The last travel email I posted here was originally sent out from Bolivia, after Jax and 
I visited Lake Titicaca. It was several weeks before I sent out another email, when we eventually made our way to Argentina. In the meantime, we had an UNBELIEVABLE time in Bolivia! We rode mountain bikes down “The Bolivian Road of Death”, also known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Road” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road - DAMN, what a ride!!
We also spent several days in the Solar de Uyuni – an amazing high-altitude desert full of natural wonders the likes of which I couldn’t even begin to imagine had I not actually seen them. One night on our desert trek, we stayed
in an OLD building made of bricks and concrete, where backpackers from other treks were also staying. The building was in the middle of NOWHERE – literally no sign of civilization for miles and miles around. The rooms were very large with high ceilings, and they had plain concrete floors and walls, with tiny windows up near the ceiling. There were about a dozen skinny, metal beds lined up along one wall in each of the three or four rooms, and no sheets or blankets on the beds. I’ll never forget that night – it was SO cold that we wore practically everything we had,
but our faces and fingers were still numb. There was no electricity in the building and no moon that night…it was the darkest of dark night skies. Jax and I huddled with the other travelers in our room and we all wore our headlamps so we could see around the room. The guys wouldn’t admit it, but I think everyone was a little freaked out…I sure was. We all shared Power Bars and Ramen Noodles for dinner, and rationed our water because the faucets were broken. For entertainment, an English guy delivered an extremely detailed lesson on the sport of cricket, using charcoal to draw diagrams on the concrete floor…I was grateful to at least have something to focus on besides creepy sounds in the dark!
I visited Lake Titicaca. It was several weeks before I sent out another email, when we eventually made our way to Argentina. In the meantime, we had an UNBELIEVABLE time in Bolivia! We rode mountain bikes down “The Bolivian Road of Death”, also known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Road” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road - DAMN, what a ride!!We also spent several days in the Solar de Uyuni – an amazing high-altitude desert full of natural wonders the likes of which I couldn’t even begin to imagine had I not actually seen them. One night on our desert trek, we stayed
in an OLD building made of bricks and concrete, where backpackers from other treks were also staying. The building was in the middle of NOWHERE – literally no sign of civilization for miles and miles around. The rooms were very large with high ceilings, and they had plain concrete floors and walls, with tiny windows up near the ceiling. There were about a dozen skinny, metal beds lined up along one wall in each of the three or four rooms, and no sheets or blankets on the beds. I’ll never forget that night – it was SO cold that we wore practically everything we had,
but our faces and fingers were still numb. There was no electricity in the building and no moon that night…it was the darkest of dark night skies. Jax and I huddled with the other travelers in our room and we all wore our headlamps so we could see around the room. The guys wouldn’t admit it, but I think everyone was a little freaked out…I sure was. We all shared Power Bars and Ramen Noodles for dinner, and rationed our water because the faucets were broken. For entertainment, an English guy delivered an extremely detailed lesson on the sport of cricket, using charcoal to draw diagrams on the concrete floor…I was grateful to at least have something to focus on besides creepy sounds in the dark! Jax and I wanted to continue traveling south to Argentina from Bolivia, but after the Solar de Uyuni trek, we decided to enter Argentina through Chile because we heard the border crossings were easier in that direction. So from the trek, we took a bus down to the Bolivia/C
hile border where we walked through customs (after having our bags thoroughly searched), and took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, the nearest town. We quickly learned that busses between San Pedro and Argentina only run every few days…so we settled in to a super cool hostel with a few friends we met on the road, and enjoyed northern Chile for a few days. We had bonfires in the desert, joined drum circles in town, and visited the Valley of the Moon (Cordillera de la Sal), where I was nearly arrested for climbing atop what I thought was an interesting rock formation...failing to realize that it was actually a protected cultural treasure! Woops.
hile border where we walked through customs (after having our bags thoroughly searched), and took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, the nearest town. We quickly learned that busses between San Pedro and Argentina only run every few days…so we settled in to a super cool hostel with a few friends we met on the road, and enjoyed northern Chile for a few days. We had bonfires in the desert, joined drum circles in town, and visited the Valley of the Moon (Cordillera de la Sal), where I was nearly arrested for climbing atop what I thought was an interesting rock formation...failing to realize that it was actually a protected cultural treasure! Woops. By the time we made it to Salta, in northern Argentina, it was almost Thanksgiving 
– which is when I sent out the email posted below. I hope you enjoy the story, and safe travels!!!
Happy Thanksgiving from Argentina!!
Date Thu, Nov 23, 2006 at 2:39 PM
¡Buenos tardes!
