Des Andes a l'Amazonie / From the Andes to the Amazon

Et oui, nous avons retoruve la CHALEUR et l'ambiance tropicale! Enfin!!! Nous voila au carrefour entre les Andes et l'Amazonie, dans la deuxieme plus grande ville de Bolivie, SANTA CRUZ (pour les fans de Che Guevarra, il a passe ses dernieres heures dans les environs avant d'etre tue par la CIA. Des Tours operators proposent de refaire la route du Che)
Yes we have finally found ourselves back into the heat and the familiar environment of the Tropicals! So now we're at the crossroads between the Andes and the Amazon, in the second largest city of Bolivia, Santa Cruz. (If you heard of Che Guevarra, he has passed through this town in his last hours before getting caught by the CIA - check out the internet for him or watch the film, The Motorcycle Diary..if you have no idea what I'm blabbing about)

Nous avons troque nos bonnets et nos manteaux contre la bonne vieille paire de sandale et un short! Les filles devoilent leurs jambes et nous offrent (ou plutot a moi) de fort beaux decolletes!
We exchanged our bonnet and gloves for a pair of flip flops and shorts..... The ladies here all where very revealing low cut TOPs.. with very well endowned assets... Men will be very pleased to be in this town to cuci mata
L'espagnol des habitants ressemblent plus a une langue tropicale voir insulaire! Nous avons perdu les "s" dans les montagnes.Le "Buenos Dias" s'est transforme en "Bueno Dia"...un peu complique a s'adapter au debut!
Bon, ce n'a pas ete de tout repos pour en arriver la! Nous avons du traverser toutes les Andes soit une quarantaine d´heures de bus...je vous rassure, nous ne l'avons pas fait en un jour!
Well it wasn't all that comfy to arrive here. We had to cross the whole of Andes which is about 14 hours or more...
Tout d'abord, nous avons quitte Cusco pour Le lac Titicaca, frontiere peruano-bolivienne!Cette fois-ci, nous avons fait les choses dans les regles et sommes alles demande un visa au consulat bolivien! et BONNE NOUVELLE, nous n'avons plus besoin de payer pour le visa! C'est GRATUIT depuis Janvier 2008!!!Cool, 5h plus tard, nous courons jusqu'au terminal de bus pour prendre le dernier bus directe poiur LA PAZ et nous arrivons a l'heure MAIS le bus est plus que COMPLET...M.....ercredi!!!
So first of all we left Cusco, to go towards Puno.. Lake Titicaca which will be Peru-Bolivia's borders. This time we did it within the law and rules. We went to the Bolivian Consulate to request for a Visa for MOI... and my famous passport!At first it hurts to think that we have to pay all the time when we cross their boarders but HEY HEY HEY.. GOOD NEWS for 2008!! They've changed the rules and we got the visa for FREE!! Well, I still have to apply, it's just that we don't have to pay a single cent! COOL! 5 hrs later the visa process we went to the bus terminal to catch the last bus at 2.30pm BUT with our luck it was ALL FULL! No seats available!

On part a l'autre terminus local ou nous attrapons un bus vers l'autre frontiere! La frontiere des contrebandiers et du transit de la cocaine! NOus passons la frontiere sans trop de probleme dans une ambiance folle (ct jour de marche)! Nous prenons un taxi collectif pour la Paz! Direction la station de bus! MINCE les bus directes pour Sta Cruz sont deja partis, nous prenons donc un bus pour Cochabamba (a mi chemin)...8h plus tard, apres 2 nuits dans le bus, nous arrivons dans cette ville de montagne (2700m d'alt) assez laide!

So we were told there's another local bus going to another boarder and we rushed there. The frontier where there are lots of illegal stuff happening with drugs and other products. Well, we managed to pass over the borders unhurt and with no problems. It was really BUSY at this border compared to the other one. So much movement. Then we had to take a taxi to the Bolivian bus terminal but we just missed the bus to go to St. Cruz so our next option was to stop halfway to Cochabamba. 8hrs later after spending 2 nights on the bus we arrived in Cochabamba.

Il est 5h du mat, nous sommes CREVES...et MANQUE DE BOL, et aussi invraisemblable que cela puisse paraitre, tous les "hotels" (ca ressemble plus a des grandes cite universitaires en plus moche) sont COMPLETS...Nous devons donc attendre plusieurs heures avant de nous ecraser sur un lit! Nous dejeunerons dehors dans les nombreux stands improvises! A 7h30, nous recuperons une "chambre" et la nous tombreons de sommeil pour se reveiller a 14h00...On passera 1 nuit dans cette ville et nous passerons tous le Dimanche sur la place principale a lire et manger en attendant notre bus de nuit pour Sta Cruz!!! (longue journee)

We arrived 5am and we were so exhausted from the trip and fed-up and all the hotels we asked around we FULL! So we had to wait a few more hours before we could crash out on the bed. So we had our breakfast at the stalls by the roadsides. We went back to the hotel where we left our bags and YES, we got a room. We really knocked out and slept till about 2pm. We slept a night at the hotel and the whole of Sunday afternoon, evening and night at the Plaza trying to kill time by reading and eating while waiting for our next bus ride at night to St. Cruz. It was a LLLLOOOONNNNGGGGG Day for us.

cool refreshing orange juice. hand squeezed with this machind.
SANTA CRUZ, 400m d'altitude, en plein milieu de la Bolivie...Ville perdue mais incroyablement dynamique (centre de la drogue)... il fait chaud et humide! La jungle nous entoure...mais les montagnes ne sont pas loin!
Santa Cruz at only 400m in altitude lost in the middle of Bolivia but very dynamic and so much activities happening. It is hot and humid, the jungle surrounds us but the mountains are not too far away.

