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4 Amigos in South America

Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago
4 amigos on a 3 Week South America Trip of a life time!
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Photo Album

Skipped over Lima, Straight to Cusco - day 1

Aug 27, 2011
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago (Faye Xuan)
As per usual, we arrived approximately 1 hour before our international flight. Maybe I am getting older, but I actually felt a slight panic. At 5AM, YVR seemed unusually busy. After a smooth security screening and customs, we were in less than 40 minutes with time to grab a Timmy's treat before boarding. English was already the second language at our stop over in SFO. Everything was done in Spanish and not all was repeated in English. Our flight landed in Lima shortly after midnight. We hired a taxi who didn't seem to be from Lima and didn't have a cell phone. After what seemed to be hours of driving around in circles, we checked into our hotel at 2AM in time for a 4 hour nap before our flight to Cuzco. When we finally arrived in Cuzco by midday, I was so tired that all I wanted to do was dive my head into a soft pillow. But I am a tough traveller, I can't waste a beautiful day. Not too mention, I was also too excited to start exploring a new city. Besides, a cup of cocoa tea will keep me fueled. On the way to Plaza de Armas, the city center square, cute little girls in traditional indigenous outfits holding baby sheep or llama were eager to approach us for a picture in exchange for one or two soles. This is very common. If you take a picture with them, expect to have to pay them. The Armas square were packed with tourists and locals for a Sunday stroll. Surrounding the square, stood the La Catedral and La Compania and countless cafes and restaurants with intricately carved wooden balcony. Even Macdonald's was subtly hidden under the stone arches. We decided to take it easy since we were still adjusting to the 3400m altitude. The slight incline would make my leg muscle ache and breathless. We ended up having lunch on a balcony and people watched for a few hours. The restaurant also had a terrace. on the way up there, we passed by the kitchen and caught our first glimpse of the Peruvian delicacy: Cuy! Aka the Guinea pig all nicely roasted and ready to be served. After lunch was more walking very slowly around the city. When we arrived at Plaza San Francisco, there was a parade of men, women and children carrying fresh flowers and pictures of some sort of saint. We naturally became very curious and started following the crowd. turned out it was a celebration of the virgin for the children. The crowd were heading towards the temple to lay flowers. However, when we saw it turn uphill, we quit the pursuit. We went back to the Plaza San Francisco to find locals hanging out playing carnival games and watching street performers. We even found a guy who had a strange sense for fashion: gold dress with balloons stuffed inside it as his boobs and butt. Later we found out they were candyman and the outfit made them stood out and helped to attract business. At this point, I was barely able to keep my eyes open, so we headed back to our hotel for a much needed 10 hour sleep. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/08/skipped-over-lima-straight-to-cusco-day.html

Horses and thunderstorm

Aug 28, 2011
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago (Faye Xuan)
We slept in as much as we could. We took our time enjoying our breakfast of papaya in yogurt and scramble eggs. The breakfast discussion involved whether was legal to bring cocoa teabag back home since it was highly unlikely the actual leaf would be TSA approved. We contemplated what to do for the day. Since we have Sacred Valley planned for tomorrow, we thought perhaps a nice horse back riding trip to see the natural side of Cuzco would be nice. By noon we were set and off to the ranch. My horse was chestnut coloured with very soft hair. I really liked her. But for some reason I just couldn't remember her name! She was named after a type of llama. So I called her "Chester". Yes I know she was a girl with a saddle decorated with pink stars. We stopped at a small hill where the Inca people would hide and ambush the Spanish. It was full of caves and tunnels. On the top of the hill, we got a lovely view of Cuzco city. Our second stop was the ruins of temple of the moon. There was not much left. But the stone craftsmanship of the inca culture was still very evident. As we headed back to our horses, the clouds started to roll in. A thunderstorm was coming. Within 5 minutes, the cold rain had hit us. But before we knew it, it was also over. Our clothes had pretty much dried when we returned to the ranch. When returned to the city, we dined at one of many oven pizzerias, Chez Maggy. I highly recommended this place located just off of Plaza de Armas. The pizzas were clay oven baked and pasta was also hand made. It also had free wifi which made this iPad enthusiast very happy. But we had to end our day by getting a 7 USD (20 soles) foot massage at one of the many spas. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/08/horses-and-thunderstorm-day-2.html

C'mon Canada (Sacred Valley)

Aug 29, 2011
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago
Wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago (Faye Xuan)
We arranged the Sacred Valley day tour on day one. The tour was quite cheap, only 20 soles (7 USD) which included transportation and an English speaking guide. Before hopping on a coach bus, we had to exchange some more soles. There were many foreign exchange shops around Plaza de Armas. We quickly picked one since we only had 5 minutes before the bus departed. But sometimes rushing is not a good idea. As we got on the bus, one of our travel buddies found out the FX shop had shorted her about 30 soles (12 USD). So always count your money twice! Our first stop was a small market in the town of Pisac. They specialized in clay goods. The stop was short, only 15 minutes before the tour guide herded us back on the bus "C'mon, Canada." Along the way, our tour guide explained the mountain range were considered sacred to the Inca people. The river that ran through these mountain ranges was the sacred river. Hence the name of this region: sacred valley. The second stop was another market, silver market. We only had 20 minutes in this market. But you can't drop a kid in the candy shop and expect him/her to come out in 20 minutes. I could've spent an entire day there. In an blink of an eye, we were called back to the bus "C'mon, Canada". The next stop was the ruins of Pisac. Pisac was a town of where the farmers and architect lived. It was a middle class village. The Inca people buried their dead along the side of the mountain cliff. I wonder how they were able to dig a hole and put the body in it along these steep mountain sides. The Inca people also believed they lived three lives. One in heaven, earth and under world. Like the Egyptians they mummified the body, but in the fetal position, so they can be born into the next life. Our fourth stop was Ollantaytambo, the new capital of the sacred valley. On the top, there was a granite stone that was said to be the temple of the sun since it faced the exact direction of the sun rise. However, unlike the other sun temples which are round, this one was not which drew speculation that this was not the sun temple at all. The temple granite was shipped in from the other side of the mountain 7 km away. The large stone pieces were put on logs and rolled to it's finally destination. The temple was once decorated with puma carvings. But during the Spanish invasion, the heads were cut off and now only the faint silhouette of the animal was left. Across from the temple, was a mountain where the Incas did a lot of worshipping. Probably due to this side profile of what appeared to be an Inca god. They also built an llama shaped terrace and structure on this mountain to mimic the llama consolation in the sky. This area was considered the centre of the Inca world. Across from the temple, was a mountain where the Incas did a lot of worshiping. Probably due to this side profile of what appeared to be an Inca god. They also built an llama shaped terrace and structure on this mountain to mimic the llama consolation in the sky. This area was considered the centre of the Inca world. Our last stop was Chencharo. Much of the indigenous styled textile was produced here. Today these people still uses all natural ingredients to process and dye the llama or wool threads and then wave them into beautiful blankets and other products. Our day ended in a lovely Peruvian sunset. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/08/c-canada-sacred-valley-day-3.html

