Tiger Balm

Vietnam...after Cambodia...was tiger balm, for me, most of the time.

(Tiger balm: not made of tiger. Soothing balm for headaches, joint aches, and, as we had to learn through experience, sand flea bites and other varieties of bug bites. Oh, and sunburn! It's kind of magic).

Maybe it sounds cheesy, but Vietnam was tiger balm for my soul. It was my spoon full of sugar to swallow Cambodia...okay, it felt like one giant party.

We started by cruising down the Mekong, landing in a scary border town followed by a scary border bus ride to a scary motorcycle taxi to an absolute OASIS of a hostel--breakfast, television, hot SEPARATE shower, air conditioner. After a lovely night of sleep, we walked through some lovely parks to the educational (albeit horrifying) war museum, which gave me a completely new outlook on the Vietnam War. Of course, it was skewed towards their point of view, but it's fascinating to be able to see a war from both sides.

We also stopped for ice cream that day, and were able to make our way pretty well around the city. However, neither of us particularly loving cities, we hopped on a bus the next day to the lovely little beach destination of Mui Ne. The bus we hopped on just happened to be the best bus we rode in Asia...empty, upper bed-seats, clean bathroom ON the bus. It was heaven, and to top that off, I had a good book and some chips...yep, paradise.

Paradise continued when we found a little bungalow to stay in, right on the beach. We spent several days swimming in the glorious water, watching the kite surfers crash, walking around in the beachy rain, eating Indian food, and shopping for beachy jewelry. After we got sick of the attack of the sand flies (Court was co-VERED) and after we rented a motorbike (love it) and went sand-duning and hiking with some kind (and eventually greedy) boys to "Fairy Springs," we hopped on another bus up to Nha Trang.

On this bus we met Arthur, a young Californian who had also visited his brother in the Peace Corps in Thailand and was now travelling through Vietnam. So began our party days--lots of fun in Nha Trang in the evening, an accidental trip on a Booze Cruise through Nha Trang Bay (we signed up thinking it was a snorkeling cruise...about three minutes of snorkeling, a random visit to an aquarium, and lots of wine, swimming, and karaoke) and then, planning to get up to Ha Long Bay by Court's birthday on December 13th, we hopped up the country, stopping briefly in Hue to wander along the river.

Vietnam is really (yet another) gorgeous country. Even though we shot quickly up the coast, we got some nice glimpses, and we really were having so much fun. And suddenly, we were on the long-awaited sojourn to Halong Bay (Dragon Bay--so named as all of the islands look like parts of a dragon's back). I really love the Vietnam coast--and despite bratty tourists, stressed out tour-hunting, the crazy streets of Hanoi and SO. MUCH. RAIN, I loved Halong Bay. It was so fun to sail the bay, kayak in the bay, meet some actual NICE Americans and some more fun Austrailians, and accidentally hop on another Booze Cruise (the Halong Party Cruiser, baby!)

We spent an overnight on the boat, and woke up on my cousin's birthday to a somewhat sunrise view of the bay. While much of the people on our boat had a rough night, accompanied by rats and no water, we had a very nice night in our little berth! I loved staying on a boat!

After breakfast, we sailed to Cat Ba Island, the only inhabited island in the bay, and ended up on this random, strenous, occasionally terrifying hike through the national park on the island to some truly breathtaking views.

We detached ourselves from the whiny tour group (we were planning to stay on the island for a few days), found a hostel with a fantastic view (and smelly bathroom) and wandered around for the beaaaaaaautiful beaches. It was way too cold for ME to swim, although that didn't deter many, but I was very happy to wander the cliffside trails, and I think my cuz had a good birthday!

That night, we ended up going out and having a fantastic time with some Israelis we met at a bar, while we were having the birthday drink I convinced Court she needed. It was a fun, crazy, night, and the next day, we definitely needed to recover. We ran into Arthur and his climber friend Nick, and we all had dinner with a nice South African couple, where I discovered Vietnamese dinner rolls, my latest favorite food.

After my our stay in Cat Ba, and an eventful trip back to Hanoi, the capital, we suddenly only had a week left of our adventure! At this point, we were getting a little nervous about the military situation in South Korea, where we had another ten hour (ick) layover, and about our visa situation (we had already overstayed, and were given a lot of conflicting advice, most which was we'd simply bribe the officers at the airport and be on our way).

After a quick stopover in Hanoi, and seeing the Chronicles of Narnia in the theater (gotta love that Western world influence sometimes) we spent a few days in the beautiful mountain city of Sa Pa, via train. The overnight train ride was rather unfortunate as we'd gotten ripped off (thanks for all that magic, Asia) but it still was kind of cool! Nothing like the trains in Europe sadly...but not bad.

In Sapa, I started to get really excited for Christmas, as it was freezing and we spent many joyful hours around fires with Vietnamese pho (chicken soup basically, delicious) and coffee. Sapa is also a fabulous place to shop, so we loaded up on some gifts and beautiful scarves, purses, and knock-off Ray Bans.

