Back to the Beach Basics

Wow! So it was so easy to pass the days always at the beach again. I was really missing the ocean after so much time in the mountains and the cold altitudes. I arrived in Iquique and found a very homey hostel. The Chilean beach has a neat counter culture feel, sort of Southern Cali but more urban and punk style. It was nice being around all the surf and skate vibes, and seeing some amazing street murals and graffiti art. I almost felt like I was back in the states again because Chile is so much more western feeling than what I’ve been used to, plus the hostel was equipped with a load of English speaking travellers, American movies and target looking comforters. The hostel was a little far from the quiet downtown area but very close to the beach. I spent the next 4 days going between the beach, the hostel, and the giant grocery store. It was not super hot but from about 11am to 3pm the beach was hot enough to sit out on, get a tan, and make a quick dash into the ocean. The first night I cooked about enough rice and black beans to feed an army, and the rest of my nights I worked my way through it making different variations on the basic. Every night I also drank red wine and watched a movie or two. Very chill.

I also began hanging out with Marthe, my roommate in Iquique who is on the same path as I am. She is a 22 year old Psychology student from Amsterdam and also volunteered in Cusco and is travelling alone. Her flight is from Lima on May 10th so it is perfect timing. We are now back in Peru, my last South American border crossing, after having stopped over at one other Chilean beach town to split up the travel. Tonight we plan to go out in Arequipa for a few drinks and maybe some dancing. It is exciting to be in a vibrant city! Then Saturday early morning we will leave our big suitcases at the hostel and go on a 3 day trek of the Colca Canyon.

Tornado of Tours

I have been keeping very busy over the past week and doing a lot of tours, which were reasonably priced in Bolivia. I´ve bared amazing altitudes and cold but I was worth it. First I went to Potosi, the highest city in the world. It was a pretty neat mining town with a lot of character, set up in the mountains. There I did a tour of the mines. I felt that I learned more about the miners´ situations from seeing the documentary, but actually being inside was pretty neat. We were given a whole mining jump suit, boots, and head lamp.

Then I went to Uyuni and signed up for a three day tour, with 6 other people in a jeep. I really enjoyed my time on the tour. It provided a stress free few days where everything was more or less planned out for me. I also had a cool group of people to get to know and some quality card playing time. I have learned two really good new games, which I am determined to remember and play again when I return.
There was a lot of time in a jeep on the wide open desert type landscape. My little Ipod speakers came in handy. The first day we spent on the actual salt flats of Uyuni, the largest in the world. Its a truly bizarre landscape an there is no sense of depth in photographs because there is so much flat nothingness. The next days we saw beautifully colored lakes and mountains, boulder fields, natural gysers, and flamingos. The tour ended by crossing the border into Chile. ´Now I head to the beach!

Feeling Strong in Sucre

Following a successful night bus ride, I have had an amazingly productive first day in Sucre. I always get a little nervous before taking a night bus. You just never know what those 12 hours trapped on a bus might be like. Other than being freezing for most of the night, while my neighbor was snug under like 5 layers of blankets and various other warm looking belongings, the ride went smoothly. I was able to sleep and we got in right on schedule at 7:30AM.

I had luck and found a nice hostel on my first try with a pleasant courtyard, a giant kitchen, hot shower, and a friendly british couple who were on my bus. Then I went to the large nearby market and finally bought a small, cheap bath towel which I have been making do without thus far. I also got all the makings for speghetti and a homemade somewhat spicy tomato, garlic, spinach sauce.

This afternoon I checked out some Spanish classes and signed up to take two hours of one on one lesson for the next three days. It will cost me about $11 a day, but hopefully will motivate me to do some extra studying. After 2 months travelling I feel my conversational skills slipping. I can keep up on my listening comprehension but my speaking skills are getting a little weak.

This city is absolutely beautiful and I feel much more comfortable here than in La Paz. It seems like a good place to sit around at cafes and study, draw, and think. Today´s weather was sunny and fairly warm. Hopefully it will keep it up before I head to Potosi and the salt flats which are spose to be freezing!

Bolivia

I now have a Bolivian visa in my name and am able to enter Bolivia for up to 90 days a year for the next 7 years. I was a little nervous about the process because there was a laundry list of documents they claimed to require included things like a letter of invitation. It turned out all the border guards really cared about was the $100 fee.

I am currently in La Paz, a large city with both modern looking areas and less westernized parts where you can buy about anything from the multitude of small booths and carts on the streets. The entire city is set in a kind of natural bowl and you sometimes catch glimpses of the snow capped peaks surrounding you. Logan and I spent a while trying to find the perfect hostel here but it was somewhat of a lost cause. In the end we settled in a quieter one with a nice owner, a pretty courtyard, a sunny roof hangout, a double room, and shared kitchen and bath, for $35 bolivianos. The exchange rate is about 7 bol to the dollar, this being the cheapest country I have travelled in so far. Meals are usually about 15 to 25 bol. Being in a city you have a little more option in the type of food you are eating. We had Arab food the first night and Italian last night. The Bolivian standard is quinua and veggie soup, rice, pan fried trout and chicken.

