Quotation of the Day

I came across this quotation before I left on my journey to Peru, and I want to share it with you:

"Travel is always a risk. It's about curiosity leading you to places you don't know, just to have the knowledge of what lies beyond, a knowledge you keep for the rest of your life."

- John Healm

My New Hometown: Washington DC

I've been in DC for 24 hours now, and I'm pretty sure I like it.

Right now, I'm focused on finding a place to live - apartment hunting all day. I can't wait to be settled in and have a place to call home after being homeless for the past two months and traveling (living out of a backpack).

P.S. I forgot how hot it is in the summer in the South. =P

Culture Shock

After being in Peru (a third world country) for the past month, I am experiencing culture shock upon returning to the US.

• I find myself thinking in Spanish and wanting to initiate conversations in Spanish.
  
• Sticker shock - Everything is so expensive here. Example: $4 Starbucks coffee. In Peru, $4 would buy me a delicious meal. Another example: $10 taxi rides. In Peru, most taxi rides were $1 or $2.
  
• Luxurious and big cars and buildings. Everything is new.
  
• Being able to flush toilet paper.
  
• Not having to worry about eating/drinking unclean things.

Although I've come back with a new view of American life, I am happy to be back because it is a good quality of life and everything is familiar to me. But, I do miss the beauty of the Andes Mountains.

Peru in Review

Looking back on my last month in Peru, I feel very accomplished - I've done a lot in the last four weeks:

• Explored the capital city of Lima
  
• Wondered around the cobblestone streets of my favorite Peruvian city - Cuzco
  
• Hiked and camped (trekked) for four days along the Salcantay Trek to Machu Picchu
  
• Enjoyed wonderful food and nightlife with new friends
  
• Visited the floating islands of Lake Titicaca
  
• Spent a night with a local family in their adobe (mud brick) guest house on Lake Titicaca's largest island (pretty small without roads or cars)
  
• Wondered around St. Catherine's Monestary in Arequipa (a walled city within a city)
• Watched the condors soar over the world's deepest canyon (Colca Canyon)
• Went sandboarding on huge sand dunes in the Peruvian desert
  
• Tasted wine at artesian vineyards in Peru's wine country
  
• Cruised on the Amazon River
  
• Relaxed in a hammock on the balcony of my bungalow in the Amazon Rainforest
  
• Paraglided along Lima's cliffs
  
• Enjoyed fresh ceviche, long walks on the beach, and my first surfing lesson in Peru's beach resort town of Mancora.

All by myself (with myself).

A truly incredible experience. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to escape reality for a while and live a free, adventourous lifestyle for a month in South America.

Fuel for my soul...

Thank God for Azithromycin!

Today was the downer of my trip... I woke up early for a daytrip of horseback riding, swimming in waterfall pools, and a mudbath in the hot springs... Then reality hit: nausea, abdominal pain, and upset stomach. I canceled my trip and spent the whole day in bed. :(

I waited a few hours before taking the antibiotic the doctor gave me (hoping it would pass), but couldn´t take feeling like total crap anymore, so gave in and took the Azithromycin (antibiotic for travelers diarrhea caused by several kinds of bacteria). More sleeping, and by 6pm I felt better.

Honestly, I don´t know what I would have done without the Azithromycin - lifesaver!

Lesson learned: never travel to a 3rd world country without Azithromycin.

Máncora - Peru´s Beach Resort Town

I made it! After 16 hours on a bus from Lima (with reclining seats and watching movies in Spanish - Monster-in-Law, Flight Plan, and Harry Potter), I arrived in the small beach town of Máncora (see that accent above the ´a´? I´ve figured out how to use the keyboards here... there are some extra characters like: ç, ö, ñ, and ¿).

I took a motortaxi to my hotel (Casa de Playa), which is outside of town... a little more relaxed and quiet.











After checking in, I went for a walk on the beach





and then had fruit salad and coffee on the dining terrace of my hotel.



Promptly followed by a relaxing nap in the hammock on my balcony. Ahhhh.... it was so nice to have nothing to do but relax... nowhere to go.

