Who has the world´s deepest canyon?

I´ve seen many claims in my travels, it usually goes something like we got the biggest cave, the tallest tower, the biggest city, the longest river, the highest lake, and the deepest canyon. I am in Arequipa now, a beautiful town surrounded by 5000-6000 metres mountains and volcanoes, some of them snow capped. Anyway on Sunday I went to visit the Colca Canyon, 160km northwest of Arequipa and touted as the deepest canyon in the world.

I was a little sceptical by that claim as I have visited other canyons which claim to be the deepest (Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal and the Tiger Leaping Gorge in China springs to mind). So before visiting it I did a quick Wiki for answers. And guess what? The deepest canyon in the world is located in Tibet, known as the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon, followed by the Kali Gandaki Gorge in second place!

Still, I was pretty impress by Colca Canyon, as it has snow cap peaks above, and pre-inca steeped terraces down below. All in all the height from top to bottom is at 3,269 metres. And you can see all of it standing on the edge!

The other amazing thing to watch at the Colca Canyon are the Andean Condors, which soars up during the morning following the rising warm air. These amazingly birds with their massive wingspan flew so close to us as they follow the thermals that I reckon they are checking the visitors out as much as us looking on in awe.

A monkey stole my camera...

This is a true story. I bump into Lucas Young from the animal sanctuary (Bolivia) here in Arequipa. And he told me that after I left, he was walking to work in the sanctuary as usual when all of a sudden a capuchin monkey leap on him, tore into his daypack, pulled his digital camera out and took off. Lucas was stunned but took chase, however the monkey was gone. He manage to find the camera case in the bush, and just as he was about to give up, another monkey park staff approach to hand him his camera after encountering and frightening the monkey to drop the camera.

Now the most amazing thing is this, he showed me the scratch digital camera and the 9 photos which taken by the monkey!!!!!!!! No shit! I saw it, the photos were a tad blurred, but you can make out pictures of tree branches, leaves, furry fingers, and the sky.

OMG!!! So after nicking the camera the monkey figured out how to turn the damn thing on, and to press firmly on the trigger button to capture those photos. They are so bloody intelligent! They obviously observe the thongs of tourist who visit the sanctuary with their camera and figure how to operate them.

I have had other capuchin monkey experience at the sanctuary too! Such as on my very first day when a monkey manage to enter our locked cage (which doubles as our office) and stole a machete. I had to chase after her and manage to frighten her to drop the machete (whilst she was climbing up the tree). I have also been told that one of the staff have given the monkey a key and a lock to see if they could figure out how to use it. It didn´t take them long. Incredible!

Amended

Here is a reply from Lucas about his stolen camera after reading my blog...

Hey matey, the blog on the stolen camera was pretty spot on, expect it was 11 photos taken by Budi, the monkey.

Peruvian Seafood

This is a serve at a restaurant with the sign "Mariscos" outside, pretty much meaning seafood. Any kind of seafood! I have been dying for decent seafood after being in high altitude for so long.

For this dish I was served prawn, fish, octopus, squid and shellfish. It was massive, delicious and cost all of 5USD!!! Yummy!

Only complain I have is the bland salad side and why does everything comes with fries?

Sick!!!

It has to happen to me every trip. However this time it is more annoying then anything else. I have been carrying a flu like symptom for over a week. You know the sort; cough, snort, sore throat. And at times it gets worst, like last night when I woke up with chest pains. I am taking these special "anti gripe" (anti flu) panadols, but I think the flu has followed me around because I have been pushing my body, from climbing up Machu Picchu, walking great lengths to check out ruins, not eating well, not sleeping enough and doing all nighter bus journeys.

So I am gonna have an easy week, eat well and give my body time to recover. I am staying at a great little hostel in Arequipa right now call Bothy´s. It has a movie room, hammocks on rooftop, free Internet and free breakfast. It is just a little quiet here as this place is not on the bible. Not complaining though as there are only 2 of us in my dorm of 6. :)

Roast Cuy anyone?

Guinea pig (aka "cuy" in Spanish), roasted and found on the streets of Urubamba.

I visited the main Cathedral in Cuzco today, and saw a painting of the last supper, with the main dish being the "cuy"!

Tourist or Traveller?

This was forwarded to me from Cynthia, a fellow "traveller" from Sydney. :)

Do you endure glares from fire twirling neo hippies types as you pick up your latest LV embossed luggage from the carousel and revel in the fact that you are going to the presidential suite at the Marriott as opposed to Khao San Road in Bangkok?? Or do you get a buzz out of only paying US$0.50 to sleep in a broom closest in Jaisalmer, Rajastan despite the cockroaches running over your legs?

Which type are you?? Tourist or Traveller....take the quiz and find out!

http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2007/08/tourist_or_traveller_which_one.html

And the new 7th Wonder is...

Check this out... This is THE Internet survey for the world´s newest 7th wonder. I only stumble upon this because the site is plastered all over Cuzco as they are pretty damn proud that Machu Picchu was voted in to the top spot!

Check it http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php


Amended...

After accessing the site I could not believe Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro made it in! I mean, for God sake this statue was only built in the last 50 years!!! To me, this was truly an Internet popular contest, and the votes only came from the amount of publicity it generated in their respective countries. I never even heard of this stupid contest before arriving in Cuzco! Otherwise I would have nominated the Auckland Harbour Bridge. :b

Anyway, Wikipedia (as usual) has more to add to this. Click below to read more...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Seven_Wonders_of_the_World

Police van in Aguas Caliente

How fuckin cool is this combi? It´s been converted, and sits on the rails in Aguas Caliente, the town of Machu Picchu. And this baby truely works! I saw it move and it´s flash lights going off whilst in town.

Machu Picchu

Here is a short video clip (15 seconds) I took of Machu Picchu.

POO Machu Picchu!

I poo on Machu Picchu!

I POO ON THE RUINS! :b

In terms of my rip of or fair call comments. I feel it the 40USD entrance fee is fair enough. But to get there you must take the train, and that is where I feel we foreigners are being ripped. The actual train journey from Cuzco to Machu Picchu would have cost over 120USD! A local would only pay 5USD for that same journey.

So I tried to lower the cost by catching 2 local buses to the nearest town to Machu Picchu, a town call Ollantaytambo. This town is only 40 km away from Machu Picchu, but I still had to pay 77USD for the return ticket. It hurts when you are trying to live on a shoe-string budget like me. :(

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

What a long and wonderful day it has been. I couldn´t sleep last night as I was so excited abuot visiting Machu Picchu. Plus the people in this hostel were so bloody noisy.

Anyway, I got up at 4am, and set off for Machu Picchu which was 8 kms away. I walked and walked, up the steep steps from the town below (Aguas Caliente). I finally arrive at the top, sweating like a pig as dawn approache. However the gates only open at 6am, but an atmosphere of excitment ripple through the people gathered outside. And when the gates were finally opened, everyone rush through. Only to miss the sun rise as the entire site was shrouded by mist and fog.

