Bolivia : Over and out.

Good evening from Santiago, Chile! So finally, its been a while but the fingers are now rested and here's another blog almost up to date :-) .

If you haven't checked for a while, you may want to have a look at the photos link as there are a few more now. Almost all of them are now on there, apart from the ones taken in Machu Picchu!

*Breaking news.. I've been robbed :( "Fortunately" not violently and only of my camera, but still annoying, and this means there will be no Machu Picchu, Cuzco or Lima photos. Sorry!*

Live

Right now, hmm.. I'm a mix of things: in pain, emotional, relieved! Most of these are to do with either being robbed or the outcome of my little visit to the hospital yesterday - don't worry, nothing too serious, more about it in the next post!

I do seem to have had it a little rough healthwise in Bolivia and continuing to here. It started with insomnia in Santa Cruz and worked it's way to a dodgy stomach and the suspicion of parasites (urgh!) by Potosi. Combined with this, there was altitude issues of not being able to breathe and headaches, the higher we went. It may sound like torture, but thankfully it didn't inhibit movement for too long.

Sadly, Amanda went home just over two weeks ago, so I am going solo again. It's weird and I miss her lots. Hopefully it won't be for too long though as I am planning to head to Miami in November from Venezuela.

Listen

Where do I start with this, there's been such a lot! I guess probably best by town again.

Tarija

gunshots; explosion; fireworks; a heartbeat; a gurgling stomach; a football being kicked about; the quietness of the town outside of the central market area; infrequent car horns; the sound of dust being blown off a backpack; the bustle of the bus station.

Tupiza

The sound of squeaking wheels on push carts; the click clack of the horses feet; "VAMO, VAMO"; "SHHHH"; a kettle boiling; more stomach noises; a witch's cackle; the horn of a train; Will's exam results; bad Bolivian TV; a toilet about to go into orbit.

Uyuni

Geysers; the sound of a 4x4 engine; the clicking of the driver's tongue amongst other noises as he realises he's lost; a hooved beast; people shouting; death threats; wood in a combustible boiler crackling; the sound of water being collected from a butt; stillness of the salt flats; Shakira's album 50 times over (argghh!).

Potosi / Cochabamba / La Paz

The sound an old man makes walking up and down hills; the crack as the Lonely Planet gets thrown to the floor in disgust; a parade; "por favor, señor"; the popping out of the what seemed like the last Rennie; the fizzing of the emptied contents of a electrolyte rehydrant sachet; another buzzing bus station; the delight at finding another hostel with private bathroom for a bargain price; "Ensalada, Ensalada?"; happiness at the surprise; markets, markets, markets; the lonely taxi ride home; the nice old beggar lady; the ignition of the bus to Cuzco.

Travel

Tarija

After the mammoth taxi ride it was time for a rest and although it was only 7PM, we didn't manage to properly wake up and explore til the next morning. When we did we were pleasantly suprised. Despite being quite large and with a large number of inhabitants, the town was pretty quiet out of the centre. This was a welcome relief after the bustle and insane horn hooting of Santa Cruz. Most activity was centred on the market, which acted like a magnet for all around.

Whilst wandering through the food halls, Amanda decided I was going to be her guinea pig for the meat-tastic food. It started with potatoes, mince meat and peas in sauce, which was pretty good and then moved onto pigs trotters soup. I have to admit, that one had me asking where the bathroom was. I really thought I was going to explode, just like in that Monty Python film! The next day, brought possibly one of the best soups I've had.. chicken soup with french fries and rice in with it. Sounds crazy, but it was delicious. We also sampled the licuados at the market, but once again it just wasn't our favourite deaf Bolivian's (from Santa Cruz) creation, close but no cigar.

On our last day in Tarija we headed to the bus station to buy the ticket we had enquired about the day previous to Tupiza. However, when we got there it seemed like everyone must have been going, because all 3 buses were full. Strange we though for such a little town! After buying our ticket for the next day, we ended up in a grotty little hostel across from the bus station, complete with bubble gum stuck to the sheets. During the night, Amanda swore she either heard/felt a tremor or explosion. Apparently I didn't flicker, obviously still a heavy sleeper then! We didn't do much the next day as we had exhausted Tarija's tiny streets in the days previous, and really were hanging around for the night bus. We chose the cheapest and the bus was of a relevant size, some may say cosy, I would say sardines in a tin. The journey was, as you might say interesting. First our driver saw a rabbit running down the road and in sadistic fashion, chased it down the road and... well I'm sure you can guess the rest, I'll only say I think he'd be having bunny pie for tea. Then we picked up a drunk peasant obviously on his way home after a night down his local that looked more like a shed brewing "something special". He was swaying all over the place, and at one point I had to move his hand away from my leg, which he appeared to be steadying himself with! Eventually he got off in the middle of nowhere, I wonder if he ever did get home that night or spent the night in the lovely roadside ditch? After he'd gone, we stopped again an hour or so later in the middle of nowhere. This time there was no obvious movement until I looked outside. Running down the road out of the darkness were 4 small children with wheelbarrow type wagons. When they got up to the bus, the conductor jumped out and unloaded 4 bags of white powder looking stuff from the bus and into their wagons. Very suspicious. The children then ran back into the darkness and we proceeded down the road.

Tupiza

We arrived in Tupiza at 5 in the morning. After gathering our belongings we headed to a hostel a short walk from the bus station. Unfortunately they didn't have any beds until 8, so we spent three hours huddled on a sofa trying to stop frostbite setting in. After a few hours snooze, we headed out to look around the small town. It was quite an eye opener. There was not many cars around, so people use the road as the footpath. We wandered around and went to visit the market to see about some remedies to our pains and aches of the stomach nature. Unfortunately the witch (in both senses of the word) was none to helpful, she seemed more interested in laughing at us. We escaped the market and headed back to the hostel. Here, we advised the friendly owner that we wanted to take up his offer of an 8 hour horse trek for the bargain price of 8 pounds. It would begin the next morning.

