Krabi, Thailand

Two days ago we landed in Krabi, Thailand which is on the southwestern coast of the Andaman Sea. It is a true tourist resort trap with all the infrastructure one could
ever ask for and much much more luxury than you every really need to live a happy life. We knew that we'd be going into something like this, but felt it a good way of aclimatising to the western world again and just relaxing a couple of days before heading home for good.

The weather has been perfect and the first day we simply relaxed by the pool and strolled along the beach, packed with sunburnt tourists! :) It was nice not having to think about our next travel steps and enjoy doing nothing.

Today I went climbing in the Raylay Beach areas. The rock was amazing and so was the scenery. Highlight was a 6b, which I didn't lead, unfortunately. Anja enjoyed another day by the pool, going through her daily 2h excercise routine and swimming 1km!

We are happy and healthy as can be and are just VERY, VERY excited to fly home the day after tomorrow. The lenght of our trip has been perfect, not too short, not too long (of course it's a matter of knowing ahead of time) - but all in all we just feel blessed to have been able to see so many wonderful corners of this beautiful earth, with all the different cultures, their food, their daily life, and the animals so diverse, abundant and precious! We hope that we can share this experience with all of you in person sometime in the near future.

SWITZERLAND, HERE WE COME...

My Lai

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Hoi An II

Tomorrow we continue on to Son My where the infamous My Lai massacre took place. I'm am sure it will be a sombering experience. Then we travel on to Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon) where the weather is expected to be a little better.

We have decided to divert to the southwestern coast of Thailand for the last 4 days of our journey to catch some sun and rest before heading home via Bangkok on the December 23.

Hoi An I

We arrived in Hoi An by bus yesterday. This town is know for its clothes making industry. Of course we didn't hesitate and ordered two brand new, custom fit business suits, a silk dress, and a bunch of silk and cotton shirts for an incredible $200.00. The measurements were done yesterday and today we got our first fitting. Can't beat that! Now all we have to do is get the items back home in one piece! Its unfortunate that we are travelling through these central provinces during the beginning of the monsoon season. This prevents us from enjoying much of the outdoor activities we love so much. It is literally pouring cats and dogs 24x7.

Hue

We spent the last two days in Hue in central Vietnam visiting the famous Nguyen Dynasty masoleums and a copy of the forbiden city know as the citadel. Each of the emperors created a tomb for himself along the Perfume River. Some of architecture pomp is quite impressive, however it does appear that the Vietnamese are not taking very good care of their historical buildings. Many of them are suffering from deterioration through the elements and human damage. This is unfortunate, especially since they are charging plenty of money for entrace fees... I guess some corrupt government official is getting the good end of the deal (Note: the common "blame it on the government" excuse).

Perfume Pagoda / Ha Long Bay

On Tuesday we booked a tour to go see the Perfume Pagoda, a Buddhist prayer house, on top of the Perfume Mountain 70 km southwest of Hanoi. In order to get there, you must take a row boat up the Yen Vi river. The drive out to this location was half the fun. It gave us a glimpse of what everyday life in the countryside of Vietnam is really like. The pagoda itself is a cave on top of the mountain, with shrines for the three different Buddhist flavors practiced in Vietnam. The Kitchen Pagoda at the bottom was just as spectacular and our guide, Tuyen, did a fantastic job explaining the historical and spiritual context of the place.

Yesterday was mostly a day of rest, partly due to a stomach-ache I developed by eating Pizza of all things. Teaches me right, never eat western food in a Asian country. However, after a good week of rice and vegetables and vegetables and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner I was craving a little variety. I guess I'll stick to rice and vegetables for the remaining 2 weeks of our travels (TWO WEEKS?!?!?! - Didn't we just leave the US yesterday??!?). We still managed to see Ho Chi Min, the national revolutionist hero, at the mausoleum as well as his living quarters during his presidency.

Today, feeling much better, we visited touristy Ha Long Bay. We experienced the manufacturing side of Vietnam to the east of Hanoi toward China. The trip there and back was well organized with plenty of planned stops at various shopping opportunities. Nevertheless, the landscapes and caves in the ocean bay, which we visited by means of a Junk, were breathtaking.

We are looking forward to heading south to Hue tomorrow. The weather has been unseasonably cold for Hanoi - nothing in comparison to Minnesota of course.

Sa Pa

After taking the night train from Hanoi to Sa Pa, in a luxurious soft-sleeper, we arrived in Lao Cai around 5:45. From there we took a minibus up into the northern mountains to a quite touristy town of Sa Pa. It's a bustling city set in the rice fields among minority tribes of the H'mong, Dao and others.

