Puno

After Isla del Sol we left Bolivia and on the way to Arequipa (Peru) we stopped in Puno to change buses and during the 4 hour stop we´ve visited floating islands, islands that are made by people living on them.

Short stop = short text :)

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Po navsteve slunecniho ostrova (Isla del Sol) jsme opustili Bolivivi a po ceste do Arequipy (Peru) jsme zmenili autobus a v ramci 4-hodinove zastavky jsme navstivili plovouci ostrovy, ostrovy ktere jsou postaveny lidmi kteri na nich ziji.

Kratka zastavka = kratky prispevek :)

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Local boat on islands|Mistni lod na osrovech
One paddle was abndoned, so Jana helped|Jedno padlo bylo volne tak Janca pomohla
Houses on islands|Domky na ostrovech

Copacabana and Isla del Sol | Copacabana a Slunecni Ostrov

The final trip in Bolivia was to Isla del Sol. According to mythology that is the place where the sun was born. It´s a beautiful little island with pre-inca ruins where tourists go for a day trip or some of them opt to stay overnight as we did. From the last city on Bolivian side of the Lake Titicaca, called Copacabana, the island is about two and half hours by little slow ferry.
First afternoon we just walked around and watched stunning sunset from the restaurant on the ridge. I have to say there was great food too - trout - and the wine was even better! I think we ate trout problably five times in two days there, always prepared in different ways - yummy!

Second day we watched sunrise from our bed and seeing how sun was rising up behind the mountains was almost as good as the sunset. Have a look at some photos and decide...

The whole island is not big, you can cross it probably in four hours from South to North or via versa. There were two routes, one along the coast (can you call it coast if it´s a lake?) and second on the top. You can guess which one we took... The ruins on the north were impressive, especially as it was our first real encounter with pre-inca architecture. I still wonder how they could build such impresive buildings, so complex and remote.

Otherwise there is no running water in the island and terrain is very hilly so locals have to carry water all way up (most of them live towards the top of the island) and due to lively tourism it seems each house has either lodge, restaurant of both. Unfortunately most of those are empty and having visitors from time to time only. Bolivia is not as touristy as their neighbour, Peru. Bolivia was great and we truly love it.

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Posledni vylet v Bolivii byl na Isla del Sol, neboli Ostrov, kde se narodilo slunce.
Je to nadherny ostrov s predinkovskyma ruinama, kam turiste jezdi bud na celodenni vylet nebo zustanou pres noc, stejne jako jsme to udelali i my. Ostrov je vzdaleny priblizne 2,5 hodiny velmi pomalou lodi z Copacabany, coz je posledni mesto na bolivijske strane jezera Titicaca.

Prvni odpoledne jsme jen tak trajdali po ostrove a nakonce pozorovali fantasticky zapad z restaurace na hrebeni. Musim dodat ze ne jen zapad slunce byl bajecny, ale ani jidlo nemelo chybu. A k tomu jeste vynikajici vino. Za ty dva dny jsme meli pstruha tak 5x - a vzdycky pripraveneho jinym zpusobem.

Druhy den jsme pozorovali vychod slunce z postele a jak zacalo vykukovat zpoza hor, nevim co bylo lepsi, jestli vychod nebo zapad. Kouknete na fotky a rozhodnete sami.

Ostrov sam o sobe neni velky, da se prejit behem ctyr hodin - bud se chodi z jihu na sever (to jsme sli my) anebo obracene, coz delaji nekteri turisti (vysadi se lodi rano na severu a odpoledne naskoci do lodi na jihu). Vedou tam dve pesiny, jedna hned okolo brehu, druha po hrebanu. Asi uhadnete, kterou jsme sli my... Ruiny byly obdivuhodne, asi hlavne proto, ze to bylo nase prvni skutecne setkani s predinkovskou architekturou. Porad mi nejde do hlavy, jak to dokazali v te dobe vubec postavit a ze to jeste vsechno drzi pohromade. Vzdyt to pochazi nekdy z 15. stoleti...

