Week 41 - Bolivia - Isla del Sol to Peru - Aguas Calientes

We woke up to the alarm on Monday morning after a particularly poor night's sleep and had breakfast at the hotel. After a quick breakfast of fruit and quinoa muesli, Catalina shouldered our backpack and we walked down towards the port at Yumani. We walked down the hill on the stone Inca staircase (Escalera del Inca) past a natural spring (Fuente del Inca) from which fresh water was gushing down some stone channels beside the staircase. It was the greenest spot on the island with beautifully terraced flower gardens and lush green trees. There were lots of birds attracted by the flower gardens.

We had to wait for half an hour for our boat to arrive and the boat trip back to Copacabana was about an hour. We checked in, said our goodbyes to Mauricio and then walked to the market for lunch. We went to a stall that Mauricio had recommended where we each got a whole trout plus rice and salad for 20 Bolivianos or AUD $3.00! It was one of the best lunches that we had ever had.

After lunch, we went back to the Basilica de Copacabana. As it was during the week, the figure of the Virgen de Candelaria was no longer visible in the Baroque altar in the main cathedral. Her figure had been turned around so that she was visible in the small chapel upstairs behind the altar.

On Tuesday we slept in and then had a leisurely breakfast before returning to our room to pack up. After we checked out, we sat in the guest lounge overlooking the terrace using the internet and drinking tea until it was time for us to take the bus to Puno. It was only a short drive to the border and the border formalities were completed very quickly and efficiently.

Once we were through Peruvian immigration, we got back on the bus for the two hour drive to Puno. Peru looked just as poverty stricken as Bolivia – dirty and polluted. The roads were in poor condition and we drove past a lot of partially completed mud brick and concrete dwellings with steel reinforcing sticking out. We seemed to skirt the edge of Lake Titicaca where we saw fields of rushes on the banks of the lake and lots of fish rings. The landscape was pretty dry and barren and looked overgrazed. We saw lots of sheep, cows, donkeys, pigs and llamas. As we got closer to Puno we saw some surreal rock formations. We arrived at Puno and we were immediately picked up by a tout who got in our taxi with us to our hotel. She wanted us to book a tour with her immediately but we managed to put her off. We checked into our hotel and went for a walk around town. Our first stop was the Tourist Information Office where we found out that the tout's prices were inflated! We organised our trips ourselves.

On Wednesday morning we had breakfast on the 6^th floor overlooking Lake Titicaca. Then we met our taxi driver Luis in the lobby at 9.30am and drove to Cutimbo, a funerary tower site 20kms outside Puno. We wound through yellow grass clad hills with poor farmers eking out a living from animals and crops. The site was on top of a rocky mesa but luckily a road went most of the way up. We climbed up a track the rest of the way with Luis who had only been to the site once before. Just before the top was a separate track leading around the rock with a sign reading "Pinturas Rupestres". Unfortunately the paintings on rock were faint but there were a couple of human skeletons scattered inside a small rock overhang. We also saw a beautiful orange flowering plant with a nettle like sting we later found out was used by the ancients for arthritis. Once we reached the flat top we followed a track to a group of very well preserved towers, both circular and square. The square tower was by far the largest with large cut stones fitted together perfectly. All the towers had a small door facing east and we crawled inside the square tower. Inside three small niches were visible on the wall facing the door while the adjoining walls each had a large niche and a couple of large projecting stones at a higher level which created a ledge. The ledges were too high to see if anything rested on them. Outside on a round tower we found carvings of a rabbit, a puma and a monkey. The purpose of the funerary towers was to provide a vehicle for the dead to travel into the next life. To this end they were mummified in the foetal position for rebirth and family members, food etc were arranged inside with them to accompany the important leader on the trip. We were the only people at the site which made it a different experience. It was so peaceful, and we enjoyed the scent of the small bushes, the views off the top of the mesa over the surrounding plains, an eagle sailing past, the various towers in differing states of preservation, the flowering cactus, and the different coloured rocks with and without lichens. Apparently the pre-Inca Cholla people built the original small towers, often not much more than a dome. Many of these had collapsed but the later Inca constructions were far more sophisticated with large stones cut into specific shapes which locked together. We took photos and walked back down to the car and drove back to the hotel.

We went for a walk around town and had a good look at the impressive cathedral from the outside as it was closed. We tried a prickly pear fruit for the first time from a street vendor and it was quite good but lots of seeds. After lunch at the Rico Pan bakery, we went back to the hotel to meet our tour to Sillustani. This time we were on a tour bus with about 16 people. The bus drove us to the Lake Umayo with more funerary towers on a hill above. The site had more towers than Cutimbo but they were in poorer condition. It also had a couple of sacred stone circles to represent the sun and moon. As the towers had been partially destroyed by lightning, earthquakes and Spaniards we could see that they were constructed with an inner or female stone lining and the outer cut rock male layer. Also visible on some of the large outer rocks were projecting stumps used by the Incas for transporting the rocks with ropes on rollers. The projections could then be carved off once the rock was in position. They used ramps for raising the huge stone pieces into place. The Umayo Lake with its large mesa island was beautiful, especially with the storm clouds, sun and rain in the background. There were some irrigated fields on the edge of the lake and some flamingos. We got past the desperate locals selling poor quality tourist artefacts and onto the bus. We got back to town and were delayed by a street procession complete with army band to celebrate a local kindergarten's birthday.

We set the alarm for 6.00 am on Thursday, showered and had breakfast early. After we checked out of the hotel, we caught a taxi to the bus station where we boarded the Inka Express for Cusco with our bilingual guide, Juan.

Our first stop was Pukara, an archaeological complex belonging to the Pucará culture. Juan guided us through the small museum where we saw stone and pottery sculptures of human and animal figures. The most significant sculpture was a stone figure of a priest with puma headdress facing the heavens holding a human head in his hand – a clear reference to human sacrifice. Outside the museum were the usual artisan stalls selling alpaca and textiles as well as terracotta Pucará bulls. We had some time to spare before we got on the bus so we visited the small church next door to the museum. It was very plain in comparison to other baroque churches that we had visited. The main altar and chapels had only a small amount of gold leaf decoration and were painted with whitewash. Many of the floor pavers were broken and crumbling and there was a dank smell about it.

The highest point of our journey was La Raya at 4,313 metres above sea level, the border between the departments of Puno and Cusco. We had a short scenic stop here for some photos before continuing on our journey. From this point we saw the scenery change from dry yellow overgrazed plains and hills to lush green fields and hills with trees. As we drove down into the valley, we saw the Vilancota River, known as the sacred river of the Incas. We were now travelling down the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The mountains on either side of the valley had horizontal terracing even on very steep slopes and to great height. This showed that these valleys must have been inhabited for thousands of years and an unbelievable amount of work in building and maintaining the terraces had been achieved. Today though only the most fertile and flat fields around the valley floor are being utilised for growing potato, corn, wheat etc.

We stopped at the small town of Sicuani for a delicious buffet lunch. While we were eating we were entertained by some colourfully dressed Andean musicians playing guitars, pan pipes and a drum.

Our next stop was Raqchi, an Inca archaeological site. The complex was dominated by the remains of the Temple of Wiracocha. All that remained of the temple was an enormous central wall constructed from adobe with a volcanic rock base. On each side of the wall was a row of columns. Adjoining the temple was a series of square dwellings which were the living quarters of the priests and administrators. The Spaniards noted that these nobles exhibited cranial deformation which was produced by binding a baby's soft head with tight bandages. Unfortunately this proved not such a good idea as the Spaniards knew who to kill! All of the dwellings had niches and trapezoid windows and doors. Apparently the trapezoid shape is resistant to earthquakes which are common in the area. The foundations were found to contain many round boulders which also helps to absorb vibration from earthquakes. To one side of the temple was a group of round storehouses laid out in parallel lines – these were used to store corn and quinoa and originally there were 156 storehouses. The complex was surrounded by a 3 metre high stone wall 5 kms long to provide protection.

Our final stop was the small village of Andahuaylillas, home to the Templo de San Pedro de Andahuaylillas. From the outside the church looked very modest with its thick adobe mud-brick walls, bell tower and facade with two plain stone columns at the main entrance. The interior of the church was covered with Baroque art and many decorations. The main Baroque altar was decorated in 24 carat gold leaf and above it the walls and ceilings were decorated with murals of geometric designs and golden decorations. There was also a mural representing the path to heaven (thorny) and the path to hell (strewn with flowers). The church also contains two pipe organs and on the side walls there were other altars and chapels and oil paintings. It was called the "Capilla Sixtina" or "Sistine Chapel" of America. Shortly after this we drove past an impressive stone wall structure built across a narrow point of the valley as the southern gate to Cusco.

We arrived at Cusco almost an hour late and to our relief, the driver organised by our hotel was still waiting for us. We checked in to our lovely room and walked to the main plaza. We had dinner at Jack's Cafe, a block away from our hotel.