Our guide Gom, a 17 year old woman from the Black H'mong tribe, took us on a small hike to Cat Cat, a couple of huts in the valley, where we visited a family living off the land, eating rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also process the hemp plant (no, we did not smoke any off it :) to make clothes and dye them with the indigo plant into a magnificent dark purple.

The afternoon was spent visiting the busy market of Sa Pa, buying beautiful silk scarves and other materials for unbelievably low prices. We had to keep ourselves from stocking up on too much, since the main trek was still ahead of us.

Today, we are hiking approximately 14 km to the minority village of Tan Van where we will stay with a family for the night. From there it's back to Lao Cai, via some other villages where we catch the night train back to Hanoi.

Back in Hahei

After some fun in Rotorura we are now back in Hahei with our friends. We enjoyed another couple of wonderful days with Marisa and Peter, just relaxing and enjoying their company, the beautiful views and surroundings. On Monday the four of us headed off to Coromandel Town and on the way back climbed up Castle Rock (no, not the town in Colorado south of Denver) on the famous 309 Highway.

Anja had a physical therapy appointment and we have good news - it appears that she is on the road to healing. It wasn't pinched disk afterall, but rather a slipped disk which makes a lot more sense. Her sciatica iscn't hurting anymore and the numbness in her foot is retreating more and more daily.

Our last day in New Zealand approached way too fast and we are about to board a 777 to Hanoi, Vietname 2morrow early morning. We had a wonderful time in this beautiful country which reminded us a lot of Switzerland minus the over-population. We are excited for our last adventure - Vietnam and at the same time are looking forward to being home for Christmas with family and friends.

Rotorua Zorbing

Today we left the magical forest of Lake Waikaremoana and drove 3 hours to Rotorua, one of NZ's big tourist centers, famous for its Geysirs and volcanic landscapes. It is also famous for the crazy things you can do here, such as sky-diving or bungy jumping. We decided that we can't leave NZ without having done at least one adrenaline-pumping thing, so we went "zorbing"!!! They put you in a giant plastic ball with a bunch of water and shove you down a hill... it's like being inside a giant washing machine and heck, it was sooo much fun! Markus and I went into one ball together and felt like two three year old kids slip-sliding down the slope. Of course Markus had to do the more scary zig-zag slope by himself... and was all smiles when he came out of the Zorb. We had the time of our lives and are now looking forward to explore the rest of Rotorua and attend a Maori Concert this evening.

Lake Waikaremoana and Umgebung

After a long drive on a mostly gravel, winding road we ended up at the beautiful natural preserve of Lake Waikaremoana. Because it was cold and raining pretty hard (trust us, it wasn't our fault), we decided to stay at a cabin instead of trying to set up camp in the rain. We spent the night in the warm and cozy wooden cabin and were refreshed the next day to tackle the 6 hour hike to Lake Waikareiti. We hiked through this enchanted,fairytale forest, thinking gnomes and elfs are hiding behind every tree. The hike did not seem long at all and before we knew it we arrived at the lake. After enjoying an hour of rest over the magnificent beach we walked back to our cabin. Before dinner we hung out with some friendly ducks and black swans on the dock before we had a hearty dinner with potatoes, cheese and eeeeeeegs (in Kiwi - slang).

Napier Wine Tasting

In Napier we crashed at a backpackers near the Port of the city and the next day Anja enjoyed some more Anti-Q shopping (yes, she definately has an addiction). We spent the morning sightseeing in the beautiful Art-Deco town and researching our continuing travels, realizing that we would miss out if we didn't participate in a local wine tour and tasting experience with one of the local wineries.

What said we did and had a wonderful time at the Church Road winery, visiting the winery, cellars and of course tasting their many wines, of which only one of them we liked :P.

Waitomo Caves

After learning about the game of cricket from a local guy that I met in Victoria Park and Anja satisifying her shopping cravings we headed south through Hamilton to the Waitomo Caves, home of the world famous Glow-worms caves. We spent our first night in the cabin in a long while because there was rain in the forecast (I am sure it was our fault).

