HugsHandShakeshi5s

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Brittany’s Last Leg of South America: Peru

Shortly after Machu Picchu, Katie returned to California to guide on the American river.Brittany and I decided to take a route in Peru, less traveled. After a quick visit to Ayacucho and Huancayo, We based ourselves in Tarma; a city that I believe to be a good representation of life in the Peruvian Sierra. It is a city with access to many commodities.

The streets are full of market vendors selling an abundant variety of items: you can buy clothes, electronics, and even some foreign food.You can buy dog food and dog poison (bought to kill dog accused of eating a chicken) at the same place. There is beautiful and cheap produce, pirated DVDs, blender vendors, shoe and clothing repair, stationary, and so on. When traveling the cheapest place to eat is always in the markets.

The environment of this Peruvian city feels rustic, yet urban and modern at the same time. Many women wear big skirts with many layers beneath.They keep their hair long and in braids, atop their head is always an ornamental hat offering an abundance of practical sun protection. It is often that you will see one of these women carrying a baby on their back, cradled in tradition Peruvian clothes lined with color. Due to insufficient infrastructure trash is not an uncommon sight. It is not romantic, but it is real, it is different, it is familiar, it is interesting.

From Tarma, we took many day trips. We also spent some extra time with my friend Rachel who is in the Peace Corp in TarmaTambo. We experienced her tiny town, where we saw some quaint Inca Ruins at high altitude. We stayed with artisans in San Pedro de Cajas (a local capital of atresania).They are the parents of another volunteer; Laura. On the way back from this site we saw Gruta de Huagapo, supposedly the largest cave in South America. Finally, before returning to Tarma, we got a ride with some Peruvians eager to show off their homeland. The ride included a free detour to a trout farm and lunch. During this last chunk of time in Peru, we even had time to sneak one more waterfall into Brittany’s time in South America, with a trip to San Ramon.

After hand washing all of our very-dirty clothes and hanging them up to dry, it rains. Solution: rig up some drying lines in the room.

Artesians in San Pedro de Cajas

Gruta de Huagapo

Waterfall San Ramon

Since Brittany took Quira back to the States, this was also my goodbye for now to our Colombian fox.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Machu Picchu

Before this trip commenced, every one of the chicas tranquilas was excited for Peru. Well, maybe not Chaquira… Brittany and Katie, in particular, were both stoked for the obligatory visit to Machu Picchu; one of the wonders of the world! Of course, we don’t plan ahead much, so we were half way through Peru, with little idea of how we were going to “do” Machu Picchu. I, at least, had little idea of what the options were. I didn’t know if you had to do the Inka trail to get there and what the options were; if you had to go with an agency, how long it takes, how much it costs, etc.

Well, for anyone wondering the same let me tell you that Cusco is the nearest city to Machu Picchu and it is not that close. However, you do not need to hike to get there. With people young and old coming from all over the world with different physical capabilities, Machu Picchu is accessible to virtually anyone. You can get there from Cusco in just over 4 hours. There is the infamous train, which is a bit pricey to Aguas Calientes. From there you can take a bus to the top of the mountain. Or you can take buses through the sacred valley, which is lined with pueblos, to Hydroeletrica and walk the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the pueblito at the base of Machu Picchu. The walk is a flat and easy 9 km and is quite pretty. Then hike to the ruins.

Of course, you can do the famous Inka trail to get there as well. I imagine this is a great cultural and educative and beautiful experience. To do the Inka trail you must have permits reserved in advance, however all of these permits get reserved by private companies, thus it is nearly impossible to do the Inka trail without paying for a tour. Luckily there is an alternative, the Salkantay trail. This trail you can do with a tour or self-guided.

Guess what we did? Yup, you guessed it; option free. Well ok, not free, but cheaper.

Just so you know….Machu Picchu is a monopoly. It is expensive and everything is controlled. For example, students get a 50% discount. However, my student ID that I still use from university (thank you UCSB for not putting dates on student id cards), would not suffice. To receive this discount you must have a verified international student ID card that you need to pay to get and is only valid for a year. The details are on the Machu Picchu website.  Any transportation around Machu Picchu and Cusco, food, housing etc.. is much more expensive than the rest of Peru. Also, the locals are used to tourists and they will make you feel like you are obligated to buy things from them. But relative to most westernized countries, Peru is still quite cheap.

Our Journey to Machu Picchu did not start in Cusco like it does for most, but rather in Abancay. Whilst in Mancora we met a grandmother traveling with Couchsurfing and hitch-hiking. She gave us a tip of a Couchsurfing host in Abancay who lives in a tree house, welcomes all travelers, and tells you how to get into Machu Picchu for free. So naturally, we went there. Ok, maybe it wasn’t quite how she describes it. You are welcome for one night, then a donation is asked. Also, we did not get into Machu Picchu for Free. Octa, the tree-house Couchsurfer, is amazing and does truly offer everything he has to anyone traveling by, with no judgment. And the donations do go back towards other travelers. That being said, “treehouse” is a glamorous term for the planks that mysteriously and miraculously supported a plethora of sleeping surfaces, and a hospedaje [humble hotel] could be nearly the same price as the asked donation, but we did still have a great experience.