Route to Machu Picchu

Aug 30, 2011
Reaching rew heights in Bolivia
Reaching rew heights in Bolivia (Faye Xuan)
It was an early day for us. At 6AM we hopped into our pre arranged car and headed to the Poroy station that was approximately 20 minutes outside of Cuzco. No more than five minutes after we settled into our seats, we were on our way. I looked at my watch and noticed the train was almost 10 minutes ahead of the indicated departure time. Perhaps all the passengers were early. Our train was the Vistadome class which offered windowed roof for a full view of the mountain range. I must admit, Vancouver to Jasper train was much more scenic. However, my Ecuadorian travel friend reminded us that the difference was these mountain ranges were sacred and bared so much history and culture for the people that lives in these areas. She was absolutely right. Breakfast was included in the train ticket. I just loved the vibrant colours and the violet flower was a beautiful touch. The train made a short stop in Ollataytambo to pick up more people. Yesterday when our Sacred Valley tour reached this point, some people got off the tour and caught the train to Machu Picchu here. This would have been a very efficient way to go. If we had known, we could've saved at least half a day of traveling. 1.5 hours later, we rolled into town of Aguas Calientes, the hot water or hot springs in Spanish. This is the entrance town to Machu Picchu. All who came to seek the ancient ruins must pass through here. The first thing we did was buy the bus ticket to MP for tomorrow. The ticket was 15.50 USD return. The plan was to get on the first bus at 5:30 to see the sunrise. We had the rest of the afternoon to roam around this tiny tourist town which was full of restaurants, pizzerias and gift shops. So once again dinning seemed to be the best way to pass the time. But half way through lunch, the entire town lost power and it also started pouring rain. We over heard that the power was not coming back on until tomorrow afternoon! We were relieved that we brought our head lamps, but regret leaving our rain gear in Cuzco. But we were able to get colorful ponchos at one of the many shops. We had little to do and decided to buy a deck of cards. That kept us entertained and out of the rain until night fall. Then it was time to eat again! We had plan to dine a place called Tree House. It had great reviews in the guidebooks and online. However, in the dark, despite asking the locals (including a policeman), we couldn't find it. Disappointed, we settled for the generic touristico restaurant. One thing I did noted was that I see Chinese restaurants everywhere. Even in a small town like AC. However, I have yet to see one open for business. All of them were closed even during prime meal times. I found that Back at the hotel, we prayed for no rain tomorrow before settling in for the night. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/route-to-machu-picchu-day-4.html

Machu Picchu

Aug 31, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We purchased our Machu Picchu (MP) tickets on day 2 in Cuzco at the Cultural Ministry. Friends had recommended we also do Wayna Picchu (WP). Only 200 people were allowed to climb WP at one time during only two time slots: 7 and 10AM. We were very lucky to get the 7AM slot since someone had cancelled theirs. The entrance fee to both MP and WP costed 150 soles (55 USD). Another early morning for us. We were in queue for bus to MP at 5AM to catch the first bus at 5:30AM. The line was already quite long and people was holding spots for their friends. We were a bit concerned that we were going to miss the sunrise. We didn't make it on the first bus. At 5:45 we started the 25 minute windy drive up to MP. Around 6AM we knew we had missed the sunrise. But we soon forgot the disappointment when MP came into our sight. I kept thinking what Bingham was thinking when he saw this sight. I have been to Angkor Wat of Cambodia, Great Wall of China, underground churches of lalibela, pyramids and temples of Egypt, MP was different. Unlike most other ancient ruins, the first sight of the site was up or at eye level. The first sight MP were from above, offering a complete panoramic view of the ruins. It made me want to get a closer look. Nestled amongst the sacred mountains and hills, MP was a massive man made collection of structures that was remote and so hidden for so long that still posses a lot of mystery and intrigue. We were really glad we got there early enough to not have to fight with crowd too much to get good wide shots. Pictures of the actual grounds of the ruins we saved until after we climb WP. We rushed on the other side of MP to the entrance of WP. The entrance line up moved very slowly. Passports had to be checked and a registration book had to be signed. I was short on water. One of the side effects of altitude sickness pill was I was always thirty. But not to worry, the entrance desk people was happy to sell you a bottle of water for 5 soles (1.7 USD). WP was the hill to the right of MP and served as a dramatic backdrop for MP. It took us approximately one hour to hike to the peak. I would say it wasn't as hard as the Grouse Grind in Vancouver since the agony was shorter. The top 1/4 of the ascend was very narrow and steep. I am afraid of heights and didn't dare to look down. The rest was not very steep especially compared to Grouse Grind. At the top, it was a bit crowded. So we descend a little and settled in on one of the terraces for a quick snack time to regain some energy for the descend. Food was actually not allowed onto the premise, but most people did sneak them in anyways. The descend really did a number on our legs. I bet money on it that tomorrow I am going to feel it. We took it easy and roamed around the grounds of MP for several hours before deciding to head out and get some in our stomaches. On the way out of MP, I had notice backpack check in was offered for 3 soles I believe. I wish I had known beforehand because I thought whatever I brought I had to carry it up to WP with me. So I minimized my pack as much as possible including sacrificing a change of clothes for the train ride back to Cuzco. Smelling fantastic, we took the 4:43PM Expedition class train back to Cuzco. We had thought since it would dark with nothing to see there would be no point in booking the more expensive Vistadome train. To our surprise, the Expedition train had windowed ceiling as well. We wondered about the difference. It turned out the difference was primarily in the food. In Vistadome, we were served nicely plated fresh fruit and pastry with proper cutlery and place settings. In Expedition, we were served bean and peanut snacks in a paper bag. The other differences were very minor. It was interesting that out of thousands of passengers that take the train each day. We ended up sitting across from the same guys who we sat across from going to AC . Three amigos from Atlanta and Tampa. We thought we were going to catch some Zs, but ended up chatting with them the entire 4 hour train ride. Americans are interesting people that is for sure. The conversation from health care reform to bunny ranch for horses and from pharmaceutical lobbyists to Solid Gold dancers. To Canadians, whether we like to admitted or not, they are our endearing gun toting next door neighbour. We bid good bye to our new friends and laughed about the conversations we had and the great weather we had in our car ride back to Cuzco. After check in to our hotel, we realized how long of a day had. But what an awesome day it was! *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/machu-picchu-day-5.html

