We stayed in Lima for two days and it is a fairly forgettable city. It is massive, with around 11 million inhabitants, and always covered in fog and/or pollution. The first day we spent 10 hours at a sports bar that had college football on 6 different tvs....heaven. The second day we borrowed ocean fishing poles from the hostel owner and carried the 10 ft beasts a mile and a half to the beach. It took us about 2 hours to get everything set up and only 45 seconds to get stuck in the rocks and lose our only hooks. We are now 0 for 2 in fishing.
The flight to Cusco was overbooked and I was the only passenger on standby....we didn´t know if we were making the flight until 10 seconds before take off and we had to sprint on the tarmac to the plane. The flight was only an hour and we caught a cab to our hostel. We wandered the city and got lost about 40 times. The city is very neat...a lot of old, colonial architecture and a huge plaza in the center of the city. It is very touristy and for some reason lots of people want to give me massages and drugs. Anyway, we stumbled upon a restaurant that served a 3 course meal with Alpaca meat as the main dish (for only $4....including a lemonade). I have eaten there 4 times in the 4 days we have been here. Alpaca is tasty...like beef with a slightly gamey taste. Went back to the hostel and finished my first book in Spanish (yes, I am doing something productive and not just traveling).
The next day we met 2 of our friends from previous excursions and booked our 5 day Macchu Picchu trek. I think that is all we did.....it was very stressful trying to choose from the 7 million travel agencies here.
Yesterday we took a cab to a set of Incan Ruins 11 km north of the city. Please note that Cusco was the capital of the Incan Empire for an extended period of time and many of the streets and buildings here today contain Incan stones and bricks.The road leading back to town has 4 different sets of ruins and we bought an expensive ($20 or 5 delicious meals at my restaurant) pass that lets you into all of the ruins. The Incans were quite impressive...too bad the spaniards had to destroy a lot of their wonderful architecture. We still saw hunting lodges, sacrificial platforms, and other mysterious Incan archeological sites. The final one had sweeping views of the valley where the city of Cusco sits. The tile roofs of the houses cover every inch between the bases of the surrounding mountains.
We were exhausted and starving after the long trek and decided to splurge on dinner....we were on a mission to eat the Peruvian delicacy ¨Cuy¨....which most of us would recognize as guinea pig. A group of 6 of us went out to dinner and only 3 decided to try the Cuy. It was quite expensive and did not look as appetizing as the alpaca. They brought the large rat out on a platter....it was completely in tact....teeth, legs, claws, ears...and even had a pepper shoved in its mouth. The waiter said you have to eat it with your hands and I volunteered to serve it up. I had to grab the two hind legs and rip the guinea pig in half with my bare hands. We then dove in like a pack of hyenas and tore the creature apart. There wasn´t much meat on it, but what we did get was pretty good...and yes, it did taste like chicken. 2 of the people we were with were vegetarians and one more was terrified of rodents, so they were thoroughly disguisted. Didn´t phase me...I was content with my new accomplishment and didn´t lose any sleep over it.
Tomorrow we are leaving at 5 am to go on a 5 day- 4 night trek up to Macchu Picchu. We hike 29 miles in the first 4 days at altitudes of 12,500-16,000 ft. Macchu Picchu has been a dream of mine for some time, so I cannot wait....wish me luck!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
We Got Served in the Galapa-go-go-go-gos
Flight to the Galapagos was just under two hours....but as usual, I assumed we were going to crash the entire time. We did so much in our 5 nights there....here is how it went:
Day 1: Arrived at noon and took the short ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz and caught a bus to Puerto Ayora, the largest city in the Galapagos (19,000). We had not booked anything...no hotel, no cruise, no day trips. So we went to a computer to try and write some of our friends that said they might be there at the same time. We ran into them in the streets and followed them to our hotel. Only $12.50 a night and the ladies that worked there were awesome. The 4 of us immediately hopped in a truck for a land tour of the island. We saw two massive volcanic sinkholes, walked through underground lava tunnels, and went to see the giant tortoises in their natural habitat. It was like Jurassic Park, except I wasn´t (that) scared. The turtles are massive....but completely worthless. They are tied with mosquitos for most worthless animal on the planet. It is amazing to watch them interact and we followed them around (at 0.1 miles an hour) for a long time. We went back to the hotel and wandered around to see what the locals were doing. We found a huge crowd of people surrounding courts that appeared to be volleyball courts...but they weren´t....they were Equiboli courts. There was money being passed around and people were getting very into it...so I took a peak and asked a few people what was going on. Apparently you can pay $20 per person and play winner takes all. I was intrigued. So I gathered my two friends and talked them into playing this silly game they call equiboli. I better explain it before going on...it somewhat resembles volleyball....except the net is over 9 ft tall (because all ecaudorians are midgets and this high net is the equalizer)....and there are really no rules, they literally catch the ball and throw it over the nets or double hit it or throw it granny style. You play 3 on 3 and you must serve by tossing the ball up with one hand and hitting it with the same hand. You have 3 hits to get it over and you play to 15 points, best out of 3 games. Our 3 challengers included one guy that was 4´3´´ and thought he was hilarious, his sidekick Forrest Gump legs (pre-braces and football stardom), and an old guy. I knew they were playing us, but I am so cocky that I thought we could win. Needless to say....we were winning halfway through the first game and I spiked it in the old guys face a few times, but then he kicked it into gear. This grandpa was the Michael Jordan of equiboli. He made it rain on us...and the crowd loved it. Needless to say, we payed their rents for the month of September and got severely served.
