Leaving Sucre, on a panic

The morning to hop on uyuni bound bus. I was suppose to wake up at 5:40am to catch bus at 7:00am at the bus station way out of town centre. I woke up at 6:26am freaking out since I was suppose to head out by 6:00am to the plaza where there would be taxis in early hours and arrive at the station by 6:30. I woke Will to help me. I chuck him 380 bolivianos (for 12 nights at the hostel) to give to the owner Mike and top it up if it's short. He carried my 13kg backpack with me outside on his barefoot for two blocks before we found a taxi already with another passenger. The taxi driver took me anyway (as it was the same direction) and got me to the station at 6:45. "Rapido, por favor! muy rapido!" I beg the taxi driver to fly over all the cars, buses, pedestrians and the traffic lights. I ran in the station with 13kg on my back, found the bus company office which they told me to hurry to the departure tax office then go to the gate. They were loading up luggages by the time I got to the bus at 6:50, almost everyone was in the bus already. I freakin' made it. What an intense 24 minutes...

goodbye pretty sucre

good bye pretty white cathedrals

good bye beautiful culture

and good bye my lovely haggle heaven public market

Gringo's Rincon Gang

Gringo's Rincon is one of my favourite hostels. It's a colonial old building turned hostel with a large wooden door.The kitchen is small, no television, no hang out lounges, there's only three showers, the owner is a bit of a character (he is always wearing orange gloves), and the wireless internet barely works. 

"Is this all the Gringo Rincon people?"

"No, give it another 10 minutes, more are on the way."

The people here tend to stay here for a long time, well, some like to leave but always find reasons to stay. We like to hang out in massive groups. I'll come back from the Spanish lessons at noon and find the gang playing shitface at the roof again. We join together to cook dinners. We ventured down the road for 2 for 1 drinks in the pub's courtyard. We hopped on taxis to the dodgy part of town's only local club. We jam the entire clubs and pubs full of our own and others that we snatched up. We see each other hook up with people and secretly smiles while fading away. We like to exchange gossip, about people in town and people staying here. We visits parks and cemeteries. We fight for the bottom bunks when people check out. We complain together on the crappy internet. We buy groceries off of each other. This place is crappy but nice. It made me feel better. Less homesick and better rested. 

It's usually the people we met not the places that makes good memories. But this place definitely has some kind of magic to it. 

Overnight bus to Sucre

I bought an overnight bus ticket to Sucre from Copacabana 1 MEM for 130 Bolivianos approximately 20 Canadian. This company is reputable for its service however, I was still scared. I really was. The horrible stories of missing luggages, stolen bags and on board robbery... Luckily I befriended people on the way to the bus station and on the bus. I shared a cab to the bus station with a couple who are leaving at the same time. At the departing terminal, I met Andrew, Owen and Martin from wild rover. I didn't know they were taking the same bus. Then on the bus, I befriended the British couple sitting across the aisle. 

The bus took us to random places outskirts of town, stops for a long time, open storage to put packages and boxes in. I suspected they work as some sort of courier as well. We stretch our neck and look down every time the storage door opens to make sure our luggages aren't being stolen. Travellers take care of each other, we have comrade spirit. 

The ride was about 14 hours. I ate a whole tumbler of pringles and drank a litre of water then threw my head back for a looooooooonnnnng ride. The road was surprisingly smooth with new pavements. I woke up about 20 times throughout the night, bundled up in the blanket provided, spread on the big inclined seat. Between sleeps, I open my eyes lazily, looking out the window to see passings of valleys, rivers, villages and mountain ranges. The bus stops every so often by road polices for papers and security check. At around 3am, the bus stopped at an near pitch black settlement out of now where, nothing down the road and nothing up the road. It was freezing cold but lots of us got off the bus to move around a bit... The bus' headlights were left on so we could see the surroundings. 

How lucky am I to have a safe ride.

Las pampas, ending notes

The tour was with Indigena Tours. They are known to be the best in terms of sustainability and wildlife treatment. Tony took us to "find" the pampas habitats, never did he disturb/catch them to show us except piranhas which he set free afterwards. Our meals are healthy and always more than enough to get us fully satisfied. We had meat spaghetti, variety of salads, cheeses, bread, rice, and 3 different styles of donuts among other delicious yummies. They were sanitary and beautifully plated. These are probably the best meals I had since start of the trip. 

