Part 6 Continued: Pictures from Peru (Backwards in Time)

Machu Picchu

MP From on high (view from Wayna Picchu).
I believe this is the residential sector, intermingled with the industrial (who am I kidding, look how beatiful this place is!).

An Incan Princesa

He shoots he Scores! And the crowd jumps for joy!

Unbelievable

Ollantaytambo

Pisaq

Cusco and Saqsaywaman

Lima

Paracas (Islas Ballestas)

Lots of sea lions (lobos del mar)

Yes these are real penguins!

Huacachina

Colca Canyon

Arequipa

Part 6: Peru

Arequipa, Peru
Getting There and Away:
From Copacabana take a bus back accross the Peruvian border. Make sure that your visa is multiple entry, otherwise you could find yourself blackballed from ever entering Bolivia again (in the near future). Once over the border into the uglier, peruvian lakefront town of Puno, board a bus (after finding out that the travel agency ripped you off for a whole 5 dollars on your so called ¨direct¨ bus which still makes you deboard, get your luggage and get on another bus) for the remaining 7 hour journey to Arequipa. The city, second in size to Lima, is huge. After being on the bus for so long the lights and billboard annoucing your arrival quickly reveal themselves to be quite premature as 45 minutes later you still have not pulled into the station.

Places to Stay:
Home Sweet Home:
This hostel has it all. Dorms, singles, doubles, free internet, breakfast, a tv etc. In walking distance of all Arequipa´s white walled colonial building glory. The cable package here is truly amazing. For the die hard Trail Blazer fan a sign can be made requesting TV priviledges and the candle can be burned late into the night as you cheer on your hometown team and tear up as downtown Portland pans quickly accross the screen. 5 large beers may be 1 too many...

Places to Eat:
After the lakeside fare of trout, trout and more trout the food in Arequipa is a welcome change.

Tacos y Tequila: has large psuedo mexican plates for about 3 dollars a piece.

Turkos 1 and 2: have the standard kebab and falafel fare.

Texas Cafe: As touristy as it gets but Oregon Chai, free long distance phone calls to landlines, and free internet are a welcome change. Dont try the pastries, they look good but are not worth it.
The market: has mountians of fruits, veggies, empanadas, cheese (good luck finding anything resembling cheddar) and sweets that go on for days.

Luccianos: is a bakery dream. Pastries of all kinds, borrachitos (a dense chocolate truffle thing), cakes, sandwiches, heavenly smells.... you could spend days trying everything.

Typical food that is must try status includes: Papa relleña, a fried potato exterior with meat and veggies packed inside, Rocoto relleña, a big hot pepper stuffed with ground meat, veggies and topped with bechemel sauce, and fresh popped oil salty popcorn off the street.

Pluses:
This city is tryly remarkable. The buildings are white and sparkle in the sun, the pace is laid back and non abrasive, the volcanoes and mountains surround you from all sides and the streets are perfect for meandering around.

Minuses:
After a couple of days of vegging out there is not much else to do. Also after the Salteña frenzy that was Bolivia the empanadas here are a let down.

Colca Canyon, Peru
Getting There and Away:
From Arequipa catch a bus to Cabanaconde. There are pluses and minuses involved with taking a local bus, the benefit being that you do not get charged the phony tourist tax to enter the canyon. The bad part is that the bus becomes so packed that breathing is difficult and the 7 hour bus ride can be very unpleasant as the man in the isle is forces to box your head in with his breastbone.

Once in Cabanaconde the only way into the canyon is down, down, down. This hike is not for the faint of heart, or the out of shape. 2 hours of straight down treking and the corresponding 3 hours of steep ascent will leave you gasping for breath, cursing the gods, and crying tears (seriously) of pain and joy throughout.

Places to Stay:
Hostel Pachamama:
A simple, clean room to crash the night before you head out on the hike of hell.

The Oasis:
An aptly named paradise in the heart of the canyon. These natural pools, palm trees, grass and thatched huts spring up from nowhere. A nice place to recharge your batteries after the grueling walk down.

Places to Eat:
Hostel Pachamama: You can try and eat here for dinner but the Dueña of the place seems a little spaced out. 15 minutes after placing a menu in front of you she still does not reaapear and your stomach drives you out into the cold looking for another place to indulge. The breakfast is included in your room and is suprisingly hot and served quickly.

The French Hostel: We do not know the name but everyone will know what you are talking about. The owner is friendly, full of good info about the hike, will hook you up with a good and free campsite at the bottom of the canyon, and somehow has evolved to cater mostly to the French tourist. The food here is good, and if you make friends a free plate or 2 might make its way to your table.

Out of your backpack:
PB and J... for days...

In the Oasis:
Down here at the bottom of the 2nd deepest canyon in the world anything tastes good. The set meals at most of the sites are cheap and filling.

Pluses:
The views are phenomenal. Truly a ridiculous place to stop and take time to trun full circle. The feeling of accomplshment at the top of the trail out of the canyon is unmatched (although you might be too tired to realize it at the time).

Minuses:
The trail in and out, as mentioned above, is so hard it will make you reconsider ever taking a superfluous step again. In addition the 4 days afterwards when getting out of bed is a struggle and walking down stairs seems like a death sentence do not lend themselves to repeat visits.

