I survived something I was told not to do in Columbia - I took a night bus. I was ready to go, but I didn´t have enough pesos to but the ticket and they wouldn´t take American dollars. I had to go downtown to change my money, and it was quite the process. I asked a taxi driver where I could change money. He lead me to the Police who took me to an apartment building and there was a guy on the third floor that changed my money. Medelin was supposed to be the cocaine capitol of Columbia, you´s think American dollars were all over the place.
Anyway, the last day bus left at 7:30 am and I had to wait until 5 pm to take the first night bus. It did seem like the people on the bus got a little edgey every time the bus would stop. The bus was searched by the police twice while I was awake. I think one of the times was by a private milita. They only looked in the lugage compartments under the bus. I don´t think they were interested in finding anyhting somebody could fit in the carry on carpartments. My big regret though was not seeingthe scenery well. The moon was ope night before being full, so I could tell that it was pretty damn nice out there, but it would have been nice to see it better.
Today, I finally swam in the ocean. The water was the perfect temperature. I could live in it given the right facilities. I´m in Cartigena, a city that resembles Quebec City as it is surrounded by a wall and cannons. It´s a lot older than Quebec though which shows in the decaying wall. The city inside the wall has been kept well, most of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and ther streets are mostly closed to traffic other than taxis. The beaches here are nothing special though, so I will move on tommorow after checking out a fort that along with the walls to a couple hundred years to build.
I finally have met some people other than Columbians here. I met a couple of American guys with big heads and some Germans with cold hearts. Fortunately, the locals are very friendly, but they have a hard time understanding my Spanish as Columbians aren´t used to hearing someone speak Spanish with an accent other than Columbian. They don´t understand that they have to speak slowley either. I´m really glad to be at the ocean. The rest of my days will all be spent on beaches unless I decide to go inland in Brazil which isn´t likely as I have only 5 days there.
That´s it for now.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Friday, October 14, 2005
Long Road to the Beach
Popayan was incredibly beautiful. Most of the buildings downtown are hundreds of years old. The parks were fantastic. I suppose when you have an ideal growing climate and such diverse vegitation, the only real limit is a gardener´s imagination. In the main park, I watched one of the Andean Indian bands I´m sure you have seen at a festival or in a shopping mall. Lots of people gathered around as if they had never seen a traditional Andean band before. Although many people have some native blood, pure blooded indians only make up about 1% of the population in Columbia. The band made their money by selling braclets, necklaces, dream catchers and instruments in between songs. It´s quite a contrast to Peru, where these types of bands are the mainstream.
I can see how British Columbia got its name. There are many simalarities. Although much of this country is prestine, unspoiled wilderness, even the areas that are used apear quite natural. The farms here are incredibly beautiful. Most are a bit larger than in other South American countries, looking more like plantations with surfs doing the work. With the exception of some large sugar cane fields, the mixture of banana trees, coffee, pinaple, oragne, lime, watermelon, bamboo, cattle, and a bunch of other plants that must be useful made every farm look more like a garden than a buisness. I´m sure it is no accident.
Last night was spent in Cali. I didn´t like it much. It was noisey and busy. Prostitutes folowed me as I walked, begging for a little buisness. They all looked like they were decaying. They would have to pay me a lot of money to get any action.
In contrast to Cali, the city I am in now, Medellen seems culturally rich. After I checked into my hotel, I went for a walk, and there were a lot of people in a park watching a concert. There were a lot of different bands that were qutie good. I´m not sure if they were playing for free or if the town was paying them. It was a little strange though because my hotel is in prostiute central, but just half a block away is the park full of families. The prostitutes don´t hastle me, and some of them don´t look diseased - quite refreshing after last night. It was the first time I have felt that my safety was in jeprody on this trip. They really were freaky. All of them. At one point there were about five of them following me.
I still can´t get over how beautiful this country is. I really wish I had more time here. Today´s bus ride from Cali to Medellen was 9 hours, but I enjoyed the scenery so much, it seemed like no time at all. Even the cows were beautiful. They were almost all pure white and had white cranes following them around.
