Salar de Uyuni!

Way behind on the events over here but the jeep expedition to Salar de Uyuni was a great success! Our guide Jona was a soft-spoken 20 year old Bolivian who navigated us safely and comfortably through the desert and graciously endured our 2000 stops for “pipi” or photos. There are so many companies to choose from in order to do this trek and everyone walked away feeling like we chose a winner. Go with Cordillera, people! They did a great job. I had imagined way colder and rougher conditions for the trek but it was really quite easy. Spending several hours in the jeep bumping along the terrain was fun, obtaining my $135 Bolivian visa was a breeze, and the altitude that I was worried about didn’t phase me. On the first day crossing the border into Bolivia we were at 5000 meters and most of the crew wasn’t feeling too great. Other than feeling slightly light headed on the first night when we got to our lodging I have been altitude sickness free! I finally tried chewing the ubiquitous Bolivian coca leaf, which many travelers swear is helping them deal with the altitude in Bolivia and Peru. It is sold in every form imaginable and although I’m not exactly sure what it really does, a few leaves in warm water makes for a nice green tea of sorts.

Our jeep group of 6 joined with another jeep of 4 from the same company, so it was 10 of us in total on the same route, sharing same meals and lodging for the 2 nights. It was a really cool, easy-going group and beyond seeing the most incredible landscape ever we had fun playing cards, listening to music, and taking 50000 photos...






Our lodging in a hotel made of salt



Quinoa growing everywhere










So we ended this Salar de Uyuni trip about 14 days ago and since then our traveling circus/dysfunctional family of 6 has been quite busy... we have seen the town of Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, and now am in capital city of La Paz. After hearing so many mixed tales of Bolivia I must say I have been pleasantly surprised. Potosi and Sucre were beautiful cities, lovely and helpful people, cute little winding streets/colonial architecture. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much in Sucre because I was beat down for a few days after food or water or something did a number on my system. Everyone gets struck down in Peru of Bolivia at some point, and well, my bout came pretty much as a Bienvenidos a Bolivia. Back to normal now though and am really enjoying Bolivian food...quinoa galore, llama, and excellent soups. AND everything is SO much cheaper here, which has been a relief on the ol' budget. After seeing sights of La Paz I am off to Copacabana tomorrow morning, Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, and then it is on to Cusco to meet Erin for our 5 day Salkantay Machu Picchu Trek!!!

Much more love from Bolivia coming soon... Besos!

Bolivia or bust...

My 6 day bus adventure through northern Chile has come to an end (see below for photos!) and I am currently relaxing in a charming little town called San Pedro de Atacama. It am literally in a wild west movie set right now… in the middle of the desert, tiny adobe rows of artisan shops, hostels, tour agencies, and then local homes once you get off the main street. In the high season I can’t even imagine how over-run with tourists it must get. During the day there are locals roaming around going about their daily business, but apparently 85% are gringos running errands and organizing treks. Despite the backpacker wonderland it feels really peaceful and the desert scenery is beautiful. And the stars!!! The visibility is incredible, with the Milky Way is illuminated like I have never seen before. Today I rented a bike with new pals Phil and Frank and had a great time cycling through the desert. No roads, literally riding our bikes through dried up river beds and uphill for a great vista. Then after this 5 hour adventure some of us hopped on a bus to swim in a salt lagoon about 30 min. out of town. Cold water but so fun floating! You cannot even dunk yourself under the water, you just pop right back up. Once we stopped shivering and had dried off our bodies and hair were completely covered with a layer of dried white salt. A bizarre feeling. Then the bus took us to a small nearby salt flat for sunset which was so amazing..those pics are not included below unfortunately. In the past week I have experienced the most unique and breathtaking sunsets of my life! Chile is truly a beautiful country and I know I will return. I have been so impressed by the people and places I have seen and to think I almost didn't get to experience it this time around!