Ica/Huachachina, Peru
Getting There and Away:
From Arequipa take a bus to Ica, a transportation hub that has too many moto taxis. At approximately 8 hours this is a perfect ride to do overnight. From Ica a taxi should be about 1 US dollar to the sand dunes and lagoon of Huchachina.

Places to Stay:

Find the Hostel that lets you camp in their backyard...5 soles a night per campsight, with cool Peruvian and Canadian neighbors. The campground is at the foot of the dunes, and is a perfect jumping off point for climbing them once the hot sun begins its descent into the desert.

Places to Eat:

If you'e fully equipped with a compstove, then use that to concoct lovely hot plate dinners such as Mexican ground beef and bean dip with guacamole, or spicy spaghetti with lots of local hot peppers. Lunch menus are also affordable and delicious, and can be found all around the laguna. The pizza is good at the end of the lake, but you may be starting a sickness where you feel like your insides are dying, in which case one of you is stuck eating the whole thing!

Pluses:

Clamboring up the dunes, panther style, is a nightly treat. The views from the top are breathtaking and the heat on your sore limbs buried in the cooled-off sand is to die for. The lagoon is swimmable, but I wouldn't give it any more credit than that. Watching the sandboarders, as well as riding the boards down on your belly, is way too much fun. Everything about this little town that is so far from ordinary is lovable.

Minuses:

The sand is so hot during the day that if you touch it, you spontaneously combust. Also, the lagoon is super cool due to its status as an ACTUAL oasis, but it is a bit smelly and very dirty with both turbidity and trash.

Pisco/ Paracas, Peru
Getting There and Away:

Multiple buses daily make the short and popular trip from Ica to Pisco. As Pisco is in a major rebuilding process following devastating earthquakes in the last two years, and most travellers stay there just to volunteer in the rebuilding effort, the recommended course of action is to hop in a colective taxi to the panamerican highway (cruce de Pisco), then a combi bus south to the national reserve entrance and the town of Paracas.

Places to Stay:

There are a few upscale hostels and hotels, and there are the travellers budget variety. Hotel Ballestas will lend you a double bed with cable TV for 15$ a night. This is an extremely short walk from the waterfront, where everything is, and they will even give you towels! If you want a 10 sol discount on your room, book your Islas tour through the hotel front desk.

Places to Eat:

It seems like there are a hundred cheap tent-style eateries in town, and the value is far and away better than the traditional trveller restaurants on the waterfront. Big ceviche platters for only 15 soles!

Pluses:

When you are going on a tour that starts at 8AM, it is better to be at the point of departure overnight than in Pisco and have to make the 45 minute drive in the morning. Plus, its nice and quiet and you can catch up on sleep during the day and attempt to kick the stomach problems you are dealing with.

The Tour: Boats fitting about 15 people depart for the much-hyped Islas Ballestas in the morning. You are told ahead of time that it last 2 hours, including the 30 mins each way to the islands, and that it will all be watching from the boat. therefore, you don't get your hopes up. However, when you get island side you are in awe of countless different types of birds (including penguins!) and sea lions dwarfing the San Francisco wharfs. On your way back you may even see little dolphin fins sticking up out of the water! Unfortunately your camera cannot focus in time to capture the fins in their full effect.

Minuses:

Small town that completely revolves around the tours to the park and the islands, without a ton to do otherwise, and you may want to vomit in your crammed combi bus on the way. Its the Peruvian coast, and it smells like fish!

Lima, Peru
Getting There and Away:

Head North on the Panamericana for a bit and you'll find yourself in a place that might confuse you for Lima proper. Instead you are in no mans land, but a 20 minute taxi ride from Plaza de Armas (S/10). Every city in Peru has a central Plaza (or two), and they all have one called Plaza de Armas. This one is stunning with three churches, the President's mansion, countless security guards and traffic control women who have a propensity for waving and blowing whistles.

Places to Stay:

Two options on Jr. Azangaro: Hostal España, and Hotel Europa. One has dorms for 14 soles each where large frenchmen snore loudly through the night, and come in talking about cigarettes at the crack of midnight. The other has a double bed in our own room with a shared bathroom for 13 soles each. The numbers add up. You do the math. We moved to Europes finest after one days.

Places to Eat:

Across from Plaza San Francisco (which houses 500 year old bones and 400 year old books) lie multiple Menu spots where you can get succulent ceviche paired with chicken sauteed with loads of veggies, with a little salad and a lot of white rice on the side, or pan seared trucha plated with lighlty cooked vegetables, white rice on the side (comes standard with every meal you ever get).

Churros around the corner are delicious, hot, and tempting. Stuffed with warm banana, they are all the rage anytime of day.

China Town: complete dimsum for two comes out to under $10. Humbau, shumay, and shrimp balls, topped with sweet pork bread for dessert. Egg rolls on the street could keep you satisfied for weeks.

Jimmy's (with a soft J): The pastry king of Sudamerica! Hooks it up with fresh apple pies, empanadas, and all other baked delights to satisfy your morning inkling for sweets.

Pluses:

This city is incredible to walk around in, from the olfactory delights of Chinatown, to the bustling plazas that light up neon at night and seem to always occupy demonstrations of some sort, to a dazzling waterfront that sits on high, and even Starbucks!

