Take Me Back to Buenos Aires!

After 6 weeks of traveling, I think I could spend twice that amount of time right here in BA. A huge city, seven barrios worth exploring and even more events, shows and markets happening on each day of the week. And with only five days to get our bearings straight, we had a very large to do list with even less time to get it done.

Since we arrived on a Sunday, and we know that there are two soccer - ahem! futbol! I mean - games that go on every Sunday, the first thing we did was sign up to see a local match. And of the top five things we did on our trip, a futbol match was easily top three. So we spent the morning (and half of the afternoon) exploring the San Telmo market until game time, eating steak sandwiches, and poking at odd antiques. I highly recommend seeing this market. It only happens on Sundays, expands for blocks and blocks and blocks and has everything from live puppet shows, classical guitarists, maté tea cups and plenty of souvenirs you'll probably never need, but fun to tinker with anyways.

All the maté tea cups you could ever hope for.

After checking in and setting our stuff down, we left for the game. The next four hours marked the experience that we had been waiting for the whole trip: a real, live, local futbol match. And not just any local team, but the "greatest team in Argentina" - the Boca Juniors. We sat with the locals, sang their songs (or tried at least...we were given a sheet with all the words but had a hard time keeping up) and cheered ONLY for Boca, as it was literally a matter of life and death. The visiting fans sat above us, occasionally throwing balloons filled with urine and fecal matter and two separate fences lined with barbed wire kept the fans off the field. It was wild and very much so out of control, but worth every minute. And in an effort to minimize the violence between fans, once the game ended the locals had to wait 30 minutes for the visitors to leave the stadium before they were let loose on the streets with their drums and horns, flags and banners. Like I said, just plain nuts.

The view from our local seats. Across the way were the die hard fans with a full band, flags and songs - bar far the craziest people BA has to offer.

Me trying my hand at climbing the fences like the locals did, but only after the game was over.

The second and third day we spent exploring more of the city. Caminito street in La Boca region is a must see. Italian immigrants made this part of the city very colorful, lining the buildings with everything from bright yellow shudders to deep red walls. This is also the birthplace of Tango. There were shows on the streets, people trying to take your picture with local tango dancers and, again, plenty of souvenirs.

Walking down the famous Caminito street.

We enjoyed the local bus that took us to the Melba Art Museum where we saw the Andy Warhol exhibit "Mr. America" and then went by subte or "subway" toward the Recoleta cemetery - one of the most famous in the world and it sits in the heart of the richest part of the city. Makes sense though, seeing as the best of the best are buried here (including past presidents) and all graves are above ground in individual and family sized structures (some literally small houses with basements with extended shelves for deceased family members). The coffins are left on display, just beyond the thin and often cracked glass front doors, and some have been resting there since the 1800s. Quite a sight to see, and I'm almost certain it was haunted.

One of the small houses where they "bury" their dead. The coffins are exposed just up the steps and behind the doors.

We stayed in the Palermo section of town, which I say was the best decision we made. There is plenty of nightlife, restaurants and boutiques (which Liora could have spent all day in, until I insist we move along). We saw tango classes in the main square and had plenty of opportunity to relax and people-watch. I think this was the first place on our trip where we didn't mind getting up late and staying out even later. It was easy with all the clubs and disco shows, and we had a grand time letting loose until 6:00am. It was dangerously easy to do, but part of the culture and a must try, I mean, if you think you can handle it.

We finished off our trip with a dinner and tango show at "La Ventana". The food was delicious, accompanied by a bottle of the house wine and a two hour show full of expert tango dancers, an accordion orchestra and traditional Argentinian folk music. It was all we could have hoped for on our last night, and a great way to end out trip, even though we both agreed we wanted to stay and thought long and hard about not returning...

Great views from the balcony.

All in all, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina cannot be seen in 6 weeks, not even in 6 months. But the south American continent is a great place to spend some time, meet some amazing people and eat some tasty food. It also has a lot of opportunity for living abroad or volunteering in local communities. I know I will find my way back there someday, as there is now plenty left for me to do and see.

