Gotta Have Faith Faith Faith

Ok everyone...To avoid extreme depression for all my readers, I wanted to take advantage of these couple mins I have during our bus stop to let you know that I just got news that I can hike the Inca Trail tomorrow! Wow, that was a test! I tried to be so cool and calm, but finally after lunch I walked up to the tour leader and said in my most grave voice, ¨Ok, I´ve been really patient...¨ I was about to lay into him and he said, ¨Your in. I just got a call from the office, and your in!¨ Ahhhh, what a relief! I would have been upset if I couldn´t get really wet, cold, and sore with everyone else. ;) Sounds crazy, but I´m really looking forward to it! I´ll let you know how it goes...

The Only Thing That´s Certain in South America...

is that NOTHING is certain! I know we´ve all heard this before...but SA really takes this concept to a whole new level.

First, it won´t surprise you that our bus ride from Arequipa to Cusco was riddled with peasant strikes, closed highways, snow, gravel mountain backroads, and 12 hours without stopping for food, water, or a proper bathroom. I mean, wouldn´t this be a boring blog if I told you that at one point I wasn´t wearing a silver foil-looking emergency wrap around my legs and my travel pillow around my neck for warmth because the temperature dropped 40 degrees and I was wearing shorts and sandals? That´s what I thought...

But we got to Cusco, when we weren´t sure that was going to be possible...so that´s all that matters. And what a beautiful city - once the home of the Incan Empire, where Incan and Spanish Colonial architecture meet to create stunning buildings, cathedrals, and quaint cobble-stone streets. One day was definitely not enough time to explore, and I look forward to returning next weekend after Machu Picchu to get a more in-depth look.

So about Machu Picchu...as you all know this was the big highlight of the trip for me. Since I booked this trip, I´ve been so excited to hike the 4-day Inca Trail, and experience the reward of arriving at Machu Picchu. So you can only imagine my shock when our guide arrived tonight to brief the group on the trek and my name was the only one missing off the Inca Trail permit list (which if you´re not on with the correct passport number, you aren´t going to be allowed on the trail. period). I remained calm throughout the breifing, but as he was talking about all the walking, meals, and camping, my mind couldn´t stop thinking... ¨What the hell! Why does this shit always happen to me? Ok, Cara, stay calm maybe they can work this out? This sucks! Where the hell is our guide anyway? Are you kidding me! I got that email from the travel agency that everyting was booked!¨...and on and on like that for about 25 mins.

So apparently there has been a miscommunication between Intrepid and the Peruvian Gov´t which may or may not result in me not being able to hike the Inca Trail with the group. The thought of this is devastating, but if there´s one lesson I´ve learned here, it´s that nothing is certain, not everything is fair, you can only control so much, and...yes, it´s true...life goes on. Now don´t think I didn´t cry when my tour leader took me outside and apologized for ¨the central office ruining the best part of my trip¨ (until then I was holding myself together nicely, but he kind of shattered my hope :)). And there´s still a little hope...I hope! :) The company is going to look into it and I´ll know tomorrow morning if something can be worked out. If I can´t go with the group, there is another trail I can take that doesn´t require a permit, and it´s lucky that there happens to be another couple doing that one. Otherwise, I would just have been screwed and have to wait in Cusco while everyone did the hike. So ¨say a little prayer for me...¨ (stupid jingle to accompany).

What can you do?

Good News & Bad News (Condor & The Cuy)

Editor´s Note: I woke up at 3:15am this morning and realized that I wrote ¨tale bone¨ instead of ¨tailbone¨ in my last entry. No, my friend´s bum is not a storyteller, but yes, apparently my subconscious is a better speller than I am! :)

(Return to Text)

The Good News...I am very pleased to report that I did in fact see the Andean Condor this afternoon in the Colca Canyon. The Canyon is gorgeous! We drove south for about an hour passing all sorts of picturesque agricultural and cattle farms, and of course...immense mountains. I took a ton of photos, and hopefully some of them will do the canyon justice. To give you an idea of size, the Colca Canyon is at least twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and very different in climate and looks. Someone in my group tried to tell me that the Grand Canyon isn´t even a canyon, but technically a gorge. Whatever. I think people just make things up to get pissed at Americans sometimes...

So we arrived at the Cruz del Condor viewing spot, which is apparentely the best place to spot them. I posted up on a stone wall (wow, that sounds a LOT grosser than I meant it to! :)) and waited for 1 hour and 23 mins before I gave up (yes, I timed it on my watch...I´m a huge loser, if you didn´t already know that). My nose is actually a little chapped right now because it was so cold up at that altitude and I sat sniffling the whole time. However, we went on a little trek along the edge of the canyon and to our surprise a Condor flew by us not once, not twice, but about 10 times. It was so cool and so beautiful!! It´s moments like that when I wish I had a bigger/better camera, but mine´s been treating me well thus far. I think I´ve taken about 900 pictures to date. The Andean Condor is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere and can grow to have a wing span of 3 meters, be 1 meter in height, and weigh 12 kilos. In pictures, it looks like a turkey on roids, but in the air, it was very sweet looking.

The Bad News...Last night when I thought my guide was joking about selecting our guinea pig to eat...yea, he wasn´t! We had a nice meal with a local family - vegtable soup, potatoes, queso, alpaca, and cuy! I tried it because I feel like I should get the local experience, but it was so hard to see the little guy beforehand. Braden went into the pen and picked it out, and then everyone ran away while the mother of the house broke it´s neck (which apparently took a couple tries), boiled it for a minute, and then skinned it. I´m glad I can say I sampled, but I won´t be ordering cuy again in Peru!

