Kakadus

Ok, just got back from the Kakadus which was pretty amazing. We started off with a trip to this billabong where there were a load of crocdiles just sitting at the edge of the water, some were about 4 metres long and apparently there was one about 6 metres long in there that we didn't see. Then we headed to an area where there were lots of Aboriginal painting which were interesting and saw a pretty amazing sunset from a rocky outcropping where you could see for miles. We camped out and it was still so hot you just lay on top of the sleeping bag outside, lots of stars there as there is little light around. The next day we went to 2 big waterfalls, but cos it is so dry there is no water coming over them at the moment, this did mean you could swim in the pools above one of them called Jim Jim falls though which was cool. Got a bit sunburnt on my back there, but it was worth it. The last day we headed to a cultural centre which was interesting then headed to an amazing pool where you could swim which could have been on a deserted island. In a month or so it'll be full of crocodiles, but right now fortunately they can't get in it! Also saw a huge termite mound that was 6 metres tall. Trying to sort out a couple more trips in the area and then will head to Broome which is down the coast a bit.

Darwin Days

So I have made it to Australia. Not too bad a journey to Singapore as I got a few hours sleep, then 4 hours in Singapore before another 5 or so to Darwin. Arrived v early but luckily despite check-in not being till 2pm a nice bloke on reception got me a room by 8.45am. I'm still pretty jet-lagged, haven't made it out of bed before 12pm either day which is not great as I'm getting picked up to go on a 3 day trip to the Kakadu's (it's a national park with loads of waterfalls and walks) at 6.30am. Fortunately I splashed out on a nice hotel for the 1st few days so I'm going to veg by the pool this afternoon and plan my route down to Perth!

Things I've learnt so far

You don't fully appreciate toilets that flush until you don't have them. Going behind a bush is more preferable than a large number of "toilets" I used in Peru and Bolivia.

There are an insane number of football pitches in Peru and Bolivia. Everywhere that has more than a couple of houses seems to have one, even small islands in the middle of Lake Titicaca. With so many pitches you'd think they'd win a few more matches...

Despite climbing several big mountains and going paragliding I still don't like heights.

Nor do I like holding alligator-type things, but mind over matter can do amazing things.

Dynamite is surprisingly easy to buy in Bolivia.

They should probably dynamite a large number of the so-called roads there though, I still haven't recovered from the shaking my stomach took travelling from Potosi to Sucre. On the upside I did learn a good game to play when travelling in a large group, it's called Mafia.

Airport security in Peru and Bolivia is pretty slack. At one airport they pushed my bag through a non-working scanner and in another they didn't even search my stuff because I "was ok"!

I cannot salsa. I am not Peruvian and so I do not have a natural sense of rhythm. I don't think practice will help.

I have no problem spending large quantities of money even when I have no income, after all that's why they invented credit cards.

