So I guess I'm coming home? I have such mixed feelings about leaving, I'm sure most of you know why. But mainly I'm ready. Ready to see everyone (who I've missed like CRAZY). Ready to get a bit of stability and routine back into my life. Ready to sleep in a proper bed, and more importantly the same bed for more than a few days in a row. Ready to sit on a couch and watch a bit of tele in english. Ready to eat steak and peanut butter (not together).
So I guess I will see you all soon...Thanks everyone for reading about my life for the past 7 months!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Notes From the Road
I am writing from the motor-home, aka. La Boya (which translates to the Buoy) on the road between Puerto Madryn in Patagonia and Buenos Aires. I apologize for not writing in quite sometime, it isn’t as though I’ve been really busy. Maybe it’s because I’ll be home in just over one week (for which I have mixed emotions, but mostly I’m excited as hell). Or maybe because the past few weeks’ adventures have been more tame than those that preceded them…
The last time I wrote I was back in Buenos Aires waiting to return to Bariloche. Perhaps I should explain about why the back and forth between the two places. Maxi runs a tennis club and lives in Buenos Aires, but his sister and her family recently moved to Bariloche. Maxi is in the process of opening a business for his sister and brother-in-law to run making and selling home-made pasta. This last time we went down there we had a few machines trailing behind the motor-home for said business.
Because the pasta business is new to them all and so is the use of the machines, I think you can imagine that we ate a LOT of trial pasta whilst in Bariloche. This includes all types of noodles, raviolis, sorrentinis, etc, but also anything to do with the dough (ie: pizza, empanadas, bread, etc). To my dismay, I have never consumed so many simple carbohydrates in my life (and many of you know how I can put back bread). I am hoping not to come back a little ball of dough, but we’ll have to see about that…
I’ll jump back a couple weeks now to the beginning of the present road-trip in the motor-home. After the delayed-by-over-a-week departure from BA, we set out in La Boya on a Wednesday in the late evening (which by Canada standards means practically in the middle of the night). I believe we stopped to sleep a few hours in a gas station parking lot somewhere around 4am, but I had been asleep long before.
The following day we continued largely uneventfully on the road south-bound. Thankfully there were no major repairs to be made on the motor-home on the journey. Towards the evening of the second day traveling, I took a turn driving. La Boya isn’t exactly the easiest vehicle to drive, although it is easier than the truck. It didn’t help that it was weighed down by the pasta machines we were towing on the trailer. Needless to say, she had a little trouble climbing hills. One particularly ¨steep¨ hill caused the drama of the day when I wasn’t able to down-shift fast enough and the engine stalled. As Maxi was trying to tell me frantically to brake, the motor-home slowly came to a stop and then to my dismay began rolling backwards. I believe it was a combination of the Spanish directions, the fact that it was dark and I couldn’t see the unfamiliar pedals, and the most pressing issue of the poor brake system. What resulted was that the trailer swung out to the side while the motor-home rolled back and the two slammed into one-another. Prior to this incident, Maxi already joked that I seem to break everything (which has some truth to it, but only small and old things that were ready to break anyways), and this didn’t help my case. What was worse was that I was stuck with my foot on the brake while he assessed the damage, all the while thinking that I destroyed the new pasta machines. I was very relieved when Maxi, surprisingly very calmly, informed me that the metal bowl of the dough-machine could be easily bent back into shape, no harm, no foul. In fact he´s so calm and well-tempered that when he fell off the roof of the motor-home in the rain a different day all he did was mutter ¨hijo de puta¨ (son of a bitch) and proceed to quietly change into dry clothes.
Needless to say the rest of said trip continued with me soley as passenger and cook. The following day still had it’s own non-motor-home related incidences. The first began when we stopped to help the victims of a car accident after Maxi spotted a crumpled truck at the side of the highway with passengers inside. The most likely story of what happened to them is that the 2 young guys were traveling over-tired and fell asleep, losing control of the vehicle. I say likely story because neither guy was able to recall exactly what had happened, but the driver just kept saying angrily that he knew he should have stopped the truck to rest. The truck had obviously rolled a number of times. While the other bystander drove to the next town for the ambulance, we stayed with the victims, Maxi trying to pry open the jammed driver´s door and me trying my best to calm the said driver who seemed to be in shock. The top of his head was ripped open, thankfully largely superficially and not bleeding actively, but his clothes were covered in quite a bit of blood. He also seemed to have a broken wrist, while the passenger seemed to have a broken ankle. Both of them are lucky to not have suffered much worse injuries by the look of the truck, and can probably thank their seatbelts for that too.
After being relieved by the arrival of the ambulance, we continued on our travels. Not too soon after, we stopped for another truck that was pulled over at the side of the road. This time it was just a couple who had run out of fuel. As we were pulling the trailer we couldn’t tow them, so Maxi ended up pushing the truck bumper-to-bumper to the next town which was just shy of 20kms away.
I believe the rest of the road-trip went rather uneventfully and we arrived into frigid Bariloche on Saturday. The temperature for the time we were there hovered somewhere around zero degrees with a lot of rain in the town and snow up in the mountains, the latter at least making for some spectacular views. I’m not sure if I mentioned, but Bariloche is situated on the breath-taking Nahuel Huapi Lake, both of which are surrounded by the pre-cordillera mountains.
Aside from eating a lot of pasta, I spent most of the days there playing with the kids, reading, watching TV that I don’t really understand, and shivering from the cold. We slept out in the motor-home most nights to not disrupt the household too much and although it has a heater it was still pretty chilly. That, and when it rained we had some leaks here and there.
As I briefly mentioned in the last post we took a weekend trip to San Martin de Los Andes, stopping for the night on the way back in Villa la Angustura, all of which is in Argentina’s southern lake district which is beautiful. Being that it’s autumn it was stunning, but unfortunately meant that it was too cold to really enjoy being outdoors.
After this trip we returned back to Bariloche for a couple of days and headed put again in the night for the return trip to Buenos Aires with a detour to Puerto Madryn to see the sea lions. I’ll stop writing for now as I’m sure you are all exhausted from this lengthy account.
The last time I wrote I was back in Buenos Aires waiting to return to Bariloche. Perhaps I should explain about why the back and forth between the two places. Maxi runs a tennis club and lives in Buenos Aires, but his sister and her family recently moved to Bariloche. Maxi is in the process of opening a business for his sister and brother-in-law to run making and selling home-made pasta. This last time we went down there we had a few machines trailing behind the motor-home for said business.
Because the pasta business is new to them all and so is the use of the machines, I think you can imagine that we ate a LOT of trial pasta whilst in Bariloche. This includes all types of noodles, raviolis, sorrentinis, etc, but also anything to do with the dough (ie: pizza, empanadas, bread, etc). To my dismay, I have never consumed so many simple carbohydrates in my life (and many of you know how I can put back bread). I am hoping not to come back a little ball of dough, but we’ll have to see about that…
I’ll jump back a couple weeks now to the beginning of the present road-trip in the motor-home. After the delayed-by-over-a-week departure from BA, we set out in La Boya on a Wednesday in the late evening (which by Canada standards means practically in the middle of the night). I believe we stopped to sleep a few hours in a gas station parking lot somewhere around 4am, but I had been asleep long before.
The following day we continued largely uneventfully on the road south-bound. Thankfully there were no major repairs to be made on the motor-home on the journey. Towards the evening of the second day traveling, I took a turn driving. La Boya isn’t exactly the easiest vehicle to drive, although it is easier than the truck. It didn’t help that it was weighed down by the pasta machines we were towing on the trailer. Needless to say, she had a little trouble climbing hills. One particularly ¨steep¨ hill caused the drama of the day when I wasn’t able to down-shift fast enough and the engine stalled. As Maxi was trying to tell me frantically to brake, the motor-home slowly came to a stop and then to my dismay began rolling backwards. I believe it was a combination of the Spanish directions, the fact that it was dark and I couldn’t see the unfamiliar pedals, and the most pressing issue of the poor brake system. What resulted was that the trailer swung out to the side while the motor-home rolled back and the two slammed into one-another. Prior to this incident, Maxi already joked that I seem to break everything (which has some truth to it, but only small and old things that were ready to break anyways), and this didn’t help my case. What was worse was that I was stuck with my foot on the brake while he assessed the damage, all the while thinking that I destroyed the new pasta machines. I was very relieved when Maxi, surprisingly very calmly, informed me that the metal bowl of the dough-machine could be easily bent back into shape, no harm, no foul. In fact he´s so calm and well-tempered that when he fell off the roof of the motor-home in the rain a different day all he did was mutter ¨hijo de puta¨ (son of a bitch) and proceed to quietly change into dry clothes.
Needless to say the rest of said trip continued with me soley as passenger and cook. The following day still had it’s own non-motor-home related incidences. The first began when we stopped to help the victims of a car accident after Maxi spotted a crumpled truck at the side of the highway with passengers inside. The most likely story of what happened to them is that the 2 young guys were traveling over-tired and fell asleep, losing control of the vehicle. I say likely story because neither guy was able to recall exactly what had happened, but the driver just kept saying angrily that he knew he should have stopped the truck to rest. The truck had obviously rolled a number of times. While the other bystander drove to the next town for the ambulance, we stayed with the victims, Maxi trying to pry open the jammed driver´s door and me trying my best to calm the said driver who seemed to be in shock. The top of his head was ripped open, thankfully largely superficially and not bleeding actively, but his clothes were covered in quite a bit of blood. He also seemed to have a broken wrist, while the passenger seemed to have a broken ankle. Both of them are lucky to not have suffered much worse injuries by the look of the truck, and can probably thank their seatbelts for that too.
After being relieved by the arrival of the ambulance, we continued on our travels. Not too soon after, we stopped for another truck that was pulled over at the side of the road. This time it was just a couple who had run out of fuel. As we were pulling the trailer we couldn’t tow them, so Maxi ended up pushing the truck bumper-to-bumper to the next town which was just shy of 20kms away.
I believe the rest of the road-trip went rather uneventfully and we arrived into frigid Bariloche on Saturday. The temperature for the time we were there hovered somewhere around zero degrees with a lot of rain in the town and snow up in the mountains, the latter at least making for some spectacular views. I’m not sure if I mentioned, but Bariloche is situated on the breath-taking Nahuel Huapi Lake, both of which are surrounded by the pre-cordillera mountains.
Aside from eating a lot of pasta, I spent most of the days there playing with the kids, reading, watching TV that I don’t really understand, and shivering from the cold. We slept out in the motor-home most nights to not disrupt the household too much and although it has a heater it was still pretty chilly. That, and when it rained we had some leaks here and there.
As I briefly mentioned in the last post we took a weekend trip to San Martin de Los Andes, stopping for the night on the way back in Villa la Angustura, all of which is in Argentina’s southern lake district which is beautiful. Being that it’s autumn it was stunning, but unfortunately meant that it was too cold to really enjoy being outdoors.
After this trip we returned back to Bariloche for a couple of days and headed put again in the night for the return trip to Buenos Aires with a detour to Puerto Madryn to see the sea lions. I’ll stop writing for now as I’m sure you are all exhausted from this lengthy account.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Update
Just a quick note to say that all is well- spending the weekend in San Martin de los Andes- a town a few hours away from Bariloche. It's bloody freezing as the winter is fast approaching, but I have just over 2 weeks left until home and hopefully cold beer on a patio somewhere!! That and Folkfest (pressure unto those who are still deciding whether to attend!). Love you all and miss you like CRAZY!!!!!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Still in the Big BA
Haven't departed for Bariloche yet. We spent the weekend in Buenos Aires which was loads of fun. Maxi had friends over at the tennis club that he manages on Saturday night and we mixed up some interesting beverages. I was the master of the margaritas but there was also pisco sour (which includes egg whites and powdered sugar and was awful), beer, aguardiente with cherries (not my idea), cuba libres, and fernet (which is a herby-type liquor that is really popular here although I can't understand why). The lethal combination of all this resulted in me having to crash out early in the motorhome at 4am while everyone else made it out until 6am or so.
Sunday, aka hangover day, started with a McDonald's cheeseburger that was unexceptable by my standards- the fact that there was no pickle or condiments should explain it all. After that we went for homemade ice cream and watched an impressive circus/theatre performance where we were the only adults without children.
The plan for tomorrow is to leave for the south in the motorhome but I won't hold my breathe...
Sunday, aka hangover day, started with a McDonald's cheeseburger that was unexceptable by my standards- the fact that there was no pickle or condiments should explain it all. After that we went for homemade ice cream and watched an impressive circus/theatre performance where we were the only adults without children.
The plan for tomorrow is to leave for the south in the motorhome but I won't hold my breathe...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
On Argentina Time
It's Thursday and we're still in Buenos Aires- I've come to realize that no one here is in any type of a hurry. As in Mexico and other places, the word ¨ahora¨ (which literally translates to ¨now¨) implies a timeframe of anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours, and sometimes even a few days into the future. I'm really learning patience. Besides, there's no reason at all for me to be in any kind of a hurry- I don't have a job to go, people to see, things to do, haha. I had heard that things get going really late in Argentina, and it's true. The other night we had a BBQ and no one showed up until after 10pm. We finished eating somewhere around midnight, and the last people left around 5am. Normally, no one even goes out to the bar until 1 or 2am and clubs can stay open until 10am, although I haven't had a night out like this yet.
The weather has been amazing in Buenos Aires- everyday the temperature around 27C and sunny. But it's fall and everyone's expecting winter weather soon- although I hear it never gets cold enough to snow (wimps).
Don't have much else to report, but I hope that everyone who's going to Chantelle's sisters´social has a head-bobbing good time and I am soooooooo upset that I'm missing it!!!
The weather has been amazing in Buenos Aires- everyday the temperature around 27C and sunny. But it's fall and everyone's expecting winter weather soon- although I hear it never gets cold enough to snow (wimps).
Don't have much else to report, but I hope that everyone who's going to Chantelle's sisters´social has a head-bobbing good time and I am soooooooo upset that I'm missing it!!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
The trip is continuing in a more relaxed, less frenetic manner here in Argentina. We are back in Buenos Aires until Wednesday. The 20 hour bus ride when smoothly- the buses in Argentina are better than any flight I've ever been on- the seats are huge and recline almost into a bed. We were served lunch, dinner, breakfast, and 2 snacks with coffee. I think the price worked out to approx. $60 for the 20 hour trip, which I think is reasonable all things considered.
After arriving into Baires on Saturday we went out on the river on a boat with Maxi's friends for the afternoon. Some of them went wakeboarding and sea-dooing but because I'm sick with a cold AGAIN, I decided it was best not to immerse myself in the freezing water. It's technically fall in Argentina, but the weather in Buenos Aires is still unseasonably warm. It's sunny and hot during the day, but cools off at bit at night. Unlike Bariloche. Which is really cold if I haven't mentioned. It snowed in the mountains really closeby where we were staying. Beautiful look at, but only from the window. I hadn't anticipated travelling in this climate and don't have my winter parka and boots with me. I probably don't have to mention that the truck doesn't have functioning heat either, being that it's 69 years old.
Yesterday we drove 3 hours outside the city to see Maxi's friend run in a car race which he never ended up running in. All was not lost because we ate a delicious asado and sat in the sun and I learned to drive the motorhome which we're taking back down south. Hoping for minimal breakdowns....
I still haven't booked my flight home but I'm planning for the week of June 1, so everyone start planning my party, haha. As much as I'm loving every bit of this trip, I miss EVERYONE tons and can't wait to see you all and have BBQs and funnel some beers and go camping and all that fun stuff!!
