y..... Peru!!

We crossed the border to Peru and in Puno terminal we found our spanish friend, Ruth, who we met in Potosi and Sucre. She is travelling around the world for a year (so far 10 months) and has now the responsibility of taking care of Francisco and Paulo jajaja. We went together to Arequipa, a city that is very very interesting, with a beautiful center and nice sighs; mountains with snow (Misti and other volcanoes) all around the city. Our first judgment (positive) about Peru is “wooo so tasty food..” 

And about Pisco.. hm.. Pisco Peruano is good, very good; but since we lived one year in Chile (and we still have friends there) and since we are still in Peru, we cannot say which is better..

Our days in Arequipa were almost fulfilled by the municipality market (desayuno, almuerzo y snack there) and menus del dia. People from the juices, pastel de papa, dulce de leche already knew us and we all laughed together about our jokes. On the second day in Arequipa we went to Colca Canyon (the biggest canyon of the world, Gand canyon in US is the second) and hired Ruth as our guide. This time Paulo, that normally is relaxed, was even more relaxed (he often trusts Murta´s choices but now with Ruth, he was better off). Colca Canyon started at 5.30 am (we took a bus at 1am from Arequipa) at Cruz del Condor, where supposedly you can see condors, but no one saw them. Them the tour started, 4 hours going down until the river, a jump in the river, alpaca meat for lunch and 4 more hours to reach an oasis, where we ended up staying 2 days (we were too tired to wake up at 5am and climb up 3h). We stayed and it was really nice, we ended up being part of the group that was doing a tour and friends with them, played football with them, climb together and they gave us a ride back to Arequipa.

After 2 days, we took a night bus to Huacachina, an Oasis near Ica. Here, we just relaxed by the pool with dunes signs around. We took a tour with some other people, a buggy in the dunes and a bit of snowboarding. Paulo did a 360º maneuver and had his back a little bit hurt (he is already getting better Julinha jajaa), and because he was quite dizzy from the fall he lost his iphone in the sand (but later we recovered it – a girl found it). The sunset in the dunes was amazing; it looked as we were in arabic desert.

At this point of the trip, Murta had finally (after 2 months) a stomach conflict for about two days (Murta made a lot of jokes with Paulo when he had the same in La Paz “you are not use to spicy food, that’s what happens” jajaja). In Huacachina, we hang out with some Israelian friends (a guy and two girls), a spanish and a german that speaks portuguese.

Our Israelian friends were travelling in a different way than the majority of Israelians who often travel in big groups around South America and they normally doing the same route. In Israel, boys and girls have to do the army, 3 and 2 years, respectively, and after that (and before college) they usually go travelling. They are often the youngest travellers in South America.

Before leaving Huacachina, during the breakfast, Murta met (without any appointment ) his friend Catarina (they met in Poland 4 years ago during their exchange semester); a Portuguese that is travelling for 3 months in South America with Andre. Follow their trip on the website:
 http://www.sabado.pt/Dossies-SABADO/Dossies-SABADO/Aventura-na-America-Latina/Fotogaleria-(1).aspx

(after Paulo´s sandboarding performance)

The Unique Experiences (Coroico and Copacabana)

From La Paz, Paulo took a bus down to Coroico, in the region called Los Yungas and Francisco made the downhill on bike, the very famous Camino de la Muerte, which is the way buses used to do until 5 years ago - around 10 buses used to fall down the mountain per year - but in bicycle is not dangerous at all - a slogan to promote tourism,  however, Murta enjoyed a lot because the group was nice and he kept the pace of the guide. We basically got down about 2 km in altitude from La Paz. With a completely different view, very green, the region is maintained by its fertile plantations, especially the Coca´s Leaves.

We visited the city with a purpose: working as a volunteer in a community called Eco Yoga that we got to know from a German friend. When we got in the refereed address nobody was there and with no one around, no lights on the road, surrounded by green vegetation and in the dark, we thought about leaving the idea behind, but decided to wait a little bit. After 2 hours the family who runs the house arrived.

The house is run by Hare Krishnas,  a young Colombian couple that came to Bolivia 8 months ago. While staying there we helped with organic farming plantation, cooking vegetarian food and living the live just as they do. One curiosity during this week: can you imagine Murta without eating meat for a whole week? yes, we only ate vegetarian food. Really tasty soups, Quinua, salad, lentejas burgers (we learnt how to cook them), etc.  Event though we had to take a freezing shower at 6 am or sleeping with huge spiders and others bugs (each of us was a target of around 25 mosquitos), it can´t take away all the knowledge we had the opportunity to get there, especially related to the Hinduism. The family itself couldn´t be better. A father,  a mother and their little baby captivated us and also the practice of yoga brought a immense sensation of peace.

The lovely family and the outstanding view from the house

From Coroico we went directly to Copacabana, the famous small Pueblo surrounded by the Titicaca´s lake and where we stayed for 3 nights. The first view from the lake will take your breath away. The big endless blue lake could be a scenario from any Hollywood movie.

We also met a very nice Brazilian guy,Marlos, who travelled with us for these 3 days and who became really nervous while arriving in Copacabana. Apparently, he dreamed about this place some time ago without being there. The following day he convinced Murta to wake up at 5am and climb the mountain to see the sunrise (one of his dream´s images).

We do recommend the Truchas, seafood, fished from the lake and absolutely delicious (we ate it three meals in a row for 2USD). Also, we took a boat to the famous Isla del Sol, a beautiful island which had a great meaning for the Inca Empire and where lots of interesting ruins can be seen. The trecking around the island is very nice.

During those days we learned a lot, not only about the Pre-Colombian history but also about the Hinduism, Humanity, Local Culture, the beautiness of the traditions and others and we are sure that, this knowledge that is now part of us, will contribute to our lives wherever we are from now.

