The last weekend that I was in Manta a group of us visted another really small beach town called Canoa. Conoa is about a three hour bus ride North of Manta...There were seven of us (Myself, Alec, three of my roommates from Florida, and two other students from my school). This town reminded me of Montanita, although slightly smaller. We were there Easter weekend, so it was packed..we were told that it was much more packed than usual, Canoa is supposed to be a tiny fishing town with not much going on except a huge beautiful white sand beach...it did have the beach, but also a lot more. The town had a similar party, beach town vibe as Montanita. The town was slightly more spread out, but still tons of hostels, bars, restaurants, etc. The one thing that I liked a little more about Canoa over Montanita was that a lot of their restuarants and bars were directly under huts on the beach.
We arrived in Canoa early in the day so we were able to spend the whole day doing typical touristy activities, including trying all of the different pina coladas around the town in order to find the best one, swinging in hammocks, swimming, eating and wondering around.
The nightlife in Canoa was also pretty happening. There were lots of restaurants and bars lining the sandy streets. Some of the main bars were all located right next to each other, so the streets were just packed with people as well. We actually spent a lot of our night sitting on a log down by the water drinking really cheap liquor (3 dollars for a bottle!)....yes, disgusting....
The town of Canoa was beautiful, and the scenery surrounding the town was amazing. The huge white sand beach was surrounded by towering green mountains, and there was a beautiful mist around the hills that gave the small town an earie but beautiful vibe. I really felt like I was in the middle of nowhere on this amazing beach. The water was great, the waves were perfect for surfing and swimming (Alec and I rented boogie boards!). The beach was shallow for a long way out, and there was wave after wave, sometimes four at a time. Alec and I spent a lot of the morning swimming, and had a really hard time forcing ourselves to finally get out of the water. I really felt like I was in paradise. I would like to go back to the town... I know that if I do it will be a much different experience (we hapenned to be there one of the busiest weekends of the year).
Monday, April 20, 2009
Ruta del Sol & Montanita
The second weekend I was in Manta, a group of us went on a road trip south on the Ruta del Sol (a highway following the coastline). There were seven of us...our Ecuadorian friends had a car, and we rented the other...it was so nice riding in a car after all that time riding in the bus! We were heading towards Montanita to spend the night, while on the way we stopped at various beaches and small traditional Ecuadorian towns. We stopped at a small town just about a half an hour South of Manta for lunch. The town was tiny, there didn´t appear to be many people, especially tourists there, but we stopped at this really cute hostel-restaurant to eat. The ceviche there was delicious! The hostel was directly on the beach....the beautiful empty beaches were one of the main things that surprised me while on the trip. The whole ride to Montanita we were able to view the never ending beaches with beautiful white sand, and completely empty! It was crazy, if these beaches were anywhere in the States they would have been completely packed, it was quite an awesome experience.
We stopped in another really small town along the way to go for a swim. The water was so amazing, perfect temperature, and perfect sized waves that we were able to body surf on. We then stopped in the National Park Monchalilla. There we went to an amazingly beautiful beach called Frailes. Once again, almost completely empty. After the beach we went into a small town where only native Ecuadorians were living. We took a tour with a guide (he didn´t know any English, so we were only able to understand about half of what he was saying). On the tour we were able to explore some really beautiful remote Ecuadorian land...beautiful hills, forests, and gardens filled with all sorts of tropical fruit trees and other gorgeous terrain.
We finally made it into Montanita around 9pm. We were easily able to find a hostel, located directly in the midst of everything. The small town of Montanita was amazing! I had never been to any town similar to it. If you have heard anything about it, most of it is probably true...it´s a tiny town with a massive white sand beach, famous for surfing. The town itself is located just beyond the sand of the beach, although the main roads of the town are also covered in sand. There were about three blocks to the main area, all of which were blocked off from cars. The blocks were lined with bars, restaurants, little shops, and hostels, and tons of vendors on the street selling anything from clothing and jewlery to suveniers, food, and drinks. The town of course was filled with tourists. It seemed like the kind of place that hippie tourists would move to and get by by selling things on the street.....
The nighlife was crazy...pretty much everybody partying in the town was staying in a hostel in the main area, so there were just tons of people going from bar to bar drinking and eating. We bar hopped quite a bit, then headed down to the beach, where there were tons of people sitting around their fires that they had built. We sat on the beach for a bit, then headed back to a dancing club where we danced until about five in the morning....when we went back to the hostel, there were still a lot of people out partying.
We were only there for one night, because we had to get back to Manta to watch the big soccer game (Ecuador vs. Brasil). But I definately am planning on returning to that town before I head back home.
We stopped in another really small town along the way to go for a swim. The water was so amazing, perfect temperature, and perfect sized waves that we were able to body surf on. We then stopped in the National Park Monchalilla. There we went to an amazingly beautiful beach called Frailes. Once again, almost completely empty. After the beach we went into a small town where only native Ecuadorians were living. We took a tour with a guide (he didn´t know any English, so we were only able to understand about half of what he was saying). On the tour we were able to explore some really beautiful remote Ecuadorian land...beautiful hills, forests, and gardens filled with all sorts of tropical fruit trees and other gorgeous terrain.
We finally made it into Montanita around 9pm. We were easily able to find a hostel, located directly in the midst of everything. The small town of Montanita was amazing! I had never been to any town similar to it. If you have heard anything about it, most of it is probably true...it´s a tiny town with a massive white sand beach, famous for surfing. The town itself is located just beyond the sand of the beach, although the main roads of the town are also covered in sand. There were about three blocks to the main area, all of which were blocked off from cars. The blocks were lined with bars, restaurants, little shops, and hostels, and tons of vendors on the street selling anything from clothing and jewlery to suveniers, food, and drinks. The town of course was filled with tourists. It seemed like the kind of place that hippie tourists would move to and get by by selling things on the street.....
The nighlife was crazy...pretty much everybody partying in the town was staying in a hostel in the main area, so there were just tons of people going from bar to bar drinking and eating. We bar hopped quite a bit, then headed down to the beach, where there were tons of people sitting around their fires that they had built. We sat on the beach for a bit, then headed back to a dancing club where we danced until about five in the morning....when we went back to the hostel, there were still a lot of people out partying.
We were only there for one night, because we had to get back to Manta to watch the big soccer game (Ecuador vs. Brasil). But I definately am planning on returning to that town before I head back home.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Manta
My trip so far is about to drastically change....
Arriving in Manta, Ecuador (more to come)
March 16th
I arrived in Manta on Saturday....finally!!! The city was not quite as I expected...a bunch of buildings (not very pretty), not much in terms of sight seeing or entertainment...but here I am, one month after I arrived. If it weren´t for all of the great people I have met I would not have stayed here nearly as long. I am living in an apartment for students at my language school. I love my apartment. It is in the same building as the school, just one floor above it. The first week I was here, I had the four bedroom apartment all to myself because all of the other students at the time were living with host families. Although a little boring at first, it still felt like a luxury living in such a nice place...especially after spending the first month of the trip constantly in and out of hostels (some had no hot water, no showers, or shared dorm rooms with five other people). My apartment is well furnished, nice big bedrooms, big living room, big kitchen, and the best part about it is the large terrace right on the top floor of the building. The only other rooms in the apartment are the school, and a doctors office on the bottom floor, so past business hours, I had the whole building to myself!
I was a little concerned about meeting people when I first got here, but after starting classes on Monday, it was easy to meet some nice travelors. I met my friend Alec at the school, who also started classes the week that I did. I have been hanging out with him the most since I arrived in Manta. I am really fortunate to have met him because he introduced me to his host family who have been really great. His host sister is about my age, while the group of us (including more locals) have been hanging out..By the second week, it was hard finding any free time between going to class, studying, and hanging out with friends whether it was going out for some beers, cooking, going out to eat, going to the beach, or going to the cinema. The second weekend a group of us went to Montanita (I will be posting an entry about that).
