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In 365 Days: A Reflection of Our World Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia

The question we always get asked is what has been our favourite country. That is not a question that can be answered so simply. We have been impacted by some more that others and that is probably what makes one country stick in our minds over the next. India for example is like no other place in the world like it. While we were there, we struggled but it's a place we'd like to return to, in a heart beat. It gave us our biggest cultural experience; witnessing the cremations on the River Ganges while watching children play in the water as remains float by. From an outsiders perspective it defies all logic but once you understand the culture and religion, it makes perfect sense. I reckon the more you see the more you understand. It is like that anywhere. The more time we spent understanding and experiencing countries the more memorable they were.

Many places we visited and the sad things we've seen were frustrating.We knew that there was nothing we could do about the effects of war, poverty, corruption and child labour. Not that that's ever acceptable but we had to accept things could be worse. For example, the Cambodian people are currently suffering greatly because of their corrupt government but they don't care because poverty is better than death. The government isn't killing its people anymore, therefore they are grateful.

When westerners visit the people in some countries, such as the San Bushman in Namibia, often they'll jump to the conclusion that they need more to make it better. The reality is a lot of bad stuff in the world wasn't bad until someone tried to change it. Are we happier just because we have the latest technology and flashiest houses. That is one of my biggest takeaways from this year.

Thankfully Dave didn't trust me to look after anything valuable this trip and when he did, I lost our phone, a brand new Lonely Planet Book, and the camera connection kit and camera case. Considering we had a different bedroom, every day for a year I think that is pretty good. It was Dave by the way, who left the passports in a plane in Kathmandu and he did lose and break about 10 pairs of $5 Ray Ban sunnies – who am I kidding, I broke the sunnies. By the end of the trip, I was only allowed to touch the drop-able camera…. not the good one, as I dropped that one a few too many times. Overall a rather successful trip.

Africa wasn't a continent we'd thought much about before we left, yet it uncovered a different type of travel and for that it is our favourite. It's a place everyone should experience, although you may never want to go to a zoo again. I could imagine spending a lot more time uncovering the smaller countries in this fascinating continent. Our next favourite was Asia as it has got so much variety and it's in the places you'd least expect, where no tourists are, that we enjoyed the most. South America followed. Towards the end, in Bolivia and Peru, we started falling in love with the place. It brought back the memories we had of Africa. The landscape's diversity is mind blowing. Initially we thought Europe was about history and churches but the more we squeezed into the day the more we got out of it. Often we were in a country for 12-24 hours so by golly we made the most of every second. For us though, the highlight was meeting Dave's family. Having those doors now open is one life's priceless moments. I think North America was our least favourite of the continents only because the culture is similar to ours – western. I was reluctant at first to understand the Americans but by the end we had all the time in the world for the American people, as they did for us.

If you take out the 3 months in North America, we spent on average 5 days per country. Culture comes in many forms but it's the people and the way they live that was of most interest to us. We are definitely not history nerds or church buffs. So saying, learning about Catholicism, Hindi, Judism, Muslim and Buddhism has been fascinating. Sometimes they can define a country or person but sometimes it'll only 'backpack' for them. Each religion has wonderful attributes and we have both learnt to form our own beliefs based on all of them.

Our round the world ticket did just that, took us around the world but thankfully we only went on planes for a total of 111 hours or 30 flights with 16 airlines. I'm thankful because you don't see much of the world from an aeroplane. We broke the trip up into different modes of transport to keep the variety. There is no doubt we saw more through group travel but I'm glad we had our independence too. We spent about 110 days in group travel in Asia, Africa and South America. Via three cruise ships, we saw very nearly all of the Caribbean islands. Europe we did on a rail pass travelling 10,942km and we drove 17,512 km around North America. Overall we travelled over 140,000 kilometres, to 51 countries and to 6 continents.

This is where we went:

**ASIA – 61 days, 8 countries**

1: The best day of our lives, our perfect wedding day in BALI

2: The cleanest place on earth, no rubbish bins yet no rubbish. JAPAN Our decision to eat everything that was put in front of us started at a Mount Fuji Ryoken.

3: Our least favourite or least understood country with pushy and rude locals who don't do tourism any favours in Beijing, CHINA

4: Most unbelievably careless and fun week of our lives: the week with Shaz, Damo and Stephen drinking our way through VIETNAM

5: A worldly eye opening experience at the Khmer Rouge killing fields in Phenom Penh, CAMBODIA

6: breathless views over Everest and the Himalayas. Kathmandu is one of the world's hidden gems. NEPAL

7: With 1.5b people, INDIA deserves four things a) Most people on a motorised tok tok: 21 people in Orchha. b) Biggest culture shock: locals ********, drinking and bathing in the Ganges, Varanasi. c) Best food in random place: camping trip on the Ganges! d) Worst toilets: this is a *******e as most of Asia could fit in here, but I'd have to say Varanasi train station, only because of the rats and cockroaches and the whole station is used as a ******** ground. However hard it was at the time, this country is something special – a place only travellers who have been will understand why you'd want to return. One of the world's most amazing countries.

8: Most unexpected feeling: feeling weird for the first few hours of being surrounded by white people after many months of being the only white person. A few days of Virtual Sundays in Koh Tao, THAILAND.

**AFRICA – 31 days, 6 countries**

9: The only time we will ever feel like billionaires, Victoria Falls with their former ZIMBABWEAN currency

10: The best country to go if you have a free few hours for lunch, ZAMBIA with the zebras.

11: First surreal moment of travelling abroad, surrounded by African elephants in their natural habitat, Chobe National Park, BOTSWANA

12: The most diverse country with dunes, game parks, deserts, mountains and oceans, NAMIBIA. Our favourite African country.

13: With the wealth so publicly viewable on the water's edge with the poor hidden in townships, Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

22: Epiphany in Fez MOROCCO when travelling had made me more open minded and that traveling was more interesting than holidaying.

**EUROPE – 90 days, 19 countries**

14: The first time we learnt to navigate the European railways, navigate with 16kg backpacks and find accommodation bargains within a very expensive but beautiful part of the world, Oslo NORWAY

15: Felt like a tourist when drinking Ikea Beer and meatballs is in the worlds biggest Ikea, Stockholm SWEDEN

16: The jam sandwich budget begins in Copenhagen DENMARK

17: Astounded by how liberal and tolerant Amsterdam HOLLAND is which is why we loved the place, from the safe distance of the pavement

18: Stumbled across the world's best beer, Brussels BELGIUM. A place to be discovered.

19: A country full of patriotic people, passionate in their ways of 'being French

' in most of FRANCE, except for our wonderful home stay in Bordeaux

20: Discovering that we had done tapas all wrong, correcting it with red and white sangeria in San Sebastián SPAIN then being blown away in the unique Barcelona

21: Frustrated for the first time that our way of travel didn't allow for extending our stay. A 12 hour visit to Lisbon, PORTUGAL

23: Money like I've never seen money before, wealth oozes out of Monte Carlo, MONACO

24: Thankful to see the friendly, familiar faces of family, with Laurence and Francesca in the beautiful but overly expensive Zug, SWITZERLAND

25: The most amazing festival in the world, for those that drink beer and those that don't, Munich GERMANY is the place to be for Oktoberfest!

25: The enormity and effects of World War 2 were displayed and explained in Auschwitz, POLAND

26: Europe's hidden treasure Cesky Krumlov, CZECH REPUBLIC sits next to everyone's favourite Prague where cinnamon crepes are sold

27: The hills became alive in the snowy hills of Salzburg AUSTRIA

28: Fell in love with Italian food in Florence with a promise to return to Tuscany, ITALY but touristy Venice can be forgotten

30: A new record for us, 3 hours inside the world's smallest country, VATICAN CITY

31: relief to be with family in Tolo, GREECE. A long awaited small village feel after big city hopping across Europe. A perfect week with Jenny and Uwe

32: The Irish jig, countryside, people and music made IRELAND Europe's hidden treasure

33: It's all about family, understanding roots and filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle, England UNITED KINGDOM. The family reunion and spending time with Margaret, Mike ,Simon and Paul will never be forgotten. A promise to return.

**NORTH AMERICA inc. the CARIBBEAN – 108 days, 11 countries**

34: A driving holiday took us to 32 states of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Reluctant at first but by the end of it we fell in love with the American people. California and the Carolinas were the favourite. Visits from my parents and visiting friends and a stay with Nicko and Nick made the trip.

35: Only a short visit to Toronto and the Niagara Falls, but CANADA and the never ending snow was something quite amazing

36: First swim in the Caribbean waters, Baby Bay ARUBA

37: Little GRENADA, with a huge heart and a belief that after the rain will be sunshine. Our first experience of what a hurricane can do to a small nation and the determination to build back

38: A statement of change "What improvements have you made today, 100 good things in 100 days" BARBADOS' determination to improve itself.

39: Our first and last car ride in a stranger's car after being stranded at a beautiful but secluded Marigot Bay, ST LUCIA

40: Hummm what to write about ANTIGUA – they export black pineapples that aren't black…that's all I got 😦

41: Recognising that first impressions shouldn't be lasting impressions, at the 'lacking imagination' Private island of Grand Stirrup Cay, BAHAMAS

42: Climbing Dunns river falls with mum and dad then returning to tube down the river and drink rum with Allison and Adriaan at a JAMAICA beach party

43: One of the highlights, swimming with stingrays CAYMAN ISLANDS. The centrepiece or pinnacle of the Caribbean

44: MEXICO although we have been to four ports in Mexico I can't honestly say any of them are the real Mexico. We must return

Colonies of countries we've already visited:

– Experiencing a beach with artificial waves caused from the jet streams of landing aeroplanes. SINT MAARTEN (Dutch colony)/Saint Martin (French colony) the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two nations

– a disappointing SAINT THOMAS (US Virgin Islands) with its lack of Caribbean feel replaced with a brash American influence shining through.

– colourful, brightly painted CURAÇAO (Dutch colony)

**SOUTH AMERICA, 6 countries, 75 days**

45: From Rio Carnival to the forever green forests to the toxic cachaca, swimming in the Bonito river, looking for jaguars in the Pantanal. BRAZIL a place of interest but not South America's jewel

46:Crossing into PARAGUAY for a few hours of shopping was like stepping out of South America and into Asia.

47: The world's tastiest steak and cheapest wine, horse riding in the Estancia and chillaxing in the Cafayete vineyards were the highlights remembered in a road trip across ARGENTINA

48: South America's undiscovered gem. For this reason BOLIVA gave us the cultural diversity we had been looking for. From the witches markets in La Paz to the beautiful Altiplano desert but not forgetting the perspective shots in the world's largest salt flat.

49: PERU: Enough history to last you a life time. From the Inca ruins, to the mammoth Inca Trek and waves of Waikiki, PERU'S landscape is breathtaking

50: An eye opening experience getting served a coffee in coffee shops from a waitress in a bikini, The famous Santiago Coffee Shops with Legs, CHILE

**OCEANIA**

51: AUSTRALIA: After visiting 51 of the world's 195 countries, there is no place like it. It's Home.

