for the last post i'll get some general thoughts down about Peru... Lima was really a shocker and as much as i was able to ask and query it is a dangerous place to be. if you got white skin then getting mugged is common, i guess usually the attacks happen in a taxi.. you get drugged and guns are involved... if you have money they take it and if you don't then they might be interested in your liver or any other organs you got. human life is not worth much over there.
people in general are not well educated... around 50% of people get about 6 grades of education (which is more like 4 grades here in Estonia) and many can't write and read. this information is not based on any hard facts.. just something that came out from conversation with somebody who has lived there for many years... somebody who is living amongst and with the locals. so take it with grain of salt so to speak. university system is there and public universities are for free, but it is very difficult to get in there... which makes sense since you gotta finish all 12 years of school first :)
if something needs to get done.. it will get done, but in a very simple way... and sometimes that is better than spending all this money and effort on making things complicated. locals will figure it out and get it done and you will be amazed of how creative they can be with duct tape and rope ;)
things are dirty and broken and nobody cares.. peruvians don't really have much perspective.. they live one day at a time and enjoy the sun. it is not their culture and common practice to thrive for better education or better life.. things are as they are and they simply live. it is hard for me to understand and i was told constantly that this is something very difficult to get used to even after living amongst the locals for years so i should not try to understand it after 4 weeks :)
country is gorgeous though... and people in the countryside are very friendly.. they got everything there... high mountains.. the ocean.. jungle.. desert.. lakes.. beaches.. everything... it is great. the food is good, nutritious, tasty and there are lots of options and variations. peru is full of raw materials.. so it is very rich country.. although economically speaking it is not being realized very well at the moment.. and perhaps that is what is saving this country from trouble... as there is not much knowledge and initiative there... so all would be flowing out as soon as foreigners get their hands on the goods/materials.
traveling in peru is quite easy (if there are no strikes at the moment ;) ) .. infrastructure is there and used widely... and this country (and perhaps whole southern america) is full of pack-packers... not so many regular tourists who can be an annoyance with all their demands at times... pack-packers are friendly, open minded and great companions coming from all kinds of different cultures and sharing their experiences at every occasion.
now about the future.. i'm getting all kinds of fun ideas already of what to see next :) .. for an example next year there will be olympic games in China :D :D .. that would be fun! ... there are plenty of things to see around there :D :D .. just an idea ... will see what life brings!
you take care of yourself and till next time!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Lima, Peru - part III
as soon as i get off the lima bus about 5 taxi drivers offer me taxi ride.. i choose one of them and we head to Miraflores. the first thing he does once i sit in the car is lock all the 4 doors... creepy place this lima. finding a hotel was a trick on its own of course.. everything is full.. one hotel had gone out of business and was closed.. i was out of ideas already and then the taxi driver took me to one.. it was close to the beach in Miraflores and was quite cheap as well. dropped my things off and headed over to Maria's place. we went out and had some chinese food and then some drinks. was nice to see again.. after a month... so much to say so much to talk about... too bad we were both very tired.... got back to the hotel around 1:30am
next morning, tuesday 17th of July, i was woken up at 8am by heavy construction work right outside my window.. grrr.. so much of sleeping in... packed my bags, showered and checked out. met with one estonian guy who has lived here for 4+ years already. we spoke for almost 5 hours.. had lunch and sat in 2 cafes... very interesting person... i got answers to my gazillion questions about life in peru and economy over here and many many other things.. got to hear of how he lives here and why :) amazing what people do and how they live. and amazing to hear about life in lima and the people. absolutely astonishing.
after meeting with him i still had 4 hours to kill.. walked around and took some pictures.. met with Maria.. picked up my bag from hotel.. walked around some more and headed to the airport 4 hours before my flight. traffic is mad here and the rush our is unimaginable... took us 1h to get from Miraflores to the airport.. and i was very close of getting an exhaust poisoning... yuk. at the airport there was about 1h line at the check-in and another 30 minute line at the security check... then our flight was overbooked and was 1h late.. once at the plane we had to wait on the runway another 40 minutes... it was ridiculous.. but then we finally took off.
plane ride to Atlanta was fine.. not very bumpy and i even managed to sleep for 2 hours on the plane... in atlanta i had 8h layover.. some more sleep and then the long flight to Amsterdam... i will never get used to those ones... somehow i actually managed to sleep on that flight as well for about 3 hours... so i missed the movie completely :( ... in Amsterdam i only had 2 hours. i had to handle my luggage and do another check-in so i used my 2 hours up in a snap. flight to tallinn seemed to last the longest like always. and finally i was here :D back to the real world!
next morning, tuesday 17th of July, i was woken up at 8am by heavy construction work right outside my window.. grrr.. so much of sleeping in... packed my bags, showered and checked out. met with one estonian guy who has lived here for 4+ years already. we spoke for almost 5 hours.. had lunch and sat in 2 cafes... very interesting person... i got answers to my gazillion questions about life in peru and economy over here and many many other things.. got to hear of how he lives here and why :) amazing what people do and how they live. and amazing to hear about life in lima and the people. absolutely astonishing.
after meeting with him i still had 4 hours to kill.. walked around and took some pictures.. met with Maria.. picked up my bag from hotel.. walked around some more and headed to the airport 4 hours before my flight. traffic is mad here and the rush our is unimaginable... took us 1h to get from Miraflores to the airport.. and i was very close of getting an exhaust poisoning... yuk. at the airport there was about 1h line at the check-in and another 30 minute line at the security check... then our flight was overbooked and was 1h late.. once at the plane we had to wait on the runway another 40 minutes... it was ridiculous.. but then we finally took off.
plane ride to Atlanta was fine.. not very bumpy and i even managed to sleep for 2 hours on the plane... in atlanta i had 8h layover.. some more sleep and then the long flight to Amsterdam... i will never get used to those ones... somehow i actually managed to sleep on that flight as well for about 3 hours... so i missed the movie completely :( ... in Amsterdam i only had 2 hours. i had to handle my luggage and do another check-in so i used my 2 hours up in a snap. flight to tallinn seemed to last the longest like always. and finally i was here :D back to the real world!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Islas Ballestas and Paracas national park
we were picked up from the hotels around 7:30 in the morning and the bus took us to Paracas... there a different group was formed, very confusing, i guess to fit us better to the boats.. after some waiting around we finally boarded the speedboats and headed out. we got very lucky as we managed to see dolphins right there in the bay :D after some 10 minutes of we arrived to Candelabra.. this is a huge figure etched on the side of a coastal cliff... nobody knows where it came from and what its for. then another 20 to 25 minutes of a speedboat ride (it was nice and fast boat, wonderful) and voila... we were at the islands. the islands are in all shapes with lots of vaults and caves.. wonderful.. and there are thousands of birds, penguins and sea lions living there. islands are covered with guano - seabird droppings that are rich in nitrogen and used widely in agriculture as fertilizer. the islands were great.. soo many birds and sea lions and all those caves and arches.. neattooo!!!
coming back from the islands it was another 20-25 minutes of fast boat ride and then we had about half an hour to look around at the coast.. there was not much there, just shops and restaurants. then on to the national park.
first we visited the museum and went to the watch tower. there our guide talked a bit about the park and the nature here. apparently this is one of the driest places in the world.. they get like 1mm of rain per year (or was it per 2 years.. can't remember). after visiting the museum we drove to the cathedral... it was just an arch in the cliff and in the water so we looked at it from above... beautiful nonetheless... yeah the sights were wonderful. after the cathedral we headed to our lunch spot. i had ceviche :) it is raw fish in lemon juice covered with onions, chili and garlic and served with some corn. it was great. we also looked around there for some 30 minutes. then bus ride back to Pisco.
in pisco i exchanged some money.. got my bag from the hotel and headed to the bus station... got the ticket and i was taken to the highway where the buses leave to Lima every 10 minutes. my bus left 17:10 ... bus ride was almost 4h long .. got to lima bit before 9.
coming back from the islands it was another 20-25 minutes of fast boat ride and then we had about half an hour to look around at the coast.. there was not much there, just shops and restaurants. then on to the national park.
first we visited the museum and went to the watch tower. there our guide talked a bit about the park and the nature here. apparently this is one of the driest places in the world.. they get like 1mm of rain per year (or was it per 2 years.. can't remember). after visiting the museum we drove to the cathedral... it was just an arch in the cliff and in the water so we looked at it from above... beautiful nonetheless... yeah the sights were wonderful. after the cathedral we headed to our lunch spot. i had ceviche :) it is raw fish in lemon juice covered with onions, chili and garlic and served with some corn. it was great. we also looked around there for some 30 minutes. then bus ride back to Pisco.
in pisco i exchanged some money.. got my bag from the hotel and headed to the bus station... got the ticket and i was taken to the highway where the buses leave to Lima every 10 minutes. my bus left 17:10 ... bus ride was almost 4h long .. got to lima bit before 9.
to and from Ica and Pisco, Peru
First some notes i have made and some strange things i´ve noticed...
pachamama - this is quite big deal in cusco area.. whenever you start to drink alcohol you pour some to the ground for Pachamama :) she is the land gooddess and likes sacrifices (or just alcohol :))
rice and french fries - many many dishes are served with both rice and potatoes.. i don´t think i´ve ever eaten those two together
peeled tomatoes - whenever there are tomatoes.. either on a sandwich or in a salad... they are always peeled
loudspeaker on a mobile - most people talk to the mobile with the loudspeaker on.. but they still hold the phone next to their ear... odd :)
traffic - there are exactly that many lanes on a road as many cars fit next to each other :) .. so when there are trucks there might be only 2 lanes on a road.. when we talk about the little yellow cabs then perhaps 5 or even 6 lanes are formed.. quite practical?
ok.. now back to my trip.. i managed to kill my time in Arequipa just fine.. walked around town and managed to find the huuuge market place.. it was juuust huuuge... and quite clean to my surprise. then i went back to the hotel and packed and showered. took a taxi to the bus station. bus left at 19:30.. long distance buses here are nice and comfortable and we were served one of those airplane hot dinners... there were no incidents with the bus ride and i was woken up at 5:30 in the morning as we had arrived to Ica.
i got off the bus.. it was cold dark and misty outside... nobody spoke english.. i picked out a hostel from the travel guide and pointed that to the taxi driver.. he was trying to get me to stay at the sand dunes as it is nicer there, but i tried to explain him that i´m not staying for that long and i will leave to Pisco today. so he took me to the hostel i pointed out to him... and that was one bad bad pick :) the hostel was disgusting :) i tried to sleep for 3 more hours and then headed over to the central square. my aim was to go to sandboarding as early as possible to head over to Pisco as soon as possible.
Ica is quite boring little town. there was some parade and very formal one for that matter going on.. seemed like some sporting event with lots of officials but when i asked then they referred to the university something.. oh well.. but still the town... not very interesting one. i was at the tour office 9:30 and i was booked for sandboarding at 10:30 :) i went to look around meanwhile and had a cup of tea at a local cafeteria.
at 10:50 we finnaly left the tour office... took a minivan to Huacachina, picked up some more people who were going for a drive in the dunes and headed over to the actual dunes. others went to their driving and i headed over to the sand mountains with my guide... oh wow. it was soo neat! i loved it. it was soo difficult to climb up there but coming down was soo much fun. first time was just a practice and i was sitting on the board. notice that i´ve never done any snowboarding. second time was still sitting down and then i tried to stand up as well.. and i managed just fine. i´m ready for snowboarding now :) in the sand it is a lot slower though so i´m sure i won´t be doing very well on the snow at first.
about the sand dunes.. they are all natural as well as the oasis in the middle.. there used to be 6 of this kind of dunes and oasis.. but the others are destroyed and that is the only one left :(
ok.. but yes the sandboarding was tons of fun... i just wish there would have been something to take me up there. and i gotta mention that i was at the small hill.. on the other side was the big one... i took more than 30 minutes to climb this one.. and i did not even go there of course.. it was way steeper as well. and of course i was all covered in sand... i mean there was sand everywhere.. even my back pockets of my jeans had about half a cup of sand in them :) .. ou that was fun.
so once back from the sandboarding i just went and got my bag.. tried to clean the sand off and went to check the bus to Pisco. i took the local bus as this is the only one that goes into the city center.. others drop you off at the highway. it cost only 3 sol and it took a bit over an hour ´cause it was stopping every now and then dropping people off. on the way i saw the desert... never seen anything like this before... sand hills everywhere and people living in small huts in the middle there. crazy :)
once in pisco i got dragged into a hotel by one of the locals from the bus.. it was decent so i agreed to stay there... went to town to eat and also booked tomorrow´s day tour to Ballestas Island and Paracas National Reserve, tomorrow is 16th. it will be from 7 in the morning to 4 in the evening. around 6 in the evening i´ll take a bus to Lima... it is 3,5h ride... and then i´ll meet Maria in the evening :) i´m flying out of Lima the day after... very late in the evening (half past midnight) on the 17th.... will arrive to Tallinn on the 19th... geeshh.. that will be 2 days of flights and airports.. i hope i will survive this :)
town of Pisco is pretty much as boring as Ica was... there is nothing here to do.. there is a beach some 8 blocks away though but i was advised not to leave the main square area as it is dangerous there.. i don´t believe that it is that dangerous, but i won´t try my luck either :)
i´m not sure if i will be coming to internet before i leave.. if not then see you at the end of the week!!!
pachamama - this is quite big deal in cusco area.. whenever you start to drink alcohol you pour some to the ground for Pachamama :) she is the land gooddess and likes sacrifices (or just alcohol :))
rice and french fries - many many dishes are served with both rice and potatoes.. i don´t think i´ve ever eaten those two together
peeled tomatoes - whenever there are tomatoes.. either on a sandwich or in a salad... they are always peeled
loudspeaker on a mobile - most people talk to the mobile with the loudspeaker on.. but they still hold the phone next to their ear... odd :)
traffic - there are exactly that many lanes on a road as many cars fit next to each other :) .. so when there are trucks there might be only 2 lanes on a road.. when we talk about the little yellow cabs then perhaps 5 or even 6 lanes are formed.. quite practical?
ok.. now back to my trip.. i managed to kill my time in Arequipa just fine.. walked around town and managed to find the huuuge market place.. it was juuust huuuge... and quite clean to my surprise. then i went back to the hotel and packed and showered. took a taxi to the bus station. bus left at 19:30.. long distance buses here are nice and comfortable and we were served one of those airplane hot dinners... there were no incidents with the bus ride and i was woken up at 5:30 in the morning as we had arrived to Ica.
i got off the bus.. it was cold dark and misty outside... nobody spoke english.. i picked out a hostel from the travel guide and pointed that to the taxi driver.. he was trying to get me to stay at the sand dunes as it is nicer there, but i tried to explain him that i´m not staying for that long and i will leave to Pisco today. so he took me to the hostel i pointed out to him... and that was one bad bad pick :) the hostel was disgusting :) i tried to sleep for 3 more hours and then headed over to the central square. my aim was to go to sandboarding as early as possible to head over to Pisco as soon as possible.
Ica is quite boring little town. there was some parade and very formal one for that matter going on.. seemed like some sporting event with lots of officials but when i asked then they referred to the university something.. oh well.. but still the town... not very interesting one. i was at the tour office 9:30 and i was booked for sandboarding at 10:30 :) i went to look around meanwhile and had a cup of tea at a local cafeteria.
at 10:50 we finnaly left the tour office... took a minivan to Huacachina, picked up some more people who were going for a drive in the dunes and headed over to the actual dunes. others went to their driving and i headed over to the sand mountains with my guide... oh wow. it was soo neat! i loved it. it was soo difficult to climb up there but coming down was soo much fun. first time was just a practice and i was sitting on the board. notice that i´ve never done any snowboarding. second time was still sitting down and then i tried to stand up as well.. and i managed just fine. i´m ready for snowboarding now :) in the sand it is a lot slower though so i´m sure i won´t be doing very well on the snow at first.
about the sand dunes.. they are all natural as well as the oasis in the middle.. there used to be 6 of this kind of dunes and oasis.. but the others are destroyed and that is the only one left :(
ok.. but yes the sandboarding was tons of fun... i just wish there would have been something to take me up there. and i gotta mention that i was at the small hill.. on the other side was the big one... i took more than 30 minutes to climb this one.. and i did not even go there of course.. it was way steeper as well. and of course i was all covered in sand... i mean there was sand everywhere.. even my back pockets of my jeans had about half a cup of sand in them :) .. ou that was fun.
so once back from the sandboarding i just went and got my bag.. tried to clean the sand off and went to check the bus to Pisco. i took the local bus as this is the only one that goes into the city center.. others drop you off at the highway. it cost only 3 sol and it took a bit over an hour ´cause it was stopping every now and then dropping people off. on the way i saw the desert... never seen anything like this before... sand hills everywhere and people living in small huts in the middle there. crazy :)
once in pisco i got dragged into a hotel by one of the locals from the bus.. it was decent so i agreed to stay there... went to town to eat and also booked tomorrow´s day tour to Ballestas Island and Paracas National Reserve, tomorrow is 16th. it will be from 7 in the morning to 4 in the evening. around 6 in the evening i´ll take a bus to Lima... it is 3,5h ride... and then i´ll meet Maria in the evening :) i´m flying out of Lima the day after... very late in the evening (half past midnight) on the 17th.... will arrive to Tallinn on the 19th... geeshh.. that will be 2 days of flights and airports.. i hope i will survive this :)
town of Pisco is pretty much as boring as Ica was... there is nothing here to do.. there is a beach some 8 blocks away though but i was advised not to leave the main square area as it is dangerous there.. i don´t believe that it is that dangerous, but i won´t try my luck either :)
i´m not sure if i will be coming to internet before i leave.. if not then see you at the end of the week!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Arequipa, Peru - part IV
this is now the last day for me in Arequipa :) i got a bus ticket to Ica at 19:30 this evening :D yay! i´ll be killing time here for another 5 hours and then back to the hotel to pack my bags and then taxi to the bus station. bus ride will be 12 hours so i´ll arrive to ica nice and early :) i´m planning on going sandboarding there and then on to Pisco... i think.. gotta check how i manage with time.