We also hiked around a beautiful little park, way up on the hill, and got a great view of the valley, lost each other, found each other, and saw lots of rice hats. (Yes, a true stereotype that I absolutely LOVED). We also went to a church, sat on the wrong side of the church (the men's side), got surrounded by another tourist family for pictures, and were flummoxed by the service. I expected Christmas carols and a service I knew...nothing, ha.

On our way down from Sapa, we met an awesome Italian named Marco who convinced us to journey to the border of China and try to step through. We couldn't--we started walking up to the bridge when guns were waved, and that was it for me!--but it was a grand adventure in any case.

Our last final days in Hanoi included more shopping, ice cream, a traditional water puppet show (a real art form which was pretty sweet) and samples of pho, Indian food, and Vietnamese weasel coffee, which I also loved. (Yes--that is the coffee that is passed through the intestines of a weasel...tastes like chocolate, no joke). We visited temples, had coffee with an old Vietnamese Frenchman (born in Vietnam, raised in France) who let me practice my pitiful French, and spent a lot of time exploring the city. We also spent about an entire day trying on beautiful Vietnamese silk, I bought a dress and my cousin a shirt as a late birthday present. It took a lot of convincing to get her to accept it, but I think she ended up liking it. :) Another highlight of our last few days was a trip to visit Ho Chi Minh, or "Uncle Ho" as he is still called in Vietnam. It was our second mummy--although he was so well preserved and so ridiculously protected that I got shooed and glared by the soldiers at for staring at the little old man who seemed to be napping (in a giant mausoleum in a giant park).

Before we knew it...we were on our way out of the country! Our trip was at a close...and we got to the airport, unaccountably nervous due to our visas. And was that an adventure...the guy was a jerk, he had the nasty mole-hair, and he threatened detainment if we didn't provide more moola.

Let me just say, I was NOT being detained in Vietnam two days before Christmas. So, we smiled determinedly (well, I did) having learned that if you yell at a man in Vietnam, they unforgivably Lose Face and the situation will grow progessively worse (as we witnessed on our ill-fated tour in Halong Bay). Although we had to pay a little more than we thought, I had pictured detainment and huge fines, so I was relieved at the 30 or so dollars we lost...I hate being ripped off, but I was so grateful he didn't break out the handcuffs I saw, and I was so grateful to be going home for Christmas!!!

Ok, going to California to be with my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandpa for Christmas...but close enough. :)

Farang

The adventure continues. (I apologize, this is possibly the longest post ever, so hang tight, and I understand if you just can't make it through!)

After Ko Tao, we grabbed a hostel in Chumphon for the night, planning to meet our friend in the Peace Corps, Liz, and stay with some of her friends in a nearby village.

After a calm night where we ended up passing out at around 8 p.m. (Mr. Jet Lag just wouldn't leave us alone) we got up and met Liz at the (wrong) bus station, but it was soooooooo grand to see her and have someone lead us around who knows the language!! Liz is seriously the most generous person ever!

As are the rest of her PC buddies. We stayed with her friend Josh, outside of the village of Lang Suan (pronounced Longswan) right on the beautiful coast. The first day is a blur--Liz led us to Lang Suan, where biannual boat races were going on, and it was crazy crowds. So loud, so many people, so much color and smells. We stowed our packs in the police station and tried some of Liz's papaya salad (the jury's still out on that one) before meeting Josh and another PCV Leanne to watch some races.

Right about the time the downpour began, we hightailed it into the market tents, and that's the first time I noticed the stares.

Having spent most of our time in well-touristed (that probably isn't a word, but shush) areas, we hadn't had much experience being the animals-in-a-zoo foreigners, aka farangs.

The staring is blatant, little children will be nudged to get their view of the farangs wandering through the market, sampling all the food in sight (which sometimes completely backfires!!). Especially as we were in a group of farangs!

The staring, while obvious, was never what I would call rude. I had one experience in a small village in Peru where I felt totally unwelcome, but everyone here would point and gawk, but also smile.

I guess there's a reason Thailand is called the Land of Many Smiles! :)

It was great having Josh and Liz as tour guides, and urging us to try everything possible. The sweet sticky rice wrapped in some sort of leaf was delicious, as were the pomegranates and many other exotic types of fruit. The worst thing we tried (the worst thing we've tried this entire trip, in my opinion) ended up being eggs from a horseshoe crab. I can't even describe how awful they are, but YUCK. The taste wouldn't go away, even after some pink (insanely sweet strawberry) milk.

One thing I've discovered about Thailand--my sweet tooth has got nothing on theirs. Everything is drenched in sugar. Their chocolate milk is so sweet one sip makes me feel sick--and for those of you who know me and my insatiable sweet tooth, this is quite impressive.

After the market, we had a quiet evening eating Josh's homemade Thai food and wandering up to Lang Suan to visit the 7-11, which is, according to PCV here, Mecca. I didn't get the draw at first, but it does always have A/C and lots of fun little snacks.

