Mind In Motion: The Log to Infinite Intelligence

After an exceptionally freezing cold night train from Oruro, we arrive at Uyuni at 3am. Its cold (very cold), so cold that the condensation on the inside of the bus windows was actually a thick layer of ice. We eventually find a hostel with room, check in and sleep til its warm enough to venture out.

Uyuni is small, really small and focused on a main dusty strip with a few restaurants and shops. Being a desert town its warm and sunny in the day and freezing the moment the sun goes down, the cold was something we would have to get used to over the next three days. The reason we were here was to see the famous salt lakes and lagoons, we had been told of 3 day jeep tours you could do and this sounded perfect, after finding a agency with an spanish guide we booked up for the following day.
On our tour we climbed aboard on our Toyata jeep we meet the three other travellers who will be coming with us, 2 Japanese guys and one taiwanese guy. Driving in the jeep was surprisingly comfortable even when in the back 3 seats, the temperature did rise to a ridiculous level though especially when you couldnxb4t open the windows as dust would fill the car and our guide would not like that.

On the first day we were ready to leave to visit the Salar de Uyuni. This salt lake is supposed to be the highlight of the all trip, many people from Uyuni only take a one day trip, to visit the salar and leave. So we were all very excited!
In the dry season the salar is simply a huge salt lake… an immense white surface which extends to the horizon. Pure white ground as far as the eye can see, it’s hard to open your eyes without sunglasses. We took the mandatory cheesy photos (holding someone in your hand that’s actually very far away), by playing with perspective. Next was the salt hotel which was amazing though, built entirely of the salty stuff, even the furniture inside! We next head to the Fish Island, its in the Salt Plains a few hundred meters wide and covered in Cactus. Very surreal! The rest of the day is spent driving through the Salt Plains, taking in the views and onto our accommodation for night. Its in a small village just off the Flats, an incredibly desolate place to live. Exploring we stumble across the election count, voting population 140.

Early start, we leave the Salt Flats behind and for 5 Lagunas, Hedionda, Canapa, Chiarkota, Honda Arbol de Piedra and Colorada. Each Laguna has something interesting about it. Laguna Hedionda was probably the largest and full of Flamingos!
Getting from one Laguna to the next is no easy thing, no actual roads round here. We drive over lots of rocky terrain, the 4×4 is upto the job even though its well over 20yrs old. We go from rocky hills to sandy desert and all around 5000m! Its hard to describe but it was just one breath taking landscape after another. Mid afternoon we stopped at the Siloli Desert Rock Trees to test out our climbing skills.
We spent the night on the edge of Laguna Colorada. The geological activity in the area makes the Laguna water red! Its spectacular and incredibly windy, the ground round the edge of the Laguna is very colorful and soft to walk almost boggy. We all have fun seeing how far out we can get before stinking into the ground.
That night one of the japanese guys was unconcious because of thew altitude. He already slept all day and didnxb4t say a word, so we didnxb4t really notice. Altitude sickness can be fatal so we had to get him back to the nearest hospital, which is a six hours drive. The guy wasnxb4t responding to anyone,pain or cold. One of the guides took him back for 180 dollars, and the only thing Bolivians cared about was of course….money. They even tried to collect it with us, the bastards!

In the jeep and on the road for 5am, its cold (about minus 20 ) but spectacular watching the sun rise over the mountains and Lagunas. We stop just as day is breaking at the Sol de Manana Geysers. Its an area of natural geysers all shapes, sizes and colours, bubbling away blowing out sulphur gases very smelly! The jets of steam are hot and very unpredictable, but we get to warm ourselves up! Our final stop is a natural hot spring near Laguna Verde, not far from the geysers. Its about 6:30am I had no intention of going in but its way too inviting! No option but going in my boxers, its just the right temperature and very relaxing with a pritty decent view!  We ended our last day at Laguna Verde, before heading back to Uyuni.
Just 60 kilometers from Uyuni our jeep broke down and we had to walk to the next road blockade. Where we could hitch in the trunk of a car, to finish the final kilometers.

The next day we took the overnight bus to La Paz. Where ixb4m right now….

New pictures somewhere this weekend!

