Salta to Patagonia

When I got into Argentina my first stop was Salta, and for the first time in a month I was out of the altitude and cold. It was a great change of pace for me and I spent much of my time there relaxing, eating BBQ and drinking wine.

My next stop was the second biggest city in Argentina, Cordoba. The city has 7 Universities in it, including the oldest in South America, and it was great to get a feel of college life in another country.

I contunued on to Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina. Being a UCSB Gaucho, I of course had to spend my first day getting intouch with my roots and going on a horse-back ride with an offical Gaucho. We were given free reign over our houses as we ran them through the moutian brush trying to keep up with the Gaucho. After 3 hours we got back to the ranch for a tradional Argentinean BBQ.

The next day I rented a bike and visited 4 different wineries in the region and got to sample all the Malbec I could handle. And as if I hadnt had enough already, on my third day I took another 1/2 day wine and olive oil tour in a van followed by a Maté class and then another all you can eat BBQ.

I then headed out of wine country and down into Patagonia and the lake side town of Bariloche. I hiked and skiied with amazing views and oldly enough had some of the best beer in South America. My hostel was located in an old penthouse overlooking the lake and mountians.

My next and final stop of South America will be Buenos Aires before I head off to Asia!

Potosi and Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

After climbing down from the summit of Hayuna Potosi I took the night bus to the silver city of Potosi. When my bus got in I took a cab to the town plaza and found a mine tour company that was run by ex-miners and signed up for the 8:30 half day tour. The tour took me up to the miners market and I bought gifts of Coca and Dinamite for some of the guys we would see under ground. We then entered the mountain and walked hunched over in dark tunnels for 3 km over the span of 3 hrs. A great experience, but I don't envy the workers one bit. 

I then took the 4 hr bus to Uyuni for my tour of the Salt flats and surrounding desert. The first day was spent in the salt admierig the vast space and taking perspective picture. That night we stayed in a hotel in a remote part of the desert that was made of salt from the flats. 

Day 2 we left the salt and explored all the crazy features of the desert. We saw lakes of blue, green, red and white, rock figures that looked like trees and faces and many other crazy scapes. That night we staied in a hostel that was very basic and cold and we only got electricity for and hour. 

The last day we set out into the freezing morning at 5 am to see the thermal geisers by sun rise and soak in the thermal baths. We then started the 500km drive back to Uyuni through the desert. Along the way we stopped at a huge canyon and volcanic rocks that looked like a ruined city and had lunch beside a lake. 

When we got back to Uyuni I hopped on a bus bound for the Bolivia/Argentina border and by the next afternoon I had crossed the border and was in Salta, Argentina out of the altitude and in the 85 degree sunshine.

La Paz

At first La Paz looked like a run down city, where all the buildings were made of the same red bricks and an oxygen tank was needed to walk to dinner. But after a week here I have come to respect and enjoy the worlds highest capital.

The morning after I arrived, I decided to take a free city tour that was run by my hostel. Normally I don't participate in these, but decided to give it a shot based on a recommendation from one of my room-mates. The 4 hour tour did not disappoint and I learned much about the Bolivian culture and why the government hates America.

On day two I took the newly opened teleférico up to the booming city of El Alto that looks down on the bowl of La Paz. They have a huge market there on Thursdays that features everything from monkeys to hand guns to a stall with singular shoes, just in case you happen to loose one in your pair.

The next morning I did a mountian bike tour of the World Deadliest Road. And as if the 3m wide unpaved road with 700m drop offs is not scary enough, we decided to go on the day that it was snowing and very foggy and rainy in lower elevations. My whole group survived but on guy from France some how lost his bike off the cliff when he fell.

I then departed for my 3D/2N climb of 6088m high, Huayna Potosi. After getting fit with all my gear we drove about 2 hours to base camp. After lunch my guide and I hiked about an hour to the lower part of the glacier to learn techiques and to practice climbing an 80 degree face of the glacier.

The next day was spent trekking to the high camp at 5200m and an early night in preparation for the climb the next morning.

On day 3 we woke up at set out at 2am to make the sunrise at the summit at 6:30am. We traversed the glacier for 4 hours in the dark, climbing ice walls, jumping over crevasses and walking rock ridges to reach the summit and the amazing views that come from 6088m. The rest of the day was spent getting down, and back to La Paz in time to catch my overnight bus to the silver mining city of Potosi.

Salkantay Trek and Lake Titicaca

Because you need to book the Inca Trail about 6 months in advance I was not able to purchase a pass and was forced to find an alternate route to Machu Picchu. I choose the 5D/4N Salkantay Trek that covered all the terrains of Peru, from the snow covered mountains to the Amazon Jungle.

Day 1: The bus left Cusco at 4am and drove us 2 hours to the town of Mollepata (2900 meters above sea level) were we ate breakfast and loaded up our pack horses with 5 kg of gear. We then began our 19km up hill journey to the Soraypampa villages (3850 meters above sea level), where we spent the night.

Day 2: We started out in the cold morning after being woken up with a hot cup of coca tea for the 4 hour assent to our highest point at Salkantay pass (4600 meters above sea level). After pictures and an offering to the mountain gods we started our 6 hour assent to Challway and our second camp (2920 meters above sea level).

Day 3: We walked though the jungle along the river for 6 hours until we reached the town of La Playa for lunch. We then took a bus to our camp-site in Santa Teresa where we dropped off our gear and donned our bathing suits for a trip to the Cocalmayo Hot Spring. That night we had a huge bon fire and played soccer against the Peruvian guides. 

Day 4: Today we said goodbye to the horses and had to carry all of our gear 18 km, first to Hydroelectrica and then on to Aguas Calientes, which is at the base of Machu Picchu. We  stayed in a hostel in Aguas Calientes and had our first shower in 4 days.

Day 5: Machu Picchu Day! We got up at 4am and climbed just under 2,000 stairs to reach the front gate of Machu Picchu to be 15th in line. This ment that when we got in, we got pictures of MP with out any people walking about.  We then explored the ruins and hiked to the Inca Bridge and the Sun Gate. The weather was perfect and my pictures looked like they were out of a guide book. I then hiked back down the stairs and took the train back to Cusco.

The next day I took an overnight bus to Puno to visit Islas Flotants de los Uros. This amazing town is build entirely on reeds from lake Titicaca and has stores restaurants and lodging. The boats that they sail on are made of the same reeds as well. 

After checking out the town of Puno for a few hours I took a bus across the border into Bolivia and to the town of Copacabana. I spent the night in the lake side town and in the morning headed to Isla del Sol. I hiked accors the length of the island seeing ruins and the towns built into the hillside overlooking the lake.

After the boat ride back to town I took a bus to the capital of Bolivia, La Paz.