So after 2 days and 3 nights in Singapore I left for India.
Singapore was incredible- definately a place I shall have to move to some day, at leaast for a year or so... everyone was lovely, polite, well dressed, the streets were clean, pretty, the sun was shining, the exotic birds singing, the ripe sweet fruits over-flowing from the stands, the fusion of numerous asian cultures producing mind-blowing cuisine options...heaven :)
And then 2 hours on the plane to Bangkok, 3 hours at the airport, then 4 hours on another plane and voila: INDIA!!!!!
New Delhi- pretty much the above just the exact opposite :P haha...nah the people are lovely here too, but otherwise yeah, the opposite...
Got picked up by a little angry man, who had been waiting for an hour, and grudgingly drove me to my hotel at 1am...
i was soooo tired that the lack of air-conditioning, loud noises from the outside street, or even strange noises from the next room could not stop me from falling asleep immediately!!!
I woke up this morning ready to explore, you know really be open-minded, embrace the new beautiful colorful indian culture and just LIVE it.... it started out well, colors, everywhere, hassling from every single male as expected, flavorful smells wafting across the street, many many bikes, cars, motorcycles everywhere...just imagine slumdog millionaire and me standing right in the middle of it all. :)
but then it went down hill just a tiny bit when 2 ATMs wouldn't give me money ( dont worry the 3rd one did), then I had to check-out, hassle the price down by alot, arrange a bus to rishikesh finally got one for tonight), then arrange a Delhi tour by car and that is when it kind of really went wrong..it was beautiful at first, all the temples and buildings and general hectiness of delhi life BUT then we stopped at the Red Fort, I got out of the car as usual to explore the sight and meet him back at the car in approx. 30min, but by the time I got back, the taxi driver was nowhere to be seen AND I discovered that my wallet was gone- maybe slipped out in the taxi who knows but it was gone and so was the taxi driver :( that left me in the middle of wild delhi on my own without transport...oh well, I send the taxi driver love, thanking him for the lesson he taught me, hoping he learns to live a better life ( after all there were only about 800 or 900 rupies in there, luckily i had put all the 10 000 rupies and my card i had withdrawn in another pouch in my bag) and started making my way back...I did and everything was fine.. Now i am happily sipping on a lassi ( delicious, praying not to get a delhi tummy in those 24hrs I have here before I depart :P) in a little local cafe, reading and shall be making my way to the busstop shortly..
So hello India, show me what you got and I will listen, watch, learn and love you for it!!!
Dhanyavad
Shukrya xxx
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
AUSTRALIA!!!!!!! finally its happened to me...
Flew into Sydney on the 15th of May!
Stayed in wake up hostel for 3 nights- walked through Sydney for hours and hours and hours, through Surreey Hills, Central, Newtown, Chinatown, the Rocks, Opera house, just EVERYTHING!!! Drank a lot of coffee- they do that in Sydney and just sucked in the atmosphere! thsi included two nights out in some great gay bars- met some lovely people, dyed my hair red, bought some great retro sunglasses and...well just WAS in Sydney!
On the 19th flew to Brisbane - short flight early in the morning, and a quick train ride to bunk hostel!!! first things first: indian VISA!!! had to get done (do not get me started, but lets just say, a lot of hassle!! yeah lets keep it at that). after that a quick package to be sent home ( too much stuff, too little space, too many memories to throw those things away). After that I used the day to wonder through Brisbane for endless hours, they passed by real quick though, as it truly is a very pleasant city!! I decided to make my way the next day already though, because I was not in Australia to be in cities. So Byron Bay was to be the next stop!! Oh little did I know, that it would be the ONLY stop, THE stop, possible the LOVE of my life :D
Took a 3 hour bus ride to Byron Bay ont he 20th of May and resided there until the 4th of June! I arrived and before I even spoke to anybody I knew that this place was special and would really work well for me- and it certainly did!! Laiston, a tall, very handsome, long blond-haired, scruffy looking, bare footed, awesomely dressed guy from texas approached me as soon as I got off the bus and simply asked: where were you planning on staying? That was all that had to be said- I had had no plan, only having heard of the 'ARTS FACTORY" I was going to look it up once there- but with my luck, Laiston worked at the Arts Factory and so before I knew it I was whizzed away in the arts factory bus to my new home! Laiston and I go ton real good very well and so it was not long ( in fact about 3 minutes into the 6 minutes busride) that he asked where I was plannign on staing, the dorms or the campsite?! I was very very keen on camping but did not have a tent BUT once again, fate was there to guide me and Laiston offered to share his tent! Done and done!! I could, and will go on about how amazing it was, how I fell in love, how I walked on the beach( which was 5 minutes away) every day at sunrise and then again at sunset, how I walked around bare foot for 2 weeks straight, how I loved livign ina tent, how the small open kitchen became my favourite spot, how i met THE best people in he wolrd: Nick ( my actual twin), Luise, Linda ( two crazy crazy german awesome ladies), Robbie ( the one I now dream of :)- with the voice of a sexy angel and the ability to play guitarre like a...well rockstar!), Ema ( great scottish-irish girl...plus we kind of have the same pants, so we are officially very bonded to eachother), Matt ( I kind of just think of him as Gandalf- he constantly had a long walkign stick, a cape and long curly hair...come on a litle bti like a wizard dont you think?), Filipo ( the cutest italian EVER), Javier ( the sweetest spaniard ever), Patrick ( the coolest surfer dude from Luxenburg I ever knew and probably will know- after all there arent too many Luxenburgers, let alone those who surf), Johnie ( god I love saying his name - a lovely chilled out dude from Virginia), Chris ( the guy who did my dread - yes its true I now officialy have a dread), ferez ( the nosiest but lovely german) and Mauro ( the italian whom I will never forget..partly because he is just soooo cute and also because he pretty much cooked or offered to cook em dinner every night..bless!!)
And that is it ladies and gentleman- the 'Jungle hut crew!'
Why Jungle hut? Because there was a wooden hut, with open sides, wooden benches and tables, shit hanging off everywhere and it was called the 'Jungle hut'- here we resided many many many hours- jammed int he evenings, or during the day, ate - pretty much 24/7 - created some great sayings, had some unforgettable laughs and generaly just fell in love with each other and Byron Bay! What did we do all day??
Did some crazy trips: liek to nimbin ( those of you who know it must now be nodding in happy agreement), for those who don't- its this little town and basically its just knwo for its weed! Yep, it is just a little village where you go and smoke pot all day...yep, its great!! haha...
Otherwise we had a bonfire on the beach, slept on the beach, some nights we simply did not sleep at all and just talked, drank "goon" ( dirt cheap boxed wine), jammed for hours, and ( dont tell anybody) smoked a lot of weed!! Dont judne- go there yourself and then tell me that you didnt....
I also started making a lot of jewellery so in Byron bay I took a lot of time collecting beads, feathers, shells and stones and created a dozen or more earrings- I gave the most of them to the girlies who made my life so beautiful during those days there but somethign was definately awoken and I am grateful for that!!!
Otherwise we ate ALOT of chocolate ( for those experinced weed smokers- you knwo what I am talkign about?? well imagine this: they called it stoner surprise at the arts factory cafe- vanilla ice cream, then a hot chocolate and walnut brownie on top of that, then another scoop of ice cream, broken up biscuit and then caramel sauce on top, sprinkled with coco powdre - now let that drive you crazy as you think about it- and now think about the ridiculous satisfaction this calorific bombshell can create in a stoned person's life :P haha....)
We went to the buddha bar for live music 4 times a week, that was beautiful, otherwise I worked 4x a week , cleaning the fridges and kitchen of the hostel for accomodation, so I cleaned 3 hours , 4 days a week and this payed for my ccomodation, so those 15$ I would have had to pay for camping there- good deal!!
But I have to stop talkign about that now because it is making me miss it too much - after all I am no longer there!!
I departed on the 4th, made my way back to Brisbane, picked up my, finally completed indian visa ( after having rebooked ALL my flights...who cares that I am already short on money right- lets splash out on last minute flights- oh well, if you cant plan well, or stick toy our plans that it, you gotta pay for it right?), had a final stroll through Brisbane and then went to bed early to prepare for the big travellign day ahead!
on the 5th of June i flew to Cairns early in the morning, then to Darwin- short layover, and then to Singapore!!! Yep, I am now in Singapore!!
Oh hello Asia!! :P
Stayed in wake up hostel for 3 nights- walked through Sydney for hours and hours and hours, through Surreey Hills, Central, Newtown, Chinatown, the Rocks, Opera house, just EVERYTHING!!! Drank a lot of coffee- they do that in Sydney and just sucked in the atmosphere! thsi included two nights out in some great gay bars- met some lovely people, dyed my hair red, bought some great retro sunglasses and...well just WAS in Sydney!
