Whilst traveling South America one invariably learns that, after visiting Machu Picchu, other destinations struggle to live up. I just spent the last two days on a tour of Colca Canyon, apparently the second deepest canyon in the world (twice deeper than the Grand Canyon) and, while undeniably beautiful, it was underwhelming. The tour, in fact, was quite shitty, but I met good people in the group and we had a pretty good time.
Working backwards: after Machu Picchu I spent a few more excellent days in Cusco before making my way to the barren wasteland of Arequipa, in which I currently find myself. One day in particular, Sunday, was probably my favorite day of the trip thus far. Sunday was Carnaval in Cusco which, as far as I could tell, means that Cusqueños spend the day throwing water balloons, spray paint and a colorful chalk-like substance at each other. Of course I had to get involved. Along with about 7 friends from the hostel, we set out to wreak havoc on the city of Cusco. We bought upwards of 1,000 water balloons, spent a good few hours filling them up and then hit the streets. The one ground rule was that, generally speaking, it was Men v. Women, in an epic battle royale. The day was extremely fun and competitive (I got into one particularly nasty battle with some other gringa and, judging by the water-balloon sized welt on her stomach, I'm pretty sure I won) and we spent close to 5 hours running around the city acting like children. I threw one balloon into a taxi whose windows were down and the driver wasn't too pleased. He skidded to a halt, got out of the car and started chasing me around the block. Naturally, I ran. When he eventually caught up to me (I was wearing flip flops and didn't want to fall!) I pulled the 'no entiendo' card and got away from trouble. Despite the deep sunburn on my shoulders, I had a wonderful time and will remember that day for a long time.
Back to now. I am planning on jumping on a bus to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca tomorrow, where I will bum around and over the Bolivian border for about 5 days before hopefully meeting Julie in La Paz. The excellent bus company I was hoping to take, Cruz del Sur, is booked full until Sunday so I'm going to take my chances on another, supposedly lesser company. I've recently heard plenty of horror stories about South American busses and their passenger's sticky fingers, so I'll be clinging to my bags most carefully. Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake (I think), is supposed to be breathtaking, so hopefully my camera will be able to do it justice and I'll be able to share these crazy experiences with you all soon. Finally, I'm currently trying to set my schedule for the rest of the trip to get the most enjoyment out of every stop before finally heading home to graduate and start my job. Of course, there's a greater than good chance that I'll be preemptively laid-off. But it's ok - Noah and I have a recession plan. If I lose my offer and he, his job, we'll spend the year traveling Southeastern Asia (on his dime, of course) before getting serious again about real life. I'm not sure which option I'm rooting for!
Anyways, that's all for now. I hope everyone is well and please email me! There are points on this trip during which I really miss the familiar faces of my friends and family, and just hearing from you is usually enough to placate the homesickness. Ciao!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Machu Picchu WITHOUT a Tour Company
Ever since I started planning, thinking about and doing this trip I have had trouble figuring out what to do about Machu Picchu, the ancient spiritual capital of the Incan empire. It appeared that I was going to have to book an expensive, 4 day/3 night tour trip, and I was prepared for that. But then something happened that changed my perspective on the whole tour company thing. The first full day I was here, as I mentioned, I went on a guided horseback trip with the Argentinians. But there always seemed to be something - the guide would surprise with a new wrinkle in the trip we weren't anticipating - usually something annoying. Luckily, after we got back, we were walking with a guy who works at the hostel and he told us of the 'screw the tour companies' way of doing Machu Picchu, the way that the government officials and tourist operaters try to tell you is too dangerous so you'll buy their overpriced trips. Before I describe it, just a quick anecdote from two nights ago, our last night in Cusco before embarking on this crazy trip. We were in a supermarket buying some last minute snacks when an orthodox looking man walks in to do some similar shopping. He was standing right behind me in line so I managed to get a real good look at him, at which point I decided that not only was he orthodox, he was a Rabbi. As we were walking out of the store I decided to ask him where I could go for Shabbat. Turns out, oddly enough, he wasn't even Jewish! I think the Kippah confused me. I had gotten in touch with the Chabad here but, disappointingly, they are in Israel until March. Anyways, he did know quite a bit about the Jewish presence in Cusco and was able to point me in a general direction, so when I get back tomorrow morning I'll go on the prowl.
