Uninspired

I am home. Home uninspires me. Nothing to write, no photos to post. I will start writing on my next trip.

Colombia

When people think Colombia, most of them think drugs, FARC, guns and fighting groups of armed men. Although partly true, Colombia is not a country to forget and skipped while in South-America. The last couple of years great advancements have been achieved in suppressing drug traffic, fighting guerrilla groups and creating a safe environment for the Colombian people. Colombia is heavily traveled by backpackers and especially the Caribbean is packed with rich Western people coming to enjoy beautiful cities, country side and white beaches with palm trees.

Bogotá is the best city in the northern part of South-America. My personal top 3 would be: Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires and Bogotá (not specifically in that order). Bogotá is a cold expensive city with great sightseeing, magnificent views, many neighborhoods (both rich and poor) and great night life. A new brilliant bus system, acting as a tram, takes you everywhere within minutes. No trace of being in a destroyed chaotic country as people often see it, but instead in a modern metropolis, we went from modern supermarket to shopping mall to fancy restaurant to classy neighborhood to expensive bars and clubs. After watching the new Batman in a state of the art cinema, with a big bag of popcorn in front of me, of course. Bogotá could be a city in any western country around the world, if you could scrap off its beggers and impoverished barrios.

Next on the trip lay, according to many traveler books, one of the top 10 beaches in the world: Tayrona National Park. An hour speedboat ride away, we landed on the most white beach that I have seen in my life, guarded over by palm trees and crabs diving sideways into their holes into the big grained white silvery sand. Only pictures can describe the beautiness flourished by these beaches. Sleeping less than a rock throw away from the Caribbean sea in a hammock for 2 nights, eating chips and fish on the beach and swimming was a utopia. The water was warm, as warm as heated shower water, and clear with visibility reaching over 20 feet. Snorkeling with borrowed goggles I saw rainbow colored fish swimming less than one meter away.

Cartagena was the next stop. An old city enveloped by a centuries old wall build by the Spaniards to defend against pirate attacks, it has a historic center outmatching any other city on this great continent. The best thing to do here is wander around and just let the city impress you. Which it easily does. Churches, a 8 km enforced long stone wall with canons standing ready as if the pirate could come back any day, old theater buildings, high rising clocks and lovely plazas all as picturesque as if it was the first thing you saw of Cartagena. The horses and their carriage ride trough the city with couples fallen in love, galloping over cobblestones layed in the streets.

A boat trip away are coral reefs. We were guided by dolphins swimming in front of the stern of the ship. Just over 2 meter deep in the water, snorkeling equipment meet the requirements to embrace a beautiful world never witnessed by me. More fish than I have ever seen before, totally undisturbed by human interference they swim everywhere. In all the colors you see them on tv or in aquariums, here they where in nature swimming and eating along yellowish coral reefs. Blue, green, gray, purple rainbow colored fish swim right next to you legs, sometimes scratching you with their fins. I might do this trip again, because it might be a while before I have this change again.

What other surprises might Colombia have for me?

Ecuador equator myth of draining water

In Quito my friend and I visited the (ofcourse we did, we like to play the happy tourist too) Equator monument standing over the imaginary equator line. Mitad del Mundo was constructed between 1979 and 1982 and is about 27 km from Quito. The more than briljant bus sytem brought us all the way to the city limit, changing bus to a smaller villages just outside Quito. First the official monument, where tons of tourists run around the monument to be in the so-called north and south hemispheres. "So-called" because it`s not truly on the equator line. About 240 meters off according to GPS.

Next we went to the Inti Ñan museum. They claim to be on the true equator line and offer good English speaking guides included in the 3 dollar entrence fee (Ecuador uses USD). The most intriguing part about this small private musuem is that they have and show "scientific experiments" that proof that they are exactly on the right spot.

One of the experiments is the well known water draining effect above and below of the equator. North counter-clockwise, South clockwise, and exactly on the equator (and only there) straight down. Complete bullocks, will any google (or wiki) search tell you. But they tried to keep that common misconception standing to "proof" their equator line is the true and only one.