Minuses:

There is no bus terminal, which is annoying when you want to buy tickets and you have to walk all over town. But that is just nitpicky. Seriously, Lima is a must visit on any travellers agenda to Peru.

Cuzco, Peru
Getting There and Away:

Buses going to Cusco are a dime a dozen. The route is well travelled and very scenic...not a bad trip to choose to do during the day. During the time of research, the direct road to Cusco from Lima was closed due to a particular town not allowing passage through. Therefore it is possible that your 17 hour ride turns into a 26 hour ride. Not fun.

Places to Stay:

Immaculately located Hostal Caceres will put you up extremely economically (in an extremely un-economical part of town) on the third floor, overlooking a main artery leaving the central Plaza de Armas. The saggy double beds are a welcome sight after you spend over a day on a bus, even if it is "semi-cama". The hostal is equipped with a laundry service, which may mistakenly give you someone´s clean socks, and forget to give you a dress you had washed until multiple hours later. The hostal also has an internet "cafe", which makes for convenient all-around services. They will also store your essential belongings in a safe, and keep your auxiliary things for indeterminable amounts of time while you travel "light" into the sacred valley.

Places to Eat:

Tupana Wasi: An amazing, "I'd come back here" (and we did) Mexican restaurant with 15 Sol ($5) full course meals including chips with guac to start, a little pisco sour, a glass of lemonade, a soup or delicious avocado salad, and an entree of either succulent beef and vegetable filled fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, or even typical dishes of the region. Mexican food is a rarity down here, and this place does it right.

El Buen Pastor: The bakery you just can't stay away from! Awesome chocolate doughnuts, fudge borrachitos (little chocolate balls that are to die for), ham and cheese croissants or pizzas, and countless apple or berry options to wet your whistle. Coupled with the fact that there always seem to be 10 people working there, it makes for a lovely dining experience.

The Real McCoy: This english restaurant is always bustling with internationals, as their daily food and drink speacials attract even those who are not interested in an English breakfast. The cafe, with its comfy bean bag chairs and couches, is a great place to lounge while waiting for your bus, and you may see your friends there randomly, creating three separate occasions where you say goodbye and give the parting hugs.

Pluses:

You come through here to go visit El Valle Sagrado and Machu Picchu. What more excuse do you need. Also there is good shopping for artesanal wares, but don't forget to bargain. You can get about half off the starting price consistently if you are near the center of town. Off the main strip the prices are much more reasonable, but still inflated.

PS a real plus is when a family friend has an affordable apartment (albeit not in the center of the City, but only a 20 minute walk in) that is magically available for you and the couple you are travelling with during your stay in Cusco. An even added bonus is when the dates you are there are over Thanksgiving, and you have a fully supplied, spacious kitchen in which to cook Holiday delights! Roasted turkey (that may or may not have been a chicken, but don't tell anyone), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, makeshift cranberry sauce that was actually boiled down south american cherries, broccoli, and viiiiiiiino!

Minuses:

"Massage, massage, massage!!!!!" While these are welcome words (especially when the cost is about $10 per hour) the first few times, or possibly if you are really sore, they beign to wear you thin shortly thereafter. Travellers cannot peruse this cute and quaint town without seemingly endless acostment by any of the three following peddlers: people giving you flyers for their spa, people asking you to look at the menu they are holding and insisting you come into their restaurant no matter the time of day or if you don't seem in the slight bit interested, and people selling you whatever it is they are holding.

Editors' Note: The Sacred Valley town of Pisaq is not to be missed. The most spectacularly constructed and continous set of ruins aside from Machu Pichhu are a 5 kilometer hike from town up a steep hill and then along a breathtaking ridge overlooking a thousand years of history. Pisaq is located in between Cusco and Urubamba and the methods of transport are in busses from Cusco that leave every 15 minutes.

Oyallantatambo, Peru
Getting There and Away:

From Cuzco, take a local bus direct to Urubamba. The 2 hour ride should cost you about .70 cents. In Urubamba you can either pack it in clown style in a colectivo van (most economical, and that is the only superlative to bestow on this method of travel aside from most vomit inducing) or have a taxi take you the 25 minutes (warning: prices and participation may vary...the price seems to jump by factors of 2 at times). Once in Ollantaytambo one is blessed with spectacular ruins on either side of the little village. One side costs 130 soles to enter (free with boleto turistico that you buy in Cusco for 130 soles), and the other is free. In the middle is a fertile valley where the Incans of old built underground flumes and other conveyance methods to bring water from the hills into the village and to the farming terraces on the cliffs surrounding the ruins. While farming and other native practices are still prevalent, Ollanta (pronounced Oyanta) is mostly used as the starting point for trains travelling through the sacred valley to Aguas Calientes. One interesting tidbit is that this little travellers hub is believed to be one of the oldest populated areas on earth. Genial!

Places to Stay:
There are a number of budget opportunities here, but one of the best is located along the river on the walk towards the train station. Listening to the river rush by in its constrained, man-made channel is reminiscent of summers sleeping peacefully on the banks of the Deschutes River. Plus there are two adorable puppies running and wagging around the riverbank patio who are sure to steal your heart for the duration of your stay. The owners will kindly store the majority of your belongings while you make the trip into Machu Picchu.