Packed and loaded. We go upstream, back the way we came. Bidding goodbye to the alligators, birds and passing by the pink dolphins... The jeep trip back to Rurrenabaque was total nightmare as the roads are rough and muddy due to the rainstorm which caused the journey to be more than 5 hours. My plane back to La Paz was also delayed by a day due to cancellations. 

Thank you Indigena, Tony Bullshit, my tourmates and the Amazonian wildlife.

lunch om om om om om eat them all!!

goodbye alligators... an allie ready to crack the bones of fishes.

little wild adventures

Las Pampas, amazon sunset

Three hours of awesomeness and complete sun exposure, we arrived at Indigena tour group's own ecolodge. This place is luxurious considering the environment conditions. The ecolodge is situated right beside the river and slightly elevated for wet seasons. There's power generator for lights and black heat absorbing tank for hot water, which we still ended up showering in cold water anyway. The rooms are simple with regular beds, sheets, thick blankets, and also mosquito nets. 

Throwing our belongings down, spray some deet to protect from mosquito bites at night, we headed off to the only shop/soccer ground in this area for beer, sunset and soccer play. The Amazon dogs watched us silently, the travelling couples shared romantic moments, the youngsters and the guides got together for a soccer battle. Holding a beer in hand, I delightedly met up with another wild rover friend. We joined a bunch of strangers in a barefoot soccer play. We shouted, yelled, drank, and laughed while running on dry grass lit by Amazon sunset. Anything goes. "Indigena! Vamos!" I heard our tour guide calling out for us like rushing kids back home. All a little tipsy, we hopped on the wobbly boat and headed back to the lodge. Splendid dinner awaited us. I've haven't ate so well in a long time. Rice, veggie, meat, drinks, healthy diet. I love the soccer playing, what's better than soccer with beer, sunset, strangers?

I love this nature thing. 

Indigena ecolodge

Amazon sunset

chilled out wild dogs

Las Pampas, rough rides

Three day Pampas trip starts today! WOOOT WOOOOOOT

Two couples and I met up with Tony, our tour guide, and drove the airport to pick up the last person. The jeep looks like a gladiator that has been through war and rough conditions. The wind shield is cracked, the door doesn't lock, no air condition and of course, the seat belts doesn't work either. They do, however, have a mp3 system loaded with Spanish techno pop. They threw all the food and drinks we are having along with our bags up on the car roof and tied it down with cover and ropes.

And so it begins... Rough times baby, rough times. It's 4 hours of bumpy dirt dusty road to get to Yacuma river. It must've been at least 30 degrees. We were sweating without doing anything. We had to roll down the window for breeze but sacrifice having our face covered in dirt. Passing by lush lands, birds flying above, river running along side and quiet sleepy amazon villages. Stopping at a small middle-of-no-where shop for drinks and washroom. The washroom is eco friendly if you know what I mean. Self provided tissue of course.  The sun was extremely harsh. The driver had to swing left and right to find the most suitable way to get across puddles, ditches and muddy areas. This is probably the roughest experience in the Amazons.

Las pampas amazons coming up :) my favouuuuurite.

waiting in front of the airport... these are motorcycle taxis,
I would not recommend.

getting to know one another... 

a small break after 2 hours of rough roads...

Baby aircraft to the wild, Rurrenabaque

There are 2 ways to Rurrenabaque, outpost for entering Bolivian Amazon. One, take a 20 hour bus which sometimes get delayed by road slides and most riders said it was a complete nightmare and total mistake. Two, take a 45 minute mini propeller plane that sometimes malfunctions and crashes. In fact, one crashed a week before I took it.

This is, by far, the scariest risky flight I've ever took. There are only 2 companies flying to Rurrenabaque and they are often delayed or cancelled due to weather and other unknown reasons. People get stuck on both locations for days due to these conditions. Luckily, my 6am flight, which I woke up at 3am for, did not delay massively. 

