Hey guys.
So yesterday we were super happy that we managed to get a bus to La Paz for only 40 soles (20ish dollars), but then, there is always a price to pay.
Got into Puno at 5:30 am, and realized that both Jess and I had our cameras stolen on the overnight trip. Pretty amazing, since we were quite great at protecting our stuff, but all the bus people were super dodgy, and the camera, and all my photos from this trip, was a big loss. Actually fairly devastating, for now at least. Faint, and I mean faint chances mine fell out of my bag in the Cuzco Hostel, but it´s just a dream at this point. Anyways, both feeling pretty down.
Grabbed our even dodgier bus to La Paz, only to have, (and I am not making this up) boiling hot water explode from the panneling next to my seat and flood the bus. The bus soon filled completely with steam and rushing water, and the drivers reluctantly pulled over in the middle of super rural Peru. I wish I could have had some photos, it was grand.
Anyways, snuck the bus to the border with some shepherd´s help, where the Bolivian customs would absolutely in now way under no conditions not gonna happen give me a visa for more than 30 days. Not so hot, since I´m planning on spending the next four months in the country, so my future looks filled with border runs until I can get a better extension. At least it was free...
Okay, enough bad, now, only wondrous! Our new replacement bus, which qualified for the probably powered by donkeys category managed to crawl into the edges of La Paz, and as we did so, the ravishing power of the Bolivian mountains wiped the whole day away. La Paz lies inside a great canyon, it´s adobe houses clinging to the canyon walls, and standing upon the canyon edges guard massive mountain sentinals, rocks of such glacier covered might that they seem almost unimpressed with themselves. Illimani, the half-mountain half-god that overlooks the entire city is crushing in its power.
We´ve had a wonderful day in the city, the people are alive and ecstatic, fiesta parades march through the streets, and the difference in culture between here and Peru is outstanding. (And welcome)
We will probably stay here for a week at least, more if we decide we like it enough to rent a place and I´ll take intensive Spanish lessons for a month. I can´t wait to show it to you all, but at least for now it´s not a possibility. (Ah! Frustration!)
So much to do, got drafted into a street dance in Cuzco, rode a mini van today, and tomorrow am buying dehydrated llama corpses from the Witches´ Market across the way.
From the wild,
Nick
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wonders of the World - March 28, 2008
Mi Dios.
Well we just dragged ourselves back into Cusco after many days of 5 am wake-ups and cardboard box train rides, so forgive my lack of verbal clarity or temporal conscience. Of course, the reason outweighed the ransom, and we spent yesterday exploring what is truly one of the most incredible sights of the planet, Machu Picchu.
Most say the same thing, that while the city is itself incredible, it is where the city is sited that takes your breath away. We arose ridiculously early in the morning for the first buses that leave Aquas Caliente for the summit, and in doing so were attempting, as with the hundreds of other caffeine depreived backpackers, a glimpse of the sun rising over the mountains and painting the stone walls of the Incan ghost city.
Of course, we got this:
The truth however, is that the fog and mist was a gift I never would have thought to ask for. The mist drifted slowly over the andean peaks, so unlike our own Rockies, these more ancient monoliths that carry a velvet blanket of jungle, emerging and disappearing at their whim into the entrancing fog. It was as dreams, where reality bubbles and explains nothing, that we came to find this place hidden. The mist slowly began to simmer off however, and the city unveiled itself.
I could not have wished for more.
We took a quick tour in the morning to be able to appreciate what exactly we were experiencing, and then became some of the lucky few to challenge Waynapicchu, which is that big mother mountain in the background of all Machu Picchu photos.
The hike was fairly vertical, the smallest and most ludicrous of incan steps trickled up the mountain´s face, a path that in absolutely no way would be open for the public in North America. Wire ropes dotted only the most lethal passages, and seemed curiously absent in the only semi-lethal sections. After about an hour we crested the summit, cliff after terraced cliff looking out over Machu Picchu, the Incan trail which connects it to Cosco, and the incredible power of the sorrounding mountains. I cannot compare the Andes to anything I have experienced before in my life, there stood among the rest one peak which I swear was the roof of the world, so massively did it appear to support the heavens. To walk Incan stairs, in an ancient city, with the weight of the skies resting upon the mountains sorrounding, is a moment without kin.
After the summit Jess and I took the backside of the mountain down, a rather lucky decision as we did not see another person for several hours, a miracle in itself. In that fashion we hiked through pure Peruvian jungle for kilometres, up and down Incan stairways and temples, crossing massive millipedes and jumping spiders, finally collapsing back at the entrance having experienced one of the most glorious and yet heavily visited sites in the world completely alone.
