The Bolivian Ascension

Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Samaipata
Sucre
Potosi
Uyuni
Southwest Bolivia Trip
La Paz
Copacabana
June 21-23, 2013
June 24-25
June 26-27
June 29-30
July 1
July 2-4
July 5-10
July 11-13

Thus Far...

I had a few ordeals in Bolivia.

Up until now, things had been pretty smooth. I had not experienced any disasters, nor had I suffered any major illnesses, aside from a single case of food poisoning in Brazil. This was about to change. However, had I known what was about to befall me, I still would have pushed on and changed nothing, as whenever new territory is encountered, one must be prepared for anything - good and bad. I knew little about Bolivia before I set foot in it, and I found quite a few surprises, the kind of surprises that can only be discovered by travelling and experiencing things on a personal level.

The Center: Santa Cruz, Samaipata, And Sucre

For starters, the bus ride from Asuncion to Santa Cruz was the longest and, up until that point, the worst of my trip. The bus broke down before we even left Asuncion. Instead of acquiring a new bus, the bus driver hopped out with some tools and proceeded to temporarily fix the engine over the next couple of hours. I say the fix was temporary, as the bus proceeded to break down five more times during our trip. The formula was always the same: the bus driver would hop out with some tools and temporarily patch up the engine. Eventually, after over 30 hours of numerous border checks and multiple breakdowns, the bus finally decided that it had suffered enough, and it breathed its last gasp about 30 kilometers outside of Santa Cruz. This time, we did get a new bus for the last fifteen minutes of our trip. We had finally arrived in Santa Cruz, and after finding a nice hostel, Marlen, Ellie, and I decided to explore the city.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, or Santa Cruz, has a metropolitan population of over two million people. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and Bolivia´s most important business center. The business aspect was readily apparent - practically wherever I went within the city, I could see two or three ATMs. Moreover, there was traffic everywhere - lots of it. I could feel the pulse of this city and I sensed the money, which contradicted what previous people had told me about Bolivia as the poorest and most backward country in South America. It was obvious that Santa Cruz was humming along nicely. We visited the markets for a day and had a wonderful time sampling new things, such as coca leaves and sugarcane. Coca is often given a bad name, and the coca in the leaves does act as a mild stimulant, but Bolivians chew the leaves mainly to suppress thirst, hunger, pain, and fatigue. Coca does not produce the high that people experience with its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine, and production of the latter requires chemical extraction. The most noticeable thing to me was that a few minutes of chewing coca made my tongue numb.

Our timing for arriving in Santa Cruz turned out to be fortunate, as the next night was to be the annual holding of the San Juan Festival in Porongo, a small town just outside of Santa Cruz. This festival is held every June 23rd as a celebration of the coldest and shortest of the night of the year, with the expectation that things will improve afterwards. The San Juan Festival goes all night long and involves the lighting of large bonfires all over Bolivia (this used to include major cities, but the pollution the following day made things difficult, so it is now restricted to small towns). In Porongo, an additional event occurs: firewalking. It is believed that one must have faith in order to cross the searing hot coals and not get burned. Once the bonfires have burnt themselves out, the red-hot remains are spread over the ground and the firewalkers take the stage. The firewalking champion from the previous year was the first to show his faith.

Naturally, I was keen to try firewalking. I knew that it was more about physics than faith, and I was aware that if the length of time that one´s foot was kept in contact with the hot coals was kept to a minimum, there would not be enough time to induce a burn. So I had to try it. Taking off my shoes and socks, I walked to the start of the line and, encouraged by several rowdy Bolivians, strutted my way over the fire pit. I did it twice. The first time, I did it properly and felt no burns at all. The second time, unfortunately, a fellow on the other side of the pit decided to start crossing in the opposite direction before I had finished, and bumped into me. I had to anchor my right foot on the coals for about half a second longer than I wanted, and this time I did get burned. I could feel the burns as I put my shoes back on. I hoped they were not too bad, but oh well, it was worth it. After firewalking, I joined Marlen and Ellie, as well as a few other friends from the hostel, for a night of drinking and celebrations, and we returned home well after sunrise.

