Hello all,
Warming to Cordoba now (literally, it´s 35 degrees today and there is no pool or sea, very very hot! Looking forward to getting on the inevitably air conditioned bus)...
Had a lovely afternoon at the Che Guevara museum in Alta Gracia, 30 minutes from Cordoba on Wednesday. It was very biased towards Che, but interesting anyway, and I was able to take photos too... Saw a modern art gallery yesterday, but unfortunately the building was more interesting than the exhibition, such a shame! Still, I got very excited about the graffiti around the bus station, and took lots of photos instead.
Just to let you know that more photographs are up of Chile and Argentina at the usual http://picasaweb.google.com/milliemoo73.
Need to dash and get on a 22 hour bus to Puerto Iguazu, where there are fantastic waterfalls between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Will write more when I get there.
Hope that everyone is doing well, love to all (especially Haz and J if they are reading this!)
Al xxx
Friday 30 January 2009
Thursday 29 January 2009
La Serena - Chile
Ok well after leaving alice in San Pedro on saturday, we caught a very nice bus to Calama, which is about 1.5hrs west of San Pedro, where we planned to find a bus to take us to the beach. We arrived in Calama and managed to shop around for a cheapish ticket to La Serena (16hrs south west) fpr that evening. We had about 4 hours to kill and went off exploring. As usual we were quickly side tracked by ice cream (we have become addicted to MEGA ice creams, similar to a magnum but with raspberry ripple ice cream. yum). anyway we sat down on a bench to munch and within 30 seconds 2 chilean guys came up and started rambling in very fast spanish. After a few minutes they asked if we would like to go back to their house for beers and drugs........tempting.....but we declined!! Since reaching La Serena the only thing we have been attracting are stray dogs. especially at the beach! they enjoy chiling on our towels, and barking at anyone that comes nears us. They also insist on walking us home, or to the nearest chinese resturant!
We found a lovely hostel, which is more like a hotel, complete with mum and granny!!! they cleam up after us and refuse to let us wash up. Found massive supermarket where we were able to buy peanut butter, cheese and biscuits, and chocolate (no haribo tho :( ) We also had cable TV so have watched many movies!
Movies watched:
Bridget jones - in spanish
man in the iron mask - in spanish
Josie and the pussycats - worst film ever, but must be watched once!
broke back mountain
ned kelly
proof of life
random film about a bear with a young kirsten dunst in it
my best friends wedding - in spanish
the core - on the bus CRAP!!!
kingdom of heaven - on bus, in spanish, 1st hour only!
Leagally blonde 2
so as you can see, havnt gotten out much. we are like little old ladies, in bed by 9pm, eating cheese and grapes. Last night though we did venture out for a drink, had one mango dacquari each and didnt get home untill 11pm. wild!!!! The beach is nice, although the sun doesnt come out untill about 3pm!!!!!! Have still managed to soak up some rays, and have a few interesting tan lines!
So anyway, we are now alittle browner (well red in the case of J´s bum) and rounder from our few days by the sea, and are looking forward to hitting mendoza tomorrow (we will try not to sample to much wine without you al...) and then on to cordoba over the weekend.
hope all is well in England. missing you all, and missing alice most
muchos love J and Haz x
We found a lovely hostel, which is more like a hotel, complete with mum and granny!!! they cleam up after us and refuse to let us wash up. Found massive supermarket where we were able to buy peanut butter, cheese and biscuits, and chocolate (no haribo tho :( ) We also had cable TV so have watched many movies!
Movies watched:
Bridget jones - in spanish
man in the iron mask - in spanish
Josie and the pussycats - worst film ever, but must be watched once!
broke back mountain
ned kelly
proof of life
random film about a bear with a young kirsten dunst in it
my best friends wedding - in spanish
the core - on the bus CRAP!!!
kingdom of heaven - on bus, in spanish, 1st hour only!
Leagally blonde 2
so as you can see, havnt gotten out much. we are like little old ladies, in bed by 9pm, eating cheese and grapes. Last night though we did venture out for a drink, had one mango dacquari each and didnt get home untill 11pm. wild!!!! The beach is nice, although the sun doesnt come out untill about 3pm!!!!!! Have still managed to soak up some rays, and have a few interesting tan lines!
So anyway, we are now alittle browner (well red in the case of J´s bum) and rounder from our few days by the sea, and are looking forward to hitting mendoza tomorrow (we will try not to sample to much wine without you al...) and then on to cordoba over the weekend.
hope all is well in England. missing you all, and missing alice most
muchos love J and Haz x
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Cordoba, Argentina
Hello hello,
Well, Haz and J left San Pedro on Saturday in search of some sun, and I have been heading east. So strange travelling without them after 4 months together! But the travelling experience is very different when you travel alone, so I´m glad I´m doing a bit of both.
Headed out of San Pedro (on one of the 3 weekly buses) to Salta, which was lovely. Met some great people on the journey, from Argentina, Chile and Brazil. They came and stayed in the same hostel as well that night (we were accosted by a guy called Alberto in the Salta bus terminal at midnight, advertising his hostel. Very lucky that we were, because most hostels were booked up at this point, and he included a free taxi to the hostel too - even luckier as the ATM in the bus terminal wasn´t working)...
Anyway, Salta was pretty, although not much to do there. Would be an easy place to live for a while, as everything was within walking distance. Five minutes after checking into the hostel, Katie, a girl we´d done the salt flat tour with, walked into the same dorm! It was lovely to see her again, and we chilled out in Salta, looked at the stalls, and went on the Teleferico the following day. From the top of the Teleferico we had a fantastic view of Salta, and the afternoon light made the roofs of the buildings look like mercury. Beautiful. (Photos, as always, to follow...) So had a great day walking around the city, the Argentinian and the Brazilian cooked us all lunch, so kind, and also much cheaper than eating out too.
