22.11.08
Trujillo Day 3
So the other day I said to Lori (and her infinite stomach problems) "You know... I´m carrying around about 5lbs of stomach medicine for you and you haven´t even had one problem yet... I mean, I was counting on you to have at least 2 or 3 by now and really lighten my load of pepto, immodium, etc." Well, she really took it to heart. I think she licked the sidewalk... yesterday we lightened my load of stomach medicine (honestly... I think she could have done better than one dose of Pepto and a few pills).
20.11.08
Trujillo, Peru: Day 2
1:00 a.m. - Loud knocking at our door. Two girls from Piura who we had never met, want to invite us to their room to drink wine....(ummm... what??)
10:00 a.m. - Shower in ice cold water
11:00 a.m. - Guy stops us on the streets to warn us about 2 guys known as "Gringa Hunters" who try to take advantage of foreigners. We had already met them the night before. (Good eye, chicas!)
11:30 a.m. - Run from one municipal office to another trying to get permission to do a show in the plaza. Everyone seems to have a different answer and interpretaion of our question... permission for what? where? are we speaking german?
12:00 p.m. - A taxi cab driver has fallen asleep while at a stoplight. Everyone else is beeping.
12:12 p.m. - Mom teaches her young son to pee on the open road. This site, although not a first, will never cease to amaze us.
12:15 p.m. - Loud screaming out of a car window (while waiting for taxi driver to wake up). Yes, that was directed at us.
3:30 p.m. - Trying to think positively about this city...
10:00 a.m. - Shower in ice cold water
11:00 a.m. - Guy stops us on the streets to warn us about 2 guys known as "Gringa Hunters" who try to take advantage of foreigners. We had already met them the night before. (Good eye, chicas!)
11:30 a.m. - Run from one municipal office to another trying to get permission to do a show in the plaza. Everyone seems to have a different answer and interpretaion of our question... permission for what? where? are we speaking german?
12:00 p.m. - A taxi cab driver has fallen asleep while at a stoplight. Everyone else is beeping.
12:12 p.m. - Mom teaches her young son to pee on the open road. This site, although not a first, will never cease to amaze us.
12:15 p.m. - Loud screaming out of a car window (while waiting for taxi driver to wake up). Yes, that was directed at us.
3:30 p.m. - Trying to think positively about this city...
Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo: Hostal La Fortuna (30 soles = $10) for a double bed. Calles Almagro y España
After an unexpectedly long stay in Chiclayo, we finally arrived to our next destination, Trujillo. The 1st night was... eventful. We took a taxi to the cheapest hostal in our guide book ($6 a night per person) to find that the place our cab driver described as Dracula's home had closed down. We then began a trek across the city with our backbreaking bags to a hotel recommended to us by a tour guide who we met in the street. He told us the place was nice and the price comfortable, but when we arrived we found a dark, dodgy place, no hot water, closet sized room, odd smell, one bed, no windows, and a creaky, diaper-like, springy mattress that Laura and I would share. Our backs couldn't handle any more wandering around. "We'll take it!" we said.
Then the search for food. We prowled the streets of Trujillo noting the impressive colonial style architechure; doors big enough for a giant to easily enter. After eating a mediocre, but cheap ($1.33) meal (called churrasco: beef, rice, salad, potatoes, juice), we began the search for a new hostal that we could change to the following day. The cheaper places all seemed to have a strange vibe; something creepy about the men working there, or the over abundance of mirrors, junky locks on the doors... I don`t know. We did find some really nice places...waaaaay our of our $5 price range. Our dingy little room was starting to look better and better; at least the owner, a kind, old man, gave the impression that he wasn`t going to steal all our stuff.
While looking around a guy approached us to ask if we needed help (did we look lost?) He started explaining where we could find a hotel and that he could show us if we wanted. There was another guy standing farther back. I suddenly recognized them. We had passed them a few blocks back, where they were talking to two other foreigners. Something had called my attention to it. A feeling of uneasiness set in (I doubted these guys were just being nice...patrolling the streets, concerned for the well-being of lost foreigners.) "I don't trust them," I said to Laura in English and we calmly made an excuse as to why we had to go. Before leaving one of them made sure to say something in perfect English (just to let us know he understood me...) I felt bad...maybe I had been wrong?
