El Livro de la selva...

Again, we survived after 7 extremely dangerous days....
First, the most dangerous road of the world. A bike ride (we were not crazy enough to do it by bus, though we may have had even more adrenaline...) from 4700m to 1100m. Just downhill. Fortunately, we had a guide to tell us about what happened previously at the different places: an italian guy went out of the road and killed himself 1 month ago there, a bus missed a turn so on and so forth...). If only I had a parachute... I could have been even more crazy on the road... but destiny doesn´t want me to jump in South America apparently... Well, I´ll try again in Brazil :)

After avoiding death few times, we finally made it from La Paz to Coroico, a small village with very very nice hostel (saunas, swimming pool etc). All we needed before the real adventure starts in the jungle. We then headed to Rurrenabaque, a bolivian city in middle of the jungle. That was maybe the most horrible bus trip we ever had. First, we almost died when a big explosion occured maybe one meter from us, as we were standing close to the tire. Our hears needed few minutes to recover. It was just a tire bursting, but it was not reassuring before going on one of the most dangerous road of the world... We actually met several people who took the plane after being strongly advised not to take the bus. Well, we are still alive!.. for now :)

From Rurrenabaque, there were two main destinations:
The pampa, a region filled with water with some pieces of lands around. We just use the boat along canals, in the middle of trees and tropical vegetation where birds are hiding, and fly away at the last moment when the boat is approaching. We could see toucans, parrots, huge other birds that I couldn´t name. We were completely lost.. so many big animals everywhere. From enormous red and yellow spiders, piranhas (well, we got our revenge by fishing them and eating them :)) to gigantic ants.... Fortunately, I manage to remember the tricks used in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" to survive the beasts.
We also looked for Anancondas but the weather was not good and they hide very well. We also swam with ... dolphins! well, a bit different from what you can expect. They are pink river dolphins, maybe as big as ocean ones with a more... weird shape I would say. We could touch them, and they were doing so as well... a bit too hard though! Our feet still remember them... And to our surprise, we found out that alligators are very very lazy animals... they need ages to move! the one we were studying closely still had the rice we put on his nose 30 minutes before! As for the monkeys, the ones we saw were relatively small. I actually recognised a bit of myself in them when we were giving them bananas from the craft: they are ready to risk their lives for food :). They don´t know how to swim, but were sometimes hanging on very weak branches just with one arm to grab the food!

As if we didn´t have enough, we looked for more adventure, more danger, so we headed to the jungle, sleeping in a small camp, in the middle of nowhere, but of this huge trees, with creepers all over the place. We did several trekks with different themes. One being the trees and creepers and their medicinal properties. Have you ever thought of the jungle as a huge hospital? Well, it turns out that the trees and creepers can cure a lot of things... but they can hurt as well. Some creepers are very toxic and are used as poison on arrows to kill animals.
The second theme was: "how to survive in the jungle", by eating el corazon de palmeras, drinking water out of a creeper and so on... We also went out twice at night and saw small tarentulas, but survived luckily after encountering the geant ants who strongly bit us, avoiding anawares webs of colourful and scary spiders and snakes on small branches ahead of us...
Well, you must be wondering: but how did they make it after all that? Well, look at our face! We haven´t shaved for almost a month, we are dressed like adventurers, we had also a big anti-spiders web with Amance´s hair... all the ingredients were gathered to come back alive! Oh, and we had a impressive guide as well. He grew up in the jungle and knew everything, from the birds that we were hearing in the forest, to the merest risk an insect could be.

We also a visited small village in the jungle with no electricity. The pueblo is living from agriculture and poultry farming. It was very interesting to see how they live, how they build houses, how they get water (they actually drink the water of the big river that we used to get to the jungle from Rurrenabaque).

We then spent maybe one of the most boring day in Rurrenabaque after our flight was cancelled because of the weather. Fortunately, we have our new playing cards, that prevent us from writing our travel notebook (even if we are more than 3 weeks late...) :).

And we are eventually back to La Paz. After seeing the Puerta del Sol, we will head to the very famous Salar de Uyuni, the Potossi mines, Sucre before crossing the Brazilian border, and before we... break up for 2 weeks! Will the separated couple survive this new adventure?... you´ll know soon enough in the next bulletin of "Amancio y Matiaso en America del Sur". As our kind jungle guide jungle said: "Todo es possible pero nada es seguro..."

Matthias

Une rapide mise a jour du blog apres notre sejour dans la jungle...En gros on est descendus en velo sur la route “de la muerte”, puis on a enchaine avec, sans conteste, le trajet de nuit le plus inconfortable du voyage jusqu’a Rurrenabaque, porte de l’Amazonie bolivienne. On s’est promenes pendant six jours dans les mangroves puis dans la foret et on a vu des animaux et c’etait beau.