On the 19th flew to Brisbane - short flight early in the morning, and a quick train ride to bunk hostel!!! first things first: indian VISA!!! had to get done (do not get me started, but lets just say, a lot of hassle!! yeah lets keep it at that). after that a quick package to be sent home ( too much stuff, too little space, too many memories to throw those things away). After that I used the day to wonder through Brisbane for endless hours, they passed by real quick though, as it truly is a very pleasant city!! I decided to make my way the next day already though, because I was not in Australia to be in cities. So Byron Bay was to be the next stop!! Oh little did I know, that it would be the ONLY stop, THE stop, possible the LOVE of my life :D
Took a 3 hour bus ride to Byron Bay ont he 20th of May and resided there until the 4th of June! I arrived and before I even spoke to anybody I knew that this place was special and would really work well for me- and it certainly did!! Laiston, a tall, very handsome, long blond-haired, scruffy looking, bare footed, awesomely dressed guy from texas approached me as soon as I got off the bus and simply asked: where were you planning on staying? That was all that had to be said- I had had no plan, only having heard of the 'ARTS FACTORY" I was going to look it up once there- but with my luck, Laiston worked at the Arts Factory and so before I knew it I was whizzed away in the arts factory bus to my new home! Laiston and I go ton real good very well and so it was not long ( in fact about 3 minutes into the 6 minutes busride) that he asked where I was plannign on staing, the dorms or the campsite?! I was very very keen on camping but did not have a tent BUT once again, fate was there to guide me and Laiston offered to share his tent! Done and done!! I could, and will go on about how amazing it was, how I fell in love, how I walked on the beach( which was 5 minutes away) every day at sunrise and then again at sunset, how I walked around bare foot for 2 weeks straight, how I loved livign ina tent, how the small open kitchen became my favourite spot, how i met THE best people in he wolrd: Nick ( my actual twin), Luise, Linda ( two crazy crazy german awesome ladies), Robbie ( the one I now dream of :)- with the voice of a sexy angel and the ability to play guitarre like a...well rockstar!), Ema ( great scottish-irish girl...plus we kind of have the same pants, so we are officially very bonded to eachother), Matt ( I kind of just think of him as Gandalf- he constantly had a long walkign stick, a cape and long curly hair...come on a litle bti like a wizard dont you think?), Filipo ( the cutest italian EVER), Javier ( the sweetest spaniard ever), Patrick ( the coolest surfer dude from Luxenburg I ever knew and probably will know- after all there arent too many Luxenburgers, let alone those who surf), Johnie ( god I love saying his name - a lovely chilled out dude from Virginia), Chris ( the guy who did my dread - yes its true I now officialy have a dread), ferez ( the nosiest but lovely german) and Mauro ( the italian whom I will never forget..partly because he is just soooo cute and also because he pretty much cooked or offered to cook em dinner every night..bless!!)
And that is it ladies and gentleman- the 'Jungle hut crew!'
Why Jungle hut? Because there was a wooden hut, with open sides, wooden benches and tables, shit hanging off everywhere and it was called the 'Jungle hut'- here we resided many many many hours- jammed int he evenings, or during the day, ate - pretty much 24/7 - created some great sayings, had some unforgettable laughs and generaly just fell in love with each other and Byron Bay! What did we do all day??
Did some crazy trips: liek to nimbin ( those of you who know it must now be nodding in happy agreement), for those who don't- its this little town and basically its just knwo for its weed! Yep, it is just a little village where you go and smoke pot all day...yep, its great!! haha...
Otherwise we had a bonfire on the beach, slept on the beach, some nights we simply did not sleep at all and just talked, drank "goon" ( dirt cheap boxed wine), jammed for hours, and ( dont tell anybody) smoked a lot of weed!! Dont judne- go there yourself and then tell me that you didnt....
I also started making a lot of jewellery so in Byron bay I took a lot of time collecting beads, feathers, shells and stones and created a dozen or more earrings- I gave the most of them to the girlies who made my life so beautiful during those days there but somethign was definately awoken and I am grateful for that!!!
Otherwise we ate ALOT of chocolate ( for those experinced weed smokers- you knwo what I am talkign about?? well imagine this: they called it stoner surprise at the arts factory cafe- vanilla ice cream, then a hot chocolate and walnut brownie on top of that, then another scoop of ice cream, broken up biscuit and then caramel sauce on top, sprinkled with coco powdre - now let that drive you crazy as you think about it- and now think about the ridiculous satisfaction this calorific bombshell can create in a stoned person's life :P haha....)
We went to the buddha bar for live music 4 times a week, that was beautiful, otherwise I worked 4x a week , cleaning the fridges and kitchen of the hostel for accomodation, so I cleaned 3 hours , 4 days a week and this payed for my ccomodation, so those 15$ I would have had to pay for camping there- good deal!!
But I have to stop talkign about that now because it is making me miss it too much - after all I am no longer there!!
I departed on the 4th, made my way back to Brisbane, picked up my, finally completed indian visa ( after having rebooked ALL my flights...who cares that I am already short on money right- lets splash out on last minute flights- oh well, if you cant plan well, or stick toy our plans that it, you gotta pay for it right?), had a final stroll through Brisbane and then went to bed early to prepare for the big travellign day ahead!
on the 5th of June i flew to Cairns early in the morning, then to Darwin- short layover, and then to Singapore!!! Yep, I am now in Singapore!!
Oh hello Asia!! :P
Sorry but this I am a very busry traveller you know...
Auckland for 2 days
Bay of Islands for a day- watching dolphins , plus the hole in the rock!
Rotorua one night- cutest hostel ( crash apalace), VERY smelly but omg was the rotten smell worth it, when you dipped yourself into the steeming hot natural springs...treated myself to a full body massage..oops, guilty as charged!
Flew to Christchurch on the 4th of May!!
Seeing that is was based on Canterbury it bloody well looked very much like it! Beautiful church ( went to the evening choir performance- goose bumps appearing all over again just at the thought of it).
Wondered through Botanical garden, went to the Museum of Modern Art etc...
On the 6th the Kiwi experience began!!! 10 days of wonderful fun, amazement, bonding, driving, driving and driving... :)
First day off to Kaikora- WOW!! This place took swimming with dolphins to a whole new level, when 12 of us got on a boat, got driven out to open see, and dressed in full gear dropped into the freezing open waters, with only the glass of our goggles seperating us from the beauty of underwater life. 12 of us, 250 of them- yes, 250 of them, those wild, beautiful dolphins, playing iwth us, swimming under us, next to us, with us...for an HOUR!!! but then it got freezing and I slowly started feeling more and more like a dolphin, as the sensation in my legs started to stop and I felt more like a legless creature more than anything- but as great it is to bond with animals, one does not have to risk losing his/her limbs, I believe anyway...
So after that it was time to properly bond with my new fellow travellers- the main characters in the next few days of adventures: Daniel, Mick, Kate, Chris, Julia, Martha, D, Andy and Marah!! yep, that was the crew.oh AND jonas- a boy, who i now truly believe is my brother, who actually came to pull a joke on me!! i have NEVER seen anyone resemble someone else like that before ( unless they are twins ofcourse)- so Matej, should you be reading this- you have an identical twin called HJonas from Amsterdam, 19 years old, chef, currently in NZ, and....well look for someone who looks like you- thats him!!
Next : Kaikora to Picton and then Nelson - NZ's most renowned wine region, beautiful drive along the coastline, Nelson the sunniest city in NZ- although when we were there is was cloudy..great! :) little side note: tried NZ's winning ice-cream: bronze- lavender and honey; silver- lemongrass and ginger- AMAZING!!!! just thought i would mention that.
Next: Nelson to Westport - Nelson Lakes National Park, beautiful walk, but rainy all day and Westport, osrry to be saying this so directly BUT its a s*** hole...ohnestly- nothing there!!! just a massive supermarket- yeeeyyy..so watched bridget jones diaries, shrek and ice runners with the entire crew and a massive tub of ice-cream in the hostel!!
Next: Westport to Lake mahinapua - down the famous Highway 6. Punakaiki Pancacke rocks, seal colonies, and then the POO PUB!!!! awesome place, old ( 84 year old) man looks after us all. AND cooks an amazing dinner- steak, venicen stew, corn, veggies- you have no ideas how good that tastes when you have to eat shitty cheap food ALL the time- lets just say we were all very happy! and in honour of thsi we had a 'P' party- all dressed in sth. beginning with a 'P'. i was a peacock, but there were great ideas eg. pensioner, panda, priest, present 9 the unevitable penis ofcourse), pencil etc...it was a good ( for some drunken) night!
