Death Road (La Paz, Bolivia)

This bike riding adventure was a huge highlight of the entire trip. Thrilling, exhilarating, and for me (Claire), absolutely frightening.

The tour operators picked us up from our hostel bright and early and drove us 45 minutes to the starting point. The starting point was at an altitude of 4900 meters above sea level and so it was absolutely freezing - we were both wearing every layer of clothing we had, including ski gloves and ski goggles.

There were 4 other customers and 2 guides accompanying us on this trip. There was no long safety lecture, rather, we were given our mountain bikes, checked if the brakes worked, and set straight off.

The bike ride was all down hill - no pedal work really required. The only work we did was holding onto the brakes for the whole trip down.

The road is called "Death Road" because it is said to be the most dangerous road in the world. The road is made of rough gravel and at places, is only as wide as a car. On one side of the road are spectacular mountains, and on the other side, 600 meter cliff drops. The view is absolutely breathtaking, and the enormous drop offs on the side of the road are jaw dropping.

Hundreds of people have been killed on this road when it was used as a main 2 way thoroughfare. It is easy to see how people died as the road is no wider than the width of one car, and it used to have lots of trucks and buses coming both ways at fairly fast speeds. The worst accident we heard of was when a bus and a semi-trailor collided head on in the middle of the night and both went over the cliff killing all 110 people. There are crosses all along the road marking the hundreds of people who have been killed.

The road is not used as the main thoroughfare to La Paz anymore because a new highway has been built. However, cars still go up and down, and we passed a few on our bike ride. People still die on the road on the bike rides that we did and there are crosses marking those spots as well. The gravel is quite precarious and there are waterfalls along the road making it slippery along the way.

All this was whizzing in my head as we cruised down the road and I couldn't stop trembling. The first 31km was smooth and like a regular highway, but the cold was the real killer. The next 30km was on the real death road - gravel, narrow and frightening. We went at a fairly steady pace and stopped every 10 mins to rest our hands and take in the view (it was hard to look at anything other than the road when riding). The backup van followed us all the way down and we had snacks and drinks along the way. Wes loved every minute of it and wanted to open up and speed down super fast. I was less inclined. A girl in our group flipped over her handlebars but fortunately this was on a wider bit, but that certainly made us all slow down.

We finished at the low altitude of 1000 meters above sea level, and by that point had stripped off all our layers and rode only in t-shirts. We spent the afternoon at a hotel, having showers and a 3 course lunch - all part of the tour package.
(Spot the cyclist on the road in this picture)

Overall, the ride really was a thrill and an incredible experience. The photos don't do it justice, but will have to do.

The trail to Machu Pichu

The Lares Trail - starting point 3100metres above sea level


The Lares Trek is a 3 day treck in the Andes, similar to the original and famous Inca trail that goes to Machu Pichu. Although it is not the well known "Inca Trail" that thousands of people flock to each year, the Lares trail is made up of other Inca trails used during the same historical period. We did the Lares trail as the Inca trail was booked out, and it turned out to be absolutely incredible.

Here is a snippet of Wes' Journal along the trek:

SUNDAY NIGHT
We arrived late the night before in a minibus down a very bumby, windy, scary declining dirt road. We were freezing cold. Once we arrived we realised how useful head torches were and wished we'd had them like Will, Tully and our tour leader Marco. Initially Claire, Marga, Caroline and I watched as they setup the tents. Eventually I dug out the mini torch and gave them a hand.

As soon as we could get in the tents I put on every layer I had, which was dual layer thermals and travel pants on the bottom, and thermals, tshirt, soft shell and hoodie on top with beanie and scarf. Claire wore everything she owned and also some more of my clothes - she was frozen.

We quickly abandoned the plan of bathing in hot springs that evening, as we were too cold.

Our campsite was by a noisy river in a valley. The tall mountains on either side made a spectacular scene sillouetted against the magnificant dome of stars. The southern cross and milky way were so clear. Marco pointed out the Lama to the left of the southern cross made from the shaddows of the milky way.

After unrolling our -10c rated cocoon sleeping bags (rented in Cusco) and lining them with our sleeping sheet, it was tea and bread time, by candle light.

We attemted reading but we got too cold in bed, so it was lights out and I copied Claire by leaving only my eyes and nose popping out of the drawstring of the sleeping bag.

