The Trip to Aguas Calientes

On Monday we all woke up and checked out of our hotel and caught a taxi to a town called Ollantaytambo. It was about an hour and a half car ride and we stopped to check out some Inca ruins along the way. This is where the train station is to catch the train to Machu Picchu.

Little girl at the market at the ruins we stopped to look at

Before we reached Ollantaytambo, Georgia woke up from a nap and realized that she had left her passport with our bags at our hotel in Cuzco (we didn't want to lug around big bags to Machu Picchu). We contemplated going back and getting it, but decided that maybe we could just use her drivers license. When we checked in to the train we asked the guy at the ticket counter and he said her drivers license would work just fine, so we relaxed and went and got some lunch close to the Inca ruins.

There is a huge Inca archeological site of ruins here and it was so beautiful! We wanted to explore so we convinced the guy at the restaurant to keep our bags while we hiked the ruins. We hiked up and down the site and all over the place. We even got yelled at for walking on the grass...oops. There was so much history and it was crazy to see how perfect the rocks were carved to fit together with each other. We met some people along the way that we toured with and they were really funny. Dad hiked down a set of stairs where he thought he could hike all the way down, but it just ended at a cliff. Those people saw him and the lady said "Oh no, if he wants to live he better turn around." She was quite worried about him actually. We spent about 3 hours at the site and it was so much fun!

Looking up

Georgia and I climbing up

Looking down

After this we walked around the city and watched a little kid spin his top in the small alleyway. It is such a wonderful city and the Inca lifestyle is very well preserved. From here we had to go back to the restaurant where we tipped the guy 4 Soles for watching our bags and then we caught a really awesome ride to the train station. The train ride was awesome and we got to see a ton of Inca ruins along the way along with small farming villages. There is no other way to get to Aguas Calientes unless you go by train.

We got here to Aguas Calientes and went to the address that we had for our hostel and guess what? There was no hostel by that name in that area. We asked a couple of people if they knew where to go (good practice for the Spanish) and the pointed us in the right direction. We found a hostel by the same name, but they did not have a reservation for us. Well apparently there are two hostels with the same name. One is a backpacker hostel and the other is a bed & breakfast. The guy from the backpacker hostel was very nice and led us to the bed and breakfast one where we ultimately had a reservation. Talk about an adventure!

We got checked into our hostel and our room is very nice. When we checked in they had to photocopy our passports. Well and Georgia's drivers license :) When we went to get our passports to go get our Machu Picchu tickets, they couldn't find Georgia's drivers license...things got quite stressful for about 5 minutes. The lady left and miraculously came back with her license in her hand. We were quite relieved. We got to the place to get our tickets and the guy was such a jerk about Georgia not having her passport. He told her multiple times that he would not issue her a ticket until she showed her passport. After a while of arguing with him and insisting that she did have a form of identification, he finally handed us 3 tickets!

After this we got some dinner at a really nice restaurant where a local band played really good music, however once we bought their CD's they quit playing and left :( We have to get up early and be at Machu Picchu at 7:00 AM. Hope all is well.

P.S. There will be more pictures when I get back home and have a better internet connection. It took all night just to load these four. Yikes!

A Catch Up!

On Thursday we caught a cab downtown to Plaza San Martin.

Plaza San Martin-Lima, Peru

Plaza San Martin-Lima, Peru

After exploring the plaza and checking out the statue we walked down to Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded by The Cathedral of Lima, The Government Palace and some other historical buildings. We toured the Cathedral and it was beautiful inside. The also just discovered tombs under the church about 5 years ago. It was so interesting to learn about the history of Lima and we had our own little guided tour.

First look at The Cathedral of Lima

Closer view

The casket where Francisco Pizarro (the founder of Peru) is buried

The tombs underneath the church

The main alter

More tombs

Where the babies are buried

Plaza de Armas-Lima, Peru

The Government Palace

After our tour here, we walked to the San Francisco church that contains the catacombs underneath of it. They said it was the first public cemetery in Lima. We were not allowed to take pictures here, so that is why there are none :)

On Friday, we took a cab about 40 minutes from our hotel to Miraflores, which is on the coast of Lima. It was beautiful there and we enjoyed lunch alongside Parque Kennedy. From there we walked down to a couple of really beautiful parks and the weather was awesome! We watched people paraglide off of the top of a hill over the ocean and people surfing. It was very relaxing and a really nice part of Lima to explore. If I were to come back to Lima, I would look into staying down in Miraflores.

