Sucre, Bolivia

Yesterday we managed to find a taxi that brought us safely to Sucre, the former capital of Bolivia. It was definitely more expensive than it would normally be, but it was under $15, still pretty cheap by my standards considering it was a 2 and half hour ride. Sucre is really nice, a very lovely city. It's very historical, essentially the birthplace of Bolivia. As a result it looks like a Spanish colonial town, lots of white stucco houses and buildings built into the hills. It's very clean and more tourist friendly than Postosí. The hostal I am staying in is a renovated mansion, it's huge and beautiful. My room is on the top floor way in the back so everytime I enter I feel like I am going through a maze.

The situation here is Bolivia hasn't changed much, the government implemented price increase on fuel has caused the price of food to go up. For me, the increase doesn't seem like much, but for the majority of the people who live in this impoverished country, it's a very big deal. There have been some protests around the country, but nothing major. The main thing is that the transportation strike is still going on, making it difficult for me to travel. We have decided the best thing to do is to fly, so tomorrow we are headed to La Paz as it was the only city in Bolivia that we could get a flight to. Plus after talking to several people about the situation, we have decided that location wise, La Paz is the best place to go since it is close to the borders of Chile and Peru so it will be easier to leave Bolivia from there. Our plan is to go tomorrow, feel it out and if it feels safe enough we will stay there for New Years as originally planned. If it seems too crazy, we will either try to get a flight to somwhere in Peru or Chile, or see if we can get to Peru by boat across Lake Titicaca. I have been told that might be a good option, plus it's supposed to be a very nice lake so that could be interesting. I have yet to feel unsafe here, there are military and police men all over, so that seems to be keeping things rather peaceful. They are a bit intimidating though, even regular security guards here carry multiple weapons: guns, tasers, mase; they are well armed.

I am definitely enjoying my time here regardless, I'm glad we made it to Sucre, it's definitely one of my favorite cities I have been too. Last night we got all cleaned up, I put on my only dress, and we went to a folkloric dance show. It was a very nice show and we were served a very fancy dinner. It was nice to do something like that, I always love going to dance shows. Bolivia is a country full of culture and tradition, I am glad I am able to experience it.

Bolivia

Well Bolivia has certainly been interesting so far, the past few days have been pretty action packed so I will do my best to update.

The best thing would be to start with right now. I am in Potosí, Bolivia, which is appparently the highest city in the world. I am pretty used to the altitude by now, though, the only time I really feel it is when I walk to fast or climb up stairs outside, then I feel pretty winded. For much of the tour I went on the past fews days, we were hanging out at 15,000 feet about sea level. So being at about 12,000 feet doesn't feel so bad.

The major issue right now is what is going on here with the government. For some reason, they decided to raise the fuel prices by 73% which is causing all kinds of problems in the form of massive strikes and protests. All bus companies have gone on strike indefinitely, which is a bit of a problem for us as we were planning on traveling up Bolivia during the next several days. We were supposed to head up to Sucre today, but now I'm not so sure what we will do since buses aren't running. There is a chance we can get a taxi there since it isn't so far away, but it will probably be expensive, at least by Bolivians standards. Bolivia is really quite cheap and the poverty is very evident. That's why it is a very big deal here that the government is raising prices, people don't have the money. They have also raised the prices on bread and cement. I have seen many long lines in front of stores and the lines at gas stations are also quite extreme right now. So we shall see what happens, I don't feel unsafe, just a little worried about getting stuck somewhere.

