Dead Woman´s Pass (and I probably won't)

Ah crap, have much catching up to do so shall synopsize dramatically.

The most disturbing thing that I have done since I last blogged was venture into the Potosi silver mines. The dust, naturally occurring arsenic on the walls, claustrophobia, plus the hard physical effort of hauling oneself from level to level whilst breathing in pure silica made it one of the most traumatising things I have ever done. To think that the youngest person working in the mine is eight years old is mine boggling. The conditions were inhuman.

Mike, Aoife and I met up with our Budget Expeditions La Paz to Bolivia trip on January 24th. In the day preceeding this, however, we had time to book into the wrong hotel and for Mike to get pickpocketed in the middle of Alasitas (The Festival of Plenty) celebrations. Unfortunately for our opportunistic light fingered Bolivian of crime, all that was in the wallet was an expired credit card. We also got given fake mini 200 euro notes by a friendly Bolivian and wished fervently that they were real.

Our tour group is a genial mix of people, including a Welsh hating Cornish gardener and several Aussies who say things like ´blotto!´and also swim in Lake Titicaca.

We spent a night with a Peruvian family last night on an isolated island in the middle of Lake Titicaca which was an experience and a half. They cook for you and put you up and you give them food based gifts in return. Our ´mother´ Celia, very sweetly danced with us all in the community hall after we had dressed up in traditional clothing. Our skirts would twirl pleasantly but the thick felt-like material detracted from any kind of overt sexuality. As did the boys' ponchos. The lake was stunning and we had a lovely boat ride to the islands and back from Puno.

The Inca Trail on Wednesday. Apparently chewing coca leaves can thin your blood, allowing it to absorb more oxygen. I imagine that this might be necessary, particularly on Day 2 as we climb solidly uphill for four hours until we reach the section called Dead Woman´s Pass.

Llama Llama Llama Llama Llama Chameleon

I finally saw llamas! In fact, I have now seen lots of them, being in the highlands and all. I am actually in Potosi, officially the highest city in the world. It is over 4000 metres above sea level which means that even the simplest tasks (like putting on a jumper) can leave you uncomfortably out of breath.

Potosi is, however, probably one of the saddest places that you'll ever go to, predominantly because in the 16th century, when the Spanish discovered that the neighbouring mountain Cerro Rico was the world's richest silver deposit, an estimated eight million black and Indian slaves died in what were appalling conditions in the mines. Collapses were regular, but more often than enough, it was the use of mercury and noxious gases that brought on a simultaneously long and short death. Freeman and I are going into the mines tomorrow which will most likely be harrowing enough without imagining eight million ghosts pursuing us in the tunnels.

That said, the city now still has remnants of its old colonial glory, which are great to enjoy if you're not clutching your chest and wondering where all the oxygen went.

I have become quite addicted to coca tea. Apparently, thanks to the U.S government, all coca and its derivatives (from the apparently innocent, such as tea to the less innocent but much-in-demand-in-the-West cocaine) is completely illegal. Despite this, Mike is still trying to work out ways to sneak coca liquor back to Ireland / Canada. The rest of us have sensibly decided on alpaca products.

Music Videos That Are More Dramatic Than Death

Aoife, Mike and I boarded a bus from Salta, Argentina at about 10pm last night. The night before, we had spent on an overnight bus from Resistencia. Salta was spent wandering around in an icecream fueled daze (Aoife ordered a quarter of a kilo of icecream, protesting 'I didn't know that it would be that much!'). Anyhow, we made it to La Quiaca, the border town, and legged it, with some friendly Bolivians, to the border. Crossing the border was easy - no fruit and vegetable checks unlike those hyper-vegetation-aware Argentines.

We then belted it for a 7am bus to Tupiza, where we now lazily reside, trying to adjust to the altitude and the bad reggaeton music. I have never been to a continent where the accordion and panpipes are so prevalent, and my dad likes a good rousing accordion performance from time to time.

Bolivia is beautiful - we´re actually in the town where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their final demise. Tomorrow, we´re going horse riding through real cowboy territory, for 7 hours. My butt cringes at the thought.

