ok, been back for a week and a half now, so i guess it's time to post about how i'm doing back in the real world. i guess it hasn't been that difficult, had a week off before going back to work (which was good), good to have work to go back to, and also good to be able to re-acclimatise back in familiar surroundings. pretty much only had vietnamese food my first week back, oh boy, did i miss that, not sure if i've mentioned it before, but vietnamese food is the best cuisine in the world. came back, and for whatever reason (i guess i was still on holiday), just seemed to keep spending money on stuff, i had stuff that i needed to replace i guess, but nothing particularly urgent, just thought i'd get it out of the way.
everything seems to be pretty much how i left it, nothing ever seems to change at home, and i didn't expect it to, and in some ways probably didn't want anything to (not yet anyway). so, next week is a pay week, looking forward to that, was a bit depressed to be coming home (not in a mental way), but there is always more fun to be had. went to the soccer last week, and saw tim cahill pot two past the japanese.
went to a concert on thursday, deer hunter, no idea who they are, but they were ok, good fun, the music wasn't to my taste especially, but i wasn't repulsed by it, it was fun music. no pictures, didn't really seem like a great atmosphere for taking photos.
anyway, i've played basketball a couple times since being back, and i guess all that altitude training didn't do a lot, cos my conditioning is terrible (probably didn't help that i was drinking at altitude too) as well as being extremely rusty. but, i'm starting to get back into the swing of things, though i have hands like kwame brown right now. riding my bike should also help get me back into shape asap.
so without further ado, the stuff that means something after coming home:
also, from the day i left melbourne to the day i got back, google analytics tells me that i had visitors from 85 countries, pretty nice.
yes, that is a picture of a bowl of pho that my mum prepared for my homecoming.
another week, another judd apatow film, this week, it was year one, starring jack black and michael cera, but this week, i managed to stay awake for the whole thing. based sometime in biblical times i guess, it follows jack black ( saw kung fu panda while i was away btw, cute film i guess, but has some awesome 3d graphics) and michael cera as they screw up and leave their caveman dwellings in search of new lives. first, they run into cain (played by tobias fmor arrested development) and abel, then into abraham (hank azaria, this is apu people) and isaac. after hearing stories of sodom and gamorrah, they decide to journey there, and along the way, they see that "their" ladies have been taken prisoner and promise to rescue them.
that's enough of the plot, it's a comedy of course, and both actors play their (almost) typecast roles, jack black as this big mouth bullshit artist, and michael cera as a nerdy underling. of course they do it well, that's why they keep getting these roles. a bunch of other cameos from other actors that have been in a bunch of apatow films before as well. on a scale of dtra's comedy rankings, i'd put it somewhere along the lines of maybe "starsky and hutch", maybe a bit lower. but it was a good film, and worth watching, and as my friend ozzy said, we can probably expect a year two, and year three, if they garner enough success. oh, and there are some funny bloopers in the credits.
pic taken from wikipedia.
managed to find a replacement for my old swiss army knife (the standard tinker in fluoro yellow, kinda funny story how i lost it) just before i left south america, on ebay of course. it arrived at my work a few days before i came back, and finally managed to pick it up yesterday. it's pretty sweet, paid a bit more for it, than the old tinker, but it's a proper red one, and it has scissors as well (that and a little hook are the only additions). anyway, it's good to have the old knife back, i don't have to worry about how to open bottles anymore, though with my new found ability to open beer bottles with just about any object, i always have some kind of backup. anyway, this one is basically the same as the climber but it comes with a philips head screwdriver instead of a bottle (wine) opener.
also, as i may have mentioned to some people before, don't mess with me, i know kung fu, and now, i have a knife, so you'd only be asking for trouble. pic taken from the ebay store i bought the knife from.
back by popular demand, haha, movie reviews, i seen quite a few films while i was away (only a couple at the cinema, xmen, and redemption road, i think that's all), plenty on dvd, etc, which was cool, cos there were lots of films i'd wanted to see, but never got round to. anyway, just got back and seen the hangover, one of these comedies that seem to pop up all the time. it's about a guy that is having his bachelors do in las vegas, and the mates he brings along for the ride. it's one of those comedies that is pretty low brow, that accommodates to the lowest common denominator, and that's what makes it so good, haha, also, the director is the guy that did old school, so that's another good thing. apart from the guy from the office, i don't think i'd ever heard of any of the other people in the film (and heather graham).
although i've been told i was falling asleep during the film (which i don't think had anything to do with the film itself), more a case of comfy chairs, and not getting much sleep over the past week or so. it was funny, and there were some really good parts, the brother-in-law especially was a very good character, and hilarious. the part at the end during the credits, or just before is awesome, make sure to stay for that. yeah, i know this is a short review but what do you want, it looks like i'm gonna have something between 500-800 photos to process just for my site, let alone flickr and panoramio, so please be patient with me, i promise the next one will be better. oh, and the re-adjustment blog will be coming up a couple days after starting work, next week probably.
picture taken from wikipedia.
sudamerica 2009: for the last time, from salta
it is with great sadness that i make my last post from south america, i have a bus to buenos aires tonight, and one night in which to destroy my liver before heading home on thursday. i was meant to post all about san pedro de atacama, but since it is my last post, i will have to be very brief about that (apologies if the post randomly changes it's flow). made it there last week, and spent five days there, the driest desert in the world. getting there from la paz is awesome, the views going to the border are great, volcanoes and lakes, and then going from there to salta is great as well, if you get on the right side of the bus (not me unfortunately). not good for the skin, do not recommend it to the ladies, it just dries everything so incredibly fast. had great fun there doing some half day tours, and some cycling around the area. all the tour companies sort of work together so there is no point worrying about who is the best company, just who is the cheapest, i think. and without further ado, i present the pictures of the last week there (and getting there).
after that, came back to salta, which was my last stop in argentina last time round, i didn't really have any plans for here, just that i wanted to do the hostel bbq again, and go to jack's grill again (did both), though jack's wasn't quite how i remembered it (still great). managed to get some shopping in, and also, hopefully go to the museum today. we've been having so much fun here, it's been ridiculous, caught up with elaine (from ireland) again, and just been going out and getting smashed every night, except last night, i think i was drunk all day, and possibly had a hangover in the night. just a note, i may update this with some pictures taken in salta a bit later today.
