Our Day in Lima

2/28/14, 1:05 AM

When we arrived in Lima, Peru, we immediately flew out to Cusco; we had decided to see Lima at the end of our trip.

Now at the airport awaiting the boarding of our 1:40 AM flight back to the US, we spent our one day in Lima on a tour bus.

Ultimately, we decided that the best way to see Lima was on a tour that took us to Lima's most important sights. Although I'm not normally a tour person, our plan worked out for us.

We were able to see Plaza de Armas with the Government Palace, Lima Cathedral, Archbishop's Palace, and Municipal Palace. We also saw the Monastery of San Francisco and the catacombs that lie underneath.

Lima Cathedral

Lima's first cemetery, the catacombs were actually used until 1808 when another cemetery was built outside of town. Apparently, the number of graves is estimated at over 70,000.  We visited a couple of other sights, viewing them from the top of the open-air bus before we arrived back at the Larcomar shopping center in the Miraflores district of Lima.

Plaza de Armas

The church of San Francisco, next to the monastery and catacombs

We had dinner at an Italian place with a fixed price menu before taking a taxi back to the hotel (which happened to be next to the airport). Still a bit early, I checked my email and Facebook, and Alli took a short nap.

Finally, it was about 11:30 PM and time to get ready to walk across the street to the terminal. And here we are, at our gate ready for our flight.

Off to Aguas Calientes and Ultimately, Machu Picchu

2/12/14, 7PM

At a couple minutes until seven, we are sitting on our train waiting for it to leave for Aguas Calientes (the town nearest Machu Picchu). We will arrive at 8:43 PM and make our way to the hostel, Machupicchu B&B. The plan is to get up early tomorrow to take the first bus up to Machu Picchu.

Peru Rail

To anyone who thinks that because Peru is a South American country it must be cheap, you are wrong. Peru is cheap (by our standards) for the locals, but not for tourists. The train cost about USD $55 from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. I've heard that the bus from Aguas Calientes up the mountain to the ruins is $40 and the ruins cost $45. By the end of the day, I'll be broke.

The train has left, and we are now on our way. Only a few minutes into the journey, and I'm already ready to be there. My body is worn out; we spent much of the day hiking. We had planned to see the fortress ruins, but I had a hard time stomaching the 130 Peruvian sole entrance fee (USD $43). Instead, we walked to the other side of the town to Pinkuylluna (which was free).

Although a strenuous uphill hike, the views were amazing. Unfortunately, we hadn't done enough research before we started the hike to know what we were looking at. We met a couple on the trail that told us the row of buildings that looked like houses were actually storage sheds for food. 

I have since done a little research (also known as reading the guidebook), and have found out that the buildings, seen below, were storehouses called (quollqa) at a site called Pinkuylluna. Interestingly enough, grain was stored here because the higher altitude preserved the food better. 

Incan store houses.

It is believed that the food stored in these houses came from the crops grown on the Incas' terraced mountain sides seen below.

Terraces.

By these accounts, the Incas were brilliant. I even read that they had a ventilation system for their storehouses. Not bad for 500 years ago.

Ollantaytambo

Norway in a Nutshell

Norway in a Nutshell, for those of you who don't know, is not a tour in the traditional sense but more of a series of transportation connections that take you through the most beautiful parts of Norway. At over $200 one way, it's not cheap. But I'm glad I'm doing it and glad I have a couple of nights scheduled in Flåm as a stop over (the whole journey from Oslo to Bergen is about 12 hours).

There are various options available, but I started my Nutshell tour in Oslo. I took a train from Oslo to Myrdal. In Myrdal, I boarded a train for Flåm. The trip from Myrdal to Flåm is particularly steep. Much of the rail route between Myrdal and Flåm is on a 55% gradient; the railway is one of the steepest lines on normal gauge railroad tracks. The town of Myrdal is on a mountain and Flåm is located on the edge of the Aurlandfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord. The route is only about 20 kilometers, but the journey takes most of an hour.

From Flåm, I will take a boat across the fjord to Gudvangen. From there, I will board a bus for Voss. In Voss, I will be transferred back to the train for the final leg of my journey. I will take the train to Bergen, my final destination on my European journey.

