Every morning Johnny climbed to the roof and loaded our backpacks up there with the help of some very large Germans in our group. We only brought our little day bags and our snacks in the car.

The funny thing is that when we went to book this trip, the lady who we talked to was SO insistent that we bring “lots of snacks or you’re going to be SO hungry.” She repeated it so many times that she completely had us convinced we were going to die of starvation over the four day ride.

I brought a ton of stuff and all I ended up eating were some cookies! I think she must go crazy warning tourists, especially fat American tourists, because one of the tripadvisor reviews said that they were hungry the entire time.

Anyways, one of the days, we drove past a small rock formation. Someone in our jeep asked if we could stop to take pictures. Johnny looked at us like we were crazy, but acquiesced.

Then we got to this weird field of volcanic rocks and we understood why he had been like, “REALLY? You want a picture of this tiny little solitary rock when we have all this coming up.” But to our credit, we didn’t know we had all this coming up.

Every day we spent a lot of time walking around and exploring, but we did it all at a snail’s pace because of the altitude. It was hard! 

I believe these photos are of a place called Lago Hediondo.

That translates into “Stinky Lake” in English. All the different lakes we stopped at had different mineral properties that gave them different colored waters, or in this case, made them stinky. Lago Hediondo supposedly has a lot of sulfur, but it didn’t smell too bad on the day we went there.

We were all relieved that we had better weather on our second day. It wasn’t nearly as windy.

The first day we’d had to cancel one of our stops and go to the refugio early because the wind was blowing so hard Johnny was afraid it was going to crack our windshield. He said it happens. Since I was the one sitting in the front seat, I was kind of worried for my pretty little face

More in this series:

A Trip Across the Bolivian Altiplano

Tierra Atacama

Dancing in the Streets (???) of Bolivia

Crossing the Border From Chile to Bolivia

El Altiplano de Bolivia | Day 1

Now back to the topic at hand.

I had some things weighing on my mind before I left Chile and by the time this trip to Bolivia rolled around, I was so ready to get out of dodge.

The temps were chilling but the angry storm clouds kind of went with my mood so I didn’t mind.

Our guide, Johnny, kept typical Bolivian music playing in the car the whole time on the first day. We’d later switch over to Rihanna and have a dance party in the middle of the Altiplano. If you haven’t watched that video yet, do yourself a favor and go have a laugh

The music relaxed me and the scenery helped soothe my soul.

I am completely drawing a blank on what those little guys above are called, but aren’t they adorable?

This “tour” was basically one really long road trip. We’d drive a few hours and then stop at somewhere marvelous to take pictures and check out the scenery. Most of the time it was too cold to get out for longer than a half an hour. This beautiful red lake (Laguna Colorada I believe) was one of my favorite stops.

We were all freezing, but happy to be there.

Most of the altiplano that we had been driving over, while stunning, was very uninhabited so it was refreshing to see some signs of life in the form of flamingos!

The sun finally peaked out for a little bit and all of us tourists enjoyed harassing photographing the flamingos.

I really think Laguna Colorada is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in all my travels. The textures and colors were just mind boggling. Sadly, travel photography is not one of my specialities, but I did what I could.

And did I mention there were llamas everywhere? We were all confused as to why they had colorful bows in their hair. Our uneducated guess was that they must have been tagged or something so the owners could keep track of them. Though that didn’t make much sense either because where would the owners live in the altiplano, its not like there were any towns around!

So I asked all-knowing Johnny. He said that the locals “decorate” the llamas for certain festivals and holidays throughout the year. That’s a way better answer than tagging them.

After about a half an hour the storm clouds came back out and the wind started biting again. We all scurried back up to the jeeps, but I’m not going to lie, the altitude was killer! Just walking slowly up that hill I don’t think I’ve ever been so out of breath in my life!

I wasn’t alone though. Everybody trudged along slowly to make it to the top.

We were traveling in 3 separate jeeps, with 6 tourists in each, plus 1 guide. Aun asi, the whole trip had a very solitary feel to it. I spent a long time in the front seat looking out the window and thinking, thinking, thinking.

Finally we arrived at our “refugio.” If you could hear how loud the wind was howling you’d realize that this structure was woefully inadequate for the elements. Sure, it looks cozy enough. But our group got the room with the windows and it felt like the cold air just passed right through them!

I spent the night burrowed in a sleeping bag under the thick wool blankets on the bed of the refugio. When they woke us up for breakfast at 5am, I did NOT want to get out bed. The whole trip was early to bed, early to rise, in part because electricity got turned off at 8pm I think it was.

