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!!!
maandag 22 maart 2010
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..
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