Well, it had to end sometime. And after 6.5 months, 6 countries, and 20 new stamps in my passport...I'M HOME! At the moment, I am extremely overwhelmed, but definately happy to be back safe and sound.
It's been an incredible, wonderful, amazing adventure, and now I will have to force myself back into the real world. But being away for so long definately made me appreciate the luxuries of home...like tap water, and showering barefoot, and putting toilet paper IN the toilet. Exciting stuff.
I'm home for all of August before heading back to Boston, so anyone who is around should expect to see my smiling face soon!!
Thanks for following my journey with me!!
Time to start planning my next trip...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Almost at the end...
Hi again from Peru!
It´s hard to believe, but I have only 3days left in this lovely country, and of my trip. I can admit that I am looking forward to coming home, but I am not ready to face the real world again quite yet.
This last week has been exciting and fun and a little chaotic...I first spent 3 days white water rafting, which was definately not the best thing for my health, since I was pretty sick, but it was a blast. We would raft all day, then set up camp alongside the river for the night. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so the night skies were absolutely incredible. The amount of stars was amazing, and we could see the milky way perfectly. Very cool! And let me tell you...wetsuits are very humbling. Man oh man, I thought I had been getting fit being so active in peru, but wetsuits are very unforgiving to those extra few pounds. So I looked verrryyy sexy for 3 days. Back to cusco for a night or 2, and then the plan was to do to the Ausangate trek, which is 4 days and 3 nights, mostly on horses. It is supposed to take you to some of the most beautiful views in Peru...mostly snow-capped mountains, so its verrryyyy cold. Long story short (this is another one that you just have to ask me about), the company we picked was terrible. The horses were crazy, the guides were awful, and it was just not good. My friend Roni was thrown off his horse towards the end of day one, which we used as our excuse to turn around the next morning and get the hell out of there. It was unfortunate that we didnt make it to the views, but it started snowing on the first day, so I managed to see at least some snowy mountains! Quite an experience, camping in the winter and hiking in the snow...and I dont think I need to do it again. And riding horses for so long is painful!!
So now i have 2 more days to relax in Cusco, and then its back home! I´m really looking forward to seeing everyone so soon!
mucho amor!
It´s hard to believe, but I have only 3days left in this lovely country, and of my trip. I can admit that I am looking forward to coming home, but I am not ready to face the real world again quite yet.
This last week has been exciting and fun and a little chaotic...I first spent 3 days white water rafting, which was definately not the best thing for my health, since I was pretty sick, but it was a blast. We would raft all day, then set up camp alongside the river for the night. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so the night skies were absolutely incredible. The amount of stars was amazing, and we could see the milky way perfectly. Very cool! And let me tell you...wetsuits are very humbling. Man oh man, I thought I had been getting fit being so active in peru, but wetsuits are very unforgiving to those extra few pounds. So I looked verrryyy sexy for 3 days. Back to cusco for a night or 2, and then the plan was to do to the Ausangate trek, which is 4 days and 3 nights, mostly on horses. It is supposed to take you to some of the most beautiful views in Peru...mostly snow-capped mountains, so its verrryyyy cold. Long story short (this is another one that you just have to ask me about), the company we picked was terrible. The horses were crazy, the guides were awful, and it was just not good. My friend Roni was thrown off his horse towards the end of day one, which we used as our excuse to turn around the next morning and get the hell out of there. It was unfortunate that we didnt make it to the views, but it started snowing on the first day, so I managed to see at least some snowy mountains! Quite an experience, camping in the winter and hiking in the snow...and I dont think I need to do it again. And riding horses for so long is painful!!
So now i have 2 more days to relax in Cusco, and then its back home! I´m really looking forward to seeing everyone so soon!
mucho amor!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
MACHU PICCHU!!
I DID IT!!!!!!