On Friday morning we had to rush to have breakfast before it finished at 9.00 am. After breakfast we walked up to the roof top terrace to admire the view over Peru's 4^th biggest city. Cusco sat in a bowl amongst the mountains and we looked over a sea of red roofing tiles, chimneys at awry angles and an occasional church rearing above the house level. Then we had a walk around town which exceeded all expectations. Most of the narrow cobbled alleys had a large drain running down the centre of the road. Our route to the main plaza, Plaza de Armas, was along the narrow Hatun Rumiyoc Street which was lined with Inca walls of large stones fitted together with a newer construction built on top. This was where the Spaniards had destroyed Incan temples and palaces but retained the base to build upon. This street contained the famous 12-sided stone.

We bought a religious site ticket from a beautifully restored museum building and walked down to Plaza de Armas. Stone cathedrals and churches bounded a couple of sides of the large square with colonnades of arches along the other sides enclosing tourist shops. A large fountain played with water in the centre and the square was filled with trees and flowers. In fact as we wandered around Cusco there were many green flower-filled plazas and plazalettas to enjoy. We bought a ten day tourist entry to some of the surrounding Inca sites and organised a tour of the Sacred Valley for tomorrow. We sat in a small plaza and weighed up our options to get to Machu Picchu, 112 kms away. Our main worry was the weather, although it turned out a beautiful day today, the forecast was for overcast and rainy days for the next week.

We walked to an Australian-owned restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet, Los Perros, then got lost trying to find San Pedro station. We checked out the large covered market opposite the station which was divided into sections – fruit, vegetables, desserts, juices, meals, beef, lamb and pork. We had a fresh orange and passionfruit juice and admired the full pig carcasses. It was here that we saw a man playing a pipe and two dogs stopped and began howling in unison, forcing him to move away, much to everyone's amusement. Then we walked back to Plaza de Armas to talk to Peru Rail and on to Plaza San Blas with its unnatural wide waterfall. We made a final decision and returned to Peru Rail to book our tickets to Aguas Caliente, where we would have to stay overnight before catching a bus at 5.30 am to Machu Picchu.

After an early breakfast on Saturday, we walked up to the Plaza San Blas where we were picked up for our Sacred Valley Tour. The mini bus picked up six more people before we drove out of Cusco over the mountains and then down to the valley floor. The scenery was spectacular. Every inch of the hillsides was scarred with Inca rock terraces overlooking a patchwork of fields. As we drove along the valley floor next to the sacred Inca river, Rio Urubamba we passed little villages, markets and farming communities. We stopped briefly at a small handicrafts market and then drove to the picturesque village of Pisac with a huge, spreading tree dominating its central square. We visited the markets at Pisac and then drove up to the Inca ruins which were set high up above the town. The stonework at Pisac was amazing. Terraces, water channels and steps were made from enormous smooth blocks cut out of solid granite. In the upper sector of the ruins there were the remains of the Sun Temple. Around the temple were more ruins, and in the higher crevices and rocky overhangs we could see ancient burial sites, now a honeycomb of holes in the rock face as they had been opened up. There were heavier defensive walls of interlocking stone with gates allowing major paths through. There was a water fountain complex far below and separate ruins for the agricultural workers operating the complex of stone terraces, the urban sector and the priests and nobility. The vast majority of the population however didn't live in the centre but would have lived throughout the valleys working the land close by.

We continued on to Urubamba where we had a buffet lunch. From Urubamba it was a half an hour drive to Ollantaytambo, an attractive little town built on top of some Inca ruins. We climbed up the steep stone steps to the temple complex where there was a wall built out of a series of large and small fitted stone blocks. Some of the stones were enormous weighing several tons. From the temple complex we could see the storehouses on the hills surrounding Ollantaytambo. Their location at high altitudes, where there is more wind and lower temperatures, helped to preserve the dried food. On the opposite mountain down the valley we could see quarries. The Incas brought stone from these quarries to Ollantaytambo using stone rollers and a series of ramps.

After our visit to the ruins, the rest of the group left to catch the train to Aguas Calientes, and we continued on to the tiny little weaving town of Chincheros on top of the mountains. We left the valley floor and wound up until we reached a plateau on the mountain tops at approximately 4000 metres. It was much colder and peaks all around us were covered in snow. Amazingly the soil on the plateau appeared very fertile with lots of fields full of corn. The town had a colonial church built in 1597 on top of Inca temple foundations and all around were excavated Inca walls and terraces. Inside the church the paintings, murals and decoration including gold leaf were well preserved. We were taken to an artisan workshop where traditionally dressed Peruvian women showed us how they produced the beautiful textiles they were wearing. They showed us how they cleaned the alpaca or sheep's wool with plant product and water and then spun it before colouring it with natural dyes including the dramatically purple cochineal harvested from the prickly pear. Then we headed back to Cusco. We packed up for the next morning's early start to Aguas Caliente for our visit to Machu Picchu.

On Sunday, we got up early, had a rushed breakfast and checked out of the hotel putting our back packs into their luggage room. Feeling strangely bereft because we were carrying only our small day packs, we got in a taxi which took us to Poroy station, 20 kilometres outside Cusco. At Poroy station, we boarded our train which had large windows on both the sides and the roof of the train giving us panoramic views of our surroundings. We started our journey by descending into the Sacred Valley onto the Anta plateau. We passed fields of corn, quinoa and potatoes, and pigs, cows, horses and donkeys grazing. The train passed through extensive areas of agricultural terracing and we saw the remains of Inca fortresses dotted on the hillside. Then the train went through some narrow gorges with the small river rushing beside us and mountains rising up next to us. Luckily it was a sunny day and we got great views from the train. The train stopped at Ollantaytambo to collect more passengers and some desperate women ran along the train with tourist wares. Some of the ancient Inca terraces were still in use with green corn visible and every now and then you would take a corner and see walls, terraces or stone lookouts on the slopes above the train. Soon after we left, the landscape became lush and rainforest-like. We saw orchids and bromeliads hanging from trees and rocky outcrops, waterfalls and hummingbirds. We wound through the jungle with peaks rising on all sides and some cloud appearing and disappearing around the peaks. The river was larger now and the enormous boulders and occasional landslide were reminders that flooding can be powerful in these steep gorges.

We arrived at Aguas Calientes at 11.30 am and immediately we were surrounded by touts. We bought entrance tickets and bus tickets for Machu Picchu and then walked up the hill looking for Pirwa Hostel. We checked into the hostel, dropped off our bags and went off to find somewhere to eat. We settled on Chez Maggy where we had a delicious lunch of avocado salad, fresh passionfruit juice and nachos.

We went back to Chez Maggy for dinner. Then we went back to the hotel and set the alarm for 4.30 am so that we could catch the first bus to Machu Picchu. We had a shower and then turned in for an early night.

Week 40 - Bolivia - Uyuni to Isla del Sol

On Monday we had a delicious breakfast at Minuteman Pizza which was included in our room rate. Instead of the usual white bread rolls, dulce de leche, jam and instant coffee, we had real coffee, fruit salad, muesli, scrambled egg, home baked bread and pancakes with maple syrup. It was amazing. We spent the rest of the day walking around town and in the hotel reading and using the internet. At 7.00 pm we walked to the bus stop to catch our bus to La Paz. The first Bolivian town had been an interesting experience.

The first half of the road (if it could be called a road) from Uyuni to La Paz was not sealed and felt like it was corrugated. This made for a very bumpy bone rattling ride for the first five hours of the journey. At one stage the bus stopped and the driver and bus attendants got out and we heard hammering – so we started worrying about whether the bus would make it to La Paz. The road improved marginally after the first five hours and we managed to get a little sleep.

We were woken up by the sun streaming through the bus windows on Tuesday morning just as we were entering the outskirts of the city. La Paz is the world's highest capital at 3,660 metres above sea level, and is located in the valleys of the Andes. Our first sight of La Paz was spectacular – red brick buildings clung to the hillsides, spilling into the canyon and looming in the background we could see the snow covered Mount Illamani. The traffic was very busy and it took quite a while for the bus to get to the bus station. At the bus station we caught a taxi to the Hotel Rosario – a three star colonial style hotel that had been recommended by Chris from the Hotel Tonito. Our room was lovely with beautiful wooden parquet floors, and French doors opening out onto a wrought iron balcony overlooking the street below. From our room we could see the red brick buildings spilling down the surrounding hills and Mt Illamani in the distance. We had a shower and walked a few blocks to the Angelo Colonial cafe for breakfast. The cafe was like a small museum with beautiful antique furniture, old books, maps, musical instruments (including a guitar made with an armadillo skeleton), weapons, matchbox collection, chandeliers, cutlery, bank notes, paintings etc.

