Pachemama, Escuela de Espanol y mas....

Banos is definitely a great place to do a lot or nothing in.  I choose the latter after a few adventure days. I go in waves of constant socialization to self-induced isolation.  I am loving my alone time and put very little effort, ok no effort into jumping in on drinking games and bar crawls with other gringos. I am killing time while I wait for my "friend" or friend of a friend who I may or may not have met from Portland who now lives in Quito.  He is itching to get out of the city for the weekend and I am fine with a few more days in this place.  Turns out he isn't a wierdo. I really wasn't concerned and had images of us skipping down the cobblestone streets singing Queen's "Your my Best Friend."  Well that basically sums it up, and Im re-motivated to explore some more.  I repeat the waterfall bike ride from a few days before with him and do the required visit to the thermal baths that the town is known for. 

One evening as we wander the town for food and supplies, we see a poster at a cultural center for something related to Pachamama - Quetchua for Mother Earth.  It appears to be free and as we watch the setup begin, decide we will come back and check it out for a bit.  We stoll into some dancers performing and three hours later we sneak out nearing the end of it all after witnessing and participating in a very thorough event. It was a sacrificial ceremony for Pachamama performed on large circles of rose petals and fruits and more food and alcohol in the massive rose covered center.  The ceremony participants all wore white and were staged at different points of the circles.  With the combination of my poor Spanish, scratchy microphone and a muffled voice, we didnt stand a chance to understand what was going on.  A local pan flute player next to us helped translate, in Spanish of course, so I was able to grasp being silent, breathing in deeply and feeling and listening to it in your heart.  Then the arm raising, hand holding and hugging slowly proceed followed by sharing of cheecha (a fermented maize drink) and grasping a handful of saw dust as clouds of Paulo Santo (a type of wood burned like incence) filled the air.  When it came time for everyone to line up and take their turn at the altar, a bit of panic set in.  At this point, all but the few gringos in white who were actively in the ceremony had left.  Everyone seemed to know what was going on except us.  We knelt down on the inner circle of petals and threw our sawdust in a smoldering fire, grabbed a grape and ate it, and then were told we had to sacrifice one as well.  We get up to leave and are unaware that we need to exit by circling around the altar and cluelessly stare as they attempt to direct us.  Whew, made it out of the circle but it didnt go so smoothly.  Oh gringos.  Good thing we stuck around for dancing, kind of like the train followed by men drinking and spitting unknown liquids in our faces.  We had some good laughs after we snuck out nearing midnight. I still have very little knowledge of what happened and why but overall a wonderful cultural experience that Im glad I was a part of.  Love you Pachamama!!

We roll into Quito in the afternoon and settle into his place, which happens to have an amazing view of some of the city and a volcano.  I have enrolled in Spanish school and will be attending it all week.  I'm not used to early mornings at all anymore and 6am comes way too soon...every day.  I take a local bus to Old Town where the school is located but not before climbing an steep hill and staircase of 253 steps, not that anyone is counting.  By day five, the pain of it eases but never really goes away.  School is in a historic part of the city and I enjoy wandering around before and after class.  I see protests (let me specify peaceful to the worriers) and parades, churches and big city squares.

The market is usually the highlight of my day.  The closest one is the Mercado Central in a big warehouse building two stories tall.  They have everything you can imagine including lots of meat even cow legs with hooves attached (aka vegetarian's nightmare), herbs, flowers, fresh juices, hot meals for cheap and of course lots of fruits and veggies.  I am in heaven with plenty of cheap produce and a kitchen to cook in every night.  I miss having a refrigerator and being able to create my own healthier meals instead of just eating whatever can be found cheap and meat free around random towns.

I meet some of his friends throughout the week and one offers to host a going away party.  Im not sure that five days somewhere constitutes a fiesta with people I just met, but who am I to argue?  It is a good reason to drink, cook and hang out with some great people in Quito.  A wonderful night is preceeded by a viscious hangover and good-bye to my latest "home." 

Onto Otavalo and inching closer to the Colombian border.  A cute little town known for its massive market.  I wander aimlessly through almost every street and find the produce market again, but this time I'm lacking a kitchen and sadly leave with a little bit of fruit as little red tomatoes, ripe avocados and all their veggie friends plead for me to take them.  Poor little guys. 

Tomorrow I will stop in a couple small towns nearby, retrieve my bags from Otavalo and try to get across the border.  I am clueless as to how this goes or where I will end up but Im just going as far as I can.  Two quick weeks in Colombia and hopefully onto Argentina. My days of lazy travel are limited and will be scarce. Here I go...

Hola Ecuador!

