Machu Picchu Saved My Mojo!

I left Arequipa last Friday on a really cheap overnight bus. In fairness, you get what you pay for and it was adequate, even though it left 40 minutes late. The main problem was that I had chosen a seat with zero legroom, and I knew that was likely when I picked the seat, but I did it anyway. I even had the choice of ANY seat on the bus as well, but there you go. Anyway, once in Cusco on Saturday morning, I took a taxi into the city centre and began my search for a hostel. The first one I tried was full, as was the second, as was the third... not good, especially having to walk up and down the hilly cobbled streets loaded up like a packhorse! I eventually found a place right near the centre that wasn't particularly cheap, but could have been worse. I had my own room with private shower, and the owner assured me it was nice and quiet there.

After that, Saturday became yet another typical "I can't decide what tour to do" day", yes dear reader, another one of those! Long story short, I thought it would be best to make my own way through the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu. However, due to more planned strike action in Cusco, I was concerned that I would end up stranded in Aguas Calientes for a few days - that is the closest town to Machu Picchu, which is overpriced and as boring as hell, not somewhere you spend more time than necessary! So, I booked a tour that would take me through the Sacred Valley on Sunday and then I could visit MP on Monday before returning back to Cusco that evening.

Now, I made a mistake. I should have done it all myself as the agency had to put me on an earlier train to Aguas Calientes, cutting my time at Ollantaytambo extremely short and so I spent the entire day fuming at the back of the bus as the guide refused to shave a few minutes off each place, just so there would be a point to me actually being on the tour! Anyway, that's enough about that as there's been way too much complaining in this blog recently. Put it this way, from now on when I have a gut feeling that I can do things better and more cheaply by myself, I MUST stick with that and NOT proceed with buying a tour from Peruvian cowboys!

So, on Sunday evening, I boarded the train to Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo. It was a very scenic journey and there was even a sandwich snack included. Once at AC, I was supposed to be met by the hostel the tour agency had booked for me, but I seemed to be the only gringo whose name wasn't written on a placard. After waiting at the station for long enough, I decided to walk into town in the dark, hoping that I would stumble across the hostel myself - I had asked the agency for its name as they hadn't proffered it! Luckily, I happened to walk in the right direction and found it after a few minutes. Fair enough, AC is pretty small, but I could have taken a right first instead of a left and it would have been a very different tale!

The hostel were expecting me, but didn't apologise for not meeting me at the station. I asked what time my Machu Picchu guide would be there to brief me for the following day and I was told between 7 and 7.30pm. That gave me some time to wander around looking for some cheap food, but the best I could find was some overpriced, stale hamburger buns! Of course, by 7.30, there was no sign of the guide, so the girl at the hostel had to phone him again but luckily, he eventually came and explained how to get to the ruins and what time the tour would begin, etc. I then asked him for my ticket into Machu Picchu: "I don't have it. Don't you have it?" "NO" I replied!

So then he had to call the tour agency to check that they had sent the money through for it! He then said he would go and get the ticket and drop it off in the morning - unacceptable as I would have to set out at stupid o'clock in order to be at the gates nice and early (I'll explain why in a moment!) so I insisted he come back that night by 9pm with it. I then got the feeling that maybe the money hadn't gone through after all, and that there was a chance I wouldn't be getting my ticket! Anyway, I had a while to wait and to stress out, but he did return just after 9pm with a valid Machu Picchu ticket and only then at that point did I believe I would ever get there!

That night, I didn't sleep very well at all as my mind was racing about getting up to MP on Monday morning. Now, I had been told by fellow travellers that it is worth climbing Wayna Picchu, the large triangular peak that you always see in the background of Machu Picchu photographs. However, only 400 people per day are allowed to climb it, so you need to be in the park nice and early to reserve a place. The guide has told me that if I wanted to walk up to the ruins, I would need to set out at 4.30am in order to be at the gates when they opened at 6am. I had immediately disregarded this option as I had no working torch and it would be impossible to take the path in the dark. That left me with the alternative of taking the first bus at 5.30am. No problem. Unfortunately, I was worried that even if I got up really early and tried to be first in the queue for the bus, that everyone else would be doing the same and I'd miss out on being in the first 400!

At 3.30am, I could hear stirrings in the hostel and I asked some other people who were up and about if they were going to walk up. They said yes, but were going as part of a group and didn't seem particularly forthcoming in inviting me along so! I was up and dressed anyway, so at 4am like a pillock, I started to walk out of the town in the direction of the path in the dark! I had to walk past some dogs that were really barking at me, so I was concerned for my ankles, and then I found myself by the river in a valley with zero light! So, feeling like this wasn't the smartest idea that I had ever had, I turned back towards the dogs and could see an outline of one coming towards me... I was terrified, but to my relief, it was another couple and they had started the walk too!

Anyway, they assured me that I was on the right path and that the bridge I needed to cross was up ahead! We found the path and started up the steps - they had a torch, but I couldn't keep up with them, so I went up most of the way by myself using my mobile phone as a light source! I was then scared out of my wits by a dog that appeared in front of me like a ghost! It was a miracle that I didn't break my ankles as the steps were very steep and windy and it was very hard going. I had to stop very often to rest and drink water and was worried that despite my headstart, I would be overtaken by the other walkers setting out at 4.30. I finally made it to the gates by about 5.15, which was a good time, and there were only a handful of people there - success, I would definitely get a Wayna Picchu ticket!

