We picked up the rental car and of we went to the Terry Hills to visit my Uncle and Aunt. Unfortunately we drove the wrong direction and had to correct ourselves which added an extra hour to our trip, but we managed to find it fairly easy. Well we found terry hills, but now the house. I tried to do it from memory from my last visit 10 years ago, but that is harder than I thought. We drove around asked a bunch of people but nobody seemed to know it. We took a wrong turn and ended up at a street, and as we did my memory kicked in and said I know were we are go there and there and we drove straight to the house where Agnes and Andre were waiting for us. After some drinks and soup we headed for Mona Vale. A quaint looking beach town with everything you need for a relaxed day. A sandy beach in a bay with high cliffs at the side to give it some shelter. We had a stroll along the beach, some coffee and took a different road back to see more beauty along the water. This area is a suburb of Sydney and has beautiful surroundings to enjoy but is not touristy at all. We went to bed early that night while Andre and Agnes hit the town for a concert. What happened with the young folks, going to bed that early?

Thankfully Andre woke us up the next afternoon at 12! We must have been tired to sleep for about 15 hours. After brunch we went for a short visit to a friend of Andre and Agnes. We continued to the famous and beautiful Manly beach. Manly is another great suburb with a great beach, boulevard with restaurants and bars for your liking. We took a long walk along the boulevard and had some fajitas and salmon sandwich at a mexican place on the patio. That night Agnes cooked a homemade meal which is so nice after a long trip and hospital food.

The next day we woke up at reasonable time to head out for Palm beach. This drive brings you along through a forestry area on windy roads. At one one side a cliff with big mansions at the other a lake with sail boats. The drive towards Palm beach is absolutely a joyful one, and made you wish you had a convertible. The drive brings you to a golf course and what else, the beach. It was beautiful weather and there was a market that day which always draws people. The restaurant we picked was full, so we had to eat at a kiosk type place from the same owner. This is were we had a great campos coffee and some food. We drove that day aimlessly through the beautiful surroundings, just enjoying the view as our only goal and succeeded.

after all the sightseeing in the suburbs it was about time to head into downtown Sydney. We drove to Manly beach and parked the car and took the ferry over. This is a daily commute for many people. It’s a great way to get into downtown Sydney without the traffic and a gorgeous view coming into the harbor. You pass the Sydney opera house and have a great view on the famous bridge. What a great city! The looks are so amazing from the water and makes you smile every time. We wandered around the harbor area, went to the museum of contemporary arts (opening day) and got tired of walking. I just had an operation not even a week ago, so my body told me to do it myself. The only option left was to go back or take a hop on hop off bus. We chose the last one. We sat for one and a half hour in the convertible bus listening to some explanation on the city. Just a great way to get your bearings in a city in a lazy way. We got of at STAR an entertainment complex at darling harbor. A spot with restaurants and shops comparable to waterfront in Cape Town or Fisherman’s wharf in San Fransico. After hanging out there for a while we had dinner and slowly made our way back to the ferry. The ferry ride was cold as we were dressed for daytime temperatures, but the view on the lit up city, bridge and opera house made it well worth sitting on the deck. We  walked back to our car and drove back to the Terry Hills. By the time we arrived it was time for bed after a long but reward full day.

The unmissable attraction when in Sydney is Bondi beach as they say. It is lets say the Cannes or Saint Tropet of Sydney. Fancy, luxurious beach front hotels and restaurants, but a bit run down if you ask me. It was probably in the time from Brigitte Bordoux very hip and trendy, but could not keep it’s charm. That doesn’t say it is not nice and beautiful, as Paris Hilton and Afrojack chose to be there that exact same day. After some sun tanning and some drinks on the boulevard it was time to go back home.

More on our adventures in Sydney in the next blog post!

We arrived late at night on Tahiti and took a taxi to the hotel we booked ahead. We stayed in one of the cheaper resorts but it was still very nice. A private beach a nice big swimming pool and a couple of restaurants. One of those was the best restaurant on the island as we were told. We ate in the restaurant the night before we left. It was Japanese and it was so good between the locals and the Japanese tourists;). A very funny cook who spoke a dozen languages and created a good atmosphere. (Sounds like an online dating profile, doesn’t it?). Go to the Sofitel hotel to enjoy this great restaurant if you are in Tahiti some day. The bell boy dropped all our luggage in the room and said goodnight. We had a nice few over the swimming pool, the beach and the ocean filled with yachts.

The next morning Lina picked up the phone to complain about the bed. It was hard as a rock and she demanded something to be done about it. The front desk told her that she wasn’t supposed to be in that room! The bell boy had put us in the wrong room and we would be switched rooms. Because we never left the room before we had’t figure out the key didn’t work on our door, but worked across the hall. Never tell Lina that she will be downgraded;). So after a lot of complaining on the facebook page of Sofitel, she managed to get a softer bed on a top floor with the same view. The Marketing department demanded something needed to be done. Facebook works!

