Yesterday around 4pm, I finally got on a bus with 2 other PSFers, to go to Lima. I asked around and 4 blocks down the street is all the companies that travel to the jungle. We walked down there, and found the only bus to be leaving...now! I quickly bought my ticket, and for 5soles more, i could get a cama/ bed seat, which is much more comfortable. I quickly had to hand over my grande backpack, say goodbye to my friends and thank them for helping me find the bus, and run as the man outside the bus kept waving to me to hurry.
I sat in the first seat, with only4 other people around me, and relaxed. I felt comfortable and right about this decision, and was on my way for a 11 hour bus ride to Tingo Maria. They put on IronMan2 movie, but was so tired, i fell asleep through half of it. Its never that confortable to sleep on a bus, and was lucky to have both seats, so i could move all around. I woke up about 7am, and wanted to sleep more, but the scenery was so beautiful outside that i couldnt stop watching. We were coming down out of the Andes mountains and the Jungle has begun. So the mountains are bright green filled with a huge variety of folliage. It was muggy and drizzling outside.
Around 9, we finally got to Tingo Maria, and thats when i didnt know what to do. Should i stay here a night, check out the village, or get the next bus on to Pullculpa??? Outside the bus are always men calling, taxi taxi, and ready to sweap you away where ever you want to go. I didnt have much time, but i got swept away by one lucky mototaxi man, and he took me to a cheap hotel where i got a room for 10soles.
This is when i wish my friend Pablo was with me, because i have no idea what i want to do, or should do. I sat in my room, and cried. AFter 2 minutes, i decided that was enough, and decided i should find out what there is to do in this town. I went down and talked to the hotel man, and he told me there were a few tours i can do. One...i hate doing tours, so i didnt want to do that. I found out about the National Park that i could go to on my own.
So i decided to go out and walk around. He told me about the market that was 2 blocks down where i could get some cheap food. I walked around a bit, went back to the bus companies to see when the next bus left, and decided to find the mototaxi to get to the national park. Its a 30 minute ride up a bumpy gravel, pothole filled road. They wait until they have 3 people to fill the back seat of the tuctuc, so i sat next to 2 peruvian men, one had greased hands and car parts and a car belt in his hands. And we were off.
AT the top, the two guys were dropped off at a garage and then i was taken into the Natinal park entrance. Paid, and was told some info about the park. I walked in and was swarmed by huge trees of all sorts, and so many sounds of different animals. I saw the most amazing blue butterfly floating around. And a tree filled with big black birds with bright yellow tails. They kept jumping from tree to tree. I crossed the brigde over the rushing brown river, to the staircase that takes you up to the cave. At the top, i met a woman and her 2yr old daughter from Lima. We talked abit and walked into the cave following the wooden path. It was amazing, rocky peaks were hanging from the ceiling and even more weird sounds were heard. You could only see the shadow of whatever type of bird or creature was floating around on the roof. In the back, you could hear water dripping off the rocks, and when youturned around to see out the whole you came in, was an amazing circle with jagged edges and a flush green forest outside in the amazing light. It was quite beautiful. But that was all to see, so we walked back to the main road to wait for another mototaxi to go back into town.
There really is not much else to do, so im going to catch the first bus in the morning to Pulculpa, which is where ill find a boat to ride up along the river to get to Iquitos. More Jungle!!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Lesson learned # 1 thousand and 1
I feel like ive learned some good hard lessons that i should have figured out over the past 10 years, but instead they all arrived within the past 2 months. Its been a very hard, difficult, tearfilled last 2 months. And as hard as some times were to figure out by myself, i feel ive grown so much stronger.
Im now back in Pisco, at PSF, the volunteer place i was at in Feb/March, before going to the Colca Canyon. While in the canyon, i learned alot about life, love, and how to be happy with my life. For the remainder of my trip, i wanted to spend it in the Amazon Jungle of Peru. Floating up the Amazon river for 5 days, watching pink dolphins, see all sorts of wild animals, and whatever else. My friend Pablo, from the canyon, was going to come with me and I was so excited to spend the trip with him. After leaving Puno, I met up with Pablo in Arequipa, and he had bad news for me. He wasnt going to be able to go because he is in the middle of building his hostel in the Oasis. So i came to Pisco alone to spend some time with the people i knew before, volunteer on a few projects, before deciding i need to continue on my travels anyway. If i didnt, i would be very disappointed with myself that i didnt fullfil something i really wanted to just because someone else.
In a way, i almost feel that this was to happen for a reason. And that my experience of goinginto the jungle should be solo. If I was with my friend Pablo, we would have a lot of fun, but i wouldnt find the same experiences or opportunities, that i would if i was alone. And i believe those are the ones i need to experience to continue on with my life. To help me figure out what there is to figure out before returning to the states.
I know things will be different when i go home, but the last thing i want to happen is to forget all that i have learned and get sucked back into the rush rush work work lifestyle. Im not going to do that. Anyway, here are a few lessons ive been reminded about within the past few days.
Lesson- Be true to yourself, and follow what you want to do.
lesson- dont wait for people, they only slow you down and can dissappoint you. (especially while traveling)
lesson- love is hard, but totally worth it.
lesson- trust the universe and your instincts. they will lead you to where you need to be.
lesson- just open your heart and great people and opportunities will present themselve to you.
lesson- communication is key...the more you talk the easier things are to deal with.