The next morning we awoke around 7 to buy a few last minute things and then take a cab to the bus terminal, Terminal Santiago. We soon found out that 'terminal' was far too generous a word. All the official, legitimate buses were full until late in the afternoon and we really had to get out of Cusco early since we were anticipating quite a long day. Eventually we managed to band together with a bunch of Chilean kids, forming a bit of bargaining power, and renting a van for the 10 of us (it was a 9 person van). The following 7 hours consisted of bouncing around the most ridiculously windy and undermaintained roads you can imagine, but at the same time it was one of the most beautiful and exhilirating experiences I can remember (plus, one perk of being tall - South Americans are generally small people so they automatically gave me the front seat for the entire ride). The van first took us to Santa Maria where we had to jump into another van headed towards Santa Teresa and, eventually, this thing called the Hidroelectrico. After lots of haggling and bickering, we finally arrived at the Hidroelectrico, some sort of electric station, where a train track towards Aguas Calientes, AKA Pueblo Machu Picchu, the town from which the last leg of each and every Machu Picchu expedition commences, began. We had been told that this was the coolest part of the trip - the unguided, 2.5 hour walk along the train tracks (don't worry Mom, the trains were done for the day) to Aguas. It took quite a while but when we finally arrived we were ecstatic. It got dark about halfway through the trek so we made full use of our flashlights. The town is a cute, yet overly touristy place and yet we were somehow able to find a hostel room for 4 bucks a pop.
The next day (which is now this morning) we woke up at 4:30am to buy a bus ticket up to Machu Picchu. We had been planning to walk this leg of the trip but it's a pretty hard walk and we wanted to conserve our energy for the actual mountain. We managed to get up to the entrance at 6am and had to immediately run to the other side of the ruins to get our passes to Wayna Picchu, the mountain part of Machu Picchu, for which there is a daily, 400 person limit. After getting the tickets we embarked on our tour of the ruins. The place is a lot bigger and a lot more beautiful than you'd imagine. It's incredible how well these ruins have been preserved - the Incas were awe-inspiringly sophisticated for theirs or any era and their architecture, construction capabilities and creativity are all astounding. When I get back to Cusco I'll try to upload the pictures somewhere and I'll let you know how to see them - I took so many pictures so set aside a nice chunk of time! You'll be happy you did. Unfortunately, it started to get really hot and I decided not to partake in the Wayna Picchu part of the experience, which entails an extremely steep 1 hour hike each way, during which, our guide explained, seven people died last year. My Argentinian buddies are better men than I, however, and climbed the mountain. While they were up there I decided that I had had enough and made my way down back to Aguas Calientes, from which I am writing right now. This whole experience has been incredible - I had been dreaming about visiting Machu Picchu ever since Mr. Dobrick taught us about it in 10th grade history class, and now I can officially say I have done it. I'll be honest, though, and say that the site is swarming with tourists, even though this is the supposed low season, and that partially diminishes the experience. Either way, I'm glad I did it and now I'm ready to head back to Cusco and continue on with my trip. I'm not sure if I want to go to Arequipa or to Puerto Maldonado. The former is a beautiful city in Southern Peru and the latter is the closest major place at which I can visit the Amazons. Two radically different options, and I can only do one (that's not actually true, but it sounds much more dramatic that way). If anyone knows or has any input, I'd love to hear it! Otherwise, I'll check in soon with some pictures!
The next morning we awoke around 7 to buy a few last minute things and then take a cab to the bus terminal, Terminal Santiago. We soon found out that 'terminal' was far too generous a word. All the official, legitimate buses were full until late in the afternoon and we really had to get out of Cusco early since we were anticipating quite a long day. Eventually we managed to band together with a bunch of Chilean kids, forming a bit of bargaining power, and renting a van for the 10 of us (it was a 9 person van). The following 7 hours consisted of bouncing around the most ridiculously windy and undermaintained roads you can imagine, but at the same time it was one of the most beautiful and exhilirating experiences I can remember (plus, one perk of being tall - South Americans are generally small people so they automatically gave me the front seat for the entire ride). The van first took us to Santa Maria where we had to jump into another van headed towards Santa Teresa and, eventually, this thing called the Hidroelectrico. After lots of haggling and bickering, we finally arrived at the Hidroelectrico, some sort of electric station, where a train track towards Aguas Calientes, AKA Pueblo Machu Picchu, the town from which the last leg of each and every Machu Picchu expedition commences, began. We had been told that this was the coolest part of the trip - the unguided, 2.5 hour walk along the train tracks (don't worry Mom, the trains were done for the day) to Aguas. It took quite a while but when we finally arrived we were ecstatic. It got dark about halfway through the trek so we made full use of our flashlights. The town is a cute, yet overly touristy place and yet we were somehow able to find a hostel room for 4 bucks a pop.