An hour later while walking around we saw them talking with 2 more foreign girls. I was glad I'd followed my gut instinct. As Laura summed us up: she'll get us home (I have no sense of direction), but I'll get us home safe, creep free (Laura could easily talk to a rock.)
We also met a small 7 year old boy selling candy in the street. It was 9:00 p.m. He followed us for about 20 minutes asking for money. We generally don't like to encourage the exploitation of street kids, but when he told us that if he didn't help his mom, they would lose their house, we started to break down. (He also told us the schedule of his entire day, wake up, help mom, make breakfast, go to school, go home, make lunch, do homework, go to "work"... etc.) So after a short, but inspirational speech by Laura about why education is important and a pinky swear that he would study hard, we gave him a few coins. He said that he wants to be a professional in the future. We wonder if he'll ever have that opportunity...
We ended the night testing local desserts. We're still trying to figure out why South American desserts aren't as delicious as they look. (Maybe they're lacking the calories of U.S. desserts?)
Trujillo- Hostal La FORTUNA: FORTUNATELY, we won't be staying here for too long.
After an unexpectedly long stay in Chiclayo, we finally arrived to our next destination, Trujillo. The 1st night was... eventful. We took a taxi to the cheapest hostal in our guide book ($6 a night per person) to find that the place our cab driver described as Dracula's home had closed down. We then began a trek across the city with our backbreaking bags to a hotel recommended to us by a tour guide who we met in the street. He told us the place was nice and the price comfortable, but when we arrived we found a dark, dodgy place, no hot water, closet sized room, odd smell, one bed, no windows, and a creaky, diaper-like, springy mattress that Laura and I would share. Our backs couldn't handle any more wandering around. "We'll take it!" we said.
Then the search for food. We prowled the streets of Trujillo noting the impressive colonial style architechure; doors big enough for a giant to easily enter. After eating a mediocre, but cheap ($1.33) meal (called churrasco: beef, rice, salad, potatoes, juice), we began the search for a new hostal that we could change to the following day. The cheaper places all seemed to have a strange vibe; something creepy about the men working there, or the over abundance of mirrors, junky locks on the doors... I don`t know. We did find some really nice places...waaaaay our of our $5 price range. Our dingy little room was starting to look better and better; at least the owner, a kind, old man, gave the impression that he wasn`t going to steal all our stuff.
While looking around a guy approached us to ask if we needed help (did we look lost?) He started explaining where we could find a hotel and that he could show us if we wanted. There was another guy standing farther back. I suddenly recognized them. We had passed them a few blocks back, where they were talking to two other foreigners. Something had called my attention to it. A feeling of uneasiness set in (I doubted these guys were just being nice...patrolling the streets, concerned for the well-being of lost foreigners.) "I don't trust them," I said to Laura in English and we calmly made an excuse as to why we had to go. Before leaving one of them made sure to say something in perfect English (just to let us know he understood me...) I felt bad...maybe I had been wrong?
An hour later while walking around we saw them talking with 2 more foreign girls. I was glad I'd followed my gut instinct. As Laura summed us up: she'll get us home (I have no sense of direction), but I'll get us home safe, creep free (Laura could easily talk to a rock.)
We also met a small 7 year old boy selling candy in the street. It was 9:00 p.m. He followed us for about 20 minutes asking for money. We generally don't like to encourage the exploitation of street kids, but when he told us that if he didn't help his mom, they would lose their house, we started to break down. (He also told us the schedule of his entire day, wake up, help mom, make breakfast, go to school, go home, make lunch, do homework, go to "work"... etc.) So after a short, but inspirational speech by Laura about why education is important and a pinky swear that he would study hard, we gave him a few coins. He said that he wants to be a professional in the future. We wonder if he'll ever have that opportunity...
We ended the night testing local desserts. We're still trying to figure out why South American desserts aren't as delicious as they look. (Maybe they're lacking the calories of U.S. desserts?)
Trujillo- Hostal La FORTUNA: FORTUNATELY, we won't be staying here for too long.
Chiclayo, Peru - The City of Friendship :)
Hostal San Lucas 15 soles/$5 (Aguirre y Carrion)
We arrived to Chiclayo, Peru with the intention of meeting the family of some Peruvians we know in Quito, Ecuador. They would show us around a day or two and off we go. BUT our new friends were so nice, we stayed a whopping 9 days. Honestly, there´s not that much to see in Chiclayo, but the people are very nice, at least our friends were. Here´s a quick run-down of what we did!