It´s such a shame that there is so much violence and political unrest in this country. Though the only evidence of this I have seen has been the heavy police and army presence, it sure does keep travelers away. I still haven´t met anyone from a country other than Columbia here. In Popayan, I wandered the streets for quite some time looking for a place to exchange American money. I had to ask directions 4 times to find the one place in town. It was pretty formal too. There was a big form I had to fill out and I even had to give a fingerprint. It´s the first time I have given a fingerprint and now CSIS and the CIA probably have it. Oh well, I guess I´ll have to wear gloves when I J-walk now.
Tomorow is the last of my long bus rides. I´m going to take the 13 hour trip to Cartagena. It´s supposed to be about the most beautiful city in the Americas. From there, I will take it slow accross the coast, hanging out on beaches. I hope there aren´t many tourists there either, but I suspect I will meet some. This kind of reminds me of my trip in the north where people are excited just to meet someone from somewhere else. This country must be the most beautiful country in the world. It´s too bad that hardly anyone knows it. I hope they find peace here, but apperently now is the most violent time since La Voilencia in the late 40's and early 50´s. I haven´t heard a gunshot or seen a dead body yet though.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Ecuador to Columbia
Well, I am now in the country that people have either told me is the best in South America or not to go there. My plan is to steam through most of it right away as time is short and I want some quality beach time.
It took some time to get through the border. There was a long wait for my exit stamp from Ecuador and then anoth wait for my entry stamp to Columbia. On the Columbian side, there were a lot of police who looked like they were from the future. The Equiptment they had on was all black and looked like the hockey gear from ¨Strange Brew¨or ¨The Running Man¨.
The military presence is big too. I walked from the border to the nearest town and passed soldiers patrolling on foot. I wanted to get to Popayan, so keeped asking directions to the bus terminal. There aren´t many grinkos in Columbia. There are a few people with pale skin and brown eyes, probably of Spanish blood. I haven´t seen any eyes other than brown yet. People look at me as if I am different, not in a bad way, just in a strange way.
The bus ride to Popayan was the most beautiful drive I have done yet. It quicky switched from fields were cut all different shapes and sizes on rolling hills to massive mountains. For about 3 hours, the road was etched into the side of a cliff. It was probably the most amazingly engineered road I have been on. The cliff was so steep that it was rare to see the river in the valley bottom thousands of feet below.
The ride was a little scarey too. True capitolism exsists in the third world as people try to make a buck anyway they can - and the government permits this unlike at home. On busses, this meens picking up anyone on the side of the highway that flags you down. It also means that if there is a bus in front of you, you had better pass it to get that flag before he does. It also means that you don´t let yourself get passed. Usually as soon as the bus would pass another, someone would ask to get dropped off and the race is on again. When there is a military check point, there is no attempt to pass, but things don´t slow down much. The military doesn´t seem interested in busses much, but about half of them look alert like they are working. The one time I have been seached was in Ecuador, and I could have had a gun and a pound of cocaine and he probably would have missed both. The bus I was on had a special light that would flash when passing on a blind corner. People think I should watch out for crime here. I think that the bus rides are the real danger. Most criminals let you escape with at least your life. If the bus goes off a raod like the one I was on today, there is absolutly no chance anyone would survive.
I can´t get over how beautiful the first day in this country has been. In half a day, I ahve passed through many different mountain formations and many different types of vegitation. We passed a lot of Wan Valdez looking people either riding horses or donkeys, the trailers they pulled, or leading them with goods on the horses backs.
There has been a sudden change in the apearance of people when I crossed the border. Most changes in people´s appearance is more defined by region and takes distance to manifest. Columbian´s are much taller and tend to have more European blood. There are also a lot of black people. Most people of all races are tall and slim.
Columbia has left a fantastic first impression. I wish I didn´t feel the need to speed through. On the other hand, I think that I have got a basic feel for each country I have been to which is good though. If I speed through to the Atlantic beaches, then I can take my time for the rest of my trip. From what I hear, the Columbian beaches are the best.
It took some time to get through the border. There was a long wait for my exit stamp from Ecuador and then anoth wait for my entry stamp to Columbia. On the Columbian side, there were a lot of police who looked like they were from the future. The Equiptment they had on was all black and looked like the hockey gear from ¨Strange Brew¨or ¨The Running Man¨.
The military presence is big too. I walked from the border to the nearest town and passed soldiers patrolling on foot. I wanted to get to Popayan, so keeped asking directions to the bus terminal. There aren´t many grinkos in Columbia. There are a few people with pale skin and brown eyes, probably of Spanish blood. I haven´t seen any eyes other than brown yet. People look at me as if I am different, not in a bad way, just in a strange way.
