Joy Meets World

Cochabamba, home to the largest Jesus statue in the world!

July 20, 2014

As in every South American city, we headed to a market the following day, but it wasn’t a market we were expecting. I thought they would be selling more indigenous items but it was more westernized things. On our way to the market we heard a lot of loud noises on the street, which we later learned were university students rioting. They were throwing tear gas and lighting trash cans on fire throughout the city. Thankfully, we were far enough away from the action. After the market we walked to the Cristo de la Concordia, a statue of Christ modeled after the one in Rio but taller, therefore making it the largest Jesus statue in the world. On our search for saltenas (a pastry filled with a spicy, juicy stew of either meat or chicken with vegetables, olives, and a hard-boiled egg) we found an outdoor market that we explored before heading back to the hostel. We headed to the bus station where we thought we would catch a night bus to Sucre, but they ended up being sold out. We were then convinced that we could take a bus to Oruro arriving at 4:00 am, where we could then catch a bus to Sucre leaving from Oruro at 6:00 am. We got fooled though, there was no bus in the morning to Sucre only night buses leaving from Oruro and that wasn’t the worst part. Our bus to Oruro, which was supposed to take only 4 hours, ended up being 15 due to road blockage as a result of the protests that were going on in Bolivia. Farima, Dan, and I were stuck on the bus in one spot for 9 hours, in the freezing cold. The views from where we were parked for the time being, were actually quite beautiful with snow-capped mountains surrounding us. After a few hours though, we were over the view and just wanted to get moving already. Also, since there was no bathroom on the bus, you needed to go outside in the snow where pretty much everybody could see you from their cars or buses; it was not an ideal situation to say the least.

We finally arrived in Oruro around 1 pm and bought tickets for the 7 pm bus to Sucre. We watched the Champions League final at a hotel bar to kill the time and then boarded our night bus to Sucre, which would take another 9 hours. We finally arrived in Sucre and went to the first hostel (Gringo’s Rincon) that had rooms and beds available that early in the morning.
In the jungle, the mighty jungle – Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

July 20, 2014

The next day we boarded our flight (on the tiniest plane ever) to Rurrenabaque to explore the Bolivian amazon. We happened to run into some friends we had met in Cusco on our same flight, Fabio and Dan, and decided to join them on their Pampas Tour. Dan and Fabio were also traveling with Alex, Jenny, Alaina, and Helen whom they met at their hostel in La Paz and were all doing same tour. They had booked their tour in La Paz, but we were able to jump on their tour when we arrived in Rurrenabaque. We left the following morning for our adventure in the pampas lowlands. First, we had a three hour drive (on a dirt road) to reach the Rio Yacuma. Alex, Helen and I were in one car with a couple from Taiwan and the other 5 were in another car. Alex and I sat it the very back seat and it was quite an adventurous ride. It wasn’t too bad at first, but then the driver turned off the air conditioner and the back seat got really hot. Alex and I tried to get anyone’s attention to turn the air back on or to roll down a window but no one would answer us so we just started hysterically laughing. Then the road got pretty bumpy and we started laughing even harder. I finally had to tap the Taiwanese couple to roll down a window so we could get some air in the back seat.

When we reached the river we were so excited to get out of the car. The 8 of us then got into a very narrow boat for our 3 hour ride down the river to our accommodation for the next two nights. It was an absolutely stunning 3 hour ride with picturesque views all around us. On our way we saw pink dolphins, monkeys, and all sorts of birds. We came across another group feeding the monkeys bananas, which made our tour guide really upset. Many tours feed the monkeys bananas but as there are no bananas in the pampas, it is not a natural food source for them. The tour companies who are encouraging this are introducing a food source that is foreign to these monkeys and because these tours feed them every day they have come to expect them. It is really sad to think that these tours are ruining the natural habitat and are not respecting the pampas wildlife.

When we reached our accommodation for the night I noticed a few caiman alligators hanging around. This place must have been their home as they were always there when I looked for them. We had dinner and then walked to the bar area to watch the sunset. At first the sunset wasn’t as beautiful as I had expected, but within minutes it turned so many different colors and became more and more beautiful. After sunset, we went on a night cruise through the pampas to look for the eyes of alligators. The moon that night was so bright it created a halo like circle encompassing the moon, it was something I had never seen before and rather striking.

The agenda the next morning consisted of searching for Anacondas in the marsh. There were a few groups there all searching for them. One tour guide found one a few minutes into the search and grabbed him and poked him with a stick to unravel him. It was so disturbing to watch and this time our guide was beyond disgusted. It is frowned upon to touch the wildlife let alone try to drag him out of his habitat. The only reason they disturb these animals is because disrespectful tourists want to take a picture with the anaconda and do not realize the consequences this has on the wildlife. They then began to pass the snake around from person to person so each one could get a picture. Our group couldn’t watch any longer and we left to go back into the marsh to continue our search of anacondas. Fabio was so disturbed, he went back to where the group of tourists were taking pictures and expressed his disappointment and how taking a species out of his natural habitat is beyond disrespectful. When he rejoined our group, he told us that he just got into a fight with 20 people. Needless to say, we were all very proud of him. We walked around the marsh for another 2 hours, but we soon lost people one by one. Alex, Jenny, and I were the only three that lasted the whole time but unfortunately we did not find any more anacondas. We headed back to our Eco lodge for lunch and a little downtime.

In the afternoon we jumped on the boat and headed out to swim with pink dolphins. There was quite a few around us but none wanting to really play with us. They mainly swam around but never got very close. I even tried to chase some of them but they would just swim away. There was one point that was really awesome, 5 or so of the dolphins right in front of us jumped in and out of the water basically giving us a show, which was the highlight of the swim for me. After a few hours we got back in the boat and headed to the same place we looked for anacondas to watch the sunset. Our guide wanted to take a picture with me and the sunset and told me to look at the beer. It was a very awkward moment for me, while all the others were screaming for me to “look into his eyes”. He then told me he was going to make that picture his profile picture on FaceBook, it was interesting to say the least. We headed back to the lodge, hung out for a bit, and then headed to bed.

The next day before heading back to Rurrenabaque, we went Parana fishing. Our guide knew the perfect spot where all the Parana’s would be and I ended up catching six of them and one sardine (on accident)! Fabio kept telling me not to be so loud to avoid disturbing the fish, but I think he was just jealous that I caught the most. It was really fun using our make-shift fishing rod of wood and fishing line. Jenny caught the biggest Parana and we ended up keeping that one for lunch. Once we had enough of them for everyone to try at lunch (a total of 9), we threw any extras we caught back in the water. Another group staying at the lodge only caught two, so we split ours up for everyone to share. I didn’t eat a whole one but tried a little of it and realized it actually tasted pretty good and not fishy at all. After we ate our catch we left the Pampas and headed back to Rurrenabaque to check into out hostel. As soon as we entered Wifi zone, Alex found out she got into medical school and was going to be a doctor! All 8 of us went out for dinner and drinks that night to celebrate her good news!

The following morning we parted ways with Fabio, Helen, Alex, and Jenny. Alaina, Dan, and I decided we wanted to trek into the jungle. We spent a day between the pampas and the jungle relaxing and hanging around Rurrenabaque. The following day, Alaina, Dan and I left for the jungle and Farima headed south to Cochabamba. As Farima was eaten alive in the pampas, her legs covered with bites, she didn’t feel comfortable heading into the jungle for the possibility of getting more bites there. I would meet her in Cochabamba again in 3 days.

We left Rurrenabaque on a 3 ½ hour boat ride on the River Beni as the portal to our jungle tour. It was around 1 pm when we got to the jungle and we had lunch as soon as we arrived. There were a total of 6 of us in the group, Dan, Ian, Alaina, myself, our guide, Miguel, and our cook, Ronan. During lunch I was given two nicknames, “Californication”, from the owner of the tour company we went with (Max Jungle) and “Mi Hermana” (translation: My Sister) from my tour guide since I seemed to have resembled his sister. After lunch we each got a temporary tattoo (aka war paint) with the liquid created from a leaf and water and were then ready to enter the jungle. We didn’t end up seeing much that day since we had to hurry to get to where we wanted to camp before sunset. Ronan and Miguel cut down a bunch of trees to create our home and kitchen for the night. We tried to help as much as we could but didn’t really know what we were doing. Once camp was all set up, we sat by our fire (which was just a candle on top of a stick) while Ronan prepared dinner. Meanwhile, Miguel had made a ring out of a coconut and proposed to Alaina, moving quickly on the proposal during the first night!

