Category: Erik’s Travels

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Erik's Life Erik's Travels

The Las Vegas Experience

I visited Las Vegas last week. I had mixed ideas going in what to expect. I have heard some family members and friends tell of how much fun they had there and how nice it was and others who thought it was dreadful. I must say I expected it to be pretty dreadful, but not only was it that, it was boring as well. And not just boring, a kind of special stale fake boring that was really just trying to dig its claws into peoples wallets and push them out the door while reminding them what a great experience they had.

Amanda and Erik

Amanda and Erik in Las Vegas, Nevada.

So after one night Amanda and I headed south across Hoover Dam and to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I had just been there in February with my brother but this time it was a little different. We stayed in the lodge there for two wonderful nights. It was a very nice time to visit because there was fresh snow along the upper walls of the canyons. It was just as cool as it was a month ago. Definitely one of the best places I have ever visited!

I have been making lots of tie dye recently, getting ready to sell-sell-sell this summer and hopefully become a thousandaire.

Peace.

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Erik's Life Erik's Travels

2006 Journey Planning…


(1/30/6)

I started off the New Year with a trip to Buffalo, New York to visit my girlfriend Amanda. I had a great time in New York and especially during our “vacation within a vacation” to Niagara Falls.

I am still conjuring up ideas for a one month trip to Northern Europe. That seems to suit my fancy at this point in planning things. Maybe March or May??

I am going to spend the rest of the winter and the spring making cool things to sell this summer. Hemp jewelry, tie dye bandanas, shirts and random other things, and lots of clay beads and salt & pepper shakers and jars too. Then over the summer travel around and do fun things.

Then in the Fall back to work at the wreath shop. We are all excited about how things went in ’05 and are looking forward to have an even better season this year.

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Erik's Travels

First roadtrip down, many more to come…

First roadtrip down, many more to come…

I left on Thursday morning, April 21st, to head over to Grand Forks, North Dakota in my van to visit my friends and to attend the Pi Kappa Phi Roseball Formal. After two days of uneventful driving I pulled into Grand Forks and rendezvoused with Pete and my other friends at the Down UNDer pub to partake in some $1.50 pitchers of beer.

The weekend went by pretty fast and I had plenty of fun, but it seems like not much ever changes in ol’ GF, ND.

Tuesday afternoon I drove down to the Minneapolis suburb of Edina to visit my friend Jack. After getting my entire dose of television in for the whole year I departed Edina on Thursday morning to begin strangely enough the funniest part of my trip, touring South Dakota & Wyoming. I visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Jewel Cave &
Devil’s Tower before heading off across Wyoming towards Yellowstone National Park.

However when I arrived in Cody, Wyoming I found out that the road to Yellowstone was closed for another week. So I trucked it up through Montana and then followed the scenic Highway 12 through Idaho, following Meriwether Lewis & William Clark’s original route and brought me back home on Sunday evening of May 2nd.

While driving through Clarkston, Washington at about 45 MPH I heard a loud thunk and looked in my mirror quickly to see a small white object bouncing down the road behind my van. At first thinking some critical part of my van fell off I then realized that I had somehow been just lucky enough to have been hit with a golf ball from the nearby course. What are the chances?

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2004 Journey Erik's Travels U.S.A.

The search for Pompeys Pillar

I first learned of Pompeys Pillar in August of 2000. I was driving to Grand Forks, North Dakota to return to University after spending the summer at home. It was my first time driving a long distance by myself and I wanted to check out the sites along the way. I was in Montana just East of Billings when I saw the brown historic monument sign that read “Pompeys Pillar.” I knew it was a historic site along the Lewis & Clark trail, but had no clue as to what it actually was. I decided to check it out so I took the exit and drove along a gravel road for a few minutes to reach an empty parking lot facing a hill. A small sign told me that Pompeys Pillar was on the other side of the hill, to be reached by a footpath. As I usually do along the long drive between Oregon and North Dakota I had a strong desire to get back to Grand Forks and decided to be lazy and not to walk over the hill so I turned around and left.

Pompeys Pillar did not cross my mind again until July of 2004 when I was driving home from a weeklong visit to the Grand Cities. After a day of cruising through the badlands I once again found myself looking at the sign for the Pompeys Pillar exit. It was late at night and I was planning on stopping soon so I figured I would pull into the parking lot, spend the night and check out the site in the morning before I resumed my journey home. I took the exit and in the dark did not see the sign pointing to travel down the gravel road. So I missed the turn but by the time I figured out I was on the wrong road I just decided to keep on driving as I was almost to Billings.