Josh's place, in another little village outside of Lang Suan, is this adorable little cottage about three feet away from the beach. It was so nice and peaceful, and he was such a great host! All these people are making me and Court feel soooo welcome.

The next day was a true day of adventure.

Soon after waking up, we headed to this nearby island that apparently in hot season you can walk across the water too, but after the previous day's downpour, this was not an option.

We started the trek down, and were quickly picked up by, of all things, a truck full of crabs!! It was actually really fun, and I only got pinched once (why none of the other five crammed in the back got a pinch is beyond me, but that's just my luck).

It was also my first experience hitchhiking, and now it's one of my favorite ways of travel. I'm not sure if we'll do it without one of our Peace Corps buddies considering our grasp of the language pretty much stops at "pretty," "delicious," "hello," and "thank you." It's still a fun, acceptable mode of transport around here, and I like it!

The rest of the day passed quickly: we hitchhiked a boat to the little deserted island, hung out on the perfect deserted beach, showered, wandered into town for some internet love and delicious seafood fried rice, and planned for our departure the next day.

The next day, we made friends in Chumphon, including a cute old Thai guy named Charlie who showed us around, and a Brit by the name of Dean who was currently almost done with biking from the UK all the way to Singapore (yeah, WOW). We bid a sad farewell to Josh, and waited for our bus, killing time by watching the Joy Luck Club, a great movie that had us all missing our mamas!!

Another night bus (rapidly becoming a main mode of transportation, which are not at all thrilling like the hitchhiking) and we ended up in Bangkok. There, we bid Leanne, and Megan, another PCV, goodbye, and wandered the city for the day. I had some articles to finish up for Outside Bozeman (and somehow, I finished them, even though writing about ice climbing with Boy Scouts while hanging out in an alley sweltering in approximately 100 percent humidity was surreal) and Liz had to visit the Peace Corps Lounge.

The day was nice, we took the Sky Train around which was fun, these boat taxis that I LOVED, I accidentally brushed against a monk and did not get thrown in the water, (and neither did he!) and we had ice cream and visited the giant Chinatown in Bangkok.

That night, we hopped on another bus to Liz's village, which is just outside of Phrae, in northern Thailand.

There, we continued to experience the weird feeling of being farangs, but again, everyone was so friendly about it! We stayed in Liz's house which, despite the bucket shower (yes, you pour the bucket over yourself a few times, and that's it) and the squat toilet is pretty and cute.

We visited the rice paddies, corn fields, and teak forests, visited many of her neighbors and were constantly being given food and smiles and compliments. I had my first Pad Thai which I am now ADDICTED to, got called a doll more than once, and met the students I will be helping out with in a few weeks!

THEY ARE SO CUTE. I CAN'T WAIT.

We also met one of Liz's co-teachers--the Peace Corps policy is to have the volunteers help out another teacher, as that is more sustainable than them just coming in, teaching, and leaving. Her co-teacher, Ba Pat, is this adorable little lady who gave us our first experience with "Thai-napping." Thai-napping is when you hop in a car or bus or whatnot and end up going a million more places than bargained for.

For example, Ba Pat kindly agreed to take us into Phrae to shop (which, being obsessed with all things Thai, we could hardly refuse). Before that though, we ended up sightseeing at this nearby cave which has recently been remodeled to look sort of like a discotheque.

The cave was beautiful, but it was quite interesting to see all the work that had been done--very different from the US, where all the caves I've been to have been about leaving-no-trace, not filling it with neon lights to attract tourists.

The end of the cave also had a lovely shrine to Buddha, just like most of the country, so we paid our respects and played a fortune-telling game included in the shrine.

My fortune was...terrible. Ba Pat, amusedly, told me I should just put that one back and forget it. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be true, because my life certainly does NOT suck!

Courtney, of course, got a lovely fortune, just like she got the lovely Thai nickname, and gets the lovely pictures taken of her...and no, I'm not bitter at all :). It's kind of funny how, when Thais learn her name, they say, "awww..." (her name is Fondow, which means falling star) and when they hear mine, they laugh. Mine, on the other hand, is pomegranate, or Macgaw (I can barely pronounce it, much less spell it!!).

I do like pomegranates, and they're especially delicious here, and it's better than my first two nicknames, which were Bendy (guess where that came from) and Kanom, which means snack. I also like that Macgaw is in the northern dialect of Thai...taptim is pomegranate in Central Thai, fyi...and for some reasons it sends people into hysterics when they hear Macgaw. Maybe that's just my face, though. :) So far, I have been called beautiful many times, which I'm told is mostly because I'm white, but hey, I ain't gonna fight that. I also have been told I look like a doll (can't decide if that's a good thing), that I'm fat (don't worry, I don't take it to heart--they are TINY here) and also that my nose should be used as a model for plastic surgeons. Suffice to say, I LOVE the Thai people!

Anywho, after the cave, we went a little crazy shopping and eating Pad Thai with Ba Pat and her sister. It was quite the day!!!

