May 2017 – Girl Seeking Wonderland

The Adventure Begins Tomorrow-Rio

So they sat down and nobody spoke for some minutes. Alice thought to herself, ‘I don’t see how he can even finish, if he does’t begin.” But she waited patiently.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Prepare yourself for the most action packed blog of all time. I landed in Rio after a whirlwind trip through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Galapagos, Bolivia, Chile and Easter Island. Exhausted. And tired of lugging my camera everywhere. So I jumped right into all that Rio had to offer. Brace yourself.

Day one- Copacabana Beach. I read one whole book laying on the beach. Tomorrow I would begin the adventure.

Day Two- Ipanema Beach. Where I read another book on the beach and sitting by my hotel pool. Tomorrow I would begin the adventure.

Day Three- I finally muscled myself out of my swimsuit and made my way to the Christ the Redeemer Statue. I booked a tour because, let’s be honest, I had reached full on sloth mode and couldn’t be bothered to find my own way. It was a genius idea as myself and the only other person on the tour were the very first people at the statue, providing a rare photo absent of all other people. From atop the statue’s platform, we were able to overlook Rio and see the beautiful bay, one of the seven natural wonders of the world (well deserved) and the favelas, the poorer parts of town. I learned that Rio is obsessed with Michael Jackson and the work he did to highlight the neglect of the people of the favelas.

After Christ the Redeemer, we made our way to Sugar Loaf Mountain to ride up the Sky Road, built by one of the many coffee barons. Turns out these barons did quite a bit to develop Rio in its early days, including building this “sky road”, creating a cinema town and roller coasters. Not what one might call humanitarian work, but it certainly brought fun to Rio early on.

I can’t say that I came close to embracing all that Rio has to offer but exhaustion prevailed and the enticement of the beaches was too much to resist.

Off to Cuba. Where the adventure begins tomorrow.

What Shouldn’t Be Understood- Chile But Mostly Easter Island

‘What do you know about this business?’ the King said to Alice.

‘Nothing,’ said Alice.

‘Nothing whatever?’ persisted the King.

‘Nothing whatever,’ said Alice.

‘That’s very important,’ the King said, turning to the jury. They were just beginning to write this down on their slates, when the White Rabbit interrupted: ‘Unimportant, your Majesty means, of course,’ he said in a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him as he spoke.

‘Unimportant, of course, I meant,’ the King hastily said, and went on to himself in an undertone, ‘important-unimportant-imprtant-‘ as if he were trying which word sounded best.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

After admiring the unexpected beauty of Bolivia, we did a land border crossing into Chile where I had wifi again! Our first stop was San Pedro de Atacama. As was true for most of this trip, I neglected to adequately research my travel plans and therefore didn’t know anything about where I arrived. I have always been fascinated with space and would have loved to have become an astronaut- my lack of ability to understand complex algorithms and paralyzing fear of floating through space quickly eliminated that plan. The Atacama desert gave me a good taste of what I was missing. The combination of low light pollution, very little rainfall and high altitudes make it one of the primary locations for stargazing. And so I forced myself to stay up late into the night, coming up with a million excuses about why I could skip it, to attend a star gazing outing. Sometimes ignoring your manipulating mind is the best thing you can do. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We drove without lights into the outskirts of Atacama and found ourselves with some really energetic astronomers, spending the first hour staring up into the sky at the Milky Way, the southern constellations and a few planets. Then, we got to play with the eleven telescopes- pointing at four additional galaxies and some really cool star clusters. But the highlight for me was viewing Jupiter, both the big red dot as well as four moons in its orbit, and Saturn, the rings shining brightly around it. Not feeling even an ounce of cold or exhaustion, we then listened to stories inside the astronomer’s hut. I looked like a kid, perched on the edge of my seat, listening intently to every word from our astronomer’s mouth, sipping on my hot chocolate. Had I known about this, I would have spent a week in Atacama, every night in this very spot, already armed with more space knowledge than anyone wants me to have.