MONDAY
We woke to "Good morning, Coca tea??" through the tent wall at precisely 8am. I had slept really well for probably 9 hours, and spent 10mins drinking the steaming coca tea in my cosy sleeping bag. By the time we had packed our 6kg duffel bag and day pack, breakfast was ready. Fried egg, bannana and bread with jam. The best brekky so far in Peru!

The sun was up and it was warming up quickly. Perfect for a pre hike soak in the hot springs around the corner. After about an hour and a half Tully and I realised that everyone else was out, dressed and waiting for us. The baths were amazing!

We began the hike behind a group of about 13 other people, including one old lady who quickly fell behind her group. Marco told us today was Training Day. Armed with our lightweight walking poles, we began the incline with relative ease. The air was quite thin, but the slow pace and frequent stops made it quite enjoyable. Along the way, our ever smiling guide Marco told us interesting facts about the local people and plants. In no time I was down to one layer, only my tshirt, as it was perfectly sunny conditions.

After a few hours we stopped at a clearing by the river for lunch. Our porters and horse men had taken an alternate route and beat us there. By the time we were there the lunch tent was set up and the chef was busy preparing our 3 course meal. Soup for starters, chicken and vegies for main, and hot drinks for dessert. It was quite a delicious affair!

We kept walking for a few hours, munching on the copious snacks we were provided along the way. Our pace was slow and steady and we were frequently overtaken by local peruvian men and women clad in traditional clothing and no shoes, running past us. All the locals would run everywhere, and we realised afterwards this was because they had to cover the most enormous distances on foot to get anywhere. Their lung capacities and fitness levels were remarkable.

As we made our way into our campsite that night in a local peruvian village, all the local children flocked to us. We were told never to give them candies as they would never be able to see dentists and so it was bad for their teeth.

Camp that night was in a field in town, and dinner was another 3 course meal prepared by our incredible chef. We never ate the same thing twice, meaning those horses and porters would carry enough food for 3 days for all 6 of us guests, the tour leader and themselves (3 porters and a chef). The packing and unpacking of all the equipment each day was amazing.

Temperatures dropped again that night, and again we rugged ourselves us and slept with only our eyes popping out of the sleeping bag.

TUESDAY
Today we walked for 10 hours and went over the Lares pass - reaching a staggering altitude of 4600 metres above sea level. It was challenging and Marga couldn't make it on foot and had to get on the donkey. The poor donkey!
(This is us at the top - 4600m)
The scenerary was spectacular with huge mountains towering over us as we slowly climbed the pass. We were the only ones in sight, with the odd local peruvian racing by to get to their little villages. It was peaceful and the peak of the pass was a great achievement.

Lunch was in tents in a clearing and equally as impressive as the day before.

After the pass it was all down hill from there which was a relief. We made our way to the final campsite with much jubilation, and exhaustion. Beers were obtained from one of the locals and we all had a little celebration.

MACHU PICHU


The next day we walked only 2 hours to meet the car that took us to the train that took us to Machu Pichu town. This was tourist central and quite unappealing. But it was a base for us to see Machu Pichu at first light the next morning.

We woke at 4am the next day and climbed the bus to Machu Pichu at dawn. That day there were transport strikes and so all trains to Machu Pichu town had ceased, meaning the only people going to see Machu Pichu was those already in town or walking in on the Inca Trail. That is, only 300 or so people, compared to the 2000 they get every day. We were absolutely spoilt as we felt like the only people there.

The sun started to rise as we walked in and it felt incredibly mysterious and magical. The ruins are perched on the side of a cliff and it is staggering to think how the Incas did it. We were both overwhelmed.

550 photos later and watching the run rise over the ruins, we did a tour. It was just amazing to be there and we were both suitably impressed with what was really the purpose of the trip to Peru.

Hopefully the photos give you an idea for just how special this place was.

