Sorry to anyone who is actually reading this! I´ve been lazy. Or rather having too much fun! And have not had a chance to update my blog.
I attempted to write a day by day summary of our four day Inka Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu, but it was just getting way too lengthy. So instead, I present you with the journey in photos: click here to view. See the comments for a slightly more detailed description.
Since then, I returned to Lima, said adios to my travel buddy Alecia who returned home to Salmon Arm and said hola to my boyfriend Mike who joined me in Peru for my last two weeks! I had 5--surprisingly unterrifying--days alone, during which I went to surf camp in San Bartolo! I am pleased to report that I took public transit there alone and did not get lost or ripped off once. Apparently Alecia was an excellent teacher as my Spanish skills have improved muchly over the last 7 weeks and locals actually seem to understand me!
Surf camp was awesome and I got to practice my skills a little more when Mike and I headed north to a little surf town called Huanchaco just outside of Trujillo. We took the most luxury bus I´ve been on yet so the 8 hour bus ride seemed like a breeze compared to the other horrid transit experiences I´ve had in South America. This bus actually served food and beverages! Unbelievable.
After a couple nights in Huanchaco, we headed back down south to Pisco (3 hours south of Lima), which we discovered had been hit by a massive earthquake in 2007 (7.9 on the richter scale, killing 1000 people). The town is still dealing with the crumbled remains, and is just starting to rebuild, so it was not exactly the nicest place to visit, but we figured that they could definitey use our tourist dollars.
From Pisco, we headed out on a tour of the Islas Ballestas (aka The Poor Man´s Galapagos) today, which was incredible! Stay tuned for photos. I even got to see some penguins in their natural habitat which was on my ¨to see¨ list for South America. Check! The second half of the tour was spent in the national park where we bounced around the desert (literally--our van driver was crazy) to different viewpoints and attractions.
Monday we fly to Cuzco where I get to show Mike all the sweet spots I discovered last time and discover some new ones! I´m not doing Machu Picchu again, but there are apparently plenty of other free ruins to visit around the city so hopefully that will do.
I can´t belive I´ll be home in less than a week! Hopefully I´ll get a chance to write again before then, but if not, you´ll just have to hear it in person!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Lake Titicaca - Prettier than it sounds!
And we´re back in Peru again!
We spent our last day in La Paz shopping at the Witches Market which is full of more cheap alpaca wear (which we bought way too much of again!) and strange superstitious goods including dried up llama fetuses that were hanging from all the stalls! It was mildy horrifying to see my baby pets strung up like that, but apparently you can bury them under the front step of a new house and it will bring good luck to those who live there!
From La Paz we headed to Copacapana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca and hopped on a boat to Isla del Sol. We weren´t sure where exactly we would be dropped off on the island, but knew that we may end up at the Escalera del Inca at the South end of the island. We learned the hard way that "escaleras" are stairs in Spanish as we had to climb this giant stone staircase from the beach to our hostel -- not an easy feat with a huge backpack at an elevation of 12,000 feet! We could have hired a porter to do it (ie. a Bolivian kid the size of my backpack itself), but we decided to tough it out and gasp our way up!
It was worth it. A local kid sold us on a $3 hostel a the top of the staircase which had hot water and unbelievable views of the lake right out our window! We´d planned on exploring the North end of the island the following day, but due to a combination of the altitude and some bacteria-infested tomatoes that we had on a pizza the day before, we were both completely out of commission of the next day. It was like having the worst hangover ever, but without the fun of a drunken night before. We finally got out of bed a about 4pm (because we had to eat something!) and immediately went back to bed afterwards.
The next day we took a boat back to Copacabana and caught a bus to Cusco where we are now! Cusco is pretty awesome so far and I had the best french toast of my life this morning at a place called Jack´s Cafe -- seriously, it was incredible. We´re just in the process of researching our trek to Machu Picchu and have decided to do the new 4 day Inka Jungle Trail as an alternative to the traditional Inca Trail. It involves mountain biking, hot springs and apparently amazing views from vertigo-inducing heights. Choosing a company to do it with is a bit overwhelming --does cheaper mean we´re more likely to die? We´re not sure. We´re compiling our research, however, and weighing the pros and cons, so I´m sure we´ll make the right decision in the end!
