Bolivia - Potosi

12th September ´08

If you´ve seen or heard about the films ´The Devil´s Miner´or ´Cerro Rico´, then you will already know what Potosi is all about... mines... or more precisely silver mines. At 4060m, the world´s highest city revolves around a shocking culture that has claimed millions of lives over 3 centuries from appalling working conditions. Whilst Potosi once used to be the wealthiest city in South America, and although its silver deposits had depleted, thousands of miners still take to the shafts in order to extract other minerals which are sold to a smelter on a cooperative basis (finders keepers). Our travels were all about new and unique experiences, and entering the harrowing depths of these mines was something that fulfilled this criteria... so on the same day we arrived we found ourselves a guide to take us into the infamous Cerro Rico (rich mountain).

The life of our guide, Rosa, had entirely centred around mining and she had lost her father several years ago to the commonly fatal silicosis - the average age of a miner upon death being about 40. Having been joined by 2 other German Geezers, and after sizing up our headgear and overalls, our first stop enroute was the miners market where we purchased gifts for the workers (coca leaves, soft drinks, alcohol, and dynamite). Our arrival to the entrance of the mine produced a disturbing sight... a narrow, decayed and water-logged shaft. For over 3km we crouched, crawled, and climbed the labyrinth of dark tunnels where occasionally the temperatures exceeded 30 degrees, and at other times dropped below freezing. Against a background of fading explosions, we passed many coca-chewing miners, some as young as 14, pushing mineral loaded iron cast trolleys and to whom we offered our gifts. The energy rich coca leaves were an invaluable present known to reduce hunger and coldness, and helping the miners to work continuously. Rosa explained that once an individual decided upon a life within the mines he gave up his catholic religion to worship the miners god - the Devil... as we continued to gasp frantically through the oxygen deficient tunnels, Rosa led us to a shrine dominated by a penis-erected devil pagoda (surrounded by offerings of alcohol and tobacco). Our 3 hour experience within the mines had felt like an eternity and we were relieved when we could inhale normally once again. It had been extremely difficult to contemplate the life of a miner... a mere few hours in the tunnel had proved unbelievably tough and shocking. Exhausted, we returned to our human-sized fridge (the nights were bitterly cold at 4km above sea level) in preparation for our next stop... Uyuni.

Bolivia - Sucre

9th - 11th September ´08

Sucre was a great relaxation town, and we really needed to unwind for a few days after our Amazonian adventures. Having checked into a characteristc casa de hospedajes with the comforts of a hot shower and soft bed, our intentions to rest on our initial night were shortlived... we had arrived during the ´Festival de Virgen Guadaloupe´. Against a backdrop of sky-illuminating fireworks, a lively procession of colourfully dressed traditional dancers and musicians proudly flowed through the central plaza. The Sureños were very religious people, and in fact for several hours before the rhythmic beats of the festival began, the entire town had shut down. It was a unique experience with noticeably very few standing observers... most of the locals were involved in the celebrations in one way or another.

Whilst dominated by rich whitewashed architecture, the cultural heritage site of Sucre used to be the capital of Bolivia before it was usurped by La Paz some time ago. However, the fact that it still remained the judicial capital meant that it was an ideal place to stage protests against the constitutions of the very disliked Evo Morales. And it was for this exact reason that we were forced to fly to Sucre... several man-made road blocks had created very limited access into and out of the town. Acordingly, for the next 2 days we lounged and lingered about the many cafe patios of this isolated city before managing to book ourselves onto a bus going southwards. Next stop... Potosi.

Bolivia - Rurrenabaque (Amazon)

4th - 8th September ´08

The time had come to remove ourselves from all creature comforts and head out to Bolivia´s slice of the Amazon Basin. Our small, 18-seater carrier from La Paz to Rurrenabaque was like something out of the movies... as well as displaying an open cockpit, our aircraft glided within touching distance of the majestic, cloud-breaking mountains and canyons. Circling down to the makeshift runway, we were enveloped by the rich, green flora of the jungle... and the tropical humidity was a welcoming change from La Paz´s elevated coolness. Once again, our 45 minute flight had introduced us to an Australian who was coincidentally in the same tour group as us for the following morning... on arrival the 3 of us headed out to the Monkey Bar for some jungle juice and a bite to eat. Rurrenabaque itself was a small and lively frontier town to the lush surrounding rainforest... it´s welcoming and well-equipped community made an ideal entrypoint to the jungle.

