My dearest!

In my last entry the main topic was the Machu Picchu Trek. After spending some more days in Cuzco and having every single clothing item washed, our truck drove us to Puno, near the border to Bolivia.

There we spent an entire day in a local family: with our own mum and dad, cooking for us and dressing us for prom. Luckily our parents spoke spanish and not just Quechua, so we could understad each other pretty fine. My father, Segundino, had even italian roots. Not like my real father, the russian. A 4 hours boat ride (which I was allowed to drive for most of the time) took us to Islas Uros in the Titicaca Lake. Check this one out: people decided not to live in Puno or on the mainland in general, so they build themselfs floating islands with the help of reeds. The islands themself can be moved from one place to another in the village, put together (in case of establishing a family or a small commune, and the funniest part: an island can be sawn apart in case of a dispute with the other inhabitants of the same island (usually up to 25 people).

The next day we stood up early again in order to get to La Paz. The border crossing to Bolivia was a full day activity, it normally takes up to 6 hours. Every single person is supposed to stand the line and get his passport stamped. And a truck this size - full of rich tourists - has to be searched for drugs and illegal food. Never found anything... LOLLY south american dogs :P

So at the end we arrived in La Paz late at night, early in the morning we stood on our mountainbikes at 4700m in order to start our descent on the world's most dangerous road. The funny thing about the 72km offroad track was that the first 30min. it was snowing and hailing. The temperature raised with every meter we were decending, so rain followed pretty soon. As soon as our underwears were soaked in water, it stopped raining. We started with 5 layers of clothing (including the leathery ones, which were supposed to protect us in case of a fall) and stripped the off until we had just a t-shirt left at 1200m. From a high mountain into the jungle. We were pretty happy to ride underneath waterfalls to cool us down. The scenery was amazing: precipices covered with green vegetation and only a small amount of blood was spilled that day. Never confuse back and forward brake in downhill riding...

We spent X-mas in La Paz, which was pretty funny: an entire day wich Aussies and booze?! Who wants to miss on that one??? :o La Paz is a nice and easy understandable city, there is a stret for every thing you need: bathtub anyone? Go to bathtub street. Electronic items street crossed baskets street and booze alley. And perfume road wasn't that sweet smelling as expected.As a present to all Bolivians President Morales increased the fuel prize by 70% right after christmas. Unfortunately not all Bolivians understood the kind present, so we had to leave the country sooner than planned.

Our next stop Uyuni avoided all riots and protests in the major cities. Se c'è gente che non sa stare fuori da problemi, io non appertengo più a quella categoria. The salt desert is the place to take funky pictures. My "bad luck, have another try" picture (check on facebook) was the last picture i could take before my batteries died. Another one bites the dust, in the desert. How ironic. Luckily I could lend my friend's camera in order to get some pictures of the sunset at the train graveyard.

We'll be heading to Argentina tomorrow, looking forward to the next hilarious border crossing...

Hugs and kisses, missing you all

mEo