The next morning we split up, Anja deciding to do the walk-through tour of the newly opened Rukurai Caves with phenomenal stalagtites (from the ceiling), stalagmites, glow-worms (which really are maggets) and other amazing cave-rock-formations. I embarked on the black-water rafting tour, a 3h adventure by intertube through dark caves with glow-worms on the ceilings, like the nightsky, small waterfalls and lots of ice-cold water. After a short visit at the local Cave Museum, not really worth it, we continued on our way toward Tongariro National Park. This is where many of the Lord of the Rings Volcano scences were filmed and the plan was to do an 8h hike the next day.

After checking the 5-cast (just for fuz and cuz) and finding more rain than we were willing to put up with on a day hike, we continued on to Napier. All in all a REALLY long day on the road.

Waipoura Kauri Forest & Auckland

Yesterday we camped in one of the largest Kauri Forests in the northland of New Zealand. Kauris are giant trees which grow to over 16m in circumference and 40m high. They were logged extensively and their gum was used to produce varnish in the late 19th century - only few remain in the Natural Preserves today. After a couple hours walking through the cool forest and admiring these monsters, we enjoyed a lazy lunch near an ice-cold stream, dipping in it for only very brief moments. We then continued toward Auckland where we arrived last night into a noisy inner-city campsite - the worst we've slept in a while. Cities are much louder after you've spent a couple days in the wilderness.

Today we are exploring the largest, liveliest city of New Zealand also called the city of Sails. The port is famous for hosting the America's Cup and there are many cafes and restaurants scattered out onto the streets that give it a European feel.

Bay of Islands

Two days ago we departed from a wonderful relaxing week with our friends Peter and Marisa. They really spoiled us with trips around Hahei and of course their wonderful cooking and beautiful house. Furthermore, they provided us with all their camping gear so we can travel low budget through the beautiful countryside and coastal areas of the north island of New Zealand.

Our first day was a long one on the road, stopping in Warkworth to see if there were any Antique stores where Anja could find any treasures, no such luck... We continued along the coast to Whangarei and Tutukaka, finally arriving at a beautiful DOC (Department of Conservation) campground on the northern tip of Whangaruru Bay.

Yesterday, in the middle of taking down the tent it started to rain and we decided to wait and let all the gear dry b4 continuing. The coastal area toward Russel is breathtaking, with small beaches, islands and subtropical forestlands dotting the landscape. Russel, a nostalgic town with 19th century architecture was perfect for a cup of coffee. After a short ferry ride we arrived in Opuka just adjacent to the touristy town of Paiha. We continued through to Waitangi, where the famous peace treaty between the ingiginous Maori and Europeans was signed. From there we embarked on a 10 km hike to the Waruru waterfalls where we camped at the base with the sound of the falls drowning out any other noise. A perfect place to fall asleep.

Hahei, New Zealand

Two days ago we arrived in Auckland around midnight. After a short night in a hotel near the airport we picked up our rental car and headed off toward the Coromandel Peninsula where our friends Marisa and Peter live. After a 3 hour drive, there was a warm welcome at their beautiful house just above the beach of Hahei. The location is incredible and the view an absolute dream.

It was wonderful to just relax and spend two days sleeping in, having amazing dinners with our friends and experiencing a civilized lifestyle. Peter and Marisa are great hosts and we are feeling at home already. Anja has continued to visit Chiropractics along the way. We are looking forward to a couple more relaxing days here before we head off with tent to explore the rest of the north island of New Zealand.

Red Center II

Kings Canyon was amazing. We got up around 5am... something you just get accustomed to doing when the days are as hot as they are here in the desert. A beautiful hike took us along the rim of the canyon. I couldn't resist a dip into the cold water in one of the swimming holes near the mouth of the canyon. The landscape reminded us a lot of southwestern Utah - minus the kangaroos :)

With the heavy rains the 4WD track we were going to take back to Alice was closed so we had to alter our route, which was actually for the better. We decided to explore the East MacDonell Ranges instead, as you guessed correctly, east of Alice. We camped in the beautiful Theraphin Gorge, virtually by ourselves and cooked a wonderful Safran Risotto and enjoyed a 1/2 bottle of red wine, australian of course.

The next morning we completed two more hikes near our campsite and also visited the ghost town of Arltunga, a "flourishing" gold miner town in the late 19th century. Continuing along true outback roads we arrived in Gem Tree last night around 6pm.

Today, we enjoyed the hard work of fossiking for zircon in the gem fields east of Gem Tree. After a hard 6 hours of work we did manage to find approximately 12 zircons that can be cut into various pieces of jewellery. It was an exciting, back-breaking adventure... So, here we are back in Alice and our flight to Auckland, New Zealand leaves 2morrow at noon. We had a wonderful time on this unique continent, saw heaps, but haven't even scratched the surface of what this country has to offer. Thank you Australia for a wonderful time and goodbye.

