Saturday, December 20, 2008
Cali, Columbia
I´m in Cali, Columbia now. I will write about it when I leave here. Until then I will be updating the pictures on the slideshow as they are taken. For the full album go to www.picasaweb.google.com/jnevedal and check them out!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Quito, Ecuador
Got to Quito early in the morning after quite the bus ride from Mancora, Peru. The main highway running north and south through Ecuador is far from smooth or strait and definitely made it hard to sleep. Besides the fact that my seat did not recline because I was right up against the bathroom. We where also stopped three separate times for the bus and it´s passengers to be searched for drugs and whatever else.
We took a taxi from the terminal to the center and burnt some time at the Internet cafe waiting for mike´s peace corp friend to get out of work so we could bring our bags and belongings to his house. After we got our things situated we got some food and just took it easy for the rest of the night.
The following couple days we explored the city as much as possible. One highlight was the cathedral that dominates the skyline of Quito. We paid our two dollars to explore the whole thing and even got to climb all three towers all the way up to the tops. They let you stand out on the top of the steeple, outside and without any ropes or rails on a 2 foot area. Kind of sketchy but a very beautiful building and impressive as always as most of the cathedrals and iglesias usually are.
Unfortunately I broke my camera on the first day in Quito and had to borrow a lot of pictures from mike and kilo or borrowed their cameras to take pictures. we definitely did a lot of walking around to shop for a new one. It turned out to be a good way to see the city because apparently they people in Quito don´t believe in quality cameras. (I´m done complaining now.)
The rest of our stay in Quito was great and was refreshing to stay with friends in an actual house and not having to deal with the other occupants of a dorm room. Thanks Wes! Off to Cali, Columbia!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Mancora, Peru
We finaly got to Mancora and didn´t waste time getting to the cevicheria to get a large plate of ceviche and eight large beers between the four of us. Oh, yea... Denise (mike´s other half at the time) decided to come along for the beach and then had to go back down to Arequipa where she is from but not until we all left. So then off to the beach where we spent the rest of our first day and most of the others.
Life for us in Mancora consisted of one or more of the following every day: Wake up(whenever that may be), go to the market for some fruit for breakfast and some other things for later, go to the bakery for dounuts or empanadas, go back to the hostel, get in the water for a long time and then lay out(repeat as needed), watch the sunset, party or just chill and drink matte(a traditional argentinian tea in which everyone shares a common cup as a social thing), sleep. Like always we quickly made friends and what characters they were.
We went to a full moon party down the beach on thursday that week and I stayed out until 10:30 in the morning at which point I would have rather died than felt the hangover I felt. Especialy because it was my second hard party day in a row. Well after a week there and the ever closing date of christmas we decided to leave and get on our way to Quito, Ecuador on the 13th.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Arequipa.... Again.
So off we went twelve hours by bus, bound for Arequipa... again. This bus might I add, was a sweatbox from hell. They apperently didn´t know how to control the heaters. ANYWAY, Logisticly it is a whole lot easier than taking a direct route back to Lima to get the next connection to Moncora. Besides we knew people there so why not hang out a bit?
We only planned on staying one night. One night turned into two and eventualy five. I heard it was a cool city and had only spent the one night previous to Cusco there. After spending a night partying in that city and realizing that the most beautiful people of Peru live in Arequipa, we all decided to stay a little while.
Arequipa has a pretty good nightlife that we enjoyed every night without fail, and is not an expecive place in general, which is always a good thing. One day we even went horseback riding for around $5 for an hour which I am sure wouldn´t happen in the US. Mike´s horse was quite the crab ass and tried to buck him off half the time. Otherwise it was a blast and we jst went out in the country side for a while. For the last half of a mile or so we did a full on gallop back to the ranch. Good times.
We spent the rest of the time hanging out with new and old friends and enjoyed our time there as much as rock stars would.
After we had our fill of Arequipa... again, we grabbed a bus(14Hrs) to Lima... again and spend two hours there before getting on the next (14Hr) bus to Moncora.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Cusco, Peru ...Part One
I am in Cuzco, Peru and have been for the past two weeks or so. I am staying in a hostel off the main plaza (Plaza de Armas) called the Mirador. For most of the time I had been in my own room with a queen bed for 20 soles ($6.30). Yesterday I moved across the hall with a smaller bed and a lot less space for 15 soles ($5). This is more expensive than other Hostels I have stayed in in the past month but is still not bad, eh?
I haven´t done any traveling around in the past few weeks because I just finished fourteen days of spanish classes. They where four hours a day and seven days per week. I had been walking about 6K to school (1hr) and then around 9-12K on the way back home. Needless to say that after hikes, walking and eating a little healthier over the last month I have lost around 20lbs. This is the lightest I have been in about six years. Other than school I was just having as much fun as possible. Class was from 10-2pm and when I got back to the hostel after class I would either meet up with friends of the hostel or just cruise alone exploring the city until night time.
At night we do more exploring just with the inclusion of going to the discotecas (clubs). Every night is a good night for the bars and clubs in Cuzco. Generally on the weekdays we take it easy and go out to the hooka bar (Indago´s) to play poker, smoke hooka, and drink a few beers. Indago´s has the best music and is our favorite hangout.