The climate from Argentina to Peru was quite a change. We were freezing in Mendoza and in Lima it was about 70 degrees and the sun was just beating down and it felt really good. Our hotel was supposedly in the dangerous part of Lima in a neighborhood called Callao, which was only 5 minutes from the airport. It was quite different than the rest of Lima and at night I’m sure was not safe, but our hotel was really nice and the staff was really friendly. However, after taking cabs down to different parts of Lima, it was really hard to find a cab that would take us back to Callao, because supposedly there is something with cameras and cab drivers getting tickets for going to Callao. It was an ordeal when we were looking for a cab to take us back.

Georgia arrived on Friday night and it has been great to meet up with her again for the rest of our travels. We got up early Saturday morning to catch a cab to the airport for our 8:45 AM flight to Cuzco. I had booked our hotel at about 10:30 PM last night, so we didn’t really know what to expect. When we arrived, I had a reservation for a triple room, but supposedly they gave our room away this morning to some other people and they wanted to put us in a double and a single. I was a little bit frustrated and the guy finally made some calls and we got a room with four beds in it :)

After we checked in we went to explore the city some more and grab something to eat for lunch. I really like it here in Cuzco and the people are really nice and friendly. We walked up the street from our hotel to Plaza de Armas. On the way we saw the Convento de Santo Domingo which was huge and very beautiful. There were also ladies dressed up in bright colors carrying little lambs around to get money for taking pictures of them. I snapped a quick picture without them knowing, though...oops. We continued walking to the Plaza where The Cathedral of Cuzco and the Compania de Jesus. The architecture here is wonderful!

Saturday was Independence Day so most of the sights were closed for us to go see, not to mention the cost quite a bit of money to see them all. After exploring, we walked back to our hotel to take a nap before we met Greg and Kay for dinner. I had a nice nap, but when I woke up I started feeling sick and I was freezing cold. Of course, I was not a happy camper! So on our way to dinner we asked the front desk to put bigger thicker blankets in our room. All the way to dinner I complained about how I did not want to stay in this hotel for two nights and I wanted to find some other place to stay. So when we walked by the market, Georgia and dad made me find an alpaca blanket to buy so I would be warmer while I was sleeping. I am also a very picky shopper, so I made sure they knew we were going to be late meeting Greg and Kay. They said that was fine as long as they didn’t have to hear me complain about being cold all night.

We met Greg and Kay at Norton’s Pub and I had some orange juice and hot tea because I could feel I was coming down with something. Before we left the restaurant I had already thrown up and we went to another restaurant where we ate dinner. I had a salad that was delicious and very light on my stomach. The food there was so delicious! When we got back to the hotel, I felt 10 times worse and could hardly talk. When we walked into our room, there was a space heater and nice thick alpaca blankets. Of course, the words that came out of my mouth were “This is the best hotel ever!” Which dad and Georgia laughed hysterically at!

Today dad and Georgia went to Pisac which has a huge market and is quite a sight to see here. I had a rough night of coughing, throwing up, and blowing my nose, so I spent my day lying in bed. I am feeling quite a bit better now and am hoping I feel so much more better tomorrow because we taking the train to Aguas Calientes so we can go to Machu Picchu on Tuesday!

I have been meaning to blog, but it has been really busy and Wi-Fi only works in certain places so this one is just a really long one to catch you up on everything. I hope everything is well at home! I will post pictures of Cuzco when I get the chance. It took 4 hours for the pictures of Lima to load, so that is why there are no more :( The internet here only works in the lobby and I think it is time I get to bed! There will definitely be more to come. Maybe tomorrow, but we will see ;)

Relaxation...

Yesterday morning we both slept in until it was time to check-out of our hostel at 10:00 AM. We then enjoyed a small breakfast and went for a walk to Parque San Martin, which is the big park in Mendoza that I went to last time I was there. We had about 5 hours to kill and since the park is bigger than the actual city of Mendoza, we felt it was a great way to pass the time. 

