Today I had my first personal experience with corrupt policemen. So, I am riding in a truck with an austrailan guy and we are on our way to the hotsprings out of town. We pass by cops who pull us over, which is completely normal and common in colombia. The cops ask for our passports, and we both hand over the copies of our passport while my austrailian friend gets patted down and our bags get searched. The first cop is asking us where are we from, what are we doing here, where are we going, where are we staying, etc, and I am speaking for both myself and my friend. It seemed pretty standard, and then the first cop walks the copies down a few steps to the other cops waiting in the van. They call us over, and one evil looking one with a huge scar over his lips and has a considerably more angry tone starts repeating all the questions. He seemed very angry that we did not have our original passports, and was asking us how we got into the country, where our stamps were, etc. I told him that we never carry around our original passports because they could easily be stolen and its dangerous, and he says well if colombia is so dangerous then why are you here
? how much are you paying your driver? are you paying him in dollars or colombian pesos? where are you going? And he just has this like menacing attitude going on, and it was hard for me to shake off my flippant attitude and be respectful, but I was basically trying to handle it by smiling and making him realize that he really has no reason to harrass us. Then he is like well what should we do... should we take you guys down to the immigration office so they can deport your friend? or...... (at this time I kind of realized he was asking for a bribe, but since I had never been bribed by a policeman I was kind of in disbelief that it actually happens), so I said no there is no reason for us to go to the office, we can turn around and go get our passports at the hostel, but we just want to go to the hotsprings. Then the cop starts asking 'well why didn't you invite us to the hotsprings???' and I'm like well you don't have your bathingsuits... and then the cops are asking me for my cellphone number, for my chat screen name, what hostel i'm staying at, and i'm trying to deflect the flirting and turn it into more of a silly joke type situation, and they keep asking for a 'regalo' so they can buy sodas, and I'm like are you kidding... so finally I think he was like ok you guys can go on, so we get back in the truck, and one of the cops comes over to my window and demands that I give him my ROOM NUMBER at the hostel and I was like how dare you!!! And the driver ended up giving them 5$... then we drove off... but it was just like... so annoying the way these guys abuse their power, and how unprofessional and flirtatious they were being, and how they made such a big deal out of it even though everyone knows you do not carry your passport with you to remote locations... during the whole interaction I kind of felt jittery and nervous because of all the movies I have watched, but I suppose it turned out the best way it could have.
So, then we got to the hotsprings, and the plan was to ride the bikes 30k back to the town, but some black clouds rolled in just as we arrived, so we got the driver to stay and wait for us while we bathed in the lukewarm water and went down the waterslide. It was a very pretty and green location, up in the hills, and the air temp was quite cool (especially with the rain).
On our drive out of town, I spotted out of the corner of my eye, Yogenfruz!!! The frozen yogurt we were obsessed with in Santiago.. I didn't know where it was so I basically just set out blindly and walked through some pretty shady areas of town, but once I arrived it was so worth it! I got watermelon flavor, and then I got coffee oreo flavor. Yum Yum
Then I went to eat dinner at a Mexican food place, and I got the veggie burrito and asked for a side of rice and beans. The waiter said they didn't have rice and beans, and I was like...and you dare call yourself a mexican food restaurant???
After that, we went to... the circus!!! Seriously! It was the Mexican circus in town! It was pretty cool, I have a vague memory of going to a circus a long time ago in Austin. At this circus they had baboobs doing tricks, tightrope walkers, dogs playing soccer, horses, a guy dancing with ribbons, etc, and 7 huge tigers! oh and 3 guys in a huge wire ball cage riding motorcycles around inside the ball (coolest part).
So, all in all it was quite an eventful and interesting day.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Islas del Rosario
On Tuesday I woke up early and caught the boat out to the Islas del Rosario (to playa blanca). The beach is long, with fine white sand and shack restaurants lining the whole way down. I got off the boat and got comfortable on the sand to finish reading Angels and Demons. The second I layed down I was surrounded by at least 5 local men trying to make conversation as I was obviously reading, trying to sell me bracelets, oysters, and who knows what else. Women kept coming by and trying to convince me to get a masage, some of them would even start touching me and saying 'oh no this masage is for free! a present!' (definitely not for free). But, I tried to focus on my book. Other than the sellers, the beach was pretty quiet and empty. The water was a gorgeous shade of light, clear, electric blue and the ocean was super calm. I got some good work done on my tan, and besides the people it was a relaxing, nice day at the beach.
one funny thing about colombia- the coffee is great, but the largest cup size appears to be a 2 oz serving...?
also the men here have their own catcall- psst...pssst....pssssst...PSST!PSST!PSSST!!!!! (which I don't understand, it's like i'm obviously ignoring them, but they just keep getting louder and louder) I feel like 80% of the car wrecks here could be attributed to men craning their neck through the window to get a good long look at passing ladies.
one funny thing about colombia- the coffee is great, but the largest cup size appears to be a 2 oz serving...?
also the men here have their own catcall- psst...pssst....pssssst...PSST!PSST!PSSST!!!!! (which I don't understand, it's like i'm obviously ignoring them, but they just keep getting louder and louder) I feel like 80% of the car wrecks here could be attributed to men craning their neck through the window to get a good long look at passing ladies.