What you have to know about Tahiti is that it is expensive. Yes, you would say everybody knows that! We did as well but it is completely insane. We just came from probably one of the most isolated islands in the ocean and Tahiti still managed to be more expensive. It must be the name. As Marcello said, you leave paradise and go to the has been paradise island. I can agree with him, but maybe we didn’t give Tahiti a fair chance. The first day we explored the city centre by taking a minibus service from the hotel. Dropped of at harbor with a couple of big cruise ships at the quay. The city itself was tiny and within 30 minutes we had seen all of it, including the market. You could say it has a real Hawaii feel even though I haven’t been on Hawaii, so I don’t really know. But a man can imagine. Most people arrive on the island and spread out across all the other islands around. So you could say it functions as a hub. We never really got to this as we didn’t feel like taking a boat early in the morning to explore an other island to return late at night. As we didn’t do this the second day we had no time left to explore it an other day.

The day we supposed to fly out I woke up around 5 am with stomach pain. A constant pain which I tried to ignore, but an hour later I vomited for the first time and the pain seemed to be tamed down, but half an hour further vomited again, again and again and agin until I was completely empty, but the pain stayed on. This worried me a bit and after a debate we decided to get a doctor in the room. We both didn’t want to get stuck on Tahiti with me in a hospital! Australia was around the corner! The doctor was not available until late that afternoon. As soon as he examined me, he wanted me for a checkup in the clinique as he suspected it could be my appendix. We took a taxi to the clinique and x-rays and photo’s were taken. Hardly any spoke English and my medical French is not very good! I had no clue what was going on and felt like a pregnant lady while they searched for my appendix with the gel on my belly and a weird cold metal tube I had seen so many times on TV. But the French and the images I could understand didn’t look good. Result was a very inflamed appendix and hidden behind other intestines and straight up, which caused the pain in my upper stomach and kidneys.

Straight away on the IV, while waiting on the doctor. A smiling man entered the room and said, well we are gonne operate tonight, and smiled again. Did he really like his job? Pressing people in painful spots and laugh. Or was it the new car he needed, and me financing it with just this operation? I had to stay overnight and Lina had to leave. I was put in a bed and brought to a room with two other men. Protests from me that I had booked a mixed dorm room in this hostel were ignored. The surgeon came that evening to explain the operation and told me it would have to be the next morning. Did he just put those brochures on the new cars in my files;). Without kidding the man was French, spoke as only one English in this hospital and seemed a very nice man. Now, is that enough to let him put a knife through your skin and pull some intestines out? I guess the answer was, Yes! Goodnight!

That night the pain got worse and I tried to get some sleep, but the old guy next to me kept coughing and gurgling saliva. Once that stopped he started to talk to himself? I looked over and I saw he had his morfine pump in hand. and just after the coughing gurgling he pumped him self full of that stuff again and 15 minutes later the same ritual. The other guy, a big Tahitian with tattoos all over the place and straight pulled out of a hispanic gangster movie had his MP3 player on with loud music. My cell mates were not to bad I kept telling myself. I had a fighter and an old guy, that is a stroke of luck. Strength and experience, and me as weird foreign guy to balance it a bit. I tried to get some sleep but could not help to start humming the song “Your in the ARMY now”. After a long painful night without sleep, food and water the light started to come through the curtains. Finally I would be relieved from this pain soon! My hispanic gangster buddy took a shower and came bag in his operation gear. Complete with a hairnet, shoe nets, and a green tablecloth looking dress. I got confused, I was the one who needed an operation? He seemed to know the drill? Just for a moment it went through my brain “OMG he is not the surgeon, right”? Well at least he knows how to handle a knife I thought;).

I was completely lost in translation. Had no idea what to do, say or expect. Until two nurses showt up and commanded me to get a shower and get dressed in the same outfit as my hispanic gang member.  The nurses were a bit to eager to get with me into the shower, so maybe this wasn’t a hospital? I felt so humiliated and small that a healthy guy like me needed to be washed by two nurses, while I was standing crouched over as a helpless little piece of human in pain. I was glad they helped me and I could not have done it alone with all the IV’s in my arm attached to a pole completely tangled. Good I was in the clothes I supposed to wear and biodined. Who knew, I would ever say cut me open please! The pain got worse and worse. Lina showed up at noon, according our plan I would have been waking up by now. Something happened in the operation room and everybody got bumped back. The old man got picked up by his daughter and left the hospital.

If people leave a hospital in such a state it would not be good for me and started to wonder what things could go wrong during an operation. I got a bit nervous, as I was in a foreign country at the other side of the globe, hardly any communication but the room and hygiene level were ok and it was a private clinique. The nervousness was high as they are going to cut me open and we hardly comunicate? They picked me up and I gave the last thumbs up to shake off the nerves. The hospital bed got driven around hallways, in and out elevators into the wake up room. On the way all kinds of people greeted me and started to ask me questions, none of them spoke english, so I started to give of my best holiday/cereal box French. This became a fun game as they kept repeating questions. Where I was from, if I had allergies, if I took medicine, if I ate the last 24 hours, etc, etc. I thought they should know by now, but I understood the questions were needed as check and double check.

