So the original thought was go to Arequipa so that we could get out and hike in colca canyon, the 2nd deepest canyon in the world. We figured we could just catch a bus to the canyon, hike down, camp, hike back out the next morning, and catch a bus back to Arequipa. Sounds easy enough,, right??
María la doña actually got us what we thought was a really good deal. She knew someone that ran a colectivo to the canyon. Awesome! BUT it will arrive between 3 and 3:30 in the morning. Yikes! But it's all good. It's about a 5-6 hour ride to the canyon and a 3 hour hike; so it would give us time to get down, set up base, and play around. We were down. We get our packs together that night, eat an early dinner complete with wine to help us pass out early, and are in bed by 8:30. We are both up by 2:40 and ready when the bus arrives at 3:10. On our way.
We make a few more stops and the van is now full with 12 foreigners. When everyone is settled in, the woman in chArge calls our attention to explain a few things. Turns out were on a tour van but we are "solo transporta". She keeps saying this as if we are going to forget. We also stop for breakfast which was not expected, but gladly accepted.
We arrive at cruz del cóndor at about 8:45. We quietly bid farewell to our tour group, load our packs on our backs and off we head on the only marked trail. Starting off we are questioning the trail because it seems like it is going up for one, and it seems like it's just following the road. But Meg continues saying that it's a well marked trail and this is the only trail; so I'm in total agreement. About an hour in we look a ways down the path. Were in the desert and a little elevated, so its clear where it goes. There's a parking lot ... and that is where it ends. Crap!! You've got to be kidding me. I've lugged this heavy-ass pack around for the past hour going nowhere?? Alright time to turn around.
We backtrack to the Cruz. On the way we bump into a samll group with a local who seems like he may be the guide. Meghan goes up to him to inquire about the descent trail. He gives us his map and shows us where we need to be going. Right on. Map in hand and we are good to go! Or so we thought...
According to the map, we pass the Cruz a little ways and then the trail will be descending down the right. Cool. Pass the Cruz, no trail. We continue along the side of the road, which in Peru is not exactly the safest thing to do here, for about 20-30 minutes. We still can't find this trail. This is ridiculous. we walk back and SCOUR the area for the trail. It doesn't exist. It can't. There's nothing. So now at roughly 12:30 we are tired, hungry, and pissed. We sit up at the Cruz with the intention of grabbing a ride with the next bus/colectivo. We start having lunch and an older Peruvian, very traditional Peruvian, lady yells bus at us. We stand up and look; there's a group of folks standing on the side of the road hailing down this bus. Ummm...it's kind of crowded and another 14 folks are getting on....well just wait. Plus the books made it seem like smaller buses come to collect folks all the time, like they do at machu picchu. I'm still pretty positive that is not the case. The bus leaves and we are literally the only folks at the canyon. There is NO ONE and NOTHINGu around us.
An hour passes. No sign of a car, bus, or anyone. At this point, I've told Meghan if we don't have anyone come by in a bit, we are setting camp in the parking lot.
Luckily a few minutes later another bus comes by. We flag it down, but not in the smooth manner that the locals do it; more just like a couple of crazy gringos stranded on the side of the road. The bus is already full, so we stand towards the back knowing that the ride to chivay is 2 hrs on a dirt road. At this point, I know we looked like we were crazy. We smell, were a wreck, and now we are standing on a bus intending for sitting down. As we drive on, people continue to flag down the bus ( in a much less spastic manner though, mind you ) and they keep letting them on. Everyone keeps standing and in about 40 minutes the aisle is packed.
We get to chivay finally. We book a 4 o'clock bus on "el rey latino" to Arequipa which should put us there around 7. Good deal. We probably won't be able to leave for ica that same night but we were just happy to be heading back to Arequipa.
While we were waiting for our bus a fight broke out. But in all honestly it was actually just quite comical. It was between a teller and another woman. All of a sudden Megs and I hear screaming. We turn around to find the teller with her hand out the window (through the little hole in the bottom where you hand money) grabbing at the other woman's hair and cursing at her in Spanish. Someone calls policía who comes over but has this expression of "you gotta be kidding me. I can't use my gun here".
I think it's time to wait outside.
-la gringuita
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Arequipa: la ciudad que nos ayuda lo más
We arrived to Arequipa monday evening, tired, hungry, and very cranky. As we got off the bus at the terminal the Brits asked us where we were staying. When we told them we weren't sure; we still had to find a hostel. They looked at us in a very puzzled manner and wished us luck. So ends our ride with the Brits....or so we thought.
The taxi situation is a little interesting in Arequipa. I suppose in the past, they have had issues with it. So the police are all outside , watching the cab drivers and talking to them occasionally. We go to get in the cab and the police is talking to the driver. She takes down some info and tells us to get in. I've noticed throughout the city that they pride themselves I their tourism and keeping their tourists safe; so I suppose it's just one more method of them keeping us safe. Right on.
So as I have said earlier, crepes/panqueques are big here. And of course Meg and I have located the panquequería in town. We throw our packs to the side and sit down, ready for some dinner panqueques. As good as they were, they weren't that filling. But that's alright because they have desert crepes :) after one of those each, we just want a bed. I had found a hostel with dorm rooms for only 15 soles a night, so we head in that direction. I know the address and according to "the moon" there was another inn right beside it. So we head towards that hotel and figure well just find it along the way. We found the other hotel, and a llama chilling in the park, but no Posada de Virrey. The bellhop from the other hotel stops us and asks us where we are trying to go. Turns out we are at 101 bolognesi and we want 103 puente Grau... We are actually in the 500 block, not the 100. Well crap. Guess well start walking. The bellhop was impressed with my Spanish though :)
We finally make it to the hostel and check into our dorm. It seems nice enough, especially for $5 a night. La doña is a little pushy but in a helpful way. AND there's HOT WATER!!! that's a huge rarity in Peru. Up to this point I had attempted to take 2 showers, both of which were cold rinses. So when I figured out the shower and actually got hot water ..... Oh you can't even believe how great that felt. Plus we were sharing the dorm with another guy from Oregon, Nathan, and he filed us in on where to do our laundry. Laundry and hot water?? I must be dreaming.
