A random mining town I spent 3 hours at while waiting to change buses

So just nod your head, yes, Bolivia is incredible. Not that Bolivia gives a shit what you think about it because Bolivia is a badass. That’s another reason I really like this country. Yes, there are tourist centers, but it is still a real place. The nice people here are super nice and everyone else could really care less that you are here. Bolivia is the kind of place that will hand you gorgeous mountains and jungle alongside its piles of garbage, innumerous street dogs, and undecipherable market smells.

Of course, there are some downsides to traveling in the poorest country of South America. Terrible (sometimes scary) roads, crappy buses, and frequent blockades mean travel can be long and rough and sometimes people will straight up lie to you. For example, they will tell you a bus takes 10 hours when it really takes 16 or that is it direct and then you end up hanging out in a random mining town (the only white person for kilometers around) or at deserted terminal for 3 hours in the middle of the night waiting to change buses. And on night buses there is always the worry that your backpack will disappear at one of the random roadside stops along way. Overall, though, I have to say the ups outweigh all the downs.

For example, I really wanted to slow down and have some time to relax at this point in my trip and since Bolivia is so cheap, it is a good place to hang out for a bit. You can live pretty well here. Some of my favorite Bolivian “luxuries” include: sleeping in my own room much of the last month (so nice after months of dorms and camping), getting fresh squeezed juice on the street for less than 50 cents whenever I want (there is a juice man or lady on every street corner in major cities), having meals at the market for 1 or 2 dollars, and the most amazing fruit salads I have ever had for just over a buck. Sounds pretty sweet, no?

Nature

Although trekking opportunities in Bolivia are endless, it is a lot more difficult to figure out logistics and find hiking buddies here. Going it alone is also more stressful, dangerous, and just not as fun. While I didn’t do as much in the deep wilderness as I would have liked, I still got to see a good sampling of what Bolivia has to offer.

Flamingos grazing in a laguna below a picture perfect mountain

I started my trip into the country on a Jeep tour with a group I had started traveling with in Argentina. The road was a subtle track in the sandy desert against a huge, open landscape of bizarre snowcapped mountains, colorful lagunas filled with thousands of flamingos, steaming geyers, and cool rock formations perfect for climbing around on whenever we made a stop to stretch our legs. Although completely different from Patagonia, I have to say the scenery here was just as incredible. Our final stop on the trip, was at eerie Salar de Uyuni, a massive salt plain that stretches for miles and miles and is nearly 400 feet deep in some places. It is a great place to take silly photos since there is no depth perception and you can make it look like you crushing someone or holding them in your hand. In a few places there was still water from the rainy season and the salt flat made a perfect reflection of the sky so that you couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the earth began.

Introducing Beebe, my traveling baby. I brought her first to Uyuni and she has come with me everywhere in Bolivia.

Following Uyuni, I made my way to Tupiza on a local bus route along a truly crazy dirt road without any other tourists. Even the locals were crossing themselves and looking out the window with concern as we made our way over shallow rivers and muddy patches. I loved it! It felt like a real adventure and driving through the Southern Antiplano on a serpentine road through endless rolling mountains and gorges, past colorful canyons and one of the most spectacular peaks I have ever seen was totally incredible. When I finally reached Tupiza, I met up with some friends from earlier in my trip and also made friends with a super relaxed French guy, who was my hiking buddy for the next two days. It felt good to use my legs after so much time on buses in the past weeks and I absolutely loved the area. It was so different from anything we have at home or anything I had seen before in my travels. The way wind, water, and time have shaped the colorful mountains and canyons in this place is really amazing. Some have wild formations and look like elephants or doorways, and others look like, well, penises.

Tupiza, Bolivia

My next foray into the wilderness was in the Central Highlands. I had wanted to visit the Maragua Crater and surrounding villages outside of Sucre, but needed to find a group. By chance I started talking to a couple of French guys in a plaza in Sucre that I had seen carrying around camping equipment a day or two before. As it turned out they were hoping to do the same trip as me and even wanted to leave on the same day. So a day or two later we set out with a few other friends from their hostel in the early morning in complete rain and clouds on a local bus that dropped us off in a small village.

Just over the other side of the mountain, the sky was clear as we walked on an old Incan trail to reach the road to Maragua. The layers of minerals (red, violet, orange, and even green) in the mountains here make for some amazing scenery and passing through small towns with women herding goats (often by throwing rocks at them) was a really unique experience. I will never forget camping in Maragua’s modest, dirt football field, watching the stars at night while passing around a bottle of wine, and waking up to small children playing soccer in this incredible landscape. On our way back to Sucre we took a camion (an open bed truck) piled with people, bags of potatoes, glass bottles, you name it. I think this was one of the most memorable rides of my whole life. The road was really crazy, winding through valleys and up over mountains. The scenery outside the truck was wild and the scene inside the truck was even wilder. The truck was so packed by the end of the ride, people were sitting on the side of the gate or hanging off the back.

View from the camion -- before it got packed

A few weeks later I revisited the highlands at Toro Toro National Park, which was possibly even more incredible than Maragua. Here glaciers and tectonic plates have done a real number on the valley. There is a dramatic canyon, mountains that stick up like plates buried halfway in the ground, huge caverns to explore, and even dinosaur tracks (yes, I said dinosaur tracks). I came here with a French couple I had met in Cochabamba and ended up traveling with them for almost two weeks. We had a great few days trekking through the park, swimming in pools and waterfalls at the base of the canyon, and relaxing away from the noise of the city.

Mountains of Toro Toro

From Toro Toro, we went to Villa Tunari in the Chapare region, infamous for the coca leaf, which is cultivated here for both legal and illegal purposes. The town itself wasn’t very nice since it is right on the main highway, but once away from the road the jungle landscape and cloud forest were quite lovely. Here I visited an animal rescue park where there are dozens and dozens of monkey roaming around. They are pretty habituated to humans and a few even jumped on our backs and let us walk around with them. We also visited Carrasco National Park on mototaxis with the wind and sun on our faces. There we saw vampire bat caves and various other plants. Our guide kept pointing things out and saying, “a few bites from these ants will cure arthritis, too much will kill you,” or “see this plant, don’t touch it, it’s poisonous.” After the park, we decided to walk back to the main highway along the country road. We passed by a gorgeous stream and watched local kids playing there while we soaked our feet. The rest of the road went by small homes and many large platforms where people were drying coca leaves and seemed a bit astonished to see 3 gringos strolling along.

Me and my little monkey

My last few places in nature have been just outside of La Paz. It is really strange how much the landscape can change within a matter of miles. The best example of this was my bike tour of the death road (don’t worry, it is mostly just deadly for cars, tourists sometimes get injured, but I thought it was just fun and that to get hurt you’d have to be inept on a bike or a jerk just going too fast). You start the trip at around 4,000 m above sea level where the air is chilly and you can see mountains and carved green bluffs that my British friends said reminded them of Scotland. Then you wind down the paved road at top speed and eventually veer off to a gravel road to descend into cloud forest with lush green mountainsides and waterfalls and streams spilling across the road. At the end of the day you finish in hot and humid tropical forest at a wildlife reserve with parrots flying around and monkeys in the trees. I spent two nights in this area after the ride just enjoying the views and relaxing away from the noise of La Paz.

Riding the "Death Road"

With a location in the Andes, Bolivia also has its fair share of super high peaks and I think my favorite experience in nature here was climbing Huayna Potosi (6088 m or nearly 20,000 ft). I have never done anything like it before and was a little worried since I am not in the same shape I was in Patagonia and have never been up quite that high in altitude. I did an acclimization hike at Chacaltaya a few days before and was okay, but expected the mountain to be the hardest thing in my life and right now nothing comes immediately to mind to top it.

I signed up for the trip with my friend, Dirk, from Holland, who went with me on the Uyuni tour. The day before we left he told me he is incredibly afraid of heights. I just laughed and told him he was crazy. Our first day we practiced ice climbing and walking on a steep glacier with the rest of our group before spending the rest of the night relaxing at the refugio and acclimatizing. That evening one of the guys had a bad reaction to his altitude medication and had to go back to the city and the next day as we started climbing to high camp we lost another guy who just didn’t think he was fit enough. It seemed like people were dropping like flies and I have to say I really struggled to make it up the steep trail to high camp. I was with a bunch of guys in their early 20’s, I was the only American, the only women, and the smallest person, yet I was still carrying the same amount of gear. That afternoon we got lucky with some clear weather and Dirk and I drank coca tea outside while enjoying the views at 5300 m, which were just beautiful: lakes, mountains, and glaciers spread around us and mammoth Huayna Potosi just behind us. We then went to bed at 6pm to get up at 1am to summit the mountain.

Coca tea at high camp

Of course, that night I slept horribly and the head cold I had felt coming on hit me at full force along with some stomach problems. I pushed on through the hours of steep snow and with each break practically fell to the ground to rest. The glittering lights of La Paz encouraged me on as well as the fact that all these super young guys were struggling just as much as I was. I was determined to make it, even if I had to pull back on the rope to make my guide stop and yell “Un momentito, por favor!” so I could breath for a minute. Around 6am we made it to the ridge that leads up to the summit. I can’t tell you how scary it was. You are basically spidermaning along a narrow snow ledge with thousand foot drops on both sides, digging your ice axe in wherever you can. For me it was sort of an out of body experience. I felt almost like I was dreaming, like I wasn’t really doing what I was doing because it was just too unbelieveable. I was so proud of Dirk for making it through.

Sunrise at the summit

Of our group of 8, only 5 made it to the top, which is actually pretty good odds. One of the younger guys had to give up 300 feet from the summit because he literally kept passing out. As we summited, the sun started to rise and the views of the city, Lake Titicaca, and the surrounding mountains were indescribable. Walking back to high camp in the light was so beautiful with snow caves, crevasses, and walls of 10 foot long icicles clinging to big snow banks. However, making it all the way back down the mountain was a real endurance test. By the time I got back to La Paz, I was completely dead between the lack of sleep, physical exhaustion, and head cold. Dirk and I got a private room at a hostel and I was in bed for the next 20 hours. It was worth all the effort, though, and I am so happy I did it. It made me want to climb more mountains back home (at a much lower altitude, of course).

Cities

I spent a lot more time in cities here than I expected, but I also liked them a lot more than had anticipated. Bolivian cities are bustling, chaotic places where traffic and public urination are common. At any moment there are people moving in all directions, weaving in between trucks and taxis. Crossing the street here is not just an art form, it is a life skill you must learn or die trying to master. For the most part, though, I love the energy in the cities and I also love that in Bolivia’s cities you can buy literally anything on the street, from toilet paper, socks, and toothpaste, to woven handicrafts, fruits and vegetables, and yes, even a llama fetus—all within a one block area. It seems that almost everyone in this country is hawking something.

Sucre, the White City

In Bolivia, cities are also the best places to meet travelers, find nice places to stay, and good food (seriously I had a 4 course meal at a French restaurant for $8). The first city I visited in Bolivia was the gorgeous colonial town of Sucre, known as the white city for its endless white washed buildings and red tiled rooftops. There really isn’t that much to do here after walking through the plazas, visiting a museum or two, and seeing the city from its various miradors, but it was the perfect place to slow down and rest up for a week while I took some private Spanish classes. I loved my teacher, Tatiana, who was born and raised near Sucre. Over our five days together I got to know her pretty well and got to see the country through the eyes and opinions of a local.

She has had a tough life. Her mother had her out of wedlock and since her mother’s family was very traditional, Tatiana never knew either side of her family and only had her mother. Now she struggles to make ends meet for her and her daughter with a small language school that teaches Spanish, English, and Quechua. She has an amazing spirit and attitude, though. One day she took me around the city to show me some hidden places and with her I made my first visit to one of Bolivia’s Mercado de Brujas (witches’ markets). She pointed out good luck charms sitting right next to some bone knives and turned to me and said, “most of the things here are for helping people, but, yes, some of them are for killing people.”

