Beach time in Playas, Guayaquil

Well, it's definitely not the most beautiful beach I've seen, but it has it's charms. Playas, Ecuador is about an hour away from Guayaquil which is Ecuador's second biggest city. It's not on the tourist route, so the bulk of visitors are Ecuadoreans coming from the city. That is a plus!  It's very low key here and feels very, very small inspite of lots of grocery stores and a new full size mall and movie theater.  Playas is full of seafood restaurants at every turn. I've already eaten delicious ceviche and today I had some casserole heated in a hot pot made out of some kind of cornmeal with lots of seafood. That cost about $8 and was the most expensive thing on the menu.

The beach water is warm and the sand is gray. There aren't that many shells, but I've found sand dollars and a few other weird things. I post the pictures, just because I think they're interesting looking.  

I'll be here for two full weeks which is nice because I don't have to travel around, figuring out where to go next and can relax into this place. After this I make the trip home.

The four month mark. Last night in Argentina.

It's been exactly four months since I left NY and arrived in Lima. My time there feels like it was long ago.  Since leaving Peru, I traveled around Bolivia for 5 weeks and then another 4 weeks in Argentina.  I'll be sad to leave Argentina tomorrow. 

Though its a much more expensive country than Bolivia, the people here were 100x nicer. It made a huge difference.  It's a much more civilized country. I didn't know, but I guess Argentina is the only country in S. America that has drinkable tap water. They also have a strong enough sewer system, so you can flush toilet paper where it belongs. People are happy here, their economy is strong and it shows. They don't seem to have a problem with homelessness and they even treat their dogs with compassion.

Though Argentina didn't have any incredible or famous sites likes Peru and Bolivia, it was a beautiful country to visit. They have great wine and lots of steak here. Their churches are rich and beautiful, with the new Argemtine pope proudly on display.

I changed my trip around a bit. I had originally planned on going to Chile and visiting the Easter Islands, but after my second credit card fraud issue, more problems with my apartment and a day cold enough for snow, I was ready for something warm and relaxing. So I'm headed for Ecuador tomorrow night. I rented a house by the beach for 2 weeks. After that I'm cutting the trip short 10 days and making a stop home to see my parents before coming back to NYC.

It's all about the wine, Cafayate, Northern Argentina

So I've been in Argentina now about 3 weeks. It was a really hard adjustment after Bolivia.  The prices are alot higher and the exchange is alot lower. I was here about a year ago and the exchange dropped by about 25%.  The way to get around that is by exchanging money on the streets. So I bought one of those pens you can mark the bills with to see if they're counterfeit. Even though things are alot more expensive, the people are alot nicer than the Bolivians.  So, that's a decent trade off.

Everything here is WINE, WINE, WINE. Yesterday I had wine flavored ice cream, which I got a little buzz off of.  There are wine stores all over, vineyards and lots of places to get a good, cheap glass of wine. Today I went to visit a couple of vineyards which are only 30 minutes walking. Harvest was in Feb, so there were no grapes on the vine.  They produce a white wine called Torrontes which is special to this region and very tasty.

They also have a wine museum that I'll go and check out tomorrow. 

The Virgin of Tres Cerritos, Salta, Argentina

 I made my first religious pilgrimage today in Salta, Argentina.  In 1995, a woman was said to have a conversation with the Virgin Mary. For 5 years, the only people that knew about it were her friends and family. The Virgin told her to build a statue on top of the mountain. She described exactly how she should look. 14 years old (the age she was pregnant), white cloak, kneeling and with aquamarine eyes. Now, tour buses, upon tour buses make their way up the hill. Of course, I went the hard way and took a public bus and walked. 

It was very beautiful.  There were people offering water on the walk up, a priest taking confessions and lovely guitar music being played. It made the one hour wait not so bad. Many people brought notes, lots of people brought pictures and there were alot of old people. People were also hanging plastic rosaries in the trees. The Virgin is housed in a little sanctuary. We walked in 2 by 2 and got to see her for probably 1 whole minute. No pne was rushing people out, but there was a long line. She was a beautiful site, alot of people walked out crying.  It was a moving experience.