So on that note, Im off to the Jungle for the rest of my trip. I know it will be amazing, and then i will be ready to come home. I cant wait to come home. I love and miss everyone so much. cheers
Im now back in Pisco, at PSF, the volunteer place i was at in Feb/March, before going to the Colca Canyon. While in the canyon, i learned alot about life, love, and how to be happy with my life. For the remainder of my trip, i wanted to spend it in the Amazon Jungle of Peru. Floating up the Amazon river for 5 days, watching pink dolphins, see all sorts of wild animals, and whatever else. My friend Pablo, from the canyon, was going to come with me and I was so excited to spend the trip with him. After leaving Puno, I met up with Pablo in Arequipa, and he had bad news for me. He wasnt going to be able to go because he is in the middle of building his hostel in the Oasis. So i came to Pisco alone to spend some time with the people i knew before, volunteer on a few projects, before deciding i need to continue on my travels anyway. If i didnt, i would be very disappointed with myself that i didnt fullfil something i really wanted to just because someone else.
In a way, i almost feel that this was to happen for a reason. And that my experience of goinginto the jungle should be solo. If I was with my friend Pablo, we would have a lot of fun, but i wouldnt find the same experiences or opportunities, that i would if i was alone. And i believe those are the ones i need to experience to continue on with my life. To help me figure out what there is to figure out before returning to the states.
I know things will be different when i go home, but the last thing i want to happen is to forget all that i have learned and get sucked back into the rush rush work work lifestyle. Im not going to do that. Anyway, here are a few lessons ive been reminded about within the past few days.
Lesson- Be true to yourself, and follow what you want to do.
lesson- dont wait for people, they only slow you down and can dissappoint you. (especially while traveling)
lesson- love is hard, but totally worth it.
lesson- trust the universe and your instincts. they will lead you to where you need to be.
lesson- just open your heart and great people and opportunities will present themselve to you.
lesson- communication is key...the more you talk the easier things are to deal with.
So on that note, Im off to the Jungle for the rest of my trip. I know it will be amazing, and then i will be ready to come home. I cant wait to come home. I love and miss everyone so much. cheers
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Lake Titcaca
What i learned about Lake Titicaca....Titicaca stands for Puma Rock...the shape of the lake looks like a puma chacing after a rabbit. 70%of the lake is in Peru and 30% of the lake is in Bolivia. Although, i wasnt able to cross into Bolivia without paying a large sum of money for my visa...The perks of being a good ol´American!!! I did however, see the large snow capped mountains in the distance behind the beautiful lake.
Proinnsius (P), my irish friend, and I went with the tour group our man at the hostel offered us. We didnt feel like getting screwed over anymore by the men down at the docks. It turned out to be cheaper and more than we were wanting. All we wanted was to go to the island Amantani, but with this tour, we visited again the floating island of Uros, which we did two days before. Before getting to Amantani. There we were split up into groups and taken to our host families house where we would spend the night. The woman cooked us lunch, and we could rest in our rooms before having to meet up at the futbol field. Our guide then told us some info about the people and the island. And then we were to climb up the moutain which was called Pachitata, Father Earth, where there is a sacred temple at the top that the shamen people use for ceremonies. It was a 30-45 min hike up and P and i joked that we didnt sign up to climb any mountains. Half way up, our guide handed out 3 coca leaves and also told us to walk around the temple to the right 3 times. We didnt really understand why we were to do that or what the leaves were for, but as we walked around, i decided to name each one of my coca leaves for Love, Health, and Fourtune. I told this to P and he thought it was a great idea and did the same. His leaves got all crumpled in his pocket, so he smuched them up and let them go in the wind. As we walked around the temple, there was a rainbow behind us out over the lake. A small sprinkle of rain hit us and then cleared up and the sun came back out. It was extremely windy at the top of the mountain and cold. But it was an amazing view.
I then got another idea, and told P to pick a rock. As we were standing next to the stone wall surrounding the sacred temple, he picked out a rock from the wall...I said no, not that one, pick a new one from the ground! haha...So we both picked a rock, and i told him to put the intention of what he would want out of the future and put it into the rock and we will leave it in the stone wall with all this amazing energy of the sacred temple. So we both did, and as soon as he was going to put his rock in the wall, a dragonfly landed right infront of his face. We took a picture of the dragonfly and the rock, before continuing on.
We now had to go down the other side of this mountain and climb up the 2nd mountain of Pachimama, Mother earth, to another sacred temple. This was another 30some minutes hike up. When we got to the top we walked over to the edge to see a good view down the side of the mountain to the playa(beach) below. This island has many terraces and is big in the agriculter. You can see fields of corn, barley, wheat, and whatever else. It is so beautiful to look out over. At this time, the sun was going down and we had a beautiful sunset out over the water.
We walked around this temple and took a picture over the wall inside. It was starting to get dark and as we were walking away, i saw an old man sitting on a huge pile of rocks and had his hands held out, i figured he was absorbing the energy of this place and i thought that was a great idea and told P to follow me. As i sat on a rock, i asked if he wanted to do something else cool, beside the rock thing from before. So he sat on the rock next to me, and i told him how to connect with the rock and feel the connection of energy all the way down his spine and to the center of the earth. Then up again and reach to the sky. We sat there quietly for a while and when i was finished, i looked and P was still sitting there with his eyes closed. I waited until he was done, and just smiled, because I love sharing the wierd things i know with people, and love it even more when they actually enjoy them.
So we started to walk back toward the path, when i saw that same old man who was sitting on the rock, standing infront of a woman, sitting next to the temple. I figured he was a shamen and was doing some ceremony on this woman. I pointed him out to P and we stood and watched for a minute before continuing down the path.
It got dark fast, and even though i had a torch, we kept walking in the dark, with the path only light with the moomlight. We had to climb down Pachimama, up Pachitata again, and down the other side to get to the bottom to meet the young boy to take us to our family house. The path we followed him, we never would have found it ourselves in the dark. We got back by 630, and layed in bed for a while until dinner at 7. We were tired, we kept laughing because we didnt sign up for mountains to climb, much less 3.
