Heather & Andrew Head South to the Americas...

Finito

2007-07-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sadly today is our last day.. we are flying out at 6AM to LAX. We are both leaving with mixed emotions.. regular hot showers and warm LA weather are 2 things we are looking forward to.. along with a new set of clothes to wear and not lugging big packs around.. it has been an amazing trip and blew any expectations we had totally out the window..

Opera Bay, pavlova and organic tofu

2007-07-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

I felt obliged to go to Puerto Madryn to see Opera Bay a replica? of the world famous Sydney Opera house.. well the likeness is not THAT close but still it was pretty cool.. it is in actuality a massive nightclub.. so for our last night in BA (and of the trip for that matter) we rallied some fellow hostelers and danced the night away at Opera Bay..

Yes I got Pavlova in Buenos Aires!! the food in this city is absolutely amazing, we went to an Organic Vegetarian resturant the other night for dinner and had the most yummy Organic Tofu ever.. did you even think the words "organic tofu" and " buenos aires" could exist in the same sentence!?!

Palermo

2007-07-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

the quaintishlyhip neighbourhood of Palermo

Free ART wednesdays!!

2007-06-27T15:53:00.001-07:00

Heather Andrew

Exploring BA

2007-06-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

San Telmo Markets

Walking tour of BA

Japanese Gardens

2007-06-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

and Sushi binging..

Recoleta Cemetary

2007-06-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Mate bar

2007-06-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Being the national drink of Argentina I have been keen to try Mate. We spied a Mate bar near our hostel and I was eager to give it another try as when we had it in Cordoba it was really bitter tasting.... the waiter did the preparation for me, as you can read in the article below there is a whole ritual involved in the preparation.
I bought a Mate at the markets and some Yerba Mate at the Mate bar.. it might be one of those acquired tastes as it really is quite bitter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

The sizzle of sexy Buenos Aires

2007-06-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well we arrived in BA during a downpour so we are not feeling the sizzle quite yet, but we are here!!!

BA is our final destination for the trip, we fly back to LA on June 2nd.

Sandy saw this great LA Times article about the city.
http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-buenosaires-18feb07

We also uploaded more photos from Cafayate, Cordoba and Mendoza
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets/72157600315398291/show/

The Vines

2007-06-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

After sip n cycling our way around the Maipu valley we decided to head to a recommended wine bar http://www.vinesofmendoza.com/ to taste some more of the wines from this region. We did a 5 wine ¨flight" and the guy that gave the tasting used to own a wine shop in town so was a real wealth of knowledge not just on the wines but also Argentinian culture.

We returned the next night with a lovely couple we met at our hostel as they had a winemaker from a local Bodega giving a talk on the wine making process and of course we got to taste some more wine. It was a really informative discussion and we feel very educated on wine at this point.

Continuing our shopping streak in Mendoze, so Argentina is well known for it´s quality (and cheap) leather, and Heather managed to squeeze a leather jacket into her backpack (somehow?)... while I opted for a pair of trendy jeans, as denim is also rather inexpensive. Good thing we have only 1 more overnight bus ride as our backpacks are starting to get a bit porky.

Vino! Vino! Vino...Oh My!

2007-06-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

We have spent the majority of our time here in Mendoza learning about WINE! We joined up with other hostelers to do a full day bike tour of 3 local wineries and a chocolate/liquor maker, which was great fun! We had a guide that led the 12 of us on the country roads of Maipu, the closest small town of wineries. We went to small boutique organic wineries, and big wineries that produce over 20 different varieties...and we tasted some divine and some not so divine wines! :D It is not harvest time here now, (it is late January to early March) so all the vineyards are dry and brown but they are still very lovely. We have now learned the whole process, from picking the grapes, to separating the skinds and seeds, to fermenting the grape sugar to alcohol, to pressing and filtering, and then to aging some in oak barrels. Fun fact: one american oak barrel costs the wineries $500 US dollars to buy, and one french oak barrel costs $2000 dollars! ..."barrel" meaning where certain wines are aged 6 months to multiple years in order to add flavor and merge textures....making them more complex! haha Look at all my wine knowledge! Aren´t you impressed?! :D
This is the first winery we visited on our bike day...it was a small, family run winery that has been around since 1898. There big award winner is a Malbec (which we bought), it is Mendoza´s most famous variety of wine. The Malbec grape grows well here because it is very dry all year round, only 9mm of rain a year...there is also a very cold winter. All of which are ideal growing conditions...

This was at one of the BIG wineries that produces over 20 different varieties of wine, including sparkling wine. It is very commericalized though with tons of photo ops, one of which we took advantage of! :D

At the last winery, I won a bottle of wine because I found the oldest bottle of wine they had in their private collection...this is the one I am holding, it is a 1971 San Felipe. They won´t drink any of these wines ever, they are just to collect and show off. Seems a bit unfortunate to me, to waste all this delicious wine...but hey, that is just me! :D lol

Mendoza

2007-06-21T12:27:00.001-07:00

We have had a lot of fun walking around Mendoza with its plazas, sidewalk cafes, and shops. It is the winter solstice today, so the weather has been brisk but beautiful. The wine has been our main attraction here though, and what an attraction it is! It is absolutely fabulous! Here Andrew is sipping a local Malbec during our first sidewalk lunch. Yummy!There is a beautiful park in Mendoza too, which we found on our first day here. We arrived late afternoon, and the sunlight coming through the trees was just breath taking. It is very surreal experiencing such a "fall-like" place in the middle of June! :D lol I just could not help myself and decided I had to play with the leaves that covered the ground...

Feliz dia del Padre

2007-06-21T12:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Fathers Day!! We spent father´s day wandering the empty streets of Cordoba, sipping Mate and shopping at some local arts and crafts street market..

the house of Che

2007-06-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were treated to a dreary londonesque winters day, good for lazing in bed (we have our own TV! in our room) and watching movies... today the sun is out and while the weather is crisp it´s nice to be outside walking around. Its a short bus ride to Alto Gracia one of the childhood towns of Ernesto Che Guevara. To honor him is a small museum in his former family home. His birthday was yesterday and the remnants of a party were still visible. The bike from his first trip through South America was there.. yes the Motorcylce diaries bike! wicked!
Most surprising thing I learnt today, this time last year Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro were visiting the museum to honor Che. I was not aware of how deep his friendship with the Cuban dictator had been.

More on the life of Che..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

shop till you drop in Cordoba

2007-06-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

We managed to fit a city tour on a NY city red double decker in amongst our shopping expeditions. Designer denim and all assortments of leather goods fill the shop windows. Decked out in our new threads we hit the town to experience the (in)famous nightlife only to end up on a darkened dancefloor with the power out, a surefire way to end the night early.

Quebrada de Cafayate

2007-06-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

We took an afternoon tour into another world.. large red monoliths towering overhead.

Massive natural amphitheatres made from solid rock that slowly pushed through the earths surface.. layer cakes of copper formed green rocks.. red martian landscapes.

Thankfully our re-entry was smooth.

Sip N Cycle in Cafayate

2007-06-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

After the amazingnessness that is Iguazu Falls we boarded a 20+hr bus ride to Tucaman. I must confess folks it has been a while since our last loooong overnight bus ride.. leaving at 10:45AM with an arrival time of 8:30AM.. joyous! NOT!

I managed to contract a full on head, chest achy feverish cold on the busride to add to the 20hr nightmare.. a few tylenol later and some other cold/flu drugs i was feeling vaguely human.. we arrived to Tucaman and sat around sipping coffee for 6hrs until our bus to Cafayate.. a few books read later we finally boarded.. I finished Marching Powder.. one of the best books I have read in recent times.

Onto Cafayate..
we arrived at around 9pm, the sky is filled with a million stars.. we had weaved our way upwards past hills covered in cactii and with the Andes as a an ever beautiful backdrop. Arriving into the quaint little pueblo of Cafayate we were greeted by a tout that for once seemed like a nice hombre.. we followed him to an amazing hostel, TV, Kitchen, free internet.. free wine tours.. whoah! almost too good to be true after 1.5 days of travel funk that we had to wash off in the HOT showers.. at dinner we had to eat off the kids menu as it was the only vege options and a glass of wine here is cheaper than a glass of OJ.. yes i was trying to behave and recover from my illness.. while Heather dived into the local wines. Friday.. tucked into our free breaky at the hostel followed by a short jaunt around the central plaza.. secured bikes for the day and a map of the wineries.. time to get our sip n cycle on !.. bodega uno (first winery).. muy bien! we enjoyed a few tastings, bought a bottle... discovered that due to our late start most everything was shutting up for lunch.. (as is the way in these siesta ridden countries).. what to do? hmmm..
how about sit on the balcony of our hostel, soak up the sun, drink some local vino and eat a tasty homemade lunch.. todo bien!
the afternoon consistented of biking to a few more wineries, purchasing a few more bottles of vino and then another long sit on our balcony spent contemplating how much we are diggin on Argentina about now..

Argentina set on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets/72157600315398291/

Please Stay Off the Animals...

2007-06-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Iguassu Falls! Wow, words cannot even begin to describe the immensity and power of these waterfalls. For those who do not know, these particular falls span three countries, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. We started on the Brazil side of things and we were awe struck. The Brazil side allows for this spectacular panoramic view of the entire falls from across the river...multiple levels, falling onto multiple levels and pooling together at some points to form the hardest rushing water I have ever seen. At the end there is even a catwalk where you can literally go out almost underneath the falls, and get soaked with the mist. I got some great pics of Andrew doing just that, it was literally such a rush to be so close to so much rushing water...

Then today we went to the Argentina side to see a different perspective. On this side you walk on catwalks through the jungle to come out to different view points along the falls...some with distant views of the falls, and some with "up close and personal" ones. Today we could practially touch, what we only saw from a distance yesterday. I think we were a bit more impressed yesterday though but that was probably because we had no idea what to expect. Regardless, these past few days were awesome! It has been awhile since we have done a nature oriented activity and we were lovin´it!

Now it is back on the bus for a 20 hour ride to Tucuman! Whoopie...lol :D

Samba in Lapa...

2007-06-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone at our hostel hungout at this corner store at the end of the block where our hostel was...it was hilarious. It felt like we were in NY or something... so we would hangout their in the street for awhile drinking our Skol cheap, shitty beer until about 1:00am when it was proper time to go out (yes they START their evenings at 1:00am) This past friday night we met Carlos and Rodriguez these two local brasilians who were just rad... they totally came up to us because they heard us all speaking english and were asking us how we were enjoying Brasil, how it compared to the US, UK and Aus....it was loads of fun to be able to ask real locals questions instead of the local info booth or whatever. Soon Carlos started talking about dancing, he has taken lessons for 3 years...and then we started talking about this neighborhood called Lapa. Apparently every friday night Lapa has this big street party, and boy they were not kidding. They nicely agreed to take us there, it was so great to get into a taxi with someone who spoke portuguese who could tell them not to rip us off! (seriously he had to tell him not to double charge us) ...anyways we got to Lapa and it was like a mini carnival, music, dancing, tons of people drinking and partying in the streets...it was crazy! Then we made our way to this samba club and they took us inside... OMG! It was the most fun we have had on a night out in ages! No sooner had we walked in, Carlos was wisking us girls onto the dancefloor teaching us the moves! He was a great dancer... Andrew and I even attempted it, after some instruction from Carlos..we had loads of fun! It was exactly the kind of Rio experienc we wanted to have!

Girl from Ipanema...