The well preserved stone house.

It was almost like a mirage when the ancient ruins revealed itself. I could not believe how well preserved the site was! I did learn later that 30% of the site was restored. I was simply blown away by how well Machu Picchu fits perfectly into it´s surrounding. The dull grey colours of the blocks, the steep steps which zig zags up and down, those symetrical terraces... There was a perfect harmony in it. I was told that the rocks were all queried from the same mountain. This was smart as it would have been a bitch to carry these blocks up to it´s lofty height of 2,430 metres! After entering the site and exploring a bit I quickly ran to the entrance of it´s sister mountain, Hauayna Picchu. And out there I bump into Laird, a friend from Sucre, Bolivia. Together we climb up the steep stone steps to 2,720 metres for an awesome view over Machu Picchu and it´s surrounding valley.

Climbing the steep steps.

This was the moment I caught myself saying: IT WAS WORTH IT! And yes I was thinking "Machu RIP-chu" yesterday, after paying a hefty 77USD on a return train ticket and 40USD on entrance. I really was mad at the feeling of being ripped. Also, I had been rather bias towards my number 1 wonder: Angkor Wat in Cambodia. But comparing the both is like comparing apples and oranges. Machu Picchu hasn´t got the intricate carvings or huge statues, it isn´t set around a jungle, instead the ruins of Machu Picchu has archive harmony in this environment and it is set in a magical setting of tall slender mountains and deep narrow valleys. What the Incas have achieve here will go down in time as one of the greatest wonder the world has seen.

Click on wikipedia to find out the history and more about this amazing site.

Rip off or fair call?

Just found out that to take a train from Cuzco to Aguas Caliente, the town by Machu Piccu cost approx 80usd return. Where as a local would catch that same train and pay 10usd return. Rip off or a fair call?

I think for tourist to pay more then the locals is fair, but to pay 8x more is a bit too much. Especially for someone like me, trying to stick to a budget, 80usd would be at least 3 day´s worth.

So, I am researching into a cheaper way in to see the biggest draw card of Peru.

Cuzco

I´ve been in Cuzco since Friday. This city was at the center of the Inca Empire, but like all Inca cities it was sack and destroyed by the marauding Spaniards. Those bastards! They remind me of the Crusaders (not the Cantabs but the Arab invaders of the middle ages) as upon completing their conquest the Spaniards built massive cathedrals upon the ruins of the Inca buildings, thus erasing any remnants of the Inca´s history. The theory goes that they wanted to both subdue and convert the population to Christianity. But since the population can´t read nor understand Spanish, the easiest method was to paint incredibly large murals and paintings to educate through pictures. I felt a little depress reading about the Inca history and the destruction wrought by the conquests.

 

So... today I saw more destruction by the Spaniards. I visited the so call Sacred Valley, to see the Inca ruins at several villages surrounding Cuzco. The most impressive being Ollantaytambo, as it´s mountains are dominated by Inca fortresses. The fortress were built using huge stones, some measuring 3 metres long and 2 metres high. I wonder how many did it take to transport these large blocks up the hill? The other amazing scenery are the terrace farming method during Inca time, the view reminded me of both Sapa in Vietnam and Long Sheng in China. It is amazing to see how the steep hillside has been transform into cultivatable land by humans.

Gregory´s Highlights of South America in 91/92

Here is an email from Greg, a Swiss traveller I met in Vietnam in 2003. But as he said, the travels he did in 91/92 may not be possible now. Such as hiking the Inka trail to Machupicchu without a guide!

_________________________________________________________

 

I would like to give you some hints even though I was travelling in this
area back in 91/92 of the last century (can't believe that 15 years have
already been gone since).

Colombia:

-Old city of Cartagena with well preserved houses of the Spanish times
-Tairona Nationalpark (NP) - beautiful beaches
-Pereira and the Ucumari NP
-San Agustin (horseriding)
-Popayan (white houses like in the Andalusian region in Spain)
-Tierradentro (astonishing landscape with relicts of ancient culture)
-Medellin (most beautiful girls ever seen in one spot)
-South of Colombia (between Pasto and the border of Ecuador - amazing
landscape)

Ecuador:

-Banos (Hot Springs, horseriding, backpackers chill out place)
-Penas (not a place, but the locals call a concert of Andenian musicians
like this - a must)
-Climibing volcanoes (Cotopaxi for example)
-Trip to the coast by coach train from Ibarra-San Lorenzo
-Boat trip from San Lorenzo-Esmeralda
-Train ride on the rooftop from Alausi-Cuenca
-Market of Otavalo (might be a tourist thing in these days)
-Try the San Pedro if you have the opportunity (made from the juice of a
Cactus - ask the Rastas what it is before you go for it)

Peru:

-Both trip on the Titicaca-sea to one of the small Island where the only
people living there are Indios (beware of the Sun)
-Cusco and the Inka Trail to Machupicchu (at that time it was possible to do
it without guide, it was a superb experience especially arriving at the
sleeping place at Machupicchu short before sundown
-Huaraz (Switzerland of Peru with the highest mountains in the area -
climbing)
-Pisco (Islas Galletas)
-Arequipa and trip to the Colca Canion (deepest canion of the world)
-Train ride Arequipa-Juliaca-Cuzco
-Cajamarca (take a bath in the springs)

Bolivia:

-Rurenabaque (we did a 4 day jungle trip - fanstastic experience)
-Road from La Paz to Careico (tropical Yungas) (it is the most dangerous
"street" in Latin America - make sure that the driver is not drunken)
-La Paz: Valle de Luna
-Potosi: Visit a mine - incredible how hard the indios have to work to gain
their life
-Salar de Uyuni, Laguna Colorada and Geysirs (take the sunglasses with you,
this salty sea is endless)
-The "Islands" on the Salar de Uyuni with special and big Cactus

This were the four countries that I visited thoroughly in South America.
I had spent 6 month in Mexico and  Central America before flying from Panama
City to Cartagena.
Another spot that is a must if you will be visiting Argentina and Brasil is:
Foz de Iguazu (Impressive and massive waterfall)

Enjoy you trip and send some pictures if you visit one of this places.
I'm really keen on seeing how this places look like today.

Take care

Best regards

Gregory and Andrea

Peru!

I arrive in Peru today from Copacabana in Bolivia, passing through the border of Yunguyu. I am now in the town of Puno, on the other side of Lake Titicaca.

Arriving in Peru I cannot believe the contrast compare to Bolivia. The streets here are clean, the stores tidy and well stocked, there are mobile and appliance sellers everywhere, there are actual pedestrian malls with white marble floor to walk on here, the people are better dressed, the customer service of people in the tourist industry are way more professional (and they actually smile!), the bank staff process my travellers cheque more efficiently, and everything just seem well... so much more better then poor old Bolivia. You sure can pick the poorer neighbour here!