Sunday - arrived at night, met our nice friends, ate chicken, told funny stories, arrived to our Mexican nunnery hostal, said "Phewf!" that our new friends were totally cool, sleep. Were introduced to Cumbia music (a popular type of music) and Grupo 5 (a cumbia band popular in all of Peru, they are from Chiclayo).
Monday - visited the central market where a man tried to sell us a potion for 20 soles that would give us good luck, good health and good love... and lots of money. I tried to tell Lori it was a bargain. She´s so unrealistic! :) We ate the most delicious Peruvian ceviche in existance and finally a bird pooped on my head (don´t they say it´s good luck? I didn´t have to pay 20 soles for that). South America has made us so sceptical, I mean when a bird poops on your head is it normal to think immediately "Someone must be robbing me!"
Tuesday - visited a festival in our friend´s hometown, just outside of Chiclayo. Visited a house made completely out of rock and finally, partied to cumbia music and Grupo 5 until 6am. Are we still in college or something?
Wednesday - slept all day and practiced our arabic dance show in the park with lots of support from passersby. Danced to Cumbia music and Grupo 5 all night. Are we in Peruvian college or something?
Thursday and Friday - we continued practicing in the park with various audiences (mostly elementary school kids). Most everyone watched our talent and then wanted to share theirs. We had traditional Peruvian dancers, a flute player (where did he pull that flute out of?), stilt walkers, some clowns dressed as woman etc. Friday night we performed for a group of Engineers in Chiclayo. We´re still trying to decide if their silence meant they enjoyed it or were horrified :)
Saturday - we (finally) put on our tourist shoes and visited The Museum of Señor Sipan. Señor Sipan was a king of the Mochicas in the year 600ad. The Mochicas had their empire right outside of Chiclayo. This museum is dedicated to all the archaeological findings in his tomb. It was absolutely amazing. These people had more gold than they knew what to do with. Lori, Martin (our friend) and I were wowed. At night, more discos with more cumbia music and Grupo 5.
Sunday - we visited a beach near Chiclayo, Beach Pimentel. It was chilly and had some cool fishing canoe things where people were selling fish. Can´t get much fresher than that! It´s a shame South America doesn´t value a good clean, trash free beach. Other than that, who doesn´t love the beach?
Monday - still with our tourist shoes on, we visited that actual archaeological site of Señor Sipan where you can see where his tomb and others were actually found. We met a nice Peruvian American from New York. We knew we would be friends because when the men operating the bus gave it a running-pop-the-clutch-start, our soon to be friend told us "That´s the Peruvian way" which conveniently is also the Ecuadorian way and probably the Bolivian way and the Chilean way... etc... :)
Tuesday - we visited a museum that has a little bit of history from each empire that inhabited Peru at one time or another with our friend Cesar. With beautiful photography (see black and white photo to the left... the crazy looking one is the founder of the museum :) and enough 2,000-year-old ceramic pots to fill a swimming pool, we´re experts on Peruvian history :) Come on, try us! We also witnessed a little boy fall in the street. His dad helped him up and I started dying laughing. Lori looked at me like "I can´t believe you´re laughing at that little boy!" After telling her he had slipped on a banana peel (which I thought only happened to elephants in cartoons) we both practially peed our pants.
Wednesday - we said a teary goodbye to our good friends, the dog (Mocha) from our hostal that we had grown to love (the fact that she scratched on our door daily to say hello, told us we had probably been in Chiclayo, the City of Friendship, too long). I believe cumbia and Grupo 5 were playing in the background. :)
Chiclayo, we love you!
We arrived to Chiclayo, Peru with the intention of meeting the family of some Peruvians we know in Quito, Ecuador. They would show us around a day or two and off we go. BUT our new friends were so nice, we stayed a whopping 9 days. Honestly, there´s not that much to see in Chiclayo, but the people are very nice, at least our friends were. Here´s a quick run-down of what we did!