Finally in the operating room were I was thrown on the operation table, green cloth over top, some biodine on my belly and spotlights on. Out of the bright spotlight a face appeared and I was looking in the face of the man of drugs anestasist . He asked me the funniest question he could ask at that moment to take away my stress and worries. The language barrier between us could come out of a movie. He started of with the question: Bob do you still have an appendix? So, I already had a feeling, like: hello I am on the table for the appendix, if I didn’t had one we would be in a strange place and position to discover! Are you now going to cut off an arm because I still have one? Again, I understand it is all precaution and check, double check. The questions made me calm though and felt I was in good hands even though they came over a bit stupid. Next question he asks”so, Bob do you have any answers?”. So, I say sorry? (to buy myself some more time to find a correct answer!) I felt like a sudden unannounced test you could not prepare for in school, but this time my life was on the line! I must have frown my eyebrows pretty dramatically as there had been hardly any communication and now I am on the table you ask me for answers? I thought about replying: I see the light (spotlight in my face) so I have all the answers you need to have, but just couldn’t do it. Again: Do you have any answers? This time I took some time to really let the question work into my brain and replied: “I have no further questions and have all faith in you and trust you guys completely, so don’t let me down!”. I got some oxygen, before the gas and fell asleep. Before I knew I was driven out the operating room and felt the tube being pulled out of my throat. They put one in if you are out to keep you breathing I guess. They told me they would do it, but I forgot were it was for. Back to the room were I met Lina again. The pain was gone and my stomach taped with a little bandage.

The doctor came a day later to check the wound and told me it was a very difficult operation. So, he apologized for the big scar he gave me. He had to put his hand in and search for the appendix hiding behind other stuff and it was very inflamed and extremely long. The only thing I cared about was that he relieved me from the pain and the scar is a story. The next days in the hospital were painful in recovery, but the pain killers made it hard to pee which caused even more pain, so they decided to pump my blader empty to get the pressure of and that helped. A normal recovery for my abs, but then you realize how much you use them to get up out of bed and do your daily thing. Slowly getting the bowels moving again by eating was the main task but other than that it felt like a holiday and a welcome break? And my hispanic gang leader cell mate was the most nice and caring person as he could move and I hardly, he helped me through my days in the joint. He got sunday comuni by two guys and prayed together and I felt so bad for him as it seemed he had spend some time and still needed to spend a lot more here. As the world travellers believe, leave nothing behind, only footsteps ended for me a bit different. Bob went to Tahiti and left a litte piece of himself!

Cheers

Bob

One legend seems a made up story for moral but I will tell you what I read about the tribes:

There were 2 tribes, the long and the short ears (because of their stretching out their earlobe). The short ears were the brain of the island, the long ears the workers. The long ears had enough of carving statues and work so hard for what (making statues)? They rebelled against the short ears who chased them to the east side of the island. They dug a trench and laid branches over top. As soon as the short ears would attack they would lit in on fire and burn them alive. One long ear woman was married to a short ear and signaled to him that the gard was down and the short ears surrounded the long ears which were sleeping. They had no place to go but for their own tunnel. The short ears lit it on fire and they all burned to death. Three managed to escape but were caught not long afterwards. They killed two and let one life to tell the story and keep the memory alive. He married a short ear and had a lot of kids. The islanders are still proud to say they belong to the long eared tribe.

This story seems a bit to made up for my liking but I found it very entertaining. Always that good and evil in a story.

We arrived early in the morning and our hotel picked us up, with a traditional flower neckless. You get in the Hawai mood straight away. We arrived in the room and crashed straight away. I felt so good that I was finally here and almost started hallucinate;). Somebody told me once he went to Machu Picchu and even though he didn’t believe in god, he felt really close to him there. He was so amazed and enlightened about the place that you almost start to believe. Well, that was how I felt at that moment, and I even hadn’t seen anything? It must be the excitement and the anticipation and then it’s there. We supposed to get a “city” tour at noon but we didn’t make it. As there is only one town were everybody lives it is easy to get around. We explored the surroundings and I felt at home straight away. Surfers on the beach and the amazing waves crashing in. There were some top quality surfers here! We decided to rent an ATV as I had read the roads were bumpy if there were even any roads! This brought us the closest to a motor cycle we coud get. So much fun! We explored the island for 8 days. Way more than most people do, but it just worked out with the flights that way. There are only a couple of flights a week to Lima, Santiago and Tahiti. The reason everybody lives in this one town is another interesting story. After the explorers, tribal wars and slave traders the island was rented out to a sheep company from Schotland. They transformed the island in some spots just like an Scottish landscape. They let the sheep roam and locked the people up in a town. Funny how history dictates the way of living today!

We toured around on our ATV to see the stone quarry were the statues were carved. Very cool detail is that all the statues you see are actually finished full size statues on their way to a platform. So all the heads are actually complete statues sticking another 2/3 in the ground. We did sunrise, sunset pictures. Amazing to see the moon come up and shining in the eyes of the statue which seem to light up at that time. Bit spooky. To complete the tour we visited the museum to learn more about the island and we went up to the vulcano. This vulcano is now filled with water and formed a kind of swampy area. So beautiful and green. The island is swarmed with horses. They are everywhere and you need to drive carefully as they jump on the road in front of you. They are all branded and owned by farmers, but they don’t do anything with them either. They are not broke and they won’t eat them either. A big problem for this island. Over populated with horses. If they don’t sort this problem it will destroy the island for sure. But this gives the island also a different feel. There are a couple of beaches on the island but the main one is absolutely beautiful and again mystique as the statues are lined up there as well. The landing spot for the first in habitants as they say.