After dinner, we got to rest again until the woman knocked on our door, and came in to dress me in their traditional dress. A beautiful embroidered white shirt, huge woolen red skirt and large hand made belt tied tightly around my ribs, that made it hard to breath. Then a beautiful black shall with embroidered flowers at the ends. P was dressed in a grey, huge poncho, that looked like a potatoe sac, and a alpaca hat. We followed her to the building up the hill, and i could hardly breath. Inside, there were 6 guys playing, guitars flutes and drum. and The local woman all grabbed us to dance. All the small groups of dancers turned into one huge circle as we spun around. The music went on for ever and we kept going around in circles. It got warm fast. It was fun, and my group was the last to leave the building.
Walking home, the sky was pitch black and filled with a billion stars, I could even see a galaxy. It was so amazing and beautiful. It was extremely cold and windy, and for the first time i heard the trees blowing in the wind to remind me of home.
In the morning, breakfast was to be at 7 and we didnt want to get out of bed as it was freezing out, and decided to wait until the woman came and got us. Well she never did, so we got up and quickly ate. We had to be down at the dock to leave at 8. When we got their the boat wasnt even their, so we went and sat on some rocks and watched the waves hitting them.
We were going to one more island, Taquili, an hour away before going back to Puno. I sat in the back outside of the cabin as P was inside listening to the tourguide. When we got off the boat, P asked if i heard what the plan was and i said no. He said ´good, then im not going to tell you´. Apparently, we had to climb up another mountain to get up to the plaza, then go for lunch, then walk some hundred steps down the other side to get to our boat before going back. Ahh. More climbing. We should have just stayed on the boat.
For most of the boat rides, P and I have sat on the top of the roof. We layed down in the front out of the wind and try and sleep. I love feeling the waves of the water, its so comforting to me. Well, the wind was still strong so the boat ride back was a bit rocky. As we layed down, we kept sliding back and forth along the floor. All i could do was laugh. It was so fun. Then water would splash up and over the boat and hit us. The driver went extremely slow and instead of it being a 3 hour ride, it was a 4 hour ride. Once we got into the peninsula, it calmed down a little bit. It was a fun trip and we just kept laughing about all the things that had happened.
When we got back, we were starving and went to our 3soles menu restaurant. But since the boat was late, they werent serving food yet, and we didnt want to climb up the big hills to our hostel, so we waited around for an hour before they reopened for dinner.
When we got back to the hostel, we ran into the others as they were leaving to get some food. We told them not to go where we did, as it was the worst meal weve had. I asked Laura if she climbed the mountain up to the Mirrador, that she said she wanted to do, instead of going to the island. She said, no, and i told her dont worry, we climbed mountains for you! haha.
We were both tired, and went to bed early. it was a good trip, and Im glad P went with me, since i was the only one who really wanted to go.
Its a beautiful Island, and wish i had more time to explore other island. But i had to go back to Arequipa to meet up with my friend Pablo, as we are going to go into the Jungle.
Proinnsius (P), my irish friend, and I went with the tour group our man at the hostel offered us. We didnt feel like getting screwed over anymore by the men down at the docks. It turned out to be cheaper and more than we were wanting. All we wanted was to go to the island Amantani, but with this tour, we visited again the floating island of Uros, which we did two days before. Before getting to Amantani. There we were split up into groups and taken to our host families house where we would spend the night. The woman cooked us lunch, and we could rest in our rooms before having to meet up at the futbol field. Our guide then told us some info about the people and the island. And then we were to climb up the moutain which was called Pachitata, Father Earth, where there is a sacred temple at the top that the shamen people use for ceremonies. It was a 30-45 min hike up and P and i joked that we didnt sign up to climb any mountains. Half way up, our guide handed out 3 coca leaves and also told us to walk around the temple to the right 3 times. We didnt really understand why we were to do that or what the leaves were for, but as we walked around, i decided to name each one of my coca leaves for Love, Health, and Fourtune. I told this to P and he thought it was a great idea and did the same. His leaves got all crumpled in his pocket, so he smuched them up and let them go in the wind. As we walked around the temple, there was a rainbow behind us out over the lake. A small sprinkle of rain hit us and then cleared up and the sun came back out. It was extremely windy at the top of the mountain and cold. But it was an amazing view.
I then got another idea, and told P to pick a rock. As we were standing next to the stone wall surrounding the sacred temple, he picked out a rock from the wall...I said no, not that one, pick a new one from the ground! haha...So we both picked a rock, and i told him to put the intention of what he would want out of the future and put it into the rock and we will leave it in the stone wall with all this amazing energy of the sacred temple. So we both did, and as soon as he was going to put his rock in the wall, a dragonfly landed right infront of his face. We took a picture of the dragonfly and the rock, before continuing on.
We now had to go down the other side of this mountain and climb up the 2nd mountain of Pachimama, Mother earth, to another sacred temple. This was another 30some minutes hike up. When we got to the top we walked over to the edge to see a good view down the side of the mountain to the playa(beach) below. This island has many terraces and is big in the agriculter. You can see fields of corn, barley, wheat, and whatever else. It is so beautiful to look out over. At this time, the sun was going down and we had a beautiful sunset out over the water.
We walked around this temple and took a picture over the wall inside. It was starting to get dark and as we were walking away, i saw an old man sitting on a huge pile of rocks and had his hands held out, i figured he was absorbing the energy of this place and i thought that was a great idea and told P to follow me. As i sat on a rock, i asked if he wanted to do something else cool, beside the rock thing from before. So he sat on the rock next to me, and i told him how to connect with the rock and feel the connection of energy all the way down his spine and to the center of the earth. Then up again and reach to the sky. We sat there quietly for a while and when i was finished, i looked and P was still sitting there with his eyes closed. I waited until he was done, and just smiled, because I love sharing the wierd things i know with people, and love it even more when they actually enjoy them.
So we started to walk back toward the path, when i saw that same old man who was sitting on the rock, standing infront of a woman, sitting next to the temple. I figured he was a shamen and was doing some ceremony on this woman. I pointed him out to P and we stood and watched for a minute before continuing down the path.