Red Center I

Just over a week ago we touched down in Alice Springs and surprise, surprise, the same evening it started raining in the desert! This created a nice cool off with temperatures forecast to be in the around 40 C.

As mentioned in one of the previous posts we rented a 4WD to explore the Red Center. We headed off to the West MacDonell Ranges (heading 270, not surprisingly) after a wonderful day in the "Alice", as locals call the small desert town, visiting the very interesting Desert Park on the way, which explains the various Desert landscapes, flora and fauna, how to find water and other essentials in the Outback. After a couple of short hikes to various Gorges and Chasms we settled in Glen Helen for the night. At this point we had decided to spend our nights on camping mats in the back of our 4WD because all rooms in the Outback, even dorm-rooms with bunk-beds and 4-10 people shared occupancy, ran >= AUS $50 which we weren't willing to pay. Unfortunately, the first night in the car was rather aweful :( We had the choice between keeping the windows shut and suffering a heat stroke or opening the windows and getting eaten alive by some pretty nasty mosquitos (yes, they do exist outside minnesotaaaaaa). To make a long story short, we didn't sleep much. In the morning Anja's back injury was pretty bad and we decided to head back to Alice to see a chiropractic.

The same day, with Anja feeling much better after a good cracking, we continued on to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It is quite an amazing sight, this monolith in the middle of the desert. We watched a beautiful sunset with many other spectators and spent a, this time more confortable night, in the back of the 4WD. A thunderstorm had cooled temps and the mosquitos weren't nearly as bad.

The next morning the plan was to get up for the sunrise, however, we couldn't quite get out of our car/bed in time so we decided instead to pay a visit to the other famous rock formations in the area, the olgas. We started the 7km hike around 6:30 am and were happy we did so, because by the time we had finished, temps were a blistering 34 C. The afternoon was spent around a pool, the only way to keep half-way cool.

Sunrise at Uluru was clouded over the next day, but still made for a mystical landscape with half of Uluru covered in fog. We hiked around the base of the rock, 10km round-trip, sharing the trail with relatively few other visitors. Then we headed off towards Kings Canyon, a 3.5h drive. There's a lot of open space in these parts of the country. After another spectacular thunderstorm across the desert we settled in for the night in our, by this time, comfy 4WD home :)

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Brisbane

After a one day stop in the Glass House Mountains with some rainy weather and limited hiking as well as a half day at Australia Zoo, we arrived in Brisy (as the locals call Brisbane) yesterday. We returned the camper that was our home for the last 3 weeks and are spending our first night in a hotel in a long time. Ahhhhhh... a real bed for once... not a camper, not a tent, not a sailing boat! :)

We have to admit, once in a while it's nice to be in a big city. We spent the better part of today strolling past gardens, visiting museums, and enjoying a cup of iced coffee... considering the hot and steamy temperatures. 2nite we are planning an excursion into the Fortitude Valley, one of the fine restaurant districts of Brisy, and possibly a movie after. You have to enjoy civilization while it lasts - in a couple of days it's back 2 the outback.

2morrow our flight to Alice Springs leaves early in the morning and we'll be picking up a 4WD to explore the Outback of Australia. The plan is to do some hiking in the West MacDonald Ranges, then cruise on to Kings Canyon, via back roads on to Ayers Rock and the Olgas only to return after a short 8 days for the flight onto Auckland, New Zealand via Sydney. More as the adventures unfold :)

Rockhampton - Bundaberg - Maryborough - Rainbow Beach

The last couple of days have been spent travelling further down the east coast towards Rainbow Beach. We stopped south of Rockhampton and decided to camp in the wild instead of finding a campsite. This turned out to be a mistake as we found out the next morning after a goodnights worth of rain. Our camper was stuck on the side of the road and the more we tried to get it out, the more it burried itself in mud! Luckely, a farmer driving by noticed our troubles and said that he would go get a tractor to pull us out. Within 15 minutes he was back with another mate, they attached a long chain and pulled the sorry little camper out of the mud within minutes. What friendly people and angels we had all around us!

We spent the afternoon in Bundaberg, where the famous Australian Rum originates. Anja had another session with a Chiropractic and I visited the Rum distillery just outside of town with two samples at the end :) We continued on the the beautiful town of Maryborough where we spent the night and visited the city this morning. Next it's on to Rainbow Beach where we will embark on a 3-day tour to Fraser Island. We will be driving a 4WD through the biggest sand Island of the world where freshwater lakes and rivers exist in abundance.

