Journey to Machu Picchu

We met with our guide for Machu Picchu Tuesday night before we departed on our 4 day trek.  The traditional Inca Trail is closed during the month of February due to the high amount of rain, so we opted for the more adventurous Inca Jungle trek, which included mountain biking, white water rafting, zip-lining and hiking into the famous site.  Our enthusiasm escalated as Edwin, our guide, explained the activities that filled each day and that night as we tried to get some rest our overwhelming excitement seemed to shake the earth.

However, soon after our windows began rattling and beds trembling we realized that although our excitement was vast, the earth was actually shaking as Cuzco experienced a minor earthquake that evening.  For my first earthquake experience it was honestly a bit frightening.  It lasted only a few moments and the hostel staff assured us that everything was fine and that it was a somewhat frequent occurance for the area, but it truly made me realize the power of the Pacha Mama and respect the exploration of the elements we were about endure so much more.  

After waking up just about every hour it was finally time to arise and meet our driver for our first of four days trip.  Because of it being the rainy season nobody else had signed up for the Inca Jungle trek during the same time and we ended up being rewarded with a private tour consisting of only us and Edwin.  This was kind of nice, but also kind of weird as we felt oddly pampered with nice hotel rooms (we`re talking private bathrooms), fancy meals, and people opening doors for us.  It was a feeling we are definitely not used to, but we befriended Edwin quite quickly and spilt the beans that we were actually on quite a tight budget, jobless and currently homeless nomads.  Oddly enough that made us feel better about the whole situation and accept the pampering with a bit more ease.

Our first day consisted of a couple hour drive through the magnificent Sacred Valley where the fog engulfed valleys sat below us, majestic mountain tops peaked out of the cloads above and we could see the snow capped mountains of Abra Malaga where we would begin our 45 km ride towards the village of Santa Maria.  We stopped for breakfast along the way and met other crews of travelers (primarily Australians) enduring the same adventure with different tour companies.  Little did we know how often we would endure  these same travelers along our path to Machu Picchu and how much they would become part of our experience-and us of theirs.  As we pulled into the take off point for biking our Edwin and our driver began to pull out our gear for the ride.  It was almost comical the amount of protection we had to put on.  I mean this wasn`t exactly the most hard core mountain biking we had ever experienced as it was all downhill on paved roads-but nevertheless we put on the full leg pads, zip up vests with chest protection and arm pads, gloves and helmets.  The ride was from the top of the Andes down to more of a jungle type vegetation, and was absolutely breathtaking! The smoothness of the roads allowed us to enjoy the views and really take in this surreal experience.  Only the terror of passing tour busses and the frequent crossing of rivers (in which we got soaked, and it was awesome) brought our gaze down from the glorious nature that we were gliding through. After finishing our ride-and barely beating the rain-we headed towards Quillabamba for our first nights rest and to prepare for a day on the Urubamba River the next day.  

We awoke early the next morning ready to take on the river.  Our tour company hooked up with another rafting company and our crew consisted of 6 Peruvian boys (all much younger than myself), Edwin, and the two of us.  I never for a moment felt unsafe as all of our equipment was top of the line, we had a very experienced guide, two rafts and a safety kayaker to help in case anyone was thrown from the boat.  At first glance of the river the large and tumulchous waves were a bit daunting, but our guide assured us we would only endure class III rapids at most.  The most surprising part for us was the temperature of the water.  Having all of our rafting experiences be in the bone chilling waters of Montana, getting hit in the face by the large waves or jumping out for a swim didn`t quite take our breath away as it does up north.  Immediately upon entering the water we were paddling through some of the biggest waves I`ve seen.  What a rush!  I felt as if we were on a roller coaster riding the up`s and down`s of this magnificent river with the occasional clash against a wall of water and the inevitable adrenaline rush that follows.  It was a great time, and as we stopped halfway down they even had beers for us-beers that weren`t PBR (not that I`m complaining about PBR, by any means).  The second half of our journey brought us through Big Mama, the biggest rapid on the trip-and one that has capsized our guide multiple times- but we made it through with no problem and came to the end of our rafting trip with hearts pounding and nothing but smiles all around.