The first week I was signed up for surfing classes..but unfortunately there were not many waves while I have been here, so I was only able to go out once....so then I tried to take kitesurfing and realized that it wasn´t really worth paying for two weeks of lessons when I wouldn´t really learn much, so I quit (sorry Brandy!).
Manta is located in a central area on the Ecuadorian coast, so it is really easy to get to many other beach towns along the coast on a super cheap bus ride (it costs about 2 or 3 dollars to get a bus from Manta to a town about 2 or 3 hours away). The local Ecuadorians that we made friends with have cars, so we were lucky enough to get to drive down the Ruta del Sol, which is the highway that runs right along the coastline, a road that buses do not take. There are lots of beautiful beaches within a half hour drive from Manta, so we took advantage of seeing other beaches instead of going to the beach in Manta the whole time.
I have been in Manta for a month so far, and tomorrow I´m getting ready to go to Quito for two more weeks of language classes. I am going to miss Manta, but I am excited to see more of Ecuador, especially the high lands!
Arriving in Manta, Ecuador (more to come)
March 16th
I arrived in Manta on Saturday....finally!!! The city was not quite as I expected...a bunch of buildings (not very pretty), not much in terms of sight seeing or entertainment...but here I am, one month after I arrived. If it weren´t for all of the great people I have met I would not have stayed here nearly as long. I am living in an apartment for students at my language school. I love my apartment. It is in the same building as the school, just one floor above it. The first week I was here, I had the four bedroom apartment all to myself because all of the other students at the time were living with host families. Although a little boring at first, it still felt like a luxury living in such a nice place...especially after spending the first month of the trip constantly in and out of hostels (some had no hot water, no showers, or shared dorm rooms with five other people). My apartment is well furnished, nice big bedrooms, big living room, big kitchen, and the best part about it is the large terrace right on the top floor of the building. The only other rooms in the apartment are the school, and a doctors office on the bottom floor, so past business hours, I had the whole building to myself!
I was a little concerned about meeting people when I first got here, but after starting classes on Monday, it was easy to meet some nice travelors. I met my friend Alec at the school, who also started classes the week that I did. I have been hanging out with him the most since I arrived in Manta. I am really fortunate to have met him because he introduced me to his host family who have been really great. His host sister is about my age, while the group of us (including more locals) have been hanging out..By the second week, it was hard finding any free time between going to class, studying, and hanging out with friends whether it was going out for some beers, cooking, going out to eat, going to the beach, or going to the cinema. The second weekend a group of us went to Montanita (I will be posting an entry about that).
The first week I was signed up for surfing classes..but unfortunately there were not many waves while I have been here, so I was only able to go out once....so then I tried to take kitesurfing and realized that it wasn´t really worth paying for two weeks of lessons when I wouldn´t really learn much, so I quit (sorry Brandy!).
Manta is located in a central area on the Ecuadorian coast, so it is really easy to get to many other beach towns along the coast on a super cheap bus ride (it costs about 2 or 3 dollars to get a bus from Manta to a town about 2 or 3 hours away). The local Ecuadorians that we made friends with have cars, so we were lucky enough to get to drive down the Ruta del Sol, which is the highway that runs right along the coastline, a road that buses do not take. There are lots of beautiful beaches within a half hour drive from Manta, so we took advantage of seeing other beaches instead of going to the beach in Manta the whole time.
I have been in Manta for a month so far, and tomorrow I´m getting ready to go to Quito for two more weeks of language classes. I am going to miss Manta, but I am excited to see more of Ecuador, especially the high lands!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Memorable bus ride to Ecuador
Tuesday, March 10th
Wow, again I get ready to begin an even longer bus journey BACK north to Ecuador...I was not originally planning on traveling South to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, but that´s whats so great about traveling with little plans (each day is a new adventure!).
Here, Ruby and I part ways...she decided to stay in Argentina for longer, but I was feeling anxious about getting more Spanish practice, and wanted to start language school in Ecuador...so...
Here begins the adventures of traveling solo across South America...which turned out to be a great experience! I made it to Cordoba, Argentina after an overnight bus ride from Montevideo Uruguay. Here I had to stay for the night because they didn´t have any open spaces in the direct bus, may I emphasize direct?! to LIMA! The next day I started my three night bus ride all the way BACK to Lima, Peru where we started. Although the bus ride was ridiculously long, and I wouldn´t chose to do it ever again, I do have some great memories from the trip. First of all, I was the only person in the whole bus who did not speak Spanish (well at least not very well), and not one other person spoke a word of English...so as you can imagine it was quite the ride. There were probably about twenty people in the bus (mostly Peruvians, and some Argentinians)...I knew this, because as you can imagine, after three nights in a bus with the same people, you get to know a little about everyone!
It was good practice for me to be with all Spanish speaking people, I made friends with some really nice guys who were sitting next to me, we had a great time trying to understand each other. I spent the whole bus ride not knowing exactly what was going on, because the bus attendent would make all of his many announcements in Spanish (so I never knew exactly where we were, when we were gonna stop, how long we were gonna stop for, and what the heck to do at all of the border crossings), but I just went along with it...and after three nights finally made it to Lima!
I ended up getting a plane from Lima to Guayaquil, Ecuador so I could make it in time to start classes on monday.
Wow, again I get ready to begin an even longer bus journey BACK north to Ecuador...I was not originally planning on traveling South to Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, but that´s whats so great about traveling with little plans (each day is a new adventure!).
Here, Ruby and I part ways...she decided to stay in Argentina for longer, but I was feeling anxious about getting more Spanish practice, and wanted to start language school in Ecuador...so...
Here begins the adventures of traveling solo across South America...which turned out to be a great experience! I made it to Cordoba, Argentina after an overnight bus ride from Montevideo Uruguay. Here I had to stay for the night because they didn´t have any open spaces in the direct bus, may I emphasize direct?! to LIMA! The next day I started my three night bus ride all the way BACK to Lima, Peru where we started. Although the bus ride was ridiculously long, and I wouldn´t chose to do it ever again, I do have some great memories from the trip. First of all, I was the only person in the whole bus who did not speak Spanish (well at least not very well), and not one other person spoke a word of English...so as you can imagine it was quite the ride. There were probably about twenty people in the bus (mostly Peruvians, and some Argentinians)...I knew this, because as you can imagine, after three nights in a bus with the same people, you get to know a little about everyone!
It was good practice for me to be with all Spanish speaking people, I made friends with some really nice guys who were sitting next to me, we had a great time trying to understand each other. I spent the whole bus ride not knowing exactly what was going on, because the bus attendent would make all of his many announcements in Spanish (so I never knew exactly where we were, when we were gonna stop, how long we were gonna stop for, and what the heck to do at all of the border crossings), but I just went along with it...and after three nights finally made it to Lima!
I ended up getting a plane from Lima to Guayaquil, Ecuador so I could make it in time to start classes on monday.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Uruguay
Colonia, La Paloma, Cabo Palonia, Punto del Diablo
Colonia
We were originally planning on traveling down the Argentina coast to spend some time on the beach, but found out that the beaches in Uruguay are much nicer...and closer! The easiest and quickest way to get into Uruguay from BA is by fairy. We took a short, and expensive (60 dollar) fairy ride to Colonia, which is a small and pretty border town in Uruguay. We stayed just for one night, but I will always remember Colonia as the town where Ilie got bit by the feared to be rabid dog , and the random parade where the children painted their bodies, and the plump shirtless ladies shimmied their breasts.
