Rio de Janeiro and Concluding the Six Month Trip in South America

Lapa, downtown Rio

As I left the property in Paraty on my way to Rio de Janeiro, a feeling of contentment came over me as I was listening to Andean music. Even though the long trip in South America was to finish in a few days, I wasn’t sad about it, but rather glad that I went through the many situations and places.

In Rio I was welcomed in the home of Natalia, a Couchsurfing host that I found when I was still in San Tome de las Letras. Going from the bus station to her apartment in the downtown Rio was easy and without any problem. The first impression though upon entering her place, was that of chaos – it was busy, narrow, and different things going on, but soon I felt like at home. Natalia was just like I thought she would be – kind, generous, and warmhearted woman. At that time she helped her friend and his son as they lost an apartment, so temporarily stayed with her. There was another guest there, his name was Lenny, from Germany – a traveler that crossed huge number of countries and have been absent from home for years. He was using Couchsurfing professionally and intended to stay at hosts home for as much as he could. It seemed to me that the thought of having to go back home scared him a lot, and he was looking for escape from that option through ‘any’ mean possible. Lenny was a fun guy though. The three of us had lots of laughs.

Four Days in Paraty: Nature, Atlantic Ocean, and Cats

In the downtown Paraty.

By the time I reached Paraty , the infamous little town only a few hours South of Rio, it was almost late May, and autumn was making its way onto the eastern side of the South American continent slowly but surely. The night bus from Belo Horizonte dropped me off somewhere not far from Paraty, and in a decent morning hour I was already in the downtown area, waiting for another bus that would take me to a countryside where I was to live and volunteer for the next four days.

I was lucky that my host, Alexia, accepted me last minute and for only four days. She had a property in a jungle-like area where she lived with her two small children – Yogi and Tao, and many adorable kittens. The place was quite impressive with huge rocks, lush vegetation, and a stream going right behind her house. She moved to Brazil from France, and was enjoying the place a lot while living her dream. There were two more volunteers, who were also French and with whom I shared the room where I stayed. The work was not difficult, consisting of some maintenance work and re-arranging the landscape a bit, two hours a day only. This gave me plenty of time to explore interesting places to see.

Volunteering in Southeast of Brazil: Projeto Casa do Mundo

Volunteering in Brazil

Towards the end of my trip in South America, I decided to look for a volunteering opportunity in the South of Brazil, and was very fortunate to have found Katia and her partner Thomas on a volunteering website called HelpX. They have essentially just finished with their long travel in Asia, and decided to settle at Katia’s parents farm to start with an ecological and self-sustainable project.

Arriving to their place from Sao Tome das Letras I changed buses a couple of times, to finally having arrived at their place in the afternoon. Katia and Thomas waited for me at the bus station, and then together we went to their home outside of the town of Para de Minas. From the very start that couple stroke me as very nice and relaxed – I knew we would get along just fine. I was given a room to stay which was perfect. It felt like now I could have a longer rest.

Two Days In a Mystic Town of Sao Tome das Letras (Brazil)

Downtown Sao Tome das Letras, near the main square.

My trip in Brazil and South America was reaching to a close. In little less than 20 days I was to take a flight back home. While in other places in Brazil, I arranged to volunteer on a farm in a town called Para de Minas, but before that it was necessary to stop in Sao Tome das Letras, to see the place that was so much recommended by people along the way.

Edo and Alanza dropped me off at a bus station in a town close to Varginha, from where I was to catch a direct one hour bus to Sao Tome. The days in Varginha were certainly memorable, and it seemed all of us were happy to having met each other.

It was early Sunday afternoon when I arrived to that little and picturesque town of Sao Tome das Letras. I had no trouble with finding a room on the spot, a very decent one in a central location, and for a good price (30 reales). The quietude of the place was pervasive and impressive. Even though it was Sunday, I understood that this place has a particular calmness to it, regardless which day it is. I soon noticed that people who live here also have a type of relaxed manner to them, or ‘tranquilidad’ as they would say in Latin countries.

Two Days in Sao Paulo (Brazil) – One of the Biggest Cities in the World!

Downtown in Sao Paulo.

It was a quiet morning of early May when I went to the bus station in Curitiba in order to take a bus to Sao Paulo, but after buying the ticket at the station, I had great difficulty in finding it, similarly like 4 months before that at the Guayaquil station in Ecuador. I was lucky that the driver waited for me because I was already late by the time I was guided to the right place. Like in other countries of South America, buses in Brazil are also of great quality and punctual, though the prices are on a higher end, similarly like in Chile and Argentina (bus ride from Curitiba to Sao Paulo is around 400 kilometers and cost 27 USD).

