my expedition to latin america ended bitter-sweet. i left the best for last, lovely argentina. a country full of warm, loving people, who care greatly about their quality of life, and have the means to enjoy high standards. a country beautifully decorated with european buildings, wild nature, and fashionable residents. a culture which is driven by soccer, tango and mate tea.

if you are aroused by divine homemade chocolate, steaks that only few kings were fortunate enough to enjoy, a ski resort considered the best in the southern hemisphere, a large selection of natural resorts to visit nearby and the loveliest people of humankind, you might want to spend a few nights in the little town of bariloche. i spent the majority of my time there.



i took my first and only snowboard class the day after i arrived. the rest of the week was spent on the white mountain coloring my butt with blue and purple marks. i haven't enjoyed such a rush since i first learned to fire a rifle in military boot camp. it's just you, fresh powder and speed.

buenos aires has made it into my exclusive 'best-cities-to-live-in' list. similar to vancouver and barcelona, buenos aires displays a fine complimenting integration of cozy and happy home life with business and economy flow. no wonder that 45% of argentina's citizens chose the big city.

businesses open around brunch hour, shut down sooner than later for the afternoon siesta, then reopen in the evening for another sale or two - only, of course, if there is no soccer tonight. easy, happy, tranquil life.

i mentioned my journey ended bitter-sweet. argentina was the sweet. my stop for a day in lima, peru for a connection to new york was the bitter. the taxi i rode from the airport to the hostel was robbed by a group of six armed men. they cleaned me out of all i had; passports, money and my brand new guitar included. after 36 hectic hours of hoping between the police, the american embassy, my airline company and random israeli travelers for a loan, i collapsed in my plane seat, happy to get away.

at least now i could travel light.

so these are the five last, and only, pictures from my voyage in latin america. they were saved in my sent items box.

some where in peru, hidden deep in the outskirts of lima, sit a filthy thief with his family by the dinner table, and admire my photography skills applied to the marvelous sights of argentina. you'll have fly out there to see it for yourselves.

it's good to be back home.

what do you do when a powerful enemy is on its way to attack your tribe and burn down your village? obvious - flee to the nearest lake and live on a boat for the next 500 years. disagree? tell that to the Uro tribe in lake titicaca, south peru.



being the first to know how to build boats, the tribe fled to the lake center where they were unreachable by enemy. since malicious red-eyed soldiers waited for their return on the coast line, the tribe was forced to remain in their (excellent water view) location and established a rather aquatic life style, fishing and all. they clustered their boats together, 20 to 25 boats a cluster, and, property tax being so cheap, built islands based on their boats by filling them up with hay. they would trade fish in the inland market for supplies and anchored their islands to the lake´s floor to make it easier on the postal service to deliver their mail.



cusco is like ants in a rich chocolate cake; the spectacular city, built by best of the inca and spaniard´s minds and hands, located in an elevated valley surrounded by beautiful mountain tops - is inhabited by pests.
now excuse me, citizens of peru and members of the politically correct organization, but a great majority of my interaction with the local natives were upsetting. maybe its a cultural thing, or perhaps the lousy economy, but it seemed that the all the locals care about is getting my money. they would cheat, lie and rip you off or rob you to get it.



put your bag between your legs on the bus, and they will crawl from under your seat, cut it open and take your valuables. walk in the city center during broad daylight, and they will spit on you then steal your wallet while helping you clean up. enjoy a free drink on the bus, fall into deep sweet sleep and later discover you´ve been drugged and robbed along with all the passengers.



they are professional thieves. some aim for money, some for valuables, some for everything you own. thieves are all over the globe, this i know, but you can feel them everywhere and constantly in peru and bolivia. they tired me out.


all roads lead to rome, and many to the macchu picchu. we chose the five day trek which takes you around the highly erected salkantay mountain.


being my first long trek in south america, i learned to really appreciate comfortable sofas; apparently i´m not a trekking kind of guy. beautiful views i love, sense of accomplishment is great, outdoors and nature is a blessing, but working so hard for it? i don't know. i thought henry ford and the wright brothers were on to something when they invented modern modes of transportation.