In a few hours we are taking a bus to La Paz. I cannot express how excited we are to finally reach Bolivia, although right now all we crave is sleep in the plaza del armas. Oodles of postcards and photos soon, as well, I have seven thousand photos of Incan ruins for those who need help sleeping, for now, the rest one needs when the heart is full.
Adios
Ñ
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Putting the Attitude in Altitude - March 25, 2008
Hey Cowboys and Cowgirls.
So much over the last few days, but no time now to throw up the photos to prove it.
First of all I might live in Cusco one day. The difference in culture and atmosphere since Lima is unbelievable. I have trouble understanding that I am in the same country. Night after night wandering the Incan streets, loosely tiled with cobblestones, barely wide enough to fit the ever-honking and yet still amicable taxis, and every house built upon the foundations of an ancient culture.
We found the actual side of Cusco the other night, the livingbreathingpulsing side, unkown, properly unclean, vibrantly bustling. And yet, the city blends with itself on the margins of it´s gringo populace, the same people weave through each avenue, only with disparate goals and massively cheaper meals.
Ah, so much to say, I snuck into a national park yesterday, found a chess set that should be a museum, and am heading out tomorrow morning for a few days in the sacred valley and you know where.
Tons of beautiful photos, my life is a blur of incredilous smiles and gratefulness.
Talk to you all on Friday,
Nick
So much over the last few days, but no time now to throw up the photos to prove it.
First of all I might live in Cusco one day. The difference in culture and atmosphere since Lima is unbelievable. I have trouble understanding that I am in the same country. Night after night wandering the Incan streets, loosely tiled with cobblestones, barely wide enough to fit the ever-honking and yet still amicable taxis, and every house built upon the foundations of an ancient culture.
We found the actual side of Cusco the other night, the livingbreathingpulsing side, unkown, properly unclean, vibrantly bustling. And yet, the city blends with itself on the margins of it´s gringo populace, the same people weave through each avenue, only with disparate goals and massively cheaper meals.
Ah, so much to say, I snuck into a national park yesterday, found a chess set that should be a museum, and am heading out tomorrow morning for a few days in the sacred valley and you know where.
Tons of beautiful photos, my life is a blur of incredilous smiles and gratefulness.
Talk to you all on Friday,
Nick
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Corazons y Dolar - March, I have No Idea, 2008
Hola! I am still not cool!
Well, Jess and I are out of Lima. It took 24 hours on a bus if not sent from, than at least designed in Hell. I would not say the staggering price tag is enough to avoid Cruz Del Sur in your immediate travelling plans, I would say that if you have never watched ¨Tootsie¨at 1 am, with a auditory presence approaching 300 decibels, then you should consider paying less for that experience, especially the world-ending feeling of hatred when the lovely attendant slides a bingo card into your hand, in case 3 am was the perfect time to bored, and listen to about a hundred numbers over a microphone. It´s gotta be a cultural thing.
Anyways, the whole point is that we got out! If you´re in Peru than Machu Pichu is somewhat of a must, and although not realatively close, we bent the road just enought to slide into the andes and onto the doorstep of Cusco. And that has been the most wonderful decision that I have made in a very long time.
Cusco is absolutely breathtaking. Aside from the verdant, pulsing andes which curl against the toes of the city, the ever-present reminder is that this city was laid, stone by immaculate stone, by the hands of the Incans thousands of years ago. The streets are narrow, cobbled, drained, winding. They stretch up against the hill sides and cut through cathedrals, walls, and homes. The lights of the city at night, against the blackened hillsides, are yellow and blue, the alternating drippings of the ever close stars.
Machu Pichu wasn´t known to the greater world populace until 1911, and since then tourism has become, as one would expect, the live blood of the economy in Cusco. But something has occured here unlike many other areas akin to this situation, and that is a somewhat wonderful relationship between annoying gringos and the people who call this place home. There are certainly moments when you and your naive skin color are nothing more useful than a week´s meals for a family, but at night the faces of everyone have broken out into wide grins and welcoming conversation. I simply cannot understand where such a patience and welcoming sprirt blossoms from. I doubt many of us, were our home to become beswarmed with thousands of foreigners, many more ignorant than our children, would remain so hospitable and humane to all comers. Cusco is one of the most incredible experiences of my life, it is to me, at least at the apex of this night, the first clear and resonding reason for my travels to South America. I´m trying to not sound collonial and awestruck, but I´m not doing a very good job of communicating these days.
