Chacaltaya Mountain

On our last day in La Paz we took a day trip up to Chacaltaya Mountain. Chacaltaya used to be a ski resort (the highest in the world, and the first in South America) but you can't ski there any more since the glacier began melting and was completely gone by 2009. We figured it would be one of our last chances to easily get above 5000 meters (we'd only been to about 4900 meters previously). We would take a bus part way up the mountain and then hike the remainder. The bus took us up thorugh La Paz, and El Alto, where the working class of La Paz mainly live.

That night, it had snowed in La Paz, making the narrow dirt road up the mountain even more challenging for the bus. On the way up to the mountain kids were making snow creatures.... we make snow men... they make snow llamas and snow rabbits!

  

The bus couldn't make it up to the base, but the driver was determined to try, and we ended up getting off the bus (along with everyone else) because the driver was pretty much backing up over the edge of the cliff to "get a run at" the next switchback. We started hiking at around 5000 meters, and were told we wouldn't have time to make it to the summit at 5300m, so we turned around at around 5150 meters. 150 meters doesn't sound like a lot but you move pretty slowly at this altitude, even if you are acclimatized.

We packed a lunch for ourselves, one which has kind of become our staple market lunch around here: buns, a can of tuna, a huge avocado, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Absolutely amazing, and all made possible by one handy swiss army knife (thanks Rob!).

We ended up waiting forever for half the group (including the guide) who decided (without notifying us) that they were going to try and summit the mountain anyways. We all got tired of waiting, and the bus driver made another attempt at trying to drive part way up, but we got off again because the driver was insane, and we didn't feel safe in the least. Here is a view of La Paz from El Alto on the way back down.

That night, Kayleigh, Russ and us took a night bus from La Paz to Uyuni to meet back up with Dewey (who headed down there a day earlier) for a 4-day salt flat & Bolivian desert tour which we had arranged from La Paz.  Keep posted, this next post might take awhile to get up because there are so many great pictures, and our internet connection is frightfully bad... we'll get it up as soon as we can!

A Canadian Thanksgiving in La Paz, Bolivia

We got into La Paz on the afternoon of October 9th, and enjoyed a fabulous llama curry dinner at The Star of India (suggestion thanks to Dewey). La Paz is the capital of Bolivia and one of the highest cities in the world at 3,660 meters above sea level. The views of the city coming down into the valley on the bus were amazing, and Dewey snagged a picture of this neat Che Guevara statue made from recycled metal parts (Che is extremely popular down here).

On the 10th, we scouted for ingredients, and spent the day relaxing at the hostel watching movies with our friends while it rained outside... some seriously needed down time (and the first real rainy day we've had since being in South America).

As many of you probably know, we (Jessie too!) started a pretty sweet tradition 5 years ago, and we were determined not to break it this year. Because we both went to school in Ontario, and it wasn't feasible to come home for Thanksgiving, we started to doing the full deal out East... turkey and all. We were pretty excited when we realized (months ago) that we'd be having Thanksgiving in South America. We made sure we'd be in La Paz a few days early, just to prepare. We scouted out the hostel with the best guest kitchen in La Paz (Adventure Brew Too) and invited a crew of fellow travellers to join the fun; Kayleigh, Russ, Dewey and Bjorn.  

It took us a few days to collect all the necessary ingredients from around La Paz. We were surprised we were able to find some ingredients, but were defeated by a few (turkey, pumpkin, cranberries). The pie crust was probably the biggest challenge. The chickens were an adventure in themselves; after giving up on the turkey hunt, we settled on two (rather orange colored?) chickens from a [unrefrigerated] pile at the market. They still had their heads on, and we made the guy cut them off for us. We figured if we cooked them really well it would all be OK... after all this is probably the same chicken we've been eating at restaurants for months. It will also go on the record at the most inexpensive Thanksgiving dinner of all time... thanks Bolivia!

We started the prep (and the party) around 2:00pm, but couldn't start cooking until about 4:00 because we ran out of propane only minutes after starting prep. We bought what we thought was pumpkin, but after cooking it up (and tasting it) decided pumpkin pie was not happening (despite a valiant effort), and made apple pie instead. It was a hilarious experience getting the whole meal prepared in a guest kitchen in Bolivia, but so so wort it.

Menu:

-2 whole roasted [and stuffed!] chickens

-Bread stuffing with herbs, bacon and onions

-Home-made gravy

-Green beans

-Mashed potatoes with cream and roasted garlic

-Roasted carrots with garlic and oregano

-Spiced spaghetti squash

-Apple pie with whipped cream

-Red and White Bolivian wine

We made everything from scratch, and everyone helped out. It was a blast.

