Near La Paz, there is a mountain road advertised as "the most dangerous road in the world". I refuse to do a mountain bike tour on that "death road", because I don't like scary things and I'm also annoyed by the commercialism, as if every traveller should do it! But later I realise I end up doing something more scary.
I decide to travel to Rurrenabaque, a small, relaxed town about 400 km from La Paz, in order to visit Madidi national park. In the morning I take a taxi to the street outside the center where the northbound buses leave. When I see the bus with big double tires I figure it might be a rough ride. I have no idea! Rough is a mild expression for the scariest road I've ever travelled. The first three hours to Coroico the road is paved and has barriers. The views to the green mountains and valleys are breathtaking. And finally I can hear some Bolivian music in the bus instead of watching American movies.
After Coroico the road is not flat and safe like I had assumed, but a narrow gravel road along the mountain sides. Of course without any barriers! I can't help thinking about what would happen if the driver made a small mistake and the bus would fall into the gorge. I sit upstairs in the first row with the best - but also the scariest - view. There are no seatbelts. My hands are sweating and sometimes I grab my hair out of fear when we go to a curve. Somewhere on the way the bus stops. The engine starts, but doesn't stay running. In about an hour the driver fixes the motor and we can continue. After that I have a bit more confidence in his driving skills, too.
At 6 pm we stop in a small town for dinner. I go to a restaurant with a Portuguese guy, the only foreigner in the bus in addition to me. A soup and the main course of meat, rice and salad cost only 10 bolivianos (1.20 EUR).
The journey continues in the dark and it feels quite absurd to be there, travelling on the bumpy and winding road, seeing banana trees and other tropical vegetation on the side of the road and listening to the music played in the bus - technopop from my teenage years! "Bum digi digi digi bum digi bum, think about the way how we live today..." (This piece of lyrics actually contains an important message.) Another interesting thing in the bus is the smell. The only air-conditioning is the wind from the few open windows. Everybody is sweating and I can only guess how uncomfortable the local women must feel in their wide dresses.
When we stop at a police control point and have to get out of the bus, I swear to the Portuguese guy: "I'm sooooo going to fly back!" The bus costs 60 Bs. (7 EUR), whereas a flight is almost ten times more, 480 Bs. (60 EUR). Later in Rurrenabaque I hear that the last accident happened two years ago. Counting the amount of buses, something around 2000 busrides per year on that road, I come to the conclusion it isn't so dangerous after all. Back home I've had two accidents with a deer and a moose on the road. Several people die in Finland every year in such accidents. But there you don't feel the danger...
At 7:40 am, after travelling the whole day and night, almost 20 hours (a distance of only 400 km!) I finally arrive in Rurrenabaque. I get my dusty backpack from the trunk of the bus and get a ride to my hostel at the back of the hostel owner's motorcycle. I'm exhausted, but happy to be alive and immediately like the laid-back tropical town where everyone moves around with a motorbike (without helmets, of course!) and chickens roam freely in the gardens.
keskiviikko 30. kesäkuuta 2010
tiistai 29. kesäkuuta 2010
Celebrating New Year
For the Aymara people of the Central Andes - one of the biggest indigenous groups of Bolivia - the southern hemisphere's winter solstice is the start of the new agricultural cycle. It is a day of traditions and festivities. Near Cochabamba it is celebrated at the Inka-Rakay ruins on a mountain where people gather the night before 21 June to wait for the key moment, the sunrise. As I happened to be in the area, I wanted to seize the opportunity and headed there with my friend Kati.
Right after arriving, at 8 pm, staying up all night waiting for the sunrise felt like such a long time. But after walking around and admiring the citylights in the Cochabamba valley we almost forgot about the time when we sat around the bonfire of some highschool-aged boys, drank singani (the national spirit distilled from grapes) and chew coca leaves. It is very common to see local people stuffing dried coca leaves in their mouth or see their cheek bulging with the ball of coca. In the highlands of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia the cultivation and consumption of coca is as much a part of the national culture as wine is to France. (Later in La Paz when I visited the Coca Museum I learned that according to Carter and Mamani's study 92 % of men and 89 % of women chew coca in rural areas of Bolivia.) Coca is used as a stimulant to overcome fatigue, hunger, and thirst. It is considered particularly effective against altitude sickness. And please note that chewing coca is something totally different from using cocaine. For me it was the first time I tried coca. It felt and tasted a bit weard - like putting leaves of the birch whisk used in sauna in my mouth. And I'm not sure if I really felt any of the effects... The next morning my cheek was slightly numb; I could still feel the ball of coca there.
