Day 106: Arequipa, Peru

Saben`s camera (Canon G9 if anyone would like a recommendation on a camera NOT to buy)–our only one now!– has decided to die. Apparently all the luck of our llamas was used to save Lin from being shanked on Palm Sunday. Very unfortunate because we`re heading to Machu Picchu in a few days AND because today is Good Friday and massive amounts of people are parading through the streets singing depressing songs, wearing nice clothes, and carrying a varity of strange items such as a glass box with a wax statue of Jesus and a wooden noise maker box to let everyone know what was coming. We missed some really interesting photo opportunities as we witnessed how people begin to celebrate Easter. The streets were dark except for the “holy flames“ of candles held as they processed in the reenactment of Jesus` funeral. Hundreds (if not over 1000) of people lined the square. An astonishing procession that we are sorry to have not been able to share with you but very pleased to have witnessed ourselves.

Day 105: Arequipa, Peru

Saben looked at Lin with a face both disgusted and utterly freaked out. The bus driver must have been hungry because he stopped 3 times in one hour for a “break.“ At these stops, the aisles would flood with people, 3 bodies deep at any given second, each one vying for a sale. The bus smelled like a corncob covered in fruit and rubbing alcohol, body odor, bad breath and something else entirely indescribable mixed between human and food smells. Tragic really. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 104: Puno, Peru

Well, we couldn`t help it but we had to unceremoniously exit Bolivia without even saying goodbye. Simple but frustrating reason: no working ATM in Copacabana! We underestimated our time and costs here and, being left with only enough money for either one more night or a bus ticket to another town with an ATM, we decided we had to leave.

Before we left we had just enough time to see the massive church that dominates the square in Copacabana.

Massive Church in Copacabana

And to climb the ridiculous hill that rises above the city. It provides an amazing view of the town but its primary purpose is as a worship site for the Christians, Natives and the strange Bolivian mix of both. While we were there we were able to quietly watch a ceremony being given by an older man. He was in traditional native clothes burning a clay animal sacrifice and incense at the foot of a statue of Jesus. It doesn’t get more Bolivia than that. Read the rest of this entry »

We LOVED (most parts of) Bolivia. It is most definitely one of our favorite countries we have ever been to. The countryside is astoundingly beautiful, the people are generally nice and helpful, they speak Spanish and not Portuguese, everything is dirt cheap, and the Bolivian traditional dress is stunningly colorful and intricate. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 103: Copacabana, Bolivia

Let`s just get something straight here: a piece of bread is most certainly NOT breakfast, no matter how many flavors of marmelade you serve with it. So imagine our delight when we stumbled upon a little hole in the wall place  you can`t really call a cafe and can`t really call a snack stand that serves salteñas! And what, you might ask, is a salteña?

saltena

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Day 102: La Paz, Bolivia

After getting over the initial anger and feeling stupid for having gotten robbed while I was right there, Lin could really see how laughable the robbery was although she has to buy a new purse and wallet now. But, on a brighter note, if she keeps getting robbed like this, there won`t be anything left in her backpack!! Everywhere we go we always get asked how we can travel for so long and have such small backpacks. Well, the truth is, we get robbed and that pretty much lightens the load!

Random La Paz photo

Today we failed to catch the last bus to Copacabana, Bolivia so we are stuck in La Paz one more wretched night. Maybe tomorrow things will go more according to plan?

Day 101: La Paz, Bolivia

Our story begins on Palm Sunday, it`s backdrop La Paz, Bolivia. We had awoken early eager to see the city with fresh eyes after a night`s rest. Breakfast was awful as expected.

We headed down to Saint Francis` Cathedral to see how the Palm Sunday festivities were lining up. It was awash with merchants selling everything from palm rings and crosses to chocolate easter eggs. A line had already formed at the entrance of the church as the priest was beginning his latin sermon. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 99 or 100: La Paz, Bolivia

Made it to La Paz after a very rough, long (11 hour), smelly, cold, bus ride. We went to find some breakfast, found something, ate it, immediately regretted it, felt like crap the rest of the day.

We took it easy today, getting a little work done and recuperating our rears from uncountable miles.

Plus today we celebrated our 100th day on the road! But our count is different in our own calendars and on the website (one began counting from Dec 25 when we left at Day 1 and the other began counting Dec 25 as Day 0…confusing we know). We celebrated with a delicious treat of Indian food at The Star of India (Highest curry house in the world)!

Lin at the star after the power went out

Day 98: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

“Oooooohooohooahhhhahahahhh!“ Everyone jerked their heads to see an old man who had an uncanny resemblance to Jepeto (you know, Pinocchio`s father) and was wearing only a tiny Speedo that was struggling to retain its contents especially beneath a bulging hairy belly. He had taken the plunge into the hot springs and was apparently feeling the harsh contrast between the frigid air and the hot water. It must have been close to 20 degrees farenheit but plenty of brave (or crazy?) people stripped down right outside and jumped into the hot springs. Everyone in the water swore up and down that it was worth it…but they all also swore they`d never get out! Lin was smart enough to stay fully clothed but Saben braved it only up to his knees on the edge of the pool. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 97: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

“Where`s the mechanic?“ Marco asked, in spanish, to a man walking by the road. “I`m not sure. He`s probably out with the llamas.“ Great, so the one mechanic in a town of 30 people was out tending his llamas?! Thirty minutes after we had set out, we had lost the bolt that holds the back suspension together. After 4 passing jeeps offered nothing but unhelpful stares, useless repair kits with only a wrench and 2 rubber straps,  Marco tied up the suspension (with the said rubber straps) and we headed back to town hoping our jeep wouldn`t rattle to pieces on the bumpiest non-road we`ve ever been on. And now that we made it back, the mechanic was out with his llamas? Well, a minor setback so we did what anyone would`ve done in this situation (right?!)–we went to the small schoolhouse and asked around for the mechanics child and took his daughter out of school!

Our poor broken jeep in the desert

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