Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
New Year's Eve Eve (I Think)
If you find a list of 'top five exotic destinations with bedbug infestations' Buenos Aires, unfortunately, will be 4th on the list. It's notorious for them. Even more unfortunately we were greeted by them here.
I have no transition into this paragraph and, while that isn't particularly unusual, this is a big transition: This morning we stepped out of our building and, instead of the continuation of Humberto Primo past the cross-street there was a sea of people and umbrella-covered stalls. People sold lots of things, but predominantly knick-knacks. After fighting our way among the crowds for a few hours in the sun we swung by the fresh-pasta store that I may or may not have mentioned before but at any rate it's pretty self-explanatory so anyways we got more pasta, went to the market and the supermarket, and returned home sunburned.
As usual, after lunch my parents napped while I practiced and, afterwards we went back out. This time we didn't walk to a new section of town but picked a direction out of the market and walked in it. Even after a dozen solid blocks of crowds and colorful items the market was going strong, but we mosey-ers had spent an ample amount of time in it and were ready to return after spending a couple of minutes watching tangoing couples. Back to the supermarket for lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons and lemons which soon turned into limes, limes, limes and limes, then into the crowd. My mother had lime-destroying tendency of swinging the bag so, after rescuing one from the gutter, I took over the fruits.
The lentils we had for dinner are slightly but (I got the full spiel, now paraphrased) very distinctly different from those in Olympia, mainly because they are smaller and less mushy once cooked. We made use of the television in the kitchen to watch a comedy called 'Leap Year' while we ate and are now finding reasons to delay going to bed.
To delay I will first write about several of things that I forgot to in previous posts.
The first goes all the way back to Sucre. And, thanks Anna, I just found out that 'the search feature is limited on this blog by the owner's request' but I don't remember doing that and now I don't know how to change this. So there is a very small chance that I have already written about this. Sorry.
What I think happened is that, back before Tupiza, we planned on taking the night bus from Sucre but then somehow we didn't have tickets, I didn't post the next day, and we didn't have wifi in Tupiza. We went back to the hostel we were at and out to a really awful movie about two people running for congressman that night, and in the morning we had until 2 to go to the bus station so we went to see the 'most valuable virgin Mary in Bolivia'. There was a large museum, and we wandered for at least an hour among the grossly bejeweled reliquaries, crown things, crosses, rings, chalices and chasubles before actually coming across the virgin. She was a little disappointing. The Mary in this church is a painting that is covered with jewels and what appear to be whatever other valuables people had on them at the time, like watches. She is quite small.
If I remember correctly we had lunch after this and then headed to the bus terminal. It was about as bad as a bus terminal could be, but we were out of it pretty quickly. The bus stopped around 7 and everyone got out and bought dinner to take with them and we scoffed supremely at them because, obviously, we would be there in two hours. That was before we were on the bus for 4 more hours. I think I wrote the rest.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that, after the ballet the other night, we stopped in a small place to get some ice-cream. My parents got some banana-split-flan-cookie dish and, I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but my brain translated 'ice-cream soda' as 'rootbeer float', so was disappointed by being given a glass of ice-cream and a bottle of soda-water. The ice-cream was good alone, though.
That's basically all I can think of right now but I know that there was something involving an airport that will probably come to me at an inconvenient time.
I have no transition into this paragraph and, while that isn't particularly unusual, this is a big transition: This morning we stepped out of our building and, instead of the continuation of Humberto Primo past the cross-street there was a sea of people and umbrella-covered stalls. People sold lots of things, but predominantly knick-knacks. After fighting our way among the crowds for a few hours in the sun we swung by the fresh-pasta store that I may or may not have mentioned before but at any rate it's pretty self-explanatory so anyways we got more pasta, went to the market and the supermarket, and returned home sunburned.
As usual, after lunch my parents napped while I practiced and, afterwards we went back out. This time we didn't walk to a new section of town but picked a direction out of the market and walked in it. Even after a dozen solid blocks of crowds and colorful items the market was going strong, but we mosey-ers had spent an ample amount of time in it and were ready to return after spending a couple of minutes watching tangoing couples. Back to the supermarket for lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons and lemons which soon turned into limes, limes, limes and limes, then into the crowd. My mother had lime-destroying tendency of swinging the bag so, after rescuing one from the gutter, I took over the fruits.
The lentils we had for dinner are slightly but (I got the full spiel, now paraphrased) very distinctly different from those in Olympia, mainly because they are smaller and less mushy once cooked. We made use of the television in the kitchen to watch a comedy called 'Leap Year' while we ate and are now finding reasons to delay going to bed.
To delay I will first write about several of things that I forgot to in previous posts.
The first goes all the way back to Sucre. And, thanks Anna, I just found out that 'the search feature is limited on this blog by the owner's request' but I don't remember doing that and now I don't know how to change this. So there is a very small chance that I have already written about this. Sorry.
What I think happened is that, back before Tupiza, we planned on taking the night bus from Sucre but then somehow we didn't have tickets, I didn't post the next day, and we didn't have wifi in Tupiza. We went back to the hostel we were at and out to a really awful movie about two people running for congressman that night, and in the morning we had until 2 to go to the bus station so we went to see the 'most valuable virgin Mary in Bolivia'. There was a large museum, and we wandered for at least an hour among the grossly bejeweled reliquaries, crown things, crosses, rings, chalices and chasubles before actually coming across the virgin. She was a little disappointing. The Mary in this church is a painting that is covered with jewels and what appear to be whatever other valuables people had on them at the time, like watches. She is quite small.
If I remember correctly we had lunch after this and then headed to the bus terminal. It was about as bad as a bus terminal could be, but we were out of it pretty quickly. The bus stopped around 7 and everyone got out and bought dinner to take with them and we scoffed supremely at them because, obviously, we would be there in two hours. That was before we were on the bus for 4 more hours. I think I wrote the rest.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that, after the ballet the other night, we stopped in a small place to get some ice-cream. My parents got some banana-split-flan-cookie dish and, I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but my brain translated 'ice-cream soda' as 'rootbeer float', so was disappointed by being given a glass of ice-cream and a bottle of soda-water. The ice-cream was good alone, though.
That's basically all I can think of right now but I know that there was something involving an airport that will probably come to me at an inconvenient time.
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| Musicians and dancers getting ready |
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| Market scene--hopefuly you can see the umbrellas stretching off into the distance |
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Visit to Recoleta
Ballets watched: Nutracker x 6
Onegin x 1
Teatro Colon takes up an entire block of Buenos Aires. And the blocks are really big here. So of course this was the perfect time to forget my camera.
Most of the theatre seemed to be made up of boxes, fancy boxes, but we booked yesterday and got 'partial view' seats. The entire stage was in view only if you leaned a few feet over the railing but because of the potential hazards of this I spent the performance leaning forward as far as I could without actually running the risk of toppling and crushing people.
The ballet was based on a novel in verse by the poet Aleksandr Pushkin who is, according to wikipedia, widely thought to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian poetry. Eugene Onegin is supposedly so beautifully written as to be untranslatable.
Pushkin was a notoriously touchy man, and fought a total of 29 duels before being fatally wounded.
The ballet was another Tchaikovsky work, and the choreography was just gorgeous. The theatre itself was also gorgeous, with gold-colored railings around all the levels of the seats, curtains at the entrance to the boxes, and a tremendous chandelier, however, the painting on the dome was strangely amateurish.
It was nearly 1 in the morning by the time we got home and ate dinner and we all slept in really late today before going out. I got some pictures of the subway today while we were on our way to the bus station. It took a while to get bus tickets for Bariloche but it looks like we are set to leave on the 2nd.
Trying to find lunch we got a little turned around, but made it to the restaurant that the guidebook raved about before finding out that they had nothing veggie on the menu. At that point we took a taxi to a place that we could actually eat at. Irritatingly, there was no plain iced tea on the menu (they only had some combination mint-lemon-tea thingy) so I ordered a pot of black tea and, with the help of some ice, turned it into iced tea. The waitress didn't start giving me weird looks until I added the milk.