2007-06-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Rio last week, and I cannot believe we just left this morning, it went by in a BLINK. Were we really even there? lol :D
I hate to admit we did not do many touristy things there, mostly because the weather was pretty shite. We did make it to Santa Tereza which is this quaint neighborhood up in the hills that you get to by cable car, but other than that we just shopped, went to the beach, and partied like it was 1999! lol
We could not afford to stay in a private room in Rio, so we had to do the dorm thing...for the first time! Yikes! It actually was not as bad as I had imagined, that being said though here are my thoughts as a first timer...picture a room with 5 sets of bunk beds, 10 people total, 8 of which are boys...then picture everyones backpack that is filled to the gills, exploding as soon as they unzip it...so what you get are these piles of everyone`s stuff around their bunk that slowly start creeping their way into the middle of the room, so that sometimes you are wading through someones dirty clothing to get to your bunk...seriously I am not kidding. Then imagine everyone`s differing schedule for going out and returning at all hours of the night...and I do mean ALL hours! Luckily in this respect we had some pretty considerate people, it seems people just came in and passed out in their clothes, I do not think we were woken up once by people coming home at 5:00am! ...maybe because one of the nights we were coming home at 5:00am! We did meet some fun people though...crazy kids! :D

Sandy in Salvador...

2007-06-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

We had a great time hanging with Sandy in Salvador for ten days...it was nice to have such a long time to enjoy the city, so we did not feel rushed to do the maximum amount of things per day. Most afternoons we spent lounging on Sandy´s veranda looking out over the city, reading, eating sweets scrounged from breakfast and hanging in her hammock. :D
We did do some sight seeing and shopping though...Sandy was the all time best barganer too! If they said 20, she said 10 and she would not quit until she got the price she wanted. She was awe inspiring, and got us deals on lots of cool stuff!
Some of the highlights during the week she was with us...
Getting a private tour one day with this amazing local guy Dixon who took us to the Bonfim church, and Forte de Barra...then onto all these beautiful beaches up North...Hanging at one of those beaches to have fried fish and beers...Finding this wonderful Jewlery shop called Scala and getting some custom made pieces, even Andrew had a very cool ring made...wandering around Pelhourino listening to music...going to a Capoeira school and seeing a show of the best performers...Seeing a folkloric/dinner show at this old sugar plantation, and watching a group of asian tourists drink and entire bottle of Johnny Walker in 30 mins lol...Shopping at Mercado Modelo, where we ate the best shrimp moqueca (their local dish made from coconut milk and palm oil)...Eating sting ray at a restaurant entirely by accident and loving it...Finding this great local italian restaurant Al Carmo that had the best pasta and was just about the only place we could order a decent glass of wine...Going to a Candomble ceremnoy that was totally crazy.
Just another word about that, Candomble is the religion practiced by about 30% of the population of Salvador. It is a religion that goes back to the 1800s when the slave trade was still going on. It a mix of catholocism and the religion the afro-brasilians practiced when they were in Africa, before coming to Salvador. This way it would appear to the slave owners that they were practicing catholocism when they were really praying and worshiping their own dietes. Pretty smart actually...We soon found out though that it is a complicated religion to understand, Dixon our tour guide tried to explain it but we decided to go to a ceremony and see for ourselves. So one night we drove into the local neighborhood and to this particular house, and what we saw was fascinating. First of all this particular sect of Candomble only has ceremonies once a year...they last for an entire month (happening every Saturday night) since they are so rare they are PACKED with people. Not only the practicers but all the other neighborhood people who want to watch. We arrive at this house and this entire room is packed with people wearing white, dancing in a circle to drums and chanting. The women are wearing traditional outfits with full skirts and lace, even head scarves. Once in awhile you will notice a person stop dancing and put their head down, they have become possessed by the spirits Dixon tells us. That is what the ceremony is about, calling on the spirit saints who reside over us, who protect us and teach us...calling on them to show us they exist, and they do this by possessing certain practicers who are sensitive to such things. It was a trip to watch... and something I do not think any of us will forget.
It was hard to say goodbye to mom, we had such a fun time hanging out...but knowing we will see her in a month helped us get through! :D

Olodum...bop bop bop goes the drum beat!

2007-05-24T09:10:00.003-07:00

We hit the streets of Pelhourino (Pelo) this past tuesday night to check out what is supposed to be the livliest night of the week...and boy was that ever true! We were in search of the famous drumming band Olodum, they have played back up for Paul Simon and Michael Jackson, and are Salvadorian legends. We were a bit dismayed to realize we would have to buy proper tickets in order to see them, everything we had read said they just wandered the streets drumming...but man am I ever glad we did! The show was AWESOME! The gut reaction that happens when you are listening to a stage full of drums is indescribable. They were great performers as well, throwing their drum sticks high in the air, shaking their hips, all the while keeping this intense beat. Everyone in the audience was dancing, moving in whatever way possesed them. I even stepped into a group dance, and had a ball trying to keep up with these three guys who were leading it. My mom was loving it too, mimicking their drumming moves and shaking her own hips...as was Andrew! :D The energy that was created in this plaza where they played was just amazing, clapping, hands in the air, screaming and jiving...we truly got a chance to experience all that is Bahia! :D

Official site http://olodum.uol.com.br/

Around Salvador

2007-05-24T09:10:00.001-07:00

Some serious relaxing at Itapue beach. Peep the beer cozzies for the tallies on the right side of the table (jealous janel?)

Cool lighthouse Itapu beach

maritime museum

26 paychecks I did not get.

2007-05-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

May 26th, 2006 or Memorial Day Long weekend was my last day in building 50.. its been a wonderful year and the cliche of ¨wow time flies¨could not be truer.. I am often asked ¨how will you go back to working life¨, honestly I try not to think about it :D mind you I have had plenty of distractions..

Pigs in Zen

2007-05-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well it was like Christmas when Sandy came, she bought some fresh clothes for Heather, a copy of Marching Powder http://marchingpowder.com/ and some gossip mags for our reading pleasure but the best of all was Heathers camera, as you may recall mine has been on it~s last legs since Santiago.. so expect a flurry of photos in nightmode, B&W, Sepia and other combinations of manual settings, and videos as we once again have a fully feature functional camera at our disposal..

well at least it will do until I can get one of these cheap off EBay...

Stylus 770SW
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1287

Sandy in Salvador

2007-05-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Heathers Mum arrived, after a few major stuff-ups on the part of the airlines (AA sucks btw). We managed to pick her up at the airport on our second trip out there for the day.. and have settled back into Salvadors quaint historic district.

Maracaipe / Porto de Galinhas

2007-05-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

More Brazil photos are on Flickr...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets/72157600222633635/

Hey All... we have spent the past three days on this costal town called Maracaipe and it is fantastic! It is a tiny town with only two dirt roads and a labrynth of back alleys. We scored a rental unit off a local and have been paying $40 a night for our own little apartment with ACon in the bedroom (thank goodness :D), just a stones throw from the beach. Andrew rented a surf board, and I spent the outrageous amount of 15$ US on a book and we have been hitting the beaches. Today was particularly nice because we rented an umbrella, chairs and table for $1 an hour. It was a great setup because the peddlers come to you, food, jewlery, the random small sailing ship or vase :D haha... and most importantly all you have to do is look up and a cold beer is delivered post haste! It was lovely... almost too lovely as we are both a little red from enjoying it too long! lol
Although we have been staying in Maracaipe, Porto de Galinhas is the biggest city next door (only 3km away) and I use the term "biggest" rather loosely as it is still a small town. Porto is mostly just a tourist town with shops and restaurants, and TONS of peddlers peddling everything from "incense" (we think it was a covert term meaning weed lol) to oysters. Its biggest draw are these tide pools that are revealed during late morning low tides, something we hope to check out tomorrow...and the other FAB thing about this town is the cheap bikinis! I broke down and bought two today for only 30$ US and they actually do not look like they might fall apart if I wear them in the water! lol Andrew has also promised to "go local" and buy a pair of "budgie smugglers" (in other words euro speedos) so we will really blend in...that is after our red tan lines go away! lol :D Tomorrow though we will be saying goodbye and heading back to Salvador...it will not be all sad though, as my mom is arriving Sunday and I am very excited for that! :D

These are the "jadanga" boats they use to ferry the tourists back and forth from the beach out to the tide pools during low tide. Kind of a mix between a windsurf and a sail boat.

Yes I really am talking into a big blue chicken! haha Porto de Galinhas actually translates to mean "Port of Chickens"...so all over the city they have these chicken statues and phones, it is pretty funny looking. But really the name Porto de Galinhas was named for something not so funny...according to local history this port is where the local brasilians smuggeled a lot of african slaves into the country, and mostly underneath chicken coops...hense the name...sounds pretty awful to me. :(

Olinda / Recife

2007-05-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived very hot and sweaty to Olinda, we are not used to this humidity at ALL!
http://www.moon.com/planner/brazil/regions/recife_olinda.html

Olinda is a really quaint place along the ocean. Full of colourful architecture and historic churches. On arriving we quickly did the rounds of a few Pousada´s, bargained hard and got what we think is the best place in town for a good deal (pays to travel brazil in the low season).. our room is rather small but we get a massive breaky and have a pool included. Saturday night we roamed the streets of Olinda and ended up in a fairly busy part of town.. hit up the street vendors for some tamales and hot fries, hungout on the sidewalk and took in the action around us.. further along we found a shop that was selling beer with locals packing the street out front, pretty soon a group of musicians had turned up and in no time an impromptu street party Brazilian style was in full swing!

Sunday morning we attended Mass at Mosteiro de São Bento, a very famous landmark as you can read about below..
http://www.moon.com/planner/brazil/mustsees/recife_olinda/mosteiro_saobento.html

after a quick dip we headed into Recife and Boa Viagem. Rather luckily we got off right near the Hippy Market, which was decidely NOT in full swing.. but the beach front was! Locals lined the beach in their rented beach chairs, sipping beers, we saw a game of volleyball being played without use of the hands or arms (now that takes talent!) and generally everyone was out to enjoy the sunshine and beat the heat. The beachfront is reminiscent of Surfers Paradise as it is full of high rise buildings that as the sun sinks cast long shadows on the beach.
Neither of us had researched overly carefully the return bus journey and to our dismay the 30min ride took over 2hrs as we hoped on the RIGHT bus going in the WRONG direction.. one of the lesser joys of not knowing the language.. however people on the bus were super helpful and tried to assure us we would make it back to Olinda eventually, in the meantime we got a nice scenic journey into some of the not so nice parts of Recife..

Tomorrow we head south to Maracaipe and Porto de Gallinhas. I think there is some nice snorkelling at Porto de Gallinhas and it´s supposed to have a really nice beach.
http://www.moon.com/planner/brazil/mustsees/recife_olinda/marcaipe_beach.html

Maracaipe is on the Brazilian surf comp circuit, and is supposed to be an even smaller little beach town, with not much to do but hit the beach, definately what we enjoy...

the current surf forecast is 2.2mtr and glassy.. sounds heavenly to me! Its been over 2 months since I had a surf.
http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Maracaipe.0to2.shtml

Salvador, Bahia

2007-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

a quick update from Andrew:

We are in Salvador, Bahia. It is really nice here, although the weather has been rather overcast and raining on and off. We are staying in the old historic area, which is very pretty but also very touristy, the beaches are not too far away which will make a nice respite from the city. We are taking a bus up to Recife to spend a week there on the beach, so I am not sure how often we will get on email or around to blogging..

a picture is worth 1000 words..

2007-05-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Heather updated some entries that had previously only contained images...