Six weeks later I found myself once more on the road home after spending another week visiting friends in Grand Forks and attending a fraternity brothers wedding. I decided to finally see Pompeys Pillar once and for all. Nothing would stop me this time! I arrived in the evening with plenty of daylight left and confidently took the Pompeys Pillar exit. I took the right road and drove down it a couple miles until I reached another sign that read Pompeys Pillar and pointed to a road that went south under the highway. I made the turn and immediately found myself in the very small town of Pompeys Pillar. I knew that was not what I wanted so I turned around and continued up the gravel road for a bit but never saw anything mentioning the historic site of Pompeys Pillar. So I once again turned around and got back on the highway heading west. Pompeys Pillar had eluded me once again.

http://www.mt.blm.gov/pillarmon/

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Erik's Life Erik's Travels

The Summer’s Almost Gone…

The end of my summer as passed by quickly. After returning from my July Grand Forks trip I did some roofing for my dad for a few days and worked getting the wreath shop office set up and then headed out to Charleston, South Carolina for Pi Kappa Phi’s 100th Anniversary.

Over Labor Day Weekend I drove to the Gorge Ampitheater in Washington for three days of Dave Matthews Band shows. It was a spectacular time and I made my debut selling some hemp bracelets that I made.

Erik 2004

From the Gorge I headed back to Grand Forks once more to attend the wedding of my friend and fraternity brother Sean Thomas. Quite a few more of my friends were back in town for the wedding and I got to see Pete and Jack, which was great. After a relaxing week in GF, ND I made my final drive home to Oregon and since then I have been working selling Christmas wreaths and pondering where I want to travel next year.

Summer’s almost gone
We had some good times
But they’re gone
The winter’s comin’ on
Summer’s almost gone

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2004 Journey Erik's Travels

2004 Travelogue

Sunday, December 28th, 2003

I left home today. Flew from Portland, Oregon to LAX and met Pete and then we boarded out flight for Fiji.

Monday, December 29th, 2003

Today was lost to the international date line.

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003

We arrived in Nadi, Fiji in the morning and went to the Western Hostel. Spent the day looking around.

Wednesday, December 31th, 2003

Today we headed out to a remote Fijian island and to the resort of Melbravo.

Thursday, January 1st, 2004

Still on the island and staying at Melbravo.

Friday, January 2nd, 2004

Took the ferry back to Nadi and stayed at the Aquarius Fiji Hostel.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2004

Another day in Nadi.

Sunday, January 4th, 2004

Flew to Sydney, Australia and then flew to Melbourne.

Monday, January 5th, 2004

Melbourne.

Tuesday, January 6th, 2004

Melbourne.

Wednesday, January 7th, 2004

Melbourne.

Thursday, January 8th, 2004

Melbourne.

Friday, January 9th, 2004

Melbourne.

Saturday, January 10th, 2004

Melbourne.

Sunday, January 11th, 2004

Melbourne.

Monday, January 12th, 2004

Melbourne.

Tuesday, January 13th, 2004

Melbourne.

Wednesday, January 14th, 2004

Drove to Lorne with Pete & Kip. Stayed at the Lorne Chalet.

Thursday, January 15th, 2004

Kip headed back to Melbourne. Pete and I stayed at the Great Ocean Road Backpackers.

Friday, January 16th, 2004

Took the bus from Lorne to Melbourne.

Saturday, January 17th, 2004

Took the train to Adelaide.

Sunday, January 18th, 2004

Hung out in Adelaide during the day and continued on the train towards Perth.

Monday, January 19th, 2004

On the train to Perth. Had a few hours stop over in Kalgoolie.

Tuesday, January 20th, 2004

Arrived in Perth around noon. Checked into the Swan Barracks Hotel. A pretty cool hostel.

Wednesday, January 21st, 2004

Perth.

Thursday, January 22nd, 2004

Perth.

Friday, January 23rd, 2004

Perth.

Saturday, January 24th, 2004

Perth.

Sunday, January 25th, 2004

Perth.

Monday, January 26th, 2004

Perth. Australia Day. Big party all day at the hostel and down by the river for the fireworks.

Tuesday, January 27th, 2004

Perth.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2004

Rented a car and headed south with Anders & Martin and Ben in his own car. Made it to Margret River and statyed at the YHA there.

