From San Pedro de Atacama, I made my way to Santiago to meet my lovely mother. More or less immediately upon our arrival, in true Peltz-family fashion, we passed on the opportunity to relax and instead jumped right on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. Although Leigh fell asleep for the better part of the tour, it was a great way to get oriented and to see some of the city.
The next day, we did a day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, small coastal cities about an hour outside of Santiago. I really liked Valparaiso because the houses are all painted different, vibrant colours and the city is built into a hillside. However, we were there on the day of the Chilean presidential elections, so a lot of stuff was closed. Vina del Mar was nice for walking by the water, but it did remind me a bit too much of Miami.
The next day, we flew to Pucon, which is in Chile's Lake District. The area was incredibly beautiful, with volcanos and mountains forming a striking backdrop for the lakes. Our hotel is really special because of the amazing gardens around it. It's built into a hillside and there are winding paths down to the lake and through the gardens, where they grow vegetables that are served in the hotel restaurant. It was an incredible spot, definitely one of my favourites so far.
On our first day in Pucon, we decided to do a hike in Huerquehue National Park. It turned out to be a fairly challenging, three hour walk up a mountain, but the three pristine lakes at the end were definitely worth the effort. The water was clear and green and each lake was surrounded by rocky cliffs and gigantic trees.
The next day, I ditched mom to climb up Volcan Villarrica. When I say "climb", I do mean climb...ice-picks were involved. The hike was about four hours one way, through the snow, until we reached the crater. The crater was incredible, massive and smoking and bubbling. Instead of walking back down, the thing to do is to slide on your butt. This was a lot of fun until I lost control on a steep part of the volcano. I ended up tumbling down part of the mountain, all the while thinking, "would it be worse to hit a rock or to impale myself on my ice-pick?", until two men on my tour managed to form a sort of human shield to stop me. A bit of an adventure, but definitely a lot of fun.
For our last day in Pucon, we decided to do something a bit more low-key and so went horseback riding in the mountains. We had a fantastic guide named Rodolfo, an authentic Chilean gaucho, who runs a riding school in the area. He took us to his farm where we had breakfast and met his family and then he took us riding around the area. The scenery was stunning and peaceful and we had a really great time. After the ride, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at our hotel.
The next day, we flew back to Santiago. We spent the following day walking around the city before mom had to go back home, which was very sad because we had had such a great time together. The next day, I checked out of our real-person hotel and moved to a dirty-traveler-person hostel, which is much more my style right now. I have the next few days to explore more of Santiago, before I make "the great schlep" to Mexico to be with the family.
Hasta luego!
Sarah
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Bolivia Abridged
When we arrived in La Paz, the city was in a state of chaos in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections. The current Bolivian president (Evo Morales) is indigenous, so most indigenous citizens wanted to vote to keep in him office. Since most indigenous Bolivians live in the country and the voting takes place in La Paz, the city becomes completely overrun with people rushing in to vote. The traffic was unbelievable and I don´t think I have ever seen so many people in one place. Additionally, for some reason, La Paz officially goes alcohol-free for election weekends, which caused an uproar amongst some of my traveling companions. Luckily, they soon figured out that is possible to buy contraband rum in anti-freeze containers from certain variety stores.
Our first day in La Paz, I just walked around the city. We visited San Pedro Prison, one of the most notorious prisons in the world, where prisoners allegedly have to pay for their own cells and in which the vast majority of Bolivia´s cocaine is produced. Prisoners in San Pedro used to be able to give prison tours to tourists, but apparently those have been shut down recently. So we couldn´t get into the prison, but it was interesting to see. It is right in the middle of the city, just beside a lovely plaza, and it surrounded by police who try to prevent tourists from taking photos of it. While loitering outside, we met a South African woman who was visiting her husband who was jailed for drug trafficking. Interesting place.
We also visited the Witch´s Market, which sells some very weird stuff. For example, you can buy llama fetuses, which are supposed to be buried outside your home to keep out evil. It´s disgusting really, but worth seeing.
The next day definitely a trip highlight. We went mountain biking down Death Road, so named because it is, literally, the most dangerous road in the world. You bike for about 60km downhill on a winding, one-lane, gravel road. On one side, there is a mountain and on the other, there is a sheer drop. It is very scary and VERY fun. But don´t worry, nobody has died in a few years.
