It's 8am and cars are lined up three abreast for at least 3 blocks from the cathedral. Their owners are busily decorating them with flowers, ribbons, and minitures of the Virgin Mary. They are waiting until 10:30, when the priest will come around, sprinkle holy water and over each one and pray for its safe travels. For the few Bolivianos this costs, everyone seems to prefer this blessing over auto insurance.
Once their cars are blessed, the hoards move towards the mountain that rises up from the lakeshore just a few blocks from the cathedral. Here, they work their way up the old stone steps, past the 14 stations of the cross, stopping at each to toss a rock at its base and cross themselves. Midway up, they take a break and have an indigenous priest pray over them. He prays aloud for each person after asking them what they need prayer for, then swirls a burning pot of inscense around their heads and rings a small bell near their ears.
At the top, families and friends gather to enjoy drinks and snacks, as well as the spectacular view over Lake Titikaka and Copacabana.
From the mountain, it's down to the beach, where Bolivian vacationers rent kayaks, small sail boats, and animal-shaped paddle boats, eat ice cream and popsicles, rip around on rented motor- and bi-cycles, and play fussball on outdoor tables. It's an incredibly colorful show and the perfect place to kick back and people watch.
Christine
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Dear Creepy Italian Guy,
Please don't interrupt our journal writing in the sun to try and charm us with your rudeness.
Please don't tell Jodie that she must be slower going up hills on her bike because she's got bigger boobs.
Or that her horse must hate her and hopes that she never comes back from South America.
Please don't tell us that we'd have to dress better if we ever came to Italy.
And please, please, please tell your non-english speaking friend to get out of our bubble and stop throwing out the vibe.
Sincerely,
Christine & Jodie
Please don't tell Jodie that she must be slower going up hills on her bike because she's got bigger boobs.
Or that her horse must hate her and hopes that she never comes back from South America.
Please don't tell us that we'd have to dress better if we ever came to Italy.
And please, please, please tell your non-english speaking friend to get out of our bubble and stop throwing out the vibe.
Sincerely,
Christine & Jodie
"I´m high as a kite and I just might..."
...is what we sang (or yelled) when we could finally see Lago Titicaca and the long down hill that would take us there. Yesterday was deemed to be physically the hardest thing that either of us has ever done! We traveled 75km in 6hrs of riding time (that's SLOW!), including the 30km hill that topped out at 4,275m (14,000ft).
We woke up early to cows that were tied next to our tent - after hearing them breathing, munching and moving around all night. Since we were sleeping in someone´s front yard, our morning business had to wait. However, the area was incredibly populated and there were no public baños so a couple tufts of high grass on the side of the highway had to do. :)
Christine had two flats within about an hour of riding. This was frustrating since it was only day two on the new tires. Other than that, the morning was great with a bit of a climb and then a good downhill into San Pablo de Tequina. The views of the snow capped Andes and Lago Titicaca were amazing!
There were a bunch of big wooden barges waiting their turn to ferry people and their vehicles across from San Pablo to San Pedro. We rode our bikes on and were slowly floated across the water. We were a little concered when we first pushed off as the little outboard engine on our barge seemed to take quite a lot of convincing to start...
Ok, this is where we began the hardest hill of this entire trip! It is true what they say about everything being harder at altitude! At the top of the first hill we were stopped and bent over our handlebars wondering if we were going to pass out or puke! We took our heart rates and they were both >200bpm. weeeee!
From there we slowly climbed up for the next 30km. We passed people hanging out with their sheep, crops planted all over the terraced hillsides, children playing, and houses scattered throughout the hills. There were also roadworkers that ride their bicycles up these crazy hills every day to do maintenance - they must be the fittest people on earth. We were even passed by a guy flying down the hill with a wheelbarrel bouncing along behind his bike! Several people said hi and waved, some yelled "Da-le, Da-le!!" (give'r, give'r!) and one group of kids 'yipped' back and forth with us as we pedalled by. My favorite was a sheep herder who played his horn for us; he first played up on the hill with his sheep, but after we passed, he ran out onto the road and played loudly until we were out of sight. These small but special moments were so wonderful and they gave us all of the extra energy we needed to keep pedalling.
