One Way United

Julian and I woke up the next morning extremely cold.  It took a while before the sun decided to rise over the hill and shine on our humble bluff so we stayed in our sleeping bags until it finally did.  We packed up and then hiked back up to the village on the ridge where Adam was staying.  We arrived to the village around 9:00, walked to the hostel, and waited for Adam to get up.  We sat at a picnic table and had a nice breakfast of Pringles.  Adam finally arose and felt much better than he had the previous day.  We sat around a little while longer and then went to find a restaurant to feed us an early lunch.  Since we were planning on sleeping outside that night at a random spot on the island, we wanted to make sure we had at least one real meal that day.  After our 2 course meal which consisted of soup and trout, we left to hike to the northern part of the island.

The trail we took followed the ridge of the island the whole way and we had to go up and down many hills.  After the long stenous day we had the day before, the hills felt like torture.  We of course were rewarded by the amazing views.  From every direction we could see the great expanse of the biggest lake in South America.  On the trail we ran into many tourists, locals, kids who wanted to take our snacks, sheep, and the occasional pig or llama.

After 3 hours of walking, we finally arrived to the most historic site on the island.  This consisted of 3 things: the rock of the puma, the sacrificial table, and ancient Incan ruins.  There was a guide there that gave brief explanations of all three.  The rock of the Puma is where the first Incan emperor is said to have risen from.  The rock, of course, looks like a Puma.  The sacrificial table is where the Incans used to sacrifice sheep, llamas, and even virgin women.  The guide showed us only one thing in the Incan ruins, a healing well.  The water in this well was said to be medicine that could cure any form of disase, injury, or psychological disorder.

After the guide was done giving us this short tour, Julian, who was intent on finding a sandy beach ever since we had first arrived on the island, sprinted down the hill toward what looked like a beautiful sandy beach.  Adam followed, leaving me alone to explore the ruins a little bit more.  The ruins were like a labrynth of stone with very tiny doors.  Every time I entered a new room I had to duck down almost to my knees and was barely skinny enough to jam through. 

After my ten minutes of quick exploration and picture taking, I joined Adam and Julian at the beach below.  The sun was almost about to disappear behind a huge hill so Julian and I got in our swimsuits and entered the freezing water.  After we had reached ¨the point of no return¨ we submerged ourselves and even swam a few strokes before getting out to dry in the sun while we had it.

As we were lying on the beach, a canoe arrived on the beach with a man and his small son.  We walked over and attempted to make conversation with the boy while the father was picking up trash.  Later the father joined us and we skipped stones a while with the boy and his father.  The fater was the best stone skipper I have ever seen as he could make stones skip like 10 times (not over exageratting).  After a bit, we let the two get back to their fishing.

We hiked back up the hill and soaked in the sun on some rocks for a while before leaving to hike up the bigger hill nearby to take in the sunset.  After struggling up our last hill of the day, we watched with a few sheep as the sun sank into the water.  Behind us, a pink hue could be seen behind the snow capped mountains on the other side of the lake.  After sitting in peace for a while, we hiked back down the hill where we intended on sleeping in the sacred ancient ruins below.

Before criticizing us for deciding to sleep in such a spot, hear us out.  There was no sign that is said is was forbidden or discouraged.  Our guide book said that you could sleep anywhere on the island away from villages or cultivated land.  Of course, we still had our doubts, you know it being a sacred ancient ruin and all, but that was the best spot around and had the added bonus of being sheltered by the wind.  The coolness factor of sleeping in an ancient Incan ruin also played into our thinking of course.

So, we set up our sleeping bags in a room that was at the furthest corner of the ruins, hoping to remain undected in case it really was against the rules or something.  We went to sleep almost right away because we wanted to get up early before the first tourists would arrive.  That night, sleeping in the ruins, turned out to be the strangest night I have ever experienced.  We slept in a room with high stone walls and no roof.  It was a full moon that night, giving off an eerie light that lit up our small room.  It was about 10:00 that night when we first heard the voices.

