Out of Bolivia

Tomorrow I will leave Bolivia and head into Peru. From Copacabana (Bol) I will go to Puno (Per) to see the floating islands on Lake Titicaca and then head on to Cuzco. I will send more updates from Cuzco.

After La Paz, I went to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. The lake is really beautiful and amazingly clear. I spent all of one day at the Island of the Sun, where Inca legdend says the world was created. I hiked for most of the day and was exhauseted at the end. In Copacabana I am staying in my cheapest hotel room yet, $1.25 per night. Of course, that is for showers the sometimes work, a bath down the hall, and absolutly no heating when it is freezing outside. Even given all of that, still a bargain. 

After Potosi I went to La Paz for several days. While I was there I went mountain biking down a road that was called "The World�s Most Dangerous Road" in a World Bank report. It was 40 miles of downhill over mostly dirt and very curvey roads. The ride started in the high mountains at 15,500 feet and then dropped over 11,000 feet into the jungle. Talk about a serious downhill, it was lots of fun to be back biking again. The road is one lane most of the way so that when cars meet, one has to backup until there is a pull out. Since there are so many blind corners withouth guardrails, the trucks blow their horn as they are coming around to warn oncoming traffic. It was a ton of fun. 

Lots of updates

I got a chance to post pictures, so I did a lot. I am leaving Potosi (Bol) tonight for La Paz (Bol). I will probably stay there until Tuesday, when I will head for lake Titicaca. Happy reading.

This is our guide with a stick of dynamite in his mouth and a lighter demonstrating that dynamite by itself is not dangerous. Before going into the mine we had to buy "supplies" which consisted of 192 proof alcohol, cocoa leaves, sodas, and explosive kits. The explosive kits included a stick of dynamite, a bag of ammonium nitrate, and a 2 minute deetonator fuse. The cost for one kit $2 and available to anyone who had the money. We bought some as gifts to the miners and a couple for ourselves. After the mine tour our guide assembled 2 of the kits and then we lit them off. It was a really loud boom. 

The tour that I went on spent 3 hours in the mine. Most of the time we were crouched over in the tunnels and at other times we had to crawl on hands and knees and down rickety old ladders. The mine is at 14,500 feet which, combined with the dust and dank air, made it very physically demanding. Eventhough it was freezing outside, the inside of the mine was very hot, making all of us sweat. The advice that the guide gave us was to chew cocoa leaves and take a few drinks of this 192 proof spirit that the miners drink. I tried both and tried to forget that it was only 9 in the morning. 

Miners pushing a cart full of minerals through the mine. If they have a good day they might make $5 or $10. 

After the dedsert crossing with the salt flats I made my way to the silver mining town of Potosi in Bolivia. In Spanish colonial times it was the richest city in South America. The mines are still active and operate very primatively. I went on a tour where you could see the miners in action, some of them still using a hammer and chisil to drill holes for dynamite. Nothing was mechanical and safety was practically unheard of. 

Ummmmmm, salt flat. 

For the last part of our trip we crossed a massive dried salt lake. It is about 150 miles long and 100 miles wide and has up to 30 feet deep of salt in certain places. This is a hotel made of salt that we visited in the middle of the lake.  

Yes, it was very VERY cold on the trip and that is a chunk of solid ice on the water tank. 

More cool rocks from a harsh landsacpe. 

This rock is know as the Stone Tree. On the entire 600 mile trip I saw no plant bigger than a short shrub. This is one of the driest places in the world because the front mountains on the Andes block all of the moisture that would come from the Pacific. 

Llamas, mouuntains, salt lakes, and frigid weather. At this lake I discovered that llamas do not like to be touched by tourists. However, I can say that their propensity to spit has been gretly exagerated. The one I touched looked pretty pissed but only stared menaceingly afterwards. 

This gyser field is at more than 16,000 feet and was the highest point in our trip across the desert. 

The peak behind me is a dormant volcano that is over 20,000 feet tall. The lake is one of many in the region that does not drain and therefore has a very high mineral concentration. As the water evaporates it leaves behind massive salt planes. 

