After returning from the Sacred Valley we planned on spending only a couple of more days back at SSCY. However, upon arriving there we discovered that there were lots of volunteers there (8 including us) and plans for Christmas were being made. Despite our original decision to be in either Puno or Arequipa for Christmas because we were ready to move on, after having spent about 2 months in the Cusco area, we eventually chose to stay at SSCY for the holiday. What a great decision we made!
The first week back at SSCY we did a lot of building of a wall for newly acquired goats as well as a green house for some tomatoes. Working with Christian and Marisol, the leaders of the project, as well as so many other volunteers was a nice change from the weeks before we had left for the Sacred Valley. We also got along well with the other volunteers and it was wonderful to finally make some friends!
Our second week at SSCY was similar to the first in the beginning of the week. However, Friday was a very different day as it was the children´s last day before their vacation. The children arrived early at the finca and then we all took a bus to a local hostel, where the children received gifts, hot cocoa (the Peruvian version is great!), and Paneton, which is a typical Christmas bread/cake. After a chaotic few hours at the hostel we all returned to the finca and had a Christmas party. Marta, the Peruvian lady who cooks lunch for everyone at the finca, made wonderful holiday food, including some meat-like gluten (similar to seitan, but not quite the same). The children also got more hot cocoa and Paneton...they were pretty wired. Although Friday was rather exhausting, it was great to have the holiday party with the children.
On Saturday the volunteers decided to go to an Indian all you can eat buffet in Cusco for lunch, which was fantastic. After lunch, Kyle and I wandered around the main plaza, which was absolutely packed with people and vendors. People were selling all sorts of gift type items, chocolate, Paneton, candles, religious items, and much more. We didn´t spend too long there, but it was really interesting to see. After all of the volunteers returned to the finca we headed back to Cusco for dinner at Christian and Marisol´s place. We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner and drank lots of glüwine (an Austrian hot wine drink with spices and orange juice....two volunteers were Austrian, as well as Christian). It was really nice to be in a warm house and be able to hang out with Christian and Marisol in a non-work setting. We stayed at their place until the early morning and then got to bargain with a taxi to take us back to the finca, which took awhile!
On Christmas morning (actually, more like afternoon) all of the volunteers made brunch together and had more hot cocoa. After that we lazed around and watched a movie until we decided it was time to make dinner. Essentially, we just cooked and ate on Christmas, it was great. :)
On Tuesday Kyle and I, as well as another volunteer, Steph, headed off the Puno. We spent a day in Puno wandering around and walking along Lake Titikaka. The next day, Steph headed off the Bolivia and Kyle and I took a tour of Lake Titikaka. On our tour we first went to two of the Uros Islands, which are floating reed islands. Apparently, they were originally built centuries ago so that the Uros people would stop being invaded. The islands were really amazing and absolutely everything, including their houses and boats, were built from reeds. A local man gave us a demonstration on how they build the islands, which take about 1 year to build. After visiting these islands we took about a 2 hour boat ride to Taquile Island, which is a large island inhabiting about 2000 people. The island was very beautiful, but we didn´t enjoy visiting this one as much because everything seemed much more touristy than on the Uros Islands. When we first got there some locals demonstrated dancing for us, and then we walked to the main square. At the main square all of the little girls were trying to sell us bracelets, going so far as to tie one on Kyle´s wrist and declare that it´s 1 sol. Also, I was taking a picture of Kyle and a local boy jumped in the picture and then was saying to Kyle in Spanish "tip". We gave him some change and he seemed thoroughly displeased that we didn´t give him enough. Despite our frustrations with the blatant desire to take our money, the island was very pretty and was nice to walk through.
In a few hours we will be taking a bus to Arequipa, where we will spend a couple of days exploring the city. About 3 hours from Arequipa is Colca Canyon, which we´ve heard is pretty amazing, so we plan to spend about 5 days trekking in the canyon. Once we´re done with our trek we will return to Arequipa for a day or two and then likely go on to Chile. We may spend a bit in the Atacama Desert, depending how much we like it, and they probably begin WWOOFing at a place near the coast. Yesterday we also contacted a number of other WWOOF sites in Chile, so hopefully we´ll get some other cool volunteer opportunities lined up.
