tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70846395998045601822024-03-13T09:09:07.239-07:00Travels with JacquesTravel blog through South America and other locales with Jacques the Travel Turtle.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-66724514332497186652012-04-07T23:43:00.000-07:002012-04-07T23:43:31.585-07:00Last Day of Travel - Lima, PeruToday was the last day of my South American journey. I ended the day by walking around downtown Lima. Today was Good Friday, and so many things were closed, including a large set of catacombs. I had hoped to combine that with the Spanish Inquisition Museum, just to have a slightly macabre day, and while that didn't work out, I did make it to the Spanish Inquisition Museum. the photos below are of wax figures that have been created to mimic the torture that occurred during that time, they're not actual people.<br />
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The main square in the city, Plaza de Armas, was blocked off from vehicle traffic, and there were thousands of people attending the main cathedral on the square, most of whom were filing in and out of the cathedral slowly. The service was being broadcast via large speakers to the exterior of the building, and it was possible to hear the sermon (albeit in Spanish) throughout the entire square. There were also video cameras inside, I expect that the services were being broadcast throughout the country as well.<br />
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This made it tough to get my normal inside-the-cathedral photo, but it was very interesting to watch and listen to all of the motion and movement.<br />
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After I explored downtown to my satisfaction, I headed back to the neighborhood that my hostel was in. This is the Miraflores neighborhood, and, according to lonely planet, is "gringo ground zero" for Lima. It's also apparently much safer than central Lima, although I never felt at danger in either location. My hostel was right on Parque Kennedy, and only about a 20 minute walk to the beach. The rest of my day was spent meandering slowly down to the water, where I spent a good long time photographing the sunset.<br />
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These are the last images that I will be posting from my trip, and I'm pleased to note that one of the very last ones is very similar to the very first image I posted, way back in Aruba, where I was chasing the Divi Divi tree. It's a sunset, with a tree, at the ocean. There have been many strange and unusual adventures in between those two shots, and I feel very fortunate to be able to have made this journey.<br />
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Post Script: As I write this I am in the airport in Mazatlan, Mexico, waiting for the Alaska Airlines counter to open. It's not open because my flight from Mexico City arrived early, and it will be a few hours before I can check in. I decided to sit on the floor and play with my photos a bit, and out of curiosity, I counted how many I had shot. Approximately 16,000. While I was looking at that number, I noticed a sign across the hall that says, "The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul." This is, I think, a very apt description of what I need to focus on next in my photography. This trip has been (among other things) a 2 1/2 month hands-on intensive photography course. My photography has, I think, improved from the beginning of the trip to the end, and certainly I've learned a some additional techniques along the way. What my photography says is really a genuine expression of my inner self, and learning more about myself will, I hope, continue to shape my art as I go forward.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ipf0dm3LLA/T4Ey_iRMRbI/AAAAAAAAB-s/PM3XaEYIbKE/s1600/IMG_0534+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ipf0dm3LLA/T4Ey_iRMRbI/AAAAAAAAB-s/PM3XaEYIbKE/s320/IMG_0534+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-86462727099926925712012-04-05T19:22:00.000-07:002012-04-05T19:22:42.696-07:00Lima, but no picsToday was a lengthy travel day, so in the evening I treated myself well. I got a private room in my hostel, went for a long walk down to the beach to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, and then for dinner had the best food I've had so far this trip. (Um, well, maybe the main dish wasn't as good as the beef I had in Iguassu Falls, Brazil, but the desert might have been the best dessert I've ever eaten in my entire life)<br />
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So while there was an amazing sunset, I have no photos of it. Instead I took the day to reflect on the trip I've had, think about what it has meant for me, and just spent some time enjoying the world around me rather than trying to think hard about how to capture it in images. <br />
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Dinner tonight was, by the way, quite expensive by Peruvian standards, clocking in at just over 200 Soles. A starter, 2 drinks, a main dish, and dessert. But the dessert, just by itself, was worth it. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-85221471692294701372012-04-05T13:49:00.000-07:002012-04-05T13:49:24.935-07:00Cuzco ExplorationThe internet died last night in the hostel I was staying in. Even their computers weren't working, they were displaying a Google Chrome "we can't display this page, sorry" message in Spanish this morning when I checked out.<br />
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I explored yesterday, and have a few quick stories.<br />
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There are cheap massages available in Cuzco. I opted for a more expensive one with much nicer accommodations. My thought process in choosing to get a massage was something along the lines of, "Hmm...cheap massages in a touristy area. Is this aboveboard? Or are there happy endings? Let's find out!" No happy ending for me, just a very, very thorough massage. One of the strongest I've had, topped only by the "I'm going to beat the crap out of you" massage I had in Turkey.<br />
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The Coco plant is grown in Bolivia and Peru, the plant leaves can be chewed, this gives relief from altitude sickness. The same plant is an essential ingredient in making cocaine, so it's tough to regulate the growth of these plants, considering that the exact same plant, when sold legally, gives the farmers a fraction of the income the receive if they sell it illegally for cocaine production. In La Paz, there is a fairly famous bar known for it's easy availability of whatever drug you might want to get. I did not go to that bar, and couldn't care less about drugs. Thus, it was a surprise to me when walking around Cuzco, a man approached me. Lots of people approach the tourists all the time there, usually they're trying to sell hand made clothes. He said "hey, how's it going?" which was different than the typical approach of "Hola, amigo." I said, "fine," and then he leaned over conspiratorially and said, "do you want some.....coke?" Me: "no." Him: "how about some joints? I have some nice marijuana." At this point I laughed a bit and declined his offer. He was a bit surprised, I think, that I chuckled, but he took it in stride and left me alone, although he did greet me again later in the evening when our paths happened to cross. <br />
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Really, if I wanted drugs, I could have just stayed home and walked one block from my condo on any night of the week and scored whatever it is they're selling down there. <br />
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Ok. That concludes my brush with vices on my South American trip. The rest of the day was spent exploring a large set of Inca ruins within walking distance of the center of the city. That entire area of Peru is lousy with ancient Inca ruins, and these were nice in that they provided some interesting contrast with Cuzco so near by.<br />