Isla del Sol
http://puravida07.blogspot.com/2007/05/isla-del-sol.html

Salar de Uyuni trip - the shenanigans on this trip could take up an entire blog unto itself.. we saw more weirdness and had more misadventure in these 3 days than I can remember in ages..
http://puravida07.blogspot.com/2007/04/salar-de-uyuni-dia-1.html

http://puravida07.blogspot.com/2007/04/salar-de-uyuni-dia-2.html

http://puravida07.blogspot.com/2007/04/salar-de-uyuni-dia-3.html

Chau Bolivia

2007-05-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

Bolivia was an unintended stop on our itinery, but we had so many other fellow travellers rave about it we just had to experience it for ourselves.. we met some fun peeps on our Salar tour that we ended up hanging out with right up till we left La Paz.. We caught a soccer match in La Paz with Jazz, Vicki and Claire before we left which was really fun albiet a bit chilly. I think we both have fallen in love with the vibrancy of Bolivia.

We are now down at a reasonable altitude in Santa Cruz, it's hot, humid, bugy and reminds us we are not far from the Jungle.. luckily our Hostel has a pool!

Well we are bound for Brazil tomorrow.. we have about 1 week until Sandy joins us (Heathers mum!) which we are both really excited to see her.. she will be with us in Salvador for a week or so.

The thought of tackling a new language is a bit overwhelming, we hear that Portugeuse is really tough to pronounce.. we have gotten to a nice level of comfort with our travel spanish, but that is what life is about, challenging yourself.. so bring it on BRAZIL!!

Unboliviable

2007-05-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

sadly Bolivia has had a rather turbulent history.. a motley array of military dictators in power, and either getting beat up by its neighbours (it has warred with every neighbouring country at some point in history) and losing valuable lands or having the DEA getting involved because of the coca leaf production.. there are t-shirts you can buy that claim that the leaf of the coca plant is not a drug.. which in fact is true as the coca leaf has been fixture of the native traditions and everyday life since well before the Inca times.. sadly thought it is a huge cash crop for the poor peasants who grow it and then the leaves are shipped to colombia to be turned into cocaine.. 50% of which ends up in the USA. it takes over 200kgs of leaves to make 1kg of raw cocaine so you can imagine that growing coca leaves is a major sorce of income for the peasants.. as well as a part of their traditional lifestyle. sadly the war on drugs has had a big effect on the Bolivian economy despite the US having the best intentions..

Worlds highest capitol

2007-05-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

La Paz is truly a different type of capitol city.. it is so colorful and vibrant.. the markets and locals in their traditional attire add to the charm of the city.. the day we arrive we saw a teachers demonstration, a regular occurence it seems as we have run into 3 more demonstrations since.. all peaceful thankfully. although when they let off fire crackers it can be a bit scary at first.. the witches markets were colorful, we saw a man reading coca leaves, dried llama feutuses and a lot of other wickedly bizarre stuff.. the tourist area is a bit over the top but we took the city bus tour (think red double decker bus) yesterday, on a recommendation from Neil and Alison.. we saw the posh parts of town, Valley of the Moon and a nice lookout over the city.. since being back in La Paz we have been hanging out down the south end of town away from the tourist area and it seriously feels like a different place.. no one trying to hawk me a dodgy llama wool beanie.. we are staying on the main street so watch the constant assortment of buses and collectivos spewing out exhaust fumes as they struggle up the hill.. traffic rules seem nonexistent and the pedestrian does NOT have right of way. The San Pedro prison is in the city, one of the most bizarre tourist attractions around
http://www.marchingpowder.com/

There are a lot of police and military police around so the city itself feels really safe. and in the tourist area the tourist police will even give you directions and an escort to your destination if you look lost. having our friends from the salt flats in town at the same time has been really fun and social.

Isla del Sol

2007-05-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

What can I say about Isla Del Sol...except, ahhhh relief! After the hectic atmosphere of La Paz, Isla Del Sol was like an oasis! We docked and were immediately met by this young girl named Alejandra who hiked the 1000 stairs with us, talking nonstop about the islands inhabitants, and history. Once we arrived at the top, she showed us all the various potential hostels, we settled on one that cost us $4 a night! Who could resist! :D

The next day the 5 of us set off on a hike from the southern part of the island to the north. It was like stepping back into time 500 years... all along the trail there were these small settlements of adobe huts, and these local women dressed in traditional outfits. We saw loads of pigs, mules, and chickens everywhere as well. Supposedly there were incan ruins throughout the walk, but we didn´t find any until the very end. Isla Del Sol is the birthplace of the Incan Empire actually, we say the sacred rock where it all started, the sacrifical stone and the first temple of the sun.

Walking around these totally unprotected and uninhabited (and I do mean uninhabited, no police, no conservationist, nobody, except some grazing sheep!) ruins, it was a magical sensation to think about the powerfully spiritual people who had walked those grounds so many years before, and the empire that started because of them.

Locals on the Inca road

Hiking the Inca road
Incan sacrificial stone

¿Donde va?

2007-05-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

We set off from Copacabana with Jazz, Vicki and Claire for the 17km hike to Isla del Sol.. the birthplace of the sun and the first Inka.. if one is inclined to believe Inkan mythology..

we wandered through small villages, passing the usual assortment of pigs, cows, llamas, sheep, donkeys, pigs, sheep, pigs.. we even took a short cut on an Inka road at one point.

Poor Heather was going pee when a rouge pig, whose rope was longer than heather had calculated, decided to get a bit too up close and personal with Heather.. I had to divert it´s attention with an apple so Heather could finish her business in peace.. we both had a bit of a laugh about that one!

the local kids would run up to us and exclaim ¨¿Donde va?¨.. Isla del Sol we would respond.. well they would say my brother/ uncle / father has a boat and can take you.. only 15 bs.. we politely refused their generous offers, but made a few friends along the way never the less.. it seems that not many gringos bother to take this lovely walk along the shore of the lake to reach the island, but the vistas were stunning making the trek well worthwhile.. we stopped for a quina kola near to where the boats were that take us the rest of the way across the lake.. a local quickly made his pitch and next thing the poor bloke is rowing all 5 of us across the lake to Yumani on the island.. whenever the girls would ask if he was tired he would start rowing faster.. although by the last few hundred meters he definately was waning in his enthusiasim.. we were met on our arrival by a young local girl of about 9 who without prompting became our guide as we trekked up the Inka stairway to the village.. she gave us a bit of a brief tour but was more interested in where we were staying for the night (i guess they start em young here).. we managed to find a nice hostel with views of the lake and sat out on the deck to enjoy a beer as the sun set. -AC

Copacabana / Lake Titicaca

2007-05-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

no we are not in Rio yet! but at a small chilled out pueblo on the shore of Lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca is the worlds´highest navigatable lake.. what the heck does that mean? but at 3600m above the sea it´s not exactly beach weather..

We arrived from La Paz with some of the friends we met on the Salt Flats and spent the afternoon with Neil and Alison taking a look around town.. not much to see, so decided that the best thing on offer was a cold beer on the waterfront.. it was the weekend so lots of locals were out on the lake in paddle boats.. the sun was out and it almost, (almost) felt like being at the beach, although the water temp was bloody freezing..

Jazz and I walked up to the lookout at Cerro Calvarion, overlooking Copacabana and the lake and caught a nice sunset. The altitude really does make walking uphill more of a struggle than it usually would be.. said our goodbyes to Neil and Alison as they are heading onto Peru. -AC

Death road survivor

2007-05-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Starting altitude 4700m
Finish altitude 1300m
Total distance 64km.. 32km is on ¨the most dangerous road in the world¨ or ´El Camino de la Muerte’

I rented the Full suspension rocky mountain bike.. the sweetest bike I´ve ever ridden for the sweetest ride I´ve ever done..! And I got the T-shirt to prove it!

http://www.madnessbolivia.com/tours_tdr.html

It´s that fun I may have to go again..

La Paz

2007-04-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

Arriving from Oruro we were submerged into the chaos of the La Paz bus station.. we were so pleasantly surprised at how helpful people were as we stood there, packs on backs with our map out looking for the way to our hostel.. numerous people including the tourist police stopped to make sure we were ok.. a great introducion to La Paz. Next stop our hostel with its own brewery! and 1 free beer per day niiiiiiiiice..

We spent the day visiting the Coca museo, wandering around the witches market

and a stop off at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales.. a really interesting and diverse collection of musical instruments from Latin America and around the world.. the highlight for me was the 5 prong guitar and the guitars made from Armadillos..

Salar de Uyuni - dia 3

2007-04-26T09:17:00.001-07:00

So last night we slept in a hostel made entirely of salt! We are now officially in the Salar de Uyuni... it was crazy though. The bricks were salt, the hallway looked like a salt shaker exploded, and the bed frames were made of salt too! I told Andrew not to drop anything on the floor because we would have to sift through it to find it...I could literally lick my bed, it was the craziest thing I have ever slept on!

Then when we got up, the 3 day drive only got stranger...we were flying ontop of these crystalized salt planes...literally flying at who knows how many km/hr since our spedometer was broken! haha It was actually a welcomed relief to the constant bumps we´d experiences the last two days, at least now it was smooth...even if it was weird!

One of our first stops was at this island, in the middle of these salt planes...it was a pretty funny sight because there were about 20 other dream wagons here as well, so the locals picked up on this...and they were out flipping pancakes, selling jewlery, etc..all in the middle of what appeared to be a vast white nothingness! Also, there were about 50 other people trying to outdo each other for crazy photos...we thought we were being inventive with these poses, but since then we´ve seen many others! I will say that this may be the ONLY time when I have Andrew in the palm of my hand! (literally! haha lol) :D

Salar de Uyuni - dia 2

2007-04-26T09:16:00.001-07:00

Ha, the first thing we couldn´t help but notice when we rolled up here...is that some dickhead was pissing on this famous "tree-rock", we were all pretty incredulous at that one! lol Anyways, this was created by the wind and sand that blows throughout the desert...it´s a rock that has been formed into a "tree" hence my earlier name! haha
Flavio continues to be the speed racer of our 70s dream wagon...he continually looks over his shoulder and his review mirror to scope where everyone is. If he sees someone closing in, it´s peddle to the metal! This could be the reason we got TWO FLAT TIRES today! Yes, I did say two, in the middle of nowhere I might add. All of a sudden the truck stops, Flavio gets out of the car and a smile spreads across his lips...but not the kind of happy smile you might want, but the "oh shit" kind. We all pile out of the dream wagon and the tire is flat as a pancake, really it´s amazing we didn´t have bigger problems! In about 3 seconds Falvio is in his speed racer outfit, that is, a one piece mechanic/race car driver jumper... and then he´s under the hood cranking up the car and removing the flat. This happened twice today... I will give it to Falvio though, he can change a flat tire in about 8 minutes flat! It was quite amazing to witness...TWICE! lol :D

Salar de Uyuni - dia 1

2007-04-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

This was one of the first stops our 70s dream wagon stopped at... it was this intense blue lagoon in the middle of the desert! Flavio told us it gets its color because there are minerals in the lake, mainly copper that give it this crazy, unreal blue color. Anyways, it was pretty crazy to see this aqua colored lake in the middle of the desert, let me tell you! :D
Bolivia set is on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets/72157600134936456/

¨Äsk the Leyland Brothers¨ Bolivian style

2007-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

We drove about 2 mins out of San Pedro to the first border stop.. drove about 1/2 hr on a nice paved road before we turned off onto a dirt track, towards a building into the middle of nowhere. The very unofficial building was in fact the Bolivian border control. This was our first land border crossing of the trip and it seemed very informal to say the least! Next to the ¨customs office¨we saw rows of old landcruisers lined up with drivers standing by... the ¨facilities¨at the border control were to squat behind a burned out bus.. welcome to Bolivia!
After a quick cuppa we strapped our backpacks on the roof alongside large fuel containers. And it was off on our 3 day adventure to Uyuni via the Salar de Uyuni these massive salt flats.. our car consisted of Alison and Neil from London who had arrived in Chile via India, SE Asia, Aust and N.Z... they kept us amused with tales from their travels over the last 7 months.. also on board are Thomas and Silka (sorry if I spell it wrong) from Germany, Thomas was our professional photographer http://www.thomas-rathay.de while Silka was our ever patient interpreter as the guide only spoke Spanish.
Our driver and guide Flavio was quite a character, I think he is in training to become a world class rally driver, complete with overalls that look like they are from a F-1 pit crew.. the Landcruiser must have been at least from the 70´s but that didn´t prevent him from racing all the other cars at every opportunity. I´d say it has had at least a few engine rebuilds as none of the dashboard gauges worked, and it had an old 8-track player in the dash.. although he had installed a cassette deck and rocked out to some Musica de la Bolivia as he sped through the desert.

