Good times in Peru the last few weeks......
After Machu Piccu I splurged and flew to Lima (thus avoiding the insane 22 hour bus), bargained hard for a taxi and made my way to the bus terminal for an overnight bus to Huaraz. Peruvian long haul buses are surprisingly comfy with semi beds, blankets, pillows, dubbed movies and food. That said, it is a bus driving too fast often on poorly maintained roads with music blasting hearly 24 hours a day. I am always thankful to arrive safely.
Huaraz sits smack dab in the Cordillera Blanca surrounded by immense, Himalayan like peaks. I was in heaven. After 2 days of day hiking I started on a 4-day trek called oddly enough, the Santa Cruz trek. It was a proper trek since all I had to do was walk with a day pack and the mules and guides did everything else. What luxury! The scenery was fantastic (deep valleys, snow covered peaks, glaciers, glacial lakes) and I quickly bonded with 3 hillarious british travelers.
After the trek I went ice climbing for a day on a nearby glacier and quickly realized climbing at 15,000 feet has its challenges.
Persuaded by my new friends, I next headed to Trujillo and the coastal town of Huanchaco to see the famous ruins of Chan Chan and a few pyramids. It was here in Huanchaco that the whole room started swaying and I learned a few hours later of the terrible earthquake. Parting ways with the british accents and slang I headed north to Mancora for 4 glorious days seaside. Those 4 days were filled with lying in the hammock, reading on the beach, surfing small waves (while showing the locals that girls can surf!), eating seafood two times a day and drinking local beer with 3 wild Irish girls and the local surfer scence. One wild, somewhat dangerous border crossing later (and 12 hours in a hot, hot bus) I arrived in Quito. On the bus I met Julia, a sweet Peruvian girl on vaca, and we spent the next day walking around Quito speaking only in Spanish. It was my first day speaking all in Spanish and I loved it! At night I went to the airport and, like a kid at xmas, waited for Shawn. The arrival was thrilling and we spent yesterday exploring Qutio and roughly planning the next month. Today we are off to the volcano Cotopaxi for a few days of hiking.
It really is impossible to record even 1/10 of my experiences here, so here is a very short list of memorable Peruvian occurances...
1. People sell EVERYTHING, I mean everything (food, shoes, belts, insoles, back rests, socks, air freasheners, cord, napkins, etc) on the street. My favorite.... a scale where you pay to find out your weight.
2. There is someone at every corner yelling - llamada, llamada, llamada = phone call, phone call, phone call. Many people have cell phones in Peru, but they often can only accept calls, so people who can make calls out sell minutes on their phones (which are attached to them via a long chain which it very easy to trip over if you are not looking down)
3. Children street performers rush out at red lights and perform all manners of entertainment for money. Standing backflips are the best.
4. In each region the women have different traditional dress and hats that range from tall white mad hatter styles to brown bowlers to those ornately decorated with feathers. I wish I could pull that off in the USA.
5. They put papas frittas, aka french fries, in (not beside) everything. And rice comes with every meal.
6. Blond hair attracts attention.
Hello Ecuador.