The next morning, we arose early to meet our experienced guide, Ulfredo, and to begin our journey into the heart of the Amazon. A dusty and bumpy 3 hour jeep ride through savannah-like grasslands brought us to the mouth of the Yacuma River where we boarded a motorised, dugout canoe. Powering our way down the enclosed, swamp-coloured waters we were able to spot many forms of Amazonian wildlife: the open-jawed, motionless alligators; the elusive, swinging monkeys; the capybaras that resembled Gujarati people (brown, hairy and vegetarian); the camouflaged lizards; the slow-moving turtles; and a whole host of multicoloured, large-winged birds. After 3 heat-intensive but magical hours along the murky river, we arrived at the bank-located jungle ecolodge - our home for the next 2 nights. Set upon wooden stilts and with tree-hidden interlinking walkways, these very basic cabins housed 2 hard mosquito-netted beds and nothing more... the limited cold water was our only luxury. Our first use of the dark, half-sheltered bathroom revealed some friendly local inhabitants in the toilet-water... frogs... the skilled use of a torch was required. Following a brief settling-in period and a simple dinner, we took to the pitch black waters again equipped with flashlights. Shining our torches along the banks of the river revealed hundreds of pairs of glowing eyes... alligators. As Ulfredo cut off the engine to our canoe, it was a surreal experience laying afloat in the middle of the Amazon with only the echoing voices of the eerie wilderness to break the silence. That night, the tropical weather turned to produce some hard rain and freezing temperatures.

The following morning, we trekked through the waist-high grasslands for 3 hours in search of anacondas. Due to the cooler climate, we were forced to track down these 5-8 metre snakes within the hollow openings of the trees where they sought warmth instead of within the swamps like we had initially imagined. As we hiked deeper into the pampas Ulfredo led us to within touching distance of several anacondas, some that were sexually intertwined. We spent some of the afternoon lying in hammocks and playing foot-volleyball within our ecolodge before boarding our canoe once more for the next activity on the agenda... piranha-fishing. There was a real knack to hooking these sharp-teethed fish, and after some wasteful bait, we caught an array of piranhas, sardines and catfish (naturally we immediately released them... we were on an ecofriendly tour after all). Later that evening, whilst watching the brightly coloured sunset from the balconies of our lodge, we enjoyed a bottle of wine that had been given to us as a gift from our guide.

The next morning we were awoken abruptly to the sound of howling monkeys that were mischieviously throwing objects at our cabin... this was monkey-war and we considered hurtling the objects back at them. But we refrained, and after some breakfast we headed out to an area of the Yacuma River which was inhabited by pink dolphins. The colour of these graceful creatures had naturally evolved over time when a volcanic eruption 500 years ago had caused the mountain to split trapping many sea water animals within the Amazonian rivers. We spent some time admiring the dolphins before Ulfredo introduced us to the ´friendly´ but territorial alligator, Pedro. As we hesitantly stroked his tough reptilian skin, Ulfredo urged us to stand directly in front of Pedro and to be alert. Once again, it was a unique and strangely satisfying feeling being so close to a perceptively dangerous animal. And our brief encounter with this alligator marked the end of the tour. As we said our farewells to the group, we knew we had been very fortunate with our Amazonian experience both in terms of wildlife and also with our native guide... it was undoubtedly one of the highlights of our South American travels so far. So, our long-winded return journey back to La Paz continued that evening from where we would catch a flight to Sucre the following afternoon.

Bolivia - La Paz

2nd - 3rd September ´08

Our Yunguyo border crossing from Peru to Bolivia was relatively straightforward, albeit a little bizarre... the horror stories that we had heard and read about thankfully never materialised - 2 bus changes, 1km of backpack walking, 1 lake crossing and we were on our way to La Paz. As we approached the highest capital city (de facto) in the world (3660m), we were presented with a sensational canyon in which colonial buildings spilled downwards and on arriving in the town centre, indigenous women sporting perfectly perched bowler hats roamed the market-filled streets. On board our 8 hour road-trip we had befriended an Irish couple who joined us in finding accommodation... at almost 4km above sea-level, staggering up the steep alleyways meant that we were repeatedly gasping for breath (an even moreso with our backpacks on). Having had a minimal biscuit-rich bus lunch earlier that afternoon, the 4 of us happily indulged in falafels and beer that night.

