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Hello from Cuzco!
Hope you all had a good Easter...I was in Cocacabana in Bolivia on Lake Titicaca - was stunning but hadn{t realised that it was the pilgrimage mecca of all the Bolivians - it was packed full of Bolivians camping on the streets, beach, town square etc etc! They have this ritual of getting their cars blessed by the priest in the hope of having safe journeys for the next year....!
Bolivia was incredible...beautiful country with extremely friendly people and a complete contrast to anything at home. Started by crossing from San Pedro de Atamcama in Northern Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia over the Salt flats...its a three day 4xd adventure and was amazing....hadn{t anticipated how cold it would be though and rocked up to the Bolivian border in shorts and flip flops - it was baltic temperatures and we got more than a few laughs from the Bolivian guards. Thankfully some of the people in our 4wd were more than prepared and lent Ash and I lots of layers. Ash suffered pretty bad altitude sickness the 1st day (we were over 5000m above sea level!) - thankfully Iñve just had a few headaches and a dodgy tummy! Saw some incredible things - from flamingo{s, hot springs, salt lakes, cactus islands and millions of other amazing sights. Uyuni was next stop and we{d heard it was a bit of a dive but turned out to be ok - first town to visit in Bolivia and the culture change between Bolivia and Chile was dramatic. The poverty here was visable instantly ¿ Uyuni looks like a war site. Strange seeing all the women dressed in their big skirts, hats etc with babies swaddled to their backs....! Stuff was so so cheap . Hostels are about 2 quid (although they dont have hot water!), food about 1 quid and everything else pennies - its great! We{d had a older couple on our 4wd tour and it was the guys birthday the day we arrived in Uyuni (the couple are called Walter and Ursula - thats their actual names!) and Walter paid for us all to go out for dinner which was really nice....
Next day had 6 hour bus journey to Potosi which used to be one of the most prosperous cities in the world and is now one of the poorest. Bus journey was AWFUL! Had a Bolivian woman sitting in the isle next to me who stank of wee (they all do over here), a group of English gap year students who were playing really bad music loudly and had a puppy they had saved from the Bolvian mines with them- which is all well and good apart from when you put it on a bus for 6 hours and its farting and weeing the whole way...had 1 toilet stop where there wasn{t a toilet which was fine except that if you got caught peeing behind a bush you were fined...I think I lost all my dignity and self repsect that day! The road wasn{t a road either but more like a gravel track with sheer drops next to it...mum you would have hated it!
Arrived in Potosi and it was awful rain...quite a depressing city but great to experience. Visisted the Potosi mines which was beyond shocking...its a pretty dangerous trip that involves experiencing what the miners do here every single day.
....Apologies for cutting it short...I will now continue where I left off but I apologise for spelling mistakes etc - the keyboards are all different over here and don´t have half the symbols we have at home!
Right...the mines....
Kind of need to explain and show you the pictures in order to try and illustrate what its like down there but I know one thing - I will never complain about having a bad day at work ever again. These guys work down the mines form teh age of 14 working from 6am - 6pm with only pop drinks and coco leaves to keep them going. Coco leaves are only legal in Bolivia and Peru as they are used in the cocaine making process (but aren´t the same as the drug - they need lots of chemical process to become the drug). We all had to chew it when down the mines as it is meant to help with the alititude - It doesn´t taste great and turns your teeth green but some of its healing properties are incredible. I can talk about coco leaves forever so I will wait and fill you all in when I get back - didn´t realise they were illegal in the UK until the other day - thank fully someone informed me as I had a bag in my backpack to help with the altitude on the Inca trail! Potosi is also the highest city in the world at about 4800 m above sea level....
Spent one night in Potosi in nice sociable hostel where randomly met a guy I´d travelled with in NZ - keep having there encounters which is always nice!
Lots of people travelling from Potosi to Sucre (our next destination) and it worked out cheaper to get a taxi rather than the bus. However, 4 people and 5 bags in a tiny taxi is not a good combination and the car struggled and scraped along for 4 hours....made for some funny stories though.
Sucre was a beautiful colonial city.....still no hot showers in our hostel but we finally got some washing done here and it was the best washing I´ve had in the whole of my travels - my whites were actually white! Met some fantastic people in Sucre and we had some great nights out - found a great little cafe called the joy ride cafe which was a meeting point of all travellers. Not that much to do in Sucre - went to a Dino park where we saw some original Dinosaur footprints - I thought it was going to be a bit touristy but turned out to be really interesting. We´d walked here from the main town which was a great way to see some of the more poverty striken areas of Sucre. City is very busy and bustling - only time I saw in peaceful was in the early hours of the morning - makes for a lot of polution which isn´t great when your at altitude and struggling to breathe..! Got a bit restless in Sucre - beautiful as it was (and it had great markets too) it was one of those places that is great to work in but not much going on for a traveller.....also the start of my dodgy tummy which has been with me thoughout Bolivia!
Had overnight bus from Sucre to La Paz which was 12 hours - once again an unforgetable experience. I will never complain about frosts garden centre toilets again Mum! We had paid above the odds for our seats and yet didn´t end up with the lying down seats but with all the local Bolivians who were obviously prepared for the coldness of the bus and had numerous layers - unlike us - we froze! Promised a toilet on the bus (which I needed witht the dodgy tummy) but it was out of order. Had 2 loo stops bothof which were horendous! I need to do action replays to give you all the full picture but I had loo water sluced over my feet among other things....I was traumatised! Was hilarious though...I´ve had many a laugh recalling the memories of that journey.