Thursday, January 29th, 2004

Drove to Pemberton and stayed at Pemberton Backpackers. Ben stayed in Margret River. Bought a Johnny Cash tape.

Friday, January 30th, 2004

Drove to Albany and stayed at Albany Backpackers.

Saturday, January 31st, 2004

Drove back to Perth and dropped off the rental car.

Sunday, February 1st, 2004

Big Day out music festival in Perth.

Monday, February 2nd, 2004

Perth.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004

Perth.

Wednesday, February 4th, 2004

Perth.

Thursday, February 5th, 2004

Perth.

Friday, February 6th, 2004

Perth.

Saturday, February 7th, 2004

Perth.

Sunday, February 8th, 2004

Perth.

Monday, February 9th, 2004

Perth.

Tuesday, February 10th, 2004

Left for the roadtrip north. Rented a car with Anders, Martin & Misung. Made it to the Pinnacles and camped on the beach at Kangaroo point with half of the Swan Barracks crew.

Wednesday, February 11th, 2004

Drove to Geraldon and met up with the rest of the crew.

Thursday, February 12th, 2004

Drove to Kalbari and stayed in a trailer at the caravan park there.

Friday, February 13th, 2004

Drove to Hamlin Bay and camped there. We were lured in by the “Cold Beer” sign. This was a boys only drive up: Myself, Anders, Donnie, Ben & Chris.

Saturday, February 14th, 2004

Saw the Stromatolites and drove up to Monkey Mia and camped there. The rest of the crew joined us that evening.

Sunday, February 15th, 2004

Saw some dolphins. Anders and I went on a wildlife boat trip. No wildlife though. Drove to Carnarvan and camped there.

Monday, February 16th, 2004

Car troubles today. Finally got on the road and drove to Coral Bay and stayed at the Nigaloo Club Hostel as it was pissing down rain.

Tuesday, February 17th, 2004

Coral Bay. Went on a snorkling boat trip.

Wednesday, February 18th, 2004

Drove to Exmouth and camped at the Caravan Park there. Hot as hell out.

Thursday, February 19th, 2004

Exmouth. Went snorkling at Turqouise Bay. One of the best days of my whole trip. Birthday celebration for Gemma at the pub that night. Drank lots of Guiness.

Friday, February 20th, 2004

Exmouth. Girls left to head back to Perth.

Saturday, February 21st, 2004

Anders and I made a break from the rest of the crew and took the Easyrider Backpackers Bus headed towards Broome. Made it to Tom Price and stayed in the dorms at the caravan park there.

Sunday, February 22nd, 2004

Went on a walk around the national forest. Made it to Port Hedland and stayed at Dingo´s Backpackers. Had a big spagetti feed.

Monday, February 23rd, 2004

Got up at 4am for the drive to Broome. Stayed at the Kimberly Klub hostel. Went to Cable Beach for the sunset.

Tuesday, February 24th, 2004

Broome. The roads to Darwin were flooded so Anders and I bought airplane tickets for Darwin for later in the week.

Wednesday, February 25th, 2004

Broome.

Thursday, February 26th, 2004

Broome.

Friday, February 27th, 2004

Broome.

Saturday, February 28th, 2004

Flew to Darwin. Stayed at Globtrotters Lounge.

Sunday, February 29th, 2004

Leap Year Day. Darwin.

Monday, March 1st, 2004

Darwin.

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2004

Darwin.

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2004

Got on The Ghan railroad headed for Alice Springs.

Thursday, March 4th, 2004

Arrived in Alice Springs. Stayed at the Alice Lodge.

Friday, March 5th, 2004

Left on a three day tour to Uluru and King´s Canyon. Did a hike in King´s Canyon. Camped in swags.

Saturday, March 6th, 2004

Made it to Uluru and did a walk around the base. Camped near Uluru in swags.

Sunday, March 7th, 2004

Got up at 4:20am and did a walk through the Olgas. Rode back to Alice Springs and back to the Alice Lodge.

Monday, March 8th, 2004

Alice Springs. Anders and I had our own party that night at the hostel. Went out to the pub for a few jugs and then back for some late night snacks and tunes care of AC/DC.

Tuesday, March 9th, 2004

Alice Springs. Anders left for New Zealand.

Wednesday, March 10th, 2004

Alice Springs.

Thursday, March 11th, 2004

Took the train to Melbourne.