Until then, please feel free to email me with questions about my trip. I would be happy to share more information about any leg of my journey. Cheers!

kevinkaufmankp@gmail.com

Wines of Mendoza and Our Last Bus to Buenos Aires

The main attractioin in Mendoza and really the only reason we stopped by was for the wine tasting. There are plenty of treks to go on and rivers to raft, but we only had time to stay for one day and wine tasting was on the top of our list.

We got little sleep after our long bus ride, partially due to upon arriving at our hostel, we were thrown into a jail-cell like room, hot and stuffy with one little window, many unwanted blankets and rock-hard pillows. We got up around 11am and tried our luck at finding some bikes and wineries. There was another group of like-minded travelers doing the same thing so we teamed up and made our way out to the vineyards.

Mmm...grapes.

There are plenty of places to get bikes, that wasn`t an issue. They gave us a map, some water and sent us on our way. Something like 9 wineries, 2 olive oil factories, a liquor and chocolate company and a what seemed to be endless samples. It was hot outside and we had to ride on a narrow street with no shoulder and plenty of traffic, but once we got the hang of things (the bikes were in terrible condition with little or no brakes), it was grand time frolicking from vineyard to vineyard. Just be sure to stop by DiTommaso - the oldest winery on the tour and the dessert wine is to die for.

Picking out our bikes, all having disfunctional brakes...

Some of the aging wines in the DiTommaso wine cellars.

We should have started at 9am when the wineries open, but got a late start so weren't able to stop at all the recommended places. Once we returned our bikes around 6:30pm, the nice old lady running the shop kept giving us more and more wine to drink. Good thing we got off those bikes and into a cab when we did, otherwise things may have gotten ugly.

Tasting some delicious wines on our first stop of the tour.

The people of Mendoza were very nice and most helpful, except the staff at our hostel who gave little or no information about the tourist activities unless you booked with their company and lacked the courtesy that we seemed to encounter every other place on our trip. So we skipped them when trying to find a good place to eat and just hit the streets. After ten minutes we met two guys playing guitars and harmonicas in the main square and instead of guiding us to a restaurant, they took us back to their apartment and cooked us homemade pizza. We played with their new kitten, they shared some music and pictures with us, and we ended up having a better night than we could have ever planned.

We woke up with a bit of a headache from all the wine, had lunch and were at the bus station by 5pm. Our last bus ride to Buenos Aires was the best one yet. Totaling 14 hours, we actually arrived early into BA and were served two meals and hot drinks. Book through Chevallier if you are in need of a bus, we were completely satisfied.

Now for the next 5 days it's all Buenos Aires living!

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar

I figured as I travel my Spanish would improve, and indeed it has in a lot of respects, I´ve learned useful vocabulary and common phrases to be polite. But as soon as we crossed into Chile (and now Argentina as well), I can no longer understand what people are saying to me and when I use my usual, well-practiced phrases I get rather blank stares. It is still Spanish these people are speaking but the pronunciations have changed, the vocab slightly different and all this has left me back at square one, feeling like I need to learn it all over again. The double ¨L¨that usually sounds like ¨ya¨now has a ¨sha¨sound and instead of saying ¨tus¨ they are usuing ¨vos¨ I believe. Hopefully I can get this straight, becuase no matter how many times I say ¨Como?¨and ¨mas despacio por favor¨ there is no slowing these people down!

Ok, onto Valparaiso and Vina del Mar...

I think Valpo, short for Valapraiso and easier on my fingers to type over and over again, was the town that we had the most expectation for and we seemed to have a beautiful picture in our heads of how it was going to be. So instead of the sunny, sand-filled beaches we imagined, realistically Valpo is very much a port city with no beaches and from the outside it seemed run-down and quite dirty. But the murals on the walls and graffiti lining the streets soon became very artistic and we saw the delight that all travelers find when they visit here. The acensors lifting you up the steep terrain and the winding, hilly streets that lead to great restaurants with fresh seafood were all very enjoyable and certainly good for any shutter-happy photographer.

One of the many artistic corners we found while exploring Valpo by foot.