The Inka Express

Sep 01, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Cuzco to Puno is normally a 5 hour trip by bus. There are other transportation options as well. Flying takes about one hour, but only flies into Juliaca and it is another one hour ground transportation to Puno. It costs about 100 to 150 USD. The other option is by train. Since Perurail is a privately owned and the only train company in Peru, this route is very expensive at $250 USD. Not to mention, it is a 10 hour trip. We opted to take the tourist bus with a company called Inka Express that took approximately 9.5 hours. The 45USD ticket came with an English speaking tour guide, several attraction stop points and a buffet lunch. The bus departed from Cuzco around 7:30AM. The reclinable seats were quite comfortable and clean. Hot drinks, water and pop were served. After about an hour, we made our first stop. Andahuaylillas often referred to as the Sistine chapel of the Andes. Some of this old church was under construction. Pictures and videos were not allowed inside which was too bad. Even though the exterior looked nothing special, the inside was quite beautifully decorated with gold framed biblical paintings. This catholic church also included elements of the Inka religion such as the Inka cross. The ceiling was covered in intricate patterns. The second stop was Raqchi. It was an Inka village ruins with a large ceremonial structure as the centre piece. The village even had a mini great wall like in China. It was also built to keep the intruders out. The third stop was the highest point of the trip. La Raya was located at 4335m. Despite the sunshine, as soon as I stepped out of the bus I felt the chill and harsh wind. The last stop was some sort of stone museum named Pucara that I didn't feel was all that interesting. Although the day flew by, I couldn't wait to arrive at Puno since we still had to arrange our Lake Titicaca tour for tomorrow. But I didn't have to worry too much. Our hotel was two steps away from Lima Street, the major road in Puno. We found a good tour agent with a fair price in no time. Now we were able to sleep knowing we just had to wake up tomorrow and wait to be picked up for another fun filled adventure! *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/inka-express-day-6_1329.html

Lake Titicaca from Peru

Sep 02, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Lake Titicaca crosses two countries: Peru and Bolivia. The tour we arranged yesterday was for the Peruvian side, but also included bus ticket from Puno to Copacabana, Bolivia for 95 soles (36 USD). A car came to fetch us in the morning to take us to the dock. We hopped on a wooden boat and headed to the Uros first. Uros, also known as the floating islands. These artificial islands were mainly made out of reeds. The friendly islanders welcomed us with songs and demonstrations of how they made their island that were about 1000 square feet. They even have a little bridge over a small pond in the centre of the island. We visited their huts where they sleep and one of them have a small TV. I wondered if they get CNN. The Uros people barter for goods and do not use currency. They would leave their islands for Puno with their dry fish and reed crafts to trade rice and potatoes. They use to be very poor until tourism provided them with more money. For ten extra soles, we also went for a 15 minute reef boat ride. The Island of Amanati, the island of love, took more 3 hours for us to get to. But the best part of traveling is meeting the people. We met a fellow Canadian from Montreal whose travel buddy had to cancel last minute and the poor thing had to travel alone. We also met a Brit traveling with her father. She was a medical student who had just finished doing a two month internship in Cuzco. We arrived in Amanati shortly after 1PM and were famished. We met our hostess Julia and she took us to her house up the hill. It was a laborious 5 minute up. Little did we know this was nothing! The worst was yet to come. But we had lunch first: quinua soup, fried cheese and potatoes. Then we took a little nap in our room. Julia's house was simple. Kitchen and toilet was on the first floor. There were no showers. The second floor was the sleeping quarters. The rooms were colorfully decorated and cozy. Around 4PM, our group gathered at the town centre and started our ascent to the top of the island where the Pacha-mama or the mother earth temple was located. I don't know which was more painful, this 40 minute hike at almost 3800m or 1 hour Wayna Picchu hike at 2700m. Half way up, our guide told us to grab 4 pieces of pebbles. When we finally got to the top, we had to walk around the temple one time and throw the four pebbles into the temple as we made 4 wishes that related to wisdom, health, work and love. We hung out to watch the beautiful sunset. The wind had really picked up and became quite bitterly cold. We headed down hill and seemed to go on forever. It was pitch dark before we knew it. All the twinkling stars came out with a very bright moon. Julia was at the town centre square waiting for us. Dinner was served right away. I wasn't sure why we were all so sleepy. We took yet another nap. But our night wasn't over. At 8PM, Julia dressed us up in traditional Amanati outfit consisted white embroidered shirt, heavy layered black skirt and multicolored belt. I was ready to rock the town with my new outfit. Mens outfit was much simplier, a poncho. Julia then took us up to a hall for a Pena show. A band played traditional music and the locals and tourists all gathered to dance in circles. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/lake-titicaca-from-peru-day-7-8.html

Lake Titicaca from Peru

Sep 03, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
The next morning, we woke up from a very peaceful night of sleep and Julia prepared us pancake for breakfast. Unfortunately, it didn't come with maple syrup. I had to settled for strawberry jam. Julia walked us to the dock after breakfast where we hoped on the same wooden boat and headed to the Island of Taquile. An hour later, the guide took us on yet another trek up the hill. This time was up to the town centre of the island. But it wasn't too bad. About 15 minutes of up hill and 20 minutes of flat path. This island has a great Spanish influence. You can tell especially by the way the men dressed. With black pants, white shirt and black vest, they also wear hats they knit themselves to indicate their relationship status. White hat with red band and draped on the left meant the man is available and is looking for a girlfriend. If the white hat is draped on the right side, the man is with a girl or in a trail marriage which they live like husband and wife for 2 or 3 years before the real deed. There is no divorce allowed. Men with red hat are married and men with multi coloured hats means they are very important figures like the mayor or something. The women also have shorter skirt than the Amanati women. It was interesting to see the changes in clothing between the islands. Unlike Amanati, Taquile is a lot more developed in terms of tourism. There are a quite few restaurants around the town centre. We had lunch at one a bit up the hill. But it had a stunting view of the lake and the village below. The grill trout fresh from Lake Titicaca was the best meal I had since our arrival in Peru. After lunch it was time to head back to Puno in the wooden boat. The boat felt even more painfully slow. The return journey took more 3 hours. I stayed outside of the cabin and complete forgot how unforgiving the Peruvian sun can be. Without sunscreen, I sadly looked like a shinny tomato when I got off the boat. Tomorrow is going to suck! *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/lake-titicaca-from-peru-day-7-8.html

At the Copa, Copacabana...

