Monday, December 26, 2011
Slideshow
If you close to Brighton, MI and available on Friday night, you are invited to a slideshow and storytelling event about my trip this Friday, December 30th. My dad has offered to host at his house in Brighton.
We will gather around 6:30pm and start the slideshow around 7pm. It won't be more than an hour maybe less. My friend Bridget and I are going to attempt to have some authentic Bolivian/Peruvian snacks and drinks so we can bring the experience of South America here....sorry no we will not be serving guinea pig.
If you are interested in coming, please let me know by Thursday so we can plan accordingly for snacks and seating space. You can RSVP at my email address: anzicek@gmail.com.
When you RSVP, I will send my dad's address along to you. If you aren't able to make it, I will post photos and descriptions of them on my blog.
Merry Christmas,
Mari
Friday, December 23, 2011
A Week in Lima
After my last post, you might think I wanted to call it quits. Well I did for about an hour but I got over it. Also it helped that Bridget and I left for Lima the next morning.
We spent the last five days in Lima and I am writing this in my last few hours before I head to the airport. Lima was for me a breath of fresh air, a little feel of home and well a pleasant surprise.
I guess I was expecting Lima to be more of the same. Basically similar to the other towns we visited but just bigger. I found that it was unlike any city we visited yet. Coming into the city by bus literally felt like driving into Chicago. Bridget and I have both lived in Chicago and well it felt a little like coming home.
They have a great Metro bus system that runs efficiently through town and right down the highway...kind of like the red line. Their version of Lake Shore Drive is a little more spectacular because it is the Pacific Ocean. I could go on but just know this city is pretty spectacular.
Bridget and I explored the museums taking in a few great art exhibits. We also took a bike tour of the neighborhoods San Isidro and Miraflores. They are very affluent neighborhoods and very touristy. There is even a mall on the Oceanside cliff with a TGI Fridays and a Starbucks. It made me a little sick to see but you can't get away from it there.
Our bike tour was a lot of fun. We had a great guide and companions. Two of the other girls on our tour had just arrived in Lima that morning at two am. They flew in from Boston after finishing their final exams and graduating from college. Talk about excited.
They were a lot of fun though and joined us after the tour for a trip to the Magic Fountains. I am not exactly sure what the name of this park is but I know magic and fountains is in the title. The park actually holds the worlds record for most fountains or something like that. There are 12 in all. They light them up and the center fountain has a special light and music show every hour. I would have to say...and I mean this seriously...I found it to be magical.
We really just took it easy for the week and enjoyed the people watching, food, and ice cream. There is literally an ice cream stand every ten feet here. My favorite two scoop option is limon and maracuya. Not sure how to describe the latter flavor other than it is awesome.
Bridget finally ate ceviche. It is basically raw seafood that is covered in lemon and lime juice and somehow the combination of acids cooks the food. It looked gross to me but Bridget loved it. While we were eating this meal, there was a gentleman about our age sitting at the next table. I had a great view of him and watched as he ate his meal and then proceeded to start sweating profusely. His nose was running and literally I could see the sweat dripping off his face. He asked the server for more napkins and soaked quite a few. After he left we asked the waitress if his meal was spicy and she said yes very and we all had a little chuckle over it.
Bridget left yesterday and I have spent my time walking along the ocean, visiting a museum with an exhibit about the terrorist attacks the country suffered in the 80s and 90s and taking in a free concert in the plaza.
The exhibit about the terrorist attacks was quite moving. I am not going to do the history justice but in a nutshell an internal terrorist group gained power in the 80s and proceeded to bomb and kill thousands of people. The group was called Shining Path and they were a communist group started by an ex university professor. Again I don't understand all the dynamics at play in the conflict but ultimately almost 70,000 people died. Their deaths were caused by both the Shining Path and military action by the Peruvian government. It was an incredibly dark time in the history of Peru. This exhibit was a product of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was started after the conflict ended.
I ended my day at the Plaza for a free concert of traditional Peruvian music. It was a great show and the president of Peru was in attendance.
I have really loved my time in Lima and it was a great end to our trip. Oh and one more note. We stayed at a hostel that my friend Sara stayed at and this place is a zoo...literally. It has four floors and I am convinced there are more hidden that I just haven't found yet. You get breakfast on the third floor where it is an open patio. On this floor there are many rooms and no less than two talking parrots, a puppy, a dog, 6 parakeets, two huge turtles, a cat, and a peacock. I think it is an old mansion or something. It is basically a labyrinth with many floors and never ending rooms. Also there are tons of classical paintings all over the walls and statues and busts of apparently famous folks. The place might be crazy but it was a great stop. The hostel staff were so nice and made our stay so pleasant...although I think they might be a little crazy too. The man who does maintenance wears a paper hat like a sailor's hat when he works. Oh and one of the turtles sleeps in the bathroom next to the toilet.
Like I said Lima was very fun. If you ever come to visit here, I strongly recommend the maracuya and limon ice cream combination.
We spent the last five days in Lima and I am writing this in my last few hours before I head to the airport. Lima was for me a breath of fresh air, a little feel of home and well a pleasant surprise.
I guess I was expecting Lima to be more of the same. Basically similar to the other towns we visited but just bigger. I found that it was unlike any city we visited yet. Coming into the city by bus literally felt like driving into Chicago. Bridget and I have both lived in Chicago and well it felt a little like coming home.
They have a great Metro bus system that runs efficiently through town and right down the highway...kind of like the red line. Their version of Lake Shore Drive is a little more spectacular because it is the Pacific Ocean. I could go on but just know this city is pretty spectacular.
Bridget and I explored the museums taking in a few great art exhibits. We also took a bike tour of the neighborhoods San Isidro and Miraflores. They are very affluent neighborhoods and very touristy. There is even a mall on the Oceanside cliff with a TGI Fridays and a Starbucks. It made me a little sick to see but you can't get away from it there.
Our bike tour was a lot of fun. We had a great guide and companions. Two of the other girls on our tour had just arrived in Lima that morning at two am. They flew in from Boston after finishing their final exams and graduating from college. Talk about excited.
They were a lot of fun though and joined us after the tour for a trip to the Magic Fountains. I am not exactly sure what the name of this park is but I know magic and fountains is in the title. The park actually holds the worlds record for most fountains or something like that. There are 12 in all. They light them up and the center fountain has a special light and music show every hour. I would have to say...and I mean this seriously...I found it to be magical.
We really just took it easy for the week and enjoyed the people watching, food, and ice cream. There is literally an ice cream stand every ten feet here. My favorite two scoop option is limon and maracuya. Not sure how to describe the latter flavor other than it is awesome.
Bridget finally ate ceviche. It is basically raw seafood that is covered in lemon and lime juice and somehow the combination of acids cooks the food. It looked gross to me but Bridget loved it. While we were eating this meal, there was a gentleman about our age sitting at the next table. I had a great view of him and watched as he ate his meal and then proceeded to start sweating profusely. His nose was running and literally I could see the sweat dripping off his face. He asked the server for more napkins and soaked quite a few. After he left we asked the waitress if his meal was spicy and she said yes very and we all had a little chuckle over it.
Bridget left yesterday and I have spent my time walking along the ocean, visiting a museum with an exhibit about the terrorist attacks the country suffered in the 80s and 90s and taking in a free concert in the plaza.
The exhibit about the terrorist attacks was quite moving. I am not going to do the history justice but in a nutshell an internal terrorist group gained power in the 80s and proceeded to bomb and kill thousands of people. The group was called Shining Path and they were a communist group started by an ex university professor. Again I don't understand all the dynamics at play in the conflict but ultimately almost 70,000 people died. Their deaths were caused by both the Shining Path and military action by the Peruvian government. It was an incredibly dark time in the history of Peru. This exhibit was a product of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was started after the conflict ended.
I ended my day at the Plaza for a free concert of traditional Peruvian music. It was a great show and the president of Peru was in attendance.