Keeping the space theme going, the next morning was scheduled time off and it was off to The Meteorite Museum. My inner space dork was let free and it needed to be fed. Not only was this museum super cool (did you know that meteorites hit the ground and break apart in an elliptical pattern) but the guy who runs it is a meteorite hunter who cuts and polishes pieces he finds into jewelry. Hmmm. Career possibility? Could I survive the heat of the Atacama desert? The Valley of the Moon was the afternoon destination. Had I known this was there, it would have further solidified my need to stay in this place for much, much longer. I could bike and hike for days here (early morning of course). It resembles the Grand Canyon, but has a large, oval, flat area covered with salt that resembles the surface of the moon. The next day was a flight to Santiago for a winery tour and farewell dinner with the group. But the Chilean adventure was only just beginning. Easter Island was my next destination.

Easter Island is one of those places that you don’t think of often. But when booking my flights in Chile, my mind kept drifting to it. Sometimes it is good to trust your manipulative mind! It takes about five hours to fly to Isla de Pasqua (aka Easter Island aka Rapa Nui) and I would easily fly twice that far to visit this place. The island is small. Theoretically you could walk around it in about two days, hiking 8-10 hours per day. NASA extended the airpot runway many years ago for a Space Shuttle emergency landing site (keeping my space theme going) so it literally goes from one side of the island to the other. Hanga Roa is the only town on the island and I loved it. After four days, I had made enough friends that I could walk through the harbor and run into people I had met, some of which were dogs and chickens.

I had booked two half day tours so that I could get a taste of the legends and histories as well as be driven to the really cool sites. I could write pages on the history so if you are curious, use the Google. But I do love the theories about the demise of the Moai. At some point between 1722-1838, all of the Moai were pushed onto their faces. There are quite a few theories, but my favorite is also the saddest. The Rapa Nui people believed strongly that the statues protected their villages. Then the Europeans landed on the island and proved they were stronger and could defeat the Rapa Nui (not really a fair fight as the Europeans had firepower and the Rapa Nui had rocks). The Rapa Nui people were so devastated that their statues failed to protect them and their long believed tradition/religion was wrong, that they pushed them all onto their faces, blocking their view.

I was also able to visit the sacred village of Orongo, where the annual Birdman competition was held. Each of the village Chiefs chose a competitor to race down the side of a rocky cliff, swim to an island and wait for a bird to lay an egg. First one to grab that egg and swim back, climb up the cliff and deliver it to their Chief was the winner. The Chief then got to rule all of the villages for a year.

The best thing on the island was the quarry, which was basically the production facility and distribution center for the Moai, making my supply chain mind quite giddy. Orders would be placed for statues and the statue makers would carve them into the rocks, leaving them attached at their spine. Once mostly complete, they would detach them, slide them slightly down the mountain and partially bury them. Here they would finish carving and use gravity to force them upright. They would then be transported upright to the ahu (platform) where they were destined. If they fell during transit, they were left as they were, either too difficult to put back upright or believed to be cursed for falling. There were a great many Moai in process at the end of the religion, making the quarry look a bit like a graveyard, a fantastic Moai covered graveyard.

Much of Easter Island cannot be understood, but I loved learning about all of the different theories. I also could have stayed there for far longer than four days, staring at the amazing stars and visiting the Moai scattered all about the island.

But I had a flight to catch to Rio. Off to Brazil.

How Many Changes Are Possible- Bolivia?

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, ‘I- I hardly know, sir, just at present- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.’

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Arriving in Bolivia after Peru, I realized I knew nothing about this country. I think, in the end, I am quite grateful for that as every moment was a surprise. This country has one of the most diverse landscapes I have ever seen, one that changes every hour of every day. We did our border crossing by land and journeyed to La Paz, the fake capital (most of the government buildings are here yet the capital is actually Sucre). We dumped our luggage in the hotel and headed off to the Witches Market. While we hoped for lots of crazy shops, it is really a handful of cool shops and lots of souvenir stands. The witches stores were pretty interesting and had plenty of potions, lotions and talismans to cure any ailment, find love or revenge and make millions. While much of it was a bit ridiculous, I did really appreciate the all natural lotions for muscle aches and pains. After the market, a few of us hopped on the cable car for a 360 view of La Paz and its mountainous landscape and massive hillside cemetery.