Sep 04, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana (Copacabana) The hottest spot north of Havana (here) I don't think Barry Manilow was talking about the same Copacabana. Today was the day we said good bye to Peru and hello to Copacabana, Bolivia. Again tourist bus was the transportation of choice. We arrived at the main Puno bus terminal. The place was already busy at 7AM in the morning. One of the ticket booth ladies had a set of extremely sharp and loud pipes. "Para Cuzco!" she screamed out every minute or so. It was nails on chalk board this early in the morning. We were a bit confused by the boarding process. But eventually figured out we had to pay some sort of tariff or tax worth 1 sole before getting on the bus. The bus stopped just before the border for a bathroom break and a chance for us to exchange our soles into Bolivianos. Around 10AM we arrived at the border. We had to get off the bus and get our passport stamped indicating we were leaving Peru. Then we had to cross the Bolivia border on foot. Once we made the cross, it was more paper work and stamping. The border agent was chatty with me and asked if I was Japanese and if my parents lived in Canada. My Spanish is very poor and other tourists had to help me with one of the questions. All in all it was a very painless process. We returned to our bus around 10:30AM and had to change our watch one hour ahead to 11:30. Copacabana was now only 8 km away. But 5 minutes later, we were stopped and were asked to pay a tariff of 1 Boliviano per person. I am still not sure what that was for. We finally arrived in Copacabana by noon. It is a quiet little town, but we immediately detected the constant urine smell in the air. We had find accommodation right away for the night. La Cupula and Las Olas were the high end places that came with a "hefty" price tag of 20 USD per person per night. But they were all booked up. We decided to stop at a restaurant called Cafe Bistrot with wifi to check out what else was available in town. The owner of the Cafe was very kind and provided us with tons of local information. she recommended with check out Aldea Del Inca just up the street. The hotel is fairly new and owned by a Spanish man. Similar to the other two places, with 20 USD we had wifi, hot water, breakfast and all the essentials. The courtyard was lovely with a reed sofa, hammocks, a gazebo and even a children's playground overlooking Lake Titicaca. Now we had the rest of the afternoon to explore Copacabana. That took about 20 minutes. We did notice a strong hippies presence and some sold random jewelry on the streets, perhaps making extra cash for their next adventure. We picked a courtyard restaurant for some drinks and afternoon snacks. We were surprised to see nachos with guacamole on the menu. After ordering it, we pondered whether it was going to look like the nachos we know. But nothing had prepared us for this: Cheesy doritos with guacamole! I had saw one of the staff going into the kitchen with a bag of doritos earlier. Now it all made sense! We didn't have enough chips to finish the very oniony guacamole. We were convinced they didn't use the whole bag and ate the rest themselves. By the way, this culinary ingenuity costed us 25 bolivianos (4 USD). For dinner we went back to Cafe Bistrot and I had the stuffed trout. The owner was very proud that all her dishes were made from scratch. It really showed, the food was delicious and filling. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/copa-copacabana-day-9.html

Isla Del Sol

Sep 05, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
The main attraction in Copacabana side of lake Titicaca is Isla Del la Sol and Luna. We only had one more day in Copa and according to the owner at Cafe Bistrot last night, not many goes to Isla Del La Luna anymore. A special trip has to be arranged. So we went down to the marina and got 8:30AM return ferry tickets for 20 bolivianos (3 USD) to Isla Del La Sol only. The ferry was again a very slow wooden boat with two motors on the back. Inside of the cabin was very fumey which I knew would cause sea sickness in no time. I climbed up to the top of the boat. It was very cold since I only had a shirt and hoodie on. But it was better than vomiting before a long trek. We arrived at north side of the island aka Challapampa just before 11am and started our five hour trek to the south side of the island, Yumani. We were not sure where to go since there are no signs, just an island map back at the port. Best thing to do in this case is to follow the crowd. We took the interior trail since we heard was easier. The trail was really straight forward once we figured out the starting point. We were also charged 10 bolivianos (1.4 USD) per person before entering the trail for the ruins at the very north tip of the island. The ruins of the Inka village were interesting (it is no Machu Picchu though) overlooking Lake Titcaca. Properties like that would cost millions in Vanouver! :p The trail was definitely was not as hard as Wayna Picchu and Amanati temple. It was just much longer. We encountered about 4 small to medium hilly inclines. The rest of the way was fairly flat and incredibly scenic. There were white sandy beaches with deep blue and green water. There were little huts that sold water, pop, chocolate bars and other goodies along the way, but many pack their own lunches for the trek. Small water costed 5 bolivianos (0.70 USD). There was also the option to stay overnight on the island at many of the hostels. Since we had already experienced island stay on Amanati, we wanted to catch the 3:30PM ferry back to Copacabana. We had pay two more times along the trail at 5 bolivianos each. Our decent down to Yumani port was again a confusing one. There were no signs, just restaurants after restaurants. After a few windy roads, we encountered a herd of donkeys and ended up exiting what appeared to be a donkey den. Oh well, the important thing was we made down in time at around 3:15PM, just in time for the ferry back. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/isla-del-la-sol-day-10.html

Route to La Paz

Sep 06, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We are finally making our way to the capital of Bolivia, La Paz today. I have been a little nervous about this leg. There wasn't much pre-planning we could do and had heard the route can be unsafe. The tourist bus doesn't leave until 1:30PM and arrives at the city centre just before sun down. The local bus are much more frequent. It leaves every hour. But the local bus stops in the cemetery area which can be a very dicy area, especially after dark. We decided to brave the local bus in the morning and not wait for the tourist bus. We showed up at Plaza Sucre where all the buses gathered in Copacabana just before 9AM. The ticket costed 15 bolivianos (2.2 USD) each. The bus was already more than half full which meant it will leave on time. Shortly after 10AM, we arrived at Tiquina (Lake Titicaca) where we had to get off the bus and pay 1.5 bolivianos (0.22 USD) for a boat to ferry us over while the bus with all of our belonging took a separate barge to cross the lake. Rumour has it these barges can't handle the bus with passengers on them. It made sense since they looked like wooden flat boats that has long seen its days. We were back on the bus 30 minutes later and then it was another 115km or 2.5 hours to La Paz. The bus played really loud and strange mix of 90's English pop music, folk music and reggae ton. More than often the bus driver would play 5 seconds of a song, then skip to the next. We arrived in La Paz noon-ish at the cemetery bus station. We were advised to only take official radio taxi. They were surprisingly hard to find in such busy area! We decided to walk down hill a few blocks and finally found one. Normally, a price should be negotiated before you get in, but we didn't care at the point. The 15 minute taxi ride to Sagarnaga Street by the Witches Market was only 15 bolivianos. We decided to have lunch at the hotel restaurant. The menu was fancy and the Thai Chicken sounded really good. After the nachos with guacamole experience, I was unsure what I would get myself into. But I was going to roll the dice again. I really shouldn't gamble, ever. It was over cooked pan fried chicken drizzled in peanut butter... We walked around Sagarnaga Street after lunch, bought a few souvenirs and got a massage. When dinner time came I really wanted to try the Thai Old Town Asian restaurant. One more time, I said to myself, a restaurant specializes in Asian food can't be that far off! The restaurant offered Thai, Japanese and Indian dishes. I was excited to see a few noodle dishes on there and went for the Miso Ramen. But needless to say I had very low expectations. The soup was not bad, the pork slices were way over cooked and udon instead of ramen noodles which was also really over cooked. I was very impressed with our waiter who spoke perfect English and provided superb service. He asked me whether the ramen was what I had expected. I was honest and said it was ok. He apologized and said these days it was difficult to get ingredients from Japan and they had to use a lot of local items. I actually thought if the pork and udon weren't so over cooked, it could've been pretty good despite the ingredients. Anyways, our stomachs were full and went back to the hotel to pack for Salar del Uyuni (Salt Field) tomorrow. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/route-to-la-paz-day-11.html

Salar de Uyuni (Day 1)

