Sorry folks. Been offline for a while, and then realised how much I would have to write to catch up so have decided not to catch up and just start from now. Which is with me, in Argentina. Having avoided conflict zones in Bolivia (just), had a massive argument with a tour leader, bought more South American things and generally enjoyed myself I have wound up here, in a city that actually feels like civilisation.
So, I am in Beunos Aires which I LOVE although my entire oponion is based on food and nightlife. Amazing. Currently trying to figure out how to best come back here and live for a month. Had some crazy nights out. Of course. Ate some excellent food. Saw a Tango show at an old school cafe. Tried to speak Spanish top the locals. It has all been ace. In fact I am a bit sorry to leave at all.
And here is a brief retrospective of what I missed these last few weeks:
1. Macchu Picchu - excellent. Amazing. Overwhelming. Possibly going with a hangover was not one of my best ideas yet, but it is so intensely beautiful that it didn't really matter. Amazing zen feeling. Slightly weird tour guide held my hand and tried to tell me about transference of energy and how his aim in life was to build a big circle of rocks. I think I may have missed the point of that.
2. Lake Titicaca - Massive. Puno not that interesting but we stayed with a family on the island and it immediately made me want to give all my worldly goods to charity. Instead I made a contribution by buying an overpriced knitted hat. We all have to start somewhere.
3. La Paz - just when I thought I was getting used to altitude someone kicked it up a notch. The Witches Market was ace. There were actuall dried llama foetuses to be had, but I decided that I preferred the dried disco armadillo (with free sequins). Thought better of trying to explain to Australian customs why I would have wanted a disco armadillo.
4. Salt Flats - the scene of our fight with our tour leader. Nice salt flats, cool cacti. The moment when I developed a reputation for enjoying a fight.
5. Horse Back Riding - a week ago and my butt still hurts.
6. Sucre - very pretty.
That's not entirely it, but I really have to try and get myself sorted for tonight's night bus.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Running for Cover
South America continues ot be fascinating. I had my cocoa leaves read by a Peruvian lady on a bus and she told me all sorts of interesting things.
I have developed an obsession with the cuteness of Peruvian children. I think it is largely because they wear really lovely little hats and have such big brown eyes and nice skin. It seems to be a specific condition to all girls in South America, even those like myself who aren´t particularly enamoured with children generally.
Anyway, today we got up at 4am (for the 3rd day in a row, this is not a relaxng holiday) to head out to the Sacred Valley, and so the others could start the Inca Trail tomorrow. The reason we headed off so early was that they like their protests in Peru and there is a big one in Cusco today and we were trying to avoid it.
We didn´t. We passed burning tyres, burning rubbish, large bricks and stones thrown onto the road only to come face to face with protesters blocking the road and generally being pretty angsty. A whole lot of tourist buses were caught there, and some went through the line, but it was pointless, because you could see the next bloackade about 100m up the road. And if you couldn´t pass that, you got trapped. We sat there for a while in the bus, assessing the situation (at least our tour guide was assessing the situation) and absolutely shitting ourselves.
By the time they started trying to life a small Peruvian cab off the ground, we decided it was better to make a mad dash back for the hotel. The police offered no deterrence whatsoever and the whole striking and rioting mentality is beyond me. Here, they use strikes as the first tool of ´negotiation´ which doesn´t make sense to me, coming from a country where it is always the threat held over the negotiating table.
The strike was about the fact that the cost of living in Peru is rising. Something that is happening everywhere. The difference being that if the cost of livng rises in Australia, we can´t afford a DVD player. It rises here, they can´t afford food. I can understand why they are angry. But it seems so self defeating. They destroy and block roads which affects them and other Peruvians, they piss off tourists that spend a significant sum of money here, they enlist the help of their children that should be at school. It seems that all the harm they cause falls on their own heads.
Apparently the other GAP Tours bus is still sitting between two protest lines, unable to mnove forward or back, slowly dehydrating. At least we´re not fending off protesters with hiking poles.
The plan is to head out really early tomorrow morning if there isn´t a second day of the strike. But because I am not hiking I am staying at the hotel to sleep in. Which will be nice. I don´t know how the others are going to do it.
I have developed an obsession with the cuteness of Peruvian children. I think it is largely because they wear really lovely little hats and have such big brown eyes and nice skin. It seems to be a specific condition to all girls in South America, even those like myself who aren´t particularly enamoured with children generally.
Anyway, today we got up at 4am (for the 3rd day in a row, this is not a relaxng holiday) to head out to the Sacred Valley, and so the others could start the Inca Trail tomorrow. The reason we headed off so early was that they like their protests in Peru and there is a big one in Cusco today and we were trying to avoid it.
We didn´t. We passed burning tyres, burning rubbish, large bricks and stones thrown onto the road only to come face to face with protesters blocking the road and generally being pretty angsty. A whole lot of tourist buses were caught there, and some went through the line, but it was pointless, because you could see the next bloackade about 100m up the road. And if you couldn´t pass that, you got trapped. We sat there for a while in the bus, assessing the situation (at least our tour guide was assessing the situation) and absolutely shitting ourselves.
By the time they started trying to life a small Peruvian cab off the ground, we decided it was better to make a mad dash back for the hotel. The police offered no deterrence whatsoever and the whole striking and rioting mentality is beyond me. Here, they use strikes as the first tool of ´negotiation´ which doesn´t make sense to me, coming from a country where it is always the threat held over the negotiating table.
The strike was about the fact that the cost of living in Peru is rising. Something that is happening everywhere. The difference being that if the cost of livng rises in Australia, we can´t afford a DVD player. It rises here, they can´t afford food. I can understand why they are angry. But it seems so self defeating. They destroy and block roads which affects them and other Peruvians, they piss off tourists that spend a significant sum of money here, they enlist the help of their children that should be at school. It seems that all the harm they cause falls on their own heads.
Apparently the other GAP Tours bus is still sitting between two protest lines, unable to mnove forward or back, slowly dehydrating. At least we´re not fending off protesters with hiking poles.
The plan is to head out really early tomorrow morning if there isn´t a second day of the strike. But because I am not hiking I am staying at the hotel to sleep in. Which will be nice. I don´t know how the others are going to do it.
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