Jinak na ostrove neni tekouci voda a cely ostrov je hodne clenity. Mistni musi tahat vodu do kopce a reknu vam, jenom tam slapat, clovek se celkem zadycha - je to pres 3.600 metru nad morem. Taky se zda, ze kazda domacnost ma bud restauraci, ubytovani nebo oboji. Bohuzel vetsina z nich zeje prazdnotou a ma navstevniky jednou za cas.
Bolivie neni tak turisticka jako jeji soused Peru. V Bolivii se nam moc libilo a nechtelo se nam ji opoustet.

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Cathedral in Copacabana|Katedrala v Copacabane
On the island ridge|Na ostove na hrebeni
Sunset on the island|Zapad slunce na ostrove
Inca ruins Chincana|Incke ruiny Chincana

Rurrenabarque - Pampa and Jungle | Rurrenabarque - Pampa a Dzungle

Trip to Rurrenabarque was a highlight of our trip so far and we have enjoy every (almost) minute of it. We wished to try to get to Rurre by bus which takes 18 hours. We thought that would be an adventure. Who would go for a boring 45 minutes flight? I was wrong, flight with local aerolines doesn´t have to be boring at all, but that comes at the end. Let´s start at the beginning.

After they have tried a well-known trick at the bus stop - 'sir, could you please help me....' one guy was asking Michal and in the meantime the other guy went straight for our bags - but we caught the sight of other guy and saved our bags (they didn´t know what was inside so they would most likely steal the bag with all food for our 18hours journey) - we have finally left La Paz with 2 hours delay. We thought we had a good seats - second row on the right side of the bus (they use something like double-deckers here, usually you sit quite high and have a good view). At the moment when asphalt road finished and dusty unsealed road started, driver changed the side and started to drive on the left side of the road ?!? We didn´t understand why, because on the left side was just a very deep gorge ... tens and sometimes hundreds of meterers under the road. Why he was voluntarily driving on left, closer to the ´void´? The answer is very simple - because the driver sits on the left side, he can see how many (centi)metres he has to the edge. and we in the front part of the bus, have seen our part of the bus over the edge. To make it less boring, there were also cars, trucks and buses from the other direction and the road was seldomlu wide enough for both, so you can often see drivers negotiation on the road, which vehicle will have to reverese to the closest part wide enough for both directions. As they are stuck there are more cars coming and excesising their horns and then all those cars are manoeuvreing and try to pass. Michal said he would allowed bikers on this road, but not cars and buses. Sometimes he has tried to hold by diferent parts of the bus, maybe hoping to help balancing the bus. Fortunatelly it got dark after some time and assuming we got off this road, we have slept until the next morning.

And then the real adventure started - trip to Pampa and Jungle. Firstly we had some rain - good for change. But because there is no asphalt on the roads there, the 3hr drive to the river became really interesting. We wer in jeep but the deep muddy tracks were making it jumping from left to right, but when we have got to one bus across the road, we had to wait until locals with showel, picks and some other simple tools have helped it out back to the road. And it took them less then half-an-hour! And then we got there. We knew we would see aligators, kaymans, river dolphins, anaconda and different birds, but the reality was much better than our expectation, they were every couple of meters, sometimes less then meter of our boat. We learned to distingusish aligators from black kaymans, that are sometimes really scary - biggest maybe over 4 meters long. All around different birds and monkeys, together with aligators and kaymans co-existing Capybaras. Andf between them river dolphins - we have even swimmed in the river with them. Dolphins protect their teritory so although some aligators were less than 20m away, we trusted our guide Negro that it is safe. Negro itself is a legend, guiding in Pampa for last 18 years. Also we have seen two anacondas and fished piranhas, but they were quite small with not too much meat. And all of that on one narrow river. And on the way back we have seen tapeer, quite rare to be seen next to the river.

After 3 days in Pampa we went to the Jungle. It was also fine, but not as excellent as Pampa. This time we have guide just for us two and he was describing to us almost every plant and tree, all diferent ants and termits, monkeys, some spiders - at night we went to see tarantulas, but we have found only small ones. First night we slept in the hut next to the river, the second night on the ground in the deep forest in some kind of camp, just under the mosquito net, with all the sound of the jungle around us. Also we have seen wild pigs every day, sometimes bunch of them as close as 20m. On the way back to the river we have seen heaps of parrots in one of the cliffs - Red-Green Macaws, allegedly the biggest existing parrots. They live mostly in one pair for their whole life.

