Cooling off after our hike up the waterfalls
Enjoying the hammocks
View from our jungle lodge in Tena, Ecuador
Matt, wedging his way through the canyon
Yucca juice, made for us by a Quechua familyWednesday, March 25, 2009
More pics from Ecuador
Enjoying the hammocks View from our jungle lodge in Tena, EcuadorMatt, wedging his way through the canyon
Yucca juice, made for us by a Quechua family
Pictures from Ecuador
watch out!!!! there´s an ostrich behind you!!!!!
If only guinea pigs were better pets....we wouldn´t of had to roast them
War paint for our jungle hike
mmmmmm.....guinea pig head!!!!
Baños, EcuadorPeru, Part Two.
Hello from Bolivia! We are in the capital city of La Paz right now, our last day here before heading south, and figured it was time for another update. Only twenty days between posts.. not bad! In the last post, Caroline covered up to our time in Lima, Peru.. so I will continue on from there, and see how far I get before my hands get sore!
Caroline's parents met up with us at a beautiful little bed and breakfast in a suburb outside of Lima- our cab driver had to stop to ask directions three times to find it, but we got there eventually, and it was well worth the drive. Caroline's parents arrived there that evening, and the next day we spent relaxing by the pool, they recovering from the full day of flying the day before. The next morning, the owner of the bed and breakfast drove us into the city, and we caught a bus to a town further down the coast called Paracas. Paracas is a nice little town with a waterfront lined with seafood restaurants- the local specialty is a dish called ceviche, which consists of pieces of raw seafood mixed with red onions and vegetables, served cold. It's extremely popular along the coasts of both Equador and Peru. Paracas is nearby a national park, which is all desert but still has a surprising amount of wildlife living in it, and covers a long area of the coastline and ocean as well, although coming from Canada it's strange to see a national park with absolutely no vegetation! We took a boat the next morning to a group of islands called the Ballestas, around a half hour from the coast. These islands consist of huge rock formations sticking out of the ocean, and the rocks are covered in thousands of seabirds, so many that in some places you can't see the rock beneath them. At the base of the rocks, there are beaches which are covered in gigantic sea lions sunning themselves and rolling around all over the place- we could hear them as we approached the islands. It was quite an amazing sight, the boat drove around the islands and at times pulled up quite close so we could get a better look. That afternoon, we toured the national park. There wasn't too much to see there other than sand, but the coast of the park is mostly high stone cliffs, which provided some incredible views when we weren't rubbing the incessant sand blowing everywhere out of our eyes!
The next day, we took a cab from the town up to the main highway, flagged down a bus, and headed inland to the city of Ica. Just outside of Ica, there is a small town called Huacachina, which is a famous location in Peru (it's featured on the back of the S/50 bill) because it surrounds an oasis in the middle of the desert. We spent some time sitting by the lagoon, which is surrounded by restaraunts, hotels, and a stone walkway. At one time, this area was a resort for Peru's elite class, most of the buildings around the lagoon are colonial in style and have been restored, so it's a beautiful place, although now it is used by families from the nearby city. We hired a dune buggy and driver later in the day, and went for an adrenaline pumping drive through the mountain-sized sand dunes that surround the oasis, and spread out for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. We stopped a few times in the dunes to try "sandboarding", which consists of using a snowboard-like board to slide down the huge dunes, which was kind of scary, but a lot of fun!
The day after, we headed back to Ica and visited a vinyard just outside the city that makes pisco, which is made from grapes in a process similar to wine making, but it is further distilled into a strong, clear liquor. The most popular use of pisco is in the making of the "pisco sour", the national drink of Peru, which is pisco mixed with raw egg white and lime juice, and blended. (They're actually surprisingly good!) We were taken around the vinyard and shown the pisco-making process, and of course did some sampling! After this we headed back into Ica and caught a bus to Nazca, the home of the famous Nazca Lines, and booked a flight over the lines for the next day.
The next morning we waited for our hour-late shuttle to the airport (not an uncommon occurance) and when we finally got there, we boarded a 6 seater light aircraft, and got to see the Nazca Lines as the people who made them never could. It's an amazing sight, even more so because no one knows why the Nazca people made them, or what they mean. We got a great view, because the pilot would circle around each design a few times, but unfortunately this was a little much for those of us who suffer from motion sickness (i.e. Caroline). But even she agrees that it was well worth it. (If you're curious... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines)
The day after we headed back to the coast to the small town of Camana for a day at the beach, where we found a nice little hostel with a pool and a five minute walk to the beach, and we spent the next day reading, relaxing, and soaking up some rays on la mar Pacifico.