The landscape on that trip was probably the most spectacular I have seen in South America up to that point – it was like the highway passes through amazingly preserved jungle with great varieties of trees and plants. The six hour ride passed quickly, and as we were approaching Sao Paulo I became more and more nervous. The reason for that was the stories of people that I’ve met on this trip, telling me to be particularly careful in Sao Paulo. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised upon arriving to the main bus station – it was incredibly modern, orderly, and calm. From the bus station goes a metro line, and before hopping on it I got some valuable information in a tourist office that’s right there as well.

Paradisical Nature of Parana State in Brazil: Hiking at Curitiba

Hiking in Brazil.

During my trip in South America I have seen some incredible natural landscapes, but the nature around Curitiba really stood out for me as incredibly lush and ‘paradisical’. On my last day in Curitiba, my host Vitor invited me to go hiking just outside of his city, to a trail called Moro do Canal/Vigia.

We drove there in the early afternoon in the month of April, and even though that’s autumn in Southern Hemisphere, the weather was just perfect. On our way there we have seen some wonderful landscapes and lakes, until finally we reached the start of the trail. It started off as relatively easy, offering amazing views of variety of plants and large horizons of land as we kept climbing up. We passed by various rock formations and cliff detachments – the latter seemed to happen a long time ago.

Traveling in Brazil: Curitiba City and Experience of Umbanda Religion

Downtown Curitiba.

The nine hour bus ride from Foz de Iguazu to Curitiba went smoothly, and cost around 45 USD. I already have arrangedtoa stay in Vitor’s house – a person I found through the Couchsurfing website. He offered to pick me up at the bus station on his way to a religious event that he wanted to attend, and gave me a choice to join him or to wait for him in the car. That was on a Saturday night. He had a friendly personality and from the very start I was helping him improving his English skills, which is what he wanted a lot.

It was around 10 pm when we arrived to a neighborhood where the religious event would take place. Initial plan was to wait for him in the car for a couple of hours, which seemed fine due to me being tired. Throughout all the time, I heard the beating African drums that caught my attention. Soon afterwards I decided to see what is this all about. All I knew at that time was that the name of the religion is Umbanda, and that it came from Africa in the 19^th or early 20^th century. The house where the event took place was quite large, attached to it was a snack shop with chocolate cakes and soft drinks. After hanging out there for a little while, I decided to step in.

From Paraguay to Brazil: Stunning Iguazu Falls Experience

The majestic Iguazu falls.

Crossing the border from Paraguay to Brazil was easy. I already spent the night at the border town of Paraguay, Ciudad del Este, and from there the next morning I took a public transport that dropped me off at the Paraguayan border. After passing that one quite easily, I hopped on another bus that took me to the Brazilian border, which also was not difficult to go through. Having the EU passport was definitely a blessing on this long trip in South America, particularly for not needing to have a visa and for going through the borders relatively easy.

Foz de Iguazu was a town where I stayed for the next two days , and like always, I was amazed by that initial contrast of a new country, so prominent during those first few days. It was fascinating to see the little differences in culture, how things function in public transport, etc. But also the language – I must admit that during the first days I couldn’t really understand much of Portuguese, even though I spoke Spanish quite well.

Experiencing Nature in Paraguay: from Concepcion to Cerro Cora National Park

Entering Cerro Cora National park in Paraguay on a rainy day.

At that point of my trip, I was traveling for five months in South America, crossing seven countries, all by land. A bus has become my second home, crossing thousands of kilometers and seeing a lot of countryside. This ride from Curuguaty to Concepcion was no exception – a seven or so hour ride towards the very heart of Paraguay, in order to experience the Paraguayan forests in the National park of Cerro Cora.

Concepcion was a simple town, with simple and nice people. I arrived there at around 5 pm, and it was easy to find accommodation around the main plaza, where the bus station was also located. The name of the one I liked is Carosi (next to comemador), runned by a nice family (10 USD per night). It was there where I found out more information about Cerro Cora national park, and how it is possible to stay there as well. And so the next morning I called them and arranged to come.

It took about an hour for the bus to arrive there on that rainy day. It didn’t actually arrive, it just passed near by, and the last leg of the journey I had to walk for about one kilometer into the wilderness. I was discouraged to do so by some visitors from Brazil who stopped by in their car and have told me that it is dangerous to walk there alone. I went on as I knew that I should arrive to some kind of a building.