and now, to the emotional stuff, i've been here almost seven months now, and have to head home in a couple days, which, while in arequipa, and la paz, was sort of looking forward to, but now after being in san pedro de atacama, and salta, i actually wish i could stay longer, though i know that i should go back (my backpack is full of shit that needs to go back home, and also, the greatest photos of south america ever, will never see the light of day if i don't leave). blah, blah, blah, i don't know what to say, it's gonna be really strange going home i think, i have a week off before going back to work to re-acclimatise, so hopefully that will help, and doing the photos may provide some nostalgia, or at least make me wish i was still in south america. greatest experience ever, all that type of stuff, met so many great friends, and did so much stuff that i you just wouldn't be able to do on a shorter trip, and hopefully learnt a new language (but that will require me to continue studying, which i plan to do). now the lists, best places:
and best places i visited, which you'll see in the photo gallery anyway, but thought i should mention it here:
and with that, i end this post, and will see you again sometime in the next week with a post from home, hopefully having re-adjusted, and getting on with life as appropriate (processing photos, and perhaps pondering the next destination(s)), and getting back into shape, i think that might take a while 
. the plan is to have all the photos processed in a few months, but that depends on how busy those months are in all walks of life. so chau, and nos vemos.
transport and accommodation
semi cama bus from la paz to arica, was fine, and then again from arica to san pedro de atacama, and from san pedro to salta, again, so never saw a full cama bus in chile, i slept ok, so it wasn't a big deal. got a cama bus to ba, so that will be good.
stayed at a place called hostal nuevo almanacer in san pedro, it was a really chill place, ten minutes walk out of town, with hot water, and a great bonfire where everyone would sit and chat at night. and at inti huasi again, which i must say, is quite possibly my favourite hostel that i've stayed at in all of south america.
picture of laguna cejar, perfect reflections as you can see, more to come for sure.
sudamerica 2009: failed volcanoes, and jungle animals
well i've been going over old ground since the last post, flew back to arequipa (where i saw silhouettes of the three volcanoes, chachani, misti, and pichu pichu rom the airport, too bad i couldn't take any pictures, it was one of the most amazing sights i've seen) from santa marta. spent a couple days re-acclimatising before attempting the ascent of chachani (about 6080m), obviously i didn't make it, but i'm not going to completely blame acclimatisation on that, neither will i blame partying for three weeks in colombia, and not exercising, though they all played their parts i'm guessing. i put it down to not being a great hiker (i've never been a big fan of walking, i am usually, a pretty slow walker, i like to stroll), i much prefer cycling, and also, as most people know, i'm, a sprinter not a marathonner (if that's a word, which i'm pretty sure it's not). anyway, out of a group of eight, i was the only one that didn't make it, i got to about 5700m, and my legs were shot, couldn't move anymore, my chocolate bars were to frozen to eat, and my water was drinkable but very cold and frosty. so i gave up, and waited for my guide to come back with a few others, and we headed back down to base camp (5400m).
after that failure, the next step was to go back to la paz, where i am at the moment. instead of watching angels and demons (which i'm not sure i want to pay for), i decide to head to the contemporary arts museum, and check out some culture. it's a nice museum, didn't take me an hour to go through, and so didn't tire me out. there are works from around the world, but mostly by bolivians, which is a good thing.
then, on saturday, i had a flight ($75 usd one way) to rurrenabaque for some wildlife safari, finally a chance to see some amazon. i decide to fly because i didn't want to ride any more long haul buses in bolivia, well, my return flight got rescheduled, spoiling my plans to be in chile last night, so i decided to get a refund, and take the bus back, fortunately, i got a hold of some diazepam, and managed to sleep in a somewhat awkward and uncomfortable position. anyway, went on a three day/two night tour of the pampas looking for wildlife, took over two hundred photos, of which you'll see plenty here, and plenty more later. went with flecha tours, some israeli run outfit, and surprisingly our group only had four israelis with four non-israelis, there other group was all-israeli. it was $450 bolivianos plus $150 bolivianos entry fee. of course, on the way to the pampas from rurre, our 4wd broke down (bolivia is the only country in which i've had break downs so far), but it was sorted out in reasonably quick fashion. the guy selling the tour told me there were buffet meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, obviously we have differing concepts of buffet. myself, i think of a buffet as something that you cannot finish, and the food does not run out, his idea of the buffet, is that the plates are laid out, and basically, it's first in, best dressed, the food was fine nonetheless.
once at the river in yacuma, we got on a boat, and headed for the lodge, a three hour boat ride to see some wildlife. we saw squirrel monkeys, lots of birds, herons, storks, egrets, a bunch of other birds, alligators, insects galore, i was pleasantly surprised with the number of bites i received while in the pampas and rurre, far fewer than i expected, i guess vigilance pays off. before we went back for dinner, we went to see the sunset at the sunset bar, where they sell expensive beer ($20 bolivianos for a biggie), it was a nice sunset, and hopefully some good shots. afterwards, we went looking for crocs and alligators at night, while we did see some, it was never going to be much of a photo session. a few of the israelis went afterwards to catch baby crocs for photos, i think they got one.
the next day, we would go anaconda hunting, this was a bit of a farce, we looked around for an hour or so in this swampy area, and nothing, the guides told us to sit down by a tree, and rest, while they went looking themselves. finally one of them came back (after about an hour, i was trying to take pictures of bugs while waiting) with a baby anaconda, maybe 50cm, it was pretty depressing really, especially when everyone else started taking these retarded photos with the anaconda. after that, we headed back for lunch, and then some piranha fishing in the afternoon. i didn't catch a single one, though had lots of bites, the fish were too small to get hooked, our guide caught plenty, and a couple others in the group managed to get a few as well. we had them for dinner (as a side dish), there isn't much meat on them, just like normal white fish i think.
the third day, was to be swimming with the pink dolphins, of which, we'd seen plenty, and then, lunch, and back to rurre. we started off with an early wake up for the sunrise, with plenty of mozzies around, some nice pics again, i hope. then off to swim in the river, there was actually a caiman where we were swimming, but as i always say, they're so small, a bite won't kill you. there were dolphins around, but they didn't play with us, more like playing with us if you catch my drift. they wouldn't come and swim right up to us, but would swim all around. anyway, it was good to have a swim in the river, after a few days of sweating without having a shower.
then our boat ran out of fuel on the way back to where the 4wd was waiting to pick us up, fortunately it was only a couple hundred metres away, so we could row (well, our guide rowed). a three hour car ride back to rurre, and that was that.