Next: Lake mahinapua to Franz Josef - WOW! very few words needed: go and see it for yourself! massive galcier, can move up to a meter a day, clear skies, hours of walking, skydive at sunrise- yep, you heard me- 15000ft skydive ( thats approx. 4,5km for those who dont know :P), a yoga class, some clean landry ( yes that is information that can and must be included in here)...We stayed here two nights!
Next: Franz Josef to Wanaka - I LOVE Wanaka! I dont precisely know why, maybe its the cute village, the great health food store, beautiful lake and mountains, cozy cafes OR the coolest cineam EVER!! where you sit in massive couches, sip on tea or hot chocolate and cookies, freshly taken otu of the oven get served at interval- not sure, but it might be the combination of them all!!
Next: Wanaka to Queenstown - wow the trip is over!! Queenstown our final destination , beautiful, freezing, peaceful at day, crazy at night ( and i mean CRAZY- 6 words: the world bar and tea pots- oh dear!!!) had a brill last nigth in Queenstown with the crew- treated ourselves to a japanese meal, sad to leave everyone!
Next: Back to Christchurch - 8 hour drive- LONG!!! Arrived back in Christchurch, last stroll, send soem postcards and then off to bed, after all my flight was at 11am the following day!
A few things to be said about New Zealand: it is stunningly beautiful, unbelievably peaceful, people are truly very friendly, the maori culture is intriguying and very dominant, you are bound to become an adrenaline junkie - i DID! ( for future birthday present ideas: a skydive will do it :P), it is very expensive, the food ( i know that i have been slipping it in there occasionaly) is sooo expensive and all in all it is a country worth discovering! I LOVED IT!
Bay of Islands for a day- watching dolphins , plus the hole in the rock!
Rotorua one night- cutest hostel ( crash apalace), VERY smelly but omg was the rotten smell worth it, when you dipped yourself into the steeming hot natural springs...treated myself to a full body massage..oops, guilty as charged!
Flew to Christchurch on the 4th of May!!
Seeing that is was based on Canterbury it bloody well looked very much like it! Beautiful church ( went to the evening choir performance- goose bumps appearing all over again just at the thought of it).
Wondered through Botanical garden, went to the Museum of Modern Art etc...
On the 6th the Kiwi experience began!!! 10 days of wonderful fun, amazement, bonding, driving, driving and driving... :)
First day off to Kaikora- WOW!! This place took swimming with dolphins to a whole new level, when 12 of us got on a boat, got driven out to open see, and dressed in full gear dropped into the freezing open waters, with only the glass of our goggles seperating us from the beauty of underwater life. 12 of us, 250 of them- yes, 250 of them, those wild, beautiful dolphins, playing iwth us, swimming under us, next to us, with us...for an HOUR!!! but then it got freezing and I slowly started feeling more and more like a dolphin, as the sensation in my legs started to stop and I felt more like a legless creature more than anything- but as great it is to bond with animals, one does not have to risk losing his/her limbs, I believe anyway...
So after that it was time to properly bond with my new fellow travellers- the main characters in the next few days of adventures: Daniel, Mick, Kate, Chris, Julia, Martha, D, Andy and Marah!! yep, that was the crew.oh AND jonas- a boy, who i now truly believe is my brother, who actually came to pull a joke on me!! i have NEVER seen anyone resemble someone else like that before ( unless they are twins ofcourse)- so Matej, should you be reading this- you have an identical twin called HJonas from Amsterdam, 19 years old, chef, currently in NZ, and....well look for someone who looks like you- thats him!!
Next : Kaikora to Picton and then Nelson - NZ's most renowned wine region, beautiful drive along the coastline, Nelson the sunniest city in NZ- although when we were there is was cloudy..great! :) little side note: tried NZ's winning ice-cream: bronze- lavender and honey; silver- lemongrass and ginger- AMAZING!!!! just thought i would mention that.
Next: Nelson to Westport - Nelson Lakes National Park, beautiful walk, but rainy all day and Westport, osrry to be saying this so directly BUT its a s*** hole...ohnestly- nothing there!!! just a massive supermarket- yeeeyyy..so watched bridget jones diaries, shrek and ice runners with the entire crew and a massive tub of ice-cream in the hostel!!
Next: Westport to Lake mahinapua - down the famous Highway 6. Punakaiki Pancacke rocks, seal colonies, and then the POO PUB!!!! awesome place, old ( 84 year old) man looks after us all. AND cooks an amazing dinner- steak, venicen stew, corn, veggies- you have no ideas how good that tastes when you have to eat shitty cheap food ALL the time- lets just say we were all very happy! and in honour of thsi we had a 'P' party- all dressed in sth. beginning with a 'P'. i was a peacock, but there were great ideas eg. pensioner, panda, priest, present 9 the unevitable penis ofcourse), pencil etc...it was a good ( for some drunken) night!
Next: Lake mahinapua to Franz Josef - WOW! very few words needed: go and see it for yourself! massive galcier, can move up to a meter a day, clear skies, hours of walking, skydive at sunrise- yep, you heard me- 15000ft skydive ( thats approx. 4,5km for those who dont know :P), a yoga class, some clean landry ( yes that is information that can and must be included in here)...We stayed here two nights!
Next: Franz Josef to Wanaka - I LOVE Wanaka! I dont precisely know why, maybe its the cute village, the great health food store, beautiful lake and mountains, cozy cafes OR the coolest cineam EVER!! where you sit in massive couches, sip on tea or hot chocolate and cookies, freshly taken otu of the oven get served at interval- not sure, but it might be the combination of them all!!
Next: Wanaka to Queenstown - wow the trip is over!! Queenstown our final destination , beautiful, freezing, peaceful at day, crazy at night ( and i mean CRAZY- 6 words: the world bar and tea pots- oh dear!!!) had a brill last nigth in Queenstown with the crew- treated ourselves to a japanese meal, sad to leave everyone!
Next: Back to Christchurch - 8 hour drive- LONG!!! Arrived back in Christchurch, last stroll, send soem postcards and then off to bed, after all my flight was at 11am the following day!
A few things to be said about New Zealand: it is stunningly beautiful, unbelievably peaceful, people are truly very friendly, the maori culture is intriguying and very dominant, you are bound to become an adrenaline junkie - i DID! ( for future birthday present ideas: a skydive will do it :P), it is very expensive, the food ( i know that i have been slipping it in there occasionaly) is sooo expensive and all in all it is a country worth discovering! I LOVED IT!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Down under!!!
I flew into Auckland ob the 28th of April and it was immediately noticeable that I was no longer in South America- it looked pretty much very like back home, in the UK! We were cruising down the street, on the left-hand side like in England, and the houses whizzing past were not unlike those back home either. The airport shuttle dropped me in front of my hostel- The Nomad on Fort Street- and it was only 5am ie. the feeling that I still had the whole day ahead of me was truly magnificent!!
I checked in and just relaxed in the cozy common room whilst the rest of New Zealand still lay in bed. As soon as the time came to watch the sunrise, I made my way up to the kitchen, which was on the roof of the building...so with a hot cup of coco I was sitting on a bench on the top of the roof in the middle of Auckland, watching the sunrise- knowing that I was the first in the world to see the sunrise- the feeling was beautiful!!! :) after that i was truly ready to go and explore the city now. auckland has a wonderful feel to it and i gladly spent my entire day wondering through all the little streets
I checked in and just relaxed in the cozy common room whilst the rest of New Zealand still lay in bed. As soon as the time came to watch the sunrise, I made my way up to the kitchen, which was on the roof of the building...so with a hot cup of coco I was sitting on a bench on the top of the roof in the middle of Auckland, watching the sunrise- knowing that I was the first in the world to see the sunrise- the feeling was beautiful!!! :) after that i was truly ready to go and explore the city now. auckland has a wonderful feel to it and i gladly spent my entire day wondering through all the little streets
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The final and absolute cherry on top aka my last days in South America...
Night buses...oh the joy!!!!
After a truly pleasant stroll through the historic town, its recoletta, park and winded streets, we all met up for a brill almuerza ( a set meal with soup, main and dessert for 2$) at El German. We all scuffed down our yummy lunches and after packing our stuff at the hostel decided to have one last mango beer ( god it is a delicious drink) before we headed to the bus station.