On pourrait s’arreter la... Mais bon pour le blog de Matthias et si on veut etre un peu plus precis, dans la vie il y a deux types de gens: celles qui sont allees dans la jungle et celles qui n’y sont pas allees. Fort de ce postulat de base, la jungle c’est une sensation, une emotion, ca se vit finalement…Nous pouvons cependant tenter de la rapprocher de certaines references communes. C’est un peu comme le Christophe Colomb de Ridley Scott, debarquant dans la jungle des premieres antilles remontant doucement la riviere a la rencontre des autochtones, comme un reportage de Frederic Rossif avec des plans pris au ras de l’eau a partir d’une barque amazonienne, comme le Robinson de Michel Tournier se laissant finalement conquerir par la “selva”…Ou mieux encore, les 4 premieres planches du premier album du Marsupilami, sorties tout droit du cerveau degeante de Franquin, ou l’on voit une foret de “Palombie” en apparence tres sereine, mais qui se revele un veritable enfer vert si on s’y penche un tantinet, chaque etre vivant organisant son auto defense, sa survie…

Plus serieusement, nous avons vu la jungle sous deux aspects differents. Une jungle des mangroves et des marais, ou les animaux sont tres concentes car isoles sur des parcelles de terre ou dans des champs de hautes herbes (dont l’indebuscable anaconda). Puis une jungle des forets, ou l’observation de la flore prend davantage d’importance, la faune fuyant les randonneurs, sauf la nuit…Pour resumer, nous avons vu myriade de singes, alligators, kapibaras, insectes, on a meme nage avec des dauphins roses d’Amazonie (qui sont tres joueurs, cools mais pas trop vus qu’ils aiment bien gniaker du “Frances”. Nos pieds s’en souviennent et je peux meme vous dire avec une infime precision le nombre de millimetres separant deux dents de dauphins roses d’Amazonie…)… Du cote foret, on a plutot rencontre des arbres, beaucoup d’arbres, mais aux frontieres de la condition animale!! Ils sont capables de synthetiser des odeurs&substances chimiques toxiques comme therapeutiques, reproduire des formes&couleurs, developper des racines hors du sol pour pouvoir se mouvoir ou encore des piques pour se proteger des aggressions exterieures…Et j’en passe...

Bref on ajoute a cela un bon anti-insecte, deux guides boliviens autochtones, aussi competent, gentil et serein l’un que l’autre, le cocktail fut parfait!! Nous avons beaucoup appris aux cotes des guides, de leur patience a leur rythme de vie, en passant plus concretement par les plantes medicinales et globalement comment survivre dans la jungle: comment trouver de l’eau dans une liane, recolter des coeurs de palmiers… Plutot instructif pour nous autres culitos blancos nes avec des chaussures au pied…

Ed ecco!! Nous venons de regagner notre cher Altiplano a La Paz pour la deniere fois destination Uyuni, Potosí puis Sucre avant de redescendre definitivement sur Santa Cruz puis Braziiiiiiiil. C’est qu’il ne nous reste plus que deux mois mas o menos!! Surtout qu’on a eu quelques legers imprevus: nous avons du attendre quelques jours notre avion pour La Paz a Rurrenabaque et ce pour cause de mauvais temps. Mais cela valait le detour du survol de la jungla a celui de la Paz, capitale literallement incrustee dans un canyon, je le dis et le repete, cette ville ne finira pas de m’etonner…

Hasta luego todos!! (On commence a se mettre au portugais pour dans quinze jours, promis ;))

Amancio

El camino del Inca

Buenos Dias everyone!!

Here is one of the highest points of our trip since we were about to leave to Macchu Picchu last time you read us. Let’s say we had a very dense 10 days period, that’s to say around 1.1 gigabytes, “picturely” speaking…Hum...

So we headed to Machu Picchu through a four days trek. Day 1: downhill biking from 2700m to 1400m in two hours. Still have some flies remaining stuck on my teeth!! Day 2: hiking in pre-jungle and former “caminos Inca” between1000m and 1500m: banana trees and a warm welcome from mosquitoes: they are so small, quite efficient to find food and definitely seem to like the so called “culitos blancos”. Hopefully we recovered in Santa Teresa’s hot springs until nightfall. No comments regarding Santa Teresa’s nightlife. Day 3: hiking uphill to Aguas Calientes, the ultimate village before Machu Picchu. Day 4: ‘woke up at 4am to climb up the last but sharp Machu Picchu (2000m to 2400m in one hour) in the dark and the rain…Hopefully the clouds were just slowly floating away and we had a chance to see some old stones after four days hiking !! It added in fact a touch of mystery among the stones…We’ll let you admire our now well-known works of art around the theme “the Inca stones through ages and clouds”.