Most people were just sitting around on the steps waiting for the gates to open, so I decided to stand right by the turnstiles. As as result, I was the first person into Machu Picchu at 6am! In I walked into the ruins at sunrise and there was no-one else in front of me, I could see the whole ruins just as I imagined, so as I made my way to the Wayna Picchu ticket area, I sobbed a bit as I took in the vision of Machu Picchu all to myself! After securing a spot on the 10am climb, I then had an hour to kill before my guided tour. I explored the ruins a bit, found the famous rock that is the same shape as the hills in the background (that I had seen on TV), played the Mysterious Cities of Gold theme tune on my iPod and sobbed my heart out a bit more!

Magical Machu Picchu

After taking the guided tour around the main sights for couple of hours, it was time to climb Wayna Picchu! Now, by this point, I did have a few reservations once I could see the mountain up close, especially after the guide said that 7 people died last year doing it! But I had got there early that morning, just to climb it, so I couldn't back out now, could I? The steps up were really steep, so it was hard going in the morning sun, plus I had no idea how I would make it back down them again, but no pain no gain! It took about an hour to get to the top, which was perfect timing! At the summit, there are Inca ruins, which took me over an hour to get around - they are perched on the top of this 2,500m high mountain, with a 360 degree panoramic view of the drop down to the river valley below! From the top, I could also see the point where I had crossed the river that morning and exactly where I had walked to the the MP gates. It was a phenomenal view and almost unbelievable that I had made it to that point on foot!

The only way around and down from the ruins is to take the Inca steps, which are steep, narrow and have no walls or obstructions at the sides to block at least the view of your impending death below! To my huge relief, four lovely people held my hand and carried my bag at various points, so I could get off the ruin and make it back down to safety! A lovely, lovely guy called Clint from New Zealand held my hand and walked behind me as I crawled down the steps, backwards like a ladder on my knees! He had to say "put you left foot down, now your right foot" and so on all the way, bless him, he saved my life! I was terrified, but extremely brave under the circumstances as I didn't cry, I just took my time and went easy. OK, I was trembling violently and breathing very loudly and rapidly, but there was no shouting at all, I was calm under the circumstances, although Clint did comment that he could feel my pulse beating through my palm! Once back on the hill path, it was tricky, but a doddle in comparison to the ruins and I made it back the the checkpoint after a 3 hour round trip to complete Wayna Picchu, a time I feel quite proud of as someone with a massive fear of heights!

Just in case you needed proof...

It was then time for lunch and although I had initially decided not to eat at Machu Picchu due to the obscene cost of food and drinks there, I deserved a sandwich and a drink even though it was a ripoff! I still had loads of time left that afternoon to continue exploring, so I decided to walk to the Sun Gate on the hills in the other direction to Wayna Picchu. This is the path where the commercial Inca Trail enters the park and only those people who book that trek far enough in advance (and pay through the nose for it) get the first amazing view of the ruins. Therefore, I figured that if I walked to the Sun Gate myself from inside and then back again, I never need to do the Inca Trail in the future, as I would have seen what they see after all! So that was another 3 hours of solid walking and climbing!

After exploring everything, I was back at the main gate by 4pm. I needed to be at the train station by 5.30pm, so I had absolutely loads of time to leisurely take the bus down again. However, by this point I had become superhuman and because it was supposed to take 1½ hours to walk up to the gates, I decided that I therefore had plenty of time to walk down again! Instead of being normal and taking the bus back to Aguas Calientes, I walked all the way down the valley again, just so I could say I did the whole thing on foot (and so I could see what the path actually looked like in daylight!) It only took an hour and so there was time to relax before the train left back to Ollantaytambo at 6pm! Once on the train, I felt great and caught up with some of the people I'd met at the top of Wayna Picchu who were pleased to see that I had made it down again. It later transpired that they had discussed the possibility of hearing about me again, but only in a television news report... read into that what you will!

Anyway, Machu Picchu was truly amazing and did not disappoint. Monday was a great day and for the first time in weeks, I had positive travelling feelings again. Let's hope it continues...

Highs and Lows

This is going to be brief - as much as I hate to admit it, my travelling bubble has burst recently, and the past week or so hasn't been all that much fun. I don't really want to write about it but if I didn't, I'd feel bad for missing it all out. Nothing bad has happened per se, I just think I have burned out a bit and lost my sense of purpose a bit. I am sure it will pass. I´ve always been honest in my blog, and I don't want to hide anything now, so here goes...

Actually, I don't think I can face it after all, not in detail. Damn, this is hard, you know I love being comprehensive! A list will have to do:

Tuesday 12th May

Arrived in La Paz at 5.30am, found a hotel, paid too much. Spent a few hours in the Witches Market, bought woolly hats, alpaca jumper, loud stripy trousers, flag patches. Wandered around the city in the afternoon, collected laundry in the evening. Had a really cheap haircut for £1, found a cheaper hostel for the next day, booked a tour to Tiahuanaco, decided not to go to the rainforest as I wouldn't have enough time for Peru.

Wednesday 13th May

Picked up early for the Tiahuanaco tour. Took a few hours to get there, important ruins, but most still underground, so quite disappointing. Found it extremely tiring, even though there was not much walking to do, altitude was really getting to me. Back in La Paz, was dropped miles away from new hostel and had to walk with my backpack there. Bought bus ticket to Copacabana for next day.