I awoke with my heart pumping, sinc we really did not want to be discovered.  The voices got closer and finally it became obvious that there were between two to four local men in the room directly next door to ours.  I heard one man talking a lot while the others listened and occasionally asked a question.  I believe they were talking in Spanish but they were speaking quiet enough that I could not tell exactly what they were talking about, only being able to pick out words every now and then.  They talked for at least an hour and I stayed awake, not wanting to fall asleep in fear of snoring and giving away our sleeping spot.

All of a sudden, a man started playing a flute.  As he was playing, a bird flew into our room, circled around for a while, and left.  I did not think much of that bird then but that bird would be very useful later.  After the solemn flute music was done playing, there was more talking.  Then, there was a very loud sound coming from the room next door.  It sounded like the loudest snore you have ever heard.  I thought one of the men had actually fallen asleep.  My heart was pumping fast because that was the most unnnatural, loudest snore ever.  Then my heart nearly lept out of my throat when I heard a deafening cat roar: MMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW.  What the crap!?  I began hearing the loud snore again followed by the deafening meow and this repeated itself at least two more times.  I began feeling very uneasy and now really, really, did not want them to find us because I was afraid they were loco and we were witnessing some top secret ceremony or something.  The night wore on and I heard a few more strange things.  There were weird whistling and breathing sounds coming from the room.  I would see light seep through our door.  I stayed awake through it all, and then, as they were getting ready to leave, a man looked through our tiny door and spotted us.

He went to get the guy who must have been in charge and then a man came into our room in a full Indian custume.  At this point, I had no idea what was going to happen.  Adam was pretending to be asleep, Julian might have actually been asleep somehow, and I was wide awake and the Indian dude knew it.  I sat up as the Indian dude started talking in Spanish about demons and spirits as I sat in a stunned silence.  He said he had felt our presence during the ceremony.  He then offered Julian (who was now up) and I Coco leaves which we of course accepted, wanting to stay on his good side.  He then preceded to make small talk with us, which, considering the circumstances, seemed very strange.  So, we told him where we were from and how old we were.  We asked him if it was ok that we were sleeping there and responded by saying no, that we had to have permission from mother earth or something.  I told him that we would leave if he wanted us to.  Right after I said that, the bird flew into our room again, and the indian dude was astonished.  He said ¨have you seen this bird.¨  We were like ¨umm…si.¨  Apparently this bird was a sign that mother earth or the spirits or something accepted us there.  He ended the conversation by telling us his name and to look for him tomorrow in the next village to get to know him better.  We told him yes and then he left by making strange hand gestures that looked like he was putting a spell on us or warding off evil spirits or something.  Julian and I just looked at each other and laughed at the ridiculousness of what just happened. 

The next day, we woke up early to leave before the tourists arrived.  Adam was already up when I woke up and apparently he had not slept once during the whole night.  We got our things together and noticed a weird symbol by the entrance of the door.  There was a long knife and a stick pointed toward our door.  I have no idea why it was there but I hypothesized that the man put it there to ward off evil spirits or something.  We had crackers for breakfast as we reminisced about the crazy night. 

We hiked down to the small village below around 9:30 and asked several people if they knew Roqechoque, the weird indian dude from the previous night.  Nobody knew who he was.  We finally gave up trying, ate at a restaurant, and chilled in the village until the next boat left at 1:30 to the northern part of the island.  We took a boat there, hiked up old incan steps, and then left to go back to Copocobana.  We rested in Copocobana for a day before taking a bus to Puno, Peru to see the legendary floating islands.  I was dissapointed that we never found the Indian dude again because of my curiosity of what exactly happened in the ruins that night.  But I guess some things are better left as a mystery.

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So La Paz…this city could rank among the coolest big cities I’ve seen so far on this trip. It’s got an amazing feature in that if you start on the main street and walk in any direction away from it you start going up hill. The locals have to be in great shape around here. So we got in and spent the first night on the internet and eating pizza. We found this place that seels something called “The Interminable” which is the unfinishable. This is a pizza meant to feed twelve people and is 75cm in diameter. That’s about two and a half feet. We didn’t order that night. That would come later.