After our day at the beach, we hopped on a bus to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. We spent an evening there, and the next day headed to the village of Chivay in the Colca Valley, about four hours away from Arequipa. Chivay is the village nearest the Colca Canyon, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The four of us took a tour first thing in the morning of the canyon, which was unfortunately on that day completly full of clouds, and might as well have been 50 feet deep for all we could tell. But the incredible views of the valley and surrounding mountain ranges and the hike along the edge of the canyon, as well as the visits we made to a couple of indigenous farming settlements in the valley made the tour well worth it.
From Chivay, we booked seats on a bus to the city of Puno, on the western shores of Lake Titicaca. Our hostel had phoned the bus company, reserved seats, and told us that a van would come and pick us up, which we assumed meant to take us to the bus terminal. When the van arrived (three hours late), he proceeded to drive right past the terminal, and all the way to Puno (a six hour drive), which we assume was because they didn't end up getting us seats on the bus, or the bus didn't come, or something like that.. but we ended up having our own van & driver, which was quite nice.
We ended up spending three nights in Puno- we planned to spend two, but were informed on the second day when we went to the bus terminal to buy tickets to Cusco, our next destination, that there was a one day strike (?) affecting the road and that we had to wait until the next day.
The first day that we were there, we went to visit the "floating islands" off the shore of the lake called the Uros, which are exactly that- floating islands made of layer upon layer of the reeds that grow in the shallow parts of the lake. It was quite an experience, we were taken to visit a few of the islands, which have small buildings made from the same reeds that the islands themselves are made of, and communities of the Uros people living on each one. The rest of our time in Puno was spent exploring the streets, which was especially interesting in the evenings, as we happened to be there during Carnival, and the streets were filled with locals celebrating, running around, and spraying these cans of white foam at each other.
We took a bus from Puno to Cusco that stopped at a few places along the way, including a museum and some Inca ruins. We were heading to Cusco primarily as a launching point to visit Macchu Picchu, and the day after we arrived Caroline's parents caught a plane to the town of Puerto Moldonado in the Amazon Basin to spend a few days on a tour of the jungle, and Caroline and I made the arrangements for our trip to Macchu Picchu, which ended up being somewhat complicated. The town at the foot of Macchu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, is accessible only by train. We wanted to arrive into Aguas Calientes in the evening, stay the night there and then head up to Macchu Picchu first thing in the morning and beat the crowds. But, unfortunately for us, the direct train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes only leaves in the mornings, which explains why our guidebook warns that Macchu Picchu gets most crowded between 10:00 and 2:00- that's when the train arrives. We discovered that there is an evening train between the town of Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, so we found a bus company (located in a wooden shack in a gravel lot) that goes to Ollantaytambo and were able to take the evening train from there. So as Caroline's parents explored the jungle, Caroline and I spent the next few days exploring Cusco, which is a beautiful valley city that was once the centre of the Inca empire, and a large portion of the colonial city, built on the ruins of the Inca's, follows the Inca's original city plan, so it's quite unique as a result. When Caroline's parents arrived back from the jungle, we headed on our (hot and crowded) bus to Ollantaytambo and at around 8:30, our 7:00 train to Aguas Calientes left, and a few hours later, we found a hostel, slept for a few hours, and Caroline and I managed to get up at 5:00 the next morning to hike up to the top of Macchu Picchu from the town. Caroline's parents made the civilized (and probably more sane, at 2,500m above sea level) trip up to the top of the mountain on one of the buses that head up and down all day long, and we met them at the top. Macchu Picchu is an incredible sight- no amount of photos can prepare you for the experience of seeing it with your own eyes. Perfectly preserved, only missing the thatched roofs that topped the stone buildings, you can picture a thriving Inca community living there. It's really like stepping back not only into another time, but another world, since it was built before the Incas were aware of the Western civilization that would later discover, and conquer them. We spent most of the day there, and then headed back down to Aguas Calientes to catch our (direct, thankfully) train back to Cusco.
Caroline's parents flew back to Lima the next day, to make their connection back home, and Caroline and I got a bus back to Puno. There, we got on an "international bus" heading to the Bolivian border town of Copacabana, also on the shores of lake Titicaca, and crossed into Bolivia, which is where we are now, and will be for a few more days, before we head to Chile.