The Great La Paz

Cochabamba

After the tradicional cities of Potosi and Sucre we caught a bus to Cochabamba but due to a Bloqueo happening on the way to La Paz all the buses were running through Cochabamba which surprised us and at the same time turned our life more difficult once all the tickets were sold until the next day. With a great luck we found some overpriced tickets to go to our destiny and there was our chance. We took an overnight bus and got there by 5 a.m. We had a contact on couchsurfing who would host us: Meg, from USA. We took a taxi to go to her place and found out that she works for an American School outside Cochabamba. Her place is just amazing and made us feel like in the countryside even though the city itself is huge. We spent the whole day reading in the big garden that she has and at night went out with some of her friends, also teachers at the same school.  We had a great time that night, when we tried the famous Pique a Lo Lobo, a plate full of meat, potatoes, vegetables and some spices which proved to be delicious. At the same the night we also learned how to play the most typical dices games in Bolivia: Cacho.

Pique a lo Macho

Next day we woke up and decided to visit the city, walking around the centre city and trying to find a good place to eat again. We end up going to the best place where you can try some local food: Comedores. We tried a Pique a lo Macho which is very similar to what we call Chorrillana in Chile, but anyway, very tasty. After that we wanted to see the so well-known Jesus Christ. The highest one in the world and from where we also had a view from the whole city. The city itself didn't call our attention that much and after being in so many colonial and historical cities this one was a kind of urban shock for us.

So, after being hosted so well by our friend Meg, we took a bus to La Paz, the most populated city in Bolivia. The first view from the city was just stupendous. The sun rising in the horizon together with an up view from the city that is basically located in a valley just took our breathes away. Getting there we found a cheap but very clean hostel near the Plaza San Francisco, the main one. The city is full of up and down streets and unless you are a Super Man, you will have trouble walking around the city. For this reason Murta got addicted to Hojas de Coca (Coca Leaves) and the altitude is his excuse to have them on his cheek, chewing it in a non-stoppable way. By the way, there is a very nice museum that talks about it, the Hojas de Coca Museum and we would recommend it for better explanations about the delicate subject.

We basically spent 4 day in town, visited a Mirador in the top of a hill, with an amazing view, visited all the museums located near the Plaza Murillo and just by luck met some of our traveller´s friends: Paolo, an Italian friend, the Swiss girls that took the tour to Uyuni with us, our friend from Scotland and of course, we made some new ones.  We also went to the Ministry of Finance and Economics where under the lie of an academic research we gathered information about the countries’ development, indicators, evolution under the government of Evo Moralez, the politics of subsidies and natural resources in an almost 3 hours conversations with a kind economist of the Government. La Paz is a city where you can find all kind of food, clothes and cultural scene within its almost 8 million habitant’s territory.

Being in Bolivia is being in touch with an authentic culture. You can see original people that proudly keep their tradition despite all the globalization that turns big and small cities into a massive machine of production regardless the native habits, customs, food etc...To give you an example, Bolivia is a country where the so big Mac Donald’s tried for several years, with no success, getting in the market when finally gave up this year (we should also mention that despite of that, we saw a Burger King in la Paz). Some of those traditions have thousands and thousands of years being passed throughout generations for example the habit of chewing Coca’s Leafs or the bags used by women to carry theirs stuff or small children. In La Paz the idiom is, besides the Spanish, the Aymara, easy to hear on a simple walk in town.

Even that people say that Bolivians are quiet, shy or head down you realiz that after speaking politely, a few smiles, jokes and good behaviour you will discover the big hearts they have and the friendly conversation always ready to help.

Versão em Português

Poo-tosi (4000msnm) y Sucre (true capital)

Potosi is known for its mines and we visited one. The visit couldn’t have been more touching. First, a young boy around 14 years old, gets out of the mine drunk and after falling and standing up, is hit by a mineral trolley. The official minimum age to work in the mine is 18 years old, but since there is no control over the regulation, kids end up chasing silver and parents send their kids to bring money to contribute to the household.

The famous Tio, consired a God for all the miners. Its image is very respected and  offers to his image  are very common

During the visit we talked to miners, saw the impressive conditions they work, inhuman coditions. “Ganan centavos y trabajan como bestias”.T his mine is mostly exploited by cooperatives but cooperative is just the name given because every worker works individually. What he finds is what he gains. In his first year, he gives 50% of what he finds to the cooperative, 30% on the second year, 3rd year 15% and on the 4nd year he gets the opportunity to form a team and gives 10% a year plus a yearly fee (this is what the guide told us). Our impression is that a miner who discovers silver, in the end will have around 2% of the selling price, because they are exploited by the companies (most of the miners are illiterate and do not know how do to math). There are 3 private companies that pay a fixed salary but they are less popular around miners, they prefer the risk/return approach.

Potosi is the highest city in Bolivia and in the world, 4000 msnm and we actually can prove it, it is impossible to walk and talk at the same time! Moreover it has the highest beer of the world, Potosina, and due to the high, Murta was unable to show its skills of serving a beer without foam. On the second day we visited Museo de la Moneda where it explains part of the importance of Potosi in the past and it is where coins used to be made; now Bolivian coins are made in Chile. In this city the buses are imported in second hand from China, so it is common to see Chinese letters/symbols on the buses. Potosi is worthy visiting.

Sucre was the following city in our Bolivian journey. Sucre is the capital of Bolivia and it is really beautiful, the city is all painted white. We visited the Mirador where we had a Paceña beer white a Chilean and Spanish friends. We visited Casa de La Independencia to know more about the history of Bolivia. In the evening we head to Cochabamba. 

Its colonial streets can bring you a lot of a peace atmosphere while you walk up and down admiring all the white houses with a tiny terrace.