Merry Christmas & A Happy 2010

Merry Christmas & A Happy 2010! / Fijne Feestdagen en een knallend 2010! / Linksmu sv. Kaledu ir laimingu 2010!

Love and kiss from Merida (Mexico),

Lina & Marco

Unbelizable Belize and Guatemala part III

'So you think Belize means 'muddy waters'? Man, you have been seriously misinformed! How the beautiful waters of this beautiful country can be called 'muddy waters'? Allow me, historician Prince Charleston, to explain the origins of the name Belize.... Then you decide how much 'cheese' you give me to buy a bottle of Belikin... Usually, this story takes one-and-a-half hour to explain, but I'll keep it short. Belikin is a Maya goddess from whom the name Belize is derived. Isn't that unbelizable? Ya, man, god bless and welcome to Belize!' ('Prince Charleston', met on the streets in Belize City, 28 november 2009)

Arriving in Punta Gorda by boat from Livingston (Guatemala) we entered another world. Belize bumps and grinds to a different (Garifuna drum-) beat than the rest of Central America. First striking difference- and even hard to get used to after 4 months having problems to express ourselves- is that Belize is an english speaking country (but driving on the one and only right side...). The interesting mix of its inhabitants is a another striking feature; black Garifuna people, Kek'chi Mayas, Mestizos (mix of indigenous with European/ Northern American roots), Chinese and Indian people completed with some North American retired white boys

.

After getting our passports stamped in the 'harbour immigration office' we moved deeper into the country to the village of Placencia located on the southern tip of a peninsula. To get to Placencia we needed to cross Mango Creek, the lagoon that separates the peninsula from the mainland. Arriving at the banks of Mango Creek there was the Hokey Pokey watertaxi station

. The ticket 'office' was located under a thatched roof in the open air with hammocks and classic songs playing. We thought Modern Talking was really 'not done' anymore these days, but the ladies there seemed to know all the lyrics and didn't feel any shame to sing along loudly .... After a short Hokey Pokey ride we arrived in Placencia. The village is surrounded by the Caribbean (with a very long sandy beach) on the one side and the lagoon on the other side. The village was very laidback although quite a lot US- retirees have found this little paradise to spend their money (and last days of their lives...). Considering the enormous houses, casinos, international airport and new marina that are currently being build, we are convinced that this village will be the next Cancun in the near future. Unfortunately . We spent our days in our cabana on the beach doing pretty much nothing. Hammocking to the extreme. Swimming. Reading. Drinking Belikins and Campari Orange. 'Chillaxing' is a Belizean expression which revealed its right to exist quickly....

After a couple of days in Placencia we moved to Hopkins village which only exists since 1942 after the village of Newtown, which was just up the coast, was wiped away by a hurricane. Taking Ritchie's lightblue with pink-coloured bus from Placencia, driving all along the peninsula over red- coloured dirtroads, the bus filled with niggaz, reggae music, conductors with gangsta-style outfits, it felt like a trip in Africa.... Ya man... The bus dropped us at the crossing of the Southern highway and the 'road' to Hopkins which was still about 10 km walking. No cars here.... that means walking.... fortunately we got a lift in the back of the only passing pick-up truck... Hopkins is a typical one-street-and-nothing-else-to-do-then-walk-or-bike-up-and-down-this-street-and-smoke-a-bit-village. Hopkins is the bomb! We can't count the times we got offered 'the green stuff'... Walking on the beach in Hopkins locals checking out our dance- aspirations. The Garifuna drumming scene is alive and kicking here.... 'Change your shoes and come over tonight. Are you ready to rumble?' Ya man! Go Hopkins!

In our self-catered cabana in a jungle garden on the beach we had the opportunity to cook up our own food for the first time in 4 months. Man, what a luxury! Three healthy meals a day, with lots and lots and lots of veggies.... The local bakery situated on the beach, with a huge wood oven outside, produced freshly baked cocosbread although in very very limited amounts.... The woman working there has definitely the right work ethic to be jealous of....no sweat... 'I'm just baking bread three days a week'

. J&J Vegetables and fruits was our supplier of fresh healthy stuff. The old lady here was also a proud contender of the Hopkins work ethic.... she was even too lazy to move her (big) ass one meter to weigh our goodies....(or was it a very distinguished form of self-service shopping?). Our other necessary goodies we bought in one of the many Chinese supermarkets in town (yes, the Chinese strangely enough seem to dominate the Belizean supermarket-market...).

Leaving Hopkins with the evening bus (at 14.00h in the afternoon...

) we headed further north to Dangriga, the largest town of Southern Belize. Although 'least small' is probably a better description.... Arriving here on a sunday was not one of our best moves so far. Sundays somehow seem to attract a lot of weirdos hanging around on the streets, accompanying us unasked, in our search for a place to stay. Something we cannot really appreciate. In the end they always want something from you.... typical conversations are pretty much like this...

'Hey man, what're you up to? Nothing. I am hungry. I would love to kill that chicken. Why? What do you want? Some BeeZees (Belizean dollars) to eat. How much you need? As much as your heart tells you. My heart says I shouldn't give you anything. You don't need to be so rude. I am not rude. Here is 3 BeeZees. I repay you if I can' (showing the universal hash-smoking sign...)

From Dangriga we took a bumpy boatride to the remote island Tobacco Caye, arriving there complety soaked. This minuscule island is not bigger than one soccer field. The Belizean Great Barrier Reef (the second largest in the world) is a stone-throw away. Palmtrees. White sand. Turquoise waters. Tropical fishes swimming under our porch. Amazing sunsets. Locally brewed stuff sold in small Campari bottles

. A cabana over the water with views of the barrier reef. The soothing sound of the water under our bed. Great Swiss people (C'est incroyable! Vraiment!). Ya man, this is even better then paradise! 4 days 'chillaxing' to the max! Leaving this picture-perfect-and-only-existent-in-tv-commercials-bounty-island with pain in our heart, it was a place we will never ever forget.

From the lush tropical forests of southern Belize with its palmtrees and millions of citrusfruit trees, the countryside changed into a mountainous landscape with gentle hills, less black people and more Spanish speaking communities. These are the Mayan Mountains of Western Belize. This is San Ignacio. Less welcoming then our previous stops, but still an ok town from where to explore the Mayan sites in the surroundings. Although very small Cahal Pech ('place of the ticks') was beautiful, its size faded in comparison with the grandeur of Xunantunich ('stone lady'). Xunantunich has the 'wow- factor' which lacks in Cahal Pech. The impressive 40 meter high piramide. The huge palmtrees. The extreme green grass. The silence. The early morning sun delicately lighting the buildings. Sitting on top of the great pyramid fantasizing about how life in this city was in the old days...