Peace and love,
Megan y Kyle
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Our time at SSCY, trekking through the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu
Well it has been a while since we´ve been able to get cheap, reliable internet so there´s quite a bit to catch up on.
Our time volunteering at Sembrando Semillas Con Yoga ended up being a wonderful and very memorable experience for sure. At a certain point, both of us were actually quite fed up with the place as nearly a week went by without us hearing anything from the people who run the organization. We had basically inherieted the place and had to figure out what to do with 30 kids with no attention spans everyday. As it turned out, the organizers had in incredible string of bad car luck: one day they got in an accident, another day the electrical failed, their gas got syphoned, the car was broken into, ït was really quite incredible. So when we hadn´t seen them for a week and had no idea why, we were quite annoyed, but once their car was in working order and they made their way back out to the finca, they explained what happened and we felt a lot better about the place.
The best part for sure was our last couple of days there. SSCY had recently acquired some land in the Sacred Valley which we could use to grow food and move the project toward full sustainability. The land was a gift from a kind man who had owned it for years but done nothing with it. So on Friday afternoon we piled our camping gear and ourselves into a green 1970s VW bus and set out for the Sacred Valley. Now this was our first time seeing the valley and it was incredible. The plot of land that SSCY inheirited was a little piece of paradise. For five hours we worked the land, breaking up the soil, getting it ready for planting. The weather was beautiful, there were fruit trees all around, hundreds of parrots flew about, paradise.
All of this got us really excited for our adventures in the Sacred Valley. The trek we decided on doing began in the town of Lares, some miles north of the valley, and ended with a decent into the city of Urubamba in the valley itself. We took five days to do the trek, which the Peruvians said would take two or three. We don´t think they accounted for us gringos being unacclimated with the altitude. The high point on our trip was a mountain pass about 16,000 feet above sea level. A most beautiful place to eat lunch, but the hiking is slow with 40 pounds on your back. What surprised us on this trip was how different Peru could look from what you might expect. There were times when we could have been in Ireland. Stone cottages surrounded by rock walls, goats and sheep roaming around, and everything was so green.
The journey didn´t take us so much into the wilderness as it did into remote Quechua communities. On our first night, before we had travelled too far into the backcountry, we came across a woman who spoke no Spanish. We were looking for a place to camp and asked her in Spanish where we might do so. She seemed rather strange so our first thought was that she might be crazy. We had no idea what Quechua sounded like either so when she spoke to us, we still figured she was crazy. Kyle, inspired by a scene in La Valle, was convinced that language was unnecessary for communication and regressed into hand signals. This did not work and probably made the lady think Kyle was crazy.
The next day we made it farther in and ended up camping in the town of Cuncani. Here almost nobody spoke any Spanish, only two men that we met. None of the women in these communities, it seems, speak any Spanish but some of the men do. Again we needed a place to camp for the night so in lieu of a Quechua phrase book (we have since purchased one) Kyle gave the hand signals another go and... Success! Flat piece of ground acquired, all language is superfluous. Admittedly we have since begun to try and learn some Quechua. While we were quite aware that Quechua is alive and well as a language (with 10 million speakers it is the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Americas), we had NO idea how close by we were to people who spoke nothing else. Speaking Quechua at home sure, but not being able to speak Spanish? We think we were less than 30 miles from Cuzco. In Peru, it seems, you do not have to travel very far to get out there.
Now last, but certainly not least, we must tell you about Machu Picchu. In order to get to Machu Picchu Village (Aguas Calientes) you can either take a super expensive train from Ollantaytambo or save some money by going around the backside via a somewhat complicated string of combis and buses. Of course if you´re really cheap (like us) you can just walk there on a foot path next to the train tracks for 17 miles. So that´s what we did. Now when you hear descriptions about Machu Picchu, you hear that it is right on the edge of the jungle. It is actually about 8 miles in and though that may not be very deep into the jungle for Peruvian standards, when you are walking there with heavy packs, its a lot. The jungle doesn´t start until about halfway there so the walk took us all day and we didn´t even make it into Aguas Calientes. Luckily, we met a generous man named Miguel and his brother who let us camp on their land and took us into Aguas Calientes the next day. Miguel showed us a good hospedaje to stay at and even bargained the price down for us from 80 soles a night to 50.