Arequipa, Peru - part III
as i´m stuck here i figured to check if i can do any sightseeing (after i had spent 3 hours behind the computer :) ).. and surely enough Santa Catalina monastery was open :) i spent about 2 hours there.. took tons of pictures and had lunch there. it was very beautiful.
before the colca canyon trip i also visited San Francisco church and the museum that was next to it. at the church i had a guide which was nice as i got to ask all my hundred questions :D i also managed to visit Museo Santuarios Andinos where they keep ´Juanita, the ice princess´ - some 500 years old mummy that they found in the mountains.. one of the many humans sacrificed by ancient Incas. they showed a 20 minute movie about it too.
went by the travel agency again to check about the buses situation and it is confirmed that no way out of town today.. perhaps tomorrow evening. too bad there is no beach .. otherwise i could spend a whole day sleeping at the beach... well maybe i´ll find some restaurant with a nice view and sunshine and read my book. i´ll see.
before the colca canyon trip i also visited San Francisco church and the museum that was next to it. at the church i had a guide which was nice as i got to ask all my hundred questions :D i also managed to visit Museo Santuarios Andinos where they keep ´Juanita, the ice princess´ - some 500 years old mummy that they found in the mountains.. one of the many humans sacrificed by ancient Incas. they showed a 20 minute movie about it too.
went by the travel agency again to check about the buses situation and it is confirmed that no way out of town today.. perhaps tomorrow evening. too bad there is no beach .. otherwise i could spend a whole day sleeping at the beach... well maybe i´ll find some restaurant with a nice view and sunshine and read my book. i´ll see.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Arequipa, Peru - part II
so i´m stuck here for a while.
i got up in the morning.. eat breakfast and came to town. i dropped into one of the travel agencies and checked when could i get to Ica by bus.... not today for sure.. perhaps tomorrow night... buses go at night, around 9/10pm. oh uh.. so 2 more days here... oh well... at least there were vacancies at the hotel... and most of the restaurants seem to be open as well.
as i´m sitting here at the internet cafe i hear whistling and loud voices on the streets.. i guess the strikers are going around in parades... i´ll go and check what is going on there :) .. i´ll also try to see if the monastery here is open.. it is suppose to be very nice one... so i´ll do some sights seeing too.
i´ll keep you updated on the situation :) i´m also uploading some pictures so i´ll get them visible for you later on as well.
i got up in the morning.. eat breakfast and came to town. i dropped into one of the travel agencies and checked when could i get to Ica by bus.... not today for sure.. perhaps tomorrow night... buses go at night, around 9/10pm. oh uh.. so 2 more days here... oh well... at least there were vacancies at the hotel... and most of the restaurants seem to be open as well.
as i´m sitting here at the internet cafe i hear whistling and loud voices on the streets.. i guess the strikers are going around in parades... i´ll go and check what is going on there :) .. i´ll also try to see if the monastery here is open.. it is suppose to be very nice one... so i´ll do some sights seeing too.
i´ll keep you updated on the situation :) i´m also uploading some pictures so i´ll get them visible for you later on as well.
adventures on getting back to Arequipa - dealing with the strike
we have been driving for 2h and 45 minutes when the bus stops. some minutes go by and we are announced that we need to pay money so that the rocks are not thrown to our bus. what?!! some people tell that their friends/people they have met on the trip were telling them about the rocks being thrown at the bus.. not very nice. and those stones are not small.. they are sometimes as big as basketball. we are about 10km from Arequipa city border. the rebellers offer us apparently another option - w can continue on foot. 10km to the city border + 8km to the center of the city.. about. after another 5 minutes or so the bus starts moving... luckily.. and no stones being thrown at us... i guess they talked our way through.
we drive another couple of km and the bus stops again. it is already dark outside so we can´t see what is going on. i guess some road block again? after some minutes the bus starts going again.. puuh... couple of km closer again... and then we stop again. now we are ordered out of the bus.. the bus can´t get through.. there are barricades so we need to continue on foot... our bus has 50 tourists and 4 local tour guides.. now it is getting interesting. there are other tourist/back backer buses.
we get all our stuff and go outside. you hear people trying to organise themselves: "we can´t keep 50 people together.. form 4 groups!" ... i try to stay close to the people in our bus. it is pitch dark.. everybody turns on their flashlights. we walk. apparently the day before roads were blocked on Machu Picchu trapping some 1500 tourists (my calculations) into the ruins there. after some 5 minutes of walking we see the roadblock.. lots of rocks.. we are wondering if we can get over it even on foot... one of the tour guides advises us to get close together and keep quiet.. it is safer this way... we are able to get across the rocks.
then up front we see the real block. in the distance (maybe 90-100m ahead) there is fire all across the road... big fire.. and people and rocks. we all stop.. gather ourselves. guides are contemplating... there is a railroad running parallel to the road.. about 25-30 meters away separated by gutter and a field.. after some time they advise us to turn off all the lights.. not to take pictures (yeah you know the tourists: "grooouuup picture with the fires on the background!!!") and stay very silent. we descend some 10 meters to the railroad and march on in dead silence... hoping that we can get past the block... we walk and walk.. and there are no problems.. we get buy and they only whistle.. nobody comes to get us... so we continue on the side streets for a while and then get back to the main road.
we keep walking. we have crossed the city border... as far as we know we have about 8-10km to the city center. there are no cars.. no nothing moving.. no horses either (just for you Marko ;) )... occasional bikers zoom by though.. and then hoards of people walking.. some going away from town and mostly back backers/tourists going into the town. it is dark.. in the distance we see a plane take off from the airport.. the dialogue in our group is the following:
- oh.. see.. the planes are still going
- naaah, that is the last plane off Peru... "evacuation complete!"
:D :D yeah.. it is pretty exciting.. nobody is really too worried.. nobody is attacking us or anything... there are all kinds of jokes going around like "ooh.. look at the pretty stars.. seems like a good day to die" .. of course this was a joke.. the stars were very pretty though... it is kinda fun :)
occasionally there are more roadblocks. locals gathered around fire in groups.. others burning tires.. we get cheered on as we pass through... they are all happy and smiling.. loots of rocks.. big rocks on the road everywhere... we also see one dead dog between the rocks :( ... there are pieces of houses (as we figure) on the road... sometimes we have to cross the stones with care.. no buses or cars could get through this. then there are the kids doing their own little riot with empty plastic bottles filled with stones to make more noise... seems like all the locals are on the streets... the dogs are going nuts.. barking at us like no other... we keep walking... and walking.. we go at a good pace... there are more people walking in the distance in front of us as well as behind us... tourists :) .. people take pictures and many have acquired some alcohol.. everybody is cheerful.
we walk at a good pace for 2 hours.. one of the tour guides has made some phone calls.. we have gotten closer to the city center.. but we still have about 2,5 hours to walk! the roads are clearer now.. we see police pushing the rocks off the roads... we start to see some cars. so our tour guide tells us that we should stop and wait.. a bus is coming. he has gotten a 25 passenger bus to come and get us :) .. others from the bus are behind us somewhere.. there is just about 20-23 of us in that group.. the bus takes us to the main square... in city center life goes on as normal as it seems.
once at the city center i get off the bus and go to the internet cafe across the street to report to you that I´m ok... then i stop by at local fast food place to get a sandwich... i see 2 other people from the bus who were not in the same group who we walked with... so i hear about their experience and how they got to the city center... seems that everybody was safe and fine... i get the food and go check my self into the hotel... i guess no leaving town today as i originally had planned :D
we drive another couple of km and the bus stops again. it is already dark outside so we can´t see what is going on. i guess some road block again? after some minutes the bus starts going again.. puuh... couple of km closer again... and then we stop again. now we are ordered out of the bus.. the bus can´t get through.. there are barricades so we need to continue on foot... our bus has 50 tourists and 4 local tour guides.. now it is getting interesting. there are other tourist/back backer buses.
we get all our stuff and go outside. you hear people trying to organise themselves: "we can´t keep 50 people together.. form 4 groups!" ... i try to stay close to the people in our bus. it is pitch dark.. everybody turns on their flashlights. we walk. apparently the day before roads were blocked on Machu Picchu trapping some 1500 tourists (my calculations) into the ruins there. after some 5 minutes of walking we see the roadblock.. lots of rocks.. we are wondering if we can get over it even on foot... one of the tour guides advises us to get close together and keep quiet.. it is safer this way... we are able to get across the rocks.
then up front we see the real block. in the distance (maybe 90-100m ahead) there is fire all across the road... big fire.. and people and rocks. we all stop.. gather ourselves. guides are contemplating... there is a railroad running parallel to the road.. about 25-30 meters away separated by gutter and a field.. after some time they advise us to turn off all the lights.. not to take pictures (yeah you know the tourists: "grooouuup picture with the fires on the background!!!") and stay very silent. we descend some 10 meters to the railroad and march on in dead silence... hoping that we can get past the block... we walk and walk.. and there are no problems.. we get buy and they only whistle.. nobody comes to get us... so we continue on the side streets for a while and then get back to the main road.
we keep walking. we have crossed the city border... as far as we know we have about 8-10km to the city center. there are no cars.. no nothing moving.. no horses either (just for you Marko ;) )... occasional bikers zoom by though.. and then hoards of people walking.. some going away from town and mostly back backers/tourists going into the town. it is dark.. in the distance we see a plane take off from the airport.. the dialogue in our group is the following:
- oh.. see.. the planes are still going
- naaah, that is the last plane off Peru... "evacuation complete!"
:D :D yeah.. it is pretty exciting.. nobody is really too worried.. nobody is attacking us or anything... there are all kinds of jokes going around like "ooh.. look at the pretty stars.. seems like a good day to die" .. of course this was a joke.. the stars were very pretty though... it is kinda fun :)
occasionally there are more roadblocks. locals gathered around fire in groups.. others burning tires.. we get cheered on as we pass through... they are all happy and smiling.. loots of rocks.. big rocks on the road everywhere... we also see one dead dog between the rocks :( ... there are pieces of houses (as we figure) on the road... sometimes we have to cross the stones with care.. no buses or cars could get through this. then there are the kids doing their own little riot with empty plastic bottles filled with stones to make more noise... seems like all the locals are on the streets... the dogs are going nuts.. barking at us like no other... we keep walking... and walking.. we go at a good pace... there are more people walking in the distance in front of us as well as behind us... tourists :) .. people take pictures and many have acquired some alcohol.. everybody is cheerful.
we walk at a good pace for 2 hours.. one of the tour guides has made some phone calls.. we have gotten closer to the city center.. but we still have about 2,5 hours to walk! the roads are clearer now.. we see police pushing the rocks off the roads... we start to see some cars. so our tour guide tells us that we should stop and wait.. a bus is coming. he has gotten a 25 passenger bus to come and get us :) .. others from the bus are behind us somewhere.. there is just about 20-23 of us in that group.. the bus takes us to the main square... in city center life goes on as normal as it seems.
once at the city center i get off the bus and go to the internet cafe across the street to report to you that I´m ok... then i stop by at local fast food place to get a sandwich... i see 2 other people from the bus who were not in the same group who we walked with... so i hear about their experience and how they got to the city center... seems that everybody was safe and fine... i get the food and go check my self into the hotel... i guess no leaving town today as i originally had planned :D
Colca canyon - day II
so we wake up at 2:50am to start moving at 3am.. we have 3h of uphill in front of us.. that is the only walking we will be doing on the trek today.. all the rest is by bus. ok.. so we start the trek... in pitch dark with our flashlights.. 45 minutes later i need to switch the batteries.. i do it in the dark and i break the light bulb of my flashlight... and it is pitch dark.. so i stay behind the guide and walk his steps... that was difficult but the only choice at the time. we go up and up and up. the higher we get the colder it gets.. we put on more clothes and keep going. during the short breaks you just stare at the the darkness.. no pretty views in the dark. some people are being carried up on the mule as we need to make it to the bus by 6am as far as we know.
so finally we get closer to the top.. it is getting lighter outside so flashlights are not needed anymore.. we get to the town just about 6am. then we go and have breakfast.. everybody is tired and grumpy and cold.. we eat and head to the center square... we were suppose to take the local city bus to take us to see the condors... but because of the strike the buses are not going so the tour guides rented a private bus to take us so we have to wait till all the tourist groups arrive. we wait at least for an hour.. maybe even more.. finally we can board the bus. it is crowded.. all the seats are taken and there are about 20 additional people standing in the aisle. we have about 1h ride from Cabanaconde to Cruz del Condor observation point. the road is amazingly bad and the bus driver seems to be indifferent as many times we were nearly thrown out of our seats at the very back.
hour later we arrive at the condor´s place... there are hoards of tourists unfortunately.. but i guess that was expected. and there are also lots of condors :D perhaps about 20 of them.. they come and go so you gotta be patient and wait.. they are beautiful... they are big.. and the way they glide! wonderful... they fly over our head and in front of us and at the distance.. whatta sight! i just keep clicking pictures.. can´t help it :D we are there about an hour.
then we head to Chivay. the road is very bumpy again.. it is impossible to sleep.. it is hot and crowded at the bus again. it seems like forever.. but we get to chivay.. some people get off to have lunch but most of us stay on the bus to drive some 10 minutes more to go to the hot springs :) and have lunch later. hot springs are wonderful! they are natural baths.. 3 are open.. so we just sit an relax.. feels so nice on my sore muscles.. we stay there for 1,5 hours and then we head back to Chivay to have lunch.. it is buffet :) yum :) after lunch we have 1 hour to walk around the place.. there is not much there.. just a market and central square.
we get back on the bus at 3pm to head to Arequipa.. the ride is suppose to be 3.5 hours. i´m calculating that we should be in town latest by 7pm so i should be ok to take a bus to Ica around 9pm... so i think. we ask about the strike and what are the latest news and the tour guides say that there are some road blocks but that is all they know. so we head out.
so finally we get closer to the top.. it is getting lighter outside so flashlights are not needed anymore.. we get to the town just about 6am. then we go and have breakfast.. everybody is tired and grumpy and cold.. we eat and head to the center square... we were suppose to take the local city bus to take us to see the condors... but because of the strike the buses are not going so the tour guides rented a private bus to take us so we have to wait till all the tourist groups arrive. we wait at least for an hour.. maybe even more.. finally we can board the bus. it is crowded.. all the seats are taken and there are about 20 additional people standing in the aisle. we have about 1h ride from Cabanaconde to Cruz del Condor observation point. the road is amazingly bad and the bus driver seems to be indifferent as many times we were nearly thrown out of our seats at the very back.
hour later we arrive at the condor´s place... there are hoards of tourists unfortunately.. but i guess that was expected. and there are also lots of condors :D perhaps about 20 of them.. they come and go so you gotta be patient and wait.. they are beautiful... they are big.. and the way they glide! wonderful... they fly over our head and in front of us and at the distance.. whatta sight! i just keep clicking pictures.. can´t help it :D we are there about an hour.
then we head to Chivay. the road is very bumpy again.. it is impossible to sleep.. it is hot and crowded at the bus again. it seems like forever.. but we get to chivay.. some people get off to have lunch but most of us stay on the bus to drive some 10 minutes more to go to the hot springs :) and have lunch later. hot springs are wonderful! they are natural baths.. 3 are open.. so we just sit an relax.. feels so nice on my sore muscles.. we stay there for 1,5 hours and then we head back to Chivay to have lunch.. it is buffet :) yum :) after lunch we have 1 hour to walk around the place.. there is not much there.. just a market and central square.
we get back on the bus at 3pm to head to Arequipa.. the ride is suppose to be 3.5 hours. i´m calculating that we should be in town latest by 7pm so i should be ok to take a bus to Ica around 9pm... so i think. we ask about the strike and what are the latest news and the tour guides say that there are some road blocks but that is all they know. so we head out.