Then back to Guatemala. For the third time. Last chance. Last chapter

. Flores is a very small town that is situated beautifully on the banks of Lago de Peten Itza in the jungle-province of El Peten. Except the great sunsets from our balcony and our frustrating quest to get some f*&king money (which seems almost impossible in Guatemala) there is nothing to do. Although, for the first time we are bluntly reminded that Christmas is coming closer. The first Christmas songs, the (seemingly permanent) decorations on the streetlights and especially the huge plastic national beer numero uno 'Gallo'-sponsored christmas tree on the main square, made us smile... christmas in shorts and skirts...

After having spend a day in El Remate, even more beautifully situated on Lago de Peten Itza, just chilling, swimming and getting some serious sunburns... we moved deeper in the jungle to the ancient Maya city of Tikal. Tikal was (and still is) a huge city from around 700 BC. As the locals say it... 'Copan (Honduras) is Venice, Tikal is New York'. Tikal's most impressive characteristics are definitely the huge 60 meter high perfectly shaped pyramids which make clear the parallel with the skyscrapers of the Big Apple. The footpaths through the dense jungle from one temple to the other, the huge number of temples that are still not discovered and restored, the spider and howler monkeys, the koatymundis, pacas and songs of tropical birds, they all make Tikal the ultimate Indiana Jones- experience. As we stayed in Tikal itself we were able to visit the site twice - once with sunset and the next morning with sunrise.... especially the views of the temples exceeding the jungle canopy with sunset are magical! Although the 'wow'- factor was less then we expected (are we getting spoiled after having seen Copan and Xunantunich and being influenced by the public opinion???), the true beauty of Tikal (for us at least) lies mainly in its size and location in the jungle which makes it very impressive anyhow!

Having closed the chapter Guatemala (somehow Guatemala just doesn't do it for us...

) back to Belize. A true homecoming. Ya man! After having had a great time in southern Belize, Belize City actually was quite a shock. Is this the same Belize? Belize City... it's small, dirty, crappy, stinky and full of persistent and irritating beggars, drunks and homeless.... as a taxidriver described 'Ya man, in Belize City you need to work. Otherwise you need to rob someone or you are going down man...'. Is this the spirit of Belize City? With daylight things looked less worse but still we didn't escape the occasional hassle by some drunks and homeless.... Although there is nothing to see or do in Belize City, and the very few things that are there only wake up 3 times a week when the cruiseships arrive (what the hell are they doing in a city like Belize City?), we had a nice couple of days there before heading further north in this fascinating little caribbean country.

Leaving the 'interesting' ex-capital behind us to go further north to Orange Walk. Orange Walk is a quiet but fairly unremarkable town. The plan was to make a river trip here to the Maya site of Lamanai deep in the jungle, but unfortunately it was only possible to get there with an organized tour... something we were not really enthusiastic about... an emphasis on lunch and other food-moments, the big groups, the fact that all passengers would be given a banana to feed the monkeys... what a circus! So, what to do then? Go to the real circus! In the most unexpected corner of the world was the Moscow circus

. Armed with popcorn and coca-cola we had a memorable night out, with giraffes, Siberian tigers, acrobats and clowns. It was like we were little kids again...

Our last stop in Belize was the border town of Corozal. Surprisingly this was one of the prettiest and most relaxed towns in Belize. An apparently rich town with big houses, wide streets and a kilometers long seaside promenade. Except reading our books on the walls of the seaside promenade, chilling on the roofterrace of our guesthouse, watching the sun sink in the Caribbean on the one side and the watching moon come up on the other side this was probably the best place to end our visit to Belize.

Unbelizable Belize! ?

Honduras and Guatemala (second attempt....)

Ola! Again!

Here we are. Again

. But before starting off, it's time for a short but serious prelude...

Central American countries all are of exceptional natural beauty. At least WE think so. Apparently in contrast to the opinion of the locals; they don't seem to realize what they have and what it's worth... on the contrary!

To get a better picture: catering in public transport in Central America is characterized by some twisted human 'sushi pick-up system' (you know these automated belts, with seats around it, and you can pick whatever sushi looks good...). Imagine dozens of market vendors jumping in the bus at almost every busstop (which is pretty often if you imagine that there are NO real busstops and hence busses stop about every few kilometers...). The vendors enter busses screaming, loudly continuing their way through the bus selling all kind of shit ('fresh' icecreams, chicken, drinks, fruits, complete meals with rice and meat, pancakes, baked bananas with mayonaise and tomato salsa, quesedillos, etc, etc), all nicely packed in plastic and other non-degradable materials... And then, after having finished eating and drinking, everyone (from grannies to babies) all throw the garbage out of the bus totally unashamed, regardless where the bus is (moving or not, parking area or not, in front of someone' house or not, etc). Taking into account the massive amounts of food (and to a lesser extent drinks) the people here take in (they are all pretty fat), it's a mess on the streets and the surrounding areas. A big big BIG mess!

Yes, these are poor countries and people may have other things on their minds, but it's no excuse to litter the environment in this way and to this extent. Everyone can keep their garbage until leaving the bus and then throw it in the bin. And yes, there are plenty of bins here.... Hearing at the same time from locals that climate change in Central America is a serious threat, it makes us angry, frustrated and sad at the same time.... people wake up! Do something! Start changing your own behaviour, maybe the next generation will pick it up....

Ok, enough. Let's talk about Honduras. Despite the unstable political situation we decided to make a shortcut through western Honduras to get from El Salvador to central Guatemala. Although Honduras is huge and we saw just a tiny part of it, it made an excellent impression! Our first stop was Santa Rosa de Copan, a small town famous for its tobacco. In Santa Rosa we visited the cigar factory 'Flor de Copan' and got a private tour through all departments of the factory, from the hangar where the tobacco leaves were being fermentated (a cheap way of getting high is just to be there....), the ironing and stripping of the tobacco leaves, the hall where hundreds of (mostly) women were rolling different sorts of cigars with their hands and wrapping every single cigar with its characteristic label, to the hangar where (only) men were making all the different boxes for packaging, handpainting and printing them with the logo of the specific brand. One and a half hour later two freshly rolled Flor de Copans left the building.... if you can't see them, you can smell them....

From Santa Rosa we went to Gracias, an ancient capital of Central America, but now nothing more then a small colonial town with a very high 'men-with-moustache-and-cowboy-hat-and-boots'- density. Although some food poisoning made Marco sit on/ lean over the toilet too often, we anyway enjoyed our time here, albeit spending quite some hours in a very stinky humid room without windows, but in the good company of some local animals. Less developed than Santa Rosa de Copan, more edgy than Suchitoto (El Salvador) and more down-to-earth than Antigua (Guatemala), it was definitely worth a stop for a couple of days. Gracias, Gracias!

