Chile!

Getting to Chile from Uyuni, Bolivia, was simple: all we had to do was wake up at 3 AM, carry our bags down four flights of stairs, find a taxi (nonexistent at the wee hours of the morning), and travel across town to the bus station, which isn't really a bus station but just an abritrary street corner where a cross-border bus may or may not depart at 4 AM.

Simple.

We arrived at the Bolivian border at 7 AM - just in time for the 8:30 AM border opening, allowing us 90 minutes to use the bathroom and purchase a breakfast of either potato-and-beef stew or vanilla wafers. (We chose wafers.)

The Bolivian border guards laughed at us for paying nearly $1,000 to visit their country - always a pleasant way to say goodbye.

We then crossed into Chile on our Israeli passports, allowing us to eventually enter Argentina on Israeli passports and avoid the $135 "revenge visa" fee they inflict on Americans.

Salar De Uyuni

40,000 years ago there was a big lake. Then the water dried. And now it's all salt.

Lots of salt. More than 4,000 square miles of it.

What's really cool about the Salar De Uyuni salt desert in southern Bolivia is that there's no visual perspective: no matter which direction you look, all you see is white. Allowing for wicked-cool photos utilizing optical illusions to create some very intriguing scenes.

The day ended with a marvelous sunset...allowing for a few more great pics as we silhouetted against the evening sky.

Bolivian Trek

Sixty-five million years ago, dinosaurs roamed South America. Scientists theorize that dinosaurs became extinct due to a meter crashing into Earth, combined with a series of disastrous volcanoes.

It was one of these volcanic eruptions that led to a series of dinosaur fossils, in the form of footprints, in the Sucre region of southern Bolivia.

We visited the footprints, a series of mountainside villages and geological phenomena during a 10-mile trek along a portion of the Inca Trail.

Sucre: the Kind-Of Capital

The Bolivian President resides in La Paz. The Bolivian legislature meets in La Paz. And the Ministry of Justice...

You get the picture.

But it turns out the capital of Bolivia is not La Paz, but the charming town of Sucre.

After an overnight bus from La Paz, we arrived at the beautiful Las Vista hostel...only to find that they were fully booked. "Try down the street," they suggested.

If there's one thing we've learned from our seven weeks in South America, it's the need for flexibility. When you travel with four kids, there's really no such thing as a plan...and even when you have a plan, it seldom pans out like you expect.

We hauled our bags to the nearby Hostel Masi Wasi and were treated to a rustic two-story room, complete with a kitchen, sleep-in attic and hot water.

"The Strongest"

As one La Paz native told us, "Futbol is a religion in Bolivia."

So we decided to check out the church for ourselves: Estadio Hernando Stiles in Miraflores, for a match between the La Paz Tigers, AKA "The Strongest", versus Universitario from the capital city of Sucre.

It was, in fact, a semi-religious experience, with the most exciting part of all being the fans: they came dressed in costume, played music on homemade instruments throughout, and chanted "Tigres! Tigres!" every time our Tigers scored a goal - five in all.

La Paz: City of Contrasts

It turns out that La Paz is a city of contrasts.

Case in point: the cable cars. How does a city where so many live in poverty, and where so much of the infrastructure is crumbling, afford a state-of-the-art cable car system that connects the heart of downtown, in the valley, to the peaks in the mountains above?

The answer is neither simple nor pretty. From what locals tell us - always off the record - corruption is rife, in Bolivia in general and La Paz in particular. A rich supply of natural resources, an unbalanced tax system, flat-out bribery and a host of other factors combine to create a society that has experienced 188 presidents in 190 years...

And cable cars.

At the Copa...Copacabana...

The southeastern portion of Lake Titicaca borders the Bolivian town of Copacabana.

The town offered no shortage of cheap lodging. But after five weeks of mid-level youth hostels and traveler hotels - the result of prudent budget-watching - we decided to splurge on a pair of mini-suites at the legendary Hotel Las Olas. (I use "splurge" as a relative term - for the combined price of our rooms was less than what we'd pay for one in a typical Motel 6 in the States.)

Our rooms overlooked the Lake and faced directly west, allowing for perfect views of the sunset and, even better, easy access to the outdoor jacuzzi below.

Bolivia: Crossing the Border

After five weeks in Peru, we crossed the border into Bolivia via Puno - and experienced first-hand how a bit of anti-Israel sentiment can have palpable affects in the real world.

We'd planned to enter Bolivia on our Israeli passports, for the simple reason that Americans visiting Bolivia are required to pay a $160 "revenge visa" fee, whereas Israeli's pay only $60.

But when we arrived at the Bolivian consulate in Puno to fill out the paperwork, we were informed that ever since last summer's war in Gaza, Israelis are not allowed to enter Bolivia at all.

Needless to say, we've met countless Israelis in Bolivia, each with his or her own story of how they got in. Many bribed their way into the country, tucking a few dollars into their passports as they approached the border. Others entered the country via Chile or Argentina - it seems only the crossing at Puno is problematic.