Witches' Market...if you look close there are llama feti hanging there

From Sucre, I went to Cochabamba, mostly because I knew some friends who had lived there for a few months last year and was curious to see where they had lived. I had heard it was a big, dirty, somewhat dangerous city and to an extent that is what I found. My first introduction to the city when I arrived by bus at 5am was the taxi driver pointing out both female and trans prostitutes along the way to the hostel. Lovely. Again, Cochabamba doesn’t have tons of tourist sights and you can see this city in one day if you want. They have the biggest Jesus statue in the world (even bigger than Rio’s by 33 cm) and a huge market. Really the whole city is a market, though, with people selling clothing, animals, empanadas, and even pedicures on the sidewalk.

Cochabamba's Big Jesus

Here, I also got familiar with Bolivia’s ‘micro’ transit system, basically a massive fleet of old Dodge buses that will take you almost anywhere around town for about 10 cents. They are painted in wild colors and have funny sayings like “My Dodge is Fantastic” or “Jesus Loves Me” in decals on the windows. My favorite was in brilliant red and blue colors with dozens of hood ornaments and even some tassels for the antennas. Some of the buses have amazing paint jobs too, featuring icons like John Travolta a la Saturday Night Fever, the men of KISS, MJ in all his white gloved glory, and even Jesus.

One of Bolivia's many Dodge "micros"

I didn’t mean to stay in Cochabamba long, but was thwarted by one of Bolivia’s infamous road blocks. I literally bought a ticket to La Paz and was sitting on a bus to go there when they told everyone to get off and said all buses were cancelled for that day. I thought about going somewhere else, but eventually went back into town and found a relaxing hostel with a courtyard, vegetarian buffet (very hard to find in Bolivia), and a great vibe with everyone hanging out in the courtyard. I spent a few days just relaxing here in Cochabamba’s warm weather, catching up on my journal, doing yoga in the mornings and was happy I stayed because this is where I met the French couple I ended up traveling with for a couple weeks before all three of us headed to La Paz together.

Yep, that's me in the Santa suit

From everything I had heard, I expected to hate La Paz. Everyone says it is polluted, unsafe, and not relaxing at all. To my pleasant surprise I have really enjoyed it. I mean where else in the world can you rappel face first down the side of a building in a Santa suit and hike around bizarre rock formations just outside of town in the same day. The city also has such a crazy blend of old and new architecture, sometimes within the same building. For example, I found an old colonial building that they just ripped off the side of to put in a modern glass elevator. You can also see both the nicest neighborhoods in Bolivia with fancy cafes, shopping areas, and huge SUV’s within 30 minutes of the poorest neighborhoods with only dirt roads and street dogs and trash everywhere. The center is a crazy hive of activity with street vendors as far as the eye can see and endless traffic, but the landscapes outside the city are maybe even crazier. There are canyons, wild rock formations, and snowcapped peaks all visible from downtown. La Paz also has a healthy party scene. Since I haven’t done much of that while I have been in South America, it was nice to take a few nights to just cut loose and dance the night away. By chance I also found out about an electronic festival a few hours outside of the city and spent the weekend there with some friends. It was a wild time with music going for 24 hours, lots of dancing, and amazing jungle scenery.

View of La Paz

People

One of the things that makes Bolivia so special, is that its people have hung on to their traditions and way of live. Many of them are poor, but they are (for the most part) proud, hardworking people. Their lives are not easy, toiling away in mines, fields, or late at night selling hamburgers on busy street corners. For me, their way of life is so different from home, from how they celebrate to how they raise their children, it has been quite an experience to just be an observer at times.

Concert in Tarabuco

While I was in Sucre, I made a weekend trip to the small mountain town of Tarabuco for the spring Pujllay festival with some British friends I have met several times along the road. It was a really strange, but really fun experience. The first night there we went to a big Andean pop concert with traditional dancers in massive headdresses that looked almost Chinese to me. They set off firecrackers constantly (fire hazards be damned) and you could tell how popular the groups were from the dancing, cheering, and the way everyone sang along and knew all the words. After the concert there were house parties all over town and we were up until 5am drinking canela, a warm alcoholic drink with a cinnamon flavor, and listening to a mixture of live panpipe music and old school dance music on the sound system.

What better way to show Mother Earth you love her then with a huge tower of coca leaves, raw meat, and bottles of beer

The next day, while nursing our hangovers, we visited the town’s Sunday market and watched as indigenous groups from all over the area paraded into the main plaza. The day culminated with a big gathering around the Pukara, a huge tower loaded with offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth), which included huge animal carcasses, fruit, coca leaves, soda, and bottles of beer. All the groups that had come to town were here dancing in unorganized circles in a crowded field and they were completely drunk. Each group was well supplied with huge buckets of chicha, a fermented corn beer that pre-dates the Incas, and they continued to drink throughout the afternoon while playing their instruments, singing, and dancing. At one point an old man approached me and my friend, Bryony, with his huge traditional horn and proceeded to blow it directly into my vagina, then hers, then into the ass of her boyfriend. I wish I had it on tape because it was the most random thing. I just couldn’t stop laughing afterwards.

Another, “cultural” experience I had was just outside of La Paz in El Alto. Here every Sunday they have Lucha Libre performances, which might just rival those of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). The fighting is all highly choreographed and definitely lower budget in terms of costumes, props, and venue, but I have to say this is all made up for by the attitudes and showmanship of the wrestlers. They are seriously crazy. They will cheat and spit on spectators and even throw their opponents into the crowd. The women get in on the action too. In my opinion, the cholita wrestlers are the best and probably the craziest. There is an “anything goes” mentality here that truly has to be seen to be believed. Watching the jeers of the Bolivian spectators as they threw tomatoes and spoiled food at the wrestlers they didn’t like or flipped off the referees was almost as entertaining as what was going on in the ring.

Isn't he a charmer? Note the position of his left hand

Along with these experiences there are the numerous characters I have met along the way: people scraping out a life in adobe towns of five homes, women spinning llama wool as they stop to give me directions, children standing shyly in the doorway of remote mountain huts with their haunting eyes staring right back at me, and drunk (generally harmless) men joking with their friends or passed out on the street. I have to say Bolivia has been the experience of a lifetime and it is not quite over yet.

I have one last stop here and it is a big one, Lake Titicaca. I have been a bit delayed in getting there by another one of Bolivia’s road blocks, which has kept the road to Copacabana closed for the past couple weeks. It has been okay though because I have needed a day or two to recover from the mountain and my cold. The road is supposed to open tomorrow to bus traffic, fingers crossed. After I visit the lake, I will be hightailing it through Peru as quickly as possible (probably in the form of a hellish 48 hour journey with multiple bus changes) to see Ecuador and Colombia in the next 6 weeks before returning home on May 21st.

I had only planned on 6 months of travel, but when work gave me the go ahead to extent my trip by a month I jumped at the opportunity. Now I will be finishing my trip in gorgeous Cartagena, Colombia. That means, in the end, I will have traveled the entire length of the continent all the way from the southern tip in Ushuaia, Argentina to the Caribbean coast.

With a pretty aggressive travel plan, I am guessing this is my last blog post until I return home. Since I will be on the move a lot, I just don’t think I will have another day to sit down at an internet cafe to write and fight with slow internet again. Also I really want to take as much time as possible to relax and enjoy the last few weeks of my trip since I may never do something like this again.

While I haven’t really been homesick or been sad about being away for the holidays, I am, of course, excited to see my family and friends again. After that the things I really miss are having my own bedroom (for more than a few nights) and being able to wear something beyond the 5 shirts I’ve had in constant rolation for a half year. I also look forward to understanding what’s going on around me (since it will all be in English) and not walking through the world like an idiot who sounds like a 5 year old when she opens her mouth to speak. Yes, those are the things I miss most, plus some funny little things like my bike, my hula hoops, and Asian food. Those things will have to wait a few more weeks, though. Right now, I just want to savor every last moment that I have.

Drinking mate and watching the sunset in Montevideo with my hosts...how civilized!

In the past few weeks I have moved semi-quickly through the last view places in the region that I wanted to see, but also took a pretty serious break from being a constantly “on-the-go” tourist. From Mendoza I went back to Buenos Aires, that beautiful beast of a city. Ironically, only a few days after I was robbed in Mendoza, someone tried to scam me in a similar way just 30 minutes after I arrived in Buenos Aires. I was exiting the Retiro bus terminal and looking for the 106 bus stop, when I got clandestinely squirted with fake bird shit. When it happened I just looked up at the sky and laughed, wiped my arm on a post and kept walking. The woman who had done it was quite skilled and in my “post-night bus haze,” for a second thought it was legitimate. She then followed me across the street “offering help,” but I just looked her dead in the eye and said “No, I know what you are doing. No.” So she turned around and walked away. It really says a lot about Buenos Aires that I was nearly robbed within minutes of arriving yet still love the city and feel oddly relaxed in such a busy, frenetic place. I had planned to stay only one night, but in the end stayed 3 days and didn’t see a single sight or do any tourist activities. I wrote, went for a run in the parks in Palermo, ran errands, ate an ice cream, and drank beer with other travelers. I love that about Buenos Aires. You can do just about anything you want there, but you never feel like you have to do anything.

Murga...super weird

When I crossed the pond to Montevideo, I continued this trend while staying with three American women (two of which were from Washington state of all places). They were so sweet and accomodating. While I was there we just relaxed at the house, made food, and biked around to different friends’ places or to the beach. I had access to a laundry machine and could use their laptops as much as I wanted. It felt great to get so much writing done and to skype with a few people from home. Of course, it was also Carnaval and that was part of the reason I wanted to visit Montevideo. I did check out a few shows one night and saw some drumming, dancers in not much more than feathers, and murga, which is unique to Uruguay and absolutely weird. It is basically a large men’s choir wearing the most bizarre costumes imaginable and singing satricial songs in 4 to 7 part harmonies, typically poking fun at the current political climate. By my fourth day, I decided I should see something of the city and met a travel friend also visiting Montevideo downtown for dinner and to walk the old city. It was completely dead and in the end I was feeling a bit bored in safe and quiet Montevideo, which Loney Planet dubs the “most liveable city in South America” (not much of a claim to fame, in my opinion). Yes, clean water, a stable economy, low crime, beaches, transit that works, and being able to bike almost anywhere is nice, but in the end I just like Buenos Aires better. After saying goodbye to my hosts. I had a pit stop in Colonia del Sacramento for a few hours while I waited for my boat back to Buenos Aires. Maybe I was just sleep deprived, maybe I have overdosed on colonial buildings from yesteryear, but as cute as Colonia is I found it incredibly boring and couldn’t wait to get on the boat back to Buenos Aires.

At the milanga with Asiya

As I crossed the Rio de la Plata, with a seemingly endless horizon that makes it look like the ocean, I was so happy and relieved when the skyscrapers of the city appeared out of nowhere.  It was like a cloud had lifted. I met up with my friend, Asiya, and stayed with her a few nights and got entangled in the tango scene. I took my first few classes with a group then decided to take the plunge with two private lessons, two new pairs of tango shoes, and several nights at the milonga. I ended up dancing tango everyday and even went to a class a few hours before boarding the bus my last day in the city. I love this dance. From the outside it looks so sensual and sexy, but for non-performers (a.k.a. everyday Porteños and folks like you and me) it is more about an intimacy and connection. Yes, you are embracing and literally cheek to cheek with your partner, but to me it is almost like a meditation. You have to be absolutely in the moment all the time, which is not something we westerners do most of the day as we run around from activity to activity, task to task, person to person. In tango you must be present and totally in sync with your partner as you step and transfer weight from left to right, back and forth, side to side. When I get back to Seattle, I definitely want to continue learning, especially now that I can work it on the dance floor in my beautiful, new Soy Porteña shoes.

