahuasi island with its huge cactuses, we spent more than one hour taking funny pictures (during which Joke stepped through the salt layer with one leg).
Although it was so basic (really a milestone for Joke), we had a great time. Stunning nature, fantastic guide, very skilled driver, delicious food (unbelievable how Archie made this food in these harsh circumstances), good Australian company and an experience we'll never forget!
The success of this tour depends heavily on the agency. Before we came to Tupiza we heard good stories about Tupiza tours and especially about their English speaking guide Archie. And for once, we were very lucky: we got Archie as our guide/cook and Martin as our driver, Ttwo great Bolivians that did everything to nake these four days as pleasant as possible.
We shared the 4X4 with two Australian girls that appeared to be very nice. This is not to be underestimated, since you don't only share the car, but also bedroom, toilets, food, etc... Basically it's four days without any privacy. But we had good fun with them, so that wasn't really a problem.
Going on this tour is quite an adventure. The facilities in this part of Bolivia are really poor, so there are no hotels, no restaurants, nothing... The two first places where we spent the night were basic, very very basic! A room with four beds and 2 smelly and dusty blankets on each bed, that was it! No closet, no sheets, no showers, no heating, nothing... The whole tour takes place between 3500m and 5000m altitude, which means the nights are freezing. We slept three nights with all our clothes on, including our hats and gloves. Not that easy I must say... The last night we spent in a 'hotel' conpletely made out of salt and - best of all - they had hot showers! You cannot believe how this feels after three days and two nights in your clothes. The downside was that there was only electricity from 7 pm to 10 pm, which was a bit weird. Especially because we had to leave at 5 am, when it's still completely dark.
The nature during these four days is hardly to be described: colored lagoons full of flamingos, hot deserts, inpressive semi-active volcanos, boiling geishers, snall villages without electric power or running water, etc... But the most impressive was the salt flat on the last day. The Salar de Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flat and it's one of the largest lakes in South-America. We drove one hour to the middle of the lake very early in the morning. Then, during a magnificent sunrise, the white lake slowely became visible. We never saw something like this before and we'll probably never see it again. Truly a unique view in the world.
We visited the Incahuasi island with its huge cactuses, we spent more than one hour taking funny pictures (during which Joke stepped through the salt layer with one leg).
Although it was so basic (really a milestone for Joke), we had a great time. Stunning nature, fantastic guide, very skilled driver, delicious food (unbelievable how Archie made this food in these harsh circumstances), good Australian company and an experience we'll never forget!
Tupiza (Bolivia)
After the terrible busride, we arrived in Tupiza at 4 AM. Not really the best time to arrive in a small Bolivian town. Luckily for us, a local girl called a taxi and our hotel was on her way, so we got a ride to our hostal. In this area, all hotels and hostals close at 10 PM, because there is no reason to be outside after this time. So the taxi dropped us in front of a closed hostal and drove away. We were so happy to see a sleepy concierge who opened the door for us. Finally a confortable bed... and we didn't even have to pay for that night, because it was so late! Very nice people, these Bolivians...
Tupiza is one of the biggest cities in Southwest Bolivia, but with only a handful of hostals, one decent 'restaurant' and no bars, this is rather relative. Tupiza's surroundings are like the Wild West, but more spectacular: deep canyons, red colored mountains, countless cactuses and fabulous views. It is here where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid spent their last months before being killed by local miners. If there's one place in South-America where you want to throw your legs over a horse, it's this place. So that's what we did. Although I never sat on a horse before, our horses went into canter and gallop from time to time. A bit scary on your first time, but unforgettable.
Our stay was a bit overshadowed by a small money problem. There are no ATMs in Tupiza, only 2 banks where you can get cash advance on your credit card. However, there was a connection issue with Mastercard, wo we spent half a day getting money, without success. There we were... in the middle of nowhere without enough money to pay for our hotel and activities. We didn't even have enough money for a bus ticket to another town. The nice people of our hotel / travel agency convinced us their was an ATM in Uyuni, where we would pass on our 4 day trip to the salt flats. So with a huge open bill, we booked our tour (which we were going to do anyway), hoping that the damn ATM in Uyuni would work.
Tupiza is one of the biggest cities in Southwest Bolivia, but with only a handful of hostals, one decent 'restaurant' and no bars, this is rather relative. Tupiza's surroundings are like the Wild West, but more spectacular: deep canyons, red colored mountains, countless cactuses and fabulous views. It is here where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid spent their last months before being killed by local miners. If there's one place in South-America where you want to throw your legs over a horse, it's this place. So that's what we did. Although I never sat on a horse before, our horses went into canter and gallop from time to time. A bit scary on your first time, but unforgettable.
Our stay was a bit overshadowed by a small money problem. There are no ATMs in Tupiza, only 2 banks where you can get cash advance on your credit card. However, there was a connection issue with Mastercard, wo we spent half a day getting money, without success. There we were... in the middle of nowhere without enough money to pay for our hotel and activities. We didn't even have enough money for a bus ticket to another town. The nice people of our hotel / travel agency convinced us their was an ATM in Uyuni, where we would pass on our 4 day trip to the salt flats. So with a huge open bill, we booked our tour (which we were going to do anyway), hoping that the damn ATM in Uyuni would work.
Sucre (Bolivia)
To avoid the crappy Bolivian roads and busses, we took a plane to Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia. Compared to the gigantic and polluted city of La Paz, Sucre is much smaller and certainly much more relaxed. It is often referred to as the white city, because of its white colonial houses and churches. At first sight, Sucre looks quite wealthy, but if you move away from the main square (which is beatiful by the way), you encounter a lot of beggars and poor people. The queues at the welfare offices are huge! Well, poverty is everywhere in Bolivia...