Here is a picture of the truck that I took from Chile to Bolivia. The ride was really spectacular and also very cold. The trip was about 600 miles over three days across sand dunes and dirt roads. Most of the time we were over 13,000 feet including one night spent at 14,300. We stayed in adobe refuges that lacked heating or electricity. The night that we were there was below zero outside and only around freezing inside. I slept wearing almost every piecec of clothing that I had with me. It was a lot colder than this tucson boy is used to. 

Also while I was in San Pedro I went on a hike to some thermal springs. The water came out at about 90 deegrees, which felt really good to the body of a weary traveler. 

The valley that we rode to was called the Valley of the Moon. Oncec we got there we had to climb up a hill to catch the best view of the Sunset, easier said than done at 10,000 feet. The view was great and I took a ton of photos. 

After Mendoza I got to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. While I was there I went on a mountain bike ride to watch the sunset from this beautiful valley. After the sunset, I rode back into town by moonlight with a couple of my friends. 

Bolivia, here I am.

I left a day earlier than I thought for my trip to Bolivia. It was absolutly amazing and I have so many wonderful pictures. I am now in Uyuni and will be leaving tonight for Potosi. I will post pictures and stories as soon as I can, I just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely.

San Pedro de Atacama

I am now in San Pedro de Atacama (Ch) and will be here until Wednesday when I will head to Bolivia. I am going to take a 3-day off-road trek to get there, so I do not know when I will next be able to post pictures or check email. I will arrive in Uyuni in Bolivian and then head towards La Paz.

Lessons from Argentina

1) The morning does not start until you have had at least your 3rd or 4th glass of "mate". Mate is a very strong and somewhat bitter type of tea, they can´t seem to get enough of it.

2) If you try to ask for your steak "medium rare" it comes out slightly seared on both sides and moos when you stab it with your fork.

3a) My hiking shoes are made of a type of rubber that provides almost zero traction on wet surfaces (sidewalk tiles, manhole covers, stone curbs, etc).

3b) (derived from 3a) I have an incredible talent for flailing my arms and legs after slipping and yet somehow keep from falling. All with much amusement to the locals.

4) 2am is opening time for clubs in Buenos Aires and the sun is your cue that it is time to think about heading home.

5) Postage is very expensive and everything else is very cheap. Example: Mailing 4 postcards = about 200 oranges = 1 steak dinner with wine = about $5.50 USD.

A look across at the Andes. We had a view of an almost 23,000 foot peak, the tallest outside of the Himalayas. While taking this picture another car pulled up and a coulple guys got out. I took a picture for them and we started talking. Turns out they are both from Houston and are young and work in the downtown area in finance. I got their business cards and promised to look them up once I get back in the states. 

Me hanging onto a canyon wall so that the gusting wind didn�t blow me off the 250 foot drop behind me. 

The road that we came up on the 4x4 trek. we had almost 8,000 feet in elevation gain to peak at over 11,000 feet. 

The hostel that I stayed at in Mendoza was a laid back and fun place. One of the owners organized trips into the mountains so on Friday me and one other guest from the hostel setup a 120 mile off-road trek with Pascal (the co-owner).

Fun story: He had just bought the jeep and didn´t know how to work the 4 wheel drive. At one point we needed it and he tried to shift into it. All he was able to do was get it out of 2WD, not into 4WD or back in to 2WD. This was a little cause for concern since we were in the middle of nowhere and couldn´t get the car to move. After watching Pascal fiddle with it for 10 min with no success, the engineer in me sprang into action. I got in the driver´s seat and had them push the car a little while I tried to get it in gear. Got it first try, just had to move the gears a little so the teath aligned. Disaster averted.

It was only me and a french girl on the tour so afterwards the guide invited us back to his house for dinner and more wine. He was a really nice guy and is actually moving to Austin, TX next year so maybe I will see him again. 

That�s quite a bit of wine. The winery that we visited produced abbout 8 million liters a year, had a cellar for 750,000 bottles, and could store a total of 15 million liters on site. The name of the winery was Norton. 

Fountain in a very large city park in Mendoza.