The finished product (minus the pie):

(This is obviously Lisa's plate, so excuse the overload of vegetables and the chicken hiding in the back)

We played tacky 90's music, played cards, and enjoyed the food and wine.

From left, clockwise: Kayleigh (from Jersey, UK), Lisa, Russ (also from Jersey), Bjorn (from Germany), Alex & Dewey (from Idaho).

The next few days were spent getting Lisa's Med School application finished (!!), and wandering around La Paz. We were fortunate enough to happen upon the visitation of the emperor of Japan and the president of Bolivia. It took us forever to figure out what was going on (it was a huge deal) and we still aren't completely sure. Note: even the security guards were taking pictures of the situation.

Another common theme in central plaza's around South America: excessive pigeons, and people feeding them. These bowler hats are part of the traditional dress in Bolivia, but are totally bizarre because they rarely fit on the head's of the women wearing them.

Lake Titicaca: Puno, Uros, Taquille, Copacabana & Isla del Sol

First off, let us appologize for the very, very extended delay getting this blog post up. We have been keeping on top of the photos, but throughout Bolivia we haven't had wireless internet, which makes it exceedingly difficult to upload our blog posts.

Back to October 7th...

We took a day bus from Arequipa to Puno (we took the advice of our guide book and avoided taking a night bus across one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Peru). The bus putted along at an unbelievably slow pace, and we arrived in Puno several hours later than intended, and checked into hostal Q'oni Wasi; a bit of a dump, but it had very friendly staff, and an included breakfast. Fake wood paneling, a ridiculously huge run-down bathroom (with bidet and electric shower), and metalic and pink carpet accents. 

We'd heard that arranged tours of the islands of Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world) tended to exploit the locals, and that you could do it yourself if you were up for the challenge, so we opted for that option. We woke up bright and early and headed for the docks, picking up some snacks along the way. At one fatefull fruit stand, we also picked up an unwanted creepy local man who tried (repeatedly) to convince us that the docks were, in fact, down various sketchy alleyways. We wisely ignored his advice, but he followed us (litterally, stepping on our heels), and told us he wasn't going away, so we headed for the other side of the street where we could see some policemen. We eventually lost him, but were soon surrounded by hundreds of people trying to sell us tours. We went straight for the government run ticket office and just bought a boat ticket. The tickets were cheap (~$2.50 each way, per person) but we probably could have swum faster than the boat, which took 3 hours to get to the island, 34km out into the lake.

We stopped first at Uros, the famous "floating" islands made from layers of buoyant totora reeds. It was an interesting site, but the authenticity had definitely been damaged by tourism. As our guide book put it, the islands have become shockingly commercialized, though there is still nothing quite like them anywhere else, and it was worth the trip.  The boat wouldn't start when we went to leave, but not to worry, the driver/ mechanic fiddled away at the engine until it would. If something doesn't work here, you just sit around until it does.

Next we continued on to Taquile island, where we had planned to spend the night. While the island had no hostels, we had heard that you could pay the locals for a "homestay". The elevation of the Lake is 3808 meters above sea level, and it was a strenuous climb to the top of the island. 

About half way up we realized that the local woman in front of us was "following" us (waiting whenever we stopped to catch our breath or take a picture). She didn't say anything, but kept this up for a good half hour until we reached the top, and then politely "herded" us to her restaurant. We were looking for food anyways, so we went with it. The food was good, althought we'd had just about enough of the island after 2 hours, so headed back to Puno for the night instead (much to the dissapointment of the woman who was hoping she had convinced us to stay with her for the night).  On the way back, the boat was twice as full and we got stuck sitting on top for the 3-hour journey. It was freezing cold, and we bundled up in all our clothes, and even our sleeping bags. Near the port, they made everyone cram (like sardines) into the cabin, because apparently it's not legal to ride on top of the boat.

Back in Puno, we decided to treat ourselved to one last Peruvian dinner for our last night in the country. We split two dishes; 1) alpaca tenderloin medallions stuffed with smoked lake trout in a red wine reduction
sauce with some sort of local berries and quinoa, and 2)  lamb with red wine sauce, apples and roasted baby potatoes. We also split a bizarre Peruvian variety of cheesecake for desert and had some local wine as well. The whole deal set us back a whopping $12 each... quite the treat. We then wandered around trying to find a postbox for our 6 un-mailed postcards... quite the task! We ended up asking some policemen who were just standing around chatting and he kindly took us under his wing and found us a post-box (hidden inside a corner store).