Sunday - arrived at night, met our nice friends, ate chicken, told funny stories, arrived to our Mexican nunnery hostal, said "Phewf!" that our new friends were totally cool, sleep. Were introduced to Cumbia music (a popular type of music) and Grupo 5 (a cumbia band popular in all of Peru, they are from Chiclayo).Monday - visited the central market where a man tried to sell us a potion for 20 soles that would give us good luck, good health and good love... and lots of money. I tried to tell Lori it was a bargain. She´s so unrealistic! :) We ate the most delicious Peruvian ceviche in existance and finally a bird pooped on my head (don´t they say it´s good luck? I didn´t have to pay 20 soles for that). South America has made us so sceptical, I mean when a bird poops on your head is it normal to think immediately "Someone must be robbing me!"
Tuesday - visited a festival in our friend´s hometown, just outside of Chiclayo. Visited a house made completely out of rock and finally, partied to cumbia music and Grupo 5 until 6am. Are we still in college or something?Wednesday - slept all day and practiced our arabic dance show in the park with lots of support from passersby. Danced to Cumbia music and Grupo 5 all night. Are we in Peruvian college or something?
Thursday and Friday - we continued practicing in the park with various audiences (mostly elementary school kids). Most everyone watched our talent and then wanted to share theirs. We had traditional Peruvian dancers, a flute player (where did he pull that flute out of?), stilt walkers, some clowns dressed as woman etc. Friday night we performed for a group of Engineers in Chiclayo. We´re still trying to decide if their silence meant they enjoyed it or were horrified :)
Saturday - we (finally) put on our tourist shoes and visited The Museum of Señor Sipan. Señor Sipan was a king of the Mochicas in the year 600ad. The Mochicas had their empire right outside of Chiclayo. This museum is dedicated to all the archaeological findings in his tomb. It was absolutely amazing. These people had more gold than they knew what to do with. Lori, Martin (our friend) and I were wowed. At night, more discos with more cumbia music and Grupo 5.Sunday - we visited a beach near Chiclayo, Beach Pimentel. It was chilly and had some cool fishing canoe things where people were selling fish. Can´t get much fresher than that! It´s a shame South America doesn´t value a good clean, trash free beach. Other than that, who doesn´t love the beach?
Monday - still with our tourist shoes on, we visited that actual archaeological site of Señor Sipan where you can see where his tomb and others were actually found. We met a nice Peruvian American from New York. We knew we would be friends because when the men operating the bus gave it a running-pop-the-clutch-start, our soon to be friend told us "That´s the Peruvian way" which conveniently is also the Ecuadorian way and probably the Bolivian way and the Chilean way... etc... :)
Tuesday - we visited a museum that has a little bit of history from each empire that inhabited Peru at one time or another with our friend Cesar. With beautiful photography (see black and white photo to the left... the crazy looking one is the founder of the museum :) and enough 2,000-year-old ceramic pots to fill a swimming pool, we´re experts on Peruvian history :) Come on, try us! We also witnessed a little boy fall in the street. His dad helped him up and I started dying laughing. Lori looked at me like "I can´t believe you´re laughing at that little boy!" After telling her he had slipped on a banana peel (which I thought only happened to elephants in cartoons) we both practially peed our pants.
Wednesday - we said a teary goodbye to our good friends, the dog (Mocha) from our hostal that we had grown to love (the fact that she scratched on our door daily to say hello, told us we had probably been in Chiclayo, the City of Friendship, too long). I believe cumbia and Grupo 5 were playing in the background. :)Chiclayo, we love you!
Mancora, Peru
Hostal with No Name 20 soles/$6.50 (brick building on the beach across from "Club de Angeles")
Lonely Planet: "Mancora is Peru´s worst-kept secret, a laid back, sandy paradise."
Laura and Lori: "Mancora is Peru´s most over-rated secret, a noisy, mosquito infested, animalistic macho-Tarzan-lookalike magnet, drug addict paradise."
We arrived to Mancora to find all the cheap hostals full, so we decided to spend the extra dollar and stay at a classy place. The
first night, after realizing there was no water, we met the diverse welcome committee: a few large cucarachas, 10,000,000 mosquitoes and 1 mouse trying to support his family of 5 under our bathroom sink. In a mosquito swatting, cockroach squashing frenzy, I broke the sink pipe. Not to worry - still no water.
We did enjoy the beach, the windiest beach we´ve ever been to. Although, getting pegged int he face with sand decreased enjoyment (as well as the fat man who took off his bathing suit in
the ocean).