I talked with a highshool student sitting next to me and found out that he's been working since he was 7 years old. He works in the morning and goes to school in the afternoon. He had started by washing trufis (shared taxis) and earned 3 bolivianos per vehicle. Washing 10 per day constituted him a wage of 30 Bs./day (3.50 EUR) . Nowadays he is selling and fixing mobile phones. Here in Bolivia it is not rear to see children working. In Potosí many are working in the mines. In all big cities children, and adults as well, go from table to table in restaurants trying to sell chewing gum, chocolate and cigarettes. I've also seen boys offering shoeshine services. Luckily I haven't stumbled upon child prostitution, but according to Wikipedia it is a serious problem in Bolivia.
While waiting for the big moment, the sunrise, we could enjoy performances of a group playing traditional music with flutes and a drum. And finally it happened: the round, shiny thing came in sight behind the mountains on the horizon. Suddenly there was so much more light. I must say it was a magical moment. The music performances started again and lasted for the whole morning.
Back in Cochabamba - no, I didn't go to sleep - I had a shower, packed my backpack and took a bus to La Paz. My travel mate Andrés had a severe stomach ache and stayed with his brother - whom he hadn't seen for ten years.
Right after arriving, at 8 pm, staying up all night waiting for the sunrise felt like such a long time. But after walking around and admiring the citylights in the Cochabamba valley we almost forgot about the time when we sat around the bonfire of some highschool-aged boys, drank singani (the national spirit distilled from grapes) and chew coca leaves. It is very common to see local people stuffing dried coca leaves in their mouth or see their cheek bulging with the ball of coca. In the highlands of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Columbia the cultivation and consumption of coca is as much a part of the national culture as wine is to France. (Later in La Paz when I visited the Coca Museum I learned that according to Carter and Mamani's study 92 % of men and 89 % of women chew coca in rural areas of Bolivia.) Coca is used as a stimulant to overcome fatigue, hunger, and thirst. It is considered particularly effective against altitude sickness. And please note that chewing coca is something totally different from using cocaine. For me it was the first time I tried coca. It felt and tasted a bit weard - like putting leaves of the birch whisk used in sauna in my mouth. And I'm not sure if I really felt any of the effects... The next morning my cheek was slightly numb; I could still feel the ball of coca there.
I talked with a highshool student sitting next to me and found out that he's been working since he was 7 years old. He works in the morning and goes to school in the afternoon. He had started by washing trufis (shared taxis) and earned 3 bolivianos per vehicle. Washing 10 per day constituted him a wage of 30 Bs./day (3.50 EUR) . Nowadays he is selling and fixing mobile phones. Here in Bolivia it is not rear to see children working. In Potosí many are working in the mines. In all big cities children, and adults as well, go from table to table in restaurants trying to sell chewing gum, chocolate and cigarettes. I've also seen boys offering shoeshine services. Luckily I haven't stumbled upon child prostitution, but according to Wikipedia it is a serious problem in Bolivia.
While waiting for the big moment, the sunrise, we could enjoy performances of a group playing traditional music with flutes and a drum. And finally it happened: the round, shiny thing came in sight behind the mountains on the horizon. Suddenly there was so much more light. I must say it was a magical moment. The music performances started again and lasted for the whole morning.
Back in Cochabamba - no, I didn't go to sleep - I had a shower, packed my backpack and took a bus to La Paz. My travel mate Andrés had a severe stomach ache and stayed with his brother - whom he hadn't seen for ten years.
lauantai 19. kesäkuuta 2010
Voluntary work and fiestas in Cochabamba
After visiting a fern forest in Amboro national park and a pre-inca religious site El Fuerte near Samaipata, and meeting up again with Isabel and Johan (the Dutch/Belgian couple I've mentioned earlier), Andres and I went to Santa Cruz. The city itself didn't have much to offer for tourists, only expensive restaurants and a few nice buildings around the central square. After the small, relaxing village of Samaipata, the big, rich and busy Santa Cruz didn't appeal to us, so the following morning we took a bus to Cochabamba. On the way we saw some rudimentary dwellings and women doing laundry at rivers.