The world is a huge place. We have visited a speck in the ocean of what's out there. It's been a year of tasting if you will, to see the way that we like to travel, the things we like and don't like to see and places that we want to return to and uncover further. We now know where we want to go back and explore and that would be to the less western countries where there is an abundance of exploration to be done.

One thing that has dramatically changed for us is our love of travelling not holidaying. Words can't express how much travelling gives you the travel bug. The more you see the more you want to see. One thing I have learnt from this year is "travelling is the only thing that makes you richer" so saying, once we actually have money again, these are the next big adventures:

1- Africa, Nairobi Kenya to Victoria Falls Zimbabwe during the migration – and a loop to the gorillas in Uganda

2 – Central America inc, Mexico City, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize, Hodurous, Costa Rica, Ecuador

3 – Southern India, Northern Vietnam, North Thailand and Laos

4 – A sailing trip around Croatia and Greece followed by a few days in Turkey

5 – Jordan to Egypt with a visit to the Sahara

When I left home, there were a few tweaks I personally wanted to make in my personality. I didn't want to be narrow minded, ignorant or intolerant towards *********s when I returned. One thing sure has improved, my fussiness towards food. I feel we both embraced the cuisine, without denying trying 'anything'. We have proudly eaten: snake wine, tarantula, silk worm, cricket, horse, haggis, ostrich, warthog, giraffe, guinea pigs and… I've even had warm bananas!

This trip wouldn't have been the same without having the ability to share it with family, friends, strangers and travelling buddies. Writing a blog was one of the best decisions we made. Although at times I've unintentionally offended people with controversial opinions, I have had no regrets, with me what you see is what you get. Each blog, including photo uploading has taken an average of 20 hours. I have written 69 so thats a ridiculously long 1,380 hours spent but it has been worth worth every minute, plus it's been read nearly 4,000 times! We now have something to reflect back on, and share with our future kids and with any luck they'll get the travel bug too. I would like them to see it for themselves and not just read about it. Travelling opens your eyes, makes you less judgmental and more accepting and understanding. I would want them to know how fortunate they are to live in this era, in this society, in this world.

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Australia – The Journey Home. Day 1 Starts Here Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane, Australia

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. The people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky.

The guy on the plane home next to me asked me, ” how was it, your trip away?” How do you answer a question like that? Similar to the “how do you feel about coming home. There are so many mixed emotions about the year that was and the year ahead. 365 days ago we boarded a flight out of Sydney to get married and to discover the world. We didn’t really know what to expect. We were very green to the world. I’ve thought a lot about that guy’s question on that 14 hour flight home. A year ago the first thing I thought I’d be thinking was ‘that was a lot of money, what do I have to show for it?’ A year later, money hasn’t even crossed my mind. I’d spend double if we had it. A year ago I thought I would miss the superficial things like clothes, shoes and T.V. They haven’t crossed my mind once. I thought I’d miss a routine and my job. I didn’t think of any of them. Now, I’ll miss time with Dave. Spending every day together, exploring. We’ve met a lot of couples who have said they couldn’t spend every moment of every day together, for a week let alone a year. It took time at first to get used to it but as I sit here on the plane home, that is what I’ll miss the most. Travelling with my best friend, all day, every day for over a year could have been the make or break for Dave and I. I can’t express how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to travel inseparably with my mate and life companion. To work together, pick up the slack for each other when needed and grow a strong understanding of each other’s needs. This year together, the first year of our marriage has made for a solid future together.

The things we have seen and experiences we have had have been the most priceless thing we have ever bought. Sometimes, it feels like a dream. It was only yesterday when Dave and I were wandering the street of Valparaiso in Santiago, Chile and were walking down those rickety streets, weaving our way through the locals food markets, picking up on the odd word here and there. Dave looked at me and said “haven’t you come along way from the girl who was too scared to go to Bali”. On that day in Santiago it was as if we were walking through the main street of Brisbane city not even realising the enormity of the progress. It was so common to us we didn’t realise. We were becoming so blasé with our surroundings that we didn’t even take the camera out. As the year went on, we weren’t appreciating the sights or surroundings as much as we were at the beginning. For that reason, we are very ready to come home.

It’s not really surprising that we couldn’t just go straight home after arriving into Sydney, Australia. After staying just the one night at an airport hotel, we boarded the flight to Melbourne. Firstly we caught up with Dave’s mate from New Zealand, Div, then on to a weekend with our travel buddies from Vietnam. That week we spent travelling with Stephen, Shazz and Damo was quite easily a highlight of the trip. Thankfully these new friends live in Melbourne and Tassie so regular catch ups can be organised easily. For the two nights and three days we were together, thankfully nothing was planned. After a year of sightseeing we both were ready to just hang out, and that we did. With the Yarra Valley on Shazz and Damo’s door step, it started with country pubs then vineyards and breweries, to name a few. By 5pm on the second day we had already visited Chandon, De Bortelli, White Rabbit and The Shed, so were well and truly on the way to having a good evening. Appropriately selected, a Vietnamese restaurant was where we enjoyed dinner over a few ‘more’ bottles of wine, then home to a cocktail we wanted to introduce them to.The Chilean Earthquake. It had enough shake in it to keep the girls up until 1am, but the boys until 6am. Well and truly tired, fish and chips under the Victorian sun was all we could handle for the final afternoon before our last flight home to Brisbane.

The process of getting home to Brisbane took 4 flights. By the time we were on the last one of our year long adventure, we were well and truly ready to walk through the airport doors to see the loving faces of Mum, Dad and Chris. It was the perfect way to complete the circle of emotions. They held a homemade “welcome home” sign high, the bunch of flowers poked through and the faces of loved ones were beaming. It was an emotional moment and one I won’t forget.

In those first few days of being back in Australia we were very much still in traveller mode and saw Australia in that light. For example how good public transport is, whether tourists view Australians as helpful and friendly and how hugely expensive Australia is. Paying an average of $25 for a main meal at a restaurant is ridiculously high, but as is everything else in the country. I guess the high taxes give the added lifestyle benefits.

The following few days we caught up with a few close friends and met Rhian’s daughter Isla for the first time. Thankfully we had my aunty Linda over from New Zealand for the week to also welcome us home. She also guided me in the kitchen, making my ‘first’ meal. Let me repeat that: I have upheld my promise to cook when I returned, and I did! Shepherd’s Pie, and a fancy one at that with gravy, onions and other fancy stuff. I’m in the making to be a good wife.

I can’t stress how good it is to be home. We are ready for the next chapter in our lives. To get jobs, a routine and just hang out and do normal stuff. Being back represents sleeping in the same bed for more than two nights, having clothes in a cupboard not a back pack, being there for friend’s life milestones, enjoying opening a fridge for food instead of sitting in a restaurant, making a coffee and not buying one, calling family and friends on the phone without relying on decent Internet for Skype, feeling like a lady again with heaps of pretty dresses to choose from and seeing familiar and friendly faces of loved ones.

I wanted to finish this blog where it started. From Bali to a welcome home party at Mum and Dad’s house. Our family and friends are the most important things in our lives. The BBQ was easy, stress free and fun. What made it extra special is all the new kids that are running around, filling the air with happiness. That’s the great thing about friends, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you saw them last or what new milestones have happened – you just pick up where you left off.

We aren’t sad about returning to a normal life, as it’s just the beginning. Life has so many other milestones. This will not be the last trip, both by ourselves and with kids. I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.
The End.

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Days 359 – 364: The Capitals of Peru and Chile Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Can you take us to Waikiki Beach? No. Can you take us to Waikiki Beach? No. Can you take us to Waikiki Beach? No. Finally after a couple of attempts a taxi driver took us to Waikiki Beach, a surf beach about 10 minutes drive from the heart of Lima. Taxis only travel in the direction ‘they’ are heading, not where the passenger is heading. Lima and the towns along this coastline are highly volcanic so it wasn’t surprising there were tsunami emergency exit routes signs all the way along the beach. Of course, Dave wanted to go surfing, as he has wanted to in every continent we’ve been to. The beach was packed full of surf schools, surf rentals but no coffees shops for the wives, so Ash and I chilled out on the rocky beach with soft drinks and chocolate. Dave’s never surfed at a beach with rocks the size of saucers before. I asked him for a photo and in doing so the waves came crashing in and hit him with rocks. Oops.

I’m thankful these last 2.5month in South America weren’t all about the capital/large cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, La Paz, Lima and Santiago. We’ve seen some incredible small villages and been immersed in and amongst the South American culture. For those wanting a South American experience, I’d say go to Bolivia, Chile or Peru. Brazil and Argentina were fantastic places but western influences and money have taken away from the rawness. So saying, Lima one of the biggest South American cities, exceeded all expectations. All countries in South America that were invaded by the Spanish have a beautiful pedestrianised plaza. A plaza marks the centre of the city and has a water fountain, gardens and seats. It’s like a gigantic roundabout. Surrounding that is an elaborate stone town hall and churches. Peru’s towns and villages have the best plazas in South America so there was no question that the capital city had to be the most beautiful. Lima’s town square or plaza is a warm yellow. Street lights hang over head and reminded me of Vienna. The white horses and carriages reminded me of Central Park, New York. Lima is a port city and has a third of Peru’s population living there. It fascinates me how the world in the present day looks because of the world’s past events. Every city around the world has a story to tell and to see and feel.
The afternoon’s mission took us for a three hour sightseeing mission around this very, very large city. We didn’t have time for a walking tour around the city but three taxis later we saw all we needed to. We got back to the hotel in time for a farewell dinner with our group and an introductory lesson to Wolf Juice in the hotel foyer before midnight, I mean bed. Four hours later we were in the taxi and on the way to the airport. Farewell Peru, farewell group travel.

