My Best 10 Travels in 2012

When it is year end, with my friends we look back in the year behind us. Our mouths fall and we shout with a surprised face: "Oh My Gosh, so many things happened to us! What a year!" It is amazing while we are walking on the imaginary string of the year from the start to the end, and how we shout out one by one the stories. "And do you remember when we did this?", "Yeah, it was loads of fun! And when we went there?" And we can keep telling out the anecdotes for long minutes, jumping between the months and seasons, being in a nostalgic mood. Just like now I am. So let me jump through 2012 and show you my most memorable travels in 2012!

Capture the Colour: 5 photos, 5 countries, 5 colours

"Have you seen the roses? There's a whole lot of colours."- Syd Barrett.

When taking a photo it is very important that it captures the feeling, the smell or the melody of that moment. For me these are the good photos. I usually call them "photos with feeling". I also collect postcards which transmit the feeling of the place. There is still a long way for me to become such a photographer, but I have all the enthusiasm.

5 things that I have learned about Bolivia in 10 days

I spent 10 days in Bolivia. When I chose to visit this country I did not know what to expect, only was I longing for the rich Andene culture which Bolivia seemed to offer. I was right. When I entered the country, a completely new world opened up in front of me. A country in the mountains. A travel back in time.
Here are the five most important things that I have learned about Bolivia.

Uyuni Salar Tour – Day 3

Morning in the Jeep

Our little group started the day at 5am this time. You can be sure that whenever you go to watch geysers, you'll be awaken at dawn. Why? Because the steam of these volcanic gases is the most visible when the weather is the coldest. In the early morning. In winter it means -10 degrees. 

Brrr! 

 

Uyuni Salar Tour – Day 2

The second day woke us up at 6am. We had a long day, a lot to do, and as the sun goes down early in winter, we had to start the day early enough. After sipping our hot mate tea, we were ready to fight against the cold wind in the altitude.

Uyuni Salar Tour – Day 1

Once in Bolivia it is a must to visit the Uyuni Salar (salt desert). Not only because this is a cool thing to do, but because the landscape is truly special, colourful and diverse. As our friend, Mauricio said, in Brazil you travel for days for a change of landscape, while in Uyuni you travel for an hour and you arrive in a totally different world.

Meeting the miners made me truly respect this hard life - The Mine Tour

Potosi was established by the Spanish more than 400 years ago because of the huge resources of silver hidden in the surrounding mountains. Potosi is also called as the „rich town”. Believe it or not, because of the poor technical conditions, the exploitation in the mines is still made by humans in 8-hour shifts. The tour to the mines not only gives the opportunity to see how a mine looks like, but is the unique occasion to meet those miners who work down in the dark and deep stomach of the mountain.

Altitude sickness - How to survive it?

Coming from Hungary, where the highest point is 1014 meters, I have barely heard of the „altitude sickness”. Of course not, as it is usually a sickness over 4000 meters of altitude, where there is less oxygen and it affects the brain.

Potosi – the closest town to the sky

Or should I call it as gem of the Andes? Not only I found Potosi a little jewelery box but also a sparkling little town up in the sky. Colourful colonial houses, smiling people and the red Cerro Rico mountain in the background.

Tiwanaku – the centre of the pre-inca culture

Before traveling to Bolivia I was looking for trips which would bring the Bolivian culture closer to me. This is when I found out about Tiwanaku, a little village just about 50 km from La Paz. It used to be the center of a pre-inca culture. Pre-inca? – was I asking. I had never heard about the times before the Incas. And seems like that the Tiwanakus already built totems and churches, and had complex beliefs about the reason of life.

Where the Inca culture was born - the Titicaca tour

Since I was planning my trip to Bolivia, one of the top destinations was to visit the Titicaca Lake. It sounded appealing to see the highest lake on Earth. However during the day it turned out that not this is the most important thing about Titicaca. But that it is the cradle of Inca culture.

How I got to Peru instead of Bolivia because of football

My innocent plan was to travel from Antofagasta (Chile) to La Paz (Bolivia). Two neighboring countries, no VISA issues, sounded smooth. But not as it happened. I already had my ticket from Antofa to Arica and spent Friday night traveling up to the north. Complications started when I arrived in Arica the next morning.