Now we are visiting a Finnish girl called Kati, whom I know from Tampere Couchsurfing group. She's been doing voluntary work here in Cochabamba for a few months. I visited the office of her employer, Cedesol (http://www.cedesol.org), an association making solar kitchens and also went twice with her to an orphanage to play with children aged 1-8 years. This weekend there's a music festival 'Fiesta de la Musica' in the city and we've gone to some free concerts. So now I, a girl from the land of heavy metal music, have seen a latino band playing heavy metal. Tonight we'll travel to a nearby mountain to participate in celebrations of Aymara (=an indigenous group) New Year.
A lot of travellers experience stomach problems in Bolivia. According to Kati's empiric studies 50 percent of foreigners get amoebas; she's had them once. Luckily I haven't had anything serious so far.
A woman with short hair is a rear sight in South America. Some girls at the orphanage were asking me why I've cut my hair and if I'm a woman and have breasts and vagina. My travel mate Andres is also saying all the time that I don't have hair.
Now we are visiting a Finnish girl called Kati, whom I know from Tampere Couchsurfing group. She's been doing voluntary work here in Cochabamba for a few months. I visited the office of her employer, Cedesol (http://www.cedesol.org), an association making solar kitchens and also went twice with her to an orphanage to play with children aged 1-8 years. This weekend there's a music festival 'Fiesta de la Musica' in the city and we've gone to some free concerts. So now I, a girl from the land of heavy metal music, have seen a latino band playing heavy metal. Tonight we'll travel to a nearby mountain to participate in celebrations of Aymara (=an indigenous group) New Year.
A lot of travellers experience stomach problems in Bolivia. According to Kati's empiric studies 50 percent of foreigners get amoebas; she's had them once. Luckily I haven't had anything serious so far.
A woman with short hair is a rear sight in South America. Some girls at the orphanage were asking me why I've cut my hair and if I'm a woman and have breasts and vagina. My travel mate Andres is also saying all the time that I don't have hair.
keskiviikko 9. kesäkuuta 2010
The beautiful, exotic Bolivia
So, I suppose you are curious about my new travel mate. Don't worry, it's not going to be a love story of the century. I'm still planning to use my return ticket. (Although I wouldn't have anything against continuing my trip a bit longer.) Andrés and I are just travelling together through Bolivia and trying to cope with our cultural differences. I think the Chileans might after all be right about Argentinians being arrogant and Andrés is annoyed by my level of organisation. An independent, but sensitive Nordic woman and an Argentinian man with a strong character is a challenging combination. Andrés is a trekking guide from Patagonia, no Antonio Banderas - more like Danny DeVito, or maybe a combination of both -, likes cooking and is very social. The last two months he was doing voluntary work in Chile, building houses for the people who lost theirs during the earthquake. He's a real Argentinian: mate, asado and football are sacred to him. At this very moment he's watching the Worlcup, Argentina playing against Nigeria.
After the European-like countries of Argentina and Chile, the poorer Bolivia feels exotic, more like the "real South America". Here you can see women in traditional clothes with their long hair in two braids, carrying a child wrapped in a colourful cloth on their backs. One traveller said the old women in their wide skirts look like bells when they walk. Ding-dong, ding-dong. :-) In one bus a local woman had two live chickens in her bag. The hostels and public toilets can be very basic, and internet connection is frustratingly slow. Outside the town of Uyuni there was a lot of rubbish on the ground - it was like a graveyard of old plastic bags. But the mountaineous landscapes between Uyuni, Potosí, Sucre and Samaipata were absolutely beautiful. 
We started our journey to Bolivia by taking a tour to Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on earth. It meant sitting for three days in a four wheel drive vehicle on unpaved roads - sometimes just tracks in the sand. We saw colourful lagoons, volcanoes, geysers, weird rock formations, beautiful blue skies and the vast blinding white salt flat - some of most fabulous landscapes in South America, according to my guidebook. I'm surprised and happy that I didn't suffer from altitude sickness, even though we went to almost 5000 metres above sea. In San Pedro and later in Potosí I felt some fatigue and other mild symptoms, like loss of apetite. During the tour some other people had serious headache; the feeling like their head would explode.
