BRASIL!!!!!!

It´s really really really f***ing hot.

Santa Cruz and a famous football team

Well, well, well.

As we were in the airport to fly from Sucre to Santa Cruz, who should be in the airport and ON OUR FLIGHT but the whole football team of Real Potosi??? Some of the group had been to see them play in Potosi against the Brazilian team Flamengo (who have this player called Ronadldinho........!) Real Potosi won, and when we saw them, were travelling slowly on their way to Rio to play them again.

It was all very exciting. It was like the Arsenal team being with you on a plane! As an aside I´ll mention that only a few of them were good-looking. But those who were.....wow!

Anyway, as we were checking into our hotel in Santa Cruz, who should turn up in the lobby? Yes. The WHOLE TEAM were staying in our hotel! Imagine, lots of footballers hanging around the corridors topless. It was difficult, but someone had to do it. You know, these things are sent to try us, but I pulled through!

I don´t really have much to say about Santa Cruz, to be honest. It had a nice central plaza, but as far as I could see, there wasn´t any pizzazz that I felt in one way or another in other Bolivian cities. We more or less used Santa Cruz as a hop-off for our next journey into Brazil...

Sucre Mia!

Sucre is, I think, my favourite place so far. I can´t really put my finger on exactly why, but it´s beautiful city. I could really see myself living there. There are large plazas with interesting sculptures and tropical plants, the people are nice, and it has an interesting history too. (Colonial, various uprisings and revolutions, and four different names since it was founded!) I don´t want to keep boring you with history lessons, but it really is beautiful there. With a Spring-like climate all year round!

The first night we watched a film called The Devil´s Miner. I recommend that everyone see it once in their life. It´s a documentary that follows a boy of 14 that works in the mines at Potosi. It is truly shocking. The situation in which so many Bolivian families find themseves is so sad and frustrating, making it almost impossible for them to even earn enough money to eat, let alone access education. Again, I don´t wish to make any of this blog preachy or pretentious, but this film really gets to you. At the end I felt sad, indignant and speechless. I wasn´t the only one crying.

On a lighter note, we took in a show another night to watch a variety of local traditional dances from all over Bolivia. It was spectacular! And great fun - at the end we all got up to join them! The costumes were amazing too. Some ideas for the carnaval in Rio!

As usual we took in the markets selling artesan bits and bobs, making the journey out of Sucre to a village in the mountains where they make and wear traditional helmets of leather. We also visited a few important buildings, even seeing the original declaration made by Simon de Bolivar. (The first Bolivian president after the clashes with the Spanish) (I must say, I´m glad I´m not a Spanish tourist here after a few comments!)

As I said, Sucre made a massive impression on me. I feel sure that I´ll return one day.

Potosi

The past few days we´ve been in Potosi - the highest city of it´s size in the world!

It has a tragic history, as it was exploited by the Spanish for its silver. The mines in the surrounding hills are still in use today, with life expectancy just 10 years for the workers there. Hideous.

Although these days the boom of the colonial times is long gone, meaning that Potosi just has fading architecture and mineral deposits. It´s a lovely town though. It´s the most attractive since Cusco, with balconies and a few pedestrianised streets. Today we visited a convent and the famous mint (which used to make all the Spanish coins a few centuries ago) both of which have a rich collection of paintings and valuable objects. Naturally mostly made of silver!

It was nice to do something cultural and to soak up the atmosphere. Tonight we´re going to try some local folk music, hopefully!

I´m off to put on my dancing shoes.

Uyuni & Salar de Uyuni (or; Bolivians are crazy part III)

After a 4 hour bus followed by a 7 hour night train, we arrived from La Paz to Uyuni at about 2.30am. Awesome.

Uyuni is partly a military area, so there were signs everywhere in the hotel warning NOT to take photos! Yikes. Well, there was nothing to see at 2.30am anyway.

Turns out there was nothing to see the next morning either. Uyuni is pretty awful place. Dirt roads, unfinished buildings, rubbish EVERYWHERE. Pretty dismal. And a pretty dismal life too, I imagine.