So we spent three days here making a short day trip to Vina del Mar via the metro, which took us less than 20 minutes. Here there was a great beach, but since we decided to come on the three days it was cloudy and rainy, swimming didn´t really suit our fancy. There couldn´t be more contrast between Valpo and Vina del Mar; one run by a port and the other where all the rich Chileans went to build there houses away from the port. We visited the casino, saw the cinema art houses and tried to avoid the massive amounts of campaigners that were out and about. It is presidential election time in Chile and lining the streets are huge canvas pictures of candidates, flag wavers and leaflets galore. Overwhelming, but it seems like they are very excited for their transition of power and enthusiastic about spreading the word.

One of many corners decorated with pictures and slogans of the '09 candidates.

So as Liora preferred Vina del Mar and the beach (she also won $70 in the casino so I think this influenced her liking this city more), I fancied Valpo and could see myself spending a week exploring the streets, overlooking the harbor and naval yard and taking nice boat rides out in the bay to see the huge cranes unloading ship loads of imported goods.

While we were here, we also visited one of Pablo Neruda´s five houses. This five-story, quaint and artistic house overlooked all of Valparaiso and inside it was decorated with antiques of all kinds, comfortable chairs, his private study and paintings of ships and oceanliners that he was most obsessed with. ¨A sailor from the land¨ I think is what he called himself. I didn´t realize what an accomplished man he was. Not only did he compose great poetry and win the Nobel Prize of Literature, he was a politician and presidential candidate, excellent cook and friend to all. And of course he loved Chilean wine. But who doesn´t right?

Outside Pablo Neruda's house that overlooks all of Valpo.

We stopped in a very local joint for another completo and what was now becoming my favorite snack. However, that all changed when the mayo they put on top of mine (Liora was smart to ask for one sin mayo) I was hit by the salmonella freight train and was disabled entirely for 12 hours. It was bound to happen at one point or another and my-oh-my, it was bad. I slept the rest of the day and night, barely able to life myself from bed, but thankfully it all passed by morning. And good thing, because the next day we were off to Mendoza in Argentina for some wine tasting and more bike riding.

Our bus was supposed to take 8 hours from Valpo, but with our luck, there was an overturned tanker truck on the winding road that delayed us two hours, then a backup of traffic at the border took another 2 hours and a guy trying to bring illegal goods over the border in his suitcase on our bus was sat and questioned for 30 minutes while we had to wait on the bus. They let him go, but without his suitcase. I have no idea what he was trying to bring with him, but the Argentinian police were not pleased. So our 8 hours became 14.5 and when all was said and done, we arrived in Mendoza at 2:00am instead of 7:30pm without any Argentinian pesos, sore butts and wanting nothing more than a bed to rest our heads. Half of traveling this great continent is the transportation itself, what an adventure it always turns out to be.

San Pedro de Atacama and the Sunshine of Santiago

We crossed into Chile via Bolivia and found ourselves on top of the small but touristy town of San Pedro de Atacama. We went from the highest desert in the world and the driest. We got to our hostel, cleaned off the crusted salt from our dried-out skin, and went exploring. People said they know some travelers who get stuck in this town for weeks due to its nice restaurants, dirt roads and friendly local population and I can certainly see how. The town can be explored on foot, but the surrounding attractions are what really make it worth spending time in.

We went sandboarding down the dunes in Death Valley (appropriately named this due to the amounts of people who used to die try crossing it, or so they say...) and watched the sun set over the Valley of the Moon (this mysterious place closely resembles the surface of the moon, and for all you conspirators out there, it is said this is where they say the US faked the lunar landing, if you believe that kind of thing).

Sandboarding down was great. Walking back up was the worst.

My favorite part of San Pedro was renting mountain bikes and cruising for 4 hours through the Devil´s Gorge and out 10kms to a small abandoned church. Liora didn´t have so much fun and it was most exhausting biking in the heat of the day, but we made it and to see the endless, out-of-this-world landscapes that surround this town was all very worth it. Besides, we had to engage in some physical activity before we caught our bus to Santiago and would be sitting for 24 hours.

We departed at 5:50pm and got to Calama around 7:30pm. We caught a quick dinner at Pollo Rey, aka pollo a la brassa, the fast food of Chile and then caught our next sleeper bus to Santiago. It was a smooth ride, besides the guy snoring behind me and whose legs were too long to allow my seat to fully recline. I was more than happy to see him get off the bus around midnight when we stopped in who knows what town for more passengers. Thankfully the seat behind me remained empty for the final length of the trip.

