salta

some of the crazy salta photos but waiting for other people to download to get the lot, some on bebo too for those of you who are clued up on that. and my group has some on facebook too but not of salta yet, so if you bored and get easily lead into these things..............have fun lost i the world of the net for hours!

Salt Flats Ayuni

The Salt Flats of Ayuni

Ayuni - freaking freezing but again warmer outside than in our hostel rooms! Not much to see there but the salt flats made the trip invaluable! Just one big lake that looks like it has frozen over but really it is a massive never evnding, always forming, crust of salt which is the livelihood of the local community. It is amazing to drive over this salt crust like you should be riding in a boat! and then you come to islands in the middle of the crust which are made of coral and grow ginormous cacti! it is completely surreal and the perfect place to take crazy photos! Its a tradition and all the places around the town have photos from other tourists so not just our crazy Oasis group doing these silly things : ) Heaps of fun and awesome sites, very cool sunset by the hotel made from salt aswell. awesome sunny day with beautiful sky but as soon as sun went down the salt felt exactly like it looked - icy snow!

BOLIVIA - POTOSI

Although the wqorkers are mainly catholic, they worship the deveil underground (Teto or something in their language) you can see the statue made of clay which has impressive glass eyes a prominent member and spaces in his outh to smoke their special cigarettes! They make offerings to him to help with no accidents and good production underground since he is the owner of underground and god onlycontrols up top!It looks like something that could be discovered by explorers and they have to then work out what these crazy characters were doing in mines and what it had to do with the culture but realy it is wtill something that is ctually relevant to their ideas and practises today! Loco! means crazy! still hasnt stopped millions of deaths in there and the workers are still given ten yeasr life expectancy from the day start working in them!

BOlivia!

Hard to commentate on these photos as their URLS are only showing in my window but you will see me and Louise taking our pan flute lessons! hillarious! we have a duet from our teacher to practise! the big yellow truck is gonna b loving tht! You can see me. That was in La PAz - our first stop after crossing the Bolivian Border! La Paz was very colourful and poor city with witches markets and hard rock cafe meal only cost 3 quid with drinks included! i love the cheap cities - we have been sooo much flasher! Moved on to the highest city in the world! So there right now POTOSI.! it freakin freezin and colder in our hostel than outside! today we visited the silver mines where most of the city works in the worst conditions ever and keep on going while chewing outhfulls of coca to survive the day! basically like getting high on cocain to get through it all! it was really scary on a non touristic tourist event if ever i have been a part of one! had to get out of way when she started yelling because the trolleys were coming down the rails on which we were walking. it was crazy tiny in places and had to wear masks because of the espestos ( however that is spelt)! got dressed up in our ining gear and were under ground for more than two hours! saw and had a go at making the holes where they stick the dynamite and saw how it all gets processed and pushed around, had to buy and distribute gifts for the workers we saw - coca leaves, 96% alcohol (yes for drinking and sharing with pachamama - mother ewarth), and fzzy drink. Also bought dynamite and fertilizer and detonators for them! Crazy and all less than one quid between a group of about 10 of us! AlQueda would have had a filed day at the miners market! When we finally got out of the crazy mine we blew up some rock with dynamite and a papaya fruit aswell : ) was good times, another thing I am glad i did but would never do again and definitely recommend to other people!

Lake Titicaca and the village stay

Lake Titikaka

We took a motor boat out on the massive lake TitiKaka which joins Peru and Bolivia. It was so incredibly huge that it seemed as though we were on a very calm sea. About 160km one way and 65 km the other! with islands inhabited by villages of over 2000 people each! Not to mention the smaller islands that are built upon reeds and literally float with anchors around them so they dont float away. Great for quarrels apparently as they agree they all own the human made floating islands therefore it only fair to cut it right down the middle, use a motorboat to push them apart and start again as two! hillarious!
we went on a reed boat that was made literally two seconds before we stepped on and climbed the shoddy ladder but all was good. we later travelled 3hours by boat to the island where we stayed with a local family. again me and Louise paired up which is good cos lets face it my spanish aint got muuuuuch better. we ate with them and slept in their houses ans dressed up in their cultural dress and attended the local party and danced their dances.! hillarious might but the dances very boring! we got some things to teach them me thinks! so back in Peru now, staying in Puno where we will leave tomorrow on the big yellow truck and cross the border into Bolivia. Peru was very cool and some of my best memories have come from there but for the now i am ready for Bolivia! Bring it on and hope for no road blocks due to protests!!!!!!!!PS computer no loes lots of photos but will try add on randomly which will go before this blog entry. DOH!

Along the Inca Trail......

Along the Inca Trail.......