The Worst Travel Day of My Life

Out of all of the travel days, yesrterday has to be the worst.  I've had bad travel days - 24 hours on a single train between Istanbul and Bucharest - that wasn't fun.  But this was the worst.

The only redeeming factor of the whole day was that I met 3 people to share the misery with.  Without them, I really have no idea what I would have done.

The day wasn't supposed to be horrible.  I had my flight from Bocas del Toro, Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica.  I walked to the airport in 10 minutes!  When I arrived at the airport, I was told that I needed to produce a piece of paper printed with my US return itinerary.  It never occurred to me that I would need my itinerary, so I didn't have it.  The stress began.  I didn't have time to return to the hostel and even if I did, I am not sure they could have helped me.  The airline check in guy said I would have to wait, but I could use a different airline's computer.

Apparently, Costa Rica has become particularly concerned about people arriving in Costa Rica and staying.  After a nail-biting 20 minutes, I was finally allowed to use the computer (the same one they use to check people in with!).   I found my itinerary, they printed it, and the crisis was averted.  Smallish hiccup, but it didn't help that some old bag kept asking me questions and yapping her squashed face off about how this is new and they should have signs and blah blah blah blah...

I arrived in San Jose early - there are 2 buses a day going to Montezuma, 1 at 6.00am and the other at 2.00pm.  The plane arrived in San Jose somewhere around 9.00am.  I took a taxi to the Coca Cola bus station (where the bus was leaving from) and walked around for a bit.  I stopped at a cafe for breakfast, went to the grocery store for some food fuel for the journey, had lunch, and then went back to the bus station.

I arrived back at the station around 1pm expecting the bus to leave in an hour.  When I arrived, there was a sign saying that there was a problem with the ferry (from Puntarenas to Paquete) and that the bus would leave 2 hours late.  Great.

It was then that I met 3 other people (2 from Canada and 1 from Nigeria) who were also going to Montezuma.  At least I wasn't alone.

After 2 hours of waiting, we boarded the bus.  Eight hours later (to make a long, excruciating story shorter), we arrived in Montezuma.  I do want to mention that the "directo" bus required us to get off the bus at the ferry port, ride the ferry independently, find the bus again on the other side, then switch to a different bus in a small town called Cobano.  That's not very direct if you ask me.

So around 12.30, the four of us straggled into the hostel I had booked for myself (fortunately people were still up and about).  Thus ends the horrible, no good, very bad travel day (in as short of a post as I can muster).

Wild and Crazy No Internet Day

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011


I can’t get the internet to work for anything.  Google keeps telling me it’s a problem with my DNS servers, but since I’ve tried all the other options it gives me, the only thing left is to restart the modem, and of course I can’t do that.  So it looks like I may not have internet for the next 3 or 4 days, maybe more as I’m not sure if I will have it or not at my next stop.  


So anyway, I am now on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro, Panama.  I had so looked forward to this place, especially since the parts of Costa Rica I’ve seen have been so disappointing.  It’s okay, but not at all what I expected.  First of all, even though I’m surrounded by ocean, I can’t get there very easily and can only see a snippet at a time.  My hostel is about a block from the ocean, but I can only see it if I go to the 2nd floor and crane my neck over the balcony.  Businesses and hotels are lining the oceanfront, but none of it is beachy.  

Apparently, I have to take a bus to the beach, or maybe a water taxi.  And even then, it’s not supposed to be the best beach.  I’ll probably go tomorrow though - I’ve been looking forward to beach time since I got here.  I am also really interested in going to La Gruta, a cave where you can see lots of bats, but I’m not interested in taking a very expensive taxi there and back (the 4 year old guidebook says it should cost $10).  Even my 2 year old Costa Rica guidebook says everything costs several dollars less than it actually does.  


Again, lack of efficient public transportation fails me.  That was a big problem I had in Alueja and San Jose.  I couldn’t go to La Paz waterfalls or Poas Volcano because of a lack of public transportation options.  


I booked 3 nights here thinking the beach was right there (meaning walking distance).  I guess I also thought there would be more to see than there is.  I’ve pretty much walked the town.  Two or three times.  