Rounding out Bolivia. Dark to Light

So, I haven´t had wifi in a few weeks- typical Bolivia, but I´ve had some amazing experiences recently.  First, when I was in Sucre, I watched a documentary about the silver mines in Potosi, called the Devil´s Miner. It was about a 14 year old boy that had to go to work in the mines at the age of 10 to support his family. It was very eye opening and very sad.  Since the documentary is over 7 years old, I just assumed he was either still working there or possibly dead. I was very happy to hear the next day that he studied hard, learned 4 different languages and is thriving as a tour guide.  Knowing more about the mines made my trip there the next day very real. I tried to ignore the little voice in my head telling me not to do it, but I went on a mine tour. It was very, very scary. We went straight in the tunnels with the miners working alongside. I could hear dynamite exploding in the background and I wedged myself into very small areas. I will never ever in my life do this again, but I learned alot about how necessary it is for people to work. The sad thing is that nowadays, there is very little silver to be found.

Next stop was in Uyuni to visit the salt flats. There are other salt flats in the world, but these are the largest. They were really, really amazing. I can´t describe them, so I´ll post pictures soon.  All you could see for miles and miles was white. The salt flats used to be a body of water 15,000 years ago, but all that is left is hard salt on the ground, cracked into some beautiful and interesting patterns.

Today for my last day in Bolivia, I´m in Tupiza. They have beautiful rainbow colored canyons. They compare themselves to the Grand Canyon. I went on a 5 hour horseback ride which was so relaxing, though I think my butt will really, really hurt tonight.

Off tomorrow to cross the border into Argentina. Hope it´s an easier time than it was to get here.

Pink dolphins, caimans and piranhas in Rurranbaque, Bolivia

HappilySo I was a little on the fence about taking a trip to the jungle. It seemed expensive and on general, I wouldn't call myself a jungle person. When I went to the travel agency there was a group of 3 other 

Americans booking their trip and I figured, WTH, I'll book it too. At least this way I'd know how I would be with for 3 days. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The group adopted me and we traveled together for the 3 days of the trip and the days surrounding it.

Being in the jungle felt a lot like being in Miami. The greens, the water that we boated through to get to camp and the mosquitoes. Those mosquitoes literally ate me alive. I counted one hand and had 18 bites on it, I looked like I had some horrible skin disease.  We saw lots of caimans, which everyone loved seeing.  Me, I've seen them before, but it was still a sight. We went hunting for anacondas and found a long 10 foot one and we also went fishing for piranhas.  We weren't as lucky with the fishing, my entire boat of 9 only caught one and we had to throw it back because it was so small.

The highlight was swimming with pink dolphins. They're mostly grey with a tint of pink. They would brush up against us in the water and the babies even bit my toes.

This trip was a good reminder to just go with things and be happily surprised with the outcome.

Bolivia, similar yet different than Peru

So I've been on my own, traveling around for 2 weeks now. It was hard leaving the comfort and routine that I established in Cusco, but I had to move on. My first taste of Bolivia was getting harangued at the border because the money I brought wasn't up to standard. I have to say, that was not a nice welcome.  Next, even though I was surrounded by the beauty of Lake Titicaca, I thought that Copacabana was touristy and expensive. Disappointing since I had heard it was so much cheaper than Peru.

All started to change when I got to La Paz, which I was really hoping would not be like Lima. It's a big city set in a basin, nicknamed the red city because all of the red brick houses are unpainted. It's so beautiful here.  I took a great free walking tour and got to learn about the city, good and bad. Bolivia is over 60% indigenous. You see the "cholitas" everywhere. In Lima, you hardly saw any of them. All the ladies wear little bowler hats and skirts with lots and lots of ruffles, so they purposefully look fat.

La Paz is getting ready to celebrate their Independence Day on Tuesday but I'm going to miss it. I'm leaving on a jungle tour tomorrow for 4 days and then flying straight to Sucre.

