Your Favorite Asian

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Feb 10th - 13th

2009-02-15T10:10:00.001-05:00

A beautiful cosmopolitan city with colonial buildings, great parks (including a rose garden) and cute outdoor restaurants...

Photos to come... currently on the cruise to Antarctica, so it's a bit difficult to upload the pics.

Mendoza, Argentina: Feb 6th - 9th

2009-02-11T15:58:00.005-05:00

Ahhh... wine and steak country... I was looking forward to Argentina for the wine, while obviously, Mark was looking forward to the steak.

- At the Vines tasting room, trying our first wine tasting... HIGHLY recommend the Perpetuum Cabernet Sauvignon. Mmmm...

- Steak dinner at Don Mario's (apparently, the best in town)... just look at the size of Mark's bife de chorizo (aka rump steak)!!! I was so thankful that I only ordered a half portion.

- Every day, in the main Plaza Independencia... there's always some sort of entertainment in the evenings. Here's one of a puppet show for kids...

- The wineries we visited (aka bodegas, which mean wineries not delis as the word is known in NYC) were: La Rural, a chocolate liquor place (not wine, I know), Trapiche, La Cerna, Hacienda del Plata, Carmelo Patti, Belasco de Baquedano and Achaval Ferrer. The photos are from La Rural... of the vines and of a cowhide vat where they would squash the grapes and then drain the juice down the tail.

- We visited a WalMart after the first day of wine tasting... since the next day was Sunday (most wineries and shops are closed), we decided to buy some food for a picnic, including a lovely bottle of Torrontes (a white wine varietal specific to Argentina).

- The park entrance, near where we had the picnic

- Mark about to pass out from overdosing on wine tastings...

Santiago, Chile: Feb 3rd - 5th

2009-02-11T14:58:00.006-05:00

We LOVE the Casanovas!

Many thanks to Manuel for helping us, by contacting his sister Elisa. And a million thanks to Elisa, who took us in (What an amazing home!!! A thousand times better than any 5-star hotel)... and of course, her boyfriend Tomas. They gave us a tour of Santiago - favorite being the outdoor fruit/veggie/meat/dairy/everything market... cooked us a great BBQ, treated us to "As" hotdogs... and gave us plenty of tourist information.

- Tomas invited Mark to play soccer with the locals, who were all in their mid-20s!

- After soccer... The amazing BBQ Elisa and Tomas prepared for us on our first night at Casa Casanova

- Just chilling on the balcony of Casa Casanova... Beautiful views! Me showing all of my scrapes and injuries from the bike accident.

- Elisa and Tomas at the "As" hotdog shop

- Mark eating "As"... it was HUGE!

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: Feb 1st - 2nd

2009-02-08T10:35:00.004-05:00

We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama with plans to stay one night and then head out to Salta, Argentina. But we soon learned that buses to Salta are few and far between... next one wasn't until 5 days later!!! So we decided to go to Santiago instead... gotta love the flexibility of having nowhere to really be, by a certain time. :)

Anyway, San Pedro de Atacama is nothing special... an oasis town in the middle of the desert. But, we did take a tour of Valle de Luna (aka Moon Valley) with a pit stop at Death Valley. Photos below...

- Road to Death Valley and Moon Valley

- Death Valley: This used to be covered in green vegetation 80 years ago, but changes in climate dried it out!

- More Death Valley

- The moon in Moon Valley... of course this photo had to be taken!

- The "ampitheatre"

- Sunset

- Active volcano in the distance

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia: Jan 29th - 31st

2009-02-01T11:53:00.005-05:00

- The 3-day Uyuni tour to Chile (San Pedro de Atacama) began a visit to the Train Cemetary. The train system didn't really take off in Bolivia... so hence why it's a cemetary. Anyway, one of the trains is apparently one that Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid robbed. Huh.

- Here are the actual salt flats where it's just salt for 12,000 sq km! It's about a couple meters deep in some areas, but can be over 20 meters deep in others!

Other photos from the tour, which involved some lakes - like the Laguna Colarado (a red lake) and Laguna Verde (a green lake from the copper) - and the desert... oh and we ran into the same Downhill Madness bike group who were on a similar tour of Uyuni. Rich, the nurse, looked at my stitches to make sure my knee was healing properly.

La Paz, Bolivia: Jan 24th - Jan 28th

2009-01-28T15:46:00.007-05:00

- Jan 24th: We arrived in La Paz during the Alasista Festival, where you buy loads of miniature items (e.g. money, cars, houses, etc) and have them blessed by a witch doctor, in the hopes that the mini items become life size. Our hostel (Adventure Brew Hostel) hosted a witch doctor blessing... photos of the event to the left.

- The Witches Market with dead, dried baby lambs and other animals for sale. Ew.

- The San Pedro prison... A self-run prison where inmates pay anywhere from $250 to $3000 per room. There's a "democratic" system in place for the inmates to govern themselves. Very tranquil and relaxed... had 3 bodyguards escort us around on the tour, but didn't feel as if they were necessary... it was that safe. The first photo is of us with a very cheerful and pleasant murderer in his room, wallpapered with half-naked photos. On the day we did the tour (Jan 26th), the prison was having a soccer tournament between each of the cell blocks. The last photo is of Alex (a guy we met at our hostel who joined us for the prison trip) with our 3 bodyguards and tour guide, who was in for drug trafficking.

- The World's Most Dangerous Road with Downhill Madness (tour agency). 64km bike path down 3km of altitude on a narrow rocky road. We were broken into 2 groups, one slow and one fast. I was in the slow group, but picked up confidence later and speed. Unfortunately, in the last 20meters or so, I was a bit too confident and found myself trying to keep up with a girl, who knew how to mountain bike. I saw her jump over a speed bump and thought, "F*ck, I don't know how to do jumps!" I tried to slow down, but couldn't reduce my speed enough... I hit the bump, went flying in the air and came crashing down. I think I landed on my knee, because that's where I have the most harsh of injuries. And then I slid on my down the rocky terrain for another 10-15 feet. My elbows and a bit of my back were cut up and I lost a lot of skin. I looked at my knee and was surprised to see that whatever I had fallen on, had cut through the pair of thermal pants, my blue khakis and ripped into my knee, exposing layers of skin and fat. Ew. The guide quickly came onto the scene and provided some good first aid. Mark was there to make sure I was calm. And luckily, there was a nurse and an EMT who were part of our bike tour group!

- Photo of my torn up pants (most of the tears are from whatever I hit)... and me at the private clinic in La Paz. I had the opportunity to go to a hospital in the village near where I crashed... but I was more comfortable going to a modern facility. I was very impressed with the doctor who gave me about a dozen stitches and made me stay overnight, out of fear of infection. My total bill (x-ray included) came to only $430! Wow... not bad.

- Jan 28th: Even with my bum knee, we decided to make the 12 hour overnight journey to Uyuni. But we made sure to get some codine and I took a valium as well. Unfortunately, the bus seats made it impossible for me to keep my leg elevated. So Mark was kind enough to let me rest my leg on his lap for the entire length of the ride... what a great boyfriend!!!

Lake Titicaca (Peru & Bolivia): Jan 22nd - 23rd

2009-01-24T17:34:00.006-05:00

Highlights

- FLOATING ISLANDS: On the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, we passed through a town called Puno, which is famous for the Isla des Flotas. Also known as the Floating Islands, the indigenous people back when (no clue exactly because the tour was given in Spanish) built these islands out of reeds. All of the islands are fairly small and apparently people really do still live on them. Not sure about that, or if it´s just a tourist´s ploy... but it was still pretty cool to see.

- $135 TO ENTER BOLIVIA: Yup, that´s how much it cost. It used to be $100... but since the U.S. started charging Bolivians $135 to visit, Bolivia said "Screw you too" and started charging the same amount for Americans. Blah.