I dont have the time or energy to do the last few days of my life justice, but it has been incredible!! In a nutshell, I spent 3 days biking and trekking, and then day 4, I awoke at 4am, sore and tired and excited, and hello Machu Picchu! So incredible and amazing and beautiful. And we climed Wayna Picchu (if you look at the typical postcard picture of machu picchu, there is a really tall mountain in the background...thats wayna picchu). Hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but so worth it and amazing. You sit at the top, overlooking Machu Picchu, and you really feel like youre on top of the world. The 4 days were just awesome, and now I am back in Cuzco for a day or 2, still sore but finally clean! Tomorrow or the day after we leave for a 3 day white water rafting trip, which will hopefully be stellar and hopefully NOT give me pnemonia.
I cant believe my flight home is in 10 days!! not ok! but at least im making the most of the time i have left!
I dont have the time or energy to do the last few days of my life justice, but it has been incredible!! In a nutshell, I spent 3 days biking and trekking, and then day 4, I awoke at 4am, sore and tired and excited, and hello Machu Picchu! So incredible and amazing and beautiful. And we climed Wayna Picchu (if you look at the typical postcard picture of machu picchu, there is a really tall mountain in the background...thats wayna picchu). Hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but so worth it and amazing. You sit at the top, overlooking Machu Picchu, and you really feel like youre on top of the world. The 4 days were just awesome, and now I am back in Cuzco for a day or 2, still sore but finally clean! Tomorrow or the day after we leave for a 3 day white water rafting trip, which will hopefully be stellar and hopefully NOT give me pnemonia.
I cant believe my flight home is in 10 days!! not ok! but at least im making the most of the time i have left!
Monday, July 13, 2009
So winter means that its actually cold? Who knew?!
hola hola!
since my last post, i have been quite the busy traveler. I made it back to Lima and met up again with Evya and some of his friends. We spent that night in the city, and got up the next morning to head to Ica, about 4 hours south. There was some sort of transportation strike so it took us an extra bus and an extra hour or two, but not too bad. Ica is bascially just desert and massssssive sand dunes. (In general, the geography and landscape of peru is truly spectacular. You leave the city, and suddenly its just sand and the Andes. Very impressive, words cannot do it justice so you all need to wait for pictures). So in Ica we went sandboarding, which is exactly what it sounds like, and is probably one of the stupidest and one of the most fun things i have done. About on par with my waterfall jump. You basically get in this car/truck/strange contraption thing that zooms a million miles an hour up through the sand dunes. Its just like a roller coaster ride! You then have to actually board down the dunes, which are gigantic. Most of us couldnt ever do it standing up, and we did it sitting down and on our stomachs, which was the most fun. I ate more sand than is healthy and almost a week later, i still find sand in my hair, but I broke no bones and made it back onto solid ground in one piece. The next day we wanted to go to Pisco, about 2 hours away for a boat tour, but because of the transportation strike, we couldnt go. So instead we did a wine and pisco tasting tour (pisco is the national drink). Fun day just relaxing. The 9th in the evening we got on our 19 hour bus ride to Cusco. 19 hours and lots and lots of drugs later, we made it. The ride is intense, you are basically winding through the Andes for hours and hours, right on the edge, basically thinking you are going to fall off at any second. Buttt I will admit that it was a gorgeous ride and quite the experience. Now i´m in Cusco, which is amazing and beautiful and adorable and COLD. The days are sunny and warmish, but at night, so so so so cold. I had to buy lots of alpaca stuff, since I have almost nothing warm...my head is still in central america! We spent our first afternoon walking around, and the next day we did the Sacred Valley tour, and saw lots of Incan ruins. This afternoon yana and tito arrived, finally!! it is SO nice to have yana with me! And tomorrow, we begin a three day trek to Machu Picchu!!!! I am so excited and terrified, and cant wait. Cross your fingers that I actually make it.