Considering I had never sat on a horse, let alone ridden one in my life, I was both excited and nervous. We left the comfort of the room and headed outside to wait for the horses. They soon appeared, complete with riders and the guide. We were assigned horses, and we ascended. It felt a bit weird to be so high up, but off we went. We first headed down a dusty road alongside the train track and it was here I first learnt of my horses intentions, like a bad supermarket trolley he wanted to go his own way. I just couldn't seem to get him to go the way I wanted, but thankfully Amanda showed me how to "steer" him in the right direction. It wasn't working at first, but as we went on I learnt I just had to keep pulling til he did. We passed a herd of goats guided by their Campesino shepherd. There was one little one right at the very back that seemed to be lost in the bushes; thankfully he found the road and hopefully found his friends! We continued down the road, me becoming a little more confident as we went on, despite my horse showing affection for Amanda's by purposefully running into him every few minutes.

Our first stop was a beautiful red canyon, which you can see the photos of from the link. The trek continued through amazing mountains passes, through rivers and over bridges. At one point I lost a foothold on a stirrup and at the same moment, our guide decided my horse needed to be galloping a little faster unaware of my predicament. So as he was trying to get the horse to go faster with "VAMO, VAMO", I was trying to get him to slow down with "Shhh, Shhh". Luckily I won in the end and both Amanda and the guide laughed as I suceeded! Fortunately I managed the rest of the trek with feet firmly in stirrups. By the time the trek ended, there was not much we could do but lay down as sitting down would just cause too much pain! After a while I managed to recover sufficiently to go and get some coca leaves - yes, yes, the LEGAL raw ingredient of cocaine. This was to be our remedy for the stomach symptoms & after 4 cups we were certainly feeling better.

We spent another day in Tupiza and then at 7PM boarded the train to:

Uyuni

So our first and only Bolivian train journey. It was an interesting one. We really didn't know what to expect from a train in a country like Bolivia. To say we were pleasantly suprised would be an understatement. T.V., blankets, and reclining seats.. you don't even get that in Britain and very cheap too. Our only discomfort was as the train approached Uyuni's altitude, we both had trouble breathing. This was to be my first sign of things to come! We arrived at 1AM and stumbled off the train and into Uyuni's icy cold streets, Lonely Planet in hand, in search of a hostel. Unfortunately, the book's first suggestion was closed for refurbishment and despite some further wandering in search of better, ended up at a rickerty hotel on the main street. We survived there for one night and the next day went in search of a good deal on a Salar (salt flats) trip, our main reason for being in Uyuni. After a bit of haggling by Amanda, we got a good price and were to depart at 3PM to a hotel completely made of salt for our first night of three accomodation.

It was an interesting journey out to say the least! We got into a 4 x 4, with two men from the agency. En route we picked up most of their family, which meant there was now 7 people squashed into spaces for 5. We were now informed that fuel was required, so off we went to a petrol station. On arrival at the petrol station most of the family got out and we sat and waited for a while. Then, without fuel, we headed off into a small village where we pulled into a yard belonging to a little old lady. The two original men jumped out and went off to her shed to obtain fuel. They came back, topped the car up a little and off we went again.... to the petrol station. Once back here, it seemed there was still no fuel and we ended up again at the house of the little old lady. Money was exchanged, more fuel obtained and off we went again, thankfully not to the petrol station this time, but onto the actual salt flats! They glistened white, like a desert of snow and every so often there was a pile of the ubiquitous salt. It was a truly incredible sight. After half an hour of driving on the salt, we arrived at the hotel, which from a distance looked like a little island. We unloaded our things from the jeep and entered the hotel. All we could say was "wow"! Literally everything (bar the toilets) was made from salt and there was no electricity or running water! That may sound like hell to some, but it was to be a great experience We were shown to our room and here we sat staring out the window at the seemingly endless desert of salt complete with "floating" mountains on the horizon. We had our candlelight dinner cooked by our hosts with a spanish couple in front of a huge wood burner that helped to keep the temperature almost bearable. That was bearable compared to the freezing temperatures outside which we had felt when we had gone to photograph sunset. During the night, I again had breathing difficulties due to the altitude, boy did I feel like an old man!

The next day, after getting up early to photograph sunrise and returning to our beds, we arose to the sound of someone trying to get through the door! Fortunately they didn't as I'd barricaded us in with my backpack and this deterred them from trying further. We later fathomed that this had been a member tour group trying to see into a room. We heard why, when we left the room, because many of the tour guides where telling visitors that they couldn't actually stay in the hotel. We would have been rich if we had got money everytime we heard that! Our carriage (well, 4x4) finally arrived an hour late to take us to our next destination.. off the salt flats and an area of mountainous scenery. We were accompanied from now on by an two Japanese, an Israeli, a New Zealander and a woman from Rochdale, who had started their tour a day later.

Across the salt flats we travelled and halted at an island of cactus, which was truly a remarkable sight in this sea of salt. We scrambled to the top for a great view and then down again for some basic lunch of bread, cucumber, tomato and mayonnaise prepared by our guide. Although not gourmet, it sufficed. Following the island of cactus visit, we bid farewell to the salt flats and came upon a small village where we were to stay our second night.

Confusion arised when we arrived at another salt hotel. We (Amanda and I, not the others) were unwelcome guests, unless we were willing to pay a further 5 dollars. This we were not and were then escorted to a building resembling a garage a few streets away. Fortunately inside it had several beds and intermittent electricity. We dumped our stuff and headed back to the hotel where soup and chicken was served up and a merry night was had. Amanda and I then had to head back to our "garage" and upon leaving the proximity of the hotel, heard strange large animal movement noises behind us. We started to walk quickly. The noises where now in front of us. Had our time come? Was this one of the beasts of the Apocalypse? We managed the door to our garage in the pitch darkness and get inside and lock the door. The beast tried to get in, but fortunately a stray dog which was also following us seemed to scare it off. Quite possibly one of the only times in my life, I'm going to be happy a stray dog followed us.

In the next two days, we visited hot springs, geysers, the high Andes where our driver got lost(!), and endured a 15 hour ride back to our base at Uyuni. It was here, on our return things got a little hairy. See, three of the other people I mentioned earlier on our tour, had had their tour cut short because there was no jeep to take them for their final day. Naturally they felt entitled to a refund and we went to the office with them to try and obtain it. Unfortunately the owner had different ideas and after threats of violence (from the New Zealander) and much arguing in spanish by Amanda, we left them to it. We saw the three later and they managed to get their money, but we didn't ask too many questions how!

We managed to get a nicer hostel for the night and the next day left the "tourist hole" town to Potosi.