The other guys and I ditched our plan to do a trek after being in Cusco for three weeks we were ready to just get out of there. Especially if I am going back later to do Machu Picchu and other things later. (By the way that is the plan now). I decided to go with Mike and Kilo north to Mancora, Peru which is a beach town in northern Peru. After that we are going north to Ecuador and Columbia. Why not? I´ll just add in two more countries and then fly back down to Cusco and pick up where I left off!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Cabanaconde&Arequipa, Peru
We got to Arequipa early in the morning and decided to get on the first bus to Cabanaconde, a small pueblo in the Colca Canyon. The next bus was a 6 hour ride from hell in a cramped bus down a long BUMPY road. We spent most of the daylight hours on the bus and when we got there left on a hunt to find a place to stay. Eventually we decided on a place called Pachamama(mother earth). It had great people who ran it and at night had the best vibe, good food, and drinks. We had a great first night talking, drinking and playing games with Luie. Luie and his brother are the owners of the hostel. Liv, Luie´s girlfriend also helps run the hostel. They are some of my favorite people I have met in Peru. They do a lot for the local children and for some of the troubled kids of the town such as teach them english or even give them jobs and a place to live for a couple of them.
The next morning the David, Rachael and I set out for our hike in the Colca Canyon for four days and three nights. We met up with a Canadian couple and some others from assorted countries like Cassiano(Brazil), Ryan and his friend(England). We all had the same plan and hiked either together or met up at the end of the day at each Pueblo. After the first night the aussies and I split because they were starting to run a little short on time. I continued on with the canucks and it was a lot of hiking over the next few days. We finally got to the oasis on our third day and relaxed before our 1100 vertical meter hike up the canyon wall in the morning. This is supposed to take arround three hours and am proud to say I did it in 1hr and 40min with a 25pound pack on and beat mules up. We spent the rest of that day doning absolutely nothing but eating and sitting.
The next morning, the day we left Cabanaconde was quite the doozie. When we woke up and went to the other building (with the restaurant and bar) for breakfast there was a german couple there who claimed that someone snuck into their room and stole the guys wallet and passport. After getting the police involved and the hostel in trouble because of some licensing issues the germans left for there own trek. To try to save the hostel from being shut down Luie ran after them to try to get them to change the story. Come to find out that when Luie got to them the had found there ¨stolen¨goods in another backpack and had no plan to tell anyone until they got back two days later. When that fiasco was put to rest it was time to catch another bus from hell back down to Arequipa with the Canadians. I did see the best sun set I have seen in a while from my bus window that night.
We spent one night in Arequipa before continuing on to seperate places. I left for Cuzco at 8:30pm the next day. The Canadians left for Ica at a similar time on a northern path.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Nazca, Peru
We Found a local bus to Nazca from Ica for about $3US and hopped off at the ¨Mirador¨(look out). The mirador is a tower in the middle of nowhere at which is possible to see a few of the lines. Though the tower was really a joke to us we were all happy not to pay $75US to fly over in a small plane. After we got our fill of lines we hitch hiked to the city of Nazca with a propane delivery driver and his girlfriend. We decided not to stay in Nazca for even one night because there is nothing to do there besides look at lines in the desert. We spent all afternoon there until grabbing a bus to Arequipa at 10:30pm.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ica/Huacacina, Peru
The aussies and I took an afternoon bus to Ica, Peru. I was need to see how different the country side of Peru can be. It is pretty desilate from Lima to Ica. It is a desert region here. The driest desert in the world. We got to Ica in the evening as the sun was setting and shared a taxi to Huacacina with our Israeli friends we met on the bus. Huacacina is an oasis in the desert with a lagoon in the center and surrounded by tall sand dunes and desert as far as you can see. It is the first time I have seen anything like this and is absolutely breath taking.
The morning afer we arrived David and I desided o hike up the dunes ourselves for a pre-dunebuggy trip slide down the dunes on sandboards. It is by far not easy to hike up a sand dune and can see how people who get lost in the desert... die. Afterwards we went together with Rachael on a buggy tour that takes you for a spin on the dunes, drops you off at the top and picks you up at the bottom. Definately easier than walking them. Come to find out, It is more fun and faster to lay down on the board and go down head first. You can really get some speed!
We didn´t stay long there as ther is not much to do in Huacacina except for sandboarding and spending money. Being that we left for Nazca after two days in Huacacina.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Lima, Peru - The Begining
I am just starting to make entries on the blog but I will do my best to give a quick run down on the first month of my trip...
I started in Lima on the 28th of October 2008. I stayed in the Inka Lodge in Miraflores, a district of Lima. I quickly realized how easy it is to travel alone. I made many friends very quickly in the hostel and on the street. It was fun hanging out with some of the locals for a while. It quickly felt like I belonged there. I saw a few sets of ruins one of which was right outside of my hostel. I also quickly found out how cheep things can be here. My favorite food there was a small hole in the wall that for 4 nuevo soles($1.25) would get you a three course meal. I had a pretty good night life between hanging out with my local friends Fiorella, Aaron, and Mayumi. It´s nice to see what the locals do instead doing everything that all the other gringos do. After a week there with my original time frame fresh in my mind I left Lima after six days with two friends I met at the hostel named Rachael and David. They are an aussie couple that had the same short term plans I did so we traveled together from there.
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