We had to retrace our steps to reach the graveyard and then fight our way through the artisans' market. The graveyard isn't headstones in the ground or even walls of shrines, like in Copacabana, but rows upon rows of crypts. The coffins in some of the chapel-like rooms are surrounded by bits of roof and falling stone because of the damp, while others have fresh flowers. Eva Peron's grave was quite nondescript compared to some of the elaborate affairs with marble angels and religious statues, merely being black and shiny, but it was surrounded by a horde of people.
On our way out of the graveyard we came across a bunch of lounging cats. One in particular was frighteningly memorable--it had no ears, squinty eyes, and particularly menacing and vicious look. To illustrate, a tourist was having her picture taken by a crypt when said cat walked up to her. When she noticed the cat she screamed and jumped away from it. This was not me, or my mother.
Embarassingly we stopped afterwards in a Starbuck's for refreshment.
In the museum of Beaux Arts there are rooms upon rooms upon rooms of paintings and, though we diligently contemplated each painting at first, we began to skim them as time wore on.
After two hours in the museum we flagged a cab back to the subway back from the Recoleta area and walked back to Santelma, where we are staying. Stopped in a fresh pasta store, a vegetable stall, the market, and the supermarket for meals for dinner tonight and meals tomorrow because, since it's a holiday, most stores and restaurants will be closed.
It was an 8-hour outing by the time we got home and we crashed for a little before making dinner, which has yet to be eaten.
Onegin x 1
Teatro Colon takes up an entire block of Buenos Aires. And the blocks are really big here. So of course this was the perfect time to forget my camera.
Most of the theatre seemed to be made up of boxes, fancy boxes, but we booked yesterday and got 'partial view' seats. The entire stage was in view only if you leaned a few feet over the railing but because of the potential hazards of this I spent the performance leaning forward as far as I could without actually running the risk of toppling and crushing people.
The ballet was based on a novel in verse by the poet Aleksandr Pushkin who is, according to wikipedia, widely thought to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian poetry. Eugene Onegin is supposedly so beautifully written as to be untranslatable.
Pushkin was a notoriously touchy man, and fought a total of 29 duels before being fatally wounded.
The ballet was another Tchaikovsky work, and the choreography was just gorgeous. The theatre itself was also gorgeous, with gold-colored railings around all the levels of the seats, curtains at the entrance to the boxes, and a tremendous chandelier, however, the painting on the dome was strangely amateurish.
It was nearly 1 in the morning by the time we got home and ate dinner and we all slept in really late today before going out. I got some pictures of the subway today while we were on our way to the bus station. It took a while to get bus tickets for Bariloche but it looks like we are set to leave on the 2nd.
Trying to find lunch we got a little turned around, but made it to the restaurant that the guidebook raved about before finding out that they had nothing veggie on the menu. At that point we took a taxi to a place that we could actually eat at. Irritatingly, there was no plain iced tea on the menu (they only had some combination mint-lemon-tea thingy) so I ordered a pot of black tea and, with the help of some ice, turned it into iced tea. The waitress didn't start giving me weird looks until I added the milk.
We had to retrace our steps to reach the graveyard and then fight our way through the artisans' market. The graveyard isn't headstones in the ground or even walls of shrines, like in Copacabana, but rows upon rows of crypts. The coffins in some of the chapel-like rooms are surrounded by bits of roof and falling stone because of the damp, while others have fresh flowers. Eva Peron's grave was quite nondescript compared to some of the elaborate affairs with marble angels and religious statues, merely being black and shiny, but it was surrounded by a horde of people.
On our way out of the graveyard we came across a bunch of lounging cats. One in particular was frighteningly memorable--it had no ears, squinty eyes, and particularly menacing and vicious look. To illustrate, a tourist was having her picture taken by a crypt when said cat walked up to her. When she noticed the cat she screamed and jumped away from it. This was not me, or my mother.
Embarassingly we stopped afterwards in a Starbuck's for refreshment.
In the museum of Beaux Arts there are rooms upon rooms upon rooms of paintings and, though we diligently contemplated each painting at first, we began to skim them as time wore on.
After two hours in the museum we flagged a cab back to the subway back from the Recoleta area and walked back to Santelma, where we are staying. Stopped in a fresh pasta store, a vegetable stall, the market, and the supermarket for meals for dinner tonight and meals tomorrow because, since it's a holiday, most stores and restaurants will be closed.
It was an 8-hour outing by the time we got home and we crashed for a little before making dinner, which has yet to be eaten.
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| Subway! |
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| The inside of one of the more recently-tended crypts. The grates in the floor hide the places beneath used to store older bodies. The glass is what's making the picture look weird. |
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| One of the more elaborate crypts |
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| A view down one of the rows, with a statue belonging to a tomb out front. I think people rub the dog's nose for luck. |
Friday, December 28, 2012
I have wifi, so why not post
GAAAAAAAAHHH. 2 hours and counting in the travel agency. Not much of a post, sorry.
B-A and Holidays part 2
Well, it ended up being pretty late by the time I got home last night so I didn't end up posting.
When we got home from walking by the Puerto Madeira we had sandwiches and carrot salad, then my parents napped while I practiced. In the evening we kept figuring out how to organize everything we want to do here and we met Linda and Johann from Manu for a pizza dinner. We thought we were going to s neighborhood venue, but there was a line stretching out the door. If I remember correctly, somebody (guidebook/parent) said that it was the "best pizza in town" and it was very good.. We have a lot of leftovers.
This morning I took the subway for the first time--we went to the Teatro Colon, and will be going to a ballet this evening. Also walked back to the travel agency. At this point I really have no idea what we will be doing, so I will continue to just follow my parents.
I thought of a few things that I meant to mention earlier, but I'm not sure that I can remember them. One was that the presidential palace that we saw on our walk yesterday is (reputedly!) painted with white-wash mixed with cows' blood and that's why it is pink. The others will come to me. I will probably post again this evening.
When we got home from walking by the Puerto Madeira we had sandwiches and carrot salad, then my parents napped while I practiced. In the evening we kept figuring out how to organize everything we want to do here and we met Linda and Johann from Manu for a pizza dinner. We thought we were going to s neighborhood venue, but there was a line stretching out the door. If I remember correctly, somebody (guidebook/parent) said that it was the "best pizza in town" and it was very good.. We have a lot of leftovers.
This morning I took the subway for the first time--we went to the Teatro Colon, and will be going to a ballet this evening. Also walked back to the travel agency. At this point I really have no idea what we will be doing, so I will continue to just follow my parents.
I thought of a few things that I meant to mention earlier, but I'm not sure that I can remember them. One was that the presidential palace that we saw on our walk yesterday is (reputedly!) painted with white-wash mixed with cows' blood and that's why it is pink. The others will come to me. I will probably post again this evening.
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| Argentinian doggy day-care |
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| Casa Rosada--the president's palace |
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| The Puerto Madeiro |
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Buenos Aires and Holidays part 1
At 10 on the 24th we took a cab to the main square and found it deserted. It seems like we had just missed the ceremony of placing the baby into the nativity scene, and everybody was leaving. So we walked around a new part of the city and came across a church that was closed and covered with cockroaches, and across a street filled with peñas so we sat at one for maybe 30 minutes and listened to the music and sipped wine (my parents) and coca cola (me). There was a singer with an amazing voice, and a violinist playing a lefty violin.
A little after 11.00 we walked back to the square and stepped into the cathedral for the midnight mass. Only stuck around for about 15 minutes, but I think we got a flavor of the service: two people, a man and a woman, alternated reading passages in spanish, and this was interspersed with singing.
At midnight people shot off fireworks and lit floating lanterns to send up into the night. It was beautiful, but while we were still in the heart of the city somewhat overwhelming. When we finally found a cab our way was blocked by explosions in the smoke-filled streets, and we stopped frequently. From our rooms we had a brilliant view of the city, and it was a while before we tore ourselves away and went to bed.
