I decided to make a separate post for our
trip. I think that would be easier for
me to organize and for those reading. Heads
up, it’s alot. J People on the trip: Edward, Brenda, Greg, and
I. Edward and Brenda are from Columbia,
volunteering at Quebrada Leon for a year.
1 US dollar is approximately 6.94 bolivianos and 1 US dollar is about
2.52 soles (Peru).
Jan 6
We were planning on leaving for the bus terminal at 6am from
the place we were staying at in Santa Cruz.
Our driver, however, arrived around 7 and had breakfast before taking us
at 730am. Compared to the quiet and
empty-ish airport, the bus terminal is jammed packed. Chaotic would be a good description of the
place and you have to watch all your belongings at all times. Unfortunately, we had arrived too late to
purchase tickets from Trans Copacabana.. no more seats. Edward looked for and found another bus fare
to Cochabamba from Express Santa Cruz (I’ll never forget). Well, we had to wait for a while and we saw
many buses coming and going. We were
looking for our bus and kept saying, “thank goodness that one isn’t our
bus!” Some looked like you would
contract a disease.. okay, maybe that’s too much. But you get the point. Well, our bus might be 3rd or 4th
from the worst that we saw. Overall, not
good: especially for a 9 hour bus ride. Our
bus came and left quite late and meanwhile, I purchased a bag of bread. Later, I found them to be some type of cheese
bread. Mostly cheese. -______-;;;
I slept more most of the trip. It
was super hot and muggy inside besides the stench. I was glad to be wearing long pants because
the seats weren’t exactly clean. We left
the windows open unless it started to rain, which it did throughout our
journey. There was no A/C and
thankfully, I did not have to use the bathroom, if there was one in
service. Greg and I got seats at the
very front left and so we had more leg room.
They made a stop for lunch but there wasn’t much too eat. We had crackers and drinks. Later, we almost missed the bus but were able
to flag it down. As we neared
Cochabamba, the scenery became very jungle like and beautiful. We kept going up the road and by a national
park with clear/cold mountain rivers and streams. Cliffs and large boulders were a constant
sight throughout the rest of the trip besides the villages covered in a cool,
dense fog. There were pine trees as we
came onto a plateau type of landscape. I
could not see too well at night, but we saw a large statue illuminated by
lights at the top of a mountain. By the
amount of lights, we could tell that this was a large city. Instead of the 9 hour trip, it became into a
12.5 hour trip. There were so many angry
customers on the bus, I didn’t have to say anything to anyone. In Cochabamba, we could not find a bus
leaving for La Paz since we arrived so late.
After supper, we contemplated whether to stay in a hostel, at the bus
terminal, or to call Boris to find us a place to stay. Well, the hostel was closing in 5 mins and
the bus terminal closes at 11:30pm. Fortunately,
we got in touch with Boris and he gave us an address and name for us to stay at
for the night. Cochabamba is known for
being dangerous at night, especially for tourists. A bus and a taxi got us to where a lady
greeted us into her home. It was the
nicest places that I’ve stayed at since arriving in Bolivia. Greg and I slept on the floor with plenty of
blankets. Supposedly, it gets cold here
at night. Bolivia, cold? I charged by camera before heading to
bed. We have a bus to buy tickets for
and to get on at 7am.
Jan 7
We
all woke up way past 7am.. Chilly in the morning but it felt wonderful to be in
a cool place. So we ended up having
breakfast prepared by hermana Miriam, our host.
We had a nice view from where we were, a 2nd story home
overviewing Cochabamba. The high
mountains envelope the city with greenery and craggy peaks. Although it is around 8,000ft high, there was
no snow on the mountains. Well, the bus
is gone and they do not depart until at night.
We took some of Greg’s saved information on Cochabamba on his computer
as well as local info about the area.
First, we went to visit an Adventist university (U.A.B). The campus was tiny but beautiful with all
the foliage and flora. Seeing much of
Bolivia the way it is, what a difference!
No classes were running as it is summer vacation but there were quite a
few people participating in soccer, swimming, racquetball, and a seminar. Afterwards, we took buses to reach the statue
that we saw the day before. I really
appreciate the cleanliness of Cochabamba with the sewer system, well paved
roads, and even beds of flowers and cut grass.
We took a taxi to the top of the hill/small mountain leading up to the
statue. It was either that or walking up
more than 1250 steps one way. 20
bolivianos and we got to see a spectacular view of the city. Absolutely beautiful! I was not excited to visit the statue but
once I got there, change of attitude! We
could get a 360 degree view, but even better was the cost of 1.50 bolivianos up
the statue. Inside, it was very narrow
and dank but the view you can get from the peak holes is worth it all. They say that this statue is higher than the
famous statue in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
It is 33 meters and some more to reflect the age of Jesus on earth. Of course we took a bunch of photos before
heading back down in another taxi. The
view coming up and down was exhilarating as was the ride. I do not ever recall being in a complacent
taxi and feeling safe. Haha! It is cool in the morning, but it gets
progressively hotter throughout the day.
After getting back to the house, we walked back out to purchase our bus
fares. We were very fortunate to be
able to buy them for 43 bolivianos per person.
Other places were charging 70 and up.
Our hosts then wanted to show us a statue near the city plaza before
going to the Mercado. Again, I heard
many stories involving thieves. I had my
camera in a bag and in front of me in my hands.
:D I was craving fruits so much
that I ended up buying mangoes, grapes, and ciduelas (type of plums). Once we got back, I shared with everyone at
the house. One thing that kind of
shocked me was to see mosquitoes. I
thought there were none in Cochabamba!
:/ Time to go to La Paz! The host lady, Miriam, actually has a son
interested in attending Quebrada Leon.
