A Day In La Paz

Daddy got up early since daddy had to check the airticket from La Paz to Rio deJaneiro since daddy hope to arrive in Rio tomorrow. There was a few optionflying there, but all flights will have to go via Santa Cruz (VVI) Airport,
1) Santa Cruz - Ascunsion (Paraguay) - Sao Paulo - Rio
2) Santa Cruz - Ascunsion (Paraguay) - Ciudad del Este = Foz do Iguacu - Rio
3) Santa Cruz - Buenos Aires - Rio

For flight 1 and 2, the earlier available would be on Monday, June 23 so daddydecided to fly with Aerolineas with a night stopever in Buenos Aires. I will beable to arrive at Rio de Janeiro on June 22 morning.

After getting the airticket sorted, daddy took the walking tour suggested in theguidebook, it was uphill, downhill but most of it were walking pass through the city commercial area, reminding daddy of Bangkok's Chinatown (Yaowarat). It tookus about 3 hours to finish the walk, including a little shopping and snack at Copacabana Fried Chicken. It ended at Plaza Murillo, where the Presidencial Palace and Congress Building is located.

Tomorrow I will be in Buenos Aires again.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today





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Today's Movie -

Into Bolivia

(sunset at Copacabana, Bolivia)

Daddy thought that going into Bolivia would be hassle free, but it turn out to bequite difficult since they needed a confirm return ticket, hotel confirmedreservation inside Bolivia, Yellow Fever Vaccination Card, photos, and photocopypassport. We could have been able to get the visa within minutes if we had submitted all the documents but it took us more than 4 hours before we got our visa.

We arrived at the consulate at 0930hrs with photos and passport and did not have any others since an agent told us not to worry as it would be able to settle it. So we trusted him but we were told to come back with an hotel confirmation and the yellow fever card. We then took taxi to the city hospital to get a vaccination which was not difficult and fast, which only cost 3 Soles per person instead of RM300 to get one in Malaysia.

Anyway, we only manage to get our visa stamped around 1330hrs and had to rushed tothe bus station since the departure was at 1430hrs on Trans Titicaca. The first half of the bus ride was interesting since daddy got a seat for me after the experience I had on the Cusco to Puno bus ride. We arrived at the Peruvian CIQ at 1700hrs andcleared the Bolivian CIQ by 1845hrs (Bolivian Time - One Hour Ahead) which was located 150m apart. Second half of the bus ride was quite tricky since we had tochanged into a smaller provincial bus in Copacabana with all our luggages beingstuff on the roof of the bus. It was a horrible ride, going up to almost 14,000ft in a cramp bus. Daddy almost fainted when he was sandwiched between two Andean woman smells of "garlic, onions and chilli".

Half way to La Paz, we were all told to get off the bus and go onto a boat to crossthe Titicaca lake which cost another 3 Bolivianos (Bs) per person. It was almostlike forcing everyone to get off and go on the boat. The bus was suppose to arrivedat 2100hrs but it did not arrive until 2200hrs. The whole journey took about 7hours. I would not suggest anyone taking the Trans Titicaca eventhough if you are travelling with a child.

Check into Sagarnaga Hotel, by 2230hrs. Tomorrow daddy would have to check theairticket from La Paz to Rio de Janeiro.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today

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Today's Movie -

Cusco To Puno

We woke up very early this morning to catch the bus from Cusco to Puno, which islocated about 400km south east of Cusco. Puno is located on the coast of Lake Titicaca, South America's largest lake and also the world's highest navigatablelake.

This journey started at 0730hrs with 6 stops along the way. The first stop, whichis a colonial church located at Andahuaylillas. This church was build by the spaniards and it is supposingly the Sistine Chapels of The Americas. Inside this church there are variety of painting and murals dating back to the 16th and 17th century with a dash of moorish architecture.

The second stop, Raqchi, an Incan temple dedicated to Wiracocha, the supreme god of the inkas, which is build with stones and muds. On the wall of the temple, painting of the Inca cross is still visible. The wall in this temple is supossingly to divide the temple to left and right, just like Cusco is divided by Avenue Del Sol.The division line is base on the Incan astrological. The temple is located next to theinkas highway.

The next stop was lunch at Sichuani in a nice restaurant with buffet lunch served.After lunch, we were stopped at Artesanias Q'ori Choccllo, an interesting houserepresenting a home of an incan family.

On the fifth stop would be, La Raya, the highest pass from Cusco to Puno at 4,335mor approx. 14,000ft with snow peaks as the background.

The last stop would be Pukkara, an archeological site consisting of pyramid structure dating back to 4000BC and this is the first sign of civilised culture in the Peruvian history.

We arrived in Puno on schedule at 1700hrs and checked in Monterrey Hostal. Its along and tired day, luckily I had a seat to myself and had no problem sleeping throughout the way.

Tomorrow, I will be heading to La Paz if everything goes out well.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today

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Today's Movie -

Cusco Attractions

After relaxing for a day daddy thought it was time to visit the attractions nearCusco. Initially daddy was thinking of leaving in the morning by renting a van butbecause daddy did not return back to the hostel early this morning, it would be mucheasier to join a city tour, which was a bad choice.

