Aventura en Ecuador

Hola!

As most of you know, I'm already back in the States, but before I end this blog, here's my Ecuador story!

My first stop in Ecuador was the quaint village of Vilcabamba in the south. It's near the cloud forests of the Podocarpus national park and in the "Valley of Longetivity", appropriately named since many locals here live long healthy lifes and become centenarians (living to be 100+ yrs old). Vilcabamba also has a big expat community, and for good reason: the abundance of healthy, local, organic food, the progressive vibe, the mild climate, and the gorgeous lush scenery. And for these reasons and more, I could also easily see myself living here too :) Maybe I will in my lifetime. I stayed at Hosteria Izhcayluma, a peaceful retreat about 2 km from town. Hard to believe they only charge $10 a night, including a huge buffet breakfast and all the facilities, like the pool, a nice bar area, plenty of hammocks, and wi-fi. I highly recommend this place!

view of Vilcabamba and valley from hostel

I spent the first few days exploring around. Went on a few low-key hikes, wandered around town, and then my biggest adventure here was my horse-back riding trip into the national park. Wow, I didn't know that horses could even go up and down such steep rocky trails! I have to admit that I didn't fully trust it, even though my guide kept telling me that my horse is "fuerte y seguro!", strong and secure. And my horse did indeed get me safely there and back, so now I know. The scenery was incredible of course with lush vegetation all around, clear rivers, and mist-shrouded mountains. I was the only client of that particular horse riding company that day, and the young guide's advances did not go unnoticed! It was the first of several Ecuadoran men's attempts to seduce me, but little did they know, they had no effect on me whatsoever. Good luck next time!

view of Podocarpus park while horse-riding

I was pretty sore after 6 hours on a horse, and I spent the next few days completely relaxing in hammocks, eating healthy food, and enjoying a massage. At night, fellow travelers and I had a blast playing card games and sharing travel stories over many Pilseners (the local beer of Ecuador). One night I got hit with a nasty stomach virus which had me up all night in the bathroom, but luckily it was short-lived, and I spent the next few days recovering from the dehydration before deciding to move on. My dorm roommates were awesome and brought me Gatorade and simple food. It was a great place to get sick, and even better, to relax and recover. After a full week in Vilcabamba, I still could have happily stayed longer, but I had to move on if I wanted a chance to see more of Ecuador. I only had 3 weeks left at this point.

I was torn between heading due north, skipping the coast, and spending more time in the mountains, or heading west towards the beaches, rumored to be beautiful and well worth the extra time it takes to get there. I chose the beach, realizing that it'd be my last opportunity to swim in a warm Pacific ocean for a long time and that I'd already been in the mountains quite a bit. I spent a full day and a half getting to Puerto Lopez, complete with a very sketchy overnight in Guayaquil, and of course, more public bus riding experience. A word or two about riding public buses in Ecuador: I describe it as chaotic fun. Not only is the bus speeding around corners and multiple other vehicles/animals which leads you to just hope and pray the driver is using good judgement, but there is almost always someone on the bus trying to sell you something, be it fruit salad, chicken, drinks, ice cream, books, burned cds, herbal remedies, or they just simply ask for your money. Also, there's no such thing as a "sold out" bus, they just pack people on and stop whenever someone wants to get on or off. Which led me to fear that someone might steal my backpack out of the luggage compartment since there are no claim tags (every country before had these tags) so I always tried to get a seat where I could keep my eye on the luggage compartment door. Finally, to add to the excitement, there's always reggaeton blasting out of the radio. Reggaeton really grew on me.

So Puerto Lopez... my highlights included drinking a yummy mojito at a beach stand while simultaneously watching an amazing sunset and a couple of cute kids playing in the sand together, swimming at Playa Los Frailes beach, part of a national park, and then catching glimpses of a soccer game on TV that the entire town was glued to and hearing all the cheering when Ecuador scored a goal!

sunset in Puerto Lopez

But I am not a big beach person, and Puerto Lopez is a fishing village, not quite the tropical jungle-like pristine beach that I was looking for (apparently those are found more north), so I eagerly headed back into the mountains after 2 days. The bus ride to Banos was a great example of Ecuador's geographical diversity. We went from the coast, through the banana plantations, up into the cloud forests, and then past towering volcanoes to land in a small valley that Banos calls home.

Banos is a tourist hotspot, set up with numerous tour agencies and hostels to accommodate the throngs of international groups and local Ecuadorians who come to have their pick of several nature-influenced activities that are offered or to simply enjoy the natural hot baths and a massage. However, I hardly saw any of these tourists... the town was dead while I was there. Apparently, it is the low season for tourists in Ecuador, and it's really obvious. Not only in the normally bustling tourist towns, but also on the buses where I was often the only gringa around which definitely added to my chaotic bus experience. Don't get me wrong, I like getting off the well-beaten tourist path, but it would have been nice to meet a few other foreign tourists to do things with. Nevertheless, I still got to do everything I wanted to do in and around Banos. I spent one day wandering around town and enjoying the hot baths that evening, quite populated by Ecuadorian tourists, and I spent the next day touring the nearby waterfalls with an Ecuadorian family. And I was even able to squeeze in a hike in the evening up to view the smoking volcano that constantly threatens Banos. Combined with the sunset, I got some really cool pictures!

waterfall near Banos

smoking volcano!

