Sometimes nature really tries us

This is a piece of my diary that I found a while ago. I wrote this in 2014 during my travel in South America. 

I didn't really think of writing anymore, but this is a small story that I really want to share. 

La Paz, Bolivia 2014

Sometimes nature really tries us.

For a month we’ve had some really strong rains and storms in Bolivia. Towns in the jungle have suffered and been destroyed, but yesterday, it happened in La Paz. The rain was so strong that it wasn’t raining water drops anymore, it rained hailstones. It rained so hard that an outdoor roof in one university broke and fell down, on top of a young boy and he died.

Unfortunately, this boy happened to be one of my friend’s friend. He asked me to go with him to the funeral. They had been friends since the first grade, 14 years of friendship. I can not even imagine how it feels to loose one of your closest friends, with whom you have shared so many years. Of course I would go to be there for him.

The funeral was very sad but still beautiful, and for me it was interesting because I hadn’t been to a Bolivian funeral before.

I was surprised how many people attended. He was really loved, I imagine. I was told this boy was one of the happiest persons of the friend group. Also I think it touched people because of the tragical way he passed away. 

The funeral started in the church were the priest prayed with the people and they threw flowers on top of the coffin. From there, the coffin was moved to it’s grave. Once there, they played some really sad but still beautiful songs accompanied by a guitar, some prayers and the goodbyes of the family and closest friends. I couldn’t help my tears falling, even though I didn’t know this boy. Then the rest of the sorrowers could leave their flowers and goodbyes. 

After everyone had gone, my friend's little group gathered around the grave and had their little own memorial. They had a quiet moment for him and then started each on their turn give a little speech for him, remembering his good qualities or moments they’d spend together. All though it wasn’t a pleasant moment, it was beautiful to see how much these guys cared about their friend and how so many years spending together really makes you know a person.

Life is not always fair. Nature is unpredictable, sometimes it tries us more than we could take. I didn’t know this boy, but I felt sorry and sad of course because he was close to my friend but also because he had my age, he was just a kid, 20 years old with a whole life ahead. What did he do or his family to deserve this? Nothing. That’s the world we live in. Nothing is sure, we never know what will happen tomorrow or the day after.  That’s why we have to enjoy every moment, day, hour and second we get. Remember to tell to the people around us that we love them, forgive those we haven’t forgiven yet, do things we’ve always wanted to do, cherish every moment of life and make it rememberable — for the people who didn’t get the chance for it.

Rest in peace Juan Pablo. 

Amazing Iguazú

A place of peace and power, a place where everything else is forgotten, where minerals of water drops refresh your skin and happiness and harmony full fill your mind. The waterfalls of Iguazú, the greatest waterfalls on earth, is a place where nature shows it's beauty and power. 

Feeling the soft water on my skin and listening to the endless and loud flow of the water, even just seeing the amazing Iguazú waterfalls was the moment where I realized how small I am and how powerful the nature is.

Once again I was enchanted by South America.

Buenos Aires and Rosario

Back to the city life! In a way it was nice to came back to a big city but it was also quite a shock. I bought the flights to Buenos Aires three days before the flight, I didn't have any plans, but thanks for my partly hosts and partly travel mates Minea, Jula and Emma I didn't have to, they had already planned lots of stuff.

We headed to Rosario - the home city of Jula, Messi and Che Guevara.  I loved every second of Rosario. I really felt the Argentinean vibe there: Drinking mate - the traditional argentinian drink, having an asado -  a barbecue and a taste of the real Argentinean meat, hearing football on every possible radio and passionate fans expressing them selves for their team, drinking wine at late dinners and experianceing the bohemian nightlife - all very stereotypical but real.

Rosario was perfect, a bit smaller than Buenos Aires, but still a city with lots of things to offer.

 Unquestionably the best part of Rosario and Buenos Aires was the people. Besides our amazing crew also the local people, they were all so nice and helpful and very proud of their country, eager to share and show their culture.

After Rosario we went back to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is like a mix of the southern European capitals with a latin vibe it's a city of life, lights and endless nights. We did all the crucial tourist sightseeing in Buenos Aires, best of them being the San Telmo Market and the cemetery of La Recoleta, both very inspiring places. The market of San Telmo is a ridiculously long street full of interesting handcrafts, design, antiques, and art, perfect way of spending a sunday exploring all the things that San Telmo has to offer, including the amazing graffiti art on the side streets. La Recoleta the famous cemetery where the elite souls of Argentina rest (including the adored Evita) is a maze of statues, detailed vaults  and sidewalks, an ideal place for wonderers. Walking the streets of Buenos Aires it is inevitable to feel yourself small these streets are huge and the buildings are huge, all in all Buenos Aires gives a really impressive impression. 

Back in Perú

I've never had much interest in Peru but because of my dear little sister I've been there many times and that's why after Ecuador  I headed to Peru again. However, this trip changed my whole idea about Peru. I arrived to Lima but headed straight to a little village called Chicama in the department of La Libertad. The busdrive was absolutely fascinating, the bus drove on a coastal road where there was a landscape of the beautiful sea and sunset on the left side, and on the right I could see huge sand-covered mountains, it was an extraordinary an beautiful contrast of different colours and different shapes on the landscape on each side of the windows. In addition of the excellent bus service with food and pillows included, the 9 hours drive passed by in a blink.