Sep 07, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We took a taxi to El Alto International Airport in La Paz. It costed us 50 bolivianos which I could've swore the hotel told us it should cost around 15. Oh well, we had a plane to catch. The airline called Amazonas had only recently opened up a route from La Paz to Uyuni in late July. We kept our fingers crossed for delays. To our delight the 1 hour flight departed and arrived on time. The plane was tiny and full with about 20 seats. We did have to pay 15 bolivianos airport tariff (for domestic flights) before getting on the plane. The Uyuni airport appeared to still be under construction and very small (I didn't even see it when we landed). Someone from Red Planet Tours was suppose to meet us at the airport, but we didn't see anyone. There wasn't even a phone to make a call. I had to borrow someone's cell phone and was told to just hop on the bus to town. The bus was 7 bolivianos (1.1 USD). The tour was suppose to start at 11AM and we got to town centre and red planet office just before 10. Red Planet was suppose to provide us with an English tour guide, but they didn't have one! They offered us a shared guide with another group in another car and refused to give us a discount for the mix up. Although I was very annoyed with the mix up, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. We had to take the tour and hope for the best. While waiting for our 4x4 land cruise ride, we went out to grab extra water (2L per person) and toilet paper. Around 11:30AM, we were finally off on our 3 day Salar del Uyuni tour. The first stop was the train graveyard. In early 1900, this area use to be a happening place rich in silver and the train was used to transport them out. The town of Uyuni had built wide roads with the potential to be the next big metropolis city like La Paz. However, when other new silver mines were discovered outside of here the mining experts moved out. The locals didn't know what they were doing and the industry died. The trains were then left to mother nature. The yard made for amazing pictures. Second stop was the salt processing factory. The owner only works two days out of the week since there is no great demand for salt. The factory only supplies the local regions like Uyuni, Potosi and etc. There are no export since countries like Chile have their own salt field. The salt was very cheap and still packaged in a very traditional way. 5 bolivianos for half kg bag and 35 bolivianos for 50 kg. We each paid 1 to 2 bolivianos to the owner for the tour and demonstration. The salt factory and surrounding buildings were all mostly made out of salt. They last approximately 10 years and the brown lines in the salt bricks indicated how much rained the area got each year. We then moved on to learn more about salt. The salt field use to be a body of water thousands of years ago. Although most of the water is gone, the salt still contains moisture. So the locals put the salt into little piles to drain the water and dry the salt. We had our lunch at a salt hotel in the middle of the field. Salt hotels are actually illegal here due to the pollution it causes the field. This particular hotel now only functions as a shelter for passing-by tourists to have lunch. There were a bunch of flags in front of the hotel. There wasn't a Canadian or Chinese flag. I urge whoever is going there next must bring one for me! Next stop was Isla Inkahuasi (Inka House) or Fish Island which is an island in the middle of the salt field. The walk about costed 30 bolivianos (4.5 USD) and took about 20 minutes to get up and down. It was extremely windy and cold. I had three layers on and a very warm scarf. The island is best known for its giant cactuses. Unlike the cactus we know, these ones have no water inside when opened, but dry wood like with holes. One of the biggest things to do in the salt field is to take perceptive pictures. We had a lot of fun taking these funny pictures. It has been really windy and dry in the area. My hands have been cracking since the hand lotion I brought was not creamy enough. I really recommend anyone traveling in this area to bring lots hand lotion and cream. It had gotten pretty cold by about 3:30PM. So we started head to our hotel. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere (but not on the salt field) and was made out of salt bricks. It was basic, but cozy. Definitely not as bad as I thought. A hot shower cost 10 bolivianos. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/salar-del-uyuni-day-1-day-12.html

Salar de Uyuni (Day 2)

Sep 08, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We hit the road in the morning just before 8AM. 2 hour bumpy drive later we were at a view point to see an active volcano. The view point itself was formed by volcanic rocks of many different shapes. The second and third stops were two sulphur lagoons with pink flamingoes. I didn't know they even lived in such cold climates. We had lunch at second lagoon. We also stopped at an desert area that bordered Chile to look at a rabbit/kangaroo like animal called Viscacha. They were very cute with their long ears and whiskers and brush tails. Then it was a short stop at the Tree Rock which is a piece of volcanic rock that is in a shape of a tree. It is naturally formed by the strong wind. I also noticed the strong wind forms strange formation of snow/ice left over from the winter. Our day ended at the Laguna Colorada or the Red Lagoon. The lagoon is dark red due to the algae in the water which the flamingos also feast on them. It is part of the national park. There was a 150 bolivianos (27 USD) per person park fee. There were a lot more flamingos in this lagoon. There were nicely maintained toilet facilities at each major stops. But they can range from prices from 2 to 5 bolivianos (which was at the Red Lagoon). You get toilet paper with the price. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/salar-del-uyuni-day-2-day-13.html

Salar de Uyuni (Day 3)

Sep 09, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Today started awfully early. We had to be packed and ready to head out by 5:30AM. Might as well, I had been tossing and turning since midnight. I wasn't as cold as I thought I would be, especially we were also given hot water bottles for our feet. But I was under a sleeping bag and 5 layers of wool blankets. There were just too much stuff on top of me and I was too constricted to sleep. Anyway, we went on our way in the dark and in -8 Celsius weather to see a volcano named Sol de Mañana at 4860m. I have never been so close to an active volcano before. It was cool to see the piping hot steam pressuring through the rocks. It was also smelly too due to the sulfur. We didn't stay for too long since it was so cold. The next stop was the hot spring. I contemplated whether to go in or not on the way there. I am sure the 35 Celsius pool would be really lovely, but getting out afterwards would be painfully cold. When we arrived, I stuck my fingers in the hot spring water, I was sold. When I am ever going to do this again! Hanging out in a hot spring pool next to a lagoon with a bunch of flamingoes in the background. I was so glad I went for it. The warmth of the water felt so nice after the chilly early morning rise. I wasn't going to get out of the pool if it wasn't for the pancake breakfast that was awaiting for me. When I emerged from the water, it wasn't actually that cold. After I got dressed, I was warmer than when I got in and didn't even need my third layer of jacket. I felt completely rejuvenated at breakfast and ate two pancakes with caramel spread and hot chocolate. Now we were off to our last major spot on the tour, the Green Lagoon. This lagoon is full of toxic copper and many other different kinds of minerals. That is why there were no flamingos. When we got there, there wasn't much wind which was good because we were not as cold, but not so good since the lagoon didn't appear to be as green as when the minerals are mixed by the wind. It was still a beautiful site to see with the snowy volcano of Licancahur in the background. Then we started our very bumpy and dusty two hour ride to our lunch spot. After lunch, the roads got a little better, but still dusty. We made a few more stops at the red lagoon again and volcanic rock site which was full of mosquitos. Overall this was an enjoyable tour organized by Red Planet. However, we had felt we were short changed by not having an English guide with us in the car. The guide we had did his best to keep us informed after the two cars met up. But sometimes one car arrives earlier than the other and we would missed on a lot of information before we had to moved onto something else. We decided to speak to the company about our thoughts after we arrived back in Uyuni at around 5:30PM. I was impressed with Red Planet and the staff who actually listened to our problems. They decided to charge us the Spanish tour price which was 700 bolivianos (105 USD) and issued us each a 45 USD refund. We made sure we tipped the guide well since it wasn't really his fault. I was happy the tour ended well. It was time to check in to our Uyuni hotel and take a much needed shower! *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/salar-de-uyuni-day-3-day-14.html