From Gracias we moved closer to the Guatemalan border, to the village of Copan Ruinas. Here we visited the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Copan with origens dating back to 250- 900 AD when about 30,000 people were living here. As we were the first ones in the early morning the place was totally ours. The morning dew on the grass of the Gran Plaza with its piramids, hieroglyph terraces, statues and sculptures, the sun shining through the thick clouds, gave it an almost surreal and theatrical appearance. Copan is famous for its statues and sculptures. To protect all these beauties from the elements, there is a nice museum where the most important sculptures are being preserved. You enter the museum through the mouth of a serpent, then walking through a tunnel which symbolizes the body of the serpent and then you suddely stand face to face with a true scale replica of the most important temple of ancient Copan: la Rosalila. This huge red- coloured and beautifully decorated temple gives a good impression of how the city in the jungle used to be in the old days. Besides the royal ruins we also visited Las Sepulturas which was the residencial part of the city of Copan. This site is without a doubt less visited and (maybe because of that) a little creepy, with a group of men looking like junkies with machetes, 'guarding' the entrance

... One of them even turned out to be (or act like) a museum employee and/ or guide.... why they don't just wear a uniform or something like that?

Somehow not really looking forward to going back to Guatemala (what is it with Guatemala?), we still stuck to our plan to give it a second chance. We are here now and it's THE opportunity to see the country anyway and draw our own conclusions in the end.... standing in a f&^cking bus for 4 hours all the way from Chiquimula, we finally arrived in the village Rio Dulce situated on Lago de Izabal. Rio Dulce is nothing more then a typical 'one-street-with-very-heavy-truck-traffic-and-hookers-being-promoted-on-the-streetcorners-but-you-don't-see-them'- village, including the traditional 'by-the-hour'- hotels with names like 'The Love Nest'

.... And when you think that's all: you are wrong. Strangely enough there are a lot of grey North Americans with too much money and big yachts. A weird place. For us it was nothing more then a starting point for a river trip over the Rio Dulce to Livingston on the Caribbean coast.

The trip over the Rio Dulce was impressive, but way longer than was planned (double as long). Finally we arrived in Livingston. First question that came in our minds.... are we still in Guatemala or are we being kidnapped and taken to Jamaica??? Livingston is a completely different Guatemala, unconnected by road and hence only accessible by boat this felt like a Caribbean island with mostly black Garifuna people (decendents from the slaves of the island of St. Vincent) walking like gangsta rappers, a lot of hash, weed, coco locos (coconuts with the top sliced of and filled with a good dose of rum), dreadlocks ('ya man, everything's gonna be alright')

. All in all a very relaxing vibe for doing nothing besides drinking, eating and swimming in a the waterfalls and pools of Las Siete Altares (7 Altars). This was a good way of ending our second visit to Guatemala and starting our trip to Belize which is supposed to be an even better Caribbean paradise!

Note: People, where are you? We miss you! Although we completely understand that daily life goes on for everyone, don't think we are not interested in how you are all doing. Let us know what's going on there: small things, big things, whatever!

M&L

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Southern Guatemala and El Salvador

Ola amigos y amigas!

After one day flying back and forth through south and central America (from Quito to Lima, Lima to San Salvador, San Salvador to Ciudad de Guatemala), we finally arrived in Guatemala. Welcomed by a major downpoor, we drove (or better 'float' ) through the streets of Guatemala City to Antigua.

Antigua is definitely not the best place to get a good sample of (Southern) Guatemala, but this doesn't change the fact that it's a beautiful city. Surrounded by perfectly shaped volcanoes looming over the city, the cobblestone streets, the many stylish hotels and restaurants, very friendly and helpful people, the absence of stray dogs, drunks, beggars, etc ...not bad.... and things even got better....

One night we went for dinner in a small restaurant in town. The owner (Jose) transformed from a waiter to a gifted piano- player and singer. Touched by the melancholic sounds of the piano and Jose's voice, we already were having the best night out since the beginning of our trip. Then a lonesome gentleman turned up. Later on that evening he started a conversation with us. It turned out that he was a successful businessman (and hence pretty rich) who, just that day, bought 10% of restaurant. Apparently he liked us because with every glass of whiskey he drank we got another beer 'on him' (and he had quite a good pace of emptying his glass...). Then suddenly he said: ' I have a hotel here in Antigua, and I invite you to come over and stay there for free as long as you want' . According to Armando (yep, that's our hero) it was his way of compensating what had happened to us in Bolivia (remember the robbery?). Being stunned about what happened (and pretty drunk) we went back to our hostel. The next morning we decided to give it a shot and go to the hotel. We had nothing to lose anyway.... And surprise surprise, no problems, a few phonecalls later the room was being prepared and one hour later we were checked in. It was definitely the most exclusive and chique boutique hotel we ever saw. This ' picture- perfect' place was ours and FOR FREE! We stayed 2 nights and enjoyed all the luxury, the swimming pool, the food (Armando even took us for dinner one night at Jose's...), the atmosphere, the bed, everything! Curious? Check out www.casalacapilla.com. The past few days passed as if it was a dream. Did this really happen? Strangely enough we just finished the book we got from Z(justZ, remember him?) called ' The Messenger'. Everything that happens, happens with a purpose. Was it destiny?

Leaving Antigua meant back to the real life of backpacking and leaving the luxury of the past few days behind us. We caught a chicken bus to Panajachel, a town on the banks of Lago de Atitlan. A ride with a chickenbus means: hop on, squeeze in, put your life in the hands of a completely loco busdriver who seems to like to speed up (especially in curves), and surrender to gravity... To get a clue of how that feels: take a ride in the rollercoaster and multiply it by ten... then you're getting close.... After changing buses a few times (5x in about 120 km!) we finally arrived in Panajachel... shaken AND stirred

. In Panajachel we took a watertaxi to the village of San Marcos la Laguna. This village (despite its great name) was definitely the weirdest place we have ever seen... just a few paths in the jungle, only meditation-, yoga- and holistic therapy centres including some pretty weird and screwed- up people, both guests and locals, everyone here seemed to be infected with the ' how-to-act-as-weird-as-possible' - virus ... No, this was not a place for us. Moreover, you couldn't see anything of Lago de Atitlan... So, next day we moved to the other side of the lake to San Pedro la Laguna. This village was a bit bigger, a little less weird, and although the vibe here was not relaxed at all, we had a great time canoeing and swimming in the lake.

We still didn' t know what to think and feel about Guatemala so far, so we gave it a last chance (at least for now; we are planning to come back a few times more later on...) and go to the market town called Chichicastenango (for less tongue- breaking manoeuvers easily nicknamed 'Chichi' ). Chichi lies in the heart of the highlands of Guatemala and has been a trading town for centuries. Especially, its thursday and sunday markets are famous. We went there on a thursday and hence we were able to experience true market- life... It was a fiesta for our senses... bright colours of handwoven textiles and traditional clothes, the smell of incense, flowers, food, people, and the penetrating sounds of screeming vendors (Amigo, pase adelante! Pase! Good price! Let's do 'beeznizz') . Yes, Chichi was good fun and put Guatemala back on the map. It made us hungry for more! Hasta luego Guate!