Whew, I made it through the first two weeks. Now, Court and I are doing a wee bit of traveling on our own, renewing our visa in Laos, so we can stay in the country longer and volunteer in Liz's school and see Loi Krathong, the lantern festival!



I hope you at least smiled if you have made it this far, cause I sure am!!! :) More to come, if you have the stamina to continue!

xxx




p.s. You can find my cousin Courtney's accounts of our travels here!

A Whole New World

This may be one of the most overused quotes in history, but...Todo, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore! And I guess it's used so much because baby, it's true.
Thailand is (apparently I'm quoting old movies) a whole new world, and while we were on the island, we discovered a world within that world. In other words, scuba diving!!!
We stayed at Black Tip Resort, which sounds way fancier than it was, but besides the non-flush toilets and the ants that took over our bungalow on the last night, we still had a bungalow, a perfect view, and a very nice pool that made the heat a little more bearable.
Ko Tao, the island we stayed on, which means Turtle Island, isn't very big, but we managed to find a deserted spot, Tanote Bay, and it was the perfect place to unwind after the chaos and terror (I might be overdramatic, but seriously, it was insane) of Bangkok.

















And, to make it even better, I finished my open water certification there!! In the Gulf of Thailand. Hello dreamland.
However, I did learn that conquering my fear of diving in a pool was nothing compared to diving in the ocean. Except for my (most likely irrational) fears about getting the bends, I felt quite comfortable at the bottom of the ocean. So much to SEE! So much completely foreign beautiful stuff to see! It was amazing and one of the best ways possible to start off our trip.
The first day, it was me and my dive master, as I had (another) swim test to ace and a bunch of skills I'd already done in the pool to do under the ocean. Some of them were easy--who knew all those hours in Girl Scouts wandering around meadows with a compass would actually make me semi-proficient--and some, like the mask clearing, were a little more stressful. I had the most trouble with equalizing my ears, which, they don't bother to tell you in the diving books, will likely hurt the first few times no matter what you do. And, my dive master, a fine old gent named John from Britain, informed me that women have more trouble equalizing than men.
Go figure.
Even with the tasks, it was exhilirating and relaxing! I found these awesome little worms, Christmas tree worms, that absolutely delighted me with their colors and their quick retreat when you wave a hand over them (the first time I almost got a heart attack, which sent John into spasms of hilarity).























Day Two, we woke up after a restless night in fear of the encroaching ant army to stormy skies and lightning over the ocean (which for some reason I never knew was possible!!) but the go ahead to dive anyway. My cousin, who's awesome and had already completed her open water certification, came along with us today, and we explored my tantalizing mistress, the sea, further. The day went smoothly, with a small bout of seasickness for my cuz and some further equalization issues for me, but it was just...so...FUN! Even despite the fact that for a week after I was convinced I had the bends. (Yes, I'm a hypochondriac, and yes, I know it's ridiculous, but I had to have ONE flaw, right? ;) ).
I was sad to leave our little island paradise for the rest of the terrifying country...but more adventures awaited us after our last ferry ride:) Which means, you better be at the edge of your seat for more stories!!!! :)
XOXO

Into the Sweaty Fist

To begin...

WHEW!!!!

Thailand truly has been an adventure so far. After an epic (ahem, not so much) 32-hour long trip, including 13 hours in the Seoul airport and one brief, fuzzy trip to a Buddhist temple in Seoul, we arrived in Bangkok at around 10 p.m. on Friday, October 22nd. And into the sweaty fist indeed...it was a lovely 85 degrees when we landed, with more humidity than I have ever felt. My hair has been one wild ride and I don't anticipate that changing.

The first night was rather terrifying, landing among 8 million people, about 4 million of them partying in the tourist district of Bangkok, but we found a decent hostal (with A/C--and we proceeded to shiver all night) and got about 4 hours of rest thanks to jet lag.

The next day...we were off! We ran errands, got a bus ticket to get out of that city--a joint ticket, including a boat to the island Ko Tao--and began to discover how FRIENDLY everyone is here. A kid on the street led us to the tourist office, everyone wanted to discuss Schwartenegger's impact on California with my cousin, and a random teacher put us on a tuk-tuk to see the reclining Buddha, and, inexplicably, a sapphire export company. The Buddha was completely incredible, and we caught our first sights of the Thai Buddhist monks in their head-to-toe orange outfits. We also learned that they are not allowed to touch women...I'm not exactly clear what happens if they are to accidentally brush against one, but they even have spots on buses and boats to avoid this situation.

The next day, after a loooooooong overnight bus ride and a morning ferry ride (which included a stop over in Chumphon and the viewing of a truly terrifying horror movie--Orphan) we arrived at the paradise of Ko Tao Island, in the Gulf of Thailand.

For all of you lucky enough to get postcards, prepare to get realllllly jealous!

We had a perfect little bungalow over looking the beach, and it was so perfect we could even forgive the toilet, the bucket-flush kind (which is the norm here!) and the jet lag slowly began to recede.

That's it for now, folks, but stayed tuned for my REAL OCEAN diving adventures coming soon!