The city center is rather small, so we took the Dino Truck to Cal Orkco, the worlds largest collection of dinosaur footprints on a 70 degree wall, which used to be a lake wall before the Andes started to rise. Really cool to see these real trails of different dinos that we only know from Jurassic Park.
Although we had a very nice hostal, we saw enough of the city after 2 days, so we went searching for a decent busride to Tupiza. However, in Bolivia it is very hard to find a bus with a toilet, which is a huge problem for Joke, who must have the the worlds smallest bladder. But I can't blame her: on this 10 hour busride, they only stop once after 3 hours. After then, you have to hold it 7 hours. Combine that with the bumpy unpaved roads and you can imagine what a nice trip this is! :-)
The city center is rather small, so we took the Dino Truck to Cal Orkco, the worlds largest collection of dinosaur footprints on a 70 degree wall, which used to be a lake wall before the Andes started to rise. Really cool to see these real trails of different dinos that we only know from Jurassic Park.
Although we had a very nice hostal, we saw enough of the city after 2 days, so we went searching for a decent busride to Tupiza. However, in Bolivia it is very hard to find a bus with a toilet, which is a huge problem for Joke, who must have the the worlds smallest bladder. But I can't blame her: on this 10 hour busride, they only stop once after 3 hours. After then, you have to hold it 7 hours. Combine that with the bumpy unpaved roads and you can imagine what a nice trip this is! :-)
maandag 22 maart 2010
"We survived the world's most dangerous road" (Bolivia)
Both the internet and our beloved Lonely Planet were very positive on one activity in the La Paz area: a 64 km downhill ride on the world's most dangerous road. Mountainbiking is one of my favorite sports (Thomas), so I really wanted to do this. It took me some time to convince Joke, but I managed to push through... :-) So we went to the best and most recommended company (Gravity) and we booked the trip. There was no way back...
The North Yungas Road leading from La Paz to Coroico or the ´death road´ as the locals name it, didn't steal its name. On average, between 200 and 300 people die on that road... every year! However, in the ten years that bike rides are organised, only 15 people died. So the bike is probably the safest vehicle to ride this road that goes from the Bolivian Andes (4700m) all the way down to the Amazon basin (1000m).
Both guides that day were Americans and one of them had a guy dying in his arms 10 months ago. Not exactly the kind of stories you want to hear before the ride.
After a 1,5 truck ride to the top, we were given our 3000$ bikes. They were fantastic, way better than my own bike and in perfect shape. While we were having our first briefing, it started to snow. It was awfully cold, so we put on all our clothes we brought. Then, a bit nervous and scared, we started the ride.
It took us 5 hours in total to get down, with lots of stops on the way for additional explanations on the upcoming sections and to take off some clothes. There´s around 30ºC difference between the start and the end, so that was really necessary.
The ride itself was absolutely amazing. On average the road is 3m wide, with perpendicular clifs of over 800 meters and, of course, no safety rails. Pretty scary, especially if a vehicle crosses you. Unlike one would expect, bikers have to take the left side of the road, that is the side of the clif. So you're riding all the time within 1m from 'death'. It's impossible to describe the magnificent views, the countless crosses for the people who lost their life on this roadm the beautiful waterfalls that fall over the road and the wilderness of the jungle that is coming closer every minute (including the humidity, the heath and the mosquitos).
The ride is not that difficult, but consequences of an accident are for 99% fatal. The fact that you descent 3700m in 64km means that you gain a lot of speed at some sections. I (Thomas) was riding right after the guide and of course, I didn't want him to ride away. However, unlike him, I don't know every inch of that road, so at one point I slipped, lost control, went over my steering bar and ended up in a narrow stream next to the road. Luckily for me, it was the good side of the road. On the other side, there was a clif of over 300m. After some basic medical care, I was able to continue, covered with scratches and with a small hole in my leg that will be a nice scar for life.
And what about Joke? She surprised me with her courage and her capacity to follow at high speed, even on the few killing uphill parts. Although she was the one that had doubts in the beginning, she flew over all the other chicken girls and had the time of her life. Once again, she made me very proud... (and no, she didn't force me to write this!)
It was the undisputed highlight of our trip so far and I would recommend it to everybody who goes to Bolivia, except for the fall of course. Though, now that I think of it... getting a scar on the world's most dangerous road... how cool is that!!!
The North Yungas Road leading from La Paz to Coroico or the ´death road´ as the locals name it, didn't steal its name. On average, between 200 and 300 people die on that road... every year! However, in the ten years that bike rides are organised, only 15 people died. So the bike is probably the safest vehicle to ride this road that goes from the Bolivian Andes (4700m) all the way down to the Amazon basin (1000m).
Both guides that day were Americans and one of them had a guy dying in his arms 10 months ago. Not exactly the kind of stories you want to hear before the ride.
After a 1,5 truck ride to the top, we were given our 3000$ bikes. They were fantastic, way better than my own bike and in perfect shape. While we were having our first briefing, it started to snow. It was awfully cold, so we put on all our clothes we brought. Then, a bit nervous and scared, we started the ride.
It took us 5 hours in total to get down, with lots of stops on the way for additional explanations on the upcoming sections and to take off some clothes. There´s around 30ºC difference between the start and the end, so that was really necessary.