The only catch is everything comes at a price! Last night I had my own room for 3.20usd, tonight I am sharing a room with an Irish girl and we are paying 10usd for a room which does not include bathroom! Dinner last night also cost me 3.20usd, tonight it cost me 8usd!

But hell, I hear this country is second to Bolivia in terms of cheapness, so I will be sure to report back on the true cost of stuff after a week here.

Lake Titicaca

Karl the hippie!

Allright all! I´ve just spent the last few days on a lake situated at 3,820 metres high (This is Bolivia and EVERYTHING is up high!). The lake is call Lake Titicaca. It is a beautiful freshwater lake which is more than 230 km long, 97 km wide and covers over 9000 sq km. It also sits attractively in front of the Cordillera Real mountain range in Bolivia. The Cordillera Real range includes three 6000 metres peaks all covered in snow.

So me and Karl (this American from San Diego) have been doing a whole lot of trekking. We must have walked over 40 kms in two days. Up and down the mountain we went. And on Sunday night we spent the night on the island call Isle del Sol, also known as Island of the Sun. This is the most sacred place of the Inca people. It is here that they believe their first emperor rose from te rock called Titicaca. But to us it was all about the scenery, whilst the history and ruins are just bonus. Coz I am off to Machu Piccu soon! :)

Strange Ritual on Copacabana

This is the blessing of the car ceremony in the village of Copacabana, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka. This is the village Priest, and on the car bonnet you see minitual animals and cars place, similar to Chinese belief, as the locals hope to get this in the new year. The only difference is they do not burn it as an offering to their Gods. In this case, this is a mix between the Inka´s God and Christianity. After the "blessing" the people spray Bolivian booze all over the car before drinking the rest! So all in all it is a good little tradition for all participants! :)

Pique a lo Macho

My favorite meal in Bolivia. The Pique a lo Macho is basically chopped up sausage (even better when it is spicy), chopped up beef steak, onions, tomatos and capsicum serve up on a plate of fries.

Muy Rico! (Very delicious!)
amended thanks to my Spanish teacher Nick T... :b

Coca Museum

Taken at the Coca Museum in La Paz. In order for the effects to work, you are meant to stuff a shit load of these - coca leaf, into one corner of your mouth, and suck on it. You are also meant to suck on this activator (on my left hand), which then infuse with the leaf and gets the chemical working. Though after trying this for over an hour in the museum I didn't feel much sensation. And believe me, I chew on HEAPS of leaves! Other backpackers claim that their mouth went numb a little and that some felt a little high, but the only sensation I felt was a dryness in my throat and that I wanted to throw up!

What are the effects the locals feel you wonder? It acts as a bit of a hunger supression (which is why this is so popular with the mine workers as they don't take lunch), it helps with altitude sickness and it gives you more energy to work, or makes you think you got more energy to work. I am not sure how adictive this is but a lot of Bolivians chew on Coca leaves, especially those in the countryside.

The museum had a lot of interesting facts. In fact you should read it online at http://www.cocamuseum.com/main.htm

Zebra Crossing

Hilarious costume in La Paz to patrol the streets and make it safe for pedestrian to cross. They are a God send as traffic in La Paz is MAD. At the same time those mini vans (kinda like a mini bus) you see behind this guy stops anywhere and everywhere, thus making it even more hazardous for pedestrian and other traffic alike. Amazingly, I have yet to witness an accident!

Dirty face after downhill ride!

On Tuesday Carolyn, Andy and I rode down what is known as "The World's Deadliest Road". We did it with B-Side Adventures, a great company whom gave us a fantastic experience.

That's Carolyn, Andy and me at the lunch break spot.

I was a bit nervous the morning of the ride as I only got 4 hours sleep the night before. I was up all night needing the toilet coz I got a dose of diarrhea. All thanks to the llama steak I ate at the "100% Natural Restaurant" the night before. BEWARE!!!

Anyway, the ride on the day was awesome!!! This is a shot of us afterwards. That is me and my face covered in dust. I ate loads of dust as after opting to ride with the "fast" group I was left behind by the others and choke! haha The gravel bit of the ride was scary at parts, as the drop over the side of the cliff was MASSIVE! There were crosses all the way down this road, not surprisingly as the road saw an 100 death annually. Thank God the authorities have since built a "new" road up another mountain for traffic.

The World's Most Dangerous Road

This is it! Officially term the "World's Most Dangerous Road" aka "Death Road".

The following picture was taken at the "official" start of the death road where we were given more instructions on how to handle the scary gravel road.

The road starts higher then Mt Cook, at 4,700 metres and descends to 1,100 metres. Which equates to a MASSIVE 3,600 meters descends! The total length of the bike ride is 65 km long and it took us about 4 hours to get to the bottom. The bike ride was insane and thrilling.

This photo, taken above 4,000 metres to show the trail snaking it's way down the side of the mountain.

This is another view from the top of the mountain ranges unfolding into each other. It is beautiful out here I tell you!

For more wicked and insane pictures of the death road search Google!

Christ statue in Cochabamba

Biggest badest Christ statue in Cochabamba. This is bigger then the more famous one in Rio. But getting up there I was warn numerous times by locals about robbery. I was sweeeeeet.

Earthquake in Peru

Massive 7.9 quake hit Peru this morning, with many killed. Very sad news.

But I am fine, still in La Paz in Bolivia and will get to witness the damage next week when I head on into Peru.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10458249

Out of there!

I left my job as the bird and snake keeper 3 days early. I did so as I needed to extend my Bolivian visa. It was actually a bit of a relief to have left the aviary as to be honest, I was sick of the birds. Especially the when the macaws crow in unison. That is when you hear Carolyn and or me start swearing at them to shut the f**k up!!! It's hilarious as our friends at the puma site a few meters down could hear us but I tell you what, people that we speak to do feel sorry for us. As the decibel of the crows are LOUD! Especially when you are dealing with 11 macaws.

BUT, we do have our favorite. Both Carolyn and I love Pedro, a blue macaw whom would stick out his tongue at us to let us stroke, and I think he particularly likes Carolyn as he would even lower his head for Carolyn to pet! Unfortunately he is also very possessive, being the only macaw living in a cage alone. He would protect his feeding tray whenever we come to collect it, or would climb onto the door when we attempt to enter to clean his cage. I had to smack him lightly one time with a stick to make him move!

And one thing I must say about the macaws are they are quite intelligent creatures. For example when the monkeys arrive (usually around feeding time) they would yell "al fuera!" which means "go away!", probably coz their previous keepers use to yell it out all the time. A few of them, particularly Watson and Rosa would steal the locks from us when we leave it hanging on their cage. We take 4 of the macaws out for "walks" daily, we would place them on a custom made tree branches to let them walk about. And when they are done they would actually climb down the tree branch and walk their way back to their cages!