The next morning we head out, laundry in tow, ready for clean clothes and coffee. Oh clean clothes, it will be such a treat. 1st time the whole trip! We drop them off with this sweet little lady who has her kids playing in the back. 5 kilos of clothing...15 soles. No worries. Well be back at 5.
We walk towards la plaza de armas. Arequipa is shockingly a very clean city and their is a lack of ferrel dogs and cats, which is a kind of a nice change. Their plaza de armas definitely benefits from the tourism. The volcanoes and mountains provide the background for the plazas and restaurants flood the second floor balconies of the buildings surrounding the plaza. We had breakfast and proved to be the ultimate tourists by taking some photos of the mtn surrounded cathedral.
What I haven't seen in other cities but I found here was when shopping, they follow you. And when I say follow, I don't mean move from room to room as you move, I mean on your ass with every move ... Almost as if I stopped quick, they would bump into me. I suppose it's there anti-theft method, but instead it just caused Megs and I to leave. I don't like the hovering feeling.
Anotare thing which i really enjoy is the amount of NGOs in Peru. A few times I have found cafés who actually give 100% of their profits to their sister organization. They usually deal with public health issues and abuse towards woman and children. We have been making it a point to support them whenever we can. I'd very much like to return to Peru and volunteer with some of these organizations ... I've been taking notes :)
So the final amusing thing that happened in Arequipa. We thought we had spotted the Brits when we were having breakfast. But we werent entirely sure. However it was one of those huge double decker busses filled with older tourists so...we were pretty sure. When we went to pick up our laundry, it wasn't quite ready; she was still ironing and folding it ... I mean really lady, have you seen us?? Anyhow, I stood there for a few minute playing barco vs. moto with her son. Suddenly we hear "getting all cleaned up are we?" Meg and I turn around to see 2 of our British friends. We joked with them for a minute. "Have you gotten your manicure a pedicure? Your toes look clean." they were such a trip. Oh the folks you meet when traveling.
-la gringuita
The taxi situation is a little interesting in Arequipa. I suppose in the past, they have had issues with it. So the police are all outside , watching the cab drivers and talking to them occasionally. We go to get in the cab and the police is talking to the driver. She takes down some info and tells us to get in. I've noticed throughout the city that they pride themselves I their tourism and keeping their tourists safe; so I suppose it's just one more method of them keeping us safe. Right on.
So as I have said earlier, crepes/panqueques are big here. And of course Meg and I have located the panquequería in town. We throw our packs to the side and sit down, ready for some dinner panqueques. As good as they were, they weren't that filling. But that's alright because they have desert crepes :) after one of those each, we just want a bed. I had found a hostel with dorm rooms for only 15 soles a night, so we head in that direction. I know the address and according to "the moon" there was another inn right beside it. So we head towards that hotel and figure well just find it along the way. We found the other hotel, and a llama chilling in the park, but no Posada de Virrey. The bellhop from the other hotel stops us and asks us where we are trying to go. Turns out we are at 101 bolognesi and we want 103 puente Grau... We are actually in the 500 block, not the 100. Well crap. Guess well start walking. The bellhop was impressed with my Spanish though :)
We finally make it to the hostel and check into our dorm. It seems nice enough, especially for $5 a night. La doña is a little pushy but in a helpful way. AND there's HOT WATER!!! that's a huge rarity in Peru. Up to this point I had attempted to take 2 showers, both of which were cold rinses. So when I figured out the shower and actually got hot water ..... Oh you can't even believe how great that felt. Plus we were sharing the dorm with another guy from Oregon, Nathan, and he filed us in on where to do our laundry. Laundry and hot water?? I must be dreaming.
The next morning we head out, laundry in tow, ready for clean clothes and coffee. Oh clean clothes, it will be such a treat. 1st time the whole trip! We drop them off with this sweet little lady who has her kids playing in the back. 5 kilos of clothing...15 soles. No worries. Well be back at 5.
We walk towards la plaza de armas. Arequipa is shockingly a very clean city and their is a lack of ferrel dogs and cats, which is a kind of a nice change. Their plaza de armas definitely benefits from the tourism. The volcanoes and mountains provide the background for the plazas and restaurants flood the second floor balconies of the buildings surrounding the plaza. We had breakfast and proved to be the ultimate tourists by taking some photos of the mtn surrounded cathedral.
What I haven't seen in other cities but I found here was when shopping, they follow you. And when I say follow, I don't mean move from room to room as you move, I mean on your ass with every move ... Almost as if I stopped quick, they would bump into me. I suppose it's there anti-theft method, but instead it just caused Megs and I to leave. I don't like the hovering feeling.
Anotare thing which i really enjoy is the amount of NGOs in Peru. A few times I have found cafés who actually give 100% of their profits to their sister organization. They usually deal with public health issues and abuse towards woman and children. We have been making it a point to support them whenever we can. I'd very much like to return to Peru and volunteer with some of these organizations ... I've been taking notes :)
So the final amusing thing that happened in Arequipa. We thought we had spotted the Brits when we were having breakfast. But we werent entirely sure. However it was one of those huge double decker busses filled with older tourists so...we were pretty sure. When we went to pick up our laundry, it wasn't quite ready; she was still ironing and folding it ... I mean really lady, have you seen us?? Anyhow, I stood there for a few minute playing barco vs. moto with her son. Suddenly we hear "getting all cleaned up are we?" Meg and I turn around to see 2 of our British friends. We joked with them for a minute. "Have you gotten your manicure a pedicure? Your toes look clean." they were such a trip. Oh the folks you meet when traveling.
-la gringuita
Arequipa: la ciudad que nos ayuda lo más
We arrived to Arequipa monday evening, tired, hungry, and very cranky. As we got off the bus at the terminal the Brits asked us where we were staying. When we told them we weren't sure; we still had to find a hostel. They looked at us in a very puzzled manner and wished us luck. So ends our ride with the Brits....or so we thought.