Then we had to say goodbye to Cusco and the friends we had there. We stayed one week in Cusco, let’s say we were almost at home…We said goodbye to Peruvian Inca stones as well, walking one day through the ruins of the sacred valley with our brand new CHE like road mate Charles de Normandie.

We headed then to the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca (thanks for your pronouncing it right: Titijaja, “jota sound”). We visited Puno and the surrounding islands with a dangerous gang of noisy French men we met on the boat. They were not that unknown as far as we are concerned, and we are waiting for there comments on the blog, once their identity will be uncovered. Floating islands, one night in Amantani Island in a matriarchal family (without any electricity), unforgettable traditional dance session at night, hiking in Taquile Island… Nice introduction to this deep blue lake…

We left next to the Bolivian side, doing our first stop in the nice town of Copacabana. We already felt the difference between Peruvian and Bolivian spirits…So cooler…We went on our own from Copacabana to Isla del Sol, the place Manco Capac, the first Inca, was born. We had a chance to visit the ruins very early (6.30am) before the tourist wave happens to show its nose on the island. We left when they arrived actually; keeping with us the sweet dream the Island belonged to us a few hours. That’s why we kept and that we’ll keep on waking up that early in future…

Then it was time to go and discover the inside Bolivia. We went from Copacabana to La Paz travelling on a gorgeous road. The atmosphere was not that joyful crossing the poverty struck suburb of El Alto, 400m above La Paz (which remains the highest capital city in the world with its 3600m altitude). It reminded me of some Chinese towns and districts, and made us realize again the comfort we have in our sooo posh countries.

We currently visit this so special city, purchase our remedies and potions in the witch market…We think of celebrating our “halftrip” tonight, before heading to a seven days trip in the jungle, and a 4700m to 1400m downhill in mountain bike, since we did not have enough last time…WABE, we think of you!!
Ciao a tutti, and we are still waiting for more comments!!

Amancio

Hello Amigos!

Et voila plus de 15 jours depuis notre dernier signe de vie! beaucoup s est passe entre temps, de la decouverte de la mysterieuse cite de Machu Picchu aux splendides paysages surplombant le lac Titikaka, avant d etre projete de facon tres innatendue sur les ecrans tele de toute la Bolivie...

Apres s'etre un peu repose a Cusco, et s etre acclimate a l altitude (Cusco reside a plus de 3500m d'altitude), nous voila partis sur les traces des Incas. Pas tout a fait a leur maniere cependant... Afin de rejoindre Machu Picchu, il a fallu une multitude techniques, qui il me semble n etaient pas tres utilises par ces ancetres peruviens. Tout d'abord, il a fallu etre transporte a 2700m d'altitude dans la semi-jungle pour descendre plus de 1000m en... VTT! Bon, rien de tres mechant puisque ce n etait que de la descente... Le lendemain matin, on entame un trekk de 3 jours sur un des 7 chemins incas conduisant au Machu Picchu. Apres avoir rencontre Araignees geantes, lamas enrages, moustiques affames, bananiers (bon, je vois pas ce qu'ils viennent faire la eux), les esprits Incas stupefaits qu'on ose meme entreprendre une petite viree chez eux, apres avoir suivi les rails de l'enfer, affronte un climat tropical impitoyable, nous arrivons enfin sur le site mystique du Machu Picchu. Ville mystique residant a 2500m d alitude sur un tout petit plateau a 4 jours de marches de la moindre civilisation. Les constructions sont impressionantes, des terrasses agricoles au centre astronomique en passant par leur lieu de culte ou ils sacrifiaient un lama par an. Les Incas auront lutte jusqu au bout en nous envoyant cette brume opaque qui n'aura pas reussi a avoir raison de nous. Enfin... ils m'auront laisse une bonne fievre apres etre reste trempe pendant une journee entiere, du Machu Picchu jusqu au retour a Cusco.

On ne pouvait pas partir de Cusco avant d'avoir visite la valle sacree des Incas, avec les surprenantes ruines de Pisac, presque aussi impressionante que Machu Picchu, bien que beaucoup moins rocambolesque.