Eventually, I made my way back into town and walked on the beach in the main area.



Then I had some fresh ceviche and a beer for lunch. And took a motortaxi back to my hotel, went for another walk on the beach, and a swim in the pool.

I watched the sunset.





After showering, I was reading a book in my hammock, when my neighbor came over and introduced himself - Geir from Norway. He and his two friends are on summer vacation visiting Venezuela and Peru. They invited me to join them for dinner, so the four of us went out for sushi and to check out Mancora´s nightlife - which is basically a few open air bars along the main street, the Panamerican Highway that runs along the west coast of South America. It was a bit strange to be in a bar and then see 18-wheelers speed by.

Tomorrow my Norwegian friends are leaving, and I don´t have anything planned... which means another lazy day at the beach. On Sunday, I´m going to do a day trip on horseback to some waterfalls and hot springs. Should be fun!

Ahhh.... it´s nice to be at the beach! Perfect way to end my trip. :)

A Chill Day in Lima

Today there was a nationwide farmers strike, and I was told that transportation wouldn´t be running... so I delayed my bus to Mancora (the famous beach resort/surfing town on Peru´s northern shore) by one day.

I made good use of my day by relaxing and having a slow day. I had breakfast at my hotel and then did some laundry in my bathroom sink. Then I went to the neighborhood of San Isildro and had a (desperately needed) manicure and pedicure - a girl´s gotta get ready for the beach! Then, I had lunch at the first restaurant I ate at in Lima - Segundo Muelle (the ceviche is so good, I wanted to eat there again). I ate upstairs outside on the terrace - surprisingly, the sun was out today!



Then I walked around the neighborhood a bit and went to Cruz del Sur luxury bus company to buy my bus ticket to Mancora for tomorrow (18 hours on a bus!). At least the seats recline into a bed and food will be served - like a plane ride.

Then I went to the cliffs of Lima´s trendy neighborhood Miraflores...





... for some paragliding (tandem, of course)!











After paragliding, I went to Larco Mar mall I visited on my first day in Lima (that´s built into the cliff), and had some parmasian scallops and a beer.





Then I walked back to my hotel to check e-mail and update this blog. Now I´m off to have dinner with my new friends from Portland, Liz & Andy, who are living and working in Lima for six months. Mmmm... more yummy Peruvian food!

Ciao!

Iquitos

Yesterday I flew from Lima to Iquitos - a city located on the Amazon River in the jungle reachable only by air or boat.



I had a window seat again. We flew over the Andes Mountains...



And into the jungle...



The rivers look like snakes.



We landed in Iquitos - which was founded in the early 1900`s as a boom city due to the rubber industry. Yes, it´s humid here in the jungle... but being that I`m from Alabama, I´m used to it.

The airport was pretty small... Here´s a picture of the guy unloading the checked luggage and putting it on the convayer belt.





I took a taxi to my hotel.





There are lots of motorcars here - motorcycles with a seating place in the back. They are loud/noisy and there`s lots of exhaust (pollution).

I checked into my hotel (with air conditioning - oh yah, livin` large).



There`s a good view of the Amazon river and rooftops of the city on the roof terrace of my hotel.



I walked along the side of the Amazon River...







And went to the Yellow Rose of Texas for some BBQ and a beer in honor of July 4th. This is the closest to America I could get in the Amazon jungle in Peru. There were a few other Americans here, so we chatted about Iquitos for a bit.



The chicken and onion rings were delicious! The onion rings here are a bit different... more doughy than flakey... just the way I like it!



And the bar inside had saddles as the seats. Haha.

Then I walked around the Plaza de Armas.



And down the main shopping street.

I got some peanut (yummy) and chocolate ice cream.



And there wasn´t much else to do, so I went to the movie theatre and saw Kung Fu Panda in Spanish (I was able to follow the movie, but couldn´t understand every word - about 65% of what the characters said).

Then I went back to my room and relaxed a bit in the air conditioning and watched some TV. I had dinner at Antica Pizzeria on the 2nd floor overlooking the street below.