Santa Marta and Parque Tayrona
So, I am losing track of the days, but I guess that is what is supposed to happen when you are at the beach :)
Santa Marta is a beach town 4 hours from Cartagena. My hostel, La Brisa Loca is a spanish style house with a pool in the center from which you can watch movies on the big screen... so needless to say I spent 3 days just lounging at the pool, watching movies, and eating at the Mexican food restaurant next door where I'm already a regular and the lady just smiles and asks 'same thing again?'.
I had heard so many wonderful things about Parque Tayrona so I decided to head down there on my own. From the park entrance its a 45 minute hike through genuine jungle where there were 8 inch black centipedes everywhere, blue morpho butterflies, bright turquoise/green lizzards, and a bright red squirrel. It was a very nice walk to the campsite, Arecifes, where I rented my hammock and set out for the swimming beach (the beach in front of Arecifes says 'more than 200 tourists have drowned here, don't be part of the statistic'). The first beach is in a little cove surrounded by trees, so I set out here and finished reading my murder mystery novel. The sun sets promptly at 6:30 and after that it's just a matter of entertaining yourself until you can fall asleep. I was worried about the bugs because there was no mosquito net, so I tried to cover up my whole body that night in the hammock. Of course, when I woke up I had tons of bites on the left side of my chest, on my hands and neck- the only parts I left uncovered! Those bugs are viscious!
The next day I met some boys from Ecuador who were my age as we were walking to the beaches, and I joined them to walk on to the next beach called La Piscina. It was absolutely gorgeous, calm, and relatively deserted. We were really enjoying it and commenting on how it was straight out of a postcard, and they said supposedly the next beach is even better. I thought, how could it get better than this? But decided to accompany them on to the next beach. The nice thing about the park is that to get from beach to beach you have to walk through the jungle and work up a sweat. We reached Cabo San Juan and I saw that indeed, it was the best beach out there! There is a hut for hammocks on the end of the peninsula, 2 bays framed by palm trees and tall jungly mountains, and the water... the water is the perfect temperature (refreshing but you can stay in it for hours without getting cold), it is super clear, and it is literally the color of emeralds. Yes, I was in heaven. That day I read Dances With Wolves and thought back fondly on all the times I had watched it with my parents- I really enjoyed the book a whole lot. We walked on a little further to check out the nude beach, but cabo san juan was nicer so we returned.
That night in the hammocks there was a fantastic storm, but I was kept mostly dry underneath the thatched shelter. The next morning as I was sleeping, someone nudged my arm and I thought it was my friend, but when I opened my eyes it was a Donkey...no joke. After breakfast of fruit and coffee- and a parrot coming and stealing my fruit, I walked on to Cabo San Juan. Another great day at the beach.
If only Bookpeople and Whole Foods could open up a store right there, I would definitely stay forever.
Now, back to Cartagena for a day!
Santa Marta is a beach town 4 hours from Cartagena. My hostel, La Brisa Loca is a spanish style house with a pool in the center from which you can watch movies on the big screen... so needless to say I spent 3 days just lounging at the pool, watching movies, and eating at the Mexican food restaurant next door where I'm already a regular and the lady just smiles and asks 'same thing again?'.
I had heard so many wonderful things about Parque Tayrona so I decided to head down there on my own. From the park entrance its a 45 minute hike through genuine jungle where there were 8 inch black centipedes everywhere, blue morpho butterflies, bright turquoise/green lizzards, and a bright red squirrel. It was a very nice walk to the campsite, Arecifes, where I rented my hammock and set out for the swimming beach (the beach in front of Arecifes says 'more than 200 tourists have drowned here, don't be part of the statistic'). The first beach is in a little cove surrounded by trees, so I set out here and finished reading my murder mystery novel. The sun sets promptly at 6:30 and after that it's just a matter of entertaining yourself until you can fall asleep. I was worried about the bugs because there was no mosquito net, so I tried to cover up my whole body that night in the hammock. Of course, when I woke up I had tons of bites on the left side of my chest, on my hands and neck- the only parts I left uncovered! Those bugs are viscious!