So hopped on a last minute bus from Peru to Ecuador.  A little nervous about the border crossing but it was a breeze.  A moment of panic when the English speaking border guy (who I continued to respond to in only Spanish) flipped through my passport and asked if I had a visa.  I did my research and didnt think it was needed. "Es necesario?!"  As long as Im out in 3 months, I'm all good. Whew! Back onto the cozy bus for some more sleep. I probably spent close to 14 hours sleeping on the 18 hour bus ride.  Don't mean to brag, but I am getting really, really good at sleeping on buses.  All the life skills I am aquiring on this trip....

We arrive in Guanquil around noon.  I have no place to stay, no idea where to go or even what the currency is in this new place.  I probably could have sacrificed an hour of sleep to do a little Lonely Planet research of this country.  Alternatively, I think it is a sign that I am getting really good at traveling.  Stress levels are at an all time low even if I have no money or a place to sleep at the moment.  I start talking to two guys who were on the bus with me as we wait for luggage.  They dont have a place either and we agree to team up on a taxi into town to find a place to stay.  An hour later I am wandering the streets with my new friends from Israel, we have a place to stay and turns out the currency is the US dollar.  It all worked out quite smoothly. Good karma or master traveler? Maybe a bit of both.  Well one night in this ugly, cement prison of a city and we are on our separate ways.  They are off to the Galapagos Islands.  I have nowhere near the funds for that amazing trip so catch a bus to the recommended beach town of Montanita. 

An Ecuadorian chats me up on the bus also headed to the beach.  She gives me some Ecuador history, recommendations on what to see and things to do and most importantly assures me a place to stay at her friends hostel because of course I have not booked a room anywhere.  She works on the Galapagos and is on a holiday inland.  We hop off the bus on the side of the road and are greeted by Cheebo, the happy and helpful hostal owner of my new home.  After a good meal and meeting some more friends, I am guided up 3 intense flights of stairs to my corner room (my own room!) with a balcony and hammocks that face the street.  Perfect! I sleep like a rock and wake up for a beach date with Elizabeth.

The next 4 or 5 days blur together as we wandered the small town, lay on the beach, eat the freshest seafood and catch almost all happy hours.  Montanita is packed with surfers, tourists and lots of Argentinians all looking for some fun, waves and sun.  By the time we leave, it feels like home.  We have our routines, our favorite bars and restaurants but the best is walking down the street and greeting new friends from all directions.  I could stay here for a long time, like many do.  The sun is much needed after cold Peru and more importantly it is a place that feels like 'home' which is a very loosely used term and harder to find when you only stay in a place for a couple days at a time.

Well we go out with a bang the night before departure.  Ladies night at a bar means free drinks until midnight.  Free drinks are great, free drinks on a travel budget are amazing and I dont take this lightly and I lap the bar like a profession athlete.  The next morning we race to catch our bus, lacking sleep and clean clothes. I cant resist one last bowl of ceviche - super fresh shrimp, fish, octopus, and clams 'cooked' in lots of lime juice.  Really not the best selection on a hungover stomach before boarding a rough bus ride.  Miraculously, I keep it together and arrive back in Guanquil's bus terminal.  Elizabeth is heading in another direction to visit her family.  I have a new travel partner who I met in Montanita.  We are going to Cuenca, a colonial town in the south.  Anna will be living there and enrolling in Spanish school and Im just stopping in for a few days.

We proceed to spend the next few days wandering around town and getting so lost that we finally hail a taxi to a point of reference.  Beautiful city and of course more great people from everywhere.  Laundry is in desperate need of being washed.  I have said "in the next town" for about five towns now.  We drop it off in the morning at a lavanderia before an all day adventure.  Everything needs washing and I wear the least dirty of my clothes.  We return around 6pm to find the place closed and the woman near the shop says it is closed for the day and tomorrow as it is Sunday.  All my clothes inaccessible for close to two days and I planned to leave tomorrow, shit.  I am able to get a phone number and beg the hostel receptionist to call.  I am still not confident in my spanish over the phone.  You can't gesture if needed and they dont automatically speak slower and easier when they see my blonde hair and pale skin.  A few phone calls later and over an hour waiting and freezing outside the place and I am in possession of my clothes again...much fresher and more appreciated now.

Departure day, I know I am leaving but dont know where to. Riobamba for a wild train ride or Banos for some nature and a bragged up tourist hot spot.  I decide on Banos at the bus stop and am on my way shortly after.  All day on the bus and arriving at a hostal lucky enough to grab a bed.  The next day my Australian roommate is checking out but first taking a bike ride to some villages and waterfalls.  Sounds like a lot of work, but she ensures me its downhill.  I fight my laziness to read and wander the city for the day and rent a bike with her.  Well, it definitely is not all downhill and hiking up and down the big hills and cliffs to numerous waterfalls is sweaty and exhausting but we made it.  26km biking and a good amount of hiking.  Nothing too intense but a little shocking on my mostly sedentary body.  The landscape here is absolutely beautiful. Green, rivers, volcanoes and lots more green.  We return exhausted, sunburned and very happy.  She is off to her next destination and I have new roommates-an American and Israeli.  We make plans to go white water rafting in the morning.