Our experiences in South America wouldn´t quite be complete without a visit to the Amazon Basin, and La Paz proved to be the ideal base to do so from. The following morning, after booking ourselves on a jungle trip to Rurrenabaque with the recommended Indigena Tours, we aimlessly roamed the congested plazas, the snake-shaped alleyways, and in particular the Mercado de las Brujas - Witches Market... having stalls overflowing with spells and potions, the eagle-eyed vendors here also sold shrivelled llama foetuses which were considered good-luck charms. That evening whilst in an internet cafe, we were harmlessly approached by a well-spoken, but frail and ragged looking ex-convict who had been released from Santa Cruz prison that very day... we guessed that our conversation with him was just his way of appreciating freedom. This prison had become a real attraction amongst underground travellers... paying 250 Bolivianos to the guards would allow you entry into the prison where you could converse and come face-to-face with the convicts (quite strange paying to go to prison). We had heard that it was mostly full of drug-dealers whose entire families would live inside with them... unique, but disturbing at the same time which is why we had decided against the visit. Next stop... the Amazon.

Peru - Puno

31st August - 1st September ´08

Another southbound journey... another Cruz del Sur bus... and we had arrived in Puno where South America´s largest lake resided - Titicaca. This port town was the least elegant of places we had visited in Peru so far, but it was a natural stopover to get to Bolivia and an ideal base to visit Titicaca´s islands... which is exactly what we did the following morning.

A 30 minute cruise along the calm waters of the world´s highest navigable lake brought us to the Floating Islands of Uros. Home to a large community of indigenous folk, the Uros people relied completely on the bouyant Tortora reeds (that grew abundantly in the lake) for their survival. These multipurpose reeds were used to contruct the base of their islands, to build their thatched-roof huts, to weave handicrafts to sell, and finally as a source of food - upon arriving on these springy islands, we were greeted by a family who explained their rituals and habits...unique, self-reliant and remarkable people. Thereafter, we took to the sparkling waters again on board an oared, reed-woven long boat before docking back onto mainland. A short taxi ride to the Puma Uta mirador followed, where we could appreciate views of Lake Titicaca and it´s islands from a staggering height. And our short stay in Puno was completed as we prepared for our overground border crossing into Bolivia.

Peru - Cusco

24th - 30th August ´08

Cusco... the gateway to the Lost City of the Incas - Machu Picchu... was without a doubt our most inspirational city in Peru. This elevated archeological capital of the Americas centred around a spectatular Plaza de Armas built on the stone foundations of the Incas and from which branched many characteristic, cobblestone streets. Our early morning arrival brought us to some pre-booked accomodation located at the top of a steep hill - Loki hostel... a restored building in which there were currently over 100 travellers (it reminded us of our university days seeing pyjama wearing cliques engaging in fry-ups with pints of beer... and admittedly it also made us feel old). It was easy to spend the rest of the day and the best part of the next losing ourselves within the twisting alleyways and absorbing the cultural mood. At the same time Preya weaved her Spanish magic with various locals in order to research and book our train journey to Machu Picchu for that next morning.

We arose at 5.30am to catch our tourist crammed 4-hour train to Aguas Calientes (from where it was a short stop to Machu Picchu). The claustrophobic face-to-face seats on board required strategic positioning of our knees with our opposite, but meant that we were introduced to 2 very cool Florida Fellas - Fabian and Tim... we struck up some funny conversations with them for the remainder of the trip when the 4 of us weren´t flicking in and out of sleep. The train journey itself was initially quite an unusual one involving several switchbacks (optimal route)... when we eventually got going, we followed a rippled emerald green river against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains and rich green hills to our destination. Having pre-reserved some basic accommodation, we were greeted at the train station with a board held aloft bearing our names - impressive... the last time we had this treatment was on our honeymoon. Fabian and Tim decided to join us at our hostel and thereafter the 4 of us headed out for lunch. Coincidentally, we were all wearing black tops and Tim coined the phrase... ´The Black T-Shirt Club´- a new fraternity had been formed and we stood by our motto... ´once you go black, you never turn back´. The quaint village of Aguas Calientes was nestled within deep valleys giving it a real sense of isolation and a community feel... we continued to loiter around the few select plaza benches indulging in chocolate-rich cakes whilst getting to know each other better. After attempting to visit the hot springs (which turned out to be chlorinated roman baths), Preya impressed the Florida Fellas with her conversational haggling at the local market. And we completed a fun day drinking beer, pisco sour and dining at a quiet restaurant which we filled with tears of laughter.

