brettsinNZ

About a week before I arrived in Lima I began trying to change my flight home to the last week in August. Between the marathon training, very little money left and just a desire to return home I decided to change my original ticket which was for October. It was a little more difficult to change the ticket than I imagined because everything was booked up. I was left waiting until the agency found an opening for me. I flew to Lima from Cusco since the bus ride would have taken over 20 hours. I had arranged to stay with my aunt's family who live Lima. I spent two nights with them realizing that my Spanish still is not where I would like it to be. In my first half hour of meeting them I held ... read more

My first day in Arequipa I went to the hospital and finally got some antibiotics, which had me feeling better in a couple days. Arequipa was a nice city but the Plaza de Armas in the city center was gorgeous. The plaza was filled with palms, surrounded by beautiful architecture and was packed with people enjoying the great weather. Mountains are overlooking the city and also the volcano, Misty. I checked out their famous archeology museum and learned a lot about the Inca culture. The main attraction at the museum is the preserved 500 year old body of an Inca girl. She was about 14 years old when she was sacrificed and buried on the top of a mountain in the Andes. The Incas would sacrifice children as a way of appeasing the gods. They chose ... read more

When I arrived in Potosi it was 3am and one of the guys I was traveling with just realized someone had stole his backpack containing his $800 camera and passport. He handled the situation a lot better than I would have and he was able to sort things out. Potosi at 13,500 ft is the highest city in the world and was once one of the wealthiest due to its´ large amounts of silver. The mines here have a lot of history and are known for ending many lives through lung diseases and accidents. Tourists are given an oppurtunity to the see the horrible working conditions in the mines through tours. The only warning they give tourists is ¨Don´t participate if you are asthmatic or claustrophobic.¨ Since I have neither of these I jumped on the ... read more

My first stop after leaving Buenos Aires was Cordaba, the second largest city in Argentina. Not much was happening in this city except for a lot of political demonstrations and a few impressive churches. I did visit a nearby town called Alta Gracia, famous for being the home of Che Guevara duing his early years. His former house was turned into a museum that Fidel Castro even visited two years ago. (Check out the Motorcycle Diaries which is a great movie about Guevara´s travels through South America) I then took a 12 hour night bus to Salta which turned out to be a really great place. The city felt a little less westernized and was filled with stalls of people selling crafts and food. After meeting a few people in the hostel we decided to rent ... read more

I loved the atmosphere created by the extremely busy and narrow streets of Kathmandu. They were filled with vendors selling fake north face trekking gear, wool hats, books or bootleg DVDs. From all directions someone is trying to lure you into their store or rickshaw by using their great conversation starter, "hey friend, where you from?" I learned to ignore them because if I didn't I would not make it anywhere. Just about everyone is trying to make money off the tourists in Kathmandu, even the children, which is quite sad. There are a few kids who draw pictures and try to sell them to you on the streets and even follow you for a few blocks before finally giving up. I also met two young boys who said they wanted their picture taken by me, ... read more