Friday, March 12th, 2004

Arrived at Melbourne around 10:30pm to find no Pete to pick me up. Took the metro to Box Hill and walked to Kip & Pete´s house.

Saturday, March 13th, 2004

Melbourne.

Sunday, March 14th, 2004

Melbourne.

Monday, March 15th, 2004

Melbourne.

Tuesday, March 16th, 2004

Melbourne.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2004

Melbourne.

Thursday, March 18th, 2004

Melbourne. Bought my ticket to Santiago, Chile.

Friday, March 19th, 2004

Melbourne.

Saturday, March 20th, 2004

Pete and I left Melbourne for our road trip north. Made it to Canberra late at night and camped for free at a campground.

Sunday, March 21st, 2004

Checked out the art gallery and war museum and drove to Newcastle. Stayed at the Newcastle Backpackers.

Monday, March 22nd, 2004

Drove to Byron Bay. Stayed at the Art Factory. A very cool hostel.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004

Byron Bay.

Wednesday, March 24th, 2004

Byron Bay.

Thursday, March 25th, 2004

Byron Bay. Took Jim´s Alternative Tours to Nimbin for the day.

Friday, March 26th, 2004

Drove to Surfer´s Paradise. Stayed at a campground in the city.

Saturday, March 27th, 2004

Surfer´s Paradise.

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

Surfer´s Paradise.

Monday, March 29th, 2004

Drove south to Nimbin. Stayed at Grannies Farm Hostel. I camped and Pete got a dorm bed.

Tuesday, March 30th, 2004

Drove to Bundaberg and stayed at the City Center Backpackers.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

Pete got signed up for farm work in Bundaberg. I took a tour of the Bundaberg Rum factory and Pete drove me to Hervey Bay. Stayed at Koala´s Resort.

Thursday, April 1st, 2004

Hervey Bay.

Friday, April 2nd, 2004

Hervey Bay. Got signed up for a three day trip to Fraser Island.

Saturday, April 3rd, 2004

Fraser Island. Camping.

Sunday, April 4th, 2004

Fraser Island. Camping.

Monday, April 5th, 2004

Got back from Fraser Island and back to Koala´s.

Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

Pete picked me up and we drove to Brisbane. Stayed at City Center Backpackers.

Wednesday, April 7th, 2004

Brisbane.

Thursday, April 8th, 2004

Picked up Drew and Leisal at the airport. Drove to Byron Bay. Camped at Biolongi Fields. I went to the first day of the East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival.

Friday, April 9th, 2004

Byron Bay. Day two of Bluesfest.

Saturday, April 10th, 2004

Byron Bay. Day three of Bluesfest.

Sunday, April 11th, 2004

Byron Bay. Day four of Bluesfest.

Monday, April 12th, 2004

Byron Bay. Final day of Bluesfest. Pete, Drew and Leisal attended this day with me.

Tuesday, April 13th, 2004

Pete´s Birthday. Drove to Sydney getting in around 10pm or so. Stayed at the Pink House in King´s Cross. Pete and I hit up a pub in King´s Cross and had lot´s of fun.

Wednesday, April 14th, 2004

Pete and crew left at 6am to drive back to Melbourne. I left a bit later that morning for the airport and to begin my journey to South America. Got warped back in time and arrived at the LA airport to spent the whole day waiting for my flight that night only to find out it was canceled.

Thursday, April 15th, 2004

Spent the day hanging out at the Embassy Suites and got on my flight that night.

Friday, April 16th, 2004

Spent all day on planes and in the Panama City airport.

Saturday, April 17th, 2004

Made it to Santiago at 3am. Took a taxi to the Hotel Paris and met up with Thomas.

Sunday, April 18th, 2004

Took the bus to Valpariso and stayed at the Hotel Puerto Valpariso.

Monday, April 19th, 2004

Valpariso.

Tuesday, April 20th, 2004

Bus to Chillan. Stayed at Hostel Canada. Ate Chinese food.

Wednesday, April 21st, 2004

Took the bus to Pucon. Stayed at Hostel Lalo.

Thursday, April 22nd, 2004

Pucon. Lars´ birthday today.

Friday, April 23rd, 2004

Pucon. Went on Volcano climb. Thomas made it all the way up, myself only half way.

Saturday, April 24th, 2004

Bus to Puerto Montt. Residencia El Turista.

Sunday, April 25th, 2004

Puerto Montt.

Monday, April 26th, 2004

Boarded The Magallines for our journey to Puerto Natalles.

