Ciao Argentina, hola Bolivia!

Since I last wrote, I crossed a few borders and I´ve got lots of stories...  

Before crossing into Bolivia, I explored one more region of Argentina... the Northwest, land of cacti and colorful rock formations. I got to practice lots of Spanish too since most of the other travelers I met were Argentine. It was cool to see so many Argentines out exploring their own country! and feel a little off the ¨gringo trail¨. I stopped in 3 villages (Tafi del Valle, Cafayate, and Tilcara), and I spent a few days in Salta, the main city in the region. As far as cities go, it was a pleasant one for me, but one of the many things I´ve learned on this trip is that spending much time in big foreign cities is not my cup of tea! It´s actually downright overwhelming, so instead, I´ve been sticking to spending more time in smaller towns. Those loud partying til 4 in the morning twenty-somethings can have the cities! I find peace and comfort in the countryside... I always have.

My favorite town in the northwest was Cafayate, great plaza, great scenery, great wine ice cream! In one long full day, three Portenos (folks from Buenos Aires) and I explored the surrounding countryside. First, we hiked into the Rio Colorao canyon to reach some super impressive waterfalls. It was no walk in the park though. It involved lots of rock scrambling, river crossings, sheer cliff drop-offs, and watching out for sharp cacti. I love canyon country! The second half of our day was a lot mellower with a car tour of the famous Quebrada (rock formations). This landscape reminded me of southern Utah with its red rocks, but not quite the same. Each place is definitely unique. The friendly Portenos and I topped off our day with a scoop of wine ice cream made from the local grapes that grow surprisingly well there in the high desert. Muy rico!

touring the Quebrada

Waterfall in the Rio Colorao canyon

A week and a $135 reciprocity fee later, I landed across the border in Bolivia and the change in countries from developed to developing was apparent. A mellow train ride later, and I was in Tupiza with more desert canyon country to explore. The two big things to do there are horseback riding and starting a 4 day jeep tour of the southwest circut (and every tour agency will try to convince you that they are the best at it!). I did both. The horse-riding wasn´t super impressive since it was hot and dusty and the horses only obeyed the guide, not us, so they went fast when I wasn´t expecting it, and boringly slow when I wanted to get going. Go figure.

horse-riding in the canyons near Tupiza

I left the next day on my 4 day jeep tour. My companions were two Danish girls in their early 20s and a cool British chica closer to my age who I had a lot more in common with. It balanced out. Our driver loved to dance, at any time, even while driving and listening to the same dance music over and over for 4 days. Amusing. Our cook was a happy grandmother who made us lovely meals. I don´t know how these guys do it for so many hours day after day. The landscapes were surreal - we passed volcanoes, multi-colored lakes, geyers, hot springs, and of course, the great salt flats near Uyuni (the salar). Highlights were the hot springs (big surprise there!), playing around on the rock formations of the Valle de los Rocas, and sunrise on the salar. The scenery provided quite the epic photo shoot and I had lots of fun playing around with my camera to try and capture that perfect shot. Of course, no picture can do this land justice. We stayed in very small villages, no doubt partially set up to accommodate all the tourists on jeep tours, and I was amazed at how remote it all was.

Laguna Verde (green lake)

sunrise on the salar (salt flats)

salt mounds on the salar

The tour ended in Uyuni, a depressing town full of trash and travelers just passing through, but soon enough, I was on the night bus to La Paz, capital of Bolivia. This was one of the scariest bus rides I´ve ever been on, and I couldn´t even see the road since it was dark! But I felt every bump and tight corner! Definitely couldn´t sleep on this ride, and I was super happy that I decided to shell out $16 for my own room at a hotel instead of heading to the cheaper hostel dorm.

After a few hours of rest, I ventured out into the city to explore around the famous markets. La Paz is a chaotic city... tour agencies and markets around every corner on every steep street. You can buy anything and everything here from traditional textiles to electronics to witchery items to all sorts of veggies and meats. It was quite the scene to take in... traditional Bolivian women all sitting on the ground with all their goods spread out before them. I huffed and puffed up several streets (though overall my body has done really well with the high 13,000 ft altitude!) before calling it a day and retreating to my room to re-pack my backpack for my  next adventure: the El Choro trek.