Day 2: Kroopf and I rented snorkeling gear and made the 2 mile hike to Tortuga Bay. The beach was the nicest beach I have ever seen....soft, white sand....no baby diapers or seaweed to spoil the beauty. We saw a plethora of iguanas hanging out on the beach, swimming and spitting salt out of their nostrils. We also saw a group of 8 sea turtles, 6 sting rays, a small shark that surfed into shore trying to catch its prey, and plenty of blue footed boobies. All this in one afternoon.
Day 3: Floreana Island was our destination today. The boat ride was 2 hours from Santa Cruz and we arrived to a welcome of sea lions and iguana waiting by the dock. The animals are so apathetic towards humans that the sea lions barely glanced upward as we stepped over them. We hiked to the top of the island and saw some ruins from the first settlers and a group of tortoises being reintroduced into the wild. The views are amazing everywhere you go....pristine turquoise water spotted with massive volcanic bobbers.
We hiked back down and drove around to a couple of snorkeling spots. We saw masked boobies, blue footed boobies, and cormorants flying around and resting awkwardly on the outcroppings that line the coast. We hopped in the water and I thought I was in the movie Open Water....we were in 30 ft of water and I could see the bottom...any fish over a foot made me turn the water a little warmer. I got over my fear as I started swimming in the middle of a large group and made them the easier targets. We saw massive schools of yellow, black, orange and striped fish....sting rays and turtles were all around, and the floor covered with sea cucumbers and weird fish and organisms. Went to a second spot and it was more of the same, just a little more shallow. Hitched the boat back and rested for the night....we booked a day trip to Bartolome leaving at 5 am.
Day 4: The lady that worked at the hostel found out that we loved empanadas (and by found out I mean I told her all about my obsession). She happened to like us and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to make us bacon and cheese empanadas....and we didn´t even ask her to. I had 6.
The boat was massive and had a second story with mattresses spread out, so we all crashed on the deck listening to music and basking in the equatorial sun rays. Bartolome is amazing...by far my favorite island. We hiked up to the top of its volcanic beginning to take in the amazing views of the turquoise water and white sand beaches. You could see about a dozen other islands around. Halfway down we saw 6 dolphins soaring out of the water. On the way to our snorkeling destination we saw a group of penguins perched on the rocky shores and they pretended not to see us.
It was by far the best snorkeling I have ever done. I swam with sea lions, penguins, sharks, and thousands of fish....ranging from 2 inch bright orange fish to massive rainbow colored suckers. It was unreal. I was swimming back in by myself when a 6 ft white tip reef shark was swimming in the opposite direction. I was so scared that I couldn´t do anything until he swam by...then I ran on top of the water all the way back to the beach. We waited for the small boat to pick us up and return us to the mother ship. 25 blue footed boobies hovered overhead and proceeded to dive bomb into the water. A massive school of shad swam into the bay and the penguins joined in on the onslaught. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen......10 boobies would shoot straight down into the water at the same time.....I couldn´t stop watching. Eventually we were forced to go back and we sat on the back of the boat for another 3 hours. I forgot sun block and turned into a stop sign by the time I woke up.
