Crossing The Andes To Chile

We got up at 4:45 am, cold and tired, hav­ing slept barely a few hours. We packed in the dark. I brushed my teeth quickly and decided to skip wash­ing my face with some expen­sive French prod­uct, for once. The water was freez­ing and of course, no hot water.

We got to the bus sta­tion sleepy and cranky. Once the “use of bus ter­mi­nal” fee paid, we had just enough boli­vianos for a bot­tle of water. We boarded the bus, still dark out­side, leav­ing La Paz behind us. Cross­ing the Andes, again, to Chile.

Lake Titicaca - Bolivia

The scenery was beau­ti­ful. The huge lake, 3,800 meters above sea level. The clouds, so low, us, so high that we feel we can touch the sky. The burn­ing hot sun dur­ing the day and the chilly nights. The local dish, trouts, huge fishes cooked with lemon and tomatoes.

Perú To Bolivia

Our bus stopped in the mid­dle of nowhere (lit­er­ally) and we had a chance to take pic­tures of the lamas and the alpacas, as well as flamin­gos. We could barely breathe: at 3,000 meters, oxy­gen is scarce. Just walk­ing a few meters is hard (smok­ing not, funny enough – yes, I know).

Por La Carretera - Arequipa

We drove away at sun­set, observ­ing Lima´s sub­urb, mostly slums built on sand hills. What a strange city, caught between the desert and the sea. We fol­lowed the Panamer­i­cana Sur, along the Pacific Ocean, pass­ing through Pisco and Nazca, a vast coastal desert, arid low­lands and sand dunes.

Southern Hemisphere: Lima, Perú

We enjoyed Lima these last few days. We walked around the his­tor­i­cal cen­ter and went to Miraflo­res, the newer (and posher) sub­urb. The beaches are not that nice (noth­ing com­pared to Costa Rica) but it was fun. South­ern hemi­sphere… here we are!

Faces Of Central America

Observ­ing peo­ple in Cen­tral Amer­ica is really inter­est­ing. First of all, there is a true melt­ing pot of cul­tures: Asians, Blacks, His­pan­ics, indige­nous peo­ple such as the Kuna in Panamá…

It´s A Wild Life...

These are some of the ani­mals we met in Costa Rica. I have not included pic­tures of mos­qui­toes… damn blood suckers!

Busing Around Central America

But bus­ing around in Cen­tral Amer­ica is not that straight­for­ward. First of all, we have to agree on the def­i­n­i­tion of a bus. If it has no win­dows and no doors, it is still a bus? What if it is painted in flam­boy­ant col­ors, like bright red and yel­low, and has words of wis­dom such as “no pain, no gain”, or “dio bendigo mi alma” writ­ten on the win­dows? And if it takes 5 hours to drive 20 kilo­me­ters? Is it still a bus?