i was looking forward to my flight back to la paz, but i was annoyed to be told that the flights from the previous day had been rescheduled, and not wanting to hang around another day, i just got the bus, small, cramped, and bumpy. i don't want to sound mean-hearted or anything, though i know i will, but one thing you don't want to do, is sit on one of these buses next to a bolivian woman. for whatever reason, generally, they are quite large, and like air, or water, they seem to fill any space that is available, i had two seats to myself for about an hour, which made the ride a little more comfortable, then a large woman sat next to me, i knew what was coming, so i took up as much space as i could before she sat down, but it was just so uncomfortable, i had to turn over a bit, next thing i knew, the space that i had vacated, had been usurped by this bolivian. lucky she got out shortly after (as in a couple hours of an 18 hour bus ride), and a skinnier local man sat down. so that is it, now i am waiting for tomorrow, to get me a bus to arica in chile, and hopefully, no more cramped buses from here on out, only two weeks to go before i leave south america, and i've pretty much done everything i set out to do (except for the aforementioned volcano climbing disaster). i'll post again in buenos aires, just before leaving, i can't see any need to keep you updated on the nothings that will happen before then, see you in buenos aires.
picture of the landscape around chachani from base camp, i did manage to climb about 600m in total, from about 5100m to 5700m, so not a total failure.
transport and accommodation
when travelling from arequipa to la paz, don't believe anything anyone says about direct transport to la paz, they told me it was direct, no need to change at the border (apart from getting the stamps and shit), and it cost a bundle ($195 soles instead of $90 soles). got out at the border, and noticed they'd packed my bag on top of a minivan, asked why, and he told, we're going to la paz, oh shit, i left a back pack in the bus across the border thinking it was coming with us. just go the cheap option, it won't be any worse. the flight from la paz to rurre was fine, cost $75 usd more or less, and the bus back cost me $50 bolivianos, though i probably could've got it for less (they went from $60 to $50 pretty quickly).
in arequipa, stayed at bothy again, so need to elaborate, it was nice, though a bit quiet. in la paz, i've been staying in the adventure brew too again, so again, no need to go any further. in rurre, i stayed at the maldidi hostal, which wasn't far from the travel agency, and cost $25 bolivianos for shared accom (four beds), and $50 bolivianos for a private room with bathroom, it was pretty comfortable, and clean enough, though they didn't have any toilet paper or hot water.
another review
a note about 100 books of solitude (book exchange at olivers travels) in la paz, total rip off, don't trade your books there, they take your book, and give you half of the credit, ie. my book was worth 150bs, and they let me trade it for something worth 75bs, i had to give them my lonely planet and we need to talk about kevin just for american psycho (decent read, but the constant descriptions of what people are wearing and reviews of shit are pretty annoying).
sudamerica 2009: the end of colombia, caribbean, padi certified
since my last post, i spent a day in medellin (pablo escobar's old haunt), wasn't the weekend so not really worth staying too long, and since then, i've been partying and chilling out in the caribbean for the past two weeks, i won't deny that. which isn't to say that i have neglected photo taking duties, it just means i haven't done a lot, other than spend time at the beach, in hammocks, swimming pools, bean bags, and eating good food. as i said, i think we arrived in medellin on a monday or something, and weren't willing to wait for the weekend, so spent one night there, and headed for the caribbean coast for some sun. went to cartagena first, the most romantic city in south america, on the colombian caribbean coast.
spent a day there not doing too much, checked out the old town at night, it really is quite pretty, too bad i didn't get a chance to see it in broad daylight, nor anything else in cartagena really. the beaches in cartagena really aren't all that, so we headed to playa blanca for a night, very nice, cheap too, slept in hammocks, and swam in waters reminiscent of tulum (though not as good, bit stony), nice. spent one more night in cartagena, before heading to covenas further down the caribbean coast to the west of cartagena. i don't think anyone ever planned to go there, but we were travelling with a few kiwis with connections, and they got a week of accommodation in some condo apartment style thing, and so we just hung out there drinking every night for a few days, nice place. they had a low basketball ring (about nine feet), that i could dunk, a swimming pool, and also a tennis court, we also played a lot of cards. oh, what fun we had. didn't even go to the beach there, it was really shallow, but the swimming pool was nice.
then moved onto taganga, a fishing village near santa marta further east of cartagena, and i've been here since, so a bit more than a week, it's a very nice little town, with some really nice food, though i don't normally do food reviews, the filet mignon at casa de felipe is so nice, and the mango curry fish at madame taganga's is delicious (and filling). che luis also does great juices, and food at low prices. anyway, i've done a few things while i've been here, not completely slacking off. went and did a scuba diving course, officially it's called padi open water diver, basically, it means that i can dive to depths of up to 18m without supervision now (though i won't take it that seriously, cos i don't really want to buy all the equipment). did it with aquantis and they were great, and though i have nothing to compare it to, the diving was awesome. saw lots of fish, coral, plant life, some squid, a sea horse, now i have to work out other places to do it. one of the best experiences i've had for sure, just need a camera case so i can get some pictures down there.
went to tayrona national park after finishing my dives, and did a hike through the jungle and stayed in hammocks there as well (much less comfortable than playa blanca, very windy at night). that was nice though, and now here we are, i've got a flight back to arequipa tomorrow, so the plan is to acclimatise for a couple days, then climb el misti, then make my way to bolivia, and further south back to buenos aires for my last four weeks. i can almost say good bye to the ridiculous mosquitoes here, i must have a hundred bites or something.
transport and accommodation
transport was mostly by the company bolivariano or something like that, absolutely freezing on the bus, they pump the ac full blast. the shorter bus rides up on the caribbean coast have just been on local buses, so nothing of note there.
stayed at the pit stop in medellin, nice set up, and they have a regulation height basketball ring, that was the first time i shot a ball since november, i still got it, haha. stayed at the north star hostel in cartagena, pretty cramped and warm (some dorms have ac), but beds were pretty uncomfortable, very thin mattresses. some hammock place in playa blanca for $7 000 colombian pesos a night. covenas was an condo obviously, worked out pretty well for us, eight of us on seven mattresses, nice, of course it was free. taganga, first stayed at hostel moramar ($15 000 a night, but rooms at the front have cockroaches), i thought it was ok, had some nice hammocks, it's right next door to the bayview hostel, where i've been since. it's a bit more happening, and has a really good swimming pool, though doesn't have so many hammocks, but does have massive bean bags (my bed had bed bugs though, i think).
picture of the beach area at cabo san juan del guia in tayrona national park.
sudamerica 2009: into the northern hemisphere, c-c-c-colombia
well, it's been a while since my last post, haven't done too much, last time i think it was easter saturday i posted. basically, we went to the basilica in quito, which was a magnificent church, definitely right up there with the best i've seen, if not the best. climbed out onto the ledge right near the top, that was a pretty scary feeling, but i managed to get some nice photos up there. followed that up by going to the equator in the afternoon, we persevered despite the terrible weather, every day we were in quito, it pretty much rained cats and dogs by 2pm, and didn't stop till the sun went down. anyway, went to cotopaxi for a couple days after that, it's right near a really big volcano, which none of us deemed worth climbing, the weather was shitty there as well, 1.30pm, bang!! rain and lightning, still, it was a nice area, but you had to be an early bird to do anything. we did manage to climb a fair part of ruminahui, an extinct volcano that peaks about 4700m, we got up to about 4500m, but the clouds rolled in, and there wasn't much to see.