But first El Salvador, the unknown little brother of the Central American countries. A bad reputation, a tumultuous past (civil war), pretty worrying crime rates (6 million inhabitants and 10 murders on a daily basis...), gang wars

, natural disasters ... all reasons NOT to go, but we decided to give it a shot. And it was one of the best shots in our trip so far! The people of El Salvador definitely make the difference. Almost everyone is extremely friendly. What a contrast with the long greedy faces in Guatemala where your are often treated like a mobile ATM with lots of Quetzales to dispense...

We spent a few days in the village of Juayua, one of the beautiful villages along the Ruta de Las Flores, a mountainous area famous for its wild flowers. We had a couple of great days there, hiking to the lagunas in the highlands, enjoying breathtaking views of the volcanoes all lined in a row, learning about coffee processing (and of course not leaving without a tasting session) at Majada coffee- processing plant, eating amazing coffee steaks and El Salvador's national proudness: 'pupasas' (sort of tacos filled with cheese, pork or beans), relaxing on the plaza and the mirador-like roofterrace of our hostal, drinking too much cheap but excellent Nicaraguan ron (with lots of limes and less coke...) and exchanging travel experiences with some awesome people from New Zealand. Thanks Joe and Emma! We really enjoyed your company! Further along the Ruta de las Flores we stayed in one other authentic village called Apaneca. Although there was nothing else to do then strolling the streets (and spending quality time alone on the toilet because of some horrible lunch), we enjoyed spending our time in this village. A lazy afternoon visit to the village of Conception de Ataco made our experience of village life in the El Salvadorenan highlands complete... these are villages time forgot and hopefully time will not catch up...

From the Ruta de las Flores we moved more east into El Salvador, to Lago Coatepeque, a huge blue craterlake. The goal here was: doing as little as we could... travelling in El Salvador is pretty exhausting due to the overcrowded (chicken) buses, the steamy temperatures (30 degrees or even more) and the little developed ho(s)tel scene (which makes it a great challenge to find a decent and affordable place to sleep every time...). So we needed a short break to recharge our batteries and Lago Coatepeque was a great place for this: drinking beers on the lakeside terrace of our hotel, watching the sun go down and disappear behind the volcanos ...

Our batteries fully recharged we moved back to Santa Ana, the third city of El Salvador and supposedly an old colonial town, although there is really just 3 colonial buildings to find (and we searched pretty well...). Santa Ana has a nice plaza (Parque Libertad), but for the rest it's pretty much a dirty, smelly and terribly hot, say typical Central American city... (including half dead people just laying between the cars and no one seems to bother...). But we needed Santa Ana to make our way to Parque Nacional Los Volcanes, a national park close to Santa Ana. Here we hiked to the crater of Volcan Ilamatepec, a volcano which erupted recently (2005) making victims under the coffee- pickers. The hike was stricty organised: us, 2 other local tourists and .... 2 police officers who hiked all the way with us.... . After a 2 hour hike (better: 'run' ) we arrived at the top, with amazing views of the other volcanoes throughout El Salvador and a flourescent green craterlake hunderds of meters under our feet.... you could not imagine that this colour green really exists beyond the world of Photoshop.... You could hear the water and fumeroles boil... very impressive. After enjoying the reward of hiking to the top, we needed to ' run' back down again to the parking lot to catch the only bus returning to Santa Ana that day....

The last stop in El Salvador was Suchitoto (meaning ' place of the flower bird' in Nahuatl- language). On the way to Suchitoto we had to go cross the capital San Salvador by bus, and this city looked like a shotgun- mad city; dozens of heavily armed police officers standing next to the road, even the road transport of matrasses (yes, these things to lay down on in bed...) was accompanied by security folks with huge shotguns.... mysterious...

But Suchitoto was a more quiet and relaxed little colonial town in contrast to San Salvador and Santa Ana (and it was really colonial....). Except the ' almost-struck-by-lightning-in-an-internetcafe'- experience, Suchitoto was a great place to hang around, inhale the bohemian atmosphere, have a lazy days at banks of Lago de Suchitlan (a huge artificial lake which had a power plant that supplies half a million Salvadorenan families with electricity), eat camarones and pupusas, stroll around the streets, have arguments with the local locos (which is somehow entertaining because they talk Spanish and we English...).Yes, Suchitoto was a good place to end our visit to El Salvador.

El Salvador, you blew us away! (no shotguns needed!)

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Ecuador - boobies and (much) more...

Ola amigos and amigas!

It´s been quite a while since our last update, so now you will be rewarded with an extra long one...

Yes, after almost one month it´s time to leave Peru and move to Ecuador, the last country in Latin America we will visit on our trip before heading to Central America. As true ´stars´ we travelled VIP- class (yes, a bus with blinded windows, leather fauteuils where we both can fit in twice and a sexy stewardess) from Huanchaco to Piura (Peru), a 6 hour trip for just Eur 3,75,- per person... From Piura we jumped on a bus to Loja (Ecuador), the busstation in Piura was closed but opened its doors just for us... hmmm, VIP´s... In contrast to our busride in Peru this was a pretty ´Spartan´ ride: freezing cold, no space for our legs, and the company of 50 teenagers all very excited about a schooltrip to Ecuador...

Although Loja is not really the most exciting town it was a good hub for us to get adjusted to Ecuadorian ways of doing and arrange our tickets to Galapagos. Arranging something here is something you need to be very patient for... of course the usual struggle to pay for something that costs more than 100 USD also presents itself here....

1. A nice website with online payment possibilities that ..... doesn´t work.

2. Possibilities to pay with Mastercard at the TAME office (YES!).... just not today....

3. A non- cooperative bank that doesn´t upgrade our daily limit of cash withdrawals from the ATM....

But in the end we managed to pay and get what we wanted... we go to GALAPAGOS!!!

From Loja we moved deeper into the Ecuadorian Southern Andes, to the village of Saraguro (¨golden maiz¨), referring to the fertile grounds in the surrounding mountains. Saraguro is a truly indigenous village where the Saraguro people, descending from the Incas, live in harmony with the descendants from the Spaniards. It´s a ´feel good´- town with very friendly and mostly traditionally dressed inhabitants. It´s the first place in Latin America where men are also dressed in traditional clothes, consisting of black 3/4 trousers, black shirt (sometimes covered with a very bright- coloured cape) and a Michael Jackson- style hat (he´s alive?!). Women wear long black skirts, black top and very colourful necklaces, sometimes complemented by a colourful blouse with black voiles. Completely different from the Quechua-people in Bolivia and Peru. As we were the only ´gringos´ in town we were as much an attraction for the locals as they were for us.... that made things definitely less complicated.... Our days in Saraguro felt like we were watching a movie about daily life in a traditional Indian village... this village definitely has conquered a special place in our hearts. Besides ´watching the movie´ we hiked to the ´Baño del Inka´, a waterfall in the communidad of Ñamarín, close to Saraguro. It is a beautiful place which made us realize that we should appreciate all the small wonders of nature equally as much as the potentially New 7 World Wonders like Machu Picchu and the Salt Flats of Uyuni...