Christmas I had been dreading a little but it was so much fun, even if it felt like some random day we chose to give eachother presents on rather than a holiday. We skyped with Ohioan family which was really fun, ate cold sesame noodles, played cribbage, and watched the matrix.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning packing up, then took a plane to Buenos Aires. It left almost an hour late, but was less than two hours and the airport wasn't awful.
We arrived at the height of rush hour and it took us a while to get to our apartment, but it wasn't too late and we settled in quickly. Dinner was fresh-made pasta and some delicious dulce-de-leche ice cream.
This morning my parents slipped out early and went for a walk. Later we all went out, and walked over to the canals. Stopped in at a travel agency to make plans for the rest of Argentina, then back through the city. It was a long walk; we were gone for almost 4 hours, but the city is very beautiful and, apparently, very European.
On a lot of the street corners there are goofy statues of people to pose with and take pictures. I do not have my camera connector thingy now, but I will make a post this evening with pictures.
A little after 11.00 we walked back to the square and stepped into the cathedral for the midnight mass. Only stuck around for about 15 minutes, but I think we got a flavor of the service: two people, a man and a woman, alternated reading passages in spanish, and this was interspersed with singing.
At midnight people shot off fireworks and lit floating lanterns to send up into the night. It was beautiful, but while we were still in the heart of the city somewhat overwhelming. When we finally found a cab our way was blocked by explosions in the smoke-filled streets, and we stopped frequently. From our rooms we had a brilliant view of the city, and it was a while before we tore ourselves away and went to bed.
Christmas I had been dreading a little but it was so much fun, even if it felt like some random day we chose to give eachother presents on rather than a holiday. We skyped with Ohioan family which was really fun, ate cold sesame noodles, played cribbage, and watched the matrix.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning packing up, then took a plane to Buenos Aires. It left almost an hour late, but was less than two hours and the airport wasn't awful.
We arrived at the height of rush hour and it took us a while to get to our apartment, but it wasn't too late and we settled in quickly. Dinner was fresh-made pasta and some delicious dulce-de-leche ice cream.
This morning my parents slipped out early and went for a walk. Later we all went out, and walked over to the canals. Stopped in at a travel agency to make plans for the rest of Argentina, then back through the city. It was a long walk; we were gone for almost 4 hours, but the city is very beautiful and, apparently, very European.
On a lot of the street corners there are goofy statues of people to pose with and take pictures. I do not have my camera connector thingy now, but I will make a post this evening with pictures.
Monday, December 24, 2012
24
On Wednesday we had our now-normal breakfast of bread and condiments before walking around town. There was a store that sold Christmas decorations, and we got a Charlie Brown-esque tree as well as some tinsel and a candle.
My mother wasn't feeeling so well so when we got home we had lunch and she slept. In the evening we went to the movie store Musimundo, and found a couple of movies we will watch. One we started today and is called the Big Fish and is quite weird, and the other is the Matrix.
In the afternoon we skyped my grandparents and I skyped a couple of my friends.
Yesterday in the morning my father and I walked to the artisans market and did a little holiday shopping, then when we came back my parents went to the travel agency to schedule tickets to Buenos Aires, and I skyped another friend.
At 8.00 we went to see the Hobbit, and were given assigned seats. The women selling them acted like the theatre was packed and she was only finding some small pockets of three-seats-in-a-row, but when we walked in there were two other groups of people. Later it filled up more.
When we got out of the movie at 11 a little dazed from the persistent violence after they left Rivendell, the mall was a lot more packed then when we went in--we had to fight our way through crowds.
After the movie we turned on some Christmas music on Youtube and decorated our tree. It really cheered up the apartment.
This morning my mother slept until 10.00, a first. We walked down to the panaderia to find that there wasonly a half a loaf of bread left, but it was enough breakfast. Found some more music, and made cold sesame noodles.
We started watching the fish movie, then napped. Tonight we are going out around 11 to walk around the square, and will possibly go to a midnight-mass.
My mother wasn't feeeling so well so when we got home we had lunch and she slept. In the evening we went to the movie store Musimundo, and found a couple of movies we will watch. One we started today and is called the Big Fish and is quite weird, and the other is the Matrix.
In the afternoon we skyped my grandparents and I skyped a couple of my friends.
Yesterday in the morning my father and I walked to the artisans market and did a little holiday shopping, then when we came back my parents went to the travel agency to schedule tickets to Buenos Aires, and I skyped another friend.
At 8.00 we went to see the Hobbit, and were given assigned seats. The women selling them acted like the theatre was packed and she was only finding some small pockets of three-seats-in-a-row, but when we walked in there were two other groups of people. Later it filled up more.
When we got out of the movie at 11 a little dazed from the persistent violence after they left Rivendell, the mall was a lot more packed then when we went in--we had to fight our way through crowds.
After the movie we turned on some Christmas music on Youtube and decorated our tree. It really cheered up the apartment.
This morning my mother slept until 10.00, a first. We walked down to the panaderia to find that there wasonly a half a loaf of bread left, but it was enough breakfast. Found some more music, and made cold sesame noodles.
We started watching the fish movie, then napped. Tonight we are going out around 11 to walk around the square, and will possibly go to a midnight-mass.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Salt Flats Trip
We arrived in Tupiza around midnight on Friday. Naively, we believed the man in the bus office who told us we arrived at 9. When we stopped for a break around 7, we were laughing because we couldn't imagine why we had to stop for dinner when we would be in Tupiza in 2 hours. But we were not laughing 5 hours later when we were still on the bus. Got to the hotel without water and were offered the kitchen tap, somehow an improvement over the bathroom's tap.
Next morning, got up and packed and went down to breakfast, which was dry bread and coffee. Glad we had our cheese and butter. Got in the 4X4 with Jōao, a man from Portugal, our driver/guide, Felipe, and our cook who couldn't stop talking, Lucia. We drove a couple blocks away to a market area and stocked up for the trip -- not us though because we couldn't find what we really wanted, chocolate or peanuts.
The first day was long and dry and not that interesting until we got stuck in the mud. Our driver apparently did not have the car in 4 wheel drive when he went through the mud fairly slowly and following precisely the tracks of the car before us and quickly got stuck. The mud was up to the axle on one of the tires and it took an hour and a half to get out. So even though we secretly reviled the driver for getting stuck, he certainly paid for it. Stripped off his shoes and down to shorts and covered with mud before it was over. Afterwards, we saw some vicunas and an ostrich.
It was a really southwestern US landscape. We ended up stopping early because of snow in the mountains ahead of us and the guide didn't want to drive at night in the snow. Our hostel was really OK, with a toilet that flushed, a dorm room we shared with Jōao, and a cozy comedor. It turned out that there was electricity, but we had none in our room
Next morning, got up and packed and went down to breakfast, which was dry bread and coffee. Glad we had our cheese and butter. Got in the 4X4 with Jōao, a man from Portugal, our driver/guide, Felipe, and our cook who couldn't stop talking, Lucia. We drove a couple blocks away to a market area and stocked up for the trip -- not us though because we couldn't find what we really wanted, chocolate or peanuts.
The first day was long and dry and not that interesting until we got stuck in the mud. Our driver apparently did not have the car in 4 wheel drive when he went through the mud fairly slowly and following precisely the tracks of the car before us and quickly got stuck. The mud was up to the axle on one of the tires and it took an hour and a half to get out. So even though we secretly reviled the driver for getting stuck, he certainly paid for it. Stripped off his shoes and down to shorts and covered with mud before it was over. Afterwards, we saw some vicunas and an ostrich.