Colca canyon - day I
pickup from the hotel was at 1am (so i got 3 hours of sleep) by taxi, we were taken to the bus station where we boarded a local city bus :) well that was an experience! i was just given a ticket and was told to get on the bus.. there was another girl in my taxi who luckily spoke good spanish. we were suppose to get off at the last stop and our guide would meet us there.. no names nothing. but ok back to the bus station in Arequipa: there were 2 buses leaving at 1:30am to the same location so half of the people were at the wrong bus.. that took lots of yelling and screaming and confusion to sort out.. but finally we got going.. all the seats were full and many people stood in the aisle as well.. the ride was gonna be 6h. while still in town the bus stopped once and a while and picked up even more people. i tried to sleep.. i guess i was taking like 10 naps that lasted about 12 minutes :) the closer we got to the destination the colder it got.. finally it was freezing... and we have arrived to our destination: Cabanaconde (i think that was the name of the place)
so we stand at the central square and we find out guide.. next is breakfast.. there are 2 guys from Israel eating with us and 2 other tourist groups headed to Colca canyon... after breakfast we wait some more.. finally after an hour or so we start moving.. we part from the guys as they are doing 3 hour trek, we are doing the 2 hour one... so there is just 2 of us + the guide.. like a private tour :D
one of the first things the guide sais is: there is nothing to see today.. we just walk. great?! of course that was not quite true as the sights were soo amazing. first we walk on flat ground for about 45 minutes then we descent to the river for about 2 hours. oh the descent is painful.. it is sooo hot in the sun, there is no breeze.. the track has lots of loose stones on it so it is very difficult to go downhill without sliding. it is very dusty.. you feel sand in your mouth.. you can´t see your shoes or socks anymore cause your legs are all gray from knees down.. each time you blink your eyes they squeak :) ... anyhoo it was something entirely different.. like walking in the desert. the scenery was gorgeous of course... and i had plenty of water so it was fine. once at the bridge we had to buy the entrance ticket... and after about 30 minute rest we move on.. to the lunch location. it is another hour.. varying between uphill and flat surface.
we get to the lunch spot.. it is gorgeous :D little huts.. lots of flowers.. tables.. running water. our guide is also the cook so we just sit and relax since he is just starting to cook.. it will be a while. the sun is shining, there is a breeze, we are offered cold drinks, we wash ourselves a bit and then we chat. after 45 minutes or an hour we have our meal (which is delicious) and then there is 30 minute siesta before we continue.
we have 3 hours to walk unless we take the short way there which is 1 hour less.. so we choose the shortcut.. first i try to find out if it is much more difficult but turns out not.. so we head out. it is beautiful.. we walk on the streams, we walk up the streams and down the streams.. we cross the streams... some streams or even river baths are dry.. not shortcut during the wet season i guess :) at times it seems that there is no actual route and we just head to a certain direction.. it is great. the scenery is beautiful again of course .. this time there is no direct sun so it is not that hot either. it is great. we are going mostly uphill.. sometimes on the flat ground as well.. then downhill to a bridge again. we are heading towards oasis :D .. before going downhill we see our destination... wonderful.. it is this green area with palm trees and a swimming pool :) oasis = paradise :D and it definitely looks like paradise down there. after descent it is another 30-40 minutes uphill and then we arrive to our camp site at the oasis.
it is wonderful... we take a shower (cold one but that is fine.. at least we can wash ourselves)... then i just occupy one of the hammocks and rest. the way it has been set up here is great... they have build a pool.. all the houses are made of bamboo kind of plant so the huts let air and light through.. it does look like a little paradise in the depth of the canyon.
we talk and rest.. the girl who i´m travelling with is from Uruguai.. she has just 2 weeks of winter vacation.. dinner is at 7... and then we have bonfire... and then to bed. the stars are wonderful.. more falling stars. also what is great.. it is not very cold here :D we go to bed around 9 as we gotta get up at 3am :(
so we stand at the central square and we find out guide.. next is breakfast.. there are 2 guys from Israel eating with us and 2 other tourist groups headed to Colca canyon... after breakfast we wait some more.. finally after an hour or so we start moving.. we part from the guys as they are doing 3 hour trek, we are doing the 2 hour one... so there is just 2 of us + the guide.. like a private tour :D
one of the first things the guide sais is: there is nothing to see today.. we just walk. great?! of course that was not quite true as the sights were soo amazing. first we walk on flat ground for about 45 minutes then we descent to the river for about 2 hours. oh the descent is painful.. it is sooo hot in the sun, there is no breeze.. the track has lots of loose stones on it so it is very difficult to go downhill without sliding. it is very dusty.. you feel sand in your mouth.. you can´t see your shoes or socks anymore cause your legs are all gray from knees down.. each time you blink your eyes they squeak :) ... anyhoo it was something entirely different.. like walking in the desert. the scenery was gorgeous of course... and i had plenty of water so it was fine. once at the bridge we had to buy the entrance ticket... and after about 30 minute rest we move on.. to the lunch location. it is another hour.. varying between uphill and flat surface.
we get to the lunch spot.. it is gorgeous :D little huts.. lots of flowers.. tables.. running water. our guide is also the cook so we just sit and relax since he is just starting to cook.. it will be a while. the sun is shining, there is a breeze, we are offered cold drinks, we wash ourselves a bit and then we chat. after 45 minutes or an hour we have our meal (which is delicious) and then there is 30 minute siesta before we continue.
we have 3 hours to walk unless we take the short way there which is 1 hour less.. so we choose the shortcut.. first i try to find out if it is much more difficult but turns out not.. so we head out. it is beautiful.. we walk on the streams, we walk up the streams and down the streams.. we cross the streams... some streams or even river baths are dry.. not shortcut during the wet season i guess :) at times it seems that there is no actual route and we just head to a certain direction.. it is great. the scenery is beautiful again of course .. this time there is no direct sun so it is not that hot either. it is great. we are going mostly uphill.. sometimes on the flat ground as well.. then downhill to a bridge again. we are heading towards oasis :D .. before going downhill we see our destination... wonderful.. it is this green area with palm trees and a swimming pool :) oasis = paradise :D and it definitely looks like paradise down there. after descent it is another 30-40 minutes uphill and then we arrive to our camp site at the oasis.
it is wonderful... we take a shower (cold one but that is fine.. at least we can wash ourselves)... then i just occupy one of the hammocks and rest. the way it has been set up here is great... they have build a pool.. all the houses are made of bamboo kind of plant so the huts let air and light through.. it does look like a little paradise in the depth of the canyon.
we talk and rest.. the girl who i´m travelling with is from Uruguai.. she has just 2 weeks of winter vacation.. dinner is at 7... and then we have bonfire... and then to bed. the stars are wonderful.. more falling stars. also what is great.. it is not very cold here :D we go to bed around 9 as we gotta get up at 3am :(
.. just checking in...
.. to tell you that i´m allright. i´m not even sure you get any Peru news there or news of Southern America for that matter (i quickly browsed delfi to see but the closest was that it snows in Argentina or something) so just in case you do get news about the happenings here: i wanted to tell you that everything is ok with me, i´m safe and all is fine
if you don´t get any Peru news then here are some riots and strikes going on.. it concerns all services and mostly transport.. roads are blocked and buses can´t get through and so on. more about it tomorrow.
i know that it sounds like kidnapping note :) but i just got back from 2 day treck in Colca canyon and i´m quite tired of the trip and the journey back.. trip was great.. i´ll tell you all about it tomorrow (hopefully the internet places are open) .. now i will go and check into a hotel... take a nice looong hot shower and sleep tomorrow morning as long as humanly possible :)
tadaa!
if you don´t get any Peru news then here are some riots and strikes going on.. it concerns all services and mostly transport.. roads are blocked and buses can´t get through and so on. more about it tomorrow.
i know that it sounds like kidnapping note :) but i just got back from 2 day treck in Colca canyon and i´m quite tired of the trip and the journey back.. trip was great.. i´ll tell you all about it tomorrow (hopefully the internet places are open) .. now i will go and check into a hotel... take a nice looong hot shower and sleep tomorrow morning as long as humanly possible :)
tadaa!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Arequipa, Peru - part I
the bus ride from Puno was 5 hours.. it was quite nice, they showed 2 movies on board, served snacks and held a bingo game :D once i arrived to the bus station in arequipa.. i took a taxi... first i asked to go to the central plaza.. so we drive and chat.. after a while the taxi driver stops in front of an hotel and tells that i could just go and look to see if i like it... central plaza was 2 blocks ahead of us.. location seems fine.. i went to look at the room and it was nice and clean.. so it took it for 2 nights. arrived at the hotel at about 8:30pm... didn´t go anywhere.. took a nice long hot shower and crawled into bed.. watched tv for about an hour and went to bed.
luckily the breakfast is included.. so i ate at the hotel and headed to the town. dropped off some laundry to be washed and headed for the central square. it is beautiful. figured that i should check the coca canyon and other tours first and then do some sightseeing.. so walked into a travel agency and checked what is available... now i´m booked for 2 day colca canyon tour starting tomorrow morning at 1am :) and i get back to town on the 12th at 4pm... and i´ll try to catch a bus to Ica same evening around 8pm... bus ride to Ica is about 12h.
then i went to do some sightseeing... well.. at one of the churches the guide was trying to tell me the story of the paintings but the yelling at the streets was soo loud that i could not hear her.. so i asked what is all this noise about... and what do i hear: people are striking against government.. it has been going on in different cities around Peru and this midnight to come, the real strike will start, covering the whole country! and if i´m planning on traveling anywhere in Peru i should do it today :D .. well.. well.. i have my colca canyon trip booked so i´d like to do that first. the tour lady was very sceptical that the coca canyon trips will even happen. i´ll go by the travel agency again to see what they say. also it is not known of how long the strike will go on for. the strike will cover all services, including transport (so all the buses, local and between cities)
oh well.. arequipa seems like a nice place to get stuck at.. i´ll exchange some money today to last me a week or so and lets see what happens... main worry will be not to miss my plane back home from Lima... if worse comes to worse then i´ll have to skip Ica and all the wonderful things i wanted to do around there and take a flight from Arequipa to Lima... that is IF the airplanes are going at all :D .. otherwise.. a long taxi ride? hitchhiking? will see :D
luckily the breakfast is included.. so i ate at the hotel and headed to the town. dropped off some laundry to be washed and headed for the central square. it is beautiful. figured that i should check the coca canyon and other tours first and then do some sightseeing.. so walked into a travel agency and checked what is available... now i´m booked for 2 day colca canyon tour starting tomorrow morning at 1am :) and i get back to town on the 12th at 4pm... and i´ll try to catch a bus to Ica same evening around 8pm... bus ride to Ica is about 12h.
then i went to do some sightseeing... well.. at one of the churches the guide was trying to tell me the story of the paintings but the yelling at the streets was soo loud that i could not hear her.. so i asked what is all this noise about... and what do i hear: people are striking against government.. it has been going on in different cities around Peru and this midnight to come, the real strike will start, covering the whole country! and if i´m planning on traveling anywhere in Peru i should do it today :D .. well.. well.. i have my colca canyon trip booked so i´d like to do that first. the tour lady was very sceptical that the coca canyon trips will even happen. i´ll go by the travel agency again to see what they say. also it is not known of how long the strike will go on for. the strike will cover all services, including transport (so all the buses, local and between cities)
oh well.. arequipa seems like a nice place to get stuck at.. i´ll exchange some money today to last me a week or so and lets see what happens... main worry will be not to miss my plane back home from Lima... if worse comes to worse then i´ll have to skip Ica and all the wonderful things i wanted to do around there and take a flight from Arequipa to Lima... that is IF the airplanes are going at all :D .. otherwise.. a long taxi ride? hitchhiking? will see :D
Monday, July 9, 2007
Puno, Peru - part II
Puno is quite boring little town.. there is not much to do here :( i walked around the city for 30 minutes and i saw most of what there is to see.. there is also the possibility to go and visit some statues on top of the mountain.. but naah.. those are just some statues... my bus to Arequipa leaves at 3 (i changed the bus company) so i had 6 hours to kill... 3 to go :D
tried to go and have some food.. figured to skip breakfast and have some pizza.. well that is impossible at 10:30 in the morning... all the eating places are closed (and most of the shops as well).. so i was still stuck with fried egg, bread and jam with hot chocolate for food... will try to have some pizza in about an hour perhaps.. here is really not much to do than to eat :D and that i like :D :D
and as i don´t have much to do.. figured to upload some pictures and write a post :D
so yesterday evening we went to dinner with some people from the lake tour.. that was nicest dinner yet. everybody except me and the croatian lady were french speaking (3 from Quebec, 2 from Belgium and 2 from Paris) so we had a bottle of Chilean wine :) that was excellent.. and the food was delicious as well... didn´t seem like we are in Peru at all.. seemed like some top notch european restaurant food :D (i´m not sure if this is a good sign at all) and the company was great.. i really had good time at the dinner last night.
then this morning i walked around town and took some pictures... weather is cold.. it has been raining.. and i´m wearing cloves :( it is quite cold... like +10C perhaps? maybe +12C... so cold
allright.. i´ll get to the pictures now.. take care!
tried to go and have some food.. figured to skip breakfast and have some pizza.. well that is impossible at 10:30 in the morning... all the eating places are closed (and most of the shops as well).. so i was still stuck with fried egg, bread and jam with hot chocolate for food... will try to have some pizza in about an hour perhaps.. here is really not much to do than to eat :D and that i like :D :D
and as i don´t have much to do.. figured to upload some pictures and write a post :D
so yesterday evening we went to dinner with some people from the lake tour.. that was nicest dinner yet. everybody except me and the croatian lady were french speaking (3 from Quebec, 2 from Belgium and 2 from Paris) so we had a bottle of Chilean wine :) that was excellent.. and the food was delicious as well... didn´t seem like we are in Peru at all.. seemed like some top notch european restaurant food :D (i´m not sure if this is a good sign at all) and the company was great.. i really had good time at the dinner last night.
then this morning i walked around town and took some pictures... weather is cold.. it has been raining.. and i´m wearing cloves :( it is quite cold... like +10C perhaps? maybe +12C... so cold
allright.. i´ll get to the pictures now.. take care!
2 day tour on Lake Titicaca - Uros/Amantani/Taquile
tour guide picked me up from the hostel at 8am.. then we headed to the bus and went by some other hotels to gather the group. then about 3 minute drive to the port. at the port we were given 5 minutes to buy a present to the host family (food: rice, sugar, fruits etc.) and to gather water. our group was about 25 people. then we headed on to the boat and took off... well kinda took off.. the boat was a wreck and the engine kept dying out :) .. but somehow they got it going again
First stop was Uros - the floating islands... check the pictures for more descriptions (yeap i´ll try to add the descriptions right away as well) but the islands are literally floating.. and people are living on them... it is crazy.. everything is made out of the tall grass (i have no idea how pilliroog is in english) that grows in the lake. there are about 40-50 islands and we visited 2 of them. on the first island there lived 5 families i believe. some islands are bigger and there are even restaurants on them. at some point the prime minister of Japan visited the floating islands.. and even stayed the night at one... and he donated 30 solar panels to the Uros people. and our guide was even jokingly saying that who knows maybe they get internet soon :D ... but yes, those people live there all their life for many reasons:
- this is their culture and custom
- they get money from tourism
- they don´t have to pay rent
But there are also many problems there.. for one the kids learn to walk at a very late age.. because they have nowhere to walk and the "ground" is very unsteady.. also kids younger than 4 years often fall in the lake and drown.
What was kinda funny was the fact that each island has a president :D
After visiting the floating islands we got back to the boat and headed to island Amantani. it was a sloow ride of 2,5 hours.. the scenery was great but there is only that much you can stare at the water and mountains around it :D finally we got there.. we were taken to our host families as we were staying with them overnight... we were paired up, each family took 2, sometimes 3 people with them... well.. their living conditions are very very basic. there is electricity on the island but it is not always available so no-one uses it. we had lunch at the family house and then gathered in the town again to visit the temple on the top of the mountain/island. it was about 40 minute climb/hike.. the temple itself is open only once a year and only shaman´s and priests/important people can go in there... so we walked around it... and watched the sunset. it was pretty... then hurried down again as it gets dark quick... at the meeting point we parted to our families again and had dinner.
at 8pm we were dressed up in their national clothes and there was a party for us :D by that time it was pitch dark .. oh the stars were gorgeous... ok.. but the party.. there was a local band and all of us were wearing the national clothes.. which did not fit of course and were dragged on top of our own clothes so we could not really breathe or move :D .. but oh well it was fun nonetheless. the party was just gathering in their community house.. which was one empty concrete room... there was one oil lamp and local band of 5 people. the locals of course came as well and then we danced, the dances did not really have any steps so it was just simply moving around. well it was fun. between the dances we went outside to wonder at the night sky and to stare at the lightning across the lake, in Bolivia.
then back to the houses and to sleep. i did not get much sleep as the bed was just soo dusty.. each time i turned i started coughing as the dust all flew up :( .. it was pretty bad.. but we all got through the night... breakfast at 7.. pancakes, bread and tea... leaving the island at 8am.. heading to Island Taquile... it was about 1h boat ride.
Taquile island is great.. they have their own culture there which is being sponsored by many European countries. community there works very well.. for an example most of the restaurants are held by many families and they all split the costs and profit as well. seemed like a very nice and friendly place. they also had an interesting project there: island people were introduced to digital cameras, they learned how to use them and then they took many many pictures.. i went to see the exhibition of the photos... it was great. on the island we walked from one end to the other and stopped at the main square and had lunch as well. at 1pm we headed back to Puno.. it was 4h boat ride in windy and rainy weather... loong.. i slept for 2 hours luckily.
i just checked into the hotel again and just came to update the blog. in 1h we are going out to dinner with some people from the tour.... i have some stories to tell about all the people i met again :)
as i said there were about 25 of us:
- an older couple from Spain.. they were pretty much the only ones who knew where Estonia is :D
- an older couple from Belgium
- 2 teenagers, brother and sister, from Germany who live in Brussels as their parents work there
- 1 "local" girl from Lima
- 2 girls from Asia
- 3 people from Canada
- 8 people from Israel... they all met here in South-America... there were 4 pairs of them.. 4 girls and 4 guys... and now they travel all together. In Israel the boys go to the army for 3 years and girls for 2 years... army is right after high school.. so when they are 18.. then after army everybody takes a looong trip (6 months to 1 year) around the world .. or then in South-America :D ... and after that they attend university.
- 1 lady from Croatia... i stayed at the host family with her.. very interesting person.. we had some serious spiritual soul searching conversations going on in the afternoon.. perhaps i´ll go and visit her next year in Croatia
- and then some other people who i can´t remember.. oh one guy from somewhere and 2 guys from Paris
... but now i´ll get to the pictures and they i gotta head out to the restaurant! i´m leaving to Arequipa tomorrow (Monday) at 2pm by bus... take care!
First stop was Uros - the floating islands... check the pictures for more descriptions (yeap i´ll try to add the descriptions right away as well) but the islands are literally floating.. and people are living on them... it is crazy.. everything is made out of the tall grass (i have no idea how pilliroog is in english) that grows in the lake. there are about 40-50 islands and we visited 2 of them. on the first island there lived 5 families i believe. some islands are bigger and there are even restaurants on them. at some point the prime minister of Japan visited the floating islands.. and even stayed the night at one... and he donated 30 solar panels to the Uros people. and our guide was even jokingly saying that who knows maybe they get internet soon :D ... but yes, those people live there all their life for many reasons:
- this is their culture and custom
- they get money from tourism
- they don´t have to pay rent
But there are also many problems there.. for one the kids learn to walk at a very late age.. because they have nowhere to walk and the "ground" is very unsteady.. also kids younger than 4 years often fall in the lake and drown.