Days 5 & 6: We woke up early and returned to Tortuga Bay to show our friends the beach. We were forced to come back quickly because we were taking a 2 pm ¨speed boat¨to Isabela Island for a 2 day trek. The speed boat ended up being a tin can with two different motors on the back...and one of them wouldn´t start. They handed us huge life vests to put around our necks, and I wondered what they were for. I discovered that they served a dual purpose: 1) as a neck brace to prevent your neck from breaking as the boat launched 10 feet into the air and 2) might help as a flotation device if we were to capsize or get launched out of the boat. It got to the point where I was so scared and sick that I couldn´t do anything but laugh. We finally made it there and I kissed the ground as we stepped on dry land. We went to the hotel after a brief tour of some flamingo filled lagoons.
Our second day consisted of a 10 mile hike to 3 separate volcanoes, one of which is still active and happens to be the 2nd largest volcanic crater in the world (10 km across). The hike was interesting...the first half consisted of muddy roads through lush vegetation and ended in volcanic deserts with cactus and lava tunnels. The views were incredible and it was amzing to see how the volcanoes shaped the island. We went straight from the hike to a boat where we saw more penguins , iguanas, and sea lions. We hopped off and hiked to a shark resting zone and stared at 13 reef sharks sleeping on top of eachother from 5 ft away. We then hopped in the water and snorkeled around some more. The highlight of this snorkeling adventure was a massive manta ray that we followed around for 5 minutes. It looked like a stealth bomber gliding through the shallow water. We turned back and went to the hostel for our last supper together....dreading the awful 2 hour carnival ride back to Santa Cruz. The sea wasn´t as angry that day my friends, and we had a much better ride. Kroopf and I then spent an hour and a half on buses and boats getting back to baltra to catch our flight to Guayaquil...then sat in an airport for 2 hours and flew to Lima, Peru. The Galapagos Islands were incredible and I hope that they have not desensitized me from appreciating any other type of nature.
Day 1: Arrived at noon and took the short ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz and caught a bus to Puerto Ayora, the largest city in the Galapagos (19,000). We had not booked anything...no hotel, no cruise, no day trips. So we went to a computer to try and write some of our friends that said they might be there at the same time. We ran into them in the streets and followed them to our hotel. Only $12.50 a night and the ladies that worked there were awesome. The 4 of us immediately hopped in a truck for a land tour of the island. We saw two massive volcanic sinkholes, walked through underground lava tunnels, and went to see the giant tortoises in their natural habitat. It was like Jurassic Park, except I wasn´t (that) scared. The turtles are massive....but completely worthless. They are tied with mosquitos for most worthless animal on the planet. It is amazing to watch them interact and we followed them around (at 0.1 miles an hour) for a long time. We went back to the hotel and wandered around to see what the locals were doing. We found a huge crowd of people surrounding courts that appeared to be volleyball courts...but they weren´t....they were Equiboli courts. There was money being passed around and people were getting very into it...so I took a peak and asked a few people what was going on. Apparently you can pay $20 per person and play winner takes all. I was intrigued. So I gathered my two friends and talked them into playing this silly game they call equiboli. I better explain it before going on...it somewhat resembles volleyball....except the net is over 9 ft tall (because all ecaudorians are midgets and this high net is the equalizer)....and there are really no rules, they literally catch the ball and throw it over the nets or double hit it or throw it granny style. You play 3 on 3 and you must serve by tossing the ball up with one hand and hitting it with the same hand. You have 3 hits to get it over and you play to 15 points, best out of 3 games. Our 3 challengers included one guy that was 4´3´´ and thought he was hilarious, his sidekick Forrest Gump legs (pre-braces and football stardom), and an old guy. I knew they were playing us, but I am so cocky that I thought we could win. Needless to say....we were winning halfway through the first game and I spiked it in the old guys face a few times, but then he kicked it into gear. This grandpa was the Michael Jordan of equiboli. He made it rain on us...and the crowd loved it. Needless to say, we payed their rents for the month of September and got severely served.
Day 2: Kroopf and I rented snorkeling gear and made the 2 mile hike to Tortuga Bay. The beach was the nicest beach I have ever seen....soft, white sand....no baby diapers or seaweed to spoil the beauty. We saw a plethora of iguanas hanging out on the beach, swimming and spitting salt out of their nostrils. We also saw a group of 8 sea turtles, 6 sting rays, a small shark that surfed into shore trying to catch its prey, and plenty of blue footed boobies. All this in one afternoon.