Got on a bus last night at 10pm, and arrived late in Cordoba at about 12.30pm this afternoon. Cordoba was voted the ´Cultural capital of the Americas´in 2006, but I have not discovered the reason why yet! The bus was very comfy, great seats and no one sat beside me so I could stretch out. But it was pouring, and I mean POURING, with rain when I arrived. It took them 30 minutes to unload my bag from the bus (I was standing in the rain trying to get it off, so bloody incompetent, would never happen in Bolivia!) and then another 30 minutes for me to grab a taxi as the line was so long (again, would never happen in Bolivia!). So wasn´t in the best mood when I arrived at the hostel to be met with a list of the hostel rules, and a demand for my money straight up...
Anyway, after a shower and some food, things are looking a little better. Still not a pretty city, but it´s far more European - lovely little pastry shops, everything is close to the hostel that you could ever need, and the hostel has a bar. Only downside is that a hairy, potbellied little Argentinian in my room was trying to get me to kiss him, and asked if he could lie in my bed (with me). I politely declined, but might have to move rooms if he gets more persistent! Luckily, I´ve befriended another English guy in the room, and a French couple. Luckily the Argentinian is leaving (I think) tomorrow, so should be safe from then on...
Not managed to do anything cultural today - am taking it easy as I have a few days here. Staying here for 4 or 5 days, at the Cordoba Backpackers.
http://www.cordobabackpackers.com.ar/
Will start hunting out the art galleries tomorrow.
Hope everyone´s ok in the UK,
Lots and lots of love,
Alice xxx
Well, Haz and J left San Pedro on Saturday in search of some sun, and I have been heading east. So strange travelling without them after 4 months together! But the travelling experience is very different when you travel alone, so I´m glad I´m doing a bit of both.
Headed out of San Pedro (on one of the 3 weekly buses) to Salta, which was lovely. Met some great people on the journey, from Argentina, Chile and Brazil. They came and stayed in the same hostel as well that night (we were accosted by a guy called Alberto in the Salta bus terminal at midnight, advertising his hostel. Very lucky that we were, because most hostels were booked up at this point, and he included a free taxi to the hostel too - even luckier as the ATM in the bus terminal wasn´t working)...
Anyway, Salta was pretty, although not much to do there. Would be an easy place to live for a while, as everything was within walking distance. Five minutes after checking into the hostel, Katie, a girl we´d done the salt flat tour with, walked into the same dorm! It was lovely to see her again, and we chilled out in Salta, looked at the stalls, and went on the Teleferico the following day. From the top of the Teleferico we had a fantastic view of Salta, and the afternoon light made the roofs of the buildings look like mercury. Beautiful. (Photos, as always, to follow...) So had a great day walking around the city, the Argentinian and the Brazilian cooked us all lunch, so kind, and also much cheaper than eating out too.
Got on a bus last night at 10pm, and arrived late in Cordoba at about 12.30pm this afternoon. Cordoba was voted the ´Cultural capital of the Americas´in 2006, but I have not discovered the reason why yet! The bus was very comfy, great seats and no one sat beside me so I could stretch out. But it was pouring, and I mean POURING, with rain when I arrived. It took them 30 minutes to unload my bag from the bus (I was standing in the rain trying to get it off, so bloody incompetent, would never happen in Bolivia!) and then another 30 minutes for me to grab a taxi as the line was so long (again, would never happen in Bolivia!). So wasn´t in the best mood when I arrived at the hostel to be met with a list of the hostel rules, and a demand for my money straight up...
Anyway, after a shower and some food, things are looking a little better. Still not a pretty city, but it´s far more European - lovely little pastry shops, everything is close to the hostel that you could ever need, and the hostel has a bar. Only downside is that a hairy, potbellied little Argentinian in my room was trying to get me to kiss him, and asked if he could lie in my bed (with me). I politely declined, but might have to move rooms if he gets more persistent! Luckily, I´ve befriended another English guy in the room, and a French couple. Luckily the Argentinian is leaving (I think) tomorrow, so should be safe from then on...
Not managed to do anything cultural today - am taking it easy as I have a few days here. Staying here for 4 or 5 days, at the Cordoba Backpackers.
http://www.cordobabackpackers.com.ar/
Will start hunting out the art galleries tomorrow.
Hope everyone´s ok in the UK,
Lots and lots of love,
Alice xxx
Saturday 24 January 2009
Salt Flat Tour... and CHILE
Hey hey everyone,
We survived the salt flats... and absolutely loved it! About to run out of money at this internet cafe so have to make this short and sweet... basically the pictures tell it all... all downloaded now at http://picasaweb.google.com/milliemoo73/Bolivia - look to the end and you{ll get the photos.
We had a brilliant time - I would love to live on the salt flats for 1 week in a caravan (with a crate of wine...) and arrived in San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile at noon yesterday. It is a beautiful town (albeit small), but they do tend to rip off the tourists. Hayley and J are heading down to the coast of Chile, and I am making a mad sprint to see Brazil before Beth and Ron come out to see us in February at BA. No, we have not fallen out - far from it! In fact, I have to say, it was a teary goodbye (on my part at least), this afternoon. I feel as though half of me is not there! We have spent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week together for the last 4 months... strange to be separated. But we had a difference of itinerary, so are splitting up for 3 weeks. At this rate, I{ll cancel my plans and meet them again in 3 days time!
So this will be a blog for myself for the next 3 weeks, although J is going to write about my strange eating habits... am going to be on a bus all day to Salta in Argentina tomorrow, where hopefully the prices are cheaper. Nearly fainted in the bus station yesterday when the guy told me how much I owed! This place is expensive... and buses only go 3 times a week from here to Salta - the cheap company was booked up until 30th January... bloody Chileans! But have met some nice people in the hostel which is good, so will chill out there tonight.
Will write again on Monday (hopefully) when I get to Salta!
Lots of love,
Alice xxxxxxxxxxx
We survived the salt flats... and absolutely loved it! About to run out of money at this internet cafe so have to make this short and sweet... basically the pictures tell it all... all downloaded now at http://picasaweb.google.com/milliemoo73/Bolivia - look to the end and you{ll get the photos.