Backpacking in Paraguay Continues: A Visit to Curuguaty

In a shade in Curuguaty, Paraguay

After a really nice experience with visiting the Guarani indigenous community near Encarnacion, I was inspired to visit another one, near a town called Curuguaty. Arriving there from Encarnacion was certainly not an easy task. It all started by taking a morning, five hour bus ride from Encarnacion to the 4^th Kilometer. Over there, after a couple of hours of waiting I joined a few more passangers in taking taxi colectivo, which was a pleasant ride. After a few hours I got off at one of the villages from where I was to take a final taxi colectivo to Curuguaty. Standing there by the main road in that quiet Paraguayan village, I started being lifted up internally as the sunset was passing through that side of our planet Earth. Inspired, I tried hitchhiking. “Nobody will stop. Paraguayan people don’t take strangers in their cars.”, said to me a person also waiting for a transport.

I didn’t have to wait for long, when a taxi colectivo stopped, and I was on my way. There were two young guys in front, and a young girl holding a baby in the back seat, sitting next to me. This last two hour ride to Curuguaty was filled with conversations, and I found out a lot about the Paraguayan and the Guarani people. Once we reached Curuguaty, those guys helped me find an accommodation for a good price, which was nt an easy thing to do at 8 in the evening.

Jesuit Experience in Paraguay: Unexpected Visit to the Trinidad Ruins

At the Trinidad Jesuit ruins in Paraguay

One of the amazing things about traveling is its unexpected aspect, and how sometimes things just flow from interesting event into another, and you end up seeing places that perhaps you did not intentionally wanted to, but you realize that you ultimately gain by going there.

It was the same for me when it came to the Jesuit ruins Trinidad, not far from the city of Encarnacion in Paraguay. The original plan for that day was to just visit the Guarani community, but it so happened that when the time came to leave them, I was offered a ride by their music teachers who came from somewhere else in Paraguay. As we were driving towards the main road, and once reaching it speeding on it beyond compare, which made me think about why people in Paraguay like to drive so fast, they suggested to drop me off at the Trinidad ruins.

When I came to Encarnacion I was aware of the ruins and the various other interesting options to visit in the area around the city, but due to the lack of time and interest, I decided to stick only to my first choice – the Guarani community. But after their suggestion I felt it would be a good idea to go there, and I was not mistaken!

Visiting Sucre part 2 (Dinosaurs Footprints in Bolivia)

Footprint hill in Cretacico Park, Bolivia

It was another beautiful and sunny day in the high altitude city of Sucre, Bolivia. The plan for the day was to visit a very unique place – the largest paleontological site in the world – Cretacico park. However, my host Jesus mentioned to me while I was getting ready for the day, that there is another option too, which is a day trip to traditional street dances in a small town  not far from Sucre. The former (Cretacico park) is a place where they discovered a lot of dinosaurs footprints, and they’ve made the whole place into a dinosaur park. And the latter entailed cultural immersion and enjoying the dances of the Andean culture. I have seen a lot of that two months earlier while in Huaraz in Peru, and I really liked them. Nevertheless, in the end I decided for the dinosaurs options.

Dinosaurs had a big impact on me growing up in the 80’s and the 90’s, especially after their popularization with the movie Jurassic Park. Later in life I did not thought much about them, but when the opportunity presents to travel back in the past and to see real and prominent dinosaurs tracks that are millions of years old, then I find this something that could be a nice treat!

Visiting Sucre Part 1 (From Samaipata to Sucre)

Historical center of Sucre, Bolivia

It was 9.30 pm when the taxi dropped me off at the main road from Samaipata to Sucre. I was supposed to wait for the bus to Sucre, which ticket I bought three days earlier (50 BOB), while I was in Santa Cruz.
“Are you sure this is where I have to wait”, I asked the driver while pointing to the place where the bus company said that the bus will stop.
“Well you can wait there, but the bus won’t pick you up from that place. I suggest you wait at the toll booth, because every vehicle has to stop there.”

I listened to his advice. The buses started passing by, and soon enough there was my bus in which I ‘jumped in’. To my disappointed I discovered that the seat I reserved was already occupied. I complained to the driver, and we soon realized that the ticket seller in Santa Cruz sold two tickets for the same seat! The company name was Capital 2. Luckily there was a seat available in this already crowded bus. The following eight hour night bus ride was one of  the most tedious one to endure during my six month trip in South America (the number one place in this regard is definitely won by an eight hour bus ride in Paraguay where we had to watch four sequels of Fast&Furious one after the other!). The biggest problem was that people kept coming in, even though there were no seats available. Being very tall, I struggled a lot by not having enough leg room due to person in front of me reclining their seat, while another person without seat outstretched herself on the floor in an attempt to sleep, rendering me unable to expand my legs out of the leg room space. Besides that, the road was very bumpy for probably half of the whole ride.