- LA CUPULA HOSTEL: On the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, we stayed a couple of nights in a small town called Copacabana. We were originally going to stay one night, but once we saw our room at the La Cupula Hostel, we decided it was worth staying an extra night. It was the "penthouse" suite (not that there were many floors... just three). We had a comfortable bed with a dome ceiling and a separate sun room with great views of the lake and the sunset. All for $30 per night! What a treat... :)

Daily Account

- Jan 22nd: Mark was ridiculously hungover. I wasn´t too bad though, but I definitely wasn´t my best. Once we arrived in Puno, we booked our bus ticket for later that afternoon to Copacabana and made our way to the Floating Islands. We knew it was going to cost us 10 Soles to get a boat over, but we didn´t realize that it also came with a guided tour... in Spanish. It was fascinating to see hundreds of these reed islands with reed huts... but it was also very touristy. There was even an wannabe singer (semi-famous) filming her music video on one of the islands we visited, which was quite amusing... Her music was definitely not something we´d ever listen. Very girly-girl, more so than Britany Spears back in her Hit Me Baby One More Time days. After the islands, we had to head into the center of town, because I needed to change some of my worn Soles currency for more newer ones. Since we were crossing the border into Bolivia, I needed Soles notes that looked clean. Mark was miserable from all the walking in the sun, due to his hangover. I dislike hungover Mark... :) Once we arrived in Copacabana, he seemed to feel better though. The border crossing was interesting, to say the least. On the Peruvian side, we got our exit stamps, then had to walk across the border and meet a different bus on the Bolivian side. And on the Bolivian side, Mark simply got an entry stamp... while I, as a US Citizen, had to pay $135... AND, provide photocopies of my passport and my Yellow Fever vaccination certification (luckily, there was a photocopy place right next door). Copacabana is a dingy little town and once we got off the bus, I turned to Mark and said we were leaving tomorrow. But as soon as we saw La Cupula Hostel, we changed our minds. We watched the sunset and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at the hostel. [Photos: Semi-famous singer and Mark hungover on the Floating Islands]

- Jan 23rd: We got breakfast in town and decided to walk around for a bit... still dingy, very touristy and very expensive. Bolivia, we had heard, is supposed to be cheap. But we figured since it was a border town, prices were inflated. For example, an hour of internet costs 10 Bolivianos, while in La Paz, it costs 2 Bs!!! Anyway, we found this market where they sold an interesting looking hot purple drink. I had to try one... it was called "api" and it is one of the best finds ever! Made from blackberries, corn, sugar, cinnamon and cloves... it warms you right up and tastes amazingly delicious. And the puffed pastry you get with it is just as yummy. Afterwards, we went back to the hostel (because there was nothing to do in town) and watched a couple of movies - Number 23 (with Jim Carrey), which wasn´t that bad, but not that great... and The Color Purple (Great movie!). A completely chilled day... perfect.

Arequipa & Colca Canyon, Peru: Jan 18th - 21st

2009-01-24T16:15:00.005-05:00

Highlights
- ICE MUMMY: Back in the Inca days, they used to sacrifice little children (the most beautiful and innocent ones) to the gods up in the mountain peaks. Over a dozen have been found throughout South America, but one was perfectly preserved having been covered in snow for so long... and they named the ice mummy Juanita. Unfortunately, she wasn't on display... they alternate between her and two others. So we saw Serita. It's absolutely amazing, but still sad at the same time. Serita was placed in a glass freezer for viewing and you could still see her hair and leg muscles... in a fetal position. They were given a sedative and then killed by either a blow to the head or by suffocation. Crazy!

- SMELL OF ALPACA: The stench! Every bus we've been on has had this overwhelming smell, mostly coming from the local farmers. Had no clue what it was until we finally decided to try alpaca meat (similar to llama) from a street vendor. And since street food doesn't come with utensils, you eat with your fingers. The meat was yummy... but my fingers stunk of alpaca for hours on end, even after much washing and hand sanitizers! And it was the same smell from the buses... ugh, it was so disgusting. I am completely put off by alpaca now... can't eat, no matter how good it tastes, out of fear of the horrible smell. I'm nauseous even thinking about it...

- MARK'S DIY TOUR: So after much discussion, we finally decided to do a 2-day TREK (not tour via bus) through Colca Canyon. I was happy to pay the $22 to go through a tour agency, but Mark, who has a serious distrust and hatred for all tour companies, wanted to do it ourselves. It turned out to be cheaper... and yes, it allowed for greater flexibility. But, we did get lost a couple of times. But the views were stunning.

- PISCO SHOTS & GIANT JENGA: The Point Hostel in Arequipa charges the bartender with keeping its guests drunk and happy. So he introduced all of us to Giant Jenga (huge wooden bricks stacked 4 ft high)... where there were rules against silly things, such as leaving the room, making a too easy move, using 2 hands, etc. and the penalty was always a shot of pisco. On our last night, we had a few pisco sours and started playing Jenga. Mark, a bit tipsy at this point, ended up breaking quite a few rules and ended up doing countless shots and finally chugging a beer through a beer bong. It felt like a time warp back to college days! Sigh... luckily, I wasn't as inebriated and managed to get us packed (without any sleep) and out the door at 3:30am to catch our bus to Lake Titicaca.

Daily Account
- Jan 18th: The bus ride to Arequipa was uneventful, except for a pan flute playing/singing teen who wouldn't shut up for 30 minutes! It was the most abusive sound I've incurred in quite sometime... think out of tune Yani. Finally, I had enough and I spoke with the bus manager and pleaded with him, "No mas!" And then it was all over. Ahhhhhh... :) We arrived in the afternoon and checked ourselves into The Point Hostel, which turned out to be a party hostel... but definitely more low key than the Loki in Cusco. We met a few interesting characters, including a Swiss hairdresser name Oliver who Mark swore his door swung the other way and I thought otherwise. I was right. :) We chilled in the hostel, playing pool (I won! Granted, I was given a 3-ball headstart.) and then headed into town hoping for alpaca steak. Unfortunately, being Sunday, many places were shut, including the one that was highly recommended. So we opted for pizza. I was a bit skeptical, being used to NY pizza, but it wasn't bad for being in South America.

- Jan 19th: We slept in and took the morning to just relax... and finally headed into the city centre to visit the ice mummy. Really great museum and you know it's interesting, if Mark (who's not into this kind of stuff) thought it was pretty cool. Later we explored options with tour agencies for trekking Colca Canyon, got plenty of information about the hiking route and opted to do it ourselves. Back at the hostel, they hosted a barbecue... mmmm...

- Jan 20th: We got up at 2:45am for a 3:30am bus to Cabanaconde, where the we started our Colca Canyon trek. The latter half of the bus ride was ridiculously bumpy and especially more so, sitting at the absolute back of the bus. I think we flew up in the air about 2 feet at one point. We decided to forgo Cruz del Condor, a look out for condors, because we had read that we had to pay money to see it, which was going to be a waste since condor sightings are rare during the low, rainy season. We saw a few from the bus and were satisfied. At Cabanaconde, we ate lunch at the Pachamama Hostel and got some helpful tips from the owner and started our hike. The route had us go through San Juan de Choccho, Malata and finally down to the Sangalle (aka Oasis). It was supposed to take us 6 hours... we did it in 3.5. Yeah, baby! Granted, most of it was downhill. During the path, we ran into a Tourist Ticket Taker... apparently we were supposed to pay a park entrance, but we had read that unless we were going to Cruz del Condor, we didn't have to pay. The hostel owner from the morning said we should just tell the TTT that we had left the tix at the hostel to avoid the hassle, but the TTT wasn't having any of it. Mark tried to just keep going, knowing he was in the right, but the TTT crossed the line by grabbing his arm. Mark screamed NO, which stunned him, and we continued our journey. The last bit was through cold rain and we were relieved to make it to the Oasis and check-in at El Eden and our dirt bamboo hut. We even took a swim in the pool, which was filled with natural canyon waters. A bit cold, but it was nice on the muscles. And the owner was quite a character, who kept asking me how to speak various phrases in korean. Bizarre... seeing as I've only encountered very few korean travelers so far. FYI - Colca Canyon is very deep... over 1,000 meters and it's the 2nd deepest canyon in the world, deeper than the Grand Canyon... although, not as large and I didn't think as majestic. But it still was beautiful, especially the Oasis. [Photos: Me on the hike and Mark with one of our adopted dogs.]

