Feliz Navidad

Hello everyone. we are in Puno for Cristmas,(on the wastern shore of Lake Titicaca) and hope to post some pics from our latest trek to Machu Pichu via the glacier of Salkantay. but for now its time to kick back and do some reflection. Will write again soon.

Thoughts in Cusco

I was climbing up to Sasquayhuaman this afternoon when the afternoon showers deterred me from further ascent. Its cool and rainy most afternoons here in Cusco. We were lucky to avoid storms for the first two days while exploring the city´s art museum and nearby archeological sites. Everyone wants to sell me something near the plaza. pisac and ollaytaytambo were pretty mind blowing. I hope Kelly feels better. Gootta get back to the hospedaje by four to see if we can go on the Salkantay trip. Our hospedaje has a super cool balcony. We haven´t done much yoga up there. Chincheros reminded me of England. Kelly´s got a cool Flickr page of our photos, they are pretty good.

I bailed on Ollantaytambo

After visiting the Incan ruins of Chinchero and Moray today, we made our way to Ollantaytambo. It started raining ferociously as soon as we reached the plaza and while storms rage outside, I sit comfortably at the computer while Mike braves the weather, climbing mountains up to ruins which I can see out the window of this second story adobe building. There is a stone face in the side of the mountain that looks a bit grumpy, which is what I would be were I climbing at Mike´s pace right now. I have several excuses of course. Ready for ém.

1)I barely decided to come today since I´m on the 3rd day of the return of the giardia. (which we realized must have come from jumping into the pools of water at Coimata I remembered saying to Mike, ¨Oops, I totally just swallowed some water¨ note-there was cow and goat doo-doo everywhere. Stupid, I know. I´m taking meds, don´t worry.

2)Not thinking I was coming today, I was underprepared (no rainpants and no hiking boots)

3)I knew all of you would be waiting for this blog so actually I bailed for ya´ll!

Ok...so now that I have justified being lame, here´s the real stuff:

Cuzco is beautiful! When the Spanish took over they built some beautiful cathedrals and plazas on top of the allready amazing Incan architecture. We´ve found a cheap hostal ($10 a day) with semi-warm shower, a kitchen and a wonderful upper patio that looks over the Plaza de Armas for lounging, eating, yoga, etc. We´ve been saving tons of money by buying food in the market and cooking at home. During the past several days, we have seen many of the typical tourist attractions, that are actually really amazing. Pictured here is a creepy pic from inside a cave at Templo de la Luna (temple of the moon for all you non-spanglish speakers) There was a hole in the top of the cave where light shined through and intricately carved platforms (probably for sacrificing llamas and such)We walked up to Puca Pucara (seen below) and meditated at the top for a while. A guide there said it is a very sacred space, many sacrifices had taken place there as well. It was a stopping point, sort of like a hotel along the Inca trail to Qosqo, which means navel or center of the empire. (The Spanish changed it to Cusco because they couldn´t pronounce the Quechua language.)

Yesterday, we went to Pisac and were blown away by the beauty of where the Incans established themselves there. The stonework was phenomenal and the views from the site were breathtaking! They have a great market there on Sunday!

We have been surprised not to see too many tourists around and we have loved being at places with few other people around. There are a few handfuls in the city but nothing annoying. This is the rainy season yet today is the first day we have rearranged for the rain. We leave on Wednesday for our 5 day hike to Machu Picchu. We decided that since we are here, we must see it! We found an alternate route than the Incan trail, which cost too much for our budget. Our friend Caesar said it´s just as good!

Mike made it back safely. He said he ran down the mountain because they were blowing the whistle that they were closing. That´s all for now! More pics coming soon to flickr.com

AMAZINGNESS

Just back from our trip through the altiplano of Bolivia. Words could never express what our eyes have seen and our souls have felt, yet we will attempt it regardless...just not right now! We have 3 B´s (Bolivianos) in our pocket, 2 minutes left on the internet...which costs exactly 3 B´s and our freakin´pics won´t upload to this ancient piece of machinery. We´ve also been on buses for 3 days due to Mike leaving the camara in Uyuni! Luckily, the ladies at the hostel were sweet and kept it for us! Ok, we´ll probably holla tomorrow!