The next day I met some boys from Ecuador who were my age as we were walking to the beaches, and I joined them to walk on to the next beach called La Piscina. It was absolutely gorgeous, calm, and relatively deserted. We were really enjoying it and commenting on how it was straight out of a postcard, and they said supposedly the next beach is even better. I thought, how could it get better than this? But decided to accompany them on to the next beach. The nice thing about the park is that to get from beach to beach you have to walk through the jungle and work up a sweat. We reached Cabo San Juan and I saw that indeed, it was the best beach out there! There is a hut for hammocks on the end of the peninsula, 2 bays framed by palm trees and tall jungly mountains, and the water... the water is the perfect temperature (refreshing but you can stay in it for hours without getting cold), it is super clear, and it is literally the color of emeralds. Yes, I was in heaven. That day I read Dances With Wolves and thought back fondly on all the times I had watched it with my parents- I really enjoyed the book a whole lot. We walked on a little further to check out the nude beach, but cabo san juan was nicer so we returned.
That night in the hammocks there was a fantastic storm, but I was kept mostly dry underneath the thatched shelter. The next morning as I was sleeping, someone nudged my arm and I thought it was my friend, but when I opened my eyes it was a Donkey...no joke. After breakfast of fruit and coffee- and a parrot coming and stealing my fruit, I walked on to Cabo San Juan. Another great day at the beach.
If only Bookpeople and Whole Foods could open up a store right there, I would definitely stay forever.
Now, back to Cartagena for a day!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Cartagena de Indias
Ever since reading (and subsequently re reading) Love in the Time of Cholera five years ago, I've had a vivid image of an old city in my head, where flowers spill off colorful balconies, the parks are filled with people, and the sea is right there. I came to Cartagena, and found my city!!! It is no wonder that Gabriel García Márquez was able to imagine such a powerful love being born in a city like this. The city is almost fake, it seems too perfect to be true (and in a sense I guess it might be considered fake now, but oh well). The buildings are well maintained, painted every color of the rainbow, all with balconies facing the streets and flowers spilling off the balconies. Horse drawn carriages carry couples through the cobblestone streets at dusk, there are trendy fusion restaurants on every corner, ladies dressed like Carmen Miranda ready to cut up a fresh fruit salad for you, it's just divine! I've spent hours wandering aimlessly, letting my mind wander back to the olden days when the city was bustling. I went to the Palace of the Inquisition, where they had a whole room dedicated to the torture devices used during the inquisition, but the building was super nice and had a.c. inside.
Following the NYtimes article Love and Cartagena, I found the park which supposedly is the basis for the Park of the Evangels in Cholera, where the young man sat day after day hoping for a glimpse of his love, and there is even the house that supposedly was Fermina's house! This part was not exactly how I imagined it, but still close. Then I walked further down the street to the house of García Márquez. On the corner by the sea, the tall orange walls prevent you from seeing too much, but I sat outside for a while nonetheless, imagining him coming out and inviting me in for tea.
So, I can't say enough how beautiful the old town of Cartagena is. If anyone is looking for a romantic destination, this is most definitely it.
Following the NYtimes article Love and Cartagena, I found the park which supposedly is the basis for the Park of the Evangels in Cholera, where the young man sat day after day hoping for a glimpse of his love, and there is even the house that supposedly was Fermina's house! This part was not exactly how I imagined it, but still close. Then I walked further down the street to the house of García Márquez. On the corner by the sea, the tall orange walls prevent you from seeing too much, but I sat outside for a while nonetheless, imagining him coming out and inviting me in for tea.
So, I can't say enough how beautiful the old town of Cartagena is. If anyone is looking for a romantic destination, this is most definitely it.
Biking in Bogotá
Bogotá has been ranked the 3rd best city for bicycles in the world, so I figured a great way to see the city would be on a bike, and I was right! The company was Bogotá bike tours (http://www.bogotabiketours.com/), and the owner, Mike from California has lived all over South America and is super knowledgeable. We started off in the neighborhood where I was staying, La Candelaria, which is set on the hill and has a lot of colored houses, universities, cultural centers, cafes, etc, and is one of the parts of Bogotá which is experiencing a resurgance, according to Mike. We visited the plaza where the Spanish founded Bogotá, rode down into the downtown, saw the plaza where the M-19 took over the Palace of Justice, to the bullfighting ring, parque nacional. It seemed as if every place downtown was a spot where a political figure was killed, where bodies were stored during whichever period of violence, where someone started a revolution... really made an impression on me think about how it would feel to live in a country with such a violent recent past and present. We rode through neighborhoods, over to the national university which is very left-leaning and is covered in graffiti (including graffiti that says yanqui go home), to the national cemetary, and then stopped for lunch at a vegetarian cafe called Blue Lotus. I was very impressed with Bogotá, the climate is super cool, it is surrounded by lush mountains, the parks are nice, and it just seems like a really neat city which is growing culturally now that it has gotten safer.
