Day 21: Halloween in Cuzco

What a great day!

Dana was feeling much better today and was finally able to eat something and keep it down. This morning we went on a 30 minute search for an internet cafe since our usual spot was closed and were able to talk to our families for a least a good hour. It was great to finally talk to and see my family. I know they were happy too.

After a long skype date we returned to the hostel for some tea before heading back out to market. The hostel is buzzing with people excited for Halloween. Apparently its a really big holiday here. Later today after a great lunch, we were on the search for day packs for our trip, sunglasses, and Dana wanted a hat...with llamas on it of course! We bargained all over the place and finally found some really good backpacks for pretty cheap. We also bargained for our sunglasses because people were asking just way too much for them, and this is how bargaining goes in Cuzco, South America: sunglasses were S/20 (about $7) a pair so we asked if we could get both of them for S/30. He said S/38 and eventually came down to S/35. When we pulled our money out of our pocket we had about 32 and some change and after a few pretty pleases and sad faces and of course a couple of laughs (the people behind the cash register thought it was hilarious) we got them both for S/32.30. Its a win win for everybody really because those stupid, cheap sunglasses should only cost about $2. After our shopping excapades, around 5 o´clock this afternoon, all the kids had come out in their Halloween costumes. Instead of saying ¨trick or treat¨they just say ¨halloween!¨ Its so cute. We bought a bag of candy and handed it out to the little kids all over the square. They were all so happy and laughing and we couldn´t stop smiling. We also watched a cultural fair type show. There was a big stage set up in front of the old cathedral in the main square, and while people were playing their traditional instruments and singing there were dancers in traditional dress doing several different routines. Most all of the couples danced with little handkerchiefs, men and women. Finally, we went back to the restuarant we were at last night, Jack´s, and now that Dana was able to eat we had amazing nachos, a warm fudgie brownie with chocolate shavings and icing, and a vanilla milkshake to officially celebrate her birthday.

Even though we´re really not going to be able to celebrate Halloween in constumes and socialized drinking, we enjoyed this Halloween immensely, handing out candy to adorable Peruvian children, enjoying the folk dances and songs of Peru, and having some good old fashioned chocolate and icecream.

We leave tomorrow morning at 6AM for our 5 day trek to Machu Picchu so there will not be a post for several days. There will be many, many pictures and much more stories to tell when we get back. Thanks for following along!

Day 19-20: Cusco, Peru

The first two full days here in Cusco we took it easy. I woke up on Thursday morning feeling a bit better and ready to check out the town. We had a fair bit of things to take care of for the trek. No one had joined our 9 day trek so we decided to do a 5 day one instead leaving this Sunday. It is an alternative route to Macchu Picchu so it is less crowded. We are going with a Dutch couple, which will be saving us a lot of money. We just have to get some more warm weather stuff, sunglasses, and small daypacks to carry our stuff in. We ended up walking about 6 miles back and forth to the trek agency sorting things out. I guess it is good practice for the trek.

Last night we decided to go to the bar and hang out for a bit. They had an activity going on where if you draw a skeleton, you get a free bottle of Champagne. Ours was pretty awesome and ended up on the front door. It had a tophat and a cigar. Afterwards we went out for a little with some people to dance. It was a pretty good time.

Today is my birthday... woo hoo the big 22! Unfortunately I spent the day in the bathroom and in bed. I think tea that I had at this one little place didn´t boil the water. Getting dehydrated up here is 10x worse. I took two naps and tried to drink lots of water; hopefully I will recover by Sunday. I think I feel well enough now to go out with Allison and get some soup. Maybe I will be able to hangout and watch the band they have here at the hostel tonight.

Wish me luck

Day 18: Cusco, Peru

The 15 hour bus ride was a bit grueling. Thank goodness we had motion sickness pills which knocked me out and I didn´t feel sick as the bus rocked back and forth around the mountains. The distance from Nazca to Cusco isn´t that far, but the bus had to go really slow on the mountain roads. Needless to say we were really excited when we got off the bus.

The altitude hit us more than we thought it would (little sleep didn´t help.) The air is so thin, we would walk up some stairs and be out of breath. To get to our hostel we had to hike up about 20 stairs, and with our packs on it felt like a million. As soon as we got to our cozy beds we took a nap and a much needed shower. Later in the afternoon we explored the town a bit and found a bite to eat. The town is really awesome; a tasteful combination of old Incan and newer Colonial architecture. However I had the spins at lunch from the altitude, so I held on to the table until I felt better, haha. The good thing is I think we are adjusting and should hopefully feel 100% by the time our trek starts.