Upon reaching the final summit (after several false ones) we were so exhausted that even the downhill seemed like it would be work. It was all worth it though! We had a blast winding down through the beautiful views, past houses, locals on bicycles, music and even a dance, to the rewarding destination of Copacabaña, where we celebrated with a cerveza and a long deep sleep in a comfy bed!
Jodie
We woke up early to cows that were tied next to our tent - after hearing them breathing, munching and moving around all night. Since we were sleeping in someone´s front yard, our morning business had to wait. However, the area was incredibly populated and there were no public baños so a couple tufts of high grass on the side of the highway had to do. :)
Christine had two flats within about an hour of riding. This was frustrating since it was only day two on the new tires. Other than that, the morning was great with a bit of a climb and then a good downhill into San Pablo de Tequina. The views of the snow capped Andes and Lago Titicaca were amazing!
There were a bunch of big wooden barges waiting their turn to ferry people and their vehicles across from San Pablo to San Pedro. We rode our bikes on and were slowly floated across the water. We were a little concered when we first pushed off as the little outboard engine on our barge seemed to take quite a lot of convincing to start...
Ok, this is where we began the hardest hill of this entire trip! It is true what they say about everything being harder at altitude! At the top of the first hill we were stopped and bent over our handlebars wondering if we were going to pass out or puke! We took our heart rates and they were both >200bpm. weeeee!
From there we slowly climbed up for the next 30km. We passed people hanging out with their sheep, crops planted all over the terraced hillsides, children playing, and houses scattered throughout the hills. There were also roadworkers that ride their bicycles up these crazy hills every day to do maintenance - they must be the fittest people on earth. We were even passed by a guy flying down the hill with a wheelbarrel bouncing along behind his bike! Several people said hi and waved, some yelled "Da-le, Da-le!!" (give'r, give'r!) and one group of kids 'yipped' back and forth with us as we pedalled by. My favorite was a sheep herder who played his horn for us; he first played up on the hill with his sheep, but after we passed, he ran out onto the road and played loudly until we were out of sight. These small but special moments were so wonderful and they gave us all of the extra energy we needed to keep pedalling.
Upon reaching the final summit (after several false ones) we were so exhausted that even the downhill seemed like it would be work. It was all worth it though! We had a blast winding down through the beautiful views, past houses, locals on bicycles, music and even a dance, to the rewarding destination of Copacabaña, where we celebrated with a cerveza and a long deep sleep in a comfy bed!
Jodie
Monday, January 22, 2007
All you ever needed to know about Coca
You can't avoid the coca leaf in Bolivia. Women sell it out of huge garbage bags in all of the markets, every cafe serves coca tea and it's often touted as the best treatment for altitude sickness. And then there's the coca museum, displaying an overwhelming amount of info on the leaf, the refined product, and all of the implications that both have had for Bolivia throughout history.
Let's see how much I can remember:
- when the spanish invaded bolivia and peru, they made chewing coca illegal because they thought it was 'diabolical'. it's interesting that this was before cocaine existed, so the leaf was not known as a drug...it was only made illegal because of the important social and spiritual role that it has for the indigenous people that spain was trying to convert to catholicism.
- when they noticed that productivity in the gold and silver mines dropped significantly when the miners couldn't chew coca, they actually did a complete 180 and made it mandatory for the miners to use coca and imposed a tax on its purchase.
- indigenous people have been using coca for ages as an anesthetic for medical purposes, the west didn't catch on until the late 1900s
- cocaine was never produced by bolivians or peruvians. it was western countries that came up with the refined product that quickly became a huge problem in the developped world.
- Freud was the first recorded cocaine user in the world.
- the main ingredient of coca cola was originally coca
- since cocaine became a problem in the west, political forces have been trying to cut it off at the source by making coca cultivation illegal. this in turn has all sorts of social and spiritual implications for indigenous people in Bolivia and Peru who still use coca on a daily basis (there are no known health problems associated with chewing coca). it is so important to the people here than they even use it as a currency for bartering in markets.
well, that's all i got for now. the moral of this story is - The coca leaf is not a drug!