I have really loved my time in Lima and it was a great end to our trip. Oh and one more note. We stayed at a hostel that my friend Sara stayed at and this place is a zoo...literally. It has four floors and I am convinced there are more hidden that I just haven't found yet. You get breakfast on the third floor where it is an open patio. On this floor there are many rooms and no less than two talking parrots, a puppy, a dog, 6 parakeets, two huge turtles, a cat, and a peacock. I think it is an old mansion or something. It is basically a labyrinth with many floors and never ending rooms. Also there are tons of classical paintings all over the walls and statues and busts of apparently famous folks. The place might be crazy but it was a great stop. The hostel staff were so nice and made our stay so pleasant...although I think they might be a little crazy too. The man who does maintenance wears a paper hat like a sailor's hat when he works. Oh and one of the turtles sleeps in the bathroom next to the toilet.
Like I said Lima was very fun. If you ever come to visit here, I strongly recommend the maracuya and limon ice cream combination.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Nazca....take it or leave it
This will be short as I have much to say about Nazca but it isn´t very nice. I well actually we probably had our lowest moment of the trip in Nazca. I am still processing it but I will give you the short version.
You must remember that no matter where you travel you are pretty much always gettting ripped off. The goal is to minimize how much you are getting ripped off as much as possible. What do I mean by this? Well if you aren`t from a place, you don´t tend to know the expectations when purchasing something....especially if prices aren´t posted...and they are never posted. This means everytime you take a taxi, buy something, eat, etc. you almost always have to ask the price, be willing to negotiate and eventually know you are probably still paying more than the locals. We do our best asking hostel staff and others the normal price but you can´t ask them about everything.
There are some exceptions...for instance...restaurants tend to have their menus and prices posted. Street vendors do not. Hostels have their prices posted most of the time. Museums have their prices posted. Tours companies, street vendors, taxi drivers and many more do not have their prices posted...so they can automatically quote you a higher price and eventually when you negotiate to a lower price you are probably still paying more than the locals. It is highly frustrating but again the goal is to minimize as much as possible how much you are overpaying.
I have a few rules with buying good and services:
You must remember that no matter where you travel you are pretty much always gettting ripped off. The goal is to minimize how much you are getting ripped off as much as possible. What do I mean by this? Well if you aren`t from a place, you don´t tend to know the expectations when purchasing something....especially if prices aren´t posted...and they are never posted. This means everytime you take a taxi, buy something, eat, etc. you almost always have to ask the price, be willing to negotiate and eventually know you are probably still paying more than the locals. We do our best asking hostel staff and others the normal price but you can´t ask them about everything.
There are some exceptions...for instance...restaurants tend to have their menus and prices posted. Street vendors do not. Hostels have their prices posted most of the time. Museums have their prices posted. Tours companies, street vendors, taxi drivers and many more do not have their prices posted...so they can automatically quote you a higher price and eventually when you negotiate to a lower price you are probably still paying more than the locals. It is highly frustrating but again the goal is to minimize as much as possible how much you are overpaying.
I have a few rules with buying good and services:
- Go in knowing how much you are willing to pay and stick with that price
- Stand your ground
- Act confident
- Be willing to negotiate
- Walk away the moment you feel uncomfortable or feel like you are getting swindled
- Stay in the open with other people tourists or locals
- Get it in writing
Those are my general rules....and you must know that before I tell you the following story I pretty much broke all of those rules...don´t worry we are fine...just spent too much money.
Again the short version...we arrived in Nazca early on an overnight bus. We were tired and had a plan. Go to our hostel, rest, eat and then go shopping for a flight over the Nazca lines for the next morning...the plan was then to see the lines and leave Nazca the following day. These flights are normally expensive but we talked to another tourist and got a ballpark figure for how much she paid so we knew what to expect. Immediately we deviated from our plan. We got a taxi to our hostel and the driver started talking about how today was great was a great weather day to see the lines....no shit every day is a great weather day to see the lines...I know this now but in my dazed overnight bus haze I didn´t disagree.
They took us to our hotel and offered to take us to a place that sold flights over the lines. We checked in and immediately deviated from the plan...we should have rested, we should have said no....waited until the next day to get a flight. But we didn´t. Long story short we went to their store, bought a flight and waited for the taxi driver. He showed up, took us to the airport and we got set up for our flight.
We were in a 6 seater airplane with two pilots and two tourists from the Netherlands. It was then that we realized we had been ripped off...the couple flying with us paid 70 soles less than us...which is really only $26 US dollars but this made me so so angry. I was pissed that we deviated from our plan and pissed at myself for letting it happen. I knew when we were buying the flights that I was uncomfortable with the situation, what we were paying and a few other things but I didn´t say anything...I was frustrated and tired and letting it cloud my judgement.
I was so frustrated and I really tried not to let my angry get in the way of enjoying the flight and seeing the actually way cool Nazca lines. The flight was short but very cool. We got out of the airport and our taxi driver was waiting for us to take us back to the hotel.
I should probably tell you what was included with our flight package....transportation to and from the airport via taxi, the flight, pilots, etc...the basics. Well on our way out of the airport, there was a 3 Soles exit fee per car. Our taxi driver pulled up and looked back at up and said 3 Soles. Pardon my language here but I literally flipped my lid. I knew they had already charged us too much for the flight (again not too much in US Dollars but it is the principal here) and now this dick of a taxi driver was asking for 3 Soles that he should have paid and was essentially in our contract with the flight company. Again only 3 soles which is basically 1 dollar but I was so livid.
I started weighing my options. I could get out of the taxi and walk to our hostel. I decided against that because my feet had some blisters from our hike in the canyon from the day before and I didn´t know how to get to the hostel from the airport. I thought about telling him to f&$@ off and sit there until he paid but I figured we probably wouldn´t make it anywhere. I finally gave in but made absolutely sure he knew I was extremely pissed off...again not that that did anything but it made me feel better.
Long story short...the lines were cool. I was probably too pissed off to enjoy them. And don´t ever ever break the rules...you make them for a reason so you should follow them. In the long run you are happier, save more money and enjoy yourself more.
I learn more about myself every time I travel and this time was no exception...Bridget and I would both agree this was a major learning experience for both of us. The bigger problem for me is I don´t speak Spanish so I have very little ability to do the negotiating. Bridget did a great job but again we just didn´t follow our plan...trust me we laugh about this now but it was a super rough day for both of us.
Mental note for me for the future and anyone else traveling...do yourself a massive favor and take just one language class before you go....it will make you so much happier. Again sorry for the language....I was hoping to convey the emotion of the situation.
And We Are Down To One
Well Bridget just got in the taxi to head back to the states. I have about 36 hours on my own here. I am feeling really confident and I know the basics so communciation isn´t a problem as of yet. We also set up my taxi for Saturday morning so I don´t have to worry about that. I am feeling good. The plan for the next two days is to take it easy, visit one more museum, and spent the afternoon at the ocean tomorrow.
A little catching up to do for all of you. We left Cuzco and headed to Arequipa. It is a mid size town about 9 hours from Cuzco. The main attraction there is two huge canyons which are both twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. We wanted to spend one day in the city and then do a two day hike in the Canyons.
We took an overnight bus from Cuzco which I mentioned previously...the one that I was completely nauseous on. We arrrived and found a great hostel that took us in even though we arrived very early in the morning. We stowed our bags and walked around the city trying to find a reputable tour company to do our hike with. There are TONS....and they are all selling the same product so it is really hard to tell them apart or have a sense if one is better than the other. Our tour book recommended a few but they were either not open or had moved locations and we couldn´t find them. This is normally fine but it had been happening to us all over Peru and Bolivia and it finally got to me. I got extremely frustrated and annoyed and basically gave up. Bridget saw me at my worst. I basically became super grumpy and moody and refused to make a decision.
We ended up just walking into the nearest tour company we could find and buying a tour within in 10 minutes and walking out. Most would think this was a rushed decision and I might normally agree but I was so frustrated at this point I didn´t care if we ended up going on Donkeys and eating mush. Little did we know that we picked by chance an excellent tour company with a great guide but we were also gifted with great companions.
Our tour was a two day one night trek and we were picked up at 3am the following morning. Why so early...well they spend the morning driving to the canyon so you can arrive around 9am to do the hike. Our guide picked us and the rest of our companions up and by 4am we were on our way. Our guide, Sandro, seemed full of energy and maybe even a little crazy but he was a ton of fun. We stopped at a condor viewing point in the morning...I saw some birds from far away but I can´t honestly say they were condors...they might have been.