We arrived in Sucre (the constitutional capital) after a pretty a couple of flights. We found a really disgusting hostel where we settled in for a few days. Sucre is beautiful! From above, with its red roofs and rolling hills in the background, it might have been Tuscany. From ground level, it looks just like Spain, or rather, it looked just like Spain would have looked if none of its 15th and 16th century architecture had been torn down. Every building is gleaming white with a red roof. Church steeples and bell towers soar into their clear blue sky. Tiny cobbled streets beg for exploration.

Itxb4s hard to account for the five days I spent in Sucre. I ate, I soaked up sun, and I marveled at the beauty around me. I went to a couple tourist sights, like the cathedral and various churches and museums. And we visited Casa de la Liberatad, where Bolivia was declared a republic. It had furniture and paintings from that era and one room showed thirty or so of itxb4s ex-presidents. Bolivia has had a troubled political past (and continues to have). There have been 189 changes of governement in itxb4s 181 years as a republic. The museum also focussed on Antonio Jose de Sucre, the first president and in a way liberator (Simon Bolivar was also a prominent figure but only ever governer of what was then called Alto Peru or high Peru).

Next day we took The Dino Bus out to a quarry with fossilised dinosaur footprints. There are maybe six or so distinct types of dinosaur prints visible. The prints were made in volcanic ash which then hardened and preserved the prints. They are now on a vertical quarry wall, thanksdue to the movement of tectonic plates which forced the ground upwards. Due to the soft nature of the walls, the prints are constantly being eroded and falling away but luckily this only reveals further prints.

On sundays we went to Tarabuco. Tarabuco is a tiny town, about 1.5 hours away from Sucre. Now, with quite a handful of tourist buses departing to visit its Sunday market, it has unfortunately been transformed a little. Near the plaza, the locals had lain down blankets, selling the same touristy artesania products, like everywhere else. Several tourists stopped to browse through them.
It was such a brilliant sight to see these locals dressed in their very interesting traditional costumes, wandering around normally, doing their grocery shopping. To be honest, quite a huge number of them are very old, almost ancient. I have a feeling the younger ones depart from Tarabuco to search for jobs elsewhere.
To be honest, we were given far too much time to wander around this tiny town. I found a cafe near the plaza and sat down for a cup of mate de coca.

Last but not least, we found a Dutch bar/restaurant. Where we had bitterballen and Bosche Bollen which I made them all try along with Leffe blond beer

Having spent too long in Santa Cruz I was looking forward to getting back to nature a little bit. Santa Cruz itself wasnxb4t worth a visit, unless you like american style cities. However there is a quiet little town nearby Santa Cruz. Called Samaipata!

We arrived in Samaipata with a shared taxi early in the afternoon. And there we found ourselves one of the best hostels so far. La Posada felt like your at home right away. One of the owners Dwain was a tourist attraction on his own. He made lunches and breakies for us and always took care of anything. There were just four rooms in the hostel, with about 8 travellers in it. So it was nice and cosy.

The first day, we decided to go on a hike and visit Las Cuevas. The most spectacular of the falls, viewed from a small “beach”. Cuevas, site of a set of very pleasant waterfalls. It was a 20 km ride each way, which didn’t seem too much before we started out. The falls themselves were great. Two major cascades and a third minor set of falls, each with small beaches at the base which were great for relaxing and whiling away the time. You could also climb to the top of one of the falls.
I think Las Cuevas gives an example of tourism in Bolivia. A beautiful set of falls, fabulously exploitable with their proximity to a tourist town and the number of visitors the day I was there – 8 (including me)!!

One of the big draws in Samaipata are the ruins of “El Fuerte”, a pre-columbian site dominated by an absolutely huge rock complete with carvings that are apparently pre-Inca. The site nowadays can now only be viewed from the raised walkways that surround it. To be honest, the carvings on the rock were very badly eroded so I had trouble making out anything of interest, but the weather was great and overall the site was very pleasant so it was a cool day out.

We left Santa Cruz and Samaipata on tuesdays. We had a flight to Sucre on monday but this flight was postponed to tuesday. First we had to fly to Cochabamba with LAB and than a transfer to Sucre. But our second plane broke down and the flight was cancelled. So LAB took care of us and took us to the nicest 5 stars hotel in Bolivia, where we spend the night and where we had free dinner. Doesnxb4t happen a lot as a backpacker. Anyways the next morning we had to fly back to Santa Cruz and transfer to Sucre. This time they got it right and we are now in the capital of Bolivia.

