Mariya

Mashinka

Mariya

I have officially graduated Rutgers and have a bachelor's degree under my belt. So let the real adventures begin!



South America » Chile » Santiago Region » Providencia August 18th 2010

We´ve been in Santiago since last Monday night (8/16), which is probably the longest we´ve spent in any one place. Our expectations were low for Chile since we heard negative opinions about Chile how the people aren´t that friendly and they can´t dance salsa. However our minds started to change right away on our bus ride into Santiago where we befriended Maria Elena, a professor at the University of Santiago Chile, who not only helped us find a hostel, but she drove us there. So far Chileans are very friendly. On Tuesday we met up with Lex, Espen, and her parents, which was sooo lovely. It´s such an amazing feeling seeing familiar, warm faces when you´ve been traveling for so long. We perused the city and caught up on life. They also warned us that the ... read more
Me and Sim at the top
Santiago center
Paila Marina in Mercado Central

South America » Argentina » Mendoza » Mendoza August 16th 2010

We arrived in Mendoza last Friday (8/13) to snow flurries! I couldn´t believe it was snowing in August...I´m still trying to wrap my brain around that. Snow means that it was cold, so we were happy to get to Chimba Hostal, which was very warm and cozy. That afternoon we met with Gaby and Fede, who we had met on the bus from Peru into Bolivia, and drove up to the mountains to drink some mate out a gourde. All Argentinians do this--they are always carrying around their thermos and mate gourde everywhere they go. On our drive up, however, we got pulled over randomly by the transit police (random checks are apparently normal) and Fede had to give in his license and registration etc. Turns out he was driving with his lights off (you always ... read more
Sim and me at the park gates
Mate is stronger than I thought
Fede driving us to the mountains

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires August 11th 2010

We arrived on Sunday afternoon (8/8) in Buenos Aires in hopes of couchsurfing, but we really haven´t had any luck with people following up on their responses...really frustrating. So after going to the Sunday market near the Recoleta Cemetary, we luckily found a spot at the Tango Backpackers Hostel where we left our bags for the day. The market was amazing with so many unique artesans and crafts. It was so refreshing to see some new creativity after seeing so much of the same artesanías in the other countries. Our first impression of B.A. was that is reminded us a lot of NY except with a very European feel. There isn´t nearly as much traffic as in NY though and it is much cleaner. Men´s hairstyles (including mullets) have also made us cock our heads in ... read more
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South America » Argentina » Misiones » Puerto Iguazú August 11th 2010

The bus ride to Puerto Iguazù was 23 hours, but it was a glorious 23 hours. Sim and I had the entire bottom of the bus to ourselves for the first hour and a half of the ride on Thursday so we ended up working out in the aisle in anticipation of sitting for the 22 hours to come. It was hilarious. The Argentinian bus service was so first class, especially after nearly freezing to death in Bolivia. For dinner we had hot ravioli with a full glass of wine and then a chocolate liqueur for dessert. I don´t think I´ve ever had chocolate liqueur after a regular dinner, let alone one on 4 wheels! When we got to Puerto Iguazù we went to Hostel Park Iguazù, which was in our guidebook and not far from ... read more
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South America August 5th 2010

We have spent the last 4 days in Salta recuperating from the ridiculousness of our Bolivia adventures. Comfortable buses, hot showers, and heaters next to our beds have been too comforting to leave immediately. Sim got a stomach bug on Monday, I had an irritated eye from the Bolivian jungle, and it was been abnormally cold for the region, so we were hibernating in the hostel next to the heaters. It was a much needed break though, and I finally got to do laundry! Woot for clean clothes! When we ventured into town, we perused the main square, Plaza 9 de Julio, and did some shopping because I am in desperate need of new jeans and we both wanted to get boots. I was lucky enough to find boots in my size, but Sim left empty ... read more
Us at the waterfalls
I´ve named them doosters
Sim and me onthe Teleferico


We took an overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni that was supposed to leave at 9pm on Friday night, but didn´t leave until 10:30pm due to mechanical issues. It was so late that they served us our boxed dinner in the bus terminal! When we got on the bus--it was definitely NOT what we paid for, but we discovered that we would have to switch buses 3 hours later in Oruro to a nicer bus so we dealt with it. However, when we arrive in Oruro at 3am, the new bus wasn´t there (of course) so we ended up waiting another hour for the new bus to come. Grrr. Our supposed 8 hour ride turned into 13 hours with all the mishaps, but we luckily made it to Uyuni in time to book a one ... read more
Old train track
Me chillin in the train cemmetary
Sim hangin in there


We decided to fly to Rurrenabaque to save time instead of suffering the winding 18 hour bus ride into the Bolivian lowlands. It felt so good to fly and get to our destination in less than an hour! The plane we took only fit about 14 people and I could pretty much have a conversation with the pilot since I was so close to him, so that in itself was an awesome experience. We landed safely and took the shuttle bus to the airport, which was about the size of an average house. Awesome. While waiting for our bus into town, we met half of our group: Chase, Lauren, and Katie from California. When we got to Rurrenabaque we quickly met the two Belgians in our group, Pieter and Bram, and packed 8 of us into ... read more
Sim and me on the motor canoe
Me and a capibara
Me trying out the bait

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » La Paz July 28th 2010

We left Copacabana with our bellies full of api on Saturday morning in a minibus full of at least 18 people, which made me a bit queezy after Sim explained the high probability of vans tipping over when above capacity. As a result, I was pretty much death gripping Sim´s leg at every winding curve over a cliff. We made it to the the crossing of the Lake Titicaca straight, at which point the foreigners were ushered off the bus while the locals stayed on the bus to cross the water on the bus...we definitely didn´t appreciate watching our packs floating away from us while we were still on shore--needless to say we had to run after our beeping minibus as it started rolling away on the other shore. Noted: refuse to get off the bus ... read more
I wasn´t kidding about the llama fetuses
Cholita wrestling!
Sunday´s cultural concerts and activities


We left Cuzco on Wednesday (July 24th) with plans to stay in Puno to check out the gorgeous Lake Titicaca; however, upon arriving in Puno and seeing what a shanty town it was, we quickly decided to go straight into Bolivia to Copacaba instead. We had just missed the last bus to cross the border so I talked to a collectivo driver and convinced 8 Argentinians and 4 Europeans to change their plans and cross the border with us via minibus before border control closed. hehehe Success. We crossed the border just in time and paid the steep $135 visa charge to enter Bolivia--Sim and I were the only ones. Man do I want an EU passport...We arrived in Copacabana and found a room for 25 Bolivianos (aka $3.50!) Dirt cheap. It was a bit cold ... read more
Our first glasses of api
Me on Lake Titicaca shore
The famous anchor

South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu July 20th 2010

We woke up at 3:30am so with could begin out climb up to Machu Picchu by 4:15am in order to be one of the first 400 in line to get an entrance stamp to climb up to Wayna Picchu. The town was dark and deserted minus the people who were still getting back to their hostels from going out that night...and we were heading to Machu Picchu... After passing the que for the first buses up to MP, we climbed the Inca trail stairs to the top for an hour and 15 minutes. We started with loads of layers on to protect from the morning chill and ended in our t-shirts absolutely drenched in sweat from the non-stop uphill climb. We got in line to 5:30am and we were number 394 and 395 for the Wayna ... read more
4am wake up!
Sim & me post 1.5 hour climb by 5:30am
Line of people ahead of us already




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