But, Uyuni is the place from which you get to the salt flats - Salar de Uyuni - the largest salt flats in the world. (Not forgetting the highest, altitude fans!)
However, because of the intense rain the few days before we arrived, most of the salt flats had turned into a salt lake, so our little excursion had to change a little.

So itinerary went: driving by 4x4 through the Altiplano (High Plains) looking at strange and interesting rock formations, finding and looking at flamingos, an overnight stay in a tiny hostel ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, then on to the salt flats to have lunch at a salt hotel and to see the flats that weren´t too much underwater.

Now, to repeat myself again and again, it was amazing. The Altiplano stretches on into miles or nothingness. Well, desert-like landscapes. It was like being in an American film where they drive for hours on end through endless deserts. The tiny "town" we stayed in did indeed seem like the end of the world, as it consisted of two streets in the middle of nowhere. Obviously the salt flats were amazing and strange. The bright white reflects the light from the sky, and the horizons play with your perception, meaning that you can take funny photos. Which of course we did. Gringos that we are. I must also mention that the conditions in which the people who ¨mine¨the salt were appalling. The salt just piled on the floor, scraped into bags. Rubbish scattered everywhere. Everything was pretty dire. I suppose the locals simply continue to do everything as it has always been done, meaning that there is very little progress in anything they do there, and very little hope as far as I can tell.

On a lighter note, I need to write about our driver Armando. A right character. Cheeky guy, looking at the girls out of the window, and stopping off to give chocolate bars at a house. He had a maniacal laugh as he drove at 120kmh through the bumpy dirt road across the plain. His laugh was infectious, the more he laughed, the more we laughed, the more he laughed. I can´t really put across just how hilarious this guy is. He was chewing coca leaves all the way, dancing to his South American hip hop, and randomly deciding to stop to wash the 4x4 (before driving through mud and wet salt.....?!) Running out of petrol in the middle of nowhere was fun, although not as much fun as watching him siphoning gasolina out of the tank and spitting it out by the mouthful, before laughing like a crazy person and driving off leaving a trail of black fumes and dust in his wake.

Honestly, even though everything didn´t go to plan (´disastrous´was a word bandied around by the more unadventurous of the group) I haven´t laughed so much in a long time.

The fact that the hotel had completely run out of water when we got back rounded it off nicely! Although Jackie, Irene and I simply laughed even harder over our bottle of wine.

La Paz (or; Bolivians are crazy pt II)

La Paz is MASSIVE.

It has the most crazy traffic I have ever seen. Buses which are really like VW vans, with people hanging out of them just shouting where they´re going. No such thing as right of way. No such thing as red light means stop. Just beep your horn and go.

Crossing the road is fun, as you can imagine!

I like it though. It´s full of exhaust fumes and very poor people, but it feels alive and people spend most of their time on the streets. Selling dodgy food that smells amazing, or shining your shoes, or persuading you to buy llama fetuses. (More on that later)

We did a city tour, which gave some idea of the sheer size of this place. We took in Moon Valley, in the south of the city (the rich, posh area) which was strange. Part of the valley is made up of white stone, which over the years has eroded into a strange moon-like landscape. We also visited the witches´market, where you can buy strange things such as llama fetuses, herbs, sweets and talismans which are used in ceremonies to Mother Earth.

We´ve spent much of our time here exploring the markets, both the touristy ones and the local one (bit dodgy. We were the only gringos there. A friend of ours nearly got robbed! Super cheap though.) We also visited the gold museum and the coca museum. Both tiny and very interesting.

All in all, a good chance after all of the action of the past two weeks (five flights, eight or nine boat rides and countless bus journeys) to relax a bit and re-charge our batteries.

It´s very apt that La Paz means ´Peace´.

Bolivia Breakthrough

On to Bolivia.

The border crossing was not nearly as exciting as I was led to believe. The Bolivian border police are known for stealing money off tourists, accepting bribes and just creating problems crossing the border just for the hell of it.

So obviously, I was pretty excited, hiding my money in my bra and socks and whatnot. Practising my ´what, me?´ face in the mirror.