moved on to banos from there, spent a good three days there, the weather was nicer, and it was a nice little town. we didn't end up doing a lot there, but did manage to go quad biking, with some shitty quad bikes, and a couple of buggies. we didn't do much off road stuff, as we were going to look for waterfalls, but we missed the sign or something, and ended up going way too far (probably about 30 minutes), and got rained on bad. two of the quad bikes broke down, and one of the buggies could not go up hill at all. they did however, have very good thermal baths there, so warm, and relaxing.
from there, we decided to go straight to colombia, and cali, as it no one wanted to spend another night in quito. it took about 24 hours, but we managed it without much of a hitch (though one in our group almost lost her passport). once again, spent a good few days in cali, back in some nice warm weather, but didn't do too much. went to san cipriano, and rode the moped train, but that was about it, we tried going to some salsa clubs, but they were all empty on a wednesday night. then came up to bogota, that's where i post this from, ready to go to medellin tonight, and then up to the caribbean.
arrived in bogota on friday, and did shit all that day, then went to the gold museum yesterday, that was pretty interesting, lots of artifacts from around colombia, and lots of gold. today, we went up to the colpatria tower lookout and took some nice photos of colombia from the 48th floor, you can see it in the back of the ciclovia photo. it is cultural month in bogota this month or something, and there is something going on in the plaza everyday, and lots of other happenings around the city. but alas, i'm not particularly interested, museums here are free on sundays, and there's also this big cycling thing (ciclovia, 7am-2pm) where they close a bunch of city roads to motor traffic, and everyone can walk or bike down the streets (every sunday as well), that's really cool. so off to medellin tonight, home of the infamous pablo escobar, hopefully, the drug wars are kept under wraps while i'm there. see you all again, in a couple weeks i guess.
picture of the angel statue in quito at night, taken from the secret garden terrace, the view is not quite as nice as the one from the basilica.
travel and accommodation
stayed at the secret garden in quito, then a big group of us also went to their place in cotopaxi, it was nice, but they did usher us to sleep at 11.30pm, both were a bit pricey for what they were, i thought, and seemed a bit like they were just trying to milk money out of you (food was expensive), they were comfortable though, and the terrace had a great view. in banos, we stayed at plantas y blanco, recommended by the lonely planet, pretty good place, everyone was nice, and it had a pretty good atmosphere. in cali, i was recommended pelican larry's by my mate phil, it was a cool place, very chilled out, and gunther's bbq was very good, certainly took the bad taste out of my mouth from the last hostel bbq i had (the point mancora thank you very much, not). in bogota, i've been staying at alegria's hostel, a nice, quaint little hostel in the la candelaria district (old town), very comfortable, and chilled out.
travel, as was to be expected was shitty throughout ecuador, but has been slightly better in colombia, but a lot more expensive too. can't remember the company from the border to cali, but from cali to bogota it was bolivariano, semi cama, got some sleep, and all that, and arrived in good time.
it's been almost two weeks since the last post, what can i say, not too much has been done, and also i haven't been particularly interested in posting. anyway, after leaving huaraz the first time, you should all know about what happened, four straight nights on the bus between huaraz, trujillo, and mancora. i spent a day in huanchaco, the beach town near trujillo, before going back to huaraz to pick up my camera, spending that day in huaraz, getting the night bus back to trujillo, spending the day there, then getting the night bus to mancora, the place i actually wanted to go to, finally, back to the beach properly, it was a pretty nice beach, sunny, warm, and with pretty clean water, and at a very refreshing temperature. i spent a few days there doing not much (got sick from the hostel bbq on the last night, so spent the last day really doing nothing), before heading over the border in ecuador.
the first place i went to in ecuador was montanita, a beach town, spent my only day there recovering from the stomach bug that i had contracted in mancora, it was a nice town though, cheap drinks and nice, big breakfasts. some really good juice smoothies, that's for sure. missed the big drink session that night though, as i pretty much could only drinks smoothies to keep myself sustained. i headed for puerto lopez the next day, basically, it's ecuador's poor man's galapagos. they have blue footed boobies, frigates, masked boobies, vultures, red footed boobies (which we saw, but not their feet), and a bunch of other animals that no one knows of (mostly lizards and snakes i guess). it was pretty good, but for $50 usd, it wasn't the greatest thing, i think i'll probably wait a few years before giving the real galapagos a go (and make sure i research what there actually is to see there). we definitely saw lots of blue footed boobies from very close range, as well as other types of boobies, and magnificent frigates, some vultures, and other assorted animals, which i'll be posting in the gallery naturally. i actually thought their feet were going to be more of a blue blue than the aqua-ry blue they are, but anyway, very funny birds nonetheless. oh, and i left my passport (with bank cards), and hard drive at the hostel in montanita, lucky i had some friends going to quito that could bring it with them (hence the title of the post).
i've spent easter in quito, and will do so for the rest of the easter weekend, good friday was pretty boring, the easter parade wasn't anything special, well nothing like carnaval as i thought it might have been.
went to the otavalo market yesterday, bought some alpaca scarves, but nothing else, they have really good pork dishes there, but the masses of photo opportunities never really presented themselves. the weather was also quite miserable, so that was a bit of a downer, and we left to go the two hours back to quito about three in the afternoon. went out last night, and danced the night away, though it was quite weird, with the lights coming on frequently, and the music stopping a lot, it was fun, if a little weird. anyway, the plan is to climb the basilica (very nice looking church) tomorrow, and then hit the equator for the obligatory equator photos. that's about it for quito, there are some nice looking places, but it hasn't quite been as cool as i had hoped before. i'm heading for cotopaxi, banos, and cuenca next, before coming back to quito, and then colombia. so probably another post before i get to colombia i think.
picture of a mancora sunset, i'm not sure if i've ever seen the sun set over the sea before, very picturesque, even if it is pretty much the same as any other you've ever seen.
transport and accommodation
linea was the bus company i used between huaraz and trujillo, pretty good service, though i had to watch yes man (the jim carrey film) for four straight nights as i headed between huaraz and trujillo and mancora. from trujillo, i got el dorado to mancora, the only company that has direct services to there, it was ok, though people seemed to lounge everywhere. the ecuadorian buses have been pretty ordinary so far, stopping at every turn for bizaaro world reasons, and to pick and drop people off in the middle of nowhere.
