Claustrophobia in Potosi

Next stop... Potosi., which has not much to offer than its mines - but they really are worth a visit... as long as you do not suffer from claustrophobia.

Breakfast break for the miners - coca leaves...

I sometimes could not believe how steep and narrow the channels were...

We got the chance to speak to some miners and I have to say they really dont have an easy job. They dont get any support or money for their work and are only dependent on what they find. It really is an unpleasant, hot, dirty, dusty and unhealthy place to work and I was happy to get out of the mines after about 3 hours. I actually washed myself two times and still had the feeling that I smelt of the dust. Moreover, getting rid off the taste of the dust (god knows how much I had swallowed) took me two days.

Yes, it is real dynamite in my hands... and it is burning...

After the mine tour I really wanted to get out of Potosi and took the night bus to Uyuni. Was not lucky with my choice as after only one hour of travel smoke came out of the engine. 30 minutes later there was a little explotion (no, I had not smuggled any dynamite into the bus...) and that was it. As the bus had stopped in the middle of a curve, all non-Bolivians went out of the bus as we considered it to be too dangerous to stay in there. All Bolivians just went to sleep in the bus though - guess they are used to it?! So we ended up waiting in the freezing cold and tried to keep ourselves warm with a little fire. Lucky enough another bus came after about 2 hours and the rocky journey to Uyuni continued. Looked like a Zombie when we arrived there at 3am.

The Beauty and the Beast

La Paz - The Beast

People either love or hate La Paz. It took me a bit to love it as it is big, hectic and dirty. But at the second glance I discovered "the beauty" in "the beast". 

A real experience is the "witches market". Smiling "witches" in colorfull dresses and bowler hats sell toad talismans, owl feathers, dried frogs, stone amulets, gems and whatever you can think or cannot think of... e.g. dried llama fetuses...

My biggest adventure so far was "going to prison"! Yes, I did go to a real prison... and it was all inofficial. We had to wait outside San Pedro prison, which is in the middle of the city, until we got approached by a woman that looked a bit like a prostitute. Then we had to litterally bribe the police with quite a bit of money to get in. Not sure why, but each of us got a number and a big stamp on their arm?!

Our so called guide was a drug dealer who just had a line before we started the tour and our two so called bodyguards were murders, who will be in prison for the next 30 years or so. But they get a lot of respect from the other prisioners so that we were - lets call it - save. There was no police at all in the prison and the few so called guards were prisioners as well. San Pedro prison is sort of a little village. If you have money you can live there quite well, if not, you are in troubles, have no cell and you end up cleaning the toilets or even worse working in the kitchen together with the rapers. Most of the people in there are murders or drug dealers and their wifes and kids are allowed to live in the prison with them (as long as they can pay for it).  Not sure this is good for the kids though...

The weirdest moment was when we were invited into the cell of the president of the prison (who is a prisoner as well), he locked the cell from the inside and offered us "stuff". We kindly refused, but ended up having a chat with him and two other prisoners for more than half an hour. As I said... weird.

Sucre - The Beauty

After an exciting time in La Paz I took it easy in "La Ciudad Blanco - Sucre" - probably the prettiest city in Bolivia.

Having relaxed a whole day I had gained enough energy to go on another 2-day trekking tour. By chance I found out about a non-profit organization that only use local transport, work with locals and support local children and communities in need. That was probably my best trekking tour so far. You have to like to travel with lots of locals in a dodgy truck though. It was a bit rough, but somehow also enjoyable - as long as you manage to hold on tight.

The moment we arrived at our starting point of the trek we got invited by a local wedding that happened to be on that day. It is a Bolivian custom that you invite everyone to food and dance - liked it.

The trek itself to a pretty crater was amazing. It was also a real experience to walk the last 1,5 hours in the dark (only with flashlights) and to stay in a little village in the middle of the crater - no other tourists than us.

If anyone ever happen to go to Sucre, I can really recommend this agency: http://www.condortrekkers.org/.

Hot, Hotter, Pampa

Only one day after arriving in La Paz I decided to go back to the jungle (really love it!). Took the next plane to Rurrenabaque, which is deep in the Bolivian rainforest and booked a 3-days tour to Pampa. Pampa is literally in the middle of nowhere with very limited vegetation and boiling heat all day long.

