Another day, another road and
another stop on our epic, albeit somewhat wonky, figure eight of South America.
This time, however, our destination was not unfamiliar to us as we wound our
way back to Cusco, a place that had already put most of us under its spell on
our way north. Full of tourists, packed with more souvenirs than you could need
in a lifetime, situated at a slightly challenging altitude of 3400m above sea
level and possessed of many roads of suboptimal size for Ithaca, Cusco could be
a place that we would love to avoid. Somehow, however, its combination of
cobbled, rambling streets, abundant knitwear, excellent museums, beautiful
colonial architecture and just its unapologetic Cusco-ness tend to make fans
out of most visitors. We were all excited to be going back and get another
chance to perfect the “I've Been to Cusco” look. This time shopping was the
order of the day for a lot of the group as they utilised their improved
altitude tolerance to roam the streets and find things to fill the last spare
spots in Ithaca's baggage locker.
Of course, our return to the
Inca capital was not just planned in order to enable us to buy more llama motif
hats. For most of the group this was their long awaited chance to hike through
the mountains on the way to that fabled Inca city of Machu Picchu. Most of the
group chose to do the lesser known and much less crowded Lares walk that led
them through stunning mountain scenery and between remote Andean villages. Some
unexpected snow and mule-based incidents provided extra entertainment for the
group but most agreed that the beautiful scenery was the highlight of their
time in the wilds. A couple of the group were tempted by the trail-side ruins
and the lure of the Sun Gate at dawn to brave the crowds and walk the
traditional Inca Trail instead.
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| Team Lares |
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| Hiking |
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| Chris & Steve |
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| Trusty mule |
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| Camping on the hike |
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| Alpacas |
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| Coca tea in the morning |
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| A bit chilly at times |
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| Meeting the locals on the hike |
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| Sorting the coca leaves |
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| Incan steps are pretty slippery when wet |
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| Mike |
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| Bulls |
However they got there, once
arrived, the whole group had a wonderful time exploring the fairytale city of
Machu Picchu. The picture perfect location, amazing Inca stonework and funny
resident llamas all serve to make this a place that has to be seen to be
believed, even if you think you've seen it a thousand times in photographs
beforehand.
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| Worth every step |
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| Chris |
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| Lawn mowers |
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| Amazing Inca stonework |
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| Llama friend |
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| Llama selfie |
Slightly exhausted and
footsore, our intrepid walkers reassembled in Cusco for a final night before we
departed for our last Peruvian stop – Puno on Lake Titicaca. It was a long
day's drive across the Peruvian
highlands but we found time to squeeze in a quick stop at the interesting ruins
of the Sillustani Funerary towers. The information signs there were so poorly
translated as to be almost nonsensical but the view over the nearby lake was
straightforwardly gorgeous.
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| Sillustani |
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| One of the towers |
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| Crawling out the grave |
From the ruins it was a short
hop to Puno where we stayed in a comfortable hotel and got ready for our
included boat trip to the Uros floating islands the following day.
The Uros floating islands are
the traditional homes of the Uros Indians, who initially created these unique
reed-based islands as a defence against attack by the Incas and, later, the
Spanish. We took a boat ride out to two of the islands to learn about their
construction and see how the inhabitants there lived. On the way we took our
opportunity to practice the correct pronunciation of Titicaca (much more guttural
than you might think!) and enjoy the calm sunshine. Lake Titicaca is the
highest navigable lake in the world and despite the good weather we could
definitely tell we were still at altitude. The rest of the day in Puno was the
group's to enjoy at their leisure and a few of us whiled this time away
enjoying tasty local food and a few drinks in a local bar.
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| Leaving Puno behind |
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| The floating islands |
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| A lecture on reeds |
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| Tapestry making |
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| Dolls tell the history of the islands |
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| A boat trip on a reed boat |
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| There's always a cat, who says they don't like water? |
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| Everyone here is born knowing their way around boats and the lake |
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| Iain with one of the local ladies |
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| Handicrafts |
The following day was to be
our last in Peru as we made our way to the Bolivian border and on to the
backpacker favourite city of La Paz.