After arriving into Baires on Saturday we went out on the river on a boat with Maxi's friends for the afternoon. Some of them went wakeboarding and sea-dooing but because I'm sick with a cold AGAIN, I decided it was best not to immerse myself in the freezing water. It's technically fall in Argentina, but the weather in Buenos Aires is still unseasonably warm. It's sunny and hot during the day, but cools off at bit at night. Unlike Bariloche. Which is really cold if I haven't mentioned. It snowed in the mountains really closeby where we were staying. Beautiful look at, but only from the window. I hadn't anticipated travelling in this climate and don't have my winter parka and boots with me. I probably don't have to mention that the truck doesn't have functioning heat either, being that it's 69 years old.
Yesterday we drove 3 hours outside the city to see Maxi's friend run in a car race which he never ended up running in. All was not lost because we ate a delicious asado and sat in the sun and I learned to drive the motorhome which we're taking back down south. Hoping for minimal breakdowns....
I still haven't booked my flight home but I'm planning for the week of June 1, so everyone start planning my party, haha. As much as I'm loving every bit of this trip, I miss EVERYONE tons and can't wait to see you all and have BBQs and funnel some beers and go camping and all that fun stuff!!
Friday, April 24, 2009
BA by Bus
Just a quick update to say we are heading to Buenos Aires for the weekend but by bus. Since it's a quick trip we opted for the 20 hours in the bus versus the lengthier truck option. Will write again soon!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Roadtrip 1939
Alright. So far Argentina is awesome. It's a whole other world from the last few countries I travelled. It is clean, orderly, super modern, with paved roads and bathrooms with toilet paper. It is also quite a bit more expensive. The food is amazing, especially the grilled meat, as I mentioned. I have been fortunate enough to be invited to a few asados, which is kind of an all day or all night affair including copious amounts of wine and about 10 different cuts of meat slow cook over a carbon grill. All of Maxi's family are really nice and have included me in everything, even though I don't understand everything they say to me. They have fun teasing me but are very helpful and patient and try to talk slowly and explain things when I look confused.
In Buenos Aires we spent some time walking around the Tango district of San Telmo and then the artsy, poorer area of Boca, home of the famous Boca Juniors soccer team. I went shopping one day and was overwhelmed by the amount of stores selling beautiful clothing for cheap. I didn't buy much yet but I'm sure I'll be going back. Maxi manages a tennis club so I spent a fair bit of time there drinking coffee and hanging out while he worked.
On Thursday left for Bariloche, some 1700km to the south of Buenos Aires. The plan was to leave at 4am and drive straight down in one day. Well, apparently the concept of time is the same here as elsewhere in Latin America and we left some time around noon. We took Maxi's red 1939 Chevy pick-up truck which he has been restoring and which has never been on such a lengthy roadtrip. Classic American vehicles are not as common here as in North America and so we got a lot of honks and salutes, etc. and every time we stopped (voluntarily or by technical difficulty), people wanted to talk about the truck.
The first major problem was the vibrating. Maxi stopped a couple times to see that the wheels were on tight and to check who knows what else (because I don't know anything about cars I have no idea). Some time in the afternoon he decided we needed to go to a balancing shop and have it looked at. They took the tires off and the 2 back ones had super warped rubber. They needed to be replaced so we waited a few hours to have that done. By the time we were back on the road it was probably close to 9pm. The GPS told us that we'd gone something like 500km since noon. A couple hours later we stopped for dinner then back on the road. Sometime around 230 am we decided to drive to the next town and stop for the night. We had a few kms left when we passed onto a bridge and the truck started jerking. A few seconds later we were stopped for good because one of the rear wheels fell off. I tried hard not to laugh because it really could have been a lot worse if there had been traffic.
After awhile a nice man stopped to help, he was hilarious- really animated and distraught about the truck. He kept saying what a disaster it all was, flayling his arms around. They went for a tow truck and I fell asleep waiting in the truck. The tow truck ended up to be useless so the decision was made that I would get a ride to the next town with the old man and Maxi would stay with the truck until the morning. The next morning when Maxi came to get me, he said that another truck had come and towed him to a repair shop where he'd been working on the truck all night. We had lunch with the man who had given me a ride and started back on the road. This time with me driving. I don't know if I mentioned, but the driver's side is opposite to where it should be. And I haven't really driven in 5 months, but I did pretty good considering.
After a couple more motor and battery adjustments we stopped again for the night in a small town. The last leg of the journey Saturday went pretty smoothly and we arrived to his sister's house in time for dinner. This is where I have been staying in Bariloche. They have 3 kids- Camila who is 14, Augustine who is 9, and Maria who is 5. They are all super sweet and Augustine wants me to start giving him english lessons today. They are supposed to start at 1pm and I think I'll be late on account of the blog.
In Buenos Aires we spent some time walking around the Tango district of San Telmo and then the artsy, poorer area of Boca, home of the famous Boca Juniors soccer team. I went shopping one day and was overwhelmed by the amount of stores selling beautiful clothing for cheap. I didn't buy much yet but I'm sure I'll be going back. Maxi manages a tennis club so I spent a fair bit of time there drinking coffee and hanging out while he worked.
On Thursday left for Bariloche, some 1700km to the south of Buenos Aires. The plan was to leave at 4am and drive straight down in one day. Well, apparently the concept of time is the same here as elsewhere in Latin America and we left some time around noon. We took Maxi's red 1939 Chevy pick-up truck which he has been restoring and which has never been on such a lengthy roadtrip. Classic American vehicles are not as common here as in North America and so we got a lot of honks and salutes, etc. and every time we stopped (voluntarily or by technical difficulty), people wanted to talk about the truck.
The first major problem was the vibrating. Maxi stopped a couple times to see that the wheels were on tight and to check who knows what else (because I don't know anything about cars I have no idea). Some time in the afternoon he decided we needed to go to a balancing shop and have it looked at. They took the tires off and the 2 back ones had super warped rubber. They needed to be replaced so we waited a few hours to have that done. By the time we were back on the road it was probably close to 9pm. The GPS told us that we'd gone something like 500km since noon. A couple hours later we stopped for dinner then back on the road. Sometime around 230 am we decided to drive to the next town and stop for the night. We had a few kms left when we passed onto a bridge and the truck started jerking. A few seconds later we were stopped for good because one of the rear wheels fell off. I tried hard not to laugh because it really could have been a lot worse if there had been traffic.
After awhile a nice man stopped to help, he was hilarious- really animated and distraught about the truck. He kept saying what a disaster it all was, flayling his arms around. They went for a tow truck and I fell asleep waiting in the truck. The tow truck ended up to be useless so the decision was made that I would get a ride to the next town with the old man and Maxi would stay with the truck until the morning. The next morning when Maxi came to get me, he said that another truck had come and towed him to a repair shop where he'd been working on the truck all night. We had lunch with the man who had given me a ride and started back on the road. This time with me driving. I don't know if I mentioned, but the driver's side is opposite to where it should be. And I haven't really driven in 5 months, but I did pretty good considering.
After a couple more motor and battery adjustments we stopped again for the night in a small town. The last leg of the journey Saturday went pretty smoothly and we arrived to his sister's house in time for dinner. This is where I have been staying in Bariloche. They have 3 kids- Camila who is 14, Augustine who is 9, and Maria who is 5. They are all super sweet and Augustine wants me to start giving him english lessons today. They are supposed to start at 1pm and I think I'll be late on account of the blog.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Bariloche
I have arrived safely in Bariloche. Staying with Maxi's sister's family. I have some interesting tales of the road to tell but will likely do so tomorrow when I'm less lazy.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Buenos Aires
So I am safely in the country's capitol drinking amazing wine and eating world famous meat. I'm staying with Maxi, who I mentioned many blogs ago that I met in Colombia. So far Argentina is amazing- the people are beautiful and friendly and there's so much culture and amazing things to do and see. We are supposed to be heading down south this week where I hear it's much colder. Baires has been hot and humid so far, with a bit of rain today. I forgot to wish everyone a Happy Easter and tell you all how much I miss you!!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Catch Up
Looking back on the last few posts I realize I have been really lazy!! Time to catch up on some details. First of all my current location is Salta, Argentina. Just crossed over the border from Bolivia last evening. The bus from Uyuni departed around 530am and was supposed to take 6 hours. That's not including the transfer and 2 hour layover that we were not informed about prior to purchasing the ticket. We spent the layover time in a quite a shithole of a town, in fact that is how I would describe all of the towns that I passed through yesterday- but that is to be expected of border towns.
I suppose I need to go all the way back to Copacabana, which already seems like sooooo long ago. I think that I mentioned the strike that created a huge and uncomfortable delay and I also don't wish to re-visit the bus condition issues in Bolivia- needless to say the buses are pretty ancient, filthy, and crowded. Couple that with mostly unpaved roads and no shocks and you can imagine what kind of ride that would be.
Copacaban itself is the major town located on the Boivian side of Lago Titicaca. I don't have much to say about the town itself but the lake really was beautiful. It is said to be one of the world's largest navigeable lakes. I don't have a clue what that means, but there it is. It was truly beautiful to see it from the bus window as the sun was coming up on the way to the border- the surface sparkled as though it were covered with diamonds!
Luckily I met a guy on the bus with which to travel and pass the time- Layth from Toronto. We split a hotel room in arguably the filthiest hotel I've stayed in but which cost a mere 15 Bolivianos (approx. $2 US). The following day we took the slowest boat I have ever been on to Isla del Sol, which is where the sun is said to have been born, according to the Incas. I didn't mind the length of the boat ride because the scenery out on the lake was spectacular. Once on the island, we hiked over to see the museum and then on to the Inca ruins. Afterwards the trail continued to the other end of the island where the boat left for the return to Copacabana. It was a really nice hike, although a bit rushed and made more difficult due to the altitude and the inclined path.
Due to the altitude, Copacabana was quite chilly at night and I was glad to have a sleeping bag, not only to protect me from the filthy hotel bedding. In fact, most places that I visited in Bolivia cooled off to an uncomfortable temperature at night. I'm lucky to not have suffered from altitude sickness as some travellers do. There were times here and there where I found it difficult to catch my breath but this usually only lasted a few minutes and didn't come with the vomiting and headaches that I've seen some people suffer from. I also learned quite quickly that the altitude can affect how the body metabolizes alcohol and I found I wasn't able to consume my usual amount of beer (of which the countries of Latin America have proven to produce satisfactorily).
After Copacabana comes La Paz. As I know I've mentioned, my 3 nights and days spent there were consumed mostly by socializing in bars and visiting the markets. I stayed in the Loki hostel which was equipped with a great bar and restaurant and is known to be a very social/¨party¨ hostel. It was what I needed after spending the previous few weeks quite sick and unenergetic. There I met Chris from Australia who I spent the past few days travelling with on the salt flat tour and here to Argentina.
The markets in La Paz were unlike any I've seen before. They stretched for blocks and blocks and I'm quite sure you could find anything there that you could ever wish to buy. It included a small ¨witches´ market¨ in which you could buy any kind of herbal remedy or good luck charm imaginable, including llama fetuses, armadillo feet, and various other animal corpses or portions thereof. The food market was also incredible and included meats, fruits, vegetables, etc. of varieties that I have never before seen in my life. It was nice to see the huge piles of seafood being kept chilled by one small chunk of ice on top of the mounds.
Following my time in La Paz, I travelled with Chris to Uyuni which is where we booked our 3 day Salar Tour. We ended up paying 450B which is approx. the equivalent of $80US including all food, transport, and accomodation. We were asked not to tell the others in our group what we payed, as they were charged 700B each (reminiscent of SE Asia tours).
The other members in our Jeep which we got to know quite well due to the quantity of time spent in very close quarters were 2 guys from France (Alex and Yanel), a couple in their 60's from New Zealand (George and Claire), along with the driver and his wife who was our cook. I would safely say that Alex was a certain friend from back home's French counterpart- possibly the witiest person you'll ever meet but occasionally taking a joke a bit too far. Within minutes of meeting, he responded to my comment that I loved wigs by saying- ¨if I had your hair, I would love wigs too¨. Luckily I thought the comment was absolutely hilarious and took no offence to it, in fact it broke the ice and everyone got on really well from there. That is until the last day of the trip when he went too far with a joke and made the old woman in our Jeep cry.
The first day was spent visiting the salt flats, which is essentially kms by kms of blindingly white salt, at points as deep as 10 metres down. The area used to be a giant lake- many, many years ago. After lunch we were allowed a few minutes to photograph the flats which was amazing because of what you can do with depth perceptions- you'll have to wait for the photos to see what I mean. The rest of the day was spent visiting various lagoons of insane contrasting colours due to all the salt and other minerals in the ground and water (again, wait for the photos- words cannot describe). We saw pink and red lagoons, followed my a blue one and then a green one. Along with the lagoons we were able to see hundreds of flamingoes, llama, vicuña, an ostrich, and a really weird animal that was that a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo.
Once in the tiny town that we were to spend the night in, we had the opportunity to visit a Necropolis. This was essentially an ancient grave-yard; the corpse enclosures being above-ground and made of porous rock. Inside some of the enclosures were human skulls and bones, one of which Chris and I couldn't resist touching (he dared me first!) The accomodation the first night was alright, better than the next where all 6 of us had to share one room. In the morning we learned that Yenal had been up all night throwing up, likely from altitude sickness, and his second day of the tour was spent mostly getting to know the inside of the Jeep.
The second day we visited some more amazing desert landscapes and lagoons, as well as some volcanoes and incredible rock formations (photos). The third day we were awoken at 430am by militant old George who hadn't slept and was just waiting for his chance to inflict some pain on us young people. We drove huddled up in the Jeep in the freezing cold to see some unimpressive geysers, and then on to some hot springs. These I couldn't bring myself to enter because I knew it would mean climbing out wet into the cold air, where there was frost and ice around the rim of the nearby lake. After breakfast we began the 9 hour journey back to Uyuni, which I have to admit was pretty miserable and uncomfortable. There were still a few sights, but the biggies were definitely visited the first 2 days. Just before arriving back to Uyuni we visited a rusty old train graveyard, which was admittedly pretty cool.
An early last night was spent in Uyuni, followed by another 430am wake-up for the bus. As I mentioned, it was hideous and we only finally crossed the border as it was getting dark. After the 2 hour wait through customs in the freexing cold and in sandals (I had washed my shoes and they were still wet), we booked another 7 hour night bus to Salta. Thankfully 2 really cool girls from Slovenia that I met for the first time in Mexico City (Petra and Nastja) were doing the same route, which made things more interesting. And here I am in the internet shop in Salta for the third time today, waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires at 710pm. I just couldn't bear the thought of the 22hour busride, even though the buses in Argentina are deluxe ¨cama¨(bed) buses.
I suppose I need to go all the way back to Copacabana, which already seems like sooooo long ago. I think that I mentioned the strike that created a huge and uncomfortable delay and I also don't wish to re-visit the bus condition issues in Bolivia- needless to say the buses are pretty ancient, filthy, and crowded. Couple that with mostly unpaved roads and no shocks and you can imagine what kind of ride that would be.
Copacaban itself is the major town located on the Boivian side of Lago Titicaca. I don't have much to say about the town itself but the lake really was beautiful. It is said to be one of the world's largest navigeable lakes. I don't have a clue what that means, but there it is. It was truly beautiful to see it from the bus window as the sun was coming up on the way to the border- the surface sparkled as though it were covered with diamonds!
