This will probably be my longest post ever. I just had to do a brief overview of where we were and what we have done on our trip and since I was lazy not to write it day by day I'm putting it all in this one post. Hope you like it.
There are also photos from our trip in my gallery here.
Day 1 & 2 - Home, Venice, Madrid, Lima (17. & 18.4.2009)
Well the adventure actually started on the very first day and the adventure involved our airplane tickets. Few months before start of our journey we have booked and bought our airplane tickets. We wanted to have connected flights throughout our journey and that is where the thing started. Because the airliner we were traveling with (IBERIA - we'll say more about it later) didn't have agreement with some other airliner, we couldn't get electronic tickets. We'll OK we thought, we'll get printed tickets and we'll have to take good care of them ... Eeeee, wrong. They told us, that they will send tickets to us, but later we realized that they "sent" them to our departing airport (Venice). OK, we've said. We'll get them before we'll board. Eeeee, wrong again.
When we came to the airport and told them who we are and what we are there for, the told us that there are no tickets for us, even more, that only reservations were made. After several hours of debating we finally convinced them that we were right and they said that they will arrange things for us and that they will call us, when we are ready to go with one of the next flights. Good we said, we'll at least have a chance to see Venice.
We went for a sightseeing and were waiting for the call from IBERIA. But there was no call. After several hours we went back at the airport and asked again what is going on. They told us that we were re-booked on the flight that left just half hour ago. After another hour of negotiations they finally booked us on next flight, gave us electronic tickets and checked us in.
At last, we boarded and left Venice behind. After few hours of waiting at the Madrid international airport for overseas connection, we successfully boarded LAN's (gladly it wasn't IBERIA) Boeing 767 and started the long flight to Lima.
We did loose half a day (actually whole night in Lima), but we were there.
Day 3 - Lima, Ica (19.4.2009)
Because we were a night short we skipped the planned sightseeing in Lima, took a long taxi ride from airport through the city (There is not much too see and it was not really pleasant city - at least for our taste) and went straight for the next city on our list, Ica. Ica is smaller city to the south, what we knew about it, was that there are sand dunes there. After arrival we "accidentally" met a guy (Luis) that was a freelance tourist/travel agent, who spoke really good English. he made a really good offers for buggy ride and sand-boarding, as well as for visit of Ballestas Islands (Glapagos for poor people, as they call them), visit to Nazca Lines and visit of Cruse del Condor. It was a good offer and we took it.
The first thing we did was buggy ride and sand-boarding, we did it in afternoon, since we had to rest a bit and find a place to stay first. It was amazing. The sand dunes were so nice, the ride was adrenaline rush and sand-boarding was great new experience as well. On top of that sunset at dunes was like cherry on the cream.
Day 4 - Ica, Nazca (20.4.2009)
We started the day with a long (50 minutes), slow (max 60 kph) taxi ride to the port where boats for Ballestas Islands start their way on the tour. The islands were great; I've never seen so many birds at such small area, and so many different sorts of birds. There were cormorants , penguins, pelicans and lots of different seagulls. On the island there was uncountable number of sea-lions and the coast was really nice, rocky. There are guano collecting facilities located at the islands, that are collecting bird shit for production.
In the afternoon we have continued our way south to get to Nazca. And we did it in style. Luis organised a ride for us with an old American muscle car; a beauty. The ride was long but fun and we stopped st a sightseeing tower to get the look at the Nazca lines from ground. After we arrived to the Nazca airport we had to wait for our flight over the lines. We had a great pilot, that was willing to do some acrobatics with our 4-seats CESNA airplane, if we will not get sick. It was awesome. Not only the flight but also the sight on the lines far below us and the landscape of half desert.
Day 5 & 6 - Arequipa, Cruz del Condor (21. & 22.4.2009)
After the overnight drive from Ica to Arequipa we just missed our tour to Cruz del Condor, to catch up we took the local bus and start our journey there by ourselves. We were really lucky to meet nice girls (Milagros and Angela), and a woman that used to be a tour guide that helped us with all this. We left our heavy backpacks at the hostel and took with us only the necessities for 2 days. After another long drive with local bus we arrived at our resting place for the day in small village near Chivay.
We had some problems with altitude sickness because of major altitude difference we did in such short time (it was from 600 m to 4900 m and back to 3900 m above sea, where our hostel was). We were very tired, but it was much better next day.
In the morning we went to Cruz del Condor to see those mighty birds, spreading their wings over the second deepest canyon in the world - Colca Canyon. The scenery was amazing. Over 5000m high mountains cut down by the river for more then 2 km. It was as someone would painted tall peaks and put some cream on the highest of them.
