Hi again. At the moment I am in and around La Paz. There are some photos below of a few excursions. I took a mountian bike down a vertical height of 3600 meters on the fabled "worlds most dangerous road"... and didn´t fall off. Which is lucky because its a long way to fall. Im actually feeling a bit hungry right now, so rather than rabble on about it, you can follow this link if you want to know more... http://www.gravitybolivia.com/view?page=27
Also I took a tour back to Lake Titicaca, to admire the Bolivian Navy... I went there last year on the Peru side, so this time I saw an Island on the Bolivian side - Isle del Sol. Which is the birthplace of the incas. Ok I´m going to have to go for that cheeseburger now, sorry for the rubbish post. I will try and put a better update soon...
"Worlds Most Dangerous Road"... Notice the 400m vertical drop off. Nice!
So lets take a bike down that road then.
Copacobana (Bolivia)
Isle del Sol (Lake Titicaca)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Mines and Dinosaurs
Hola! It seems I havnt put a post up on the blog for a while. I have tried, but the tinternet always seems to break down. So what have I been up to...
I am still in Bolivia. After the Salt Flats we took a bus to Sucre, where I took the opportunity, to see one of the silliest tourist attractions of the trip so far. "Dinosaur footprints found in a cement factory". No, Im not making this up. You board the 'dinobus' and the guide shows you a vertical wall of limestone (techtonic plates have shifted, etc making the prints vertical) and points out lots of tracks and presumptions, like "see where those two tracks cross? Scientist say, that was two dinosaurs having a fight 6million years ago"
Wooooo, Dinosaurs!
After some days in Sucre, I headed to Potosí where I took the tour of the (very claustrophobic and pelegroso) mines where the miner co-operatives still work with the same methods as colonial times. Before the tour we went to the miners market to buy gifts for the miners, like a local Fanta ripoff and er sticks of dynamite. Not forgetting of course to buy an extra dynamite so we could blow it up after the tour. If you have been down the mine (Rob, Shannon, etc) , or you enjoy depressing documentries, you might be interested that some-one has made a nice docu-movie about it called "The Devils Miner" http://www.thedevilsminer.com/ that is worth seeing.
Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain, mine in Potosí)
Tick, tick, boom (buying dynamite at the market!)
I am still in Bolivia. After the Salt Flats we took a bus to Sucre, where I took the opportunity, to see one of the silliest tourist attractions of the trip so far. "Dinosaur footprints found in a cement factory". No, Im not making this up. You board the 'dinobus' and the guide shows you a vertical wall of limestone (techtonic plates have shifted, etc making the prints vertical) and points out lots of tracks and presumptions, like "see where those two tracks cross? Scientist say, that was two dinosaurs having a fight 6million years ago"
Wooooo, Dinosaurs!
After some days in Sucre, I headed to Potosí where I took the tour of the (very claustrophobic and pelegroso) mines where the miner co-operatives still work with the same methods as colonial times. Before the tour we went to the miners market to buy gifts for the miners, like a local Fanta ripoff and er sticks of dynamite. Not forgetting of course to buy an extra dynamite so we could blow it up after the tour. If you have been down the mine (Rob, Shannon, etc) , or you enjoy depressing documentries, you might be interested that some-one has made a nice docu-movie about it called "The Devils Miner" http://www.thedevilsminer.com/ that is worth seeing.
Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain, mine in Potosí)
Tick, tick, boom (buying dynamite at the market!)
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Entering Bolivia
We Left San Pedro and took a jeep tour to Bolivia, via the Salt planes and lagoons of the altiplano. Had a great 3 days, seeing breathtaking scenery, amazing coloured lakes, flamingos, and volcanoes, finishing in the salt flats.
The final afternoon was less fun when our trusty driver managed to fall asleep at the wheel in the salt flats.. Not a big problem because there is nothing to crash into, but then after he woke up we also ran out of diesel and found that we only had 5 litres spare. Running out of fuel miles from anything or anywhere is a bit scary. Luckily we were able to drive back to where the other jeeps were parked up on our 5 litres and buy some more fuel to get us to Uyuni. But at the time it felt like the longest drive of our lives!
Gringos and Lake...
tree made of stone.. Our trusty 4x4 with the hood in the popular "up" position. Theres a lot of salt in the salt flats and not a lot else...
... which means you can take very silly photos. (this is not the best example, hopefully someone will email me a better one to post.)
The final afternoon was less fun when our trusty driver managed to fall asleep at the wheel in the salt flats.. Not a big problem because there is nothing to crash into, but then after he woke up we also ran out of diesel and found that we only had 5 litres spare. Running out of fuel miles from anything or anywhere is a bit scary. Luckily we were able to drive back to where the other jeeps were parked up on our 5 litres and buy some more fuel to get us to Uyuni. But at the time it felt like the longest drive of our lives!
Gringos and Lake...
tree made of stone.. Our trusty 4x4 with the hood in the popular "up" position. Theres a lot of salt in the salt flats and not a lot else...
... which means you can take very silly photos. (this is not the best example, hopefully someone will email me a better one to post.)
Sunday, October 01, 2006
San Pedro de Atacama
Hola,
I have been travelling around a bit. Most interestingly, staying in Bahía Inglesa, in a giant plastic dome by the beach. Check it out at http://www.changochile.com/
Since then I have been relaxing in the desert for a few days with the cactus and sand around San Pedro de Atacama. Apparently it never rains here, but yesterday up in the mountains nearby I got snowed on! Internet connections are annoyingly slow here, so I can´t upload any new photos.
Tomorrow I head out on a 3 day jeep tour to Bolivia with some Belgian jazz enthusiasts, and I think I will stay one night in a hotel made entirely of salt. Its all getting a little surreal...
I have been travelling around a bit. Most interestingly, staying in Bahía Inglesa, in a giant plastic dome by the beach. Check it out at http://www.changochile.com/
Since then I have been relaxing in the desert for a few days with the cactus and sand around San Pedro de Atacama. Apparently it never rains here, but yesterday up in the mountains nearby I got snowed on! Internet connections are annoyingly slow here, so I can´t upload any new photos.
Tomorrow I head out on a 3 day jeep tour to Bolivia with some Belgian jazz enthusiasts, and I think I will stay one night in a hotel made entirely of salt. Its all getting a little surreal...
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