On our last day in La Paz, everything was closed for the election, so I did nothing of consequence. The next morning, we drove to a bushcamp for the night and then on to Uyuni the next morning.
When we arrived in Uyuni, it was time for me to leave the Oasis truck. Although I definitely miss the group, it was really nice to get out on my own and have a bit more freedom. From Uyuni, I joined a three day tour of the Salt Flats. On our first day, we visited the Isla de Pescado, which is a coral island in the middle of the flats and the Salar de Uyuni. The Salar is amazing, it´s the biggest salt flat in the world and it looks like an endless plain of pure white. That evening, we stayed in a small town called San Juan.
The next day, we visited a series of lagoons and volcanoes and saw flamingos. The lagoons are really cool because they contain sulfur and various other minerals, which makes them look very colourful. Laguna Colorada is bright red it looks spectacular against the backdrop of mountains and salt plains. We then drove through the Siloli desert at stayed at a small hostel for the night.
On my final day of the Salt Flats tour, we woke up at 4 30 am to drive to the Sol de Manana geysers. It was really an amazing sight, with steam shooting up from the ground and mud bubbling up everywhere. It makes for a very eerie sight, because the steam is so thick. Next, we drove through the Desierto de Dali, named for the unusual, Dali-esque rock formations, to Laguna Verde. There are no flamingos there because there is so much arsenic in the water, but it looks incredible, bright green water crusted with white salt. After that, we drove the Chilean border where I got on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama.
I am currently in San Pedro, enjoying the town and the surrounding desert and tomorrow, it´s upward and onward to Santiago.
Hasta luego!
Sarah
Our first day in La Paz, I just walked around the city. We visited San Pedro Prison, one of the most notorious prisons in the world, where prisoners allegedly have to pay for their own cells and in which the vast majority of Bolivia´s cocaine is produced. Prisoners in San Pedro used to be able to give prison tours to tourists, but apparently those have been shut down recently. So we couldn´t get into the prison, but it was interesting to see. It is right in the middle of the city, just beside a lovely plaza, and it surrounded by police who try to prevent tourists from taking photos of it. While loitering outside, we met a South African woman who was visiting her husband who was jailed for drug trafficking. Interesting place.
We also visited the Witch´s Market, which sells some very weird stuff. For example, you can buy llama fetuses, which are supposed to be buried outside your home to keep out evil. It´s disgusting really, but worth seeing.
The next day definitely a trip highlight. We went mountain biking down Death Road, so named because it is, literally, the most dangerous road in the world. You bike for about 60km downhill on a winding, one-lane, gravel road. On one side, there is a mountain and on the other, there is a sheer drop. It is very scary and VERY fun. But don´t worry, nobody has died in a few years.
On our last day in La Paz, everything was closed for the election, so I did nothing of consequence. The next morning, we drove to a bushcamp for the night and then on to Uyuni the next morning.
When we arrived in Uyuni, it was time for me to leave the Oasis truck. Although I definitely miss the group, it was really nice to get out on my own and have a bit more freedom. From Uyuni, I joined a three day tour of the Salt Flats. On our first day, we visited the Isla de Pescado, which is a coral island in the middle of the flats and the Salar de Uyuni. The Salar is amazing, it´s the biggest salt flat in the world and it looks like an endless plain of pure white. That evening, we stayed in a small town called San Juan.
The next day, we visited a series of lagoons and volcanoes and saw flamingos. The lagoons are really cool because they contain sulfur and various other minerals, which makes them look very colourful. Laguna Colorada is bright red it looks spectacular against the backdrop of mountains and salt plains. We then drove through the Siloli desert at stayed at a small hostel for the night.
On my final day of the Salt Flats tour, we woke up at 4 30 am to drive to the Sol de Manana geysers. It was really an amazing sight, with steam shooting up from the ground and mud bubbling up everywhere. It makes for a very eerie sight, because the steam is so thick. Next, we drove through the Desierto de Dali, named for the unusual, Dali-esque rock formations, to Laguna Verde. There are no flamingos there because there is so much arsenic in the water, but it looks incredible, bright green water crusted with white salt. After that, we drove the Chilean border where I got on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama.
