Bolivian Heights

Hello kiddo's

After a breathtaking visit to Machu Picchu, Peru, it was time to set sail for the next country. The continents highest and poorest: Bolivia! First stop: an overnight stay on Isla del Sol on Lago Titicaca. We soon realized that from now on our trip would be crazy cold!








The next day we took a bus to La Paz. Bolivia's capital, and - as everything in Bolivia - the highest in the world. We soon discovered that in La Paz everything is possible.



Via via, we obtained the phonenumber of one Daniel, an Afrikaner who was locked up in San Pedro prison for drug-trafficking. We managed to make an appointment (with surprising ease) and for some 250 Bolivianos worth of bribes we got a tour INSIDE the prison, some free whiskey and a whole lot of obscure stories. Basically, 7 inmates (known as "the 7 sins") run the show. They have cellphones etc., and are improving the quality of life in La Paz prison by organising these tours. Of course only possible by bribing the hell out of every official involved.



Off to Potosí! The worlds highest city (4060m). Quickly after the Spaniards took over in the 1500's, Potosí became the worlds richest city because of its silver mines. The wealth long gone, the mines now rely on tin and lead and tours for tourists! This was an utmost claustrophobic and life-changing experience. Not to mention the 14-year-old boys that we saw working in the mines... Man, we have a good life, rest asure.

Potosí is also the only place in the world where one can freely buy dynamite. Yes. DYNAMITE! Needless to say how yours truly felt about that! :-)

After that we ate Llama steak.

So far, we've traveled for three months. Time for some staggering statistics:

RARITIES ENCOUNTERED
quetzal bird
shooting star
FBI in action
woman with beard
lavastreams
fireworks exploding in a car
woodpecker committing suicide
nurse shark
seaturtle
kolibri
tamed owl
a David Bowie but not THE David Bowie
Lasgo in a Cusco discotheque
walking in and out of prison
buying dynamite off the streets

TRANSPORTATION
motorcycle rides: 1 hour
metro rides: 3 hours
bicycle rides: 4 hours
horseback rides: 8 hours
train rides: 14 hours
flights: 16 hours
boat trips: 21 hours
taxi rides: 29 hours
busrides: 329 hours
walking: didn't count

FINANCIAL ISSUES
money spent: $4300 each
items lost: Nick: sunglasses, 50 euro shirt, 3 towels; Sebastian: sweater, sunscreen, cellphone, flip flops, towel, sunglasses, booklet English-Spanish, watch
lucky shots: car rental company forgot to charge $300, Nick won $5 on a Vegas bus for knowin' the capital of Tasmania, Sebastian intercepted fraude at the Guatemala-Belize border: $3, a 3 to 1 bolivares to $ exchange rate on the black market
unfortunate spendings: payed $20 each to see leatherback turtles and didn't see any, Sebastian mistook the flight hour, we missed the flight and had to pay $20 each to transfer it, both exchanged fake money at the Ecuador-Peru boarder.

Macho Pikachu

Hello Llama's!

Another great achievement to bragg about: we made it to Machu Picchu. The most famous Inca-site and one of the seven new world wonders! The pictures will speak for themselves and you already know how great we are, so no further text is needed this time. Enjoy the scenic views!































DRINK INCA KOLA!

THE DRINK FOR ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE!

Indiana Jones

Buenas!

Having spent a day or two in Quito, Ecuador, we each went our own way. Nick stayed in Quito a little longer with English Nermalee and then headed off to Lima, Peru. I paid a visit to Ecuadors slice of the Amazon forest with French Amandine.

It's been some dizzle dazzling mindblowing days for me!! Not only did I find my own gold in the rio Humayacu, I also stumbled onto ancient artefacts in a jungle cave; stones, at least a thousand years old, with bird- and snakeheads carved in them. Indiana Jones would be proud of me!

Three days of busses later I found a new adventure in Nazca, Peru. There, an ancient culture has created loads of astonishingly huge lines and figures on the desert soil. Obviously, I had to see this from the air.

My next adventure was awaiting me in the mountains near Nazca. On the 24th of June, the Inca fiesta of the lama, I chased thousands of 'vicuñas' together with the local community. Once all the lama's were gathered, one of them was sacrificed to the Inca sungod. The emperor himself drank its blood.