Potosi / Cochabamba / La Paz

We arrived in "the highest city in the world" (Potosi) at around 8PM. We got off the bus and collected our luggage and headed off to another hostel recommended by the Lonely Planet. It failed again, the hostel was just simply not there. Fortunately we managed to find another one close by and headed out to find some food. This time the Lonely Planet came up trumps as we found a great vegetarian restaurant (the Magic Apple), much to Amanda's delight. The next few days meal times where spent either here, or trying various other (inferior!) eateries.

Potosi was a real struggle at times and we both felt old as we panted up the streets of the hilly town. We also encountered other ill feelings too, but thankfully most were cured by a cup of coca! While Amanda visited a mine, I sorted the surprise in store for La Paz (read on!). She had an interesting time snaking through tiny narrow mine shafts and said I would never have managed the tight spaces, which is very probably true.

After Potosi, it was on to Cochabamba. We spent a few days here re-cooperating here after the cold and altitude of Potosi. The warmth and easy going nature of the town certainly helped! Unfortunately though, apart from wandering around markets there was not a lot else to do. So, 3 days later we decided it was time to hit the capital, La Paz.

Read any sort of advice about La Paz and there will be some sort of warning about safety. We came across none of the problems I read and heard about. Taxis seemed safe, we didn't have any fake bird droppings or spit land on us and no muggings. Perhaps we were just lucky! Again, La Paz is another city short on big sites, so we spent most time musing in Markets for bargains! I did manage to pick up a few new clothes for 20 pounds, so that was useful. The surprise was then revealed on our 3rd day there.. 3 nights in the best hotel in La Paz! It was well worth it, with a gourmet restaurant, swimming pool and health salon. Only the room service let it down slightly, but it didn't stop us having a great time.

Sadly, then on 6th September at 3AM, we had to get up to go to the airport to be in time for Amanda's flight. I was upset to see her go, but hopefully won't be too long til I see her again, as I am planning to be in Miami by some point in November. After Amanda's departure, I made my exit from La Paz to Cusco in Peru a day later on by 12 hour bus.

So, here endeth the Bolivian story.

That's it for now, look for another in the not to distant future for tales of Peru, the journey to Chile and Santiago!

Bolivia - *Travel Special Part 2*

Another travel special already? ¿Que Loco? Like I said at the bottom of the last post, the journey to Tarija was something else. I think it merits it's own special and there's no better time than the present - it's all still fresh in my memory although I don't think I'll be forgetting a second of this one anytime soon!

 

It all begins in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The day before departure we took a stuffed micro bus (and they really mean micro - think a Ford Transit van, split it down the middle and cut a quarter off the back) to the Bimodal bus / train station. It was actually not such a bad place as you'd imagine for a developing nation, although I'm from Hull, so my homegrown standards of a bus or train station are not very high. We wandered for half an hour or so, looking at the various booths to see where each company departed to. Not one of them said Tarija. The hustlers pounced on our wandering eyes. As we walked up and down they constantly asked where we wanted to go; we told them, they gave us a price to Yacuiba - remember the border town from the last post? - and from there to Tarija as there was apparently no direct service. The prices didn't seem too bad, considering I had paid 80 Bolivanos to get here, but still.. surely there was another cheaper way around it. We checked the train, but that only went twice a week to Yacuiba and not on a Thursday. In the end we gave up and headed back to the Resdencial to check out my South America map to see if there was better connections through another city.

 

The map didn't give us the answers required.. although very clear, unfortunately it is still made of paper, and even me, "Mr Gadget", didn't bring a map that advanced! We decided we would just head down to the bus station an hour and a half before we wanted to leave (the next day) and work it out then. With nothing better to do we headed to another place Amanda had found, which served quite possibly the best Jugo de Banana con Leche in Bolivia, if not the world. One was simply not enough, if it'd been on tap, I think we'd still have been sat there now. That evening, in the absence of anything else we took the Lonely Planet advice for Santa Cruz and headed for a pizza restaurant, which naturally meant it was a gringo haven - at least 25 of them sat round one table, and I think I counted 3 Bolivians. The pizza was "passable with care" and the salad was not too bad, at least it was food I guess and I was able to eat it!

 

So Thursday came around. We had already decided we would get a night bus so would head down to the station around 4:30. Before this, we headed back to our "Jugo Hangout", but disaster had struck - NO JUGOS!!!! We searched for more.. we found, we drank, we were... disappointed - none could match this one, slightly deaf, Bolivian lady's creation. In the end we gave up and headed to the market. Here Amanda decided she would embark on trying native food. A rather large Bolivian woman stood commandeering a large silver pan of goodness knows what. The plate came piled high with rice, beans and sausage (dyed black by the beans!). After a few tries Amanda realised the sausage was sausage and being vegetarian passed it to me. I was none too keen, but dared to take a bite of the sausage. A Bolivian woman opposite was creasing herself laughing at me as I pulled a funny face as it went in, then slowly realised that it was actually very tasty. I cleared half the mountain and off we went in search of more delicacies. We stopped at a cake stall on the outskirts of the market. The chocolate cake looked good, but taste more like something a dog had left behind. We tried to give it to beggars, but they just pushed it away and laughed.. obviously they knew this cake game all too well! In the end it went in the bin where it belonged.

 

We next stopped to look at a church and got talking to a Bolivian lady who was insistent to show us round a few other buildings, despite our lack of time and need to get the bus station. It was all very interesting, but fortunately she understood after the first one so we headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and headed to hustler central, pardon me.. the bus station. It really was "be hustled to you drop". After much searching, we settled for a ticket via Yacuiba for 75 Bolivanos each, it seemed a little dodgy though as when we got to Yacuiba we had to go and tell the ticket office there to give us a ticket for 30 Bolivianos to Tarija. We were in no mood to start arguing with the guy in the middle of the busy bus station, so we accepted. We had more Jugos (still not as good!) and headed down to the platform. The bus was supposed to leave at 18:30, but by 18:45 there was still no sign. We kept an eager eye out for our bags being carried out of the office to the bus. Finally the bus arrived at 18:50. We followed our bags to make sure they were on and took our seats. Despite fears that it was going to be freezing cold, it was the exact opposite - boiling. The bus left the station after a horn blowing match between the congested drivers at 19:30.