Moving further North we went to the city of Cuenca. Cuenca is a rich and beautiful city with lots of churches, nice plazas and a great climate (eternal spring!). Here we spent some days hanging around, wandering through the streets, getting a sun tan on the roofterrace of our hostal and meeting Z (yep, just Z). Z is an Autralian dude who we met in Huanchaco (Peru) already. We had some experimental food in a local restaurant and after that the night evolved into philosophical one contemplating about life... this was the right time and the right place for a night like this...

From Cuenca we moved slowly in the direction of the Galapagos Islands and we went to the city of Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador (yes, REALLY large!). Although there were many reasons NOT to come here... it´s a very criminal and violent city, it´s humid and very hot, there is no well- developed infrastructure for tourism, etc, etc....we came to Guayaquil because our flight to Galapagos was departing from here (cheaper then from the capital Quito). We searched for hours to find a place to sleep, for hours to find a ´lavanderia´ (go there, no go there, no... there, no there are no lavanderias in Guayaquil...

). Although the boulevard (Malecon 2000) and the old district of Las Peñas were great we left Guayaquil with mixed feelings... especially when a few days later we heard on national television that a again someone was murdered on the street around the corner from our hostal....

Then........... GALAPAGOS! Arriving at the Galapagos Archipelago from the criminal hotspot of Guayaquil evoked a range of emotions:

- Unconfortable because we were the only people who were not picked up from the airport by a guide or a hotel. There we were in Galapagos.... what now? The whole Archipelago is a National Reserve which can only be visited with guides... so...

- Disappointment at first sight because we had a picture in our minds of totally wild, pure and more or less uninhabited islands with turtles everywhere. But they are pretty well developed like villages on the mainland....

- Excitement (the ´wow´- factor) because of the different nature, skies, soil, clouds.... compeletely different from anything we have ever seen before.

Having spend one day on Isla San Cristobal we the mix of emotions (and more or less fantasies) changed into a slightly more realistic picture and we already knew that we wanted to stay longer than the intended 4 days. So at Isla Santa Cruz we changed our flight back to Guayaquil so that we have 6 days in the Archipelago. It is not as expensive as we assumed (after reading information about travelling to and in the Galapagos Archipelago). Only getting there and the entrance fee of 100 USD per person is a big bite from our budget... . Last- minute cruises (supposedly the best way to travel between the islands and see the most) were not available for the days that we were there, so we decided to do some island- hopping on ourselves. The daily charter boats between the islands made this mode of travelling possible and affordable. We visited 3 islands, isla San Cristobal, isla Santa Cruz and last but definitely not least isla Isabela. On the isla San Cristobal, the most eastern island of the archipelago, we rented bikes to visit the sea lion colony of La Lobería and the Interpretation Centre which provided information on the origin of the islands and the problems it faces today due to climate change and illegal migration to the islands. Another day we spent on going to the other side of the island, to a beach called Puerto Chino, to spot the male frigate birds. With a pick-up truch taxi we and some rented mountainbikes in the back went there. On the way we visited La Galapaguera, a new breeding centre for the land tortoises of San Cristobal. From Puerto Chino we drove to the highest point of the island called El Junco - the only freshwater lagoon in the archipelago. After hiking around the lagoon we unloaded the bikes from the truck and went downhill and highspeed for one hour back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (wow, what a chique name for a village). On the way down we stopped at El Progreso, the first industrial activity in the Galapagos islands, which provided income for the locals but at the same time distroyed more then was intended... Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is a relaxed village where people and sea lions share the streets with eachother (yes, the sea lions are walking and sleeping on the streets....). A unique thing for Latin America is that you don´t hear so much people screaming and shouting, but the sea lions.... especially the ´preacher´ and his followers who agree with him or not.... loud protest ór consent.... Isla Santa Cruz and in particular Puerto Ayora (the biggest town on the island) has a very different vibe: less relaxed, more tourism, expensive souvenir shops and a lot of fat rich American tourists....On Santa Cruz we visited the Charles Darwin Research Center (Darwin questioned the theory of creationism here and formulated his hypothesis of ´the origin of species´) and its Centro de Crianza (breeding centre) for the giant Galapagos land tortoises and land iguanas. We met Lonesome George there. Who? Lonesome George is the oldest land tortoise still alive... We also wanted to see the highlands of Santa Cruz to get a good mixture of flora and fauna, but unfortunately the weather didn´t cooperate. We also went to Bahía Tortuga, a beach where we met numerous sunbathing marine iguanas, where we finally got close (face to face) with boobies.... blue footed boobies to be more specific, and we swom between sea turtles, pelicans, frigates, boobies and some small ´rats´ called Darwin´s Finches (they eat form your hands... not scared at all...). Isla Isabela (the biggest island of the archipelago but one of the least inhabited) is definitely a paradise. Puerto Villamil, the only village on this ´young´ volcanic island (just about a million years old.. it´s nothing....), has only a few sandy streets with palm trees, a long white sandy beach, fantastic sunsets and a very laidback vibe. One day we hooked up with an Australian couple and a Spanish/ British couple and we arranged a cheap trekking of 8 hours to volcano Sierra Negra. This volcano has the second largest crater in the world with a diameter of 11 kilometers. It was very impressive to stand next to this gigantic black lake of stones and lava... we continued the trekking to volcano Chico with dramatic lava formations. Wow! The other day we hiked and biked to the Zona de Humedales (wetlands), an area of 6 km with different ecosystems ranging from green water lagunas, mangrove forests, swamps, etc. Although the traffic on the route was not too bad, we still had to deal with heavy traffic consisting of turtles and iguanas on the way .... We also went to the Muro de Lagrimas (wall of tears). This wall was build by American Second World War prisoners who built it as a punishment. Impressive. Back on Isla San Cristobal, ready for our flight back to Guayaquil, we were welcomed by our amigos sea lions. They were still screaming as before and the ´preacher´ is still preaching devotedly to his followers who still loudly protest or consent.... We will miss this place. Galapagos made a deep impact on both of us. yes, we will definitely miss this place.... Contrasts - a word which seems to be the red line during our trip so far...