The Bolivian border:
Blue skies and mountain landscapes, driving on the sandy/gravel terrain without proper roads:
Laguna Colorada:
Salt flat of Uyuni, looking like a frozen lake:
Our Toyota 4 WD, Johan from Belgium, Teo the Bolivian driver/guide, Isabel from the Netherlands, me and Andrés:
Now I've seen three Unesco World Cultural Heritage listed cities during my trip. The first one was Valparaíso in Chile and the two other ones are Potosí and Sucre here in Bolivia. I've really liked all of them; they are beautiful places. Potosí - once richer and bigger than London or Paris - is a mining city dominated by Cerro Rico, where mining still continues, four centuries after the first mines were started. I didn't have the courage to visit the dusty mines. Instead, at the hostel I watched the movie 'Minero del Diablo' (The Devil's Miner) telling about a 14-year-old boy working at a mine. I really recommend anyone to see it! What cought my eye in Potosí was the big amount of law offices. After Potosí we visited the capital, Sucre, "La Ciudad Blanca", where we could admire the buildings in the centre painted in their original colonial white.
After the European-like countries of Argentina and Chile, the poorer Bolivia feels exotic, more like the "real South America". Here you can see women in traditional clothes with their long hair in two braids, carrying a child wrapped in a colourful cloth on their backs. One traveller said the old women in their wide skirts look like bells when they walk. Ding-dong, ding-dong. :-) In one bus a local woman had two live chickens in her bag. The hostels and public toilets can be very basic, and internet connection is frustratingly slow. Outside the town of Uyuni there was a lot of rubbish on the ground - it was like a graveyard of old plastic bags. But the mountaineous landscapes between Uyuni, Potosí, Sucre and Samaipata were absolutely beautiful.
A street in Uyuni:
A street in Potosí:
What a busride the other night! We took a night bus from Sucre to Samaipata, a small town south of Santa Cruz. At 8 pm a wheel came off in the middle of the road!!! Luckily we were not in the mountains... We waited for half an hour on the roadside and in the next town I sat on the pavement for two hours waiting for the bus to be repaired. Later, on a narrow mountain road in the dark I was repeating in my head a prayer from my childhood and protective mantras I've learnt from my yoga teacher. Usually I'm not scared on my travels, but this time I was. Another time I woke up when the bus had stopped and the police were searching the bus. But don't worry for me, now I'm safely in Samaipata and have one more exciting experience to tell from my travels.
keskiviikko 2. kesäkuuta 2010
Greetings from the driest desert in the world!
A few examples of Chilean friendliness:
- When I left Valparaíso, I took a local bus from the hostel to the bus station. I didn't know exactly where to get off, but there was a woman in the bus who showed me to get off with her. She walked all the way to the bus station and made sure I was following her.
- From Valparaíso I took a bus to La Serena. Just before arriving the guy sitting next to me started chatting with me. I asked about his plans for the evening and got invited to go and eat seafood with him and his friends in the nearby city of Coquimbo. So I went. And finally had the courage to taste raw mussels, shrimps, octopus etc. How could I have left Chile without trying the seafood?! I've visited a fish market a few times before, but they don't look like the most hygienic places and the food is raw, so I've only taken photos. After this experience the guys took me to my hostel in La Serena. No expectations, no emails changed; just a nice, random act of kindness.
From La Serena I got a ride to the village of Pisco Elqui in Elqui Valley in the rental car of three French exchange students who stayed at the same hostel room with me. Pisco Elqui is a small, peacefull place in the middle of the mountains. On the way we stopped in Vicuña to learn more about two important things connected with Chilean culture: Gabriela Mistral and pisco. Gabriela Mistral was a poet awarded by Nobel Prize. The ones of you who've been lucky enough to get a postcard from me from Chile have seen a picture of her in the stamp. After Museo Gabriela Mistral we went to a pisco distellery. Pisco is a Chilean liquor distilled from grapes.
Now I'm in San Pedro de Atacama in the northeastern part of Chile. Tomorrow it's time to leave the country. In a month I've travelled through the whole country; seen the granite towers of Torres del Paine, the fjords in the south, the green central part with lakes, snowcapped volcanoes, Pacific beaches and now I'm amazed by the driest desert in the world. There's emptiness like in Patagonia, but still it looks very different.