I love making that little upside-down exclamation point. :) Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I just got off the phone with my par
ents and sisters and cousins and brother-in-law and even my new little nephew (or one of the puppies - I'm not really sure - ha ha). It feels so good to talk to family! Jax and I are in Salta, Argentina now. What a beautiful city!! I haven't been to Europe yet, but everyone says this place is "very European". We arrived yesterday - no the day before - from a long bus trip, getting in to town around 11PM. After arrival we headed to the main square and sat down to a proper steak dinner - salads, wine, and the whole shebang - at midnight, served by a handsome waiter in a tuxedo! Then, at 1:30 in the morning, we walked across the plaza, which was still bustling, and sipped expresso with some friends in a little sidewalk cafe. I could get used to this!
We've been traveling quickly since the last email I sent out. After visiting Lake Titicaca from Puno, in Peru, and from Copacabana, in Bolivia, we headed to La Paz for more Bolivian adventures. La Paz is a HUGE city - very diverse and very busy. Unfortunately we didn{t have enough time to really explore the city, although we had some very memorable experiences. For instance, I learned how to send a package full of souveniers to the US from Bolivia. I think. Ha ha!
For me, there were two main highlights in Bolivia - first, riding a mountain bike down "The World's Most Dangerous Road" and second, traveling via jeep all ujp, around, and through the Solar de Uni -
the great Boliaivan salt plains. The bike ride was unbelievable! We started in the WEE morning hours (we have an Irish friend we like to tease for saying "wee bit" all the time) at the top of this ginormous mountain, where the mist was so thick, in some places I felt like I was just following the sound of the bike tire belonging to the person in front of me. As thew mist cleared, we had incredible views of this lush, green valley. Everyone was wearing protective gear, which got COMpletely covered in mud splatters. Something about being covered in mud makes a girl feel really bad-ass. The road is about as wide as one truck. When two vehicles meet each other going oposite directions, a very delicate dance ensues whereby one precariously backs up while the other slowly inches forward for the pass. Take it from me - it is far safer to be on a bike than in a vehicle on that road!
One of the guys in our group was an ex
perienced mountain biker from Colorado - I gave him my camera and he snapped a bunch of photos for me on the way down (both of my hands were very busy with white-knuckle grips on the handle bars). He said he could hear me "howling like an Indian" all the way down. Geeze - you would think a guy from Colorado might have heard a proper YEE HAW once or twice before in his life! :D
After surviving the road of death and another day in La Paz, we headed to a little town called Uyuni, which is the launching point for explorations of the Bolivian salt plains. I really don't know how to sum up our tour, it was just so incredible. We literally drove around the middle of nowhere in the back of a jeep for three days, completely in awe of the landscapes.
We saw flocks and flocks of wile flamingoes, living in bright aqua-marine colored lagoon
s at the base of maroon- and sage- colored volcanoes, rising up from the pure, crystal white sands of barren salt plains. We drove through herds of wild vicuña and alpaca, grazing on little cacti and patches of shrubs on high desert plateaus. We got up at 4 in the morning and watched a pale orange sun rise over the dramatic Bolivian landscape, from within a garden of seething hot gurgling mud - geysers pouring steam out of the earth all around us - our boots sinking into warm mud and our faces numbing in the frigid early morning air felt only at an altitude of 4870 meters in the Bolivian desert. We stripped down to our skivvies and soaked in a steaming hot natural mineral bath in the middle of nowhere, staring out across the mind-blowingly expansive landscape - an experience which left my skin soft and my soul calm (and my
hair a little crusty, although that's not very poetic!).
The tour ended with a hectic border crossing into Chile, at a charming little town called San Pedro. I have TONS of photos to share with everyone, which I will upload as soon as I can find an internet connection faster that the shoddy dial-up connections we{ve been finding everywhere! We stayed in San Pedro for a few days, waiting on a bus to Argentina. Luckily we had a great hostel - lots of cool folks living a laid-back hippie-type desert lifestyle. Chilean people are very good looking as well. ,) We coincidentally ran into a couple of friends in San Pedro, and we all traveled to Argentina together.
My Spanish is getting better. Although we meet tons of English speakers along the traveler's route, we've also been spending time in plenty of places where there are NO English speakers, which is good for learning. So, as I mentioned, we're in a city called Salta now. Tommorow or maybe the next day we'll start heading south, towards Buenos Aires and Bariloche. Tonight we will have a Thanksgiving feast of steak and red wine!! Ahhhhhh......
Take care everyone, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hug someone you love and call someone you haven't talked to in awhile. I will send more updates (and hopefully photos) soon!
Love,
Aubrey
– which is when I sent out the email posted below. I hope you enjoy the story, and safe travels!!!Happy Thanksgiving from Argentina!!
