1- After being stuck in Cusco waiting for riots to break on the road to Puno (Lake Titicaca), we made some arrangments for alternative transport. Truck driver Guido stuffed five gringos in his ride and we set out on backroads for 10 hours, stopping only for a little snack of sheep and potatoes and a couple of road blockades set by fierce and adament indigenous women.
2- Always ride the cheapest transport if you want to be a part of drug busts in the middle of the night.
3- Today, after a confused and hilarious exchange of broken Spanish, we helped our Chilean old lady friend sneak bras and underwear over the Chile/Argentina border.
4- And sadly, more to rack up our claims for travel insurance as we found ourselves cashless and camera-less after a bus ride to the border of Peru and Chile.
30.10.08
Marks of the Developed World
1- Bike paths
2- Art expos
3- The fashion mullet
4- Lack of potholes
5- Organized traffic (aka people stop for pedestrians)
6- Toilet seats
7- Mattress pads, fitted (& matching) sheets and legit pillows
8- Youth projects
9- Framed art vs. pasted gas station ads for decor
10- Asian tourists
11- Refridgerated meat
12- Skinny jeans & trendy dress
13- Less street dogs
14- Sadly, whiter skin
15- Less food for more money
2- Art expos
3- The fashion mullet
4- Lack of potholes
5- Organized traffic (aka people stop for pedestrians)
6- Toilet seats
7- Mattress pads, fitted (& matching) sheets and legit pillows
8- Youth projects
9- Framed art vs. pasted gas station ads for decor
10- Asian tourists
11- Refridgerated meat
12- Skinny jeans & trendy dress
13- Less street dogs
14- Sadly, whiter skin
15- Less food for more money
20.10.08
Gringo Crepes for Sale!
"if you don´t know the lingo, buy a crepe from a gringo!"
This is indeed the slogan for our booming new business...Gringo Crepes.
Hilarious, but strangly and somewhat fitting perhaps...
This I suppose is what happens when your stuck in a tourist mecca for too long (still waiting for Lalias debit card to come) with no money but a wealth of ideas and just enough insanity.
Good news... we broke even and made a whole $.33!
Our dreams of funding our travels by selling crepes wherever we go were slightly dampened by the lack of monetary success upon first attempt but the dreaming continues... french toast perhaps?
Though the profits were lacking, the laughs however were not.
This is indeed the slogan for our booming new business...Gringo Crepes.
Hilarious, but strangly and somewhat fitting perhaps...
This I suppose is what happens when your stuck in a tourist mecca for too long (still waiting for Lalias debit card to come) with no money but a wealth of ideas and just enough insanity.
Good news... we broke even and made a whole $.33!
Our dreams of funding our travels by selling crepes wherever we go were slightly dampened by the lack of monetary success upon first attempt but the dreaming continues... french toast perhaps?
Though the profits were lacking, the laughs however were not.
Morning Tea
We are not used to being spoiled like this...
A friendly knock at our tent and a welcome world with hand delivered tea every morning!
This is just one of the many delights of our last trek...the Salkantay Trek that took us to Machu Pichu.
We strongly debated going the cheap/quicker (though really not that cheap) route to the big destination but had to remind ourselves we are here to take in and enjoy, not check things off the good ol´list.
A hard bargained $160 got us an awesome group turned family for a week, surprisingly good Peruvian meals plus tea time (popcorn, cookies, and tea every afternoon), Edwin (our softspoken, very knowledgable, kind guide who reminds us of a little boy), awesome natural hot springs, tons of microclimates, 177 black fly bites on one leg (true!), and horses to carry our packs!
Machu Pichu was incredible... we kind of expected it to be cool but just what we´ve seen so many times in pictures, but it was unbelievable. Thank goodness too because the 1,000 step hike up was far from leisurly. The Incas are ridiculous... I´ve never been so intrigued by history or ruins for that matter- well worth the walk, the crowds, and our now lack of sleep due to uncontrolable itching!
A friendly knock at our tent and a welcome world with hand delivered tea every morning!
This is just one of the many delights of our last trek...the Salkantay Trek that took us to Machu Pichu.
We strongly debated going the cheap/quicker (though really not that cheap) route to the big destination but had to remind ourselves we are here to take in and enjoy, not check things off the good ol´list.
A hard bargained $160 got us an awesome group turned family for a week, surprisingly good Peruvian meals plus tea time (popcorn, cookies, and tea every afternoon), Edwin (our softspoken, very knowledgable, kind guide who reminds us of a little boy), awesome natural hot springs, tons of microclimates, 177 black fly bites on one leg (true!), and horses to carry our packs!
Machu Pichu was incredible... we kind of expected it to be cool but just what we´ve seen so many times in pictures, but it was unbelievable. Thank goodness too because the 1,000 step hike up was far from leisurly. The Incas are ridiculous... I´ve never been so intrigued by history or ruins for that matter- well worth the walk, the crowds, and our now lack of sleep due to uncontrolable itching!