Christine
Let's see how much I can remember:
- when the spanish invaded bolivia and peru, they made chewing coca illegal because they thought it was 'diabolical'. it's interesting that this was before cocaine existed, so the leaf was not known as a drug...it was only made illegal because of the important social and spiritual role that it has for the indigenous people that spain was trying to convert to catholicism.
- when they noticed that productivity in the gold and silver mines dropped significantly when the miners couldn't chew coca, they actually did a complete 180 and made it mandatory for the miners to use coca and imposed a tax on its purchase.
- indigenous people have been using coca for ages as an anesthetic for medical purposes, the west didn't catch on until the late 1900s
- cocaine was never produced by bolivians or peruvians. it was western countries that came up with the refined product that quickly became a huge problem in the developped world.
- Freud was the first recorded cocaine user in the world.
- the main ingredient of coca cola was originally coca
- since cocaine became a problem in the west, political forces have been trying to cut it off at the source by making coca cultivation illegal. this in turn has all sorts of social and spiritual implications for indigenous people in Bolivia and Peru who still use coca on a daily basis (there are no known health problems associated with chewing coca). it is so important to the people here than they even use it as a currency for bartering in markets.
well, that's all i got for now. the moral of this story is - The coca leaf is not a drug!
Christine
No hay cambio!
Sorry, no change!
When you go to a bank machine in La Paz, it spits out 100B notes (equal to about 12USD). And yet for most day to day interactions, these bills are completely useless. Things are very cheap here, and no one has change. Those who do guard it closely. To the point that it seems they would rather not make a sale than part with their small bills and be stuck with a 100!
Forseeing that this might be an even bigger problem in rural areas where money is more scarce, Jodie and I headed to the bank today to get enough money and in small enough bills to be useful for the rest of our time in Bolivia (we don't plan on seeing any more banks for quite a while!). By the time I was through with the teller, I had 3 different pockets completely stuffed with Bolivianos in denominations of 10, 20 and 50! Even though it didn't amount to a ton of money, it was our allowance for the next month or so and it felt quite conspicuous. We left the bank sweating as though we had just robbed the place and bee-lined it for our hotel!
Christine
When you go to a bank machine in La Paz, it spits out 100B notes (equal to about 12USD). And yet for most day to day interactions, these bills are completely useless. Things are very cheap here, and no one has change. Those who do guard it closely. To the point that it seems they would rather not make a sale than part with their small bills and be stuck with a 100!
Forseeing that this might be an even bigger problem in rural areas where money is more scarce, Jodie and I headed to the bank today to get enough money and in small enough bills to be useful for the rest of our time in Bolivia (we don't plan on seeing any more banks for quite a while!). By the time I was through with the teller, I had 3 different pockets completely stuffed with Bolivianos in denominations of 10, 20 and 50! Even though it didn't amount to a ton of money, it was our allowance for the next month or so and it felt quite conspicuous. We left the bank sweating as though we had just robbed the place and bee-lined it for our hotel!
Christine
Friday, January 19, 2007
The day that could have been
January 18th, 2007 started out like any other. We were lazing in our room at the youth hostel in La Paz, Bolivia when all of a sudden an apollo 25 paper spacecraft came soaring in through the window. Folded into it was a note issuing a challenge that may have changed our lives:
"Go a block and a half down the street and pick up a small package that will be waiting for you there. It is to be delivered to an oasis high up in the Bolivian altiplano. Your route will cross some of the most difficult terrain that you have ever encountered. Llamas are the animals best suited to carry you on this journey - they will be waiting for you in the Plaza San Fransisco. You will not be disappointed with the reward that you will receive should you succeed. Good Luck."
Not being ones to turn down a challenge, we hopped out of bed and quickly collected the parcel and our llamas. Downtown La Paz proved a difficult place to learn to ride llamas. The aggressive, honking drivers frightened our steeds, who nearly threw us off several times before we finally reached the city limits.