Bolivia's National Treasure, the Cholitas

Sep 10, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Hotel Julia was the named of the hotel we stayed in last night in Uyuni. I believe it is one of the more expensive ones in town. The room was 270 bolivianos (40 USD) per night. Right above us was the kitchen and last night they didn't stop moving furniture until about 10PM which made us the tired travelers not very happy. At one point of the night, the curtain fell off. The shower had a mind of its own. It went from streaming hot to cold in a flash and back to hot again. The heat was suppose to be turned on at 8PM which didn't happen until 9:30. Breakfast in the morning was suppose to start at 7:30AM. The "cook" strolled in at 7:40 and we were served hot beverages, juice and dry bread. Needless to say, Hotel Julia will not be our hotel of choice next time around. If there was a star rating for this hotel, it would get a dot at best in our opinion. Our flight back to La Paz was at 9:40AM. We had received an email informing us we will not be checking in at the airport (which made sense since the airport looked unfinished) and will check in at the Amazonas office by Uyuni's town centre plaza. We were lucky to bump into the agent we recognized on the way here. I think she stayed at Hotel Julia too. She took us to the office and checked us in. Around 8:30AM, the Amazonas agent told us to hop on the same bus and we had to pay 7 bolivianos per person again to get to the airport with our checked luggage at the back. At the unfinished airport, our carry ons were not screened at all. But the flight once again departed and arrived on time in La Paz with no incidents. We were checked into our hotel shortly after lunch. We met a couple of very funny kiwis on our Uyuni tour. We made plans to meet up with them at our hotel at 1:30PM today since we were all interested in checking out the Cholita Wrestling at 4PM every Sunday. Cholita wrestling is very unique to La Paz. It is women wrestling dressed in traditional riffled skirts and top hats. The tickets for the show can be purchased from any travel agencies on Sagarnaga Street for 70 to 80 bolivianos (11 to 15 USD) each. We got ours for 70 since we had 5 people. The price included VIP front row seats, bus to the arena, a bag of popcorn, a glass of coke, a tiny clay cholita figurine souvenir and two bathroom passes. The yellow school bus picked us up near our hotel and took us to the top of La Paz city where the arena was located. Before letting us off the bus, the guide said this is not a safe area and do not wonder outside of the arena without an escort. In front of the arena there were already a lot of people gathering to get in and vendors selling popcorn and other local snacks. But the area smelled like urine and poverty was evident. We got seats centre of the ring. Later we found out it can get hairy in the front row. The first match was a fat guy wrestling a skinny guy named Shocker. They all wore very flashy outfits and masks. The fake throw downs were so cheesy that it was good. We had quite a few laughs. At one point the fat guy threw the Shocker into the crowd, one of the kiwis who sat three seats down from us got scrapped in the face. She was surprised by the whole thing, but ok. There were one or two more matches before the cholitas came out. But we were all waiting for the real attraction. Finally the cholita dressed in pink sparkly wrap, top hat and puffy skirt came out with the crowd cheering loudly. She "fought" bravely against a man and a "corrupt" referee. But she showed good heart and good sportsmanship despite being thrown into metal sheets and hit with a small wooden crate. She managed to turn the referee onto her side and won the match! It was all very dramatic. Then it was a match between a really fat guy and Frankenstein. Again it was really cheesy and the real entertainment was when Frankenstein tried to scare the kids. The stadium now had become quite chilly since the roof was partially open. The next match was between two cholitas. It definitely was the highlight of the night. The two bitter rivals threatened to cut each other's pig tails off while the crowd cheered them on. The "bad" cholita had popcorn, an orange and numerous plastic bottles thrown at her. I felt really bad for her. But no one messes with a Cholita, she gave it all back. Opening the bottles that still had pop or water in them and sprayed the crowd with them. Being in the front row, we got a little bit on us, but lucky not too badly. Row 2 and 3 weren't so lucky. At one point the "bad" cholita twisted open the orange that thrown at her and threw it at the "good" cholita. Later, she picked up the mangled orange off the floor and took a bit out it. She was a bad ass! There were three more matches including a foreigner wrestler named Gringo Flamingo. It all ended at around 7:30PM. We stepped outside of the stadium and to our amazement it was snowing outside! We ran to our bus because it was so cold. By the time we made it down the hill, there were no more snow, but a drizzle of rain. We grabbed a bite to eat at a cozy pizzeria with the kiwis and headed back to our hotel for the night. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/bolivia-national-treasure-day-15.html