La Paloma
Early the next day we took a bus ride to La Paloma, which was about three or four hours away (that seemed so short to me after spending four days on the bus the week before). We arrived not knowing where we were going to stay, but the town is small enough that we were able to explore the entirety of it in order to find the best deal on a hostel. We actually ended up staying at the most expensive option, only because it was so hard to resist! So we decided to treat ourselves to a nice hostel for the three nights that we were there. The hostel was directly on the beach, the rooms were nice, the owners were nice, and we were able to meet some other travelers. We spent our days relaxing on the beach, the evenings wondering around, and the nights cooking delicious meals at the hostel. We hapenned to arrive in La Paloma the day after the high season ended, so there were not that many people in the town. The town is set up for a lot of tourists, so many of the shops and restaurants were closed down while we were there. It made the visits to the beach really pleasant because it was easy to find a location with hardly anybody in sight. The beach was huge, white sand spreading out longer than the distance of the whole town. The swimming was awesome as well, the temperature of the water was perfect, and there were few waves, and no rocks, making for perfect swimming.
The second night that we were there we experienced the biggest lightning storm that I have ever seen. Other people at the hostel didn´t seem to be as phased by it as I was, but it was absolutely incredible! Thousands of lightning bolts were striking directly in view over the ocean at every second, so the entire sky was lit up constantly for over an hour. I went to the beach to watch it, the lightning just kept on getting bigger and closer, and the thunder kept on getting louder...I stayed out there on the sand watching until it started to pour down rain...the heaviest rain that I have ever seen or witnessed in my life! We happened to be cooking a big meal out on the BBQ at the time, but the whole thing got destroyed by the massive rain. Being outside for just one second would get you completely drenched wet. We ended up finishing preparing the food inside, then the rain stopped. The next morning it was beautiful, clear and sunny.
On our fourth day there we decided to start our trek to the next the town...
Cabo Palonia
Visiting Cabo Palonia is an experience that I will remember forever. Cabo Palonia is a small, remote town with no electricity. There is only a small, sandy raod that leads into the town--the only way to get into the town was to take a 4-wheel truck that hauled tourists and their luggage to the remote community of "hippies". It seemed that there was little authority in this town, or that everyone who lived or visited there had the same common interest--smoke weed and live in tranquility...even the great invention of electricity was nowhere on their needs list. There was a completely peaceful vibe to the town, however, our experiences and memories of Cabo Palonia are a bit bias due to teh extreme rain storm taht was passing by during the two nights that we stayed there. Supposedly unusual for this time of the eyar, we were lucky enough to witness what seemed to be the next "El Nino". Heavy and deafening rainfalls drenched and partially flooded teh small town, including the kitchen of our tiny yellow house. However, as drastic as the rain seemed, that lasted non-stop the entire time we were there, the town still seemed completely at ease--
We treated this experience as a great opportunity to huddle together in our small yellow house, while during the day we cooked delicious soup, melted chocolate in our coffee which we drank consistantly all day long (we needed something to boost our energy !) and read books when we needed a break from each others company, and during night where we would drink heated wine mixed with fruits, reminiscence over college experiences, and shared personal stories by candle light. Oh yeah, and I can´t forget to mention that we spent as many hours sleeping as we did awake :)
Cabo Palonia would have been a fabulous place to spend a couple days on the beach, if the weather permited it. The beach was massive, spreading out far beyond the town itself, pretty white sand, and a completely relaxed atmosphere.
Punto del Diablo
Leaving Cabo Palonia and coming to Punto del Diablo made us feel like we were entering into real society again. Punto del Diablo is further north on the coast, not far from the border of Brazil. We spent more time in this town than the others, falling in love with it right away. As soon as we got into the small, surfing town we had not a clue where we were going to stay. We didn´t come across any hostels while hunting for a place to stay, while it is common for tourists to rent a small house or cabana. We ended up renting a small house....with no electricity! It was in a fantastic location, tucked back behind the main part of town, close walk to the beach, and fantastic views of the beach from the balcony. Ruby, Ilie, and I stayed there for five days. The town was really small, and not much going on, but we were happy to finally have nice and hot weather, making our stay there amazing. We spent most of the days on the beach relaxing. The current was strong and the waves were big, so we had a great time getting knocked around by the waves...we we even had to get told by the lifeguard to come back to shore because we somehow ended up too far out...oops!
The long, soft sanded beach made for a perfect running condition, as I enjoyed doing early in the mornings. We took advantage of the kitchen in our house, and cooked almost every meal while we were there...something I had barely done since I left Oregon. Our stay there was for the most part uneventful, but extremely relaxing..
The culture in Uruguay seemed much more relaxed than Argentina---a lot of the people reminded me of Eugenians..(I better had enjoyed that atmosphere as I would be spending most of the remainder of my trip in Ecuador where the people are quite different!). The small beach towns seemed to be full of people looking to get away from teh chaos of the real world to a place where they can live simple and peaceful lives. It reminded me of how Hawaii used to be when my dad first moved there in the 70s....
I would definately go back to Uruguay....
Colonia
We were originally planning on traveling down the Argentina coast to spend some time on the beach, but found out that the beaches in Uruguay are much nicer...and closer! The easiest and quickest way to get into Uruguay from BA is by fairy. We took a short, and expensive (60 dollar) fairy ride to Colonia, which is a small and pretty border town in Uruguay. We stayed just for one night, but I will always remember Colonia as the town where Ilie got bit by the feared to be rabid dog , and the random parade where the children painted their bodies, and the plump shirtless ladies shimmied their breasts.
La Paloma
Early the next day we took a bus ride to La Paloma, which was about three or four hours away (that seemed so short to me after spending four days on the bus the week before). We arrived not knowing where we were going to stay, but the town is small enough that we were able to explore the entirety of it in order to find the best deal on a hostel. We actually ended up staying at the most expensive option, only because it was so hard to resist! So we decided to treat ourselves to a nice hostel for the three nights that we were there. The hostel was directly on the beach, the rooms were nice, the owners were nice, and we were able to meet some other travelers. We spent our days relaxing on the beach, the evenings wondering around, and the nights cooking delicious meals at the hostel. We hapenned to arrive in La Paloma the day after the high season ended, so there were not that many people in the town. The town is set up for a lot of tourists, so many of the shops and restaurants were closed down while we were there. It made the visits to the beach really pleasant because it was easy to find a location with hardly anybody in sight. The beach was huge, white sand spreading out longer than the distance of the whole town. The swimming was awesome as well, the temperature of the water was perfect, and there were few waves, and no rocks, making for perfect swimming.
The second night that we were there we experienced the biggest lightning storm that I have ever seen. Other people at the hostel didn´t seem to be as phased by it as I was, but it was absolutely incredible! Thousands of lightning bolts were striking directly in view over the ocean at every second, so the entire sky was lit up constantly for over an hour. I went to the beach to watch it, the lightning just kept on getting bigger and closer, and the thunder kept on getting louder...I stayed out there on the sand watching until it started to pour down rain...the heaviest rain that I have ever seen or witnessed in my life! We happened to be cooking a big meal out on the BBQ at the time, but the whole thing got destroyed by the massive rain. Being outside for just one second would get you completely drenched wet. We ended up finishing preparing the food inside, then the rain stopped. The next morning it was beautiful, clear and sunny.
On our fourth day there we decided to start our trek to the next the town...
Cabo Palonia
Visiting Cabo Palonia is an experience that I will remember forever. Cabo Palonia is a small, remote town with no electricity. There is only a small, sandy raod that leads into the town--the only way to get into the town was to take a 4-wheel truck that hauled tourists and their luggage to the remote community of "hippies". It seemed that there was little authority in this town, or that everyone who lived or visited there had the same common interest--smoke weed and live in tranquility...even the great invention of electricity was nowhere on their needs list. There was a completely peaceful vibe to the town, however, our experiences and memories of Cabo Palonia are a bit bias due to teh extreme rain storm taht was passing by during the two nights that we stayed there. Supposedly unusual for this time of the eyar, we were lucky enough to witness what seemed to be the next "El Nino". Heavy and deafening rainfalls drenched and partially flooded teh small town, including the kitchen of our tiny yellow house. However, as drastic as the rain seemed, that lasted non-stop the entire time we were there, the town still seemed completely at ease--
We treated this experience as a great opportunity to huddle together in our small yellow house, while during the day we cooked delicious soup, melted chocolate in our coffee which we drank consistantly all day long (we needed something to boost our energy !) and read books when we needed a break from each others company, and during night where we would drink heated wine mixed with fruits, reminiscence over college experiences, and shared personal stories by candle light. Oh yeah, and I can´t forget to mention that we spent as many hours sleeping as we did awake :)
Cabo Palonia would have been a fabulous place to spend a couple days on the beach, if the weather permited it. The beach was massive, spreading out far beyond the town itself, pretty white sand, and a completely relaxed atmosphere.