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Photos, photos, and photos. No spam.<br />
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This was fun. It was a big natural slide, the rocks were slippery enough to slide down. I did that, and had a blast. :)<br />
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Typical Inca construction of temples. They fitted giant rocks together in an extremely precise fashion.<br />
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Finally, a photograph of a street scene that I'm pleased with. This was what many, many streets looked like that I've walked down during this trip.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZcEX2EHqRk/T34D2avFgmI/AAAAAAAAB8w/X3LBAI4uPtk/s1600/076+-+IMG_0187+-+edited+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bZcEX2EHqRk/T34D2avFgmI/AAAAAAAAB8w/X3LBAI4uPtk/s320/076+-+IMG_0187+-+edited+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-56084433025868312132012-04-04T06:30:00.001-07:002012-04-04T09:43:54.397-07:00The Llama ShotThere is a classic shot of Machu Picchu which shows the ruins with a llama nicely framed in the image in the foreground. I've seen this image probably a dozen times, and I have a pretty strong feeling the llama was photoshopped in. When I went to Machu Picchu today, I thought, "The llama shot? Impossible, I'll never get it. There aren't even llamas there." Well, turns out there are. They probably brought them in for the tourists, and I'm pleased to report that I was able to photograph one. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, The Llama Shot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDZLfWNkjBs/T3xMxqxuaAI/AAAAAAAAB7A/4DVLkBrqdaY/s1600/IMG_9786+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WDZLfWNkjBs/T3xMxqxuaAI/AAAAAAAAB7A/4DVLkBrqdaY/s320/IMG_9786+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-11496092220989454512012-04-04T06:23:00.000-07:002012-04-04T06:23:53.689-07:00Machu PicchuYesterday I explored Machu Picchu. The weather cooperated, I got up at 4:15am to get in front of the large crowd of tourists, and got a few photos. I present them here.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz5FxxbHrVk/T3xIZ8GlRrI/AAAAAAAAB4Q/J0nfHOUsNWA/s1600/IMG_9408+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz5FxxbHrVk/T3xIZ8GlRrI/AAAAAAAAB4Q/J0nfHOUsNWA/s320/IMG_9408+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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It's the dramatic version of Machu Picchu here. I pushed those shadows into black pretty far. :)<br />
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For my blog readers who like people in my photographs. :) Also, gives a better sense of scale of the place.<br />
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I like this shot a great deal. It shows Machu Picchu clearly, but also shows an interesting new angle that I haven't seen much before, incorporating these large ring terraces that nicely frame the main subject. <br />
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There's a story about this photo, I am putting it in the next post.<br />
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The small town of Aguas Calientes<br />
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Aguas Calientes is only reachable via train. This is a Peru Rail locomotive<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFfleF2-qBE/T3xJVONHPFI/AAAAAAAAB64/7xqZFzaj2OE/s1600/IMG_9909+-+edited+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nFfleF2-qBE/T3xJVONHPFI/AAAAAAAAB64/7xqZFzaj2OE/s320/IMG_9909+-+edited+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-17369086767304519892012-04-04T05:58:00.000-07:002012-04-04T05:58:13.528-07:00Cuzco to Aguas Calientes Part II - The rest of the photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MlLl56MlUds/T3xD_WOIbwI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/f_JQlE3yS3k/s1600/IMG_9222+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MlLl56MlUds/T3xD_WOIbwI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/f_JQlE3yS3k/s320/IMG_9222+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Salt pool terraces<br />
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Ancient Inca crop laboratory, or alien landing site. <br />
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It's difficult to tell from this image, but these are a series of steps leading in and out of the rings. The Incas simply built steps into the walls by placing larger rocks that extended out from the side of the walls. These rocks had generally flat surfaces on the top, and when placed together in this way, served as a sort of dangerous stairwell. My guide hopped up and down these without thinking about it. I took my time and moved a little more slowly than he did.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pT4kfDRTlKY/T3xEPVLLs7I/AAAAAAAAB4I/QetCAYxZxAY/s1600/IMG_9356+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pT4kfDRTlKY/T3xEPVLLs7I/AAAAAAAAB4I/QetCAYxZxAY/s320/IMG_9356+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-57432281283795625952012-04-02T20:28:00.002-07:002012-04-02T20:39:28.234-07:00Cuzco to Aguas Calientes"Adventure is what happens when something doesn't go according to plan." is what I wrote near the beginning of this blog. Today was an adventure, and as it turns out, a very good one. I was supposed to have been picked up at my hostel this morning at 10am, brought to the bus station, caught a bus to Ollantaytambo, where I'd pick up a 12:35pm train to Aguas Calientes. It was supposed to be a nice light travel day, I would be just hanging out in Aguas Calientes for the rest of the day, getting settled, and preparing for the trek to Machu Picchu in the early morning.<br />
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That didn't happen.<br />
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I was picked up from my hostel at more or less the right time, but then my driver informed me that because I had visited the travel agency too late the night before that there were no spaces available on the 12:35pm train. He suggested that he bring me to the bus station anyway, and that I would spend most of the day walking around Ollantaytambo. This did not sound appealing to me at all, especially with a large backpack in tow. I asked him what my other options, and this led to a discussion where eventually we agreed that he would take me on a day tour of several Inca sites between Cuzco and Ollantaytambo. In particular, there were two things I had very much wanted to see, but had written them off as not having enough time. Today I got to see both of those, and that made me very happy. The first was a salt mine. You'd think I'd had my fill of salt after the Bolivian Salt Flats, but no, I felt the need to see more salt.<br />
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This salt is mined in a very different way than the salt flats. In this case, there is a natural spring which comes out of the side of a mountain. Even before the Incas showed up, the local population had figured out that this spring was extremely salty, and that they could build terraces in the side of that mountain, and divert the water slowly into these shallow pools. The water fills the pools, then is diverted the next set of pools, and over time each of the 3000 or more pools fills. These are then left to evaporate, leaving several hundred kilos of salt in each of them. The salt on the top is white, it is high grade salt, fit for human consumption. The lower levels of yellow and brown salt are used for various other things, including fattening up cattle. Most of the salt harvested from these ponds is exported to Europe and Japan. I found the mechanism of this all to be pretty fascinating, but even more so, the complex abstract patterns these pools created are very exciting for me as a photographer.<br />