While I shivered myself to sleep I couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible that just the day before I’d been staying in luxury (and warmth!) at the Tierra Atacama Hotel!

Not quite the same…

But off we went at that ungodly hour.

I’m not a morning person at all, but more flamingos made it worth it. We stopped at this lake to eat lunch sitting at a lovely rock tabletop.

After lunch, some people laid in the sun and some of us wandered around a little bit more. I loved these rocks that someone laid out. To be happy. That’s what we all want.

More in this series:

A Trip Across the Bolivian Altiplano

Tierra Atacama

Dancing in the Streets (???) of Bolivia

Crossing the Border From Chile to Bolivia

Esta es una carta abierta a todos los banqueteros en Chile:

Ayúdame a ayudarte.

Mira, sé que piensas que estás siendo súper inteligente por ahorrarte 25.000 pesos en comida al darle al fotógrafo y videógrafos una colación que probablemente te costó 1.000 pesos por persona en vez de un plato principal.

Pero estás equivocado. Yo diría que un 80% de mis clientes me contratan antes de siquiera empezar a buscar banquetero. ¿Y a quién crees que acuden cuando quieren recomendaciones de a quién dar sus 10.000.000 de pesos que van a gastar en comida? Acuden a alguien que ha ido a más matrimonios en el último año de  lo que ellos irán es sus vidas. Te voy a dar una pista….esa persona soy YO. El pequeño fotógrafo que tú crees no merece un plato caliente de comida.

¿De verdad crees que recomendaría a un banquetero rasca que da una mierda de sandwich frío que ni siquiera le darías a tu perro? Ah, seguro.

¿Quiénes son los banqueteros top en Santiago? Mis favoritos son Paulo Russo, Francesca Margozzini,Marta Correa y Sofia Jottar.

Te apuesto que alguno de los banqueteros que sirven horrendas colaciones se cortarían un coco por tener la mitad del éxito que tienen los banqueteros nombrados más arriba

Bueno, acá les tengo un pequeño secreto – Paulo, Francesca, Marta y Sofía tratan a todos… incluso la gente trabajando para el matrimonio… muy bien.

En mi experiencia con ellos cuatro, ellos han tenido alguien de su equipo que se ha acercado a nosotros y nos ha preguntado cuándo nos gustaría que nos sirvieran nuestra comida. Esto también es diferente de lo acostumbrado. Normalmente el banquetero dice: “No, tienen que esperar hasta que los 400 invitados terminen de comer y después les servimos”.  Lo siento mucho, amigo, pero cuando todo el mundo termine de comer, nosotros tenemos que trabajar. Cuando todo el mundo termine de comer, eso significa que van a estar bailando y te apuesto que la novia y el novio no van a estar muy contentos contigo si sus fotógrafos están o cansados y hambrientos, o en algún lugar escondidos tratando de devorar un sándwich en 2 minutos cuando empieza la fiesta.

Y mi experiencia con Paulo, Francesca, Marta y Sofia, ellos también nos han servido la misma comida deliciosa que están comiendo los invitados y nos han dado un lugar donde sentarnos.

Así que saquemos la cuenta. Lo que le cuesta a Paulo Russo servirnos dos platos de comida = ¿25.000 pesos quizás? Dudo que sus costos sean tan altos. Pero la ganancia para Paulo Russo, cuando una novia está decidiendo entre él y algún otro banquetero y yo le digo que Paulo es absolutamente increíble, que si me fuese a casar mañana no le confiaría mi baquetearía a nadie más y esa novia lo contrata basado en mi recomendación = entre 10.000.000 y 25.000.000. Haz tú el cálculo.

Incluso si eres un imbécil, y no quieres tener un negocio exitoso de banquetería en Chile, entonces hablemos de otra cosa – ser una persona decente. ¿Tú sabes que los fotógrafos han estado de pie probablemente 4 o 5 horas para el momento en que se sirve la comida y que aún tienen que estar de pie por otras 5 o 6 horas? Si fueras tú, ¿no te gustaría una rica comida?

Como nota extra, y mientras estamos en el tema, debería dirigir esto a novias y novios también.

Nosotros hemos sido lo suficientemente afortunados de que casi nunca nos han servido estas colaciones, ¡toco madera! Nuestros novios son los mejores y siempre se han preocupado de que nosotros comamos bien.

Pero lo voy a decir de todas formas… ¿quién crees que va a trabajar más duro y a  tomar mejores fotos, ir mas allá y en general tener más energía en tu matrimonio? ¿El fotógrafo que se comió un sándwich indecente que era demasiado asqueroso para incluso comer, o el que pudo tomar un descanso de 15 minutos para sentarse y comer una comida de verdad?