Much restored, we returned to the hotel past the numerous shops and stalls at the Mercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market) on Calle Linares selling all manner of local handicrafts and products. We booked an extra night at the hotel as we could already see that we loved La Paz and would need an extra day here. Then we walked around town and soaked up the amazing vibe of this unique city. The city's main plaza Plaza Murillo was a knockout with the city cathedral on one side and bullet-riddled legislative building on another. There were beautifully dressed guards by the doors and everywhere the traditionally dressed Bolivian women.

We had lunch around the corner from the plaza with a crusty piece of bread and diced vegies and cheese, followed by a hearty soup with pork, vegies and potato, and then a piece of roast chicken with salad and potato, all for 10 Bolivianos, or AUD$1.50!

After lunch we spent the afternoon walking up and down the hills, sometimes slipping on the well worn cobblestones. We walked along Calle Jaen which housed several museums and some beautifully preserved colonial buildings. Then we walked along the main street of La Paz and headed back to the hotel stopping for a brief look at the Iglesia de San Francisco with its intricately carved baroque facade and baroque altar decorated with gold leaf. The streets of La Paz were busy and colourful with dodgy spaghetti wiring overhead in many parts and balaclava clad shoeshine operators everywhere. This was slightly disturbing as you could not see their faces at all.

We had a rest and then headed out for dinner. We walked to Calle Sagarnaga, a touristy market strip full of handicrafts and souvenir shops, travel agencies, budget hostels and cafes. We had dinner at Luna's Coffee Restaurant Pub and then headed back to the hotel for an early night.

On Wednesday we had a lovely sleep-in and then a wonderful breakfast of juice, coffee, cereal, fresh fruit, fried eggs, toast and pancakes in the hotel restaurant. After breakfast, we spent some time with Turisbus, the travel agent attached to the hotel organising some transfers, tours and accommodation in Bolivia and Peru.

We walked back to the Witches' Market on Calle Linares and spent a couple of hours admiring the handicrafts stores with beautiful alpaca jumpers, scarves, hats, ponchos, gloves, scarves and shawls, silver jewellery with semi precious stones, leather handbags, belts and wallets, musical instruments and woven and embroidered wall hangings. There were stalls selling coca leaves, dried herbs, incense, soapstone figurines, brightly coloured candy offerings to the Goddess Pachamama (a kind of mother earth figure), dried frogs, dried insects and grotesque dried llama foetuses (some complete with fur) with horrible popping out eyes. To our relief we found out that the llama foetuses were not for eating, they were just good luck talismans to be offered to Pachamama.

We had lunch at The Star of India and the food was surprisingly good. After lunch we walked along the main street of La Paz and then we walked to the Plaza Murillo where a ceremony was being held to welcome the Brazilian Ambassador. There was a motorcade and a military parade with soldiers in red uniforms sporting bayonets. Then we went to the Museo Nacional de Arte which was housed in a beautiful eighteenth century three storey Andean Baroque style palace with a paved central courtyard and a fountain. We spent a pleasant couple of hours viewing the collection which consisted mainly of religious artworks.

We headed back in the direction of the hotel stopping to admire the facade of Iglesia de Santo Domingo which instead of the usual Catholic art, had carvings of pineapples, tropical vines and parrots.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked through Mercado Lanza, one of the main food markets of La Paz selling all manner of fruits, vegetables, juices, dairy products, breads and canned foods. There were numerous stalls selling sandwiches, soup, salteñas or empanadas, juices and full meals. We stopped to try some chicken and pork chicharron (deep-fried) at one of the stalls. We decided to give dinner a miss and just snacked on a couple of empanadas and some Pringles which we had with some Argentinian Santa Ana 2008 Malbec in our room.

After another hotel breakfast on Thursday, we headed out for the day. The weather was so perfect for walking, clear sunlight and cool air. We walked past the Iglesia de San Francisco and had a good look at its baroque facade in the morning light. As well as the usual Catholic sculptures of saints, the facade had carvings of native looking faces, exotic vines and bunches of grapes.

We walked on to the Museo Nacional de Etnografia y Folklore which had a beautiful collection of textiles, masks, feather headdresses, masks, ceremonial clothing and weapons and ceramics in another colonial building. After we left the museum, we made our way up the canyon towards a lookout. On the way we stopped to visit the Mercado Yungas. It had the usual fruit, vegetables, meat and cooked food and fresh juices sections. From here it was a short but steep climb up several flights of stairs to the Mirador Killi-Killi, where we had 360° views of La Paz. The thousands of red brick houses built up the steep sides of the canyon never ceased to amaze. Then we walked across the city and down to the Parque Mirador Laikakota which also had panoramic views of the city and contained a children's playground as well.

We were pretty hungry by this time as it was 2.30 pm so we made our way down to a bridge crossing the canyon to the main street. We walked up the Prado and stopped at the Plaza Hotel for lunch.

After lunch we decided to try and visit the San Pedro Prison. On the way we walked past the Parroquia de San Pedro de la Nueva Paz, a small Mediterranean-looking whitewashed church near the Plaza Sucre. The Plaza Sucre was surrounded by temporary fencing and so was one side of San Pedro Prison, the largest prison in La Paz. Unlike most prisons, inmates have jobs inside the prison, rent their accommodation, and often live with their families. The rules are enforced by elected leaders with the guards remaining outside the forbidding walls. Stabbings are commonplace. There was a large queue outside the prison entrance so we gave up any notions of going in. Keith attempted to take a couple of photos but one of the guards saw him and insisted that he delete them.

We walked back to the hotel via the Witches' Market again, debating whether to buy leather handbags, belts, wallets and woven wall hangings and post them home. The handicrafts here were so cheap that you wouldn't lose much if the package went missing in the mail but we decided to sleep on it.

We spent all Friday morning walking up and down Calle Sagarnaga and the Witches Market buying souvenirs and gifts. We spent quite a lot of time looking for a primitive red and black weaving of animals and devils from Sucre we had seen in the museum yesterday. Keith got a new wallet and belt and Suzie got a new handbag. Then we spent a long time searching for a matching hat, scarf, and gloves for Suzie in vain. In the end we went back to Angelo Colonial for a delicious lunch. After lunch we went to the post office where the package was weighed, forms completed and the package marked with a prominent "Do not return to Bolivia". After that we were free to walk up to the Plaza Murillo to enjoy watching the crowds and the lowering of the flags by a red uniformed guard of honour. We walked to the museums on Calle Jaen where we saw the Museo Costumbrista Juan de Vargas with displays of colonial costumes and models including a prisoner being quartered. Then there was the Museo de Metales Preciosos Precolombinos with a collection of gold, silver, copper and bronze artefacts. Finally there was the Casa de Murillo which was a restored colonial house with furniture, paintings, textiles and ceramics. We left the museums and walked to the Sol y Luna restaurant for dinner. We walked home and stopped in the hotel shop to buy a matching alpaca poncho and hat for Suzie. We'd spent most of the day shopping and posting gifts but it was great to just soak up the atmosphere of La Paz. We packed up because tomorrow morning we were leaving for Copacabana on Lake Titicaca on a pre-organised trip of five days taking us through to Cusco.

We woke up early on Saturday and had breakfast before heading out of La Paz on the flash Turisbus. We drove up at first out of the canyon and onto El Alto or Altiplano, the flat plateau overlooking La Paz. We drove through several towns with markets and people building houses out of mud brick. It looked quite poor with rubbish and mangy dogs everywhere. We drove through plains of yellow grass with some sheep and cattle grazing. Snow capped volcanic peaks were visible on our right as we drove north towards Copacabana. We came to the 800 metre Straits of Tiquina crossing Lake Titicaca at its narrowest point. We crossed in a little ferry with the minibus coming over on a separate vehicular ferry. Then we were off again climbing up mountain slopes with great views over the lake and its islands. The sparse slopes had very little soil but even so there was the occasional cleared space and ancient rock terracing. On some slopes were donkeys and sheep grazing with their Bolivian shepherds. We wound down out of the heights to Copacabana town beside the lake. We checked into our room with marvellous views of the lake and Isla del Sol in the distance.

We had a delicious lunch of trout from Lake Titicaca in the hotel restaurant. After lunch, we sat on the terrace overlooking the lake, and had a look at the small museum and handicrafts shop in the grounds of the hotel. At 3.00 pm we met Mauricio and went for a walk around town through the markets and then to the Moorish style Basilica de Copacabana. It had a very large courtyard which Mauricio said was for the benefit of the local Indian population who were uncomfortable with worshipping inside such a large building. Inside the cathedral was an ornate Andean Baroque altar painted lavishly in gold leaf. Outside the front of the cathedral were several vehicles decked in flowers – this was for the Blessing of the Motor Vehicles ceremony. The owners were throwing alcohol, rice and flowers at their vehicles. There were also stalls selling miniature houses, shops, cars, trucks, buses and even piles of banknotes – a Bolivian tradition for the blessing of miniature objects and a prayer for those material possessions. Next to the cathedral in a small annex, was the Capilla de Velas (Chapel of Candles). On a large stone bench in the middle of the chapel were groups of candles burning. The tradition is to have one candle for each member of the family – some groups had as many as twelve candles! The chapel was black with smoke and there were pictures and writing in candle wax on the walls. After Mauricio left us, we walked down to the lake shore and then we climbed up the hill behind town for a view of the lake in the afternoon sun. On the hill were the Stations of the Cross and we noticed that some pilgrims were stopping at each station and praying earnestly. At the top of the hill we got views of the lake and boats returning from the Isla del Sol. We returned to the hotel and saw sunset from the terrace and tried a Bolivian cocktail called a "chuflay" which was like a gin and tonic. We did our chores and then had a great dinner of trout and llama at the hotel restaurant with a bottle of La Concepcion Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.