Day 3: Floreana Island was our destination today. The boat ride was 2 hours from Santa Cruz and we arrived to a welcome of sea lions and iguana waiting by the dock. The animals are so apathetic towards humans that the sea lions barely glanced upward as we stepped over them. We hiked to the top of the island and saw some ruins from the first settlers and a group of tortoises being reintroduced into the wild. The views are amazing everywhere you go....pristine turquoise water spotted with massive volcanic bobbers.
We hiked back down and drove around to a couple of snorkeling spots. We saw masked boobies, blue footed boobies, and cormorants flying around and resting awkwardly on the outcroppings that line the coast. We hopped in the water and I thought I was in the movie Open Water....we were in 30 ft of water and I could see the bottom...any fish over a foot made me turn the water a little warmer. I got over my fear as I started swimming in the middle of a large group and made them the easier targets. We saw massive schools of yellow, black, orange and striped fish....sting rays and turtles were all around, and the floor covered with sea cucumbers and weird fish and organisms. Went to a second spot and it was more of the same, just a little more shallow. Hitched the boat back and rested for the night....we booked a day trip to Bartolome leaving at 5 am.
Day 4: The lady that worked at the hostel found out that we loved empanadas (and by found out I mean I told her all about my obsession). She happened to like us and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to make us bacon and cheese empanadas....and we didn´t even ask her to. I had 6.
The boat was massive and had a second story with mattresses spread out, so we all crashed on the deck listening to music and basking in the equatorial sun rays. Bartolome is amazing...by far my favorite island. We hiked up to the top of its volcanic beginning to take in the amazing views of the turquoise water and white sand beaches. You could see about a dozen other islands around. Halfway down we saw 6 dolphins soaring out of the water. On the way to our snorkeling destination we saw a group of penguins perched on the rocky shores and they pretended not to see us.
It was by far the best snorkeling I have ever done. I swam with sea lions, penguins, sharks, and thousands of fish....ranging from 2 inch bright orange fish to massive rainbow colored suckers. It was unreal. I was swimming back in by myself when a 6 ft white tip reef shark was swimming in the opposite direction. I was so scared that I couldn´t do anything until he swam by...then I ran on top of the water all the way back to the beach. We waited for the small boat to pick us up and return us to the mother ship. 25 blue footed boobies hovered overhead and proceeded to dive bomb into the water. A massive school of shad swam into the bay and the penguins joined in on the onslaught. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen......10 boobies would shoot straight down into the water at the same time.....I couldn´t stop watching. Eventually we were forced to go back and we sat on the back of the boat for another 3 hours. I forgot sun block and turned into a stop sign by the time I woke up.
Days 5 & 6: We woke up early and returned to Tortuga Bay to show our friends the beach. We were forced to come back quickly because we were taking a 2 pm ¨speed boat¨to Isabela Island for a 2 day trek. The speed boat ended up being a tin can with two different motors on the back...and one of them wouldn´t start. They handed us huge life vests to put around our necks, and I wondered what they were for. I discovered that they served a dual purpose: 1) as a neck brace to prevent your neck from breaking as the boat launched 10 feet into the air and 2) might help as a flotation device if we were to capsize or get launched out of the boat. It got to the point where I was so scared and sick that I couldn´t do anything but laugh. We finally made it there and I kissed the ground as we stepped on dry land. We went to the hotel after a brief tour of some flamingo filled lagoons.
Our second day consisted of a 10 mile hike to 3 separate volcanoes, one of which is still active and happens to be the 2nd largest volcanic crater in the world (10 km across). The hike was interesting...the first half consisted of muddy roads through lush vegetation and ended in volcanic deserts with cactus and lava tunnels. The views were incredible and it was amzing to see how the volcanoes shaped the island. We went straight from the hike to a boat where we saw more penguins , iguanas, and sea lions. We hopped off and hiked to a shark resting zone and stared at 13 reef sharks sleeping on top of eachother from 5 ft away. We then hopped in the water and snorkeled around some more. The highlight of this snorkeling adventure was a massive manta ray that we followed around for 5 minutes. It looked like a stealth bomber gliding through the shallow water. We turned back and went to the hostel for our last supper together....dreading the awful 2 hour carnival ride back to Santa Cruz. The sea wasn´t as angry that day my friends, and we had a much better ride. Kroopf and I then spent an hour and a half on buses and boats getting back to baltra to catch our flight to Guayaquil...then sat in an airport for 2 hours and flew to Lima, Peru. The Galapagos Islands were incredible and I hope that they have not desensitized me from appreciating any other type of nature.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Empanada Monster
Baños was about a 3 hour bus ride south from Cotopaxi and we didn´t arrive until 8 pm. We went out to pizza with a couple of our friends and took advantage of the free internet at the hotel.