We departed the border, not on a road per se, but rather followed some car tracks in the desert, it was very Leyland Brothers... you could just sense the adventure!

A brief overview of the trip :
http://wikitravel.org/en/Salar_de_Uyuni
although we did it in reverse since we came from San Pedro in Chile.

Tetio Geysers (Grandfather who cries)

2007-04-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Tour to Tetio Geysers...

Wake up at 3:30am...

Blast music for the two hour bus ride to stay awake...sky full of the brightest stars I have ever seen...

arive at the geysers at 4,000m and realize it´s still shit-ass cold at 6:30am before the sun is out...literally a geyser field infront of us... steam pockets rising from everywhere...smelling the sulfer fog...green and orange ground crystals caused by minerals...seeing the biggest geyser in the area that has caused 4 deaths...

Valley of the Moon...

2007-04-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

Day tour out of San Pedro...

HOT desert winds...unworldly rock formations that resemble the surface of the moon...the bluest sky you have ever seen...crawling around a salt cave by lantern...listening to the salt mounds expand as it got colder...visiting death valley with it´s layers of different colored rocks...endless smooth sand dunes...volcanos as far as the eye can see, 125 active in Chile alone...

the amazing Andes Mtns...

climbing sand hills to watch the sunset over the mtns...reds and purples in the sky and on the mtns...

being in the quietest place on earth...and the most beautiful!

San Pedro de Atacama

2007-04-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Blondie and then Keane made for a top weekend. We spent monday doing the usual pre long bus ride prep.. packed our gear and stored and it then took the metro to the Brazilian Embassy, our Visas were ready and the whole pick up process was over in mere minutes.. thankfully.. we shopped around for Manu Chau CD. There is one song of their´s that has become the soundtrack of our trip.. filled up the ¨snack¨bag with some goodies as the bus food is usually really really rubbish.. after dad left we moved to another hostel which had a really pimpy common area and a kitchen! big comfy couches, tv, dvd,s and english magazines.. but the real goldmine was the ¨free¨music we spotted on one of the computers.. 2-3 hours later both our mp3 players had a lil less space on them! score!

basically monday was a chill out day.. we cooked a nice meal and indulged in another fab bottle of chilean wine before trudging off to the bus terminal.. this time we were in for a 20hr bus ride north to antofagasto.. with a 3 hr layover and then a bus to calama (5hrs) then finally a bus to san pedro (1hr).. needless to say after all of that we REALLY needed a beer.. luckily we found a hostel that we booked in Calama (not our usual organized selves).. that had a nice bar right next store.. 24+hrs on a bus is not exactly my cup of tea but a necessary evil.. sadly none of the movies had english or english subtitles.. major bummer.. but we had new tunes, new books and that somehow made the time pass.. because the scenery out the window was endless monotonous desert..
san pedro is really small.. very ¨desert¨we like it.. Heather hit the nail on the head, it´s like we took a space time machine.. from the biggest city in the country to this really small remote desert town... are we even still in chile.. it sure doesn´t feel like it!

we have booked some tours for the next 2 days and are still deciding on who to go with for a 3 day journey across the bolivian border. we have decided to skip going back to peru. but are way stoked to be heading into a new country! we have heard SO much good stuff about bolivia from other travellers.. let´s hope it lives up to the hype..

oh did i mention this is one of the driest deserts in the world?

Keane

2007-04-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

So Andrew bought us tickets to see Keane for my bday! We saw posters advertising the concert around Santiago and decided it would be fun to see a band in another country. The show was AWESOME!! It was an all day festival called "Vive Latino", it´s actually kind of strange Keane even played since they´re british...but surprisingly enough almost the entire crowd sang their songs in english, it was surreal to hear this predominently Chilean, spanish speaking crowd of people singing along in english to this British indie rock band...but it was good fun. :D
Earlier in the day we just walked from stage to stage listening here and there, all the other bands were local Chilean bands we didn´t recognize, so it was a lot of boppin´ our heads, having NO idea what they are singing about...although one reggae band did sing some Bob Marley! Ofcourse! lol Pretty much the only unfortunate part of the day was that the venue ran out of food and drinks at like 4:00 in the afternoon (the show lasted ´til 1:00 am) and there was NO BEER! :( We scrounged some chips and peanuts for dinner at like 9:00, having to fight our way to the vendor through hords of hungry Chileans...we were very nonplussed, but even with tummies rumbling I danced my arse off to Keane at midninght and can´t thank Andrew enough for enduring the day (even though he wasn´t even familiar with Keane) with me and celebrating my bday! That´s love! :D

Blondie

2007-04-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

we decided to round out our Santiago experience it was time to go and enjoy some of the night life.. our pre-funk was drinking 40s at a local pub round the corner from the hostel that had a video dukebox.. well the Chileans love their 80s metal.. and some song kept coming on that reminded me of bon jovi and everyone would get up and sing along.. funny stuff.. a lil GNR and some other classsic 80´s metal..

next stop was Blondies a big nightclub in town.. we saw posters all over town mentioning that it was britpop night.. i honestly can say i have not had so much fun out in a long time.. mind you i have not been to a nightclub in bloody ages.. they played music like they used to at the Empire in theValley back in the day.. god i´m giving my old age away it was 10 years ago it guess .. the cure, blur, the hives, a franz ferdinand set, the killers, violent femmes.. iggy pop.. white stripes, blondi it was like a playlist i would make.. and they mixed in the video clips on a massive screen.. utter filth.

needless to say we boogied non-stop for hours.. although it was funny to see all the kids dressed a bit goth or punk, not the average brit-pop crowd..

oh and as per usual for Latin America a bit of 80´s was thrown in for good measure.. we still laugh about the bus ride that played a DVD of videos clips from teh 80´s.. go men at work!!

We are off to an all day outdoor concert today, thankfully the sun is out.. Keane is the headliner.. we have no clue who the rest of the VivaLatino lineup are.. but I am sure it will go off like a frog in a sock..

Monday after we get our visas for Brazil sorted we are jumping on a 20hr bus north towards the peruvian border..

whats the plan?

2007-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well Dad arrived with a nice little care package courtesy of REI.. we had called in an order in Lima and he picked it up in Dallas.. you really need to go and buy one of these folks

http://www.rei.com/product/664265

it has been our salvation in the land of instant coffee.. Heather also got replacement shoes YAY! And along with a travel size Vegemite our breakfast sitch is looking up BIG TIME!

in other news the button on my camera is getting a bit dodge.. and now it only is able to be in automatic mode.. no manual.. lucky it did not ¨stick¨in video mode.. whew! Sometimes it´s taking 3-4 presses before it will take the photo.. I hope it can hold on a bit longer.

We spent the last day of Dad´s visit in Santiago chilling out.. walking around the Plaza de Armas watching the myriad of street performers and painters .. stopped at the Chilean Starbucks ¨Starlight coffee¨which was suprisingly good! we also visited the Museo Pre Columbia Arte which had a really awesome exhibite on headdresses worn by the different cultures from mexico to the tip of south america.. and losts more pottery and our second Quipo.. very good museum in our opinion and free for ISIC students.. bargain!

Photos on Flickr

2007-04-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

Gudday,
have uploaded a tonne of pictures from the last week with Dad visiting us.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal

some of the photo credits go to Dad.

enjoy!

Dad and I were coincidentally reading collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed/dp/0143036556/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6402156-1175145?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176652185&sr=8-1

i really recommend it.. a great book.. nice to read it with someone else to discuss some of the points he makes.. and he dedicates a chapter to Australia.. and it´s current environmental woes.

Early birthday dinner

2007-04-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

We went out for an early Birthday dinner for Dad and Heather to a meditereanian resturant, if you think its hard to read a spanish menu, imagine doing it when the food is middle eastern.. well we figured it our eventually and had a really great meal.. followed by belly dancing.. although Heather declined to get up and join her.. as did I.. :D

Monumento natural El Morado

2007-04-14T16:47:00.001-07:00

Monday it was back to Santiago with a rather annoying stop at the Brazilian Embassy who seemed to not want to be bothered to do their bloody job.. the lady was like.. ¨get your visa in Bolivia¨ .. i lied and said we were not going to La Paz.. lazy bitch! then we took the metro to the end of the line and a collectivo (well basically a taxi i guess) out to San Alfonso in the Cajon del Maipo to a place called Cascada de los Animas.. a nature reserve that offers hiking, horse riding, rafting and other fun activities.. we settled into our super quaint cabina and were stoked at the prospect of a good kitchen to use for a few days.. yes sad to say but eating out all the time gets old.. especially like in the case when it took 1hr to get our food one day.. hmm.. although i don´t miss doing the dishes that is for sure.. heather really got into the swing of it and crafted some culinary delights with the limited produce and food at the local tienda (shop).. that was really nothing more than a corner store.. we hiked to the waterfalls on the property and went horse riding.. our first attempt to get out to monumento natural el morado got foiled in San Gabriel.. we took the collectivo to the end of the line and got stranded basically.. well we got a bus back to our cabina and decided to try another approach.. which was to pay a collectivo to take us ALL the way.. about 1hr on dirt roads.. so thursday we did the drive out and hiked up to Glacier San Francisco.. stopping at Laguna el Morado enroute.. it was a nice 5hr hike not too hard but just amazing scenery and not many other people around.. it´s funny Conaf (their national park system) rangers give you the full scoop on the hike in Spanish.. both here and in Pucon I only got about 1/2 the scoop but managed to not get lost.. too bad if you didn´t know any spanish at all you´d probably end up lost or worse..

We took a Collectivo taxi all the way out to Monumento El Morado and did the 5 hr hike up to Glacier San francisco.. there was not many people on the trail and it was a really nice day to be out in the mountians..