The next day was spent wandering around the city and preparing for the next day. That evening we went back to the pizza place and ordered “The Interminable”: a twelve person pizza to be eaten by just four guys. Even when you know the actual dimensions you have no concept of how large this pizza was until you see it. I’ve never seen a pizza this big, and trust me: I know my pizza. Julian and Fabrice each managed to eat one slice. I got down 1 3/4. Jordan managed to wolf down two whole slices. This resulted in him not wanting to eat much of anything for the next two days. He even has no desire to go near pizza at this point in time! After the pizza experience we went to the movies and saw Mission Impossible III. Could be my favorite of the series although I’ve never actually seen the first one.

The next day held our big adventure. Fabrice, Jordan, and I were going to tackle “The world’s most dangerous road on mountain bikes. This was part of an organized tour so it’s not like we were dashing off into something blindly. Still when you look at the stats this thing could be pretty darn intimidating to some people. The road goes from La Paz to Coroico. It’s an 80km road that drops over 4000meters. On average about 100 people die on this road every year. Our guide was awesome and very good at keeping us in line so we never really had anything to worry about. But it became pretty clear why the company is called Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking. When you’re squeezing your breaks for dear life on a bumpy treacherous road gravity becomes a rather harsh mistress.

We start out on a clear sunny mountain top and after equipement checks we race down the road at speeds well in excess of fast. We stroll through a drug check point and continue on. Then the dense wet fog hits and for the rest of the trip the road turns to bumpy dirt and gravel. This is fairly common on the ride but can cause a few problems. It makes the road very muddy and causes it to fly everywhere when you’re riding over it. For those of you who don’t remember: I wear eyeglasses, the only real reason being that I like to see stuff. But in this in case they were a hinderance as dirt and water kept flying on my face thus preventing me from seeing anything. The really need to invent eyeglass windsheild wipers or something. So with no real choice I took my glasses off in order to actually see. So I did most of the world’s most dangerous road in the fog, with fuzzy vision, on a slippery road, riding about two feet away from a 400 meter or so drop that would mean certain death if I lost my head for a split second. Was a nervous? Actually no. I was having too much fun.

So finally the cloud lifts and we can see the village of Coroico, our final destination. We get to the end, celebrate our survival with a round of beers, get our souvenir T-Shirts then climb into the van and head up to the hotel for a hot shower and an all-you-can-eat buffet. Jordan, sadly still feeling the effects from his pizza gorge the night before managed a piece of chicken, some jellow, and very little else.

We went back to La Paz in the company van, going back up the dangerous road. I must say the drivers are very brave going up and down this thing. Sometimes the road is barely wide enough to fit one vehicle and there are no gaurdrails. The locals often pray before going down. The next day was spent eating and playing Euchre. For a brief stint Julian wanted to go see the ruins of Tiwanaku: Bolivia’s most important archeaological site. Jordan, Julian, and I walked about a mile up a very steep hill and crammed into this very tiny bus with NO leg room for about an hour and got to the ruins only to find the entrance fee was 80 Bolivianos. Our guide book said it’d be less than a dollar. Not willing to pay that much we got back onto a bus, the driver joking this was the last bus back to La Paz.

We are still in La Paz but hopefully will be leaving today for Copacabana and Lake Titicaca. We’ve also loaded loads of different pictures in the Bolivia album that I know you’re just dying to see. Com’on, you know you are Peace to all and keep in touch.

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It has been exactly 10 weeks since the start of our journey, the length of a full UW quarter, and we find ourselves in the same place we began, Buenos Aires.  The city we could not wait to get out of the first time is the place we find ourselves in once again.  The city seems more bearable now, after everything we have seen and done.  We are no longer novice travelers as we have taken countless busses, hiked down rivers, hitchhiked many kilometers, been stuck in places with no money, hopped on ferries, backpacked through rugged wildnerness, and most recently jumped out of an airplane.  Yes, it is safe to say that this monster city no longer intimidates us.  In the span of one UW quarter, I have learned and grown up so much more than I would have in a whole year at college.

