Bolivian Altiplano, Iguazu Falls and many BA blocks walked

So we've made it! We've made it through and this is the end of our oddyssey (or almost!). Here we are in Buenos Aires again with our flights to old Europe confirmed. Couple hours to sleep yet, backpacks to be packed, one more lunch (destined to be "Peruvian", not Argentinian;-) to be eaten, last Radio Taxi to be taken. Home sweet home is calling....

But let's talk about what has been, yet hasn't been described... Some days ago I was suffering in Bolivia. I soooo wanted to include Bolivia in our itinerary and then Bolivia gave me a big thank you for that! Just joking...But it ain't no joke that my head was hurting most of our time there and more often than not it threatened to split my head in two halves, plus I also had difficulty breathing, moving and even sleeping. Oh, well...high altitudes (that I never used to have problems with)!
And what have we seen? We've seen the National Natural Reserve of Eduardo Avaroa with beautiful lagoons, multicolored flamingoes, numerous volcanoes, lots of vicunas (wild lamas) and we even bathed in natural hotsprings there. We've traversed the biggest salt pan on the planet - Salar de Uyuni. We slept in a salt hotel where - guess what! - everything was made of salt, beds included but not the sheets;-) We've had an incredibly sweet and informative driver/guide and a great cook (his wife). We've had nice company of a UK couple. The highest point were the geysers Sol de manana - 4 875 metres above the sea level. The highest we slept was 4 275 m. After three days in and around a 4x4 we reached the town of Uyuni (3 660 meters above the sea level) where temperatures were low.
From there - after a quick consideration - we headed north to Oruro. We simply had no strenghts for Potosi (over 4 thousands meters again). At Oruro we met up with the great and the only Juan Carlos, my friend from ISFiT 2003. The same night we had a cozy room in his family's house and the next day his dad cooked his special occasion Quechuan meal for us. Delicious. Wonderful. Sweet. JC took us a bit around Oruro together with his cousin Mauricio as well before we headed to La Paz.
La Paz is phenomenal! We never expected to find the most attractive South American city in Bolivia, to tell you the truth. (Keep in mind we're only judging based on where we have travelled, so no Peru included here.) La Paz is situated in a big canyon, downtown and posh parts being at the bottom, the poorer you are the higher you live (and the better view you have;-) In the night the city reminds of a Christmas tree. The historical part has plenty of colonial architecture (really pretty) and there's even a street remindful of Prague! Wow!
After checking out La Paz we went to the gate to Isla del Sol on the Titicaca Lake - the town of Copacabana. This used to be a religious center and the goal of many pilgrims...nowadays it's tourists and more tourists. Copacabana is quite a small town nestled among hills and it has a pretty cathedral and a charming chapel of candles. Isla del Sol is about two hours away (slow boat ride, there are no faster boats for mortal beings) and it's beautiful. There's quite a few Inca ruins, friendly village people, amazing nature, doable trek the trail of which reminds of the Chinese wall;-). We walked the island north to south, enjoyed the scenery, I bought some little trinkets from little girls and old grannies on the way and we slowly went back.
Next day was spent at Tiahuanacu. I first read about this place when I was 14 or so in one of the Erich von Daniken's books. Ever since I've been wanting to see the Puerta del Sol etc. And so here we were. Yes, some ruins are less authentic than others...but overall it's quite a nice experience. And mysterious, given that nobody knows where did this civilization dissappeared to...and it did dissappear completely!
This last Monday we flew out of La Paz to Buenos Aires especially to cook knedlo-hovezo-speno (a variation on the Czech national meal;-) for our friend Gabriel on the same night. The meal was great, although the dumplings showed some signs of lacking the hruba mouka (it's impossible to get here). The next day we were off to the famous Iguazu Falls at the border of Argentina and Brasil.
Water and more water, that's what was expecting us. The region was even warmer than Buenos Aires, that is, short sleaves and shorts or a summer dress were a perfect match. But soon enough it rained from above and the waterfalls were smashing the water over us from all sides. But it was well worth it! Amazing site, amazing feelings. We spent the whole day looking at that miracle and walking around (they are multiple and the area is, therefore, huge)....I didn't want to leave:(
And today the last must-does of Buenos Aires: The local museum of contemporary art (we got the support of the trotamundos Jenni and Libor;-), our favorite bife de chorizo place (the waiter recognized us after the month-long absence and shook my hand;-) and our favorite milonga, which featured the metropolitan tango championship! ;-) Crazily enough, we walked half of the city to Gabriel's home after enjoying that. ;-)

Time to get some sleep/energy for packing.
See ya soon...hasta pronto!