The second night, we had the routine down pat: bathroom light on (scare away cockroaches), bedroom light off (no mosquitoes), mosquito repellent body soak, special mosquito repellent incense and a sheet snuggly covering every square inch of our bodies. We looked like a shiny, human sacrifice.
We did meet two friendly (and a little crazy) men from Lima, Peru (see motorcycle pics... ) who turned out to be good company and Tarzan-lookalike repellent.
Mancora - it´s a mediocre time! :)
Lonely Planet: "Mancora is Peru´s worst-kept secret, a laid back, sandy paradise."
Laura and Lori: "Mancora is Peru´s most over-rated secret, a noisy, mosquito infested, animalistic macho-Tarzan-lookalike magnet, drug addict paradise."
We arrived to Mancora to find all the cheap hostals full, so we decided to spend the extra dollar and stay at a classy place. The
first night, after realizing there was no water, we met the diverse welcome committee: a few large cucarachas, 10,000,000 mosquitoes and 1 mouse trying to support his family of 5 under our bathroom sink. In a mosquito swatting, cockroach squashing frenzy, I broke the sink pipe. Not to worry - still no water.We did enjoy the beach, the windiest beach we´ve ever been to. Although, getting pegged int he face with sand decreased enjoyment (as well as the fat man who took off his bathing suit in
the ocean).The second night, we had the routine down pat: bathroom light on (scare away cockroaches), bedroom light off (no mosquitoes), mosquito repellent body soak, special mosquito repellent incense and a sheet snuggly covering every square inch of our bodies. We looked like a shiny, human sacrifice.
We did meet two friendly (and a little crazy) men from Lima, Peru (see motorcycle pics... ) who turned out to be good company and Tarzan-lookalike repellent.
Mancora - it´s a mediocre time! :)
10.11.08
Piura, Peru: Home of the... taxi
Hospedaje California, Calle Junin: 15 soles a night = $ 5
The much feared border crossing into Peru (see picture to left) really couldn't have gone any smoother (minus the customs officer who was more interested in giving Laura his phone number than stamping our passports. Not really surprising.) The trip from Loja, Ecuador to Piura took about 8 hours in the bus, so we were crossing the border at about 4 a.m. We got into to Piura at 7 a.m. (our Irish friend still accompaning us). At that point we needed a long nap because due to the winding, bumpy roads and frequent stops it was nearly impossible to sleep. (Laura however managed to snooze for the ENTIRE trip. This angered the Irish bloke and me.)
We spent the day exploring Piura, a small bustling city. It had a nice vibe (we've found that to be the case with most coastal cities; the people are happier and there's more movement in the city.) In terms of tourism, there isn't much to see in Piura... a small gold museum (the highlight being a lifesize, golden, cat head, belt buckle), taxis (more than I've ever seen in my life, all junky), a nice park (where we met the former mayor of Piura from about 1965, a friendly, old character who says he doesn't know how he became mayor, but he's sure that the only people that voted for him were ladies), several ceviche restaurants (a Peruvian seafood specialty), and a few discotecas (all, unfortunately playing cumbia music).
We actually really enjoyed the day. The next morning we parted ways with our Irish friend and got on the bus to Mancora, a small beach town that is all the rave in Peru. He continued down south to Lima.
Piura, a noisy, hot, friendly introduction to Peru; worth ONE day of your time.
The much feared border crossing into Peru (see picture to left) really couldn't have gone any smoother (minus the customs officer who was more interested in giving Laura his phone number than stamping our passports. Not really surprising.) The trip from Loja, Ecuador to Piura took about 8 hours in the bus, so we were crossing the border at about 4 a.m. We got into to Piura at 7 a.m. (our Irish friend still accompaning us). At that point we needed a long nap because due to the winding, bumpy roads and frequent stops it was nearly impossible to sleep. (Laura however managed to snooze for the ENTIRE trip. This angered the Irish bloke and me.)
We spent the day exploring Piura, a small bustling city. It had a nice vibe (we've found that to be the case with most coastal cities; the people are happier and there's more movement in the city.) In terms of tourism, there isn't much to see in Piura... a small gold museum (the highlight being a lifesize, golden, cat head, belt buckle), taxis (more than I've ever seen in my life, all junky), a nice park (where we met the former mayor of Piura from about 1965, a friendly, old character who says he doesn't know how he became mayor, but he's sure that the only people that voted for him were ladies), several ceviche restaurants (a Peruvian seafood specialty), and a few discotecas (all, unfortunately playing cumbia music).
