This entry covers 18 November
A free day at last to organise the next phase of my travels. Spent the day speaking to travels agents in Cusco and tour operators over the phone to find out whether heading to Bolivia would result in a blown up tourist bus or not. Most seemed to feel that the strikes had abated (although numerous websites site strikes as a way of life for Bolivians) and advised that the martial law declared in the Pando area was nothing to be concerned about. So without further adew, I decided to stick to my original itinerary and head to the land of corruption....over 200 presidents sinces its independence 189 years ago!
But first I have to inform you of the biggest coincidence since Harry met Sally...while doing all the Bolivian cross checks I bumped into Mark, Mitch and Mike (mates from Rhodes days)!!! With high fives all rounds we decided to celebrate fate by dining the the most non-exclusive of restaurants...word on the street had it that a 25 minutes taxi ride to the small village of Tapong is where the best guinea pig in town could be found. Cooked ¨the traditional way¨ in an oven as opposed to fried in the restaurants in Cusco we were presented with what looked like a skinless cane rat on steroids. The frog game (tossing coins onto a table on holes with the ultimate shot being into the frog´s mouth) made for a super vibe compnsating for the most horrific meal we forced our way through. Thankfully we had a 2 litre coke to wash it all down.
A drink at Rats Bar in Cusco seemed to be a fitting place to wave my fellow South African adios as the GAP Tour must go on...a flight to the Amazonian town of Puorto Maldinado awaited us in the morning.
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