Tuesday, April 27th, 2004

On board The Magallines.

Wednesday, April 28th, 2004

On board The Magallines.

Thursday, April 29th, 2004

Arrived in Puerto Natalles. Stayed at Patagonia Adventure Hostel.

Friday, April 30th, 2004

Puerto Natalles. Day tour to Torres del Paine National Park.

Saturday, May 1st, 2004

Puerto Natalles. Had to switch to Casa Cecila because the hostel closed for the winter. Took a day trip on a boat to The O´Higgins Park.

Sunday, May 2nd, 2004

Bus to Punta Arenas. Stayed at Hostel Fin de el Mundo.

Monday, May 3rd, 2004

Took bus to Rio Gallegas, Argentina. Ate dinner and took another bus to Caleta Olivia.

Tuesday, May 4th, 2004

Arrived at Caleta Olivia and stayed at Posada Don David.

Wednesday, May 5th, 2004

Took the bus to Trelew. Stayed at Hotel Touring Club. Dad´s birthday.

Thursday, May 6th, 2004

Trelew.

Friday, May 7th, 2004

Took the bus to Viedma. Stayed at Hotel Peumayen.

Saturday, May 8th, 2004

Viedma. Tried to leave but no buses.

Sunday, May 9th, 2004

Took overnight bus to Buenos Aires.

Monday, May 10th, 2004

Arrived in Buenos Aires in the morning. Stayed at Hotel Marbella.

Tuesday, May 11th, 2004

Buenos Aires. Took a city tour.

Wednesday, May 12th, 2004

Buenos Aires.

Thursday, May 13th, 2004

Buenos Aires.

Friday, May 14th, 2004

Took the bus to Rosario. Stayed at Hotel Savoy.

Saturday, May 15th, 2004

Took the night bus to Posoda.

Sunday, May 16th, 2004

Arrived in Posoda and took the local bus to Puerto Iquazu. Stayed at Hotel Lilian.

Monday, May 17th, 2004

Puerto Iquazu. Went to the Iquazu Falls.

Tuesday, May 18th, 2004

Took a day trip to Paraguay and got on the night bus to Salta.

Wednesday, May 19th, 2004

On the bus all day. Arrived late at night and went to the Hostel Salta.

Thursday, May 20th, 2004

Salta.

Friday, May 21st, 2004

Salta.

Saturday, May 22nd, 2004

Salta.

Sunday, May 23rd, 2004

Took the bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Bus ride sucked. Went over a mountain pass of 5,200 Meters. Got to San Pedro around 6ish and went to the Hostel International.

Monday, May 24th, 2004

San Pedro.

Tuesday, May 25th, 2004

San Pedro.

Wednesday, May 26th, 2004

Took bus to Calama and then got another bus to Arica.

Thursday, May 27th, 2004

Arrived to Arica at 6 am and went to Residencia Stagnaro.

Friday, May 28th, 2004

Arica.

Saturday, May 29th, 2004

Took a colectivo across the border to Tacna, Peru and then the bus to Arequipa. Stayed at Hostel Regis.

Sunday, May 30th, 2004

Arequipa.

Monday, May 31st, 2004

Arequipa.

Tuesday, June 1st , 2004

Arequipa.

Wednesday, June 2nd , 2004

Took tour to the Colca Canyon. Stayed the night in Chivay at the Hostal Ricarditos.

Thursday, June 3rd , 2004

Finished the tour and went back to Arequipa and the Hostel Regis.

Friday, June 4th , 2004

Thomas left. The solo travels begin. Took the bus to Puno and stayed at Hostel Los Uros.

Saturday, June 5th, 2004

Puno.

Sunday, June 6th, 2004

Took the bus to La Paz. Stayed at Hostel Happy Days.

Monday, June 7th, 2004

La Paz.

Tuesday, June 8th, 2004

La Paz.

Wednesday, June 9th, 2004

Took the bus to Cochabamba. Stayed at Hostel Elisa.

Thursday, June 10th, 2004

Cochabamba.

Friday, June 11th, 2004

Cochabamba.

Saturday, June 12th, 2004

Took the bus to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Got in late and stayed at Hotel Bibosi.

Sunday, June 13th, 2004

Santa Cruz.

Monday, June 14th, 2004

Santa Cruz.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2004

Took and evening bus to Vallegrande.

Wednesday, June 16th, 2004

Took a taxi from Vallegrande to La Higuera.