Hello Chile, hello freedom! We wouldn’t swap the last few months for anything but I can’t express how nice it is to finally be on our own again. On our time. We only had 2.5 days left of our honeymoon so it was a rather nice that those days were just back to the two of us. Dave and I travel really well together. We enjoy the busy times and as well as the quiet times but most of all we are just in sync with each other’s needs. The original plan for our .5 of the 2.5 days was to chill. We joined lunch and dinner together, and had an afternoon of food and wine only a block from our hotel room before coming back and sleeping for 12 hours. We needed that so badly.
Dave could have quite easily have repeated that for the following two days but bloody hell that would have been a boring blog. When we finished breakfast the following morning at 9:45am and asked the receptionist when the city’s free walking tour started, she said 10am. So we got our A into G and we were off. We made it to the city as the free walking tour group were walking off. We made it. I’m so glad we did as it set the tone for the following 12 hours.
Santiago, our last city to visit. As we walked around we were very much underwhelmed with what we saw. If you compare it to the rest of South America it doesn’t have that beautiful Spanish influence, it just looks like a boring grey city. That’s because it was a failed Spanish invasion. The Spanish tried to build a relationship with the indigenous folk of the town. To prove this was the case they trained up a young boy, educated him and taught him all they needed to know about running a country. This young boy (age 20) escaped the Spanish power and formed his own army and returned with vengeance and kicked the Spanish out of the country. One of his strategies was weakening the Spanish army by nicking all their wives. It was a mental strategy.The Spanish didn’t put up much of a fight as there was no gold or silver anyway, or maybe they didn’t like their wives. After those early years, dictators took over and placed heavy sanctions on the people and their rights,in so far as mass killings and espionage. It was only 10 years ago they really got their rights back. Only last year they squashed the right of the army to arrest people because they looked suspicious. All culture was removed from Chile up until 10 years ago. Paintings, books, everything, gone! Now a days many people can’t read as books are just too expensive. There’s a 20% tax on books, making them unaffordable, yet a bottle of wine is nearly cheaper than water. They even have a saying in Chile, anyone can write whatever they like because no one can read it.
Chileans really have had to deal with a lot over the last few decades. On top of their dictatorship, they tri-monthly have to deal with natural events which cause distress. Earthquakes in Chile and Japan occur more frequently than anywhere else in the world sometimes three times a month, often getting as high as 8.5. It’s not really surprising that a country that has gone through so much would seek release through ladies or alcohol Nor is it really surprising that the tourists want to share in their frustrations with them… We befriended a Norwegian and Israeli guy on the free walking tour and spent the afternoon, then evening with them. Side note, that is what I’ll miss about travelling. The most interesting and intelligent people you come across. Everyone loves travelling, from doctors to police officers, professors, teachers, students, engineers. We have met amazing people along the way. An afternoon of conversation will quite often be around the world events, politics or economy. Worldly, open minded people ready to befriend strangers. More often than not a name or job position will not ever be shared but the travel stories are good enough for National Geographic. Anyway, we were told about three must- try drinks while in Chile. The Earthquake, The Aftershock and The Tsunami. Wow -wee they were as strong as an 8.5 earthquake. Wine, fernete and pineapple ice cream was one of them. Followed by Chilean food it made for a perfect afternoon. As for the evening, that was the fourth must try drink…. The coffee. Chileans are not famous for their coffee. In fact they don’t even produce it. Back in the day coffee shops or the concept of drinking coffee wasn’t popular so one, clever, man decided to fix that. He created stand up coffee shops. There was no need to sit down, just stand behind bar tables and sip coffee while being served by ladies in very skimpy, tight outfits. Coffee shops became popular and people didn’t think about the taste of the coffee. Over time the concept was getting old so it needed to be spiced up. The ‘classic coffee shops’ were replaced with ‘coffee with legs, coffee shops’, taking blondes with two legs to a new level, maybe even blondes with a limp. These shops had blackened out windows and ladies wearing skimpy bikinis. How long do you reckon it took before that got old? Not long! Now the city has three versions, the third being a ‘happy minute coffee shop’. Throughout the day, the manager will lock the door of the coffee shop and give the coffee drinkers a 1 minute NAKED dance on the table. The whole thing probably sounds like a brothel or a joke but it’s neither. It’s serious, it’s as common as seeing a Starbucks or regular coffee shop and busin
ess men go in as often as the tourists. The government take it seriously too, probably because they are men. There are rules in place. Only coffee or similar is to be sold, no alcohol. They must be in the business district of downtown area not it the suburbs and opening hours are to be normal coffee shop hours.
After the three crazy cocktails we had, we decided to go for a coffee. This proved to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth COFFEE SHOP we put our head into definitely didn’t look like a coffee shop. After the 7th coffee shop we realised they were all the same, a coffee is just a coffee isn’t it? Behind the blackened windows were neon lights, bar stools and the ladies who had string bikinis, although they were wearing them upside down and the bottom triangle on the g-string was smaller than a 20c piece. Oh and they weren’t ‘just’ grinding the coffee. If you ordered a coffee it was $2. If you wanted some grinding of the ‘beans’ it was $3 and you got your coffee for $1. I was happy with paying full price for my coffee, after all I have no beans worth grinding. If you can just imagine these coffee shops in your city and how weird they would be or how weird it would be to get your 9am coffee served to you by a lady in a string bikini. This is so much part of the city that a coffee shop moved into the ground floor of a building that had childcare upstairs. Believe it or not, the ladies from the childcare started disagreeing with the coffee shop waitresses. You would think they would have so much in common. The childcare requested them to leave, the coffee shop refused and the childcare took them to court. You guessed it, the childcare got asked to move, the coffee shop remained. It’s rather shortsighted because after a ‘1 happy minute’, the childcare may just be needed.

We woke up super early after our night out in coffee town, still shaking like an earthquake however. For our last full day of adventure, on our honeymoon, we took the metro and then the coach to Valparaiso and then the metro to Vina Del Mar. Our seats for the two hour couch journey were on the second floor, in reclining sofa seats with a panoramic view out. They are a far stretch from Santiago’s public buses that the public despise. So much so that the public “burn” one every time one breaks down, get stuck in a tunnel or when the bendy buses get stuck around corners – No one thought to measure the tunnels before purchasing the buses. Our whole point of venturing out was to try and find a beach to enjoy a leisurely lunch and wine. The sea fog was so heavy in the morning, we couldn’t actually find it. At the end of our last day, it made no difference what we saw. Hanging out with my Dave was enough. An earthquake drink and empanadas in bed, while listening to jazz buskers on the street marked the end of our overseas adventure. The 5 day trip home to Brisbane starts tomorrow. We’re ready.

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Days 356 – 358: Peru; Mystery and Nature Nasca, Peru

Nasca, Peru

What to do after breakfast?… Hmmmm… What to do? Oh, I know! Let’s go to an open cemetery and see some dead bodies! What a grand idea… Or not. Bear with me, if I had to sit through it, so do you. It’s only one gory paragraph.
There’s not many places in the world you could drive into the desert and see hundreds of open graves. Mummies sit crouched down in these 3m x3m wide holes, still with clothes on and their hair up to 3m in length wrapped around their bodies and some with 20cm long toe nails. Nail technicians, eat your heart out! A straw roof now protects them from the sun but these graves were once covered in wood, then straw and topped with sand. Imagine the poor bugger that first walked over this hidden grave and fell in. In actual fact, they were only discovered because of a once in a blue moon flood that floated them to the surface.
It is impressive that these bodies have lasted a staggering 1800 years, through the harsh elements! It only rains for two hours each year so in actual fact it’s the dry elements that have preserved them all this time.
1800 years ago the world would have been a very different place, as would the culture and traditions. I had to remember that as I saw my first dead person and the stories that went with it. Once the mummies died, their tendons were cut before rigger-mortis set in, this was to place them in the foetal position as this position represented life. They were also cut open and had pottery placed inside them, filled with gold or just water. The fact the water was found in their bodies in bowls, 1800 years later is amazing – but totally weird. Baby’s heads were decapitated (while alive) and used as sacrifices to the condor birds – to pray for rain. Adult heads were decapitated during a battle, then a hole drilled in and a belt was threaded through and used as a trophy around the ‘winners’ waist. The missing heads on some of the bodies were replaced with cotton and then sat up to rest, for tourists to see 1800 years later… If you’re feeling sick, so was I. I left after the third grave. I got the point after a few, I didn’t need to see them all.

Moving right along. On to the Nasca Lines. Our guide, a National Geographic archeologist drew a comparison between the Nazca people (the mummies) and the Nasca Lines. He believes that the lines were completed at the same time by the Nasca people. Dave did a flight up and over the Nasca Lines as it’s really the only way you can actually see and appreciate the lines. Similar lines were completed by the Palpa people a few centuries before the Nazca lines, but were on the slopes of hills which meant they could be seen from the ground.
I got a little / lot frustrated with our Nasca Line’s guide. When I visit a place I need to know the “who, when, where, why, how” to really understand a place. Sadly these questions cannot be answered definitively about the Nasca Lines, even after a hundred years of research nobody knows the answers. The Nasca Lines look as though they have been dug slightly into the ground. It is said that whirly whirlies clean the lines out naturally. Each line width is about 30cm wide. The Nasca Line shapes are the following sizes: the whale (65m), three point trapeze (3km), owl man (35m), monkey (90m), dog (50m), condor (135m), spider (46m), hummingbird (97m), flamingo (300m), parrot (230m), hands (50m) and a tree (70m). These lines and figures are obviously very gigantic and would have been an achievement to accomplish nowadays let alone 1800 years ago without a plane. All they had was a string and chalk as markers. After listening to our local guide, one thing is for certain – aliens aren’t responsible for these mysterious lines and geoglyphs in the Ica desert.

A weird moment – we just popped into a supermerco / supermarket in a shopping plaza. The out skirts of this town is surrounded with clay huts and mud roads. Then we entered into this brand new, sparkly Westfield-like shopping complex, filled with designer shoe shops, Starbucks and other shops you would expect to see included. It even had a Bunnings equivalent next door. Trust me when I say it felt out of place in South America. Inside, it felt like we were in Australia. Then we stepped out to three seater tok toks. Odd feeling. So saying, we took advantage all the same and enjoyed a Starbucks coffee and fancy clean toilet facilities – although I’ll never get used to collecting my toilet paper ‘before’ entering into the cubicle.

There couldn’t have been a better way to spend our last night camping. Under the stars in the middle of the sand dunes. Backing up a few hours, dune buggies picked us up at 4pm from Huacachina. Huacachina is a cool little town built between sand dunes. The picturesque lagoon is surrounded by palm trees and towering sand dunes and creates a tranquil natural oasis in the dusty coastal desert that has been dubbed the ‘Sahara of South America’.
The buggies we took out for an afternoon on the dunes were fitted with full body roll cages and racing car safety belts. The engines started and the 10 of us zoomed off, straight up and around the dunes. In Namibia we did the dunes on 4×4 quad bikes. Doing it in buggies we were in the hands of an experienced driver so could go four wheel driving, should I say flying over these huge dunes at tremendous speed. That wasn’t where the adrenalin stopped. The drivers stopped at 4 dune peaks, pulled out snowboard looking boards for the each of us to fly down at excessive speed – on our tummies. Each dune got ***************er as the day went on. Each time we lay with our face two centimetres from the sand, then the driver put his hand between our legs – the back of the board and pushed us of the cliff. The last one had two hills first then the ‘drop’ down. It was epic. I fish tailed my way down with bruises in all spots and Dave came rolling off mid way before recovering last minute. After watching the sunset over the dunes, the buggies delivered us to a sand dune mega bowl. Our campsite for the night. It was perfect as the wind was quite cold so being at the bottom of a bowl provided protection. The drivers had a fire going and camp chairs surrounding it. A BBQ dinner around the fire, Pisco cola, wine and clubbing music (?), mixed in with great company made for the perfect last night. As I write this, I’m lying in my sleeping bag in the sand, trying not to roll down the hill, in a sand dune in western Peru. This is really an amazing last night in the outdoors before our journey comes to an end. The night of all nights.