After dinner, another group joined us for a traditional offering to Pachamama. We dug a hole in the ground, placing coca leaves inside and then passed some rum around the group circle. We were to first offer some of the alcohol to Pachamama and then take a sip ourselves – everyone in the circle took turns. We then offered tobacco to Pachamama with everyone in the circle (who desired) taking a drag. I kindly declined. The owner then began to explain that we were all equal, despite our individual markings – whether we were a guide, tourist, Bolivian, gringo – and had all been bonded throughout the ceremony as well as our experience in the jungle. Nevertheless, he also explained that everyone is their own person and free to choose what parts of the ceremony to participate in and what parts to respectfully decline. Pachamama accepts all regardless of their different decisions. I liked our guide as he proved to be a very good speaker and also very insightful. I also very much enjoyed the ceremony and it turned out to be one of my favorite experiences of the jungle. Not one of my favorite experiences was sleeping with ants that night after the ceremony. They were all over my sleeping bag, too many to try to kill so I sucked it up and just slept with them.

The next morning we packed up camp and went on a walk through the jungle learning about various plants that were used as home remedies. For example, the bark of one tree when boiled in hot water, is used to help if you have diarrhea and stomach problems. I wish I could have taken some back with me for those just-in-case moments. Another tree bark is used for anti-malaria medication and anti-itch cream for bug bites. The anti-malaria medication tree, which we tried, tasted disgusting and I had to eat something else to get the taste out of my mouth. Our guide then cut down a small tree, turning it upside down and holding it up so we could drink the water coming out of it. The water was so refreshing and even tasted better than the bottled water I had grown accustomed to drinking in South America. Another tree, we learned is used for rubber as once you cut off the bark and combine the sap with a little bit of water it becomes a rubbery substance. Miguel used this rubber to stick flower earrings on mine and Alaina’s ears. I carved my name in this tree as a way to leave my mark in the jungle!

Besides learning about different tree remedies, we were able to eat the fruit in the jungle including mangos, grapes, and some coconut. Inside the coconut we opened was a parasite. We learned that this type of parasite gets into a tiny hole in the coconut and grows as it eats the coconut inside. Miguel said it was okay to eat the parasite and that it tasted just like coconut. At first, I hesitated to eat the parasite but then gave in and tried it as I figured it as my only time in the jungle. I popped the parasite into my mouth, and surprisingly found out it did taste just like coconut. It is so fascinating to me that nature can be used to help cure certain sicknesses and it is all natural without any added chemicals or harmful substances like those found in most medications. Learning about the different trees, their different uses, and also eating the fruit found in the jungle, was definitely an enjoyable experience.

After exploring for a few hours we headed to a new place to camp. Some group must have previously camped there before because all the wood had already been cut so it took us a lot less time to set up camp this time around. Dan and Ian built us a nice bench out of logs to sit on for the night. Before dinner, we headed down to the river to watch the sunset. The river and jungle all around made it a picturesque moment. Miguel and Ronan went swimming in the river, but the rest of us decided to pass. After dinner, Alaina and I went on a night walk through the jungle with Miguel and Ronan. The two boys were being babies and didn’t want to come so it was just us girls and the guides. We walked for around 2 hours seeing various animal eyes but I wasn’t really sure what animal I was seeing. I was hoping to see more spiders but we didn’t find that many. Every time Miguel told us to turn off our flashlights I got a bit nervous, but it would pass as soon as I got to turn my light back on. I was the one to stop the night walk because it was so muddy and I only had my sneakers on so I kept slipping and was covered in mud up to my knees. I changed out of my muddy clothes and cuddled in my mosquito net for another night of sleep listening to jungle noises.

The next morning we slept in until 9 am, ate breakfast, and headed back to the spot where we would catch the boat back to Rurrenabaque. On our way back we found a jungle swing to have some fun on. Miguel made us jewelry with all the various nuts we had collected while exploring the jungle. Alaina and I both got necklaces, bracelets, and rings made for us. We said goodbye to Miguel as he was taking another group out that day and got on the boat to head back to town. We made plans to meet up with our cook, Ronan, for drinks later. Alaina, Dan, and I headed to the hostel to take showers and get ready.

I had planned on leaving Rurrenabaque the next day but since flights were all booked up, I decided to have a lazy day and catch up on some writing. Dan and Alaina were supposed to leave that day at 3:30 pm but as their flight got canceled, they were put on my flight the following morning. Little did I know that since they were put on my flight at 7:30 am, that I would get booted to the 11:00 am flight.

Once I finally arrived in La Paz I got the first bus to Cochabamba, an 8 hour bus ride with no bathroom. At one point on the journey I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I had to have the driver stop the bus and use the nature bathroom on the side of the bus in broad daylight. As embarrassing as it was, I honestly could not hold it in any longer. I arrived in Cochabamba around 8 pm and met back up with Farima. I was so exhausted from a day of travel that we just watched a movie and headed to bed.

Edited by: Farima M.
“Wooorth it” – La Paz, Bolivia

June 29, 2014

We arrived in La Paz early evening, checked into our rooms and decided to grab dinner at the hostel. We had a few drinks with Bobby and Jake and then things got interesting as it was Karaoke night at the hostel bar. People really got into their Karaoke songs and some (including JC, a friend of ours from California we had met earlier in Peru) even got up and danced on the bar, which was very entertaining. Farima and I sang the Aladdin Disney song, “A Whole New World” in honor of our Machu Picchu trek with Brittany and since it was one of the only songs I knew all the words to.

Our 2^nd day in La Paz was pretty relaxing as we just grabbed lunch in the city, walked around a bit and didn’t do a whole lot after. The crew ended up heading out on the town that night but I didn’t join as I wasn’t feeling too great – and only slightly due to the previous night.

As we wanted to learn more about the history of La Paz, we decided to join the Free Walking Tour the following day. I find the walking tours quite interesting as they are usually led by young locals who have grown up in that city and it is nice to hear their perspective of its culture and politics from someone of the same generation. Our tour group consisted of around 40 tourists and only one guide, Mauricio. The meeting point of the tour was the San Pedro Prison, a prison essentially run by the inmates, where money can create a good life for you inside and you are even required to buy your own cell. Inside the prison there are shops, restaurants, and pretty much anything you can imagine in a small city. Some mothers and kids even live inside the prison with their father inmates as they cannot afford a life both inside and outside of it, which is a bit shocking and sad. On the tour, we learned that at one point tourists were actually allowed inside the prison as a form of tour but in the present times this has become quite dangerous. Tourists these days still try to enter the prison, fascinated by its concept and history. However, in the current day prison tours are strictly advised against.

After the brief history on San Pedro, we made our way to the Mercado de Hechiceria (Witches’ Market), which is a market lined with stalls selling various products ranging from cures to stomach pain to helping with your sexual life. One of these products is called a “come to me, come to me” potion, where it is rumored that if you blow the dust on the back of the person you fancy, they will immediately be attracted to you (no… I didn’t actually try it to see if the rumors were true, but maybe I should bring some home!). Our tour guide, Mauricio, then explained a little bit of the Bolivian culture to us. He explained that when a person wishes to build a new house or building, they must sacrifice a baby llama corpse along with some alcohol to Pachamama (Mother Nature), in hopes of good fortune and for permission to use the land. Rumor has it that if you keep Pachamama drunk, she will never have time to be mad. Therefore alcohol is often used in offerings to Mother Nature during most rituals in South America. The baby llama corpse which is sacrificed, is then buried under where the house is to be built and after the offering, the construction workers have a big party before commencing work on the building. Another big “rumor” we were told about was regarding sacrifices for bigger buildings. It was said that in the past, instead of just a baby llama, one would have to sacrifice an actual human corpse. To do this, whoever wished to build a big building would wander the streets looking for those who lived on the streets, with no home and no family to leave behind. They would then become friends with them, invite them to their home for a meal, get them drunk, and the killing would occur mostly by the builders poisoning the person’s food or drink. Afterwards, they would bury their dead corpse under the building and cover it up with concrete to avoid anyone, including the police, of finding out about the crime. Some say this tradition may still be practiced today but no can know for sure.