Sta Cruz, passage obligatoire pour nous pour faire le visa de Flo! Nous voila donc parti a la recherche du consulat! Comme d'habitude, il nous manque des papiers, ou plutot les notres ne sont pas les bons!" On nous envoi payer le VISA a la BANCO De BRASIL de l'autre cote de la ville...on se perd un peu mais on reussit a la trouver et on se depeche pour retourner au consulat afin la fermeture! CHOC, notre fievre jaune faite au PEROU n'est pas valable car pas INTERNATIONALE ...QUOI...qu'est ce qu'on fait alors, on ne peut pas se refaire vacciner....je me fais jeter...On doit aller a la prefecture a l'autre coin de la ville...c parti! En arrivant la bas, il y a une queue de 100m de long...ca gueule de tous les cotes car y en a (comme nous) qui jouent au plus malin et essaye de griller la queue! Finalement, apres une heure, on obtiendra un nouveau certificat INTERNATIONAL cette fois ci mais sans vaccination moyennant une dizaine d'euros....Le consulat est ferme, nous devons y retourner le lendemain!
We had to pass by St Cruz to obtain my VISA.. for Brazil.. yes ME AGAIN, the VISA GIRL! So we found a little hotel as we arrived, put our bags down and we started our day after hours of bus ride from Cochabamba... to find the Consulate of Brazil. So we managed to find it by walking.. it was quite a distance after all.. (trying to safe cost) anyways as usual as we arrived and gave our papers we had some papers missing or rather we didn't have the right ones. Then they send us off to pay for the visa at the BANK of Brazil which we had to take a bus to the OPPOSITE direction. Then we got a little lost looking for the bank and we got off the bus a little too early. Then we searched and found it finally and paid the 20US$ (which to our surprise not as expensive as we thought it could have been.. especially with a special passport like mine) So we were rushing cos we wanted to hand in EVERYTHING.. all the papers and so it could be process faster before the office closes.. Rush rush and then we MADE it to the office.
To our surprise... another little problem, our little vaccination injection and card is not VALID to travel ourside. It's only good for Peru and Bolivia. Great! we need an INTERNATIONAL Vaccination card which we need to get at another place at another corner of the town. GREAT.. another searching adventure. This time we took the Taxi! no time to lose.
We arrived at the govt office and it had a Q that was about 100m long to get a number!!! Anyways, we waited for about an hour before we managed to get an International Vaccination Card. No, we didn't get another injection.. just to validify the vaccination card we had. Of coruse it came with some more $$$... and we paid. Unfortunately, we had to go back to the Consulate the next day cos it was already closed by the time we finish all the paper work!

Heureusement le lendemain tout se passe bien, nous avons tout mais si elle nous fait peur en nous demandant le vol de sortie du Bresil (que nous n'avons pas car on prendra train et bus)...LA MAUVAISE NOUVELLE, c'est que nous devons attendre 2jours notre visa....alors nous en profitons pour visiter la region...Le zoo car nous n'avons pas les moyens de visiter la jungle!!! puis nous partirons prendre l'air dans les montagnes, a 2h30 de route, a SAMAIPATA...Village de montagne tres sympa au climat SUPER AGREABLE...chaud et sec la journee et frais la nuit....avec des gens tres sympathiques.
Fortunately the next day.. everything went as planned and smoothly. They did ask for our return ticket in and out of Brazil but we were travelling on land with bus and train but we managed to get the visa and that will take 2 days to process. So we decided to visit around the area. Went to a Zoo nearby and then we went to a village about 2h30mins drive, Samaipata. A cute little village in slightly higher altitude... 1ooomtr over. The weather there was perfect for us. It was nice and refreshing. Not cold or Hot.. but refreshing is the word. The sun would be shining and you still cool with the wind. The nights are not freezing. So it was just right.

Flo en a profite pour renouer avec le VTT et s'est tres bien debrouillee! Contrairement a moi qui est eu un peu plus de mal car je ne suis pas encore a 100% et j'ai experimente qqes problemes d'equilibre sans consequences! Nous avons vu la plus garnde pierre taillee du monde...encore une oeuvre INCA, la derniere on vous le promet!

There in Samaipata we stayed for 2 nights and one of the day we went cycling up a hill to see a historical Inka monument. Supposedly to be the largest carved stone ever. The cycling was TIRING upwards... yikes. I didn't do too bad after all .. I was scared though but managed not to fall and not even a single scratch. So that's good to get back my confidence on cycling.
Nous voila de retour a Sta Cruz ou nous avons recupere le visa de Flo et nous nous apretons a faire 20h de train demain Samedi 19/01/08 pour rejoindre le Bresil...
Returned back to St. Cruz and got back my passport and the next day to take a 20hrs train to go to Brazil.
AH OUI, J'ai failli oublie....comme la maldie nous a coute assez cher et que nous sommes de nouveau sous les tropiques, j'ai decide de faire des economies sur le SHAMPOING et Flo a donc exercer son reve de jeune fille en devenant coiffeuse d'un soir pour me RASER la tete....(photo a venir tres prochainement)...

Ah yes, as Johan was sick and it cost us quite a bomb and now that we're in the Tropic.. Johan has decided to save on Shampoo. My dream to be a hairdresser when I was younger came to reality and so I practiced my haircutting skills and CUT all his hair off... At the Indian shop it will be number one hair cut.. hehehhehe..

A tres bientot au Bresil

So till our next post in Brazil