I woke up earlier than the others and wandered around town looking for empanadas. I found a Mercado that was full of euadorians...I was definitely the only gringo there. I found a nice, plump lady who was cooking some delicious looking stuff: eggs, rice, avocado, mashed potato pancakes, chorizo, beats and a salad...for $1.75. Are you serious??? I promised to come back every morning. On my way out I stumbled upon an empanada stand...so I inquired. 10 cents a piece....so I bought 5.
Someone told us about a 30km bike ride that would lead to some great waterfalls so we paid $5 for an all day bike and helmet rental. The ride was a little unnerving....it was us versus the Ecuadorian bus drivers and cliffs with 250 meter drop offs. We zoomed around corners and came to a pitch black tunnel that we were forced to ride through. I couldn´t see anything the entire time....I was waiting for a semi to hit me head on. We finnaly saw the light at the end of the tunnel and finally realized how unsafe this was. Regardless, we saw over a dozen waterfalls along the way, some dropping hundreds of feet. The mountains we were riding through looked like the ones in jurassic park. We got stopped at a random bridge and were asked if we wanted to bungee jump from said bridge for $15...we gladly declined....me mostly because of the money. $15 can buy you 8 breakfast platters at my market lady´s stand. We made it back and played cards with some people at the hostel and planned to go to my breakfast place tomorrow and go for a hike.
We ate the delicious and nutritious $1.75 breakfast and meandered over to the empanada stand to see what was going on. Diego, our heavily bearded and really cool Mexican friend, had never had an empanada before and was hesitant to try one. He did....then he ordered 2 more....then we were leaving and he said hold on....and ran back inside. He came out with 5 more empanadas. He finished 2 of them and returned to the stand for a nother handful. By the end of the ordeal Diego had eaten 13 empanadas in 10 minutes. Quite a feat....he has since been crowned the Empanada Monster.
We hiked to the top of one of them mountains surrounding the town and raced ecuadorian school children all the way up (and by we, I mean I raced them). We got up there and took in the views of the valley and relaxed for a few hours. Our time in Baños was almost up....next stop the Galapagos Islands.
We went to bed reasonably early that night and caught the 7 hour bus ride from Baños to Guayaquil for our flight to Baltra Island. The bus straddled cliffs for about 4 out of the 7 hours....however, their sheer height and danger did not deter the bus drivers from passing other cars at 400 km per hour. I thought Kroopf was going to have a heart attack. We made it to the bustling (crowded and polluted) city of Guayaquil safely and caught a cab to our hotel for the night. Our cab driver was shady and did not even have a driver´s seat. I swear to god that he was sitting in a lawn chair duct taped to the floor of the car. Very classy....taht just about sums up Guayaquil and all its wonders.
I woke up earlier than the others and wandered around town looking for empanadas. I found a Mercado that was full of euadorians...I was definitely the only gringo there. I found a nice, plump lady who was cooking some delicious looking stuff: eggs, rice, avocado, mashed potato pancakes, chorizo, beats and a salad...for $1.75. Are you serious??? I promised to come back every morning. On my way out I stumbled upon an empanada stand...so I inquired. 10 cents a piece....so I bought 5.
Someone told us about a 30km bike ride that would lead to some great waterfalls so we paid $5 for an all day bike and helmet rental. The ride was a little unnerving....it was us versus the Ecuadorian bus drivers and cliffs with 250 meter drop offs. We zoomed around corners and came to a pitch black tunnel that we were forced to ride through. I couldn´t see anything the entire time....I was waiting for a semi to hit me head on. We finnaly saw the light at the end of the tunnel and finally realized how unsafe this was. Regardless, we saw over a dozen waterfalls along the way, some dropping hundreds of feet. The mountains we were riding through looked like the ones in jurassic park. We got stopped at a random bridge and were asked if we wanted to bungee jump from said bridge for $15...we gladly declined....me mostly because of the money. $15 can buy you 8 breakfast platters at my market lady´s stand. We made it back and played cards with some people at the hostel and planned to go to my breakfast place tomorrow and go for a hike.
