Oh dear, loads to report. Trip is winding down faster than I am comfortable with but there is not much I can do about that... Since the last post, Misha and Krsitin came and met up with me in Bolivia. It was so great to see them! We spent a couple of days hanging in La Paz with Ken. On Sunday we found this awesome street festival with live music and dancing. We were the only gringos in attendance and the locals were all very amused by us and included us. That night we were supposed to head down to Uyuni to tour the salt flats, but while I was watching our bags so TK and Mish could use the bathroom, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me a dumb question and when I looked back down, Mish´s camera bag was gone. Totally a textbook ruse and I am still kicking myself for falling for it, but it happened. In the bag was Mish´s passport along with cameras, phone and bank card. I felt awful. So we cancelled Uyuni and spent the next few days in La Paz filing police reports, getting her a temporary passport, and buying her a new visa (a $135 visa...). Mish was super good about not dwelling on it and when we finally got through all of the red tape, we headed to Copacabana for a couple of days.
In Copacabana we did a 17km hike to a little fishing village called Yampupata where we got a boat to Isla del Sol. We arrived just as all the tourists were leaving and headed up to the top of the hill (quite a feat at 3800 meters) to watch the sunset. It was interesting for me being there again in the off season as the first time I went to the peak to watch sunset, there were about 100 other tourists. This time we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a leisurely dinner with some wine on the island and got up to watch the sun rise over Bolivia (it set over Peru). The next day was a chill in CPCB day. Much deserved after the long trek the day before. We ate fresh trout from the trout shacks on the coast of Titicaca and shopped and relaxed. For sunset we walked to the top of the Cerro overlooking the lake.
Friday we went back to La Paz to pick up Mish´s passport and visa and booked a day trip for the following day. Unfortunately it was canceled due to weather (which was weird cause the next day was lovely...). Instead we took a micro to Valle de La Luna and wandered around the lunar landscape for a bit. Later we checked Mish into a hostel (she was leaving the next AM) and Kristin and I took an overnight bus to Uyuni. We arrived at 6 AM and booked a 3 day tour for that morning. There was a bit of a delay in finding a jeep for us but we managed to leave around noon for our tour. We met an awesome honeymooning Irish couple who were our buddies for the trip. Day 1 was spent in the salt flats. We took fun pictures messing with depth perception, ate lunch at a salt hotel, wandered around an island made of coral covered with cacti (the flats were an inland sea) and spent the night in a salt hotel. Day 2 we went to a variety of lakes with 3 kinds of flamingos living in them. We had lunch under a volcano and spent the night next to a large red lake. Day 3 was a long day and began at 4:30 AM. We headed out to some geysers (that were really bubbling sulfur pools, but still cool) and then hit hot springs before breakfast. From there we went to a bright green lake under another volcano and then started the long (8 hour) drive back to Uyuni. After a farewell dinner with our Irish friends, we caught the night bus back to La Paz.
Wednesday was a chill day in La Paz (we needed it). Thursday we headed to Coroico in the hills. It was lovely and we stayed at this great eco lodge about 20 minutes (uphill) from the town. It had a pool and lounging areas and was a great place to relax for the afternoon. The next morning we got up to hike to the top of a hill. We made it about 2/3 of the way before deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth and headed back to the pool. That afternoon we went back to La Paz as Kristin had an early AM flight on Saturday. We had a yummy upscale llama steak dinner for Kristin´s last night in Bolivia.
After Kristin left I got a bus to Arequipa via the border at Desaguadero. There was quite a line to get the entry stamp but I made it to Arequipa after 11 hours of travel. I ran into Laura from New Zealand at the hostel in Arequipa (we met in Mendoza and again in Tupiza- she is convinced I am following her). We did dinner with some other hostel peeps and then went back to the Halloween party in the hostel bar. Later that night we all headed out to see one of the hostel employees´borther´s band play at a local bar. The streets were totally packed with people in costume. Seriously, Peru celebrates Halloween more than some places in the US! The band members were all dressed as superheroes and something about hearing heavily accented covers of Evanescence and Shania Twain (along with some local pop songs) done by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain America made the night damn near perfect. Yesterday I spent the day in Arequipa with Laura and a Canadian girl. Arequipa is a lovely city with lots of white buildings that sparkle in the sun. It has loads of old, oranate churches and a good vibe. If I wasn´t beelining to the beaches right now, I would have spent a couple of days exploring (although I was there before on a previous trip).