The ride itself was absolutely amazing. On average the road is 3m wide, with perpendicular clifs of over 800 meters and, of course, no safety rails. Pretty scary, especially if a vehicle crosses you. Unlike one would expect, bikers have to take the left side of the road, that is the side of the clif. So you're riding all the time within 1m from 'death'. It's impossible to describe the magnificent views, the countless crosses for the people who lost their life on this roadm the beautiful waterfalls that fall over the road and the wilderness of the jungle that is coming closer every minute (including the humidity, the heath and the mosquitos).
The ride is not that difficult, but consequences of an accident are for 99% fatal. The fact that you descent 3700m in 64km means that you gain a lot of speed at some sections. I (Thomas) was riding right after the guide and of course, I didn't want him to ride away. However, unlike him, I don't know every inch of that road, so at one point I slipped, lost control, went over my steering bar and ended up in a narrow stream next to the road. Luckily for me, it was the good side of the road. On the other side, there was a clif of over 300m. After some basic medical care, I was able to continue, covered with scratches and with a small hole in my leg that will be a nice scar for life.
And what about Joke? She surprised me with her courage and her capacity to follow at high speed, even on the few killing uphill parts. Although she was the one that had doubts in the beginning, she flew over all the other chicken girls and had the time of her life. Once again, she made me very proud... (and no, she didn't force me to write this!)
It was the undisputed highlight of our trip so far and I would recommend it to everybody who goes to Bolivia, except for the fall of course. Though, now that I think of it... getting a scar on the world's most dangerous road... how cool is that!!!
La Paz (Bolivia)
La Paz is dizzying in every aspect. Often wrongly described as the world's highest national capital (Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia), it is a gigantic city in the form of a bowl, surrounded by some of the Andes' highest peaks.
We first had a hostel in the historic (and touristic) center of the city. That area is quite a culture shock for us, spoiled Europeans. There are (very) steep, narrow streets with more cars than they can manage, a lot of poverty and pollution and litterally thousands of people lilving, working and eating on the streets. We were really hungry that first evening, so we walked into a random restaurant, where we met the Bolivian way of doing business. After ordering the food, the only waitress in that place left the restaurant for half an hour and finally came back with our dishes. All that time, there was nobody to serve people or to take orders. And where did our food come from? Who can tell...
La Paz is really big, so you have to do a lot of walking if you want to see the interesting places and miradors. If you know there's 1km difference in altitude between the highest part and the lower suburbs, it's no surprise that there´s a lot of climbing involved. Although we're pretty used to the height right now, we still feel like we're dying several times a day.
We heard nice stories about the world's highest curry house serving the world's hottest vindaloo. If you can finish the dish, you get a free t-shirt. Of course, Thomas had to try it. I'm not sure weather or not it is the world's hottest vindaloo, but damn... for sure it's the hottest thing I ever ate, beating all the spicy stuff I had in Thailand. After struggling with every bite, crying many tears, using all paper tissues that were available, I finished it. I didn't enjoy it at all, but hey... I'll do everything for a free 1$ t-shirt.
We first had a hostel in the historic (and touristic) center of the city. That area is quite a culture shock for us, spoiled Europeans. There are (very) steep, narrow streets with more cars than they can manage, a lot of poverty and pollution and litterally thousands of people lilving, working and eating on the streets. We were really hungry that first evening, so we walked into a random restaurant, where we met the Bolivian way of doing business. After ordering the food, the only waitress in that place left the restaurant for half an hour and finally came back with our dishes. All that time, there was nobody to serve people or to take orders. And where did our food come from? Who can tell...
La Paz is really big, so you have to do a lot of walking if you want to see the interesting places and miradors. If you know there's 1km difference in altitude between the highest part and the lower suburbs, it's no surprise that there´s a lot of climbing involved. Although we're pretty used to the height right now, we still feel like we're dying several times a day.
We heard nice stories about the world's highest curry house serving the world's hottest vindaloo. If you can finish the dish, you get a free t-shirt. Of course, Thomas had to try it. I'm not sure weather or not it is the world's hottest vindaloo, but damn... for sure it's the hottest thing I ever ate, beating all the spicy stuff I had in Thailand. After struggling with every bite, crying many tears, using all paper tissues that were available, I finished it. I didn't enjoy it at all, but hey... I'll do everything for a free 1$ t-shirt.
Copacabana & Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)
Crossing the border is a little more conplex than in Europe. Although we booked a direct bus from Puno to Copacabana, we had to get out at the Peruvian side of the border, get all formalities done, walk accross the border, take care of the Bolivian formalities and finally get on a second bus to Copacabana. Direct my ass...
Once arrived, it took us almost a full day to realize that Bolivia is in another time zone than Peru. After travelling more than 2 weeks, it's hard to know which day we are, so how on earth are we supposed to know in which time zone we are?!?
Everybody knows the name Copacabana, either from the famous Brazilian beach or from the crappy Barry Manilow song. However, few people know that both of them are named after this small, cosy and chilling village on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca.
A Morish cathedral is dominating this village (after spending 1,5 years in Granada, we zere not that impressed! ;-)). The cathedral houses a special statue of the virgen Maria that is supposed to have special healing powers. This made Copacabana the nr 1 destination for South-American pelgrims. It is so important for them that a replica of this church was made on a nice Brazilian beach...
Travelling through South-America's poorest country has its advantages. Peru was already cheap, but Bolivia is even cheaper. We found a beautiful hostel and we decided to threat ourselves. We took the suite: a nice room with its own veranda with a hammock and amazing views on the lake and on the village. Should be one of the most expensive rooms in town, but for only 25€ a night... why not!!