But this was not to be the hardest part - before reaching the oasis, we had to ford a raging river filled by the monsoon rains, cross a snowy pass at 4800m and fend of swooping condors. Throughout these hardships, we were chewing coca leaves to relieve our altitude sickness.
At long last, when we thought that we could not go on any longer, the oasis appeared.
In the middle of the clear blue lake, two princes were floating in a totora boat, fishing and enjoying cold beer in the warm sunshine. When they saw us approach, they paddled in to shore and and congratulated us. They invited us to feast with them, and took the package that we had carried from La Paz. In it were four Whopper Combos from Burger King.
As we ate, they told us about the reward for our success: we would be granted a guided cycling tour through some of the most spectacular mountains of Switzerland!!!!
After our meal, we laid back for a nap in the warmth of the oasis. When we finally woke up, we were back in our hostel and it was January 19th.
"Go a block and a half down the street and pick up a small package that will be waiting for you there. It is to be delivered to an oasis high up in the Bolivian altiplano. Your route will cross some of the most difficult terrain that you have ever encountered. Llamas are the animals best suited to carry you on this journey - they will be waiting for you in the Plaza San Fransisco. You will not be disappointed with the reward that you will receive should you succeed. Good Luck."
Not being ones to turn down a challenge, we hopped out of bed and quickly collected the parcel and our llamas. Downtown La Paz proved a difficult place to learn to ride llamas. The aggressive, honking drivers frightened our steeds, who nearly threw us off several times before we finally reached the city limits.
But this was not to be the hardest part - before reaching the oasis, we had to ford a raging river filled by the monsoon rains, cross a snowy pass at 4800m and fend of swooping condors. Throughout these hardships, we were chewing coca leaves to relieve our altitude sickness.
At long last, when we thought that we could not go on any longer, the oasis appeared.
In the middle of the clear blue lake, two princes were floating in a totora boat, fishing and enjoying cold beer in the warm sunshine. When they saw us approach, they paddled in to shore and and congratulated us. They invited us to feast with them, and took the package that we had carried from La Paz. In it were four Whopper Combos from Burger King.
As we ate, they told us about the reward for our success: we would be granted a guided cycling tour through some of the most spectacular mountains of Switzerland!!!!
After our meal, we laid back for a nap in the warmth of the oasis. When we finally woke up, we were back in our hostel and it was January 19th.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
La Paz -WOW!
I think I am having a sensory overload at the moment. Cars, busses, and vans buzzing everywhere honking like crazy. Most have men hanging out of them constantly yelling prices and destinations ... also diesel exhaust pumping out of them like you would not believe. Crossing the street is an art that we are slowly learning. You must wait for the perfect moment to dart out lane by lane and you often find that you are standing in the middle with vehicles passing on each side. Another very reliable method is to find one of the little ladies to stick to as they wander through the traffic - they seem to have it figured out.
We just came back from Mercado Negro; blocks and blocks of little market stands selling everything from mouse traps to lingrie. There are little round Bolivian women dressed in layers upon layers of bright clothing. They are minding the stands and are often crafting more merchandise. Everything is incredibly colourful and completely fascinating.
The smells go from sweet fruit to raw meat and fish, all of which is neatly laid out under on the small stands.
People are so strong - you see them walking with huge loads tied with rope or cloth onto their backs, slowly bumping their way through the crowds.
Chris and I have been practicing our undercover photography as we wander through the bustling streets. You´ve got to be quick and descreet, often it´s a shot from the hip. Yes, we are that good. ;)
There is so much more to describe, but I believe my brain is shutting down from all of the activity - hopefully our pictures will help to show more of what we are experiancing here... I need a nap!
-Jodie
We just came back from Mercado Negro; blocks and blocks of little market stands selling everything from mouse traps to lingrie. There are little round Bolivian women dressed in layers upon layers of bright clothing. They are minding the stands and are often crafting more merchandise. Everything is incredibly colourful and completely fascinating.