Today I am in Lima after an overnight bus ride. Tomorrow I head north up the coast to hit some ruins and start working on my pre-winter tan before I meet Kara in Mancora (she really is going to make it this time... I hope).
All for now. Less than 3 weeks til the end of the journey....
In Copacabana we did a 17km hike to a little fishing village called Yampupata where we got a boat to Isla del Sol. We arrived just as all the tourists were leaving and headed up to the top of the hill (quite a feat at 3800 meters) to watch the sunset. It was interesting for me being there again in the off season as the first time I went to the peak to watch sunset, there were about 100 other tourists. This time we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a leisurely dinner with some wine on the island and got up to watch the sun rise over Bolivia (it set over Peru). The next day was a chill in CPCB day. Much deserved after the long trek the day before. We ate fresh trout from the trout shacks on the coast of Titicaca and shopped and relaxed. For sunset we walked to the top of the Cerro overlooking the lake.
Friday we went back to La Paz to pick up Mish´s passport and visa and booked a day trip for the following day. Unfortunately it was canceled due to weather (which was weird cause the next day was lovely...). Instead we took a micro to Valle de La Luna and wandered around the lunar landscape for a bit. Later we checked Mish into a hostel (she was leaving the next AM) and Kristin and I took an overnight bus to Uyuni. We arrived at 6 AM and booked a 3 day tour for that morning. There was a bit of a delay in finding a jeep for us but we managed to leave around noon for our tour. We met an awesome honeymooning Irish couple who were our buddies for the trip. Day 1 was spent in the salt flats. We took fun pictures messing with depth perception, ate lunch at a salt hotel, wandered around an island made of coral covered with cacti (the flats were an inland sea) and spent the night in a salt hotel. Day 2 we went to a variety of lakes with 3 kinds of flamingos living in them. We had lunch under a volcano and spent the night next to a large red lake. Day 3 was a long day and began at 4:30 AM. We headed out to some geysers (that were really bubbling sulfur pools, but still cool) and then hit hot springs before breakfast. From there we went to a bright green lake under another volcano and then started the long (8 hour) drive back to Uyuni. After a farewell dinner with our Irish friends, we caught the night bus back to La Paz.
Wednesday was a chill day in La Paz (we needed it). Thursday we headed to Coroico in the hills. It was lovely and we stayed at this great eco lodge about 20 minutes (uphill) from the town. It had a pool and lounging areas and was a great place to relax for the afternoon. The next morning we got up to hike to the top of a hill. We made it about 2/3 of the way before deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth and headed back to the pool. That afternoon we went back to La Paz as Kristin had an early AM flight on Saturday. We had a yummy upscale llama steak dinner for Kristin´s last night in Bolivia.
After Kristin left I got a bus to Arequipa via the border at Desaguadero. There was quite a line to get the entry stamp but I made it to Arequipa after 11 hours of travel. I ran into Laura from New Zealand at the hostel in Arequipa (we met in Mendoza and again in Tupiza- she is convinced I am following her). We did dinner with some other hostel peeps and then went back to the Halloween party in the hostel bar. Later that night we all headed out to see one of the hostel employees´borther´s band play at a local bar. The streets were totally packed with people in costume. Seriously, Peru celebrates Halloween more than some places in the US! The band members were all dressed as superheroes and something about hearing heavily accented covers of Evanescence and Shania Twain (along with some local pop songs) done by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain America made the night damn near perfect. Yesterday I spent the day in Arequipa with Laura and a Canadian girl. Arequipa is a lovely city with lots of white buildings that sparkle in the sun. It has loads of old, oranate churches and a good vibe. If I wasn´t beelining to the beaches right now, I would have spent a couple of days exploring (although I was there before on a previous trip).
Today I am in Lima after an overnight bus ride. Tomorrow I head north up the coast to hit some ruins and start working on my pre-winter tan before I meet Kara in Mancora (she really is going to make it this time... I hope).
All for now. Less than 3 weeks til the end of the journey....