Or so we thought.
Somehow border crossing days
always have the potential to throw major spanners in the works, or in this
case, rocks in your path. Having set off in good time, and rolling along
merrily on the shores of Lake Titicaca, we soon came to an obstruction which
appeared to be a bunch of locals standing in the road with a nice line of
boulders in front of them. After some discussion we learnt that the hold up was
due to a protest against a proposed mine in the area. The local people were very
opposed to this development, concerned, probably rightly, about the associated
environmental impact of this project. Feeling unheard by the government they
had resorted to a blockade of the road past Lake Titicaca for a planned 48
hours.
Roads in this area are
unfortunately not abundant and, potential detours were not obviously available
to us at this stage. A suggestion that we could skirt around the roadblock soon
wound up in failure as we decided that perseverance along this road would
probably just end up with a wedged Ithaca! Fortunately, as we returned to the
roadblock to try to negotiate with the locals a van full of police arrived to
clear the roadblock – success! Following the police along the now open road we
had soon passed through two dismantled roadblocks and were feeling optimistic
about our chances of escaping from the protest and getting on our merry way to
Bolivia.
Such confidence was, sadly,
misplaced however, as we arrived at a roadblock that had been immediately
reinstated after the departure of the police and that was now looking fairly
impassable. We cooled our heels by eating an improvised lunch on the side of
the road while seeing if we could negotiate with the very determined local road
blockers. Unfortunately, as the afternoon wore on it became apparent that the
police were no longer succeeding in removing any roadblocks (or perhaps they
had stopped trying) and that we were going nowhere fast. An attempt at
retreating the way we had come soon came unstuck when we found our way back
obstructed by another rebuilt road block. We were now firmly wedged in the
midst of the anti-miners and it seemed that we were in it for the duration.
It is incidents like this
that bring out the adventurous spirit of the seasoned overlander and that make
for the best stories (once you've got out of them that is!) Therefore we made
the best of our lot and pitched our tents in the nearby field, lit a fire and
whipped up a warm dinner out of the bits and pieces we could find in the truck.
Yes, it was a little chilly, but the stars were excellent and we still had a
fridge full of beer.
In the morning, finding that
nothing seemed to have changed, we packed our bags and launched the inaugural
Odyssey Peruvian refugee march along the deserted road, stepping over tree
trunks and piles of stone as we looked for a way around the protest. Ithaca,
being a bit big, had to stay behind for now but the rest of us made our way
along the road, feeling grateful that it was sunny and that we were now
altitude veterans. To cut a long story short, after a morning of walking,
failed negotiations and frustration we met our new guardian angel Elena who was
a local woman apparently willing to help us make our way out of the mine
protest. Soon we were all in a van and on a cross country mission to find our
way out of the blockades while Mama Elena rode along with us, negotiating our
way past the odd straggler blockade and smoothing our passage out of the
protest. We finally reached the border in the mid afternoon, very relieved to conclude
our blockade running escapade! A border crossing and taxi ride later we finally
arrived, with gratitude, at our La Paz hotel and celebrated with a much needed
drink and hot dinner.
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| No to the mine! |
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| The police roll in - that will make everything better! |
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| Or maybe it won't! |
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| Trapped |
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| We were treated to a very beautiful view of the milky way on our impromptu bushcamp however |
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| In the morning, the trucks are still stuck |
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| Time to go hiking |
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| A few obstacles |
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| Steve is taking his sun protection seriously |
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| Our emergency transport |
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| A bit squishy |
The next morning most of the
group went out on a very entertaining and informative city tour with guide
Julius. When they returned at lunchtime it was to the welcome sight of Ithaca
and Simon waiting at the hotel – the two of whom having finally escaped the
protest late the previous night. We celebrated our reunion with a lovely group
meal on the top floor of our hotel where we enjoyed included wine and great
views over the lights of La Paz.