Last night in Peru

So this is my last night in Peru and I can hardly believe I've been here over 2 months. Most of my time was spent around Cusco, but I also spent time in Arequipa which I loved and now I'm in a city called Puno.  Everyone else is right, there's not much to it, its just a way to get to Bolivia and Lake Titicaca. 

My time here has been really special. One friend said that I might not have learned Spanish, but I did learn a lot about the Peruvian culture, which I think is true. My house mom in Cusco said that I really tried to experience everything that Cusco has to offer. I went to festivals and fairs where I was the only foreigner, I had fun going to discos, I did touristy things like visit the planetarium and chocolate museum and I saw most of the ruins, like Machu Pichu, Tipon, Pisac, Chinchero and Ollaytaytambo.

I liked the food, the people were really friendly and I liked getting to know the culture.

It will be hard to beat this, but I'm going to give it a try. Tomorrow night I'll be in the lakeside town of Copacabana, Bolivia. I'm hoping that getting through customs and getting my visa is easy.

Xo

Ps, this kid really loved his baby alpaca (or llama). I still can't tell the difference.  It was soft and would definitely make a nice chompa (sweater).

Arequipa, monks and nuns

So I have to say that I'm in love with Arequipa. It's really beautiful here. They call Arequipa the white city because most of the buildings are made of white volcanic stone called, sillar.  To me the town feels quaint and colonial even though it the second largest city in Peru.  Everything seems to be in walking distance and the weather is a perfect mix of Lima's temperate weather and Cusco's bright and beautiful days. I love it here!

I've given equal opportunity to the nuns and the monks here. Yesterday I went to visit the Santa Catalina Convent which they say is the most impressive religious site in all of S. America. I'm not sure I would say that,  but it was pretty incredible.  The convent was erected 40 years after the Spanish conquest and all of the sisters were from wealthy families.  Each family had to pay a pretty hefty dowry. At the height there were 200 nuns living there. The convent is like a city within their high walls. There are a labryinth of streets, a clinic, a graveyard and many beautiful gardens. They lived in separate, plush and private quarters with servants. Right now there are abut 25 nuns still there. When they opened it up to the public, enrollment really decreased.

Today I went to the Recoleta Monastery, which has just four monks that live there now. The monastery was founded in the 1600's and has been remarkably kept up and restored after each earthquake. I was the only tourist there, so I was able to very leisurely stroll around. The monks had a weird collection of Amazonian animals, textiles and a room full of dolls (I'm not sure what those were all about).  It was all pretty peaceful until I accidentally got locked in the cathedral. I was knocking on the door for about 15 minutes until I called them. Thank goodness for: my cheap Peruvian cell, having enough minutes, having the phone number and for someone who answered the phone. I did not want to spend the night in there.

Tomorrow I think I'll go explore a suburb and treat myself to a fancy dinner. The day after I'm going to do a tour of the Colca Canyons to see the great condors.

A quick jaunt to Lima

So I decided to see Lima for myself. I got very mixed reviews about going. Some people thought it was a big, interesting city in Latin America, full of rich Peruvians living the good life on the coast.  Others (mostly everyone else) thought it was dirty and dangerous. I wanted to go because when I actually leave Cusco, I won't be traveling back through. I was able to get a good deal on the flight and had a couple of people lined up to see.

The weather was mostly gray and overcast the entire time, though I hear its like that 10 months of the year. There was either a mist over the water or it was pollution, I'm not sure which.  The city is huge, it took me at least 45 minutes by colectivo ( small bus) to get anywhere, even though we were staying in a nice central area called Miraflores.  There are some very interesting, Spanish/ Colonial style buildings there,  but they're few and far between. The city doesn't have beautiful architecture throughout, like cities like Buenos Aires or Quito. The do have a cool, very Western style mall built into the side of a cliff. There were more fast food places there than I have seen anywhere else.  I even saw a Tony Roma's, which I haven't seen since Miami.