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The second area was where the Incas had built a series of concentric circles, ever lower, nestled in large hills. The American archeologist who discovered the site in the early 1920s found that each level had different types of crops that had been planted there. This eventually led the scientific community to believe that this was an experimental area for the Incas, indeed, there is a significant temperature differential as you climb from the top down to the bottom. The Incas did not have a written language, and the Spaniards destroyed much of the Inca culture in the 1500's, so little is known for certain about any of the Inca ruins. It is believed however that his location served as a laboratory where they could test which plants grew well at which temperatures and which altitudes. Given the evidence of Inca knowledge of Astronomy, it would not be too far of a stretch to imagine them conducting these kinds of experiments on their crops.<br />
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During the entire day, my guide was extremely knowledgeable and informative. He recently graduated with a degree in tourism, which requires this in depth knowledge, and passing a test which involves pretending that his professors are tourists, taking them to different places, and answering random questions from them. He was very proud to show me his recently acquired government issued tour guide card. <br />
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At the end of the day he brought me to Ollantaytambo, where I caught the 7pm train to Aguas Calientes, where I am now typing this blog entry. Once I reach the city, I expect to be picked up by my hostel there, and catch a short night's sleep before getting up early to get to Machu Picchu before the crowds roll in at 10am.<br />
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Update: Made it to the hostel. Waiting to meet my guide and then get to sleep as quickly as I can. 4:30am will come very early tomorrow morning.<br />
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Ok. The internet here is not being cooperative. I'll upload the rest of today's images tomorrow hopefully.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-91496280128154516812012-04-01T18:05:00.000-07:002012-04-01T18:05:27.899-07:00Puno to Cuzco, PeruToday was another travel day, and I'm beginning to realize the wisdom of my approach earlier in the trip of spacing out travel days with days I can just relax and hang out in a new location. 9 hours on a bus today was not the most pleasant thing I've ever done, however, I had chosen to take the "tourist" bus from Puno to Cuzco, which involved stopping at a number of places and learning a bit about the history of the Cuzco valley. <br />
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Because it is a week before Easter, churches here are celebrating the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We came across one of these churches today, and people in Peru are not unhappy with getting their photos taken, unlike the Bolivians I encountered. I of course asked first before shooting any of these, I always try to be respectful when photographing people.<br />
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As we crossed over the highest point in the valley we were traveling through (about 4500m), we stopped at an Andean market. Once we moved beyond this, the vegetation began to change dramatically. We entered a much wetter part of the valley, and trees began to appear, along with some threatening grey clouds. By the time we arrived in Cuzco, there had definitely been some rain, and it has been raining off and on since then as well. I'm hoping my trip to Machu Picchu in the next few days has good weather, but if it doesn't, I'll make do with what I have.<br />
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In the interest of trying new foods, I ate llama for lunch today. Delicious! Much better than the Guinea Pig from yesterday. <br />
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After getting into Cuzco and getting successfully checked in to my hostel, I went to a travel agency that was recommended to me by the British couple I met in Puno, and got my travel plans for the next few days. Tomorrow night I'll be in Aguas Calientes, getting up early in the morning to see Machu Picchu, and returning to Cuzco tomorrow night. The time that I fly back to Seattle is drawing ever nearer.<br />
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One last thing. My room is at the very top of a narrow spiral staircase. I hope I don't have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Navigating my way down those stairs in flipflops seems like it would be a major disaster.<br />
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Jacques making new llama and alpaca friends.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GmXUyXr25Dc/T3j5solgHnI/AAAAAAAAB2E/2nqXsrVzLvk/s1600/IMG_9167+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GmXUyXr25Dc/T3j5solgHnI/AAAAAAAAB2E/2nqXsrVzLvk/s320/IMG_9167+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-45648963030578594182012-04-01T17:53:00.000-07:002012-04-01T17:53:08.405-07:00Floating Island Picsok, lets see if this works. Hey, it did. Awesome. Apparently I have a pretty high speed internet connection here in Cuzco.<br />
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Traveling out to the floating islands<br />
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First sight of an actual island that is actually floating.<br />
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The daily life of the residents of these islands was acted out for us with tiny props. In the background, the actual life of of the daily residents, which has far more to do with selling stuff to tourists than anything else, from what I could tell.<br />
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Departing the island we were treated to several songs in Spanish, and "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" in English.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--g0_lLBvceY/T3j37HtQumI/AAAAAAAAB1M/ppN9N4fVKuE/s1600/IMG_9069+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--g0_lLBvceY/T3j37HtQumI/AAAAAAAAB1M/ppN9N4fVKuE/s320/IMG_9069+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-28681471185934806602012-03-31T19:59:00.000-07:002012-03-31T19:59:58.748-07:00Floating Islands, and Computer TroubleHi all,<br />
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Today was a travel day, and I spent a good portion of it being somewhat uncomfortable on a bus. I went from Copacabana, Bolivia, to Puna, Peru. Much of the trip was fine, the border crossing was fairly easy, even if our bus driver did lie to us about where we could and could not exchange money. (I have no doubt he was getting kickbacks from the single exchange place we were all funneled to). In Puna I signed up for a tour of the floating islands, but by that time was cranky from not having had enough food. I found myself pretty angry that while on the tour one of the guides tried to hit us all up for an additional 10 Peruvian Soles, having already paid 20 Soles to go on the trip, and refused to pay. The rest of the trip was a tiny bit about education about the islands (conducted almost entirely in Spanish), and a lot of opportunities for us to buy handmade crafts and food while there at inflated prices. Cranky.<br />
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I made it to my hostel ok, and booked a bus for tomorrow to Cuzco, which will be an even longer trip, and I have to get up at 5:30am to meet my driver at 6:30am. Not looking forward to that either.<br />
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The highlight of my day was having dinner with a great couple from England. We went to a restaurant that they'd been meaning to go to for a while in order to eat the Guinea Pig dish. He ordered it, it was heavily cooked in garlic, and quite stringy, but I tried some, and it was not too bad to eat. <br />
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Ok. Last thing, I am having a lot of problems with my computer, the hard drive seems to be slowly failing, probably due to the altitude. I don't think I'll be able to post any more photos for the rest of the trip, but will do my best to add them in as separate blog posts later once I'm back in Seattle, sometime after Apr 7. Blog posts themselves will probably be a bit sparse until then as well. <br />