Bolivian logic: there are 12 bus companies, all of them have only one bus to la Paz a day, all these buses leave within 15min of each other. Brilliant isn´t it!?
night bus. fat, old bolivian man snoring LOUDLY. no toilets. general uncomfort for 12 hours ie. bolivia aint no argentina when it comes to buses.
So we arrived in La Paz early in the morning and the next adventures began.
Day 1: witches market with lama fetuses, black market, street food, slices of pineapple, beautiful churches etc etc....as it was going to be our last dinner all together, we decided to do something special!!!
And in the spirit of me going to India soon, and the Peggs couple having lived there for 6 months, we decided to dare and visit The Star of india. Why am i using the word 'dare' to describe a visit to a restaurant? Well, this happens to be the indian restaurant that claims to have the 'Spiciest Vindaloo in the World'....so we went, we ordered, we tried to conquer, and many of us didn't.....
Simon was the only one who managed to down the entire bowl of the deadly Vindaloo ( to be fair, he had had 6 months of trainign though). The rest of us just started swetting, coughinf, generally taking on a rather red tint etc.....it was pathetic :)
Simon got a t-shirt, as do all who manage to eat the whole curry, and the rest of us got the bill and a nasty after taste the whole of the next day ( the less fortunate ones also got agood work-out during the night, runnign from their room to the toilet :( oops...)
The next morning it was already off to Copacabana- 4 hours on the bus- and one arrives to the tranquil views and surroundings of Lake Titicaca. On the way, the bus has to cross a big river. How do we solve that one, ey? Well, we obviously load all the passangers on a seperate boat, and then just drive onto a massive wooden raft and casually cross the river on that :)
The town of Copacabana was very touristy, with the only businesses being numerous gringo caffees and shops, full of the identical items, BUT the beautiful church, located at the end of the town did make up for it. Upon my arrival in the church, a little old blind lady was begging at the entrance. I scruffed up all my spare change and popped it into the lady's conveniently positioned hat, that was readily being held up towards me at this point. wow, that really set her off. To cut it short, I believe i received a 10000 different blessings and she woudl not let go of me for at least 2 minutes. It was beautiful though, to see that simple change to me, coudl mean the world to her. As my nose seems to be the guide through the entirety of many fo my walks I just happened to find the local market with all their goodies. I also foudn the highlight of this market: the eatery!!! Although I was by far the only gringo in there, surrounded by possibly 99% of the town enjoyign their lunch, I munched on some delicious soup, and anyway, who cares when your stomach is happy and your mouth is full. right?
At 1.30pm I catched a boat to Isla del sol. THE slowest boat ride int he history of man....but the silver lining of this of this tediously long boat ride was that I had enough time to get acqainted with kevin, sabrina, charlie and chema....the two later beign from israel and the others from switzerland, we got talking, to forget that our limbs were slowly loosing all their sensations and that our ass might actually be frozen to the bench. We quickly decided that we might as well stay at the same hostel and compared stories about travels so far. when we arrived on the island, we were all surprised to find that a obligatory 5bolivianos tax fee had to be paid ( so much for developing country, ey? they seemed on it)- welcome- after all just becuase its an island in bolivia dont mean there aint no arrival tax. So after a staggering 200 very steep stairs- the joy the joy!!! break, step step, break step step....we made it to our hostel. The chippery little local boys hopped in front, basically just making us feel bad about our slow old asses, showing us the way to their hostel...
The hostel wwasnothign extraordinary BUt, oh but, the views!!!!! unlike anythign i have seen since guatemala. The LAKE- beautiful, and finally soemthing a little like lake Atitlan (oh how I miss it). After we dropped our stuff of, we decided to explore this island. We walk in one direction- ruins! walk in the other-a hill! In other word, there aint much to do on that island BUT at the spot called 'gate to the sun', the views are really lovely, peaceful and generally very soothing. The others didnt join me, but i decided to just have a proper evening hyke, and so upon my arrival back at the hostel ( the sun had set in the mean time) we were all wrapped up in ALL of our clothing, freezing ,as the night dampness started to set in. A warm veggie soup for dinner to warm up the body and night night, off we went to the land of dreams: after all 9pm is way past our bed time on the island.
All of us woke up for sunrise, gulped down some warm coca tea and down we went, down those 200 stairs we had climbed less than 24 hours ago. Boat back....yep styill took us loooonnngggg!! I had to have a brisk lunch at my fave mercado (the local market) again BUT this time trout-their known specialty!! for 2$...wow what a bargain a and what a treat!
At 1pm I hopped on my bus back to la Paz and at 5:30pm, i found myself already walking through the door of Adventure brew Hostel ( th eboys had moved hostels in the tiem that I had been gone- yep, i just leave and get them to move my stuff for me). very ready to just kick back and relax for the night, i was a little surprised to have to get out and about very soon again.
what you mean i cant just relax?? oh i have to go and organzie a 100 things again?? hm...no surprise there then :)
Ryan had used my absence to get our climb booked, which was going to start the following day, and so important things, such as tryign on shoes, waterproof jackets, trousers, gaiters, crumpets...the whole shebang! was required.Our last supper before the hyke was considered very important by all of us, for different reasons. by ryan and me, because we were convinced we needed as much energy, and fat to warm us up up on the mountain, and by matt, because he kept saying that we might die, and therefore this migth ACTUALLY be the last supper. freak. Basically anythign that smelled good and stared at us from inside those inviting stalls eg. pork bun, chorizo bun, corn, fresh apple juice....anything, qualified for our dinner that night!! i think we defo stocked up on fat that evening.
Not often does it happen that i am desperate to buy candy and anything high in suger but that night i did: cookies, biscuits, lollies, snickers, coke...anythign that will keep me going!! ryan kept saying how we will need emergency rations and how i will appreciate a sip of coke, when i am hanging onto an ice cliff and have no energy left to pull myself up...bla bla bla...basically scaring the shit out of me, and makign me buy alot of unhealthy sugary crap.
6:30am LETS DO THIS!!!
ryan and me, threw on our 'climbing' gear aka trousers, t-shirt, jumper and hyking boots, grabbed our big 60litre empty bags ( they were going to be filled up at base camp with all our hyking gear), grabbed two free pancakes, spread some jam in between them, and with our fingers still sticking together with jam, and our stomachs struggeling to digest two massive pancakes at 7am, we ran down the main street to meet our driver in front of the company's office. We were of course exactly on time, but our other companion, 'amigo japones' as he got to be called by all, was a little late and so we used this time to chat to our guide. When he did arrive, he had a spare loo roll hanging of the side of his backpack, big water bottle loosely hanging out of his arms and about a thousand jumpers hanging off him- we immediately knew that this would be fun! We got reassured of this as soon as we realized that our 'amigo japones' not only spoke no spanish but also no english....yeeey!!! Anyway, we all filed ourselves into a small truck and together with a massive bag of stale bread rolls, which has been our staple breakfast throughout the entire of Bolivia, we trottet off to climb this son of a b****!!!
The first day was GREAT. We arrived at the mountain, no doubt a little surprised by the actual very imposing size of the mountain- Hyuani Potosi- but ready to get active! We dropped our stuff off, had lunch, chicken and rice, at the very unusual hour of 10:30 am, and off we went with our crampons, ice pick, waterproof gear etc, to have our go at ice climbing. it was immense!!! We climbed up vertical ice walls, hanging onto an icepick with our entire strength not to fall into the debths of the below lurking crevices....then down-sailed, then walked up another vertical wall again, thsi time using purely our crampons...basically it was awesome adventure sports all day!! We spent about 5 hours doign this, having fun and getting well acquinted with our gear, which was to become our new best friend during the next two days. We then retreated to the base camp, by thsi point thouroughly frozen through and through, and ready for some hot coco. As we returned, we met our fourth and last team member, Mark ( a 2m tall dutch guy). We pulled on all our warm clothes, and sat down to have our next warm meal of the day at 6pm. A yummy warm soup and more chicken with rice, were actually surprisingly appealing to us, as they did provide certain comfort in the cold rooms of our camp. Afterwards, we started doping up on litres of coca tea and cream crackers with butter and jam ( these became our staple snack of thsi trip- they were truly amazing- but then anything will seem amazign to you int he freezing cold, or am 1am, or after a life threatenign hyke). We met the other two groups that were going to attempt to climb the summit with us in two days, and amongst them were the three great people: Andrew, Shawn and Charlie ( all from the US- brilliant). Shawn taught us all THE essential card game ( according to him that is)- Shithead- and that pretty much , accompanied by more coca leaf and crackers- kept us entertained till bed time aka 8pm. You dont argue about this bedtime hour when you have to get up at 7 am only to hyke a VERY hard piece of mountain.