Places to Eat:

Everything here is overpriced except for a couple options that serve inexpensive menus del dia. There is a lovely little English-run joint called Hearts Cafe that created a non-profit in the same name which donates 100% of their profits to helping women in villages throughout the sacred valley. They contribute through sexual and hygiene education, food assistance, and raising awareness of the plight of the indigenous women and their children. Plus they make great chocolate chip cookies!

Pluses:

This quiet town has some of the most astounding ruins aside from Pisaq and MP, as well as crashing rivers colliding to a T along the highway running through the Sacred Valley, otherwise known as "El camino del Inca" (but not the actual Inca Road because that's in the mountains). For travellers who cannot afford to pay for the big ticket train to MP from Cusco, this is the place to start your trip to Aguas Calientes (1.5 hours away in train, 7 hours away in bus...needless to say, they do not take the same route). Also the walk from Hidroelectrica (5 km from Aguas Calientes along the train tracks) is beatiful, especially as the sun goes down. However it is strongly suggested that you wear pants or use bug spray on your legs, because the sand flies will get you good. This suggestion is not to be taken lightly.

Minuses:

The train to Aguas Calientes is slightly expensive (tourists have no choice, right?) and the alternative is death defying. If you are not thinking the train os for you on the way, you will change your mind for the way back. The alternative route takes you up through the mountains, above the clouds in seemingly endless cloud forests, along roads that frequently recive erosion from above to the point of no passage, involves taking three legs in three different types of transportation, and takes 6-7 hours. On the way your bus will break down (the same bus where they overcharge you because you are white, and even though all the pasengers on the bus think this is unfair the fare collector still wont budge, except for one passenger who tells you that this bus is not for tourists and that's what the train is for), after which you are forced to take a colectivo bus that your original bus driver says he will pay for, and then doesn't. On the final leg your colectivo bus will fail to start after the driver has pulled over to the side of a 200 foot cliff, where you are forced to get out and push the bus in order to jump start it while it is running down the hill on the side of said cliff!

Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu:

Getting There and Away:

The two possible methods of travel to Aguas Calientes are explained above, including the shortfalls/perils of each. Getting to MP, ironically, has dual options as well. One costs 7$ for a 20 minute bus ride. The other is an hour walk, straight uphill, that costs nothing. Once the numbers are crunched it becomes clear which method is to be chosen (and only one of them involves getting some much-needed exercise). The suggested time of departure from the shwanky basecamp that is Aguas Calientes at 4:30 AM, getting you to MP at 5:30 and before that first bus arrives full of excited visitors. The other suggestion is to wear the jersey of your favorite pro sports team of all time in order to attempt to get on the jumbotroninside the arena (cross your fingers with me now...). Once you have arrived at the front gates you wait patiently for your turn, during which time the attendants will ask you which time slot you wish to enter the grounds of Wayna Picchu.

Inside the Gates:

Experiencing the wonder that is Machu Picchu is beyond explanation. In short, a city was built on the top of a mountain by chipping off rock from the mountain top itself (the quarry is the mountain top!) and carving it into perfectly shaped boulders that fit together immaculately, with farming terraces thrown intermittently throughout the city. There are also multiple temples, ingenious waterways funneling springs from the neighboring mountain, sundials that are believed to have been used for a seasonal calendar, and large grassy areas that must have served as meeting places and mingling areas. The builders were the Incas, the place defined by its remote location in the Sacred Valley on top of a mountain due to their worship of the sun god, and the reason is unknown. There is no written history, and it only existed in myth until 1911 when an American historian/adventure trekker, with a local indigenous boy as a guide, stumbled across the overgrown site while looking for a different site. Speculation as to the impetus for building the architectural masterpiece is that the empire know they were on the brink of destruction by Spanish colonialism and they wanted to build a masterpiece that would stand the test of time. We hope they are right, although scientists believe that the the entire site is slipping down the mountain at a rate of 1 cm per month due to heavy foot traffic. But the funny thing is that they will not let you go barefoot!!! The site could collapse due to the weight of the thousands of daily visitors, but they mandate that you wear shoes! Only in Peru...

The grounds are covered with lawnmowers (also known as Alpacas), iguanas, red blooming flowers, and chinchillas hide away in the cracks! If you are lucky you will go on the first day in over two weeks when they have seen sustained sunshine and no rain (but only if you are super cool...). One more time, the sand flies are not to be underestimated...you either wear bug spray or your legs will look like you have chicken pox for the next two weeks.

After exploring the counless stones and feeling like you have experienced the most regal of Incan daily life, you head up the vertical steps that are the path to Wayna Picchu. This journey takes about an hour up, and 25 minutes down. At the top you see more ruins that were to appease the sun deity , and feel as though you are on top of the world. Although they limit the number of people who make the climb daily, at the top you are with a hundred other brave souls who are all moving too quickly. Long story short, mild panic attacks have been known to strike travelling males who have a slight fear of heights. Its not so much the heights as it is the unrestrained heights, as there is not a single rail or kick plate at the top (although they have deeply embedded cables and steel to assist with the climb up...how the Incas did it without that i will never know), and one wrong step and you're a goner. This climb is not for the faint of heart. At the top you have a spectacular view of the Valley and a view over the top of the whole MP site...simply amazing.