After Cochabama I spend four days in and around Villa Tunari in the Chapare region. There are still strikes in the transportation sector and they have been lasting for over a week now. You can imagine that itxb4s hard to travel around without any buses.

So we tried anyways, catching a mini cruiser for six people towards Villa Tunari. And it took as about three hours to get there on the new road to Santa Cruz. We found ourselves a really nice hostel with splendid views over the river Chipiri. And only for 3 euroxb4s a night! The owner was really friendly and asked us if we could recommend his hostel to the lonely planet, which we did.

Villa Tunari is the largest town in the Chapare region. This region is well-know for legal and illegal production of Coca and of course cocaine. It has therefore been a constant cause of concern and point of focus for the DEA and government funded projects to clean up the area of cocaine processing and production.
Processing and production within Chapare has led to strict controls in the region by military funded by the usa. The surrounding border patrols and checkpoints known as Trancas are situated at various intersections into and out of towns where the government effectively reduces the trafficing of controlled substances.

Fortunatelly things are starting to change since Evo Morales took office and legalised coca production. It sounded a bit as a hostile site to go to, but really the Chapere has an immense potential for tourism, which i discovered by myself.
The town itself has an voluntary project in Parque Machia. Where injured animals, animals held captivity are being re-released into the wild. The park itself is really worth to explore and to play with the monkeys. If you wished you can even volunteer for yourself, which i didnxb4t have time for. Another main attraction around town are the swimming holes, which are situated in the jungle. Itxb4s a bit cold water, but it sure is lovely around the swimming holes.

Chapare Trek

On the third day we set out for an incredible two day hike in the jungle of the Chapare. We met an local guy named Josxe9, who took us with him and his dog. We started of 2 km outside town, quickly getting into dense vegetation , Josxe9 told us that this hike was only his fourth time.
He told us everything we needed to know about the flora and fauna of the jungle. After only an hour we encountered a snake. It was a Coral snake, which is muy malo according to Josxe9.
The only thing i didnxb4t like about Josxe9 was him hitting is dog with a wooden stick. He did this because he needed to be raised properly. But the poor dog was almost hit an concussion over and over again.
The rest of the first day we followed the river and crossed deep waters. We were a bit afraid of malaria, but hardly seen any mosquitos. In the meanwhile we made a deal with Josxe9. Everytime someone of us slipped, he had to pay for two beers, because Josxe9 had a surprise the next day. We all agreed and hiked to the first camp. The first camp was a woodcutter hut in the middle of the jungle. Josxe9 made dinner and Ruben and I decided to go for a swim in the river.
Later that night we made campfire, played card games and slept on a pain staking wooden ground.

The second day almost looked like butterfly day, because we saw dozens of them and traced hundreds of animals trails. But couldnxb4t find any animals of course. We went through coca fields, larger rivers and eventually took a canoe back to town. Totally exhausted we arrived at Josxe9 his house and prepared another evening meals. This is where he told us that it was his birthday. So he took us took some kind of bar and drinked our beers according to our deal. Ruben had to pay for 6 , Josxe9 0 and i had to pay for 2 beers. One of his friends arrived as well, but he sneaked out of the hospital because he had an alcohol poisoning, which i found very funny. Josxe9 also told us he had an Puma as a pet named: Saddam Hussein.

We ended up in Karoake bar before taking a nightbus to Santa Cruz. But there no overnight buses to Santa Cruz. Finally there was a total strike. So we decided to hitchhike along the way and we quickly found ourselves a truck heading for Santa Cruz. We could sleep in the back in the open air! So arrived in Santa Cruz on tuesday and more on that in my next blog!

New Pictures: http://mindinmotion.mijnalbum.nl

Chicha Quiero, chicha buscoPor chicha mis paseos.Sexf1ora, deme un vasitoPara cumplir mis deseos

Swampy plain is the meaning for Cochabamba in the indian Quechua. We visited Cochabamba for two days making it a relax stopover before continuing to other towns.

We left La Paz on a day with transport strikes. It was the third day in a row and we were told that there werenxb4t any buses at all. As sturdy as we are we decided to leave anyway and see if there were any buses at all. Arriving at the terminal at 6 in the morning, there was one bus leaving for Cochabamba and asked us double the price, which is only 5 euro for a 8 hours long ride.
The funny part was the bus got a lot of media attention, there must have been around 6 tv crews near the bus. So we probably made it to the Bolivian TV that day!

