the home of david tran (well, his second home).
ok, been back for a week and a half now, so i guess it's time to post about how i'm doing back in the real world. i guess it hasn't been that difficult, had a week off before going back to work (which was good), good to have work to go back to, and also good to be able to re-acclimatise back in familiar surroundings. pretty much only had vietnamese food my first week back, oh boy, did i miss that, not sure if i've mentioned it before, but vietnamese food is the best cuisine in the world....
another week, another judd apatow film, this week, it was year one, starring jack black and michael cera, but this week, i managed to stay awake for the whole thing. based sometime in biblical times i guess, it follows jack black ( saw kung fu panda while i was away btw, cute film i guess, but has some awesome 3d graphics) and michael cera as they screw up and leave their caveman dwellings in search of new lives. first, they run into cain (played by tobias fmor arrested development) and abel, then into abraham (hank azaria, this is apu people) and isaac....
managed to find a replacement for my old swiss army knife (the standard tinker in fluoro yellow, kinda funny story how i lost it) just before i left south america, on ebay of course. it arrived at my work a few days before i came back, and finally managed to pick it up yesterday. it's pretty sweet, paid a bit more for it, than the old tinker, but it's a proper red one, and it has scissors as well (that and a little hook are the only additions)....
back by popular demand, haha, movie reviews, i seen quite a few films while i was away (only a couple at the cinema, xmen, and redemption road, i think that's all), plenty on dvd, etc, which was cool, cos there were lots of films i'd wanted to see, but never got round to. anyway, just got back and seen the hangover, one of these comedies that seem to pop up all the time. it's about a guy that is having his bachelors do in las vegas, and the mates he brings along for the ride....
it is with great sadness that i make my last post from south america, i have a bus to buenos aires tonight, and one night in which to destroy my liver before heading home on thursday. i was meant to post all about san pedro de atacama, but since it is my last post, i will have to be very brief about that (apologies if the post randomly changes it's flow). made it there last week, and spent five days there, the driest desert in the world....
well i've been going over old ground since the last post, flew back to arequipa (where i saw silhouettes of the three volcanoes, chachani, misti, and pichu pichu rom the airport, too bad i couldn't take any pictures, it was one of the most amazing sights i've seen) from santa marta. spent a couple days re-acclimatising before attempting the ascent of chachani (about 6080m), obviously i didn't make it, but i'm not going to completely blame acclimatisation on that, neither will i blame partying for three weeks in colombia, and not exercising, though they all played their parts i'm guessing. i put it down to not being a great hiker (i've never been a big fan of walking, i am usually, a pretty slow walker, i like to stroll), i much prefer cycling, and also, as most people know, i'm, a sprinter not a marathonner (if that's a word, which i'm pretty sure it's not)....
since my last post, i spent a day in medellin (pablo escobar's old haunt), wasn't the weekend so not really worth staying too long, and since then, i've been partying and chilling out in the caribbean for the past two weeks, i won't deny that. which isn't to say that i have neglected photo taking duties, it just means i haven't done a lot, other than spend time at the beach, in hammocks, swimming pools, bean bags, and eating good food. as i said, i think we arrived in medellin on a monday or something, and weren't willing to wait for the weekend, so spent one night there, and headed for the caribbean coast for some sun....
well, it's been a while since my last post, haven't done too much, last time i think it was easter saturday i posted. basically, we went to the basilica in quito, which was a magnificent church, definitely right up there with the best i've seen, if not the best. climbed out onto the ledge right near the top, that was a pretty scary feeling, but i managed to get some nice photos up there....
it's been almost two weeks since the last post, what can i say, not too much has been done, and also i haven't been particularly interested in posting. anyway, after leaving huaraz the first time, you should all know about what happened, four straight nights on the bus between huaraz, trujillo, and mancora. i spent a day in huanchaco, the beach town near trujillo, before going back to huaraz to pick up my camera, spending that day in huaraz, getting the night bus back to trujillo, spending the day there, then getting the night bus to mancora, the place i actually wanted to go to, finally, back to the beach properly, it was a pretty nice beach, sunny, warm, and with pretty clean water, and at a very refreshing temperature....