Our last stop on the tour was the Political Plaza, where Mauricio told us stories about past presidents, three of which really stuck in my mind. The first was about a Bolivian president who tried to abolish slavery in the country, with the citizens actually turning around and killing him only to realize their mistake after as he was actually a good person and a good president. Upon realization of this, they ended up building a statue in his honor which is situated in the plaza. The second story involved a president who was an American citizen, but born to Bolivian parents. They elected him even though he could barely speak any Spanish. During his term, he did not make the wisest decisions and ended up stealing a lot of money from the Bolivian banks, running away with it all back to the United States. It is said that he lives a very good and luxurious lifestyle in Maryland with a good majority of the money still left. The Bolivians (not surprisingly) are not the biggest fan of him and all want him prosecuted in the country, however, this case seems to have been going on for ages (UPDATE: the Bolivians recently won the case against this former president and he is now required to return to Bolivia to be put on trial and receive a verdict there). We had to leave the main plaza and hear the last story somewhere more secure as it was regarding the current president. Overall, we learned that the citizens of La Paz are generally happy with him as he has done a lot of good for the country, although he has expressed some unwise remarks and has tried to enforce not widely accepted laws and regulations. For example, during his term and to solve the low population crisis of Bolivia, he once tried to ban the use of condoms as well as tax women of a certain age (18+) who did not have any children – making it understandable as to why the majority of the citizens are sometimes inquisitive and unaccepting of his views.

After the tour there was an 18^th story hotel where you could scale down the side of the building in your choice of costume using the proper gear and equipment. Of course I had to try it, but it was way scarier than I had anticipated. Three boys went before me and I was the last to go of the day. The act required you to angle your body to 90 degrees before you began walking down. As soon as I started walking down I slipped and that’s when I started to freak out. They told me to use my hands to push myself back on the wall and once I got my footing I began walking again and then with 30 meters left, I was instructed to let go of the rope entirely, making the rest of the distance a fee-fall down to the bottom. This was by far the most fun part of scaling the wall for me and made me glad I had tried it.

After the tour, we headed back to the hostel and got ready for a nice meal out. A big group of us, Jake, Jake’s friend Dash who just arrived from Los Angeles, Bobby, another Jake and Leo (who we had met on the walking tour), Farima, and myself went to the nicer part of town called Sopocachi for dinner. After dinner, we all headed back to the hostel for a night out together.

The next day was Sunday, perfect for sleeping in and relaxing, just like lazy Sundays back home. Something not found every Sunday back home however, is Cholita Wrestling. Every Sunday in La Paz, El Alto is home to overdramatic Mexican style wrestling matches with the main attraction being the indigenous women known as Cholitas. It was quite an experience and basically a really bad version of WWE, but with indigenous Bolivian women wrestling one another and sometimes the referees. The act started off with really bad fake fighting but then as the matches went on they turned out to be pretty entertaining. The fun part about Cholita Wrestling was it wasn’t just a tourist attraction, many locals and indigenous women came to watch the show as well. If you particularly didn’t like one of the fighters you could throw stuff including water bottles and food at them in the ring, but beware because they could throw it right back at you. One tourist threw a full water bottle (and many other things) at this one Cholita fighting and when he wasn’t paying attention she dumped an entire water bottle on him as payback, which was the highlight of the show for me! It was an interesting night to say the least and one bizarre experience. The show ended around 7 pm and we headed back to La Paz and our hostel shortly after.

The next day was Monday and finally time to bike down what is known as “Death Road”, aka the most dangerous road in the world. This road was said to be the most dangerous road in the world once upon a time, as in the past each year many vehicles plummeted over the edge killing many and risking the lives of others. Today, Death Road is rarely used by any vehicles as a new road that is safer and wider was recently built, however many tourists and bicyclists continue to use this as it is still one the main attractions of La Paz. Jake, Dash, Bobby, Farima, and I decided to go with the company Barracuda for our 3500 m descent from La Paz to Coroico. When we reached our starting point where our ride would begin, we suited up and made an offering to Pachamama for safe keeping. First we poured alcohol on the front wheel of our bike, then on the ground, and then had to drink a sip in order for Pachamama to look after us along the road. Unfortunately, the day started out quite cloudy and it didn’t really clear up much that day; it even began raining while we were biking down. We went quite slowly down the road just to be extra careful due to the weather conditions. Although the weather wasn’t the most desirable, it was still a beautiful ride as we rode through waterfalls and stopped occasionally to admire the views. Luckily, our group made it to the end without any injuries!

When we reached the bottom for lunchtime, we were all soaked and drenched. We were lucky the place had showers and we were able to change into nice dry clothes. After lunch we had a 4 hour drive back to La Paz. The drive back was a party in itself as our bike guides bought us all Cuba Libres (rum and coke) that some of us drank on the way back — some more than others. We all sang along to the songs that our guide was DJ-ing and one guy in particular really got into it. Having such a fun time on the bus helped the time go by and we were back in La Paz faster than expected.

We got ready and met up with the same crew for dinner and a few drinks as it was our last night with all of them. It was sad to say goodbye especially to Jake since we had been traveling with him for quite some time but I have no doubt I will run into all of them again, Jake, Dash and Bobby – it would be upsetting if it didn’t happen. Saying good-bye to people you become so close to in such a small amount of time is the hardest part of traveling, but also the most rewarding knowing you’ve created a life-long friendship.

Edited by: Farima M.
“We live until we live no more” – Copacabana and Isla del Sol, Bolivia

June 25, 2014

After our homestay, Jake, Farima, and I caught the early bus to Copacabana from Puno. When we arrived, Jake ran into a friend, Bobby, he had met previously traveling so we all decided to stay at the same hostel. The four us walked around town, grabbed a cup of coffee, then decided to grab a drink at a rooftop bar while watching the sunset.

We made plans to head to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) the next day, another island on Lake Titicaca. This island was once the most important religious site in Bolivia, known as the place where the sun and moon were created. We took a boat from Copacabana to the northern end of Isla del Sol, Ch’allapampa, and hiked the length of the island heading south to Yumani, which took us around 3 hours. During the hike, we decided to go off the trail at one point to avoid one of the Lake Titicaca taxes we would have been required to pay otherwise. This resulted in us walking through crops and jumping a barbed wire fence, which was quite an adventure and a memorable detour on its own. We eventually found our way back to the main trail head. On our way down, we kept running into signs that pointed towards a pizzeria with a famous chef. After a bit more walking uphill and through eucalyptus trees as we were guided by mountain signs, we found ourselves in our own little paradise. The restaurant was situated on top of the hill with cute little tables and chairs made out of tree and breathtaking panoramic views of the lake. Although the menu and the prices were not what we were used to in Bolivia, we decided to treat ourselves and enjoyed a delicious meal while taking in the views.

After lunch and once we reached the southern end of the island, we found a cute little place to stay with gorgeous views overlooking Lake Titicaca, all for only $7. We enjoyed the view from our room for a while, got ready and then headed back up the hill to watch the sunset. We grabbed a bottle of wine and some snacks and the four of us found our own perfect little spot to watch the sunset. Even though the mountains blocked our view from seeing the sun completely set, it was still a beautiful sight.

After the sunset, we grabbed dinner at a pizza place nearby and then headed back to our hotel for an early night so we could wake up and catch the sunrise. The sunrise ended up being just as beautiful and we were lucky to be able to watch it from the balcony of our room! Afterwards, we headed down to the southern port to catch our boat back to Copacabana. Jake, Bobby, Farima and I then caught the 1 pm bus (we really like bus rides) to La Paz, just in time for the weekend.

Edited by: Farima M.
Homestays and buckets under beds – Puno and Lake Titicaca, Peru

June 17, 2014

We took another bus to Puno the following morning to explore Lake Titicaca but didn’t arrive until later in the evening, therefore having to explore the city the next day. After walking around Puno for a bit, we compared different tour agencies for tours to the Islands of Lake Titicaca. That night we met a guy from New York, Jake, who decided to do the same tour with us. The tour consisted of us visiting three different islands, Uros, Amantani, and Taquile.