Upon arrival, Octa mentioned he was planning on doing the Salkantay Trail with some other travelers in 4 days if we wanted to tag along. Yes! Ok, I had no idea what to expect, I don’t think any of us did. Between what Katie told me from the blogs she's read and what Brittany knew from a friend, I knew that the trail would take 4 days, that it would be steep and reach high altitudes the second day and that it would be cold as balls. We lacked sufficient gear, I never even looked at a map, and we never talked about it and were unsure if Octa and his friends were still doing it. Well, the day before we planned to head out we talked about it. I don’t know what happened to these other travelers, but we hiked the Salkantay with Octa. We bought all the food and coca leaves (very helpful in dealing with elevation) the day before and somehow miraculously borrowed all the gear we needed from a family we have never met.

-side note-

Octa had met a family in Italy, who had family traveling by bike through South America. They were going to visit him in the near future, and they sent us all their gear before arriving to use on the trip. This family is known as “Happy Family” and they document their bike travels on Facebook as @happyfamilybiocycling and their website www.happyfamilybiocycling.com. Incidentally, recently in Bolivia, I met another traveler who also knows this family. Small world. Anyway, Thank you so much, Happy Family, for the loan of all your gear.

----

We took off the next day and sent the bulk of our luggage ahead to Cusco. We took a car to a small town named Mollepata where we bought some last minute walking sticks and Snickers bars. We camped the first night in the town square in front of the police station and the next day we took another car to the base of the trail. Since we saved money on not doing a tour, and facing the fact we are not in the greatest shape, we splurged on horses for the first bit, which is a 1000 m elevation gain climbing on gravel to 4,600 m. For those of you unaware of what that means, the air at 4,600 m is very thin, you get tired just from “being”, and it is also very, very, cold. Paying 25 bucks for a horse, was well worth it. Once we got to the top we took a couple of pictures and started walking.

That night we camped with a beautiful view. The next day we finished the Salkantay and took a car to some wonderful hot-springs, just what you need after a bunch of walking. We then camped at Hydroelectrica along the side of the rail road tracks. At 5:00 am the next morning we parted with Octa and walked the tracks to Aguas Calientes. We found a hostel up the hill, where we bargained for a good deal, left our backpacks and Quira and then hiked up the mountain to the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Warning! You must buy your ticket ahead of time. In Aguas Calientes, you have your last chance to purchase your entrance. It costs 152 soles, or about $45 if you go after 1:00 pm, the price drops to 100 soles.

When we got to the top, it was amazing. There were a plethora of other tourists, but considering we went during the off season and in the afternoon, there was a relatively low presence of people. We took all of the typical photos and spent hours, until closing (5:00 pm), exploring the extensive city that is Machu Picchu.

I will let the pictures do the talking.

On our way out, before arriving in Cusco we went through the Sacred Valley where we stayed a few days making stops in Ollantaytambo, Pisac and Urubamba, experiencing some lovely, quaint and touristy Peruvian towns.

Chaquira waiting to start the trek

Some of the scenery on the way up

Taking the horses up

The top of the Salkantay Pass

Sunrise Day 3

Where we camped day 2

Quira on the Trail

The entrance to the Machu Picchu hike

The hike up

The top

Taking selfies with Machu Picchu in the background

Machu Picchu

Machu Pikachu

Temple of the Condor

A roof top in Ollantaytambo

Motos

Some traditional Peruvian clothing

Peruvians really don't smile for pictures

Until next time!

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Ecuador!

TW: Animal Miss-carriage THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS IMAGES SOME MAY FIND DISTURBING

Ecuador

Naturally, traveling south, Ecuador was the next country after Colombia. Ecuador is a beautiful country and all of its citizens will rave about how it is diverse and compact it is, you know just like California. Within a day you can find yourself in the jungle, next to the world’s highest active volcano, and on the beach enjoying a fresh juice and some mosquito bites. Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency and they have free universal health care, yes even dental is included in this. And of course Ecuador is home to the world famous Galapagos Islands. i do believe due to all of these factors, Ecuador is a highly visited country and home to many ex-pats.

As loved as Ecuador is by many, I must say it was not my favorite. I think if Ecuador was the only country I went to, I would have loved it and raved about it, but it has the misfortune of being placed in-between Colombia and Peru; two countries with better food, cheaper prices, nicer people and more expanse nature. Don’t get me wrong, I met great people in Ecuador and enjoyed many of the places we visited and I would go there again. Plus I still need to visit the Galapagos, just when I have more money.

