Lake Titicaca Homestay

Have arrived in Peru and this country is absolutely stunning - the prettiest yet of the countries I've been in. We went on an overnight homestay with local families on one of the islands on Lake Titicaca.  After 4 hours on a boat (could've probably swam quicker) we landed on the island to be greeted by our families.

Had to trek half an hour up the terraced hills to get to our home. Each family had two guests staying with them, so myself and another girl met our new adopted parents and siblings.  The accommodation was very basic but nice - no bathroom, just a toilet outside that doesn't flush etc.  Our new mum made us lunch. Sitting in the kitchen was sligthly awkward as our Spanish was completely crap, so there was lots of smiling going on between both parties!! 

But they were lovely - we had basic meals, mainly of rice and potatoes and were joined in the dining area by a few furry friends crawling all over the plates and running through holes in the wall.  The food was cooked over the fire and served to us on clay pots and bowls.  They also gave us tea, which was basically a twig of mint cut off some bushes outside in the garden.

We played the locals in a game of soccer - there were about 5 of them versus 11 of us...still we didn't win - got completely hammered.  In the evening we had to dress up in their local costumes and go to a dance. The outfits made the girls look at least 5 times their size and were hideous. The dance consisted of pretty much the same music and the same steps, but the craic was great.


Arrived in Cuzco and I love the atmosphere of this city and am looking forward to coming back here after my tour ends in Lima in two weeks, to volunteer for 4 weeks. Of course, we all went out clubbing last night & the first stop was the Irish bar for an expensive pint of Guinness! Doing the Inca Jungle Trek in a few days time, which is slightly different from the original trek - this one involves more mountain biking,  hiking, zip-wiring and rafting for 4 days and still getting to Macchu Picchu on the final day...bring on the adrenaline rush again!

Surviving 'Death Road'

Getting ready to start our bike ride on `Death Road´

Death Road, Bolivia

Ok, so I take back everything I said about Bolivia after arriving in La Paz. This city is fantastic.  It's the typical South American city that I had imagined in my head, unlike the cities in Argentina and Brazil.  It sits in a type of bowl shape and when you enter the city centre - proper developing city in the Third World. Cars, trucks,lorries etc gridlocked and tooting their horns (apart from trying to run people over), pollution everywhere, women mainly selling the same things on the street, men urinating everywhere (after you walk over it and not realising until it's too late)...it's a bit like Mumbai (except I've never been there, but it's what I imagine it to be like). And yes, the people are much friendlier than previous places and it's so cheap here which is great for backpackers.

Anyway, yesterday was probably the best adrenaline rush and scariest of my trip so far - cycling the 'World´s most dangerous road' or 'Death Road' as it's known here.  Basically it's a 64 km road  from La Paz to Coroico. Sounds fine when you say 'road', but dirt track, with stones and gravel 3 metres wide is a better explanation.  200 - 300 travellers are estimated to be killed yearly, with crosses marking the spots of each victim. 

The road started off well and we had to cycle at least 25km to get to 'Death Road' - we all cycled downhill for a while (flying in our mountain bikes) and stopped to look over the cliffs and to be shown vans and cars that veered over the edge.  Then there was an uphill section through the mountains of about 10km. The fellas in my group thought it would be good to try to have a race (the altitude up here is 4650m above sea level) against each other, seeing who was macho etc (you know the way they get on). They were slightly pissed off as they were eating dust from the eventual winner who was the oldest member of the group and the opposite sex...little old me - ha,ha - that kept them quiet after that..go the girlies!

After a couple of hours cycling and signing our lives away on disclaimers, we reached the actual ´Death Road´. My God, scary as hell - I don't do it any justice here, so you should google it to see what it's like.  Everyone was literally crapping themselves. The wider road now became the dirt track 3 metres wide, with the first drop 4650 metres (over 15 000 feet)at La Cumbre Pass.  We had to cycle on the left (no idea why as they drive on the right here) of this tiny road and the cliffs were to our left.  Before we set off, our guide let us know of how many people skidded off the road and fell to their deaths on mountain bikes or motor vehicles.  The last person to fall off a mountain bike was as recent as last week and he was a 7 year old child - his mother must have loved him sending him on that!  Luckily he only fell 70m and got caught in vegetation and was pulled to safety.