As much as I liked the city, I couldn't sit still knowing the carribbean was so close!!
As much as I liked the city, I couldn't sit still knowing the carribbean was so close!!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Cusco and Machu Picchu
May 10
We arrived in Cusco at 6am, got a cab to an ATM where the machine stole 200 soles from William, so we got dropped off at the Church to wait for the banks to open. As we listened to the 6:30 am mother´s day mass, I thought of you mom! And then we came to the realization that it being Sunday, the banks were not going to open. I´ll just preface this story by saying that we chose to take the road less traveled (and it made all the difference). So we got into a van heading towards Ollyantamba, and while we are waiting, the van fills up with Peruvians, and women keep coming by the van to sell them everything from big pieces of bread to a plastic baggie filled with corn and a piece of cheese- peruvian version of a drive-through window. The journey began, and during the 5 hours the climate changed from cold, foggy, and mountainous to definitely hot tropical jungle. The scenery was beautiful. Then we got dropped off in Santa Maria where we were supposed to make our connection to the hot springs, and we tell the guy where we want to be dropped off, and he says ´well, the problem is, that town doesnt exist anymore. It got washed away in the floods in January´. So, there we are, in the middle of nowhere trying to get to a town that doesn´t exist. So we get a car to Santa Theresa, and in the car we fit 9 people into a 5 person car. Another 2 hours and we are in Santa Theresa. Since we got there around 2pm, we figured we could make it to Aguas Calientes that day (instead of the following morning as planned). So, we get into yet another car and get dropped of at Oroya where a guy in the car with us tells us that he will accompany us because it is very dangerous. I didn´t know what he was refering to, but when we walked down the hill and saw the way we were supposed to cross the river, I understood. Best way to cross a raging river in Peru? In a basket attatched to a wire... the three of us adults, our packs, fit into a 2x3 platformed basket and our local friend pulled us accross the river- oh my it was so freaky! And when we got to the other side he told us that two people had already died there this year- cool.
So, then began our walk to A.C.
I was drenched in sweat within 30 seconds, so the guy offered to carry one of my bags for me and I tried to say oh no I got it! but realized that I would love the hand. We walked, talked with our friend, and about 1.5 hours later reached the hidroelectric plant, stopped to rest, and kept on going towards the town. We walked along the train tracks, getting bit by a million mosquitos, for about 2 or 3 hours, and finally made it to the campsite. Dropped off our stuff, and walked into town. Aguas Calientes is such a tourist town, it was very unappealing to us both. But on the bright side we found Mexican food.
My alarm went off at 12;45 am and we were ready to go. The campsite is right by the bridge to get into Machu, so we crossed by the empty guards hut, found the trail, and began the ascent. The climb up was just hellacious, seemed like the stairs would never end. After about an hour, we saw a light up above, and creeped up, to see in front of us Machu Picchu Hotel (how gross is that??) And then some structure to the right, so we walked to the right, opened a gate tied with string, and climbed up behind the house thing, stepped by a sleeping guard, and walked through the mist with no idea where we were going. We had a map of the city, but that didn´t help to orient us, so we were just kind of wandering around, when we saw a sign pointing up. I didn´t read the sign, but we started walking up. After about 20 minutes without seeing anything, I wanted to turn around but felt that would be a waste of the progress we had made already, so we kept climbing. About 2 hours and a billion steep stairs later, we realized we probably were not going the right way. Frustration. So, 3 am, we decided to head back to where we started. We walked more to the right and saw a hut, climbed the stairs, and as the light shined into the mist I got so afraid- there was a white figure with long legs and glowing eyes! A huge llama! Actually there were like 5 llamas there, and they weren´t running away from us which made me think they were evil. After I calmed myself down, we walked over there and tried to explor more, but the mist was so thick it was impossible to tell what was what. So then we slept in the woods until about 6:30 when we heard the first voices. Emerging from the forest, we saw that we were in front of the city the whole time!! If only we had kept going right!!! Oh well though. The first sight of the ruins gave me the goosebumps, its such an impressive site, spread out over the mountain below.
Spent the morning exploring all the little rooms, climbing up and down, pondering the mysteries and the immense work that it took to build the city. It was so so cool!! I was amazed though at the amount of tourists up there- every minute a new group of white people wearing broad hats and fanny packs would wander off the bus and into the park- we were judging them for their lack of creativity and effort to reach the town.
So, we successfully snuck into machu picchu, were the first ones there, and probably had the most interesting time arriving than anyone else. I was absolutely exhausted afterwards and slept until night time, when we had mexican food again.