So we´re back in Arequipa for the night and headed to Cusco tomorrow. Another 11 hour bus ride awaits! But hopefully they will play some cool movies and right now I´m keeping myself busy by translating a book in Spanish that I bought at at vegetarian joint in Mancora. Progress is...ummm, slow. :) Only 3 more days ´til the Inca Trail! No puedo esperar!

Cuy in Colca Canyon

Hello hello, and welcome my new blog friends! I get so excited whenever someone new signs up as a follower. It makes me feel so popluar! :)

So first, I´d like to say that I´m just happy to be here writing to you today. The overnight bus ride from Lima to Arequipa was, how do I say this nicely...fucking scary! (Pardon my Japanese, as Colin once said when he was little). You would have laughed if you could have seen my face. I don´t even do roller coasters because I´m such a control freak, so from midnight to 5am (when the road finally improved) I basically cursed the driver under my breath and prayed the Our Father...I´m not kidding. Let me paint a picture for you...the bus is pitch black...I´m in the isle seat in the second row (on the right, for those of you that are really visually oriented). This prime location is just close enough to the front that I can hear the latin music the driver is blasting in his cabin, and can see the blinding headlights of every truck, before they blow past us and shake the bus. And I could handle that! What I couldn´t handle was the speed inwhich the driver insisted on taking 45 degree turns right and left as we charged full speed down mountains. There was a turn every 30 seconds, accompanied by more g-force than your typical dangerous fair ride.

The only positive thing that may have come out of the experience is the ab workout I got from trying to stay in my seat, and the first 3/4 of the movie August Rush (that came on during breakfast). I have to admit, I liked it! I´m a hopeless romantic, come on, let a scared girl have her fun! Best part of this story: everyone else was asleep on the bus, except my friend who bruised his tale bone the day before and a couple girls that got sick. Sorry for the elaborate recount, but I had to make sure that at least someone would get a chuckle out of my suffering.

So...we arrived in Arequipa at 9am in the morning. It was so nice to be in a beautiful city where the poverty didn´t depress you and make you feel unsafe. I spent the morning eating and running errands with my friend Natasha, and then we checked out the Santa Catalina Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1579 by Doña María de GuzmánSaint, and named
after Catherine of Siena (note: my confirmation name is Catherine after this very saint). They have a really nice website, which you can check out if you´re interested, but some of the things I found interesting during the tour were that the nuns came to the monastery as early as 6 years old, and had to decide after 4 years if they were going to dedicate their lives to the monastery or return home. The decision, however, was usually not theirs, but their family´s - and in that time it was very prestigious to have a nun or priest in the clan. But don´t feel too badly for the sisters. They were from the richest families and came to the convent with their servants and expensive china. At one time there were as many as 500 women living on the grounds (175 of which were nuns). Today, the monastery is home to 24 nuns. The grounds are beautiful with bold blue, white and orange walls, and bright red flowers.

At night I tried Alpaca meat for the first time...niiiiice! And tonight, we are going to prepare and have dinner with a local family, where I´ll be eating ¨cuy¨, which is the spanish word for Guinea Pig. Yeah! I just hope they´re dead when we get there. Our guide mentioned something about ¨you can pick yours out...¨. Um, there will be no selecting my meal if it´s playing with it´s friends when I arrive! Please just do the dirty work for me and I´ll pretend it´s chicken!

Last thing worth mentioning is the trip we took today from Arequipa to the city of Chivay/Colca Canyon (about 4 hours away). We climbed to an elevation of 4,900 meters (which is over 16,000 ft or about half way up Mt Everst). We had to keep really hydrated and chew on coca leaves and drink coca tea to help regulate our bodies and resist altitude sickness (which can be really hard on the head and stomach!). The tea wasn´t bad with mint and sugar, but chewing the leaves with a bit of ash to activate the juices was ummmm, not something I´d do for fun otherwise. :) In addition to our lightheadedness, as we climbed the mountains we had great vistas of the volcanoes and mountains, and drive through a national reserve where we saw lama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuna (all part of the lama family). Tomorrow we will go further south into the canyon, and hopefully I´ll be able to report a Andean Condor or Puma sighting! Keep your fingers crossed for us! :)

Fast Forward

Greetings All from Nazca, Peru! It´s only been a couple days since I last wrote, but so much has happened that I´m dedicating this entry to telling you all the stuff we´ve been up to. We´ve been on the move ever since we left Mancora, and have been traveling down the coastline. So all of the scenery in Peru, thus far, has been complete desert or ocean...which is the opposite of the huge Andean Mtns I pictured in my head. Of course, Peru has that too, we just haven´t gotten there yet!

So what have we been up to along the coast? Well, unfortunately, it´s been a bit of a whirlwind of touristy activities. It´s good, because you´re seeing sights and such, but it´s not fun when you find yourself in the amazing country of Peru...eating shitty Italian food...and listening to a group of old men play Guantanamera on wind pipes. That´s when you feel like a huge gringa that´s getting taken for a ride. :)

Ok, so Sunday I visited the Museo del Oro (which had a huge collection of pre-Incan and Incan artifacts...very interesting!) and afterwards, had the best Ceviche ever as my last meal with my great hosts in Lima. I then met back up with the group for our bus ride to Pisco - a town that unfortunately has been reduced to rubble after a terrible earthquake in 2006. Literally, our hostel was the only standing structure on the block. It was creepy and the town felt hollow and unsafe.