It was a really southwestern US landscape. We ended up stopping early because of snow in the mountains ahead of us and the guide didn't want to drive at night in the snow. Our hostel was really OK, with a toilet that flushed, a dorm room we shared with Jōao, and a cozy comedor. It turned out that there was electricity, but we had none in our room
The next day was a nonstop visual experience. It's only this evening (taking notes) and I can't remember what we've seen. We started off in the freezing snow and drove to a spot above the clouds, where a cloud filled a lagoon and snow was on the mountains beyond and there were amazing colored mountains (different from the snowy ones). As we drove, we saw vicunas, llamas and their babies, andean geese, another ostrich, a bird called kiwi in quechuan, which interestingly enough is a fairly flightless bird. The entire drive today was filled with wonders but the second amazing thing was seeing a blue lagoon with the reflection of a brown mountain that became a brown lagoon as we neared it, due to the mountain looming over it--all of its color came from its reflection. Laguna Hedionda. In the lagoon were several flocks of pink flamingos. An amazing sight. The variation in color among the birds was a surprise, and we think we saw several immature that we're almost completely white, with black markings.
We passed a lagoon that is filled with a natural detergent that is being marketing in the country and in Chile, Laguna Kollpa and a small lagoon from which borax is mined.
At the entrance to Salar de Chalviri, we were told we had to pay a new entrance fee, 150 Bs per tourist. We got it down to 150 per car. Not far from this entrance was a pale blue and white lagoon that stretched as far as you could see. Had a nice lunch of a bit of salad.
Drove a while further to reach the Laguna Verde, which is brown. A bit disappointing because it was once, apparently, a vivid green but due to a lot of rain and maybe also global warming it is now a red-brown color. So windy here we felt like we could be blown over.
Back to the place where we had lunch to pick up Lucia, who had been washing dishes, then to the geysers. There were dozens of steaming holes in the ground and pots of bubbling mud and crevasses releasing steam. Also really windy here--my parents held on to me when I stood on the edge of some of them.
After the geysers we drove to another lagoon with flamingoes. There was a hotel there, and a whole lot of birds. I stood with my camera on focused on a couple for a few minutes trying to get them to pose but all that happened was that my camera died. Here there was a sign which we could quite figure out. How effective is a sign telling the flamingoes not to fly?
A few more hours to get to our salt hotel. We stopped in a small town at a store, and hoped for cheese to supplement our proteinless and rather foul meals, but without gratification. Lucia sat in the way back, so though she talked constantly to Felipe it now meant that she shouted across all of us.
From the outside the hotel was disappointing, but on the inside it was made with salt blocks (I know, I licked one) with salt grains on the floor. As white and sparkly as we had anticipated. Dinner was an improvement that night, lasagna.
Once we were settled we drove back the way we came for about 10 minutes to reach a giant salt geode called something like the 'Galaxy Cave'. We walked around in side, but I didn't stay long because claustrophobia was kicking in.
At dinner Felipe opened a wine bottle with a shoe.
In the morning we woke up at 4 to get an early start to see the sunrise. THis was really frustrating because, though the passengers of our jeep was ready, it was time to go (4.30) and Lucia has none of her stuff packed up and starts ordering us to carry things back to the car then come back for more. Despite leaving 15 minutes late we were the first jeep out, but made up for this by driving 20 kilometers an hour across the dead-flat salar. Felipe wanted to take us around the back of one of the salt islands so that we could climb to the top and watch the sunrise--not as if we'd have had a better view, the salt flats were flat--but the sun was already coming up so we stopped and watched. It was a little cloudy, but spectacular.
We then walked to the back of the island for breakfast. There were chunks of salt on the 'beach' around the island, and they were formed in perfect pyramids and squares.
Spent maybe an hour and a half walking around the island before setting off in the jeep again. When we reached a place farther from the island we stopped to take silly pictures. The whiteness and flatness really messes with your depth perception, so we appeared alternately tiny and giants. However, as my camera had died the day before and was barely resuscitated for sunrise pictures so
Jōao promised to send them to us.
A little farther on was another salt hotel with a bunch of flags out front. Our companions (Jōao and our friends from the jeep that had been traveling with us) signed their names on their home flags, but naturally there was no US one.
Still a little farther there was a salt mining factory, where people raked salt up into pyramids, let it dry, then sold it. Eventually this will be harmful to the flats, but they only do it in a tiny area. The salt flats themselves were once part of an inland sea that probably connected to Lake Titicaca, but the water evaporated leaving 12000 square kilometers of salt going down 120 meters in three layers: salt, water, and mud then repeat. Probably there are some huge prehistoric fish pickled in the flats.
Stopped in a town about 20 minutes from Uyuni--our final destination--at an artisan market. Then on to Uyuni where we had a particularly unappetizing meal.
Uyuni was a really ugly town, and we were glad that we chose to continue on to Tupiza rather than spend the night. After lunch we drove a few minutes to the train graveyard, but this was just some trains left to rust a minute or two out of town, rather disappointing (we were expecting a lot of trains in the middle of the desert). Then we said goodbye to Jōao who was talking the night-bus to La Paz, picked up a passenger going to Tupiza, and left.
A few hours into the drive we stopped at a tiny town for fuel, but they didn't have any. Our only choice was to go to Tupiza on a nearly empty tank, but we made it.
Two hours later I remembered the existent of the iPod, and preserved my sanity by trying to decipher the lyrics of 'It's the end of the world as we know it' and tuning out Lucia's constant chatter and the 4 songs which Felipe chose to play over and over and over of a CD.
Arrived in Tupiza a little after 7 and checked back into the hotel we had stayed in before we left. We had hoped to meet up with our companions from the second jeep, but they had gone straight to the border, though after leaving their contact information at the desk.
A Mexican restaurant called the Alamo was open, and as it was supposed to be th best restaurant in the town we went to it. Then to an internet cafe to confirm our reservations for Salta, then bed.
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| Lagoon |
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| Sunrise on the Salar de Uyuni |
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| Our jeep sunk in the mud |
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| Flamingoes, desert, mountain |
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| The geyser field |
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| Bubbling geyser-mud |
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| El arbol de piedra |
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| Saguaros on an island in the salt flats |
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| Volcanic rock formations on our first dday |
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| Salt flats and islands |
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| The salt hotel |
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| Natural-detergent lagoon |
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| Sleeping Flamingoes |
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| Contrasting landscapes |
Friday, December 21, 2012
Good Food At Last
Last night we hiked over to the Carrefour--the grocery store--and spent at least two hours stocking up on non-ramen products. While we're here (and have an oven) we are making baked macaroni and cheese, cold sesami noodles, a birthday cake, and maybe some snowball cookies.
Today both of my parents were up to walking out to the panaderia, and we got three large loaves of bread. Not quite sure what we were thinking because, even including the breadcrumbs for the pasta, we ate all of one (delicious) loaf.
After breakfast we walked towards the center of town to find an ATM and an electronics store for the adapter. The electronics store was closed, though, so we took a cab home and made the pasta.
To keep the oven on, we needed to hold down the thingy that makes the gas come out. It wouldn't stay lit otherwise, and was SO frustrating. But, eventually, the pasta was finished and was amazing.
The three of us took another long nap this afternoon, then my parents went back out to the electronics store and managed to find an adapter. Fortunately my father is feeling worlds better today.
This evening we found the version of Les Miserables with Liam Neeson and watched that. Fortunately it was subtitled not dubbed.
Happy summer solstice!
Today both of my parents were up to walking out to the panaderia, and we got three large loaves of bread. Not quite sure what we were thinking because, even including the breadcrumbs for the pasta, we ate all of one (delicious) loaf.
After breakfast we walked towards the center of town to find an ATM and an electronics store for the adapter. The electronics store was closed, though, so we took a cab home and made the pasta.
To keep the oven on, we needed to hold down the thingy that makes the gas come out. It wouldn't stay lit otherwise, and was SO frustrating. But, eventually, the pasta was finished and was amazing.
The three of us took another long nap this afternoon, then my parents went back out to the electronics store and managed to find an adapter. Fortunately my father is feeling worlds better today.
This evening we found the version of Les Miserables with Liam Neeson and watched that. Fortunately it was subtitled not dubbed.