To be honest, for most of us this was a bit of fun when we started out and we were looking forward to the free t-shirt and lunch at the end, but reality gave us all a swift boot up the ass as we cycled down this road.  At times the weather was poor and fog reduced visibility - probably good as there were sections that even the bravest person wouldn't want to look down.  Cycling down or screaming down (in my case as I'm petrified of heights) holding onto the brakes we passed by so many crosses on the edge of the cliff were so many people were killed..absolutely shi*ting ourselves. One stupid move of the bike, then it was weeeeeeee...all the way over the edge and hello God!

The scenery was amazing (apparently) - we didn't get to take in the beautiful views as we were busy looking at how to keep on the road. It was beautiful when we stopped.  Thankfully we all made it down to the bottom mostly unscathed. Well, apart from one girl in our group, she hit a boulder and went flying over the handlebars - luckily for her she fell on a slightly wider section of the road and was bruised and badly cut.  At the beginning of our journey, we all had to give a Bolivian offering to the god of Mother Earth by pouring some sort of alcohol onto our bike tyres, the road and onto our lips to keep us safe...the girl who went over her handlebars was the only one in the group who didn't...creepy.

A brilliant day out - would do it again, only next time, I'd like a t-shirt in red instead of black!

Leaving Bolivia tomorrow and entering Peru, travelling to various places around this country. Cuzco will be my adopted home for a month, until the next leg of my journey begins in New Zealand.

La Paz city,  Bolivia

Altitude, Disprin & holy medals

Arrived in Potosi, which is the highest city in the world (over 4000m above sea level) and there´s much more going on up here than in the previous places in Bolivia. Did a bit of a tour yesterday and there are lots of churches, buildings and markets all over the place. The city is much more livlier and there seems to be street celebrations going on which are far better than Tupiza.  Managed to get stuck in a convent with another girl, Emma, for most of the afternoon and couldn´t get out - don´t ask.

The altitude is playing havoc with everyone and their health. Last night was probably the worst experience for most of us.  Woke up in the middle of the night and thought my head was going to explode with the pain. Bucked a few Disprin in water and downed it quickly (good advice from my dad) and found a holy medal that my aunt gave me (to keep me safe on my travels..ya just can´t beat the Catholic stuff...you know the way they´ll save you from everything - not) and stuck it to my head!! I swear to God, I would´ve tried anything to get rid of the pain. 

One other girl in my room had to waken me as she was in lots of pain also, but hers was in her stomach and her head. She had actually been thinking of how to get repatriated back to Australia if she died and no-one was able to help her. So, Disprin to the rescue...she survived also. Would´ve given her my medal, but it was still stuck to my head. Two people have been vomiting and most of us are finding breathing difficult at times, as we´re not used to the thin air here. Even your eyeballs pulsate when your heart beats.

I now know the reason as to why people are so sad here most of the time - they´re not wasting the oxygen in their lungs laughing, as they´re saving it to breathe...very wise - I think I´ll take a leaf out of their book from now on!

Bolivia - welcome to the land of sadness

Step over the Argentine border and within two minutes you step into a completely different era when you enter Bolivia.  The change is striking - especially the poverty, dress sense and the zero good looks of the population over here!

Bolivia is probably famous for the world´s most highest everything and coca of course- with the highland areas (where I am at the minute) being completely isolated and rugged.  Drove for hours over 3000m above sea level into the Andean chain of mountains called the Cordilleras.  The drive was through dirt tracks with rubble everywhere & the journey was bumpy as hell - anything above you on the truck fell off and hit your head. Open the windows and the dust and dirt blew in choking us all.

Arrived in a small town off the gringo trail, called Tupiza, high up in the altipano.  Everyone here looked completely depressed and sad. Even the murals on the wall have them all frowning. I don´t blame them with some of their dress sense and the fact that most of their restaurants are pizzerias that all look exactly the same. The older women or ´cholitas´wear bowler hats, pleated skirts, llama wool leggings and groovy cardgians with two plaits on either side of their heads.  They all look the same also. I wonder if they wake up in the morning and have a hissy fit as to what shade of black bowler to wear?

