Prelude

"Are you sure you want to go on such a 'rough' journey and where it is relatively unsafe (although totally beautiful and amazing) for your honeymoon?" Mei Lee sounded her concern when I told her about my plan to South America. "Will your wife like that? Just a word of caution, I know South America has a very high crime rate, and even the authorities are all corrupt and unhelpful... Plenty of people have unpleasant experiences there - which will be fine for an adventurous trip, but for honeymoon?? And I doubt you will have comfortable hotels most of the time... are you sure you want that?? :) "

South America is half a globe away. Flights aren't frequent, take more than 24 hours and cost double of those to North America. Any trip duration that is less than a month will never justify for such long flight and expenses. And one month is barely enough for me to travel northwards along the Andes from Argentina to Peru via Bolivia overland. Airfare, both international and flights within the continent, is the main expense. With my wedding and new house, the opportunity cost of the expensive trip is immediately felt when shopping for furniture for the house. "Tell Keng Hor to better spend the money on his house!" over the phone, I could hear Angeline shouting across to her husband upon me telling Arthur that my budget for the trip is more than $10K.

But how many bosses are willing to let you off away for a whole month for your trip? I guess there's no better reasons to justify for a one month leave than telling your boss that you are going on a honeymoon! Bosses and colleagues are more accommodating towards your once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon leave.

Other popular honeymoon and romantic destinations can wait; they are more accessible and can be saved for my family-with-children and old age. Already, I doubt there's many years left for my rough-it-out trips. My kneels hurt recently when I'm climbing or descending the flight of stairs. The joints are getting old and rusty, probably from all the running and heavy squats of weight training, wearing off the cushion of ligaments between the bones.

There's almost no mention of any trips to the South America in the classified ads. And for those few tour agencies that have South America in their itinerary, there are not many takers. The oblivious Bolivia doesn't even has a consulate in Singapore. They have a funny policy of giving away free visa for Singaporeans but requiring a written permit from their foreign ministry. My air ticket agent couldn't get it done for me and I've to surf the net for information, email and fax to the consulate in Japan and ultimately an IDD call to their embassy in Argentina for clarification. It still remains uncertain and I have to come up with a contingency plan should my entry to Bolivia be denied. However, thanks to the recent reciprocate visit of PM Goh to Buenos Aires proposing a better tie between Asia and South America, visa is no longer required for Argentina. So do Peru and Chile in case I need to detour round Bolivia. Most say a day visit to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls doesn't need a visa while some say yes. I'll take the chance.

"I'll never regard that as my honeymoon!" Woon reacted exactly to Mei Lee's concern. Perhaps I shouldn't tell her about Mei Lee's comment. "Hauling that heavy backpack and staying in those cheap $0.50-a-night accommodation at a freezing -25(C isn't my idea of honeymoon! I'm going there to suffer!"

Well, isn't exactly honeymoon anyway. This trip is more than 2 months after our marriage. The term is simply used to justify for the long leave.

We argue over the issue, especially about me getting her a down jacket for the freezing temperature. "If it is so cold, then don't go!" she remains obstinate and refuses to wear the down even if I were to buy one and bring it there for her.

"And don't stop me from shopping again. I won't mail them back. The freight charges will offset the cheap price!" She wants to carry her shopping goods in a separate bag and become a prime target for muggers and thieves. And not to forget the high altitude will exhaust her. "Then don't carry your cameras or ask me to carry for you!"

Though unwilling, she's still accommodating and, as usual, gives in to me. But I'm by no means a chauvinist and self-willed without taking her into consideration. August is a bad month for travel to most places. Europe is flooded with tourist with soaring prices. Egypt and the Middle East is burning hot. The waterfalls in Yosemite has dried and autumn is still early in New England. It is the wet season in New Zealand. Kenya is great for the migration but we had already seen the animals last year. I've suggested to push the trip back 1.5 months so that we can catch the falls colours or wait cooler temperature in Europe or Middle East. But Woon has already forecasted her leave and schedules planned and thus difficult to change. The world is so small that I've no better alternatives but the Andes in South America.

And why would I want to break my bank account and head for South America in the first place? Why am I so foolhardy to risk all my wealth of camera gears to be stolen or robbed? And I might be putting our relationship on strain travelling in such a tough journey. The journey isn't exactly comfortable: long hours of bus and train trips and run down accommodations. And the harsh climate on the high Andes isn't going to be kind to the body either. Despite all these odds, the sense of adventure and uniqueness prevails. My mind needs stimulants to keep it alive from the routine eight-to-five job and sedate life in this small little concrete jungle. The beautiful scenery coupled with the colourful traditional life that the Indians live are exotic enough to stimulate my otherwise dead soul. These places are less travelled by Singaporeans and thus I can return and brag about my unique trip so different from the rest.

One of the daunting task travelling in Latin America independently is the language barrier. Spanish is widely spoken and English is hardly used or understood. And Quechua is often spoken by the Incas along the Andes highland that I'll be travelling. In preparation of the trip, I bought myself a set of Spanish language guide with tapes and book. Nowadays, such language learn tools should be on a CD ROM instead of record tapes. It is so time consuming to rewind and forward the tape, not knowing exactly where to stop to play. Such a simple crash course is mainly to equip myself with some essential vocabulary and sentences to get around in the continent. I'll remain as a sightseeing tourist rather than a participating traveller interacting with the locals and their cultures. And I understand when Mei Lee says: "I will learn Spanish at least to a reasonable degree before I go, so that I can converse with the locals."

I slipped the wedding ring out of my finger despite a mild protest from Woon. There is too much of logistics to take care of and I wouldn't want to loose the ring or have it being robbed. The packing has taken longer than the usual time. I ran through the list on my mind and doubled checked the list that I've complied on my computer. The list is getting longer and so does the weight of my luggage. My backpack weighted a hefty 17kg while my camera bag topped the scale at 6kg. This time I'm carrying a Nova 4 sling-bag instead of the usual Mini Trekker backpack. It contains 2 bodies and 4 lenses with the accessories of batteries, filters and a new member to the family - a trendy Psion palmtop. I have already sacrificed the 2X converter and am contemplating to forego the heavyweight 70-200L as well. "Don't go there and start regretting!" It is this statement from Woon that keeps the big glass in my bag. It is rare that Woon is supportive to allow me to carry those heavy gears. She has always been complaining about all my gears and having to carry for me during trips.

The flight from KL to Johannesburg is 10 hours. The dry cabin air dries my lips as usual and the pressured cold air tend to swell my fingers a little. There's a bit of in-grown nail on the 4th finger of my left hand, pushing its way into my flesh. It feels a little like its swollen right counterpart finger that I've had last year. Reason for the swell is still unknown but is suspected that some insects from the Namibia dessert had make my finger their nesting site. I had just repacked the sleeping bag that accompanied me to the Namibia trip. Could those insects been living in the comfort of my down bag all the while and make contact to lay eggs on my finger again while I pack the bag? As I sit uncomfortably on the tight and confined seat trying to sleep, my imagination was running wild…

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