Well, going to crawl all over and drink up every square foot of this town for the next few days, then off for a a few days to the sacred valley and Machu Pichu. Probably heading to Bolivia, (and cheaper pastures) on Friday. Oh yeah, about that, Mom, Dad, people who love me, you could always consider sending Bolivianos for my birthday this year, it´s the gift that just keeps on giving. (or I eat the apalca...)
Mucho Amor mi amigos,
Ñ
Well, Jess and I are out of Lima. It took 24 hours on a bus if not sent from, than at least designed in Hell. I would not say the staggering price tag is enough to avoid Cruz Del Sur in your immediate travelling plans, I would say that if you have never watched ¨Tootsie¨at 1 am, with a auditory presence approaching 300 decibels, then you should consider paying less for that experience, especially the world-ending feeling of hatred when the lovely attendant slides a bingo card into your hand, in case 3 am was the perfect time to bored, and listen to about a hundred numbers over a microphone. It´s gotta be a cultural thing.
Anyways, the whole point is that we got out! If you´re in Peru than Machu Pichu is somewhat of a must, and although not realatively close, we bent the road just enought to slide into the andes and onto the doorstep of Cusco. And that has been the most wonderful decision that I have made in a very long time.
Cusco is absolutely breathtaking. Aside from the verdant, pulsing andes which curl against the toes of the city, the ever-present reminder is that this city was laid, stone by immaculate stone, by the hands of the Incans thousands of years ago. The streets are narrow, cobbled, drained, winding. They stretch up against the hill sides and cut through cathedrals, walls, and homes. The lights of the city at night, against the blackened hillsides, are yellow and blue, the alternating drippings of the ever close stars.
Machu Pichu wasn´t known to the greater world populace until 1911, and since then tourism has become, as one would expect, the live blood of the economy in Cusco. But something has occured here unlike many other areas akin to this situation, and that is a somewhat wonderful relationship between annoying gringos and the people who call this place home. There are certainly moments when you and your naive skin color are nothing more useful than a week´s meals for a family, but at night the faces of everyone have broken out into wide grins and welcoming conversation. I simply cannot understand where such a patience and welcoming sprirt blossoms from. I doubt many of us, were our home to become beswarmed with thousands of foreigners, many more ignorant than our children, would remain so hospitable and humane to all comers. Cusco is one of the most incredible experiences of my life, it is to me, at least at the apex of this night, the first clear and resonding reason for my travels to South America. I´m trying to not sound collonial and awestruck, but I´m not doing a very good job of communicating these days.
Well, going to crawl all over and drink up every square foot of this town for the next few days, then off for a a few days to the sacred valley and Machu Pichu. Probably heading to Bolivia, (and cheaper pastures) on Friday. Oh yeah, about that, Mom, Dad, people who love me, you could always consider sending Bolivianos for my birthday this year, it´s the gift that just keeps on giving. (or I eat the apalca...)
Mucho Amor mi amigos,
Ñ
Friday, March 21, 2008
Calor y Tiempo - March 21, 2008
Hola!
Well, it´s on now. We´re in Lima, Peru. It took us a day of buses and planes to get here, pretty exhausted and not really expecting the heat of Lima. It´s humid like crazy in this sprawling, muggy metropolis, and it seems like the hazy smog rolls in from the pacific to set up shop on your skin.
Yesterday involved a bus to Guadalajara, an overnight bus to Ciudad de Mexico (which was nicer than any plane I have ever been in), and a quick flight to Costa Rica and finally Lima. Needless to say, I feel like I´m polluting the air simply with my own smog.
In a stunning display of intelligence, we have landed in South America smack dab in the middle of Semana Santo, (easter) which easily over does Christmas as the biggest holiday in the latino calendar. We had just seen the beginnings of it in Chapala, where the cozy lakeside town was fast becoming a nexus of insanity, and we were more than naive to not expect the effects it would have around the continent.
So anyways, and I know Kate and most others will be more than happy to hear me agree with them, but Lima is as unhospitable a place as almost you can imagine. So far, smiles appear as
rare as well-priced food, most especially in the tourista district of Miraflores. It´s becoming insanely expensive to stay in the city, and so with great desire we have lunged ourselves towards the exit. However, due to Easter there isn´t a bus or plane in sight, and we´re making do until tomorrow when our extremely overpriced and first class bus will take us the grueling 23 hours to Cuzco, the other tourist mecca that lays on the doorstep of Macchu Pichu. To be honest, it´s not in any way along the route to La Paz, but to not see such a wonder while we´re here would be a waste. It looks like it will take hundreds of dollars and a week of travel to reach La Paz, but I am so intended on that place, which to me is fast becoming a shambhala of kindness and reasonable prices, that to finally reach it will be euphoric.