Punto del Diablo
Leaving Cabo Palonia and coming to Punto del Diablo made us feel like we were entering into real society again. Punto del Diablo is further north on the coast, not far from the border of Brazil. We spent more time in this town than the others, falling in love with it right away. As soon as we got into the small, surfing town we had not a clue where we were going to stay. We didn´t come across any hostels while hunting for a place to stay, while it is common for tourists to rent a small house or cabana. We ended up renting a small house....with no electricity! It was in a fantastic location, tucked back behind the main part of town, close walk to the beach, and fantastic views of the beach from the balcony. Ruby, Ilie, and I stayed there for five days. The town was really small, and not much going on, but we were happy to finally have nice and hot weather, making our stay there amazing. We spent most of the days on the beach relaxing. The current was strong and the waves were big, so we had a great time getting knocked around by the waves...we we even had to get told by the lifeguard to come back to shore because we somehow ended up too far out...oops!
The long, soft sanded beach made for a perfect running condition, as I enjoyed doing early in the mornings. We took advantage of the kitchen in our house, and cooked almost every meal while we were there...something I had barely done since I left Oregon. Our stay there was for the most part uneventful, but extremely relaxing..
The culture in Uruguay seemed much more relaxed than Argentina---a lot of the people reminded me of Eugenians..(I better had enjoyed that atmosphere as I would be spending most of the remainder of my trip in Ecuador where the people are quite different!). The small beach towns seemed to be full of people looking to get away from teh chaos of the real world to a place where they can live simple and peaceful lives. It reminded me of how Hawaii used to be when my dad first moved there in the 70s....
I would definately go back to Uruguay....
Cultural Differences between Peru and Chile-Argentina
We noticed a cultural difference right away between Chile and Peru...first of all Chile is a lot more expenisive (we spoiled ourselves the first month staying in Peru because it is one of cheapest countries in South America). Prices of things in Chile, and Argentina are more similar to the U.S. Chile and Argentina are also a lot more Westernized than Peru, mainly because they have a lot more money (Chile is the richest country in S.A.). We actually went and saw a movie in a theater...the mall was even nicer than most I have been to in the States! It was nice seeing a movie in English, but spending some time in the crowded mall made me realize that I missed the more indigenous culture of Peru...
We were taken notice of a lot more in Puru because we looked much different than most of the locals. But we were also generally treated nicer in Peru because a lot of them took fascination in tourists....especially White tourists speaking English. In Chile it seemed that the people were not as patient with us when we were trying to communicate with them in Spanish, while in Peru it seemed that the people enjoyed trying to help us understand them. I liked that about Peru.
Many places in Chile, and especially Argentina resemble European cities...many people call Buenos Aires the Paris of South America..haha. Buenos Aires is also known to have some of the most plastic surgeons and plastic surgeries in the world! It was quite different interacting with people here, compared with the Indigenous Peruvians of the Sierras.
There are also a lot more street beggers and venders in Peru...it is common to have adults, and children begging for money, or begging you to buy something, mainly crafts, food and art while following you around...they are extremely persistant....while there is a lot less of this in Chile and Argentina. There is also a lot less whistling and honking on the streets from men in Chile and Argentina...which was nice! Also, the driving in Peru was out of control. The worst we saw was in Lima...it appeared that there was absolutely no road rules...I´m not sure what the road cops were supposed to be doing, but it didn´t seem that they were attending to any violations. Drivers would honk for every reason, even just to say hello or tell a car to pass, or to tell a person to get the hell out of the way....there was continuous non-stop honking EVERYWHERE. It seemed that Chile and Argentina had a more structured driving system, where the drivers would actually obey the road rules..
So there is a really popular snack-food thing that is sold everywhere in Chile and Argentina that totally groses me out...it´s a fatty hotdog, or two, smothered in ketchup, mustard, sour cream, guacamole, onions, and topped with small french fries....I don´t know how the people here seem to stay pretty thin!
To come....
Cultural differences between SA and The U.S. Oh so many!
We were taken notice of a lot more in Puru because we looked much different than most of the locals. But we were also generally treated nicer in Peru because a lot of them took fascination in tourists....especially White tourists speaking English. In Chile it seemed that the people were not as patient with us when we were trying to communicate with them in Spanish, while in Peru it seemed that the people enjoyed trying to help us understand them. I liked that about Peru.
Many places in Chile, and especially Argentina resemble European cities...many people call Buenos Aires the Paris of South America..haha. Buenos Aires is also known to have some of the most plastic surgeons and plastic surgeries in the world! It was quite different interacting with people here, compared with the Indigenous Peruvians of the Sierras.
There are also a lot more street beggers and venders in Peru...it is common to have adults, and children begging for money, or begging you to buy something, mainly crafts, food and art while following you around...they are extremely persistant....while there is a lot less of this in Chile and Argentina. There is also a lot less whistling and honking on the streets from men in Chile and Argentina...which was nice! Also, the driving in Peru was out of control. The worst we saw was in Lima...it appeared that there was absolutely no road rules...I´m not sure what the road cops were supposed to be doing, but it didn´t seem that they were attending to any violations. Drivers would honk for every reason, even just to say hello or tell a car to pass, or to tell a person to get the hell out of the way....there was continuous non-stop honking EVERYWHERE. It seemed that Chile and Argentina had a more structured driving system, where the drivers would actually obey the road rules..
So there is a really popular snack-food thing that is sold everywhere in Chile and Argentina that totally groses me out...it´s a fatty hotdog, or two, smothered in ketchup, mustard, sour cream, guacamole, onions, and topped with small french fries....I don´t know how the people here seem to stay pretty thin!
To come....
Cultural differences between SA and The U.S. Oh so many!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Long bus journey to Buenos Aires
Wow, four days straight in the bus....we did some calculations, and it ended up being about seventy hours to get from Cusco to Buenos Aires. Because direct buses only go between large cities, we decided to split our trip up and travel from town to town. We left Cusco friday evening, taking the first of our bus rides to Tacna (arriving the next morning), which is a small border town in Peru. We crossed the border the same day and got our next bus to a beach town in Chile called La Serena. We stayed there for a night and two days. It was the first day we experienced hot, sunny beach weather since we left Lima. The town was really cute, but there was not much going on. The next day we took a night bus from La Serena to Mendoza Argentina, arriving the next morning. We stayed in Mendoza (wine county) for about six hours...we were abe to walk around and see the city. The city was really nice, and clean...there were a lot of large city squares and parks, and we were able to lay and relax and take in some sun.
Finally, our last bus ride from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. This was another over night bus. We arrived in BA the following morning where we took a cab to the hostel that we had reserved. We stayed in BA for two nights. Our hostel was really nice, probably the nicest that we had stayed in so far...although it was the first time that we got a shared dorm room. Ruby and I met our friend from back home, Ilie at the hostel who we were going to spend some of our trip with. Ilie had already spent some time in BA a couple years ago, so he told us about the main things that we should go and visit. We went to see the famous, and gigantic cemetery. It was massive, every tomb stone was as tall as a building, the cemetery was set up like a small town...we didn´t even have enough time to explore the whole thing, but we did make sure to make it to view Evita´s grave. BA was huge, we didn´t nearly even see the whole city. I liked it though, although I don´t think I would want to live somewhere so noisy and busy!