Well I think that is a good place to leave it for now, we're going to head back to our hostel and make some dinner before our 8:30p overnight bus to the town of Potosi, which you'll hear about, along with the rest of our Bolivian adventures, on the next post. Hope all is well.. if any of you have a minute, drop us an email and let us know what's going on at home!
-Matt
Caroline's parents met up with us at a beautiful little bed and breakfast in a suburb outside of Lima- our cab driver had to stop to ask directions three times to find it, but we got there eventually, and it was well worth the drive. Caroline's parents arrived there that evening, and the next day we spent relaxing by the pool, they recovering from the full day of flying the day before. The next morning, the owner of the bed and breakfast drove us into the city, and we caught a bus to a town further down the coast called Paracas. Paracas is a nice little town with a waterfront lined with seafood restaurants- the local specialty is a dish called ceviche, which consists of pieces of raw seafood mixed with red onions and vegetables, served cold. It's extremely popular along the coasts of both Equador and Peru. Paracas is nearby a national park, which is all desert but still has a surprising amount of wildlife living in it, and covers a long area of the coastline and ocean as well, although coming from Canada it's strange to see a national park with absolutely no vegetation! We took a boat the next morning to a group of islands called the Ballestas, around a half hour from the coast. These islands consist of huge rock formations sticking out of the ocean, and the rocks are covered in thousands of seabirds, so many that in some places you can't see the rock beneath them. At the base of the rocks, there are beaches which are covered in gigantic sea lions sunning themselves and rolling around all over the place- we could hear them as we approached the islands. It was quite an amazing sight, the boat drove around the islands and at times pulled up quite close so we could get a better look. That afternoon, we toured the national park. There wasn't too much to see there other than sand, but the coast of the park is mostly high stone cliffs, which provided some incredible views when we weren't rubbing the incessant sand blowing everywhere out of our eyes!
The next day, we took a cab from the town up to the main highway, flagged down a bus, and headed inland to the city of Ica. Just outside of Ica, there is a small town called Huacachina, which is a famous location in Peru (it's featured on the back of the S/50 bill) because it surrounds an oasis in the middle of the desert. We spent some time sitting by the lagoon, which is surrounded by restaraunts, hotels, and a stone walkway. At one time, this area was a resort for Peru's elite class, most of the buildings around the lagoon are colonial in style and have been restored, so it's a beautiful place, although now it is used by families from the nearby city. We hired a dune buggy and driver later in the day, and went for an adrenaline pumping drive through the mountain-sized sand dunes that surround the oasis, and spread out for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. We stopped a few times in the dunes to try "sandboarding", which consists of using a snowboard-like board to slide down the huge dunes, which was kind of scary, but a lot of fun!
The day after, we headed back to Ica and visited a vinyard just outside the city that makes pisco, which is made from grapes in a process similar to wine making, but it is further distilled into a strong, clear liquor. The most popular use of pisco is in the making of the "pisco sour", the national drink of Peru, which is pisco mixed with raw egg white and lime juice, and blended. (They're actually surprisingly good!) We were taken around the vinyard and shown the pisco-making process, and of course did some sampling! After this we headed back into Ica and caught a bus to Nazca, the home of the famous Nazca Lines, and booked a flight over the lines for the next day.
The next morning we waited for our hour-late shuttle to the airport (not an uncommon occurance) and when we finally got there, we boarded a 6 seater light aircraft, and got to see the Nazca Lines as the people who made them never could. It's an amazing sight, even more so because no one knows why the Nazca people made them, or what they mean. We got a great view, because the pilot would circle around each design a few times, but unfortunately this was a little much for those of us who suffer from motion sickness (i.e. Caroline). But even she agrees that it was well worth it. (If you're curious... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines)
The day after we headed back to the coast to the small town of Camana for a day at the beach, where we found a nice little hostel with a pool and a five minute walk to the beach, and we spent the next day reading, relaxing, and soaking up some rays on la mar Pacifico.
After our day at the beach, we hopped on a bus to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru. We spent an evening there, and the next day headed to the village of Chivay in the Colca Valley, about four hours away from Arequipa. Chivay is the village nearest the Colca Canyon, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. The four of us took a tour first thing in the morning of the canyon, which was unfortunately on that day completly full of clouds, and might as well have been 50 feet deep for all we could tell. But the incredible views of the valley and surrounding mountain ranges and the hike along the edge of the canyon, as well as the visits we made to a couple of indigenous farming settlements in the valley made the tour well worth it.