This morning I headed to Belen at 7AM - the local marketplace. On my way, I stopped to get some fresh squeezed orange juice ($.30).



And at the entrance to the market, I had a tamale that was wrapped in banana leaf.

Further into the marketplace, there are shacks floating on the Amazon river. Unfortunately, the water was too low, so the shacks were just sitting on the dried river bed.





I must admit that there were a few times walking around this shanty town of Belen when I didn´t feel safe. This part of town is very poor and I was the only tourist in the area... so I didn´t stay here long and made my way back to the main street.

There are far less tourist here in Iquitos than on the Gringo Trail (the path I`ve been on for the last two weeks - Machu Picchu and the surrounding areas). It´s cool to visit Iquitos, but there´s really not much here (I read that there´s a nice butterfly farm close to town, but I don´t have time to visit it). I think most tourists stay here for a day before heading out onto the Amazon River to their lodge/trek into the Jungle.

Today at 1PM I´m meeting the owner of the lodge I´m going to for the next 4 days (Refugio Antiplano). This place was recommended by some new American friends in Lima. It is owned and operated by a man from Michigan. I´m really looking forward to being in the jungle... hiking, kayaking, exploring, relaxing in a hammock, seeing monkeys, birds, snakes, pink dolphins, and the flora and fauna, and I may even go for a swim in the Amazon River. My friends from Lima spent their nights in a tree house... I hope I get to sleep in a tree house too! And I can´t wait to hear all the noises the jungle makes at night. I´ll make a video recording of the sounds for sure.

Now I´m off to get a bit to eat before leaving for the lodge. You won´t hear from me for a few days because I´ll be out in the jungle!

Hasta luego.

Huacachina - An Oasis in the Middle of the Peruvian Desert

Yesterday after returning from my 2 day tour of Colca Canyon a few hours outside of Arequipa, I had dinner with a friend of a friend, Santiago, at the Chinese restaurant recommended by Eduardo. Good food and great conversation! Santiago works in marketing for an international textile company - something I´m interested in for the next stage of my career. Again - more evidence that things happen for a reason (example here: I met a friend in NYC (Jennifer) who introduced me to her friend Taiane, who introduced me to her friend Santiago in Arequipa, who works in the industry that I´m interested in!).

After dinner, I took an overnight bus (11 hours) to Huacachina - a very small town on an oasis/lagoon surrounded by high sanddunes in the desert. Huacachina is pictured on the back of Peru´s 50 nuevo sol bill.



The bus seat reclined and looked like a first class seat on an airplane.



The place I had reservations to stay at was a total dump. The room smelled like mildew, I didn´t want to step into the bathroom, and I was unsure about the sheets and bed. So I promptly left and went to the nicest, most expensive hotel in Huacachina. I am paying more than I`d like ($55), but after the last few days I really want a decent place to relax. There is a TV in my room and a very nice terrace restaurant overlooking the lagoon.





There are also turtles walking around the courtyard of my hotel.



I used the hotel computer to complete the rest of my arrangements for the last two weeks of my trip (hotel reservations and my flight to Iquitos). Then I had lunch by the lagoon.



And booked an afternoon dunebuggie ride and sandboarding! I had a couple hours to kill before the dunebuggy ride, so I went to the hotel pool.



Then went on the dunebuggy ride!



The desert is beautiful! I´ve never seen anything like it before.









And I did some sandboarding, which I thought was harder than snowboarding - different textures and took some getting used to. I have video of me sliding on the board on my stomach, but I´m unable to post it now (I also have video of the dunebuggie ride - which was wild and lots of fun).



Here´s a picture of another person going down a sanddune on his stomach.



After that I went back to my hotel and took a long, hot shower (ahhhhh). Seriously - there was sand everywhere, even in my zipped up pockets. And I did some laundry in my bathroom sink too.

After I was refreshed, I had dinner on the terrace restaurent of my hotel overlooking the lagoon.

What a good (and long) day!

Up next: Ica´s vineyards.