3 Day Tour

Probably one of the coolest experiences I've had, saw a lot of incredible landscapes. I took literally hundreds of pictures, at some point I will share some. We took some with the iPhone hoping to be able to find wireless and upload them today, but the wireless at the hostal is not working.
Quick summary of what we did:
The first day we left San Pedro early in the morning, drove about 45 minutes to the Bolivian border, piled into a land rover and began our journey through the desert of Bolivia. We saw a few lagoons, one of them green, another turned red from the microscopic algae. These lagoons were full of flamingos, not a place where you would expect to see flamingos. We also bathed in a thermal, which was set against a gorgeous backdrop of mountains and blue sky. Later we found ourselves essentially inside a volcano, where you could see the sulfuric steam seeping from geysers, as well as gurgling lava. This was one of the only times I felt a little light headed, but then, what would you expect, I was hanging out in a volcano 15,000 feet above sea level, a place humans don't typically hang out. That night we stayed in a tiny little village where about 15 families live. It was very cold and the accomodations certainly weren't glamerous. But we were served a tasty meal and given a bed to sleep in, what more could you really need. That night was Christmas Eve, we shared a bit of an awkward dinner as the majority of the people there did not speak the same language so there was a lot of silence as we enjoyed our soup and spaghetti dinner. I was asleep by 9:00, pretty tired from the day's events.

The next day we visited several more lagoons and a variety of different rocky and desert landscapes. I was constantly amazed by the sky. It just looked so massive and the clouds seemed so close. The place we stayed at that night was really cool, it was made almost entirely of salt. The floor was covered in salt, which was kind of nice, it felt like sand. The walls, tables, chairs, everything was made of salt blocks. We were served a delicious meal accompanied with some Bolivian wine. It was certainly unlike any other Christmas I've ever had, but I couldn't think of any place I would have rather been.

The third day we entered the salt flat of Uyuni, the biggest in the world. It's massive size is just incredible. It seems never ending. It used to be one massive salt lake, so parts of it are still covered in some water. We were able to take some pretty cool pictures because the water created a mirror reflect. I have some great jumping shots of me and my reflection, I always love a good jumping picture. We also visited this island located in the middle of the salt flat which was covered in cacti, some as old as 900 years old. We continued on through the massive white space, eventually coming to a town where we had lunch. After a bit more driving we ended up in Uyuni. After spending three days pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it was a bit surreal to see people again. And Uyuni is kind of a strange town. The people mostly just stared at us and in general seemed pretty unhappy, maybe just about life in general. It wasn't too exciting of a town. In the evening we got on a bus to Potosí. That was certainly an interesting experience. We were the only non-Bolivianos on the bus which was completely full to the point where some people just slept on the floor. One of my friends described the smell as one you would expect in a chicken coop. And when we stopped for a ten minute break everyone dispersed to use the bathroom, on the side of the road. It wasn't so bad since it was so dark, I was only a bit concerned about the incline.

So far, I have realized that in Bolivia you have to lower your standards a little bit. It is certainly much less developed then Chile and Argentina. But you can definitely find delicious food for way cheap. Today for lunch I had a great meal with soup and a full entré for just over a dollar. If you ever visit Bolivia, here´s my advice (thus far): bring lots of bottled water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and an open mind about bathrooms.

Bolivia tomorrow

I'm still in San Pedro, enjoying a relaxing day in preparation for my next big adventure. Tomorrow we leave for a three day tour of the salt flats in Bolivia, ending in Uyini. It should be awesome, we are going to see all kinds of things like geysers, salt lakes, red and green lakes that house flamingos. Hopefully my body will be able to acclimate to the extreme altitude, but I haven't had any troubles with altitude sickness thus far. So for Christmas I will be way up in the mountains of Bolivia, unable to communicate with the outside world. If you are a loved one reading this, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, I would love to be with you for the holidays.

After Uyini we plan to stay in Bolivia heading to Polosí, the highest city in the world, then Sucre, the former capital of Bolivia, then to La Paz where we plan to spend New Years. I am definitely looking forward to how cheap Bolivia is going to be, and I'm sure it's going to be beautiful and unique.