Thursday 14th May

Woken up by noisy neighbours coming in drunk at 5am, so stomped around as loudly as possible when I left at 7.30am! Caught bus to Copacabana by Lake Titicaca. Found hostel, cheap at last, but plans to nap for the afternoon thwarted by extreme cold. Looked into tours to Isla del Sol, but got into a tizz (again) about how many days to spend there, which boat to take, etc. Decided that I was really not enjoying myself anymore and felt like a failure. Eventually booked just a day trip to the island, tried to have a hot shower at the hostel, but after it being freezing and nearly electrocuting myself, abandoned the idea.

Friday 15th May

Took boat to north of Isla del Sol. Supposedly significant ruins there extremely disappointing, walked 8km to south of island. Have cheap and cheerful sandwich for lunch. Took boat back to Copacabana, booked onward bus leg to Puno for next day. Had tepid shower in shared bathroom, wondered what was the point of getting a private room with TV after all when my shower was rubbish and the TV only had 2 Spanish channels!

Isla del Sol

Saturday 16th May

Went up to Horca del Inca to find first and only Bolivian geocache, should've taken maybe 20 minutes but I had to stop after every 10 metres to sit down, catch my breath and drink water. After an hour and nearly disappearing down a rock face, eventually found the cache! Decided to definitely NOT trek to Machu Picchu! Took bus across the border to Puno in Peru. Found hostel, chilled out in front of the TV and ordered pizza.

Sunday 17th May

Up really early for pancakes, spent ages on free but pitifully slow Internet uploading photos. Left hostel around 1pm to book tour to Floating Islands, but most places closed. Back to hostel, then back into town again and eventually booked a tour and an onward bus ticket to Cusco for Wednesday. Early night. No shower again as still couldn't get hot water.

Monday 18th May

Up early again for pancakes, booked hostel for Cusco so I would be nice and organised. Walked to tour agency office as they said my hostel was too far away to offer me the free pick-up included in my tour! Was told seconds before leaving that there were no buses to Cusco running on Wednesday due to strike action, so went online to cancel the accommodation I had booked just minutes before. Lost deposit, good job it was only 85p! Took the boat out to the Floating Islands, interesting but incredibly touristy. Arrived on Amantani Island for lunch with a local family and met new roommates, Graciela (Honduras) and Nico (USA). Walked to top of the island to watch sunset, then had dinner with the family. Dressed up in traditional Amantani clothes and went to a party with the locals and other tourists. Weird, weird, weird, seemed completely inauthentic. Stars amazing though, the clearest I´d ever seen the Milky Way.

Floating Islands

Tuesday 19th May

Breakfasted with family, gave them food gifts we'd brought from the mainland, caught boat to Taquile Island. Tour guide gave very informative talk about the formation of Lake Titicaca and the Andes, but had lost the will to live by this point, so was a major relief when he finally shut up. Got herded into a restaurant for lunch and decided to boycott it out of principle until I realised that it was still cheap and I would starve otherwise. 3 hour boat trip back to mainland was tortue as it was hot and I was wearing many layers because of the cold. Reorganised bus ticket to Arequipa instead of Cusco as the agency were liars and gave me the impression I would be stuck in Puno until Friday. They swapped the bus tickets and said they had charged me 10 soles commission, but back at the hostel I checked the ticket and it was clear they had again lied and had diddled me out of 15 soles, nearly double the cost of the ticket. Went back and kicked up a stink and demanded a 5 soles refund. Got it and felt slightly victorious, all for just over £1. It was the PRINCIPLE! Had pizza with Graciela and Nico for dinner, so grateful that they were still spending time with me even though I was just not nice to be around.

Wednesday 20th May

Took bus to Arequipa, 6 hour journey not too bad apart from the guy next to me had no concept of personal space, so I elbowed him in the arm all the way! Found nice hostel and felt slightly more civillised. Had a shower with hot water at last and got an early night. Arequipa felt a little more promising!

Thursday 21st May

Up early as mind was swimming at 6am again. Kept trying to put thoughts of going home early out of my mind. Had nice breakfast and chatted with other guests in the hostel. Met Alice (UK) and wandered around the town in the afternoon to organise a tour to the Colca Canyon. Decided that I had no energy to trek, but couldn't face being another tourist cow packed onto a minibus to market again! Looked into a 2 day trek and decided to not bother, to save the money and not do the canyon just because I felt obliged. Went to see Angels and Demons at the cinema with Alice and Siri (Norway), paid only £5 for the ticket and large popcorn and large Coke. Got back to the hostel feeling much better.

Friday 22nd May

Woke up at 6am AGAIN with whizzing thoughts, felt bad again and moaned all through breakfast despite positive suggestions from fellow travellers about what I could do to feel better. Walked around town with Alice, booked a really cheap bus ticket to Cusco tonight, hopefully the bus will have wheels despite the price! Had a cheap manicure for only £1.75. Wasted £1.75 as the manicure was absolutely rubbish and I still have the cuticles from hell. Considered buying cuticle trimmers from the market, but the quality was shoddy, so didn't bother. Wandered around for ages looking for somewhere nice to have lunch, settled for pizza again, tormented the pigeons in the town plaza.

So, there you have it, my most depressing and tedious blog entry so far. I thought I shouldn't document it so morbidly, but I have to keep this blog as honest as possible. It is a real shame that I have hit this low point, especially as I've been the Travelling Guru for so long, but to be honest, I have done well to get as far as 8 months before crashing and burning! Hopefully, this phase will pass, although I've been out of sorts for a fortnight or so now... how long do I stick it out?