There´s hardly any point in going to Copacabana without visiting Isla Del Sol, the birthplace of Manco Capak, so pretty important for the Inkas. So we took a boat early in the morning, but we found it a bit disappointing. The island is quite basic, no tourist information, no guides, nothing. We didn´t bring our Lonely Planetm so the only thing we could do was walking around on the island. No too far of course, because no way we were going to miss the last boat back to the mainland.
We intended to stay a couple of days, but we saw enough islands the past few days. So earlier than planned, we took the bus to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world.
Once arrived, it took us almost a full day to realize that Bolivia is in another time zone than Peru. After travelling more than 2 weeks, it's hard to know which day we are, so how on earth are we supposed to know in which time zone we are?!?
Everybody knows the name Copacabana, either from the famous Brazilian beach or from the crappy Barry Manilow song. However, few people know that both of them are named after this small, cosy and chilling village on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca.
A Morish cathedral is dominating this village (after spending 1,5 years in Granada, we zere not that impressed! ;-)). The cathedral houses a special statue of the virgen Maria that is supposed to have special healing powers. This made Copacabana the nr 1 destination for South-American pelgrims. It is so important for them that a replica of this church was made on a nice Brazilian beach...
Travelling through South-America's poorest country has its advantages. Peru was already cheap, but Bolivia is even cheaper. We found a beautiful hostel and we decided to threat ourselves. We took the suite: a nice room with its own veranda with a hammock and amazing views on the lake and on the village. Should be one of the most expensive rooms in town, but for only 25€ a night... why not!!
There´s hardly any point in going to Copacabana without visiting Isla Del Sol, the birthplace of Manco Capak, so pretty important for the Inkas. So we took a boat early in the morning, but we found it a bit disappointing. The island is quite basic, no tourist information, no guides, nothing. We didn´t bring our Lonely Planetm so the only thing we could do was walking around on the island. No too far of course, because no way we were going to miss the last boat back to the mainland.
We intended to stay a couple of days, but we saw enough islands the past few days. So earlier than planned, we took the bus to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world.
zondag 14 maart 2010
Puno and Lake Titicaca (Peru)
Cusco to Puno
For once, we didn't take a night bus to travel to Puno. The route Cusco-Puno is full of ancient sites from both Inka and pre-Inka times, so we took a special bus that stops at the main interesting places. That bus included a cool overenthousiastic guide who tried to speak English with an American accent. Very funny...
We saw the magnificent Jesuit church of Andahuaylillas with its frescos and golden decorations. We also stopped in Raqchi, where the ruins of the Vinacocha temple are located. This huge temple was historically more important than Machu Picchu and was located on the same Inka trail. One man was responsible for this: Pachacuteq. Unbelievable what this man achieved: he expanded the Inka empire to an area reaching from Colombia to the deserts of northern Chili, taking over much of the central Andes and the most important temples and trails were built under his government. The fact that he achieved all this through cruel and bloody wars... well, let's not talk about that...
Before arriving in Puno, we passed through Juliaca, by far the most ugly city we've ever seen. With its 300.000 inhabitants, it's one of the biggest cities in southern Peru, but it's a complete chaos. Unfinished buildings, unpaved roads, no garbage recollection, lots of crime and the main economic activity is illegal trade of cheap Bolivian products. The reason of all this is that nobody pays taxes... We were so glad that we skipped this city on our tour.
The first impression of Puno was a bit dissapointing. There's absolutely nothing to see so we were told by the friendly lady of the hostel. The only reason people travel to Puno is to visit some islands on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. So that's what we did...
Floating Uros islands and Taquila island
The floating islands of Uros became famous after research done by Jacques Cousteau. In the late 60's, he discovered around 60 new species in this area of the lake. This was a reason for the government to make this part a national reserve.
After 30 minutes by boat, we arrived on the Uros islands, welcomed by the inhabitants who still live as they did for the past thousands of years. These islands are made by the people themselves, which makes them 'floating'. We got a nice explanation on how they use reeds to build these islands, boats, furniture, etc... Very strange feeling to stand on 'fake' islands made out of plants. It certainly is a unique place in the world...
We also visited the Taquila island, two and a half hours by boat. Entering this island is like going back in time: no cars, no bikes, no paved roads, etc... We had to climb this island (which is actually a small mountain), which was not easy in the afternoon heath. After enjoying breathtaking views on the lake, we had to descend 500 steps to go back to the boat.
There are other nice islands, but they're closer to the Bolivian side. Tomorrow we cross the border to Copacabana...
For once, we didn't take a night bus to travel to Puno. The route Cusco-Puno is full of ancient sites from both Inka and pre-Inka times, so we took a special bus that stops at the main interesting places. That bus included a cool overenthousiastic guide who tried to speak English with an American accent. Very funny...
We saw the magnificent Jesuit church of Andahuaylillas with its frescos and golden decorations. We also stopped in Raqchi, where the ruins of the Vinacocha temple are located. This huge temple was historically more important than Machu Picchu and was located on the same Inka trail. One man was responsible for this: Pachacuteq. Unbelievable what this man achieved: he expanded the Inka empire to an area reaching from Colombia to the deserts of northern Chili, taking over much of the central Andes and the most important temples and trails were built under his government. The fact that he achieved all this through cruel and bloody wars... well, let's not talk about that...
Before arriving in Puno, we passed through Juliaca, by far the most ugly city we've ever seen. With its 300.000 inhabitants, it's one of the biggest cities in southern Peru, but it's a complete chaos. Unfinished buildings, unpaved roads, no garbage recollection, lots of crime and the main economic activity is illegal trade of cheap Bolivian products. The reason of all this is that nobody pays taxes... We were so glad that we skipped this city on our tour.