5.30am was once again the theme for the following morning when we had arranged to meet our guide and join the hoardes of gringos queuing for the bus to Machu Picchu. The narrow, steep winding road up the flanks of the valley was not for the feint-hearted and our lack of breakfast was fully justified. After assembling the group, our guide Adriel led us through the entrance and up the zig-zagging staircase to Funerary Rock where the ruins stretched out below us... for several minutes we stood wide-eyed and marvelled at the untouched citadel. As the sun rose above the surrounding valleys, it revealed the perfect postcard picture. Proceeding around the vast maze-like structure for 3 hours, Adriel explained the purpose of the different rooms, how the Incas carved their fire stonework and how they relied so immensely on the sun. When the tour came to an end, the time had come for the notorious ´Black T-Shirt Club´ to run riot around Machu Picchu... we lounged, lingered and explored for several more hours before closing the chapter on this world-famous lost city. Exhausted from our long days, we boarded our train back to Cusco in time for a final dinner with Fabian and Tim. As we continued to joke and reminisce about the previous 2 days, we were really glad that we had shared our experiences with the ´Black T-Shirt Club´.

The following day marked our 3rd year wedding anniversary, and deservedly so, we checked ourselves into a plush hotel offering all the luxuries and most importantly a minibar. The next 2 days involved champagne, massages, fine dinners and plenty of bedtime stories. Next stop in Peru... Puno.

Peru - Arequipa

20th - 23rd August ´08

Our delayed long-haul bus journies were definitely beginning to take their toll, however our arrival in Arequipa was a welcoming sight... an elegant Plaza de Armas housed white-washed colonnial buildings made from sillar - a dazzling volcanic rock from the trinity of surrounding volcanoes: Pichu Pichu, El Misti and Chachani. At 2335m above sea level, the hostels in Peru´s second largest city were offering travellers coca-leaf drinks to help acclimatise to the altitude (chewing the raw leaf was also considered to increase alertness, reduce hunger, cold and pain). After finding accommodation we lazily explored the perfect grid shaped streets where the abundance of competing yellow micro-taxis strangely gave it a sense of charm. As the intense afternoon sun faded, the night introduced a new climate requiring overcoats and scarves... which we ended in the lively Calle de San Francisco.

Over the next day we visited what our Lonely Planet bible regarded as ´must sees´. Firstly, the Monasterio ed Santa Catalina - a mazelike citadel that several nuns from Europe had occupied after the Spanish conquest in order to preach and spread the catholic religion. As we stepped back in time exploring the twisting alleyways and fruit-filled courtyards, our knowledgeable guide explained how the living quarters of the nuns varied depending on their wealth (that was until a super-nun arrived to oust this behaviour). A casual 30 minute walk to the suburb of Yanahuara brought us to a bench-filled plaza boasting great views of Arequipa and El Misti. It was easy to write-off a few hours here just reading and talking... which we did so effortlessly. That evening, we dined at a small, but slightly upmarket traditional Peruvian restaurant where a blind accordian musician provided the perfect ambience.

Arequipa reminded us of Banos (Ecuador) in certain respects offering a multitude of activities... it was time once again to put on our gloves and helmets, mount our bikes and cycle across the countryside. Initially unknown to us, our guide Aldo was in fact the National cross-country champion (150km) for his class (30-40 years)... it gave us a real sense of satisfaction to ride alongside him. After picking us up from our hostel, Aldo transported us to his home in a small residential area outside the city centre where we geared up and began the journey. Our winding 35km route took us though some ancient Incan valleys, vast farmland, sparse villages and some spectacular views of the mountains. As the terrain changed from slow moving sand to rocky slopes, we made stops along the way where Aldo told us stories of old and introduced us to welcoming faces... it was a rewarding and fulfilling activity. When our memorable 4 hours of pedalling came to an end, we headed out to the station later that night to catch our faithful Cruz del Sur bus which hosted cama seats, a meal and even a game of bingo.

Arequipa was without a doubt a place that anyone could relax in and soak in the culture for a few days; and as many people had recommended, it would be more fully appreciated if visited before Cusco. Next stop in Peru... Cusco.