 

During the first couple of hours of the journey we attempted to open windows to relieve from some of the heat build up, but everytime we opened the window, it would be closed again a few minutes later by a Bolivian behind! They like riding on stinky, sweaty buses? Also to add to this, the people immediately behind us had four young children who would take it in turns to have a scream or cry. When the bus halted at two rest stops, these screams turned to "Papi, Papi", as there dad had got off to go to the toilet. Fair enough, I can understand this, but surely they could have been a little less deafening!

 

As the night wore on, thankfully other noise died down. Amanda was asleep, but I was awake more than asleep. Because of this, I knew everytime we stopped. It started to become very erratic. We would stop for 5 minutes at a rest station and then a few minutes down the road for 45 minutes. Would we reach Yacuiba in time for the connecting bus? At 6 AM, it all became clear. We had stopped down the road for no apparent reason since 5AM, and suddenly as daylight was starting to break, most of the population of the bus were gathering up all of there things. Had we broken down? Amanda woke and asked some people in front of us what was going on. ROAD BLOCKADE! For those of you not familiar with Bolivian current affairs, forget football, road blockades in protest at government policies is the national sport. We had to make a decision, either to sit it out on the bus or follow the herd down the road. Since I had spoken to someone in Uruguay that had been stuck on a bus for 10 days in one such blockade,  we decided to hop it. We leapt of the bus and turned to look down the road.. truck after truck after truck after truck as far as the eye could see was queued up on the left side of the road. Next to the trucks marched an exodus of people carrying all sorts of luggage. It really was something like out of a film.

 

We gathered our luggage.. or should I say, I gathered our luggage as a certain person was still sleepy. I managed my two bags, plus two of Amanda's - a true packhorse with 50kg around anywhere it would hang from! We had to stop every 200m or so for me to have a break as it was so hot even at 6:30AM.  Every 10 minutes or so a man or child with a wheelbarrow or cart would come past asking if we wanted them to push our luggage to town. Everytime we said no. One Bolivian man behind us succumbed and Amanda translated that his wife said "Come on lazy, how much are you going to pay for that?!". We were determined to do it without and eventually got to Villamontes, a town under siege - all roads in and out were subject to blockades.

 

Once in town we asked about how we could get out to get to either Yacuiba to get the connecting bus or if there was a road out direct to Tarija where we could hitch or get a Camion - a lorry with seats in the back. We decided on the latter and began the long walk up the road out of town. My shoulders began to feel the strain after 45 minutes of walking, so we had a reshuffle of bags and off we went. At the edge of town, salvation came in the shape of a Bolvian and a jeep. He offered us a ride to the frontier of the roadblock for 33p. As the ride went on, we were glad we took him up on the offer, the road winded 3km around, up and down a hill. Eager to find a ride, we crossed the roadblock and wandered down the long line of lorries looking for a driver to take us the rest of the way as neither of us were feeling like a further 250km walk. Sandwiched between two trucks was a taxi complete with driver. Amanda asked him about the journey, which he said would take 7 hours and cost us a suspiciously good 50 Bolivianos - 4 pounds. Naturally we said we would take him up on the offer. The only catch was that he needed another passenger and this may take an hour or two as there were not many people crossing. We found some shade between another two trucks and made ourselves comfortable  - well as comfortable you can be sat on a red dirt road, in the boiling sun.    

 

Our taxi driver reappeared at 12 (midday!) along with another passenger. Our baggage was strapped to the top of the taxi and off we went. We thought he was joking when he said 7 hours, as looking on the map it didn't seem that far, but as the journey unfolded it became clear this would be correct. We travelled up and down and around tiny mountain roads, seeing beautiful mountain ranges from our window. The scenery was second to none of what I've seen so far. We had to stop a couple of times so he could fix tyres and once in a village as he had to change it. Here we were dropped off at a restaurant where we had cooked corn - a simple Campesino (Bolivian peasant) dish, which I actually found to be very nice and a toilet break. This for me was quite an interesting experience! The toilet had no flush and there was simply a big butt of water outside with buckets... Mother, you just wouldn't have known where to start with your Domestos and mop!

 

We were a little sceptical if the taxi driver would actually return from wherever he had gone to get his tyres fixed. Thankfully he did 30 minutes later with our luggage still strapped to the top. Off we went again, winding our way around more stunning mountains - (at every corner the driver had to honk the horn because one false move and we would have been skydiving without a parachute), past rural villages, across dusty desert like plateau and eventually to picturesque Tarija. We stepped out of the taxi slightly dusty, but nothing compared to our backpacks which had changed colour to fit in with the terrain. At this point we thought surely it was going to cost us more than 50 Bolivianos each considering it had actually taken 7 hours, but I handed over 100 for us both and he accepted with thanks! Surely this was going to be the cheapest taxi ride we ever got.. can you imagine going from London to Edinburgh for 4 pounds each??!! I think not.

 

So here is where the journey ended. We found a hotel for a reasonable rate and stayed for 2 days. It's a beautiful town and has a very relaxed feel. More about that in the next post when I return to the original format! Hopefully then I'll be able to catch up as we're now in Uyuni awaiting our jeep for a 4 day trek to the salt flats, which promises to be another adventure! Until then, adios!

Bolivia - *Travel Special Part 1*

..."Peter, is this going to be another of your crazy train stories?" I hear you ask. The answer... yes & no. As the title suggests I am now in Bolivia. Probably about 800 miles north of Cordoba (maybe more!), which is where I told you I was going at the end of the last post. That was until a couple of crazy coincidences happened as follows.

 

Firstly I got up bright and early on Monday, packed my stuff and got to the bus station in plenty of time to buy my ticket to Cordoba. I went to the ticket office straight away and was asked a number of questions in spanish.. which I obviously got the complete wrong end of the stick about. I thought the guy said "Fecha or Noche bus", therefore meaning day or night bus. I answered Fecha. He printed my ticket, I gave him some money and looked. What he'd actually said was two different bus companies names! Flecha Bus is apparently one of these companies but their bus didn't leave Salta until 9:30PM. I thought, fine, my fault, I'll go kill some time around Salta, try other internet cafes to upload my photos etc.. So I left my rucksack at left luggage for the suspciously good price of 1 Peso - 25p, for the day and off I went.

 

This is where the coincidence comes in...