The next day (which is now this morning) we woke up at 4:30am to buy a bus ticket up to Machu Picchu. We had been planning to walk this leg of the trip but it's a pretty hard walk and we wanted to conserve our energy for the actual mountain. We managed to get up to the entrance at 6am and had to immediately run to the other side of the ruins to get our passes to Wayna Picchu, the mountain part of Machu Picchu, for which there is a daily, 400 person limit. After getting the tickets we embarked on our tour of the ruins. The place is a lot bigger and a lot more beautiful than you'd imagine. It's incredible how well these ruins have been preserved - the Incas were awe-inspiringly sophisticated for theirs or any era and their architecture, construction capabilities and creativity are all astounding. When I get back to Cusco I'll try to upload the pictures somewhere and I'll let you know how to see them - I took so many pictures so set aside a nice chunk of time! You'll be happy you did. Unfortunately, it started to get really hot and I decided not to partake in the Wayna Picchu part of the experience, which entails an extremely steep 1 hour hike each way, during which, our guide explained, seven people died last year. My Argentinian buddies are better men than I, however, and climbed the mountain. While they were up there I decided that I had had enough and made my way down back to Aguas Calientes, from which I am writing right now. This whole experience has been incredible - I had been dreaming about visiting Machu Picchu ever since Mr. Dobrick taught us about it in 10th grade history class, and now I can officially say I have done it. I'll be honest, though, and say that the site is swarming with tourists, even though this is the supposed low season, and that partially diminishes the experience. Either way, I'm glad I did it and now I'm ready to head back to Cusco and continue on with my trip. I'm not sure if I want to go to Arequipa or to Puerto Maldonado. The former is a beautiful city in Southern Peru and the latter is the closest major place at which I can visit the Amazons. Two radically different options, and I can only do one (that's not actually true, but it sounds much more dramatic that way). If anyone knows or has any input, I'd love to hear it! Otherwise, I'll check in soon with some pictures!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Farting Horses
Hey everyone,
I don't have a ton of time so I'll just write a (relatively) quick update! I arrived in Cusco early yesterday afternoon and have been having a really good time so far. My first Cusco experience was pretty unique. I got picked up from the airport by someone at my hostel and had the window rolled down. Just as we were arriving at the hostel, a girl ran over to the car and threw a water balloon in my face! Apparently this is the usual pre-Carnaval ritiual (I don't know if they target tourists or not) and I completely loved it. In fact, it took a while for me to convince the driver that it wasn't a big deal - he had gotten out of the car and started yelling at the girl ("I have a tourist in here!"). I walked into the hostel, checked in and met my roommate - an Argentinian named Agustin - who I immediately went walking around with. It turns out he is here with a friend and I've become friendly with them both. They definitely have the Argentine player thing down to a tee, so hanging out has been interesting, but they're sweet guys underneath the machismo. We went out to town last night and had a decent time with a few other tourists we met. It would have been better if I actually enjoyed dancing!
Today we went on a tour of the ruins in the immediate surroundings of Cusco. For a bit of background, Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire back in the day, before the Spaniards came and laid waste to everything. There are tons of ruins in the area, most notably Machu Picchu, and we went around on horseback seeing some of them. My favorite of the day was Sacsayhuaman (AKA Sexy Woman) and the horse riding was pretty fun, if terrifying and smelly. Finally, we figured out the best way(or, at least, a way) to do Machu Picchu - we are planning to go on our own, without a tour, on our own schedule, in a way that was absolutely verified as safe...by the guy who works in our hostel. In a turn of events, we're going tomorrow. I should be back in town Friday morning and I'm hoping to find some Israelis to spend shabbat with!
I've already taken tons of photos, planning on an epic picture taking trip these next couple days and I will soon be able to tell you whether Machu Picchu lives up to the hype! Be in touch amigos.
I don't have a ton of time so I'll just write a (relatively) quick update! I arrived in Cusco early yesterday afternoon and have been having a really good time so far. My first Cusco experience was pretty unique. I got picked up from the airport by someone at my hostel and had the window rolled down. Just as we were arriving at the hostel, a girl ran over to the car and threw a water balloon in my face! Apparently this is the usual pre-Carnaval ritiual (I don't know if they target tourists or not) and I completely loved it. In fact, it took a while for me to convince the driver that it wasn't a big deal - he had gotten out of the car and started yelling at the girl ("I have a tourist in here!"). I walked into the hostel, checked in and met my roommate - an Argentinian named Agustin - who I immediately went walking around with. It turns out he is here with a friend and I've become friendly with them both. They definitely have the Argentine player thing down to a tee, so hanging out has been interesting, but they're sweet guys underneath the machismo. We went out to town last night and had a decent time with a few other tourists we met. It would have been better if I actually enjoyed dancing!