Jan 21st: We started the trek up the valley (about 1km) at 5:30am and befriend two dogs along the way. Very strange... they loved us... but hated any Peruvians we passed, as if they were protecting us (or maybe them) by some serious growling and barking. It turned out to be handy to have them around though... we ran into another TTT towards the end of our hike up, who was too scared shitless by the barking dogs to even ask us for our ticket stubs! Anyway, exhausted and tired, we ate breakfast at Pachamama again and headed back to Arequipa. On the bus ride back, we could think of nothing but a shower and rest. But as soon as got got back, there was a sign-up sheet for go-carting for $3! How could we resist! With 30 minutes to get ready, we quickly showered and joined the group. Mark cheated... he beat me twice by blocking me from passing and once ramming me into the sides so I got stuck. Grrr... Afterwards, we went out for the alpaca steak, which Mark enjoyed. But I couldn't go near, because of fear of the smell. After dinner, Mark got his haircut by Oliver, the Swiss hairdresser... and then we proceeded to drink way too many pisco sours and play Giant Jenga. Mark was NOT a happy camper the next day. [Photo: Me on the go-cart]

Machu Picchu, Peru: Jan 16th - 17th

2009-01-19T18:02:00.007-05:00

No highlights for this entry, because everything was a highlight!

JAN 16TH
- We expected the pick up to be at 7:30pm, but suprisingly the driver was early and picked us up at 7am. No matter... we didn't really care. But then we waited around for about 1.5hr looking for the other 2 people who were supposed to be coming with us. They never showed. So the driver, looking to make a few extra bucks, picked up some other travelers looking to head to MP.

- The road was very windy. And half way through, the paved part of the road stopped and we hit very bumpy dirt roads. I'm not one for getting car sick, but I definitely felt nauseous. Actually, one of the guys in the car had to get out a few times because he was sick. We finally arrived at the Hydro Electric plant, where we caught a train to Agua Calientes - a small touristy town on the edge of Machu Picchu. We were met by a tour rep named Christian who showed us to our very basic hostel at Hostel John (even the name sounds basic!). Then we met our guide Mike or Michelangelo to talk about our plans for the next day. MP opens at 6am. We could either take a bus at 5:30 or trek up there, leaving at 4:30am. We opted for trekking.

JAN 17TH
- Being the low rainy season, MP has been mostly cloudy and very rainy. But we woke up at 4am and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! We were so lucky, especially since it was pouring through the night. So we made our way in the dark, following other trekkers up a ridiculously steep hill. The trail was supposed to take 1.5hr... we did it in just one hour! Yea, baby! And we got there in time for the sunrise, which we couldn't really see unfortunately because a hazy cloud ended up showing it's head right over the sun. Argh.

- We waited in line for MP to open and then there was this mad rush to get inside and head straight towards the back of the ruins. We had heard that Waynapicchu, a small mountain next to MP, was an excellent place to view the ruins. But it's an even steeper hike, along narrow paths straight up, taking about 2 hours to do... and they only allow the first 400 visitors to go up. So hence, the mad rush. I followed, but knew I didn't want to... partly because I was tired and partly because hiking Waynepicchu also meant missing the guided tour with Michelangelo. Mark went though and said the view was absolutely magnificent... and he did the climb up in 40 minutes! Hi-5!

- I did the tour, which was well worth it. Loads of interesting factoids... one that is not Inca related... Peru, the 4th largest producer of cocaine, actually sells 140 tons of Coca (the plant that cocaine comes from) to Coca Cola annualy to this day. The company denies it, but apparently it still happens on the sly. Interesting... After Mark was finished with Waynepicchu, I gave him a mini version of Michelangelo's tour and then we just relaxed in the sun on a terrace over looking the main plaza of the ruins. Seriously breathtaking...

- But as all good things must come to an end, we made our way back down, caught the train back to the Hydro Electric plant, met our driver who again found other travelers for extra cash... and headed back to Cusco. The other travelers were actually quite interesting... 2 were an Austrian brother & sister duo and the brother serenaded us with a small South American guitar (forget the name of it). Another couple also on board was expecting a baby in 5 months time... and the girl was still trekking, doing some serious hikes. She was Malaysian and yes, she won the title of Best Asian that day. Wow.

Cusco, Peru: Jan 12th - 15th

2009-01-16T18:43:00.008-05:00

Highlights

- I DYED MY HAIR: I actually wanted big streaks of red. But I ended up getting red highlights... not quite what I wanted, but it's alright for what it is. And the quality isn't all that... if you know anything about getting highlights, the crap way of doing it is by putting a plastic cap on and pulling hair out through little holes. Basically you don't dye the hair near the root, which is what ended up happening to me. But c'est la vie. It's not like I have a job and have to impress anyone other than Mark. :)

- "SEXY WOMAN": Well, that's how you pronounce one of the minor Inca ruins in and around Cusco. We took half a day to visit Tambomachay, Puka Pukara, Qenqo and Sacsayhuaman ("Sexy Woman"). All were fairly small ruins, except for the last which was a pretty decent size overlooking Cusco. [Photos of Tambomachay and us at Sacsayhuaman]

- MEDIUM SIZE RUINS: The next day we upgraded to bigger ruins (still not Machu Picchu just yet). We visited Pisac, an Inca fortress, in the morning. It was so vast and grand with loads of terraces. Each terrace was for growing various kinds of food/plants pending, pending on each terraces' microclimate. We had only anticipated spending an hour there... but ended up spending almost 3 hours! In the afternoon, we made our way to Ollantaytambo. This ruin is actually part of a town. Parts of the ruin make up the village, while the majority is up on a hillside overlooking it. It's quite surreal to see these stone ruins so close to where people live and work. [Photos of me doing crazy poses at Pisac, me standing against the giant Pisac terraces and of Ollantaytambo terraces set against the village]

- 3RD PLACE IN QUIZ NIGHT: At an English-run bar called The Real McCoy, we went specifically for Quiz Night and came in 3rd place!!! Granted, we were given a few answers by a guy who was helping to run the show... hehe. But it was all for charity (Bruce Peru) with proceeds going to provide education to street kids in South America (fee and 10% of all food/drinks). We didn't win anything, except for a slight hangover the next day with all the pisco sours we consumed - hey, we had to drink... it was for the kids!

- FALLEN ANGEL: We stumbled upon this very expensive, yet very cool and unique steakhouse. From the outside, which lured us in, the doors were translucent with a blue glow. Curious, we walked in and found ourselves in this very weird yet chill restaurant... tables were made of bathtubs turned into fishtanks with a glass overlay. And seats were plush beds with a dozen cushions. The artwork was modern and funky, all revolving around angel theme. Anyway, the steaks were absolutely delicious. At 45 Soles ($15), it was expensive in comparison, but eh... it was $15!

Daily Account

- Jan 12th: We arrived late the next morning in Cusco and after visiting a few hostels, we found a great deal at Hostel Amaru... we got a comfy double bed with amazing views (private bathroom, but outside the room just steps away), cable TV and full breakfast... and it was close to the main square. In the afternoon, we took a walk around town, got accosted by a couple dozen people trying to sell us everything but the kitchen sink, bought our general tourist ticket (needed to visit all the surrounding ruins except Machu Picchu), chilled on a balcony on the plaza sipping away at a pisco sour in the sun and then found The Real McCoy, where I killed Mark at Scrabble. The bar was a great find... very relaxed atmosphere and great 2 for 1 happy hour specials. We actually ended up visiting this bar almost every night we were in Cusco! [Photo of me on the balcony at the plaza]

- Jan 13th: Mark woke up again at an ungodly hour and I forced him to sleep in a bit more until 8am. We kicked around the hostel for a bit, watching some American sit-coms, and then made our way to the minor ruins, including "Sexy Woman". I thought they were pretty impressive, but Mark, who isn't really into ruins, thought they were just "eh". That night, we had dinner at the only Indian restaurant in Cusco - Maikhana. We asked the waiter for a recommendation on which of the dishes were spiciest. He couldn't answer, so he brought out the chef. The chef was actually fairly nice and very accommodating... not trying to sell us the most expensive items on the dish. And the food was absolutely delicious! After a pisco sour nightcap at The Real McCoy, we crashed in our bed. [Photo: Meri had a little lamb, little, lamb, little lamb!]

