Okay, so we admit, it´s been like two weeks, maybe three....since the last time that we have written. We are sorry....but we have been having so much fun, and we hope this blog, filled with stories, rainbows, and love makes up for it.
So...we left off when we were about to start our week of volunteering at a school in Cusco. It was great. The kids were so CUTE! We want to take them all home with us!! We spent our week changing lyrics to popular Latin American pop songs about French Guinea (our assigned topic of the week)..dancing and really just playing around with them. The kids were hilarious, some used our hands for bandaids, kleenexes, and poked us to make sure that yes, we really really are this white! We did some art projects, taught the kids about the solar system and how to say ¨booger¨...all very important things..... We had a great time, and spent a week in beautiful Cusco.
After our week.... we headed to the beach!! We spent 30 hours on a bus to get there, but it was worth it!! Huanchaco is the name.....really an oasis for chilling. Upon arrival, we made a new friend, a traveler... or gypsy, from Argentina. He started talking to us at the bus station, and decided he wanted to hang out with us for a few days...all good. We started our trip afraid of gypsies a little bit, since they sometimes harrass us, hit on us, and try to sell us friendship bracelets.. (don´t get us wrong, we love friendship bracelets!!). It really is only fitting that we now have a new gypsy friend and free friendship bracelets to prove it!! Days were spent realxing on the beach...we even found a place to rent an umbrella as to avoid being turned into a Pollo Broaster! People also use reed boats to fish and we def. had a lot of fun mingling with the locals (there are not too many tourists at this tiny beach, which we loved!!).
We are now back in Cusco with Megan Sides Pike.!!!!! We were so excited that she decided to come down and meet us here. We first spent a few days going to the Sacred Valley to visit the ruins and small towns around Cusco. WE would also like to send a shout out to the colectivo rides we have been taking around the valley (really just buses...but we meet the most awesome people on there....cute babies, sleeping old ladies, and funny old muchachos!!). The Sacred Valley is beautiful!! Mountains for days...green hillsides, and picturesque little pueblitos. We must say though that nothing can compare to Machu Picchu!!
That´s right folks, we made it....!! We started our journey at 5:30 in the morning....we wanted to get an early bus to see the sun rise, but turns out everyone else wanted to as well...so we ended up making it to Machu Picchu about an hour later. It is awesome!! Definitely should be on everyone´s bucket list of things to do!! When we get home we will post tons of pictures (we felt compelled to have a series of very long photo shoots). We also managed to find a tour group that let us join for free!! Since we are the cheapest travelers in South America, we decided to go to Machu Picchu on our own...to find public transportation the entire way there...and then somehow we lucked out in finding a free tour. Our guide was awesome, and we learnt so much!!....Including that everyone else on the tour paid a ton of money!! In addition to learning all of these things, we also learnt that some people still think that Incas live around Machu Picchu....we may be Simpletons (Gama....) but we did however, know this not to be true. Needless to say the tour was great.
After touring the ruins we decided to climb up Waynapicchu, the mountain that sits behind the ruins that is featured in all the postcards. THE BIG ONE. OUr trek was eventful and certainly an adventure. It mostly involves climbing stairs (Incan stairs) for the entire time. The stairs also have water making them very slippery (some guy almost took us out when he tripped on the way down!). THe view of the valley and Machu Picchu is amazing, definitely worth the climb (yes Braidy, you bet we sang it on the way up!).
Now we are back in Cusco for a few days....going to rest up from the adventures of the past few weeks for a couple of days.... Until next time, adventure is out there!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Bye Bye Bolivia we will miss you... Hello Peru!
Okay so where we last left off we were going back back to Cocha Cocha Bamba... and we did :) It was really fun to see our Cochabamba friends and enjoy being in a city that we feel like we have already mastered... How many times to you go to Bolivia with a list of restaurants you want to hit up? Surprise we did! Needless to say we had so much fun in Cochabamba. We even visited thanks to Gama this street food Mecca called "La Isla" had more Choripans than one should ever have in a lifetime... okay we don´t actually believe that because they are delicious! Seriously thank you Gama for bringing us to food Heaven! In Cocha we also were lucky enough to see a traveling circus with a tree gymnast dressed in a spandex Zebra full body suit. It was simply amazing!