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands

We just got back from an amazing sailing tour around the Whitsunday Islands. Sunday evening around 18:30 a group of exclusively Europeans (2 Belgians, 2 Dutch, 4 Germans, and this strange Swiss couple) boarded the Madison, a 16 meter Yacht, in Airley Beach Marina. The skipper Robbie (an American) and the Deckhands Bryony (England) were a wonderful team, briefing us on the safety, trip, and other essentials. Robbie customized the 3 day sailing trip after each one of us had an opportunity to share with the group what they expected! We set sail around 20:00 and and after about 1.5 h under an almost full-moon which illuminated all of the islands around us, we anchored in a cozy bay off of Hook Island (pretty much straight east from Airley Beach). After some snacks and stimulating conversation we hit the bunks around midnight.

The next morning we got up at 5:00 to catch a beautiful sun rising over the pacific waters as we sailed approximately 3 hours to Bait Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef. We were fortunate to be able to meet up with a diving boat and 6 of our group including myself went scuba diving while the rest did some wonderful snorkeling. I wish I had an underwater camera to share the amazing world below the surface with you guys... but its something you just have to experience... it's like visiting a different planet. After lunch, there was more time for snorkeling before we had to head back toward the Whitsundays to arrive before dark.

Yesterday we got up around 6:00 to more beautiful weather and visited world-famous Whitehaven beach. The sand is said to be almost 95% quarts and is so fine that it will scratch your glasses, ruin your camera and get into every possible place you can imagine. We spent the morning enjoying the turquois colors, due to the refraction of the light within the water containing these same crystals and headed back on board for lunch. Then we sailed on thru the Solway Passage and anchored near yet another picture perfect beach. The sand here was so fine that your feet sqweakt when you walk on it (kinda like snow in Minnesota at -20 C). We swam back to the boat and had a full-moon evening with conversation carrying on until 23:30.

Today we got up around 6:00 and sailed around the southern-most tip of the Whitsunday Island, just north of Hamilton Island and back around the western shore of the Island past Cid Island and Harbor before anchoring in another bay of Hook island. Here we snorkeled and swam enjoying the warm tropical waters. Before we knew it we were on our way back to Airley Beach. Slow sailing without motor took us past North Molle Island at 4 kts before arriving back in Airley beach around 14:45. Anja is currently seeing a chiropractic because her Ischias Nerve is bothering her in her left leg. Hopefully they will be able to fix her up so we can enjoy our next destination: Fraser Island.

Magnetic Island

The ferry departed Townsville at 7:40am and after a short 35 minutes we arrived in Nelly Bay on beautiful Magnetic Island. We bought some lunch and hopped on a bus that took us to the northeastern part of the island. From there we hiked approximately 11km total visiting various bays. Since we were the almost the only people on the beach we didn't miss the opportunity to skinny dip (Pictures will NOT be available).

Of Arthur, Florence, Radical and Baldin Bay we liked Radical the most and spent the afternoon swimming and sun-bathing. On the way back we hitch-hiked and treated ourselves to a drink in Arcadia before catching the ferry back to the mainland at sunset.

What a beautiful day it has been... we can't say enough how priviledged we feel to have the opportunity to travel around this beautiful. We thank the Lord everyday for all the miracles and think of all the people who are less fortunate!

Wallaman Falls and Townsville

Yesterday we took a detour inland to the Wallaman waterfalls (largest vertical drop, 268m, within Australia). We hiked down to the base of the falls and I went for a swim while Anja was scared because some bloke told her that there were eels and prawns in the 20m deep pool. Oh well, missed out on a fantastic refreshment :) After a 35 min steep climb back to the rim of the canyon we drove back to the coast and set up camp south of Ingham enjoying potatoes and sour cream for dinner in our cozy little camper van.

Today we continued south and arrived in Townsville around 11am. After checking out the town and deciding not to visit the pricy ReefHQ Aquarium, we got information about how to reach Magnetic Island which we will be exploring 2morrow.

Tablelands

Yesterday we cruised through the tablelands east of Cairns. The countryside reminded us a lot of Switzerland with the rolling hills, the cows, and the termite hills (okay, maybe not the termite hills). We stopped at a coffee processing plant for a refreshing iced coffee and latte and it was interesting to compare it with the coffee tour that we took in Costa Rica. In the evening we camped in a cute little village called Milla-milla in the midst of frog quacks and ear-deafening crickets.