Once I can, I´ll toss up the ludicrously beautiful photo of the sunset we saw melting into the ocean last night, standing upon the cliffs that harbour Lima, amidst the Park of Love. Oh, and Jeff, we saw the dock you we´re almost robbed at! I can see why you had a hard time escaping the knife wielding guy up the path, it´s no breeze.
For tonight, we´ll keep busy, and no one wants to hear it, but if I had to give some advice, stay clear of Lima.
Adios
Nick
Well, it´s on now. We´re in Lima, Peru. It took us a day of buses and planes to get here, pretty exhausted and not really expecting the heat of Lima. It´s humid like crazy in this sprawling, muggy metropolis, and it seems like the hazy smog rolls in from the pacific to set up shop on your skin.
Yesterday involved a bus to Guadalajara, an overnight bus to Ciudad de Mexico (which was nicer than any plane I have ever been in), and a quick flight to Costa Rica and finally Lima. Needless to say, I feel like I´m polluting the air simply with my own smog.
In a stunning display of intelligence, we have landed in South America smack dab in the middle of Semana Santo, (easter) which easily over does Christmas as the biggest holiday in the latino calendar. We had just seen the beginnings of it in Chapala, where the cozy lakeside town was fast becoming a nexus of insanity, and we were more than naive to not expect the effects it would have around the continent.
So anyways, and I know Kate and most others will be more than happy to hear me agree with them, but Lima is as unhospitable a place as almost you can imagine. So far, smiles appear as
rare as well-priced food, most especially in the tourista district of Miraflores. It´s becoming insanely expensive to stay in the city, and so with great desire we have lunged ourselves towards the exit. However, due to Easter there isn´t a bus or plane in sight, and we´re making do until tomorrow when our extremely overpriced and first class bus will take us the grueling 23 hours to Cuzco, the other tourist mecca that lays on the doorstep of Macchu Pichu. To be honest, it´s not in any way along the route to La Paz, but to not see such a wonder while we´re here would be a waste. It looks like it will take hundreds of dollars and a week of travel to reach La Paz, but I am so intended on that place, which to me is fast becoming a shambhala of kindness and reasonable prices, that to finally reach it will be euphoric.
Once I can, I´ll toss up the ludicrously beautiful photo of the sunset we saw melting into the ocean last night, standing upon the cliffs that harbour Lima, amidst the Park of Love. Oh, and Jeff, we saw the dock you we´re almost robbed at! I can see why you had a hard time escaping the knife wielding guy up the path, it´s no breeze.
For tonight, we´ll keep busy, and no one wants to hear it, but if I had to give some advice, stay clear of Lima.
Adios
Nick
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
VAMOS! - March 19th, 2008
Hooah!
Pirmero, no dentistas hoy.
Segundo, vamos a Ciudad de Mexico en solo trez horas.
Third, I got nice and drunk with my dad last night to really cap off our visit, which has been incredibly excellent. Chapala is still a beautiful town next to a gorgeous lake and the weather is just always fantastic. My entire mouth has become bionic. Life is great.
We should be in Lima, Peru, within a day, and we'll decide how long to stay before we voyage into Bolivia. Not super keen on Lima, as well, money is a counter always ticking, so we'll see.
I'll get some photos of Lima as soon as possible and try to let everyone know what goes on in the next few days.
Bueno Suerte!
Tu Amigo,
Nick.
Pirmero, no dentistas hoy.
Segundo, vamos a Ciudad de Mexico en solo trez horas.
Third, I got nice and drunk with my dad last night to really cap off our visit, which has been incredibly excellent. Chapala is still a beautiful town next to a gorgeous lake and the weather is just always fantastic. My entire mouth has become bionic. Life is great.
We should be in Lima, Peru, within a day, and we'll decide how long to stay before we voyage into Bolivia. Not super keen on Lima, as well, money is a counter always ticking, so we'll see.
I'll get some photos of Lima as soon as possible and try to let everyone know what goes on in the next few days.
Bueno Suerte!
Tu Amigo,
Nick.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Un Dia En Guad - March 16th, 2008
Hola Mi Rienas!
Almost done our time here in Chapala. It's been a blast seeing my family again, and it's always strange to be purposefully sorrounded by so many grey haired Americas. (Drama at the volleyball court! Ooo...)