Tarija La Linda

A little post about the city we were living in for the first few weeks. (Tarija, Bolivia) Tarija la linda (Tarija the beautiful) is a common saying that is bragged all around town. On buses, buildings, brochures, etc. The city seems to bring tourists in from surrounding areas. There are a few plazas that are surrounded by more upscale restaurants (still cheaper than say...Friday´s or something) and expensive clothing and shoe stores. Shoes are big here! Most girls I see on the street have pretty cool shoes. Fashion seems to be big in general. Jeans and cute tops usually. Cell phones are huge!!!!! Stores everywhere with display cases full and places to recharge your minutes on every corner. (It´s all pre-pay here.) Coca-cola, fanta and tampico seem to be the most common drinks, along with wine and beer. Guitar hero is often played in little computer/game shops on the street.

Sometimes Mike and I compare Tarija to the 80´s. Somewhat because of the style but mostly due to the focus on materialism, music, technology, and cool cars. Now that we have traveled elsewhere in Bolivia, we have found Tarija to be upscale in comparison. Tarija doesn´t attract as many international travelers, so blondie gets many awkward looks but so far no harassment. In the other cities we have recently visited including Tupiza, Uyuni, and Potosi, we have met several other backpackers ranging everywhere from Israel, England, Scottland, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand and Austrailia.

The markets in Bolivia are plentiful, full of fruits and veggies of all sorts. Super cheap too! We got two oranges yesterday for 1 Boliviano which is 1/7 of a dollar. Meat just hangs out over the shop counters on hooks all day long and is sliced off to order. Bobby and Rocio own a chicken stand in the campesino market which is similar to a farmer´s market. They work from about 7am-11am daily and then chill. Futzal, playing video games, eating big lunches, and going to the pool are pastimes we´ve enjoyed with them thusfar. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Bobby could still be refered to as ¨Bobby sloth.¨ We ate at an Argentinian Paradilla Restaurant with them where tons of meat was brought out on a little charcoal grill on a stand. We ordered a 1 person serving (and couldn´t finish). Along with limonada, salad and fries, we spent 20 B´s (around $3). We have found food to be extremely cheap here, especially when staying away from touristy restaurants.

Catholic or Christian? Rocio asked us which we were. Only two choices here.

When do they go to school????? It seems like I see school age kids roaming the streets pretty much all day. At 10ish, morning snack time (salteñillas sell empañadas and tamales for about 1B - we got some amazing llama yerky tamales in Tupiza). After lunch, almost every store, pharmacy, supermarket, restaurant, bank, etc, will all close down for a few hours. Afternoon nap - siesta. (I love siestas -Mike) In the evenings, there are usually people roaming around. In Uyuni, we got to see a college pep-rally/parade complete with drums and tuba. The students, many in uniform, stand in two long lines, one side girls, one side boys. They dance like that, some not really even engaged or looking at the person opposite them. In Potosi, we went out for the evening with our English friend Luke and they were dancing the same way at the Karaoke bar. (IMPORTANT NOTE- Mike sang ¨Lady in Red¨to Kelly after being convinced by our new Bolivian friend Samuel) Samuel was all about Obama!! We gave him one of our Obama pins and he was super excited. He sported it on the lapel of his jean jacket. Mike played Samuel´s guitar for a bit while Samuel freestyled in Spanish. Fun times!