The third day of our trip we had the option of a full day of hiking, or zip-lining for a half day and hiking for the remainder.  Clearly we picked the zip-lining.  We felt it was only appropriate to complete the adrenaline filled four day trip (plus we both had our entire packs as we were catching a night bus to Lake Titicaca directly after our return, so we opted for less hiking in the extreme altitude, with all our gear).  Now all of the zip-lining I had seen was in tree canopies, from tree-to to tree top through the jungle, high up, but nothing too terrifying.  This was pretty terrifying.  Initially at least.  The cables were about 500 ft long, strung between huge canyons with the highest sitting at 450 ft above the ground.  Whoa. It was a bit daunting looking down at the tiny trickle of water that was the raging river we crossed only moments before, however we were in a group with the Australians we met our very first day and joking around with them definitely helped take the edge off.  They were crass, sarcastic and encouraging all at the same, and somehow we all made it through and had an amazing time. There is nothing quite like taking in the scenic views of southern Peru while hanging by a carabiner and barreling down a cable fifty stories high.  By far one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I have ever experienced! After completing all 6 cables, our day winded down and we all finished with an easy 3 hour hike into Aguas Calientes, the small touristy town which sits at the base of Machu Picchu.



That night after a much needed shower and a quick bite to eat we retired to our room early and tried to curb our enthusiasm enough to get some rest in order to make the early bus in the morning and catch the sunrise atop the sacred Inca site.  Our anxiousness kept us walking up nearly every hour to check the clock, so it was almost a relief when at 4:30 a.m. our alarm went off and we could actually get up.  My heart was beating with anticipation and I found it difficult to sit still while our bus slowly weaved up the side of the mountain.  Little did I know there would be a plethora of unforgettable moments that would take place in the next few hours,

It's hard to find words to explain the overwhelming feeling of your first glance of such a historical, breathtaking display of architecture.  Breathtaking, really is the only description that can somewhat accurately describe the moment. The vastness of it all with the surreal mountainous backdrop and fog slowly rolling through....absolutely epic.  We hung out with Edwin for a couple hours and got the low down on the history, discovery and important sites of the area.  Our package also included entrance to Huanya Picchu, which is the summit in the backdrop of nearly ever photo you see of Machu Picchu.  Where the main area was the village, this was more of the holy site and the Inca's build multiple temples along the peak connected by treacherous stone steps delicately placed along the edge of the mountain; a 1200 ft. altitude increase. The agony of the climb was worth it for the feeling of sitting atop such a spectacular spot, in which our friend Chicha graced us with traditional tunes on his wood flute.  Our views were a bit inhibited by fog, but just feeling the energy present was very powerful.  After our summit, we decided to continue on further down the trail to find the Temple of the Moon and the Grand Cavern, where the high priest would go to communicate with the dead.  We wondered, at first, why we were the only ones on the trail, but as we encountered rickety, slick wood ladders and the copious amounts of wet, slippery stairs we found the reasoning for our solitude.  To be honest, it was quite nice, although my calves felt the strain for a few days after (seriously, I could barely walk up stairs).  Eventually our friend Chicha caught up with us on the path (he had native blood and was very quick and steady on those stairs, quite impressive really) and again graced us with ancient songs to fill the mysterious cavern while we identified with the ancient spirits around us.

So many things continued to wonder and amaze us throughout the day.  The most spectacular part, however, was in the morning; standing next to the Temple of the Sun embracing a moment of seclusion, and taking in the wonder that lay around us, Mason dropped to one knee and proposed!!  It was so beautiful; our tears mixed with the rain from above, we embraced each other and set forth the motion of our lives together.  There we stood hand-in-hand overlooking one of the most sacred sites in the world; homeless, jobless and with nothing to build our future together on but our love for one another-the most important thing in the world setting a foundation as sturdy as the ancient stones we stood upon.