Next day, we took the train-bus combo and got back to Cusco around 3. Cusco is a really pretty town, the plaza is super old and cobble stones, with the buildings and their beautiful balconies facing inside, not to mention the two beautiful churches there. After lunch we went to the market and I drooled over everything alpaca.. Then dinner was an indian buffet with cheap beers, and a night out on the town (for free basically because we kept getting free drinks in exchange for picking one bar over another)
May 12
Found the best breakfast in South America at Jack´s cafe!! Went to the market one last time, and William and I parted ways with me boarding the bus to Lima. As soon as I got on the bus, a Peruvian comes up to me to ask if he can take my picture (no), they played the worst movies that I watched anyway, and in bingo I won a free bus ticket lima-cusco. 22 hours was not too bad of a bus ride, and I made it to the Lima airport on the 13th with plenty of my time.
On the plane I got stuck sitting next to a super creepy and wierd evangelical preacher.. gave him a fake name and email.. and 30plus hours later I was in bed at my hostel in Bogota! It seemed as if everyone from the preacher to the customs officer disaproved of the fact that Im coming here on my own, which was kind of unsettling, but I made it to the hostel with no problem. This morning I woke up early and went to the Museo de Oro, Botero collection, gabriel garcia marquez library, vegetarian lunch, now it´s raining, and I think I´m doing a bike tour of Bogota tomorrow! Hope everyone has fun at sports weekend this weekend, I am so sad to miss it!!
We arrived in Cusco at 6am, got a cab to an ATM where the machine stole 200 soles from William, so we got dropped off at the Church to wait for the banks to open. As we listened to the 6:30 am mother´s day mass, I thought of you mom! And then we came to the realization that it being Sunday, the banks were not going to open. I´ll just preface this story by saying that we chose to take the road less traveled (and it made all the difference). So we got into a van heading towards Ollyantamba, and while we are waiting, the van fills up with Peruvians, and women keep coming by the van to sell them everything from big pieces of bread to a plastic baggie filled with corn and a piece of cheese- peruvian version of a drive-through window. The journey began, and during the 5 hours the climate changed from cold, foggy, and mountainous to definitely hot tropical jungle. The scenery was beautiful. Then we got dropped off in Santa Maria where we were supposed to make our connection to the hot springs, and we tell the guy where we want to be dropped off, and he says ´well, the problem is, that town doesnt exist anymore. It got washed away in the floods in January´. So, there we are, in the middle of nowhere trying to get to a town that doesn´t exist. So we get a car to Santa Theresa, and in the car we fit 9 people into a 5 person car. Another 2 hours and we are in Santa Theresa. Since we got there around 2pm, we figured we could make it to Aguas Calientes that day (instead of the following morning as planned). So, we get into yet another car and get dropped of at Oroya where a guy in the car with us tells us that he will accompany us because it is very dangerous. I didn´t know what he was refering to, but when we walked down the hill and saw the way we were supposed to cross the river, I understood. Best way to cross a raging river in Peru? In a basket attatched to a wire... the three of us adults, our packs, fit into a 2x3 platformed basket and our local friend pulled us accross the river- oh my it was so freaky! And when we got to the other side he told us that two people had already died there this year- cool.
So, then began our walk to A.C.
I was drenched in sweat within 30 seconds, so the guy offered to carry one of my bags for me and I tried to say oh no I got it! but realized that I would love the hand. We walked, talked with our friend, and about 1.5 hours later reached the hidroelectric plant, stopped to rest, and kept on going towards the town. We walked along the train tracks, getting bit by a million mosquitos, for about 2 or 3 hours, and finally made it to the campsite. Dropped off our stuff, and walked into town. Aguas Calientes is such a tourist town, it was very unappealing to us both. But on the bright side we found Mexican food.
My alarm went off at 12;45 am and we were ready to go. The campsite is right by the bridge to get into Machu, so we crossed by the empty guards hut, found the trail, and began the ascent. The climb up was just hellacious, seemed like the stairs would never end. After about an hour, we saw a light up above, and creeped up, to see in front of us Machu Picchu Hotel (how gross is that??) And then some structure to the right, so we walked to the right, opened a gate tied with string, and climbed up behind the house thing, stepped by a sleeping guard, and walked through the mist with no idea where we were going. We had a map of the city, but that didn´t help to orient us, so we were just kind of wandering around, when we saw a sign pointing up. I didn´t read the sign, but we started walking up. After about 20 minutes without seeing anything, I wanted to turn around but felt that would be a waste of the progress we had made already, so we kept climbing. About 2 hours and a billion steep stairs later, we realized we probably were not going the right way. Frustration. So, 3 am, we decided to head back to where we started. We walked more to the right and saw a hut, climbed the stairs, and as the light shined into the mist I got so afraid- there was a white figure with long legs and glowing eyes! A huge llama! Actually there were like 5 llamas there, and they weren´t running away from us which made me think they were evil. After I calmed myself down, we walked over there and tried to explor more, but the mist was so thick it was impossible to tell what was what. So then we slept in the woods until about 6:30 when we heard the first voices. Emerging from the forest, we saw that we were in front of the city the whole time!! If only we had kept going right!!! Oh well though. The first sight of the ruins gave me the goosebumps, its such an impressive site, spread out over the mountain below.
