Len & Celina's South America - Take 2

Home nearly 3 weeks and still organising photos and videos. Have worked 2 weeks and seen over 60 patients with chronic pain. But, will always have the memories o a fantastic tour of South America and Antarctica with a great groupand wonderful tour leader - Gary.

Sitting here in the comfortable Hotel Europa it's almost possible to forget the chaos around us. we have been listening to endless fireworks and public protest and are reminded of the bullet holes we saw around the central square which occured only 7 years ago and cost the lives of over 30 people. This morning went to the ancient capital of Tiwanaku or Tiahunaco a civilization which pre-dated the Inca civilisation by up to 1000 years. The construction work of the Pyramid and the Sunken Temple together with the fabulous Sun Gate was amazing as were the huge statues of ancient kings covered in indecipherable characters. There is no Rosetta Stone here to tell us whether they were simply decorative or some form of script. As yet there is no evidence of a pre-columbian writing system. Tomorrow we leave La Paz in the morning for the day and a half journey back to Australia and home.

Just 2 more sleeps to go in La Paz Bolivia. Today we did a City Tour of this Large typically crazy South American City. La Paz lies in a Valley at around 3,500 metres and is the highest capital city in the world. The population is largely poor in Bolivia and the poverty is amazing. We also visited the Valley of the Moon which is very much what the name implies.

This afternoon I have just risked strangle mugging being covered with honey or mustard and risked the pickpockets and the crazy traffic. In the past 3 days we have experienced a 10 hour train trip as previously described and yesterday had a 14 hour day which started at 5am and did not finish until arrived in La Paz at 9:30pm. We travelled by bus to Lake Titicaca, then by catamaran to Sun island
climbed more stairs at high altitude and travelled on a reed boat which was rowed by local Aymara people and powered by a diesel motor. Today we also spent time in the Witches Market where we saw Llama foetuses which are offered as gifts to Pachamama when building a new house so no members of the family will die in the first year. We also saw stuffed frogs and very tired Jaguar and Puma skins.
The other night we saw some our group eating what appeared to be flattened road kill but listed on the menu of the restaurant as Guinea Pig. Nothing was missing including teeth sliity eyes claws. When asked what it tasted like we were told - Guinea Pig. Apart from the laughter some of our group almost lost their meals and several had nightmares that night. In Cuzco we attended a Folklorico show and were dragged up on stage to Dance with the local performers - a real test of our fortitude as we were at over 300 metres.
So far none of our group have had more than a cold and none have complained to our tour Director. We are all punctual and seem to bring the good weather with us wherever we travel. Yesterday we missed a massive Hail storm over the El Alto Area at 4000 metres and when we travelled through the area it looked like it had snowed.
I have also included 2 photos from Sillustani in Peru where the Incas buried their kings around 1400AD in upright tombs.

Spent yesterday on a private train from Cuzco to Puno a distance of 350Km with the highest point reached at 4300metres. Arrived at our hotel at Puno and were all exhausted after the 10 hour trip while being entertained by two Andean musicand dance groups and a fashion show of Alpaca. Today we visited the amazing Ouros
reed islands which float on this part of Lake Titicaca then we travelled to the Inca tombs of Sillustani by bus this afternoon. We are still well and loving the trip each day is a fantastic new experience. Fantastically none of our group of 24 has been sick with acute mountain sickness so far. Tomorrow is a long day visiting Sun Island by
Catamaran and crossing the border into Bolivia then onto La Paz for the next 3 nights.

I hope these photographs give some sense of the wonder that is Macchu Picchu. Today we spent the day wandering the streets of Cuzco and visiting some of its museums. Tomorrow it a 10 hour chartered train trip to Lake Titicaca and a visit to the floating islands of Totora reeds made famous by Thor Heyadahl in his trans Pacific trip around 4 decades ago.