We had a brilliant time - I would love to live on the salt flats for 1 week in a caravan (with a crate of wine...) and arrived in San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile at noon yesterday. It is a beautiful town (albeit small), but they do tend to rip off the tourists. Hayley and J are heading down to the coast of Chile, and I am making a mad sprint to see Brazil before Beth and Ron come out to see us in February at BA. No, we have not fallen out - far from it! In fact, I have to say, it was a teary goodbye (on my part at least), this afternoon. I feel as though half of me is not there! We have spent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week together for the last 4 months... strange to be separated. But we had a difference of itinerary, so are splitting up for 3 weeks. At this rate, I{ll cancel my plans and meet them again in 3 days time!
So this will be a blog for myself for the next 3 weeks, although J is going to write about my strange eating habits... am going to be on a bus all day to Salta in Argentina tomorrow, where hopefully the prices are cheaper. Nearly fainted in the bus station yesterday when the guy told me how much I owed! This place is expensive... and buses only go 3 times a week from here to Salta - the cheap company was booked up until 30th January... bloody Chileans! But have met some nice people in the hostel which is good, so will chill out there tonight.
Will write again on Monday (hopefully) when I get to Salta!
Lots of love,
Alice xxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Sucre, Potosi, Tupiza and Uyuni...
Well well well my lovelies,
So much has happened since my last blog! Makes a change from La Paz when we only drank, work and slept...
Ok, so we had a great time in Sucre (Joyride Cafe was brilliant - good food, good breakfasts, great films at night - Sex, Shame and Tears (Mexican) and Imagining Argentina). We loved the city - it was very pretty, although we weren´t too convinced about the water bombs...
We left on a day bus (unfortunately) and journeyed to Potosi. We checked into a lovely hostel, the Koala Den, and had a relaxed night. We went down the mines the next morning. We were there on a Sunday - unfortunately the miners weren´t working - but we did spot a rogue worker amongst the rocks. It was actually quite good that we were there when the miners weren´t, as we felt it might be safer, and easier on the ears...
They call the entrance the ´mouth of hell´ due to the number of people who have died there. 90% of people work there because they have no other option of work. Approximately 8 million people have been killed by the ´mountain that eats miners´... Most of the accidents underground are cave ins, and 40 is the average life expectancy of a miner there. Life is hard. We walked, crawled, climbed and slithered down onto the 4th floor, inhaling horrible dust and gases as we went. Potosi has a strange legal loophole, in that anyone can buy dynamite there. Even children and Gringos. The workers have to buy their own dynamite, and when there are fights, they often use it against each other. We managed to survive the mine, and saw how the minerals are extracted. Afterwards we had the fun part - mixing the various dynamite parts, to make an explosive. We then lit the fuse and took pictures. Seriously. We had about 2 minutes to do this before our guide had to run down a hill, drop the bomb in a hole, and run back before it exploded. Pretty impressive stuff! Pictures to follow when get to Chile...
We were very dusty and had a lovely meal afterwards with the people on our trip. Really good fun. We were then booked on the 8.30pm bus to Tupiza. We arranged a taxi and everything was going to plan. Until we asked for our passports, cash, credit cards etc from the hotel safe (our room wasn´t secure) . The incompetent idiots had lost them all. We were getting increasingly agitated (well I was anyway), giving them the choice of either finding them pronto or we would call the police. Eventually they found them (they hadn´t looked in the 2nd box...) at 8.15pm. We jumped into a taxi outside which unfortunately turned out to be the slowest I´ve been in. And it was falling apart. We arrived at the station at 8.30pm exactly - I jumped out to find the bus company to tell them we were coming (there are procedures here of dropping off bags and paying the bus terminal tax) - when I saw our bus pulling out of the station. It is the only bus I know of in Bolivia that left on time. I managed to stop it, hijack one of the workers on it and asked him to help us - H and J were still getting stuff out of the taxi. J had managed to jam H´s strap of her bag in the taxi lock when she previously shut the boot, and now H´s bag was trapped inside the taxi. One pair of scissors later, and a lot of rain later, we eventually got on the bus, with our bags, dripping wet with the rain at 8.45pm. Thank goodness for kind Bolivianos, as there were no more buses to Tupiza that day.
A very horrible cold and wet journey to Tupiza. None of us slept well or at all on the journey, and we arrived at 4am. Managed to find a hostel that would let us in (after a failed attempt) and thankfully fell asleep.
Got up bright and early a few hours later (it felt horrible!) and decided to go horseriding for 5 hours. Tupiza itself isn´t a wonderfully pretty place - no outstanding architecture apart from a peach church (believe me, it is very strange), but the countryside is beautiful. It is where they filmed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We were walking, cantering and galloping through canyons, along railway lines, through dried up river beds... - they don´t do trotting here. The sun was shining - we all got very sunburnt arms and backs - and it was a perfect day. We managed to dodge all the cactuses and return unhurt, apart from our poor buttocks... again photos to follow when have a better internet connection! It was a brilliant day, and H and J certainly loved being back on a horse again. I will let the aches subside before I give you my answer!
So siesta, then supper, then siesta... Got up relatively early this morning to catch another bus - 7 hours - to Uyuni. Been travelling quite a lot recently! It is the bumpiest ride I have ever been on. We went through stunning desert scenery and mountains, dodgying the llamas... I did think though that it is a great thing we have skin, otherwise I would be worried my insides would have been shaken out of me..!
We arrived at Uyuni this afternoon and it is lovely. Has everything you need - an ATM (one up on Tupiza), internet cafes, albeit slow, good restaurants and shops that sell everything a girl needs.
We have booked our salt flat tour for tomorrow (abandoning the idea of the museum of mummified people to save a day in Uyuni)... so we leave at 10am - very civilised. We then travel through the salt lakes, past red and green lakes, stay at nice places and end up at San Pedro de Atacama... in northern Chile. Will probably be quite a culture shock after Bolivia... really going to miss this country. It is so cheap, and the people are very friendly. Still desperately missing La Paz, but keep on reminding myself that our friends there have left anyway or are about to leave, so it would not be the same. Suppose the idea of travelling is to travel anyway!