The last think of this trip to be mentioned is the return flight from Rurrenabaque to La Paz. Firstly we didn´t want to spend another 18hrs in bus, secondly we hoped we would see Huyana Potosi (that we have climbed on the beggining of the trip) from the close distance from the plane. But the weather was not with us, visibility was quite poor and the flight was a bit wild - the plane was just for 18 passengers so you can imagine how small it was) and all 25 minutes of the 45ti minutes fligh I was thinking if I would need to use the sick bag or i I am brave enough to ´keep it in´. Although completely green, I have made it without incident. Much worse than noat on whale-watching trip or any landing in Wellington!

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Vylet do Rurrenabaque a mistni dzungle a hlavne pampy byl uzasnou teckou za pobytem v Bolivii. Touha vyzkouset si 18ti hodinovou cestu autobusem byla silnejsi nez nudny (oh jak jsme se mylila - let vubec nemusi byt nudny!) 45ti minutovy let s mistnima aerolinkama.

Po te, co na nas vyzkouseli fintu - 'pane prosim vas, muzete mi poradit?' a mezitim druhy kumpan bleskurychle bere vsechno co vidi - ale nas postreh byl lepsi nez jejich napad - jsme asi po dvouhodinovem zpozdeni vyrazili. Mysleli jsme si, jak mame dobre sedadlo, druhou radu napravo ve vysokem autobuse (neco podobneho jako dvoupatrovy doma)... V momente kdy skoncila asfaltova cesta a prijeli jsme na neco, co byste doma ztezi nazvali polnackou, ridic najednou zmenil stranu a najednou misto vpravo jel vlevo. Nechapali jsme proc, protoze nalevo byla jen hluboka propast... Desitky, nekde i stovky metru pod nami, proste doura az dolu. Proc se dobrovolne tlaci doleva, bliz k te propasti? Odpoved byla neskutecne jednoducha. Protoze on sedi nalevo a vidi kolik (centi)metru jeste muze ke kraji. My ostatni akorat videli, jak ten autobus precniva pres okraj a pod nama ta doura! Aby to nebylo az tak nudne, dalsi auta, nakladaky a autobusy samozrejme prijizdela v protismeru a malokdy byla silnice dost siroka pro dve vozidla. Ridici vystupuji a domlouvaji se, kdo z nich to ma bliz k dostatecne siroke casti pro oba smery a kdo bude couvat. Mezitim prijizdeji dalsi, vsichni troubi (jakoby se tim neco vyresilo) a tak v tech krkolomnych zatackach 4 auta ci busy manevruji a zkouseji se vejit... Michal prohlasil, ze na tu silnici by pustil mozna tak motorkare, ale auta a autobusy? Obcas se take intuitivne chytal vseho okolo, asi v nadeji, ze to lip vyvazi :o)Nastesti po par hodinach se setmelo a my predpokladame, ze jsme sjeli z teto silnice a opustili vsechny ty srazy. Kazdopadne uz jsme se tim netrapili a spali az do rana. O asfalt jsme uz vice nezavadili...

