Bogota and the Suarez family!

I spent the last week of my trip in luxurious opposition to how I had traveled for the previous 7 weeks! Living in Bogota was perfect!

Instead of being alone, I lived with the wonderful Suarez family as their 4th blonde sister/daughter.
Instead of taking public buses/cabs/walking, we had a driver.
Instead of eating free hostal bread for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner, we had a cook.
Instead of living at a hostal in a room with 10 bunk beds, I had my own huge room and bathroom.
Instead of paying for the hourly use of an internet cafe, I had a lap top and unlimited wireless.

How was I so lucky? I contacted my Aunt DK's friend, Luis Suarez, who worked and sometimes lived in Bogota when I found out that Steve was leaving and I would be alone for a week in Bogota. I asked him for advice on a volunteering program for me as well as a cheap hotel option. He said he could help me with both and when I arrived into the airport he arranged for the driver to pick me up and bring me to his office. There, I met his lovely daughter Tatiana who looks like she a beautiful 20 year old but is really only 17. Look out guys, she's going to be drop dead gorgeous when she is 20! Luis said that he had told me that he had found a volunteer opportunity for me but was having difficulty finding a hotel to my budget specifications. I had told him that normally, I spend about $7-10 a night on a hostal but would splurge in Bogota on a cheap hotel for $20-$30 a night. He laughed and said that was what he would spend on breakfast and could never find safe and acceptable accomodation for that price! Sooo he invited me to live with him and his family! Yay!!

I met his daughters and fell in love with them! Tatiana is the oldest then Vanessa who is 15 and Jessica who just turned 13. All are very pretty ballerinas who go back and forth in Spanish and English with ease. It was awesome to watch! I hadn't realized how much I missed family time and gossip time until I spent a few days with the Suarez family. We would have family breakfasts and dinners and I'd gossip with the girls about boys, school, traveling. They had just found out that they would be moving to Bogota from Fort Lauderdale which was a huge change. New country, new culture, new schools. I was sooo jealous! I wish I had been able to live in a different country when I was younger!

The Bogota apartment was gorgeous but on the weekend we went to the pool house over the mountains about 2 hours away. The weather in Bogota had been chilly and often cloudy but here it was super sunny and hot! We went swimming, tanned, and watched movies- what a life! :) On Sunday we returned to Bogota then took a quick drive up to the farm house about half an hour away. Luis used to go up there when he was young. It was your picturesque country house. We took pictures with cows, horses, and dogs. Talk about city girls in the country. We were prancing around like we'd never heard "mooooo" before! It would probably have been top on America's Funniest Videos (or is there a Colombia's Funniest Videos? haha I don't know)

My days were spent volunteering, working on the computer, or doing crazy things with my Suarez sisters. I volunteered in the very south of Bogota in a small area that only had dirt roads and Luis said he had never visited before. It was a very poor area and while it was safe enough during the day, at night it became very very dangerous. I worked for a kid's program there that watches children before/after school and provides classes and activities on the weekends as well. I helped them with their homework, played soccer, and made little playdoh pictures. It was great- after 8 weeks of only thinking about myself (where I want to go, what I want to do etc etc) it was really good to have a bit of time where I could think about and help someone else.

Unfortunately, I couldn't volunteer everyday because I had a lot of work I had to complete. I had just found out I was accepted in KAUST (King Abdullah's University of Science and Technology) in Saudi Arabia and I had to research this opportunity to see if it was something I wanted to do. If yes, I would have to be in Saudi Arabia by the end of this month. I also found out that I had to write essays for other possible fellowships and programs. It seems like I can never take a vacation from school work and too many things to do!