We gave her a brochure to look at what the school offers. I hadn’t taken a shower in 3 days now, since
leaving Quebrada Leon Friday. At least I
don’t smell and I look great. XD We said our goodbyes and left for our bus
leaving at 9:30pm. I got ripped off for
a 2L bottle of water for 10bs. It’s
usually 6 or even 5 bolivianos. :/ Greg and I shared a blanket to sleep with on
the way to La Paz. It was quite
chilly.
Jan 8
It
was 5:30am when I woke up. People were
being dropped off at various locations on our way to the bus terminal. The city was still illuminated with the
lights since the sun was still a ways away from coming up. We arrived at the terminal 15 mins early to
be exact. Amazing! It is freezing here and the bus terminal is
not closed space, meaning that the cold air just comes right in. L We went to a café to get something warm to
drink as well as to eat something. We
had leftover crackers from Greg’s backpack and tea. Many beggars came to ask for money or to sell
items. I still had bread from a few days
ago in my bag. Gross! Threw that away! We took a taxi to an address where Inesita
and Ceci were staying at. The roads are
mostly cobblestone and reminds me a lot of San Francisco in relation to the
steepness of the roads. I took a
video. The roads are narrow but clean,
like Cochabamba. Maybe cleaner. And yes, they do have a sewer system. :D The
home is very small but has a family of 4 including 2 children, one infant boy
and the other a 1 year old girl. A small
kitchen, a very small bathroom, and a common room leading to the master bedroom
made up the house. It was what I would
consider a tight space for 2 college students, but now there were 10 people in
the house. We crashed for a few hours
before having food cooked by Inesita.
Yumm! We then ventured out and
saw 3 catholic churches/basilicas. The
basilica was impressive but the other two smaller catholic churches were ugly
and cluttered. There were many beggars
in front of the churches. The catholics
are very faithful here in worshipping in prayer and devotion. I only felt disgusted and frustrated by the
pagan idols lining the walls inside the building. We walked in the rain for the majority of the
time, but besides that, we were in shops and a museum. I was on the lookout for alpaca clothing and
souvenirs for family and friends. I
bought a bread for 0.50 bolivianos.
White bread! Haha~ It was amazing. Most people here dress nicely with suits and
drive imported cars from the US and Europe.
There are quite a few Korean Kias and Hyundai being used here. Restaurants with wooden and metal chairs with
silverware and glass cups are common, and many military and police personnel
maintain organization on the streets and by the stores. One of the streets had policemen with riot
shields. Supposedly, the president of
Bolivia was out shopping in that street earlier. I wanted to take pictures of them, but that
might not have been a good idea anyways.
Greg and I got in trouble though in one of the catholic churches for
taking photos. They made Greg delete the
photos. Then, I got in trouble in a mall for taking pictures.. I was taking
selfs through the mirror. -____-;; I get a little excited when I see a mirror
since they are so rare here. Up tight
for no reason? Oh well. Bolivia is heavily influenced by European
culture as seen evident in infrastructure, ideals, and social gatherings. Bolivians really like Korean things:
especially music! Psy’s Gangnam style is
played in Korean, Spanish, and in remixes.
Stairway to Heaven is aired on TV in Spanish daily. American music is common place at restaurants
and cafés. I purchased my first alpaca
clothing: a large scarf and a pair of gloves for 220 bolivianos. It is cheap by US standards but a lot of
money considering bolivian standards. We
walked by some vendors selling items for voodoo and witchcraft. Very weird.
We stopped by a type of HiperMaxi and I resisted buying pringles. J We ended up sleeping at a different place due
to the space at Inesita’s grandson’s house.
Greg, Edward, and I walked several blocks to a Inesita’s grandson’s
wife’s mother’s sister’s house to sleep.
Jan 9
The
night proved to be very cold even with all of our clothes and blankets. My back was sore from the very soft mattress
that Greg and I shared. We went back to
the “house” (Inesita’s grandson’s house) and had breakfast before deciding what
to do in La Paz. Greg was not feeling
well and he got up several times during the night to use the bathroom. We all had some coca tea as an altitude
sickness remedy. Interesting. It’s bad if you chew on the leaves with
alcohol. That’ll make you high. Anyways, Greg slept for most of the day, and
I watched soccer on TV. I always said
that I wanted 4 kids. Well, we were baby
sitting 2 kids and they really got me thinking that 4 is way too much. Especially with the constant crying and
constant watching that was needed. After
lunch, we everyone went out to La Paz, except for Greg. We took a taxi to a different part of La Paz,
almost 20 minutes away. There was a new
large mall complete with movie theaters, food court, band name stores, indoor
sport venues, ice-skating, laser-tag, fancy restaurants, arcade, and
bowling. Right outside one of the windows,
I saw a poor bolivian home with the basic necessities. What a contrast! Quite ridiculous actually. We had some butter and color sugared
popcorn. Tasty. Afterwards, we split up and us three (Brenda,
Edward, and I) headed back to downtown La Paz to meet up with Miriam’s son
(Cochabamba host) for he was interested in attending Quebrada Leon. We were kicked out of one café (because we
weren’t ordering food food) and then we walked for a while to another café. I had earl grey tea (12bs) and just listened
to Edward and Brenda talk to our potential attendee. The alpaca gloves that I bought are coming in
handy here. They aren’t super warm but
enough to keep the blood circulating.
Afterwards, we were planning on getting some dinner but all the places
were closing; it was past ten at night. I
should have bought some potatoes from the street vendors. -____-;;
We got to bed around 11pm after taking the bus back to our place (1bs
per person).
Jan 10
Greg
is feeling much better today, though he did use the bathroom at night
(once?). Breakfast was colada… one thing
that is so difficult to get used to eat.
We basically eat breakfast and lunch.
