Night Life

I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. -Jorge Luis Borges

I spent last week in Buenos Aires and was continually amazed by its size, its diversity, its volume and its night life. I am not a night owl by nature, but when in Buenos Aires, you simply have to stay up late just for the experience. A couple of nights ago, I was in a taxi at 2:30 in the morning and stuck in rush hour traffic! The streets were packed, along with all of the restaurants and bars the taxi passed on the way back to my hotel.

Every day I explored a new neighborhood but I didn´t even scratch the surface of the place. Some of my favorites were Palermo and San Telmo. I am pretty sure that I had the best steak of my life in a random bar with a Cuban band playing at Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo. It really is that kind of city!

In Buenos Aires I had to say good-bye to the Dragoman folks as they were continuing their journey to Rio and at the same time, welcomed Karl to Argentina. We all went to a tango show at the famous Cafe Tortoni and Karl brought out flaming absinthe at the bar after the show. Powerful stuff!

I´ve been spending most of my trip trying to enjoy the local cuisine of the area (although I have to admit that I did not try the guinea pig in Bolivia). However, in Buenos Aires I broke down and went to some foreign restaurants, including a hare krishna vegan restaurant and a Mexican restaurant.

One of the main highlights of my time in Buenos Aires had to be the soccer match between River Plate versus Dom Merlo. The fans danced, jumped and chanted for the entire two hours. It was amazing! The stands were literally writhing...

The two teams with amazing fans in Buenos Aires are River Plate and Boca Juniors. On my first night in town, a few of the Dragoman folks and I tried to get scalped tickets outside of the Boca Juniors stadium. Two of the guys got tickets and the other four of us ladies were left outside to listen to the roar of the stadium. The ladies took a cab back to the center and watch the match on TV, feeling pretty "green" that the guys got into the game. We found out later that night though that they got part way in and their "escort" with the game tickets disappeared into the crowd and they were each relieved of their $50...However, Julie, Felix, Karl and I were undetered and bought the "tourist tickets" at a higher price but with transportation and two guides to get us in and out of the stadium safely.

On our last night in the city, Karl and I splurged and went to the famous Las Lilas restaurant on the river in Puerto Madero. It was simply the best food I´ve had on my trip so far and definitely the best presentation of any place I´ve been so far (including Atlantis in the Bahamas, Patrick!). It was a great experience and well worth the expense.

After struggling a bit with finding out how to get a bus ticket and hostel in Mendoza, Karl and I finally got ourselves organized and hopped on an overnight bus to Mendoza last night. More on Mendoza in my next entry...

Ciao,

Kelly

Wine, Beef and Horses

The last 10 days of my trip have been all about wine, beef and horses...Our drive to Salta Rafting from Salta was luckily a short and beautiful one. We arrived at the river mid-afternoon and took much needed naps in our tents after our big night in Salta the night before. The cooking group for the day prepared a wonderful camp meal and we all enjoyed it with a glass (or two) of Sangria.

The next day we had another relaxing morning and then spent the afternoon rafting the fast flowing Class III river right outside our camp. The raft guides hosted an Argentinian "asado" that evening and we giggled at the photos taken of all of us on the river earlier in the day (I´m still hoping to get them from one of the other folks in my raft so I can add them to the blog...).

Everyone hated leaving such a beautiful place the very next morning, but we were on our way to Cafayate and wine tasting. Cafayate was truly hot when we arrived at the campsite and everyone felt a bit wilted during our winery tours at two of the local wineries. The wine we tasted was marvelous though and "lifted our spirits" quite a bit. The local grape varietals were Torrontes, a white varietal, and Terrat, a red varietal. We learned about using egg whites to "clean" white wine and bone marrow for organic reds (veggies watch out!). Each tour took us through the entire wine-making process step by step, from vine separation to the special cellars set aside for the most expensive wines on the property. It was a fascinating tour and much more complete than any tour I have been on in the U.S. or Australia.

Early the next morning we packed up our tents and my cooking group and I fumbled through preparing breakfast before jumping back on "Amber" for hot, dusty and sweaty ride to Estancia, a cattle and horse ranch near Rio Ceballos, Argentina.

The Estancia ranch really was an amazing oasis. Some of us camped in the fields in front of our host Kevin´s house and others stayed in the dorm attached to the main house. Kevin´s family has owned the ranch since the late 1500s and he has been hosting Dragoman groups for almost 30 years. He has 120 horses on the ranch. They were the most beautiful horses I´ve ever seen! We spent the first evening drinking Kevin´s special "Estancia Reserve" wine and the next two days riding horses on the property. It was truly relaxing.

