Signs: We Love 'Em!!

Signs: We Love 'Em!!

I am FINALLY starting to go through some of my pictures from South America/all of 2008!! As I was sorting them out, I noticed I had a lot of photos of signs. So, I compiled them. I have about 160 photos of various street, caution, elevation, food signs...and more! A couple of my favorites are shown above. Another couple dozen can be found here.



Last Day!!!

Last Day!!!

Today I sat in a speedboat coming from Playa Blanca going back to Cartegena and I felt like the lead character in a movie...who is sitting on a ___________ (pick your moving vehicle) looking out the window, reflecting on _____________ (whatever happened in the movie). Fade to black. Roll credits.
So, today I am fading to black on our 10 country, almost 10 month journey to the South of the Equator (and a tiny bit of North)...starring many main characters and many, many guest appearances.

Roll Credits.... Thanks to the Academy...and to Mr. Lovely, my parents and CK, without whom I would have never been able to make it through this trip. Thanks to S, Grant, KE, Rafe, M and HN who all joined us for part of the action and adventure and with whom I had a wonderful time and can't wait to see again. Thanks to all my friends and family for putting up with my long gaps in phone calls and/or emails. And for the crappy quality of them once they arrived.
Cartegena and Juice

Cartegena and Juice

We have finally arrived at our final destination, Cartegena. After walking around the old town area, which is fabulous, we had a fresh juice (there are so many!) and met up with another traveler to watch the Columbia soccer game. We spent the next day going to a mud volcano where you can actually sit in the mud and it is supposed to have many healthy properties. To me, it was just kind of gross. Sitting in a mud bath with 30 other people while not being able to move away from them is kind of weird to me. And there are these guys there that want to massage you and it just makes me kind of disgusted... Other than that, in Cartegena we admired the beautiful architecture of the old town and enjoyed the street food and juices...

So, from here we will fly out - Chris to Chicago and I to Boston and New York... The end is upon us!
Ciudad Perdida

Ciudad Perdida

Whew! We just got back from a 6 day hike into the jungles of Columbia, where we crossed the Buritaca River 9 times in seach of the elusive Ciudad Perdida (Lost City). It being the rainy season, we hiked in the mornings while it was sunny (mostly) and then (mostly) took it easy, chatted and swam in the afternoons while it rained. Our group was good, 4 kiwis, 1 scot and Chris and I. We all got along great, as well as pretty much hiked at about the same pace. Our guide, Wilson (fitting) was great, but only spoke Spanish, so those of us who spoke Spanish had to translate for those that didnt. It was actually great practice for my Spanish skills.

The hike was very difficult. Every day we went up a huge muddy hill and back down the other side of it, to end up campìng near the river. The next day we would do the same. It was about 85 degrees most of the time, with a humidity of about 98 percent, much like hiking in New Orleans would be if they had any hills. However, although we did have to carry our own bags, we did not have to carry or make our own food, so it was not as hard as it could have been. Nothing like carrying 20 cans of tuna on the Patagonia hike!

We arrived at the Lost City on day three and got to explore it a bit in the afternoon. It is massive! However, only about 10 percent of the city is uncovered for tourists to explore. I cant really even fathom how big the entire thing really is. The city was discovered in 1972, but unfortunately was raided by a bunch of gold seekers, who raided the tombs in the city (the dead were buried with their possesions, often gold and ceramics, to take to their next life with them). Finally the military intervened and people caught selling the relics in the nearby towns were punished. In the mid 80s, tours were started.

In 2003, 8 tourists were kidnapped from the Lost City by a Columbian terrorist group, who demanded government investigation of human rights groups in return for the hostages. Eventually they were all released, unharmed, and the trail as well as the site are both safely guarded by the military at the current moment. We even got pictures at the top with the military guys who are stationed there. They have some wickedly huge guns!

Now we are back in the real world, the not so lost city, and are enjoying a couple of half days on the beach (it is still raining a lot) before heading off to Parque National Tayrona for some hiking etc.
Mitad Del Mundo and More!!!

Mitad Del Mundo and More!!!

For the first time in about 9 months, we are back in the Northern Hemisphere! We spent one week in Ecuador, ending in Quito and visiting the Mitad Del Mundo, or Center of the World, where we straddled the equator and passed for the first time into the N. Hemisphere. Next we crossed over into Columbia, where we are now.

Columbia is not as scary as the US Government would lead you to believe, but there are still some precautions that should be taken. Buses have been known to be hijacked at night, so we have not been taking buses at night (obviously!) However, this means we have to do all of our travel during the day, which cuts into our time to explore the country. However, the scenery here is beautiful; the mountains are all green and they are in their growing season, so there are plants and vegetables and fruits everywhere!

We first stopped in Pasto, in a 7 dollar flea bitten hotel near the bus station. That was a 10 hour rest stop so we wouldnt have to travel at night. Then we went to a nice little colonial town called Popayan, where the streets are all numbers and you can get lost, but not in a bad way. Next we went to the town of San Augustin, which sits at the top of the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range) and looks down onto the valley of the River Magdalena. We took a horseback tour to a bunch of old ruin sites which are from BC.

Our most recent stop is here in Bogota, where we are now. It is nice to be in the city, where there is semi decent internet, but it is just so big and everything is so expensive....we are looking forward to our next stop, Valle de Leyva, where we will go hiking and biking and nature watching.
Sicko

Sicko

Whew! Well, I must have ate something bad, becuase I was pretty sick for a little while...Luckily, thanks to the F word and Mr L, I was put up in the Lima Sheraton for a few days, which allowed me to get better in style.