On our way back we also encountered vicuñjas, whose wool is really pricey (300 - 400 $ per kilo), not to mention all the llamas, alpacas and donkeys. After we returned to the Arequipa we still didn't have much time for rest. We took a night bus to Cuzco.
Day 7 - Cuzco, Ollantaitambo, Aguas Calientes (23.4.2009)
In the morning we arrived to a nice city of Cuzco. We wanted to find a cheap ride to Ollantaitambo, and to see some attractions as well. Again we had a bit of luck. We got a taxi that rook us all the way and stopped at the places worth visiting. And they were wort visiting. We had to buy Cuzco pass thou that wasn't really cheap, not even with student discount.
On the way we stopped at several places (you can see what is included here:
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3320694-Cuzco_Tourist_Pass-Cuzco.jpg
). It was very much worth it and the drive through the valleys offered amazing sights as well. There were lots of ruins (probably from Incas).
When we reached Ollantaitambo and wanted to get train-tickets to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu), we found out that all the "cheap" tickets for Backpackers train were already sold out. The only choice that we had was to buy the once that were a "bit" more expensive. To put it in numbers. The once we wanted were 31$ (yes 31$ one way and it is US $, for like one hour of drive); the once that we got were 53$. We realized that price varies according to hour of departure, and we also had "fancier" train then people with "cheap" tickets.
Even thou that the tickets were insanely expensive we did have a really nice ride with awesome view at very high peaks on each side of the valley. It was breathtaking. We arrived to Aguas Calientes in early evening, found a hostel and took a walk through the small city.
Day 8 - Machu Picchu, Cuzco (24.4.2009)
We woke up early in the morning and began our ascent to the Machu Picchu. It was still dark and we had a headlamp to show us the way through the jungle at the heights of our highest mountains. The path was well seen and easy to walk on. Because we started so soon we were one of the first people waiting with tickets in front of entrance. Due to early morning hours there was very thick fog all over the place and you couldn't see much.
Once the doors opened the crowd rushed in and spread all over the Machu Picchu. Fog was the reason that the feeling one had was really mystic and almost a bit creepy. After about hour and a half fog started to rise, and over about another hour it was completely gone, leaving behind awesome scenery of the great complex of Machu Picchu.
We took the path to Sun gate to see the ruins from above. To see the remains of once great fortress feels amazing. We had to make our visit fast, due to lack of time; our train left early in the afternoon and there was so much more to see. Sadly we had to skip visit of Waina Picchu, the upper part of fortress.
We left Machu Picchu full of amazing sights and feelings. Upon our arrival to Cuzco we bought tickets for night bus to Puno and enjoyed the evening on the main plaza. Soon we realized that the city is getting more and more alive and that we are leaving a great tourist-party-city behind without attending any of the parties. We sadly realized that too late.
Day 9 - Puno, Titicaca, Copacabana (25.4.2009)
Early in the morning (3 or 4 am), we arrived to Puno and fortunately encountered yet another "tourist guide", that made us a good deal. We booked morning trip to Titicaca floating islands and he offered us to stay at the common room of one of the hostels until the sun gets up and the tour starts. Before the tour started we briefly visited the central plaza of the city.
Taxi picked us up at hostel and took us to the port where we boarded a ship. It is a very big lake, and the waters are very dark, unless there is something green growing on the surface. On the way to the islands guide explained some details of the lake and the floating islands. We stopped at one of these islands and their chief told us how the islands are built, why they living on the islands and how is the life on the islands like. The feeling to walk on those floating islands is good (one can feel if someone runs, jumps, etc.). The main resource on the islands is totora reeds, that is used for building the islands, homes, boats and as food as well.
In the afternoon we continued our way to Bolivia. First stop there was Copacabana, a small tourist city. There was quite a big difference in architecture as well as infrastructure and of course prices and living standard.
We booked into the most fancy hotel in the town for 50 Bolivianos (5€) per person per night including breakfast. The hotel still wasn't very luxurious but it was worth the price. The city was very relaxed and our rest here was good. After all it was only stopover on the way to La Paz.
Day 10 & 11 - La Paz (26. & 27.4.2009)
Running through Peru was very exhausting, especially because we've seen so much more than we planned. That was the reason why we needed a break. La Paz was a perfect spot for our break, since it had everything we needed. Our hotel (Hotel Torino) was in the center of city and it was affordable (30 Bolivianos per night with shared bathrooms was good price). There were many Internet spots with cheap rates (from 2-3 Bolivianos per hour), with good machines and many huegos (games). And we really needed those.
In this 2 days we have booked our tours for days to come, ate some proper food at Burger King and Mc Donald's, went to cinemas few times, drank a lot of Coca Cola and played lots of Warcraft 3 mods. A great relaxation.