Pollo a la brassa...mmm, good.

We spent two days in Santiago and enjoyed being at sea level once more with plenty of sunshine. It has reached nearly 80 degrees and we are taking it in for all its worth (it´s gonna be cold in NY when we get back!!). It is pretty slow on Sundays, but Santiago is a very happening, home-town feeling city. Don´t get me wrong, it´s huge and when we trekked to the top of the mountain of San Cristobal, the 360 degree expanse of the city was breathtaking. With the ice-capped Andes lining the east and knowing the ocean is due west, if I were a Chilean, I would probably live right in Santiago. Most travelers we met didn´t have too many good things to say about it but once we got aquainted with the city, Liora and I both agreed this would certainly be a place to spend more time and finding the small secrets Santiago has to offer. Bellavista and Barrio Brasil seem to be among the popular neighborhoods for eating, dancing and local entertainment. We hit up a jazz club Saturday night, Club de Jazz, the largest most well-established in Latin America in fact, heard the classics and enjoyed big city living once more.

Futhermore, Chile is known for serving scrumptious, abundant dishes of fresh seafood consisting of thick slices of tuna and albacore, and the ceviche is to die for (just don´t try and order dinner before 9pm!). And if you are ever in need of a local street snack, be sure to try a completo - a standard hot dog and bun covered with sauerkraut, chunky tomatoes, guacamole and mayo. And if that isn´t enough be sure to line it with ketchup, mustard and some hot sauce. I didn´t think it was possible, but these delicious dogs really give the NY hot dog a run for their money.

One of many completos enjoyed on the streets of Chile.

We are now heading west to the beaches of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Bring on the sunshine and beaches!

Uyuni Salt Flats to the Border of Chile

We have packed so much into the last 5 days that I will try and sum it up the best I can without writing an entire novel. Alas, our final days in Bolivia...

Our only goal once we got to Uyuni was to find a way out to the salt flats. It is a small town that has little attractions and got quite boring for the one night we stayed. We were lucky to have had Cinemax in our hostel. Once we started shopping around for a guide, we quickly learned that there are over 70 companies that do tours to Salar de Uyuni and it was exhausting trying to figure out who to book for our three day tour. After the horror stories we heard of drunk drivers and vehicles getting stuck in the salt and mud, we wanted to make sure we had a reputable company. And since the only difference in tour companies is the quality of the transportation and food they serve, it was hard to decipher through the mess of businesses offering their services. We had a few conversations with people who had gone on the tour and finally settled with Andes Salt Expeditions. It turned out to be more than what we had expected. Plenty of food, reliable transportation, a great guide and friendly company. Thumbs up for these guys if you´re looking for a tour.

Getting packed up and ready to head out.

We hit the ¨halucinogenic¨ salt flats the first day, Salar de Uyuni, which is the largest in the world. It is basically a lake whose surface has dried up and left a solid salt foundation for as far as the eye can see. There is still a very large and very salty lake below the white surface, but hardly did we see any water. We took some great pictures in the middle of nowhere since depth perception through a camera is lost when you snap pictures (I will try and get some photos posted soon). We hiked up and over Fish Island that is covered by 10-foot-tall, thousand-year-old cacti, stuck our arms deep into the lake to find natural salt crystals forming under the surface and that night stayed in a hotel made completely from salt. Tables, chairs, the whole shebang...just salty. I guess its good they found a use for it all since Salar de Uyuni is still slowly expanding its 12,000km area and someday may even stretch to the town on Uyuni itself. I don´t understand how this all works, but all I can say is a salt drought in south America is not likely anytime soon.

Depth perception was nearly nonexistent allowing for photos like this one.

The following day we drove over the highest desert in the world, it´s peak reaching 7,000m, and saw shallow lagoons of every color. Wild flamingos walk acrossthe calm waters and if you are patient and quiet, you can get within arms lenght of them as they feed. Later on we took pictures under the famous ¨rock tree¨ that is over a million years old and saw vicuñas and chinchilla-looking rats watching us as we drove over the barren, dry hills. We spent a lot of time in the land cruiser, but saw some isolated landscapes that only looked like paintings done by a color-blind artist. The minerals are so rich in this region that they drastically change the color of the mountains, the rocks and even the water of the lagoons to red, pinks, whites and even greens. The largest, Laguna Colorada, had blood-red water that seemed to stretch on for days. It was the most bizarre lagoon I have ever seen. And believe me, that day we saw many lagoons.