once the views and company sinks in, your ipod is on its second run, you haven't showered for three days, smell like sweat and bug repellent, gain a few extra pounds from all that sun screen, and can't think of a thing except getting there before it's too dark and mosquito festival begins, you think to yourself maybe the train wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all.



arriving at the macchu picchu put a sock in my complaints...


being an old putz in a young body, as myself, i don´t get too excited from anything at all nowadays. however, when i saw the macchu picchu - dios mio - i was on the floor!


home town to people of the inca tribe thousands of years ago, the macchu picchu is a village which was constructed beside the clouds on moutain tops in a spectacular area.


it is amazing to learn that some of the huge rocks used to contruct the village must have been carried to the summit, since they are not part of the mountain. nobody knows how they got there.
also, it seems that the inhabitants were by far advanced in their time, building astronomical constructions to study the stars, designing an impressive aquadec system to distribute their water, and developing rock cutting techniques which were only discovered in egypt in that era.

i spent the day wandering about in the village, admiring the incas.



later on things got a little dry, so we caught a bus to the river, put on a wet suit and jumped into the rafting boat.


i recommend bringing a change of clothes...



... also if you´re planning to do the 100m mountain repelling. your underwear will get soaked.



i thought sand existed just as cushioning at the beach and to give you a reason to clean behind your ears. apparently it does some more. ika's sand dunes are number one in my attraction list of peru.



just like a roller coaster that feels less safe, a buggy takes you up and down the sand dunes, throwing your guts all over the place. we stop at the summit of a dune, pull out wooden boards, wax them up, strap ourselves down, and SANDBOARD the whole way to the bottom. sssuper fun!!



israelis travel a certain route in south america. some travel it north to south (the descending wave) and some up-side-down (the ascending wave). the wave taken usually depends on the weather. at one end of the route, where beginning travellers get tips for the trip enders, who in exchange ask about things in the holy land, is a small town named Hauraz.

also known as peru's trekking capital, hauraz is located in a magnificent area up north, an area defined by national geographic as home to the second most beautiful trek in the world.



Of course, having recently discovered that trekking is not quite my cup of tea, i crossed off half the activities the town had to offer, and stuck to one day stands. what hauraz offers to lazy-bum-who-need-immediate-and-thrilling-amusement people like myself is rock and ice climbing.


now that's definitely my cup of tea; with no sugar and a side treat, just the way i like it.


access is hard, but not impossible, the sign says. very encouraging.


i spent two weeks climbing rocks and ice, reading books and watching movies, playing cards and eating ice cream in the lovely little town. it was true vacation.

wondering what those white and brown fuzzy things are? they aren't quite the bolivian version of barbie dolls; they are dried alpaca bodies. now on sale for a good price at the witch market in central la paz. buy one, get the second for half price.
is your right eyebrow sailing high over your head, wondering? then let me explain. the witch market hosts also various animal parts, colorful talisman of different sorts, powder and liquid potions for random needs, all beside shady toothless witch-saleswomen eager to sell.


la paz, the governmental capital of bolivia, home to over one million, one of the poorest cities in south america (av income $50/mo), could be best described as one huge market place. every street you turn on, people will try to sell you something. they will be waiting behind their stands, or sitting by their goods on the street, they will be running after you wheeling their carts, or walking up to you holding merchandise in their hands, they will be handing out flyers for lodging and dining or offering a meticulous shoe shine while you read the paper.

being a poor and rather undeveloped country living by the influence of a more progressive world, the bolivians found ways to live like the privileged, by cheaper means. take, for example, the human bowling machine. notice the jean's wrapped legs by the pins in the following picture. for $1 per person he will clear the fallen pins, replace them in structure and throw the balls back to you during the 10 rounds of the game. scores are maintained by hand. you get extra points for striking his legs by either the ball or one of the airborne pins.


apparently the bolivians have been watching a little too much TV. at the peak of one of the mountains circling la paz, 4000m above sea level, on sunday nights, a shabby hall hosts a wrestling ring, maybe 200 excited viewers, a referee and four of the most ridiculous looking bolivian men who are the great warriors of the WWF match. oranges and eggs flying everywhere, soda spraying in the air, the crowd goes wild cheering as the black and yellow masked wrestle dancer bounces from side to side gaining velocity for his flying-super-kick. hahhaha. excellent entertainment.




a couple of couple of (4) hours from la paz, many mountains, fields and herds of goats away, resides the town of sorata by a lovely lake formed by melted mountaintop snow. this pleasant town which enjoys divine beauty of nature all around, offers adventure-thirsty backpackers like myself a 3 day hike into mist of the mountaintops.


the way offers spectacular views and excellent weather..