Luckily I met a guy on the bus with which to travel and pass the time- Layth from Toronto. We split a hotel room in arguably the filthiest hotel I've stayed in but which cost a mere 15 Bolivianos (approx. $2 US). The following day we took the slowest boat I have ever been on to Isla del Sol, which is where the sun is said to have been born, according to the Incas. I didn't mind the length of the boat ride because the scenery out on the lake was spectacular. Once on the island, we hiked over to see the museum and then on to the Inca ruins. Afterwards the trail continued to the other end of the island where the boat left for the return to Copacabana. It was a really nice hike, although a bit rushed and made more difficult due to the altitude and the inclined path.
Due to the altitude, Copacabana was quite chilly at night and I was glad to have a sleeping bag, not only to protect me from the filthy hotel bedding. In fact, most places that I visited in Bolivia cooled off to an uncomfortable temperature at night. I'm lucky to not have suffered from altitude sickness as some travellers do. There were times here and there where I found it difficult to catch my breath but this usually only lasted a few minutes and didn't come with the vomiting and headaches that I've seen some people suffer from. I also learned quite quickly that the altitude can affect how the body metabolizes alcohol and I found I wasn't able to consume my usual amount of beer (of which the countries of Latin America have proven to produce satisfactorily).
After Copacabana comes La Paz. As I know I've mentioned, my 3 nights and days spent there were consumed mostly by socializing in bars and visiting the markets. I stayed in the Loki hostel which was equipped with a great bar and restaurant and is known to be a very social/¨party¨ hostel. It was what I needed after spending the previous few weeks quite sick and unenergetic. There I met Chris from Australia who I spent the past few days travelling with on the salt flat tour and here to Argentina.
The markets in La Paz were unlike any I've seen before. They stretched for blocks and blocks and I'm quite sure you could find anything there that you could ever wish to buy. It included a small ¨witches´ market¨ in which you could buy any kind of herbal remedy or good luck charm imaginable, including llama fetuses, armadillo feet, and various other animal corpses or portions thereof. The food market was also incredible and included meats, fruits, vegetables, etc. of varieties that I have never before seen in my life. It was nice to see the huge piles of seafood being kept chilled by one small chunk of ice on top of the mounds.
Following my time in La Paz, I travelled with Chris to Uyuni which is where we booked our 3 day Salar Tour. We ended up paying 450B which is approx. the equivalent of $80US including all food, transport, and accomodation. We were asked not to tell the others in our group what we payed, as they were charged 700B each (reminiscent of SE Asia tours).
The other members in our Jeep which we got to know quite well due to the quantity of time spent in very close quarters were 2 guys from France (Alex and Yanel), a couple in their 60's from New Zealand (George and Claire), along with the driver and his wife who was our cook. I would safely say that Alex was a certain friend from back home's French counterpart- possibly the witiest person you'll ever meet but occasionally taking a joke a bit too far. Within minutes of meeting, he responded to my comment that I loved wigs by saying- ¨if I had your hair, I would love wigs too¨. Luckily I thought the comment was absolutely hilarious and took no offence to it, in fact it broke the ice and everyone got on really well from there. That is until the last day of the trip when he went too far with a joke and made the old woman in our Jeep cry.
The first day was spent visiting the salt flats, which is essentially kms by kms of blindingly white salt, at points as deep as 10 metres down. The area used to be a giant lake- many, many years ago. After lunch we were allowed a few minutes to photograph the flats which was amazing because of what you can do with depth perceptions- you'll have to wait for the photos to see what I mean. The rest of the day was spent visiting various lagoons of insane contrasting colours due to all the salt and other minerals in the ground and water (again, wait for the photos- words cannot describe). We saw pink and red lagoons, followed my a blue one and then a green one. Along with the lagoons we were able to see hundreds of flamingoes, llama, vicuña, an ostrich, and a really weird animal that was that a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo.
Once in the tiny town that we were to spend the night in, we had the opportunity to visit a Necropolis. This was essentially an ancient grave-yard; the corpse enclosures being above-ground and made of porous rock. Inside some of the enclosures were human skulls and bones, one of which Chris and I couldn't resist touching (he dared me first!) The accomodation the first night was alright, better than the next where all 6 of us had to share one room. In the morning we learned that Yenal had been up all night throwing up, likely from altitude sickness, and his second day of the tour was spent mostly getting to know the inside of the Jeep.
The second day we visited some more amazing desert landscapes and lagoons, as well as some volcanoes and incredible rock formations (photos). The third day we were awoken at 430am by militant old George who hadn't slept and was just waiting for his chance to inflict some pain on us young people. We drove huddled up in the Jeep in the freezing cold to see some unimpressive geysers, and then on to some hot springs. These I couldn't bring myself to enter because I knew it would mean climbing out wet into the cold air, where there was frost and ice around the rim of the nearby lake. After breakfast we began the 9 hour journey back to Uyuni, which I have to admit was pretty miserable and uncomfortable. There were still a few sights, but the biggies were definitely visited the first 2 days. Just before arriving back to Uyuni we visited a rusty old train graveyard, which was admittedly pretty cool.
An early last night was spent in Uyuni, followed by another 430am wake-up for the bus. As I mentioned, it was hideous and we only finally crossed the border as it was getting dark. After the 2 hour wait through customs in the freexing cold and in sandals (I had washed my shoes and they were still wet), we booked another 7 hour night bus to Salta. Thankfully 2 really cool girls from Slovenia that I met for the first time in Mexico City (Petra and Nastja) were doing the same route, which made things more interesting. And here I am in the internet shop in Salta for the third time today, waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires at 710pm. I just couldn't bear the thought of the 22hour busride, even though the buses in Argentina are deluxe ¨cama¨(bed) buses.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
From Uyuni
I arrived safely back from the salt flats. I promise to write more when I arrive and settle into Argentina- hope to be there tomorrow evening.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Uyuni
Just arrived in Uyuni this morning and booked a tour for the salt flats leaving at 1030am! Will be gone three days and then will be trying to cross over into Argentina! I promise I will catch up on the blog when I get back!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Party and Markets
Still in La Paz, leaving for Uyuni tomorrow on what's supposed to be a horrendous bus ride...Not much to report about La Paz- just staying in a party hostel and going to markets during the day.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Boliviando
Arrived in La Paz yesterday- going to do some shopping and drinking here and thats probably about it. Oh, and went for Indian food last night- was soooooooo good.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Copa-Copacabana!
Well I have officially crossed over into Bolivia! The trip was supposed to last until around noon today, but there was some sort of strike on the highway here and I didn't arrive into Copacabana until 7pm! I left Cusco at 10pm last night...horrible bus trip to say the least! Anyways, I'm safe and well and will write again soon when I have more to say!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Colca Pichu Chinchero
I am back in Cusco. Machu Pichu was even more impressive than I had imagined- the photos can never do it justice. It was definitely worth every penny of the US$105 that the trip cost, and was even worth the torturous 6hr van and 1hr train ride each way. I'm not sure if I mentioned that I am also very sick with a cold, and the drastic changes in altitude gave me such a bad sinus headache that I felt like throwing myself out of the van and over a cliff (a bit dramatic, I know, haha). I finally gave in today and went to the pharmacy for antibiotics to clear up what I think is a sinus infection. Oh, and I woke up with a eye infection this morning as well- so add antibiotic eyedrops to that as well.
Only since I've contracted these infections have I actually opened my eyes to the filth that surrounds me. For starters are of course the public buses or colectivo cars. Just today, I was crammed into a 15 seater van that eventually filled up to 30 people. Many of which were visibly ill with colds as evidenced by the secretions on their faces and hands, the sneezing, and of course the coughing. After the van, I took a ¨taxi¨, the back seat of which I had to share with 3 other people- none of which small children. I then took note today of how common it is to pass a man or child in the street peeing against a wall or squatting in the middle of the sidewalk like it ain't no thang. Oh, and I used my first squatter toilet in South America, reminiscent of Asia. And another thing, very few of the bathrooms seem to be equipped with toilet paper, let alone soap, and sometimes even running water. After purchasing the antibiotics I also bought myself some hand santitizer, although this won't protect me from the food vendors that don't wash their hands before preparing food.
On a more positive note, I really have been enjoying Peru. The people are really friendly for the most part, although it is a much more reserved culture than in Colombia (which I miss). The country is spectacular- the Andes are breathtaking and the scenery changes dramatically from place to place. I was really surprised travelling along the coast and around Arequipa and Lima- I hadn't imagined it to be such a dry, vast desert- essentially just rock and sand dunes for as far as the eye can see.
The villages that I visited today were especially interesting- both located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and both traditional Andean villages, however tainted by tourism. The first was called Ollataytambo, which is where I spent the night recovering after Machu Pichu. This village, like all Andean villages I imagine, is located in a valley with mountains surrounding it. Only these mountains happen to have Inca ruins built into the sides of them- on impossibly steep slopes. The ruins are clearly visible from the town, and I can't imagine how magical it would be to live in such a place and to enjoy those spectacular views everyday.
The second village that I visited was Chinchero- also in a beautiful setting. The highlight of visiting Chinchero was the Sunday market that I was lucky enough to see. The traditional clothing of the Indigenous people alone was intriguing enough, but to see all the textiles and artesania being sold was also interesting. Before heading back to Cusco I had myself a coca tea for the altitude and for my cold, spiked with limejuice which I was assured would help to cure me. Coca leaves are commonly used here for teas and are also chewed to aid with the altitude as well as to supress hunger and provide energy. It must work somehow because it's incredible to see the loads some of the woman carry to and from the markets- many of which appear to be quite elderly and debilitated.
And now to back track a bit and provide some details of the Colca Canyon. As I mentioned, I set off on an unguided tour of the canyon with a friend from Spain who I met in Ecuador. We took the bus 6 hours to the head of the trail into the canyon. The first view of it was breath-taking and we were lucky enough to see a condor soaring above before we descended into the canyon. The descent took about 3 hours and it was rough going because it was quite steep and the trail littered with loose gravel. My hiking shoes were also all of a sudden too small for my feet(?) and it killed going down. For once hiking uphill was easier than down.
After reaching the bottom we crossed a river via a foot bridge and began the ascent through the village of San Miguel onto the village of Malata. Here we stayed at the hospedaje of a local couple, who were excellent hosts. They had a little museum set up that the husband guided us through- showing us the processes they use to make flour, how they store their crops of corn, what kind of offerings they give to the Pachamama (mother earth), etc. The wife cooked us up nice dinner and we went to bed early for lack of anything else to do in the village.
The next day, Kike wanted to continue on uphill to some waterfalls and on to another village, but I didn't have it in me (I was already sick then). We parted ways and I went on to Llahuar, which is a place with naturally heated pools to soak in. I got there ready to relax in the pools,but they were all drained for maintanence! On I went back down to the bottom of the canyon, crossing the river again before beginning the ascent back up out of the canyon. The trail I needed to follow was visible from the opposite side of the canyon, but somehow I still managed to go almost an hour up the wrong trail. When I finally realized my mistake, the sun was beating down heavily and there was no shade to be found anywhere. In order to prevent another burn, I changed into jeans from shorts and draped a scarf around my shoulders, applying more sunscreen every hour. Knowing I still had a good 4 hours uphill ahead of me, I started to feel a bit panicky; looking around me at the enormity of the canyon I felt so small and insignificant. I knew I would make it up alright without getting lost, but the work that was ahead of me was intimidating.
I eventually passed a couple with a guide on their descent into the canyon, and they assured me that all I had left was about an hour and a half. It was brutally exhausting but I eventually made it as it was cooling off- I arrived in Cabanaconde around 5pm, after hiking the canyon since 8am. There I spent the night for 10 soles (approx. $4.00)- it was money well spent. If nothing else I can say that I have been having many interesting adventures on this trip!
Tonight I leave on another night bus for Copacabana, Bolivia which is located on Lake Titicaca.
Only since I've contracted these infections have I actually opened my eyes to the filth that surrounds me. For starters are of course the public buses or colectivo cars. Just today, I was crammed into a 15 seater van that eventually filled up to 30 people. Many of which were visibly ill with colds as evidenced by the secretions on their faces and hands, the sneezing, and of course the coughing. After the van, I took a ¨taxi¨, the back seat of which I had to share with 3 other people- none of which small children. I then took note today of how common it is to pass a man or child in the street peeing against a wall or squatting in the middle of the sidewalk like it ain't no thang. Oh, and I used my first squatter toilet in South America, reminiscent of Asia. And another thing, very few of the bathrooms seem to be equipped with toilet paper, let alone soap, and sometimes even running water. After purchasing the antibiotics I also bought myself some hand santitizer, although this won't protect me from the food vendors that don't wash their hands before preparing food.
On a more positive note, I really have been enjoying Peru. The people are really friendly for the most part, although it is a much more reserved culture than in Colombia (which I miss). The country is spectacular- the Andes are breathtaking and the scenery changes dramatically from place to place. I was really surprised travelling along the coast and around Arequipa and Lima- I hadn't imagined it to be such a dry, vast desert- essentially just rock and sand dunes for as far as the eye can see.
The villages that I visited today were especially interesting- both located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and both traditional Andean villages, however tainted by tourism. The first was called Ollataytambo, which is where I spent the night recovering after Machu Pichu. This village, like all Andean villages I imagine, is located in a valley with mountains surrounding it. Only these mountains happen to have Inca ruins built into the sides of them- on impossibly steep slopes. The ruins are clearly visible from the town, and I can't imagine how magical it would be to live in such a place and to enjoy those spectacular views everyday.
The second village that I visited was Chinchero- also in a beautiful setting. The highlight of visiting Chinchero was the Sunday market that I was lucky enough to see. The traditional clothing of the Indigenous people alone was intriguing enough, but to see all the textiles and artesania being sold was also interesting. Before heading back to Cusco I had myself a coca tea for the altitude and for my cold, spiked with limejuice which I was assured would help to cure me. Coca leaves are commonly used here for teas and are also chewed to aid with the altitude as well as to supress hunger and provide energy. It must work somehow because it's incredible to see the loads some of the woman carry to and from the markets- many of which appear to be quite elderly and debilitated.
And now to back track a bit and provide some details of the Colca Canyon. As I mentioned, I set off on an unguided tour of the canyon with a friend from Spain who I met in Ecuador. We took the bus 6 hours to the head of the trail into the canyon. The first view of it was breath-taking and we were lucky enough to see a condor soaring above before we descended into the canyon. The descent took about 3 hours and it was rough going because it was quite steep and the trail littered with loose gravel. My hiking shoes were also all of a sudden too small for my feet(?) and it killed going down. For once hiking uphill was easier than down.
After reaching the bottom we crossed a river via a foot bridge and began the ascent through the village of San Miguel onto the village of Malata. Here we stayed at the hospedaje of a local couple, who were excellent hosts. They had a little museum set up that the husband guided us through- showing us the processes they use to make flour, how they store their crops of corn, what kind of offerings they give to the Pachamama (mother earth), etc. The wife cooked us up nice dinner and we went to bed early for lack of anything else to do in the village.
The next day, Kike wanted to continue on uphill to some waterfalls and on to another village, but I didn't have it in me (I was already sick then). We parted ways and I went on to Llahuar, which is a place with naturally heated pools to soak in. I got there ready to relax in the pools,but they were all drained for maintanence! On I went back down to the bottom of the canyon, crossing the river again before beginning the ascent back up out of the canyon. The trail I needed to follow was visible from the opposite side of the canyon, but somehow I still managed to go almost an hour up the wrong trail. When I finally realized my mistake, the sun was beating down heavily and there was no shade to be found anywhere. In order to prevent another burn, I changed into jeans from shorts and draped a scarf around my shoulders, applying more sunscreen every hour. Knowing I still had a good 4 hours uphill ahead of me, I started to feel a bit panicky; looking around me at the enormity of the canyon I felt so small and insignificant. I knew I would make it up alright without getting lost, but the work that was ahead of me was intimidating.