The taxi situation is a little interesting in Arequipa. I suppose in the past, they have had issues with it. So the police are all outside , watching the cab drivers and talking to them occasionally. We go to get in the cab and the police is talking to the driver. She takes down some info and tells us to get in. I've noticed throughout the city that they pride themselves I their tourism and keeping their tourists safe; so I suppose it's just one more method of them keeping us safe. Right on.
So as I have said earlier, crepes/panqueques are big here. And of course Meg and I have located the panquequería in town. We throw our packs to the side and sit down, ready for some dinner panqueques. As good as they were, they weren't that filling. But that's alright because they have desert crepes :) after one of those each, we just want a bed. I had found a hostel with dorm rooms for only 15 soles a night, so we head in that direction. I know the address and according to "the moon" there was another inn right beside it. So we head towards that hotel and figure well just find it along the way. We found the other hotel, and a llama chilling in the park, but no Posada de Virrey. The bellhop from the other hotel stops us and asks us where we are trying to go. Turns out we are at 101 bolognesi and we want 103 puente Grau... We are actually in the 500 block, not the 100. Well crap. Guess well start walking. The bellhop was impressed with my Spanish though :)
We finally make it to the hostel and check into our dorm. It seems nice enough, especially for $5 a night. La doña is a little pushy but in a helpful way. AND there's HOT WATER!!! that's a huge rarity in Peru. Up to this point I had attempted to take 2 showers, both of which were cold rinses. So when I figured out the shower and actually got hot water ..... Oh you can't even believe how great that felt. Plus we were sharing the dorm with another guy from Oregon, Nathan, and he filed us in on where to do our laundry. Laundry and hot water?? I must be dreaming.
The next morning we head out, laundry in tow, ready for clean clothes and coffee. Oh clean clothes, it will be such a treat. 1st time the whole trip! We drop them off with this sweet little lady who has her kids playing in the back. 5 kilos of clothing...15 soles. No worries. Well be back at 5.
We walk towards la plaza de armas. Arequipa is shockingly a very clean city and their is a lack of ferrel dogs and cats, which is a kind of a nice change. Their plaza de armas definitely benefits from the tourism. The volcanoes and mountains provide the background for the plazas and restaurants flood the second floor balconies of the buildings surrounding the plaza. We had breakfast and proved to be the ultimate tourists by taking some photos of the mtn surrounded cathedral.
What I haven't seen in other cities but I found here was when shopping, they follow you. And when I say follow, I don't mean move from room to room as you move, I mean on your ass with every move ... Almost as if I stopped quick, they would bump into me. I suppose it's there anti-theft method, but instead it just caused Megs and I to leave. I don't like the hovering feeling.
Anotare thing which i really enjoy is the amount of NGOs in Peru. A few times I have found cafés who actually give 100% of their profits to their sister organization. They usually deal with public health issues and abuse towards woman and children. We have been making it a point to support them whenever we can. I'd very much like to return to Peru and volunteer with some of these organizations ... I've been taking notes :)
So the final amusing thing that happened in Arequipa. We thought we had spotted the Brits when we were having breakfast. But we werent entirely sure. However it was one of those huge double decker busses filled with older tourists so...we were pretty sure. When we went to pick up our laundry, it wasn't quite ready; she was still ironing and folding it ... I mean really lady, have you seen us?? Anyhow, I stood there for a few minute playing barco vs. moto with her son. Suddenly we hear "getting all cleaned up are we?" Meg and I turn around to see 2 of our British friends. We joked with them for a minute. "Have you gotten your manicure a pedicure? Your toes look clean." they were such a trip. Oh the folks you meet when traveling.
-la gringuita
The taxi situation is a little interesting in Arequipa. I suppose in the past, they have had issues with it. So the police are all outside , watching the cab drivers and talking to them occasionally. We go to get in the cab and the police is talking to the driver. She takes down some info and tells us to get in. I've noticed throughout the city that they pride themselves I their tourism and keeping their tourists safe; so I suppose it's just one more method of them keeping us safe. Right on.
So as I have said earlier, crepes/panqueques are big here. And of course Meg and I have located the panquequería in town. We throw our packs to the side and sit down, ready for some dinner panqueques. As good as they were, they weren't that filling. But that's alright because they have desert crepes :) after one of those each, we just want a bed. I had found a hostel with dorm rooms for only 15 soles a night, so we head in that direction. I know the address and according to "the moon" there was another inn right beside it. So we head towards that hotel and figure well just find it along the way. We found the other hotel, and a llama chilling in the park, but no Posada de Virrey. The bellhop from the other hotel stops us and asks us where we are trying to go. Turns out we are at 101 bolognesi and we want 103 puente Grau... We are actually in the 500 block, not the 100. Well crap. Guess well start walking. The bellhop was impressed with my Spanish though :)
We finally make it to the hostel and check into our dorm. It seems nice enough, especially for $5 a night. La doña is a little pushy but in a helpful way. AND there's HOT WATER!!! that's a huge rarity in Peru. Up to this point I had attempted to take 2 showers, both of which were cold rinses. So when I figured out the shower and actually got hot water ..... Oh you can't even believe how great that felt. Plus we were sharing the dorm with another guy from Oregon, Nathan, and he filed us in on where to do our laundry. Laundry and hot water?? I must be dreaming.
The next morning we head out, laundry in tow, ready for clean clothes and coffee. Oh clean clothes, it will be such a treat. 1st time the whole trip! We drop them off with this sweet little lady who has her kids playing in the back. 5 kilos of clothing...15 soles. No worries. Well be back at 5.
We walk towards la plaza de armas. Arequipa is shockingly a very clean city and their is a lack of ferrel dogs and cats, which is a kind of a nice change. Their plaza de armas definitely benefits from the tourism. The volcanoes and mountains provide the background for the plazas and restaurants flood the second floor balconies of the buildings surrounding the plaza. We had breakfast and proved to be the ultimate tourists by taking some photos of the mtn surrounded cathedral.
What I haven't seen in other cities but I found here was when shopping, they follow you. And when I say follow, I don't mean move from room to room as you move, I mean on your ass with every move ... Almost as if I stopped quick, they would bump into me. I suppose it's there anti-theft method, but instead it just caused Megs and I to leave. I don't like the hovering feeling.
