The Search for the Magical Frijoles

Gorilla Tracking

2011-05-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the hiatus! I've been traveling around western Uganda with my mom for the past week and a half. One of the highlights of our trip was definitely Mountain Gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest. There are about 700 mountain gorillas remaining in the world, all of whom live in Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC. More than half of them currently live in Uganda.

We visited the Rushegura family, consisting of 19 gorillas including a 4-week old baby!

The silver back/alpha male of the Rushegura family

Besigye Attacked and Arrested

2011-05-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, opposition leader Kizza Besigye was brutally attacked by police officers who broke the windows of his car and sprayed him in the face with tear gas from close range. He is now in Nairobi receiving treatment and luckily has regained some of his sight. The attacks angered many Ugandans, leading to protests on Friday. Museveni's (president since 1986) military police responded violently with a great deal of tear gas as well as live ammo. Several protesters were killed and more than a hundred were injured. Besigye continues to encourage the peaceful walk-to-work movement.

Mutatus!

2011-05-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

Kampala’s public transportation around the city center and to suburbs is based around taxis or vans called mutatus. Mutatu lines run to and from taxi parks right at the center of town. If you are outside the center and want to get to another neighborhood you can board any mutatu which will invariably be going to the center, then, in one of several large taxi parks like the one pictured above, you must find the spot from which mutatus to your destination depart. Most mutatu rides cost 1000 shillings (less than fifty cents US) although prices have recently risen, infuriating many Ugandans and leading to protests.

Mutatus are meant to hold 15 passengers, but drivers will pack in many more whenever possible. I’ve heard of drivers fitting as many as 25 passengers into a single mutatu!

Layover in Istanbul

2011-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

This is a bit late, but per request of my mother, here are some pictures from my layover. I flew Turkish airlines to get to Uganda and had a nine hour layover in Istanbul. Rather than wander around the airport for this time as I've done a few times before (eleven miserably boring hours in the Frankfurt airport), I chose to hit some of the city's touristy spots. Pictures below:

The Blue Mosque: It was closed, but gorgeous from the outside!

I had a lovely walk along the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul's old city.

I had time to walk around in Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia, a basilica/mosque/museum that was built in the 6th century AD. It is known for its beautiful painted and architectural details, particularly for its decadent mosaics depicting Christian themes despite the church's conversion into a mosque in 1453.

Ugandan Cuisine

2011-04-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've had a few opportunities to try traditional Ugandan cuisine so far. There are a lot of starches involved: Matoke, a mash made of boiled green bananas, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Then a sauce, either with meat or peas. In all honesty, it isn't my favorite cuisine, a bit heavy and bland for my taste. Luckily, you can find just about any type of food here in Kampala from Ethiopian to Italian (lots of pizza) to Indian to Mexican; they even have Sushi!

Ugandan Scaffolding

2011-04-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is crazy, right?!!

Downtown Kampala

2011-04-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went downtown twice: once to buy a cell phone and once to see Kampala's central market called Owino. I'd heard that this is where all of the good produce in Kampala can be found. From there, it is purhased by small vendors/market owners and then sold in other areas past-prime and at a higher price.

I was also a bit curious about the protests going on around the country, some of which are happening downtown, over a rise in the cost of living--namely the cost of mutatus (public transportation vans) have gone up by about 200 shillings, the equivalent of 7 or 8 cents US. This rise in price profoundly impacts Ugandans who commute into the city for work. As a result, citizens are walking to work in protest.

This part is a bit confusing to me, but since these protests were initiated by presidential candidate Kizza Besigye (lost the last three years of elections to Museveni, who has been president since 1986), the Museveni administration has made all protesting illegal. Not sure how walking to work can be illegal, but apparently the police are trying put a stop to it. On Thursday, Besigye was arrested and was "accidentally" shot in the hand by the police as he was brought into custody. This has enraged members of Besigye's opposition party and led to further protests. Rumor has it that a policeman was gruesomely killed by a mob of protestors over the weekend. There have also been protests at Makerere University in downtown Kampala after Universty officials made a movement to double tuition fees.