We started hiking around 9am at the top of the canyon. Our group consisted of 8 people total. Sandro, Bridget, Me, Anna from the UK, Martin from Ireland, Timmo from the Netherlands, Ping from Singapore and a guy from Canada. This is terrible but everytime he said he name literally nobody could understand him. I thought he said Pierre so I am going with it. We had great conversations down the canyon and the views were spectacular...really somne of the most incredible scenery I have ever taken in. We finally made it to the bottom of the canyon a little after noon and I desperately needed a snack. I had some leftover pizza from my dinner the night before that I had stuck in my bag. It was wrapped in aluminum foil and plastic so it was nice and warm...I shared it with anyone else brave enough to eat it.
We made our way to lunch which was prepared in a local family´s home. By this time our group was getting to know each other very well and had some great laughs over lunch about stealing toilet paper from the hostels and my almost getting bit by a dog...might not sound funny but trust me when telling the story it is hysterical...and no I didn´t get bit but it was awfully close and I was ready to head to the hospital for a rabies shot.
We finished the rest of the hike through a light afternoon rain. Sandro pointed out native plants and their uses and even a bacteria that grows on a Cactus that is used to dye material red. He crushed it up and gave us all paint on our faces. We stayed the night in what they called an Oasis...it is really just mud huts with thatched roofs and windows and they built pools all around the place...the pools are fed with water right from the water falls and are surprisingly comfortable. We all went swimming mostly to wash the grime from the days hike off.
We enjoyed a nice dinner together and then had an early night because well there was no electricity and we were started the hike back up the canyon at 5am the next day. Bridget and I found quite a few spiders in our room so I slept literally the whole night with my head under the covers. It was hot and uncomfortable but I felt better.
We started the next morning bright and early to get up the canyon. I totally underestimated this hike. It was probably over 1000 meters of hiking basically straight up. By 20 minutes in I was compltely wet with sweat and having a hard time breathing. Bridget and I stopped probably two or three times for breaks on the way up but we for sure slowed down the farther we went up. A few people from other groups took the ¨taxi¨up which is basically a donkey...and man can those suckers move up the trail quickly. We are talking about really uneven ground with big rocks and those donkeys sailed up the mountain.
I was probably about 20 minutes from the top when I ran into a man who was a local from the village at the bottom. We started talking and he said he does the hike regulary and it never fucking gets easier...those were his words exactly....I laughed out loud and probably cried a little on the inside. Shortly after that another local man from the village literally...and I mean literally ran right by me and he wasn´t breathing heavy at all. I guess that is the benefit of growing up at high elevation at the bottom of a canyon.
I finally made it to the top where two of my group members were already waiting. They gave me a hearty cheer and Bridget arrived probably 5 minutes after me. It took us just over two hours to get to the top and it wasn´t easy. I was very sweaty and sore...seriously I wasn´t sure my legs could carry me another foot. The rest of our group arrived in the next 15 minutes and we all celebrated our victory together with photos. I honestly loved this group of people. We had a great time together and well they were great hikers because they were all fresh off the Inca trail. I was very impressed with all of them.
We finished out the rest of the day viewing the canyon by van, visiting a beautiful hot springs and heading back to Arequipa. Our van driver was insane so I put on my seatbelt and prayed for safety....I have had some crazy drivers here but he was by far the worst.
The Colca Canyon Trek (sorry that was the name of the canyon) was amazing. The trek itself was great but really our companions really made it a wonderful trip. We all exchanged information at the end of the tour and honestly I would feel totally comfortable visiting them all at some point. Besides the couple from the UK and Ireland are triathletes and do Ironmans. And Timmo and Ping have run marathons...it was really quite odd that our group was full of a bunch of long distance athletes. Anna was the only one not to have run a marathon but she had plans to do an Ironman this coming year.
From Arequipa we headed to Nazca and onto Lima...which I will post about later.....
A little catching up to do for all of you. We left Cuzco and headed to Arequipa. It is a mid size town about 9 hours from Cuzco. The main attraction there is two huge canyons which are both twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. We wanted to spend one day in the city and then do a two day hike in the Canyons.
We took an overnight bus from Cuzco which I mentioned previously...the one that I was completely nauseous on. We arrrived and found a great hostel that took us in even though we arrived very early in the morning. We stowed our bags and walked around the city trying to find a reputable tour company to do our hike with. There are TONS....and they are all selling the same product so it is really hard to tell them apart or have a sense if one is better than the other. Our tour book recommended a few but they were either not open or had moved locations and we couldn´t find them. This is normally fine but it had been happening to us all over Peru and Bolivia and it finally got to me. I got extremely frustrated and annoyed and basically gave up. Bridget saw me at my worst. I basically became super grumpy and moody and refused to make a decision.
We ended up just walking into the nearest tour company we could find and buying a tour within in 10 minutes and walking out. Most would think this was a rushed decision and I might normally agree but I was so frustrated at this point I didn´t care if we ended up going on Donkeys and eating mush. Little did we know that we picked by chance an excellent tour company with a great guide but we were also gifted with great companions.
Our tour was a two day one night trek and we were picked up at 3am the following morning. Why so early...well they spend the morning driving to the canyon so you can arrive around 9am to do the hike. Our guide picked us and the rest of our companions up and by 4am we were on our way. Our guide, Sandro, seemed full of energy and maybe even a little crazy but he was a ton of fun. We stopped at a condor viewing point in the morning...I saw some birds from far away but I can´t honestly say they were condors...they might have been.
We started hiking around 9am at the top of the canyon. Our group consisted of 8 people total. Sandro, Bridget, Me, Anna from the UK, Martin from Ireland, Timmo from the Netherlands, Ping from Singapore and a guy from Canada. This is terrible but everytime he said he name literally nobody could understand him. I thought he said Pierre so I am going with it. We had great conversations down the canyon and the views were spectacular...really somne of the most incredible scenery I have ever taken in. We finally made it to the bottom of the canyon a little after noon and I desperately needed a snack. I had some leftover pizza from my dinner the night before that I had stuck in my bag. It was wrapped in aluminum foil and plastic so it was nice and warm...I shared it with anyone else brave enough to eat it.
We made our way to lunch which was prepared in a local family´s home. By this time our group was getting to know each other very well and had some great laughs over lunch about stealing toilet paper from the hostels and my almost getting bit by a dog...might not sound funny but trust me when telling the story it is hysterical...and no I didn´t get bit but it was awfully close and I was ready to head to the hospital for a rabies shot.
We finished the rest of the hike through a light afternoon rain. Sandro pointed out native plants and their uses and even a bacteria that grows on a Cactus that is used to dye material red. He crushed it up and gave us all paint on our faces. We stayed the night in what they called an Oasis...it is really just mud huts with thatched roofs and windows and they built pools all around the place...the pools are fed with water right from the water falls and are surprisingly comfortable. We all went swimming mostly to wash the grime from the days hike off.
We enjoyed a nice dinner together and then had an early night because well there was no electricity and we were started the hike back up the canyon at 5am the next day. Bridget and I found quite a few spiders in our room so I slept literally the whole night with my head under the covers. It was hot and uncomfortable but I felt better.
We started the next morning bright and early to get up the canyon. I totally underestimated this hike. It was probably over 1000 meters of hiking basically straight up. By 20 minutes in I was compltely wet with sweat and having a hard time breathing. Bridget and I stopped probably two or three times for breaks on the way up but we for sure slowed down the farther we went up. A few people from other groups took the ¨taxi¨up which is basically a donkey...and man can those suckers move up the trail quickly. We are talking about really uneven ground with big rocks and those donkeys sailed up the mountain.
I was probably about 20 minutes from the top when I ran into a man who was a local from the village at the bottom. We started talking and he said he does the hike regulary and it never fucking gets easier...those were his words exactly....I laughed out loud and probably cried a little on the inside. Shortly after that another local man from the village literally...and I mean literally ran right by me and he wasn´t breathing heavy at all. I guess that is the benefit of growing up at high elevation at the bottom of a canyon.