Anyway, next stop Cusco and from there I will organise my trip to Machu Picchu. At this point, I can't say that I am excited about going anymore, which is akin to blasphemy! However, I'm not going to quit yet and hopefully things will pick up soon. Just as long as I make it to Cusco in one piece on a bus too cheap to be true! I'll fill you in with the next installment soon - fingers crossed that by then, I am back in the game!

What Doesn't Kill Us, Only Makes Us Stronger... Part II

You'd better sit down for this one dear reader, and in a comfortable chair as this may take a while. Now, I am absolutely shattered, completely and utterly so, and I barely have the energy to write this post, but I owe it to myself to chronicle the past few days as accurately as possible. Here goes...

Once in Uyuni, I was a wreck. I'd been wearing the same clothes for 3 days, including overnight, I'd not showered in days, I was dusty, cold and had stomach ache. However, Uyuni itself is not a particularly nice town, it's a place that most people leave as soon as possible! The girls didn't really want to spend a night there - in fairness, neither did I - but the night bus to Potosi and Sucre would arrive at 2am and 5am respectively. Not good times to arrive in a new city with no accommodation, especially ones that would be very, very cold!

Our hands were tied for the time being though, as the power was out in Uyuni and the ATM was likely to be out of action until at least 5pm. The buses were due to leave at 7pm, so that gave us enough time to buy tickets. We all left our backpacks in the Estrella office as the guy there said he was going out for lunch for an hour and the office would be safely locked up. The boys knew that they were going to stay for one night, so the soon found a hostel and we hung out there with them as we waited for power. But it was a long, boring wait and we couldn't make any set plans without money. The Estrella guy also seemed to be taking his time as our bags were still locked away hours later, so we had nothing to amsue ourselves with.

Eventually, after wandering around the town quite aimlessly for hours, the power came on and we were the first ones at the ATM. I was rather hesitant about being the first one to put their card in, especially as it took an age to boot up, and then "The Recycle Bin is corrupted" kept appearing on screen! Eventually, we all manged to get some cash and so we went back to collect our bags and buy our tickets to Potosi and Sucre. The office was still closed however, and this is where I started to get really annoyed. Now, I will readily admit that in the past, I would lose my temper ber easily and have little patience for situations like this, but travelling has chilled me out and made me more tolerant. But on this day, I had been woekn up at 4.30 am, I'd walked and climbed and shivered and was really not in the mood for any setbacks at all.

So, like idiots, we waited outside the Estrella office in the cold from 5.50pm. The sun set on us, we watched the same taxis drive around and around and all I could think was that after all this, we would miss the buses, and I was the one who said we should just book into a hostel for the night and leave the following morning. In the end, I reasoned, the outcome would be the same, but I could have taken a long nap that afternoon and recouperated a little, instead of waiting around for things that were out of my control. At 6.50pm, the Estrella man finally reappeared, leaving us only 10 minutes to buy tickets and board the buses. "Don´t worry, they always leave late!" he replied. I could have killed him. By the time we'd loaded ourselves up and retrieved Caroline's bags from one of the boy's rooms, all the buses had left on time and we were stranded in Uyuni fopr the night after all. By the way, Caroline was on a different tour to us, but had met Katy previously and had joined us that afternoon as we hung around like cretins!

After throwing a bit of a strop (and a bottle of water across the street), we decidie to check into the same hostel as the boys. There were no twins with private bathrooms left, so we took a room for 4. Room 13. I swear, you couldn't make this stuff up! We dropped off our bags and headed out to buy bus tickets for the following morning. All the vendors that had been shouting "Potosi, Sucre" at us all day, now suddenly had nothing for the following day, not the first, second or third one we tried! As Katy observed "It's Sunday tomorrow!" - I thought I would be stuck in Uyuni forever! The fourth agents had tickets though, what a relief, and Julia and I booked on to Potosi, Caroline and Katy to Sucre.

We then went out with the boys for dinner in a bar that had outdoor heaters - at last, I could remove a layer of clothing! Back at the hostel, the room was OK, but the girls weren't impressed at all, especially as we had to walk through a corridor smeared with excrement to get there, as the toilets we somewhat full. I personally was past caring by this point. I managed to sleep reasonably well, although I was very dizzy when I got up at 5am to use the bathroom. I'd forgotten to take my altitude sickness tablet the night before - I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but it was really weird! As we were getting ready to leave the room on Sunday morning, there was a knock at the door. I gingerly opened it and was greeted by a lady trying to sell us a tour - in our room at 8.30am! That was a new one!

The bus to Potosi was, by Bolivian standards, not too bad. It had reasonably comfortable seats and was clean enough. I'd been on much worse in Asia. Our bags were loaded on safely and we set off roughly on time (although not as promptly as the night before!) It was to be another long journey, 6 hours, along bumpy dirt roads to Potosi. Katy and Caroline would need to change there for Sucre. I managed to nap a little and we read some magazines that Caroline had brought from the UK. At the half way stop, there were no toilets, so a little improvisation was required! We all agreed that it was tiring and hardgoing, but by Bolivian standards, it could have been worse. Once back on board, a boy (who that morning was sat in the driver's seat and had us all worried) came around and gave everyone a bottle of Coke each. I was rather touched by that, especially in such a poor country. I guess it would have been covered in the price of the ticket, but I doubt you get any little perks on British coaches.