From Chivay, we booked seats on a bus to the city of Puno, on the western shores of Lake Titicaca. Our hostel had phoned the bus company, reserved seats, and told us that a van would come and pick us up, which we assumed meant to take us to the bus terminal. When the van arrived (three hours late), he proceeded to drive right past the terminal, and all the way to Puno (a six hour drive), which we assume was because they didn't end up getting us seats on the bus, or the bus didn't come, or something like that.. but we ended up having our own van & driver, which was quite nice.
We ended up spending three nights in Puno- we planned to spend two, but were informed on the second day when we went to the bus terminal to buy tickets to Cusco, our next destination, that there was a one day strike (?) affecting the road and that we had to wait until the next day.
The first day that we were there, we went to visit the "floating islands" off the shore of the lake called the Uros, which are exactly that- floating islands made of layer upon layer of the reeds that grow in the shallow parts of the lake. It was quite an experience, we were taken to visit a few of the islands, which have small buildings made from the same reeds that the islands themselves are made of, and communities of the Uros people living on each one. The rest of our time in Puno was spent exploring the streets, which was especially interesting in the evenings, as we happened to be there during Carnival, and the streets were filled with locals celebrating, running around, and spraying these cans of white foam at each other.
We took a bus from Puno to Cusco that stopped at a few places along the way, including a museum and some Inca ruins. We were heading to Cusco primarily as a launching point to visit Macchu Picchu, and the day after we arrived Caroline's parents caught a plane to the town of Puerto Moldonado in the Amazon Basin to spend a few days on a tour of the jungle, and Caroline and I made the arrangements for our trip to Macchu Picchu, which ended up being somewhat complicated. The town at the foot of Macchu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, is accessible only by train. We wanted to arrive into Aguas Calientes in the evening, stay the night there and then head up to Macchu Picchu first thing in the morning and beat the crowds. But, unfortunately for us, the direct train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes only leaves in the mornings, which explains why our guidebook warns that Macchu Picchu gets most crowded between 10:00 and 2:00- that's when the train arrives. We discovered that there is an evening train between the town of Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, so we found a bus company (located in a wooden shack in a gravel lot) that goes to Ollantaytambo and were able to take the evening train from there. So as Caroline's parents explored the jungle, Caroline and I spent the next few days exploring Cusco, which is a beautiful valley city that was once the centre of the Inca empire, and a large portion of the colonial city, built on the ruins of the Inca's, follows the Inca's original city plan, so it's quite unique as a result. When Caroline's parents arrived back from the jungle, we headed on our (hot and crowded) bus to Ollantaytambo and at around 8:30, our 7:00 train to Aguas Calientes left, and a few hours later, we found a hostel, slept for a few hours, and Caroline and I managed to get up at 5:00 the next morning to hike up to the top of Macchu Picchu from the town. Caroline's parents made the civilized (and probably more sane, at 2,500m above sea level) trip up to the top of the mountain on one of the buses that head up and down all day long, and we met them at the top. Macchu Picchu is an incredible sight- no amount of photos can prepare you for the experience of seeing it with your own eyes. Perfectly preserved, only missing the thatched roofs that topped the stone buildings, you can picture a thriving Inca community living there. It's really like stepping back not only into another time, but another world, since it was built before the Incas were aware of the Western civilization that would later discover, and conquer them. We spent most of the day there, and then headed back down to Aguas Calientes to catch our (direct, thankfully) train back to Cusco.
Caroline's parents flew back to Lima the next day, to make their connection back home, and Caroline and I got a bus back to Puno. There, we got on an "international bus" heading to the Bolivian border town of Copacabana, also on the shores of lake Titicaca, and crossed into Bolivia, which is where we are now, and will be for a few more days, before we head to Chile.
Well I think that is a good place to leave it for now, we're going to head back to our hostel and make some dinner before our 8:30p overnight bus to the town of Potosi, which you'll hear about, along with the rest of our Bolivian adventures, on the next post. Hope all is well.. if any of you have a minute, drop us an email and let us know what's going on at home!
-Matt
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Equador, and then into Peru.
We are alive!
It has now been over a month since our last blog, and I can only attribute this to the ease with which we have fallen into a lazy lifestyle, where even sitting on the computer for an hour seems like too much work. We have been having a wonderful time, and I cannot believe we have already been gone for almost 2 months. We are now in Cusco, Peru. Tomorrow we are taking the train to Agua Calientes, and will spend the next day exploring Machu Picchu, probably with 1000 other gringos. In grade 3 I did a "research" project on Peru, which entailed cutting pictures out of National Geographics and gluing them onto a poster. I therefore have all my life considered myself an expert on Peru.....we'll see if Machu Picchu impresses me.