What a rubbish view, right?

After living (almost) like a normal person for a while and a lengthy bus ride, I traded traffic clogged, cafe lined streets for tropical flowers and palms and rejoined the masses in Puerto Iguazu. Of course it is a tourist town, but for as huge (quite literally) of an attraction as is just down the road, it is actually very quiet and relaxed there. Due to bus schedules I had two days just chilling at my hostel, which was a small family run place with a great pool and garden with hammocks everywhere. The morning I went to the falls I was a little groggy and got deep into a travel planning conversation with an Aussie guy I ended up hanging with most of the day. While walking our first trail, we were in the thick of the details, and then I rounded a corner and it was like the whole world fell away. The falls are absolutely breathtaking. It was like being at Machu Pichu again. It is such an iconic place that when you are there, you can hardly believe that you are actually there, seeing what you are seeing. The cataracts just go on and on for kilometers and there are falls at nearly every corner, twist, and turn. The Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) was incredible. Here you are standing on a boardwalk over the main mouth of the falls watching the tranquil, wide, river transform into a raging torrent so powerful you can’t even see the bottom because the spray is so thick. I stayed here a whole hour and was complete soaked by the end. I loved feeling the spray, though. It made me feel completely in the moment. I got an even bigger dose of spray on a boat launch that took me right under the falls. It was totally exhilarating. I finished my day walking the last trail above the falls, which I think they should rename “Rainbow Heaven Road.” I think I got my favorite photos here.

From Iguazu, I put myself through a bit of travel torture with a 36 hour journey to reach Salta. It was a bit of an endurance test, but not as bad as you’d think, especially considering I had a 4 hour “layover” in the middle of the night at the Tucuman bus terminal. Once in Salta I met up with a cool Belgian girl and a guy from Holland that I first met in Buenos Aires. We have been traveling together for about a week now and having a lot of fun. They are teaching me some Dutch with some pretty hilarious results. We just don’t have all these crazy sounds in English.

The road to Cachi

Since they were in a bit of a hurry and we all wanted to go to San Pedro de Atacama and then across the desert to the salt falts in Bolivia together, we rushed through the Salta province. I can’t even describe how beautiful Northwest Argentina is, but I can try. Driving through this area is literally a feast for the eyes. From Salta you drive through fields of tobacco and up through cloud forest to reach wind swept steppe before plunging down the other side of the mountains to desert landscapes with forests of cacti and snowcapped peaks in the distance. I really wish I had had more time there and will definitely go back someday. The crazy rock formations, erroded canyon walls, and layered colors of the cliffs are comparable to the national parks of Utah. Even though I wasn’t in Salta long, I really enjoyed my time there and just when I thought I had had enough of cute, colonial plazas, I was completely enchanted with Salta’s Plaza Nueve de Julio, which is especially beautiful all lit up at night.

Sunset in the Moon Valley near San Pedro de Atacama

From Salta the bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama was incredible. Definitely the best of my life.  I went through 4 different environments, from green, carved mountains that reminded me of Hawaii, to crazy canyons, to dry mountain tops, and eventually the desert with its amazing salt lakes. The Atacama is a spectacular place. There are dozens of volcanoes visible from town, a mountain range made largely of salt, geysers nearly as active as Yellowstone’s, and lakes so salty you can float in them without any effort. Let’s just say we have taken lots of silly photos with cacti, trippy rock formations, and gorgeous landscapes in the background. Although it has been another quick tour through an amazing place, and of course I always wish I had more time, I am so exited to spend 2 days crossing the desert to Uyuni and to finally reach Bolivia after so many months. While I will miss clean tap water and many small things (like dulce de leche!), I have heard from so many people that it was their favorite country in South America and I expect it to be quite an adventure.

Touring wine country by bike...now that is a serious silver lining.

Turns out the ceviche I had in Valparaiso to “treat” myself was malo and I got a bad belly before what was supposed to be an 8 hour night bus to Mendoza. The limited bathroom situation was pretty stressful. (There are a lot of bad experiences in life, but thinking you are about to shit your pants in public is way up there). When we reached the border at 2am, the women’s bathroom was actually closed and I was really starting to pace until they opened up a men’s bathroom for us to use. Of my 7 border crossings from Chile to Argentina this was definitely the worst one. It took nearly 4 hours.

We finally got moving again only to stop an hour or so later along a deserted mountain road. Everyone was sleeping, but around 7am (when we were supposed to have arrived) I saw the bus drivers all smoking outside and got their attention so they would let me off the now stuffy, stale bus I was trapped in to find out what was happening and try to find a bathroom. After talking to a few people I was finally able to understand that there had been a rock slide and now the road was closed. They said it would open again in a few hours, but when the bus driver put a movie on at 11:30, I took that as a bad sign. We were stranded for a total of 9 hours at the base of a closed ski area below Aconcagua. It had limited services, at first no bathrooms, and no internet to let the friends I was meeting know what was going on. No one knew if the road would even open that same day and I was contemplating how it would be to pull out my tent and camp beside the road. In the end an 8 hour bus ride turned into a 21 hour bus ride. And wait, there’s more!

While walking to the Plaza Independencia in Mendoza and hoping my friends would still be there waiting, I got robbed. In my tired state and through some misdirection and sleight of hand my small backpack got switched with one that looks very similar. I lost my camera, iPod, electronic reader, and wifi device plus tons of other useful stuff. The thing I am most sad about, though, is the journal I had kept for the last 2 months and all the pictures of the amazing people I met at Eka Chakra.

The funny thing is I felt strangely calm and relaxed about the situation. In the previous weeks, I had spent so much time and energy stressing out about little, pointless things and then something like this happens to put everything in perspective. I felt like an idiot for getting duped by the scammers, but in the end it was a non-violent robbery and everything they took was just stuff. It is all replaceable; my life isn’t.

And as always, there was a silver lining. I was wearing my money belt (a habit from my two days in Valparaiso since it is supposed to be so dodgey there) so I still had all my cards, my passport, and a flashdrive with nearly all of my pictures. Also the new backpack they stuck me with was way nicer than mine. (Score!) And within minutes of getting robbed, I was with familiar faces from home and spent the rest of the night drinking wine, laughing, and hanging out in the plaza, which helped dull the pain and stupidity of it all.

I was so happy to finally meet up with my good friend, Courtney, and her husband, Mike. We had all been traveling in South America for over 3 months now and like Benjamin Button were “meeting in the middle,” (of the continent, that is) as I was heading north and they were heading south to Patagonia. We had an awesome 3 days together, mostly relaxing at the hostel which was an awesome find. It had a backyard patio, pool, barbeque, and lots of great people. We spent almost all our time here when we weren’t dealing with errands (you know…filing police reports or picking up money orders), either drinking beer by the pool or making huge asado dinners paired with delicious wine. It really felt like vacation.

The one day we left town to be tourists, we took a bus to Maipo and rented bikes to tour the bodegas. We saw a historic one first where I found out about and got to try Torrontes for the first time. It is a white wine grape that is endemic to Argentina and was so delicious, it is now my favorite white wine. I love that about traveling. You discover things you absolutely love that you never even knew existed before. Next we visited an olive grove and oil processing factory, which had some of the best olive oil I have ever tasted and then ate a picnic lunch outside of a French bodega across the street. It was delicious: two bottles chilling in a bucket, goat cheese, salami sandwiches, grapefruit, and some figs we´d picked off a tree nearby.

The fig mother load

For the ride back we decided to take a ¨quieter route” along the canal. It seemed pretty scenic at first, but then became a bit of a shanty town. It was weird how all of a sudden it didn’t really feel like we were in Argentina anymore. A policemen actually appeared behind us and told us it was dangerous and ended up riding behind us the rest of the way back to the main road. Leave it to us to find an adventure even in wine country. To top off the day we did some beer tasting at a cool beer garden near the bike rental place. It was a perfect day, police escort and all!

Our final day together, we just walked around massive San Martin Park, hung by the pool some more, and had an early dinner since we all had night buses to catch. It was probably the most delicious dinner of them all. When it came time to say goodbye, I was sad to see them go. Like always I wish there was more time, but I am so grateful for what we had. For quite a while it was seeming like we were going to miss each other entirely. Later I found out that just after I made it across the Andes from Valparaiso to Mendoza, they closed the pass for a week. So if I had waited just one or two more days I wouldn’t have made it across and I would have missed Courtney and Mike completely. So in the end, I suppose my worst travel day was actually quite lucky!

Eka Chakra

And then something strange happened. All of a sudden I was able to sleep again, just like that I laid down in my bed and slept hard until the lunch bell. Slowly, but surely over the course of the next two days all of the tension, stress, and ‘craziness’ from the previous weeks melted away. It was so relaxing to be in a place where, for a time, I did not have to think about where I was going to sleep, what I was going to eat, what I was going to do, how I was going to get there, and how much it was all going to cost. The pace and routine of life slowed way down and I was able to just rest.

My favorite place on the whole finca

The finca (or farm) has a really special location in a green valley in the center of desert mountains that turn pink in the evening each day. The people were all so beautiful and helpful too. It didn’t matter to them that I am not Hare Krishna (or even religious at all). They welcomed me into their life as if I was one of their own.

In the morning, I would wake up at 8:15am for yoga (either on my own or led by one of the women) in nice patch of forest that became my favorite place for private time and meditation. They have a bull cow on the finca that lives back there and we had sort of a weird connection. Many times I would open my eyes from mediation and find him staring straight at me just a few dozen feet away. One day, though, he threatened to trample through a yoga session while we were chanting mantras. He was a huge animal and it was a little nerve wrecking to be in a low seated position just a few feet from him (made it very challenging to maintain focus).

My friend, the toro

After yoga, I would have a leisurely breakfast with everyone around 9:30 or 10 followed by service from 10 to 2pm. This included yard work and cleaning, but mostly I helped in the kitchen, chopping away for hours, shredding cabbage, peeling big boxes of tomatoes, or grating beets. This monotonous work was almost a meditation in itself and gave me lots of time to work through and accept the “crazy” I was feeling and the thought loop continually going through my head. During the heat of the day, it would get really hot in there and one day Tirtha, the volunteer coordinator, made a yoga joke and called it “bikram cocinar” (or hot yoga cooking). It felt good to be useful and to be a part of something, especially when I would see how all of the vegetables I’d prepared were being put to use in delicious, vegetarian dishes for the group. After service I would eat lunch then have free time the rest of the day to nap, swim in the river, meditate, read, or do my solo afternoon yoga session before a late dinner around 8pm and socializing with everyone before hitting the sack at the lame (but awesome!) hour of 9 or 10pm.

Bridge on the way to the river

It was such a restful time for me and I felt like I made a lot of progress in clearing out the garbage in my head. The people were the best part, though, all so serene and supportive of me while I was going through this internal work. Tirtha always had a smile and a kind word. All of the women there were wonderful too, but I made the best connections with Mohini, with her gentle smile and easy to follow Spanish, and Molini, my yoga instructor for many of the days.

There were three other volunteers. David was a 41 year old Dutch guy who had been traveling for 3 years. He had left Holland because he couldn’t continue to live his life there. His work and lifestyle just felt so spiritually devoid and for the past several months he had been living at Eka Chakra. He had such a calm, quiet way about him and I really enjoyed hearing his stories and listening to his soft, philosophical mumble. There was also a young woman from New York, named Alana, who had just finished college. She was my roommate and so sweet and full of all the energy, optimism, and “everything is possible” attitude I had when I first finished school. (In comparison, I felt like a world-worn old lady at times.) I told her to hold on to that feeling as long as possible, not to worry about figuring everything out now, but to follow all these dreams before the world tries to convince you that you are silly and that there is isn’t time to volunteer in Costa Rica or get training as a yoga instructor. We got a lot from each other and while I was there she gave me a reiki treatment and just before leaving a special piece of amethyst to take with me on my travels to maintain the peaceful bliss I had found here. The other volunteer was Estefania, a Mexican woman my same age traveling on her own. We only had a short time together, but I loved her energy, big smile, and we had a lot of fun chatting away in the cabana.