Thursday, June 17th, 2004

La Higuera. Hiked down to the El Churo Ravine.

Friday, June 18th, 2004

Found a ride from La Higuera back to Vallegrande.

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

Took the bus to Mataral, waiting from 2pm till 10pm for my bus to Sucre.

Sunday, June 20th, 2004

Arrived in the morning to Sucre.

Monday, June 21st, 2004

Sucre.

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

Sucre.

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004

Arrived in Potosi.

Thursday, June 24th, 2004

Took a tour of the Potosi Mines.

Friday, June 25th, 2004

Took the bus to Uyuni, was held up in a roadblock.

Saturday, June 26th, 2004

Day 1 of the Salar de Uyuni tour.

Sunday, June 27th, 2004

Day 2 of the Salar de Uyuni tour.

Monday, June 28th, 2004

Day 3 of the Salar de Uyuni tour. Six months on the road!

Tuesday, June 29th, 2004

Got back to Uyuni from the tour. Took the night train to Oruro.

Wednesday, June 30th, 2004

Arrived in Oruro in the morning.

Thursday, July 1st, 2004

Took the bus to La Paz. Staying at the Happy Days Hostel.

Friday, July 2nd, 2004

La Paz.

Saturday, July 3rd, 2004

La Paz.

Sunday, July 4th, 2004

La Paz.

Monday, July 5th, 2004

I went home. Took a full 24 hours from my hotel room in La Paz to arriving at my parents house in Troutdale.

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2004 Journey Erik's Travels U.S.A.

Back to GF, ND

Last week I made the relaxing drive across 1,600 miles to visit Grand Forks, North Dakota. The drive went well. My dad let me borrow his Honda Accord so I had a/c and cruise control, which made the trip a breeze. My excuse for going back was a “fix the house” weekend for my fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. But I really just wanted to see all my old friends that I had not seen since last August or before.

I was in town for six nights of partying and helped work on the fraternity house for three days. I painted, getting the little storage shed we have knocked out and getting the main room in the basement painted, except for the ceiling.

Grand Forks looked great. The town is having a beautiful summer with lots of sun, a nice breeze and a steady temperature in the 80’s F. It was definitely nice to visit but I am kind of glad I left when I did. Most of my good friends have all moved on so there are only a few left that are still holding down the fort. But the trip was definitely worth it and I look forward to returning again in September for another visit.

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2004 Journey Erik's Travels U.S.A.

I feel home


Last Monday, July 5th, I left my hostel in La Paz at 4am to start my journey home. I had a full day of flights taking me from La Paz, Bolivia to Santa Cruz, Bolivia then onward to Miami, Florida, USA where I had to wait forever to collect my baggage in order to finish clearing customs. After finally making it out into the airport I only had forty minutes before my connecting flight was to leave so I had to run the whole length of the semi-circle airport to board my flight to Portland, Oregon via Houston, Texas. I finally got to Portland just before 11pm and then took the light rail train to Gresham and walked an hour to get home.

The only person I had told about coming home was my friend in Australia, Pete, as I was planning on surprising everyone else. I got to my parents house about 12:45 am, exactly 24 hours after waking up in La Paz to head out. All the doors to the house were locked so I knocked on the door leading outside from their bedroom and gave them a real shock. They were very happy to have me home. The following day I continued the surprise by visiting all my grandparents.

Well I’ve been away but now I’m back today, and there ain’t a place I’d rather go.

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2004 Journey Bolivia Erik's Travels

El Salar de Uyuni

Last Friday June 25th I left Potosi headed for Uyuni to find a tour to the Salar de Uyuni (the desert and salt flats). I took a taxi to the bus station only to find out that buses to Uyuni left from a different office about five blocks uphill from the station. So I wandered over there and bought a ticket for the 11:30am bus. About 12:30pm the bus finally showed up and we started the journey. Everything went fine for the first few hours. We blew a tire later in the afternoon but it was easily fixed and we were on our way again. About 5:40pm we encountered a roadblock on the road. We waited a few minutes and then the bus turned around to find an alternative route around the roadblock. It was about 6pm by then and the driver told everyone what they were planning on doing. All of the locals on board started getting really upset then because they thought that the other road we would take was too dangerous to travel on and they wanted to wait for the road blockers to go home. Which for some reason they thought would be at 7pm. So after a bit of arguing the driver decided to wait it out. So we sat on the bus until about 6:45pm. The road blockers had left and all the men from the bus went outside to clear the rocks off of the road. Some of the people who were cold started lighting up the small bushes that lined the desert to stay warm. There were not very many rocks on the road and we had about a dozen of us moving them. I was thinking “This is too easy!” when we discovered the huge pile of sand blockading the road. The sand was about four feet high, a bit wider then the road and forty feet long with rocks buried on the inside. The bus tried to drive over it but was not even close to making it so it backed up and two shovels were produced and we started digging. It took about an hour to dig out a path for the bus to drive through. We finally made it to Uyuni about 9pm and were greeted by a throng of tour operators. I already knew what company I wanted to go with and headed over to the Colque Tours office with three English folk I met on the bus ride (Roger, Fiona & Libby). They had spots for the next morning so we signed up for the same four day tour.