After our time in Santa Cruz and Porongo, we decided to head on to a small town a few hours south called Samaipata. This is an interesting little place with a population of 3,000 people. The most intriguing feature of Samaipata is that it has a uniquely subtropical climate within a region that is largely dry. We stayed at a beautiful little hotel, El Pasada de Sol, which is owned and run by an older fellow named Trent from the US. Trent was extremely friendly towards his guests and had an interesting history. He used to run a large hospital lab in the US, but got tired of the rat race and decided to reinvent himself in Bolivia by opening a little hotel. To my eyes, it was clearly a wise move. El Pasada de Sol was a real treat, and if you are ever in Bolivia, try to go to Samaipata and spend a few nights there.

There were a couple of interesting sites around Samaipata:

(1) The first day, we took a make-shift cab to Laguna Volcan, which consists of a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano, with a trail wandering around the lake. Unfortunately, it rained copiously all day, so the cab was unable to climb the muddy mountain road up to the start of the trail. We hoofed it by foot. It was a nice hike, but with all the clouds and fog no views were available, and we got soaked. 

(2) It stopped raining the next day and we went to our second site, El Fuerte de Samaipata, Bolivia´s largest pre-Incan site. El Fuerte is a temple that was initiated by the Arawak people, and used later by the Incas for animal and human sacrifices. It is carved on a huge rock and many intricate patterns are etched into the rock to facilitate the running of blood and water, amongst other things. We had to hike eleven kilometers to reach this place, but it was worth it. I enjoyed being in the presence of carvings that were hundreds of years old.

Following on from Samaipata, Marlen, Ellie and I boarded a crowded bus for a bumpy and tiring overnight bus ride to our next destination, Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia. I was getting used to riding buses in Bolivia by now. I should mention here that Bolivian buses offer two unique features compared to other countries in South America. First, they are always filled to capacity. Second, you will always be treated to an endless stream of Bolivian music (which, when one is trying to sleep, is not always desirable). The roads in Bolivia, however, were not too bad. Most were paved, and in decent shape.

Although it only has a population of 300,000 people, Sucre punches above its weight in terms of importance within Bolivia´s history. It was an important Spanish colonial city, and the first city in Bolivia to declare independence on May 25, 1809. Over the next couple of days we checked out a few different places:

(1) El Museo de Etnografia y Folklore (the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore) - This place contains numerous bizarre and colourful masks from all over Bolivia.

(2) Casa de la Libertad (House of Liberty Museum) - A museum that celebrates the history of Bolivia´s independence. I appreciated a fine picture of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan military and political leader who led the independence movement for all of northern Latin America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) from the Spanish Empire.

(3) Parque Cretacico (Cretaceous Park) - My favourite! This was an unexpected treat. The selling feature of this park is a huge wall of rock that contains the world´s largest collection of dinosaur tracks. These tracks date back to the late Cretaceous period and are around 68 million years old - if I had felt awed by the pre-Ican ruins at El Fuerte, I was flabbergasted by these tracks. It was difficult to comprehend just how long ago - 68 million years - that actual dinosaurs had roamed across the ground in front of me. Apparently, the workers at a nearby industrial facility had accidentally discovered the tracks along the rock wall. The dinosaurs did not, of course, walk vertically along this wall - 68 million years is such an enormous period of time, that back then the wall was flat ground, and the rise of the wall occurred alongside the rise of the Andes mountains. Most of the tracks were from sauropods (the huge dinosaurs with long necks and tails, such as Brachiosaurus).