Heres hoping that my next post begins with ¨I DID IT!¨...
since my last post, i have been quite the busy traveler. I made it back to Lima and met up again with Evya and some of his friends. We spent that night in the city, and got up the next morning to head to Ica, about 4 hours south. There was some sort of transportation strike so it took us an extra bus and an extra hour or two, but not too bad. Ica is bascially just desert and massssssive sand dunes. (In general, the geography and landscape of peru is truly spectacular. You leave the city, and suddenly its just sand and the Andes. Very impressive, words cannot do it justice so you all need to wait for pictures). So in Ica we went sandboarding, which is exactly what it sounds like, and is probably one of the stupidest and one of the most fun things i have done. About on par with my waterfall jump. You basically get in this car/truck/strange contraption thing that zooms a million miles an hour up through the sand dunes. Its just like a roller coaster ride! You then have to actually board down the dunes, which are gigantic. Most of us couldnt ever do it standing up, and we did it sitting down and on our stomachs, which was the most fun. I ate more sand than is healthy and almost a week later, i still find sand in my hair, but I broke no bones and made it back onto solid ground in one piece. The next day we wanted to go to Pisco, about 2 hours away for a boat tour, but because of the transportation strike, we couldnt go. So instead we did a wine and pisco tasting tour (pisco is the national drink). Fun day just relaxing. The 9th in the evening we got on our 19 hour bus ride to Cusco. 19 hours and lots and lots of drugs later, we made it. The ride is intense, you are basically winding through the Andes for hours and hours, right on the edge, basically thinking you are going to fall off at any second. Buttt I will admit that it was a gorgeous ride and quite the experience. Now i´m in Cusco, which is amazing and beautiful and adorable and COLD. The days are sunny and warmish, but at night, so so so so cold. I had to buy lots of alpaca stuff, since I have almost nothing warm...my head is still in central america! We spent our first afternoon walking around, and the next day we did the Sacred Valley tour, and saw lots of Incan ruins. This afternoon yana and tito arrived, finally!! it is SO nice to have yana with me! And tomorrow, we begin a three day trek to Machu Picchu!!!! I am so excited and terrified, and cant wait. Cross your fingers that I actually make it.
Heres hoping that my next post begins with ¨I DID IT!¨...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Peru!
Happy 4th of July, from Peru!!
I believe that this is my first 4th of July out of the country, but a bunch of Americans...and some Brits...and I are having a BBQ bonfire on the beach tonight, so it feels a little bit like we´re home!
Anyway, I finally made it to Peru, after one cancelled flight and a million hour layover in San Salvador. But I arrived in one piece, and my friend Tito met me at the airport. I went back to his house in Lima, we hung out for a bit, and then I proceeded to pass out and sleep until NOON! I have no idea where that came from, but I havent slept late in months, so I guess my body needed it. We had lunch with his family, which was nice to practice my spanish for an extended period of time, and then we spent a few hours at the orphanage where Tito volunteers, which was nice and interesting to compare to the orphanages that I volunteered at in Guatemala and Mexico.
I then took an overnight bus 9 hours north to Huanchaco, a small beach town where my friend Kate from my Costa Rica trip is spending the summer. It has been FANTASTIC just hanging out and catching up, and all we do is talk about Costa Rica, which really makes me miss it and all of our friends.
The weather has been a nice change of pace...its winter here, and definately much colder than its been for me since January. I´m wearing long sleeves, and drinking tea, and taking hot showers! Exciting stuff. I do miss the sun, but its nice to not be sweating 24 hours a day.
So all is great with me. I cannot believe that its already July...the time is flying by, and I know that these next few weeks are going to go by even faster. But i´m just trying to enjoy every minute and take advantage of the time I still have left!
I believe that this is my first 4th of July out of the country, but a bunch of Americans...and some Brits...and I are having a BBQ bonfire on the beach tonight, so it feels a little bit like we´re home!
Anyway, I finally made it to Peru, after one cancelled flight and a million hour layover in San Salvador. But I arrived in one piece, and my friend Tito met me at the airport. I went back to his house in Lima, we hung out for a bit, and then I proceeded to pass out and sleep until NOON! I have no idea where that came from, but I havent slept late in months, so I guess my body needed it. We had lunch with his family, which was nice to practice my spanish for an extended period of time, and then we spent a few hours at the orphanage where Tito volunteers, which was nice and interesting to compare to the orphanages that I volunteered at in Guatemala and Mexico.
