Colca Canyon

the past two days have proven to continue the adventure.

We got picked up by our tour company to see the Colca Canyon at 8:30 Monday morning, and we made the rounds to pick up some other people before we began the tour.  All in all we had a pretty interesting group of people: A Brazilian couple, a Danish family, a French couple, 2 American women traveling together, and a French guy that is now living in Berlin. 

We started off stopping at a small store to buy any snacks or drinks as well as cocoa leaves and candies.  Apparently they are supposed to help you adjust to the difference in altitude.

We then started heading to the town of Chivay, which is at the entrance of the canyon.  Before we arrived there we made multiple stops with amazing views of the scenery.  There are 3 main mountains in the area, and the volcanic ash is used to help construct houses and buildings.  The first few hours were completely desolate with no sign of vegetation whatsoever, but other parts had cacti and other small plants growing.  There were llamas and 3 other species that are very similar to them that we got to observe along the way.

We came to a rest stop where we could drink cocoa leaf tea and buy more snacks, and there were also natives selling textiles and other touristy things. 

As we went higher and higher, we were feeling the effects of the altitutde.  At the highest point we were over 16,000 feet in the air.  We took our tour guide´s advice of walking slowly when we were outside, and you could feel yourself short on breath and a bit dizzy if you walked too fast.  The Pre-Incans had built small offereings out of rocks, and they left lots of them intact.  Here we are at the highest point of the trip so far:

We had another stop at a mirador (look out point) before we went to lunch, and there were natives selling things.  One of them even had an alpaca (llama like animal) with her.

Then we went to lunch.  It turns out it was an all you can eat buffet, and the food was delicious.  They had a variety of food that is Peruvian, such as alpaca, chiles filled with ricotta cheese, and some rice and stews.  Here is what I ate:

Afterwards we checked into our hostel in Chivay, and I was really feeling light headed and started with a nasty headache.  We were supposed to go to the hot springs a few hours after that, so I decided to rest while Isabel went out to snap some pictures and do some shopping.  I continued to feel worse and worse, and I am glad that I kept the trashcan next to my bed.  I told Isabel to go to the hot springs and to not let me hold her back, and when she came back I was still sick.  She got me some cocoa tea, medicine, and water before heading out to the dinner and folklore dance show.  When she came back, I had gotten to rest up and got sick a bit more, and I was feeling a lot better.

Out of this I learned one important lesson: all you can eat buffets and going to high altitudes do not mix.  Apparently your digestion is more difficult to do at higher altitudes too.  I wish that our tour guide had told us that before we had lunch, but it is a lesson learned.

The following morning we were up at the butt crack of dawn (5:30) in order to get a light breakfast before going into Colca Canyon.  We stopped in the square of a small town called Yanque for about 20 minutes, and there were women with condors and alpacas that let you take pictures for a small donation.  There were also young girls performing a native dance in the square.  At this time it was about 6:30 AM, and one of the other people in the group talked to one of them.  She was 10 years old, and she arrived there every morning at 6 AM to dance for the tourists until they left.  It was also probably about 35 degrees out at that time.  It´s really sad to see something like that, so I was sure to make a donation to the girls walking around with small tip jars.

Now that we were actually arriving into the canyon, we had more amazing views.  Apparently Colca Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon, but as tourists you can´t get to the top of the mountain to see the entire distance from top to bottom.

Then we got to the main part of the canyon.  This is where you can see condors flying around.  There was a lower mirador and a higher one, and we hung out for about an hour looking for them and admiring the view.  I also bought some tapestries and crafts before we headed back to the bus.  We only caught a glimpse of a condor from afar when we were walking back to the bus, so we were a bit disappointed.

Once we were back on the bus, our tour guide suggested we wait another half an hour to see if the condors would come out a bit later.  We were a bit ambivalent, but in the end we decided getting out half an hour later would not be a big deal.  We went a bit further up in the canyon, and we waited for about 20 minutes with only seeing a condor here or there far away.

Then it was like someone told them that all of the tourists were waiting.  One started flying across the canyon, and then another joined it.  Before we knew it, there were about 6 of them putting on an air show for us.  I took a video of it, and I also snapped some pictures.

And here is a short video of the condors:

I was one of the people that didn´t want to wait, but now I am glad that we did.

After that, we stopped at another small town called Maca on the way back for lunch.  It was another all you can eat buffet, and I was nervous with the altitude sickness.  Luckily I was able to order just a sandwich:

We made it back to Arequipa around 5:00, and we dropped our bags and went out to do some exploring before it got too dark.  Now that we were down at a normal altitutde again, we decided on some brick oven pizza for dinner.