Anotare thing which i really enjoy is the amount of NGOs in Peru. A few times I have found cafés who actually give 100% of their profits to their sister organization. They usually deal with public health issues and abuse towards woman and children. We have been making it a point to support them whenever we can. I'd very much like to return to Peru and volunteer with some of these organizations ... I've been taking notes :)
So the final amusing thing that happened in Arequipa. We thought we had spotted the Brits when we were having breakfast. But we werent entirely sure. However it was one of those huge double decker busses filled with older tourists so...we were pretty sure. When we went to pick up our laundry, it wasn't quite ready; she was still ironing and folding it ... I mean really lady, have you seen us?? Anyhow, I stood there for a few minute playing barco vs. moto with her son. Suddenly we hear "getting all cleaned up are we?" Meg and I turn around to see 2 of our British friends. We joked with them for a minute. "Have you gotten your manicure a pedicure? Your toes look clean." they were such a trip. Oh the folks you meet when traveling.
-la gringuita
Saturday, July 9, 2011
El paseo a Arequipa: machu picchu mory, inca eiline, pacachuteq Paul, y Los bebés del jugo
Life on a bus: this time to Arequipa.
After we left machu picchu, rode the bus to Aguas calientes, paid way too much money for dinner, made another doggy friend, took the train to ollantaytambo ( where I made friends with 2 guys from Oregon, rob and Randall), where we caught a colectivo to cusco. I love this combi/collectivo idea. You meet folks, it's inexpensive, more comfortable than a bus, and super convenient. This colectivo took us back to cusco where we were crashing for the night before our day trip to arequipa.
When we arrive at the hostel, la doña, who was super sweet, let's us in and hands us two bottles of water "para lavar Los dientes". She doesn't really explain why except to say that when it rains a lot the water in the city is - and makes a motion with her hands. I've noticed this a bit in Spanish before. And I have determined that it is for 1 of 3 reasons:
1. The words don't exist in Spanish vocabulary and so they just describe it with noises and movements.
2. They figure the gringos won't know that vocabulary.
3. The vocabulary is there but it's uncommon slang.
I'm thinking número uno.
Well apparently this waving motion meant that there was no water. We got upstairs, and go to consider a shower and all we get is 'errrrr'. Yep no agua. O pues. we don't shower much anyway.
The next morning we awake with all intentions of grabbing breakfast before hand. But we are slow, and don't pack our things fast enough. La doña hails us a cab and off we go to the terrestre. As you walk towards the station, there are lots of vendors. Prefect. Breakfast time. We ask the lady for 2 empanadas de queso And two orange juices to go. The empanadas are straight. She wraps them in napkins and done. The juice: little bit more of an issue. She doesn't have to go cups. The neighbor doesnt have anything for to go. Suddenly we see her squeezing more oranges. There is plenty of juice for 2 glasses. What is she doing? At this point, we are also concerned about possibly missing our bus. Then we notice that she is going for the bags. Juice Babies! Of course! She pours half of the juice in each bag, sticks a straw in the middle and ties it shut. 8 soles. I pay the lady and we rush into the terminal.
7:40. We have plenty of time. I go up to the counter hand the lady my ticket and try to check our bags.
"sola una mochila". What? I bought 2 tickets; you better believe I'm checking one bag for each ticket. I tell her this and she starts arguing with me; lady, I'm decaffeinated. You really aren't going to win this one. Finally after a minute or two, she sighs, lets out an "ay" and goes with it. Ha! That's what I thought. Trying to short me by making us carry one of the packs. You my friendly teller are una loquita.
Onto the bus we go. We get to the top of the stairs and it's blocked. A British man turns to us and asks us where were trying to go. Our seats are 1 and 2, so to the front. There are already people there. They double booked the seats. The brits are a little frazzled, but I just tell them I'll go talk to the person. No big deal. They insist on coming with me, which is mildly comical because they didn't speak a lick of spanish. We get down to the woman and the men step in front, showing their tickets and kind of flailing about. I find it very amusing that when someone doesnt speak the language, folks just speak louder and slower; like that helps. The woman just stares at them until I push past a bit and explain it in Spanish. She quickly goes to the book, looks some things over and "straightens" it out ... or so we think. We climb back on and there's someone new in the seat. He has the same seat number. At this point, the Brits are about to hit the roof. Luckily the guy quickly gets up, just says it's ok, and moves to the back ... Poor dude.
So the trip has begun. I have to say that the scenery to Arequipa was absolutely beautiful. And I'm constantly amused by the things that I'm seeing for the first time here in Peru; in Lima it was the pacific, Arequipa the desert ... It's awesome.
The Brits were a riot the entire trip. They were just as baffled as us about the cultural differences, but express it constantly and loudly. They began making up names for each other. The scenario would go something like so (and imagine it in either a British or Irish accent to get the true effect):
"Ahhh right she can me machu picchu mory. But what can eilene be?"
" ... inca eilene"
" oh inca eilene! Perfect! Now isn't that just splendid! Oh! And Paul can be pachacuteq Paul!"
Too funny. obviously they had been on a lot of tours explaining Inca history.
So last crazy bus ride we had a stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere in order to almorzar. This time we had a butcher. No joke! So I've learned a common occurrence on a bus is for the someone to get on the bus at either a station or a stop, attempt to make some money, and jump off at the ends of town. So it's around lunch time and we stop somewhere and let a couple of ladies on. Of course there's no room, so they snuggle themselves amongst the Brits/Irish and ourselves, sitting in the aisles. They plop a few things down (which of course the Brits are going on about) and start calling out for something. I look over beside me, trying my best to be discreet. Ahhh. Juice babies! Why not??! The Brits didnt understand this concept of putting juice in a bag: "well how on earth do you drink it?" one of them asked me at some point. I go back to minding my own business until this smell begins to fill the bus and I begin to hear the Brits:
"well it does smell awful good" "oh I could never trust it" "do you think she does this often" "what if she cuts herself?"
I turn around to see the younger woman sitting on the stairs, cleaver in hand, hacking away at this large roasted animal wrapped in paper. She hands a napkinful to the older lady to sell. I look at the back of the bus; everyone's eating it ... That is except for the Brits and veggies. Then 10 minutes later it's the end of the town; she wraps the animal back up, throw it on her back, grab the juice babies and descend. It's the end of the town; it's time for their departure.