In the city, it doesn´t seem like many are a fan of ol´President Evo Morales. Yet on in the country I saw several signs in favor. Rocio said that Evo wouldn´t be so bad if it weren´t for all the people behind him. Evo is the first fully indigenous Pres in almost 500 years. He is also president of the cocaleros, the coca growers union, who are resisting the efforts of the U.S. government to eradicate coca in Bolivia. For those of you who haven´t allready heard, Evo kicked out the Ambassador of the U.S. as a result of the blacklisting of Bolivian goods due to their non-compliance with Bush´s policy on coca. In Bolivia, coca is used as a mate (strong tea) or a chew to help with many different ailments such as indigestion and altitude sickness. We would have been very sick without it on our trip through the country. I also was encouraged to use it for menstrual cramps and it worked like a charm. It is not like chewing tobacco. Although you keep it in the side of your mouth, you actually swallow the juices. It seems to work instantly. It works as a heart regulator as well which is why it helps so much in high altitude. It is not legal to ship coca to the United States due to it´s use in the production of cocaine. Although we heard horror stories, prior to traveling, about rampant cocaine use in Bolivia, we have not seen or heard of anyone using cocaine here and have been told it is not common. The cocaleros, although not innocent by-standers, supplement their income by illegally shipping to other countries. (Mike thinks this would not be such a problem if they were able to ship their product legally for it´s intended use.) After the U.S. ambassador was booted, all aid from the U.S. to Bolivia was cut off. Bobby, who was previously working for the Peace Corps, said that Evo was kicking everyone out anyway due to their influence on the cocaleros (trying to get them to grow other products). The negative sentiment towards Evo in Tarija is partially due to a discovery of oil in this province. As we traveled we gained a broader spectrum of the allocation of funding from this natural resource. Whereas Tarija wants to keep the money in their province, Evo has centralized then disbursed funds to rural/indiginous areas of lower income. We witnessed this while traveling through the countryside. Many of the adobe built shacks and houses were equipped with solar panels, which we learned were government subsidized. Our guide for our Salar trip, Edgar, explained much of the political situation to us, which Mike could translate for us. Edgar provided us with a different perspective, saying while Evo does show bias towards Indiginous people, he has provided the best education, free of charge, to all Bolivian youth interested in attending University. The funding to the University in Sucre has enabled it to become one of the most distinguished in South America. We also saw signs for hydroelectric power with information regarding Evo´s involvement.

Che Guevarra was captured and executed in Bolivia.


I´ve seen one sign of recycling, glass only. (Pomeroys - they still use the glass coke bottles). But plastic is much more dominant and goes right out with the trash. As far as composting, at the vineyards they threw their food scraps right under the vines, but in the city...no chance. There doesn´t seem to be much care or concern for surroundings in general. While in Coimata, in the areas where people had camped, there was trash everywhere, leftover food, even a spot where they had been using the ¨bathroom.¨ Then I remembered the campsites in the U.S. that I´ve come across that are completely trashed. Same thing. Camping is not a big thing here at all. Such beautiful wilderness areas and mountains, yet it´s just not a common past time. Rocio said many people will go out for the day but never stay the night. Outside of the city of Uyuni, there was trash for miles, mostly plastic bags and bottles.

It´s typical for there to be afternoon showers, with all the mountains surrounding the city. But this day it rained so hard and the streets were filled with water.

It´s the rainy season in Bolivia, yet while in the desert areas of the southwest, we saw very little rain.

We will be leaving Bolivia on Wednesday, December 10th and will arrive in Cuzco, Peru on the 11th. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bolivia. We have experienced a variety of the culture here. Soon we will post more pictures and a description of our Salar de Uyuni trip along with more permaculture based info.

Back from my death bed...