I eventually passed a couple with a guide on their descent into the canyon, and they assured me that all I had left was about an hour and a half. It was brutally exhausting but I eventually made it as it was cooling off- I arrived in Cabanaconde around 5pm, after hiking the canyon since 8am. There I spent the night for 10 soles (approx. $4.00)- it was money well spent. If nothing else I can say that I have been having many interesting adventures on this trip!
Tonight I leave on another night bus for Copacabana, Bolivia which is located on Lake Titicaca.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Backed out on Machu Piccu
Well not exactly, haha. I had been planning on doing one of the many treks offered by one of the hundreds of tour agencies here in Cusco. After deciding long ago that the Lares trek, which visits many traditional villages along the way to the ruins, was the one I wanted, I began asking around yesterday. However, I was sadly informed that this is a poor time of year (lots of rain) for this trek, and that were no groups scheduled to go out. Aside from this, it's f$%king freezing here, especially at night, and the thought of sleeping in a tent kills me. So I have booked a van tour to the ruins, which has you spend one night in Aguas Calientes and then hike up to the ruins at 430am. Although it's not what I had wanted, I have decided that I will have the driver drop me off on the way back in one of the small towns near Cusco where I will look to stay with a local family. This way I can reconcile with myself not doing the Lares trek! I'm off right away!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Conquered Colca Canyon!!
Just a quick note that I have arrived to the village at the top of the Colca Canyon safely. I am BEAT though and my back is so sore I can hardly sit here and write- I will have the details soon!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Colca Canyon
Just a quickie to say that I'm off tomorrow to the Colca Canyon on a 3 day hike. I'm going with a Spanish guy named Kike who I keep running into in random places (like the tour office this morning). The overnight bus was deluxe and I slept like a baby. Am looking forward to my $3.50 bed tonight though.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Lovely Lima
So I had the priviledge of arriving into Lima at 4 am this morning. Luckily the people at Loki Hostel are amazing and let me sleep on the couch in the TV room until morning when I could get my Visa card from the office. Cash advance was successful!!! I am officially back on track, however I'm not quite sure what I'm running on. I saved my sleeping pill for tonight because I ended up on a semi-shady bus and wanted to have my wits about me, just in case. I witnessed someone get violently arrested outside the bus station before I boarded, and the bus just wasn't the nicest. All went well though (aside from maybe dozing a total of 2 hours). I leave on the 5pm bus tonight for Arequipa (15 hours). The hostel booked me a ticket with a much better company so I hope to sleep tonight.
I wandered around a few hours through Lima today, in the swankier, newer area of Miraflores. I then hopped a bus down to the historic centre just in time to see the ¨changing of the guards¨at noon. I wandered around some more, stretching my legs after all the buses. Lima is hotter than I expected, and although I again applied factor 30 sunscreen, I feel I may have gotten a bit of colour again. It's as though I'm taking malaria pills again and I'm photosensitive- I can't understand why I keep getting burned. And it was cloudy all day as well. I suppose I shouldn't complain about the heat and sun though...
I wandered around a few hours through Lima today, in the swankier, newer area of Miraflores. I then hopped a bus down to the historic centre just in time to see the ¨changing of the guards¨at noon. I wandered around some more, stretching my legs after all the buses. Lima is hotter than I expected, and although I again applied factor 30 sunscreen, I feel I may have gotten a bit of colour again. It's as though I'm taking malaria pills again and I'm photosensitive- I can't understand why I keep getting burned. And it was cloudy all day as well. I suppose I shouldn't complain about the heat and sun though...
Friday, March 20, 2009
Super Transient
All right. So I left Ecuador Wednesday evening. Somehow got chatting with this Chilean guy who is a mountain guide in San Pedro de Atacama named Felipe who was on his way back from a big climb in Ecuador. He decides to change his bus itinerary a bit to ride with me a longer to Lima because we're both bored of travelling alone and are getting along well. We get off in Piura and catch another 3 hour bus to Chiclayo because there isn't anything leaving for Lima until the afternoon. Once in Chiclayo we have to take another bus to Trujillo (3 more hours). Since we were passing through anyways, we decide to check out the beach and the ruins of Chan Chan (a huge sandstone village in it's day). Felipe then convinces me to take a bus a little out of the way to pass through Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca, which happens to be known as one of the world's most beautiful mountain ranges. All he wants to do is see it, as he doesn't have time to hike the area. So back on the night bus another 11 hours. This time with the aid of a sleeping pill, the night passes quickly and comfortably and we awake in time to see the sunrise over the snow-capped mountains! Breath-taking...
This morning I said good-bye to my new friend Felipe and he invited me to come hiking for free in Chile if I ever pass through there. I spent the day on a less than impressive laguna tour in the area of Huaraz- not because the laguna and the mountains aren't spectacular but because it was too much of cheesy organized-package tour and it involved way too many more hours in the bus. We also passed over a sort of memorial site of a town that existed prior to 1970 but was completely wiped out by an earthquake in 1970. Apparently 25, 000 people perished and the town that once was lies buried under 7 feet of stone and earth. They say the earthquake took 2 minutes to wipe out 2 towns and the debris travelled at a speed of 400km/hr. Apparently some Japanese tourists caught it on film.
I have another bus ticket for tonight to Lima to pick up my Visa card which the hostel has informed me is there and locked away safely. This will be the third night in a row sleeping on a bus. A nice guy from Hungary that I met on the tour today let me use the shower in his hotel. Thankfully Felipe also left me with an extra sleeping pill for the bus tonight. (I know what some of you are thinking- oh great, she's showering in random hotels and taking drugs from strangers on buses- it doesn't sound too good. But I was in the pharmacy and took the pills from the package and I have used this kind before. About the shower- I just couldn't go 4 days without one...)
This morning I said good-bye to my new friend Felipe and he invited me to come hiking for free in Chile if I ever pass through there. I spent the day on a less than impressive laguna tour in the area of Huaraz- not because the laguna and the mountains aren't spectacular but because it was too much of cheesy organized-package tour and it involved way too many more hours in the bus. We also passed over a sort of memorial site of a town that existed prior to 1970 but was completely wiped out by an earthquake in 1970. Apparently 25, 000 people perished and the town that once was lies buried under 7 feet of stone and earth. They say the earthquake took 2 minutes to wipe out 2 towns and the debris travelled at a speed of 400km/hr. Apparently some Japanese tourists caught it on film.
I have another bus ticket for tonight to Lima to pick up my Visa card which the hostel has informed me is there and locked away safely. This will be the third night in a row sleeping on a bus. A nice guy from Hungary that I met on the tour today let me use the shower in his hotel. Thankfully Felipe also left me with an extra sleeping pill for the bus tonight. (I know what some of you are thinking- oh great, she's showering in random hotels and taking drugs from strangers on buses- it doesn't sound too good. But I was in the pharmacy and took the pills from the package and I have used this kind before. About the shower- I just couldn't go 4 days without one...)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Passport- Check!
So I have received the temporary passport. I leave on the night bus to Piura, Peru tonight at 7:20 and hope to catch another bus from there into Lima in the morning. I think things are looking up and I will arrive there without a hitch!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Moving Along...
A quickie here to say that I plan to leave Ecuador tomorrow evening on a lengthy journey to Lima, Peru. I am told that my passport will be ready for pick-up tomorrow at noon. I have made arrangements for my Visa to be sent to a hostel in Lima. I am hoping for my luck to turn around and that things will go smoothly. I have purchased a small over the shoulder purse with a zipper and flap that I'm hoping with prove more difficult to steal from. Thanks to everyone for their help and concern in dealing with this unfortunate occurence.
Monday, March 16, 2009
New Enemy: The Sun
Back in Guayaquil from Montañitas earlier than expected... No sense in staying in the beach town if you can't be on the beach. Despite travelling in sunny places for the past 4 months and plastering myself with factor 30 sunscreen, I still managed to get painfully burnt from just one day on the beach. Other than that incident, the weekend was a nice getaway from sweaty industrial Guayaquil. Shortly after I arrived, I ran into Kike, a guy from Spain that I had been out with in Baños the night of the robbery. He was there with some people from couchsurfing so we all hung out together there which saved me from having to make friends (which is sometimes tiring, admittedly).
Saturday night was pretty busy in town, and we enjoyed $1.50 caipiriñas made with cheap cane liquor from the street vendors before going to a horrible rowdy ''spring break'' party. The bar even had a pool in it for those trampy girls who like to take off their clothes and prance around half-naked and wet. There were also jello shooter girls up on a ledge feeding the crowd shots. Most of the staff and partiers were tourists. Not my scene. So I made my infamous escape just after 2am- snuck off back to the hostal not to be seen until the next morning. After contemplating for awhile about why I wasn't having a good time at the spring break party even though it seemed as though everyone else was, I remembered that a) I'm 26 yrs old (although by far not nearly the oldest there); b) I would never choose to attend a party like that at home; c) I'm not the hugest fan of American pop music or Reggaeton and d) guys taking off their shirts and dancing around flexing their muscles doesn't excite me much...Cheesy.
So I'm back in Guayaquil with little else to do but sit in the apartment on facebook or MSN, pathetically uploading pictures one by one and hoping someone comes online to chat with, haha... This, and running ten blocks down the street a few times a day to use the only computer with skype on it in order to call the bank, the courier, etc. I also have to admit that I'm tiring of being gawked at while out in public- I am one of the few tourists around and seem to attract attention. My biggest mistake was wearing shorts out last week- after sweating for the first 3 days in jeans I went out with cutoffs (not even short shorts), and found that the locals were unable to stop themselves from staring (not in a perverse way- it's just that I was clearly breaking some unspoken rule). Despite the suffocating heat here, no one wears shorts. I won't make the mistake again. Second reason being that I don't need any more sun on my legs for awhile...
Saturday night was pretty busy in town, and we enjoyed $1.50 caipiriñas made with cheap cane liquor from the street vendors before going to a horrible rowdy ''spring break'' party. The bar even had a pool in it for those trampy girls who like to take off their clothes and prance around half-naked and wet. There were also jello shooter girls up on a ledge feeding the crowd shots. Most of the staff and partiers were tourists. Not my scene. So I made my infamous escape just after 2am- snuck off back to the hostal not to be seen until the next morning. After contemplating for awhile about why I wasn't having a good time at the spring break party even though it seemed as though everyone else was, I remembered that a) I'm 26 yrs old (although by far not nearly the oldest there); b) I would never choose to attend a party like that at home; c) I'm not the hugest fan of American pop music or Reggaeton and d) guys taking off their shirts and dancing around flexing their muscles doesn't excite me much...Cheesy.
So I'm back in Guayaquil with little else to do but sit in the apartment on facebook or MSN, pathetically uploading pictures one by one and hoping someone comes online to chat with, haha... This, and running ten blocks down the street a few times a day to use the only computer with skype on it in order to call the bank, the courier, etc. I also have to admit that I'm tiring of being gawked at while out in public- I am one of the few tourists around and seem to attract attention. My biggest mistake was wearing shorts out last week- after sweating for the first 3 days in jeans I went out with cutoffs (not even short shorts), and found that the locals were unable to stop themselves from staring (not in a perverse way- it's just that I was clearly breaking some unspoken rule). Despite the suffocating heat here, no one wears shorts. I won't make the mistake again. Second reason being that I don't need any more sun on my legs for awhile...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Killin' Time...
A little more bad news... I was anxiously awaiting the emergency replacement visa that was supposed to be sent to Miguel's apartment Friday (yesterday). Well, it came. I sat outside the building for 3 hours in the sweaty heat, conversing with the characters of the neighborhood- the police officer who guards the building but who also asked me to bring him back a photo of me on the beach so he could tell his friends that I'm his girlfriend, the nice jobless man who watches parked cars for tips, and the friendly neighborhood homeless drunk who wanted to share his wine with me. I finally received the package from DHL courier at 2pm and ran off to activate it and get a cash advance from Visa. I soon realized that the Visa was not set up for cash advances from the ATM, and therefore was virtually useless. It would have only served to make purchases in retail outlets that accept credit cards, which unfortunately does not include restaurants or bus terminals. Which would therefore leave me stranded in Guayaquil slowly starving to death of boredom, heat, and hunger.
Thankfully CIBC has assured me that they can send me another card which will enable me to take out money- they say it should arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday. I have my fingers crossed tightly. This is about the time that I expect my passport to be ready for pick-up if all goes smoothly. Here's hoping, because I sure would like to get on to Peru ASAP.
I have essentially been passing the time in Miguel's apartment alone all day on the computer- which has given me the opportunity to catch up on my facebook addiction. I also had a little retail therapy by buying a new bathing suit with the credit card (I left my other on hanging on line somewhere in Colombia). And I ate the most delicious Chilean empanada ever yesterday afternoon.
Speaking of food- here it is relatively similar to that in Colombia only cheaper. A typical plate might include a lot of bland rice, some beans, some patacones (double deep-fried and smashed plantains), and some sort of meat (always a paper thin cut, even when it's chicken breast!) Needless to say, you have to add a lot of salt and also hope they have a bottle of Aji somewhere (hot sauce, which can only be described as pathetically weak in comparison to Mexico). But really what can you expect for $1-2US a meal? They also serve batidos or fresh fruit juices like in Colombia, which is really good news. I have been cooking breakfast whenever I can- usually buying some fresh papaya, pineapple, and banana for a fruit salad, then whipping up some eggs and having it with a fresh roll from the bakery All this for around $1.00. In Quito I tried a local dish called Guatita which consists of trype (spelling?) in a sauce served with rice, avocado, etc. I could not bring myself to put a second forkful anywhere near my mouth- disgusting! Surprisingly there are also probably as many Chinese food restaurants (Chifas) here as local eateries, but I try to avoid them because I'm sure they are heavy on the MSG and they are a bit pricier.
I am heading to Montanitas today, which is supposed to be a small, super touristy, surfer town on the Pacific coast. I plan to work on my tan there and try to forget about my troubles for a bit...
Thankfully CIBC has assured me that they can send me another card which will enable me to take out money- they say it should arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday. I have my fingers crossed tightly. This is about the time that I expect my passport to be ready for pick-up if all goes smoothly. Here's hoping, because I sure would like to get on to Peru ASAP.
I have essentially been passing the time in Miguel's apartment alone all day on the computer- which has given me the opportunity to catch up on my facebook addiction. I also had a little retail therapy by buying a new bathing suit with the credit card (I left my other on hanging on line somewhere in Colombia). And I ate the most delicious Chilean empanada ever yesterday afternoon.
Speaking of food- here it is relatively similar to that in Colombia only cheaper. A typical plate might include a lot of bland rice, some beans, some patacones (double deep-fried and smashed plantains), and some sort of meat (always a paper thin cut, even when it's chicken breast!) Needless to say, you have to add a lot of salt and also hope they have a bottle of Aji somewhere (hot sauce, which can only be described as pathetically weak in comparison to Mexico). But really what can you expect for $1-2US a meal? They also serve batidos or fresh fruit juices like in Colombia, which is really good news. I have been cooking breakfast whenever I can- usually buying some fresh papaya, pineapple, and banana for a fruit salad, then whipping up some eggs and having it with a fresh roll from the bakery All this for around $1.00. In Quito I tried a local dish called Guatita which consists of trype (spelling?) in a sauce served with rice, avocado, etc. I could not bring myself to put a second forkful anywhere near my mouth- disgusting! Surprisingly there are also probably as many Chinese food restaurants (Chifas) here as local eateries, but I try to avoid them because I'm sure they are heavy on the MSG and they are a bit pricier.