Andeas mountains:1
Allison and Dana:0

Day 16-17: Nazca, Peru

Nazca is noisy! There are always dogs barking in the street, people honk their horns at EVERYTHING, and street vendors have megaphones projecting what they are selling.

We just got back from flying over the Nazca lines. If you don´t know what they are, they are ancient drawings in the Nazca desert. They date back to 300BC and no one knows who made them or what their purpose is, although there are different theories. We went up in a 8 man cesna plane and the flight itself was only about 30 minutes. The plane banked very hard to the right and left and a couple of people felt very sick, Dana included. Our hostel that we stayed at here has been the worst yet unfortunately. We slept in a plywood box pretty much and there is only 2 bathrooms for the entire hostel. The roof top is well decorated with paintings, pictures of Che Guevarra, wicker furniture and is open air which is nice but everything else we had to struggle through.

Tonight we are taking a bus up to Cuzco. Dana, Isabelle, and I all opted for the first class bus on which we get dinner and breakfast and they play good movies too. The seats will be very wide and leather and will be more comfortable on our 18 hr. ride up to Cuzco. (We felt like we deserved it after our ordeal in Nazca.) Jorge is taking the second class bus which is still nice but leaves later at night. Honestly, Dana and I can´t wait to get up to Cuzco. We´ve heard such good things. Also it will be good for us to have a couple of extra days to acclimate to the altitude. The city is 11,152 feet above sea level and will take several days for us to get used to.

All in all, seeing the Nazca lines was definitely worth the $45 and if you´re down here you might as well do it, but my advice to someone in the future would be to come in early, take the flight and enjoy it, and then leave Nazca behind. We´re ready to get out of the sandbox!

Day 14-15: Huacachina, Peru

From Lima Jorge, Isabelle, Allison, and I all rode down on a very nice bus to Huacachina. Huacachina is an oasis in the middle of the desert. Our Hostel was very nice. The pool was clean as were the rooms and the showers were hot! We met another girl who was staying in our room, Crystal- she is from Canada and is doing volunteer work in Brazil. She was killing time in Huacachina while she waited for her visa.

Sunday morning we all woke up and ate our breakfast pool side. (We try and find hostels in which breakfast is included. In Peru, breakfast normally consists of some sort of bread, butter, jelly, coffee, and juice.) There were two very loud parrots that were in the palm trees next to our table that kept saying ¨¡Hola!¨ Later that morning we had a brilliant idea to hike up one of the sand dunes behind our hostel just to get a good look at the dessert and our oasis. It was really hard to treck up just sand and our calves burning as we all tried to hold our sandals on our feet because the sand was so hot. The view from the top was great and well worth it though. Our little trek made us really appreciate the buggy ride we would have later.

The reason most tourists stop by Huacachina is for sandboarding. Our trip left out at 4pm. We all climbed in our 10 man sandbuggy and took off into the desert. Our first driver was having a little too much fun because he blew out the suspension and he had to call us in another buggy. We had such a blast being thrown around the desert, going straight up one mountain side to come down almost vertically on the other. They stopped at the top of 4 or 5 large drops to let us go down on our boards. They were supposed to resemble snowboards but they were pretty much plywood and plastic. It worked though! They waxed up our boards and after trying to go down on my feet the first time, which was pretty slow moving, everybody decided to go down on their belly and it was much faster and more fun. Of course we got sand everywhere! It was in our face, up our nose, down our shirt, in our pockets and shoes. Totally worth it though. There was even an older couple who took the trip and the man was almost always the first to take the hill. It was great! After two hours they drove us to see a spectacular view of the sunset. The ride back was just as fun as the ride there. The drivers probably love their jobs, driving crazy in a desert dunebuggy all day. It was a lot of fun.

Day 13: Lima, Peru

We were in transit most of the day, from Cuenca, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. We woke up of course to the rooster at 7 am and attempted to rest some more. That proved to be challenging with the noises all around. We had decided before we left for the trip to fly from Cuenca to Lima. The bus ride would have been over 30 hours, so I think we made the right decision. We had to haggle with the taxi guy because they were trying to rip us off at the airport in Lima, but with my wonderful skills of haggling we got the right price to get to our hostel.

The hostel we are staying at is really nice. It is kind of on a noisy street, but the hot water and super comfortable bunkbeds make up for it. The owner of the hostel is turing 27 so there was a party on the rooftop terrace where their bar is. We checked it out but retired early. All we could think about was waffles, fruit, and coffee for breakfast. We are on to Huacachina tomorrow.