So tomorrow we leave, and will be out of contact until Friday afternoon, evening or Saturday. Hope that everyone is ok in the UK - we are very sore after getting sunburnt! Stocked up on factor 50 suncream... life is hard here!
Lots of love from us all, will write again soon from Chile
Al xxxxxxx
So much has happened since my last blog! Makes a change from La Paz when we only drank, work and slept...
Ok, so we had a great time in Sucre (Joyride Cafe was brilliant - good food, good breakfasts, great films at night - Sex, Shame and Tears (Mexican) and Imagining Argentina). We loved the city - it was very pretty, although we weren´t too convinced about the water bombs...
We left on a day bus (unfortunately) and journeyed to Potosi. We checked into a lovely hostel, the Koala Den, and had a relaxed night. We went down the mines the next morning. We were there on a Sunday - unfortunately the miners weren´t working - but we did spot a rogue worker amongst the rocks. It was actually quite good that we were there when the miners weren´t, as we felt it might be safer, and easier on the ears...
They call the entrance the ´mouth of hell´ due to the number of people who have died there. 90% of people work there because they have no other option of work. Approximately 8 million people have been killed by the ´mountain that eats miners´... Most of the accidents underground are cave ins, and 40 is the average life expectancy of a miner there. Life is hard. We walked, crawled, climbed and slithered down onto the 4th floor, inhaling horrible dust and gases as we went. Potosi has a strange legal loophole, in that anyone can buy dynamite there. Even children and Gringos. The workers have to buy their own dynamite, and when there are fights, they often use it against each other. We managed to survive the mine, and saw how the minerals are extracted. Afterwards we had the fun part - mixing the various dynamite parts, to make an explosive. We then lit the fuse and took pictures. Seriously. We had about 2 minutes to do this before our guide had to run down a hill, drop the bomb in a hole, and run back before it exploded. Pretty impressive stuff! Pictures to follow when get to Chile...
We were very dusty and had a lovely meal afterwards with the people on our trip. Really good fun. We were then booked on the 8.30pm bus to Tupiza. We arranged a taxi and everything was going to plan. Until we asked for our passports, cash, credit cards etc from the hotel safe (our room wasn´t secure) . The incompetent idiots had lost them all. We were getting increasingly agitated (well I was anyway), giving them the choice of either finding them pronto or we would call the police. Eventually they found them (they hadn´t looked in the 2nd box...) at 8.15pm. We jumped into a taxi outside which unfortunately turned out to be the slowest I´ve been in. And it was falling apart. We arrived at the station at 8.30pm exactly - I jumped out to find the bus company to tell them we were coming (there are procedures here of dropping off bags and paying the bus terminal tax) - when I saw our bus pulling out of the station. It is the only bus I know of in Bolivia that left on time. I managed to stop it, hijack one of the workers on it and asked him to help us - H and J were still getting stuff out of the taxi. J had managed to jam H´s strap of her bag in the taxi lock when she previously shut the boot, and now H´s bag was trapped inside the taxi. One pair of scissors later, and a lot of rain later, we eventually got on the bus, with our bags, dripping wet with the rain at 8.45pm. Thank goodness for kind Bolivianos, as there were no more buses to Tupiza that day.
A very horrible cold and wet journey to Tupiza. None of us slept well or at all on the journey, and we arrived at 4am. Managed to find a hostel that would let us in (after a failed attempt) and thankfully fell asleep.
Got up bright and early a few hours later (it felt horrible!) and decided to go horseriding for 5 hours. Tupiza itself isn´t a wonderfully pretty place - no outstanding architecture apart from a peach church (believe me, it is very strange), but the countryside is beautiful. It is where they filmed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We were walking, cantering and galloping through canyons, along railway lines, through dried up river beds... - they don´t do trotting here. The sun was shining - we all got very sunburnt arms and backs - and it was a perfect day. We managed to dodge all the cactuses and return unhurt, apart from our poor buttocks... again photos to follow when have a better internet connection! It was a brilliant day, and H and J certainly loved being back on a horse again. I will let the aches subside before I give you my answer!
So siesta, then supper, then siesta... Got up relatively early this morning to catch another bus - 7 hours - to Uyuni. Been travelling quite a lot recently! It is the bumpiest ride I have ever been on. We went through stunning desert scenery and mountains, dodgying the llamas... I did think though that it is a great thing we have skin, otherwise I would be worried my insides would have been shaken out of me..!
We arrived at Uyuni this afternoon and it is lovely. Has everything you need - an ATM (one up on Tupiza), internet cafes, albeit slow, good restaurants and shops that sell everything a girl needs.
We have booked our salt flat tour for tomorrow (abandoning the idea of the museum of mummified people to save a day in Uyuni)... so we leave at 10am - very civilised. We then travel through the salt lakes, past red and green lakes, stay at nice places and end up at San Pedro de Atacama... in northern Chile. Will probably be quite a culture shock after Bolivia... really going to miss this country. It is so cheap, and the people are very friendly. Still desperately missing La Paz, but keep on reminding myself that our friends there have left anyway or are about to leave, so it would not be the same. Suppose the idea of travelling is to travel anyway!
So tomorrow we leave, and will be out of contact until Friday afternoon, evening or Saturday. Hope that everyone is ok in the UK - we are very sore after getting sunburnt! Stocked up on factor 50 suncream... life is hard here!
Lots of love from us all, will write again soon from Chile
Al xxxxxxx
Friday 16 January 2009
The last few days of La Paz... now onto Sucre!
Hello all,
Apologies for not writing recently. We ended up having quite an eventful weekend, and lots of partying the nights-mornings away... Spent some time with our friends too. Helgi (the Iceman who we first met in Mexico), arrived, so J and Laura (another girl who worked at the hostel) went to the Valley of the Moon.
