la paz, bolivia

La Paz, Bolivia...angels were with us when we found our friend Janelle on the street as we were waiting for a hostel to open up it´s doors. La Paz has these super cool buses all over town, old Dodge relics coughing deisel fumes,  but all painted differnt colors with their own personality. And of course there is the witches market! Dried llamas everywhere!

la paz, bolivia, a set on Flickr.

more tests, and finally salvation

  We left La Paz and our friend Robin behind :(
Landed in Oruro, Bolivia in the craziest thunderstorm, tossing bags out of the taxi while standing in 3inches of rushing water. The name of the hotel on the piece of paper was all the info we had on the place, but the weather had us trapped...of course it happened to be the most expensive hotel in town, but it claimed to have "agua caliente" so we went for it (claimed, is the key word here). It was a funny hotel, old creaking wood floors, and a grand dinning area looked like it had seen better days back in the 40´s, but it was quaint, quiet and it served up a great breakfast in the morning. Unfortunately we stayed longer, since I woke up with a nasty head cold, congestion and high altitude are not a good combination.

Oruro´s only thing to offer is the train station, which everyone takes to Uyuni, yet another speck on the map...but this is where you take the salt flats tour. Now, we had been warned that when you come to Bolivia it´s best not to have a schedule. Bus lines close, roads get blocked...and trains, well they get delayed. We booked the 3:30pm, arriving in Uyuni at 10:30pm....easy, roll into a hostel, get a decent nights sleep for the tour we booked for 10:30 the next morning. Sounds a little too smooth for Boliva´s standards they thought, so instead we were delayed in the train station until 10:30pm, arrived in Uyuni at 4:30am, only to "rest" in the station until someone opened up a cafe.

Eventually the morning has to end...which it does, finding us, crammed into a 4x4 with 4 others plus a driver on our way to the largest salt flats in the world. It´s a good thing that this place is SO incredibly beautiful, it made it all worth while.
The salt flats tour is a jeep tour, 3days, 2 nights through some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen. It was a mix between Death Valley, southern Utah, JTree and the Moon, with flamingos! The tour gives you the option of looping back to Uyuni or moving on with a transport to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Bolivia, albeit beautiful was not the easiest, so our route was to go to Chile, then the nest day bus it to Salta, Argentina.
It all just sounds so easy...what we didn´t know was what summer means in Argentina and Chile....it means all the buses are booked....way in advance! And Chile is EXPENSIVE! Yes, we had heard this...but hadn´t lived it yet...it´s like the states, and coming from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia it was a shock! And we wanted to run.... but ahh, things just kept going, now Michael has my flu and we are willing to turn around and go back to Uyuni any way we can...but even that isn´t easy. San Pedro Atacama is a really cute town, but you can´t get any buses out, you gotta go to Calama (more like Calamity). So here we wait, while Xylia is feeling left out of the flu experience and decides to join on. So we sleep a lot, in an overpriced hostel, who shares a wall with a prison, and wait for the first bus to ANYWHERE but here!
We decided to just go for it, enjoy Chile, ignore the budget and go to Santiago. The 24 hour bus ride was actually not that bad... yet I´m still not sure what I am still doing here! I am still seriously considering calling it off and going home, or at least back to Cusco! But Michael and Xylia think we should check out Valpariso fist....and really I´m numb...whatever! So we go, and hour and half more to the coast, to the famed city of Valpariso.

Valpariso, I love you! I love you for having a comfortable hostel, with HOT water and an
 f-ing BATHTUB!!! You have the charm of San Fransisco with a south american flair. You have food!! Good Food! You have ascensors (my new favorite thing)!!! and street art, cool street art everywhere! You have a Pablo Neruda house (although everywhere in Chile has a Pablo Neruda house)!

Valpariso, thank you....thank you for saving our trip. You are not helping our budget, but we can now go on with inspiration, and renewed body and spirit.

testing my limits, and enjoying the hot chocolate

I woke up today surprised to remind myself that my current address is Bolivia. Bolivia did come as a surprise, we thought we might come through the country...but really it was a last minute route change. Not super easy on the budget either...granted it is cheap here. 6.94 bolivianos to $1. but for U.S. citizens it´ll cost you $135. just to stand on bolivian soil, more of a political move than anti tourism stance.

Our first few days in the country we spent on the banks of lake Titikaka in Copacabana. A hippy-traveller saturated town. Turns out most of the young dreadlocked type use it as a resupply spot, as most of them live on the Isla del Sol. The locals, however kept us all wondering...they were not the friendliest folks we met, would this "welcoming attitude" continue throughout. We figured and hoped not...as many heavily tourist towns are, the locals could care less...if you wont buy their goods (at notably raised prices) 50 more extranjeros behind you surely would.

Our bus to La Paz was cool...somewhere in the middle the bus stopped and people started to get off, but not grab any of their luggage. I kept hearing "embarco" which means boat, all the more strange. So we filled off with everyone else, where we saw a small ferry for our large bus and small boats for us to board. Crossing the lake we landed in a plaza with packs of dogs, and drunken men trying walk or get on random buses. We watched our bus land and reloaded to endure a very bumpy ride into La Paz.