Going South

Sad to leave the beach and sunshine we relished in the rays as long as possible, watched one last sunset over the ocean and set off towards Trujillo to board our night bus to Lima on Thursday January 26th.   Our last meal in the northern part of Peru was as interesting as ever as we watched two ladies pull out a T.V. on their streetside stand to watch a soap opera (stealing electricity from the building next door we prsume) and conversed with a very charismatic Peruvian man who knew only a few english phrases like-¨The women drive me crazy, but I can`t get enough¨, and ¨I work as a gigalo.¨ Quite a great way to say goodbye to the north.  Our bus was surprisingly comfortable with seats that reclined nearly all the way back to beds, silk blankets, pillows and headphones.  They also showed some movies to pass the time, including-Zookeeper!

Trying to stay away from large cities and urban sprawl we opted to skip Lima and head straight to Cuzco, which sits in the southeastern part of Peru and would serve as the beginning point of our trip to Machu Picchu.  We arrived in Lima at 6:00 a.m. and had eight hours before our next bus, so exhausted and famished we headed towards the bus station cafeteria to kill some time and get some breakfast. It´s scary to realize how vulnerable you can be no matter how careful or paranoid are. While enjoying our food and time out of a moving vehicle I fell victim to the stealth thieves that we have so cautiously been trying to avoid, and of our eight hour layover in Lima five of them were spend trying to overcome language barriers in order fill out an accurate police report.  No bueno.  Everything was taken care of (also insured, thank god), and I`m very happy that we were both unscathed during the incident.  It sort of made me think about the deep attachments we have to material things. I realized that they are just things and are (for the most part) replaceable.  They don`t make a person who they are and in the end...they don`t really matter so much.  That person may have stole my posessions but they could never steal my experiences. 

Relieved to be getting out of the area and the constant reminder of momentary lapse of caution we hopped on the next transport preparing ourselves for 20 hours (yes almost an entire day) on rolling wheels across some of the most terrifying terrain I`ve ever seen.  Luckily the bus line did a great job of detouring our attention away from the steep cliffs we continously swayed over with food, bingo games and movies. So as Ecuador had a strange obsession with blood and gore movies, apparently Peru seems to love awful romantic comedies and for the third time in two weeks we were subject to watching-you guessed it-Zookeeper. At this point I`m honestly not sure which genre is worse.  

With both of us on the edge of insanity nothing could have been more gratifying than stepping off that bus and as we weaved through the cobblestone streets of Cuzco alive with local vendors adorn in colorful attire an overwhelming sense of tranquility and curiosity came over us.  We were truly moved by the sacred atmosphere of the oldest city in Peru.  Traveling with limited funds and minimal baggage space almost made wondering the streets of Cuzco painful as every nook and cranny is filled with beautiful artisan crafts and some of the most breathtaking art I have ever seen. The whole city has quite a laid back attitude and I was constantly amazed at the equal fusion of Indiginous and Catholic history present through the entire area.  Statues representing Inca kings stood in plazas next to ornate catherdrals with buildings flying the rainbow flag representing the indiginous tribes of the area. I enjoyed the inclusion, even though the Spaniards still pillaged the majority of the ancient city.

Our first night in Cuzco was spend jumping between multiple venues playing live music.  We met a man on the street in the afternoon that invited us to his show and said he played a mix of folklore. Expecting a musical experience similar to Huanchaco we were a little surprised when we showed up to hear a mix of American grunge tunes-although I`ll give him credit he could actually do Eddie Vedder some justice. and it was quite enjoyable.  The next music we pursued was held in an underground bar that was a bit more rowdy and alcohol infused.  We arrived a bit late and as the lead singer was ripping his shirt off, pouring beer over himself and mumbling ¨Roadhouse Blues¨ through a mega phone held up a microphone-all while the band played with beautiful symmetry and ease-I couldn`t help but think that was probably similar to what an actual Doors concert would have been like.  We ended the night at an interesting, but rather fun Discoteque where we could freely make fools of ourselves knowing fully we would never see anyone in there again. 