¡NO ES UN CONCEPTO DIFÍCIL DE CACHAR!

ES SIMPLEMENTE DECENCIA

La moraleja de la historia, banqueteros, no sean cagados y tendrán un mejor negocio. Novios, no sean cagados y tendrán mejores fotos.

Fin.

These are other photographers’ pictures of some of the meals they’ve been served at weddings. I have nothing against subway if it’s at least fresh, but I’m sure this had been sitting around for ages before it got eaten.

Estas son algunas fotos de otros fotógrafos de las comidas que les han servido durante matrimonios. No tengo nada en contra de Subway cuando está por lo menos fresco, pero seguro que llevaba un buen rato antes de que lo comieran.

Seriously banqueteros? You’re disgusting.

¿En serio, banqueteros? Son asquerosos.

Ok, a dried out piece of chicken and some french fries…it could definitely be worse.

Bueno, un pedazo de pollo seco con algunas papitas fritas… podría ser peor.

But even in the case of the last meal, which doesn’t look totally disgusting, I know for a fact that the bride and groom are usually charged at least 10,000 pesos for the vendor. That’s about 20 USD…and that’s what they serve for that price? What a rip off! The bride and groom are not the ones at fault, I’d say most of the time they probably have no idea what their caterer is serving their photographers/videographers.

Pero incluso en el caso de la última comida, que no se ve totalmente asquerosa, yo sé que les cobran por lo menos 10,000 pesos a los novios por este plato. Eso son más o menos 20 dólares… ¿y eso es lo que sirven por ese precio? ¡Qué estafa! Los novios no son los que tienen la culpa, yo diría que la mayoría de las veces probablemente no tienen idea lo que su banquetero les sirve a los fotógrafos/ videógrafos.

This is an open letter to all the caterers in Chile:

Help me to help you.

Listen, I know you think you’re being really clever by saving yourself $50 worth of food by giving the photographers and videographers a vendor meal that probably cost you $2 dollars a head instead of a main plate.

But you’re not. I’d say 80% of my clients hire me before they ever even begin looking for a caterer. And who do you think they go to when they want recommendations as for who to give their $20,000 that they’re going to spend on food to? They come to someone who has been to more weddings in the past year than they’ll go to in their entire lives. I’ll give you a hint…that person is ME. The lowly photographer that you think doesn’t deserve a hot plate.

Do you really think I’d ever recommend some shitty caterer who give some shitty limp cold sandwich that you wouldn’t even feed your dog? Ha. Yeah right.

Who are the top caterers in Santiago? I’d go with my personal favorite, Paulo Russo, along with Francesca Margosini and Sofia Jottar.

I’d bet you that some of the caterers that serve these horrendous vendor “meals” would cut off their left nut to be even half as successful as those I named above.

Well here’s a little secret — Paulo, Francesca and Sofia treat everybody…even the people working at the wedding…very well.

In my experiences with all three of them they’ve had staff approach us and ask us when we’d like our food served. That’s also a different experience from the norm. A typical caterer says, “No, you have to wait until all 400 guests are done eating, then we’ll serve you.” Sorry buddy, when everybody is done eating, we have to work. When everybody is done eating, that means they’re dancing and I’d bet that the bride and groom won’t be very happy with you if their photographer is either tired and starving by that point, or off somewhere trying to wolf down a sandwich when the action starts.

And in my experience with Paulo, Francesca and Sofia, they’ve also given us the same delicious food the guests are eating, a place to sit and a waiter who brought us drinks.

So let’s do the math. Cost to Paulo Russo to serve us two hot meals =$50? Maybe? I doubt his costs are even that high. But earnings to Paulo Russo when a bride is going between him and somebody else and I tell said bride that Paulo is absolutely amazing and if I were getting married tomorrow I wouldn’t trust my catering to anybody else and she hires him based off of my recommendation = $20,000-50,000? You do the math.

Even if you’re an idiot and you don’t want a successful catering business in Chile, then let’s talk about something else — be a decent human being. You know that the photographers have been on their feet for probably at least 4-5 hours by the time dinner is even served and that they’ll still be there for another 5-6 hours. If it were you, wouldn’t you want a nice meal?

As a side note, while we’re on the subject, I should direct some of this to brides and grooms. We have been fortunate enough that we are almost never served vendor meals, knock on wood!

