The Highest We've Ever Been...

I'm talking about elevation, boys and girls.  C'mon!  We've been between 8000' and ~14763' feet for the past week.  Enough to make the head spin, but that stuff above is salt and we'll get to it in a minute.

So, I guess it's time to start this story out right!

From the Chilean and Bolivian Frontier - 

My goodness is it the middle of nowhere and certainly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been (I feel like I've said that here before).  

I'll start with the animals before more nature shots.  We saw: 

Flamingoes (there are three varieties - Andean, James', and Chilean.  The amount of photos is not one of each variety, I dont think, just some that I liked): 

Llamas (which are quite tasty, I might add):

Vicuñas:

And then of course there were the Mountains, Lakes, Streams, Snow, Wind, Canyons, Gorges, Valleys, Moons, etc.  Some will only live on as mental images though as it was impossible to photograph it all.  Mainly due to high winds and cold, but also because we couldn't be stopping every five seconds.  Though the excuse certainly could have been made:

The Road!

Lago Colorado - Let's play spot the Flamingo!

Lady contemplates Lake (while shivering)...

Sorry so many Red Lake pictures - I've never seen a red lake, and got excited!

Àrbol de Piedra

As I understood it, this train is used to transport minerals out of the mountains: Borax, Salt, etc

And finally we made it to the Uyuni Salt Flats.  The night before we pulled into our hostel just as the sun was setting, but not to late to soak in the fact it was made completely of salt!

The next day, we were up early to hit the Flats -- first we were all like: 

Then, we were all like: 

But we finished up all like: 

Nom, nom, nom... 

More Pictures from the World's largest Salt Flat: 

Glow Cactuses from an island in the middle of the Salt Flat

It was a great adventure, filled with freezing cold temperatures and arguably the worst hotel I've stayed in on this entire trip (not pictured and literally the only place possible to stay on this adventure).  Thanks for being such a sport, Megan.  Especially after your first visit was to beaches and ride elephats.  I hope you have a safe flight home. 

I head to Lake with a name that is a favorite amongst all 4-grade Boys -  Lake Titicaca - today.  We'll see how active I am as I seem to have caught a cold.  A cold that had me vomitting my guts out at 430 am this morning.  I don't think I've vomited since Sophomore year of College, but I'll consider myself lucky as it is the first time I've been sick on the trip.  So gross though.   You're welcome for the detail.

And, I'll part with a simple hello to all of you, written in salt (of course) and with love: 

As always, I've posted and will keep posting other shots to the Tumblr page: http://justcuzitsround.tumblr.com/, feel free to check them out. 

With a Buzz in our Ears, We Zip Endlessly...

The Jungle - Bokeo Province - Northern Laos

A zipping video to really give a flavor for the experience - WATCH IT!

Sadly, it is the dry season and all the farmers are doing the yearly slash and burn of the fields, so the atmosphere in Northern Thailand and Laos has been quite gray/hazy vs. what I had imagined it would look like.

Undeterred, I've just spent the last two days trekking and zipping through the jungles of Northern Laos.   And, despite the heat, it was incredible.    Massive trees, groves of bamboo, little critters running around all over the place and no sounds other than those of the wind and the jungle.  Oh, and ziplines.  Everywhere...

I was on the "Gibbon Experience".  And, even though we didn't see anything other than squirrels (*yawn*), lizards and spiders the size of a salad plate, it was pretty amazing.

You trek into the jungle for a few hours, eventually hitting a network of ziplines that will take you to your treehouse.  

This is where you sleep and eat your meals, while zipping around the jungle in your spare time.  The best part about the treehouse though was the outdoor shower.

View from the Shower

The lines are anywhere from 100 - 700ms long and from 25m to 150ms above the ground.

I've got to say popping out of the jungle on a wire suspended 500 feet in the air is quite the experience.

It wasn't all fun and games (ok, it mainly was).  The program is a conservation effort, so all proceeds go to the cause of protecting the jungle and the Gibbons.  But, we also had an conversational English lesson with our Lao (by the way, it is pronounced La-ow - not La-owse) guides and then they taught us some Lao in return.  

One of our guides just started speaking English less than a year ago and I was quite impressed how far he had come.  I guess if the tables were turned, and speaking Lao meant I got a better job than lugging wood/food/etc into the jungle several hours, then I'd learn Lao pretty darn quick too!

Our Trekking Crew! 

Pageviews are down due to my lack of posting the last couple of weeks, but hopefully this brings you back (Sorry for the lack of Gibbons!) and I can post more as I travel down the Mekong.

This is as close to a Gibbon as I can get.  Peter Gibbons, in a meeting with "the Bobs".

Right now, I'm writing from a guesthouse on the banks of the Mekong and I can see Thailand from here.

Say "HI" to Thailand (even with the gloomy sky)!

Tomorrow, I'll take the "slow boat" towards Luang Prabang and check in again from there.  Hopefully...

The Oldest Tree in the World!

Or so they say.   The Sri Maha Bodhi was planted in 288 BC here in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and is still standing today.

Like most old things, it needs some support in places and is heavily guarded since the Civil War here in Sri Lanka (Historically it has always been well looked after, as a building used to stand on the site which held 1000 Monks).

It is said that the original planting came from came from the right branch of the same Bodhi tree that Buddha sat under and gained enlightenment.

It was pretty cool to see and is located in the city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka – a roughly 7.5 hour train ride from the Colombo (the web said 3 hours!!!!).  A veteran of many train rides, I must say that they are soo much better when you can hang out the window/door to pass the time.  And, it was a nice ride. Lots of rice fields and coconut groves.  And, every so often, massive Buddha statues out of nowhere!

I’m happy I came (I may not have if I had known the train would take so long).  It is super quiet here and very peaceful.  I went on a bike tour of the Dagobas, Monasteries, lots of massive Buddha statues (another thing that was quite common to see from the train) and other ancient ruins here.  It was super hot/humid and I had to retire in the early afternoon, but was the best tour I’ve taken yet.  

This Hindu temple is being rebuilt after it was destroyed during the Civil War.

Dagoba - not just where Yoda lives...  They build these around sacred relics.  This one is over 2100 years old!  I've got to read more about it.  The guide's English, while good, couldn't really explain full what this is.

Some cool tiles?

Onto Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya in the next couple days before arriving in Kandy.  Looking forward to it!