Jungle time! After a dramatic bus ride down from the mountains and into the lush lowlands of the Amazon, I got myself a hostel in Tena and set about trying to find a tour to get into the Amazon jungle. This was one of the most frustrating points of my trip. Since it was the low season, there were hardly any other tourists around to form a group, and the agencies charge a ridiculous amount for just one person, besides, that wouldn't be any fun and I had no intention of entering the jungle with just one male guide. No way. Since I had limited time left in Ecuador, I was very anxious to get into the jungle fast and not waste time waiting around. So I had very limited options and I took the first tour offered to me, joining a French couple halfway into their 3 day tour at a nice lodge near Tena. I'm glad I went with that. It turned out to be lots of fun, and the view from the lodge was a nice added bonus.

view from jungle lodge

We started off with a jungle hike which turned into a canyoning plus bush-whacking adventure. I was all for it, mas aventura!!! However, the French girl was definitely not and she was genuinely scared when our trail took us into the canyons and we had to scale a few ledges to get around some small waterfalls. Our guide was helpful and physically supported us as we scrambled up the rocks. I challenged myself by going first, and I was happy to hear from the French girl that I encouraged her to continue after she saw me successfully make it to the top. But that wasn't all... our guide offered us the option of avoiding the most difficult canyon by taking an alternate route through the jungle. The French girl of course was all for that, and so we veered uphill, but soon, we realized that there wasn't really a "trail" so to speak, and so our guide went about happily chopping away at the dense vegetation with his machete to make a trail for us. The hillside terrain got a bit tricky though with lots of slippery mud and lots of plants to trip over even after the machete. I was fine with all this, happily taking in the jungle scene and concentrating hard on not falling, but the French girl was clearly not enjoying this, and at one point while our guide went ahead to clear some vegetation, she started crying, very worried about us being lost. Now knowing myself, I'm usually the emotional one so it was nice to be relaxed about it all. I was positive that our guide knew where he was going, and he just needed some time to figure out the best route. Finally, we emerged from the jungle all hot, sweaty, muddy, and a little scratched up, but I was ready for more! Bring it on, Amazon!

The rest of this lodge tour included a very peaceful tubing ride down a mellow river listening to the birds, a very quiet night in the lodge since the three of us were the only guests, more waterfall canyoning/climbing the next day with harnesses and ropes (super fun! the French girl sat this one out so I went with her husband), and concluded with a swim in a pretty blue-green lagoon. Good times!

canyoning: climbing up waterfalls using ropes!

I headed back to Tena happy, but still desiring a deeper Amazon experience with wildlife. The jungle near Tena doesn't have any typical jungle animals besides bugs and birds. I wanted to see monkeys and caimans (similar to a crocodile). Back at the hostel, there just happened to be 3 girls from Spain preparing to head into the Limoncocha reserve the very next day. Limoncocha is downriver several hours and in way more remote jungle with animals. I enthusiastically joined on knowing there'd be lots of Spanish practice among the wildlife viewing. The Spanish girls didn't know any English.

A few buses and a sunrise canoe ride later, we arrived at our rustic cabins, and thanked the universe that there were mosquito nets. We needed them! Over the next few days, we hiked through the jungle in search of medicinal plants, and we went on a few canoe rides in search of caimans, birds, and monkeys. We saw all three! But I didn't understand much of what was being said so I was kind of in my own hot, sticky, buggy jungle world. The guide was hesitant to speak in English claiming he didn't know it, but he certainly knew more than the girls. I'm glad I got to see the wildlife and I always enjoy hiking through the forest, but next time, I need to know more Spanish or wait for English-speaking companions to more fully enjoy the experience. That's the second time on this trip that I put myself in a non-English speaking multi-day tour situation... lesson learned twice?!

on hike in jungle

caiman sighting! 

Our guide learned a lesson of his own while we were piranha-fishing. He caught one and it bit a good chunk of his thumb off while he was trying to get it off the hook. Unfortunate, really, and it was a bummer since he was definitely hurting for the rest of the tour after that. Crazy for me to witness. Of course he said he was fine, but that was a lot of blood loss!

After three days, I was definitely done with the jungle, and I don't need to go back (when I eventually go back to Ecuador:)). Amazon jungle, check! By the time we got on our bus headed back towards the mountains and Quito, it was late afternoon. I didn't want to risk a very late night arrival in Quito so I planned to stay in a small safe village a few hours before the city. Well, I still got there very late and even though the bus driver assured me that there are open hostels just up the hill, it was a little scary venturing out into the darkness and rain not seeing anyone around. The two barking dogs that came right up to me didn't help either, but luckily, they didn't touch me. I saw a sign for a hostel and followed it to a very dark seemingly closed down building. I knocked and no one came for a while. It was one of those moments when I wished I was safely home and not looking for a hostel alone in the dark in South America. I knocked again, and an old man clearly in his pajamas came down and let me in. It was indeed an open hostel, though pricey at $15 a room (considering no hot shower and no breakfast), but I happily paid for the comfort of having a place to sleep, in from the cold and rain.

After a quick stop and bus change in Quito the next day, I was headed towards Otavalo, a village famous for its weekly indigenous market 2 hours northeast of Quito. But I quickly discovered that there's so much more in this area worth checking out than just the indigenous market. I only had time for one major hike, and I chose Lago Cuicocha, a volcanic crater lake. Good choice. I had a brilliant hike on the rim trail. Didn't get the whole way around, but definitely far enough to enjoy the views and take in the scenery. I'll definitely have to come back to this area :)

Lago Cuicocha

I had a successful day at the big market, finding gifts for everyone, exploring all parts of the market (not just the touristy section), and catching glimpses of the big soccer game (Manchester vs Barcelona) from the TVs that some vendors brought in. I'm not so good at bargaining though. Those vendors are good at their job of convincing me that their items are worth their prices! I was happy though to pay a little more for the unique gifts that I found in a sea of the same stuff everywhere.

market day

The next day I traveled to Mindo, in the other direction from Quito (northwest), eager to see its famous bird and butterfly residents and to get some zipline action in. I met a cool girl from Portland at my hostel and we accomplished both plus some hiking around the nearby waterfalls! Perfecto! I think she enjoyed her birthday.