After the pristine nature of Galapagos, its humid climate, its flat volcanic landscapes, its unique animals, we went to the town of Latacunga in the Ecuadorian highlands of the Central Andes. Latacunga is not the most beautiful city there is, but it´s a goog starting point for our trip to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi. Despite our expectations Latacunga turned out to be a true party-place, all because of the 4-day fiesta of Mama Negra (Black Mother). The festival consisted of colourful groups of dancing people all belonging to their own specific church, men carrying pig carcasses decorated with bottles of whisky and other spirits om their back, ´mama negras´ dancing through the crowds, children blessing spectators for money and lots (I mean LOTS of alcohol) ... all this to prevent future eruptions of the vulcano Cotopaxi... After having experienced 1 day of the fiesta we headed for a 4 day trekking in Parque Nacional Cotopaxi. We and our ´poco loco´guide William took off for the North Face of Cotopaxi. Starting at Laguna Limpiopungo we started an 8 hour trekking to the top of vulcano Rumiñahui. It was a beautiful but f%&king heavy hike and climb to the top at almost 5000m. With our heads (literally) in the cloude we celebrated our victory of reaching the top and beating our enemy called ´Altura´. Thhis is even better then an orgasm (at least according to William...). Just after sunset we finished our descend and set up our tents at the foot of the snowtopped, perfecty cone-shaped, Cotopaxi. Not bad. Not bad at all. After a campfire with some bullshit stories it was time to go to sleep. But the animals in the Parque Nacional had other plans for the night... wild cows and horses liked the camping area pretty much as they walked, mooooooood, pissed and shitted almost on our tent. At least it sounded like that.... The next day we went deeper into the park to the South Face of Cotopaxi. We stayed in a mountain refuge at 4200m. From the refuge we made another 5 hour hike to Santa Barbara and the canyons. From here Cotopaxi looked again completely different from the day before. Amazing. That day the wind was so strong that we had to fight to keep standing straight and not to be blown of the mountain into the canyon. The way from the mountain down to the canyon was extremely steep. The easiest way to go down was on the ´cula´ (ass). Marco managed to sandsurf downhill (or something close to that) and Lina tried the ´cula- method´ which had as a result a even hotter ass than she already has.... The third day the plan was to go to Quilindaña, a mountainous area with beautiful lakes. But as we were almost at the point from where we would start the 2-day trekking, the 4x4 truck got stuck. Really stuck. The weather was pretty bad here. Around the corner the sun was shining. And then... a matter of waiting, hoping that some jeep would pass and pull us out. As it´s a very remote area and chances of passing traffic are pretty small, we packed all our stuff including tents and food, preparing for a night being stuck... Fortunately a jeep was passing and 3 completely loaded guys helped to pull our car out. Because of the bad weather we changed plans and went to the village of Chugchilan, to visit Laguna del Quilotoa the next day. Laguna del Quilotoa is a beautiful volcanic crater lake at 4000m altitude with sometimes green and sometimes turquoise water depending on the interaction between sun and minerals. The 5 hour hike around the laguna on its crests was a again ´wow´- worthy! Finishing our trip with black and brown trousers turned grey, with bruises everywhere, with hurting muscles all over, but again with unforgettable memories! An unforgettable experience!

Back in Latacunga ready for some good sleep, the f&%king Mama Negra fiesta was still alive and kicking.... right under our window.... the salsa rhythms even made our bed move (yes, just because of the music...).

Our last days in Ecuador we spent in Quito, the country´s capital. Although we knew its reputation of not being the safest city, the first evening in the centro historico this was confirmed. At 21.00h we made a stroll around the old town just to go for a beer on a saturday evening. But the city was dead. Everything was closed and (almost) no people around... strange.... and then, yes, we got robbed again... almost.... This time we were lucky that some people were around the corner and we didn´t take anything else then just 15 USD. Reasons to take a taxi to the fancy (and save) district of La Mariscal. There we entered a New World. Nightly traffic jams, party dressed people, dozens of uber- trendy bars and clubs, something we didn´t see in 3 momths travelling (and even at home...). To be honest: it was quite a shock! The beer was ok though and our 15 USD disappeared as fast as the beer... result: not enough money for a taxi back to the old town... In the end we found some agitated taxidriver how was stupid enough to drive us ´home´ for half of the normal price... Yes, Quito is a beautiful city. Really. But its people don´t seem to fit. We left Quito with mixed feelings, but Ecuador ´mi pais´ is a true paradise! Guatemala here we come!

PS. Unfortunately we have had some serious problems with the photos, we lost quite a few from Galapagos. Damn it! Hopefully you will get a good impression how it was anyway...

Northern Peru

Ola!

Being on the road for about 2 months backpacking is becoming our way of life: searching for a place to sleep every few nights, the everyday struggle to eat as balanced as possible (sometimes great and healthy food, sometimes the usually safe and tasty ´pollo con fritas´ at one of the millions ´pollerias´), the hunt for good deals with everything you buy, the constant alertness not to be ripped-off and the attitude not to care too much about others (when necessary we learned to be rude as well)...

Still, as we wrote last time, after our Amazon expedition, we really appreciated the luxury of a city, in this case Arequipa. Arequipa is an apparently rich town with great shops, old narrow streets, colourful buildings, and.... no attacks on tourists with Inca massages or other exotic stuff (what a relief after Cusco). We had a great hostal there with a room with a view and our won Evita balcony, just one block from the Plaza de Armas. Not bad to sit in your own balcony drinking a bottle of wine, watching the sun go down spreading beautiful light over the city and its protectors, Mount Chachani and Mount Misti. We can only agree with Inca Mayta Capac when he exclaimed ´Are quepay´ which means ´Yes, stay here´

. So we did (at least for a couple of days).

After Arequipa we thought we saw pretty much of the landscapes of Southern Peru, but we were wrong... After the highlands of Machu Picchu, the humid lowlands of the Amazon bassin, now we found ourselves in the middle of the desert. Only sand, rocks and dunes... In the middle of this desert is Nasca. Close to this gringo town are the worldfamous Nasca lines, enigmatic lines drawn by the Nazca culture between 200 BC and 700 AD. As these lines are huge and only visible from the air, we hopped on a little 5-passenger Cessna plane and we had a bumpy but impressive flight over the lines. We saw all these almost extraterrestrial figures (yep, Paul, here they finally are...), including the astronaut, the condor, the alcatraz, the tree, the parrot, etc... Amazing with what kind of precision the figures are drawn and how they are still untouched after being there for centuries! The purpose of the lines is still a mystery, which makes it even more interesting! By the way, we strong people didn´t need the ´sickbags´ and kept our food inside (3 older but tough Peruvians didn´t though...), although also our stomachs made some strange noises...