in mancora, i stayed at the point hostel ($24 soles), it was a bit far away from town, but from what i saw, not as hard core as loki, so i was pleased about that. stayed in papaya hostel in montanita, it was pretty nice for $6usd a night. in puerto lopez, stayed at the sol inn, it was nice enough, for $5 usd, it was very basic, but the other people that stayed there were pretty cool. i've been staying at the secret garden here in the old town of quito so far, it's pretty pricey, at $8usd a night, plus tax, but it seems like a really cool place so far, the dorm has reading lights and lockers, so that's good.
once again, it's been a while since the last post, but i didn't want to post after lima last week, cos it was so shit; so get ready for another long post, and a lot of pictures. after a week in and around huaraz in the north of peru, it's time to to show you all some of the most scenic locations on earth. after arequipa, i headed back to sea level for the first time in several weeks, and huacachina (near ica), for some sand boarding, and then to paracas for perus poor man's galapagos, islas ballestas. the sand boarding was pretty fun, only did it for an hour or so, but it was a good experience, easier than snow boarding, and less painful. the sand dunes in huacachina are ridiculously massive, and there is a little town right next to them. anyway, here is a picture of the dunes, and a video of myself going down a sand dune, you lie on your belly, it's a lot easier that way (and more fun i think). i almost fucked up the zoom on my f50 doing this, so i hope you appreciate the lengths i go to, to give you all some joy in your dreary lives.
the next day, i got on a bus to pisco, then a taxt to paracas (for the wildlife tour). this was pretty much my first mishap in terms of transport, i missed my stop, because no one came onto the bus, and said, pisco!! then later, some guy comes up and asks for my ticket, then says, pisco was back there, so i asked if i could just go to lima, and they said, there's a woman waiting for you at pisco, so i had to get out at the next stop, and get a bus back. finally got there, and a really nice woman helped me get to the pier, and stuff, so i could get on a boat to see the animals. anyway, it was a two hour boat ride, and i saw sea lions, cormorants, boobies (birds), penguins, pelicans, a turkey vulture, and a few other types of birds, it was actually pretty good, how close you get and stuff, hopefully i can get to the galapagos, and see some more. here are the pics (the first one is of a couple of dodgy guys trying to get money for pelican photos, i didn't give them any, so they started feeding the pelicans so that they'd walk away from me):
i went to lima on the same day, and from the moment i smelled the fishy smell of the ocean, to the time the taxi driver charged me $20 soles for taking me to the central area of miraflores (where he couldn't find my hostel), and the dodgy internet cafe charged me for an hour when i only used 20 minutes or so, i knew i wasn't going to stay in lima long. first, from the bus station i shared a taxi with this german guy who was staying in the place recommended by the lonely planet (mochilero or something), i didn't stay there cos my friend phil said it was crappy. the cabbie charged him $18 soles, then took me to the central area of miraflores, about five minutes away, and charged me $20, and didn't even know where my hostel was. so i went to the loki, they didn't have any rooms so i went to the internet cafe across the street to look for a place nearby. went in and sat down at a computer, which didn't have skype, so i went to another one, then after finding a place to stay. the guy asked me for my ticket for using the computer, and of course i didn't have one, but he insisted that he gave it to me, whatever. stayed two nights and left, didn't like it at all, the centre has a massive mcdonalds, a kfc, burger king, pizza hut, etc, etc, not my cup of tea, needless to say, there was no need to take any photos.
onward to huaraz (about 3100m altitude), i checked out photos of the area on flickr, and there was no way of skipping this town. even though it's rainy season (and it does every afternoon), the scenery here is amazing. there are so many mountains and opportunities to trek in the area, you could probably spend years here, and not see half of it, anyway, i don't have that long, so i only saw a few places. day of rest my first day, then went to see laguna churup, a day hike of about eight hours return. i shared a cab with two others from my hostel to the start point of pitec, but somehow, we missed the obvious sign pointing to the laguna churup trail, and ended up walking in the wrong direction for 45 minutes, and getting to the entrance to the quebrada quilcayhuanca trail, we couldn't be stuffed walking all the way back, so walked on for an hour, before going back to town, that was pretty tiring. so tiring we had to go and find a big meal, the place for that, el ranchero, nice big portions (even for me, though i finished mine, and had some of another's), and cheap for the size.
the next day, the three of us went to do the hike to laguna 69 (still don't know why it's called that) at about 4600m, our hostel organised a taxi for us for $140 soles total, three hours drive from huaraz to the start point of the hike, and two and a half more hours of hiking to the lagoon. it was really worth it, as you will see from the pictures (especially once i get back to australia). it was pretty tough going up, the altitude combined with the incline, makes it so hard to move, i certainly have a much greater appreciation for hiking now. it rained a little, but we still saw some great scenery. the taxi went past laguna llanganaco, where you're meant to get a good view of huascaran, the tallest mountain in peru, too cloudy for us though.
got back tired, but still had to prepare for the santa cruz trek, the most famous one in the region. it's a four day (or less if you want) hike through the santa cruz valley, where you can see many mountains, and amazing scenery, including lagoons, lakes, rivers, waterfalls (rainy season haha), and some interesting wildlife, as well as some hard arse trekking (though maybe not as hard as i thought). me and friend paid $85usd, while another paid $100usd, and two $150usd (including the $65 soles park entry fee to be fair) respectively. the agency i went through was siula adventures, but the actual tour operator was quechuandes, it all worked out well in the end i think. the first day, is reasonably easy, we left at about 6am, and got a public bus to yungay, and then to vaqueria for the start, that took three and a half hours or so. then we hiked for nine km mostly flat, but a fair bit of up and down. it started at 3700m, and camp was at about 3900m (bout 9km of hiking), with lots of kids to support us. ok, we had a guide, a donkey driver, a horse, and two donkeys to carry all the heavy stuff, but still, i'm not used to hiking, especially at altitude.
the second day, was shit hard, we were to climb for about four hours to the high point at punta union (4750m), and then descend to 4200m for camp (about 14km in all). it was tough, and cold, but as you can see from the picture, tough aussies can do it (as long as we have donkeys) 
. there was actually fresh snow up the top, but walking up at that altitude was still hot, and hard. the night was freezing, i think i must have got about an hour of sleep, it was freezing outside (frost on the outside of the tent the next morning), and the ground was hard.
the third day would be relatively easy, going down to about 3200m to camp, it was about 12km of flat and downhill hiking, so not too difficult, but at altitude, and with slippery rocks underfoot, nothing can be taken for granted. we saw alpamayo, the world's most beautiful mountain in the morning (you'll see that later). apart from having a case of a very upset stomach, everything went smoothly (a big thanks to the englishman richard, for the imodium tablets, what a lifesaver). we ended making some playing cards out of paper so that we could do something in the tent, as it was raining outside.