As for my snakes, the anaconda has been shedding it's skin for the past 5 days, and I have collected a piece of it for memory. But they are so lovely, I could almost say cute as I really like watching them. For example when I took Maria Lapaz, the boar constructor out for her "walk" the other day, she would slide along until she smells another animal. Such as a big bear call Baloo. It would freeze, stick it's head up in the classic cobra pose, reading to strike. And on Friday I had to teach Gareth, my replacement from the UK, on how to handle the snake, Maria Lapaz would not let him pick her up, due to the presence of Baloo, she coil herself so tightly that we couldn't move her. I tell you it took a lot of coxing and squeezing from my part to make her move so that I could pick her up!

As for the rest of the sanctuary, I must say I did enjoy the company. It's just a pity that most of the people I got on with came later. There were of course Carolyn my aviary partner and her bf Andrew (who is a mirror image of Dave from The Office) from UK, Doctor Phil (whom had a puma originally but twisted his ankle and was made to work at the quarantine instead) from the UK, Lucas from Aussie who works at the monkey Mirador, Sam the nutter Aussie and Fransesa from Chile who works with spider monkeys, Maran the German who works with Gato the puma, Allie from UK who works with the small animals, Daniele who works with Quirky the disabled puma and finally Ximena the local Bolvian whom worked closely with Carolyn and me at the aviary.

Overall working at Inti Wasi has been an interesting experience and one which I will not forget. My advice for potential volunteers are this aren't a democracy so you may not get to work with the animal of your choice, and do check out the rest of the community to see if you would get on with them, watch out for the alpha males (in our case... ISRAELIS!!!!!!!) and ALWAYS wear long sleeves to protect yourself from the savage sand flies!

Happy birthday putriku!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING PUTRIKU! :)

I love you and miss you heaps! xxx

Me and Maria!

Had to walk my snake today and thought I should get a picture of it. Here is my beautiful boar constructor, it´s name is Marie and it is about 2 meters long. It is one gentle creature and is my favorite animal under my care.

We had to force feed it on Monday as it hasn´t eaten in 2 weeks. But then I found out from a book that boar constructors can go without food for up to a month!

My anaconda however ate like a pig, we fed it 10 pieces of chicken. It is now shedding it´s beautiful skin.

Francisca´s sand flies bite!

Mosquitoes are not the problem out here at the sanctuary. Sand flies are!!!! Check out my Chilean friend Francisca´s back and hands. I took this at lunch time.

Anyone with uncovered body parts are eaten alive by the sand flies. We are not allow to use DEET repellents because of the animals. So the best protection are long sleeve shirts, long pants and socks!

Weekly cost

Figure instead of doing a daily cost it is easier to view my travel budget on a weekly basis! It will be easier for me to input anyway! So here goes:


Week ending Sunday 22nd July = 1667.80 Bolivianos = 208.48 USD / 7
= $29.78 USD / day :(


Week ending Sunday 29th July = 700.50 Bolivianos = 87.57 USD / 7
= 12.51 USD / day :)

Spider monkey!

This is a spider monkey. It is about the size of a young child, has very lanky arms, legs and tail and has a thick black hairy coat. Of all the monkeys in this animal sanctuary I like them the best. They are extremely friendly, comes up to you, coos like a baby and cradles up in your arm.

They are so love-able it is impossible to resist! This one is a mum, and she is usually seen with her little kid, whom comes up to her and suck on her nipple whilst she is lying in my arms. I see her almost daily and she always sits with me. These two self portraits are taken this afternoon at the aviary. Isn't the monkey cute??? :)

Update: The mum is Michaela by the way, and her daughter is Micky, they turn up at the aviary almost daily and I LOVE THEM TO BITS!!!!

Birthday celebration!

So it was a low key celebration for my big 3 0. The day started like any other, waking up at 7.15am and getting to work at 8am. We clean and fed our birds, Carolyn my English partner in crime at the aviary made me a nice little sign. Meanwhile, my other partner, a Bolivian name Xemana also wrote it on the blackboard out at the cafe, so most of the volunteers came and wish me a happy birthday after work. I then told her a whole bunch of people about having my birthday dinner a local restaurant call Jasmin. About 20 of us went there for pizza and local dishes. Someone had to start singing and before long the whole restaurant join in. :) There were no candles to blow though, only a zippo lighter on top of a Hawaiian pizza for me. It was a good night, it was a great day and I am glad to have celebrated it at the animal sanctuary!

Happy Birthday!

It´s my birthday today, in NZ but tomorrow in Bolivian timezone!!!

But being at the animal sanctuary it will just be another 8 to 5.30 day. As we are sign up to work without a break for 14 days. Fun fun fun!

Today I got to touch my yellow and blue macaw´s tongue, and took my anaconda and boar constructor out for a walk. I am a bit worried about their health though as they haven´t eaten in two weeks. Other then that I am making sign post for the town´s big festival this weekend. They are celebrating the "Fish Festival" here and there will be a hoard of tourist coming to the park. It should be interesting!

Inti Wara Yassi - First Impression

So, after lots of talk about this animal sanctuary to friends and family, I am finally here. Working at the Inti Wara Yassi Wildlife Sanctuary.

I arrive here on Sunday, after a 15 hours bus ride from Sucre (via Cochabamba). However I have been feeling ill. And that night had a hard time trying to keep warm, I was shivering even after wearing a thermal, sweater, beanie, socks and sleeping in a down sleeping bag! In the end dropping the panadol helped. But the next day I had diarrhea.

So not a great start.

But that is not all. I was told at the sanctuary that I cannot work with monkeys, instead I got the aviary as they were desperate for volunteers. Of course my first reaction was, I came here FOR the MOOONKEEEEEYS! However I thought to myself, why not, since my reason for coming was to help. So I signed up for 2 weeks.

Starting at 8am on Monday I was shown along with another new girl the stuff to do out at the aviary. There was feeding, cleaning, sweeping the grounds, walking the birds, gathering new tree branches and toys for the birds and explanation to the tourist about it all. I was also shown the snake cage, where I was to handle 2 snakes, an anaconda and a boar constructor. I thought "Now we´re bloody talking!" I had to walk the snake and clean their cages. But the bonus for me is that throughout the day the monkeys comes to visit. The ones which visit are the Spider monkeys and the Capuchin monkeys. I love the spider monkeys the most as they are so friendly! They would sit on my shoulders or cuddle in my lap and make soft chirping sounds. Sometimes they would wrap their long tail around my arm and "walk" me where-ever! And on more then one occasion the mum would sit on my lap whilst milking the baby.

However we are not allowed camera into the compound for the first week. Or I would have got lots of cool photo to post. That will have to wait till next week!

So the first impression has been ok, not as great as I would have liked i.e solely working with monkeys, but at least I got to play with them whilst doing the "bird" thing!