Dinner is very simple and nothing like you would have for dinner in the
states. This time, we traveled up to El
Alto (the higher plateau part of La Paz) to see the Mercado. It was super chilly with the wind, but we
were able to see some of the Mercado and to buy some souvenirs. We called up Boris, one of the students at
Quebrada last school year, to see if we could meet up. We could not spot them for a long time and
decided to leave. Greg somehow spotted
him with several others in the mass chaos of people. We got to see not only Boris but Romina and
Lucia. J Boris tried to convince us very strongly
about staying to help them run the health fairs: for 2 weeks! I met a little girl named Gracia, so
cute! After saying goodbye, we walked a
very long ways to find and get on a micro back to the house. My back was bothering me a lot and the walk
did not help since I had my backpack as well.
It was hurting to the point of me wondering how many more steps I could
take without it breaking. We found a bus
much later and finally got to downtown La Paz.
We decided to eat at a place called Tomato café, a vegetarian restaurant. It was good and cheap by American standards.
I paided about $2.70 for a soya burger and Greg spent $2.50 for a Panini. Que rico!
Service was very slow but the total bill was about 15 dollars. Not bad for a decent restaurant with a nice
interior. Brenda was borrowing my alpaca
gloves and she almost lost them at one point.
We found it thankfully, much to Brenda’s relief. We walked back to the house and I felt like I
was going to throw up all the food we just had.
It’s very steep and long. I could
laugh about it now~ Pa Laz looks very
pretty at night from all the lights illuminating from the homes and street
lights. I slept on the floor this time
and hopefully that’ll be good for my back.
Jan 11
Edward
left early for a morning run before we got up.
By the time we got back to the house, Edward was already there and
waiting for us. Fail! I guess we got up quite late. :D I
took a shower couple days ago but it was cold.
From some advice, I turned the water on very low… my first hot shower
since arriving in Bolivia!! I did not
want to come out.. It was so amazing. I
won’t forget that feeling. XD After breakfast, we decided to go see the
ancient capital of the Incas. It cost
15bs for each person one way to get to the site by microbus. I thought it was expensive until I found out
that the ride was an hour and a half one way.
What a deal. Haha! However, they charged us foreigners 80bs per
person to enter the site. It was not
anything amazing or close to what we might have expected. A little after we arrived, it started to pour
rain and hail for more than an hour. We
visited 2 museums as we waited out the storm.
The lack of sun with the rain and wind contributed to the discomfort of
coldness. I contemplated buying a scarf just for the cold. The museum was leaking rain water in various
places. :/ The rain stopped and we bought some potato
chips before heading out to see the ruins.
Obviously it was very wet and muddy.. Glad to be wearing hiking
boots. The rocks are cut and fitted
absolutely perfectly. It looks as if
some modern machine cut and put them together.
I kind of enjoyed the site but the other 3 couldn’t be any more
disappointed. I stopped with my
enthusiasm later, I felt bad. Haha I had to admit that it was boring overall. A person working at the place told us that
there was another site to see. We ended
up walking far to it to find it closed.
No one was working there.
-______-;; We did some shopping
at the tourist vendors where I bought an alpaca scarf for 30bs, alpaca socks
for 10bs, and strange stone carvings for 10 bs, and I also received some free
gifts with my purchases. One of the
people riding in the microbus back to La Paz with us shared candy with
everyone. Best candy ever! I saved the wrapper to find it later. ^^
Some others had coca tea being passed around. Our driver was very friendly and stopped at
the edge of the “bowl” at La Paz for pictures.
Before catching another bus back to the house, I bought 5 bread for
2bs. Has to be the worst bread purchase
that I ever made and hopefully one that I will not repeat. The market here is disgusting, especially the
fish and meat section. We ended up
sleeping at Inesita’s grandson’s place because our other hosts were not present
at their house. Us guys slept on a
mattress sideways with a bunch of blankets to keep warm.
Jan 12
Church
was only 4 blocks away from the house.
This has to be one of the first times that I get to walk to church
(besides at school). I had a difficult
time understanding so I just had my own bible study. During divine service, we had 3 young boys
sit with us. The mom brought them to us
for some reason. Idk After a little while, we decided to split
them put between Greg, Brenda, and I.
They were way too loud and distracting together. Well, the one sitting between Greg and I had
some serious ADD or something. Anyways,
he didn’t want to sit between us and just kept kicking my leg (not hard). I gave his leg a little squeeze for him to
stop, and he started to cry. -_______________________- Inesita, who was sitting behind us, said to
me in Spanish, “and you’re the one who wants 4 kids”. Double K.O.
Even candy wouldn’t placate the kid crying, though he did take the
candy. His mom came like 2 hours later
and took him, still crying. The rest of
service was great. During the course of
the morning, we stood up about 3 times as visitors. Greg and I got plenty of attention since
we’re asian. Eh, not surprised. They had 4 baptisms at the end of service:
that was very nice to see. A person
wanted to take a picture of us before we left.
Okay. I kept thinking of the kid
during the service… craziness, I wonder if I can even be a father someday. Haha
That just sounds weird too. We
spent the afternoon relaxing and just talking to each other. Inesita’s grandson, Arbe, is a professional
soccer goalie and we got to talking about soccer. We gave Greg and I shirts from his club. J His house has so many soccer trophies,
awards, balls, gloves, etc.. We went out
to eat some supper at Tomato café again.
Edward and Brenda really likes that place. Haha!
We found it closed for some odd reason.
Hotel Gloria’s restaurant was closed as well. Fortunately, we found and ate at a 2nd
story Italian restaurant (bolivianized).
We ordered a large vegetarian pizza (85bs) and I ordered a pasta. The pizza was great but the pasta was just
something that I guess you would expect in Bolivia. It wasn’t even close to what the picture
depicted in the menu and what I was imagining.
20bs wasted. We walked back up to
the house and again, I felt like throwing up.
