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that ice cream is not for you!

well cuba is a really a trip away from the rest of the world. many strange divisions and many strange situations...separate bus for tourists, separate ice cream stands for tourists, and a constant hassle to buy fake brand name cigars...but after that, everyone is as nice as pie and more than willing to talk and share a swig of rum with you.
after a week in havana, we moved to cienfuegos to get some local flavour. quaint little city on a nice bay and close enough for us to rent motoscooters to go to the beach...great fun!
now we are in Trinidad and there are way more tourists, but the beach is supposed to be better...we will see tomorrow. off to take a salsa lesson and partake in the special feista this weekend...ron and beer flowing freely.
after we heading to santiago de cuba and then holguin to catch a flight back to havana. after that we have some days in viñales on the other side of havana. time is ticking and we have lots left to see. this may be the last blog...so hasta pronto!
J&M

Que bola asere?

What´s happening brother?

We were to leave Lima at noon with a quick 40 minute lay over in San Jose Costa Rica and then on to Cuba. We arrived in San Jose in dense fog. We boarded the plane and then waited for two hours, nice bar service mind you, only to be told we were disembarking as the weather was bad. We were given two options, stay in the airport waiting for information or go to a hotel for 5 hours. We tried to leave, by low and behold, we didn´t have our yellow fever immunization cards with us ... 11 months of traveling and no mention of the cards, one night in costa rica and we are stuck sleeping on indoor outdoor turf because we don´t have the cards???!!!!

We finally arrived in Havana 10 hours late to learn that they gave our room away to someone else, they say because we didn´t show up but we believe it was long gone before we didn´t show up!! Luckily they found us another room in a friendly casa. Today is sightseeing and maybe some picture taking, although this slow internet for $3.00 a half an hour, may not allow us to post any pics. We will keep you posted on highlights none the less.

Alive and well in Cuba!
M + J

Simply Peruano

Buenos Dias,

Well we have been busy since we last wrote. Following our lazy days by the pool and sipping sweet wines in the vineyards of peru, we headed to Ayacucho to meet up with our friends Oliver and Aagje. Ayacucho is a nice colonial city in the central andes that sees very few tourists. It was a nice place to base ourselves for some sight seeing in the surrounding mountains. We hired a private vehicle and made the 80 km, 4 plus hour journey, to Vilcashuaman. A sleepy and remote mountain town with lots of Inca and pre Inca history, as well as some crazy cactus trees that bloom once every 80 years.

Next a pit stop in Lima on our way to Huaraz for our final trek. The Cordillera Blanca is the second highest mountain range in the world, with 33 peaks over 6000 meters. We met up with our South African friend Barbara to tackle the classic Santa Cruz trek. Four days of mountain bliss and a personal record setting high of 4750 meters.

All is well. We are heading back to Lima for a few days before we jet off to drink some ron and smoke some Cuban cigars in La Habana!

Choquequirau and beyond

Holala,

This past week we embarked on a grand adventure to the unknown Inca ruin of Choquequirau. Unlike other famous Inca ruins, this one can only be reached by 3-5 days of walking and is still 70% hidden in the jungle. As the route is difficult (down 1500 m to the river and up 150o m on the other side and at the elevation of 3000m), we decided to hire a mule to carry our extras. Our arriero (donkey driver) was 17 year old Whitman, probably the sweetest, most mature and responsible 17 year old around.

Day 1 we set out strong, James insisted on carrying his pack, even though the others urged him to put it on the mule. Finally they just gave up and said in Spanish, he won´t listen anyway. After about 3 hours of walking, the sun was strong but we were feeling ok. We passed the first camp site and decided to go on. It didn´t take too long to realize we made a bad decision. We were descending and not feeling too great from the sun. We asked Whitman if there was another campsite to stay at and he said by the river. When we reached the river, James was as red as a tomato, Whitman apologized and said there is no food here for the mule (who we named Iris because she did not have a name as it is not common to name work animals in Peru - shame), we have to climb 2 hours to the next campsite. This is when James starting having his first break down. Off came the pack and for the next 3 hours or so James walked for thirty seconds and rested for 3 mins. I felt like chasing him up the hill with a stick. Whitman went on ahead, in his tiny little sandles, and had set up our tent by the time we arrived. End of day 1.

Day 2 we walked for quite a few hours but had the reward of seeing Choquequirau. Amazing to see a ruin just poking out of the jungle. At times we were the only people exploring around. Not only is the ruin beautiful, but the position at the junction of three valleys, with a bright green river and snowed capped mountains is very impressive. We felt that magical feeling one imagines when they think of Peru.

Day 3, again started out strong. Heading down for two hours and then up for one. Again decided to move on to the next campsite because it was early and we were feeling good. Mistake! When we finally arrived at the campsite we discovered that there was no water. Again Whitman insisted we move on , just up for two hours and another hour to a farm where we could camp. Break down number two. The climb was very steep and James insisted he couldn´t do it, but very very very slowly the three of us and Iris made our way up. Poor James really wasn´t feeling well and just before the top he got sick. At least this put him in a better mood and encouraged him to keep walking. We made it to the farm, but of course, there was no one home, so we had to walk back to the town in which we started. I think we walked 28 km down down down and then up up up on day 3. Of course Whitman was feeling fine as we limped bacl into town.