Hopping on this 15 person mini plane, there are no room to stand up straight so you basically just crouch and settle in the tiny seats. The front of our seat reads "In case of emergency, the copilot will hand air masks to everyone". I highly, HIGHLY doubt he would be handing it out. The propellers are extremely loud. No one could hear what the pilots said except "Vamos!" meaning let's go. The pilot would then immediately go full speed jetting into the sky. 

The plane doesn't incline much, because we're already at 4000m altitude on land. It flies across La Paz and the Andes mountain range then starts descending down to the Amazon region, 300m altitude. The whole plane shakes and shivers like an old grandma about to shatter if a tiny rock hits it. The plane remain at maximum noise while my ears keep popping due to the massive pressure and altitude change. 

The pilot descends and announced something that we guessed it was "we are landing." But the problem is, where is the landing strip??? Scanning the forests and mountains... suddenly I spotted a long strip of dirt road, it couldn't be... 

We landed. All in one piece... walking on the dirt road towards what they call "the terminal". It's a two floor regular building with 2 small checkin counter, 2 tax stations and few benches for rest. This is as casual as an airport can be... Thank goodness I survived both flights there and back. 

Hello mini plane of destiny.

looking towards the lush lands...

the "terminal"

lovely landing takeoff strip, which gets muddy and unable to
operate when it rains

security checked waiting area 

Surviving La Paz wild rover 1.0

Wild Rover hostel. Where do I start... The people here are crazy. The staff and the backpackers equally.

My 16 person dorm room was huge, the washrooms are clean and the food at the built in bar is legitimate. There is booking agency right inside the hostel, laundry services, security locks, 3 patios and gated entrance with security guard 24-7. Sounds pretty great right?

Most people hang around the bar, around the pool table or the CNN plasma tv. The bar serves alcohol starting 10am to 1am non-stop. Don't worry, the party doesn't stop there, we all relocate to the preplanned club destination.

My dorm room was 10 steps away from the bar and 1 wall apart. We can hear every shot drank, every strike at the pool and to our utmost pleasure, every pop music played. "WILD ROVER!!!!!!!!!" is the tradition before everyone chucks their shot, which is heard throughout the day. Dorm mates (and strangers) go in and out of our unlocked dorm room, shouting, chatting, searching for stuff, singing, and doing private shenanigans. The staff invite themselves in with a bottle of liquor and yells "WHO WANTS A FREE SHOT??" at midnight. No shit.

Stumbling to the bar starving, I ordered a big meaty meal. While waiting, the staffs and I started chatting. It started like this,

"Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm weak at alcohol."

"This shot is on me." hands over a shot.

After dinner time, the bar turned into a club. Seriously, no joke. The music was blazing, the space was jam packed with people dancing. It was Pimps and Hoes night.

One staff and I went to the hidden costume room. Him dressed up in superwoman outfit and I wore Santa Clause hat and outfit with a big bling bling chain. Damn I was so weak with alcohol (I suspect it's the altitude, La Paz is 4000m)

"You want to play dice???" one staff said.

"Uh, no, thanks."

"Just roll the dice."

"Okay..."

The Dice game. Roll the dice, whoever got the smallest number buys everyone in the game a shot. So this is how I started drinking for free. The highest shots bought ever was around 60. Insane.

Wearing a santa clause outfit, I stumbled back to my bed passed out for 2 hours. The two shots of alcohol was really drank too fast.

When I managed to rejoin the party, the staff boy hoes and girl pimps were dancing on the bar while pouring free shots to everyone. At 1 am sharp, the securities kicked us out of the bar, taxis were lined up at the hostel taking everyone to a club called "traffic". Hop and squeeze, the Frenchie dorm mates, two strangers and I, we all jammed in a small taxi and headed off. With windows down, the breeze coming in, the Bolivian night  scenery passing by, the radio playing Spanish music, laughters and giggles. 

Traffic was surprisingly undoggily modern with led lights, pop music and flashy bar. The dance floor was jammed with our hostel people. Dancing the old moves, being as dorky and stupid we really are. 

Wild rover is a perfect place to meet a load of people. Travelling around Bolivia, it's normal to say...  "hey! I've seen you before.... wild rover?" and "I know that person. You're a wild rover too?". It's possible that wild rovers will be on same tours and long haul buses. It's also highly likely to get along with some and eventually travel together. Conveniences of wild rover. Just remember, while you're there, take care of the liver and remember to get out and see the city a little...