XD
Jan 13
I
got to see premier league soccer live on TV at Arbe’s place after
breakfast. So fun to watch, but0 Brenda
didn’t think so. Arsenal lost but it was fun
to watch. Us 4 went to use the internet
down a few blocks around 1pm. Greg and I
ended up staying until 4pm. I got to
skype with my mom and noemi (webcam wasn’t working..), chat with Kaley and
Hyein on facebook, read Isaac’s hilarious email, as well as respond to other
emails. The computer wouldn’t recognize
my external harddrive and so I could not upload any photos. Greg uploaded a few with his USB before we
headed back. 7-8 bs for each of us. I seriously hate walking up to the house. Why so steep!
We had a delicious lunch saved for us back at the house. After a couple hours, Edward and Brenda
wanted to go eat at Tomato café. So, we
walked back down, all the way to downtown La Paz. Everytime we walk down, I think about the way
back up and how difficult it is.
Haha! Greg and I went to another
internet café hosted by Entel, one of the cellphone service providers in
Bolivia. A little more expensive but
much faster. This time, I had
transferred some of my photos onto my USB earlier so that I could upload. :D
Edward and Brenda went for a walk around the city for an hour before
meeting back up with us to eat. I got a
chance to upload 150 photos, update my blog, check my email again, facebook,
etc… Nothing is happening much with
canon. I want to see a 7D mark ii! Edward and Brenda came back to tell us that
tomato café and all the other vegetarian restaurants were closed again. We ate at a place called Eli’s pizza. There, we ordered a large vege pizza. Not bad at all. 85bs for all of us. I wanted icecream afterwards but Greg
convinced me otherwise. Well, let’s say
that I resisted the temptation.
Haha! We took a microbus up to
the house. We had coca tea before going
to sleep.
Jan 14
Edward
went for his morning exercise/visit to immigration office to find out if he and
Brenda could go to Peru. The plan was for all of us to go to immigration and
get Greg’s fines paid and to have our money converted into soles (Peru
currency). We ran into a massive
demonstration downtown La Paz. The roads
were blocked off and instead of cars, there were masses of people walking
through the city with banners, posters, flags, music, and firecrackers. The demonstration had to do something with
coca.. I’m not too sure. I was able to retrieve money at Western Union
after Greg was finished paying his fine.
We tried many banks to change our money into soles, but it seemed as if
no place had soles. Some told us to come
back in the afternoon. Then, we walked
to the bus terminal (15 mins away) to purchase tickets to Cusco, Peru. We found a place with the best price, but the
office was closed. We wrote down the
phone number before leaving. We took
another bus back the house and had an amazing lunch. Brenda and I stayed back while Greg and Edward
went out again to change the money and to buy the bus fares. I worked on writing my blog (this thing) on
Greg’s computer. I was able to type up 5
pages. ^^ Edward and Greg got back with the tickets and
went right back out to buy groceries for the trip. They were sweating a lot. Before leaving, I gave Arbe’s family a
photoshoot and then edited them on photoshop.
That’s the least that I could do for them. =)
Jan 15
Greg
really snores: didn’t know that until recently.
Haha! The alarm went off at
6:45am and our bus was leaving at 8am.
We prepared and packed the rest of the necessities for the trip before
saying our goodbyes. We were leaving
some of our things at the house. I know
I am going to buy stuff in Peru. :D Vamos!
I am so glad that Edward and Brenda could come and join us. It will be much easier with the language
issue and just for companions. We found
a taxi for 18bs total to get to the bus terminal. With the traffic, we got there just in
time. 8bs for terminal usage, for all of
us, and we finally got on our bus! It
was our first time in a double decker bus and we’re on top! For 140bs (~20dollars), considering a 12 hour
trip, not bad at all. It is fairly clean
and so much better than our previous rides.
Yogurt and bread for breakfast.
We ran into heavy traffic at El Alto; we waited at one intersection for
about an hour. I won’t be able to
accurately describe the chaos. Pictures
will do the work. ;) Thankfully, the bus did not stop to pick up
any more people, though the bus was fairly empty. When I woke from my nap, behold Lake
Titicaca!! Wow! It looks more like an ocean, since you cannot
see the shore of the opposite side. So
blue and it seems very clean. A bus
personnel came through and handed us documents to fill for entering Peru. We stopped at a few checkpoints: a couple in
Bolivia and then the border. I realized
that an American passport is not exactly looked well upon and they will look
over everything several times to make sure.
Greg had to pay a little bit more money with his fees. Apparently, the immigration in La Paz counted
the days wrong. Six more dollars and
then we were off. Once we entered Peru,
there was a marked difference. You could
tell that the country is much richer than Bolivia. The roads, general infrastructure, and lifestyle
is more upscale. The land is very
spacious and flat with many sheep and cows.
Rolling mountains dot the landscape with intermittent rain blocking out
the sun for minutes at a time. The bus
made a stop in Puno and a bunch of travelers got off there. The front seat were empty for the rest of the
trip, so Greg sat there and took a bunch of photos. We were supposed to arrive in Cusco by 8pm,
since we left at 8am. However, we were
250km from Cusco at 6pm. We started to
see high craggy mountains with snow. We
opened a bag of potato chips and some frutilla wafers for supper. We devoured them; not healthy but somewhat
satisfied our hunger. I fell asleep
until we arrived in Cusco. I had a nasty
headache. A lady confronted us with many
pamphlets containing information on hostels.
We picked one for 20 soles a night, got on a taxi, and finally got to
rest for the night. Complete with
amenities minus a TV. I can live with
that no problem. Hot shower and
wifi! I brought my water filter so I
filtered water from the sink. Plugged in
my accessories to charge and call it a night!
Jan 16
We
ate bread and jam that we brought from La Paz for breakfast before heading out
to see Cusco. I did take another
shower… felt amazing. We walked a ways
before stopping to see a monument with water fountains. There, we ran into a lady selling alpaca
clothing. Looking closer, we noticed an
SDA insignia on her jacket.