Went to the cemetery on Sunday with Bubs, an English guy who we´d met at the hostel. They bury their dead here, either normally or in a crypt, and then they dig them up again 10 years later, and cremate them. The cemetery was HUGE, and had rows and rows of glass fronted boxes, about 1.5ft across, filled with mementoes of the person. Their life is reduced to plastic flowers, photos and birthday cards, toys that make noises (which then sound horrid when the battery dies down), and other tokens representing the person. The cemetery was busy on the Sunday with people changing the real flowers, but it had a very strange air. Photos to follow later.
Some very drunken nights in La Paz before we left, and we spent time just mooching around the city, doing a little retail therapy, eating at Oliver´s Travels pub where Loki workers get 50% off, and generally enjoying ourselves.
Until Wednesday, when we got tear gassed. We were walking to the pub and saw that there were demonstrations happening. There is a national referendum on the 25th January, and we had been seeing protests and firecrackers going off for days. We thought we were ok, as we were about 3 blocks away from them and walking away from the crowds, but suddenly the crowds came charging down the hill, followed by the tear gas cannisters that had been rolled down the hill by the police.
Been told by Hayley not to worry anyone, and just want to put in now that we are absolutely fine, and have left La Paz. Our instincts have changed as well, so if there is a next time, we won´t just stand there going ´Oh look, there´s tear gas...´! I cannot say it was a nice experience, - definitely not one to repeat. J was brilliant, and when I had stopped walking away from the gas (I couldn´t walk), she pulled me into an underground car park until we could breathe properly again and see. I certainly know now why the tear gas works so well! A vodka and orange soon sorted out the shock though...
Been looking at the Foreign Office website, and it looks like Santa Cruz is also a bit dodgy politically, so we have decided not to go there. After seeing just how quickly protests can change, we don´t want to put ourselves in any unnecessary danger.
So we got a beautiful, comfy bus to Sucre on Wednesday night. The best bus we have been on, with comfy seats and an ok driver. Arrived and checked into a cheap hotel - so strange being just the 3 of us again. Surprisingly, felt really homesick leaving La Paz. It had been our home for nearly a month, and we had a great time (although our bodies didn´t). We had made some great friends, and were sad to say goodbye. The consolation is that they are all leaving soon (if they haven´t already), so it wouldn´t been the same anyway. But I did love that grimy, dirty, polluted and crazy city.
Sucre is the judicial capital of the country (while La Paz is the parliamentary capital). With only 290,000 people, it´s small and beautiful. The white colonial buildings look stunning against blue sky and it´s a lovely place to walk around. We have found some brilliant cafes - one shows films at night, so we watched a Mexican film last night, and we are watching a film, Ímagining Argentina´ tonight, about the 1970´s juntas. Doesn´t sound a very nice film but it sounds ´cultural´, so we should probably watch it!
Off to Potosi tomorrow morning to see the silver mine where 6 million people have died, and then we will head south to Tupiza, then Uyuni. Very strange to be on the road again! But liking it just being the 3 of us again though.
Hope all´s good in the UK, and will write again soon. Now that we are doing more each week, I will try to write the blog more often. It is very difficult writing it when I am hungover!
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxxx
Apologies for not writing recently. We ended up having quite an eventful weekend, and lots of partying the nights-mornings away... Spent some time with our friends too. Helgi (the Iceman who we first met in Mexico), arrived, so J and Laura (another girl who worked at the hostel) went to the Valley of the Moon.
Went to the cemetery on Sunday with Bubs, an English guy who we´d met at the hostel. They bury their dead here, either normally or in a crypt, and then they dig them up again 10 years later, and cremate them. The cemetery was HUGE, and had rows and rows of glass fronted boxes, about 1.5ft across, filled with mementoes of the person. Their life is reduced to plastic flowers, photos and birthday cards, toys that make noises (which then sound horrid when the battery dies down), and other tokens representing the person. The cemetery was busy on the Sunday with people changing the real flowers, but it had a very strange air. Photos to follow later.
Some very drunken nights in La Paz before we left, and we spent time just mooching around the city, doing a little retail therapy, eating at Oliver´s Travels pub where Loki workers get 50% off, and generally enjoying ourselves.
Until Wednesday, when we got tear gassed. We were walking to the pub and saw that there were demonstrations happening. There is a national referendum on the 25th January, and we had been seeing protests and firecrackers going off for days. We thought we were ok, as we were about 3 blocks away from them and walking away from the crowds, but suddenly the crowds came charging down the hill, followed by the tear gas cannisters that had been rolled down the hill by the police.
Been told by Hayley not to worry anyone, and just want to put in now that we are absolutely fine, and have left La Paz. Our instincts have changed as well, so if there is a next time, we won´t just stand there going ´Oh look, there´s tear gas...´! I cannot say it was a nice experience, - definitely not one to repeat. J was brilliant, and when I had stopped walking away from the gas (I couldn´t walk), she pulled me into an underground car park until we could breathe properly again and see. I certainly know now why the tear gas works so well! A vodka and orange soon sorted out the shock though...
Been looking at the Foreign Office website, and it looks like Santa Cruz is also a bit dodgy politically, so we have decided not to go there. After seeing just how quickly protests can change, we don´t want to put ourselves in any unnecessary danger.
So we got a beautiful, comfy bus to Sucre on Wednesday night. The best bus we have been on, with comfy seats and an ok driver. Arrived and checked into a cheap hotel - so strange being just the 3 of us again. Surprisingly, felt really homesick leaving La Paz. It had been our home for nearly a month, and we had a great time (although our bodies didn´t). We had made some great friends, and were sad to say goodbye. The consolation is that they are all leaving soon (if they haven´t already), so it wouldn´t been the same anyway. But I did love that grimy, dirty, polluted and crazy city.