The next day we spent about 8 hours at Machu Picchu, marvelling at the construction and its beautiful location. Honestly, we were both expecting to be a bit dissapionted. With all we had seen and done so far we expected Machu Picchu to be a tourist trap pile of rocks. That ended up being a massive miscalculation as Machu Picchu was absolutely incredible. It is hard to put into words what it was like to be there and walk down roads that the Incan civilization had built. It will most definitely be a high point in our South American adventure. If you ever get the chance to go there, take it (but probably take the bus, like we did on the way back).
Hasta luego,
Kyle y Megan
Our time volunteering at Sembrando Semillas Con Yoga ended up being a wonderful and very memorable experience for sure. At a certain point, both of us were actually quite fed up with the place as nearly a week went by without us hearing anything from the people who run the organization. We had basically inherieted the place and had to figure out what to do with 30 kids with no attention spans everyday. As it turned out, the organizers had in incredible string of bad car luck: one day they got in an accident, another day the electrical failed, their gas got syphoned, the car was broken into, ït was really quite incredible. So when we hadn´t seen them for a week and had no idea why, we were quite annoyed, but once their car was in working order and they made their way back out to the finca, they explained what happened and we felt a lot better about the place.
The best part for sure was our last couple of days there. SSCY had recently acquired some land in the Sacred Valley which we could use to grow food and move the project toward full sustainability. The land was a gift from a kind man who had owned it for years but done nothing with it. So on Friday afternoon we piled our camping gear and ourselves into a green 1970s VW bus and set out for the Sacred Valley. Now this was our first time seeing the valley and it was incredible. The plot of land that SSCY inheirited was a little piece of paradise. For five hours we worked the land, breaking up the soil, getting it ready for planting. The weather was beautiful, there were fruit trees all around, hundreds of parrots flew about, paradise.
All of this got us really excited for our adventures in the Sacred Valley. The trek we decided on doing began in the town of Lares, some miles north of the valley, and ended with a decent into the city of Urubamba in the valley itself. We took five days to do the trek, which the Peruvians said would take two or three. We don´t think they accounted for us gringos being unacclimated with the altitude. The high point on our trip was a mountain pass about 16,000 feet above sea level. A most beautiful place to eat lunch, but the hiking is slow with 40 pounds on your back. What surprised us on this trip was how different Peru could look from what you might expect. There were times when we could have been in Ireland. Stone cottages surrounded by rock walls, goats and sheep roaming around, and everything was so green.
The journey didn´t take us so much into the wilderness as it did into remote Quechua communities. On our first night, before we had travelled too far into the backcountry, we came across a woman who spoke no Spanish. We were looking for a place to camp and asked her in Spanish where we might do so. She seemed rather strange so our first thought was that she might be crazy. We had no idea what Quechua sounded like either so when she spoke to us, we still figured she was crazy. Kyle, inspired by a scene in La Valle, was convinced that language was unnecessary for communication and regressed into hand signals. This did not work and probably made the lady think Kyle was crazy.
The next day we made it farther in and ended up camping in the town of Cuncani. Here almost nobody spoke any Spanish, only two men that we met. None of the women in these communities, it seems, speak any Spanish but some of the men do. Again we needed a place to camp for the night so in lieu of a Quechua phrase book (we have since purchased one) Kyle gave the hand signals another go and... Success! Flat piece of ground acquired, all language is superfluous. Admittedly we have since begun to try and learn some Quechua. While we were quite aware that Quechua is alive and well as a language (with 10 million speakers it is the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Americas), we had NO idea how close by we were to people who spoke nothing else. Speaking Quechua at home sure, but not being able to speak Spanish? We think we were less than 30 miles from Cuzco. In Peru, it seems, you do not have to travel very far to get out there.