Our stomachs still being a little upset after the flight we moved to Paracas, a little town on the coast. There we hoped to visit the National Reserve. But unfortunately it turned that this was only possible with a guided tour witch are pretty expensive and our budget not let it now we decided to visit the Galapagos Islands...(thankseveryone for your advice!). Except this, a pretty ´shitty´ night (damn, was it the Chinese food again!!!???)kept us from going away further then a few blocks from the hostal. After a still a pretty relaxing afternoon at Paracas beach, we decided to move on to Lima. Paracas was not really what we expected....

After the slight deception of Paracas, we moved to the capital of Peru - Lima. This huge city was again a different world. We stayed in the fancy, sleek, Miami- style, suburb of Miraflores. This suburb was definitely for the happy few in Lima and maybe all of Peru... Although it was not the best sample of Lima probably, we still enjoyed the safe and relaxed surroundings. And above all Miraflores had a great seaside promenade situated high on the cliffs. It truly had a Miami-like feel! Not quite what we expected to find in Lima! As we saw the almost surreal and and glamourous part of Lima one day, the other day we went downtown Lima, which takes about an hour by bus... speaking of contrasts... old buildings, grey colours, overcrowded streets, exhaust gasses of the old- fashioned busses which make your breath stop and nose hurt, but on the other side the historic centre of Lima had great squares (Plaza de Armas), churches and cafes. The historic centre is the bouncing heart of Lima, the real life of the ordinary people. Besides hanging around we had a mission in Lima... and that was to prove that our bank was wrong. In Bolivia the robbers also took our vaccination passports and Linas bankcard. According to the bank it was not possible to send the new card to Lima. But we proved otherwise! We picked up our new passports and Linas new bankcard from the airport´s postoffice, and we are 100% up to strenght! (dankjewel, mam, voor alle moeite!!).

After spending a few days in Lima and accomplishing our mission, we missed the mountains again and moved to Huaraz - Kathmandu of the Andes. The first impression of Huaraz was not particularly good. It is an uninspiring new town, not that strange after the earthquake in the 1970s which killed out 70.000 people in the region and destroyed most of the historical buildings... After acclimatizing and getting used to the altitude again (Lima 145m vs Huaraz 3100m), and a preparational walk to the surrounding hills, we were ready for the real thing: Parque National Huascaran! The next day we took a collectivo (shared taxi, for the price of a busride...) to the village of Llupa, a traditional village high in the Andes with only indigenous (Quechua) people living their lives. It´s so good to notice that the locals in their own environment are sooo friendly to gringos like us (in contrast to the indigenous people living in the towns!) This is Peru at its best!!! From Llupa we walked about an hour to the next ´village´ called Pitec. And from we started the hike to Laguna Churup situated at an altitude of 4500m. The hike consisted of some true hardcore rock climbing. (Note: the information office told us ´you just have to climb a wall, and that´s all...´).We never heard an understatement like that! Probably the chicas working there never made the hike up there themselves....

Except the rough route and the climbing we also had to deal with the altitude. Literally, it was a breathtaking way up! After 4 hours of hiking we were rewarded with the laguna. Wow, what a beauty, with the snowtopped mountains within our reach. The way down was maybe even more streneous. But we managed to stay on our 2 feet, besides the inevitable few occasional slip and slide- manoeuvres... Back in Huaraz we ate and drank like we didn´t get any ´comido´ the whole week!!!

Time to relax

. In Huanchaco, a fishing village close to the city of Trujillo, in northern Peru, we did nothing else but hanging around on the beach, watch Peruvians go crazy by the sea, sleep, and eat ´cebiche´(a Peruvian dish consisting of cold white fish with red unions marinated in limejuice). Huanchaco is our last ´real´ stop in Peru. From here we will continue our way North to Ecuador (via Piura).

Hasta luego!!!

Peru - a different Latin America

Ola!

After a great month in Bolivia we moved to the next country on our wishlist: Peru.

From Copacabana (Bolivia) we took the nightbus to Cusco. The border crossing we had to to on foot, with a new bus waiting for us on Peruvian territory. Arriving at night in Cusco was quite shocking. What a circus! At the busstation wehad tofight ourselves through the large amount of taxidrivers offering to take us to the Plaza de Armas.... because we were so tired after the long busride we accepted one of the offers.... the thing was not only that we were taken to the central plaza but, although we didn´t ask, we were also taken to a hostal.... it turned out to be quite a rip-off.... but we had a place to sleep....

Cusco was our first acquintance with Peru and it was pretty much a shock.... In Bolivia you have to ASK everything and in Peru you have to REFUSE all the offers (Amigo, amiga, Inka massage? Restaurant, señor? Beautiful paintings, amiga? Taxi, taxi? Papi papi?). We really had to adjust our defense systems.... But after getting used to it Cusco turned out to be a great city to spend a couple of nights and prepare our trip to (hopefully) one of the highlights of our trip: Machu Picchu. Besides the preparations we visited the Inca ruins of Saqsayhuaman (pronounce as ´Sexy Woman´ with a very British accent

). Quite impressive stones....

After Cusco we moved on to Ollantaytambo - the capital of the Indians in Peru. It was a lovely village situated in the heart of the Sacred Valley (close to Machu Picchu). Completely different then the other villages we saw so far. The village was built on the remains of the ancient Inca walls and ruins. We visited the ruins there as well and especially the views were breathtaking! With a couple of beers in our backpack we climbed the mountains opposite of the ruins and enjoyed one of the most amazing sunsets we ever saw! After 2 days Ollantaytambo we hopped on the train to Aguas Calientes (Hot Waters). For us this tourist circus town was nothing more then a necessary stopover to realize our own Inca trail....

At03.00h at night we started our own Inca trail to Machu Picchu. With flashlights on our heads (like true mineworkers) we started the 2 hour hike all the wayup up up and UP to the Lost City of the Inca´s. Completely wet we arrived at 05.15 at the entrance of Machu Picchu. We made it in a dutch record time and finished 17th and 18th! At 06.00 the gates opened and we had Machu Picchu for ourselves!!! We found a great place to watch the sun rise! Wow, f&%king impressive! Wespend all day exploring the lost city. As goodpeople we listened to all the rules about taking food and drinks (NOT allowed!), so we were almost dying from thirst (water, please!

). The irritating thing was that no one checked any bag andwe could have brought whateverwe wanted (some even had bottles of champagne....bastards!).A good lesson for the next time: don´t care about any rules or recommendations.... After visiting Machu Picchuwe bought the biggest and most expensive Coca Cola we ever had (about 7 euro! ). Ready for the hike back to Aguas Calientes. Die hards. In the evening we were pretty much dead but very satisfied. Machu Picchu definitely met our expectations!!!! It was a true highlight!!!