The bus ride to Popayan was the most beautiful drive I have done yet. It quicky switched from fields were cut all different shapes and sizes on rolling hills to massive mountains. For about 3 hours, the road was etched into the side of a cliff. It was probably the most amazingly engineered road I have been on. The cliff was so steep that it was rare to see the river in the valley bottom thousands of feet below.
The ride was a little scarey too. True capitolism exsists in the third world as people try to make a buck anyway they can - and the government permits this unlike at home. On busses, this meens picking up anyone on the side of the highway that flags you down. It also means that if there is a bus in front of you, you had better pass it to get that flag before he does. It also means that you don´t let yourself get passed. Usually as soon as the bus would pass another, someone would ask to get dropped off and the race is on again. When there is a military check point, there is no attempt to pass, but things don´t slow down much. The military doesn´t seem interested in busses much, but about half of them look alert like they are working. The one time I have been seached was in Ecuador, and I could have had a gun and a pound of cocaine and he probably would have missed both. The bus I was on had a special light that would flash when passing on a blind corner. People think I should watch out for crime here. I think that the bus rides are the real danger. Most criminals let you escape with at least your life. If the bus goes off a raod like the one I was on today, there is absolutly no chance anyone would survive.
I can´t get over how beautiful the first day in this country has been. In half a day, I ahve passed through many different mountain formations and many different types of vegitation. We passed a lot of Wan Valdez looking people either riding horses or donkeys, the trailers they pulled, or leading them with goods on the horses backs.
There has been a sudden change in the apearance of people when I crossed the border. Most changes in people´s appearance is more defined by region and takes distance to manifest. Columbian´s are much taller and tend to have more European blood. There are also a lot of black people. Most people of all races are tall and slim.
Columbia has left a fantastic first impression. I wish I didn´t feel the need to speed through. On the other hand, I think that I have got a basic feel for each country I have been to which is good though. If I speed through to the Atlantic beaches, then I can take my time for the rest of my trip. From what I hear, the Columbian beaches are the best.
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Jungle
Finaly, I got to the Jungle. It really is amazing how life can´t seem to stop here. There are so many differnt plants insects and birds.
Today, I took a bus from Baños to Tena. It was one of the most scenic trips I have done. I even saw some wild parrots. I suspect I dropped in elevation a bit as it is slightly uncomfortably humid and warm at 8:30 pm. Back in Baños and Puyo, the temperature was perfect as it has been most of the places I have been. In fact other than Boliva, which I was slightly underdressed for, the weather in Western South America is close to perfect. Daytime highs average around 20-25 degrees and at night it´s usually about 15 degrees.
I was in Baños when Ecuador tied Uraguay in a soccer (futbol) game. People were extatic. All of the taxis had Ecuador flags, some covering the whole hood (bonnet for Brits) of the car. About 1/3 people where wearing the jersey of the national team. Some women had Ecuador flags painted on their cleavage, making me excited for the country as well. The reason they were so excited about a tie was that it secured a spot for Ecuador in the world cup. I have come to appreciate watching soccer although it´s nothing like a good hockey game.
I sure wish I had more time. I guess I have to come back. Two months seemed like a lot, but Now I think that an average of one month per country would be more realistic. I´ve seen the Jungle, now I have to get to the beaches. I´m going to do this primarily on the Atlantic side of Columbia and Venezeula. I hope my passege is safe. I´m going to have to be smart in Columbia. I wish that there was onlt one kind of militia in Columbia, but both the left and right are represented. If it was just the FARC, I could wear a Che Guavara shirt and feel a little safer, but there are right wing militias as well. I´ve been told that grungy backpackers are rarely a target and that the vast majority of the 8000 kidnapings a year are Columbians with a minority of forgien oil workers. To put things in perspective, it´s estimated that 8000 people die in car accidents in Brazil each year. I´m sure very few of the kidnapped find it to be their final story.
Having said that, Columbia boasts the greatest variety of plant, bird and animal species per unit area of any other country in the world. I´ve also been told that Columbians are among the friendliest and most outgoing in South America which is really saying something.