All it consisted of was queuing a lot. And the policeman looked at me, smiled and asked if I was Irish. When I replied I was English, he just looked down again, stamped my passport and papers and I passed through. Obviously keen on the Irish then.

Copacabana, then on to La Paz, which is where I am right now.

I must mention this journey, as straight away one can see Bolivians are crazy.

From Copacobana (not a nice place) we had to take the bus to La Paz. Part of this journey includes crossing the lake from one peninsula to the other.

We were instructed to get off the bus in order to get on a little boat to cross. Five minute journey. No problems.

Now, we were also told we could leave our stuff on the bus, as we would catch it the other side.

Hmmmmmm.....?

Yes, we could leave our stuff on the bus, as it was driven on to a RAFT. Which then crossed the river.

It may not sound anything spectacular, but please, picture in your mind´s eye a big coach, like a National Express bus, on a few planks of wood, floating across a lake.

It was unbelievable.

Bolivians are crazy.

Lake Titicaca pt III

Almost finished on this, honest!

So, the day after we went to ´Paradise Island´(I forget the real name) which was indeed very beautiful. And guess what? We climbed another %"$·!?%$& mountain.

Marginally easier. Plus we had the incentive that lunch was at the top. Fresh trout from the lake. Yuuuuuuummmmmmmyyyyy.

Also, I took one of my best pictures from the top. Honestly, when you guys see it, you probably won´t believe that I took it. It looks like a painting or a postcard or something. It´s really that good.

Oh yeah, and I burned my scalp that day from lounging in the sun whilst on the roof of the boat.

Jealous, much? Hehe

Lake Titicaca pt II

From the reed islands we went to Amantani island, which is where we stayed the night with a local family. This has to be one of the coolest experiences of my life.

Jackie and I were ássigned´to an indigenous family on the island, who put us up for the night and fed us etc. Our Mama was Vilma, who had two extremely cute children called Jefferson and Lucy. (South Americans and their names......!) Adorable. She cooked for us and welcomed us into her home, which was an amazing experience. She cooked everything from scratch over a fire. Everything was very basic, but clean, and she had decorated the kitchen with her own handicrafts. (Which naturally we were encouraged to buy....!) I bought from her some beautiful little knitted flowers and alpaca socks.

In the afternoon we climbed to the top of a bloody mountain. THAT nearly killed me. 400 metres on top of the altitude = slow going. It was so steep I honestly thought I might die there. However there was a point. The views across the lake. It was a beautiful day, so we could see all the way to Bolivia.

The best part, however, was the evening. A party in the local hall, with all us tourists dressed up in local Peruvian costumes with a Peruvian band, dancing the night away. It was so much fun, even if it was hard to keep up with the locals.

It´s the altitude, you know.

Lake Titicaca pt I

After a brief night back in Cusco, we made the seven hour bus journey to Puno, a university town just next to Lake Titicaca. Very nice, although we didn´t spend too much time there as we were mainly there to visit the islands in the lake.

Amazing.

The lake seems to be on top of the world. At 4,100 metres, I think it pretty much is. Super horizons, the sky and the water stretch on and on for miles. It is incredible.

We took a boat to one of the reed islands - man-made islands with a small community living on it in reed huts. It was strange; they have to replace the top reeds (the ones making the ´ground´ on which you walk) every fifteen days. A labour-intensive way of living, although all they seem to do is fish and make souvenirs for the visiting tourists.

Amazon Jungle

I was SOOOOOO excited to go the jungle!!

It really lived up to my expectations. We took a boat from the airport down the Madre de Dios river to get to our Eco Lodge. It was beautiful. In the middle of the jungle, next to the river a group of wooden huts for us to stay in.

The noise, the humidity, the lush green. It was all there IN REAL LIFE. The three days we spent there we saw monkeys on Monkey Island, went trekking through the jungle (TWICE!) paddled down a river and saw lots of birds, animals, tarantulas and caimans. WOW. Speechless.

It seems like a dream now I´m back in Cusco for the night, typing this in an internet cafe. BUT I do have more than forty mosquito bites. All of which are on my legs between my hips and calves. Nowhere else. This is because the mossies bit THROUGH my trousers! My thighs being more or less the only area not covered in DEET (which, I might add, burns like hell)

Ai ai ai, what a souvenir! (And possibly Malaria........ha!)