As we throroughly explored the night life of Cuzco, we decided that we would delve into the deep history of the area the next day.  Outside of city, on the edge of the Sacred Valley, lie some of the most complex and important ruins of the Inca times. We decided the walk would be nice as it was just a little over 2km from our hostel, however that short distance consisted of about 1,000 stairs and a significante elevation change, so needless to say we were extra excited upon our arrival to the beautiful site!  The first of the ruins we visited is named Saqsaywaman-or in tourist slang ¨sexy woman¨ and was a perfectly fitting puzzle of enormous mortarless boulders creating three large platforms, which form sort of a zig-zag shape.  Although to us it seemed very large and extravagent the site is actually only 20% of the orginal architecture, but contained some boulders topping 125 tons!!  We also visited a ceremonial temple dedicated to Pacha Mama (mother earth) called Q'enco which was used for primarily as a center of worship and was sort of a labryinth containing caves and secret passageways throughout all of the rocks.  It was so hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that these extraordinary structures were built soley on manpower.  I mean talk about teamwork! Just the size of the rocks was to be marveled at, but the fact that they were moved to the top of a hill and continously chisled, heated and polished until they fit together perfectly continues to blow my mind.  It´s amazing what a civilization with no written language could accomplish. The last of the sites we visited was the Temple of the Moon.  Because of it`s distance from the rest of the area, and the amount of walking we had already done, we decided to pay for some horses in order to make the trek a little bit more timely.  Having both grown up riding we were excited to be able to saddle up and take a ride through the Cuzco country side.  Despite the horses looking a bit underweight and the saddles being pretty thin, it was quite enjoyable to ogle at the beautiful sites around us, while not gasping for air hiking at such a high altitude.

In addition to the breathtaking ancient sites that decorated the area it was quite enjoyable to watch all of the locals patronizing the valley.  Around every corner you could catch groups of people having a picnic or enjoying the sunny weather, but mostly everywhere you looked groups of people were playing soccer games, using whatever they could find in the area for goals.  Also nearly every child that walked by was carrying or kicking around a soccer ball-I just loved it!

Besides marveling at the ancient sites in the area we spend a great amount of time walking around the local market.  Cuzco has one of the biggest indoor markets in the world where you can buy anything from a cheap hot lunch, to a custom made traditional skirt to alpaca meat. It was quite an experience to be swept away amonst the chaos of the locals bustling around between booths and the vendors chanting in a sing song manner in an attempt to entice you to their products.  It was like nothing you would ever see in the states, and aside from the pile of cow heads delicately covered with a cloth (oh yeah eyeballs still attached) and the rancid smell that inevitable followed I thoroughly enjoyed perusing the beautiful garments and elaborate culinary displays.  

(I apologize for the lack of photos. As the computers are all in Spanish I am deathly afraid of pushing a wrong button and erasing my hard drive.  Look for a plethora on facebook soon!)




 

Huanchaco Huanchaco Huanchaco!

Having spent the day preparing for our first overnight bus trip-and recovering from the night before-we boarded the Peru bound bus in Loja on Saturday January 21st at midnight.  Although we truly enjoyed the beauty of Ecuador, salted corn street snacks and music playing garbage trucks (yes, they played music, jovial music, similar to that of an ice cream truck which was occasionally disappointing, but all in all entertaining), we thoroughly looked forward to our adventure in Peru.  Don´t ask me why, but up until this point all of our bus travels have included over the top violent, blood and guts type of movies.  It´s a strange South American bus thing I guess, so needless to say I was quite happy to be viewing The Zookeeper that night.  Absolutely ridiculous-yes, Over the top gory and violent-not so much, I´ll take it! The journey was nine hours to Piura, our first Peruvian city, with a boarding crossing at about 3:30 a.m.  Everything was very easy, except for finding a comfortable position to sleep and trying not to sweat to death with all that body heat and no air conditioning. At one point I think Mason actually had his head out the window.  Our most exciting aspect was waking up in the middle of the night to a family attempting to load the bus with boxes among boxes of what we assume was food and sitting next to a lady with a bag full of chickens.  That´s right.  Quite literally a bag full of live chickens.

In a cloud of dust and confusion we were kicked out of the bus on the side of the dirt road. Welcome to Piura!  Upon looking around we immediately decided that we should get the hell out of dodge-and quick! Not quite sure where we were going we started walking down the road in the direction of other backpack clad individuals.  After a long walk, and multiple unsuccessful ATM visits we finally found a bus company that had a daily bus departing for Trujillo at nine; we walked in at 8:50.  If there is one thing our travels down here have taught us it is patience.  Sometimes things just take a REALLY long time, and gettng worked up about it is not going to help.  So we waited, patiently in line watching the minutes tick away, but somehow managed to make the bus.