Temazcal

At Eka Chakra I had a lot of unique experiences too. While I was there, the finca hosted a women’s retreat for madres from Chile and around the continent. I got to go through a temazcal (or sweat lodge) ceremony in a small, earthen shelter packed with roughly 20 other women. Although, the mix of Spanish and Sanskit was a little confusing for me, it was still a very intense experience with singing, chanting, blessings, sharing, tears, laughter, and a very much needed plunge into the river after several hours of heavy perspiration. One of my favorite mental images from this time was playing soccer with a field full of women in saris and punjabi suits. It was hilarious and completely silly since aside from me and Molini, no one had really played before and they thought I was a really good jugador, even though it’s been like 10 years since I’ve played. One of the women teaching at the retreat also gave me my new personal mantra for life and travel, which is from a cute Bollywood movie I am now dying to see. It is, “Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, then it is not yet the end.”

I felt like I could stay in this peaceful place forever, but after several days I was rested and (though, my new mental strength at times seemed a bit like an egg I needed to carry around with special care) I was ready to leave. Following many hugs, I boarded the bus to Valparaiso and re-entered the “real world.” It felt strange to be walking around on a city tour again with traffic and people everywhere, when just that morning I had been in the forest, doing yoga, and saying goodbye to my friend, the bull. I feel like I couldn’t have picked a more different place from the finca to restart my travels.

Valparaiso is absolute sensory overload with colorful, sheet metal houses everywhere stacked up to the sky on hillsides so steep they actually have escalators. It is like La Boca in Buenos Aires on acid. There is a huge artist population here and street art covers almost every surface. Being a tourist again felt like old hat, but I met some people on the tour and later that night joined them at their nearby hostel since mine was a bit dead.

Valparaiso

I didn’t anticipate anything major, just to hang out and have a few drinks, but ended up having an awesome and totally unexpected party night. I was with an American couple from San Francisco, a sweet Israeli guy, and a super cool German woman, who had studied in Valparaiso years before. We bought a couple bottles of pisco and ginger ale and proceeded to get a little loopy and chat for several hours. I found out from the Israeli guy that I am somewhat of a legend amongst Israelis who have traveled to Patagonia. I laughed when he told me this, but apparently some 200 Israeli guys know me as the “crazy American girl” who put all these tough army guys to shame by swimming out to an ice berg in a glacier lake when attempting the same dip sent them all running from the water screaming.

We waited until the sufficiently late hour of 1am before heading to a dance club hosting “a revenge of the 80′s night” with awesome tunes and big screens playing old music videos. It was a blast and I was in one of my stellar party moods, dancing with everyone and showing them the love. I even made friends with some young, Chilano hipsters, who were so cool and friendly, and looked straight from Seattle with their piercings, tight jeans, flannel, and rockabilly style. I really needed a night like this to remind me of how crazy (in a good way) I can be, how much fun I can have, and that even I can surprise myself sometimes. Also finding fun people is so key at this point in my travels. For me, often how much I enjoy myself is roughly 70% people, 30% place.

Street art in Polanco (the site of a previous graffiti festival)

I spent most of the next day hanging out with the group from the night before and when it came time to part ways, enjoyed as much of Valparaiso as I could in the hours I had before my night bus to Mendoza to meet some friends from home. I felt back in the groove again. I was so free and happy and did exactly what I wanted. I visited a great free museum, window shopped at all the little art studios, sat at a cute cafe and drank a craft beer, saw Pablo Neruda’s house, walked the city enjoying all the views and cool street art, and ended the evening with some ceviche at the market.

In short, I felt like myself again and ready to take on the travel world.

Yet another gorgeous lake

At this point in my trip, the journey became almost as much of an internal one as an external one. It was the most alone I’ve felt out of all of my previous months. Before I would usually find someone to do stuff with and if I couldn’t find anyone and still really wanted to do something, I was fine just going off and doing it on my own. However, I had gotten into this mentality of trying to get through the Lakes District as quickly and cheaply as possible, so I was camping and staying in a new place nearly every night and not really meeting anyone. For a solid week I was on my own or in places with only Spanish speakers. This was great for my Spanish and to a point I was still enjoying my solitude, but I have found that I max out at around 10 days without a travel buddy of any kind.

The famous palafitos of Chiloe

During this period, though, I also had one of my favorite experiences of the trip. Through a travel friend I got connected with a family that lives in Castro, Chile on the Big Island of Chiloe. It is a really special place with mystical folklore, delicious seafood, incredibly kind people, colorful churches, and unique stilt homes called palafitos. The scenery here is quietly beautiful with forested, rolling hillsides dotted with farmland and commanding water and mountain views across the bay. It doesn’t hit you over the head like a big glacier or spire mountain, but is absolutely lovely in its own subtle way. I found it eerily familiar at times, basically a hybrid of Whidbey Island and the Pacific Coast of Washington. Chiloe is even famous for apples and salmon just like the Northwest.

My hosts, Gustavo and Paola, a young couple with two small children, couldn’t have been more welcoming and generous. Within minutes of arriving I was seated in the backyard with their family and friends, eating a piece of lemon pie and drinking creamy hard apple cider. That night, in typical Chilano style, we had a late dinner after everyone departed. Paola made one of her salmon specialities, with longaniza sausage, tomatoes, oregano, and cheese (a kind of “salmon pizza,” Gustavo joked). It was paired with Chilote potatoes in all colors and sizes, a pimento salad, and lots of wine. Then I got a nice long sleep in their daughter’s room, a.k.a “el palacio rosado” (or pink palace) and felt a little like a princess–just so taken care of. We had two wonderful nights like this.

My hosts, Gustavo and Paola

Initially, I had been worried that the language would make things awkward, since Paola doesn’t speak English. Gustavo knows some, so we got along well in Spanglish, but even when it was just Paola and I visiting some of Chiloe’s little towns and churches together, we got along well. I feel like my Spanish is passing the survival mode and starting to approach a conversational level, but I really need to study to progress since there are still a lot of words I don’t understand, especially in rapid fire Chilano Spanish. And to be honest, Paola does absolutely everything at rapid fire.

During my short stay on the island, I also paid a visit to my old friend, the Pacific Ocean. Since I was a little girl, I have always felt a deep connection with her and it felt comforting to wade in the water with the sand between my toes, the wind in my hair, and to just lay in the sun. It was a brief moment of calm just as the ‘crazy’ started to creep in from all the alone time. I seriously have never had so much alone time in all my life.

When I arrived in Bariloche from Chile, for one day I had a brief break from life totally in Spanish or totally inside my head. By coincidence I met up with my friend, Edwin from Ushuaia. All the hostels in town were booked up so we “embraced the homelessness” and had a fun night drinking a few beers and camping in a sneaky, free spot by the lake. We had hoped to travel together in the Lakes District, but it just wasn’t in the cards. He had already seen everything and was on his way north, which was a bit disappointing. The same day we parted ways, I found out my Aunt Mary had passed away and it was really hard getting that news when I was alone again and feeling out of the travel groove. It’s awful to be away when something like that happens. The next day I had planned to go on a 3 day trek and, though my heart wasn’t really in it, I went anyway figuring I’d find someone to walk with since the trails in the south were so packed with English speaking travelers.

Crazy ridges around Refugio Frey

Ironically, just when I was craving company, I found myself totally alone. There were a few other big groups of Argentine families and hikers, but not many, and for the first time ever in Patagonia I had every view point completely to myself and even an entire camp. It was a gorgeous place in a basin surrounded by cathedral like ridges with a lovely cascading stream coming through. I reveled in my solitude here and enjoyed dinner under a big open sky full of stars. However, something woke me up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Something cracked and I just couldn’t stop thinking…about my travel plans, about my family, about the friend I’d just said goodbye to. When you are totally alone in the wilderness like this, every thought gets amplified because you have no one to distract you or to get feedback from. I was also incredibly sleep deprived from the constant movement and staying up late the previous nights hanging out with Gustavo, Paola, and Edwin. To make matters worse this sleepless, “monkey mind” trend continued for a week. It was beyond frustrating. I had my first breakdown of the trip off in a secluded part of my second camp on a boulder overlooking a huge valley. It was a sunny, clear day and the landscape was incredible, but I couldn’t enjoy it. I felt almost sick from my tiredness, loneliness, and the loss of my aunt. In the words of The Hangover, I felt like a one woman wolf pack and as many of you know I am a hypersocial animal. I really needed to get out of the woods and around some people.

The one woman wolf pack

The next morning I practically ran off the trail, hitched back to town, and went directly to El Bolson, a mountain town a few hours south of Bariloche that turned out to be a little hippie slice of heaven. It is less touristy and busy then Bariloche and attracts both bohemian and hiker types. When I first arrived, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was, there isn’t much to the town, but within an hour I was in a happy place, sitting on the lawn in the plaza, drinking an artesanal beer, and watching some live music and people dancing around with scarfs, or juggling, or whatever — you know hippie stuff. The place is totally tranquilo and helped me relax a bit and take my mind off of things. I made friends with a few of the vendors at the market, who took me under their collective wing. One was a Colombian man, who made the most incredible jewelry of wood, bone, stones, and other found objects and had been traveling around South America for 14 years selling his work in small markets. Together we found a nice campground just a few minutes walk from the plaza and ate dinner outside under a magnificent sunset at Carlito’s, an inexpensive little parilla place with a ridiculously friendly owner.

Sunset in the plaza at El Bolson

I absolutely fell in the love with this little town. Everyone was just so open and friendly. Though, there is a lot of nice trekking to do in the area, I completely took a break from it and just took in the atmosphere of the place. I went for a walk and sat with a family that sells made to order jugo de frambuesa (raspberry juice) along a dusty road with an incredible view. I ate the famous Jajau ice cream in the plaza and in the space of maybe a football field watched a blues band, a jazz jam band, and, randomly, an Argentine Celtic band. I chatted with people in the plaza from all over Argentina and South America. The main question I always get is, “how is it traveling alone?” And to be honest, at times I get a little bored with myself, but at other times, like in El Bolson, it is the best. Often you meet more people when you are on your own and you can literally do anything you want, even if that means doing nothing at all.

The only problem with El Bolson was that it was impossible to arrange a bus ticket to Pucon, Chile from there (my next destination). I went to 6 different bus offices and finally got the number for the one Chilano bus company in Bariloche and found out that the only way to get a ticket was in person, in cash, in the bus terminal in Bariloche. So with lots of reluctuance, I cut my time short there and went back to the town of Bariloche, which everyone raves about, but aside from the scenery I really wasn’t into. I did a bunch of running around to get my bus ticket then rented a bike and got the hell out of town. I rode the Circuito Chico, a rolling 27 km route, passed gorgeous, Mediterranean blue lakes, and craggy ridge lines. It felt so good just to be on a bike, zooming up and down the hills.

The next morning at the bus terminal preparing to head to Pucon, I was still feeling a little off and regretting leaving El Bolson so quickly. It was just such a great, cheap, and relaxed place where I didn’t feel like I had to do anything. This feeling was so strong that I seriously considered paying the penalty for changing my ticket and just going back there. I had this internal dilemma all the way up until they started boarding the bus, but since I had gone through so much crap to get the ticket in the first place I just stayed the course.