To be honest, I haven´t found the highlanders very warm and welcoming.  One woman spat at our truck and another was shaking her fist at us & they were the only two I managed to see.  Lots of us have been screwed over a good few times when buying things.  My recent one was in an internet cafe and the guy tried to charge me quadruple the price, but I caught him out and he near died..ha,ha..the shite.  Four apples the other day cost me the equivalent of an arm and a leg to the locals, but there´s not much you can do when they don´t  have prices on anything and your Spanish is rubbish.

My highlight of Tupiza was watching a parade up the local street with two friends.  The men and women dressed up and played musical instruments - their dance composed of three side steps and a twirl whilst waving their hands and weaving their way up the streets to the same music over and over again. One wee man grabbed my hand and had me dancing in the street with him. He was the first I saw to smile also, so that was nice! The locals watching didn´t applaud and they all looked really peeved watching it...maybe antidepressants haven´t reach this country yet.

Drove, or maybe I should say, bounced for 10 hours yesterday through the isolated, bumpy, dusty,mountains filled with cacti all the way to Uyani - a town famous for its salt flats and coldness. No trip would be the same without stopping at a ´Servo ´ Station again for toilet stops etc...well, my God, never again. Most of us saw the state of the toilets, near vomited and decided it was more hygienic to go into the bushes. One of the girls on the truck shouts out "This country just smells of piss!" - quality!

No trip to Bolivia would be the same without trying coca leaves.  One of the fellas bought a bag and shared it on our long (smelling of urine) journey through the mountains.  Coca is completely legal here (unlike it´s derivative, cocaine) and is neither harmful or addictive and is meant to be high in iron and vitamins and wards of hunger, cold and keeps you alert over high altitudes.  Some of us decided to have a few leaves to help with altitude sickness (as we were climbing to over 4000m) and help with the sheer bordom of being thrown around the truck like rag-dolls. We looked like cows chewing the cud. It wasn´t very tasty and numbed our gums for a bit & I managed to get a few mouth ulcers (??)..A throat losenge would have done a better job.

Heading to even higher altitudes tomorrow, to the highest town on earth - over 4200m above sea level - Potosi and then after that to La Paz. Looking forward to going to lower levels into the big city of La Paz (and the ´Death Road mountain biking), where the lowlanders are meant to be more warming and welcoming to strangers...and more smiles maybe?..here´s hoping!

Argentina



Left Brazil and headed for the Argentinean border and stayed in Puerto Iguassu campsite for a night.  The next day I went to visit the Iguassu Falls - absolutely amazing, especially the ´Devil´s Throat´waterfall - could´ve sat for ages just watching it.  Got to do a wildlife tour as well as a speed boat trip up close to the falls.  The wildlife tour was the usual..there are over 600 different species, but only the butterflies came out to say hello that day.

The speedboat up was pretty cool, but we all got soaked and then spent the rest of the day walking as though we`d wet ourselves. The weather has been roasting, so the coat I bought in Paraguay has been used for a pillow. I tried to wear it one night, but it stank of fish - all that cheapo rubbish material - suppose I should´ve expected it when I bought it.

After Iguassu, we travelled onto Salta, which was a 25 hour truck journey and camping in a cotton field.  Some of us kipped on the truck as it was freezing outside.  Sitting on the truck for that long was probably like being in an OAP home - staring out the window for hours watching the world go by, dropping off to sleep and wakening up only to be fed again (and the cycle continued pretty much like that for hours and hours).  We did stop in the Service Stations or ´Servos´as we´ve all called em..they seem to be our home/toilet stop when we´re never near any campsites..I think most of us know every ´servo´the length and breadth of South America.

Salta was fantastic - a city of over 300 000 people. The city is buzzing with nightlife and people, who are really friendly and welcoming. The wee laundry woman in the city was so happy to see you, she´d shake your hand at least 5 times and speak away to you in Spanish..hadn´t a clue what she was saying, but she was a wee gem.