21 days in the Andes

Our 21 days in the Andes were spent on an Intrepid Group tour starting in Lima (the capital of Peru) and ending in La Paz (the capital of Bolvia). Having spent the last 6 months travelling on our own, this was the first group tour of the trip. Consequently, we had high hopes for what we thought the tour would be like - lots of young people, commradery, no fuss, everything organised for us, and lots of drinking. Well thats what we gathered from the brochure. Some of those things eventuated...but there really wasn't any point going on detox in the weeks leading up to the tour as it was not that kind of tour. Our guide was quite strict on not permitting us to drink alcohol at high altitudes, where we spent most of the trip. So strict was our guide that one day when we ordered a local alcoholic cocktail, he secretly pulled the waitress aside and told her not to add the alcohol! The Cheek!

The group consisted of only 6 other people, mostly Australians, four of whom were over 50. Not quite what we had anticipated but it turned out to be good fun despite this. We relished the fact that the accomodation, transport, transfers and day tours were all organised for the duration. We just had to sit back and enjoy - oh, and be at breakfast very early to start each day (which was a bit of a shock to our system). Despite being advertised as the "Original Tour Standard" (i.e for those on a modest budget), the accomodation standards far exceeded our level of accomodation to date, so we really soaked up the 3 star hotels with ensuites and flushing toilets - what a treat!


Our transport on the tour consisted of a variety of ordinary but comfortable public buses, private mini vans, plush public buses, taxis, trains, private boats, and even a tuk tuk style cyclist pushing us around. By far our favourite mode of transport was the overnight plush public bus. While most people cringe at the thought of spending 10 hours on an overnight bus (as most of our group did), Wes and I were very excited. This bus had almost fully reclinable wide seats, movies, wifi, and a HOSTESS who walked the aisle with her little trolley providing meals and drinks. It was Business Class on a bus, and we were almost too excited to sleep!

Lima, located by the pacific ocean, was covered in a misty haze. It wasn't a pretty city, with shanty towns perched on the surrounding hills, and a large degree of poverty evidenced by the beggars and shoeless children roaming the streets. But we were suprised that the centre of town and inner suburbs were quite modern. We saw all sorts of flash european cars and some rather nice houses which showed quite a divide between the rich and the poor. Lima was really just a starting point for us. A place where we could all get to know each other over dinner at the local shopping centre (quite an un-peruvian experience), and launch ourselves upwards into the Andes.

As we ventured deeper into the Andes we noticed that the people looked more and more Peruvian: They were smaller with darker features, and they wore more traditional clothing than those in the cities. The women wore wondefully coloured clothes full of bright pinks, greens and purples. The men were not as colourful clothing-wise but equally as traditional. It was normal for them to either not wear shoes, or wear very basic sandles, so their feet were incredibly coarse as most would treck for hours and hours on rough rocky surfaces as they went about their business in the mountains. All of the people we passed were so friendly.

We were surpised by the landscape of Peru. Who knew Peru had a desert?! The first couple of days we only saw desert - it was so baren. However, as we went further south the landscape became more like the Peru I had imagined with massive mountains, some snow, and even some Eycaluptus trees.

In Nazcar (famous for the Nazcar lines which are mysterious lines etched into the ground over many many kilometres of the desert seen only from the sky), the streets were dusty and the city was surrounded by rocky mountains. We had the privilege of taking a short plane trip over the Nazcar lines to see them from above. Although the girl sitting behind suffered from severe motion sickness and narrowly missed projectile vomiting on Wes, it was very interesting to see massive monkeys, whales, and other random carvings etched into the ground.


The food along the trip consisted of carbs, carbs and more carbs. We had bread and jam for breaky, potato and rice for lunch, and some similar sort of carbohydrates for dinner. By day 2 all the females in the group were begging for fruit. They say the altitude affects the metabolism and that carbs are supposed to be a good food to counter the effects of altitude sickness. By the end of the trip we weren't sure what was worse - the altitude or the carbs!

We climbed quite high on the trip, and our peak altitude in our mini bus was 4900 metres above sea level! The effects were incredible, we could only walk at the slowest of paces, and it was hard to get enough oxygen in our lungs. However, we adjusted over time and got used to feeling breathless as we walked up even a couple of stairs.

Some other highlights of the trip included:

* Cusco - a fantastic town with lots of charm. Very authentic and a lively atmosphere. The local markets were incredible with all sorts of fruits, vegies, meats, spices, herbs etc etc. The smells in the meat section were a bit too overpowering and the sight of the muzzle of a cow sitting on the meat tray was quite disturbing- but fascinating.