The community at Inti Wassi are huge though, there are around 55 foreigners volunteering currently. The minimum time of volunteering is 15 days and some stay for as long as 6 months! There is a real hippie commune feel to this place as everyone gets put in the guesthouse owned by the sanctuary and everyone eat at the same place. For me I am still feeling my way around the place and the people.

Currently I find there are too many young people around, or that I am feeling my age. LOL! For example, a girl was telling me how she scratch at her scar as she wanted the scar to remain coz she think it is cool. Her mate did the same thing, can you believe it! To me that is just naff! And I told her so, that she will most probably regret it when she turns... 25! LOL!

But speaking about scars, everybody here are walking wounded. One has stitches in her head after being bitten by a monkey, another´s finger was chomped by her monkey, another was maul by her puma, another twisted his ankle after landing wrong whilst running with his puma, and finally everyone else are covered with sand fly bites. It´s hilarious to see! As for me, I haven´t gotten anything yet as my birds and snakes are better behaved, and I wear long sleeve 2nd hand clothing to avoid the sand flies. :)

FOOOOOOOOOS!

OMG OMG OMG OMG I found FOOS! A whole plaza filled with Foosball tables! So it is true!!! That South Americans love their Foos! There were so many tables I thought I´m in paradise! Me and my mate Laird went to this vanue last night, and challenged all the locals kids to a game.

And guess what He-Man, J-Man, Shanmus, Smelly Al, RC, Wilson and the rest of the Frucor posses? We KICK ASS!!!!! Oh yeah mofos we won all the matches!

How it work in Bolivia is this, you pay 1 Bolivianos for 5 chips, each chips inserted into the chip slot gives you 5 balls. Which gives you 5 rounds of game play. The loosing side at the end pays for the game.

The tables are also slightly different to ours at Frucor. The side are all rounded to keep the ball moving, so tring to do trick shots off the side is way harder. Also, the goalie cannot move sideways beyond the goal post so no fancy trick shots from the goalie either. Finally, when a ball goes dead (corner dead zones), they pick the ball up and do a reverse goal kick from the second line defenders. If kicked well it could send the ball straight into the goal post!

We played many games, and tonight we plan to head back to the plaza to play more games before I take off to Cochabamba. PRO 1 is BACK! :)

My Spanish classmate

Shelagh is my Spanish classmate. She rocks! Looking at this photo you wouldn´t have guess that she is a 62 years old grandmother, travelling in South America for 6 months on her own. She has 3 kids in their 40´s and 8 grand kids. As part of the 6 months trip in South America she is studying Spanish, working with street kids, saving the turtles in Galapagos Islands.

We were the only 2 students in our Spanish class and we constantly made a nuisance of ourselves to our teacher Elizabeth. It was quite fun to have another person around and to learn with someone else. Last night the class organized salsa class and everyone had fun.

I hope to catch up with Shelagh in Quito in a September as our roads will cross once again!

4 Hostels in 2 weeks!

I have been in Sucre since last Tuesday and I have moved hostels 4 times! The last move was yesterday, after I found a room mate to share an expensive hostel. :)

We thought we´d treat ourselves after staying at crappy hostels for the past week. My room mate is Laird, a 27 Canadian studying Spanish in Sucre like me. And we are staying at the Grand Hostel. As the name implies, it is indeed grand. We walk into 2 beautiful courtyards, filled with statues, water fountain, plants and flowers. Our room overlook the second courtyard. It is HUGE! With 3 beds, 2 of them double size, big mirrors, study table, a huge bathroom and satellite TV. I could lounge in this room all day!

This is definitely the nicest place I have stayed at, and even though it is expensive in Bolivian standards, we are paying 150 Bolivianos for the room. Which comes to USD17.50 between the two of us!

Sucre

I´m still in Sucre, the University city of Bolivia. Yesterday (25th March) there was lots of people out on the streets, marching for Sucre to become the capital of the country. It was loud and lively, with lots of marching bands, plane dropping leaflets, adults letting off bangers and school kids waving the Bolivian and Sucre flags out on the streets.

I am here in Sucre for this week to study Spanish. The routine for the week has been getting up at 7.30am, eat breakfast and take off to my class which starts at 8.10am. The walk to my school is only 7 minutes. After 4 hours of lessons, I would meet up with my new room mate Laird for lunch. Over here in South America lunch is the biggest meal of the day. And our favorite dish is the ¨Menu del Dia¨, meaning menu of the day. And since it is buffet we would stuff ourselves. Afterwards, I´d spend my afternoon doing homework, exploring the neighbourhood, visiting a museum or do some Internet. Finally, I´d meet up with a bunch of people for coffee, followed by dinner. Night time would be spent watching movies and hanging out at the gringo bar call Joy Ride. :)

As for the Spanish lessons so far it is ¨bien¨- well. I still have a long way to go before having a conversation with locals... But I am not too worried about it yet as this is only week 3. I will have more opportunities to practise the lingo!

Tigger Lilly and friends

Tigger lilly wanting to say hi to her putriku with her new friends. Finger puppets purchse from the markets. :)

Each of these puppets cost 2.5 Bolivianos = 40 cents US. In NZ they sell them at Trade Aid for NZD10!

Rubbish worker strike

On Tuesday last week I left Potosi to avoid a miners strike, and arrive in Sucre to see another major strike happening. This time it was the rubbish men. They block off all major roads into the town center with rubbish trucks. They have also dump a pile of rubbish in front of the City Municipal office!

Whilst walking past the Municipal office I saw this cute little doggy hanging around outside.

Not long after, I walk past the Municipal office and saw took a picture of the door... And saw this hanging!

... Such is a dog´s life aye?

Alex the kid

Why do I always end up travelling with French people? Like this fella Alex Taurand. A 23 year old student of Economics whom I met back in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. We happen to be on the same route so I ended up sharing a room with him here at Sucre.

But seriously he´s been great! We get on well and he´s been helping me with my Spanish. Yup! Alex studied in Santiago for 6 months so he speaks it fluently. Throughout our stay I´ve been giving him shit about France though, from Green Peace to rugby. :p He is also a brand brasher... in a small way! His entire closet consist of American Apparel, from his undies to his sweater! LOL! But he did point out to me that this brand is not displayed anywhere.

Anyway Alex leaves tomorrow for the border of Paraguay. He will be sorely missed!

Alex also has a blog - It is chilealex.blogspot.com

Cooperative Mine Tour in Potosi

This is a real life TNT you are seeing me holding. In 5 minutes the whole thing would go BOOM! It was lit up and passed around amongst the tourist for posing. This TNT cost 15 Bolivianos all together and is legal to buy anywhere in Potosi. In fact, the number one suicide method is by blowing one self up!

The tour of Potosi´s mine itself was pretty grim. It shows you the harsh working condition face by the miners, some as young as 9 were used, even though the legal age is 18. Luckily we didn´t meet any kids underground. The mine itself is a real working mine, with 4 levels deep. Underground the temperatures can get to 45 degrees. Workers were scurrying past us as we follow our guide inside the shaft. At parts it got very narrow and the fumes were choking. Good thing I wore my Cambodian scarf to help with breathing. Some people freak themselves out and a friend had to be led out after getting too claustrophobic.