Et nous voila ensuite en direction du lac Titikaka, une petite etendue d'eau pouvant ingurgiter 17 fois le lac Leman, a une hauteur de 3800m. Notre fierte "orientale" en prend un coup. Pensant avoir invente les meilleurs systemes de navigation, avait on pense a construire nos maisons sur de veritables iles flottantes, pouvant etre deplacees au bon gre de leur habitants. Mais nos yeux restant remplis de curiosite, nous avons loge chez l habitant (je devrais dire les habitantes) sur l ile d'Amantani. De la nourriture a la fete folklorique du dimanche soir, tout etait present pour un grand brin de depaysement. Je me demande encore comment les petites peruviennes ont pu resister devant le charme d'Amance tout mignon dans son petit costume de danse folklorique...

Mais ce n'etait pas suffisant, il fallait encore decouvrir l'Isla del Sol du cote Bolivien, au large de la petite ville de Copacabana. La bolivie est sans doute encore plus depaysant. Pas de rabotteurs a chaque metre pour te faire entre dans son magasin ou restaurant, les femmes assises dans la rue vendant leur confections artisanales ou 'verduras' locales. Mais acceder a cet fameuse Isla del Sol pres de laquelle les Incas pensaient que le soleil s'etait leve (la toute premiere fois), sur le lac... ne pouvait pas se faire avec des bateaux touristiques. Nous avons donc merite notre ile avec 20km de marches et 30 minutes de petite barque pour y acceder. Il a aussi fallu se lever avec le soleil (le moindre que l'on puisse faire pour lui rendre hommage) pour traverser l'ile afin de se rendre au 'roca del puma' qui a donne son nom au lac.

Nous nous sommes tellement epris de cette ile mystique que nous en avons oublie les rudiments du voyage... avoir un peu d argent sur soi pour... rentrer! Apres negociations des prix et restriction alimentaire, nous sommes parvenus a rentrer vivants.

Nous avons donc bien merite un peu de repos a La Paz, avec sa pollution et ses odeurs bizarres dans les rues (serait ce du aux foetus de Lamas qu'on retrouve a chaque coin de rue??).

Prochaine destination, la route la plus dangereuse du monde puis un petit sejour en pleine pampa et jungle. Amance, t'as pas interet a me laisser tomber. Je sais que tu vas retrouver plein d'amis dans la jungle, mais si tu veux, moi aussi je peux me faire pousser les cheveux ;)

Mais tout ca, ce sera pour la prochaine fois sur le blog!

Matias

Already 2 months...

Here we go, today is the second month of our trip. We don´t know yet how we´ll celebrate it, but we are in a city having one of the best nightlife of Peru and it´s saturday, so...

Since last time, we went from Arequipa in Canyon del Colca. One of the deepest canyon of the world with 1200 from the bottom to the top. To appreciate it fully, we went for a 3-day trek. From 3500m to 1300m, sleeping in the valley where villages are 5 hours away from any road... After spending to much time enjoying the wonderfull views of the canyon, we got a bit late and had to do the last part of the first day by night. Well, it turned out that the moon, even with a cloudy sky was of a greater help than our night lights (it´s funny not to always know where we put our feet, it adds a bit of risk to our adventure :). The day after, we reached a village full of natural swimming pools where we enjoyed resting before starting the long long way up to our bed for the night. People on the way have been all very nice with us. We are still appreciating the kindness of the Peruvians. nd last, but not least, we enjoyed the next morning the peaceful and impressive Cruz del Condor mirador, where we saw massive condors (as large as 2.8m) flying over our heads and following the moutain streams to get higher in the sky.

But as if we were not even exhausted after this trek, we took the same evening a night bus to Nasza. After a tough sleep (I love babies, but I won´t tell you the morbid ideas that come into my mind sometimes...), we found ourselves in this city at 6am with 3 guys screaming at the same time, suggesting us (well, they call that suggestions!!) to use their company to fly over the mysterious Nazca Lines. These represents very large shapes, from an astronaut to a condor. They still remains a secret for most scientists: how did the Nascas to build so huge and perfect figures only observable from... the sky! So we flew over them in a small Cessna. But another question is raising out of my mind... where is coming from this magic there? Indeed, the first thing Amance told me when getting out of this tiny little plane was:
¨It was awesome. And I don´t know why, but I felt like I wanted to jump out of the plane during all the trip".
What!!!!? You justed needed to be in a small plane to feel that? You couldn´t have done that before so that I hadn´t lost so much energy to convince you!!?
At 11am, we headed straight to Ica, or to his close neightbourhood: Huacachinna, an Oasis surrounded by huge dunes, filled of sandboarders. And I eventually got reassured. After having met so many Israliens in Patagonia and no one since, we eventually found them back!
A night there to enjoy the swimming pool of the hostel and a micro-trek at the top of a dune, and we were already going to Lima. This was the first big change of scene since we arrived in Peru. The capital reminded us the streets of Shangai, with small stores everywhere, a amazing mess in the streets, with cars honking all over the place and a .5 probability to arrive safely at destination by cab. Taken in this fast moving stream since we are in Peru and also following a tight schedule (we need to be in Brazil in a month and half, from where I´ll go to Israel for 2 weeks), we just stayed a day and a half in Lima. We cannot do everything, which in a way is a good thing in that trip. We realize that we´ll have to come back here later!