The first impression of Puno was a bit dissapointing. There's absolutely nothing to see so we were told by the friendly lady of the hostel. The only reason people travel to Puno is to visit some islands on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. So that's what we did...
Floating Uros islands and Taquila island
The floating islands of Uros became famous after research done by Jacques Cousteau. In the late 60's, he discovered around 60 new species in this area of the lake. This was a reason for the government to make this part a national reserve.
After 30 minutes by boat, we arrived on the Uros islands, welcomed by the inhabitants who still live as they did for the past thousands of years. These islands are made by the people themselves, which makes them 'floating'. We got a nice explanation on how they use reeds to build these islands, boats, furniture, etc... Very strange feeling to stand on 'fake' islands made out of plants. It certainly is a unique place in the world...
We also visited the Taquila island, two and a half hours by boat. Entering this island is like going back in time: no cars, no bikes, no paved roads, etc... We had to climb this island (which is actually a small mountain), which was not easy in the afternoon heath. After enjoying breathtaking views on the lake, we had to descend 500 steps to go back to the boat.
There are other nice islands, but they're closer to the Bolivian side. Tomorrow we cross the border to Copacabana...
vrijdag 12 maart 2010
Cusco (Peru)
Arrival
After a 10h bus ride we arrived in what was once the capital city of the mighty Inka empire: Cusco. Founded in the 13th century by the legendary Inka warrior Manco Capac, it is now the cultural capital of Peru, surrounded by the impressive Sacred Valley and numerous ancient sites. Here you can see that these people were great mathematicians, ingeniers, constructors and astreologists.
We arrived in Cusco city around six in the morning, where somebody was supposed to pick us up from the bus station. Of course, nobody was there... Welcome to Peru! :-)
Two weeks before we left, we found a nice hostel trough a Belgian guy who is partially living in Peru. Since we were planning to stay here a couple of days, we wanted to be sure that we had a good place to stay. The hostel was really good: very friendly people, nice breakfasts with fresh food, spaceous rooms with hot showers (not obvious in South-America) and ten meters from the Plaza de Armas, the heart of the city.
After our breakfast, we had to go to the pharmacists. The first day we were in Lima, we both got sunburned. Of course Joke's sunburn kept ketting worse, so she got a special ointment and had to wear a scarf for several days (as you can see on the pictures). Luckily enough, there's a shop with scarfs evey five footsteps.
We soon noticed that five days weren't enough to see everything in this nice city. The main reason why we wanted to stay some days, was to visit the world famous Machu Picchu. Being one of the seven wonders of the world, this is the main attraction in Peru. However, as you might know, the area around Cusco suffered from serious storms, causing the only railway to this site to be completely destroyed by a mud flood. After being rediscovered around 80 years ago, this site never closed to the public. Of course, now that we are here it is closed for two months. How much bad luck can we have??? We were both really disappointed because of that, but on the other hand there's so much more to visit that is usually skipped by tourists.
We immediately did a city tour the first day, visiting the four main Inka sites around Cusco: Saqsayhuaman (also known as 'sexy woman'), Tambomachay, Pukapukara and Q'enqo. Very impressive how these ancient people constructed their temples, taking into account the position of the sun, mountains, etc... They even created a technique to make their buildings resistant to earthquakes. Sadly enough, most of the Inca empire (and its buildings) were distroyed by the Spaniards five centuries ago, otherwise things would be different now in Chili.
We ended that first day in a good restaurant where we had some typical Andean meals: Aji de Gallina (chicken in a creamy yellow sauce, olives and parmesan) and Cuy (roasted guinea pig). Although a lot of people refuse to eat cuy, it's a delicious peace of meat.
Sacred Valley
Of course, we didn't want to miss a trip to the Sacred Valley of the Inkas. This valley was appreciated by the Inkas for its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was also one of the empire's main areas for taking advantage of the natural wealth, especially to grow potatoes, corn and coca plants.
For our visit to the Valle Sagrado, we had the same guide as with the city tour of the previous day. He seemed to run on Duracell batteries. He kept on talking, alternating Spanish and English, without hesitating. Nice to get this much information, although it was a bit tiring. Every penny counts, so they put as many people in the bus as possible. One Danish guy didn't even had a seat, he sat on a pillow in the front of the bus. And our overactive guide stood up all day, for several hours of riding on bumpy roads!
We started in Ollantaytambo, an attractive little town with a nice archeological site. It was once the royal estate of the greatest Inka emperor in history: Pachacuteq. Here we had to climb a lot (and we mean A LOT) of stairs. Not that easy, because of the altitude (around 3000m above sea level). When you're at such a hight, in combination with the heath, you get less oxigen, so the smallest effort really exhausts you. Have you ever had the feeling your lungs were about to collaps? Well, I(Joke) did! This despite my wonderful condition. :-) Nevertheless, it was all worth it! What a great view! And again, it was very interesting to see how the different temples were positioned. When the sun comes up, it immediately enlightens the temple of the sun (the big wall you can see in the pictures), etc...
After our lunch in Urubamba, we went to Pisac to see another temple. However, more interesting were the wide pre-Inka terraces that were used to grow vegetables. Which vegetables were grown, depended on the altitude of the terrace: the lower ones were used to grow coca plants, the higher ones contained potatoes and corn.
Finally, we visited Chinchero that has a beautiful church were elements from both Christian and Inka religions were merged. We also saw some local women explaining how they extracted different colors from natural elements and how they use this to color their alpaca wool.