This traveling alone thing isn’t working out very well.  If I was with someone else, the taxi ride to La Gruta would only be half as bad.  Food would be easier too.  It’s really too hot to cook.  In Europe my go to was bread and cheese, but here… the bread isn’t that great and 8 ounces of cheese is $5.00 (imported, I haven’t seen any local cheeses, here in Panama or in Costa Rica).  My go to here is juice and cookies.  It was bananas until I had 3 in one morning and I can’t do that again.  So I eat what I can find for breakfast unless the hostel serves it (I’ve had hostel  breakfast once out of 5 mornings).  I sometimes eat lunch out if I can find a place that serves vegetarian.  And afternoon snack/dinner is juice (or orange soda) and cookies.  So healthy I know, but I don’t have very many options here.  And even the “cook easily” options are limited to spaghetti.  


It’s so insanely hot here.  I don’t know what the temperature is, but I was literally melting when I returned from my hour long walk/sit in the tiny municipal park.  I’m not sure if it’s hotter or more humid than Texas, but here, there is no such thing as air conditioning.  You’re lucky if you get a fan.  I’m outside in the shade right now and I’m sweating.  


The place I’m staying is pretty interesting.  It’s called Spanish by the Sea.  It’s actually a language school.  I knew it when I booked the place and it would have been cool to take a class (I’m actually watching a class right now).  I didn’t book any classes though.  Additionally, I think they start classes every Sunday (and seeing as I won’t be here on a Sunday, I suppose it wouldn’t have worked out anyway).  

The hostel.  Not a terribly good picture, but nonetheless...

Actually, I can’t figure out the language here.  Every once in awhile I catch a distinctively Spanish word on the street, but often the language doesn’t even sound like Spanish.  I listened to a guy sitting next to me and couldn’t figure out what he was speaking, but he threw in an English word every now and then.  People here seem to know each other (which makes sense, this place isn’t very big).  NOTE*I have since read in the Panama Lonely Planet Guidebook that “Gali-Gali is a distinct Creole language of the Bocas del Toro Province that combines Afro-Antillean English, Spanish, and Ngobe-Bugle.”*


The airplane trip from San Jose to Bocas was an other worldly experience.  I arrived at the airport very early by taxi.  My flight was at 6.30.  The airport is tiny.  This one domestic commercial airline, NatureAir flies out of the airport.  As far as I can tell, all other aircraft were personal or perhaps for cargo.


I checked in for the flight and was required to weigh my bag (14.86 lbs of the 15 lbs limit).  And then I was required to step on the scale myself (with my carryon).  My passport was kept. (I’m not sure why and it freaked me out, but they took everyone’s.)  By everyone, I mean all 7 of us.  Four were German, 2 were… Swedish?  All were in their 20s I’d guess.  After our baggage was hand inspected, we waited and waited.  Finally, we were ushered through the security area.  I wish I knew they didn’t care about liquids before I bothered zip locking them.  Nobody cared about the extremely dangerous weapons in my shoes either.  That was a joke.  


The 7 of us, led by the pilot, walked out to the plane.  It was tiny from the outside and even tinier on the inside.  There were exactly 7 seats, including the 1 next to the pilot. The guy seated next to the pilot took advantage of the situation and filmed the takeoff and landing, and I’m pretty sure he took photos of himself seated next to the pilot.  


I was expecting this to be the scariest flight of my life - I’d been dreading it since before I bought the ticket.  But I also knew I wasn’t interested in sitting on a series of buses and water taxis by myself on a trek that would span 8 hours.  The flight itself was nice actually, and I wasn’t scared like I was expecting. I even saw a volcano smoking fairly clearly from my larger than normal window.  

The "baggage guy" unloading the 7 "checked" backpacks.  

The flight lasted all of 35 minutes and I was in Panama.  By the way, I didn’t mention that our “checked” luggage was actually packed into the main cabin with us.  I could see my bag if I turned around in my seat.


The best part about the whole experience was that I could walk to my hostel from the airport.  Airports are usually so far from everything, but this one is right there.  People live all around it and there is a ball field at the south end separated only by a chain link fence.  

The airport was under construction, but operations were as usual, which meant that we passengers simply walked through the construction to enter the airport.  I was the first called into the immigration office.  Yes, there was an office with one man sitting behind one desk.  He asked me some questions.  I answered and he carefully entered my answers into his ledger.  He stamped my passport and I was back into the holding room where my luggage was hand inspected again, but this time both carry on and checked bags.  


And finally, I was free, released into the wilds of Panama to explore and discover new things.