Back to the routine

Hitting the road.

It seems I'm back to that old routine, waking up at 5am for that 6 O'clock bus. Luck would seem to be on my side, arriving with 5 minutes and getting the last seat. Then again the crying babies and baby milk spilt on me, hardly luck. “Anything but the hat, stay away from the hat…” My message para todos niños (for all children).

Who am I kidding though, going local is what I love.

This all means I'm finally out of La Paz, a city that you don't hate, well at least I didn't hate it, but it did let me realise a lot about Bolivia as a country. The way that Bolivia is as a country is strange, with its beauty, land locked self and bright personalities, troubled past and also determination. I can’t put a finger on it. The country has rich, has poor, Bolivia is South America’s poorest country but it’s more than that.
Admittedly, I found Bolivia to be a difficult country and the people reflected that but they ALL had a soft spot, and when found you’d be talking to some really warm hearted folk willing to share a serious laugh with unguarded humour. Humour on a level that you share with any long-time friend, honestly, but of course first comes finding that soft spot.

Two Bolivians in a small village along the way.

As brilliant as Bolivia is, it unfortunately has that title- "South America’s poorest country" and that in itself makes things difficult within a difficult country. Bolivia is far from its title... People can be difficult and the majority of the time they are, but also some of the nicest people I've met have been Bolivians.

La Paz meant Christmas, it meant New Years, and fair enough a lot has happened since my last update. I visited one of the most inspiring sites imaginable; Machu Picchu and I honestly loved it and was blown away. I got there by any means possible, and it wasn't the Inca Trail, but it was a great trip. Starting in Cusco and then heading to Ollataytamba (Olly for short) and that was a great town, where I met some brilliant people.
From Olly, I found out the hard way that Machu Picchu really is the biggest tourist attraction in South America and of course the price tag to get there showed that .The only feasible way of getting there was by train and the alternative at the time, was walking along the train tracks for 8 hours which is meant to be illegal, so let’s just say I took the train (which I did).

So 8 hours later I got to the town for Machu Picchu (joke- 2hours!), bought my ticket after they wouldn’t accept my student card, got to my bed and slept. Come 4am I was up and it was pouring. There was a bus going up to Machu Picchu but after paying full price for my entrance I chose to walk up. Still pouring, I got out my hiking gear and soldiered on for 2 hours up the vertical path and in all fairness it was a bitch. Worth it, but a bitch.

Sitting over Machu Picchu with some Peruvians.

The best thing about it all though, was that I had no guide. I was tired when I arrived but I was one of the first people there but it was also cloudy. I made my way around for a bit and eventually to the view point where I was able to sit literally for a few hours, until a point when it hit me. It was bad enough getting up there that morning in all my gear, but then for the Inca’s to have a city up in the clouds however many hundreds of years ago, and to have built it, seems incredible. How did they do it? and I guess the best part is no one really knows. You can sit, get lost and easily wonder. That’s the best part.

Bolivian Internet is the reason this is so long, it's near impossible to get things done because a snail running backwards would be faster. Anyhow, I've been to Copacabana and The Island of the Sun and trekked and all sorts. I've ridden La Paz's World famous Death Road, clearly survived and after falling off a good 4 times I think I deserved my survivor’s shirt.

From there it's been a celebration shall we say, New Years and Christmas, obviously different from home and I'm glad to say I've been here, but with my holidays like that? Never again.

I’m finishing this post from the other side of Bolivia’s border. From La Paz I headed south because I needed to get to Argentina, and here I am. Before making it to the border, I did though make sure to visit Oruro, Potosi, Tupiza and Uyuni in Bolivia, all which were nice places and really different from La Paz. From there, I managed to get a better picture of Bolivia. Being able to speak Spanish has its benefits. I’m told I should visit other parts of Bolivia in the east, and so that’s my intention hopefully during this trip.

Salar de Uyuni

Bolivia doesn’t have a tourist industry that markets the country that much, and so that’s why not a lot of people know that one very cool natural landscape is in Bolivia. Besides telling you how they’re formed, I can say that The World’s largest Salt flats are in Bolivia. In Uyuni to be precise.
After getting to Uyuni somehow, I visited the Salt Flats, and they were amazing, especially as now is the rainy season, so they weren’t dry, but instead covered with a layer of water that in some places reflected everything perfectly. Because of all of that, sunset was amazing, and cold, but amazing. I’m definitely going back again. Many more great photos to be taken.

From the Bolivian outback, I got off a horse a few days ago and came to the Argentinian border, an experience difficult but now done. I’ve been through it all in Bolivia, even worked for a while in an Irish Bar in La Paz! Onwards, and the challenges just keep on coming. Now I’m trying to get a hold of Argentinian Spanish which isn’t easy to understand but I’m also moving and heading south, as far south as possible. The most southern city in the World. Ushuaia’s been calling me for a while now, and I’m going! To the End of the World!

For now, chau.

PS: I bought some film which expired during the last Olympics, good old Bolivia, and yes believe me, this is a great thing!

PSS: Never play football against Bolivians in the World’s Highest City (La Paz). There’s a reason they “blame it on the altitude” and no one apart from the local team ever wins!