From thehighlands it was time for a completely different Peru: the lowlands. From Cusco we took a domestic flight to Puerto Maldonado, a very isolated jungle town. There we started a 4-day trip to the jungle. A 4- hour boattripon the Tambopata riverbrought us deeper into the Amazon- bassin. We stayed in an ecolodge on the riverbanks surrounded by the sounds of tropical birds and other creatures. As there were no windows in the room it felt like camping, but then thousand times better! From the lodge we did several hikes with our (private) guide Urial to the rainforest to meet our fellow friends - exotic animals - and learn about (medicinal) trees and tropical fruits. If you didn´t know; avocado is a fruit and NOT a vegetable

.

We met quite someexotic animalsincluding tarantulas (with babies, cute, no?), monkeys, capibaras, caymen, sloths, army ants, butterflies (including the biggest one on earth) , etc. One morning we left , still in the dark,for a trip on the river to the so- called ´macaw´s clay lick´. This halfmoon shaped clay wall was the place for macaws, parrots and parakeets to have breakfast consisting of minerals and salt. It was very impressive to see hundreds of these kind of birds in their natural environment and observe their natural behaviour. We were guests in their house which felt much better then watching them in a cage in the zoo....

The last day we visited Lago Sandoval - a rainforest lake which was separated fromthe Madre de Dios river by erosion. This lake had different kind of vegetation then the other parts of the rainforest. We enjoyed a monkey ´show´and a were part of an outstanding performance of mosquitos

.... and as it should be in the rainforest we were completely wet because of the humidity and RAIN!!

Time to move on. Why not to travel from one side of Peru to the other... That said, we flew back from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco and there took a 9 hour busride to Arequipa. We are sitting there now in an internet cafe writing our memoirs.....

To be continued....

Hasta luego, amigos and amigas!

Bolivia - Orientissimo!?

Alter the cold and windy hardships of the Andes, we moved to a different Bolivia. The trees became green (instead of grey), the temperature rose to oriental heights...

This was clearly a different face from the country: Sucre - the White City. Sucre has the best places so far to hang around and do nothing - just watching daily life pass by on the main plaza and drinking fresh orange juice and eating the largest portions of food we ever had to deal with... what a life...

After hanging around in Sucre for 3 days we decided that we needed fresh air... and moved to further into El Oriente to a village called Samaipata. We tried to travel as comfortabel as possible because it was a busride for over 12 hours .... so we asked the infodesk at Sucre Busterminal what was a good buscompany... and yes... of course it turned out to be completely the opposite... never travel with BOLIVAR.... it was a hell of a ride....

But we made it! At 04.00h in the morning we were dropped in the middle of nowhere... We stayed in a super Hostal in Samaipata, with a small garden and hammocks.... mmmmm.After one day of relaxing we decided to make a good hike to El Fuerte (a great and important Inca worship site). After 22 km hiking with about 75% upwards, rewarded with great views and magical Inca history, we were satisfied with our achievement.... A good bottle of Huari beer never tasted so good before!

After relaxing Samaipata we moved to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a place where our nightmares came true... Santa Cruz is an (economically) booming and huge city (1,8 mln) and feels more like a capital then La Paz or Sucre. Our first impressions were already not too positive. The next day our feelings unfortunately became true (was it a self- fullfilling prophecy?). We decided to go down the banks of the Rio Pirai, a recreational area for the Santa Cruzians. After being there for maybe just 15 minutes a very short thriller movie with us being the subjects... 4 men with guns and knifes surrounded us and forced us to give all our possessions to them. So bye bye camera, wedding rings, Lina´s wallet, our diary, music, everything what we had in our backpack at that time (fortunately we left our passports and Marco´s wallet in the hostal).... after maybe 5 minutes the short movie had come to an end and the reality shock came... angriness and happiness at the same time because nothing happenend with us... After having called the police they arrived one and a half hour later with 6 armed strong men.... After taking notice of the robbery on some f%&king blocnote they did NOT go after the gringos but all went back with us to the first (!) crappy police station. There we had to tell the same story again, and again and another f&%king blocnote. For the legalized and printed version we had to go the next crappy policestation where we had to tell the same story AGAIN. With our fluency in Spanish this was peanuts (not!). In the end of the day we had what we needed and they promised to go and search for the robbers.... we think they only went to hang about being the tough boys doing nothing....

The only thing we wanted was to get out of Santa Cruz

. Let´s continue with the better part. From Santa Cruz we took a collectivo to Buena Vista to celebrate the anniversary of Bolivia. The fiesta was not the most impressive we ever saw, but it had a real village charm with all schoolchildren performing in a parade of lampoons and schooluniforms. At noon the fiesta was finished, while we were finally in the mood to party and drink! The next we visited the coffee plant of the village, where we arrived after a Dakar- style ride on a mototaxi. Impressive to see the plants and surprisingly they were also producing organic coffee for Albert Heijn (funny...).

We took a crazy minibus ride to the city of Cochabamba. After this ride we are still not sure if Bolivians are social people or not (withfreezing cold and rainy weather opening the window on the passengers side and not on the driver´s site...) Cochabamba was somewhere in the middle between the Oriente and the Altiplano, and it also felt like not really the best of both worlds.... But, the biggest Jesus- statue was waiting for us (48 mts) high built on a hill overlooking the city. Forget Rio de Janero, viva Cochabamba!

After Cochabamba it was time to leave the city and go to Copacabana (via La Paz). The first part of the trip (to La Paz) was pretty confortable (7 hrs). The last part from La Paz to Copacabana was a not really healthy... the toxic gasses from the small dieselbus were blown INTO the bus, instead of OUT of the bus. Besides this it was freezing and shaking....this time shaken AND stirred... After arriving in Copacabana the first impression was shit. We arrived in the dark on some kind of witch market and public garbace dump at the same time... But... the next morning the town (and we) had colours... Copacabana turned out to be a great town with a lot of mysterious and religious symbols and rituals. Cars were blessed in front of the catherdral with beer, some kind of champagne, flowers and toys (little cars or trucks). In the afternoon we behaved like very good catholics and did a pelgrimage to the top of a very steep hill. Arriving there it was one big religious fiesta, with fireworks, people standing in line to ask Maria for God knows what, lots of alcohol, small plastic houses, cars and dollars were sold and blessed. We adapted quickly to the local habits and bought some beer at sat down on top of the hill for some hours overlooking Titicaca lake. The best terrace so far! What a place!

And then... our last days in Bolivia before moving on to Peru we spent on Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun). This gorgeous small paradise is located somewhere on Lake Titicaca. We did some great hikes and watched the sun go down in Lake Titicaca. Romantic and relaxing at the same time! A true paradise! After spending the night in a very primitive hostal (no water), but with great Bolivian wine, we went back to Copacabana enjoying a 2- hour boattrip on the lake in the sun... (what´s in a name...).

Ahora, vamos a Cusco (Peru)! Hasta luego, amigos y amigas!