(Hint: click on pics if you want to see them bigger) Back from my death bed...It all started Monday evening when we went out for dinner. Our waiter told us about this hotel that has a pool and cheap lunch in Tomatitas, a cheap taxi ride away from Tarija. It´s been getting pretty hot here so a day at the pool sounded like a great idea. When we got to the pool, however, I chickened out a bit...there were young boys running around everywhere and although I´ve gotten used to being starred because I am a blonde gringo, I wasn´t really fond of exposing my ghostly white middrift as well. ¨Ok, ok, we´ll eat first and come back.¨ We decided to stroll around Tomatitas for a bit and stopped at a restaurant with a chalkboard menu outside (which I couldn´t comprehend.) I must add that it is typical in Tarija for little restaurants along the street to have their daily menu on a chalkboard outside their place. Many of them just serve one meal for lunch, usually pork or chicken with maize and maybe a salad. So these women sitting by the menu started trying to sell us their place...naming off different items they had. When I heard them say ¨pescado.¨ I thought, ¨Oh, fish, at least I´ll know what I´m eating. So we sat down and ordered, I got the fish and Mike got Saice (sigh-ee-say), a typical tarijenian dish that is a mix between sloppy joe and chili over rice. It´s pretty good. Ground beef, potatoes, a few peas, on top of rice. After I ordered, I immediately knew it was a bad idea. First I thought...¨hmmm, we´re not very close to water¨ then, ¨this place seems sorta sketchy¨ I said to Mike, ¨Whatever, I´ve allready ordered it¨ So Mike got his Saice and I waited for my fish. Meanwhile, these drunk guys next to us decided to come over and try to get Mike to drink with them. I couldn´t really hear over the obnouxiously loud music and when my fish came, I dug right in. It was a big ol´fried fish, head and all of course. It tasted alot like catfish and with some lemon was actually pretty good. There were definitely a few moments when I questioned eating it but I was hungry... and I grew up on catfish!!! So the drunk guys came back to harass a little more, from what Mike could understand they were telling him to leave me and come drink with them. We finally got out of that place and I decided to brave the pool situation! This was actually only because Mike said while laughing, ¨This is funny, I didn´t really think you were scared of anything...and you´re scared of a bunch of little boys!¨ Of course, that did it for me. It was kinda like a public pool. The hotel seemed to be undergoing renovations and it was less than a dollar to use the pool. I made friends with Marco, the son of the owner and his little cousin, whose name sounded something like Ballerina. She was super excited that we were from the U.S. She said, ¨Estados Unidos!!!! Estados Unidos!!!!! They have Disney there¨ (in Spanish) We played monkey in the middle in the pool for a while and talked a bit. The next day, ugghh, Kella´s tummy didn´t feel so good. But by the next morning I thought it had passed and we had a bike trip to the vineyards planned...wah wah wah. After the first 15 minutes on the bike, and for most of the rest of the day, I felt like I was either going to throw-up or crap my pants!!! It was an absolutely gorgeous ride though! Up and down hills, past vineyards, mountains and canyons! We stopped at Casa Vieja, a vineyard and bodega, where they produce the wine. No wine for me :( Mike sampled some and we walked along the grapevines and fruit trees. Eddie, our bike guide was great! He spoke slowly and clearly so that I could actually understand him. (Holding my belly here...That´s Eddie next to me)We got back on the bikes, my stomach still in knots and churning, churning. Next thing I know, we´re at a hospital and they are asking for my name. ¨No es necesario, no es necesario!¨ I said! I must have looked bad cuz Eddie thought I should see a Doctor. I convinced him I was okay and we went to the Farmacia instead. I got a little pill that cost less than a dollar and within about 20 minutes I was feeling much better. (SIDE NOTE: this little boy playing ¨grand theft auto¨on the computer next to me just spilled his yogurt on the desk and the floor. He looked up at the women behind the counter, who wasn´t looking, and then licked up the yogurt on the desk, proceeded to lie down on the floor to clean up the yogurt there with his shirt and now is doing the pee pee dance that kids do when they don´t want to stop what they are doing long enough to go to the bathroom!! So funny!!!) Ok, so the vineyards! Starting to feel a bit better by now and our next stop was a beautiful vineyard and bodega that had a small little room with crazy little artifacts, fossils, maps, puma skins, old wine bottles and gadgets and gismos of plenty. They had a homemade outdoor oven where they cook all their bread, an awesome wine cellar, and this cool little game from way back in the day where you throw coins in. We hung out for a bit and then finished the ride to our pick up spot. The area reminded me a bit of Arizona with it´s blooming cacti, rocky ground and the river dividing the two giant slabs of rock. Mike and I climbed to the top and in the distance the vineyards shown as an brilliant emerald green. (Derek would say ¨It´s almost too green¨ -family joke) So we returned to our home, Hostal Carmen, were I proceeded to get more and more sick. I spent all that evening and all day Wednesday either in bed or in the bathroom!!!! But I´m back...I´ve been nursed back to health by good ol´ MV. We had a nice little Thanksgiving dinner at Bobby and Rocio´s house, which his mom Jenny made! I made a heart-shaped apple pie (Not as cleaver as George´s U.S. shaped pie but still pretty cool.) I almost burnt it forgeting that the oven was in ºC. (Granny-your apple pie recipe continues to travel the world.) This may have been the first Thanksgiving that I didn´t eat too much! (I was afraid I´d be back in the bathroom.) Mike made me make a deal with him that from now on, I won´t eat any fish if I haven´t seen the water it came from! I quickly agreed!!! Tomorrow, after Mike´s futzal game, we leave for Salar de Uyuni. We´ll be gone from Tarija for 6 days. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you that are so dear to me! Kisses! - Kel
UPDATE: Just when I seem to be feeling better...bam! It´s back! Realizing that I must have Giardia and by doing a little research, I am now inclined to think that the swimming pool was a bad idea!!! Ugghh...