As her original plan called for two weeks of Spanish study in Sucre, Ellie decided to rest a while and signed up to take classes for two weeks with one of the Spanish schools. The three of us spent a beautiful final evening in the Recoleta area of Sucre, and were treated to a glorious sunset. The following day, Marlen and I pressed on towards the city of Potosi.
Marlen and I are buying coca leaves here in Santa Cruz. Coca is a mild stimulant, suppressing thirst, hunger, pain, and fatigue.
Numerous bonfires are lit during the San Juan Festival in Porongo, celebrated on June 23rd, the coldest and shortest night of the year.
I walked over this firepit twice. The first time went well with no burns, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the second time I got burned.
The San Juan Festival goes all night long. Here I am with Marlen, Ellie, Bjorn from the US, Paul from Ireland, and Adam from the UK. We did not get home until after sunrise (a few more beers on the table by then).
Marlen and Ellie peer out over a mist-filled valley at Laguna Volcan.
Marlen, Ellie, and I hiked from Samaipata to get to El Fuerte de Samaipata, located at the top of this mountain.
El Fuerte de Samaipata, the largest pre-Incan site in Bolivia. The top of this rock was used for animal and human sacrifices, with one slot for blood and another for water.
The niches in the wall to the left are where the Incas kept mummies.
Sucre, the constitutional capital of Bolivia, is characterized by its many white colonial style buildings. 
Here I am with the 110 meter rock wall several hundred meters behind me. It is difficult to appreciate the dinosaur tracks on the wall at such a distance.
Fortunately there were a few telescopes on site that allowed us to look at the tracks more closely.
Marlen puts her hand over an actual (not a cast) sauropod footprint. This track, supposedly from a baby sauropod, rivals that of a large elephant.
Marlen, Ellie, and I enjoyed hanging with the dinosaurs at Parque Cretacico.
Sunset over Sucre.

The Southwest: Potosi And Sur Lipez Province

Upon arriving in Potosi, Marlen and I started searching for a good hostel. This proved to be difficult - for example, the first one we found had rats. We randomly met a cool couple also looking for a place to stay, Paulo from Brazil and Nati from Argentina, and we decided to pool our resources to find the best hostel possible. Paulo and I stayed with the bags while the girls went off for an hour to look for a good place. I enjoyed speaking with Paulo, who was making his way around South America by performing music with his guitar in restaurants and other public places. Moreover, he hardly spoke any English, so I was forced to communicate with him in Spanish. I discovered that my Spanish was slowly improving, although it still had quite a ways to go. The girls eventually found a semi-decent hostel, and Marlen and I walked around Potosi for some time.

Potosi has a population of 240,000 people and possesses two outstanding features. First, the city lies at the base of the Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), which contains the Potosi Mine, a mine that has been operational since 1545. The Potosi Mine was the major silver supply for the Spanish Empire for hundreds of years and, although the silver has been largely depleted, it still provides plenty of tin and other metals. The second major feature of Potosi is that it is situated at an extremely high altitude of 4,067 meters above sea-level, making it one of the highest cities in the world. I felt the altitude immediately. As we walked around the city streets, I felt slightly out of breath and a bit weaker than usual. No problem, I thought, and just pushed on through it. Unfortunately, I had yet to fully appreciate the effects of high altitude on some people. Marlen and I drank a bottle of red wine that night, and to top it all off, I did not drink a lick of water before going to bed.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a screaming headache. I really would not have wished this kind of headache on anyone. Moreover, I felt nauseous. Thinking I was just dehydrated, I pushed down as much water as I could, and spent most of the rest of the night tossing and turning, hoping the headache would improve by morning. By the time the sun rose it had improved a little, but the headache and nausea forced me to stay in bed most of the day. When night approached again, the headache worsened again. By this time I had, with Marlen´s help, figured out that this was acute mountain sickness as a result of the high altitude in Potosi. I forced down a lot of water, took some aspirin, had some coca leaves (an ancient remedy which actually did help a little), and stayed away from the alcohol. I still felt bad the next morning, but was able to crawl out of bed. Marlen, Paulo, and Nati had arranged for us to explore the Potosi Mine, and I could not miss this opportunity (although in retrospect I was still too ill to go).

We were taken to the mine by a company called Silver Mining Tours, run by actual miners. It was pretty cool. First, they showed us how to make dynamite, and we bought some gifts (soda and coca leaves) for the miners, since we were going to be walking around them while they worked. Our guide took us fairly deep into the mine for about two hours. We met several miners in there, and all of them were nice fellows. Most were pretty young. I had read earlier that the mean life expectancy for these guys was about 40 years, largely as a result of silicosis from breathing the mine dust.

Although I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of Potosi Mine, I was glad to leave the dampness and darkness. Moreover, I still didn´t feel 100% from the acute mountain sickness. I still had a mild headache and nausea, and the burns on my feet felt worse, likely as a result of climbing up and down the many ladders in the mine for two hours. The burns had swollen up for a few days, and now only white areas with a surrounding cellulitis (skin inflammation) remained. They were clearly second degree burns. I was confident that they would eventually heal, however. Marlen and I went straight to the bus station.