In the afternoon one starts to feel the effects of a 4 AM wakeup call coupled with endless exploring, hiking, and climbing. Time to head down and relax in the natural hot spring pools that Aguas Calientes has to offer. And a beer. or three. Then you take the train back to Ollantaytambo, because you are not as poor as you pretend to be and you have learned your lesson.

At the risk of sounding a bit cliché, a trip to Peru is merited by the experience of Machu Picchu alone. DO IT!

Part 5: Bolivia...

Cochabamba (proper), Bolivia

Getting There and Away:
Once your two week volunteer program finishes, don´t rush out of town, stay put for a little bit.

Places to Stay:
The Resedencial Familiar has saggy but firm beds, in rooms that may have far too many beds in them for your party (of two). The female staff are the nicest people you have ever met, and the male staff give you looks that border on hatred, and pretend that they are running a locutorio when you ask to use the phone for a local call. Water is hot, reception will open the door at 5 AM when you first arrive, and packages can be accepted by the front desk and held for you without charge (should you leave a bag consisting of your lonely planet book, peanut butter, and a jar of jelly with your volunteer coordinator. Losing the lonely planet "bible" is not recommended...). If you want to upgrade, the Hotel Renata might give you a room with a kitchenette...a perfect place to concoct the fruit salad you are longing for.

Places to Eat:
The so-called "Gastronomy capital of Bolivia" has no shortage of good eats. El Prado is filled with American, Bolivian, and Argentinian restaurants that are a little more spendy, but tasty (and the ice cream for dessert is always large and outstanding). One restaurant in particular on this glitzy street, Dumbo, has an excellent outdoor front patio where many proud Bolivians will gather to watch their national squad suit up, and beat 2 to 0, for a World Cup qualifier against Brazil in La Paz (you will be extremely upset that your volunteer program does not start 1 day later!).

Salon de Te: Cheap but delicious pastries and yuca filled goodies accompany amazing fresh fruit shakes, all for a 2 or 3 dollar breakfast that goes perfectly against the grain.

Eli's Pizza: American style, Bolivian input.

Salteñerias: These little juice'filled delights are a Bolivia specialty. They prepare a saucy mixture full of cooked meats, onions, carrots, potatoes, sometimes peas, and typically a kalamata olive and a quail egg, and they insert it into a magical empanada like shell, which they then bake until warm and slightly crispy on the outside. Not to be missed, unless you are prone to addiction!

Pluses:
Whats not to like? The weather is always warm and sunny, there are loads of markets and interesting walking destinations, there always seems to be a rally going on, the food and lodging is cheap, the people are nice...its the essence of Bolivia.

Minuses:
Public transportation is messy and there are a hundred cabbies for every person that is looking for a cab. Therefore, it is recommended that either you memorize the number and company for the cab you are in, or be 100% sure that you have not left your money purse in the cab (with your atm card in it) when you get out. If not, you will run after the cab with a bum heel in sandals, screaming and waving, only to stop because you wont catch him, check your pockets again, and realize you actually have what you thought you lost. Good times.

La Paz, Bolivia

Getting There and Away:
Hop on the 9, transfer to the 6, and finish off by going north on the L...ok fine, just go to the bus station and buy a ticket to the capital. Get a double decker bus to ensure you wont be kept up all night by the lack of a bus cama and someone playing music on their phone (not to mention something resembling climate control).

Places to Stay:
Hostel Milenio has cheap private rooms, a TV with the most uncomfortable couch on the planet, and offers breakfast in-house (not in bed, that would be too perfect). The travel agent at the desk is nice and the book exchange will do in a pinch, although the titles are overwhelmingly in German.

Places to Eat:
Salteñas for days! There is also a pizza stand where slices of "chorizo-jalapeño" go for 1$, but actually are chorizo-locotó. Even better.

Pluses:
Tied with Quito, the most amazingly beautiful city at night. Looking up from the bottom of the "bowl" (the whole city is sunken into a depression with house-laden hills and mountains on all sides), you see various greens and yellows and reds (what do you know, the color of the Bolivian flag), and could stare at it for hours if you werent at 12,000 feet and freezing! Easy to walk around, with destinations on the other side of town actually only about 10 minutes off.

Minuses:
Getting to those destinations means invariably travelling uphill. Good exercise, but leaves you short of breath and exacerbating foot injuries. Construction on the central avenue will leave you finiding altenrative routes to restaurants you have read are yummy.

Copacabana (Lake Titicaca), Bolivia

Getting There and Away:

Everyday, a bus leaves from the cemetary in La Paz at 3 PM to the beautiful city of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. If you dont know where the cemetary is, go to the bus station, and get your ticket! This trip involves any or all of the following: a short bus that they will pack twice as high with car seats (the kind you take out of a van for more cargo room), annoying Americans behind you that think they have to talk every waking moment, a ferry ride that you have to disembark for (weight restrictions?), and spine-tingling cliff side driving.