Day 12-14 - Uyuni, Salar (28. - 30.4.2009)
In the south part of Bolivia, close to the Chile border there is a large salt dessert - Salar de Uyuni, which was our next destination. We started from La Paz in the evening and reached the Uyuni early in the morning. We looked for a good agency to take us to the desert and beyond on the 3 day tour. We got a really good discount and pretty service.
On the first day we went to see the train graveyard, where many old trains were, that used to drive minerals to the sea (at those times, Bolivia still had sea, but as you should know, nowadays it doesn't have it anymore). Because there was no need of those trains anymore, they were left in the desert to rotten through the years.
After some more driving we have reached the white ground of the salt dessert. The feeling of white ground is really different. Everything is so bright and it's really hard to see any texture when the sun at highest. Salt hotel (the original one) was our first stop in the desert. Hotel built completely from salt (salt bricks, salt tables, salt beds, stc.). We also stopped at the island that once used to be in the watter, but is now only surrounded by salt, where many big cactus's are and where one can see remains of old corals. From the top of the island there is amazing view at the white all around and volcano's at the far ends of horizon. We were driving at about 4000 m all the time and those volcano's were still 1500 to 2000 meter higher. At the afternoon we have left the Salar behind and start driving in volcano-lands where we also slept the first night.
Second day we continued our way to the south through the strange and colorful lands, passing many lakes, seeing many birds, vicuñjas and some other animals, and we finished our day in a small village at 4200m. Last day we got us very early and vent to see "geysers" as they call them. They are actually steam pillars that are bursting from the ground. There are also other form of volcanic grounds like bobbling mud and stinky sulfur steams.
We also stopped at the "aguas calientes" (thermal waters), left two passengers at Chile border and started returning to Uyuni. On our way back we've seen a mini sand twister, remains of old lava flows and listened to a new music that our driver bought during one of the stops.
Day 15 - Potosi (1.5.2009)
We came to Potosi (highest city in the world) with evening bus from Uyuni and thankfully reserved our hostel before we came. The room was waiting for us and we took a good long sleep. In the morning we went for a tour to the mines. It's really funny that you can buy explosive (Dynabol, a Bolivian dynamite) at the market. We bought some as gift for the miners. It used to be a very well payed job to be a miner in this mines. They do not use any new technology at all, the mining is still the same as it was almost century ago. There aren't any plans of all the shafts in the mountain and everybody can dig where he thinks it's best.
The fact that we were in Potosi on 1st of May was the reason that many people were drunk and were celebrating. There were also explosions (small ones) in the city as part of celebrations. We left Potosi same evening and went to Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
Day 16 - Sucre (2.5.2009)
1st May evening was very joyful and happy in Sucre once we came there. Many people were out celebrating. It was also much warmer then in Potosi, and also much greener, because of the altitude. We had a good night out and next morning went for a city tour. We unintentionally came over a bus that was driving people to "dinosaurs". We took the bus that took us to the museum where they had replicas of the dinosaurs as well as many posters and also some real bones. This museum was built next to the biggest site where they found dinosaurs footprints in the world. The carbon wall next to museum used to be at the bottom of shallow lake in times of dinosaurs and kept their footprints. It was a pleasant experience to see such site.
In the afternoon we took a walk through the city and bought the tickets for the evening bus to La Paz.
Day 17 - La Paz (3.5.2009)
We took another day off in La Paz when we went for shopping, to get some souvenirs and of course to play some huegos, again.
Day 18 - Tiwanaku (4.5.2009)
Tiwanaku was the cultural heart of South America. Here were found the oldest of all remains of Pre-Inca civilisation. Tiwanaku used to be right next to lake Titicaca, when it's waters were higher. There are not many remains but those that were found tell a story about civilisation that was spread over a large part of South America. There are many theories why they came to an end and why Inca civilisation came to a rise after them.
At the Tiwanaku one can see many monoliths and gates (sun gates, moon gates, star gates), pottery, and even remains of the pyramid that they built.
Day 19 - Death Road, Coroico (5.5.2009)
The world most dangerous road. That was the title that many agencies used to attract people too book a bike ride on THE road. The prices for this trip varied from 260 Bolivianos up to 600+ The difference was in equipment that you got and bikes. We checked the bikes at one of the cheep agencies and their equipment; we were satisfied and we booked there. We took hard-tail, front suspended, mechanic disk Trek bikes that were good enough for the challenge. The bike ride starts at 4750 m and ends at 1170 m. It is downhill all the time. Much fun and pleasure. It takes about 3-4 hours to get down. The first part is asphalt, but later on you get to the old road that is more adventures.