The next day we set off for the Bolivian border. No major hiccups, but we find it strange that you have to walk across the border. You go through Peruvian immigration, then customs, then walk down the road to Bolivia (past various street vendors) and do the same on the Bolivan side. No where do they ask to see your bags, or ask you any questions. We got our 30-day VISAs and continued on to Copacabana; a small sunny town with no ATM's, and the hub to Isla del Sol. We checked into a hotel (mostly just so we had somewhere to store our bags while on the island) and hurriedly caught a boat to Isla del Sol (4000 meters above sea level, and the birthplace of the sun in Inca Mythology). Because there were no ATM's in Copacabana, we showed up on the island with an absolute bare minimum of funds to get us through our stay there. 

We scoured the island for the cheapest accomodations, and settled on Hostal Puerta del Sol, right at the very top of the island, in the Yumani region. On the way up we ran into a discouraged couple (Kayleigh and Russ, from the UK) who were in the exact same monetary situation. They informed us that if you tried to walk around the island, the locals would stop you every 10 minutes and demand payment to walk on the paths. As such, they had spent all their accomodation money and had to head back to the mainland early. We also tried to walk around, but only made it past 1 "checkpoint". A little girl magically appeared and demanded payment for a photograph we took of her donkeys, and when we pretended to delete it, she demanded payment for walking on "private property" (which is clearly wasn't). We wouldn´t actually have minded paying if it was legitimate (which it wasn´t) and we had the money (but we didn´t).

Exceedingly frustrating, so we gave up on trying to walk around the island, and just lounged by the hostel and enjoyed the incredible view. We met some great people at the hostel, including our new friends Dewey and Sean. (If you keep reading this blog you will find out that we spend the next two weeks with Dewey, Russ and Kayleigh). We socialized and watched the sunset from our hostel, then headed into the bush (literally) to a highly recommended restaurant. 

 

The one-room wood shack restaurant was in the middle of the eucalyptus forest, over-looking the bay. The owner and his wife enthusiastically cooked us an incredible meal (handmade bread and all) by candlelight. We had fresh lake trout, quinoa, vegetables, bread and wine (of course) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We didn't have enough money, but Sean spotted us, and were able to enjoy yet another extraordinary $5 dinner. Everything in Bolivia has been extraordinarily inexpensive; about $4 per person per night for accomodation, and less than that for a great meal.  

The next day we headed back to Copacabana (again, we got stuck on top of the boat), and our new friends convinced us to head straight for La Paz instead of spending another night in Copacabana. Probably for the best, since we were out of money and it was getting close to Thanksgiving (needed to prep)! We ate a cheap but delicious trout lunch on the beach, and headed for the bus, where we ran into Kayleigh and Russ again. 

The 6 of us headed for the highly recommended Adventure Brew hostel in La Paz. At one point, we had to get off the bus, while the bus got on a very rudimentary "ferry" of sorts, and we took a shuttle boat across a narrow portion of the lake. Here is the ferry that the bus went on:

 

 

The ubiquitous election grafitti of Peru spilled across to the border into Bolivia as well. This was a pretty tipical sight along the shores of Lake Titicaca as we headed to La Paz.

Next post: A Canadian Thanksgiving in La Paz (up soon!).

Cusco, Arequipa & Colca Canyon

Before we carry on where we left off, we thought we'd throw in a couple pictures from Cusco... since we spent 4 days there and forgot to upload any pictures. It's bizarre that we didn't blog about it, because we actually really enjoyed the city. The main square (Plaza de Armas) has two huge cathedrals in it. We didn't venture into them though because we thought the price was a bit steep (~$12).

We spent the majority of one afternoon wandering through mazes of stairs trying to find our hostel.  We were fairly acclimatized by this point, but you could still feel the altitude if you climbed enough stairs (or were sick, as our poor friend Trine was).

This is not the first time we've seen this, but it's the first time Lisa managed to snag a picture. Here is one of those adorable, traditional women, peeing in the street gutter. No big deal in Peru, apparently.

We spent quite a bit of time just wandering the streets; the city has been around since pre-Inca time and Inca relics are everywhere. A lot of the walls and parts of buildings are still original Inca stone. Here is a view of the city from another Cathedral; you can see the Plaza de Armas in the middle. The very first time you see a traditionally dressed 6 year old carrying a lamb, you immediately grab your camera, because it is truly irresistibly cute. The parent will then magically appear and demand payment for the cute photo you just took. For that exact reason, you won't see any cute kid-lamb pictures here.

We spent an extra day in Cusco recouperating, then hopped on another night bus (not one of the better ones, unfortunately). We arrived early in the morning to Arequipa. The landscapes as seen from the night buses are often pretty spectacular, especially at sunrise and sunset.

Arequipa is a charming, clean and safe city. We were here for Peru national elections, which was a huge deal; way more so than elections in Canada. The celebrations were comparable to those following hockey games in Canada. For two days prior to elections (Friday, and Saturday) it is illegal to sell or consume alcohol in Peru (but no rules about celebrating the day of, or after...). Here is a shot in the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa.