I then took an overnight bus 9 hours north to Huanchaco, a small beach town where my friend Kate from my Costa Rica trip is spending the summer. It has been FANTASTIC just hanging out and catching up, and all we do is talk about Costa Rica, which really makes me miss it and all of our friends.
The weather has been a nice change of pace...its winter here, and definately much colder than its been for me since January. I´m wearing long sleeves, and drinking tea, and taking hot showers! Exciting stuff. I do miss the sun, but its nice to not be sweating 24 hours a day.
So all is great with me. I cannot believe that its already July...the time is flying by, and I know that these next few weeks are going to go by even faster. But i´m just trying to enjoy every minute and take advantage of the time I still have left!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
HONDURAS!!
Hello beautiful people.
Today is my last day in central america, and while I am super excited to get to Peru, it definately feels very strange. I sent Mae home with my guidebook, after she reminded me that I wouldnt need it anymore. I didnt like that. But let me back up...
I hung out for a few days in San Pedro, the 2nd largest city in Honduras, and is nothing special. Met an awesome Canadian though, Sharon, which was nice since I wasnt really alone after that. Mae finally came, with a broken foot (which she neglected to tell me beforehand, which was lovely), but we took it easy and had lots of fun. There were many adventures to be had...Honduras is not nearly as developed as Panama and Costa Rica, and getting things accomplished is always a challange. But the slow and relaxed pace is part of its charm. We went first to Copan Ruinas, which is an adorable colonial town that I fell madly in love with. We wandered around, and the next day went to Mayan ruins, which were very cool. That afternoon we did a 3 hour horseback ride tour through Copan, which was beutiful and fun, and we got to see Hondurans going about their daily lives. Next was Lago de Yojoa, a really beautiful lake. While we never actually made it into the lake, since we had gotten on the wrong bus and ended up a bit too far out, we still had a very relaxing day reading and tanning and looking at the prettiness. Next day we went to Pulhapanzak, an incredible and GORGEOUS waterfall. It was 43 meters high...dont worry, I didnt jump from this one!! So all in all, it was a great time with Mae, and it was so nice to see a friendly face from home. And she brought me starbucks, which was HEAVEN.
Back in San Pedro, I met up again with Sharon, and we spent the next few days in Santa Rosa and Gracias, two more colonial towns that are so cute and lovely. Of course, day 2 of our journey the coup takes place (i dont have the time or energy to explain, you should all have CNN), but other than having the bus schedules a bit slow, no electricity for a few hours, and a 9pm countrywide curfew, we didnt notice too much change, and enjoyed our time in some much cooler climate. And talking to locals about the government, country, and situation has been so interesting. Yesterday we did an awesome and intense hike to and then through a mountain, then at night went to hot springs to relax. Amazingness. For everyone who kept asking me ´ummmm why honduras??¨ now I have an answer. It is beautiful and relaxed and friendly and while it is also very poor and underdeveloped with a long way to go, I have loved my time here.
With that in mind, however, today I definately felt the effects of the coup. VERY long story short, we had to leave Gracias to get back to San Pedro today...Sharon has to get to work, and I have my flight tomorrow morning. I wont get into the details but make sure to ask me about this day when Im back home...suffice to say that campesinos who support the president got pissed, so they decided to block all long distance buses throughout the country. It ended up taking us about 7 different buses to get back to San Pedro, and many many many extra hours. It was definately an experience. Then we get back, and I find out that the airport was closed yesterday...everything is supposed to be back on schedule now, and heres hoping I make it out of here tomorrow without problems.
This time next month ill be home!! get excited. although I can add that while I was in Copan with Mae, our beautful dog passed away. Our family definately is smaller and sadder now, and as much as I love you all, you probably know that she is why I usually come home. So that definately put a cloud over the end of my trip, and if I end up staying abroad and skipping out on senior year, just blame it on marabelle!
on a happier note, i have a layover in costa rica tomorrow, which excites me a lot! I get to use up the last of my costa rican money that I found in my bag, and be back for about an hour :)
Today is my last day in central america, and while I am super excited to get to Peru, it definately feels very strange. I sent Mae home with my guidebook, after she reminded me that I wouldnt need it anymore. I didnt like that. But let me back up...