Now onto my favorite subject: FOOD! Colombia has this chain restaurant called Crepes and Waffles. It's phenomenal. They fill these crepes with so many wonderful things you wouldn't believe it. I happened to drop a hint that I loved this restaurant and during my week in Bogota we went three times!! :) So good! Maybe one day I'll try to bring one to the States.. Not only did we go out to eat though, Jessica and I decided to cook up something at home too. We tried to bake a cake. Key word tried. hahaha We didn't have a cake mix so we made our's from scratch. I could find all of the ingredients except for baking powder. I found a white powdery substance in the kitchen closet, tasted it and decided it could possibly be baking powder so we tried that. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Our cake tasted great- it just didn't rise. haha We did add a super good home made icing on top of it though so overall I say it was a success!

Anyway, this is getting too long! Bogota was great because I had a great time with the family I was staying with there! I was soo grateful for them helping me out and taking in a poor lonely blonde backpacker... I did have to say good bye to my Bogota family though and make my way back into the United States.

More Sunny adventures to be continued shortly... Saudi Arabia? London? South America? Hmm... ;)

Ecuador

I left Mancora on Thursday evening for a 4 hour bus ride to Piura, Peru to meet up with Audrey and take a 9pm overnight bus to Loja, Ecuador. Audrey had reserved the bus tickets for us but when we got there, the bus company had already given away our tickets and we were stuck in Piura! (I am only sharing this story 2 weeks after it happened so that my mom does not have time to worry about me being stuck in a Peruvian bus station) It was too late to try to get to Audrey's house an hour away and Piura is not a safe place to stay for the night so we found the only other bus company that went to Ecuador and booked seats on the last bus crossing the border. Instead of going to Loja, we changed plans and had to go to Guayaquil.

We crossed the border at 5am and except for an hour and a half wait to see the immigration officer and get stamped, it was smooth sailing. Problem free border crossing! Yay! We arrived into the gorgeous Guayaquil bus station at 9am and had breakfast at McDonald's there. A little home away from home. It was Audrey's first McDonald's hotcake experience. We didn't want to stay in the big city of Guayaquil and wanted to go to a midway point so that I could easily get to Quito and she could get back to Piura at the end of the weekend. We chose the cute town of Cuenca and hopped on another bus.

We arrived there around 3pm on Friday and checked into a gorgeous hostal that had a great view of the city from the 6th floor. We ate a nice Mexican meal then called it a night. On Saturday we woke up early and went to Ecuador's best ruins, Ingapirca, which was about 2 hours away. We learned about the Incas in Ecuador and saw something like a mini Machu Picchu there. There were a sun temple and a moon temple as well. On Sunday we took some local buses to 2 small towns a few hours away to go to their famous Sunday markets. The best way I can describe the markets is a huge farmer's market. There were sooo many fruits and vegetables!

On Sunday night Audrey and I said good bye and I took an overnight bus to Quito and she took an overnight bus down to Loja. I arrived in Quito early the next morning and checked into my hostal at 6am. After sleeping until 9am, I had breakfast and made friends in the hostal. A group of 6 or 7 of us took the local bus a few hours later and went to the Mitad del Mundo, the equator line. It's a big attraction in Ecuador and there are 2 museums on the site of the 0º-0'-0'' latitude. The showed us a lot of experiments on the line such as water swirling clockwise on one side and counterclockwise on the other and the easier ability to balance an egg on a nail when you are on the line than off of it. Fun times! 2 of the girls I was traveling with are sisters. One was 28 and the other 12. I told my mom that I will be kidnapping my 10 year old little sister in the next few years so that she can be my travel partner on my upcoming journeys..

We had dinner in the old town of Quito. It was a very pretty plaza and I wished that I had planned more time to stay in Quito and see more of the city! But I had a flight at 11am the next day to Bogota, Colombia..

Mancora

I got to the beaches of Mancora on the morning of July 17th and checked into the Loki hostal there. Instead of your typical hostal, Loki del Mar was like a beach resort. All the rooms were white and airy. There was a huge pool and the hostal was right on the beach. The town was small and there weren't many tourists! Perfect!