We spent our last day in La Paz shopping at the Witches Market which is full of more cheap alpaca wear (which we bought way too much of again!) and strange superstitious goods including dried up llama fetuses that were hanging from all the stalls! It was mildy horrifying to see my baby pets strung up like that, but apparently you can bury them under the front step of a new house and it will bring good luck to those who live there!
From La Paz we headed to Copacapana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca and hopped on a boat to Isla del Sol. We weren´t sure where exactly we would be dropped off on the island, but knew that we may end up at the Escalera del Inca at the South end of the island. We learned the hard way that "escaleras" are stairs in Spanish as we had to climb this giant stone staircase from the beach to our hostel -- not an easy feat with a huge backpack at an elevation of 12,000 feet! We could have hired a porter to do it (ie. a Bolivian kid the size of my backpack itself), but we decided to tough it out and gasp our way up!
It was worth it. A local kid sold us on a $3 hostel a the top of the staircase which had hot water and unbelievable views of the lake right out our window! We´d planned on exploring the North end of the island the following day, but due to a combination of the altitude and some bacteria-infested tomatoes that we had on a pizza the day before, we were both completely out of commission of the next day. It was like having the worst hangover ever, but without the fun of a drunken night before. We finally got out of bed a about 4pm (because we had to eat something!) and immediately went back to bed afterwards.
The next day we took a boat back to Copacabana and caught a bus to Cusco where we are now! Cusco is pretty awesome so far and I had the best french toast of my life this morning at a place called Jack´s Cafe -- seriously, it was incredible. We´re just in the process of researching our trek to Machu Picchu and have decided to do the new 4 day Inka Jungle Trail as an alternative to the traditional Inca Trail. It involves mountain biking, hot springs and apparently amazing views from vertigo-inducing heights. Choosing a company to do it with is a bit overwhelming --does cheaper mean we´re more likely to die? We´re not sure. We´re compiling our research, however, and weighing the pros and cons, so I´m sure we´ll make the right decision in the end!
Monday, February 23, 2009
9 days and two countries later. . .
There´s a lot to report! We were in transit for a good portion of it, flying from Bogota, Colombia to Lima, Peru and busing our way down to La Paz, Bolivia where we are now! To recap. . .
Bogota - Was nice, but not somewhere we were too keen to stay, especially after hearing reports from English teachers working there that they´d all been robbed, mugged or held at knife-point over the last two weeks! Yikes. Nothing bad happened to us (thank goodness!) and we did journey up to Monserrate (see photo) on a cable car up to the highest point overlooking the city, which was really beautiful!
Lima - I love this city! Can´t wait to get back and spend some more time there before flying home. We stayed in this artistic community called Barranco which is lovely and just a few minute´s walk to the ocean. We were on a tight schedule trying to make it to Bolivia in time for Carnival so we were only here a night before hoping on to another lengthy bus ride (17 hours) to Arequipa.
Arequipa-Puno - I hardy remember these places since we pretty much just arrived, slept, ate, and were on our way! We opted for the ¨no frills¨ bus to Arequipa, which had absolutely no leg room and I woke up with massively swollen ankles one morning which freaked me out a bit (they seem to be back to normal now, however). We started to feel pretty good about our seating arrangements though when we saw a guy crawl out of the luggage compartment during one of the stops! So hillarious. Getting to Puno was supposed to only be 4 hours, but a tiny skiff of snow on a slight incline (I would not call it a hill!) delayed us for 3 HOURS!! It seems that Peruvians are even less prepared for snow than Vancouverites.
On to Bolivia - Getting across the border to Bolivia was an adventure in itself! We opted for the shorter route rather than going around Lake Titicaca (which is longer and more touristy) since we are planning to come back into Peru that way. We jumped on a tiny bus with the locals from Puno to the dirty town of Deseguadero. The Lonely Planet´s description of Deseguadero as a chaotic border town was a huge understatement!! Trying to get our entry & exit stamps for each country was completely insane as the migration and immigration buildings for each country were nearly impossible to find. People seemed to be crossing the border at their own free will and there was absolutely no control of who was coming and going. Buses, cars, wagons and foot traffic were all travelling on the same path across a tiny bridge dividing the two countries. After much chaos and a few fights with pushy locals (must learn more Spanish swear words!), we got our stamps and were on our way to La Paz!