I finally made it to the top where two of my group members were already waiting. They gave me a hearty cheer and Bridget arrived probably 5 minutes after me. It took us just over two hours to get to the top and it wasn´t easy. I was very sweaty and sore...seriously I wasn´t sure my legs could carry me another foot. The rest of our group arrived in the next 15 minutes and we all celebrated our victory together with photos. I honestly loved this group of people. We had a great time together and well they were great hikers because they were all fresh off the Inca trail. I was very impressed with all of them.
We finished out the rest of the day viewing the canyon by van, visiting a beautiful hot springs and heading back to Arequipa. Our van driver was insane so I put on my seatbelt and prayed for safety....I have had some crazy drivers here but he was by far the worst.
The Colca Canyon Trek (sorry that was the name of the canyon) was amazing. The trek itself was great but really our companions really made it a wonderful trip. We all exchanged information at the end of the tour and honestly I would feel totally comfortable visiting them all at some point. Besides the couple from the UK and Ireland are triathletes and do Ironmans. And Timmo and Ping have run marathons...it was really quite odd that our group was full of a bunch of long distance athletes. Anna was the only one not to have run a marathon but she had plans to do an Ironman this coming year.
From Arequipa we headed to Nazca and onto Lima...which I will post about later.....
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Leaving Cuczo
We are in Nasca, Peru now and headed to Lima today. We will spend our last few days of the trip there before flying back home for Christmas.
A lot has happened since my last post. We headed to Arequipa after leaving Cuzco. Our last day in Cuzco, we spent visiting the last ruins and museums in the city we didn't get to before visiting Machu Picchu. We visited the ruins right in Cuzco called Sacsaywaman. They were immense and pretty incredible. The boulders they used for building were twice as tall as me and perfectly fit together. I am continually amazed by what the Inca accomplished with what we would consider primitive building tools and materials.
We visited the convent of Saint Dominic which turned out to be fantastic. It is built on Inca ruins and they have built the new building around the ruins. They also had some amazing contemporary art displayed from Peruvian artists. It was a great treasure to stumble upon this museum.
We also stopped at a museum that was created to display the artwork of Andean children. We went on a whim and it was by far my favorite stop in Cuzco. A woman started a non profit in the early 90s to reach out to young children in the high mountains bringing them art lessons and for many their first experiences with art or even holding a paint brush. The museum displayed their artwork and also explained the art lessons conducted with the kids. In the high Andes most of the children only speak Quechua. So the instructors have to be fluent in the language and also be able to teach art. The artwork displayed was really quite incredible. We weren't allowed to take photos or buy any of the pieces otherwise I would have walked away with a ton of it. To gain access to the villages they promise the families not to sell or profit from the artwork in anyway. I will be sure to look up the name of the museum and include it in a later post. I thought my friend Sara and cousin Eva would enjoy it most.
We finished the day at the church of Saint Dominic which opened in the evening. I was mostly drawn there by the paintings of Andean children as angels. They were awesome. I would have taken photos but it wasn't allowed.
We walked to our bus station and headed out on our first overnight bus trip. I am normally fine in moving vehicles but something about this bus made me incredibly nauseous. By about thirty minutes in I was feeling terrible and trying to determine all the possible options were I actually to get sick. It was so bad that when Bridget got her Inca Kola to drink I told her to keep the top on. The smell of it was making me feel worse. For those of you who aren't familiar, Inca Kola is a soft drink here in Peru and it kind of tastes like bubble gum. It actually outsells Coca Cola and Pepsi here. I actually like it when I am not feeling terrible. I eventually felt better and made it through the night.
We arrived in Arequipa and spent a few days there but that is a story for another time. More to come soon especially because I just figured out how to blog from my iTouch.
A lot has happened since my last post. We headed to Arequipa after leaving Cuzco. Our last day in Cuzco, we spent visiting the last ruins and museums in the city we didn't get to before visiting Machu Picchu. We visited the ruins right in Cuzco called Sacsaywaman. They were immense and pretty incredible. The boulders they used for building were twice as tall as me and perfectly fit together. I am continually amazed by what the Inca accomplished with what we would consider primitive building tools and materials.
We visited the convent of Saint Dominic which turned out to be fantastic. It is built on Inca ruins and they have built the new building around the ruins. They also had some amazing contemporary art displayed from Peruvian artists. It was a great treasure to stumble upon this museum.
We also stopped at a museum that was created to display the artwork of Andean children. We went on a whim and it was by far my favorite stop in Cuzco. A woman started a non profit in the early 90s to reach out to young children in the high mountains bringing them art lessons and for many their first experiences with art or even holding a paint brush. The museum displayed their artwork and also explained the art lessons conducted with the kids. In the high Andes most of the children only speak Quechua. So the instructors have to be fluent in the language and also be able to teach art. The artwork displayed was really quite incredible. We weren't allowed to take photos or buy any of the pieces otherwise I would have walked away with a ton of it. To gain access to the villages they promise the families not to sell or profit from the artwork in anyway. I will be sure to look up the name of the museum and include it in a later post. I thought my friend Sara and cousin Eva would enjoy it most.
We finished the day at the church of Saint Dominic which opened in the evening. I was mostly drawn there by the paintings of Andean children as angels. They were awesome. I would have taken photos but it wasn't allowed.
We walked to our bus station and headed out on our first overnight bus trip. I am normally fine in moving vehicles but something about this bus made me incredibly nauseous. By about thirty minutes in I was feeling terrible and trying to determine all the possible options were I actually to get sick. It was so bad that when Bridget got her Inca Kola to drink I told her to keep the top on. The smell of it was making me feel worse. For those of you who aren't familiar, Inca Kola is a soft drink here in Peru and it kind of tastes like bubble gum. It actually outsells Coca Cola and Pepsi here. I actually like it when I am not feeling terrible. I eventually felt better and made it through the night.
We arrived in Arequipa and spent a few days there but that is a story for another time. More to come soon especially because I just figured out how to blog from my iTouch.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Machu Picchu
We have come and gone from Machu Picchu and it was really just incredible. I am not sure I have the words to express how beautiful and really breathtaking it is. We left Cuzco on Saturday morning by van and arrived in Ollantaytambo. Called Ollanta by the locals it is about a 2 hour train ride from Aquas Calientes which is the town at the footsteps of Machu Picchu (referred to as MP from here on out).
We ate lunch at a fabulous NGO cafe in Ollanta and caught out train to Aquas Calientes. We planned to hike up a mountain with a view of MP but about halfway up the trail there was a system of ladders in complete disrepair...more experienced climbers than us would have kept going but Bridget and I turned back. We had dinner at a fantastic restaurant in the town and headed back to our cell like hostel for the night. I am not joking about it being a cell. We went bare bones on price to get to MP taking the cheapest route possible which included sleeping in this dump. I joked with some other travelers we met along the way that we were at least hoping for some straw mattresses. We had actual mattresses but not much more...but in Aquas you can´t beat the price we paid...it is a town made for tourism so you have to deal with the prices that come with it.
I slept mostly okay minus one terrible dream about our room that I woke up too and thanked god it was time to get up because I didn´t want to go back to sleep. Bridget slept with her passport and money...just to give you a sense of this place. We woke up at 5am to get ready and get on the first buses to MP that start leaving at 5:30am. We paid the lady across the street for our hostel the night before and literally put our key back in its assigned box the next morning...and then let ourselves out the door with the broken window...that apparently doesn´t lock.
The ride to MP was literally straight up hill with at least 8 switch backs if not more. It was cloudy and drizzly so you couldn´t really get a sense of the beauty around us...other than that we were climbing and climbing. We arrived at the gate just before it opened at 6am. We made our way in and got our first views of this amazing city. Even with the clouds and rain you could get a sense of its immensity. We had tickets to climb Wayna Picchu which is on the back end of the site. It is the tall mountain you often see in the background of pictures in MP. There are some ruins at the top of this mountain and they let 400 people a day climb it.