I didn't find evidence of any protests while walking around downtown, but I did find the area to be chaotic. Taxis and motorcycles called boda bodas seem to come at you from every angle, and streetside vendors shout Mzungu (meaning white person) at you as you pass by. I definitely enjoyed my visit to Owino market. Downtown Kampala certainly carries the excitement of a developing country, still a bit rough around the edges, but overflowing with enterprise and life! Pictures below...

Arrived in Kampala

2011-04-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the Educate! house in Kampala around 3am on Thursday morning, just as lightning struck the house's power source...hence this delayed post! I've been having a great time so far getting to know housemates Brendan, Libby, and Maggie and meeting a bunch of their friends. The house is great, here are some pictures:

Our lovely garden

Livng room

Kitchen

And crazy house dog, Akiki (sp?)

Heading to Uganda!

2011-04-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

This evening, I take off for Uganda. From now until the end of June, I will be living in a house in Kampala--Uganda's capital and largest city. I will be doing volunteer work for Educate! photographing students in schools around Uganda and doing whatever else I can to contribute to this non-profit and the inspiring work they do all over Uganda! I am beyond excited to experience a part of the world so completely new to me. I will try to post regular updates here for anyone interested in what I'm up to.

We're back!

2010-05-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Rives and I are back in NYC after three wonderful months in South America. Thank you all for checking in on us throughout our travels. We still have a lot of great photos and observations from our final weeks that we'd like to post here, so stay tuned for entries on Mendoza, Santiago, and more!

Our current plans:

Rives will spend the summer living in New York City and taking art and culinary classes.

I'll be working for AAB Productions for a few weeks (In NYC this week and at the Cannes Film Festival starting on Saturday). Then I'll be traveling to London and Sicily because I deserve a vacation, right? I'll likely return to NYC for the rest of the summer before gearing up for season 2 of The Holiday Lighting Pros of Seattle next fall.

Hotdog Condiments

2010-05-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Hotdogs get a lot more attention in Argentina than they do in the states. The most basic hotdog comes with at least 5 or 6 condiments. We haven't gotten the chance to try one down here yet, but we'll give you our feedback when we do!

This was about half of the display, all exclusively for hot dogs!

Mannequins of Mendoza

2010-05-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Getting all Manga on us, creepy!

We're in Mendoza

2010-04-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

36th Annual Buenos Aires Book Fair

2010-04-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

One of our tour books highly recommended this Feria de Libros as not to be missed. It occurs once a year and apparently librarians from far and wide travel to Buenos Aires for the event. We were quite disappointed upon arriving at the festival to find a glorified Barnes and Noble that you had to pay to enter. All the books were new and overpriced and the fair seemed to be run by large book stores who had shelled out an unnecessary amount of money to create mid-sized commercial bookstores throughout the massive event space, much of which was catered to children. Here are some photos of our experiences in the fair...

Apparently, we missed all the drama: later that day, violence broke out at the release of a book by journalist, Gustavo Noriega. The book's controversial subject matter (which apparently criticizes the corrupt government statisticians) provoked some 10-15 people to begin throwing chairs into the audience.

Casa de John

2010-04-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

John (friend from high school) has generously let us crash with him for the three weeks we've spent in Buenos Aires. He lives in an amazing group house in the congreso neighborhood. John and, believe it or not, his twenty roommates along with a handful of squatters like us inhabit a complex of three connected houses. The setup of the house is tough to capture in photo, but here are some highlights...

One of the houses' three kitchens seen from the roofdeck

Inside one of the kitchen/living rooms

View of the cathedral across the street from John's roofdeck

Beautiful rooftop garden

This one's a bit confusing. It's the view down into John's house and into the house below as well-- there are lots of roofless open areas like this in the complex.