Now last, but certainly not least, we must tell you about Machu Picchu. In order to get to Machu Picchu Village (Aguas Calientes) you can either take a super expensive train from Ollantaytambo or save some money by going around the backside via a somewhat complicated string of combis and buses. Of course if you´re really cheap (like us) you can just walk there on a foot path next to the train tracks for 17 miles. So that´s what we did. Now when you hear descriptions about Machu Picchu, you hear that it is right on the edge of the jungle. It is actually about 8 miles in and though that may not be very deep into the jungle for Peruvian standards, when you are walking there with heavy packs, its a lot. The jungle doesn´t start until about halfway there so the walk took us all day and we didn´t even make it into Aguas Calientes. Luckily, we met a generous man named Miguel and his brother who let us camp on their land and took us into Aguas Calientes the next day. Miguel showed us a good hospedaje to stay at and even bargained the price down for us from 80 soles a night to 50.
The next day we spent about 8 hours at Machu Picchu, marvelling at the construction and its beautiful location. Honestly, we were both expecting to be a bit dissapionted. With all we had seen and done so far we expected Machu Picchu to be a tourist trap pile of rocks. That ended up being a massive miscalculation as Machu Picchu was absolutely incredible. It is hard to put into words what it was like to be there and walk down roads that the Incan civilization had built. It will most definitely be a high point in our South American adventure. If you ever get the chance to go there, take it (but probably take the bus, like we did on the way back).
Hasta luego,
Kyle y Megan
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Two Weeks Volunteering in the Andes
For the past two weeks we have been at SSCY working with the children and doing a lot of gardening. Overall it has been a very good experience that we are enjoying, although it has not been without its challenges.
Starting with the positives, we have very relaxed days there, starting with meditation, breakfast, then gardening (we´re currently working the earth so that we can plant in a new shade area that was recently built). Currently, the garden includes quinua, lentils, carrots, chamomile, mint, young fruit trees, alfalfa, corn, strawberries, peppers, onions, lettuce, brocolli, kale, and radishes. Also, there are composting toilets which have been fun to learn about.
Around 2:30 a bunch (around 20-30) energetic children show up and we all have a yummy meal together, after reciting a mantra. Then we get to try have to children listen to us and do the activities that we plan. This can be very challenging, as there is little discipline with many of the children, but we are learning a lot from it. After the children leave we have the place to ourselves for the rest of the evening and can cook, read, or just enjoy sitting there. There also is an outdoor bread oven that we tried using once. It didn´t turn out too well because we couldn´t get it hot enough, but we might try again.
On the negative side, the place is rather disorganized. This is primarily a problem when it comes to the children, who, as I mentioned, don´t listen very well. Also, after a few days of hanging out with some cool volunteers they left and were replaced by others who we didn´t mesh with as well. The past week there haven´t been any other volunteers, which has been too bad. We will spend one more week at SSCY and hope that some other fun people show up!
After we are done with this volunteering stint we are going to do a bit of trekking in the Sacred Valley. We will do one hike from Lares to Urubamba, which will probably take between 3 and 5 days. Based on the topo map we have, it should be a beautiful hike through valleys and on top of mountains. After that trek we will spend probably 5 days going to and coming back from Macchu Picchu (we will walk about 18 miles between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes to get to and from Macchu Picchu to save about 70 USD a person).
This Thanksgiving will be a different one, especially if no other volunteers show up at SSCY. However, we will still eat lots of food, be thankful for LOTS of things, and have a good time. We will be thinking of all of you that we love so dearly!
Peace and love,
Megan and Kyle
Starting with the positives, we have very relaxed days there, starting with meditation, breakfast, then gardening (we´re currently working the earth so that we can plant in a new shade area that was recently built). Currently, the garden includes quinua, lentils, carrots, chamomile, mint, young fruit trees, alfalfa, corn, strawberries, peppers, onions, lettuce, brocolli, kale, and radishes. Also, there are composting toilets which have been fun to learn about.