Happy summer solstice!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Arriving in Salta
After waking up at 5 yesterday, we were in a cab to the border for a little over an hour. Stopped at a little place to exchange Bolivianos for Argentinian pesos--it's funny how the bills here are torn and dirty and crumpled and that's fine, but if you pay with a US dollar they won't except it if there's a rent a quarter of a centimeter into it.
It took about 2.5 hours for our line to get through the border. Once we got to the one (!) open window, all we had to do was show our passports and tell where we were going. Luckily it was the same line to exit Bolivia and enter Argentina, but with 2 different stops (both with just one window). Wished that we had a bike, because people who lived in La Quiaqa (the border town on the Argentinian side, the frequent travellers, and the bikers all passed through in a minute or two without being checked. But we probably couldn't have passed for locals.
The bus terminal was not "right outside the border"--every guide book we get is plainly written by someone who has never been to the country--but was a few blocks uphill. Not far, but considering that my bag endeavored to kill me by catching on rusted trash cans and spinning in circles into the road at every bump it was a little taxing.
We found a non-direct bus to Salta leaving at 12.30, and decided to take it because we figured that it was good to leave as early as possible. The restaurant in the terminal was a nice oasis in the midst of all the chaos, and we had some great salads and edable pizza. Then my mom went for a stroll down the street to look for an internet cafe (about 11.35 according to our watches; we still had a half an hour) and came running back upstairs. The bus was pulling out of the station--it was an hour later in Argentina.
After some running around a little panicking we got on the bus. It was quite warm and soporific and we dozed for a little before coming across a border check. Everybody got of the bus and got their luggage, then the police set a drug-sniffing dog through the bus and searched people's suitcases. Fortunately it only took about 30 minutes to get through, and my case wasn't searched (probably because I'm a minor).
Back on the bus for a little over an hour before our second border search. This one took longer because they had half as many people going through the luggage. It was also less pleasant, because we were standing directly in the sun. While we were in line another bus company pulled up (one of the ones that left at 2.30 and that we had considered going on) and they just had a couple of people who cut in front of everybody. The search was organized so that there was a line for men and a line for women, and the lady who was checking the womens' luggage was dumping everything out onto the ground. There were about half as many men as women, so when the mens' line was done some people, my mother and I included, switched over. Neither of us had to do more than show our passports.
By now the country was changing from hilly and dusty and dry to green and more rolling hills as opposed to bumpy hills and forested--refreshing to the eye. The road, too, was different. Instead of dirt road, curving and twisting, we got a paved, fairly flat, straight road.
The bus arrived in the town of Jujuy arount 6.20. The town seemed nice from what we saw of it. Unlike Bolivia, Argentina seems to have a middle class.
Our new bus company was called Flecha Bus, and it left at 7. Stopped in an internet cafe in the station to confirm our reservations, then waited for a while before our bus arrived. Somehow we got the first three seats. This meant that we had a great view, but it also meant that the speakers for the dubbed movies were right above our heads.
Got to Salta around 9.30, and waited for a few minutes for a cab. Also different from Bolivia (and Peru, the countries are fairly similar) is that the cabs have meters.
Our friend from our driving drip in the last few days (so much to catch up on, I'll write about this tomorrow) had told us that Salta was pretty but like so many of the cities in Portugal that he wasn't really excited about it. We liked the relative European-ness, though, the outdoor cafes and the people out late.
The place we are staying is nice, and so is the person who showed us our room. My parents went out to the store less than a block away, and we had pasta for dinner before crashing.
Today my dad is sick, and has been in bed watching TV and trying to sleep. For what we thought was breakfast my mom and I walked to the grocery and a panaderia a little beyond it, and got some necessities like bread, cheese, milk, rice, dulce de leche (best yet) and 7-up and yogurt for my father.
It ended up being past noon when we arrived home with our 'breakfast' (we spent the morning sleeping in and then watching the second half of 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', subtitled not dubbed) and my mother and I greatly enjoyed alternating a slice of bread with butter and dulce and a slice of bread with oil, vingar, salt and cheese.
While my dad slept some more we watched part of a really stupid movie, then slept quite soundly for a couple of hours.
Soon we will go out to a grocery larger than our kitchen and try to make some of our traditional holiday food--baked macaroni and cheese.
We are looking forward to having a week in Salta, and so far we really like Argentina. Despite a Columbian man telling us that it is the only South American to do checks and searches.
Speaking of the Columbian he, as well as other people who inquire after my age, are amazed that I am 13 because of my height. I am a good deal taller than most adults.
Also, happy birthday Madi and happy belated birthday Christi. And I should also say that I may not be able to post for a day or two because we don't have an adapter for Argentinian plugs and so can't charge the device.
It took about 2.5 hours for our line to get through the border. Once we got to the one (!) open window, all we had to do was show our passports and tell where we were going. Luckily it was the same line to exit Bolivia and enter Argentina, but with 2 different stops (both with just one window). Wished that we had a bike, because people who lived in La Quiaqa (the border town on the Argentinian side, the frequent travellers, and the bikers all passed through in a minute or two without being checked. But we probably couldn't have passed for locals.
The bus terminal was not "right outside the border"--every guide book we get is plainly written by someone who has never been to the country--but was a few blocks uphill. Not far, but considering that my bag endeavored to kill me by catching on rusted trash cans and spinning in circles into the road at every bump it was a little taxing.
We found a non-direct bus to Salta leaving at 12.30, and decided to take it because we figured that it was good to leave as early as possible. The restaurant in the terminal was a nice oasis in the midst of all the chaos, and we had some great salads and edable pizza. Then my mom went for a stroll down the street to look for an internet cafe (about 11.35 according to our watches; we still had a half an hour) and came running back upstairs. The bus was pulling out of the station--it was an hour later in Argentina.
After some running around a little panicking we got on the bus. It was quite warm and soporific and we dozed for a little before coming across a border check. Everybody got of the bus and got their luggage, then the police set a drug-sniffing dog through the bus and searched people's suitcases. Fortunately it only took about 30 minutes to get through, and my case wasn't searched (probably because I'm a minor).
Back on the bus for a little over an hour before our second border search. This one took longer because they had half as many people going through the luggage. It was also less pleasant, because we were standing directly in the sun. While we were in line another bus company pulled up (one of the ones that left at 2.30 and that we had considered going on) and they just had a couple of people who cut in front of everybody. The search was organized so that there was a line for men and a line for women, and the lady who was checking the womens' luggage was dumping everything out onto the ground. There were about half as many men as women, so when the mens' line was done some people, my mother and I included, switched over. Neither of us had to do more than show our passports.
By now the country was changing from hilly and dusty and dry to green and more rolling hills as opposed to bumpy hills and forested--refreshing to the eye. The road, too, was different. Instead of dirt road, curving and twisting, we got a paved, fairly flat, straight road.
The bus arrived in the town of Jujuy arount 6.20. The town seemed nice from what we saw of it. Unlike Bolivia, Argentina seems to have a middle class.
Our new bus company was called Flecha Bus, and it left at 7. Stopped in an internet cafe in the station to confirm our reservations, then waited for a while before our bus arrived. Somehow we got the first three seats. This meant that we had a great view, but it also meant that the speakers for the dubbed movies were right above our heads.
Got to Salta around 9.30, and waited for a few minutes for a cab. Also different from Bolivia (and Peru, the countries are fairly similar) is that the cabs have meters.
Our friend from our driving drip in the last few days (so much to catch up on, I'll write about this tomorrow) had told us that Salta was pretty but like so many of the cities in Portugal that he wasn't really excited about it. We liked the relative European-ness, though, the outdoor cafes and the people out late.
The place we are staying is nice, and so is the person who showed us our room. My parents went out to the store less than a block away, and we had pasta for dinner before crashing.
Today my dad is sick, and has been in bed watching TV and trying to sleep. For what we thought was breakfast my mom and I walked to the grocery and a panaderia a little beyond it, and got some necessities like bread, cheese, milk, rice, dulce de leche (best yet) and 7-up and yogurt for my father.