La Paz - We found a great hostel with a brew pub attached to it (a night´s stay includes a free pint!) as soon as we arrived and have been there since Friday. We took a day tour on Saturday to Oruro for the kick-off of Bolivia´s biggest and best Carnival celebration. We left at 3am to get there for the 8am parade start. The parade was awesome and the costumes were so colourful and intricate! After about 5 hours of parade, however, the novelty started to wear off. And after 10 hours of parade, we were really over it. Our bus left at 8pm and the effing parade was still going!! How long can these people dance for? Apparently it continues into the wee hours of the morning! The water fights were also a lot of fun for the first bit and we held our own against swarming gangs of local kids trying to peg the tourists (I swear, my blonde head is like a bullseye!), but after three days of foam in the face and water down the back, we´re ready to get out of this place.
Tomorrow morning we´re heading to Copacabana and Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca which will hopefully be a little more relaxed and a little more dry. Until then!
Bogota - Was nice, but not somewhere we were too keen to stay, especially after hearing reports from English teachers working there that they´d all been robbed, mugged or held at knife-point over the last two weeks! Yikes. Nothing bad happened to us (thank goodness!) and we did journey up to Monserrate (see photo) on a cable car up to the highest point overlooking the city, which was really beautiful!
Lima - I love this city! Can´t wait to get back and spend some more time there before flying home. We stayed in this artistic community called Barranco which is lovely and just a few minute´s walk to the ocean. We were on a tight schedule trying to make it to Bolivia in time for Carnival so we were only here a night before hoping on to another lengthy bus ride (17 hours) to Arequipa.
Arequipa-Puno - I hardy remember these places since we pretty much just arrived, slept, ate, and were on our way! We opted for the ¨no frills¨ bus to Arequipa, which had absolutely no leg room and I woke up with massively swollen ankles one morning which freaked me out a bit (they seem to be back to normal now, however). We started to feel pretty good about our seating arrangements though when we saw a guy crawl out of the luggage compartment during one of the stops! So hillarious. Getting to Puno was supposed to only be 4 hours, but a tiny skiff of snow on a slight incline (I would not call it a hill!) delayed us for 3 HOURS!! It seems that Peruvians are even less prepared for snow than Vancouverites.
On to Bolivia - Getting across the border to Bolivia was an adventure in itself! We opted for the shorter route rather than going around Lake Titicaca (which is longer and more touristy) since we are planning to come back into Peru that way. We jumped on a tiny bus with the locals from Puno to the dirty town of Deseguadero. The Lonely Planet´s description of Deseguadero as a chaotic border town was a huge understatement!! Trying to get our entry & exit stamps for each country was completely insane as the migration and immigration buildings for each country were nearly impossible to find. People seemed to be crossing the border at their own free will and there was absolutely no control of who was coming and going. Buses, cars, wagons and foot traffic were all travelling on the same path across a tiny bridge dividing the two countries. After much chaos and a few fights with pushy locals (must learn more Spanish swear words!), we got our stamps and were on our way to La Paz!
La Paz - We found a great hostel with a brew pub attached to it (a night´s stay includes a free pint!) as soon as we arrived and have been there since Friday. We took a day tour on Saturday to Oruro for the kick-off of Bolivia´s biggest and best Carnival celebration. We left at 3am to get there for the 8am parade start. The parade was awesome and the costumes were so colourful and intricate! After about 5 hours of parade, however, the novelty started to wear off. And after 10 hours of parade, we were really over it. Our bus left at 8pm and the effing parade was still going!! How long can these people dance for? Apparently it continues into the wee hours of the morning! The water fights were also a lot of fun for the first bit and we held our own against swarming gangs of local kids trying to peg the tourists (I swear, my blonde head is like a bullseye!), but after three days of foam in the face and water down the back, we´re ready to get out of this place.