In any case, the ones who suffer most are ordinary, hardworking Bolivians: Israelis are wonderful, enthusiastic tourists who'd be happy to pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Bolivian economy - if only they were allowed in.

Lake Titicaca

At an altitude of 12,500 feet, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. This means that you can sail on it. Work on it. Or even build floating islands on it, where you live with your family and sell over-priced souvenirs.

I realize that sounds cynical. But when your floating-island host makes canned in which he refers to his boat-made-of-reeds as a Volkswagon, and then charges you 15 Soles for a boat ride, and said ride takes you right past his motorboat which he didn't realize you'd see...

Still, it was a worthwhile trip, in which we learned about other cultures and the power of modern commerce.

After our visit to the floating island, we sailed for three more hours to a second island, called Amantani, where we stayed the night with a local family. We had electricity, but not much more: no running water (never mind hot water), no flushable toilet (merely a bowl that you poured water in), mattresses made of straw.

And yet it was once of the most magical nights of our trip - thanks to a massive thunderstorm that struck around 9pm, knocking out all electricity on the island and allowing the six of us to huddle together as a family beneath the pitter-patter of the rain on the tin roof overhead.

The Amazon Basin

No electricity. No hot water. No coffee...

Just a few of the challenges we faced during our four-day jungle trek into the Manu National Reserve, in the Amazon Basin.

We took a slow boat down the Mother of God River before camping in wooden cabins 500 feet from the shore. We saw animals, too - including monkeys that climbed on our back and a tapir that nearly attacked Joel and Stav as they swam in the river.

Spanish School

While in Cusco, we took a one-week Spanish course at Proyecto Peru.

Dorit, whose Spanish is lightyears beyond the rest of ours, studied privately with her own teacher. Yoni and Yuval worked together in an art-and-field-trip based class. And Joel, Noam and Stav studied with a teacher of their own.

Surprises Along the Way

Much planning goes into a 'round-the-world trip. But some of the best moments come from most unexpected surprises along the way - in this case, a religious festival in Cusco that we happened to stumble upon, on our way back from Spanish class.

Details of this festival are sketchy. It's something to do with a weeklong pilgrimage, a patron saint, and ornate dances and costumes.

Adventure!

After Machu Pichu, we did a one-day adventure trip that included natural hot springs, white-water rafting, and zip-lining.

Even Yoni and Yuval took part. In fact, Yuval was very brave and went first (though she didn't realize it until she was hooked-up and ready to go).

Machu Pichu

Our visit to Machu Pichu began with a 4-hour trek along the train tracks to the town of Aguas Calientes, where we stayed in hostel that, ironically, had no hot water.

The next morning we all awoke at 3:30 AM for the trip up the mountain. Stav and Joel ascended by stairs - 1,900 stairs, to be exact, arriving at 6:30, just as Dorit and the other kids got there by bus.

Arequipa

Arequipa: cobblestone streets, pigeons congregation in the Plaza D'Armas, and gateway to the Colca Canyon.

During our five-day stay, we visited a 400-year-old convent that's still inhabited (no pun intended) by 20 nuns. As we toured the convent, a bride-to-be posed for wedding photos.

Kind of ironic, given the locale.

Peru Week 2: Paracas

After a four-hour bus rise down the Pacific coast, we hosteled in the tranquil oceanside town of Paracas. It was here that we got familiar with the "set meal" concept - usually soup, white rice, and fish for 8 Peruvian Soles per person (about $2.75).

The highlight of our stay in Paracas was a boat ride to the Ballestas Islands and a trip to the Paracas National Reserve: an expanse of desert which, 40 million years ago, was the ocean floor.

Week 1 - Peru: Arrival and Acclimation

We arrived in Peru close to midnight on August 10, and we spent the week acclimating: to the altitude (5,000+ feet), but more importantly to our new way of life - a life without set schedules or specific places to be.

Those first seven days we strolled the coastline, played in a downtown park overrun by felines, saw a fascinating (and somewhat odd) water show...and we even started a homeschool regimen (albeit a loose one), with the younger two kids learning basic math skills and the older two a their course in geometry.

Our Year of Un Begins

Our trip begins before it officially begins.

Which is to say, our trip begins with a garage sale.

the driveway: flooded soccer cleats, skateboards, legos, old guitars. All in our attempt to rid ourselves of this stuff, these...things - they are nothing but things! - that sometimes rule our lives.

We call the garage sale for 9 AM. by 7:30 the first customers showed up - career garage-salers who buy cheap and resell on EBay.

As the day wears on I think often of the well-known rabbinical expression in Pirkei Avot - the Ethics of Our Fathers: "More property, more worries."

Today begins our attempt to reverse that trend, as we unburden ourselves of stuff, unloading that which is is unnecessary from our lives, unattach ourselves from the values and ideas that for so long dictated how we live.

Today begins our Year of Un.