It ended up being past noon when we arrived home with our 'breakfast' (we spent the morning sleeping in and then watching the second half of 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', subtitled not dubbed) and my mother and I greatly enjoyed alternating a slice of bread with butter and dulce and a slice of bread with oil, vingar, salt and cheese.
While my dad slept some more we watched part of a really stupid movie, then slept quite soundly for a couple of hours.
Soon we will go out to a grocery larger than our kitchen and try to make some of our traditional holiday food--baked macaroni and cheese.
We are looking forward to having a week in Salta, and so far we really like Argentina. Despite a Columbian man telling us that it is the only South American to do checks and searches.
Speaking of the Columbian he, as well as other people who inquire after my age, are amazed that I am 13 because of my height. I am a good deal taller than most adults.
Also, happy birthday Madi and happy belated birthday Christi. And I should also say that I may not be able to post for a day or two because we don't have an adapter for Argentinian plugs and so can't charge the device.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Hike to Maragua
I have yet another gap to cover.
On Monday we set out for what we had understood to be a 6-kilometer downhill hike. It was about a 2.5 hour drive to reach a small church where the path started from. From there it was about 6 kilometers downhill, but then we had another 14 kilometers to go (not so happy about learning this). Lunch was eaten after the descent on the pre-Incan trail, in the shade of a really spiky bush that liked to stab us when we got to close.
A bus of tourists arrived, and they explained to us that the bus company had professed to take them to the town of Maragua, but had left them there to hike the rest of the way. They ended up hiking to a small town less than a kilometer away to get a bus back to Sucre.
Our walking companions were our guide, Mario, and a person named William, from France.
The rest of the day was lots and lots of walking. There was one point where there had been a rockslide and the trail washed out so, inducing acrophobia, we inched along a sandy path about a foot wide for a ways, with a drop to the river beneath of maybe 30 feet. At another point there was a suspension bridge that we needed to cross. Though my mom said to me, "Isn't all you can do look at the cables and think about how rusted they are?", the bridge was a lot wider and less shaky than we had feared.
After the bridge was when the part where we climbed constantly, as opposed to going up and down and up and down, began. It was tempting to just push through to the end of the climb, but we had to keep stopping and waiting for William to catch up--he hiked much slower than us, and stopped every few feet to take pictures of the arid, desertlike and not-particularly-stunning landscape.
At another point, there was a similar path to the washed-out one before, but narrower, longer, more eroded, and a much farther drop. For some reason Mario said that there was no way around, but we ended up hiking down into the gully and up the other side, where we met up with the trail. I will include a picture of this path later.
We arrived in Maragua at about 6.30. It seems a trait of the guides we meet to tell us that we will arrive in a place much sooner than we actually do, so we don't take much stock in their estimates.
The hostel was a one-room adobe room with mattresses that gave us bruises. I am being brief in times so that I don't complain too much--none of us thought the experience better than 'fairly awful'.
On Tuesday, despite being awake before 6, we didn't leave until 8 in the morning and it was already very very hot. We climbed up and up and up the hills around the town, and there were points that reminded us of the Lares trek where all we could think of was the next step and breath.
After climbing for a few hours, we descended again and then climbed again and then ate lunch an then climbed some more. There was a rockface with fossilized dinosaur footprints in it, and we reached this shortly after lunch. However, the prints were neat but fairly disappointing--we spent about 10 minutes there and didn't feel shortchanged.
More climbing then. Our guide kept telling us that this was the last hill, and then there kept being another hill. Finally, around 2, we reached the point where our car picked us up. When asked why we didn't leave earlier, Mario said that it was because the car picked us up at that time. This seemed like poor reasoning--I would much have rathered sit an wait for the car for a little while than to have hiked in the heat of the day for most of the time.
We made a brief stop in the town of Potolo, for no apparent reason that that the tour was supposed to stop there. The textile musem was closed and nobody was there, but William and Mario wandered off to find braceletes to buy so we sat there for a few minutes.
Arrived back in Sucre around 5.30--SO happy.
Dinner was our first night eating out since here; a cafe called joyride where we got some good food.
Wednesday we slept in a little bit, then walked around town. Stopped in a few textile stores, at the market, at a closed musem, then back home after a few hours. Using our meager but serviceable kitchen we had sandwiches, then my parents napped while I practiced some.
In the evening we went to the Recoleta area to another museum/store, and were a little put-off by the fact that, though the tags on the pieces included pictures of the artist, the same picture might appear on several different weavings with different names and locations.
Then, in the evening, we got to skype with Lillie! She ran away from the computer when it was tilted at her because she though people were trying to steal her toy, but she heard our voices and we saw her ears flicking around trying to figure out where we were. She seems really happy and settled in.
It was also really nice to see our friends who are looking after her.
Today we got a late checkout at our hotel. The bus to Tupiza leaves at 6.30 tonight, and will be awful (arrives at 5 in the morning, unpaved road; we don't plan on getting any sleep) and will be glad to have a last day in Sucre.
On Monday we set out for what we had understood to be a 6-kilometer downhill hike. It was about a 2.5 hour drive to reach a small church where the path started from. From there it was about 6 kilometers downhill, but then we had another 14 kilometers to go (not so happy about learning this). Lunch was eaten after the descent on the pre-Incan trail, in the shade of a really spiky bush that liked to stab us when we got to close.
A bus of tourists arrived, and they explained to us that the bus company had professed to take them to the town of Maragua, but had left them there to hike the rest of the way. They ended up hiking to a small town less than a kilometer away to get a bus back to Sucre.
Our walking companions were our guide, Mario, and a person named William, from France.
The rest of the day was lots and lots of walking. There was one point where there had been a rockslide and the trail washed out so, inducing acrophobia, we inched along a sandy path about a foot wide for a ways, with a drop to the river beneath of maybe 30 feet. At another point there was a suspension bridge that we needed to cross. Though my mom said to me, "Isn't all you can do look at the cables and think about how rusted they are?", the bridge was a lot wider and less shaky than we had feared.
After the bridge was when the part where we climbed constantly, as opposed to going up and down and up and down, began. It was tempting to just push through to the end of the climb, but we had to keep stopping and waiting for William to catch up--he hiked much slower than us, and stopped every few feet to take pictures of the arid, desertlike and not-particularly-stunning landscape.
At another point, there was a similar path to the washed-out one before, but narrower, longer, more eroded, and a much farther drop. For some reason Mario said that there was no way around, but we ended up hiking down into the gully and up the other side, where we met up with the trail. I will include a picture of this path later.
We arrived in Maragua at about 6.30. It seems a trait of the guides we meet to tell us that we will arrive in a place much sooner than we actually do, so we don't take much stock in their estimates.
The hostel was a one-room adobe room with mattresses that gave us bruises. I am being brief in times so that I don't complain too much--none of us thought the experience better than 'fairly awful'.
On Tuesday, despite being awake before 6, we didn't leave until 8 in the morning and it was already very very hot. We climbed up and up and up the hills around the town, and there were points that reminded us of the Lares trek where all we could think of was the next step and breath.
After climbing for a few hours, we descended again and then climbed again and then ate lunch an then climbed some more. There was a rockface with fossilized dinosaur footprints in it, and we reached this shortly after lunch. However, the prints were neat but fairly disappointing--we spent about 10 minutes there and didn't feel shortchanged.
More climbing then. Our guide kept telling us that this was the last hill, and then there kept being another hill. Finally, around 2, we reached the point where our car picked us up. When asked why we didn't leave earlier, Mario said that it was because the car picked us up at that time. This seemed like poor reasoning--I would much have rathered sit an wait for the car for a little while than to have hiked in the heat of the day for most of the time.
We made a brief stop in the town of Potolo, for no apparent reason that that the tour was supposed to stop there. The textile musem was closed and nobody was there, but William and Mario wandered off to find braceletes to buy so we sat there for a few minutes.
Arrived back in Sucre around 5.30--SO happy.
Dinner was our first night eating out since here; a cafe called joyride where we got some good food.