Uros Floating Islands, our first stop, are man-made islands now made by descendants of the Uros Indians. Each floating Island consists of multiple families with one man being elected the president. The president is elected by the members of the floating island and is someone who is highly respected and trusted. The islands and their boats are made from totora reeds and have to be rebuilt every 10 years. On the tour we learned that the younger generations no longer live on the islands as they decide to leave for the city life once old enough. Because of this, our tour guide explained why he believes the floating islands will cease to exist in the future as the younger generations continue to become more westernized. The floating island we visited had 8 families living there and every group of 4 people were shown around a family’s home by one of these families. The home Farima, Jake, and I visited was a family of four and although quite small, was equipped with cable TV and solar panels.

After the home visits, we took a ride on one of the reed boats to another floating island. As we left the floating islands to head to Amantani, the families sang us the song “Row Row Row Your Boat”, which though very touristic, was also quite touching!

The boat ride across Lake Titicaca from the Uros floating islands to Amantani was nearly 3 hours. Amantani is a fixed island home to communities who still wear traditional clothing and follow ancient local customs. As there are no hotels or hostels on the island, those who choose the 2 day tour get a chance to stay with a local family in their home. Part of the stay also involves actually becoming part of the culture and part of the family you stay with for the 2 days. Jake, Farima and I all stayed with the same family and our Mama’s name was Helen but we chose to call her Mama all the time. She was this adorable little lady, who had 5 kids. She told us (in Spanish) that only the youngest one (who was 14) still lived with her on the island and the others had moved to bigger cities like Lima and Puno.

The three of us were all given a shared a room next to Mama’s and our new brothers’. She cooked us lunch consisting of vegetables, quinoa soup (delicious) and fried cheese with rice. As we were part of the family, we offered to help and cleaned up the dishes. After lunch, we met the rest of our tour group in the square to begin our hike up to the highest point on the Island. As it was beginning to get a little colder, Mama gave us hats that she had sown herself for our hike up. They were quiet stylish (you’ll see in the pictures below)! Once we reached the top, we noticed a ceremonial plaza were locals come and offer coca leave as well as alcohol to Pachamama (Mother Nature) for a good harvest, wealth, and protection against natural disasters. There is a tradition that if you walk around the ceremonial plaza 3 times and make 3 wishes they will come true within your lifetime. Jake thought that if he ran for the last one his wish would come true sooner. So as Farima and Jake ran the last lap, I decided on a leisurely stroll. After some picture taking and sunset watching from the highest point on the island, we headed back to our house to meet Mama for dinner. Following dinner and some more dish washing, Mama dressed us all in traditional local clothing and we headed to a fiesta in town. Though I was a little disappointed that there weren’t as many locals present at the fiesta, mainly tourists and they’re rent-a-families, we had a blast learning the traditional dance moves with Mama that night.

We woke up to homemade bread and mint tea for breakfast the next morning and walked back down to the port to say our thank you and goodbyes to Mama and the rest of the families and boarded our boat to our final destination, Taquile. Once there, we hiked up and around the island to enjoy more gorgeous views of Lake Titicaca. A fun fact we learned about the Taquile culture is that you can infer the marital status of a man by the type of hat he wears (and they are all required to wear hats). Men wearing black hats are captains and leaders of the island; red hats signified a married man while a mixture of red and white hats was representative of an unmarried man, whether or not he was in a relationship. However, if you were unmarried and wore your flap to the left it meant you were living with your girlfriend, to the right meant you had a girlfriend, and to the back meant you were completely single (and ok with it!).

Our trip was coming to an end as we headed back down to the water after lunch and departed on our 3 hour journey back to Puno. Back in Puno, and as we realized it was Cinco de Mayo, the three of us headed out for celebratory tequila shots and margaritas to celebrate the occasion even when in South America!

Edited by: Farima M.
“The White City” – Arequipa, Peru (and Colca Canyon)

June 12, 2014

We arrived in Arequipa around 6 am and luckily our hostel let us check in early and we were able to take a morning nap after a long night bus ride. We met a fellow traveler on our night bus named JC, who happened to have gone to the same high school as Farima and graduated the same year as myself from UCLA – small world. We met up with JC for lunch and had a meal at the town’s market, San Camillo Market and afterward headed to the famous monastery in town, Monasterio de Santa Catalina.

At the monastery, we hired a guide to take us around the place, which was way worth it as she gave us an informative and detailed background on the place and its relevant history. The monastery is a mini city in itself completely run by the nuns living there. It was once home to two hundred secluded nuns, but now houses only 20 nuns who are no longer shut off from the world. At the time the monastery was more popular and common in the culture, the 2^nd child of a typical Spanish family, given it was a girl, was obligated to become a nun and join the monastery. Upon joining, the girl was assigned a room that was paid for and furnished by her family members. Once inside the monastery, the soon to become nuns were completely secluded with limited to no access to the outside world. They had occasional visitors but were spoken to through brass bars as the visitors were never allowed inside. Even when a nun passed later in her life, family members were notified but not allowed to attend the funeral.

The monastery was once destroyed when El Misti erupted. In order to rebuild the monastery, Spanish families could buy and build a room for their daughters. Therefore, the daughters of wealthy families were basically given their own apartment within the monastery with living quarters for their servants. Later on a Pope (I can’t remember which one) instated a rule that all nuns must eat and sleep in common areas. The nuns inside the Santa Catalina monastery had to give up their rooms and all move into one common bedroom. They also all had to eat in one common dining hall and were not allowed to use their own kitchens. What was regulated then is the current lifestyle within the monastery now, although now it is very much a personal life choice whether or not you want to join the monastery and become a nun. Personally, I could never imagine being shut off from the world, but it was definitely interesting and eye-opening to learn about this different type of lifestyle and way of living.

After our history lesson for the day, we headed back to get ready and met up once again with JC and a few of his friends from the hostel for dinner. We headed to bed shortly after as we had to leave early the next morning for our hike to Colca Canyon. We began our two day/one night trek into Colca Canyon with a stop at the Mirador Cruz del Condor, a popular viewing point to watch the condors fly over the canyon. The Colca Canyon terraces are supposed to be the deepest in the world measuring 4KM from cliff edge to the river bottom. We began our descent into Colca Canyon which would take us roughly 5 hours to reach our accommodation for the night. Halfway through, we stopped at an Indian village where we enjoyed lunch. Farima and I had not planned on ever trying alpaca but since that was what they were serving for lunch, we didn’t have much of an option. I don’t think either of us liked it very much and I found in particularly chewy.

We finally reached our accommodation after nearly 5 hours. The hostel was a basic hut deep inside the canyon with a swimming pool whose water was supplied by the waterfalls of the canyon. I must say the swimming pool was quite refreshing after the long hike in the sun and although I found it a bit cold, I couldn’t complain given the views and the water source for the pool. We had pasta for dinner and sadly Farima and I ate more than the boys in our group. I have definitely noticed I eat a lot more traveling South America, which is probably why I’ve gained weight.

After dinner, we learned a dutch card game that we played with the other people in our hiking crew, Joe and Jasper. Like most hiking days, we had an early wakeup call of 5 am the next morning to begin our ascent back up the canyon, so we headed to bed shortly after. See below picture for an image of the trail we had to hike up the next morning, as you can see we were not that thrilled.

I couldn’t help feeling like we were back on the Inca trail as we ascended up the steep mountain the following morning for about 3 continuous hours. Thankfully, the weather was a bit cooler as it was early morning but I did feel accomplished when I reached the top. We were a bit slower than the boys in our group, but once our entire group finished and made it up the mountain, we ate breakfast together and headed back to Arequipa.

The next morning, Farima and I headed across town (crossing Rio Chili) and took an uphill stroll to the Mirador del Carmen Alto, where we enjoyed views of the city and volcanoes surrounding it. You could definitely tell across the river was a nicer part of town, where most of the homes and buildings were very modern. We made our way back to the city center to join the free walking tour shortly after. On the tour, we learned that Arequipa’s architecture comes mainly from white siller stone and therefore, the town is also known as “The White City”. The famous volcano dominating Arequipa, El Misti was named because of a miscommunication between languages. Locals were calling the Spaniards mister and they thought they were saying Misti, therefore naming the volcano El Misti. As we were walking around, I noticed multiple street food vendors offering Queso Helado (cheese ice-cream), but we later learned that it wasn’t actually cheese ice-cream, but made with ice, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. We also learned that although a rainbow colored flag in Cusco (and many other cities in South America) is representative of the indigenous people, in Arequipa it might just mean a gay club. Our tour guide was really fun and kept cracking jokes which kept us entertained the entire 2 hours. At the end of the tour we visited a market where ladies were knitting sweaters out of alpaca. Our guide told us that the bone one lady was using to knit was from her ex-husband. The look on Farima’s face was priceless, at the time she had actually believed he was telling the truth, therefore I had to explain to her that he was just making a joke, it was hilarious! As most restaurants were closed that night, we picked up some groceries at the market and cooked dinner at our hostel for our last night in Arequipa.