Laguna Colorada and the blood-red tint of its shallow waters.

Our last two stops on the third day of our tour were the geysers and the natural hot springs. We woke up at 4:30am and headed out to see the earth spewing sulfurous gas and thick, grey-tinted bubbling water from its deeps depths below. The morning is the best time to see the activity since the sun is just rising and the air is calm and cold. The smell was horendous, and all the steam made it hard to see my own feet, which were completely frozen. But once I was able to thaw off in the natural hot springs and enjoy a cup of coffee with pancakes with strawberry yogurt, the morning air wasn´t as threatening and I certainly felt much better. We said our farewells to our group and our guide, Juan, who was most helpful and spoke great english, and headed toward the Chilean border and San Pedro de Atacama.

Bolivia is an absolutely amazing place. Since we didn´t plan to spend much time here, I went in with the least of expectations and now feel like this is a country I would visit again. And since my visa is good for the next 5 years, it may just happen. There are several places we had to skip over to make our schedule work. I just hope I can one day return and fill in some of those gaps.

Potosi and the Silver Mines of Dynamite

I think everywhere we visit, I always find myself saying ¨Man do I wish we had more time!¨ I think I could spend six years in south America and still be adding more things to my to-do list.

And before I go any further, let me say also that Bolivians love their meat! A big slice of beef or llama accompanied with a fried egg or two and of course paps fritas is certainly the norm (including breakfast). And you know this guy isn´t complaining becuase it is dirt cheap to enjoy the delicious local dishes.

Ok with that said, let´s talk Potosi....

This wasn´t a destination on our original itinerary but since we were in the area we thought it would be good to see the world´s highest city. And indeed it was a very unique, jolting place with young and modern mixing with old and traditional. And you know a city has a lot of money when they are selling Playstation 2s in the local market, have law firms and dentists galore and in five square blocks have 3 movie theaters, that I counted. All in all, this place was unlike any other city we have been in and certainly the friendliest.

The highlight of our stay, and certainly on the top three things to do if you are in Bolivia, was the tour of the silver mines in the rainbow colored mountain of Cerro Rico. These cooperative mines have been in full effect since 1545 and have made the town what it is today. And let me just say this...they are not museums or catered to tourists, but in fact fully functional and operating mines, you a mere spectator. The miners rely on traditional llama sacrifices (literally blood dripping from the entrances) and gifts to the mineral god ¨Tio¨ (coca leaves and alcohol) for utmost protection and safety while working in the mines. They go everyday solely by choice and if you can make it underground for the entire 2 hours of the tour, it is truly an unforgettable experience.

The mountain of Cerro Rico where all the mining takes place.

We signed up with Koala Tours through our Hostel ¨Koala Den¨(and I recommend both this hostel and tour company to anyone going to Potosi for the first time), were dressed in black boots, trousers, jackets, hard hats and head lamps and headed to the Miner´s Market. Here we were able to buy the miners gifts that included soda, coca leaves, cigarettes and dynamite. And you know I bought all the dynamite I could for 20 Bolivianos, which included TNT that smelled like wasabi and the another pouch made of small balls of nitroglycerine and gasoline, and of course the 150-second fuse. BOOM!!! Liora bought coca leaves and a 2 liter bottle green apple soda called ¨Simba¨that was promised to be popular among the miners.

Buying dynamite from the miner's market in Potosi.

Our first stop of the tour was in the refineries to see how the minerals are processed and sold. Although the raw silver in the mountain is nearly depleated, there are still plenty of minerals that are mined and exported to countries around the world. Private companies own the refineries and the miners sell them the minerals from the mountain. They used the ¨flotation system¨that mixed crushed minerals with specific chemicals to separate them from the waste. Being a miner seemed like a pretty reasonable way to make a living, or so I thought...

