| November 16 In the comforts of Cusco, we made a speedy recovery. We spent much of the day planning our remaining four weeks in South America. We are flying out of Sao Paulo, Brazil (a distance from Cusco roughly the same as what we had covered in the previous 6 months). Clearly we had to make some tough itinerary choices. Basically, we decided to do it all and just suffer on the transportation. Hotel - $9, Food - $18, Random (film - $4, internet - $2) Total - $32 |
| November 17 We shopped for gifts today, although our best purchase was for us, a 65 year old weaving. After a great time catching up with Astrid, another friend from the Galapagos, we packed our now overstuffed backpacks and took the overnight bus to the border. Hotel - $0, Food - $11, Trans - $31, Random (internet - $1) Total - $43 |
| November 18 Fortunately our time in Puno (a dirty and dangerous border town) was limited. We caught the next bus and ferry across Lake Titicaca (the highest navegable lake in the world) to Bolivia. Along the way, we stopped in Copacabana in time for a political rally and a lake cuisine lunch of fried fish and peanutty noodle soup. Then back on the bus for a few more hours to La Paz. La Paz is a frenetic sprawl of new and old surrounded by high Andes mountain. It is also the world's highest capitol at over 12,000 feet. Like Ecuador and Peru, Bolivia has a large indigenous population who mainly live outside the formal economy. They are incredibly poor with a rich heritage. We enjoyed just walking around the busy streets. We couldn't resist eating at a place called the New York Pizzeria. Hotel - $6, Food - $17, Trans. - $1, Random (exit fee - $5) Total - $29 |
| November 19 Sunday in downtown La Paz is great. They close the main street and have food, music, and games for kids. It was also a perfect, sunny day. We slowly made our way to the National Archaeology Museum. Here we found a good collection of Tiwanaku and Inca artefacts including keru cups, funeral urns, textiles and mummies. We (morbidly?) enjoyed the trepanation exhibit consisting of 30 or so skulls. The Tiwanaku (1600BC - 1200AD) performed the first human surgery where doctors would hammer a hole into the patient's head. They performed these surgeries to relieve tumors, mental illness, or just for religious ceremnies. Oh yeah, most of the patients lived, too. Later we walked to the national stadium for a futbol game betweeen La Paz's sbiggest rivals. Soccer is more a way of life than a sport and the fans are fanatics. Hotel - $6, Food - $35, Museum - $42, Random (tickets - $10, haircut - $2, Internet - $1) Total - $56 |
| November 20 We were up early to travel a couple of hours west to visit the ruins of Tihuanaco. As is usual for us, we were travelling independently thus assuring lots of contact with local, confusion over buses, really long walks, and a more leisurely, fun experience. We found the high plains town to be a small and dusty as we have seen. The ruins were much more interesting. Tihuanaco was built and rebuilt over a thousand years with most of the current structures from 800-1000AD. Its primary purpose was agroastronomical observation, however, it also was used in religious ceremonies. Our favorite was the subterranean temple with its stone heads embedded in the walls. Each of the 100 or so heads were different representing the other cultures conquered by the Tihuanaco. Legend says they used to be real heds. The rest of the site was filled with impressive stone statues. Back in La Paz, we celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Argentinan steaks and Chilean wine. Hotel - $6, Food - $44, Trans - $5, Museum - $5, Random (guidebook) - $5 Total - $65 P.S. The big news today is that President Fujimor of Peru resigned under increasing public protest. |
| November 21 Lady and I are both travelling to Corioco today, but we aren't going together. Getting to Corioco is half the fun as the only way there is by the world's most dangerous road. Why so dangerous? It is a crumbling, unsurfaced road that is just big enough for one but has two-way traffic. Carved into the mountain, the drops are steep, some over 3,000 feet. To make matters worse, waterfalls are eroding the corners. Still not convinced? Buses and cars go off almost weekly. The worst recent accident in July resulted in 22 dead. Anyway, Lady went by bus. I think this was scarier because it is downhill and custom says you drive on the outside "lane". I chose gravity assisted mountain biking which has to be the most exciting, adrenaline pumping tour around. You start at La Cumbre, a chilly 15,400 feet, just outside of La Paz. Then you rocket downhill for 4 hours to the jungle heat of 3,600 feet (I actually passed Lady's bus on a curve on the way down). About halfway, it started to pour which meant I missed most of the scenery nor did my brakes work. Highly recommended. We met in Corioco just long enough to say goodbye. I was heading back to La Pazday156 for an Andes trek. Lady was straying to relax at a resort. Hotel - $11, Food - $6, Trans - $4, Tour - $39, Random (phone - $2) Total - 462 |
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