I met up with Steve in Mancora but unfortunately he became sick the night before I came and left to go back to the States the following day. He is safe and fine in the States now. I was worried about being completely alone and finishing up the trip through Peru, Ecuador, and Colmbia alone, but luckily, Steve had become friends with a phenomenal girl while he was in Mancora and she and I became like sisters. Vladana is from Bosnia and she was spending a semester studying in Lima. We both extended our stay in Mancora and had a great time chatting on the beach and eating beach food. They had the best homemade breads stuffed with tomatoes, cheese, and basil!

I was most worried about Ecuador since I had never been there and would have to be taking a bus across the border. I had taken many buses throughout Colombia and Peru but never one across the border but since I had a flight out of Quito on the 28th I had to figure out a way to do this. After freaking out for a bit, begging Victor to come to Ecuador with me, looking into possible flights home, and having multiple conversations with Vladana about possible trips together- I finally had a returning confidence in being able to travel alone and wanted to continue to travel. A friend that I had made in Cartagena, Gal, came to Mancora during my last 2 days and having just come from Ecuador, he helped me choose hostals etc. I decided to travel to Ecuador with a French girl, Audrey, whom I had beoome friends with in Mancora as well. So I was never quite alone.

The days passed pleasantly on the beach or by the pool and I got some much needed rest as well as some great new friends! A week later (it was only supposed to have been 2-3 days haha) I left the beaches to meet up with Audrey and start our trip to Ecuador..

Cusco, again!

I arrived into Cusco early in the morning of July 15th. I was supposed to have taken a plane back to Lima with Steve early this morning but a few days earlier the airline canceled that flight and gave me a new one for the 16th which was fine. Steve was hit hard by altitude sickness and decided to get out of Cusco and took a flight out on July 14th.

I spent most of the day at a great Incan museum. I had this American girl as my tourguide and she was super informative! By far my best museum experience in all of South America! And you know that with my nerdiness I have visited my share of museums.. haha

Not only was it great that my flight was canceled so that I could visit this museum in Cusco but also, Victor arrived on the evening of July 15th!! We are both traveling in South America this summer but our paths weren´t going to be crossing at all but as luck would have it, they did! I had a great time hanging out with him and his Cornell friends, Steve and Tim. We had dinner in Cusco, went out dancing, then the next day Victor and I went hiking in the morning to a mountain above the city. There was a great view of the city and a huge white jesus above us overlooking the city. I had to hurry up and pack though because I had a flight to catch to Lima at 11am!

I said good bye to Victor and the cold of Cusco and hopped on my flight to Lima and then my overnight bus to get to the beaches of Mancora in northern Peru on the morning of the 17th.

Lake Titicaca

We returned from Machu Picchu on a Friday evening and Sinead and I went on a special tour of an Incan ruin with our guide, Percy, on Saturday. With him, we wove through Andean towns in the mountains on little buses packed with locals. We were by far the whitest people around! Such a fantastic experience! After about an hour and a half traveling we went to a large rock that he said was the map of the Incan origins. He explained that women were idolized by the Incans and that they are extremely powerful because they create life. Men bring the cells of the frog (representing the back bone/vertebrae) and the cells of the bird (the brain and connection between the backbone and the brain) but there is a secret that has been kept by the descendents of the Incans that would allow women to create without men. Confusing I know, but very interesting! And I´m sure there is some kind of truth in his words. I would like to say it is easy to discount Percy´s stories and prophecies but he had a bit of a psychic ability and knew things about me and other members of our group that he couldn´t have known otherwise! About me, he knew that a time of great sadness for me was 2 years 8 months ago. Very true. And he did predict that one day I will have a daughter with my hair no matter who the husband is and that I will return to Peru (I´m looking into trips to return to Machu Picchu again!) Hmm!!