Got to have a day today where I didn't pay someone to carve small holes in my mouth and drug me silly, which doens't actually sound so bad when I put it that way, so Jess and I headed into Guadalajara. Guad is about 6 million, and only thirty miles away from Chapala, so visiting is somewhat routine, somewhat loco. We visited most of the landmarks in the centero historica, mainly wicked cool public art and statues in various stages of provacative nudity, and trolled our way block after block searching out for one more cheap cerveza or street meat joint.
Just realized this story isn't that interesting, so I'll sum up: Slept in park, bought odd fermented pineapple juice from side of highway, walked in circles. Done.
Contrary to what I've indicated in this post by slotting in the most base forms of easily digested tourista words, my Spanish is actually filling out quite rapidly, and it's super fun to struggle at something all day long. I can't believe we're heading to Peru in just a couple of days, where rest assured the new bounty of postcards will await you all.
Adios Muchachos!
Nick
P.S. Here is, for J's fam, the mandatory photo of her in Mexico, drinking a 1 liter Pina Colada that cost somewhere around a dollar. Surprise! It's Alcoholism!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Que Lastima - March 13th, 2008
Dear Nick,
It's over, I'm leaving, you never treated me right anyway.
Your Immune System
p.s. Enjoy the eye infection.
It's over, I'm leaving, you never treated me right anyway.
Your Immune System
p.s. Enjoy the eye infection.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Oral Taxidermy - March 12th, 2008
*cough* *cough*
heeeey guys.
*hack*
In Chapala with my parents. Three hours sleep during the two day journey from Melbourne, a nasty cold has set in, and I've had two root canals in one day.
*cough*
Meanwhile, this place is more beautiful than ever...
I'll say hello when my primary life functions don't include producing mucus and bleeding from the mouth. (charming)
~Nick.
heeeey guys.
*hack*
In Chapala with my parents. Three hours sleep during the two day journey from Melbourne, a nasty cold has set in, and I've had two root canals in one day.
*cough*
Meanwhile, this place is more beautiful than ever...
I'll say hello when my primary life functions don't include producing mucus and bleeding from the mouth. (charming)
~Nick.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Up Up and Away! March 9th, 2008
Well well my friends, so my time in Melbourne comes to an end.
I've spent the last two weeks in some sort of organizational ecstasy, peppering my brain with itinerary bombs and social meetings of an agoric calibre. Busy can't explain it, so probably best not to.
Anyways, leaping onto a plane tomorrow arvo, then, once again, enduring a flight so long it is measured not in hours but in eons of the soul. As you pass through the filter of reality it is only the weeping of the babies in row 6 that carries you through.
It will be fun to cross the dateline and get that missing day back though, I've missed June 11th since Australia took it from me. The excitement is tempered with the fact that when I receive my missing temporal ticket, it shall be spent trapped in a flying tube, and not pursuing whatever fantastical pursuits I would have spent the original lost day doing. Well, what can I expect from a land of convicts?
I'm not so torn and destroyed about leaving this place like I was in Whitehorse, Van, or most especially, Halifax. I presume it is because my greatest bond from this place is not staying behind, but bringing her brilliant little self with me to Bolivia. I will dearly miss my friends here, and Melbourne is still the finest city I have ever visited, but it is so very much time for me to move on, I salivate with possibilities.
So off to LA, then Guad and Chapala for some sweet dentistry, and finally, eventually, South America.
But first, time to fly.
~N
I've spent the last two weeks in some sort of organizational ecstasy, peppering my brain with itinerary bombs and social meetings of an agoric calibre. Busy can't explain it, so probably best not to.
Anyways, leaping onto a plane tomorrow arvo, then, once again, enduring a flight so long it is measured not in hours but in eons of the soul. As you pass through the filter of reality it is only the weeping of the babies in row 6 that carries you through.
It will be fun to cross the dateline and get that missing day back though, I've missed June 11th since Australia took it from me. The excitement is tempered with the fact that when I receive my missing temporal ticket, it shall be spent trapped in a flying tube, and not pursuing whatever fantastical pursuits I would have spent the original lost day doing. Well, what can I expect from a land of convicts?
I'm not so torn and destroyed about leaving this place like I was in Whitehorse, Van, or most especially, Halifax. I presume it is because my greatest bond from this place is not staying behind, but bringing her brilliant little self with me to Bolivia. I will dearly miss my friends here, and Melbourne is still the finest city I have ever visited, but it is so very much time for me to move on, I salivate with possibilities.
So off to LA, then Guad and Chapala for some sweet dentistry, and finally, eventually, South America.
But first, time to fly.
~N
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