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| In lovely La Paz |
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| In the main plaza |
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| The Valley of the Moon, the combination of rain and altitude has created a strange landscape with peaks and enormous deep drops in to the rock below |
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| One of the deep drops into nothing |
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| Louisa tests her bravery over one of the chasms |
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| The city tour allowed us to try Saltenas, a tasty Bolivian version of the empanada |
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| And a trip on the new cable car |
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| Ready for our lovely meal at our hotel |
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| Si, Em & Gen |
Our second day in La Paz was
a chance for many of the group to test their cycling metal by taking on the
famous Death Road that winds its way down from La Cumbre to Coroico, losing an
impressive 3600m in altitude as it goes. The scenery along the route is
extremely beautiful and, obviously riding downhill is good fun as it mostly
avoids all that pesky pedalling business. Most of the group went along for the
ride and, pleasingly, no one fell off the edge of the road or had more than a
momentary stumble off their bike.
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| Death Road! |
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| Ready to cycle |
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| A bit deathy really |
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| Everyone survived! |
After La Paz it was time to
head onwards to our next stop, the mining town of Potosi. Potosi is a city
whose fortunes are entirely bound up in its association with silver, which has
been mined from the local Cerro Rico mountain since the 1500s. At one time
Potosi was the largest and wealthiest city in the Americas but, since the
silver supply has more or less dried up, the city has begun to slide into
poverty. It is estimated that there may only be another five or ten years of
work left in the mine and the future of the city after this point is not
optimistic. For now, it is possible to attend a mine tour with some of the
remaining miners and get a glimpse into the difficult and sometimes brutal
conditions that these men work in.
While warned to expect narrow
passageways and dusty, dark conditions, our group were faced as well with the
additional challenge of climbing up a near vertical pile of slippery rocks and
then stepping across a series of boards spanning a scary mine shaft. They came
back a little pale and shocked looking but said that it was a rewarding and eye
opening experience. It certainly puts any normal job into perspective – we'll
never complain about Monday mornings again!
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| All ready for the mine |
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| Dynamite in hand |
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| The silver processing plant |
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| 96% alcohol mmmm |
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| The entrance to the mine, the red over the door is llama blood, sacrificed the day before for good luck |
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| Not exactly EU regulation health and safety |
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| Workers in the mine |
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| Difficult even just to walk around on a tour, let alone work in |
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| Gen with her dynamite |
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| John |
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| Miners chewing coca leaves to ward off tiredness and altitude |
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| Tio, the god of the mine |
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| Very glad to see the daylight again |
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| Survivors |
From Potosi we trundled on to
the little “Wild West” town of Tupiza which was to be our gateway into the
spectacular Altiplano. This area of high altitude wilderness is home to only a
handful of small communities who make their living farming llamas and working
in the small local mines. For us it was opportunity to pile into a series of
four wheel drive vehicles and set out into the wilds, complete with mobile
cooks and a friendly guide called Oscar. We were soon having a vicuna of a
time, winding our way through dusty, zigzagging roads and stopping for multiple
photo opportunities and discussions about the local flora and fauna.
In the manner of all good
Odyssey adventures, or perhaps because we had failed to donate enough firewater
alcohol to Mother Earth Pachamama, it soon started to snow. This was a bit of a
surprise to all of us - despite expecting it to be cold we had somehow decided
it would definitely be dry! - but it was impossible not to appreciate the extra
beauty that the snow lent to the surrounding countryside. Once the initial
snowstorm settled we were left with frosted mountainsides, snow tipped llamas
and plenty of powdery snow to pose with, tiptoe through or throw at each other.
Not that we would because we are extremely mature.