The cars driving around are funny to watch.  There are some nice new cars and then there are bangers flying around...cars that have probably once been our cast-offs are now on the streets of Argentina.  Loads of old ´Princess´cars about and really old Renault and Citroen cars etc with no mirrors, bits flying off them and smoke bellowing from the exhaust pipes.

Spent one day whitewater rafting and zip-wiring high up in the Andes mountains. Lovin this part of the trip, as the adrenaline activities are what I´ve been looking forward to.  We camped at the cusp of the Andes mountain and the second night was freezing cold, so out came my fishy coat to keep me warm and whatever else I could find.  Dogs seem to be everywhere in this country and they all seem to get together at night and bark in a pack just to piss everyone off and keep people awake. 

The next day we went horseriding and drank wine and had a BBQ in the scorching heat as it was 2 of the lads´birthday.  El Nino is working his magic again and is meant to be cold, but has been very hot...none of us were complaining. You can´t come to Argentina and be a veggie..you´ll be asked to leave the place.  The meat is to die for though. Our host for the day was a man named Enrique -   a typical Argentine was full of great banter and craic - he looked like Santa Claus with the big belly and beard...couldve taken him home. Last night was spent clubbing to finish the birthday celebrations off.  A few of us arrived back to our camp just in time to get the truck to Bolivia at 6.30am...no sleep at all, so we´re suffering today!

Argentina and it´s people are amazing - the warm welcome and hospitality is first class. Just over a week in this country isn´t long enough, so I intend to make it back again some day in the future and visit Buenos Aires and southern Argentina. 

After 10 hours driving the next stop was Bolivia. Completely different to Argentina so far from what I´ve seen.  Crossing the border was like stepping back in time.  Arrived in a little town 3000 metres above sea level where the air is thin. In a hotel and it´s great to get a nice bed with pillows and other comforts that isn´t there during camping. Tomorrow it´s an early start again as we move through Bolivia to the salt mines. During the week I´ll be cycling down the ´Road of Death´ - should be a fun experience if nothing else..looking forward to this bit

Devil´s Throat, Iguasu Falls, Argentina







Illegal border crossing

Left the freezing town of Bonito to head to Foz do Iguacu (Iguassu Falls) in Brazil.  Here you can see the famous waterfalls that border Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Arrived in the evening after 15 hours of travelling and had to set up camp.  It's absolutely baltic here and the locals say it's the coldest winter they've known for years - typical...they blame it on 'El Nino' - 'El pain in the arso' morelike.  No upgrades here, but the temperature is to drop significantly as we head into Salta, Argentina where night temperatures fall to -15 degrees!!!

Spent the nights freezing in our tents - layers of clothes, hats, gloves, any aul infested blankets we could find.  I of course bought a 'junior' sleeping bag which only covers up to my chest, as I thought I'd save a few quid rather than buying an expensive one - I've learned my lesson already.  Huddled around a campstove, we end up throwing anything that will burn into it - campsite stools made of wood and brake fluid from the truck = nice and warm.

Today was spent illegally crossing the border of Paraguay.  Although Paraguay was not in the original destination and most visitors need a visa, a few of us decided to hop onto a local 'moto-taxi' and get through the country without being stopped at the border.

10 reals (Brazilian money)later and a very hairy motorbike ride, weaving in and out of cars, buses and tiny road channels holding onto some random motorbike driver we illegally crossed the border and arrived in Paraguay.  The border was full of people trying to get in.  Paraguay is really cheap for electrical goods, clothes, shoes, alcohol etc, as there is no tax on these items.  The place was packed full of market stalls and people trying to sell you anything.  After haggling over a few US dollars, I managed to get myself a warm coat, hat and socks to keep the cold at bay during the mornings and evenings all for 30 US dollars...a bargain, even though they're all fake goods.

At one stage I was offered to buy tablets of viagra along with a flick knife and a taser gun - of course I said 'no gracias'!  One of the fellas was offered viagra at least 5 times!