After a few days of fun we set off for Copacabana and then to the Peruvian border. now we like to think all of our bus rides have been fun and filled with charm and delicious stories to tell later but this one was more of a horror ride to begin with. It was a late night in Cochabamba Bolivia. Two young girls set off on a mission to make it to Peru. As they boarded their bus with sadness in their hearts from leaving their friends but a glimmer of hope for new adventure in their eyes they realized the bus was fisrt class and a new journey was in their midst. They also got to sit next to the Bolivian Elvis which was enough to get them through the night! Shortly after the bus started on their journey it stopped... for food. The two girls where completely parched and agua was their innermost desire. Aly decided that getting off the bus to retrieve some of this sweet thirst quencher was a good idea, especially after seeing the street smart Elvis get off... Little did she know this stop may be her last. As she searched far and wide for cheap water and a little lady to sell it to her. Just as she had found a good deal she heard a bus engine start to rumble and saw from the corner of her eye her bus begin to take off. Meanwhile Jo and Elvis´wife were calling for Aly and Elvis to get back on the bus and asking the bus driver to stop. The bus driver didn´t! Luckily Aly abandoned hopes for water and started sprinting for the bus. The next thing Jo can remember is Aly in the bus headlñights and then a horrid scream of "Wait I´m on this Bus!!!" Luckily Jo didn´t die of heart attack from screaming at the bus driver and Aly just barely made it on by jumping into the bus. Once everyone was happy, safe and securely on the bus the two bus soldiers (that´s us) looked out the window to see Elvis still in line for his coveted pollo broaster. The bus driver stopped the bus and waited for Elvis to load. Obviously he has more street cred than us! Lesson learned never get off the bus!
We are now in Puno at a great hostel called Bothy. On the way to our hostel we had the greatest, taxi/ motorcycle with an attached carriage to it, ride ever! The mortorcycle converted into little carriage was very slow and about half way through ran out of gas. However the driver, clearly a motorcycle baller, managed to get it started by turning over the engine for five minutes. We could not help but crack up in the back seat because we kid you not it was the longest we have ever heard anyone turn an engine for... we thought there was no hope of getting it restarted. However he did and we made it safely to Bothy. After getting out of the motorcar we said goodbye to our new hero and he put the bad boy in neutral and let it roll down the hill, taxis honking all the while!
So we are now at Bothy, unfortunately every other traveller is trekking to Cuzco so we are stuck with the two male workers of our hostel constantly flirting with us. We also some how got roped into buying trout for a little fiesta we had today with a family and the boys. Which was actually really fun because we got to go shopping in the market and see women pull fish eggs right out of the fishes baby maker! Oh yeah go Puno Ladies you truely are the women!
So now we are just chilling in our hostel catching up on life and getting ready to head for Cuzco, where we will be teaching children english. We are really excited and know we will have great stories to tell! Until Next Time Adventure is out There!
After a few days of fun we set off for Copacabana and then to the Peruvian border. now we like to think all of our bus rides have been fun and filled with charm and delicious stories to tell later but this one was more of a horror ride to begin with. It was a late night in Cochabamba Bolivia. Two young girls set off on a mission to make it to Peru. As they boarded their bus with sadness in their hearts from leaving their friends but a glimmer of hope for new adventure in their eyes they realized the bus was fisrt class and a new journey was in their midst. They also got to sit next to the Bolivian Elvis which was enough to get them through the night! Shortly after the bus started on their journey it stopped... for food. The two girls where completely parched and agua was their innermost desire. Aly decided that getting off the bus to retrieve some of this sweet thirst quencher was a good idea, especially after seeing the street smart Elvis get off... Little did she know this stop may be her last. As she searched far and wide for cheap water and a little lady to sell it to her. Just as she had found a good deal she heard a bus engine start to rumble and saw from the corner of her eye her bus begin to take off. Meanwhile Jo and Elvis´wife were calling for Aly and Elvis to get back on the bus and asking the bus driver to stop. The bus driver didn´t! Luckily Aly abandoned hopes for water and started sprinting for the bus. The next thing Jo can remember is Aly in the bus headlñights and then a horrid scream of "Wait I´m on this Bus!!!" Luckily Jo didn´t die of heart attack from screaming at the bus driver and Aly just barely made it on by jumping into the bus. Once everyone was happy, safe and securely on the bus the two bus soldiers (that´s us) looked out the window to see Elvis still in line for his coveted pollo broaster. The bus driver stopped the bus and waited for Elvis to load. Obviously he has more street cred than us! Lesson learned never get off the bus!
We are now in Puno at a great hostel called Bothy. On the way to our hostel we had the greatest, taxi/ motorcycle with an attached carriage to it, ride ever! The mortorcycle converted into little carriage was very slow and about half way through ran out of gas. However the driver, clearly a motorcycle baller, managed to get it started by turning over the engine for five minutes. We could not help but crack up in the back seat because we kid you not it was the longest we have ever heard anyone turn an engine for... we thought there was no hope of getting it restarted. However he did and we made it safely to Bothy. After getting out of the motorcar we said goodbye to our new hero and he put the bad boy in neutral and let it roll down the hill, taxis honking all the while!
So we are now at Bothy, unfortunately every other traveller is trekking to Cuzco so we are stuck with the two male workers of our hostel constantly flirting with us. We also some how got roped into buying trout for a little fiesta we had today with a family and the boys. Which was actually really fun because we got to go shopping in the market and see women pull fish eggs right out of the fishes baby maker! Oh yeah go Puno Ladies you truely are the women!
So now we are just chilling in our hostel catching up on life and getting ready to head for Cuzco, where we will be teaching children english. We are really excited and know we will have great stories to tell! Until Next Time Adventure is out There!
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