the last day was really easy, three kilometres of downhill to town. the tough part was the transport back to huaraz, first, a taxi squeezing seven of us into the cab, three in the front, and four in the back, how lucky was i, getting the middle of the front, about 40 minutes of sitting on a gear stick, on bumpy and hilly roads, nice!! my feet pretty much went dead, then in a cramped van colectivo on the bumpy and pothole ridden roads back to huaraz, with a maniac driver swerving all over the place for a bit more than an hour, superb. anyway, that was a great four days, and there will be a lot of hdrs and panoramas to post once i get back home i think, hopefully they will work out, cos it was tough, what with the grey skies, and rain. overall, a great four days, we had a really good group (except for one person........................................ ........................NOT!!, sorry i've seen borat the movie twice in the past week or so), i'd definitely want to come back here and see some of the other mountains in the area, especially during high (and dry) season, although, we didn't see another tourist on our trek except right at the end, two others were going in the opposite direction as we were approaching our final destination.
now it's time to get back to sea level, and hit the beach, i'm heading for trujillo tonight, and hopefully from there to mancora for some beach fun. a couple days there maybe, then onto ecuador, and we'll see what is to be done there. picture of some of my group members taking photos of an unknown mountain (to me at least), the second day, before punta union.
transport and accommodation
not much to say for transport, some cheap buses and stuff between pisco and lima, and more cruz del sur for the other longer rides, which i've already talked about. stayed in the rocha hotel ($20 soles) or whatever it's called, in huacachina, simple, but did the job for one night. then in lima, i stayed at k'usillu's hostel ($9usd), pretty nice place, with good chillout areas, though no one wanted to use them. here in huaraz, i've been staying at caroline lodging ($13 soles), it's a bit away from the centre, but it is really nice. it's a family run hostel, and the family are so nice and friendly, they even pick you up and drop you off at the bus stations when you arrive and leave.
sudamerica 2009: condors, colca canyon, chachani, arequipa, fun, fun, fun
been a bit of a delay between posts while i've been doing some stuff here in arequipa, just been waiting to finish everything (just means lots of pictures). anyway, arrived in arequipa last wednesday (these posts all start out the same way ), and rested for a couple days before doing the colca canyon trek. went with land adventures which is an organisation that tries to promote sustainable tourism (so they say), it was a little more expensive than other companies, but it was great fun, and we learnt a lot about the region, and the communities in the area. the first day, we went to the cruz del condor lookout and saw a few condors flying around, unfortunately for me, i was at the wrong part of the lookout and missed the condor flying right over the cross (photo will be in the gallery), but that was cool. after that, we headed for cabancaconde (altitude about 3200m), a town on the edge of the canyon, where we had lunch, before heading down into the canyon. but first, some pictures from the cruz del condor lookout.
it was pretty funny, we went downhill from cabanaconde, all the way to the bottom, only to have to cross the river, and climb back up, half the distance again to get to our village, place to stay for the first night. by the way, the colca canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world at 3191m, though we didn't get anywhere near the deepest part, it's kind of inaccessible.
it was pretty comfortable, they actually had hot water, heated by solar panels, and the beds were reasonably comfortable, after a tough slog of a day, everyone slept pretty well. the next morning, we had a huge breakfast, before heading to a little museum, and then the oasis at sangalle, which was only a lazy two hours away along a pretty flat trail. at the oasis, i managed to have a bit of a swim, despite the chilly-ish water (good when the sun was shining), and also take some macro photos of flowers. we had lunch there, and basically spent three hours relxing before the hard climb back out of the canyon (1200m vertically), don't ask me if the pools are natural or not.
the climb back up really steep and difficult, but i managed, and got to the top after two hours, a few of the others rented a mule to take their backpacks up, they still had a tough time, but were able to go a bit faster at times. that second night we got to stay in a nice hotel with private rooms and showers, nice, so we got to relax a bit, and didn't really have any work to do for the next day, whereas the other tour groups had to get up at 4am or something to hike up the canyon. a few of us went to the lookout near cabanaconde the next morning, and caught a few more glimpses of those giant condors flying around the canyon. after that, we got on a minibus and headed back to chivay for some hot springs, lunch, and relax time. we ended up arriving in arequipa about 6pm, and even saw some vicuņas on the way back, too bad i had the wrong lens on, i still haven't got a proper picture of one yet 
.
ok, so much for the colca canyon, one of the highlights so far for sure, it was beautiful despite not being perfectly clear. had a rest day on monday, and then went downhill mountain biking (they call it dow hill, sic, here), it cost $45usd, and i went down chachani, the 6075m volcano in the area. it took about two and a half hours to get to the starting point from town, and then about two hours to get back to town from there. the starting point was at 4800m, and the finishing point was at 2300m, over about 40km. i came off the bike three times i think, once quite outrageously. the roads (if you can call them that) at the top were ridiculously bumpy, just covered in rocks, my feet kept coming off the pedals. riding on sand/dirt is not my game, the tyres just don't grip, and i was swerving about, worrying about crevices and such, when the best thing is just to go though it, cos the tread is enough to go through the uneven parts of road. anyway, crashed right over the handle bars, head first on one really fast part of dirt road, lucky i had a helmet on. then the last part was on tarmac, and it was time to let rip in the high gears, though i couldn't get max speed because the chain kept coming off when i really started going for it (i still managed over 60kph though). it was awesome fun, especially the last part, which was basically straight downhill on tarmac, i reckon on my road bike i could've topped 80kph. my guide had this really nice full suspension bike that i saw when they arrived, and thought, yes, but i ended up with this ordinary bike with just front suspension (not too great at that), a bit better than the bike i had on the inca jungle trail maybe.
yesterday, i went to do some volunteering work with a local organisation that has work for a day schemes for travellers. it's called traveller not tourist, and they were building a school on the outskirts of town, it's a really nice idea, and i met a couple of good people working there, who had done full time volunteering for four and six weeks respectively. unfortunately for me, i came at a time, when they were between projects, and volunteer groups, the two people there are just leaving this week, and had just finished the office, and so, didn't want to start on the bathroom only to leave it started, but not done. i ended up just doing some painting and floor sweeping, but hopefully the money i paid helps at least a little bit. it was certainly good to see another side of town, not just the main tourist attractions.
anyway, that's it for me and arequipa, though i'm thinking of coming back in may to climb el misti (pictured), or chachani (also pictured) when the weather is supposedly better, but that depends on if i manage to climb another high peak in between now and then. i really like arequipa, it's a really nice town, i prefer it over cusco, and would definitely recommend it.
transport and accommodation
i got cruz del sur from cusco, and have to admit the service was great, i only managed to get semi-cama but the whole trip seemed very professionally run, at least as good as any in argentina.