Day 10-12: Back on the mainland. Cuenca, Ecuador

We made it safe and sound to Cuenca, Ecuador. Its the third largest city in Ecuador but has such a wonderful charm to it. Cuenca is a great example of how the past and the present mingle together; there are plenty of churches and cathedrals that were built during the Spanish Colonial era as well as the much more modern malls and Victoria´s Secret stores. Our hostel is right downtown called La Casa Naranja. Its actually an old colonial house that has been restored. It had very high ceilings and you had to walk outside to get to the bathroom. Our room itself smelled aweful like urine and there was no way to air it out because there were no windows so we burnt a candle when we were in there. But there was hot water! Actually every place we´ve stayed so far has had hot water (except for the boat in the Galapagos) so that hasn´t been an issue yet.

Every morning we woke up to a rooster crowing way too loud, way too early. He was obviously confused because he started to crow around 3:30 in the morning. We started the days early and walked around the city. There were so many little shops everywhere. The bread shops were my favorite to walk by because they smelled so good. There are little stores for everything; suits, bread, icecream, and convenience stores. One day a girl named Sofia, native to Cuenca, randomly walked up to us and started a conversation and showed us where the market was to buy indeginous goods. Dana bought a really cute woven purse and I bought a white linen shirt that had been hand embroidered. We basically did a lot of walking and bargaining for fun. The last night we went out for cuy. Its the delicacy of Ecuador and Peru, geniue pig, and yes we ate it. It had the head and eyeballs and teeth all still there! It actually wasn´t a bad texture for meat but we agreed that we didn´t like the way it was seasoned and will not eat it again probably. We tried to go out to some bars or discotecas with a guy we met who was staying at our hostel, but it just seemed like everyone was hanging out outside so we bought a bottle of rum and a 3 liter of coke for $4 and went back to the Hostel. It was a quiet night of sharing stories.

We are now in Lima, Peru and are traveling about three hours south to Ica tomorrow. We´ll be staying there for 4 or 5 days. Apparently there is sand boarding on the itnerary? We´re excited. We also met back up with our friend from Quito, Jorge, who´s going with us as well as a girl from Holland who wants to tag along.

Thanks for following along--more pictures to come!

Day 8- Santa Cruz Galapagos

Today we woke up feeling refreshed and began a new day. We started off the day with yoga on the rooftop terrace overlooking the ocean, followed by a delightful breakfast. After breakfast, we headed out for a walk around the town doing some shopping and catching up on the internet. Everything is a little more money in the Galapagos, so we limited the shopping.

We stumbled upon a street filled with locals on their lunch break and found a spot for lunch. A typical alumuerzo has a set lunch of juice, soup, rice and some sort of protein. We had fish and lobster salad with lunch today. All of this costs less than $3 and it is even cheaper on the mainland.

After lunch we started our 3 mile walk to Tortuga Bay, two miles on cobblestone and one on the beach. On the way we passed a group of marine iguanas that looked as though they were multiplying in front of us. There must have been at least 50 of them huddled together keeping warm. We also saw a blue-footed boobie. I wish I had my camera with me because words don´t explain it very well. The beach was set back a little from the ocean in a quite bay. We relaxed, read and went for a dip in the ocean. We concluded the day with a dinner near the shore. I think I could live here.

Day 5-7 The Galapagos Islands

Hello everyone and thank you so much for following along. We are here in Puerto Ayora, the most ´´touristy´´ part of the island. We got off the boat yesterday and as fun as the boat was, we were happy to sleep on a bed that didn't rock us to sleep. The last few days were amazing. We went on several hikes on different islands. All the islands are so cool because they are all so different. We walked around on one island, Chinese Hat, that had black hardened lava and very little shubbery. This island had a lot of crabs, marine iguanas, and birds. Another island, Bartolome, that was 80% ash and we walked up man made stairs to the top so as not to disturb the already eroding surface. At the top of this island you could see all of Galapagos. (We are going to upload photos either to facebook or webshots very soon. The interent is fast here but uploading pictures seems to be taking forever.) Another island had red sand, near Santiago, and so many sea lions we had to step over several. Its incredible how close you can get to these animals. They are not dangerous, only the bull sea lion is territorial and one we need to watch out for. So the islands themselves are so diverse and a lot of the time looked like deserts because they are still so fresh from volcanic erruptions. The island we visted, North Seymour, on the last day was covered in sea lions and birds. We saw lots of sea lion babies and baby birds. We even saw a pregnant sea lion. You could see her belly being kicked around! A couple of fun notes- on one island dana lost her shoe and had to swim out to get it. She had to race the bull sea lion! (actually he was just barking at her, still funny though) While we were snorkeling, we went snorkeling twice a day, we saw beautiful reef fish, a sting ray, and the most exciting sea turtles and a shark! Yes, we saw them up close only a few feet away. The sea turtles were very friendly and they look just as laid back as they do on Finding Nemo. The shark was a white tip reef shark that was a couple of feet long. He made a guest apperance and swam away quickly.