The experiment involved a sink on a table frame with a rubber plug, a bucket to catch the water, water and some leaves to show the movement of the water falling down. Put the plug in, pour the water in the sink with the leaves, align the bucket below the hole and pull the plug. First directly above the red painted equator line. Everybody saw the water fall super staight down. He took the sink, put it 3 meters to the right on the southern hemisphere, poured the water in the sink and pulled the plug. You could directly and easily spot (with help of leaves) the water draining clockwise. In contrast on the northern hemisphere, where the water rotated counter-clockwise.

I was standing speechless. I knew that the Coriolis effect on draining water is a common misconception, but here I saw clear clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation. What could they do to influence the water? How did they make it rotate different ways, or even straight down. The only thing I could think about was horizontal level. I put the sink frame exactly above the equator, but this time put a book underneat the right leg. The water drained clockwise on the equator, while the book under the left leg caused a counter-clockwise rotation. Just the horizontal level of the sink was what was important.

Homework:

Coriolis misconception

Wikipedia on coriolis in bathtubes

Going north

Peru was fascinating and fantastic. It offers costa (roasting in the sun on the beach), sierra (high cold mountain land) and selva (suitable for long boat journeys). It has old forgotton cultures laying below meters of sand or grown over by vegetation, getting digged out as huaqueros fight with archaeologist to discover remains of old civilizations. From poor rural villages and touristy plaza´s to metropolitan modern cities. Peru is surely worth a visit.

A one day stop on the beach in Màncora, followed by a long bus ride to Quito. Ecuadors capital city. Not large at all, but long, Quito is streched 47km, but only 5km wide. The bus system is briljant, trollies go from station to station on fast bus-only lanes, covering the whole city within minutes of travelling. I rented an apartment for 4 nights, staying with my friends, in the most expensive area of Quito. Boy, did I want to stay longer, but Colombia is screaming, waiting, waving for attention. I have to move on after 5 days. The quickest country visit in (my) history of backpacking was Ecuador in 5 days. Too short.

No cama, nor reclinable seats like some people can afford, but a busy shaky ride to Cali, where we enjoyed the day light, continuing to Bogotà. Colombia is expensive, totally unexpected, but great so far.

Amazone boat trip, part II

Iquitos, where the boat trip ended, was amazing. Being the biggest city in the world not reachable by road, everything has to be brought over sea or flown in by plane. Four tenth of a million people only leaving the area through plane or boat. People don´t have money, so the boat is busy as descripted in the previous post.

My hostel was great, and I was happy to finally meet some other travellers again. My Spanish improved because a group of perfect English speaking Chilean boys, forced me to talk with them in Español. ´Que, que´ (what, what) they kept repeating when I tried to insert an English sentence. We played cards, drunk beer and (they) had fun laughing about my Spanish.

Iquitos has a famous, by Mr. Eiffel (that guy from the Eiffel tower) designed house called: The Iron House. Really it´s not even worth looking at, and at first I walked passed it for two times wondering where this impressive building could be. It´s made of, well, Iron and doesn´t even jump out, calling for attention. The book exchange there is good though, I finally got ride of the DaVince Code.

After a week of Iquitos, butterfly farm, jungle, floating (stinking) markets, and especially rain (and boy, does it rain in the jungle), I jumped, alone, on a boat to Yurimaguas. This is what I call a proper boat trip. Literally everything was better than on the first boat. Time for departion was set at 6.30 in the evening and indeed did we leave at 6.30. The food and toilets where heaps better. And last but not least, the living space was much larger with less people. The boat was not nearly as busy. It only took 3 nights before we docked in Yurimaguas in the morning.

I decided to took a bus to Moyobamba where I visited a great relaxing and cheap thermal bath and some botanical garden, which was a bit boring. Now I am in Chachapoyas, where today I went to the second (after Machu Picchu) most impressive ruins of the Peruvian country: Kueláp.

Amazone boat trip

It sounds so cool, a trip over the great might Amazone. Sailing for hours over undiscovered waters in enormous boats. Sleeping in hammocks like a real sea sailer and eating with your hands, one of the many fishes you just cought with your own made fishingpole. Visiting endless native towns along the banks of the river, where electricity, tv, radio and coca-cola are unknow vocabulary.