We woke up and took a ride to the Islas Ballestas, also known as the Galapagos of Peru (or the poor man´s Galapagos) It was actually pretty neat. We packed way more people into one boat than you ever thought would be possible (yes, that´s a hot trend here!) and took a rather frigid 20 min cruise out to the islands. But once we arrived, it was really neat to see all the birds (there were tons!!!), seals, and penguins. I took lots of pictures, which later I´ll probably look at and think ¨why the hell do I have 50 pictures of birds?¨ but hey!

We stopped in HuacaChina for lunch and optional sand-boarding. I walked around and jumped in the pool, figuring I can roll around in the sand for free :) (Funny story: In Mancora I was on the beach alone and apparently couldn´t reach the middle of my back with sunscreen...so I had a big burnt strip on the middle of my back, which is now pealing, and looking awesome!). Ok...so then we were off to Nazca, where we arrived and enjoyed a ¨really great meal and authentic local bands¨ (see paragraph 2 for non-BS version) .

Yea, that was all just 2 days...

So today I went to a tower in the middle of the desert where I could see two Nazca lines - ¨the tree¨ and ¨the hands¨. It was cool to see them with my own eyes, but I didn´t regret not paying $70 US dollars to fly over them this morning at 6am. I figure I can eat off that money for 4 days (oh eating...my very favorite thing to do!). In the afternoon, we took another ride out to the middle of nowhere (BTW, when I say middle of nowhere. I mean think the movie Seven, during the ending scene when the crazy guy takes the cops out to the desert to open the box...yeah, that, but without power lines or paved roads). Ok, so where was I?...Oh yes, we arrived at an ancient cemetery of the Chincha people. We saw original mummified bodies and graves, and it was actually quite interesting. Although I do find the sight of human skulls with full sets of hair a little disturbing...and very rasta at the same time! ;)

So you think I´m done...Oh no, don´t be so impatient. Obviously we haven´t done enough, so we visited a local potter, who still creates pottery according to ancient tradition...and then visited a sight where we saw people mining gold. I´d go into these things further, but there´s just too much to say and not enough time. But overall, I have to say that the poverty can be really sad. You think that mining in deathly conditions for almost no money is old news, but there are hundreds of people putting their lives on the line to survive everyday...and I thought putting in expense reports was annoying!

So now, we´re about to go catch our first overnight bus (I don´t know how scared to be right now), which leaves at 11pm and arrives tomorrow morning in Arequipa at 10am.

I´m sorry this entry is more of a laundry list then a collection of interesting thoughts, but I wanted to keep you up to date on things and I´ll write more thought provoking material later, I promise!

Until then...

Is It Where You Are Or Who You're With That Matters?

This has been the tough question for me this week. The first two weeks of my trip in Ecuador were all so brand new and smooth, that I didn't have time to miss anything or anyone...deeply. But this first week in Peru has been more challenging for several reasons, which has me longing for that feeling of security and comfort that comes with "home".

Comfort...this has been lacking for the most part. When I signed up for this trip, I knew it was going to be more like "camping" then "vacation", but it's proven to be a real challenge. Our bus trips have been long and arduous...and the last couple...music-less :). I didn't even get to update you on our bus ride from Mancora to Trujillo. We left at 2:45pm and were supposed to arrive in Trujillo at around 11pm. Ummmm, not when the Panamerican Highway is flooded and thousands of buses, cars, and trucks are trying to make up alternative routes in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night! I'd describe the scene, but I only heard about it because my contacts became so dry after several hours that I to take them off and go blind until we finally arrived at the terminal at 4:30am only to jump in taxis and get lost in a strange city because the drivers were following a taxi that wasn't with our group! Oh, and then the hostel we were staying at was different than the one listed on our itinerary...so we were just sitting in the middle of the road at 5am with no idea where we were or where we were supposed to be. That touches on "security", which I'll elaborate on shortly.

It also doesn't help that our new Peruvian tour leader is not as helpful as the last. He has good intentions, but it's a big group, and I find that sometimes he only makes things more confusing...not good, especially since we are under his "care" for more days than any other leader. An example of the frustration would be when a guy in our group had $500 stolen from his room at the hostel (a repairman fixed his toilet and stole his money while he was sitting right outside the room!) and our guide comforts him by saying, "You have insurance right? Yes, these things happen in Peru."

And all these hardships are to be expected...It sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not (well, a little :)). I think what tops it all off is that when we finally get to our destination, it's not like I go to my room and have peace and privacy, and a hot shower (yeah, hot water is a real treat and scarcity). No, I'm a single (thanks for reminding me :)) and share a room with two other people in hostels where you can't fart without the front desk knowing about it. So I'm never alone, and when I am, now I have to wonder if it's safe (see "A Lesson I Wish I Hadn't Learned"). Ok, now I'm complaining. haha. Let's move on, shall we?

I was going to go into security, but let's get to some good stuff before you all lose interest, write me off as a whiner, and start watching that uTube link that your co-worker just sent you with some line about how it sucks that it's Monday. I'll just say that when I get home I'll really appreciate the feeling of security that I'm not sure I was even aware of before...