I am heading to Montanitas today, which is supposed to be a small, super touristy, surfer town on the Pacific coast. I plan to work on my tan there and try to forget about my troubles for a bit...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Robbery
Well, I have some really bad news... I went to a bar on Sunday night in Banos with some people that I met on the hiking trip and someone stole my money belt from my purse. In the money belt was my passport, my bank cards, my Visa, 2 memory cards with pictures, $200.00 US and various other things. Big hit it was. I don't really care to go into the details of it all, for example why I would have had all these valuables in the bar with me, but there it is. Bad news. I guess I have been pretty lucky so far though, and at least I didn't have a knife or gun pulled on me or something- there is always something worse happening to someone else somewhere.
I know you will all be feeling people bad for me, but don't- these things happen all the time and I'm trying not to feel sorry for myself or dwell on it.
I am in Guayaquil at the moment- basically a port city with not much to do or see but it houses the Canadian Consulate. Thankfully I have arranged a good host from couchsurfing- Miguel. He picked me up from the bus terminal, took me to get my passport pictures taken, drove me to the embassy today, etc. Some other CSers took me out and showed me around today too and we're going to get together tonight for some beers and guitar-playing. I'll bring the harmonica that I bought in Quito and want to learn how to play.
Hopefully my passport will be ready within a week and Visa is trying to get me a credit card by Friday. I hope to be crossing over into Peru by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
Unfortunately this has soured my experience of the country a bit, even though I know that this happens all over and probably just as often at home. Also mostly everyone that I have encountered here has been amazing and all the Ecuadorians I tell about the robbery feel absolutely horrible that it happened. A woman working at a bike shop in Banos named Anita even came with me 3 times to talk to the owner of the bar where it happened to see if there wasn't anything more that could be done (eg: get the word out and offer a reward). Hopefully my next post will bear great news!
I know you will all be feeling people bad for me, but don't- these things happen all the time and I'm trying not to feel sorry for myself or dwell on it.
I am in Guayaquil at the moment- basically a port city with not much to do or see but it houses the Canadian Consulate. Thankfully I have arranged a good host from couchsurfing- Miguel. He picked me up from the bus terminal, took me to get my passport pictures taken, drove me to the embassy today, etc. Some other CSers took me out and showed me around today too and we're going to get together tonight for some beers and guitar-playing. I'll bring the harmonica that I bought in Quito and want to learn how to play.
Hopefully my passport will be ready within a week and Visa is trying to get me a credit card by Friday. I hope to be crossing over into Peru by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
Unfortunately this has soured my experience of the country a bit, even though I know that this happens all over and probably just as often at home. Also mostly everyone that I have encountered here has been amazing and all the Ecuadorians I tell about the robbery feel absolutely horrible that it happened. A woman working at a bike shop in Banos named Anita even came with me 3 times to talk to the owner of the bar where it happened to see if there wasn't anything more that could be done (eg: get the word out and offer a reward). Hopefully my next post will bear great news!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Big Rescue
Well I´m back in civilization. Not that I really left it but anyways... I departed Quito with Kate from Boston on Friday for the Andean highlands. We took a bus and then rode in the back of a truck to get to the breathtaking Laguna Quilotoa. From there we checked into a hostel run by a local indigenous Quichua family that cost $8/night including dinner and breakfast (did I mention that Ecuador is even cheaper than Colombia?). After dropping some weight from our backpacks we left to complete the 5 hour hike around the rim of the Laguna (inside of an inactive volcano). The first 2/3 of the hike went smoothly; indescribable scenery all around- the sparkling laguna, patchwork mountainside, etc. After following the top rim of the volcano for approx. 3 hours, the path began to wind down towards the laguna, which was a welcome change to the taxing inclines and fierce winds. After awhile though, we realized that we should not have dropped down from the rim at all. We had long ago lost the path and were descending into bush. Then came the giant ridge that would prove to be impossible to cross. We began to worry abut how difficult it would be to get back up when out of nowhere a local Quichua woman appeared to offer us her ¨guide services¨ After bartering her down from $8 to $5, she led us to a path that we never would have found on our own and was patient as we struggled to keep up behind her. Best $5 I ever spent...
After returning to the hostal, we realized that we had no running water in our room to shower (very smelly we were). But it would have been to cold to get wet anyways. While we waited for supper, we huddled under the 20 pounds of blankets with all our clothes on. With supper finished in 5 minutes or less (we were STARVING), we found ourselves back in the room at 8pm with nothing to do to pass the time until bed. After playing a few rounds of tic tac toe and MASH, we settled in under the blankets to sleep. I woke up around 1am and was unable to fall back asleep the rest of the night as my heart was racing too hard from the altitude.
After breakfast the next day, we hiked back along the crater rim aways to get to the path that would take us through one village and on to another, 5 hours away. The day went quite smoothly and we found ourselves a great hostel in Chugchilan. Being only 1 pm when we arrived, we decided to do some more hiking, mostly to avoid playing tic tac toe again. We started uphill along a road that was to lead us to a cheese factory and then a small cloud forest. An hour and a half later we reached the top of the road, just when the heavy fog began to descend from the other side of the mountain. We were starving by this time and ready for some cheese. Just then we saw the sign through the mist for the cheese factory, which came as a great relief. But after descending down the road past the for over an hour, we cxame to the conclusion that we musthave made a wrong turn somewhere. It was beginning to rain at this point and it was very cold. Again afraid that we may not make it home before dark, we turned around to head back the way we came.
At this point we were thoroughly exhausted and in no shape to run from or defend ourselves from dogs. The choice however was not ours, and when the dog came running behind us barking out of the mist, we picked up sticks and began shouting to intimidate it from infecting us with rabies. It followed at a far distance for quite some time, occasionally closing in a bit. Eventually it backed off and we were safe but completely spent and we still had some was uphill to go before we couild descend back into town. Clearly we made it alive or I would not be posting this, but it was quite the experience!
Today was less exciting, but we did get to ride in the back of a milk truck for an hour to the next town to catch the bus back to Latacunga. From there we had 2 more short bus rides, which brings me to Banos where I now sit typing.
After returning to the hostal, we realized that we had no running water in our room to shower (very smelly we were). But it would have been to cold to get wet anyways. While we waited for supper, we huddled under the 20 pounds of blankets with all our clothes on. With supper finished in 5 minutes or less (we were STARVING), we found ourselves back in the room at 8pm with nothing to do to pass the time until bed. After playing a few rounds of tic tac toe and MASH, we settled in under the blankets to sleep. I woke up around 1am and was unable to fall back asleep the rest of the night as my heart was racing too hard from the altitude.
After breakfast the next day, we hiked back along the crater rim aways to get to the path that would take us through one village and on to another, 5 hours away. The day went quite smoothly and we found ourselves a great hostel in Chugchilan. Being only 1 pm when we arrived, we decided to do some more hiking, mostly to avoid playing tic tac toe again. We started uphill along a road that was to lead us to a cheese factory and then a small cloud forest. An hour and a half later we reached the top of the road, just when the heavy fog began to descend from the other side of the mountain. We were starving by this time and ready for some cheese. Just then we saw the sign through the mist for the cheese factory, which came as a great relief. But after descending down the road past the for over an hour, we cxame to the conclusion that we musthave made a wrong turn somewhere. It was beginning to rain at this point and it was very cold. Again afraid that we may not make it home before dark, we turned around to head back the way we came.
At this point we were thoroughly exhausted and in no shape to run from or defend ourselves from dogs. The choice however was not ours, and when the dog came running behind us barking out of the mist, we picked up sticks and began shouting to intimidate it from infecting us with rabies. It followed at a far distance for quite some time, occasionally closing in a bit. Eventually it backed off and we were safe but completely spent and we still had some was uphill to go before we couild descend back into town. Clearly we made it alive or I would not be posting this, but it was quite the experience!
Today was less exciting, but we did get to ride in the back of a milk truck for an hour to the next town to catch the bus back to Latacunga. From there we had 2 more short bus rides, which brings me to Banos where I now sit typing.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Hostal Characters...
I´m currently still in Quito, getting ready to leave for a place called Latacunga. From here I will be doing what´s called the ¨Quilotoa Loop¨- essentially a three-day hike around a lake. Expect no emails for a few days. I have been hearing that the trek is safe, and I am going with a girl that I met here in the hostal in Quito.
Since my arrival in Quito, I have met some very interesting people, as is common while staying in hostels. Just thought I´d give a couple details on some interesting characters in particular. Firstly is Raul, a tall and lanky guy from Spain. He accompanied Kate and myself to the Teleferiquo cable car yesterday and to an art museum today. He is absolutely hilarious- his mannerisms, accent, and enthusiasm for all things remind me of none other than Borat. He finds everything ¨curious¨, using this word in the same context as anyone else would use the words ¨weird¨or ¨unusual¨. He kept me almost in tears yesterday, especially when he took my challenge to race up a hill at 4200metres elevation and we both almost passed out after about 10 paces.
The second character would be the middle-aged Philipino man who appears to be living here at the hostal. Raul shares a dorm with him and tells me that he has woken up in the middle up the night to alot of grunting and groaning, and for this he feels very uncomfortable. The two of them had an argument last evening about how to best fend of wild dogs while trekking in Ecuador- it got pretty heated.
The third and most ridiculous character would be the other middle-aged man, originally from Poland but now living in Montreal, who also appears to be a long-term resident of the hostal. My first encounter with him was when he told me a story about how Manitobans really do live up to the ¨friendly¨slogan, as he was assisted to fill his empty gas tank on the highway outside Winnipeg. Good enough, normal conversation. He then goes on to talk about his experiences and views about the cocaine in Colombia, and also about how he was very disappointed by an experience he had in Cartagena. He tells us that he was promised ¨fresh college graduates¨by some pimp in the street, but when he arrived to where they were to be had, the girls were cleary no graduates of anything.
Another of his stories involves him going to a club in Bolivia. He says he had been eyeing up a fancy dance-floor in the bar for awhile, wondering why no one was dancing on it. Finally he decided he was going to test it out, only to find himself falling up to his neck in a pool of water after stepping onto the ¨dance-floor¨. What took the cake though was his story about his 2 months in the Galapagos. He claims there is a turtle there that refuses to mate but is the last of it´s species. He tells us that the park hired a ¨woman from Switzerland who arrived to the island with a suitcase to masterbate the turtle¨. The funniest stories I have ever heard from this guy. Did I mention he has the wild disheveled hair of Jack Nicholson and the same sort of facial expressions? Priceless.
Gotta run...
Since my arrival in Quito, I have met some very interesting people, as is common while staying in hostels. Just thought I´d give a couple details on some interesting characters in particular. Firstly is Raul, a tall and lanky guy from Spain. He accompanied Kate and myself to the Teleferiquo cable car yesterday and to an art museum today. He is absolutely hilarious- his mannerisms, accent, and enthusiasm for all things remind me of none other than Borat. He finds everything ¨curious¨, using this word in the same context as anyone else would use the words ¨weird¨or ¨unusual¨. He kept me almost in tears yesterday, especially when he took my challenge to race up a hill at 4200metres elevation and we both almost passed out after about 10 paces.
The second character would be the middle-aged Philipino man who appears to be living here at the hostal. Raul shares a dorm with him and tells me that he has woken up in the middle up the night to alot of grunting and groaning, and for this he feels very uncomfortable. The two of them had an argument last evening about how to best fend of wild dogs while trekking in Ecuador- it got pretty heated.
The third and most ridiculous character would be the other middle-aged man, originally from Poland but now living in Montreal, who also appears to be a long-term resident of the hostal. My first encounter with him was when he told me a story about how Manitobans really do live up to the ¨friendly¨slogan, as he was assisted to fill his empty gas tank on the highway outside Winnipeg. Good enough, normal conversation. He then goes on to talk about his experiences and views about the cocaine in Colombia, and also about how he was very disappointed by an experience he had in Cartagena. He tells us that he was promised ¨fresh college graduates¨by some pimp in the street, but when he arrived to where they were to be had, the girls were cleary no graduates of anything.
Another of his stories involves him going to a club in Bolivia. He says he had been eyeing up a fancy dance-floor in the bar for awhile, wondering why no one was dancing on it. Finally he decided he was going to test it out, only to find himself falling up to his neck in a pool of water after stepping onto the ¨dance-floor¨. What took the cake though was his story about his 2 months in the Galapagos. He claims there is a turtle there that refuses to mate but is the last of it´s species. He tells us that the park hired a ¨woman from Switzerland who arrived to the island with a suitcase to masterbate the turtle¨. The funniest stories I have ever heard from this guy. Did I mention he has the wild disheveled hair of Jack Nicholson and the same sort of facial expressions? Priceless.
Gotta run...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Quickie
Just a quick note to say that I have safely arrived in Quito after a long and exhausting journey from Colombia. The bus ride to the Ecuadorian border was 15 hours with another 5 hours to follow once inside the country. The border crossing could not have gone any smoother thankfully...
Monday, March 2, 2009
Ecuador-Bound
I have now been in Salento, in the Zona Cafetera, for 2 nights. It´s the perfect place to relax and get ready for the journey to Ecuador. I plan to catch the night bus to the border this evening and cross into Ecuador in the morning. I have heard the line at the border can be horrendous and I´m not tlooking forward to it!
I´m not sure if I mentioned it, but I decided to give Medellin a miss. After the night bus (12 hours) pulled up into Medellin from Cartagena and I saw what a huge, overwhelming, and smoggy city it appeared to be, a had a mild panic moment and decided to get on another bus immediately and head further south to Armenia. 7 hours later, the bus was cruising through Armenia towards the terminal and I again decided it too was far too big a city. Nevertheless, here I am in Salento, 45 mins further, staying at a coffee plantation-turned hostal. I spent 5 hours yesterday hiking throught the Valle de Cocora, clearing my mind and body from the flurry of activity that was the last few weeks on the coast. The temperature here is cooler, the air much cleaner and fresher. I had to fight a bit with the altitude on the hike, but I´m also suffering a bit of a cold as well so I´m sure that didn´t help.
After landing back into town after the hike, I stopped for a piece of street-pizza and ended up chatting away with a local family. The women let me in on a bit of info about local men- that being that most of them have at least 2 women going at once, sometimes more, and that it´s no big secret to anyone. The one woman´s husband was arguing that it was not true, but based on his grin and that he was joking with me to take him away in my backpack, I´m guessing it is. It was hilarious sitting with them at the pizza stand for an hour or so.
So that´s it for now, the next post I write will likely be from Ecuador in a couple of days!
I´m not sure if I mentioned it, but I decided to give Medellin a miss. After the night bus (12 hours) pulled up into Medellin from Cartagena and I saw what a huge, overwhelming, and smoggy city it appeared to be, a had a mild panic moment and decided to get on another bus immediately and head further south to Armenia. 7 hours later, the bus was cruising through Armenia towards the terminal and I again decided it too was far too big a city. Nevertheless, here I am in Salento, 45 mins further, staying at a coffee plantation-turned hostal. I spent 5 hours yesterday hiking throught the Valle de Cocora, clearing my mind and body from the flurry of activity that was the last few weeks on the coast. The temperature here is cooler, the air much cleaner and fresher. I had to fight a bit with the altitude on the hike, but I´m also suffering a bit of a cold as well so I´m sure that didn´t help.
After landing back into town after the hike, I stopped for a piece of street-pizza and ended up chatting away with a local family. The women let me in on a bit of info about local men- that being that most of them have at least 2 women going at once, sometimes more, and that it´s no big secret to anyone. The one woman´s husband was arguing that it was not true, but based on his grin and that he was joking with me to take him away in my backpack, I´m guessing it is. It was hilarious sitting with them at the pizza stand for an hour or so.