I always feel our angels and travel fairies are with us when such remarkable luck happens. Our friend Janelle is here in La Paz and we were hoping to meet up with her. But none of us have phones fro this country, so it takes a series of emails and timing to make that happen. We sent her a message and said when we would be coming in...that´s it! Our taxi driver couldn´t find our hostel after driving around for a while he just dropped us off on the corner it was supposed to be on. We walked one direction...the wrong one, then was redirected by a nice couple to the right location, where while we were standing waiting for the door to open who should walk by!! She was just coming from the bus terminal....had it been 1 or 2 minutes more or less we would have missed her, maybe completely!

So here we are in La Paz...a very busy and bustling capital. We´ve had some great food so far, and the people are very friendly! Yet as I write this Michael is sleeping off a stomach illness and Robin is fighting a chest cold. Today Robin and Xylia have gone to see a local wrestling match "Las Cholitas" women in their traditional skirts beating each other up...and I am left to wander the streets of La Paz, ducking out of the rain, into cafes for internet or a chocolate caliente. And as this may all sound lovely and adventurous, I am missing home terribly. I am finding it harder and harder to find the romance in a cold shower, a 12 hour bus ride, squatting over a hole, an unkempt shared kitchen, or the possibility of bed bugs in one more hostel. Yes, it may pass, but I have to say it publicly now.... I am ready to get off the bus!  We are closer to home than we have been yet... 3-4 more months to go. I think it would help me if I knew the date of our return, yet as of now, we don´t have one. So until then I am going with it...testing my limits, and still enjoying the hot chocolate.

leaving cuzco

So after a three months rental of our apartment in Cuzco, it was time to leave. We really enjoyed having our own place to cook, relax, have dinner parties, and movie nights with friends. We loved having extra room to extend hospitality to family, friends and fellow travellers. Leaving the comforts of Cuzco meant we would be leaving favorite haunts, flavors and friends for the unknown. After moving out of the apartment we spent a week in Ollantaytambo, a small village still in the sacred valley, where Michael would wrap up the project he started with Awamaki, a local NGO. This was a beautiful sleepy village with big views and landscape.

We reunited with our friend Robin to travel to Arequipa. Happy to be traveling with our friend we loaded onto the bus, for the first long bus ride in a long, long time. After the 8 hour night ride we landed in Arequipa at the base of the volcan Misti. Arriving at the hostel we realized we had been relieved of our camera, netbook, and external hard drive.

Well, such is travel life...especially when you get to comfortable and complacent. It´s easy to forget all your travel security habits. Now moving through the continent a bit lighter, I will try to keep up the blogging, although living in our own apartment definitely slowed that process for me.

Arequipa is a beautiful city...so it was easy to help us move on from our loss. We immediately met new friends at the hostel and made plans to trek the Colca Canyon the next day. The archeture in this city is remarkably different and make me feel like i am in Morocco, or somewhere NOT in Peru. It´s known as the "white city" because it´s older buildings are made of a porous volcanic stone. We had landed in time for the evening candle lit tour of the Monestario de Santa Catalina....highly recommended!! Super magical and incredible!

We also did a day trip to la playa! It was so lovely to visit Mama Pacifica, we haden´t seen the ocean for months...or even longer to be IN it! And now the next time we see the ocean it will be the Atlantic! For here in Arequipa we decided to change our route from south to east. Hearing of all the fires and park closures in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego right now, we decided to test our flexibility with our trip and move east into Bolivia. We are "planing" to travel through Bolivia, and into northern Argentina, east again to Buenas Aires and maybe into Uruguay....who the hell knows at this point! Right now we go where the wind takes us! 

Salkantay Day 5 Machu Picchu

I promised myself I would finish this Salkantay series before the first of the year...and so here I am, Dec. 29...doing it. I'll keep this one short and sweet, I think the photos speak for themselves. Machu Picchu is....well, MACHU fricken PICCHU!!!! Truly epic in every way you could imagine. We were blessed with gorgeous weather the whole 5 days, and our last day was no less perfect...we even got sunburns because we weren't planning on that kind of sun. Mach Picchu has been a dream of mine for a very very long time, and I was able to see almost every bit of it! Xylia climb to the top of Huyana Picchu, which is the mountain tower you see in the background of the "classic" MP shot....there are even more ruins up there!

