Alyssa R
"You're from Texas? But you don't have an accent..."Lyssy Pants
Currently in graduate school but trying to make use of the long holidays!
Travel Blog Posts
January 10th 2010
Sun Mi and I had agreed to avoid night buses in Peru at all costs (we've heard about way too many crashes, including one involving a fellow Travelblogger). But with the clock winding down on our time here, and our need to cover some serious distance, we caved and ended up taking an overnight bus back to Cusco. The bus itself was comfortable enough (we opted for the first class ticket), but the ride was so unbelievably rough, that I barely slept two hours out of the ten-hour journey (and I may have even uttered a few Hail Marys along the way...). But we made it! I practically kissed the ground and then let my mom now that I got in okay. **Oh, and Mom... I didn't tell you at the time, but we had to ... read more
January 10th 2010
As Laurie made her way back to Chicago, Sun Mi and I were on the road to Arequipa via a 6-hour bus ride. The travel gods certainly have a sense of humor... Just after we located our seats and got comfy, about twenty members of the Peruvian Special Forces boarded the bus, carrying all of their weapons with them. At least we didn't have to worry about anyone taking our stuff! Then, about halfway through the trip, we discovered that we were also sharing the voyage with a traveling salesman (as he launched into his pitch at full-volume and continued for about 45 minutes). Arequipa is known as the "White City" because many of the buildings are made from a white volcanic rock called sillar. It's surrounded by volcanoes, deserts, and some of the world's deepest ... read more
January 9th 2010
We said goodbye to Cory and Cusco on the morning of the 27th and headed for Puno and Lake Titicaca. I've been told that Lake Titicaca is best seen from the Bolivian side, and I think I can see why now. Puno is nice enough, but doesn't really compare to Bolivia's port of Copacabana (at least from what I've seen in pictures and other blogs). But Americans have to pay around $150 to get the Bolivian visa, and we didn't feel it was worth it for only a couple of days. Our first night there was pretty low-key... we sat in our hostel, watched TV, and drank tea. We left the next morning around 6:30AM for a boat tour of the lake. It took about an hour to reach our first destination, Islas Flotantes (the Floating ... read more
January 2nd 2010
Machu Picchu was more impressive than I'd imagined. A new theory is that it was a actually a type of university, home to about 2,000 people, mostly young boys and priests. At that time over 500,000 people were living in Cusco. The reason that Machu Picchu didn't suffer the same fate as Saqsayhuaman and most of the other evidence of Incan culture is that is was hidden from the Spanish (it's above the clouds). The Incas started building it around 1430AD but was abandoned around a hundred years later. It was "discovered" by an American named Hiram Bingham in 1911 and is now a World Heritage Site, and one of the most popular tourist sites in South America (and the world). I know I should write more, but I'm getting ready to hop on a bus ... read more
January 2nd 2010
I have gone hiking before, but I can't say I've ever done anything like this. But to do this trek has been a dream of mine for a while, so I'm very thankful I had someone to do it with me. I was also blessed with a great group of people (four Kiwis, two South Africans, a dad and his two daughters from Colorado, a grandmother from Austin with both her son and grandson), fantastic guides (Juan and Manuel), and unbelievably strong and nimble porters (also called "chaskis"). I would highly recommend Peru Treks -- they took great care of us and fed us like kings! 22nd: We woke at 4:30AM, got ready, and were picked up around 5:45. Originally there were sixteen of us, but two had to drop out due to food poisoning (Cory ... read more
January 2nd 2010
This is the first chance I've really had to blog yet. Things have just been go, go, go! My trip started off pretty well with french toast, bacon, and a ride to the airport thanks to Karl. The travel down to Peru wasn't too bad, aside from a long layover in one of my least favorite airports on the planet (Miami). I was delayed a bit due to weather, so I didn't end up arriving in Lima until almost one hour after the scheduled time. Then it took a while to get my bag.. So I finally walked through immigration around 12:30AM. Poor Cory had been waiting since about 11AM for me to arrive! We grabbed a cab to our hostel in Miraflores, where we managed to get about four hours of sleep. In order to ... read more
December 16th 2009
Alas, has it really been this long since I’ve had some exciting trip to share? India seems so long ago; Japan feels like another lifetime; New Zealand was just a dream. Well, I will finally have something to write about again. To bring some of you up to speed, here’s a quick summary of my life up to now: Upon my return from India, I promptly started working and looking into attending graduate school. I assisted my father in creating a non-profit training institute with the hopes of one day starting a skills development program to attract new talent to the industry of non-destructive testing (NDT). Unfortunately, while there is general moral support by industry, academic, and governmental leaders, none of that praise has translated into financial backing. And despite jumping through all the IRS hoops, ... read more
March 18th 2008
The last ten days have practically made the whole trip worthwhile. From almost the moment we stepped off the train we were swept up by some of the nicest people I've ever met. Within a couple of hours of arriving in Udaipur, Burt was getting his first lesson on a pair of Indian tabla drums. Krishna, his new instructor, seemed excited to have someone who truly wanted to learn -- a real musician, as opposed to the regular tourists just wanting a one-hour lesson. Afterwards he invited us to his house for lunch with his wife and son. Lunch was extended and Krishna took Burt with him to the market to buy mutton (goat) while I stayed and had my hands decorated with henna by his wife (Heena) and niece (Preeti). We were then treated to ... read more
March 13th 2008
Goa is like Neverland for hippies and ravers. It's been trying to clean up its partying image but I'm not sure how well that's going... However, the beaches are very pretty and fresh seafood is always nice, so it wasn't a bad place to spend a few days. We mostly just bummed around Anjuna. There's a famous flea market there every Wednesday and we just happened to arrive Tuesday afternoon, so we got to explore that a bit. I picked up a nice pearl necklace for about USD$12! We rented a scooter for a couple of days and rode it over to a nearby beach called Little Vagator. It was such a nice day that we decided to lay out for a bit (If you know me, you know that I have many stories that start ... read more
March 5th 2008
We met a lovely man named Joy Francis on our way out of Kumily. He actually became our driver and tour guide. An ex-tea factory worker, he was full of stories and insights into the tea business in India. He really took to us and started referring to us as his son and daughter. ;) Instead of catching a bus all the way to Coimbatore, we decided to break up the journey a bit and stop in Munnar (a town recommended by Deepak) for a night. The drive up was gorgeous and Joy Francis kept us entertained and fed - we made a brief stop and he bought us some tea and banana bhaji (fritters). Munnar is a very popular tourist destination for Indians. We unfortunately arrived on a Friday so accommodation was limited, but Joy ... read more
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