But it's not all bad. No, there are diamonds in the rough! Once in Trujillo, we had the opportunity to visit the cities of two pre-Incan cultures. First, we walked around Chan Chan, the largest mud city in the world built by the Chimu people (850 - 1470 AD). We then took a short ride to La Huaca de la Luna (The Moon Temple), which was a religious center for the Moche people (100 - 800 AD). Chan Chan was interesting, but it was in the Moon Temple that I could feel the people that lived there. It was amazing that we could see the original walls, with their decorations...even the pigmentation that they used was still intact. Very cool! The walls were all covered with depictions of their God (The Decapitator). The site we visited is where they sacraficed warriors (by cutting off their heads) in anticipation of El Nino, a phenomenon that they were aware of even then. Very interesting...and to think, all we have to do is go to church on Christmas to stay in good graces! Just kidding...

And the last two days have been wonderful in Lima. The comforts of home that I so missed, I've found at La Casa de Hoshi! Last night I had a wonderful Pisco Sour and chinese meal (Chifa), and today I visited La Plaza Mayor with Mrs. Hoshi, where there was a huge celebration of "Señor de los Milagros". There were people, wearing purple habits, and following a shrine throughout the city. Then we went to the San Francisco Convent and Catacombs. We saw where the monks lived, and then the bones of 25,000 people underneath. At that time, they thought that it was best to bury the dead under the church, so that they would be near the house of God forever. And to top it off, we had more good food - Ceviche de Lenguados y Lomo Saldato.

Now, I'm going to go out with the Hoshi's for a nice dinner. I did bring one black dress that I bought at Old Navy for $20 before my trip. And Mrs. Hoshi found me a sweater and high heals to spruce me up. I'll take a picture, because I might not look this nice for the rest of the trip! haha. Ok, I'm off!...Oh, and I'm still not sure about the original question I posed, but I'm thinking it's more about who you're with then where you are. But maybe you have to leave to figure that out...Unterkofler's: I'm with you in spirit at Ellie's right now! Love to all! xoxo

Hang Ten! :)

Hey Everyone! So after yesterday´s crappy entry about being robbed (still stinks, but I´m over it), I wanted to send you a more uplifting update and let you know that...I surfed for the first time last night! Whoo hoo! It took me about 6 tries to catch a wave and actually stand up (that last part is the hardest!). Most of the times I wiped out and ended up with a lot of salt water in my nose, one time I rode the wave all the way in like a boogie board...and then on my last attempt (I was about to call it quits because it was getting a little late and the wind was making me very cold), I caught a wave and stood up! I rode it all the way to the sand, where my friends were standing and cheering. What a great feeling!!...and a much needed pick me up from the events of the morning.

So now we are just wrapping things up here in Mancora before our big bus ride today to Trujillo.
So I´ll leave you with this little tale...The first morning here, I woke up in my cabana to find what looked like a little terd beside me on the white sheets. I immediately flicked it off and thought, ¨I really hope that isn´t mouse poop or something¨. Seeing as there are probably few mice here, we put together that it must have been the gecco that my roommate spied this morning climbing on the wall. So that means that at some point the other night that lizard was climbing on me in bed and then crapped next to my head. Oh, sweet South America...you´re full of surprises!

A Lesson I Wish I Hadn´t Learned...

I´m more calm now than I was earlier, which means this entry might not be as angry (and therefore entertaining) as it could be...To cut to the chase, I was robbed on the beach this morning during a jog and had my iPod stolen (insert lots of colorful language here). Part of me is angry at the dude for being an f´ing asshole, and part of me is angry with myself for not even realizing I was in danger.

The story...I woke up and decided that I needed a bit of exercise after all our traveling and eating. It was about 9am and so I hit the beach with my running shoes. It was so nice and peaceful. I was about 12 mins out and I thought, ¨You know, I should turn around.¨ What I didn´t know is that the young guy I had just passed was waiting for me on the beach. I knew I was in trouble when I saw that he had put his white T-shirt over his head and was ever so carefully timing his walk towards the water with my speed. When he got closer to the water, I started running up near the top of the beach (there was really nowhere else I could go, I had to pass him one way or another). It all happened very quickly, but I knew I was screwed and he came toward me pointing to his wrist like he wanted the time. I knew he didn´t want the time. SHIT! He ran up to me and pointed at my arm - ¨iPod iPod!¨ I shouted no! and he pulled out a knife. I hardly remember what happened, but I just pulled the iPod off and threw it. I know I should just be grateful that he didn´t hurt me, but I´m still feeling angry, frustrated, and completly violated. Ahhhhhhhh!

I knew this ¨lesson¨ was coming in one way or another, but when it happens it´s still a bitch. So, I went to the police station with my guide and filed a report. They had me looking at pictures on a computer...I couldn´t tell you what he looked like - he had a freakn´T-shirt on his head and he looked like every other really tanned Peruvian in board shorts. They were pretty incompetent and Alberto, our guide, told me that even if they found the guy and the iPod, they would just keep it and sell it for a couple bucks. Makes you appreciate the cops at home a bit more!

So in addition to being really bitter, I haven´t done much but eat a little lunch with the group. I think we´re off to the beach now and one of the guys in offering to help me see if I can get up on a surfboard. I think I´ll just take it easy, try to forget about today, and leave my troubles behind during our 10-12 hour travel day tomorrow. What can you do?.....

Bienvenido a Peru!

Hey Party People!
Greetings from the small beach town of Mancora, Peru. I´m currently sitting in a small internet cafe, a tiny bit more tanned (thank God!), covered in sand, and I can´t feel my forearms or fingers because I just played beach volleyball with some Polish peeps. It´s always funny when the only common language you have is Spanish! haha. But I´m very relaxed and content, which is more than I can say for my last couple days in Ecuador.