Arrived in La Paz about 7am - once again at silly high altitude - however the city was incredible to look down upon as we drove in. Compete madness but had a really nice feel to it. We arrived at a hostel we had been recommended however when we got there found out we had to wait till 1 to check in. Luckilly they let us use their toilets and showers so we could begin to feel half human again!
Road a mountain bike 64 k down the most dangerous road in teh world in La Paz...it was a fantastic day (made better by fact we chose a really good company - you have to be really wary of the company you chose to do this as some of the bikes have no breaks and poor guidance which is essential on a road where 300 people die a year - google it) Was a fantastic day - started going downhill on the new road which has been opened to replace the most dangerous road in the world ' it cost millions to build yet would probably be classed as the most dangerous world in the UK and never opened were it in the UK! Weather changed from pretty cold to dry to drizzle to rain to scorching sunshine! I started off pretty scared - the beginning is tough especially as you hear all teh warnings and horror stories from your guide on the way down - ie- don´t get off your bike on the left - a girl did last year and stepped back to let a car go by and fell the 100s of metres to her death. Needless to say I started off cautiously! However, by te end we were all much more confident and were flying down..takes about 3 hours and hot showers and fantastic late lunch awaited us. In the jungle by time we got to bottom and at much lower altitude - amazing how much more you can do when your at lower altitude!
Next day we were flying (rather than doing a 24 hours unpredictable bus journey) to the Rurrenabaque where we access the jungle! Flight not quite what we were expecting...was a 16 seater plane! However...amazing views over the andes and La Paz.
Rurrenabaque was gorgeous town and complete contrast to La Paz...we could breath at only 100m above sea level and the area was much more prosperous - fab but cheap hostels and restaurants etc and really nice feel to the small hot town.
We had decided to go a bit more unmarket on our jungle adventure and went to an aco lodge where 100% of the profit goes back into the San Jose community that had set up the lodge. It was a incredible experience. Had 5 hour motorised journey up the Amazon river to reach the lodge and then a half hour hike...was set on this beautiful lake which amazing little cabins and great food. Spent 3 days and 2 nights trekking and experience the jungle. I saw trantulas (!) yes Dad...thats right...I actually took photos of them! Saw 5 out of 6 monkeys, saw crocs, loads of stunning birds (Macaws etc) , anteaters, snakes etc etc...its was brilliant. Our guide was like a hawk...we´d be walking along and he´d suddenly stop, look up, and point out hundreds of monkeys above us. We really got to experience the jungle culture...unforgettable.
Arrived back in Rurre and were meant to be doing a Pampas tour where you see the animals up closer...however, after 2 miles in the jeep on the way there me and Ash decided we´d had enough of the jungle and bites and didn´t really have enough time to spend another 2 days in the jungle so composed a story that I was ill (to be fair I had had a dodgy tummy) and managed to convey to the old guy and his wife driving that we needed to get back to the town....the stories pretty long so I´ll save it for face to face but needless to say it was hilarious.
Neither of us speak Spanish but its kind of made for more interesting and funny travelling...
After jungle had another day chilling in La Paz where stayed in one of my favourite hostels - they had home brewed beer and unlimited pnacake breakfasts and HOT showers!
After La Paz went to Cocacabana where did overnight trip to the stunning Isla de Sol...some breathtaking hikes (so far my trainers are holding up!) and great people plus dirt cheap food and accomadation.
After another night in Cocacabana we crossed border into Bolivia to Puno where stayed in a great little hostelguesthouse with some people we´d net previously.
Did a trip to the very touristy floating islands and then had a homestay on a island on Lake Titicaca. Definitely made me appreciate everything I have.....this was basic living. I´ll show you all the piccys of the family `kitchen´....these people have probably never washed their hands in their lives let alone had a shower (even a cold one). Every day they have quinoa soup with rice and potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our family had 4 goregous kids though and despite having such a basic living and hard life - they were happy.
From Puno we came to Cuzco where I am now! Been poorly here though...bad tummy craps and got a headcold thing....think there was a bug going round Bolivia as we´ve all been pretty poorly. Don´t think eating a raw Alpaca steak (I didn´t realise until I was half way through it!) helped the tummy though!
Cuzco is fab...goregous city to wander around, beautiful buildings and very different to Bolivia. Cheap still as well....had 5 course dinner with drinks for 10 sole y´day - thats 2 quid!
Saw Sophie Bennett from home y´day which was lovely..so strange seeing people from home when in such a different place!
Checked into a nicer guesthouse tonight as hostel was staying in for past 2 nights is Mayhem and with the Inca trail tomos we needed to sort our bags and get a good night sleep!
Right...I´ve only covered the very basics but I would be here forever if I gave you all the details and I´m in need of a shower so I will love you and leave you all for now and try to update this again when I return from the Inca trail!
Lots of Love xxxxxxxxxx
ps sorry if things don´t make sense etc etc...I´m writing fast on a slow computer and not re reading!
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