Another kitchen/living room

Gonzo

house pet/devil-cat

Oddities

2010-04-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Jesus Foosball

Montevideo, Uruguay

Carne

2010-04-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Argentinian meat is said to be some of the best in the world. The high-quality beef that's omnipresent in Argentine restaurants and supermarkets is famously hormone and cruelty free, and is extremely lean due to the amount of exercise that the cows receive in their open pastures. Given the fact that Rives and I watched Food Inc. the night before we left for South America, and have more or less sworn off American beef, we've been extrmely happy to indulge in Argentine carne. Some of our favorite meat-speriences:

Jumbo parilla in Montevideo's Marcado del Puerto, a charming, enormous marketplace filled with open parilla restaurants. (Technically in Uruguay, not Argentina, but close enough!)

This waiter was trying to explain the different cuts of meat to me, but I got a bit distracted.

Huge delicious steaks (ojo de bife and bife de chorizo) at Rosalia, a traditional parilla restaurant in Palermo, Buenos Aires. We requested that the steaks be "jugoso," or "juicy."

Brochette de lomo at La Cabrera, one of the most excellent (albeit, tourist-filled) steak houses in Buenos Aires. If you go here, get this. Service includes a bounty of outstanding free side dishes.

Choripan was our street food of choice in BsAs. Juicy chorizo, fresh crispy bread, and chimichurri. que rico.

Maté (Uruguay)

2010-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

We've seen plenty of the popular beverage yerba maté so far in our travels, but nowhere has it been nearly as prevalent as here in Uruguay. It's hard to walk a block through the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, without passing a Uruguayan with gourd and thermos of hot water in hand happily sipping the infusion through a bombilla, a type of straw that strains the dried leaves as they steep in hot water. They drink it everywhere...sitting on the bus, walking along the boardwalk, lounging on the beach...

One lady--in the spirit of Uruguayan hospitality and kindness we've experienced here--offered us a sip from her gourd and explained to us how despite the widespread popularity of the beverage here in Montevideo, you can't order it in any bar or restaurant, everyone must carry around the gourd and thermos of hot water themselves.

Homemade Empanadas

2010-04-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

We recently discovered empanada wrappers sold for next to nothing at a grocery store in Buenos Aires...we were overjoyed and have made homemade empanadas several times since. I'm sure that making the wrappers yourself can't be too difficult. We'll definitely have to learn when we get back to the states.

You can put anything under the sun into these little wrappers. This time, we chose to stuff them with steak, caramelized onions, celery, and roquefort. We also made a sweet one with plum and roquefort that turned out great!

You can wrap them up in a number of different ways.

Then toss them in the oven for about 20 minutes...we would tell you a specific temperature, but John's oven is too broken to set and the empanadas seem to turn out tasty regardless.

Find stick to hold oven closed if necessary...

Enjoy!

Yoga Farm

2010-04-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Apologies for infrequency of posts, as of late. We're revving back up, we promise, starting now!

Rives and I returned Friday night from five days at an organic yoga farm located 90km outside of Buenos Aires. The farm is run by Hare Krishnas who abstain from meat, eggs, onions, garlic, alcohol, and dating, among other things. As volunteers, each day we received lodging, yoga, tai chi, and meditation classes, and three delicious vegetarian meals in exchange for 5 hours of labor and $15 USD. We were really excited to detox and revitalize after a week full of red meat, red wine, and very little sleep in Buenos Aires. We convinced our friends Carlito and Alexi, with whom we'd met up in BsAs, to join us on the farm.

Unfortunately, it rained for three of the five days. Since we couldn't work on the farm in the rain and mud, we were relieved from volunteer duties, and, thus, spent hours on end lazing and reading and playing cards. By the end of day three of constant sleeping, being fed, and playing on the floor of the temple, we felt like enormous spoiled babies. It was awesome!

When the sun finally came out, we got a chance flex our (atrophied) muscles on the farm. We would have loved to have stayed longer than five days, but we had to be back in BsAs by Saturday morning for Lauren and Deirdre's arrival.

Inside the temple, where most of our classes took place. Ommmm shantiiiiii.

tai chi class

typical lunch: rice, salad, pureed sweet potatos, squash, spinach, and potatoes, fried whole-wheat chapati chips. yum.