I can’t say it was the best night sleep I’ve ever had. Mid way through the night I worked out a way of making a ledge for my foot to be dug into so I didn’t slide down the hill. It doesn’t rain out there but it does have fog that makes everything a little wet at times . I wouldn’t swap travelling experiences for anything, even sleep. At 6:30am we were back in the buggies for our last big spin before returning to the Huacachina for a 2 minute shower and 3 minute breakfast. The very last outing included in the trip was a boat trip around the Ballestas Islands. Widely known as the “poor mans Galápagos Islands”, yet it is one of the most popular ecotourism points of view along the Peruvian coast.
The Ballestas Islands has weird and wonderful wildlife. From the boat we saw Humboldt Penguins, Blackish Oyster catchers, Guano Cormorants and Peruvian Boobies living alongside vast colonies of South American Sea Lions nosily crowding the Ballestas coastline. That explanation is straight from the brochure but in Julia terms this is what we saw. One of a few thousand sea lions we saw was a male teenager, lying on his back with his ding dong just hanging out. I didn’t even know male seals had ding dongs but I suppose they’d have to. Quite rightly, he was placed next to the beach named “pregnancy beach”, mums giving birth and teaching their cubs to swim. Around the corner was a whole rock face filled with boobies, endangered ones at that. Sadly they were the sort of boobies that delivered unwanted droppings to passers by, not the ones the boys were hopi
ng to see. The penguins will always be my favourite, all dressed up in their black and white, sadly with nowhere to go.

Our home for the last two months rolled into Lima. Cindy, the Dragoman truck, started with 21 travel buddies, but finished with 8. I won’t lie, this particular Dragoman trip has given me some unwanted grey hairs both from the passengers and crew. Overall, we have enjoyed it and come away with lasting memories and friendships. The more you put into anything, the more you get out of it. Patience and tolerance is a new skill I have, sort of.
Sixty days ago we started our South American adventure in Rio, Brazil and travelled through Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia before finishing in Peru. Of course over landing in a truck meant we could go in every which way to get to that finish line. This particular route took us on four legs or four trips:
* Rio – Buenos Aires, 4,375km – 75 hours
* Buenos Aires – La Paz, 3,603km – 83 hours
* La Paz – Cusco, 825km – 16hours
* Cusco – Lima, 2,070km – 38hours.
In total, that meant in 60 days we drove 10,873 kilometres in 212 hours! Although sad we can’t finish this trip in Ecuador with our friends, it’s time to go home. There will always be places in this world we will want to see. I think we have done South America justice. We have five more days left, to explore two capital cities and prepare ourself physically and mentally for the trip

South America has a lot more history than I’d realised and it’s a place that knowing the language would really go along way, particularly numbers. After two months this is what we learnt, phonetically:
Hola, puedo comprar un cafe con leche caliente y dos agua frio sin gas, y un baño por favor (Hello. Can I buy one coffee with milk hot and two cold waters with no bubbles and the bathroom please?)
Gratis (thank you)
Da nada (no problem)
Ciao (good bye)
Buen dia (good day)
That by the way is more than we learnt in all languages in 12 months. What can we say, languages aren’t really our thing but we give it ago

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Days 351 – 355: Peru – Canyons to Coasts Colca Canyon, Peru

Colca Canyon, Peru

I wanted a traditional South American home stay. My goodness me, I got it. Unlike Livichuco home stay in Bolivia that was touristy, Raqchi is the real deal. We were guests of the local families in their traditional houses. Since 2005, 22 families have been hosting people in their houses. Some of the families had children. Thankfully our large group (2trucks driving parallel to Lima, 21people) were split into groups of 4 so each family could host us in their Peruvian house. Ambrosia and Herberto, our “Peruvian Mamma and Pappa” collected us from the truck. They pushed a wheelbarrow with our belongings up the narrow alleyway with dirt streets into their mud home. For lunch they cooked us a pea and bean salad, quinoa soup and alpaca steak. There are 25 varieties of quinoa grown in Peru. At only a few bucks a kilo, quinoa is used in everything. Dinner was as extravagant but what made it was ambrosia was my mamma, allowing me to help cook. As she spoke no English, a translator explained on my behalf “I’ll need all the help I can get in my new role as a wife”. She laughed and taught me a new way of cutting one of the 4,200 varieties of Peruvian potatoes. The “cooktop” was a clay box with a fire underneath, a far stretch from what we (Dave) are used to at home.
Apart from the massive amounts of food we consumed, Raqchi has the largest Inca temple in the Andean territory and 10m circular store grainery huts used to support the Inca population for up to 5 years, in times of natural disasters. Although built in 1532, they are very sturdy structures, built using a seismic system. These large structures wouldn’t have withheld the elements if they were built by the INCApables (aka, the Spanish). The main source of income for this village is farming and pottery. A pottery demonstration proved to be interesting. With only 3 hours sleep from the night out before we were all a little worse for wear but soon got in the mood when our host mamma gave us traditional clothes to wear for the evenings entertainment. Dave, along with all the males, wore a colourful poncho and woolly hats with long ears and tails. The females wore pleated skirts, woven jackets, colourful alpaca scarfs, a blanket shoulder bag and of course their very cool flat hats that proved to be useful shelter when it rained. The ceremony we attended was a replica of the one the Andean people have every August. Holding 3 coca leaves in each hand, we blew on them and made a wish for safe travels and good health, followed by dipping the coca leaves in beer with flowers. These flowers, the beer and coca leaves are then buried for a sacrifice. As far as traditional home stays and local interactions go, this one hit the nail on the surface, or whatever that saying is.

What would you need to make condor spotting exciting? Some condors and a passionate, expressive local guide. Although the Colca Canyon, located in the Andes is 500,000 to 1 million year’s old, it was only really discovered 20 years ago when a Polish writer published a book on a white water rafting in the canyon. The author guessed the depth. He was out by 1,000m but it put the canyon on the tourist route, making it Peru’s third most visited attraction. It was only last year it was accurately measured and it’s the deepest in the world, at 4,160m deep. For a comparison, the Grand Canyon is 1,900m and twice the length.

Everything in Peru is big, the mountains, the canyons, the deserts. But I tell you who lucked out, the people. I’m short but by golly they are shorter. Most of them are tuckable under my arm. Indigenous people in this area, the Collawas and the Cabanas, can be differentiated by their traditional clothing and face shape. Prior to the Spanish invading and stopping this act, these indigenous folk used to shape their faces based on which volcano they worshiped (as you do…). The Collawas made a long and thin wooden mould to stretch their baby’s faces into the ‘long and thin’ volcano. Whereas the Cabanas worshiped the ‘short and fat’ volcano, so you guessed what their mould looked like. Mid way through my thoughts, our guide answered the question we were all thinking.. What would their kids look like if they were mixed? Triangles of course, because no one wins in a compromise!
There was one good thing that came from the Spaniards invading (apart from every town in Peru now having a Spanish style plaza, town hall and grid system but no Incas, they killed them).That is their outfits. The indigenous ladies liked the Spanish ladies dresses, jackets and hats. Except the Spanish had silk and the indigenous preferred alpaca material with embroidery, so they altered it to make it their own. To this day, this is what they wear. At least the cheeky Spaniards were good for something.
Anyway, back to the reason we were there. The Condors, second biggest bird in the world with a wing span of 3.80m. They are fond of this particular part of the valley because they soar using the thermals of warm air rising from the canyon, without any effort. Kinda acting like an elevator to get higher. Our leaders say on average tourists normally see two or three condors at any one time – we saw 22 soaring the sky. After an hour of watching them effortlessly gliding, our attention was out and shopping replaced it. Just at the crux of an important business deal (moon stone necklace from Nazca and a mineral from Colca Canyon) 22 condors came out of the valley and flew over us. You know the moral of this story is to shop, shop, shop. Bolivia and Peru are so cheap but let’s hope our luggage allowance is as cheap. One last thing on condors, I promise. When they get to the ripe old age of about 80 and their time is ready to end, they commit suicide. There are a number of theories as to why they fly directly up to altitudes of 6,500m and fall from the sky. Some include, the altitude is higher than they can handle, they don’t want to die of natural causes or they are without their significant other so they fly up that high and dive down hitting the ground with a splat. On that note, following the condor spotting, not splatting, we had a yummy buffet lunch although the still ‘furry’ guinea pig was just a bit too hard to pretend it was chicken. Plus, the teeth and little paws poking off the side of the plate didn’t help.

On the drive to Arequipa we were at over 4,900m and saw three active volcanoes spitting out ash (Volcanic ash, not our friend Ash). It was only yesterday one of them was spitting rocks, but that was yesterday so we’re “all good”. Speaking of good, there is one thing I like about group travel and one thing I don’t. I like travel more than life itself but the group part, not too much. Groups are like an Allan’s Party Mix bag of lollies.The yummy milk bottles you always pick first, by the end you’re left with the awful black jelly beans that you can’t get rid of. Those black jelly beans have been a bit nasty at times which has left me a bit sad. With only two weeks of our adventures to go, and an encouraging email from family, I chose to just smile and enjoy/ignore it. The other option was chucking the black jelly beans out the truck window. Thankfully we are travelling along side another Dragoman truck, that is full of wonderful milk bottles. To start this positive week, we opted for a Virtual Sunday over sightseeing in Arequipa. After a 2 hour leisurely breakfast in the sun, the ‘milk bottles’ (Dave, Davo, Davie, Ash, Heather, Yasmin and I) walked through the beautiful town of Arequipa to the supermarket and did our cook group shopping for the following few days… Who am I kidding? Dave sent me to shop for our afternoon picnic while he shopped for the groups food.
The hotel we were staying in was flash as bro! We sat under the the huge willow-like trees on the grass, sprawled out on deck chairs eating an antipasto spread fit for a king and drinking an esky full of white sangria – oh yea! The afternoon couldn’t be better. But it was. I met Rhian’s little girl on Skype. Had cake and coffee with the girls. Went out for a flash as dinner with the ‘milk bottles’ to a flash as restaurant. The owner of the restau
rant treated us to liquid nitrogen Pisco Sours (Pisco Sours is a Peruvian cocktail) as dessert. We were happy with the garlic bread starter but when he bought out a gas bottle, a foam gun and a pot we had already started oooohhiing and ahhhhhhing. Once complete, he put this ice looking scoop onto a ceramic spoon. If we placed the ice on the back of our tongue and breathed out, smoke came out of our mouths like a dragon. If you put it on the front of your tongue, the minus 186 degree ice hurt like hell – not that’d I’d know…

Today we drove eight hours, travelling from 2,500m down to SEA LEVEL, 0m.a.s.l No more altitude sickness! Today marks 51 days since we were last at the ocean. We have travelled from one side of the continent, the Brazilian coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, to the other, the Peruvian Coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The moment we drove through the barren sandy mountains and spotted the coast reminded us so much of Namibia. Coastline on one side and sand dunes on the other. Our campsite that night was smack bang on the ocean. The huge waves crashed through the night only metres from our head. I was on the boys cook group and it was a given that our one night with an open fire was going to be given to the boys + me to cook that night. Dave was like a kid in a candy store lighting the fire with our cool co-leader Steve. However, the girls nearly fell over backward when Steve asked for a tampon (unused) to light the fire. Sure enough, it makes for a good fire starter – and now you know. Garlic bread, sausages, hamburgers and marshmallows on the fire next to the the ocean, sipping my shandy. It’s good to be back camping!