Today we went on a tour of the ruins in the immediate surroundings of Cusco. For a bit of background, Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire back in the day, before the Spaniards came and laid waste to everything. There are tons of ruins in the area, most notably Machu Picchu, and we went around on horseback seeing some of them. My favorite of the day was Sacsayhuaman (AKA Sexy Woman) and the horse riding was pretty fun, if terrifying and smelly. Finally, we figured out the best way(or, at least, a way) to do Machu Picchu - we are planning to go on our own, without a tour, on our own schedule, in a way that was absolutely verified as safe...by the guy who works in our hostel. In a turn of events, we're going tomorrow. I should be back in town Friday morning and I'm hoping to find some Israelis to spend shabbat with!
I've already taken tons of photos, planning on an epic picture taking trip these next couple days and I will soon be able to tell you whether Machu Picchu lives up to the hype! Be in touch amigos.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Freeflowing Conversation Which Occasionally Touches on Mature Subjects
So much to share, I'm just gonna jump right into it:
I landed in Quito around 7:30 on Wednesday night expecting someone to pick me up at the airport. Didn't happen. Like an idiot, I waited at the airport for a good two hours waiting for this mysterious person who never showed before giving up and taking my own cab. I got to the hostel and really liked it. It's in a great spot in old town Quito and has a really cool balcony overlooking the entire city. Just before bed I met a group of Canadian kids who invited me to tag along with them the next day, which I did. First we went to Teleferico, the world's highest cable car, ascending to an astonishing 4100 meters. Quito itself, by the way, lies at a cool 2850 meters. Anyone with experience with altitude would tell you to take it easy the first day or two in high altitude. Not I - the cable car was the first thing I did here and I was definitely feeling the effects (shortness of breath, lack of energy). Either way, the views were incredible and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Next we went to the 'Center of the World', an overly-touristy area which houses the supposed equator line. Apparently it isn't the true equator line, but we can forgive that. Anyways, it was really nice to spend the day with these guys but it did make me realize why I'm very happy to be traveling alone. Being able to do what I want without regard for anyone else's whims is going to be really nice!
The next day I spent walking around old town Quito and then hanging out at night with more people at the hostel. The city is really quite beautiful and interesting too. The hostel is in old town, which has tons of great churches and squares and old narrow streets, but the new town, not 20 minutes on foot from here, is completely modern and has some very trendy places to walk around. I think I've learned my way around pretty well and I'm pretty excited about that. I also visited a great museum of an artist named Oswaldo Guayasamin (cool guy - check him out) whose stuff was pretty haunting and interesting. He was, apparently, very sympathetic to the plight of the Latin American indigenous and his pieces reflected not just different aspects of their story but also human suffering at large. Finally, last night I went out to dinner with the Canadian kids to this great Indian restaurant (of course) before saying goodbye to them since they left this morning. A couple of the day trips I tried to plan didn't quite work out and I have spent the whole time in Quito, but I'm nevertheless pleased with the experience and happy I got to see at least some of Ecuador. I'm flying to Cuzco, Peru tomorrow and I'm really excited to see a new country and have a recent experience with which to compare it.
Traveling alone has been pretty good so far. What they say is true: it's extremely easy to meet people and have a good time. It could be that I simply chose a great hostel, but I haven't ever really been alone (except when I chose to be - exploring a new city alone on foot is actually pretty awesome) and/or bored. I've met a ton of other travelers who either have done what I'm about to do or soon will, which is extremely helpful for planning. I definitely get the sense that I'm sort of cheating by flying to Cuzco, but whatever - I don't want to spend my entire trip on a bus!
Keep the emails coming and I'll check in from Cuzco!