Because of the condition underground most often die of silicosis pneumonia within 10 years of entering the mine.

I follow Koala Tours on this and highly recommend them and my guide - Pedro.

Spending 19th July

32 Bolivianos - Accommodation
4 Bolivianos - Internet
12 Bolivianos - Dinner
25 Bolivianos - Lunch
32 Bolivianos - Spanish Lesson
==========
105 Bolivianos

Spending 18th July

32 Bolivianos - Accommodation
18.8 Bolivianos - Moisturiser
14 Bolivianos - Snack
16 Bolivianos - Museo de arte Indigena
10 Bolivianos - Drinks
5.5 Bolivianos - Grocery
14 Bolivianos - Lunch
3 Bolivianos - Internet
=============
113.3 Bolivianos

Spending 17th July

2 Bolivianos - Internet
24 Bolivianos - Dinner
10 Bolivianos - Drinks
32 Bolivianos - Accommodation
14 Bolivianos - Lunch
13 Bolivianos - Laundry
==========
95 Bolivianos

Exchange Rate USD -Bolivianos

1USD = 8 Bolivianos

But in the streets you get 1USD = 7.78 Bolivianos.

Check out my daily spending as I am now definitely coming under 20usd per day. :)

Toilets in Bolivia

This is instructions on how to poo found at a hostel from the Bolivian border to Salar de Uyuni. One thing I can say about toilets out here is that despite the fact that the country is the poorest in this region, it is still cleaner and more hygienic then toilets found in Asia. Especially China, Tibet, Nepal and India!

Salar de Uyuni

Here is a 360 degree video taken of the salt flats at Uyuni. Being there blew me away, so watch this and judge for yourself.

Salt harvest

Salt are actually harvest from the salt flats. Here you can see piles of salt being left for collection by trucks to near by towns.

Pose 2

Salar de Uyuni
Originally uploaded by benwoo

I Taekwon-Do this fella´s ass! Actually I was just doing a side kick when James (bloody English pom) jump into my photo deliberately. But then it did look good for the photo! So thank you James for trying to ruin my picture!

And me doing this on my bible was all my idea! hehehehe

Pose 1 - Group Pose

This is Salar de Uyuni, the famous salt flats in Bolivia. It occupies one massive huge plain of hundreds and hundreds of miles. It is so huge all you could see in the horizon are the blue blue sky. This must be one of the natural wonders of the world.

So what do most travellers do when they arrive? They pose for pictures of course! Here is my group doing various cool pose. From the left you have Jason, Michael, me, Stephanie, Heekow and Joan. Cool aye?

Salar de Uyuni

Amazing salt flats. What you are seeing here is the dry salt plain and the hexagon shape are the effects of salt drying under the relentless sun. The altitude here is over 3,600 metres and covering 12,000 sq km. The reflection on the sun is blindingly white. I thought it was one of the most fabulous natural sight I have ever witness!

More about the background from the bible: It was part of a prehistoric salt lake, Lago Minchin. Whcih covered most of SW Bolivia. When it dried up, it left a couple of seasonal puddls and several salt pans. Including the Salar de Uyuni and Salar de Coipasa.

Expediciones Strella Del Sur

Jason on tour.
Originally uploaded by benwoo

I highly recommend this tour group whom I used to take us from San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni. The company is "Expediciones Strella Del Sur". In our group we had 6 people. They were the 2 Canadians Jason and Michael, Joan the Spanish, Stephanie the Mexican, Heekow the Korean and mua! Our guide Carlos was the driver, cook and guide to the trip. He was knowledgeable and has a great sense of humour. He didn´t speak any English but 3 of the crew did so it wasn´t an issue. It cost us 4,900 pesos or 90 USD for the trip. I know people who paid 4,300 pesos for other tours but I have also heard lots of horror stories, like people not having enough blankets up there or the food was horrid or the 4x4 ran out of gas or broke down halfway. We did not experience any of these problems, though when we got to Uyuni the 4x4 was running on empty! :)

Welcome to Bolivia!

Our bus waiting at the Chile-Bolivia border... And the guys in bus are Canadian Michael and me. Altitude at around... 4,000 metres+ perhaps? All we know was that we were freezing our ass up there!

Small World!

Get this, I met Alex Coonce back in 2003 in Cambodia and China. And last week, at the Tatio Geysers at San Pedro de Atacama we bump into each other again!!!! What a bloody small world! I ended up going to dinner with her and her bf at a local restaurant. We talk heaps to find out about mutual travelling friends from 2003. Alex and John are heading the same way as me up South America but only have a few weeks left. But it was great for me, as that was my first nice dinner out with companions.

And this is what I love most about travelling, the randomness of it all, encountering people from the past in the other side of the world 4 years later!

Wot´s been happening...

Tis mad it is... these last few days of no communications.

I am now in the city of Potosi. At 4,090 metres this is the highest city in the world according to the bible. It felt it too when me and my companions got here. We were out of breath pretty quickly, so walking around town takes time. Especially since Potosi is a hilly city... We came here specifically to see the mines and meet the miners. Potosi was the richest city in South America 500 years ago because of the mines and the mineral it produces. And after 500 years these mines are still operating. We visited the mine shelf's, crawl through the different levels, met the workers and heard the horrors of working in such an inhospitable place with no protection for the miners. The miners we met were all furiously chewing on coca plants. They believe it gives them the effect of not feeling hungry (miners don´t take lunch) or tired.

But I am tired... the last few days has been hectic and very little sleep was gathered. My trip from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia pass through some amazing scenery. From the highest geyser fields in the world (over 4,000 metres), active volcano, amazing rock sculptures at 4,500 metres (which I tried climbing for all of 5 minutes), red-green-white colored Alpine lakes, wild animals such as wolf, vicunas and pink flamingo´s to amazing salt flats which is blindingly white for miles around.

I will try and post some photos as soon as possible. Am hoping to find faster Internet cafe in order to do this.

Cost 16th July

15 Bolivianos - TNT-fuse-BIG BOOM
80 Bolivianos - Mine tour
40 Bolivianos - Accomodation
14 Bolivianos - Lunch
10 Bolivianos - Entrance to view point
17 Bolivianos - Dinner
2 Bolivianos - Internet
4.5 Bolivianos - 2 ltr Water
===========
182.5 Bolivianos

Cost 15th July

40 Bolivianos - Bus from Uyuni to Potosi
20 Bolivianos - Tip
20 Bolivianos - Dinner
4 Bolivianos - Internet
40 Bolivianos - Accomodation
4 Bolivianos - Taxi
5 Bolivianos - Toilet
=========
133 Bolivianos

Cost 13th-14th July

No cost, didn´t spend moolah as I was on a tour. Chooooice!

