Buenos Dias, Amigos...
We have been in South America for almost a month now, and loving it BIG TIME.
We caught the bus up through Chile from Santiago to La Sarena...
The hostel we booked was called Maria´s Casa, and it was amazing.
Maria is this beautiful Chilean woman in her late 40s or early 50s
who has converterd her house into the most quaint little cottage-come-hostel I´ve ever seen. Our room was a little bungalow right at the back of a the garden with flowering cacti and a plum tree.
Then onwards to Iqique and to Arica...
The countryside through Chile was bleak like the desert; just this white/grey/brown dirt which stretched on for miles and miles without so much as a shrub or tree to break the monotony. It was beautiful though, the huge rolling hills in the distance looked as though they were all clean and shaven. Also, people come out and write their names or messages on the sides of these mountains, the equivalent of ''Shazza wuz here'', like 5-10 meters tall!!
The roadsides in Chile are dotted with teeeny tiny miniature chapels.
Like in Australia when people leave flowers taped to a pole where
someone has died in an accident, the Chileans set up little shrines
about the size of a small dog kennell, usually painted white, filled
with flowers, perhaps a photo of their loved one or miniature statues
of saints.
The bus ride to La Paz was so much more impressive. Llamas minding
their own business, just chilling by the road. Expansive plains with
little shrubs and HUGE snow capped mountains in the distance... Green
lakes filled with copper... It was hard to breath that high up...
From La Paz we headed west to Lake Titicaca, and Copacobana, which was such a wicked town!!
We discovered the best hostel ever, right on the shores of Lake
Titicaca!! An old colonial building with a romantic overgrown garden
and cute little restaurant downstairs... We immediately booked the
room on the top floor, with private balcony overlooking the shore,
huge wooden double bed, a little cane dining set, and a big cane couch
in the shape of a boat... It was simply paradise. You could leave the
french doors to the balcony open, ly in our bed, and hear AND see the
glittering lake!! Not only that, to the right of our balcony view, we
had the magnificent Mount Cerro Calvario, with the ruins of an old
church on top. The cross was still standing and visable as a
suillouette against the sky. Brilliant... and only $8 Australian a
night!!
One of the things that I loved most about Copacobana was the stray
dogs everywhere. You got the impression that they were the true
owners of the town, and that humans were only the caretakers... 3 or 4
pooches would ly all content and shaggy in the middle of the road,
sunning themselves… and when the occasional car would drive by, they
might lift an ear, but rarely would they move. The cars drive around
them! The dogs just wander around the town, shagging what ever cute
b!tches they like, helping themselves to market food, and generally
taking it easy. What a life.
One night after dinner in the restaurant downstairs, we returned to
our room and sat on our balcony, looking out onto the black lake with
freezing fingers and misty mouths. The stars were out in force, we
could hear the faint trickle of BB King from a nearby restaurant, the
sheep bleating on the mountain, and the banter barks of the
neighbourhood pooches... Every few minutes, the sky would light up
with a stroke of distant lightning, illuminating puffs of clouds on
the horizon into silver and dark blue.
About an hour before our bus out of Bolivia was about to leave, we
quickley nicked up to check out the huge Copacobana cathedral.
Ominous and white, it dominates the town like a palace, while a
plethora of market stalls selling fresh flowers, candles, and kitch
glittering ``church merchandise`` surround the entrance. The poorest
of poor Copacobanans (mostly blind or disabled) beg in the outer
courts of the cathedral. Inside, the most elaborate and royal display
of christian iconisism... Illuminated saints and bloddied martyrs…
The place is pin-drop quiet despite the throngs of visitors.
From the beautiful Copacobana, we caught the bus to Puno, where we saw
the Floating Islands to make up for missing the Isle De Sol. These
islands were man-made with reeds years ago by a native tribe trying to
escape other aggressive tribes. Somehow they knitted together the
reeds to make land, and although the reeds have to be layed down fresh
each month, the islands have remained floating in the same vecinity of
the Lake for years. They really were trippy... when you got off the
boat and stepped onto the ``land``, it bobbed slightly, just like the
boat!! Everything there is made of reeds, the ground, the houses, the
boats...
From Puno we moved onto Cuzco which is another wonder in itself. The
area we were staying in seemed more like Europe than South America,
with grandiose cathedrals, cafes with little balconies and flowers
leaning over the egde... and of course cobblestoned streets. If it
wasn`t so expensive, I could stay in Cuzco for a long time.
Today we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, high up in the Peruvian
mountains. This place is SO beautiful. I know I say that about every
town, but this place really is something else. There are clouds
hugging huge mountains covered in rainforest that surround the little
village, there are butterflies everywhere and a raging river...
Tomorrow we`ll be up at 5 am to get the bus to Maccu Piccu ... There are natural hot springs here and you can get massages, which of course I`m keen to check out...!! And after a few days in the mountains we return to Cuzco to fly to Iquitos, which is deep in
the Peruvian jungle. The only way to reach this town is by plane or
boat. From Iquitos we`re going to sail down the Amazon river for a
few days until we cross the border into Columbia and end up in the
town of Leticia. From there we can get a domestic flight into Bogata.
It`s only slightly more expensive to fly this distance, but this way
we can avoid all the dodgy guerilla areas (don`t worry mum!! we
checked with a few authorities and all the places we`re going are
REASONABLY safe).
Here is where we should leave you, we`ve rambled long enough... We
hope you`re all well and happy and enjoying beautiful Melbourne!!
Hasta Luego...
George and Conor
xoxox
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