Today we followed a road that is called the Waterfall Circuit. Within a couple kilometers of each other we saw three different waterfalls set within the tropical rainforest of northeastern Queensland. We also attempted a small hike but had to turn around due to some really annoying bugs/flies (sandflies?) that were eating us alive. We are currently in Innisfail, back on the east coast, and will be heading south towards Townsville and Mission Beach.

Great Barrier Reef - Cape Tribulation

Yesterday we had a picture perfect day on the Great Barrier Reef. We booked a catamaran sail boat to take the 1.5h cruise out to the Reef. Out on the reef it was my first ever Scuba diving experience... and what a blast it was. The underwater world is amazing. I was able to do two 30 minute dives to about 12m depth. Anja stayed at the surface snorkling, still nursing a slight cold. Although, she was able to shadow me for the entire length from the surface. The corals are out-of-this-world beautiful, all shapes and colors that you could possibly imagine and more. We also saw baby sharks, trumpet fish, and millions of various colored fish. It was an experience that we won't forget!

We returned to the mainland around 5pm and were shuttled back to our campground. There we enjoyed the last rays of sunlight on the beach, exersicing pilates and jogging for 20 min. Finally, we ended the day with a large portion (yes, portion) of spaghetti. Today we are heading south through the tablelands a ways inward from the east coast. (Pictures will follow since I am currently enjoying a 24.4 kbps connection :)

Cairns and Umgebung

Yesterday we flew from Sydney up to Cairns on the east coast of Australia. We picked up our Camper and were on the road by 5 pm. After a brief stop at a grocery store, where we picked up the essentials, we continued along the coast north to Palm Cove, where the campground was already closed and forcefully on to Ellis Beach... a beautiful campsite right on the coast under Palmtrees with Pool and all. We were too tired (still jetlaged) to cook a real meal and settled for yes, you guessed it, Bread and Cheese! After reconfiguring the back of the camper we fell sound asleep for a straight 8 hours.

This morning we got up around 6, and after breakfast went for a swim in the chilly Pacific Ocean... it was marvelously refreshing. We are currently in Port Douglas and are continuing up to Cape Tribulation where we plan on doing some serious relaxing. Maybe we'll hire a tour out to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling... we'll see.

Sydney

We touched down early this morning after a 14h flight from LAX. The spring-like weather greeted us with much sunshine and temperatures in the mid 20s Celsius. We checked into our hotel around 9 and started our tour of Sydney by foot. What a beautiful city with all the bays, ships, modern buildings glistening in the wide skies of down-under.

2morrow we fly out to Cairns and start our 4 week drive along the east coast of the continent with a camper.

Cusco - Lima - San Jose - LAX

We are back in the U.S. for just one short day. The flight from Cusco Peru via Lima and San Jose, Costa Rica were long but went without much of a glitch except for a missed approach and go-around in San Jose. The weather was really bad and we circled for 30 minutes to wait for weather conditions to improve.

Back in the U.S. we waited 1 hour at immigrations... talk about a 1st world country!!! :( We managed to get to our Hotel close by the airport around 1am, showered and fell into bed.

Today we slept in until 9am and will be sending souvenirs home from South America. Maybe we will have time to visit Universal Studios or downtown L.A. We'll see. 2nite our flight to Sydney leaves at 22:50 and we arrive in Sydney on Wednesday morning (14h later) across the dateline.

Cusco, Peru

After an 11h bus ride with a brief stop in Puno we arrived around 23:00 in Cusco. Luckely the taxi ride to the hostal was short and we checked in and dropped into bed dead tired!

The next day we spent in Cusco sightseeing the beautiful city and trying to organize a 3 day trek. We booked a moderate 3 day hike from Lares to Ollataytambo with guide, cook, horse, and tents. Cusco is pretty touristy and every few minutes you are interrupted by some street merchant trying to sell you something you for sure don't need! We visited the Mercado Central, Anja's favorite place to hang out, and also various artisan markets.

Today we took a bus up to the Inka ruins of Tambomachay (Inka cleansing baths) and hiked back along various other Inka sites including Pupkapukara (royal hunting lodge), Q´enqo (spiritual sacrifice site) and Saqsaywaman (fortress). 4 hours later we were back in Cusco and are now preparing for our trek. We'll be leaving at 5:30 2morrow morning and should be back in Cusco on Saturday at 19:00.