Cost 12th July

49,000 Pesos - Salar de Uyuni tour
... to be completed.

Cost 11th July

6,400 Pesos - Dinner (!!!)
5,000 Pesos - Accomodation
1,000 Pesos - Llama Kabab
500 Pesos - Cheese snack
1,500 Pesos - Moon Valley Entrance fee
1,500 Pesos - Tatio Geyser Entrance fee
500 Pesos - Tips
2,500 Pesos - Lunch
=========
18,900 Pesos

Cost 10th July

2,000 Pesos - Lunch
500 Pesos - Coke
5,000 Pesos - Accomodation
800 Pesos - 5ltr Water
10,000 Pesos - Tattio Geyser tour
4,000 Pesos - Moon Valley tour
1,500 Pesos - Bus from Calama to San Pedro
2,400 Pesos - Dinner
==========
26,200 Pesos

Cost 9th July

398 Pesos - Internet
1,288 Pesos - Lunch
100 Pesos - Snacks
========
1,778 Pesos

Tigger Lilly

...Oh and Tigger Lilly wants to say hi to her putriku... :)

Monkey Magic

I love street arts and art bombs and Chile is full of it. This one was taken at the port city of Valparaiso.

Photo of me and soldier at La Serena

Photo was taken at La Serena today. Wanted to pose with this soldier guarding the a hill side fort. Well he wasn´t really standing at attention. Before I ask him for a photo he was listening to the radio from his mobile... Guess his job must be pretty damn boring huh?

Weather here as you can see has been perfect almost everyday. But La Serena is on a dry plain close to the desert which I am heading up to tonight. So it gets pretty cold as soon as the sun sets.

Up the coast to La Serena

Caught a 6 hours bus ride from Vina Del Mar today. The buses here are great, reminds me of buses in Turkey. There is an attendant whom walks the aisle and hands out treats like hot tea and cookies. I notice my co-passengers even got serve lunch! They must pay extra for the privilege. The seats in the bus was most comfy too, with recliners and foot rest, and the television plays movies but you don´t get the sound unless you plug your headphones into the headphone plug above you. That is a huge blessing as compare to many long distance buses around the world you don´t have to listen to their blaring televisions while trying to get some sleep!

I arrive in La Serena late, around 3pm. So didn't have much time to check out the town before dusk. I did walk out to the beach to see the lighthouse, and locals being touted for horse rides. The sand here are nice but the water is too damn cold and dangerous to swim. Or so the big sign on entrance said...

Am staying at a hotel call El Punto. I haven´t sleep there yet but it has 5 star backpackers potential already. The beds are solid and comfy, the room very tidy with reading lights, the showers and toilets are clean and comes with toilet paper, there is a fridge for food, a nice hang out area for chit chat and a bar at the back with... Satellite TV! My final hope is for a quiet restful sleep as the past week my sleep has been punctuated with barking mad dogs, locals chatting loudly and construction.

Oh for dinner I ate at Doggies - remember that Hot Dog fast food place I spoke of a few days back? Well I can tell you the food isn't too shabby. The hot dogs was chopped up and server on a plate of french fries and top with chopped tomatoes and avocados. De-li-cious!!!

Cost 8th July

Ok I am not hitting the 20usd budget, but no surprise there... Except am running low on cash... And can´t wait till Bolivia which should be much cheaper!

9,000 Pesos Accommodation
2,100 Pesos Doggies dinner
1,300 Pesos Breakfast
19,400 Pesos Bus ticket from La Serena to Calama
400 Pesos Internet
=========
32,200 Pesos

Chillano

My darling putriku wanted to know if the people in Chile are hot... the definite answer is NO! In fact, I notice many Chilean guys have very untidy bushy eyebrows, and I saw quite a few whom seem to have uni brows. LOL!!!!!!! Will have to take a photo evidence when I get a chance!!!! :)

As for the girls, lets just say I have yet to see a pretty Chillano. :*(

Again will have to ask other backpackers for their thoughts when I actually meet one!

Big Mac Index

Big Mac Combo - 1990 Pesos

No I didn't have one and no I am not an anti-globalisation dickhead. I just weren't desperate for something "western" just yet. Big Mac index is good coz McD exist in most countries around the world and the index tells you something about the country's wealth. :)

Today I ate Paila Marina at the markets in Valparaiso. It is basically seafood chowder cook in a pot. It is serve in a big stone bowl filled with shellfish of every sorts and fish. It was kinda yummy... but to be honest it got too much after awhile. And there were too much sandy residue in the soup and in the meat... eeek! Still, that was my main meal for the day. I ate 2 minute noodles for dinner.

Day 5 Cost

6,000 Pesos Accommodation
2,800 Pesos Lunch
600 Pesos Funicular rides
1,687 Pesos Supermarket
554 Pesos Dinner
700 Pesos Metro
1,350 Pesos Phone call
400 Pesos Internet
=========
14091 Pesos

Day 4 Cost

700 pesos Internet
6,000 pesos Accommodation
1,450 pesos Dinner
400 pesos 1.6 litre water
1,300 pesos Lunch
300 pesos Museum visit
6,000 pesos Bus ticket to La Serena
=========
16050 pesos

Woohoo! Found cheap food today buy buying my lunch at the supermarket. The spaghetti bolognese was tastier then dinner from previous nights!

Another thing to note, Chilean meat aren't all that tasty. I also found the texture to be rather tough and chewy.

Vina del Mar

Left Santiago this morning to head west to the seaside town of Vina del Mar. Lonelyplanet (LP) calls it the "garden" city but after walking round the place all day I found our own garden city in Christchurch (or was it Hamiltron?) to be much better. They did plant this pretty impressive theater in the middle of a park surrounded by hills.

The beach here is ok, sort of... better then my Bucklands Beach! Looking across the ocean I see big container ships heading to the neighbouring port city of Valparaiso. This by the way is the Pacific ocean! I am now thinking of Auckland, my friends, my family and my gorgeous putriku. :)

Day 3 cost

850 Pesos Cuppachino de Chile
8,000 Pesos Accomodation
630 Pesos Cheese Empanadas
3,700 Pesos Bus to Vina Del Mar
2,000 Pesos Palace Cousiño
530 Pesos Metro
3,500 Pesos Lousy dinner
=========
1,9210 Pesos

Bloody dinners!

Ah shit, just spent half an hour walking to a el-cheapo restaurant which serve paella. I am dying for rice and found this place in the afternoon advertising a whole meal for 1,300 pesos!

SO... I get there this evening for a bargain to be told that they only serve this during the day! Arghhh! So, I went back to town for a meal. I found another place which advertised paella but when I sat down they told me there weren´t doing it. So I chose pizza with lots of meat on top instead. But guess wot, it sucks ass! The meat was tasteless, reminding me of the left over meat mum used in boiling soup! Grrrrr and to top it off it cost 2,600 pesos! Maybe I need to lug around chili sauce or oyster sauce... ;)

As far as dinner goes the last 3 meals has been more a miss then hit affair. Night one I ate pasta baked in a white sauce. Night two I ate sandwich with ham and cheese bake and tonight there´s pizza with tasteless meat.