Wednesday we slept in a little bit, then walked around town. Stopped in a few textile stores, at the market, at a closed musem, then back home after a few hours. Using our meager but serviceable kitchen we had sandwiches, then my parents napped while I practiced some.
In the evening we went to the Recoleta area to another museum/store, and were a little put-off by the fact that, though the tags on the pieces included pictures of the artist, the same picture might appear on several different weavings with different names and locations.
Then, in the evening, we got to skype with Lillie! She ran away from the computer when it was tilted at her because she though people were trying to steal her toy, but she heard our voices and we saw her ears flicking around trying to figure out where we were. She seems really happy and settled in.
It was also really nice to see our friends who are looking after her.
Today we got a late checkout at our hotel. The bus to Tupiza leaves at 6.30 tonight, and will be awful (arrives at 5 in the morning, unpaved road; we don't plan on getting any sleep) and will be glad to have a last day in Sucre.
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| The tree in the park in Sucre |
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| The sediment deposited by the river as it cut its way through the gorge |
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| See that slope about halfway up, where it looks like the sand is sliding away constantly? That's where our guide wanted us to walk. |
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| The landscape for a huge part of our hike |
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| The bridge we crossed |
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Casa Arte de Takubamba
I will not be able to post tomorrow, and possibly not the day after either because we are going on a hike.
This morning I was woken up by, given the altitude, a probably fictional mosquitoe buzzing in my ear, followed by a reflexive, and definitely not fictionalized, slap to the ear, serving to wake me completely at 4.15.
Breakfast was included with out hotel, but we did not understand the people who raved about it in reviews; unremarkable eggs, unremarkable juice, unremarkable bread and margarine (we substituted the butter we had bought).
Went for a hike to find the market (closed) and to an internet cafe where, if it hadn't cost 2 Bolivianos an hour (2/7s of a dollar) I would have griped about paying for the slowness of the computers. After checking emails we waited with the throng of people outside the cafe for a wedding party coming from the church for about half and hour, and though we saw liberal amounts of white plastic confeti, we missed the bride.
Lunch was tortillas with pickled jalapenos and potatoes and beans and cheese, and while my parents napped I practiced my violin.
My looked at some hotels for the end of January--we think we'll be on the beach in Uruguay for my birthday, and then head to the 40-day carnival--using what little wi-fi we had, and after we walked out to a large park.
The park was filled with people and bouncy-houses and horses and go-carts and people and vendors and people, and it is so nice to have a place where everybody goes in the evening to walk and sit and watch. It really just isn't done in America.
We also stopped at a travel agency and made rather spur-of-the-moment plans for an overnight filled with walking on either side, the first day a stop at a weaving village and on Tuesday to see fossilized dinosaur tracks.
If I can get the internet to work properly, I will put in some pictures of the first 2 days of our Manu treks below. Never mind, I can't.
This morning I was woken up by, given the altitude, a probably fictional mosquitoe buzzing in my ear, followed by a reflexive, and definitely not fictionalized, slap to the ear, serving to wake me completely at 4.15.
Breakfast was included with out hotel, but we did not understand the people who raved about it in reviews; unremarkable eggs, unremarkable juice, unremarkable bread and margarine (we substituted the butter we had bought).
Went for a hike to find the market (closed) and to an internet cafe where, if it hadn't cost 2 Bolivianos an hour (2/7s of a dollar) I would have griped about paying for the slowness of the computers. After checking emails we waited with the throng of people outside the cafe for a wedding party coming from the church for about half and hour, and though we saw liberal amounts of white plastic confeti, we missed the bride.
Lunch was tortillas with pickled jalapenos and potatoes and beans and cheese, and while my parents napped I practiced my violin.
My looked at some hotels for the end of January--we think we'll be on the beach in Uruguay for my birthday, and then head to the 40-day carnival--using what little wi-fi we had, and after we walked out to a large park.
The park was filled with people and bouncy-houses and horses and go-carts and people and vendors and people, and it is so nice to have a place where everybody goes in the evening to walk and sit and watch. It really just isn't done in America.
We also stopped at a travel agency and made rather spur-of-the-moment plans for an overnight filled with walking on either side, the first day a stop at a weaving village and on Tuesday to see fossilized dinosaur tracks.
If I can get the internet to work properly, I will put in some pictures of the first 2 days of our Manu treks below. Never mind, I can't.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Sucre!
Upon arriving at the airport at 7.50 this morning, there was a HUGE line at check-in and it took us almost 30 minutes to get through. Since our flight left at 8.50 we were worried about getting there on time.
Of course, that was before they told us that there was "bad weather in Sucre, information at 9.00" then, at 9, "bad weather in Sucre, information at 11" then, at 11, "flight delayed, leaving at 2" then not boarding until about quarter to 3. It was awful waiting that long at the airport, but the flight was only about 40 minutes and even with the 6 hours of waiting it was quicker an better than taking a 14-hour night-bus.
Sucre is not nearly as white-washed as we expected. It is a normal red-and-brown city, but with some white buildings in the center. We crashed a little after our plane, and this evening went out to walk around and look for some other hotel options (didn't find any, but the good thing was that, by comparison, we REALLY like ours now). The city square was packed with people walking, and covered in Christmas decorations, the masterpiece being the huge blue tree in the center. In Bolivia and Peru, people assume that everybody is catholic and there are nativity scenes everywhere this time of year, even in places like the bank.
The supermarket here is BIG. We stopped on our way back for pasta and pasta sauce, and also found some pickled jalapenos that are spicy, but really salty.
Not much internet--enough for emails and posting, but not for pictures. So I will add Manu pictures (see post below, this is another two-post day) and some Sucre pictures tomorrow.
Of course, that was before they told us that there was "bad weather in Sucre, information at 9.00" then, at 9, "bad weather in Sucre, information at 11" then, at 11, "flight delayed, leaving at 2" then not boarding until about quarter to 3. It was awful waiting that long at the airport, but the flight was only about 40 minutes and even with the 6 hours of waiting it was quicker an better than taking a 14-hour night-bus.
Sucre is not nearly as white-washed as we expected. It is a normal red-and-brown city, but with some white buildings in the center. We crashed a little after our plane, and this evening went out to walk around and look for some other hotel options (didn't find any, but the good thing was that, by comparison, we REALLY like ours now). The city square was packed with people walking, and covered in Christmas decorations, the masterpiece being the huge blue tree in the center. In Bolivia and Peru, people assume that everybody is catholic and there are nativity scenes everywhere this time of year, even in places like the bank.
The supermarket here is BIG. We stopped on our way back for pasta and pasta sauce, and also found some pickled jalapenos that are spicy, but really salty.
Not much internet--enough for emails and posting, but not for pictures. So I will add Manu pictures (see post below, this is another two-post day) and some Sucre pictures tomorrow.
Manu, First 2 Days
Sorry--no pictures today. Hopefully internet will cooperate tomorrow...
Manu Trek Day 1:
Got picked up around 5.45 for the trip to Manu. Jose is our guide, and seems to know tons about the area. A biologist who studied birds and animals. Fellow travellers are a Swedish couple, Linda and Johanne, and a couple from Portland, Margarite and David.
First stop at a pre-Incan ruin of a people from the Puna area, Lupakas. They moved many times to different places so they could grow a variety of crops. The place that we saw was called Ninamarka, because they saw fire from gold in the ground. They built round, straw-covered structures and tombs for the important dead - round towers with a door for removing the bodies. Apparently the Incas thought so highly of their culture that they let them retain an intact culture. Breakfast was in a little town called Paucartambo, on the Paucar river. We tried the drink chicha and followed the sound of singing to a gorgeous church where the alter was surrounded by paintings, children played in the aisles and there was a large litter, ornately carved, which we assumed was for the parading of idols.