All in all Easter Island was amazing and I am so happy, thankful and privileged that I may have been here.

Even though it is not for everybody, it didn’t disappoint me with my big expectations and absolutely loved it!

Bob

With help of Wikipedia here are some facts.

The pre colombian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres asl. Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. 80 km northwest of Cusco. Often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”, it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca world. The Incas started building the “estate” around AD 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Nowadays it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and voted for the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style were it’s now famous for, with the polished dry stone walls.

Our exploration:

To get to Machu Picchu we took the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes which is the main train station to Mauchu Pichu as you have to walk or take a bus from her up the mountain. This village is a typical tourist town with markets, shops and restaurants to entertain the numerous tourists. We bought our tickets direct when we arrived which made me happy afterwards. We would catch the bus the next morning at 05.30 am to see the sunrise from the top. But that afternoon I got a high fever and didn’t feel all that well, as I could almost swim out of my bed. The fever caused me to sweat a lot and the muscle pain didn’t make it any beter. I took against my will and believes a bunch of pills to make me drowsy and hoped to fall asleep. I didn’t want to miss out on this! This site is a highlight on most travellers list through South America. The pills didn’t really make me sleepy and I spend most of the night on the toilet, shaking like a leaf.

The next morning we took the bus at 9.00, so we missed the sunrise. But as we secretly hoped the fog was so thick that we didn’t miss anything. We spoke to travellers who were there at 6 but couldn’t see anything. Lucky for us it was rainy season and the Inca trail was closed as every February for maintenance and the danger of mudslides . During our bus ride up we had to stop as a mudslide had blocked the road and we had to unload the bus. We heard from other travellers they couldn’t make it 2 weeks before us as the mudslides washed out the train tracks. Luckily the train was not the problem this time. All people on the bus had to cross the mudslide on foot and board another bus across. This bus would take us up the mountain in reverse! So much for safety. Tourist will do absolutely everything you ask them too! Finally we arrived at the top and passed the ticket control fast. Lina’s number 1 bucket list item was here! So, excited! There are many ways you can walk through the site but we headed straight on to the building which blocked the view. So, when you arrive you actually see nothing yet. You have to pass the building and as soon as you come around the corner the mountain opens up to you. The city lies so peaceful on top of the mountain with it’s handmade terraces. So green and ingeniously constructed. The stones are so perfectly shaped and crafted that they fit as a big jigsaw puzzle. No cement needed!

It must have been peaceful living on a mountain like this. High above the rest of the world n a self sufficient city. Only the climb up would have been a big pain. A 3 day hike up. But it doesn’t seem to bother the Peruvians is our experience. As mountain goats they seem to hike up the rocky terrain and all this packed and sacked with whatever they can carry. The tourists spread around the sight and it didn’t feel overly crowded. The grazing Llama’s don’t seem to be disturbed by the clicking camera’s. And if there is a annoying tourist they just spit, what a life! We walked from terrace to terrace and sat down to let this beauty sink in. To make those mental pictures for ourselves. We made our way to the Inca bridge but half way up it started to rain and we decided to call it a day and go down to take the train back to Cusco.

In the train from Peru rail we were treated on a real fashion show with loud music and the train staff showing clothing in the ailes like a real catwalk. After this surprise the next one came. A real dance performance with costumes, masks and traditional moves. This was actually fun and wouldn’t have been if they told you up front. We discussed our adventure and came to the conclusion that it was good to see. If this was the best of South America? We don’t think so, but it could have been us. We were ready to leave South America after this. Ready for new exploring and adventures and not sad to leave Peru. A bit strange as we enjoyed the continent, but Peru was enough.

Up to the number 1 bucket list item from Bob.

All (not so much) included

The bus picked us up 45 minutes late that morning. That should have been a sign! We drove through villages with traditional dressed ladies selling all kind of handy crafts, fields filled with Lama’s/ Alpaca’s and view points to admire the snowy volcano’s. Just before lunch we entered the national park and had to pay the entree fee, which was Soles 70, instead of the 35 described in the beginning. Ok, that can happen. Let’s have lunch! We have a buffet but you have to pay it yourself! This ticked us off and after threaten to leave the tour we could eat without paying. The problem was that this was a combined tour with people hopping off and on, so there was nobody who booked the same. The confusion was big. Not long after lunch we got dropped off at a hostel to stay the night. As soon as we entered the room we knew we would not stay here. Broken windows, leaking roof, no pillow cases, stains on the bed and very grouse carpet. Is this were we payed the upgrade for? After a check we noticed the hostel was Soles 35 ($12)! We were mad at this point and wanted to cancel the whole tour and phoned the hostel from a internet cafe to complain. They argued we got what we paid for, but after my reply that this would be over the whole internet they bound in and arranged an other  hotel. This took some time and before we knew the bus was there to bring us to the hot springs. After paying and entering the natural hot springs, they told u there were only 2 pools from the 6 open. The pools itself were ok, but definitely nothing special. The lockers were not working, the showers were from cold concrete and the mold was hanging from the ceiling. oh what a fun!

Dinner with traditional (for tourists) dance.