We entered the mines through one of 100 entrances. More than 4,000 miners currently work in the mines, 8 to 10 hours a day, six days a week. And it is back breaking work (remember we are in the highest city in the world at 4,100 meters or about 13,450 feet with paper-thin air) and there is little room to move or even breathe in the shafts and the air is filled with silica dust and asbestos. Sounds like fun eh? I´m glad I was only visiting.

We descended into the mines nearly 2 kms. Miners were excavating minerals and pushing overflowing trollies out via the narrow railroad tracks we were walking on. We had to step aside, watch for falling rocks and be careful not to be crushed by rapid moving wheelbarrows (did I mention we signed a form before we left detailing that deaths do occur and in no way could we blame the company if something happened?). Our group, named ¨Sexy Dynamite¨, started with six members and after 30 minutes had passed, only three remained. Liora made it about 500 meters in, just past the ¨miners museum¨ and the statue of ¨Tio¨ before she had to turn back. It was narrow, dusty, pitch-black dark (except for the beam of our headlamps) and at one point I was crawling on my hands and knees through tunnels fit for a small kid. Certainly these are not for those who are claustrophobic or afraid of small spaces. But once we made it down to the third level, we met a family of miners in a secluded cavern (one who was 13 and it was his very first day in the mines), gave them our gifts and were able to talk mining. Don Luis, the head of the family, has been working in the mines for 38 years, and never before have I seen a man of his age at such peace sitting on top of gravel chewing coca leaves like he has no other care in the world. As his sons did the hard work, he told his stories and I even tried my hand at lifting a few shovel fulls of gravel into the trolly myself. Phew! It was a life changing experience and I am glad I could make it through the entire tour. I don´t think I´ve ever done anything quite this crazy in my entire life.

Sitting with the miners on the the third level as they fill the carts with mineral.

Once exiting the mine, my world seemed to hold an extra touch of color and sunlight never felt so good. We lit the dynamite we bought earlier, held it in our hands as the fuse burned and then threw it down the side of the mountain to watch it explode. Quite the day we had, and with ex-miners as guides, we should have figured it was going to be a very realistic and mind bending experience. They were sure to tell us of the accidents after we got finished with the tour, and thankfully, no tourist has ever been injured while visiting the mines.

Holding the dynamite as the fuse burned. I don't think you could get away with doing this in any other country.

Adrenaline pumping and mind racing, we caught the next bus to Uyuni, our stopover point to the famous salt flats. Tomorrow we will begin our three day excursion over the dried up lakes, lagoons, geysers and of course flamingo hangout spots and end in the town of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile on Wednesday.

Until then, see the documentary titled ¨The Devil´s Miner¨ (2005). This should clarify some of the horrors of the silver mines we visited, and extend some of the reality that these miners face everyday.

Ciao!

Relaxing Copacabana and the Hustle of La Paz

Buenos tardes!

We are about halfway through our trip and it seems to be going by slowly, which is a great feeling. We still have so much to see and do, it is hard to think we only have 22 more days.

Copacabana, Bolivia - a great little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Although we caught the nice sunny weather and were able to relax a bit for the first time since we started traveling, the altitude of where we currently are is starting to catch up to us. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, and we were reminded of that when trying to catch our breath walking up a flight of stairs.

Relaxing in the hammocks of our hostel, overlooking Lake Titicaca and Copacabana.

We took a two day trip to the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) a two hour boat ride from Copacabana and stayed the night overlooking the lake backed by the ice caps of the Andes. Yes, we were about 12,500 feet above sea level. The sun is brutally fierce up here and my poor nose is starting to feel the affects.

We were able to catch the local Festival of Copacabana, a celebration where indigenous people from around the region were able to display their traditional song and dance along with long-established clothing and props. From young to old, this festival drew a huge crowd in fromt of the munincipal building in the main square. We were lucky to be able to experience such a celebration considering we stumbled upon it randomly and it only lasted for that one day.

Dancers at the Festival of Copacabana

If you ever plan to go to Copacabana, be sure to bring plenty of money with you as there are no ATMs or banks there to bail you out when you are running low. Liora found herself out of cash and good thing I had enough to get us out of there, otherwise we would have been stuck selling our dirty socks for a bus ticket. So once we were satisfied with being near the water and getting all caught up on our rest, as well as experiencing what seems to be a good place for a south American spring break, we caught a tourist bus to La Paz. A measly 4 hours, but we are getting really good at this bussing thing.