It was a very short drive into Cordoba, Argentina from Rio Ceballos and I spent most of the day shopping for clothes to wear in Buenos Aires and trying to cool off in cafes with Fiona and Julie. After 7 days of camping, I was happy to have a bed in the Aldea Hostel even though it was probably one of the warmest nights I have ever experienced. Cordoba was hot, hot, hot! Despite the heat, Cordoba was a charming city (Argentina´s second largest) and after finding out that a few folks from Summit County, Colorado were either living or visiting Cordoba at the same time, I was really disappointed that we left at 5am the next morning for Buenos Aires....I also couldn´t believe that I was nearing the conclusion of my month-long travels with the Dragoman group and my two new amigas, Fiona and Julie!

Bolivia

After thoroughly enjoying La Paz, our group traveled off-road to the tiny village of Livichuco on the altiplano of Bolivia. We stayed in the community center, toured the village with the "presidente" and listened and danced to the village band. We ended up watching the band the morning that we were scheduled to leave, because the night before was carnaval in the town some kilometers away and our interpreter informed us after dinner, "I have bad news, the band is drunk...¨

Early in the morning on the day we left I went on my first run of the trip (at 13,500 feet) with our Dragoman guide, Ivan. It was cold and windy, but I enjoyed every minute of that run. The scenery was incredible. We were nestled between two huge peaks, with a beautiful river running through the valley. Ivan and I crossed the river and ran to the next village and back. Amazing!

After Livichuco, we drove to Potosi. Potosi is a mining town at 4200 meters and claims to be the highest city in the world. The air was thin, but the sun was shining and everyone was happy to be warm for the first time in many days. The mountain looming above the town, Cerro Rico, has been mined since the days of the Spanish conquistadors. I elected not to visit the mines, as the conditions are fairly dangerous, even for visitors. Instead, I wandered up and down the steep streets shopping with some of the other travelers in the group. I even attempted a run and got lost, spending much more time running up Potosiś hills than I would have liked!

I was so excited about our next stop...Salar de Uyuni! Uyuni was one of the main reasons I booked this trip and it did not disappoint. Salar de Uyuni is a huge salt flat. When you look across the flats (with sunglasses as the glare is incredible), it looks like you can see into infinity. After a hot, dusty ride at high speeds, the group piled out and took ¨mind-bending"photos of the flats...We then visited a train ¨cemetery¨ and traveled back, exhausted, to the town of Uyuni.

The next morning in Uyuni, I saw my first Andean flamingos! There are 3 different species of flamingos in the Andes, and according our guide, only 5 species in the world. After that first morning, on our way through the Bolivian desert, we saw 1000s more of those amazing birds...

The journey across the Bolivian desert of the altiplano took 2 dusty, driving days. The views were incredible and we topped 5020 meters at one point. A lot of people on the truck were sick from the altitude and everyone was happy when we dropped down to the tiny village of Villa Mar (middle of nowhere). We visited the Valle de Rocas and stopped off at a hot springs on the way (where I left my watch!). We spent one night in Villa Mar and were on the road again by 5 am the next day for another long day on the road to Chile.

We crossed the Chilean border in the evening and stumbled out of the truck into San Pedro, Chile. After everyone set up their tents for the night, we ventured out into the town to find dinner. The town was small and dusty but lively and set up for tourists. It was a welcome change to the very basic villages and accomodations we had been experiencing. I ate Chilean salmon and drank delicious red wine that night. The salmon cannot compare to Alaskan salmon, but I enjoyed eating my first ¨fancy¨ meal since Cusco.

Later that night, 3 of us decided to stay up late and took a star-gazing tour that lasted until 1am (after getting up at 4am that morning). San Pedro is located on the edge of the Atacama desert, the driest desert on earth and an incredibly good place to observe the stars. The English tour was not available so the 3 of us attended the Spanish version. Amazingly, I understood enough to make the experience enjoyable. We found the Southern cross, discussed the differences in the view of the sky in Alaska versus Chile, and saw the rings around Saturn through the powerful telescopes at the observatory.

Again, we piled onto ¨Amber¨ early, early the next morning for another long drive...This time to Argentina. After an incredibly long journey through ever-changing landscapes, we arrived late last night in Salta, Argentina. The differences between Salta and the places we visited in Bolivia are stark. Salta is a bustling and completely modern city (although this computer is rather ancient and slow...). Today, everyone has been going crazy buying clothes and sunscreen and other supplies that we have not seen in quite a while. I have just enjoyed watching people on the street and taking in city life from a cafe table.