I landed in Quito around 7:30 on Wednesday night expecting someone to pick me up at the airport. Didn't happen. Like an idiot, I waited at the airport for a good two hours waiting for this mysterious person who never showed before giving up and taking my own cab. I got to the hostel and really liked it. It's in a great spot in old town Quito and has a really cool balcony overlooking the entire city. Just before bed I met a group of Canadian kids who invited me to tag along with them the next day, which I did. First we went to Teleferico, the world's highest cable car, ascending to an astonishing 4100 meters. Quito itself, by the way, lies at a cool 2850 meters. Anyone with experience with altitude would tell you to take it easy the first day or two in high altitude. Not I - the cable car was the first thing I did here and I was definitely feeling the effects (shortness of breath, lack of energy). Either way, the views were incredible and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Next we went to the 'Center of the World', an overly-touristy area which houses the supposed equator line. Apparently it isn't the true equator line, but we can forgive that. Anyways, it was really nice to spend the day with these guys but it did make me realize why I'm very happy to be traveling alone. Being able to do what I want without regard for anyone else's whims is going to be really nice!
The next day I spent walking around old town Quito and then hanging out at night with more people at the hostel. The city is really quite beautiful and interesting too. The hostel is in old town, which has tons of great churches and squares and old narrow streets, but the new town, not 20 minutes on foot from here, is completely modern and has some very trendy places to walk around. I think I've learned my way around pretty well and I'm pretty excited about that. I also visited a great museum of an artist named Oswaldo Guayasamin (cool guy - check him out) whose stuff was pretty haunting and interesting. He was, apparently, very sympathetic to the plight of the Latin American indigenous and his pieces reflected not just different aspects of their story but also human suffering at large. Finally, last night I went out to dinner with the Canadian kids to this great Indian restaurant (of course) before saying goodbye to them since they left this morning. A couple of the day trips I tried to plan didn't quite work out and I have spent the whole time in Quito, but I'm nevertheless pleased with the experience and happy I got to see at least some of Ecuador. I'm flying to Cuzco, Peru tomorrow and I'm really excited to see a new country and have a recent experience with which to compare it.
Traveling alone has been pretty good so far. What they say is true: it's extremely easy to meet people and have a good time. It could be that I simply chose a great hostel, but I haven't ever really been alone (except when I chose to be - exploring a new city alone on foot is actually pretty awesome) and/or bored. I've met a ton of other travelers who either have done what I'm about to do or soon will, which is extremely helpful for planning. I definitely get the sense that I'm sort of cheating by flying to Cuzco, but whatever - I don't want to spend my entire trip on a bus!
Keep the emails coming and I'll check in from Cuzco!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Leaving on a Jetplane!
Hello everybody!
I know it's been a little while since I've written, but today - the
day I leave for the Big Trip - seems as good as any. I got back from Costa Rica nearly two weeks ago and immediately started neglecting my responsibilities and necessary planning for this trip. Becky flew to Florida and we spent five wonderful days together here, including a trip to Naples to watch the superbowl with my grandparents (go steelers!!). After she left I only had one and a half days before leaving again, this time for North Carolina to compete in the Wake Forest marketing summit with Akiva and Avi. We didn't exactly take the competition too seriously, but we had a very nice time, especially once the presentation was over! I landed back in Florida late Sunday night, just over two full days before the next leg of my trip, when my lack of preparation and the enormity of still-unfulfilledl tasks truly hit me. In the past two days, with the help of my wonderful parents, I've:
• Bought a backpack
• Realized that I booked an overly ambitious trip, trying to cover
enormous distances in impossibly short times, and therefore booked a
series of connecting flights to help me along the way
• Tried packing only to discover my pack was too small
• Bought a new backpack
• Spent endless hours trying to form some sort of itinerary
I could not have done this without my parents, not even close. These are all things that any responsible person would have had taken care of well ahead of time. Thank you guys so much!
So here I am, sitting in Miami airport awaiting my flight to Quito. Overall, I'm extremely excited for the trip, but I also feel that this is at once both sad and uplifting. After saying goodbye to my mom and Marni at the airport, which was more emotional for me than I expected, I took a few minutes to collect myself and then headed through security. In many ways this feels like the same strange combination of emotions I've been having trouble dealing with (or, at least understanding) for the past several months. There's an interesting balance between trying to have these incredibly unique experiences and not wanting to leave the people and places that you love and with whom you feel comfortable. I'll try to avoid rambling but this is a time in my life without much stability - which, on the one hand is incredibly rare and valuable and, on the other, totally scary - and never has the difficulty of this balance been more obvious to me. I don't really know what I'm talking about, to be honest, but I just wanted to say that, though I'm far away traveling the world, y'all are not far from my mind..
Please, everyone, be in email touch. I can't wait to hear from you and see you all when I get back!
UPDATE: in the interest of journalistic integrity, I think it's important to note that there was no Internet in the Miami airport so I posted this as soon as I was able to connect in Ecuador.
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