http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Jorge--Gallen--G/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Jorge Gallen G en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:10:17 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:10:17 +0000 It becomes harder to write about everything that has happened the longer I wait. So I hope that by going back to Arequipa eleven days ago and starting from there I can jog my memory and tell a fuller story...After returning from our adventure in the canyon Andrew and I figured we would take a down day to shower rest and scratch off all the black stuff on our arms and legs remnants from the to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-354557.html Have you ever gone into an environment looking for that kind of beauty or...truth that a beautiful landscape can provide Have you ever gone into an environment looking for that but then lost your trail drank all your water ate all your food and stumbled through cacti toxic treebushes and crumbling rocks Well this past weekend at Colca Canyon Andrew and I did so. And we both now have a pro http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-351026.html Hello hello from the white city no not Minas Tirith you Lord of the Rings geeks of Arequipa in southern Peru. Arequipa is Perus second largest city 750000ish nestled beside some big volcanoes in the southern part of Perus highlands. Its kind of like the Cuenca Ecuador of Peru. Its the colonial gem of the country. The streets are narrow and paved with stones. Theres a river that runs al http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Arequipa/blog-348863.html Hola dearest amigos It has been a week since my last entry and now I am in a new pas Peru The past few days have been travel filled because we Drew Nate see mitad del mundo Nate riding the elephant entry decided to cross into Peru at the most remote crossing Zumba. Nate and Drew arrived in Cuenca on Friday night and we left for Loja a town 7 hours south monday morning. The weekend was http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Amazonas/Chachapoyas/blog-344847.html Hello everybody. I am a few cities behind since my lost blog. The Mr. Allen goes to the beach blog was from a small beach town about half way down the coast called Canoa. If it was too cryptic well I dont apologize but I wanted to try something different.From Canoa I travelled south along the Ruta del Sol a highway that runs along the coast. I dont think the highway got its name from this http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/South/Cuenca/blog-342030.html It could have been a beach anywhere. Palm trees and thatched gazebos line a white sand beach beyond which stretches the ocean. A deep greenblue like a clouded emerald. Motorboats line the brow of the beach propped up on tree trunks their bows pointed proudly up. Names like 007 The Baron and Asi es la vida Thats life tacked onto the side in that black and gold lettering you sometimes see on http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/blog-340115.html Buenas tardes everybody. It has been some time since my latest dispatch and a lot has happened. I have also been sitting at this computer for about an hour and half now writing emails. So I guess this is a warning to the reader...this blog might be sloppy. My last entry was from Otavalo a popular market town a couple hours north of Quito in the mountains. A notable event from there I watched http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Esmeraldas-/blog-337088.html Hola So for concerned readers I am not in the Amazon. Unfortunately the trip that I wanted to go on fell through in Baos. So I took a bus back to Quito and spent the night there in The Secret Gardena very nice popular hostel next to Parque San Blas right outside of old Quito. The Secret Garden has maybe three or four floorsyou kind of start to lose track. At the very top is a metal spir http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Otavalo/blog-333337.html Buenos tardes...amigos. I am now in the town of Baos a small tourist town of about 12000 I should cite the lonely planet here south east of Quito. Its a lovely little town with an extraordinarily different vibe than Quito. In the tourist district of Quito it was common to see fellow gringos but less common in other parts of the city. In comparison Baos is gringolandia. According to some l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Centre/Banos/blog-332059.html Sundays in Quito are quiet. They seem really quiet compared to the hustle bustle of the week. People sleep in businesses close and there are few cars. What made this Sunday special though is that the city closed down a couple of the main roads running through downtown and opened them up for bikersnot harley bikers bicyclists. My biggest regret of the day was not bringing my camera and not t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-331207.html Buenos Dias everybody. So it has been a couple of days since my last entry and I have experienced some interesting things here in Quito. I moved into a hostel called El Cafecito the little coffee in the tourist district in north Quito called the Mariscal Sucre. I was leaning towards staying in Old Quito which by all my accounts is much more charmingold narrow Colonial streets and buildings http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-330872.html Hola AmigosSo I decided to write this travel blogor at least start writing it. We'll see how far it goes and we'll see if anybody is interested in reading it. But for now I am writing in my friend Allison's apartment in eastern Quito in an area called Guapalo. I think it is the beginning of the suburbs of eastern Quito. Not far away from down town thoughmaybe a 45 minute walk and a 510 mi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/North/Quito/blog-329528.html