We stopped at Havanna and got caramel lattes to go and walked the 15 blocks to the park. We roamed around the lake and as much as the park that we could. There were many people rowing on the lake, so it was fun to just sit in the warm sun and watch them go back and forth. It has been really nice to just sit back and relax. After a while we headed back to town to grab some lunch before we had to catch our taxi to the airport. 

Our flight left Mendoza at 5:15 PM and from there we flew to Santiago, Chile and had a 3 hour layover and then flew to Lima, Peru. By the time we landed in Lima it was 11:15 PM and I was so tired! We got a taxi to our hotel, which was about 5 minutes away and cost us $20 US which was a HUGE  rip off. Our hotel is very nice, but our taxi driver said that it is not a safe part of the city...I think he just wanted to take us further into town and then charge us more though. The staff at the hotel is very helpful and this morning for breakfast they made us scrambled eggs with ham in them! It was so delicious! Today I think we will take a cab downtown to the historic center and check it out!

Also, I didn't really explain this, but mate is something that is very comparable to tea leaves, but is not usually infused like tea is. Here is a link to explain it in more detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_%28beverage%29. I proofread it and it is very accurate for :) Drinking mate is a very large part of the culture in Argentina and is a very popular thing to do amongst friends and family. It's what you would call a social activity.

Hope all is well! I will be here in Lima until Saturday morning when we fly to Cuzco!

The High Andes

Today we woke up at 7:00 AM to go on a tour up into the Andes Mountains. It was a blast! We rode in a van for most of the day and periodically made stops along the way. Our first stop was in a little town called Uspallata where people rented snow gear and sleds for the day. We were just there to enjoy the scenery and learn about the country so we didn't rent anything :) Our last stop was Las Cuevas, which is where we ate lunch, and it was delicious!  Along the way we saw:

Puente del Inca (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_del_Inca)

 

 

 

Lago Potrerillos - man made lake where all the irrigation water comes from

THE ANDES!

Natural wall and the Mendoza River

First view of Aconcagua -the snowy one in the middle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua)

Ski area- there hasn't been enough snow to ski this year though :(

Looking the opposite way from the ski slope...very much a desert

Second view of Aconcagua. It's the cloud covered one in the middle this time.

Picheuta Colonial Bridge

Tired out and tired of the cold ;)

We got back home at 7:00 PM. It was quite a long day and we are both exhausted. We were very close to Chile today (about 5 km) and if you would like to see the route we took into the mountains go to Google Maps and "Get Directions" from Mendoza, Argentina to Las Cuevas, Mendoza, Argentina. When we started to head back to Mendoza I saw a sign that said it was 197 kilometers away-I had no idea we had gone that far. It took us about 3 hours to get back down the mountain and man do those truckers drive crazy! There were a ton of tunnels a long the way and the country was such a sight to see. However, I will definitely be sleeping in tomorrow :)

A Busy Couple of Days

I wanted dad to see Buenos Aires before we had to leave and continue our travels, so we toured the city yesterday. It was quite a long day with lots of walking, but I really wanted him to see the city that I lived in for the last 2 months. After dad finally got his bag we let from our hotel and took the Subte down to Catedral where I showed dad the Casa Rosada (where the President works) and Plaza de Mayo. We ate lunch at a little restaurant and I had my first lomito. A lomito is a tenderloin sandwich and it was delicious! From there we walked down the street with the San Telmo markets and checked out all the artesanias. They had some really awesome things that were handmade It goes for about 15 blocks, but we only walked about 5 blocks and then we left so we could go to Cafe Tortoni! 

It was a beautiful day, but a little chilly in the shadows of all the big buildings. We had a relaxing time at Cafe Tortoni and I drank my first submarino (hot milk with a chocolate bar) and it was alright. Not really my favorite thing to drink. From there we walked down 9 de Julio which is the street that is supposed to look like Paris and saw the big obelisk in the plaza there. Then we walked to Teatro Colon but it was closed for tours so we just walked through the walking area and around the outside. Then we took the Subte to Plaza Italia where we got the BEST ice cream EVER!! Dad had to agree that it was pretty close to the best and he really enjoyed it. After this, we had to hurry back to our hotel so we could catch a taxi to the bus station. We caught the 9:00 PM bus to Mendoza.