- Jan 14th: We got up fairly early and headed out to the Pisac ruins (1hr by collectivo/bus). The bus dropped us off right at a sign saying the ruins were 7.8km away. Ugh. But luckily, we soon learned that cabs were willing to take you up for a few dollars. Thank goodness, because it would've been at least an hour's walk uphill... and there was more climbing to be done while at Pisac. Again, just absolutely breathtaking! After lunch, we made our way back down by cab and caught another bus to Ollantaytambo (2.5hrs). We climbed most of the way to the top, but decided to forgo a steeper climb just to get the views... we were a bit tired out from walking/climbing around Pisac. At the bottom, there was this fountain where guides would wave their hand through the stream and almost stop the flow of water just like that... and then with a quick flick of their wrist, the flow would start up again. Crazy! Still not sure how they do it, but will have to look it up later. Exhausted, we made our way back to Cusco and went straight to The Real McCoy for Quiz Night. We met some of the charity volunteers running the Quiz Night... and after speaking with one of them (Stephen) at length, I definitely want to hold an event back in NY asking all my friends to bring crayons, pencils, notepads, etc to send to these schools for the street kids.

- Jan 15th: Unfortunately, our room at Hostel Amaru was booked by another couple that night and the other rooms were out of our price range. So we checked into a party hostel (not my idea) at a place called Loki. And then we spent most of the day to plan our journey to Machu Picchu. Since Mark was still pretty exhausted from hiking the Andes and I've decided that altitude climbing just isn't for me, we decided to just take a train there. Turned out, there was a workers' strike that day and all the trains were not running. Because of that, there were no more seats for the next 2 days! ARGH. Not that we didn't like Cusco (well, me more so than Mark), we just just didn't want to lose the days. So we went with a tour agency who would take us there mostly by car. And as a treat to myself, I got red highlights in my hair... a bit on the whim, I know. But eh, not bad. Mark likes it. Dinner was at Fallen Angel and then we had dessert at cafe on the plaza called Trotomundo's... yummy lemon pie! Then we watched Reservoir Dogs back at the hostel with the volume turned up full blast so we could hear the movie over the loud music pumping in the next room, which was the bar area. After the movie, we just crashed... needed to get up early for our 7am start for Machu Picchu.

Lima, Peru: Jan 11th

2009-01-16T18:31:00.003-05:00

Highlights
- SEVEN POUNDS: We treated ourselves to a movie and watched Will Smith's latest, "Seven Pounds". Good movie... I bawled huge tears at the end. I haven't cried like that since "Steel Magnolias"! Anyway, it was in english (very nice) with spanish sub-titles... and the popcorn hit the spot, even though it wasn't doused in butter like we do it back home.

- HOSTEL ESPANA: Just had to make note of this hostel... it was HUGE and decorated like your grandmother (who used to be an art collector) might have done it. Loads of paintings and sculptures everywhere (all fake). And the restaurant on the roof had cool views of the capital... and 3 tortoises just roaming around, nipping at patrons' toes. :)

Daily Account
- Not much to say really. We arrived very early in the morning around 6:45am... so we took a cab to Plaza de Armas (which is the main square) and plopped ourselves down in front of the church steps to figure our our game plan. It was amazingly quite for being the center of a capital city... very few people had woken up yet and it was so tranquil. Anyway, the original thought was to go to Nazca the next day and get a tour by plane over the Nazca Lines... but looking at bus schedules and actual photos (from the Internet), we opted against it. It was going to be too much of a hassle for what we were actually going to see. So we decided to go straight to Cusco instead by plane. It took us a few hours to sort ourselves out with the flight reservations... stupid website only took Visa! Luckily, the tour agent at our hostel hooked us up with a great deal... only $100! Afterwards, we roamed around and found the city to be quite pretty at night with some beautiful architecture.

Huaraz & the Andes, Peru: Jan 6th - 10th, 2008

2009-01-10T09:09:00.006-05:00

Highlights

- LEAVING MARK IN THE ANDES BY HIMSELF: I should´ve just let Mark go by himself from the onset... Instead, I got talked into going on the 3-day hike on the Santa Cruz trail along the Cordillera Blanca mountain range of the Andes. But to be fair, I didn´t think it was going to be that bad. And if I had a proper backpack (one where there´s a belt around your waist, so the weight gets distributed more evenly, instead of all on your shoulders), then perhaps it would´ve been a different story. But on day 1, my back and shoulders gave out and I knew that I couldn´t do it anymore... especially since day 2 was supposed to be even harder up the Puna Union pass. So we made camp and the next morning, I left Mark to his own devices, all by himself. Actually, I knew there were 4 Swiss people and 2 Frenchies on the trial as well... so I knew he was going to be fine.

- WEAKER THAN GRANNY: Or I think that´s what the local was making fun of me for. After leaving Mark, I just followed the trail back to where we started. It was pretty easy (mostly downhill or flat)... up until the last 45 minutes, which was a grueling uphill hike. At one point I got lost and asked a few locals I came upon. Instead of pointing to the windy back and forth road I was on, one of the guys pointed straight up. I shook my head and said (in my poor spanish), "That´s really difficult, no?" He chuckled, pointed at his grandmother already 20 yards up on his recommended path and said something, which I gathered to be... "Even my grandmother can do it. Don´t be such a wuss." Humiliated, I reluctantly followed the granny, who hardly broke a sweat! And apparently she does this every friggin day! I suck.

- ROGER, THE DOG: I adopted a dog along my 2-day hike and named him Roger. A bit fickle at first, switching from trekker to trekker looking for food, but eventually stuck by my side and was my company on my lone hike back... AND he even provided "protection" (he was a small dog) during the night by sleeping outside our tent in the pouring rain! [Photo: Roger is the black & white one. The other dog is another random that was sniffing Roger a bit too much and who ended up chasing away after Roger started whining. There were many other dogs who did the same and we kept having to scare away. Since Roger protected us, we felt we had to do the same.]

- "SWIMMING IN DIARRHEA": The day before the trek, we went to the Monterrey thermal baths... which turned out to be nothing more than small, dingy, tiled rooms with bathtubs. Granted, you fill the tubs with thermal water, but it was really bizarre and kind of gross. But then, we learned of the thermal outdoor pool... oh thank goodness! So we walked up the stairs to the pool and was surprised to see the pool was BROWN! Ummm... We went in anyway, because no one else seemed to mind. But still. Mark was more disgusted than I was and declared we were "swimming in diarrhea". But then, we spotted a gringo, who informed us that the thermal water was brown because of all the minerals. Slightly satisfied, we stayed in... but we were still skeptical.

Daily Account

- Jan 6th: After our 6 hour delay getting into Huaraz, we checked into the Cayesh Guesthouse and spoke to the English owner about trekking Cordillera Blanca. He gave us some great information, told us we really didn´t need a tour agency to guide us and said he would rent us the equipment (tent, sleeping bags, stove). Very cool. The rest of the day, we got some food and just got situated... looking to start the trek the next morning. [Photo: Kid in the Central Market who just plopped himself down on a rolls of toilet paper his mom was selling. So cute!]

- Jan 7th: We woke up and realized that we weren´t as prepared as we thought... so we decided to go the next day. We also took the time to ask for 2nd and 3rd opinions about the trek to make sure we were fully informed, which turned out to be a good thing... as we learned about where we needed to camp and how long it would take from one point to the next. After finishing our food shopping, we headed to Monterrey for a little R&R, which we didn´t quite get, because of the water skepticism. For dinner, Mark tried "cuy" (aka guinea pig). It looked disgusting. Mark said it tasted a bit like chicken (doesn´t everything?), but it wasn´t all that.

- Jan 8th: We got up at 5:45am and made our way to Vaqueria, the start of the trek and befriended Roger (the dog). Very beautiful trail... but after a few hours, I could barely enjoy it. The backpack was digging into my shoulders and I was in agony. And then it started to really rain and I was miserable. I decided I needed to go back. Even when the rain died down and I still knew... we made camp around 4pm, just before the rain came pouring down again for good. Cold and damp, we huddled in our tent chatting and went to sleep by 8pm.

- Jan 9th: I left Mark at 7am and started the hike back to Vaqueria. I was a bit nervous and scared to be by myself, but Roger kept me company. What took us 5 hours, took me 3.5 hrs because it was mostly downhill, except the last bit. But I finally made it... spoke to a group of trekkers with donkeys and a guide, told them how lucky they were to have a donkey carry all of their crap, and then got on a bus back to Huaraz via Yungay. The bus ride was excruciating! All the seats were full, so I had to sit in the aisle, along with another guy. Except the other guy wouldn´t move back (even though I asked). So I was crammed into the front of the aisle between the wall separating us from the bus driver and the other guy´s knees, which were digging into my back. And the aisle was only a foot wide, not wide enough for my shoulders or my ass! I know I'm not a big girl, but I definitely needed a space bigger than 1ft x 2.5 ft... I felt like a chinese contortionist with my body twisted in opposite directions just so I could fit. THREE HOURS I sat like this. Ugh. Once I finally got back to Huaraz, I treated myself to a nice hotel with clean, soft sheets and cable TV to just veg... and all for $15! I got chinese take-out and stayed in my room until check-out at 1pm the next day... :)

- Jan 10th: Mark got back around 5:30pm or so... we returned the equipment to Jon at the Cayesh hostal, who seemed to be on some kind of illegal substance, got dinner and then boarded our overnight bus to Lima.