19.10.08
until today...
never have i ever woken up to a field of wild horses, trapped in by a peruvian fog.
surely this is not "fake" life.
surely the "real world" is no more real than this glaciated valley.
i hear the cracking of the snow.
i feel a cold wind as it brushes our rain fly.
my hands are frozen.
my feet are wet in the stream.
dear God,
i see you in the water.
dare i jump in?
to possibly make me feel more alive?
dare i ride one of these horses bareback? or would that just make me dead?
oh wow.
now they are stampeding.
good thing i decided to sit and journalize on a rock.
not much more could contribute to my alive-ness.
thanks for these friends... for alena, laura, lalia.
for what we accomplished yesterday. 15800 feet... dizzy from the height
of punta union pass, achey from the same and sore today (a memory possibly. my muscles did not want to forget that scree and talus climb until they were blue in the face... blue like the lagooon at the top).
thanks Jesus for our DTR. calm. cool. collected. rational... neccessary.
traveling with people... hard at times - difference of pace, personality, opinion, tastes, preference.
some need to be right and speak up, some are afraid to be wrong and never do, and then there are others (eh hem) who never want to ruffle anyone's feathers and so freely get trampled all over... a lot we all need to work on...
and i am no better.
and i would never trade slighly hard relational dilemmas for the "easiness" (aka do whatever i want, when i want it) of traveling solo.
never have i ever woken up to a field of wild horses, trapped in by a peruvian fog.
surely this is not "fake" life.
surely the "real world" is no more real than this glaciated valley.
i hear the cracking of the snow.
i feel a cold wind as it brushes our rain fly.
my hands are frozen.
my feet are wet in the stream.
dear God,
i see you in the water.
dare i jump in?
to possibly make me feel more alive?
dare i ride one of these horses bareback? or would that just make me dead?
oh wow.
now they are stampeding.
good thing i decided to sit and journalize on a rock.
not much more could contribute to my alive-ness.
thanks for these friends... for alena, laura, lalia.
for what we accomplished yesterday. 15800 feet... dizzy from the height
of punta union pass, achey from the same and sore today (a memory possibly. my muscles did not want to forget that scree and talus climb until they were blue in the face... blue like the lagooon at the top).
thanks Jesus for our DTR. calm. cool. collected. rational... neccessary.
traveling with people... hard at times - difference of pace, personality, opinion, tastes, preference.
some need to be right and speak up, some are afraid to be wrong and never do, and then there are others (eh hem) who never want to ruffle anyone's feathers and so freely get trampled all over... a lot we all need to work on...
and i am no better.
and i would never trade slighly hard relational dilemmas for the "easiness" (aka do whatever i want, when i want it) of traveling solo.
7.10.08
South American Mess
Officially... we are a South American Mess!
Laura has chronic diarrhea and a stolen camera.
Lalia has blisters and identity theft.
Jordan has an earache, a spider bite on her butt, and no money (still).
However... still in high spirits but thank you for your concern
Laura has chronic diarrhea and a stolen camera.
Lalia has blisters and identity theft.
Jordan has an earache, a spider bite on her butt, and no money (still).
However... still in high spirits but thank you for your concern
2.10.08
Our Path
Places We´ve Found Ourselves...
1. Banos- canyoning (rapelling and ziplining down waterfalls), one heck of a hilarious 35 mile bike ride through the Andes passing waterfalls every 30 minutes to a neighboring town
2. Casa Victoria- some more time finishing up Spanish classes in Quito and hanging out with our friends at Casa
3. To the Coast- found ourselves in Puerto Lopez, a dusty little fishing village after a torturous but memorable for sure 11 hour overnight bus ride
3. Montenita- we spent about a week in this hippie surfer town. I ended getting to work with Gustavo, this hilarious ex famous Argentine rock star turned chef at a really cool restaurant in town. The girls (and i for a day) got jobs teaching english at some schools in neighboring towns which was a sight in itself considering Lalia and I barely speak Spanish!
4. Worked down the coast to Peru- more overnight bus rides but good news... Peruvians buses are delux (hot empanadas at 3am!)
5. Mancora- another couple days at the beach (rough life huh)
6. Huanchaco- our hostel, an awesome group of people, surfing, another cooking gig for me, and my first dose of legit travel sickness (you know what that means) reeled us in for almost a week
7. Now we find ourselves just outside of Huaraz, the icecream and trekking capital of Peru learning our fare share of S. American inconvenience in the form of broken down transportation at 12,000 ft. Better luck tomorrow getting to the trailhead of our 4 day trek through the Cordillera Blancas!
1. Banos- canyoning (rapelling and ziplining down waterfalls), one heck of a hilarious 35 mile bike ride through the Andes passing waterfalls every 30 minutes to a neighboring town
2. Casa Victoria- some more time finishing up Spanish classes in Quito and hanging out with our friends at Casa
3. To the Coast- found ourselves in Puerto Lopez, a dusty little fishing village after a torturous but memorable for sure 11 hour overnight bus ride
3. Montenita- we spent about a week in this hippie surfer town. I ended getting to work with Gustavo, this hilarious ex famous Argentine rock star turned chef at a really cool restaurant in town. The girls (and i for a day) got jobs teaching english at some schools in neighboring towns which was a sight in itself considering Lalia and I barely speak Spanish!
4. Worked down the coast to Peru- more overnight bus rides but good news... Peruvians buses are delux (hot empanadas at 3am!)
5. Mancora- another couple days at the beach (rough life huh)
6. Huanchaco- our hostel, an awesome group of people, surfing, another cooking gig for me, and my first dose of legit travel sickness (you know what that means) reeled us in for almost a week
7. Now we find ourselves just outside of Huaraz, the icecream and trekking capital of Peru learning our fare share of S. American inconvenience in the form of broken down transportation at 12,000 ft. Better luck tomorrow getting to the trailhead of our 4 day trek through the Cordillera Blancas!
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