cutest frog ever at the Butterfly garden

With mixed feelings, I traveled back to Quito and settled into my hostel there, but before exploring around the city itself, I made it a point to visit the touristy equator. I mean, it is the equator. Or so you are led to believe... especially with a line painted down the middle of the path... but the true equator is actually over a sacred indigenous site, 240 meters from the painted line. Still, I got some fun pictures on that line, and then I got myself on a tour to visit the Pululahua volcanic crater near the equator complex. The tour included a visit of the Museo Temple del Sol.

standing on both hemispheres at the equator

I wasn't expecting much from a museum, I never do, but I was really pleasantly surprised with the Temple del Sol. Our guide explained it well, and it was even interactive... those are really the best museums! We got to try to balance an egg on a nail (I did it!), smell some essential oils, look at a famous Ecuadorian's paintings, test the power of jade on our balance, and drink canelazo, a traditional Ecuadorian hot alcoholic drink. My companions for this tour were 3 siblings at least in their 60s (maybe even 70s) who were from Ecuador, but have been living in the States for years. They helped translate for me and they were so enthusiastic about the tour in a good positive way. Everything was "so beautiful". It was cute. While we were inside, the fog rolled in and we lost hope that we'd have a view of inside the crater so we decided to just skip it. I was completely satisfied with the Temple tour and was ready to hit the streets of Old Town Quito. I'll see the Pululahua crater next time.

I enjoyed wandering around the old buildings and plazas of the Old Town, and I even caught a dance performance in the main plaza. Soon enough though, it was dark, and my final challenge in South America presented itself... trying to flag down a taxi in rush hour Quito. After 30 minutes of trying, a nice young guy offered to walk me back to my hostel. I was a little weary at first (everyone says Quito is dangerous), but we were in well-populated areas so I went with it. Sure enough, we got back to my hostel just fine and I let him get away with one kiss. Fair enough. And that was Quito for me.

With both happy and sad tears, I packed my backpack and prepared for my early flight back to the States. I was super happy to see my sister at the SF airport, we had a wonderful sushi dinner, and then I thoroughly enjoyed my first really hot shower in weeks.

Stay tuned... I plan to post one more blog including some of my highlights from the entire trip and some funny statistics. And thanks for reading this novel of a blog post!

Thoughts on returning ¨home¨ next week

Hola amigos!

Estoy en Ecuador y hay mucho aventura aqui!

But this will be a different entry from the past several entries... as I only have 5 days left on this beautiful continent before returning to the States, I´ve been thinking a lot about my journey and where it has taken me, literally and figuratively. So I thought I´d share some thoughts with you...

I´m experiencing many mixed emotions and feelings on returning to life in the United States after 5 months of the backpacker life in South America. I´ve adjusted to the traveler lifestyle well, and I enjoy it. I LOVE the adventure of exploring new places! It is addicting! And being a solo traveler has had its ups and downs, but it´s been a very liberating experience for me overall. I am so grateful to have had this experience.

I can easily see myself returning to South America sooner than later in my lifetime. I have fallen in love with this continent, and there´s still so much left for me to explore and get to know on a deeper level. I just might end up living here for a while...

A few things that I´ll miss about traveling in South America:
-the anticipation, adventure, and thrill of a new place
-learning and practicing Spanish
-contemplative bus rides (and there are the chaotic bus rides too!)
-hearing ¨goooooaaaaaaallllllll¨ no matter where or when, there is always a soccer game on
-meeting people from around the world and sharing travel stories over a glass of the local beer
-what has become my travel ¨routine¨: bus ride, explore, eat, sleep, bus ride, explore, eat, sleep... repeat!
-the incredible and surreal scenery that in the past I only dreamed of seeing and now have had the pleasure of seeing in person
-taking thousands of pictures and capturing that perfect shot
-the liberty of having everything I own now in a 55 liter backpack that I can easily wear and transport

Hard to believe that I´ll be on a plane back to San Francisco in just 5 days (June 2nd), boy, does time fly! But there are many things I´m looking forward to back in the States as well... for example:
-seeing my friends and family again
-visiting my parents at their new home on the east coast and exploring that part of the States
-easily accessible healthy organic vegetarian food (my meat experience was limited to 2 steaks and a few meaty stews in Argentina, when in Rome! but besides that, my body and conscience told me to stick with being veggie.
-drinking tap water and not having to make sure I have bottled water around to brush my teeth
-practicing forms with my martial arts community (it´s not the same practicing in tiny hostel rooms!)
-understanding what´s going on around me and not having to guess what that Spanish word meant
-bluegrass shows!
-not being woken up by roosters or partying 20-somethings during the night
-not having to zip up my bursting 55 liter backpack
-flushing toilet paper!
-endless options for my next steps, meaning with no job or obligations to go back to, I´m currently brainstorming many possibilities for what I´ll ¨do¨ when I return... and on that note... I ask my Bay area friends for a favor...

For the summer (and maybe beyond), I´d like to find a work exchange situation on an organic farm or eco-community in the Bay area. I loved my WWOOFing experience in Argentina, and I´d like to find a similar situation right in my own Bay area backyard. I´m open to almost anywhere, but I prefer the north bay since I know it best. I´m also open to almost any kind of farm work, and knowing me, that includes anything to do with compost and getting dirty! I´m still very passionate about moving communities towards zero waste, and I´ve become more passionate about working towards sustainable food systems, whether that means simply weeding garden beds, delivering CSA boxes, and/or dealing with paperwork and stats. Just putting that out to the universe!!! Friends, if you know of anything along these lines, please let me know! Muchas gracias!