Finding Valle De La Luna

Sep 11, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We had originally wanted to plan for a La Paz day trip with a travel agency, but we wanted a relaxed day without the "vamos, vamos" so we decided to arrange a taxi and head out to Valle de la Luna or Moon Valley on our own. We negotiated a taxi for 25 bolivianos (4 USD) on Ave. 16 de Julio. The taxi took us all the way down hill where all the consulates seemed to be located. The area was quite the contrast to the top of the hill neighbourhood we were in last night for the cholita show. There were nicely painted houses with high gates and security details. Many newer and fancier cars with foreigners driving them or in them. The taxi started doing circles in the narrow cobble stone streets. I was puzzled. Then we saw the huge crowd pouring into the streets a few blocks up. A protest, it appeared. The taxi driver was now frustrated and said a bunch of things in Spanish that we didn't understand but we did catch the part about "no pase". I paid the driver 16 bolivianos (2.75 USD) and we got out of the car. I did see a highway sign "Mallasa" and I remembered in my research that is the area of the moon valley. We started walking in that direction and figured if we walked past the demonstrators we could catch a taxi on the other side. The protest seemed peaceful. In fact many of them looked like they were just out for a stroll and some were enjoying an ice cream cone while protesting. They blocked all entrance streets to the highway. We asked a few people for directions and were told to catch minibuses to Mallasa at the round about. After about 30 minutes of down hill (thank God!) walking we passed by many nice houses, a bridge with a stinky stream, a school, a football field and a very small round about. We hadn't seem a Mallasa minibus. With no map, we were completely working off of instinct. Finally, we flagged one down. For 2 bolivianos (0.30 USD) each, we got dropped off at the Moon Valley in 10 minutes. I couldn't believe we made it. The Moon Valley entrance fee was 15 bolivianos (2.5 USD). It wasn't a big area. The bizarre moon like landscape was caused by erosion. It reminded me the Stone Forest in China. But this was yellow, more desert like. We spent about 1 hour there. We wondered if the protest was done as we tried to flagged down a minibus back into town, San Pedro Plaza. The minibuses all display their destination in front of their dashboard. We saw one with a "San Pedro" sign and jumped on. The driver again said a bunch of things in Spanish and "No pase". We knew the protest was still on. I used my best pictionary skills. "Pero..." and using my two fingers to make walking gesture. He understood me and we hopped in. He took us right up to the protest line and we paid him 1.5 bolivianos (0.25 USD) each for the ride. This time we took our time, strolled through crowd and enjoyed an ice cream ourselves before looking for a minibus to take us to San Pedro. We somehow ended up on Ave. 16 de Julio, but we weren't too far from San Pedro. It was almost 1PM and we needed some lunch. Days ago we met an Aussie who told us there is a Burger King on the street. I never thought I would crave fast food. This time was different. I wasn't wild about the local cuisine or their imitation of other types of cuisine. Burger King sounded heavenly. We found it in no time. My King de Pollo or chicken sandwich with bacon and fresh salsa picante (hot) was awesome. We wondered if the protest was done as we tried to flagged down a minibus back into town, San Pedro Plaza. The minibuses all display their destination in front of their dashboard. We saw one with a "San Pedro" sign and jumped on. The driver again said a bunch of things in Spanish and "No pase". We knew the protest was still on. I used my best pictionary skills. "Pero..." and using my two fingers to make walking gesture. He understood me and we hopped in. He took us right up to the protest line and we paid him 1.5 bolivianos (0.25 USD) each for the ride. This time we took our time, strolled through crowd and enjoyed an ice cream ourselves before looking for a minibus to take us to San Pedro. We somehow ended up on Ave. 16 de Julio, but we weren't too far from San Pedro. It was almost 1PM and we needed some lunch. Days ago we met an Aussie who told us there is a Burger King on the street. I never thought I would crave fast food. This time was different. I wasn't wild about the local cuisine or their imitation of other types of cuisine. Burger King sounded heavenly. We found it in no time. My King de Pollo or chicken sandwich with bacon and fresh salsa picante (hot) was awesome. Since the book was published, it was considered a national embarrassment. Bolivian government has since banned the book in the country and is trying to block the movie from being made. Tours to the prison have become increasingly impossible. We wanted to check out the outside of prison just out of curiosity. The prison is literally located in the middle of the bustling city. We walked up to the prison from the back and immediately noticed the very tall walls and the guard posts. But somehow still didn't look like a prison where they kept criminals. One would expect barb wires and perhaps much bigger and darker looking. When we made our way to the front, I had a video camera and was immediately gestured by the guard to put it away. To people watch, we picked a bench in the plaza garden facing the entrance. We saw stream after stream of people going in and out of the place and imagined (made up stories) who they were and who they were visiting. We thought we were going to get propositioned for a tour, but that didn't happen. Shortly after we sat down, a young, tall and skinny white guy showed up leaning against a tree directly across the street in front of the entrance. He looked like he was waiting on someone. We watched him as he then went to the phone booth to make a call. We wondered if he was waiting for his contact to get him in and he/she didn't show. He came back to the tree and leaned for another while. He then chatted up with a well dressed and older Bolivian couple. It looked like a tour deal might be going down! All the while, a guard crossed the street and stood two feet away from them. He must be trying to listen in on the conversation. 15 minutes later, the white man followed the couple into the entrance of the prison! At this point we couldn't take our eyes off of what was going on. This was better than any television show and we were glued. The entrance is two big doors that were wide open. You can see the tables set up to check visitor's bags. Behind the tables were metal bars and prisoners can be seemed roaming the yard. The white guy can be seen getting his bag checked. We saw the metal bar door open and we held our breaths. Then we saw him emerging out of the entrance. He didn't make it. We started commenting on why the guy was so obvious, so in pain sight in his attempt to get in. The drama was over. We sat for a few more minutes and left to do some souvenir shopping on Sagarnaga Street for the rest of the afternoon. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/finding-valle-de-la-luna-day-16.html

Waiting for Galapagos

Sep 12, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
It was our last day in La Paz. We had done pretty much all we had planned. Our flight to Quito wasn't until 5:15PM. We had hours to kill, but not enough to do anything significant. We found a roof top cafe on Ave. 16 de Julio, drank beverages, ate lunch and played cards. I had purchased the Marching Powder book on Kindle last night. We each took turns to read the book out loud to each other. It is a really gripping book and helped to pass the time for sure. Since we had a great experience with the minibus yesterday, we decided to take it to the airport. Big mistake! At 4 bolivianos (0.60 USD), it sure was much cheaper than a taxi. With our big packs, we made our way next to the San Francisco museum where all the minibuses seemed to gather. It was pure chaos. People and cars weaved in and out, hop on and off amongst traffic. We flagged one down. But we were signaled to get on a bit further up the street. We ran up to the minibus in a panic. The handler I called him, is the guy who gets the customers and collects the money. The handler grabbed our bags and hurled them on top of the minibus without strapping them down at all. We were very concerned that the bags would fall off, but he assured us it was no problem. We were shoved into the bus just as the police came over to tell the bus to move it along. We settled into our seats and I noticed I was missing a bag, a bag contained 7 chullo hats we bought a few hours ago as gifts for friends. I hate losing things even if it was 105 bolivianos (15 USD) worth of hats. I instantly regretted the decision to take minibus. There are just certain experiences I don't need to experience no matter how interesting or cheap it is. The ride itself was smooth and it only stopped two or three times. We were at the airport in 30 minutes with our luggage intact.We had to pay 25 USD airport tariff (for international flight) each. I enjoyed my time in Peru and Bolivia. But I am looking forward to some warm weather and ocean breeze. Tomorrow we will be in paradise and I am excited! *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/waiting-for-galapagos-day-17.html

Galapagos (Day 1)