BA is the first place that we went out and experienced the famous Discotecas of South America. We went to a discoteca thursday night and danced until six in the morning! It was a lot of fun experiencing this because I am used to all of the bars closing at two in Oregon...and people don´t even go to the discotecas until two. It wore us out though, and the next day we started our journey to Uruguay where we spent a couple weeks at lazy beach towns.
Finally, our last bus ride from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. This was another over night bus. We arrived in BA the following morning where we took a cab to the hostel that we had reserved. We stayed in BA for two nights. Our hostel was really nice, probably the nicest that we had stayed in so far...although it was the first time that we got a shared dorm room. Ruby and I met our friend from back home, Ilie at the hostel who we were going to spend some of our trip with. Ilie had already spent some time in BA a couple years ago, so he told us about the main things that we should go and visit. We went to see the famous, and gigantic cemetery. It was massive, every tomb stone was as tall as a building, the cemetery was set up like a small town...we didn´t even have enough time to explore the whole thing, but we did make sure to make it to view Evita´s grave. BA was huge, we didn´t nearly even see the whole city. I liked it though, although I don´t think I would want to live somewhere so noisy and busy!
BA is the first place that we went out and experienced the famous Discotecas of South America. We went to a discoteca thursday night and danced until six in the morning! It was a lot of fun experiencing this because I am used to all of the bars closing at two in Oregon...and people don´t even go to the discotecas until two. It wore us out though, and the next day we started our journey to Uruguay where we spent a couple weeks at lazy beach towns.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Machu Picchu
MACHU PICCHU!! We finally made it! It was everything I hoped for. We started the journey off by taking a taxi to Ollantaytambo, which is a small Incan town located in the Sacred Valley about an hour or two from Machu Picchu. The town was tiny, but really beautiful and adorable. We spent the night there in a hostel...it was a friday night, but the town was so small it was hard to find anything to do after dinner. We went to a cafe for dessert, and they served us rotten cheese cake! At least we didn´t have to pay for it!
The next morning we wanted to hike to the top of the Inca ruins nearby town, but didn´t want to pay the extra money, so we went on our own walk down a beautiful road along the Urubamba River. At noon we took the train to Aguas Calientes, the small touristy town at the base of Machu Picchu. It was really fun taking the train, the scenery on the way there was gorgeous. It was really interesting watching how the terrain was changing, as Machu Picchu is lower than the Cusco and the Sacred Valley, we literally watched as the surroundings turned into jungle! The town was beautiful, our hostel was located directly on the river that ran through the town.
The biggest tourist attraction in Aguas Calientes are the hotsprings. The springs aren´t what I expeted, only because I am used to Oregon hotsprings! Although they were real hot springs from the river, the area was closed off, and the springs were made into individual concrete pools. The water was perfect temperature and relaxing, but there were too many people crowded into them! We were able to wave our hands and get drinks delivered right to us though, which was a big plus:)
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a Pre-Columbian Inca site (The lost city of the Incas). The site was built in the mid-1400s, and was abandoned when the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire only 100 years later. Machu Picchu is the most known and important Inca Site, largely because it is one of the only remaining sites of the Incas, as there is no record of the Spanish Conquistadores having even known that it existed. The site was abandoned until a foreigner came across the ruins in the early 1900s. It is still unclear as to what the ruins were used for, although there are some more accurate assumptions....
Sunday morning we woke up at 4:30 to catch the first bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (it was about a half hour very windy bus ride up the steep mountain). We wanted to leave early because we wanted to hike Wainu Picchu, which is the towering mountain that you see behind the ruins in all of the famous photos. They only allow 400 people to hike Wainu Picchu per day, so we wanted to make sure we made it.
We started the trek up the mountain at seven. It was strange entering Machu Picchu, but having to hurry as fast as we could past all of the ruins to the other side where the hike started because we didn´t even get a chance to look at the ruins up close until after the hike. The hike was the highlight of our trip. I can´t even explain in words the extraordinary scenery that we were surrounded by. The hike was extremely steep, and took about an hour to get to the top (although we stopped a bunch on the way to take pictures and talk about how amazing the views were.. the views would get more amazing the higher we climbed). We were lucky to have great weather too. It didn´t rain the whole day that we were there, which is very unusual for February. The sun didn´t really make it out either, but the misty fog surrounding the mountains made the experience seem more surreal, and made for perfect hiking weather. We were able to see Machu Picchu clearly from above....way above! It was amazing being that high, all we could see were mountain ranges, and the Urubamba River (Which runs along three of the four sides of the ruins!). We took our time once we reached the top, as it was hard to make ourselves leave that beautiful mountain..but we had to get back down to tour the ruins! The walk back down was a little longer because we decided to go off trail and find some caves that we heard were pretty cool. We walkd up and down and up and down steep winding stairs for about twenty or more minutes and still no caves! Oh well, just walking through the jungle is enough to keep me satisfied.
Once back on the site, we met up with a tour guide. The tour took about two hours, and led us through most of the ruins, giving us history about the Inca ruins. The ruins were really interesting, the site was much larger than I had imagined...it seemed to keep going and going, and we didn´t even have enough time to explore the whole site, even though we were there for about nine or ten hours (half of the time we spent on the hike).
We took some amazing photos, so make sure to check them out on the Costco site. Although, the photos do not even compare to what we experienced that day, I will remember it forever.
The next morning we wanted to hike to the top of the Inca ruins nearby town, but didn´t want to pay the extra money, so we went on our own walk down a beautiful road along the Urubamba River. At noon we took the train to Aguas Calientes, the small touristy town at the base of Machu Picchu. It was really fun taking the train, the scenery on the way there was gorgeous. It was really interesting watching how the terrain was changing, as Machu Picchu is lower than the Cusco and the Sacred Valley, we literally watched as the surroundings turned into jungle! The town was beautiful, our hostel was located directly on the river that ran through the town.
The biggest tourist attraction in Aguas Calientes are the hotsprings. The springs aren´t what I expeted, only because I am used to Oregon hotsprings! Although they were real hot springs from the river, the area was closed off, and the springs were made into individual concrete pools. The water was perfect temperature and relaxing, but there were too many people crowded into them! We were able to wave our hands and get drinks delivered right to us though, which was a big plus:)
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a Pre-Columbian Inca site (The lost city of the Incas). The site was built in the mid-1400s, and was abandoned when the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire only 100 years later. Machu Picchu is the most known and important Inca Site, largely because it is one of the only remaining sites of the Incas, as there is no record of the Spanish Conquistadores having even known that it existed. The site was abandoned until a foreigner came across the ruins in the early 1900s. It is still unclear as to what the ruins were used for, although there are some more accurate assumptions....
Sunday morning we woke up at 4:30 to catch the first bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (it was about a half hour very windy bus ride up the steep mountain). We wanted to leave early because we wanted to hike Wainu Picchu, which is the towering mountain that you see behind the ruins in all of the famous photos. They only allow 400 people to hike Wainu Picchu per day, so we wanted to make sure we made it.
We started the trek up the mountain at seven. It was strange entering Machu Picchu, but having to hurry as fast as we could past all of the ruins to the other side where the hike started because we didn´t even get a chance to look at the ruins up close until after the hike. The hike was the highlight of our trip. I can´t even explain in words the extraordinary scenery that we were surrounded by. The hike was extremely steep, and took about an hour to get to the top (although we stopped a bunch on the way to take pictures and talk about how amazing the views were.. the views would get more amazing the higher we climbed). We were lucky to have great weather too. It didn´t rain the whole day that we were there, which is very unusual for February. The sun didn´t really make it out either, but the misty fog surrounding the mountains made the experience seem more surreal, and made for perfect hiking weather. We were able to see Machu Picchu clearly from above....way above! It was amazing being that high, all we could see were mountain ranges, and the Urubamba River (Which runs along three of the four sides of the ruins!). We took our time once we reached the top, as it was hard to make ourselves leave that beautiful mountain..but we had to get back down to tour the ruins! The walk back down was a little longer because we decided to go off trail and find some caves that we heard were pretty cool. We walkd up and down and up and down steep winding stairs for about twenty or more minutes and still no caves! Oh well, just walking through the jungle is enough to keep me satisfied.