On recommendations from my friends Sara who made this trek last year, we bought the tickets. Wow was it worth it. We couldn´t see anything on the climb up. The clouds and light rain were blocking views and you could only see about 50 feet in front of you and sometimes get a view of the surrounding mountains. We climbed and climbed and climbed...and by this I mean we literally just were stair climbing. It is basically a massive rock staircase to the top and at some points rather terrifying because the steps up were large or the rocks themselves were small. One misstep and you could literally see yourself falling off the edge. About an hour later we reached the top and the ruins. We made our way through and were rewarded with the beginning glimpses of mountains around us as the clouds cleared. We found a spot to sit and wait for the cloud cover to burn off with the rising sun.
Around 9am we were awarded with our first view of MP in the distance. It was breathtaking. I don´t think I understood until that moment how big the site is and just what an incredible undertaking it was to build this city on a hill. We stayed for about an hour as the clouds cleared and just marveled at this impressive sight.
We decided to do the whole Wayna Picchu hike which involves descending down the backside of the mountain to the great cave at the bottom and then climbing back up (we didn´t know this at the time...had I known I might not have done it. As I sit here writing this, my calves and quads are so so sore). We started hiking down with two other folks and quickly passed them. We reached the cave and ruins probably 45 minutes later with shaking legs. We took a well deserved break and tried to convince ourselves we didn´t have to climb back up....we were wrong. We started the climb up and by about 11am I was sweating profusely, inhaling as much air as possible and trying to convince myself I could make it back to the main trail. This is seriously the most intense hike I have ever done and totally worth it.
Just as we were about to reach the main trail I saw someone running the other direction. I wasn´t sure why until I started smelling something strange. About five feet later, I came upon a massive pile of shit. I should probably point out here that the only bathrooms at MP are outside the entrance gate. At this point we were about as far as you could be from the entrance gate. I understand the need to go but seriously the dude didn´t event try and dig a hole or cover it up...that is the least he could have done.
Minus the small incident we had finally made it back to the main trail and we headed back to MP proper. There was one shorter climb near the main gate back to MP and we decided to climb it as well. Most people bypass this climb so we were alone minus one other person. It provided us with awesome views just much closer up than Wayna Picchu.
By this time it was after noon and we had been hiking for over 5 hours. Bridget was going to pass out from starvation so we decided to bite the bullet and pay for the buffet lunch provided outside the gates. Don´t get me wrong here I was also hungry but running on adrenaline from being at MP. This buffet was awesome...it should be for what we paid for it. I think each of us at 3 plates of food and dessert. We were in there long enough to avoid the rain that fell for about an hour. I also took advantage of the bathroom and fresh purified water...again you should for what we paid for it. Funny thing though was they were selling hotdogs and ice cream outside but you couldn´t get them in the buffet...and honestly they were all I wanted...I settled for awesome peruvian food instead but man was I craving a hotdog after that.
You can get back into MP all day with your ticket so after lunch we headed back in to do a tour of the actual site. That morning we had buzzed right through on our way to Wayna Picchu and didn´t see much except for very high on the opposite mountain. We took our time going through the whole site, reading our guide book and marveling at the engineering, architecture and pure strength that put this place together. We spent about 3 hours going through the main part of MP.
Around 4:30pm I was so tired I couldn´t fathom walking anymore so we headed to the gates. As we were heading to the gate, I heard a pretty strange and awful noise coming from about 20 feet away from me up a hill. I couldn´t figure out what it was until I heard Bridget say look at the llama love. There are llamas who roam the site eating the grass and apparently two of them got frisky. We arrived at what was apparently the tail end of it. The male llama dismounted and looked back at the female llama who proceeded to spit at him two or three times. I was laughing hysterically....what a perfect end to our visit to MP.
We had managed to stay at MP almost as long as any tourist can. We arrived the moment the gates opened and left 20 minutes before it closed. We were able to see the cloudy rainy moments of the morning...the sun slowly rising and the clouds leaving and the setting sun on the mountains hours later. We had planned to hike down the mountain instead of taking the buses but I couldn´t fathom climbing up or down another stair. My legs were literally dead. The bus dropped us off and we made our way to the train station to catch our train back to Ollanta. We arrived in Ollanta around 8pm and dragged our tired bodies another half mile uphill and to our hostel.
It was an incredibly long day but one I hope to never forget. I have seen pictures of MP before but you never really grasp just how incredible it is until you see it in person. The Inca were absolutely amazing with what they were able to build....and it has not only stood the test of time but also many major earthquakes...all intact. I am really still processing this whole experience and what it was like to get that first view of MP from up high on Wayna Picchu. It literally took my breath away.
Machu Picchu was really the cherry on top of this whole trip for me. I am finding myself ready to go home but also looking forward to the next 12 or so days. Peru is an absolutely stunning country with a wide array of plants and animals. We are going to experience much more of it as we leave from Cuzco. From here we head to Arequipa and hopefully to see some of the worlds deepest canyons. To give you perspective these canyons are twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. From there we make our way to Lima and then back home. I am ready to get out of Cuzco as well. The main plaza is so touristy. You are seriously accosted every five feet by someone trying to sell you something....the quiet and serenity of MP was a welcome change to the chaos of Cuzco.
More posts and pictures to come. And for you readers local to the Lansing/Brighton area, Bridget and I are planning a small slideshow when we get back and before she heads back to DC. The date is to be determined...but we plan to show some of our best pictures, tell a few stories, and have some authentic food (if all else fails we will have some chips and salsa).
We ate lunch at a fabulous NGO cafe in Ollanta and caught out train to Aquas Calientes. We planned to hike up a mountain with a view of MP but about halfway up the trail there was a system of ladders in complete disrepair...more experienced climbers than us would have kept going but Bridget and I turned back. We had dinner at a fantastic restaurant in the town and headed back to our cell like hostel for the night. I am not joking about it being a cell. We went bare bones on price to get to MP taking the cheapest route possible which included sleeping in this dump. I joked with some other travelers we met along the way that we were at least hoping for some straw mattresses. We had actual mattresses but not much more...but in Aquas you can´t beat the price we paid...it is a town made for tourism so you have to deal with the prices that come with it.
I slept mostly okay minus one terrible dream about our room that I woke up too and thanked god it was time to get up because I didn´t want to go back to sleep. Bridget slept with her passport and money...just to give you a sense of this place. We woke up at 5am to get ready and get on the first buses to MP that start leaving at 5:30am. We paid the lady across the street for our hostel the night before and literally put our key back in its assigned box the next morning...and then let ourselves out the door with the broken window...that apparently doesn´t lock.
The ride to MP was literally straight up hill with at least 8 switch backs if not more. It was cloudy and drizzly so you couldn´t really get a sense of the beauty around us...other than that we were climbing and climbing. We arrived at the gate just before it opened at 6am. We made our way in and got our first views of this amazing city. Even with the clouds and rain you could get a sense of its immensity. We had tickets to climb Wayna Picchu which is on the back end of the site. It is the tall mountain you often see in the background of pictures in MP. There are some ruins at the top of this mountain and they let 400 people a day climb it.
On recommendations from my friends Sara who made this trek last year, we bought the tickets. Wow was it worth it. We couldn´t see anything on the climb up. The clouds and light rain were blocking views and you could only see about 50 feet in front of you and sometimes get a view of the surrounding mountains. We climbed and climbed and climbed...and by this I mean we literally just were stair climbing. It is basically a massive rock staircase to the top and at some points rather terrifying because the steps up were large or the rocks themselves were small. One misstep and you could literally see yourself falling off the edge. About an hour later we reached the top and the ruins. We made our way through and were rewarded with the beginning glimpses of mountains around us as the clouds cleared. We found a spot to sit and wait for the cloud cover to burn off with the rising sun.
Around 9am we were awarded with our first view of MP in the distance. It was breathtaking. I don´t think I understood until that moment how big the site is and just what an incredible undertaking it was to build this city on a hill. We stayed for about an hour as the clouds cleared and just marveled at this impressive sight.