Let´s see...where did I leave off? Ah, yes...near death in Banos. So to celebrate life, I went out with Tasha, my roomie from the UK. The town of Banos is so small that the only people out were the guides and other suckers we met rafting. I played pool with our guide, Diego, and lucky for me he was just a little worse than I am...which is really really bad. haha. So after 6 or 7 games we finally called it quits and I claimed victory! Not that I´m competitive at all!! Afterward we went to a place called Leprechaun Bar and danced a little. I really have NO rythm when it comes to Salsa, but merengue is a bit easier...I´ll have to work on that!

So, I don´t know if it´s the altitude or what, but everytime I drink anything it kicks my ass. The next day during our 12 hour bus ride on a rented ¨school bus¨ (kill me!), I felt so terrible. I had a fever and chills and all my muscles and joints ached from the crazy biking, rafting, and galloping around. The seats were honestly smaller than most airplane seats and I thought I was going to die. The only positive thing that came out of the experience is that the folks sitting next to me talked about movies for 4 hours and I made a list of about 40 films to see when I get back. Maybe I´ll post my list so you can check out some Aussie and Kiwi films too!

So my time in Cuenca was mostly spent trying to get my temperature down (whoo hoo!), but I did manage to walk to a really nice little restaurant and have a traditional Ecuadorian meal before I left the country. And the city itself had some beautiful colonial architecture, which I enjoyed taking photos of. But our time there was short and then we were off for 12 MORE hours yesterday on public bus to the border, and then a van (which we crammed ALL our luggage and 20 people in. I really didn´t even think it was possible, but if there is a will there really is a way! That is a lesson I´m learning here in South America). Here it is common to see an entire family of 4 (parents and 2 kids) on a single motorcyle. It´s hilarious and scary at the same time. I also got to use the rope that I randomly brought (as suggested on the onebag.com site). My roommate had been making fun of me for having rope, but it came in handy when all our bags were strapped to the top of the van with one small piece of nylon string! And I used my door stop on the bus to stop a rattling window. Just call me Gringa MacGyver! smile.

So last night and today we spent in Mancora. I spent the entire day at the beach (we´re not going to have many beach days on this trip!) and for lunch had my first true Peruvian Ceviche, which is a dish of raw white fish served with red onions and lime juice (and yam and yuca or corn on the side). The fish is really fresh and the acids from the lime juice cook it slightly. I have been looking forward to having this dish for a long time, and it didn´t disappoint! I also tried the local beer, Pilsen, and to top it all off, had a sip of Pisco Sour..you know, just to warm up to Peru. smile. I likey so far and look forward to more! Maybe I´ll try surfing tomorrow...

Chévere! (= cool)

Cara

Rio Pastaza Kicked My Ass!

Have you ever had an experience where due to an over-abundance of rules and procedures, you found yourself thinking, ¨Man, they have taken all the fun out of it!¨? That would be the exact opposite of doing anything in Ecuador! :) Instead you find yourself wondering, ¨Should we be doing this? Is this safe? Am I going to die?¨ Those are phrases that have crossed my mind more than once over the last two days in Baños. (Yea, sorry mom. The good news. I´m sitting here writing you all now!)

Yesterday I awoke to a rainy, cold day. Because I´m friggn´nuts, I was they only person in our group to sign up for a mountain biking excursion before the white-water rafting trip. And then Braden felt bad for me and joined in (thank God!). So we show up and it is the most unorganized thing you´ve ever seen. The guy ¨fitting¨ us for bikes (i.e. pulling out any old POS from the back and having you ride around on it to make sure the wheels don´t fall off) was so high he asked me about five times if I needed a bike. I was then further discouraged when I realized that no one at the agency knew what was going on and it looked like we wouldn´t in fact be meeting up with our friends like we had anticipated. Twenty more minutes of mass confusion and we´re off. I´m wearing a damp bathinng suit, shorts, sandals, and a rain coat. After 20 minutes of flying down the huge hills going out of Baños (note: we are in the middle of the Andes!) I couldn´t be more wet, cold, dirty and annoyed. I have dirt flying all over my face. I look ridiculous. I can´t feel my toes...and that´s when I started to laugh. It was just so damn absurd that I had to let go off all rational thinking and just enjoy the experience...which I´m glad I did. And I made some new friends from the UK and France while I was at it. We biked for about an hour and a half and, to my surprise, DID meet up with all our friends on a giant open bus.

And that´s when the real fun started. So when I say ¨white-water rafting¨, what comes to mind? For me it´s getting into a giant raft with friends, everyone looking quite silly in their life jackets, and screaming as cold rushes of water splash into the boat. And in the end you have a bit of sunburn, you´re tired, and they company you went with sells you a picture worth $1 for $20. I´ve only done it once before in Aspen and it was a good experience - exillerating but safe. Ok, again, that would be the exact opposite of white-water rafting in Ecuador :) Do you see the trend here? Twenty-three individuals (the majority of which have never been rafting) are packed like sardines into 3 small rafts. Our boat was meant to hold 6 people and we had 8 plus a guide squeezed in the back. But not to worry, we were only attempting Class 4 rapids and all the safety instructions were really clear - ¨when you get tossed, don´t go down the river head first or you´ll ring your bell on giant rocks¨. Sooooo....we start off and hit the biggest friggn´rapids I´ve ever seen. And because we have no idea what we´re doing...we capsize immediately! I don´t remember going over but I distincting remember the long seconds that I spent squirming under the water feeling the rapids and other bodies rush over and around me. After what seemed like forever I came up to the surface and opended my eyes to see the stiching on the bottom sides of the raft. One quick gasp for air and I pushed myself from under the raft. Total chaos. Grabbing the rope on the side of the boat and then counting 1...2...3...as one of my boatmates pulled me by my vest into the raft....Ahhh, I´m alive.