Once back on the site, we met up with a tour guide. The tour took about two hours, and led us through most of the ruins, giving us history about the Inca ruins. The ruins were really interesting, the site was much larger than I had imagined...it seemed to keep going and going, and we didn´t even have enough time to explore the whole site, even though we were there for about nine or ten hours (half of the time we spent on the hike).
We took some amazing photos, so make sure to check them out on the Costco site. Although, the photos do not even compare to what we experienced that day, I will remember it forever.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Cusco (more to come)
We arrived in Cusco about a week and a half ago. This is our second week of classes, and our last before we head to Argentina. Cusco is a really nice city. I love everything about it, except for the weather! Here I am in South America, but I´m still wearing jeans and a jacket everyday. It rains pretty much everyday too. But there still have been some really nice sunny days (but it´s not as cold as Oregon!).
Classes are going good, the school is kind of a let down because they are in the middle of construction, and don´t offer any kind of facilities except for the cold class rooms! There are four of us in my class, and we have had two different instructors. I like the instructors and my classmates so far. It is nice being in a class with only three other students, it is much easier to learn Spanish that way! The classes are from 8:30am-1:pm. It is nice waking up early and having the whole day to do things. Almost all of the students at our school are from Holland, because it turns out that the director of the school is Dutch. Ruby and I were the only American students last week, so it has been a little bit confusing hearing Dutch everywhere! They are very nice and fun to hang out with...there is a bar called Indigo (yes, very much different than Indigo in Eugene!), where students from my school get a discount on wednesday nights. So the only time Ruby and I have gone out to get some drinks in Cusco has been there (we are going there again tonight)...it is fun because almost half of the students from our language school go there.
Cusco is the capitol of the Incan Empire, and is full of museums, ruins, and interesting history. I enjoy being in this city more than any of the others we have visited. It is smaller than Lima and Arequipa (we can walk almost anywhere we need to go from the Plaza de Armas). Although Ruby and I are looking forward to visiting smaller towns where we can get away from the crowds! In the main plaza, it is impossible to get away from the local women and children hasseling you to buy their arts and crafts everwhere you go, they even follow you begging. I think that my most used phrase since I have gotten here is ¨no gracias!¨We went on a city tour on monday, which took us to five of the famous Incan ruins in and around the city. The Inca civilization is fascinating. We also went to Machu Picchu last weekend, it was definately an experience I will never forget! (I will be posting the Machu Picchu entry next time I get a chance).
I am living with a host family here in Cusco. They are a very friendly family, but I don´feel like I am learning much Spanish from them as they are not usually around. They also live a far distance from the school and the main plaza (about a forty five minute walk, and a 3 soles taxi ride), so I have become accustomed to staying around the downtown area all day without going back home until late night. The main meal of the day here is almuerza (lunch) which is usually eaten around 1 or 2, then dinner is a lighter meal. I don´t usually go home for my almuerza, because I can easily buy a good meal near the main plaza for less than it would cost to take a taxi to the house and back. It is amazing how easy it is to be entertained in Cusco...I usually spend some time at the internet cafe after school, then meet back up with Ruby to go exploring the city. Without feeling like much time has gone by it´s already nine at night!
There are tons cobblestone narrow streets lined with shops and restaurants, it is impossible pick a place to go eat! My favorite thing to buy here are the juices....every shop and restaurant has jugos of all different kinds, I don´t know what I´m going to do when I go back to Oregon and have to spend more than five dollars on a smoothie! Here delicious tripical juices and smoothies cost about a dollar.
The nightlife in Cusco is amazing...the streets become more packed in the night than in the day. The bars and discotecas are crowded everynight until about five in the morning! Ruby and I havn´t been to a discoteca yet because we have to wake up so early...I am looking forward to going to one in Argentina. We decided that we are going to cut our trip to Cusco short, because we have friends that we are meeting in Argentina at the end of the month. On friday we begin our long bus ride to Buenos Aires (it´s going to take about three or four days). Then we are going to spend some weeks travling the Argentina coast and finally getting some beach time in!
Classes are going good, the school is kind of a let down because they are in the middle of construction, and don´t offer any kind of facilities except for the cold class rooms! There are four of us in my class, and we have had two different instructors. I like the instructors and my classmates so far. It is nice being in a class with only three other students, it is much easier to learn Spanish that way! The classes are from 8:30am-1:pm. It is nice waking up early and having the whole day to do things. Almost all of the students at our school are from Holland, because it turns out that the director of the school is Dutch. Ruby and I were the only American students last week, so it has been a little bit confusing hearing Dutch everywhere! They are very nice and fun to hang out with...there is a bar called Indigo (yes, very much different than Indigo in Eugene!), where students from my school get a discount on wednesday nights. So the only time Ruby and I have gone out to get some drinks in Cusco has been there (we are going there again tonight)...it is fun because almost half of the students from our language school go there.
Cusco is the capitol of the Incan Empire, and is full of museums, ruins, and interesting history. I enjoy being in this city more than any of the others we have visited. It is smaller than Lima and Arequipa (we can walk almost anywhere we need to go from the Plaza de Armas). Although Ruby and I are looking forward to visiting smaller towns where we can get away from the crowds! In the main plaza, it is impossible to get away from the local women and children hasseling you to buy their arts and crafts everwhere you go, they even follow you begging. I think that my most used phrase since I have gotten here is ¨no gracias!¨We went on a city tour on monday, which took us to five of the famous Incan ruins in and around the city. The Inca civilization is fascinating. We also went to Machu Picchu last weekend, it was definately an experience I will never forget! (I will be posting the Machu Picchu entry next time I get a chance).
I am living with a host family here in Cusco. They are a very friendly family, but I don´feel like I am learning much Spanish from them as they are not usually around. They also live a far distance from the school and the main plaza (about a forty five minute walk, and a 3 soles taxi ride), so I have become accustomed to staying around the downtown area all day without going back home until late night. The main meal of the day here is almuerza (lunch) which is usually eaten around 1 or 2, then dinner is a lighter meal. I don´t usually go home for my almuerza, because I can easily buy a good meal near the main plaza for less than it would cost to take a taxi to the house and back. It is amazing how easy it is to be entertained in Cusco...I usually spend some time at the internet cafe after school, then meet back up with Ruby to go exploring the city. Without feeling like much time has gone by it´s already nine at night!
There are tons cobblestone narrow streets lined with shops and restaurants, it is impossible pick a place to go eat! My favorite thing to buy here are the juices....every shop and restaurant has jugos of all different kinds, I don´t know what I´m going to do when I go back to Oregon and have to spend more than five dollars on a smoothie! Here delicious tripical juices and smoothies cost about a dollar.
The nightlife in Cusco is amazing...the streets become more packed in the night than in the day. The bars and discotecas are crowded everynight until about five in the morning! Ruby and I havn´t been to a discoteca yet because we have to wake up so early...I am looking forward to going to one in Argentina. We decided that we are going to cut our trip to Cusco short, because we have friends that we are meeting in Argentina at the end of the month. On friday we begin our long bus ride to Buenos Aires (it´s going to take about three or four days). Then we are going to spend some weeks travling the Argentina coast and finally getting some beach time in!
