RyMoKK

First, I have finally added photos to ALL of the blog entries that are photo-worthy. Sorry I wasn't able to do this as I wrote the blogs. Most of the internet connections in S.A. were just too slow in uploading......... Our last 2 days in South America were spent back at the Flying Dog Hostel in Lima. They were very uneventful, as Ryan was very ill with stomach problems. We tried to go paragliding our last day there, but there wasn't enough wind. Boo-hoo. Our flight out of Lima left at 11 p.m. and was easily the worst over-night light I've ever taken. I am officially boycotting Spirit Air, the worst airline on earth. Sure, the initial flight is cheap, but you have to pay for EVERYTHING else... your luggage, your seat, even a cup of ... read more

From Huacachina, we took a tour to Las Islas Ballestas, which means the Bow Islands. The islands are part of a marine reserve off the coast of Paracas, Peru. The islands are a popular tourist spot because they are full of different marine birds, sea lions, penguins, and dolphins. We got to see all three while we were there. From the port, we took a speed boat out to the islands. People don't get off on the islands like at Isla de Plata. We stayed on the boat and took a tour through the islands by water. It was really cool to see all the birds, sea lions, and a small family of Humbolt penguins. Industrial fishing is illegal in the reserve, but local fisherman are permitted to do traditional fishing, including diving to gather octopus, ... read more

When we arrived in Aguas Calientes, it was almost 10 p.m. and we just missed the closing time of the cultural center where you have to buy your entry tickets to Machu Picchu. We found a really cheap hostel to stay in that night called Hostal International. The next morning we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. so that I could go get in line at the cultural center and Ryan could go get in line at the bus stop. There were about 15 people ahead of me in line before the ticket office even opened at 5 a.m. After the first 2 people, who took about 20 minutes to get their tickets, the line moved really fast. The tickets cost 126 soles (about $42) and MUST be paid in soles. No US dollars, no ... read more

The flight to Cuzco is only 1.5 hours so we never reached a very high altitude and you could always see the beautiful clouds, mountains, and valleys down below. It was a truly breathtaking flight. We arrived by 8 a.m. and got conned by a taxi driver at the airport to not only pay him way too much to get into town, but also to stay at his hotel for $20/night. Looking back, I would’ve walked outside the airport parking lot and hailed my own taxi and gone to whatever hostel I wanted to. Tips for other travelers. So, we checked into his hotel and immediately got to work trying to schedule things for a trip to Machu Picchu. The lady at our hotel, also the owner’s wife, wanted to book everything for us (city tour ... read more

Lima was a really pleasant surprise for me. I had heard that it was dirty, grimy, dangerous, and gray. The only thing that I’ve found entirely true is that it’s gray. Yes, there are parts of Lima that are dirty, grimy, and probably dangerous. But the area of Miraflores and Barranco are really lovely, modern, clean, and pretty. I’m kind of enamored by Lima, actually. We read that all of the businesses moved out of the downtown part of the city and into Miraflores because it’s such a booming commercial center. It also happens to be walking distance from the ocean and the beachfront parks of Lima. There is a really pretty park called Parque Kennedy in the center and it’s surrounded by really good restaurants, shops, and hostels. It’s also full of kitties. We’ve been ... read more

We spent 2 full days traveling from Puerto Lopez, Ecuador to Lima, Peru. The first leg of the trip was to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. It has an awesome bus terminal that is huge, modern, clean, and also functions as a shopping mall. From there we went to the Ecuador border town (Huaca-something) to get checked out of the country. Then we took the same bus across the crazy border to Tumbes. Thank god we booked a bus straight through to Tumbes because it would’ve been hectic and difficult (and, we heard, dangerous) to cross on foot. We heard about taxis that, instead of taking you across the border, take you to a slum and police officers get in the taxi and make you pay them ludicrous amounts of cash in exchange for not ... read more

Ecuador vs. Colombia Overall, Colombia wins this battle. Colombia has much better transportation, but Ecuador is cheaper. Colombia is cleaner and more beautiful, but Ecuador has some really cool flowers and trees. The people in Colombia are very friendly and helpful and curious. The people in Ecuador vary from really nice and helpful, to reserved and standoffish, to rude. There are a LOT less tourists in Colombia. In Ecuador, there are tons of big groups of tourists all moving around together. Irritating! The border crossing from Ecuador to Peru is tricky and much more difficult than the Colombia-Ecuador crossing. ... read more

Traveling through Ecuador by bus is certainly not as nice or as easy as traveling through Colombia. Granted, it is definitely cheaper, but the buses usually suck… there are no bathrooms on the bus (even long distance ones), no A/C (open your window to cool you off, even though it’s going to piss off the people behind you!), and they are really old, rickety, and often smell bad. What’s more is that it seems like you have to change buses a hundred times just to get from one city to another. As I said before, it took 5 buses to get from the mountains in the middle of the country to the coastline. Well, our trip from Canoa to Puerto Lopez was ONLY coastline, but it still took several forms of transportation: 1 bus to San ... read more

Our next stop was Canoa, a verrrrrrry small beach town on the Pacific coast. It has all dirt roads, no street names, and it’s just a simple, laid-back surfing town. All the local kids surf and sell surfing lessons. It’s in a bay so the water is warm and safe and the waves are usually good. The beach is lined with bars and restaurants, a lot of which were closed because we were there mid-week. Cool place, but we didn’t get to experience it to its fullest. But first we had to get there… The bus ride to the Pacific coast of Ecuador was easily the worst bus ride we had taken up to this point in our journey. We had to take the only bus leaving Chuglilan at 4 a.m. back to the slightly larger ... read more