Then I met up with Chris and we headed up to Trujillo, which is the jumping off point for the ruins of Chan Chan. Chan Chan is an all adobe city, which is reputed to be the biggest adobe pre-Columbian city in the Americas. It was partly pile of dirt, partly cool old fortress.

Next we headed to Ecuador, where we are now. First stop, the city of Cuenca, where they make Panama Hats (go figure, Panama Hats are NOT from Panama). We went to a National Park and did some hiking, it rained on us a bit, and we sampled the local fare (really good buns!!) Then we took the bus to Baños, where we are now. Baños is the city of hot springs and massages, so we went to the hot springs (it was closed) and then got a massage (only 17 dollars - Ecuador uses dollars so it really seems like my money is going faster...is that weird).
Next is the city of Quito, where we will visit the ecuator and then head north to Columbia. Our trip (feels like it) is nearing the end....we only have a little over a month left!!! It will be strange to be back in the States, doing NORMAL stuff again...will I be able to handle it!!?? We shall see.....
5 Days of Fun!

5 Days of Fun!

Machu Picchu! We did it! We did a 5 day trek over the Salkanty mountain, which took us to a height of 4600 meters (15,180 ft) into the cold and then down to 1500 meters into the jungle, finally ending at Machu Picchu. It was a hard hike, but very rewarding at the end.


Before going to Machu Picchu we went to the Sacred Valley and to the very important ruins of Sacsayhuaman (pronounced Sexy Woman), which was a fortress made from 8 (or more) sided rocks used to build the zig zag shaped walls (also used to represent the teeth of a puma, where Cuzco represents the rest of the head).

Now we are in Lima, where I will meet back up with Chris, who has been volunteering for the last month in Bolivia while I have been cavorting in Peru (he already came here with his parents, hiked Macchu Picchu, got e-coli and then came back and met up with me in Brazil).
Titty Caca

Titty Caca

Haha, I can actually say that without feeling like I am disrespectful! We are near Lake Titicaca, in Puno, Peru. According to the Peruvians, they got the Titi and Bolivia got the Caca. The funny thing is that Bolivia actually has the more beautiful side of the lake. There are a bunch of mountains surrounding it which are more than 6000 meters high (19000 Feet) and are covered in snow. It is a very nice place to be.

First we went to the WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS ROAD, which is near La Paz, in Bolivia. We survived! We mountain biked down from about 4000 meters to about 1000 meters in about 4 or 5 hours. Half of it was paved and half dirt, but the whole thing was a lot of fun! Next we went to Copacabana and the Isla de Sol, which is supposed to be where the Inca civilization began.

Next we headed to Peru, where we visited Arequipa, which was built in the 1500s and is quite beautiful with a huge church on the main square which occupies the whole block. We also visited the Convent of Santa Catalina which occupies a whole city block and is where the rich Spanish families would send their daughters (for a hefty fee of course). The picture above is one of Santa Catarina. It was beautiful!
From Arequipa, we came to Puno, where we are now. Yesterday we went on a tour of the floating islands and got to spend the night in the house of an indigenous person as well as dressing up in local dress and going to a local fiesta (pictures to come later - it was great!).
Tomorrow we head to Cuzco and then we will tackle Machu Pichu!! I am very excited about this although the altitude has been a little rough at times!
Huelgas, Desfiles y Fiestas!!

Huelgas, Desfiles y Fiestas!!

The election is in 3 days. Actually it is not an election, it is a referendum. What happens is this... Everyone goes and votes whether they want to keep Evo or not. If so, he remains President. He has been President for 3 years...normally a term is for 5. If they vote no, he gets impeached and they have to vote for a new President. Supposedly, out of the 9 departments (states), only 3 are for Evo and the other six are against him.

Like I said before, they love to protest here! So, we have protests every day...and if Evo gets voted IN (to remain) there will be even more. If he gets voted out, I dont really know what will happen. Yesterday, he flew to the city of Santa Cruz and they would not let him get out of the plane! They canceled the parades for Independence Day in 3 cities...! These people are crazy! They are saying that never has there been such unrest in the month of the Patria (Patriot)!!!

So, we shall see what happens. I bought a flight to La Paz so I wouldnt have to worry about whether or not I will be able to take the bus...However La Paz is going to be crazy!! Evo is going to be in La Paz during the election... We are making history here!
Mi Patria Bolivia

Mi Patria Bolivia

Tomorrow is the Dia de Independencia of Bolivia and the flags are flying! They have been practicing their drums and batons for the last couple weeks and today they finally got a chance to show their stuff.

This week has been very interesting, to say the least. Not only is it Independence Day tomorrow, but the Elections are on Sunday, the 10th. On top of that, the President, Evo Morales, is still imposing taxes, cutting pensions in half and making other changes like that, so...this means people are striking, protesting and rallying on the streets. The last week, there have been protests every day, there has been no school (the teachers are on strike) and there have been roadblocks (no busses or cars can come or go out of any of the cities)... However, this is normal. The only problem is that I need to get to La Paz in 4 days and I dont know if there will be any busses!


However, that is in 4 days. There are parades, parties and fun to be had right now! Viva Mi Patria Bolivia!