That night we had a dinner with traditional Peruvian dance. You arrive in a cold tiled hall and there is a band playing and traditional dressed teenagers to make a buck or two dance uninspired. But I have to say we had a lot off fun. As there were only two tables and maybe three men in the whole room, the girls kept asking me to dance. This was actually fun and made a good night as it caused us to laugh which was well needed after a very disappointing day. That night we walked home from the restaurant and walked into a party in the street. 3 neighboring villages were in a 3 day battle against each other on dance and music. This was fun to watch as the whole village was marching through the streets with drum band. This went on for day and night as we discovered the next morning. We left at 6 am and saw a lot of people walking not such a straight line;)

Colca Canyon hike

The next day we drove to the Colca canyon, which is famous for it’s condors. These birds can reach a wingspan of 3 meters. Amazing to see how big these birds are. The funny thing is that these birds are scavengers instead of hunters. They are so big and heavy that they use the thermic to fly and climb up into the air. As soon as we stopped at a view point we got picked up by the other guide who would take us hiking? No time to waste. No time to enjoy the view. The hike had to start? We jumped into the van full of seasoned hikers, complete with walking sticks, backpacks, boots etc. This made me wonder. The bus stopped and the guide asked us to walk a bit with him so he could explain what we would do the 2 coming days. As soon as we were at the cliff he started to explain. Ok, guys we will do a 7 hour hike down today. 3 hours before lunch and 4 after. Uh, excuse me 7 hour hike? We supposed to walk for 2? Oh, I guess the new girl who booked you guys must have made a mistake, as she should have told us you would do the compact tour.

No bus to take us back, no phone and on the wrong tour, but as the guide told us it would be fun and not that hard. Now you have to know that Lina and I were not prepared for a 7 hour walk with our backpacks, sport shoes, unhandy camera bag, and grocery back with snacks and water. But hey, we can do this? Well, I was still positive at that point! What could we do, and it can’t be that bad? But this was all before we saw the conditions of this path down. It was washed out on some places were we had to crawl or jump over cliffs to continue. Straight down on a rocky gravel kind of path and very steep. After an hour my shoe soles were slick which made it even more dangerous as I slipped all over the place. This was very hard on the knees and a very good workout for the legs. This was no fun! We met a guy on the trail who lost his guide and group and tagged along with us, but he was at the end off his amusement as well, and this was only before lunch? Finally after 4 hours we reached the lunch place half way down the canyon. Lina was already at a stage she could not continue and asked for a mule to take her the rest of the way. Well, she was out of luck as the mules could not walk this trail because of the rain and washed out trail ahead. Half way down, she had no choice but to continue. With fresh negativity we started the trail again and found out why the mules were not able to do this trail.

The whole trail was washed away and we had to climb over rocks and piles of dirt in our slick soled running shoes, looking down into the ravine. We cursed this trail and the unsafe conditions but had to continue and hope for the best. The trail continued and passed a couple of villages along the way. We were tired and cranky. My shoes got ripped open from the rocks on the trail, the blisters made it even harder to walk. We cursed the hostel who booked the wrong tour for us and made plans for our revenge. Just before dark we reached the oases as the place was called. We had a shower, if you can call standing under a garden hose with cold water a shower to rinse off. Had dinner with the group and met another group who complained as much as we did. The had done 6 days in Torres al Paine in Chile, but found this track super hard on them. One of them contemplated to take a mule the next morning. We ordered the mules and went to bed straight after dinner as we had to go up at 6 am. The hikers at 5 am.

Mules the savers of the wounded hikers.

The next morning we took the mules up. Our 4 hour hike up would take the mules only 2 hours. Along the way we passed all the hikers who left that morning at 5. Completely broken hikers half way as this 4 hour hike was straight up with huge steps. Lina and I were surprised the mules could even take this steps. We have been riding horses in mountains but this was just impossible on horse back. In one go the mules were driven up the hill by the owner. These animals are so sure footed! No hesitation at all. For the people who don’t know a mule is a crossing between a donkey and a horse. All the good qualities come together, except that they can’t reproduce which makes them expensive. Oh, we were so glad we were on these mules and not one of the struggling hikers. We waited in the square for the other hikers when a super nice dog came straight for us. He came to say hello. As soon as we moved benches in the park to catch some sun, he followed us on the foot. The group arrived and we walked to the breakfast place, and again the dog followed us but stayed outside as he knew he was not allowed inside. We poured ourselves a cup of coffee and the dog appeared next to us. He probably did this everyday to catch a breakfast with the tourist hikers which fed him. How smart of a dog to pick out the tourists! And how weak of us to feed him;)

We drove the same way back as we came. Why did we even book the more expensive trip if we would do the same the way up as down? That night we stumbled into the hostel. Biting through the pain of our blisters, hurting knees and the leg muscle pain we complained and got at least our night stay for free. A banded for the blood, sweat and tears shed these days.

The next morning we stumbled out of bed and explored the city walking funny. The blisters were big and the legs filled with sore muscles. This day we spend on sightseeing the city of Arequipa and buying some souvenirs to send to the family. The main square with it’s arched porches, the hispanic architecture and the churches are great. A warm welcome after a long hike to give your sore legs a break.

