Tropical thunder

3:45 beep beep beep. Early wake up. damnit. Machu Picchu better be worth it was all I could think. We started walking without a single ray of sunshine in the sky and a light breeze blowing off the river. It was a relaxed 20min walk until the control point, which opened at 5, after the gate opened the guards checked our tickets and documents. We then proceeded to begin what was to become an extremeley gruelling climb up 1650 vertical steps! I struggled to make it up as i felt as if i was without any air in my lungs! Once ariving at the gate to machu picchu itself, we had to wait for the gates to the ruins to open. Once they opened the people started to rush in. Negro and I began to get very impatient as we had to wait about twenty minutes for the rest of the group to arrive, and the guide was nowhere to be seen. Eventually the group organized itself and just after the first rays of the sun began to caress machu picchu we entered the ruins. The guide took us around and explained some of the more intricate history to us for around one and a half hours. After which we wondered around on our own for a while. At 10 we started our hike up wayna picchu, the iconic mountain which overlooks and protects machu picchu. It was another 850 vertical ladder like steps to the top. Nedless to say that they were painful! But my god was the view worth it!we got extremely lucky and had a very clear and sunny day, smack bang in the middle of the rainy season, so i count myself as lucky! At the top of wayna, as a send off both negro and I shared a half jack of rum from my sweet little hipflask!oh how deserved it was. The descent was a like walking along a tight rope with your eyes closed. The steps were so close together that i couldnt fit my feet sideways. Quitr scary as well as harrowing on the knees. After arriving at the bottom of the 'little mountain' i headed off to one of the incan terraces and enjoyed a very argentine tradition: an amazingly peaceful siesta!when i woke up i was completely disorientated and confused as to where i was, surprisingly i did not drool on myself. To say goodbye to the mountain we missioned up to the sungate for one last good look at the place, this is where the inca trail comes into the ruins. it was an amazing experience to visit one of the wonders of the world and see how sophisticated an ancient civilization was. the fact that they built there buildings to withstand seismic movement, they built with no mortar and used a lego like system to make sure that the large stones fit together and did not collapse. absolutely inspired. P.S I managed to tear a tendon on the way down....oh how lucky I am.

And the wheels on the bus go round and round

After packing my backpack with clinical precision, organising my cables and other bits and pieces we headed off to the bus terminal for our one ´o'clock´ departure. After a hot, sweaty and tiring two hour wait the bus appeared: El Rapido internacional it read. I had my doubts about how rapido it would be. Upon entering the bus it was as if we were teletransporting straight into bolivia! Families of six sitting in two seats, babies crying in dialects that i could not comprehend. And the smell, it reminded of me when i arrived in India and was assaulted by a wall of india smell. Well this was like that only concentrated to the interior of a boiling bus. We eventually made it to the border, one window with one lady stamping all of the forms. 2 hours under the hot sun. Not the most pleasant border experience of my life. Eventually we made it to the Bolivian side where I had to fork out 53 dollars for a 30day visa. Whilst in the immigration queue we had heard that there were no more train tickets left, which meant one of two options: a ten hour trip in a rickety bus with non reclineable seats or trying to hop on the back of a truck for 8 hours...we decided for a third option: taking a crack at the train station. We managed to get lucky with two of the last tickets available.hooray! even though they were steeply pried as all that was left was the executive class. To celebrate we had an ice cold can of bolivian beer! After a very long trip we eventually crawled into Uyuni, needless to say at 1 int he morning there is absolutely nothing happening. A guy on the train had recommended la casona - after 20 min of looking we fount the casona, which ended up being a bar which was extremely close to being a hooker hide out. So back to the search for hostels. we eventually found one which charged B35 per night, and here is the catch: no showering at night! I went a full sweaty and smelly 35 hours without being able to shower. And to top it off the water in the morning was ice fucking cold! After waking up at six I decided to try and find some Internet, upon inquiring with what looked to be friendly street vendor I found out that the Internet cafes opened early: It was 7 in the morning so i thought 7:30, she laughed and said 9 or ten. and I quote: Office Hours. We managed to organise a trip to the salt plains in the afternoon, which was absolutely epic. Riding around the salt plains on the roof of a land cruiser is and was an amazing experience. We decided we were going to spend another night in Uyuni. We went to the extreme fun pub, which had an amazing vibe, but was horrendously expensive for us árgentines´. We went wondering and found, santana disco pub - the local hotspot....tried some crazy Bolivian mix drink, which was foul! Early wake up and off to Potosi to tour the mines. Now we had been doubting stopping here and pushing on directly to la paz. In the end we decided to hit potosi and then catch a night bus. The mine tour was absolutely unbelievable. we spent over 2 hours in the mines crossing the mountains in full mining gear.(photos to be uploaded). The unique part or aspect of the company that we went with, Big Deal Tours (located near the plaza) is that it is operated by 6 ex miners who decided that tourism was a much more attractive job than spending all day underground in seriously horrendous conditions! Whilst in the mine, we participated in the ritual offerings to el Tio, the underground devil. Very crazy! The ritual consisted in offering coca leaves and drinking 96 percent alcohol!ufffffff.... After the unbelievable experience in the mines we headed off to the the new bus terminal and tried to get tickets to La paz. After running around like headless chickens we managed to get two tickets in ´El relampago´ (lightning) - still not sure why all of our buses have speedy connotations as they have been more like snails than anything else. Arrived in la paz around 6 and headed off to find a hostel...finally got into Wild Rover hostel ( let the partying begin) photos to be added shortly

Un, dos, tres.... blast off.

My bags are packed and Im ready to go... Tonight is the night that I climb ont othe bus and I will have to crane my neck in order to see the lights of the city that I have called home for the last five years of my life. San miguel de Tucuman ( look it Up). I am embarking oin a much anticipiated trip, duration: approx. 6months, destination: Unknown. I have set up my 75 litre backpack as if it were an apollo rocket, with enough electronics to confuse even a rocket scientist.... My first stop will be the border with bolivia, where im hoping ot see if i can actually speak spanish that is understandable to people who live outside of the Republic of tucuman. Well, I have only a short while in which to start this blog off, but i hope to capture and transmit, through extremely small and unsofisticated words, my experiences throughout South America, from Argentina, bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, columbia, Venezuela and brazil( my dear Brazil).