So that night I struggled to sleep, as it was freezing and I really needed to pee ( obviously) but i am after all very stubborn after my dear old daddy and so argued myself out of havign to venture outside for as long as possible, only to then have to sprint outside for it was getting rather urgent.
In the mornign many of us woke up more tired than the evenign before but nonethelss ready to get going. After a 'surprise surprise' breakfast of bread rolls with jam, coca tea and more crackers ( oh and actually a special treat of a banana) we packed our bags ( thsi time truly packed to the rim with all our gear) and off we went...OM fucken GOD ( excuse my french)!!!! I simply cannot describe how hard that day was. We had to climb a difference of 1000m in height but in about 4km. So actually the distance was nothing BUT with 20kg on your back and your terrain being loose rocks on a cliff side this proved to be VERY challenging ( if only I woudl have known what was to come the next day- ha i would have runned up). I shall not ellaborate on the pain, the anger, the sadness and determination ( actually that i just might expand on...haha) it took to get up to high camp that day BUT the important thig is I did, we all did it, and we smiled once we did. And boy did we have reason to....the views were exquisite, the sky clear as water, the glacier on one side, the entire valley and mountain range ont he otherm and the brilliant afternoon sun. We all dinned on pasta with beef and soem undefinable sauce and for dessert: well more crackers and coca tea. That afternoon we just sat at the foot of the glacier ( to mentally get used to the idea that we woudl be climbign that in a few hours), chatted about our lives and travels so far. It was fun- we were a great group!!!
A quick dinner at 5pm of rice and more beef and off to bed. Rising time was at midnight.
I tried to sleep, i really did, we all did, and i think that mark, the only one of us, managed to get 4 hours of sleep in. me personally, I slept for 3 hours, but some slept for maybe an hours or two max. Anyway, I was WAY too excited, the wind was screaming outside and the brightness of the stars and the almost full moon was intense!!
11:58, 11:59, 12:00- FINALLY!!!!!
We were all ready to go. In record time I had my long underwear, 2nd layer of trousers, two pairs of socks, 5 layers of tops, and scarf on and made my way down, where our guides were already laying out hot water for coca tea and some bread for breakfast ( our eating schedules got seriously screwed up during that 3 day trip). We all rushed to the loos, did what we had to do, in order to get used tot he fact that its midnight, we are awake and have to now climb on ice and snow for 6 hours to the height of 6040m in the pitch black. for me that purely entailed sitting down and sipping on my coca tea and chewing my stale bread roll.
1am. Mark, Ryan, Amigo japones, me and our two guides carlos and david- head torches attached to our helmets, crampons on our ice shoes, waterproof on, ice picks in hand and attached to each other with two ropes, we were ready for this as we would ever be.
It was hard, it was pitch black, the ice was glistening in our torch lights and in those shining from the stars, every step was hard, the breathign was tough from time to time and the peak invisible for most of the time. Ryan started throwing up at around 5800m - with 240m to go- GREAT!!! attached to me by rope, i had to pull him up though. either both of us make it or none of us- and I was gonna make it. At 5am we were at 5090m- the summit in sight, the sunrise lazily waiting behind the horizon, a puking ryan and a MASSIVE ridge of ice in front of us. the final stretch wasnot gonna be an easy one.
WE DID IT!!!!
I couldnt feel my fingers, I was deliriously tired and Ryan was deliriously dizzy BUT we snapped some pictures, congratulated each other as best as we could in the freezing cold, watched the sun rise ( the most beautiful thing I have ever seen) and headed down.
The way down was a lot easier, ryan started to be rather cheery very soon, and so we could even take some cheeky bottomless pics- haha...oh yes, our bolivian guide was surprised when ryan and me both pulle dour pants down at -15 degrees Celsius and posed for him to snap a picture- but as he said later...we gringos are crazy, nothing surprises him anymore..
We made it back to the high camp, repacked everything, changed into 'normal' clothes, gulped down THE best hot soup from a packet EVER and made our way down all the way to base camp. We were there by noon and surely enough by 2pm we were being dropped off int he city center again. I cannot deny that as we made our way back to our hostel i walked down that street with my shoulders slightly pulled back, my stride having a slight pride about it, and with every person we passed I thought to myself: if only you knew, if only you knew what I have already done today!!! The feeling was cereal and wonderful.
That shower we took upon our return to the hostel was great and HOT and we were both very ready to have soem serious down time. this took place at a little venue outside of la paz, watching cholita wrestling- don't ask me how i got talked into it- but somehow i did indeed end up watching women s wrestling. One thing: don't do it to yourself!!! That night we celebrated our survival and return to civilization as heroes with a meal at a Mexican restaurant and then a rather early retreat!!! We NEEDED our sleep.
The next day was to be a CHILL out day!!! it was, but it wasn't. I woke up with a massive cold but my slight obsession 9 more interest should i say) in prisons, made the San Pedro just too appealing. yes, i did go and visit the prison. yes, it was amazing, yes, it was exactly like in the book "marching powder" (read it if you haven't, its really good). yes, it continued my experience of cereal in Bolivia and yes, you will be shit scared but GO!!!! I spent 3 hours there, and loved every second of it. I would elaborate more but really can't. because, no offense, but you woan't understand. i visited the 'la posta' the gringo posh side of the prison. only 100 of the 5000 prisoners live there BUT there was no way i could go into the other population side- they would, no kidding, actually kill me. i did not doubt that after the uproar that simply our entrance through the main gates made in the population side of the entrance area.
That night we had another cultural experience in a Moroccan restaurant ( Very very very good hummus) and met up with Andrew and Charlie from the hike for a beer after...
Again an early night- still catching up on sleep- after all- didn't do much resting that day and the day after that, the 27th was my last day in Bolivia, and South America in general...:(
Woke up at 6am AGAIn but this time had a great reason to: World's Most dangerous road!! you heard me. we had signed up to ride mountain bikes down this road. It is knows as the world' smost dangerous as an average of 200-300 locals die on it every year. look it up on the internet- only pictures really explain the current state of the path. It was SO fun though!!! You basically ride for 3 and a half hours downhill (with only one 8mile cycle up), and descend 3500m. Brilliant!!!
At the bottom we chilled out, had some showers and a all-you-can eat buffet at an animal resort. I spent an hour cuddling up to a little monkey called Cobo (he really liked me and actually nibbled my lip- yep i indeed had a little afternoon lovin' from a monkey :))
That afternoon we headed home and it was indeed time for me to part with the boys- my dear companions- so to have our last supper, we finished our multi-cultural experience in a Cuban restaurant. With a mojito and a rich, very rich, chocolate brownie, we toasted to our good times together and promised each other to have a reunion sooner rather than later. I packed up my stuff and at 1 am I was sitting at my gate at La paz airport to board my plane to Santiago. Woth 3 stop overs, it was a LONG night, and i passed out on airport benches many a times BUT I made it and believe it or not: it was the 28th of April, 23pm and I was sitting in seat 13F, Santiago to Auckland.
yes. My time on this lovely continent had come to and end, it had been beautiful , sad, amazing, challenging and I fell in love with it. I will be coming back, that was for sure and I kept on reassuring myself of it as i heard the plane's wheels accelerating and finally being tucked in by the pilot as i watched the night lights of Santiago swiftly being replaced by the darkness of the below sea!!!!
Bye bye South America and hello NZ!!!
OMG- this is really happening, I am now off to the land of the Kiwis, the sheep and the other side of the world- WOW!!! wish me luck :)
1am. Mark, Ryan, Amigo japones, me and our two guides carlos and david- head torches attached to our helmets, crampons on our ice shoes, waterproof on, ice picks in hand and attached to each other with two ropes, we were ready for this as we would ever be.
It was hard, it was pitch black, the ice was glistening in our torch lights and in those shining from the stars, every step was hard, the breathign was tough from time to time and the peak invisible for most of the time. Ryan started throwing up at around 5800m - with 240m to go- GREAT!!! attached to me by rope, i had to pull him up though. either both of us make it or none of us- and I was gonna make it. At 5am we were at 5090m- the summit in sight, the sunrise lazily waiting behind the horizon, a puking ryan and a MASSIVE ridge of ice in front of us. the final stretch wasnot gonna be an easy one.
WE DID IT!!!!
I couldnt feel my fingers, I was deliriously tired and Ryan was deliriously dizzy BUT we snapped some pictures, congratulated each other as best as we could in the freezing cold, watched the sun rise ( the most beautiful thing I have ever seen) and headed down.