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Until next time!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-45723672358970705932012-03-30T19:32:00.000-07:002012-03-30T19:32:39.412-07:00Exploration in Copacabana, BoliviaToday was a short travel day from La Paz to Copacabana, both of which are in Bolivia. Apparently this copacabana is the original one, the beach in Rio de Janiero was named later. <br />
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Today was one of those days that starts out chaotic and uncertain, and then gets better. I left La Paz, which I continue to struggle to describe. I've said that it's a jumble of colors and shapes, and I've also said that the city borders on being slightly insane. I'm not sure either of these really describes the city though. Perhaps the best way to think of it is the feeling that you have when you have a fever, and your perceptions of the world are slightly crazed, overheated, and too full of color and sharp points of light. La Paz does make sense in its own way, but being there is kind of like pressing on the sides of you eyeballs until you start to see oddly hallucinogenic shapes swimming through your field of vision. <br />
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In leaving La Paz, I was planning on listening to some nice soothing music, but when I hit play on my iPod, it was in the middle of an equally chaotic piece of electronic music. It fit the mood perfectly, and provided a perfect soundtrack to the ongoing chaos that I was seeing as we were moving up and out of the valley that the city sits in. This path is a lengthy circular path, given that the valley walls are too steep to drive straight up, so you get plenty of opportunity to see your surroundings as you slowly ascend out.<br />
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Beyond La Paz proper I traveled through a great deal of sprawling neighborhoods. The further from the city center you got, the poorer these neighborhoods became, and it was somewhat heartwrenching to see miles and miles of poverty. More so than any other place I've traveled so far.<br />
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Eventually though we got out into the countryside, then had scenes of traditionally dressed Bolivian women, with their high bowler hats, pleated skirts, and colorful bags slung behind their back, herding groups of sheep and cows. It wasn't much longer when we reached Lake Titicaca, and then I was in for a treat. Part of our route took us on a ferry. In order to cross this narrow part of the lake, we all disembarked from the bus and took small passenger boats. Meanwhile the bus was loaded onto a pretty rickety looking barge. We more or less all beat the bus across the lake, which meant we could stand around and watch the barge come in at a slow speed, all the while hoping the silly thing wouldn't tip and dump its contents (including all of our backpacks) into the cold waters of the lake. Fortunately we all made it safely, and so did the bus, so soon we were on our way. All of this gave me enough time to try my first bites of trucha, or lake trout. I typically don't write about the food I eat because it's difficult to describe, and poorly described food experiences are pretty boring reading. This fish though, was amazing. And I just had to giggle a litte bit in glee as I was standing on the shores of one of the largest, highest lake in the world, eating freshly caught trout, and watching my big tour bus slowly make its way towards us all. It was a fantastic experience.<br />
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Soon after this we arrived in Copacabana, a small town near the Peruvian border on the lake. I spent the day exploring, which mostly meant looking through Bolivian handicraft shops, and eating at a lakeside restaurant while lounging in a beach chair. I am at about 3800 meters of elevation, which today meant that I was a little chilly, but getting sunburnt at the same time. Again. :)<br />
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In the evening I hiked up to the top of a tall hill and managed to capture some of my favorite evening photography so far this trip. The sunset was amazing for a very brief few minutes, and the blue sky mixed with the yellow of the streetlights after the sun set makes me very happy.<br />
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After very slowly making my way down the cobblestone path (I had remembered to bring a flashlight), I ate dinner at a tiny little street food vendor, serving up more of that wonderful trout. The street was full of people, there was a guy carrying giant sides of raw beef past the whole time (just, you know, slung over his shoulder), and small pickup trucks were backing up slowly down the street a foot from where I was sitting. The tiny bench I shared with two Bolivians. When I had finished my meal one of them spoke to me, and I apologized that I spoke little Spanish. At this point the food vendor leaned over towards me and spoke to me. Everyone else chuckled, and it took me a minute to realize he had spoken to me in a native language that was not Spanish. I said, "uh...,.that's not Spanish." and they all chuckled some more. I thought this was pretty entertaining, and at any rate, I was still enjoying the trout too much to do anything other than smile and enjoy whatever subtle joke they were having at my expense. :) It was a pretty great night that I finished up with by trying some more street food, in this case some kind of hot drink made from Quinoa and water, with a nice lemon flavor. Yummy!<br />
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Okay then! Photos galore!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_S8Qrbh6O0/T3Zot0XErZI/AAAAAAAAB0M/XkTkM2HaxtA/s1600/IMG_9010+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_S8Qrbh6O0/T3Zot0XErZI/AAAAAAAAB0M/XkTkM2HaxtA/s320/IMG_9010+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-76514761619405616012012-03-29T20:21:00.000-07:002012-03-29T20:21:17.699-07:00La Paz ExplorationToday was a long day of exploration, which is what it should be. I am feeling better, but it's too late to write full stories about the day. Here instead are a few anecdotes:<br />
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- I ate lunch in a restaurant that had a version of "The Scream" but with Homer Simpson instead.<br />
- Lots of protests in this city, several today, several yesterday. They have fireworks that sound like gunfire, but it's not gunfire, or so I was told.<br />
- Crossing the street in La Paz is far, far more dangerous than it ever was in Brazil. Sometimes just walking down the sidewalk is dangerous, as they are frequently not wide enough for one person, and when two people meet, someone has to step into the street. At one point today I was approaching a corner and a minivan came around from the other side and nearly drove up on the sidewalk, which was only a foot and a half wide at that point. It is not at all unusual that I could easily reach out and touch passing vehicles. Another time today I made it half way across a street, then was trapped for several minutes with traffic zooming past in opposite directions in front of me and behind me. Unnerving. <br />
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Ok. My favorite photos of La Paz from today, with a section in the middle from the museum of the Iglesia de San Francicso.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fTp2RhIegwU/T3UkRM43GEI/AAAAAAAAByI/HHWau6OaeHA/s1600/IMG_8684+-+edited+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fTp2RhIegwU/T3UkRM43GEI/AAAAAAAAByI/HHWau6OaeHA/s320/IMG_8684+-+edited+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-4774766201857971582012-03-28T20:21:00.000-07:002012-03-28T20:21:32.735-07:00ok, one photoI made it out later in the evening for dinner, which was a lot of fun, someone I met in Buenos Aires happens to be traveling through La Paz right now, and we connected on facebook, so I had dinner with him tonight. Awesome!<br />