After breakfast in the hotel restaurant on Sunday, we put one of our backpacks into the luggage room and then walked with Mauricio to the lake shore where we got a small boat which took us out into the lake and to Isla del Sol. It was a gorgeous day and the lake looked flat and calm with the blue contrasting with the brown of the islands and peninsulas. Some boats used cheap diesel which produced the most incredible black smoke. We threaded our way through a narrow gap in the peninsula rock and admired the amazing terracing that was evident all the way up steep slopes on the mainland and islands.

Our first stop on the island was near a temple called Pilkocaina. There, we handed our backpack, Mauricio's daypack and Suzie's daypack to a short Andean Aymara lady called Catalina. She tied our backpack and Mauricio's daypack into a large sheet which she then swung onto her back, picked up Suzie's daypack and then set off at a cracking pace up the stony path to the Ecolodge La Estancia, a 45 minute walk away. We felt really guilty because she seemed so small, but we were assured that there was a donkey waiting at the top of the hill to help her. Once we had offloaded our luggage, Mauricio showed us around the ruined stone temple. As it was built against the steeply sloping hillside it had multiple levels. It had elements of Inca construction like stepped lintels, niches and false doors and elements of Tiwanaku construction like trapezoid windows and doors. When we climbed above it, you could see that the complex was exactly symmetrical, with the left hand side mirrored on the right. Then we got back on the boat and cruised north to Challapampa, one of the largest villages on the island. We wandered past the village beach boasting pigs resting in the shade of a boat, sheep, goats and cattle drinking from the lake and donkeys checking the rubbish bins. We walked upwards on a clear track with the views of bays, beaches and headlands changing all the time. We reached Chincana temple complex after a couple of hours. It was a larger complex with spectacular views over the lake and surrounding terraced hillsides. The small rooms and doors were labyrinthine and the complex was separated into a large storage area on one side and a large ceremonial area with a row of niches on the other. Nearby was the sacrificial stone table where the Inca creation legend began. We walked further north up and down the hilltops running along the spine of the island until we stopped at a small eucalypt forest at 3.00 pm for lunch. We were seriously hungry and gobbled our lunch before continuing on. We branched off from the main track and headed across a hillside terraced with small fields. We could see that ash had been mixed with the earth as a method of fertilisation. As we approached the village containing the Ecolodge La Estancia we saw many donkeys, pigs held in small stone hutches, and fields of fava bean plants. We arrived at the lodge at 5.00 pm and enjoyed a cup of tea in the restaurant. The lodge was set high up on a ridge so we had a view over the fields below, and across the lake to snow capped mountains in the distance. It was a spectacular sunset from our cabin window as we did our daily diary and photo sorting. We watched some hummingbirds amongst the flowers beneath our window and two types of sparrow eating grass seed. There was a procession of people and livestock winding up from below as the sun sank behind us lighting up the Isla de Luna and the Andes in front of us.

Week 39 - Chile - Santiago to Bolivia - Uyuni

It was raining and cold again when we woke up on Monday, so we took our time getting ready. After breakfast, we caught the Metro to the bus station where we bought tickets to our next destination – San Pedro de Atacama via Calama. The ticket seller claimed that his merchant facility was offline and so could only accept payment in cash. Then he made a "mistake" with our change and when we checked the price on our tickets we noticed that he had also over-charged us by CL$2,000. He refunded us the difference happily enough but we think that he was dodgy!

We caught the metro to Los Domenicos where we went to the handicrafts market. It was on a large block of land next to the church and was in itself like a hacienda complex. It was really quiet because it was lunchtime so we left the market to go and buy a picnic lunch. By this time it had stopped raining and the sun had come out so we enjoyed our lunch in a nearby park. We walked back to the market and wandered around admiring the wood sculptures, horn sculptures, leather belts, bags and wallets, woollen jumpers, hats, scarves and ponchos, silver, copper, lapis lazuli, Inca rose, malachite and jade jewellery, and ceramics. We left the markets without buying anything and caught the metro back to the apartment.

On Tuesday morning, the sun was shining and the sky was blue when we woke up. After a leisurely breakfast at the hostel, we went back to our apartment to pack up our stuff. At midday we checked out and made our way to the bus station where we caught our first Chilean bus. We took pleasure in our last sight of Santiago from the bus windows with the snow capped Andes providing a dramatic backdrop. We passed some vineyards after the suburbs and wound through the valleys in the foothills of the mountains before coming back to the coastal plain. The brown mountain slopes were full of tall cactus and in some spots the coastal plain was incredibly narrow, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea. We drove along the coast past deserted beaches with sandy cactus filled plains in the foreground. There were also fuzzy stalks of an aloe like plant, possibly a relative of the pineapple and flocks of terns at some places. The sunset was spectacular over the Pacific Ocean on our left. We stopped at Coquimbo with a pretty fleet of tiny, yellow fishing boats and a massive church tower on the only hill catching the last rays of sun while the rest of the town was in shadow. Down the road another stop at the more touristy La Serena, and then on through the night with bad Hollywood movies and ordinary bus snacks.

On Wednesday morning, we woke up after a fitful sleep even though this was the most comfortable bus we had been on. We read and watched the desert landscape outside the bus windows. Even though no plants or animals were visible, there was still some action with roads and piles of sand from mines everywhere. In the distance mountains were shadowy reminders that the desert was not all flat. We arrived at Calama at 12.30 pm and had to sit around in the bus terminal until the bus left for San Pedro de Atacama at 3.00 pm. We passed over a plateau and looked down on the town – the only green below. It was dusty and hot but thankfully no wind and the houses were all low set adobe construction. We wandered out of the bus terminal to find accommodation everywhere and quickly settled on the clean Hostel Katarpe with WiFi. We gratefully had a shower and went for a recce around town as it cooled off. We had dinner and then talked to a couple of travel agencies about our trip to the Salar de Uyuni before calling it a night.

We slept in really late on Thursday, only waking up when the maid came to service our room. After breakfast we went to another travel agency to talk about our trip to Salar de Uyuni and then we went to the Tourist Information Office to read their feedback book about the various agencies in town. Finally, we decided to use the Cordillera Traveller agency as they had a mention in the Lonely Planet, were a smaller company and seemed to have a good reputation around town. We changed some Chilean Pesos into Bolivianos at a Casa de Cambio and then went back to Cordillera Traveller and booked our trip. We had a lovely lunch at Grado 6 and tried our first Pisco sours – a cocktail made from pisco (white grape brandy), lemon juice, syrup, and crushed ice.

After lunch we walked to the Church of San Pedro – a small whitewashed adobe mud building with ceilings made from cardon cactus and creaky bowed wooden floors. Then we walked across the Plaza to the Archaeological Museum of Gustavo Le Paige which housed a display of pre-Columbian artefacts showing the evolution of the Atacama culture from before the Inca invasion to the Spanish conquest. There were stone and bone tools, ceramics, jewellery, hallucinogenic equipment used by shamans – intricately carved snuff boxes, trays and snuff pipes. There was also a small display of gold artefacts.

It was really hot when we left the museum and all the shops seemed to be closed for siesta, so we went back to the Hostel and spent the afternoon reading.

We got up to the alarm at 7.00 am on Friday, showered, finished our packing and walked to the Cordillera Traveller office. We left at around 8.15 am in a minibus with thirteen other travellers for the border. We arrived at the Chilean Emigration office very quickly and then drove an hour to the Bolivian Immigration office.

It was really obvious once we arrived on the Bolivian side because the road suddenly deteriorated from a sealed tarmac road to a dirt road. The Immigration Office was also much smaller and more like a shed! Once we had cleared Bolivian Immigration, everyone unloaded their back packs from the minibus and transferred to them to one of three 4WD jeeps. We were sharing our jeep with Freddie our driver, and Patricia, Lizzy and Charlotte. While we were clearing immigration and moving our back packs, the three drivers set up some picnic tables for breakfast for us – ham, cheese, butter, jam and bread rolls. They had flasks of hot water, cartons of milk, tea bags, coffee powder, Milo and sugar. So we all ate our first meal in Bolivia outside the immigration office at 4,200 metres above sea level. Amazingly we saw some seagulls hanging around hoping for a feed in the middle of the desert!