The way down was a lot easier, ryan started to be rather cheery very soon, and so we could even take some cheeky bottomless pics- haha...oh yes, our bolivian guide was surprised when ryan and me both pulle dour pants down at -15 degrees Celsius and posed for him to snap a picture- but as he said later...we gringos are crazy, nothing surprises him anymore..
We made it back to the high camp, repacked everything, changed into 'normal' clothes, gulped down THE best hot soup from a packet EVER and made our way down all the way to base camp. We were there by noon and surely enough by 2pm we were being dropped off int he city center again. I cannot deny that as we made our way back to our hostel i walked down that street with my shoulders slightly pulled back, my stride having a slight pride about it, and with every person we passed I thought to myself: if only you knew, if only you knew what I have already done today!!! The feeling was cereal and wonderful.
That shower we took upon our return to the hostel was great and HOT and we were both very ready to have soem serious down time. this took place at a little venue outside of la paz, watching cholita wrestling- don't ask me how i got talked into it- but somehow i did indeed end up watching women s wrestling. One thing: don't do it to yourself!!! That night we celebrated our survival and return to civilization as heroes with a meal at a Mexican restaurant and then a rather early retreat!!! We NEEDED our sleep.
The next day was to be a CHILL out day!!! it was, but it wasn't. I woke up with a massive cold but my slight obsession 9 more interest should i say) in prisons, made the San Pedro just too appealing. yes, i did go and visit the prison. yes, it was amazing, yes, it was exactly like in the book "marching powder" (read it if you haven't, its really good). yes, it continued my experience of cereal in Bolivia and yes, you will be shit scared but GO!!!! I spent 3 hours there, and loved every second of it. I would elaborate more but really can't. because, no offense, but you woan't understand. i visited the 'la posta' the gringo posh side of the prison. only 100 of the 5000 prisoners live there BUT there was no way i could go into the other population side- they would, no kidding, actually kill me. i did not doubt that after the uproar that simply our entrance through the main gates made in the population side of the entrance area.
That night we had another cultural experience in a Moroccan restaurant ( Very very very good hummus) and met up with Andrew and Charlie from the hike for a beer after...
Again an early night- still catching up on sleep- after all- didn't do much resting that day and the day after that, the 27th was my last day in Bolivia, and South America in general...:(
Woke up at 6am AGAIn but this time had a great reason to: World's Most dangerous road!! you heard me. we had signed up to ride mountain bikes down this road. It is knows as the world' smost dangerous as an average of 200-300 locals die on it every year. look it up on the internet- only pictures really explain the current state of the path. It was SO fun though!!! You basically ride for 3 and a half hours downhill (with only one 8mile cycle up), and descend 3500m. Brilliant!!!
At the bottom we chilled out, had some showers and a all-you-can eat buffet at an animal resort. I spent an hour cuddling up to a little monkey called Cobo (he really liked me and actually nibbled my lip- yep i indeed had a little afternoon lovin' from a monkey :))
That afternoon we headed home and it was indeed time for me to part with the boys- my dear companions- so to have our last supper, we finished our multi-cultural experience in a Cuban restaurant. With a mojito and a rich, very rich, chocolate brownie, we toasted to our good times together and promised each other to have a reunion sooner rather than later. I packed up my stuff and at 1 am I was sitting at my gate at La paz airport to board my plane to Santiago. Woth 3 stop overs, it was a LONG night, and i passed out on airport benches many a times BUT I made it and believe it or not: it was the 28th of April, 23pm and I was sitting in seat 13F, Santiago to Auckland.
yes. My time on this lovely continent had come to and end, it had been beautiful , sad, amazing, challenging and I fell in love with it. I will be coming back, that was for sure and I kept on reassuring myself of it as i heard the plane's wheels accelerating and finally being tucked in by the pilot as i watched the night lights of Santiago swiftly being replaced by the darkness of the below sea!!!!
Bye bye South America and hello NZ!!!
OMG- this is really happening, I am now off to the land of the Kiwis, the sheep and the other side of the world- WOW!!! wish me luck :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Bolivia and the adventures it brings...
WOW!! The mines were an absolutely eye-opening experience. We left our hostel at 8:30 am, after a very hearty breakfast of eggs, rolls, jam, bananas etc..., and hopped on a bus to the 1st miners' station, to get all geared up! It was funny, to say the least- over our trousers we all had to pull on red, plastic trousers, then massive knee-high wellies, a green plastic coat, a massive belt, with a battery attached, which then connected with a long wire to the torch on our helmet, which was bright yellow, and definitely evoked some sexy looks amongst the group! Our whole group consisted of 16 people, but we got divided into three groups: two guys from the czech republic ( its true, there are actually other czechs who travel- i am not the only freak) , who had their own spanish guide, and then two groups of 7, each with a english guide! I feel like I have to spend a few words on our guide, Rodriguez: his english was fine, and his enthusiasm definitely plentifull, but so was his supply of swear words in English, which he has learnt from the tourists over the years, and so there were several occasions, where I stared at him in desbelief, as he referred to us as "mad cows", or " f****** crazy bitches"!
Anyway, all ready to get dirty, we made one more stop at the miner's market: the tourists are asked to buy dinamite, alcohol, cigarettes or coca leaves for the miners, as a gesture of respect and general politeness! Amongst the 7 of us, we stocked up on a good amount of dinamite, alcohol, juice and coca leaves and were ready to party!!
We arrived at the mines, and a couple of people immediately backed out ( amongst them an 18-year-old lad, who had been boasting about his lack of fear in the bus- I am not going to lie, I laughed quite a lot)!!
Off we went...general idea: started out on the first level, absolutely fine, wide corridors, pleasant breeze and cool temperatures..
the first obstacle came, when we had to climb down a VERY small, slippery, tight ladder, down a dark hole, to get to the 4th level.
general idea: hot, crawling on all fours due to the lack of space, dusty air, strong smell of gas and other fumes, mud up to 50cm at points!!
We ran into numerous miners working and so got a good idea as to what the labour consisted of- whether they were blowing up sections, sorting out the materials or digging their way through scarsely existing holes, all of them were working crazy hard, in conditions that one cannot imagine till one sees it!!
I believe around 5 out of the 30 men we saw in the two hours we were down there, were between 50 and 60 years old, and had worked in the mines for over 30 years! And a further 5 were under the age of 15! The tragic fact, that these men will most likely die of a very serious lung disease, and the young boys' life expectancy is around 48, cast a sad and contemplative mood over all of us, but the truth is harsh and that became very clear!!
Two hours later we all crawled out, swetty, covered in dust, desperately sucking in the fresh air and getting used to the sharpness of the bright noon sun!!
The afternoon was then spent, strolling around Potosi, little stall there, cute shop here, yummy fruits there, strange jelly with meringue here!!!
In the late afternoon, just as I was about to start retreating to my hostel, I found the cutest little convent, which obviously had to be explored!! Judy, a lovely bolivian lady, took me around for almost 2 hours, telling me crazy stories of the lives of the 21 girls that used to occupy the convent almost 300 years ago!! Conclusion: I am never going to become a nun- if I haven't learned anything else in my gapyear, that I now know for sure !!
Later that night I had a good night out with my ozzie friends, in a local little bar, live reagge mucis and all...little tip: do not under-estimate the effect that altitude can have on you when drinking!!! Not saying that I got very ridiculously drunk or anything, just warning those people out there, that might do so!!! haha
The next mornign we all hopped on a bus to Sucre, and off we went bumping up and down little stone roads for 4 hours, till we arrived in Sucre!!
Quite a surprise: really hot, massive, well-dressed people on the streets, just a proper city I guess!!
We all ( by this point we were a group of 9, we were all headign in the same direction and so just stuck together), checked-in at the Amigo Hostel and ready to explore yet another town quickly made our way into the streets of Sucre!
The town is very pretty, with a very spanish feel to the old buildings and little squares!! In the evening we all went for a group dinner at Joy Ride ( not just for gringos, as the menu says), and had a great night!! We all shared two massive tacos combos - altogether 50 tacos, and heaps and heaps of guacamole, cheese, tomato and beef...all for 30 $ JOKES!!! It was a typical south american night: sangria, beer, cheesy music, out-of-breath dancing ( the altitude seriously kicks in)....
