Before getting on the road, Peru was the country I was the most excited about visiting. Maybe that's why for me Peru was the biggest deception.
I was not disappointed by the beauty of the country and the crazy nightlife in Cuzco. I probably spent the best days of this trip there... But the reason about my disapointment was to realize that Peru is by far the most touristy country in South America, which for me was very frustrating.
For instance Machu Pichu is amazingly beautiful. But for a few minutes I thought I had arrived in Disneyland...
The food in Peru is a highlight. The country has probably the most sophisticated cuisine in South America and their delicious dishes include the fabulous Cebiche.
I met Robert, a Catalan with his origins in the beautiful Galicia, in San Pedro, in a tour to the Lagunas de Sal and we decided to travel to Uyuni together. After the amazing Uyuni trip, we ended up traveling the whole Bolivia together, until Isla del Sol.
We made up a story that we were cousins, and we would use it to meet people along the way. But in 2 weeks we have lived so many crazy stories together (some of them the craziest of my whole life) that when we left Bolivia I had the feeling we were not cousins, but brothers.
After 4 months in South America, Robert has left to South Africa where he is studying english now and luckily can read this post ;).
A friend for life that I will certainly meet again in Asia, Barcelona and one day, we will spend New Year's eve in Brazil together.
Primo, cuidate y que la sigas pasando bien. Y Visca el Barca!
And from La Paz to the beauty and peace of Lake Titikaka. We took a bus from La Paz to Copacabana, the best city in Bolvia to access the lake. On the way to Copacabana, we could get a preview of what we were going to see on the next day...
From Copacabana to Isla del Sol, the biggest island on the lake (at the Bolivian side) it was a nice 3-hour-ride by boat. The boat drops you at the north side of the island and to reach the south side of the island there is a 15km trek, trough a Inca trail. The trail is surrounded by Inca ruins and marvellous landscapes.
We spent the night on the south side and were rewarded by the most beautiful sunset and moonrise of this trip. At night, the island becomes a peaceful and quiet little place, witha few backpackers and locals hanging around. Certainly one of the highlights of this trip for me.
Isla del Sol is also considered to be the origin of the Inca civilization before the foundation of Cuzco.
The Death Road is a mountain bike trail you can arrange from La Paz as a day-trip. The trail is quite interesting. You go up to 4.700 meters by bus and descend with a montain bike to Coroico town, which is located a bit above 1.000 meters over the sea level. The trail is 64km long and takes you downhill for more than 3.600 meters! It is absolutely amazing! All the way down.
Why is it called the death road? Because every year, a few tourists die going down this road... The rocky and dirty path can be quite slippery, and bikers going a bit faster or simply unlucky bikers, can lose control of their bikes and go down the endless cliffs along the road... And some cliffs are high as 800 meters...
With this background in mind, we were extremely excited to take the road and ride our bikes all the way down. And iwas as good as expected! Lots of adrenaline, excietement, a beautiful view and another awesome day in Bolivia. I love this country...
Of course I had to do my show, and was the only one to fall of the bike, among the other 12 bikers. With my Velib biking background plus being afraid to end my life at the age of 27, in a certain curve, I lost control and jumped from my bike...
Well, I got a sore knee, but alive and kicking to keep going north on the beautiful road through South America!
And finally La Paz. This ciy is the chaos on earth! But what a great chaos! We were anxious to arrive there and party on saturday night. And we did it. Great party, getting back home after 11am... the craziest after hours I have been to in my life. Strange people. Lots of fun.
The remaining days in La Paz did not change a lot from that. That´s why I just got a few pictures. But I surely had a great time there and left with the feeling that La Paz is for sure not the most beautiful but certainly one of the most exiciting capitals in south america!
The city is surrounded by the Cordilleras which gives it an interesting aspect. A big part of La Paz is located on the hills around the city. And similar to Rio de Janeiro, the richer have stayed on the bottom and the rest of the people (the biggest majority by far) have gone up the hill.
The city center keeps the once beautiful colonial architecture, but have aged in a bad way. The streets are filled with street vendors, giving the feeling to the visitor that La Paz is a big open market...
Na the nightlife? The nightlife has its special charm...