Hanging at the hostel in Pucon

That night I arrived in Pucon and my first two days I did literally nothing, just hung out at the hostel. My big activities of the day were repairing my now battle worn trekking pants and backpack and going grocery shopping. Since Pucon is a tourist town, it was nice just to be able to speak in English again. I met good people here and had some fun nights, playing cards, eating asado, and even went to this random warehouse club one night, but I was still having a hard time relaxing and felt completely travel weary. I wondered how I was going to see everything I had hoped to see and at the same time didn’t feel like seeing anything at all. After 3 months of the backpacker lifestyle, I was exhausted, but felt completely annoyed with myself. I just wanted to pull my head out of my ass and have fun. I am incredibly lucky to be here and to have this time in my life. At the time I knew this, but thinking you are grateful and feeling grateful are very different things. My New Year’s resolution was to fully appreciate the things I have right now and I was definitely failing a bit.

Though expensive, Pucon is a wonderful place with a million outdoor activities. I splurged a lot here since I realized I needed to stop being so cheap and treat myself a little. I got a massage and ate out. And finally when I was feeling up to it, I climbed Vulcan Villarrica, one of Chile’s most active volcanoes. This experience helped pull me out of my rut in a big way. Physically, it was super easy since I was in good condition after all of my treks. It was more of a mental challenge because of the steep snow, but the views were awesome since you can see several other volcanoes from the top and watch smoke come out of the crater. I also got one of my favorite photos of the trip sunbathing at the summit, which made it onto the “Wall of Fame” at my hostel (a bunch of photos of people doing silly stuff at the top). For the descent you get to sled down in these big glissade shoots, which was a blast and after the view, definitely the best part.

Sunbathing at the summit of Villarrica

The next day I did hydrospeed, essentially white water rafting on a kickboard. It was the typical group scenario, me with 10 Israeli guys. Overall super fun, but not quite as intense as it sounds. My last night I went to the nearby hot springs to relax with a British couple I had made friends with on the volcano. It was great until the ride back with a drunken Aussie and an even drunker American guy (I have never been so embarrassed to be from the same country as someone before). He kept leering all over my friend, Bryony, no matter how clear we tried to make it that she was taken. When we finally got through to him, he forgot almost immediately after coming back from a pee break on the side of the road. I guess he thought he was talking to me the whole time because he kept getting the two of us confused. When we finally moved her to a different seat, he started right in on me. The whole time I was trying to diffuse the situation by pointing out how gorgeous the drive was with the stars and moon and the fact that we’d just spent 3 hours soaking in hot water, but it was to no avail.

After all that, I was wondering what my next move should be. Lately every time I left a place or made a decision, I regretted it. Despite the fun I’d had in Pucon, I was still feeling tired of the tourist life. A few days earlier a women at my hostel told me about eco yoga villages all over South America you can volunteer at. I had heard of one near Buenos Aires and had hoped to visit it at some point, but together we found one a little over an hour outside of Santiago, Chile, which was much more in my general direction. My final day in Pucon I heard back from them and with that enjoyed my last cordero patagonico (lamb), which was even more special since I was going to be vegetarian for the next week, then boarded the night bus to Santiago. This ended up being one of the best decisions of my trip.

Punta Arenas (Chile)

Just little old me and 100,000 of my penguin friends

This was my first major stop after Ushuaia (save a very rainy and probably misguided night of camping in the tiny town of Tolhuin) and when I first arrived I thought, ‘Wow, the late spring, early summer weather here is exactly the same as Seattle most of the year…overcast, rainy, and between 40 and 50 degrees F…so much for escaping the gloom back home.’ There isn’t much to recommend this town. The sights mainly include an old cemetary with lavish crypsts for sheep baron families and a colonial plaza (you can see this sort of thing in tons of towns in South America), BUT it does have access to the Strait of Magellan and isolated Isla Magdalena, the summertime home of a colony of over 100,000 Magellanic penguins! And fortunately for me I had amazing, sunny weather the day I got to walk among them. It was amazing to be so close and watch them waddling around in their funny little way and doting on their brand new babies. I also got to observe the pecking order (quite literally) among the males. These little guys are constantly having pissing contests with their donkey like calls and can get pretty aggressive with each other. Punta Arenas is also where I met up with Jen, a friend of a friend at the time, but now a trusted and very close hiking buddy (which is fortunate because we shared a 6 ft x 4 ft space inside my tent for 10 of the nights we traveled together).

Torres del Paine (Chile)

After a day of planning, packing, and relaxing, Jen and I took off to complete the Torres del Paine full circuit. A trek of over 150 km (roughly 93 miles) encompassing old pasture lands that were once used as estancias (ranches), moss covered forests similar to home, numerous glaciers, spire like mountains, waterfalls, beautiful rivers, and many stunning lakes. This trail has it all.

Guanacos, baby and mama

We started out on a windless, but unauspiciously rainy day with low clouds that kept the mountains out of view and trotted along on a super easy section of trail following a wide, milky, glacier fed river. It felt pretty boring compared to what I had seen in Ushuaia and I was starting to wonder what all the hype was about. However, highlights of the day included seening a large herd of guanacos (relatives of the camel) with their babies and realizing how truly tiny this world is by bumping into someone I went to high school with in Fife.

Dickson Glacier

The next day the weather improved around mid-day as we hiked along a rolling trail through a large open valley and I got my first glacier views! The colors of Glacier Dickson above its adjacent lake of the same name were amazing. The different colors of blue in the ice were so cool. Photographs just can’t do them justice. With reasonably good weather on our side we pushed forward to complete a 28 km day. We wanted to make the following day over the pass a little bit shorter and use the better visibility to see the mountains on the way to the Los Perros Glacier camp, which was smaller than Dickson, but equally amazing. After a long day we found shelter from a vicious wind in a small wooded camp and celebrated with spiked hot coco inside the camp’s yurt, which had a welcoming woodburning stove to warm us up.

Blizzard at the top of the pass

When we woke to cold, crisp weather and blue skies the next morning, our Gardner Pass day was looking promising. However, after breakfast it started snowing and didn’t stop. The famous Patagonian wind also picked up as we continued over the avalanche and steep snow fields leading up to the pass and we basically made the journey in a full fledged blizzard with sustained 35 mph winds. I had never experienced anything quite like it. My pack cover was like a sail as the wind tried to lift me off the ground. We really had to time our snow crossings to avoid getting blown over. When we made it to the top we were literally staggering across the pass against the wind and snow. It was brutal, but even in the cold and wind it was hard not be awestruck by the massive ice field of Glacier Grey, spreading out as far as the eye could see. When we finally made it to camp we were so cold we just made hot food and drinks and played cards in our sleeping bags a majority of the evening to try to warm up since it was still so cold it was snowing fairly constantly.

Glacier Grey

So far we had experienced spring and winter hiking conditions and the next day, ‘ta-dah,’ it was summer. And it was absolutely spectacular. Blue skies and sun with open views of the insane spire ridges that were all the more impressive with a light powdering of snow from the day before. We took our time enjoying the warmth and non-stop views of Glacier Grey as we hiked in and out of both old burn and green woodlands with sightings of condors, wood peckers, and large clusters of dove orchids. Even with our dawdling pace we arrived at camp early in the afternoon to do yoga on a sun drenched patch of grass below the mountains. We were so hot and happy that when we went down to view the wall of the glacier from the lake, we (somewhat hesitantly) stripped off our clothes and went skinny dipping amongst the icebergs. It was COLD, but a great way to ice our sore muscles from the previous days.

Ridges above Glacier Grey (this day was so nice it deserves two photos)

Sadly the next day we woke to light rain and low clouds. After seeing what lay behind those clouds the day before, were a bit depressed. The scenery was still nice with many waterfalls and lakes, but nothing compared to what we’d seen in the previous day’s clear weather and we were officially on the ‘W’ portion of the trail, which is completely packed with hikers. (I have never seen so many people in a backcountry camp. It is crazy!). So we glummy pushed on to Campimento Italiano , which sits just below the French Glacier and famous French Valley. We had hoped to hike it after setting camp and did get some views of the glacier, but the clouds never opened so we decided to wake early the next morning and hope for the best.

It looked promising when we got up, with patches of blue sky, the whole mountain holding the French Glacier visible, and a few spires peaking mystically out of the clouds. In the end though we only got a few glimpses before we had to continue down the trail. We had decided to make it a bit of an epic day (30+ km), in order to finish the trek 2 days early. If we came out on Christmas Day,  we just weren’t sure how easy it would be to get food and a bed in town.

Cuernos del Paine in slight clouds

The weather improved around 11am and we got amazing views of  stunning turquoise lakes against a mars like setting of red, dry steppe and snowcapped peaks as we pushed along at a fast pace in the hot sun. We were lucky that the Cuernos del Paine, spires with contrasting bands of granite and igneous rock, were mostly out of the clouds, which added a great view to our lunch spot. Around 4pm we entered the Valle Ascencio, the valley that holds the park’s namesake mountains. We were feeling strong and enjoying the continued sunshine as it opened up a few obstructed views of the Torres from below. A dry, desert like ridge similar to something you would see in Arizona dominated our eastern views with strange, constrasting patches of snow and waterfalls cascading down. We had high hopes for the next day when we would wake up before sunrise to hopefully see the morning colors on the Torres.

Christmas Day in Puerto Natales

Unfortunately, we just ended up shivering in the rain and wind of the early morning for two hours, looking hopefully but pointlessly out over the lake and the bottom half of the Torres. We had a 20 minute period where we thought it might clear and then finally gave up. It was sort of an anticlimatic end to our hike, but in Southern Patagonia everything depends on the weather, which is unpredictable and always changing. It is one of the things that makes it such an elusive place and makes you all the more grateful for the few clear, sunny days you are blessed with. After our hike, we spent Christmas Eve and Day in Puerto Natales largely running errands and eating lots of food to knock down our calorie deficit. We had some nice weather and tried to just relax and enjoy after all our hard work. It didn’t really feel like Christmas, though, which was okay with both of us. We finished off the day with a bottle of wine and a tasty seafood dinner.

El Calafate (Argentina)

El Calafate...or the Gorge during a festival?

The day after Christmas, Jen and I woke up early to catch a bus to the Perito Moreno glacier. In between naps I was surprised to look around and see the scenery utterly changed. There is a rainshadow here similar to Washington and just a few hours away from Puerto Natales we felt like we were driving into the Colombia River Gorge area around Vantage. It was a total trip. I keep telling people ‘Oh, this looks exactly like such and such from back home’ and they look at me with gaping eyes and wonder why I came all the way here. Yes, it is true that there are similarities (it only makes sense since I am basically at the same latitude only south instead of north), but it is so much more spectacular here. El Calafate, for example, with its ridges and houses dotting the scrublands looks a lot like the Gorge during a festival, but then you look to the north and see lagoon blue Lago Argentino (the largest in the country and that’s really saying something), walk by a flamingo reserve, or drive an hour away and see ice chunks the size of cars falling off one of the most famous glaciers in the world.

Ice Castle! or a very small portion of Perito Moreno Glacier

Perito Moreno was totally incredible with its amazing colors and ice formations. Parts of it literally look like an ice castle. However, and it feels strange to admit it, while I was there I felt a bit underwhelmed. Maybe it was the long, stuffy car ride,  sleep deprivation, the expensive tour and entrance fee, or the hoards of people everywhere. Yes, it was really, really cool! I can’t deny that, but after hiking along Glacier Grey for a day and a half and sharing it with maybe only 20 or 30 other people who had made a real effort to be there, being at Perito Moreno was a totally different and not quite as special experience.

El Chalten (Argentina)

After Perito, some rest, and a delicious parilla dinner (basically Argentine barbeque and a total meat fest), we finally balanced out our lingering calorie deficit and were ready for some more hiking, so what better place to go then El Chalten, Argentina’s national trekking capital (seriously, it says that on the town sign). Most of the trailheads start right from the town here, which makes it pretty convenient to rush up the trail when the weather suddenly clears, revealing the peaks of the area’s gorgeous mountain range. I may be a bit biased since I had really amazing weather (only 3 bad days out of 10), but I think the scenery and hiking in El Chalten are even better than Torres del Paine.