Anyway, on Sunday we did laundry and ran other errands around Cusco then took an overnight bus to Lake Titicaca! I went with Laura and Sinead. We hung out in Puno, the town outside of Lake Titicaca, all day Monday and went to little markets and chatted with locals. It was a lot of fun. We stayed the night Monday night and it was SOOOOO cold. I had on 2 long sleeve shirts, my big down coat, hat, gloves, 4 blankets and a sleeping bag!! On Tuesday we took a boat tour of Lake Titicaca. It is a sacred lake for the Incans. We visited the floating islands of Uros which are made from special grasses that grow on the lake. The people there weave these islands and live on them. They constantly have to be rebuilding them though. We had lunch with a family on another island and had a good time boating on the lake for the day!

That night I said good bye to my special Irish ladies and the freezing Lake Titicaca and took a night bus back to Cusco!

Salkantay and Machu Picchu!

(I forgot to post this before- I returned from Machu Picchu on July 10th- so let me post it and try to catch up on where I am now!)

I just got back from a phenomenal trek to Machu Picchu. This was one of the best experiences of my life- I understand now why it is one of the seven wonders of the world!

There were 10 of us on the hike including the guide, Percy, who is an Incan descendant and speaks the Incan language of quechua fluently but very little English! We learned on the first day that I knew more Spanish than anyone else on the trek and immediately I became full time translator! It was such an amazing experience! I actually could think in Spanish and understand more than I ever have been able to before!



The first day of the trek we were supposed to leave our hostel at 445am so I set up a wake up call at 415am. I woke up to a frantic person running in my room with a cell phone light out asking where I was. It turned out to be my guide! He showed me his watch and it was 540am! The bus had left without me and they thought I was sick or had decided not to come all because my hostal forgot to wake me! After that, it was smooth sailing though. We left from the city of Cusco that morning which is at 11,000 ft and began trekking through the Andes mountains to one of the largest mountains in South America, Salkantay, which means Indominable God in the Incan language of quechua. We had cooks that would follow us and carry our food on donkeys and horses and they put together the best meals! Everything began with soup, had a large meal then coffee and tea.



The first night was the coldest. It went below freezing and we slept in tents with all of our layers on. I slept with 2 of the girls on the trek, Laura and Sinead from Ireland, and pretty soon we became great friends! The second day of the hike we arrived at Salkantay which is at 15,000 ft. At that altitude I felt a bit of altitude sickness- a headache and dizziness and my stomach began to hurt! It began to snow we were so high up! Percy took us to a special turquoise lagoon that was near the top of Salkantay and there we performed an Incan ritualistic offering. We set up rocks on top of each other and offered a coin for fortune, fruit for love, or a piece of hair for a good and happy life. I gave some hair and so far my life has been pretty good!



The third day we left the snowy mountains and entered the jungle. On our trek, Sinead and I started walking and chatting with 2 guys that were a bit ahead of us. It turns out they are with a group of like 8 friends in Teach for America Baltimore and most of them are getting their Masters in Education at Hopkins!! Talk about a coincidence! We had a great time with them and now I´ll have more friends to hang out with in Baltimore!

We ended the third day of trekking at the hot springs near Santa Teresa. Percy worked some magic and we were one of like 2 groups allowed to camp out at the hot springs which was fantastic! I spent most of the night in the water and woke up early for a swim as well! The afternoon of the fourth day we arrived into the town of Aguascalientes which is at the base of Machu Picchu. This night we stayed in a hostel and got to explore the town a bit.



The fifth day was Machu Picchu! We all woke up at 4am, grabbed a quick breakfast, then began the hike up the hundreds of stone steps leading to Machu Picchu. I don´t know how many stairs there were but they took about a bit more than an hour to hike up them so there were a lot! We had flashlights and tried to be as quick as possible. The deal is that doors open to Machu Picchu at 6am and once inside you have to run through the ruins to get to the other side of the park and to the base of the mountain of Waynapicchu. There, you get a ticket to enter Waynapicchu later in the day. They only let in very few people into Waynapicchu but from there you get a magnificent bird´s eye view of Machu Picchu as well as other ruins to visit on the top. Waynapicchu means Young Mountain and is the mountain that you see in most pictures of Machu Picchu (which means Old Mountain).

