July 15, 2003

Goodbye Bolivia, Hello Machu Picchu!

These past two weeks have been so jammed full of new and different experiences for us, I look back and wonder where the time has gone! Most importantly, my health has improved a lot and I was finally able to get back out on the tennis court, where my sister and I took on travelers from all around the world, including Germany, Belgium and Israel. We were triumphant against all of our competitors, except the altitude of 14,000 feet that left us gasping for air and thanking the city of San Francisco for being at sea level!

The last time I wrote I was in Potosi, Bolivia, ready to leave the following evening. However, that day we decided to take a tour into one of the oldest, most dangerous and most prosperous mines in the world. With helmets and lights we entered the dark and sweltering hot mines, where the miners are known for working 18 hour days without masks and surviving on coca leaves alone. After 4 hours of rock climbing inside a mountain through mud, water, and dynamite explosions, I can truthfully say miners have the hardest job in the entire world! This exhausting experience changed our plans however when we saw the conditions of the mines and realized that children as young as 8 years of age work there. We decided to stay in Potosi for the next week, volunteering at an elementary school attended by the miner´s children or at least those who were not working in the mines. With so little time, we attempted to teach them the basic english that would help them with other tourists. We found however that most of our time was spent with the children crowding around us asking us questions about the United States and the differences in our cultures. Once again, I was as fulfilled by the compassion of the kids as I was sad to have to say goodbye to them.

From Potosi, we went to Sucre, a beautiful and warm colonial town where we visited churches and dinosaur tracks. We were fascinated by the first two sets of dinosaur tracks and then in boredom, found ourselves retreating back to play with a plastic dinosaur display. From Sucre, we took a 12 hour night bus to the capital of La Paz, also one of the highest cities in the world. Here we explored the government buildings and most importantly, the notorious black market, where we ended up buying nothing! From La Paz we set out (after persuading my sister and Kristie) on Bolivia´s famous bike ride on the "most dangerous road in the world". This "downhill madness" of 54 miles turned out to have 23 miles of "uphill insanity"! There were however breathtaking views as we sped down a swerving dirt road along terrifying cliffs and patches of jungle. The entire bike ride was spectacular and hilarious to see our dirt covered faces from the passing trucks. My favorite part of the entire day was finally arriving in Coroico, a small jungle town where I was greeted by a 6 month old monkey. Needless to say, I spent the next 24 hours with my new friend on my shoulder, bringing back memories of my past summer!

With tears in my eyes, I said goodbye to the monkey and we headed to Lake Titicaca, which looks a lot more like an ocean than a lake. Here we stayed on the coast of the lake in Cocacabana, enjoying the sun and taking a day trip to the Isla Del Sol. On a 4 hour walk across the island we enjoyed the spectacular views of the sparkling lake with monstrous snow-capped mountains in the distance. We left the Bolivian side of the lake on a bus and arrived to Puno, Peru, where we found ourselves fascinated by the famous Lake Titicaca floating islands. Here in the middle of the ocean-like lake, groups of about 10 people lived in bamboo tents on man-made floating islands. There was a beautiful sense of unity between the islands and it is one of the those scenes you have to see to believe.

I sit now in the amazing city of Cusco, Peru preparing for our 4 day hike to Machu Picchu that we start on Thursday. In our past few days here we explored the Sacred Valley of the Incas, filled with more Incan ruins built on high mountains than there are sky-rises in New York City. We just got back from another intense river-rafting trip where somehow our two Belgium traveling companions found a way to dump us in yet another river. Despite the cold it was beautiful and we finished the adventure under the sight of the biggest and most breath-taking moon I have ever seen!

From the extensive experiences of the past two weeks, we are now trying to rest up for Machu Picchu, the part of the trip I have been looking forward to the most! I have already decided that I am going to have a talk with John White when I get back and suggest a few things as how to improve our athletic training... for instance, 54 mile bike rides, 18 hours a day mining and 4 hour walks in an altitude of 16,000 feet! All of these experiences have made me learn to love my 7am practices and be even more thankful that USF has put me in good enough shape to have them! Now... off to Machu Picchu!