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Ok. one pic. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MNe36i09V8I/T3PU7_VpilI/AAAAAAAABwg/9k-WXv8QaAc/s1600/IMG_8486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MNe36i09V8I/T3PU7_VpilI/AAAAAAAABwg/9k-WXv8QaAc/s320/IMG_8486.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-28166301246418589902012-03-28T14:39:00.000-07:002012-03-28T14:39:42.426-07:00Down day in La PazI haven't been feeling well ever since I got into La Paz, Bolivia, yesterday, so today was a down day. I slept for most of the morning, and have been trying to take it as easy as I can. So, no photos today. :) Perhaps tomorrow. I booked an extra day to stay here to recover. This means I'm cancelling my plan to bicycle down the Most Dangerous Road in the World, which I'm sure will make some of my relatives happy. :) It's not really the most dangerous anymore, since they don't allow vehicle traffic on it any longer. Just a nice long downhill coast through some spectacular scenery. <br />
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Next time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-80642031568099855142012-03-27T20:10:00.001-07:002012-03-27T20:12:53.220-07:00Salar de Uyuni Trip Report Part 3The last day of the trip had fewer things to see, and by that time I was a little worn out in seeing more rocks. We stopped at a lovely place with some lovely rocks, but I couldn't bring myself to try to find anything to photograph. Probably it would have been a good place for kite aerial photography, but I made the decision to leave my kite rig at home a long time ago.<br />
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However! We did see some very interesting other things. The town of Uyuni (which is where the tour ended) has a train graveyard. There are quite a few old rusting hulks of antique trains sitting out there. It is one of the few attractions of Uyuni, and is the sort of thing I could spend hours photographing. Unfortunately I only had 20 minutes, but I stretched it to 30 by walking fairly far away from our Landrover. It wasn't the only time my fellow travelers had to come find me when I was pretty occupied looking for photographic opportunities.<br />
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The other thing we saw that day was the salt flats. Near Uyuni is a giant desert of salt. This is the major reason people to go Uyuni, and was a good end to the 3 days of touring the desert. The salt flats were blindingly white, and sunglasses were pretty much a requirement to go out on the flats. There is a hotel made entirely out of blocks of salt dug up from the ground, it is possible to stay there, although my tour did not. There is also an active salt mining activity, which involves scooping the salt into large heaps, which are then hauled out and processed (mostly this involves drying the salt). These large heaps can be seen in many places near where we were, although at one point we drove fairly far out into the plain and then it felt like there was nothing else around at all, mostly because there was nothing else around at all.<br />
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The final images in this set are of the town of Uyuni, which is where my last story takes place.<br />
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You may recall that I spent many days in Buenos Aires trying to obtain all the necessary documentation to get a visa for Bolivia. Especially painful was trying to get US dollars, which are nearly impossible to get in Argentina, due to regulations which mostly prevent Argentinian currency to be converted into other currencies inside Argentina. I kept that documentation all the way through the 3 days of traveling through Bolivia on this tour, and when we finally got to Uyuni, I reminded my driver that we had to get me through immigration. He passed me off to the secretary at the tour company we were with, and she instructed me to come back at 3pm when the immigration office opened. No problem, I checked into my hostel, came back in plenty of time, and then she escorted me to the small office, located only a few store fronts down the street. We got there, and I was very friendly, having learned the importance of this from reading about Bolivian culture. I handed in my visa application, I handed in all my documentation, the form I filled out when I crossed the Bolivian border, my passport photos, proof of financial solvency, proof of a hotel in the country, and proof of a flight out of the country (the flight from Lima to Seattle was sufficient). Everything was in perfect order, when the friendly immigration official said, "ok, now you pay," and directed me to the distinctly less-friendly looking immigration official. No problem, I walk over to him, proudly pull out my near flawless US bills, smile, and hand them to him.<br />
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He frowns.<br />
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Then he says, "En Bolivianos?" Uh oh. I had read in many places online that the immigration office only wanted US dollars, that US dollars were highly prized, that as a US citizen I should be prepared with US dollars. And this guy wanted Bolivian money. Great. I don't have that much Bolivian currency. I say no, I don't have enough Bolivianos, and he directs me to a currency exchange as well as an ATM. I go to the ATM, which fortunately worked perfectly. I got my money, headed back to the office, and handed him some 1000 Bolivianos. He smiled, directed me back to the first guy, who had already put the visa in my passport. He then stamped it, and handed it back to me, saying it was good for 5 years. <br />
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I was so happy that at long last the arduous task of trying to get my Bolivian visa was finally done. I thanked them both profusely, and exited the office with a giant smile on my face. Throughout the evening I took the passport out several times just to look at it and the Bolivian entry stamp. <br />
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This concludes my 3 days in the (very) high desert of Bolivia. I hope you enjoy these last photos.<br />
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The ghosts of dead trains.<br />
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Large hexagon patterns in the drying salt.<br />
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This one is for my brother in law. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRu4Pfpkdss/T3J-wwi59yI/AAAAAAAABwU/QZgEfAkUICs/s1600/IMG_8472+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRu4Pfpkdss/T3J-wwi59yI/AAAAAAAABwU/QZgEfAkUICs/s320/IMG_8472+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-67522424585269951352012-03-27T15:12:00.001-07:002012-03-27T15:13:48.132-07:00Salar de Uyuni Trip Report Part 2The next day we got up and continued to explore the landscape. I tried to write down during the day of what I was seeing, but only have a few quickly jotted notes. These are some photos of more lagunas, some old stone and adobe buildings near one of them, and some odd vegetation I found along the way. I did feel much better in the morning though, so that was good. The last few shots are in and around the town of Culpina K, where we spent the night.<br />
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The water here was much calmer than the previous day, and we had saw some excellent reflections.<br />
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Some of my fellow travelers.<br />
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The edge of this laguna had quite a bit of odd growth. <br />
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This green vegetation was surprisingly common around the laguna. I looked at it closely, and it is a very large number of tiny little plants. They grew into these rounded shapes, with quite a bit of mass. None of the rocks in the area were round, so I assume that the entire thing is plant material.<br />