Hermana! She gave us some good
deals, the only really good deals we found in the city. Greg bought a couple hats, Brenda a sweater,
and I also purchased a sweater for 30 soles, and Edward bought something. We got a picture with her before saying
goodbye. Ah, how nice to meet another
SDA. ^^
We were looking for tour packages to Machu Picchu and started to ask and
compare prices amongst the many places we stopped by. After much walking and deliberation, we
settled with 81 dollars each for the Columbians and 150 dollars for us
Americans. Again, they really eat out of
American wallets. No me gusta! Oh well, at least our friends got a good
deal. We found a vegetarian restaurant
to eat at afterwards. Now this place
KNOWS how to cook period. I ordered a
huge burger that was amazing! They also
had fast and free wifi. We then looked
for and found a decent hostel for 25 soles per person. The place isn’t as nice as some of the ones
we saw, but decent enough for traveling missionaries. Haha I
had NO money whatsoever. It had to be
one of the more depressing stages of the trip.
Greg paid the meals for me. I was
able to change 40 dollars to 100.4 soles later that evening. It’s very annoying that currency exchange
places or even banks do not take wrinkled or slightly ripped bills. They only want and take crisp bills. Greg could not change one of his 100 bills
for the longest time. He finally changed
it for a little loss. Brenda and I
stayed at the hostel while Greg and Edward went to get the rest of our luggage
back at our previous hostel. I was on my
iphone the entire time, with internet!
After they got back, we went to the same restaurant and had a light
supper. I got to skype with mom. J We also went and picked up our tickets to
machu picchu. I like Cusco a lot. It’s very clean, European like, and
beautiful. It has a hint of
artistry. Greg went to bed very late; he
was on his computer looking at pictures, I believe.
Jan 17
I
slept great! The bed was firm so that
was very nice. We had breakfast in the
lobby: tea, bread, banana, jam, butter, sugar, etc.. A very simple but enough to last us until the
next meal. Again, we left some of our
luggage at the hostel and we left for our bus to Machu picchu! The lady in charge of getting us on our bus
was crazy. Obviously, it hadn’t been
properly booked and we all were squished in rather uncomfortably. Almost everyone in the bus were Argentines
and boy, they talk a lot! Us four amigos
got the very back row. I did sleep for most
of the trip, but I did take many photos when we were going through the steep
mountains and besides hairy cliffs. We
went through a pass so high that my water bottle was leaking. At the top, we couldn’t see much of anything
since we were driving through the clouds.
It was chilly too. We stopped at
Santa Teresa to eat a late lunch (3pm).
We took the vegetarian option, spaghetti, which was very plain and not
too satisfying. That’s part of our tour
package. Haha! Then, we left for Hidroelectrica, where we
would start our 2 hour hike into augas calientes. There was plenty of construction going on as
the name implies, a dam. There were
large waterfalls coming out from the sides of mountains! That was amazing. There was 16 of us walking to agua calientes. It was quite the experience, walking along
the train tracks for more or less than 8km.
It took us barely more than 2 hours at a fast rate to reach agua
caliente and our hostel. It rained a bit
on us as we crossed many small bridges and one large bridge. It was hot, muggy, and wet but the view was
gorgeous. There was a large and crazy
river flowing beside the tracks and the noise is deafening. I took some pictures of the scenery with my
phone, since it was raining. We met a
Korean “noona” that is working with the U.N. in Santiago, Chile. That was nice to meet someone Korean. =) The
walk was super long… Unfortunately, our
hostel was less than what we had expected, especially for the amount that we
paid in total. It did not have hot water
at times and the place itself is just not too good. No phone, lamp, 2 power outlets (including
the one for the TV), bad wifi, etc… The TV has 4 channels. Haha!
At least they gave us towels, nothing good but eh. Supper was at a different hostel with a restaurant. We got spaghetti again but it had meat
sauce. Brenda gave hers away and us guys
picked at it. Some guide came later to
explain about Machu Picchu and what to prepare for it. First buses leave at 5:30am. We walked back in the rain to our
hostel. No shower for me: no hot
water.
Jan 18
I
set the alarm for 4:15 and 4:30am. I
turned both off and was awoken with a knock on our door: 4:47am. Yikes!
We got to the bus place and purchased our tickets. Then we had breakfast before getting in line for
the buses. Unfortunately, Greg purchased
5 tickets worth but got 4 with no receipt.
I fell asleep in the bus ride up (25min), because I only had about 5
hours of sleep. We were still tired from
the excursion the day before. At the
top, we got off and showed our passports and tickets before they allowed us
entry into Machu Picchu. I’m here at
last! I thought about when I was a
geography nerd. Who knew that I’d be
seeing Machu Picchu in real life someday.
It area was thick with clouds but we could make out the buildings and
other rock formations. We joined a tour
group, but we soon decided to go off on our own. They were moving too slow. Plus, it was boring. We all got maps and started hiking up the
mountain, Machu Picchu. It is the
highest peak on site. It was very
demanding with the large uneven rock steps and steepness of ascension. Brenda couldn’t make it and Edward went on
ahead of us. Greg and I eventually made
it to the top! It was still very cloudy
but rewarding. Between breaks in the
clouds, we saw aguas calientes, hidroelectrica, the railroad tracks, the river,
and beyond the mountains. We could hear
the roaring rapids even at the top. I
ate some of my granola bars (from home!) and met a few ladies from Germany
volunteering in Cochabamba for kindergarten children. =) I
was very surprised to see hummingbirds at the top! So high but they were there eating the nectar
from interesting flowers. After
pictures, we headed back down and this time, not sweating! I took many pictures with my camera while
walking down of the scenery, wildlife, and flora. The walk down was taxing on my knees. I had a few close calls: not fun. Greg’s knee was actually shaking
visibly. We were able to see Machu
Picchu on the way down! Very beautiful from
a different angle. There were many
Korean tourists there and it was nice to hear and speak some of the mother tongue
again with other people like us. Just us
guys went to see the Incan bridge.