* The 3 day Lares treck to Machu Pichu - see next post



* Colca Canyon - famous for the magnificent Condors (supposedly the largest birds in the world). We arrived at dawn to watch flocks of them glide in the canyon.

* Bathing in the thermal hot springs

* La Paz - DEATH ROAD BIKE RIDE!!! We cycled down the most dangerous road in the world. See future post.

* A homestay with a local Peruvian family on Lake Titicaca

* Sand boarding and Dune Buggy Riding.

* Wes eating Guinea Pig.

An Island in the Sun (Bocas Del Toro)

Dateline: First week of June, 2010


A 20 minute water taxi ride off the Caribbean coast of Panama is Bocas Del Toro, a big island full of backpackers. We lugged our packs around and scoped out a few hostels, finally settling on one which had its own private dock. The dock doubled as the back porch and was a perfect setting for afternoon beers.

It was here we met a couple of full of life (& full of drugs) guys who entertained us for hours with their stories which they will be releasing as a book sometime soon. The stories mostly centered around drugs and women and after a couple of hours of not being able to get a word in, we were exhausted.

We spent a few days on the island, which was hot hot hot. The highlights included:

Renting Kayaks for a paddle to another island

A great little dinner at a very local cafeteria

and drinks at a beautiful restaurant's bar at the end of a jetty.

The Bridge to Panama...

Dateline: Last week of May, first week of June 2010.

After enjoying more than 2 weeks in Costa Rica, we headed for Panama.

This was to be our first land border crossing since leaving North America and we opted for the DIY option as opposed to a tour operator that would chain together the 3 busses and 1 boat ride required to get to our next destination, an island off the coast of Panama.




We caught a very basic local bus to the border and piled off. It was then a case of hanging back and letting some other tourists pay a guide to lead them to the border crossing and across, and following them.



The border was a river which reminded me of the Murray at Albury and it was straddled by a rickety old bridge that was in somewhat disrepair. It was the coolest border crossing ive done. We crossed on foot and were soon joined by a local trying to guess where we were headed so he could drive us there.

We saw an unfortunate aussie backpacker step where a missing plank was and land groin deep in the hole with one foot dangling below the bridge. Ouch!

It turns out the bridge is much stronger than it looks as we had to hug the sides to let a huge semi trailer pass.


We ended up striking a bargain with the bus driver, half way between the price in our outdated lonely planet guide, and his asking price. We felt quite pleased with our efforts when the rest of the tourists paid the asking price.

The Panama Canal

Panama City was a big city, on the coast. 

I was quite surprised to see so many modern high rise apartment and office buildings.

We stayed in a great hostel, and ate at a funny chinese restaurant (huge meals for about $3.50ea). 

Interestingly, US dollars are the only currency of Panama. There is no local currency.

The highlight by far was out visit to the Panama Canal. It was amazing. Just a $15 cab ride from our hostel was the Miraflores Locks. 

We spent over 2 hours learning about the history of the canal and how it works. I was so impressed that I made a video of how it all works to share with everyone. 

Enjoy...

Wes

Costa Rica (via Fort Lauderdale)

A quick stop in Florida

After the hostels we had stayed in in Mexico, we were met with quite a treat when we flew into Florida for an overnight stop on the way to Costa Rica. We stayed in a gigantic King Size suite at the airport Hyatt hotel with a functioning bathroom! It turns out the hotel was only 2 months new and so everything was spick and span. Our little package included dinner, drinks and a full breakfast and our suite was fully equiped with a kitchen and lounge area. All of this for a grand total of $40 - Bargain! I think both of us would have been quite happy to spend a week holidaying at this spiffy airport hotel as we felt like real people again.

But alas, we left the very next day for a flight to San Jose. Not much to report on this city, the capital of Costa Rica, as it did not ooze warmth or charisma. It was more of a dirty dumpy kind of city, and we were keen to high tail it out of there speedily after a night.  The hostel itself was really cool, with heaps of internet kiosks, a nice cheap restaurnt, cinema room and bar overlooking the city.

Samara Beach - on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica 

In San Jose we jumped on a hot and sweaty public bus that took us to the beach. Wes had done excellent research (as usual) and lined us up with a fabulous apartment in this tiny beach town that we used as our base for 7 days. The apartment was fully equiped so we made the most of the little kitchen and cooked ourselves brekky, lunch and dinner which was rather a nice change.