And so, now you know what´s going through my head a bit while I´m on a public bus speeding through the jungles, cloud forests, and mountains of Ecuador. Of course, this is when I´m not holding onto my seat for dear life and praying that the bus driver correctly gauges that he has enough distance to pass multiple cars/trucks/tractors/cows/horses! Public bus riding in Ecuador is nothing short of chaotic!

Thanks for reading! I´ll write all about my adventures in Ecuador next time!

Thoughts on Peru

Yay, I´m in Ecuador! My final country on this South American journey, and I´m super happy to be here. It´s a breath of fresh air after zipping through uber touristy Peru...

My first stop in Peru was the tourist mecca of Cuzco, former capital of the Inca empire and current base for all visitors to Machu Picchu, the most famous Inca ruins. Cuzco is a beautiful city: narrow cobblestone streets, impressive Inca and Spànish architecture, flower filled plazas, and mountain vistas. But it´s not the most enjoyable city to walk around in my opinion because every few minutes someone is asking you to see their restaurant menu, to take a tour with them, to get a massage, or to buy their clothes/souvenirs. And these folks get fairly aggressive, even whiny, when you politely say ¨no gracias¨. I felt like the locals saw us only as walking dollar signs, and not only in Cuzco, but all over Peru. 

Early on in planning this trip I decided I wanted to do Machu Picchu on my own, no flag-waving tour guide to follow and no intense 4 day stairmaster hike to get there needed. I´ve been hiking so much on this trip that I knew I didn´t want to shell out $500 for ¨the¨ Inca trail. I`m still happy with that decision. So after a cheap collectivo bus from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo, and then an overpriced gringo train ride from there onwards (my only option), I landed in Aguas Calientes, the closest town to Machu Picchu, built literally into the surrounding mountains. I stayed the night there so I could try to get in line early enough for a limited ticket to climb Waynupicchu, the mountain behind the ruins in all those famous postcard shots. I braved the crowds and rain at 4:30 am and still didn´t get it! Meaning 400 people were there before me that early! Crazy! A bit disappointed and not sure where to head first in the early morning fog, I squeezed past the tour groups and kept heading uphill to eventually find myself on a secluded path in the jungle. I felt like I was heading further from the ruins, but I was eager to find a quiet spot to figure out my next steps and to maybe get a view of these ruins to orient myself. After resting a bit, I decided to keep heading uphill, and right then, I ran into two other Americans who informed that we were on the trail to the top of Machu Picchu mountain. I didn´t realize there was another mountain that could be climbed! Cool! After two hard hours of straight uphill, I got to the top of this mountain that´s on the other side of the ruins (opposite Waynupicchu) just as the fog was clearing, and I was rewarded with spectacular views of the ruins and the surrounding mountains! Yay! What an unplanned surprise! And the highlight of my Machu Picchu experience! After a while on top, I climbed down, wandered about the ancient Inca ruins for a bit, and then called it a day. Had a restful sleep that night and returned to Cuzco the next day on another overpriced gringo train ride, complete with an alpaca fashion show, I kid you not.

at the top of Machu Picchu mountain

It was fun to wander around the festive streets and markets of Cuzco on Easter Sunday, but I was ready to leave when I did that night on the first of many Cruz del Sur night buses. Cruz del Sur is an experience in Peru. Oh yeah bus luxury!

My next adventure was a 3 day trek into Colca Canyon (which is deeper than the Grand Canyon) in southwest Peru. Originally, I was going to do it on my own, being weary of organized group treks after my miserable one in Bolivia, but I met some cool folks at the hostel in Arequipa and we formed our own super cool group. The group and guide really make or break an organized tour experience! Our guide was awesome, informative, and always had a chill, positive attitude. The first and third days were intense with the steep hike down and then back up the canyon, but of course, with spectacular views all around rewarding us. And the middle day was nice and mellow with a walk through the canyon´s indigenious villages, a native plant lesson (there are some cool cacti in the area!), and the treat of a swimming pool at our hostel for the night, appropriately named, ¨the Oasis¨. To top off our canyon adventure, we were treated to hot springs on the last day (after our early morning climb up!), and a scenic drive through national park lands with lots of llamas, alpacas, and vicunas to look at. Overall awesomeness! After a group reunion lunch and a pleasant walk around Arequipa´s main plaza the next day, I was on the road again!

about mid-way down into the canyon

My next 10 days in Peru were a series of hostel one-nighters, long overnight bus rides, and gringo tourist attractions aplenty. I was very happy to have the company of a cute Canadian couple on this stretch of my travels. First stop, Huacachina, weird town, surrounded by massive sand dunes, and seemingly solely existent due to gringos coming to sandboard on the dunes. Me included. Ok, I admit, this tourist attraction was quite a thrill! Especially the roller-coaster-esque dune buggy ride! Never done anything like that before, don´t even really like roller coasters, but that was fun!

sandboarding!

Next stop, Lima, big city capital of Peru, and for me, an unexpected stop which turned out to be surprisingly fun thanks to the Canadians! We did a little of everything: walked on the cliff-hugging boardwalk over the ocean (hello again Pacific ocean!), found a delicious veggie cafe, walked around the main plaza, toured a church, and topped it all off with bowling at the mall! 

Then back to the road... speeding north through massive Peru eagerly awaiting Ecuador. We stopped at two beach towns to break up the journey. First, Huanchaco, as advertised, a super quiet fishing town, but not quite the beach town we were looking for, so it was on to Mancora, beach party town and solely that. But the beach was definitely nice and worth the stop (yay warm Pacific ocean!). Plus, our hostel had the cutest puppies ever! Beach and hammock time: check!!!

sunset in Mancora

My night bus ride into Ecuador was one of the craziest. Totally uncomfortable, crowded, sketchy midnight border crossing, and the rock through the window had the whole bus of locals a bit shaken up, but I made it to Vilcabamba early the next morning, and quickly discovered that I landed in paradise...  ah Ecuador!