Tomorrow morning we´re heading to Copacabana and Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca which will hopefully be a little more relaxed and a little more dry. Until then!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Night Bus Adventure
We´ve discovered rainy season. Yesterday´s journey to Tayrona national park was a bit to a letdown on a cloudy day, but still a fun adventure hiking in the jungle through mud up to our shins in some spots! We decided to do away with our sandals and just sink our feet into the lovely mix of mud and horse dung as it was getting on our feet anyway. The park entrance fee was about twice as much as we were expecting (Lonely Planet is full of lies!!) so it was hardly worthwhile to pay it if you weren´t staying overnight there. We´d already traveled over an hour to get to the park entrance though so we decided to suck it up and hike to the ocean.
Wherever we arrived was clearly not the great snorkeling spot we´d read about since getting into water that rough would surely result in immediate death! The waves were enormous, but it was fun watching them crash up against the rocks. It would have been nice to have a bit more time to explore the park, but we had to get back to Santa Marta to catch our night bus to Bogota.
Perhaps it was a bit risky to be taking a 16 hour overnight bus, in Colombia, on Friday the 13th, but we survived and have arrived in rainy Bogota! We´re hoping to hit up a salsa club tonight to watch (and possibly participate in) the fun. One club we were looking at going to had a four dollar cover charge (steep by Colombian standards!), but it included four beers. . . hahaha. I love this country!
Wherever we arrived was clearly not the great snorkeling spot we´d read about since getting into water that rough would surely result in immediate death! The waves were enormous, but it was fun watching them crash up against the rocks. It would have been nice to have a bit more time to explore the park, but we had to get back to Santa Marta to catch our night bus to Bogota.
Perhaps it was a bit risky to be taking a 16 hour overnight bus, in Colombia, on Friday the 13th, but we survived and have arrived in rainy Bogota! We´re hoping to hit up a salsa club tonight to watch (and possibly participate in) the fun. One club we were looking at going to had a four dollar cover charge (steep by Colombian standards!), but it included four beers. . . hahaha. I love this country!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunsets and Spanish Shouting
After what was supposed to be a four hour journey from Cartagena by bus, we made it to the little fishing village of Taganga! It took about two hours longer than expected due to the fact that our bus kept stopping for long periods of time for no apparent reason. The locals on the bus were clearly not impressed either, which resulted in an awesome Spanish shouting match between the bus riders and this lady working for the bus company. I have no idea what they were saying, but it was pretty entertaining. Even the little kids on the bus were all crowded around their screaming mothers to show their support for the "get to Taganga faster" cause.
We've been here for two days now and it's nice to be in a chill little town as opposed to a big city where you're constantly worried about getting lost in a dark alley or having your stuff stolen. Here, you can do a walking tour of the whole city in about 15 minutes! It's a big diving town (with amazing sunsets!) and the backpackers have definitely discovered it, as there are more hostels than shops. The beaches are wicked with the exception of constant harrassment from locals trying to sell you stuff. Most of them are super nice though and take rejection pretty well. I think that most of the Spanish vocabulary I've developed consists mainly of various ways to say "no" in a nice way. That, and "una cerveza por favor" - of course.
Tomorrow we head to Santa Marta for a day, which is a little bigger but still relaxed with lots of beaches. The reefs in the nearby national park are supposed to be awesome so hopefully we'll get some good snorkeling in during our last few days of Caribbean sunshine before heading to Peru.
We've been here for two days now and it's nice to be in a chill little town as opposed to a big city where you're constantly worried about getting lost in a dark alley or having your stuff stolen. Here, you can do a walking tour of the whole city in about 15 minutes! It's a big diving town (with amazing sunsets!) and the backpackers have definitely discovered it, as there are more hostels than shops. The beaches are wicked with the exception of constant harrassment from locals trying to sell you stuff. Most of them are super nice though and take rejection pretty well. I think that most of the Spanish vocabulary I've developed consists mainly of various ways to say "no" in a nice way. That, and "una cerveza por favor" - of course.