But I’ll say it anyways…who do you think is going to work harder to take better pictures, go the extra mile and just generally have more energy at your wedding? The photographer who picked at a crappy sandwich that was too disgusting to eat, or the one who got a 15 minute break to sit down and eat a real meal?

IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE PEOPLE.

It’s common decency.

Moral of the story. Caterers, don’t be shitheads and you’ll get more business. Novios, don’t be shitheads and your pictures will be better.

The end.

And here are a few of the books I’ve read lately:

Blood Bones and Butter: By Gabrielle Hamilton

I like memoirs and this book didn’t disappoint. One of NYC’s top chefs writes about her crazy childhood, her glam French mother’s decline, her parent’s divorce, the way she basically raised herself, her struggle through the catering kitchens of NYC and how she came to love food. While I found it to be a very entertaining read, I really couldn’t relate to the author much. Not because she’s not a good writer, simply because I’m not a foodie. But for die-hard foodies out there, I think this is a must-read.

Delirium, Pandemonium, and Hana. By Lauren Oliver

More young adult books. I can’t help it, I’m into them right now! And these were good. This is yet another post-apocalyptic society where people are turned into unfeeling robots with a special surgery when they hit a certain age, because the government tells them that love is a disease that will make them crazy and destroy their lives. I really enjoyed Delirium and Pandemonium, though I didn’t like Hana – it was basically just a retelling of Delirium through another character’s eyes.

Defending Jacob. By William Landay

I shocked myself by absolutely loving this book. Legal thrillers are absolutely not my thing. I read them on occasion when people recommend them to me and they’re fine, they occupy my time, but I’m not like, “Oh, where’s the next legal thriller book I can get my hands on!” Anyways, the premise is really similar to the Jodi Picoult book, House Rules, which I also enjoyed. You can read the description here but my opinion is that this was a really well written novel and got me more emotionally involved than this genre usually does. I could not put it down!

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. By Suzanne Collins

I had to re-read this books for the 10^th time since the movie was coming out. Actually, I thought I’d refresh my memory with The Hunger Games only but of course, once I started, I couldn’t read just one. Reminded me yet again, why I love books so much more than movies. The movie was great, they did an awesome job with casting, in particular. But the richness of the whole story is in Katniss’ head and the way you can feel her fear. It just doesn’t come across in the movie the way it does in the book.

Katniss the Cattail: An Unauthorized Guide to Names and Symbols in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. By Valerie Estelle Frankel

In the same vein, I also picked up this guide to The Hunger Games. I learned a lot about why Suzanne named certain characters certain things and a lot of parts in the book that I thought were just random I found out were actually symbolic, so that was cool. The book is cheap for Kindle and quick to read so I’d say it’s worth it.

Growing Up Amish. By Ira Wagler

This was another interesting memoir. I liked it even more than Blood, Bones & Butter. Growing up in Michigan, we’d often drive through Amish town on our way down to Florida and their communities have always held a certain fascination for me. This book was a total eye-opener as to the way they live and some of the things people living in the communities go through. It got religious towards the end but not in a preachy, holier than thou way – just in a guy telling you his life story and that’s how it happens to end way.

Auschwitz. By Miklos Nyiszli

I was fascinated by this book, I couldn’t put it down. It’s not a page turner by any means, we all know the way the story ends. But the author really got into my head. He’s a Jewish doctor who ends up working with the famous, evil Dr. Mengele. The man is forced to experiment on his own kind. There really aren’t words to describe the horrors he witnesses but what makes this story even more interesting to me is the way he rationalizes the things he has to do in order to survive. You can almost feel the basic human instinct climbing out through the pages.

Memoirs of a Holocaust Survivor. By Icek Kuperberg

Kindle also suggested this to me and I didn’t love it. It’s a first person recollection from a Holocaust survivor, which of course is good to read. But it’s so dry that it feels more like a history book – then we woke and we were cold and they beat us and one of my friends died. The next day I found a way to get more soup. They sent me to work in another camp on the cattle cars. And so on. I am still glad I read it because I did learn a few things about the experience of a survivor, but like I said, it was so dry that I couldn’t really get into it or empathize. Part of the problem might be that I thought the narrator was a girl until ¾ of the way through the story when he says he was punched in the testicles.

The Mortal Instruments Trilogy. By Cassandra Clare

Yep, another YA series. But they’re so good! Not my favorites of all time but good enough to make me read through all three books pretty much without stopping. They’re sort of Harry Potter-ish (I’d imagine, I’ve yet to read Harry Potter, though I’m planning on it) with lots of magic and fantasy. Highly entertaining!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. By Ransom Riggs

Enough people recommended this book to me that I felt like I had to read it. I did, and I really enjoyed it, but I don’t get all the fuss. It was a great, crazy fun descriptive book (that I actually think would make an awesome movie) but the ending was terrible! I guess the author might be leaving it open for a sequel but I wish he would’ve tried to wrap things up a little better before the last page.