Shopping For Dynamite

No, I´m not kidding, in Potosi you can buy dynamite from stalls on the streets. Apparently it´s the done thing to buy the miners gifts before you go down the silver mine, so we ambled upto a stall and were given the standard miners gift set - stick of dynamite, ammonium nitrate, saftey fuse, detonator, cigarettes, cocoa leaves and a small bottle of 96% alcohol. Definitely not something I´ll be giving out for birthdays in England. Anyway, gifts in hand we put on some very attractive overalls and wellies along with a hard hat and a miners lamp (I was pleased to see the miners sporting the same brand!) and headed to the mine. On the way up a guy in our group called Mark jokingly asked if we should ring Insure and Go to see if we were covered...decided we weren´t, but might have some issues at Miami airport on the way home if they found traces of explosive on our clothes! The mine entrance was pretty small, a few guys came out pushing a cart of silver whcih weighed 2 tonnes full and 500kg empty, though you woulnn´t know by the way they were hauling it about. Headed in the mine and it was pretty dark and a little hard to breathe, but soon we headed down a side passage where there was a 100m hole down to the next level. The miners go down a leather and wood ladder that didn´t look like it would hold much, but fortunately we were staying on the top level. Also saw a devil that the miners worship and so we made an offering to that of cigarettes, alcohol and cocoa leaves and hedaded up to a rock face. En route we heard about 20 explosions that made the floor vibrate a bit, but strangely you get used to them. It was pretty grim and the miners were shovelling a load of rock in the hope that there was some silver in it. Apparently some miners do well out of the mine by owning several patches and renting them out, but most spend all there money on drink. On the way out we were told to cover our moyçuths and noses at one point, though I never did find out why. Was just happy to get out of there ok and be thankful that it wasn´t a job I´d ever have to do. Several of the miners were students who went to school in the morning then mined in the afternoon, a bizarre existence to say the least. On another strange note, when we got back into town, the stall that had sold us the dynamite was now selling bananas!
The next day we went to a very cold museum at the old mint where we were shown round by a guide who said he hated tourists then headed to Sucre. The bus broke down on the way, but I was glad cos it meant we changed buses and I no longer had a small child kicking me in the back the whole time!
Sucre is probaby the nicest Bolivian place I´ve been to. Most of the buildings in the centre have to be painted white due toi a local law and it´s pretty nice to look at. Went to the market and then on a city tour which took in the world´s largest collection of dinosaur footprints - which is at a cement works. The prints are all on a quarry wall, but you can´t get close anymore cos they´ve just built a dodgy theme park called "Parc Cretacious" or something whcih is basically lots of models of dinosaurs and a museum that isn´t open yet. It´s a bit surreal, but the hundreds of kids there seemed to like it. Today I decided to go paragliding. yet another thing I don´t think my travel insurance covers, but it seemed like a good idea at the time and was after the initial nereves was really good. Got a good run and jump off the mountain and was soon flying aorund quite happily in tandem with one of the best paragliders in Bolivia. It was very tranquil as there is no noise except the wind and the scenery there is amazing. Alas it was over too soon, but I might have to do it again sometime. Today is the last day in Sucre and I fly back to England on Sunday, so we´ve got a big night planned tonight...

Welcome to Bolivia

So the journey to Bolivia was interesting. The bus wasn´t the best, but was ok, took about 3 hours to get to the border. You just go in a queue, get your passport stamped, change some money, then walk under an arch across the border, then go get your passport stamped on the Bolivian side...there are no guards stopping you on either side and no-one checks you´ve had anything stamped either side. I guess people come and go alot, so they´re not that fussed. Bizarrely we had to go through seperately from out tour leaders Lula and Paula as apparently the Bolivians get annoyed with Peruvians leading tours in their country, so Lula nad Paula had to pretend they were just travelling for fun! had a bit more fun when they suddenly decided we needed to get on a different bus bus which was v small and one of our group ended u wich a bloke basically hugging her for the whole trip to Copacabana where we were going to have lunch. Alas it´s not the nice Brazilian Copacabana and doesn´t even have Barry Manillow. We had a meal in a reaturant which was to re-visit me later and then just about got on another bus to La Paz. The bolivians think nothing of selling too many tickets for buses and another group had a massive argument will the bus company which Lula had to go sort out as she spoke english and spanish. Set off to cross a narrow bit of the lake where the bus got put on a barge and we had to take another boat cos it´s too dangerous to go with the bus as it may capsize. Fortunatley it didn´t and we got to La Paz that evening relatively intact. It was the last day of the tour for a lot of people and Andrea´s birthday so we went out for a meal at a place called Mongos. It was a very amusing evening and good food and a nice end to the trip. Alas that night I got pretty sick, we think from the lunch, probably the pizza as a few others got ill. Spent the day feeling rubbish, but still went on a city tour and to the Valley of the Moon which is a sand formation at the edge of the city and does indeed look like it could have come from the moon. Also met the new group for Bolivia that night and discovered that we weren´t leaving the next evening, but the next morning. Everyone seemed cool though. Had a mad night as for some reason they were celebrating the name of the street. They have a lot of celebrations in Bolivia, I think cos it´s not the best place to live! It went on till 12pm, but I think we got off lightly as apparently they had another celebration the next night which went on for 12 hours!
The next day took a 3 hour coach ride and a 7 hour train ride to Uyuni which has nothing going for it other than it´s next to these amazing Salt Flats.