One of the more undesirable events my trip befell me at the Potosi bus station. My carry-on bag was stolen. I will avoid going into the how of it, but suffice to say that I silently applauded the thief while cursing my own lack of awareness (although to be fair, I was still ill). It was a professional job. I lost three passports (Canadian, Australian, and British), 300 Australian dollars, 500 Bolivianos (equivalent to about 80 US dollars), my camera, and a few other identification cards. After Marlen and I searched as much as we could, I decided that it was gone, and we got on our bus south to the town of Uyuni near Sur Lipez province. As we descended, my headache at least started to improve. Oddly enough, despite - or as a result of - all of the things I had lost, I felt more free than before.

Uyuni is a small town in Bolivia´s southwest that serves as a gateway for traffic between Bolivia and Chile, as well as for one of Bolivia´s more salient features: Salar de Uyuni, the world´s largest salt flat. This region alone contains 50 to 70% of the world´s lithium reserves. It is also incredibly flat, with a mean altitude variation of less than one meter over the entire desert, and as such it is often the terrain of choice for the setting of land speed records.

We spent one evening in Uyuni, during which I attempted to replace some of the items that had been stolen from me. I bought a new camera, for example, a much better one than the previous camera (actually, the previous one was a second-hand gift from my mother, about ten years old, and I was using a piece of tape to keep it together). I really had needed a new camera. So, I thought, good things can result from apparent misfortune.

Back in Potosi, Marlen and I had signed up to do a three day tour of Salar de Uyuni as well as other features of Sur Lipez province. As I mentioned before, I hate tours, but this one was to involve a 4WD in some of the most spectacular terrain in the world. So, ok. The next morning, we met our driver, Lorenzo, as well as the other people who were to join us for our trip, a German girl and a Polish couple with two small children. We boarded our 4WD in eager anticipation, and we were not disappointed.

The first day was all Salar de Uyuni. We drove over the salt desert and visited a number of sites along the way, stopping frequently to obtain photos. The temperature was cold, the sun was shining bright, and the views were glorious. It felt like being on a different planet. That night, we stayed in one of the coolest hotels I have ever been in. The hotel was made entirely from salt, including salt floors and salt pillars. There was no electricity, however, and it got cold during the early morning hours, drifting down towards -15 degrees Celsius or thereabouts.

The second day, Lorenzo took us further into Sur Lipez province, past a number of high-altitude lakes peppered with pink flamingos and llamas. The flamingos, known as James´s Flamingos or Puna Flamingos, live in the high altitudes of the Andes. They are the most developed filter-feeders of any birds and subsist on microscopic algae. The llama is a widely-known South American animal, used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures well before the arrival of the Spanish into the continent. Llamas are intelligent, and I also found them to be gentle and friendly. The flamingos and llamas that we saw in Sur Lipez were quite relaxed, just going about their business as we watched them. It was extremely cold and dry that day, but the breath-taking scenery more than made up for the discomfort. We spent that evening in another hotel lacking electricity, and the temperature dropped further to -26 degrees Celsius that night. Cold!

The final day involved a tour around the Sol de Manana, an area of intense volcanic activity with a sulphur springs field full of steam vents and boiling mud pools. Again, I felt like I was on a different planet. I enjoyed the feeling of subzero temperatures combined with the swirling vapours of the intensely hot steam from the vents. Afterwards, we had a chance to dip into a large natural hot springs pool...sheer delight. Our three-day trip ended with a visit to Laguna Colorado, a large shallow salt lake with a distinctive reddish colour due to the presence of its particular blend of sediments and algae. After a few more stops, we finally returned to Uyuni in the evening, a bit tired, but fully satisfied.