So that´s it for now, the next post I write will likely be from Ecuador in a couple of days!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Few Notes on Colombia...
-There is food to be found EVERYWHERE; no need to pack for a bus trip because there are food vendors at least every couple meters of the country. Especially if you feel like any type of deep fried and stuffed corn patty that goes by many different names and comes in various shapes (pancake, lumpy ball, smooth ball, moon-shape, etc.)
-Colombians are among the nicest and friendliest people you will EVER meet. Strangers greet you in the street and some invite you to stay in their homes.
-The "tourist price" is rarely ever different than the "local price"- unlike places such as Mexico, Colombians are generally not trying to rip you off.
-Transport (eg. buses) is expensive but of good quality. This means they are equipped with reclining seats, bathrooms, sometimes a movie, and AC (which is also blasting way too high). The drivers are also less crazy than those in Central America or Asia, but there are still some white-knuckle moments.
-Public bathrooms are usually fairly clean but most cost approx. $0.25 and you must remember toilet paper (no squatters though, thank god).
-Taxis will always honk at you if you are walking somewhere, as if trying to convince you to be lazy and take a ride.
-A woman walking down the street faces very few degrading catcalls by local men (unlike Central America and Mexico).
-There is immense diversity between the various regions of Colombia- in terms of climate, landscape, clothing and accents of the people, etc.
-Mostly everywhere, the day seems to start out sunny and end up cloudy, with occasional rain depending on the region.
-Fruit and fruit juices are abundant, cheap, and delicious. Half of the fruits available do not even have a name in english because they don/t exist back home (eg. lulo).
-There are wide discrepancies in the standards of living here- there are many areas of cities that are modern, wealthy, trendy, etc. but that are usually not too far from the poorest of slums. Eg. on Isla Mukura the Pueblo which was of the poorest condition I have yet seen was less than a km from a 5-star resort and I bet the tourists that visit the island have no idea what is on the other side.
-a few average prices: Beer from the store- $1.00; Empanada- $0.50-$1.00; fresh fruit smoothie- $0.75-$1.50; full meal sometimes as low as $2.50 including drink; 12hr busride- $50.00 (ouch!); average night in hostel- $7-$10.
-Colombians are great partiers
-If you ask someone for directions and they don/t know them, they might still act as though they do and tell you where to go anyways. I am not sure if they are just to nice to say no or what, but this is a similar phenomenon as Central America and Mexico and so it is always best to ask a few sources.
-There is police and military everywhere. Military service is apparently mandatory but not too hard to get out of if you have money. The soldiers are mostly really young, they are all armed, and don/t seem to take things too too seriously. You might find yourself in a conversation about girlfriends and porn, their families, their plans, etc, or you might witness a couple of them drop their rifles in front of you and run off to wrestle each-other.
-It is not unusual have your bag searched upon entering an establishment, including malls, bars, and grocery stores.
-The country is overflowing with green space, even in the really large cities there are many parks and trees.
-Cocaine is not an alternate form of currency used to pay for groceries and other amenities (as I had been told prior to coming here). In fact I have not once been propositioned to buy cocaine and I have not met a single Colombian who actually uses it. Apparently it is mostly for export
(%80 of the world/s cocaine is produced here) and for use by the tourists here.
-The country is full of beautiful people- both naturally attractive and many with surgical enhancement.
-A shot of tinto (black coffee) can be found anywhere and is considered a national drink- the cost starts at $0.25
-Aguardiente may be considered the national liquor and it is not uncommon to see people pull a bottle out of their pocket or purse on the street or in a bar and take a shot.
-Colombia is not yet spoiled by tourism- there are still many places to go where you can be the only tourist around. I have been on many buses and in many public places where this has been the case.
-The tap water is drinkable in many cities.
-I still have no idea what a "typical" Colombian looks like- the population is a mix of mestizo, whites, black and white mixed, blacks, and indigenous; they do have height on the Mexicans and Central Americans
-Colombia is one of the most amazing countries that I have visited!! Viva Colombia!!
-Colombians are among the nicest and friendliest people you will EVER meet. Strangers greet you in the street and some invite you to stay in their homes.
-The "tourist price" is rarely ever different than the "local price"- unlike places such as Mexico, Colombians are generally not trying to rip you off.
-Transport (eg. buses) is expensive but of good quality. This means they are equipped with reclining seats, bathrooms, sometimes a movie, and AC (which is also blasting way too high). The drivers are also less crazy than those in Central America or Asia, but there are still some white-knuckle moments.
-Public bathrooms are usually fairly clean but most cost approx. $0.25 and you must remember toilet paper (no squatters though, thank god).
-Taxis will always honk at you if you are walking somewhere, as if trying to convince you to be lazy and take a ride.
-A woman walking down the street faces very few degrading catcalls by local men (unlike Central America and Mexico).
-There is immense diversity between the various regions of Colombia- in terms of climate, landscape, clothing and accents of the people, etc.
-Mostly everywhere, the day seems to start out sunny and end up cloudy, with occasional rain depending on the region.
-Fruit and fruit juices are abundant, cheap, and delicious. Half of the fruits available do not even have a name in english because they don/t exist back home (eg. lulo).
-There are wide discrepancies in the standards of living here- there are many areas of cities that are modern, wealthy, trendy, etc. but that are usually not too far from the poorest of slums. Eg. on Isla Mukura the Pueblo which was of the poorest condition I have yet seen was less than a km from a 5-star resort and I bet the tourists that visit the island have no idea what is on the other side.
-a few average prices: Beer from the store- $1.00; Empanada- $0.50-$1.00; fresh fruit smoothie- $0.75-$1.50; full meal sometimes as low as $2.50 including drink; 12hr busride- $50.00 (ouch!); average night in hostel- $7-$10.
-Colombians are great partiers
-If you ask someone for directions and they don/t know them, they might still act as though they do and tell you where to go anyways. I am not sure if they are just to nice to say no or what, but this is a similar phenomenon as Central America and Mexico and so it is always best to ask a few sources.
-There is police and military everywhere. Military service is apparently mandatory but not too hard to get out of if you have money. The soldiers are mostly really young, they are all armed, and don/t seem to take things too too seriously. You might find yourself in a conversation about girlfriends and porn, their families, their plans, etc, or you might witness a couple of them drop their rifles in front of you and run off to wrestle each-other.
-It is not unusual have your bag searched upon entering an establishment, including malls, bars, and grocery stores.
-The country is overflowing with green space, even in the really large cities there are many parks and trees.
-Cocaine is not an alternate form of currency used to pay for groceries and other amenities (as I had been told prior to coming here). In fact I have not once been propositioned to buy cocaine and I have not met a single Colombian who actually uses it. Apparently it is mostly for export
(%80 of the world/s cocaine is produced here) and for use by the tourists here.
-The country is full of beautiful people- both naturally attractive and many with surgical enhancement.
-A shot of tinto (black coffee) can be found anywhere and is considered a national drink- the cost starts at $0.25
-Aguardiente may be considered the national liquor and it is not uncommon to see people pull a bottle out of their pocket or purse on the street or in a bar and take a shot.
-Colombia is not yet spoiled by tourism- there are still many places to go where you can be the only tourist around. I have been on many buses and in many public places where this has been the case.
-The tap water is drinkable in many cities.
-I still have no idea what a "typical" Colombian looks like- the population is a mix of mestizo, whites, black and white mixed, blacks, and indigenous; they do have height on the Mexicans and Central Americans
-Colombia is one of the most amazing countries that I have visited!! Viva Colombia!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Hey Hey Cartagena!
Just arrived in beautiful Cartagena via speedboat from the island of Mukura. The ride was painful in many ways- the slamming into waves did a number on my back and the fact that I neglected to put sunscreen on my legs has created ugly lobster-red strips of burnt flesh, but only on the tops of my legs. Very attractive. Speaking of lobster though, I enjoyed a fantastic freshly caught and prepared lobster dinner on the island. I´m becoming quite skilled at extracting the meat from whole carcasses of sea creatures, although I haven´t yet brought myself to eat fish eyeballs or suck the meat from the brains yet....All in good time I suppose.
Going back a few days to Carnaval- damn do these Colombians know how to party! The festivities are supposed to last for 4 days straight, however in true Colombian spirit the rumba (party) begins weeks in advance for the Pre-Carnavales. Luckily for my liver I declined to attend these, and 2 days of full-on Carnaval partying proved to be enough anyways.
It all started Saturday when we bought tickets off some hawkers for $90 for 3 days of seating in the stands (the 4th day is free entry). The day started off early by stopping at the liquor store to fill water bottles with rum, followed by pounding a couple of beers in the hot sun while trying to barter for our tickets. By 1130am the bottles of spray foam came out and the fight was on. Once in the stands, there was flour added to the foam, which made for a nice white paste. And then came the rum and whisky, flowing from the bottles of people in the stands via shot cups or directly down the throat.
Although the floats were really impressive and the costumes and dancing really phenomenal, our attention was stuck in the stands for the most part, where the party was taking place. Our group consisted of 6 of us from the trek and one local woman (Alba), who is a professional Carnaval partier. Before I knew it, the floats ad dancers had disappeared and it was dark out, signaling it was time to go for some food and more straight shots of random liquor. Saturday night was an early one, and no one had trouble falling asleep on the concrete floor of Alba´s apartment until the next morning.
Day 2 began with a breakfast of pork and deep fried pork rind (which I have never been able to eat despite it´s popularity in all Latin American countries). The events of the day followed a similar beat of the previous, only myself and Collette decided we had not been fully prepared garment-wise the day before. Everyone in the stands was dressed up but us. We hit the corner store and bought our supplies- a marker, tons of sparkles, tacky wristbands and hair-ties, lollipops, a jar or caramel, balloons, and for myself a child´s t-shirt of a popular cartoon which I later chopped up quite nicely. Oh, and shower caps, the hit of the day.
After the main Carnaval events, we again hit the streets for food but this time we stayed out until 4am parying hard. There was free entertainment including a theatrical act, a live band or two, professional dancing, fire-spitting, etc. Maxi talked his way backstage and we got pictures with all the performers. He even convinced the fire-thrower to let him have a try at it.
Aside from that, Isla Mukura was fantastic- super relaxed after all the excitement that came before. We stayed at a resort-type place that is in the process of re-opening but as of yet had no other guests. It had been abandoned when it was taken over by para-militaries a few years ago and is only lately being renovated. We had a couple hours of electricity the first night because it was the owner´s birthday, but the second night there was none.
Cartagena, where I currently am, is absolutely breath-taking. I won´t bother trying to describe it. but will post some pics soon. I plan on leaving here tonight for Medellin and would like to get down south to Ecuador as soon as possible.
Going back a few days to Carnaval- damn do these Colombians know how to party! The festivities are supposed to last for 4 days straight, however in true Colombian spirit the rumba (party) begins weeks in advance for the Pre-Carnavales. Luckily for my liver I declined to attend these, and 2 days of full-on Carnaval partying proved to be enough anyways.
It all started Saturday when we bought tickets off some hawkers for $90 for 3 days of seating in the stands (the 4th day is free entry). The day started off early by stopping at the liquor store to fill water bottles with rum, followed by pounding a couple of beers in the hot sun while trying to barter for our tickets. By 1130am the bottles of spray foam came out and the fight was on. Once in the stands, there was flour added to the foam, which made for a nice white paste. And then came the rum and whisky, flowing from the bottles of people in the stands via shot cups or directly down the throat.
Although the floats were really impressive and the costumes and dancing really phenomenal, our attention was stuck in the stands for the most part, where the party was taking place. Our group consisted of 6 of us from the trek and one local woman (Alba), who is a professional Carnaval partier. Before I knew it, the floats ad dancers had disappeared and it was dark out, signaling it was time to go for some food and more straight shots of random liquor. Saturday night was an early one, and no one had trouble falling asleep on the concrete floor of Alba´s apartment until the next morning.
Day 2 began with a breakfast of pork and deep fried pork rind (which I have never been able to eat despite it´s popularity in all Latin American countries). The events of the day followed a similar beat of the previous, only myself and Collette decided we had not been fully prepared garment-wise the day before. Everyone in the stands was dressed up but us. We hit the corner store and bought our supplies- a marker, tons of sparkles, tacky wristbands and hair-ties, lollipops, a jar or caramel, balloons, and for myself a child´s t-shirt of a popular cartoon which I later chopped up quite nicely. Oh, and shower caps, the hit of the day.
After the main Carnaval events, we again hit the streets for food but this time we stayed out until 4am parying hard. There was free entertainment including a theatrical act, a live band or two, professional dancing, fire-spitting, etc. Maxi talked his way backstage and we got pictures with all the performers. He even convinced the fire-thrower to let him have a try at it.
Aside from that, Isla Mukura was fantastic- super relaxed after all the excitement that came before. We stayed at a resort-type place that is in the process of re-opening but as of yet had no other guests. It had been abandoned when it was taken over by para-militaries a few years ago and is only lately being renovated. We had a couple hours of electricity the first night because it was the owner´s birthday, but the second night there was none.
Cartagena, where I currently am, is absolutely breath-taking. I won´t bother trying to describe it. but will post some pics soon. I plan on leaving here tonight for Medellin and would like to get down south to Ecuador as soon as possible.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Pricey Post
Just a quickie- I`m safe here on an island called Mukura. The internet is super expensive because there`s no electricity. Will post again tomorrow or next day!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Carnaval!
Off to Carnaval in Barranquilla this morning. I´m going with a big group- half of which are from the trek and the other half locals. Should be a gong-show and I can´t wait. The guys are having their first beers as I write this (715 am).
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Lost City Found
And now for the account of my trek to Ciudad Perdida...
It all begins after arriving in Santa Marta on the coast and booking the tour through the hostel there. I am told that I have arrived just in time to take advantage of the last day of tours at the price of 400, 000 pesos. This price equates to approximately $200 Cdn for a 6 day all-inclusive hike and it certainly sounds good to me. My first friend from the tour is Nick, a Californian guy staying in the same dorm room as me. We go out for a shrimp cocktail and check out the scenery before heading in early to pack and get some sleep.
The tour gets underway late but by around 10 am we are 13 people squeezed into 2 jeeps with all the supplies and food. It is a tight and unpleasant ride- especially the 13 km at the end on unpaved roads which takes almost 2 hours to cover. There has been more rain than expected for the time of year and things are tough going. We get to a small village just before the trail begins and have a quick lunch- fishy rice and deep fried corn and plaintains. At this point everyone is a little weary about what we´ll be eating the next 6 days.
Very soon after departing we reach a river crossing with water at about knee-height and I stop to change into my sandals from my hiking boots. At the same time, a group returning from the trek is crossing in the opposite direction and a guy laughs at me kindly, and tells me not to bother as no article of clothing nor foot wear will remain dry for the next 6 days. Ok, good enough. I step into the frigid water. Turns out he is quite right- there is more mud, water, rain, and mule shit than I could ever have imagined along the trails to follow. I resign myself to this very quickly and thus am not bothered by it all too much. A couple slips here and there result in some awkward messes- but nothing the river crossings don´t wash off. And on the third day there happens to be 9 crossings of the very same river- the highest point being just higher than waist deep.
The first and second day go rather leisurely- some mild huffing and puffing but only during some lengthy uphill sprints. The guides are great and very experienced- they know just when to stop for a break or a snack of either fruit or straight sugar from wild sugar cane, cookies, or chocolate. Aside from the snacks, the meals are actually really tasty as well. The groups are supplied with cooks who do a great job, although no one could quite figure out why it always took so long.