Places to Stay:
When you get there, 10 different people will solicit you for their hotel. Go with a young man who looks like he is about 10 but could be 30, or submit to him after he follows you to your first 2 disappointing locations, to his uncles establishment about a block from the water on the central street. Hotel Paris will charge you 10$ total for a double bed, a single bed, a nice and clean in-room bathroom, a balcony that sort of permits a lakeside view, and cable TV. Warning: the shower water-heating element is attached at the head, which for some reason means that there is a ridiculously strong electrical current running through the pipe penetrating the wall. If you want to adjust the location of the pipe, think twice: either do it wearing thick leather gloves, or dont do it at all! Hotel Paris has a resident bunny infestation, which, aside from a koala bear infestation, may be the cutest infestation ever.

Places to Eat:

Every restaurant in this little town has everything. Do not go here if you are expecting specialties, and do not be fooled by the "mexican food" sign outside one of them. The menus are extremely multinational and multicultural, which doesnt mean they serve bad food, it just means that they have very eclectic tastes.

Pluses:
Isla del Sol is freakin amazing. Take the ferry and walk from one end to the other. Eat overlooking the ridiculously azul water and get down and dirty with some alpacas before you reembark (passing floating islands) to Copa.

The sunsets over the water are so alluring you will find yourself structuring your days and nights around sipping a $2.50 bottle of red out of plastic cups on the pier between the hours of 5 and 7.

Minuses:
The water looks amazingly inviting but it is FREEZING. Swimming is only advised after a good 45 minute walk around the lake as the green algae off shore in Copa looks and smells slightly suspicious.

Part 4: Peru (for a minute)

Mancora, Peru

Getting there and away:
From Cuenca, Ecuador take the 10:40 bus to the border, it takes a while and the bus will randomly let you out on the side of the road and dump your bags next to you. Through some quick conversing with a man wearing a walkie talkie you will figure out that you are supposed to wait, under the tent with the street vendors hawking fruit salad and otter pops, for another bus, ETA undertermined. Eventually people will start telling you, in what some might identify as a raised tone of voice, that your bus is coming and that you better be ready. The bus over the border, and to Mancora, will swoop onto the side of the road and will give you just enough time to load your bags and jump on board before it begins its rapid southbound journey once again. This bus will be packed but do not fret, you will only have to stand up (and hold on for dear life) for about an hour before people begin deboarding allowing you the opportunity to sit, at first randomly squeezed against a Peruvian tourist, and then finally to stretch out luxuriously as you become the only people on the bus.

Places to stay:

When the one campground in town (that you were eyeing from the get-go) is full up, don´t fret, more adventures are in front of you.

Hospedaje de los Angeles:
When the bicycle taxi man then offers to take you to the cheapest place in town, even though it is dark and you are tired and hungry, use your previous experience and your promise of ¨never again¨ and refrain from taking him up on his offer. Otherwise you will wind up in a smelly, dirty, mosquito infested room with a bathroom that has not been cleaned in years (although cable TV is available). The bed is a worn, holey mattress on a concrete slab, the windows don´t shut and the neighbors might as well be in the room with you. The mosquito net has holes and will drape on your face the whole night, but hey, its located "en la playa".

Hospedaje Desperado:

This place is the cat´s meow. The young female dueña (Mariela) will let you store your bags in her closet until the room you so desperately need opens up during midday. The place is small, 3 rooms, clean, and low and behold, even cheaper than the dump you stayed in before. Your own room, bathroom, and no mosquito net required... all for under 5 bucks a night. AHHH. If Spanish speaking has got you down Mariela´s older buisness and life partner, Hans is a breath of fresh air. He lived 18 years in the Bronx (hence the english speaking abilities), plays internet poker non-stop, and might even ask you for help around the house in return for a couple beers and a home-cooked spaghetti meal (Mariela has an Italian specialty). One of the biggest pluses of this laid back and friendly place is the couple´s 7 month old daughter, Daiax. Full of belly laughs and kicking feet, always a source of entertainment.

Places to Eat:
The line of 4 ceviche resturants on the way to the beach:

For $1.25 you can get a fresh squeezed juice, a plate of fresh ceviche and a platter of rice, meat, potatoes, salad etc. Good food (although the set meals tend to get old fast), super cheap.

The sandwich place which is randomly open, and thus far unnamed, that is next door to the Desperado:

AMAZING!!!!! Huge, delicious, ridiculous sandwiches and pretty freaking good smoothies as well. The only downside is the fact that as of this posting it was only observed to be open once and the storefront was otherwise completely void of any identifying marks making those who consumed food there previously feel as though they may have made it all up...

The Asian restaurant at the southern end of town:

Fried wontons (with vegetables cooked in special sauce)! Spring Rolls! Beer! This restaurant is always full and the scent from the street is intoxicating. You will want to come back over and over again, but your poor wallet will think better of it.

Pluses:
This place flat out rocks. There are thousands of feet of undisturbed beach which provide the perfect vantage to watch the surfers slide in and out of the break along "La Punta" all day long. Days turn into dusk while staring in awe at a maze of kite-surfers catch air and magically not colliding with each other or their kite-less counterparts. Year round sun shines down on stretches of beach where the water is calm a mere 10 meters offshore, but still provides top-notch body-surfing as the waves break onto the sand. The local cuisine is diverse and topped-off by daily boatloads of fish. People come here and never leave.