We decided to do the whole Wayna Picchu hike which involves descending down the backside of the mountain to the great cave at the bottom and then climbing back up (we didn´t know this at the time...had I known I might not have done it. As I sit here writing this, my calves and quads are so so sore). We started hiking down with two other folks and quickly passed them. We reached the cave and ruins probably 45 minutes later with shaking legs. We took a well deserved break and tried to convince ourselves we didn´t have to climb back up....we were wrong. We started the climb up and by about 11am I was sweating profusely, inhaling as much air as possible and trying to convince myself I could make it back to the main trail. This is seriously the most intense hike I have ever done and totally worth it.
Just as we were about to reach the main trail I saw someone running the other direction. I wasn´t sure why until I started smelling something strange. About five feet later, I came upon a massive pile of shit. I should probably point out here that the only bathrooms at MP are outside the entrance gate. At this point we were about as far as you could be from the entrance gate. I understand the need to go but seriously the dude didn´t event try and dig a hole or cover it up...that is the least he could have done.
Minus the small incident we had finally made it back to the main trail and we headed back to MP proper. There was one shorter climb near the main gate back to MP and we decided to climb it as well. Most people bypass this climb so we were alone minus one other person. It provided us with awesome views just much closer up than Wayna Picchu.
By this time it was after noon and we had been hiking for over 5 hours. Bridget was going to pass out from starvation so we decided to bite the bullet and pay for the buffet lunch provided outside the gates. Don´t get me wrong here I was also hungry but running on adrenaline from being at MP. This buffet was awesome...it should be for what we paid for it. I think each of us at 3 plates of food and dessert. We were in there long enough to avoid the rain that fell for about an hour. I also took advantage of the bathroom and fresh purified water...again you should for what we paid for it. Funny thing though was they were selling hotdogs and ice cream outside but you couldn´t get them in the buffet...and honestly they were all I wanted...I settled for awesome peruvian food instead but man was I craving a hotdog after that.
You can get back into MP all day with your ticket so after lunch we headed back in to do a tour of the actual site. That morning we had buzzed right through on our way to Wayna Picchu and didn´t see much except for very high on the opposite mountain. We took our time going through the whole site, reading our guide book and marveling at the engineering, architecture and pure strength that put this place together. We spent about 3 hours going through the main part of MP.
Around 4:30pm I was so tired I couldn´t fathom walking anymore so we headed to the gates. As we were heading to the gate, I heard a pretty strange and awful noise coming from about 20 feet away from me up a hill. I couldn´t figure out what it was until I heard Bridget say look at the llama love. There are llamas who roam the site eating the grass and apparently two of them got frisky. We arrived at what was apparently the tail end of it. The male llama dismounted and looked back at the female llama who proceeded to spit at him two or three times. I was laughing hysterically....what a perfect end to our visit to MP.
We had managed to stay at MP almost as long as any tourist can. We arrived the moment the gates opened and left 20 minutes before it closed. We were able to see the cloudy rainy moments of the morning...the sun slowly rising and the clouds leaving and the setting sun on the mountains hours later. We had planned to hike down the mountain instead of taking the buses but I couldn´t fathom climbing up or down another stair. My legs were literally dead. The bus dropped us off and we made our way to the train station to catch our train back to Ollanta. We arrived in Ollanta around 8pm and dragged our tired bodies another half mile uphill and to our hostel.
It was an incredibly long day but one I hope to never forget. I have seen pictures of MP before but you never really grasp just how incredible it is until you see it in person. The Inca were absolutely amazing with what they were able to build....and it has not only stood the test of time but also many major earthquakes...all intact. I am really still processing this whole experience and what it was like to get that first view of MP from up high on Wayna Picchu. It literally took my breath away.
Machu Picchu was really the cherry on top of this whole trip for me. I am finding myself ready to go home but also looking forward to the next 12 or so days. Peru is an absolutely stunning country with a wide array of plants and animals. We are going to experience much more of it as we leave from Cuzco. From here we head to Arequipa and hopefully to see some of the worlds deepest canyons. To give you perspective these canyons are twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. From there we make our way to Lima and then back home. I am ready to get out of Cuzco as well. The main plaza is so touristy. You are seriously accosted every five feet by someone trying to sell you something....the quiet and serenity of MP was a welcome change to the chaos of Cuzco.
More posts and pictures to come. And for you readers local to the Lansing/Brighton area, Bridget and I are planning a small slideshow when we get back and before she heads back to DC. The date is to be determined...but we plan to show some of our best pictures, tell a few stories, and have some authentic food (if all else fails we will have some chips and salsa).
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Ancient City Awaits Us
Well it has been a long week and we are finally less than 24 hours away from Peru. I can barely contain my excitement. That said I have really loved Bolivia but Machu Picchu and the wonders of Peru are calling my name.
I am going to apologize again for not posting any photos...just too hard. I will put up a slideshow with then trip is over.
A quick recap of the last week and what our next plans our. Since my last post, Bridget and I spent the whole week in Sucre. We flew to La Paz this morning and fly to Cuzco tomorrow. I know we are living the high life...who travels by plane when they are backpacking...well we do...mostly because taking the buses would have taken much longer and we wanted to get the most time in Peru...so we compromised and flew. If I had all the time in the world, I would take the buses. It is cheaper, way more authentic an experience and so much more...but we became gringos to the max and flew.
Highlights....read as you please
Sucre
Beautiful town...it was the original capitol of Bolivia and they still claim rights to the Official Capitol even though all state business is now done in La Paz...long story behind that...just know folks from Sucre are very proud and constantly stake claim to being the capitol. It is a beautiful city among the mountains...like every city we have been to. It is also one of the most afluent cities in Bolivia. There is still a lot of poverty but you can tell this city has more money than others. In the main part of the downtown, they require all buildings to be painted white....going back to colonial times...see the pride I was talking about.
Living the High Life
Like I said Bridget and I lived the high life the past week. We need a day or two to rest and it turned into about four....and we were gringos to the max. We ate at nice restaraunts, got our nails done, went to the museums, etc. But you must know Sucre definitely caters to tourists...more than any other city we have been in so far. I probably saw more tourists here than in any other city...outside of the salt flats but that is a huge attraction for the beauty of that part of the country. As for doing our nails...well we just gave in and got a manicure and a pedicure for about 7 bucks...you can´t beat that...and my nails look great!
Basically in Sucre I can tell you where to get your nails done, where to get the best meal, where to see an authentic dance show, where to drink some great beer, where the best museums are, and where to relax and see the whole city. I have to admit one day I was getting very bored just being a tourist...but that comes and goes when you are spending each and every day visiting museums and figuring your way around.
Spanish
I sitll don´t speak it...but I understand much much more than I did when I arrive over two weeks ago. If the conversations are basic I catch most words and have a good understanding but don´t expect me to actually respond....that terrifies me a bit. Bridget is a great teacher though and is constantly encouraging me to be the one who asks for the check or how much something costs. She is a god send and her spanish is great even though she won´t say that. She did say to me today that if I understood more spanish I wouldn´t be impressed...She says sometimes she says things like ¨"we pay now"...whatever it gets the job done...
Food
I realized I haven´t really written much about the food minus Albina´s amazing cooking in Cochabamba. Honestly this is naive of me but I was really expecting a lot of rice and beans and was prepping myself for five weeks of basics...boy was I wrong. You can get whatever you want to eat here. It might taste a little different than in the states but I have had everything from gnocchi to pasta to pizza. Don´t get me wrong though...I am trying every bit of authentic bit of food I can get my hands on. This includes (and I am going to probably spell these wrong): pique macchu, silpancho, cunapie, llama meat (pretty good), empanadas, saltenas, and much much more. I have liked most and loved some. I of course am taking pictures of all the interesting food I eat so I can show it to you. Bolivia really is a bread basket of sorts so you really can get so so much to eat.
Observations
I am daily struck by the poverty here...it is so hard to comprehend. So many people really live on so little...less than two US dollars a day...and I gripe about a cab driver overcharging us...when really that money is going to great use. I really don´t know how people do it. It is really quite heartbreaking. Today in the airport we had multiple chidlren come up to us and ask for handouts. At one point we were eating a bag of chips and a small child, easily to older than 5, came up to us and asked for some. How can you not give a child something to eat when you are well fed and sticking your hand in a bag of chips at the exact moment he is asking you...of course we gave in and shortly after two more children came and aksed us for something. And the poverty is just so different than in the US...it is everywhere. You can´t avoid it even if you try.