Around 2:30 a bunch (around 20-30) energetic children show up and we all have a yummy meal together, after reciting a mantra. Then we get to try have to children listen to us and do the activities that we plan. This can be very challenging, as there is little discipline with many of the children, but we are learning a lot from it. After the children leave we have the place to ourselves for the rest of the evening and can cook, read, or just enjoy sitting there. There also is an outdoor bread oven that we tried using once. It didn´t turn out too well because we couldn´t get it hot enough, but we might try again.
On the negative side, the place is rather disorganized. This is primarily a problem when it comes to the children, who, as I mentioned, don´t listen very well. Also, after a few days of hanging out with some cool volunteers they left and were replaced by others who we didn´t mesh with as well. The past week there haven´t been any other volunteers, which has been too bad. We will spend one more week at SSCY and hope that some other fun people show up!
After we are done with this volunteering stint we are going to do a bit of trekking in the Sacred Valley. We will do one hike from Lares to Urubamba, which will probably take between 3 and 5 days. Based on the topo map we have, it should be a beautiful hike through valleys and on top of mountains. After that trek we will spend probably 5 days going to and coming back from Macchu Picchu (we will walk about 18 miles between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes to get to and from Macchu Picchu to save about 70 USD a person).
This Thanksgiving will be a different one, especially if no other volunteers show up at SSCY. However, we will still eat lots of food, be thankful for LOTS of things, and have a good time. We will be thinking of all of you that we love so dearly!
Peace and love,
Megan and Kyle
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Ayacucho to Cusco and Sembrando Semillas con Yoga
Well we have been failing you friends and family as it has been another 10 days since our last blog. Again there is much to catch up on so lets begin with Ayacucho:
Ayacucho is an old Spanish colonial town tucked away in the Andes and hench not so accessible to tourists. To get to or from Ayacucho, some seriously terrifying dirt roads must be taken. Imagine you are on a nice big charter bus, only its actually not in that great of condition and the road you are driving on is barely wide enough for it. Sitting up so high on the bus, you often can´t see how far the wheels are from the edge but instead get a nice view of two or three hundred feet down the side of a mountain, and any rivers or streams will just be driven right through. Nine hours of this and you have survived the trip from Huancayo to Ayacucho. Needless to say, mostly only grungy backpackers and local Peruvians make it here.
Luckily, for all the trouble, Ayacucho was much nicer than Huancayo. It is a relatively laid back town that is much more artisinal than industrial. Full of nice parks, old cathedrals, and colonial era casonas, the city boasts a lot of vibrant color as well. Ayacuchans also know how to celebrate - every day we were there some parade or celebration was going on.
A sweet little side trip we were able to take from Ayacucho was a visit to the town of Quinua (yes, like the grain). It is an artisan community about an hour away by combi in which you can visit the local ceramic workshops and barter for your souvenirs. We didn't leave with anything, but it was quite interesting to see how the process is done around there.
After five days in Ayacucho, we took the dreaded bus to Cusco. What was supposed to be 18 hours in transit ended up more like 22 and the roads were more of the same. The good (?) part was that a lot of this trip was in the dark, so however bad the roads were we couldn't really tell. Cusco has so far been very different with all the tourists (more than we've seen anywhere yet), but it also offers a lot we haven't had access to yet. For one, there are a multitude of vegetarian restaurants here. Our favorite, Prasada, is a little hole-in-the-wall one woman operation. Almost anything on their menu can be made vegan and you can get a nice lentil patty burger with parsley pesto and won-ton fries for 5 soles (less than $2 US). We also had access to a kitchen in our hostel for the first time since Lima, and even though it is a massive hostel (130 beds), we were usually the only ones cooking.
One of the most vaulable things we did in Cusco was make a visit to the South American Explorers Club where we were able to get loads of great information in English. They also sell topographic maps of Peru and after discussing different hiking options with one of the volunteers there, we got a nice one of the Sacred Valley where we hope to tackle a lot of trails and see a lot of Incan ruins.