The scenery was not nearly has pleasant as the mysterious fog-ridden mountains of central Ecuador. The dry, desert climate, long straight roads and multiple garbage dumps we passed had us dreaming of reaching the ocean. After 6 hours, one (inevitable) gory movie, and seeing a few mirages that we swore were ocean waves, we arrived in Trujillo at 3:30 pm and were enjoying the last rays of the day, kicking back on the beach by 4:30 pm. Our hostel was set in a chilled out little beach town called Huanchaco, about 12 km north of the city of Trujillo where surfing was a way of live and daily hammock time was necessary.  The main drag, Ave La Rivera, followed the curve of the beach and was freckled with seafood joints, bars, hotels, hostels and surf shops.  After so many days battling rain and cold it was refreshing to relax on the beach, in the warm sun and take an occasional dip into the pacific ocean.

Traveling into the city was easy and cheap as little buses called combis drove the main avenue all day.  All you had to do was flag one down and hop on (very carefully as these too rarely stopped to load or unload passengers).  The fare was 1.50 Soles per person, which equals about 50 cents, and supported locals directly.  They usually filled up pretty quickly and were cause for standing room only.  One day while heading to Trujillo our combi took an unexpected turn and headed into the residential area of Huanchaco instead of straight for the city.  It was quite an eye opening experience to witness the real parts of town where locals reside and not the main area fancified for tourists and travelers.  The roads were dirt and filled with potholes and the houses were thrown together with whatever materials were around.  Suddenly our bus came jolting to a stop, breaking down on the side of the road. Confused we looked around wondering what was going on, but nobody else seemed to be too concerned.  The two drivers hopped out and began inspecting the engine (really just kicking it). Although it was somewhat difficult to see the reality of the town all I could hope was that the money we were spending there was benefitting the locals in some way.  While the drivers were fixing (kicking) the engine we did get to witness the locals in their real environment and not catering to tourists, which was refreshing.  There were playing children, happy exchanges and one women enjoying the day with her pet monkey-on a leash, drinking a juice box.  One of my favorite sites yet!

We coincided our trip with La Fiesta de la Marinera, a festival celebrating the national dance of Peru.  The Marinera is a graceful flirtation between two partners performed with handkerchiefs as props and gorgeous elaborate costumes.  The beautiful reenactment of a courtship represents a stunning blend of Spanish, African and Indigenous influences. Almost daily in Trujillo and Huanchaco we could catch dancers ranging from 6 to 60 years old gracing the streets with their elegant dance moves.  It was an awesome glance into one aspect of the deep culture native to Coastal Peru.  Our visit also happened to overlap with the World Cup Surfing Competition.  Overnight a large stage popped up on the beach as well as various sponsor tents, vendors and large inflated beer bottles decorating the area.  Although the waves were somewhat unimpressive it was fun to hang out and watch surfers, young and old, bobbing in the oceans and doing their best to carve her tide.

Although we did plenty of soaking in the sun (and both had the sunburns and weird tan lines to prove it), Trujillo is also rich in archaeological discoveries and we took some time to get out an explore the sites. Sitting slightly southest of the city lay two beautiful Moche temples dating back to 600 AD.  Although the Temple of the Sun is Peru´s largest pre-Colombian structure, it was ravaged for gold and silver by Spanish Conquistidors and left mostly destroyed.  The Temple of the Moon, however, has remained largely intact and is riddled with rooms containing large adobe brick walls with beautiful polychrome friezes.  This just blew us away! Each Moche priests that came into power covered the previous reigns designs with their own interpretation of the higher powers, so they are still continuing to peel away the layers of these extravagent murals.  The tour is operated by local students studying archaeology and anthropology and their focus is conservation not restoration, so all of the friezes are orginal!  It is amazing to think that only 20 years this site was merely a pile of dirt and they still have significant areas to excavate.  We also were lucky enough to catch site of a hairless Peruvian dog from the area.  These odd looking canines have abnormally high body temperatures and have been used for curing ailments such as stomach pain and asthma.