Full of expectations - hoping for the best, dreaming of it and at the same time trying to prepare myself for a disappointment - I met my new travel mate Andres yesterday. Finally, after exchanging emails for a month. I sent him a Couch request earlier, but he was travelling and suggested we'd go to Bolivia and Peru together. "Why not?" I thought. So here we are. My first impression is pretty good, so I believe we'll have a great time travelling together.
I also met a really cool Belgian/Dutch couple at my hostel. All four of us are a team now; we'll take a tour to the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia together. It feels good to be with other people again. A lot of laughter.
torstai 27. toukokuuta 2010
A peaceful place, a destroyed place, a cultural place
I found a Couchsurfing host who lives in the countryside between Pucon and Villarrica. The place was so tranquil and the air was so fresh there! Walking in the surroundings eating blackberries, snapping photos and admiring volcano Villarrica was better than travelling to any national park. At the end of the road I sat down on the ground and realised I didn't have any thoughts, any stress, in my head. That walk was like meditation! The next day I went to relax in the natural thermal baths of Termas Los Pozones. On my last day at Pablo's place I lied in a hammock on his backyard reading my guidebook and watching the leaves fall and the sheep graze in the meadow nearby.
As I'm travelling now in Chile, sure I'm interested in the big issue, "el terremoto", the earthquake. It seems that people here are so used to earthquakes that they don't mind if their house is shaking a bit. Even if things fell on the floor, it's not such a big deal. I haven't talked to anyone who lost his/her child at the earthquake or the tsunami. That must be another story. Before my trip I was warned that this might not be a good time to visit Chile. But now, three months after the earthquake, I haven't had any problems. It's not like the country would have totally stopped. Life goes on, and except for some roadworks I really had to make an effort to see the destruction caused by the earthquake. So, my curiosity took me to Talcahuano, a coastal town hit by the tsunami near Conception. Watching the calm sea on a sunny day, it was hard to imagine the mass of water approaching with a big roar. Near the harbour there was a boat in the middle of a park. The empty streets and damaged houses giving the impression of a ghost town definitely made me silent. I also felt a bit quilty, just going there as a tourist. Several people lost their loved ones, and I just go there to take photos. I had the feeling of quilt especially because I know there's a possibility to volunteer and, through an organisation, help to build houses for the people who lost their homes.
Chillan was my base for doing the daytrip to the more severely damaged areas, mostly Talcahuano. From Chillan I took a nightbus to Valparaíso. Every now and then I woke up because my knee was aching a lot. (It's a repetitive strain injury from my hike in Torres del Paine.) I didn't cry out of pain, but it was so painful that I decided: "I've had enough, I'll go to see a doctor". So I did. Nothing seriously bad; with a supportive stretch tube, anti-inflammatory pills and some cream it should get better in ten days. In the evening I filled in the web form of my travel insurance company for getting back the money I had paid to the clinic. The next morning I had a reply in my email saying that they've prosessed my case and the money (which anyways was only about 40 EUR) will be on my bank account in three days. Wow! Today I also had a reiki session. I don't think the insurance company would pay for that...
I skipped Santiago, the capital, and came straight here in Valparaíso, "Pispala" of Chile. (Although Pispala is only a small part of Tampere and this is a big city.) One cannot but like this bohemian port town with its colourful houses on hillsides! From my hostel bed I have a view to the bay! The first night I was again the only customer, like in Pucon. The hostel owner made some delicious lasagne and we enjoyed it with redwine on the rooftop terrace wathing the city lights on the hillsides in the distance. I must admit it was a romantic setting, but - for those of you with dirty minds - that's where the story ends.
I've visited two of the houses of the great Chilean poet and Nobel prize winner Pablo Neruda. La Sebastiana has marvellous views over Valparaíso and the bay whereas his house in Isla Negra is close to the wide open sea. Neruda certainly had a lot of creativity and a good taste as well as sense of humour. And his collections of glass bottles, figureheads of old ships, shells etc. are impressive!
Tonight I did a cultural tour to visit an urban Mapuche (= indigenous people of Chile) community. I found it very interesting to see and hear how they are trying to preserve their culture. Sometimes they can give lectures and shows at schools, but that depends a lot on the attitude and personal interest of the headmaster and the teachers. I remember from my trip to New Zealand how all the school children were taught the maori language and dances. All this made me think about the situation in Finland. Did I actually learn anything about the life and culture of the sami people at school? Not much. Concerning the Mapuche culture, I was impressed to learn how their culture is based on sharing, unlike our modern culture based on gathering possessions.