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This last image here, by the way, is of Quinoa crop. I had no idea what it looked like, and it turns out it's quite colorful.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-66489154068324204172012-03-27T13:50:00.000-07:002012-03-27T13:50:31.795-07:00Salar de Uyuni Trip Report Part 1I am pleased to report that after a multi-day tour through high desert, mountains, and altiplano, that I have made it to Uyuni, and then La Paz, Bolivia, safely. I just now have internet access, 4 days after starting the trip, so there are quite a few photos that I have to post. <br />
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Uyuni Trip Day 1:<br />
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I got up early in order to make sure that I was packed and ready to catch the bus that picked me up at my hostel. It turns out that the passport control to exit Chile is just outside the city, even though the border is an hour away. Chile has this figured out, there's really only one road, so they don't bother putting their passport control at the border, they put it much nearer to town. The line to exit Chile was fairly long, and stretched out down the block, across the driveway where large trucks were pulling in and out to do customs inspection, so every few minutes our line would break in half to allow these semis in and out. Many of them were car carriers, lots and lots of used cars headed into Bolivia, I imagine someone's making a lot of money off that somehow.<br />
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I got through the Chilean passport control and headed up to the actual border. Bolivia unfortunately, doens't have it quite as nice. There are no towns near this border, the only thing that is there is a small brick shack. And I don't have a Bolivian visa. You may recall from my adventures in Buenos Aires that while I have all the documentation, my instructions were to get the visa at the border. So I give the border guard my passport, all the documentation, and he takes my passport, puts it in an envelope, stapes it closed, writes "immagracion uyuni" on it, and hands it to my driver. <br />
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This was expected, given the stories people have been telling on the internet who are doing the same thing. What was not expected was my driver shrugging and handing me back the envelope. So I carried my passport with me for the next few days. Which was fine with me, at least I knew where it was. More about this in a future post when I actually get to Uyuni.<br />
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After a bit, we were off. And we were off into some of the strangest, most surreal landscape I've seen in a very long time. There were geyser fields, mountains, and nearly zero vegetation. At times we drove through boulder fields, with giant rocks strewn all over, other times it was nearly dead flat. There were lagoons of various colors, depending on the mineral content, and volcanoes where only the very tops had snow. We drove up to 4900 meters, and slept overnight at somewhere around 4500 meters. And all of that elevation made me ill. It was a good thing that I had some medication with me, it helped a great deal.<br />
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We were all in Toyota Landrovers for this, by the way, which made it through the entire trip without any problems. Um...except for the fact that ours would occasionally not start, and our driver would get out, grab a tire iron, then bang on something near the right front wheel a few times. Then he would be able to start the vehicle. I have absolutely no clue as to how this worked, but it seemed to make everything okay. Very strange.<br />
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My Landrover was one of four on the trip, and between the 20 of us there were 2 Brazilians, 2 Spaniards, myself, and the rest of the group was either from Germany or Switzerland, which meant there was a lot of speaking in German. In my own truck I was the only one who did not speak German, which meant that when the driver spoke in Spanish, the one girl would often translate into German, and forget to translate into English. Nonetheless, everyone was pretty great, I had a very good time, with lots of conversations about the fall of the Berlin wall, the differences between Germany and Switzerland, and general surprise on their part that I even needed a passport for Bolivia.<br />
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That night we stayed in unheated adobe buildings. I rented a sleeping bag, and had to pee several times during the night. Side effect of the altitude medication. <br />
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Ok enough stories. Have some photos.<br />
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The Chile/Bolivia border. Note the wonderful "middle of nowhereness" about this.<br />
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Laguna Blanca. Because it's white, more or less. Blanca.<br />
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The red Landrover was the one I was in. An endless stretch of featureless desert all the way up to the top of those there volcanoes.<br />
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Oh, nearly forgot. In one of the lagunas, there a very large number of pink flamingos. Awesome! Laguna Colorada I believe.<br />
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Perhaps my favorite image from the entire trip, these two flamingos on the edge of the water.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wg9rAznp04w/T3Il7JKbn3I/AAAAAAAABqk/1p652wzgaT8/s1600/IMG_7769+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wg9rAznp04w/T3Il7JKbn3I/AAAAAAAABqk/1p652wzgaT8/s320/IMG_7769+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-12005816020245658572012-03-23T20:07:00.000-07:002012-03-23T20:07:31.288-07:00Atacama Desert - Valle de LunaI am nearing the end of my trip, and I wouldn't feel any different about it, but fellow travelers often ask how long you'll be traveling for, and more and more my answers are "um, I only have about 2 weeks left." <br />
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So I'm making the most of it.<br />
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Today I spent the afternoon and evening visiting an area called Valle de Luna, or Valley of the Moon. I made some friends along the way, and had dinner with a Natalie Portman lookalike, along with a German guy who is staying in the same hostel as me. <br />
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Sadly, the 3 Australian girls who I was going to be on a 3 day desert trip to Uyuni, Bolivia, have cancelled their plans. One of them is ill, probably due to too much elevation gain too quickly, so they are all staying behind a day and booking a trip the next day. I'm sad about this, as they're all three very witty and enjoying themselves immensely. They are all doctors, and quit their jobs in order to travel for an extended period of time. They would have made the trip a lot of fun, but I'm sure it will be good regardless. <br />
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However, today was a great day, and here are the photos I came away with.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6kWvZd6AJFI/T205sS4giPI/AAAAAAAABog/sJFS4DmO7wI/s1600/IMG_7534+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6kWvZd6AJFI/T205sS4giPI/AAAAAAAABog/sJFS4DmO7wI/s320/IMG_7534+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-65874631708876597752012-03-23T07:56:00.001-07:002012-03-23T07:57:49.596-07:00San Pedro de Atacama ExplorationMy blog post is a bit late today because yesterday at the end of the day, when I'd normally be updating this site, I was out in the desert looking at stars as part of an organized event. And there were many, many stars to be seen. We're quite high up here, and the sky was cloudless, and the night sky was far more impressive than it is in Seattle, where usually it's so cloudy you can't even see any stars.<br />