The road is not really dangerous if you drive with caution. We stopped many times so that we regrouped and also for a snack. The temperatures went form about 10 to over 25 in the low part. When we came down we took a shower and had a meal. But we were not the only ones. Sand flies also had a great mean until we managed to escape to a bit higher grounds of Coroico. We met a really nice Swiss couple and realised that we are all on the way to Rurrenabaque.
Day 20-23 - Road to Rurrenabaque, pampas (6. - 9.5.2009)
The 14 hours drive on bus to Rurrenabaque we were driving on almost as dangerous road as the death road is. We also had an unplanned stop in the middle of the night when our bus got stuck in the mud and we had to pull it out of it. Because of that unfortunate event we almost missed out tour in the morning.
When we arrived to Rurrenabaque, there was a man waiting for us at the bus stop. We gladly had time for breakfast before we started our tour to Pampas. To get to pampas we had to survive 3 hours drive with an old Toyota Land Cruiser on a bumpy muddy road. And after that another 3 hours drive on the boat. While the first drive wasn't really pleasing, the second one was awesome. All the green, still water, birds and amazing sky.
In the evening we went to Sunset bar, and after we have left we realised how many mosquitoes there are in pampas. During the day, there isn't a single mosquito around, but only 5-10 minutes after a sundown there are so many that it is unbearable. For me not even repellent didn't do any good. I was bitten so many times, but gladly I managed not to scratch so that it wasn't even worse.
Next day we went on a hunt for anacondas. We were lucky to find not only one but 4. Two of them were mating and two more males were close by. Later we realised that those weren't actually anacondas but were one spices of spitting cobras. This hunt was the worst mosquito encounter ever. I'm glad it's past.
In the afternoon we went fishing for piranhas. Me myself wasn't lucky but together, we coughed enough for everybody to taste some at dinner.
I the evening of the second day we went on a alligator hunt. If you point the headlamp at the eyes of young alligator they glow red, and it is pretty easy to see them. Our guide coughed one and we could held him for a while. It was a pleasant experience. Later we realised that of course that wasn't alligator but a spices of caymans.
On the last day in pampas we went for a swim with dolphins in the morning, and it was great. Water was just of the right temperature. In the afternoon we left for Rurrenabaque. The boat drive was shorter, but car drive took 3 hours again. From Rurrenabaque we took the plane back to La Paz.
Day 24 - La Paz (10.5.2009)
This was last day of our trip for one of us. We used the day to relax, to do his last shopping and for him to pack all the things. The remaining two of us also had to prepare for a trekking plus mountaineering trip we booked for next 4 days.
Day 25-28 - Trekking, Huayna Potosi (11. - 14.5.2009)
We sad goodbye to our flatmate and put him on a taxi for the airport early in the morning and went back to bad for few more hours. Later on we checked out from hotel and went to the agency to try all the equipment packed the one needed for trekking and waited for a ride to our starting point. On that day there were manifestations in the city and almost all the roads were blocked. We spent over a hour just to find non-blocked road to escape from La Paz. After that we had another two hours to get to starting point.
The weather was getting bad for the first time on our travel (except at nights). The weather was getting worse and worse during our first day and at the end it was already snowing. After we put up a camp we went for acclimatisation trip few hundred meters higher and returned for dinner and a good night sleep.
Next day were walking for several more hours over two passes (one 5100m and the other 4900m) and through a long valley. The scenery was amazing. We didn't have many problems with altitude; it was hard to walk uphill but we kept a good tempo and came to the end more then two hours early. After the trekking we took a ride to Huayna Potosi base camp and spent a night there.
Next morning our mountaineer guide came and took us from 4700 m to 5200 m, where we stayed for the rest of the day. Very early next morning (at around 2am) we started our ascend. It should take about 6 hours but we did in 3,5 hours, including all rests and waiting for the sunrise below the top, where it was less windy. The tour wasn't easy but it was beautiful and very much worth all the efforts.
Day 29 - La Paz (15.5.2009)
It should supposed to be the relaxation/packing/shopping day, but it was far from that, at least for me. We both got food poisoning in the mountains and I was feeling really bad whole day; I was vomiting and had diarrhea. Gladly it was much better next day when we had to go to a plane. We were both very tired and had no energy at all.
Day 30 & 31 - Way home (16. & 17.5.2009)
Early in the morning we payed the hotel room for the last time and ordered a taxi to the airport. We had to pay airport tax upon our check-in and we were on our way to Santa Cruz where we had to switch plane to get to Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires we had few hours time but not as much as we planned, so we couldn't afford to go in the center. We had to wait for our flight and we had to pay airport tax again. On our way overseas our plane run short on fuel and we had to make unplanned stop at Canary islands to refuel our plane. That was the reason that we missed our connection from Madrid to Venice and had to wait for the next flight.