Yesterday we went on a tour that took us to the Moon Valley, the Death Valley, the Three Marias and some salt flats. To see the Moon Valley you have to climb up to the top of this big sand dune. They said that normally the sand is very white giving it a moon like appearance, but right now it was a bit more grey due to the wind. It was still pretty cool. Plus I learned why the Death Valley is called what it is. Apparently the Bishop who gave it the name intended to call is Mars Valley (Valle del Marte) but because he was Belgium, when he pronounced the spanish with his french accent, the locals thought he said Valle del Muerte (Death Valley) so the name stuck. It definitely looks more like a Mars Valley to me though, with a reddish tone. The last stop of the tour was at this ridge that overlooked a beautiful landscape plus there was a nice view of the distant volcanoes. We rested there while watching the sunset and drinking tea, truly gorgeous.

San Pedro de Atacama is a lovely little town, I have really enjoyed my time here. But it's time to head off to a new country. I will miss Chile though, it feels comfortable and familiar even being in a part of the country I had never visited.

Feliz Navidad! Con amor y paz... hasta luego.

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Here I am in one of the driest places in the world, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet above sea level. Our planet is pretty incredible. This town is unlike any I've ever seen. There is dust and dirt everywhere. It's not a good place to wear white. The town is definitely touristy and a bit expensive because of that, but it's really quite precious. The buildings are all very old and very simple, just one story and made of rock and clay. Probably the most striking thing for me is how quiet it is here, especially at night. There are very few birds here, and at night they must be sleeping. You don't hear any kind of bugs, in fact I have yet to see even a fly. And it's certainly not a place where you hear vehicles and car horns at night. Not even a plane passing by, I think I would definitely notice that. At night that only sound you really hear is the occasional barking dog. It's very peaceful and relaxing.

But also a bit disorienting. When we got off the bus everything kind of seemed like a fuzzy blur, it was hard to process everything I saw as an actual place where people live. I don't know how else to describe it. I think because everywhere you look you just see land covered in dirt, everything is pretty much the same color. And then you realize how high up you are and it's like wow, how does this place exist? There are many volcanoes around, and it's so easy to make out their shape, even the ones way out in the distance because the sky and horizon is so clear.

I have taken many pictures, but again there is the problem of not being able to upload them yet. But as there are two iPhones in the gang hopefully I can steal a picture or two at some point when we find wireless again. It's definitely been harder to find internet access the further up north we go and I'm sure it's only going to get more difficult as we head into Bolivia.

Today we are doing a tour to El Valle de la Luna, the Moon Valley. I am very much looking forward to that, I know it will be unlike anything I've ever seen. Tomorrow we might be heading to Bolivia to do the three day salt flat tour although nothing is set in stone yet. The further I travel the easier it is to just let go and live day by day. Everything always seems to have a way of working itself out. It's liberating to live without following a rigid plan. But as a result I feel so removed from daily life, I never know what day it is and I just can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that soon it will be Christmas.

There is a Christmas tree in the center of town, although I'm not so sure you could actually call it a tree. It is really just a cone shaped structure with bits of fake pine covering it. On top of that are a variety of different flashing lights, and I think each string of lights plays a different Christmas song. The result is very chaotic, it sounds as if you are walking through the aisle of a store after some kid has pushed the button on every electronic toy that plays music. But somehow it is very fitting of the environment.

As I am expecting internet access to be more difficult to come by, I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I will do my best. As always, thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!
Peace and love.

Rainy Day

Still in Argentina, now I am in Salta, a bit further north. We are basically here for the night just because tomorrow morning was the earliest we could get on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama. So it´s off to one of the driest places on earth tomorrow. It´s been raining pretty much all day so I will appreciate the dryness. Last night it rained and of course my room had a leaky roof. The water happened to land right where my face was, a nice refreshing way to be woken up in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping on the floor in my sleeping bag at the foot of my bed because there was no way to avoid the water.