Apparently, one of two hot Asian girls got together with a random guy that night, doing it in our dorm room. Guess what happened the next day? Everyone thought I was her. "Oh! The room was dark so I thought she was you by the hairstyle. She was so loud and rowdy. They made love like no one was in this 16 person dorm room."

Great.

you foolish human beings, drain yourself in alcohol and -I- shall rule this hostel

Bolivia, please let me in!

Taiwanese needs 3 months or more to obtain a Bolivian visa, Allen was thinking of some how slipping through the border by tips posted on a backpacking website contributor. We visited the Bolivian department in Puno to just poke around which then I made sure Canadians will have no problem entering.

We bid our goodbyes. Departing, separating with my 2 week travel buddy. I was so damn scared. Carrying a big backpack, barely know anything anyone says. All I wanted was to arrive in La Paz's hostel safely. 

The bus was late for almost an hour, quickly hopping on the bus, the Romanian couple I waited the bus with finally stopped mentally torturing me with all the travel scary stories. The only comfort, to my relief, was that Bolivia was apparently the safest country to travel in South America (Do I care the authenticity of this statement? No.)

It's a 8 hour bus journey, taking the road along Lake Titicaca straight to La Paz, Bolivia's financial capital. We arrived at Desaguadero, the border town to Bolivia. Instructed to get an exit stamp then walk across the bridge to enter Bolivia's border office. The Bolivian border is heavily armed with police forces... Being happy and exited, I'm almost there, almost at safety. Turning my passport to the photo page, I handed it to the police to get an entry paper to fill out. 

"..... you are Taiwanese, where is your passport?"

"No, I'm Canadian." flipping to the cover of the passport.

"No, no, no. You are Taiwanese, you are born in Taiwan."

The Romanian couples came to my rescue, using their limited Spanish to translate

"She is born in Taiwan, but a Canadian citizen (pointing to the part that states CANADIENNE)"

"No, no, no! (finger pointing at me) I will hand your passport to my superior, we need to check if you are on the list of Canadians who can come in."

"WHAT?" I was terrified.

This town is not safe. It's well known for not being safe. If I was to get dropped off here to head back to Puno... The back of my head started planning out all the different scenarios so I can react to whatever is to come. 

Waiting around in the office for more than half an hour, while everybody is already on their way back to the bus, the back of my head start to get numb and anxious.

The bus attendee asked me "How much money do you have?"

"$20 dollars" That's all I had in the pocket of my jeans. For some reason, I didn't tell him truly how much money I had.

The officer waived me in the office full of police officers, he handed me my passport with serious look,

"Impossible. No."

The nightmare, the worst possible outcome, has presented itself. HOLY SHIT. Tears circling my eyes, I looked at him with sadness and helplessness because I knew, I KNEW it was not a problem for me to enter because the Bolivian embassy said so just yesterday. Why? WHY???

Then he suddenly smiled and said "Welcome to Bolivia" and handed me an entry paper to fill out. (you were joking with me???)

"Gracias, gracias, gracias." I hugged the officer, and everyone in the office laughed. 

They must knew, they all knew. It must not be the first time this happened. They can read the difference between Canadian and Taiwanese. Why did they make it difficult?

The Romanians simply said "They wanted bribe, wanted to make some money off of you." 

Fuck you Bolivian border police. Pick your victims wisely, why would you pick on a backpacker, a tshirt & jean girl with no make up and accessories? If you're going to operate this dirty business, do it efficiently!

Guess what? I was picked on again when a police officer entered the bus to check on everyone again. 

"Taiwan! You are Taiwanese, where is the visa?"

Tired and mentally weak to go through it again, "This is a CANADIAN passport (point) and I am CANADIAN (point)."

"Oh, really?" 

Bus ride to Puno

Buying bus tickets. Easiest way is to purchase from hostel's offers, cheaper way is to purchase it at the bus station (which you can bargain). Pick reputable bus companies, ask which company the hostel is working with then go straight to that bus's office. The buses are double decker, on top the semi-cama, the half inclined seats, and at the bottom, full-cama, more expensive fully inclined seats. Semi-coma is definitely enough for a comfortable 8 hour journey. The bus company will ask that you arrive half an hour early to swap tickets, pay departure tax, and check in luggage.