Back at the hostel that night we just took it easy.  I chatted with some other people there, and it turns out they are from Edmonton, Canada.  That´s about 20 minutes away from where Amanda lives in Fort Sascatchewan, and so we talked about the things I liked visitng there and our travels.

And the day wouldn´t have been complete without one last adventure that evening.  While I was out of the room Isabel left to find me.  She locked the door and assumed I brought the key.  We were locked out, and the reception spent about 20 minutes trying to find the key to get us back in.  The key they gave us to lock the room when we got in on Monday didn´t work, but luckily they found a master key (which was the last one they tried).

Today we had the day free in Arequipa, and we hop on a night bus at 8:30 that will get us in to Cuzco around 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Let the adventures continue!

Arrival in Arequipa

We got in to Arequpia around 11:30 at night.  We went with a more expensive bus, and the 5 hour trip cost us $16 each.  We had leather seats, blankets, reclining seats, heating, snacks provided, movies to watch, and even a Bingo game with a ticket from Arequipa back to Tacna as the prize.  They were also very big on security, as they checked our carry on luggage and had a video camera recording us as we got on the bus.  Then once we were all seated they came around and recorded us looking into the camera again.  All in all, I would say springing for the $16 bus was probably a better decision than going with the $7 regular bus.

Our hostel seems like it is really nice, and we have our own room and own bathroom.  Tomorrow morning we leave for a 2 day tour of Colca Canyon, which will include seeing condors, some hiking, hot springs, and probably some pretty amazing sights besides that.

So my impressions of Peru so far:

The people seem very nice and hospitable.  There is a segment of them that are pushy with trying to sell goods to us, but then again that is not something that surprises me.

The food is delicious and very affordable.  I got a lunch of potatoes in some type of slightly spicy cream sauce, chicken filet, salad, and a purple juice for $3.

I am also seeing that now I am definitely in a 3rd world country.  Having been in Santiago for so long has gotten me used to the European feel of the city, and here things are more run down.  Despite that, it is an awesome trip.

Time to get some sleep.

Arica and Tacna (now with pictures!)

So I am sitting at the bus station in Tacna, Peru and killing time before catching the bus to Arequipa.
Isabel missed her flight from Buenos Aires, so instead of arriving in Santiago at 12:50 she got on a flight arriving an hour later.  She got through security quickly, and it was so great to see her after all this time.  We snacked on salads as we took the shuttle bus to the Metro.  Then we stopped and got some lunch and watched Germany duke it out with Uraguay for 3rd place in the World Cup.  This is chuletas de cerdo a lo pobre:

After stopping at my place and hanging out for a few hours there, we turned right back around to head to the airport for our flight to Arica.  We were on a bit of a tighter schedule than I like to keep, so I was nervous about catching the shuttle bus and getting through security.  We left my apartment at 8:00 and got to the airport at 9:20, and the flight was at 10:30.  It seemed to take forever to check our bags, but finally we were through at 9:50. 

Before we took off, a woman named Nancy around our age turned around and asked us if we were volunteers with English Opens Doors.  We told her that we weren´t, but we got to talking and it turns out she´s an English teacher in Santiago.  When we told her of our travel plans, she offered to help us out with transportation to our hostel. We arrived in Arica at 1:15 in the morning, and Nancy introduced us to her mom and her dog (who picked us up) at the airport.  They dropped us off right to the hostel, and we were so grateful to have found such helpful people.

This was only the start of the adventure.  It turns out our hostel thought we were arriving at 2 in the afternoon and not 2 in the morning, and they were completely booked for their rooms.  After about 15 minutes, they offered us a bed in the dorm and told us they could put a matress on the ground, and since it was so late we agreed to it.  They felt really bad about it and didn´t even make us pay for the night, which was a pleasant surprise.

We got up around 7:30, and then it was off to the bus station to get a colectivo (a taxi that collects people until it is full) to cross the border into Peru.  I was concerened that we would face a long line, but there was no line at all.  They didn´t seem to concerned with security as we entered Peru, as the security guard that was scanning our bags as they went through the X ray machine was asleep from the time we put our bags on the conveyor belt to the time we left.  By the time we made it through to Tacna (the town closest to the border in Peru) it was 10:00.  And since it is an hour earlier there, it was actually 9:00.

