Manifestanciones

Why does Mom always have to be right when I really don't want her to be? When we disagree, which isn't very often actually, I think were about 50/50 in terms of who has the most fact-based opinion in the end. But every time I really, really want to be right, or really, really think I'm right, she's right. When I completely blow her off, say, "duh" or don't let her finish her sentence, karma bites me, seemingly changing the laws of the universe to counteract whatever I'm so firm about. So when I rolled my eyes during our first skype conversation when I mentioned I was planning to travel through Bolivia and she progressed to whip out a laundry list of reasons not to enter this god-forsaken boobie trap of a country, starting with road blockades and ending with fatal altitude sickness, I should have remembered this bizarre pattern of her being right when I know I'm right, and stopped the eye roll-subject change in its tracks. But I didn't and here I am reading about breaking news of large scale protests, worker strikes and road blockades in La Paz, Rurrenbaque and Santa Cruz.

Maybe we really should rethink this whole Bolivia thing given that I almost laughed when my mom mentioned fatal altitude sickness.

With this knowledge uneasily in mind, we tentatively continued to sew together a route through Bolivia last night, knowing that our entire quilt will unravel if this civil unrest continues. The alternative of Northern Chile just seems so dry and flat and....well, dry and flat sums it up. I'm thirsty for the rugged selvas, indigenous villages, and chicken buses, and only Bolivia can quench it.

So what are they protesting, anyways? Voy a averiguar...

Planes para Mayo

This photo has nothing to do with this post. It was taken on my dream of a day on the street of Colonia, Uruguay. A "tranqui" (short for tranquilo or translated as chill) day with a nap on the beach, good friends, and slow walks on cobblestone streets. tranqisimo.






As travel plans for May begin to take on some sort of vague material reality involving city names, distances, prices, and national geographic photos, my excitement builds and builds. "Whoaaaa!" I think evertime I try to do a little internet research, "I haaaaave to see this!". Then I click a link. And "Whhhoaaaaaa!" says the voice in my head, "This too!"

31 days seemed like a generous allotment of time when I bought my plane ticket in January, but now it seems minuscule. There are so many places I want to see: archeological sites, beautiful towns, big cities, ecological reserves, the list goes on. But the problem is the list can't go on.

I had this image of South America as the big little place. Like I knew it was really big, but I pictured the distances between places as being relatively short. But I guess that's what you get for growing up flying every time your family travels more than 300 miles. So anyways, it turns out most these places are 20-30 hour bus rides on dirt roads and therefore we can't visit all 50 places I want to visit. And in addition, my conception of traveling is a little more despacio than most. I'd rather stay in 3 places for a few days than zip through 20 places just for a photo op and bathroom break.

So! Here are our plans as of yet:

May 7th: Saldremos Buenos Aires.

Next to Salta and Jujuy, in Northern Argentina. Known for wild llamas, indigenous culture and beautiful "cerro de siete colores" (aka super colorful mountains).

Next, we cross over into Bolivia. Hopefully smoothly we get through customs and on to the town on the other side. From there it's a 20 hour train ride (and the train only goes on Tuesdays and Saturdays....this ain't no Amtrak) through the Bolivian Salt Flats (also known as the moon). I'm really excited for this train ride, and some of it will be moonlit! We end up in Unuyi.

Next, bus to La Paz and Lake Titikaka. Chill there for a bit. Piles of places to see around the lake.

Then cross into Peru, head for Cusco, and then Machu Piccu.

Our plans after that are basically to: "see the jungle, like Heart of Darkness". So we need to a) work on this and b) decide how much we value our lives before jumping on a river boat in Amazonia with six men with machetes. And I digress.....