Trujillo/Huanchaco, Peru: Jan 3rd - 5th, 2009

2009-01-06T15:06:00.017-05:00

Highlights

- SURFING!!!! We tried surfing for the first time... well, I tried in Costa Rica with Deb about 5-6 years ago, but it was such a short lesson from a random guy who had a crush on Deb... so I don´t really like to count that experience. Anyway, I got up on the surf board on my first try! Woohoo! Mark got up on his 2nd... Great time! Definitely want to do it again.

- LUXURY BUS BREAKS DOWN: Leaving Trujillo, we booked our trip on Linea, which is a really nice bus company... and we treated ourselves to 2nd class this time with lounging chairs so we could get a good night´s rest. It was the nicest bus I´ve ever been on... they had an attendant like on a plane, with seat back tables and a film about bus safety! Anyway, all was going well until at 4am, the bus suddenly stopped. We initially thought the bus ran out of gas... and the attendant was asking around for 500 Sols so they could buy some, which sounded strange. But Mark suspected it was the fan belt so we didn´t chip is anything. Regardless, we ended up being 6 hours delayed!

- UGLY PERUVIAN DOGS: The dogs here are hairless and butt ugly. Apparently they were used a "hot water bottles", because of their high internal body heat. Eh, whatever works.

- RUINS: Saw my first ruins! They were for the Moche and Chan Chan tribes, both pre-Inca. Amazing!

Daily Account

- Jan 3rd: We checked into Hotel Colonial and got a great deal... 55 Sols per night, which is $18! And we booked a tour to the Moche and Chan Chan ruins... The Moche ruins were Huaca del Sol and del Luna. Huaca del Sol is your typical pyramid, although it´s in pretty rough shape and you can´t go inside. BUT, we did go inside the Huaca del Luna one, which is actually an upside down pyramid... kings would build a layer and then the next king would build his "palace" on top, covering the older one and hence getting bigger and bigger as you continue to build on top. Pretty cool, but Chan Chan was even cooler! Apparently the Moche tribe was first, then came Chan Chan, then Inca and then the Spanish came and took out everyone.

Anyway, Chan Chan was very exapansive, but Mark kept saying it was nothing like Egypt... I´ve never been to Cairo, so I thought it was amazing. And if Macchu Pichu is supposed to be better, I can´t wait!!!

On the tour, we met an English couple who had dinner and drinks with later that evening. Nothing too special of a night, except for this delicious "diner" run by a German guy who moved to Peru to be with the woman he loves. Awwwww...

- Jan 4th: We wanted to get out in the evening on an overnight bus to Huaraz, but being Sunday... so did everyone else. Basically we got screwed and couldn´t get a bus ticket. So we had to stay the night and try again in the morning. We walked around, watched a movie back at our hotel and pretty much did nothing but relax.

- Jan 5th: Got our bus ticket! Yay! With ticket in hand, we headed to Huanchaco... a small beach town about 20 minutes outside of Trujillo. We went into the first surf shop we found and booked ourselves a surf lesson with a guy named Chico. Apparently, Chico and his brother Omar developed their own method for beginning surfers. I definitely recommend it, because Mark and I were masters at standing up in just under an hour! What fun! Afterwards, we got some dinner and then opened up a bottle of wine and watched the sunset on the beach... awwww. And then we went back to Trujillo to catch the "luxury" overnight bus.

Crossing into Peru / Mancora: Jan 1st-2nd, 2009

2009-01-04T14:54:00.003-05:00

Highlights

- CROSSING THE BORDER: Along with the Canadians and the Aussies, we took a bus to the immigration office in Ecuador to get our exit stamps. Since the bus simply dropped us off, we had to somehow walk another 8 km to cross the border into Peru... AND THEN, make our way to the immigration office on the other side to get our entry stamps. According to the Lonely Planet, the walk was originally just 3 km about a 30 minute walk... WRONG! Luckily, the Aussie girl flagged down a pick-up truck and we all hitched a ride on the back... for free. We like kind strangers. :) Anyway, the guy dropped us off at the border which isn´t really patroled. I don´t think we even needed to go through the whole hoopla with immigration on either side... it´s not like anyone was checking. But better safe than sorry. Once we crossed over, we learned that it was another 3 or 4 or 5 km to the Peruvian office. Blah. This time we sucked it up and got a tuck-tuck motorcab. What a complicated border crossing!

- MANCORA BEACH: A party beach town that´s about 10 years too young for me. Loud music pumping everywhere! And the town itself was nothing special.

Daily Account

- Jan 1st: We crossed into Peru, which took a lot longer than we thought. And once we crossed over, it was another 2.5 hours to Mancora. What a long day! But at least it was warm weather... after being in high altitudes in Ecuador, which caused for very cold days and nights, it was so nice to be able to put on short sleeve shirts and shorts! Anyway, once in Mancora, the place was packed... making it very difficult to find any kind of lodging whatsoever. Mark and I sucked it up and stayed at an uneventful, basic hostal paying a bit more than we wanted at Hostal Casa Norte. And by the time we got there at 9pm, all we wanted to do was eat and crash out. Again, we´re so old!

- Jan 2nd: After a morning walk and a look around the town, we decided that we didn´t really want to spend any more time in Mancora than needed. We´re not really beach people, as we hate being scorched by the sun. So we booked ourselves on an overnight bus that evening leaving for Trujillo and spent the rest of the day on the beach (under an umbrella of course) trying 5 different varieties of Peruvian grande beers. ;) Later, we had the best dinner at a place called Sirena... delicious tuna steaks! The whole dinner back in NYC would´ve cost at least $100 per person. We paid about $35 total. Gotta love South America...

Cuenca, Ecuador: Dec 30th - Jan 1st, 2009

2009-01-04T13:59:00.005-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Highlights
- BURNING OF THE DOLLS: Apparently, in Ecuador, they burn dolls on New Year´s Eve to symbolize burning of the previous year??? In Cuenca, there were a few set-ups of paper maché dolls in various positions... in one area of town, there was a tribute to the Simpsons, which I didn´t quite get. And in another area (where we celebrated 2009), there were dolls set up to be in a classroom... again, I didn´t quite get... perhaps due to my lack of the spanish language. Okay, most likely due to my lack of the language. Anyway, there was a huge bonfire and lots of people setting off fire crackers.

- STUPID TOURISTS: Yeah, we were the stupid tourists... We saw a bunch of masks being sold on the streets. Originally thought they were for the dolls, but then thought otherwise when we saw a few people wearing them. "Perhaps people wear them for NYE!", we thought. So we bought a couple for a $1 each. We were the ONLY ones (along with a couple of other tourists) who wore the masks! Eh, whatever... we wore the badge of stupid tourists with pride. :)

- SHOOTING AN OLD MAN WITH A FIRECRACKER: Mark bought a firecracker wand where it shoots out a spark every second (20 in total) that flies about 5 meters (I´m becoming so euro with this whole meters vs feet thing... ugh). And he was having a shooting war against another local on the other side of the plaza... well, one time... Mark brought his firecracker wand back for a bit more momentum and distance, but didn´t realize the wand had shot one backwards and hit a poor old bystander (and left a burn mark on his jacket)! The old man turned out to be okay with it and laughed it off... mostly because he got to feel up this 19 year old girl, who we had met up with earlier. [Photo isn´t of Mark, but of a fellow traveler... but it´s an example of the firecracker wand.]

Daily Account
- Dec 30th: We left Banos for Cuenca, which was an 8 hour bus ride... and after visiting about 10 different hostals, we finally found one that was both economical and available! After a tiring day of travel (even though I slept all the way on the bus), we simply ate dinner and crashed. We´re so old... :( The hostal was pretty empty, which was worrisome... Would there be much of a NYE party in this town?