After thanking Lorenzo, we hoofed our way over to Uyuni bus station to catch our overnight bus up to Bolivia´s other capital city - La Paz.
Potosi is famous for its mine, located at the base of the Cerro Rico.
We are following these miners into the depths of the Potosi Mine at the base of the Cerro Rico. This mine has been producing silver, tin, and other metals since 1545.
Marlen and I pay our respects to the Potosi Mine God. The presence of this figure is meant to protect the miners from harm (miner mean life expectancy is 40 years, largely as a result of silicosis from breathing the mine dust). 
The town of Uyuni.
Marlen and I about to board our 4WD for a three day adventure into southwest Bolivia. Our outstanding driver, Lorenzo, is standing on top.
Driving out to Salar de Uyuni, the world´s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers, contains 50 to 70% of the lithium reserves in the world.
Salar de Uyuni is incredibly flat, with a mean altitude variation of less than one meter over the entire area of the desert.
Cold, bright, and glorious.
Marlen tries to sneak up on the llamas here, but I think they are quite aware that they are being photographed. Still, they politely pose for the camera.
High-altitude lake in Sur Lipez province, James´s Flamingos in the water.
James´s Flamingos are the most developed filter-feeders of any birds.
The small figure is Marlen, in Sol de Manana. The eerie feeling depicted by the photo comes from the terrain and the steam from the vents.
Playing with the steam vents in Sol de Manana. I was actually freezing here, and getting close to the hot steam vents helped me to warm up.
Laguna Colorado is a large lake in Sur Lipez province. The reddish colour comes from sediments and algae.

The West: La Paz And Lake Titicaca

The overnight bus trip to La Paz was, like most Bolivian buses, crowded, with unrelenting Bolivian music. We arrived in the morning and made our way to a hostel where we immediately went to sleep for a few hours. Marlen and I were to stay in La Paz for nearly a week.

La Pas is Bolivia´s ¨other¨ capital city. While Sucre is the official capital of the country, La Paz is the seat of the government and the second-largest city in Bolivia after Santa Cruz with a population of 877,000 people (although metropolitan La Paz is well over two million people and thus slightly larger than Santa Cruz). It lies at an elevation of 3,640 meters, not quite as high as Potosi, but still pretty high.

I liked La Paz. The city is ringed by hills and mountains, with the triple peaks of Illimani, the highest mountain in the region with an elevation of 6,438 meters, visible from several spots all over the city. For a large city, the people of La Paz are friendly. The city has many modern-looking structures, and I again felt the urge to refute previous descriptions I had been given of Bolivia as a backward country; I just think that they don´t advertise themselves well. Interestingly, the altitude at which one´s house is built reflects one´s economic situation in La Paz: the lower areas are the more affluent while the hills around the city are lined with the dwellings of the less affluent people. Aside from walking around the city for a bit with Marlen, one of the first things I did was to visit the Australian consulate to obtain a temporary travel document which would get me to Lima, Peru, where I would be able to get an emergency Australian passport. I was surprised at how pleasant the staff at the consulate were, and how easy the process was; I checked in with the diplomatic venues for Canada and the UK as well, let's just say the process was not so easy.

Unfortunately, illness was to strike me again in La Paz, this time in force. The first night I was there, my acute mountain sickness returned with a whopping headache and nausea, just as intense as in Potosi. I think that my two days in Potosi had not been enough to fully acclimatize, and obviously I was one of the more susceptible people on the planet to this condition, so it was time to ride this through completely. After 24 to 48 hours of further illness, I finally recovered completely from acute mountain sickness.

My health misfortunes were still not over, however. A couple of days later, I was food poisoned - again. The day before, I had eaten a hamburger at a restaurant - stupid - and now I was to pay for this folly. I was two hours up in the mountains around La Paz with Marlen and another friend, Fabio from Colombia, when the illness hit me. I shall never forget the two hours of torture to my insides as we took the bumpy bus back down to the city, nor the intense rigors (shakes) I experienced back in my room, which I though would break my back. At any rate, I felt well again 24 hours later, and I am ecstatic to say that this was the end of all of my illness in Bolivia.

Over the following days, when I was not sick, we did a few things in La Paz:

(1) Basilico of San Francisco - An old church in the center of La Paz, there is always something happening here.

(2) Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) - An area of erosion over a clay section of a mountain, resulting in a moon-like appearance.

(3) Markets - Some of the best markets in Bolivia (which means some of the best in the world) are in La Paz. You can buy anything. I especially enjoyed the food, with one stall in particular standing out, owned by a lady named Martha. Martha made the best avocado sandwich I have ever tasted. I ate five of them over two days.