The town itself was really cool, consisting of only 3 streets really, which were mostly unpaved. There were lots of paddocks spread out across the town, interspersed with hotels and shop and there were perhaps a dozen horses that would continously wander through the streets, unattended from one paddock to another.  

We are currently in the Wet Season in Costa Rica and so the rain tended to hit our little place every afternoon. And it wasn't a slight drizzle either - the storms we witnessed were torrential and quite spectactular. One evening we waded out to dinner in water up to our knees as the flash flooding hit our street. 

We had a thoroughly enjoyable week here. We swam, read books, went for the odd run on the beach, had some great dinners, mooched around, and generally soaked up the fact we weren't on the move somewhere else. We just wanted to sit still for a while after a month of constant travelling.   

Wes had no luck trying to buy some free range eggs from the neigbors with chickens. We were later told that the word for eggs is simlar to the word for testicles which might have explained why the old man wasnt willing to part with his "eggs". 

Tamarindo Beach - a couple of hours north

Wes' sister Elle had told us that Tamarindo Beach was a "must must must go" to destination. This was in direct contrast to people in Samara beach, who told urged us not to go. Elle had done us pretty well so for so we jumped on 3 public buses and made our way there. 

What was an unknown tiny surf beach 15 years ago, is now a lot bigger thanks to the hit surfing movie "Endless Summer II" which featured this "secret" surf spot.

The lonely planet indicated we were to expect a Gold Coast kind of place with high rise buildings and wall to wall tourists. It really wasn't like this at all. After the isolation of Samara Beach, we found this place to be a bit more built up, but still a small relaxed surfer's town. There were more people than Samara, so we felt like this place had more life to it, and we enjoyed that.  It was perfect for what we were after.

We again found ourselves a little apartment in a complex with a pool, and we spent 5 days here doing much the same as the week before.

 

Wes turned 27 while we were here so to celebrate we went out for a massive Breakfast Burrito and a scrumtious 3 course dinner at the restaurant of his choice. I bought him a little cheese cake just to ensure we were both thoroughly sick on all the food we ate.

We also ran into a friend from Fernie which was absolutely amazing as it is not really on the beaten track. This is the second time we've ran into Fernie people on this trip and proves just how small the world is. 

Cahuita - on the other side of the country

Public buses are the mode of transport for us, so again, we used these vehicles and made our way to the Caribbean coast on the other side of the country all in a day.

We arrived in this TINY little town with dirt roads, and instantly were met with a real Caribbean flavour. Think dreadlocks, reggae music and people lying in hammocks. It was very laid back and distinctly different to the other side of the country. Costa Rica is a small place, only 300km wide, yet there is a different feel on either side which is interesting. 

In Cahuita we got up early to do an 8km walk through the National Park Jungle. The walk follows the white sandy beach coast line and so the scenery is quite spectactular. We saw numerous monkeys and lizzards, and I'm sure we unknowingly stepped on other colonies of species as we plodded on the trail. All in all, it was beautiful. 

I loved this town - it was so relaxed. The local food was fish in coconut milk which was delish. 

We met an annoying guy from Australia on the bus to Cahuita and he wouldn't leave us alone which was a bit of a pain. He was about 55 and claimed his wife was joining him on the weekend.. At first I thought he was lonely when he plonked himself down at our dinner table, but really, he just liked talking about himself and his apparent success which was tiresome, so Wes and I pretended we were tired and left hastily.  Needless to say, we spent the next day hiding from him in town. When we spotted him in a cafe or on the street, we'd quickly turn the other way and walk briskly elsewhere. Pretty funny.

   

Puerto Viejo - 30 mins away

We joined all the other tourists from Cahuita and came to this place yesterday on an old rickety bus. When we got off the bus, an old man, who clearly gets commission from a few of the hotels in this town, kept hassling us to stay at his establishments... until we told him quite firmly to get lost.  It was boiling hot, so trying to find a place to stay sapped our energy. But we finally found a cool little sanctuary with 4 beds in our room, so I'm playing musical beds to ensure I get the best night's sleep possible. 

From here we are off to Panama....so stay tuned.