It got dark fast, and even though i had a torch, we kept walking in the dark, with the path only light with the moomlight. We had to climb down Pachimama, up Pachitata again, and down the other side to get to the bottom to meet the young boy to take us to our family house. The path we followed him, we never would have found it ourselves in the dark. We got back by 630, and layed in bed for a while until dinner at 7. We were tired, we kept laughing because we didnt sign up for mountains to climb, much less 3.
After dinner, we got to rest again until the woman knocked on our door, and came in to dress me in their traditional dress. A beautiful embroidered white shirt, huge woolen red skirt and large hand made belt tied tightly around my ribs, that made it hard to breath. Then a beautiful black shall with embroidered flowers at the ends. P was dressed in a grey, huge poncho, that looked like a potatoe sac, and a alpaca hat. We followed her to the building up the hill, and i could hardly breath. Inside, there were 6 guys playing, guitars flutes and drum. and The local woman all grabbed us to dance. All the small groups of dancers turned into one huge circle as we spun around. The music went on for ever and we kept going around in circles. It got warm fast. It was fun, and my group was the last to leave the building.
Walking home, the sky was pitch black and filled with a billion stars, I could even see a galaxy. It was so amazing and beautiful. It was extremely cold and windy, and for the first time i heard the trees blowing in the wind to remind me of home.
In the morning, breakfast was to be at 7 and we didnt want to get out of bed as it was freezing out, and decided to wait until the woman came and got us. Well she never did, so we got up and quickly ate. We had to be down at the dock to leave at 8. When we got their the boat wasnt even their, so we went and sat on some rocks and watched the waves hitting them.
We were going to one more island, Taquili, an hour away before going back to Puno. I sat in the back outside of the cabin as P was inside listening to the tourguide. When we got off the boat, P asked if i heard what the plan was and i said no. He said ´good, then im not going to tell you´. Apparently, we had to climb up another mountain to get up to the plaza, then go for lunch, then walk some hundred steps down the other side to get to our boat before going back. Ahh. More climbing. We should have just stayed on the boat.
For most of the boat rides, P and I have sat on the top of the roof. We layed down in the front out of the wind and try and sleep. I love feeling the waves of the water, its so comforting to me. Well, the wind was still strong so the boat ride back was a bit rocky. As we layed down, we kept sliding back and forth along the floor. All i could do was laugh. It was so fun. Then water would splash up and over the boat and hit us. The driver went extremely slow and instead of it being a 3 hour ride, it was a 4 hour ride. Once we got into the peninsula, it calmed down a little bit. It was a fun trip and we just kept laughing about all the things that had happened.
When we got back, we were starving and went to our 3soles menu restaurant. But since the boat was late, they werent serving food yet, and we didnt want to climb up the big hills to our hostel, so we waited around for an hour before they reopened for dinner.
When we got back to the hostel, we ran into the others as they were leaving to get some food. We told them not to go where we did, as it was the worst meal weve had. I asked Laura if she climbed the mountain up to the Mirrador, that she said she wanted to do, instead of going to the island. She said, no, and i told her dont worry, we climbed mountains for you! haha.
We were both tired, and went to bed early. it was a good trip, and Im glad P went with me, since i was the only one who really wanted to go.
Its a beautiful Island, and wish i had more time to explore other island. But i had to go back to Arequipa to meet up with my friend Pablo, as we are going to go into the Jungle.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Puno
On Monday, after spending 10 days in the big city of Arequipa, I finally boarded the bus with John and P. Two irish guys i worked with at Pisco Sin Fronteras, the volunteer place in Pisco. I needed to get out and start traveling again. We boaded the bus at 2:30, and left around 3. Its usually a 5 hour bus ride, but im sure it was longer. We arrived to Puno late Monday and walked around the bus terminal until a woman came up to us asking if we needed a hostel. She showed us a few brochures, and we took the hostel for 10 soles. She got in the taxi with us and took us to the hostel. She then tried selling us on a tour to see the islands, but we just said thank you, and went to see our rooms.
On Tuesday, we spent most the day walking around the town of Puno. We found a little carnival area with a huge slide, ferris wheel, and a pirate ship. Across the street was a long street fair that had stands with all sort of treats, games, and anything you really wanted to find. After it got dark and cold, we made it back to our hostel which is at the top of 2 big hills. Our friends, Laura and Reha, also from PSF, got to Puno in the evening. We went out for dinner, very cheap menus for 2soles. Less than $1. Doesnt mean it was good! haha.
On Wednesday, John, P, and I went down to the dock to see when we could go to the islands. Laura and Reha, needed a day to adjust to the altitude. We started talking to one guy and he told us we could get the last boat at 4, tour around Uros, the floating islands, spend the night and then get another boat to Amantani, another island further out. That sounded good, so we waited around in the plaza for a while. It was a nice sunny day. John set up his hammock on the railing around the sitting area. It was so funny to watch the locals walk by and look into the hammock, wondering what it was there for. When John would say Hola, and they would start laughing and walk away.
We went back at 330 and didnt see our man, but got swarmed by a bunch of other men all trying to sell us the same tickets. One guy said he was our mans friend and told us we only had to pay 5soles and that his boat was leaving now, so go with him. We went with him, and ended up getting hasseled to pay more. He got catch on the boat and ended up coming with us. So we just ignored him as much as we could. We ended up making friends with a Peruvian couple that was on the boat, and they also told up how much they paid and that we were being overcharged.