-Dec 31st: We took the day to explore the city... and try to fix the mini laptop we bought, but Mark screwed up royally. The computer repair shop originally told us 20 minutes... it took 6 hours! And the laptop still isn´t fixed! Blah. Anyway, the city is quite cool... very colonial and has apparently won UNESCO´s world heritage award for keeping it´s original charm and culture. The main market was interesting with roasted whole pigs everywhere, along with raw whole chickens. I´ve never NOT wanted to eat chicken so much in my life. Yech! We also checked out the modern art museum, which had a tribute to Herman Crespo Toral (an artist from Cuenca who died earlier in 2008). If you care, his watercolor work was pretty amazing. Anyway, we treated ourselves to some fondue, picked up our nonworking laptop and came back to the Hostal... to find 4 other travelers also looking for some NYE fun - Dennis & Wensus from Canada and Sophie & Dominic (siblings) from Adeladaide. We walked around looking for some fun bars... none to be had, unfortunately. Seriously sad. We found a hookah bar where we chilled and drank for a bit... and finally decided to get some beer to go and roam the streets, setting off our firecrackers. That´s when we found all the staged dolls. Anyway, it was a fun sight to see, but all in all, it wasn´t the best NYE ever... but I don´t think I would´ve traded it in for one back at home. ;)

- Jan 1st: A bit tired, not really hungover, Mark woke me up at the ungodly hour of 7am!!! Seriously, he needs to learn to let me sleep!!! WTF?!?!?! Anyway, we got some breakfast and then I went back to bed. :) But I was soon awoken because the 4 other travelers were getting ready to head to Peru... and Mark & I thought it would be best to travel in numbers when crossing the sketchy border.

Banos (Redux): Dec 28th - 30th

2008-12-31T13:35:00.002-05:00

Executive Summary
- RELAX, RELAX, RELAX: After trying to climb Cotopaxi, we came back to Banos and got a massage (one hour for $15) and a steak dinner (excellent chateaubriand for $6.50).

- SPIT ROASTED GUINEA PIGS: Ew. Enough said.

Daily Account
- Dec 28th: We were completely and utterly exhausted after Cotopaxi. The ride back to Banos was mostly silent as we were all too tired to speak. About 2.5 hrs later, we got back to the Rain Forestur office... Dino recommended a pig-skin street food vendor for a little snack. Not sure how I felt about eating pig skin, but figured why not? It sure as hell beat the spit-roasted guinea pigs we saw being served on the way. Yeah, so disgusting! I could see it´s ears and teeth! EW. The pig skin turned out to be alright... it kind of grew on you, but I don´t think I´ll be ordering one of those again any time soon. Anyway, we picked up our bags from Plantos y Blancos (where we stored them while at Cotopaxi) and decided to switch over to Hostal Transylvania for $6 pp per night with free breakfast and unlimited Internet. Still can´t get over how cheap lodging is. After our massages, we relaxed a bit... and then went out for the steak dinner with Dino at Mamma Ines (great food) and a few beers at Jack Rock Cafe (a take on Hard Rock, but definitely not as cheesy)... followed by late-night shwarma and salchipapas (wieners & fries).

- Dec 29th: We had decided to spend the day relaxing and catching-up... email, blog, housekeeping, etc. We slept in until 8am (I know! Early, but that´s considered sleeping in after having woken up at midnight the night before to climb a volcano)... and watched The Dead Zone with Anthony Michael Hall. I´ve never watched that show and probably won´t ever again, but I felt it was the best thing I´ve watched in a month, which made me realize how much I miss my Gossip Girl, Grey´s Anatomy, House, etc. Sigh. Anyway, as I said, the day was about catching up... but later that evening, we decided to go on a 45 minute hike up the mountain overlooking Banos, to have dinner at a resort at the top. We expected a leisurely hike... oh, but no. It was just as steep as Cotopaxi, but thankfully, we didn´t have the altitude or the freezing cold snow to deal with. Still, we were pretty sweaty by the time we arrived at the Luna Runtun resort and I couldn´t wait for a cold beer. The views from the resort´s Cafe del Cielo were beautiful, which made the intense but short hike worth it. By the way, the resort itself is amazing! Over 70 immaculate rooms, 4 thermal jacuzzis/pools, great food and excellent views of the Tungu-something volcano (which you can hearing rumbling all day) and of Banos. If we weren´t unemployed, I would´ve wanted to stay there for $70 a night, per person. www.lunaruntun.com After dinner, we came back to the hostel and watched Stardust with Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes and Robert de Niro... I really liked the movie, which is an adult fairy tale. Mark thought it was okay... a bit chick-flikish.

- Dec 30th: Nothing really to report... we ate our yummy free breakfast and made our way to the bus terminal for the 8 hour journey to Cuenca.

Cotopaxi: Dec 26th - 28th

2008-12-28T18:08:00.005-05:00

- The VERY steep hike from the parking lot to the Refuge

- Dino and I finally making it to the Refuge (Mark & Amy were about 20 minutes behind us)

- Me in all my gear!

- Views on the way back down

- View of Cotopaxi

I´d like to preface this entry by saying that this was Mark´s bright idea... not mine... :)

Executive Summary
- COTOPAXI: A snow-capped volcano that is 5,867 meters high, the second highest summit in Ecuador and the closest to the sun... and the highest active volvano in the world. To climb it, you need to hire a guide, who will take you to the top starting at midnight with an ice pick and cramp-ons (spikes for the shoes). The trip takes about 2-3 days... best to do it in 3, because you need to get there early and let your body get accustom to the altitude change - i.e. higher you are, the less oxygen you have, which can lead to altitude sickness (similar to motion sickness, so I hear). And the view from the top is supposed to be amazing, because you´re above the clouds.

- THE HIKE UP: Mark and I joined up with 2 others for the hike up (Dino from San Fran and Amy from England)... and as a result, we had 2 guides with us. We were supposed to start at midnight (something about the sun melting the snow, so must go at night???), but it was raining/sleeting. So we left at 1am instead. I knew within the first 30 minutes that this was NOT for me. I was extremely cold and the steep gradient disagreed with my out-of-shape muscles. But I perservered and didn´t complain... when hiking, I don´t like to talk (which Mark seems to like). Instead, I just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. And actually, I did better than Mark, as he kept asking for rest stops along the way. Anyway, we didn´t make it to the top unfortunately. Dino suffered from altitude sickness and we all took the opportunity/excuse to go back down with him... but we did well. We had made it almost to the top, with 300 meters to go, which doesn´t sound like a lot, but it´s another TWO HOURS! That´s how steep it was.

- THE HIKE DOWN: Mark and I were harnessed in with one of the guides (Milton), while the other 2 in our group were with the other guide Diego. One assumes that going down is easier than going up. It was just as hard! We were using all of our leg muscles (and arms for the ice pick) to make sure we didn´t slip down the mountain side, which as mentioned, is ridiculously steep. About a third of the way down though, Mark´s cramp-ons broke... so Milton told us to slide down on our backsides, while he controled our pace using the rope, harness and his body weight. THAT was very fun! We slid down about 200-300 meters over untouched snow... Mark hated it though. His harness was wrapped around his legs and his male bits. So every time Milton would tug on the rope to slow us down, it would squeeze Mark´s male bits. ;)

Daily Account
- Dec 26th: We used the same tour agency as the one we used for white water rafting - Rain Forestur. (Don´t ever use these people! It´s recommened by Lonely Planet, but their horrible! The equipment was very poor quality.) Anyway, Mark, Dino and I left Banos in a truck, stopped in Lazo for ice cream (the town´s claim to fame???) and made our way to the Cotopaxi national park and our "hotel", which is the word Rain Forestur used. The proper description should´ve been a log cabin. It was absolutely fine, but it was hard to justify the $10 per night, per person rate, when we were staying in actual hotels for only $6. Anyway, the "hotel" was at 3,500 km, which was the first step towards acclimatization. We went on a 1.5 our hike, which definitely had me huffing and puffing for the first bit until I got used to the pressure. Afterwards, we had dinner that our guide cooked, talked a bit over candlelight in our cabin teaching Diego a few english words and called it a night at 8pm!!!