We were the first 50 to enter the park and received our ticket to Waynapicchu! We had a tour of Machu Picchu at 630am and boy was that interesting! Machu Picchu was like the university of the Incans and people would come there to learn and to relax away from the hustle and bustle of Cusco. My favorite part was the sun temple. The sun is a huge idol for the Incans. Everything depends and relies on the sun which I think is very cool. In almost every building there were small sun windows to show the position of the sun. From a civil engineering standpoint, the structures were indescribably fantastic! I´m having a terrible time trying to describe how much I loved Machu Picchu but know that I was impressed and recommend everyone try to see it!

We only had time to hike Waynapicchu then head back down to Aguascalientes to eat something quickly and catch our train back to Cusco that afternoon. I didn´t get to hike the mountain behind Machu Picchu, also called Machu Picchu, or the Incan Trail to the Sun Gate which means I have to return to Machu Picchu!! Perfect! ;)

Lima-Arequipa-Cusco

So I landed into Lima on July 3rd and went straight to the Cruz Del Sur bus station to take an overnight bus to Cusco. WHy didn´t I stay in Lima? 1. I´ve been there before. We went there for spring break 2 years ago. 2. I have had ENOUGH of cities. I want smaller towns and trekking in the country side. I want to get to Cusco ASAP so that I can book a trek to Macchu Picchu from here and have enough time to do a pretty long one as well as get to Lake Titicaca if possible. Soo here goes my first adventures as a solo traveler! It´s pretty exhilirating but also tiring because its a constant watch over where I am and what I´m doing. Everything has been great so far! :)

At the bus station, I learned that the bus was full. I went to 2 other nearby stations (unfortunately Lima doesn´t have a big station, just mini ones holding each of the companies) and all I could find leaving that night was to Arequipa. So, I changed my plans and went to Arequipa. I would be arriving into Arequipa at 9am the next morning and could stay on the bus and get to Cusco at 10pm that night but decided I might stay and check out Arequipa for a bit and take the overnight bus to Cusco in the following days. I called ahead and booked a hostel so they would be expecting me and quickly read through travel books about what to do in Arequipa. I checked into The Point Hostel and met some really cool people including Diego, the regional manager of all of The Point Hostels. Since it was 4th of July we were all going to go out and celebrate American INdependence day. But then I got worried that I would not be able to catch my trek in Cusco and after spending the day wandering around Arequipa there wasn´t much more I wanted to see in the city. I considered staying 2 to 3 more days to trek the huge Canyon but really wanted to catch my Cusco trek and decided to leave that night for Cusco.

So today is July 5th. I spent the hours of 8am to 8pm in Arequipa then took the overnight bus to Cusco and checked into The Point Hostel here. Cusco is wonderful! It´s a beautiful city and I love it already! I booked my trek today! Yay!!! I leave tomorrow on the Salkantay trek which is 5 days 4 nights over the largest Andes mountains in the region.
Connecting the city of Mollepata, Cusco with Machu Picchu, the Salkantay Trek is an ancient and remote footpath located in the same region as the Inca Trail where massive snowcapped mountains collide with lush tropical rain forests.
Located less than fifty miles northwest of the city of Cusco in south central Peru by the Cordillera Vilcabamba and rising to 6271 meters above sea level (20574 ft) Mt. Salkantay is an outstanding glacier-capped summit worshipped for thousands of years by local indians. The name Salkantay is a quechua word meaning "Savage Mountain".

I just went out today to buy a large down coat and extra leggings (total cost $25, I love Peru)because it will get COLD! Who knows, maybe I´ll even use my first pair of crampons on this trek.. We meet with the guide tonight and leave at 430 am tomorrow. So excited!!