Yesterday we hiked to the waterfalls but I´m not sure that we saw the best one. We chose to go without a guide though so I´m just glad that we at least made it to a waterfall. We definitely got a little lost along the way. It was a nice hike though that involved a lot of river crossings and climbing up rocks. The environment was harsh. Very dry, dusty, and rocky. The vegetation was all very rough and spiky. As a result I have several scratches on my arms and legs. And towards the end of the hike I slipped on a rock while crossing the river, banging my knee and dipping one foot into the water. I wasn´t thrilled about walking the 5 km back to the hostel with one wet foot, mostly because it looked quite silly. I thought about putting my other foot in the water so they would match, but wet socks aren´t all that comfortable, I couldn´t justify it. I took pictures but I haven´t found a place to upload them yet since I´m mostly using internet cafes. Hopefully at some point.

The bus ride to Salta was pretty nice as far a scenery goes. Here are some notes I wrote in my journal in order to remember it:
Ruddy landscape. brown, red, clay, mud, but with green growing from it.
The river is kind of sneaky, if I don´t keep my eyes on it I lose it, then suddenly it reappears. Looks like gushing mud but also a bit like chocolate milk. I would almost expect to see rhinos bathing in it.
The reddish rocks look like carefully carved sculptures, as if they could be part of ruins left from an ancient civilization. The bigger rocks and points also seem to be carefully sculpted by the elements, horizontal lines to tell their history.
All growth is small but green. Even leafless branches are tinged green.

It was truly a remarkable landscape. My friend told me that´s what the Southwestern states looks like, but I have never been there. I am excited about the uniqe landscapes I´m sure to see tomorrow on the 12 hour bus ride back into Chile.

Northwestern Argentina

After a 15 hour bus ride from Mendoza, four hours of waiting at a bus terminal and then five more hours on a bus, we have arrived to Cafayate, Argentina. It is a very small town up in the hills of the northwestern part of the country, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. After much time looking out the window, the best word I can think of to describe Argentina (at least the stretch I saw) is land. Because that´s mostly what I saw. Few houses, few people, few animals, few signs of civilization. Just lots and lots of land. Some of it hilly, some very dry peppered with cacti, other parts filled with wild bushes and short trees that remind me of something one might see in parts of Africa. The land just seems to go on forever. This morning I was lucky enough be awake (at least half awake) to see the sunrise. At that point we were passing hills so the deep oranges and light pinks of the rising sun rested in the nooks of the hills. It was so lovely. I would close my eyes for a minute and each time I opened them the shade was slightly different.

The ride up to Cafayate from the city we stopped in (the name of which I had forgotten, it was nothing special) was slow because it was mostly going up in very sharp curves. But this driver was cautious so I was able to relax for the most part and marvel at the trees, the small rivers, the waterfalls. One of my friends saw some llamas, I missed them but I did see a few goats climbing up very steep rocks, impressive.

It is nice to be in a small town after so many cities, and this one feels very typical of a small town in South America. The hostel and it´s staff are very nice, tonight we are taking part in an asado, and they are kind enough to make some vegetarian options for me. Let me tell you, it is definitely not easy being a vegetarian in Argentina. Much more difficult than Chile. I have definitely had to do some improvising making meals out of things like bread or crackers and avocados. They love their meat here. Funny story about meat: last night the bus stopped at a terminal for us to eat at the family run resturaunt there. The people spoke very fast in a dialect and were clearly not used to foreigners. So one of my friends was a bit confused when his food was brought out after ordering what he thought was a pizza. Turned out it was a big chunk of some kind of meat (vilanesa I think, although I´m not sure what that is, I know nothing about meat) topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and a few pieces of ham. So essentially it was a meat pizza with meat for the crust. It´s always interesting when you have no idea what you are ordering.

Tomorrow we are planning on hiking to a waterfall, so I will bring my camera to that and try to post some pictures soon. I hope everyone and is doing well and enjoying the holiday season. I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas, it sure doesn´t feel like it as I am sitting here sweating.
Love to all!