Sucre is the judicial capital of the country (while La Paz is the parliamentary capital). With only 290,000 people, it´s small and beautiful. The white colonial buildings look stunning against blue sky and it´s a lovely place to walk around. We have found some brilliant cafes - one shows films at night, so we watched a Mexican film last night, and we are watching a film, Ímagining Argentina´ tonight, about the 1970´s juntas. Doesn´t sound a very nice film but it sounds ´cultural´, so we should probably watch it!
Off to Potosi tomorrow morning to see the silver mine where 6 million people have died, and then we will head south to Tupiza, then Uyuni. Very strange to be on the road again! But liking it just being the 3 of us again though.
Hope all´s good in the UK, and will write again soon. Now that we are doing more each week, I will try to write the blog more often. It is very difficult writing it when I am hungover!
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxxx
Friday 9 January 2009
The continuation...
Hey there again,
Ok am sober now, and wishing I wasn´t! Looking forward to leaving La Paz in order to detox / dry out...
We had a great time chilling at the hotel after the ride - the ride itself went really quickly. Although slightly annoying that I needed the loo the whole time, and the gravel was slightly uncomfortable! We managed to get back to La Paz ok, and had a good night at the hostel and a local bar.
Work went alright this morning, although I kept on forgetting to charge things to people´s bills, - usually remembered in time, but slightly frustrating as making money is kind of the point of a bar! J and I picked up the CDs of the biking yesterday - unfortunately they don´t all seem to be in focus (it was the driver taking the photos), and there was a splodge on the lens that means that every photo has a black mark on it! So apologies for that (the photos that don´t are the ones that I took). I will edit them and crop them when I get back to the UK, but they´ll have to do for now.
Still deciding what to do about the monkey sanctuary - whether we can actually get there or whether we are going to have to ditch the idea. Will let you know when we know!
Gotta head back to the hostel soon as the doctor is coming to the hostel at 7pm to see me - fantastic guy, usually see him in the bar! Still got achy ears so trying to sort them out before they get too bad for diving.
Enjoy the photos - they are now up and labelled!
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Ok am sober now, and wishing I wasn´t! Looking forward to leaving La Paz in order to detox / dry out...
We had a great time chilling at the hotel after the ride - the ride itself went really quickly. Although slightly annoying that I needed the loo the whole time, and the gravel was slightly uncomfortable! We managed to get back to La Paz ok, and had a good night at the hostel and a local bar.
Work went alright this morning, although I kept on forgetting to charge things to people´s bills, - usually remembered in time, but slightly frustrating as making money is kind of the point of a bar! J and I picked up the CDs of the biking yesterday - unfortunately they don´t all seem to be in focus (it was the driver taking the photos), and there was a splodge on the lens that means that every photo has a black mark on it! So apologies for that (the photos that don´t are the ones that I took). I will edit them and crop them when I get back to the UK, but they´ll have to do for now.
Still deciding what to do about the monkey sanctuary - whether we can actually get there or whether we are going to have to ditch the idea. Will let you know when we know!
Gotta head back to the hostel soon as the doctor is coming to the hostel at 7pm to see me - fantastic guy, usually see him in the bar! Still got achy ears so trying to sort them out before they get too bad for diving.
Enjoy the photos - they are now up and labelled!
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
We survived the Death Road...!
Heyllo everyone,
Am meant to be working in the bar but luckily it´s really quiet so can write this. Love this job! Went out last night and think might have turned my alarm off in my sleep, so overslept - oops - Haz very kindly woke me up at 8.20am. Meant to start at 8am. Oh dear. Oh well! Think we had a great night last night, although don´t remember talking to some guys on my way to bed, so it must have been good!
Ok, so yesterday we decided to mountainbike down the ´Most Dangerous Road in the World´. Haven´t ridden a mountain bike since I was about 8 - much prefer racing bikes - so that in itself was weird. Plus, the suspension was so much that the bike sank down when I sat on it - very disconcerting! Not like my 30 year old bike with no suspension whatsoever! Unfortunately I also forgot that when I get off, the bike goes up again... it hurt my lady bits a lot. Not making that mistake again...!
The first part is tarmac, with traffic. We were so lucky with the weather. The sun was shining, and we were 4,700m above sea level, so the clouds were hugging the mountains. It was absolutely stunning. We made our way down the hill for about 40 minutes (the whole thing is 68km long and you descend 3,600m) until we needed to get back in the van to go uphill. How easy is that! Cheating a lot...
It was the 3 of us girls, with a German couple - he enters mountainbike competitions and she was able to keep up with him. Our guide was called Eric, and he was brilliant. Very safety conscious, and also told us all the gruesome stories about the people killed on the road. The crosses lining the road were a bit of a giveaway... Apparently they didn´t think we could cycle uphill... what a shame!
The next part was the narrow part. I have no idea how trucks etc were driving along that road. Now, there has been another road built so the traffic goes on that. The only traffic we met was the support vans for other cyclists, and of course our van with Vertigo, the company. Again, the views were stunning, and us girls gradually grew more confident going downhill. Basically freewheeled the whole way! Very very easy.
Somehow managed to end up in a ditch though - God knows how! Luckily not the cliff side (some drops are 800m...) The other girls came round the corner and were a bit confused as to what I was doing! Our guide told us that if we fell off the side and fell about 100m, he would come and get us. If we fell 500m he wouldn´t. I have a sneaky suspicion that the rope is only about 100m long!
The ride was beautiful. It took us 4 hours to cycle downhill, and we ended up in a lovely hotel for lunch and a swim.... TO BE CONTINUED
Pictures to follow later today
Am meant to be working in the bar but luckily it´s really quiet so can write this. Love this job! Went out last night and think might have turned my alarm off in my sleep, so overslept - oops - Haz very kindly woke me up at 8.20am. Meant to start at 8am. Oh dear. Oh well! Think we had a great night last night, although don´t remember talking to some guys on my way to bed, so it must have been good!
Ok, so yesterday we decided to mountainbike down the ´Most Dangerous Road in the World´. Haven´t ridden a mountain bike since I was about 8 - much prefer racing bikes - so that in itself was weird. Plus, the suspension was so much that the bike sank down when I sat on it - very disconcerting! Not like my 30 year old bike with no suspension whatsoever! Unfortunately I also forgot that when I get off, the bike goes up again... it hurt my lady bits a lot. Not making that mistake again...!