Spent the morning exploring all the little rooms, climbing up and down, pondering the mysteries and the immense work that it took to build the city. It was so so cool!! I was amazed though at the amount of tourists up there- every minute a new group of white people wearing broad hats and fanny packs would wander off the bus and into the park- we were judging them for their lack of creativity and effort to reach the town.
So, we successfully snuck into machu picchu, were the first ones there, and probably had the most interesting time arriving than anyone else. I was absolutely exhausted afterwards and slept until night time, when we had mexican food again.
Next day, we took the train-bus combo and got back to Cusco around 3. Cusco is a really pretty town, the plaza is super old and cobble stones, with the buildings and their beautiful balconies facing inside, not to mention the two beautiful churches there. After lunch we went to the market and I drooled over everything alpaca.. Then dinner was an indian buffet with cheap beers, and a night out on the town (for free basically because we kept getting free drinks in exchange for picking one bar over another)
May 12
Found the best breakfast in South America at Jack´s cafe!! Went to the market one last time, and William and I parted ways with me boarding the bus to Lima. As soon as I got on the bus, a Peruvian comes up to me to ask if he can take my picture (no), they played the worst movies that I watched anyway, and in bingo I won a free bus ticket lima-cusco. 22 hours was not too bad of a bus ride, and I made it to the Lima airport on the 13th with plenty of my time.
On the plane I got stuck sitting next to a super creepy and wierd evangelical preacher.. gave him a fake name and email.. and 30plus hours later I was in bed at my hostel in Bogota! It seemed as if everyone from the preacher to the customs officer disaproved of the fact that Im coming here on my own, which was kind of unsettling, but I made it to the hostel with no problem. This morning I woke up early and went to the Museo de Oro, Botero collection, gabriel garcia marquez library, vegetarian lunch, now it´s raining, and I think I´m doing a bike tour of Bogota tomorrow! Hope everyone has fun at sports weekend this weekend, I am so sad to miss it!!
Arequipa & Colca Canyon
(reposting entries from my journal)
May 5
This morning we got to Arica at 6am, and at 7 we were waiting in line for the border to open. There was sand as far as the eye could see, and we had an hour to kill, so William, Liz and I decide to try and walk to the ocean. We are walking, frolicking in the sand right by the border crossing, when one of the men on the highway starts to yell at us and wave for us to come back- turns out the whole border area is covered in landmines, of course we´re just the three oblivious gringos lollygagging through the mine fields.. So lesson learned- do not play around at border crossings.
As we crossed the border and left Chile behind I felt so very sad and nostalgic, the past 4 months were so incredible. Nothing can describe the benefits I got from living and integrating myself into a culture that is like our own, yet so incredibly different, strange, and funny. I was already missing my Chilenos, my apartment, Santiago, everything Chile.
The 5 hour busride felt like forever, the bus kept stopping for random reasons, but we finally made it to Arequipa around 3. The city reminds me of Cuenca, Ecuador and Antigua Guatemala- splendid old spanish buildings all with patios inside and balconies to the outside, and snow capped volcanoes in the background. Our hostel, La Reyna, has a rooftop balcony where we can see the whole city.
Since it was cinco de mayo, we found a Mexican food restaurant, where the owners had absolutely no idea it was a holiday, and we couldn´t remember what the significance was except that you get cheap deals on margaritas (sorry mom).. But we ate mexican food twice in order to celebrate- it was really good and cheap!