Ciao Argentina, hola Bolivia!

Since I last wrote, I crossed a few borders and I´ve got lots of stories...  

Before crossing into Bolivia, I explored one more region of Argentina... the Northwest, land of cacti and colorful rock formations. I got to practice lots of Spanish too since most of the other travelers I met were Argentine. It was cool to see so many Argentines out exploring their own country! and feel a little off the ¨gringo trail¨. I stopped in 3 villages (Tafi del Valle, Cafayate, and Tilcara), and I spent a few days in Salta, the main city in the region. As far as cities go, it was a pleasant one for me, but one of the many things I´ve learned on this trip is that spending much time in big foreign cities is not my cup of tea! It´s actually downright overwhelming, so instead, I´ve been sticking to spending more time in smaller towns. Those loud partying til 4 in the morning twenty-somethings can have the cities! I find peace and comfort in the countryside... I always have.

My favorite town in the northwest was Cafayate, great plaza, great scenery, great wine ice cream! In one long full day, three Portenos (folks from Buenos Aires) and I explored the surrounding countryside. First, we hiked into the Rio Colorao canyon to reach some super impressive waterfalls. It was no walk in the park though. It involved lots of rock scrambling, river crossings, sheer cliff drop-offs, and watching out for sharp cacti. I love canyon country! The second half of our day was a lot mellower with a car tour of the famous Quebrada (rock formations). This landscape reminded me of southern Utah with its red rocks, but not quite the same. Each place is definitely unique. The friendly Portenos and I topped off our day with a scoop of wine ice cream made from the local grapes that grow surprisingly well there in the high desert. Muy rico!

touring the Quebrada

Waterfall in the Rio Colorao canyon

A week and a $135 reciprocity fee later, I landed across the border in Bolivia and the change in countries from developed to developing was apparent. A mellow train ride later, and I was in Tupiza with more desert canyon country to explore. The two big things to do there are horseback riding and starting a 4 day jeep tour of the southwest circut (and every tour agency will try to convince you that they are the best at it!). I did both. The horse-riding wasn´t super impressive since it was hot and dusty and the horses only obeyed the guide, not us, so they went fast when I wasn´t expecting it, and boringly slow when I wanted to get going. Go figure.

horse-riding in the canyons near Tupiza

I left the next day on my 4 day jeep tour. My companions were two Danish girls in their early 20s and a cool British chica closer to my age who I had a lot more in common with. It balanced out. Our driver loved to dance, at any time, even while driving and listening to the same dance music over and over for 4 days. Amusing. Our cook was a happy grandmother who made us lovely meals. I don´t know how these guys do it for so many hours day after day. The landscapes were surreal - we passed volcanoes, multi-colored lakes, geyers, hot springs, and of course, the great salt flats near Uyuni (the salar). Highlights were the hot springs (big surprise there!), playing around on the rock formations of the Valle de los Rocas, and sunrise on the salar. The scenery provided quite the epic photo shoot and I had lots of fun playing around with my camera to try and capture that perfect shot. Of course, no picture can do this land justice. We stayed in very small villages, no doubt partially set up to accommodate all the tourists on jeep tours, and I was amazed at how remote it all was.

Laguna Verde (green lake)

sunrise on the salar (salt flats)

salt mounds on the salar

The tour ended in Uyuni, a depressing town full of trash and travelers just passing through, but soon enough, I was on the night bus to La Paz, capital of Bolivia. This was one of the scariest bus rides I´ve ever been on, and I couldn´t even see the road since it was dark! But I felt every bump and tight corner! Definitely couldn´t sleep on this ride, and I was super happy that I decided to shell out $16 for my own room at a hotel instead of heading to the cheaper hostel dorm.

After a few hours of rest, I ventured out into the city to explore around the famous markets. La Paz is a chaotic city... tour agencies and markets around every corner on every steep street. You can buy anything and everything here from traditional textiles to electronics to witchery items to all sorts of veggies and meats. It was quite the scene to take in... traditional Bolivian women all sitting on the ground with all their goods spread out before them. I huffed and puffed up several streets (though overall my body has done really well with the high 13,000 ft altitude!) before calling it a day and retreating to my room to re-pack my backpack for my  next adventure: the El Choro trek.

The El Choro trek is a 3 day 57 km guided hike from the top of a snowy mountain pass near La Paz (16,000 ft) down to the humid jungle town of Coroico (around 5,500 ft). My experience was nothing short of intense. The first day, we started in the snow and slowly made our way down the rocky path, past forming streams and into the grassy valleys. The snow turned into freezing rain and we were all quite wet and miserable by lunchtime. After lunch, it was another grueling 8 hours of hiking down wet, muddy, and very slippery rocky paths (what were the Incas thinking?). It was on the verge of treacherous, especially as darkness creeped in. The puddles were deep enough to cause water, mud, and animal poop to get into my boots and Gore-Tex doesn't help at all at that point. The guides carried our tents and food, but we had to carry the rest of our gear. Thankfully, I brought enough warm clothes to keep me warm that first night. While my pants and jacket dried out overnight, my shoes and socks did not. We woke up the next day to brillant sunshine, and forged ahead trying to get as far as we could while we had good weather. The day started out with going down the same damn rocky path, and got more up and down as we traversed the hills, passed small settlements of shacks and many corn fields, and crossed creeks, rivers, and waterfalls. The vegetation got greener and more jungle-ly like as we pressed on. It was another long day (I think 22 km), but at least we arrived at our campsite just before dark. After hiking in wet shoes for 2 days, I had some massive blisters and had to switch to wearing my Chaco sandals on the third day, but they got me down to the end just fine. While hiking down in the jungle scenery with views of the surrounding mountains was absolutely gorgeous, at the same time, I was hurting, and I was so glad when we finally made it to the small village of Chairo where we took a van to the town of Coroico, my home for the next few days. The rest of the group headed back to La Paz and I was happy to be on my own again. Yup, intense. But no regrets!