Minuses:
In the afternoon the wind can pick up, making swimming a little less inticing. Aside from that, the nearby "thermal baths" will leave you wanting more than the 40 square foot mud pool has to offer. Also, moto-taxis are not ashamed to honk at you to solicit fare. Your patience will be tested as you are honked at from every direction, all day long.

Cochabamba, Bolivia

Getting there and away:
From Mancora, take a bus to Lima. Spend the night in a hostel in the center of the city (GI problems have been known to arise at this point, taking you to the bathroom every half hour). From Lima, take a bus to La Paz (for information on border crossing into Bolivia, see the section entitled Americans Crossing the Bolivian Frontier). From La Paz, take an overnight bus to Cochabamba. If you mistakenly book with the cheap company because they are the first ones you talk to (there are probably 30 different outfits that run the route), bring a blanket or two. Without climate control, travelling up to 15,000 feet in elevation, sitting next to a door that seems to open every 20 minutes, things can get a bit nipply.

Water for People Bolivia: Monitoreo

The recommended course of action as soon as you arrive in Cochabamba is to engage in a two week assignment through Water for People´s World Water Corps. The assignment will lead you to places you would never otherwise have seen, introduce you to people you will never forget, and provide a welcome boost to your spanish speaking frecuency, knowledge base, and comfort level.

More info to follow...

Part 3b: Ecuador

Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

Getting there and away:
From Canoa hop on the bi-hourly bus to San Vincente. Once there ask for the ferry launch across to Bahia, the bridge should be up in the next 2 years. In Bahia you can either pay a dollar to have a young guy bike you, and your hunched over traveling partner, your bags (still attatched to your back), to the bus station or you can walk the 1/2 mile. Once at the bus station, ask for tickets to Hipijapa (best name ever). Make sure that the people yelling out bus destinations know you already have purchased a ticket, otherwise you can wind up on the wrong bus! In Hipijapa take the opportunity to gorge on bus mall street food before boarding your next bus. Everything from corn cakes with cheese and meat to geen mango slices with salt can be purchased for less than a dollar. Once you are satiated hop on the next departing bohemian curtained ride to Puerto Lopez.

Places to Stay:

Contrary to your prior experience in Baños do not fall for the tuk tuk motorcoach waiting to take you to a reputable hostal. While it may be ¨free¨ you will inevitably feel compelled to pay the driver something for his time, even though he took you to the biggest dump of a building you have ever seen in your life. Once you assuage your guilt by ways of a dollar pay off head up the malecon (waterfront) to Hostel Isolet. This cool, if not slightly funky place, has private rooms, a balcony kitchen and hang out area as well as the security of a pegboard behind the usually unmanned desk to hang your room key.

Places to Eat:

Patacon Pisao: This Colombian place has all kinds of plantain and corn creations sure to please. It is slightly spendy but well worth it, if only for the delicious tomato based sauce used to marinate the chicken and meats.

Cafe Ballena: AMAZING breakfast. Apple cinnamon pancakes, omletes with crazy amounts of veggies and fresh bread. Be wary of the book exchange, the owner uses it as her own personal library and if she does not want to read what you have, you will be leaving with the same book you had hoped to unload.

Tiki hut: The best banana milkshakes. Period.

Pluses:

The town is nice and small, easy to explore in a day, the waves are almost non-existent so swimming, if you can brave the cold, is good. The nearby national park has an entry point at a town called Agua Blanca. The town is miniscule but the tour is interesting (ages old underground ceramic burial tombs), capped off with a mysterious and magical (holy for the locals) sulfuric thermal bath. The mud at the bottom is very good for the skin and for easing the sting of your various bites! Beware for the mud bath monster!

Minuses:

The town is nice and small, you are easily identified as a tourist, people will try and sell you tours at every corner. If it´s not whale season paying 25 dollars to spend 6 hours in a boat, eat rice and beans, and snorkel when its cold out does not sound like very much fun.

Hosteria Alandaluz, Ecuador

Getting there and away:
Take the southbound bus out of Puerto Lopez towards Puerto Rico (the town not the country). Make sure you tell the driver you are going to the hosteria and stand by your bags. Little children using them as seats have wandering hands. After about 30 minutes you will be let out on the side of a dusty road next to a castle-y looking entryway. Hosteria Alandaluz is a fairytale come to life.

Places to stay:

The hosteria provides accomodations ranging from camping to 5 star rooms. The whole resort is sustainably built, bamboo, stone and wood being the main materials. Thatched roofs turn every structure into the buildings of postcards and the whole beachfront situation only adds to its charm. The campsites are empty during the low season, giving you prime real estate for an easily negotiated rate. Bathrooms are clean, and the showers, while frigid, are great at removing the dust and salt of the day.

Places to eat:

Your campsite. Bring fuel and food. The hosteria restuarant, while beautiful and yummy is overpriced. By mixing in instant oatmeal, ramen, homemade camp stove chilli and pb and j with eating ¨out¨ you can have an awesome experience without breaking the bank.

Restaraunt Bamboo: The hosteria resturant. Ceviche, chifles (everyones favorite thinly sliced and deep fried plantain, so good!), shrimp and the like. Good food, grand prices.