Brenda was just done with walking.
Haha! It wasn’t much to see but
the walk was easy. I’m just glad that I
wasn’t an Incan living at that time.. The mountain paths look like where
mountain goats might walk on. Greg and
Edward decided to go see the temple of the sun.
I walked with them in the beginning but I just needed some rest. I waited for them behind the rocky path for a
good while. I wanted enough energy to
walk through the actual ruins of Machu Picchu.
During the course of time, I saw and took pictures of a giant millipede,
birds, hummingbirds, and the beautiful scenery of the mountains, sky, clouds,
and the valleys down below. Once I reunited with the other 2 guys, we went to
look for Brenda. We couldn’t find her so
we proceeded to start our tour of the ruins.
Within a few minutes, we spotted her on the other side of the ruins. She was almost done with seeing
everything. Oh well. The really neat part of the ruins was the
originality and absolutely amazing masonry work. I am not too sure how much of the homes that
they might have rebuild, but overall, very original. The rocks that they could not figure how to
put back together, they left them in a large pile. There were llamas feeding on the grass inside
the ruins! They function as the “lawn
mowers” of Machu Picchu. Environmentally
friendly. :D Not too much to say about the ruins. The pictures and videos do more justice than
words. We met up with Brenda at the end
and we took last photos before saying goodbye.
What a day! I fell asleep on the
ride back down… I woke up when my head went too far to the right and almost/hit
the lady sitting next to me. Oops! I slapped myself didn’t fall asleep after that. ><
My feet were hurting sooooo much.
We got to the hostel to rest for a bit (it was pouring rain outside as
soon as we got in). We had supper at a
restaurant for 15 soles per person (package meal for tourists) and then we had
supper at the restaurant that comes with our package trip. I was stuffed. I also ate a small melon and a peach. Fatty.
^^
Jan 19
Breakfast
was served at our hostel at 6:00am. I
did get up for that but went back to sleep afterwards. Haha
Checkout was at 9:30am. I skyped
with my family before leaving. Edward
went to get his money from Western Union.
We left around 10:30am; our bus departs at 2:00pm. This time, we walked slowly. (: My
backpack straps were hurting my shoulders quite a bit. The walk did not seem as long and it wasn’t
too hot and raining either. We arrived
in hidroelectrica around 1:30pm. We
found out later that none of the buses were going to leave until the train
arrived at 5:00pm. We waited and waited…
it was very disorganized to say the least.
We snacked a little bit but we did not eat lunch or dinner. There were extremely irritated and angry
people who were waiting like us. Needless
to say, we did not have to do much.
Those people expressed everyone’s feelings. Haha
We were assigned to a much larger and cleaner bus than before. Us 4 got on the right side with one seat per
row. Very nice and comfortable. I fell asleep after passing the “mini” death
road. We made a bathroom stop, but the
funny thing was that there were no bathrooms.
The side of the road was used by most everyone. I bought a pack of wafers and a bag of lays
chips. Interesting thing is that the bag
of lays had a packet of mustard. It was
very interesting and actually good with the mustard! I slept until we reached Cusco. I believe we arrived around or past
10pm. We moved to a different
hostel. This time, we’re all in one
room. We’ll get our bags from the other
hostel tomorrow.
Jan 20
Greg
took up most of the bed space but it was an excellent night of rest
nonetheless. I took a good long shower
and enjoyed a buffet continental breakfast afterwards. I had 3 cups of juice(watermelon and
pineapple), 5 or 6 bread with jam, butter, and sugar, and cereal. Yumm!
We signed out and left our excess bags at the hostel once again. We took our dirty clothes to the Laundromat
and to find a bus fare to Puno, Peru. We
did find a bus fare but it was leaving at 10:15pm. So much free time for people with no money in
a tourist city. Haha Anyways, I really like Cusco; it’s beautiful,
clean, fun, and has lots things to see.
We went up a monument dedicated to some Incan hero/heroine…I can’t
remember. Haha! There are 3 catholic churches in the same square. Overkill.
We saw a billboard for McDonalds earlier and Greg and I decided that we
had to find it. First, we found that the
vegetarian restaurant was closed yet again.
We ate at a restaurant next door: not too good and 10 soles per
person. We then went and found
McDonalds! There, I bought sundaes, a
mcflurry, cone, and fries for us to eat.
So unhealthy but oh so good! On a
side note, the wifi at McDonalds was very slow.
We then went to a Mercado to shop!
I was so excited, but Greg couldn’t have been more disappointed. ;) The
place is just full of goodies~ I bought
a white scarf, a hand painted cup, a green sweater for dad, and a couple alpaca
key chains. Greg bought a couple alpaca
ponchos for his family. It was so nice! I wanted to buy one as well, but they did not
have a white one. L As we were leaving, I bought
a keychain for 2 soles. I knew I was
getting ripped off but I still wanted it.
Again, even during dinner hours, our favorite vegetarian restaurant was
closed. So sad! So we went next next door to another
restaurant. I used my credit card for
the first time in South America. The
food was okay. There’s nothing like an
amazing vegetarian restaurant. En
serio! We collected our luggage and
laundry before we went to a café, waiting for the time to leave for the bus
terminal. I had a strawberry milkshake
and watched the under 20 Columbian soccer team beat the Ecuadorian team. =) We
then took a taxi to the bus terminal. We
had way too much luggage to walk to the terminal, especially at night. The bus departed only 15 minutes late. We knocked out for the night ride.