Isla del Sol - Lago Titicaca

After a 9 hour bustrip through the night we arrived in Sucre at 4:30 am. We spent the next 3 hours on a park bench until stores opened and we were able to enjoy a big breakfast. Our flight from Sucre to La Paz left at 10:30 am and after that we took a taxi to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. From there a boat ferried us to the beautiful Island of Isla del Sol. All in all the trip involved bus, plane, taxi, and boat on the same day from the southwest to the northwestern tip of Bolivia.

The first day on Isla del Sol we did absolutely nothing except enjoy the magnificent view of the Cordillera Real, Isla de la Luna, and Lake Titicaca itself. Ok, I guess we did eat lunch and dinner :) Besides that we listened to the sounds of a small indigenous community: birds chirping, donkeys crying, sheep doing whatever they do, and pigs snorting.

The second day we hiked 3 hours on the ridge of the mountaineous island to the northern most tip and visited a bunch of Inca ruins. Then we took the coastal path back. All in all a 6 hour hike. Note that Titicaca sea level is 3870m and the various peaks along the ridge were over 4000m. Since we've been living above 3000m for the last 5 weeks it really wasn´t too bad, but your still short of breath on the steeper climbs.

Last night we met a guy from France who is living in Puno, Peru and along with two other french women and two guys from the US (Alaska & Texas... talk about opposite corners of the country) we had dinner. Unfortunately, Anja picked up some kind of food poisoning and was up all night with not so pleasant issues :(

This morning we decided to head back to the mainland early to make sure that we were close to a doctor. After checking into a Hotel Anja rested for a couple hours and is feeling better, albeit still not 100%. She is currently on a Banana, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta Diet. For the lack of better fluids such as Gatorade or "Isostar". Hopefully she'll be back to full strength by 2morrow afternoon when we catch a bus across the border to Peru with destination Cusco.

Potosì Silver Mines - Uyuni

Yesterday we visited the silver mines of Potosì. It was another incredible and humbling experience. We witnessed miners working with bare hands on their knees picking away at the hard granit rock in an effort to make a living for their families. Other miners pushed 4 ton carts by hand through the mines in badly ventilated shafts working sometimes 15-18 h days. Their average life expectancy is around 15 years afters starting work in the mines, this experience only being softened by the continues chewing of coca leaves, giving them energy and an escape from the incredible physical exhaustion. It seems surreal that such hardship and physical work is even still a possibility in the 21st century.

On a lighter note, we met an wonderful couple from Belgium (Hilde & Patrick). They were on the mining tour with us and we have since arranged our travel plans together. It's exciting to share our experience with other travelers and it makes for a much richer experience.

Today we traveled 6 hours by bus to the southwestern city of Uyuni. This town is located on the Altiplano of Bolivia at around 3700m. The landscape from Potosì to Uyuni reminded us a little of the southwest of Utah. It's a desert with lots of fantastic rock formations, canyons, cacti, and of course the worlds largest salt lake.

Tomorrow we are headed on a 3-4 day (depending on snow conditions) tour of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Lake of Uyuni). More on this landscape from a different planet when we return.

Sucre, Bolivia

Hello from Sucre, apparently the official capital of Bolivia. Yet another beautiful city built in the mid 1500s, in true colonial style! Our trip here was delayed somewhat by a snow storm in La Paz the morning of our flight and we spent half of the day at the airport. That's what you get for building airports at 3500m above MSL :)

After taking a taxi from the airport to our hostal we found out that all of Sucre is celebrating an International Arts Festival. As we walked toward the center of town we passed a highschool with an art exhibit and also saw a flyer advertising a Contemporary Dance performance for the same night. Of course that was a must, having a professional dancer as a wife. We managed to grab some dinner and headed in the direction of the performance only to find out that there was another concert in progress before the dance show. We decided to push our luck and bought two tickets ($2 / person ... what a steal). When we opened the doors to the main venue we couldn't believe our eyes. A solo classical guitar concert by one of the top artists, Piraí Vaca. Having studied classical guitar myself for quite a few years, I sat in my seat for 2 hours straight, jaw dropped and applauding wildly after every piece. Piraí held our attention through from Bach to Tango. I guess God wanted us to be here... dance and classical guitar in one evening in the same location.

After the concert the contemporary dance was staged in the entryway of the theatre. Well, it wasn't exactly what we expected. It was rather interesting. I will let Anja elaborate more on the critique of the various pieces :)

All in all, it was an evening filled program of culture and we fell into bed around 12pm dead tired after a 18 hour day.