The first day is probably 4 hours out on the trail, including the rest stops. By the time we reach our first sleeping shelter, it is getting dark and starting to rain. The shelter belongs to the family of one of the tour guides. It is farmland- used for agriculture mostly but there are also some chickens hanging around in the trees (don´t ask). Here, we amalgamate with another tour group to become roughly 20 people. In the morning we lose 2 though- an Austrian pair that just couldn´t hack it on the first day.
Everyone in the group is great- there are people from the US, Ireland, England, Austria, Argentina, Australia, and myself- the solo Canadian. No one seems to hang back too far either, which is nice. On the first morning while waiting for breakfast, there are rumours of a tour of a cocaine factory. Yes, it´s true. I couldn´t believe until I saw it either, but cocaine is a big part of Colombian export, and like coffee plantation tours- where there´s money to be made...
A bunch of us pay our $12 and follow a man from the farm into the jungle. Shortly after crossing a couple creeks we come across a small clearing and see a type of shanty set up. This clearly is not a cocaine factory, but we are told that the real deal is just a ways up the hill. This area is set up to show tourists just how cocaine paste is made from coca leaves. The man goes through the process, explaining what chemicals are used and how, going through various filtering processes, etc. It´s actually quite sickening to know what is used- gasoline for example is a key ingredient, but one that is extracted towards the end of the process. The whole tour takes about an hour and if nothing else, kills the time until breakfast.
We set out again for another 4 hour day- not overly challenging but a good pace. We find that there is quite a bit of downtime when we get to the second shelter, and thankfully some people thought to bring cards. The tour guides are also quite entertaining and on the second night we hear some live Colombian rap from 2 of the guys. Surprisingly it is also relatively comfortable sleeping in hammocks, and I find that my worst night of the trip is the only night where we sleep on a flat surface. I´m thankful to have brought a sleeping bag too, because the temperature dips pretty low at night.
The third days marks our arrival at the Lost City, and it is definitely the most challenging day- approx. 7 hours of hiking and 9 river crossings. The final challenge is the climb up more than 2000 steps to the ruins. The view at the top is spectacular though and worth every effort. We are the only people at the Lost City with the exception of the some 28 military personal ordered to keep watch of the archeological site. We soon discover that these military are quite bored out here all alone and seem to really enjoy the tourists that come through- some of us girls got some nice pictures with them holding us up and posing with their rifles.
We do most of our touring of the city the next morning. This is where we learn the history of the site- built by the Tayrona Natives in the 8th and 9th century but abandoned around the time that the Spanish arrive and discover that it is rich in gold. All the Tayrona are believed to have been wiped out by slaughter, disease, famine, etc. The city was re-discovered in the 1970´s when gold artifacts started turning up for sale in the markets of Santa Marta.
The fourth day after touring the site, we head back the way we came and spend the night in the same shelter as night 2. Similar events take place- eating, chatting, playing cards, and heading to the hammock around 930pm. The most difficult part of the tour may be getting up early every morning in the freezing cold and putting back on the same soaking wet and smelly clothes and shoes as the day before. Day 5 we visit a couple impressive waterfalls, but I decide not to climb down and swim in them because I feel my good luck at not injuring myself may be running out. Day 6 we find ourselves back at the village for lunch before piling back into the trucks to head back to civilization.
The whole group got along so well that we all decided to meet in the next town over- Taganga- for drinks to celebrate our success. Some of us are still travelling together at the moment- Nick, Maxi, and I just got back from Cabo de la Vela, and are heading out to Carnaval in Barranquilla with 2 others from the group tomorrow.
It all begins after arriving in Santa Marta on the coast and booking the tour through the hostel there. I am told that I have arrived just in time to take advantage of the last day of tours at the price of 400, 000 pesos. This price equates to approximately $200 Cdn for a 6 day all-inclusive hike and it certainly sounds good to me. My first friend from the tour is Nick, a Californian guy staying in the same dorm room as me. We go out for a shrimp cocktail and check out the scenery before heading in early to pack and get some sleep.
The tour gets underway late but by around 10 am we are 13 people squeezed into 2 jeeps with all the supplies and food. It is a tight and unpleasant ride- especially the 13 km at the end on unpaved roads which takes almost 2 hours to cover. There has been more rain than expected for the time of year and things are tough going. We get to a small village just before the trail begins and have a quick lunch- fishy rice and deep fried corn and plaintains. At this point everyone is a little weary about what we´ll be eating the next 6 days.
Very soon after departing we reach a river crossing with water at about knee-height and I stop to change into my sandals from my hiking boots. At the same time, a group returning from the trek is crossing in the opposite direction and a guy laughs at me kindly, and tells me not to bother as no article of clothing nor foot wear will remain dry for the next 6 days. Ok, good enough. I step into the frigid water. Turns out he is quite right- there is more mud, water, rain, and mule shit than I could ever have imagined along the trails to follow. I resign myself to this very quickly and thus am not bothered by it all too much. A couple slips here and there result in some awkward messes- but nothing the river crossings don´t wash off. And on the third day there happens to be 9 crossings of the very same river- the highest point being just higher than waist deep.
The first and second day go rather leisurely- some mild huffing and puffing but only during some lengthy uphill sprints. The guides are great and very experienced- they know just when to stop for a break or a snack of either fruit or straight sugar from wild sugar cane, cookies, or chocolate. Aside from the snacks, the meals are actually really tasty as well. The groups are supplied with cooks who do a great job, although no one could quite figure out why it always took so long.
The first day is probably 4 hours out on the trail, including the rest stops. By the time we reach our first sleeping shelter, it is getting dark and starting to rain. The shelter belongs to the family of one of the tour guides. It is farmland- used for agriculture mostly but there are also some chickens hanging around in the trees (don´t ask). Here, we amalgamate with another tour group to become roughly 20 people. In the morning we lose 2 though- an Austrian pair that just couldn´t hack it on the first day.
Everyone in the group is great- there are people from the US, Ireland, England, Austria, Argentina, Australia, and myself- the solo Canadian. No one seems to hang back too far either, which is nice. On the first morning while waiting for breakfast, there are rumours of a tour of a cocaine factory. Yes, it´s true. I couldn´t believe until I saw it either, but cocaine is a big part of Colombian export, and like coffee plantation tours- where there´s money to be made...
A bunch of us pay our $12 and follow a man from the farm into the jungle. Shortly after crossing a couple creeks we come across a small clearing and see a type of shanty set up. This clearly is not a cocaine factory, but we are told that the real deal is just a ways up the hill. This area is set up to show tourists just how cocaine paste is made from coca leaves. The man goes through the process, explaining what chemicals are used and how, going through various filtering processes, etc. It´s actually quite sickening to know what is used- gasoline for example is a key ingredient, but one that is extracted towards the end of the process. The whole tour takes about an hour and if nothing else, kills the time until breakfast.
We set out again for another 4 hour day- not overly challenging but a good pace. We find that there is quite a bit of downtime when we get to the second shelter, and thankfully some people thought to bring cards. The tour guides are also quite entertaining and on the second night we hear some live Colombian rap from 2 of the guys. Surprisingly it is also relatively comfortable sleeping in hammocks, and I find that my worst night of the trip is the only night where we sleep on a flat surface. I´m thankful to have brought a sleeping bag too, because the temperature dips pretty low at night.
The third days marks our arrival at the Lost City, and it is definitely the most challenging day- approx. 7 hours of hiking and 9 river crossings. The final challenge is the climb up more than 2000 steps to the ruins. The view at the top is spectacular though and worth every effort. We are the only people at the Lost City with the exception of the some 28 military personal ordered to keep watch of the archeological site. We soon discover that these military are quite bored out here all alone and seem to really enjoy the tourists that come through- some of us girls got some nice pictures with them holding us up and posing with their rifles.
We do most of our touring of the city the next morning. This is where we learn the history of the site- built by the Tayrona Natives in the 8th and 9th century but abandoned around the time that the Spanish arrive and discover that it is rich in gold. All the Tayrona are believed to have been wiped out by slaughter, disease, famine, etc. The city was re-discovered in the 1970´s when gold artifacts started turning up for sale in the markets of Santa Marta.
The fourth day after touring the site, we head back the way we came and spend the night in the same shelter as night 2. Similar events take place- eating, chatting, playing cards, and heading to the hammock around 930pm. The most difficult part of the tour may be getting up early every morning in the freezing cold and putting back on the same soaking wet and smelly clothes and shoes as the day before. Day 5 we visit a couple impressive waterfalls, but I decide not to climb down and swim in them because I feel my good luck at not injuring myself may be running out. Day 6 we find ourselves back at the village for lunch before piling back into the trucks to head back to civilization.
The whole group got along so well that we all decided to meet in the next town over- Taganga- for drinks to celebrate our success. Some of us are still travelling together at the moment- Nick, Maxi, and I just got back from Cabo de la Vela, and are heading out to Carnaval in Barranquilla with 2 others from the group tomorrow.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Oh the Suspense...
I am currently in a place called Riohacha. Spent the weekend in a very quiet and relaxing town called Minca and left for a place called Cabo de la Vela today. Problem was that we left too late in the day and are now stuck half way in a not so beautiful town. Making the best of it though, we went to a bar called Tequila, Sal y Limon, and had a couple of shots of tequila. Which prompted us to buy a bottle of tequila as well as a bottle of rum for the 2 nights we´ll be spending in Cabo de la Vela. I´m currently travelling with 2 guys- one really cute Argentinian named Maxi, and Nick from the US- both of which I met on the tour to Ciudad Perdida. I still promise to get around to writing about the trek!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Update
All is still well, but not quite in the mood yet for a lengthy account of the trek. I will keep everyone in suspense for a little while longer. Just relaxing at the beach in Taganga.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Safe Return
Just a quick note to say that I am alive and well- have returned from the jungle intact!! Will write more soon...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
In Search of the Lost City...
Just packing up to depart Bucaramanga (actually Floridablanca) for Santa Marta in order to get on board the hike to Ciudad Perdida. I purchased hiking shoes and a sleeping bag for the trek, as well as a new pair of sweat pants, which essentially equates to an overflowing and painfully heavy backpack. I desperately need to sort through my belongings and chuck what I don´t need- which is practically 3/4 of what I have, but I´m a girl, what can I say?
I spent the past few days relaxing with Tania and her family, as well as Jonas from Switzerland. We shopped for my trek gear, hung around the pool near Tania´s house, watched some movies, and ate tons of delicious but very unhealthy food that is so typical here. Think: deep fried pork rinds, plantains, arepas (buttery deep fried corn patties), etc. I´ve also been enjoying the heat- the days are comfortably hot and the nights warm, with manageable humidity and occasional showers. I know what awaits on the coast though- insufferable heat and humidity.
In the event that I don´t post before I go on the 6 day trek, I would like to ask everyone not to worry- I have spoken to at least 20 people who have done the hike and there is practically no risk of anything bad happening. If I leave on Friday, I probably won´t post again until the following Friday. That´s all for now folks!
I spent the past few days relaxing with Tania and her family, as well as Jonas from Switzerland. We shopped for my trek gear, hung around the pool near Tania´s house, watched some movies, and ate tons of delicious but very unhealthy food that is so typical here. Think: deep fried pork rinds, plantains, arepas (buttery deep fried corn patties), etc. I´ve also been enjoying the heat- the days are comfortably hot and the nights warm, with manageable humidity and occasional showers. I know what awaits on the coast though- insufferable heat and humidity.
In the event that I don´t post before I go on the 6 day trek, I would like to ask everyone not to worry- I have spoken to at least 20 people who have done the hike and there is practically no risk of anything bad happening. If I leave on Friday, I probably won´t post again until the following Friday. That´s all for now folks!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
No More Cobblestones!!
Current location: Bucaramanga- try saying it out loud, it´s great fun. I´m staying with Tania, a super nice couchsurfer that I met in Bogota. She lives with her parents, her sister, and her dog. Last night we had a cosy slumber party, us 3 girls, in the bunk beds. This was after we went out to celebrate another couchsurfer´s birthday. We went to an outdoor games spot which to me resembled a driving range, and played a game called Tejo. It consisted of throwing heavy lumps of metal at a target box filled with clay. The purpose was to hit the the red triangle target in the middle, which happens to be a small explosive that when hit fills the air with smoke. I was horrible at the game and couldn´t even get the lump into the clay...
I spent the 2 previous nights in San Gil, which is known as the adventure sport capital of Colombia. The only activity I was interested in was the bungee-jumping, but I couldn´t find anyone at the hostel to go with me and it´s not something you want to go doing alone... Instead, I went on a hike to some impressive waterfalls then to Gallineral Park the first day in San Gil. Yesterday I hopped a colectivo to a nearby town called Barichara- the guide book calls it a colonial town ¨par excellence¨. The streets were all cobblestone like Villa de Leyva, which for me means nothing more than that it´s hard and painful to walk on. Despite this, I decided to hike an hour and a half to the even smaller and more remote town of Guane, named after the indigenous group. At the start I did not realize that this path too was all cobblestone, built sometime in the lates 1800´s. Oh well, I thought- I´ll just take the bus back. But alas, I missed the bus back by about 5 minutes because I had to stop for a tropical jugo natural. 3 hours on cobblestone does not put Krista in a good mood. I am considering it all training for Ciudad Perdida though- the 6 day hike that I will be taking very soon.
I spent the 2 previous nights in San Gil, which is known as the adventure sport capital of Colombia. The only activity I was interested in was the bungee-jumping, but I couldn´t find anyone at the hostel to go with me and it´s not something you want to go doing alone... Instead, I went on a hike to some impressive waterfalls then to Gallineral Park the first day in San Gil. Yesterday I hopped a colectivo to a nearby town called Barichara- the guide book calls it a colonial town ¨par excellence¨. The streets were all cobblestone like Villa de Leyva, which for me means nothing more than that it´s hard and painful to walk on. Despite this, I decided to hike an hour and a half to the even smaller and more remote town of Guane, named after the indigenous group. At the start I did not realize that this path too was all cobblestone, built sometime in the lates 1800´s. Oh well, I thought- I´ll just take the bus back. But alas, I missed the bus back by about 5 minutes because I had to stop for a tropical jugo natural. 3 hours on cobblestone does not put Krista in a good mood. I am considering it all training for Ciudad Perdida though- the 6 day hike that I will be taking very soon.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Fiesta en la Calle!!!
So I guess I´m 26. But I had forgotten for most of the morning until someone asked how old I was and I looked at my watch to confirm that it was indeed the 27th of January. Aside from the celebration in Bogota, I was taken out for dinner to a really horrible Mexican restaurant in Villa de Leyva last night. But that doesn´t matter. The party that followed was the important part.
I´m staying in the hostel of a nice Austrian man along with 2 guy musicians from France, an American girl, and a Colombian girl. Yesterday I went on a 7 hour long hike to Laguna Iguaque- it was incredible! Super strenous though, as the path was muddy and slippery as well as steep. The altidude at the top was 3600metres, so of course I could really feel the difference in air quality up there. The weather was fantastic though, sunny and warm but not hot. My shoes were shit however, and I kept slipping. Yes dad, I know you told me so... The view of the country side was amazing, and that flora at that altitude was comprised of plants that I´ve never seen before in my life- really interesting stuff. I was in pain by the time we got back to the hostel and I´m in even more pain today, but it was worth it. It was even worth the nearly $20.00 it cost for the entrance fee- quite outrageous for Colombia!
Back to the party... We decided that the most economical way to celebrate would be to buy beers and rum at a store in the main plaza and drink them on the steps outside in the street. We were joined by some dogs followed by a group of other street-drinkers, one of which brought a guitar, a harmonica, a maraca, and some other instrument. Needless to say that with the French musicians and our new Colombian musician we now had enough to make a band. We spent a couple hours in the street then decided to pack it in.