Yesterday, Ryan, Matt, Andy and me went horse-riding !!! Haha..it was soo mcuh fun. We rented horses, and with our guide, we roamed around the beautiful surroundings of Sucre!! The horses were basically not trained, so attempting to steer them was useless and caused alot of laughter. Matt had a horse, which nonetheless behaved more like an old donkey, Andy's horse just did anything that my horse did, and Ryan's horse was clearly very keen on hard terrain, and from time to time just started heading up into the hills. My "muchacha" was the most lively one, but seeign that I was the only one who can ride, it was better that way...As the boys struggled to get their horses trotting, I had a few lovely sessions of galloping trhough the country-side!! After about 3 hours our horses started to slowly have enough of it: Ryan's horse actually seriously broke down- legs out, just collapsed on the road and Ryan was lucky enough to have jumped off in time. My horse started standing up on her back legs, because she apparently doesn't like white cars ( my guide could have told me this earlier), and one passed us about every 5 minutes, as we had to ride along a main road for a while!! Anyway, it was fun and for 20 $ absolutely worth it. It is fair tosay though, that Argentina is a horse country, and bolivia isn't!!
In a little town of Yayana, where we finished our ride, we then discovered a strangelly posh swimming pool complex, with a beach volleyball court and a lovely loval eatery!! So the hot afternoon wa spent at the pool, playing volleyball ( or attempting to play on my part), sipping beer...
Slightly exhausted we arrived back home, and just chilled in the courtyard of our hostel..
Dinner was a lot more low-key than the previous night, with a visit to a pizza place ( amazing pizza, not even kidding) and ( I know that this is not very traditional but it had to be done) a banana split!!!
To walk out our acquired massive food-babies, we strolled around the night-lit city streets with my ozzie friends. To finish off a successful day, we listened to some music and drank one last Sol in our hostel, before calling it a day!!
Today, yet another sunny and hot day, is the last day in Sucre! We all, by now almost 20 of us, head to La paz tonight ( its a over-night 12 hour bus), and so we are all using today to just see those last things worth seeing...there are plenty of parks, churches, markets and old building!! That being a great excuse to stop writing, I finish today's entry and off I go to suck in some sun and bolivian city spirit...
Anyway, all ready to get dirty, we made one more stop at the miner's market: the tourists are asked to buy dinamite, alcohol, cigarettes or coca leaves for the miners, as a gesture of respect and general politeness! Amongst the 7 of us, we stocked up on a good amount of dinamite, alcohol, juice and coca leaves and were ready to party!!
We arrived at the mines, and a couple of people immediately backed out ( amongst them an 18-year-old lad, who had been boasting about his lack of fear in the bus- I am not going to lie, I laughed quite a lot)!!
Off we went...general idea: started out on the first level, absolutely fine, wide corridors, pleasant breeze and cool temperatures..
the first obstacle came, when we had to climb down a VERY small, slippery, tight ladder, down a dark hole, to get to the 4th level.
general idea: hot, crawling on all fours due to the lack of space, dusty air, strong smell of gas and other fumes, mud up to 50cm at points!!
We ran into numerous miners working and so got a good idea as to what the labour consisted of- whether they were blowing up sections, sorting out the materials or digging their way through scarsely existing holes, all of them were working crazy hard, in conditions that one cannot imagine till one sees it!!
I believe around 5 out of the 30 men we saw in the two hours we were down there, were between 50 and 60 years old, and had worked in the mines for over 30 years! And a further 5 were under the age of 15! The tragic fact, that these men will most likely die of a very serious lung disease, and the young boys' life expectancy is around 48, cast a sad and contemplative mood over all of us, but the truth is harsh and that became very clear!!
Two hours later we all crawled out, swetty, covered in dust, desperately sucking in the fresh air and getting used to the sharpness of the bright noon sun!!
The afternoon was then spent, strolling around Potosi, little stall there, cute shop here, yummy fruits there, strange jelly with meringue here!!!
In the late afternoon, just as I was about to start retreating to my hostel, I found the cutest little convent, which obviously had to be explored!! Judy, a lovely bolivian lady, took me around for almost 2 hours, telling me crazy stories of the lives of the 21 girls that used to occupy the convent almost 300 years ago!! Conclusion: I am never going to become a nun- if I haven't learned anything else in my gapyear, that I now know for sure !!
Later that night I had a good night out with my ozzie friends, in a local little bar, live reagge mucis and all...little tip: do not under-estimate the effect that altitude can have on you when drinking!!! Not saying that I got very ridiculously drunk or anything, just warning those people out there, that might do so!!! haha
The next mornign we all hopped on a bus to Sucre, and off we went bumping up and down little stone roads for 4 hours, till we arrived in Sucre!!
Quite a surprise: really hot, massive, well-dressed people on the streets, just a proper city I guess!!
We all ( by this point we were a group of 9, we were all headign in the same direction and so just stuck together), checked-in at the Amigo Hostel and ready to explore yet another town quickly made our way into the streets of Sucre!
The town is very pretty, with a very spanish feel to the old buildings and little squares!! In the evening we all went for a group dinner at Joy Ride ( not just for gringos, as the menu says), and had a great night!! We all shared two massive tacos combos - altogether 50 tacos, and heaps and heaps of guacamole, cheese, tomato and beef...all for 30 $ JOKES!!! It was a typical south american night: sangria, beer, cheesy music, out-of-breath dancing ( the altitude seriously kicks in)....
Yesterday, Ryan, Matt, Andy and me went horse-riding !!! Haha..it was soo mcuh fun. We rented horses, and with our guide, we roamed around the beautiful surroundings of Sucre!! The horses were basically not trained, so attempting to steer them was useless and caused alot of laughter. Matt had a horse, which nonetheless behaved more like an old donkey, Andy's horse just did anything that my horse did, and Ryan's horse was clearly very keen on hard terrain, and from time to time just started heading up into the hills. My "muchacha" was the most lively one, but seeign that I was the only one who can ride, it was better that way...As the boys struggled to get their horses trotting, I had a few lovely sessions of galloping trhough the country-side!! After about 3 hours our horses started to slowly have enough of it: Ryan's horse actually seriously broke down- legs out, just collapsed on the road and Ryan was lucky enough to have jumped off in time. My horse started standing up on her back legs, because she apparently doesn't like white cars ( my guide could have told me this earlier), and one passed us about every 5 minutes, as we had to ride along a main road for a while!! Anyway, it was fun and for 20 $ absolutely worth it. It is fair tosay though, that Argentina is a horse country, and bolivia isn't!!
In a little town of Yayana, where we finished our ride, we then discovered a strangelly posh swimming pool complex, with a beach volleyball court and a lovely loval eatery!! So the hot afternoon wa spent at the pool, playing volleyball ( or attempting to play on my part), sipping beer...
Slightly exhausted we arrived back home, and just chilled in the courtyard of our hostel..
Dinner was a lot more low-key than the previous night, with a visit to a pizza place ( amazing pizza, not even kidding) and ( I know that this is not very traditional but it had to be done) a banana split!!!
To walk out our acquired massive food-babies, we strolled around the night-lit city streets with my ozzie friends. To finish off a successful day, we listened to some music and drank one last Sol in our hostel, before calling it a day!!
Today, yet another sunny and hot day, is the last day in Sucre! We all, by now almost 20 of us, head to La paz tonight ( its a over-night 12 hour bus), and so we are all using today to just see those last things worth seeing...there are plenty of parks, churches, markets and old building!! That being a great excuse to stop writing, I finish today's entry and off I go to suck in some sun and bolivian city spirit...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mucho amor para Bolivia...in other words I LOVE Bolivia!
The Salar de Uyuni was incredible!
4 days of pure heaven: silence, beauty, nature, animals, no toilets, temperatures below zero every night, a visible milkyway and millions of stars, sleeping in ALL my clothes, getting up at 4am every day to see the sunrise and generally just head out onto the road- as we usually drove in our 4x4 for a good 8 or 10 hours.
Flamingoes, volcanoes, salt planes, weird shaped stones, incredible landscape, bumpy ride, delicious food ( and alot of it)....
i could keep on going! We headed out from Tupiza at 9am on Sunday the 10th. Who? Simon, Emily, Heather and Kevin. Two couples, both from the UK and me. Our driver, Alberto, was a doll and constantly told us stories from his 7 years as a driver through the salt planes. His wife, Elizabeth, is an incredible cook and surprised us every day with new yummy creations. Breakfast ( which we ate at 5am pretty much every morning - you get used to eating at that insane hour) was usually bread with dulce de leche, some hot tea ( my saviour). When she really wanted tot reat us, we had fruit salad from a can or panckakes- yep, they were pretty good! We would then usually head out in our jeep, it still beign dark, we had trouble staying warm, but seeing the sun rise over the beautiful landscape was always worth it. Lunch would be served at noon ( one was pretty hungry by then, as it was 7 hours after breakfast) and would contain some delicious meals, such as lentils, meat, rice or other filling food!