Finally we landed in Venice where friends parents were waiting for us to take us home.
Again, you can find photos from our trip here.
There are also photos from our trip in my gallery here.
Day 1 & 2 - Home, Venice, Madrid, Lima (17. & 18.4.2009)
Well the adventure actually started on the very first day and the adventure involved our airplane tickets. Few months before start of our journey we have booked and bought our airplane tickets. We wanted to have connected flights throughout our journey and that is where the thing started. Because the airliner we were traveling with (IBERIA - we'll say more about it later) didn't have agreement with some other airliner, we couldn't get electronic tickets. We'll OK we thought, we'll get printed tickets and we'll have to take good care of them ... Eeeee, wrong. They told us, that they will send tickets to us, but later we realized that they "sent" them to our departing airport (Venice). OK, we've said. We'll get them before we'll board. Eeeee, wrong again.
When we came to the airport and told them who we are and what we are there for, the told us that there are no tickets for us, even more, that only reservations were made. After several hours of debating we finally convinced them that we were right and they said that they will arrange things for us and that they will call us, when we are ready to go with one of the next flights. Good we said, we'll at least have a chance to see Venice.
We went for a sightseeing and were waiting for the call from IBERIA. But there was no call. After several hours we went back at the airport and asked again what is going on. They told us that we were re-booked on the flight that left just half hour ago. After another hour of negotiations they finally booked us on next flight, gave us electronic tickets and checked us in.
At last, we boarded and left Venice behind. After few hours of waiting at the Madrid international airport for overseas connection, we successfully boarded LAN's (gladly it wasn't IBERIA) Boeing 767 and started the long flight to Lima.
We did loose half a day (actually whole night in Lima), but we were there.
Day 3 - Lima, Ica (19.4.2009)
Because we were a night short we skipped the planned sightseeing in Lima, took a long taxi ride from airport through the city (There is not much too see and it was not really pleasant city - at least for our taste) and went straight for the next city on our list, Ica. Ica is smaller city to the south, what we knew about it, was that there are sand dunes there. After arrival we "accidentally" met a guy (Luis) that was a freelance tourist/travel agent, who spoke really good English. he made a really good offers for buggy ride and sand-boarding, as well as for visit of Ballestas Islands (Glapagos for poor people, as they call them), visit to Nazca Lines and visit of Cruse del Condor. It was a good offer and we took it.
The first thing we did was buggy ride and sand-boarding, we did it in afternoon, since we had to rest a bit and find a place to stay first. It was amazing. The sand dunes were so nice, the ride was adrenaline rush and sand-boarding was great new experience as well. On top of that sunset at dunes was like cherry on the cream.
Day 4 - Ica, Nazca (20.4.2009)
We started the day with a long (50 minutes), slow (max 60 kph) taxi ride to the port where boats for Ballestas Islands start their way on the tour. The islands were great; I've never seen so many birds at such small area, and so many different sorts of birds. There were cormorants , penguins, pelicans and lots of different seagulls. On the island there was uncountable number of sea-lions and the coast was really nice, rocky. There are guano collecting facilities located at the islands, that are collecting bird shit for production.
In the afternoon we have continued our way south to get to Nazca. And we did it in style. Luis organised a ride for us with an old American muscle car; a beauty. The ride was long but fun and we stopped st a sightseeing tower to get the look at the Nazca lines from ground. After we arrived to the Nazca airport we had to wait for our flight over the lines. We had a great pilot, that was willing to do some acrobatics with our 4-seats CESNA airplane, if we will not get sick. It was awesome. Not only the flight but also the sight on the lines far below us and the landscape of half desert.
Day 5 & 6 - Arequipa, Cruz del Condor (21. & 22.4.2009)
After the overnight drive from Ica to Arequipa we just missed our tour to Cruz del Condor, to catch up we took the local bus and start our journey there by ourselves. We were really lucky to meet nice girls (Milagros and Angela), and a woman that used to be a tour guide that helped us with all this. We left our heavy backpacks at the hostel and took with us only the necessities for 2 days. After another long drive with local bus we arrived at our resting place for the day in small village near Chivay.
We had some problems with altitude sickness because of major altitude difference we did in such short time (it was from 600 m to 4900 m and back to 3900 m above sea, where our hostel was). We were very tired, but it was much better next day.
In the morning we went to Cruz del Condor to see those mighty birds, spreading their wings over the second deepest canyon in the world - Colca Canyon. The scenery was amazing. Over 5000m high mountains cut down by the river for more then 2 km. It was as someone would painted tall peaks and put some cream on the highest of them.
On our way back we also encountered vicuñjas, whose wool is really pricey (300 - 400 $ per kilo), not to mention all the llamas, alpacas and donkeys. After we returned to the Arequipa we still didn't have much time for rest. We took a night bus to Cuzco.