- Dec 27th: We took another hike to a lagoon, which was an oversized pond - nothing to write home about... and then met up with the 4th member of our climbing group Amy and the 2nd guide Milton. The next step towards acclimatization was spending time at the Refuge, which is at 4,800 meters... and that was another cabin, but oversized and ridiculously crowded, filled with other climbers. We were dropped off at the parking lot and then had to make our way up a very steep hill for 100 meters to the refuge with all of our gear. That was a wake up call, providing us a glimpse of what was to come. Guide Diego accidentally left our cramp-ons down in the parking lot, so he had to do the trip twice... ugh. Because our hike was supposed to start at midnight, along with everyone else, we all TRIED to go to bed by 6pm. I was one of the lucky ones and got about an hour´s sleep. When sleeping in a room with 50 other people in bunk beds, it´s never quiet.

Dec 28th: We woke up at 11pm for our midnight ascent. It was raining/sleeting, so we postponed to 1am. Although, there was a hard core German tour group, who apparently have been visiting all sorts of high altitude mountains in Ecuador, that started their climb in the less-than-ideal conditions. Bundled up, our group was the last set to start the journey. And being that it was dark, we had headlamps to light our paths... but the quality, as mentioned, was poor. I was thankful that it was pretty dark... having always suffered from a bit of vertigo, the steep drop offs along our path would definitely have freaked me out. The actual ascent was brutal... cold and steep, our plan was to go at a slow and steady pace. Our guide Milton had a different plan. It was as if he had placed a bet on which guide could get their group up the mountain the fastest. Since we were harnessed in together, I could constantly feel the tug of his rope almost pulling me up the mountain. After the first hour of tugging and me trying to catch up, I finally realized how silly it was... and that WE (Mark and I) needed to control the pace. So I tugged back and made him slow down, but it still wasn´t enough. We were exhausted. Sometimes, every step I took, I slid back down about 2 steps. Ugh. At about 5.5 km, Mark had had enough of the ridiculously quick pace of our guide... and his impatience for our need to rest every now and then. Mark and Milton yelled at each other for a bit, while the rest of us tried to just calm both sides down. No one really won the argument... we just continued on... well, until Dino came down with altitude sickness and we all gratefully turned back.

All in all, I was happy we turned back. I still got some great photos above the clouds (will post later)... and I didn´t have to climb another 2 hours in the freezing cold. :)

Christmas in Banos, Ecuador: Dec 23rd - 26th

2008-12-25T18:50:00.005-05:00

Executive Summary

- BANOS: It´s a popular vacation spot for locals and tourists... known for its thermal baths, the town also offers loads of adventure tours.

- CHRISTMAS DINNER: No restaurants in Banos seems to serve a typical Christmas dinner, despite there being a plethora of non-Ecuadorean establishments... well, except for one - Le Petit Auberge. It was a bit on the expensive side, but hey... it´s Christmas! The only downside is that the Christmas Dinner was only offered on Christmas Eve. Anyway, great food and we got turkey! Yay! Mark was a bit bummed that he couldn´t get gravy though. But that was made up for by the present I gave him... a cool backpacker-ish leather watch. :) Mark´s present to me? A slave for a day on Christmas Day... hehe.

- CHRISTMAS DAY WHITEWATER RAFTING: It was a 3 hour rafting trip down Level 3 and 4 rapids. It was Mark´s first time and now he´s hooked. So much fun... probably because we fell out twice - both times he faults me for. ;) The second time, actually, the boat flipped over... that was a bit scary as everyone fell underneath the boat, but still exhilirating.

Daily Account

- Hostel: Plantas y Blancos for $8.50 pp. Very cute and very well run hostel. According to Frommers though, they have a No-Ecuadorean policy, which is a bit disturbing. Our room has a great view of a waterfall as well... and the bathroom is so nice and clean! AND, we get a dresser! I don´t have to feel like I´m living out of my bag... :)

- Dec 23rd: After checking into the hostel around 5 or 6pm... and just relaxing for a bit, we ventured out and got dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hostel. Very good food at a cozy and homey place... meat was very yummy. Then we walked around for a bit. Everything looked a bit dead, probably because of the holidays and apparently being during the week. Supposedly, this place gets hopping on the weekends.

- Dec 24th: Took a steam bath offered by the hostel. Basically, you sit in a steam box with just your head poking out for a few minutes... and then you wash down with cold water and get back into the steam box. This process is repeated 5-6 times. I loved it. Mark hated it. Eh, to each his own. We did some odds and ends around the city... then went for a bike ride through the hills/mountains, along a route where you follow the river and see about a dozen waterfalls. Muy bonito! Most of it was downhill, thank goodness... and at the end, we jumped on a bus back to Banos for $1 pp. Then, we had our Christmas Dinner, where we had about 3 glasses of wine each... grew very tired and passed out in our room by 9pm!

- Dec 25th: Whitewater rafting! Our guide was an Ecuadorean named Bladimir Lennon - anyone else see the humor in this? We went down Level 3 & 4 rapids... Mark and I were the first ones to fall in from our raft, but we quickly recovered. Unfortunately, because we weren´t quite the rafting experts, we couldn´t go down the Level 5 rapids which looked amazing... but I could definitely see why we walked those portions. Towards the end of the trip was when our raft flipped over and everyone fell out... I again was lucky and found myself next to the raft... and was thankful that I wasn´t one of the other ´passengers´who found herself stuck underneath the raft and a rock! Mark panicked a bit when he started floating down river and thought he was going to die... ummm, yeah. Anyway, we both loved the experience and will look for other rafting opps in maybe Peru or Chile.

Dec 26th: Made our way to Cotopaxi... check out the next blog entry.

Quito, Ecuador: Dec 21st - 23rd

2008-12-25T18:26:00.003-05:00

Executive Summary
- TRIP TO THE EQUATOR: Very cool... witnessed a test to show how water drains clockwise and counter clockwise, pending on which hemisphere you´re in. Not sure how factual that is, but my eyes were convinced! And because of the gravitational pull (again, not really sure how scientific it is), you can balance an egg on the head of a nail... which I did (was the only one in our group) and won an official certificate for my visit. :) We also learned about the indigenous people of Ecuador and how the men´s normal dress was nothing but a piece of string wrapped around their waist... with the hoo-ha pulled up and strapped underneath the string!

- TELEFERIQO: Took a cable car up to 4,000km, which is ridiculously high up... so much so that you can feel it when breathing... the pressure makes it a bit uncomfortable, which is a bit worrying since we´re going to climb Cotopaxi (2nd highest summit in Ecuador) and that´s almost 6,000km! Anyway, great views of the city, which I´ll post later.

- CITY: The main areas are the New City and Old City, which is pretty self-explaining... The Old City is quite beautiful, in that all the old buildings are untouched (by law).

Detailed Account
- Hostel: Le Galeria for $8pp - not bad, basic, but had hot water and free internet. The hot water was amazing, especially after having little to no shower on the Galapagos boat.

- Two nights in Quito... First night, we met up with Holger, Gerda and the Kimberleys for an all you can eat Mongolian BBQ buffet for only $6! YUMMY! Second night, Holger & Gerda left... so it was just us and the Kimberleys for dinner at the Fox Cave for seafood and ceviche, which was alright... nothing special. After dinner, we had dessert at this placed called the Coffeetree and I ordered an Irish Whiskey for $5.50, which is quite expensive in South American terms. Mark gave me a disapproving look for that. Oh well.

Galapagos Cruise: Dec 14th-21st

2008-12-22T09:13:00.005-05:00

Executive Summary
- 8-day cruise on a 10 passenger boat called Rumba.
- ROOMS: Ridiculously tiny! But knew that going in...
- BATHROOMS: Very little water flow. It took me about 20 minutes just to wash my hair! Mark only showered once, because of little water... ew. And the SMELL!!! We had to switch rooms, as soon as one came available, because the stench was so bad in our original room, which we learned was because the sewage line ran underneath my bed!
- FOOD: We were fed 3 times a day, with a mid-afternoon snack. And actually it really wasn´t bad. Although, I found the meat to be too salty so I gave my portions to Mark, who´s now complaining that I´m the reason he´s started putting on weight. TMI - Not sure if it was the salt water, hot sauce or what, but I had some serious stomach issues! I think I´ve lost a few pounds as a result.
- SIGHTS: Loads of sea lions and not scared to come up close. We actually swam/played with one while snorkeling! There were also ugly looking land and marine lizards, red and blue-footed boobies (made Mark promise not to get a t-shirt saying "I love boobies"), giant tortoises, fur seals... AND a pod of dolphins that swam along side our boat for about 15 minutes. That was truly amazing!