 

I was walking back to the centre and spotted another internet cafe I hadn't tried. I get logged in, onto MSN and to my surprise, Amanda whom I'd left in Paraguay a week ago is online. I say surprised as I hadn't heard from her in almost a week and to be honest, was getting worried.. Paraguay isn't noted for it's safety! To cut a long story short (and believe me there's still a fair bit of this to go!) it turns out she was no fan of Paraguay and had just got to Bolivia and wondered if I wanted to go meet up in Bolivia. I did, so began to try and work out how I would get there. A couple of hours later, I'd determined this was by bus and possibly train.. back to the bus station then!

 

I went and rambled some spanish to a guy in the ticket office at the bus station, who despite being most unhelpful in telling me about further connections, sold me a ticket to the Bolivian border. So unhelpful was this man, he couldn't even tell me what time it would arrive in the town - Pocitos. I got the bus and when asked the conductor told me it would be around 9:30. I was crossing my fingers and toes that I could get a night bus straight away so I didn't have to stay in another border town, there's something very strange about all the one's I've been to and I didn't think for a second that Argentina - Bolivia would be much different.

 

I was right... half an hour late, at 10PM, I arrived in Pocitos. It was all very dark, apart from the bus station. I got off the bus, and I looked around and there appeared to be no ticket offices open. Great, I thought, I'm not getting a bus to Bolivia tonight! Then two men popped up and asked where I needed to go, I told them and they said there was a bus that left at 10:30 to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and they would show me where I needed to go.

 

So, I followed them as they walked me first though customs, I got my stamps, and to the international bridge where they said some 3 Bolivian men would help me through to the bus station. It was at this point things got a little hairy. With one foot in Argentina and one in Bolivia, another Argentine joined the two that met me at the station and the three Bolivians on the other side. The Argentine´s were demanded US$50 for an "exit" tax. At first I tried to buy them off with $5, but it became clear this wouldn´t work, when the didn´t go away. I didn't actually have 50, but I managed to buy them off with a few pesos as well. Altogether I gave them about 20 Pounds. 

 

The Bolivians were a little more gentle and after visiting the Casa de Cambio at 10PM Bolivia time (1 hour behind), I managed to get away from them with only giving 4 Pounds. Then a sketchy taxi ride via an ATM got me finally to the bus station... only to find there was no bus! Fortunately there was a hotel opposite. I say fortunately, but I may well have been better sleeping in the bus station.. the lights didn't work and I would´ve been warmer on a Polar iceberg! Nevertheless, I got about an hour´s sleep before 6AM when I got up and crossed the road to the bus station. Thankfully I managed to buy a ticket straight away for the 8:30 bus to Santa Cruz and for some reason got charged less than the locals. Gringo tax rebate perhaps? 

 

The bus departed almost on time and I had a window seat which allowed to see all sorts of crazy goings on. First there was all manner of animals running over the roads and around the bus: goats, cows, dogs, pigs, chickens. It's lucky they were skilled in the art of recognising what a horn meant, as I don't think our bus driver would be handing out mercy very readily. Then there was police checkpoints which we must have stopped at least ten times for. Fortunately I only had to show my passport once, and at all the others the driver ran into the hut and out again in a matter of seconds. At every single one of these there were drinks and food sellers which would either board the bus or walk up and down selling through the windows. On one occasion they were so busy selling, they "forgot" they shouldn't have been on the bus while it was moving and got a free unwanted lift 3 miles down the road or in many places dirt track. 

 

After watching the sunset behind the mountains, there was less and less that I could see. Suddenly the woman next to me on the bus piped up and started asking me some questions (in spanish). I had watched this woman curiously when she got on the bus as she appeared to be talking to her blanket. I knew Bolivia had a different culture, but talking to blankets?! Had my insomnia that I'd had for a few days now, finally sent me insane? No. As the journey continued, out popped the head of a tiny puppy. Very cute. Anyway.. she started asking me the usual: "where are you going? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do in England? etc. etc." I managed to answer back most of the questions in spanish of some sort, although probably not all that correctly judging by her laughing.

 

I got to Santa Cruz a little later than was planned. Still, I was mighty relived after 11 hours on the sweaty bus. The Bolivian woman from the bus kindly got me a taxi so I didn't get ripped off, and I made my way to Calle Arenales to meet Amanda. Despite the taxi driver trying to drop me off at the wrong address - I know how to pronounce numbers, so it must've been his hearing, no wonder with the decibels his horn was pumping out - I finally made it to the Residencial. It was good to see a friendly face again after a crazy journey. Luckily she had found some good places to eat and we went to a great, but cheap one. Enough crepe was had to fill me up after not really eating for a day and I must have drunk there mineral water supply dry, I was so thirsty.  

 

We spent a couple of days more in Santa Cruz before starting the journey to Tarija, which is where I am now. But that journey is another story as they say, crazier than this one and you're going to have wait a few days more for that because it'll probably turn out as long again! Hmm it'll keep you wondering, I guess. Until then.. adios!

Crazy Crazy Nights

¡Buenos tea time from Salta! Yes I´m still here almost a week later. Why? Because this place has something really cool about it. I don´t know if it´s the feel of the city, the hostel I´m in, the nightlife or a combination of all three.. but there´s definitely something in the air.

Just an update on photos.. If you click the link to the right that says photos, this will take you to my page at photobucket.com. Currently there is only one photo there (of some of the Iguazu Falls) as when I started uploading the computer crashed and I was moved to another. Unfortunately it just wouldn´t let me do it! Despite my efforts of trying just about every internet cafe in town, I still haven´t been able to upload anymore. However, tomorrow I´m on my way to Cordoba which is much bigger, so fingers crossed I´ll have more joy there! Also I´ve switched on comments, so if you want to leave a comment, click the "comments" link at the bottom of a post, which will take you to a page where you can write. If you don´t have a blog account you can click "Post Anonymously" to leave one without having to create an account.

Live

Today I´m feeling pretty good. Much better compared to the last two days when I had a dodgy stomach and couldn´t sleep too well. I`m sure it was either from the amount of beer drunk - those litre bottles go down quick - or some vegetables I bought to use in a pasta. I´ve been told that in Chile they use some crazy pesticides that unless you take the skin off make you feel ill, so since it´s not that far to the Chilean border it could have been that. If any Chilean farmers would like to correct me on this or explain the use of stomach massacring pesticides, please leave a comment!