We arrived in Cochabamba in the afternoon and noticed the difference in temperature already. This is because Cochabamba lies in fertile green valley and of itxb4s lower altitude. It has one of the best climates in Bolivia with warm days and cool nights and hardly any rain.
We browsed the city center on the first day and went out to the tourist office, finding out that there is little to do in such a big city as Cochabamba. So we ended the day with a stroll along the cathedral, a few churches and finally the main plaza ( 14 de Septiembre ).
The next we decided to go on our own bike tour, but like everything else in Bolivia, there was a bike tour but no bikes. So overlooking the town, there is the Cristo de la Concordia. A Jesus statue very like the famous one in Rio de Janairo. The difference is, that the statue in Cochabamba is a bit higher (33m and a bit) than the one in Rio (only 33m). The Cochabambinos justify this difference, by saying that Jesus didn’t die at exactly 33 years, but at 33 and a bit.
From up there, we had an excellent view over the whole city and the surrounding mountains. If you don’t feel like walking up the 10’000+ very steep steps (at least that’s what it feels like), you can hop on the cable car ( which we did, but walked our way down though ).
After the Cristo de la Concordia, we walked on towards Laguna Alalay, which wasnxb4t much of an interesting place. In the end we were lost on the biggest market in Bolivia. This is La Cancha which consist out of three big markets and you can buy about everything imaginable. I went there to experience the chaos, but it is totally exhausting.

Our city adventure ended up in a dodgy bar, while we were searching for some Chicha Cochabambina ( local drink ). We found ourselves a bucket, drinked it, liked it and left the next morning to Villa Tunari…..

New Pictures: http://mindinmotion.mijnalbum.nl

So three weeks have passed by since i last updated my log. So you are all probably wondering what i have been doing lately. Well after the choro trail i was sick, worked a lot and went on a weekend break to Arica in Chile.

After the Choro trail i got sick big time, but i didnxb4t go to the hospital the week after. In this week we celebrated Judith her birthday and i bought a big cake which is kinda traditional isnxb4t it? We had a lovely dinner in the best restaurant of La Paz. La Tranquera sure is quality stuff! Until today i had dinner there for 6 times already. Other thing i did this week is rebook my flight to the 1st of August so i will be back in the Netherlands on the 2nd of August. I hope i can meet you then.

The second week of April was quite a disaster for me. I got really really sick on friday and was about to climb the Huayna Potosi that weekend. But i ended up in a hospital for 2 days. What happened?
I started to vomit had colds and surely saw the toilet a lot on friday. So Emiel called Marlieke to make an appointment for the doctor. I didnxb4t arrive at the doctor until 7 at night, where they told me to stay over for a night because i was dehydrated and lost 7 kilograms in 2 months oops….
Bolivian hospitals in general meet our european standards, what i didnxb4t expect, but they like needles instead of pills. I could go home on saturday and frankly i felt fine, but Marije cooked dinner for that night and i wasnxb4t told that i couldnxb4t eat dairy products. But i did, so my fever started rise right after dinner and had to go back to the hospital again. This time it was worse and barely could walk or even move my arms. I was dehydrated again and had a 40 degrees fever. Judith, Emiel, Marije and Helen took me to the hospital. Well Emiel even carried me to the hospital and ixb4m really thankful for taking care of me that particular weekend. I got my blood results on sunday and apparantly i had a stomach infection and parasites. So antibiotics for the 10 days….

Last weekend we spend the weekend in Arica, Chile on the beach. We had so much fun with the 8th of us. The weather was good, about 30 degrees but the pacific water was freezing. We basically spend all the days at the beaches and terraces drinking beer and spirits. And we fished on the traditional way for 2 days. I didnxb4t catch anything but Ruben and Emiel did.
Unfortunatelly this was the last weekend together with Judith and i wonxb4t see her until August.
By the way I saw the Ajax – Feyenoord matches and had a brilliant time seeing them. How humiliating for Feyenoord right?

A lot of other things happened of course, but i just donxb4t have enough time to write. Next weeks will be busy. We will be competing in a soccer tournament, have to work in Noel Kempff for three weeks. Owh and we will be celebrating queensday this thursday at the embassy, with a lot of dutch imported food. Good value for your tax money

New Pictures: http://mindinmotion.mijnalbum.nl

After a striking 100km of walking the last week ixb4m back in La Paz. It was a busy week and a lot happened. From the bombings in La Paz to the killing Choro trail, time for an update!