Solo en Perú ....
—la gringuita
After we left machu picchu, rode the bus to Aguas calientes, paid way too much money for dinner, made another doggy friend, took the train to ollantaytambo ( where I made friends with 2 guys from Oregon, rob and Randall), where we caught a colectivo to cusco. I love this combi/collectivo idea. You meet folks, it's inexpensive, more comfortable than a bus, and super convenient. This colectivo took us back to cusco where we were crashing for the night before our day trip to arequipa.
When we arrive at the hostel, la doña, who was super sweet, let's us in and hands us two bottles of water "para lavar Los dientes". She doesn't really explain why except to say that when it rains a lot the water in the city is - and makes a motion with her hands. I've noticed this a bit in Spanish before. And I have determined that it is for 1 of 3 reasons:
1. The words don't exist in Spanish vocabulary and so they just describe it with noises and movements.
2. They figure the gringos won't know that vocabulary.
3. The vocabulary is there but it's uncommon slang.
I'm thinking número uno.
Well apparently this waving motion meant that there was no water. We got upstairs, and go to consider a shower and all we get is 'errrrr'. Yep no agua. O pues. we don't shower much anyway.
The next morning we awake with all intentions of grabbing breakfast before hand. But we are slow, and don't pack our things fast enough. La doña hails us a cab and off we go to the terrestre. As you walk towards the station, there are lots of vendors. Prefect. Breakfast time. We ask the lady for 2 empanadas de queso And two orange juices to go. The empanadas are straight. She wraps them in napkins and done. The juice: little bit more of an issue. She doesn't have to go cups. The neighbor doesnt have anything for to go. Suddenly we see her squeezing more oranges. There is plenty of juice for 2 glasses. What is she doing? At this point, we are also concerned about possibly missing our bus. Then we notice that she is going for the bags. Juice Babies! Of course! She pours half of the juice in each bag, sticks a straw in the middle and ties it shut. 8 soles. I pay the lady and we rush into the terminal.
7:40. We have plenty of time. I go up to the counter hand the lady my ticket and try to check our bags.
"sola una mochila". What? I bought 2 tickets; you better believe I'm checking one bag for each ticket. I tell her this and she starts arguing with me; lady, I'm decaffeinated. You really aren't going to win this one. Finally after a minute or two, she sighs, lets out an "ay" and goes with it. Ha! That's what I thought. Trying to short me by making us carry one of the packs. You my friendly teller are una loquita.
Onto the bus we go. We get to the top of the stairs and it's blocked. A British man turns to us and asks us where were trying to go. Our seats are 1 and 2, so to the front. There are already people there. They double booked the seats. The brits are a little frazzled, but I just tell them I'll go talk to the person. No big deal. They insist on coming with me, which is mildly comical because they didn't speak a lick of spanish. We get down to the woman and the men step in front, showing their tickets and kind of flailing about. I find it very amusing that when someone doesnt speak the language, folks just speak louder and slower; like that helps. The woman just stares at them until I push past a bit and explain it in Spanish. She quickly goes to the book, looks some things over and "straightens" it out ... or so we think. We climb back on and there's someone new in the seat. He has the same seat number. At this point, the Brits are about to hit the roof. Luckily the guy quickly gets up, just says it's ok, and moves to the back ... Poor dude.
So the trip has begun. I have to say that the scenery to Arequipa was absolutely beautiful. And I'm constantly amused by the things that I'm seeing for the first time here in Peru; in Lima it was the pacific, Arequipa the desert ... It's awesome.
The Brits were a riot the entire trip. They were just as baffled as us about the cultural differences, but express it constantly and loudly. They began making up names for each other. The scenario would go something like so (and imagine it in either a British or Irish accent to get the true effect):
"Ahhh right she can me machu picchu mory. But what can eilene be?"
" ... inca eilene"
" oh inca eilene! Perfect! Now isn't that just splendid! Oh! And Paul can be pachacuteq Paul!"
Too funny. obviously they had been on a lot of tours explaining Inca history.
So last crazy bus ride we had a stop at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere in order to almorzar. This time we had a butcher. No joke! So I've learned a common occurrence on a bus is for the someone to get on the bus at either a station or a stop, attempt to make some money, and jump off at the ends of town. So it's around lunch time and we stop somewhere and let a couple of ladies on. Of course there's no room, so they snuggle themselves amongst the Brits/Irish and ourselves, sitting in the aisles. They plop a few things down (which of course the Brits are going on about) and start calling out for something. I look over beside me, trying my best to be discreet. Ahhh. Juice babies! Why not??! The Brits didnt understand this concept of putting juice in a bag: "well how on earth do you drink it?" one of them asked me at some point. I go back to minding my own business until this smell begins to fill the bus and I begin to hear the Brits:
"well it does smell awful good" "oh I could never trust it" "do you think she does this often" "what if she cuts herself?"
I turn around to see the younger woman sitting on the stairs, cleaver in hand, hacking away at this large roasted animal wrapped in paper. She hands a napkinful to the older lady to sell. I look at the back of the bus; everyone's eating it ... That is except for the Brits and veggies. Then 10 minutes later it's the end of the town; she wraps the animal back up, throw it on her back, grab the juice babies and descend. It's the end of the town; it's time for their departure.
Solo en Perú ....
—la gringuita
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Mi paseo a Machu Picchu: llena de nubes
The machu Picchu adventure begins in cusco. In cusco, you walk down this street and duck into an alley where folks are taking collective groups to ollyanta, where we stayed last night, to catch a train to Aguas calientes from where you catch another bus to the top of the mountain. Now you can hike up the mountain, but you are just walking along side the road. What fun is that?