Day 7 - Cuzco, Ollantaitambo, Aguas Calientes (23.4.2009)
In the morning we arrived to a nice city of Cuzco. We wanted to find a cheap ride to Ollantaitambo, and to see some attractions as well. Again we had a bit of luck. We got a taxi that rook us all the way and stopped at the places worth visiting. And they were wort visiting. We had to buy Cuzco pass thou that wasn't really cheap, not even with student discount.
On the way we stopped at several places (you can see what is included here:
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3320694-Cuzco_Tourist_Pass-Cuzco.jpg
). It was very much worth it and the drive through the valleys offered amazing sights as well. There were lots of ruins (probably from Incas).
When we reached Ollantaitambo and wanted to get train-tickets to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu), we found out that all the "cheap" tickets for Backpackers train were already sold out. The only choice that we had was to buy the once that were a "bit" more expensive. To put it in numbers. The once we wanted were 31$ (yes 31$ one way and it is US $, for like one hour of drive); the once that we got were 53$. We realized that price varies according to hour of departure, and we also had "fancier" train then people with "cheap" tickets.
Even thou that the tickets were insanely expensive we did have a really nice ride with awesome view at very high peaks on each side of the valley. It was breathtaking. We arrived to Aguas Calientes in early evening, found a hostel and took a walk through the small city.
Day 8 - Machu Picchu, Cuzco (24.4.2009)
We woke up early in the morning and began our ascent to the Machu Picchu. It was still dark and we had a headlamp to show us the way through the jungle at the heights of our highest mountains. The path was well seen and easy to walk on. Because we started so soon we were one of the first people waiting with tickets in front of entrance. Due to early morning hours there was very thick fog all over the place and you couldn't see much.
Once the doors opened the crowd rushed in and spread all over the Machu Picchu. Fog was the reason that the feeling one had was really mystic and almost a bit creepy. After about hour and a half fog started to rise, and over about another hour it was completely gone, leaving behind awesome scenery of the great complex of Machu Picchu.
We took the path to Sun gate to see the ruins from above. To see the remains of once great fortress feels amazing. We had to make our visit fast, due to lack of time; our train left early in the afternoon and there was so much more to see. Sadly we had to skip visit of Waina Picchu, the upper part of fortress.
We left Machu Picchu full of amazing sights and feelings. Upon our arrival to Cuzco we bought tickets for night bus to Puno and enjoyed the evening on the main plaza. Soon we realized that the city is getting more and more alive and that we are leaving a great tourist-party-city behind without attending any of the parties. We sadly realized that too late.
Day 9 - Puno, Titicaca, Copacabana (25.4.2009)
Early in the morning (3 or 4 am), we arrived to Puno and fortunately encountered yet another "tourist guide", that made us a good deal. We booked morning trip to Titicaca floating islands and he offered us to stay at the common room of one of the hostels until the sun gets up and the tour starts. Before the tour started we briefly visited the central plaza of the city.
Taxi picked us up at hostel and took us to the port where we boarded a ship. It is a very big lake, and the waters are very dark, unless there is something green growing on the surface. On the way to the islands guide explained some details of the lake and the floating islands. We stopped at one of these islands and their chief told us how the islands are built, why they living on the islands and how is the life on the islands like. The feeling to walk on those floating islands is good (one can feel if someone runs, jumps, etc.). The main resource on the islands is totora reeds, that is used for building the islands, homes, boats and as food as well.
In the afternoon we continued our way to Bolivia. First stop there was Copacabana, a small tourist city. There was quite a big difference in architecture as well as infrastructure and of course prices and living standard.
We booked into the most fancy hotel in the town for 50 Bolivianos (5€) per person per night including breakfast. The hotel still wasn't very luxurious but it was worth the price. The city was very relaxed and our rest here was good. After all it was only stopover on the way to La Paz.
Day 10 & 11 - La Paz (26. & 27.4.2009)
Running through Peru was very exhausting, especially because we've seen so much more than we planned. That was the reason why we needed a break. La Paz was a perfect spot for our break, since it had everything we needed. Our hotel (Hotel Torino) was in the center of city and it was affordable (30 Bolivianos per night with shared bathrooms was good price). There were many Internet spots with cheap rates (from 2-3 Bolivianos per hour), with good machines and many huegos (games). And we really needed those.
In this 2 days we have booked our tours for days to come, ate some proper food at Burger King and Mc Donald's, went to cinemas few times, drank a lot of Coca Cola and played lots of Warcraft 3 mods. A great relaxation.