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The rest of yesterday was spent exploring the small dusty town of San Pedro de Atacama, arranging a tour of the Bolivian salt flats, and general hanging out.<br />
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And I'm very pleased to report that I do have a tour booked. Normally it's a bit tough as one person to book a tour, you have to go with other people, and finding those other people might be a bit challenging. However, there are 5 others at my hostel, all of whom I get along well with, which is good, since we're all going to be in the same Land Rover for 3 days together. We booked it as a single group, and if all goes well with getting a visa at the Bolivian border, I'll be tooling around the high desert starting tomorrow, seeing lagoons, flamingos, and blindingly white salt flats. That also means that while I may be able to pull off one more blog post later this evening, I will be absent from the internet for several days. Furthermore, depending on how much I want to risk it, I may not turn on the computer for several days after that as well. I've heard some stories about hard drives failing at high altitudes. I'll see what others are doing and make my decision based on that, but I might be offline for a while, or using public computers to do smaller posts.<br />
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Okay. Here are some desert photos, with a sweet shot of the milky way at the very end.<br />
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The hostel that I am staying in has a very young cat, which likes to get up on the roof, and then mew pitifully until someone rescues it. While that was happening yesterday morning, it hopped onto a shade cloth that covers the breakfast area, and wandered around trying to figure out how to get down.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m8BN6_bzkj4/T2yM6vPhB-I/AAAAAAAABmA/KO_favaXCCg/s1600/IMG_7306+-+edited+small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m8BN6_bzkj4/T2yM6vPhB-I/AAAAAAAABmA/KO_favaXCCg/s320/IMG_7306+-+edited+small.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-46642178671962351002012-03-22T05:32:00.000-07:002012-03-22T05:32:55.286-07:00Quick Update - Travel DayYesterday was a travel day from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama, a small town on the edge of the Atacama desert in Chile. It's a dusty dry town, as one might expect for being in the desert. I'll be spending a few days here before hopping on an excursion across the desert into Bolivia.<br />
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Airport public art, no doubt meant to make travelers feel better about their lost luggage.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K2gBZlHY7sM/T2sbyZXj7UI/AAAAAAAABkA/gA3L0C9CmJU/s1600/IMG_7024+-+edited+small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K2gBZlHY7sM/T2sbyZXj7UI/AAAAAAAABkA/gA3L0C9CmJU/s320/IMG_7024+-+edited+small.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-32733719821004466002012-03-20T18:42:00.001-07:002012-03-20T18:50:33.942-07:00Further Exploration in SantiagoMore exploration of Santiago today. The photos tell the story better than I do, so I'll comment on the images inline. Mostly I just walked around, made it to the top of a few big hills in the city, both of which are parks. I met up again with the person I mentioned yesterday, and I neglected to mention that she herself is an excellent blogger, and does travel writing. She can be found here: <a href="http://bearshapedsphere.com/">http://bearshapedsphere.com/</a><br />
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Two fun stories today:<br />
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The first is that in some parts of Santiago there are walk/don't walk signals for pedestrians that count down the number of seconds you have left to cross the street. This by itself is not that uncommon, Seattle has several intersections where this is the case as well. What is awesome about Santiago's signals is that the little green "walk" guy is animated, so he's strolling too while people are crossing the street. But it gets even better. The closer the signal is to turning red, the more quickly the little animated walk dude moves. By the time the countdown reaches 3 seconds, he's running really fast. It was pretty entertaining to get a sense of urgency from this as I was crossing the road.<br />
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Second story: I got a haircut! I got a pretty good deal on it as well, $5500 pesos, or a little over $10 USD. The guy did an excellent job for my stammered "2 centimeters (point to top of head), and (making a bzzzzzt sound, while pointing to the side of my head). He went to work and I'm very pleased with my new haircut. Sadly, the electric shaver that I brought with me does not run on 220v, so my beard is getting scraggly, and there won't be much I'll be able to do about that before returning to Seattle. But at least the top part of my head looks good. :)<br />
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Onward and Upward to the photos!<br />
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Architecture in the first park/hill I went to.<br />
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Looking over Santiago from various vantage points on the way up.<br />
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This is the second park, which required learning a new word, "funicular" and riding that particular er...mode of transportation...up to the top of the hill.<br />
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...which had a big religious statue on it. And for that matter, the top of the smaller hill earlier in the day did too. South Americans apparently like to pitch Christian statues up on top of their highest hills. There was apparently one on the Argentina/Chile border crossing too, although I did not see it.<br />
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Big of smog in the city today.<br />
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Nice chapel at the top of the hill though.<br />
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Those would be the Andes barely visible in the background there.<br />
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I know, cheap photoshop trick, but I kind of like the results. I'll do a more subtle job of this when I get back home.<br />
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Jacques, normally a happy travel turtle, looking a bit apprehensive about the return trip down the very steep track. Funicular!<br />
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Some nice architecture, since I like to shoot that sort of thing.<br />
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And returning to the park I was at earlier in the day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WICUqmTFbTY/T2kxP6QhL0I/AAAAAAAABjw/VyrXSF_pM_g/s1600/IMG_7014+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WICUqmTFbTY/T2kxP6QhL0I/AAAAAAAABjw/VyrXSF_pM_g/s320/IMG_7014+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-33102893181027464202012-03-19T19:28:00.000-07:002012-03-19T19:28:50.967-07:00Santiago ExplorationToday I spent the day exploring downtown Santiago. I had met someone who lives here a few months back in Seattle, and we had coffee together, she pointed out various things to me before taking off and leaving me to my own city navigating skills. No problem. <br />
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As such, this is a photo heavy post, although I do have one good story. I wandered into what was essentially a small mall. It had a 4 story centrally located atrium, with a ramp that curved around the outside edge, gently leading from the basement floor all the way to the top, making one circuit around the atrium per floor. The stores in the building were mostly hair care and salons, the basement floor was a video arcade, which made me smile, because I haven't seen anything like that in my travels so far. There was also a spiral staircase, so I walked down to the arcade, then to make my way out, entertained myself by navigating along the ramp. As I walked the length of one part of the ramp, I noticed a storefront whose windows had been darkened entirely, it was impossible to see in. I didn't pay any attention to it until the sliding door opened a few inches, and scantily clad girl in her 20's appeared in the door and waved to me. I smiled graciously and continued to move up the ramp. She waved again, and I smiled again back at her, waved back at her, nodded, and continued on my way. <br />