Many of you already knew, but last week two hostels were bombed in La Paz. Killing two people and injuring many others. The bombers were an American man and a woman from Uruguay. They are still investigating why the bombed the places, but the president already blamed the U.S.A. for terror actions against his country.
Last week was the Day of the Sea in Bolivia, when Bolivia mourns about the loss of their sea to Chile. So again the city was really crowded and the president gave his speech at plaza de San Francisco. Traffic was a mess and we couldnxb4t get to our work, well eventually we made it to the childcare. This is where is worked for two days, not really something to shout about! We just played with the children and had lunch with them and baked bread! Anyway it was a great experience for now.

I used the weekend for yet another excuse to get out of the city. Judith and I decided to take a trip to Sorata, a beautiful small town set amongst gorgeous green hills under the looming presence of Mt Llampu. Its 4 1-2 hours from La Paz.
The bus is slow and bumpy:it reminds me of Nicaragua; but even more dramatic. After 4 hours we descend into the valley, town of Sorata. We were dropped of at the central square where we a hardly saw any foreigners and the hotel we stayed in felt like we were the only visitors for the day.

The next day, we set off on a hike to the caves. It is a 12 km walk to the caves, Gruta in the town of San Pablo. Once we got up the ridge, the walk followed the road around the mountain. Barely any cars passed us, the sun was strong. We made it there in 3 hours, en punto. Barely stopped to rest, just for a small lunch. We arrive, pay a small entrance fee and make our way into this huge cave. It is sparsely lit with lightbulbs along the trail, a little narrow at first, but then it opens up into this grand hall. At the end of the trail is a pool of water which you can swim in. You can hear the bats squealing, but cant see them. Apparantly the trail continues through the water, where you can go as far as you can stand to tread, with your flashlight in your mouth… we werent that brave.xb4So we hang out in the cave, out of the sun, but itxb4s not even that cool, as most caves are, for about an hour, then start back.
Sorata was just what we needed for a weekend break. We just wanted to take it easy and relax for some bit. We had nice breakfasts and dinners and even found a small bar. I just might go back here to walk a bit more. But we had to go back on sunday, because i had to walk the Choro trail with Emiel on Monday to friday!

So next on my schedule was the Choro trail (70km), which we had to walk for our work for Sernap. So we embarked upon a 3 day Inca trek from La Cumbre to Coroico.
The trail is supposedly more spectacular than the one that leads to Machu Pichu. However, we were extremely unlucky with the weather, which began in heavy sleet and snow, which as we descended from the 4,800 metre ( as high as the Mont Blanc) starting point, turned into steady and drenching rain and forced us to use our imaginations for what the view may have been like.
The entire first day was a knee killing 7 hour descent on wet & slippery stones which finally ended being stuck at night at the trail. We knew we were close to a village, but couldnxb4t see the trail anymore. To we sit on some rocks in the rain, but eventually we decided to give it a try. We used Emiel his digital camera as an flashlight, this is how we made it to Challapampa. We spent the night in little soothy hut along the river for 20 Bolivianos. It was freezing and hardly slept, mainly because i got sick on the first day…

The second day, the rain ceased, but the cloud remained, sometimes lifting to give us glimpses of the grandeur of the area. By the late afternoon, the cloud had given way to blue skies & the warmer camp site in San Francisco, spectacularly perched near the top of a stunning valley was just the remedy we needed after a tough couple of days hiking.
The third day, we finally had completely blue skies & we continued hiking through the lofty valley until we arrived at the house of this Japanese guy who is a bit of a local legend, not to mention tourist attraction & has been living on the trail for the last 45 years! He went through an Atlas showing the countries that he had travelled which seemed more countries than he hadn’t!

I never forget the slippery trails, the cow shit and the neverending rain, but it was worth it! Unfortunally we had to go back to La Paz, because i got really ill. But ixb4m sure we go back sometime in the next few months. We also learned some things along the way…

The following three rules apply in Bolivia according us:
1: Everything what a Bolivian says, multiply it by 2!
2: ASAP means as slow as possible
3: If one white man crosses a dam, others will follow!