Greetings from an Internet Cafe in Argentina

So the traveling adventure has begun. I stayed one night in Viña del Mar and explored Valparaiso again, then last night took a bus to Mendoza, Argentina. Technically I haven´t been anywhere new yet, but Mendoza feels like a totally different city during the week. A whole lot more life to it than what I saw during my previous brief visit. Tomorrow we will be doing a bike tour of wineries in the area so that should be nice. The day after tomorrow I think we are planning on heading to a town up north in Argentina (the name of which I can´t remember) where apparently you can hike to a waterfall and swim in it.

I have to say I think that the backpacker´s lifestyle suits me quite well. The only thing that´s not so fun is caring my huge pack around when walking to hostels to save money instead of taking cabs. But, I´ve noticed that each time I carry it, it feels a little bit lighter. Either I´m getting stronger or probably just adjusting. Other than that, I quite enjoy living this way. It´s so liberating to only have what I can carry, and I love not having to worry about what I look like, what I´m wearing, or if I smell bad. There are just more important things to worry about, like where to go, what to see, what to do, what to eat. No one expects a backpacker to look pretty. Plus today I had one of the best showers of my life, I really felt that I deserved it. I´m operating on not very much sleep, but so far that hasn´t been a problem. And the best part is the all people you get to meet; at hostels, on the street, everywhere. Travel time is much more accelerated than regular time, so after spending a day with someone you are travling with, you feel like you have known for more like a month. It´s a cool feeling, and as a result I feel more comfortable and relaxed with myself and with others than I have in a long time. And even though I am spending most of my time with English speakers, I am still getting plenty of chances to practice my Spanish.

It´s safe to say that so far I am loving every moment of this. What I really cherish about this experience so far is that it is forcing me to focus on the present, to just be in the moment and not worry about my past or what I´m going to do in the future. Because if I don´t maintain a constant focus on the now and simply cherish the moment for what it is, I will miss it all together and then regret that later. I feel like this is an important life lesson I am already learning, at the very least it´s something I´ve always wanted to work on. Hopefully I will be able to translate this calm, positive, enjoy the moment outlook into my life when I return back to reality, however, there is really no point in worrying about that now.

New Plan

As is typical of me, I have once again changed my plan. Starting on Monday I am embarking upon a backpacking travel adventure around South America. While in Pucon, I met a group of guys traveling together who have met one another along the road, and I made the decision to join them as they head north. I was planning on traveling anyways and I thought, well it might be a lot more fun traveling with other people. So I decided not to rent my apartment for one more month, I bought a good backpack and a sleeping bag, and I'm getting ready to go.

Tomorrow I will go to Rengo to see my Tía Maria, then on Monday I will go to Valparaiso to meet up with my new friends. From there, the plan is loose, but is basically as follows: head to Mendoza (I wanted to check it out when things are actually open), continue up north in Argentina a bit, maybe check out some wineries, then cross back into Chile at some point. Then we will continue north up Chile maybe stopping a few places along the way until we get to San Pedro de Atacama where we will check out the salt flats, the moon valley, and all that lovely desert stuff. Then we will probably go to Bolivia to see the salt flats on that side then go up to Peru to go to Machu Pichu. After that, who knows. My plan is pretty much just to travel around until around the end of January/beginning of February when I will probably head back to this part of Chile to see family then in February I am planning to head south to volunteer at Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia. I wouldn't be surprised if my plans end up changing, but I know no matter what it's going to be pretty great. I am feeling really excited about life right now.

Pucon, Chile

The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing the volcano. I know I have already shared my excitement about there, but now here are some logistical details. I went up with a small group, just four of us and two guides. The guides were fantastic, very informative, helpful, and attuned to our needs. Because the volcano is covered in snow and ice, you have to wear crampons and use a pick ax. It definitely would not be possible without those things. Thankfully I never slipped, but some people from my hostel told me someone in their group fell quite a ways down. Luckily she was stopped by another guide who jumped on top of her and used his ax.

We took a lift up a part of the way in the beginning, saving up an hour of walking. It was optional to walk if you wanted, but I figured that like 4 or 5 hours of walking up an incline would be enough. Making it to the top was of course a great feeling and the view was pretty indescribable. Here are some pictures I took.