And there you have it. What have you been reading? Give me more recommendations!

More in this series:

Good Reads 3

Good Reads 2

Good Reads 1

Plus, the entire time was early days — up at 6am! I’m so not a morning person its not even funny.

But, the day we left for Bolivia, I was so excited about going that I was out of bed with a smile on my face, regardless of the house. I could feel a life changing adventure in the air.

How many sunrises have I seen in my lifetime? Pretty sure I could count the number on one hand…

In the van on the way from San Pedro de Atacama to the border with Bolivia I started translating the guide’s comments and stories for my friend who was with me and doesn’t speak any Spanish. Not too long had passed before I’d become the official translator for the group. When we reached the border and had to split up into groups of 6 to get into jeeps, one guy joked that he’d pay a premium to have me in his jeep.

Alas, he did not win the bidding war and I ended up with another great group of people to ride with. And I’m thankful because we definitely got the best guide. Johnny was special. Our Chilean van driver had warned us that the Bolivian guides could be much less talkative than him and other Chilean guides but he made sure to tell us, “They’re not trying to be mean, I think it’s just a Bolivian culture thing.”

Sure enough, Johnny was quiet as a mouse at first, but as time went on, he started to open up a little bit. I mean, he really didn’t have a choice. I bombarded him with questions pretty much from the first minute I stepped foot inside the jeep. By the end of the trip he was telling me how he ended up in this job (he’s been driving (and loving it) since he was 14 and he first went on one trip as a cook, after that they promoted him to guide) and his personal life — he has a girlfriend who works as a secretary for another tourism agency in Uyuni but he’s too young to get married (26) so he’s not read to settle down yet.

Above you can see the intimidating official immigration building on the border of Chile and Bolivia. This made it far easier for me to understand how so many people manage to slip illegally between borders. Hell, I accidentally did.

At the border crossing we were told there was a problem. When my friend and I reserved the tour we were given the option to either purchase a 5 year visa for Bolivia or pay for a temporary visa. However, when we got to the border the officials informed us that since this particular border crossing station might be shut down because of snow on the way back, we wouldn’t be able to get the temporary visa since the temporary visa was only valid there and no where else…

Whaaaaat? I was confused.

Long story short, this “temporary visa” doesn’t actually exist. Its basically a bribe that you pay the border officials on the crossing from San Pedro to Uyuni and you do not get a stamp in your passport. This “arrangement” only exists at this particular border control station so because it might have been closed because of snow, they wanted us to pay for the 5 year visa. But, I did not want to pay double the price so I argued.

And when I was standing in the little immigration building talking to the guy, his boss came up and all of a sudden his story changed. He said, “When you purchased your tickets for this tour, they told you that you could only get a 5 year visa.” And I responded, “No. No they didn’t.”

Then he raised his eyebrows at me and said, “I was there, I was there in the office when THEY TOLD YOU YOU COULD ONLY GET A FIVE YEAR VISA.”

And then I got it, he wanted me to play along so he didn’t get in trouble with his superiors — or maybe so he didn’t have to share his dirty money with his superior, I don’t know.

But when I started agreeing with him and saying, yes, that was the case, he ended up working out a deal for me — we could go through to Uyuni with no visa at all. When we got to Uyuni they would call the border control and see if it was closed because of snow. If it was closed, we’d pay for our 5 year visa in Uyuni.

…
And if it was not closed and we could come back the way we came, well then he said, “We’ll work something out on the way back.” And he winked at me. I was just hoping that by “working something out” he didn’t actually mean sexual favors

So that is the story of how I ended up in Bolivia with no visa. And they didn’t even stamp our passports on the way back out! I feel robbed!

Does anyone else get reaaaaally nervous when stuff like that happens? I’m such a rule-following gringa!

Once we got underway on the actual trip, one of our first stops was the hot springs. It wasn’t the nicest hot springs I’ve ever been in, but the scenery was beautiful. It was so cold, I wish pictures could capture windchill.

Anyways, we got in the hot springs and up until that point I’d been feeling really good. The altitude hadn’t been affecting me at all…

But by the time I got out, I wanted to vomit everywhere. I was feeling so so sick. Fortunately, it passed really quickly.

We spent only about an hour at the hot springs spot and after that, got back in the jeep to continue on our merry way…