We stopped about a hundred times, to take photos and generally just admire the scenery- although the mornign stops would be very limited in time, as after about 5min I usually had to retire to the jeep- the cold was simply unbearable! We would then arrive at our next accomodation around 5pm and would be ready to eat some more- the cold really gets to you! Plus we were constantly in heights of approx. 4000-5000m above see level,. and it tires you out.
Dinners were epic. Soup- my favourite meal of the day- followed by another warm meal, and then hot chocolate and soem biscuits. As sad as it sounds we were all tucked in by 8pm, wrapped up. fighting the cold, and ready to get up in 8 hours again!
The last night we stayed in a salt hotel- yes, you heard me, the entire hotel was made out of salt blocks: beds, tables, walls, floors, ceilings- todo!! That night,. our last, climaxed with a super hot shower, the firts one in 4 days, and a toilet with a toilet seat ( even a toilet seat can become a luxury when you don't see one for days)!
So all in all it was wicked and i would recommend it to anyone ( also- if you feel like getting some funky photos takes, the salt planes are the place to go- as sad as it sounds, posing next to an apple, and appearing to be the same size on a photograph excited me beyond belief)!
On Wednesday, the 14th, we arrived in Uyuni- a dissapointingly ugly town! But we only spent one night there, exhausted, and ready for some rest in a hotel, which actually had heating, proper beds and a normal bathroom. We all, the five of us, decided to stick together for a bit, as we were all heading in the same direction, and so the next morning, today, we took a early bus to Potosi! The drive to Potosi was beautiful. The landscape varied from sand dunes to craggy rock features to green valleys.
WOW! I think I am in love.
The highest city in the world, at 4080m above sea level, it is lively, pretty and full of bolivian authentic spirit. We arrived, after 6 hours, in Potosi and headed for our hostel, the Koala Den. Only 10min were needed, to drop our stuff, and off we went to explore the city. The little charismatic streets, filled with stalls, markets and smiley grandmas were enought o convince us all to stay a bit longer.
We bought an enormous amount of veggies at the local market for a smashing 6 Bolivianos ( about 90 cents) and whipped up a delicious dinner in our kitchen at the hostel. After swapping some photos, I left the two couples at the hostel and headed out to meet Ryan, Matt and Patrick for a quick beer. Who are they? Ryan and Matt are two ozzie guys, absolutely lovely and they are travelling with Patrick, a welsh guy. We had a nice chat over a couple of beers and it seems like my next few days will be spent with them.
Somethign yous hould knwo about Potosi: it has numerous active mines. Now what could that possibly mean in the travels of Ivy-Victoria? That she obviously has to go and see them! It took me a while, but after some hard-core convincing, I have now signed us all up ( Emily, Simon, Heather and Kevin) for a mine tour for tomorrow mornign at 8:30am. We leave the hostel in the morning, go to a market, so that we can buy somehtign for the miners ( usually visitors stock up on coca leaves, unfiltered cigarettes, 96% proof alcohol or dinamite- yeah its true, dinamite) and then head to the silver mine. We will spend 2 hours underground with the miners!!
Emily, seing that she is a doctor, is concerned about the lung diseases we could catch, Simon (also a doctor) about the possibility of an asthma attack, and Heather and kevin keep checking the statistics of how many people have died in the mines in previosu years. And me? Well I am just bloody excited. First of all, when will I be able to see an active mine- possibly never. And secondly- what would life be without its dangers!!
So with that in mind, I am going to sleep, very excited to have my go at crawling through some extremely small, dark and dangerous mine corridors tomorrow!
Potosi is full of old churches, lovely caffees and little squares, so I imagine the afternoon will then be spent exploring those thourougly.
4 days of pure heaven: silence, beauty, nature, animals, no toilets, temperatures below zero every night, a visible milkyway and millions of stars, sleeping in ALL my clothes, getting up at 4am every day to see the sunrise and generally just head out onto the road- as we usually drove in our 4x4 for a good 8 or 10 hours.
Flamingoes, volcanoes, salt planes, weird shaped stones, incredible landscape, bumpy ride, delicious food ( and alot of it)....
i could keep on going! We headed out from Tupiza at 9am on Sunday the 10th. Who? Simon, Emily, Heather and Kevin. Two couples, both from the UK and me. Our driver, Alberto, was a doll and constantly told us stories from his 7 years as a driver through the salt planes. His wife, Elizabeth, is an incredible cook and surprised us every day with new yummy creations. Breakfast ( which we ate at 5am pretty much every morning - you get used to eating at that insane hour) was usually bread with dulce de leche, some hot tea ( my saviour). When she really wanted tot reat us, we had fruit salad from a can or panckakes- yep, they were pretty good! We would then usually head out in our jeep, it still beign dark, we had trouble staying warm, but seeing the sun rise over the beautiful landscape was always worth it. Lunch would be served at noon ( one was pretty hungry by then, as it was 7 hours after breakfast) and would contain some delicious meals, such as lentils, meat, rice or other filling food!
We stopped about a hundred times, to take photos and generally just admire the scenery- although the mornign stops would be very limited in time, as after about 5min I usually had to retire to the jeep- the cold was simply unbearable! We would then arrive at our next accomodation around 5pm and would be ready to eat some more- the cold really gets to you! Plus we were constantly in heights of approx. 4000-5000m above see level,. and it tires you out.
Dinners were epic. Soup- my favourite meal of the day- followed by another warm meal, and then hot chocolate and soem biscuits. As sad as it sounds we were all tucked in by 8pm, wrapped up. fighting the cold, and ready to get up in 8 hours again!
The last night we stayed in a salt hotel- yes, you heard me, the entire hotel was made out of salt blocks: beds, tables, walls, floors, ceilings- todo!! That night,. our last, climaxed with a super hot shower, the firts one in 4 days, and a toilet with a toilet seat ( even a toilet seat can become a luxury when you don't see one for days)!
So all in all it was wicked and i would recommend it to anyone ( also- if you feel like getting some funky photos takes, the salt planes are the place to go- as sad as it sounds, posing next to an apple, and appearing to be the same size on a photograph excited me beyond belief)!
On Wednesday, the 14th, we arrived in Uyuni- a dissapointingly ugly town! But we only spent one night there, exhausted, and ready for some rest in a hotel, which actually had heating, proper beds and a normal bathroom. We all, the five of us, decided to stick together for a bit, as we were all heading in the same direction, and so the next morning, today, we took a early bus to Potosi! The drive to Potosi was beautiful. The landscape varied from sand dunes to craggy rock features to green valleys.
WOW! I think I am in love.
The highest city in the world, at 4080m above sea level, it is lively, pretty and full of bolivian authentic spirit. We arrived, after 6 hours, in Potosi and headed for our hostel, the Koala Den. Only 10min were needed, to drop our stuff, and off we went to explore the city. The little charismatic streets, filled with stalls, markets and smiley grandmas were enought o convince us all to stay a bit longer.
We bought an enormous amount of veggies at the local market for a smashing 6 Bolivianos ( about 90 cents) and whipped up a delicious dinner in our kitchen at the hostel. After swapping some photos, I left the two couples at the hostel and headed out to meet Ryan, Matt and Patrick for a quick beer. Who are they? Ryan and Matt are two ozzie guys, absolutely lovely and they are travelling with Patrick, a welsh guy. We had a nice chat over a couple of beers and it seems like my next few days will be spent with them.
Somethign yous hould knwo about Potosi: it has numerous active mines. Now what could that possibly mean in the travels of Ivy-Victoria? That she obviously has to go and see them! It took me a while, but after some hard-core convincing, I have now signed us all up ( Emily, Simon, Heather and Kevin) for a mine tour for tomorrow mornign at 8:30am. We leave the hostel in the morning, go to a market, so that we can buy somehtign for the miners ( usually visitors stock up on coca leaves, unfiltered cigarettes, 96% proof alcohol or dinamite- yeah its true, dinamite) and then head to the silver mine. We will spend 2 hours underground with the miners!!
Emily, seing that she is a doctor, is concerned about the lung diseases we could catch, Simon (also a doctor) about the possibility of an asthma attack, and Heather and kevin keep checking the statistics of how many people have died in the mines in previosu years. And me? Well I am just bloody excited. First of all, when will I be able to see an active mine- possibly never. And secondly- what would life be without its dangers!!
So with that in mind, I am going to sleep, very excited to have my go at crawling through some extremely small, dark and dangerous mine corridors tomorrow!
Potosi is full of old churches, lovely caffees and little squares, so I imagine the afternoon will then be spent exploring those thourougly.
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