This morning around 10:30 we arrived in Mendoza and it is just as awesome as it was two weeks ago. However, we are not staying at Backpackers Hostel where I met my very interesting roommates in their towels :) I requested that we stay in a hostel where we could have our own room and when I wanted to shower and dress, I could do it by myself in a bathroom ;) So we are staying at this nice little hostel that is closer to the bus station. After we arrived we took a walk down close to Plaza Independencia to look at these little casks they use to age wine. Then we took a wine and olive tour. It was so AWESOME and we learned so much! 

We went to two wineries and an olive oil factory. The first winery (Lopez) was very industrialized and they did a lot of their work with machines and had a very large factory where they made the wine in HUGE oak casks. We got to taste one of their sparkling wines and then another wine that tasted very much like oak. At the second winery all of their work was done by hand and it was so interesting to see how they irrigate their vineyards. I can't imagine doing all that work by hand. At this one we tasted Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, and another Malbec. Today we were in the Maipu region of Mendoza and she said there were 1000 wineries just in this region! There are two other regions that border this Maipu region with I'm sure just as many wineries of their own.

Aging wine

This is only a medium-sized cask!

Bottling factory

Big glass of wine!

We also toured an olive oil factory! I had no idea that Mendoza was big olive country as well. This factory we went today made some of the best olive oil I have tasted. They had extra virgin olive oil, unfiltered olive oil, garlic olive oil, oregano olive oil, etc. It was all so delicious and am hoping that they have something similar in the United States. They also dehydrate fruits and vegetables there. The best was the tomatoes that had been dehydrated and then made into a tomato paste. I thought the olive factory was way better than the wineries to be honest! Also, did you know that green and black olives are the exact same plant??? Black olives are just more mature than green olives. I had no idea!!!

Olive press!

Anyways, I have to get up early to go on a high Andes tour so I better get to bed! Hope all is well!

P.S. I wrote this very quickly so I apologize for any errors!

Oops...I Forgot Pictures

THEY FINALLY ARRIVED!!

This morning I woke up at 7:45 AM to be ready for my taxi that picked me up at 8:45 AM. My driver's name was Jorge and he was probably one of the nicest people I have met here. He drove me to the airport so I could meet dad and Georgia, since they finally got a flight out after waiting in Atlanta for 4 days!! Georgia arrived and went to claim her bags. They say that dad's bags will be here in the morning, but we shall see. Jorge was very nice and waited for us without charging us and then drove us back to my apartment. From there he took Georgia to the Aeroparque so she could catch her flight to Puerto Iguazu.

My dad got to meet Pupi and helped finish packing my bags. It was really sad to leave Pupi and say goodbye to Kylie, but the fact that my dad is here helped with that. We walked to a hotel that is about 5 blocks from where I lived and luckily they had a room for us! We went and had lunch with Kylie and then said my goodbyes and we walked to where we could catch this big yellow city tour bus! After waiting for the bus, it arrived and was too full so they wouldn't let us on :( We passed sometime in the Spanish art museum, which was really cool. Then we walked across the street to the plaza and walked through the artesania stands. They have some really cool stuff. Since we couldn't get on the bus, we took a colectivo down to Recoleta. I showed dad the cemetery, we walked through all the artesanias there and then crossed the bridge to see the flower. It was a beautiful day to be out and about!

After that we caught a cab to Siga La Vaca, since people had been raving about it for weeks! It is a parilla, which means steakhouse. They only have one menu though. You get all you can eat meat (chorizo, steak, roast beef, chicken, etc), salad, french fries, bread, a bottle of wine and a dessert all for 130 Pesos. Its a pretty good deal and it is delicious! We got there really early since I knew it would feel up quickly, which was good because when we left we had to fight a mob of people just to get outside. 

