Mom Says I’m Running Away

Day: 371

As I said in the last post, I am currently exhausted as I write both these posts at the same time. To make my extremely hard life (sarcasm), harder, I have a bus into the driest desert on the planet (in northern Chile) tomorrow morning with the sunrise.

You picture hungry people out there in blogland will just have to be contented with some photos from us watching the worlds second largest bird (the condor), fly doughnuts around the worlds deepest canyon (Colca Valley, Peru)

Day: 370

Colca Valley is the worlds deepest canyon, even more so than the Grand Canyon, unfortunately after spending two days getting on and off the uber-touristy tourist bus non-stop, I am not really up to writing much. Needless to say, to have such a vast canyon you need great altitudes (upwards of 5000 meters), to deal with the constant gains an losses in altitude our guide shared with us some coca leaves to chew on. I don’t really think the coca leaves helped with the altitude sickness, but it did significantly numb my tongue, which left me slightly too preoccupied to be concerned with the lack of oxygen in my brain.

On another note, the entire valley seemed to have sold out most of it’s indigenous culture to tourists, which left me sort of ashamed to be on this bus; which constantly dumped you (with about 5 other buses on the same route) in front of “locals” who just wanted to sell you an alpaca beanies and blankets. Unfortunately, the valley is spectacular and the transport options in and out are limited, causing most people to be forced into these tours if they want to catch a glimpse at all of this astounding canyon.

Day: 369

I did three things today;

1. I took care of lots of internet based “business” for a number of hours in the morning, writing emails that needed written, checking up on things that needed checking on, and working on a few of the weddings I have booked for the summer.
2. We spent the afternoon perusing Peru (I really just wanted to use that phrase), and checking out the Santa Catalina Monestary.  Which has hundreds of little alleys and even more statutes of Jesus being crucified.  The nuns who lived here use to be into some extreme self-flagellation , like wearing barbed wire bras and such.
3.  We had a date night and went beyond our normal budget and had a spectacular “Trilogy de Carne“, prime cuts of three assorted Andean animals. Alpaca, Cow, and Ostrich (although Felicia is now telling me the Ostriches are not truly South American)…  and chased that with a chocolate, banana, and ice cream crepe.  Rather tasty!

Day: 368

I woke up in the middle of the fucking desert. No idea where we were or how long it would take to get there. The bus was moving at what seemed an excessively slow pace and after filling up with passengers from a bus that broke down in the middle of the night, it was pack with odorific people sleeping in all sorts of contorted positions. I saw the sun coming up in the east, and set my Ipod to another album and tried to sleep more. Unfortunately it never came, but what did come was slightly better, All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (en Espanol, claro).

After that eternity…

We arrived in Arequipa and found our dirty hostel (with WiFi!) and revieed our options to see some of the worlds deepest canyons over the next couple of days. We settled on a two day tour, leaving the day after tomorrow for $25 and just lounged around town for a while, touristing, eating, and fighting off hordes of pigeons (which Felicia finds to be actual spawns of the dark lord himself).

I think I fell asleep for a siesta at some point today, and before I knew it we were off to watch a salsa band, drink and dance the night away with my horrible moves. It was actually quite a grand day for the horrible start it got off to.

Day: 367

I realized these last few days have been rather dull, with constant buses and cities and such, but soon there will be all kinds of crazy outdoor adventures and such, so please bear with us.

In case you were wondering, we piled back in a bus for another 20 hours south today.  Woopee!

Day: 366

We don´t have a guide book for Peru, we are kind of winging it as we go. Ed is meeting us two weeks from the end of our trip to catch Maccu Picchu and Cusco,and he is bringing a Lonely Planet. Felicia and I are working our way south now (when we leave Lima tomorrow) to see the deserts of northern Chile, then into Bolivia for a month, before looping back into Peru. Hence all the rapid getting through Peru now; it is essentially with the hopes of avoiding any days-on-end of bus riding again.

Today was complete by wandering through all the endless beachfront malls of Miraflores, eating ice cream over looking the ocean, and cooking our own dinner in the hostel kitchen. Not very exciting, but a necessary evil to enjoy the weeks to come.

Day: 365

Getting off the bus in Lima at 10am this morning we realized we hadn´t slept in a bed in two nights and Felicia´s spine seemed misaligned and was giving her a slight pain. We found a cab into Miraflores (the wealthier beach district in Lima) and found our hostel rather easy. Unfortunately our room wouldn´t be availible until 1pm and we just dropped our bags on the ground and dropped ourselves on the patio to relax. After a while we wandered around for some lunch then came back for what amounted to an afternoon of recovery from the last two nights.

Our goals in Lima are essentially to recover enough to move on to the next place, I am not overly thrilled with South American cities as a whole and this one isn’t really and exception, but the idea of climbing on another 20 hour bus ride sent shivers down our spines. Besides, in two months our flight leaves out of Lima, so we know we´ll be back through here soon enough.

Day: 364

“No, no es possible,” the senorita at the counter said to us mechanically and  rather unapologetically. With a requisite “Gracias”, we bolted out of Banco del Trabajo (Worker’s Bank) and back into a cab.

“Are you sure? Let’s check again,” I said, as Rob and I ran back into our budget hostel for the umpteenth time that day. In the sweltering heat of this dusty border town, we rummaged through Rob’s bags, patted down his pants and searched through what seems like two dozen zippered compartments.

But the credit card was gone.

As I waited anxiously for Rob to finish speaking to e-trade Customer Service, I thought about the flurry of events that defined our day:

Earlier that day, we rolled into town, bleary-eyed and greasy-faced at 7 in the morning. We needed money to buy our tickets for the 15-hour bus ride to Lima, so searching out an ATM was our first priority.

Thankfully, across the frantic road jammed with tuktuks (motor rickshaw vehicles) and taxis, there were several banks. After dodging traffic and running across the street with our giant backpacks, we got to the carjero automatico (ATM), where I got some Peruvian soles successfully with my Singaporean credit card. Rob followed next, and as he drew the receipt, he bitched about the US$1.50 withdrawal charge but concluded that e-trade would reimburse him.

With soles in hand, we crashed at one of the cheapie hostels listed in the Lonely Planet. 

It was only at about 4pm, when we tried to book a hostel in Lima, that Rob suddenly decided that he had left his card in the ATM. No way, I thought. He’s a smart, seasoned world traveler who even survived shady Argentinian hotties with their hands in his pants! He couldn’t possibly have lost his credit card by leaving it in an ATM and walked away. I told him its probably in his pants (which he promptly took off in the hostel because Californians wear shorts).

But alas, it was true. Rob’s getting old and losing not only his hair, but his mind.

And so it is, he now has to rely on Bank of America and pay withdrawal fees. Or spend Felicia’s money instead.

Day: 363

Cuenca to Loja  - 6 hours in a over-crowded bus with small children constantly sneezing on Felicia.

Loja: - 6 hours sitting in the bus station talking with some Brit medical students, waiting for the night bus.

Loja to Puira (Northern Peru) – 9 more hours sitting in the dark, with a five foot tall Peruvian reclined his seat all the way into my lap and crossing the border at 4am.

Uckk!

Day: 362

I am about to get on a bus to spend the next couple of days crossing Peru, so i don´t really have much time to put stuff up today, and I don´t know how many more days until I´ll update again.  Soon, though, I promise.