Any day I have to set an alarm is pain.  We manage to get out and meet our fellow rafters.  I get some good Spanish practice with an Ecuadorian from Cuenca.  The water is cold and rafting is great. No near death experiences like The Nile which is fine. Also no serious injuries or lost people and once again, absolutely beautiful landscapes. Another successful day!



I love those moments when you can step outside of the immediate time and place to really appreciate where you are and what you are experiencing right then and there.  Those moments seem to be happening to me a lot and I am doing my best to take it all in gratefully.

The south and my farewell to Peru

Well I have taken a big hiatus again, but here I begin another attempt.  Got an amazing deal on a bus ride to Puno. 20 soles (approx $7) for a 7-8 hour trip. Almost half the price of the other companies and I am thrilled.  First, I sit on a cement platform with all locals, some appear to be relocating permanently, others bringing the month's crop share with them.  The only gringa leaving one touristy town and going to another.  Then the bus chugs and screaches in, smoking and rusted. This looks nothing like the shiny bus in the picture they advertise.  Inside is even worse. Im not a germy person at all but I make all attempts to ensure my skin does not touch the multicolored stained seat. Breathing from my mouth helps me adjust to the smell as its clear this is a bus they no longer cleaned. I drop my only knife on the ground and count it as a loss.  A man stands up and begins to speak for the next 2 hours, takes a break and continues again.  He would be shut up in 1 minute on a bus in the states but no one seems to mind. I put on my ipod and zone him out.  We continue to stop at every small town we pass on any street corner where someone may want a lift.  I panic that my bag stored below will be gone at every stop and vow to not 'scum it' again with buses.  I arrive late to a dodgy looking hostel and endless knocking and doorbell rings finally awaken the receptionist. Its not so pleasant inside either but I am so happy to have a bed and my bags. I groggily book a boat ride for the morning.

Lake Titicaca- remember it from geography class but I think mostly because of the name that started a wave of giggles in a middle school crowd.  Turns out its a huge lake bordering Peru and Bolivia and its pretty damn amazing.  I meet Eduar and his friend on the boat and they liven things up with pictures every minute or two, beers in the morning and yelling "Venezuela" (their country) from the top of the boat.  We head out to the floating islands created by tying reeds together.  About 5 familes can live on one of these and they last about 30 years before a new one is made.  Their livelihood is fishing which they trade in surrounding towns.  A few hours on the islands and we head back to the ugly, cement pit of Puno.  Grab my bags and off to the bus station headed for Arequipa.

Arequipa is huge.  The bus drives endlessly on highways and streets before arriving in the station.  The taxi driver does the same.  I arrive at a hostel late again and find they are booked. Thats what I get for always risking it and not making a reservation.  An hour of looking and I find a place and bed.  My roommate and I head to the market in the morning and she gives me a tour of the town as she has been here awhile.  I head back to my first hostel of choice and check out info for tours on the well known Colca Canyon.  It is the second largest canyon in the world, next to another canyon in the south of Peru, yep no Grand Canyon.  I meet Sean and we sign up for a 3 day trek.  After a day of doing nothing, we are off for some hiking.  Physical activity is still lacking and this is something you can't really appreciate as much from a bus window.  Our hiking crew consists of the nations of Peru, New Zealand, England, Spain and the US(times 2).  We stop and see the gigantic condors flying through the canyon for an hour or so before they move on and we are forced to continue our mission. Sean and 5 ladies hike down the canyon, sweating and chatting.  Seeing where we came from and how far we descended is pretty amazing, but not as great as dipping our hot, blistered feet in the stream below.  We arrive at our bungalows, eat a good meal and share a bottle of Pisco and some card games.

The next day we can barely limp out of bed. Some yoga and an amazing breakfast and we hit the trail again.  Today we hike to the bottom of the canyon to "the oasis" which is a green and blue heaven in the dusty and dry canyon.  There are beds, food and pools waiting for us and motivation makes the hike go much easier.  An intense and neverending match of volleyball ensues at our camp as Peru vs. el mundo (the world). It is a popular game in Peru and we have some competition. Beer is at stake and we find all the energy we have left to defend the world!  No explanation as to how, but noone got beers.

We have been warned that day 3 is the rough one. Hiking at 5am straight up the canyon as we hope to avoid too much of the strong sun.  Thoughts of dying on the side of the canyon don't escape me as we sweat and struggle for breath up the hill.  The victory sit at the top was priceless and our crew is now a family. 