The highlight was a water park called the Circuito Magical del Agua. It wasnt like Six Flags, more like the huge timed and lit fountains in Vegas. I also went to the wharf to get ceviche, which I've finally decided I don't like, since I don't like fish and its a little bit too spicy for me.  I hit all the other main tourist sites: the cathedral, government building, Chinatown and the monastery which has some big and eerie crypts 

Stray dogs everywhere

I have never seen dogs in the street like I have here. Some appear to have owners because they're wearing collars, some are grungy in the streets with dreaded up tails and then others are just sunning themselves in the grass. Since I've been here, I've only seen one veterinarians office and no one seems to want female dogs because they just get pregnant. I dont think they know about spaying and neutering (sorry Bob Barker).

The dog in my house got out one night and came back preggers with 7 puppies. By the time I got here there was only one girl left. Of course I had to adopt her. I took her for walks, taught her how to sit, snuck her treats until one day... While I was taking a nap, I woke up to see her being loaded into some mystery car. They said she was "going to the country," which I hope was the truth. I'll just keep thinking it was. She was cute and gave me something to do around the house.

Yummy Peruvian chocolate making class

The last thing I did with my two Australian friends was take a chocolate making class at Cusco's Chocolate Museum.  I figured why not? It turned out to be so much fun! 

We learned all about how cacao is grown and how many seeds it takes to produce just one high quality chocolate bar- 15. I was surprised to find out how much chocolate is exported from Peru, considering they don't sell that much chocolate in the stores and they don't use chocolate in their cooking, outside of sweets.

We started off roasting the beans, learned how to grind it into a paste, blend it to make a delicious chocolate and then create different flavors (quinoa, chili, maka)  and put into molds.  At the end of it all, we had some delicious chocolate to show for all our

hard work!

It was a great time and a surprise highlight! 

Christy at Corpus Christi.

I've only been here a month and this is probably the 5th or 6th celebration since I got here. It was for sure the largest. From what I can gather, churches from all around Cusco proceed into the center of town with their saints and then today, they marched around the square with music and lots of incense. It brought back memories of Holy Week in Guatemala. The Plaza de Armas was completely full of people. People were wearing their finest outfits and the sun was really shining.

I also tried a special plate called Chiriuchu, which has guinea pig, which is called cuy, fish roe, chicken, cheese, vegetables, corn bread and corn. It was an experience for sure. This is the second time I've had cuy. The first time was in Ecuador. The Peuvians have been telling me how much more delicious they prepare it, NOT. Since this is the most expensive dish they serve, I think I've had my fill.

A dream come true MACHU PICHU

What can I say, Machu Pichu was like a dream. I was lucky to tag along with two student friends I've made from Australia. The days leading up to the trip were a little gray with intermittent sprinkles, but the day we got there the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We started last Sunday by going to Chincheros, which has a big Sunday market and some pretty amazing ruins. We then caught the bus and then another to get to Ollaytaytambo.  There was a huge 4 day festival going on, so when we got there, there were people dancing in the square in the moat colorful and varied costumes you've ever seen.  The partying and music went into the wee hours and right when I started to fall asleep, I was woken up by the rooster.  The town was quaint and authentic with huge ruins on the mountain right behind.

The next day we took the Inca Rail to Agua Calientes, the neon, touristy town which is the staring point for Machu Pichu. Everyone knows your name, everything is overpriced and the hot springs werent that hot, but who really cares, you're about to see Machu Pichu.

Unless you feel like walking, which I didn't, you can take a bus up to the ruins.  The earlier you get there the better because it gets really crowded. After you walk up the hill and see the postcard picture of Machu Pichu, you're completely awestruck. It's just grand and beautiful.  Machu Pichu is famous for lots of reasons, but its the most intact Incan ruin because the Spainiards never found it. The architecture is amazing and complicated and you're left wondering how they did it.  The narration in the brochure gives some credit to Hiram Bingham, the "rediscoverer" of Machu Pichu, but first notes others who found it first.

I spent lots of time, sitting and staring down at the site, with llamas eating grass all around me. I didn't take a ton of pictures, because of course my battery would completely die the day before. My fiend did lend me her camera and snapped some good shots which I'll post soon.

Xo

Christy