Travelling to Macchu Picchu

Macchu Picchu. Macchu Picchu. MACCHU PICCHU.

It doesn´t matter how many times i say the words, the ruins still seem mystical, other worldly, and unatainable. But there we were. On a bus to the gateway of my dreams.
Crammed full bus, Angela, Ashley and I sit on the floor for our last bus leg
Even as we were en route I repeated the words in my mind and they seamed unreal. But as we finished the last bus ride and snuck onto the railroad tracks, the rugged mountains swalled us in and I could feel the mysticism of the place, and the reality of our trip buzzes in my mind.
Walking the tracks is illegal, but it sure is cheaper than a train ticketWith open rail tyes we cautiosly cross this bridge
We were fortunate to find avacodo trees with ripe fruit
Nearly to Agua Calientes we take a little rest

Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

When this gringo told me about the Bolivian salt flats my initial reaction was about the same as receiving a pair of socks for my 8th christmas, a rolling of my eyes. But as I heard more about them and saw pictures, I realized this is no salt lake city salt flat, but a spectacular opportunity to see some badass places.

Ange overlooking fish island into the salt flats
OUr tour group consisiting of 4 germans
Looking out over the laguna colorado, colored by algae
I mean we even got to see flamengos!
Ange feeding the lamas

The Gringo Trail

So its official. Due to Ange´s upcoming departure, we are hitting the ¨Gringo Trail.¨

The trail is symbolic rather than physical and includes all the tourist destinations of South America.

Its the sites, cities, and every other places that tourists (gringos) of every nation are found in abundance like flies on shit.
Ange hanging out with old Saint Bartalamu
"Chicken Foot Soup" is a local favorite in bolivia

Celebrating Wine

With the generosity, and looks of old Santa Clause himself, Jesus has taken very good care of us during our work exchange.

While the meals and the beds were part of the package, Jesus went above and beyond and invited us on a wine tour of the valley last saturday.

Of course the tour started at Valle d'Vino, the winery of 'Jesus Romero' where we've been helping.

Jesus starts the tour off right, with his signature "Vino por Metro" or wine by the meter
Driving on the fun bus with Paula, an english student
We then hopped on the tour van passing wine around until our next destination, wine central, where we were served wine and delicatens from silver platters, nearly unbelievable for a couple of transients.
Drinking wine and not waiting for someone to kick us out: priceless.
Jamon, a latin delicacy similar to the italian cured ham, prosciuto
Angela, myself and Audrey, our french friend. Behind us is a wall of the valley's best wines for sale from $2-8 US dollars.
For lunch we would dine on fine platters of delightfully smoked ham, with the local harvest comprising the rest of our plates. We later learned that it was also local ham, and fresh too!
Lunch before it hit the kitchen