That was where my tolerance for this particular bus journey ended. Up until this point, I had been on worse. What happened next made this journey even worse than the one from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng back in October. Julia was sat by the window, myself by the aisle. The man sat across the aisle from me decided to stand up in the corridor, vomit from at least 5 feet onto the floor and then it all ran under mine and Julia's feet. Luckily, I moved my legs in time but Julia's bag didn't escape unscathed. So, as you can imagine, we couldn't extend our legs, we had to keep them on the footrests, it was hot and really smelly, and we still had 3 hours to go until Potosi. Somehow, the awful Bolivian music that was playing on the bus seemed to be getting louder and louder, so much so that I resorted to sticking my fingers in my ears. When we finally got off, we had no idea where we had been left and no idea where to go.

In brief, once we got our act together, we booked a tour for the silver mines the following morning, found a hostel and splasked out of a twin room with private hot shower, heating and TV, bought a bus ticket to La Paz for Monday night and went out for dinner. I decided to skip Sucre even though it sounded very pretty, just because I was worried about time, plus that way I would get to go with Julia and have company/moral support for the La Paz journey! It was quite a turnaround really - on Day 1 of the jeep tour, I assured everyone that I could honestly travel forever and that I had never once wanted to go home. Now though, after 8 months on the road, I felt like home was somewhere I woud quite like to be!

On Monday morning, we went on a tour down one of the mines that Potosi is famouse for - by the way, Potosi is the world's highest city at 4,060m above sea level. In an ideal world, I should'nt have been taking on such a challenge as the mines after such an arduous week, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't. First, we suited an booted up, then stopped at the mines market to buy coca leaves and soda for them, and dynamite for us to watch being blown up! I actually missed the explosion as I was walking backwards, watching my camera screen that wasn't even recording, but I certainly heard it!

Now, the mines are not set up for tourists at all. You visit them exactly as the are, there are no frills and no fancy show is put on. You meet the miners under the mountain as they unload and load wagons and trolleys of rocks, as they hand-chisel holes for dynamite, as they sort through the ores. Silver, tin and zinc are mined in Potosi, and the tunnels are coated with iron and copper oxides. Plus some fluffy green stuff - "What's this?" I asked our guide. "Asbestos." Nice. It was very cold at the start of our journey into Cerro Rico, but it soon became very hot as the mountain is volcanic. The tunnels became smaller, the ceilings lower and the water we had to wade through deeper.

To meet the first miner, we had to crawl up through a tiny passage above the main tunnels, into a claustrophic space where he was working. All five of us were hacking and wheezing, partially due to the heat and lack of air, but mainly because of the toxic dust all around us. That was the hardest part. All the miners we met were happy to stop and chat and were grateful for the gifts of soda and coca leaves that we had taken them. Many start mining at 15 years old will continue until their 50s, unless ill health stops them first. They may earn £4 or £5 for a day's work in hideous conditions, and that of course depends on the quality of the metals they mine. Nowadays, the international market for many metals has crashed and this has worsened their situation, but not a single one complained. It was certainly and thought-provoking experience, to say the very least.

Julia and I had decided to be extravagant and pay for our lovely room for an extra night (even though we wouldn't be sleeping in it) just so we could come back and take a hot shower and watch TV, have a nap... just chill out. After the mines, I certainly needed it, if only to remove the metallic stench that hung about me. We wandered around Potosi that evening and in parts, it was quite pretty. After finding a lovely cheap little restaurant for dinner, where I tried llama for the first time, we collected our bags from the hostel and took a taxi to the bus terminal. We had no idea where our bus would park, so we enquired at the ticket desk.

It was a good job as I think they had sold us to another company and we needed to check in at a different desk, plus this bus would be leaving haf an hour later than we expected! As it turned out, the new bus was the highest class and had fully reclining seats. We were still worried about getting robbed in the night though and then Julia though she would tell me that sometimes buses to La Paz get hijacked! As it turned out, we got a decent night's sleep, the bus was comfortable and on time. In fact, we very nearly didn't get out until we realised that we were the last ones on the bus - "Is ths La Paz?" I asked. "¡Sí!" So, there we were at 5.30am in the highest capital city in the world. It was time to find a taxi... and a place to stay.

Across the Altiplano to Salar de Uyuni

Luckily enough, on Thursday morning, things seemed to begin to run smoothly and we were soon on the minibus that would take our group to the Bolivian border so we could then begin our 3 day jeep tour! There were supposed to be 9 people booked onto the trip, which would mean a nice split of 4 people in one jeep, and 5 in the other! Super, we'd all get a little extra room as we had been assured by Estrella that 6 people was the maximum number that would be in the jeep. It was quite amusing to get yet another Chile stamp in my passport, less than 48 hours after the previous one, and again my bag was searched, a little more thoroughly this time, but once again, nothing was unpacked, phew! After a while, we arrived at the Bolivian border, a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere - there was no bag searching or any formalities really, just sign in, pay your fee and get another stamp!

Edgar, our friendly guide had our breakfast ready by the minibus once we were all officially in and in the bitter, biting wind, we were extremely grateful for mugs of Milo! It was then time to transfer to the jeeps. 2 people had not turned up, we think due to illness, so we wondered how they would split the 7 of us up. Should have seen it coming - all of us were going to be squashed into one jeep! That´s me, Julia and Katy (who are luckily both quite petite) and Phil, Paul, Dave and Otmar (who are all over 6 feet tall!) I quickly jumped into the spare front seat, so technically there was room for 7 people, but it meant that it would be a real squash in the back!