Beautiful Chile from 2847 meters up.

Just hanging out above the clouds. It was possible to see three different lakes from up there.

This is another volcano, I forget the name of it, but my guide told me it is something like 5000 meters, much higher than Villarrica.

This was right after we made it to the top, notice the smoke in the background coming out of the volcano. I was quite happy to have made it.

This was the best picture I could get of the crater. It was very cold and windy so we couldn't really get any closer for safety purposes. But at least you can see all the smoke. Apparently the last time it erupted was in 1984.

Other things I did while in Pucon: on the first day I visited some thermals. The place I went to had two, one completely outdoors and other with a shelter built on top. I preferred the one outdoors it felt hotter and because it was a cold rainy day it felt really nice to be in there. I stayed in until I was quite wrinkly. Yesterday I went on a bike ride in search of waterfalls with a newfound friend. Didn't make it to the waterfalls, but we rode for a long time and at least saw a river and a lots of lovely land. It was nice to get away from Pucon and breathe the fresh country air. My legs were definitely struggling at points riding up hills, though. Needless to say, after the past few days of physical activity I am more motivated to get back into better shape. Now if I only I could cut back on bread and sweets...

Yes, I climbed a volcano

I can´t write for long because I´m at the hostel in Pucon and there are other people who want to use the computer. But I had to write a quick update. Today I climbed to the top of the Vallarrica Volcano. It is 2847 meters high, and I´m not going to lie, it was not easy. In fact, I had to hold hands with one of the guides for some parts of the way when I was really struggling. But I´m okay with that, I am learning that sometimes it´s okay to ask and receive a little help.

It was for sure one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and right now I am so tired and still coming down from the high of the whole experience so unfortunately I can´t write so elequently right now. When I get home I will post pictures and maybe add some more thoughts.
But the main thing I want to share was just how overwhelming the feeling was when I finally got to the top. I was so happy I almost cried and I was so proud of myself for making it. And then, I looked around and I thought "Oh my God, my country is beautiful." The climb was totally worth it just for the view. You could see the Andes, hills, four lakes, a few different towns, it was incredible. I didn´t see any lava in the volcano, but there was a whole lot of smoke which was pretty cool.

Alright well I promise to right some better thoughts when I get back to Santiago, I just wanted to share some of my excitement. And here´s my advice, if you ever find yourself with the opportunity to climb a volcano in Chile or anywhere, do it!

Viña del Mar, Valparaiso

This weekend I went to the coast with my cousin and some of her friends. I always love a chance to be near the ocean. We stayed the night in Viña del Mar, which is a tourist spot beach town that I've been to a few times as a child with my family. I would say it has changed except I'm not so sure, I can't really remember. But it's pretty much just your typical beach town; lots of hotels, fancy restaurants, a casino. But at night the beach is so nice, calm and peaceful. Plus I was lucky that I had my camera when the sun was setting.

During the day on Sunday we took a bus just next door to Valparaiso, which is a little dirtier than Viña, a bit more bohemian, hillier, and much more colorful. Not surprisingly, I liked Valparaiso better, it's just more interesting. There is art everywhere and because it is built into the hills, it's fun to walk around and you get a nice workout, going up and down the staircases built into alleyways. It's a city I would definitely like to come back to and explore a bit more.

Tonight I leave for Pucon and of course I am bringing my camera. I gotta say, I'm enjoying life as a traveler so far.

A New Chapter

I am about to begin some new adventures. My last day of work was two days ago, I decided not to renew my contract. I figured, well, I'm here in Chile, I have some money left, I might as well do some traveling. So that's exactly what I'm going to do, plus spend more time touristing around Santiago and simply enjoying each day. Today I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Pucon, a city in the south that I've never been to. I leave on Monday and I booked a hostel for two nights. It will be my first solo trip in Chile, I'm excited! This blog is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Stay tuned...