Adventures in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

In early morning of late March I left the hotel Elisa where I stayed for the past two days in Cochabamba. It was still night time, as the bus to Santa Cruz was supposed to depart at 6am. I traveled with bus company called ‘America’, a decent one for only 50 BOB for ten hour journey. Even though everyone said it’s a 10 hour trip, it lasted for 13 hours. Seat next to me was occupied by a young woman from Bolivia who was working in Brazil. In Santa Cruz, she took another bus to continue through Paraguay and to eventually arrive to her destination country. An enormous trip, but she was doing it all in one go to try and get visas for her children. The landscapes on the way to Santa Cruz were not that impressive, it was mostly flat land that we were crossing. The driver was quite high on coca leaves, which he chew a lot, and this was shown in the journey and the speed – we had only two stops throughout the whole trip!

Arriving at 8pm was relatively late, but I was lucky that there were many places to spend the night at close to the bus terminal. The next day the  plan was to meet my Couchsurfing host Eduardo and stay in his house for a few days. He was a young guy in his mid 20’s, who worked as an English teacher in the University. For the following three nights I stayed in his family home, which was an interesting and nice experience. Couchsurfing website truly is an amazing platform where travelers meet the locals and stay with them, sharing a little bit of their life. I traveled like that through many countries, and am still using it when on the road.

Bolivian Market and Search for Quena Flute (From La Paz to Cochabamba)

City center of Cochabamba city in central Boliva

It was early Friday morning when my host Sabine drove me to a place in La Paz from where I took a bus to the main bus terminal. The previous three days in La Paz were surely memorable and well spent, and not to mention that I was very grateful for meeting person such as Sabine, who was my couchsurfing host in La Paz. The time was now to continue my journey towards central Bolivia, the Cochabamba city.

There were many companies that had buses departing there. The price ranges from 30-50 BOB for 8 hour journey. The whole trip went relatively smoothly. I had a panoramic seat (which is the front seat on the upper deck of the bus), and have tried some Bolivian provided by a local seller who entered the bus somewhere on the road. As always, it was easy to start conversation with people around me, which at that time were mostly Bolivians and a few expats. It was a lovely weather again that followed us all the way to Cochabamba, where we arrived in the afternoon hours.

The reason why I came here was twofold: the first one is because it is on the way to Santa Cruz, where I was heading in order to visit the ancient site of Samaipata. The second reason goes back to when I was in Banos town in Ecuador. It happened that I was playing music in the courtyard of a hostel with two more musicians who came from Chile. We were talking at the time about where to buy quena flute (which is a traditional Andean flute), and he mentioned Cochabamba market for having good quality and cheap quena flutes. And so two months later I am here in the town of Cochabamba, central Bolivia.

Tihuanaco: Ancient City of Mystery

Tiwanaku

One of the places that I wanted to visit the most while in Bolivia was the ancient city of Tiwanaku (also known as Tihuanaco), the source of the Tiwanaku culture that lived there thousands of years ago. Less than two hour drive from La Paz, it is easy to do it as a daytrip from Bolivian capital. As always, I did this trip on my own, although my Couchsurfing host Sabine has given me some pointers on how to reach the place from where to catch a microbus to Tiwanaku. There are several of such places in La Paz, but the one I started from is called El Cemeterio. I bought the bus ticket and waited for around an hour for more people to gather, after which the van full of people commenced its two hour journey towards the most popular of all ancient sites in Bolivia – Tihuanaco. During that ride all of the passangers shared stories of their travel in South America, about what they were doing up till that point, and what more they have to see. One of them was a lady from Brazil who was very interested in ancient sites, and planned to stay in Tihuanaco for five days to also attend a conference of a popular researcher on the subject of ancient sacred sites and mysteries, Mr. Brian Foerster. She also shared with me some interesting places to see if I ever come to Brazil. Even though at the time I did not plan to go there, I noted all down just in case – notes which later came to be very useful!

A Trip to the Valley of the Moon in La Paz, Bolivia

Valley of the Moon in La Paz, Bolivia

The second day in La Paz I decided to dedicate for exploration of the city and a visit to nearby Valley of the Moon. It was a gorgeous sunny day on the altitude near 4000 meters. After doing exploration of Bolivian capital, I went on the bus that went in direction of the above mentioned place. Doing that was pretty easy. Near the church of San Francisco on the square of San Francisco, take a yellow van or minibus towards Mallasan. It is around 45 minute ride and the driver can drop you off by the entrance of the site. Even though there may be more people in the same bus going there, it’s always the best to ask the driver to drop you off there.