And after waking up at 3.45am (absolute record so far), we took a flight to Cusco (ancient capital of the Inkas, 3500m high) . This city is really cute, with is colonial architecture everywhere, from the main plaza to the small and charmful pedestrian streets. It is also the Peru nightlife capital. After having danced salsa all friday night, we are very curious to see what´s going to happen tonight...!

Tomorrow, new destination: Machu Picchu that we´ll deserved after the 4 days trek to get there! So, in the middle of the pampa for 4 days, does anyone have any idea of how to communicate us the results of the elections??

¡¡Hasta prompto para las nuevas aventuras!!
Matias

Nous voila donc au Perou…Comme on avait deja pu vous le signifier, nous avons franchi une frontiere, mais aussi tout un monde, tant le contraste avec le Chili est saisissant!!

Apres quelques jours dans le ville coloniale d’Arequipa, pleine de caractere, nous sommes partis pour le canyon de Colca, un des plus profonds, si ce n‘est le plus profond, au monde. La question est toujours sujette a debat…La vallee qui y mene s’est ouverte a nous telle un manuel de geographie, ou le bouquin de Yann Arthus Bertrand (mais vu du sol): cultures en terrasses, monts abruptes et verdoyants, autochtones en costumes traditionnels, majestueux vols de condors (moi qui croyait qu’ils etaient en voie d’extinction, ils sont au moins aussi communs et nombreux que les pigeons sur la place des Terreaux!!! Ceci dit il y a carrement plus a manger que sur un pigeon…A considerer pour la volaille de Noel prochain…). La descente dans le Canyon s’est averee splendide, la nuit passee au fond du Canyon dans un village approvisionne par des anes nous a confirme une nouvelle fois la relativite du temps. A noter ceci dit que chaque conducteur d’ane a son “ane-radio” portable crachant du reggaeton a plein volume!! La remontee fut eprouvante malgre une bonne performance, saluee humblement par les locaux, qui nous ont cependant avoue qu’ils bouclaient la meme ascension en une heure de moins…Ca calme…

Nous avons ensuite fait route pour Lima avec une petite halte a Nazca, le temps de prendre un Cessna et d’admirer les geoglyphes qu’a pu nous laisser la mysterieuse civilisation Nasca, avant d’etre fondue dans l’empire Inca. Il s’agirait d’une cartographie celeste a grande echelle, si magique vue d’avion, les sensations aidant dans notre boite a oeuf volante!! Apres une derniere escale a Huacachina, petit oasis entoure de dunes geantes, soit un des temples mondiaux du surf des sables, nous arrivons a Lima. Sans dire ouvertement que c’est le foutoir integral, qu’est-ce que cette capitale peut paraitre Latina!! Malgre son “smog” quasi permanent, l’activite et le trafic de la ville sont impressionnants, ses musees riches en enseignements pour comprendre le passe mais aussi l’actualite des 20 dernieres annees du pays, exactions du sentier lumineux oblige…

Nous vous ecrivons actuellement de Cuzco, ancienne capitale Inca. Ses rues pavees, ses pentes, ses eglises coloniales, ses UV et son manque d’oxygene!!! Le temps de s’adapater a l’altitude, qui peut avoir l’effet d’un gros petard (jamais je n’ai autant ri dans une creperie…) ou d’un bon gros coup de massue, nous avons retrouve le “fantome” de notre voyage, on ne vous la presente plus: The Ball!!! Ici pour donner de son temps a un projet d’encadrement d’enfants peruviens, notre dorenavant accolyte d’aventure nous a offert le privilege d’un apres-midi en compagnie de sa troupe. Un grand bol de spontaneite, de rires et de souvenirs d’ecole. Il y a fort heureusement des evenements qui ne sont pas couverts par notre appareil photo, mais les images de cet apres midi nous resteront.

Demain, c’est le grand depart pour le Macchu Picchu, un des incontournables de notre periple, meme si nous sommes tres loins d’etre les seuls sur le coup cette fois-ci!!!

Hasta luego!!
Amancio