Before coming here we spent about 3 days around Lake Titicaca. It was vast and beautiful, reminding me a little of the Mediterranean Sea. We had two days of hiking with a day pack, which tested my lung capacity and endurance due to the amazingly high altitute, around 3,600 meters above sea level. We made our way along the coast to a point on the mainland and then took a rowboat ride from a hunched 70 year old local over to the Isla Del Sol. We spent one night in a hostel on the southern part and the next day hiked on the mountain crest line to some ruins in the northern part. A two or three hour boat ride took us back to Copacobana, the main Bolivian town set on the lake. Copacobana was very chill with lots of wandering South American hippies playing live music in cafes and selling hand made jewelry on the streets.

Moving On...

After 3 full weeks here in Cusco, I have decided to cut my planned volunteering time a little short and continue travelling. I have heard wonderful things about Bolivia and I am going to use this extra week or so to explore a new country or two. Unfortunately I need to go through some paper work and spend $100 to get a Bolivian visa but will be worth it and the country is so cheap I´ll prolly make that money back on all my food and lodging savings. I am leaving Sunday night with a friend I met in Huanchaco and ran into again here in Cusco this week. Her name is Logan and she is a history teacher in the Bronx. We are going to start by exploring Lake Titicaca and then I will head on to La Paz. I hear Copacabana, the city on the Bolivian side of the lake is the nicest place to stay and then we will probably do one night on the Isla del Sol. It will be cold but I´m still excited to be near the water. After La Paz, I plan to head to the South of Bolivia and do a tour of the giant salt flats. Then in order to make my journey more of a loop I will cut into the north of Chile and travel along the coast up into Peru. Mmmm, beach.

Machu Picchu

This weekend Beverly, a friend from the Yanapay hostel from Britain, and I did the somwhat trying but unavoidable Machu Picchu journey. I booked the whole trip through Jesus, a spanish teacher at Yanapay, who also runs a tourist agency. I think we got a fairly good deal but it was a little frusterating following along blindly with some set tour. The hotel room, bus and train transport, guide, and entrance fee was $150. It is amazing the amount people pay to see this wonder. We left very early Saturday moning and had most of the day to just space around Aguas Caliente, the small base camp city for Machu Picchu, and rest up. The town was very touristy and fairly rustic, with half finished looking apartment buildings, no cars, and a railroad running through. It was nestled next to a roaring stream and towering mountains on all sides. After a few unexciting meals we went to bed early and waited for our 5am wake up call the next morning. The Sunday morning arrival at the ruins was a zoo of tourists but I slowly eased into the day and the beauty of the site. The most picturesque moment was the clouds rolling over the mountains and the Inca grounds. After our tour ended, around 9:30am we had a packed snack, rested, and then Beverly and I hiked up Winapichu. This is the mountain you can see towering in the back of Inca ruins. It was a very tiring hour long climb, mostly up rock stairs in the mountain face, but well worth it for the view and experience. I am now back in Cusco and happy to be settling in to my hosel and volunteer routine again.

Cuzco Buzz

I have been in Cuzco now for a little over a week and it has been a buzz of activity. Volunteering, exploring the many tourist attractions around this area, and going out to eat, drink, and dance.

I am here until mid April volunteering with Aldea Yanapay. The organization seems really unique and I have been happy with my experience so far. Yanapay runs a school, a restaurant, and a hostel for volunteers. There are around 15 other volunteers mainly around my age and from the North America or Europe. I work 5 days a week at the school, which is actually a type of after school program, open from 3 to 6:30 and Saturday mornings. It has been perfect timing because the program is just winding up again with the start of the new school year (summer is just ending on this side of the world). There are about 50 children that attend, although Yuri, the director, hopes to recruit 20 more. I am working with the older children. From 3 to 5 I work in the homework area, helping those children complete various assignments. There is also an art area but I am one of the few volunteers right now who speaks spanish (at least enough to get by) so I have been put in the more challenging area. Then at 5 we break into other small groups according to age and I teach an english class. I have been getting by alright, making up small games and activities.

I have also purchased a tourist ticket which gives you admission into various museums and ruins in and around Cuzco. This area is full of Inca ruins, Machu Picchu being the most famous. I will have to make it there at some point, perhaps next weekend. So far I went on two nice day trips, one to Pisaq and one to Ollotantambo. They were both cute small towns, one with a large outdoor craft and food market. From there we went on day hikes up the mountain side and among the large stone walls. The weather has been very nice during the day, with strong hot sun, although it get really cold at night. You always have to have a ton of layers cause a breeze or cloud can change everything.

This week has also been Semana Santa, and there have been tons of festivities surrounding the Easter holiday. Several nights there were large processions through the streets. Ash Friday is the largest day of the celebration here. Me and a friend happened to be invited by a local to come to his family´s holiday meal. It is traditionally 12 platos, courses, although ours wasn´t quite to that scale. His family live about an hour outside Quito and are farmers, although some work in tourist related jobs. It was a unique experience and we were able to see how traditional people live. The mother was very welcoming, however I was a little uncomfortable with what my place was there. We ate a type of corn on the cob with cheese plate, a baked apple dish, a vegetable soup, and fish with a beat salad and potatoes. It was fairly informal and there were many kids running around, some of whom only spoke Quechua, the native language. After the+ meal the boy we originally met and his brother, who were both in their late teens and interested in trying to become tour guides, took us on a nice walk around in the beautiful mountainside and pointed out various plants they grew. In the end we bought a few handycrafts at higher prices than you find in the markets, but that were hand made by this family and I guess in a way it was in exchange for the whole experience.