We ate the delicious and nutritious $1.75 breakfast and meandered over to the empanada stand to see what was going on. Diego, our heavily bearded and really cool Mexican friend, had never had an empanada before and was hesitant to try one. He did....then he ordered 2 more....then we were leaving and he said hold on....and ran back inside. He came out with 5 more empanadas. He finished 2 of them and returned to the stand for a nother handful. By the end of the ordeal Diego had eaten 13 empanadas in 10 minutes. Quite a feat....he has since been crowned the Empanada Monster.
We hiked to the top of one of them mountains surrounding the town and raced ecuadorian school children all the way up (and by we, I mean I raced them). We got up there and took in the views of the valley and relaxed for a few hours. Our time in Baños was almost up....next stop the Galapagos Islands.
We went to bed reasonably early that night and caught the 7 hour bus ride from Baños to Guayaquil for our flight to Baltra Island. The bus straddled cliffs for about 4 out of the 7 hours....however, their sheer height and danger did not deter the bus drivers from passing other cars at 400 km per hour. I thought Kroopf was going to have a heart attack. We made it to the bustling (crowded and polluted) city of Guayaquil safely and caught a cab to our hotel for the night. Our cab driver was shady and did not even have a driver´s seat. I swear to god that he was sitting in a lawn chair duct taped to the floor of the car. Very classy....taht just about sums up Guayaquil and all its wonders.
Volcanoes and Waterfalls
We left the hustle and bustle of Quito for a relaxing few days near the secnd highest volcano in Ecuador (19,782 ft I believe). The drive was only 40km, but took nearly 2 hours because the roads were so bad and the hostel was in the middle of nowhere. The house was self sustaining with compost toilets, solar power, and every type of edible plant and animal possible (which we consumed for lunch and dinner). Our new friend Sarah the Brit and I went for a hike up a canyon immediately after arriving at the hostel. The reward was beautiful, lush vegetation topped off with 2 amazing waterfalls at the end....all of this less than an hours hike from our hostel.
They only allowed 14 people to stay at a time and we ate family style meals at a huge dinner table. The first night we met a German family of 4 that were driving around Ecuador for a month. After dinner they taught us how to play ¨wizard¨ the card game and I learned how to say vomit in German. Funny story...during the game the Dad asked us where the toilet was and I proudly told him the location of the 2 story compost toilet outside the main building. Later that night I went to brush my teeth in the other building and found the old German man walking around aimlessly in the dark...he asked me again where the toilet was and I pointed to the compost building again...he said he tried that but when he opened the door it smelled really bad and was disguisting. He had opened the door to the bottom part of the compost toilet...where a mountain of poop 9 ft tall had been created. He started cracking up and I showed him how to get up to the correct side of the toilet and he was very thankful. He returned to the pitch black dorm room giggling like a schoolgirl and started talking to his faily in German...they all started laughing hysterically as soon as he said, ¨shaizer¨....I am sure you can figure out what that means.
The next day we went for a bike ride with a Canadian and Australian. Kroopf and I brought these crappy fishing rods that the hostel lent us in hopes of catching some trout. The ride was difficult, but beautiful. When we arrived to the stream we hiked around for hours looking for a good spot to fish but didn´t see a single living organism in the water...let alone a fish. I somehow got my rod completely tangled and ended up cutting off 98% of the line....I feel bad for the poor sucker that uses that rod next. We had another relaxing night and prepped for our big hike up to the glacier that rests on top of the massive volcano Cotopaxi.
We woke up early and 8 of us headed out in a small pick-up truck with our Ecuadorian guide. We were stuck in the bed of the truck, which was fine until the sleet and wind showed up. As soon as we arrived it started snowing and there were 60 mph wind gusts....it was miserable. I thought some of the girls were going to die on the way up....thank god my mom bought me that waterproof jacket. We made it to a refuge at about 15,000 ft and 5 out of the 8 people stayed there. The rest of us continued on to the glacier at about 16,000 ft and saw an andean wolf on the way up. I am pretty sure that it was eating someone´s barf, which made the sighting less exciting to me. Anyway, it was very tough, but very rewarding and interesting. The landscape was amazing and the challenge was fun. It looked like the surface of mars up there....red rocks and no plants or animals.