What was kinda funny was the fact that each island has a president :D
After visiting the floating islands we got back to the boat and headed to island Amantani. it was a sloow ride of 2,5 hours.. the scenery was great but there is only that much you can stare at the water and mountains around it :D finally we got there.. we were taken to our host families as we were staying with them overnight... we were paired up, each family took 2, sometimes 3 people with them... well.. their living conditions are very very basic. there is electricity on the island but it is not always available so no-one uses it. we had lunch at the family house and then gathered in the town again to visit the temple on the top of the mountain/island. it was about 40 minute climb/hike.. the temple itself is open only once a year and only shaman´s and priests/important people can go in there... so we walked around it... and watched the sunset. it was pretty... then hurried down again as it gets dark quick... at the meeting point we parted to our families again and had dinner.
at 8pm we were dressed up in their national clothes and there was a party for us :D by that time it was pitch dark .. oh the stars were gorgeous... ok.. but the party.. there was a local band and all of us were wearing the national clothes.. which did not fit of course and were dragged on top of our own clothes so we could not really breathe or move :D .. but oh well it was fun nonetheless. the party was just gathering in their community house.. which was one empty concrete room... there was one oil lamp and local band of 5 people. the locals of course came as well and then we danced, the dances did not really have any steps so it was just simply moving around. well it was fun. between the dances we went outside to wonder at the night sky and to stare at the lightning across the lake, in Bolivia.
then back to the houses and to sleep. i did not get much sleep as the bed was just soo dusty.. each time i turned i started coughing as the dust all flew up :( .. it was pretty bad.. but we all got through the night... breakfast at 7.. pancakes, bread and tea... leaving the island at 8am.. heading to Island Taquile... it was about 1h boat ride.
Taquile island is great.. they have their own culture there which is being sponsored by many European countries. community there works very well.. for an example most of the restaurants are held by many families and they all split the costs and profit as well. seemed like a very nice and friendly place. they also had an interesting project there: island people were introduced to digital cameras, they learned how to use them and then they took many many pictures.. i went to see the exhibition of the photos... it was great. on the island we walked from one end to the other and stopped at the main square and had lunch as well. at 1pm we headed back to Puno.. it was 4h boat ride in windy and rainy weather... loong.. i slept for 2 hours luckily.
i just checked into the hotel again and just came to update the blog. in 1h we are going out to dinner with some people from the tour.... i have some stories to tell about all the people i met again :)
as i said there were about 25 of us:
- an older couple from Spain.. they were pretty much the only ones who knew where Estonia is :D
- an older couple from Belgium
- 2 teenagers, brother and sister, from Germany who live in Brussels as their parents work there
- 1 "local" girl from Lima
- 2 girls from Asia
- 3 people from Canada
- 8 people from Israel... they all met here in South-America... there were 4 pairs of them.. 4 girls and 4 guys... and now they travel all together. In Israel the boys go to the army for 3 years and girls for 2 years... army is right after high school.. so when they are 18.. then after army everybody takes a looong trip (6 months to 1 year) around the world .. or then in South-America :D ... and after that they attend university.
- 1 lady from Croatia... i stayed at the host family with her.. very interesting person.. we had some serious spiritual soul searching conversations going on in the afternoon.. perhaps i´ll go and visit her next year in Croatia
- and then some other people who i can´t remember.. oh one guy from somewhere and 2 guys from Paris
... but now i´ll get to the pictures and they i gotta head out to the restaurant! i´m leaving to Arequipa tomorrow (Monday) at 2pm by bus... take care!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Puno, Peru - part I
once on the plain to Puno we stand on the runway for about 40 minutes as the pilot sais that there is very strong side wind and we have to wait till the wind gets better. then finally we take off. scenery is beautiful... the flight is short.. about 30 minutes.. and another very very bumpy ride... soo awful. i'm sad i was not able to take the train.. i was looking forward to it.. i guess it is very beatuiful scenery... instead i got this 30 minutes of rocking :( oh well.. i'll live.
once the plane lands and i get my bags i get on a little mini-van that takes me to Puno. it is just 10 soles for the ride and it takes about 45 minutes. the road goes first through Juliaca and then through fields and over the mountains to Puno. the scnery is depressing :( it is just soo depressing. i didn't feel like getting my camera out of the bag.. so i just stared at everything around me. first juliaca.. oh my... like a warzone... there are mud huts that have not been finished.. everything is in ruins... huts are on the field.. there are mainly dirt roads... everything is broken... no huts are painted so it is all gray and ugly. soo depressing... so hopless... we get out of juliaca and there is the 2 lane asfalt road.. then some 30m of dirt field on both sides and then comes one row of the same single level mud huts. i'v never seen anything like that before. i guess that is the suburb. what do people do here? then we get to the fields... there are occasional mud huts here and there + some animals. suddenly the bus stops as some cows and lambs cross the road. for some reason the lambs have pink color on their head.. no idea why that is needed for. we keep driving... we reach the mountains... that look like hills really as we are already up in altitude of about 3500m.... we go through the windy roads and then there is Puno.
there are 2 guys from UK who were going through the same as i did with the train -> airport -> very expensive plane tickets. they have to make their flight in LaPaz on Tuesday so they really had no choice but to take the plane. we chat for a bit and then suddenly the bus stops and we are on the main square - Plaza de Armas (that is the main square in every town here).
i get off the bus.. pay my 10 soles for the ride.. receive my bag.. cross the street and sit in the middle of the square with my bags and start checking the travel guide of which way should i go to. time is 5:45pm. 30 seconds later one couple walks buy and they look at me for a while as i turn the map in many different directions :) i say hi and ask if they know of any cheap hostel around here... their english is not very good but they give me the directions.. and we chat for little bit more.. comes out that the guy's father (or some other close relative) is from Lithuania :D then we discuss of what are their plans here and like everybody else they are going to Lake Titicaca.. so i ask if they could tell me some travel agency where i could book the tour for tomorrow.. they show me one blue sign just across the square where i can get directions to travel agency. so i go there... it is tourist information point.. they tell me to walk down the main street called Lima.. right next to the office and most of the travel agencies can be found there. great. so i go own the street and walk into the first one i see.
i politely ask if they offer tours on lake titicaca.. sure they do... they ask which hotel should they pick me up from in the morning and i just show at my bags and reply that i don't have a hotel yet... well turns out that this is a travel agency AND a hostel :D perfect! i go and check the rooms and 5 minutes later i got the room and the tour for 2 days on lake titicaca and she will check on the buses situation for me for Monday.. of what is the situation with the strikes and if i can get a bus on Monday afternoon to Arequipa :D so that was smooth :D
so now.. i'm checked in at the hotel... and just stopped here to update my blog. i'll go and have some dinner and then will have loooong shower :D and then bed.
tomorrow morning i'm going on a 2 day tour to the islands on lake titicaca... first the floating islands, then Amantani island where i stay for the night .. the next day is Taquile island and i'll be back in Puno at 4pm on Sunday the 8th of July :D
"don't worry.. be happy!" take care ... i'll get some pictures and hopefully some posts about lake titicaca on sunday!
once the plane lands and i get my bags i get on a little mini-van that takes me to Puno. it is just 10 soles for the ride and it takes about 45 minutes. the road goes first through Juliaca and then through fields and over the mountains to Puno. the scnery is depressing :( it is just soo depressing. i didn't feel like getting my camera out of the bag.. so i just stared at everything around me. first juliaca.. oh my... like a warzone... there are mud huts that have not been finished.. everything is in ruins... huts are on the field.. there are mainly dirt roads... everything is broken... no huts are painted so it is all gray and ugly. soo depressing... so hopless... we get out of juliaca and there is the 2 lane asfalt road.. then some 30m of dirt field on both sides and then comes one row of the same single level mud huts. i'v never seen anything like that before. i guess that is the suburb. what do people do here? then we get to the fields... there are occasional mud huts here and there + some animals. suddenly the bus stops as some cows and lambs cross the road. for some reason the lambs have pink color on their head.. no idea why that is needed for. we keep driving... we reach the mountains... that look like hills really as we are already up in altitude of about 3500m.... we go through the windy roads and then there is Puno.
there are 2 guys from UK who were going through the same as i did with the train -> airport -> very expensive plane tickets. they have to make their flight in LaPaz on Tuesday so they really had no choice but to take the plane. we chat for a bit and then suddenly the bus stops and we are on the main square - Plaza de Armas (that is the main square in every town here).
i get off the bus.. pay my 10 soles for the ride.. receive my bag.. cross the street and sit in the middle of the square with my bags and start checking the travel guide of which way should i go to. time is 5:45pm. 30 seconds later one couple walks buy and they look at me for a while as i turn the map in many different directions :) i say hi and ask if they know of any cheap hostel around here... their english is not very good but they give me the directions.. and we chat for little bit more.. comes out that the guy's father (or some other close relative) is from Lithuania :D then we discuss of what are their plans here and like everybody else they are going to Lake Titicaca.. so i ask if they could tell me some travel agency where i could book the tour for tomorrow.. they show me one blue sign just across the square where i can get directions to travel agency. so i go there... it is tourist information point.. they tell me to walk down the main street called Lima.. right next to the office and most of the travel agencies can be found there. great. so i go own the street and walk into the first one i see.
i politely ask if they offer tours on lake titicaca.. sure they do... they ask which hotel should they pick me up from in the morning and i just show at my bags and reply that i don't have a hotel yet... well turns out that this is a travel agency AND a hostel :D perfect! i go and check the rooms and 5 minutes later i got the room and the tour for 2 days on lake titicaca and she will check on the buses situation for me for Monday.. of what is the situation with the strikes and if i can get a bus on Monday afternoon to Arequipa :D so that was smooth :D
so now.. i'm checked in at the hotel... and just stopped here to update my blog. i'll go and have some dinner and then will have loooong shower :D and then bed.
tomorrow morning i'm going on a 2 day tour to the islands on lake titicaca... first the floating islands, then Amantani island where i stay for the night .. the next day is Taquile island and i'll be back in Puno at 4pm on Sunday the 8th of July :D
"don't worry.. be happy!" take care ... i'll get some pictures and hopefully some posts about lake titicaca on sunday!
...trying to get closer to Lake Titicaca...
first i want to thank Maria for posing my flight information.. it has been one chaotic day.. starting from the morning:
the train is suppose to leave at 8am, so i make my way to the train station at 7, i get there in 15 minutes. i only see people by the ticket counter and no passengers really.. odd i think.. i wait.. once the time hits 7:35 i ask where could i go to board the train as i don't see any activity of that sort.. and the answer i get is "there is no train today" -> whooot! ... so apparently because of the strike also the trains don't go... oh the fun. so i get in line to get to the ticket counter to find out what are my options. about an hour later i get my answer: i can either get a refund or rebook for Monday, it is not sure the strike is over by then though and the trains might not go then either. allright. buses are not an option .. i could try, but i'd be probably stuck on the road perhaps even for days.. so probably not a good idea. i get a refund at the ticket counter.
i head out of the train station with the goal to head out to the airport.. perhaps the flights are still going? outside one local man asks immediately if i'd like a taxi -> yes please, i need to get to the airport. after i tell him of my plan he announces that the plane ticket needs to be brought through a travel agency, there is no other way. i'm a bit sceptical about that, but oh well.. so he makes some calls and announces that the afternoon flight to Juliaca (there is no airport in Puno and Juliaca is the closest place to fly to) costs 65$... ouch.. well i guess i have to live with that if i wanna get out of here this week.
so i get a taxi ride to the airport.. or more precisely to the travel agency close to the airport. well what do you know.. now the price has tripled! gheesh. this is rediculous.. so i figure that i go and check the ticket counter/check-in at the aiport just in case as well. sure enough they do sell tickets at the counter too.. i knew it! BUT there are no tickets left to juliaca for today nor for tomorrow. earliest i could fly out would be on sunday. argh. so i have another chat with the dude from the travel agency. after some sign language i find out that they have a ticket for me for tonight with the triple price of course... now i'm very sceptical.. are they just gonna sell me some fake ticket or what.. the lady just said that the flight is full... well perhaps the travel agency has made some spare bookings? .. after some more sign language the travel agency dude tells me that i can do the check-in first and then pay.. well that sounds reasonable.. and i can also pay with VISA card, but then they have to charge another 8%... oh well, 8% won't kill me.. so i agree to it (thank god there are credit cards!!! wonderful life savers they are). after i gave my name and passport number via phone it took only 1,5 minutes to get the eletronic ticket for me.. wow. so we do the check-in as i try to find out the airline lady if everything is ok with my ticket.. do i have an actual seat or am i on a waiting line... she confirms that everything is ok and i'm booked for the flight. great i guess.. but i won't cheer before i'm actually on board.
so i go and pay the rediculous air fare at the travel agency and head back to the airport. i got 4,5 hours till boarding... flight is at 15:15 ... i try to find internet.. there is no internet connection today :( .. allright.. as i already went through the security i can't go back either .. i think. so i try to SMS to estonia about my plans and my flight number and time.. no luck.. i'm not sure if i'm entering the number correctly so i try many different options.. no luck... i bet the operator just won't allow international sms's ? allright.. so finally i SMS to maria and ask her to post the necessary information to one of the comments in my blog :D THANK YOU MARIA!
the train is suppose to leave at 8am, so i make my way to the train station at 7, i get there in 15 minutes. i only see people by the ticket counter and no passengers really.. odd i think.. i wait.. once the time hits 7:35 i ask where could i go to board the train as i don't see any activity of that sort.. and the answer i get is "there is no train today" -> whooot! ... so apparently because of the strike also the trains don't go... oh the fun. so i get in line to get to the ticket counter to find out what are my options. about an hour later i get my answer: i can either get a refund or rebook for Monday, it is not sure the strike is over by then though and the trains might not go then either. allright. buses are not an option .. i could try, but i'd be probably stuck on the road perhaps even for days.. so probably not a good idea. i get a refund at the ticket counter.
i head out of the train station with the goal to head out to the airport.. perhaps the flights are still going? outside one local man asks immediately if i'd like a taxi -> yes please, i need to get to the airport. after i tell him of my plan he announces that the plane ticket needs to be brought through a travel agency, there is no other way. i'm a bit sceptical about that, but oh well.. so he makes some calls and announces that the afternoon flight to Juliaca (there is no airport in Puno and Juliaca is the closest place to fly to) costs 65$... ouch.. well i guess i have to live with that if i wanna get out of here this week.
so i get a taxi ride to the airport.. or more precisely to the travel agency close to the airport. well what do you know.. now the price has tripled! gheesh. this is rediculous.. so i figure that i go and check the ticket counter/check-in at the aiport just in case as well. sure enough they do sell tickets at the counter too.. i knew it! BUT there are no tickets left to juliaca for today nor for tomorrow. earliest i could fly out would be on sunday. argh. so i have another chat with the dude from the travel agency. after some sign language i find out that they have a ticket for me for tonight with the triple price of course... now i'm very sceptical.. are they just gonna sell me some fake ticket or what.. the lady just said that the flight is full... well perhaps the travel agency has made some spare bookings? .. after some more sign language the travel agency dude tells me that i can do the check-in first and then pay.. well that sounds reasonable.. and i can also pay with VISA card, but then they have to charge another 8%... oh well, 8% won't kill me.. so i agree to it (thank god there are credit cards!!! wonderful life savers they are). after i gave my name and passport number via phone it took only 1,5 minutes to get the eletronic ticket for me.. wow. so we do the check-in as i try to find out the airline lady if everything is ok with my ticket.. do i have an actual seat or am i on a waiting line... she confirms that everything is ok and i'm booked for the flight. great i guess.. but i won't cheer before i'm actually on board.
so i go and pay the rediculous air fare at the travel agency and head back to the airport. i got 4,5 hours till boarding... flight is at 15:15 ... i try to find internet.. there is no internet connection today :( .. allright.. as i already went through the security i can't go back either .. i think. so i try to SMS to estonia about my plans and my flight number and time.. no luck.. i'm not sure if i'm entering the number correctly so i try many different options.. no luck... i bet the operator just won't allow international sms's ? allright.. so finally i SMS to maria and ask her to post the necessary information to one of the comments in my blog :D THANK YOU MARIA!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Sacred Valley tour around Cusco
the tour started at 8:30 am... well actually at that time the bus started to gather people from hotels all around Cusco... i was the first one in the bus :) in order not to be bored out of my mind i clicked some pictures of the city in the morning. you never really see the locals hurrying here at all.. except in the morning.. then everyone is veery busy.. people are running, cars are driving twice as fast as usual. what a sight!
so by 10 we finally had everybody on board and we started the tour:
1 - we stopped at some little little village´s market.. that was not too interesting and luckily we stopped only for 20 minutes
2 - Pisac.. there we climbed up to the ruins.. stopped there for an hour or so.. my poor knees remembered the evil stairs immediately :)
3 - Calca .. this was only a lunch stop.. it was buffet and the food was good as always
4 - Ollantaytambo.. some more ruins which were great
5 - Chinchero where we saw how the old Inca´s gathered/washed/dyed wool and there was also an old church.. this town is 3800m above the sea level :) so it was freezing there.. i´m cold again.
all the old inca establishments are divided into rural, agricultural, spiritual and higher class areas. the more important the area the better the stones are polished :). also another interesting fact is that the old inca culture is actually called Quechuan.. only the higher class and the royalties and kings were referred to as Incas. now all the old establishments have separate temples in them for sun and water and sometimes also the mother earth (PacchuMama). each establishment has also the sacrificing rock and holy waters. the walls and windows of the temples were all built according to the sun and winter/summer solistices. so when the sun rises on the solistice date then the light shines through all those correctly aligned windows or creates a certain mark on this certain stone :) very cool i must say.. like Indiana Jones :)
inca establishments have the huge lavatories or huge steps (check the pictures).. those were used for growing different plants... as you see there are lots of lavatories and they cover quite a big area vertically.. well this was in order to test at which altitude which plant grows better.. the establishments have all been built at various altitudes as well so they served as kind of laboratories. some establishments served also as astrology research areas.
on today's trip i also met some new people. it is amazing... most of the people i´ve met here (and there are quite many of them by now) are traveling for more than 5 months. there are very few who i have met who travel for less than a month. mostly travelers have taken a year off - who has resigned from their job for the trip, who has been laid off, who is self employed, who just graduated college and wants to see the world before getting stuck at work, who has gathered holidays up over the years and so on and so on. quite amazing i must say.. so interesting to hear what they have already done and what are their plans still. like this one couple is moving on to Antarctica! one girl has been traveling alone for 4 months by now.. soon she will fly off to Australia then to Indonesia, Asia and will return to UK via Russia - she is taking a year to travel and is meeting up with her mom in Australia to celebrate her mom´s 50th birthday.
