Welcome to Bolivia. Enjoy our Awesome.

Pictures are updated for your perusing pleasure.

Entering Bolivia from Argentina was a bit of a shock. Bolivia is a bit rougher around the edges: the roads are bad, the people work hard for just a few dollars a day, trash piles up on the side of the highway... not to mention gourmet ice cream shops and steakhouses are completely MIA.

But we've been amazed by the friendliness of the people and the unbelievably beautiful scenery. Our introduction to Bolivia was Tupiza - a desert town with beautiful red canyons and cacti dotting the landscape. But when we're talking of beautiful scenery, we have to focus on our 4-day tour of the Bolivian Altiplano and the Salt Flats.

This tour is a popular one and with good reason. The Altiplano ("high plains") comprises the Southwest region of Bolivia all the way up to the Capitol at La Paz. The area actually is home to the majority of Bolivia's population, but it's also barren in places and it's home to snow-capped mountains, smoking volcanic geysers, pre-Incan ruins, and beautiful flamingo-inhabited lagoons.

Sound cool yet? It gets better. The spectacular culmination is the "Salar de Uyuni," aka "The Salt Flats." The Salt Flat is actually a gigantic salt lake, but it doesn't look like a lake. There's a massive deposit of salt at the surface that's 2 feet thick. It's also perfectly flat. This creates 2 different effects: in the dry season, the lake is parched and you can see nothing but blindingly white salt. But now it's rainy season, and the rains have left a 2-inch layer of perfectly flat, still water on the surface of the salt. The result is a mirror effect, the sky reflects perfectly on the surface. Combined with the fact that you can see forever out into the horizon, you lose your orientation. You can't tell up from down, and it looks like you're literally walking on clouds. Stunning.

Words do no justice but we'll do our best:

Day 1
Bags thrown on the roof and us piled into the Lexus 4x4, a Swedish couple, our guide/driver Dieter and our cook Aidey. Crawled slowly out of Tupiza's desert on dirt roads, eventually reaching a flat grassy plain at 11,800 feet where llamas and donkeys graze. Several great lookout points with great views, including one with ridiculous wind. Stopped in a small village to take pictures, fascinating but don't like treating the locals like they're in a zoo. Settled for the night in a tiny village at 13,500 feet after 8 hours in the 4x4 sightseeing.

Day 2
Ridiculously early 4:30am wakeup call, lots of ground to cover. Bread and dulce de leche for breakfast reminds us of Argentina, but when we hit the pre-Incan ruins at sunrise you're instantly back in Bolivia. We get along really well with Joel and Ami our Swedish company, and we all enjoy the lookout point over the lagoon at almost 16,000 feet, not the highest we'll be. After 7 hours on dirt "roads" in the 4x4 we soak in the excessively anticipated hot springs and it's totally revitalizing. After lunch the highlight of the day hits us at 16,404 feet above sea level: a group of smoking volcanic geysers shooting steam straight out of the ground and causing the mud to boil... well worth tolerating our driver's latin club music for 10 hours. Tomorrow is for Ipods. Sleeping at 14,000 feet causes head and muscle aches for some.

Day 3
Another early wakeup call at 6:30 and we're tired from sitting in the 4x4 for 2 full days and have another long one. Flamingos at 14,000 feet in front of a snow-capped mountain is a new one for us. Rich survives a jump off a boulder in the Valley of Rocks. Kendra enjoys the sweet potatoes for lunch that are still good even in the rain. Lots of driving, snow-capped mountains in all directions. Beautiful. We settle in the tourist-trap known as Uyuni, settling for cold showers but they're oh-so-needed.

Day 4
The culmination and the highlight: The Salt Flat. Unbelievable. Incredible. Indescribable. It looks and feels like you're walking on the sky if it weren't for the salt crunching under for your feet. There is no horizon, it just disappears into the sky. The pictures are amazing. We spend well over an hour enjoying the surreal, unearthly place that's like no other we'll ever see. We come back to Uyuni and have some cold beverages with our now good friends the Swedes. We hit our pillows amazed, and exhausted.