Edited by: Farima M.
Cusco, Peru

June 9, 2014

After the Inca Trail, we headed back to Cusco and got ready for dinner and what we though was going to be a night out in honor of Brittany’s last night. Since we were nearly falling asleep at dinner of absolute exhaustion, we decided to enjoy our meal and skip the going out part.

We got up early the next morning to have breakfast with Brittany before she headed to the airport to catch a flight. As we have learned throughout our traveling so far, parting ways is one of the least desired parts of the experience. We had such an incredible time as trio and were sad to see her go but I think we may have convinced her to reunite with us in Patagonia this coming fall!

After Brittany left, Farima and I checked out of the hotel and headed to another hostel, Millhouse, known for its social scene. We spent the rest of the day catching up on small errands, doing laundry, and face-timing with family members and friends — especially since my twin nieces were born! That night, we grabbed drinks at the hostel and then headed to a club called Temple. Though it was fun at first, it started to get so overcrowded that it became uncomfortable. It was beyond hot inside and the entire area filled with cigarette smoke, which is never fun and makes it difficult for those who don’t to breathe. The club was also almost all guys, making Farima and I a rare commodity, we even had to pretend to be together to avoid the unwanted attention. And that’s when we decided to leave.

The next morning, one of the hostel employees was offering a free walking tour around the city. We visited the San Pedro Market on the tour, which Farima and I had already explored, but were given more explanation to certain spices and items sold in the market. They even sold a spice at the market that works similar to Viagra. On the tour, they told us that it is considered rude to bargain on any food products in the market but okay to do so on clothing and artisanal crafts. We then visited a children’s school where I learned that public schools in Cusco are strictly boy or girl schools and the only co-ed ones are private. We also got to taste a local dish called causa, which is basically layers of mashed potato with various fillings (ours had avocado). Our last stop on the tour was San Blas, a small part of town lined with Inca stone and coffee shops overlooking the city of Cusco. Overall, I found the tour to be informative and very interesting.

Later that same day, we ran into Fleur – a friend we had met earlier in Colombia – and made plans to meet up later that night. That night also happened to be our friend Fabio’s birthday, so the whole crew – Fleur, Farima, Mark, Dan, Alaina, and I – went to a bar/club called Mama Africa’s.

The next day we had lunch with our friend Scottee, who we had met at our hostel. After lunch, Farima and I headed to San Blas with our laptops to enjoy a cup a coffee with a view and do some writing. We headed back to the hostel around 4 pm, relaxed and watched a movie and then caught a night bus to Arequipa.

Edited by: Farima M.
“A Whole New World”- Machu Picchu, Peru

June 9, 2014

I boarded my flight from the Galapagos at 12 pm, arrived in Quito at 5 pm, boarded another flight to Lima at 8 pm, arrived in Lima at 11 pm, and then slept in the airport for a 5:30 am flight to Cusco. Surprisingly, I learned I wasn’t the only one doing this. There was another group of travelers whom had slept in the airport the same night for the same flight out to Cusco. I arrived in Cusco around 7 am and went to the hostel to meet back up with Farima. After a power nap and breakfast, we headed to San Pedro Market with two other American girls from our hostel. It was mostly a food market, but they also sold traditional trinkets. We had lunch at one of the stands in the market and Farima and I split a famous Peruvian dish called Lomo Soltado, which is basically stir-fried beef with veggies and shared a fresh juice from one of the juice stands. I was pretty exhausted from my full day of travel, so we headed back to the hostel to rest. We had a quite night and ended up grabbing dinner and a drink at a spot in Cusco’s main Plaza, Plaza de Armas.

Another friend of ours from study abroad, Brittany, was arriving the next morning for our Inca Trail expedition so we switched hostels to a hotel called Ninos. It was really cute with an adorable outside patio and we later learned that a portion of the revenues generated from it also helped orphaned children. After Brittany arrived, the three of us went and grabbed lunch at another outside market place then headed to the main square to walk around. We grabbed a cup of coffee at a place with a patio overlooking Plaza de Armas. After a bit of relaxation, we set out to buy any last minute things for the Inca Trail and Farima and I got bigger day packs and hiking poles. We headed to our Inca Trail (Tour Company, Alpaca Expeditions, office) debriefing around 6 pm to pay our remaining balances, get all the necessary information for what to bring and what to expect and to get hyped up for the next four days ahead.

The next morning (Day 1 of the trek) we had a 4 am wake-up call followed by a 3 hour drive to Piscacucho, the start of the trail and the beginning of our adventure. The first day consisted of a 14 km stretch along the river and by far the hottest day of our trip. Our crew consisted of a total of 6 people: there was me, Brittany, and Farima, and a family of three that included two 14 year old twins and their mom. There was also our guide Amoroso who had been doing this for quite some time and knew his way around well. Not surprisingly enough, the three of us were the slow ones in the group as the super twin 14 year olds were always ahead and seemed to be training for a competition, with their fit mom on their tail. Even so, I enjoyed going at our own pace, taking our time, snapping photos here and there, sharing stories over the past 7 years since abroad, and enjoying the overall breathtaking scenery surrounding us. Side note: Brittany and Farima told me I was not allowed to touch the ruins on the first day because I would ruin them (pun intended), but we soon learned later that you could walk all over them and maybe even use them as a restroom!

Though we were sleeping in tents and using sleeping bags at night, I wouldn’t exactly call what we did camping; it felt more like glamping. All we did during our trekking hours was carry a small day pack filled with our essentials and the porters (the rest of our crew who carried the tents, sleeping bags, food, and our bigger bags) took care of pretty much everything else. They would leave our camp site every day after us and still make it in time to the next break point/camp spot before us in order to set up food, tents and other necessities. Every day, we would wake up to homemade breakfast, would be provided with water and snacks, get a homemade lunch made for us midday, followed by another homemade meal at night where we set up camp. We even had a daily happy hour (tea time would be more appropriate) every day after we were done with our hike and a couple hours before dinner. During happy hours, we would relax, enjoy some tea or coffee, and devour homemade popcorn and another surprise snack the cooks would cook up for us.

It rained throughout the night on the first night of the trail, but luckily the showers stopped just in time for the start of our hike the following and 2^ndday. It was another early wake-up call for what would be the toughest day on the trail that entailed a 16 km hike. The trek included an ascent of 1100m to reach the highest point on the trail, Dead Woman’s Pass, which reached an elevation of about 4200 meters. Luckily for us, it was slightly overcast and not as hot as the previous day during our 2 ½ hours hike up to the peak. Once up top, we took in the spectacular 360 degree views and had a mini break with snacks and celebrated reaching our destination with a video and a song. After our ascent, there was only one way to go and that was down. We had a 3 hour descent hike down the other side of the peak. On our way down, we started up a conversation with another couple who also happened to be from California. During our conversation, I found out they knew my previous boss, Eric, as well as a few of my other coworkers. What a small world to be running into people who you have connections to back home, on a random day and in a distant part of the world. My previous boss had mentioned he knew some friends hiking Machu Picchu around the same time as myself, but I didn’t think I would actually run into them, much less on the trail! Back at the campsite and in the middle of my sleep during the night, I had a random urge to use the bathroom. Though I usually try and avoid mid-night bathroom use on foreign grounds and in a tent, I am really glad I had the chance to step outside. The stars were absolutely incredible and breathtaking in the midnight sky that night and I hadn’t seen them so bright before. I wish I could have enjoyed them for longer but it was cold outside and I headed back to my tent after taking in the night sky for only a short while.