Lake Titikaka
Most of you have probably heard of Lake Titicaca (correctly spelled Titikaka)...I know I had before I came here, but I didn´t know anything about it! The history is actually pretty fascinating. The lake is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia, and is HUGE for its elevation of 12,500 feet! The lake is known to be the highest navigable lake in the world, and the largest in South America.
The Floating Islands of Lake Titikaka
We visited two islands on the lake while we were there. The first was a collection of small man-made floating islands called Uros. The islands were built from tutoro reeds, a native cattail type reed grown in the lake, and built by the Uros tribe, pre-dating the Inca civilization. The islands are about a half an hour boat ride from Puno. The history of the Uro tribe is fascinating because as a way to get away from the Incas taking over the region in the 15th century, they created their own home out of these reeds, while the Incas allowed them to live peacefully out on the lake. To this day there are still about 2,000 Uro people living there...the little tribe had outlasted the Incas! Their way of life is very simple. It was an amazing experience visiting these islands and talking to some of the native Uro people, and learning about their way of life. We even were able to taste the tutoro reeds, which are a large part of the Uros diet and medicine.
We were lucky enough to have great weather while we were visiting these islands (february is usually rainy and cold, but it was a beautiful sunny day).
Most of the Uros islands today are run by tradition and tourism. The islands are a huge tourist attraction, so the Uro people take pride in being able to sell their homemade weavings, textiles, and other beautiful and intricate art work to the tourists. We only came in contact with about five Uro people, all dressed up in colorful, traditional dresses and hats (native people on Lake Titikaka often wear hats and head pieces covering their faces because the sun is so strong there). We were told about their history and traditions, and were shown a small tour of their home. It was fascinating walking on the reeds, they were really soft, and all of the Uros that we saw were walking about barefoot...although we were warned that there are some spots on the reeds that if stepped on may fall through to the water! It was amazing that they have maintained these reed islands for hundreds of years! The little houses were also made out of reeds, which mainly consisted of a small room with a bed. The one room that we went in even had a tv! The Uros don´t reject modern technology, some of their boats have motors, and there are solar panels on some of the houses for appliences like TVs. We visited two different Uro Islands, and when we were leaving the Uro women sang us a farewell song, then ending with ¨hasta la vista baby!¨
Island Tequile
The second place we visited on the Lake was Tequile Island, this one is a real island! It is located about another two and a half hours out into the lake , also with about 2,000 inhabitants speaking Ayumara. This island was absolutely gorgeous, amazing views on all sides. We could see mountain ranges all the way to Bolivia. It was amazing being that high in elevation, we were higher than most of the clouds that we saw! We docked at the shore, then took a steep half hour trek up to the main plaza of the Island where we were able to explore the small town, and ate lunch with our guide. It is so crazy seeing all these people who live their lives so differently than ours! Life is so simple there, but it was also a little sad seeing the childres beg for money. We were told to not give money to the kids because it teaches them to be lazy and not go to college. When we first got there we were taking pictures, and some young children demanded their way into the pictures, then demanded money, so I didn´t have a choice!
The Tequile Island was part of the Inca Empire, and has a number of Inca ruins. Tequilensos are known for their fine handwoven textiles and clothing which are regarded as among the highest-quality hand-crafts in Peru. We didn´t buy anything there because the prices were much higher than anywhere else.
The long four hour boat ride back to Puno was relaxing, as we were able to sit on top of the boat and bathe in a little bit of the sun. We also met some interesting tourists who gave us some good tips on places to travel to in South America.
We took a lot of pictures of these islands, so check them out on the costco site!
The Floating Islands of Lake Titikaka
We visited two islands on the lake while we were there. The first was a collection of small man-made floating islands called Uros. The islands were built from tutoro reeds, a native cattail type reed grown in the lake, and built by the Uros tribe, pre-dating the Inca civilization. The islands are about a half an hour boat ride from Puno. The history of the Uro tribe is fascinating because as a way to get away from the Incas taking over the region in the 15th century, they created their own home out of these reeds, while the Incas allowed them to live peacefully out on the lake. To this day there are still about 2,000 Uro people living there...the little tribe had outlasted the Incas! Their way of life is very simple. It was an amazing experience visiting these islands and talking to some of the native Uro people, and learning about their way of life. We even were able to taste the tutoro reeds, which are a large part of the Uros diet and medicine.
We were lucky enough to have great weather while we were visiting these islands (february is usually rainy and cold, but it was a beautiful sunny day).
Most of the Uros islands today are run by tradition and tourism. The islands are a huge tourist attraction, so the Uro people take pride in being able to sell their homemade weavings, textiles, and other beautiful and intricate art work to the tourists. We only came in contact with about five Uro people, all dressed up in colorful, traditional dresses and hats (native people on Lake Titikaka often wear hats and head pieces covering their faces because the sun is so strong there). We were told about their history and traditions, and were shown a small tour of their home. It was fascinating walking on the reeds, they were really soft, and all of the Uros that we saw were walking about barefoot...although we were warned that there are some spots on the reeds that if stepped on may fall through to the water! It was amazing that they have maintained these reed islands for hundreds of years! The little houses were also made out of reeds, which mainly consisted of a small room with a bed. The one room that we went in even had a tv! The Uros don´t reject modern technology, some of their boats have motors, and there are solar panels on some of the houses for appliences like TVs. We visited two different Uro Islands, and when we were leaving the Uro women sang us a farewell song, then ending with ¨hasta la vista baby!¨
Island Tequile
The second place we visited on the Lake was Tequile Island, this one is a real island! It is located about another two and a half hours out into the lake , also with about 2,000 inhabitants speaking Ayumara. This island was absolutely gorgeous, amazing views on all sides. We could see mountain ranges all the way to Bolivia. It was amazing being that high in elevation, we were higher than most of the clouds that we saw! We docked at the shore, then took a steep half hour trek up to the main plaza of the Island where we were able to explore the small town, and ate lunch with our guide. It is so crazy seeing all these people who live their lives so differently than ours! Life is so simple there, but it was also a little sad seeing the childres beg for money. We were told to not give money to the kids because it teaches them to be lazy and not go to college. When we first got there we were taking pictures, and some young children demanded their way into the pictures, then demanded money, so I didn´t have a choice!
The Tequile Island was part of the Inca Empire, and has a number of Inca ruins. Tequilensos are known for their fine handwoven textiles and clothing which are regarded as among the highest-quality hand-crafts in Peru. We didn´t buy anything there because the prices were much higher than anywhere else.
The long four hour boat ride back to Puno was relaxing, as we were able to sit on top of the boat and bathe in a little bit of the sun. We also met some interesting tourists who gave us some good tips on places to travel to in South America.
We took a lot of pictures of these islands, so check them out on the costco site!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Puno Festivities
We took another long and windy bus ride to Puno from Arequipa. The main tourist attraction of Puno is Lake Titicaca, but we were lucky enough to be traveling through the town when they were celebrating the Virgen de la Candelaroa (one of their many annual festivities). Ruby and I fell in love with the city after getting lost over and over again in their crazy and vibrant streets. Puno is full of bike cabs (more advanced than Eugene, some of them even had motors on them)... so however lost we got, we could easily get back to where we wanted to be for less than a dollar!
Even though we were some of the only White people in the city, we felt the passion that the locals had in their city and culture. Although we missed the main celebration which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, we were still able to experience Puno during celebration...the streets were packed until after we went to sleep (even the children stayed up later than us!), there was a huge parade on friday night that seeemed to last all night and morning, or at least picked up again at four in the morning marching down our street and circling around and around for hours...I don´t know where they got their energy from!
It was an amazing experience though, it almost seemed sureal being in Puno...the city is over 12,000 feet in elevation! It was super hot during the day so Ruby and I were cruising around with shorts and tank tops on, only to notice that everybody was staring at us, not only because we were White but because they were shocked that we were not covered up...I guess they were right cause after a day in the sun we both had sun burns, even though we put sunscreen on!