As of right now, we have officially moved into our first volunteering gig at Sembrando Semillas con Yoga. It is a yoga sancutary that works with local kids located in the hills above Cusco proper (about 30 minutes away by combi). The organization offers free classes to children that include: yoga, environmental awareness and recycling, English, Quechua, and nutrition. In our previous 4-day budget, we will get housing 7 days a week and three square (vegetarian) meals a day Monday through Friday. The other great thing is that there were tons of other volunteers when we got there - we were worried we might be the only ones. We got there Friday evening so we got to meet the kids, but haven't had to do much yet as we get weekends off. Tomorrow will be our first day working on projects and teaching children so we are both very excited about that. We won't have internet up at SSCY but will most likely come down on the weekends to do some blogging. Having a great time though! Until next time.
Megan and Kyle
Ayacucho is an old Spanish colonial town tucked away in the Andes and hench not so accessible to tourists. To get to or from Ayacucho, some seriously terrifying dirt roads must be taken. Imagine you are on a nice big charter bus, only its actually not in that great of condition and the road you are driving on is barely wide enough for it. Sitting up so high on the bus, you often can´t see how far the wheels are from the edge but instead get a nice view of two or three hundred feet down the side of a mountain, and any rivers or streams will just be driven right through. Nine hours of this and you have survived the trip from Huancayo to Ayacucho. Needless to say, mostly only grungy backpackers and local Peruvians make it here.
Luckily, for all the trouble, Ayacucho was much nicer than Huancayo. It is a relatively laid back town that is much more artisinal than industrial. Full of nice parks, old cathedrals, and colonial era casonas, the city boasts a lot of vibrant color as well. Ayacuchans also know how to celebrate - every day we were there some parade or celebration was going on.
A sweet little side trip we were able to take from Ayacucho was a visit to the town of Quinua (yes, like the grain). It is an artisan community about an hour away by combi in which you can visit the local ceramic workshops and barter for your souvenirs. We didn't leave with anything, but it was quite interesting to see how the process is done around there.
After five days in Ayacucho, we took the dreaded bus to Cusco. What was supposed to be 18 hours in transit ended up more like 22 and the roads were more of the same. The good (?) part was that a lot of this trip was in the dark, so however bad the roads were we couldn't really tell. Cusco has so far been very different with all the tourists (more than we've seen anywhere yet), but it also offers a lot we haven't had access to yet. For one, there are a multitude of vegetarian restaurants here. Our favorite, Prasada, is a little hole-in-the-wall one woman operation. Almost anything on their menu can be made vegan and you can get a nice lentil patty burger with parsley pesto and won-ton fries for 5 soles (less than $2 US). We also had access to a kitchen in our hostel for the first time since Lima, and even though it is a massive hostel (130 beds), we were usually the only ones cooking.
One of the most vaulable things we did in Cusco was make a visit to the South American Explorers Club where we were able to get loads of great information in English. They also sell topographic maps of Peru and after discussing different hiking options with one of the volunteers there, we got a nice one of the Sacred Valley where we hope to tackle a lot of trails and see a lot of Incan ruins.
As of right now, we have officially moved into our first volunteering gig at Sembrando Semillas con Yoga. It is a yoga sancutary that works with local kids located in the hills above Cusco proper (about 30 minutes away by combi). The organization offers free classes to children that include: yoga, environmental awareness and recycling, English, Quechua, and nutrition. In our previous 4-day budget, we will get housing 7 days a week and three square (vegetarian) meals a day Monday through Friday. The other great thing is that there were tons of other volunteers when we got there - we were worried we might be the only ones. We got there Friday evening so we got to meet the kids, but haven't had to do much yet as we get weekends off. Tomorrow will be our first day working on projects and teaching children so we are both very excited about that. We won't have internet up at SSCY but will most likely come down on the weekends to do some blogging. Having a great time though! Until next time.