Time. There's never enough of it. I've now been on the road for two months and what I have left is a bit more than that. But when I look at the map and my calendar I start to panic: so many places to see and so little time! Back home I never had enough time to read all the books I wanted, go to all the courses and events, meet all my friends, white emails... I left it all behind, cut all the routines and came here free as a bird. And now I'm making myself stressed with the ideas that I should see, experience and learn here more things than I actually can...
As I'm travelling now in Chile, sure I'm interested in the big issue, "el terremoto", the earthquake. It seems that people here are so used to earthquakes that they don't mind if their house is shaking a bit. Even if things fell on the floor, it's not such a big deal. I haven't talked to anyone who lost his/her child at the earthquake or the tsunami. That must be another story. Before my trip I was warned that this might not be a good time to visit Chile. But now, three months after the earthquake, I haven't had any problems. It's not like the country would have totally stopped. Life goes on, and except for some roadworks I really had to make an effort to see the destruction caused by the earthquake. So, my curiosity took me to Talcahuano, a coastal town hit by the tsunami near Conception. Watching the calm sea on a sunny day, it was hard to imagine the mass of water approaching with a big roar. Near the harbour there was a boat in the middle of a park. The empty streets and damaged houses giving the impression of a ghost town definitely made me silent. I also felt a bit quilty, just going there as a tourist. Several people lost their loved ones, and I just go there to take photos. I had the feeling of quilt especially because I know there's a possibility to volunteer and, through an organisation, help to build houses for the people who lost their homes.
Chillan was my base for doing the daytrip to the more severely damaged areas, mostly Talcahuano. From Chillan I took a nightbus to Valparaíso. Every now and then I woke up because my knee was aching a lot. (It's a repetitive strain injury from my hike in Torres del Paine.) I didn't cry out of pain, but it was so painful that I decided: "I've had enough, I'll go to see a doctor". So I did. Nothing seriously bad; with a supportive stretch tube, anti-inflammatory pills and some cream it should get better in ten days. In the evening I filled in the web form of my travel insurance company for getting back the money I had paid to the clinic. The next morning I had a reply in my email saying that they've prosessed my case and the money (which anyways was only about 40 EUR) will be on my bank account in three days. Wow! Today I also had a reiki session. I don't think the insurance company would pay for that...I skipped Santiago, the capital, and came straight here in Valparaíso, "Pispala" of Chile. (Although Pispala is only a small part of Tampere and this is a big city.) One cannot but like this bohemian port town with its colourful houses on hillsides! From my hostel bed I have a view to the bay! The first night I was again the only customer, like in Pucon. The hostel owner made some delicious lasagne and we enjoyed it with redwine on the rooftop terrace wathing the city lights on the hillsides in the distance. I must admit it was a romantic setting, but - for those of you with dirty minds - that's where the story ends.
I've visited two of the houses of the great Chilean poet and Nobel prize winner Pablo Neruda. La Sebastiana has marvellous views over Valparaíso and the bay whereas his house in Isla Negra is close to the wide open sea. Neruda certainly had a lot of creativity and a good taste as well as sense of humour. And his collections of glass bottles, figureheads of old ships, shells etc. are impressive!Tonight I did a cultural tour to visit an urban Mapuche (= indigenous people of Chile) community. I found it very interesting to see and hear how they are trying to preserve their culture. Sometimes they can give lectures and shows at schools, but that depends a lot on the attitude and personal interest of the headmaster and the teachers. I remember from my trip to New Zealand how all the school children were taught the maori language and dances. All this made me think about the situation in Finland. Did I actually learn anything about the life and culture of the sami people at school? Not much. Concerning the Mapuche culture, I was impressed to learn how their culture is based on sharing, unlike our modern culture based on gathering possessions.