However, we had a great group of people and soon we were off into Bolivia. Edgar asked if anyone would like to put on their iPod, so I jumped at the chance! It seemed appropriate to listen to the Rough Guide to Andes Music, and imagine my joy when Edgar started singing along heartily to the first track - it turns out that most f the songs on there were Bolivian! It soon gave way to the Indiana Jones them tune and a collection of 80s rock and driving songs before the guys asked for something from a more recent decade! It was time to swop iPods!

Our first stops were at Lagunas Blanca and Verde and then we had a dip in the hot springs! That was interesting, to say the least, as it was absolutely freezing and there were no changing rooms, but it was lovely and warm once in the water! Because of the high altitude, Edgar recommended that we spend no more than 10 minutes in the water, but it was difficult to brave getting out again! I emerged and sprinted to the jeep, getting changed in the front seat! Soon, we were off again and saw Dalis Rocks (in the distance, so not really!) and then arrived at Laguna Colorada that afternoon. It s a stunning lake, coloured red with flamingoes and and amazing backdrop of mountains. We had a delicious lunch at the refuge where we would spend the night and then took a walk along the lake up to a viewpoint where the view was outstanding!

Llama at Laguna Colorada

That night, by around 6pm, we were all shattered! It was getting cold and so we all played cards in the refuge and drank hot coca tea. Dinner was again delicious and by the time we had finished eating, we were all ready for bed! Our room was great, seven single beds squashed in, but at least each one had lots of thick blankets. The girls got ready for bed first and I wore three sweaters, tights, leggings, tracksuit pants, alpaca socks, a woolly hat, two hoods, a scarf and gloves. Once, in bed, I was warm, except for my nose, but that was about it! Luckily, although it wasn't quite a perfect night's sleep, it was a million miles better than I had anticipated and I wasn't cold! On Friday morning, I was awake early, so I just walked straight out of bed and went out to watch sunrise. I was a bit late, but could see that if I walked back to the viewpoint above the lake, I'd get a great view when the sun made it above the mountains to illuminate the valley on the other side. It took me an hour to get there and back, but it was worth it - my breath froze into white crystals on my scarf and the altitude was killing me, but at least I did it! When I made t back to the room at 7.30, the others were just waking and were greeted by the sight of me looking like Scott of the Antarctic!

After breakfast, we set off on Day 2. We were still up for it, but a little more subdued than one Day 1. High altitude is extremely tiring and it was hard-going to the boys to be cooped up in the jeep. I moved from the front seat into the back with the girls. It was OK, but with me being taller, it wasn´t very comfortable at all! We saw more stunning lakes, the Tree Rock and had time to walk around one (whose name I can't remember) that had more flamingoes. There was a lot more driving to do that day in order to be by the salt flats that night, ready to set off early for sunrise on Day 3. That night, we stayed in a little village called Villa Martin, in what seemed like a homestay. It was very basic and we'd been a little spoiled on the first night, especially as we had all been led to believe that the second night was to be spent in a hostel. Anyway, we made the most of it, the family was lovely and the little girl there was hilarious - until she made me crawl around on all fours making cat noises, and then proceeded to chase me with a wet scrubbing brush!

We settled down for another reasonably early night after a game of "Who Am I?" and braced ourselves for the early morning wake-up call. It arrived in the form of Edgar banging very loudy on our windows and doors at 4.30 am on Saturday! We emerged into the freezing darkness, packed and ready to go by 5am. Paul, bless him, had only just gone to sleep as well, as he's been ill for most of the night. It was very quiet in the jeep that morning as we drove onto the salt flats. No lights, no music, no chatter. We arrived at Isla del Incahuaca, a rocky outcrop covered in cacti and we were to climb to the top to watch the sunrise. It was cold, steep, dark - I was out of breath almost immediately - and way too early for such activities! Of course, it was worth it as the views across the salt were amazing.

Once the sun was up, we were greeted by Edgar and pancakes and hot drinks! It was still really cold, so we wandered onto the salt to warm up in the morning sun. We thought we would be moving on to another part to take or photos, but after 30 mins f standing around getting bored, be checked with Edgar and apparently this was it, our salt flat stop! So, we then began to take all kinds of wacky photos, made possible by the blank landscape. Unfortunately, by then I was really shattered, so I was short of ideas and I was taking most of the photos, so I'm not in that many of them after all, but we did get some really good ones in the end...

B O L I V I A

There was a little confusion at that point as we were supposed to be going to Fisherman´s Island as well, it was on the itinerary, but when we asked Edgar about it, he stopped the jeep and got quite defensive about it all. We only wanted to know why our printed itinerary was a little different from what he said we would do, but he seemed quite offended. By the way, I forgot to mention that he only spoke Spanish and Otmar was our translator for most of the trip! Anyway, we carried on after a while, good job really as Paul was still feeling rotten and the jeep was getting really hot in the morning sun! We visited the salt museum, salt mines and the train cemetery at Uyuni, before having lunch at Edwin's house. After that, he dropped us off at the Estrella office in Uyuni and thus ended our jeep tour!