A pak zacalo to opravdove dobrodruzstvi - vylet do pampy a dzungle. Taky nam poprve prselo. Prijemna zmena. Akorat tim, ze zadna cesta nema asfalt, se 3 hodinovy presun k rece, stal opravdovym zazitkem. Myslim, ze jet v hlubokem snehu je mnohem jednodussi. Meli jsme jeep, takze ten ty hluboke koleje celkem zvladal, sice to nim a nama pekne hazelo, ale kdyz se autobus zasprajcnul pres celou siri cesty a oni se marne snazili krumpacem a lotatou problem odstranit, moc jsme neverili, ze k rece dojedeme. Podarilo se. A pak to prislo. Vedeli jsme ze uvidime aligatory a kajmany a ptaky a delfiny a anakondy, ale ze jich bude tak moc a tak blizko, to nas vubec nenapadlo. Prvniho aligatora jsme videli asi po 10ti metrech ve vode. A pak uz byli s nama celou cestu, kazdych 10 nebo 20 metru byl aspon jeden, vetsinou ale mnohem vic. Obcas na nas koukali jen tak ze brehu, obcas byli pul metru od nasi lodky. Naucili jsme se rozeznavat je od cernych kajmanu, kteri jsou jeste strasidelnejsi. Nejvetsi mohli mit pres 4 metry. Vsude litali hromady ruznych ptaku, skakali opice, spolu s aligatorama a kajmanama si tam spokojene ziji kapybary a ricni delfini. S tema jsme si skocili do reky a plavali. Aligatori nas pozorovali z bezpecne (???) vzdalenosti 20ti metru. Pry si delfini brani svoje uzemi a aligatory by na nej nepustili... Verili jsme pruvodci Negrovi, ktery uz tam vozi turisty a sam se koupe minimalne poslednich 18 let... Negro sam o sobe je legenda, ale o tom asi az nekdy osobne. Asi by se rozkriklo, kdyby se jim ztraceli turisti :o). A taky dve anakondy jsme videli a pirane chytali. Byly ale takove male, moc masa na nich nebylo. A to vsechno v jedne rece! A taky jsme videli tapira, coz bylo pry uplne jedinecne, protoze ten se vidi na brehu reky tak 3x rocne.

Po 3 dnech v pampe jsme vyrazili do dzungle. Ta byla taky fajn, ale pampe se vyrovnat nemohla. Zase meli jsme pruvodce jen pro sebe a ten nam popisoval kdyjakou rostlinu a strom, vsechny druhy mravencu a termitu, opic, nejake ty pavouky - v noci jsme vyrazili na tarantule, ale nasli jsme jenom 2 takove mensi. Prvni noc jsme spali na taboristi u reky, coz byl takovy normalni kemp s houpacima sitema a asi i nejakyma breberkama, protoze od te doby nas furt neco zere. Druhou noc jsme zasli dal do dzungle a spali jen tak pod siti, na zemi a vsude okolo ty ruzne zvuky zvirat, ktere jsme nedokazali identifikovat. A kazdy den jsme videli divoke prasata, tak na 20 metru. Na ceste zpatky jsme se zastavili na skale, odkud bylo videt moc papousku, Macau cerveno-zeleni, jsou snad nejvetsi papousci co existuji. Pry jsou castecne podobni lidem, ziji v parech, cely zivot s jednim partnerem.

Za zminku uz snad jen stoji ten zpatecni let z Rurrenabaque do La Paz. Jednak uz se nam nechtelo travit dalsich 18h v autobuse a druhak jsme doufali, ze uvidime Huyana Potosi (kterou jsme si vylezli na zacatku nasi cesty) z letadla. Pocasi nam nepralo, videt nebylo nic, hrozne to houpalo - letadlo bylo pro 18 pasazeru, takze si dovedete predstavit jaky to byl prcek) a ja se dobrych 25 minut z 45ti minutoveho letu trapila otazkou, jestli budu muset pouzit nouzovy pytlik nebo jestli budu hrdina a udrzim to. Vyhrala jsem. Sice jsme pry byla zelena, ale rozdychala jsem to! Mnohem horsi nez lod na velrybach nebo jakekoliv pristani ve Wellingtonu!

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Capybara|Kapybara
Blue Heron|Modry Heron
Anaconda|Anakonda
Eagle|Orel
Turtles|Zelvy
Just fished piranha|Certsve ulovena Pirana
Pink river dolphin|Ruzovy ricni delfin
Yellow monkeys|Zlute opice
Aligator
Parrots|Papousci
Catepilar in the jungle|Housenka v dzungli
Spider monkey in the hut|Opice v chate
Plane back to La Paz|Letadlo zpatky do La Paz