starting the trek in the snow

ending the trek in the Yungas jungle

I was with a group of 4 young Israeli girls for the trek, and while I've met some nice Israelis in South America (and there are so many since they travel here after their army service!), I was disappointed that this group of Israelis didn't make much effort to socialize with me. They just talked with each other in Hebrew, and I felt completely left out. They have a reputation around here as being very click-ish and not engaging with other travelers and I really experienced that on this trek. It was a bummer for me to be the only non-Israeli, and I will make sure I'm not in that situation again. I did enjoy some peace and quiet while hiking though since I stayed in the back and had the trail to myself, but I also couldn't help, but feel some pressure by the guides to keep up with the group. Doing the organized group thing is such a hit or miss!!!

After such an intense 3 days, I had a glorious time relaxing at the Hostal Sol y Luna ecolodge on the hill above the town of Coroico. I had my own room for only $7 a night and the grounds contain 2 pools, a hot tub, gardens, hammocks, many viewpoints for gazing into the surrounding mountains, and a small restaurant with awesome vegetarian dishes. Paradise, if it weren't for all the biting insects, but even so, it was so worth the 2 days I spent there.

After a scenic ride back to La Paz, I spent a few hours shopping there (yes, you read that right!) for some traditional alpaca items, and then found out that my bus to Copacabana the next day was leaving earlier than usual to try and avoid the massive anti-government demonstrations that had been going on in the city. Not only did I see many police while walking around, but I also heard lots of dynamite going off. Their sign of protest. Crazy. Fortunately, our bus got out of the city okay and a few hours later, I was in the ¨beach¨ town of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca.

I took the first boat out to Isla del Sol and wasn´t quite mentally prepared for how basic and rustic the island would be. The locals have been living here for ages and still lead very traditional lives based off the land (and increasingly tourism!). There are pigs, sheep, donkeys, llamas, and chickens grazing around, and many many plots of cultivated land for crops. These plots and family houses are built in settlements and on the steep hillsides of the island. There are three main settlements on the island and I stayed in the northernmost town, closest to the famous Inca ruins and right on the beach. Had my own room and bathroom for only $5 a night, plus all the trout I could eat for $4 a meal.

the north village on Lake Titicaca

I spent one long full day hiking around the entire island by way of an 8 hour loop hike. Took the coastal trail through villages and beaches on the way to the south side, and then took the high ridge trail on the return, stopping by the Inca ruins just as the sun was setting. It was the opposite route that most tourists take, and I immensely enjoyed some stretches of trail to myself with just the outline of the island against the blue waters of the lake and the distant yet visable snow-capped mountains of the Andes Cordillera to admire.

After returning to Copacabana for one night, I hopped on the morning bus to Peru and 12 long hours later, I arrived in Cusco last night. And now a new country, new currency, and more new sights to see! The adventure continues!

Many more pictures are coming soon on Facebook. Enjoy! and thanks for reading!

Farm life, the Lake District, and wine touring in Mendoza

Hola! Wow, I´ve been through a lot since my last post. I´ll try to catch up in a somewhat concise way, but bear with me cause it´s been a while! Honestly, it´s been harder to find the internet time to write these posts than I thought it would be. I guess I´m having too much fun out there to be in here, if you know what I mean. I´m currently in northwest Argentina, only a few days away from crossing the border into Bolivia. I´ve been on the go pretty hardcore since leaving the farm only 2 weeks ago.  

So from where I left off, farm life... well, early on in the planning of this grand trip, I knew I wanted to work on an organic farm (through WWOOF... ¨world-wide workers on organic farms¨) as part of my travel experience. I knew I´d want a break from the ¨gringo trail¨ lifestyle and I wanted to get some first-hand farm experience as well as be a part of a like-minded community. My time at Chacra Millalen was all that and so much more. It´s really hard to put my experience into words... let´s say it was magical and abundant. The people there were amazing, I learned lots, and the landscape was just idyllic. The farm is 4 km from the nearest town of El Hoyo which is 20 minutes from the more known town of El Bolson. It was a bit of a trek into town if we wanted to use the Internet or buy anything that the farm didn´t provide. But really, what didn´t the farm provide?! One aspect of farm life that I dearly enjoyed and now thoroughly miss was harvesting the veggies and fruits that went into nearly every wholesome meal. Corn turned into corn chowder, spinach and onions into ravioli filling, tomatoes and basil into pizza sauce and salsa, blackberries into pie... We all took turns cooking and I ate some of the best meals of my life while there. Much team effort went into creating these meals, and I learned lots from my fellow volunteers.

A slightly unexpected, but welcomed lesson came in the form of learning way more Spanish than I thought I would. Even though most of the volunteers also happened to be Americans, one of their goals in working on a farm in Argentina was to learn and improve their Spanish. Their Spanish seemed fluent so this ended up being a bit of an immersion experience for me, and while it was certainly frustrating at times (especially since I hate missing parts of conversations), it has proved very helpful since I´ve left the farm, and I´m sure it´ll be even more helpful once I reach Bolivia in a few days (where folks are less likely to know any English).