Time. There's never enough of it. I've now been on the road for two months and what I have left is a bit more than that. But when I look at the map and my calendar I start to panic: so many places to see and so little time! Back home I never had enough time to read all the books I wanted, go to all the courses and events, meet all my friends, white emails... I left it all behind, cut all the routines and came here free as a bird. And now I'm making myself stressed with the ideas that I should see, experience and learn here more things than I actually can...
tiistai 18. toukokuuta 2010
Travelling alone again
The hugs of goodbye with Felix and Amelia were full of warm feelings. But I wasn't sad, because I knew it was time to take our own roads and I just had to accept it. After two weeks of staying at hostels I changed back to Couchsurfing. And got what Couchsurfing is at its best: having the locals taking me to places I otherwise couldn't go to and enjoying local food and drinks with them. I had just arrived in Valdivia Friday night, and Saturday morning my host Rodrigo presented me his plan: we could go to Las Cascadas for the weekend to visit his friend. My decision was quick: "Sure, why not?! Let's go!" So I went back to lake Llanquihue and saw volcano Osorno again. Las Cascadas is on the northeastern shore of the lake, I had been to Puerto Varas on the southern shore. But I didn't mind at all. I had just arrived in Valdivia, but was happy to get out, to a place so peaceful and beautiful. I had a nice weekend at a holiday house close to a beautiful black sand beach with Rodrigo and his friends Annelisse and Carlos. I had my first Chilean asado (= barbeque) and drank some pisco (= Chilean alcohol) with them. I also tasted 'piñones de araucaria', nut-like seeds of araucaria tree - and developed an addiction! The seeds were the basic nutrition of the native Mapuche people. I liked the piñones so much that I'm cooking them right now, leaving them to boil in water with sugar for two hours, before letting out my inner squirrel.
Visiting a weekend house made me think about sauna. In Finland it's such an essential part of a summer cottage - as well as residential houses. Despite the lack of sauna I desided to be faithful to my roots and traditions and dipped in the lake. I've read that there's already been some warm, summery days in Finland. I'm sure my family has started the season of going to the summertime sauna by the river. And here I am, wearing thermal underwear and a warm jacket! When can I walk around in flip-flops and T-shirts again?! Well, it was my own decision to come here, I'm not complaining and I'm still enjoying the trip.
Sunday evening it was time to leave the holiday house. I wanted to continue straigt to Pucon, but there were no buses, so I had to return to Valdivia. I decided to give the city a chance to show its beauty, so on Monday I chose the midday bus instead of the first one in the morning, allowing me to walk around for two hours. And here's my conclusion: If you want to see sealions, go to Valdivia. Otherwise... don't bother! The river in the city-centre is nothing compared to the lakes and volcanoes in other places.
It's great to be travelling outside the tourist season: I have the whole hostel for myself now! There hadn't been any guests for ten days. The owner left for Santiago last night and since then I've been 'babysitted' by her friend, mountain guide called Rodrigo. It's been raining the whole day today and I've been inside reading my book. I'm trying to give my knee a rest; it's been stiff since hiking in Torres del Paine. It worries me a bit, as I love hiking and would like to visit a lot of national parks. Here in Pucon you can climb an active volcano and see some boiling lava inside the crater. But I need to save my knee and money...
Visiting a weekend house made me think about sauna. In Finland it's such an essential part of a summer cottage - as well as residential houses. Despite the lack of sauna I desided to be faithful to my roots and traditions and dipped in the lake. I've read that there's already been some warm, summery days in Finland. I'm sure my family has started the season of going to the summertime sauna by the river. And here I am, wearing thermal underwear and a warm jacket! When can I walk around in flip-flops and T-shirts again?! Well, it was my own decision to come here, I'm not complaining and I'm still enjoying the trip.
Sunday evening it was time to leave the holiday house. I wanted to continue straigt to Pucon, but there were no buses, so I had to return to Valdivia. I decided to give the city a chance to show its beauty, so on Monday I chose the midday bus instead of the first one in the morning, allowing me to walk around for two hours. And here's my conclusion: If you want to see sealions, go to Valdivia. Otherwise... don't bother! The river in the city-centre is nothing compared to the lakes and volcanoes in other places.
It's great to be travelling outside the tourist season: I have the whole hostel for myself now! There hadn't been any guests for ten days. The owner left for Santiago last night and since then I've been 'babysitted' by her friend, mountain guide called Rodrigo. It's been raining the whole day today and I've been inside reading my book. I'm trying to give my knee a rest; it's been stiff since hiking in Torres del Paine. It worries me a bit, as I love hiking and would like to visit a lot of national parks. Here in Pucon you can climb an active volcano and see some boiling lava inside the crater. But I need to save my knee and money...
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