Our very own Torres

For our last trip together, Jen and I decided to take things at a more relaxed pace and just have a mellow trip with more and better food and even toted some extra whiskey into the mountains (we would be hiking over New Year’s so it only made sense). Each day we hiked no more than 5 hours and often were able to set camp and do the steeper stuff without a heavy pack.

We started our trip in a less busy area on private land that is popular with climbers due to its access to the western routes of the mountain range along the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It was cool to hear what other people were doing. The climbing here is really rewarding but crazy hard. We had a nice mellow day hiking two hours to camp then made our way along a meandering and divided path to Lago Electrico and a lookout of a glacier lake with spire mountains above. We had it all to ourself and, for me, it was my own Torres del Paine.

The next day we had planned to challenge ourselves with a hike to Paso del Cuadrado, which follows a rocky, climbers’ trail high up into the mountains and according to the owner of our hostel is ‘the best day hike you will ever do.’ Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate and we woke to complete fog and rain that was so heavy that combined with a tent malfunction left a pool of water at my feet, completely soaking all of my clothes except what I had on. While I attempted to dry things out in the cold, we waited for the skies to clear. The sun broke through the clouds slightly for a few hours, but around 2pm we gave up and hiked a few short hours to Poincenot, the hikers’ camp just below the famous Fitz Roy peak, stopping at the Piedra Blanca glacier along the way.

Getting my yoga on at Laguna de Los Tres at the base of Fitz Roy

The next day was New Year’s Eve and the morning was glorious. The sun came out and the clouds lifted. I was happy for many reasons. We were going to get to hike to Laguna de Los Tres at the base of Fitz Roy with hardly a cloud in the sky and I was going to have dry clothes again! While I watched the steam rise off my cold, wet clothes, Jen and I saw so many day hikers pass by our camp we lost count. ‘It is going to be packed at the top,’ I thought. We put off the steep, 50 minute trek to the top until later in the afternoon to hopefully avoid some of the crowds. People in all sorts of shape and experience levels do the hikes here in Patagonia so it can be a bit frustrating to pass large guided groups or clueless and panting novices. However, once at the top it didn’t feel crowded because the basin it is so big and there are so many different places to climb around and get different vantage points. It is hard to describe how incredible it was that day: the reflections of the mountain in the lake, the ice fall on the glacier that looked so benign from far away, the Aegean blue of the water in the two iceberg filled lakes, and 360 degree views of mountains, mountains, and more mountains. It was so spectacular that Jen and I spent 5 hours up there, checking out different views, relaxing in the sun, and just staring. That night we stayed up until midnight to ring in the new year with our remaining whiskey supply. The sunset around 10:30 or 11, leaving us with gorgeous colors along the mountain tops and we made our last toast at midnight while we watched the stars come out.

Ringing in the New Year

The next morning for our hike to Cerro Torre, the other famous peak in this range, the weather was even nicer. We made our way along a lovely glacier fed river with milky, emerald waters and after lunch hiked over to Laguna Torre for views of the glacier and namesake mountain. It was a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky. Surprisingly there were way fewer people here than the day before at Fitz Roy. This was not a problem for us, especially since it was so hot we decided to repeat our iceberg skinny dipping escapades for a New Year’s Day polar bear swim (quite literally) and got pretty spectular photo ops. This time I swam all the way out to an iceberg and climbed on top. Not a bad way to start off the new year. This was our last night camping together, which felt a little strange since we had spent nearly all our time together since December 16th. I was happy we had gotten along so well and been strong hiking partners. We walked about the same pace and had similar fits of picture taking frenzy and humored each other by taking many photos of each other striking ridiculous poses in front of glaciers.

Polar bear swim at Cerro Torre

The following morning, it was still quite nice as we hiked back to town, but I sensed that the weather was changing. I had planned to do a very strenuous circuit on my own once Jen left and was hoping the weather would hold since it wouldn’t make sense to do it if the weather was bad. I don’t want to worry my already worried parents, but this circuit involved two high and cold river fords with water coming right off the glacier, an actual glacier crossing, numerous exposed steep sections that can be dangerous in super high wind (you can literally get blown away), and a decent amount of route finding.

Once in town I talked to a ranger at the park office and he confirmed my worries. The clear weather window was closing and if I wanted to do the Vuelta al Huemul circuit I needed to expect some wind, approaching bad weather on my last day, and I needed to leave as soon as possible. It felt kind of crazy, but I got off the trail at 11am and ran around town for a few hours getting my bus tickets in order, a shower, and provisions for 4 days before saying a hasty goodbye to Jen and scarfing down some empanadas on my way to the trailhead at 5:20pm.  I felt exhilarated as I hiked out on my own up a semi-steep path carrying everything I would need for the next few days. I had to walk at a rapid pace to make it to camp before the sunset. Fortunately for me I had at least 5 or 6 hours of light since El Chalten is at such a low latitude, but the ranger had told me it takes 7 hours. I hiked in and out of woods and across open marshy meadows with views of enormous Lago Viedma to the south, flocks of birds passing overhead, and for the first time in days…no other hikers. It was super windy when I got to the top of the ridge and could see Laguna Toro and its raging river below looking a decent distance away. I made it to camp pretty easily in 4 hours, though, and met 9 other people also doing the circuit.

The next morning I woke up early and got going. I had heard it was best to ford the river before 8am since there was less water coming off the glacier then. I met up with two Israeli guys a few minutes from camp and asked to ford the river with them since it seemed safer that way. Oh that ford was cold and, for me, up to my hips. When I saw the taller of the two guys getting water up to his thighs I knew I was going to have to make a full costume change afterwards. Fortunately, we made it across the fast water and found a sheltered place to have a hot breakfast and tea and warm up in the sun.

Me touching my glacier!

That day I got to do two things I had been wanting to do for a few weeks, touch a glacier and see the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Traversing the glacier was much more mellow than I had expected, but so cool! The crevasses, colors, and little melted pools along the way were so crazy. After a steep and windy hike over scree I made it to the top of Paso del Viento (literally Windy Pass), which fortunately didn’t live up to its name and had nearly an hour here to look out over the ice field and Glacier Viedma. It was amazing, ice for miles and miles and imposing mountains where Argentina and Chile meet (that’s some good border control…very few would attempt to cross here and live to tell the tale). I did some exploring along the edge of the ice field before the crazy wind made me turn back and then ended up doing some unintentional exploring when the trail petered out and I had to find my way to the refugio. I overshot it by about 1km and 500m, but had wonderful views the whole time and eventually made it down to the cabin for an enormous dinner.

My feet with a small portion of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field

The next morning I got started around the same time as the two Israeli guys I had met earlier, and since we walked about the same pace, ended up hiking with them much of the rest of the time. We walked along tundra meadows and many small glacier lakes. Then up and over Huemal Pass before descending down just a stupid steep section of trail to the wall of Viedma Glacier. We ended up camped in a totally unprotected spot near the only good water source. I was a bit worried about it since the weather was supposed to change and at 2am the wind came whipping through just as I feared. It died down at times, but even with huge rock piles on my stakes a few got loose and by 5am the only thing keeping my tent in place was me and my backpack. We all got up then, hoping to escape the worst of it. We had to use the map to find the trail again since it disappeared about 30 minutes before we reached camp the day before. Once we picked it up we contoured along gorgeous Lago Viedma on exposed hillsides before making another tricky river crossing and getting to the port. From there we cut through pasture lands with lots of cute baby cows, but in tough winds and increasing rain. Fortunately, we arrived back in town just as the truly horrendous weather was starting.

Wall of Glacier Viedma

Anyhow, overall the trek was truly amazing and everything I had hoped for. The two guys I walked with were really sweet too. They were always offering help and keeping an eye out for me, which though I would have made it fine on my own, made me feel a lot safer. (Israelis really get a bad rap as tourists, I think. All of the ones I have met in Patagonia have been very friendly, fun, open, and quite considerate.)

Navimag Ferry

Daybreak on the Navimag

After I finished the circuit, I had a day in town to recover and hang out with a few people I had met there before returning to Puerto Natales to board the Navimag. After doing some research on buses north, I found out that the 30 hour bus from El Calafate to Bariloche costs nearly $200 US. Spending that much on a hellish bus ride sounded lame and earlier I had found out about a ferry that goes north through the Patagonian fjords over 4 days. It did cost more, but with 4 nights of accomodation and food included, plus an excursion to a glaciar, views of a ship wreck and remote Puerto Eden, and chances to see wildlife and beautiful scenery along the way, it sounded like a way better deal. Also, though I was somewhat worried I’d get bored on a boat for 4 days, my body was definitely ready for some relative laziness and happy to sleep in a bed, shower regularly, and get 3 square meals a day not cooked over a backcountry stove.

When I first checked in, I was wondering if I would meet anyone to hang out with, since it mostly seemed like Chilean families and Israelis. Randomly, though, I discovered a small contingent of people from the Pacific Northwest. There was an awesome couple from Eugene, OR and a solo woman traveler from Portland. I also met several other people and had a great time. I had imagined that I would have all this down time to write, read, and research, but ended up being my overly social self, playing many games of cards over wine and even getting an opportunity to sing a few karaoke songs one night.  The trip aboard was great even though the weather was pretty bad the first two days, but I did get to see a blue whale, dolphin, and many seabirds. I also took in my last glacier for a while and the last day onboard we had amazing, clear weather. It was so nice to sit out on deck, have a drink, play cards, and watch the amazing peaks and volcanoes go by. Everyone was happy and it had a sort of party boat atmosphere, especially since the day before we had complete fog and had gone through the open ocean (which meant it was rough water and many people were sick or trying to sleep through it).

Volcan Osorno with the Saltos del Petrohue

Now I am in Puerto Varas, Chile, a German influenced town with a Bavarian vibe and views of stunning Volcan Osorno, which looks very similar to Mount Fuji. So far I have had 3 days of clear, perfect, and very hot weather (it is such a change from down south). I have been killing some time here while waiting for a package from back home and have done some camping on the lake, a few day hikes, and eaten many yummy things at the town market.

Phew! Well, that’s all for now. Congratulations to those of you who made it all the way through. I realize this is a long post (probably my longest ever), but I have done so much over the last month, once I got going it was hard to stop!

With a street performer at the San Telmo market

Buenos Aires

This city is big and busy and beautiful and dark and totally loco for tango! I was so happy to be able to stay with my friend, Allison, while I was here. It is one of the biggest cities I have ever been to so I felt pretty overwhelmed at first. Her experience as a 4 year BA resident and tango insider was indispensible. While I was in the city, I ate so well and watched tango in several non-tourist settings. Each day while Allison was busy teaching, I took in the city at an easy pace, maybe seeing one sight or going for a long walk then sitting at a cafe to read or write or taking a long 2 hour lunch. In the evenings around 10pm, we would go for a nice dinner and drinks, meet up with her friends, go out, or watch tango. It was a total trip one night to come back to the apartment to take a nap at 11pm so we could get up at 2am (when all the bars are closed in Seattle) to get ready and hit the town just as things are getting started…at 3am.

This was all a nice change of pace after my monkdom in Peru — waking up at 5 or 6am, hiking most of the day, not really drinking alcohol, eating mostly trail food, and hardly ever going to bed later than 10pm. (One night on the Santa Cruz trek I was actually in my sleeping bag at 6pm and asleep by 7pm because it was so cold and rainy and I was so tired).