How far away from the story I have to tell. Imagine the hypotetical story being 1 apple. What I about to tell is 2 pears.

I was going to travel this ´river´ with a friend who I met in Cusco. Emily from the US, is travelling around South-America. I arrived a day earlier than she did, so I already kept an eye open for leaving boats. Thursday I was told, which would have been fantastic. 1 Day left in busy booming Pucallpa was enough for me. I was ready to sail this water mass.

Thursday we went hammock, snack and booze shopping. Some beers, some rum, a bit of crisps, and ofcourse my new shiny (as far as cloth has any shine abilities) hammock. A bowl with spoon is neccesary because they don´t equip 200 people on the boat with cutlery. TWOHUNDERD! How big was that boat? You need a lot of space to house 200 people. No you don´t. Not in Peru. Not in South-America.

The first day we arrived, the do-everything-floor (sleeping, eating, talking, card playing floor) was deserted. We had all the space just for the two of us. But we didn´t leave Thursday. No we would leave Friday morning. More people came on the floor. We would leave Friday night. This guy put his hammock 15 meters from mine. We are definitely leaving Saterday morning. Babies start occupying the floor and crying when not attended to. No later than 8 o´clock in the evening on Saterday. I had to rehang my hammock because it was slightly diagnoal and this mom managed to squeeze in between me and my neighboor who was 50 cm away from me. Sunday morning for sure. One guy tried to put his hammock above mine. You know, hammock bunk buddy. Since I asked politely (not involving any curse words, but making sure he understood me) he put his hammock in the walking path next to 25 others. We left at noon. 250 People on a packed floor. Everywhere hammocks. More hammocks than there is actual space, but here they manage. I was sleeping butt-to-butt with this guy from Lima. Nice!

Food is included, so you don´t have to worry about bringing your own. What a luxurey. 3 Times cooked and served at exact times a day. All you have to do is stand in line, prison style, with your own bowl and spoon, prison style, to get food, prison style, in prison style. Take bowl, KWAK, in your bowl, Next. KWAK? I didn´t know mashed potates made that noise, or rice with chicked, or maybe a nice tomato cream soup. No, but warm milk with bread does. So does spaghetti soup (spaghetti in warm water), and the delicious rice in watery juice. For 3 meals a day, it was weired that I almost starved to death. Because the boat trip took 5 days, and eating warm milk with bread is never pleasent, I skipped warm milk every day. Enjoying the ´spaghetti´ soup more I guess.

The toilets are no exception to the boat ´standards´. Filty, small, smelly, and without seating. Even better is that the shower is in the same cabin, which I do understand, only has pumped up dark Amazone water, which I don´t understand. You get cleaner, but in the mean time dirtier.

Arriving on Thursday we jumped into a mototaxi, raced to the hostel and took a nice (cold, they don´t have warm water in the jungle) shower. Aaahhh.

See the pictures here.

Acquantices, travel mates and friends

Travelling alone. It is a whole different way to view South-America by yourself. Most people that I´ve met travel together. Friends from home or from the road. I am not that much of an loner, as you might think. First of all you meet much more people, alone, than travelling together. Every day in a hostel, between 5 and 15 new people shake your hand and make conversation. I can´t even remotely remember all the names of all the persons that I´ve met. Not even on the same day. Some conversations don´t go any further than: what is your name, where are you from, how long have you been travelling, and, how much longer do you have left. Then quietness. But most of them, after the initial questioning, move on towards better areas. Some about simple stuff like books and music (´I hate reagaton´), others about the country you are in right now, and how aweful it is for the poor people who live there. And then there is the talk that goes to higher grounds, stuff like culture, life style and religion. You learn a lot talking with other people from the same, but different countries, other backgrounds or mind changing point of views.

Since this topic is called ´Acquantices, travel mates and friends´, obviously the first group is the people you talk to, play cards or enjoy a beer with. But as soon as they, or you, leave, you forget them, their names and personalities. Quick paragraph, for short relationships.

