salar de uyuni, bolivia

so i met Chelsey and Michelle properly in La Paz and was asked if i wanted to join on trip through Salar de Uyuni. so i did. 7 to 9 of December 2007 this is. 

and here we are. backseat of the 4wd for the three day car trip.

looked more amazing in person. salt everywhere.

some flags.

table salt... tables made of salt in front to salt hotel.

map of area.

Chelsey and Michelle at Isla de Pescado.

view of salt flats from the island. some of cacti are over thousands of years old apparently.

and the posing begins.

i AM huge!

Chelsey and Michelle again.

in San Juan, town in middle of nowhere. alpacas in back roaming all around. Chelsey on see-saw.

fish-eye at the museum.

a mummy at the museum. air is so dry that it doesn't decompose further.

Volcan Ollague. smokestack is in Chile while front part here is still Bolivia.

Chelsey and I. 

flamingoes take off in borax lakes.

same, same. the stench around these was horrible due to the borax.

though they were all sorts of different coloured lakes. some vicunas running around.

at Arbol de Piedra (Stone tree) in Rocas de Dali. landscape was inspiration for Dali. cool, weird place.

surfing some of Dali's rocks.

the red lake. Laguna Colorada at 4 250m altitude still.

the geysers on the last morning before crossing border into Chile. here is where my camera was broken a few seconds later. it was cooold.

Chelsey on teeter-totter.

southern Peru and north Bolivia

after Machu Picchu i headed to Arequipa w/ my friend Marsha. while in Arequipa i also saw the ice princess at a local museum. a frozen mummy of an Incan sacrifice. unfortunately no photos allowed.

blue bees... get it?

love this joke on little kids dressed up as superheroes. they will always, always correct you as though they think you are really stupid. funny stuff.

hostel in Arequipa.

in the central plaza w/ Dom, Marsha, Lucy and Niamh.

on the coldest ever bus to lake Titicaca. Lucy, Mayread, Niamh and I froze on this. so cold we could only laugh and shiver.

in one of the floating islands on lake Titicaca.

Niamh and I playing w/ local girl, Melanie. that is Chelsey in the background on left. more on her later. hadn't met her yet.

floating islands.

reed boat we all went on between two of the islands.

some more floating.

Puno plaza. we were on a tv camera here.

Copacabana, Bolivia.

street parade and dancing at night in Copacabana. we had the worst dinner service ever there. as two of us get our meal and then wait... and wait... and wait. finally asking waitress about other two meals and she tells us that the cooks had gone home. what the fark?

didn't even tell us that at first. made us waste nearly an hour waiting for meals that never came.

day parade in Copacabana.

Isla de Sol kids.

Isal de Sol. went there w/ Lucy, Mayread and Niamh.

little super-cute girl who came up to talk to us.

rainbow off land viewed from Isla del Sol.

in a square in La Paz.

llama foetus' at the witch's market in La Paz.

Chelsey and Michelle after having met them properly in hostel in La Paz. went for a tour of city and lunch. this is near Witche's Market.

Chelsey at a zebra crossing. seriously.

Chelsey and I at Loki hostel. both to afraid to make a move so far. more to come on that.

Loki hostel, La Paz. great looking bar in the hostel. and a fun, fun, fun hostel.

Machu Picchu, Cusco

and i finally made it to Machu Picchu, one of the most incredible sights i have been to. just... WOW!

November 2007

Cusco.

kids in Santa Teresa (?), where we stayed overnight on our way to Machu Picchu.

walking the walk. Emma, Marsha and Anna... barracuda style.

Machu Picchu in the morning, w/ Waynu Picchu in the back. great getting there early (6am or so) and having none of the crowds.

another barracuda from Marsha, Emma and Anna.

misty morning.

up Waynu Picchu we go.

Templo de la Luna (temple of the moon).

Lammas in Machu Picchu.

and another.

postcard perfect.

actually this is postcard perfect ;)

Anna, me, Emma and Marsha in our volunteer tshirts (we met in Pisco at Hands On)

Aguas Calientes where we stayed before and after Machu Picchu.

back in Cusco and our traditional (well for a few days) breakfast club.

Cusco and the rain.

the 12 sided stone. all such a perfect fit.