Needless to say the Galapagos are everything that people say and more. It was a very educational experience. Today we are going to go to La Bahia Tortuga (Turtle Bay). The locals have told us that is the best part of the island. We got a glimpse of it yesterday and hopefully today we´ll be able to swim. Tomorrow we are flying to Cuenca, Ecuador where we will be staying for the next 3 days.

¡Gracias a todos! Los extranamos (Thanks everybody! We miss you.)

Day 4: Galapagos Islands

Ah, the Galapagos. It smells spicy!

We arrived in the Galapagos on Baltra Island at about 10 in the morning 5 days ago. We went through a series of checkpoints to make sure we weren`t carrying any seeds or plants that could contaminate the islands. We even had to walk through a pad of alcohol to clean the foreign mud off our feet! We met some of our group, a Swiss couple and a French couple, as we got on the bus. Everyone had this look of eagerness in their eyes. After a bus ride, a ferry and another bus, we arrived in Puerto Ayora. As we rode through the Island of Santa Cruz, I was surprised to see some litter on the side of the road. For such a sacred island, one would imagine littering to be a punishable crime. The good thing is only 4 of the many islands are inhabited.

In Puerto Ayora, we got onboard our home for the next 4 days, El Yate Rumba. Our cabin had two small bunkbeds and a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. Using the bathroom proved to be quite a challenge on a rocking boat. Another Swiss couple was already on the boat, and they were very welcoming and nice. We think everyone was wondering whether or not Allison and I are a couple because everyone was with their significant other. After a couple of hours, I think it was obvious though that we were just friends. All 8 of us ate a hardy lunch on the boat. We give the cook a lot of credit for being able to cook such elaborate meals on a swaying boat.

Ivan, our guide, met us after lunch to explain the rules of the Galapagos and to take us back to Port. In Puerto Ayora, we went to the Darwin Station to learn a little bit about the Island and to see some land tortoises. These animals are the only ones that are controlled by the people. They control the incubation for the eggs and help them become strong to move back onto the islands. There were some of the oldest tortoises, 80 years, in the Darwin Station as well. After that tour, we walked around the Port for a little while before we had dinner on the boat. We retired early because the next day was going to be full of snorkeling and hiking.

Day 3: Quito/Mindo Ecuador

Today was quite an adventurous day of zip lining and trekking through the jungle!

Allison and I woke up in the nick of time to catch a 2 hour bus to the jungle. We were accompanied by a Columbian named Jorge who we met last night in the hostel. He is a spunky young man and quite handy to have here in the city of Quito. We have a great system going on with Jorge, exchanging English words for Spanish ones. All three of hopped on the bus and wound around mountains in the countryside to arrive in a little jungle town called Mindo. It is a safe town with many friendly people and lots of backpackers like us.

The mission in Mindo was to go zip lining through the canopies of the jungle. We immediately found a man selling tickets for zip lining and headed up a muddy hill to meet the two crazy Ecuadorians who were about to take us on an adventure. Allison was pretty nervous at first but once they strapped her on the cable, she let out a yell and had the time of her life. The scenery as we glided over the canopy was unreal. Our amigo Jorge had absolutely no fear and went down one of the cables upside down. Our guides, Noel and Washington, were determined to push Allison and I to our limits. They made Allison bounce up and down, moving incredibly fast. I must say it is pretty scary but totally worth it. I went down one cable on my belly with my arms out like superman and my legs secure around the Washington. In between the cables we had to hike up to the next one. We were a little surprised to find ourselves winded, but felt better when we saw the guides were as well. The final cable was the longest and they decided to have three of us go at once: Allison, Noel, and myself. I took a video of that one; it is pretty entertaining.

After we zipped through the canopy, all three of us hiked down the muddy road in search of a hardy lunch. We found a local little restaurant with roosters walking around all over the place and many locals. Allison and I both had some delicious fish with rice, fried platanos, and vegetables. Before we knew it, we had to catch the last bus into Quito. The ride to our hostel was full of laughs and good times. After such an exhausting day we retired and made some soup for dinner.

So far, South America is getting better everyday!