The Uros islands were interesting. They are made out of the reeds that grow in the lake. After a few days, they have to lay another layer down. They made everyting out of those reeds, their houses, boats, and their beds. We got to go inside a womans house where there were 2 beds. She said 6 people sleep in there. 2kids in each bed, then at night when they shut the door, the parents put a bed down where we were standing and sleep there. I sat on it, and it seemed pretty comfortable. Then they told us to get into the canoe shapped boat and gave us a ride across the lake to the other side where another floating island was. And we saw how another family lives. It was nice, but extremely touristy which i didnt like. All the woman sat with their pots and other trinkets and tried to sell them to you. I felt bad that i didnt want any of it, but we at least paid for the canoe ride across the water.
We had planned on spending the night, but the guy that conned us into going with him, was trying to charge us more for the bed and food, that we finally got fed up with him and decided to go back and sleep in our hostel. It was also freezing, and we knew our hostel was a bit warmer. So we got back on the boat and chatted more with the Peruano couple. We ended up going to dinner with them. They were so interested that we found food for 2 soles and they wanted to try it. We tried the dinner, and it also wasnt that good. Then they wanted to have a cerveza and asked a local on the street where a discotec was. So we went and had a few cervezas and they kept asking us questions about what music we like, what our jobs were, about our family, how much things like clothes and phones cost. They were so interested. Its a great way to work on the spanish and interact with the culture. The girl was from Bolivia but was working in Arequipa. The guy is from Lima and they are dating. They went to a small town that was on the boarder of Bolivia for him to get eye surgery for cheaper than anywhere else. He had a patch of tape over one eye and wore sunglasses. Finally, it was late, and we headed back to our hostel. We told the man at our hostel what happened with they guy at the boats, and he wasnt too happy.
On Thursday, John was feeling well, so P and I left to attempt finding a boat to go to the other islands. When we got down in the lobby, the front desk man told us about two little villages that we can take a collectivo bus to and see a few different touristy things there. So we decided to do that, and hope that the next day everyone else was feeling better.
First we took the bus filled with people to a small village about 30 min away. When we got there, we saw only 2 other tourists, and that was it for the day. We walked around town and found a ruin that the hostel man told us about. We had no idea what it was for, so we made up our own story. There was a stone wall built in a square with no roof. and inside were many little statues, with one large statue in the center. We decided that one time a year when the sun was just right, it shown through the doorway of the building to shine down the center of this stone and shine onto another stone that had a cross carved into it. We made up more of an elaborate story about what all the other stones were for, when later we looked at the ticket, and it was named something of the sun...so we must have been close. There was also a little girl, 3 years, that came and followed us. She had chapped checks from being in the sun. P shared his water with her and she drank a good amount. She was so cute, I took a picture of her and showed her the picture. She was so interested in the camera that i showed her how to take a picture and she kept pushing the button. She probably took 20 photos of P sitting on the rock. I had to delete them after.
We continued on our walk around town and heard about a fish place up the hill. So we walked up there and saw many different pools they had for all sizes of trout. I guess the university is doing something with them. Not really sure, just walked around a bit. Finally after looking at all the fish, we decided to go get a fish to eat and walked to find a woman calling us into her stand. So we sat outside, as she fried up some trucha frita and queso frita. fish and cheese fried! It was quite interested. The fish was nice though. We walked around the town a bit more before getting onto another collectivo bus back to Puno.
When we got back, we found where the bus goes to the other town and got on that bus. That was another 30-40 minutes in the other direction. The bus finally stopped on the side of the road and there were maybe 10 houses spread out in an area. It wasnt even a village and they told us this is where we wanted. I just laughed and asked P if this is really what we were looking for. He didnt know either, and laughed. In the distance was a huge mountain and ontop were some tower structures that were back from the inca time. This is what we were coming here to see.
On the side of the road we saw 2 woman picking something off the ground and a man stomping on somthing with his bare feet. We went to see what they were doing, and it turned out the woman were picking out the rotten potatoes, and the man was smashing them in a round half circle rubber thing probably made out of an old tire. It was so funny as he was happily stomping away. He told us they were going to through them into the river, why we didnt know. He then put all the mushed ones into a mesh bag and filled his rubber thing with more.
We left and walked up the road to where the path to go up the mountain was. A guy came out of the house and told us it was 4soles to go up. First, we really didnt want to climb the hill, and we werent gonig to pay 4 soles. So we told him, no thank you and he lowered the price. We got him down to 1sole, so we decided to go up anyway. When we got to the top, there were 3 huge stone tower structures. One of them had a rock out of the bottom so we climbed inside. The roof was all rocks piled ontop of eachother and it was crazy it didnt fall ontop of us. We spent a good while up there walking around before deciding to go back and to try to catch another collectivo bus going back to Puno.
The family was still stomping on the rotten potatoes and more people had come to help. We stood on the side of the road for a good 30 min before the first bus sped past us. They were full. This highway was straight and long and you could see cars coming from a long way away. Finally a bus stopped, and the locals that came after us, jumped on. So we waited another 20some mins. Finally, a bus stopped, but it was full. It was only one local woman, P and I waiting. When the doors opened, some woman said, ´the gringos first´...that was nice. P got in and pretty much sat on the step, The woman took the last seat and I stood on the step with the door at my back. I rested my backpack on the laps of the two people infront of me. I later counted and their were 24 people in this little bus which is made for maybe 14...P asked the woman next to him about the potatoes and she happened to have some all ready cooked in her bag. So she gave him one. He asked if it was to eat and so he popped it into his mouth. All the woman said ´no´and started laughing. We thought they were making a joke out of us and all we couuld do was laugh. She then gave me one, but tole me to peel it. Oh ok. She kept feeding us potatoes and other wierd looking things. Then one guy sitting behind P gave us some cheese. This cheese was actually good, and not as salty as other cheese here. P asked how many days to make the cheese and she said 1. Impressive. It was such a fun bus ride back and we couldnt believe how nice they were. I stood for most the way hunched over until the first stop where the two woman who feed us the potatoes got off. We wanted to give them a sole or something, but ran around the bus, before it took off.
Such an interesting day interacting with the locals.