Maras and Moray
After a relaxing day in Cusco city, we went to the salt mines of Maras. These mines are owned by the people of the nearby town and every weekend they come to collect the salt minerals. The salt is not only used to cook, but also for therapeutic reasons and to create small souvenirs.
Next stop were the enormous circular terraces in Moray. They were used to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. The Inkas believed this was a fertile region, because of the two hills in the back that - with a little imagination - look like female breasts.
Today we took a day off to hang around in the city and to buy some souvenirs. Tomorrow we are heading to Puno, near the Titicaca Lake, our last stop in Peru...
After a 10h bus ride we arrived in what was once the capital city of the mighty Inka empire: Cusco. Founded in the 13th century by the legendary Inka warrior Manco Capac, it is now the cultural capital of Peru, surrounded by the impressive Sacred Valley and numerous ancient sites. Here you can see that these people were great mathematicians, ingeniers, constructors and astreologists.
We arrived in Cusco city around six in the morning, where somebody was supposed to pick us up from the bus station. Of course, nobody was there... Welcome to Peru! :-)
Two weeks before we left, we found a nice hostel trough a Belgian guy who is partially living in Peru. Since we were planning to stay here a couple of days, we wanted to be sure that we had a good place to stay. The hostel was really good: very friendly people, nice breakfasts with fresh food, spaceous rooms with hot showers (not obvious in South-America) and ten meters from the Plaza de Armas, the heart of the city.
After our breakfast, we had to go to the pharmacists. The first day we were in Lima, we both got sunburned. Of course Joke's sunburn kept ketting worse, so she got a special ointment and had to wear a scarf for several days (as you can see on the pictures). Luckily enough, there's a shop with scarfs evey five footsteps.
We soon noticed that five days weren't enough to see everything in this nice city. The main reason why we wanted to stay some days, was to visit the world famous Machu Picchu. Being one of the seven wonders of the world, this is the main attraction in Peru. However, as you might know, the area around Cusco suffered from serious storms, causing the only railway to this site to be completely destroyed by a mud flood. After being rediscovered around 80 years ago, this site never closed to the public. Of course, now that we are here it is closed for two months. How much bad luck can we have??? We were both really disappointed because of that, but on the other hand there's so much more to visit that is usually skipped by tourists.
We immediately did a city tour the first day, visiting the four main Inka sites around Cusco: Saqsayhuaman (also known as 'sexy woman'), Tambomachay, Pukapukara and Q'enqo. Very impressive how these ancient people constructed their temples, taking into account the position of the sun, mountains, etc... They even created a technique to make their buildings resistant to earthquakes. Sadly enough, most of the Inca empire (and its buildings) were distroyed by the Spaniards five centuries ago, otherwise things would be different now in Chili.
We ended that first day in a good restaurant where we had some typical Andean meals: Aji de Gallina (chicken in a creamy yellow sauce, olives and parmesan) and Cuy (roasted guinea pig). Although a lot of people refuse to eat cuy, it's a delicious peace of meat.
Sacred Valley
Of course, we didn't want to miss a trip to the Sacred Valley of the Inkas. This valley was appreciated by the Inkas for its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was also one of the empire's main areas for taking advantage of the natural wealth, especially to grow potatoes, corn and coca plants.
For our visit to the Valle Sagrado, we had the same guide as with the city tour of the previous day. He seemed to run on Duracell batteries. He kept on talking, alternating Spanish and English, without hesitating. Nice to get this much information, although it was a bit tiring. Every penny counts, so they put as many people in the bus as possible. One Danish guy didn't even had a seat, he sat on a pillow in the front of the bus. And our overactive guide stood up all day, for several hours of riding on bumpy roads!
We started in Ollantaytambo, an attractive little town with a nice archeological site. It was once the royal estate of the greatest Inka emperor in history: Pachacuteq. Here we had to climb a lot (and we mean A LOT) of stairs. Not that easy, because of the altitude (around 3000m above sea level). When you're at such a hight, in combination with the heath, you get less oxigen, so the smallest effort really exhausts you. Have you ever had the feeling your lungs were about to collaps? Well, I(Joke) did! This despite my wonderful condition. :-) Nevertheless, it was all worth it! What a great view! And again, it was very interesting to see how the different temples were positioned. When the sun comes up, it immediately enlightens the temple of the sun (the big wall you can see in the pictures), etc...
After our lunch in Urubamba, we went to Pisac to see another temple. However, more interesting were the wide pre-Inka terraces that were used to grow vegetables. Which vegetables were grown, depended on the altitude of the terrace: the lower ones were used to grow coca plants, the higher ones contained potatoes and corn.
Finally, we visited Chinchero that has a beautiful church were elements from both Christian and Inka religions were merged. We also saw some local women explaining how they extracted different colors from natural elements and how they use this to color their alpaca wool.
Maras and Moray
After a relaxing day in Cusco city, we went to the salt mines of Maras. These mines are owned by the people of the nearby town and every weekend they come to collect the salt minerals. The salt is not only used to cook, but also for therapeutic reasons and to create small souvenirs.
Next stop were the enormous circular terraces in Moray. They were used to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. The Inkas believed this was a fertile region, because of the two hills in the back that - with a little imagination - look like female breasts.
Today we took a day off to hang around in the city and to buy some souvenirs. Tomorrow we are heading to Puno, near the Titicaca Lake, our last stop in Peru...
woensdag 10 maart 2010
Arequipa and the Colca Canyon (Peru)
"When the moon separated from the earth, it forgot to take Arequipa". This is how locals describe their city, which is surrounded by mountains, volcanos and huge deserted areas.
