Altitude Record

So yesterday we broke our altitude record again. Took a day trip to 'Chacaltay'(spelling?). Started the day in La Paz (3600m, highest capitol city in the world) then drove up out of the crater to reach El Alto (4000m). Now...this translates to 'The High'. We contiued driving until we reached 5300m...looking a long way down on The High!}! A short walk to the top and our record of 5444m was set. So...little...oxygen.
We're heading out to Tihuanico ruins tomorrow near Lake Titicaca, massive remains of a pre-Inca civilisation. That'll tie us over til new years when we head off south to the mines of Potosi (refered to generally as 'Hell') and then the salt flats of Uyuni!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year,
Steven.

Mas photos

More photos of the amazon for your viewing pleasure.

Everything here can kill you (but it probably won't)

We are back, now, in La Paz, after our week in and around Rurrenabaque ('Rurre'). It's a pretty little town on the banks of the Beni River, a major tributary of what will eventually become the mighty Amazon. We initially went upriver by boat to Chalalan EcoLodge, a journey of some 6 or 7 hours (we have no real method of measuring the time) by canoe, dodging floating logs and other debris unleashed by the recent rains.
The set-up there is fantastic - a number of small, palmwood cabins built on the edge of a beautiful, expansive lagoon (which despite the presence of cayman, was perfectly safe for swimming, and very refreshing at that). The entire place is owned and run by the local village, so all profits stay not only in Bolivia but within the Chalalan community. While there we saw many monkeys, insects (especially mosquitos), amazing plants, boa constrictors, tarantulas and wild pigs - which are apparently the most dangerous animal in the jungle.

After leaving Chalalan we then headed into the Pampas, the extensive swamp and grasslands bordering the jungle's edge. Here we saw many fantastic birds and animals, most intriguingly the Pink River Dolphin, which is as advertised pink, and lives in the river. Best of all, we were able to swim with them on christmas morning, right before going piraña fishing a few hundred metres down stream! Apparently the presence of the dolphins keeps the alligators at bay while you swim, though this didn't reassure the two french girls we were there with. We went on an extensive, exhausting hike in sweltering conditions looking for anaconda on boxing day, but I guess the blighters had a big night previous and were laying in - we didn't see a one.

Two more things - nobody is allowed to complain about the heat, humidity or quality of Autralian Air Travel ever again.
So much nausea.

chao

P.S will attempt to add more images as a gallery - have to sort them a bit though.
P.P.S. there was 3 awesome kittens at our Pampas lodged. Their epic battles across the dining room will not soon be forgotten.

La Amazon

Rimaykullayki,
We´ve just finished our stay in Chalalan Ecolodge, Madidi National Park, Amazon Rainforest, we enjoyed it so much we are now going to stay here and do another tour in the Pampas for an additional 3 days before returning to La Paz on the 28th of December, assuming our flight isn´t substantially delayed.

When we return we will post more detailed information about our time in Madidi along with photos. We hope everyone back home has a very Merry Christmas while we munch on caiman and wrestle anacondas on the same day.

P.S we swam with caiman and pihranas ;)

Death Road.

We were feeling suicidal so we rode down the infamous Bolivian Death Road.
Was a blast. We have photos (though not many, being as we were too busy hurtling to our deaths) but they are taking way too long to upload, so maybe later.

La Paz is a fantastic city - we've spent hours cruisng the Markado Negro (Black Market). Haven't found any rocket launchers or stem cells for sale, but tons of clothes and dvds etc.

We leave for the jungle tomorrow.

We´re in La Paz already!? I don´t Bolivia

Yesterday we left Puno on our 22 nuevo sole bus (which wasn´t all that bad actually.) and drove over the border to Bolivia, the crossing was no hassles thankfully.