Bob

The city of La Paz is in itself an attraction. All the traditional costumes the women wear is fantastic. The markets, the streets are super busy and traffic jams everywhere. You can’t say this city is not lively. Especially during carnival. The top attraction here in La Paz is the death road. road snakes through the Andes mountains and is just wide enough for two cars (4,5m). On one site the mountain, on the other a cliff dropping down several 100 meters. On average this road takes 26 vehicles down resulting in about 300 deaths a year. Especially busses and trucks are victims on this road. This sounds like an awesome tourist attraction. Why don’t we put the tourists on a mountain bike and let them go down for 63 km from 4400m to 1400m through different climate zones. From snow to rain to sun. On the way we just let them drive through rivers and waterfalls? Yes, this sounds like an office full of engineers making an artificial tourist attraction. Well, Bolivia has it naturally and thought it would be a good use of the road. I agree a 100%!

We started at 7.30 in the morning and the guides were even 10 minutes early? That is new! We got into the van which would bring us up the mountain. This van was an attraction on itself as we were wondering how this thing would even move forward and get us up the mountain. But with a steady 25km/h uphill it did it’s job. Today we were with 2 other couples. It was cold (-3c), foggy and snowy and we got our gear. Elbow patches, knee patches, helmets, goggles, pants, gloves and a bright yellow shirt. All about safety. The first 30 some km were on asphalt to get used to the bike. You go so fast you can’t peddle if you want as the bike can’t keep up with the speed. All in a line like ants 7 m apart. As soon as you get on the bike you forget everything and try to concentrate on the road, traffic and bike. Soon we left the snow to trade it in for hail. Going down with high speed and getting hail in your face. Yes, we didn’t take the goggles as they fogged up straight away. Not sure what is worse, see nothing or see nothing and get hit by nasty hail. I just started to pick up pass as the guide tried to challenge me. He went faster and faster. At this point I was standing and bending over my steer to get more aerodynamic and it helped as I came closer and closer. We took over another group as if they were standing still. The hail made room for rain, which made it worse as all the water from my front wheel splashed in my face. At this point I had to slow down and let the rain do it’s job. We approached a tunnel and had to stop and wait for the group. We had to go around the tunnel over a gravel road. This was definitely more challenging. We passed a drug control point were we had some snacks to fuel the body. At this point we loaded up the bikes and went 8 km up. We signed up for downhill not to peddle;). We turned down a gravel rocky road with giant cliffs and amazing views. Yes, this was the death road!. The rest was a bit practicing for 30 km. Now the real deal was on!

The rain had stopped and it was warm. Time to strip of some layers and get ready for the real stuff. We followed the guide and not so fast this time. We tried to stay at the left side (cliff side) as much as possible. This way you can see upcoming traffic coming sooner. This makes it scarier as well as you try to balance on a cliff dropping down several 100 meters trying to spot traffic coming up and look out for passing traffic. This bumpy rocky road goes down for about 30 km. On the way you have beautiful views and you pass rivers and waterfalls by bike. You will get wet passing waterfalls and rivers ! Your hands get sore from the vibrations caused by the humps and bumps. Constantly trying to control your speed, but you can’t break to suddenly as you will be thrown over your steer. Lina passed a group member and jelled according instruction that she was coming from the left. This wasn’t understood correctly and the team member started to steer to the left. As soon as she realized Lina was taking over she braked and crashed full into the gravel rocky road. She insisted to move on with the bike instead of the car. Her elbow was ripped open even though she wore the elbow protection. After the long downhill we arrived about 4 or 5 hours later at the bottom were we bought her a beer for the pain we caused. What an adventure. Beautiful surroundings. Cliffs, green hills, the foggy mountain tops and going down with gravity. This adrenaline shot will last a while. Afterwards we had lunch at a restaurant with a pool but we didn’t use it as the whole group agreed it was too cold and small. Back in town carnival was in full swing. As we got sprayed by super soakers on the way. The whole town full of markets and carnival stuff. Clowns, cowboys, traditional clothing like the bolder hat with wide layered skirts and a lot of wet people. The tradition is to throw or spray water and foam on each other. Especially gringo’s have it though these days by dodging water guns, cans, balloons etc etc. We walked home with our wet socks and shoes in our hands and got laughed at by the ladies selling carnival stuff. I laughed with them, a gringo with his wet shoes and socks in his hands wearing flip flops in this cool temperature must be funny. This adrenaline adventure caused us to fall asleep with a bright smile on our face.

Bob

We took a local bus for about 7 hours to Uyuni. This place is famous for it’s endless salt flats and it’s amazing landscape. As we arrived in town the city was filled with backpackers and the gas station was lined up. More than in any other town we had seen before. After checking into our hotel we tried to book a tour. Most people book a three day tour over the salt flats and surrounding area. As it was carnival, there were a lot of water gun and water balloon fights going on. Soon we discovered there was no power in town because of the storm and rain from the last couple of days. This meant there was no gas either. No gas, meant no tours. No gas, no planes and no traffic out of town. In other words, everybody was stuck in a dark town until further notice. The next morning we tried a lot of different tour companies but a lot ran out of gas and the tourst out of money as ATM’s would not work either. This situation could not hold on for a long time, so the tour companies started to gang up to find a solution. In the meantime we booked a flight out to secure our selves a seat as probably a lot of back up tourist would like to get out after their tour once the power was back on. We booked a tour and paid a deposit for as the tour would be cancelled. They are allowed to keep your money even if the tour does not start on the agreed day! By paying just a small deposit we secured ourselves a seat and if the tour would be delayed or cancelled we only would lose our deposit.