We found a nice hostel in the city center, so we were finally able to take a shower after almost 2 days and believe me... that was really necessary!
The center was beautiful: lots of chuches, a huge cathedral, monestaries and colonial-style houses. We visited the main monestary, which was like a small village inside the city. Although it was created just after the invasion of the Spanish conquistadores, there were still nuns living in pretty basic circumstances, avoiding all direct contact with 'normal' people.
Again we were impressed by the local cuisine. The rocoto relleno (hot pepper stuffed with lama meat) was amazing and flushing it away with a good Arequipeña (the local beer) was even better. And all this for only 12€... for the both of us!
One day in that city was more than enough and we were really looking forward to check out the beatiful surroundings of Arequipa. We booked a 2-day guided tour to the Colca Canyon. After picking up all the people for the tour, everybody had to present themself, which was followed by a big applause. Interesting to see how many nationalities you meet on such a trip and quite stereotype as well: there was the big, very loud American who all knew best, two gigling chinese girls with gigantic cameras, a crazy guy from Argentina with a big mouth and further more some decent people from Europe.
During the first day, we were going to reach 5000 meters above sea level, so the guide told us to chew coca leafs to avoid altitude sickness. Never had such a bad taste in my mouth, but in the end it helped a lot. Joke didn't want to touch it ever again and in the afternoon, she felt a bit bad. The nature during these two days was awesome. On an altitude of 5 km, we had great views on the volcanos. We saw thousands of lamas and alpacas and deserted landscapes. We went to the world's deepest canyon (over 4000m deep), which was according to the American in our group, also much prettier than the famous Grand Canyon.
The last day we woke up early to go for some condor spotting. In an area with several miradors, we had to wait more than an hour, but finally we saw four big condors flying through the canyon. They stayed with us for about ten minutes. Unforgetable...
We found a nice hostel in the city center, so we were finally able to take a shower after almost 2 days and believe me... that was really necessary!
The center was beautiful: lots of chuches, a huge cathedral, monestaries and colonial-style houses. We visited the main monestary, which was like a small village inside the city. Although it was created just after the invasion of the Spanish conquistadores, there were still nuns living in pretty basic circumstances, avoiding all direct contact with 'normal' people.
Again we were impressed by the local cuisine. The rocoto relleno (hot pepper stuffed with lama meat) was amazing and flushing it away with a good Arequipeña (the local beer) was even better. And all this for only 12€... for the both of us!
One day in that city was more than enough and we were really looking forward to check out the beatiful surroundings of Arequipa. We booked a 2-day guided tour to the Colca Canyon. After picking up all the people for the tour, everybody had to present themself, which was followed by a big applause. Interesting to see how many nationalities you meet on such a trip and quite stereotype as well: there was the big, very loud American who all knew best, two gigling chinese girls with gigantic cameras, a crazy guy from Argentina with a big mouth and further more some decent people from Europe.
During the first day, we were going to reach 5000 meters above sea level, so the guide told us to chew coca leafs to avoid altitude sickness. Never had such a bad taste in my mouth, but in the end it helped a lot. Joke didn't want to touch it ever again and in the afternoon, she felt a bit bad. The nature during these two days was awesome. On an altitude of 5 km, we had great views on the volcanos. We saw thousands of lamas and alpacas and deserted landscapes. We went to the world's deepest canyon (over 4000m deep), which was according to the American in our group, also much prettier than the famous Grand Canyon.
The last day we woke up early to go for some condor spotting. In an area with several miradors, we had to wait more than an hour, but finally we saw four big condors flying through the canyon. They stayed with us for about ten minutes. Unforgetable...
donderdag 4 maart 2010
Lima (Peru)
Ater a 2,5h flight to Madrid, 7h waiting in the airport and a 12h flight to Lima, we finally arrived in Peru. It was awfully cold in the plane, a gigantic difference with the hot and humid climate of Lima.
The first thing that we noticed after leaving the airport, was the terrible and chaotic traffic: lights are hardly respected, the lines that form the driving lanes are completely ignored and the horn is used at least twice per ten seconds. On top of that, the driver was talking a lot, paying more attention to us than to the traffic. Btw, this is very typical for the Peruvian people: they're all very open and interested in the Belgian weather and football league. Very remarkable is the fact that we understand these people perfectly, while we still face some problems understanding some of our spanish colleagues and friends. Although the South-American people speak slower, we still think that Andalucian all have a serious speaking disorder. :-)
Our hotel is located in Miraflores, a nice but touristic barrio in Lima. We spent the first day walking around on the cliffs, watching the pacific ocean and the paragliders flying over the shore, eating the typical Ceviche (marinated fish) and drinking the famous Pisco Sour. To get rid of that annoying jetlag, we went to bed quite early. The next day, we took a 20min taxi-ride to the old center of Lima, which is full of beatiful colonial buildings, an impressive cathedral (of course not like the Antwerp one, but pretty close). Further away from the touristic area, the city becomes chaotic, dirty and noisy. Not very interesting, but perfect to have a gigantic, marvellous 3euro meal. After being interviewed by students, we met some some locals who invited us for a drink. Joke didn't trust it, but I didn't expect any problems. 2 hours later, it appeared that Joke was right after all. We drank too much Pisco, ate great Alpaca (similar to a lama but smaller) and ended up paying for all of it. At least we had an interesting intercambio and a good meal. Afterwards we went home again, heading towards a first South-American hangover. Above all this, we had to switch rooms in the middle of the night, since our toilet decided to flood, leaving 2 cm of water in our room.
