Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hej alle i jubelglade danskere, der ligesom jeg, nu hojlydt hepper paa Hvidt, Knudsen og Wilbecks rejehop! Jeg er selvfolgelig ked af ikke at kunne overvaere denne begivenhed live, men til gengaeld har jeg saa meget andet at glaede mig over her i mit toogtyvende-leveaar!
Tusind tak for alle de venlige hilsner og ord, jeg kan fortaelle at jeg havde en gennemfort fed fodselsdag!
Mere om det senere dog, for forst fortaeller jeg lidt om, hvad vi har bedrevet i Bolivia, Sydamerikas fattigste land!
Vores ophold i Bolivia, blev en del kortere end forst antaget! Tidligere paa turen havde vi blandt andet planlagt jungletur og bjergbestigning her, men som i ved er bjerget allerede besteget, og den bolivianske jungle er svaer at naa til, naar de tvivlsomme veje er omdannet til muder! Derfor (og paa grund af tidspres) besluttede vi os for et meget kort ophold i Bolivia!
Vores forste stop var i hovestaden La Paz, den er verdens hojeste er belliggende i lige knap 4000 meters hojde! Det kunne vi i den grad maerke, samtidig med at de trafikale problemer i La Paz er uudholdelige! Det fik nok begestjringen til lige at falde lidt, selvom La Paz faktisk er en meget spaendende by at opholde sig i. Samtidig oplevede igen et lille fald i priser i forhold til Peru, hvilket naturligvis var et behageligt pusterum for vores efterhaanden haardt traengte budget!
En af de ting vi for laengst havde besluttet at bruge penge paa i La Paz, var en cykeltur ned ad verdens saakaldte mest farlige vej! Om den virkelig er saa farlig som den bliver gjort til ved vi ikke, men der var da en del kors og monumenter der mindede cyklisterne om tidligere fatale ulykker! Vi startede dagen i 4600meters hojde og sluttede efter 62 kms korsel i 1100 meters hojde! Som i kan regne ud, skulle vi ikke traede mange gange i pedalerne den dag. Som man cykler og som dagen skrider frem oplever man utrolige skift i temperaturer, vejr og vegetation! Lidt ligesom Salkentay-trekket, her bare over en dag i stedet! Dag vi naade vores maal paa vores dobbel-suspenstion bikes var det tid til en laekker middag og en tur i poolen, behagelig maade at kole ned paa i det laekre vand, med udsigt til flotte jungle hojder!
Efter La paz tog vi sydpaa, men blev paa Bolivias Altiplano, som er et skyhojt flat platou i 4000 meters hojde, hvor hele det vestlige Bolivia befinder sig! Vi tog til Uyuni, som er startsted for en klassisk tur gennem Salar de Uyuni - Meget beromt som verdens storste saltso! Masser af backpackers kommer her hver dag for at opleve det helt igennem fantastiske landskab, som ikke har nogen lige her paa jorden! En tre dages tur skulle tage os til det nordostlige Chile, men for vi kunne tage afsted var det igen tid til af ligge i sengen, med daarlige maver! Bolivia er ikke ligefrem kendt for sin uovertrufne fodevare-hygiejne, og vi har efterhaanden har maveproblemer i laaaaaaaaaaaaaang tid! Anyways, vi tog da afsted dagen efter i vores Toyota landcruiser sammen med en fire andre! De naeste tre dage oplevede vi landskaber som vi ikke troede var muligt at finde her paa jorden. Forstedagen i saltsoen, var solbriller er en nodvendighed - Den straekker sig over ca.12000 kvadrat-kilometer!!! Det kridhvide salt blaender, men er samtidig hypnotisk tiltraekkende at se paa! I midten af det hele finder man en koraloe, hvor kaempe kacti gror til stor fornojelse for os alle!