La Paz is quite a big city to my surprise, and it feels even bigger on foot. Narrow sidewalks and heavy traffic make it an adventure to roam. Although slightly lower than Copacabana (200 or so meters), I am still taking things slow and trying to mentally regulate my rapid heartbeat. We ate at the first Indian restaurant we´ve come across and it was refreshingly spicy. So spicy in fact that I won my own t-shirt for finishing ¨the world´s most dangerous vindaloo¨. It was daring, and it was very, very hot (so much to the point that I had sweat beads running down my forehead), but it was so worth it considering the local food hasn´t been kicked up to the picante taste I´ve been hoping for. I think the amount of spice in this one meal will last me the rest of the trip.

The famous "Witches market" in La Paz.

The second feat I had in La Paz, which resulted in a second free t-shirt, was a mountain biking trek down ¨The World´s Most Dangerous Road.¨ Two people, that I know of, have fallen to their untimely deaths this year alone, and hundreds of other accidents have occured. Don´t get me wrong, it is extremely dangerous for the cockey, ignorant bikers who choose to not take it seriously. On the other hand, thousands have been down it and live to tell the tale. I had a blast with three other guys from the UK, and we all went down at our own speeds (I was the fastest, of course) and with a great guide. If you are to attempt this trip, all I say is don´t go for the cheapest price you can find. More than likely cheap means cheap bikes. Get a good, reputable company with solid performing mountain bikes and you will be well on your way to having the time of your life dropping nearly 3,600 meters in 45kms of bumpy, dirt road lined with thousand-foot precipices. It took about 4 hours and ended with a buffet and a poolside beer, all included of course. Must I remind you, tackling the road and all its heights are not for the faint of heart.

One wrong move on the "Death Road" = Game. Over.

The rest of out time in La Paz was spent walking around the town, visiting the famous Witches Market that was filled with natural cures for your every ailment, aphrodisiacs, local goods and drying dead llamas, as well as touristy items to fit your every need. We also visited the Coca Museum that explained the history and use of the coca leaf. For over 4,500 years it has been used to cure fatigue, altitude sickness and minor aches, as well as used for local religious rituals and common trade. It is grown and harvested in the Andes and can be bought just about everywhere we have been. This is NOT cocaine, as most people might first think, although the leaf itself is the main ingredient for those producing the drug. Chewing the coca leaf is a well respected tradition and taken very seriously. I tried some for myself and indeed it wasn´t as bad as I thought. A bitter mass of semi-dry leaves accompanied by a slight chip of stone to release the plants alkaloids made my mouth numb and hulk green. I did feel alert and my appetite decresed, but in no way did I get a¨high¨ or ¨rush¨. You can also use the leaves to make tea or in some places find them in candy form.

A woman loading up a bag of coca leaves in a local market.

After only two quick days, we are off to Potosi - the world´s highest city to see the famous silver mines, and then dropping slightly to travel through the Uyuni salt flats to Chile. We are a bit nervous about going even higher up in altitude, but should be ok. My lips are chapped and I can´t breathe at night, but soon enough we will be back at sea level enjoying the great Chilean coast and massive amounts of seafood.

Colonial Cusco and Machu Picchu

Liora and I departed Pisco around 4:00pm on the 25th, and traveled south to Ica. We bought our tickets ¨direct¨to Cusco via Arequipa, but it seems when a bus isn´t full enough with gringos or if they just want to redirect you they will. So our journey turned from an expected 18 hours travel to 30. We arrived in Cusco at 2:00am on the 27th after backtracking to Puno, changing busses and bus companies twice and going from luxury express to local and cramped.

Cusco is a tourist town no doubt, but with its colonial style, old cobble stone streets and local touch of indigenous Peruvians, as well as being the longest inhabited city in the entire continent, it is a great place to spend some time. Our hostel, Pariwana, was brand new, only opening a week before we arrived so the cleanliness and hot showers felt marvelous after roughing it through Pisco for a week. We explored the town, the Plaza de Armas (seems every south American city has one), the local markets of raw meats (and by this I mean whole pigs on display) and artisian goods (including masks for Halloween). On a hill directly above the city sits the Christo Blanco (a large white statue of Christ with his arms spread, seems every city in south America has one of these too), so we decided to hike our way to the top.