Today, the 5 of us were walking through the streets of the market when we heard loud music coming from one of the buildings. We could see people dancing around in a huge circle. After watching for a while, they noticed us and waved us in. John, P and I went in, and as soon and the guys entered, then woman grabbed them and started dancing with them. The one guy who was dancing grabbed me. They were passing around many bottles of cervezas and gave us a glass. I was laughing so hard i could hardly drink the beer. There were 2 crazy woman who kept dancing with John and P and would spin around and their skirts would hit other people. I was being rotated with a younger guy and an old man who wanted to dance. It was so funny, and all the other older woman who were sitting along the edges was laughing at us as well. We finally had to make an excuse to leave for it was too hot and the woman were crazy with their dancing and forcing the beer on the boys. We told them we had to go find our other friends and bring them back. So funny!
Tomorrow i hope to go to some of the other islands and spend a few days there intereacting with more locals.
On Tuesday, we spent most the day walking around the town of Puno. We found a little carnival area with a huge slide, ferris wheel, and a pirate ship. Across the street was a long street fair that had stands with all sort of treats, games, and anything you really wanted to find. After it got dark and cold, we made it back to our hostel which is at the top of 2 big hills. Our friends, Laura and Reha, also from PSF, got to Puno in the evening. We went out for dinner, very cheap menus for 2soles. Less than $1. Doesnt mean it was good! haha.
On Wednesday, John, P, and I went down to the dock to see when we could go to the islands. Laura and Reha, needed a day to adjust to the altitude. We started talking to one guy and he told us we could get the last boat at 4, tour around Uros, the floating islands, spend the night and then get another boat to Amantani, another island further out. That sounded good, so we waited around in the plaza for a while. It was a nice sunny day. John set up his hammock on the railing around the sitting area. It was so funny to watch the locals walk by and look into the hammock, wondering what it was there for. When John would say Hola, and they would start laughing and walk away.
We went back at 330 and didnt see our man, but got swarmed by a bunch of other men all trying to sell us the same tickets. One guy said he was our mans friend and told us we only had to pay 5soles and that his boat was leaving now, so go with him. We went with him, and ended up getting hasseled to pay more. He got catch on the boat and ended up coming with us. So we just ignored him as much as we could. We ended up making friends with a Peruvian couple that was on the boat, and they also told up how much they paid and that we were being overcharged.
The Uros islands were interesting. They are made out of the reeds that grow in the lake. After a few days, they have to lay another layer down. They made everyting out of those reeds, their houses, boats, and their beds. We got to go inside a womans house where there were 2 beds. She said 6 people sleep in there. 2kids in each bed, then at night when they shut the door, the parents put a bed down where we were standing and sleep there. I sat on it, and it seemed pretty comfortable. Then they told us to get into the canoe shapped boat and gave us a ride across the lake to the other side where another floating island was. And we saw how another family lives. It was nice, but extremely touristy which i didnt like. All the woman sat with their pots and other trinkets and tried to sell them to you. I felt bad that i didnt want any of it, but we at least paid for the canoe ride across the water.
We had planned on spending the night, but the guy that conned us into going with him, was trying to charge us more for the bed and food, that we finally got fed up with him and decided to go back and sleep in our hostel. It was also freezing, and we knew our hostel was a bit warmer. So we got back on the boat and chatted more with the Peruano couple. We ended up going to dinner with them. They were so interested that we found food for 2 soles and they wanted to try it. We tried the dinner, and it also wasnt that good. Then they wanted to have a cerveza and asked a local on the street where a discotec was. So we went and had a few cervezas and they kept asking us questions about what music we like, what our jobs were, about our family, how much things like clothes and phones cost. They were so interested. Its a great way to work on the spanish and interact with the culture. The girl was from Bolivia but was working in Arequipa. The guy is from Lima and they are dating. They went to a small town that was on the boarder of Bolivia for him to get eye surgery for cheaper than anywhere else. He had a patch of tape over one eye and wore sunglasses. Finally, it was late, and we headed back to our hostel. We told the man at our hostel what happened with they guy at the boats, and he wasnt too happy.
On Thursday, John was feeling well, so P and I left to attempt finding a boat to go to the other islands. When we got down in the lobby, the front desk man told us about two little villages that we can take a collectivo bus to and see a few different touristy things there. So we decided to do that, and hope that the next day everyone else was feeling better.
First we took the bus filled with people to a small village about 30 min away. When we got there, we saw only 2 other tourists, and that was it for the day. We walked around town and found a ruin that the hostel man told us about. We had no idea what it was for, so we made up our own story. There was a stone wall built in a square with no roof. and inside were many little statues, with one large statue in the center. We decided that one time a year when the sun was just right, it shown through the doorway of the building to shine down the center of this stone and shine onto another stone that had a cross carved into it. We made up more of an elaborate story about what all the other stones were for, when later we looked at the ticket, and it was named something of the sun...so we must have been close. There was also a little girl, 3 years, that came and followed us. She had chapped checks from being in the sun. P shared his water with her and she drank a good amount. She was so cute, I took a picture of her and showed her the picture. She was so interested in the camera that i showed her how to take a picture and she kept pushing the button. She probably took 20 photos of P sitting on the rock. I had to delete them after.
We continued on our walk around town and heard about a fish place up the hill. So we walked up there and saw many different pools they had for all sizes of trout. I guess the university is doing something with them. Not really sure, just walked around a bit. Finally after looking at all the fish, we decided to go get a fish to eat and walked to find a woman calling us into her stand. So we sat outside, as she fried up some trucha frita and queso frita. fish and cheese fried! It was quite interested. The fish was nice though. We walked around the town a bit more before getting onto another collectivo bus back to Puno.