We drove to the National Park Office where we paid our entry fees and had a quick toilet stop. The toothless old lady who was dispensing toilet paper was wearing a tiny bowler hat perched on the back of her head and a shawl around her in archetypal Bolivian fashion! Then it was just a short drive to the Laguna Blanca (White Lake – magnesium and borax) and Laguna Verde (Green Lake – copper sulphate), located at the bottom of the Licancabur Volcano. We stopped at each lake briefly to take photos and quickly got back into the jeep to get out of the wind. On the way we saw a small group of vicuna wandering along in their desert brown colours. They were a smaller less hairy version of the domestic llama.

We continued on to the "Dali Desert" so named because of the surreal-looking flat landscape dotted with misshapen lumps of rock eroded by wind and sand. We stopped at the Termas de Polques hot springs where we had a quick soak in the soothing but sulphurous 30°C water at 4,950 metres above sea level. Once we got out it was really windy and cold so we couldn't get back into our clothes fast enough. By the time we got back into the jeep, we were all beginning to feel the effects of the altitude (or maybe it was hunger). We were short of breath, light headed and slightly dizzy so we only paid scant attention to our next stop at the Sol de Mañana geyser basin with its hot bubbling volcanic mud pots and sulphurous vapour issuing from the fumaroles.

Finally we were taken to our hostel at the "village" of Hualla Jara at 4,350 metres above sea level where we were to have lunch and spend the night. We had a late lunch and straight away we felt better. We organised our night clothes (thermals, t-shirts, jumpers etc) in our dorm which we were sharing with Patricia, Lizzy and Charlotte. We rested for a while as some people were feeling ill and everyone felt slightly strange.

Then Freddie drove us to the Laguna Colorada, the main nesting centre for over 30,000 flamingos of three different species. We stopped to see a group of domestic llamas with ribbons tied into their ears. The lake was really spectacular – it was a beautiful red colour from the microorganisms, fringed with white mineral deposits, and full of beautiful flamingos of various shades of pink.

Back at the hostel, we had mugs of tea and chatted until dinner time. As the sun went down, it started to get really cold so we changed into the clothes that we were going to sleep in – thermal tops and bottoms, cargo pants, t-shirts and two fleeces.

We had really had an enjoyable day – we'd seen lots of flamingos, vicunas and llamas and the weather had been kind.

As it turned out, it wasn't quite as cold as we were expecting it to be. Our beds were innerspring mattresses on concrete slabs and we had two thick blankets each – so we were very comfortable. Unfortunately because of the altitude, we slept fitfully – waking up several times during the night with headaches and mild nausea.

After breakfast of scrambled egg on bread with a cup of tea (which was all that we could stomach) on Saturday, we loaded our back packs back on the jeep and Freddie drove us back to the Laguna Colorada. With the morning sun high in the sky, the red lake looked like a copper tray with the mountains and the flamingos reflected on the surface.

We drove through the Siloli Desert and stopped to look at a set of rocky formations eroded by wind. One of them – the Arbol Piedra – looked vaguely like a tree. Freddie then drove us to the high plain lagoons – Laguna Honda, Chearcota and Hedionda where we saw more flamingos. The flamingos were at their most beautiful when flying. We admired their reflections in the surface of the lakes and their pink plumage against the blue sky. We also stopped at one point to view a strange green coral like plant clinging to the rocks at 4,700 metres above sea level. At Laguna Hedionda, the largest lagoon, Freddie set up a delicious lunch for us at a picnic table. After lunch we went to Laguna Cañapa, the last of the four lagoons. We stopped at a view point over old lava flows to Ollague Volcano which had some white vapour issuing from the top. We stopped briefly at the Chiguana salt flat to see the train tracks laid from Bolivia to Chile and then finished the day at the town of San Juan where we were spending the night.

The Hotel De Sal at 3,700 metres above sea level, was a besser block building located at edge of the Uyuni salt flat. Inside the hotel, the floors were made from loose coarse grained salt and the walls, beds, tables and stools were fashioned out of salt bricks sandwiched together with salt mortar. This time we had a room to ourselves and we'd been told that there were hot showers – pure luxury! We were first in the shower but unfortunately, the water turned out to be freezing – so our showers were very brief! This turned out be a technical problem and so about half of the group were able to have hot showers – until the water ran out!

We went to bed early because we were getting up early to see sunrise at the salt flat.

Our alarm went off at 3.45 am on Sunday and we closed up our back packs and loaded them onto the jeeps in the dark. It was really clear and we had a beautiful view of the starry night sky. We clambered sleepily into the jeep and then Freddie drove us into the heart of the Uyuni salt flat – the world's largest salt flat covering an area of 12,106 square kilometres and at 3,653 metres above sea level. We drove for an hour and a half and as the sky brightened, the dazzling white salt pan revealed itself. When Freddie stopped the jeep, we stepped out onto the crunchy ancient lake bed that seemed to be paved with hexagonal tiles. We had half an hour there watching the sky change from a dull grey to warm pinks and oranges and finally a deep blue as the sun came up over the horizon. It was a spectacular sight with the salt pan surrounded by old volcanoes and hills in the distance.

Then we drove to Incahuasi Island, one of the many hilly formations of chalky rocks, coral and seashell fragments located in the salt flat. Incahuasi Island was covered in Trichoreus cactus and while we walked along the marked trail to the top and back, the drivers prepared breakfast for us. After breakfast we walked around the island on the sea of hexagonal salt tiles. On one side of the island the tiles had cracked, revealing some water underneath.

Then we continued on to the Playa Blanca Hotel de Sal which had been closed due to its impact on the environment. When we arrived at the hotel, now a museum, it was closed but a Bolivian woman opened it up. When we went in there were large notices that entry to the museum was only possible if you bought something. Incredibly when we enquired if we could buy something from the handicrafts spread around the room the occupants motioned us out and locked the door! Next we drove to the salt mining town of Colchani, where saw square salt ponds and salt piled up into little pyramids. We saw a large truck next to some salt pyramids with two men shovelling salt into the truck. We stopped briefly in the village of Pueblo Chico on the edge of the salt flats and looked at a handicraft market run by women whose husbands were involved with the salt industry. There were beautiful scarves, hats, gloves and jumpers at unbelievably cheap prices but we resisted temptation as we had only enough Bolivian money for Freddie's tip and anything we bought we would have to carry and we were already overloaded.

Then we drove around the edge of the salt flat to Uyuni where we drove straight through town to the Cementerio de Trenes which contained the wrecks of several old steam trains from the late 1800s.

Then Freddie dropped us off at the Cordillera Traveller office and we walked a couple of hundred metres to check into the Tonito Hotel. We had a shower and walked into the centre of town where we had lunch. After lunch, we bought our bus tickets for La Paz, changed our Chilean pesos and bought some water before returning to the hotel via a large street market to catch up on photos, diary and emails.

Bolivia felt much poorer than the other countries we had been in. It had its own flavour too with the many Bolivian women with their colourful blankets wrapped around them, stockings, long braided hair and small bowler hats. As we were strolling around town this afternoon, we noticed that quite a few young men were really drunk and were having difficulty walking.

We had a really delicious dinner at Minuteman Pizza which was actually in our hotel and got a big (and well-deserved) rap from the Lonely Planet. We had Mediterranean pizza, fettuccine with pesto and sundried tomatoes, and salad followed by a hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookie and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. We spent some time catching up with our emails and organising our accommodation in La Paz before turning in for an early night.

Week 38 - Argentina - El Chalten to Chile - Santiago

We had a beautiful restful sleep because El Chalten was so quiet, but it was raining when we woke up on Monday morning and our hearts sank. By the time we had finished breakfast, the rain had stopped and the sky was beginning to clear up. We decided to walk to the Visitor Centre to check the weather forecasts and to get the ranger's recommendations on other walks to do on our remaining two days in El Chalten. We arrived there at a little after 9.00 am only to be told that it didn't open until 10.00 am (despite the sign on the door saying that it opened at 9.00 am). While we were waiting, we decided to do the walk to the nearby Condor Lookout. The walk involved a short climb up the stony hill next to the Visitor Centre. On the way up and at the top we saw the magnificent condors, wings outstretched floating on the wind as they entered the valley. The walk took us about an hour and the Visitor Centre was open when we got back. After talked to Alejandro (the ranger) about a couple of walks, we walked around the edge of town and started the Laguna Torre walk. Once again we found ourselves walking up stony hills, through beech forest and along streams and little ponds in the valley. At the waterfall lookout we saw a tiny hawk (Peregrine falcon?) circling in the breeze. Soon after in a forested section we heard a knocking sound, and then to our delight we saw three red helmeted woodpeckers swooping from tree to tree and examining each trunk as they scurried up or down or around it. Further on in a marshy area a beautiful yellow striped brown frog was crossing the trail. We stopped at another lookout on the way which looked over a valley with a rushing river in the bottom, rocks of many colours on its banks, green forests on either side and forests of dead trees in the centre with the Cerro Torre range at the end of the valley facing us. We finally reached Laguna Torre after two and half hours of walking. We sat on a flat rock to eat our lunch of dried fruit and nuts and to take in the views of the Cerro Torre range on the other side of the lake. The lake had a small glacier entering it from the mountains and mini icebergs floating in the lake. Behind was the ice factory of large mountains covered in snow and the spires in the centre of pink granite with the highest of them the Cerro Torre almost perpetually shrouded in cloud. It was tantalising watching the peak which always seemed about to clear of cloud but never did, due to the fact that the cloud seemed to be constantly developing around the ice encrusted spire. Then we walked back into town and back to the hotel feeling very exhausted after walking 24 klms up and down for the day.