The first night that we were there, we were heading back to our hostel and came across a large circle of people applausing...we decided to check it out, and it was a man who was dressed in drag doing some kind of comedy show..as soon as we walked up to the circle, we found ourselves at center of attention. As we were the only White people in the crowd, David (the comedian) decided to spend the next ten or fifteen minutes of his show cracking jokes at us or about us..who knows cause we couldn´t understand anything that was going on..but we were good sports and just laughed....and we were able to escape once a couple of Europeans came along...
Puno was my favorite city so far...it still amazes me how cheap things are here. We went to one of the nicest restaurants in Puno and spent less than ten dollars on dinner (two dollars for a delicious glass of wine, and three dollars for a gourmet personal pizza)...I´m going to be shocked when I come back to the States and have to spend over five or ten dollars on a simple meal!
Even though we were some of the only White people in the city, we felt the passion that the locals had in their city and culture. Although we missed the main celebration which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, we were still able to experience Puno during celebration...the streets were packed until after we went to sleep (even the children stayed up later than us!), there was a huge parade on friday night that seeemed to last all night and morning, or at least picked up again at four in the morning marching down our street and circling around and around for hours...I don´t know where they got their energy from!
It was an amazing experience though, it almost seemed sureal being in Puno...the city is over 12,000 feet in elevation! It was super hot during the day so Ruby and I were cruising around with shorts and tank tops on, only to notice that everybody was staring at us, not only because we were White but because they were shocked that we were not covered up...I guess they were right cause after a day in the sun we both had sun burns, even though we put sunscreen on!
The first night that we were there, we were heading back to our hostel and came across a large circle of people applausing...we decided to check it out, and it was a man who was dressed in drag doing some kind of comedy show..as soon as we walked up to the circle, we found ourselves at center of attention. As we were the only White people in the crowd, David (the comedian) decided to spend the next ten or fifteen minutes of his show cracking jokes at us or about us..who knows cause we couldn´t understand anything that was going on..but we were good sports and just laughed....and we were able to escape once a couple of Europeans came along...
Puno was my favorite city so far...it still amazes me how cheap things are here. We went to one of the nicest restaurants in Puno and spent less than ten dollars on dinner (two dollars for a delicious glass of wine, and three dollars for a gourmet personal pizza)...I´m going to be shocked when I come back to the States and have to spend over five or ten dollars on a simple meal!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Arequipa
It´s been almost a week since I have even had time to post another blog entry...there are so many great stories to tell, as everyday is a new adventure! We spent most of our time in Arequipa doing touristy things...my favorite place we went to was the Santa Catalina Monestry which was recently opened up to the public after being closed for centuries. The monestery was a home to nuns, and cover´s an entire city block. Ruby and I spent three hours exploring the monestery, making up stories of what the rooms were used for..haha.
The first night we were in Arequipa we went to a restaurant where a folklorica band was playing...Ruby and I happened to be the only people in there, so the band was dedicating all of their songs to us :) The band was so good! I now love folklorica music! Later on, three American guys came in, which Ruby happened to have mutual friends with (they were also traveling South America for several months)...we ended up going to another bar and getting pisco sours...the traditional Peruvian drink! Yumm...kinda tastes like a margarita.
Ruby and I didn´t have time to see much of the city besides the tourist area (Plaza de Armas), as we were heading on to Puno to celebrate Carnival, and see lake Titikaka.
Also, I have taken about two hundred photos so far, but haven´t had the time to post them...I will put some up in the next couple of days!
The first night we were in Arequipa we went to a restaurant where a folklorica band was playing...Ruby and I happened to be the only people in there, so the band was dedicating all of their songs to us :) The band was so good! I now love folklorica music! Later on, three American guys came in, which Ruby happened to have mutual friends with (they were also traveling South America for several months)...we ended up going to another bar and getting pisco sours...the traditional Peruvian drink! Yumm...kinda tastes like a margarita.
Ruby and I didn´t have time to see much of the city besides the tourist area (Plaza de Armas), as we were heading on to Puno to celebrate Carnival, and see lake Titikaka.
Also, I have taken about two hundred photos so far, but haven´t had the time to post them...I will put some up in the next couple of days!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Our arrival in Peru
Hey guys, as many of you know, I am beginning my adventures abroad in South America with my college amiga Ruby. Ruby gave me the wonderful idea of creating a blog so my friends and family can keep up on our travels (although I expect that the blogs won´t always be up to date) as internet is not as accessible in South America, but I am glad that you are taking your exctra time to view this blog about my travels!
We will be studying Spanish in Cusco, Peru, beginning on february 8th for one month.
Our trip thus far...
It is our fouth day in Peru, and we just arrived in Arequipa after a long and very windy 15 hour bus ride from Lima. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru (next to Lima), but we only have two days to explore the city. The cost of things here are extremely cheap...we are paying five to ten dollars a night for a hostel, and a meal only costs about three dollars!
More of Arequipa to come...
Our arrival in Lima (January 30th).
Ruby and I begin our adventures abroad...
We arrived in Lima on friday night, and we were lucky enough to have a wonderful Peruvian family pick us up from the airport and share their house with us for three nights (the family are relatives of a friend of Ruby´s dad). They showed us around the entire city, parts that we would have never seen if we were on our own. My favorite barrio (neighborhood) was the barranco, a traditional and bohemian district with beautiful restaurants and bars overlooking the ocean. It was a great experience staying with the family because they did not know any english, but they were very helpful with helping us understand. They also gave us good tips on safety, taught us about their culture, and cooked us every meal!
Many of you would be shocked to hear about some of the food that I have been eating since I have been here. I didn´t want to be rude by not eating the food that they cooked, so I ate steak, pork, and even ceviche (a popular seafood dish in Latin America).
Lima is huge! The downtown area is packed (tons of traffic, people, etc), it smelled kind of bad...but the main plaza was beautiful...
We went to the beach on sunday, it was a lot different than I imagined. The beach was huge, but there were too many people...it was impossible to get away from the chaos. Travelers of Peru had warned us not to let our impression of Lima effect the way we are going to think of Peru due to the overwhelming amount of people, chaos, dirty streets, and lack of beautiful sights...so we are looking forward to exploring more of the country!
We will be studying Spanish in Cusco, Peru, beginning on february 8th for one month.
Our trip thus far...
It is our fouth day in Peru, and we just arrived in Arequipa after a long and very windy 15 hour bus ride from Lima. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru (next to Lima), but we only have two days to explore the city. The cost of things here are extremely cheap...we are paying five to ten dollars a night for a hostel, and a meal only costs about three dollars!
More of Arequipa to come...
Our arrival in Lima (January 30th).
Ruby and I begin our adventures abroad...
We arrived in Lima on friday night, and we were lucky enough to have a wonderful Peruvian family pick us up from the airport and share their house with us for three nights (the family are relatives of a friend of Ruby´s dad). They showed us around the entire city, parts that we would have never seen if we were on our own. My favorite barrio (neighborhood) was the barranco, a traditional and bohemian district with beautiful restaurants and bars overlooking the ocean. It was a great experience staying with the family because they did not know any english, but they were very helpful with helping us understand. They also gave us good tips on safety, taught us about their culture, and cooked us every meal!
Many of you would be shocked to hear about some of the food that I have been eating since I have been here. I didn´t want to be rude by not eating the food that they cooked, so I ate steak, pork, and even ceviche (a popular seafood dish in Latin America).
Lima is huge! The downtown area is packed (tons of traffic, people, etc), it smelled kind of bad...but the main plaza was beautiful...
We went to the beach on sunday, it was a lot different than I imagined. The beach was huge, but there were too many people...it was impossible to get away from the chaos. Travelers of Peru had warned us not to let our impression of Lima effect the way we are going to think of Peru due to the overwhelming amount of people, chaos, dirty streets, and lack of beautiful sights...so we are looking forward to exploring more of the country!
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