Some of my most enjoyable times have been on the busses. If I do more than 8 hours, it can be too much, but I have met so many wonderful people on busses and seen incredible landscapes. A couple of days ago, I was fortunate enough to have purchased a reserved seat on a bus that really filled up as we went. There was a mother with her one year old that was being squashed against my leg. I picket him up and put him on my lap. He Quickly feel asleep. Later on, I think the mother went to the back to go to the bathroom. Later still, I saw her walk past me and off the bus. I don´t know if she forgot or was just putting her bags down. The driver started to pull away and I yelled, ¨¡Parada, parada!¨
The bus stopped and the mother ran to me and grapped her child.
Ecuador hasn´t been to eventful so far, but it has been very pleasant. I don´t need any excitement here. It´s nice to relax after the ups and downs in Peru. I would recomend this country for travel to anyone. My hotel in Baños was $5 a night for a really beautiful room overlooking the town and the valley. I´m sure the room would be well over$100 in Canada. It even met Canadian hygenic standards. I wish I had time to go deeper into the jungle. It´s good to keep time precious though. Every moment is a gift.
Today, I took a bus from Baños to Tena. It was one of the most scenic trips I have done. I even saw some wild parrots. I suspect I dropped in elevation a bit as it is slightly uncomfortably humid and warm at 8:30 pm. Back in Baños and Puyo, the temperature was perfect as it has been most of the places I have been. In fact other than Boliva, which I was slightly underdressed for, the weather in Western South America is close to perfect. Daytime highs average around 20-25 degrees and at night it´s usually about 15 degrees.
I was in Baños when Ecuador tied Uraguay in a soccer (futbol) game. People were extatic. All of the taxis had Ecuador flags, some covering the whole hood (bonnet for Brits) of the car. About 1/3 people where wearing the jersey of the national team. Some women had Ecuador flags painted on their cleavage, making me excited for the country as well. The reason they were so excited about a tie was that it secured a spot for Ecuador in the world cup. I have come to appreciate watching soccer although it´s nothing like a good hockey game.
I sure wish I had more time. I guess I have to come back. Two months seemed like a lot, but Now I think that an average of one month per country would be more realistic. I´ve seen the Jungle, now I have to get to the beaches. I´m going to do this primarily on the Atlantic side of Columbia and Venezeula. I hope my passege is safe. I´m going to have to be smart in Columbia. I wish that there was onlt one kind of militia in Columbia, but both the left and right are represented. If it was just the FARC, I could wear a Che Guavara shirt and feel a little safer, but there are right wing militias as well. I´ve been told that grungy backpackers are rarely a target and that the vast majority of the 8000 kidnapings a year are Columbians with a minority of forgien oil workers. To put things in perspective, it´s estimated that 8000 people die in car accidents in Brazil each year. I´m sure very few of the kidnapped find it to be their final story.
Having said that, Columbia boasts the greatest variety of plant, bird and animal species per unit area of any other country in the world. I´ve also been told that Columbians are among the friendliest and most outgoing in South America which is really saying something.
Some of my most enjoyable times have been on the busses. If I do more than 8 hours, it can be too much, but I have met so many wonderful people on busses and seen incredible landscapes. A couple of days ago, I was fortunate enough to have purchased a reserved seat on a bus that really filled up as we went. There was a mother with her one year old that was being squashed against my leg. I picket him up and put him on my lap. He Quickly feel asleep. Later on, I think the mother went to the back to go to the bathroom. Later still, I saw her walk past me and off the bus. I don´t know if she forgot or was just putting her bags down. The driver started to pull away and I yelled, ¨¡Parada, parada!¨
The bus stopped and the mother ran to me and grapped her child.
Ecuador hasn´t been to eventful so far, but it has been very pleasant. I don´t need any excitement here. It´s nice to relax after the ups and downs in Peru. I would recomend this country for travel to anyone. My hotel in Baños was $5 a night for a really beautiful room overlooking the town and the valley. I´m sure the room would be well over$100 in Canada. It even met Canadian hygenic standards. I wish I had time to go deeper into the jungle. It´s good to keep time precious though. Every moment is a gift.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Peru to Ecuador
Well, I got sucked into a scam. When I was in Tumbes, a guy asked me if I was going to Ecuador. I said that I was and he told me that I had to go that night because the border would be closed due to protests the next day. He told me he was going too. We got in a taxi and headed for the border. Everything seemed fine, but he told me I should watch my stuff because there were thieves at the border.