Tupiza, Salar de Uyuni, Potosi

From La Paz we went on bus down to Oruro and then further south by the train to Tupiza, where we arrived at 4am. Short note for the train - we travelled 1st class, the coach was fantastic, enough space for your legs, reclining seats, TV, refresment etc. It´s was real luxury. After some sleep we did horse trip to surrounding canyons and hills full of cactuses. I´ve (Jana) got horse walker. He didn´t respond to any commands and kept walking. No chance of trot. At the end he decided to listed at least chucking of our guide, his owner. Michal was troting like real Indian. I manage with my poor Spanish to persuade guide to swap the horse with him. Horse responded immediately and within a moment he went from trot to gallop. To stop him I had to react like a real cowboy (not that I have done that in the past! Never) and pull rein firmly. It felt good. But guide got to scarred and gave me back my horse-walker. At the end we become friends and manage to trot all the way back.

Following day we started 4-day trip in jeeps across the altiplano around vulcanoes and salt flats, all quite high, between 3,500 and 5,000 m. Really interesting, first few days it looked like a Dessert Road in New Zealand, later on the landscape has changed to agoons full of flamengos and finally at the end we crossed some huge salt flats, cactus islands etc. The best were flamengos and salt flats where they collect the salt. Somewhere there is only 20 cm of the salt, somewhere else up to 100 metres. The trip took over 900 km, so we were really glad for any opportunity to do some walks (eventhough the gtound was really cold). For flamengos and cactuses we used probably the whole memory card of the camera. I´m looking forward to see all the photos. And we have slept in salt beds - beds actually made from salt blocks.

The trip finished in freezing Uyuni where we had to wait the whole afternoon for the bus to Potosi, which eventually arrived with 1.5h delay. At 3 am we have arrived to the highest located city of the world - 4,100 metres above sea level. (How do I miss Wellington´s 0 metre above sea level! - much more easy to breathe). Michal has last few days diarrhoea, so he´s proud of getting slimmer and slimmer. I was in similar situation couple of times already. Yesterday we visited local silver mines, where they are mining for over 400 years now and that was a real experience. They have started mining by the time Spanish occupied the Bolivia and from than not much have changed. Dynamite and shovel are still the most important tools for their daily work. Miners work between 10 - 24 hours a day, usually without leaving the mountain. They survive on coca (the leaves, which they chew - tea from coca is very popular and helps to overcome problems with high altitute), cigarettes, alcohol and soft drinks. In the mountain they have little chapels where they pray, places where they workship they god of mountain and all of them look very happy and friendly. I have to say I haven´t seen more smiling bolivians than inside the Cerro Rico mountain. Although the fame for Potosi is over - in year 1650 it was the biggest city of the world and the richest city of the Americas - there is still plenty to see. Beautiful architecture, about 80 churches and cathedrals, the mint etc.

We´d like to keep going to Sucre, but there is a blockade on the road as well as rail so we have to change the plans and go back to La Paz... From there off to lowlands to jungle and pampas.

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Z La Paz jsme vyrazili v utery rano autobusem do Oruro a odtamtud vlakem dal na jih do Tupizy, kam jsme dorazili asi ve 4 rano. Kratka poznamka k vlaku - jeli jsme prvni tridou, teda luxus nejvetsi. Hromada mista na nohy, polohovaci sedacky, televize, obcerstveni behem cesty. Krom toho, ze s nama jel vagon zabozroutu (cituju Michala) a ti se obcas rozhodli vetrat v nejprasnejsi casti cesty a prach byl vsude, si nemuzeme stezovat.

Ubytovali jsme se a vyspali, a odpoledne vyjeli a 5-ti hodinovou vyjizku na koni do okolnich kanonu a kopcu posetych kaktusy. Ja dostala kone chodce, ktery zaryte odmital jakekoliv pobizeni a nakonec teda aspon reagovala na mlaskani panicka vzadu. Misa si klusal o 106. Ja jsem jednou vymenila kone s pruvodcem a chtela si vyzkouset, jestli reaguje na povely. Reagoval. V cuku lete presel z klusu do cvalu a ja brzdila jak pravy indian. Pak se pruvodce vylekal a dostala jsem zase kone chodce, ale zkamaradili jsme se a klusali jsme vetsi cast cesty zpatky.