Cajon del Maipo

2007-04-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

After Valpariso we decided to swing the other way and head out the to forest! We found these cabins about an hour outside Santiago, where we could cook, and chill out for the week. They reminded me of "smurf" cabins, it was darling. All wood and bamboo interior, with a woodburning fire to heat the place. Cabinas de las Animas was the name of the place, named perhaps for the dogs that frequented the grounds? We had our own personal watch dog the entire time we were at our cabin...he adopted us for the week. ;DI finally got my horse back riding in while we were there too! We rode up into the mtns and got views of the entire canyon. Plus at one point I expressed some interest in galloping, and before I knew it we were galloping down the trail...it was great! My horse named Diabolita (devil) ran fast as the wind! ;D

I played "mom" all week while we were there and did all of the cooking while the boys cleaned and made the fires! It was great fun though figuring out what concoction I could throw together with limited ingrediants, and supplies...but I think all would say we ate VERY well and VERY cheap! Yum... and YAY for lentils! haha

Valpariso

2007-04-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

After we spent a day in Santiago, we decided to leave the BIG city for the quaint bohemian SMALL city of Valpariso. After some trying problems with our hostel reservation...mainly someone had taken ours...;(

It was love at first sight...if the colorful houses, and murals weren´t enough the views of the ocean and the cozy coffee shops would do you in. We spent an entire day winding around these great neighborhoods, with hills and views around every corner. We had a great time getting lost here! ;D

We made an art form of afternoon coffee and cake...we must have hit every cafe in our neighborhood. We compared and contrasted the music they played, the art on the walls and the tastiness of their "postres"...and we discovered the joy of a "cafe cortado." ;D
There were so many of these awesome grafitti walls in the city that we became obsessed with taking pictures of all of them...I am determined to do a photo montage of them when we get back. They were all so colorful and creative, we felt they really captured the essence of the city.
on saturday we bused out to Valparaiso.. past fields of vineyards, reminding us where all that good wine was coming from! our reservation of about 2 months was fudged by the hostel so we wandered around a bit until we found another home for the weekend.. and then spent the day wandering around neighbouring town of vina del mar.. not as cute as valparaiso and a bit more yuppy but still we did see a legit Moai, the statues from Easter Island.. AND .. drum roll.. we found coffee beans.. so the plunger was christened.. such joy you can´t imagine after suffering through months of instant muck!

Sunday we did the walking tour of Valparaiso as described by the french owner of our hostel.. only 5 kilometres.. ïf you like¨.. he was a bit of a character to say the least.. we visited Pablo Neruda´s house ¨La Sabastiana¨.. and rode a number of the Ascensors that the city is famous for.. it was really nice to just roam the city and stop off for coffees along the way.. taking lots of pictures of the cool murals that we ran across..

Paul arrives

2007-04-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

so dad arrived early on good friday we did a bit of a walk around the city.. zipped up the funicular railway to the top of Parque Metropolitano and would have had nice views of the city if it were not so smoggy although we dcould kinda make out the andes far off in the distance... we walked around the big statue of the virgin mary and had a coffee.. it was a bit like mt cootha back home.. tonnes of people biking around the place and enjoying the good weather.. we took the teleferico down, which is like a cable car or ski lift.. we stumbled into Provindecia and found the vege resturant that Heather and I had eaten at the night before.. so we pulled up a seat out on the footpath, soaked up some sun and indulged in another exquisite meal... followed by a stop at a heavenly ice-cream shop.. i think at this point dad was also beginning to fall in love with the city..

So Paul arrived safe and sound after a LONG flight from the states! It was wonderful having him along with us for awhile. The first day we decided to just walk around Santiago and show him around a bit...more like show him around the inside of every ice creamery and coffee shop within a sqaure mile! lol Here we are enjoying our first of many gelatos that would be to come!

Santiago (the return)

2007-04-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Pucon we indulged in our fav activities.. I went out to the National park for a hike and Heather got some retail therapy.. Heather and I had a mellow day in Santiago waiting for dad to arrive on friday... we viisted a really cool art gallery and wandered through the city parks.. and generally just enjoyed Santiago.. our first impression has changed we found the cute neighbourhoods and have now officially fallen in love with the city..

We have definitely been enjoying the wine since we´ve been in Santiago...this was in a cafe we found in our new fav neighborhood here "Barrio Bellavista"...it´s like Capitol Hill in Seattle, Haight St. in SF, and Melrose Ave in LA... all in one place. It´s great. ;DAndrew decided he wanted to be a lamp post too this day! haha No...there was a line of lampposts, and all the glass balls had been broken so this poor guy had to go down the row and replace them all. When we were walking by they were all set out, so Andrew decided to strike a pose! Put em up babe! haha

2007-04-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

We figured the picturesque surroundings of Pucón would be best explored by bike. So we rented some bikes this morning and armed with a most dodgy map we were pointed in the direction of the road out of town. We started out on a nice bike lane but once we turned off the paved road it was basically dodgy old logging roads.. Poor Heather was a real trooper all day, but the roads were not exactly designed for biking, nor where they nice slick single track. We managed to ride right past the waterfalls that we were supposed to reach.. We stopped for lunch at this roadside open air church.. I think Heather was muttering a few prayers of her own as her butt was still a bit sore from the rafting incident..

Well we rode not more than 300mtrs from our lunch with Christ and saw a sign for the bloody waterfalls.. luck? fate?

Pucon home to Lakes, Volcanos, hot springs...!

2007-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Heather woke me on the bus as we were almost to Pucon, I could not believe my eyes the sun was rising over Lago Villarrica, the Volcano was off in the distance and everything was so lush and green after Santiago.. Pucon is one of those towns where there are a million and 1 activities you can do.. the hike to the top of the Volcan is really pricey and only a 50/50 chance of making the crater rim (weather issues).. so we passed on that, although it is one of the main attractions.. We did go river rafting and then spent a day just lazing in the sun by the lake.. it´s been a while since we had a really nice hot sunny day and we decided to enjoy it.. although the water was absolutely freezing (I went in anyway).. There are hot springs close by and loads of hiking. The town is pretty quiet at the moment (tourist wise) which is kind of nice and mellow... the scenery is just amazing.. and our hostel has a vegetarian resturant.. so all things considered we are pretty stoked on Pucon right now.

The wine here is really cheap ($1.50 upwards) in the grocery store we have been buying Camenere and Malbec reds.. two grapes only grown in Chile and Argenitina (maybe France too not sure).. Heather is in Heaven as every other country good wine has been rather hard to find. If you need a recommendation on a Chilean red drop me an email ;)

Redhair...too much red wine maybe?

2007-04-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

No your eyes aren´t fooling you...I dyed my hair RED! :D I was going through a blah week, and then we met this girl who had this outrageous red hair, and I thought why not?! Maybe it is a "mid-trip-crisis" or something but I bought a box of dye at the local pharmacy, tried to decipher the directions that were in spanish, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best! I think Andrew thought I was a total nutt job but... I actually dig it! :D It is like having a 24/7 accessorie on! lol

I definitely don´t feel blah anymore and it is a nice change. I think Andrew is still taking some time to get used to it, waking up next to a red head all of a sudden! lol

...but I guess now I will get the chance to see if the saying about firey redheads is true! haha

Valdivia, Chile...Knutsmann anyone?

2007-04-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

So we left our haven of Pucon (which we adore) to head south to this sea town called Valdivia. I will admit the major reason we decided to visit was because they have the nationl Knuntsmann brewery there and we thought that might be a fun place to check out...it´s a german beer which is kinds of strange since we are in Chile, but actually a lot of the area we are in was settled by Germans long ago.
So we arrived in Valdivia at our hostel and straight away ran into another couple we had met in Pucon, Angie and Dave from Melbourne. So we set out on foot and convinced the two to join us for the brewery tour...neither of them had done one before!? There actually wasn´t much of a tour at all, aside from a meagar museum that showcased beers from around the globe. There was nothing from the states though, and they had put Budweiser and Miller in the Australia section...we thought that was funny. :D
So we got down to the more important business of sampling the different beers they had to offer. We ordered a sample tray to start and we all sipped the choices. They had this one beer called "miel" (honey in spanish) and it straight up tasted like honey, no joke, sweet, thick honey with slight carbonation...it was bizarre! In the end we settled on this "torobayo sin filtrar"(unfiltered) which kind of resembled a Hefeweizen. We ordered a "column" of it and before we knew it, on our table was 3 meters of beer in a cylindrical tube with its own tap! Ah, we were in beer lovin´paradise! What a way to spend an afternoon...

White Water Rafting on the Rio Trancura...Pucon, Chile

2007-03-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I took Andrew on his first white water rafting trip! :D What a hoot...
They unloaded us from the tourist bus and started handing out wetsuits, shorts, life jackets, and water booties. Before we knew what was happening we all started to look like some vague form of super hero going out to conquer the scary water! We were all quite a spectacle...
Once we reached the water though we were all glad to be decked head to toe with rubber as the water was FREEZING! So we piled in the raft and our tour guide started to go over the different comands that he would be shouting as we were in the rapids. Andrew and I ended up in a spanish speaking raft, so we had to learn to translate his yells into directions...Adelante (forward), Alto (stop), Bajo (backward), Dereche (right), and Izquierda (left). Andrew was in the front as well, so he was one of the navigators...and when someone is yelling at you in spanish to paddle a certain direction, and you forget what means what it can be kind of interesting, but he did very good for his first time... haha Anyways, the rapids were great! We had a fun time doing 360´s in the raft, navigating around rocks and cheering "CERVEZA (beer)" after we made it safely through each rapid! At one point they even let us cliff jump into the river, Andrew climbed up twice to take advantage of the opportunity...and we also got to swim in the rapids for a bit, the only problem was that I failed to take notice of a rock that was right by our boat when I jumped in and I landed squarely on my bum and now I have a big bruise because of it, ah well... it was worth it!
Our raft was full of first timers actually, we had 3 girls from spain that were having a hellofa time throwing themselves around the raft based on the guides orders...at first they were timid and scared, and by the end they were power house paddlers! We even met up for a beer last night to laugh about the day, and all of us were sore but in good spirits. :D I think Andrew is addicted now...so we will look for another trip in the future, maybe where we can camp overnight and do two days of rafting! Can our butts (and our arms) handle it? lol :D
...I think so!

Weirdness...

2007-03-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Words of wisdom from the flying dog hostel in lima - bonza..

Is fate trying to tell us something? Our last two days in Miraflores, Lima we ran into two of the other girls we had met in Cusco! The day we went to the Temple of the Moon with the shaman woman, we were a group of 5...and now we have run into ALL of the other girls in our group separately...one at Maccu Picchu, and two in Miraflores, staying at the same hostel as us! I think our shaman lady has placed some sort of crazy bonding hex on us all! haha lol If we see them again during our trip I will know something weird is up! :D

-H

Santiago de Chile

2007-03-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hi it´s Bonza, we are in Santiago.. the Chileans speak wicked fast and with a crazy accent.. it´s like we don´t know any Spanish at all.. I hope we get used to it fast.. the city is big.. has a bit of a European flavor and we rode the metro today which was quite a novelty.. We made Pad Thai last night and tried some local wine both were good.. it´s expensive here so we see more cooking in our future.. off to Pucon in the lake district for a few days... adios.. Bonza.

Bus-cama or is it Karma?

2007-03-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly our time in Cuzco had to come to an end, there is so much to see there and we left with a few things that we really would like to have seen if we had of had more time..

Another long bus back to Lima.. 20+ hours or something ridiculous... the last few days in Cuzco were really sunny and nice and we were wishing we had longer to soak it up.. needless to say neither of us slept that well on the bus, despite being able to put the seat waaaay back.. The downhill buses are always the worst as the bus driver brakes and weaves his way down from the mountains to the coast.. We fly to Santiago, Chile on the 27th of March so have a few days in Lima to enjoy some of the sites in central Lima that we didn´t get to last time we were here..

Sacsayhuaman

2007-03-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

On our last morning in Qosqo (Cuzco) I visited Sacsayhuaman, you can see it from the city as the ruin sits on a hill above the city. It is of significance because the Inca´s had a final rebellion against the spanairds here in 1636, 3 years after Pizzarro invaded Cuzco.. however the Spanish attacked in the night and the Inca king was forced to retreat further up the sacred valley to Ollantaytambo. Only about 20% of the site remains as the spanish demolished 3 of the towers and rolled the stones down the hill for use in building the colonial Cuzco city. Some of the stones still remaining like the one above are absolutely massive and weigh a coupla tonnes.. no small feat to move when you have not invented the wheel and have no beasts of burden.. modern scholars cannot realistically quantify how many man hours would have gone into the building of Sacsayhuaman.