On the way home, we were enticed by some 80´s rock music in a bar on the other side of plaza and decided to go in and dance like idiots. And have some more beers. Upon returning to the hostal, the Colombian girl Diana decided it was not time for the party to be over, but the trouble was we had no more to drink. So she made us all take shots of hot sauce. This did not go over well with Julian, who decided to swish it around in his mouth like a sip of wine, and his already sunburned face turned 3 shades redder as he downed a couple swigs of olive oil to soothe his throat. The rest of us tired not to pee our pants. As revenge, Julian carried Diana outside where the other French guy, Floran, dumped a bucket of laundry water on her head.
And today we hiked along the farm roads to some ruin sight that turned out to be nothing but some phallic stone figures. I also got to pet a sheep at an old ladies´house along the road who invited us in for sodas and tried to sell us a fossil of an indigenous persons´ jawbone.
I´m staying in the hostel of a nice Austrian man along with 2 guy musicians from France, an American girl, and a Colombian girl. Yesterday I went on a 7 hour long hike to Laguna Iguaque- it was incredible! Super strenous though, as the path was muddy and slippery as well as steep. The altidude at the top was 3600metres, so of course I could really feel the difference in air quality up there. The weather was fantastic though, sunny and warm but not hot. My shoes were shit however, and I kept slipping. Yes dad, I know you told me so... The view of the country side was amazing, and that flora at that altitude was comprised of plants that I´ve never seen before in my life- really interesting stuff. I was in pain by the time we got back to the hostel and I´m in even more pain today, but it was worth it. It was even worth the nearly $20.00 it cost for the entrance fee- quite outrageous for Colombia!
Back to the party... We decided that the most economical way to celebrate would be to buy beers and rum at a store in the main plaza and drink them on the steps outside in the street. We were joined by some dogs followed by a group of other street-drinkers, one of which brought a guitar, a harmonica, a maraca, and some other instrument. Needless to say that with the French musicians and our new Colombian musician we now had enough to make a band. We spent a couple hours in the street then decided to pack it in.
On the way home, we were enticed by some 80´s rock music in a bar on the other side of plaza and decided to go in and dance like idiots. And have some more beers. Upon returning to the hostal, the Colombian girl Diana decided it was not time for the party to be over, but the trouble was we had no more to drink. So she made us all take shots of hot sauce. This did not go over well with Julian, who decided to swish it around in his mouth like a sip of wine, and his already sunburned face turned 3 shades redder as he downed a couple swigs of olive oil to soothe his throat. The rest of us tired not to pee our pants. As revenge, Julian carried Diana outside where the other French guy, Floran, dumped a bucket of laundry water on her head.
And today we hiked along the farm roads to some ruin sight that turned out to be nothing but some phallic stone figures. I also got to pet a sheep at an old ladies´house along the road who invited us in for sodas and tried to sell us a fossil of an indigenous persons´ jawbone.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Separation Anxiety
Well I´m about to leave Bogota this morning but I´ll be really sad to go. As I mentioned, I have been staying with a couchsurfer, Diana, in her apartment in the north of the city. From the moment I arrived to her place after a gruelling bus ride on the packed Transmilenio (a bus system similar to a metro), I was welcomed as though I were family. Diana lives with her older sister and niece in the apartment, but her brother and his girlfriend from England were staying here over the weekend as well. We all got along great, my grand welcome on Thurday evening being sitting around drinking beers and Aguardiente (a Colombian liquor with a taste similar to Sambuca, usually taken straight up) and dancing to reggae in the living room.
The following day after Diana went to work, Andres and Aimee were nice enough to take me downtown to stroll around and see the street entertainment and check out the Botero gallery. I tried Ajiaco, a soup typical in Bogota, which included chicken, beans, rice, avocado, onion, etc.- super delicious. I´ve also been enjoying all the street snacks- empanadas, arepas, pizza, fresh squeezed juices and prepared fruit like mango and pineapple- usually for a price ranging between $0.50-$1.50.
Friday night we went to 3 bars, the first one a pub, the second a really bright barn-type bar called La Finca, and the third a reggae bar. I got to meet a bunch of Diana´s friends and also other couchsurfers and danced like mad until we got kind of rowdy and pissed some people off in the reggae bar. But by that time it was after 2am- time to go home anyways.
Saturday was another great day- went to Parque Simon Bolivar but got rained out there so we hopped the bus downtown for some coffee and food, then off to another bar where Diana´s friend was DJíng. Unfortunately after the previous night I wasn´t able to give my 100% to the party, a shame because the music was awesome.
Yesterday was a beautiful day spent in Parque de los Novios (park of the couples), where there was a couchsurfing barbeque with a turnout of probably over 60 people. The group in Bogota is huge and really active, they have frequent meetings and get together wednesdays to hand out food to the homeless, among other things. After the park, we piled into Diana´s brother´s car- 9 of us in total, including Diana´s adorable nephew. When we got to her brother´s place, we all piled into he and his wife´s bedroom and sprawled out all over to watch a movie. In Diana´s family there are 8 siblings, and they are all really close, as I´ve noticed that many families here and in Latin America are. And, as you can see, they even treat strangers like family.
After the movie, 3 other friends that I met over the weekend showed up at the house and Diana surprised me with a birthday cake! I couldn´t believe it, but now you can see why I´m having separation anxiety. They told me it was tradition to bite the cake, and of course I believed it. So I guess I deserved it when I had my face pressed into it.
Today I leave for Villa de Leyva, a small town a few hours south of here.
The following day after Diana went to work, Andres and Aimee were nice enough to take me downtown to stroll around and see the street entertainment and check out the Botero gallery. I tried Ajiaco, a soup typical in Bogota, which included chicken, beans, rice, avocado, onion, etc.- super delicious. I´ve also been enjoying all the street snacks- empanadas, arepas, pizza, fresh squeezed juices and prepared fruit like mango and pineapple- usually for a price ranging between $0.50-$1.50.
Friday night we went to 3 bars, the first one a pub, the second a really bright barn-type bar called La Finca, and the third a reggae bar. I got to meet a bunch of Diana´s friends and also other couchsurfers and danced like mad until we got kind of rowdy and pissed some people off in the reggae bar. But by that time it was after 2am- time to go home anyways.
Saturday was another great day- went to Parque Simon Bolivar but got rained out there so we hopped the bus downtown for some coffee and food, then off to another bar where Diana´s friend was DJíng. Unfortunately after the previous night I wasn´t able to give my 100% to the party, a shame because the music was awesome.
Yesterday was a beautiful day spent in Parque de los Novios (park of the couples), where there was a couchsurfing barbeque with a turnout of probably over 60 people. The group in Bogota is huge and really active, they have frequent meetings and get together wednesdays to hand out food to the homeless, among other things. After the park, we piled into Diana´s brother´s car- 9 of us in total, including Diana´s adorable nephew. When we got to her brother´s place, we all piled into he and his wife´s bedroom and sprawled out all over to watch a movie. In Diana´s family there are 8 siblings, and they are all really close, as I´ve noticed that many families here and in Latin America are. And, as you can see, they even treat strangers like family.
After the movie, 3 other friends that I met over the weekend showed up at the house and Diana surprised me with a birthday cake! I couldn´t believe it, but now you can see why I´m having separation anxiety. They told me it was tradition to bite the cake, and of course I believed it. So I guess I deserved it when I had my face pressed into it.
Today I leave for Villa de Leyva, a small town a few hours south of here.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
BOGOTA!!!!!!!!
Just a quick note that I´m still in Bogota, currently staying at a couchsurfer´s place. Things are fantastic!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Salty Church and Gold
I´m posting again already because despite all the positive things I wrote yesterday, I have a feeling that certain people´s nerves are yet to be settled about this trip...
I absolutely love Colombia so far, and even the mildly polluted, crowded, and cold capital has it´s appeal. As I´m sure I mentioned, it´s cold here. And with yesterday´s rain I couldn´t shake the chill until I went to bed under ten pounds of blankets. I slept like a baby and woke up today feeling great and better adjusted to the altitude. The day´s activities included a lengthy bustrip outside the city to a cathedral located inside a salt mine. It was a pricier trip than anticipated, but it was really inpressive to see all the altars, crosses, nativity scene, etc. formed and sculpted entirely out of salt. The bus trip itself was amazing- getting to see the city as well as the beautiful countryside surrounding Bogota.
Upon arriving back in the capital, myself and my new British friend Daniel visited the Museum of Gold, home to some 34,000 gold artifacts. It was quite impressive and well worth the $1.50 entrance fee. Afterwards, we re-visited the same local restaurant as last night. There, we enjoyed the set menu meal for $2.50 which included a fresh juice, a hearty soup and a full meal with meat, rice, potatoes, veggies, etc. Quite satisfying portion-wise but it could do with a little more spice, which I understand is something I´ll have to learn to live without in South America. All in all a day well spent.
I absolutely love Colombia so far, and even the mildly polluted, crowded, and cold capital has it´s appeal. As I´m sure I mentioned, it´s cold here. And with yesterday´s rain I couldn´t shake the chill until I went to bed under ten pounds of blankets. I slept like a baby and woke up today feeling great and better adjusted to the altitude. The day´s activities included a lengthy bustrip outside the city to a cathedral located inside a salt mine. It was a pricier trip than anticipated, but it was really inpressive to see all the altars, crosses, nativity scene, etc. formed and sculpted entirely out of salt. The bus trip itself was amazing- getting to see the city as well as the beautiful countryside surrounding Bogota.
Upon arriving back in the capital, myself and my new British friend Daniel visited the Museum of Gold, home to some 34,000 gold artifacts. It was quite impressive and well worth the $1.50 entrance fee. Afterwards, we re-visited the same local restaurant as last night. There, we enjoyed the set menu meal for $2.50 which included a fresh juice, a hearty soup and a full meal with meat, rice, potatoes, veggies, etc. Quite satisfying portion-wise but it could do with a little more spice, which I understand is something I´ll have to learn to live without in South America. All in all a day well spent.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Beat in Bogota
I have arrived safely in Bogota. Everyone can relax and breathe easy, even though I´m not (the 2600m elevation makes even a little stroll slightly tiring). I´m sure the last 24 exhausting hours of travel aren´t helping matters much either.
I started by leaving the island at 330pm yesterday. After crossing, I decided to sit and have one more Mexican beer before departing the country. I also wanted to ensure that I didn´t have a single peso left when I got on the plane either. After the beer I hopped a cab to the bus station and took the shuttle to the Cancun airport- which happens to cost a lot less than taking a cab solo. The one and a half hour flight to Miami was a breeze, but trying to catch some sleep was not. Unlike the Minneapolis airport, there is no area in the Miami airport that isn´t lit up with super high voltage fluorescent lights. The benches are also all separated with armrests, so it´s impossible to stretch out. After failing to get comfortable on the benches I said screw it and curled up on the floor. Sleep however did not come, it was way too cold with the AC pumping, even though I had many layers of clothes on and covered myself with my towel.
At 4am I went to check into my flight to Bogota. I caught a bit of sleep on that flight, and I´m actually really impressed with LAN airlines- much better service than any US flight I´ve been on lately. We arrived on time at 10am. The attendant announced the weather to be 14c and cloudy. Good thing I was already bundled up.
I cleared customs no problem and exchanged a bit of cash into Colombian pesos- about 2100pesos to one USD. This currency will be difficult to get used to. I was determined to use the bus to get downtown and to the hostel- it´s all part of the adventure after all. Why pay $7 for the door to door service of a cab and miss all the fun and excitement?
So far my impression of Colombian people has far exceeded any expectation. A man from the tourist booth walked me 3 streets outside the airport over to the bus stop and asked the driver to tell me where to get off when it was time. When I got on the bus however, I was quickly befriended by a girl and guy my age who offered to help me out. We spent the bus ride chatting, the guy explaining that he wants to practice his English so he can travel to Australia in the summer. They both played tour guides, pointing out buildings, parks, important streets, etc. After 45mins or so, we arrived in the neighborhood of the hostel. My new friends both got off with me, the guy carrying my heavy backpack. We wandered around the confusing streets awhile until they found the address of the hostel and they waited while I made sure there was a room. They left me their contact information and offered to show me around whenever I like. What an awesome welcome to the country!! So I wasn´t greeted by guerilla fighters, cocaine dealers, and street hustlers like everyone thought after all!
My brief impression of Bogota is that it is a typical, big and bustling capital city. There is a bit of pollution that you can see and feel in the air, but not quite like that of Mexico City or Bangkok, as there seems to be a lot of parks and green space. Despite the smog and that it´s a cloudy day, you can still see the mountains looming in the North. I´m staying in the central part of the city where I hear there are many other foreigners and lots to do and see. I think I´m really going to like it here.
I started by leaving the island at 330pm yesterday. After crossing, I decided to sit and have one more Mexican beer before departing the country. I also wanted to ensure that I didn´t have a single peso left when I got on the plane either. After the beer I hopped a cab to the bus station and took the shuttle to the Cancun airport- which happens to cost a lot less than taking a cab solo. The one and a half hour flight to Miami was a breeze, but trying to catch some sleep was not. Unlike the Minneapolis airport, there is no area in the Miami airport that isn´t lit up with super high voltage fluorescent lights. The benches are also all separated with armrests, so it´s impossible to stretch out. After failing to get comfortable on the benches I said screw it and curled up on the floor. Sleep however did not come, it was way too cold with the AC pumping, even though I had many layers of clothes on and covered myself with my towel.
At 4am I went to check into my flight to Bogota. I caught a bit of sleep on that flight, and I´m actually really impressed with LAN airlines- much better service than any US flight I´ve been on lately. We arrived on time at 10am. The attendant announced the weather to be 14c and cloudy. Good thing I was already bundled up.
I cleared customs no problem and exchanged a bit of cash into Colombian pesos- about 2100pesos to one USD. This currency will be difficult to get used to. I was determined to use the bus to get downtown and to the hostel- it´s all part of the adventure after all. Why pay $7 for the door to door service of a cab and miss all the fun and excitement?
So far my impression of Colombian people has far exceeded any expectation. A man from the tourist booth walked me 3 streets outside the airport over to the bus stop and asked the driver to tell me where to get off when it was time. When I got on the bus however, I was quickly befriended by a girl and guy my age who offered to help me out. We spent the bus ride chatting, the guy explaining that he wants to practice his English so he can travel to Australia in the summer. They both played tour guides, pointing out buildings, parks, important streets, etc. After 45mins or so, we arrived in the neighborhood of the hostel. My new friends both got off with me, the guy carrying my heavy backpack. We wandered around the confusing streets awhile until they found the address of the hostel and they waited while I made sure there was a room. They left me their contact information and offered to show me around whenever I like. What an awesome welcome to the country!! So I wasn´t greeted by guerilla fighters, cocaine dealers, and street hustlers like everyone thought after all!
My brief impression of Bogota is that it is a typical, big and bustling capital city. There is a bit of pollution that you can see and feel in the air, but not quite like that of Mexico City or Bangkok, as there seems to be a lot of parks and green space. Despite the smog and that it´s a cloudy day, you can still see the mountains looming in the North. I´m staying in the central part of the city where I hear there are many other foreigners and lots to do and see. I think I´m really going to like it here.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Update
I'm still on isla at the moment...only 4 more full days until I depart here for the next great adventure. My flight to Bogota goes out to Miami on Monday at 735pm and I don't arrive in Colombia until January 2oth at 10am. So all those anxiously awaiting to hear from me....give me a bit of time to get settled and get to the internet before I can post an entry. Hopefully I can post on the 20th, but don't start contacting the foreign embassy until the following day if you still haven't heard from me (kidding). Hasta Pronto!!
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