and now i must say that backpacking is so addictive(ing?) .. i just wake up in the morning.. wiggle my thumbs.. and think "what will this day bring"... "what shall i do today".. so incredible! i would not have a problem doing this for a full year and travel the world :-P and to see all those places and meet all the people.. wonderful.
so tomorrow morning i´m taking the train to Puno (no wiggling thumbs tomorrow :)) ... won´t be posting before Saturday then. and i´m glad i´m going by train as i heard that there are some strikes going on and buses are not going regularly and many roads are blocked. hopefully nobody is blocking the railroads :) although i was planning on taking the bus from Puno on to Arequipa/Ica/Lima.. but lets see... maybe things have improved by then.. if worse comes to worse then i can just take a plane and change my plans a bit and skip some places i originally wanted to visit. we´ll see :)
so by 10 we finally had everybody on board and we started the tour:
1 - we stopped at some little little village´s market.. that was not too interesting and luckily we stopped only for 20 minutes
2 - Pisac.. there we climbed up to the ruins.. stopped there for an hour or so.. my poor knees remembered the evil stairs immediately :)
3 - Calca .. this was only a lunch stop.. it was buffet and the food was good as always
4 - Ollantaytambo.. some more ruins which were great
5 - Chinchero where we saw how the old Inca´s gathered/washed/dyed wool and there was also an old church.. this town is 3800m above the sea level :) so it was freezing there.. i´m cold again.
all the old inca establishments are divided into rural, agricultural, spiritual and higher class areas. the more important the area the better the stones are polished :). also another interesting fact is that the old inca culture is actually called Quechuan.. only the higher class and the royalties and kings were referred to as Incas. now all the old establishments have separate temples in them for sun and water and sometimes also the mother earth (PacchuMama). each establishment has also the sacrificing rock and holy waters. the walls and windows of the temples were all built according to the sun and winter/summer solistices. so when the sun rises on the solistice date then the light shines through all those correctly aligned windows or creates a certain mark on this certain stone :) very cool i must say.. like Indiana Jones :)
inca establishments have the huge lavatories or huge steps (check the pictures).. those were used for growing different plants... as you see there are lots of lavatories and they cover quite a big area vertically.. well this was in order to test at which altitude which plant grows better.. the establishments have all been built at various altitudes as well so they served as kind of laboratories. some establishments served also as astrology research areas.
on today's trip i also met some new people. it is amazing... most of the people i´ve met here (and there are quite many of them by now) are traveling for more than 5 months. there are very few who i have met who travel for less than a month. mostly travelers have taken a year off - who has resigned from their job for the trip, who has been laid off, who is self employed, who just graduated college and wants to see the world before getting stuck at work, who has gathered holidays up over the years and so on and so on. quite amazing i must say.. so interesting to hear what they have already done and what are their plans still. like this one couple is moving on to Antarctica! one girl has been traveling alone for 4 months by now.. soon she will fly off to Australia then to Indonesia, Asia and will return to UK via Russia - she is taking a year to travel and is meeting up with her mom in Australia to celebrate her mom´s 50th birthday.
and now i must say that backpacking is so addictive(ing?) .. i just wake up in the morning.. wiggle my thumbs.. and think "what will this day bring"... "what shall i do today".. so incredible! i would not have a problem doing this for a full year and travel the world :-P and to see all those places and meet all the people.. wonderful.
so tomorrow morning i´m taking the train to Puno (no wiggling thumbs tomorrow :)) ... won´t be posting before Saturday then. and i´m glad i´m going by train as i heard that there are some strikes going on and buses are not going regularly and many roads are blocked. hopefully nobody is blocking the railroads :) although i was planning on taking the bus from Puno on to Arequipa/Ica/Lima.. but lets see... maybe things have improved by then.. if worse comes to worse then i can just take a plane and change my plans a bit and skip some places i originally wanted to visit. we´ll see :)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Cusco, Peru - part VI
www.new7wonders.com - this is a very actual thing here in Cusco at the moment... posters are everywhere and they have active campaigns for voting all over the place. final decision will be announced on the 7th of July.
now i´m done with my spanish lessons :) i found out today that one of my teachers has just finished school for becoming a dentist... so i guess they don´t require a degree in teaching in that school :)
a bit more about the languages here.. official language is spanish of course... but there is also the language of old Inca empire called Quechuan.. there are about 5 milj. people who speak only Quechuan and 13 milj. people who speak both Quechuan and spanish (this is according to our guide at the Inca trail - Victor) and it does not sound anything like spanish at all... we were able to hear the language in Inca trail as the porters mostly spoke in Quechuan.
during lunch time today i managed to do some sightseeing and went to 3 museums. in the evening i managed to make it to their national theater :) it was a show for tourists with national dances and music. felt like i went back in time for about 20 years :D
now i´m done with my spanish lessons :) i found out today that one of my teachers has just finished school for becoming a dentist... so i guess they don´t require a degree in teaching in that school :)
a bit more about the languages here.. official language is spanish of course... but there is also the language of old Inca empire called Quechuan.. there are about 5 milj. people who speak only Quechuan and 13 milj. people who speak both Quechuan and spanish (this is according to our guide at the Inca trail - Victor) and it does not sound anything like spanish at all... we were able to hear the language in Inca trail as the porters mostly spoke in Quechuan.
during lunch time today i managed to do some sightseeing and went to 3 museums. in the evening i managed to make it to their national theater :) it was a show for tourists with national dances and music. felt like i went back in time for about 20 years :D
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Cusco, Peru - part V
¡Hola! so i have had 10 hours of spanish lessons by now.. tomorrow i will have 6 more hours of spanish... and i´m trying to communicate in spanish as much as possible from now on :D it is neat... i´m thinking of taking spanish lessons once i return home. it is a useful language to know .. although i still think that french is prettier ;)
besides my spanish lessons i haven´t had time to do much else... last night we went out to eat with the spanish school people.. it was quite nice.. had the typical chicken and chips :) tomorrow i guess there is either a movie night (trainspotting) or salsa lessons.. will find out i guess.
today i did buy the train ticket to Puno, it cost me 19$... train leaves at 8am on the 6th of July, so this Friday (not Saturday as i originally planned) ... i figured that i´ll take the 2 day Titicaca trip once in Puno and then i still wanna look around in Areqipa and Ica so one day will matter quite a bit. i also booked the Sacred Valley tour around Cusco for this thursday.. it will take a whole day and i will visit 3 towns.. can´t remember which ones exactly... will talk about the whole trip once i´m in Puno already.. so saturday perhaps (since i get back from the sacred valley trip late in the evening i guess and then i still need to pack and friday morning i´ll catch the train early).
so what else... oh.. did i mention already of how incredibly cold it is here? brrr... i got a sore throat and once the sun sets i start freezing immediately :( it is sooo cold.. total winter.. and it is suppose to be the same in Puno and lake titicaca :( .. i guess i will buy more alpaca clothes :D which i don´t have any room for in my bag.. alpaca by the way is very close to llama.. alpaca is a bit smaller and has a bit different face (not so long nose). and here they sell massive amounts of sweathers and other items made of alpaca wool.
besides my spanish lessons i haven´t had time to do much else... last night we went out to eat with the spanish school people.. it was quite nice.. had the typical chicken and chips :) tomorrow i guess there is either a movie night (trainspotting) or salsa lessons.. will find out i guess.
today i did buy the train ticket to Puno, it cost me 19$... train leaves at 8am on the 6th of July, so this Friday (not Saturday as i originally planned) ... i figured that i´ll take the 2 day Titicaca trip once in Puno and then i still wanna look around in Areqipa and Ica so one day will matter quite a bit. i also booked the Sacred Valley tour around Cusco for this thursday.. it will take a whole day and i will visit 3 towns.. can´t remember which ones exactly... will talk about the whole trip once i´m in Puno already.. so saturday perhaps (since i get back from the sacred valley trip late in the evening i guess and then i still need to pack and friday morning i´ll catch the train early).
so what else... oh.. did i mention already of how incredibly cold it is here? brrr... i got a sore throat and once the sun sets i start freezing immediately :( it is sooo cold.. total winter.. and it is suppose to be the same in Puno and lake titicaca :( .. i guess i will buy more alpaca clothes :D which i don´t have any room for in my bag.. alpaca by the way is very close to llama.. alpaca is a bit smaller and has a bit different face (not so long nose). and here they sell massive amounts of sweathers and other items made of alpaca wool.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Birthday greetings
I almost forgot to post it here.. i remembered that 2 of my dear friends had birthdays!!!
Happy happy birthday Marko and happy happy happy birthday Liina!!!
Happy happy birthday Marko and happy happy happy birthday Liina!!!
Cusco, Peru - part IV
pack backing is so much fun :D last night we went out to eat with couple of people who i met at the inca trail trip. they also brought their friends with so there were 9 of us. one of the girls ordered the famous fried guinea pig... wow.. it was the whole animal on the plate.. everything was there... little legs and the head with eyes, ears and of course teeth. it was lying on its stomach with his legs all spread out and it had a little tomato hat on its head :D oh it was great. the girl who ordered it was willing to share it with the rest of us so i tasted guinea pig last night :D tasted like chicken. they also took pictures and i´m hoping to get hold of those pictures as well.
then after dinner we went out to the bars :) over here they try to get you to go to their bar by offering a free drink.. so we went to one, had free drinks, danced and then moved on to the next one to have more free drinks :D but one guy had been collecting the free drink coupons for that particular place so we stayed there for a quite long time :D it was lots of fun :)
so yes, i´m having tons of fun here :D it is becoming so that i run into people on the streets who i actually know :)
today my spanish school starts... i will also try to book the tour to floating islands on lake titicaca today... and buy the train ticket tomorrow perhaps. i still have some serious sight seeing to do here.. i´m hoping to find some time in the afternoons after my spanish lessons.
last tuesday afternoon, day before the inca trail, i visited the cathedral here. this is the largest art collection in Cusco... and yes there were lots and lots of paintings. and they also had their own version of the famous "The Last Supper" ... and on the plate there was a guinea pig :D then in one of the altars i found Christ on the cross.. nothing too surprising right :D .. but he was black :D, i mean his skin color was all black :) i have no idea what the deal is with that and i´ve never seen anything like this before.
then after dinner we went out to the bars :) over here they try to get you to go to their bar by offering a free drink.. so we went to one, had free drinks, danced and then moved on to the next one to have more free drinks :D but one guy had been collecting the free drink coupons for that particular place so we stayed there for a quite long time :D it was lots of fun :)
so yes, i´m having tons of fun here :D it is becoming so that i run into people on the streets who i actually know :)
today my spanish school starts... i will also try to book the tour to floating islands on lake titicaca today... and buy the train ticket tomorrow perhaps. i still have some serious sight seeing to do here.. i´m hoping to find some time in the afternoons after my spanish lessons.
last tuesday afternoon, day before the inca trail, i visited the cathedral here. this is the largest art collection in Cusco... and yes there were lots and lots of paintings. and they also had their own version of the famous "The Last Supper" ... and on the plate there was a guinea pig :D then in one of the altars i found Christ on the cross.. nothing too surprising right :D .. but he was black :D, i mean his skin color was all black :) i have no idea what the deal is with that and i´ve never seen anything like this before.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Inca Trail - day IV - 30.06
last day we had to get up at 3:45am to make it to the checkpoint line before others... to be able to make it to the gates of sun by sunrise. breakfast at 4:15 and leaving latest at 4:45.. while waiting at the checkpoint i got to study the night sky here... it is amazing! i´ve never seen the stars of the southern hemisphere before.. there was the southern cross.. and i also saw 2 falling stars :D soo beautiful. then the gates were opened and we stormed towards the sun gates.
i got there before the sunrise...i was about 6th up there :D... and took a seat to enjoy the view to the ruins of Mach Picchu! amazing.. i can´t believe this is all real.. it is like a postcard. every minute more and more people arrived. we saw the sunrise and after some 30 minutes we continued towards the ruins. we took group pictures there and we listened to the stories that our guide told us. after a while we entered the ruins and got a 2 hour tour there. it was all very nice and interesting and dead gorgeous! Macchu Picchu is at 2400m.
AND THEN! i also went up to Wayna Picchu :D it is 350m climb :D .. and it took me about 30 minutes. more stairs again. but it was worth it.. it was very extreme though as on the top there were huuge rocks but nothing to hold on to.. i must say i was very scared and refused to stand up :D there is one picture where i sit on the huge rock up there as well :D.. will upload that a bit later. coming down was another very extreme experience :D the stairs were very steep and you literally had to climb.. without looking down of course :D
after looking around at the ruins some more.. and witnessing one lama taking down some people and other lamas with his run (yeah.. it was a bit scary) we took the bus to Aguas Calientes :D had lunch there and waited for the train departure at 5pm. oh I was tired.. soo tired... the train ride was 4h (for some 140km!!!) and then back to the hotel... to take a shower.. had not taken a shower in 4 days :D
now i just gotta complain about my knees :( .. they are both very swollen.. the left one i can´t straighten as on the back of the knee i have this huuge swollen knot... and right one i can´t bend as on the right hand side of my kneecap there is a huge swollen area :( WAAAAA :( and oh they hurt!!
i got there before the sunrise...i was about 6th up there :D... and took a seat to enjoy the view to the ruins of Mach Picchu! amazing.. i can´t believe this is all real.. it is like a postcard. every minute more and more people arrived. we saw the sunrise and after some 30 minutes we continued towards the ruins. we took group pictures there and we listened to the stories that our guide told us. after a while we entered the ruins and got a 2 hour tour there. it was all very nice and interesting and dead gorgeous! Macchu Picchu is at 2400m.
AND THEN! i also went up to Wayna Picchu :D it is 350m climb :D .. and it took me about 30 minutes. more stairs again. but it was worth it.. it was very extreme though as on the top there were huuge rocks but nothing to hold on to.. i must say i was very scared and refused to stand up :D there is one picture where i sit on the huge rock up there as well :D.. will upload that a bit later. coming down was another very extreme experience :D the stairs were very steep and you literally had to climb.. without looking down of course :D
after looking around at the ruins some more.. and witnessing one lama taking down some people and other lamas with his run (yeah.. it was a bit scary) we took the bus to Aguas Calientes :D had lunch there and waited for the train departure at 5pm. oh I was tired.. soo tired... the train ride was 4h (for some 140km!!!) and then back to the hotel... to take a shower.. had not taken a shower in 4 days :D
now i just gotta complain about my knees :( .. they are both very swollen.. the left one i can´t straighten as on the back of the knee i have this huuge swollen knot... and right one i can´t bend as on the right hand side of my kneecap there is a huge swollen area :( WAAAAA :( and oh they hurt!!
Inca Trail - day III - 29.06
wake-up call again at 5:20am :( .. this time there were no roosters :) but at 5:20 our assistant guide fixed it and made this long and loud rooster noise :D .. one thing i forgot to mention was that at 5:20 when they woke everybody up they also served hot tea/coffee at your tent door :D that was so incredibly nice!
so breakfast at 6 and leaving at 6:30 again. third day was suppose to be the most beautiful.. and it was.. although the whole trail was gorgeous. this time we passed through rain forest-like nature. there was some uphill and some downhill and the whole time was sooo incredibly beautiful. again we had stops on the way and were told more stories about the incas and introduced to the purpose of the ruins and the lifestyles of ancient peoples. our trail took us from the camp at 3500m to second pass at 3950m to the third pass at 3670m to the last camp at 2700m.
at the second pass we held a ritual so that we would be welcomed at the mountains .. it was beautiful. we really had an incredible guide! we had one of those incredible lunches again on the way and the trail continued. we were also handed out snacks to munch on along the way.
there have also been competitions on the inca trail. the record from KM82 to Machu Pichu is 3h40´!!!! i have no idea how that is possible by any means. one of the porters did it some 5 years ago if i remember correctly.
our last camp was at Wiñay Wayna. we arrived there at 4:30or so.. left our bags at the tent and went to visit another ruin that was just 5 minutes walk from the camp. tea time at 5 like usual and dinner at 7:15. during the tea time we collected all the tips for the guides, cooks and porters. that was a complicated process but we were all happy about the way the trip was organized so they got pretty good tips from us. at dinner time there was a ceremony as well with the porters and cooks, carried out by the guide. it was nice, we got to thank them and there were speeches and it was heart warming.
then to bed. it was considerably warmer at this campsite and i got another good sleep :D although short as we needed to get up early in the morning.
so breakfast at 6 and leaving at 6:30 again. third day was suppose to be the most beautiful.. and it was.. although the whole trail was gorgeous. this time we passed through rain forest-like nature. there was some uphill and some downhill and the whole time was sooo incredibly beautiful. again we had stops on the way and were told more stories about the incas and introduced to the purpose of the ruins and the lifestyles of ancient peoples. our trail took us from the camp at 3500m to second pass at 3950m to the third pass at 3670m to the last camp at 2700m.
at the second pass we held a ritual so that we would be welcomed at the mountains .. it was beautiful. we really had an incredible guide! we had one of those incredible lunches again on the way and the trail continued. we were also handed out snacks to munch on along the way.
there have also been competitions on the inca trail. the record from KM82 to Machu Pichu is 3h40´!!!! i have no idea how that is possible by any means. one of the porters did it some 5 years ago if i remember correctly.
our last camp was at Wiñay Wayna. we arrived there at 4:30or so.. left our bags at the tent and went to visit another ruin that was just 5 minutes walk from the camp. tea time at 5 like usual and dinner at 7:15. during the tea time we collected all the tips for the guides, cooks and porters. that was a complicated process but we were all happy about the way the trip was organized so they got pretty good tips from us. at dinner time there was a ceremony as well with the porters and cooks, carried out by the guide. it was nice, we got to thank them and there were speeches and it was heart warming.
then to bed. it was considerably warmer at this campsite and i got another good sleep :D although short as we needed to get up early in the morning.
