Salta, Argentina - April 2011

Richard got interviewed for the television at the bus station.

We went on the cama suite bus to Salta. Sadly, the journey was only two hours, so we didn't use it for sleeping.

In small towns in Argentina, they still love their three hour siesta, so whilst everthing was shut, we had time for a small ice cream.

The view of Salta from the cable car.

Quebrada de Humahuaca, Northern Argentina - April 2011

We made a stop in the very unmemorable town of Jujuy, to go and see the multicoloured mountains in the nearby countryside. The colour, so the info board told us, comes from ancient sea deposits of different minerals and sediments. The photos don't quite capture the colour, but they were stunning.

We visited some ruins, that were originally Inca. The Inca empire spread all the way into Argentina, we were amazed. However, this photo does not show the ruins!

The global line of Capricorn. Not as eventful as the Equator, but still worthy of a jumping shot.

Our tour group, guide on the right (Richard and him were separated at birth).

The Driest Desert in the World, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile - April 2011

Valle de la Luna

I do still have two full legs. We decided to continue the silly photos and practice the 'high' technique we were taught in Uyuni. 

Erlend made another friend in the salt mine. He was in tune with Koala's pipes. Koala was Swiss.

The church in San Pedro de Atacama town. In this area, anything that can be made from wood, is made from dried cacti stems. The roof and panelling of this church is no exception.

Lago de Cejas

This lake is more than 75% salt. No effort needed to float. It is saltier than the Dead Sea in Israel.

Once the water had dried, you were left with a thick residue of salt. Every time you moved it felt like some one was ripping a huge plaster off. Very painful, especially once back in clothes.

Richard jumps into the ice cold, freshwater lake to wash off the salt.
It was too cold for me, I had to have my plasters ripped off for the next couple of hours.

This lake had completely dried out and left behind it's salt residue.
We arrive for sunset and had pisco sours and nibbles. The debate remains open about whether Chile or Peru invented them.
On the left is Daniella, a German friend who was also on the trip to Valle de la Luna with us. We have met so many Germans this trip, we have decided to go on a tour of Germany to see them all when we get home.

Do you want salt with that?; A Desert Adventure, Bolivia - April 2011

The road from Potosi to Uyuni, was probably one of the most potholed we have come across this holiday. In most parts the road was sand and we were chugging along it in a full sized coach, with windows that would not open - in the desert, I ask you?!!

Uyuni has little on offer, except the ubiquitous pizzerias and travel agencies, but once our teeth had stopped chattering from the ride, we went to explore. We went to a few agencies, which all seemed to offer the same thing at slightly different prices. Our heads spinning, we bumped into our Belgian friends, Odelle and Nicolas, whom we had spent time with in Sucre and Potosi. They recommended us a company and we went with them.

Our tour began at the reasonable time of 10.30am the next day, which gave us time to call the banks and report our stolen money to the Fraud Squad. £20 well spent as we both had our money returned the same day.

We had an excellent group of seven, including our fantastic guide, Rodrigo. It consisted of Clarissa and Vlad, a couple from Brasil and Charles and Nathan, two friends from San Francisco and of course us! We had a fab few days with them and sincerely hope to stay in touch. This tour was definitely one of the best things we have done in nine months.

Anyway, I am waffling now, so on with the photos.

Our first stop was the train graveyard. Dozens of old rusting trains in the middle of the desert. 

We had lunch on the first day at the Salt Hotel. It has a bad ecological record and it is recommended not to visit there, but it was impossible to find a tour that didn't go there. The toilet cost 50p (extortionate in Bolivia) and was the most disgusting toilet we have ever had the pleasure of visiting!. The British flag was missing, so sorry New Zealanders, we had to bastardise yours.

At the edge of the salt flats, you see plenty of these piles of salt, which are piled up by the locals to dry and then they collect them.
We think these ones by the hotel were especially made for tourists to make silly poses on.

Erlend gets everywhere.

Inside the salt hotel, another silly photo. The bricks are made from salt.

We drove to an island in the salt. The photos nor any word I could write do the stunning, surreal view justice.
You just have to come here!

L-R Vlad, Clarissa, Me, Richard, Nate and Charles.

Compulsory beers at the first hostel.

Our album cover.

Perhaps the second album cover...

Could this be one of the most picturesque places for a picnic lunch?
Our fab guide made all our food.

The colour of this lake was just unbelievable, but it was very windy, so we didn't stay long to look at the flamingoes!

Dinner on the second night.
We went outside to look at the stars - we had never seen anything like it (this is the best place in the world for star watching - no light pollution and hardly any days with cloud cover). Again, impossible to describe with my limited vocabulary. It was bloody freezing though.

Charles enjoyed doing handstands in dangerous places, but he made it back in one piece (we think, we left him and Nate at the Chile border).

We love this photo.

We left at 4am on the final day to see the geysers. No health and safety here.

Breakfast by the hot springs. It was still bloody freezing and I had packed my fleece away.