Pluses:

Isolated location, beautiful surroundings, empty beach that goes on and on. This place would be ideal if only the sun would come out! Make sure to go in high season if possible.

Minuses:
When you decide to offroad it after a trek south down the highway yeilds nothing of intrest, tresspassing on someones undeveloped land might seem like a good idea. BEWARE, unless you are wearing copious amouns of bugspray, enjoy getting lost in a wooden and swampy wetland, or want to put some permanent scars on your legs to show you are a hardcore tree whacker, it´s better to just turn around and head right back up the road. Plus your brand new Croatia jersey you just bought that day for $5 will be permanantly ruined!

Montañita, Ecuador

Getting there and away:

Follow the previously mentioned trend, hop on a southbound bus!

Places to Stay:

The beach: not reccomended unless you want to be told a million times by numerous concerned locals that the beach is dangerous at night and that the clothes will literally be taken from your back should you choose to remain at your makeshift campsite. However, many bohemian travellers are camped just down the way, leaving you scratching your head. Just go with the flow.

Some random persons backyard: A much better camping option, for a couple of dollars you can move your tent behind a house, this gives you much more secuirty, there is a guard dog and a big fence around the property which you will have to artfully manuver over when you want to hop from the persons raised land to the sand below. The outhouse is small but services daily needs. There is a water spigot in the ground to wash the sand off your feet. The smelly inslet bordering one portion of the property serves to whisk the bump and grind music from the bars in town right into your tent at 4 am and the tree that you are under will drop unidentifiable objects on you as you sleep. Oh and the guard dog might pee on your tent.

Places to eat:

Everywhere and anywhere. Everything in this surfers mecca is cheap and good. The whole town is geared towards young and slightly broke tourists. You can have a really filling meal for super cheap and fried goodness is avilable on every corner for late night munchies.

Pluses:

Cool vibe, good food, nice beach, cheap sleeping.

Minuses:

If you are not going to party till after dawn every night bring ear plugs.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Getting there and away:

Keep on heading south. Easy as pie, bus ticket, straight to the HUGE terminal in Guayaquil, bypass the numerous fast food resturants, which suddenly all hold a lot of appeal, and hit the local bus crossing on the other end of the station. Board the number 65 bus, it is hidden away in a back corner so it is easier to muster up the courage to ask one of the armed police officers milling around where to catch it than it is to try and find it yourself.

Places to Stay:

From experience and talking to other seasoned travlers it can be concluded that NucaPacha Hostel is the only real choice in town. This German/Ecuadorian run place opened just 5 months ago but with free internet, free breakfast and a clean and luxurious pool it really cannot be beat. The Urdesa neighborhood is one of the nicest and safest in this chaotic city, seriously, armed guards are everywhere, the local McD´s, the video store, even in front of the crosswalks.

Places to eat:

Calle 9 in the Urdesa neighborhood is one long line-up of shopping and eating. Chifa restaurants abound, as well as Arabes (Middle Eastern food) that often double as hookah spots. The Sushi is killer: a boat load (literally, the sushi is served on a wooden boat) of sashimi and rolls for less than 10 bucks. Downtown you will find only almuerzos (lots of rice!) and fast food, but with luck you may find a decent sandwhich shop specializing in Spanish sandos. The chicken mushroom is a good choice. For the homesick traveller, try the grilled cheese sandwhiches that can be made at your hostel for a very modest price. Hits the spot!

Pluses:

Malecon 2000: The pride and joy of a city steeped in an unglamourous history full of street violence, this two mile long cement waterfront walkway is colorful, cheerful, well guarded, and hot! Dont even think about trying to shed your shirt though, the whistles are on you like the sweat running down your spine. Walk to one end for a steep climb up an old colorful neighborhood (again, many officers lurking) that rewards you with panoramic views from an old lighthouse. There is an awesome pirateship at the top, which will be closed at the very moment you want to have lunch there, much to your dismay.
Futbol!!!There are two soccer teams in town. The fans are crazy on either side, but the overwhelming majority favor the uppity and successful Barcelona side. The other team, Emelec, has 80 years of history and very little success as far as can be gleaned from the surface. If you feel like jumping on a bandwagon choose Emelec, as the Barcelonistas, or Canarias (yellow jerseys), are extremely snobby and it is worth it just to engage in friendly rivalry with them. The Emelec Stadium is extremely rowdy in the Barra (die-hard fan section), and the final suggestion is to learn some of the chants ahead of time so that you arent just humming along, singing a few random words you pick up on, and waving your hands forward in a show of support. PS, make friends with people around you because everyone shares their beer!

Hostel Nucapacha: This city is hot, and they have a pool in the afternoon sun. What could be better?

Parque de las Iguanas: There is a park smack in the middle of downtown that is infested (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) with iguanas. Dinosaur-looking slitherers roam the branches above and the walkways below. Although they look slightly intimidating, they are vegetarians and occasionally dont mind being pet. The park also has a pond with close to 100 turtles. A tortugista´s dream!

Minuses:
Downtown is a bit grimy and with very little to offer the sightseer. There are parks, and they are big (one takes up four square blocks!), but little else.