So what did I actually do on the farm? Here´s the rundown:
-harvesting plums, peaches, and apples and making jam with them
-harvesting veggies
-weeding garden beds
-harvesting herbs, hanging them to dry, and then picking the leaves off for use as tea
-clearing out irrigation canals so water could flow freely
-making adobe bricks using straw and clay (they were in the midst of a construction project of adding on another room to the main house)

As a part-time volunteer (meaning I worked less and paid the farm a small fee), I had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the scenery. Being in this special place and living a very simple lifestyle got me thinking about my next steps when I return to the States. If you know me, you know I´m very passionate about compost (and in general, working towards a zero waste society!), well, at this point, I think I want to delve into the sustainable agriculture aspect of it. It´s really all connected. So I think I want to work/volunteer on an organic farm/CSA for the summer and fall... as Argentinos say, ¨vamos a ver¨ (we´ll see). If you´re in the Bay area though and if you have any connections to organic farms that are looking for summer help, I´d love to hear more...

I made some dear friends on the farm, and it was so nice to really get to know some wonderful folks for a few weeks rather than a few days or even a few hours. There were three of us part-time volunteers, and we enjoyed several local adventures together on our time off and during the weekends. We ventured out to the nearby river and lake, and we did a weekend backpacking trip to the Cajon del Azul, a canyon carved out by the Rio Azul (a truly blue river!) with an excellent trail system, very rickety bridges, and several mountain refugios (very basic hostels) to spend the night in. I could spend months exploring all this area has to offer (and maybe I will!).

So now it´s back to the traveling lifestyle... it was quite the transition to go from my cozy farm life back to living out of my pack and being on the go. My first destination was Bariloche, a very touristy town about 2 hours north of the farm. It´s considered the ¨crown jewel¨ of the Lake District of Argentina (of which El Bolson and the farm are a part of as well). And make no mistake, this area is inundated with tourists for good reason... it´s gorgeous! The views of the lakes and mountains are really spectacular. I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow solo traveler from Germany on my first night there and we, along with 2 girls from Spain, and one Canadian, spent the next two days exploring around, eating at the best veggie restaurant in Argentina (if you don´t count the farm!), sampling the locally made chocolate, and hiking up the two nearest mountains to town: Cerro Campenario and Cerro Otto for some really outstanding views.  

As it turned out, the two girls from Spain were planning on renting a car to drive the Ruta de los Siete Lagos, this very scenic drive around several lakes and through a few villages, at the same time that I was planning on taking a bus through the area to get to my destination of Mendoza. I ended up riding along them and it was super cool to be able to stop and take pictures whenever we wanted and I got a lot of Spanish practice in!

After that road trip, it was time to say adios to Patagonia and hop on a 18 hour bus heading to Argentina´s wine capital of Mendoza. However, I was not that impressed with Mendoza afterall. First off, fresh off an overnight bus ride, I ended up at the worst hostel that I could have reserved. I spent the next several hours finding another hostel and getting my stuff there. Then I spent the next two days fighting off a cold, though on a positive note, it gave me some time to research my route through the northwest and Bolivia. I ventured out a few times to the plaza which was pleasant enough, but the traffic in Mendoza was ridiculous! What a change from the small mountain towns of Patagonia. I was somewhat better for my bike ´n wine tour, but it was overrun with young American college kids studying abroad in Buenos Aires and talking about missing Wal-Mart. Really? Seriously? So this was probably one of the few times where I really wished I could have met some fellow like-minded travelers to do this with. It was a little lonely. But that comes with the territory of solo traveling... 90% of the time, I meet cool people or I really want to be alone, and then there´s that 10%. All part of the experience. I left Mendoza a day early which is weird to say since I´m not really on a schedule, per se! But I was happy to get out of there and head towards the small towns of the northwest!

I´ll save my most recent stories of the northwest for the next post. Here are just a few pictures from the last month since they take forever to upload. But many more pics are and will soon be on Facebook so check there and enjoy! 

clearing out the irrigation canals for the herbs

magic garden

top of Cerro Otto in Bariloche

in front of Trapiche winery in Mendoza

The Careterra Austral

Hola! I write to you from the tiny village of El Hoyo, 3 miles from the organic farm that I´ve been volunteering  on for a week now. I love it here, but internet is not close and so I´m a little behind here. Before the farm, I spent a week in Chile and so here´s that summary. I´ll write all about my farm experiences in the next blog entry.

Ah, the unexpected! I had no intention of crossing back into Chile after Torres del Paine... but faced with a decision of a 22 hour boring bumpy bus ride on ruta 40 in Argentina or a more exciting and unpredictable route through Chile with the potential for hot springs... well, you know which way I went...

Lush beauty, constant rain, and complicated, barely existent buses are what characterize this region of Chile. Ira and I sort of knew what we might be getting ourselves into when the word on the gringo trail was be prepared to get stuck. As in stuck in a tiny village without a bus leaving in the next few days. We were mentally prepared to hitch-hike if that happened. Many folks do and it´s safe here. In the end, we did really well figuring out the bus schedule and only got ¨stuck¨ for 6 hours waiting for our bus in tiny Villa Santa Lucia (dubbed a dot of misery on the map... there is nothing there!). Could have been much worse though! This was a trip of extremes... we had some of our best and our worst food and lodging within 24 hours.

The Chilean side of the Andes is shockingly different from the Argentine side. This region of Chile reminded me of the Olympic peninsula in Washington state... lush, wet forests, cool misty rain, overcast skies, waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, delicious seafood along with picturesque fishing boats in tiny villages, and lots of water all around. It´s a world away from the rain-shadow induced desert-like environment just over the border.

The hot springs that tempted me into this little detour in the first place were definitely worth it (imagine soaking in hot water looking out over the fjord to the mist-shrouded mountains; jealous yet?), and we even had an unexpected companion when a small golden brown dog joined us for the long walk back to town (Puyuhaupi).