Carlito working on the construction of a mud hut

tending the flower garden

Not bad, eh?

snack break

Rives and Susanne working the land

Our cozy bunk house

Street Art

2010-04-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

Buenos Aires has a thriving, prolific street art scene, the origins of which are often attributed to a backlash against the economic crisis that Argentina experienced in the early 2000s. The city's street art culture, bolstered by a lack of police interest in graffiti, provides constant, colorful entertainment on our long walks around the city.

Samps

2010-04-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Though food samples aren't as copious in South America as they are in, say, the Bowery Whole Foods, we do manage to track them down...

Crackers, jam with preserved lemons, spicy eggplant tapenade, and alfajores cookies at the San Telmo Sunday flea market. Boo yah!

We're in Buenos Aires

2010-04-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Supertourists: Iguazu Falls, AR

2010-04-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

On Monday we headed to Iguazu National Park with our friends Katie and Lea. We spent the day exploring the Iguazu Falls, which are taller than Niagra falls and twice as wide. Supertourism ensued.

Landscapes

2010-04-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

A view out the window on the busride from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to Salta, Argentina. This 10-hour busride takes you through the Andes and is known to pass by many beautiful landscapes...lush ones, barren ones, colorful ones like that pictured, we even passed through a violent hail storm.

Couch Surfing in Salta

2010-04-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, everyone! Buffy, Granddad, Pam, Mom, Dad, Mooch, Neen, Chloe- wish I could be with you today. Here at Iguazu Falls, things aren't very festive, though we may make eggs for lunch in honor of the holiday... anyways... hmm... let's talk Salta...

I've been a member of couchsurfing.org for a few years now, but, in Salta, I finally had my first CouchSurfing experience! A little about CouchSurfing, from their website:

CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. Since 2004, members have been using our system to come together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. Today, over a million people who might otherwise never meet are able to share hospitality and cultural understanding.

CouchSurfing members share hospitality with one another. These exchanges are a uniquely rich form of cultural interaction. Hosts have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. "Surfers," or travelers, are able to participate in the local life of the places they visit. We also give more people the chance to become travelers, because "surfing" lowers the financial cost of exploration.

In fewer words, the website lets you search for generous people all over the world who have some free space and are down to host travelers.

My search for a CouchSurfing host in Salta led me to the profile of Luciano Paludi, a couchsurfing.com member offering up an extra bedroom in the home, right in the heart of Salta, that he shares with his mother and his dog, Duke. Rives and I were ecstatic when Luciano promptly responded to our request to stay with him for a few nights. We were in!

Luciano on his balcony (taken from his couchsurfing.com profile, since Rives' camera is AWOL)

Even though our bus got in a few hours late, Luciano was all smiles when we arrived at his doorstep last Monday night. Our private room with a double bed was absolutely ideal, and we were also allowed to use the family's kitchen and laundry room! During our four days in Salta, Luciano showed us around town, took us to his favorite empanada* spot, played us excellent traditional Argentinian music on his guitar, and walked with us up the 1070 steps of Cerro San Bernardo hill, which overlooks Salta from 883 feet above.

View from the hilltop

We couldn't have had a better experience, and we're totally sold on the CouchSurfing project. Hopefully, once we're back in Seattle (or Brooklyn this summer??), we'll be able to return the karmic favor and host some surfers!

*One aspect of Rives and my journey that his, shockingly, been omitted from the blog thus far, is our empanada habit. We're total empanada junkies. Empanadas are about 30-50 cents a pop and are available on almost every street of almost every town or city we've visited. Rarely does a day go by without at least one empanada purchase. I'm getting hungry just writing about them. Expect a full post about them soon.

Ham Crackers

2010-04-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

We were served these ham-flavored crackers on the bus to Salta, quite unusual. The crackers were the same pinkish color as the packaging...they come in hamburger-flavor as well.

Lunar Landscapes

2010-04-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) is an extremely touristy little town--gringos outnumber locals by a longshot. There are many companies vying for your patronage on a number of different tours including star gazing, lunar landscapes, sandboarding, etc etc. We chose the lunar landscapes tour which takes you through the "Valle de la Muerte" (Death Valley) and "Valle de la Luna" (Moon Valley).