Alright, my plan is to write a brief description of our trip since we last wrote.....we´ll see if I am able to get up to date. We left the jungle in Ecuador and headed again to the highlands. Ecuador´s train system has been almost completely left in disrepair, due mainly to damage from El Niño and lack of funds for repair. There is however a small stretch which leaves from the city of Riobamba and travels along a length of tracks called "El Nariz Del Diablo" (The Devil´s Nose), which has been maintained as a tourist attraction. It is a series of switchbacks down the side of a mountain, and it is a little bit terrifying, especially since we were "enjoying" the views from the roof of the train!!!. Apparently last year there was a fatality, and the authorities decided it was wiser for all passangers to remain inside the train. However, the conductors decided it would be wiser for them to go around the corner from the train station and then charge everyone an extra $1 to illegally climb up top. Honestly though it was no scarier than the many bus rides we´ve been on in the Andes!
We then decided it was time for some relaxation- you know, travelling can be quite exhausting! We headed to the Ecuadorian coast, visiting the modern city of Guayaquil, the small surfing town of Montañita, and the fishing port Puerto Lopez. We spent about a week lying on the beach with gorgeous weather. Except for some unwanted intestinal cleansing it was wonderful week! We then decided it was time to say goodbye to Ecuador and forge onwards.
I was incredibly intimidated by the thought of crossing the border into Peru. Mainly because of my good friend Lonely Planet, which described it as one of the worst border crossings in South America. It also didn´t help that I had read about how there are still landmines in the area, leftover from a war with Peru. Of course everything worked out fine. It was actually one of the coolest border crossings I´ve ever seen. We had to hop off a bus 3km from the border town to get our exit stamp from Ecuador, then flag down another bus on the side of the highway to get a ride to the border town. From the bus station we had to navigate a busy market street (full of sketchy men with briefcases offering to exchange money) in order to cross "the border", aka a small bridge over a small river, and tada! we were in Peru! We then had to take a moto-taxi (the front half of a motorcycle towing a little cart that holds two people) to the Peruvian cutstoms office, naturally located 2km away from the actual border! It was quite the experience.
Since we had relaxed in a small surfing town in Ecuador, we figured we´d better do the same in Peru, you know to accurately compare cultural differences! We spent two nights in Mancora, were we soaked in the overcast sky, and tried our first Pisco Sour, a tradional Peruvian cocktail. It is made with Pisco (made from distilled grapes), lime, and raw egg whites, delicious!!!!. After a horrible 4 hour wait for a bus in a hot shack, and another 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in the city of Chiclayo, where I proceeded to spend two days sick with a cold watching Dr. Phil! Once I recovered we travelled to the city of Trujillo, and visited some ruins of a temple. I am not really a "ruins" kind of gal, but it was pretty amazing to see the huge temple that was only partially excavated, and over 500 years old. The most incredible part was that every hundred years this culutre would fill in the temple with mud bricks and build a new identical one on top of it. In total there were 5 temples, which proved to be quite annoying for excavation, as to see lower temples they would have to destroy the higher temples.
Then..... it was Matthew´s birthday!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! 27!!!!! What better way to spend a birthday than with an 8 hour bus ride to Lima!!! He survived, and we celebrated by going to a restaurant from the "splurge" section in our Lonely planet, where the waiters serenated him with english and spanish happy birthday, gave him yummy soggy cake, and a mystery shot. I´m sure it was nothing compared to spending the day with his family and friends, but a crackly pay phone and a family on speaker phone had to do. We spent the next day walking around Lima, and even enjoyed some Starbucks coffee, particularily appreciated since Ecuadorians and Peruvains consider instant coffee the norm- gross.
Next stop: Family vacation with my parents! I figured the best way to prevent my parents from trying to discourage me from going on this "dangerous" trip, was to invite them along!!! We have been travelling with them for the past two weeks, and it has been awesome! They have been an invigorating addition to our travels. We have done so much with them in the past two weeks, and I want to make sure I do the experiences justice. I fear that my tired little typing hands would likely gloss over exciting activities, so I will sign off for now. I promise to update again within at least the next two months!!!!! Thank you all for checking out the blog, and hope everything at home is well!!