I was getting a bit stir-crazy being with the 16 person bus group for 6 days (I have NO idea how people do it for months at a time, yiiiiiikes!) so the end came at a perfect time for me. It was a great way to see some seriously amazing places that I never would have gotten to see on my own though, and I have teamed up with a great crew from the larger group to head onward with on Sunday - the 4x4 jeep trek into Bolivia!!! I have really been looking forward to this part of my adventure and I am so happy to have found a really good group of people to do it with - enter Phil, Shama, and Sohail (married couple) all from England, Ryan from US (Annapolis, Maryland), and Frank from Germany - who has been traveling with Phil. It will literally be bloody awesome, and I quite fancy taking some brilliant photos with them! Hehe, I have been jokingly poking fun at the British vernacular and after our fantastic 3 day jeep voyage I will surely emerge an honorary Brit. So, tomorrow morning, vamos! 3 days and 2 nights, during which a guide will drive us 6 and all our supplies across the border into Bolivia, eventually arriving at the largest Salt Flats in the world - Salar de Uyuni. On our way we stop at several points of interest, including bright green lagoons, flamingo habitats, huuuge cacti, swim in hot springs, and see wildlife. All 4 guys I am traveling with are amazing photogs with impressive cameras, so hoping to learn a thing or two and score some sweet photos to share with you all! :)

Please check out some of my pics from the past week, uploaded to Flicker!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47573664@N05/sets/72157623747975883/

Off to the desert...

Yes, it has been awhile, but I am alive and well!!! No pics this time even though I have 5 mil to share, but not enough time in this quick stopover with internet access. Coming soon I promise!

Saturday morning I said goodbye to Santiago and headed off on a 6 day bus adventure with a small travel company called Pachamama that runs the entire length of Chile only. I'm in a small van with 14 others and a funny guide named Yerson and we stop to see sights all along the northern coast, eventually getting me to San Pedro de Atacama - the world’s driest desert! I have been really excited about this place after hearing how much other travelers have enjoyed it. Last night and tonight we are in cabins in this reaaaally isolated little beach called Bahia Inglesa. The group is really fun and currently we are about to go get supplies for tonight´s beach BBQ.

Chile has been a really nice change of pace after my journey through Argentina. Santiago was a great city and it was nice to set the ol’ mochila down for more than 4 days, in a standout hostel that became like my home away from home. La Casa Roja is an amazing converted mansion that fits a ton of travelers but yet still maintains a cozy feel. It is beautiful architecturally, with 2 courtyards, full backyard with pool, and a fully stocked professional kitchen. The hostels I have loved have been ones with a kitchen culture, people from all over the world whipping up some really impressive meals. Well this one tops them all I would say, and I was lucky to befriend a man named Luis from Brazil right upon arrival who everyone called the chef of the house unofficially because of all the time and effort he was putting into cooking, and I joined him for a lot of it. It was really fun going to the central market to purchase all sorts of local meats and fish and then acting as sous chef to prepare the hostel feasts- like a free cooking class for me! This Luis was seriously a character, and our dorm became a little dysfunctional family of sorts. We had Javier, a guy from Santiago who has been living in the hostel for 2 months to “work on his English” and sets up his “office” every day outside in the courtyard, complete with a lamp, headphones and audio exercises on his computer. The shining stars were the two amazing chicas, Kristiana (Bulgarian from Denmark) and Natasha (Colombiana from Holland), lovingly called Shakira because of the resemblance. They are both traveling alone as well and both 20, which I was shocked to find out because they are both so wise for their age, and such independent spirits who have logged a really impressive amount of world traveling already. Truly global gals, and we had a lot of fun together. Natasha will be in Colombia when I go so we have planned to meet there eventually.

So what else did I do in my 2 weeks in Santiago? Well, of course I had to do another bike tour - my absolute favorite way to learn a city, and this time the bikes were green. I seriously wanted this bike for my own… my fave shade of green with a cute little white basket and bell, cruising around town….yes! We had a fabulous guide Glen who told us a ton about Chile’s difficult political past and showed us some really beautiful areas of the city. I fell in love with Santiago that day. It is SO clean, the parks and plazas are incredibly Euro and beautiful, and the public transportation is amazing. After 2 months of Argentina’s pollution spewing buses and BA’s subpar metro this place is like a dream. Top 5 subway system in the world and I loved it. Again, so clean, so easy, and trains come what feels like every 30 seconds.

I also took a day trip to Valparaiso. I had been excited to check out this funky little port town for awhile now, and a 1.5 bus ride in and out the same day was perfect amount of time to roam the streets. It is famous for its cobbled hills with funiculars, the beautiful street murals/graffiti, and brightly colored homes… it has been referred to as the SF of South America because of the hills, the water, and the bohemian feel. A really cool little city and we went with a group of Chileans that Kristiana had met, and it was nice to have local guides.

Ok, off to go find my bus peeps. Hasta pronto amigos!

P.S. Check out this crazy video on you tube…. Footage of my Santiago hostel captured during the earthquake!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8a8RXe1fdY

P.P.S. Last week marked my 2 months on the road anniversary! 2 months, still going strong :)