Back to Arequipa and planning out the next adventure.  Begona from Spain and I have decided to go to Ica and Huacahina for some sandboarding and relaxation at another little oasis.  In the endless sand dunes of this part of Peru, there is the little gem of Huacachina.  In the center is a huge pool of water surrounded by palm trees.  We venture out on a big dune buggy and our driver sets us up on various hills, we strap in our boards and go down.  The hills get longer and steeper but the sand prevents you from getting an excessive amount of speed, usually.  Well I'm pretty comfortable on the snowboard and hills and get a little cocky after a few runs.  Logically, I get as much speed as I can before attempting to carve around sharply.  Well the sand isn't quite as forgiving and I sharply cartwheel down the hill.  A little whiplash, minor head trauma, major embarassment but the worst part is being completely covered in sand.  It is covering every inch of my body, hair, ears, nose. Had to go fast, didn't I?  Well another good-bye and I am on my way back to Lima.

Oh Lima, didn't really miss you but here I am again.  I finally retreive my passport from the embassy with a beautiful Brazilian visa inside! Got to spend a day with Andy before he flew back to Denmark, said good-bye to my favorite Limonians (just made that one up and pretty sure its not the correct term, but my Lima friends non-the-less) and I am onto Trujillo. Two days on the coastal town of Trujillo and the beach of the nearby Huanchaco to visit some more great Peruvian friends that I made along the trip. 

Overall, I feel like I was able to see a lot of Peru. 6 weeks, easily over 100 hours of bus time logged, endless miles, so many new friends and adventures but I must be on my way. Ecuador and four other countries require my attention as well.  Viva la Peru!!!

Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu

The jungle was great and I loved northern Peru, but my friends await me in Lima.  I aboard a 32 hour bus ride back to the central coast.  Surprisingly not as bad as it sounds although it includes a return trip on the death ride.  I'm sore, I smell and I have been living off bread for a day and a half.  My Peruvian friend Grecia and her mother greet me at the bus station, and Grecia and I head to a bar to meet my other favorite Peruvians who I met while working on Mt. Hood.  A great introduction to the city and the week ahead.  I am on a mission to get a Brazilian visa so numerous visits to the embassy finally proves to be successful! I am officially welcome to enter Brazil!!

Grecia and I also visit the town of Baranca a few hours north of Lima for her cousins' wedding or matrimonia.  I was definitely the only gringa in attendance and understood almost nothing at the ceremony, but a great experience nontheless.  We race back to Lima for a friend's going away party as she will be attending school in Portland for the next few years. Buen viaje and see you soon!

Lima is big. Too big for my taste. I need a smaller city that I can freely walk in and not have to catch two or more busses to get anywhere.  Loved my time, but the constant chaos is stressful and I need out.  Onto Cusco, which is the town close to Machu Picchu.  I meet a Peruvian woman on the bus and we attempt conversation.  I am impressed with how much I am improving and the fact that some sort of conversation is even possible.  Altitude sickness has hit me for about the third time now.  Not unbearable, but not pleasant.  Marlena offers her family's home to me, but I have booked a hostel stay and am ready to meet some travelers.  After the bus ride, I accompany her at her home for some lunch and mate de coca tea (good for altitude sickness).  I meet her parents and siblings, and later her brother escorts me to my hostel.  A great welcome into the city.

Cusco is beautiful and swarming with tourists.  The gringo to Peruvian ratio is getting dangerously equal , or so it appears.  Regardless, a nice walkable city and I start meeting fellow travelers from allover with all different travel plans.  One night out dancing is shockingly fun and one of the few bar nights on my trip thus far.  I rarely drink or go out at night thus far.  Its not cheap, can be dangerous and I have little to no desire.  Maturity, laziness or intelligent?  Not sure, but Im ok with it:)

A few days later, I head to Machu Picchu with a crew of travelers.  We take a scenic 5 hour drive there and then walk for 2-3 hours along the railroad tracks to Aquas Calientes, the closest town to MP and unreachable by road.  Beautiful town and even more breathtaking landscape around us. Still in shock at where I am. Dinner and prep for the early morning ahead. 

We arrive at Machu Picchu and meet our guide at around 6:30am.  A couple hour guided tour gave some really great info and I finally learn a little about the Inkas!  After the tour, we are on our own to wander this massive place.  You see pictures, but really can't grasp how amazing it actually is.  I am so impressed with it all and spend the entire day wandering, studying spanish on the ruins and climbing nearby Wayna Picchu.  This is the mountain viewable in the background of the famous pictures.  Quite intimidating upon first sight.  It is straight up, but I trudge on.  Turns out to not be that bad and the view from the top is worth every steep step.  I meet a man from India at the top due to my camera malfunction.  He turns out to be a yoga teacher who travels the world and teaches groups and workshops specializing in high altitude yoga.  We exchange info and I may have found my next travel destination....India and the Himalayas!

A few more hours and I bid farewell to this amazing place. Back to Aquas Calientes for a few hours of wandering and catching a night train back to Cusco.  A great time in this town, but I must keep moving.  Next stop- Puno and Lake Titicaca!