As soon as I got my dear little Andrea (who wasn't that little anymore) to my arms I realized how much I've missed her. Even though, I only get the chance to see her every two years, I love her the most. She is the smartest, cutes and sometimes the most annoying little girl I know, haha. The days we spent together I tried to make it the best for us. I turned to be a kid again with her. Andrea made me jump and play on trampolines, she made me giggle like a little girl before going to bed and I even found myself running around the house with my face painted and doing the indian dance, there's nothing I wouldn't do for my little sister! 

Andrea lives in a small very peruvian village, Chicama, in the middle of the big corn and sugarcane fields. I loved the place, it's funny that we live in places so different, but I'm happy that she can live in Chicama. It's a quiet place where children can play outside safely, where everyone is somehow related to one and other or at least knows each other, where the whole community works for the common well-being, and for example Andrea's grandparents have a farm and a vineyard where they take care of the animals and can live a very down-to-earth kind of life. It made me think a lot about my childhood and the places where I grew up. I've always been a city girl, but now I learned to love the countryside. I think the environment where Andrea is growing up is ideal for a small child like her. I wish I had the opportunity of playing on the streets with all my cousins when I was a child or for example having chickens or getting our own eggs from the backyard... I'm very thankful for the big family of Andrea's in Chicama for making me feel like home, for letting me into their lives and showing me places around. I'm thankful because I've found one place more, where I can feel like home.

Living the Coastal Life

"I’m sitting in a bus on the coastal roads of Ecuador, going from Puerto Lopez back to Montañita. Latin music is playing on the bus, it's salsa. I feel so happy and loving. I love South America, I love traveling, I love being on the road and I love the people I’m surrounded by. I feel better than I’ve felt in weeks. We just went to an amazing fishing town called Puerto Lopez, I loved it. We ate some seafood, got to now a local family, we snorkeled in the pacific ocean and got burned under the sun. Now, we're heading back to Montañita, the ultimate party town on the beach, to spend our last night with Zac. It’s hard to explain this happiness, but I feel like I belong to the waves of the sea and the unknown roads that are taking me to places I never thought I would see.”

                                                                                                                                       Ecuador 2.2.2014

           

Ecuador was lovely. The sea and beach always brings a certain atmosphere and feeling to the environment. 

In Montañita , the ”Magaluf” of South America as Sara and Zac called it, I loved sleeping late, having fresh fruit juices for breakfast, laying on the beach, checking surfers with a cuba libre in hand, sharing experiences with other travelers and, of course, partying at nights! The coastal chilled life tought me to live day by day, enjoy the moment and it made me do exciting things like surfing or dance in the club like-nobody-is-watching.

A fishermen’s town called Puerto Lopez, where all the rush and stress is forgotten, got me enchanted. I loved the easy-living life of this place with it's calm and relaxed atmosphere where people make their living of fishing and spend afternoons laying on the hammocks. I don't know what else to say, as I wrote before, I felt happy and free, no more words.

Sunset in Lima

"I fell in love at the seaside"

Sara and I have had many magical moments during our travels, and this was one of them.

This is how best things happen in life, without planning and as a surprise, without expectations. We weren't supposed to go to Peru, but we had a long long wait for our flight to Ecuador, so we decided to go out and we knew that we wanted to go directly to the sea. 

We went to the Miraflores beach, on a beautiful and safe area in Lima. 

We sat on the rocks on the beach and immediately got hypnotized. 

The beach of Miraflores is rocky, full of little, soft and round rocks. The sound of the waves crashing with those rocks was something I hadn't heard or felt before. The rocks made the waves sound strong but still very calm, it was something that just kept both of us quiet. We didn't need any words, I think we both knew what we were living and just wanted to enjoy the moment. It was perfect: surfers in the landscape, the sleek rocks under our bare toes and little water drops of the waves refreshing our skin. 

And when the evening arrived, and the sunset begun... It left us breathless and without words. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.

The Death Road

Our last adventure with Sara in Bolivia was the "Death Road"!

The death road is a road that links between the mountains of La Paz and the tropical jungle of Coroico (a town I already posted about). It has been named the world's most dangerous road, because of it's narrowness, danger of rock falling, lack of guard rails, fogginess and muddiness on rain seasons. People die on this road almost every year. However, this is the "old road" (still in use though) nowadays there is also a new and safe one, but the old road has been an exotic tourist attraction of mountain biking for many years.

The biking starts in La Cumbre 4650 meters above sea level, one of the highest point in La Paz. Even though the first kilometers are easy, biking on asphalt, I was still freaking out. It was so scary, the speed was just uncontrollable and when we got to the part of the rocky road, I almost cried. 

Anyways after biking a while I got used to it and I could really enjoy the ride. In the end, I think it was awesome! 

After I could relax a little bit with the bike, I began to enjoy the views and every smell and feeling I got on the road. I felt the wind, the fresh andean air blowing to my face, I could feel the humid and warm air of the rainforest,  I felt the water drops of the little waterfalls, I felt the rocks under the wheels of the bike...

The sensation and adrenaline I got of biking on these crazy roads was amazing, at the same time I felt as I was going to to die but still felt more alive than ever! 

We were so on to this with Sara that we also did the zip-sliding on these mountains. It felt like flying, I almost felt like a bird, haha. It was incredible to see everything from above and actually feel free in the air, I loved every second of it.

© These pictures are not taken, but they are edited by me, the original pictures are from the mountain biking company Barracuda.