Ollantaytambo

2007-03-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

I liked these ruins better than Pisaq, I thought it was really cool how they built everything right inside the mountain practically...it looked very dramatic!
It was so windy that day I had to hold my skirt down
for fear it would blow up around my head! :D

The Sun Temple...

Scary Incan warrior holding a menacing club with spikes...
I wouldn´t want to run into him in a dark alley!

Pisaq

2007-03-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

View over Pisaq ruins... they use terracing for agriculture, creating an easier way to irrigate.
(I had to wear a head scarf because I scalded my head on the inca trail...ouch!...don´t worry I haven´t gone TOO hippie yet! lol)

Inside the priests´ temple at Pisaq ruin

Valle Segrado

2007-03-25T12:12:00.001-07:00

Urubamba valley, the sacred valley of the Inca.

After M.P. we rested for a day and then hit the sites once more...man we were like ruin fiends in Cusco! haha
We spent the whole day touring around the sacred valley, spending the majority of our time on the bus with about 40 other tourists...packing on and off the bus like cattle, and walking around the different sites. It was a good and cheap way to see the sacred valley, and some other amazing incan ruins...but I think we both could have done without the group of 40 people trailing behind us all day. lol ...after all we had just gotten off the inca trail, and most of the other people looked like they had just gotten off the plane! haha :D

Machu Picchu

2007-03-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

The final day...we made it! :D
Our happy group, aren´t we cute?...if you can´t tell Maccu Picchu is behind us, emerging from the clouds and fog!

The famous sun dial rock, centered in the valley between 4 peaks.

Like crazy people we decided to hike to the top of the highest peak behind the Maccu Picchu complex...but it was well worth the last bit of exursion, as the views were awesome! M.P. only looks like a small dot to the right of Andrew in this photo...

Well we woke up on day 4 at 3:30 am... and what do we discover?! Someone has STOLEN my hiking shoes...I mean, c´mon...how ya gonna steal someones hiking shoes on a freaking hike? I was in disbeliefe for atleast the first 15 minutes of the whole episode, wondering how I was gonna manage walking the last day in stocking feet. Andrew tried his best to talk to our porters, one of which was supposed to be in duty watching over our tents...but no luck! I must have been at the top of my game that day because I really didn´t loose my cool... I knew that I was never going to see my shoes again and proceeded to simply figure out how I was gonna finish out the rest of the hike... thankfully another girl in our group had a second pair of shoes with her (comparable to keds) AND she was the same size as me...the incan gods were def looking down on me that morning...so I tied up my shoes and my anger and off we went...
It felt like the amazing race...everyone had gotten up at the same hour as our group (approx 250 people) and we were all hitting the trail, heading to the sun gates. People were shoving, passing and practically pushing people off the side of the cliff to get to the sun gates by sunrise. It actually really pissed me off, and totally ruined the whole essence of what the whole trek was supposed to be about...but I s´pose there are people out there who just need to be first!
It was quite funny though when we arrived to the sun gate, because it was completely socked in by fog and you couldn´t see anything! I had a quiet smile to myself, thinking of all the people who had shoved past me in the past hour. Anyways, we desceneded into the complex halfheartedly a bit at first, having missed our first great view... but we were rewareded shortly because as we arrived just above the complex, the clouds parted and revealed Maccu Picchu as if out of a dream. The sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the ruins for us all to see! It was like reaching mecca or something after the past 4 days... haha lol
We spent the next few hours walking around the complex with our crappy guide Henry (a whole other story lol)..then our group decided to high tail it up the mountain behind the complex to see better views. Once we reached the top, it made up for the fogged in sun gates, the view was exhilarating, amazing, awesome (insert any superlative you want :D)... we sat up there for a good half an hour soaking it all in. After the drama of the past 4 days, we were all high on what we were looking at!
After a grueling hike down that mountain, we realized none of us had the money to take the bus down to Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of the hill) so we had to hike down...over 1000 steps down, then a 20 min walk. As Andrew said, it was the "sucker punch" of the trip since all of us were practically cripples at this point, hobbling down the stairs like a bunch of invalids...sore calves, knees, thighs, and just about every other important muscle group I can think of... but we did arrive down in once piece, ate a HUGE meal at a local cafe and then boarded our train back to Cusco! We were drained, sweaty, smelly and dirty..but our spirits were as high as the heavens!

Camino Inka dia 3

2007-03-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Our Lunch Spot... pretty cool that they hooked us up with a table and chairs...ah, the good life!
Each day for lunch we got two courses too, soup and a main. along with mate de coca (coca leaf tea to help with energy and altitude)...not to shabby for some smelly, dirty hikers! lol

Today we got a chance to see several other incan ruins on our way to the famous Maccu Picchu...to be totally honest after hiking like we had been, huffing puffing, sweat mixing with rain, I can´t say that I absorbed all that much history but it was still beautiful.

Camino Inka dia 2

2007-03-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

We came from down there...it´s a LONG way down! The group at 4200 meters, feeling righteous and exhausted!

Heather on her way down...yeah for downhill!

5hr of uphill! We´re gonna make it, just one foot infront of the other babe...

Wow, day 2 was a hellofa day! We started off our day at 6:30 am in the morning...they had warned us that day 2 was the worst of all 4 days, but we were NOT prepared for just how bad it was! Imagine stairmaster for 5 hours straight! Ugh... ontop of that add, pouring rain, lack of oxygen and slippery trail... kind of paints a bleak picture eh? lol I think that is why we felt so triumphant when we reached the top, I swear I could have screamed to the heavens with how good it felt to reach the top! Andrew was my hero on this day in particular, since we had opted not to hire a personal porter, he lugged both of our supplies on his back the entire 4 days... so ontop of it all, he was carrying about 20 Kilos on his back... really I don´t know how he did it!

Camino Inka dia 1

2007-03-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Day one of the Inca Trail.

Well as you can see, I´m geared up and ready to hike! We got suckered into buying water holsters for the trek (which proved useless, and just gave me a sore neck) and a walking stick (which was actually useful)... but this was the starting point, KM 82 out of Ollytabamba...little did we know what we had ahead of us! lol

Temple of the moon

2007-03-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day with a shaman... she took us up to her mountain retreat, that overlooks the incan ruin "temple of the moon" which is still an active ceremonial site where locals come and make offerings to the moon god for fertility in life. It was a pretty amazing day, we sat in her garden on the grass, and as the sun shone down on us...she spoke of energy and spirituality. It was an amazing setting, you could almost feel the ancient history... so much you could cut it with a knife. It was a welcomed retreat from the days of buses and city walks, just a day to reflect on our paths in life, lay back and absorb it all.

Qosqo - Navel of the world

2007-03-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying our time in Cuzco, there is a lot to see and do here.. I uploaded some more pics from our wanders around the city..

We head out on the Inca trail tomorrow, I hope that the weather will be OK, it has rained everyday we have been here so far. Cuzco is really vibrant and we wish that we could go out and celebrate St Paddy´s day today, but we will have an early night in preparation for tomorrow..

the wheels on the bus go round and round

2007-03-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

round and round,
round and round,
all day long...

we left Huaraz at 10pm on bus-cama to Lima.. the bus arrived early at like 5:30 am.. the flying dog hostel wanted to charge us a full day just to crash a few hours and shower.. forget that! so we hung at an after hours cafe that then closed on us at 7am.. nothing open but the internet cafe so you guessed it.. we sat online until something decent opened up for breaky.. a couple of good coffees later and finally 9:30 rolled around so we could go drop our gear at south american explorers, change clothes and take a sparrow bath in the sink.. although i think we still were maybe a bit on the nose... cruised around Miraflores a bit enjoying the sunshine and warm weather until it was time to jump on our 2pm bus to Cusco.. advertised as 20hrs.. direct. We splurged the $20 to upgrade to 1st class.. yes folks we travelled first class, honestly it was sooooooooo worth it.. we both slept well and the 23 hrs flew by it seemed (although we nearly got bogged in on spot.. ) a few movies.. a bit of reading and some sleep in our extremely reclined seats.. it was big time stylin´ for us after some of the buses we have endured on this adventure... we arrived feeling rather refreshed for a change.. rather than dragging our arses off the friggin bus as per usual. stopped by the south american explorers after eating the menu de dia at this vege place smack across from our hotel.. 4 soles.. $1.50 US for a salad bar, soup and main deal with drink.. a fuckin´ steal if you ask me... yes we went there again today :D
visited the south american explorers to get some leads on tour groups for the Inca trail and got that booked.. we leave on the 18th.. Cuzco is awesome reminds me a bit of a european city with all the squares, churches and grandeous architecture around the place.. we celebrated last night with a few beers at an Irish pub and it was nice to unwind after a hectic 2 days of travel..
-bonza

1000 meters downhill

2007-03-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today I went Mountain Biking above Huaraz.. it was a guided ride with 1 other bloke.. we drove up mining roads for about an hour to get to 4000 meters then rode about 10kms on pretty flat road before beginning the 1000 meter descent to Huaraz.. It was cold, wet and muddy just like riding in Seattle but the views were amazing when the clouds lifted. We literally rode downhill for over 2hours.. the rental bike was a nice Specialized but I could have used disc brakes as once the rims got wet braking was a challenge.. the terrain varied all the way down making it a really interesting ride.. some of the locals yell "gringo" as you zip past which was pretty funny, most just look at you like your absolutely daft for riding a bike down a mountain in the pouring rain.. dodging pigs, sheep, dogs and donkeys as you weave past their houses and thru their back yards.

Four seasons in one day

2007-03-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

The weather has been very variable up here in the mountains.. the visit to Chavin was quite wet in the morning.. and visibility was pretty low due to the clouds and fog.. we were starting to rethink our 3 day trek given how cold it was out.. later in the day while walking around the ruins the sun came out and it was absolutely stunning.. with the sun out our mood also lifted.. only to be dashed once more on the way home when it began to snow very lightly as we wound our way back up the windy mountain roads to Huaraz.. given we are going to be using rental gear (of dubious quality) and are not really mentally prepared for a 3 day hike in the rain with temps from 0 to 10 celcius we decided to cancel the hike.. we can hike in the rain and snow anytime we like it Seattle was our sentiment. Of course this morning we awoke to sunny blue skies but who knows what the afternoon will bring.. bonza

Chavin de Huantar

2007-03-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

We visited the site of Chavin de Huantar, the principal site of the Chavin culture who are the oldest major culture in Peru and predate the Incas by 2000 years.. we had seen some of their artwork at the museum in Lima, they are most well known for their unique carvings.

The coolest part was seeing llamas roaming around the ruins and getting to go down into the underground chambers.. the tour was given in Spanish and we only comprehended about 1/10th of the information given by the guide. Reminding us that we really need to keep working on our Spanish.
http://www.huaraz.com/culturachavin/

Conchucos valley

2007-03-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

We headed out of Huaraz bound for the ruins of Chavin de Huantar but stopped along the way and made some new friends! The road was pretty dodgy in parts but the scenery was amazing, well what we could see of it that was not covered in low fog/clouds.

photos are fun!