Ok so we got to the ferry crossing that we were unsure of whether we´d actually have to do or not, it involved getting the bus from one side of a Titicaca channel to the other. We all got offloaded onto a pint-sized little boating number with about as many life jackets to allow for one between every three skeptical persons. We then witness the bus being driven onto something that can no better be described as a preschool paddlepop stick craft class creation before being shipped in an edge-of-your-seat manner across the channel. This raft (and it was a raft because on atleast one occassion someone manouvered it with a large stick) was bearly wider and minimally longer than the bus it bore and genuinly looked asthough it was about to tip over at one point. Photo credit goes to robert.



La Paz is fantastic, soooo many pirate dvd shops, the hostel we found here is the best yet so everything is running smoothly in the worlds highest capitol city for now. More detailed posts regarding La Paz are sure to ensue, stay tuned.

Lake Titticacca

We went out on a trip around Lake Titticaca today. It is fairly spectacular - nearly 4000 metres above sea level and stretching off beyond the horizon. We went out to two sets of islands - one which was home to a culture apparently completely dominated by weaving, knitting, dancing, and combinations thereof, and the other... well, the other was the Floating Isles of Uros. These are artificial islands created in the middle of the lake thousands of years ago and constantly replenished, constructed entirely of local reeds. The islands are made of reeds, the houses are made of reeds, the people eat the reeds and burn them for warmth and cooking. It is an astonishing way of life and apparently remnants of a culture which predates the incas by centuries. Anyway, some pics.

We leave for Bolivia on the morrow.

adios Cuzco

We left Cuzco today, and arrived in Puno on Lake Titticaca. We had a place to stay here recommended to us by the last place we were at, which we were prepared to track down, but somehow or other we were met by a representative of theirs at the bus station and before we knew it we were checked in ad even had a tour booked of the lake! We suspect that our Cuzco place rang ahead to let them know we were coming - Pachamama really is looking out for us here. Anyway just thought I´d let you know about our movements, we´ll check in again tomorrow, hopefully with some photos from the worlds highest navigable lake.

me con llama sin photoshop

the ultimate photo.

It really kicks the Llama's Ass.

We promised you Llama molestation.

We have delivered.

P.S. in Spanish, 'Molest' simply means 'annoy', without the unpleasant... other... connotations.

A couple more...

And a few more(site for the slideshow pics isnt working)
First:
Yes the shadow on the left is the flap of my tent. Hows that for a camping view?
Second:
Machu Picchu, mountain in background is Wayna Picchu. Climbed that with two other guys (not robert and luke)
Third: Climbing Wayna Picchu, only about 500m drop behind me, no need to be alarmed.
Fourth: A group we found at the top...note the madman in the look-no-hands at the back. That rock is overhanging and just drops away a loooong way.
Fifth: Me at the top of Wayna Picchu with Machu Picchu in the background.

Inca Trail

Didn´t really stick with the other guys over the last 4 days, went at my own pace, saw my own thing...wasn´t involved in whatever it was they did to the llamas. Here´s a few pics from my adventures: First: Machu Picchu as the sun rises, fog clears...one of the first 5 to see it for the day.
Second: Me and a guy a met from Newcastle of all places went off the beaten track and climbed an extra mountain. Tallest we could see, had to very much scramble up it. Fog obscures the view but Machu Picchu mountain is a long way down to the left, and the rest of the group about 200m down to the right.
Third: Another side trip, this time with the Novacastrian and an Englishman. Got a point with 360 degree views of a gorgeous valley on day 3.
Fourth: Further along day three whats known at ´Gringo Killer´. 3600 stairs just like these, straight down. Oh Incans how you love stairs.
Fifth: Me again, Incan ruins behind, Machu Picchu mountain not far to the left and camp site for night 3 down to the right. Another path we didnt have to take but chose to anyway. Well worth the view.

