Peruvian Chick

LAKE TITICACA ( Grey Puma Lake)

At 3812m above sea level, bordering Bolivia and Peru in the Andes mountains is the highest lake in the world. In Inka mythology, Manco Capac and Mama 0cllo, children of the Sun, emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca to found their empire. Quechuan people and language are the main occupants of the Titicaca islands and continue to live from the traditions of the 14th century.
Like most of Peru, the Quechuan are a agricultural community. They grow barley, quinoa (a type of pigweed that produces a small grain), and many kinds of potato, which originated on the Altiplano.
The remnants of an ancient people, the Uru, still live on floating mats of dried totora (a reedlike papyrus that grows in dense brakes in the marshy shallows). It´s really amazing to see how these floating islands are actually made. From the totora, the Uru and other lake dwellers make their famed balsas--boats made of bundles of dried reeds tied together that resemble the crescent-shaped papyrus craft pictured on ancient Egyptian monuments.

I had a fabulous time staying with a Quechuan family in their home watching and helping cook traditional food, as well as dressing and dancing to traditional music...


















































MACHU PICCHU
"The lost city of the Incas"

49.5 km in 4 days hiking and camping along the old Inca trail...

.......surviving "Dead Woman´s Pass."

Can you see her?

5am

The experience = Phenominal

Billions of steps

The official orchid flower of the Inca trail.
















These are the porters age 17 to 70 that work very hard to carry 20 kilos everyday and cook and set up camp for trekkers- great strenth and endurance of these Incan ancestors.

UNBELIEVABLE BOLIVIA!!!!

I can´t begin to imagen what I have just experienced and am currently experiencing...
Like a time warp, scary yet amazingly satisfying, depite somewhat terrifying...

Despite the fact that the town of Salta did not have the particular U.S. stamp that is necessary for me to enter Bolivia. Managing to hop on the 7 hour night bus to the town of Quiaca at the boarder of Argentina and Bolivia... Arriving at 6:30 am. Luckily I was able to go to the Bolivian consulate straight away at 9am with very little hassle to get my much needed visa within the hour in order to enter Bolivia. Border crossing into Bolivia can be a bit tricky, apparently especially because I am American...possibly because of former controversy between the coca drug trade and the U.S. interference in the Bolivian economy, which has left aproximately 70% of Bolivians below poverty level.

Able to cross the border about 5 pm with little question...thank goodness...meeting up with the truck to Tupiza, Bolivia... a four hour ride from hell... climbing an extremely narrow, dusty, very bumpy dirt road through the country up to an elevation of aproximately 2400m into the evening darkness...


Aclimatization is extremely important all throughout traveling Bolivia, meaning I must drink lots and lots of water so as not to get
altitude sickness, which may consist of headache, nausia, etc etc.

Coca leaves and coca tea are a staple of the Bolivian economy as they help with such ailments as altitude sickness and are a part of the peoples daily lives.

UYUNI
Leaving for Uyuni early the next morning for another 8 hour drive. We arrived in time for pizza with an altitude of aproximately 3700m above sea level, barely beginning to feel the mild effects of the change in air pressure... off to see an old train graveyard and the amazing Salt Flats that exist in this town of aprox 12,000 meters wide and 4m deep...
The Bolivianos that work in the Colchani salt fields are wonderful simple people that work very hard to earn a living from filling bags of salt to making many many hand made goods such as salt figurines, woolen ponchos, scarves, gloves, hacky saks, and many other souvenirs. I also visited a hotel in the middle of nowhere made entirely of salt. These people are very happily accepting of any purchases or tips given for a photo opportunity...but else where in Bolivia beware of steeling a photo without permission or you may have stones thrown at you.

































POTOSI
A next day 9 hour drive to the town of Potosi reaching 4700m, is the highest major city above sea level in the world...being a major city minus giant buildings and great luxury seems more like a very nice town to me...with loads of inexpensive shopping.
A large number of this community work in the mines, as Potosi is known for it´s mining community... Now these mining people are extremely hard working non-contracted miners.. They work on their own hours etc. and have to pay for their own supplies such as dynamite, in order to do the job they have to support their families. Out of a 15 to 25,000 miners some of which are children, the life expectancy is aproximately 45 years of age due to working in unsafe conditions and breathing toxic fumes. Average earnings of $10 a day on a good day IF a worker is able to find goods such as silver and tin...
Learning about the lives of these human beings gives me a new appreciation for the way we live.

Here is an example of one of the many many venders all around Bolivia, a woman with a food stand working into the evening... I wonder how they manage to set up shop everyday...amazing.

RURRENABAQUE- The Pampas

From La Paz, a 20 passenger short turbulent flight to this small jungle town near The Pampas...

A 3 hour mini van ride , stuck in the mud, out to push...
Then to catch a tiny boat ride soaked...I mean completely drenched in the rain for 3 hours till our destination...THE PAMPAS...is reached!
Searching for Anacondas in the swampy mud, fishing for pirhanas, swimming with dolphins, spotting monkeys, crockadiles, a boa constrictor, and numerous birds, mosquitos, and spiders...made this trip to the Bolivian jungle well worth it...

THE NOTORIOUS RURRENABAQUE GANG

LA PAZ

From sea level back to 3200m above sea level....

Here are some lovely frogs from the Witches Market,

Apparently, if you place a cigarette in the frogs mouth and place it in your home it will bring you great wealth.

The Worlds Most Dangerous Road

I have survived Bolivia´s extreme mountain biking experience of DEATH ROAD, a down hill thrill that begins at 3345m and is 64km downhill of dirt and gravel, from freezing cold, foggy, to raining, to hot and humid in a few hours down the mountain...with just a few minor bruises from a fall...in which I decided to take the bus and run part way down...definitely a terrifying once in a lifetime experience. If you would like further details about this crazy road, just look it up on the net, and be prepared for amazement... Watch this Video I found

Mis Zapatos Sucio!

My dirty shoes have had it to the grave trekking and running through dirt, mud, wet, stinky, filthy, sandy, crusty, sticky glue from attempting to waterproof seal them!
YUCKY! Time to say ADIOS A MIS ZAPATOS SUCIO!!!

Last days in Argentina

Argentina is known for it's excellent wine and hundreds of vineyards...

I tried various wine in the towns of Mendoza and Cafayate.

Mendoza wine tour

Parque Provincial Ischigualasto and Parque National Talampaya are UNESCO world heritage sites were they are the only place on the planet were complete geological sediments from the triassic DINOSAUR period in the Mesozoic Era can be found...

I discovered that riding a mountain bike in the hot sun in dusty dirt can be quite difficult, but the little hike up Cerro Morado onlt 1,800 meters was quite easy and a nice view of the park...

Salta is my last stay in Argentina before heading off to Bolivia, where I have discovered that I need a visa to enter Bolivia....Oh the joys of minor detour and delay!