We actually really enjoyed the day. The next morning we parted ways with our Irish friend and got on the bus to Mancora, a small beach town that is all the rave in Peru. He continued down south to Lima.Piura, a noisy, hot, friendly introduction to Peru; worth ONE day of your time.
7.11.08
Welcome to Peru!
Hello everyone! We arrived in Peru a few days ago. Lori will update everyone on Piura (our first stop, still with the Irish bloke :) I just wanted to post a map of Peru so you know where we are. We were in Loja, Ecuador (at the very south of Ecuador) last and after a sleepless overnight bus and some stupid pick-up lines from customs officers at the border (so professional this continent) we arrived in the first big city/town. Piura, Peru which you see at the north west of the map.miss you all!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
5.11.08
Loja - Cleanest city in South America
Loja - Hotel Londres (Sucre and 10 de Agosto) $5 saggy beds and creaky floors. Just like the book says :)
First, we just want to say that we gave a little yelp of happiness to know that Obama will be the next president :) I just heard from my new Irish friend that 140 million people showed up to vote. The highest since 1908! Wow! I also hope that my good friend Loxi Ellingwood won whatever it was that she was running for (the only other familiar name I saw on the ballot when I voted on my "Emergency Ballot" during my visit home). Loxi, I´m not gonna lie, I didn´t have any idea what it was you were running for... but you had my vote hands down! Of course, if you had some signs to put in the front yard to show our support for you, we would have done it (in Ecuador too!).
Right now, we´re in Loja (see Lori´s entry, after about 19 hours on a bus, we arrived to find Loja closed). So, Monday we didn´t do anything. We walked around only to be hit with extreme exhaustion midday and took a nap. Everywhere we went "It´s closed because of the holiday", "It´s not working because of the holiday", "It closed early..." we know. Because of the holiday. We then went to the movie theater (which was more expensive... guess why...) and saw what we thought would be a mediocre movie and turned out to be soooooo great! How often can you say that? It´s called "La Misma Luna". You should all see it. It was a great, sad movie. Lori and Laura give it two teary-eyed thumbs up.
Tuesday, we went hiking in the National
Park Podocarpus (named after the tree Podocarpus which is all over the place in this Park). Well, we only visited a small part of the park, because it is enormous! (1462.8 square kilometers) It was beautiful! We saw cool flowers, lizards (mountain lizards of course), amazing views, mountain stick bugs and lots and lots of... mud. We must have trudged through the mud for 2 of the 3 hours. Today, Lori´s and my legs are killing us.
Today, we met a grand Irish bloke (with lots of policital statistics :)
and we went off to visit Vilcabamba. Weird name, old people. They say that the oldest people here in Ecuador live in Vilcabamba. They live so long, rumor has it, because of the water. Which, oddly enough was off today in the entire town. So, we couldn´t get a taste of this fountain of youth (or flush the toilets or wash our hands...) Bummer... nor did we see alot of old people, they were hidden away in someone´s basement we think. No, I´m just kidding!! But seriously, they say the people live until 100 years old or something! To say that time went by veeerrrrryyyy slowly in this town, is an understatement. It was soooo chill, one hour felt like 3 (in a good way). We spent the day like Irishmen and, since there was no water to be had (note dry fountain behind us), appropriately we drank beer :)
Tonight - Off to Peru!
First, we just want to say that we gave a little yelp of happiness to know that Obama will be the next president :) I just heard from my new Irish friend that 140 million people showed up to vote. The highest since 1908! Wow! I also hope that my good friend Loxi Ellingwood won whatever it was that she was running for (the only other familiar name I saw on the ballot when I voted on my "Emergency Ballot" during my visit home). Loxi, I´m not gonna lie, I didn´t have any idea what it was you were running for... but you had my vote hands down! Of course, if you had some signs to put in the front yard to show our support for you, we would have done it (in Ecuador too!).