once again, it's been a while since the last post, but i didn't want to post after lima last week, cos it was so shit; so get ready for another long post, and a lot of pictures. after a week in and around huaraz in the north of peru, it's time to to show you all some of the most scenic locations on earth. after arequipa, i headed back to sea level for the first time in several weeks, and huacachina (near ica), for some sand boarding, and then to paracas for perus poor man's galapagos, islas ballestas....
been a bit of a delay between posts while i've been doing some stuff here in arequipa, just been waiting to finish everything (just means lots of pictures). anyway, arrived in arequipa last wednesday (these posts all start out the same way 
), and rested for a couple days before doing the colca canyon trek. went with land adventures which is an organisation that tries to promote sustainable tourism (so they say), it was a little more expensive than other companies, but it was great fun, and we learnt a lot about the region, and the communities in the area....
left la paz on a high note, by staying out all night and then having to wait and sit through fifteen hours (starting at 8am) of late buses to cusco last tuesday. i really should've waited another day for that trip, cos it was just plain uncomfortable. anyway, finally arrived in cusco close to midnight, and pretty much did nothing for a couple days recovering, and preparing, a bit of shopping, and getting the best possible price ($160 usd btw for the 4d/3n tour) for the inca jungle trail tour....
almost anyway, i'm back in loco la paz, after spending the weekend away in copacabana and isla del sol up at lake titikaka. arrived in la paz las sunday, just in time for carnaval, it wasn't as good as oruro, but it was pretty crazy nonetheless. lots of water fights and people in the streets, and everything was of course closed....
ok, late post i know, but i didn't manage to post on friday because i had to get a taxi straight after my last spanish class to oruro (which is a hole btw) for carnaval (i'm in la paz now btw, gonna be a crazy few days i think). anyway, wrapped up spanish classes on friday, just in time to get to oruro for the second biggest carnaval in south america. earlier in the week, last saturday to be exact, i joined a bunch of drunken bolivians in a march down the road with a marching band in tow....
the climate here is perfect, we're at about 2750m, but it's not cold (it is summer i guess), it's not too hot, though it can get hot i've heard. it's been really nice a couple days, and pissed down a few others, but it's never too cold, and certainly hasn't been too hot, i have a long-ish walk to school which includes a big up hill home, and i don't really sweat at all. i arrived last saturday from potosi (say it twice quickly with emphasis on the to, that's how they sell bus tickets here....
oh finally got a hair cut, it's been over three months, and that mop was getting to be a pain, i think i even had a dream about getting my hair cut last night. anyway, went to the peluquerìa and asked how much it would cost to cut my hair, 15 bolivianos (about $3aud), got him to shave it off, i wasn't really sure how short it was going to be. he showed me the shaver thingie, and said it's short, i said leave un poco, i guess it is very little....
a lot to get through this week, been pretty hectic in bolivia the past week, so i'll try to keep it short, lots of pictures of course, the best ones will have to wait till i get back, some only for facebook unfortunately. anyway, arrived in bolivia last week (forgot which day), went to tupiza in the south west, and stayed there for two nights (another change here, transport and accommodation reviews will be in normal posts rather than complete separate ones), the bus ride to the border was fine cos it was in an andesmar bus, then the bus ride to tupiza from villazon was actually better than expected, and only took two hours, though i still haven't seen a paved road outside a city. we (me and phil from ireland) stayed at valle hermosa hostal, which was pretty good, though had to pay for breakfast, it was clean, and near the bus station....
here's the boring summary of my accommodation and transport review, you've probably heard about most of my successes and gripes already, but i wanted to post a more formal article to help others. anyway, i'll go chronologically with transport and accommodation mixed for each place (transport for a few of the places is not an option if wanting to travel in coche cama service (== business class)). i stayed for a month with a family in buenos aires which was very comfortable, so i won't count that....