I think I need rice soon or I´ll die!

Football madness!

This was taken last night out by the main shopping complex in Santiago. It was mad as there were people everywhere standing out on the streets watching the football match between Chile and Mexico on the big screen. There were heavy police presence everywhere. The Copa America cup is currently being held in Venezuele and goes from June 26 till July 15.

The final score was 0-0 though Chile had more shots on goal. Boo hoo...

Tips from Natasha

Hi Ben

Was digging through our photos and journals (and Lonely Planets) from our time in S. America. Wow, it’s amazing how much you forget.

Found a few things though:

In Cuzco we stayed at Magnolias II (don’t remember the address, but looking at the map, I’m sure if was down Av Sol, or just off it), which was not in Lonely Planet, but recommended to us along the way. Yvonne and Tario are gorgeous. I hope they are still around, as Yvonne had had a brain tumour of some sort removed. They met us at the bus station, with a cute little sign saying ‘Bienvenidos Claude and Natasha from South Africa’, it was sheer luxury. We got hugs and kisses and all, like mum and dad away from home. They run a wonderful hostel for P$10 per person per night, with complimentary coffee and tea, and hot showers.

If you find them, please send our regards. Remind them that we shared a hot pools experience in Aguas Calientes on the 20 May 2002, and I gave Yvonne a massage afterwards.

From La Paz you can do a ‘Downhill Madness’ ride to Coroico, that is where it is time to chill out for a few days. Lovely little place and substantially lower than La Paz, so it is warm and lush, even in winter. We stayed in El Cafetal, owned by a Frenchman who makes wicked Banana and Chocolate crepes.

In Potosi, Bolivia, there is an awesome vegetarian restaurant called ‘Apple Magic’. Set menu was B$12 per person, set menus are good value in SA. Apple Magic had great atmosphere, tasty food (the best in Bolivia that we had), and heat and smiles . . . and awesome hot chocolate. We found it on the 28^th June, had lunch there, where we shared a table with a Canadian who we befriended, ate ourselves fat. Left, went to the Museum and then went back for dinner! Potosi is ‘mucho frio’, so any place that is warm is good.

In Salta, Argentina we stayed in Youth Hostel Terra Oculta, which was nice, with great, consistent hot, pressurized water.

Well those are some starting recommendations.

Have a wonderful time. Looking forward to having you back home and hearing all about your adventures. In the meantime, you will be missed . . . especially on the dance floor.

XXX
Natasha

Day 2 Cost

420 pesos 1.5 litre water
180 pesos bananas
8000 pesos Accomodation
2090 pesos KFC lunch
1000 pesos Visit to Pablo Neruda´s house
400 pesos Municipalidad de Santiago
300 pesos Bellas Artes
3200 pesos Domino dinner
=====
15590 pesos

KFC

Yes I know, why go to an Americanize institution when you can try out the local cuisine? :)

Well my last meal with my putriku is KFC, and I wanted to sample the local offering. Over here they do mega size pollo con frits. And guess what, it is all crispy! :) :) :)

But after litrally drooling on my food I found my taste budd is still tune towards kiwi pollo. The meat is simply tastier then the offering here. Still, I enjoyed my meal.

Also notice they do toasted twisters here. I think that would go down well back home!

First impression

Hot dogs, stray dogs, football and the scenic backdrop.

I see hot dogs stand and shops everywhere, there is even a hot dog chain call Doggie! LOL! There are stray dogs are everywhere too, no collers, barking mad, I must stay well away! As for football, it is blaring away on the tele at the hotel reception, out on a mega huge screen in the center of the shopping mall, and in the restaurant I ate it, every tele is tune to it.

The mountain vista surrounding this city is farkin amazing. As I arrive in the evening last night and dusk was settling in, you could see the huge Andes glowing red in the background. This really blew me away... I mean, the closest thing we have in NZ is Queenstown but this is the second highest mountain range in the world and they are M A S S I V E and my God they seem to be only kilometeres away.

Made it!!!!

Woohoo!

I made it!!! After a 16.5 hours marathon journey, and a very sad farewell to my darling putriku, Ting man and my folks at Auckalnd airport on Tuesday at 4.30pm. I made it to my hotel in Santiago on Tuesday at 7pm. Am staying at the Hotel Londeres in Town on Paris Ave. This place was recommended by Amy, my big sis, whom travel through here only weeks ago. The place is allright, nothing fancy. Check into a simple room with share showers. It´s clean, has a tv and a nice double bed.

I then head out to look for food and water. I was so thirsty!!!! But the first bottle I bought was bloody gassy water! They love gassy water here so I have to be careful next time. I ate spagatti baked in a white sause for my first meal. It was yuck, but I was hungry. Maybe I need to point at other diners in the future to eat their yummy meals. heheheh Also over here you need to tip, but I haven´t got a clue on their currancy yet so am tipping way too much. I need to sort that out.

So all up it cost:

8000 Peso - Room + breakfast
9USD - Share airport taxi
3800 Pesos - Dinner
400 Pesos - Gassy water
=========
16,800 Pesos

Today I think I will walk the town and check out their museum. I hope to hook up with other backpackers too to get an idea as to recommendations and where to go next. I also plan to take it easy as I am feeling completely wasted, the time zone thing is wrecking havoc with my body.

We are like a day behind here, and at 12am NZT on Thursday it is only 8am Santiago time on Wednesday.

The day...

Am being pick up by dad at 1.30pm, before heading off to work to drop off stuff for Alan. The flight AR1183 is departing on time at 4.30pm. :) Richard, my folks and of course my darling putriku will be there to send me off.

Auckland Airport has it's flight info online. Very handy!

Travel doco's

The wonder of scanners, am scanning all my important travel doco's - passport, visa, travel ticket, vaccination booklet, travelers cheque into the PC. Will then Gmail the attachment to myself and family. :)

Claude & Natasha

My mates Claude and Natasha Sabatier came to say their farewell to me this evening. They also have lots of fond memories to share as they spent 6 months traveling in that region in 2003. One which stood out was the shock therapy of live electricity and showers in Peru and Bolivia, as in order to heat up the water the locals attached live electricity straight into the shower head. I will be looking out for that! Their advice was to wear flip flops in showers if you want to minimize the zap!

They also recommended a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia which they spend time at. This sanctuary is a place where illegally captured and obtained animals are taken to in order to help them rehabilitated back to the jungle. Claude help with a monkey (no surprise there!) while Natasha helped with the birds. This was the one topic which everybody at work came back to me about when I mention about wanting to help out there. And for those who wants more information or see pictures of animals you can help out with, check them out on Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi.

Personally I'd LOVE to take care of those spider monkeys! :)