Anden og tredje dagen opholdte vi os i blandt mangefarvede bjerge og soer, hvori, vi saa tusindvis af sjaeldne flamingoer! Disser fugle er meget smukke og betragteligt store naar de spreder deres vinger ud! Dag to oplevede vi osse at sidde fast i orkensandet, og vores chaufor viste ikke hvordan vi kom ud, saa jeg maatte igang at forklare ham om at grave og hvilket gear han skulle kore i, men ligemeget hjalp det, for bilen sad fast! Vi matte derfor traske tilbage til vores skur i bidende frostgrader, mends morket faldt paa!
Tredjedagen, som samtidig var min fodselsdag, startede tidligt med at besoge massevis af geysere og termiske vandhuller! Et af dem var sikkert af svomme i, og det var magisk at tage en svommetur, mens gruppen sang fodselsdagssang og jeg fik mig lidt kage (nej, ikke brunsviger!)
Derefter korte vi mod graensen og sagde farvel til gruppen, for at fortsaette mod Chile!
Vi er allerede nu langt videre mod syd i Santiago og om ti dage flyver vi endnu videre mod syd, men blogs om Chile folger senere!!
Igen tusind tak for fodselsdagshilsner osv...
Bedste hilsner
Anders og Charlie!
Greetings from the southern hemisphere again!
We are currently in Santiago, the capital of Chile and making the most of the simple luxuries that were somewhat scarce in Bolivia! We spent one week in total in Bolivia, firstly in La Paz - an ever so slightly chaotic city, and finally Uyuni for the tour of the salt flats and flamingo lakes. Our original plan was to spend a great deal of time in this country to conquer a mountain and do a jungle trek - but with both of these ticked off our list, we only needed one week to see everything we wanted.
Bolivia is most definitely the poorest country we have been to in South America, but yet has some of the Worlds most beautiful areas. We started our Bolivia travelling with a bang - our first adventure was conquering the Worlds Most Dangerous Road by bike… having been warned off by a few friends of the dangers etc - we still went ahead! It was worth the small risk though, as it really was totally incredible, and not too challenging! Anders went a bit too fast in areas, which scared me a bit! But knowing he already does a lot of bicycling at home I left him to his adrenaline rush!! The scenery was incredible and we even managed to ride through a few waterfalls and lakes for a refreshing shower! We started alongside the snow capped mountains and clouds, and ended up in dry desert-like climates - having cycled through a muggy jungle also!! The ride was polished off nicely with a cool beer (1.1 litre bottles of course!) and a dip in the fancy pool of the hotel we ate lunch at! Brilliant.
La Paz itself is crazy, the noise and air pollution made our getaway from the Capital a lot quicker than expected! After another shopping trip for Alpaca clothing, we headed on an overnight bus to Uyuni - a small town accommodating many backpackers with tours to the salars.
We soon booked our tour and were off with another 4 travellers through the salt flats and into the worlds most highest desert - finally finishing in Atacama, Northern Chile. The trip was amazing, even though our guide didn´t actually speak to us the whole time - he just drove! And our cook kept feeding us llama - which according to Anders (I didn't risk it!) tastes as the animal smells… lovely. Our first stop was the Salar de Uyuni, which is the world's largest salt flat at 10,500 km2 and was formed as a result of dried up prehistoric lakes. We visited an island called Isla Pescado (Fish Island) and saw the giant cacti growing in this desert-like place, and many many lakes which were home to thousands of Andean Flamingos. The whole trip was fantastic but nothing makes a good trip without a good story to tell!! The "guide" managed to get the 4WD stuck in the sand, and being at least an hour walk away from the hostel, it was almost dark, and in freezing temperature conditions… it made the situation a little worse! There were no facilities to help us get the truck out (why the guide didn't think of this situation happening I do not know!) , so we eventually abandoned the car and walked towards the hostel. Thankfully a car came and picked us up - the cook had sent them out to look for us and we were soon back in the hostel eating cooked llama meat… NICE!
Anyway, hope all is well at home! We will be back soon with our Chile blog! But in the meantime,
Hasta lluego!
Charlie and Anders xx
- comments