May 6
Our trek to Colca Canyon (2nd or 1st deepest canyon in the world) began at 3 am with a long bumpy bus ride out to the canyon. We reached the condor viewing point, and I was surprised to see about 15 South American Condors soaring around the canyon, almost as if they were performing for our delight. Then we began our hike, led by local guides, Bernardo and Kelly. The descent into the canyon was about 2 hours through switchbacks, kicking up dust, it was super arid and there were cactuses everywhere. When we crossed the river at the bottom and reached the other side, the vegetation changed almost instantly- it was way more lush and tropical. We had lunch at a little restaurant (vegetarian meals for everyone!), and saw a baby alpaca wandering in the meadow. I tried to pet it and it kept making spitting noises at me but nothing was coming out of its mouth. We had 2 more hours to reach The Oasis, and the walk took us by two pueblos which had about 45 people each, no road access, one primary school, and one hospital with one doctor- it´s so wild to see how even today people choose to live simply and stay to their traditions. The sun was going behind the canyon, and when we reached The Oasis it was dusk already. The Oasis is just that- an awesome little assortment of hotels at the bottom of the canyon, with palm trees, pools, and bungalows. We took a dip in the pool (possibly one of the best locations for a pool i´ve seen), and rested up for our candle lit group dinner (spaghetti), and drank our last box of gato wine. We were all asleep by 8pm in preparation for our 4:50 wakeup call. I seriously considered renting a mule to take me back up the canyon, the thought of making the ascent made me want to cry, but in the end I decided to tough it out. The second we started climbing my legs were already screaming, but after a few minutes my calves loosened up, and we hiked in the cool dawn. The next 2.5 hours was me vs the mountain, and I just kept repeating- one step at a time, inch by inch life´s a cinch, sí se puede! There was literally not a single horizontal piece of the trail, it was all up, up and just when I thought it was over- more up. But, halelujah, I finally made it to the top! Then we had breakfast in a small town (think it was called Chivay), and hung out in their small plaza de armas. The bus took us by a couple other view points (got to pet another baby alpaca- jerry can we get one at the farm?), then we got to the hot springs where we stretched our muscles and ate popsicles in the tubs.
We were back in Arequipa by sunset, and ate great middle eastern food at Fez. Then we attempted to drink beers on the rooftop, but were all so exhausted that we couldnt even finish one.
May 7
We tried to sleep in, which to us these days means waking up involuntarily at 8am.. Then had a chocolate chip pancake! We had a day in Arequipa, so we met up with our friend Lexi from Santiago, and tried to find the artisenal market. We wandered downtown, and I kind of had a feeling we were not going the right way, but we kept walking and turning down different corners. There were lots of stands selling medicinal plants and Crias (llama fetuses), and I stopped to ask a policeman for directions and he says ´what are you guys doing in this part of town anyway? you need to get out of here right now´, which made sense because everyone was looking at us very strangely and I had a bad feeling in my gut. So we headed back up to the touristy part of town, and realized that the artesinal market was right next to our hostel the whole time..
After that, Liz and I went to the Santa Catalina Convent- apparently in the 1500s the nuns used to get kind of wild, they had all their nice things from home, servants, and lived a fun life? We wandered around the Convent, which is essentially a city with in a city, for several hours. The walls inside were painted bright orange and blue, and it had several really nice courtyards. The rooms were kept as they were when the nuns lived there, with their simple cots stuffed with straw, a cross, and a bench for praying. The convent was at times eerie, but it was also very beautiful and peaceful.
Then, we went to eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the plaza de armas- ps this is maybe my favorite plaza of south america so far- the church is incredible!
At 8pm. William and I said goodbye to Liz, and boarded the bus towards Cusco
Arequipa is a great town and I look forward to returning in a couple of weeks!
May 5
This morning we got to Arica at 6am, and at 7 we were waiting in line for the border to open. There was sand as far as the eye could see, and we had an hour to kill, so William, Liz and I decide to try and walk to the ocean. We are walking, frolicking in the sand right by the border crossing, when one of the men on the highway starts to yell at us and wave for us to come back- turns out the whole border area is covered in landmines, of course we´re just the three oblivious gringos lollygagging through the mine fields.. So lesson learned- do not play around at border crossings.
As we crossed the border and left Chile behind I felt so very sad and nostalgic, the past 4 months were so incredible. Nothing can describe the benefits I got from living and integrating myself into a culture that is like our own, yet so incredibly different, strange, and funny. I was already missing my Chilenos, my apartment, Santiago, everything Chile.
The 5 hour busride felt like forever, the bus kept stopping for random reasons, but we finally made it to Arequipa around 3. The city reminds me of Cuenca, Ecuador and Antigua Guatemala- splendid old spanish buildings all with patios inside and balconies to the outside, and snow capped volcanoes in the background. Our hostel, La Reyna, has a rooftop balcony where we can see the whole city.
Since it was cinco de mayo, we found a Mexican food restaurant, where the owners had absolutely no idea it was a holiday, and we couldn´t remember what the significance was except that you get cheap deals on margaritas (sorry mom).. But we ate mexican food twice in order to celebrate- it was really good and cheap!