The blog title refers to over dramatic foreign music videos. We were in a Korean restaurant in Christchurch and we watched a big screen which was playing a DVD consisting entirely of these kind of videos. This is the basic plot - a man falls in love with a woman. Mafia are involved. There is a bad punch up. Someone dies. A horse runs thoughtfully through a field. It rains. An orchestra appears. There is a beach. The dead body gets washed out to sea. I thought that this might have been an Asian thing but we witnessed the South American version today. Less gangsters, maybe, but a similar plot/timeline. It is super entertaining to watch when you´re drinking your semi illegal coca tea.

Limpio!

Ha! Limpio sounds rather rude but it is actually the Spanish word for clean. It´s probably my favourite word so far but I haven´t had the opportunity to put it into a sentence yet, such as 'él bano es limpio'. Time shall hopefully bring with it such wordy treasures.

I haven´t been near a computer in a long time, predominantly because after a whirlwind, fantastic five days in Buenos Aires, we caught a bus to Mercedes and then on to Carlos Pellegrini. Carlos Pellegrini is a tiny village in the middle of nowhere which is significant only for its location next to the amazing Ibera Laguna National Park, a cornucopia of wildlife. Our bus ride to CP was an event in itself, a 140km dirt road in an old bus full of Argentines sharing mate and the like. We passed several wild deer and capybaras (the world´s largest, and probably cutest rodent´. We didn´t have hot water, the t'internet or anything remotely luxurious but we did have an absolutely incredible time. We went on several boat trips onto the laguna, getting to see more capybaras, caymans (a type of alligator), all kinds of amazing birds such as eagles, southern screamers, storks...it was stunningly beautiful. Probably our favourite place so far.

Mike and I went horse riding through the countryside and Mike's horse in a moment of unbridled disobedience, decided to drag him through a thorny tree, resulting in him being covered in scratches and horse fear. We also did a night safari in the back of an old truck and saw more cool animals (David Attenborough, protect your job!) such as foxes, marsh deer, caymans playing on the road, raccoon like creatures, bats, fireflies and owls. The night safari was notable for the insects - large stag beetles would fly into your face as soon as the animal spotting spotlight was shone anywhere near your face. We couldn´t speak for fear of getting more than our day´s worth of protein.

Leaving CP was sad, and we´re now in Resistencia, with all mod-cons. My favourite moment of a long day's bus ride yesterday was when our bus broke down; the next thing we saw was our bus driver riding off into the proverbial sunset on the back on a truck, without even a whisper of an announcement. It was a moment for reflection, and to get off the horrendously hot bus and hide in some bamboo until his return.

We will be in Argentina for the next few days and then we're crossing the border into Bolivia, land of ridiculously high altitude and many stories of food poisoning.

Balcony Induced Warblings

Buenos Aires! After a long, temperature-ly uneven bus journey from Mendoza, we have made it to the city of tango, massive cow consumption and, of course, Eva Peron. We are staying in a hostel on the Avenida De Mayo and we have our own balcony, which makes for inspired singing of ´Don´t Cry For Me Argentina´ whilst cats wail frantically below.

Buenos Aires is truly beautiful. The architecture is stunning. In fact, there is a building just across the road from us which is meant to represent Dante´s Inferno, a guaranteed nightmare inducer. Mike, Aoife and I are simply soaking up the atmosphere, the memories of which will undoubtedly cheer us as we hike our way up the Inca Trail, dizzy from altitude sickness and llama exposure.

Before we left Mendoza, we did a BikesandWine tour which is exactly what is proposes - a 12km cycle through the wineries of Mendoza, upon a bicycle. It began well, and ended with some uneven steering and a broken bike chain (Mike). We also went on a trek to see Aconcagua, the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas. We were at an altitude of 2800 metres, which was enough to have an effect. Imagine abandoning your frontal lobe then going for a walk along a dusty, mule strewn path whilst wondering if your breath will ever return. Hint: it doesn´t. We began to envision a Crash! kind of scenario, where we become so insane from the altitude that you begin to wonder what your friends taste like. Well, Aoife did.

Speaking of Miss Bole, she had a classic moment today, as we wandered down the Avenida de Florida (shopping galore). We came across a shop which was entitled ´Casa Lopez´. Aoife then guilelessly enquired ´Does this have anything to do with Jennifer Lopez?´. According to her, Jennifer Lopez now has her own lucrative chain of leather stores in Buenos Aires. She is truly an outstanding entrepreneur.