The guides suggest you do the hike in 4 to 5 days but we did it in 3 (not are our finest) days.

As a reward we have been enjoying the sun, sand, pool and wine of Ica. However are moving on to meet some friends in Ayacucho tonight.

Ciao Ciao, M

Author´s note: As I reread the blog, it seems a bit harsh. I must point out that the conditions were very difficult, it was hot and I am actually quite proud of James for making it all the way up on the third day! Cheers for James! As well, it was well worth the effort as Choquequirau was a splendid sight!

Oh when the saints go marching in ....

Hey Everyone,

Finished up our time in Bolivia on Lake Titicaca. A little walking, boat riding and sight seeing around Cococabana and Isla del Sol (birth place of the sun). James was in donkey heaven as there were donkey trains everywhere we looked. Bolivia was lovely and we were sad to leave however, we are excited to be in Peru!

We are currently in Cuzco. James had his first taste of cuy...that is guinea pig in English. He said although there wasn´t much meat, the taste wasn´t too bad. Take note of the little leg sticking off the plate... maybe he´ll cook some up for everyone when we get home!

We were planning to move on yesterday but it happened to be the fiesta of Corpus Christi here in Cuzco, so we decided to stay and take it in. The basic story is each neighbourhood has a gigantic patron saint that they carry to the main Cathedral on the day prior to the actual festival. Each saint is carried by about 20 men, some without shoes. They are proceeded by dancers and followed by a huge brass band. On the festival day, the Saints leave the Cathedral for a tour around the main plaza. The whole process of having 15 Saints parade around the plaza, each with their own band, pushing through about 15,000 (or more) people, took about 5 hours. The saints stay for one week and then march back to their own churches. Nutty!

Tomorrow we are heading out to do some hiking in the hills of Peru!

Hope all is well.

M

rest of Salar Uyuni pics

so we are in La Paz right now and really enjoying it. very nice city, the people are very friendly and it is very cheap. the food has been very good and we finally have a nice place to stay. we met some friends from guatemala yesterday and had a some very tasty curry from the local curry house...a nice change from chicken, fries and pizza.

plan for a couple more days here and then off toward lake titicaca and peru for some trekking in peru.

the rest of the pics are from the salt flats trip...

hasta pronto,

J

No Way Jose

Well we made it to Uyuni! internet is crap here too, so no pics quite yet. We had a great experience on the 4wd drive tour. it was crazy to see so many different things in three days. unlike any place on earth i bet. Our driver (Jose) was a ham and very good at his job, and we had three other car mates that were fantastic as well (a couple from belgium and a swiss banker). got to eat some llama and shovel some fresh salt...good times, good times!

tonight we catch a midnight train to Oruro and then take a bus to La Paz for a couple of days.

Oh, and by the way we had an incredibly clear view of saturn during an astronomy tour in the desert in San Pedro...could distinguish the colors in the rings...wow. we will post a picture of that too when we get a chance.

only a broken piston

hye everyone, sorry for the short post with no pics (revision...pics added), but internet is not really great here in San Pedro de Atacama,Chile and probably wont be for the next little while in Bolivia.

We are off on our 3 day 4wd drive journey to the Salt Flats of Uyuni,Bolvia tomorrow...should be interesting...6 people crammed into an old landcruiser with a grumpy driver and some freezing nights...well worth our money i am sure. Hope it goes better than our bus trip from Salta, Argentina to San Pedro...bus broke a piston near the andean mountain pass between the countries and we waited for 7 hours before a replacement bus came. We arrived very tire and hungry in San Pedro at 1AM and the town was sleeping. A bus load of backpackers woke up every hostel owner in town...it was a very surreal!

We hope things go better on the jeep tour (yeah right...even the tour operators tell us that all the companies are crap and you need to expect very little of the tour...but the scenery is worth it).
chao,
J

Aconcagua or bust! or more like blow away...

here we come Monster mountain...

Well we have been jetting all over the place since we last wrote, and now find ourselves back in Argentina. We just can´t get enough of this country.

We spent a couple of days in Valdivia Chile, watching the sea lions catch fish heads from the generous fisherman. We then headed to Santiago. I unfortunately got the flu on the bus (ya, not pretty) and spent most of my time sleeping. We then had to cross back in to Argentina to Mendoza to pick up our things and stay at Finca Maria, our favorite little vineyard bed and breakfast. Thanks so much Julian for another wonderful stay. We rented bikes and toured the surrounding vineyards ... it was a bit of a tipsy pedal back to our place. From here we decided to stay in Argentina and do some hiking to see the highest point in Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua (6960m).