As it turned out, we weren´t the only boat that flipped (2 of the 3 went over) and some people were so freaked out that they couldn´t/wouldn´t continue. In all, I think we lost about 8 people (to exhaustion and fear) over the course of our approx 3 hour trip down the Rio Pesada. At two points we arrived at Class 6 rapids, had to get out of the boats and walk along rocks as our guides brought the boats around by rope. It was pretty crazy and VERY tiring, especially after my biking warm-up. But it was very fun and rewarding in the end. The day ended with a good meal in Puyo (a nearby town) and a long freezing bus ride home listening to soft rock hits. Everyone was screaming Bryan Adams lyrics at the top of their lungs!

I won´t bore you with much more about today, but many of the girls went horseback riding. I enjoyed it because I love horses and the ride provided nice views of the gorgeous mountains that surround the town and the Volcano - Volcan Tungurahua. It erupted in August of 2006 and wiped out 58 houses on the side of the mountain where the lava came down. We passed the spot during our ride up to the horses. I was the only one that wanted to gallop, and apparently mi caballo, Frijol (means ¨bean...and come to think of it, he was quite gassy :)) liked it too. Many of the others weren´t keen on galloping as it was either their first time, or they were doctors that had treated too many patients that had fallen from horses. Oh, do I even have to mention that the horseback riding agency didn´t have helmets as promised when we signed up? I swear, safety is an unknown concept ´round these parts! But I guess that´s part of the experience, and I´ll be sure to ask more specific questions in the future!

Tonight I think a group of us are going to go out and get a taste of the nightlife for the first time, and then tomorrow we´re off to Cuenca (8 hour bus ride). I´ll work on getting some photos up soon! Hasta pronto, Cara

Las Amazones

Hola a todos! So my time in the Amazon (or La Selva ¨jungle¨) was sort but VERY sweet. We had our first 5 hour bus ride. Really not that bad. I mean the ride is really really bumpy and the roads suck, but just looking out the window is an amazing sight. All the houses and people and beautiful landscape. It´s awesome!

So we arrived and checked into our jungle lodge. I wasn´t quite sure what to expect but they were little screened-in cabanas lit only by lamps at night. That made seeing the bugs hard, but luckily the only one we saw was a GIANT and I mean friggn´giant spider this morning. Ugh, I´m getting the willies just thinking about it! So yea, it was so peaceful and you could hear all the insects and frogs singing away as we slept. And last night it rained all night, so that was pretty cool. But we were hardly in the cabanas because there was so much to do!

The first day we arrived and went on a walk to visit some of the Quechua people of the area. You won´t believe it until you see the pictures, but a lot of these people are still living soley off the land. They make their homes and roofs from the trees and leaves, they hunt, they make clay pots, they pan for gold (I saw a women do it and actually come out with flakes!). Of course the area that were visiting was somewhat commercialized compared to others, but their culture is very strong and as you get deeper into the jungle you get further and further from the civilization we know...

So the first day we just saw where they lived. I gave a blow gun a try. They make wooden darts and poison them with dart frog or poisonous vine sap and then shoot animals with them. It´s a science, as if they use too much poison on the wrong size animal they can die from eating the meat. I also tried this alcholic drink they make from yuca called ¨chicha¨ - everyone drinks it, including the ninos.

The second day we motor-canoed to a spot where we took a hour and a half hike through the junlge (learning about all the cool plants and animals along the way!) to a really cool waterfall. It was pretty hot from the longish walk in our muck boots, so we stripped down to our bathing suits (¨togs¨ in New Zealand) and jumped in. I think that was my first time standing in a waterfall and then I obviously had to try to hang with the boys by climbing the wall and jumping into a deep spot. As some of you may know, I´m afraid of heights. I was shaking on the climb up (half because I´m just weak and the other half because of anticipation), and I didn´t think of this until after, but there really wasn´t any other way down once I got up there, but to jump :) So I jumped and screamed like a little girl on the way down. Hey, at least I did it! I figure I didn´t come all this way to have regrets. Oh, and mom, I also got a huge tribal tattoo on my forehead...sorry, I was on this whole ¨seize the moment¨ kick. :P

So then we tubed back to the cabanas, and had a quick bit and rest before our second trek. We learned so much about the trees and all their uses. It´s crazy how they eat them, use them for glue, for building, weaving, drugs, etc. There was a vine that our guide, Alfredo, showed us that Shamans use to hallucinate (and cure people and see the future...I mean, there´s obviously a lot more to it...and I´m bringing some back. Just kidding Big Brother).

Bueno, Me tengo ir! The next two days are filled with white-water rafting and horseback riding around the Volcano. Oh, and I just went in the thermal baths tonight. Hot Hot Hot!

Ever Seen Someone Brown Bag a...

baby chick? I have! :) I won´t make this a long entry, but here´s a rapid fire update...ready? I said...are you ready? Thank you. :) ok.