2007-03-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

YAY! we finally got our arses in gear and uploaded some flippin´ piccies.. I added some to the blog entries and also on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets/72157594560785600/

Huaraz

2007-03-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

We left Chiclayo after another massive slice of lemon merange (sp?).. to head on a bus to Trijullio.. the bus was not semi-cama (less pimpin) which is fine for a short trip but we stopped at every chicken shack on the way (it felt like it anyay) and had to swerve to avoid a stray horse on the trans american highway no less.. chaos.. we got to Trujillo and we desperate for a feed.. so we told the driver to take us to chifa el dragon.. chifa is peruvian for chinese joint, i found one called chifa jackie chan in chiclayo that had me busting up for at least 5 mins photo to come soon .. well we ended up at chifa el dragon next to chifa el dragon but not the chifa el dragon we meant to go to.. lesson learnt.. never ask a taxi to take you to chifa el dragon.. apparently the most generic name for a chinese joint in peru... the night bus to Huaraz was much better but we could feel it getting colder as we climbed higher up and I greedily eyed the $7 blanket from REI that Heather was covetting and I was too cheap to fork out for in Santa Monica.. we arrived to a barage of touts for hostels, tours, taxis you name it.. made our escape to a really nice place with awesome mountan views.. it´s a really nice change being up in the mountains. We are actually enjoying the cooler weather and the air is so fresh..

The women are dressed in the traditional highland outfits which are really colourful, and we bought handmade alpaca beanies last night (yes its that cold) for 5 soles ($1.50).. as we were told today, it´s summer on the coast but winter in the highlands.. some weird weather pattern if you ask me.. then the seasons reverse.. totally bizarre.. the Cordillera Blanca (white mountains) is really really pretty from what we have seen so far. Today we took a local "colectivo" up the eL cALLEJON DE hUAYLS, a collectivo is a local mini van that should hold 8-10 peopkle but i believe on the way home we had 18 total.. so much for personal space.. not much to see in Caraz itself but it´s surronded by mountains and the drive up the valley from Huaraz was "spectacular" (as describe in lonely planet lol). So far we don´t feel too bad from the altitude but will give it another day before we head off on our hike. There are mixed reports as to the effectiveness (i.e. scientific basis) of coca tea but we have been drinking it and it seems to help.
http://huaraz.com/santacruz/english.html

Museo Tumbas Reales De Sipan

2007-03-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

After visiting the site of Sipan the next day we went to the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan.. luckily they sell a book that will translate the plaques into english as all signs were in spanish.. we spent a few hours oohing and aaahing as we went through the displays.. they outlined the entire process from discovery of the tomb to the extreme lengths they go to to record every detail of the excavation and then recreate the tomb and other objects in the museum.. we felt pretty edumacated after that one lol.. -bonza.

lord of sipan
http://www.peruvianembassy.us/visiting-peru-destination-guide-sipan.php

Mancora

2007-03-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

hi guys,some technical difficulty on blogger has been encountered...
anyway we had a great time in Huanchaco. Riding the Caballitos or little horseas the totora reed boats are called, was a blast.. the surfing here was pretty goodalthough the water was a bit chilly.. we loved our hostel that was right across from the beachand found a really delightful vegetarian place to eat at. we meet an east coaster just off a 2 yrstint with the peace corps, Dan.. i watched him get a few waves the last arvo we were in town and madeplans to hook up in Mancora and catch a few together.. we arrived in Mancora in the wee hours of the morningand tried to get some sleep.. we were staying at a place that was literally right on the beach.. at about 9am we were awoken from our slumber by loud blaring music right outside our window... see Mancora is a "resort" towncomplete with umbrellas and chairs on the beach and our room was right outside the thick of the action unbeknownst to us.
We wandered down the main drag and found another delightful vege place.. that we then proceeded to eat at for every meal of the next few days.. we spent the morning wandering around the main street trying to find a better place to stay and then hit the beach.. Mancora is labelled the north shore of Peru.. well maybe when there is a swell but there was literally 30 people fighting over 1 piddly wave.. insanely crowded, every wave a party wave with people dropping in left and right on each other.. not very appealing to say the least and no real beach break to speak of..
We hooked up with Dan and he and I ended up renting boards late in the arvo and getting a paddle in when it was less crowded and again super early in the morning before it got crowded again but the tide was out and some narly rocks were showing thru.. needless to say we were not feeling it.. we ended up getting a "taxi" to another beach.. as we rounded the corner HEather and i immediately recognised it from a surf movie she had netflix "peru: the peel project".. i was over the moon.. Dan and i had the point to ourselves and managed to at last get some waves without the crowds.. that night in town we chilled on our balcony and had a few beers with Dan as he was heading out the next day.. there was a full moon rave going on acrosss the street that we never made it out too but heard loud techno bumping till about 7am.. the next day we met another couple at Angela´s cafe and planned to meet up with them at "the spot".. so had another great day surfing with Pete and also managed to ggive HEather a bit of a surf lesson.. after a few days in the sun we were both ready to leave the beach behind.

Who Knew?

2007-03-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Sipan Ruins...

2007-03-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

We took a day bus this time to Chiclayo.. the city was founded by the Spanish so has the usual Plaza de Armas and a beautiful Cathedral.. I will let Heather retell the food and coffee situation in this city since the first was at my expense.. but in their defense they sold more ice-cream, amazing deserts and other sugar laden treats than we have seen anywhere..
We visited Sipan or Huaca Rayada as it´s also known.. Sipan is a series of pyramids that contain some amazing tombs.. we had a young university student for a guide who was really knowledgeable and had a keen interest in the site and archeology.. we were the only 2 on the "tour" so had a good time chatting with him not just about the site but life in the north of peru etc..the main thing to see at the site is replicas of the tombs that were discovered there.. only as recently as 1987.. some had been looted already but they did find some that were totally intact and untouched.. an amazing find!

The Peel Project...

2007-03-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

The sunset from our balcony in Mancora.. not a bad way to end a day of surfing..

A very worthy rental..
Peel: The Peru Project: A Surf Odyssey
http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D96278

Reed Boats in Haunchaco

2007-03-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

There is a little know art craft called "reed fishing boat making" (that's a mouthful, huh?), only known by a few people in Haunchaco, Peru. They construct these boats out of dried reeds, that are left out in the sun...then they are bundeled together, secured, and stuffed with styrofoam to give them shape. It is a boat that they call cigar shaped, although I'm not sure where that reference comes from as I do not see the likeness at all. In Haunchaco though they still use these boats to fish, in the wee-early morning hours...they kneel atop these boats and paddle with a piece of bamboo -- it is really quite a site to see. Apparently this ancient form of fishing is better than traditional boats, as the fish are not frightened by them? Who knew?
Ofcourse Andrew being the adventures man he is, decided to go out on one... first he was with a local Peruvian, sitting on the back while he paddled them out into the waves...then in no time he was manning the entire craft! Hitting the waves like a seasoned pro... good thing I was onshore to record the big event! :D

Takin it in....

2007-03-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

Well its our 2nd of 5 weeks in peru and its about 7 weeks since we left Los Angeles. So far we have managed to use everything we bought with us (except the rain covers for our packs.. but thats a good thing). Our Spanish has improved being in Peru, we got lazy in Costa Rica because everytime we spoke in spanish people would respond in English... not helpful! We definately have the basics down and finally decoded the Peruvian menu last night with help of the dictionary and guide book.. although that does not guarantee you will get what you expect.. People that have studied English speak it really well, a lot of people in the tourist industry speak a small amount.. there have been a few communication breakdowns when my bad spanish meets a peruvians bad english.. but we usually hack our way thru and come to some sort of understanding (i think). It was good to know that Australia has left its cultural mark on Peru.. a couple of local surfers on finding out I was Australian gave me a hearty "aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi" and "bloody wanker".. glad we could contribute ... out in the water the local surfers are generally friendly although my Spanish is limited to "how long have you been surfing".. "do you surf much".. "i wish there were more waves".. the beaches are nice but not as nice as Costa Rica where we were greated daily by postcard perfect beaches..
The people in general are friendly, though we often get stares in the bigger costal towns as we are the only tourists around normally.. and I think they are wondering what we are doing in town as its the low season right now.
The food for the most part is really good, breakfast is cheap and pretty much the same as Guatemala and Costa Rica (eggs, toast, coffee, fresh fruit drink).. the coffee varies widely, but we usually find a place with espresso.. yes we are from Seattle and quite the coffee snobs.. just cant stomach instant... milk here comes in a can, I am not sure I have seen fresh milk in the super markets either. We have been lucky and found a few Vegetarian resturants that have been just divine.. but we have not had much traditional peruvian food.. Ceviche is pickled or cured fish/seafood, sounds a bit dodgy to me.. and they eat Guinea pig and lots of meat.. we did break down and have Pizza Hut in Lima after our movie.. as the cheese here is not regular "cheddar".. The beers are generally Pilsen, quite cheap by the bottle and the local licour is Pisco which is quite revolting..
Getting around we usually take overnight buses for the long distances (8hrs), its not very fun arriving in a new town at 5am.. combi vans for shorter rides.. taxis and tuk tuks round town.. no meters so you have to haggle with the taxi drivers.. buses are very comfortable in the bus-cama used on longer rides. Although we have a few rather long travel days in the not to distant future..
The archeology here is really well preserved by the dry desert environment.. we have been doing a bit of a chronological tour of the Pre-Incan ruins as we head up the coast.. And in general the Museums are really good too.. we usually get an English speaking guide and are the only 2 on the tour so can ask lots of questions without looking like dorks. The Peruvians are just now starting to take a real interest in their Pre-Incan history and a lot of the sites are still covered and in need of escavation.. I am currently reading Conquest of the Incas and the early Spanaird conquestors visited (looted) a lot of the sites we are visiting which is really cool.
-bonza..

Chan Chan (sun sun)

2007-02-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

Today we visited the Chan Chan ruins... from the time period 600-900 AC. These ruins, and "palaces" were amazing. Most of it is in bad shape, but some they have restored to their original glory. Literally the bus dropped us off on the side of the road, and it felt like the middle of nowhere in the desert...then you look across the highway and there are all these half walls. Once you drive inside the ruins, you walk through a maze of corridors, pathways and ramps to walk around this place. It spands over 14 km, although most of the tour takes place in only a small part. We were amazed at how insignifcant we felt, walking around these cerimonial grounds.

Hauchaca...chu-baca, huh?

2007-02-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

We are back on the beach again my friends...it is not quite as nice as Costa Rica yet, but we are hoping it will improve. We arrived yesterday, Sunday, and it was PACKED. Every Trujillean in the area flocked to the ocean yesterday, on like 2 feet of sand! All you could see was a sea of black heads and brown skin... also its the tail end of Carnival in the area, so they had a big music stage bumpin some latin american beats, and there was some kind of dance off going on as well. Needless to say it made me wanna shake my hips... haha
Andrew has also rented another surfboard while we are here, and he hit the waves earlier this afternoon...while I have been planted infront of the computer trying to sync my iPod to some music...big pain in the arse! Tomorrow though I will take surfing lessons in the morning...so we will see how that goes. Maybe soon we can be catching waves together! haha Um, maybe not! lol

Onwards and Upwards

2007-02-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

We boarded our first "bus-cama" a few nights ago to get to Trujillo. It was the PIMPIEST bus ever, really I could not believe it. First of all you are greated by this "flight attendant" type woman, dressed in costume with a a party hat and all. Then you climb these stairs to the upper deck, where you sink into these easy-boy recliner chairs. There is a traytop table, like on an airplane, your seat almost reclines back to lying down, and there is a video screen every few aisles. About 15 mins into the ride, the lady brings around a free snack, and then a free drink. Then an english movie began... it is better than flying, I swear!
So we arrived in Trujillo at 7am the following morning, dreary eyed we took a cab to our hostel which was ridiculously cheap...I think most of the cab rides we took while we were there were around $1! That afternoon we went to Hacua de la Sol y Luna...these amazing ruins from about 500 AC, during the Moche culture. I will not bore you with details, but these ruins were pretty fantastic...paintings that have survived desert conditions, graves, and full stuctures still exist. Stay tuned for pics... :D

Peruvian It Up...