Jan 21
Around 6am, we arrived in Puno, Peru. It’s basically the Peru city on Lake
Titicaca. I felt like sleep-walking as
we got out of the bus. It was quite
chilly. After we used the restroom for
.50 soles each, we had breakfast in the terminal (7 soles). It’s not a type of breakfast you would
expect. I learned to “water” down every
expectation you have and you’ll be close.
It’s better just not to expect anything too. XD We
found a deal that included a boat tour out the Uros, the floating islands, and
a bus ride to Copacabana (Bolivia) for 30 soles a person. It was still early but we walked to a pier
that extended out to Lake Titicaca.
There, Greg and I turned into nerd mode and we had our own ornithology
lab. In reality, it was fun. There were so many birds there that we took
photos of and that we tried to categorize.
We couldn’t identify any of the precisely, but we were able to
generalize them pretty well. Edward and
Brenda started walking back to the city and we had to walk fast/jog to catch up
with them after pulling ourselves away from the birds. I had 400 waiting for me at a Western Union
in Peru! I needed that badly. It was 8:30am and it was closed!! -_____-;;
Back at the bus terminal, a bunch of people (and us), were loaded up in
vans to another pier where we would ride the boats out to the floating islands! A local musician came on board the boat and
starting playing his ukulele looking thing, a pan flute, and also sang. He was pretty good! He asked for money before he left. It was a 30 minute ride out to the site and
our guide gave us some info on Titicaca.
Skipping to the island part… The
floating islands were all that I had ever imagined. Absolutely amazing! They explained how they constructed the
islands…stunning that we were on 15m of water while they were talking. I shifted through some reeds beside me and I
found water. I quickly replaced the
reeds. Don’t want to swim with my
camera. I found out that you could eat
the white tender bottom part of the reeds.
It didn’t taste like anything but still very interesting. We had 15 minutes to look around on the
island and take pictures. The ladies
there were cooking and some were displaying their items to sell. Edward spotted an SDA church across the
channel from where we were. We later
found out that the entire islands that we were on are all Adventists! What?!
When we pray, we ask that we might meet people. PTL We
talked and shared with them for a while (I was still so fascinated to be on a
floating reed thing and not getting wet).
They sang a couple songs for us and we followed along to some of the
hymns that we knew. They speak another
tongue…I forget the name of it. They
even sang a couple songs in Korean! They
learned from a group of Korean missionaries stationed in Puno. We did buy a few items, but they gave us all
a gift! Handmade pillow cover. The other three received white ones but a
lady gave me a red one! My favorite
color! What a great day it’s been
already. ^^ We took a another boat ride in a traditional
Incan boat across the channel to the SDA church. Us 4 were the only ones who wanted to pay 5
soles each to ride the boat, so we got to choose where we wanted to go. :D
This is the first church that I’ve been to that’s floating on water
period. There were 2 small schools as
well beside the church. All this was
still on 15m of water. The church and
schools were on floats however. The
water goes from 15m to 150m in a hundred feet or so. Drastic change in depth. The whole area has 35 members and 30
students. We need to keep them in
prayers as it is difficult there. We
then went to another island, that had a restaurant on it. We didn’t eat though, too expensive. What a great experience! One of my dream come true! J We knocked out on the 30 minute ride
back. After sorting out details back tat
the bus terminal, we got a taxi back to the plaza. We had 4.4 soles total between us 4 and that’s
what we paid for the taxi. So poor! I got a picture with a police officer and
finally retrieved my money from a bank!
We found a vegan restaurant to have lunch at. It was super vegan, so vegan that it was just
difficult to eat. Greg barely finished
and I finished just placating my hunger.
Taxi back to the terminal and then off to Copacabana. The bus left on time! We stopped at the border for customs and
immigration. We had approximately 15
minutes before the bus departs again.
For some reason, Edward and Brenda got in a motorcabtaxi thing and went
back the way our bus came. Hmmmm. We waited and waited. I crossed the border line while Greg kept
waiting. I got to the bus before it
started to leave. In the end, they took
out our luggage and left it with me besides the dusty road. Who knew that I would be on the side of the
road in Bolivia. I felt kinda bad at
first and had to laugh at the situation.
I’ll never forget some of these things.
XD Edward and Brenda came back
not too long after. Fortunately, we were
only 8km away from Copacabana from our location. I was glad to have everyone back together
again. We found a taxi for 20bs to
Copacabana. There, we booked into a
decent hotel for 50bs per person. Yay
for wifi that isn’t working. I already
miss Peru; more precisely, Cusco. It
doesn’t look much like a tourist city.
We had supper at a decent restaurant before having tea and donuts at a
café. Greg and I got to bed past
12. We were looking at pictures and
videos of friends and family back home.
What fun!
Jan 22
Greg
asked me to set the alarm for 7am.. that guy never gets up. We had breakfast provided at the hotel before
heading out to the lake. We got to the
site a little late and the boat had already left.. :/ There were no more planned boats going out
for the day, but because there were many other people wanting a ride as well,
we purchased ones for 30bs each. We
loaded up at 10am but did not leave until the boat was full. Typical bolivian system. Haha
It was a 2 hour boat ride to isla del sol, and we (Greg and I) worked on
our shopping list for La Paz. I wanted
to throw up since the waves were so choppy.
We stopped working on our seemingly endless list and took a nap. Why are there so many Argentines?? Everywhere we go, Argentines. :P The
island was very pretty, but from a distance.
The place was trashed pretty badly for a tourist attraction. We had lunch there and had the rest of the 2
hours to sight-see on the island before we departed. I found a vacant dock to sit on for a while
and to enjoy the lake. It was very
relaxing… reminded me of home. Got some nice shots with my camera and
iPhone. We went to another place with
floating islands. Ha! What a joke…
We were all so glad that we had already seen the real thing back at
Puno, Peru. They had docks put together
and strewn with reeds. Amazing,
huh. There was a restaurant selling
trout dishes with a trout farm right next to it. As fresh as it gets! The trout was brought from Canada: that’s
what I heard. Interesting. We visited a rock island right by the
restaurant and climbed up to the top.