When we got back, we found where the bus goes to the other town and got on that bus. That was another 30-40 minutes in the other direction. The bus finally stopped on the side of the road and there were maybe 10 houses spread out in an area. It wasnt even a village and they told us this is where we wanted. I just laughed and asked P if this is really what we were looking for. He didnt know either, and laughed. In the distance was a huge mountain and ontop were some tower structures that were back from the inca time. This is what we were coming here to see.
On the side of the road we saw 2 woman picking something off the ground and a man stomping on somthing with his bare feet. We went to see what they were doing, and it turned out the woman were picking out the rotten potatoes, and the man was smashing them in a round half circle rubber thing probably made out of an old tire. It was so funny as he was happily stomping away. He told us they were going to through them into the river, why we didnt know. He then put all the mushed ones into a mesh bag and filled his rubber thing with more.
We left and walked up the road to where the path to go up the mountain was. A guy came out of the house and told us it was 4soles to go up. First, we really didnt want to climb the hill, and we werent gonig to pay 4 soles. So we told him, no thank you and he lowered the price. We got him down to 1sole, so we decided to go up anyway. When we got to the top, there were 3 huge stone tower structures. One of them had a rock out of the bottom so we climbed inside. The roof was all rocks piled ontop of eachother and it was crazy it didnt fall ontop of us. We spent a good while up there walking around before deciding to go back and to try to catch another collectivo bus going back to Puno.
The family was still stomping on the rotten potatoes and more people had come to help. We stood on the side of the road for a good 30 min before the first bus sped past us. They were full. This highway was straight and long and you could see cars coming from a long way away. Finally a bus stopped, and the locals that came after us, jumped on. So we waited another 20some mins. Finally, a bus stopped, but it was full. It was only one local woman, P and I waiting. When the doors opened, some woman said, ´the gringos first´...that was nice. P got in and pretty much sat on the step, The woman took the last seat and I stood on the step with the door at my back. I rested my backpack on the laps of the two people infront of me. I later counted and their were 24 people in this little bus which is made for maybe 14...P asked the woman next to him about the potatoes and she happened to have some all ready cooked in her bag. So she gave him one. He asked if it was to eat and so he popped it into his mouth. All the woman said ´no´and started laughing. We thought they were making a joke out of us and all we couuld do was laugh. She then gave me one, but tole me to peel it. Oh ok. She kept feeding us potatoes and other wierd looking things. Then one guy sitting behind P gave us some cheese. This cheese was actually good, and not as salty as other cheese here. P asked how many days to make the cheese and she said 1. Impressive. It was such a fun bus ride back and we couldnt believe how nice they were. I stood for most the way hunched over until the first stop where the two woman who feed us the potatoes got off. We wanted to give them a sole or something, but ran around the bus, before it took off.
Such an interesting day interacting with the locals.
Today, the 5 of us were walking through the streets of the market when we heard loud music coming from one of the buildings. We could see people dancing around in a huge circle. After watching for a while, they noticed us and waved us in. John, P and I went in, and as soon and the guys entered, then woman grabbed them and started dancing with them. The one guy who was dancing grabbed me. They were passing around many bottles of cervezas and gave us a glass. I was laughing so hard i could hardly drink the beer. There were 2 crazy woman who kept dancing with John and P and would spin around and their skirts would hit other people. I was being rotated with a younger guy and an old man who wanted to dance. It was so funny, and all the other older woman who were sitting along the edges was laughing at us as well. We finally had to make an excuse to leave for it was too hot and the woman were crazy with their dancing and forcing the beer on the boys. We told them we had to go find our other friends and bring them back. So funny!
Tomorrow i hope to go to some of the other islands and spend a few days there intereacting with more locals.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Saying goodbye is hard...
Saying goodbye is hard...especially when you didnt realize how much you loved the person your saying goodbye too.
I finally left the oasis after a month and half working in the hostel at the bottom of a canyon. I worked with Pablo for most of that time and over the past month, he has helped me with many life lessons of learning how to live my life, open my heart to love, and take things slowly. We had a lot of time to talk about each others stories and experiences. I could laugh, joke, and have fun with him without having any attraction for him, and he quickly became someone i could talk to and trust.
Last friday, we finally hiked up out of the canyon, and got the night bus to Arequipa to spend a few days in the city. I was so excited for civilization, and a pedicure. My feet were so dirty. It was impossible for me to stay clean in the oasis.
I spent time with his family and friends and they all thought i was his girlfriend. Which made me a little uncomfortable until he explained to them, im only a friend. We kept spending time together and went to a futbol game, and went to the cinema and i saw a movie for the first time in months.(Ironman 2, it was good, cant wait to see it in english to really know what was going on.) His family asked him why he is spending so much time with me if im only a friend. And he replyed that because he respects me, and i helped him so much, not just by working in the oasis, but with his own lifes questions.
At this point, i really had no idea what im going to do from here. Whether ill continue on my travels, where i would go, or when or if i will even return to the Oasis. We agreed that from here on out, i needed to continue living my life and cant stay in the canyon just because he needs the help. I need to do what i need to do for myself. So Tuesday morning, before Pablo was to leave to catch his 11am bus, i thought that this would be the last time i might see him, and would have to say goodbye.
I didnt realize, but for the past month i had a great friend, and to even think about saying goodbye made me cry. So even at the breakfast table that morning, i had tears in my eyes. Then when the time came for him to leave, we hugged, thanked each other for all the help, and i couldnt stop crying. I couldnt believe how hard it was to say goodbye.
Pablo is a busy guy, and had to go met someone before leaving to catch his bus. After he left, i sat down on my bed, cried a little more. and realized. I needed to continue my life. So i thought about the things i needed to do, and decided alright, first i need to get ready. I payed attention to the clock, and watched as it got closer to 11am, and then passed 11 for his bus would have left. His stuff was still in the living room, he hadnt come back from his meeting. I decided to walk down the street to the internet store, and told Pablo´s friend that i was leaving.