Tomorrow we are traveling to a camping spot about 100 kilometers from Salta for 2 days of white water rafting.

Ciao for now,
Kelly

Ruins

After a 10 hour drive in the Dragoman truck, aka Amber, and nice stop at the Sillustani ruins, we arrived in Puno, Peru. Puno sits on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and straddles both Bolivia and Peru.

We were all up bright and early the morning after we arrived in Puno to catch a boat out to the famous Uros floating islands. We flew down the steep hills of Puno on bicycle taxis to the port and hopped on the boat.

The Uros islands were fascinating. The islands are built from compacted reeds and literally float around Lake Titicaca. Originally, the Uros people built the floating islands to escape persecution on the mainland by the Aymara and Inca. Now the islands are set up mostly for tourism. It cheapens the experience a bit, but we all had fun sipping beers and sodas at the floating pub, 40 meters above the lake bottom.

Before no time we were back on Amber and headed for the border...

Because I am the only American traveler on this trip, I was the only one in need of a Bolivian visa at the border and had the honor of shelling out US$135 for the privilege. I have to say, crossing the border at Kasani was the most bizarre and amusing border crossing I've had so far. Promptly after collecting my money, the immigration officer had three "very important" questions for me: 1) Are you married? 2) Do you have a boyfriend? and 3) Since your friends have left you here, you should just stay here with me, verdad?

Granted, this conversation was conducted entirely in Spanish so my interpretation might be a little off, but needless to say, I was pretty happy when our guide, Ivan, aka "Frenchy", showed up and escorted me back to the truck!

Once through the border, we arrived shortly in Copacabana. This Bolivian town would never be mistaken for the Brazilian beach of Copacabana, but we managed to have a ton of fun there anyway! The night we arrived, Carnaval was in full swing in Bolivia. Carnaval involves parades, traditional dress, tons of fireworks, streamers, confetti, etc. The kids throw water balloons and squirt water guns at anyone and everyone. Amber, the truck, has taken quite a few hits over the last few days and I've had a water balloon or two explode at my feet. People chase each other with spray foam canisters, even in the shops.

Our group decided to join in on the festivities. We bought supplies and mixed up our own bucket of "Bolivian mojitos"...I think they had Fanta, Sprite, Pisco, Vodka and coco leaves...hmmm. Whatever they had in them, by dinner we were all dancing on the chairs of the restaurant, singing along to bad 80s tunes, covered in spray foam!

Most of us made it on to the boat the next morning to hike across the Isla del Sol. It was a dreary, wet and cold morning when we boarded the boat, but by the time we reached the island, the sun was shining.

Isla del Sol is legendarily the place where the Inca civilization was born. The puma stone, or Titicaca, sits up on top of the ridge, along with a sacrifice table. After we arrived on the island, we climbed up to the Titicaca and then hiked our way across to the other side of the island. We passed through 3 villages on our route. I would definitely recommend spending a night in one of the villages. We didn't have time on this trip, but they looked so quaint I wanted to stay a couple of nights. I hated leaving, but around 5pm, we boarded the boat and headed back to Copacabana.

After another day of overlanding, we are now in the crazy Bolivian capital of La Paz, with the sounds of fireworks ringing through the city in honor of carnaval!

If you want to see more photos, try this link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/112457896511557975831/PunoCopacopanaUrosIslaDelSol?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCN6f0NDDgu6UwAE&feat=directlink


Ciao,
Kelly

Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu

It is hard to believe that I arrived in Peru less than 10 days ago. So many things have happened and I have already had numerous adventures (as well as some minor misadventures)! I arrived in Lima after a pleasant 4 hour flight from Managua. Carmen, a friend from my days at CIRI, arranged for me to stay with her brother in Lima for my short 24 hour visit there. The Lima airport was crazy, but luckily, Carmen´s brother arranged for a car to pick me up and to take me to Miraflores, an upscale part of Lima and the location of his apartment. I had a great time at Larcomar and in Miraflores with Jose and his girlfriend before moving on to Cusco!

Cusco is over 11,000 feet and I certainly felt the altitude when I had to climb the long set of stairs to my hotel. The weather was also quite a contrast to Nicaragua and to Lima. It was freezing! I met up with a couple of the people joining Dragoman and toured the city a bit. The central plaza was impressive even in the pouring rain.