Dalsi den jsme zacali 4-denni vylet v dzipech na nahorni planinu, sopky a solne plane, vsechno docela vysoko, mezi 3,500 a 5,000m. Docela zajimave, prvnich par dni neco jako Desert road na Zelandu, potom laguny plne plamenaku, no a nakonec obrovska solna plan, kaktusove ostrovy a tak ... Nejlepsi byli plamenaci a ty solne plane. Obrovska plocha, kde se tezi sul. Nekde je vrstva jen 20ti cm, jinde az pres 100 metru. Nasedeli jsme v dzipu pres 900 km, takze jsem byla rada za kazdou moznost prochazky. Na plamenacich a kaktusech jsme vypraskali asi celou kartu. To budou obrazky! Jo a spali jsme na slanych postelich - kvadry soli poskladane do tvaru postele.

Tura koncila v Uyuni, kde jsme museli preckat odpoledne cekanim na nocni autobus do Potosi, ktery nakonec odjel s 1.5h zpozenim, ale ve 3 rano jsme sem dojeli, do nejvyse polozeneho mesta na svete ve cca 4,100m. Poslednich par dnu mam (M) docela slusny prujem, takze hubnu jak zakon kaze (pozn Jana - ja uz ho mela aspon 2x). Vcera jsme se byli podivat do mistnich stribrnych dolu, kde se tezi uz pres 400 let a to byl docela zazitek. Zacalo se tu tezit za Spanelu a od te doby se podminky moc nezmenily. Dynamit, lopata jsou porad nejdulezitejsi soucasti prace v hore. Lidi pracujou mezi 10-24 hodinama denne, vetsinou bez opusteni dolu. Prezivaji na koka (takove listi, ktere se zvyka - taky caj z koky pomaha na prekonani problemu s vyskou a vsichni ho tu furt piji, nebo tu koku zvykaji), cigaretach, alkoholu a nealko napojich. Maji v hore i kaplicky, kde se modli, mista, kde uctivaji boha hory a vsichni jsou tam hrozne v pohode. Musim rict, ze jsem zatim nevidela vic usmivajicich se bolivijcu nez uvnitr Cerro Rico. Presto ze ma mesto nejvetsi slavu za sebou - v roce 1650 to bylo nejvetsi mesto sveta a nejbohatsi mesto Ameriky - porad je tu na co se divat. Krasna architektura, asi 80 kostelu a katedral, razirna minci atd.

Dal jsme chteli pokracovat do Sucre, ale jak silnice tak vlak jsou blokovany, tak to musime stocit vecernim autobusem zpatky do La Paz. A odtamtud dolu do nizin do dzungle a pampy.

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Horse riding in Tupiza|Vylet na konich v Tupize
Geysers on the altiplano|Gejziry na nahorni plosine
Flamengoes|Plamenaci
Cactus island|Kaktusovy ostrov
Salt flats|Solne plane
Inside the hill with one of miners|Uvnitr hory s jednim z horniku
Dynamite !!!|Dynamit udela bum...

Condoriri Track, Huyana Potosi

Hi, we are back from our trip. Three days hike and three days climbing Huyana Potosi which is a majestic mountain with 6,088 metres above sea level.

Trek is called Condoriri - we started at village Tuni (4,200 m) and within three days we passed twoo passes at 5,000 metres. We spent nights at 4,600 - 4,700 m and the last day we reached the Huayna Potosi base camp. Nothing special happened during this trip - only few occasional accidents during the nights, when lack of acclimatisation became obvious... Altiplano was beautiful, stunning and deserted - not many people could survive there. It´s steamingly hot during a day and freezing during the night. Water in the tent got frozen regularly...

Also I want to say we have taken local guide so we didn´t get lost (maps of area more or less do not exist and when we meet one solo Americano, he confessed he did tried to do the same trek but he kept getting lost and at the end he tried to join our group to make it to the end). Another advantage is that your tent and matress is carried by either a mule or by car. And there is also a cook! Four times a day fresh meal! Pity was you don´t get the same appetite in this attitude. Jana could never finish her portion (soup and mains for a dinner) and also it took her about an hour to eat one (!!!) piece of bread with jam. It was a real luxury for us which we are not used to, but on the other hand locals get some paid job and it´s probably much better than rest of jobs here...