Salar the Uyuni

The next morning we left the town in a jeep with 4 other people. A german couple, an australian girl, us and a spanish girl. We booked a tour with english speaking guide but ended up with a spanish driver. But we would visit the same places as everybody else. We started to visit a train cemetery. A complete arsenal of old steam locomotives and train parts in the middle of the dessert. A perfect place for some cool pictures. A bit of a shame that all the tours are there at the exact same time. This complicates the photo’s you can take a bit but it was still very cool to see. As everybody tries to climb the trains and take photo’s in weird positions as this kind of place asks for a bit of weirdness.

Up to the salt pains as a highlight. As we were there in rainy season the salt flats are covered with a layer of water, which gives the illusion you can walk on water. This enormous white dessert kind of landscape with is blinding and endless. It gives the biggest mirror in the world. The clouds are mirrored by the water which gives and endless cloud blanket. It makes the car and people look like toys because of the enormousness. We took some cool photo’s and tried to make funny photo’s like everybody else, by letting cars drive on your arm for example. Or by letting Lina stand on my hands etc. This was an amazing sight and we were happy we made the trip down. That night we stayed in a small village with the people living in mud houses with tin roofs. A very photo genetic small village but in the middle of nowhere and it must be though to live here in the altitude and the loneliness.

Bob

We unloaded our stuff and went for lunch before heading out for an afternoon of exploring.  The days excursion was a boat ride up the very muddy river to look for wildlife and do some fishing.  It was hot so being on the water was a welcome idea.

The boat ride was indeed relaxing as we watched the multitude of water birds, spotted a howler monkey, spied on various crocs and ended with a family of capybara (the world’s largest rodent).  It was then time to try our hand at fishing and not for your ordinary fish but piranhas!  The world’s most dangerous fish!

Our guide Matheau stood in the water to start! We thought he was crazy until he explained that you have to be ‘actively bleeding‘ in order for the piranhas to attack.  Ok still crazy!  We didn’t have much luck from land not to mention the infestation of mosquitos so we hopped back into the boat and went down stream.  Once we found the spot the piranhas almost jumped into the boat!  Bob caught 5 and I caught one my first try.  One guy got bitten on the foot after a piranha got off the hook in the boat.  It was all very exciting and we had piranha for supper the next night!

The next day was also filled with activities.  We started with a morning horseback ride wearing ridiculous helmets, followed by an afternoon of swimming, in the same river that they had taken us  croc watching and piranha fishing and finally we ended the evening with a night boat tour.  A full day ended with drinks with the friends we had made.

The final morning of our time in the Pantanal we headed out for a walking safari.  It was hot but we managed to spot a couple of red macaws, howler monkeys, cows and various other birds.  One bird in particular is an ‘alarmist‘ once he spots perceived danger he starts to squawk and squawk and the other animals take it for a sign and head for cover.  Our guide said that hunters often ‘terminate‘ this bird first on hunting trips. At the end of our safari we headed back to the lodge and encountered a livestock truck that had cut a corner to tight and was stuck at an awkward angle with a bunch of nervous cows in the back.  This was the only way out so we parked and watched the action. We weren’t sure how they would get it out but they managed with 2 catapillers and a lot of supervisors!

We took this opportunity to share our first mate with our guide. Mate is a version of loose leaf tea that can be served hot or cold and is filtered through a special straw. It is a very social drink and is very popular.

Once we made it back to the lodge we were loaded back into the pick up truck and taken out to the highway.  Bob and I managed to hitch a ride with a taxi to our next stop at the Bolivian border.

xo

Lina

We got our wetsuits and boots, took a shower and got loaded into a truck all wet and dripping. The reason became clear soon enough. We got dropped off at a pathway to do a 45 minute walk! This pathway gave us the change to see some wildlife on the way. Not very impressive according the group as all the animals encountered were shy and everybody had seen them before. Little anteaters, big birds and some native trees. But then the fun started! We arrived at a dock for some practice swimming! How hard is this going to be? I was wondering if this was the time to put on a life jacket but nobody did, so I decided to take the plunge without one as well. They explained the rules about swimming in one line, no diving, no turning around etc etc. Nobody really listened as it as they were to excited to jump into this oh so clear water. It would not surprise me if it was clearer than tap water. And these rivers are amazingly clear and sweet water! This is snorkeling heaven as normally you snorkel in salt water and you get so thirsty of the salt water. The water was cool but not freezing, my guess would be about 20c. Our practice swim was in a round lagoon with the same start and stop point. Everybody adjusted their mask and off we went, into the deep clear waters of Rio Prata. Holy, this water is clear, and it’s so peaceful below the surface. The only sound you hear is your own breathing. Very familiar to scuba divers I bet! We saw some mangroves, fish, a sandy bottom covered with extremely green vegetation. The wetsuit keeps you afloat surprisingly well. When we arrived at the start/finish line and we could touch bottom again the guide was not happy as we didn’t obey any rule he just explained. I was not sure why he was so upset as we were just playing around. He pointed out that one of the guys almost swam towards a crocodile in the mangroves? Until this day we still don’t know this was a joke or the truth! My knowledge about crocodiles this far is that you only have to be very carefully with the famous salt water crocodiles. So I was not really concerned. A bit scary though that a lot of us had  not seen it. 