Now the border check points are about 10 km apart. I suspect it may have somehting to do with disputes over it's boundries though I read that they were resolved six years ago after some deaths on both sides. The guy asked me for $7 to pay the police to let us through. He paid the police and away we went. We made a tight turn into an alley, and that's when I knew something wasn't right. It was very dark. A police man came out, and talked to the guy I was with. I was told I had to pay the driver $10, not 10 sols as we had agreed to. I also had to give the cops a buch of money to get out of this place that looked like some kind of temporary jail.
Oh well, $50 isn't too bad considering I had another $600 in my hidden pocket. It's pretty spooky walking around with that kind of money, but I lost my bank card and travelers cheques are a real pain in the ass down here. Some want as much as 10% commision and you have to pay commision when you buy them.
I'm happy to be in Equador. The first night, I stayed in a city called Machala that was ok, but nothing special. There were really nice parks and people, but it seemed like everything was built for funtion rather than having any meaning or style.
Today, I took a bus from Machala to Cuenca. It was such a beautiful trip. The banana plantations were homogenious, but very green, and the bus went through places that had wild vegitation but were not parks. It was almost like my first taste of the jungle. The houses in the countryside were much nicer than those in all of the other countries I have visited. Another thing that surprised me was the number of privately owned cars - most of which are newer and nicer than mine.
Cuenca is the most beautiful city I have seen in South America. Many of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and the gardens and parks rivial those of Victoria. There is a little more traffic than the rest of South America, but nothing you could compair to Canadian cities. I had some fantastic ice cream and pasteries. It was a real treat considering the only food I have really enjoyed so far is the juices.
Tommorow, I'm headed for the town of Banos. The name sure doesn't sound good if you know any Spanish, but it's supposed to have good acces to the Amazon Jungle. It seems that Ecuador is going to be my last chance at the Amazon as Columbia and Venezuela are supposed to be a little dangerous in those areas.
That's it for now.
Now the border check points are about 10 km apart. I suspect it may have somehting to do with disputes over it's boundries though I read that they were resolved six years ago after some deaths on both sides. The guy asked me for $7 to pay the police to let us through. He paid the police and away we went. We made a tight turn into an alley, and that's when I knew something wasn't right. It was very dark. A police man came out, and talked to the guy I was with. I was told I had to pay the driver $10, not 10 sols as we had agreed to. I also had to give the cops a buch of money to get out of this place that looked like some kind of temporary jail.
Oh well, $50 isn't too bad considering I had another $600 in my hidden pocket. It's pretty spooky walking around with that kind of money, but I lost my bank card and travelers cheques are a real pain in the ass down here. Some want as much as 10% commision and you have to pay commision when you buy them.
I'm happy to be in Equador. The first night, I stayed in a city called Machala that was ok, but nothing special. There were really nice parks and people, but it seemed like everything was built for funtion rather than having any meaning or style.
Today, I took a bus from Machala to Cuenca. It was such a beautiful trip. The banana plantations were homogenious, but very green, and the bus went through places that had wild vegitation but were not parks. It was almost like my first taste of the jungle. The houses in the countryside were much nicer than those in all of the other countries I have visited. Another thing that surprised me was the number of privately owned cars - most of which are newer and nicer than mine.
Cuenca is the most beautiful city I have seen in South America. Many of the buildings are hundreds of years old, and the gardens and parks rivial those of Victoria. There is a little more traffic than the rest of South America, but nothing you could compair to Canadian cities. I had some fantastic ice cream and pasteries. It was a real treat considering the only food I have really enjoyed so far is the juices.
Tommorow, I'm headed for the town of Banos. The name sure doesn't sound good if you know any Spanish, but it's supposed to have good acces to the Amazon Jungle. It seems that Ecuador is going to be my last chance at the Amazon as Columbia and Venezuela are supposed to be a little dangerous in those areas.
That's it for now.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Up and down in Peru
Well, Peru continues to have its ups and downs. Just before I left Cusco, Ihad the good fortune to see it at night. I never knew a city could be so beatiful at night. They really put some thought into their lighting.
Putting thought into things is nothing new to the Inca people. There is obviously a lot of pride in their past and present. There are many grandstatues of past Inca leaders as well as more recent war hereos. The Inca flag is more common than the Peruvian flag around Cusco. Much to their dismay, the gay commuity has decided to make the inca flage their own.I´d be insulted as well, they could at lest change one of the 7 colours.