Megan and Kyle
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
From Lima to the Amazon to the Andes
Well we have been putting off our posts for too long. We´ve been in Peru for almost two weeks now and a lot has happened since Lima. After about two days in the Peruvian capital we got a bit tired of the big city scene. With about 8 million inhabitants, Lima is like Los Angeles at twice the density. So we got on a bus to the town of La Merced in the Amazonian Basin. The nine hour bus ride took us through the slums of Lima and some of the poorest villages we´ve ever seen. It was quite the eye opener.
The town of La Merced is not exactly a tourist destination; nobody speaks any English and there are no white people. Let´s say we stood out a little bit. Of course we didn´t come here for the white people, but really La Merced was intended to be a waypoint on the course to the first farm we would be WWOOFing at. Once in La Merced we were finally able to call the owners of the farm, whom we had previously been in email contact with. We learned that our more recent emails had gone to their spam folder, and they thought we weren`t going to volunteer with them anymore. Essentially, they weren`t able to accept us anymore, and we would not be going north of La Merced. We were, however, able to take a tour into the Amazon from La Merced and see a waterfall there. On the way, we got to wade in the stream, do some rock and vine climbing, and slide down a waterfall like a waterslide.
After some time on the internet trying to decide where we we would go next we chose Huancayo, which is between La Merced and Cusco and is in the beautiful central Andes. The city is 10,650 feet above sea level and way off the beaten tourist path. We stayed at a wonderful hostel there and also really enjoyed the historical and natural attractions. We were in Huancayo for 5 days and visited very interesting geological formations, called ¨Torre torre,¨ went to a beautiful city park with intricate rock work, visited two different sites with pre-Incan ruins, went to a large church/monestary, and figured out Peru`s complicated public transportation system.
Here´s a quick crash course in what we´ve learned about Peruvian transportation. Our first challenge was the ¨combi.¨ This could be any bus or van driving around the city and nearby towns with the toll collector hanging out the side door, shouting out names of destinations we couldn´t understand. As far as we could tell, these are basically private operations (anybody who can retrofit a van) whose goal it is to cram as many people in a vehicle as possible and take as many detours as possible to be assured of doing so. And if your destination comes sometime before the end of the line, god help you in figuring out where to get off. Most of where we went to around Huancayo required one or more combi rides.
The second thing we learned was the ¨colectivo¨ system. Basically its like a combi, but a taxi. If you flag down a taxi to take you somewhere, it may cost you let´s say 8 soles. Now if you´re willing to wait around for 6 or 7 minutes and let the driver cram as many people as possible into a taxi (nine is our current record), it will only cost you s/1.50.
After another 9 hour bus ride, we arrived in Ayacucho last night. So far the town seems very laid back and we plan to spend a few nights here before continuing on to Cusco. The internet is not so reliable here, but hopefully we will put another post up before another 10 days goes by
Megan and Kyle
The town of La Merced is not exactly a tourist destination; nobody speaks any English and there are no white people. Let´s say we stood out a little bit. Of course we didn´t come here for the white people, but really La Merced was intended to be a waypoint on the course to the first farm we would be WWOOFing at. Once in La Merced we were finally able to call the owners of the farm, whom we had previously been in email contact with. We learned that our more recent emails had gone to their spam folder, and they thought we weren`t going to volunteer with them anymore. Essentially, they weren`t able to accept us anymore, and we would not be going north of La Merced. We were, however, able to take a tour into the Amazon from La Merced and see a waterfall there. On the way, we got to wade in the stream, do some rock and vine climbing, and slide down a waterfall like a waterslide.
After some time on the internet trying to decide where we we would go next we chose Huancayo, which is between La Merced and Cusco and is in the beautiful central Andes. The city is 10,650 feet above sea level and way off the beaten tourist path. We stayed at a wonderful hostel there and also really enjoyed the historical and natural attractions. We were in Huancayo for 5 days and visited very interesting geological formations, called ¨Torre torre,¨ went to a beautiful city park with intricate rock work, visited two different sites with pre-Incan ruins, went to a large church/monestary, and figured out Peru`s complicated public transportation system.