Inca Trail - day II - 28.06
wake-up call was at 5:20am, breakfast at 6, porters introduction at 6:15 and heading out to the trail at 6:45.
camping area had basic toilet facilities and cold running water. toilet facilities tended to be quite disgusting at some places.. just filthy and smelly. but in some places they were quite ok... no seat though, just a hole in the ground :) toilet paper you had to carry yourself.
water could be brought on the trail by local people who had set up small tables with water and snacks. after the second day there were no places to buy anything anymore and all the water was provided at the camp during meal times to fill up our water bottles.
second day is the most difficult at the trail. we had all agreed that we will wait to have lunch later as we have to cover 9km uphill to the first pass and then 2km downhill to get to the second camp. we took 2 bigger breaks on the way to have some snacks and to gather the group. everybody was going at their own speed at all times which was great.
ok.. so 9km uphill... well i knew it was gonna be difficult, i heard that it was gonna be very difficult... but i would have never thought it to be THAT difficult. the last 1km was just 2 steps and 20 seconds break - 2 more steps and another 20 seconds break :) uphill was stairs, steep stairs. people cried.. people were carried... people were exhausted. many were chewing on coca leaves which gives you energy. we went from 3100m to 4200m :D i´ve never been that high up before :D once i made it up there it took quite a bit to catch my breath. i have to say that big lung capacity comes handy :D - at this point i´d like to mention all my former coaches and thank them for putting up with me all those years! it was very difficult, but i was doing quite good compared to most of the people on the trail.
so at 4200m .. on the first pass called ´Abra de warmi wañusca´ or dead woman´s pass.. it was difficult to breathe.. it was cold and windy up there.. and cloudy. some people carried on to the camp after waiting there for about an hour.. i was there for about 2,5 hours waiting for everybody else to make it up there. i tried to keep away from the wind and warmed myself in the sun. my breathing did not get much better and i felt light-headed... but it was ok.. i was at 4200 and i made it up there and i was very proud of myself.
i should also mention that there were many many groups on the trail at the same time.. each day it is allowed for 200 people (or was it 500?) to go on the trail. and at times you had to pass like 20 people at a time.. and at times the trail seemed overly crowded.. but luckily not most of the time :D there were quite many times that i was walking alone and did not see anybody behind or in front of me. occasionally somebody appeared behind me... a porter.. carrying a huuuge bag on his pack and basically passed me like i was standing still :D
then we started the descent to the second campsite called Paqaymayu, at 3500m. oh my.. going down the same kind of steep stairs was soooooo difficult. my knees were on fire :( and it was just stairs and stairs and more windy stairs.. barely no flat ground at all. of course the scenery was beautiful with all the mountains and waterfalls and all the rest.. but oh it was bad going down.
then again the tents were already set up by the porters who passed us on the trail. we got to the camp around 4pm it think. we had tea at 5 and dinner was 7:15. after tea i took 1,5 hour nap :D and oh it was cold down in the valley :(... during night time some people measured 4C in their tent. in the morning when i got out of the tent the water drops that had formed on the tent had turned into ice. it was oh so cold. i got my long underwear on.. gloves + hat + thick socks while sleeping and only my nose was out of the sleeping bag and luckily i was not cold while sleeping. but getting dressed in the morning and putting on the damp clothes.. well that was a challenge.
camping area had basic toilet facilities and cold running water. toilet facilities tended to be quite disgusting at some places.. just filthy and smelly. but in some places they were quite ok... no seat though, just a hole in the ground :) toilet paper you had to carry yourself.
water could be brought on the trail by local people who had set up small tables with water and snacks. after the second day there were no places to buy anything anymore and all the water was provided at the camp during meal times to fill up our water bottles.
second day is the most difficult at the trail. we had all agreed that we will wait to have lunch later as we have to cover 9km uphill to the first pass and then 2km downhill to get to the second camp. we took 2 bigger breaks on the way to have some snacks and to gather the group. everybody was going at their own speed at all times which was great.
ok.. so 9km uphill... well i knew it was gonna be difficult, i heard that it was gonna be very difficult... but i would have never thought it to be THAT difficult. the last 1km was just 2 steps and 20 seconds break - 2 more steps and another 20 seconds break :) uphill was stairs, steep stairs. people cried.. people were carried... people were exhausted. many were chewing on coca leaves which gives you energy. we went from 3100m to 4200m :D i´ve never been that high up before :D once i made it up there it took quite a bit to catch my breath. i have to say that big lung capacity comes handy :D - at this point i´d like to mention all my former coaches and thank them for putting up with me all those years! it was very difficult, but i was doing quite good compared to most of the people on the trail.
so at 4200m .. on the first pass called ´Abra de warmi wañusca´ or dead woman´s pass.. it was difficult to breathe.. it was cold and windy up there.. and cloudy. some people carried on to the camp after waiting there for about an hour.. i was there for about 2,5 hours waiting for everybody else to make it up there. i tried to keep away from the wind and warmed myself in the sun. my breathing did not get much better and i felt light-headed... but it was ok.. i was at 4200 and i made it up there and i was very proud of myself.
i should also mention that there were many many groups on the trail at the same time.. each day it is allowed for 200 people (or was it 500?) to go on the trail. and at times you had to pass like 20 people at a time.. and at times the trail seemed overly crowded.. but luckily not most of the time :D there were quite many times that i was walking alone and did not see anybody behind or in front of me. occasionally somebody appeared behind me... a porter.. carrying a huuuge bag on his pack and basically passed me like i was standing still :D
then we started the descent to the second campsite called Paqaymayu, at 3500m. oh my.. going down the same kind of steep stairs was soooooo difficult. my knees were on fire :( and it was just stairs and stairs and more windy stairs.. barely no flat ground at all. of course the scenery was beautiful with all the mountains and waterfalls and all the rest.. but oh it was bad going down.
then again the tents were already set up by the porters who passed us on the trail. we got to the camp around 4pm it think. we had tea at 5 and dinner was 7:15. after tea i took 1,5 hour nap :D and oh it was cold down in the valley :(... during night time some people measured 4C in their tent. in the morning when i got out of the tent the water drops that had formed on the tent had turned into ice. it was oh so cold. i got my long underwear on.. gloves + hat + thick socks while sleeping and only my nose was out of the sleeping bag and luckily i was not cold while sleeping. but getting dressed in the morning and putting on the damp clothes.. well that was a challenge.
Inca Trail - day I - 27.06
first day started early (as i thought at the time) .. they were gonna pick me up between 5:20 and 5:40.. i got downstairs at 5:18 and managed to even eat breakfast before they arrived to pick me up. i managed to pack all the needed clothes and things into my little pack-pack. last night i also picked up the sleeping bag from the office of the tour provider so that was attached to my bag as well... so my bag must have weighed about 12kg or so (clothing for 4 days + minimal medical things + documents + 2l of water + sleeping bag + sleeping mattress). the bus picked up all the other travelers from all over cusco as well.. it took about 1h to do that and our group had 15 people in it:
- a young couple from scotland
- a young couple from UK
- 2 girls from autralia
- 4 people from seattle.. older couple with their daughter + her husband
- 2 girls from seattle
- couple from Netherlands (i think that is the proper name for Holland :-P )
- and me :)
our tour guide was Victor and an assistant tour guide was William - both very nice and friendly.
bus left about 7 i think to head out to KM82 where the trail starts... we also stopped in one little town.. perhaps its name was Ollantaytambo :) can´t remember for sure... there we had breakfast and then moved on. on the way the local porters were picked up as well so the bus was full by now.
we started the trail from KM82 at 10am, the altitude was 2600m. when i first got my back bag on i thought i won´t be able to carry it for more than 20 minutes :) ... but after some time i could not even feel the weight anymore. most people had hired personal porters to carry their bags. at the start of the trail we all passed a check-point where they checked our tickets and passports.
this was a short and easy day :) we had to hike only some 12km or so and the altitude did not differ too much. there was one difficult uphill staircase which took more than 10 minutes to climb, but it was not too bad. our guide then announced that tomorrow we have about 5 hours of this kind of uphill :) and then there was very loud cry of NOOO from 15 people :D on the way we made some stops and our guide talked about the history and give some insight to Inca culture... he had lots of knowledge on the matter and was sharing it with us along the way. we got very lucky with our guide. first day the scenery was beautiful and there were some ruins we stopped at. trail was mostly flat with some up and downhill.
after some hours of walking we had lunch. first of all the lunch took place in a tent.. with a long table and chairs! you were able to pretty much walk around in the tent. before entering the tent there were small bowls with water and soap for each one of us to wash our hands. then the table in the tent was all nicely set with metal spoons/forks/knives and napkins. unbelievable. it was soo nice... and were were in the mountains - in the middle of nowhere.. away from civilization.
now eating - first arrived a tiny plate with delicious salad.. i thought well.. maybe we will get a cup of tea as well.. that would be nice. the salad was very good.. then the plates were collected... and they handed out big bowls of soup... "oh that is great" we thought.. so we ate the delicious soup gladly... and then.. then the main meal arrived :) and the food.. it was good! i haven´t had that good food even in the restaurants here! we were all sooo full after the meal and we still had some 2-3 hours to go :)
we arrived at the camp in Wayllabamba around 5pm i think. the altitude was 3100m. all the tents were set up and I got my very own tent :) that was nice :D changed to dry clothes and we had a nice evening chat with other people in the group. dinner was served at 6:30.. dinner was amazing again.. with excellent food (again many things - soup/main meal + desert)... everybody was very pleased with the food :D
then to bed :D .. it gets very cold at night but the rental sleeping bag is nice and warm so I had a good sleep.. until.. until the rooster started to "sing" or rather scream at 3:30 am.. and i was up :(
- a young couple from scotland
- a young couple from UK
- 2 girls from autralia
- 4 people from seattle.. older couple with their daughter + her husband
- 2 girls from seattle
- couple from Netherlands (i think that is the proper name for Holland :-P )
- and me :)
our tour guide was Victor and an assistant tour guide was William - both very nice and friendly.
bus left about 7 i think to head out to KM82 where the trail starts... we also stopped in one little town.. perhaps its name was Ollantaytambo :) can´t remember for sure... there we had breakfast and then moved on. on the way the local porters were picked up as well so the bus was full by now.
we started the trail from KM82 at 10am, the altitude was 2600m. when i first got my back bag on i thought i won´t be able to carry it for more than 20 minutes :) ... but after some time i could not even feel the weight anymore. most people had hired personal porters to carry their bags. at the start of the trail we all passed a check-point where they checked our tickets and passports.
this was a short and easy day :) we had to hike only some 12km or so and the altitude did not differ too much. there was one difficult uphill staircase which took more than 10 minutes to climb, but it was not too bad. our guide then announced that tomorrow we have about 5 hours of this kind of uphill :) and then there was very loud cry of NOOO from 15 people :D on the way we made some stops and our guide talked about the history and give some insight to Inca culture... he had lots of knowledge on the matter and was sharing it with us along the way. we got very lucky with our guide. first day the scenery was beautiful and there were some ruins we stopped at. trail was mostly flat with some up and downhill.
after some hours of walking we had lunch. first of all the lunch took place in a tent.. with a long table and chairs! you were able to pretty much walk around in the tent. before entering the tent there were small bowls with water and soap for each one of us to wash our hands. then the table in the tent was all nicely set with metal spoons/forks/knives and napkins. unbelievable. it was soo nice... and were were in the mountains - in the middle of nowhere.. away from civilization.
now eating - first arrived a tiny plate with delicious salad.. i thought well.. maybe we will get a cup of tea as well.. that would be nice. the salad was very good.. then the plates were collected... and they handed out big bowls of soup... "oh that is great" we thought.. so we ate the delicious soup gladly... and then.. then the main meal arrived :) and the food.. it was good! i haven´t had that good food even in the restaurants here! we were all sooo full after the meal and we still had some 2-3 hours to go :)
we arrived at the camp in Wayllabamba around 5pm i think. the altitude was 3100m. all the tents were set up and I got my very own tent :) that was nice :D changed to dry clothes and we had a nice evening chat with other people in the group. dinner was served at 6:30.. dinner was amazing again.. with excellent food (again many things - soup/main meal + desert)... everybody was very pleased with the food :D
then to bed :D .. it gets very cold at night but the rental sleeping bag is nice and warm so I had a good sleep.. until.. until the rooster started to "sing" or rather scream at 3:30 am.. and i was up :(
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Cusco, Peru - part III
first i want to mention of how incredibly cold it gets in here during the night.. i´m all bundled up and i still can´t stand around for more than 20 minutes in one spot, gotta walk around to keep warm. nuts i say.
little bit about food.. i´ve eaten at ´polleria´ which is a place where they serve grilled chicken with fries only :) then last night I had this typical andean food ´pollo saltado´ it was spicy chicken strips with vegetables and french fries, all mixed together like stir-fry and it was served with rice on the side. it was delicious, but i´ve never eaten french fries with rice before :-P now famous Peruvian food is guinea pig served in many different ways.. i have not had the courage to eat that quite yet, but i´ll get there. i also had ´roccoto relleno´ which is spicy bell pepper stuffed with ground meat, mine was served with somehow glazed potato chunks.. good stuff! i also had pancakes with caramel sauce, hot chocolate and some delicious cake which name i don´t remember :) anyhoo.. the food is very good here... and i think i will also go to ´chifa´ here which is chinese restaurant. oh i also had typical salad here, it consisted of green beans, carrots and peat which all had been boiled but were served cold and it was all topped with many slices of avocado.
fruits.. well there are the usual fruits like lime, oranges, pineapple, watermelon, bananas (mini and normal size), papaya and so on. but they are not sold at the streets very commonly, except for pineapple, they can be found from the stores though and are available at the restaurants.
drinks... i had pisco sour when i was in lima.. this is made of pisco (locally produced white-grape brandy) blended with lemon juice, ice, egg white, syrup and topped with bitters. i drank about 1/4th of it as it was incredibly strong stuff. i already mentioned the ´mate de coca´ (herbal tea of coca leaves).. it is like green tea :) and no it does not get you high at all. the famous soft drink here is Inka Kola... it is this yellow very sweet syrupy tasting soft drink.. kinda like sprite but yellow and very sweet. another famous non-alcoholic drink here is ´chicha morada´, it is made of purple corn (yeah, had no idea that purple corn even exists), it is non-carbonated drink and is very sweet and has a distinct taste... kinda like drink made of sweet berry syrup but twice as strong or concentrated as it should be.
now about my future plans :) i already wrote that i will go on the Inca Trail as planned (27-30th of June) then instead of leaving to Puno on the 1st of July I´ll postpone it till the 6th of July which is Saturday. meanwhile i have decided to take 5 days of Spanish lessons :) ... it is 4 hours a day.. taking spanish lessons is very common here... met a guy today who has been in cusco for 6 months, in the same school learning spanish :) they also provide home stay, but i decided not to do that (although it would be fun as it is kinda like small campus and lady who runs it refuses to speak english :)) one reason is that the provided home stay is 20 minutes walk from down-town and the other is that it is quite pricey - 130$ for 5 days, it does include 3 meals though, but most likely i won´t feel like walking 20 minutes 3 times a day :) .. instead i have booked 5 days in a hotel that charges 20 Sol (1 Sol = 3$) and the owner speaks no english :D
the spanish school also arranges trips around cusco... Pisac-Ollantaytambo-Chinchero and i think there was another town which i can´t remember.. so i will do that one day as well and then catch up on my lessons another day or something. oh FUN :)
i´m really enjoying it here so far :) hopefully the inca trail won´t kill me :D .. ok.. so i won´t be posting here for the next 4 days... i´ll upload some pictures of Cusco as well.. and next posting is scheduled for the 2nd of July :) take care!
little bit about food.. i´ve eaten at ´polleria´ which is a place where they serve grilled chicken with fries only :) then last night I had this typical andean food ´pollo saltado´ it was spicy chicken strips with vegetables and french fries, all mixed together like stir-fry and it was served with rice on the side. it was delicious, but i´ve never eaten french fries with rice before :-P now famous Peruvian food is guinea pig served in many different ways.. i have not had the courage to eat that quite yet, but i´ll get there. i also had ´roccoto relleno´ which is spicy bell pepper stuffed with ground meat, mine was served with somehow glazed potato chunks.. good stuff! i also had pancakes with caramel sauce, hot chocolate and some delicious cake which name i don´t remember :) anyhoo.. the food is very good here... and i think i will also go to ´chifa´ here which is chinese restaurant. oh i also had typical salad here, it consisted of green beans, carrots and peat which all had been boiled but were served cold and it was all topped with many slices of avocado.
fruits.. well there are the usual fruits like lime, oranges, pineapple, watermelon, bananas (mini and normal size), papaya and so on. but they are not sold at the streets very commonly, except for pineapple, they can be found from the stores though and are available at the restaurants.
drinks... i had pisco sour when i was in lima.. this is made of pisco (locally produced white-grape brandy) blended with lemon juice, ice, egg white, syrup and topped with bitters. i drank about 1/4th of it as it was incredibly strong stuff. i already mentioned the ´mate de coca´ (herbal tea of coca leaves).. it is like green tea :) and no it does not get you high at all. the famous soft drink here is Inka Kola... it is this yellow very sweet syrupy tasting soft drink.. kinda like sprite but yellow and very sweet. another famous non-alcoholic drink here is ´chicha morada´, it is made of purple corn (yeah, had no idea that purple corn even exists), it is non-carbonated drink and is very sweet and has a distinct taste... kinda like drink made of sweet berry syrup but twice as strong or concentrated as it should be.
now about my future plans :) i already wrote that i will go on the Inca Trail as planned (27-30th of June) then instead of leaving to Puno on the 1st of July I´ll postpone it till the 6th of July which is Saturday. meanwhile i have decided to take 5 days of Spanish lessons :) ... it is 4 hours a day.. taking spanish lessons is very common here... met a guy today who has been in cusco for 6 months, in the same school learning spanish :) they also provide home stay, but i decided not to do that (although it would be fun as it is kinda like small campus and lady who runs it refuses to speak english :)) one reason is that the provided home stay is 20 minutes walk from down-town and the other is that it is quite pricey - 130$ for 5 days, it does include 3 meals though, but most likely i won´t feel like walking 20 minutes 3 times a day :) .. instead i have booked 5 days in a hotel that charges 20 Sol (1 Sol = 3$) and the owner speaks no english :D
the spanish school also arranges trips around cusco... Pisac-Ollantaytambo-Chinchero and i think there was another town which i can´t remember.. so i will do that one day as well and then catch up on my lessons another day or something. oh FUN :)
i´m really enjoying it here so far :) hopefully the inca trail won´t kill me :D .. ok.. so i won´t be posting here for the next 4 days... i´ll upload some pictures of Cusco as well.. and next posting is scheduled for the 2nd of July :) take care!