I think the most comical parts of our trip has centered around the public transportation. I suppose it is because so often we are doing the tourist thing and are staying at hostels where there are only travelers. But the bus rides are truly a trip. So we jump in this 'colectivo' kept in this alleyway for a ride to ollantaytambo. We load our things in and the guys tells us we have to wait for 2 more. Those peruvians, they will shove as many in as they can. So this older lady gets in, and she has her son, Alberto, coming also, but he's not here yet. Oh but we can meet him down the street. The driver starts to pull out and in typical Peruvian sense, blocks all lanes of traffic for a few minutes ( ya know, he was trying to make his own lane). So we start down and she spots Alberto walking. So she tells the driver who in turn honks the horn and she's just kind of getting flustered and telling Alberto to hurry, but I doubt he can here her. Oh and mind you, that she has also now opened her lunch in the cab, and were not tAlking a sandwich; it is a full on bowl of rice and meat and some other stuff which of course is filling the taxi with it's scent. So Alberto starts running down the road, and albertos not a little guy, jumps in the cab out of breath and were off. We drive through this one part of cusco, that i didn't know, where the people are selling food left and right on the street. And by food I don't mean street vendors; I mean men with whole dead pigs on there backs just takin it home for dinner.
So the whole ride is filled with la señora talking on the phone (and being very opinionated on the phone), Latino radio, little Convo between Alberto and his mom, and the mom forcing the food towards Alberto "come más Alberto. Come más!" which Alberto keeps trying to refuse but mom is not allowing. I think the topper of the ride was when her phone went off again and the ring is this dreadful, screeching noise, to which she responds "¡O mi cuy!". Cuy is guinea pig, a fine delicacy that you find all over peru. And that was what the ring was: a screech of a cuy; at this point the whole taxi burst into laughter.
We stayed the night in ollantaytambo in a very nice hostel filled with cats, which of course Megs loved and I hated; but other than that it was a pretty nice hostel complete with hammocks on their rooftop. It was actually a pretty ideal hostel except for the fact that it is in Ollantaytambo which has nothing going on.
We are catching the train at 8:30 the next morning, a train that we cannot miss. So what do we do? The fearless leader, that would be me, turns on an old alarm setting from school for 6:30. Problem is this alarm is set for weekdays and it's Sunday. Yep we oversleep. Yes, I know, good job kaelyn. I wake up at like 7:50 and wake Megs up. We scramble and throw all of our stuff in our packs, pay the doña downstairs and speed walk to the train station. We arrive at 8:20. Nice. Just enough time to grab an empanada and a café para llevar from a nearby café. Packs loaded, empanadas eaten, coffee sufficiently eaten and we are on our way again. About 2 hours later, after a very scenic bus ride, we get off at Aguas calientes And make our way to the cultural center to buy tix to enter mp.
At the center, I was once again thankful that my spanish is so good. I get up to the counter, ask the man for a ticket, hand him my passport, and now he's just staring at me. So I ask him how much for a ticket.
"ciento sesenta soles(160)"
"¿Ciento qué?"
"¡SESENTA! Ciento sesenta soles"
So I'm standing there thinking to myself, I knew mp was expensive but I thought it was around 120 soles, not 160 soles. So I fumble with my wallet and look around. There's a sign that says adult 126 soles. So I look at the man behind the counter and ask why it was not 126 soles. Oh yes thats what I said 126 soles... Right buddy.
So almost there at this point. Now just to buy the bus tickets, which we don't know where the station is. Awesome. Another 10 minutes of wandering and asking we get to the ticket booth. $15 ... Wait ... You want me to pay in dollars? I only have soles! Aren't we in Peru? I look in my wallet. Phew....I have a 20 and a handful of ones. I hand the teller the 20; she looks at it and points to a minuscule tear in the corner, shaking her head. Crap! No one will take this flipping 20 due to that tear. So I look at her and ask if I can pay in soles. ¡Claro que sí! Well how would I know that?? All of your signs are in English and are presented in dollars.
Oh life on a bus...
So bus tickets in hand, we load up, packs in lap and ride the hour long, bumpy, windy road to mp.
Shockingly it has been raining and super foggy in cusco these past few days. I had high hopes that we would climb high enough and surpass all the gnarliness. I was wrong. My trip to mp was encased in fog. Though it gave it a pretty awesome eerie effect. But it definitely limited my photo ops. I still got some awesome shots and Megs and I walked this trail that was absolutely amazing. What I love about this country is that their sense of protection for dangerous situations is so lax. For example we are walking this tiny windy trail, a couple thousand feet up, and there's just the edge. No guard rail; no blockade. It's as if they are saying if your dumb enough to get that close to fall, you're dumb enough to die. There are rooftop terraces in all the hostels with again no wall to secure anyone. But who cares? if you fall, it's your own dumb-ass fault. They are not out to protect those with a lack of common sense. And I love it.
—La gringuita
I think the most comical parts of our trip has centered around the public transportation. I suppose it is because so often we are doing the tourist thing and are staying at hostels where there are only travelers. But the bus rides are truly a trip. So we jump in this 'colectivo' kept in this alleyway for a ride to ollantaytambo. We load our things in and the guys tells us we have to wait for 2 more. Those peruvians, they will shove as many in as they can. So this older lady gets in, and she has her son, Alberto, coming also, but he's not here yet. Oh but we can meet him down the street. The driver starts to pull out and in typical Peruvian sense, blocks all lanes of traffic for a few minutes ( ya know, he was trying to make his own lane). So we start down and she spots Alberto walking. So she tells the driver who in turn honks the horn and she's just kind of getting flustered and telling Alberto to hurry, but I doubt he can here her. Oh and mind you, that she has also now opened her lunch in the cab, and were not tAlking a sandwich; it is a full on bowl of rice and meat and some other stuff which of course is filling the taxi with it's scent. So Alberto starts running down the road, and albertos not a little guy, jumps in the cab out of breath and were off. We drive through this one part of cusco, that i didn't know, where the people are selling food left and right on the street. And by food I don't mean street vendors; I mean men with whole dead pigs on there backs just takin it home for dinner.
So the whole ride is filled with la señora talking on the phone (and being very opinionated on the phone), Latino radio, little Convo between Alberto and his mom, and the mom forcing the food towards Alberto "come más Alberto. Come más!" which Alberto keeps trying to refuse but mom is not allowing. I think the topper of the ride was when her phone went off again and the ring is this dreadful, screeching noise, to which she responds "¡O mi cuy!". Cuy is guinea pig, a fine delicacy that you find all over peru. And that was what the ring was: a screech of a cuy; at this point the whole taxi burst into laughter.