Here´s a quick crash course in what we´ve learned about Peruvian transportation. Our first challenge was the ¨combi.¨ This could be any bus or van driving around the city and nearby towns with the toll collector hanging out the side door, shouting out names of destinations we couldn´t understand. As far as we could tell, these are basically private operations (anybody who can retrofit a van) whose goal it is to cram as many people in a vehicle as possible and take as many detours as possible to be assured of doing so. And if your destination comes sometime before the end of the line, god help you in figuring out where to get off. Most of where we went to around Huancayo required one or more combi rides.
The second thing we learned was the ¨colectivo¨ system. Basically its like a combi, but a taxi. If you flag down a taxi to take you somewhere, it may cost you let´s say 8 soles. Now if you´re willing to wait around for 6 or 7 minutes and let the driver cram as many people as possible into a taxi (nine is our current record), it will only cost you s/1.50.
After another 9 hour bus ride, we arrived in Ayacucho last night. So far the town seems very laid back and we plan to spend a few nights here before continuing on to Cusco. The internet is not so reliable here, but hopefully we will put another post up before another 10 days goes by
Megan and Kyle
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Adventure Begins
Whoa. As of about 24 hours ago, Kyle and I are finally in Peru. We stayed last night and will be staying tonight at a hostel in Lima, which has been a great place to get our bearings. Today was quite an interesting day, though. Let me tell you, getting a cell phone in Peru is about 15 times more difficult than in the US, which was not aided by our non-fluent Spanish.
Also, in case you were wondering, embassies are not open on Sundays.
After much wandering around Lima today, we did make some progress, however. We have a bus ticket booked for tomorrow morning heading to La Merced, which is in (or near?) the Amazon. It is also near Oxapampa, where our first WWOOFing stop will be. We´ll be spending a few days in La Merced exploring the wilderness (which I am sure will be much more beautiful than Lima...); we are very excited about this next step in our adventure.
Adios!!
Megan y Kyle
Also, in case you were wondering, embassies are not open on Sundays.
After much wandering around Lima today, we did make some progress, however. We have a bus ticket booked for tomorrow morning heading to La Merced, which is in (or near?) the Amazon. It is also near Oxapampa, where our first WWOOFing stop will be. We´ll be spending a few days in La Merced exploring the wilderness (which I am sure will be much more beautiful than Lima...); we are very excited about this next step in our adventure.
Adios!!
Megan y Kyle
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Waiting and Listening
Kyle and I have been waiting *patiently* to hear back from farms in Peru--I think Kyle is being more patient than I am!! We have contacted a total of 5 farms thus far, of which there are a couple that we would like very much to go to. The ones we are most excited about are artist/eco-village type communities. We contacted the farms a few weeks ago, so hopefully will get some positive responses soon.
As we wait for news of where we may be headed, I have become greatly encouraged by all of the wonderful information friends and strangers alike have provided us with. Luckily for us, my parents are friends with many travelers, and we have been able to glean some useful information from them. What I think has been the most wonderful for me, however, has been how happy strangers are to talk about their experiences and share any advice they have. Today at work, for instance, a couple overheard me mentioning to a friend that Kyle and I would be leaving for South America in October to work on organic farms. Upon checking out, they asked me about our travel plans, and suggested places to go, including El Bolso in Argentina, which they said was a nice artistic community with lots of farms (we will have to look into this). I am very thankful for all of the positive first-hand responses we have received--it is helping to make up for the anxiety of waiting to hear back from farms!
As we wait for news of where we may be headed, I have become greatly encouraged by all of the wonderful information friends and strangers alike have provided us with. Luckily for us, my parents are friends with many travelers, and we have been able to glean some useful information from them. What I think has been the most wonderful for me, however, has been how happy strangers are to talk about their experiences and share any advice they have. Today at work, for instance, a couple overheard me mentioning to a friend that Kyle and I would be leaving for South America in October to work on organic farms. Upon checking out, they asked me about our travel plans, and suggested places to go, including El Bolso in Argentina, which they said was a nice artistic community with lots of farms (we will have to look into this). I am very thankful for all of the positive first-hand responses we have received--it is helping to make up for the anxiety of waiting to hear back from farms!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)