Tomorrow we head to Santa Marta for a day, which is a little bigger but still relaxed with lots of beaches. The reefs in the nearby national park are supposed to be awesome so hopefully we'll get some good snorkeling in during our last few days of Caribbean sunshine before heading to Peru.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Volcan de Mud
Possibly the most fun we've had yet was on our trip to the mud volcano today, and as you can see, we jumped right in! Only about an hour away from Cartagena, we joined some other tourists on a day trip to Volcan de Lodo El Totumo. The mud felt disgusting at first, but as you got used to it, it was kinda nice! The volcano seemed to be a bottomless pit of mud, but there was no way you could sink into it as your legs kept popping up out of the mud and you had to physically push them back down because the mud was so thick! There are actually guys there who have the job of pushing tourists around in the mud all day because it's impossible to maneuver yourself in it!
As usual, lot of gross Colombian men were staring at us in our bathing suits, but at least we had mud to cover our bodies this time. Getting it off and out of my hair was slightly difficult, but apparently there are 51 minerals in the mud so my skin is all nice and soft-like now! Why pay to go to the spa when you can jump into a mud volcano?
As usual, lot of gross Colombian men were staring at us in our bathing suits, but at least we had mud to cover our bodies this time. Getting it off and out of my hair was slightly difficult, but apparently there are 51 minerals in the mud so my skin is all nice and soft-like now! Why pay to go to the spa when you can jump into a mud volcano?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Cartagena
On Friday we flew into Medellin, Colombia, which probably had the most happenin´night-life of anywhere we´ve been so far. Everybody at our hostel was super friendly and Friday night in the ¨Zona Rosa¨ (think Granville Street in Vancouver, but way cooler) had a great vibe with people doing capoeira in the park and chilling out on the grass all over the place. For the first time, I felt really safe being out at night and wanted to join the party. Logic prevailed, however, and I resisted since our 13 hour bus ride to Cartagena started at 5am. The rumba was still going when we left!
The 13 hour bus ride on a winding road through the mountains was less than fun - sometimes nauseating, sometimes terrifying! It was like driving Maui´s Hanna Highway, but on a big bus that doesn´t slow down for corners. We made it just fine though and managed to find a hostel pretty easily and safely, even after dark.
Cartagena has been super hot and super windy so far! Back in the day, the city had to fend off a lot of pirate attacks so the entire old town is surrounded by this huge wall that apparently took two centuries to build. The old part of town has been fixed up and is really beautiful. Amazingly bright flowers hanging off huge balconies line every street, while street vendors harrass the tourists on the sidewalks below.
Today we took a boat tour to Playa Blanca and Isla del Rosario which was pretty good, but we missed out on the history lesson as it was all in Spanish. Playa Blanca was really gorgeous and the waters were a beautiful bright blue. We were totally confused about what was going on because people kept getting off the boat at different places, so we ended up staying on the boat with the Colombian guys who were running the tour and never did see the Isla del Rosario. . . we laughed at them in English, they laughed at us in Spanish. We bonded, it was great.
It was a particularly windy day so the waves on the ocean were insane for our little boat! It felt like a roller coaster ride, but with shrieking middle-aged tourists who hadn´t realised they´d signed up for an amusement park ride. That was probably the best part of the tour and made that $25 totally worthwhile!
The 13 hour bus ride on a winding road through the mountains was less than fun - sometimes nauseating, sometimes terrifying! It was like driving Maui´s Hanna Highway, but on a big bus that doesn´t slow down for corners. We made it just fine though and managed to find a hostel pretty easily and safely, even after dark.
Cartagena has been super hot and super windy so far! Back in the day, the city had to fend off a lot of pirate attacks so the entire old town is surrounded by this huge wall that apparently took two centuries to build. The old part of town has been fixed up and is really beautiful. Amazingly bright flowers hanging off huge balconies line every street, while street vendors harrass the tourists on the sidewalks below.
Today we took a boat tour to Playa Blanca and Isla del Rosario which was pretty good, but we missed out on the history lesson as it was all in Spanish. Playa Blanca was really gorgeous and the waters were a beautiful bright blue. We were totally confused about what was going on because people kept getting off the boat at different places, so we ended up staying on the boat with the Colombian guys who were running the tour and never did see the Isla del Rosario. . . we laughed at them in English, they laughed at us in Spanish. We bonded, it was great.