2007-02-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well after our day of luxury we did infact get on a plane the next day and fly to Lima...and can I just say that we loved it! We stayed in Miraflores (thanks for the recommendation Timbo), which is this hip, trendy, full of energy, part of the city...it was great! We ate at European style cafes, strolled around the neat and cute streets and oogled at all the great architecture. I could not believe how many cool looking buildings we saw with crown molding, hip accents and vibrant colors. It definitely was not the Lima we were expecting. We did manage to do a ruin tour, courtesy of South American Explorers. These ruins were crazy though, as they were right in the middle of the city...you climbed this pyramid and all you see in is high rises all around. Apparently 50 years ago when the development began, no one noticed that they were tearing down ancient bricks to put up their trendy walls...oops!
We also saw a movie while we were in town, the new Jude Law flick, not bad...it was just divine to see something mainstream, and feel like a part of the current world again for a few hours. We saw the movie at this mall called Larcomar, which is built right into the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean, for a mall, it is a pretty sweet location. We also broke down and did some shopping while we were there, and we both got a few new things to add to our meagar repetoire of clothes...thank goodness! lol :D
We also took some time to visit the Museo de la Nacion while we were there. We wanted to get a grasp of the range of different cultures, and time periods that existed before the Incas, since we will be seeing a lot of these ruins as we travel up the coast. It was a very good thing to do because when we left, we atleast had some sense of time frames for all these different "mini cultures" we will be learning about.
Also, I have to admit I made Andrew go to GREAT extremes to buy a new iPod while we were in town...taking cabs all across the city to find a store that carried the one I wanted. He was a very good sport though, secretely I think he is glad he will not have to share anymore! haha Just kidding...

Dreams Really Do Come True...

2007-02-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ha, today has been quite the day...
We arrived at the airport this afternoon, prepared to board our plane to Lima, but when we got to the front of the line the woman asked us if we'd be willing to leave the following day instead. She said the airline would cover our hotel that night, food for the next two days, a $200 travel voucher, and taxi's to and from the airport... us being the starving and poor backpackers we are, we were AMPED at the chance! I mean c'mon, a FREE night in an actual hotel room, with our own TV, a HOT shower, access to a jacuzzi that isn't filled with grubby travelers, free internet, a gym and the best part...FREE happy hour from 5 to 6pm! We actually didn't figure out all our perks until we arrived at our hotel...which I might add is a Best Western.. but we were lovin' it when we read about all we were going to be enjoying in the next 24 hours. The icing on the cake was that we found out the restaurant we were going to be eating at for the next three straight meals was, believe it or not, DENNY'S!! So here we are in Costa Rica, staying at a Best Western, eating at Dennys! We couldn't contain our laughter at times once we realized what was taking place...it literally all of a sudden felt as though we'd stepped out of our vacation and had been plopped into someone elses! When we went to lunch earlier, Andrew and I couldn't stop looking at each other laughing...as the local costa rican's are walking past us with our "boca burgers" and fries, muttering to themselves about the typical americans that are eating there... little do they know, we are anything but! haha
Anyways...needless to say we are going to live it up while we are here. Andrew's already headed off to check out the gym, and I'm going to make the most of our personal TV to catch some movies. Then we well meet up for some free drinks in a bit... ahhh, such is the life of the starving and poor backpackers eh... lol haha

Montezuma's Revenge...

2007-02-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

After surfing it up in Mal Pais, we headed to Montezuma... this little beach and fishing villiage we had passed along the way to Mal Pais. It was the cutest little town, with colorful buildings and thatched roof restaurants and bars right on the ocean. We stayed the first night at this hostel right on the beach, and we spent our first afternoon in the lounge chairs and hammocks chilling out. Then that night they hosted a big mahi mahi bake, where we ate our fill of fresh mahi mahi that had been caught that afternoon, for only $6 each! Yowza... yum, yum!
The next day we hiked to these amazing waterfalls where you could swim and climb up to a rock and jump off. We enjoyed watching this group of Italians climb up, get scared and hangout for a minute, and then scream as they jumped off the rock...it was very entertaining! lol Then after the waterfall we walked back through town, to this beautiful beach with the warmest water we'd swam in yet. It was divine!

The next morning though, it was time to go... heading back to San Jose for our flight to Lima. While we were waiting for our bus though, there was an iguana sunning itself on the restaurant across from us... who had come our from his hiding place to bid us good travels! lol teehee

Surfin' Safari...

2007-02-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

So after we left the mountains of Monteverde, we went back to sea level to hit up the pacific side of Costa Rica... it was a LONG day that began at 5 am, but we arrived in Mal Pais in one piece...along with the hordes of other surfers as well.
We bumbled into Mal Pais after about 12 hours of traveling, only to find that every cheap hostel had been taken by some long, blonde haired, Jonny Utah knockoff, surfer dude...so we had to spring for a more "comfy" place to stay for two nights. It ended up being a wise decision though, since we got AC...which was a lifesaver in that heat...and hot showers for the first time in weeks... we hadn't even unpacked before Andrew had scoped the nearest surf shop for a board rental and some wax, in order to hit the waves first thing the following morning.
...and hit the waves he did at 6 am the next two days, catching some "wicked swells" with the locals... it wasn't all peachy keen though, as he did admit to getting dumped a few times as well. But he was in good spirits about it all, and just enjoyed being out there among 'em!
As for Mal Pais, the city, we weren't too impressed... it's full of a bunch of poser, surfers and surfettes who stroll around in their outfits staring down the tourists who have come onto their turf...AND everything was very overpriced, for our "comfy" hostel, to our mediocre food...even the local beer that has been cheap everywhere, was twice the price! WTF... we thought surfers were poor... lol

Monteverde, Zippin' Good Times!

2007-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Monteverde was a cute little moutain town, that reminded us of Northern Cali with it's trees, and the cute little restaurants and art galleries nestled in amongst them. The only thing we didn't care for was the layer of dust ALL our clothes and shoes received since the roads are all dirt and people insist on driving like maniacs and kick up a ton of it into the air. The first night we arrived our skin and hair had literally changed color because of it...ewwww!

We did do the most amazing zip line tour here through the canopy of the cloud forest! We zipped on over 16 lines, with platforms high in the trees...zipping through branches and over valleys, we were like birds! lol PLUS we did a free fall rapel, AND a tarzan swing... the tarzan swing was almost more fun that the zip line since you're rocketed off the platform out far into the forest and get to yell at the top of your lungs, I think Andrew swung the farthest of our whole group! We took some video while we were zipping around and are trying to figure out how we can share the good times... so stay tuned! haha

Feliz St Valentino´s dia

2007-02-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hi yáll it´s bonza saying a quick happy valentine´s day, we are sending hugs and kisses to family and friends..

We spent our day at a canopy tour, zip lining, rapelling and tarzan swinging thru cloud forests in monteverde.. heather decided that we will celebrate v-day from now on, not with flowers and expensive dinners but going out and doing something extreme.. ha ha.. we´ll see what next year brings.. maybe i can show her how to wrestle a croc.. lol.

More New Photos on Flickr...

2007-02-12T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hey All, we´ve uploaded some more shots from our adventures... check ´em out! :D
Click on the Costa Rica and Guatemala sets...enjoy!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbinferal/sets

La Fortuna, Arenal Volcano

2007-02-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

We left tortugeuro, again opting for the more expensive quicker route...we took a two hour canal ride were again we saw turtles, and BIG crocodiles this time and ended at a banana plantation. There we were picked up by Pura Vida tours and brought directly to La Fortuna. Our dutch friends opted for the long way around... they are still traveling even now! lol
So we arrived last night into La Fortuna, and the town is actually pretty cute. There are quite a few tourists, but the prices aren´t THAT bad for lodging and food. Infact we´ve been lucky enought to score a private room at Gringo Pete´s where we are only paying $5 each a night and we have a communal kitchen so we can cook our meals. This is good since everything we want to do here costs $15-$30 dollars. We´ve had to pick and choose our activities unfortunately since we can´t afford to do them all...
This morning we went to Catarata waterfalls which were awesome! You take a small hike down to the falls, and are rewarded there with the ability to swim in the pool and falls! The water was quite cold, but you can swim behind the falls and sit on some rocks and literally be right beneath the strong, loud water cascading down. It was pretty sweet...
Tonight we will venture close to Arenal volcano where we will try and see the lava flow at night, since it glows red and orange. After that we will go to Tabacon hot springs to sit in the hot pools and soak our sore muscles... it should be a real treat!

Tortuguero

2007-02-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sadly, but with great excitement, we left the Carribean towns we came to adore and made our way up north to Tortuguero. We opted for the more expensive route of taking a 4 hour canal boat ride from Moin, instead of the bus. It was well worth the extra money though, as that canal tour was sweet. It felt like we had warped into an old tarzan movie, with all the vines, trees and wildlife that crept along the shores...
Tortuguero also has this "end of the world" feeling since you can only get there by boat and it doesn´t have any cars, or easy access to the outside world. We settled in at a great hostel, La Casarona and quickly felt right at home.
We ran into a dutch couple there, Natosha and Hanz who we´d met on the bus in Manzanillo and decided that we would hike Tortuguero Mountain with them that afternoon. We were suckered into using this tour guide named Gin, who ended up being a total RIPOFF! We pretty much hiked to the top and then back down, without more than a few tid bits here and there about the wildlife around us. I don´t think he offered one thing we hadn´t already seen or noticed without him... neeless to say we were all a bit peeved at giving him our money at the end of the hike. It was an amazing view at the top though, and we got to wear these fun rubber boots and play in the mud, so that made up for some of it!
The following morning, the four of us also decided to do a 6am canoe tour, and this made up for the hike. Our tour guide, Andres, was amazing... he taught us so much about their national forest, the trees, plants, and wildlife. We saw so many species of birds it was crazy, egrets, herrons, toucans, eagles, falcons, some I can´t even remember or pronounce. We saw turltes, Caimens (small crocodiles), monkeys, sloths, and an iguana up high in a tree. It was maginal being in this canoe sliding in and out of canals, going into the forest on the water and looking up at the tall trees above, it was out of this world! :D

Puerto Viejo

2007-02-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

We explored more of the Carribean coast, while staying in Manzanillo... one town was called Puerto Viejo. This town felt like San Diego, Daytona, and Mexico all in one square mile. The streets were crawling with tourists, the restaurants were overpriced, and the shops were all selling t-shirts at ridiculous prices. There was one redeeming thing about this town though, they have the most spectacular home made macademia nut ice cream we have EVER eaten. It was definitely the highlight of the entire town...
There were however some pretty amazing beaches not far from there, so we took our time and explored those.
Cocles beach is known for having some of the best surfing, and even has life guards standing by to keep a watch on the crowds... unfortunately the tide and waves were a bit burely while we were there, but Andrew did make the most of the waves to do some kick ass body surfing.
Next was Punta Uva, this almost deserted beach stretched on for miles, with only a few people with dogs to interrupt the serenity. Here, I got turned upside down like the wash in the waves, and nearly lost my bikini, so I stuck to onshore entertainment for the rest of the day. :D
We also made a stop at Salsa Brava, one of the most well known spots for surfing on the entire coast... no surfers out that day, but we did kick back on the beach to read for a bit and enjoy the sunset at Standfords over a beer.