The third day was slightly easier, with only a 10 km hike to our final campsite but with very different scenery and views this time around. We made our way down through a dense cloud-forest all the while singing Disney tunes! Throughout the 3 days, the three of us were just constantly laughing, making jokes, sharing stories, and enjoying each other’s company in the wilderness. We arrived fairly early to our campsite that day since we didn’t have as much ground to cover. Before happy hour, we decided to serenade our fellow campers with a nice little Disney tune “A Whole New World” (if you have heard either of our singing voices, you would most likely agree that the audience probably enjoyed the 4 minutes of listening to us sing a lot less than we enjoyed belting it out).

After our musical performance, we walked about 5 minutes to visit a famous Inca ruin so fittingly named Winay Wayna (“Forever Young”). The ruins, although a lot smaller, were almost as impressive as Machu Picchu with amazing architecture. After taking a few snaps and wandering the ruins, we headed back to the camp site for Happy Hour and tea time. Since it was our last one of the trek, the team had surprised us with a homemade cake as the surprise snack! Throughout our entire trek, our crew (porters, cooks, chef and guide) had continued to amaze us with the dishes they prepared as they had all been delicious and exceeded each of our expectations. Besides their cooking and catering, we also had a chance to learn a little about each of them in the beginning and throughout our trip and we were sure going to miss them all. The one thing I wish I could change about our interactions, was having them join us during meals as they mainly ate on their own and separate from the rest of the crew.

On the 4^th and final day, we started our trek with the earliest wake-up call yet, which happened to be 3 am. Our guide Amoroso, assured us this was the best route in order to be one of the first on the last stretch of the hike and to avoid the overwhelming crowd at Machu Picchu once we would arrive. We waited in line for a couple hours till the entrance to the last trail opened at around 5:30 and made our way to our first stop on the trail, Intipunku (“The Sun Gate”). The Sun Gate offers spectacular overviews of Machu Pichu from up top, although unfortunately for us, it was early and the sky too overcast to catch a good glimpse of the ruins. It was beautiful on its own nonetheless. We stayed hopeful and crossed our fingers for clear skies as we continued our route to the main attraction.

After another hour or so of hiking, we had finally arrived at our destination.. what we had been hiking for during the past 4 days, 3 nights.. what we had endured high altitudes, aching muscles and ever changing weather for during the time. And boy was it all worth it. Machu Picchu with all its history, significance, power, and beauty stood before us. As to avoid underestimating the greatness that is Machu Picchu and as there are limited words to describe how beautiful it seemed to all of us at that moment, I will let the pictures speak for themselves (though much to their credibility, sometimes pictures are unable to do 100% justice of the actual views as well).

After venturing Machu Picchu and learning about its history over the course of a couple hours, the three of us headed to the last stop on our trek. Huayna Picchu (an advertised 1.25 hour hike uphill), was a mountain near the Machu Picchu ruins that offered spectacular (and up high) views of the ruins and as it was a separate entrance/trek than the Inca Trail, the three of us were left on our own to explore it. We made our way up to the top in a little under 45 min (props to us!) and once there, stopped to take in the views it offered of Machu Picchu, as well as the Andean mountains. We decided to end our 3 day trek with a dance party singing along to one of our theme songs during the 4 days without a care in the world who was listening or watching as we had so many reasons to celebrate: our journey, our accomplishments, and our care and friendship for one another. The 4 days had come and gone so fast and yet we had experienced so much and seen a great deal that it would forever be engraved in our memories as an amazing experience we were so fortunate and happy to have experienced in our lifetime. We hope to reunite and complete the same trail in about 20 or so years and hopefully share some of the same and make a lot more new memories along the way. Maybe another whole new world.

Edited By: Farima M.
Darwin and Awkward Dates (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador)

May 28, 2014

I arrived in Quito in the early afternoon prepared to be a solo traveler for a week, and decided to stay in the Old Town this time. Old Town was much more beautiful than New Town with its sixteenth-century colonial architecture. I only had the night in Quito as I had to catch a 9:30 am flight to Santa Cruz Island, but was lucky enough to have amazing views overlooking the city from the hostel for the night.

Fortunately, I arrived to the airport fairly early that morning as I ran into a bit of a confusion once there. The Galapagos Islands has their own screening procedures to make sure nothing exotic gets imported onto the islands. I accidently bypassed the Galapagos security checkpoint and just checked into my flight as I normally would. While waiting at the gate, I noticed all other passengers had a piece of paper, similar to an immigration form when crossing a border that I seemed to have bypassed. With my broken Spanish I made my way back to security, had to pay the $10 transit card fee, forego the Galapagos security as my bag had already been checked in (thankfully they didn’t ask many questions), ran back through security and made my flight with 10 minutes to spare.

I arrived in Puerto Ayora around 11 am, where I stepped aboard Yacht Darwin, my home for the next 5 days. There were 16 of us in total, 2 people to each room. Everyone seemed to be a couple except for myself, my new roomie, Noemie, and two other girls onboard. Apparently, the Galapagos is a wildly acceptable couples spot, as well as honeymoon destination seeing as how two of the couples on our boat were on their honeymoon! After all of us were settled into our rooms, we had lunch on the boat and were headed to our first destination, Las Bachas. Las Bachas was a white sand beach, home to marine iguanas and flamingos in the lagoon. We stayed on land for about an hour, went swimming in the water, then back on board for crew introductions. Our crew consisted of 6 people: the captain, the cook, the bartender, 1^st mate, and two deck mates, as well as our guide, Joselyn. The captain was hilarious and always called us his amigos!

After introductions and our welcome cocktail, we had dinner and set sail for our next island, South Plazas. South Plazas is home to a large sea-lion colony, although sea lions can be found on pretty much every Galapagos Island. We walked the 1km trail on the island, observing the birdlife around the cliffs. Then it was back on board to sail to our next destination, Santa Fe Island. Santa Fe Island is home to numerous land iguanas that lay covering the trail. The Island is also known for its 10M-high Opuntia Cacti. After walking around Santa Fe for about an hour in the hot sun, I was ready to get in the water! Back on board, I rushed to put my bathing suit on and snorkel. Noemie and I stuck together as we snorkeled around Santa Fe Island. It was incredible, we saw eagle rays, sting rays, sea turtles, golden rays, tons of brightly colored fish, and much more. Of course I was the last person back on board as I didn’t want snorkel time to come to an end. After a much needed shower, we all met in the common area for our briefing. Every night around 6 pm we would have a briefing with our guide who would explain what we should expect for the next day’s activities. Espanola Island was up next and we sailed there during the night, but man was it a tough ride. Most people weren’t able to sleep and some even got sea sick. Planning ahead, I had bought a few sea sickness pills at the pharmacy before the cruise so I was more fortunate than others.

The next day at Espanola, we got to snorkel first before going on the island. Our snorkel spot was at Gardner Islet. At first I was a bit disappointed as the visibility wasn’t too clear and there wasn’t much sea life, but near the end, numerous sea lions joined us and nearly 10 or so were swimming all around us. It was pure entertainment as I would dive down and spin and a sea lion would follow my each step. It was incredible and so much fun to witness the sea lions having zero hesitation getting up close and personal with us swimmers. Once again, I did not want to leave (the sea lions didn’t want us to leave either) and was the last person to get on the boat. I think the one thing I could change about the Galapagos cruises if I could, would be allowing more snorkel time!

Espanola Island is one of the most beautiful islands in the archipelago and is the sole place in the Galapagos with a colony of waved albatrosses. As the albatrosses start migrating back to the island in April, I was lucky enough to see many of them as they were returning home. They are the largest birds living on the Galapagos Islands, but the smallest of the albatross family. Albatrosses are one of the birds that mate for life and usually do so by a funny little dance. I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on this island watching the albatross fly high above us. Once back on board, we all lounged on the deck and watched the sunset before we heading back inside for our briefing and dinner. I must admit, the food on the boat was probably the best I had experienced in all of South America as all meals turned out to be delicious and I even got myself to try (and enjoyed!) the fish dishes they prepared.

Floreana was the last island we would visit before returning back to Santa Cruz. It was the first island to be populated due to its freshwater supply and is home to Post Office Bay. There is a tradition at Post Office Bay and it basically consists of a traveler leaving a postcard at the Post Office and having another fellow traveler that visits the same place pick up that postcard and hand deliver it upon returning home. I picked up two: one postcard in Laguna Niguel and the other in Tustin, both of which I plan to deliver when returning home in August. Sidenote: Mom and Dad, don’t be surprised if a stranger knocks on your door with a postcard from me!