Walking around the temples and the city left us quite exhausted, but it was our last night in town and Mason saw a handmade flyer for some live music at a local bar so we decided to check it out.  The bar was called Mystika and definitely floated our vibe.  We were greeted by fire and sword juggling and a man selling vinyl records at the door.  It was tempting, but I resisted the urge to purchase Los Beatles! deciding it would be too difficult to carry around. The band consisted of four men playing a variety of instruments including three different drums, a flute, a charango-10 stringed Andean instrument made out of a armadillo shell, and some pan flutes.  Their entrancing notes of their traditional Peruvian music captivated us and our fatigue dissipated with the first song.  We danced in the middle of a crowded room full together with locals and tourists alike, spilling out into the streets and affecting the entire neighborhood with song.

The Southern Ecuadorian Highlands

We have truly found that traveling with a group is so much more convenient sometimes. In addition to the comradery, it just makes the hassle of lengthy bus trips more tolerable, instances that could be somewhat nerve-racking straight up comical, and- with our classic four person tag-team Spanish-conversations more comprehendable. 

Riding our state of nirvana after being pampered in Banos, the crew threw on our packs and headed south for Cuenca. The bus ride was about 7 hours total, but unfortunately included some backtracking and a layover in a small town called Ambato. The first leg of the trip went quite swimmingly, but let us off in a sea of chaos at our terminal in Ambato. By terminal I really just mean the side of a busy road, where we were rushed across the street in a terrifying backpacker version of frogger, very loudly and hurriedly assisted in purchasing bus tickets for the remainder of the ride, then told we had a few hours before the bus would arrive. Although we were a little confused we took the time to eat some lunch (chicken foot soup that helped Mason overcome some stomach sickness that he had incurred) and chill out on the side of the road chatting with some bus vendors. 

I really enjoy how everybody here can sell whatever they want.  I really do.  Some people may think that this sounds annoying and that folks would constantly hassle-or potentially hussle-you, but I look at it as embracing the entrepreneurial spirit in everyone.  Seriously, in the United States we have so many rules and restrictions that even to open a street corner hot dog cart entails taking out a loan, getting a food vending license, jumping through hoops, paying fees and all the like.  Here people make some delicious homemade empanas, or pick some fruit from a tree and then hop on the busses at the stops and walk up and down the aisles selling their goodies.  Then when the bus is beginning to depart they hop off (often when the bus is moving, that doesn´t seem to frighten people for some reason). And you know what, as someone who has been frequenting the busses, I often get hungry and it´s nice to have some options.  The folks we were hanging out with were so sweet too.  Just trying to make an honest living in whatever way they can.  They also saved our asses as we had our bags loaded and were ready to board the incorrect bus, and even gave us some food for the ride-just genuinely kind people.  We finally make it to Cuenca quite late at night (after nearly getting off in the wrong city) hungry, tired and with nowhere to stay.  Our trusty Lonely Planet lead us to a few hostels-all full-but luckily third times a charm and we found a place that could fit five haggard travelers.
Cuenca was a charming little city, that had a bit of a Europoean feel to me.  There were lots of plazas, cobble stone streets and we found the residents to be helpful-at least more so than Quito.  The weather was pretty wet for our duration, so a lot of our activities were in done during spirts of sun, and we found ourselfs ducking under canopies quite often.  Our traveling companions truly make us feel like a walking REI commercial.  We-having researched and prepared for rain and cold-came down geared up with waterproof boots, rain pants and coats, covers for our packs and quick dry clothes.  Neither Erik or Sandra, both traveling for multiple months, even have coats and Sandra´s only pair of shoes are an old pair of Chuck Taylors!  But we found a solution in some extra grocery bags as you can see in the photo....worked like a charm!  There were some great museums around the city and we visited a local modern art display (it´s just weird everywhere) and a cultural display of pre-Inca life which included Shrunken Heads!  The tradition of severing and shrinking heads is unique to the Amazon rain forest tribes known as the Jivaroan people of Ecuador and Peru.  It´s quite a ellaborate process as you may imagine, and the heads were commonly of enemies that caused harm to the tribe and were used as trophies or for ritual purposes. 