Cusco, Peru - part II
it is so nice when you don´t need to know what weekday it is :) nor what date it is.. i can afford that only like 2 days in a row though.. but that is plenty for now.
this morning i went through all my shampoo/lotion/soap/water bottles and let the extra pressure out :) i´ve never been in that high altitude before.. so far i'm liking it... i have been here for 30 hours by now and i have no major problems with altitude as far as i can tell. i´m also quite happy about the fact that my stomach is all in order :) i was sure that it will get upset with the different foods and different bacteria.. but nothing so far. i´ll try to keep it that way as well.
this whole day i have spent on administrative things:
- confirmed my reservation for the inca trail which meant a short overview of how the hike will be.. during the day it is +28C and during the night the temperature drops to -5C :) we were suggested to bring gloves and a hat (which i did bring with me just in case) one lady who just returned from there suggested that we buy the plastic ponchos as they got heavy rain and hail while hiking.. and the poncho will cover the pack bag as well so all your stuff will be dry even if it rains. we will also pass through rain forest so we need to bring the insect repellent (which i bought in Minnesota already)... i also bought the purifying tablets just in case although they say that we will have plenty of water during our meal brakes... but you never know... my inca trail will start on the 27th, i will be picked up from my hotel at 5:20 in the morning :-S
- ran around the town trying to exchange money.. not that exchange places are not available but to check the commission rates and so on.. some places exchange travelers cheques some don´t.. and for some reason the banks were extremely crowded today.. no idea what the deal was
- walked to the train station to try to check on how much is the train ticket to Puno and when do the trains depart... ticket is 19$ and trains leave every Mon-Tue-Fri-Sat.
- looked up some alternative hotel options as i´m thinking about staying here a bit longer than originally planned. not sure yet. will decide tomorrow. Puno seems as a little town so perhaps there is not much interesting to do there? no idea... but spending extra 3-4 days here in cusco won´t hurt much anyways. and here seems to be plenty of things to do
besides all the above i did have time to do some sightseeing as well.. climbed a hill at the north end of the town.. it had a nice view to Cusco as well as a small dark church. church was not lit and was empty.. on the door there was one young girl (5 years perhaps) who was singing, drawing and playing with a tiny kitten.. kitten must have been only few months old. i also visited the Inka Museum and Santo Dominigo church. both were interesting and very enjoyable.
in the afternoon i also did some shopping and took pictures for Kristi.. of all their patterns and colors and fabrics. some are not very happy about me photographing.. they'd like it much more if i'd buy the shirts/bags/rugs/blankets.
few words about internet connection as well.. in most places it is quite nice and fast.. it costs 4 EEK per hour :) and i´m able to download the applications i need as well as use USB connection. that is all i need. in cusco there are internet places really on every single corner whereas in lima i did not find many at all.
i´ll try to post some more tomorrow... then on Wednesday i will be going to the mountains - inca trail... this trip is 4 days and i will be back in cusco on the 30th of June, train will arrive at 9:40pm after which i will just go back to my hotel. so i´m guessing after tomorrow´s entry the next entry will be on the 1st of July which should be Sunday.
this morning i went through all my shampoo/lotion/soap/water bottles and let the extra pressure out :) i´ve never been in that high altitude before.. so far i'm liking it... i have been here for 30 hours by now and i have no major problems with altitude as far as i can tell. i´m also quite happy about the fact that my stomach is all in order :) i was sure that it will get upset with the different foods and different bacteria.. but nothing so far. i´ll try to keep it that way as well.
this whole day i have spent on administrative things:
- confirmed my reservation for the inca trail which meant a short overview of how the hike will be.. during the day it is +28C and during the night the temperature drops to -5C :) we were suggested to bring gloves and a hat (which i did bring with me just in case) one lady who just returned from there suggested that we buy the plastic ponchos as they got heavy rain and hail while hiking.. and the poncho will cover the pack bag as well so all your stuff will be dry even if it rains. we will also pass through rain forest so we need to bring the insect repellent (which i bought in Minnesota already)... i also bought the purifying tablets just in case although they say that we will have plenty of water during our meal brakes... but you never know... my inca trail will start on the 27th, i will be picked up from my hotel at 5:20 in the morning :-S
- ran around the town trying to exchange money.. not that exchange places are not available but to check the commission rates and so on.. some places exchange travelers cheques some don´t.. and for some reason the banks were extremely crowded today.. no idea what the deal was
- walked to the train station to try to check on how much is the train ticket to Puno and when do the trains depart... ticket is 19$ and trains leave every Mon-Tue-Fri-Sat.
- looked up some alternative hotel options as i´m thinking about staying here a bit longer than originally planned. not sure yet. will decide tomorrow. Puno seems as a little town so perhaps there is not much interesting to do there? no idea... but spending extra 3-4 days here in cusco won´t hurt much anyways. and here seems to be plenty of things to do
besides all the above i did have time to do some sightseeing as well.. climbed a hill at the north end of the town.. it had a nice view to Cusco as well as a small dark church. church was not lit and was empty.. on the door there was one young girl (5 years perhaps) who was singing, drawing and playing with a tiny kitten.. kitten must have been only few months old. i also visited the Inka Museum and Santo Dominigo church. both were interesting and very enjoyable.
in the afternoon i also did some shopping and took pictures for Kristi.. of all their patterns and colors and fabrics. some are not very happy about me photographing.. they'd like it much more if i'd buy the shirts/bags/rugs/blankets.
few words about internet connection as well.. in most places it is quite nice and fast.. it costs 4 EEK per hour :) and i´m able to download the applications i need as well as use USB connection. that is all i need. in cusco there are internet places really on every single corner whereas in lima i did not find many at all.
i´ll try to post some more tomorrow... then on Wednesday i will be going to the mountains - inca trail... this trip is 4 days and i will be back in cusco on the 30th of June, train will arrive at 9:40pm after which i will just go back to my hotel. so i´m guessing after tomorrow´s entry the next entry will be on the 1st of July which should be Sunday.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Cusco, Peru - part I
my flight out of Lima was at 10:10.. it was another very bumpy ride.. i wonder if it is those mountains? i'm so very glad that i don't have to take a plane any more.. not before i leave for home. but the scenery was beautiful! took some pictures too.. i'm in progress of downloading some.. hopefully i manage to get to all of them. flight was 50 minutes.. by noon i was in the cab and 5 minutes later i arrived in my hotel and by 1pm i was in down-town eating :D
my hotel is super nice.. the room looks kinda like a big closet though, but it has everything one needs: nice and clean shower, big bed, table, closet, big mirror, toilet of course, window :), big fan and a cable TV. hotel is about 5-10 minute walk from the center square so very convenient as well.
as much as i've seen in the last 2.5 hours i'd say that cusco is an absolute paradise compared to lima. it is full of tourists which is nice... yea, i wouldn't have never ever thought i'd say that ever :) but i have seen so little yet so i will speak/write more later on.
altitude sickness - well.. the first 2 hours have been fine. i do feel a bit uneasy.. like it is difficult to just be or breathe... but nothing too bad. gotta just take it easy and slow. i have had 2 coca teas already and i'm munching on some 100% natural coca candy :D
today is the day of the festival... i have not seen any parade or anything yet.. it is 2:40pm so perhaps it will start later on.. no idea.
and i'm getting some fun ideas of how to spend my 4 weeks here in Peru :D .. i'm thinking that i will minimize my time in lima and will maximize my time in cusco and lake titicaca area. maria told me that nazca, ica and other coastal cities will be only max 1 day per city so i won't hurry over there too soon. and it seems like there is so much to do around cuzco (sometimes they write the city name like that too.. no idea which is the correct way).
but now i will get to my e-mail, pictures and perhaps will even log on to MSN for the fun of it :)
my hotel is super nice.. the room looks kinda like a big closet though, but it has everything one needs: nice and clean shower, big bed, table, closet, big mirror, toilet of course, window :), big fan and a cable TV. hotel is about 5-10 minute walk from the center square so very convenient as well.
as much as i've seen in the last 2.5 hours i'd say that cusco is an absolute paradise compared to lima. it is full of tourists which is nice... yea, i wouldn't have never ever thought i'd say that ever :) but i have seen so little yet so i will speak/write more later on.
altitude sickness - well.. the first 2 hours have been fine. i do feel a bit uneasy.. like it is difficult to just be or breathe... but nothing too bad. gotta just take it easy and slow. i have had 2 coca teas already and i'm munching on some 100% natural coca candy :D
today is the day of the festival... i have not seen any parade or anything yet.. it is 2:40pm so perhaps it will start later on.. no idea.
and i'm getting some fun ideas of how to spend my 4 weeks here in Peru :D .. i'm thinking that i will minimize my time in lima and will maximize my time in cusco and lake titicaca area. maria told me that nazca, ica and other coastal cities will be only max 1 day per city so i won't hurry over there too soon. and it seems like there is so much to do around cuzco (sometimes they write the city name like that too.. no idea which is the correct way).
but now i will get to my e-mail, pictures and perhaps will even log on to MSN for the fun of it :)
Lima, Peru - part II
little bit more about Lima.. well I gotta admit that first it kinda shocked and scared me :( ... and by the end of the first day it scared me even more :) i was constantly reminded to be careful when taking pictures (to wrap the strap around my neck) and to keep an eye on my bag. i do understand that it is for my own safety, but it made me uneasy to say the least. and here Ã'd like to thank Maria :) she was so helpful and spent the whole day with me and helped me with all sorts of arrangements (starting from getting to the hotel and ending with buying the cellphone)..so thank you! it is unbelievably nice to come to the other side of the world to a place you have never been to and be able to trust and relay on total strangers.
back to lima now... they have this odd city transport/bus system. there are 3 sizes of the buses: small, medium and big. each bus has some colors painted on it and there is a person hanging on the door. those buses do have numbers on them as well but those don't count :) the colors count :) and also what the person on the door is yelling. so when you need to go somewhere then you go for an example for a big bus that has yellow-blue-black stripes on it :D fun huh? and the ride is always 1 sol.
movies... movies are all in english and have spanish subtitles - nice. ticket to the movie theater is 5-6 sol.. but you can get the same movies on dvd from across the street for 3 sol :D but i can't watch dvd´s anywhere so i guess i'd go to the movie theater.
i already met some other pack-packers ...on the plane and at the streets. one guy that i met in miraflores is from san francisco, he is a teacher there and travels a lot. last year he was in Tallinn :) quite nice :) i also got a contact of one estonian who lives in lima... i called him up as well and hopefully we will meet in mid July when i will return to lima before my flight home.
weather - well it gets cooler in the evening.. perhaps to about 12-15C.. during the day it is about 18-20C so quite nice, not too hot and not too cold. for locals it is freezing of course :)
oh and spanish language.. well i manage with the computers that are all in spanish and i get around town with a taxi and i manage to get food at the restaurant ;)
back to lima now... they have this odd city transport/bus system. there are 3 sizes of the buses: small, medium and big. each bus has some colors painted on it and there is a person hanging on the door. those buses do have numbers on them as well but those don't count :) the colors count :) and also what the person on the door is yelling. so when you need to go somewhere then you go for an example for a big bus that has yellow-blue-black stripes on it :D fun huh? and the ride is always 1 sol.
movies... movies are all in english and have spanish subtitles - nice. ticket to the movie theater is 5-6 sol.. but you can get the same movies on dvd from across the street for 3 sol :D but i can't watch dvd´s anywhere so i guess i'd go to the movie theater.
i already met some other pack-packers ...on the plane and at the streets. one guy that i met in miraflores is from san francisco, he is a teacher there and travels a lot. last year he was in Tallinn :) quite nice :) i also got a contact of one estonian who lives in lima... i called him up as well and hopefully we will meet in mid July when i will return to lima before my flight home.
weather - well it gets cooler in the evening.. perhaps to about 12-15C.. during the day it is about 18-20C so quite nice, not too hot and not too cold. for locals it is freezing of course :)
oh and spanish language.. well i manage with the computers that are all in spanish and i get around town with a taxi and i manage to get food at the restaurant ;)
Lima, Peru - part I
weeeh.. I'm here :) Arrived in Lima last night (Friday the 22nd of June) at 12... plane was late for more than an hour and the plane ride was VERY bumpy. at the airport there was the usual long line for the customs+immigration and then about 20 minute wait for the luggage. at the airport maria (from cs) was nicely waiting for me... now when i think of it i'm not sure how would have i managed to get to the hotel otherwise... there are all kinds of warning signs about travelers safety and how we should only use the transportation provided by the airport. well anyways, maria's friend gave me a ride to the hotel. apparently my hotel is not in the nicest part of the town.. the streets looked a bit deserted yes :) and the room is not very modern to say the least... but, there were no bugs found at the first inspection round conducted by me so i'm fine with it.
set an alarm for myself at 10:30 in the morning.. looked out of the 11th floor window where my room is located.. well... i'll post some pictures later (hopefully) so you will see the ghetto as well :) and the air is even worse than in Bangkok.. the sun does not shine even in the morning here :( i guess some of it is because of the ocean as well, but i can feel the pollution too... not much air to breathe around here. anyhoo.. after taking a shower i walked downstairs, exchanged some money, wrote down the address of my hotel so that i can make it back here later on and took a cab to maria's place who i was meeting at 1pm. exchanged some travelers cheques and went through quite a trouble to buy a phone card... ugh it is difficult when you don't speak the language. but now i have 2 phone cards (one for only land phones and the other for land phones and for mobiles) and one mobile phone :)
my number is 933 09 115 .. i can send 500 SMS's for free and call to CLARO customers/land phones in Peru for 99 sols :) YAY i'll try to SMS to some of you (i think i only wrote down my brothers phone number though)
ok.. so i have spent the whole day with maria who has been taking me around in Lima. first we went to Miraflores where we had nice lunch and now we are in the center of Lima by the cathedral and presidents residence. my hotel is close by here as well.
tomorrow morning i will take a plane to cuzco. i'll try to post more from there... depending on how badly i suffer from altitude sickness. tomorrow is a huge festival there so i'm not sure what is open at all... and as i hear then Cameron Diaz will be in Cuzco for the festival as well :)
ok.. we will be moving on now. all the best to all of you :)!!!
set an alarm for myself at 10:30 in the morning.. looked out of the 11th floor window where my room is located.. well... i'll post some pictures later (hopefully) so you will see the ghetto as well :) and the air is even worse than in Bangkok.. the sun does not shine even in the morning here :( i guess some of it is because of the ocean as well, but i can feel the pollution too... not much air to breathe around here. anyhoo.. after taking a shower i walked downstairs, exchanged some money, wrote down the address of my hotel so that i can make it back here later on and took a cab to maria's place who i was meeting at 1pm. exchanged some travelers cheques and went through quite a trouble to buy a phone card... ugh it is difficult when you don't speak the language. but now i have 2 phone cards (one for only land phones and the other for land phones and for mobiles) and one mobile phone :)
my number is 933 09 115 .. i can send 500 SMS's for free and call to CLARO customers/land phones in Peru for 99 sols :) YAY i'll try to SMS to some of you (i think i only wrote down my brothers phone number though)
ok.. so i have spent the whole day with maria who has been taking me around in Lima. first we went to Miraflores where we had nice lunch and now we are in the center of Lima by the cathedral and presidents residence. my hotel is close by here as well.
tomorrow morning i will take a plane to cuzco. i'll try to post more from there... depending on how badly i suffer from altitude sickness. tomorrow is a huge festival there so i'm not sure what is open at all... and as i hear then Cameron Diaz will be in Cuzco for the festival as well :)
ok.. we will be moving on now. all the best to all of you :)!!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Virginia, MN - Part II
MONDAY 18.06 - a relaxing day at the house for the most part.. went for 2 long walks in the woods with the dogs and that was about it. stayed inside on the couch, stared at the rain and sipped on some strawberry daiquiris :)
TUESDAY 19.06 - trip to Split Rock Lighthouse by Lake Superior. wow was that beautiful! weather was great and the drive up there was beautiful. on the way back we stopped at Betty's pies and had late lunch.
(i'll try to add some links to the places later on)
WEDNESDAY 20.06 - trip to the lake cabin by Ely :) chinese food with cream cheese won tons .. yum! in the evening went riding the 4-wheeler.. never done that before... and this thing is great.. up the little steep hills it goes.
the time in Minnesota has been wonderful.. best vacation one can dream of... i'm sleeping solid 10 hours every night.. having slow mornings and relaxed days.. it is great. tomorrow we will be driving to the cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul).. will stay overnight there to make it on my flight in time on Friday morning... my relaxed nice holiday time is over and the adventure starts!!
i have taken a whole bunch of pictures but I'm having trouble loading them up via dial-up connection.. so the pictures have to wait a bit.
TUESDAY 19.06 - trip to Split Rock Lighthouse by Lake Superior. wow was that beautiful! weather was great and the drive up there was beautiful. on the way back we stopped at Betty's pies and had late lunch.