La Paz, Bolivia

We touched down in La Paz at around 11:30 pm last night experiencing the first chill of high altitude (3900m) with fog and temps in the low teens (celsius). After a short taxi ride down to 3600m we arrived at our hostal around 1 am to closed doors.... hmmmm... i guess people sleep at this time of the night.

After a couple more rings a sleepy bolivian opened the window... yes, we had a room for the night.

Today we slept in until 9 am and started our tour of this high altitude city. Actually, a large portion of the day was spent organizing the rest of our itinerary within Bolivia. We were able to rebook our outbound flights from Cusco, Peru instead of La Paz. This will allow us to visit the famous Inca ruins of Macchu Pichu along with a trek in that area.

However, first things first: We wandered the steep streets of La Paz in the afternoon and enjoyed the livelyness of this city. There are thousands and thousands of people in the streets, traffic is a virtual grid lock, and vendors line the streets trying to sell you items from toilet paper to dried llama foetuses. What a crazy city!

We also managed to visit the Coca museum and Ethnicity and Folklore museum. Both provided interesting perspectives, especially the Coca museum, telling the story of Cocain from an exporting countries perspective.

Tomorrow morning we are flying on to Sucre, in the south of the country, the old capital and place of the supreme court. Then we will continue on to Potosì, visiting the silver mines and finally Uyuni where the largest salt lakes/flats await us. More on those destinations as we continue our travels.

Otavalo

Well, sometimes things don't quite work out as planned. After taking a taxi for 50 minutes to the Loja airport yesterday early morning and checking in, we found out 5 minutes before departure that the flight was cancelled due to high winds, disallowing the plane to land in the high valley. The airline informed us that we had to take the taxi back to Loja and from there a bus to Cuenca. After 40 minutes taxi ride and another 5 hours bus ride we arrived in Cuenca. We finally caught a flight back to Quito and arrived around 7 pm.

The hostal owner was kind enough to wait for us so we added another 2 hours car trip to Otavalo. Arriving here we were invited to a wonderful cultural music peformance of indigenous music and dance. We enjoyed pan flutes, harps, guitars and other local instruments until 1 am, finally crashing dead-tired at our friends house.

Today we are exploring the famous Markets and hope to be able to send back some local fabric, clothes, etc. for all of you to enjoy.

Travel Day: Vilcabamba - Loja - Quito

Today and tomorrow are travel days. This morning we checked out of our hotel in Vilcabamba and said goodbye to some wonderful Swiss friends (Iris, Barbara & Sabrina - see picture) that we met. We took the bus to Loja.


In the afternoon we visited the Feria, a local festival and saw traditional dances from various countries of South America - of course extremely fascinating for my dancer wife... I have to say I enjoyed it as well.

Tomorrow we are flying back to Quito, 40 min flight on a small puddle-jumper. Then we will be heading to Otovalo to visit the famous market and possibly some hotsprings. The hostal owner from Quito, another swiss woman (they are everywhere these swiss), invited us to her cabin. We are looking forward to getting the inside scoop. Of course you always see more when the locals show you around.

Vilcabama - Mandango Ridge & Waterfall Hike

Two days ago we arrived in the beautiful valley of Vilcamba approximately 1h south of Loja by bus. It is called the "Valley of Longevity" since people are said to live to age 120 here. It's a relatively green valley with sun burned ridges and mountains rising all around. Since the Sierra of Ecuador is currently in the dry season there are a lot of brownish and yellow bushes along the mountain slopes which I am sure turn a wonderful green during the rainy season.

We are staying at a Hostal a little bit up the valley from the main town, run by two Germans. This is making communication a breeze compared to our horrible attempts at spanish. I should say, Anja is doing quite well, on the other hand my skills seem to be deteriorating daily :(

Yesterday, we hiked from Vilcabamba 1500m up along a ridge to the top of a scenic mountain called Mandango (2040m). From there we continued along a precarious ridge with lots of wind back down into the valley. The scenery around us was marvelous and after a short lunch break we enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing at the Hostal.

Today we took the "free" mountain bikes (come with the Hostal reservation), and biked up a side valley until the trail was too narrow to continue by bike. We stashed the bikes with a local, and continued by foot along a refreshing little river. Our destination was an mysterious waterfall, which we reached after climbing steep hills for about 3 hours through coffee plantations, corn fields, and other exotic vegetation. We skinny dipped underneath the waterfall - what a wonderful feeling after spending hours in the scorching equatorial sun.