Here, Nadine met up with some of her friends the tiny Canadian Island she lives on.  They were renting an apartment for a month and invited us over for a dinner.  What an interesting bunch!  Willy and Leslie, her friends, met 40 plus years ago while traveling in India and have lived all over the world.  It was great to converse with them and really  feel a true sense of the traveling spirit.  We spend all night laughing and talking and truly pissing off the other residents of the complex with consisted mostly of older retired Americans that-as Nadine so delicately puts it-are just coming to Ecuador to die. 

Our crew split up in Cuenca with Erik, Sandra and us heading down to Loja for a night and then ready to cross over into Peru.  Knowing we were not going to be in the town long, we opted for a bit of a dumpy hostel with a bit of a hospital feel, but only costing us $5 a night.  Our time primarily consisted of wondering around and getting a feel for the bar scene, however as the night progressed we happened to stumble on a very random beauty pageant that was taking place in the main plaza.  Although this seemed quite weird and very random to us, everyone in town seemed to be out for the festivities and we were able to see some fabulous fire works.  Later we met a group of younger locals that informed us the celebration was for Saint Sebastion, and then proceeded to fill us full of hot fermented sugar cane juice that just so happens to be very good and very alcoholic.  The group really enjoyed their new gringo friends and had great conversations until the police kindly informed us, that pretty much everyone else had cleared the plaza and we should probably do the same.  On our way home we-almost literally-ran into a great little dive bar with a Black Keys-esque duo that just jammed!  We all immediately flocked to the dance floor and, as the only ones dancing, humored the band and added to the entertainment of the locals.  I couldn´t think of a better way to spend our last night in Ecuador.

Las Aguas de Baños

Happy to be moving on from the hussle and bustle of Quito we packed up our bags Thursday morning and headed for Baños with our new found traveling crew.  Sandra, from Germany, just finished University and has been traveling for the last five months; Erik, from Holland, is wondering around North and South America over the next year or so trying to figure out what he wants to do, but is pretty dead set on being a rock star; Nadine is a 60 year old women from a little Canadian island off of Victoria who takes off to travel the world every January (except the winter she was diagnosed with cancer in which she was sincerely pissed off that she had to cancel her ticket to Thailand-she is currently free and clear of the disease and back to adventuring!)  They all smoke like chimneys and each has a wicked, yet utterly enduring sense of humor.  They have truly become our traveling family.



The bus ride was quick and beautiful, crossing lush agricultural land.  It was cool to see the variety of crops in the area and we are sufficiently jealous of their rich, black soil.  Baños is a small town surrounded by high mountains and has every adventure sport you could think of available for the many tourists that paint the streets. Paragliding, mountain biking, bridge jumping, ziplines, canyoning whitewater rafting; you name it they provide it.  Since we are biking and rafting on our journey into Machu Picchu we decided to rent a dune buggie for a day to explore the roads and take in the breathtaking waterfalls and mountainous scenery.  It was quite an amazing experience.....except for getting passed by the busses that apparently don´t feel the need to slow down on curves or wait for oncoming traffic to pass...but minus those few close encounters we had an absolutely fabulous time!




Baños is also know for its hotsprings (hence the name) and multiple spas provided very inexpensive massages and various other treatments.  Since we would probably never treat ourselves-and could definitely never afford-luxerious pampering in the states we decided it would provide for a nice and relaxing afternoon. Was it ever!  We both received a mud exfoliation (pretty much they put clay on us and wrapped us in newspaper-surprising enjoyable) steam bath/cold water exchange (good for re-setting the central nervous system) and full body massages (need I say more?) Wow....all that coupled with our last nights visit to the hotsprings made for quite a relaxing few days.  The town also had quite a bustling night life with unique bars, crowded discotecs, and a surprising amount of Karaoke joints.  We found out quickly that our traveling crew loved to dance as much as we did which made for some really great nights of rocking out (in which we found our venting hiking shirts to be the perfect attire).