Finally we rode the death road and it was absolutelly horrible! These were moments I understood my life was little else than dust in the wind. Although very scenic, driving certain sections of this road between La Paz and Coroico is an intense, nail-biting affair. In places less than 3 metre wide, deeply rutted and muddy from the ever-flowing waterfalls, and with sheer drop-offs of three thousand feet into the valley below, this famous road had our hearts beating at three times the normal rate. These days, the latest adrenaline rush for extreme adventure-seekers is to head off down this road on a mountain bike!

To be perfectly honest, we’ve probably traversed similar or even worse roads in the past, but the greatest danger here appeared to be the macho, often sleep-deprived or even inebriated drivers who pay scant attention to the established protocol. Signs indicate that downhill drivers should keep to the left – so that they can best see how close their wheels are to the crumbling edge. Drivers going uphill have priority, and also keep to their left, allowing them to hug the inside track nearest the mountain. Downhill drivers are expected to pull into the occasional narrow layby when meeting an oncoming vehicle, supposedly being guided by the few flagmen strategically placed at blind corners. It’s definitely not for the faint-of-heart!

65 New Pictures: http://mindinmotion.mijnalbum.nl
Video Death Road: http://rapidshare.de/files/16991918/IMGP5818.AVI.html

Not really a lot to tell. Been busy with my placement lately, but got some stories to tell the next few weeks. And there are some change of plans. Here it is…

24th March to Sorata ( The trekking capital of Bolivia )
27th March El Choro Trek ( Research for my placement )
7th April ascend of the Huayni Potosi.

I had to change my plans because of work and we had to postpone the ascend of the Potosi by three weeks, at first my roommate was ill and now i have to walk the choro trail for work. Mainly because of research. And now we have to drive over the world famous xb4Death Roadxb4 every week!

Other news is, i decided to take driving lessons over here. Itxb4s 300 Bolivianos a week, a cheap way to learn. Hopefully they have an extra brake in the car.

Last but not least ixb4ve a request since the world cup is starting in June, would someone send us some orange dutch stuff. For example that great german helmet! We want to decorate the house during the world championship…

More next week….

Last weekend the four of us went to the Copacabana and the stunning Isla Del Sol on the shores of Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world. We left La Paz on friday morning for a 3,5 hour busride, which includes a crossing over the lake.

Around midday we arrived in Copacabana. Copacabana is a really small town and is situated around a splendid bay between two hills. A fine note is that the Copacabana hosts Boliviaxb4s only beach. I canxb4t say itxb4s really a beach but it heals the wounds of the Bolivians. Because they lost their beaches in a war with Chile.
We found ourselves a cheap hostel near the beach and a fantastic overview over the lake. Suprisingly how touristic this place is, itxb4s cheaper than La Paz. For example we had a nice almuerzo of 3 meals and only costed us 17 Bolivianos which is equal to 1,70 Euro.
In the afternoon we visited the gorgeous moorish-style cathedral and we were to see the sunset on top of the Cerro Calvario (3966m). It was a good excersize for next weeks Huayna Potosi, since this was a really steep climb on high altitude. Emiel and I arrived on the top first and enjoyed the gorgeous view. Unfortunatelly enough the weather changed we decided to descend on the other side of the hill. This is were i overstretched a muscle in my leg. For some reason everything always goes wrong when ixb4m on a descend.

Nightlife in the Copacabana consist out of a lot of live music and bars. So we had some drinks before going to bed. The next morning the Isla Del Sol was on our schedule.

Leaving at 8:30 in the morning. A boat would take us to Isla Del Sol within 1,5 hours. We arrived at a town called Chaxb4llapampa and after a climb of 45 minutes we found ourselves a nice hostal with views on both sides of the the island.
According to the incaxb4s the Isla Del Sol was the birthplace of the sun. Aymara and Quechue people these days, still accept these legends as their creation story. The island only has 2500 inhabitants and there arenxb4t any cars at all, just horses and donkeys. We hiked for awhile on the island and saw ancient Inca ruins, we walked over an trails which leads through several pampas. Which is typical for the island.
We were lucky enough to have a full moon on our last night on Isla Del Sol, so we could have a lovely dinner in one of the many restaurants. It only took them 2 hours to prepare our food. But we had time anyways, nowhere else to go that night.

We left on sunday again and saw another tradition in Copacabana. On weekend mornings in front of the Copacabana cars,buses, motorcycles are decked out in flowers and alcohol is poured over the vehicles, this is all for a safe journey home. Well we made it back home, but that poor truck driver did not ( See picture ).

New Pictures: http://mindinmotion.mijnalbums.nl