We went out for dinner at 7.30 pm. As we were walking to the main road from our hotel, we passed a man leading three llamas home. One llama was wearing a brightly covered woven saddle and the others were carrying panniers/saddlebags marked with the logo of a local trekking tour company. We had a hearty dinner at Como Vaca and then walked back to the Posada where we collapsed into bed.

After breakfast we walked to the nearby Rancho Grande Hostel to catch a mini bus to Hosteria El Pilar, the starting point for today's trek. We drove 17 klms along the valley floor next to the river on a gravel road past snow capped mountains and icy lakes. It took us a good couple of hours to walk through the valley at the base of the Cerro Fitz Roy range. We walked past the Piedras Blancas glacier on the way. Just after we passed we heard a long loud rumbling as an avalanche came down – it sounded impressive. Parts of the valley were green and forested, and other parts were almost like a river bed with rocks and pebbles with the only vegetation being a ground cover and some spiky almost leafless purple coloured bushes. The ascent to the Laguna de Los Tres was very steep and tortuous. It took us over an hour and several rest stops to climb up the eroded path but when we reached the top, the views were worth it. Once again we had picture postcard views of Cerro Fitz Roy with the frozen Laguna de Los Tres in front of it. We sat down in front of the Cerro Fitz Roy admiring the views while we had a rest and our lunch. After lunch, we walked down to the frozen lake, along the edge and looked over a cliff to find a rich blue lake below ringed with granite peaks and spires. We walked carefully down the mountain on the same pathway that we came up and at the bottom we headed back towards the village on the same Laguna Capri trail that we had taken on Sunday. Passing through forest near the village we saw a female Giant Woodpecker. Unlike the males she had a black head and beautiful crest. We were footsore and weary when we arrived back at the hotel – once again we had walked approximately 24 klms, but today we were really feeling it.

At 8.00 pm we limped to the nearby Mi Viejo Parilla for dinner only to find that it was closed! We decided to walk to the tiny Nipo Nino to have a couple of empanadas to fortify us for the walk to the other side of town to find another restaurant. However once we were there, we decided to stay for dinner, especially as the owner told us he had Patagonian lamb if we were prepared to wait. After a short wait we were presented with a rack of lamb (cut differently with the full rib) and a lettuce and tomato salad. The lamb was really tender and delicious and we picked the bones clean.

We set the alarm again on Wednesday morning because we had to catch the bus back to El Calafate. After breakfast we packed up and walked around the corner to the Rancho Grande Hostel to catch our bus. We arrived at El Calafate at 11.00 am, collected our back packs and walked back to the America del Sur Hostel. We spent some time on the internet while we were waiting for our room to be ready and catching up with our friend Holly who we had last seen at Puerto Madryn. After putting our bags in the room, we went to Viva La Pepa for a delicious lunch of smoked salmon salad, chicken, mushroom, almond, spring onion and Roquefort crepe with grapefruit juice. We bought some chocolate from the Laguna Negra chocolate shop for dessert. Then we walked back to the hostel and had a restful afternoon as we were both feeling very tired from all the walking and the early starts of the last few days.

We signed up for the hostel BBQ dinner at 9.00 pm. Once again it was a really great dinner with salads, vegetables, beef, chicken and sausage. We had fun chatting to a couple of ladies from Cork over dinner.

On Thursday, we woke up to the alarm again and after breakfast we shouldered our packs and walked to the bus station to catch a bus to Puerto Natales in Chile. We travelled through a gap in the Andes mountains and saw rheas, condor, geese and sheep. It took almost an hour and a half for us to be processed through Argentine customs.

On the Chilean side, there was only one customs officer processing all our passports and all our luggage was hand searched. Despite this, the process was much quicker and we were on our way in less than an hour. While we were waiting, we went to the restaurant next to the customs office and ordered a couple of hamburgers – which turned out to be the size of plates! We noticed that the cows were fatter and the fences were better in Chile.

We arrived in Puerto Natales at 2.00 pm and walked to the Erratic Rock Hostel II where we checked in to a lovely room. We went for a walk to the centre of town stopping at Erratic Rock Hostel I to listen to a very entertaining information session about the Torres Del Paine National Park given by an American guy. All the information provided at the session seemed to be pitched at serious trekkers who were happy to commit to treks lasting from 5-10 days. We left the information session happy that we were doing the right thing by going straight to Santiago. Afterwards we walked to the Sky Airline office and booked a flight to Santiago for tomorrow afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town and then went back to our hostel for a rest before dinner.

We went to dinner at Angelica's – a restaurant recommended by Marcela at our hostel. We had king crab cannelloni (centolla) and cod served with shell fish, mushrooms and chips. For dessert we had a tiramisu and a cherry clafoutis. It was a lovely dinner and a wonderful end to our first day in Chile.

We went back to our hostel and enjoyed the luxury of satellite TV in our room!

No alarm on Friday morning! We slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. Then we checked out, stored our backpacks and wandered around town. We changed our remaining Argentine pesos into Chilean pesos, walked to the seafront and took photos of murals on the town walls. As there are so many islands and fjords on this western coast of Patagonia, the water was completely flat like a lake. We saw beautiful white swans with black necks and a red growth above their beaks. Many other cormorants and gulls congregated at the water end of a derelict wooden pier. After lunch we caught a shuttle from the hostel to the tiny airport and waited for the Sky Airline jet to arrive from Punta Arenas. The plane was over an hour late and it stopped at Puerto Mont before flying on to Santiago (like a bus). On this leg we got great views of the Andes running parallel to the right of the plane with the snow capped peaks catching the sun. The Chilean plain stretched below while Argentina was visible in the distance over the mountains. We saw one particularly large old volcanic cone covered in snow. At Santiago we caught an airport shuttle downtown and went to the Andes Hostel to check in. We had been allocated a one bedroom apartment – it was one block away from the hostel so we walked around with our backpacks. The apartment was really new and modern – and to our surprise looked exactly like the pictures on the internet. We were very happy to find that it was totally self contained with a little kitchenette, a large flat screen TV (satellite) and Wifi (which didn't work). It was on the 22^nd floor so the views over the city to the Andes in the background were spectacular – pity about the smog though!

On Saturday morning, we walked around the corner to the hostel where we had a leisurely breakfast. We took our laptop with us and spent some time using the Wifi after breakfast. Then we set off on the first of the hostel's suggested walking tours.

The walking tour guided us through the Barrio Bellas Artes (where our hostel was located). We climbed up some stairs – we had to run to dodge the sprinklers – into the green lush gardens of Cerro Santa Lucia where we came across the Terazzo Neptuno, with stone fountains, columns and curving staircases. We stopped to have a delicious chocolate ice cream at the El Emporio de la Rosa. After that we walked through a book market in Barrio Lastarria. From there we walked to the Iglesia de San Francisco. We had a look inside the church and then walked behind it into the Barrio Paris Londres. Our walking tour notes said that this was one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in Santiago. The streets were cobbled and full of European style mansions with wrought iron balconies. We walked on to the Government Palace La Moneda, and then on to the Palacio de Tribunales. After that we walked to the Plaza de Armas which was a pedestrian only shopping area. We were very hungry by now so we made our way to the Mercado Central where we planned to have seafood for lunch. We walked through the fish market and we were accosted by several spruikers each trying to persuade us that their restaurant was the best. We looked at a few restaurants and finally settled on Paila Blanca where we had ceviche (raw white fleshed fish "cooked" in lemon juice with onion and parsley), Paila (a shell fish stew) and grilled fish (reineta) with mashed potatoes. It was very hot by now and we gradually made our way back to the hostel via the Parque Forestal. We bought some supplies from the supermarket and then went back to our apartment for a cup of tea and a rest. We had seen a sign saying the temperature was 34° so we decided to use the pool on the 18^th floor. The pool was extremely cold so it didn't take long for us to cool down!