In route we ran across a man offering us to explore some of the ruins outside the city by horeseback. A little skeptical at first, this turned out to be quite entertaining and we got to skip paying any fees to see the ruins. Liora´s horse PukaPunch was sweet, mine, I forget the name, knew I was a gringo, was stubborn as all get up and only wanted to return to the ranch. But overall I would say if you find yourself in Cusco ask about a man with some horses, it will surely be worth your money and your time.

Riding our horses through the Andes. I think that was the only time mine ever stopped walking.

The next day, we met up with a fellow PSF volunteer and started our adventurous trek to Machu Picchu. Every person wishing to see these ruins must pass through the terrible little tourist town of Aguas Calientes. Most people hop on the train ($131 round trip) from Cusco and arrive in Aguas 3 hours later. It is possible to see Machu Picchu and return to Cusco in the same day via this route, but seeing as we are a little strapped for cash we decided to take the road less traveled by.

The higher, narrower, more nerve racking way to get there.

We caught a local minivan at 8:00am from Cusco toward Santa Maria, a jungle town 5 hours away. We drove through mountainous passes above cloud level constantly winding up and down trecherously steep, curvy roads that abruptly went from two-lane paved to one-lane dirt. Once we arrived, we hopped in a shared cab and scaled the side of yet anouther mountain to Santa Teresa (the one-lane road getting even more frightening with thousand-foot drop offs and cars driving in both directions). We arrived unharmed, a little shaken up from the bumpy ride and found a local boy and his father to drive us to the hidro-electric plant. Here is where the railroad tracks end for the train that travels from Cusco to Machu Picchu (see above). We then walked to Aguas Calientes 15 km from the end of the tracks (nearly 9.4 miles). The enourmous Andes mountains surrounded us with the thickest jungle I have ever seen. Even though there are pumas, serpents and monkeys, we didn´t see much wildlife, but the walk was great for our crammped legs. If you do this route, I don´t recommend taking your large packs, as it gets long and hot.

Walking the tracks. Can't beat the view of the Peruvian jungle on all sides.

We spent the night in Aguas and awoke at 3:30am to catch the first bus to Machu at 5:30. People that get up there first thing can sign up to climb Wayna Picchu (the mountain directly behind Machu). They only let 400 people up a day and we were lucky enough to get up there before the crowds arrived. The entrance ticket to the ruins costs $45 and a one-way bus ride up another $7 (additional $7 if you want to take it back down). There is always the option to hike up to Machu Picchu which takes about two hours, but we couldn´t muster up the energy to do so.

Machu Picchu cannot be explained in words. Every way you turn to look at the monuments is picture-perfect and you can walk among them going nearly anywhere you please. Sitting on top of the mountain amongst the majestic Peruvian jungle, it might be the grandest, most peaceful place these eyes have ever seen, that is until the hordes of people start showing up around 10:00am, then it just gets overwhelming. But when the doors open at 6:00am, you can catch the sunrise and have some space to enjoy them at your leisure. After we spent nearly 4 hours there, we climbed down where the bus had taken us up and reversed our route from the day before back to the hidro-electric plant (although this time we took the train for $8 to save some time), Santa Teresa, Santa Maria and finally Cusco. It was a very long two days, but worth every moment.

Standing above Machu Picchu. WaynaPicchu in the background.

After the long days with little sleep, we made it to Lake Titicaca in Copacabana, Bolivia and will be heading to the Isla de Sol this afternoon. We caught an overnight bus to Copacabana, passing through Puno and crossing the border at 7:00am and arriving yesterday morning on Halloween. Americans must pay $135 to enter Bolivia as our government has done the same to them to enter the states. It has been a nice, relaxing time and Liora and I have decided to splurge a little and stay in a hotel, eat nice food like Trucha de la Diabla (Trout of the Devil) and catch up on some much needed rest.

Trucha de la Diabla at its finest.

Ciao for now. Isla de Sol and La Paz up next.