didn't do a lot in cordoba after the sky dive, the last day was just spent inside mostly cos it was so hot. we had a big asado on the friday night, got hammered, and went to some rock club which wasn't especially great, it was a good night though (hostel asados are great, that was my fourth one so far on this trip). got on the bus the next night and headed for salta, again, a lot of the stuff to do in salta is out of the city, but there is a mountain in the middle of town that you can climb to get good views of the area (you'll have to wait for the gallery for those pictures)....
ok, so just got back from my sky diving adventure in cordoba, and i am seriously still on the adrenaline high. i'll just throw this in for the search engines, the company (cepac paracaidismo) we went with (well, the hostel called), they were pretty cool for the most part, but the driver (pablo), he turned out to be a thief, the transfer price is meant to be $15 pesos, but he charged me and this other guy from the hostel $50 pesos, and then lied about it when we asked him and the finance guy. i didn't get anything back, but the other guy got $25 back, not quite everything but something, i just didn't want to piss off some local more than he probably already was....
If they ever wanted to change the name to something original, they could call it that.
i wonder if anyone has ever tried to count the number of cacti on this island.
One of the biggest of these "islands" in the salar, it is pretty much where all the tour operators go, so you're bound to see a bunch of tourists there.
This is it, the new logo for every major sports, clothing, and technology brand in the world. Regardless of what anyone says, this is one of my favourite photos from the whole set.
the salar sits at 3 600m altitude, it is the biggest salt flat in the world, an amazing site to behold. We got up at 4am to try and beat the sunrise and take some photos here before going to the inca huasi island.
This dead cactus stood outside the hostel we stayed in (a salt hostel), no it wasn't made of salt, but everything was covered in salt, it was everywhere, in my shoes, in my backpack, in my bed, que linda.
An active volcano on the chilean side of the border. Would've been cool to see it blow it's top, instead of blowing up a tiny smidgeon of smoke.
Last shot from the lunch stop on the third day, this little lizard, not very well camouflaged I have to say. Looks like he's just about finished shedding his skin.
More flamingoes eating slop. I did see one other type of bird eating out of this lagoon, but the picture isn't great, and also, I couldn't be bothered identifying it.
I guess we have some more nutrient rich waters in this little lagoon for the flamingoes to eat out of. This was a good lagoon for flamingo shooting, they were really close, and were only a little frightened.
Finally stopped at our lunch spot on the third day, rushing past several lagoons to make up for the time we lost due to the third puncture (missing out on photos of vicunas). luckily there were flamingoes, lizards, and even a rat (or mouse) at the lagoon we did stop at.
As much as you can call this a road, it's dirt with tracks on it, bumpy as hell. I actually took this photo after our third puncture of the tour, everyone had had enough, and was sitting or lying around in the sun. It was hot in the sun, but was still too early to be hot, the altitude was enough to burn, just that sitting in the shade was quite chilly.
found a nice seat, and spot to pose for a photo, thanks Phil for the shot, but I will admit that the whole composition and framing was my idea, the sunnies however, were forced on me at gunpoint.
Literally rock tree, to be perfectly honest, this isn't the most impressive sight on the tour, there are other rocks in the vicinity that provide a nice photo in my opinion.
Time to go, but one more shot, there's actually a section of the lagoon, where a lot of people must fart and poo, cos it stinks 
.
we got to Laguna Colorado first, and we chased all the flamingoes away so that the other groups couldn't get the same photos, and also to get some flamingoes in flight pictures, what?
Some flamingoes wandering through Laguna Colorado.
Lots of flamingoes feeding in the mineral rich waters of Laguna Colorado.
Literally translated to the coloured lake, it's not quite as red as I remember it. Also, I can't believe I didn't take a panorama here, I really don't have as many, or as good a photos from here.
Panorama stitched from six photos handheld in portrait mode. Yes, the sky in the top right changes colour a bit, but it's like that in the last photo, I don't think it's a stitching error (some weird lens flare or something i think). Anyway, this rocky landscape was probably about an hour or two or so outside Tupiza, very cool. Damn it, don't know why I missed this one, but it is supposed to come after fuzzy cacti.