Salkantay Day 5 Machu Picchu, a set on Flickr.

otra forma de vivir a Aldea Yanapay

Cusco is truly an amazing city...with ancient beautiful architecture, people, and food. I think we all fell in love when we first arrived, at least I did. And being here for a while can give you another perspective. In Incan times they didn't have hunger and poverty, but the Spaniards fixed that for them, so today you do see elders in the street holding their hats out for spare soles, along with the disabled and kids. A lot of children here don't have the option of going to school, their parents send them out to shine shoes or sell goods, and sometimes they are out into the wee hours of the morning.
For all of Cuzco's amazing heritage it is also the country's capital for illiteracy, alcoholism and domestic violence. So of course the usual victims of such problems are the women and children. A few weeks ago Xylia and I participated in a country wide celebration and a city wide march for women and their right to a life without violence.
Working at Aldea Yanapay has changed me. At first I thought I would just join along to make sure Xylia was comfortable volunteering in a new place....not that I didn't want to. Honestly I thought I would have Xylia work there so she could have some independence, but when you walk in that school, it's hard not to feel the love and want to be a part of it. 
The school is located in a rougher part of Cuzco to serve the local kids...yet some walk up to an hour to get there. All the kids when they come in wash their hands and face, get some lotion and hug and kiss every teacher or adult there. Physical affection is really important at Yanapay, the machismo and heavy catholic influence, mixed with a disenfranchised population makes for an abusive life. Even in the schools it is customary for teachers to use physical, psychological, verbal and emotional violence. So to show these kids that there are adults in their life that hug, kiss laugh and show affection for no other reason than ...just because is of great importance. Even when they break boundaries and cross lines, it's important to let them know when and how, but always hug and kiss after.
When I first arrived I was put in the "familia sol" 9-11 year old. Now this can be an age challenging at times even in your own language...but a new language....forget it!! We were both frustrated, but as time went on, we found our place, and now they sweetly remind me "profe, no hablo ingles" when I would slip or gently correct my spanish grammar.
The 2 weeks I was there the subjects I was to teach were Indian dancing and Indian rituals....(surprisingly not chosen by me!) Every week after the kids have help with homework, play games and art, we all go to our classrooms and learn about a new subject. And on Fridays we perform something for the whole school! We did an interpretive dance about the creation of Durga. Then the next week we learned all about a child's first rituals in India, and did a small skit. I taught them about the symbol OM and I taught them the Durga mantra! They were sooooo cute! We've definitely had our struggles and bad days...but I was there for 2 boy's birthdays (which I got them a little treat for....sshh!) and I found an indian restaurant and got them a each a sweet for our last day.
I had to stop volunteering for a few weeks while I'm completing a yoga teacher training, and it hasn't been easy. I didn't realize how attached to those kids I would get....but I think about them daily. I think i see them in the street sometimes, and I imagine going back to see them again. Aldea Yanapay does a lot for these kids, and I feel like I want to give all I have to them. They have to wear the same clothes everyday, and I think about what I'm paying to keep in storage....I think about the laws of karma, and how we are born.
Last night I heard about one of the boys in my class, Andres. His mother came looking for him at the school, she didn't know where he was, but he wasn't there either. Andres' story and life is a hard one, he just turned 11(I got him a special cookie for his b-day) but after school he has to work all night in the streets selling candy, competing for attention with drug dealers and dealing with an even darker side of Cusco than I'll ever see. Andres' mother came looking for him because she doesn't know where he is....I pray he finds his way home.     

all the kids and Yuri the founder in thee center

playing in the games room

watching the show, me siting with Anais, & Andres in front w/ the red headband 

Aldea Yanapay accepts donations...so if you should feel inspired to help this beautiful program, go here Aldea Yanapay 
besos y abrasos, pilar

salkantay part 4

Salkantay part 4

This day we should maybe call the “hangover day”...well for some of us....basically the guys. If they weren't still drunk, they definitely weren't feeling up to another 6hours of walking in the heat. Still in our tent, Victor let us all sleep in a bit... I think he needed it too. Michael was afraid to get up, not knowing what might happen if he moved, luckily he made it. This was our last night in a tent and our last day of trekking. We said goodbye to our camp chefs Maria & Edgar here...these guys really were outstanding, cooking in the rain, passing us on the trails like it was nothing....and my birthday cake was awfully thoughtful. The day was hot and our trail was a road, a bit dusty. We were to trek to the hydro-plant and then along some railroad tracks to the town of Machu Picchu! The end was getting nearer with every step, and we could feel it, even through the giddy delirium we all had.

Machu Picchu they say is at the eyebrow of the amazon basin and the flora change was incredible, lush Andean mountains like towers above the Urabamba river, an incredible ecosystem. Tons of orchids and ferns line the tracks we followed, along with coffee and banana crops. It felt like a leisurely pace, oh maybe because we were allowed to send bags on in a van, so all we carried was light rain gear and water, and it was completely flat. A few hours later we were approaching the town...with the promise of a hot shower in the hostel our tour provided, there was a little burst of energy....little. Although, none of us had clean clothes left, we piled into our hostel, and relished the luxury of a well earned shower, real pillow and mattress! A few of us went out in search of the market where we gathered lunch fixins for the next day at the Machu Picchu ruins. Our last dinner together was at a restaurant overlooking the river, Victor went over the plans for our last day...another early morning, we were to meet up and ready in front of the hostel at 4:15am to hike up to the ruins. So after long, hot and dusty day along the PeruRail tracks and a good meal and a hot shower we all went to bed...early.

salkantay part 4, a set on Flickr.