We left the hostal around 1130hrs and walk straight to the tour company which daddywanted to buy the bus ticket for Cusco - Puno. They also had daily tour as wellwhich they charged USD8.00 per person (I am not included). It was totally waste of money since it was only for the guide and transportation, Since we did not want tothe whole trip, we only started the tour at 1530hrs for the last 4 attractions which cost another 40/S for mommy and daddy,
1) Sacsayhuaman (Sexy Woman)
2) Q'enko
3) Puca Pucara
4) Tambo Machay


Since we have a couple of hours to spare before going joining the group, daddydecided to walk to the market and tried the steam chicken noodle, which was actuallyquite good except for the oily soup.

The van was supposed to pick us up at the cathedral at 1530hrs but did not arriveuntil around 1545hrs. The ride to the first site, Sacsyhuaman was quite interestingsince it was going uphill but unfortunately this tour did not included the Jesusstatue next to it, daddy should have ask them since Uncle Edmund mention about it.

After Sacsyhuaman, we continue another 2 more ruins, until the last which is, , andlocated at 12,000ft, the highest of the 4 ruins. Thy to spot the thumb and thefinger with a bangle in the wrist.

After days of having, roast pollo (chicken), lomo (beef), mommy suggested to have korean food instead, but daddy actually wanted to have some isrealis food.


Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today,





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Today's Movie -

Seven Wonders Of The World

Finally daddy arrived at his main highlight of this trip, Machu Picchu which was voted as one of the New Wonders of the World on July 7, 2007.

We woke up around 0530hrs and hopefully we could catch one of the earliest busses up to the main gate of the ruins. But as usual, we only manage to leave the hotel around 0700hrs and arrive at the main gate just before 0730hrs. The ride up okay but it would have been better if the road were tarred. The entrance to this park isn't very impressive, only an office with a small booth to check the entrance passes.

I was greeted to the beautiful scenery and obviously the ruins. There are a few walk to take but daddy took the long circuit, which took us nearly 4 hours to finish which include me having my breakfast there. There has been 2 theories about the contruction of this complex, one is being a the control centre during the heights of the Inca Empire and another would be a settlement to house serious criminal offender. It started off with steep climb into the Hut of The Caretaker of the Funenary Rock to see the famous view of Machu Picchu.

Daddy took the following route,

1) Hut of The Caretake of the Funenary Rock

2) Royal Palace

3) House of the High Priest

4) Sacred Plaza

5) Temple of Three Windows

6) Principle Temple

7) Sacristy

8) Intihuatana

9) The Three Doorway

10) Residential Sector

11) Industrial Sector

12) The Mortars

13) The Prison Group

14) Temple of Condor

Daddy initially wanted to try climbing the Huayna Picchu (Wayna Picchu) but the queue was too long and it was lucky that daddy did not climb since it rained immediately we arrived back in Aguas Calientes. The climbed would have taken 1 hour up and 1 hour down.

We arrived back at Agua Calientes at about 1200hrs and went immediately for lunch and we were stuck there for hours since it rained and did not stopped until we board out train bound for Cusco. Initially daddy thought it would be good idea to have a dip at the hot spring but it rained so we stayed around the hostal until the train departure time at 1703hrs.

The train ride back to Cusco wasn't as good as the ride from Ollay since it was full and the seats were unable to recline as well. I was crying all the time until daddy had to give me his seat so I could sleep better. The journey took very much longer than expected, maybe because everyone were tired. We did not finish the journey to Cusco as we got off in Poroy as the is a bus that cost NPS4 per person and only took 10mins from the train station to Cusco, at Plaza Regocijo.

An exciting but extremely tired day!

Lunch : Cereal
Dinner : Milk

Some photos taken today

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Today's Movie -

Leaving For Machu Picchu

We got up early this morning again to catch our flight from Lima to Cusco before connecting to Aguas Calientes with Perurail. We left the hotel at 0700hrs to the airport for 0930hrs Star Peru flight. We arrived in Cusco at 1030hrs and daddy got immediately got a vehicle to take us to the train station to collect our train ticket, Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and Aguas Calientes to Cusco. But it did not go well as the agent inside the airport did not keep her promises for all the arrangement. So instead we got another taxi to send us to Ollantaytambo to catch the train at 1858hrs. It was a 2 hours taxi ride to Ollantaytambo but the scenery were fantastic.

We arrive at Ollantaytanbo at 1630hrs after all the delays. Daddy wanted to visit one of the ruins in the city but unfortunately the train station was too far away and needed a pass which cost USD12 for entry! Instead we waited around the train station for 2 hours before boarding the train to Aguas Calietes.

The train ride took slightly more than 2 hours, arriving at Aguas Calientes at 2130 and our hostal did not come to the train station to meet but everything got sorted out and check into the rooms without and problem.

Tomorrow morning I will be heading up to one of the new seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu. Daddy got the entrance tickets for NPS122 per person excluding the USD14.00 bus fare up to the main gate.

Lunch :
Dinner :

Some photos taken today





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Today's Movie -