Reconnecting with Allison after so many years was amazing too and it was great to have a break from hostels and spend some time in one place after such fast travel through Peru the previous few weeks. I really enjoyed my time and got to do nearly everything I really wanted to do:

• Visit the Recoleta Cemetary where Eva Peron and many other famous Argentines are buried in the most beautiful crypts you will ever see
• See Teatro Colon with its over the top mingling of French, German, and Italian architecture
• Bike around town to La Boca and the parks in Palermo
• Shop at the amazing San Telmo market

Oh, yes and sleep in and eat delicious food and watch tango almost every night. I think my favorite memory is watching queer tango in a small plaza in San Telmo. The three male dancers had such great chemistry and it was interesting to watch them change roles (from leading to following) back and forth so seamlessly. When they finished their final dance, the best part was watching the crowd go wild with cheering. It made me so happy to be from Washington, since we are finally (almost) as cool as Buenos Aires because same sex marriage is now legal!

Ushuaia

After such a great week in BA, I finished my final night staying up way too late and kicking myself for booking an 8am flight. I made it, but when I got to my hostel in Ushuaia at noon I went straight to bed for a long nap. Before I left BA though, Allison had introduced me to a tango friend of hers she had heard was traveling to Patagonia, and coincidentally her friend was flying to Ushuaia the same day as me and staying at the same hostel. (Patagonia is a HUGE region so this was a pretty amazing coincidence). Asiya (Allison’s friend) is Russian, but has lived in San Francisco for 14 years and is now living in Buenos Aires for tango. The two of us hit it off right away and met up with her friend, Carlyne, a French woman who is also a tango dancer. Through her we met Stefanie, a super cool German girl. We were like the traveling United Nations and the four of us had so much fun together in Ushuaia — sharing great food, hiking, and sightseeing, but at a slow pace. You can do that here since it is daylight out from 3am to 11pm (Are you jealous, Seattlites?) and never gets truly pitch black.

Cormorant colony in the Beagle Channel

Every day we would get up for breakfast at 9am and just see what we wanted to do based on the weather (which is constantly changing so you have to dress in layers and be prepared for anything). Then set off around 11am or even later and come back in the evening to relax. My favorite memory was the four of us joining a Dutch guy and a couple from Germany who had made a big pot of mulled wine and cookies for Saint Nicholas night on December 5, an important day during the Christmas holidays for them. We all sat around, talking, laughing, and playing games together. It was so crazy that we were all from different places, but got along so well and the night just flowed along naturally. It was one that I will not soon forget. So in short, for travel companions, Ushuaia has been really wonderful and I haven’t even talked about the scenery yet!

The 4 Hobbits in Middle Earth

It is so beautiful here with mountains and ocean surrounding the city and sea birds everywhere (it probably sounds like home, but it is much more spectacular). While I have been here I have done lots of hiking, wildlife watching, camping, relaxing, eating, and enjoying the cheapest and best Malbec I have ever tasted. The landscape is so amazing and Asiya kept saying we were like the 4 hobbits walking through Middle Earth. My favorite part was camping in the Tierra del Fuego National Park for half of a week. It was so quiet and peaceful. The area where we were camped had mountain views you’d have to hike days for in Washington, with a stream winding through that was so clear and clean you didn’t even need to filter the water. It was also a prime bird watching spot with many species I have never seen before. We got to watch birds skimming across the water’s surface or paddling around and eating from the stream bed. There were also birds of prey swooping down and harrassing some of the smaller birds. It was like watching Animal Planet during dinner. And it was a free place to stay too (Argentina is expensive)! The nearby woods were magical and almost made me feel like I was in a Japanese garden with their delicate flowers, small scrubs, picture perfect streams, and twisted trees. They were wild, yet ordered in a way, and so serene. It was a bit jarring to come back to the city after such a quiet couple of days.

This camp photo was taken at 8:30pm.

This photo was taken at 11pm from inside my tent.

The last few days I have felt a bit antsy to move on since there is so much ground to cover in Argentina and you really have to plan your time and book things ahead (not like Peru where you can make it up as you go), which has stressed me out a bit. However, I have also really enjoyed some nice down time here (you definitely need to give yourself some days off from being a tourist) with Stefanie, who is finishing up her 6 month trip in only a week and returning to Germany.  The two of us are so silly together and I think she is one of my favorite people that I have met.  We have had a blast just hanging out at the ‘cheap’ cafe, taking walks, eating good food, or just being lazy at the hostel. Tomorrow we will part ways and she will fly to Buenos Aires and I will head to Punta Arenas with a pit stop in Tolhuin to camp for one night. It is crazy to think I will be in Chile soon (a whole new country). From there I will be meeting my friend, Jen, who I will be hiking the Torres del Paine with over Christmas.

Tuk tuks in Caraz (aka little noise makers)

1. Peruvians have a much higher tolerance for noise and blatantly annoying behavior. The drivers here use their horns for everything: to change lanes, to warn pedestrians who are constantly jaywalking, to see if you want a ride, because they are annoyed with traffic, to say hello to their buddies, and at all hours of the day and night. One morning I was really trying to sleep in and the noise started at 5am with honking, then barking dogs, then roosters, and then the door to door grocer yelling “tamales, naranja, pollo.” People here are also heavy users of those old school personal radios you wear over your shoulder with a strap. You will be on a public bus and two or three people will be competing for air time. Whether it is an abuela listening to Andean folk music or a 12 year old blasting crappy 90′s pop, no one says a word of complaint. (And boy, do they love crappy 90′s music. It is a total trip to be driving through amazing mountain landscapes and tiny highland towns listening to “The Sign” by Ace of Base or “Pappa Don’t Preach.”) I have also had a taxi driver listen to “Vacation” by The Go-gos on repeat for a 2 plus hour ride or let the seat belt warning beep for 30 minutes because he didn’t want to wear a seat belt.

2. CIPRO is an amazing antibiotic. When you prepare for a trip in a developing country, you acknowledge that there’s a chance of digestive issues, but you kind of gloss over it…until it happens. Well, mine started as a bad belly in Arequipa after a particularly rich meal of alpaca meatballs and morphed into full blown food poisoning at the bottom of Colca Canyon. This delayed our trip to the top a day since I spent all night under an incredible blanket of stars either making the 2 minute walk down stone steps to the toilet in the pitch dark or moaning on the ground by the bathroom hut. Needless to say this made climbing out of the canyon even more of a challenge then it already is, but after 3 days of CIPRO I was feeling back to normal and so happy to actually want to eat again.

3. Travel buddies are awesome. Whether it is for a dinner, a day, a trek, or a week, having someone along for the ride is way more fun. It is really nice to turn to someone and say “Wow, isn’t this amazing” or “Wow, isn’t this a crappy bus” and be able to laugh about it. For the last few weeks I have had someone to hang with most of the time. For a week and a half I traveled with David, a friend of a friend, from back home and we covered a lot of ground — Arequipa and Colca Canyon and back up the coast to Lima. (His company was particularly nice when I was huddled outside the bathroom one night.) After parting ways in Lima, I met Henry, a British chap, literally right off the bus, who was my hiking buddy for one day in Huaraz. The following day I met Bianca, a German woman the same age as me who is also traveling solo. We hit it off right away and had an awesome time tackling the Santa Cruz trek in the Corderilla Blanca.

4. Any song can be ‘improved’ with panpipes. Panpipe music is the elevator music of Peru and any song can be ‘remastered’ on panpipes. Whenever David and I were hanging around in bus stations we started playing ‘name that tune.’ For example, ‘Oh, that was Bridge Over Troubled Water and this is House of Rising Sun’ or ‘I think this is from Last of the Mohicans.’

5. When you are out in the wilderness trekking, it feels like you could be anywhere. I noticed this several times because when there are no signs, traffic, chaos, or even very many people around you feel like you could be in the southwest US or even in the mountains back home. There are no reminders that you are in a Spanish speaking country thousands of miles away…that is until you see a bunch of donkeys ride by or have to catch a crowded collectivo in a remote town to get back from a trailhead.

Madre de Dios (Jungle)

Sunset on the Madre de Dios

While technically not the Amazon, this river is one of its sources and it was incredible to swim and kayak in it with its super wide banks and the huge, open sky above. The jungle canopy was also fun to zipline and hike through.  My stay here for a few days was quite relaxing with lots of hammock time and amazing sunsets. I also got to see tons of wildlife: caimans, frogs, monkeys, pelicans, lizards, turtles, the tiniest bat in the world, tons of crazy butterflies and insects, and literally hundreds of parrots. No ROUS’s (Rodents of Unusual Size), unfortunately. The capybara (guinea pig like creatures that are the size of a Saint Bernard) were hiding out, but I did get to see some footage a few guys took of them the night before I arrived. My closest wildlife encounters, though, took place in the open air bathrooms. The day I arrived I was taking a much needed shower when I heard my shampoo drop and looked up to see Loca, the lodge’s pet anteater, on top of the stall. Before I could even think, like the monkey in Hangover II, she made off with the watch I had hanging on a nail on the shower wall. I was naked and totally helpless to do anything, but fortunately the staff got it back for me. That same night I had the unique experience of sharing the toilet with a tarantula. Overall it was a great trip with a chance even to see jaquars, wild pigs, and tapirs upclose at a small wildlife rehabilitation center. The only part I would have skipped was this awkward “meeting with a native family.” It was pretty obviously staged since you could see the t-shirts they were wearing under their cloaks and for 40 minutes I had to hide my embarrassment while we sang, danced, and shot arrows together.

Super awkward...me and some Peruvian tourists with the 'natives'

Arequipa and Colca Canyon (High Desert)

View of Misti from a park in Arequipa

This colonial town is so beautiful with carved white sandstone buildings, plazas, and monasteries and dramatic mountains all around. I had a relaxing few days here with David, seeing the sights, eating well, and paying our respects to the frozen maiden sacrificed to the Incan mountain gods 500 years ago. The next four days we spent trekking the second deepest canyon in the world, which was amazing. Even the bus drive there was pretty spectacular with crazy cool rock formations and big mountains just outside my window. Inside the canyon the views go on for miles and miles with all kinds of cacti along the way and prickly pear literally coating entire hillsides. We took a few hot and dusty days to hike through a few different parts of the canyon, swam in the river, saw geysers, soaked in the hot springs at Illhuar, and cooled off in Sangalle at a ridiculously awesome hostel with a tropical flower garden and a pool with a fountain— all for only $6 a person per night!

Trekking Colca Canyon

The South (Coastal Desert)

Loving Huacachina

After trekking Colca, David and I had a long day of travel. We climbed out of the canyon, took a 5+ hour bus back to Arequipa, then got on an overnight bus to Nazca. I had planned to skip the mysterious and massive line drawings in the desert, but it made sense to stop there and have a low key day after such hellish travel. We found a really clean hostel that seemed good at first, but the owner was pretty lazy (he spends most of the day sleeping on a mattress near the entrance) so nothing happened on time and he totally ripped us off on the tour we booked. The lines are interesting though and it is crazy to think that some of them have been there nearly 2000 years. What they are for, no one really knows: to point towards water sources, imitate celestial patterns, indicate the change of seasons, or be used as ceremonial paths…maybe all of these. In any case the sunset that day was amazing as it was every night we were in the desert. From Nazca we went to Huacachina and its enormous sand dunes. Riding in the dune buggies was so fun, like a roller coaster on the sand, then we went sledding and sandboarding down super steep sand slopes. Our last day on the coast we relaxed in Paracas and visited the Islas Ballestas, which are offshore islands formed (according to my guide) by “volcanic erections.” They are a protected reserve for massive colonies of sea birds (boobies, penguins, pelicans, and many more) as well as some very active sea lions that we got to see napping, swimming, playing, and (speaking of erections) humping. The islands are nicknamed the “poor man’s galapagos,” but David called them the “bird shit islands” because the guano smell was so overwhelming. I had to breathe into my shirt at one point because it was so bad. In fact, I was spared from a guano bomb dropped from above by only a few inches (the guy behind me and my backpack were not so lucky).

