Puno and The Inca Trail to Machu Pichu, Peru

Our afternoon tour in Puno was interesting. We went to visit the floating islands of the Uros. Traditionally, they build themselves Islands out of reeds on which a few families will live. Every ten years or so, the islands have to be replaced so that they do not break apart. And if neighbours have issues with each other, they can just cut the island in two and float away. Traditionally, the ain industry of the Uros was not touris (surprise surprise). While they still live on the islands, they have become so tourist in parts that it is hard to imagine how they once lived. Along with the very interesting reed islands they live on, they have constructed jiant reed animals, boats, and monuments, walk around in traditional clothing, and sing to tourists as they pass. While it was all very friendly and cute, I personally found the level of tourism disconcerting. I don´t regret visiting the islands, and enjoyed myself, but have mixed feelings about the experience.

The next day we caught the bus to Cuzco, which is a beautiful and relaxing (though expensive city). We spent the first evening and day there walking around and buying stuff for our four day trek of the Inca trail, so didn´t see many of the sites until aftter the trek was over.

On November 18th, we started our Inca trail adventure. The Inca trail is a hiking route that principally follows old Inca roads up and down mountain passes and past Inca ruin sites before reaching Machu Pichu, the most impressive Incan site in South America. The first day was relatively relaxed. We saw some cacti and nice views and an incan site before reaching camp.

The second day was when the pain started. It was pretty much a day long, high altitude climb to go through a 4200 ish meter mountain pass. Plus, it was raining. Along the way, we passed through a lovely forested area. We were near the last in the group to reach the summit, but it worked out for the best. Because of the bad weather, most of the group just got to the top and kept walking. However, the rain stopped and the clouds parted jsut as we reached the top, so we got a great view of the road we had just travelled, as well as the road to come. It was then about an hour hike down to the campsite, which was not very tiring, but was hard on the knees.

The third day was the longest, and also the prettiest. It was raining in the morning, but cleared up pretty quickly. We passed a couple of Incan sites and a waterfall and passed through Incan tunnels while walking along a 90% original incan road. We climbed back up to a second mountain pass, but it was not nearl as hard as the first day. Plus, the views along the way were spectacular and the weather was great. We descended to the third campsite, situated next to Incan terraces and an old temple. Just as we entered camp, we saw a pair of toucans up close! Maybe one day you can tou.

That night, there was a terrific thunderstorm, which was powerful enough that our guides commented on how strong and unusual it was. we were cozy and dry in our tents, but unfortunately, the same can´t be said for at least one of our porters. Porters were situated at each end of the campsite to guard the tents from other unsavoury groups (it was a crowded campsite). I didn´t hear it, but Evelyn said she could hear the poor porter singing to himself and whimpering as the rain and thunder beat down on him.

The last day consisted of a short but magnificent walk the rest of the way to Machu Pichu. While it was cloudy to start, the clouds rose just as we were resting at the sun gate, the furthest point from which you can see Machu Pichu on the trail. They stayed away long enough for us to get soe great panoramic photos closer to the site, but it started to rain again literally as we were entering the site itself. It didn´t stop the whole time we were at Machu Pichu, but I still enjoyed the tour of the large and well preserved Incan village. By then end of it though, everyone was pretty drenched, and headed back to the town of Aguas Calientes pretty early. We spent the afternoon relaxing in ome hot springs (the rain had cleared), and the took the train back to Cuzco, where we collapsed exhausted after a rewarding four day experience.

Lake Titicaca, Bolivian side

Our trip to Copacabana was quite an ordeal, but we scored a page full of stamps in our passport! The blockade was not lifted, so we bought bus tickets to Puno, Peru, instead. However, when we got to the bus station, ticket sellers were telling us we could get to Copacabana. However, the bus had to first enter Peru, then cross back into Boliva, taking at least twice as long as normal. However, we did really want to go to Copacabana (as it is the hottest spot north of Havana), so we ate the cost of our Puno tickets and bought new ones to Copacabana.

I also asked what the reason for the blockade is. As it stands, the road to Copacabana crosses a river. There is no bridge, so the villagers ferry people and vehicles across on wooden rafts. The government wants to build a bridge, but the raft captains don´t want to lose their livelihood, so they have blocked the road for more than a week now.

Anyway, it was totally worth the hassle. Our bus driver phoned ahead, so the ferry from Copacabana to the beautiful Isla del Sol waited for us, and we hopped on the boat as soon as we got off our bus. The Island is amazing. From the heights of the Island, you can see spectacular views of the the lake and surrounding Islands, as well as the carless villages located on it. Our hotel room had windows on three sides and was awesome! However, walking around was not easy. It is very hilly, and climbing up and down at 4000m tires you out quickly. We walked for three hours from the south side to the north side, and then I walked back by a different route while Evelyn took a boat. The funny thing about the Island is that, because of the blockade, there are not nearly as many tourists as usual. As a result, alot of the restaurants were closed, and those that were open don´t start preparing and food until you order it, and in some cases go out to buy the ingredients. The second night, we had to wait over an hour for our food, partially due to this, and partially due to a blackout. However, the cook perservered through the darkness and cooked us a delicious meal of corn soup and fresh fish.

After two days on the Island, we went back to the mainland yesterday, and caught a bus to Puno, Peru today. We have crossed over to our third country! It is Sunday, so everything is closed. However, we caught the tail end of a parade when we arrived, and are doing a tour of Lake Titicaca´s floating villages in an hour.

The Amazon Rainforest!

