After Uyuni & the Salt Flats, Bolivia, Buenos Aires & Bariloche, Argentina

*see details in Nov.29-Dec.16 entry

Hi All,
Time is extremely limited.
We are in Argentina now after having visited the southern parts of Bolivia (Salt Flats and wicked wicked open expansive spaces). Just unreal.

Well, Argentina is like a first world. It´s certainly a wonderful place to be. We spent a very brief 1.5 days in Buenos Aires and 1.5 more won´t be enough but is slated at the end of our trip.
We´re in Bariloche now (almost 8 hours) and pigged out on yummy chocolate. Twice. It´s a regular chocolate heaven. :9

We´re on our way to Chile in 2 days. And I hope to be able to write again soon.
I´m falling desperately behind on my journal, but I plan to return to it soon (Just too busy!!)

Gotta run but I´ll write more later.
xoxoxox cy
PS I´m supposed to be specific: the "we" means Evgueni and I.. in case you weren´t sure (E felt left out) :P

Puerto Maldonada, Peruvian Amazon & Cusco, Peru

Hi All,
I am in Cusco now. I´ve never taken a bumpier plane in my life. This has taken first place for freaky. Everything is fine, plane, etc. but it´s just freaky to fly over mountains - just a touch too much turbulence for me. Landing in Rio, however, still holds it´s secure first place for freaky, despite Cusco´s adventuresome landing. (eep).

Evgueni and I spent 2 wonderful days in the Amazon. Of course it only got better during our stay. We took a plane and arrived in Puerto Maldonada in the rain. The 45 minute bus ride to the river took 1h&15min as we negotiated though puddles on a dirt road. There was no view as the windows were completely foggy, no matter if you wiped them clean (good for 3 seconds) or let the dew drip the fog away. Next we took a motorized canoe for 3 hours against the 8km/hr current along a river. Since the rainy season just started the river was about 1 meter higher than usual. It was a long, cold ride. We hiked in about 15 minutes to the amazing lodge. The whole thing is open. There is a roof overhead, but we are together with the jungle! I had no problem sleeping at night, the jungle sounds lulled me to sleep. Amazon woman perhaps? Cheezy joke, I know... We had a luxurious washroom and I actually didn’t mind the cold shower.

The second night Evgueni and I discovered a really big beetle who was sharing our room (along with the other bugs of course - all overshadowed by this crazy-big beetle!!) No joke it was as long as my index finger and about an inch wide. He was stubborn and wouldn´t pose long for photos. We captured him though and will show you pics later :)

The first (early) morning in the jungle we climbed stairs past the canopy. (Very secure stairs, be assured, I wouldn´t have gone up otherwise). It was just amazing. We saw many birds (macaw’s, parrots and many I can´t think of). The misty morning dew made the beautiful scene in front of us truly magnificent. By about 7am the mist cleared and we could really see for great distances all the emergent trees (trees that extend above the canopy). The only one I could actually recognize was the Brazil nut tree and it´s sun savy vines. As for the other emergent trees, although few, I don´t know their names. Beautiful none the less.

We did a lot of hiking thought the jungle. It was wonderful. The sound of quiet was interrupted by animal sounds, fat drops of water, my feet splooshing and my breathing.

We also went to a farm where many fruits are cultivated (avocados, papaya, mango, bananas, limes, mandarin oranges, gwabana???) and several that I tasted but can´t remember ! Yikes! We also smashed open a Brazil nut shell with a big machete which then revealed a nicely organized bunch of nuts the way I´m used to seeing them in the market. (Imagine a ball with orange-like sections in it but with an additional divide through the equator). It´s funny, but I´ve never particularly liked Brazil nuts, but fresh, they are something else! They were truly delicious!! I´m a Brazil nut nut!

At night (by motorized canoe) we went searching the river for caymans. The guides spotted 2 by their red glowing eyes. I have no idea how they ever got this good unless the conspiracy of the Dutch couple traveling with us is true: they are fake caymen and the monkeys in the trees over top were pulling the strings that made the caymans move. Haha - anyway, it was fun. Pretty cool to see an endangered species in the wild. A bit like in the Galapagos!


Like I said, I am now in Cusco.
Evgueni and I explored for a day and a half. It was supposed to be a half day only, but there was a local labourers strike which impacted the daily routine hence, our Inca Trail departure was delayed by 1 day. The strike was very interesting and actually, as a (ugg - dreaded word) ´tourist´, I actually preferred the city streets being overtaken by locals- forget the cars!! It was easier to catch my breath and to acclimatize to the altitude with deep, less polluted breaths.

Anyway, if you were quick and did the math or caught the nuances between I´s and we´s you would realize that I am either writing from a palm pilot while on the Inca Trail or I’m not on it. The latter is true unfortunately.

I fell rather ill on our extra day in Cusco. It wasn´t exactly sudden as it had been a slow process which became less manageable exactly 12 hours before the (revised) intended departure. I struggled with the decision not to go, but I know my body and ignoring the signals was impossible at this point. Anyway, I am on the road to recovery. I have seen a doctor and am on 4 medications to treat ´Entamoeba hystolitica Levaduras (+++)´. A stupid amoeba.

Things are somewhat under control now as the medicine does its wonders. Evgueni was having some similar symptoms the night before but seemed okay the next day. He was fortunately - rather healthily running around on the morning of the departure. He wasn´t sure if he would do the hike or not but in the end decided he was okay and went. I´m glad for him. I will see him at Machu Picchu on the final day as I will take a train to the site and meet him there for the guided tour. I´m certain he will be shaggy (beard) as he promised and will have many stories to tell me. :)

Well, In the meantime I am here, amazed that I have hours between visiting the snazzy maroon colored porcelain in the hostel room. Can you believe they make toilets in freaky colours! I know when we lived at Banbury (the Meca of colourful porcelain), we had the canary yellow and the baby blue fixtures - but really! Sorry for any tacky graphic images that may conjure...

Anyway, I look forward to a full recovery and must credit GAP and Jesus (our wicked guide) for their help on rearranging my accommodations and travel plans and of course getting me a credible doctor to boot. The lab tests and medication were all organized smoothly and flawlessly. I feel assured that I´ve been taken care of properly. I´ve also got some very kind and sweet travel buddies who have been watching out for me. It´s been pretty good after I got over not going on the hike. (Well, I´m still getting over it to be honest...)

Anyway, enough of this,
I´ll email again soon with better, more news!

XOXOXO Cy