Islas Ballestas

Huaraz (Corderilla Blanca Mountains)

Punta Union on the Santa Cruz Trek (note that the elevation is in meters)

I finished up my time in Peru back in the Andes Mountains. I am so glad I had time to come to Huaraz because I definitely saved the best for last. Had I known how amazing this area is, I would have spent much more than 5 days here. Basically right off the night bus from Lima, I couldn’t resist going for a long day hike to Laguna 69 (no idea why it’s called that) since the weather was so beautiful, sunny and clear. I had to do it at a snail’s pace because I wasn’t acclimatized, but it was totally worth it…big, white mountains all around, gorgeous lakes, and waterfalls everywhere. The next day I met Bianca and we decided to attempt the Santa Cruz trek in 2 and a half days (most people do it in 4) since I was short on time. We had a great time together, the people in the little towns near the trailheads were really friendly, and the scenery was just jaw dropping (I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves because it was too amazing to do justice to with words).

Our only real struggles were a two hour bus delay getting to the trailhead the first day and a frustrating couple of hours wandering around in a marsh and climbing over boulders trying to find the trail since the map was a bit misleading. Fortunately we were able to find our way back (thanks Aunt Irene for the help purchasing my global compass!). Limited time and some crazy weather also forced us to skip the side hike to a big mountain view and glacier. In fact the day we climbed to the high pass we had rain, sun, rain, hail, sun, rain, and then snow. Just as we reached the top, though, the sky cleared revealing amazing valley views, mountains, and lakes on either side of the ridge. The people the next day weren’t so lucky with camp basically in a cloud and the pass in total white out. However, being so high up in elevation and with the rainy season just a week away, the weather definitely could have been worse.

To celebrate our finish, Bianca and I had a big Indian dinner and home brew beer, which was so delicious. It’s really challenging to find beer that doesn’t taste like Coors Light in Peru so having the option of blonde, pale, amber, or red was really amazing. That same night I took the night bus back to Lima and enjoyed a down day at a friend of a friend’s apartment, letting my gear dry, doing laundry, and eating really well (which is what you should do if you ever find yourself in Lima since the food is amazing).

Now I am in Buenos Aires staying with my roommate from years ago when I was studying abroad in Rome. She moved here for tango and to teach English and promises to show me the ropes of the city and its signature dance. Today I got an amazing amount of very much needed sleep and visited Evita’s grave at the Recoleta Cemetary. I also got mistaken for a local several times, which was funny since as soon as I open my mouth it’s obvious I’m clueless, but it was refreshing after sticking out so much in Peru. What tomorrow will bring, who knows?

“Highlights”

My first night in Cusco for the Lord of the Earthquakes procession

1. My first magical night in Cusco. Maybe it was the altitude, maybe it was the place, but I can´t tell you how happy I was when I first arrived. I had to take it easy because every time I walked up hill I lost my breath or got light headed, but I still enjoyed every minute of my first night. I walked the Plaza de Armas (there is literally one in every Peruvian city), which was filled with people in traditional dress dancing or playing panpipes and other Andean instruments. That night was the procession celebrating the Lord of the Earthquakes, which I happened upon and the city looked so beautiful all lit up and was so full of energy with all the people in the square. To top if off some teenage boys were setting off fireworks and there were unique stick sculptures around the Cathedral. Since it was my first night here I treated myself to a nice meal of Alpaca steak, tamales, and quinotto (risotto with quinoa) at Marcelo Batata, a cute and upscale Peruvian restaurant with an amazing rooftop terrace overlooking the city.

Salkantay Mountain

2. Hiking to the top of Salkantay pass (800 feet taller than Mount Rainer). I had been worried that I would get altitude sickness, but did surprisingly well. I just had a mild headache and felt really slow (like I was carrying a heavy pack even though I only had a light daypack). Even my guide (a cute little guy named Alain who is shorter than me if you can believe it), who has done this trek over 50 times said, ¨Wow, you look great.” The couple I was with from New York was not so lucky. They felt terrible and couldn´t eat and were even puking. I felt so fortunate that I was able to enjoy it. Camping just with our small group of 6 and a few horses at the base of this mountain and being the first people up at the pass in the early morning is something I will never forget. Sacred Salkantay Mountain is just a total specticle when it is clear, a mountain that has claimed the lives of every person who has attempted to climb it.

Cloud Forest

3. Descenting into the cloud forest. The landscape here is so diverse. Literally hours after I crossed the pass I was down in warm, wet cloud forest that reminded me of Hawaii only much more expansive and impressive. It was totally weird to see birds, tropical flowers, fruit trees, so many butterflies, and just an overwhelming amount of green and think “I´m still at an elevation over 8,000 feet above sea level.” Seriously, I can´t tell you how amazing the butterflies are…one was luminscent and seemed to flash blue when it flapped its wings. The ground here is also covered with a high concentration of mica rock so the trail seems to shimmer in the hot sun. I was very happy for the relief of the cool river and eventually the healing hot springs in Santa Teresa. It was also really interesting to hike through the communities in this area. While they are clearly invested in tourism (every “rest stop” home sells soda, beer, water, and candy), they still seem very self-relent with crops and a collection of farm animals and working pets: pigs, turkeys, chickens, donkeys, cats, and dogs.

View of Machu Picchu from Wayna Picchu

4. Hiking Wayna Picchu (young mountain) and overlooking Machu Picchu (old mountain). It is pretty unreal to be at one of the seven wonders of the world. I have seen so many pictures of it that when I was there it was sort of hard to believe I was actually there. My small group of 4 spend almost 8 hours hiking around the ruins and I tell you the time just flew by. Climbing to the top of intimidating Wayna Picchu, both a watch tower and ceremonial place, was very strenuous, but not as bad as I thought. Those Incas really weren´t afraid of heights and the stair steps were so steep you literally were climbing with both hands at times. The view from up top was amazing though, and worth it, because the ruins are located literally smack dab in the middle of so many mountains (both snowcapped and cloud forest peaks). Even though these ruins are “only” 500 or so years old it is truly remarkable what the Incas where able to accomplish with the technology they had at the time. You can see how curious and advanced they were with the way they experimented with geometry, physics, agriculture, astronomy, earthquake proof architecture, communications, and military techniques. Even the llamas having sex on the grassy central square of the ruins (they keep them here to naturally mow the lawn and keep the foliage back) couldn´t disrupt the amazing energy of this place.

One of many self portraits (and many more to come) at the Incan citadel above Pisaq

5. Traveling alone…is really freeing and seeing other travelers bicker with their wives or friends or boyfriends makes me happy that I only have to get along with myself (a challenge sometimes, but mostly I´m okay with me). I´ve been able to make my own agenda and do what I want to do every day, eat what I want to eat, and go to bed at a lame time (seriously I´ve been in bed by 10pm the last few nights) when I´m exhausted. I am working with my own budget and own needs, wants, and desires. It is great.

“Lowlights”

It ain´t all breathtaking, life-changing moments at ancient ruins and awe-inspiring natural scenery.

1. ¨Awesome public transportation.” As a fairly well traveled person, I have experienced less than legit modes of getting from one place to the next (some experiences in Thailand and Cambodia come most readily to mind). Well, my first “real Peruvian transportation experience,” aside from an express bus in Lima, was on a collective taxi (really just an old van packed with people) to Pisaq my second day in Cusco. It was awesome. I had to stand slightly hunched for over an hour on a very windy mountain road only to repeat this experience in a slightly more upright position for my ride back with all the people selling their wares at the market (I wish I had a picture of how packed it was and also all the crazy crap loaded on top of the bus). All the other tourists I talked to had a seat on a reasonably reliable bus, but some how I managed to have a “more authentic experience” on the local route (lucky me). I won´t sugar coat it for you, some of the roads here are just plain scary…super steep and exposed with narrow lanes on dirt paths with many blind corners. Even the bus up to Machu Picchu is a pretty nerve-wracking ride around tight switchbacks.

2. My first day back in Cusco after the trek. This day was a real downer. All I had planned to do was lay low, rest, and go visit some museums. Well, the travel gods really weren´t smiling on me. I got turned around looking for my first museum and started walking down this dirt road where my map was showing the museum and suddenly was being chased down by a pack of stray dogs. I made it out with only a few scratches (and so far no rabies…they were really mangy looking), but it scared the shit out of me. Yes, there are a ton of stray dogs here, but most of them are super mellow and content just to nap on the sidewalk and eat garbage. Hours later (after making it through my whole trek with nothing but some bug bites) I managed to twist my ankle exiting the Museo de Inca. Later that day my credit card got declined for the third time and I had a very fun time over the next 3 days trying to get it unlocked. The jerks shut my card down after I booked two flights even though I informed them I would be in Peru and traveling throughout South America. What was worse was none of the numbers they gave me worked at a pay phone, call center, or my hostel. It was frustrating almost to tears.

3. Traveling alone (both a highlight and a lowlight). Man, I have great friends and I miss you guys (can you tell from how much more often I am on Facebook and email than when I´m at home). There have been many times when I´ve thought “oh so and so would have loved this.” Also it would be helpful to have a buddy to help navigate sometimes and say, “Hey, I don´t think that museum is down that way, this dirt road looks really shady.” I spent one day hiking around the ruins just outside of Cusco and for about an hour was just wondering where the hell the freaking Temple of the Moon was since the tourist map I had showed a nice, easy-to-follow path that literally doesn´t exist. In addition, sometimes booking tours and getting around is harder or more expensive. I´ve spent the last few days trying to get a group together to go to Parque de Manu, an amazing protected jungle about a days drive from Cusco. Of course I´ve met some awesome people, but most of them are on shorter trips with different timelines or have different budgets. Finally, today I got on a tour that is leaving in an hour to head to the Puerto Maldonado area, which isn´t Manu, but is still rainforest in the Amazon Basin and looks amazing. I´ll be joining 3 Aussies (some of you know my track record with them) who I haven´t met yet. So far, though, I have lucked out and met some cool people. The couple from New York was great and traveling with them for 5 days was a real bonding experience. Chatting about politics, travel, and just mundane stuff about the U.S. almost made me forget that I was in Peru at times.

Parque del Amor

I just arrived in Lima yesterday morning and have had two days here. I have seen a lot, but at a pretty relaxed pace. Some highlights include…

1. Visiting a ruin from 200 AD (essentially a big crumbling pyramid of bricks). Huaca Pucllana was actually pretty interesting though. They used to bury the high priests here like the Egyptians–not mummified, but with offerings and all of their servants and family to serve them in the afterlife. My favorite detail of the tour was that this area didn´t get “discovered” until the 1980s and before that it was just a hill where people would ride dirt bikes and fly kites. They also had a demo garden with corn and potatoes and a weird petting zoo with llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs (aka dinner!).

Huaca Pucllana

2. Watching surfers and paragliders from the parks along the waterfront cliffs of Miraflores. It was crazy to look out over the Pacific Ocean, like I have so many times before, and think this is the same ocean only thousands of miles south. It was so peaceful and definitely the highlight of my first day.

Paragliders

3. Visiting the Franciscan Monastery and Catacombs in downtown Lima. Lots of colonial style architecture, paintings of Jesus and Francis of Assisi, and yes bones!

View from downtown Lima

4. Ceviche! Met up with some friends of a friend and had a super fancy meal last night on the water with 4 different kinds, plus some octupus rissoto, and a local fish dish.

5. Lots of hilarious Limenos (Lima residents). This includes crazy drivers (seriously crazy…this isn´t Seattle where you wait and someone waves you in…I´m surprised I haven´t been hit yet). They actually have people directing traffic on podiums at busy intersections like the old days in the US to enforce the changing of the light from green to red. Also lots of cute Peruvian kids. My favorite was a 3 year old boy whose dad was driving him around in a kid sized remote control car.

Traffic controller

Lima has been great, but I´ve got lots to do in Peru so tomorrow I´m off to Cusco and the Andes Mountains.