The chicas tranquilas started our journey in Equador in Otavalo, home to one of South America’s largest Artisian Markets. There were many beautiful items, however although it was large it was not diverse, most stands sold the same sweaters and jewelry as their neighbor. From there we went to Quito, the world’s highest Capital city. There we had a great couchsurfer that took us to the middle of the world. We also make an appearance in part of music video by Cocoa Roots, filmed in Quito while we were there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBERyBQ845Y (see if you can spot us, Chaquira makes the cut, look on the left, 3:35 is the best time )

From Quito we went to Mindo, a cloud forest, where we discovered a “virgin waterfall” with some locals, that was an adventure to say the least. We went improvisationally (with heavy packs and electronics) went with some locals to find a waterfall they could hear from their land. There was no path, steep hills, mud, wet rocks and rain. Chaquira ran away a couple of times because she didn’t like being passed up waterfalls and Katie and Brittany both broke their shoes. There were time we climbed up so steep we needed to use ropes to get up. We shared this adventure with 4 young adventurous guys and 2 other girls more out of place than us. They did the journey with rum and coke in hand and in jeans and boots. After lots of laughing and frustration and many other emotions, and a few hours later we emerged from the Selva! The journey felt long and it seemed we covered miles of land but in reality we only went about a half a mile, we just took so long becuase of the terrain, and Chaquira. From the road, one of the guys "houses" was just a hop skip and a jump away. supposedly. The two other girls and one guy were so done they just walked back towards town. We, however, ended by sharing lunch in our bathing suites outside a shack or house... while our cloths semi-dried near a fire, waiting the rain out to return to the city. In this same town we met a photographer that we almost flew to the amazon with in a private plane, but that didn't happen in the end. Would have been a good story though.

From there we headed to the coast. The coast was hot and there were plenty of mosquitos, however the water was so nice and the perfect temperature to stay inside forever. We first visited Canoa, where we spent sometime inland on finca verde in RioCanoa enjoying life and the company of a couple of argentian travelers and all the characters associated with the finca. One of my favorite moments was when we got to go visit the local artisian microbrewery producing the beer Beerkingo.

Next stop: Puerto Lopez; where we visited La Isla de Plata and made hundreds of cookies in an pizzaoven on a corner outside. Isla de la Plata -Silver Island-, so named for the silver appearance the island has when it is covered in bird poop, is known as the poor man’s Galapagos and will set you back about $35 opposed to $1000. There we saw frigates, blue-footed boobies, manta-rays, sea turtles and various fish. Later to try and ganar unos dolares para el viaje we decided to take advantage of the oven in our hostel and bake a bunch of cookies and sell them. Well then we go to the grocery store and the option that made the most economical sense to us at the time was to buy 1kl of flour and use it all to make cookies. That my friends is enough to fill a dishwashing bin with cookie dough, which is exactly what we did. In the middle of mixing everything together the owner tells me that we are not allowed to use the oven. So first plan we come up with- fry the dough. This created deepfried granola, on the the next plan. We freeze them... but then what. Ok what else could we do. Well next store is an Italian Pizzaria. I go over, the owner is Italian! Perfect, we talk in Italian for a bit and exchange our stories. He says I can use the ovem! Succuess! Almost, he is closing and going home, and the following day the resteraunt is closed so we can use the oven, but in two days. But we don't give up. I walk around the Corner and there is a Pizza stand with an outdoor oven selling pizza by the slice. I explain our situation and offer to exchange cookies for the use of the oven. He says don't even worry about it bring the dough over and we will cook them. I don't think he realized how much there was, he didn't seem too thrilled about that. However we got talkinging and had a great time. We got to cook most of the cookies, and we let him with a bunch. The cookies cooked in about 3 minutes and we had hundreds of cookies after about an hour.

They sold pretty well at first but we traveled with those cookies for forever.

Lastly on the coast we went to Olon. Here we stayed with some great Venezulans and spent time most of out time with their 13 year old venezualan neighbor Seba(stian). I must say I hope that Venezuela’s issues are short lived because I can not wait to visit. I think I will love it just as much as Colombia, their people are great and their food is delicious and I am sure the country is beautiful. Anyway, back to Ecuador…. From Olon, we also briefly visited the famous Montanita (Ecuador’s party town), its not all its cracked up to be.

Then we moved inland to Riobamba. Here we had a little hic-up and almost lost Chaquira on the bus, but luckily we found her again. This is also where we went rock climbing is some beautiful places, my favorite of which was Los Acantilados a beautiful playground in nature with a view of Cotopaxi (the world’s tallest active volcano).

Moving on, we went to Latacunga to visit Quilatoa, a lake at the top of a volcano. Absolutely stunning and Brittany’s favorite part of Ecuador. Here we stayed with some of our favorite Ecuadorians.

We then went to Banos, Ecuadors’s capital of adventure. This was my favorite place in Ecuador. We spent Katie’s 28^th birthday there and her and I went bike riding to various waterfalls, ate some amazing fruit ice cream, spent and evening with a great group of travelers we kept running into and we went puenting

(basically bungee jumping, but with a non- elastic rope). There we also went rafting (for free) and visited some hot-springs.

Unfortunately in the journey it turned out Quira (our dog) was pregnant the entire time. She gave birth to five still-borne puppies. They were not fully developed. She ate them all (which is apparently normal for animals to do) and later threw up several times. We gave her antibiotics from the vet to cure a uteral infection from the depature. Sorry if this is too graphic for you. In the end it was really sad but the reality is we have no idea what we would have done traveling with five puppies. Warning, pictures of this event follow.

Lastly we went to Cuenca where we stayed with a couchsurfer that owned a hostel that we painted a mural in.

From there we crossed into Peru.