The first part is tarmac, with traffic. We were so lucky with the weather. The sun was shining, and we were 4,700m above sea level, so the clouds were hugging the mountains. It was absolutely stunning. We made our way down the hill for about 40 minutes (the whole thing is 68km long and you descend 3,600m) until we needed to get back in the van to go uphill. How easy is that! Cheating a lot...
It was the 3 of us girls, with a German couple - he enters mountainbike competitions and she was able to keep up with him. Our guide was called Eric, and he was brilliant. Very safety conscious, and also told us all the gruesome stories about the people killed on the road. The crosses lining the road were a bit of a giveaway... Apparently they didn´t think we could cycle uphill... what a shame!
The next part was the narrow part. I have no idea how trucks etc were driving along that road. Now, there has been another road built so the traffic goes on that. The only traffic we met was the support vans for other cyclists, and of course our van with Vertigo, the company. Again, the views were stunning, and us girls gradually grew more confident going downhill. Basically freewheeled the whole way! Very very easy.
Somehow managed to end up in a ditch though - God knows how! Luckily not the cliff side (some drops are 800m...) The other girls came round the corner and were a bit confused as to what I was doing! Our guide told us that if we fell off the side and fell about 100m, he would come and get us. If we fell 500m he wouldn´t. I have a sneaky suspicion that the rope is only about 100m long!
The ride was beautiful. It took us 4 hours to cycle downhill, and we ended up in a lovely hotel for lunch and a swim.... TO BE CONTINUED
Pictures to follow later today
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Tuesday 6 January 2009
A bit more active in Bolivia... Our prison experience
Good morning everyone,
Sorry about the lack of posts on the blog - the truth is that we have generally been either working, sleeping, eating or drinking... but we decided that enough was enough and we had to do something ´cultural´.
We (Ian, Mike, Hayley, Jono and I - J was busy with Paddy) - went to the Valley of the Moon on Friday. Well I think it was Friday - days all blur into one here! The Valle de la Luna is incredible. Half an hour outside the city, it is an area that literally looks like the moon. The clay soil has meant that when the rain falls, huge stalagmites form. We were able to walk around it (in the rain), and the boys were great company. Spent about an hour or two there, and it was so refreshing to get out of the city. You´ll have to look at the pictures I´m uploading for it!
Went to the Ethnographic and Folklore museum too on Sunday. It was free - yay! Saw the token pots and pans (a very very erotic one gave me a bit of a shock in between all the ceramic plates...!), and some pretty cool textiles, but loved the room of the feathers. There were displays of headresses, painted feathers and carnival type feather objects. Really weird but cool. Also cool was the room of carnival masks. Had everything from realistic masks of old men, or wooden masks of people, to the weird and wonderful beasts with goggly eyes, feathers and some scary serpents... felt a bit better after doing ´culture´!
The evenings all blur into one. Either working or having a bevvy or two - such a hard life here! One of our friends was asked whether she was a ´hippy´(she works with us and is fantastic - Laura). She asked the guy whether he was a ´sleazy bastard´. Hilarious! He won´t stereotype again in a while...
But the biggest thing we´ve done recently is go on an illegal tour to the San Pedro prison. It has been made infamous from the book ´Marching Powder´. Technically, we get fired from Loki if we talk about it, so we´ve had to keep it quiet...!
The prison is 1 city block big, and houses 1500 prisoners and over 500 family members. The prison is run by the prisoners. There are 7 areas, and the prisoners organise their own security and so on, delegating to a few prisoners. A couple of guards (non prisoners) watch over the prison and shoot anyone who attempts to leave. 70% of the prisoners are in for drugs trafficking. 80% of prisoners are still awaiting trial. However, as the prison is filled with criminals related to drugs, they have made a big cocaine factory within the prison. We declined the opportunity to buy 99.4% pure cocaine (apparently).
We were taken in to the prison, registered and had a number written on our wrist (to let us get out again). Had a fantastic guide, however his tours only last until his next cocaine hit, and he was getting quite agitated at the end...! Prisoners buy their cell or rent it. The 7 areas are different in terms of cost, safety, the people who live there... it was really intimidating walking in to begin with, I personally felt quite scared. However it was horrible the way they organise tours for tourists to gawk at the prisoners and families. Also horrid the way we give out cigarettes and sweets, and pay huge amounts to enter the prison, to criminals, while we ignore people homeless on the street begging. A moral dilemma for us.
We walked in and had 4 body guards. Apparently they are in for murder - if they kill anyone they would only do their longest sentence anyway, so they are pretty much free to kill if they want without any repercussions. This was meant to reassure us. Most people in the prison work to pay for their cell. There are shops, a church, swimming pools (where they used to kill child rapists), saunas (made from inserting live electric prongs into buckets of water), schools, football pitches (not rectangular) and so on. The prison is a higgledipiggly mess of narrow corridors, unsafe stairs, and the structure is unsound. The Bolivianos have built a maximum security prison 2 hours away from the city, and there is talk of shutting down San Pedro. It has become notorious and too famous, and can´t really be said to be rehabilitative for drug traffickers or addicts, with the cocaine factory in the middle of it...
There are even ´crack cats´... wild cats that have become addicted to the smoke of crack cocaine. They fight each other on the roofs for the best position to inhale the smoke. The prisoners also try to inhale the smoke, so prisoners paint toy cars on the top of the factory roof to mask the smell... Some prisoners make toys, bracelets, wooden models and so on for money.
Even the ´punishment´area is known to be the best area to smoke weed or crack. I can understand that the prison does not really seem to be working! Families are welcome in the prison - in fact the prisoners have threatened to burn the prison down if families were not allowed. Children and women (most of the prisoners are men - think there are only 2 females) - are so stigmatised on the outside if their husband or father is in prison, that the quality of life is much better inside the prison, and they are allowed to live there.