NEVER TAKE A BUS FROM CUSCO TO LIMA!!!!!!! It took about 20 hours and twisted like no road has twisted before up and downmountains with almost no vegitation. The day I left, I took my anti Malariadrug which gives me nightmares the same night. After the first nightmare onthe bus, I was afraid to fall asleep. I´ve never experienced anything like itbefore. I could see that I was on the bus through my eyes moving in REM, butit felt like an evil spirit had entered my body and I had to fight it. I wastrying to scream for help, but I don´t think it came out, some sounds may have. I heard trywhat I was ing to say in my head as if it was 20 voicesspeaking at the same time. I kind of knew that I was dreaming, but could notwake up. It made a terrible bus ride horific.
The last part of the bus ride would have been ok if it didn´t smell of BO andif my joints didn´t ache from being still for so long. It was a vast desert,mostly without any sign of life whatsoever that extended to the ocean. Idon´t know how it doesn´t ever rain right next to the ocean. In some placesthere were a few cacti and there were a lot of places where they were experimenting with agriculture in the desert. I think it involved mosty chemical fertalizers although I saw the biggest compost pile I have ever seenin one place.
It´s interesting how much more the land is used for agriculture here. You mayno even notice at first glance, but the land is used much as possible. Nobody would think of mowing a lawn. That would be wasting a valuable resource. You can turn those lawnclippings into wool and lama steak. In city parks, even atmachu Pichu they have lamas grazing, keeping the lawn nice. Their little dearlike turds keep it fertilized as well.
I haven´t been in a national park where there were more than 5 people who livein the park, but there are many sheep, cattle and lamas grazing. Everywhereelse, if someone can grow their own food, they do. The deforestation isunfortunate, but it´s not like in Canada, where it is done only for money. Here, it is done so people don´t go hungry. Wood isn´t used much at all here, all houses are made from mud or brick.
Lima was the most dismal city I have ever seen. Dispite being sick of the bus, I got another ticket to get out. There is a permanent fog that blocksout the stars and sun, and every block looks like the last. I got a hotel room for a few hours because I didn´t even want to walk the streets. To save$1 I washed my shorts in the sink, broke it, and payed $20 to have it fixxed.
Now I am in Huaraz. It´s a small mountian city, and you can see Peru´shighest mountain from here. I did a couple of tours the past two days thatwere nice. I met a girl from New Jersey who was with her mom, sister andfriend hwho live in Lima. It was sure nice to have her to translate for me,and just nice to be ble to speak English to someone. They invited me to Lima,and it was tempting, but I need to move on, not back. When they were leaving,I didn´t have any liquid cash whatsoever, and owed the tour company and myhotel moeny. It was really hard to get a travelers cheque cashed here. Iwent about 20 hours without food and little water that I was rationing. I was really getting dizzy by time I did manage to get some cash. I went straight to a orange juice stand and had a couple of glasses of fresh squeezed juice.It was a lot more expensive than Bolivian orange juice, but I forked out the 35 cents a glass. Oranges sell for about $.50 a kilo here.
One of the tours I did with my adopted family was called Chavin. It was made in1200BC. It was largley in good shape until about 1945 when rain destroyed alot of it. I some ways I like it more than Machu pichu because you could goinside the temple and there was a large maze of halls and rooms. It´s hard tobelive I was in such a building that was made over 3000 years ago. There weretunnels made for carying voices long distances, and complex water canals aswell as fantastic carvings. What made Machu Pichu great was the that it wasnear the top of a mountian, and the views were spectacular. It was in aboutthe same shape a Chavin, but Chavin is about 2000 years older.
Another cool thing in the tour the day before was a natural spring. Therewere lots of bubbles coming up with the water and to drink the water was like drinking carbonated water. I don´t like carbonated water much, but it was an interesting natural thing to experience.
I´m going to make it to Equador as quickly as I can, then hopefully I can slow down, maybe spending some time on some nice Columbian beaches. Maybe I´ll even have time to see Angel Falls when I am in Venezuela. I bought a plane ticket to fly from Caracas to Sao Paulo at the end of October.