Right now, we´re in Loja (see Lori´s entry, after about 19 hours on a bus, we arrived to find Loja closed). So, Monday we didn´t do anything. We walked around only to be hit with extreme exhaustion midday and took a nap. Everywhere we went "It´s closed because of the holiday", "It´s not working because of the holiday", "It closed early..." we know. Because of the holiday. We then went to the movie theater (which was more expensive... guess why...) and saw what we thought would be a mediocre movie and turned out to be soooooo great! How often can you say that? It´s called "La Misma Luna". You should all see it. It was a great, sad movie. Lori and Laura give it two teary-eyed thumbs up.Tuesday, we went hiking in the National
Park Podocarpus (named after the tree Podocarpus which is all over the place in this Park). Well, we only visited a small part of the park, because it is enormous! (1462.8 square kilometers) It was beautiful! We saw cool flowers, lizards (mountain lizards of course), amazing views, mountain stick bugs and lots and lots of... mud. We must have trudged through the mud for 2 of the 3 hours. Today, Lori´s and my legs are killing us.Today, we met a grand Irish bloke (with lots of policital statistics :)
and we went off to visit Vilcabamba. Weird name, old people. They say that the oldest people here in Ecuador live in Vilcabamba. They live so long, rumor has it, because of the water. Which, oddly enough was off today in the entire town. So, we couldn´t get a taste of this fountain of youth (or flush the toilets or wash our hands...) Bummer... nor did we see alot of old people, they were hidden away in someone´s basement we think. No, I´m just kidding!! But seriously, they say the people live until 100 years old or something! To say that time went by veeerrrrryyyy slowly in this town, is an understatement. It was soooo chill, one hour felt like 3 (in a good way). We spent the day like Irishmen and, since there was no water to be had (note dry fountain behind us), appropriately we drank beer :)Tonight - Off to Peru!
3.11.08
Bus It
Hey everyone, Lori here. (Finally!) When people are traveling I always wonder, well sooo what are you doing everyday? What is a typical day like? So I thought I'd give you a quick summary of day 3... this is how it went down:
-Leave Tena
-Get on a bus
-Sit in front of a drug dealer who keeps insisting (to the point of screaming to the bus driver) that I take my glasses off, because my eyes are like butterflies...
-There seem to be an unusually large quantity of smelly people around us
-The bible man is sitting near by asking to watch Titanic because he's a romantic man, which is a ridiculous request...(refer to Laura's Jean Claude Van Damme blog)
-After 7.5 hours we arrive to Riobamba
-Take our approximately 50-60 lbs of luggage each off the bus and try to find food. (Is someone going to rob us?) It's Sunday night. Nothing is open. We settle for bread... our only nourishment for the day.
-Get on another bus to Loja (11 hours). This bus was clearly made for midgets. (What is that smell? Did someone bring their trash on the bus?)
-Arrive to Loja 7:30 in the morning... to find out it's a holiday and everything is closed.
Lesson`s Learned:
1. Check our you surroundings before sitting on the bus (you dont want to get stuck with a high drug dealer, or preaching missonary for 7 hours... you definitely don't want the combination of the two.)
2. 19 hours of traveling is too long. Plan better.
3. Don`t visit Loja during a holiday.
-Leave Tena
-Get on a bus
-Sit in front of a drug dealer who keeps insisting (to the point of screaming to the bus driver) that I take my glasses off, because my eyes are like butterflies...
-There seem to be an unusually large quantity of smelly people around us
-The bible man is sitting near by asking to watch Titanic because he's a romantic man, which is a ridiculous request...(refer to Laura's Jean Claude Van Damme blog)
-After 7.5 hours we arrive to Riobamba
-Take our approximately 50-60 lbs of luggage each off the bus and try to find food. (Is someone going to rob us?) It's Sunday night. Nothing is open. We settle for bread... our only nourishment for the day.
-Get on another bus to Loja (11 hours). This bus was clearly made for midgets. (What is that smell? Did someone bring their trash on the bus?)
-Arrive to Loja 7:30 in the morning... to find out it's a holiday and everything is closed.
Lesson`s Learned:
1. Check our you surroundings before sitting on the bus (you dont want to get stuck with a high drug dealer, or preaching missonary for 7 hours... you definitely don't want the combination of the two.)
2. 19 hours of traveling is too long. Plan better.