We went to a cloistered convent the other day that sells sweets through a revolving door in the courtyard (which was totally cool and the sweets were good). There was an older lady there who started talking to us and we told her we were from the US. It led to a conversation which was mostly good but she made a comment about how we are able to travel and come here...but so many Bolivians don´t get an oppurtunity like us...and it is the truth. You can´t avoid it. It is something I think about a lot while seriously enjoying the ability and freedom and wealth to travel while knowing so many people around us struggle to find something basic to eat everyday. Mind you I amm typing this after writing all about how we lived a pretty blessed week in Sucre.
With all that said, I am having a great time. Looking forward to the next two weeks and soaking everything in. I am trying to process as much as possible and enjoy my time as well. If you haven´t traveled, I strongly ecourage it. It will change your worldview and well much more...
Bolivia as a whole has been a wonderful experience for me. I will take many memories with me and inspiration for further study of the spanish language. None of this would have happened without Bridget´s language ability. It is a beautiful country (although we only really saw the mountaineaous part) with really fantastci people. We have been treated to amazing hospitality at our hostals and host home and by kind strangers on the street. A pharmacist who we visited to buy some altitude sickness pills from later helped us find the correct micro (city bus) to get the the bus terminal...that will stick with me for a while...
What´s next...
Peru tomorrow if our travels go as planned. We will be in Cuzco for about a week and in the week visit Machu Piccu. From there we will head up the coast and eventually land in Lima for out flights home. I am so excited about Peru I can hardly stand it....pictures to come probably at the end of the trip.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods...until next time.
I am going to apologize again for not posting any photos...just too hard. I will put up a slideshow with then trip is over.
A quick recap of the last week and what our next plans our. Since my last post, Bridget and I spent the whole week in Sucre. We flew to La Paz this morning and fly to Cuzco tomorrow. I know we are living the high life...who travels by plane when they are backpacking...well we do...mostly because taking the buses would have taken much longer and we wanted to get the most time in Peru...so we compromised and flew. If I had all the time in the world, I would take the buses. It is cheaper, way more authentic an experience and so much more...but we became gringos to the max and flew.
Highlights....read as you please
Sucre
Beautiful town...it was the original capitol of Bolivia and they still claim rights to the Official Capitol even though all state business is now done in La Paz...long story behind that...just know folks from Sucre are very proud and constantly stake claim to being the capitol. It is a beautiful city among the mountains...like every city we have been to. It is also one of the most afluent cities in Bolivia. There is still a lot of poverty but you can tell this city has more money than others. In the main part of the downtown, they require all buildings to be painted white....going back to colonial times...see the pride I was talking about.
Living the High Life
Like I said Bridget and I lived the high life the past week. We need a day or two to rest and it turned into about four....and we were gringos to the max. We ate at nice restaraunts, got our nails done, went to the museums, etc. But you must know Sucre definitely caters to tourists...more than any other city we have been in so far. I probably saw more tourists here than in any other city...outside of the salt flats but that is a huge attraction for the beauty of that part of the country. As for doing our nails...well we just gave in and got a manicure and a pedicure for about 7 bucks...you can´t beat that...and my nails look great!
Basically in Sucre I can tell you where to get your nails done, where to get the best meal, where to see an authentic dance show, where to drink some great beer, where the best museums are, and where to relax and see the whole city. I have to admit one day I was getting very bored just being a tourist...but that comes and goes when you are spending each and every day visiting museums and figuring your way around.
Spanish
I sitll don´t speak it...but I understand much much more than I did when I arrive over two weeks ago. If the conversations are basic I catch most words and have a good understanding but don´t expect me to actually respond....that terrifies me a bit. Bridget is a great teacher though and is constantly encouraging me to be the one who asks for the check or how much something costs. She is a god send and her spanish is great even though she won´t say that. She did say to me today that if I understood more spanish I wouldn´t be impressed...She says sometimes she says things like ¨"we pay now"...whatever it gets the job done...
Food
I realized I haven´t really written much about the food minus Albina´s amazing cooking in Cochabamba. Honestly this is naive of me but I was really expecting a lot of rice and beans and was prepping myself for five weeks of basics...boy was I wrong. You can get whatever you want to eat here. It might taste a little different than in the states but I have had everything from gnocchi to pasta to pizza. Don´t get me wrong though...I am trying every bit of authentic bit of food I can get my hands on. This includes (and I am going to probably spell these wrong): pique macchu, silpancho, cunapie, llama meat (pretty good), empanadas, saltenas, and much much more. I have liked most and loved some. I of course am taking pictures of all the interesting food I eat so I can show it to you. Bolivia really is a bread basket of sorts so you really can get so so much to eat.
Observations
I am daily struck by the poverty here...it is so hard to comprehend. So many people really live on so little...less than two US dollars a day...and I gripe about a cab driver overcharging us...when really that money is going to great use. I really don´t know how people do it. It is really quite heartbreaking. Today in the airport we had multiple chidlren come up to us and ask for handouts. At one point we were eating a bag of chips and a small child, easily to older than 5, came up to us and asked for some. How can you not give a child something to eat when you are well fed and sticking your hand in a bag of chips at the exact moment he is asking you...of course we gave in and shortly after two more children came and aksed us for something. And the poverty is just so different than in the US...it is everywhere. You can´t avoid it even if you try.
We went to a cloistered convent the other day that sells sweets through a revolving door in the courtyard (which was totally cool and the sweets were good). There was an older lady there who started talking to us and we told her we were from the US. It led to a conversation which was mostly good but she made a comment about how we are able to travel and come here...but so many Bolivians don´t get an oppurtunity like us...and it is the truth. You can´t avoid it. It is something I think about a lot while seriously enjoying the ability and freedom and wealth to travel while knowing so many people around us struggle to find something basic to eat everyday. Mind you I amm typing this after writing all about how we lived a pretty blessed week in Sucre.
With all that said, I am having a great time. Looking forward to the next two weeks and soaking everything in. I am trying to process as much as possible and enjoy my time as well. If you haven´t traveled, I strongly ecourage it. It will change your worldview and well much more...
Bolivia as a whole has been a wonderful experience for me. I will take many memories with me and inspiration for further study of the spanish language. None of this would have happened without Bridget´s language ability. It is a beautiful country (although we only really saw the mountaineaous part) with really fantastci people. We have been treated to amazing hospitality at our hostals and host home and by kind strangers on the street. A pharmacist who we visited to buy some altitude sickness pills from later helped us find the correct micro (city bus) to get the the bus terminal...that will stick with me for a while...
What´s next...
Peru tomorrow if our travels go as planned. We will be in Cuzco for about a week and in the week visit Machu Piccu. From there we will head up the coast and eventually land in Lima for out flights home. I am so excited about Peru I can hardly stand it....pictures to come probably at the end of the trip.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods...until next time.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Mountains, Dust, Buses, and More
Well we have been on the road for a full week now and are taking a few days in Sucre to rejuvinate...and do some laundry. After Sucre we are headed to Peru to enjoy our last few weeks there. So much has happened in the past week that would take forever to type so I will go over some of the highlights.
Salar de Uyuni
We spent one day in the massive salt flats and the other two days of our tour in Southwest Bolivia visiting a national park and the other amazing sights. It is one crazy mountainous and dusty place. I am pretty sure it is almost all dirt but incredibly beautiful. It is for sure high plains and desert. We were in a jeep with our driver and tour guide Enrique and four others. Three South Koreans who are spending two years volunteering in Paraguay and also a guy from Switzerland. It was definitely an ecelectic group but we had a great time sharing stories and learning from each other. I will try and share picture soon so you can see the amazing sights and get a picture of it. Our companions on teh three day journey were definitely a highlight for me....and they invited us to South Korea as well! Highlights of the southwest....the hot spring, the salar, and the people. Riding in the jeep was great but very bumpy and dusty.