When we arrived at Siga La Vaca I got a text from Georgia, so I assumed she was just letting me know she made it to Puerto Iguazu. NO! She was still in Buenos Aires and been trying to get ahold of me all day. I felt so bad b/c I just got her texts! We told her to catch a cab and she came to join us. Even though her flight to Puerto Iguazu fell through, they still sent her bags, so now she was without bags as well. This has been a nightmare! She got a flight booked for early in the morning. After our wonderful dinner and time together, we walked down Puerto Madero to the Women's Bridge and had a great time! Then we caught a cab back to our hotel. All in all, it was a wonderful day!!! I hope things start going a little more smoothly from here on out.

School's Out For Summer!! 

Well today was my last day of class. I passed with an 8/10! My oral final went really well. I talked about all the word mishaps I have had here, what I like about the city and what I didn't like, etc. It was a piece of cake! After we found out of our final grades we went to have our farewell lunch with ISA. We went to this WOK restaurant that had a buffet...the BEST buffet EVER! They had everything there and I'm not exaggerating. I wish I would've taken a picture. They had grilled steaks, chinese food, fruit, fresh meat & cheese, desserts, ice cream, salads, and vegetables. Literally almost everything you could imagine! I ate 5 plates (don't judge) and then some ice cream with chocolate syrup. It was all so delicious and I wish I would've discovered this place sooner. 

After that I was stuffed so I can home and took it easy all afternoon. I spent the afternoon making many important phone calls and it was really good to talk to everyone back home. I am still waiting on my dad and Georgia to get here. I have been trying to get my stuff packed since my housing ends tomorrow, but I think I might have bought too much stuff when here or maybe my bag is just too small ;) 

I am very relieved that class is over, although I am going to miss all the people that I met here! I will especially miss my host mom. She is the best! :)

DAD AND GEORGIA ARE ON A FLIGHT HERE THANK GOODNESS!!! 

Pupi called and arranged the taxi for me to go to the airport to meet them! I am so pumped and can't wait to see them! Let the adventure begin!!

A Little Pampering

Well things have been winding down and since my dad didn't arrive this morning, I went to class to review. This was very needed and it helped me so much! I feel like this past month has gone by in a weeks time and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. My head has been crammed with Spanish and I'm not really sure I improved my Spanish skills with all that has been throw at me in the last month. I know there is some, but there is still room for more. I am ready to be done with classes and enjoy my time with my dad and cousin traveling around South America, if they ever get on a flight here :)

As I prepare for my tests here, I have been trying not to stress and to take some time to enjoy myself. While in Iguazu I spent an hour at the hotel spa getting a very nice and much needed massage. Yesterday I went to a salon and got a manicure and pedicure and it was awesome to just sit there and relax! All pampering stuff here is very cheap. I paid about $18 for both my pedicure and manicure and it was really high quality. That would never happen in the United States! Pupi keeps telling me that I need to get my legs waxed here because it is super ubber cheap. I just nod my head and smile :) 

Today I had my written final and I think it went alright. Tomorrow I have my oral final and I'm not too worried about it since it will be just like a normal conversation with a local. Hopefully it goes pretty well. After tomorrow I will be done with my program and everyone else is leaving on Saturday. Dad and Georgia were supposed to be here this morning, but after they let them on the plane last night and pulled the jetway back from the plane, they put it back and kicked them out of their seats because another plane came in late with passengers :( It was quite depressing.

Today we took the bus back to Recoleta Cemetery and the church that is right next to it. I walked around and checked out the above-ground graves in more detail...it was really quite interesting to see all these coffins just laid in a cabinet within the tombs. This cemetery is where all the richest people from Buenos Aires are buried. I saw the tomb where Eva Peron (Evita) is laid, so that was really exciting. After this we walked through all of the artisan shops and admired their handicraft. One lady was not very nice and yelled at me for touching a scarf...oops. From there we walked to this giant flower that is solar powered. It opens during the day and closes at night. It is massive and is really really cool!

Church in Recoleta

A street of the tombs in the cemetery

The coffins above ground...

The tomb of Eva Peron (Evita)

The older tombs

The entrance to the cemetery

 

Cool bridge

Me in front of the flower

Up close of the flower

All in all it was a good day, just wish my dad and Georgia would get here!! Hope all is well with everyone!