3. Don`t visit Loja during a holiday.
Tena - Fun in the Jungle Sun
So Tena was beautiful and hot (a shame there was no beach).Some highlights:
Hostal Saharait $6 (near the boardwalk), better hostal Brisa del Rio (right on the boardwalk)
- Mango allergy (see post below & Will Smith picture)
- We watched the crowning of Miss Tena 2009. The new queen is named
Jenniferth (no mistake, just interesting translation...) AND the crowning of Miss Indigenious Tena 2009 (because there are tons of indigenous communities in the jungle near Tena) Lori and I liked this competition much better. The girls seemed much more smarter ;) No really, the girls were beautiful and had a show of their traditional outfits made out of seeds and coconuts, etc. We were totally wowed. Drum roll - Miss Indigenious Tena 2009 Jenniser (I repeat, no mistake, just an interesting translation. Lori and I say that, in honor of our love of South America, we´re going to name our kids Juama and Diegflo.)
- We went to a Jungle Park to do some hiking and pet some animals. We learned about medicinal plants, saw plants that when you touch their leaves they close up (Little Shop of Horrors... but on a much smaller scale :) and had a little Warthog type animal (like Pumba! but no horns) licking my legs all afternoon. They say they like salt and since I was sweating like a... well... warthog, we were instant friends. (Mom, do I make you proud?) He followed us around all day. We think he´d make a much cooler pet than a dog. Our guide told us the pig´s name is Samba because he has hair like mine. I thought his hair seemed rather straw-like. Thanks.
- Jungle Park continuation, we had a monkey climbing on us like we were a jungle gym. He had these little soft paws. Also the best pet, because you can´t drop him! Even if you try to throw him (Lori tried... ) he tricks you by holding on with his tail. Tricky little fella. And a cute little robber!
Tena - Two Thumbs waaaay up!
- We went to a Jungle Park to do some hiking and pet some animals. We learned about medicinal plants, saw plants that when you touch their leaves they close up (Little Shop of Horrors... but on a much smaller scale :) and had a little Warthog type animal (like Pumba! but no horns) licking my legs all afternoon. They say they like salt and since I was sweating like a... well... warthog, we were instant friends. (Mom, do I make you proud?) He followed us around all day. We think he´d make a much cooler pet than a dog. Our guide told us the pig´s name is Samba because he has hair like mine. I thought his hair seemed rather straw-like. Thanks.- Jungle Park continuation, we had a monkey climbing on us like we were a jungle gym. He had these little soft paws. Also the best pet, because you can´t drop him! Even if you try to throw him (Lori tried... ) he tricks you by holding on with his tail. Tricky little fella. And a cute little robber!
Tena - Two Thumbs waaaay up!
1.11.08
Latin America, Jean Claude Van Damme & Chuck Norris
Can I just ask - Why does Latin America love Jean Claude Van Damme?I know, he is a thing of the 90´s in the states, but in Ecuador, this man is raking in the dough. (well, not really, because most of his movies are pirated... lol) But seriously, Jean and Chuck Norris, their careers are in full swing here in Ecuador. Everytime, and I seriously mean EVERYTIME, I ride a bus any long distance for sure they play one of Jean or Chuck´s famous "we never die no matter how many times you shoot us" movies. This one "In Hell," in my honest opinion, was one of his better ones. I really connected with him. We´ve seen quite a few (even a few movies that stared Chuck and his brother... an honor) but really, "In Hell" was better than "Inferno," "Universal Soldier I, II & III" and "A Tale of Two Titans" but not as good as "Street Fighter." Yup, we´ve seen them all ;)
Since we{re going out...
So yesterdays mango experience (see my friend Will Smith{s picture, no really.... that was me) made Lori and I happily think about Brian Regan (a hilarious comedian. Thanks Gymnastics Joe, since you introduced him to us, our lives haven{t been the same!!) This is how Lori{s conversation with me went yesterday (the Brian Regan version)Lori: So, Laura.... you know how your face normally looks? Of course you do.... (small chuckle) Well, you look a little different. So.... I was thinking, since we{re gonna go check our email later, maybe we could just swing by the hospital on the way? What do you think?
Laura: (with a lisp from a slightly swollen tongue) I think I{m just gonna lay down for 10 minutes. Then, if my throat is still itching, we can go check our email and swing by the hospital.
One of those moments that is funny now and wasn{t at the time.
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