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| Heading to the Altiplano, that sky doesn't look threatening at all! |
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| Well maybe a bit threatening... |
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| Winter wonderland |
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| Extreme toilet queuing |
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| Cosy at lunch |
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| Mike, Simon & Steve |
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| Far too mature for this sort of behaviour |
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| Icicles |
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| Winter vicunas, the llama's wild cousin and the finest, warmest wool in the world |
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| Claire in the snow |
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| An abandoned town in the snow |
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| A viscacha, its lovely winter coat coming in to good use in the freezing conditions |
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| The snow made one of the most beautiful parts of South America even more beautiful |
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| There's a llama, and another little llama |
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| Cheese! |
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| Yes it's strong enough to walk on, luckily, or Mike would have had very cold feet |
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| Our trusty steeds |
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| Hot pools, the perfect way to get feeling back in your toes! |
Accommodations in the
Altiplano are best described as rustic and are not big on heating or
insulation. Most of us went to bed wearing a lot of clothes - hat and gloves
optional. However, once in bed and underneath a mammoth pile of blankets, most
of us had a good night's sleep and woke up ready to go for another day of
arctic wilderness exploring. Bonus time saving points for already being
partially dressed when we woke up!
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| Inside one of our refugios |
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| Salt hotel on our last night |
Our onboard cooks also worked
tirelessly to make us tasty, warm food at mealtimes. The fried eggs, sausages
and chips went down a treat on the second night and we also enjoyed an
impromptu Pringles and rum party after finding a handy local shop in the middle
of nowhere. All good fuel for enjoying some more stunning scenery!
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| Thermal mud pools |
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| "Stop, danger don't access" Based on our experience with Bolivian healthy and safety we felt this was more of a suggestion |
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| The altiplano is also home to lots of flamingos, who brighten it up no end, even though we were very concerned for their skinny cold little legs |
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| A juvenile who hasn't got his colour yet |
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| Laguna Colorada |
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| "Colorada" meaning coloured |
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| Home to many more flamingoes |
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| Such elegant creatures in a harsh landscape |
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| Lee gets a better view |
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| The Stone Tree - can you guess where the name came from? |
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| Simon gets some climbing in |
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| Gen, Louisa, Sarah & Roberta at one of the "jewel" lakes |
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| Andean fox |
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| Wifi gets everywhere these days! |
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| Your trusty Odyssey crew hanging out on some moss |
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| A lonely train makes its way through the high plains from the mines |
Our ultimate destination on
our Altiplano trip was the Salar de Uyuni - the world's largest salt flat at
12,000 sq km. The group got up very early on our final morning of the trip and
set off before dawn to speed across the salt in the darkness on the way to see
the sun rise over the salt. Later on there was an opportunity to take tricky,
false perspective photos on the deceptively flat expanses of the salt flat. If
you would like to pretend to stomp on your friends, stand on an enormous bottle
of water or fight a huge dinosaur then this is the place to come. Bonus
entertainment comes from watching other people try to take their photos which
looks very funny too.
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| Heading to the salt at dawn |
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| Sunshine! |
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| Crazy cyclists |
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| Time for some silly perspective photos |
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| Kaye |
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| Claire |
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| Gen & tiny Sarah |
Once sufficiently salt
flatted, the group set off for their final stop on the Altiplano trip, the
train graveyard. Here you can visit a collection of unwanted and rusting trains
which lie idle in the desert, perhaps awaiting the time when metal recycling in
Bolivia has advanced sufficiently to reuse their large supplies of iron. For
now they provide an enticing playground for climbing over and taking photos.
Bolivian health and safety is more of an imaginary concept so no one minds if
you want to clamber on top of an engine or explore inside an empty carriage. If
you fall through something it's your own fault, obviously.
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| The train graveyard |
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| Sarah |
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| Mike |
A rather bumpy and dusty ride
took us back to Tupiza where we all appreciated the relatively low altitude of
2950m (it's all relative when you have recently visited 5000m above sea level!)
Hot showers and soft hotel beds were also welcome but no one could regret the
challenges of the Altiplano for a second when taken into account how amazingly
beautiful our time there was. Gracias Bolivia!