The hostel I moved to on Tuesday was definitely a smart move. When I returned to the hostel I met 3 Australians and 1 English almost as I walked through the door. We headed out for food but we were too early so had to settle with beer for a couple of hours (ooh, such a hard compromise!) until the restaurants opened. It would seem you can dream on if you think of eating in a restaurant in Argentina much before 8:30 and even then you´ll be on your own until 10! We went to some bar that was recommended but I think Tuesday is not the night to go out here, as it wasn´t all that great.

Wednesday I wandered the city again to have a look round. Whilst doing so I saw a very strange sight - a man walking through the centre of town with 4 Llamas tied together in tow. What it was all about I don´t know, but it certainly looked very strange! At night, we had a massive BBQ at the hostel. 40 people sat down as Jorge (the best BBQ chef in the world??) cooked a herd of cows on the grill. The wine flowed and the steaks kept coming for the next couple of hours. Afterwards we headed to a bar with the rest of the hostel. Several beers later I´m dancing like a lunatic on the dancefloor chatting to whoever would listen - where all the spanish was coming from I´ll never know. It got to about 4:30AM and I thought it was time for a little sit down, only it turned into quite a big sit down as I fell asleep (read: passed out) for 2 hours. I was only awoken by the sounds of glasses being collected as the club emptied at 6! Somehow I stumbled back to the hostel.

Thursday, I went for a walkabout with another Australian I met - Glenn as he was looking for some trainers. Argentine´s have a funny shoe sense, so it took a while. Got to see more of the city though, which I wouldn´t have done otherwise. I didn´t actually go out Thursday night (alright, don´t fall of your chair!) and went to bed so that I could get up to get some decent photo´s without being hassled by the ever present hustlers of restaurants, money and tourist trips that usually line the streets.

So Friday I went and took the photos I wanted around town. There really are some stunning buildings, mainly churches, around. I then went up a hill at the edge of the city to get a bird´s eye view down of the city and surrounds. Unfortunately it was too grey to get any of the mountains in the distance, but I did get a few of the city which I hope will come out well. Friday night, it was back to normal service as first we went out to a restaurant where I had my best steak so far and watched on as a tango show was given around us. All that for 4 pounds! After the show we headed to Zeppelin, which didn´t actually play any Led Zeppelin, but was still good. Another night of beer fuelled craziness on the tiles of Salta ensued.

Saturday was a day of rest. I woke up after 4 hours sleep and just couldn´t get back to sleep. I felt ill, and none of the usual tricks would work. I did manage to go to a market in the slums with a few others though. I´ve never seen so many clothes in my life! It was an experience, but rest assured we didn´t go wandering any streets down there. Another BBQ took place in the evening and Jorge did the trick once again. The wine didn´t flow for me though and I was the only one drinking water but it was worth it to feel good today :-)

Listen

Without doubt the most memorable sound in the last week has been the sound of AC/DC thundering through the hostel sound system at 11:30 to wake us up to let them clean! Other morning´s it´s been the Beatles, panpipes and other less awakening music, but a blast of Highway to Hell had all our room awake without fail. Other sounds include: someone in the dorm having a dream and shouting all sorts of spanish(!), the crackle of the huge BBQ burning away, more traffic (damn stuff gets everywhere), the chink of wine glasses sat at the long tables at the BBQ, the crazy horn noise made by some buses, the blur of languages heard in the latest hostel: spanish, german, hebrew, french to name the few I could recognise.

Travel

Being in one city for a week, means really I haven´t done all that much travel whilst based here. I´ve walked up and down Calle Buenos Aires numerous times, the central square and the surrounding streets, and up the hill at the edge of town. I also made the journey by cab to the slums, which by Montevideo and Buenos Aires standards are not too bad. Still some very poor people living there :-( .

The next real travel begins at 9:12 tomorrow morning when I board the bus for Cordoba. Catch you there!

Back in... La Republica Argentina

¡Hola! You read correctly, I am back in Argentina - Salta to be precise. Apologies for the delay of this post. I did write one and my e-mail server lost it and I haven´t had chance to do another til now!

 

To find out where I´ve been all this time and the adventures entailed look at travel below.

 

Good news.. pictures will be on their way soon too (meaning days not weeks)!

 

Live

 

Today I'm feeling well. After 27 hours on a bus sat down and plus a night´s sleep, I´m raring to go. I got here very early this morning and some guy from the official HI hostel offered a lift as he was picking someone else up. I took it as I was in no mood for hostel hunting at 1AM! The hostel wasn't that great though, so I found a better one when I got up this morning. It's much better with bar, common room and should be easy to meet people. Fairly central too.

 

Not quite the one we stayed in in Iguazu - which was more like a hotel with a swimming pool (bit cold to use it mind!) and large grounds, a bargain at 3 pounds a night. It was actually out of the town on a highway which meant flagging down buses - no bus stops! - but it was a nice change and the falls were not far away.... 

 

 

Listen

 

This may take a bit of thinking.. I've had a fair bit of contrast in 2 weeks! The things that stick out as chronological order as possible: Montevideo: traffic in Montevideo (nothing by the deafening roar Buenos Aires standards!), the voice of a Uruguayan man whom I ended up talking to about politics for a few hours, voices of people I made friends with in Montevideo at the hostel. Colonia: a marching band in Colonia, a storm battering the windows of the hostel in Colonia. Montevideo (again): the calmness of a Montevideo suburb where I stayed with some newly made friends, the yap of a puppy at a family party I ended up at. Salto: the constant hum of the night bus to Salto, the crazy thunderstorm in Salto only in one corner of the city at 5 AM, the wind howling round the courtyard at the eerie hotel, the stamp of the passport official at the port, the sound of the boat hitting the side of the wooden pier, the boat jutting across the river to Concordia. Concordia: More traffic, the quietness of the squares, more night bus noises and the terrible film showing on it! Iguazu: The stern voice of the lady at the hostel reception, the jangle of keys in the dorm door, the ABSOLUTE POWER of the waterfalls, the screams of a woman as we went on a boat under the falls as we got drenched, the stamp of the official on leaving to Paraguay, being told there was no buses back from Paraguay and that I would have to get a taxi, the clunk of the bus door which had me aboard for 23 hours, the hysterically funny voice of the bus attendant. Tucuman: "Si", when I asked if this was the bus to Salta. Salta: "Do you need a hostel for the night?", Bruce Springsteen's Atlantic City playing on the stereo of this internet cafe.... Told you there was a fair bit!