Travel mates, is the kind of people that you not neccesary meet in your hostal, but in the bus terminal or the actual bus. That means some of them are not going to be more than acquantices, and I have covered that part already extensivly (ahem). The people that choose to travel with you, are more like friends, although not necessarily, you stick with them for a while, but wouldn´t conversate about the deeper parts of life. You can talk with them for hours on buses, which take hours also, without having any serious meaning.

Then you make friends. It really happens. They know about your past, present and ideas of the future. How you feel, what kind of traveller you are and how much budget you have. Clearly these people are the same type of people as you and handle travelling the same way. Like me, my friends wouldn´t stay in expensive hostels. We worked together in Loki La Paz, got to know each other a bit better. Eat super local in these super local ´mercados´, where no other traveller dares to go. Got stomach problems all at the same time (mercado?), and visit the same places. We stick around, and, while staying in close contact, make sure we meat each other ones in a while. Not always possible, since people leave to home or other destinations. You add them to facebook (forced onto me), and get invited to their homes where you have a free place to stay (for a week of 3). Wisconsin, here I come...

Explaining travelling (alone) in a far away, poor(er), Spanish speaking country is difficult and maybe incomprehensible for the home stayer.

Cusco, Machu Picchu and the do it yourself track

Huacachina is a backbackers resort, fun to hang around for a couple of days, but not super interesting to tell stories about. Although on the way to this resort place, I took a cessna flight over some old drawings called the Nazca Lines. It was a rough flight and the drawings are just some old lines in the sand. Nothing too special to get excited about. At least I didn´t. Quicly enough I jumped on the bus to Cusco.

Cusco. A sacred city in the sacred valley. Surrounded by dozens of old Inca sites. From Sacsahuaman to Machu Picchu. An absolute stop for travels of Peru, or Tawantin-Suyu as the Incas called their land. Cusco is rich and touristy. All the luxery you want, but for the prices you expect. If you want to go off the beaten track you have to dwell the outer skirts of the city. Local food for local prices tasting equally local: rice, potato and meat.

The main reason to come here: Machu Picchu and it´s famous Inca Trail. The Inca trail was the route the Inca king, son of the sun, took to Machu Picchu. Along the trail tambons (in Quechua) are to be seen, which were erected for housing the nobilty on their long travels across the country in Inca times. Most are destroyed by the conquerers some exist to be viewed by the interested. Since the Inca trail is booked for the next 6 months, yup book 6 months in advance, and it costs 500 dollars, most people take the train. That will costs you about 75 dollars, but there is a less travelled this more interesting route.

Summerized: - Cusco, 8pm bus to Santa Maria. - Santa Maria, 4am bus to Santa Terresa (+ sleep). - Santa Terresa, cab to hydroelectrico where you get to the very end of the railway connecting Aguas Calientes and Cusco. - Walk to Agues Calientes (+sleep). - Already in day 3, I visited Machu Picchu, and started walking back to the hydro at 3 in the afternoon. - Cab back to Santa Terresa (+sleep). - Santa Terresa, 8am bus to Santa Maria. - Santa Maria, 10am bus to Cusco where you arrive at 3 in the afternoon.

This way you are on the road for 4 days, while taking rural buses and sleeping in rural towns. You won´t see another tourist for a while, not until you reach Aguas Calientes, which is, ofcourse because of Machu Picchu, a big expensive touristy city. The ability to sleep cheap is available for the searcher.

Machu Picchu was never found by the Spanish because the Inca abandoned the place before the Spanish got word of it. Overgrown found back in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, he knew this was once a great Inca city in the great Tawantin-Suyu land (all of Equador, Bolivia, Peru and Chile along the coast). Nowdays visited by 2500 tourists a day, I decided to go there June the 24ste, Inti Raymi, or festival of the sun. While everybody was staring at peculiar dresses and evenly strange dances, I was standing in an ´empty´ Machu Picchu.

Back in Cusco I am recovering for 1 single day, today, and moving on tonight to Ayacuncho. According to the lonely planet with bus rides not for the faint of heart.

I hope I can make a new post soon...

Arequipa

Arequipa has some nice tourists attractions. The main 3 are an old convent (Santa Catalina Monastery), the ice princess (Mummy Juanita) and the second deepest canyon in the world (Colca Canyon).