I MISS YOU ALL! xoxo

Sweet Summertime

AND about six weeks later...I'm baaaack!! Now, I am OFFICIALLY a COLLEGE GRADUATE!! As in, I have a bachelor of arts in English from Montana State University! Sounds so official. Somehow I survived my last class, despite an unfortunate professor, with flying colors, and even learned something and managed to have some fun! I did learn that it's definitely true: just because you speak a language doesn't mean you can teach it! Sure got me thinkin' about my possible career teaching English as a second language.

After a successful finish, I went off to Washington state for a fabulous, well-deserved vacation! It was truly incredible. One day, my boyfriend and I made a long trip to Victoria, Canada on Vancouver Island, and it was one of the best days of my life!! A little dramatic, but it still feels that way almost a month later. I flew over with my friend Hannah, who was visiting her boyfriend working for NAV-C in Seattle, and it was GREAT flying with someone!! I usually fly alone or with my dad, who mostly zones out to his music or sleeps, and isn't exactly as entertained or full of interesting gossip as my old friend Hannah T :).

Unfortunately before I left, I found out that I had a kidney infection--oodles and oodles of fun--so the first day or two was a little calmer than we had planned. But on Saturday, my boyfriend's dad had his 50th birthday party, and we wandered around Olympia, and spent Sunday with his family and just resting.

Mooonndddaaaaay it was off to oh CANADAAAA! Victoria was incredible, so beautiful, I loved it so much I'm considering going to graduate school there!

But before we even got there, an old dream of mine came true--we saw some orca whales on the ferry ride across the sound! I was so happy I literally cried.

Perfect beginning to a perfect day.

We landed, wandered around the little area, avoided the rain, and had a delectable English tea, complete with a silver tray!

After our delicious tea, we took a long bus ride up the island to visit...the Butchart Gardens!! They were incredible and I almost broke my camera taking pictures of practically every flower. Here are some of my favorites!! :) Also, just click on the photo for a larger view--especially the flower ones, as you can see every drop of rain! Not even rain could deter from these Gardens.

The rest of the day--including the drive back to Olympia through the Olympic National Park, which was surprisingly rural--was also so fun!!

So was the rest of the trip! We hung out on the Sound, and in Seattle visiting Hannah and her boyfriend, and our friends Lindsay, Gordon, Casey, Chris Sjoberg, and we even ran into my brother, who was visiting the area for a wedding. We also went to the BEACH, my main true love, and had Thai food and sushi and just a wonderful wonderful time!

It was the best vacation, completely worth the wait. Here a few more pictures:

Nowadays, I'm working at the Chronicle,studying for the GRE--October 1st!--and being a slave at the law office, and I just recently got hired for Express Professionals, a temp agency. I'm planning my trip to Thailand like a fiend, unlike Peru, I might actually be prepared, complete with the perfect, thoroughly researched travel sandals and my own mini-pharmacy. My shots are up-to-date, my travel book is dog-eared, my lists are made and keep getting longer...I am an expert planner.

I'm also beginning to apply to GRAD SCHOOOOooooL! I still have applied to both AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, and I have a few leads on journalism jobs, so I have a million options and a million choices.

School started for pretty much everyone I know this week, which got me thinking about my future. Grad school is very exciting right now--I'm looking at the University of Victoria, Portland State, University of South Carolina, Missoula, Trinity College Dublin, and a gazillion more. Grad schools are intense!!!!!

BUT REALLY, this blog is about my exploration of the world and life, which is continuing in OCTOBER!! I'm so excited! The first few weeks, our friend in the Peace Corps, Liz, has time off, so we're landing and heading to the beach.

To prepare, my dad and I are taking long-awaited scuba lessons right here in Bozeman! So hopefully I'll get a chance to do that at one of the best places in the world for it...if I pass the class, that is!

It will be sooooo nice--especially after the cool summer Bozeman has had!!

I'm also looking at options for when I return. I'm still considering teaching English abroad, although I love writing more every day. Also, next summer, I'm looking at GeoVisions, a way to teach conversational English to a family in exchange for room and board. Always looking to the future and planning...

I hope all of you, my many many avid readers, are having a wonderful August! Happy SEPTEMBER, tomorrow! Eek

Sun, Sand, Seafood, Surfing, Snorkeling and Semana Santa!