.. a chance to meet local families who live on mountainside agriculture ..

.. a better understanding of the local trend of tranquilo - relaxation and easiness ..

.. a lagoon at 5000m where you can bathe with the clouds.

we never reached the top. first we ran out of air. then we ran out of sun light. it was when we ran out of oreo cookies when we decided it's time to turn back.

the sheep were happy to see us on our way back to town. and from there back to la paz.

after spending a couple of days by the toilet in the shabby la paz hotel room, vomiting my soul into their lousy sewage system, i realized it's not a wise idea to eat beetroot again. in my life. eating food in bolivia in general is like a game of russian roulette. the bullet is one of the rich selection of diseases bolivia is proud to offer their tourists. i was shot, most likely, by an amoeba. lucky me, it got bored and ended its tour in my body after 2 days.

rurrenabaque is located 18 fearful and sweaty hours away by bus via the route of death for the economy travellers. it's 50 minutes away by flight for those who the care about their lives. i can't say that a bolivian flight is much safer, but at least you know if you'll survive the trip much quicker. plus, you gotta admit it, death is much more dramatic from a plane.

anyhow, rurrenabaque (pronounced roo-ra-nabaka, or aroor-ha-nabaka in hebrew) is where you go if you are a bit too white from the office fluorescent lights, if you saw animals only in a zoo and the national geographic channel, and if you have very good mosquito repellent spray. rurrenabaque is the gate to the wild life of the jungles and swamps of north bolivia.




we spent two days living like mogli deep in exotic and tropical jungles. our experienced guide introduced us to some of the local inhabitants. he impressed us with his expanded knowledge of the types of trees, methods of animals survival, and practically how to live off the jungle with nothing but a machete. we impressed him with our fantastic off deep woods mosquito repellent spray and large selection of snacks we brought along from town.


here's the party bug. goes wild under ultra violet.

we discovered a tree that contains water fine to drink. i couldn't find the beer tree.

we came across a tree which could practically park a large group of tourist-mogli-wanna-be's for the night,

a tree who doesn't want to be climbed,

and a tree that looks like mushrooms. oh wait, those are mushrooms.

so much for living like a true jungle boy - our camp included cabins, a kitchen and mess hall and a working baño (toilet).

next it was to the home of shrek. three days in the swamps.

these three days were probably one of the chief highlights in my bolivia trip. our guide, antonio - a true mench, showed us some of the most exotic and obscure creatures of the liberal wild life.

from the rat family. possibly the uncle or second cousin. maybe 100 times a rat's size. you know you're in trouble when one of these comes out of a hole in your wall..

lil' monkey nibbling some fruit on a tree..

peculiar homosapien mammal swimming beside our boat hoping for an oreo cookie..

trees camouflaging behind a green bird..

a yellow warbler doing what he does best - which is being a yellow warbler,

and polly. wants a cracker.

of course, being a group of 10 young and stupid israeli individuals, antonio arranged some excitement to satisfy our greed for adventure.

so we each put a baby alligator in our mouths.

i couldn't fit it's mother in my mouth, so i plainly held her up for the photo.

still thirsty for action, antonio took us to a swampy field to try to catch an anaconda snake. yeah, right, my job is to catch an anaconda snake. sure. fortunately, after 30 minutes antonio caught one and relieved me from my job.

at first, it seemed a little hostile.

but sooner than later, we became tight friends.

we fished our own dinner - pirana fish. it's rather ironic that we use good meat to catch those blood thirsty piranas. i put my money that the bait meat would have been a better meal.

days ended, and we were back to rurrenabaque. i figured, if i'm on my way back to that decaying, moth-eaten, scrubby plane risking my life anyway, i might as well rent a motorcycle before the flight. i never rode a motorcycle.


it was great fun.

goodbye bolivia!
next stop, peru.