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In other words, I declined her offer as politely as I knew how. <br />
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Probably the establishment was a strip club, and I say that because I've seen quite a few strip clubs and adult movie theatres in town. Santiago, more than any other city I've been in, has sex fairly close to the surface of every day life. The strip club in that mall was only a floor away from the video arcade, and right next to a nail and hairstyling place. There are coffee houses, primarily for men, where the women who are making the coffee are all somewhat provocatively dressed, and these places have stand-up counters with no down-panel so that the women are all able to be viewed fairly easily.<br />
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Sometimes it's difficult to know what to judge and what not to when in a foreign culture. Discuss. <br />
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On that note, here are my photos from the day.<br />
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More excellent stencils and street art in Santiago, although there is less of it. Santiago is a cleaner city the Buenos Aires.<br />
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Hey....a photo of the inside of a cathedral? Who would think it?<br />
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Chalk drawing rendered in front of said cathedral. It was quite good.<br />
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Jacques in Santiago!<br />
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Reminded me strongly of Trinity Church in Boston, which is likewise right next to a modern, very reflective building.<br />
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Walk path across the Pan American Highway<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nX9khRL64IQ/T2fqe-R04dI/AAAAAAAABhI/_fYmrJdMTgM/s1600/IMG_6773+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nX9khRL64IQ/T2fqe-R04dI/AAAAAAAABhI/_fYmrJdMTgM/s320/IMG_6773+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-44640737313099609042012-03-19T07:48:00.000-07:002012-03-19T07:48:40.673-07:00Mendoza to Santiago StoriesBeing able to move on from my party hostel was a nice change of pace yesterday. I didn't mind the fact that it was a party hostel, but it did mean that my schedule was very different than everyone elses while there, and while I was coming, they were going, and vice versa. This led to interesting experiences like being woken up at 1:30am by my bunkmates to discover they were dressing in order to go out. That worked for me, I had several good hours of sleep until they showed up again at 5am. Still, it was not the most relaxing place to be, so yesterday I hopped on a bus from Mendoza to Santiago.<br />
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And promptly encountered what a friend of mine says is the most beautiful road in the world. See the photos I posted last night, and judge for yourself. (Personally, I think highway 20 through the north Cascades can hold its own here, but I don't have many photos of that....yet.)<br />
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The bus ride was supposed to be 6 hours, but with an additional 2 hours spent at the border, it was really about 8 hours. Most of the time at the border was spent with the officials searching for food, Chile is quite strict about agricultural imports. I had actually written down "yes, I'm carrying food" with me, but I think they never noticed, and at any rate, it was processed, so I probably was fine anyway.<br />
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After arriving in Santiago, I did a quick hop on the subway (their trains run on rubber tires, nice!) and then was helped out by a friendly Chilean who walked me to my hostel. On the bus I had also met two travelers from Sweden, they did not have accommodations lined up, so they joined me and have been staying at the hostel as well.<br />
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And I have to say, this is the nicest hostel I've been in so far in my entire 2 months traveling. It's very large, airy, old hardwood floors. The shared room is really big, with lots of space to move around, places to hang clothes, and a sink in the room. They have a pool, several large social areas, and is the opposite of a party hostel. It's quiet, everyone is friendly and relaxed, and the hostel is located a few blocks away from busy downtown, far enough that there is very little traffic noise at night. I love it. <br />
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To finish up, here are a few more photos of the "zona de curvas," the sequence of switchbacks just immediately after crossing over into Chile.<br />
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Looking down from the side of the bus at the steep mountainside cliff that the switchbacks are carved into. <br />
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Looking sideways at one of the curves as we round the corner.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-18268380603267233872012-03-18T20:48:00.000-07:002012-03-18T20:48:48.102-07:00Mendoza to SantiagoStories later, as it's late, but I wanted to quick throw up some photos from today. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nc_P7Hljw2k/T2ashcFV24I/AAAAAAAABfI/1QMQ1DiU9-Y/s1600/IMG_6365+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nc_P7Hljw2k/T2ashcFV24I/AAAAAAAABfI/1QMQ1DiU9-Y/s320/IMG_6365+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084639599804560182.post-3644519189643841572012-03-17T06:31:00.000-07:002012-03-17T06:31:51.988-07:00Mendoza Wine TourMendoza is a major wine producing region for Argentina, and my Lonely Planet guidebook says it would be a crime to visit Mendoza without going to at least one winery. So, even though I know relatively little about wine, I decided that this would be a good idea.<br />
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I booked a wine tour through the hostel I'm staying in, and I thought I had booked a bus tour, but it turns out that due to language barriers, I instead booked the opportunity to bicycle around to various wineries on my own. Heh. Wasn't expecting that, but I made the best of it, and had a good time.<br />
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I ended up meeting someone who I biked together with the whole day, she's from Vancouver, BC, and we chatted all the way while biking around, trying different wines, and eventually making it back to the bike rental shop. <br />
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Later in the evening we had dinner, her Spanish language skills found us a Japanese restaurant, so I'm pleased that my desire for Asian food is temporarily been satisfied. Much later in the evening, a friend of a friend who lives in Mendoza and I met up for a beer and conversation. So, it ended up being a late evening for me, with not enough time to post here. (and the previous day was a travel day with no photos or real stories). <br />
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So there we are. Enjoy these photos of my wine tour by bicycle of Mendoza Malbec country.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qfpft3GQ4Hc/T2SSD7cC2yI/AAAAAAAABec/egTzusfhaaY/s1600/IMG_6265+-+edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qfpft3GQ4Hc/T2SSD7cC2yI/AAAAAAAABec/egTzusfhaaY/s320/IMG_6265+-+edited.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14180130752947297936noreply@blogger.com0