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Days 345 – 350: The Inca Trail – Through My Eyes Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru

Our goal like many millions before us is to reach Machu Picchu via the Inca trail. Most people would assume there is just one ‘Inca trail’ but in actual fact there are a few inca routes, including the Classic and Community treks. Back in the day (the 1400’s), the Incas walked from Cusco to the summit of Machu Picchu. The Classic route is from the bottom of Machu Picchu mountain to the summit. The Community route takes you on a leg of the royal Inca route, to the bottom of Machu Picchu. The Classic is the **********e to get on because it is advertised as going through the Sun Gates at sunrise (but it’s actually at 6am) and is less kilometres and lower in altitude. The problem with that one is you’re trekking with a few hundred people beside you on a trek well worn by tourists.
News flash I have something good to say about Dragoman: they are the only company to have set up a Community Trek, using the Inca trail, with profits from us benefiting the community through social and environmental projects. Only Dragoman customers are allowed on this specific Inca trail. This means the only people we will see for the next 4 days will be the 15 of us and the wonderful Andean Travel Crew and one token Dragoman guide. On the Classic trip, they will walk along side up to 200 tourists and 200 guides and sherpas.
The best thing about the Community Inca Trek is that the profit goes to communities – if only a measly $25 per person. They have actually just changed the trek route so that a different community will benefit as the old one has become self sustainable. The communities are often resistant at first, as anyone would be getting something for nothing. The first year is getting to know the community and finding out what they actually want, not what a large organisation thinks they need. The last trek project lasted 10 years. It funded and supported a community by formally educating school teachers and paying for an extra teacher until the government took over 9 years later. The money built a hotel to give locals jobs, rebuilt a school, reforested (30k plants) and bought a school bus so kids could go to secondary school in the neighbouring town rather than walking the three hour journey each day (also it was the first privately owned school bus in Peru).
The second project community trek, the one we are on, is assisting a new community. This new project, using our contribution will directly fund major projects, including reintroducing alpacas and llamas to the land they once inhabited 200 years ago and funding a reforestation project. Each alpaca cost $150, so our group basically bought two of the furry devils. The community will benefit from a breeding program for wool and meat. The other project is the reforestation of native trees. Non native trees (such as the eucalyptus) drink too much of the valuable water supply. Using money from treks coming through in the following months, they will be able to help plant the new trees. Although the physical benefits will be seen in a year’s time, the social benefits won’t be realised for many years. With the help of Dragoman customers trekking the Community Trek, this particular project will be completed in 7years. Every project also pays for the community to have dental and medical care twice yearly.
To sustain the established community, the first community trek, is now opened to other travel companies. Places that weren’t on the map, now are thanks to this fantastic initiative. With that intro out of the way, the 5 day, 4 night journey to Machu Picchu begins. A journey of emotions, challenges and achievements.

DAY ONE – It begins
4am – I can’t sleep. I’ve already started worrying about today’s trek and we haven’t even left the hotel. I’m not the fittest person and I’m worried about trekking in the altitude. At least it’s only a short 2 – 4 hours today – or is it? How long does 6 km take to walk?

7am – We’re in the bus and ready to go. I’ve just found a hole in my pants. At least the people behind me for the next few days will know if I’ve changed my knickers or not.

8am – Visit to the Saqsaywaman city which is built to look like a head of a puma. It’s body was Cuzco…. If you have a bloody good imagination. The Incas worshiped:
– The Condor Bird (representing before birth or heaven – Machu Picchu looks like a condor supposedly)
– The Puma (Representing life on earth – and looks like Cuzco)
– The Snake (representing the afterlife or underworld – yip I can see how they thought the snake looks like a river.. The river and the Milky Way link creating the circle of life)
Back to Saqsaywaman city, the temple. This rock masterpiece was once 20m high. It’s amazing to think that something of this size was achieved in the 14th century, built over 25years by 300,000 people – all this for a temple. Sadly not much remains as prior to 1956, locals could take granite rocks from the former temple to build their houses. The Spanish also used them for building church stone walls in Cusco city. It would be as odd as going to the Vatican and stealing the light bulbs for your own house.
The Inca ‘headquarters’ was in Cusco which is why there are so many ruins. The Incan empire was a powerful civilisation that spread as far as Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. They worshiped the sun and moon as it was important to agriculture.

10am – Fantastic presentation of traditional woven materials. ‘Another’ opportunity to buy a woven alpaca blanket. It’s just so cheap.

11am – Interesting visit to a former Incan temple, built in the 15 century. The Spanish invaded and tried to integrate the Catholic religion by building on top of the Incan temples. Now a days, the Peruvian government wants to build an airport in the middle of this serenity. I think they all need to be more considerate.

12pm – It’s probably as clear as day that neither Dave or I have done so much as Google anything about the Incan trail, let alone research how hard it is. We didn’t know how long, or how many days until the pre departure meeting last night. The trek has just begun and we have just found out our route is 45km and over two mountain ranges – so much for a flat stroll up to Machu Picchu.

1pm – It begins. The bus dropped us off to the furthest point. It’s a daunting thought of what lays head.

5pm – Day one is over. We were so relieved to have arrived. Today was through farmland so the odd cow avoidance was necessary. After 4 hours of trekking I find out we haven’t actually started the Inca trek. Today was a practice. What the…..? This is a little worrying. They said today was easy yet we are all out of breath.
As we haven’t started the trek, we are in a home stay with a toilet and beds. Tomorrow, we won’t be so lucky.

8:03PM – So tired, lights out early – on a Easter Saturday night. Rookies.

DAY TWO – 12 km, straight up
3:30am – My lord, it’s Easter Sunday and the music and ceremony for Easter has started in the village. Yes, at 3:30am. Do they not know they have alllllll weekend to celebrate or commiserate. (KRIS: don’t shake your head at me)

5am – The sherpa / servant / guide dudes knocked on the door for wake up call, turned the lights on, and delivered us coffee in bed. Oh yea! Coca Tea (the devine plant and what cocaine is made from) is also offered as it helps with altitude sickness.
It is said that today is the hardest day. The plan is to increase in altitude by 1100m, bringing us to 4500m.a.s.l by the end of the day.

9:15am – It’s only 9:15. I feel like I’ve walked all day, yes it’s only been two hours and 20 mins. Mind you, now we have already walked up 600 metres. Bringing us to 4000m.a.s.l. That is very steep and very high. It’s like walking up a staircase in this air. One foot in front of the the other, like a wedding walk is the only way to make it.

10:30am – Break stop, in fetal position, collapsed..

11:30am – Holly ****! – we actually made it to the highest point of the day, 4500m.a.s.l. Climbing up the last 200 Metres w
as so steep it was nearly hands and knees. Anything after that is going to be easy(ier). Even before lunch we have gone though farmland, forests and tussock grass fields.

3:15pm – 8.5 hours after we left the home stay, we arrived at our home for the night… the side of a mountain. After Kris, Dave and I got there in 2nd and 3rd place. Not even 20 metres away from the tents site I fell over. This time, straight in the mud. Wet pants, shoes and socks – Sigh. At least this time it wasn’t a cow patty -Relief.

There are two groups of mules and sherpas. For the four hours it takes us to walk, it takes these guys 1 hour. They are as old as 65 and they run ahead of us with their pack horses along side them. The first group of sherpas were ahead of us at lunch, so a pre cooked 3 course meal was served in a tent when we arrived. The second group were ahead of us at dinner. Our tents were set up by the time we got there. This was perfect as it started raining on our arrival and just didn’t stop. (Here they say “it rains alpacas and llamas” not cats and dogs) Straight to bed at 15:30. Dinner isn’t for a few hours – let’s hope it’s room service….

4:15pm – The sherpas called out ‘agua caliente’ outside our tent and two tiny dog bowl sized bowls full of warm water were delivered – for showering our hands, feet and woopsidasey. I giggled uncontrollably showering my whole body in a bowl of water, inside of our dome tent.

DAY THREE – 13 km
5am – The sherpas came knocking on our tent with coffee and bowls for washing ourselves. Last night was freezing, without the wind chill it was -5 on the side of the cliff. By 6:20am we had enjoyed breakfast and were on the trail. It begins, again.

9:45am – We have been walking up hill for the last 3.5 hours. Yesterday’s trek took us up and over a mountain range. Today was through a valley with the last leg before lunch ‘directly up’ 200m to another mountain. We’ve crossed ice, rivers and marshland already.

10:50am – Made it to the highest point of our trek, 4,700m – from THIS moment on it’s all down hill. That last bit was sheer cliff face with red rock. It’s another hour and a half before lunch is ready and waiting for us.

4:30pm – We have arrived. Second and last big day. Apart from the epic climb to the top, it was a day full of valleys and cliff faces heading downwards. It’s amazing how fast the body adapts, physically and mentally. A few days ago I was struggling to walk a few metres or up stairs. Once that mammoth, up hill mountain walk yesterday morning was completed, I felt like anything could be tackled. Mind over matter and the body adapting to the altitude and fitness requirements. The tent site tonight is in a valley, with clouds coming right down to the river and glaciers in the distance. A former school (tiny building) lays in the valley. Only 5 kids attended so it was closed. The government required 15 pupils. Those 5 kids must now walk for miles to a neighbouring schools each week.

DAY FOUR- 14km
5am – The last walk taking us from our campsite in the mountins to a hotel with shower. Problem is it’s raining and has been all night, even with a bit of snow. All the mountains surrounding are covered in white. Dave and I slept in all our layers of thermals and it’s still freezing. I’m just looking forward to being there now. Let’s hope the rain stops…… We delayed the start until 730am, until the rain stopped.

10am – So close to the finish and I’m, again, shin deep in mud. Once again the shoes are gross for the last hour. At least that wasn’t the foot with a blister the size of my toe. Just man up Julia, just man up!

11am – Dave and I were the first two to walk over the finish line, two hours ahead of schedule. We actually ran for it but he has longer legs so got first place. Gets me every time.. When we started this walk four days ago, we couldn’t breath. Huff puff every two minutes, just walking up a hill. By the end, walking hours on end was just a stroll in the park (…a park on a cliff face). The ups were obviously harder than the downs. Like anything ‘the challenge’ is what makes it memorable. I can see why the people on this trip have set themselves challenges such as Everest, Kilimanjaro and now the Inca Trail. We could have taken the easy route, via the train. However we choose to walk the path the Incas took, up 4,700km of high mountains, through forests, farmland, marshland, mountain ranges and ancient Inca terraces. We contributed financially to projects in the community and to the hard working sherpas who worked tirelessly for us. Achieving something of this enormity, is something we will remember for life.