Another fun aspect here was exploring the extensive food markets and experiencing a lot more local cuisine.  There was a central mercado in the middle of town which had very inexpensive almuerzos (lunch) and a variety of juice, vegetable and meat stands.  Directly behind our hostel was a wild Sunday market which had probably every fruit and veggie you could imagine, chickens on leashes, enitire roasted pigs, and the famous roasted guinea pig-still pretty much fully intact, teeth and all. We didn´t try the guinea pig (Cuy) here, but I imagine we will before the trip is over.  Perhaps our two favorite street meals were fried plantanes with cheese and a dish consisting of large corn kernals, a bit of onion and tomato and pig fat for flavor. Don´t be fooled by the thought of straight pig fat....it was delicious! All in all Baños provided a wonderful few days.  It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy our surroundings and we´ll never forget the enjoyment of being surrounded by great food and getting swallowed up in the chaos of local exhanges.

South America Adventure-Part 1

After 23 hours, four airports, three flights and two very crooked necks we finally arrived in Quito, Ecuador Sunday Jan. 8 around 11:30 p.m.  Aside from the sheer duration of our trip, everything went very smoothly, and it was nice to touch down without any extra stresses-i.e. lost baggage, canceled flights, panic attacks due to my fear of flying.  That night we were looking forward to relaxing and getting good nights rest in an actual bed, but little did we know that our adventure would begin immediately upon stepping into an Ecuadorian taxi for transport to our hostel in Old Town.  It was a bit of a drive-25 minutes or so-and apparently red lights, driving lanes and traffic signs don´t really mean that much here!  Thank God there were handles in that cab, that´s all I have to say. Although, it was a bit...well...terrifying, it was also kind of thrilling speeding down the streets of a foreign country not knowing what will come around the next bend, or hell, if we´ll even make the corner, but it was a feeling I instantly embraced and it reminded me why I´ve missed traveling so much.

Our hostel was located in the historical district of Quito, which meant skinny cobble stone streets, non-existent sidewalks, and a plethora of churches.  We spent a good deal of time exploring this area and the deep history that seemed to ooze from the architecture.  The Central Plaza was a nice spot to hang out and mingle with some of the locals, and we found La Basilica, which rested in the middle of Old Town and was the tallest structure in the area. We were able to enter for $2 and climb up through the steeples, about six stories high.  This trek included multiple rickety ladders and unsteady spiral staircases, but it was well worth the view at the top.

The weather was a bit stormy for our duration in Quito, and we did endure a hell of a freak hail storm while wandering the streets one day. However, our last full day there brought out the sun and allowed us to venture up Volcan Pichincha, a volcano which rests just on the outskirts of town.  Recently Quito installed a $2.2 million Gondola Chairlift called the TeleforiQo to allow easier access to the top of the volcano.  My guess is they were tired of hauling off the multiple tourists that went down on the hike due to the extraordinarily high altitude (Quito sits at about 9,000 feet with the top of Pichincha resting at 15,000) The ride was beautiful and allowed for a spectacular view of the city and surrounding towns.  Two friends from our hostel joined us for the trek, Dominik from Poland and Ceci from Argentina.  Ceci´s spanish was a godsend for us and provided us an opportunity to practice our Spanish and her to practice her English. After descending from atop the volcano, we wandered around the Mariscal disctrict and visited the Artisan Market where we saw some of the beautiful crafts native of Ecuador.

Although we enjoyed the city atmosphere, Quito, like any city was a bit sketchy and dangerous to be out at night.  However, our hostel had a rooftop terrace, so most nights were spent conversing with fellow travelers. We met some amazing people from all over the world.  There is such a beautiful, unspoken connection between travelers.  It is an instantaneous friendship experienced by the similarity of feeling so small in a foreign place.  It was truly amazing to feel those bonds again.  I so frequently find myself reminiscing about other traveling experiences, and I love to send a thought out to those that experienced those times with me, and those I met along the way.  Although, I love those moments, I try to reflect only briefly and remind myself to stay in the moment as I know I am creating memories that I will cherish reflecting on in the future.