On Sunday morning, we woke up late, had breakfast at the hostel around the corner and did some internet. It looked very overcast and grey but wasn't actually raining so we decided to do the second walking tour. It was very chilly which was a complete contrast to the day before which had been very warm. We walked up to Parque Forestal and followed the path along the Rio Mapocho until we reached Plaza Italia with a couple of impressive sculptures. The Rio Mapocho was quite polluted and a few homeless lived along the banks. As it was Sunday it was very quiet with few people around. We crossed the river and found Patio Bellavista with many classy handicraft stores, book shops, clothing market and restaurants. We walked past Pablo Neruda's house a bit further on – a famous Chilean poet apparently. We checked out the funicular going to the top of San Cristobal hill, but because of the weather we decided there was little point in going up so we walked around the hill to rejoin the walking tour where the funicular came down on the other side. This involved walking through an industrial area under a couple of freeways and along a bike path and in the process we were picked up by a black and white staffy cross who was on a Sunday stroll of her own. Eventually we arrived at the Estacion Pedro de Valdivia and checked out the pricey recommended restaurant, Divertimento. We kept walking to the sculpture park beside the river and crossed back over to walk down Avenida Providencia with restaurants and coffee shops. We couldn't find anything quite right but were forced into a decision when the rain suddenly became a lot harder. We dived into a cafe and ordered a couple of the Menu del Dias. We enjoyed lunch and then, as the rain was continuing we ducked into a nearby metro station and caught the metro to Plaza de Armas where we got into the Pre Colombian museum. The museum was recommended in our guide book as a must-see and they were spot on. It was very small but the stone carving, ceramics, and metalwork were outstanding. The quality of the pieces was due to the fact that most of the exhibits came from tombs where they had been undisturbed for centuries. Also the fact that we could photograph them was a real bonus and Keith went berserk with the camera. The patterns, the animals, the detail in the painting on ceramic and the metalwork were exquisite and often uniquely South American. There were also the complex Mayan carvings and many other groups' pagan deities as well as weapons and some mummification. The exhibits were from all over South and Central America and covered a wide range of cultures including, Mayan, Aztec, Inca, Olmec, and many others with difficult names. After this we caught the metro back to Bellas Artes and had a cup of tea before making our old favourite, spaghetti Bolognese. We ate this with a bottle of Misiones De Rengo Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 and enjoyed the dry warmth of the apartment.

Week 37 - Argentina - Bariloche to El Chalten

On Monday morning we were woken up by the bus conductor announcing very loudly our imminent arrival in Puerto Madryn.. While Suzie was bending over her backpack unzipping her straps, a French tourist patted her on the back to tell her that her cargo pants had a big tear in the backside and her knickers were showing.

It was a short walk to the El Gualicho Hostel – on the way we saw a car drive past with a black and white collie on the roof barking at everyone as it drove by! As we were beside the sea, the weather was milder here so we could change back into t-shirts and sandals.

We went for a walk around town and then along the sea front where we got a couple of quotes for car hire so that we could drive to the Peninsula Valdez and Punta Tombo independently rather than as a group tour with the hostel. We stopped and had paella for lunch at Restaurant Puerto Marisko with beautiful sea views. After lunch we walked along the pier and then went back to get some more car hire quotes only to find that it was siesta time and everyone was closed until at least 4.00 pm. We bought an ice cream and went back to the hostel to eat the rest of the Bariloche chocolate and to have a short rest.

Later, we went out again to finalise our car hire only to find that the offices were still closed or unmanned - even though they were supposed to be open. We managed to find another car hire company who were able to give us a car straight away. We took it back to the hostel and parked it in their secure car park. We spent some time in our room updating our diary and uploading our photos before the hostel's BBQ dinner at 9.00 pm.

We went downstairs at 9.00 pm and we watched the man cooking the meat on a large charcoal grill inside the kitchen – with plenty of salt. Dinner was ready at about 9.30 pm and we sat at a table with 12 other people and chatted over the chorizo, vacio and asado with lettuce and tomato salad and potato and egg salad. It was a good solid feed washed down with magnums of Santa Anna Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

We set the alarm for 7.00 am on Tuesday morning and left the hostel after breakfast in our little VW Gol for the Peninsula Valdes. We drove out of town and took a turn off onto the dirt road which followed the Golfo Nuevo. It was a beautiful morning and immediately we were struck by how calm the waters of the gulf were. Similarly to Hervey Bay the whales obviously like the calm water as a nursery. We turned off to El Doradillo beach lookout where we saw a Southern Right Whale immediately below us and others frolicking nearby. We also saw many small rodents called desert cavy skulking around the bushes. We also stopped at Playa Banuls, and Cerro Prismatico off the dirt road and saw more Southern Right Whales and the Elegant Crested Tinamou – like a brown guineafowl. After we reached the sealed road we paid to get into the national park and then stopped at the visitors centre. On display was a Southern Right Whale skeleton, and information panels covering all the flora and fauna in the park and the history of the area. On the drive to Puerto Piramides for our whale watching cruise, we saw the first of many brown guanaco. We saw one jump a fence later in the day in elegant fashion – effortless! The whale cruise didn't have to go far as there were mothers and babies just off shore and all around us. Apparently they feed on krill in the Antarctic and then head up here to breed, but eat nothing while they are here! Some were extremely close to the boat but appeared totally oblivious. We also saw seagulls, sea lions, cormorants, terns, and skuas hanging around the rock shelf that stuck out into the sea. The whole area was a sedimentary rock made from preserved sea bed with fossilised shells, bones and other debris clearly visible. After the cruise we drove to a nearby lookout at Punta Piramides cliffs where we saw more whales and a colony of sea lions below. The lady on the boat had told us that when diving the sea lions used to steal her flippers! We drove on towards another point of the peninsula known as Punta Delgada. On the way we saw some impressive white salt flats, Salina Grande and Salina Chica. At Punta Delgada we saw elephant seals and smaller seals as well as lizards trying to warm up in the Atlantic breeze. The views of the green Southern Atlantic Ocean and the rock shelves were impressive. On our way onto Punta Norte we stopped at Estancia La Elvira for a hot chocolate and saw more elephant seals. There was also a view of Caleta Valdes spit – a long sandbank dividing a channel from the sea. The tide was rushing out but at high tide the orcas often cruise up and down this channel looking for any seals or penguins which might be an easy meal. As we drove parallel to the spit we stopped at a lookout to marvel at the tide force and say hello to some nesting Magellan penguins. On reaching Punta Norte we were lucky enough to see people feeding a tiny hairy armadillo – one of the cutest things you could imagine, running hither and thither desperately searching for the next piece of bread. On finding anything he would rush back to his burrow to eat it in safety before emerging again. This was a much smaller version of the armadillo we had seen in Brazil. We saw more seals, sea lions and elephant seals before heading off on the long drive through dirt roads back to the sealed road to Puerto Madryn. On the way the sun was setting and we saw many guanaco out feeding.

Back at Puerto Madryn, we drove to the Mariscos de Atlantico restaurant. This had been recommended by the hostel and the seafood was supplied by the local fisherman. The food was amazing. We started off with scallops cooked in garlic, followed by lenguado (sole), merluza negra (Patagonian tooth fish) with salad and chips. We washed this down with a delicious bottle of Calafate Malbec 2007. It was a lovely end to a wonderful but tiring day.

We woke up to the alarm again on Wednesday morning and headed South after breakfast. The road was flat and straight through the desert landscape until we reached the turn off to Rawson. We drove to Playa Union where we booked a cruise to see the striking black and white Commersons dolphins. Luckily it was a relatively calm day and the inflatable was pretty stable as we passed through the gap in the sea wall. Not far out we saw the dolphins in pairs and small groups racing towards us and jumping as they came. They liked to play in the waves created by the boat and also seemed to like the noise of the engine. They certainly seemed to follow the boat as it accelerated around. Unfortunately they were so fast and small that they were almost impossible to photograph. After a little while a sea lion appeared and also began following the boat around. Then we spotted two Southern Right Whales heading for Peninsula Valdes and followed them for a short while. At one stage one was right next to the boat – closer than we had been yesterday. We stopped on the way back into the river to say hello to a sea lion family camped on the river bank next to the fishing boats. We drove off desperately looking for somewhere to have lunch as this was the day of the once in a decade census and everything was closed. We ran into an open service station on our way south towards Punta Tombo and had to eat salami, cheese spread and crackers in the car. We saw a rhea and about ten chicks, liebre mara (like a wallaby size rabbit), and guanaco on our way to the penguin colony. At Punto Tombo, we walked along a boardwalk and then a path lined with stones towards the beach. Along the way we could see penguin burrows everywhere and most were occupied. Nesting had begun and eggs were often visible. Most of the penguins appeared to be having siesta but there were some wandering to and from the beach. It was impressive that they were able to dig burrows in the hard ground. There were a few dead bodies around and we saw some broken eggs and a couple of skuas hanging around. There were also many desert cavy and small mice. This is meant to be the largest penguin rookery on the mainland with between 400,000 and 500,000 birds. We had a great time wandering around watching the penguin behaviours and listening to their donkey-like braying. We got close to very tame guanacos on the way back and set off for Puerto Madryn with Suzie behind the wheel. We arrived back safely, returned the car and walked back to Mariscos de Atlantico for dinner. We had hot and cold seafood platters for entree and then paella, and sea trout (trucha) for mains. The entree was a selection of prawns, langoustines, clams, mussels, scallops, squid, octopus, razor clams, and crab. The sea trout was the colour of salmon and tasted even better.