Tourists by the busload

photo-op

I don't know if this qualifies as lunar, certainly beautiful

Death Valley

Liz in a salt mine

all of Death Valley is made of salt, the miners even built their homes using big bricks of it for lack of better materials!

Moon Valley

a rock monster

watching the sunset in La Valle de la Luna

Doppelgangers

2010-04-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

This vampire is the mascot for an ice cream company we've come across frequently in South America. Doesn't he look a bit like John Travolta?

San Pedro de Atacama

2010-03-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of nights in the quaint desert town of San Pedro de Atacama. The center of town is packed with restaurants and shops. In the central square, giant trees protect a scattering of benches from the harsh desert sun.

...but literally a two minutes walk from the center is complete nothingness; desert for as far as the eye can see. This is the view out the front door of our hostel, on the top left you can see the Licancabur volcano.

Mannequins of Arica

2010-03-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

I can easily say that the mannequins of Arica are much creepier than any we've come across in our travels so far--they're dated, broken, dramatic, depressed, angry, bald, naked...you name it:

Yes, these mannequins are chained together by their necks... perhaps it takes a bit more to catch the attention of South American shoppers?

Octopus Ceviche

2010-03-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

On our last night in Arica, our hostel owner's friend Eddie (owner of a popular empanada stand), taught us how to make octopus ceviche. Now, we'll teach you!

First, boil the whole octopus for 45 minutes-1 hour in salted water. You'll know when it'd tender because you'll be able to cut it with a fork. (A lot of recipes reccomend putting a cork in the water to help tenderize the octo. Eddie didn't, but it can't hurt, right? You can also freeze the octopus to tenderize it, or beat it with a rolling pin...)

For the marinade:

- 5 tblsp lime juice

- 1/4 c finely chopped red onion

- 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
- 2 tsp finely chopped scallions
- finely chopped hot pepper, serrano or red chilies to taste (we
used one hot pepper)
- salt and pepper to taste

Cut the octopus into bite-sized pieces, toss with the marinade, and voila!

On-site with Costa Norte Surf Magazine (Arica)

2010-03-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had the good fortune of tagging along on a Costa Norte Surf Magazine video-shoot for 16-year old surfing prodigy, Guillermo Satt. He was interviewed against the backdrop of some awesome coastal caves just south of Arica.

Arica Surf House

2010-03-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Arica Surf House has edged out Pariwana as our favorite hostel in South America. The space itself is so terrific that one hardly notices the complete lack of amenties (breakfast, hot water, organized activities, etc.). We´ve spent four nights here, and are continuing south tonight with heavy hearts and excellent suntans. Next stop: San Pedro de Atacama.

Partially open-air common room/kitchen with unreal view of the stars at night.

Our airy, bunk-bed-free dorm room.

The hostel´s owner, Kurt, is always down to dole out surfing tips or lead a workshop in sushi-making.

Arica

2010-03-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

We have been having a wonderful time in Arica, a beach town in Northern Chile. It truly feels like vacation...we've been reading on the beach, cooking great meals, swimming in the ocean, and watching friends from the hostel surf what are supposedly some of the best breaks in South America.

Peru Recap

2010-03-22T05:43:00.001-07:00

best hostel: Pariwana, Cusco

best free breakfast: crepes at Bothy Hostel, Arequipa

best restaurant: Granja Heidi, Cusco

hottest commodity: clean drinking water (close second: toilet paper)

best outdoor activity: trekking in Colca Canyon

coolest cultural landmark: Santa Catalina Convent, Arequipa (close second: Coricancha, Cusco)

favorite new band: Velandia y la Tigra, Colombia

best food: ceviche, Punto Azul, Lima (close second: ham, banana, and egg pizza at Chez Maggie, Cusco)

worst food: anticuchos (cow heart)

best guilty pleasure: wafers. we were up to a pack a day for a while...