Vlad, Richard and Charles enjoy a hot soak.
One woman was topless (she must have been European!),I turne to the man next to me and sarcastically said 'Oh, I'm British, I don't know where to look'. His fantastic retort was: 'I'm an Australian man, I know exactly where to look!'.

We spent the next couple of days in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile with Clarissa and Vlad.
It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone from our trip.

So Silvery, So High: Potosi, Bolivia - The Highest City in the World - April 2011

Potosi is officially the highest city in the world, with the dealiest silver mines. Around 8 million workers died in the mines, but little is known about it. The silver produced kept Spain going. It was said that a bridge could be built from Bolivia to Spain and back again, out of silver. They say the mining here marked the start of the industrial revolution.

Bolivia minted all of Spain's coins at this point.  This one was rescued from a sunken ship off the coast of America by a US salvage crew. They generously gave this single coin (from thousands) back to Bolivia. 

Richard and our Belgian friends waiting to enter the deadly mines.

Richard had to climb through a tight crack.

Bolivian Bus Drivers and Sweet Sucre, Bolivia - April 2011

We took the 'Transcopacabana' overnight bus from La Paz to Sucre, which was an experience. The bus turned up twenty minutes late and the toilet was locked, so with my toilet phobia (not being able to access one), the DRIVER sent me to the public ones in the bus station. I left my hand luggage on the bus with two Belgian friends we had met in La Paz, thinking Richard would be getting on...

Whilst in the bathroom, the driver decided he was late enough and he had to go, right that minute without me on board... Richard tried his best to stop him, but he would not wait and said we could get on out the front when he came by. Thanks.

 As imagined, a panic ensued, I came back from the toilet and we ran around the front of the terminal like idiots trying to find our bus. After an agonising fifteen minutes, the bus came. He still did not want to let us on though and I had to literally run across the traffic and stand in front of the coach! So, I got on and Richard was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, we bumped into two Argentine friends we had met on Isla del Sol and they helped me out with the bus driver. Eventually, Richard made it onto the bus, at what seemed to be the bus drivers annoyance and off we went, bus driver grumping all the way!

We had heard horror stories about bus drivers here, one particularly stuck out, in which a man had diarrhea. The bus driver would not stop and told him 'You go in your pants, or out the window'. We didn't really believe this at first, but after our own experience, we did. The Bolivian who run our hotel in Sucre also confirmed that the bus drivers were generally awful, and there was always some kind of trouble. Transcopacabana should be avoided at all costs though we feel!

The said bus.

A different kind of Greek statue.

We met up with our bus friends for a drink. L-R Me (UK), Sabri and Caesar (Argentine), Odele and her friend (Belgian), and the Belgian couple from our La Pas hostel - sorry can't remember their names right now. Will have to rememeber them, as we will see them in London just before Christmas 2011, where they finish their round the world journey.

One half of our beautiful room in Sucre. We treated ourselves at £20 a night! Cheap, but expensive for Bolivia. The only downside was that Richard was allergic to something here and kept breaking out in red, itchy welts. 

If you look carefully, this shows quite accurately the heights of the places we have been. Thank goodness we are over our altitude sickness.

Dynamite Vs Tear Gas, La Paz - April 2011

La Paz, Bolivia - The Highest Capital City in the World


Sitting at 3,660 metres, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. It does not make the record of highest city in the world though, that goes to Potosi in Southern Bolivia, which sits at an impressive 4,070 metres.


Fortunately, we have been at altitude for a few weeks now, so we can actually walk around the city without headaches and nausea. It's still makes one a bit breathless and dizzy on an uphill though!


We expected little from La Paz; some dirt, danger and crowds, but what we found was a really happening city, with some great museums, which felt safe to walk around in, even after dark. We were in La Paz when all of the country's workeforce were protesting though; picture the scene: miners throwing ear blasting dinamite at police, who retaliated with plenty of tear gas. All the car alarms were set off by the blasts. We saw the parade come past our hostel, whilst it was still peaceful, but generally managed to keep out of the way. As one local said 'It sounds like bombs are going off'. Little did we know. Our friend Adrienne (whom you might remember from an earlier post in Peru) had the bad luck of getting caught in tear gas, but after an hour or so, she was okay.

A typical view from the bus between Lake Titicaca and La Paz. High in the Andes on the Altiplano.

The first view of La Paz from the bus.

Street sellers, La Paz.

Hats on display in the musical instrument museum...

Peru and Bolivia have numerous, well preserved mummies, due to the altitude and the dryness.

 

Richard drinking the rival to Portuguese Bock. Bock the Bolivian version.
We hardly ate any of our meal because the buffet bar had several different cheeses and breads, including good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The tastiest cheese we have eaten in months.

This is the inside of the contemporary art museum. The building was designed by Gustav Eiffel. In one of the parks in town, there is a mini Eiffel tower too.

The shot marked alabaster windows in the catherdral. A sneaky, hip photo as none were allowed.

The cathedral rooftops.