The Valley of the Moon, or Valley de la Luna as it’s called in Spanish, is an interesting place to visit. It consists of clay mountainous hills that have been shaped in surreal form due to erosion caused by wind and rain. The story has it that the infamous astronaut, Neil Armstrong, visited this place decades ago and said that it reminds him of the moon. This is the official tale that’s been perpetuated, but even if it is not true, I could clearly see why the site adopted the name – it really does feel like you are on another planetary sphere!

Goodbye Peru. Hello Bolivia (Crossing from Juli to Copacabana)

Copacabana, Bolivia

It’s been over four months that I arrived to South America, traveling through three different countries, and now about to enter the fourth one. On the second day of my trip, the person I’ve met in Bogota told me he wants to hear everything about part of the trip that involves Peru, Bolivia, and especially places about lake Titicaca. And now I was there, living it, feeding off the incredible energy that is present at most of the places I went to, such as mysterious ancient sites and beautiful places in nature.

On my last day in Peru, it was another beautiful sunny day on the altitude of above 3800 meters in the Southeastern part of the country, in a town called Juli. It was a big day, for I planned to cross to another country – Bolivia. Getting there was relatively easy. First I want to reach the terminal in Juli called Zonar. There I went in colectivo van for a 40 minute ride (2.5 soles) to a town called Chaka Chaka. Once there, at the same place where the van dropped me off I changed to another van that went to Yunguyo (2 soles, 20 minute ride). That ride was fine, but at one point the driver almost hit a small kid that started crossing the road out of nowhere, carrying a puppy in his arms. That stressed out most of the passangers, some of them commenting on the situation. The driver did not appear affected by what almost could have happened.

A Short Trip to Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca in Peru

With a fellow visitor dressed up as locals by the locals on Uros island, Peru.

The days spent in Puno were memorable, and I had one more day left. The visit to the ancient sacred site of Sillustani from the day before still had a strong effect on me, as well as the whole environment that surrounded this interesting city. Lake Titicaca was a strong factor of the calming energy that this place had, and on my last day I decided to take a ride across a small part of the lake to the Uros islands. The latter is a place where the descendants of the ancient Uru people live, but what is probably the most interesting thing about it is that the islands are artificial and floating.

It was  a somewhat cloudy day that morning when I was approaching the dock of the Titicaca lake from the side of the city of Puno. Arriving to the dock, I was approached by a Peruvian folk offering me a tour to the Uros islands. After talking with him for a bit, and afterwards double-checking his words in the official office for the tours to Uros, I bought a ticket for the tour (15 soles), which included a boat ride and an entrance fee to a two of the islands of Uros. The boat was pretty decent with relaxing seats inside as well as having several of them on the roof. There were only four of us boarded, three of them being a mother, father, and daughter from Lima. With the latter I spent some time talking on the roof of the boat as the half an hour boat ride was drawing us ever nearer to the Uros islands that were becoming substantially prominent on the horizon.

Journey in the Sacred Valley of the Incas Continues: Tipon and Pikkillaqta

Beautiful landscape at Pikkillagta site.

After visiting the Machu Picchu, I remained in the Sacred Valley for another four days, during which time I visited some other awe inspiring places. While in Cusco, I stayed in the apartment of my hosts, Romano and Paty, a Peruvian couple that were living in Cusco for the past few years. Both of them, but especially Romano, were well informed about ancient sacred sites in Peru and the Sacred Valley. I have spent many hours talking to them about the mysteries that encompass some of the ancient ruins of Peru, and would often come out of the conversations feeling uplifted and inspired. They were both students of Gnosis, and so we shared the same interest when it comes to “unlocking the hidden potentials”.

During that three days in Cusco I wanted to see four more significant places in the Sacred Valley: Tipon, Pikkillacta, Moray, and Pisac. And so I decided to visit two archaeological sites in each of the following two days. First on the list was Tipon, quite large site of the Incas associated with water. To get there I first had to reach Terminal Urcos, which is on the Avenida de la Cultura, close to Hospital Regional. From Urcos I took microbus to Tipon (3 soles), which is situated relatively near Cusco, some twenty kilometers away. The microbus drops off passangers at the bus stop on the main road, close to the town. From there I took another bus to the main plaza of Tipon, but there were taxis offering a ride for 10 soles. Once on the main plaza, you can walk up the hill to where the ancient site is, however I would recommend to take a taxi  (10 soles), because walking up the hill for an hour or so is not fun when you still have the whole site to explore. Walking back down is much better.