he's the man of the moment, the man to watch: hugo chavez, venezuelan presidente and all round south american hero....
this man seems to be achieving in these early parts of the 21st century what bolivar and guevara tried before and failed in. the man's got oil money, the man's got balls. he's sticking his finger square up the US nostril, advising fellow south america nations how to recaim their precious oil fields and thus keep the profits and power. he's buying arms off the russians.he's having cups of tea with the libyans. he's selling subsidised oil to poor neighbourhoods in the US and making similar offers round loondon...
he's all over the news, signing trade agreements with bolivia, oil agreements with ecuador, buying argentina's foreign debt...
of course, the united states has "branded the man a demagogue and is trying to destablise the region"
and as with all good leaders, the man spent 2 years in prison (before being pardoned) and has fought off numerous protests and an attempted coup...
keep your eyes peeled. i'm kinda hoping he's going to continue to be the thorn in the bush administration's side, the bad smell that won't go away and maybe might be able to change something, something big, in america.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
arriba y bajo
hola amigos,
it's been an age since i wrote last; the road has slid past with remarkable ease....
not long after i wrote last we arrived in Cusco, Peru: Incan empire capital city and tourist hub. Not surprisingly, the town itself is beautiful, nestled in a basin beneath the hills. Nearby treats include the Sacred Valley, Machu Pichu and Choquequeroa: ancient Incan ruins. machu pichu, of course, is the big draw card. but with nearly 1000 visitors daily it is no longer the Inca trail shrouded in mysticism and ancient wisdom, it is the gringo trail, stamped squarely with dollar signs.
so, being as we fancy ourselves as explorers we decided to head to the lesser known Choquequeroa. more recently rediscovered and restored (seriously funded by the french government: merci beaucoup!) and substantially more difficult to get to.... we bused from cusco to a small (3 house) town and caught a collectivo (shared taxi) down to cachora. 'civilisation' as we know and love it, is fast approaching: the dust road is being improved and concreted in places and the trail out the other side of town, towards the valley and ruins, is being widened into a road.
we opted against hiring a horse, deciding to carry our food and shelter on the trail that went: 32km, 1400m down, 1500m up.... very steep. very. hot and dry. mad insects that bit every bit of you... bleeding incas!!
all moaning aside, the effort was well rewarded by one of the most amazing historical sites i have ever visited. on top of a 3100m hill overlooking a steep, green and well cultivated valley, cheered on by snow capped mountains. all to ourselves.
after the punishment of the previous coupla days arriba y bajo (up and down) we knew when to draw the line and get ourselves a horse. the journey back to cachora was easy by comparison!
and back on the road again, from the relatively isolated and unpopulated mountainside to the hustle and bustle of lima, capital city... diesel stink and bouncing colonial vibrancy. movies, bars, cafes. caught between a rock and a hard place me, i love them both!!
nothing else terribly memorable to report about peru; we zipped up the coast on a series of overnight buses and crossed the border into steamy ecuador, banana capital of the world and producer of panama hats....
as always, photos to follow!
xxxxx
b
it's been an age since i wrote last; the road has slid past with remarkable ease....
not long after i wrote last we arrived in Cusco, Peru: Incan empire capital city and tourist hub. Not surprisingly, the town itself is beautiful, nestled in a basin beneath the hills. Nearby treats include the Sacred Valley, Machu Pichu and Choquequeroa: ancient Incan ruins. machu pichu, of course, is the big draw card. but with nearly 1000 visitors daily it is no longer the Inca trail shrouded in mysticism and ancient wisdom, it is the gringo trail, stamped squarely with dollar signs.
so, being as we fancy ourselves as explorers we decided to head to the lesser known Choquequeroa. more recently rediscovered and restored (seriously funded by the french government: merci beaucoup!) and substantially more difficult to get to.... we bused from cusco to a small (3 house) town and caught a collectivo (shared taxi) down to cachora. 'civilisation' as we know and love it, is fast approaching: the dust road is being improved and concreted in places and the trail out the other side of town, towards the valley and ruins, is being widened into a road.
we opted against hiring a horse, deciding to carry our food and shelter on the trail that went: 32km, 1400m down, 1500m up.... very steep. very. hot and dry. mad insects that bit every bit of you... bleeding incas!!
all moaning aside, the effort was well rewarded by one of the most amazing historical sites i have ever visited. on top of a 3100m hill overlooking a steep, green and well cultivated valley, cheered on by snow capped mountains. all to ourselves.
after the punishment of the previous coupla days arriba y bajo (up and down) we knew when to draw the line and get ourselves a horse. the journey back to cachora was easy by comparison!