After Palm Sunday in Guayaquil, we headed up the coast for the rest of Semana Santa (Holy Week). We started in the little surfing town of Montañita and from there went to Puerto Lopez, a little fishing town near a national park. Montañita was a charming little touristy town, despite the fact that half of the streets were half dug up and under construction! We still got to experience some delicious seafood and lots of time in the sun! It was so awesome to be at the beach again, just watching the sunset and wandering through the surf, which we did a lot!
We did have some difficulties finding a hostal, but we found an okay one with a balcony and a giant room--because there was a loft, we basically had our own little areas, pretty nice! If you turned your head you had a gorgeous view of the sea from our little balcony.
The first few days were pretty uneventful, but on the third day we took surfing lessons! We had two instuctors, Carlos and Ando--Carlos was obviously a very serious athlete, kind of what I always assume surf bums to be--very attuned with the waves and nature and all that stuff! Ando was more of a goof, and he ended up being my primary instructor. At first, he kept asking if me and Adam were really related, because Adam had much more balance and skill than me already! However, I soon won him over with my charm, and we had a good time, and I did manage to stand on the board quite a few times! I charmed Ando so much he tried to convince me to go dancing...oh those Latin men :) Of course Adam was still much more capable than me--I think he got the majority of the athletic genes in the family, of which there are few to begin with!!--but I still had a great time. It was great to just be out on the ocean!
That night we watched some fire dancers, basically juggling flames and doing other fun tricks with them, and we met an American who had spent some time in Missoula. Interesting hearing his ideas, and he made us both dying to go to Colombia!! Someday.
The next day we sweltered in the heat, waiting for a bus to Puerto Lopez. It was a quick bus, thankfully, accompanied by gorgeous views of the bay of the city as we drove in. Puerto Lopez was definitely one of the friendliest cities we travelled to--we met a lady who led us to our hostal right away (decent room including a balcony and a TV for five bucks a night, although no fan, so it was sweltering!!) and their neighbor happened to be Winston Churchill, our future tour guide for snorkeling and Isla de la Plata!
After arranging all that fun stuff, we hung out on the pretty although slighty dirty beach and swam with the pelicans and other seabirds circling for fish guts. That evening, we found a cheap and incredibly amazing restuarant with some of the best seafood I have tasted in my life. We frequented El Rey a lot, and I usually had amazing calamari or shrimp, and occasionally octopus or different kinds of shellfish if I was feeling adventurous!
The next day we dined at the Whale Café with delicious apple cinnamon pancakes, and headed out on our tour with Winston and a family from Guayaquil. It turned out to be the perfect day--snorkeling, fishing, and just riding around in a boat! We visited the edges of Isla Salango and Isla de la Plata, referred to as the Poor Man´s Galapagoes, as they have much of the same life, and quite a variety, but they´re closer and much much cheaper to visit!
It was our first time snorkeling in the ocean, and it was amazing! We stopped right near a pretty beach the first time, and swam in the warm water admiring tons of bright fish and the like. The highlight of that time was the giant turtle we saw swimming along!
After that, we got close enough to see a bunch of pelicans and the famous blue-footed boobies! Their feet looked like they´d been dipped in paint, it was pretty cool, and they were awesome little divers!
We fished for our lunch then, and to my surprise I caught quite a big fish! I also caught one tiny little guy, and got a few close calls--my hook got broken and completely lost, possibly from huge fish or rocks--but that was the best one! It was definitely heavy, one of the guides had to help me bring it in as I´m a weakling. He also killed it right in front of my eyes--not as traumatizing as I thought it would be for a former vegetarian! Guess South America has toughened me up a bit :).
There were a few other catches, the most memorable being some sort of eel and a pufferfish! He wasn´t puffed until our guide touched him, and then bam! They threw him back in, and he slowly deflated.
While our guides made my fish in ceviche--raw fish marinated with lime and chopped up with onion and other vegetables and fruit--we went snorkeling again. No sea turtle this time, but some sort of eel, a giant fish that I mistook for a rock at first, and tons of bright blue and yellow fish! We were right next to a bunch of caves and rocks this time, so the water had some colder currents, but it was still amazing! A whole other world, definitely inspires me to finally get certified for scuba diving!
After some ceviche--I was rather apprehensive, but it was delicious--along with amazing fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, and coconut, we circled around a bit and headed back to the mainland. It was an amazing day, but after that I was definitely ready for a break from the sun. While it wasn´t necessarily hotter, you could definitely feel the strength of the sun that close to the Equator!!
We also noticed festivities under way from Good Friday and the rest of the weekend--Puerto Lopez was becoming quite the loud little town! By Saturday it was filled with people and our little restuarant had lace under the plastic cloths and tons of people! There was a giant stage set up, and everywhere we went it was loud.
We decided to head to Quito for Easter Sunday, anticipating lots of crowds and parades and celebrations, so we took an overnight bus that evening. I was sad to say goodbye to our wonderful beach life, but my skin was definitely ready for some rain!
I hope all of you are doing well, stay tuned for an update on my brother´s last week in Ecuador!!! LOVE xx