i stayed at misti house near the plaza for my first two nights in two before the colca canyon tour, it was really simple, only $10 soles a night, so no breakfast, and lockers, but fernando (the boss) and his brother were really nice and helpful. they were also undergoing renovations while i was there, so maybe in a month or so, they will have better facilities. since getting back from the colca canyon tour, i've been staying at the bothy hostel, which is a pretty nice place with all the amenities, except lockers in dorms, but the little cubby hole lockers will fit your camera and important stuff, provided you don't have ridiculous canon sized lenses.
whew, long post, but it was a good week here, and now i head to ica tonight to do some sand boarding, as well, as to see some seals and birdlife at islas ballestas, then onto lima and getting closer to ecuador, but that's still a couple weeks away at least, i think.
el misti, the guardian volcano of arequipa, that is visible behind the cathedral in the main square when the skies are clear, this picture was taken from chachani, so it was a lot clearer than what you get in town at the moment (when the clouds roll in around 11am).
sudamerica 2009: massage, information, cusco, and wonderful machu picchu
left la paz on a high note, by staying out all night and then having to wait and sit through fifteen hours (starting at 8am) of late buses to cusco last tuesday. i really should've waited another day for that trip, cos it was just plain uncomfortable.
anyway, finally arrived in cusco close to midnight, and pretty much did nothing for a couple days recovering, and preparing, a bit of shopping, and getting the best possible price ($160 usd btw for the 4d/3n tour) for the inca jungle trail tour. this is one of the alternative treks to machu picchu that has popped up, and includes something like 50km of downhill cycling on the first day (starting from about 4350m, and finishing about 1200m above sea level), so pretty similar to the death road in la paz. i would say it was pretty much as dangerous (there was traffic on the road, but no so many big cliffs), not as fast, bikes weren't as good (mine stayed in one piece unlike some others), but pretty much just as fun (and yes, alf, you would've loved this one too), i finished second behind this crazy italian guy, but one of the brazilians in our group was unlucky cos his rear derailleur unhinged, he was pretty fast too.
the second day was the hardest, we had to hike 21km up and down hills, that were steep and bug ridden, carrying our small backpacks, but because my camera backpack is so useless, i had to carry another small backpack, so pretty much carrying a big backpack (i didn't take as many photos as i would've liked, purely because i was too tired, and also everyone was walking so fast). there were times that i didn't think i could keep going (this trek i'm guessing is a fair bit easier than the inca trail because you are at much lower altitudes, though you also don't have porters), but managed to keep going. our gorup was eight plus our tour guide, i was actually probably the third weakest hiker (one girl, and one with a sore knee), which was a bit of a shock to me. anyway, we saw a lot of cool things along the way, and even hiked a section of the inca trail, which was ridiculously steep. the day ended with us spending a couple hours in the hot springs near santa teresa, a very welcome end i must say, cleaned ourselves up a bit, and relaxed, they're basically just big swimming pools.
the third day wasn't as interesting, but almost as hard, as we had 17km to hike, 8km in the morning, and 9km in the afternoon, but it was shit hot, so we were all swimming in our own sweat the whole day. the hike itself wasn't that interesting, saw a couple waterfalls and some big river, and then in the afternoon, just followed the train tracks until we got to the tourist town of aguas calientes, a city built purely for the tourism of machu picchu. it is nice enough though, clean showers, and plenty of options for food, and what not. we spent the night there before preparing ourselves for the task of conquering machu picchu.
we got up at 4am and met our guide at 4.30am to start climbing machu picchu, it was pretty much pitch black, and you just have to climb these stairs that are steep and surrounded by forest. i managed to do it in about 50 minutes to an hour (400m up), to get to the entrance about 20 minutes before it opened. we got in, just in time for sunrise, and also got our tickets for huayna picchu (which is the big mountain that appears behind the citadel, you can see it on the left in the main picture), it is an extra 300m up, but steeper than the machu picchu climb (took 35 minutes), only 400 people are allowed up there each day. we toured around for about two hours including the sunrise with our guide, before he left and we were on our own. that's when a few of us climbed huayna picchu, great views, though a little crowded. we followed that by going to the great cave (which we didn't find (also heard it wasn't very good), just the temple of the moon, which again, wasn't very impressive). that was really far down, and also really hard to get to, and also to get back to machu picchu. finally managed to get back to machu picchu and the guardian house for the post card shot, and then finished off my time at machu picchu by going to the sun gate and chilling out there, very nice place, and a different view of machu picchu (which you'll all see in due course). in conclusion, the tour was great, and well worth it from my side, i also got the machu picchu stamp in my passport, oh yeah.
even though i was pretty much out of energy by that time (and throughout the day), i managed to run halfway back down the steps towards town, and have a late lunch before getting a train and bus back to cusco, and that's where i am now, heading for arequipa tonight. the picture of machu picchu was taken early in the morning from the altar of fire i think, i've got a shit load of silhouettes and other photos to come, plus i managed to get some macros, and other close ups of some wildlife too.
accommodation and transport
peruvians and bolivians seem to be on a different time table for transport, they wait till the bus is full before going, so almost always late. accommodation, i stayed at the point in cusco, and also pirwa backpackers colonial last night. the point is a party hostel, but for me, maybe i was not in the mood, or something, it just didn't feel right. pirwa seems a bit better to me, but they don't have enough backpack lockers in dorms or outside either.
finally, cusco is a beautiful city, only ruined slightly by the annoying vendors offering massages in the plaza de armas and tour information. if i wanted it, i'd ask for it, too bad i didn't go and see any of the sacred valley, but that can be for another time. also i wanted to climb machu picchu mountain, it is a big mountain that overlooks the citadel, but is basically a four hour return trip, so i didn't have time yesterday, maybe another time, when i do the inca trail as well, the view apparently, is amazing, and only two or three people a day go up there (for obvious reasons).
sudamerica 2009: time's up for bolivia
almost anyway, i'm back in loco la paz, after spending the weekend away in copacabana and isla del sol up at lake titikaka. arrived in la paz las sunday, just in time for carnaval, it wasn't as good as oruro, but it was pretty crazy nonetheless. lots of water fights and people in the streets, and everything was of course closed. i managed to catch up with Esther and Mathieu (they studied spanish at the same school as me in ba), and we sat down and had a nice curry, they did, i had to go for the vindaloo with extra chillis, just so i could get a free t-shirt. well, i don't recommend it, but i got the shirt (you have to finish the curry), so that was pretty nasty. so finally things opened up again on wednesday, so i went to do the death road just outside la paz. we went with a company called b-side adventures, cos they had similar bikes to gravity, but cost a lot less. the bikes were ridiculously good, the road was ridiculously dangerous (moreso for cars than bikes), and a lot of fun was had, although we didn't get to start from the top (4750m), because it was about to snow, we had to start from the first checkpoint (4100m), but we still got great speed going down, and it was really fun (alf, you would've loved it), i've got a photo cd, but i haven't seen the video yet, should be good.