After leaving and taking postcards, we sailed on to Devil’s Crown, a half-submerged volcanic cone where we would snorkel. On our way into Devil’s Crown, we saw two hammerhead sharks below us. I wanted to dive down to get a closer look, but they were really deep and I wouldn’t have been able to get a close look at their faces. Once inside Devil’s Crown we saw all sorts of fish, starfish, balloon fish, octopus, and much more and then on the outside of Devil’s Crown we saw white-tip reef sharks. We were back on board for lunch and to sail to the other side of the island, Cormorant Point. At Cormorant Point I was able to see blue-footed boobies really up close. On the white sand beach in Cormorant Point there are tons of sting rays. We all went into the water as our guide told us that you can feel the bottom of the sting rays on your feet if you stand really still. As the water went out, we all stood on the sand and waited for the water to come back up, but this time with the sting rays. Unfortunately or maybe not so unfortunate, no sting ray got close enough to me.

Afterwards, we got back on board for our last night on the boat. I was really going to miss my yacht family. We sailed back to Santa Cruz Island where we would depart the cruise. I enjoyed the cruise and it was a really good way to see as much island life as possible, but was ready to get off the boat after our 5 day journey. Personally, I would have preferred more time in the water and probably would have more so enjoyed staying on the islands and just doing day trips since I’m more of a water animal person than a land one. Overall, I really am glad to have gotten the cruise experience, met and spent time with the people on the boat as well as enjoyed the company of my roommate who was awesome and sincere!

After docking in Puerto Ayora and for our final tour, we headed to the Charles Darwin Research Station where many giant tortoises live including Super Diego. Super Diego is a turtle originally from San Diego, who was sent to the Galapagos for breeding purposes. Super Diego was so popular amongst the ladies that after he starting mating with the females other fellow male turtles followed in his footsteps. He’s named Super Diego because he is the father of over 2,000 turtles. Sounds like they really put him to work!

As our cruise was coming to an end, we said our good-byes and parted ways. I decided to stay on Santa Cruz Island for a couple of days to go diving. Noemie was also staying on Santa Cruz so it was nice to still have a buddy. We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and headed to Tortuga Bay, a 45 minute walk from town. Tortuga Bay is a beautiful beach, where marine turtles come to lay their eggs. We rented snorkel gear to snorkel near the estuaries, but unfortunately didn’t see much. There were, however, baby reef sharks swimming in the water near the estuaries. Noemie and I had a lot of fun swimming with them and they approached us really close as we snorkeled. The beach closed at 5pm, so we headed back to town around then. We made plans to meet up for dinner as I needed to walk around and try to find a dive company to go diving with the next day. We found a cheap place for dinner ($4.50), which seemed pretty good for the Galapagos. I had to call it an early night since I was going diving the next day and needed my energy. I said good-bye to my roomie of 5 days who I had become close to as we shared close quarters on the cruise and am looking forward to seeing her again in the not so distant future.

The next morning, I woke up around 7 am to head North Seymour, where I would dive at two different spots. For some reason, I always get a bit nervous right before I am about to submerge under water and this time was no different. Sadly, I had to make the dive master wait for me as I calmed myself down. Once under water I was totally relaxed and ready to see what life under the Galapagos waters had to offer. I saw white-tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, tons of schools of fish, and sea turtles. By the far the coolest animal I saw diving on this trip was a manta ray. I had never seen one before and it was so close to me it was surreal. They are such beautiful moving creatures. We saw one hammerhead shark as well though I unfortunately did not get a great look as it was too far away. We headed back from diving around 1 pm, lunch was included but I was trying to catch the 2 pm ferry over to San Cristobal so I had to skip out on it. I made the ferry, but realized after that I had ended up paying more for the ticket than required – one disadvantage to being a tourist.

I arrived in San Cristobal around 4 p.m. and immediately after getting off the boat, a man originally from New York offered me a room with my own kitchen and a view of the bay. It was a pretty good price so I took it, although it made it harder to meet people than it would have been in a hostel. I dropped off my bags and then headed to a coffee shop to relax and sit by the water. I met a guy there who was stopping in San Cristobal on a cruise trip. I ended up having dinner with him, his friends, and his guide from the cruise. The next morning I booked a dive trip for the following day to Leon Dormido and Kicker Rock, where hammerhead sharks are supposed to be abundant. For the rest of the day I would explore the island. I walked to Cerro Tijeretas (Frigatebird Hill) to observe the Frigatebirds in action. Then I decided I wanted to snorkel a bit, so I walked back to town to rent some snorkel gear. On the way there, I met an Ecuadorian pilot who had the day off and he decided he wanted to accompany me snorkeling. He rented some gear as well, and although I wasn’t sure about his company, he ended up joining me anyway. He was actually very nice, but didn’t speak English so needless to say, our conversation was limited. We went snorkeling at two different spots, Playa Cabo de Horno and a bay by Frigatebird Hill. The snorkeling was pretty good, I saw sea turtles, swam with the sea lions again, and even saw a white-tip reef shark. I parted ways with my new friend and headed back to shower and head to dinner.

The next morning was diving time! Since I had already dove twice, I was much more relaxed this time around. My original dive master was sick, so I ended up tagging along with another group. There were a group of 3 couples from the states on the boat and two guys from Mexico. All were really fun and I enjoyed hanging out with them. The two guys from Mexico had more diving experience so they went separate from us. Two of the couples were just snorkeling, and the other couple went diving with me. Their names were Mike and Joy — how random it was to meet another Joy on a dive boat! We both laughed about the fact that we don’t normally meet other Joys and throughout the day, kept getting confused when someone called our name. The diving was once again amazing as there is just so much sea life constantly around you in the Galapagos. We headed back to San Cristobal and I made plans to meet Ivan, my dive master who was my age, at the local bar later.

A fellow traveler once told me to include my awkward moments in my blog as they show true honesty and character. So with an included pre-warning, here is an awkward moment/story (and a much more awkward night for me!) for you: As I was walking back to my home for the time being on my last night on the islands, Carlos – one of the guys from Mexico who I had met earlier on the dive boat – asked if I wanted to meet up later in time for sunset. I agreed without hesitation, assuming the sunset watching crew would be me, Carlos and his friend. Little did I know, Carlos was asking me out on a more or less one-on-one date.

I ended meeting Carlos who was accompanied by his friend at the moment at the dock during sunset, but to my surprise his friend left to go and take care of some errands shortly after. Carlos and I walked around the dock for a bit and when dinner time rolled around, I suggested we scope out a cheap meal. We ended up at a place with a good and affordable menu of the day (which includes soup, fish, chicken, or beef, and juice) for $3.50. The restaurant was filled with locals so it had good atmosphere and I assumed good food. As we sat down to eat, Carlos’ dive master happened to be at the restaurant with his 5 year old son – who was so adorable and cute! The little boy was flirting with me throughout the whole dinner and even gave me a kiss! At which point, the dive master whispered to Carlos “Sorry man” (I am assuming due to my attention being diverted to the little boy instead of Carlos).

After we finished our meal, we went to pay and Carlos paid for me even though I insisted on the opposite and did not want to give him the idea that we had been on a date. Afterwards, we headed to the bar where I had previously made plans with Ivan to grab a drink earlier that day. There was a pool competition at the bar. I decided to join and ended up being the only girl playing. I came so close to winning but didn’t take home the win. Both Carlos and Ivan were still hanging around throughout the pool competition and it was definitely starting to get more awkward by the moment as I was not sure who to talk to between the two of them in order to make it less awkward for them.