We then had to ride back in the crappy truck through crappy weather to the hostel, where we caught another truck to a small town to catch a bus to Baños, Ecuador. The 6 hrs in the bed of that truck reinforced the fact that I never want to go to prison....
Next stop, Baños.
They only allowed 14 people to stay at a time and we ate family style meals at a huge dinner table. The first night we met a German family of 4 that were driving around Ecuador for a month. After dinner they taught us how to play ¨wizard¨ the card game and I learned how to say vomit in German. Funny story...during the game the Dad asked us where the toilet was and I proudly told him the location of the 2 story compost toilet outside the main building. Later that night I went to brush my teeth in the other building and found the old German man walking around aimlessly in the dark...he asked me again where the toilet was and I pointed to the compost building again...he said he tried that but when he opened the door it smelled really bad and was disguisting. He had opened the door to the bottom part of the compost toilet...where a mountain of poop 9 ft tall had been created. He started cracking up and I showed him how to get up to the correct side of the toilet and he was very thankful. He returned to the pitch black dorm room giggling like a schoolgirl and started talking to his faily in German...they all started laughing hysterically as soon as he said, ¨shaizer¨....I am sure you can figure out what that means.
The next day we went for a bike ride with a Canadian and Australian. Kroopf and I brought these crappy fishing rods that the hostel lent us in hopes of catching some trout. The ride was difficult, but beautiful. When we arrived to the stream we hiked around for hours looking for a good spot to fish but didn´t see a single living organism in the water...let alone a fish. I somehow got my rod completely tangled and ended up cutting off 98% of the line....I feel bad for the poor sucker that uses that rod next. We had another relaxing night and prepped for our big hike up to the glacier that rests on top of the massive volcano Cotopaxi.
We woke up early and 8 of us headed out in a small pick-up truck with our Ecuadorian guide. We were stuck in the bed of the truck, which was fine until the sleet and wind showed up. As soon as we arrived it started snowing and there were 60 mph wind gusts....it was miserable. I thought some of the girls were going to die on the way up....thank god my mom bought me that waterproof jacket. We made it to a refuge at about 15,000 ft and 5 out of the 8 people stayed there. The rest of us continued on to the glacier at about 16,000 ft and saw an andean wolf on the way up. I am pretty sure that it was eating someone´s barf, which made the sighting less exciting to me. Anyway, it was very tough, but very rewarding and interesting. The landscape was amazing and the challenge was fun. It looked like the surface of mars up there....red rocks and no plants or animals.
We then had to ride back in the crappy truck through crappy weather to the hostel, where we caught another truck to a small town to catch a bus to Baños, Ecuador. The 6 hrs in the bed of that truck reinforced the fact that I never want to go to prison....
Next stop, Baños.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Quito is Sweet-o
The flight from Atlanta was ok....meaning we didn´t crash. The plane was about 30 years old and the most technologically advanced mechanism on it was theVHS player that played our movies. Regardless, we made it to Quito and caught a cab to our hostel and had to time to enjoy a beer on the balcony.
Quito is pretty amazing. 1.2 million people tucked in between massive mountains and volcanoes. The weather is constantly changing and usually cloudy to some extent (seeing as you are at 10,000 ft and practically in the clouds). We walked around the whole city the first day. We saw a cathedral that allowed you to climb up some sketchy ladders (completely unsupervised) to the highest tower. We went to the main plaza, bustling with people and dog poop, where we made the biggest discovery of the trip: Empanadas. They are fried balls of deliciousness stuffed with a variety of goodies, including, but not limited to: cheese and sugar, chicken, beef, and bananas. Anyway, there will be more on these heavenly snacks later.
After 5 empanadas we made our way to a lift that takes you halfway up a volcano overlooking the city. From there you can hike up to the summit at 16,000 ft....Kroopf was not happy to hear it would be a 5 hour round trip through rain and lightning from there. The views were gorgeous and the hiking strenuos... I thought my heart wsa going o shoot out of my chest. It was definitely worth it though.