In the end, with only a few stressful moments of wondering if we´d make it onto the next bus, the Careterra Austral was worth the detour from ruta 40.

After crossing back into Argentina, we made our way back to the gringo trail in El Bolson, and Ira and I spent one last day together exploring this laid-back hippie town and surrounding forests. This area has a unique microclimate that lends itself to growing yummy fruits and veggies. There are locally-made products everywhere and the fresh fruit makes for the best licuados and ice cream! More on El Bolson and farm life in the next post!

on the bus ride to Puyuhaupi

Puyuhaupi

view of Careterra Austral from back of truck

cold pool at hot springs

enjoying the hot springs

pretty flowers

looking at town of Puyuhaupi

Classic Patagonia

I´m running out of adjectives to describe the beauty and awesome-ness of Patagonia... stunning, vast, and unique come to mind first.

The first 9 days of February were a whirlwind of non-stop fun and epic adventures. My friend, Sean, joined me for this classic Patagonia segment of my trip, and we traveled pretty well together. Our first stop was Torres del Paine which we did in style. Instead of backpacking with all our gear and camping, we stayed in a refugio, basically a dorm-style hostel (except not at hostel prices!) and we did two long day hikes from there.

The TDP is not only famous for its mountain peaks and glaciers, but also for the extremely variable weather and strong winds. There are even strong wind signs posted throughout the park. The fast-changing clouds and skies were simply amazing to witness. We got super lucky and had excellent hiking weather. Still had to battle the winds, but we didn´t have to camp in the rain at night and we got great views of the peaks. Our day hikes were each about 15 miles... long days (literally, there is daylight til 10pm!). Our first hike to the Grey glacier was definitely impressive being my first real glacier sighting... we got pretty close too. The trail was pretty much a gentle roller coaster. Our second hike was to the Valle de Frances and it was unexpectedly spectacular! Since it was a nice sunny warm day, the glacier was melting and causing impressive avalanches with thunderous sounds! As we approached the glacier, Sean thought he heard a plane at first, but nope, just the sound of nature! With the clear day, we were able to see all the mountain peaks as we climbed higher into the valley. Perfecto! With all the hype about the TDP being a backpacker highway, we were pleasantly surprised that we had several long stretches of trail just to ourselves. We split up a bit too so we could each enjoy some solitude in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

One very long day (10 hours!) of public transit later, we were back in El Calafate, and we re-connected with my friend, Ira, who I first met in my hostel in Buenos Aires (and we´ve been traveling together since). The next day was quite the first time experience for me, ice-trekking! We went to the famous Perito Moreno glacier in the Los Glaciers national park, It´s famous for its frequent rupturing and calving (when a bit of ice breaks off and becomes an iceberg). Every time we heard a crack, we quickly scanned the glacier surface to try and witness this impressive process of nature. After viewing the glacier from the boardwalks above, we took a ferry across the lake and started our hour-long hike to where we would walk onto the glacier. This hike was pretty miserable as it started raining hard in addition to the strong cold wind. We were all on the verge of wanting to cancel and hunker down in the tent structure instead of venturing out onto the ice. But soon after we got our crampons on, the rain slowed down and the sun came out. Life was good again! Walking on the ice with crampons was pretty easy and our guides were attentive, helpful, efficient hippies. The glacier dunes, crevasses, creeks, waterfalls, and caves were quite a sight to see!

The next day, the three of us bussed it to El Chalten, and I quickly fell in love with this quaint mountain town. The empanadas were out of this world! The best so far on my trip! In fact, all the food (and local beer) was delicious here with plenty of veggie options too. Again, we got lucky with the weather, and all 3 days there were sunny and clear with excellent views of Mt. FitzRoy. The locals said that was unusual so I was especially grateful to be there at that time. We split up on the first day, and my first hike was long and had an intense climb to get to the Laguna des los Tres, the lakes right below the massive Mt. FitzRoy. Well-worth the effort though! The scenery is something out of a movie or dream... snow-capped mountains, forests, blue lakes, clear rivers, chirping birds... you get the idea. El Chalten is awesome in that we can hike right from town, no dealing with transit or fees, and we can drink the tap water and fill up our bottles from the rivers. The water is that pure! Even better tasting than SF tap water! Our second hike, all together, was super fun with several rounds of 20 questions played and of course, the incredible scenery all around. It was a nice easy hike to Laguna Torre on a brilliantly warm day in Patagonia paradise!

Sean left on Wednesday, and several bus rides later, I´m now in Coyhaique in Chile. I decided to postpone my volunteer farm work for a week so I could travel with Ira up the famous Careterra Austral in Chile - apparently much more exciting than a long, bumpy bus ride on ruta 40 in Argentina. Our next stop is Puyuhuapi, near Parque Queulat, and we have our sights set on enjoying the hot springs that are in the area. We have bus tickets for tomorrow, and hopefully our bus will actually be there. We had our first ¨missed¨bus yesterday... the bus just never showed up! But we got where we needed to go. All part of the experience!

¨No regrets¨ is quickly becoming a theme on my trip. While I´m blowing through my budget faster than expected (and Patagonia is notorious for that! It should even out in Bolivia!), at least I won´t be saying, ¨I wish I had done that¨, instead, it´s a resounding, ¨wow, I did that and here´s my story¨.

Some pics from classic Patagonia:

Mountains and lakes in Torres del Paine

Glacier Grey

Crazy clouds in TDP

The Cuernos mtns on the way to Valle de Frances

Quickly melting glacier Frances

Perito Moreno glacier

Tall glacier!

With Ira and Sean - ice trekking on Perito Moreno

Ice cave

View of Mt. Fitzroy near El Chalten

At the top: Laguna des los Tres

looking towards Cerro Torre

With Sean at Laguna Torre