best hosts: Gustvao and Miguel, Lima

biggest disappointment: Machu Picchu was closed (though we knew that when we booked our trip)

scariest moment: being positive during every taxi ride in Cusco that we were being kidnapped...

biggest lesson learned: bargain for EVERYTHING. Even hostel prices are negotiable. (close second: splurge on the luxury busses)

Public Markets in Peru

2010-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Most of the cities and towns we´ve visited in Peru have had large public markets near the center of town. In them you can buy anything from colorful textiles to cow snouts to live animals for no more then a couple of dollars. Here are some pictures from the public market in Arequipa. Vegetarians and anyone squeamish beware, these photos are not for the faint of heart!!

these markets generally span several city blocks

frog juice, no joke

We´ve heard quite a few Peruvians boast of having thousands of types of potatoes in their country. At the central market in Arequipa, we finally got a visual.

llama heads, I´m really sorry for making you look at this, but CRAZY, right???

skinned frogs

you can buy all sorts of live animals...guinea pigs, bunnies, turkeys, parakeets, etc

Andean Apparel

2010-03-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Boy´s uniform on the island of Taquile

Lake Titicaca, Peru

We have found ourselves constantly admiring the beautiful colors and patterns of traditional Peruvian attire

Chivay, Peru

Exploring Lake Titicaca and Taquile Island

2010-03-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon we returned to Puno after an incredibly well photo-documented overnight on the island of Taquile in Lake Titicaca.

En route to the island, our boat stopped off at one of the amazing, floating Uros Islands, all of which are man-made from tortora reed. Inhabitants lay down a new layer of reeds every 15 days.

The women of the island, clad in a rainbow of textiles, cheerfully greet visitors.

Rives and Molly, (our friend from Colombia who we met trekking in the Colca Canyon), chowing down on some tortora reed.

After a 3 hours boat ride, we arrived at Taquile Island.

Our delish first meal on the island: fried trout.

The vegetarian option was less appealing... omelette with french fries. Peruvians manage to work fries in to every single meal!

We spent the night at the mud-walled home of a local family with four adorable little girls.

We spent the whole afternoon and evening hanging out in the town's main square with a bunch of awesome kids.

Sebastian, our friend from Berlin, showing one of our new little friends how to work a digital camera.

All of the boys and men on the island wear these funny hats. If a man is married, his hat is all red. The red and white caps worn by these lads signify that they are swingin' single.

The kids schooled us in soccer...

...though we blame the altitude (12,507 feet).

sunrise

Molly and Rives swimming in the frigid Lake Titicaca.

Best seats in the house for the boat ride back to Puno. What a trip!

Colca Canyon

2010-03-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a three day trek through southern Peru's beautiful Colca Canyon. We met great people, saw the condors, tried alpaca for the first time (twice in one day), and the views were absolutely breathtaking. I could go on and on, but I think the pictures describe it best. Enjoy!

Colca Canyon, 4160 meters deep (more than twice the Grand Canyon)

condors!

Juan de Chu Chu, where we spent our first night in the canyon

our first taste of alpaca. not bad. I think it tastes a lot like pork.

us with our trek-mates at our first night´s lodging

view from our hut

Liz eating pacay, a delicious fruit that grows on trees throughout the canyon. Our friend Dionne from Lima taught us about them and we burned through loads of them!

success!!!

Mannequins of Arequipa

2010-03-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Walking around Arequipa, I couldn't help but notice that the mannequins here are a bit more expressive than I'm used to...they're pretty creepy!

Rafting outside of Cusco

2010-03-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

We spent a great day white water rafting class III and IV rapids outside of Cusco with our friends Kolby and John. There's so much to do it Cusco!

Puppy! (Arequipa)

2010-03-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

The hostal we're staying at in Arequipa is nothing special except for the adorable pug puppy, Carlitos, who lives here!

Farewell, Cusco. Good Morning, Arequipa.