didn't do a lot on thursday, went for a bit of a wander around town, but not too much. i honestly can't really remember what i did that day, so i won't continue, went to copacabana on friday, it's a town on the shores of lake titikaka. we spent the weekend there, had a really, really, nice stuffed trout at la cupula on friday night, followed by a massive chocolate fondue dessert. then went to isla del sol on saturday morning, and did a 20km hike from the northern end to the southern end, where we spend the night. unfortunately, never really got a good sunset there, but took a heap of pictures, and they look really nice, not difficult when you think about the scenery. on a quite annoying note, on isla del sol, you get charged for every little thing you do or see, we didn't do it, but some others didn't pay the fees that were asked; there were three sections where we paid $20 bolivianos in total (would be good if there was some kind of information, or just a once-off payment at the start that looked somewhat official, rather than some bolivians standing around with a ticket book). we then spent half the day playing cards on sunday, before returning to copacabana in the afternoon. me and another aussie (rob) were going to get a bus to peru (arequipa for him, cusco for me), but it turned out to be a farce, and now we're back in la paz, deciding when to get the bus to our destinations (i'll probably go tomorrow morning), although i've got a bit of a cold, so we'll see.
anyway, that's it for now, i didn't manage to get to rurrenabaque this time around, but i think i'll come back to bolivia in may when the weather is better, and go do the amazon thing then. i'll leave you with a bunch more pictures i've taken in the week, which should leave you drooling for the full photo gallery when i get home. the main photo was taken of lake titikaka, what a peaceful place that is, and beautiful. will see you all in peru next time, probably after having conquered macchu picchu.
info on accommodation and transport
i've been staying at adventure brew too hostel in la paz, it's a really great place, pancakes for breakfast, and a free beer everyday. in copacabana, we stayed at some place right near the shore of lake titikaka, it was nice enough, and isla del sol, we stayed at hostal inti kala, ok, but breakfast is expensive (nice but not worth it). transport to and from la paz to copacabana is pretty basic, and should have costed $15 bolivianos. i also forgot to mention that our bus back from copacabana broke down 80km from la paz, we managed to get our stuff onto another passing bus and made our way to la paz safely.
sudamerica 2009: best fun ever, carnaval in oruro
ok, late post i know, but i didn't manage to post on friday because i had to get a taxi straight after my last spanish class to oruro (which is a hole btw) for carnaval (i'm in la paz now btw, gonna be a crazy few days i think). anyway, wrapped up spanish classes on friday, just in time to get to oruro for the second biggest carnaval in south america. earlier in the week, last saturday to be exact, i joined a bunch of drunken bolivians in a march down the road with a marching band in tow. it was the birthday party of one of the daughters of my host, and they know how to party here in bolivia. traffic had to make its way around us very slowly as we danced and avoided water balloons and water guns (it's a bolivian tradition before carnaval). here are a couple of pictures of sucre that i took last week, the boring pictures, all the carnaval pics are the ones you're interested in (though i do have some better pics of both of the following subjects).
other than that, didn't do that much last week other than go to the karaoke bars a couple times, and drink a bit too much. so to carnaval, it's full of bolivians from all over the country dressing in outrageous costumes and marching for hours on end (about 16 hours). then there's the water fights, foam sprays, and of course, a lot of drinking, and crazed tourist dancing. anyway, my group (people i met in sucre) got there about 10am, i stayed till about 6.30pm (some stayed longer, some left earlier), before most of us headed off for a break. after a nap, i was woken up to go out and party the night away. we also loaded up on water bombs throughout the day so that we could throw them at people strolling down the middle of the street (not the dancers), it's what they deserved, and also what you get (i also received a bit).
we went in with the intention of dancing with the dancers. we managed to do that for about three hours, as well as posing for many photos with them. all i can say, is that is an experience that everyone should do at least once, i'd definitely go again if given the chance. i'm in la paz now, and just had the hottest curry (or any kind of food for that matter) that i have ever eaten. the only reason i finished it, a free t-shirt, hopefully we'll have a picture of it soon enough. some other crazy stuff in la paz to do before i head for cuzco. it's also carnaval here, there are more people, but i'm a bit like, i've seen enough of carnaval and water fights, foam spray for this week. anyway, enough of the boring stuff, here are the pictures (loads more to come when i get back to australia, these are just out of focus ones that i thought would be a waste not to post somewhere).
picture of some very colourful dancers in oruro.
sudamerica 2009: sucre, beautiful one day, stormy the next
the climate here is perfect, we're at about 2750m, but it's not cold (it is summer i guess), it's not too hot, though it can get hot i've heard. it's been really nice a couple days, and pissed down a few others, but it's never too cold, and certainly hasn't been too hot, i have a long-ish walk to school which includes a big up hill home, and i don't really sweat at all. i arrived last saturday from potosi (say it twice quickly with emphasis on the to, that's how they sell bus tickets here. the bus ride was only three hours, and was pretty good, the road was paved i think for a fair proportion, the scenery was pretty good, although there was a big dry river which would've been nice if it had running water (everyone's in drought i guess).
i haven't done too much in town, apart from sleeping and studying, played walley (a modified version of volleyball played in a squash court) on wednesday night with a bunch of people from the school, that was fun, though my team didn't win any games . wandering around town a little, i'll probably have more of a look on the weekend, there's a lookout and also a lot of churches (which never seem to be open), so hopefully i'll get lucky. i have a really good view from my room in my home stay, can see a lot of houses on the hill, and also a lot of the night sky, i tried to get a lightning storm in bulb the other night, but i think there are too many lights for it to work properly. anyway, took a bunch of cool long exposures the other night with the moon and clouds, so wait till i get back for those. long exposures, the ladies will love them (pun absolutely intended ).
last sunday i went to a football game between universitario (of sucre) and the strongest (i think from la paz), the first half was pretty boring, but the second half livened up after the first half substitute (from argentina) scored the first of three goals (yes, a second half hat trick) for universitario. it cost $30 bolivianos, so it was much cheaper than the boca game, and obviously not as good, it was pretty similar to an aussie rules atmosphere, people only really cheer when something happens. universitario played a team from ecuador last night in the copa de libertadores last night, unfortunately i couldn't find anyone to go with .
so then i started school on monday (doing 2.30pm to 6.30pm, i'm not getting up to start classes at 8.30am), and i seem to be in a private class, which is a lot of pressure, but it seem