After the trek we spent one day at the base camp of Huayana Potosi. In the afternoon we went for practise on the glacier. To climb an ice wall was a great fun. Great experience and a rest day for us before moving to higher camp. Next day we started slowly our ascent of Huyana Potosi. Firstly we moved to refugio Campo Alto (high camp at 5,130 metres), that was alright without any problems. Second day we supposed to wake up at 1 am and start climb at 2 am. At the end everything was delayed by half an hour and after several crisis we reached the top at 9-30 am. Couple of times we almost gave up, firstly water in camel bag got frozen after couple of minutes outside and we had to wait till sunrise and for sun to get up for water to defrost. Secondly Michal couldn´t sleep last night and Jana couldn´t eat properly for last couple of days. At the end, exhausted by cold and completely tired, we reached the top. Same day we moved to base camp and got back to La Paz by minubus. We reached La Paz by 3 pm and went straight to bed. We even didn´t watch olympic games which starts at 7 pm and slept till morning. Today we spend half a day in bed watching the olympic games.

Yeah, and because guides speak very little english, our spanish has improved a lot. We taugh them how to say "rakoska" - in Czech it means really really cold - and they told us how to say it in spanish "chucho" - not sure about spelling, those were just verbal lessons. Although the language problems, we made them laught very often with innocent jokes and our funny behaviour!

Now we are planning trip to Salar de Uyuni (salt desert), city of Potosi and then down south to lowlands - jungle and pampas.

PS My appetite is back and I´m starving!!!

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Tak jsme se vydali na 3-denni trek a pak 3-denni vylet na majestatni horu Huyana Potosi (6.088 m.n.m).

Trek se jmenoval Condoriri, vychazeli jsme z vesnice Tuni (4.200 m.n.m) a behem 3 dnu jsme prechazeli dve sedla ve vysce 5.000 m.n.m. Spali jsme okolo 4.600-4.700 m.n.m a posledni den jsme dosli do zakladniho tabora Huyana Potosi. Behem cesty se nic zvlastnho nestalo, krome par problemu v noci, kdy se ukazalo ze nejsme jeste uplne aklimatizovani, ale postupne se to usadilo. Altiplano bylo uzasne, krasne a opustene. Nezije tam moc lidi. Ve dne hrozny pekac a v noci rakoska - pravidelne zamrzala voda i ve stanu.

Taky jsme chteli rict, ze jsme celou tuhle cestu podnikli s mistnimi pruvodci, takze jsme se vyhnuli bloudeni (mapy oblasti vicemenene neexistuji a kdyz jsme jednou po ceste potkali nejakeho americana, tak se nas pak drzel jako kliste a pak i priznal, ze jde ten samy trek jako my, ale ze doted ani zdaleka ne nejkratsi cestou). Dalsi vyhodou je, ze vam vezou autem nebo na mule stan a karimatky (ty poskytujou vlastni). A taky uvari - 4x denne cerstva strava neni k zahozeni. Skoda jen, ze ve vysce vam tak netravi. Janca nebyla schopna nikdy snist celou porci (k veceri vzdy polivka a hlavni jidlo), taky snidani (jeji standartni jednu housku s marmeladou) zvykala skoro hodinu. Pro nas uplny luxus, na ktery nejsme zvykli, ale zase na druhou stranu to mistnim dava nejakou praci a dost mozna zajimavejsi a lepe placenou nez to co se nabizi ve meste ...