Date Thu, Nov 23, 2006 at 2:39 PM
¡Buenos tardes!
I love making that little upside-down exclamation point. :) Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I just got off the phone with my par
ents and sisters and cousins and brother-in-law and even my new little nephew (or one of the puppies - I'm not really sure - ha ha). It feels so good to talk to family! Jax and I are in Salta, Argentina now. What a beautiful city!! I haven't been to Europe yet, but everyone says this place is "very European". We arrived yesterday - no the day before - from a long bus trip, getting in to town around 11PM. After arrival we headed to the main square and sat down to a proper steak dinner - salads, wine, and the whole shebang - at midnight, served by a handsome waiter in a tuxedo! Then, at 1:30 in the morning, we walked across the plaza, which was still bustling, and sipped expresso with some friends in a little sidewalk cafe. I could get used to this!
We've been traveling quickly since the last email I sent out. After visiting Lake Titicaca from Puno, in Peru, and from Copacabana, in Bolivia, we headed to La Paz for more Bolivian adventures. La Paz is a HUGE city - very diverse and very busy. Unfortunately we didn{t have enough time to really explore the city, although we had some very memorable experiences. For instance, I learned how to send a package full of souveniers to the US from Bolivia. I think. Ha ha!
For me, there were two main highlights in Bolivia - first, riding a mountain bike down "The World's Most Dangerous Road" and second, traveling via jeep all ujp, around, and through the Solar de Uni -
the great Boliaivan salt plains. The bike ride was unbelievable! We started in the WEE morning hours (we have an Irish friend we like to tease for saying "wee bit" all the time) at the top of this ginormous mountain, where the mist was so thick, in some places I felt like I was just following the sound of the bike tire belonging to the person in front of me. As thew mist cleared, we had incredible views of this lush, green valley. Everyone was wearing protective gear, which got COMpletely covered in mud splatters. Something about being covered in mud makes a girl feel really bad-ass. The road is about as wide as one truck. When two vehicles meet each other going oposite directions, a very delicate dance ensues whereby one precariously backs up while the other slowly inches forward for the pass. Take it from me - it is far safer to be on a bike than in a vehicle on that road!One of the guys in our group was an ex
perienced mountain biker from Colorado - I gave him my camera and he snapped a bunch of photos for me on the way down (both of my hands were very busy with white-knuckle grips on the handle bars). He said he could hear me "howling like an Indian" all the way down. Geeze - you would think a guy from Colorado might have heard a proper YEE HAW once or twice before in his life! :DAfter surviving the road of death and another day in La Paz, we headed to a little town called Uyuni, which is the launching point for explorations of the Bolivian salt plains. I really don't know how to sum up our tour, it was just so incredible. We literally drove around the middle of nowhere in the back of a jeep for three days, completely in awe of the landscapes.
We saw flocks and flocks of wile flamingoes, living in bright aqua-marine colored lagoon
s at the base of maroon- and sage- colored volcanoes, rising up from the pure, crystal white sands of barren salt plains. We drove through herds of wild vicuña and alpaca, grazing on little cacti and patches of shrubs on high desert plateaus. We got up at 4 in the morning and watched a pale orange sun rise over the dramatic Bolivian landscape, from within a garden of seething hot gurgling mud - geysers pouring steam out of the earth all around us - our boots sinking into warm mud and our faces numbing in the frigid early morning air felt only at an altitude of 4870 meters in the Bolivian desert. We stripped down to our skivvies and soaked in a steaming hot natural mineral bath in the middle of nowhere, staring out across the mind-blowingly expansive landscape - an experience which left my skin soft and my soul calm (and my
hair a little crusty, although that's not very poetic!).The tour ended with a hectic border crossing into Chile, at a charming little town called San Pedro. I have TONS of photos to share with everyone, which I will upload as soon as I can find an internet connection faster that the shoddy dial-up connections we{ve been finding everywhere! We stayed in San Pedro for a few days, waiting on a bus to Argentina. Luckily we had a great hostel - lots of cool folks living a laid-back hippie-type desert lifestyle. Chilean people are very good looking as well. ,) We coincidentally ran into a couple of friends in San Pedro, and we all traveled to Argentina together.
My Spanish is getting better. Although we meet tons of English speakers along the traveler's route, we've also been spending time in plenty of places where there are NO English speakers, which is good for learning. So, as I mentioned, we're in a city called Salta now. Tommorow or maybe the next day we'll start heading south, towards Buenos Aires and Bariloche. Tonight we will have a Thanksgiving feast of steak and red wine!! Ahhhhhh......
Take care everyone, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hug someone you love and call someone you haven't talked to in awhile. I will send more updates (and hopefully photos) soon!
Love,
Aubrey
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