The Salt flats are amazing, a lot of time spent in 4x4´s but was worth it for the scenery. Spent the 1st couple of days seeing amzing coloured lakes, mountains , mad rocks in teh shape of trees and lots of flamingos. Accomodation was a bit basic and outside was about -20 celcius on the 1st night, but 2nd place had beer, so that was ok.Got up v early to go to the Salt Flats yesterday (4am) and watched sunrise over what´s best described as an island of cactii in the middle of a sea of white, was amazing and then did some funny photos before a few of the guys got to drive the 4x4´s. One girl,Rachel drove ours and got a load of speed out of it, overtook the others, but their car was a bit newer, so could go faster. Was v good fun though especially as there was no speedometer. Anyway, that was great, but then we had the worst coach journey i´ve ever been on...we had the coach to ourseves, but it was sooooo bumpy you can´t imagine and my insides felts like they were being liquidised for 7 hours. Go here to Potosi just about intact though and ate at the one nice restaurant. Heading to the Salt mine this afternoon which should be fun.

Water water everywhere

Ok, it´s been a while, through a combo of laziness, illness and remoteness!
Got to Puno ok, it was a bit of a trek and only 1 dodgy toilet stop during the 6 hours, but not too bad. Puno is a bit of a dive, about 2 decent restaurants, a nice cake shop (I recommend the chocolate cake) and a dubious market. Fortunately all we did the 1st day was eat in teh afternoon then crash out. The next day got up early to get a boat to some islands in Lake Titicaca. They are about 3 hours boat ride away, so had a bit of a dodgy time gettign there as it was windy, but no-one (not even the 4 hung-over aussies we picked up) chucked, so that was good. The 1st Island was Taquille Island, it´s a community of about 3000 who run their island as a co-operative. They have very good knittwear and woven stuff, but I was a bit broke at the time, so just boaght a headband type thing. Anyway, all the restaurants on the island sell exactly the same food for the same price so no-one throws a strop, it´s a bit wierd to be told that all you can have is Quniau soup (like cous-cous) and trout or a veggie tortilla, but it was nice and keeps them all happy, so was fine. Then we headed to Amantani Island for a homestay with a local family. Our guy was called Cesar(can´t remember his wife´s name) and had 4 kids from 4 to 16. They lived up a very steep hill and it was at 4,100m, so despite surviving teh Lares Trek we were all a bit knackered by the time we got to the house. They get a lot of tourists, but spread them around the families, so they get 2 or 3 groups a month. it is a traditional village and most of them still work in agriculture just up the mountain so have a subsistence style lifestyle. Still, our place had electricity via solar panels, but not all did. They didn´t use the electricity much, only for lights for a couple of hours in the evening. The mother still cooks on a stove and the toilet is a hut that you have to fluch water down to flush which was pretty grim. still they were v nice and fortunatley spoke spanish as well as Chechquia (bad spelling of local language). The locals took on the visitors at football, which was funny - everywhere in Peru no matter how small has a football pitch - then we hit the most interesting part. We had to dress up in traditional dress of 2 skirts, a blouse, a coloured belt and a head scarf. Ours stank. It was really unpleasant, but very funny. the guys got away lightly, all they had to wear was a poncho and a hat, but a few of the guys from the other group wore dresses anyway which amused teh locals! There was a traditional dnace that we went to where we had to dance with the family, it was a pretty basic dance but they go on for about 10mins, which is pretty gruelling at altitude. Anyway the next day we headed off to another set of islands which were made of Reeds. Apparently the islands last for 100years and then they get so thick they hit the bottom of the lake and get used for farming. Anyway they are a bit mad to be on, they have a post office and some schools and have a great method of fixing neighbour disputes - they just get a long knife and cut the island in half! Unfortunately this happens a bit more now as the tourism industry has divided a lot of the people. We got to go in a reed canoe as well which was fun before heading back to puno to a nice restaurant and a bit of a sleep before heading off the next day for Bolivia.