and back on the road again, from the relatively isolated and unpopulated mountainside to the hustle and bustle of lima, capital city... diesel stink and bouncing colonial vibrancy. movies, bars, cafes. caught between a rock and a hard place me, i love them both!!
nothing else terribly memorable to report about peru; we zipped up the coast on a series of overnight buses and crossed the border into steamy ecuador, banana capital of the world and producer of panama hats....
as always, photos to follow!
xxxxx
b
Thursday, May 04, 2006
titicaca? sans blague
ca faisait une paye que je ne vous avais pas donne de nouvelles, mes tres chers, excusez moi. je vous ecris de copacabana, en bolivie, pas au bresil. c est pres du lac titicaca, ce fameux lac qui nous a tant fait rigoler enfants (quoique j en vois, encore depasse la trentaine, qui se goncent...). le climat est pur, on est a 3800m d altitude, l eau est froide et les vieux sourient de leurs dents en or, ca fait belle lurette qu ils n ont plus de vraies, moi je m en suis cassee un bout en mangeant leur espece de noix dures comme l email diamant.
la bolivie, ca fait une dizaine de jours, peut etre meme une quinzaine, qu on y est, et on adore. avant ca, nous avons laisse l argentine. desillusion. notre projet de vivre au moins quelques mois a buenos aires a ete abandonne bien vite, faute de trouver un travail un poil plus qu alimentaire.alors on remonte vers le nord.
a humahuaca, nord ouest de l argentine, pour la premiere fois, on s est sentis en amerique du sud: avant c etait les villes a l air europeennes, les autobus luxueux et les gens qui vous demandent des renseignements dans la rue, incognitos on passait. des humahuaca, ca change: petites vieilles machouillant la feuille de coca, petits vieux ressemblant a guy roux qui serait reste trop longtemps a bronzer sur le banc de touche, les gamins crasseux et ebouriffes, les bebes suspendus dans le dos de leurs meres adolescentes.les routes boliviennes sont belles, grandioses; et chaque village ou on s arrete nous offre un sourire: ici, c est cette petite fille qui joue a cache cache avec nous, la, c est cette maman qui va fierement faire ses courses avec son landeau tout neuf en guise de chariot (le bebe toujours traditionnellement dans le dos).
a copacabana, c est repos (sauf aujourd hui ou on a loue un petit bateau a voile; a savoir pour la prochaine fois, le matin, ici, il n y a pas de vent ; pas loin de copacabana il y a la isla del sol, l ile ou apparemment le soleil est ne, d apres les incas ; sans vent on n a pas reussi a l atteindre , mais pour ma part je prefererais aller sur l ile ou le soleil a ete concu, c est surement plus excitant...). j ai degote un petit hotel avec vue imprenable sur le lac; de l autre cote, c est le perou. pour l instant, ca a l air nuageux par labas. on attend ici que les nuages degagent, et quand le ciel sera clair, on fera de meme.
la bolivie, ca fait une dizaine de jours, peut etre meme une quinzaine, qu on y est, et on adore. avant ca, nous avons laisse l argentine. desillusion. notre projet de vivre au moins quelques mois a buenos aires a ete abandonne bien vite, faute de trouver un travail un poil plus qu alimentaire.alors on remonte vers le nord.
a humahuaca, nord ouest de l argentine, pour la premiere fois, on s est sentis en amerique du sud: avant c etait les villes a l air europeennes, les autobus luxueux et les gens qui vous demandent des renseignements dans la rue, incognitos on passait. des humahuaca, ca change: petites vieilles machouillant la feuille de coca, petits vieux ressemblant a guy roux qui serait reste trop longtemps a bronzer sur le banc de touche, les gamins crasseux et ebouriffes, les bebes suspendus dans le dos de leurs meres adolescentes.les routes boliviennes sont belles, grandioses; et chaque village ou on s arrete nous offre un sourire: ici, c est cette petite fille qui joue a cache cache avec nous, la, c est cette maman qui va fierement faire ses courses avec son landeau tout neuf en guise de chariot (le bebe toujours traditionnellement dans le dos).
a copacabana, c est repos (sauf aujourd hui ou on a loue un petit bateau a voile; a savoir pour la prochaine fois, le matin, ici, il n y a pas de vent ; pas loin de copacabana il y a la isla del sol, l ile ou apparemment le soleil est ne, d apres les incas ; sans vent on n a pas reussi a l atteindre , mais pour ma part je prefererais aller sur l ile ou le soleil a ete concu, c est surement plus excitant...). j ai degote un petit hotel avec vue imprenable sur le lac; de l autre cote, c est le perou. pour l instant, ca a l air nuageux par labas. on attend ici que les nuages degagent, et quand le ciel sera clair, on fera de meme.
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