It was worth all it, even though at times it was tiring and cold and we hadn´t showered for days and were wearing the same dirty clothes´. It was worth it even though we were squashed into a little jeep and needed way more sleep - we had a great group and a great guide, and even though some of the other tour groups we met along the way seemed to have a few extra luxuries here and there, they didn't seemed to get on quite as well with each other as we all did, the Magnificent Seven! However, by 1pm on Saturday when we were left in Uyuni with no idea what to do next, I have to be honest and say I felt pretty wrecked. I needed a damn good rest, but it wasn´t to be. I suggest you mentally prepare to the next installment, I know I will...

San Pedro de Atacama

I was up early on Tuesday to catch the bus to San Pedro de Atacama - after another tortuous trek across the city of Salta with my backpack - but I was happy to be seated next to a British girl, Julia from Watford. I broke the ice by telling her how I had to wear my woolly hat all day as my bed hair was so atrocious, and thus began a special friendship that has been through more in the past 8 days than some friends may go through in a lifetime! The journey was around 8 hours or so, but went surprisingly fast as we chinwagged all the way to the Chilean border. There we had to present our bags for inspection. I was dreading this bit, not because I was smuggling any contraband, but because I'd spent hours the night before packing it nice and neatly and I didn't fancy the guard undoing all my hard work! Luckily enough, a quick poke around the outside was all that was required. I could have had a revolver or a kilo of crack in the centre of it all, but never mind!!!

Anyway, rather than chill out in San Pedro, we traipsed around like Benny Hill extras for most of our free time there. We'd been handed a few flyers for hostels at the 'bus station' (i.e. dusty space) and after we found that the Hostel International did not include Internet, we thought we'd try one that did. So, after asking for directions, we wandered around for ages and ages, which was ridiculous in a town so small. Eventually, we found it and I realised that I'd got my left and right mixed up, whoops! So, once someone finally appeared in reception, we checked in. Unfortunately, the Internet was broken, but it was slightly cheaper than we expected, so we dropped off our bags and headed out again to price up trips to the Valley of the Moon and the Salt Flats in Uyuni.

We went to every agency in San Pedro and it was clear that they all offered the same itinerary to Uyuni. I was well prepared for the fact that it wouldn't be a particularly luxurious excursion, to say the very least, but we didn't want to go with utter cowboys, especially given that the Lonely Planet states that no agency gets glowing reviews! We bumped into a British couple who recommend that we visit the tourist information office as there they had a guestbook with comments from people who had done the tours already. From that, it became clear that our initial choice of operator was probably not a good idea and so we settled on the one that seemed to get the least number of complaints, (plus some good comments too), Estrella del Sur.

So, off we went back to the office to book it and pay. Now, I had plenty of US Dollars from Salta, but Julia needed to use the ATM as Estrella could not accept card payments. However, there are only 2 ATMs in San Pedro, one accepts only MasterCard, the other Visa. Both were empty at that point and may or may not have been refilled the next day. The lady at Estrella did initially say that we could pay at the ed of the tour, but really, really wanted us to try the ATM again first thing in the morning as well. I offered to pay for my ticket there and then, but she said we should both pay together.

So, thus began an evening of slight worry that she would sell our places to other people with hard cash and that would screw up our plans to leave on Thursday (7th), which was particularly bad for Julia as she needed to be in La Paz by the 12th. There was no room for error. So we walked to the ATMs just to double check. No money. I changed the remainder of Julia's Argentinian pesos into dollars so she at least had some spendable currency, but we had no money for dinner as the restaurants would not accept US! We asked about cash advances and even found a gas station that would effectively give Julia cashback, but would charge 10% and have to put split the amount required into 2 transactions, hences 2 fees and thus a really bad rate of exchange. We decided that if the ATMs were not working first thing on Wednesday morning that this would have to be the best option, just to guarantee our places.

The next morning, we were both awake at 7.30 and got up to wait for the ATMs to open at 9am. Now, I'd realised at some point the night before that we had gone to the wrong hostel after all! We had received 2 flyers, one for 5,000 pesos with broken Internet, one for 6,000 with free Internet. Somehow, I completely missed the fact that I got the flyers confused when we went to the cheaper, broken one! I WAS VERY TIRED! Plus, my extremities had started to randomly tingle because f the altitude sickness tablets! We decided to swap hostels so we could use the Internet while we waited to go on the Moon tour at 3pm that afternoon. Now, getting up so early meant that he wait for the ATM to open was really tedious. The MasterCard one was open, so I offered to take out the money for Julia on my Cirrus card and that she could pay me in pounds when I got my statement. She would have to pay more than if she could use here own Visa card, but i would be the silly cost of the gas station. So, we did that, returned to Estrella, bought our tickets and felt like we had actually achieved something positive since arriving in San Pedro!

We went back to our new hostel and at 10am, we were the first people online, in order to get our blogs up to date before leaving for Bolivia. At 10.20am, the computers went off as the electricity for the entire town went out! So, we could have stayed in the cheaper (and slightly warmer) hostel after all! We killed time before the Moon tour by buying alpaca socks, water, cookies, doing a bit of laundry and organising our backpacks for the jeep tour. That afternoon, we went out into the Atacama desert and the landscape was stunning. We visited Death/Mars Valley before the Valley of the Moon at sunset. This was the reason I came to San Pedro. Unfortunately, the guide spoke little English and because I was pretty much the only person who did not speak Spanish, he didn't bother to try any English at all. I have no idea what we saw really, which didn't matter until we stopped for sunset.