Po treku jsme zustali jeden den v "zakladnim tabore" Huyana Potosi, odkud jsme si odpoledne zasli udelat cvicny den na ledovci. Ledovcova stena byl hrozna legrace. Docela dobry zazitek a hlavne odpocinek pred vystupem nahoru. Na ledove stene jsme se uplne vyblbli. No a dalsi den jsme sli na Huyana Potosi. Nejdrive na chatu Campo Alto (vyskovy kemp v 5.130 m.n.m.), coz bylo docela v pohode, druhy den bylo naplanovano vstavani v 1 rano a odchod ve 2. Nakonec se vstavalo i vychazelo o pul hodiny pozdeji a nakonec jsme se po nekolika utrapach dostali asi v 9-30 na vrchol. Nekolikrat jsme to malem otocili, protoze jednak nam zamrzly hadicky na camel bagu (pytliku na vodu) a tim padem jsme na vodu cekali az do vychodu slunce a pak az to rozmrlo, druhak Michal se posledni noc prakticky nevyspal a Janca mela poslednich par dni problem snist pridelenou porci. Nakonec ale zmozeni mrazem a na prahu sil, ale nahoru jsme se dostali a stejny den jsme dosli dolu do zakladniho tabora a minibusem do La Paz. Sem jsme dojeli asi ve 3 odpoledne a pelasili jsme na hostel a spat. Ani jsme nestihli vysilani z olympiady, ktere zacina v 7 vecer a spali az do rana. Dnes rano jsme vybehli jenom na snidani a kratky nakup a jinak jsme lezeli az do poledne na posteli a sledovali olympiadu.

Jo, a pruvodci vesmes neumeli anglicky, takze nase spanelstina se vyrazne vylepsila. Naucili jsme je rikat cesky "rakoska" a oni nas to na oplatku naucili po jejich "cuco". Presto, ze ten jazyk byl problem, casto jsme je rozesmivali nasimi zertiky a chovanim. Ted planujeme vylet na jih na Salar de Uyuni (solna poust), mesta Potosi a potom dolu do "nizin" - dzungle a pampy.

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Camp next to the lake Conrdoriri | Tabor u jezera Condoriri
The Cook and the Guide in the second camp | Kuchar a vudce v druhem tabore
The practice on glacier | Trenink na ledovci
On top of Huyana Potosi | Nahore na Huyana Potosi
By the hut before the final descent | U chaty pred zaverecnym sestupem
Huyana Potosi from the Base camp | Huyana Potosi ze zakladniho tabora

La Paz

It´s our second day here in La Paz. It´s damn high, the city is in 3,600 above the sea level, the airport over 4.000 m. La Paz is very nice city spread around deep valley. We´re not doing too much, just enjoying the city, drinking Coca Matte and getting used to the altitude. Tomorrow we´re leaving for 6 day trek, first 3 days hiking around the Huyana Potosi mountain, 1 day in the base camp and final 2 days up the mountain and down. That´s all for now ....

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Tak uz jsme druhy den v La Paz. Je to docela vysoko (centrum mesta 3.600 m.n.m., letiste neco pres 4.000). Je to tu docela hezke mestecko v takovem doliku. Nic moc tu nedelame, davame jsme si caj z koky a zvykame si na vysku. Zitra rano vyrazime na 6 denni trek, nejdriv 3 dny pochod kolem hory Huyana Potosi, a pak 1 den v zakladnim tabore a 2 dny nahoru a dolu. Zpatky v La Paz bychom meli byt v nedeli vecer mistniho casu. Tak prozatim ahoj.

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Market is across the whole city center | Stanky jsou po celem meste
Church on the San Francisco Square | Kostel na namesti San Francisco

Santiago

So we are in Satiago, it is 3-25am and in 20 minutes should arrive taxi to take us to the airport. It is Saturday night and it is really loud outside ;) We have arrived yesterday in early afternoon and after coming to the hostel, we´ve walked uphill next to St.Maria statue to have nice view across the city and surrounding mountains. Today at 6-25am we fly out to La Paz in Bolivia and this is where our travelling is going to start.

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Tak uz jsme v Santiagu, prave je 3-25 rano a za 20 minut by tu mel byt taxik na letiste. Spime v takovem mensim hostelu, ale vsude okolo nas to zije, proste sobotni noc. Vcera jsme prileteli neco po poledni a jak jsme se ubytovali tak jsme se vybehli na mistni kopec se sochou p.Marie - byl tam docela hezky vyhled na mesto i hory okolo. Dnes v 6-35 odletame do La Paz v Bolivii a tam uz se to zacina. Nejake fotky jsou nize.

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The statue of Maria | Socha Marie

View from the top | Pohled zeshora

On a way down | Po ceste dolu