I am currently in San Pedro, enjoying the town and the surrounding desert and tomorrow, it´s upward and onward to Santiago.
Hasta luego!
Sarah
The ¨PachaMama¨ Machu Picchu Four-Day
I realize that I´m behind on this blog thing, but there is much to say so please forgive me and read on.
From Puno (you may remember Puno from waaayyy back in November), we headed to Cusco, the Inca capital. After a day of Inca Trail prep, we began our four day trek to Machu Picchu. I will break it down:
Day 1 - Walked....and walked...until we reached an altitude of 3000m and camped at Wayllabamba.
Day 2 - This was the most challenging day. We walked straight uphill for most of the day, walking right through the clouds and stopping at a few Inca ruins along the way. We reached our highest point at Dead Woman´s Pass (4200 m) and then had to walk all the way down to camp at Paqaymayu, which is at 3500 m.
Day 3 - This was also pretty tough because it was all downhill. This may sound easy, but they don´t call it ¨The Gringo Killer¨for nothing. We visited a series of massive stone terraces, which were amazing, and camped at Winay Wayna.
Day 4 - After a 4 am wake up, we walked to the Sun Gate to see Machu Picchu from above. It´s a really incredible sight and definitely makes the walk seem worth it. From there, we hiked down to Machu Picchu proper and had a tour inside. Lucky for us, despite it being the rainy season, we were blessed with a perfect, clear day. It was just beautiful and amazing...Machu Picchu is going on my list of spots that have completely lived up to my expectations, along with Petra and the Taj Mahal. After our tour of the ancient city, we took a train back to Cusco to celebrate and recover.
The entire experience was really wonderful. The porters and guides who walked with us were amazing and helpful and the food was unbelievable (obviously of the utmost importance to me). Everyone in my group had a great attitude and made the experience, although challenging, consistently fun and entertaining. Returning to Cusco felt like a great accomplishment at the end and we all celebrated with a big night out and the culmination of the 24 hour challenge. Pretty self-explanatory...we stayed up until 4 am the next night, could not tell you why.
After a day of doing nothing in Cusco, we headed out for La Paz with a bushcamp night along the way. That night, we ended up sleeping in the lobby of an Inca museum, definitely one of our more unusual campsites and the next day, we arrived in La Paz, Bolivia.
From Puno (you may remember Puno from waaayyy back in November), we headed to Cusco, the Inca capital. After a day of Inca Trail prep, we began our four day trek to Machu Picchu. I will break it down:
Day 1 - Walked....and walked...until we reached an altitude of 3000m and camped at Wayllabamba.
Day 2 - This was the most challenging day. We walked straight uphill for most of the day, walking right through the clouds and stopping at a few Inca ruins along the way. We reached our highest point at Dead Woman´s Pass (4200 m) and then had to walk all the way down to camp at Paqaymayu, which is at 3500 m.
Day 3 - This was also pretty tough because it was all downhill. This may sound easy, but they don´t call it ¨The Gringo Killer¨for nothing. We visited a series of massive stone terraces, which were amazing, and camped at Winay Wayna.
Day 4 - After a 4 am wake up, we walked to the Sun Gate to see Machu Picchu from above. It´s a really incredible sight and definitely makes the walk seem worth it. From there, we hiked down to Machu Picchu proper and had a tour inside. Lucky for us, despite it being the rainy season, we were blessed with a perfect, clear day. It was just beautiful and amazing...Machu Picchu is going on my list of spots that have completely lived up to my expectations, along with Petra and the Taj Mahal. After our tour of the ancient city, we took a train back to Cusco to celebrate and recover.
The entire experience was really wonderful. The porters and guides who walked with us were amazing and helpful and the food was unbelievable (obviously of the utmost importance to me). Everyone in my group had a great attitude and made the experience, although challenging, consistently fun and entertaining. Returning to Cusco felt like a great accomplishment at the end and we all celebrated with a big night out and the culmination of the 24 hour challenge. Pretty self-explanatory...we stayed up until 4 am the next night, could not tell you why.
After a day of doing nothing in Cusco, we headed out for La Paz with a bushcamp night along the way. That night, we ended up sleeping in the lobby of an Inca museum, definitely one of our more unusual campsites and the next day, we arrived in La Paz, Bolivia.
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