Bikers
I saw seven people biking through the mountains...presumably on the Pan Am trail. I was able to talk to three of them. They were biking from Ecuador all the way to the south end of Chile. Driving on these roads was terrible so I can´t imagine how they did it on bikes. Very inpsiring to me though and made my little dream of wanting to bike the pan am trail a little bit more of a reality.
Road to Potosi
We arrived back in Uyuni were we started our three day trek through the Salar and national parks. We stayed the night and hit the road the next morning for Potosi. It is about a 6 hour bus ride on some of the most terrifying roads I have ever been on. I thought our first bus ride was bad...that one paled in comparison to this ride. It was paved sometimes and otherwise just dirt. We gained over 500 meters of elevation on the tiniest of mountain roads with construction...seriously I stopped looking out the window and just listened to music to distract me. No less than 10 times did my heart jump out of my chest. We made it though...thank you god...Potosi is at 4000 meters which is probably the highest elevation I have ever been.
Elevation Issues
I am doing just fine with the elevnation other than not sleeping well. I have read that insomnia can be a side effect and I have definitely been struggling with that. I have probably only had two good nights of sleep the whoel time I have been here. Bridget has more troubles than I but we are making it. Just have to slow down and take things easy.
Hacienda Cayara
In Potosi, we stayed in the Hacienda Cayara. I still think it was in my imagination....something like Narnia. It is about 9 miles outside of Potosi in this beautiful valley with farms and amazing scenery. We were welcomed by Coca and Arturo who run the hacienda. They asked Rene to accompany us. Rene is I think 21 and lives there but isn´t from there. Wonderful young man. He took us on a tour of the whole grounds and a waterfall in the back of the valley that feeds the entire valley with electricty. We climbed up the side of the waterfall and walked back down on a long winding dirt road. We got caught in a rainstorm and hid under a tree for about 10 minutes. Rene also took us to the Lecharria to see the cows. These cows supply milk for the whole area which also makes cheese and ice cream...which we tasted all of it. While we were there, we met Eduardo who was the veternarian for the animals on the hacienda. That morning he helped deliver a new baby cow and showed us the little guy. So cute...we got pictures with the cow which we will hopefully share later. The milk man, which I like to call Eduardo, was great. He took us on a tour of the farm and answered all our questions. Bridget and I both walked away with crushes on him. Again if I can figure out how to post pictures I will...
They served us an amazing dinner at the Hacienda with wine made on site. Arturo is a historian and the hacienda is a little piece of Bolivian history. Potosi was pretty much the center of the world in the 1600s because they found silver in the mountains. The city quickly grew to 200,000 people including many slaves. They mined silver for a few centuries and still do but the production is much much smaller than it was...The hacienda was owned by very rich people from Spain way back in the 1600s and has only changed hands three times. It is now owned by the Aitken family of which Arturo is a grandson (I think). He has perserved the Haciendia as best as he can with orginial furniture, paintings, books, etc. I literally was staring at books there were 300 and 400 years old in their library. He gave a long tour and I was so impressed by the amazing history preserved here. The whole place was amazing and beautiful but the people were probably the best part. Arturo and Coca were incredibly hospitable and Rene accompanied us for most of the day. He taught us a Bolivian dice game which is a lot like Yahtzee. We have amazing pictures from our time here to be shared soon.
And Now
We left Potosi and are now in Sucre which is really the cultural capitol of the country. It is very colonial looking. We have only been here 1 day and are going to stay until Tuesday probably. So far we are having a good time and enjoying the history.
Our travels are going well and we have met a lot of interesting people. I am getting to the point of being able to understand some basic conversations and can even order and pay for my own food. Bridget is a great teacher.
More to come soon and I am sure I have left out so much. I am convinced all should travel to South America at some point.
Salar de Uyuni
We spent one day in the massive salt flats and the other two days of our tour in Southwest Bolivia visiting a national park and the other amazing sights. It is one crazy mountainous and dusty place. I am pretty sure it is almost all dirt but incredibly beautiful. It is for sure high plains and desert. We were in a jeep with our driver and tour guide Enrique and four others. Three South Koreans who are spending two years volunteering in Paraguay and also a guy from Switzerland. It was definitely an ecelectic group but we had a great time sharing stories and learning from each other. I will try and share picture soon so you can see the amazing sights and get a picture of it. Our companions on teh three day journey were definitely a highlight for me....and they invited us to South Korea as well! Highlights of the southwest....the hot spring, the salar, and the people. Riding in the jeep was great but very bumpy and dusty.
Bikers
I saw seven people biking through the mountains...presumably on the Pan Am trail. I was able to talk to three of them. They were biking from Ecuador all the way to the south end of Chile. Driving on these roads was terrible so I can´t imagine how they did it on bikes. Very inpsiring to me though and made my little dream of wanting to bike the pan am trail a little bit more of a reality.
Road to Potosi
We arrived back in Uyuni were we started our three day trek through the Salar and national parks. We stayed the night and hit the road the next morning for Potosi. It is about a 6 hour bus ride on some of the most terrifying roads I have ever been on. I thought our first bus ride was bad...that one paled in comparison to this ride. It was paved sometimes and otherwise just dirt. We gained over 500 meters of elevation on the tiniest of mountain roads with construction...seriously I stopped looking out the window and just listened to music to distract me. No less than 10 times did my heart jump out of my chest. We made it though...thank you god...Potosi is at 4000 meters which is probably the highest elevation I have ever been.
Elevation Issues
I am doing just fine with the elevnation other than not sleeping well. I have read that insomnia can be a side effect and I have definitely been struggling with that. I have probably only had two good nights of sleep the whoel time I have been here. Bridget has more troubles than I but we are making it. Just have to slow down and take things easy.
Hacienda Cayara
In Potosi, we stayed in the Hacienda Cayara. I still think it was in my imagination....something like Narnia. It is about 9 miles outside of Potosi in this beautiful valley with farms and amazing scenery. We were welcomed by Coca and Arturo who run the hacienda. They asked Rene to accompany us. Rene is I think 21 and lives there but isn´t from there. Wonderful young man. He took us on a tour of the whole grounds and a waterfall in the back of the valley that feeds the entire valley with electricty. We climbed up the side of the waterfall and walked back down on a long winding dirt road. We got caught in a rainstorm and hid under a tree for about 10 minutes. Rene also took us to the Lecharria to see the cows. These cows supply milk for the whole area which also makes cheese and ice cream...which we tasted all of it. While we were there, we met Eduardo who was the veternarian for the animals on the hacienda. That morning he helped deliver a new baby cow and showed us the little guy. So cute...we got pictures with the cow which we will hopefully share later. The milk man, which I like to call Eduardo, was great. He took us on a tour of the farm and answered all our questions. Bridget and I both walked away with crushes on him. Again if I can figure out how to post pictures I will...
They served us an amazing dinner at the Hacienda with wine made on site. Arturo is a historian and the hacienda is a little piece of Bolivian history. Potosi was pretty much the center of the world in the 1600s because they found silver in the mountains. The city quickly grew to 200,000 people including many slaves. They mined silver for a few centuries and still do but the production is much much smaller than it was...The hacienda was owned by very rich people from Spain way back in the 1600s and has only changed hands three times. It is now owned by the Aitken family of which Arturo is a grandson (I think). He has perserved the Haciendia as best as he can with orginial furniture, paintings, books, etc. I literally was staring at books there were 300 and 400 years old in their library. He gave a long tour and I was so impressed by the amazing history preserved here. The whole place was amazing and beautiful but the people were probably the best part. Arturo and Coca were incredibly hospitable and Rene accompanied us for most of the day. He taught us a Bolivian dice game which is a lot like Yahtzee. We have amazing pictures from our time here to be shared soon.
And Now
We left Potosi and are now in Sucre which is really the cultural capitol of the country. It is very colonial looking. We have only been here 1 day and are going to stay until Tuesday probably. So far we are having a good time and enjoying the history.
Our travels are going well and we have met a lot of interesting people. I am getting to the point of being able to understand some basic conversations and can even order and pay for my own food. Bridget is a great teacher.
More to come soon and I am sure I have left out so much. I am convinced all should travel to South America at some point.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)