Day 12-14 - Uyuni, Salar (28. - 30.4.2009)
In the south part of Bolivia, close to the Chile border there is a large salt dessert - Salar de Uyuni, which was our next destination. We started from La Paz in the evening and reached the Uyuni early in the morning. We looked for a good agency to take us to the desert and beyond on the 3 day tour. We got a really good discount and pretty service.
On the first day we went to see the train graveyard, where many old trains were, that used to drive minerals to the sea (at those times, Bolivia still had sea, but as you should know, nowadays it doesn't have it anymore). Because there was no need of those trains anymore, they were left in the desert to rotten through the years.
After some more driving we have reached the white ground of the salt dessert. The feeling of white ground is really different. Everything is so bright and it's really hard to see any texture when the sun at highest. Salt hotel (the original one) was our first stop in the desert. Hotel built completely from salt (salt bricks, salt tables, salt beds, stc.). We also stopped at the island that once used to be in the watter, but is now only surrounded by salt, where many big cactus's are and where one can see remains of old corals. From the top of the island there is amazing view at the white all around and volcano's at the far ends of horizon. We were driving at about 4000 m all the time and those volcano's were still 1500 to 2000 meter higher. At the afternoon we have left the Salar behind and start driving in volcano-lands where we also slept the first night.
Second day we continued our way to the south through the strange and colorful lands, passing many lakes, seeing many birds, vicuñjas and some other animals, and we finished our day in a small village at 4200m. Last day we got us very early and vent to see "geysers" as they call them. They are actually steam pillars that are bursting from the ground. There are also other form of volcanic grounds like bobbling mud and stinky sulfur steams.
We also stopped at the "aguas calientes" (thermal waters), left two passengers at Chile border and started returning to Uyuni. On our way back we've seen a mini sand twister, remains of old lava flows and listened to a new music that our driver bought during one of the stops.
Day 15 - Potosi (1.5.2009)
We came to Potosi (highest city in the world) with evening bus from Uyuni and thankfully reserved our hostel before we came. The room was waiting for us and we took a good long sleep. In the morning we went for a tour to the mines. It's really funny that you can buy explosive (Dynabol, a Bolivian dynamite) at the market. We bought some as gift for the miners. It used to be a very well payed job to be a miner in this mines. They do not use any new technology at all, the mining is still the same as it was almost century ago. There aren't any plans of all the shafts in the mountain and everybody can dig where he thinks it's best.
The fact that we were in Potosi on 1st of May was the reason that many people were drunk and were celebrating. There were also explosions (small ones) in the city as part of celebrations. We left Potosi same evening and went to Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
Day 16 - Sucre (2.5.2009)
1st May evening was very joyful and happy in Sucre once we came there. Many people were out celebrating. It was also much warmer then in Potosi, and also much greener, because of the altitude. We had a good night out and next morning went for a city tour. We unintentionally came over a bus that was driving people to "dinosaurs". We took the bus that took us to the museum where they had replicas of the dinosaurs as well as many posters and also some real bones. This museum was built next to the biggest site where they found dinosaurs footprints in the world. The carbon wall next to museum used to be at the bottom of shallow lake in times of dinosaurs and kept their footprints. It was a pleasant experience to see such site.
In the afternoon we took a walk through the city and bought the tickets for the evening bus to La Paz.
Day 17 - La Paz (3.5.2009)
We took another day off in La Paz when we went for shopping, to get some souvenirs and of course to play some huegos, again.
Day 18 - Tiwanaku (4.5.2009)
Tiwanaku was the cultural heart of South America. Here were found the oldest of all remains of Pre-Inca civilisation. Tiwanaku used to be right next to lake Titicaca, when it's waters were higher. There are not many remains but those that were found tell a story about civilisation that was spread over a large part of South America. There are many theories why they came to an end and why Inca civilisation came to a rise after them.
At the Tiwanaku one can see many monoliths and gates (sun gates, moon gates, star gates), pottery, and even remains of the pyramid that they built.
Day 19 - Death Road, Coroico (5.5.2009)
The world most dangerous road. That was the title that many agencies used to attract people too book a bike ride on THE road. The prices for this trip varied from 260 Bolivianos up to 600+ The difference was in equipment that you got and bikes. We checked the bikes at one of the cheep agencies and their equipment; we were satisfied and we booked there. We took hard-tail, front suspended, mechanic disk Trek bikes that were good enough for the challenge. The bike ride starts at 4750 m and ends at 1170 m. It is downhill all the time. Much fun and pleasure. It takes about 3-4 hours to get down. The first part is asphalt, but later on you get to the old road that is more adventures.
The road is not really dangerous if you drive with caution. We stopped many times so that we regrouped and also for a snack. The temperatures went form about 10 to over 25 in the low part. When we came down we took a shower and had a meal. But we were not the only ones. Sand flies also had a great mean until we managed to escape to a bit higher grounds of Coroico. We met a really nice Swiss couple and realised that we are all on the way to Rurrenabaque.
