gigiyogini

Turning down the Colombian and his repeated begging to stay in Cuenca, I was off to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. My friend Andrea lives there and I was so happy to be seeing her, I was smiling and bouncing down the street when I finally heard her voice on the phone! It just happened to be the perfect time for both of us, and we had a lot of catching up to do. Andrea lives in the newly formed American-style suburbs of Guayas. The house she lives in is a long structure with 4 'apartments' belonging to her family and their help. So even though they are together in a sense, they all have their private space. Andrea's space is bare, hardly any furniture, white, with lots of windows overlooking the yard which runs the length ... read more

Mancora is the perfect little beach town to rest a few days and even got a little bit of sunburn and a few mosquito bites! (just like home) I met some hippie-jewelry making types and was invited to a drum circle. haven't been to one of those since Miami!! it was amazing and met people from as close as Chicago and as far a Australia. After spending too much time at the travel agent trying to figure out the best and safest way to Ecuador, we came up with a good solution but required night buses and little sleep. Crossing the Peru/Ecuador border is easier and less crowded at night. Even immigration officials aren't in the mood for questioning at 2am. I did have a small problem though, my passport has literally three blank squares left ... read more

Trujillo, Peru's third largest city, is beautiful Spanish Colonial city with buildings painted in bright and bold colors amist numerous churches and street performers. The central part is easily walkable and dotted with many cafe's and shops. I stayed in a great hostel called the Colonial Hostel right in the center and booked excursions for the next few days. The first day of sightseeing included the Moche ruin temples. Many of the ruins are still intact because the rebuilt the temple on top of the old one (by filling it in with adobe and stones) so they are still in the process of digging out the many levels (and treasures!). The Moche civilization are older than the Inca and also performed human sacrifices for the gods (all the sacrificed bodies were found to be boys). Next ... read more

Huaraz is the base for many adventures within the Cordillera mountain range, some of the highest and snow capped mountains in Peru. The city of Huaraz is not so pretty, but it´s people give it a certain charm and vibrant personality. And it´s the first time i have seen other white people in a while! After finding the California Cafe (run by a real Cali native) and a yummy breakfast of pancakes, coffee and fresh yogurt with honey, I was ready to take in the city and book my adventures. trekking is the main attraction, but since the trekking is long (7 to 10 days) and often includes some ice climbing, I decided to stick with my original plan and do some rock climbing. My guide and I took off for the town of Monterey and ... read more

Leaving the curiosities of Nazca behind, I headed toward the coast to a small beach town called Paracas. Paracas is famous for the neaby Isla Ballestras, also called the poor man´s Galapagos Islands. The islands have many birds and sea lions. Right now is nesting season, and I was lucky to see hundreds and hundreds of birds (don´t ask me which types I couldn´t tell you) but they were awesome and the sea lions were cute and seemed as though some of them were striking poses for the cameras! Trying to figure out which direction to head next, instead of opting the easy route via Lima, I headed back inland to Huancayo. The road there hugs the mountainside and sitting on the left side allowed me great views, but also how close we were to the ... read more

Even though trekking is not my favorite activity, I decided that I should experience the world´s deepest canyon a little more personally.Signing up for a challenging 3 day hike for 50 dollars, how can you argue with that price? A 430 am pickup, I met the guide, Nestor. A short, cute guy who is from the Colca Canyon itself. As we waited for the two Irish girls who slept in, we danced some salsa in the hotel foyer. The van was full of trekkers and we all slept on the 4 hour ride out to the canyon. Our first stop, the lookout to watch the magnificent condors. With their amazing wingspan, they seem to just glide and soar against the canyon walls with barely a flap of their outstretched wings. One flew over me head and ... read more

all week long the people of Arequipa (Peru´s second largest city) have been celebrating the 468 anniversary of their city. There were many parades and fireworks. One night Diana and I were able to watch the parade from a restaurant balcony, where after some beers were joined by two nice ladies, one local and one from Arizona! At the end of the week, it was time for Diana to start her journey back to Miami via Lima. It was sad to see her go, and because the flights were packed, she was not able to go to the music festival with me. My friend Pepe Alva is a musician who was performing at the festival with many bands. After finally getting a hold of him, we met at his hotel where I met his band and ... read more

Getting from Cusco to Puno is possible by bus or train. The train is actually longer so we decided to take a day bus (9 hours) with a company called InkaExpress. For 50 USD you can get a bus with a tour guide and 4 sightseeing stops and lunch. Unfortunately for us, our guide was crap, in Spanish and in English! He just seemed so bored that the whole bus became bored because of him. One stop we saw the gaudiest church in the whole world! They don´t allow photos, so no proof!! We also saw some cool ruins and pre-Colombian art. At one stop they actually started to leave without us, and we were sitting in the front of the bus!! After many hours we learned that our destination Puno, being close to the border ... read more

I´m not exactly sure what day it is or how long I have been in Peru. Time is stretched here. And I couldn´t be more pleased!! I think it has been a little over a week, and already and done and seen so much!! arriving in Lima airport, and having to wait many hours due to my own cheapness about flights to Cusco, ended up paying the same price anyway, so lesson one learned very quickly!! Cusco is high in the Andes mounain range and it takes a couple of days to acclimatize to the altitude. Coca Tea several times a day is the best remedy (thank you for the tip Sil!!) coca leaves (the ones used to make cocaine) are medicinal in leaf form and is very useful to combat the nausea, headache, and other ... read more

As many of us were looking to get to Chiang Mai earlier, especially our tour leader Bom (he is from there) we traded our last day near the Lao/Thai border for extra time there. Crossing from Laos to Thailand is usually done by boat and then connecting to a bus. On the boat ride, I was giving a couple of massages, and then I was asked by Bom to say 'thank you' to the crew on behalf of the group. I asked him why he wanted me to do it, and he said it was because I was a grateful person. Chiang Mai is exactly how I remember it, busy and fun. 3 years ago I took a Thai Massage course and met a handsome, young, green-eyed Italian called Stefano. He was also in Chiang Mai ... read more