I ended up playing a game of pool with Ivan (since the conversation part I still couldn’t figure out..) and Carlos ended up watching. That night was a bit strange and ironic as it is hard to get a real date in Los Angeles and here I am in the Galapagos, with not one but two dates (sort of). After a few drinks at the pool bar, everyone decided to head to the club on the island. I wasn’t too keen on the idea since the triangle date situation did not seem to be getting any better, however, I decided to go with the flow and joined everyone else. When we got to the club, Ivan went to use the bathroom and at the same moment Carlos seized the opportunity and asked me to dance. There I was, tables turned, dancing with Carlos and this time Ivan was the audience. As I could no longer bare the awkwardness that was apparent throughout the night, I decided to head home. Carlos insisted on walking me back even though my place was a short 1 min walk from the club. As we were walking out, I caught Ivan leaving as well and decided to say goodbye to him. He let me know that if I ever wanted to come back, I had the option of working at the dive shop anytime. After the two second walk home, I said goodbye to Carlos and headed inside. The night I would imagine, did not turn out as any of us had expected. Nonetheless and as awkward as it was, it was definitely a memorable way to say goodbye to the Galapagos on my last night on the islands.

The next morning, I grabbed breakfast and mentally and physically prepared for my 36 hour day of travel.

Edited by: Farima M.
“El Pasto Siempre es Mas Verde del Otro Lado de La Cerca” – Banos, Ecuador

May 25, 2014

Banos is a small town near the active Volcano Tungurahua, surrounded by lush green mountains. We arrived in Banos quite late Thursday night and checked into our hostel, which was near the famous thermal baths in town. Our friend Gareth who was traveling with us, only had a couple of days there so we decided to get up early the next morning and go white water rafting. The tour company we signed up with, Geotours, had a few spots left for the following morning so we joined an already existing group. Farima and I were inspired by all the different activities offered and so decided to book two more with the same company: rock climbing and canyoning (we ended up with a good package deal for all three!).

The next morning during rafting, the group split up into 4’s per raft, each with their own personal guide. Giovanni was ours and first impressions did not serve him as a fun person – until he warmed up on the waters and started joking around. At one point, he joked that we were rowing slower than his grandmother and shortly after that our entire boat flipped over (thanks to Giovanni!). The rapids were level III and IV and it was a beautiful sunny day out. When the rapids were mild, we got to jump off the boat and free swim while the current took us down the river. At another mild rafting part, Giovanni kicked me off the boat into the water and Farima thought I had fallen out randomly not knowing what had actually happened… but it was all in good and fun. The entire trip down the river lasted about 3 hours but we were having so much fun it seemed to be over before we knew it. We had lunch with everyone on the trip and decided to all meet each other again at a bar called GB (Good Bar) for happy hour later that afternoon.

After getting dropped off back into town, Gareth, Farima, and I headed back to our hostel and got ready for dinner. We had dinner at a famous vegetarian spot and though we missed out on their famous quinoa burgers (sold out!) our dinner was still pretty tasty. After dinner, we met up with the our rafting crew at GB bar that included some of the rafting guides, Andres and the tour company GM, Oscar who were both really cool and Oscar especially funny. After happy hour at the first bar, the crew headed to another spot Leprechaun, which is mainly a tourist bar but has a cool outside fire pit. We danced the night away perfecting our salsa skills. As we had promised our friend Gareth (who was leaving early the next morning for Peru) to head to the thermal baths at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to beat the crowd, we decided to leave our dancing shoes behind and head home.

The next morning at 5:30 a.m. when we arrived to the thermal baths (Piscinas de la Virgen), they were not exactly what we had expected. We had expected a more natural hot springs but what it ended up being was an actual built in structure that made the hot springs more like regular swimming pools. There were three of them in total: freezing cold, warm, and hot. Farima didn’t end up coming in, but I figured since I was already up I might as well enjoy the warm waters. It was quite impressive to see the number of people who were up so early with the same thought in mind (to beat the weekend morning crowds!). We stayed for a short while, said good-bye to Gareth as he headed off to catch his bus, then headed back to bed to wake up a bit later.

We had scheduled rock climbing on an Ecuadorian volcano (volcanic rock) the same afternoon. I have been rock climbing before in Colorado and Thailand, but this was the most difficult I have experienced thus far. There were 13 different routes, but we could only make it up two… and by that I mean more like 1 and a half. What made it the most difficult was once your hands slipped from the volcanic rock, all balance was lost and it was downhill from there. It started to rain just as we were finishing up our rock climbing session so we headed back to the agency. We decided to grab a bite at a local restaurant (which I came to later regret… stayed tuned), went back to the hostel to get ready and went out for another night on the town. We headed to the same spots as the night before and met up with the same group of people. Banos is such a small town, you seem to always be running into the same people which in a way was part of its beauty. As we had nothing planned for the next day, we continued our salsa lessons into the night.

The next morning, I woke up with severe stomach pains, regretting the meal I had the night before. I didn’t end up getting out of bed until 2 pm and we didn’t leave the hostel until 4 pm. Since I didn’t want to make Farima stay in all day and wanted to avoid being cooped up inside, we decided on an adventure a little less extreme. We took a cab to Casa del Arbol (tree house), to check out the famous swing at the end of the world. We both took turns on the swing, which was a make-shift one that hung from a tree house and swung over the mountain tops (not as scary as it sounds!), and took a few pictures. Pictures and videos make the swing look a lot scarier than it actually is, which was a bit of a relief since we were afraid it wouldn’t be so secure. The top of the mountain and the swing were a complete tourist spot and crowded with locals and foreign tourists alike so we had to be considerate with the amount of time we spent on it (mainly the number of cool looking pictures we were able to take). The scenery around the tree house was beautiful and I was glad to get out in the fresh air for a while. We headed back into town and decided to end the Sunday with a nice relaxing movie night. I finally watched the movie, Gravity, but like everyone told me I probably should have seen it in 3D.

The next day, we were in for some more adrenaline packed fun. We were going canoying! Canoying is basically repelling and sliding down waterfalls. We had to get used to the feeling of repelling down a waterfall, but once we got the hang of it, Farima and I were running down them and jumping off the side which made it even more fun. There was another couple in our group, however the girlfriend did not seem to be enjoying herself as much as the rest of us. The water was a bit cold and the weather a bit stormy, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time. We returned back to the city center around one and got ready to go and explore the rest of the city, but first we treated ourselves to a massage. The place where we had our massages looked big on the outside, but once inside was only a tiny little room. We basically had a couples massage as there was no separator between the two tables. On our way to dinner that night, we were fortunate to catch the Volcano Tungurahua (a present day active volcano near the small town of Banos) erupting. Although we didn’t actually witness the lava flow, it was still a cool experience to see the plume of smoke.

For one reason or another, Farima and I were enjoying Banos so much and the feeling of being in a city for more than a few days, it was hard to leave. On our last day before we parted ways, we rented mountain bikes and rode down one of the main roads in town, Waterfall Avenue, which is the main road in Banos that is lined with waterfalls on either side. As we stopped to admire one of the many waterfalls, we ran into our friends, Fleur and Michelle whom we had met earlier in Salento, Colombia (another cool thing about meeting people who are on a similar plan!). They happened to be doing the same waterfall tour in a car which was cool because we continued to run into them at different ones. During one of the stops, I was persuaded to do a canopy swing down into the valley across the river. Though it was a bit nerve wrecking, I am really glad I got to experience it as it was breathtakingly beautiful and not as scary as I had imagined. We finally arrived at the last and final waterfall, which was called Pailon del Diablo or in English, Devil’s Cauldron. We locked up our bikes and walked down to the waterfall view point which was about a 20 minute hike down. The waterfall was massive and extremely powerful, so powerful that we were soaked after standing on the viewing platform for only a few minutes. After seeing the Devil’s Cauldron I now understand why Oscar had told us it would be our last swim in a waterfall when we asked him if people could swim there. Afterwards, we parted ways with Fleur and Michelle, but made plans to meet up with them later the same night. As the rest of the bikers had done and as it was starting to get dark out, Farima and I put our bikes in the back of a truck and headed back into town. We grabbed a bite to eat and met up with Fleur and Michelle as planned, and headed out for our last night in town.

The next morning, Farima had to catch an early bus to Mancora with Fleur while I was headed back to Quito to catch my flight to the Galapagos; we would meet again in Cusco in a week’s time. It is funny to think what started as a rough plan to spend a couple days in a small little Ecuadorian village turned into us staying for almost a week. It is refreshing when you fall in love with a place you visit and the things you experience there that make it difficult to leave. It is also liberating having the freedom to change and alter your plans as things unfold and as you continue day into day. We have definitely come to consider that as one of the many beauties of long term travel!

Edited By: Farima M.

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