The smells go from sweet fruit to raw meat and fish, all of which is neatly laid out under on the small stands.
People are so strong - you see them walking with huge loads tied with rope or cloth onto their backs, slowly bumping their way through the crowds.
Chris and I have been practicing our undercover photography as we wander through the bustling streets. You´ve got to be quick and descreet, often it´s a shot from the hip. Yes, we are that good. ;)
There is so much more to describe, but I believe my brain is shutting down from all of the activity - hopefully our pictures will help to show more of what we are experiancing here... I need a nap!
-Jodie
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
40 hours on bus later...
...and we're in the highest capital in the world - La Paz, Bolivia. With headaches and very high heart rates because of the altitude. Walking into the office at the border (4500m) got my heart rate to 100bpm. Hauling our bikes up the stairs in La Paz (3700m) got it to 160! I wonder how riding with a 50 pound trailer will feel?!
More on the awesomeness of being in La Paz when my head clears a little.
Christine
More on the awesomeness of being in La Paz when my head clears a little.
Christine
Friday, January 12, 2007
Crazy Canucks Hit Puerto Natales
We celebrated the end of our hiking and one of Anthony's last nights in Chile in fine style in Puerto Natales. With a bunch of others from our hostel, we enjoyed a fancy all-you-can-eat parilla (BBQ), then hit the liquor store up for some pisco and coke and played cards and enjoyed piscolas until it was time to head to the live Elvis impersonator that was entertaining the town that night. As seems to be the norm down here, the party lasted until the sun was on its way up. Never a dull moment...
Christine
Christine
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Pain on the Circuit of Paine
Back in town after 7 days and 112kms on the circuit of pain and resting all of our aching muscles and joints. We've definitely learned that biking muscles and hiking muscles are not the same and getting back on our bikes in a week or so will feel like quite a treat!
On our first day in the park, we took advantage of the blue skies and made the steep climb up to see the Torres del Paine, the incredible granite towers that are the centrepieces of the park.
Not being one to do things the easy way, I decided to sprain my ankle on our first evening. I'd love to impress you all with some exciting story about how it happened, but the plain and boring truth is that I was walking down the stairs out of the bathroom at the campground and bailed.
I took the next day off and spent as much of it as possible with my foot stuck in a glacial stream hoping that the swelling would go down enough for me to hike the next day. Jodie kept me company, but I was jealous of Anthony who went for an awesome ridge walk overlooking the towers and came back with a handful of crystals he had found on the rarely-travelled ridge.
The next day, we packed up camp, Jodie and Anthony taped my foot up solidly with a combo of athletic and duct tape and we were off on the circuit.
For the first 2 days, the trail followed lush valleys full of daisies and other flowers. The green vegetaton, brilliant blue glacial lakes and flowers combined to create a beautiful and colorful landscape that made for very pleasant hiking.
Then it was up over the pass, offering great views of the surrounding peaks and the enormous Grey Glacier that flows down off of the Patagonian Ice Cap. The hike up to the saddle was long but gradual and the real work began with the descent. The trail plunged more or less straight down from the saddle for 3 knee-jarring hours. Because I was favoring my sprained ankle, I ended up with a swollen and sore knee on the other leg from letting it take all of the abuse. Jodie and Anthony had some good laughs watching me hobble around camp and getting up and down that night!
The rest of hike was along rocky hillsides (which reminded me of northern Ontario) overlooking lakes of all shades of blue and green.
We woke yesterday morning to rain and very low clounds and decided that there wouldn't be much to see with such weather and hiked back to the trailhead, calling it quits a day earlier than we planned. Even with some rain on the last day, we were incredibly lucky with the weather. A man we met who was leaving as we were arriving told us that the had had either snow or rain every day for the week that they were there!
Overall, a great week of hiking, aches and pains and all!
Christine
On our first day in the park, we took advantage of the blue skies and made the steep climb up to see the Torres del Paine, the incredible granite towers that are the centrepieces of the park.
Not being one to do things the easy way, I decided to sprain my ankle on our first evening. I'd love to impress you all with some exciting story about how it happened, but the plain and boring truth is that I was walking down the stairs out of the bathroom at the campground and bailed.