Towards the end of the week that we stayed in La Paz, I visited the Canadian and British embassies to cancel the stolen passports. My timing was interesting, for I went the day after the incident in which the plane of Bolivia´s president, Evo Morales, was denied airspace in several European countries due to a suspicion that Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked information to the press, was on board. Thousands of Bolivians were walking the streets that day in protest against this incident, and several were verbally protesting in anger against the US and other western countries. I had to walk through the crowd for a couple of kilometers in order to get to the British embassy. Interestingly, I did not receive any angry looks, nor did I feel any anger towards me. When I arrived at the British embassy, they would not let me in for some time until the crowd had dissipated somewhat.

La Paz is a unique city and has a lot to offer. Marlen and I made a few friends, such as Pavina and Anise from France. I could have spent more time there, but it was time to head towards the legendary Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca is large high-altitude lake that lies between Bolivia and Peru. It is the largest lake in South America by volume of water, and is considered to be the highest navigable lake in the world at an elevation of 3,812 meters. There are bodies of water with higher elevations in the world, but all are much smaller and much shallower than Titicaca. The name, Titicaca, derives from the Quechua and Aymara languages: Titi means ¨puma,¨ and caca means ¨rock.¨ Apparently, this comes from the notion that the lake is shaped like a puma, and the surface of the water is sometimes grey, like a rock.

Marlen and I were joined by Fabio from Colombia, an excessively relaxed and kind fellow, for our trip to Lake Titicaca. We departed La Paz by bus (of course) and made our way over to Copacabana, a small town on the shore of the lake. Copacabana only has about 6,000 inhabitants but it is a major tourist town. While this detracted from Copacabana somewhat, it did nothing to diminish the brilliance of Lake Titicaca.

After arriving in Copacabana, we took a boat over to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), a hilly island in the middle of the lake. Isla del Sol contains over 80 ruins on the island, most dating back to the era of the Incas. In the Inca religion, it is believed that the sun god was born on Isla del Sol. Once we had arrived on the island, I understood the reasons the Incas had viewed this island with such high regard. The views were majestic. We hiked down the island for nearly ten kilometers, stopping frequently to take in the scenery. I particularly admired the holy mountains of Ancohuma and Illampu. It is said that pre-Columbian people regularly ascended these peaks (they are over 6,000 meters) to perform ceremonies asking the spirits for life-giving rain.

Despite the high numbers of tourists, Lake Titicaca was a real treat. It is right up there with Iguazu Falls, and a day trekking around Isla del Sol should not be missed, if at all possible.

Upon returning to Copacabana, we relaxed for a day. Fabio had to return to Colombia, and Marlen went out and explored the town a bit on her own. I took the chance to reflect a bit.

I felt great. I had undergone a few ordeals in my three weeks in Bolivia, but the sheer diversity of experiences offered more than compensated. Life is full of ups and downs, but instead of trying to understand ¨why¨ things happen, best just to get on with it and think about ¨how¨ you are going to respond.
La Paz, Bolivia´s ¨other¨ capital city, has a lot to offer. However, note the dwelling of the less affluent lining the hills behind the city.
One of the central areas of La Paz. The church, Basilico of San Francisco, is at the right of the photo.
Lots of new and modern-looking buildings in La Paz.
Marlen peers out over a section of Valle de la Luna.
Me in one of the La Paz markets with Martha, who makes a mean avocado sandwich.
Fabio and I rejoicing with our avocado sandwiches.
Marlen and I wandering around La Paz with Pavina and Anise, from France.
Thousands of people walking the streets of La Paz in protest against the actions of the US and the west against President Morales.
The beginning of our hike around Isla del Sol. Perfect tranquility.
Fabio on a cliff overlooking Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca and the holy mountains of Ancohum and Illampu behind it.
Marlen poses for a photo, with Lake Titicaca behind her.
Scenic...worth the ascension.

Looking Beyond...

I had encountered a few trials in Bolivia. While the country had opened up a variety of positive experiences for me, such as the effects of coca, the sensation of swirling vapours while standing amidst geothermal steam vents, and the perfect tranquility of Lake Titicaca, it had also thrown a few personal ordeals my way, including second degree burns, acute mountain sickness, being robbed, and food poisoning (again). While the former experiences could be perceived as positive and the latter negative, to me they were all simply experiences, and thus all of value. After all, what does not kill you, makes you stronger. It was time to go to Peru.