P.S. Don´t worry, Mum, I´m taking the Malaria tablets!

Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley (Or; The Incas never finished what they started)

Breaking through the altitude/jetlag barrier using coca toffees, we took a bus then train then bus to visit Machu Picchu. As many of you know, Machu Picchu has been on my "list" for years, so to actually get there was awesome. In the truest sense of the word. It was absolutely breathtaking.

It was a hell of a climb up (when you can´t breathe cos of altitude. And perhaps being unfit, I suppose...) But the views are amazing. All around are the Andean mountains, and sprawled below you the Incan architecture of a sacred place. It felt incredibly spiritual to be there. And very quiet and peaceful. Other than the thousands of other tourists, naturally.

We three had a guide to ourselves which was great (the rest of our group already started in Ecuador and were doing the Inca trail, so we had a couple of days before they joined us) She was great at pointing out the spiritual and historical, but interestingly pretty much every building in Machu Picchu was unfinished. She pointed out stones and buildings that were only half complete. Plenty of them. It struck me as strange, as I would have thought you would finish one sacred building before starting another? Must have been like living in a building site!

I jest, it was an amazing place.

We also went to Pisac in Sacred Valley, which was also breathtaking in the mountains, although similar-looking to Machu Picchu. Again, the guide there pointed out unfinished buildings all over the place. A pattern emerges......

Touchdown!

So after a very long, arduous flight, we had a very brief stopover in Lima (8pm - 6am!) Which means we basically saw nothing there. Good-o.

We took a flight the next day to Cusco, which lies in the Andes. Very pretty in the town centre, I must say. Me, Jackie and our new Aussie friend Irene wandered round the (ubiquitous!) markets. All of which are very cheap and selling amaaazing things, which is tempting but tricky when my backpack is already full.

I will now make a point to add that altitude is a BITCH. I knew about altitude sickness and that, yeah, the Andes are pretty high up. But OH MY DAYS, it really hits you when you fly straight from sea level to over 3,500 metres! The three of us were hitting the coca leaves like anything (yes, the coca that makes cocaine......massive remedy apparently. Well, who notices altitude when you´re off your face??) Basically headaches, palpitations, nausea, dizziness and breathlessness. Feels like you´re about to die if you walk up a slight incline! Coupled with jet lag, it wasn´t too much fun, I must say. It´s pretty weird, but after a few days you start to get used to it. Although then we fly off to the Amazon, which is pretty much back to sea level, but that´s another post.

Preparation

Tomorrow I'm off to Jackie's as early on Monday morning we GO! Very excited, but I have a rather large piece of paper with scribbles all over it, also known as my to-do list. As usual I've left everything to the last minute, and instead of actually packing or photocopying the million pieces of paper I have to take with me, I am typing this babble.

I think I've got everything down to a capsule wardrobe. I have everything covered; cold, rain, heat, beach, city, mountains. All in a 45 ltr rucksack. Although I suspect there will be very little room for souvenirs. I guess I can always throw away some of my clothes. They're pretty much all cheap and cheerful items. Socks have been an issue. I only have 3 pairs. I bought some rubbish ones in Tesco yesterday, but hopefully they'll do!

I'm more worried about my elephant foot anyway. My right foot is all puffed up and swollen for no apparent reason. Not sure if my walking boot will actually go on said foot. Hmmm.

Is Machu Picchu wheelchair accessible?

The Route

To Begin...

So.

Here I am again attempting to write a little blog to keep the world informed of my activities. I've never been much good at keeping a diary for more than a week or two, but this time I have a motive. Basically to keep my Mum in the loop, and to let her know that I'm not locked up in a secret sex dungeon in some drug dealer's hacienda.

To business: I am going on a six-week trip to South America; a continent I've always wanted to travel around. Obviously you can't get around much of it in just six weeks, so I am covering the central part as part of a tour. Starting in Peru, travelling across Bolivia, Paraguay and ending up in Brazil. Oh yeah, and going to some little carnival I hear they have in Rio de Janeiro.................