Good times in the Americas!

Five Reasons

Hello everybody!!

Three weeks in Colombia now, doing fine. Actually, more than just fine. This country truly is amazing! It's not hard to make up five reasons to visit Colombia.

1. History. Colombia is packed with it. Lost cities, colonial towns and tales reaching from the first settlers till a wacko called El Patron.


2. Prices. A meal in a budget restaurant costs between 4000 and 6000 pesos ($2-3), a room in a nice hostel around 15 000 pesos ($7-8).


3. Nature. Colombia has more plants and animal species per unit area than any other country in the world. There are 350 species of mammals, 2000 species of birds and 130 000 different plants.


4. Security. Since 2002 the government has claimed much of the land that was effectively ceded to the guerrillas in the late 1990s, and has disarmed numerous rebel fighters. Colombia, though still a country at war, is a lot safer than generally assumed.


5. People. Most Colombians are some of the friendliest and most animated people you might ever meet. They'll happily dance some improvised salsa in the streets and start conversation with every next person they encounter.

Venezuela and the consequences

Babies,

Getting in and around Colombia was easy. Far easier than any of you expected it to be. Getting into Venezuela, however, proved to be one of our worst nightmares.

Crossing the border itself, all in all, was a piece of cake. But then came the checkpoints. An officer ordered us to open our backpacks - not the easiest task, seen the amount of stuff we carry around. So far, everything normal. After looking through our gear, he requested we´d follow him into a little office. Then the fun began. He ordered us to lift our shirts, lower our pants, lower our underpants... and to go down through our knees about 10 times, ¨to check if we were smuggling something from Colombia. Obviously, this rule didn't apply for Venezuelan citizens.

Then we got into our car. So far, so good. Our driver was driving a 40-year-old Chevrolet at about 120 clicks an hour on the worst roads in the world, passing by whoever he could. Then suddenly we ended up in a manifestation. People were lighting fireworks through their carwindows. We knew this was going to end horribly. And it did. A few meters from our car a pick-up-truck with six people in the back came to a violent stop as fireworks exploded into a fireball and dark smoke...

We need some time to make up our mind on this country. Either way, we went horseriding in the Andes. Good fun!




So far, we've traveled for two months. Time for some staggering statistics:

RARITIES ENCOUNTERED
quetzal bird
shooting star
FBI in action
woman with beard

lava streams
fireworks exploding in a car
woodpecker committing suicide
nurse shark
seaturtle
kolibri
tamed owl

TRANSPORTATION
motorcycle rides: 1 hour
metro rides: 3 hours
bicycle rides: 4 hours
horseback rides: 4 hours
taxi rides: 11 hours
train rides: 11 hours
flights: 15 hours
boat trips: 17 hours
busrides: 177 hours

walking: didn't count

FINANCIAL ISSUES
money spent: $3300 each
items lost: Nick: sunglasses, 50 euro shirt, 2 towels; Sebastian: sweater, sunscreen, cellphone, flip flops, towel, sunglasses, booklet English-Spanish
lucky shots: car rental company forgot to charge $300, Nick won $5 on a Vegas bus for knowin' the capital of Tasmania, Sebastian intercepted fraude at the Guatemala-Belize border: $3, a 3 to 1 bolivares to $ exchange rate on the black market
unfortunate spendings: payed $20 each to see leatherback turtles and didn't see any, Sebastian mistook the flight hour, we missed the flight and had to pay $20 each to transfer it

Scuba Do

Hola amigos!!

This week's been all about scuba - self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. The Carribean reef near the tiny fishing village of Taganga is said to be one the best diving spots around the South-American continent. Now we know why! The underwater world is stunning here, to say the least. High numbers of different species of fish, squid, turtle, lobster... Yesterday, we undertook a nightdive which obviously was utterly unforgettable...

We were thinking about hiking to 'La Ciudad Perdida', 'The Lost City'. One can reach this Unesco world heritage site by walking three days through lush jungle. It's supposed to be pretty amazing, but we won't do it after all. The Belgian government strongly advises against going there now, since lately tourists have been violently robbed on their way.

Next country on our list: Venezuela. In 1499, some Spanish explorer noticed a coastline on which houses were built above the sea, on poles. He subsequently named this land 'Venezuela', 'little Venice'.

Ciao ciao!