Found the experience really strange. Very interesting, but an immoral tourist experience. Justified it to myself that I cannot be good all the time, and I am dedicating my life to humanitarian causes so for a once off... came out feeling extremely dazed. (Probably also due to having 1 hour sleep the night before). We were invited to stay the night, play pool, go into the swimming pool... but we decided to try and make sure we could leave! Luckily we could...
Took me a while to readjust to Loki life again, especially when a guy was beating a woman in the park and no one did anything...
As another treat yesterday we went to a Swiss fondue restaurant. Absolutely beautiful. And even managed to get an early night...!
So been to the immigration centre today to extend our (free) visas from 30 to 90 days. Am loading photos onto the internet as well, so will label them in a minute.
Hope all is ok back at home - enjoy the snow! Laura got sunburnt yesterday... bit of a difference here!
Lots of love from us all,
Al, H and J xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry about the lack of posts on the blog - the truth is that we have generally been either working, sleeping, eating or drinking... but we decided that enough was enough and we had to do something ´cultural´.
We (Ian, Mike, Hayley, Jono and I - J was busy with Paddy) - went to the Valley of the Moon on Friday. Well I think it was Friday - days all blur into one here! The Valle de la Luna is incredible. Half an hour outside the city, it is an area that literally looks like the moon. The clay soil has meant that when the rain falls, huge stalagmites form. We were able to walk around it (in the rain), and the boys were great company. Spent about an hour or two there, and it was so refreshing to get out of the city. You´ll have to look at the pictures I´m uploading for it!
Went to the Ethnographic and Folklore museum too on Sunday. It was free - yay! Saw the token pots and pans (a very very erotic one gave me a bit of a shock in between all the ceramic plates...!), and some pretty cool textiles, but loved the room of the feathers. There were displays of headresses, painted feathers and carnival type feather objects. Really weird but cool. Also cool was the room of carnival masks. Had everything from realistic masks of old men, or wooden masks of people, to the weird and wonderful beasts with goggly eyes, feathers and some scary serpents... felt a bit better after doing ´culture´!
The evenings all blur into one. Either working or having a bevvy or two - such a hard life here! One of our friends was asked whether she was a ´hippy´(she works with us and is fantastic - Laura). She asked the guy whether he was a ´sleazy bastard´. Hilarious! He won´t stereotype again in a while...
But the biggest thing we´ve done recently is go on an illegal tour to the San Pedro prison. It has been made infamous from the book ´Marching Powder´. Technically, we get fired from Loki if we talk about it, so we´ve had to keep it quiet...!
The prison is 1 city block big, and houses 1500 prisoners and over 500 family members. The prison is run by the prisoners. There are 7 areas, and the prisoners organise their own security and so on, delegating to a few prisoners. A couple of guards (non prisoners) watch over the prison and shoot anyone who attempts to leave. 70% of the prisoners are in for drugs trafficking. 80% of prisoners are still awaiting trial. However, as the prison is filled with criminals related to drugs, they have made a big cocaine factory within the prison. We declined the opportunity to buy 99.4% pure cocaine (apparently).
We were taken in to the prison, registered and had a number written on our wrist (to let us get out again). Had a fantastic guide, however his tours only last until his next cocaine hit, and he was getting quite agitated at the end...! Prisoners buy their cell or rent it. The 7 areas are different in terms of cost, safety, the people who live there... it was really intimidating walking in to begin with, I personally felt quite scared. However it was horrible the way they organise tours for tourists to gawk at the prisoners and families. Also horrid the way we give out cigarettes and sweets, and pay huge amounts to enter the prison, to criminals, while we ignore people homeless on the street begging. A moral dilemma for us.
We walked in and had 4 body guards. Apparently they are in for murder - if they kill anyone they would only do their longest sentence anyway, so they are pretty much free to kill if they want without any repercussions. This was meant to reassure us. Most people in the prison work to pay for their cell. There are shops, a church, swimming pools (where they used to kill child rapists), saunas (made from inserting live electric prongs into buckets of water), schools, football pitches (not rectangular) and so on. The prison is a higgledipiggly mess of narrow corridors, unsafe stairs, and the structure is unsound. The Bolivianos have built a maximum security prison 2 hours away from the city, and there is talk of shutting down San Pedro. It has become notorious and too famous, and can´t really be said to be rehabilitative for drug traffickers or addicts, with the cocaine factory in the middle of it...
There are even ´crack cats´... wild cats that have become addicted to the smoke of crack cocaine. They fight each other on the roofs for the best position to inhale the smoke. The prisoners also try to inhale the smoke, so prisoners paint toy cars on the top of the factory roof to mask the smell... Some prisoners make toys, bracelets, wooden models and so on for money.
Even the ´punishment´area is known to be the best area to smoke weed or crack. I can understand that the prison does not really seem to be working! Families are welcome in the prison - in fact the prisoners have threatened to burn the prison down if families were not allowed. Children and women (most of the prisoners are men - think there are only 2 females) - are so stigmatised on the outside if their husband or father is in prison, that the quality of life is much better inside the prison, and they are allowed to live there.
Found the experience really strange. Very interesting, but an immoral tourist experience. Justified it to myself that I cannot be good all the time, and I am dedicating my life to humanitarian causes so for a once off... came out feeling extremely dazed. (Probably also due to having 1 hour sleep the night before). We were invited to stay the night, play pool, go into the swimming pool... but we decided to try and make sure we could leave! Luckily we could...
Took me a while to readjust to Loki life again, especially when a guy was beating a woman in the park and no one did anything...
As another treat yesterday we went to a Swiss fondue restaurant. Absolutely beautiful. And even managed to get an early night...!
So been to the immigration centre today to extend our (free) visas from 30 to 90 days. Am loading photos onto the internet as well, so will label them in a minute.
Hope all is ok back at home - enjoy the snow! Laura got sunburnt yesterday... bit of a difference here!
Lots of love from us all,
Al, H and J xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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