We left around 10:30am on Saturday June 26th. There were only the four of us plus our driver & guide Raul so there was plenty of room in our Land Cruiser. Our first stop was the train graveyard just outside of town then we visited a tiny village where salt was processed and bagged. Then it was on to the amazing Salar de Uyuni which is a huge salt flat. Workers scrap the salt into piles and then load it into trucks to take to the little village. All the work is done by hand and each huge pile of salt sold for only one boliviano each (about 15 cents).

The salt flat was amazing and we spent our first night in a hotel on the edge of it. We drank them out of beer after only three bottles so we had to switch to $2 boxes of red wine. But then magically towards the end of the night more beer showed up. At 10pm we were sitting there drinking and hanging out and they shut off the power generator without telling anyone so all the sudden there were half a dozen drunk people stranded in the dark. But we managed to make it to bed and the next morning our group (everyone else was drinking tea) was the last to get up and head out.

The second day of our tour we left the salt flats behind and headed across the desert. We visited several lakes and the Arbol de Piedra which is a rock sticking up in the air that looks like a tree. The whole area around there had just amazing rock formations. We arrived that night to the “cold” hotel where it supposedly got to below zero temperatures at night. There was nothing to do and no beer to drink so we all went to be before 9pm and tried to stay warm.

Day three we got up nice and early and headed out at 7am to go and see the geysers. About 15 mins away from the hotel our car quit working. Raul tried to fix it for a bit then walked back to the hotel to get help. So I waited in the freezing car for an hour while the English recreated lawn bowling with rocks. Raul finally came back with some help and the guy in the other car unhooked his radiator hose and sat there holding it while all the steam poured out. While he was doing that Raul jacked up the back of the Land Rover. Then he started to tighten up the fan belt. I asked them what was wrong and they said there was ice in the motor. Not sure what all the other stuff was doing to get the car working but after a while they gave up and towed it back to the hotel. The Land Rover that had come to rescue us had a group of gringos waiting for it back at the hotel so they went off on their tour and Raul went with them to try to find us a new car. So we were left with the little Bolivian family that ran the hotel who kept laughing at us. So we pulled a table our into the sun and drank coffee and played cards until Raul came back with a new car and driver at 11:30am. So we pilled in and continued our tour to the geysers, a hot springs and some more lakes. Around 4pm we met up with another car from our same tour company which had Ned the 19 year old Welshman and Yuval the Israeli. Everyone else from the four Colque tour cars had continued on to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile so the six of us were the only ones left to finish off the fourth day and head back to Uyuni. So we said goodbye to Raul who went back to take care of his car and headed off for a three hour drive to our lodging for that night. At our hotel we were fed and they had an amble supply of beer. So we ate and drank and then a musical group from the villages school came to entertain us for a bit with Bolivian folk songs. Monday night was my sixth month anniversary of leaving home and well spent I think. We had loads of fun that night.

Our fourth and final day, Tuesday, was mostly spent driving back to Uyuni. We stopped at a few different villages along the way and got back to town around 2pm. We hung out during the day at a restaurant with a very smoky fire pit and then I caught the train to Oruro at midnight with Roger, Fiona and Libby. They headed off to La Paz on the bus and I went off to find a Hostel. I slept for a bit and then hung out around Oruro. It is a very cold place and not too exciting.

Today I am going to head off to La Paz in a bit and chill out there for a few days.