We stayed the night in ollantaytambo in a very nice hostel filled with cats, which of course Megs loved and I hated; but other than that it was a pretty nice hostel complete with hammocks on their rooftop. It was actually a pretty ideal hostel except for the fact that it is in Ollantaytambo which has nothing going on.
We are catching the train at 8:30 the next morning, a train that we cannot miss. So what do we do? The fearless leader, that would be me, turns on an old alarm setting from school for 6:30. Problem is this alarm is set for weekdays and it's Sunday. Yep we oversleep. Yes, I know, good job kaelyn. I wake up at like 7:50 and wake Megs up. We scramble and throw all of our stuff in our packs, pay the doña downstairs and speed walk to the train station. We arrive at 8:20. Nice. Just enough time to grab an empanada and a café para llevar from a nearby café. Packs loaded, empanadas eaten, coffee sufficiently eaten and we are on our way again. About 2 hours later, after a very scenic bus ride, we get off at Aguas calientes And make our way to the cultural center to buy tix to enter mp.
At the center, I was once again thankful that my spanish is so good. I get up to the counter, ask the man for a ticket, hand him my passport, and now he's just staring at me. So I ask him how much for a ticket.
"ciento sesenta soles(160)"
"¿Ciento qué?"
"¡SESENTA! Ciento sesenta soles"
So I'm standing there thinking to myself, I knew mp was expensive but I thought it was around 120 soles, not 160 soles. So I fumble with my wallet and look around. There's a sign that says adult 126 soles. So I look at the man behind the counter and ask why it was not 126 soles. Oh yes thats what I said 126 soles... Right buddy.
So almost there at this point. Now just to buy the bus tickets, which we don't know where the station is. Awesome. Another 10 minutes of wandering and asking we get to the ticket booth. $15 ... Wait ... You want me to pay in dollars? I only have soles! Aren't we in Peru? I look in my wallet. Phew....I have a 20 and a handful of ones. I hand the teller the 20; she looks at it and points to a minuscule tear in the corner, shaking her head. Crap! No one will take this flipping 20 due to that tear. So I look at her and ask if I can pay in soles. ¡Claro que sí! Well how would I know that?? All of your signs are in English and are presented in dollars.
Oh life on a bus...
So bus tickets in hand, we load up, packs in lap and ride the hour long, bumpy, windy road to mp.
Shockingly it has been raining and super foggy in cusco these past few days. I had high hopes that we would climb high enough and surpass all the gnarliness. I was wrong. My trip to mp was encased in fog. Though it gave it a pretty awesome eerie effect. But it definitely limited my photo ops. I still got some awesome shots and Megs and I walked this trail that was absolutely amazing. What I love about this country is that their sense of protection for dangerous situations is so lax. For example we are walking this tiny windy trail, a couple thousand feet up, and there's just the edge. No guard rail; no blockade. It's as if they are saying if your dumb enough to get that close to fall, you're dumb enough to die. There are rooftop terraces in all the hostels with again no wall to secure anyone. But who cares? if you fall, it's your own dumb-ass fault. They are not out to protect those with a lack of common sense. And I love it.
—La gringuita
Los pobre perritos: nuestros amigos
So tonight we stayed in ollaynta before going to machu picchu in the morning. Ollaynta doesnt exactly have a whole lot going on. But in the normal, somewhat traditional Peruvian sense, it does have a whole lot of stray dogs and cats.
The dr. Doolittle effect has continued here in south America. Tonight Megs and I were walking around the plaza in hopes to grab a snack and maybe a cerveza. You see ferrel dogs everywhere here in Peru; typically they keep to themselves and typically people pay no attention to them. It's very sad. You'll see the fighting, going through the trash, or just looking so sad and emaciated. It really makes me want to start a "save the dogs of Peru" fund and somehow find them all homes. So back to tonight: this scruffy little sweet mutt is wandering through the plaza and when Meghan and I walked by, he just decided we were good folks and followed us. Of course, my reaction and that of Megs is completely opposite. And I feel horrible for this dog as we wander for 20 minutes or so and he keeps following us. Finally we decide on a little pub and fo inside. After finishing our meal, roughly an hour to an hour and a half later, we leave. We take one step out the door and who is there? Scruffsters magoo. At this point were both so sad for him. We walk back to our hostel, scruffsters in tow, and when we go inside he pokes his head in the door. I mean reAlly dog?? Don't you have your normal stray dog spot where you sleep?? You're breaking my heart!! I tell him to go on and he leaves. We stand there for a minute and talk about this poor dog. I'm wondering if he's just waiting outside. I poke my head out the door, and there he is: curled up in a little donut roll, sound asleep 5 feet from the door. I told Meghan and myself that I couldn't leave this dog. If he was there in the morning, somehow I was helping him. I already had read that you can buy super cheap brand new cars in tacna. I could just buy one and bring him back was my thought.
Luckily, he was gone in the morning.
—la gringuitA
The dr. Doolittle effect has continued here in south America. Tonight Megs and I were walking around the plaza in hopes to grab a snack and maybe a cerveza. You see ferrel dogs everywhere here in Peru; typically they keep to themselves and typically people pay no attention to them. It's very sad. You'll see the fighting, going through the trash, or just looking so sad and emaciated. It really makes me want to start a "save the dogs of Peru" fund and somehow find them all homes. So back to tonight: this scruffy little sweet mutt is wandering through the plaza and when Meghan and I walked by, he just decided we were good folks and followed us. Of course, my reaction and that of Megs is completely opposite. And I feel horrible for this dog as we wander for 20 minutes or so and he keeps following us. Finally we decide on a little pub and fo inside. After finishing our meal, roughly an hour to an hour and a half later, we leave. We take one step out the door and who is there? Scruffsters magoo. At this point were both so sad for him. We walk back to our hostel, scruffsters in tow, and when we go inside he pokes his head in the door. I mean reAlly dog?? Don't you have your normal stray dog spot where you sleep?? You're breaking my heart!! I tell him to go on and he leaves. We stand there for a minute and talk about this poor dog. I'm wondering if he's just waiting outside. I poke my head out the door, and there he is: curled up in a little donut roll, sound asleep 5 feet from the door. I told Meghan and myself that I couldn't leave this dog. If he was there in the morning, somehow I was helping him. I already had read that you can buy super cheap brand new cars in tacna. I could just buy one and bring him back was my thought.