I hung out for a few days in San Pedro, the 2nd largest city in Honduras, and is nothing special. Met an awesome Canadian though, Sharon, which was nice since I wasnt really alone after that. Mae finally came, with a broken foot (which she neglected to tell me beforehand, which was lovely), but we took it easy and had lots of fun. There were many adventures to be had...Honduras is not nearly as developed as Panama and Costa Rica, and getting things accomplished is always a challange. But the slow and relaxed pace is part of its charm. We went first to Copan Ruinas, which is an adorable colonial town that I fell madly in love with. We wandered around, and the next day went to Mayan ruins, which were very cool. That afternoon we did a 3 hour horseback ride tour through Copan, which was beutiful and fun, and we got to see Hondurans going about their daily lives. Next was Lago de Yojoa, a really beautiful lake. While we never actually made it into the lake, since we had gotten on the wrong bus and ended up a bit too far out, we still had a very relaxing day reading and tanning and looking at the prettiness. Next day we went to Pulhapanzak, an incredible and GORGEOUS waterfall. It was 43 meters high...dont worry, I didnt jump from this one!! So all in all, it was a great time with Mae, and it was so nice to see a friendly face from home. And she brought me starbucks, which was HEAVEN.
Back in San Pedro, I met up again with Sharon, and we spent the next few days in Santa Rosa and Gracias, two more colonial towns that are so cute and lovely. Of course, day 2 of our journey the coup takes place (i dont have the time or energy to explain, you should all have CNN), but other than having the bus schedules a bit slow, no electricity for a few hours, and a 9pm countrywide curfew, we didnt notice too much change, and enjoyed our time in some much cooler climate. And talking to locals about the government, country, and situation has been so interesting. Yesterday we did an awesome and intense hike to and then through a mountain, then at night went to hot springs to relax. Amazingness. For everyone who kept asking me ´ummmm why honduras??¨ now I have an answer. It is beautiful and relaxed and friendly and while it is also very poor and underdeveloped with a long way to go, I have loved my time here.
With that in mind, however, today I definately felt the effects of the coup. VERY long story short, we had to leave Gracias to get back to San Pedro today...Sharon has to get to work, and I have my flight tomorrow morning. I wont get into the details but make sure to ask me about this day when Im back home...suffice to say that campesinos who support the president got pissed, so they decided to block all long distance buses throughout the country. It ended up taking us about 7 different buses to get back to San Pedro, and many many many extra hours. It was definately an experience. Then we get back, and I find out that the airport was closed yesterday...everything is supposed to be back on schedule now, and heres hoping I make it out of here tomorrow without problems.
This time next month ill be home!! get excited. although I can add that while I was in Copan with Mae, our beautful dog passed away. Our family definately is smaller and sadder now, and as much as I love you all, you probably know that she is why I usually come home. So that definately put a cloud over the end of my trip, and if I end up staying abroad and skipping out on senior year, just blame it on marabelle!
on a happier note, i have a layover in costa rica tomorrow, which excites me a lot! I get to use up the last of my costa rican money that I found in my bag, and be back for about an hour :)
Monday, June 29, 2009
COUP!
well, you all got my ¨im not drowning in a flood¨ post, and then the ´i didnt get killed in the earthquake´ post...here is my ´i survived the coup´ post!! I´ll post a real honduras update soon, but lots of people have been sending me messages and making sure im alive...i am indeed alive and safe. it has been very interesting, but all of the action and riots and craziness is in tegucigalpa, the capital, and im hours away from there. if you have no idea what im talking about, turn on the news, its really interesting stuff.
i love latin america!! thanks for all of your concern and love :)
i love latin america!! thanks for all of your concern and love :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