I took the next day off and spent as much of it as possible with my foot stuck in a glacial stream hoping that the swelling would go down enough for me to hike the next day. Jodie kept me company, but I was jealous of Anthony who went for an awesome ridge walk overlooking the towers and came back with a handful of crystals he had found on the rarely-travelled ridge.
The next day, we packed up camp, Jodie and Anthony taped my foot up solidly with a combo of athletic and duct tape and we were off on the circuit.
For the first 2 days, the trail followed lush valleys full of daisies and other flowers. The green vegetaton, brilliant blue glacial lakes and flowers combined to create a beautiful and colorful landscape that made for very pleasant hiking.
Then it was up over the pass, offering great views of the surrounding peaks and the enormous Grey Glacier that flows down off of the Patagonian Ice Cap. The hike up to the saddle was long but gradual and the real work began with the descent. The trail plunged more or less straight down from the saddle for 3 knee-jarring hours. Because I was favoring my sprained ankle, I ended up with a swollen and sore knee on the other leg from letting it take all of the abuse. Jodie and Anthony had some good laughs watching me hobble around camp and getting up and down that night!
The rest of hike was along rocky hillsides (which reminded me of northern Ontario) overlooking lakes of all shades of blue and green.
We woke yesterday morning to rain and very low clounds and decided that there wouldn't be much to see with such weather and hiked back to the trailhead, calling it quits a day earlier than we planned. Even with some rain on the last day, we were incredibly lucky with the weather. A man we met who was leaving as we were arriving told us that the had had either snow or rain every day for the week that they were there!
Overall, a great week of hiking, aches and pains and all!
Christine
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Whoops!
I can't believe we forgot to blog this!
We went skinny dipping in the Beagle Channel! With complete strangers! How fun!
We went skinny dipping in the Beagle Channel! With complete strangers! How fun!
Happy 2007!
Feliz Nuevo Ano!
We celebrated in style with fine argentine wines - 4 bottles worth of it!
And after ringing in the new year at a little restaurant, we eventually ended up at a crazy house party where just about the entire town was crammed in the mosh pit, which actually filled the entire lower floor of the house, save for the stage, where a band played latin hits all night long. When we finally left at around 3:30, after being forced outside by a lack of oxygen, there were still a ton of people waiting to get in! They sure know how to party in Argentina!
We celebrated in style with fine argentine wines - 4 bottles worth of it!
And after ringing in the new year at a little restaurant, we eventually ended up at a crazy house party where just about the entire town was crammed in the mosh pit, which actually filled the entire lower floor of the house, save for the stage, where a band played latin hits all night long. When we finally left at around 3:30, after being forced outside by a lack of oxygen, there were still a ton of people waiting to get in! They sure know how to party in Argentina!
Monday, January 01, 2007
Cerro Torre
Until a few months ago, the huge granite spire of Cerro Torre was all I knew about Patagonia and seeing it was enough to make we want to travel all the way down here. Finally, I got to actually see it. We make the 4 hour trek up to the base of the Torre Glacier, looking ahead at nothing but clouds where we knew the mountain should be. At the glacier, there was still no view of the mountain, but we hunkered down behind some rocks to block the wind and waited and watched and did our best to will the clouds away. Very slowly, the clouds lifted and parted, until over 2.5 hours later, we could finally make out the sharp top of the spire. What an incredible way to see such a huge mountain - shrouded in clouds that made it look so daunting. It greatly added to the respect that I have for the people that have climbed it. Wow.
I'm not sure if it was because it was Jodie's birthday or if the weather gods just knew how disappointed I would have been to have come here and not seen Cerro Torre, but we've been told that the day we hiked up to see it was the first clear day in almost a month! What luck!
Chris
I'm not sure if it was because it was Jodie's birthday or if the weather gods just knew how disappointed I would have been to have come here and not seen Cerro Torre, but we've been told that the day we hiked up to see it was the first clear day in almost a month! What luck!
Chris
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