I sat on the computer talking to about 6 people on facebook chat. All good friends from back home wondering when im coming back. I started talking to a good friend and told him about how i was sad to say good bye to my friend, and started crying again at the computer. Its a little difficult to talk to so many people and sound happy when im crying in my chair.
About 30 minutes later, all of a sudden Pablo is standing before my computer with me having tears all down my face. I was so releived to see him, that i cried more. haha...I dont know why i was so emotional yesterday. He asked if i was hungry, and i quickly closed out my computer, and met him outside. I hugged him again, and kept crying.
We went to eat, and i finally calmed down. Although, all the women in the restaurant looked at me sadly. Pablo told me he missed his bus, because of some business problems, and had to wait until Wed to get the next bus. So i have one more day to spend with him!!! With Pablo, his plans change all the time because of other people, its ¨Peru, nothing is set. So we spent the rest of the day just hanging out and having fun.
I decided that i needed a break and didnt want to go anywhere for a while. So im going to stay in the apartment, and meet up with some friends i have met here in Arequipa. Some people i met in Pisco at the volunteer place are coming here by the weekend and i might travel on with them to Puno and Lake Ititicaca. And from there, ill decide where to go next. But Pablo plans to be back in town by friday night, so plan to meet up again on friday, and that might be the last time i will see him.
So today, after lunch, Pablo, and his friend left the apartment to catch the 2pm bus back to Cabanaconde. And i continued on with what i needed to do. It was so much easier to say goodbye today, with knowing, that hopefuly i can see him again on Friday. And if not, it was a fun last day we spent together.
I dont know where my travels will lead me next, and if i can come back to the canyon one last time before i officially go home to the states, i would love to spend some more time there. If it doesnt work out, I have the invite to come back anytime in the future. And in Pablos words, im to bring my children. Ok...when that days comes is another story.
No more tears! Life continues.
I finally left the oasis after a month and half working in the hostel at the bottom of a canyon. I worked with Pablo for most of that time and over the past month, he has helped me with many life lessons of learning how to live my life, open my heart to love, and take things slowly. We had a lot of time to talk about each others stories and experiences. I could laugh, joke, and have fun with him without having any attraction for him, and he quickly became someone i could talk to and trust.
Last friday, we finally hiked up out of the canyon, and got the night bus to Arequipa to spend a few days in the city. I was so excited for civilization, and a pedicure. My feet were so dirty. It was impossible for me to stay clean in the oasis.
I spent time with his family and friends and they all thought i was his girlfriend. Which made me a little uncomfortable until he explained to them, im only a friend. We kept spending time together and went to a futbol game, and went to the cinema and i saw a movie for the first time in months.(Ironman 2, it was good, cant wait to see it in english to really know what was going on.) His family asked him why he is spending so much time with me if im only a friend. And he replyed that because he respects me, and i helped him so much, not just by working in the oasis, but with his own lifes questions.
At this point, i really had no idea what im going to do from here. Whether ill continue on my travels, where i would go, or when or if i will even return to the Oasis. We agreed that from here on out, i needed to continue living my life and cant stay in the canyon just because he needs the help. I need to do what i need to do for myself. So Tuesday morning, before Pablo was to leave to catch his 11am bus, i thought that this would be the last time i might see him, and would have to say goodbye.
I didnt realize, but for the past month i had a great friend, and to even think about saying goodbye made me cry. So even at the breakfast table that morning, i had tears in my eyes. Then when the time came for him to leave, we hugged, thanked each other for all the help, and i couldnt stop crying. I couldnt believe how hard it was to say goodbye.
Pablo is a busy guy, and had to go met someone before leaving to catch his bus. After he left, i sat down on my bed, cried a little more. and realized. I needed to continue my life. So i thought about the things i needed to do, and decided alright, first i need to get ready. I payed attention to the clock, and watched as it got closer to 11am, and then passed 11 for his bus would have left. His stuff was still in the living room, he hadnt come back from his meeting. I decided to walk down the street to the internet store, and told Pablo´s friend that i was leaving.
I sat on the computer talking to about 6 people on facebook chat. All good friends from back home wondering when im coming back. I started talking to a good friend and told him about how i was sad to say good bye to my friend, and started crying again at the computer. Its a little difficult to talk to so many people and sound happy when im crying in my chair.
About 30 minutes later, all of a sudden Pablo is standing before my computer with me having tears all down my face. I was so releived to see him, that i cried more. haha...I dont know why i was so emotional yesterday. He asked if i was hungry, and i quickly closed out my computer, and met him outside. I hugged him again, and kept crying.
We went to eat, and i finally calmed down. Although, all the women in the restaurant looked at me sadly. Pablo told me he missed his bus, because of some business problems, and had to wait until Wed to get the next bus. So i have one more day to spend with him!!! With Pablo, his plans change all the time because of other people, its ¨Peru, nothing is set. So we spent the rest of the day just hanging out and having fun.
I decided that i needed a break and didnt want to go anywhere for a while. So im going to stay in the apartment, and meet up with some friends i have met here in Arequipa. Some people i met in Pisco at the volunteer place are coming here by the weekend and i might travel on with them to Puno and Lake Ititicaca. And from there, ill decide where to go next. But Pablo plans to be back in town by friday night, so plan to meet up again on friday, and that might be the last time i will see him.
So today, after lunch, Pablo, and his friend left the apartment to catch the 2pm bus back to Cabanaconde. And i continued on with what i needed to do. It was so much easier to say goodbye today, with knowing, that hopefuly i can see him again on Friday. And if not, it was a fun last day we spent together.
I dont know where my travels will lead me next, and if i can come back to the canyon one last time before i officially go home to the states, i would love to spend some more time there. If it doesnt work out, I have the invite to come back anytime in the future. And in Pablos words, im to bring my children. Ok...when that days comes is another story.
No more tears! Life continues.
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