4pm – This is the time we should be going to look at the Ollantaytambo Sun Temple worship thing. This is the place the Incas would go before going to Machu Piccho for afternoon worshipping. That’s ‘nearly’ as impressive as our dear friend Kris going to mass at 3am before a 12 hour trek. The temple is strategically placed with views over the Sacred Valley providing a perfect defence location. The most amazing thing I have heard about the Incas to date is the effort they went into to make this temple. They MOVED THE RIVER to get the giant rocks across from the mountain to the new temple. Like, who does that?
This 4pm session of Inca information was courtesy of Kris who went on our behalf. After the big walk we opted for chilling in a pub and wandering the markets while appreciating the view from a distance.

DAY FIVE – A day at Machu Piccho (translating in Quechua language to “old bird” or “old peak” – if pronounced wrong, it translates to Old Penis)

7:30am -I am sitting on the cute little Machu Piccho-choo train up to Machu Picchu sipping organic coffee and chocolate. Thank goodness it’s by train, then by bus, because my whole body aches – damn exercise.

9am – Arrived at the entrance to Machu Picchu along with a few thousand other people. We had a wonderful guide who gave us the low down on this high city in the clouds. To summarise over 100 years of effort by 10,000 workers, Machu Picchu was built in 1414, between mountains and was classed as an ‘administration city’ as it was central to 20 other Inca cities. Although it feels like it’s in the clouds, this “New 7 Wonder” is located at 2400m.a.s.l. For me, what makes this so impressive is the condition it is in; meaning it doesn’t look like a pile of rocks. It’s incredible the way these rocks have been ‘carved’ to ‘join’ together. For this reason the structures remain intact after 600 odd years and survived natural elements and disasters. There are a number of hypotheses for why the Incas left Machu Picchu in an unfinished state. The most likely is the Spaniards invading South America, although they never actually found Machu Picchu. Sadly the last living Inca was found in South America in 1572, about 35 years after the Spanish invasion that killed the Inca civilisation. I think another interesting feature in this place that was designed to house 500 Incas is the strategically placed windows. They are positioned in a way that proves it was them who started the idea of 4 seasons. The whole of this city and the 100 stone retaining walls used for terracing the farms was built facing east, towards the sun rise. All of these design features show how advanced they were for their time, especially considering how bloody heavy these rocks would have been to move and chisel down with caveman-like tools. I would have never thought to sand my house down with pumice for goodness sake! They even had different quality buildings made of rocks based on hierarchy – high quality (for Gods – who would ‘actually’ live in there?), medium (priests and equivalent) and low (for the plebs).
Haven’t I come a long way from not really appreciating the “piles of rocks”? To finish our Inca expedition, we climbed up to the Sun Gate. That is the first place the Incas saw Machu Picchu after walking for eight days. As mentioned at the beginning that is where the Classic Trail first see Machu Picchu. After walking up h
uge, steep rock stairs up to the Sun Gate, we have a new found respect for our travelling companions who did that Classic trek. It’s a hard slog walking and climbing stone. After the visit to the Sun Gate our trekking days were officially over, so we caught the bus back to Aguas Calientes from where the train delivers us home – not before trying some guinea pig and drinking beer. The little animal’s skin is a bit odd but the meat tastes similar to chicken. Trust our doctor mate Kris to dissect the head – thankfully the eyeballs came out after the last bite 🙂

11pm – We finally arrived back into Cusco. Although a relief to be back, that sadly marked the end of our journey with Kris. Over the last year we have travelled with hundreds of people but there really has only been a handful that we will be friends with for life. Kris has made the world of difference to the two of us over the last 6 weeks in South America. You live and breathe every moment with these people. They see you at your worst and the memories shared will be remembered for life. Kris – you’re one of a kind, top bloke – see you in OZ in a few years!

DAY SIX – A whole lot of nothing
No 5am wake up call, no delivery of coffee to the tent, no showering in a bowl, no toilets in holes in the ground, no 8 hour walking up a cliff, no cold tent to sleep in – Only sleep ins, wifi and massive amounts of western food at Jack’s Cafe is planned for today. The last 5 days was bloody hard work, probably the most physically challenging thing we have ever done. I wouldn’t swap a day of it for anything – and I can now do up the top button on my pants! That feeling of accomplishment can only come from hard work. Dave was with me, as always, by my side motivating and supporting me to finish. Although I’m not surprised, I am thankful. We did it together, as we always do. What better way to celebrate than to spend the last day in Cusco, just the two of us. Cusco is a cool little town. The main square and little cobbled streets remind me of Prague but as it’s a town with the sole purpose of people doing treks so it feels like Kathmandu. It has all the same little trekking shops as Kathmandu does for trekkers to Everest.

After a leisurely breakfast together, Dave and I went and had a 1 hour couples full body massage for $30! Midway through, my masseuse was switched and a commotion began behind the see through curtains. Once we were dressed and got up to leave we realised the commotion was 4 cops and someone from the ministry having a blue with the masseuses. At least we got out in time, before the unwanted “happy ending” commenced!

With the Inca adventures over, the last leg of this trip to Lima is just about to begin…… But not before we say ola to our closest buddies from the last leg of our trip. It was a sad day when we bid Ashka, Dane, Lesley and Alex a fairwell in La Paz, Bolivia. Who would have thought a few weeks later, at 11pm at night we would stumble across them in the world’s highest Irish pub in Cusco, Peru. There was no other choice but to go out dancing with them at Mama Africa until 3:30am – and to get our face painted of course! Prior to this trip, 9pm was my late night. What did this lot do to me! The Incas never said goodbye, they said see you again, so that is what we did to our awesome kiwi buddies.
Only a few hours after we stumbled home, our bags were packed and we were on the road again. For the last time.

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Days 340 – 344: Incas on Floating 'Titis' Cusco, Peru

Cusco, Peru

It’s amazing how each day can be so different. Only a few hours away from the maniac world of La Paz was the coastal town of Copacabana, Bolivia. Although the little village looks like it’s on the ocean it’s actually a lake, Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca is the world’s largest, high – altitude, body of water 274m deep and 8300 square km in size. Incidentally if Lake Tahoe was emptied of water, it would cover the whole of California in a foot of water, yet Lake Titicaca is bigger. Oooohhhhh aaaahhhhh fascinating stuff….
My favourite part of the short visit to Copacabana, was arriving at our hotel room, lying on the bed with an ocean view and the sun streaming in the window (Ive been travelling too long. That shouldn’t have been a highlight). The following day we had a day out on a boat with major exhaust problems causing carbon monoxide poisoning to those in the cabin. A ****** mood probably didn’t do my attitude to the day justice. The purpose of our ‘boat adventure’ was to visit Isla Del Sol, Island of the Sun. It was significant to the Inca world with over 80 ruins dating back to the 15th century AD. A history buff I’m not, but it is said that the origin of the Incas was when the Sun and Moon were born on that island. Half the group didn’t do the 3 hour walk across the island which showed some of the important ruins. Dave and I were two of them who didn’t go. Seeing a pile of rocks with an associated story isn’t for everyone. Instead we visited the worlds highest beach, that had two token pigs meandering around.

The following morning after a ****** breakfast of stale rolls, we crossed the border into Peru. The cost of everything went up. As simple as crossing the road, a bar of Sublime Chocolate doubled, the quality of roads improved and the houses were sturdier.
A highlight of the South American trip so far was visiting the floating ‘Uros’ islands of Lake ‘Titicaca’. It is said that Titi means the animal puma and caca is rock. Puma Rock? what the? The Uros are pre – Incan people who live on 60 self built floating islands. The purpose of these island settlements was originally for defence. If a threat from the mainland arose, they could move locations. Even the island with the watchtower could move. Now a days, neither the Uro language nor beliefs are practiced but they keep a few of the old customs.The Aymara people reside there these days, mostly for tourism purposes. The larger islands house about 10 families, while smaller ones, only about thirty metres wide, house only 2-3 families.
There isn’t much to them they sleep on reed mats on the ground and that is about it. There is certainly no electricity and instead of TVs they have “natural contraception”. To relieve themselves, tiny ‘outhouse’ islands are near the main islands. The ground roots absorbs the waste. Kindergardens and primary schools are found on the floating islands but high schools are only found on the mainland, as are hospitals, cemeteries and churches. They eat fish and duck that they catch but more substantial food is delivered on a floating market boat, passing by weekly. What came at a surprise is that the little kids walking around these islands don’t fall into the water and there are no fires, considering they cook on rocks, centimetres from dry reeds.
Our boat pulled up to the side of the first reed island. Once standing on the reeds it felt like standing in soft, springy marsh. The teenage girls from one of the families grabbed us and pulled us into their reed house and let us try on their traditional clothes. I’d say we were ‘supporting the locals’ when we bought another South American souvenir. This time a wall hanging that we will turn into a large pillow.
After a tour around the houses, we sat down for a demonstration of how these islands are built. The floating islands are made up of totora reeds, which grow on the lake. The plants develop dense roots and interweave to form a natural layer about 1-2metres thick. More reeds are added to the top layer every few months, especially in the rainy season when the reeds rot much faster. They are also anchored with either ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake or a BIG stone used as an anchor. Following the visit to the island, we took reed boats (made from 2,000 empty water bottles and bundles of dried totora reeds) to another island which is where we ended our visit to the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

Random fact that I have nowhere else to put – Bolivia has just closed down its one and only McDonalds as it was running at a loss for the last 10 years. Not all nations can afford food that we take for granted.

I’m unsure what day of the week it is or how many days ago we left la Paz but en route to Cuzco we stopped at the Inca Sillustani Ruins. More piles of rocks. After listening to our local guide give a detailed discussion on these rocks I thought I better had ask who the Incas were and find out what all the fuss was about, particularly since we are walking the Inca trail in two days. Basically the pre Incas and Incas were a dominant indigenous civilisation of the central Andes between 11-15th century. They left ruins that can be seen now a days. Elaborate ruins, such as Machu Picchu were impressive in their time. The ruins we visited that day were a pre- Incan burial ground on a hill overlooking Lake Umayo. More specifically, 12m white stone towers used as funeral towers to bury the dead. The masonry was ahead of its time. Every little stone and join was thought out, some having up to 12 corners. The doorway or entrance to the towers were only knee high so that whoever entered (normally the priest) would be forced to bow, going on all fours to enter, paying respects to mother earth. Some of the Inca mummies found in these ‘tombs’ were found smiling as they believed in an after life. See I can be knowledgable when it comes to the super dry subject of history.