Seriously, we have to come home in 2.5 months?!

Northwest Argentina: Wine and The Desert

Although it took much effort, we were finally able to drag ourselves away from the bustle of Buenios Aires and headed toward the northwest corner of Argentina, bordering Chile and Bolivia. Our time in Argentina was coming to an end, and although there is so much more to this country that we have to leave for next time, we have enjoyed what areas we were able to see and felt that some time in Argentina's wine country was a good way to say good-bye.

First, we stopped over in Salta, a nice medium sized city, to rest from our long bus ride. We then headed a few hours south to Cafayate. The area around Mendoza in Argentina is known for its red wine made from Malbec grapes, which we have sampled in restaurants throughout Argentina. However, Cafayate is known for its white Torrontes, although there are also a few red wines floating around as well. The torronte grape grows particularly well in the Cafayate valley. The small town itself is surrounded by miles of vineyards and miles of desert. We spent two days walking and biking to the various vineyards for tastings and then one day touring the surrounding desert.

After we felt well informed enough to settle on our favorite white and red wines to purchase, we hit the road again heading back north to Jujuy, another medium sized city. North of Jujuy are some beautiful desert areas and we spent one night Purmamarca. Although tourists may flock to this town, they are completely justified by the colors of the surrounding landscape. Most famous is a large hill overshadowing the town that´s known for having 7 different colors of rocks in various layered formations -- hence the name ¨7 Colors Hill¨. Although this hill was very beautiful, we were particularly struck by the hills we saw on an afternoon walk as these same 7 colors were repeated in more isolated forms. There would be one hill that was bright orange, while the hill next to it was purple (yes, it was actually purple even if the camera did not quite pick it up).

Some of our pictures have been updated from the past few days, while others we have not had the chance to upload. Additionally, more desert pictures are on the way as we are preparing for a 4 day tour of the Salt Flats in Bolivia. (And yes, for those who know Kendra well and have ever had the unfortunate experience of talking about the desert with her, she is in heaven here).

Buenos Aires

Having lived in a metropolis like Chicago, we love our big cities. We love the subway and the crowds, even the weird smells and crazy characters. We've had some cities we've really loved during our last 10 months travelling - Medellin, Cartagena, Cuenca - but until now we have yet to run into a truly exceptional, real metropolis.

Buenos Aires is everything a big city should be. It's diverse, beautiful, sprawled, and full of life and culture. There's a busy downtown business center and some really cool neighborhoods filled with character. It has a strong European influence and has great cafes, bakeries, restaurants, bars, and clubs. It's really, at the end of the day, a lot like Chicago and it's been great to pass the time in a place that feels both foreign and familiar.

In addition to it's familiarities Buenos Aires has unique characteristics as well. It's one of the world's Tango capitals and there are both those who dance on the street on a 5x5' platform and pose for pictures with tourists and there are the "real" tango clubs called "Milongas," where there's no sign outside, the real dancers show up, and the party gets started late.

The food is incredible, particularly the traditional Argentine Parrilla, the bakeries serving amazing sweets, the artisan ice cream, and the variety of international foods on offer. We are possibly leaving several pounds heavier than when we arrived but full of steak, sausage, and ice cream so you won't hear any complaints.

More than anything, there's just a great big city vibe here: wide avenues, big parks, great museums, and that big-city feel that we haven't found since Mexico City.

Here are some of our BA highlights:

- Staying in the character-rich neighborhood of San Telmo and the Sunday arts fair here
- Watching the outdoor Milonga for tango in the plaza
- Sipping on coffees in cafes, artisan ice cream in the park, and the best steak of our lives at a hole-in-the-wall local favorite
- Hanging out late with our local musician friend, Diego (who we met on our Panama-Colombia boat trip)
- Watching the horse races in San Isidro and losing our US$2.50 because "Stray Cat Blues" is slow as hell
- Wandering off the tourist trap blvd in historic La Boca to see the colorful neighborhood and avoid being asked to eat something, drink something, or take a picture of a "tango" dancer

Northward we go. Another 20+ hour bus trip. Sounds fun eh?