Categories
2004 Journey Bolivia Erik's Travels

Bolivian Mining

Thursday June 24th I was in Potosi and went on a tour to the mines there. It was a gringo tour so I once again figured it would be an easy enough venture, but was once again wrong. The tour group met at the tour office in the morning and we headed off to get ready for our tour. The tour company gave everyone a pair of waterproof pants and a coat and a hardhat with a lamp. Then we went to the Miners Market where we bought some presents for the miners we would see on our tour. I bought a stick of dynamite with a detonator and five minute fuse and a bag of some chemicals (ammonium nitrate?) that magnify the explosion for 16 Bolivianos (US$2) and a liter of 96% Alcohol for my presents. Others bought some coca leaves and sodas and waters for presents. After our shopping venture we drove up to the mountain where the mine is that looms over the town of Potosi. The mine was first started by the Spanish in the 16th century and then silver was the main mineral, however nowadays it is mostly zinc they mine because all of the high grade silver is gone or still hidden deep in the mountain.

So we arrived at the mine and started our tour inside. During the first bit I only had to duck a little but the shaft was very narrow. It was ok and there were no worries yet. We visited the museum which was near the entrance and saw a effigy of the devil (El Tio or The Uncle) as the miners call him. The miners offer the statues of the devil coca leaves and cigarettes so that they will have good luck and find silver during their workday. So we finished up in the museum and started the real bit of the tour. The mine we were in (there are loads of different ones) had six levels to it. We entered through the top level and after walking for a bit we came out to a bit of a open area in the shaft. We stopped there and divided up into two groups, my group had six gringos the other five. Our guide Pedro told us about the mine and we rested up before heading down to the second level. To get to the second level I had to crawl on my stomach to fit through this little passageway and then crawl on my hands and knees downwards before sliding down the rest of the way. It was about this time I realized that there I was way in the middle of this huge mountain in a little tiny passage with no easy way out. So I tried to block that out of my mind. We walked through the second level for a while, it is here that it started to get warm and I could really notice how dusty and sticky the air was. We were soon at the passageway to the third level which was much easy to negotiate then the first to second floor passage.

Upon arriving on the third level we met a group of miners working hard. Basically one group of guys would work together in one section of the mine that was theirs and would share all the profits made by the group between them. Some of the miners whacked the walls with picks to break off the minerals and then would dump the minerals into a big wagon which was on railroad tracks. Once the wagon was full, two men would push it and two would pull it with ropes as hard as they could and it would barley move because it was so heavy. They would then have to take it to the end of the mine shaft and then come back for more.

We gave the miners some of the presents we had brought and then moved down the shaft to see the miners in action. After watching them work for a bit we reached the passageway to the fourth floor. I started down but after getting a good look at the passageway backed out. It was a narrow hole that one had to kind of slide through and then grab onto a ladder and then cross over to another ladder below. I thought there was no way I wanted to be down there. I was terrified enough in the “roomy” shafts we had been through already and had no desire to battle my fears. So I hung out at the top of the passage and waited until the group came back up ten minutes later fully covered with sweat and relived to feel the “clean & fresh” air of the third level. I was very glad I did not go down.

We had been in the mines for about two hours at that point and then started back up. I was not looking forward to the small passages I would have to go through but did not have much of a choice. We took a different way back up to the second floor which kind of turned into the passage up to the top. First there was a wooden ladder with shaky wobbly steps which got us up to the second floor then the same passage back up to the top. It sucked so bad. I had to crawl up this incline not knowing what was in front of me because I had to look where I was crawling and kept hitting my back and head into the rocks above me. Towards the top I started getting really out of breath but had no place to stop and had to keep crawling upwards. Finally it started to even out a bit and up ahead the rest of my group had stopped to rest. When I got there I plunked down next to Pedro to try to catch my breath. He started to blow on me to cool me down and after a few minutes I was good to go. We started off again but luckily while scrambling up to the top floor I had navigated all the worst parts in a frenzy and during the rest of the way did not have to crawl again. Just a lot of ducking. Most of the mine looked the same to me so I had no clue how much further it was until I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It was at that point when I could see the sunlight pouring in and feel the fresh cold air from outside that I realized what that phrase really means.

I stumbled outside covered in mud, dust and sweat and very happy. After resting up for a couple minutes it was time for our dynamite demonstration. Our guides showed us how to prepare it and then lit the fuses. After lighting the fuses they passed around the bags of dynamite to hold and then went and tossed them in a nearby field. After a couple minutes of waiting they blew up. I was prepared for a loud bang but even so the explosion made me jump. Really, really loud. Then they drove us back to town and that was that. I will be happy if I never go in another mine ever again.