(i'll try to add some links to the places later on)
WEDNESDAY 20.06 - trip to the lake cabin by Ely :) chinese food with cream cheese won tons .. yum! in the evening went riding the 4-wheeler.. never done that before... and this thing is great.. up the little steep hills it goes.
the time in Minnesota has been wonderful.. best vacation one can dream of... i'm sleeping solid 10 hours every night.. having slow mornings and relaxed days.. it is great. tomorrow we will be driving to the cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul).. will stay overnight there to make it on my flight in time on Friday morning... my relaxed nice holiday time is over and the adventure starts!!
i have taken a whole bunch of pictures but I'm having trouble loading them up via dial-up connection.. so the pictures have to wait a bit.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Virginia, MN - Part I
on sunday we went to a fair, but it was raining and cold so we did not stay there for too long... nikki showed me around in the town, we did some shopping (i got the insect repellent with DEET :).. they don't have that in estonia) and ordered pizza for lunch :)
later in the afternoon we went off to see the land they own... 40 acres. originally it was bought with the idea to build a house there, but now it is just for recreational reasons... so ryan makes sure that there are enough trees and enough food for the deer (he hunts). ok, but so the baby gets packed in.. we all get in the car (ryan, nikki, the baby, me and 2 dogs) and we head over there. it has been raining heavily the whole morning right... so there is plenty of mud and water :) after about 20 steps i look down and what do i see: 3 ticks climbing up my right leg and 2 on my left one, i look over to my back and there are more! i pointed - nikki and ryan got them :) after another 10 steps the whole thing continued.. and we were walking for 1 hour :) i've never ever seen that many and so aggressive ticks before. although after first 5 minutes i felt quite comfortable flicking them off my jeans myself, no more assistance needed :D ... nikki got a good laugh out of that and asked ironically: "and you will be going where for the next 4 weeks?" oh but my shoes were performing very well under
those conditions, that i'm proud of.
we walked for an hour, took some pictures and checked the newly
planted trees and then headed back.. stopping every couple of minutes to clean our legs from crawling ticks.. yuk :).. once at the car nikki did the first round of getting the ticks from the dogs.. another and more thorough round took place later at home. and one evil tick even got me, but i got rid of it in the early stage all by myself :)
COLTEN: he is 7.5 months old by now and is the happiest baby i've ever seen... whenever he approaches me i'm covered in saliva immediately.. which is fine. he tries to eat my shoulder when i hold him and he finds my shirt and pants otherwise very tasty... not to mention all the drool when he is close by :) but oh darn he is cute :)
I have tons of pictures that i need to upload.. but i'm not sure the network here can take it :) so that has to wait :)
later in the afternoon we went off to see the land they own... 40 acres. originally it was bought with the idea to build a house there, but now it is just for recreational reasons... so ryan makes sure that there are enough trees and enough food for the deer (he hunts). ok, but so the baby gets packed in.. we all get in the car (ryan, nikki, the baby, me and 2 dogs) and we head over there. it has been raining heavily the whole morning right... so there is plenty of mud and water :) after about 20 steps i look down and what do i see: 3 ticks climbing up my right leg and 2 on my left one, i look over to my back and there are more! i pointed - nikki and ryan got them :) after another 10 steps the whole thing continued.. and we were walking for 1 hour :) i've never ever seen that many and so aggressive ticks before. although after first 5 minutes i felt quite comfortable flicking them off my jeans myself, no more assistance needed :D ... nikki got a good laugh out of that and asked ironically: "and you will be going where for the next 4 weeks?" oh but my shoes were performing very well under
those conditions, that i'm proud of.
we walked for an hour, took some pictures and checked the newly
planted trees and then headed back.. stopping every couple of minutes to clean our legs from crawling ticks.. yuk :).. once at the car nikki did the first round of getting the ticks from the dogs.. another and more thorough round took place later at home. and one evil tick even got me, but i got rid of it in the early stage all by myself :)
COLTEN: he is 7.5 months old by now and is the happiest baby i've ever seen... whenever he approaches me i'm covered in saliva immediately.. which is fine. he tries to eat my shoulder when i hold him and he finds my shirt and pants otherwise very tasty... not to mention all the drool when he is close by :) but oh darn he is cute :)
I have tons of pictures that i need to upload.. but i'm not sure the network here can take it :) so that has to wait :)
Sunday, June 17, 2007
trip to Minnesota
(i realized that i still messed up on the posting times, but i will
have to fix that a bit later)
stayed up till 2am on friday evening talking and packing.. got almost
4 hours of sleep and then headed to the airport. got there 1.5 hours
before my flight, that should be enough right? wrong. i see the line
and i can't see the end of it.. and that is just the check-in one...
another line for the security check. madness.. i have no idea if that
was only my airline or what. i didn't even bother to go and see where
the end is.. i simply found one assistant there and said that if i
have to stay in line i will miss my flight for sure so what other
options do i have... luckily the line was mandatory just for
international travelers and i got to use the electronic check-in
(which did not work for me but i got to the front of the line for
assistance).. so that was quick.. but the security check line still
took forever... i better get to the airport 3.5 hours before my flight to Lima
anyhoo.. the flights were fine... did not have too long of a layover
and all went smoothly. on the second flight i sat next to a guy who
came from Iraq, he had been flying for 30 hours by now and was on his
last flight (he was originally from MN).. he got 2 weeks off because
his mother had passed away. we were talking the whole 1.5 hours pretty
much and he was surprisingly open when talking about the situation
there (as some of you know there is no end to my questions)... one of
the most interesting "flight talks" i've ever had.
once we arrived in twin cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul) Nikki was there
to meet me. it took us only about 15 minutes and 3 trips up to the
last floor and back down again till we found the car and then we
headed north. it was about 4h drive.. through Duluth (because we
missed an exit) and up till Virginia where they live.
have to fix that a bit later)
stayed up till 2am on friday evening talking and packing.. got almost
4 hours of sleep and then headed to the airport. got there 1.5 hours
before my flight, that should be enough right? wrong. i see the line
and i can't see the end of it.. and that is just the check-in one...
another line for the security check. madness.. i have no idea if that
was only my airline or what. i didn't even bother to go and see where
the end is.. i simply found one assistant there and said that if i
have to stay in line i will miss my flight for sure so what other
options do i have... luckily the line was mandatory just for
international travelers and i got to use the electronic check-in
(which did not work for me but i got to the front of the line for
assistance).. so that was quick.. but the security check line still
took forever... i better get to the airport 3.5 hours before my flight to Lima
anyhoo.. the flights were fine... did not have too long of a layover
and all went smoothly. on the second flight i sat next to a guy who
came from Iraq, he had been flying for 30 hours by now and was on his
last flight (he was originally from MN).. he got 2 weeks off because
his mother had passed away. we were talking the whole 1.5 hours pretty
much and he was surprisingly open when talking about the situation
there (as some of you know there is no end to my questions)... one of
the most interesting "flight talks" i've ever had.
once we arrived in twin cities (Minneapolis/St.Paul) Nikki was there
to meet me. it took us only about 15 minutes and 3 trips up to the
last floor and back down again till we found the car and then we
headed north. it was about 4h drive.. through Duluth (because we
missed an exit) and up till Virginia where they live.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Etna and the trip back
Etna is a small town in the mountains... it has 700+ people and 7 churches AND 1 nunnery and 1 monastery :) otherwise it was a nice tiny town. kinda funny, we walk on the streets and everybody who passes by or drives by you wave to and have a chat with (my friend works in the town).. typical American small town thingie. took some pictures of the place as well ... i'll post them soon.
we left the town at 11:30 in the morning and took a different route this time :) that went quick.. and we drove by a mountain that was 14168 feet - Mt. Shasta.. i've never seen that high mountain before.. i think :)
ok.. then we drove south and south.. stopped at GAP outlet mall and did some shopping and then dinner at Outback (yumm) and then back to Oakland. now we are about to go to movies. i'll fly out tomorrow morning.. to Minneapolis where Nikki will meet me :)
i don't know when i'll get to post again.. i'm going to the woods you know.. no internet ;) I'll try to post at least once before heading off to Peru.
we left the town at 11:30 in the morning and took a different route this time :) that went quick.. and we drove by a mountain that was 14168 feet - Mt. Shasta.. i've never seen that high mountain before.. i think :)
ok.. then we drove south and south.. stopped at GAP outlet mall and did some shopping and then dinner at Outback (yumm) and then back to Oakland. now we are about to go to movies. i'll fly out tomorrow morning.. to Minneapolis where Nikki will meet me :)
i don't know when i'll get to post again.. i'm going to the woods you know.. no internet ;) I'll try to post at least once before heading off to Peru.
trip to Etna - part II
one thing about rental cars.. if you plan to drive it for more than 8 hours.. count on having a flat tire... it will happen. so but to continue the story... we get up in the morning and start the phone calls. first call is to the roadside assistance number of the rental place and then to AAA. 20 minutes later they arrive to replace the tire... with a donut! and we are suppose to go and fix the broken one! no-no-no.. we don't think so.. we head straight to the rental car office (luckily they had one in Eureka as well) and we tell our sad story and that we don't have the whole day to wait for them to fix it and so on (yes it does not usually take a whole day, but we were planning on leaving the town at 10 to make it to Etna at a reasonable hour)... but what do you know.. they offer to deal with it themselves so we propose that they call us when ready and we will have breakfast meanwhile... sounds good.
we take a little detour and go to the seaside and walk around. this place looks hopeless... basically majority of the people we saw were either homeless or handicapped. strange place. we have breakfast in a nice coffee shop and we wait and wait for the phone call... we play scrabble to make the time pass by.. no call. finally we head over to the office and only then they pick up the phone and call to the service to check the status (that is 1,5h later!) and the service goes "oh the tire could not be fixed so what should we do?" D'OH!!! so they call the original car rental office to get the permission to get the new tire and then some more calls and arguing and discussions... and then the service agrees to change it... but they don't know when the car will be ready as they are short on staff. so tired of waiting around we decide to go to the movies while they change the tire. we went to see Mr. Brooks. that was a good movie :) and after the movie they start to check if our car is ready.. well.. isn't that our car at the parking lot.. she looks out of the door and goes "i don't think so" .. so after the service tells that the car was picked up.. she goes to check the license plate.. it is our car.
finally we get out of town at 4pm. grrr... but ok.. we are out of this sad place finally. we take 299 east until Weaverville and then #3 up north till Etna. both of those roads are marked on the map as scenic routes :) and oh my! i've never seen anything like that before.. it was gorgeous. the road went up-up-up-up and then all the way down... downhill ("hill") was usually for like 10km and 9% drop. yay :) and i was driving automatic :S ... but the road was so very beautiful... dangerous but beautiful. the highest peak we got to was 5400 feet :D i don't think i've ever been that high up before :) and there were tens and tens of small tiny towns along the way.. one town had population 30 :) - one big happy family. the towns were just tiny.. and seems so isolated from the rest of the world, hidden between those huuge mountains. apparently during winter time the roads are closed at times because of the snow... hmm... i'd go mad there i think. AND there is no network in most places either (and i mean phones not internet)... so that means there is no way to communicate with the outside world :)
once we got closer to Etna the road got very narrow and windy again.. we were down to 20mph again :( .. but we made it.. no more flat tires nothing... and we made it before dark.. just barely.. we were there at 8.20pm and i was sleeping at 8.30pm :)
we take a little detour and go to the seaside and walk around. this place looks hopeless... basically majority of the people we saw were either homeless or handicapped. strange place. we have breakfast in a nice coffee shop and we wait and wait for the phone call... we play scrabble to make the time pass by.. no call. finally we head over to the office and only then they pick up the phone and call to the service to check the status (that is 1,5h later!) and the service goes "oh the tire could not be fixed so what should we do?" D'OH!!! so they call the original car rental office to get the permission to get the new tire and then some more calls and arguing and discussions... and then the service agrees to change it... but they don't know when the car will be ready as they are short on staff. so tired of waiting around we decide to go to the movies while they change the tire. we went to see Mr. Brooks. that was a good movie :) and after the movie they start to check if our car is ready.. well.. isn't that our car at the parking lot.. she looks out of the door and goes "i don't think so" .. so after the service tells that the car was picked up.. she goes to check the license plate.. it is our car.
finally we get out of town at 4pm. grrr... but ok.. we are out of this sad place finally. we take 299 east until Weaverville and then #3 up north till Etna. both of those roads are marked on the map as scenic routes :) and oh my! i've never seen anything like that before.. it was gorgeous. the road went up-up-up-up and then all the way down... downhill ("hill") was usually for like 10km and 9% drop. yay :) and i was driving automatic :S ... but the road was so very beautiful... dangerous but beautiful. the highest peak we got to was 5400 feet :D i don't think i've ever been that high up before :) and there were tens and tens of small tiny towns along the way.. one town had population 30 :) - one big happy family. the towns were just tiny.. and seems so isolated from the rest of the world, hidden between those huuge mountains. apparently during winter time the roads are closed at times because of the snow... hmm... i'd go mad there i think. AND there is no network in most places either (and i mean phones not internet)... so that means there is no way to communicate with the outside world :)
once we got closer to Etna the road got very narrow and windy again.. we were down to 20mph again :( .. but we made it.. no more flat tires nothing... and we made it before dark.. just barely.. we were there at 8.20pm and i was sleeping at 8.30pm :)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
trip to Etna - part I
so the trip started on Thursday morning... with slight problems already - car rental place forgot to pick us up and they also lost our reservation :( luckily we got that figured out in less than hour. so next we had breakfast and then Jana took me to see the facilities they have on the bay area for the school.
we left the city around 1pm. we drove and drove and drove... the distances are just mad long here... and the road (#101) was not particularly interesting, after some 4 hours of driving we turned off to go to see the ocean. oh boy... first we had trouble finding the road itself.. then once we happily saw the first sign towards Honeydew we stopped by the road to take some pictures of the huuuge redwoods (no idea if that is how they really call the trees, it is called redwood forest. those things are huge.. I also don't know if sequoias are different type or not.. anyhoo they are both humongous trees and very common here).. and then the fun started.. the road was soo narrow and windy that we had to go about 20 mph, it was constantly either climbing the hill or coming down.. i bet if we would have gone any faster i would have gotten sick.. it was like never ending roller coaster :) ... and it "only" took us some 1,5 hours to get to the ocean... and then we still had to make it back to road 101.. another hour driving to the skies and back.. literally.. we drove through the clouds :) it was a nice detour.. but neither of us had imagined it takes so long. and i don't even want to know what we would have done if something happened to the car.. all we saw were some lonely cows up in the mountains.
by the time we got back on the road we figured that we won't be making it to Etna today... so we arrived in Eureka.. found out that most of the hotels are fully booked and there is nothing to see in the movie theater... so we went to have a nice dinner instead :) took the local paper and started to call some hotels.. found the last double room from one :) ... after the dinner maneuvered ourselves there through the one ways... arrived at the parking lot... turned the car around and boom.. there goes the tire... passenger side rear tire blew up.. great! it was past 10pm... but we figured to deal with it in the morning.
thank you for all your comments!
Yes, Oliver this is the correct town :)- i'll have pictures up about the trip there and the town itself soon .. and yes we were just wondering of how they have no imagination and every state has the same town names .. including famous European cities :) The pictures are taken with Canon PowerShot S3 IS that I purchased just a week before i left.. i bought a used one and it is working like a charm.. i don't know all the buttons yet (that is why many pictures are duplicated ;) )
All the others - nice to hear from you.
- oh and just a note, i'm writing the posts at a later time but will set the post date and time to when events happened.. so i don't have to keep track of the dates while writing.
we left the city around 1pm. we drove and drove and drove... the distances are just mad long here... and the road (#101) was not particularly interesting, after some 4 hours of driving we turned off to go to see the ocean. oh boy... first we had trouble finding the road itself.. then once we happily saw the first sign towards Honeydew we stopped by the road to take some pictures of the huuuge redwoods (no idea if that is how they really call the trees, it is called redwood forest. those things are huge.. I also don't know if sequoias are different type or not.. anyhoo they are both humongous trees and very common here).. and then the fun started.. the road was soo narrow and windy that we had to go about 20 mph, it was constantly either climbing the hill or coming down.. i bet if we would have gone any faster i would have gotten sick.. it was like never ending roller coaster :) ... and it "only" took us some 1,5 hours to get to the ocean... and then we still had to make it back to road 101.. another hour driving to the skies and back.. literally.. we drove through the clouds :) it was a nice detour.. but neither of us had imagined it takes so long. and i don't even want to know what we would have done if something happened to the car.. all we saw were some lonely cows up in the mountains.
by the time we got back on the road we figured that we won't be making it to Etna today... so we arrived in Eureka.. found out that most of the hotels are fully booked and there is nothing to see in the movie theater... so we went to have a nice dinner instead :) took the local paper and started to call some hotels.. found the last double room from one :) ... after the dinner maneuvered ourselves there through the one ways... arrived at the parking lot... turned the car around and boom.. there goes the tire... passenger side rear tire blew up.. great! it was past 10pm... but we figured to deal with it in the morning.
thank you for all your comments!
Yes, Oliver this is the correct town :)- i'll have pictures up about the trip there and the town itself soon .. and yes we were just wondering of how they have no imagination and every state has the same town names .. including famous European cities :) The pictures are taken with Canon PowerShot S3 IS that I purchased just a week before i left.. i bought a used one and it is working like a charm.. i don't know all the buttons yet (that is why many pictures are duplicated ;) )
All the others - nice to hear from you.
- oh and just a note, i'm writing the posts at a later time but will set the post date and time to when events happened.. so i don't have to keep track of the dates while writing.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Reporting from San Francisco
Juhuu :) After traveling for 28 hours I made it here in one piece. I don't think I will ever get used to the 8h flights... after 24hrs I'm in coma no matter what. Jana came to meet me at the airport and we made our way to the house. My current location is El Sobrante, Sherwood Forest. And of course the first thing we did was ordered Domino's pizza.. double pepperoni and cheesybread.. yum! I miss the excellent junk food delivered to your door :)
We will be renting a car in an hour and then will head up north to Etna. The route we chose goes alongside the west coast and will include picnic at the beach by Cape Mendocino. I've seen Pacific just once before (last time I was here in SF). Road will take us first to Eureka and then east via Weaverville to Etna. Right before Etna we will pass through ghost town called Callahan.. it is an old gold mining area.
But now gotta go and get ready. On the flights I managed to take a huge amount of pictures.. of clouds :) .. who is interested then go and check them out (My Photos link on the right hand side).
We will be renting a car in an hour and then will head up north to Etna. The route we chose goes alongside the west coast and will include picnic at the beach by Cape Mendocino. I've seen Pacific just once before (last time I was here in SF). Road will take us first to Eureka and then east via Weaverville to Etna. Right before Etna we will pass through ghost town called Callahan.. it is an old gold mining area.
But now gotta go and get ready. On the flights I managed to take a huge amount of pictures.. of clouds :) .. who is interested then go and check them out (My Photos link on the right hand side).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