P.S. We will not be able to update for 4 or 5 days because we are going to cruising some islands!

Day 2 -- Quito con Angel

After a great night sleep Dana and I woke up and did some streching then walked to the internet cafe down the block to write some on the blog. Later we returned to the Hostel and had breakfast, which was wonderful. Eggs, toast, juice, banana, and coffee. (Side note: the coffee here is awesome!) After breakfast Angel, the guide that picked us up from the airport the day before took us on a city tour, something we had organized with him the day before.

We first headed up to the Mitad del Mundo (the equator) He showed us this huge volcanic crater that an indigenous tribe is living in and cultivating. We were surprised how winded we became just from walking up the short hill to look down into the crater.

From the crater we went to a little site at Mitad del Mundo that was very informative. We learned about the Pre-Colombian indigenous tribes that lived in Ecuador and how they lived and about the tribes that are currently living in the Ecuadorian rainforest. Some are still naked and others shrinkheads, no joke! The other part of this little museum and tour were the equator games. Our guide balanced an egg on a nail head. We got to try but both me and Dana were both unsuccessful as well the other tourists. We also tested our strength and one is very weak or just less strong when standing on the equator. It was a lot of fun. From there Angel took us down to the Old City, the part with all the cathedrals and old churches. Side note: our guide is so informative and talks to us a lot in the van on the way to different locations. It was great to get out and walk aroud the city and streets and feel safe; Angel is shorter than us but at least he is a guy. He showed us all the important monuments. We walked inside the Basilica and looked at many different churches. It started to rain when we go to the square in front of the Iglesia de San Fransisco. We ran through the rain to the Plaza de independencia, which I imagine is a very beautiful place when it is sunny because it was very impressive in the rain too. From there we ran over to a little place for lunch that Angel had picked out. It served traditional Ecuatorian food. Me and Dana both got the same thing Seco de Pollo: a piece of chicken smothered in a delicious sauce made of tomatos and onions, with rice, and an avocado salad on the side. All under $3. After that Angel drove us back to our Hostel and we all said bye. Tonight we just hung out in the Hostel and made soup that we bought from the Grocery store. This is probably the plan for the rest of the trip is to go out and explore during the day and then spend the nights in. I forgot to mention all the stray dogs; they are everywhere! Tomorrow is a new adventure in the Cloud Forest before we take off for the Galapagos on Thursday. Chiao.

Day 1-- Quito, Ecuador

Hi All!

We made it! Sorry for the delay but the internet at our hostel isn´t working. The plain rides were overall very quite and quick. We had a driver meet us at the airport and escort us to our hostel. He was a very nice indigenous man who was very informative and knowledgable about the area. Upon arival to our hostel, parents take ease, we could see that it was very safe. You are buzzed in at the front gate and the staff is very friendly, however our roommates were less pleasant when we met them. The hostel itself is so cute! There are hardwood floors throughout that creek lovingly at every step. There is free breakfast for us every morning. The city is huge and kind of intimidating but our taxis were pretty nice. We are currently at 9,200 ft which we noticed when we stepped off the plane but hopefully this will help us acclimate to the 13,000ft we will eventually climb to. We are already so excited and after a great nights sleep we feel refreshed and ready to explore. (Not to mention the city is less scary during the day.)

2 days til lift-off

T-minus two days until we leave!!

We are here in New Jersey getting ready to leave out of JFK and taking care of some last minute things. I must say we are pretty prepared for two backpackers, but still a little nervous. We took our first malaria pill today and we can only hope that there are little side effects.

For all of those who would like a little preview of our itinerary, here is a rough draft:

1. Fly into Quito, Ecuador (3days)
2. Tour the Galapagos Islands (6 days)
3. Fly to Cuenca, Ecuador (4 days)
4. Travel down to Lima, Peru (2 days-ish)
5. Ica, Peru and Nazca area (5days)
6. Venture up to Cusco, Peru and adjust to the altitude (4days)
7. Macchu Picchu trek (9 days)
8. Return to Cusco to rest (1day)
9. Trip to the Amazon and return to Cusco(4 days)
10. Train to Puno, Peru ( 10 hours)
11. Lake Titicaca, Peru homestay (3days)
12. Lake Titicaca to La Paz, Bolivia (now we are on our own time)
13. Salt Flats in Bolivia
14. Bolivia to San Pedro, Chile and take the hop-on hop-off backpacker bus
15. Backpacker bus down the country to Santiago
16. Fly from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina
17. Relax and tango in Buenos Aires then take a flight back to the US

... enjoy a hot shower when its all done