2010-03-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Arequipa at 6:30AM this morning after an incredible overnight bus ride. We heeded our own advice, and splurged on the 60 soles ($20) Flores luxury bus with enormous black leather seats, overhead lights, free dinner (some little bits of beef and onions with rice and a gooey, gelatinous pineapple desert), and a movie, (Attila the Hun... special), in English. When the bus pulled into the Arequipa bus terminal, we were so comfy that we didn't want to de-board! Prior to our trip, we were advised by a friend to purchase some Xanex to ease the pain of bus travel. We wrote the name Diazepam (the Peruvian version of Xanex), on a piece of paper, and, at a local pharmacy, the following conversation ensued:

Rives: (handing over the piece of paper) I need Diazepam, please.
Pharmacist: No. Need prescription for that.
Rives: My doctor says that I need it for my fear of flight.
Pharmacist: Need prescription.
Rives: He said that I didn't.
Pharmacist: Yes, you do... OK, I only give you ten pills. Generic is alright?
Rives: Yes, thank you. How much?
Pharmacist: Ten Soles ($3.33)

We really, really miss Cusco. There were moments when we considered ditching the Buenos Aires plan altogether and settling there instead. Every day we found another excuse to extend our stay. (ex: We could go whitewater rafting tomorrow! Velandia y La Tigra is playing tomorrow night! We need to eat a few more meals at Granja Heidi!) But we did it. We finally tore ourselves away from Cusco's divine clutches, and we're ready to take on Arequipa!

A Lesson in Colombian Music

2010-03-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

New friends, Paulo and Jorje taught us a bunch about Colombian music the other day. I have lots of great new stuff on my ipod. I'll try and figure out how to put up an mp3 you can download, but for now here's a video by a relatively new Colombian band called Systema Solar, enjoy!

Peruvian Banksy?

2010-03-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

Spotted near one of our favorite Cusco bars. No evidence to suggest it's actually Banksy, but certainly brings him to mind.

Granja Heidi (Cusco)

2010-03-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Frommer's Peru 2006, we've discovered our new favorite restaurant in the world. It's called Granja Heidi. They ascribe to the slow food philosophy, but the food is well worth the wait. The restaurant was started by a German couple and the majority of their ingredients come from their farm just outside Cusco. Everything is organic and local, their homemade cheeses and yogurts are to die for! Believe it or not, we stayed an extra night in Cusco for the sole purpose of having every meal at this restaurant...

Each meal begins with a delicious amuse bouche, usually a small slice of freshly baked bread topped with some homemade cream cheese.

Delicious fresh squeezed juice (we prefer the banana-mango)

Crepes!

Amazing mixed salad with chicken (and our new friend Joanna!)

The tomato and indian spice milk of Granja's extensive milk menu (all from their own cows of course)

Stalker pic of Granja Heidi!

Andean Apparel (fashion inspiration from our travels)

2010-03-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Henry, 17

(percussionist, Velandia y la Tigra)

Google Map

2010-03-09T09:46:00.001-08:00

Now you can follow us on our customized Google map!

Green markers show places we've been.

Purple markers show where we're heading.

View Liz and Rives in South America in a larger map

Hanging out in Cusco

2010-03-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

We've had a great time in Cusco so far! Some pictures....

Today we went on a horseback ride to the Incan ruins of Saqsaywaman

We got off our horses and hiked for a bit. Photo op with our new Swedish friend Andreas.

The 3 hour trip cost 15 soles or about $5!!

We spent most of yesterday meadering through the cobblstoned streets of Cusco. This is the view from Qoricancha (Templo del Sol).

Qoricancha interior

Best Hostel Ever! (Cusco)

2010-03-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

We had planned to stay with someone we found through couchsurfers.com in Cusco, but had some trouble connecting at the last minute so we checked into the Pariwana Hostel and couldn't be happier. This place is literally paradise and is full of amazing people including a Colombian band called Velandia and La Tigra. Last night a gig they had in town cancelled and they played a show in the Pariwana bar/dining room, great fun!

This one's a little tough to see, but it is my favorite room...the tv room, and the floor is covered in pillows and bean bags. They also have a laundry service and free breakfast!

Photos From the Bus

2010-03-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

Adios Lima!

The moonscape view from our side of the bus...

the other side had a view of the ocean!