 

Travel

 

There's been a fair bit of this done since Montevideo! First an itinerary (without dates, as I'm not exactly sure myself):

 

1. Montevideo to Colonia (2 hours)

2. Colonia to Montevideo (2 hours)

3. Montevideo to a suburb (45 mins)

4. Suburb to the bus station (1 hour)

5. Montevideo to Salto (6 hours)

6. Salto (Uruguay) to Concordia (Argentina) (40 minutes)

7. Concordia to Puerto Iguazu - Iguazu Falls (12 hours)

8. Puerto Igauzu to Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) (1 hour)

9. Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) to Puerto Iguazu (Argentina) (30 mins)

10. Puerto Iguazu to Salta (27 hours - ouch!).

 

So, it'd be crazy to document all these like I did on the last post, so I'll do the most memorable ones. Number 1.. I was expecting so much when I got to Colonia, but I was disappointed. Lonely Planet said it was the second best thing in Uruguay.. not for me! Sure it has a nice little old town, but it takes 30 mins to walk around completely and there really is nothing new after seeing something like Bergen, Norway, last year. Luckily I met a cool dutch guy called Marcel at the hostel, so we ate drank and were merry as he too agreed it was a bit of a waste of time.

 

Number 3 was interesting. I'd made a new friend at the hostel called Amanda, and she had switched from the hostel to stay with a new friend in a nice suburb. We met to sort out our tickets to Iguazu as she was going the same way and we figured it made sense to travel together as it's a long way. Afterwards she met her friend and she invited me back to her house to drink Mate - it's like extra strong tea, which was good for me!

 

Number 5 was significant since it was the first night bus I'd taken so far. It wasn't too great though, as I hardly ot any sleep at all. When we got to Salto, it was very strange... to start of with there was a thunderstorm in one corner of the city only. Then when we got a taxi to the "hostel" it turned out not to be one at all like Lonely Planet had described. So we got the driver to take us to the first hotel in the book. Luckily this was actually a hotel.. but an odd one. There was a cardboard cut out of some guy called Carlos Gardel in the door way, but that was all we could see! We rang the doorbell and out popped a guy who sorted a room for us, randomly with 3 beds. He lead us through a courtyard and seriously, this hotel could have made a Hitchcock film.. it was that creepy. In the room, the wind swirled outside as the rain battered the windows. Very odd. We explored a little the next day, again it was weird. The streets were empty but apparently 55000 people lived there. We stayed one more night, and left, glad that the cardboard cut out hadn't animated.

 

Number 6.. we went down to the dock around lunchtime to catch the ferry, which actually turned out to be a tiny long boat type thing with a motor. The passport official on the Uruguayan side just looked like another passenger! Duly he stamped our passports and we boarded. At the other side it was much different, there was a proper office where we got through no problem.

 

Number 7.. another night bus.. luckily this time I slept.. well 2 hours anyway. We got off and fortunately Amanda had been tipped off about a good hostel, so we headed for that with some sketchy directions from a taxi driver. After a while, we gave up and got a taxi. Lucky we did as it would have been a fair old walk! It was worth the journey though, as I said above it was a good hostel. After dumping our stuff we headed straight to the falls. When we got there, people were hustling us straight away to buy extra trips etc. we declined apart from one boat trip.. which was well worth it! 

 

We entered the rainforest containing the falls with bated breath, waiting for our first glimpse. As you will see when I get the photos uploaded, we were not disappointed! It was incredible and these were only the small falls. a row of numerous falls, all collating together into the "Rio" below. We continued the route round amazed by these supposedly small falls trying to avoid the huge tourist groups on guided tours. We suceeded in the most part and then got a train up to the Garganuta del Diablo - Devil's Throat. On the catwalk down, we looked and could see the top and were a little disappointed. Then we saw how far the catwalk went down, got to the bottom and were completely stunned by the sheer amount of water and the power generated. Somehow there were birds flying through the spray. God only knows how! We crossed to the island on a boat and wandered round and found another catwalk to get a closer look at the smaller falls. So much spray was generated and with the sun shining, rainbows were forming in the grass leading up to the edge. It was an amazing sight. We got to the bottom and the spray drenched us. Incredible. I've never seen anything more amazing in my life. After crossing back to the mainland, we got strapped into life jackets, and onto another boat which we'd paid for. It took us around the island and actually underneath one of larger of the 275 falls. We got sooo drenched, but it added to the amazing experience of seeing them from above. If I ever get to see anything as amazing as that on my travels, I will be a happy man! We left the park still a little damp after drying in the sun, but amazed at what we'd seen.

 

Number 8 was the day I went solo again. Amanda was heading off to travel Paraguay and I back to Argentina. As my bus wasn't til the evening, I helped her across the border as she had a lot of baggage and also to have a glimpse of Paraguay. It looked as Amanda put it: "Very South American" - minor roads simply red dirt, lots of dodgy looking men on street corners and sadly some very poor people. We got a bus to get to the centre and ended up in the countryside! Well it was one way to see beyond the city! After that I tried to get a bus back to Argentina, but they'd stopped an hour previously so ended up taking a slightly extortionate taxi (by S.America prices) (Number 9, by the way). Maybe I'll go there if I have time on the way back round, but I don't know, I'll have to see.

 

Number 10 wasn't all that remarkable, just in its length. It was actually two buses but back to back - 23 hours and 4 hours with a 5 minute break in between! I saw some Argentine countryside and villages from the window, a contrast to anything I'd seen so far, and 6 movies on the DVD player they had on board. Luckily I was fed well and the energetic conductor had me entertained with is random outbursts of singing and "Gracia, Gracia, Gracia" when ever he gave us anything. He even had us playing bingo.. I'd love to see that on an English bus! 

 

So, that's up to date I think. Hope you are all well, and I'll try to keep it regular :) Watch for photos!

Yo Yo from Uruguay

Yo from Uruguay! I am now in Montevideo, Uruguay which is certainly a contrast from Buenos Aires. Much smaller, from what I´ve seen, and I would say poorer. Palm trees line the central squares, and some of the roads in the countryside too.. which I found a bit random! Cows fill the fields, you can see where they got all the meat to make those pies in Fray Bentos. 

Live
 
Today I´m feeling good. Yesterday was quite tiring as I was up until 2AM the night before sorting my bags and finding hostels here on the internet, and then I had an 8 hour bus ride (see travel below). Once I got to the hostel, it was good though. Ok, it´s not as good as the hostel in Buenos Aires, but I met people as soon as I opened the door, and once I´d dumped my stuff, sat down with 4 Brazilians & an Argentine to watch footie - Argentina v Colombia.