Machu Pichu

To use the word 'awesome' to describe Machu Pichu and the Inca trail is to lessen the actually awe experienced seeing the sun rise over the cloud wreathed ruins. The whole trek was fantastic though wearying - I don´t think anybody quite realises how hard it is to climb nearly a vertical kilometre in a morning until they have done it. Apart from sore muscles though we are happy and healthy. we'll post pictures and so forth when we get to our hostel - at the moment I'm just killing time in Aguas Calientes, the tourist town at the base of Machu Pichu, waiting for our train back to Cuzco.
Chao
-Robert

P.S: There are Llamas on top of Machu Pichu. They were stalked and molested (in a friendly way). We also have pictures of that.

In Peru, attraction tourists you!

Greetings gentle readers.

I am reporting to you live from Cuzco, Peru, an extraordinarily beautiful city (forgive me if I ramble a little, we had a drink or two last night and the altitude increased its effectiveness about ten-fold... so we´re all four a little groggy this morning). That´s right, we four - I believe Luke mentioned briefly our new friend Nalani (is it ok to reference something from brackets in the main part of the text? I´m gonna go ahead and... continue...anyway). She has been with us since the bus trip up from Tacna and is just great to have around. Apart from just being alot of fun she is from Costa Rica (though a resident of California) so is fluent in Spanish. Having a personal translator go with us on our explorations has simplified what could have been some tricky negotiations - and having that translator be young and attractive I´m sure has increased the friendliness of some otherwise potentially recalcitrant taxi and collectivo drivers! Sadly we have to part ways tomorrow as we three embark on the Inca Trek to Machu Pichu and she returns to Costa Rica for christmas.

But yeah, Cuzco is fascinating. It´s possibly to see the history of the place in the very walls - many buildings, from cathedrals to cafes are built on solid Inca foundations, with shoddy Colonial Spanish walls and many more recent additions. The from our hostel room window it is possible to see most of the city, with its heart - The Plaza de Armas - right below us and the streets and outer plazas climbing up the hills away from it. The streets are rarely more than one lane wide, in most places there being just enough room for a taxi to pass a pedestrian between buildings if the pedestrian breathes in.

Additionally, the Scared Valley around Cuzco is spectacular. One of us can hopefully come and right a more complete report about our adventurings here but for now my time runs short. Perhaps I´ll just let the pictures do the talking - I´ve added a few more to the current album.

Adios

P.S. In a couple of places, some Peruvians forget themselves and wanted to take photos of us. Was very odd. Most odd was when a professional film company stopped us and asked us to let them film us walking along. No idea where that footage will end up, or in what context.

New Photographs

Check out the Slideshow Archive for some newer photos of our latest adventures/shenanigans.

Note: we aquired a 4th traveller during transit, Nalani

Guiz?

Today we climbed Pisaq, like CLIMBED Pisaq, pretty much anything that could be climbed we took a shot at, which was cool. It´s a large incan city on a mountain basically, lots of sophisticated terraces for agriculture etc.

For the record, i am not tanned nor do i have orange/brown hands! We´ve got lots of excellent photos but i dont feel inclined to share any with you at this juncture so tough bikkies ;)

inca trail is in 2 days, wee.

hope all at home is well

Into Peru

We arrived in Peru yesterday without incident. The flight from Santiago to Arica in northern Chile was fine, and we were greeted at the airport by an eager taxi driver who took us across the border, helping us through customs etc very swiftly. Despite his apparent urging, we went to a hostel in Tacna, Peru, of our choosing, not his - a bare place, but cheap, central and clean. We saw a bit of the town but there isnt much to see. The cathedral was designed by Gustav Eiffel {the tower guy} but for all that was not overly exciting.
We were very frugal for lunch but splurged a bit for dinner - but thats what happebns when you go to a restaurent and say ´´give us what is good´´ - or at least thats what we think we said when surrounded by a flock of friendly but incomprehensible and pressuring waitstaff! The other interesting thing was a Gay Rights March that went past our window - almost the last thing we expected to see, and hilarious because of that.
We leave for Cuzco by bus shortly.
Adios!
-Robert