**news flash- news flash* Dragoman gave us a ‘real cultural experience’, not once, not twice, but three times in 24 hours! Firstly, we used local transportation instead of our truck to get down to Lake Titicaca. Tuk tuks in Peru are two seater trailers pulled by guys on bikes. Our bike riding driver dude had sounds pumping and his horn was a police siren. Secondly, on the way back from the Sillustani ruins, we visited a locals house. It was sort of like mud house with dirt and stone floors. Alpacas and Llamas roamed the small property and local food was served to us. Clay and potatoes, cheeses and maize. I thought our local guide said mice, but it tasted like maize so it was all good. Clay tasted just like it should, clay like. Thirdly, we stopped on the side of the road for some kancacho. The local ladies travel from restaurant to restaurant with a colourful blanket tied around their shoulders and over their backs. Within the colourful blankets was a cooked sheep wrapped in paper and some boiled potatoes. We each ordered a plate of kancacho for lunch but didn’t finish it as our tummies haven’t been 100% of late. Not to mention the last time Dave ate street lamb, in India, he was violently sick for days. There are 2000 varieties of potatoes in Peru, we have now eaten one.
Dragoman’s defence to the lack of cultural experiences to date is that Argentina and Brazil are more western. In Peru and Bolivia the diversity is more obvious. It’s a fair call, it may not be as easy but every country in this world has a culture. The cultural experiences mentioned have been so simple, using local transport, visiting locals houses and eating street food.

Twelve hours after leaving the hotel that morning we finally arrived into Cuzco.
Cuzco stands at the head of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and was once an ancient capital, founded in AD 1100. For me I’ll remember the drive in. The roads of Cuzco are ridiculously narrow, just wide enough for a car. But we were in a truck. The ‘beepy’ drivers could, nearly, be compared to those in Asia. Our brilliant driver managed to do a 20 point turn down roads that would make your hair stand on end ….. only using the
F word every second word.

Cusco – South Americas most beautiful city. The town square has three grand churches, all with elaborate stone work. Narrow cobbled streets lead to shops full of goodies. The Inca Trek starts in one day so we went out for one last supper, caramelised banana pancakes. A dinner of champions! The 4 day Inca Trek notes said we had to prepare, physically, months in advance. As we hadn’t done such a thing, the last day was spent sleeping. Let the journey begin…

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Day 332 – 339: A Little Chile with a Spicy Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz, Bolivia

Dave has been telling me for years he’d like an alpaca or llama named Tina. I added that to the “yeah, sure honey, next year” list. After a week in Chile and Bolivia I see he has a point. After doing research on these two fluffy bundles of joy we can now distinguish the difference between the two and make an educated decision about which would be a better pet or lawn-mower. Llama’s are taller and bigger than alpacas. Alpacas are cuddly looking, with softer fur. It’s a no brainer, we’re going to have an alpaca named Tina. Not to mention, we have eaten llama’s so that would be all kinds of weird having an editable pet.

The only place in Chile we visited was a tiny village, San Petro de Atecama. Only a few days prior, the villagers in San Pedro felt the effects of the 8.2 earthquake. Earthquakes are very common there. Although only a few hours from the Argentine – Chile border, this little village of 400sqm had an awesome Chilean vibe to it. It also had dirt roads with restaurants and shops with mud walls. The food was unbelievable. From the local stew, to quinoa salad to pizza. Unlike Argentina and Brazil, there seemed to be a high level of English literacy. This is particularly interesting as the Chilean English language universities only teach colours in the first semester and numbers in the second, according to our local guide anyway. Locals travel to Argentina’s capital for a better education.

By golly, we made the most of that full day we were in Chile. Straight after breakfast we took the truck across country, into the desert until we reached two little lakes – one we could swim in and one was for flamingos to swim in. Millions of years ago a large lake was formed. Over time the lakes evaporated leaving small water areas in the desert. Some of them had a high concentration of lithium (what batteries are made of) under the salt flats. From a swimming perspective, we were unsinkable because the salt levels are at a higher density than the Dead Sea or 70% saltier than the ocean. I think if anyone was stupid enough to put their head under, their eyes might have fallen out. Bobbing up and down like seals we were there for about 30 minutes before we got out – the salt was so thick we looked albino. After a quick lunch back in town, we were back in the truck, accompanied by a local guide for the afternoon’s outing. This time, a highlight tour of the Atacama desert, the oldest and driest in the world and with the lowest humidity. It’s 200 million years old and used to be part of the Pacific Ocean. In some parts of this desert, it hasn’t rained in 20 million years but on average the desert receives 10mm per year over 5-6 days. There is a high density of salt and minerals, so few animals can survive there. Apart from two – the condor bird and the lizard. The condor is the 2nd largest in the world with wing span of 14ft and probably only eats ‘salty’ lizards. Goodness knows what the lizard eats… probably dirt.
I’ll mention volcanoes a lot over the next few days because there are lots of them in the Andes, 2,000 with 150 still active. Death Valley was the first stop and it hasn’t rained there in years – except for when we were there, 3 drops fell. Death Valley’s landscape is similar to that of Mars. In fact, NASSA, astronauts, space geeks and the likes, come to use the area as a testing ground before heading into space. Mars Rover even made its debut there! Gipsen is what some of the area is made up of. It looks like glass but is what plaster of paris is made from. The second stop was to Moon Valley. It is famous for its resemblance to the moon. Different environmental factors over millions of years have caused different stratifications (Mum, aren’t you impressed with the big words!). We visited a few including:
– sand dunes caused from strong winds and an accumulation of sand
– a salt mountain chain caused from the horizontal layers of sand, clay and salt
– rock formations caused from erosion
– salt mines or tunnel like caves cased by the effects of high pressure and absence of humidity.
Without going on too much, the coolest three parts were: 1) chucking small stones into the cave edge and listing to what sounded like water in a glass being tapped, chime like. 2) listening to the giant rocks moving and contracting. 3) licking the salty rocks… as you do.

By 6am we were on the road and in line for the Chile – Bolivia border crossing. Border crossings, in the middle of a desert can be so different. The Argentina – Chile border was intense. All perishable food chucked, bags searched and the truck cleared by officials. One building with two lines. One to exit Argentina and one to enter Chile. Chile into Argentina was different again. We gained an exit stamp to depart Chile, but the Bolivian entry stamp was about 50 kms or an hour later. That Bolivian entry building was a clay shack. We didn’t even enter that building. Someone came to the truck and took our passports off us. Their toilet was behind a rock in the desert.
At that same border crossing, we picked up our local navigator. It was mandatory to have someone who knew how to cross the Altiplano desert (translating to freakin high plateau) as it had no defined roads. We four wheel drove for two days and stopped at random photo stops along the way. A million miles of brown sand and dust. Along the way snow covered volcanoes, geysers and lakes could been seen. Our Dragoman leader couldn’t understand our Spanish local guide but thankfully a few passengers were able to translate what we were looking at. Basically, the volcanoes extract the minerals from the earth’s inner core and when they erupt they chuck them out, leaving the minerals behind on the earth’s surface. That is why the lakes, although in close proximity, have different minerals. Kinda like a gateway from the inner to the outer. Depending on the minerals, different animals can be found at different lakes. Most lakes have the black andena and pink James flamingos. On a side note, shrimps eat the green algae (which has pink enzymes) in the water and flamingos eat the shrimp. Which is why the James flamingo is pink.
On the first day we visited a few lakes:
– Laguna Blanco – white lake with calcium carbonate
– Laguna Verde – green lake with copper and magnesium. It had white edging which was arsenic – the flamingos have built a tolerance to the poison.
– Laguna- can’trememberwhatitscalled lake. An absolute stunner. It was mostly flamingo pink but had streaks of white and green. The colours were created by micro organism in the plants but no minerals.
– Can I count hot springs as a lake? Probably not. Swimming in the hot springs was one of the highlights of the day. Due to the freezing outside temperatures and altitude sickness 4,900 metres above sea level (m.a.s.l) only two of us went in for a dip, me and Emily. Altitude sickness is something i’ll probably harp on about over the next few weeks. It is a huge part of our everyday lives at the moment. It’s not even so much the height, as in the higher you go the worse it is. It’s the speed in elevation that we are rising at. Trust me when I say, travelling from 1,400 m.a.s.l to 4,500 in a day really screws with ya. What gets you the most is moving around. Just walking around a few metres tires you and leaves you with a splitting head ache and nauseous feeling. We’re drinking water by the bucket load and peeing often and everywhere. Pee stops are in the desert with no trees, just dust. Or literally behind the truck on the road or in my case, down a cliff face trying not to roll down the hill with my pants down. (Overlanding sure isn’t for those folk who prefer the finer comforts). In all seriousness, there is not really any point in pulling off the actual road for a toilet stop because there is no one out in the desert. Vehicles can be seen miles ahead. The dust storm created from the vehicles looks like steam or smoke coming from the ground.

14 long, bumpy-like-India hours later, we arrived at a refuge. I can tell you now, I have NEVER been so happy to see a bedroom with a light and freezing cold sho
wer in my life. Today was a long day. 14 hrs on a flipping dirt road with enough bumps to throw you off a seat mixed in with altitude sickness will do that. We rose 2,000 m.a.s.l in 50km at the beginning then dropped 1,000 back down to 4,000 m.a.s.l in the afternoon. Seeing a tent and a yoga mat would have been the epitomy of a bad day. Thankfully, for the rest of Bolivia we will been in hostels and hotels, not camping. The Andes is freezing, too cold for camping.

