Welcome

Welcome to my Peru & Bolivia blog. On this trip we have 3 brothaz:

1. Siavosh (right), representing Iran and USA.
   
2. Andreas (left), representing Sweden.
3. Aleks (middle), representing a few other corners of the world

The trip consists of 3 main parts:

1. Cusco, Peru and around. This includes the main Inca centers of Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley
   
2. La Paz, Bolivia and around. This includes Lake Titicaca and other Bolivian experiences. Siavosh leaves in the middle of this part, while Andreas and I continue further.
3. Iquitos, Peru, and the Amazonian jungle
   

This blog is pieced together from written notes, audio recordings, pictures, and videos, so posts will trickle in one by one in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for updates.

back to Europe: The End

Back in Europe now. I forgot how green this place was! And the air is so noticeably fresh, it's summer time, everyone is rich and content.

Back to the land of good public transport, good techno, and expensive Chinese food with bad service!

back to Lima

Back to Lima now. This place feels a little bit like a home away from home. We're in a rich district. The taxi driver has a CD player and a nice stereo in the car, and he's playing Michael Jackson. There's nice roads, tons of cars, and McDonalds. Lima is a good place to take a break and get away from all the touristy stuff, it's a good transition before going back to Europe.

Here you can have a coffee at the Dunkin Donuts, go to a disco, or even go to a museum. Lima is nothing special, but maybe that's what's so cozy about it, you don't have to think about it too much. Also, while La Paz is a place where people get stuck in the middle, Lima is usually a place where gringos are on their way in or on their way out.

Jungle guide

- BANG, BANG, BANG!
- What are you doing?
- I'm killing the snake
- Is it dangerous?
- Yes, very dangerous. Most dangerous snake in the jungle
...

______________________________
Later on ...
- Look over there! See the aligators?
- No, where?
- Over there in the middle of the lake.

All we can really see is their motionless yellow glimmering eyes

- How big is the alligator?
- About 2.5 meters [the adults are that big, the picture is of a baby]
- Is it dangerous?
- No, watch the spikes on the tree.

At first we thought the guide's short yes or no answers were due to his lack of understanding of English, that he would just say yes or no even if he failed to hear what we were saying. But in 3 days we have figured out that he always heard, he always understood, and always gave the right answers.
We have learned to trust this man, his 10 years of military experience, and 7 years as a jungle guide. He speaks a little strange without maintaining eye contact, but that seems to be the custom of the locals. He is very curious about English, and other parts of the world, he's a quick learner, so I gave him my Spanish-English phrasebook as a good-bye present.

Sleeping in the jungle

Usually we have a comfortable lodge on the periphery, with (almost) all comforts of civilization.



but this night we were in the jungle in heavy rain, like this:

Pirahnas and mosquitos

Andreas: Why are you swimming in the river?
Falcon (our jungle guide): It's fresh, you should try it
Andreas: Is it safe?
Falcon: Yes (we just went piranha fishing 2 hours earlier in the same river)
Andreas: And the piranha don't bite?
Falcon: No, just a little bit sometimes.

With all the heat and sweat, this is our only shower opportunity, so we finally broke down and went for a swim. According to Falcon, the piranhas don't really eat you alive unless you're bleeding profusely. Mmm, the safety of the Amazon :)

There's also anacondas in the river, but those only come out at night.

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The biggest discomfort in the jungle is actually the mosquitos. There is an insane amount of them everywhere, you cannot even imagine. We counted the number of bites toward the end of the trip, and it turns out my right hand alone had more than 50 bites!
Andreas had more than 100 bites on his hand and arm included. And here's a picture of my back from that day:

Amazonian jungle: first impressions

(Warning: I wrote very little during this part of the trip, so the writing is going to be a beat weaker in style, and sparse in content)

In the jungle now. 1st impression: The jungle is not really as dangerous as I thought it was. the animals are mostly small and harmless. Either that or they're insects. You can walk around even at night with a flashlight, and not worry about some jaguar or alligator attacking you.



Yesterday we took a walk in the jungle during the day, and another one during the night. We saw all sorts of weird ants and spiders, and this morning we went to see monkeys!