Putting thought into things is nothing new to the Inca people. There is obviously a lot of pride in their past and present. There are many grandstatues of past Inca leaders as well as more recent war hereos. The Inca flag is more common than the Peruvian flag around Cusco. Much to their dismay, the gay commuity has decided to make the inca flage their own.I´d be insulted as well, they could at lest change one of the 7 colours.
NEVER TAKE A BUS FROM CUSCO TO LIMA!!!!!!! It took about 20 hours and twisted like no road has twisted before up and downmountains with almost no vegitation. The day I left, I took my anti Malariadrug which gives me nightmares the same night. After the first nightmare onthe bus, I was afraid to fall asleep. I´ve never experienced anything like itbefore. I could see that I was on the bus through my eyes moving in REM, butit felt like an evil spirit had entered my body and I had to fight it. I wastrying to scream for help, but I don´t think it came out, some sounds may have. I heard trywhat I was ing to say in my head as if it was 20 voicesspeaking at the same time. I kind of knew that I was dreaming, but could notwake up. It made a terrible bus ride horific.
The last part of the bus ride would have been ok if it didn´t smell of BO andif my joints didn´t ache from being still for so long. It was a vast desert,mostly without any sign of life whatsoever that extended to the ocean. Idon´t know how it doesn´t ever rain right next to the ocean. In some placesthere were a few cacti and there were a lot of places where they were experimenting with agriculture in the desert. I think it involved mosty chemical fertalizers although I saw the biggest compost pile I have ever seenin one place.
It´s interesting how much more the land is used for agriculture here. You mayno even notice at first glance, but the land is used much as possible. Nobody would think of mowing a lawn. That would be wasting a valuable resource. You can turn those lawnclippings into wool and lama steak. In city parks, even atmachu Pichu they have lamas grazing, keeping the lawn nice. Their little dearlike turds keep it fertilized as well.
I haven´t been in a national park where there were more than 5 people who livein the park, but there are many sheep, cattle and lamas grazing. Everywhereelse, if someone can grow their own food, they do. The deforestation isunfortunate, but it´s not like in Canada, where it is done only for money. Here, it is done so people don´t go hungry. Wood isn´t used much at all here, all houses are made from mud or brick.
Lima was the most dismal city I have ever seen. Dispite being sick of the bus, I got another ticket to get out. There is a permanent fog that blocksout the stars and sun, and every block looks like the last. I got a hotel room for a few hours because I didn´t even want to walk the streets. To save$1 I washed my shorts in the sink, broke it, and payed $20 to have it fixxed.
Now I am in Huaraz. It´s a small mountian city, and you can see Peru´shighest mountain from here. I did a couple of tours the past two days thatwere nice. I met a girl from New Jersey who was with her mom, sister andfriend hwho live in Lima. It was sure nice to have her to translate for me,and just nice to be ble to speak English to someone. They invited me to Lima,and it was tempting, but I need to move on, not back. When they were leaving,I didn´t have any liquid cash whatsoever, and owed the tour company and myhotel moeny. It was really hard to get a travelers cheque cashed here. Iwent about 20 hours without food and little water that I was rationing. I was really getting dizzy by time I did manage to get some cash. I went straight to a orange juice stand and had a couple of glasses of fresh squeezed juice.It was a lot more expensive than Bolivian orange juice, but I forked out the 35 cents a glass. Oranges sell for about $.50 a kilo here.
One of the tours I did with my adopted family was called Chavin. It was made in1200BC. It was largley in good shape until about 1945 when rain destroyed alot of it. I some ways I like it more than Machu pichu because you could goinside the temple and there was a large maze of halls and rooms. It´s hard tobelive I was in such a building that was made over 3000 years ago. There weretunnels made for carying voices long distances, and complex water canals aswell as fantastic carvings. What made Machu Pichu great was the that it wasnear the top of a mountian, and the views were spectacular. It was in aboutthe same shape a Chavin, but Chavin is about 2000 years older.
Another cool thing in the tour the day before was a natural spring. Therewere lots of bubbles coming up with the water and to drink the water was like drinking carbonated water. I don´t like carbonated water much, but it was an interesting natural thing to experience.
I´m going to make it to Equador as quickly as I can, then hopefully I can slow down, maybe spending some time on some nice Columbian beaches. Maybe I´ll even have time to see Angel Falls when I am in Venezuela. I bought a plane ticket to fly from Caracas to Sao Paulo at the end of October.
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