Early at 6am, we got up to hop on a taxi to Cusco's bus station across town for 8am bus. Swapping the purchasing receipt for an actual bus ticket then paying the the station tax, we went out to the bay where the semi-coma buses were parked. After watching our backpacks tagged and put in the bus, we hopped on to our seats, of course, armed with water, chocolate, apples, oranges, and dried mangos and figs. The bus was full of tourists chattering with each other. The seat was big and comfy though definitely a bit old and dirty, but who cares, the bus ticket was less than 20 dollars for an 8 hour journey.

Out of the busy city, into the suburbs and rural lands. Being a nature person, I was quite stoked on the promising landscape. Journeying along the infamous PeruRail track, through high altitude Andes, passing farmlands, small establishments and gorgeous mountainous landscapes. The nature's massive yellow carpet covering the fields, soft hills and rocky mountains. The playful clouds making creative shadows on mountainsides. The natives and the travellers briefly catching each other's eyes and observing each other. Being confined on the bus, there's nothing to do but to observe Peru's beauty with fellow travellers. It was my first long haul bus rides ever and it was surprisingly enjoyable.

In hostels we sleep

Sharyl, a dear friend of mine, said today, "I always wonder how you stay alive on backpacking trips..." This post is dedicated to those who haven't been to a hostel.

Hostels are large guest house living spaces that you share with strangers. It's got reception, dorm rooms, shared bathrooms, internet, kitchen and chill out spaces. Some establishments have more services such as bar, food services, travel information, tour booking agency and laundry services. Prices and room type varies widely but there are female only dorms dedicated for more privacy and less men existence. Dorm rooms are usually bunk beds with lockers provided (lower bunk is better). Groceries in the kitchen must always be labelled and of course, clean up after yourself. Some showers will have automatic stopper so you got to keep pressing the water button. To access the hostel, there's either an entry code or securities to check your wristband. I think the key is learning to share and respect each other.

Never mind the limited privacy, I love hostels for the chances to meet fellow travellers. People in hostels are easy going and friendly, it's hard not to make friends.Conversations start with a simple "Hey, I'm Jenny" "What's your plan today?" or at night, "Where's the party at?". It's also a great place to share information and experiences. I love when people say "We found this amazing bakery down the road.... " or "Go with this travel agency, I just went with them, they got really good guides and they treat the animals well" or "This bus company sucks, go with the other one!" Obviously there are bound to be awkward times when you witness shenanigans, overhear weird conversations, see people naked, drunk, crying, mentally breakdown, sick and etc. But hey, everyone's human.

Pariwana Cusco, a colonial style hostel with extensive services and
a security guard so tall and built that he could easily break someone's neck. 

Pariwana's massive courtyard with beanbags, sofas, and table tennis.
I enjoyed absorbing the sunshine on the beanbags with a mate in hand.

One must learn in Peru: loco taxi

Taxi

A universal word. There are some bad taxi drivers and organizations taking advantages of foreigners, especially the non Spanish speaking ones. It's recommended to get shops and hostels to call for a radio taxi. Always, always tell them the destination and settle a price before getting on. If you got belongings going in the trunk, watch it load before getting on. Place bags on the ground in between your legs in case someone grabs it off guard. They might try to rip you off so one must learn numbers in Spanish. Generally, going anywhere in the city is around 5 solus. 

On my first taxi ride, I commented on the traffic chaos and the driver replied with a nonchalant smile then said "Si, si, mucho rápido, mucho loco pero mucho seguro." translated meaning "Yes, yes, very fast, very crazy but very safe." I agree on all of them because three weeks time in Peru, I did not see one single car accident.

I always thought Asians are pretty crazy drivers but apparently, there's worse. Asia has traffic police and speed cameras as oppose to Peru. The traffic is a gong show. They zig zag, tag each other, rarely stop for pedestrians, and speed up and slow down similar to roller coasters and in addition, the cars feel as it'll collapse any second. To top it off, seat belts are not an option because they don't work anyway. The drivers are real polite as well, they honk as a greeting "Oh hello, how are you, now GTFO".

At Cusco Plaza de Armas tempted to cross the street.