On Thursday we walked 4 kms to the Hepuelche Indian monument on the headland outside town. It was cloudy and breezy walking along the beach but at the top of the headland the wind was fierce and the sand blew into our eyes, nose and ears. On the way back we stopped to get fruit for the bus trip, empanadas for lunch, lemon meringue pie and raspberry flan for dessert. We made a cup of real Dilmah tea at the hostel and enjoyed lunch. We packed up and left El Gualicho hostel for the bus terminal where we hopped on a bus to Rio Gallegos en route to El Calafete having thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Puerto Madryn.

The bus attendant was really friendly and allowed Keith to choose a movie from his collection. We had a laugh because he thought that we wanted to show him our collection of movies – when we wanted to see his collection of movies. The other passengers on the bus were really friendly to us because they could see we were trying to speak Spanish. We had our dinner early – at 8.30 pm instead of the usual 10.30 pm and tried to go to sleep after the movie was over.

The bus seemed to stop several times during the night to pick up and drop off passengers, and it was cold which made it difficult to sleep. We arrived at Rio Gallegos' tiny bus station at 9.15 am on Friday morning only to find that the earliest bus to El Calafate left at 1.00 pm. We managed to jump on a bus that was heading to Centro and got off at the main street. All the headlines in the newspapers were about the death of the ex-president Nestor Kirchner. We walked to the Plaza San Martin and then walked back to the bus station. We stopped in at the Carrefour to buy a couple of ham and cheese baguettes, a salami and cheese baguette and grapefruit juice for lunch. We ate our lunch at the bus station and the baguettes were awful. On closer inspection the packaging said "para tostado" – which probably explained it. Our bus to El Calafate turned out to be a 16 seater minibus. As we drove out of town, we noticed trucks and buses parked out by the roadside sporting Argentine flags with a black stripe though them as a mark of respect to Nestor Kirchner. Even though he was the ex president and had died two days ago everyone seemed to be having a day off – any excuse for a holiday! The views from the bus were the vast barren spaces of Patagonia with a green tinge and some yellow flowers along the road but we did see some rhea, ducks, geese and rabbits. Even though we were now getting quite remote there were always plastic bags visible from the road, lying on the ground, caught on fences and bushes and blowing in the wind. We arrived at El Calafate at 4.30 pm and then walked through town to the America del Sur Hostel. We had a lovely shower, signed up for the BBQ dinner, and booked a day trip to the Glacier for tomorrow. The BBQ started at 9.00 pm. It was really great because there was good selection of salads and vegetables as well beef, chicken and sausage. The meat was really good quality and cooked to perfection. Everybody really enjoyed the meal and we had fun chatting to Fran, Barry and Colin from Ireland over dinner. Ben from NZ told us how his friends had got more than they bargained for with adventure travel. His friend had ripped open his foot quad biking and had to have it operated on and then go home. We told him about the guy in Bariloche who was caught by a gust of wind while paragliding and hit some rocks, losing some teeth and getting pretty badly smashed up. One of Ben's other friends didn't bother getting the yellow fever vaccination but then discovered that he couldn't get back into NZ so had it administered in La Paz. Unfortunately he was on an overnight bus when he started having convulsions and went into a coma. His friends took him to the nearest hospital four hours away and he spent a week recovering! While they were at the hospital a tourist came in who had had a scooter accident with a stick going through his eye. In a few hours his travel insurance had organised to airlift him out of the country for medical treatment but basically he was going to lose his eye. If you leave 500 prisoners on an island for 200 years what is the first thing you hear when you visit the island? G'day mate, wanna beer? (NZ joke).

We set the alarm for 7.00 am on Saturday so that we could have breakfast before being collected for our guided tour of the Perito Moreno Glacier. We were the first to be collected at 8.00 and the bus topped twice to pick up more passengers before heading out to the glacier – about 80 kms away. On the way to the Los Glaciares National Park, we drove past flat, sparsely-vegetated plains. The guide told us that these were Estancias (farms) and the vegetation had been destroyed by over-grazing. As we got closer to the glacier, the scenery changed dramatically from the sparse plains to forested hills and milky green lakes. We saw lots of the thorny Calafate bush (from which El Calafate gets its name) with yellow flowers and the Chilean Fire-bush with its pretty red flowers. We took a one hour catamaran cruise across the milky waters of the lake that took us close to the southern face of the glacier. It was a really beautiful sunny day and our first views of the ice pack were stunning. The glacier Perito Moreno snaked out of the mountains in the background and spread out before marching into the lake. The ice front looked just like meringue with quiffs and small peaks at all angles on the top. The ice was various shades of blue and we could hear thunderous cracking as pieces broke off and fell into the waters. After our boat ride, we were driven to the Visitors Centre where there were a series of metal boardwalks and stone balconies that allowed us to see the glacier from above –a different perspective from the boat. We had our lovely BBQ sandwich lunch in front of the glacier and then spent the next couple of hours walking along the boardwalks admiring the north, east and south faces of the glacier. As the day warmed up, we were mesmerised by the spectacle of large pieces of ice breaking off the glacier and plunging into the lake creating enormous splashes and waves. The glacier bridged the lake with only a small tunnel allowing the lake to drain from one side to another as the river filled up the southern lake. This was periodically sealed off by the ice so that the water levels rose and pressure built up until the ice collapsed and the water channel was re-established. This happened approximately every two years.

We drove back to El Calafate stopping to take some photos at the viewpoint we passed earlier in the day.

At El Calafate, we bought bus tickets for our onwards journeys to El Chalten and Puerto Natales (in Chile) then spent a pleasant hour wandering along the main street window shopping and tasting chocolate from the various "artesan" chocolate shops.

It was almost 9.30 pm before we went to Viva La Pepa to have crepes for dinner.

We woke up to the alarm again on Sunday morning, had breakfast and carried our packs to the bus station to catch our bus to El Chalten, a tiny village in the northern part of the Los Glaciares National Park. The buff-faced ibises screeched in the trees outside the bus station. The driver played Argentine folk music as we cruised through the barren emptiness of the Patagonian steppes, covered in its olive stubble of low shrub. We saw rabbits by the roadside and skeletons of guanaco. There were a few stony fast-flowing brownish rivers as the snow must be melting fast now in the warming weather. Towards El Chalten, ranges of mountains appeared and on the hills we saw herds of guanaco. There were lakes with flamingo and pairs of geese, and as the mountains got closer we saw glaciers emerging and feeding the lakes and a pair of condors floating high above. We arrived at the Visitor Centre just outside town where a ranger gave us a firm talk about not leaving any rubbish and told us the park was free. Then we stayed on the bus to be dropped at Rancho Grande hostel on the other side of town. Unfortunately they were full so Suzie waited with the backpacks and Keith scouted around for somewhere else to stay. We hadn't booked as we didn't think it would be very busy as El Chalten was quite remote, however our big bus from Calafate was totally full. Luckily we found a lodge with a beautiful room and a modern bathroom for AR$220 (approximately $58AUD). Argentina really isn't that expensive. Then we headed off on the Laguna Capri walk with views of Mt Fitz Roy, recommended by the ranger if you were only staying for a short time. It was just over an hour walking through the beech forest with great views down the valley with the river below, and a spiky bush coming into bright red flower in some places. There was much evidence of the famous red helmeted woodpecker, with many trees having fresh holes drilled by the woodpeckers searching for grubs in the tree trunks. At the Mirador (lookout) we saw the Fitz Roy peak with its series of pink granite towers reaching into the sky with the cloud swirling around the tops so that the view was constantly changing. We walked a little further to the Laguna Capri to get the picture postcard view of the towers and Piedras Blancas glacier over the lake and walked home. The wind increased markedly over the afternoon and we could feel that the weather here was unstable and changeable. We got back and stopped at Nipo Nino for a couple of delicious empanadas. We walked around town to get a feel for El Chalten which seemed to be growing at a fantastic rate with new buildings on every corner. The town had only been established in 1985 on land donated by the national park. There were restaurants, tourist shops, travel agencies and small hotels everywhere. We bought a couple of apples and some sweets for trekking tomorrow and stopped at the tourist information to check what treks were recommended. Then we walked back to Nipo Nino for another couple of fresh empanadas and some home-made pasta. It was really delicious and we left feeling very full. Back at the lodge we had a shower and relaxed in our big room.