mv says:

Hello everyone out there in cyberland. Writing to update you on the events of the week. Last weekend, Rocio, Bobby, Kelly, and myself went on a two-day camping trip. We went to a really cool spot called Coimata. The mountains are very high here, and the landscape varies quite a bit. We camped by the riverside where we could jump in pools by waterfalls, the water is cold like good old NC, but its a turquois color. I climbed up a mountain as far as I could and saw two Bolivian Condors!!! Seriously, these birds were huge and flew very close to me while I was up there! I later found out that they are endangered and pretty aggressive. Coimata is a refuge for the Bolivian Condor.
I just finished my second futsal match. After the tie last week I came out with my game face this week. We won 9-5. I scored seven goals! The air is thin up here so its important to take it easy. Kelly is helping me stay fit with some excellent Yoga instruction. (This is right outside our room) She's coming right along with her Spanish, and as always quick to share an adventure. We've been exploring the city and taking photos. Honestly, we have Cable TV in our room and I don't think I've watched so much TV since college. I was super frustrated with my spanish this week and felt as if I had a lack of purpose for myself and needed a "buck up buttercup" speech, which Kelly was quick to provide and as they say todo esta bien. ----Holla holla

Weeere Heeeere

After countless hours of cat naps, airplane food, Espanol practice, listening to featherfrog (our beloved ipod), and magnetic chess, we finally made it to Tarija, Bolivia! After resting a bit, we explored the city, with the help from the map that Bobby (Mike's amigo) made for us! We hung out in the Plaza, bought some coca leaves (not a drug), and put some minutes on the phone that Bobby gave us (after 3 tries).

Today Mike had the opportunity to take on some Bolivians in a futsal match. It was amazing to watch, but I'll let Mike take over explaining from here: (oh by the way, Mike's the one in the green shorts, and Bobby's in red shirt, white shorts.)

Well, fortunately my skills in futsal (like indoor soccer) are not as rusty as my spanish. I am easily frustrated with the lack of my ability to communicate with locals. I scored four goals in a match that ended 5-5 I think some of the local guys got mad because a gringo had a good showing, but they were gracious and quite talented. Kelly has been my personal yoga instructor and the greastest traveling partner I've ever had, overall we are living simply and slowly although It is 75 degrees in the city, the mountains are snow capped daily. It's freakin beautiful here!!!!!!!!! Bobby seems as if the lifestyle agrees with him. He has been an excellent host last night Jenny, (Bobby's mom) treated us to dinner. La comida esta muy rica, aqui. We still get some odd looks, but everyone seems very congenial so far.

Last Hoorah in Asheville

Thanks so much to all of you who came out to play with us last night at APBC!!!! Good times were had by all! You all make it difficult to leave as our relationships grow stonger with one another. Keep checking out the site! We will have much more exciting news to share!