The pictures on our post are all from the Aconcagua hike. As it was off season, there was only one other woman out hiking and we had the whole Coflunencia base camp to ourselves (as you can see from the picture with our little tent in the back ground). I felt like we were in an abandoned mining camp, but James suggested it was more like the moon. Although the nights and mornings were a bit chilly and the viewpoint (almost 4000m) was extremely windy, we had beautiful sunny weather and a really great time. I was really excited about seeing a glacier (in the picture with the little peaks with dirt on top) but we both decided that 4000 meters is enough for us and we won´t be attempting the summit any time soon.

We are now working our way towards Bolivia through Argentina and hope to be in Bolivia by next weekend.

M & J

waiting for the flying rainbow bus

gus bus part deux...

feeling a little trapped in the mountains we took the 'only one path, impossible to get lost' option presented to us. turned out well, but there was some pretty shady terrain on a few of the descents...and a few rivers with no bridges. on the up side we had two days with no rain and that was great!

unfortunatley when we got to the concrete bridge at the end where the bus comes everyday at 11 and 4...the bus no longer comes at 4...so we had to camp again on the side of the road and wait till 11 for the next day bus...hopefully. rain started again and it snowed highed in the mountains so we were both very,very happy when the bus finally came at 11:15...some tense 15 minutes let me tell ya.

all in all, it was a great experience and great triumph for us...we loved 95 per cent of the time...the other 5 per cent we will hide very deeply in our memories. we met great people all along the route and ate some of the best bread in the world! or at least it tasted like it at the time...

take the bus with gus

what a great hike it was. started with a bus to the side of the road at a small village and follow the road for 11km. then it was path for the next 90Km (give or take...we made a few wrong turns and bad decisions along the way). the first day was sun and then rain for the next 3, not the best for walking, but the path was fairly well established. some nice fellow in a log cabin invited us in for warm stove and coffee in the morning...we did not even know there was a cabin near. nice small shack that was dry and the fire was very cozy. pretty smooth sailing till the border when we decided to take a different route cause someone wanted to fish for trout...bad idea. three hours up a different valley and we got to the ranch of Vida and Facundo, who invited us to stay for supper and a bed for the night. best 20 bucks we spent in a long time. fresh sheep cheese, home made bread and some super tasty mystery soup (meighan says it was sheep, i say it was goose...who knows), and some fried pig skin snacks...hit the spot...dehydrated rice meals suck!

they advised us to wait to go up the mountain cause of rain, but we went anyway...could not find the damn path after 2 hours of climbing and two more hours of searching...few f-bombs and we were on our way back to the original route...three hours back down the valley. wasted day, but great to stay with a family for the night. it was 7:30 and dark by the time we got back to where we needed to be...that was a long day of walking on some blistered tired feet. straight to bed in the rain again. we awoke to have breakfast in more heavy rain and decided to ask the folks at the house if the route was ok to go...impossible was the response. the path will be a river...can not even go on horse...wait two days and maybe! crap...we decided to stay the night with Naomi and her mother and what a great choice! more home made bread and donuts with fresh plucked chicken soup! she was so nice and grandma(92) was a riot...smoked, slept, and asked the same questions all day...everyone stopped in to visit and walk with her...so clear they were just good caring people. after a day of downpour we decided to consider a different route out as they were not sure it would be passable at all after the rain. unfortunately this was a route we did not have a map for and was two days walk...a tad unnerving for anal map boy in the group.

to be continued...

Chilly in Chile!

Well we made it across the Andes...9 days later, route change because of bad weather, and boy we had big smiles on when the bus finally came to pick us up! we have some great pics and stories to come...just wanted everyone to sleep easy that we made it across...now we are fattening up on beer in Valdivia, Chile!

J&M

Is that a rocket on your cake?

Sadly we post out last blog from BsAs...sad to leave the comforts of our apartment for a foamy mat in a small tent...and i´m not sure my 32 year old creaky body can take it? Mostly we are sad to leave the family and kids at the kitchen where we have been volunteering. What a great bunch of people who welcomed us into their lives and gave us much more than they ever needed to. A real reminder that people have lots to give, even if they don´t have lots to give...savvy?

This last week has been marked by a very powerful protest/march in the main plazas of the city that marked the first time there was a sanctioned public display to commemorate the 30 years of the ¨The Disappeared¨ (more history on wikipedia if you want). Also a very special surprise b-day party for me (Huge thanks to all those who worked so hard on making the empanadas, pizza, and cake...Noellia, Olga, Paula, Brenda...you are da best! and to Emiliano for hosting us in your front patio). Lucky i didn´t lose an eyebrow or a beard blowing out that flamethrower.

Another tango lesson and I still suck!

Also, a picture of the fridge we bought for the group. We used the money from the wedding to buy this fridge for the group so that they can keep the milk and food cold. This was their number one priority and they used the rest of the money we gave them to stock up on some supplies for the kids. Our new families thank you for the money you gave us at the wedding and we thank you too!

Also, below is the hiking route we are planning to do around Bariloche...hopefully some nice pics for you after that!

http://www.bylandwaterandair.com/zz_samerica03/routes/manso/index.php