Luckily, he was gone in the morning.
—la gringuitA
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Cusco y mas
We finally arrived to cusco early Wednesday morning. Unfortunately it was not just early, it was super early: 5:45 kind of early. After being thoroughly harassed outside of the train station for taxis and hotels, we got on our way to the center of the city. One of the things you have to understand about getting haggled outside of an airport/bus station is that they don't leave you alone. You tell them that you don't need a hotel or that you're good and they almost get pissed when you walk away. You'll hear them exclaim "ay" or something and then come follow after you insisting that you need to stay at this hotel. Well for those of you who know me well, know that I'm not exactly a morning person, and you know even better that I don't do well before my morning coffee. So, knowing this, I'm sure you can imagine how well I handled the "vendors" outside of the bus station before 6 am. I actually think that I may have slightly frightened one of them. He was trying to get us to stay at his hotel, and he wouldn't leave us alone. I finally turned to him and sharply said "dije que estamos bien" he just gave me this look of "ok...I won't be talking with her anymore" and then left us alone.
Once we got to the plaza, we began to look for a hostel. I'm sure all of those hostel owners loved us ringing their bells at 6 am. I mean we would have stopped at the first hostel, if it wasn't 90 soles a night!! I mean, for real, that's roughly $30 a night!!! Estaban locos! We finally found a spot about an hour later for what we thought was 30 pesos....in reality, he meant 30 per person... We didn't become aware of this until the following morning when he politely asked for more money from Megs. She was confused and came in the room telling me to go talk to him. After realizing this, we still decided that it was going to be cheaper than the bulk of the hostels in town. Cusco was kind of expensive in that regard, mostly because we were trying to stay close to the plazas.
I'm going to have serious issues adjusting back to the expenses in the states. The rate here is roughly 2.75 soles to the dollar. And you're money goes a long way. Occasionally you will find the restaurant trying to charge you 30 soles for lunch, but when you look closely, you can typically find any of your meals for under 15 soles. Meghan and I found this awesome little veggie place the other night, "el encuentro". We ended up going back for breakfast today it was so good. It was awesome: totally family run, veggie friendly, and they had tp and soap in the bathroom!! Tp and soap together are a rare find in a bathroom here in Peru. I think I'm going to write all of the guide books and tell them to include "el encuentro". This morning, Meghan and I got breakfast for 23 soles together...I had coffee, fresh orange juice, toast, panes, and a cheese and shroom omelet; Megs had a huge fruit salad, yogurt, toast, panes and coffee. Plus they were playing Happy Feet in Spanish....I mean: score!
Cusco has been a lot of fun. We have just walked around and ate food: the two things Megs and I do best. I wish I had more time for some serious hikes, but that will just have to be another trip to Peru.
I also got to meet the infamous Patricia, megs' host mom. She is adorable! Very friendly and sweet and teeny-tiny. I felt like I was going to break her when she gave me a hug. She reminds me of someone, but I can't quite place who.
Panqueques are very big here (aka crepes). And I LOVE me some panqueques! But they use a lot of eggs to make them. Seeing as patricia's vegan, she didnt think she could enjoy such loveliness. Megs and I took care of that idea. The day we went to visit we brought her a recipe for vegan banana pancakes. She was so excited! She wanted to make them right away...which of course we did. Vegan banana pancakes at 3 in the afternoon....only in peru.
~la gringuita
Once we got to the plaza, we began to look for a hostel. I'm sure all of those hostel owners loved us ringing their bells at 6 am. I mean we would have stopped at the first hostel, if it wasn't 90 soles a night!! I mean, for real, that's roughly $30 a night!!! Estaban locos! We finally found a spot about an hour later for what we thought was 30 pesos....in reality, he meant 30 per person... We didn't become aware of this until the following morning when he politely asked for more money from Megs. She was confused and came in the room telling me to go talk to him. After realizing this, we still decided that it was going to be cheaper than the bulk of the hostels in town. Cusco was kind of expensive in that regard, mostly because we were trying to stay close to the plazas.
I'm going to have serious issues adjusting back to the expenses in the states. The rate here is roughly 2.75 soles to the dollar. And you're money goes a long way. Occasionally you will find the restaurant trying to charge you 30 soles for lunch, but when you look closely, you can typically find any of your meals for under 15 soles. Meghan and I found this awesome little veggie place the other night, "el encuentro". We ended up going back for breakfast today it was so good. It was awesome: totally family run, veggie friendly, and they had tp and soap in the bathroom!! Tp and soap together are a rare find in a bathroom here in Peru. I think I'm going to write all of the guide books and tell them to include "el encuentro". This morning, Meghan and I got breakfast for 23 soles together...I had coffee, fresh orange juice, toast, panes, and a cheese and shroom omelet; Megs had a huge fruit salad, yogurt, toast, panes and coffee. Plus they were playing Happy Feet in Spanish....I mean: score!
Cusco has been a lot of fun. We have just walked around and ate food: the two things Megs and I do best. I wish I had more time for some serious hikes, but that will just have to be another trip to Peru.
I also got to meet the infamous Patricia, megs' host mom. She is adorable! Very friendly and sweet and teeny-tiny. I felt like I was going to break her when she gave me a hug. She reminds me of someone, but I can't quite place who.
Panqueques are very big here (aka crepes). And I LOVE me some panqueques! But they use a lot of eggs to make them. Seeing as patricia's vegan, she didnt think she could enjoy such loveliness. Megs and I took care of that idea. The day we went to visit we brought her a recipe for vegan banana pancakes. She was so excited! She wanted to make them right away...which of course we did. Vegan banana pancakes at 3 in the afternoon....only in peru.
~la gringuita
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