Dragoman is a British adventure type tour group. The group I am joining started in Lima and will travel ultimately to Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The group is made up of folks from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Australia, France, Holland, Great Britian, Scotland, and Egypt, ranging in age from 19 to 62. I am also joined by one other American woman but she is leaving the group tomorrow so I will be the sole American on the tour. That is just fine with me. Everyone in the group is extremely well traveled and has amazing stories. I am really enjoying getting to know such interesting people. My Spanish skills are not really going to improve with this group, but my Norwegian is getting better!

I spent the next three days on a beautiful and challenging trek on ancient Incan trails and through tiny mountain communities near Cusco and Pisaq, reaching heights over 15,000 feet. It was exhilerating and, literally, breathtaking. I have to admit that at the tops of the passes chewing the coco leaves really helped (or at least lifted my spirits!). I can´t even begin to describe the beauty of the mountain passes and our camping sites, as well as the people that live and farm in the area. I wanted to spend weeks more on those trails...On Day 3 we arrived at a wonderful hot springs and soaked our sore bodies in the soothing water. The trip was over and we were all tired and wet, but happy as well.

Yesterday we arrived at Machu Picchu. It was a mindblowing day! It is currently the wet season in Peru and consequently also the low season for tourism. However, at Machu Picchu, there were plenty of tourists and considering I hadn´t seen any tourists in several days, it was a bit jarring, but both the train ride and the site itself were magical and well worth the hassle of some overcrowding.

Machu Picchu really is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I went on a three hour cultural tour that took us all over the site and then spent the rest of the day just wandering around and staring. Clouds and rain storms passed through quickly and alternated with blazing sun. It was simply a thrill to be there and I hated leaving.

Today we are all exploring more of Cusco and catching up on laundry. I can´t believe how dirty everything I own is! Tomorrow I am moving on to Puno, Peru.

If you are interested in seeing more photos, try this link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112457896511557975831/February172012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJHSjNOqp7eYCw&feat=directlink

Ciao,
Kelly

Sacapuntes!

Sacapuntes! It sounds like a great swear word, doesn´t it! It is really means pencil sharpener, but it was our favorite word to use in Nicaragua (or Nica as everyone says).





With our bandaged feet and 50 pound Rubbermaid "action packers," Meaghan and I boarded the Coastal Challenge bus after the race. Unlike the rest of the group going to San Jose, Meaghan and I headed for the Nicaraguan border armed only with our pidgeon Spanish skills. Luckily, Meaghan managed to convince the race director and race doctor to join us on our Nicaraguan journey. Neither spoke Spanish (we quickly found out), but we let them tag along nonetheless!





The border was crazy. Apparently, we arrived at the lunch hour and it was classic, long, hot and seemingly disorganized. After talking we a few gringos, we decided to do exactly what the guidebooks strongly discourage doing and decided to use one of the "expediters" trolling the area. Our race director, Timmy, took the lead and disappeared in a sea of people for what seemed forever. Eventually, he appeared with our stamped passports and we walked into Nicaragua!





We spent the next week or so with Meaghan´s cousin Bryce and his fiance Elisa at their surf camp in Playa Gigante. Karl, Anthony and Anthony`s friend Steve joined the group for a week of sun soaking, hammock swinging, and Tona and Flor de Cana drinking. The seas were flat and there was no surfing to be had, but we managed to entertain ourselves quite well in that easy going beach town.

After Meaghan and gang left, Karl and I set out to explore more of Nica. We first headed to the island of Ometepe to see the two volcanos, Conception and Madera.

We met up with a friend of Elisa´s in the port town of Moyogalpa. Moyogalpa was a busy, noisy place so we quickly moved on to the more tranquil Santa Domingo. We stayed at a great place on the lake, hiked to a waterfall one day and slogged up and down Volcan Madera the next day. It was a muddy, beastly hike, but our guide (you are required to hire one) was fantastic and entertained us the entire 8 hours.

Next, Karl and I headed to Granada. According to the locals, it is the oldest city in Central America, continuously inhabitated since 1524. We toured the area for a couple of days and then headed to Masaya where we shopped at the central market and toured the sulfer belching Volcan Masaya. You can drive right up to the active cratr, but have to park facing out "just in case."

Nicaragua is a wild and adventurous place that I hope to return to someday. The people were extremely friendly, it wasn´t overly touristy and although extremely poor, it is a very charmy spot.

Next up, Cusco and Machu Picchu!

Ciao,
Kelly