It was a particularly windy day so the waves on the ocean were insane for our little boat! It felt like a roller coaster ride, but with shrieking middle-aged tourists who hadn´t realised they´d signed up for an amusement park ride. That was probably the best part of the tour and made that $25 totally worthwhile!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Market Madness
And sweet alpaca-wear there was! Got myself an amazingly soft sweater and a beautiful blanket for just $20 and a little bit of haggling. The market in Sasquisili was AMAZING! It's a tiny little town with next to nothing there, but every Thursday morning, people flock there from all over to buy their grains, veggies, shoes, pots & pans and just about anything else they could ever need. There are not a whole lot of tourists at this time of year, so the two blonde girls get quite a lot of looks (some good and some not-so-good) trekking around with giant backpacks.
The traffic here is absoultely insane! Yield, merge, signal. . . rules of the North American road clearly do not apply. And just when I thought I'd seen it all, I spot a barefoot woman with a baby riding on the back of a motorcycle in the midst of the chaos. Helmets? What are those?
Even with our newly acquired alpaca-wear, we've had about enough of the high altitude chills. Tomorrow we're flying to Medellin (yes, that's in Colombia. . . ) and heading to Cartagena in search of some Caribbean sunshine. Don't worry, we've done a lot of reading and conversing about Colombia and the northern part is totally safe - thanks to Pablo, it just got a bad rep. If anything, it sounds like Colombians are trying to prove their reputation wrong by making it even more safe than most places in South America.
The traffic here is absoultely insane! Yield, merge, signal. . . rules of the North American road clearly do not apply. And just when I thought I'd seen it all, I spot a barefoot woman with a baby riding on the back of a motorcycle in the midst of the chaos. Helmets? What are those?
Even with our newly acquired alpaca-wear, we've had about enough of the high altitude chills. Tomorrow we're flying to Medellin (yes, that's in Colombia. . . ) and heading to Cartagena in search of some Caribbean sunshine. Don't worry, we've done a lot of reading and conversing about Colombia and the northern part is totally safe - thanks to Pablo, it just got a bad rep. If anything, it sounds like Colombians are trying to prove their reputation wrong by making it even more safe than most places in South America.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Middle Earth
After a day´s delay due to some flight missing in Miami, I finally made it to Quito, Ecuador! At 2850m, it´s a tad bit chilly, but a nice place to spend a few days nonetheless. The elevation didn´t seem to effect me too much, so my travel buddy Alecia and I ventured north to the Equator today to hop between hemispheres and potentially bust some of these so called energy myths that we´ve heard so much about.
I´m happy to report that I apparently weigh less at the Equator due to the fact that there is less gravity there, but I also seem to be weaker and off balance (due to the mysterious energies). I also witnessed that the toilets do indeed flush counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and just drain straight down on the Equator line - I saw it with my own eyes people!
Heading south to Latacunga tomorrow to check out what is apparently the most important market in the country so hopefully we´ll find some sweet alpaca-wear to keep us warm at the high altitudes. I´m sure it won´t compare to the Shuswap Lake Haven knitted wonders but it should cost a few pennies less I´m thinking as I spent a whopping $20 yesterday on food, accommodations and a journey to the middle of the earth and back! I could definitely get used to this. . .
I´m happy to report that I apparently weigh less at the Equator due to the fact that there is less gravity there, but I also seem to be weaker and off balance (due to the mysterious energies). I also witnessed that the toilets do indeed flush counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and just drain straight down on the Equator line - I saw it with my own eyes people!
Heading south to Latacunga tomorrow to check out what is apparently the most important market in the country so hopefully we´ll find some sweet alpaca-wear to keep us warm at the high altitudes. I´m sure it won´t compare to the Shuswap Lake Haven knitted wonders but it should cost a few pennies less I´m thinking as I spent a whopping $20 yesterday on food, accommodations and a journey to the middle of the earth and back! I could definitely get used to this. . .
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