VUG Media

I've been delayed in uploading all of my Bolivian photos yet again so what I will leave you with is just a bunch of "odds and sods". Photos of Bolivia that are just a bit off kilter, just like the country itself. First up is the strange list of house rules for Randy´s "flat", which I at least found to be hilarious. Judge them for yourself, if you can make out the writing:
[editors note: "Catu" is a selfish pet cat]

Yup, that´s right - I´m taking a vacation from traveling. I know what you´re all thinking "a vacation? are you not already on vacation?"... contrary to popular opinion, traveling can actually be a lot of hard work: climbing mountains, getting sun burns, trying to find a hostel at 2am, 31 hour bus rides through the Andes, 7 day without showers and even 41 days (and counting!) without shaving.

All of these inconveniences slowly take their toll, which made me almost cheer at the sight of the beautiful paved roads as we crossed over the Bolivian boarder into Chile. From there I´ve traveled a ways North to find the amazing beach town Iquique waiting. I really didn´t expect things to be so nice here. Palm trees are everywhere, the beach is full of white sand, surfers infest the water, the sun is hot and the city´archetecture spectacular. It all reminds me a lot of Maui although with a more Spanish and only a sprinkling of gringos lurking about.

Hello!

It´s been awhile since I´ve typed much of anything, so the time has come for a bit of an update. Right now we´re all really high, but don´t worry Mom, it´s not what you think! We are all quite safe and sound in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Besides political instability (Bolivia has averaged more than one change of government per a year since inception), the country is known for having the world´s "highest everything". We are now in the world´s highest capital city (3600 meters) featuring the world´s highest airport. We just traveled from lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake. We are literally quite "high" 24-7...

Most of these photos from Arequipa are from the famous Convent in town.

Here's the photos of Macchu Picchu, also known as the world's most photogenic place.I'm getting really behind in posting these - we're actually across the boarder in Boliva now! So many stories to tell, some involving near death! Maybe in La Paz, as the Internet here in Copacabana is pretty pricey and slow. Enjoy. There's also a heck of a lot more photos of Macchu Piccu that I didn't post here for those of you who don't mind repetition.

A large part of being away from home for a few months is doing things that you would normally never do. Or at least things that your girlfriend wont let you do... like growing beards. It´s turned into a bit of a contest, so here´s the photos from the 14th of our progress after 10 days. Another "checkup" is scheduled for the end of this month. Some advance warning for all of you pulling for Jeremy: don´t get your hopes up for this underdog!

Many new photos are on their way online, starting with these from Huancayo:

If you can´t tell already, having a pet Parrot running around the hostel was a photographic novelty.

The guest book table at the excellent "Grandma´s House" hostel.

I thought that I´d never have a more uncomfortable bus ride than the three day jaunt from Montreal to Vancouver. Was I ever wrong! Try going through the Andes on gravel winding roads in over packed buses. Try having your bus nearly go off a cliff many, many times. Try having truck tires incinerated off the wheel, without the bus stopping what-so-ever! Try having to rebuild parts of a road with mountain rocks to avoid most certain death!

This is not an over dramatization - this is the truth. Despite not being of luxurious this was certainly the most memorable bus trips, and adventure or an adrenaline rush even. Never before was I actually able to calculate my chance of death (or at least major injury) on a particular trip. My napkin math put my chances of death at about 1 in 450 over the 35 hours, which isn’t that bad. We entertained ourselves with other fun games such as "calculate the best place to be when the bus launches over the cliff" or "is a fall off this cliff fatal, yes or no?". Aaron got the special privilege of carrying a baby goat on our trip over night, which he had the privilege of naming "Ernesto".

Today marks one week of being away from Vancouver. I've had extremely bad luck at finding a consistent Internet connection, so I´ll have to make this one massive post. Feel free to take your time reading as I will not have any more to updates (or any photos) until around the 19th, after the Salcantay trail and Machu Picchu. Stay tuned!