Last night we had our first group meeting and I AM the only American! So, everyone, I´ll do my best to represent by over-eating, acting insensitively to other cultures, and saying ¨ya´ll¨ as much as possible. Just kidding - I won´t say ¨ya´ll¨ :P But everyone is traveling in pairs except me, another girl, and a guy. They are all Aussies except one girl from London (the girl traveling solo) and one couple from New Zealand. Sooo, I´m learning all sorts of new things....like that people will laugh when you say things like ¨fanny pack¨ (I mean that is a ridiculous word to begin with!) and ¨granola bars¨ - apparently those are bum bags and muxsle (sp?). I´d google these things to be more accurate, but if you knew how slow this computer was you´d be amazed I´m even online! So yea, everyone is very nice and I think it will be a ¨rather lovely trip¨.

today. woke up at 6 feeling like a million bucks. took private bus with group to the middle of the world. stood in the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time. went to a animal market in Otavalo. saw pigs fight, women carrying chickens, people buying chicks and taking them ¨to go¨ in brown paper bags, a 10 year old boy auctioning irons and strainers, cows, kittens, puppies, goats. went to a beautiful lago - Cuicocha, with an amazing view of a volcano in the background. very pretty. went to Otavalo Mercado - the biggest open air market in south america. bought some things i probably don´t need for twice as much as i probably could have paid (which is still nothing). To give you an idea of the prices here. I had lunch today at the market - rice, a couple french fries, a chicken leg, beats, soup, and juice (which I didn´t dare sip) for $1.25. Yea, talk about breaking the bank!

It was a day packed with a view into a completely different world (unbelievable that there are people on this earth living in this time that are SO SO very different - the people at the market were all native and their culture dates back to the Incas), and many great photo opportunities. Once I post my pics you´ll understand how I could walk around for hours and just soak up all the sights, sounds, smells, and what ever else one can soak up...oh, tastes too :)

So tomorrow we are off to Las Amazonas (after our first 5 hour bus trip). Don´t think we´ll have internet there so I´ll catch you all in Banos (the place, not the bathroom)! Thanks to all reading and posting comments. I´m definitely not lonely (I´m actually liking the flexibility of traveling alone), but there are some moments when you feel like you´re in middle school and you´re not sure if the cool kids are going to ask you to sit with them at lunch or just let you pick your nose by yourself at the table next to them. So reading all your comments gives me a sense of belonging...which allows me to pick my nose and eat alone, thanks a lot! :) xoxo, Cara p.s. did I really try to make a short entry. ha!

For Every Up There is a Down!

Where to start? Hmmmm, so after I signed off last night I went around the corner for some grub and hey...why not enjoy a local favorite - a nice cold Pilsener!? I was alone and apparently this isn´t the best neighborhood, so I came right home and watched The Simpsons and the US VP debate (in spanish) with a guy that works the night shift here. I would tell you his name, but that was just one of MANY things I didn´t catch. He didn´t speak a word of english and went on and on, very passionately, about several subjects, none of which I can recall right now. But I think he´s opposed to the war in Iraq :). Ok...so that was fine. I went to bed early. I figured I´d get up early and have a fun day of exploration, maybe go visit the equator (La Mitad del Mundo or ¨Middle of the World¨)...but let´s just say my body was going to have the last word. I don´t know if it was the food...the water (which I tried not to drink even when brushing my teeth)...or the cervesa (not my fault they only serve Pilsener in 22oz bottles!), but my body ¨threw a fit¨ at about 2:30am. I´ll leave it at that and let you use your imagination. :)

So when I woke up at 7am I was completely exhausted and not feeling so hot. I tried to go to the drug store to FINALLY get some contact solution (I guess everyone here has 20/20 vision or walks around blind, because NO ONE sells stuff for contacts!) and could hardly walk I was so weak. I ended up coming back to the hostel, abandoning my big plans to the middle of the world, and sleeping until noon. I finally felt alive again after a shower, mind you the store I went to earlier was still closed, so I was again washing my entire body and teeth with peppermint soap. wow....

So, I finally got my booty out to a nearby park (I couldn´t be completely lame!) and things turned around from there. While it was really sketchy and I´m pretty sure the dude was trying to steal my camera (just from the way he was staring at it the whole time we talked), he did speak the most understandable spanish I´ve heard in a long time...or maybe he was just speaking really slow. :) But we sat in Parque El Ejido with kids running around playing and talking about Esmeraldes (sp?), where he is from. I made a good exit and then walked in some ass-backward pattern back to the main street in case he was following. I know. I hate to be suspecious, especially if people have good intentions, but I´m not going to take that chance for some random I just met!

So now I´m really hungry! I haven´t eaten a thing since breakfast at 8am (more on this later). So I went to a little cafe that Lonely Planet recommended (thank you again, Aditi por el regalo!) - Kallari. I ordered way too much, but what I could eat was great (the bread melts in your mouth!) and I had a brownie that LP claimed would give you an orgasm...let´s not push it people! But it was good. :) And I made another, much less suspect friend, Frankie, who worked there and is from Tena (where we´ll be visiting soon). He was really nice and we had a good chat...it´s been great practice for my spanish!

So now I´m back at the hostel and waiting for our first group meeting! There are apparently 15 or 16 of us! yikes! And this morning I met some more folks. A couple young couples that seemed very nice. I won´t go too into the group yet - save more material for later (you know I have a hard time thinking of things to say...uh, yea). But so far I´m the only Americana. Lots of Aussies. Ok, well, that´s enough for now. Hope all is well with you all!!

I Heart the Food...Oh, and The Historical Sites Too!