May 6
Our trek to Colca Canyon (2nd or 1st deepest canyon in the world) began at 3 am with a long bumpy bus ride out to the canyon. We reached the condor viewing point, and I was surprised to see about 15 South American Condors soaring around the canyon, almost as if they were performing for our delight. Then we began our hike, led by local guides, Bernardo and Kelly. The descent into the canyon was about 2 hours through switchbacks, kicking up dust, it was super arid and there were cactuses everywhere. When we crossed the river at the bottom and reached the other side, the vegetation changed almost instantly- it was way more lush and tropical. We had lunch at a little restaurant (vegetarian meals for everyone!), and saw a baby alpaca wandering in the meadow. I tried to pet it and it kept making spitting noises at me but nothing was coming out of its mouth. We had 2 more hours to reach The Oasis, and the walk took us by two pueblos which had about 45 people each, no road access, one primary school, and one hospital with one doctor- it´s so wild to see how even today people choose to live simply and stay to their traditions. The sun was going behind the canyon, and when we reached The Oasis it was dusk already. The Oasis is just that- an awesome little assortment of hotels at the bottom of the canyon, with palm trees, pools, and bungalows. We took a dip in the pool (possibly one of the best locations for a pool i´ve seen), and rested up for our candle lit group dinner (spaghetti), and drank our last box of gato wine. We were all asleep by 8pm in preparation for our 4:50 wakeup call. I seriously considered renting a mule to take me back up the canyon, the thought of making the ascent made me want to cry, but in the end I decided to tough it out. The second we started climbing my legs were already screaming, but after a few minutes my calves loosened up, and we hiked in the cool dawn. The next 2.5 hours was me vs the mountain, and I just kept repeating- one step at a time, inch by inch life´s a cinch, sí se puede! There was literally not a single horizontal piece of the trail, it was all up, up and just when I thought it was over- more up. But, halelujah, I finally made it to the top! Then we had breakfast in a small town (think it was called Chivay), and hung out in their small plaza de armas. The bus took us by a couple other view points (got to pet another baby alpaca- jerry can we get one at the farm?), then we got to the hot springs where we stretched our muscles and ate popsicles in the tubs.
We were back in Arequipa by sunset, and ate great middle eastern food at Fez. Then we attempted to drink beers on the rooftop, but were all so exhausted that we couldnt even finish one.
May 7
We tried to sleep in, which to us these days means waking up involuntarily at 8am.. Then had a chocolate chip pancake! We had a day in Arequipa, so we met up with our friend Lexi from Santiago, and tried to find the artisenal market. We wandered downtown, and I kind of had a feeling we were not going the right way, but we kept walking and turning down different corners. There were lots of stands selling medicinal plants and Crias (llama fetuses), and I stopped to ask a policeman for directions and he says ´what are you guys doing in this part of town anyway? you need to get out of here right now´, which made sense because everyone was looking at us very strangely and I had a bad feeling in my gut. So we headed back up to the touristy part of town, and realized that the artesinal market was right next to our hostel the whole time..
After that, Liz and I went to the Santa Catalina Convent- apparently in the 1500s the nuns used to get kind of wild, they had all their nice things from home, servants, and lived a fun life? We wandered around the Convent, which is essentially a city with in a city, for several hours. The walls inside were painted bright orange and blue, and it had several really nice courtyards. The rooms were kept as they were when the nuns lived there, with their simple cots stuffed with straw, a cross, and a bench for praying. The convent was at times eerie, but it was also very beautiful and peaceful.
Then, we went to eat at one of the restaurants overlooking the plaza de armas- ps this is maybe my favorite plaza of south america so far- the church is incredible!
At 8pm. William and I said goodbye to Liz, and boarded the bus towards Cusco
Arequipa is a great town and I look forward to returning in a couple of weeks!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
San Pedro de Atacama
San Pedro is cool little pueblo up here in the Atacama. It is pretty hippy, and therefore has had the best food in Chile for me- whole wheat spaghetti with soy meat bolongesa sauce, veggie lasanga, etc- lots of whole wheat, veggies, and soy meat!! wooh! We have taken tours to a flamingo salt lagoon, snowy mountains (what?), a little town, and then yesterday we went to laguna cejar which is a 73% salt lagoon so it is impossible not to float, it was the coolest feeling!! Then we went sand boarding down the dunes, which apparently is kind of like snow boarding, but on a board on sand (which means you have to climb up the dunes each time you want to ride down again, so tiring), I was pretty good, and the only reasons I would fall was because I was going too fast and would get scared and then just sit down and crash.. but it was really fun. If only it wasnt so tiring to get up the dunes again. Then, we drove out to valle de la luna, named so because it looks like the surface of the moon, and had a little sunset party while the sun went down over the valleys, then there were millions of stars visible... so nice!! Yesterday was a really great day! I will be so sad to leave Chile!!! Seriously my heart might break when we go across the border. Its amazing how Chile has so many different climates- the desert looks in some ways like patagonia, but it is completetly different and equally beautiful at the same time. On our drive into San Pedro we saw a full, perfect rainbow! And it was the first time in 2 years that it had rained here.
next destination: Arequipa, Peru
next destination: Arequipa, Peru
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