It costs some money to get in, about 20 bucks, but it's a one of a kind oppertunity to see such a strange monastery. Abou 430 years ago, a rich widow built this convent for nons. The only requirement being very rich. So unlike other convents, this one is built ith fountains, gardens, houses and streets. Every non had 1-4 slaves, and her own apperment. Not just a room, but a small house, with multiple rooms and a kichen. Their living style from the outside continued on the inside. Once you entered you never left it again, and you died inside it walls. Nobody left the convent, but also nobody from the outside was allowed in. Only on highly rare occasions did some priests, architects and artists enter to have a look inside.

The convent easily takes up a whole afternoon, wandering through it's houses and streets. Just a small portion is closed to the public, the area where nowdays still nons live. Although they don't live up to the old rules, they are modern nons.

Next to visit is the ice princess Juanita. Discovered in 1995 on the top of Mount Ampato, the quickly found out that this 12-14 year old girl was sacrifed to the mountain gods, about 550 years ago. Incas believed the mountains were gods, and in bad times the only sollution was to make the ultimate sacrifice, a human child. Although the Inca rose quickly, and as destrayed evenly fast, this child 'survived' and is here to give us an inside look of the beliefs of the Incas.

The tour begins with a short video of her discovery and then you enter the small musea. Tons of artifects and ornaments were found around her, and several other sacrified human childs, which are shown under dimm light to preserve. Then, at last, you get to see her. Stored in a big 'computerized' urn (fridge), keeping temperature steady at minus 20. Some double glass windows seperate her from you, and it is a but blurry, but you can see her, laying as she did when she was killed 550 years ago.

Then last but not least, a visit to the second deepest canyon. For some reason the thought for a very long time this was the deepest, only shortly measurments discovered the neighboring canyon was slightly deeper (150m). Behind twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, this 3 km deep canyon attracts tons of tourist. That results in many tour operators, offering 'cheap' tours to the canyon. Since I am on a budget, I took the local public bus to the end of the canyon. Great views while your walking toward the buttom, a steep 1100m climb down. 2 hours later I was enjoying my beer, while swimming in the oasis swimming pool. Not too bad. Worse was the climb up, which is a hard tirsty 3 hour climb.

From Arequipa I took the bus to Huacachina...

La Paz, Rurrenbaque, Copacabana

Three stories in one. That is what you get if you don´t write enough on your own website. That also means I will write less, than when I would have written this having lots of time. That is, being in La Paz, the crazy city which I left 2 weeks ago.

From La Paz most people take a flight into the jungle. Cost you about 140 dollar, but I, being the hardcore traveller, take the bus. And when I say hardcore I mean hardcore. Taking the bus translates into 18 hours of crammed, sweaty and very bumpy travel. The bus doesn´t use the death road anymore, but a continuation. The view is astonishing, when the bus is backing up (reversing) to make another bus/truck pass, you can see all the 200 meters down the cliff from your seat. Only 10 cm away. I guess that is why most people fly... The first 10 hours were actually quite cool. The view is nice and my friend Mike (London) and I, were talking for hours, but as soon it got dark, the fun is over, and what is left is a very bumpy ride. Eight hours to go.

The pampas tour was very nice, you basiclly do nothing and sit in a boat. I love sitting and doing nothing. Some crocodiles swam away, when we passed them, the monkeys ran towards you, begging for food. The camp was very basic, you need to punp up your own water, when you need to flush the toilet for example. It takes about 3 days, in which you go crocodile night viewing, anaconda hunting and piranha fishing. The tourgroup was for sure one of the best I travelled with, so we had tons of fun.

Taking the bus back, but not staying a split second in La Paz more, I directly jumped on the bus to Copacabana. Cold, windy and highly elevated, I took a walk through the rough terrain for 17 km. All the way to Isla del Sol, where supposely the sun was made by the sun god. And although it is cold, you sunburn quickly. Staying overnight on the island is what a lot of tourist do, and me, eating super local food and sleaping in super local beds (free bend in the bed included).

Back in Copacabana I took the bus to Peru, Puno. I visited an old boat, and the next day already arriving in Arequipa. Should I visit the deepest canyon in the world?