The third and final day in Lima, we went to visit Huaca Pucllana, an ancient temple that was once used to sacrifice women to please the moon and the ocean, between 200AC and 700AC. Climbing these ruins was quite tiring, so we went again to the seaside to relax a bit and to eat some Ceviche again.
Pictures will follow in the coming days, since we have to leave now for our 17h busride to Arequipa... Pff..
The first thing that we noticed after leaving the airport, was the terrible and chaotic traffic: lights are hardly respected, the lines that form the driving lanes are completely ignored and the horn is used at least twice per ten seconds. On top of that, the driver was talking a lot, paying more attention to us than to the traffic. Btw, this is very typical for the Peruvian people: they're all very open and interested in the Belgian weather and football league. Very remarkable is the fact that we understand these people perfectly, while we still face some problems understanding some of our spanish colleagues and friends. Although the South-American people speak slower, we still think that Andalucian all have a serious speaking disorder. :-)
Our hotel is located in Miraflores, a nice but touristic barrio in Lima. We spent the first day walking around on the cliffs, watching the pacific ocean and the paragliders flying over the shore, eating the typical Ceviche (marinated fish) and drinking the famous Pisco Sour. To get rid of that annoying jetlag, we went to bed quite early. The next day, we took a 20min taxi-ride to the old center of Lima, which is full of beatiful colonial buildings, an impressive cathedral (of course not like the Antwerp one, but pretty close). Further away from the touristic area, the city becomes chaotic, dirty and noisy. Not very interesting, but perfect to have a gigantic, marvellous 3euro meal. After being interviewed by students, we met some some locals who invited us for a drink. Joke didn't trust it, but I didn't expect any problems. 2 hours later, it appeared that Joke was right after all. We drank too much Pisco, ate great Alpaca (similar to a lama but smaller) and ended up paying for all of it. At least we had an interesting intercambio and a good meal. Afterwards we went home again, heading towards a first South-American hangover. Above all this, we had to switch rooms in the middle of the night, since our toilet decided to flood, leaving 2 cm of water in our room.
The third and final day in Lima, we went to visit Huaca Pucllana, an ancient temple that was once used to sacrifice women to please the moon and the ocean, between 200AC and 700AC. Climbing these ruins was quite tiring, so we went again to the seaside to relax a bit and to eat some Ceviche again.
Pictures will follow in the coming days, since we have to leave now for our 17h busride to Arequipa... Pff..
donderdag 18 februari 2010
The beginning
5 months… that’s the time that passed since we decided to make the trip of our life. After working 1,5 years in the beautiful city of Granada (Spain – Andalucia), it was time to move again to Belgium, but… with a small intermezzo in South-America. Well, define small… We decided to take 10 weeks off at work and to travel 8 weeks through that mysterious, yet very beautiful continent: South-America. For some – unknown – reason, I have been attracted to that region since a couple of years and finally now it’s the time to stop dreaming and start acting.
With the Lonely Planet guide of South-America always close to me, we started planning some weeks ago. Initially we had very wild plans as we wanted to see half of the continent in 8 weeks. However, after doing some research and reading, it soon became clear that, unless I put some fireworks in my ass and survive on Red Bull and dry coffee beans during our trip, this would be a mission impossible. So what’s left of our wild plans: Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Still a lot to cover, but at least it’s realistic this time. Some places that are definitely on our itinerary: Lima (because we arrive there), Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lago Titicaca, Unyuni salt lake, Salta, Ushuaia, Perrito Moreno, Iguacu falls and finally Buenos Aires, where we will take the plane back to Europe.
So… We took care of all the administrative things at work, we renewed our passports, we had 5 needles in our arms for the necessary vaccinations, we bought Malaria pills, we bought flights to Lima and, best of all, I have prepared a nice Excel with all our plans and expenses (can’t help it… I’m working in IT :-) ). So we’re pretty safe I guess… :-S
For a long time I doubted whether or not I should keep a blog about our trip. But since several friends, family members and colleagues claim that they will miss me so much, I decided to do it anyway. I know myself, so I don’t expect to write on a daily basis, but at least I’ll try to write down the unforgettable moments that we – hopefully – will have.
See you then!
With the Lonely Planet guide of South-America always close to me, we started planning some weeks ago. Initially we had very wild plans as we wanted to see half of the continent in 8 weeks. However, after doing some research and reading, it soon became clear that, unless I put some fireworks in my ass and survive on Red Bull and dry coffee beans during our trip, this would be a mission impossible. So what’s left of our wild plans: Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Still a lot to cover, but at least it’s realistic this time. Some places that are definitely on our itinerary: Lima (because we arrive there), Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lago Titicaca, Unyuni salt lake, Salta, Ushuaia, Perrito Moreno, Iguacu falls and finally Buenos Aires, where we will take the plane back to Europe.
So… We took care of all the administrative things at work, we renewed our passports, we had 5 needles in our arms for the necessary vaccinations, we bought Malaria pills, we bought flights to Lima and, best of all, I have prepared a nice Excel with all our plans and expenses (can’t help it… I’m working in IT :-) ). So we’re pretty safe I guess… :-S
For a long time I doubted whether or not I should keep a blog about our trip. But since several friends, family members and colleagues claim that they will miss me so much, I decided to do it anyway. I know myself, so I don’t expect to write on a daily basis, but at least I’ll try to write down the unforgettable moments that we – hopefully – will have.
See you then!
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