The El Choro trek is a 3 day 57 km guided hike from the top of a snowy mountain pass near La Paz (16,000 ft) down to the humid jungle town of Coroico (around 5,500 ft). My experience was nothing short of intense. The first day, we started in the snow and slowly made our way down the rocky path, past forming streams and into the grassy valleys. The snow turned into freezing rain and we were all quite wet and miserable by lunchtime. After lunch, it was another grueling 8 hours of hiking down wet, muddy, and very slippery rocky paths (what were the Incas thinking?). It was on the verge of treacherous, especially as darkness creeped in. The puddles were deep enough to cause water, mud, and animal poop to get into my boots and Gore-Tex doesn't help at all at that point. The guides carried our tents and food, but we had to carry the rest of our gear. Thankfully, I brought enough warm clothes to keep me warm that first night. While my pants and jacket dried out overnight, my shoes and socks did not. We woke up the next day to brillant sunshine, and forged ahead trying to get as far as we could while we had good weather. The day started out with going down the same damn rocky path, and got more up and down as we traversed the hills, passed small settlements of shacks and many corn fields, and crossed creeks, rivers, and waterfalls. The vegetation got greener and more jungle-ly like as we pressed on. It was another long day (I think 22 km), but at least we arrived at our campsite just before dark. After hiking in wet shoes for 2 days, I had some massive blisters and had to switch to wearing my Chaco sandals on the third day, but they got me down to the end just fine. While hiking down in the jungle scenery with views of the surrounding mountains was absolutely gorgeous, at the same time, I was hurting, and I was so glad when we finally made it to the small village of Chairo where we took a van to the town of Coroico, my home for the next few days. The rest of the group headed back to La Paz and I was happy to be on my own again. Yup, intense. But no regrets!

starting the trek in the snow

ending the trek in the Yungas jungle

I was with a group of 4 young Israeli girls for the trek, and while I've met some nice Israelis in South America (and there are so many since they travel here after their army service!), I was disappointed that this group of Israelis didn't make much effort to socialize with me. They just talked with each other in Hebrew, and I felt completely left out. They have a reputation around here as being very click-ish and not engaging with other travelers and I really experienced that on this trek. It was a bummer for me to be the only non-Israeli, and I will make sure I'm not in that situation again. I did enjoy some peace and quiet while hiking though since I stayed in the back and had the trail to myself, but I also couldn't help, but feel some pressure by the guides to keep up with the group. Doing the organized group thing is such a hit or miss!!!

After such an intense 3 days, I had a glorious time relaxing at the Hostal Sol y Luna ecolodge on the hill above the town of Coroico. I had my own room for only $7 a night and the grounds contain 2 pools, a hot tub, gardens, hammocks, many viewpoints for gazing into the surrounding mountains, and a small restaurant with awesome vegetarian dishes. Paradise, if it weren't for all the biting insects, but even so, it was so worth the 2 days I spent there.

After a scenic ride back to La Paz, I spent a few hours shopping there (yes, you read that right!) for some traditional alpaca items, and then found out that my bus to Copacabana the next day was leaving earlier than usual to try and avoid the massive anti-government demonstrations that had been going on in the city. Not only did I see many police while walking around, but I also heard lots of dynamite going off. Their sign of protest. Crazy. Fortunately, our bus got out of the city okay and a few hours later, I was in the ¨beach¨ town of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca.

I took the first boat out to Isla del Sol and wasn´t quite mentally prepared for how basic and rustic the island would be. The locals have been living here for ages and still lead very traditional lives based off the land (and increasingly tourism!). There are pigs, sheep, donkeys, llamas, and chickens grazing around, and many many plots of cultivated land for crops. These plots and family houses are built in settlements and on the steep hillsides of the island. There are three main settlements on the island and I stayed in the northernmost town, closest to the famous Inca ruins and right on the beach. Had my own room and bathroom for only $5 a night, plus all the trout I could eat for $4 a meal.

the north village on Lake Titicaca

I spent one long full day hiking around the entire island by way of an 8 hour loop hike. Took the coastal trail through villages and beaches on the way to the south side, and then took the high ridge trail on the return, stopping by the Inca ruins just as the sun was setting. It was the opposite route that most tourists take, and I immensely enjoyed some stretches of trail to myself with just the outline of the island against the blue waters of the lake and the distant yet visable snow-capped mountains of the Andes Cordillera to admire.

After returning to Copacabana for one night, I hopped on the morning bus to Peru and 12 long hours later, I arrived in Cusco last night. And now a new country, new currency, and more new sights to see! The adventure continues!

Many more pictures are coming soon on Facebook. Enjoy! and thanks for reading!