Rather than at least check that Julia and I roughly knew where to go and what time to be back on the bus, he rambled on in Spanish and then off we went up a mountain ridge. At the top of the slope, we couldn't see the rest of the group, so we continued onwards right to the end of the ridge. Stunning views, but no other people there that we recognised. "We'd better go back!" I said, and so we paced back along the ridge to the top of the initial slope. It then became apparent that that was the best point to view the sunset, looking away from the setting sun to watch the mountains in the distance glow red. By the time we had actually made it along the correct path in the correct direction, the sun had practically set and we had all but missed the sunset. I was livid. You may well imagine. I just had to try to get over it and hope that things would go a little more according to plan the next day...

After the Sunset...

She's At It Again!

It happened at the start of Australia and at the start of New Zealand, so I should have seen it coming here... Emma has got herself in a right muddle about how to travel onwards through South America! It seemed like a good idea to head north through Argentina, rather than Chile, but in hindsight, a little more planning was required!

I arrived in Salta on Friday morning after a 21 hour journey from Mendoza. It was alright, but to be honest, I would have expected better, given the rave reports I´d heard about the buses over here. I didn´t even have a blanket and pillow this time, despite it being an overnight journey, so it was rather cold in the aircon! Lunch and dinner were ham and cheese sandwiches, again fine, but only just enough. Anyway, there were 4 films to watch, 3 of which were dubbed into Spanish, and the fourth was one I had already seen! The main thing is, I made it in one piece!

View of Salta

After a considerable walk from the bus terminal to my hostel, I was able to pop my bag into storage and wait for my room to be ready. The gentleman at the hostel was lovely and soon I could check in. Once settled, I was ready to explore. However, I had arrived on May 1st, which is Labor Day, a national holiday and so everything was shut! I managed to find a little cafe that served empanadas and they were delicious! That afternoon, I thought I would use the time to make a plan for my journey towards Bolivia. I couldn´t decide and so I gave up for the day, and that´s where my stress started!

To cut an long story short(er), I spent most of Saturday getting myself in a right mess over what to do. I tried to weigh up the pros and cons between going to Bolivia via San Pedro de Atacama in Chile (which is more expensive and less reliable) or straight up into Bolivia and head to Salar de Uyuni from Tupiza (which is a great trip and cheaper). Now, from that sentence, it may appear that the decision was obvious, i.e. go to Tupiza, but I really wanted to be able to say that I have been to the Atacama Desert! Anyway, the rest of the day transpired like this:

- Went to tourist information
- Back to hostel to stress
- Went to tourist information
- Back to hostel to stress
- Got T.I to phone Pullman bus company, no tickets for Sunday
- Walked to bus terminal to talk to Geminis bus company, no tickets for Sunday
- Back to hostel to stress
- Made decision to go to San Pedro de Atacama on Tuesday
- Got out only 40 pesos from ATM (around £8)
- Went back to bus terminal
- Thought I should double check about Sunday with Pullmans while I was there but didn't as they said there were no tickets left on the phone
- Bought ticket from Geminis for Tuesday
- Met Allison (US) and decided to book a tour to Cachi to kill one of my extra days in Salta
- Went around different agencies to get best deal
- Picked one but needed more money so back to ATM
- "You have reached your daily limit" - £8?????
- Tried different ATM - "You have reached your daily limit"
- Used (expensive) Mastercard to withdraw enough money for the tour
- Back to hostel to try to calm down
- Met guy who bought a ticket for Sunday from Pullmans on SUNDAY an HOUR AFTER me as they actually had NINE LEFT!!!
- Tried not to lose the will to live (or kill him)

Anyway, that was Saturday! I'm getting better, but I'm still a liability on occasions! That night though, I went out and had my first Argentinian steak and it was absolutely amazing, tender, juicy, well seasoned and cooked to perfection! Exactly worth all the fuss! On Sunday, I took the tour to Cachi. It was quite a drive to get there and back and the town itself, although very pretty, is really just a church and a plaza, but the scenery was amazing and I got some great photos! That night, I managed to squeeze in a visit to M.A.A.M. - the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology where the controversial Children of Llullaillaco mummies are displayed and then a walk around the Sunday market. I was also given a free Kinder bar by a kiosko vendor who'd taken a shine to me and invited my out on his moped the following day. I politely declined; safety first, not because he looked 40 even though he said he was 30!

En route to Cachi

On Monday, I actually had my first opportunity to explore Salta even though it was the fourth day that I had been there! I had loads to organise as well before leaving for Chile, so I...

- Put my laundry in
- Bought some socks
- Hand-washed my knickers
- Changed some traveller's cheques into US dollars
- Bought some malaria tablets
- Researched altitude sickness tablets
- Had empanadas for lunch
- Chatted to the restaurant owner in Spanish for about 30 minutes (sort of)
- Took the cable car up to the top of San Bernardo Hill
- Walked down again
- Collected my laundry
- Collected the rest of the malaria tablets and bought the altitude sickness ones
- Repacked my bag
- Threw my Merrell sandals away (it was quite a wrench)
- Uploaded my photos
- Went back to the little cafe and bought all of the sandwiches that were left
- Finally went to bed!

I had meant to get an early night but to no avail. I wasn't looking forward to getting up at 5.30am on Tuesday morning, but onwards to San Pedro de Atacama I had to go... and back over the Andes into Chile once again!