From Mountains to River to the Coast

We left Riobamba after an interesting foray into the markets--the local food market was definitely an experience! So many people and so many weird fruit and random parts of animals all over the place. We left the pretty mountains and volcanoes of Riobamba and headed over to the largest city in Ecuador, Guayaquil! It was a medium long bus ride, still nothing like Perú, but around six hours or so. Entering Guayaquil, we were greeted with pretty views of the Guayas River and sweltering heat!
After bickering a bit with our cab driver, we found a decent hostal for a good price, in a rather sketchy neighborhood. However, it was nice to have a television and lots of air conditioning!! After arriving and resting, we headed down to the recently restored riverfront, the city´s pride and joy, called the Malécon 2000. It was really nice, but kind of odd to see such a clean, nice area in the middle of a rather dirty city! The river was massive, and interesting to see as it moved both ways, thanks to the tide. Guayaquil is a port town, although it´s big enough that we only saw the river. Saturday was a pretty chill day, still recovering from our bus trip, but we got a good little taste of Guayaquil I believe! It´s a different city from other South America ones that I´ve seen, at least the part we were in. It was very modern, with a lot of sketchy parts right around this area, and yet randomly there would be an old cathedral thrown in among the skyscrapers. The Malécon was also lovely, filled with parks and restuarants and interesting birds and even an IMAX--obviously very touristy! However, all of the tourists seemed to be Ecuadorian or South American--I don´t think we saw more than five other gringoes the entire time we were there.
The next day was Palm Sunday, and started out pretty slow. We were both feeling a little ill, and being in a giant sweltering city was not helping that. However, we made it to a few cathedrals, explored the Malécon 2000 some more, and, my favorite part, Parque Simon Bolivar. Also known as, Parque de las Iguanas! It was filled with tons of random iguanas, as well as a few turtles and typically hundreds of pigeons. It was so cool to see the iguanas all over the place--high in trees, swimming, and hanging out on the statue of good old Simon!
That evening, after taking a respite in our cool hotel room, we actually went to a movie--my first time in the theater for a long time! It was fun to go and gorge ourselves on popcorn while watching the not-so-great latest Underworld movie.
On the exit of the movie, we were engulfed in a giant crowd. Apparently a church service had just let out, so we went to a nearby cathedral to take in the vendors, millions of people and their fake palms and real flowers, and a priest throwing out Holy Water! It was fun to see, and hear the music under the stars! The vendors were selling interesting stuff too--at one point a lady waved what looked like dead mice in our faces! Hopefully they were fake...
The next day we left the sweaty city of Guayaquil, spent our longest time in the bus station there, and headed to the surf town of Montañita! More on that later...I´m a little behind, but I don´t want to cram all the events of the past weeks into ONE LONG blog update :) So stay tuned for more amazing adventures of our time in Ecuador! Miss and love xx

Huanchaco, The Valley of Immortals, and So Many Buses

Well, I have officially arrived in Ecuador! Getting here was not entirely smooth, with lots of not fun buses, but I made it alive! My last few days in Huanchaco were wonderful, I already miss the beach! They consisted of sleeping and swimming and spending time in the sand, spending time with Linda and eating delicious food! The people of Huanchaco are quite friendly too--I met one guy, Julio, who followed me around the rest of the time, taking pictures and making me bracelets! I felt quite beautiful there too--lots of comments on my looks, which sometimes was flattering, sometimes gross!! But overall, I loved it! There are so many interesting places and people there, I´m jealous of Linda, who gets to spend another two months there! I also fell in love with Wilma, my host, a fiesty old lady with millions of crazy stories.
I did not get any surfing in, thanks to some sort of toxic spill, but we were plenty busy hanging at the beach, riding the little boats called caballitos (made from reeds, yes, more reeds!) and seeing more ruins and museums. The ruins were all very different from the Inca ruins, so really cool to see--all those walls in the desert! And of course I love the beach, we spent many an hour just watching the waves or the sunset with a beer. One nice thing about being on the road, the food is much better than in Cusco, so hallelujah for that!!
After a sad goodbye to Wilma, Julio and Linda, I took a night bus from Trujillo (the biggest city near Huanchaco) to Piura, my last Peruvian city! Piura was cold and rainy, and I ended up sitting in a dark bus station for awhile--I got there before it even opened--but finally we left. It was a very long bus ride, especially since I wasn´t feeling well, but the scenery was pretty, greener every minute we got closer to Ecuador!
I successfully crossed the border, saw a few monkeys, and made it to my final stop for a day or so: Vilcabamba! The Vilcabamba Valley is known as the Valley of the Immortals, claiming that the oldest people in the world live there. This theory has been much debated, but I did see a lot of old folks running around!! I even met one lady who claimed to be 136--she looked about seventy to me, but I have always been bad at guessing ages!!
My first view of Vilcabamba was cold, rainy, and confusion. I wandered around for awhile, asking a million people for directions, and finally found my hostel, Le Rendezvous. It was such a beautiful little hostel set in a courtyard full of orchids, I was sad to leave the next day!! Vilcabamba was a charming little town, and maybe someday I will return, as I only spent about 24 hours there!! The breakfast at the hostel was delicious too--I really am getting spoiled with all of this freshly made juice and fresh fruit!!
After that, it was my marathon of a bus ride--12 hours to Quito. It ended up being more like 15--it was long, bumpy, and a pretty cold night! At about three in the morning we even had to switch buses for some reason (the accent here is giving me some trouble, so I never really found out why) and I ended up on the floor until we dropped some people off. At least this bus was warmer!!
I successfully arrived in Quito, found a decent hostel and an internet café, only to discover that all the flights out of Bozeman had been canceled!! What a bummer...but as far as I know, Adam will arrive tonight!! So I´m getting pretty anxious for his arrival!!
Quito is huge and confusing...I´ll be glad to leave tomorrow! I think we are heading to Mishuallí, a small town right on the edge of the rainforest. It should be amazing, I´m so excited--and very excited to get out of this town!! And to see my bro, of course :)
So stay tuned--the real adventures are about to begin! The McMahonimals are taking on Ecuador...so many stories to come!! I miss you all so much, and look forward to hearing from each of you!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE xxx