Back in line

Ready for the real stuff after a practice round. We would be floating down the river for about 3 km, no swimming just floating as the stream takes you were you have to go. Easier said than done when the river is as deep as 30 cm about 1 and 1/2 feet! Watch your knees! After some shallow parts we had some deeper water, so we didn’t need to be to concerned. This river float snorkeling experience is just fun! No food required, they will swim by you as you are one of them. 55 species of fish as I have been told. And they are big fish as well, especially the big Dourado! We were all floating in line now and no diving or turning around was done. I was still wondering what naturally carbonated water should look like? I expected to be swimming in a kind of sparkling water, you know?

But after a while of floating and looking at the fish and vegetation, I got my answer. Half way the river there was a kind of deep lake part with dock to get out. But before you could get out you had to swim over the carbonation puddles. As you look at the sand it was all boiling. Like a lava/ bubbling volcano mud pool, but then cold. Does that make any sense? We will add a picture to clarify this. So, this was the natural carbonation which would the water make this clear as well, as I understood. But I could be completely wrong. While sitting on the dock with your feet in the water you got attacked by little fish which eat the dead skin. So my wounds got cleaned by these little fish while enjoying the monkeys in the trees around us. Not a pleasant feel, as it stings a bit but hey it’s still cool that I got a free spa treatment;)

The second part of the river was a faster flowing part and got really fun as it gave a bit of more of an adrenaline feel. Kind of like a water slide, let’s say. After this fun adventure we got hungry and had a nice lunch buffet before we were able to hit the hammocks. After an hour or so relaxing in the hammocks it was time to go. We made new friends who stayed at the same hostel as we did.

The next day we met up with the group again as we wanted to go tubing down the river but it was already pretty late and we had to book a time slot, so we decided to go to the (almost) free beach area. This beach was situated as a park with lots of grass areas and picnic areas. The clear river streams past this area with all beaches and docks to jump into the water from. Again the sparkling clear water and the give you free fish food to attract the fish. It is amazing how quick these fish are! as soon as one fish pallet hits the water they jump with three or four at the time towards the food. We have a little video about this one. We had a relaxing day with our friends relaxing, swimming and feeding the fish. We went back to the hostel where our French friends cooked for us and we had a nice night drinking and eating away.

A swiss couple told us about their adventures in the Pantanel, our next destination and which tour they took. We decided to book the same for the next morning. As soon as we told the rest of the group we were going we pulled a whole bunch with us and instead of 4 we went with 9 people. How fun is that!

Bob

Paraty is the place that inspires postcards with rustic cobblestone streets, beautiful old buildings and hundreds of islands with perfect beaches just off the shore. We spent the first evening just wandering around and deciding how to spend our days.  The next morning we rented ourselves some mountain bikes and decided to take the local girl’s advice of an bike trip 8 kms from town to a waterfall that is a perfect natural water slide.

Our bike ride started out easy enough and we were happy with ourselves for being so sporty.  Then about 1 km from town the ‘hill’ started a continual upgrade that lasted for the next 6 kms and had us cursing at about the 3rd kilometer.  There was a stream beside the road with a nice little waterfall surely this was good enough?  Why go any further?  Bob as usual urged me on and we continued our climb.  By what I am assuming was the 7th kilometer the real hill started it was staight up with switchbacks.  I got off and walked.  When we reached a turn in the road a lady came up to me and started speaking in spanish showing her empathy for how hard a ride this hill would be.  When she realized I didn’t speak spanish she switched to english and said ‘wow that is hard’.  I nodded and asked if she knew where this waterfall was she smiled and said, ‘good news it is just over there!’.   We found it and a lady came out to greet us and show us where to park our bikes.  We were the only crazies to bike to this waterfall everyone else was there by car.  We then joined the many locals at this amazing waterfall, a large piece of perfectly rounded rock with a water skimming the surface, indeed the perfect natural water slide!  We also found that the great thing about going 8 kms uphill is that you get to return 8 kms downhill!

When we returned out bikes we decided that for the next day we would take the lazy route and signed up for a day on a boat with snorkeling, swimming and exploring the many islands.  We then headed out for dinner and found a perfect quaint restaurant and found the time to laugh at our adventure of the day!

Waking the next morning we found beautiful sunshine and it was warm already a perfect day for swimming and snorkeling.  We heading for the pier and loaded onto the schooner a wooden boat with cushions on the side.  We pulled out of the pier and headed out to sea.  About 10 minutes from shore it began to drizzle then rain then pour while the temperature plummeted.  We all huddled in the center and discussed how this would pass quickly.  We came to our first stop and although we were cold we took the plunge and enjoyed the nice warm water.  When we were called out the deck seemed to be that much colder so we huddled together again and made for our next snorkel destination.  The rain didn’t let up that day but we made a new Portuguese friend and ate a delicious lunch prepared on the boat (if you saw the cook’s kitchen you’d be impressed too).  All in all a good day despite the rain.

We made our way back to our hotel went for surprisingly good pizza and made last minute plans to visit a Brazilian coffee farm.  That story is soon to come.

xo

Lina