Day 20-23 - Road to Rurrenabaque, pampas (6. - 9.5.2009)
The 14 hours drive on bus to Rurrenabaque we were driving on almost as dangerous road as the death road is. We also had an unplanned stop in the middle of the night when our bus got stuck in the mud and we had to pull it out of it. Because of that unfortunate event we almost missed out tour in the morning.
When we arrived to Rurrenabaque, there was a man waiting for us at the bus stop. We gladly had time for breakfast before we started our tour to Pampas. To get to pampas we had to survive 3 hours drive with an old Toyota Land Cruiser on a bumpy muddy road. And after that another 3 hours drive on the boat. While the first drive wasn't really pleasing, the second one was awesome. All the green, still water, birds and amazing sky.
In the evening we went to Sunset bar, and after we have left we realised how many mosquitoes there are in pampas. During the day, there isn't a single mosquito around, but only 5-10 minutes after a sundown there are so many that it is unbearable. For me not even repellent didn't do any good. I was bitten so many times, but gladly I managed not to scratch so that it wasn't even worse.
Next day we went on a hunt for anacondas. We were lucky to find not only one but 4. Two of them were mating and two more males were close by. Later we realised that those weren't actually anacondas but were one spices of spitting cobras. This hunt was the worst mosquito encounter ever. I'm glad it's past.
In the afternoon we went fishing for piranhas. Me myself wasn't lucky but together, we coughed enough for everybody to taste some at dinner.
I the evening of the second day we went on a alligator hunt. If you point the headlamp at the eyes of young alligator they glow red, and it is pretty easy to see them. Our guide coughed one and we could held him for a while. It was a pleasant experience. Later we realised that of course that wasn't alligator but a spices of caymans.
On the last day in pampas we went for a swim with dolphins in the morning, and it was great. Water was just of the right temperature. In the afternoon we left for Rurrenabaque. The boat drive was shorter, but car drive took 3 hours again. From Rurrenabaque we took the plane back to La Paz.
Day 24 - La Paz (10.5.2009)
This was last day of our trip for one of us. We used the day to relax, to do his last shopping and for him to pack all the things. The remaining two of us also had to prepare for a trekking plus mountaineering trip we booked for next 4 days.
Day 25-28 - Trekking, Huayna Potosi (11. - 14.5.2009)
We sad goodbye to our flatmate and put him on a taxi for the airport early in the morning and went back to bad for few more hours. Later on we checked out from hotel and went to the agency to try all the equipment packed the one needed for trekking and waited for a ride to our starting point. On that day there were manifestations in the city and almost all the roads were blocked. We spent over a hour just to find non-blocked road to escape from La Paz. After that we had another two hours to get to starting point.
The weather was getting bad for the first time on our travel (except at nights). The weather was getting worse and worse during our first day and at the end it was already snowing. After we put up a camp we went for acclimatisation trip few hundred meters higher and returned for dinner and a good night sleep.
Next day were walking for several more hours over two passes (one 5100m and the other 4900m) and through a long valley. The scenery was amazing. We didn't have many problems with altitude; it was hard to walk uphill but we kept a good tempo and came to the end more then two hours early. After the trekking we took a ride to Huayna Potosi base camp and spent a night there.
Next morning our mountaineer guide came and took us from 4700 m to 5200 m, where we stayed for the rest of the day. Very early next morning (at around 2am) we started our ascend. It should take about 6 hours but we did in 3,5 hours, including all rests and waiting for the sunrise below the top, where it was less windy. The tour wasn't easy but it was beautiful and very much worth all the efforts.
Day 29 - La Paz (15.5.2009)
It should supposed to be the relaxation/packing/shopping day, but it was far from that, at least for me. We both got food poisoning in the mountains and I was feeling really bad whole day; I was vomiting and had diarrhea. Gladly it was much better next day when we had to go to a plane. We were both very tired and had no energy at all.
Day 30 & 31 - Way home (16. & 17.5.2009)
Early in the morning we payed the hotel room for the last time and ordered a taxi to the airport. We had to pay airport tax upon our check-in and we were on our way to Santa Cruz where we had to switch plane to get to Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires we had few hours time but not as much as we planned, so we couldn't afford to go in the center. We had to wait for our flight and we had to pay airport tax again. On our way overseas our plane run short on fuel and we had to make unplanned stop at Canary islands to refuel our plane. That was the reason that we missed our connection from Madrid to Venice and had to wait for the next flight.
Finally we landed in Venice where friends parents were waiting for us to take us home.
Again, you can find photos from our trip here.
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