January 28, 2006

To Bolivia and Beyond!

Soooo.......

Salta, spent Tuesday sorting ourselves out a bit. Managed to make some time for some much needed pedicures as well! Always in the backpacker budget! Tuesday night we had a rooftop party with mucho vodka. Stayed out very late and had to get up very early for a full day of horseback riding! Torture! It was only us two and two girls from Holland. The property was beautiful and the owner, Enriche, was awesome. Went riding for a few hours in the morning, had an amazing bbq con vino tino, and lazed by the pool for a bit. Then a few more hours of riding in the afternoon. It was gorgeous countryside, surrounded by fields of tobacco leaves. The horses were very well looked after and listened so well. A big change from the last place we went. And our guide was great. So besides the torturous self induce hangover, the day was amazing.

Thursday we spent sorting ourselves out again. Got a much needed hair cut! Tried to find a company to go with for the Inka Trail. Still looking. Basically chilled out for the day until our bus. Tried to learn more spanish from a lovely Argentine girl at the hostel. Just made our bus at 12:30am(Tracys watch was slow, thank god we left early, whewww!) Was a long night without any sleep. I so wish I was one of those people that could sleep anywhere. But I am most definatly not. Got to the border at about 6am, carried out packs a few blocks away to the Argentina customs, crossed the bridge, stamp and we are into Bolivia!

Bolivia! Finally! I´m so excited to be here. It is definatly a whole different world from Chile and Argentina. In Bolivia I had to hussle my way to the front of the line at the bus terminal to get the last 2 seats on the bus. Pheww. Onto the really old, run down bus and right to the back. And straight onto the gravel road. Felt like my teeth were going to fall out! But we met a lovely older Bolivian lady and shared our chocolate and music with her. So it wasn´t all bad. Found a hostel, very nice, pool and all, and half the price of the nicest hostel we stayed at in Argentina!!!!! Love it.

Tomorrow we are going to chill by the pool and relax before we leave on Sunday for our tour of the Salt Flats. Have seen some pics and it should be soo amazing. I am soo looking forward to it. A definate highlight of the trip. Four days in a jeep, with 2 or 4 other people, no showers till the 3rd day! Should be fantastic!

So thats all from me for a few days. Hope all is well with you all. Take care!
Salute!

January 27, 2006

Another point of view

Ever wonder what my travels look like from another point of view?? Well now you can check it out at www.tracerstravels.blogspot.com

Have introduced Tracy to the world of the blog. Check it out. Shes just starting so the pics are from the beginning of our trip together. More will come.....slowly.

Ciao ciao!

A cool green grasshopper.

Pretty!

Our car and driver, Markus(aka:James) on our way to Cafayate, Cachi and back to Salta. Our car is nice and clean to start off with, but it didn�t stay that way!

Lots of wildflowers along the way.

The road from Chile to Argentina.

The bartenders at the hostel.

Icelandic friend....whats in the stars for you.

The streets of San Pedro. Loads of tourists here.

Our new French Canadian friend, Michelle. Out for dinner, our last night in San Pedro.

Michelle and our Chilean friend who works at the hostel.

Time to relax.

Tracer organizing!!! Had to take a pic! Good job Trace.

Small waterfall.

Desert flower...be careful when you pick this one!

Don�t fall in!

Flamingos in the distance...struttin their stuff.

Very pretty

Nice stream to walk along.

Our walk through cactus country.

Herdin the sheep...just part of the daily grind in the mountains.

The church.

Local woman selling her crafts.

In a small village in the mountains.

How cute are they!!

Llamas!

The road, all gravel, very uncomfortable on the way there, so early in the morning, but fun later!

An animal, can`t remember the name....but looks like a rabbit to me!

Mountains in the distance.

Now we drive back to San Pedro and see the sights along the way.

And last one!

Beautiful.

Action shot.

Gorgeous blue skies...what a great day.

Couldn�t stop taking pics!

Time for some breakfast....what a great place for it!

More gysers!

The sun is shinin!!!

Really amazing.

Lots of steam.

Me and Trace.

Me and Trace. Thank god she packed warm clothes. Thanks for the jacket Tracer!

Lots of little gysers.

Ahhhhhh, warm.

A small volcano shaped gyser.

Blasted grass.

Natural heater!

Surrounded by gysers.

Action shot.

Mini gyser.

Looking into a pool.