Because it is dry-season at the moment all wildlife was at the river and I almost felt like in a zoo as there were hundreds and hundreds of crocodiles, turtles, capybaras (look like big guinea pig... no, before you ask - I did not it any... ;-) and millions of birds.

Amazing wildlife:

Felt like Indiana Moni...

On our way back we had a really crappy jeep. There was more sand in our jeep than anywere else and we looked like "Wiener Schnitzel" when we got out of it after the 3 hours journey back to Rurrenabaque.

Good morning Bolivia!

Right after coming back from my Inca Trail mission I jumped on the night-bus to Copacapana - a cute town at Lake Titicaca. There I have spent a nice day with an even nicer couple from Switzerland (Alexandra and Leo). Even though I was lacking energy as I struggled to sleep on the bus we managed to walk up Calvario Mountain to see the sunset - very romantic. I really wished I could have shared this experience with James...

The next day we went to Isla del Sol for a lovely hike from the north of the island down to the south. Unfortunately Alexandra and Leo wanted to go back to Copacapana in the afternoon and so I was on my own again as I had decided to spend the night on the island. But that did not last for long as I then met a nice couple from South Africa with whom I enjoyed the sunset by sharing a bottle of red wine. So far I have really been lucky with the people that I have met!  :-)

Now I am in La Paz and I will sort out my next steps. As I really like the jungle I consider going to the Bolivian one and I also want to do another trek - hopefully in the sunshine this time ;-)  ... Stay tuned  :-)

The hard way to Machu Picchu!

That was the toughest trek I have ever done in my whole life! Not that the Inca Trail itself was so demanding, it was because of the circumstances... I was told to be prepared for hot weather during the day and therefore I brought lots of suncream, a sunhat, sunglasses and shorts. But I did not expect to end up hiking in endless rain and even snow and hail!

The first day was an easy hike with just a little bit of rain. I was highly impressed by our porters who carried everything that we needed on the 4 days trek on their back, which means kitchen tent, our tents, cooking equipment, food, chairs, table and even some of our stuff. They prepared our food (which really was delicious) and when we started walking, they packed everything and started running all the way in just sandals, overtaking us and when we got to the next campsite everything was already set up. (hmmm, I wonder whether the Coca leaves did the trick?!)

On the second day we walked up the pass to 4200m. First I was all optimistic as the rain had stopped, but as soon as we got closer to the pass it started again and was heavier than ever. On the pass we even had to fight with snow, hail and sort of a blizzard. I was soaked from top to toe! I can tell you I really did not enjoy this. Some actually turned around as they could not handle the weather. That would not have been an option for me and therefore I just walked and walked and tried to reach the next campsite as quickly as possible. I ended up needing 4,5 hours even though it is said that the second day takes 7 hours. I have to say I am a little bit proud...

Unfortunately the rain did not stop at all. So we ended up drinking hot chocolate and playing 'Shithead' all evening long in the tent (yes, I am now on a mission to spread 'Shithead' all over the world ;-). In an attempt to dry our shoes we held it over the open propane fire that the porters use to cook our food. I was not really successful and rather burned some bits of my shoes instead of drying them. Hmmm...

(Please pay special attention to my shoes... ;-)

(My small and nice group - thanks for the fun guys!)

(Our porters - still smiling regardless the terrible weather)

On that night we decided that we will combine day 3 and day 4 and will walk all 22 km in one go to reach Machu Picchu in the afternoon of the third day and then go down to Aqua Calientes (village close to Machu Picchu) in order to get dry again. Even though it was a though and long hike and my knees were hurting by the end of the day it was the best decision ever to do the whole way in one go!

My first view of Machu Picchu:

But it got better and better:

On the forth and last day we got the big reward as Machu Picchu was waiting for us in the sunshine. WOW!

God knows how, but because of the amazing view I somehow got so much energy that I walked up the mountain behind the ruins (Wayna Picchu) and also walked up half way Machu Picchu Mountain.

Looking back at this adventure I have a big smile on my face as I somehow feel like an Inca on a mission to reach Machu Picchu - no matter what... and I succeded! :-)