We only had to catch our bus to Arequipa at 1:00, so we decided to store our luggage and explore the markets here.  I found a beautiful chess set for about 8 dollars that has Spanish and Incan figures instead of the regular chess figures, and Isabel got some finger puppets and other things.  It was cool seeing all of the different things on sale, but also a bit hard on the stomach seeing chickens and fish hanging upside down and being cut open right in front of us.  We algo got an early lunch that was really delicious.  I had some potatos with a creamy and slightly spicy sauce along with grilled chicken and some type of purple juice, and it only cost 3 bucks:

We made our way back to the bus station around 12:30, and we found out that our bus had been pushed back and was only going to depart at 5:00 instead of 1:00.  After considering our options of trying to take an earlier bus or taking the 5:00 bus, we decided to go with the 5:00 bus.  This gave us time to find a tour to take of the Colca Canyon in Arequipa (which is larger than the Grand Canyon) as well as let Isabel watch the final game of The World Cup.  (She´s a huge fan)

Despite the unexpected adventures the trip is going well.  I am just looking forward to getting in to our hostel tonight around 11 and being able to change clothes and shower.  Stay tuned for more adventures!

The halfway point

Today is July 9th, and tomorrow will mark 5 months since I left home.  Tomorrow will also be the day I leave for my trip to Peru, and this is also the approximate halfway point before I fly back home for the holidays.

Taking some time to reflect on the experience, it makes me realize how much I have accomplished.  Even though I moved, I was able to keep myself with Chilean roommates so I wouldn´t be tempted to only speak English.  I found a group to play Magic with, and I´ve made Chilean friends.  I´ve gotten to do a good amount of traveling so far, and I have made some great friends with other people in the TeachingChile group.  I had the original goal of joining a music group here so I could keep up my bass skills, but renting a bass and finding an orchestra is proving to be more difficult that I was expecting.  I can give it a renewed try for the second half of my time here, but if it doesn´t happen I know I have my bass and the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey back home.

In other ways, I´ve gotten used to life here.  I now use Chilean slang when speaking Spanish pretty regularly and without much thought.  I am used to sticking my arm out to call the busses to actually stop, and I will keep my arm out if they are passing by until they stop.  Getting squished into the bus with my messenger bag hanging halfway out the bus door is a completely normal occurance now. 

The decision to leave my school was not an easy one, and I feel lucky to have had some really good friends here that I´ve gotten to spend time with and help me out.  Some of them are only here for one semester, so they are already to pack up and leave.  Here are some pictures of hanging out with them from the last few weeks:

So on the 4th of July I went to Fantasilandia.  It´s a theme park here, and it was pretty awesome.  It´s very American, as it has similar roller coasters, food stands, and even carnival games to play.  It was about the size of Dorney Park, so enough things to do in one day but not overwhelmingly too much.  Luckily it was not too crowded since it isn´t winter break yet, so in the 4 hours we were there we got on a lot of rides.  It was great getting to go on roller coasters again and feeling the rush of adrenaline while going upside down or falling at full speed.  Here are some pictures from the day:

The line for Pirates of the Caribbean was too long of a wait, so I will have to check it out next time I am there.  I think perhaps the best part was that it only cost $15 to get in, and cotton candy cost about 60 cents.  I even got my ticket validated and now have a discount to come back for $10 by showing my ID. 

In other news, I got a package from my dad as well as a surprise package from Maureen today:

As you can see, it has all of the essentials.  This includes Kit Kats, the hair gel I use (it's hard to find anything that compares to this brand), Airborne, chocolate chips that have melted together into one large mass of chocolate, and my binder of Magic cards from back home.  Apparently you can buy Kit Kats from the duty free area of the airport when you are coming in from an international flight, so I will see if I can get some on my way back from Peru.

Isabel arrives Saturday afternoon, and I am so excited to get to see her.  We both taught in the same World Language department in the San Diego area (her French, me Spanish and German), and we have been good friends ever since then.  She is my first visitor here, and so it will be a great experience to get to show her around and also travel with her to Peru.

And this post would not be complete without some pictures of food.  Here is a schwarma from a restuarant around the corner from my apartment and a chocolate mousse milkshake:

Sometimes Goodbye´s the Only Way

Some of you may recognize the title of this blog post from the lyrics of the Linkin Park song "Shadow of the Day".

So it wasn't an easy decision, but I resigned from my position at my school here effective August 1st.

I was really torn about it, as the most of the kids and all of teachers at the school are great.  I just decided that this wasn't the right place for me, and so I am making the transition to teaching English to business people.  In the end, it is a big weight off of my chest, as I had been thinking about it for a few weeks.

I have pictures from get together with friends here and a trip to Fantasilandia (an amusement park) but am too lazy to upload them now.  I will be sure to post them before I leave for Peru on Saturday.