Ate scrambled eggs with ahi, a green chile sause. After town, we crossed a mountain pass on a narrow, muddy, rocky road, nevertheless called the carraterra (highway). Had to back up many times because of traffic coming uphill. After quite a few hours, when one tour bus refused to back up the 20 feet or so do get to a place to pass (we had to go at least 4 or 5 times that distance), we decided to get out and walk the rest of the way. Took our time unloading. Walked a ways and David spotted the Cock of the Rock, a beautiful orange bird and black bird, the national bird of Peru. Kept walking till we got to the viewpoint for these birds, where we watched several, all male. Gutteral, coughing call. Kept walking, passed the cock of the rock lodge and after about an hour reached our lodge in the cloud forest. It was getting dark by then. Down a path of slippery stones to the buildings that comprised our lodge. The lodge had a generator we could use for three hours in the evening. It also had hot water and flush toilets. We were told to brush our teeth with the water they provided in big plastic containers, and we could see why: the water in the taps was river water, which got muddier the farther we went into the reserve. Lovely rectangular wooden structures topped with screen contained the separate living quarters, the bathrooms, the kitchen/dining room. We dropped our things in our separate houses (my parents shared a room and I had my own room in the other half of the house) and went to the meeting/eating room for dinner. Dinner was a carrot tortilla and rice. Slept soundly for waking up at 4.40.
Birds we saw this first day:
Andean cock of the rock
Blue necked tanager
Hooded Mountain Tanager
Cinnamon Flycatcher
Andean Flicker
Crimson-mantled woodpecker, male and female
Blue banded toucanet
Unidentified parrots
Highland motmot
White collared jay
Manu Trek Day 1:
Got picked up around 5.45 for the trip to Manu. Jose is our guide, and seems to know tons about the area. A biologist who studied birds and animals. Fellow travellers are a Swedish couple, Linda and Johanne, and a couple from Portland, Margarite and David.
First stop at a pre-Incan ruin of a people from the Puna area, Lupakas. They moved many times to different places so they could grow a variety of crops. The place that we saw was called Ninamarka, because they saw fire from gold in the ground. They built round, straw-covered structures and tombs for the important dead - round towers with a door for removing the bodies. Apparently the Incas thought so highly of their culture that they let them retain an intact culture. Breakfast was in a little town called Paucartambo, on the Paucar river. We tried the drink chicha and followed the sound of singing to a gorgeous church where the alter was surrounded by paintings, children played in the aisles and there was a large litter, ornately carved, which we assumed was for the parading of idols.
Ate scrambled eggs with ahi, a green chile sause. After town, we crossed a mountain pass on a narrow, muddy, rocky road, nevertheless called the carraterra (highway). Had to back up many times because of traffic coming uphill. After quite a few hours, when one tour bus refused to back up the 20 feet or so do get to a place to pass (we had to go at least 4 or 5 times that distance), we decided to get out and walk the rest of the way. Took our time unloading. Walked a ways and David spotted the Cock of the Rock, a beautiful orange bird and black bird, the national bird of Peru. Kept walking till we got to the viewpoint for these birds, where we watched several, all male. Gutteral, coughing call. Kept walking, passed the cock of the rock lodge and after about an hour reached our lodge in the cloud forest. It was getting dark by then. Down a path of slippery stones to the buildings that comprised our lodge. The lodge had a generator we could use for three hours in the evening. It also had hot water and flush toilets. We were told to brush our teeth with the water they provided in big plastic containers, and we could see why: the water in the taps was river water, which got muddier the farther we went into the reserve. Lovely rectangular wooden structures topped with screen contained the separate living quarters, the bathrooms, the kitchen/dining room. We dropped our things in our separate houses (my parents shared a room and I had my own room in the other half of the house) and went to the meeting/eating room for dinner. Dinner was a carrot tortilla and rice. Slept soundly for waking up at 4.40.
Birds we saw this first day:
Andean cock of the rock
Blue necked tanager
Hooded Mountain Tanager
Cinnamon Flycatcher
Andean Flicker
Crimson-mantled woodpecker, male and female
Blue banded toucanet
Unidentified parrots
Highland motmot
White collared jay
Manu Trek Day 2:
Woke up at 4.40 this morning for hike. I slept very soundly. We went for a hike back up the road the way we had come and saw more birds. It started raining about three-quarters of the way into the walk. Despite our ponchos, our knees still got soaked.
Breakfast was bread and elderberry jam (very tasty) and french fries, at 6.30. After breakfast we had a half an hour to get our stuff together. We took our sheets with us, and they were one big connected thing and very difficult to fold. Our rain ponchos were also very hard to fold and we ended up rolling them more than anything else.
While we were in the lodge waiting for Linda and Johanne we saw a brilliant green hummingbird by the bushes right outside the window, and it was there for some time, almost posing for us. It was maybe the size of half my fist, and it stayed perched on the branches for us to look at it. It was probably the best look I've ever gotten at a hummingbird.
The ride to the town where we took a boat took about three hours. At one point on the trip we stopped at a coca farm, that doubled as a refuge for animals.
We got out twice to lighten the load of the car, and on the second time there were almost rapids going off the road, and as I stepped across my foot got stuck in the mud and floated off. I'm sure that it was the only flip-flop from my cousin's wedding to float of in a tributary of the Rio de la Madre de Dios.
Soon after this we stopped at an observation point to look at the same river. There was also a small town that we stopped in with a very old bridge that was falling apart, next to a newer bridge that three pigs walked across. The first river that we got out for was an uneventful crossing, and there was a river that the driver needed to get out and toss some larger rocks aside from and and the last one, entering the final town, that he needed to build up a bridge of stones for the car to cross. The driver said that the "carretera" (did NOT seem like a highway) would be impassable in a few days to a week, so I guess we were lucky to get through as easily as we did.
When we got to the last town we put on lots of sunscreen and deet (the deet opened in the plastic bag at one point and took the label of the sunscreen, but we figured that we werre only using it for about a week). There were some bathrooms, and we stopped in a store to look for flip-flops but found none that suited. We also found rubber boots from the storehouse there.
To get on the boat there was a plank of wood that we needed to walk up, and then three benches in the front followed by the luggage followed by another bench for people helping out then the driver and the motor. Twice big waves came over the sides of the boats and soaked us, the first time when we had our food. For lunch there was bread and a sort of boiled-vegetable salad. For us vegetarians there was no protein, as we got the same food as the meat-eaters only without the hunk of meat that added the protein. The ride took about five hours, and we made a couple of stops to drop of supplies and--once--pick up a passenger (and later drop her off again).
When we got to the shore we had the plank of wood again, but were led straight into a bunch of wet sand.
We got to the lodge a little after five, and were shown the two different rooms for bathrooms, the dining room, and the bedrooms. I had my own room with two beds in it, and two chairs and two desks that fold out of the wall. The rooms have a thatched roof and screens for most of the walls. Now it is six and the power is on, and we are going for a night-hike in a few minutes.
Walked with flashlights around the lodge, approaching and passing the noisy
generator. On that hike, we saw three tarantulas under a piece of i-beam, a click beetle, which has two green lights that look like eyes when it is still and a red light when it is flying, a firefly that stayed illuminated, did not blink, some frogs, stick bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, a lobster grasshopper, a giant spider web. Jose told us always to carry a flashlight with us so we could run if chased by a bushmaster, a snake which the native people say chases you.
Birds we saw on the second day:
Hummingbird
Blue-necked tanagers
A bunch of russet-backed oropendala
Sunbittern
Violacious jay
Sparkling violetear hummingbird
Silver-beaked tanager
Swallow tanager
Great egret
Cow egret
Snowy egret
Cocoi heron
Black vulture
Turkey vulture
Umbrella bird (exciting!)
Chestnut-faced macaw
Giant cowbird
Blue-black grassquit
Scarlet macaws
Plum-throated cotinga
Nonbirds:
Cows
Four peckaries
Swimming giant-anteater (we only caught a glimpse of his nose--really rare)
...And, at the refuge:
Capybara (world's largest rodent)
Spider monkey
Agouti
Warthog
White-faced capuchin monkey
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