We wandered around Arequipa and arranged a tour to the Colca Canyon for the following day. Wake-up call was at 2:45a.m. and we hopped on a bus at 3:30. Despite being pretty bundled, this was the coldest either of us have ever been on this whole trip. Apparently it's freezing at 4:00am at 4900 meters above sea level (the high of the pass on the way to the canyon). The cold, and the typical Peruvian driving manners prevented us from sleeping much, but we were suprisingly ready to go by the time we reached the canyons. We are getting used to the 3:00am wake-up thing. On the way to the Canyon we stopped to watch Andean Condors soaring above the Canyon on thermals. They are majestic birds with wingspans over 3 meters. They almost looked small in relation to the size of the Canyon, however.

We started our 4-hour descent down into the Canyon, followed by another hour back up the other side to our lunch spot. The trail was very dissimilar to the Inka Trail; scorching hot, dusty, steep and narrow. The lunch was fantastic considering the circumstances; it's amazing what you can do with a few fresh ingredients. Lisa got stung a few times by a nasty Andean wasp which got between her and her backback. It was definitely a wasp, despite the locals who told us (from looking at the bite) that it was certainly a scorpion sting.

We have been spoiled by good guides so far on this trip, so it was a sharp contrast between those guides and the one we got on this trip. We basically did our own thing, because our guide couldn't have been bothered to tell us about anything, or even lead the way for that matter. Not that the trail was particularly hard to find; there is only one trail into and out of the Canyon which serves as the only road for the 900 residents on the Canyon (spread out among numerous small villages). All food and supplies into and out of the Canyon go by mule or donkey.

We passed through 2 of the villages on our way. The main village boasts an elementary school and an abandonned church (for lack of a pastor). A lot of the homes are deserted because families are forced to leave the Canyon if their children want to continue their (non-mandatory) education beyond grade 6. There was also a lonely looking health clinic; the locals prefer to use traditional medicine (Shamans).

After lunch we descended back down into the bottom of the Canyon to the Oasis where we would spend the night.

We were tired and sweaty and jumped into the pool without a second thought. Unfortunately, our guide abandoned us (once again) and we spent a long, cold while treading water waiting for him to bring us keys for our huts. We eventually gave up and changed back into our dirty clothes in the outhouse washrooms.

The post-hike evening social atmosphere was not nearly as fun as it was on the Machu Picchu hike, but that was fine because we needed a good sleep anyways; we'd been up since 2:45am and had a 4:45am wake-up call to look forward to. The stars in the Canyon were unbelievable; probably the most stars we've ever seen. Our guide told us to meet at 4:50am, so naturally everyone in the group was on time, but we left at 5:1am when the guide (whose name we never knew) finally showed up. The sun rose as we hiked, but we were [thankfully] shaded most of the way. Here is a shot of us; in the background you can see the Oasis where we slept. This is about 1/3 of the way back up out of the canyon.

At the top we enjoyed a well-deserved breakfast. In general breakfasts here are pretty weak; mostly white bread and jam... not a great way to start a day of hiking. Even worse, there was NO breakfast before the 3-hour trek up, so we were so glad we had some goodies stashed in our packs to sustain us, because even with them were were starving when we reached the top. A lady at the top was selling bananas; best 1 sole (about 33cents) ever spent on a banana. Our guide dissapeared again at breakfast, so we wandered around Cobanaconda for awhile before catching the bus back. A small, quiet city, with lots of traditionally dressed women.

We stopped briefly on the way back to check out the extensive agricultural terracing in the valley. We also changed into cooler outfits, and noticed we were wearing exactly the same thing!

We also stopped at 4900 meters (16 100 feet - for reference, Calgary (one of the highest cities in Canada) is at 3440 feet) to view the many volcanoes in the area, including the famous El Misti. For miles, thousands of rock "scultpures" littered the tundra-esque landscape. They were originally made by locals as offerings, but now tourists have continued the "trend". If you look closely, you can see them in the backgroud below.

The landscapes in the National Park on the way back to Arequipa were surreal. Something between tundra and muskeg and desert. Llamas, alpacas and vicunas (the smaller, rarer relative of the former two, and the national animal of Peru) were plentiful.

Llamas



Vicunas

We carefully captured a shot of this classic sign out the back window of the bus; a true display of team effort if you could have been there to see it (our guide clearly was not going to stop to let us get the shot).

Safely back in Arequipa, at our sweet hostel (Wayna River Backpackers Hostel), we did our laundry. We are getting really resourceful with the laundry thing. Our clothes even had time to sun-dry before we hopped on another bus to Puno, on Lake Titicaca (where we are now). But more on that later... keep posted!