Farewell Cuzco, Hello Road

This past week and a half I finished school (although I didn´t learn much--I was a bad student and convinced my teachers to take me to the zoo, watch Spanish movies, and learn some Spanish tunes), packed up all of my junk, cleaned out my room, and said goodbye to all the great people and places I have met in the beautiful Cuzco! It was quite an emotional week, really, but still good nonetheless. Also pretty uneventful after I finished school, just lots of rest during the day and lots of fun during the evenings. We went out for pizza and dancing and drinks...we being me, my Danish buddies Anne and Pernille, and Ugly American Party of One, the other tourist staying with us. She really began to grow on me and I finally began calling her by her name...Sena. She was an older lady from Florida, and I only hope when I am that old (okay, in my late forties) that I am still travelling around the world! I enjoyed my last Pisco Sour, some Cusqueña beer, shopped around buying a few more presents and souvenirs, and stopped at all my favorite little cafe´s and the like one last time! It was a good week, and it was a relief to finish school. I was pretty burnt out of trying to learn Spanish in a classroom at that point! Now it´s time to learn it in the real world! On my final day in Cuzco, I spent the day shopping, packing, and I visited Qorikancha, a giant monastery and former Inca palace. It is still a monastery of the Santo Domingo order, and I did see some monks! Illegally, as they don´t have much contact with the outside world, but I took a wrong turn and ended up in their part of the palace. I watched one paint this odd picture for awhile, took a photo, which he heard (I can probably say he will live ten years younger because of me, considering the height of his jump of fright!!), and was chased out into their beautiful gardens. I also stumbled into the cathedral just as the monks began to sing, and it quite a moment. They all have gorgeous voices, and the cathedral itself is massive, so it sounded amazing.
I flew out of Cuzco belatedly on Thursday, and luckily, met Sena in Lima. It was so nice to have someone there to meet, as Lima is massive and scary and dirty and confusing! We spent the day together, buying my bus ticket and wandering around, getting lost. We did manage to find a gorgeous little square, Plaza San Martin, and...drumroll please...a Pizza Hut! The pizza is Cuzco was good the few times I ate out, but nothing like this stuff. I was pretty sad after leaving Cuzco and after spending a million hours with the unfeeling robots in the Cuzco airport, so I definitely needed a taste of home! One good thing about big cities is the massive amounts of globalization (well, when you´re despretely homesick it´s a good thing at least!).
I took an overnight bus out of Lima that night--I wasn´t spending a minute there that wasn´t necessary. I somehow bought a first class ticket on the bus line Cruz del Sur, which ended up being about eighteen dollars, and it will be really hard to not travel that way again! I had a huge, comfy seat, we got snacks and meals, and we even watched a movie! Granted, it was a movie nobody ever should see--Dennis the Menace and Christmas, random huh?--but at least it took some time off of the ten hour bus ride! Riding in style definitely helped that too--unfortunately the buses in Ecuador are not nearly this fancy.
I arrived in Trujillo, Perú in one piece, and immediately found a taxi for Huanchaco, about twenty minutes away. It was so wonderful to have Linda waiting for me there! And so far, I love Huanchaco, it is definitely taking the edge off my missing Cuzco. It´s a small little beach town full of surfers and cheap restuarants and bars and hostals. I´m staying with Linda at a family´s house, it´s quite nice to have hot water! Although ironically, it´s also really really hot here on the coastal desert, so I don´t even really need the hotness. That´s life, I suppose.
After I got settled in and showered a bit, I met Linda at the pier. It´s so nice to be near the ocean again! We ended up at these ruins near Trujillo, called Chan Chan--the largest adobe palace in the world. It was massive and fun to see, as it´s completely different from the millions of other ruins I´ve visited. It reminds me of Egypt, as it is Perú´s version of the pyramids. It was a nice day, it felt wonderful after the freezing rain of Cuzco.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around Huanchaco and going to a massive mall near Trujillo--I have come to love malls and other symbols of mass consumerism. Reminds me of home.
Huanchaco is a wonderful place, I will be sad to leave. I´m still reflecting on my experience in Cuzco, and I think overall it was awesome, but I´m starting to like this whole being-on-the-road thing! Even though I´ve only been on the road about two days :). I´ll be here until Monday evening, and then off on my next adventure! Stayed tuned for another update soon, and keep ME posted on all of your lives! BESOS xxx