Day two in Bolivia may perhaps be my absolute favorite of the trip- the Death Road Bike Ride. My trip around the world has given me many opportunities to ride bikes and helped me rediscover my love of riding. This ride took me to a whole new level. The Death Road is a 35 mile ride, given its name from when it was built, but appropriated by the cyclists who brave its nearly 12,000 foot descent. Approximately 200-300 people per year die on this road, most of them being motorists. The highlight is the 3000 foot cliffs with sheer drops, which I, of course, road past as fast as I could (at least 50 mph- only slight exaggeration). I loved racing down this mountain at full speed for me (even my guide was impressed at my bravado) and am now officially addicted to mountain biking. I was a changed person! My warthog, George, joined me on this ride and at one point, had nearly as much mud on him as I did on me.

bike

After the adrenaline rush of the Death Road, it was time to rejoin mundane. We flew to Sucre, the real capital of Bolivia and began two days of sloth. While I did manage to get in a few miles of walking through parks, I also squeezed in an entire book and several ice cream stops. Sucre has a somewhat limited English speaking population and I had a birthday party to plan. It is unfortunate that a documentary crew was not present to film my highly amusing attempt to locate balloons, candles, cards and presents in the local market using my limited Spanish but very animated sign language. Feeling empowered with my success, I joined two others in our group for dinner in a local man’s home. We had found a restaurant in town that was literally the man’s living room. You have to locate a small sign, ring the doorbell and hope someone answers. Luck was on our side and we were admitted into his home, surrounded by neighbors and friends, the only non Spanish speakers in a 3 km radius. Of course, imagination took over as we gave him his own name and history and created his wife and mother cooking away in the kitchen. It was my favorite dinner of the trip, enhanced by the 80’s Alternative Music being played in the dining room.

Needing to expel some energy, we moved on to Potosi, a mining town in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the drive to nowhere was a beautiful drive (one which I imagined seeing on a bicycle instead of a car). Potosi is a cool town, which I liked until I remembered that it is a mining town and my environmental senses tingled distaste. Fortunately, this was a brief stop en route to the second highlight of Bolivia, the Salt Flats. It was another beautiful drive. I wish Bolivians knew how unique and beautiful their country is and find other ways to dispose of trash other than the side of the road. The gorgeous landscape is continually dotted with garbage. Perhaps a bit of national pride might change that mentality. We found another town, Uyuni, in the middle of nowhere, an oasis of 18,000 people and a stopping point for those entering the flats. Walking around this town, we came across what appeared to be something resembling a 5K race. Only the participants were wearing handmade numbers on their chests and many of the girls running in skirts, native clothes and sandals. Permanently humbled, I will never complain about running in my overpriced running shoes again.

Entering the salt flats is like nothing you have ever seen. At over 4,000 square miles and can easily be seen from space. It is white ground and blue sky as far as you can see. We drove for a bit before stopping for the tourist required shots playing with perspective. I really liked our driver as he seemed to march to the beat of his own drummer, listening to gangsta rap and taking different paths than the other cars. Kindred spirits I suppose. In the flats, it seems like you can drive for miles and miles….at least until your car breaks down and you see nothing around you. Anywhere. This allowed us to spend our first evening on the flats entertaining ourselves with photography and one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. You can really tell the makeup of a group when confronted with unexpected issues and delays. This group made the most of it and had a fantastic time- which was good because the following day we would be challenged again as another vehicle broke down completely losing a tire not long after we left the flats.

While the flats were lovely, I was ready for something different. Time to move on to my happy place, the mountains. My driver had switched to 90s Alt music and it was probably the first time I listened to Creed and not changed the station. We were on the Chilean border and there were snow capped mountains everywhere you looked. There was even a smoking volcano. And the Seven Color Mountain was one of the most beautiful mountains I have seen. While I would have given anything to hike or bike these mountains, time was not on my side. Perhaps another day. There should be a million photos of this place, but I find pictures taken through car windows can’t possibly do justice to the beauty of the landscape. So, I watched through the window and enjoyed my solitude, interrupted occasionally by horrible Coldplay songs.

And because we were in Bolivia, it was time to change again. This time to the desert, where at 4600 meters is a bit chillier than the deserts I know. The Bolivian desert is filled with lagoons, red, white, blue and green, many with flamingos. Unfortunately the flamingos were a bit camera shy and most of the photographs look more like white spots than birds. The highlight, though, was the hot springs, a lovely dip in the hot water in the slightly chilly desert.

And so we exited Bolivia, my mind in awe of the beauty and diversity I had seen. I was glad I didn’t know much about this country. Its ability to change before my eyes forever imprinted in my memory.

Off to Chile.