What a view! More pictures. :D It
was a short 15 minute ride back to Copacabana.
We had an hour to spare to buy our bus tickets and to make a quick visit
to a cathedral. Sick of cathedrals at
this point. I bought a thing of healthy
crackers for supper and got on a 3 hour bus to La Paz. Slept very little before we were told we had
to get out. The bus was going in a ferry
across a potion of lake Titicaca! Greg
and I quickly grabbed some food (more snacks than food) before crossing in
another boat. That small boat must have
had about 40 people in it. No lights on
the boat either. We passed another boat
going the opposite way at a good speed.
How we didn’t crash, it’s amazing.
We were back on the bus and I woke up when we arrived in chilly La
Paz! Cold! We got a micro back to Arbe’s place to find
out that Inesita and Cece had already gone back to Quebrada Leon a couple days
prior. We crashed and slept very
well. =)
Jan 23 (Shopping day)
Greg and I traveled down to
downtown La Paz to attend to business.
First, we went to immigration to get our 90 days. We went to find that our 90 days started
January 1st… Even though my visa was supposed to be from Nov. 13 to
Feb. 13. So I lost a good month and 13
days and left not a very happy camper.
We have to pay about 75 dollars when we leave. =/ Then,
we chaged our money and proceeded to buy stuff for our family and friends. What a ridiculously long list we have! Just buying hats took us until noon. Then the gloves and scarves. To put most of the day in a sentence, we were
sick of shopping. XD We bargained and compared prices with other
stores to get the best deals. Some
places, we bought all of their stuff (hats or gloves). We bought a cheap bag used by Bolivians to
put our purchases in. We should have
bought a larger one. Haha! Mission accomplished by 6pm and oh so
poor. We took a bus back to the
house. We kept saying to each other how
crazy we were to have bought so much.
Kkkkkkk Greg wished he was a
wangdah* so he didn’t have to buy stuff for so many people. lol I
ran out of money, so I had to buy some things with my credit card. We took refuge in a restaurant because there
was no one at the house. More or less
than 2 hours. Slept like a baby. Greg wants me to wake him up…
Jan 24
I
tried to wake Greg up many times. He
stayed in bed way after breakfast, and after having some breakfast. We watched TV for a while… waste of my life. Us guys went to buy our bus tickets back to
Santa Cruz. Long walk but we bought them
from Copacabana, cama (semi beds) seats, non-stop for 170bs. Sweet!
It leaves at 8pm and arrives in Santa Cruz 1pm the next day. We then went to buy gifts for our guy friends
back at Quebrada Leon. I also bought a
couple more scarves and Greg finally found a sweater for his dad. And get this!
I found 800bs more in my backpack!
PTL! I did not see it before,
even after searching through a couple times.
We went back to pack up our belongings.
We said our goodbyes and thanked our wonderful hosts before taking a
taxi to a Korean restaurant! What a
great way to end our vacation with good food!
I had bean paste soup, and Greg had jajangmyun. There were only five side dishes but the
kimchee was just great! We finished
everything, including an extra bowl of rice(10bs). We ate quickly since we had a bus to
catch. Extremely satisfied and 250bs
poorer (I paid), we hailed a taxi and had 15 minutes to spare before our bus
departed. Greg bought some drinks and
cups at the terminal for our last leg of our trip back “home”. Our bus departed ON TIME. Our cleaner seats came with a blanket to
sleep with. We had good leg room as
well! We put our bags up and my camera
bag under my seat before calling it a day.
We stopped at another place to pick up more people before departing La
Paz. That took a while and many beggars
and street musicians came in to ask for money.
Jan 25
I
woke up at 4am. Cochabamba! I could tell by the large white statue lit at
night with all the lights illuminating the stairs leading up the mountain. The personnel on the bus were trying to be as
quiet as possible. They took a short
break before departing again. I woke up
again when we were headed down to lower elevation. At one place, a semi went and crashed on its
side. Considering that the people here
do not wear seatbelts, game over. We had
yogurt (strawberry flavor) and granola.
Greg somehow drank an entire bottle of yogurt (has to be around a liter). I only had a few small cups of that before I
felt kind of sick. Greg gave another
bottle of yogurt to Edward and Brenda for breakfast. It got ridiculously hot inside the bus as we
neared Santa Cruz. Well, we still had
several hours to go. All of the windows
were opened and it was loud and smelly.
Greg and I switched seats and I did not sweat as much. We had to get out a couple times for security
check and for gas. I still don’t
understand the thing with weight and gas.
You would never have people getting out of cars/buses to fill up more
gas back in the US. Haha We finally arrived in Santa Cruz at 2pm! Vacation, over! We got on two taxis to get to El Torno. Very uncomfortable and hot, but glad to be
heading back to Quebrada Leon. From
there, the bus into Quebrada Leon cost us 10bs each. It’s really hot in Santa Cruz: no me
gusta! On the way into Quebrada, we saw
Andres and another person (new) coming out in the red truck. So happy to see him! Once we arrived at Quebrada, we got to see the
rest of our friends. We saw Justin
first, mowing the lawn. There were many
visitors and a couple arrived on motorcycle right behind us as we arrived. They were part of a large group visiting from
Guayara-marin. Edwin is STILL not
here. Haha! That guy..
We got cleaned up and dressed in time for vespers. Phew, it’s nice to be back! Bathrooms now have doors and screens! PTL!
It’s so weird not having mosquitoes in the bathroom. I’m not complaining at all by the way. =) I
realized again how many things we bought… it’ll be worth it back home. The atmosphere is different though. A couple new guys, Lars and Victor from
Europe, and lots of guests. End of our
vacation!!