Having a moment… Another one.. Sixty days is a long time to spend with the same people. As lovely as they all are. Another 7hours trapped in the truck after yesterday’s long drive is beginning to take its toll on an already not very patient Julia. It’s pretty **** too that the $1 per meal per person food allowance caters for one small bowl of cornflakes at 6am and a tiny lunch at 2pm. (And you know how I am when I’m hungry). If we had of known, we would of bought snacks. Later that evening we finally arrived into Uyuni. The little town of Uyuni had four ‘to dos’. Working backwards, from least important was the World’s Highest Pizza Restaurant located in our hotel. It’s at 3,650 m.a.s.l.
Secondly, the Extreme Fun Pub with odd shaped drinking devices. I ordered a Little Chicken cocktail served in a baby’s bottle with a chicken hat and Dave’s came in this mug full of holes. Only the dedicated could figured out how to drink without getting it all down the front. Of course there was the vagina and penis shaped cups but they don’t need too much of an explanation.
Thirdly was the train grave yard. A photographers dream at sunset. It’s a cemetery for trains and locomotives. It’s so big that it looks as though all of the trains in South America have been moved to Uyuni, Bolivia, to chug their last chug. In actual fact, in 1888 the Bolivian president believed that Bolivia would benefit from a good transport system. The local indigenous people continually sabotaged the train line as it was an intrusion in their lives. Then in 1940 the mining industry who used the train lines collapsed. After that the train line was abandoned producing the train graveyard. In other places, the mighty steel trains would have held up better. The salt winds that blow over Uyuni, which hosts the world’s largest salt plain, have corroded all of the metal. Without guards or even a fence, these pieces were picked over and vandalised long ago. A photographers dream, particularly at sunset.
Lastly, the reason we were in Uyuni was to visit the world’s largest salt flat. The glare was so bright, it is like being in the snow. The plain is 10,582 square kilometres, has an elevation of 3,656 m.a.s.l and has a natural hexagonal shape pattern throughout the salt flats. It looks like a white, flat bee hive. Under the 64million tons of salt is the world’s largest deposit of lithium. Before we went into the salt flats we visited a tiny village on the outskirts where they make the salt. A “production line” of 8 people take 5,000 kilos of salt a day from its rawest form and transform it into edible salt. In a concrete room no bigger than a child’s bedroom, the process went as follows: place raw salt on top of a fire to purify the salt and remove water, move salt to a large pile to cool it down, then on to a tiny machine that breaks down the granules. Package the salt by hand. Finally an open fire seals the bags closed. I think that understanding the process and knowing how much salt is bagged per day is important, especially since a small bag sells for 20c and a larger bag 40c. Next to nothing.
The average income for Bolivians is $2,000 per year. This came to mind when we were shopping in the markets next to the salt flats. Bargaining down a few dollars would mean a lot to them, and not a lot to us. After a few purchases, including a world map, an ugly balaclava and oven mitts, we headed into the salt flats. The colour white could be seen for miles as we drove in four wheel drive jeeps to the little island in the middle for lunch. The salt is only 30cm thick on the edges (27 meters deep in the middle), so our Dragoman truck would be too heavy. That little island looked very out of place surrounded by a sea of white. In actual fact, millions of billions of years ago, it used to be covered over by the ocean. Coral can still be found today next to the thousands of cacti. A 45 minute walk around the island was included but 10minutes into it we were all out of breath from the altitude. How are we going to survive the Inca Trail next week? Following a hearty lunch, it was back in the jeeps for the next stop – middle of a white salty nowhere. The main reason we all were so excited about the salt flats was because of the must do activity: perspective shots. Dave was volunteered to play director and photographed the group shots. Trust me when I say, these are much harder than they look. I’ve seen perspective shots before but it isn’t until you give the photographing a go, that you realise how hard it is. It was a lot of fun to be out there with the group, trying to be eaten by dinosaurs, to carry a beer bottle, eat Dave, balance on a basket ball and be sprayed by a water gun (the photos can only do this justice). A day in the sun left us exhausted so an early night for us – followed by an early morning for Dave, when he couldn’t sleep at 3am and uploaded all the perspective photos on the Internet over the following three hours.

Onwards and upwards – Potosi the mining town, the world’s highest city. Only a 6 hour drive from Uyuni. I think we are loving Bolivia so much because it’s the first country since Asia and Africa that is so different from the West. It’s a country that is back to basics. Mud houses, dirt roads and children slaughtering livestock on the main road. The kids consistently have little grubby faces, I’d love to take a Klenex to them. The Bolivian people are very indigenous looking, almost Mongolian. Traditionally, the ladies have two braids, down to their bottom and wear a bowler hat. Skirts are often pleated past their knees with thick stockings and sandals. On their back, over the shoulder, is a woven cloth that could carry a child or food. I will expand on this later. Street edges have ladies with small kids selling fruit and other products to locals. I think that is what is very different to other places. Bolivia seems to be more about the locals needs and its not all about the tourists. Particularly the town of Potosi. At night time, after the siesta, the streets were full of local markets selling food. We enjoyed tasting local street food from the trollies. We tried: cakes and pastries soapy looking sweets. We didn’t try: a cows head cut open, flies crawling over blood dripping carcasses, cow teeth and tongues – all sold in the local’s market.

For goodness (deleted word and replaced) sake, it’s so hard to escape people. It is hard being with 19 opinions, voices and sounds -24 hours a day – there’s nowhere to escape the noise…. Aaahhhhhhh!!!!!

The last stop before we arrive in La Paz, the end point of another leg, is Livichuco. This is Dragoman’s closet thing to a cultural experience. Intrepid sold this trip as a “4 out of 5 cultural experience”. What a joke! I think you would need to interact with locals for a cultural experience. One of the ONLY cultural experiences of this trip so far was staying at a traditional home stay. Ladies from the village came to show us how they make woven blankets. It takes 28 hours from the shearing of the alpaca wool to the weaving of the blankets, using bone and sticks. The village leader blessed coins before we each threw our sugar made lucky charms into the bon fire. After dinner, two 12 year old girls and their Dads sung and strummed their hand made guitars. Sadly, only 50% of the $50 per night fee goes to the whole community and the rest goes to the organisation arranging it. To put that into perspective the local ladies see $2-5 per day and we had come to them. It was great to see the ladies hand making blankets but it was a stretch from a ‘traditional home stay’, considering they were brought in to give us a ‘show’
. My goodness me. I’ve been travelling too long. I’m becoming a cynic, and totally opinionated. But really, what’s changed.

Well, it was only a matter of time before non patient Julia exploded. It was a shame it was on the last night, before 7 wonderful, amazing friends left the trip. Oh well, nothing a few cocktails couldn’t fix. The group started the evening at a Bolivian restaurant. I know I’m not a foody but even I know a country in South America shouldn’t be famous for chicken and pizza, as people kept saying to us. In many ways they are right. Bolivian food isn’t much to write home about but they do have some traditional dishes. We are llama and empanada’ed’ out so I had a boring old carbonara. It was perfect for lining the stomach before hitting the town. Bolivians really know how to party. So much so that I had to ask the barman to tip some of the vodka out of my ‘$3 vodka with a hint of Red Bull’ drink and tip more Red Bull in. Vodka is cheaper than Red Bull so it was an uphill battle. Altitude was surely enough to contend with.

After only a few hours sleep, we dragged our sorry ***** to the 3 hour free walking tour around the city of La Paz, “the city in a bowl”. I’m so, so glad we did. I’m unsure if this will come out right but we have been a little underwhelmed by South America to date. Although its been pretty and interesting we haven’t had the wow factor or any cultural shock or experiences that could compare with Asia and Africa. That was until coming to Bolivia, in particular La Paz. Maybe it is to do with the fact that it is South America’s least developed and poorest country, with an extremely low minimum wage. Or maybe it is the fact it is South America’s most isolated country therefore doesn’t have many western influences. What ever it is, we loved it! It’s a fascinating country with interesting quirks. Here are a few we learned during the walking tour:

SAN PEDRO PRISON: This prison is famous, so much so it even had a book written about it (Marching Powder) and used to offer a tour for tourists. The prison is built for 400 inmates but the current number is over 2,500. You would think that it would require hundreds of guards. They only have 8 and their job is to ensure people don’t escape. Although, day passes are given to those willing to bribe the guards. The prison itself is run by the inmates. Inmates are charged rent to be in there. For $6 per month they can share a cell with 20 and for $700 per month they have a private two story duplex with jacuzzi, kitchen and sauna. Families can also live inside. Bolivia has a very harsh criminal system whereby tourists and locals are guilty until one day they may be proven innocent. Not all jails in Bolivia are like San Pedro, but this 8,000 Sqm jail seems to be working. So saying, it is too dangerous nowadays to continue tours for the tourists. Inmates make money for their mandatory rent by taking out jobs in the prison. There are restaurants, bars, a cocaine factory, carpentry shops and coffee shops. My favourite is the inmate real estate agents who look after the renting or even selling of the prison land.

MARKETS: There are over 20million people in La Paz and the city next to La Paz, Alto. Unbelievably there are only 20 supermarkets for the locals to shop in. Instead, locals shop in the street markets. All over the two cities, streets close on the weekend and are replaced with stalls selling absolutly everything you would find in a shop. Except here, the ladies (no males work the markets) are gutting fish next to the sacks of sugar or crates of apples. Yapas or freebies are given to those buyers who have formed relationship with the sellers. The markets we visited were 12 blocks x 12 blocks in size – huge, but not the biggest. They weren’t the only markets we visited. La Paz has the Witches Markets. Tourists flock to these markets for super cheap shopping. Llama wool jumpers for example are $10 and llama leg socks for $2. (Yes, we stocked up on all things Llama and all things Bolivian). Locals flock to the Witches Market to buy powders and potions and all things spice to make concoctions for witches’ rituals. Dried llama foetus is used as a sacrifice when opening a shop, house or constructing something small. There is an urban myth in La Paz about what they use as a sacrifice for bigger constructions like large buildings and bridges. A live human being – to be clear that is some poor bugger buried alive. It is said, before the foundation concrete is laid, the witches will collect a passed out homeless drunk to use as the sacrifice (Someone who wouldn’t be missed or noticed by the community). Although this used to happen, many believe it doesn’t happen these days. So saying, the construction workers are so superstitious they won’t work on a construction project unless it has been ‘blessed’ by a witch doctor. Some projects around the city have been abandoned because proper rituals haven’t occurred.

THE CLOTHING: The attire of the cholita, (indigenous bolivian female) is one of my favourite things about Bolivia. It really is something else. A pleated-skirt, a 19th century European bowler hat, the silky shawl and thick stockings. Their hats are far too small for their heads. It is said that the Italians originally designed the hat for the Bolivians but they got the measurements all wrong. They thought because Bolivians were small, so were their heads. The hat literally perches on their heads because the hole is about the size of a saucer. Rather than sending all the hats back, the Bolivian government told their people it was a “new European fashion”. Back then there wasn’t Google so the story stuck. Nowadays the hat and the dress is a symbol of pride in being indigenous, and is considered a status symbol. Hats worn slightly off centre show the lady is ‘available’. If a daughter wants to start wearing this clothing, the mother must also as it cannot skip a generation. The ladies look like they’re about 20 layers deep in clothing. There are a number of reasons for this; ladies work long hours so contend with the day’s climates and the more clothing they wear the ‘beefier’ their bottoms look. Men look for for ladies with big child bearing hips – I’d fit in rather nicely here!

POLITICS: Bolivia is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most amount of presidents in the shortest amount of time – 200 in 100 years. The last or former president was a U.S citizen who stole millions of dollars from the bank and ****** off back to the States. The current one, the first indigenous president, seems to be doing a great job. Except he doesn’t stick to speech scripts and doesn’t have a brain filter. His latest controversial comments were “People have to stop eating chicken, otherwise they will turn gay” “Coca cola will make you bald” (he wants to get rid of Coke in the country). And my favourite “If you’re a woman over the age of 18, with no kids you must pay a higher tax – because you aren’t contributing to the country.”

WHAT THE?: Some Zebra Crossings in La Paz have men dressed in zebra costumes with zebra flags directing traffic.

This last 7 days and especially the one day in La Paz have been a highlight of South America. It was the South America we had been looking for. Bolivia is such a vast land, with a lot of beautiful landscapes between fascinating towns and villages and cities. I’ll end here but not before mentioning the street shoe shiners. These are men and woman who can teach us a lesson about not judging a book by its cover. We were waiting for the free walking tour to start, outside the prison. A shoe shiner wearing a balaclava approached us and we of course fobbed him off. We learnt about these people later in the day. A shoe shiner is the lowest of the low jobs and is somewhat embarrassed so they wear balaclavas to cover their identity, their shame. If we had given them half a chance to scrub our boots, we would have also been offered a .20c newspaper they write full of poems and stories. We would have been sold cheap jewellery that the government give them to make ends meet. If only we g
ave them 5 minutes of our time to hear their story, under the balaclava of shame.

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