We just got back from an Amazong trip in the Amazon (sorry, I couldn´t help the bad pun, which Evelyn says doesn´t make sense). Our rescheduled flight was for 6:15 on thursday morning. We got on the plane, but got back off at 6:30 because we couldn´t fly. Luckily, by 7:15, we decided we could. We made it to Rurrenabarque, the jump off point for Amazon tours, rushed to our tour agency, and within 20 minutes, were off to the Pampas, a wetland area where you can see an unbeleivable amount of animals. After a three hour jeep ride, we took a slow, four hour river ride to our camp. Basically, most of the trip was taking slow river rides around looking for animals. We saw hundreds of alligators, caimans, capybaras (the world´s biggest rodent) and birds of all sorts. We also saw some pink river dolphins. They are born grey but, like flamingos, turn pink because their diet consists of a large number of pink crabs. We also saw monkeys, an anoconda, a hummingbird, some rodenty things, and probably more animals I forgot to mention. We also went fishing for Pirahnas.

Our plan was to leave the next day on a three day jungle tour, but we were both suffering from very loose stool. So instead, we decided to take a day off hanging out in Rurre, and only do a two day trek. This also was good because it meant we could continue with our fabulous guide from the Pampas, Antonia. The jungle tour was also excellent. There were only three of us (plus a guide, captain, and cook). You do not see as many animals in the jungle, but we learned alot about different plants and their uses, and saw some really cool ones, like a walking tree and a trunk covered in thorns like a rose. Another particularly interesting tree was the ´diablo tree´. It is a relativel thin white tree which has a symboitic relationship with a vicious type of ant that lives within it. The ants get a home and, in return, attack anything living within about a meter´s radius. It is called the devil tree because there is a circle lacking vegetation surrounding the tree, a rarity in the jungle. If you tap on the trunk, ants will come out of the wood and rush to the spot. We also saw the biggest spider and millipides I have ever seen in the wild, leaf cutter ants, wild macaus, and two families of wild pigs.

On the way back, we lucked out on our flight. We flew back as schedule on tuesday, while all the flights on sunday, monday, and wednesday were cancelled. In the end, we got back to La Paz on the same day we were originally planning to, despite our two day delay in departing La Paz. However, today we were supposed to leave for Copacabana, on lake Titicaca. Unfortunately, a protest has blocked the road to Copacabana, so we are stuck here again, hoping to leave tommorrow morning. We will see. On the plus side, you all get to read a wonderful new blog posting, and we hopefully can visit some museums this afternoon.

La Paz

La Paz has had its ups and downs. We arrived here Friday morning, took a nap, and then went out to book some tours. The problem was that November 1st and 2nd are a holiday here, Los Dias de la Mortes, so all the travel agencies are closed, which put some pressure on the decision making. Moreover, all the museums and things to do within the city were also closed. What we really wanted to do was fly to the rain forest to do a tour AND climb Hayuni Potosi, which is a relatively easy 6000m high mountain to climb, with glaciers and the need of ice picks near the end. We made a little calender of our time till we have to be in Cuzco, Peru, and realized we couldn´t do both, so we decided on the rain forest, but were still bummed out. I know, life is tough when your most pressing decision is between climbing a mountain and visiting the Amazon, but you can lose perspective when you´re traveling. Anyway, to console myself I signed up to mountain bike the Zonga trail. Unfortunately, since there weren´t enough people, I was switched to the famous ´Death Road´bike ride instead, where you mountain bike down this super skinny cliff side road where cars go over all the time (and 18 tourists have died in the last 10 years). It turned out to be quite fun. The biking wasn´t hard, but knowing a mistake could lead to a 600 meter free fall puts some fear into you. And the views were spectacular. It was a bit overpriced, but I had a good day.

In the meantime, Evelyn went to a cafe in La Paz. She started talking to the owner, Christian, and he turned out to be a member of a Warm Showers, a bike touring web group I am a part of too! we visited him and made plans to do a bike ride together when I get back from the rain forest.

On the Day of the Dead, Jose, the super nice clerk from our hotel, offered to take us to his house, which is right next to a cemetery. On Dias de Los Mortes, famies go the cemetery and hang out next to the graves of their deceased relatives. They sing, bring the deceased´s favourite foods, and generally celebrate their life. It was interesting to see a cemetery so packed with happy people, and to get a good look of Bolivians decked out in their finest clothes. I´m happy we were able to experience it.

Unfortunately, tuesday, our flight day, was rainy in Runnabaraque, so our flight was cancelled. While we knew this would be a possibility, our tour company told us we could get a 100% refund if this happened and switch to the other airline, which flies way more often. However, we were only entitled toa 70% refund, which led to about five hours of hassle for us, and more for our tour operator, who apologized and did their best to fix the situation, before we got our full refund. We rescheduled to fly Thursday morning, and I phoned up Christian to go biking on Wednesday.

The bike ride was the second most grueling ride of my life. We went mountain biking down mount Chacaltaya, starting at an elevation of 5300M and ending in La Paz at 3600. Basically, it felt like I couldn´t breath for six hours. The first hour or two was more mountain climbing than mountain biking. And the bikes were basically Canadian tire quality, meaning heavy and with no shocks. The roads were awful, and four hours of vibrations really took a toll on my back, hands, arms, and derrier. It was a very cool experience though. We went up to a glacier and saw some views where hardly anyone ever goes. Plus, I got to see alot of La Paz while biking through it along an abandoned railway. I am glad I did it.

Thursday morning, we got on the plane, but then got off again because it was too cloudy to fly. Luckily, it cleared up within half an hour, and we arrived only an hour late, and in time to catch our tour of the Pampas.