After a lot of cheering from the Argentine guy when they won we went to an Irish pub and were drink litre bottles of beer for just over a pound. Muy bien! Thankfully it´s not quite as cold here as Buenos Aires and to be honest today I really don´t need this fleece I´ve got on. Stuff just seems to get cheaper too.. I´ve just been to the Uruguayan version of Pizza Hut and had a pizza and two drinks for one pound, fifty pence!

Listen
 
Listening has been interesting over past few days, and as with other stuff, has been a thing of contrasts. A selection include: From the incredible noise generated by Buenos Aires traffic, protestors and clubs, to the Montevideo sea front, where all I could hear was the wind. One of the funniest things has to be South American football commentary...

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL ARG-EN-TINA!

very funny. They are very passionate about their football. I´ve also heard the bus engine, the honk of old fashioned truck horns on the motorways of Uruguay (if you can call them that!), the blaring music from a kid´s headphones on the bus, badly dubbed spanish films and sweet sound of a covers band doing High & Dry by Radiohead in an Irish pub in Montevideo - so good, if Thom Yorke leaves Radiohead, this guy could fill in!

Travel

Obviously it´s going to be pretty tough to beat the travel documented in the last post, but there´s been a bit done in the last 5 days. I´ve walked round a fair proportion of central Buenos Aires at all hours of the day and night. Interesting to see a city that truly never sleeps! After meeting some people at the hostel there, we went out from 8 at night til almost 8 the next morning, obviously slightly worse for wear by the morning ;-) Walking around there, also involves a good proportion of getting lost, but at least that way you get to see more of the city!

Then there was the bus to here. Getting the ticket itself turned into a bit of a trek as I headed in completely the wrong direction. Luckily the Porteños of Buenos Aires are darn sight friendlier than your stereotypical Londoner or Parisian, and they pointed me in the right direction (which I understood!). After getting the ticket, I found the short way back on my own via the supermarket and cooked myself a feast of pasta with peppers, onions and tomatoes. The peppers were of a ridiculous size, "giant" wouldn´t be a big enough description!

The next morning I got up for the bus in time, got a taxi, and got on the bus to Montevideo. It was an interesting ride - cows, pampas, slums. They were the main things that stood out! Oh but I can´t forget the border crossing, which was at best confusing, but I got my stamps and thats what matters :) After getting here, I got a taxi to the hostel as I hadn´t a clue where it was and it was getting dark.

Right I´d better be off otherwise I´ll be paying extra! Watch for another post soon. Take care.

Buenos dias en Buenos Aires

... or should I say Buenos tardes! I´m now in Buenos Aires after what seemed like a day on the plane from Frankfurt! The 14 hour flight ended up taking 16 as the authorities decided to shut Buenos Aires airport, I´m guessing because of bad weather. Therefore we had to land in Sao Paulo which was either foggy or smoggy and goodness only knows how the pilot found the runway! Thankfully, after 2 hours, we took off again and got to Buenos Aires.

Live
 
I´m feeling quite tired at the moment, I guess it maybe jet lag after crossing one hour to Germany and then 5 hours back to Argentina! I don´t feel too bad though, and have been for a wander today (see below). I´m glad to be here at last :):):) It´s pretty cold, but that doesn´t bother me.. better cold then very hot for me.

The hotel I´m staying in is very nice too. It´s near where all the theatres are and you even get smoked salmon and that sort of calibre of food for breakfast! Obviously I can´t stay in that sort of place for my whole trip as it´d only last a quarter of the time, but as a starting point, it´s very nice indeed! Tomorrow, I´m going to a hostel, but it too sounds good, and for only a fiver a night :)

Listen
 
Listening... well in the last 36hrs it´s been weird! From the rumble of the jet engines in my ear for 16hrs to the hum of the air-con in my room in the hotel, from listening out for German and then for Spanish it´s been interesting and constantly changing. I´ve managed to understand a fair bit of spanish, but not everything! I also keep wanting to speak in German, which I know will get me less further than English. Hopefully, I´ll get the knack soon and start reeling off spanish like.. well.. a spaniard!
There was one beautiful moment to do with listening though.. as we descended into Sao Paulo at 6AM in the dark, I was listening to Bruce Springsteen´s "Dancing in the dark". People, you may laugh, but you had to be there to understand! I think it was because it was so peaceful up there and there was all these lights below. Something like that anyway.

Travel
 
I can say with no holding back, that I certainly have travelled since the last post! From Heathrow (with a scalded hand - THANK YOU COSTA COFFEE!) to Frankfurt and then 24 hours later from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires via an unscheduled Sao Paulo. I reckon about 7500 miles in 36 hours or there abouts!

It was great to see friends in Frankfurt as I hadn´t seen my mum´s friends for a while and also got to say bye to Paul and his family. Then I got to the airport where there was a suspicious baggage! Luckily I could still check in and by the time I´d finished it had gone. I got through passport control wandered a bit and then went to the gate, where they were none too pleased when they asked for my return ticket and I produced one from Canada next year! They said this was no good, but luckily I went to the help desk explained, and a lady wangled it for me and gave me a piece of paper to show if I get asked again.

I got on the plane and was happy to find I had two seats to myself.. this also meant two pillows, two blankets, but unfortunately not two portions of food. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours and then woke up and listened to a bit of Starsky and Hutch. Then I fell asleep again and was woken next by the captains voice saying that we had to land in Sao Paulo as they had shut Buenos Aires airport and he didn´t have enough fuel. I thought we were gonna get stranded and I would be going by bus! Luckily we took off again, and got to BsAs two hours late. Then immigration there wanted to know everything on a form, but then when I handed it in, didn´t seem too bothered and just stamped my passport! Suits me! I hope every country is like that :)

Today so far I´ve been for a wander around downtown BsAs which seems nice, but very busy, I´ve been up to where Evita was shouting from a balcony and to the biggest avenue in the world - Avenida 9 Julio, which certainly is very big! There was also a big protest on about something.. which taxi drivers, driving around them didn´t seem too happy about!

Right I´ll be off now, as I´m ready for some more wandering. I´ll be updating again soon as soon as I´ve got some more to tell you :)

Adios!