Break for dinner!

Views in the morning.

Waiting for an hour and a half because of road work! We bought some corn and cheese from these nice ladies...

Our glorious first meal at Chez Maggy in Cusco of ham, sausage, banana, and egg pizza and mate de coca, a tea that's supposed to help travelers adjust to Cusco's high altitude of 11,000 feet. Granted we were starving, but this pizza was delicious, we'll have to try and recreate it when we get back to the states!

Lima to Cusco

2010-03-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

On Thursday afternoon, we optimistically boarded the Circa bus that would take us to Cusco. The bus ride was to take 21 hours, with occasional stops for meals. Over the course of the 26 in-transit hours that ensued, we learned a few valuable lessons....

-Travelling by bus in Peru is an amazing way to see different parts of the country. For most of the trip we were on two lane roads, not highways, meaning that the views from our bus window provided endless entertainment. Among the vistas were stunning desert sandscapes pushing up against the ocean, brightly colored shanty towns, lush Andean mountainscapes, and bustling farming villages speckled with cows, pigs, and occasional llamas.

- A bag of nuts + a bag of dried mango + some yogurt + some bread and cheese = not enough food for a 26 hour journey. We were rightly worried about being at the culinary mercy of the food stands at which our bus was to stop, so we decided to bring our own food. We ended up buying ice cream sandwiches for breakfast.

- Peruvians, (from Lima, at least), hate being cold. Even around hour fifteen when the toilet in the back of the bus stopped flushing and the bus started smelling like sewage, our fellow passengers would still yell at us if we cracked open the window.

- Bring a lightsource. Headlamps would have been great additions to our packs. After night descended, we were in total darkness until morning, since all of the overhead lights were broken!

- Pay the extra 20 soles ($6.60) for the 'luxury' bus with meals included and, presumably, a clean bathroom.

Headed to Cusco

2010-03-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

In a few hours, we begin our 21-hour bus ride to Cusco. We´re sad to leave Lima--we´ve made such great friends here...but the search must go on! Yesterday, our friends Miguel, Tara, and Emilio took us to see the Adobe Pyramids in Miraflores called Huaca Pucllana. They span a few blocks in a super developed area. Apparently, in the 70´s they used the site for motorcycle competitions...coolest BMX park ever!

A zoo of animals live in the Huaca Pucllana complex including a llama, several alpacas, a rapidly growing population of guinea pigs, and several hairless dogs like the one pictured here.

Foods of Lima

2010-03-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

The population of Lima seems to take great pride in the vast array of foods they have available--from their fresh ceviches to what some claim to be the best Chinese food outside of China. We are on a mission to try as many foods as possible. On our first night we had cow heart, mazamorra with rice pudding, and many other desserts washed down with Pisco Sours and Inca Kola (more popular than Coca Cola in Peru).

Anticuchos aka cow heart (pretty disgusting, honestly)

Mazzamora, Inca Kola, something that translates to whisper of Lima, and some kindof fried donut-y thing.

Pisco sours (pisco, lemon juice, egg whites, simple syrup, bitters) at Santos in Barranco.

Amazing ceviche from Punto Azul, an adorable restaurant in a converted mansion, owned by Miguel´s friend Julio Cesar´s family.

Tiradito Tricolor, also raw fish, and so so good

We had Chifas, Peruvian Chinese food, for lunch yesterday with our new friends Emilio, Gustavo, Miguel, and Tara. Note the bright yellow Inca Kola on the table- they drink it with every meal...it´s kindof like bubblegum flavored soda, sick!

Lima

2010-03-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

It´s our third night in Lima! Rives and I are staying at Hostal Schell, a bare-bones hotel in Miraflores, one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city. Our first few days have been unreal, thanks, primarily, to our new Peruvian friends Gustvao and Miguel. They´ve shown us all around Lima, taken us to the beach, and introduced us to an enormous number of new foods. It´s taking forever to upload pictures, but here´s one of us with the guys.

The Search Begins...

2010-02-26T18:05:00.000-08:00

Join Liz and Rives on their great South American adventure!