Warning: Because this computer´s main language is Spanish, it can´t check my spelling. So, unfortunately for me, you all are going to learn just how bad I am at this kind of important skill! No really. You´ll be surprised...but don´t judge me! :)

Wow, so I feel like it´s been a long time since I wrote yesterday! I have much to report. And don´t worry, I´m writing a lot now because there is internet in the hostel, but I don´t think I´ll have this kind of access everywhere! :) Soooooo...I did venture out into the New Town of Quito yesterday afternoon. I´m staying in an neighborhood called La Mariscal. I walked around with the main intention of eating (my FAVORITE thing to do!). It did feel a little strange to walk around alone. KT, I think the song you like to sing would have been appropriate for yesterday - ¨one of these kids is not like the other ones...¨ :) But I felt safe and whatnot. So I kept passing all these places holding out for the little cafe that called out to me, ¨I´m the one!¨ Unfortunately, I learned quickly that cafes can´t talk! :) And by then, my quest was quickly interrupted by a massive rain. I had to stand under a little ledge for about 30 mins to avoid getting completely soaked. I ended up running into a tiny little shop owned by a woman named ¨Shadow¨. She was tiny and sweet, and we chatted about the weather and the three dogs that she stays busy cooking for each day. What ¨lucky dogs¨, no?

So when the rain lightened up a bit I headed back towards the hostel. I ended up going back to the very first cafe I passed - Crear´e. I was so hungry and they were so nice and welcoming. It was a very tiny kitched with 3 small tables.I talked with them and found out that they are a family. A young couple and su madre. I was practicing my spanish, like a good girl, but noticed that the girl spoke english too. Turns out she grew up in a little place called...California :) and moved to Quito 3 years ago! I´m sure her hombre had something to do with that. But they were the sweetest people and I stayed there and chatted and ate for over an hour. The meal was so good and fresh!!! I had a vegetarian quesadilla with a cucumber salad, freshly made papas fritas (french fries - mi favorita!), and a freshly made melon juice. Wow! It was awesome! They said to come back for a beer later, but I couldn´t make any promises...I was TIRED!

I forgot that Quito is high (2,600 ft above sea level), and that combined with all the no sleeping and travel was making me feel seriously drugged. I went back to the hostel and slept from 5:30 to 7:30pm, only to wake up and go back to bed from 9:30pm to 8:00am! Wow! That was awesome! And I have to say that the quiet, tranquil place I described yesterday did pep up a bit...you know the usual, crying babies, barking dogs, and music :) but that couldn´t stop me from getting my sleep on. I was dead!...in the best way possible.

So today I woke up, had my first shower where I used Dr. Bronner´s magic peppermint soap to clean my body, hair AND teeth! haha. That can´t be good. And then had breakfast downstairs. I learned that Carlos, the owner of the hostel, was born in this house and his family lived here for many years. After his grandparents became ill (and presumably passed away) he turned the house into a hostel, just 2 years ago. So he has a lot of history here...pretty cool, I thought.

And at breakfast I met Ken, who I found out is traveling with his partner, Sandy, to Santiago with me. The three of us ended up taking the local bus (interesting and cheap) to Old Town, which really IS the heart of the city (I think I mis-spoke yesterday). Old Town is very beautiful. La Plaza de Independencia was beautiful with mini-gardens and trees and the surrounding buildings, including where the President works are very pretty. We also visited La Plaza San Francisco and went inside La Compania de Jesus, which was a built in 1553 (although there was a fire and it had to be reconstructed) and is the most ornate church I´ve ever seen. We ate empanadas de verdes and tamales con pollo (also yummy!) and then took a taxi to the top of El Panecillo, where you can see the entire city.

The view was interesting because you could see just how densely populated Quito is (apparently there are more people per square kilometer than any other city in South America), but I was more intriged by the ¨wild¨ dogs and kids running around. I swear I saw a kid that couldn´t have been more than 2 feet tall (walking with candy and ciggarettes!...followed by 2 dogs) walk down a steep stone wall, onto a grass ledge, and then disappear again over a hill. I don´t know why that amazed me. I guess you just would never see a kid do that in the states because his mother would kill him!

So we came back and had a jugo de tomate at Crear´e and now I´m back at the hostel...and surprisingly hungry again! :) p.s. didn´t meet Virginia from New Zealand, but saw her and she looks like a nice older woman. So far I´m the youngest in the group (Ken and Sandy look to be in their thirties), but I´ve only seen 3 people! Ok, bye for now!!!

Estoy Aqui!

Reporting from Quito, Ecuador...;) After 14 hours of pretty intense travel (i.e. I never went to bed last night, I couldn´t carry-on my bag, and I was THE LAST person to board the final leg to Quito...JUST barely made it!), I´m finally here safe and sound, sitting in the cutest ´hostel´ I´ve ever scene (note: I´ve never been in a hostel before!, but this is awesome!). I´m at La Hostal Casa Kalena. It´s tucked-away on a quiet street in the heart of the city and has hardwood floor and white walls accented by colorful furniture and art. There is tranquil music playing and a wonderful breeze. When I was shown to my room (a single with my own bathroom - sweet), I was so happy to have made it and be here that when the guy closed the door I couldn´t stop smiling, and I´m pretty sure I was talking to myself...¨I made it!¨

So now I´m off to experience my first meal! I am so hungry and can´t wait! And then I´ll shop for toiletries (sp?) and probably come back to see if I can meet up with another girl, that I saw in the guestbook, who is also with Intrepid Travel. She´s from New Zealand...more later!