Detailed Account (more for my benefit)
PASSENGERS:
- There were two sets of passengers... 6 who did the southern islands with us then left after 4 days and a different 6 who did the northern islands. Holger & Gerda were an older but very fun Danish couple who were with us the entire time
- Southern Islands: VERY FUN group... we all got along so well! Chris/Caitlin (Alaska), Chris/Debbie (Manchester), Kimberley 1 (Scotland) and Kimberley 2 (Sydney)
- Northern Islands: Eclectic group, to say the least. Hugo/Inge Lisa (Denmark - celebrated 25th anniversary on the boat), Mike/Marguerite (U.S.), Anna (Sweden - 21 yr old truck driver with high pitched voice, going to Sao Paolo to meet her birth mom) and Helena (Sweden - 21 yr old security guard at a book shop??)

BOAT CREW
- Franklin: So-so english. Probably memorized what he had to say on each island, because every time we asked him a question, he just laughed and ignored it! And every island was "very interessen", where we were said we could go "to the snorkeling" or "to the walking" or "to the swimming". ;)
- Augustine: Spoke no english... but was a darn good chef that we definitely tipped separately
- Captain: Didn´t see him much, but he definitely drove us through some rough seas during the middle of the night. Holger, fellow passenger, fell out of bed once!
- What´s his face: Spoke the best english... kept to himself
- Daniel: The Cassanova, who hooked up with a passenger from both sets of groups! His MO - walking around in nothing but his towel and walking into girls´cabins at night looking to "close their windows"

ISLANDS VISITED
- Bachos Beach
- Mosquera: TONS of sea lions
- Santa Fe
- Espanola: BEAUTIFUL beach... very picturesque and where the sea lion swam with us
- Floreana: aka Post Office Bay where you put post cards into a bag in a barrel and wait for someone else visiting to look through who´s going to the same destination city as the post card... and will deliver it for you! I picked up one for Seoul, South Korea.
- Santa Cruz: Disappointed that we came back to the island that we originally started from... but it offered us a chance to have a night out drinking at Bongo and The Rock, where we closed down the bar! The next day, the first group departed and we got the new batch in.
- Sombrero Chino: Chinese hat in spanish
- Bartolome: Red beach with loads of mosquitoes... and saw more of Holger than I wanted to see! Also saw a few small penguins.
- Santiago
- Rabido: Youngest of all the Galapagos Islands

Quito to Galapagos - Dec 12th & 13th

2008-12-13T19:56:00.005-05:00

We got into Quito at 1am... and decided to stay the night at the airport, since our flight to the Galapagos was so early in the morning. VERY uncomfortable... slept on seats pushed together, lots of people conversing next to us even in the middle of the night and finally the loud speaker going off with some kind of announcement. Needless to say, we didn´t get much shut eye.

The flight from Quito to the Galapagos was a complete mess... we were delayed by 45 min... and then rerouted... and finally didn´t arrive until 4 hours later. I, fortunately, didn´t really feel the frustration, since I took an antihistamine that knocked me out (I got bit on the eye by a bug and took Benadryl to reduce the swelling!)

Finally arrived in Galapagos - yay warm weather! Amazing... love it! We´re staying with my friend Teresa, who I know from my first advertising agency job and who I played soccer with.

TODAY (14th) - Mark, Teresa and I went diving with an company called Macarron. Fantastic! We saw hammerheads, white and black tip sharks, all sorts of rays, turtles, sea lions, etc... AMAZING!!!

Tonight, we´re going to enjoy a few beers at the Bongo, THE bar to go to on Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora) Island. And tomorrow morning, Mark and I are going on an 8-day boat cruise around all of Galapagos. The boat is called Rumba, in case anyone wants to do a quick Google search. Anyway, no Internet on board... so it´s radio silence until after the cruise...

PHOTOS!!! Sorry there aren´t more... slow internet connection. More soon, I promise!

Back in Bogota - Dec 11th

2008-12-13T19:42:00.003-05:00

Mark and I needed to come back to Bogota to catch the 9:30pm plane to Quito... and from there we´ll need to take a 7:30am flight to the Galapagos.

We had about 4-5 hours to kill in Bogota... so here are the highlights:
- Juan Valdez chain coffee - just likes Starbucks, but not as bitter
- The Gold Museum - as you can suspect, lots of gold (picture of Mark at museum)

- Shopping for sweaters, because it´s COLD... where´s the warm weather? I didn´t sign up for this!
- Big festival in the main Plaza Bolivar with beautiful Christmas decorations

So we decided to get a taxi at 6:15pm for the airport... we should´ve left much earlier. CRAZY traffic! There was some kind of bicycle festival, where they closed down half the lanes for cyclists. It took us 1.5 hours, when it´s supposed to take 20 minutes! Mark was stressed out... I, surprisingly, was pretty calm about it. But in the end, we made it on time. Yay!

More Villa de Leyva

2008-12-10T17:54:00.002-05:00

Last night, we cooked dinner (sausage, broccoli, mashed potatoes)... AND I made a birthday cake for myself. ;) Unfortunately, there was no oven, so I had to make do with a double-boiler over the stove. Let´s just say that the cake didn´t turn out very nice, but it sure was tasty.

Today, Mark and I did a 6 hour hike to Iguaque to see a lake, which was highly disappointing (small and brown water). But the view was beautiful and we got some exercise, much needed after the large dinner.

A proper birthday dinner is in store for tonight... and a shower... FINALLY! I know... disgusting... haven´t had a shower since Saturday!

Villa de Leyva, Colombia

2008-12-09T17:53:00.005-05:00

So after finally landing in Bogota, I checked into a place called Platypus, which is considered a backpacker´s haven. Determined to try and enter the backpacker community, I put on a happy-go-lucky face (even though I had been traveling for 31 hours) and started being social.

And as it turned out, it wasn´t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I thought I would come across as some lame stalker. My Best Asian reputation obviously preceded me... :)

Anyway, I met some people from Quebec, Texas (a Longhorn!), France, Stoke, London, San Fran... and learned to play Shithead (card game) and some version of Spoof, but with dice. Next thing you know, it was 1am... and I realized how easy it´s been for Mark to get caught up in all the fun.

This morning, Sarah (a girl I met who´s from Sydney) and I took the 4+ hour journey to meet Mark in Villa de Leyva - a very cute and tranquil colonial town. Apparently, we had missed a huge, week long, debaucherous festival by a couple of days, which Mark thoroughly enjoyed... well, not THAT much.

We´re currently staying in this B&B called El Solar. The owner Martha is very sweet and very motherly. So I feel quite safe. Actually, I haven´t felt unsafe at all so far... everyone has been really nice and very helpful, even with my horrible Spanish. Next time, I must try and learn the language prior to traveling, instead of picking up Spanish for Dummies and thinking I could learn by osmosis on the plane.

Alright... I´m off to cook dinner and make my own birthday cake... I miss everyone!

Main Square in Villa de Leyva:

My Birthday Celebration (left to right: my b-day cake, with Sarah, with Host Martha and friendly kid whose name I forget)

31 hours to Bogota

2008-12-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

31 hours after getting on the plane at JFK, I have FINALLY landed in Bogota! Stupid Orbitz gave me only an hour to connect in Aruba - 1 hour to get off the plane, pick up bags, go through customs and check-in for another international flight for Bogota. Ugh.

Anyway, I had to stay overnight in Aruba, which isn´t all that bad if you really think about it. But then I had to get up at the crack off dawn to get an 8:30am flight to Miami and THEN catch another flight to Bogota. Blah!

But I´m finally here... yay! Joining Mark tomorrow at Villa de Leyva, which is a 3.5 hr bus ride away. More traveling for me...

Bon Voyage!

2008-11-25T01:09:00.010-05:00

In less than 11 hours, I'll be on a plane to Bogota, Colombia... woohoo! I'm looking forward to this adventure, but there are two things I'll definitely miss - my friends and Levain Bakery (home of the best chocolate chip cookies ever!).

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to my "Bon Voyage" party on Friday night... here are a few photos for your enjoyment. I'm going to try and upload the rest of them onto Facebook.

Travel Route

2008-01-29T11:39:00.000-05:00

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