The next day we took a bus from Quito to ¨La Mitad del Mundo¨, or middle of the earth. The bus ride was an adventure in and of itself. The bus drivers must all be ex-nascar drivers....they fly by pedestrians, vehicles, and stop signs and will pick up random people on the side of the road, but never stop the bus completely....kind of a drive by. We saw an 80 year old man almost tumble out the side of the bus as he jumped off for his stop at a pace of about 10 mph. The monument was kind of lame, you just go to say you have been there. We met a nice German girl who was working in a Quito as a nurse and she told us about a crater nearby and supposedly it is the only crater in the world with a village inside of it. We took another bus that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we hiked up to the top of some mountain. The entire crater was filled with clouds and we couldn´t see much...but the clouds moved rapidly and opened up enough for sweeping views of a massive crater surrounded by lush mountains. We took the terrifying bus back and got lost in the city, eating at random food stands all the way back...not sure what it was, but it was good. That night we went out with a diverse group of people: 3 Brits, an Israeli, 3 Swedes, a Belgian, an Irish girl, a Dutch, and an Australian. It is amazing to see how few Americans there are traveling down here...we have been the minority everywhere we have been. Some of the Australians and Swedes have been traveling for over 18 months...makes me feel better about myself.
Saturday we bought tickets to the Ecuador vs Bolivia soccer game. All of us foreigners bought Ecuador jerseys, hats, flags, and face paint and were quite a spectacle. The stadium was almost at its full capacity of 45,000 and was a blast. The crazy (and permanently drunk) Swede, Marko, was leading chants of ¨Si se Puede!!!!!!!¨and trying to teach them the wave. It was definitely an experience....needless to say, the next morning and the 2 hr truck ride to the volcanoe Cotopaxi were a little rough.
Sorry that this is so long, but we have been busy...so get used to it or find a new blog to read! More coming soon.
Dan
Quito is pretty amazing. 1.2 million people tucked in between massive mountains and volcanoes. The weather is constantly changing and usually cloudy to some extent (seeing as you are at 10,000 ft and practically in the clouds). We walked around the whole city the first day. We saw a cathedral that allowed you to climb up some sketchy ladders (completely unsupervised) to the highest tower. We went to the main plaza, bustling with people and dog poop, where we made the biggest discovery of the trip: Empanadas. They are fried balls of deliciousness stuffed with a variety of goodies, including, but not limited to: cheese and sugar, chicken, beef, and bananas. Anyway, there will be more on these heavenly snacks later.
After 5 empanadas we made our way to a lift that takes you halfway up a volcano overlooking the city. From there you can hike up to the summit at 16,000 ft....Kroopf was not happy to hear it would be a 5 hour round trip through rain and lightning from there. The views were gorgeous and the hiking strenuos... I thought my heart wsa going o shoot out of my chest. It was definitely worth it though.
The next day we took a bus from Quito to ¨La Mitad del Mundo¨, or middle of the earth. The bus ride was an adventure in and of itself. The bus drivers must all be ex-nascar drivers....they fly by pedestrians, vehicles, and stop signs and will pick up random people on the side of the road, but never stop the bus completely....kind of a drive by. We saw an 80 year old man almost tumble out the side of the bus as he jumped off for his stop at a pace of about 10 mph. The monument was kind of lame, you just go to say you have been there. We met a nice German girl who was working in a Quito as a nurse and she told us about a crater nearby and supposedly it is the only crater in the world with a village inside of it. We took another bus that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we hiked up to the top of some mountain. The entire crater was filled with clouds and we couldn´t see much...but the clouds moved rapidly and opened up enough for sweeping views of a massive crater surrounded by lush mountains. We took the terrifying bus back and got lost in the city, eating at random food stands all the way back...not sure what it was, but it was good. That night we went out with a diverse group of people: 3 Brits, an Israeli, 3 Swedes, a Belgian, an Irish girl, a Dutch, and an Australian. It is amazing to see how few Americans there are traveling down here...we have been the minority everywhere we have been. Some of the Australians and Swedes have been traveling for over 18 months...makes me feel better about myself.
Saturday we bought tickets to the Ecuador vs Bolivia soccer game. All of us foreigners bought Ecuador jerseys, hats, flags, and face paint and were quite a spectacle. The stadium was almost at its full capacity of 45,000 and was a blast. The crazy (and permanently drunk) Swede, Marko, was leading chants of ¨Si se Puede!!!!!!!¨and trying to teach them the wave. It was definitely an experience....needless to say, the next morning and the 2 hr truck ride to the volcanoe Cotopaxi were a little rough.
Sorry that this is so long, but we have been busy...so get used to it or find a new blog to read! More coming soon.
Dan
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