Unfortunately, it's goodbye to Brazil tomorrow and hello Argentina, where the next destination is Port Iguassu (basically Iguassu Falls again, but in Argentina this time, not Brazil).  Going to view the waterfalls from the Argentinean side rather than the Brazilian as it's meant to be spectacular.  Will miss Brazil and it's beautiful country and people, but not the cost of living here.  Brazil just seems to haemorrhage your money - this place is not cheap at all and is starting to become more like a developed country. I would definitely recommend anyone to come and visit.

The Pantanal

Two whole days travelling through one time zone in our big yellow trucky, bus type thing and eventually got to The Pantanal. Before getting there we had to wild camp in the local service stations, which over here in Brazil are petrol stations (not quite like home) where all the truckers stop off overnight.  The first stop was an oily, sandy station with a few tufts of grass to pitch our tents.  We were the only females with the males in our group, with the rest being the local prostitutes.The next one was pretty similar, except that this time we pitched beside the local Catholic church (don´t think the prostitutes were there, but you never know!) Our lunches on tour were on the side of the dusty road in 35 degree heat.  So salad and bread mixed with dust, oil and sand added to the flavour..yum, yum.

The Pantanal is basically the wetland of Brazil with loads of wildlife and lovely scenery and we were told it was the dry season and were told just to bring a small rucksack with a change of clothes and no raincoat or sleeping bag as it was always warm and wouldn´t rain. 

Day one was lovely and we all stayed in a wee hut altogether with our hammocks -we went looking for wildlife, trudging through the marshes in our flip-flops..seeing aligators and birds and whatever else.  Once you see one bird it´s the same as the next.  So naturally I got bored after 10 minutes.  That night we sat up playing drinking games, poker and had the usual craic.  Day two and the heavens opened - we got pissed on and had to go horseriding, which was great fun galloping over the marshes with aligators/caiman etc.  We went wildlife viewing (yawn) again.  So much for not needing a raincoat & our sleeping bags - The temperature dropped & the wind picked up - would´ve sworn it was the west of Ireland in mid-winter.  We spent the night in our hammocks freezing to death with one tiny blanket and all of us in whatever clothing we could find.  Dry season my arse.

We spent that afternoon piranah fishing.  Everyone in the group caught between 4-8 each...I caught the most - none.  We got to eat it for dinner that night.  Piranah´s are probably the most anorexic type of fish out there, so there´s not much to miss.  Still keepin up my running as all the Brazilians seem to do is eat carbs (of the same rice, potatoes, pasta, more rice, spaghetti and more rice) and cake (yes, cake) for breakfast, lunch and dinner  -  feels like it´s your birthday 3 times a day, except without the candle.  So, yesterday I ran for over an hour in The Pantanal on the sandy road with the aligators, birds, pumas etc on either side of me and not a soul in sight...was great!

Today we did another boat tour looking at wildlife for 3 hours, freezing again.  Some of the fellas had only flip-flops (as it was meant to be warm etc) and nearly suffered hypothermia in the process.  Hilarious watching them turn white and then blue. We did get to see lots of the same birds again that we saw everywhere though!

The Pantanal was gorgeous - back into civilisation again now with phone connection/WiFi. In a town called Bonito, where we were told it was to be boiling hot etc..yeah, it´s raining again and it´s freezing cold.  We all were meant to camp, but decided to upgrade to a hostel for the equivalent of 7 quid...nice to have a hot shower again!  Have had a DOG day as the aussies call it (Day Off Grog) for the last two days, so looking forward to a few tonight -minus the bugs from the Pantanal that made their way into everything as soon as darkness set in.

Thanks for all your messages, emails and stuff on Facebook etc..am reading them all, but it´s hard replying to them as there´s always a queue for the internet. You know when you´re taking ages when people start to cough and tut behind you, so I do appreciate your contact, but sorry if I can´t reply - now you know why.  I realise it´s hard to comment on this blog too & most of you are rubbish with computers.  Some of you asked me how to do it. Just type your comment, go down to the dropdown menu and either chose your name (leave out the URL bit) or use anon and hit publish - there´ll be a spam thing to type there.

Right am off now for my daily fix of cake and carbs!!  Lovin Brazil and looking forward to heading into Argentina within the week.  Speak soon.