After taking the night bus to Cordoba, we recovered at the nice hostel we found, and then went out to see the sights.  We had not seen too much when we decided to watch a couple movies at the local movie theater.  The movies: Brokeback Mountain and Pride and Prejudice.  Both of these movies I would not have even considered seeing in the states but our options here were somewhat limited and after all the buzz surrounding Brokeback, I felt like I had to see it.  I liked Pride and Prejudice a lot more than I thought I would.  I am still unsure if I liked it because it was a good movie or because Kierra Knightley was in the lead role.  It just seemed like her character changed a lot throughout the film and it was interesting to see the gradual realization that she had a blind perception of Mr. Darcy who became more likeable as the movie progressed.  Brokeback Mountain on the other hand, I just don´t get it.  While I do think it is a solid movie, I do not think it was as good as people were making it out to be.  The actors´ performances were good but I did not like the story line, and it is not only the gay thing (which makes a few scenes make me want to cringe and close my eyes, I know, I know, I´m a homophobe).  I don´t want to spoil it for people who have not seen it but I was hoping there would be more character change.  It does not seem like the characters change or learn anything.  Also, it seems like the movie tries to paint them as victims of societal pressures and pushes aside the fact that they cheated on their wives and were terrible parents. 

Anyways, after sitting over 2 hours through Brokeback Mountain, we felt like jumping out of an airplace, so the next day we did. 

Our hostel is connected with this skydiving outfit and for $130 we got to tandem jump (hooked in with an experienced skydiver), got a video of our jump, and a cd with video and pictures…a much better deal than we could swing stateside.  We arrived and watched 2 Israeli girls do their jumps first.  The plane was extremely small and barely big enough to fit the pilot, the guide, the camera man, another random guy from Holland that likes to jump out of airplanes, and of course the client.  Therefore, only one client could jump at a time.  We waited for the first girl to jump down and we thought we saw her but it was the random guy.  He dropped from the sky, made a hard landing, dragged his parachute across the grass, told us good morning, and dragged his parachute inside the hangar.  I just thought I would mention this because that was the coolest introduction I have ever seen in real life.  I later found out he was from Holland and did a tandem jump once, became hooked, and has been skydiving everyday for the past 3 years.  Anyways, we watched the 2 girls do their jumps and then it was Adam´s turn.  We received brief instruction on technique (arch your back while free falling, legs up on landing, and that was the extent).  So Adam took off and did his jump and when he got down he had a big smile and was visibly shaking.  The scariest part for him was when the parachute opened and he realized how high up he actually was.  I am sure I did not do Adam´s jump justice, but I wasn´t there.  After watching 3 others before me, it was finally my turn.

I put on my jump suit and then my harness thing.  The guide dude put it on me and made sure everything was tight as the filming dude filmed me.  I got on the plane and was surprised at how small it actually was on the inside.  We were packed in there like sardines.  During the plane ride, I gradually got more and more nervous.  I think my primary thought was making sure I was hooked into this guy before jumping (he did have the parachute after all).  I watched as the random dude from Holland jumped out.  The guide dude held on to me as the door opened and the random dude literally dived right out of the thing.  The door closed and the plane went higher.  That plane ride felt like it lasted forever…that was the scariest part for me…the anticipation of jumping.  Finally, after we had climbed a considerable distance, it was time.  The camera dude got out first and held on to the side of the plane waiting for us to jump.  We got in position and then we were falling.  We twisted a couple times in the air through the clouds before stabilizing and then we fell with faces looking straight down.  All of a sudden the camera man appeared out of nowhere and was flying right next to us, filming us.  It was absolutely incredible and confusing.  After a 10 second free fall or so the parachute was deployed and I watched as the camera man continued falling.  He finally deployed his schute also.  The parachute ride down took about another 5 minutes or so.  We were just hanging there, gradually coming down, the whole city of Cordoba and a billion farms within view.  I think I said mierda a few times.  We eventually glided down to the bottom where he told me to lift my legs up for the 100th time, and we landed.  What a ride!  That was defenitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, the feeling is indesribable.  

Anyways, after falling from the sky we decided to go see another movie that night: Derailed.  It was a solid movie but not great.  There were a couple of twists that threw me which is always fun but other than that it was your average thriller movie.  We took a bus out that night to Buenos Aires where we are now!  So in Cordoba we basically watched 3 movies and went skydiving…so much for sight seeing!   

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