-Caroline
It has now been over a month since our last blog, and I can only attribute this to the ease with which we have fallen into a lazy lifestyle, where even sitting on the computer for an hour seems like too much work. We have been having a wonderful time, and I cannot believe we have already been gone for almost 2 months. We are now in Cusco, Peru. Tomorrow we are taking the train to Agua Calientes, and will spend the next day exploring Machu Picchu, probably with 1000 other gringos. In grade 3 I did a "research" project on Peru, which entailed cutting pictures out of National Geographics and gluing them onto a poster. I therefore have all my life considered myself an expert on Peru.....we'll see if Machu Picchu impresses me.
Alright, my plan is to write a brief description of our trip since we last wrote.....we´ll see if I am able to get up to date. We left the jungle in Ecuador and headed again to the highlands. Ecuador´s train system has been almost completely left in disrepair, due mainly to damage from El Niño and lack of funds for repair. There is however a small stretch which leaves from the city of Riobamba and travels along a length of tracks called "El Nariz Del Diablo" (The Devil´s Nose), which has been maintained as a tourist attraction. It is a series of switchbacks down the side of a mountain, and it is a little bit terrifying, especially since we were "enjoying" the views from the roof of the train!!!. Apparently last year there was a fatality, and the authorities decided it was wiser for all passangers to remain inside the train. However, the conductors decided it would be wiser for them to go around the corner from the train station and then charge everyone an extra $1 to illegally climb up top. Honestly though it was no scarier than the many bus rides we´ve been on in the Andes!
We then decided it was time for some relaxation- you know, travelling can be quite exhausting! We headed to the Ecuadorian coast, visiting the modern city of Guayaquil, the small surfing town of Montañita, and the fishing port Puerto Lopez. We spent about a week lying on the beach with gorgeous weather. Except for some unwanted intestinal cleansing it was wonderful week! We then decided it was time to say goodbye to Ecuador and forge onwards.
I was incredibly intimidated by the thought of crossing the border into Peru. Mainly because of my good friend Lonely Planet, which described it as one of the worst border crossings in South America. It also didn´t help that I had read about how there are still landmines in the area, leftover from a war with Peru. Of course everything worked out fine. It was actually one of the coolest border crossings I´ve ever seen. We had to hop off a bus 3km from the border town to get our exit stamp from Ecuador, then flag down another bus on the side of the highway to get a ride to the border town. From the bus station we had to navigate a busy market street (full of sketchy men with briefcases offering to exchange money) in order to cross "the border", aka a small bridge over a small river, and tada! we were in Peru! We then had to take a moto-taxi (the front half of a motorcycle towing a little cart that holds two people) to the Peruvian cutstoms office, naturally located 2km away from the actual border! It was quite the experience.
Since we had relaxed in a small surfing town in Ecuador, we figured we´d better do the same in Peru, you know to accurately compare cultural differences! We spent two nights in Mancora, were we soaked in the overcast sky, and tried our first Pisco Sour, a tradional Peruvian cocktail. It is made with Pisco (made from distilled grapes), lime, and raw egg whites, delicious!!!!. After a horrible 4 hour wait for a bus in a hot shack, and another 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in the city of Chiclayo, where I proceeded to spend two days sick with a cold watching Dr. Phil! Once I recovered we travelled to the city of Trujillo, and visited some ruins of a temple. I am not really a "ruins" kind of gal, but it was pretty amazing to see the huge temple that was only partially excavated, and over 500 years old. The most incredible part was that every hundred years this culutre would fill in the temple with mud bricks and build a new identical one on top of it. In total there were 5 temples, which proved to be quite annoying for excavation, as to see lower temples they would have to destroy the higher temples.
Then..... it was Matthew´s birthday!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! 27!!!!! What better way to spend a birthday than with an 8 hour bus ride to Lima!!! He survived, and we celebrated by going to a restaurant from the "splurge" section in our Lonely planet, where the waiters serenated him with english and spanish happy birthday, gave him yummy soggy cake, and a mystery shot. I´m sure it was nothing compared to spending the day with his family and friends, but a crackly pay phone and a family on speaker phone had to do. We spent the next day walking around Lima, and even enjoyed some Starbucks coffee, particularily appreciated since Ecuadorians and Peruvains consider instant coffee the norm- gross.
Next stop: Family vacation with my parents! I figured the best way to prevent my parents from trying to discourage me from going on this "dangerous" trip, was to invite them along!!! We have been travelling with them for the past two weeks, and it has been awesome! They have been an invigorating addition to our travels. We have done so much with them in the past two weeks, and I want to make sure I do the experiences justice. I fear that my tired little typing hands would likely gloss over exciting activities, so I will sign off for now. I promise to update again within at least the next two months!!!!! Thank you all for checking out the blog, and hope everything at home is well!!
-Caroline
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