Sep 13, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Our flight out of La Paz arrived in Quito just after midnight. Immigration was a breeze and we were done in less than 10 minutes. We took a cab to a hotel near the airport for a nap before our flight to Galapagos at 7:50AM. My first impression of Quito was quite different than what I had originally imagined. The streets were clean and kept up. The buildings were not tall and massive, but definitely not rundown. The people looked different from Peru and Bolivia. They looked more Spaniard. The morning came too soon. We were at the airport again at 6:15AM and excepted to be met up with an agent from our tour company for our 5 day tour. Instead it was an utter chaos. We found no one and had no instructions. We were put into a line up with no marked signs by an AeroGal staff after he examined our reservation documents. But we were still puzzled and wondered if we were missing something. Someone who stood behind us overheard us talking. She informed us that we had to get our luggage scanned using the outside entrance. So we ran outside and re-entered the airport. We were back at the same check in line, still unsure whether it was the right line. But now we were also stuck behind a big senior tour group from Australia. We waited patiently while chatting up the people behind us. They were on the same 7:50 flight and thought was odd that was no flight of that time listed on the monitors. The mystery grew as the people behind us got pulled up to check in. Now there was no one behind us. Have we been scammed? Finally, the woman who was busy checking in the senior tour group before looked up us and asked if we were so and so. It was a relief to hear our names. Then she told us we had to pay the 10 USD each for a transit control card next to the luggage scan area. I rushed to do that quickly while our luggages were being checked. The agent then went on giving us a 20 second run down of what is going to happen and slapped on a red sticker on us to indicate which boat we belong to. By 7:20AM we were at the gate waiting for our flight. Now we wondered about the flight route. We didn't know what was the deal with Guayaquil and Baltra. When the plane landed in Guayaquil after 35 minutes in the air, we really wasn't sure if we were suppose to get off or not. We were instructed to stay on the plane as it fueled and loaded more people on board. The plane took off again and we were headed to Baltra Island. When we landed, it was so nice to feel the warm breeze. But more paperwork had to be done. It felt like we were entering another country. We had to go through transit control, pay our 100 USD each park fee and have our hand luggage checked again for fruits and vegetation. The nature guides Andres and Alejandro from our boat rounded us up and we took a short bus ride without our checked bags to the dock. The boat was anchored in the middle of the bay; so we had to be zodiac'ed (or pango in Spanish) over to it. The boat was a large wooden boat with a sun deck on top, bridge and cabins on the second deck, dinning hall, bar, hot tub and cabins on the first deck and just cabins on the lower deck. The boat only carried 20 passengers and 10 crew members. Not a bad ratio. We were given housing keep briefing before lunch. There was an one hour difference between galapagos islands and the mainland. But the boat kept mainland time. We had to have two pairs of shoes. One for the boat and one for island excursions. Apparently, we would be stepping in sea lion and iguana poop on the islands and that would not smell too good inside the boat. Lunch was amazing. I haven't eaten so well since the trip started. Then our luggage arrived on the boat. I was relieved. The last thing I needed was stuck in one pair of pants for 5 days without a bathing suit. As soon as the luggages arrived, we were off to our first destination: Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island. The main attraction for this island was the bright yellow and grey coloured land iguanas. But since it was our first, we took pictures of everything. Our guide laugh and told us by the end of this trip we will be so "sick" of iguanas, crabs and birds. We came across a few black colored marine iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs that shed its complete shells every year, and land finch birds. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring the land. When we came back to the boat. The chef had prepared a cheese puff snack dipped in honey for us. At this point I had completely forgotten about the chaotic morning. This was going to be awesome! Then I asked myself "why didn't we book the 8 day option?". We chilled on the sun deck and noticed a flock of Frigatebirds hitching a ride. They were flying so close to the boat that if I stood up I could catch one of them. Dinner was fantastic again. I was certain that I would gain all of the weight I had lost in the last two weeks back in no time. After dinner, we had a briefing of tomorrow's activities. Then we were off to bed at around 8:45PM. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/galapagos-day-1-day-18.html

Galapagos (Day 2)

Sep 14, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Breakfast was at 7:30 and by 8:30 we were ready to hit our first island of the day: Rabida. On the bright red beach was where we saw our first blue footed boobie. There were also many sea lions and marine iguanas sun bathing. Then we got to snorkel for the first time off of red beach. The water was pretty cold. But once you got over the initial shock, the water was pretty nice. We didn't see much. It was pretty boring with only a few tropical fish here and there. We came back to the boat around 11AM and were greeted with cold iced tea and little sausage snacks. I can really get use to this! After lunch we did some napping on the sun deck. Our second island of the day came around 2:30. Santiago island use to be inhabited by humans for the salt business. But the business went dry when it got competitive. The people left. There were a few abandon houses. When we walked around to the coast of the island we found a sea lion mother with her cub that couldn't have been more than a day old. The cub cried and struggled to find her mom's nipples to feed. We all watched in fascination for at least 30 minutes. Little did we know 30 meters away there were a nursery of 5 cubs. Mother sea lions often leave their cubs for a week to hunt for food. So during that time cubs have to stay back on shore and wait for mom to back to feed them. There is usually a male sea lion that is keeping a watchful eye on them and make sure they don't go to sea and get eaten by sharks. We came across more sea lions and even a dead one (the guide thinks he died of old age since it was a quite a large one). Snorkeling again off of black beach on Santiago island. This time we saw a bit more creatures including orange looking koi-like fish and a big sea turtle. We came back to the boat. Yes, more yummy snacks and cold drinks. The crew also turned on the "hot tub". Actually the water was just sea water and was heat up a bit the sun. But we still loved it and I asked myself again: why didn't we do the 8 day option? The day sets as we watch the chef setting our dessert crepe on fire with at least 3 kinds of alcohol and topped off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. The day sets as we watch the chef setting our dessert crepe on fire with at least 3 kinds of alcohol and topped off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/galapagos-day-2-day-19.html

Galapagos (Day 3)

Sep 15, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
The Gravol knocked me out completely last night. I slept through the night like a baby and refreshed in the morning. Today's first point of interest after breakfast was Espinosa point on Fernandina Island. The panga dropped us off where hundreds of marine iguanas were trying to get warm in the early morning sun. They were hard to spot even when they are in a large group. They just blend into the black lava rocks so well. We found an abandoned flightless cormorant egg. Not even 5 feet away, we found out why... The mother or father bird was dead. It was really sad. But that is nature. We did find another nest which the father bird was doing the nursing with the mother bird next to it. The father was very protective and nipped at the iguanas that came too close. We then came across a mother sea lions teaching her cub how to swim. Galapagos hawk that likes to eat baby iguanas. Marine iguanas swimming to another warm rock to hang out. All this animal watching got us really hungry. We came back onto the boat for lunch and I was so excited to see we were having Cerviche. It was wonderfully lemony and the shrimp was very juicy. For dessert, I tried something I have never seem before: tree tomato. It was a little sour and the seeds were a little harder than a regular tomato. It was interesting, but it is not going to be my new favourite fruit. Snorkeling off of Tagus Cove on Isabella Island was the first activity after lunch. The water was very cold compared to yesterday. Especially we had to jump in off the panga. There was no gradual walk into the water. We had hoped to swim with a few penguins. Instead we swam with a sea turtle and saw at least 5. After snorkeling, we took a panga ride along the coast to have a closer look at the penguins, pelicans, boobies and flightless cormorants. Of course, now all the penguins were in the water looking just like a duck. Finally we did find 3 on the rocks. The panga then dropped us off on the island. We passed a sea lion bachelor pad (only male sea lions hang out there) which smelled really bad. We climbed about 100 steps to get to Darwin's Lake. It is a salt lagoon that formed in the island volcano crater. It is more saltier than the ocean, so no life lives in it. When we got back to the boat, we followed a few whales. After dinner, our guides informed us that we will be crossing the equator line from south to north hemisphere at approximately 7:45PM. Although we had already technically crossed it twice already during the overnight sailing, everyone rushed to finish their desserts and grabbed their cameras to take a picture of the GPS when it reads 0'0". We all crowded into the bridge and watched the GPS intently. When it hit, it was like new year. Some people missed the 0'0" photo, so the captain backed up the boat two more times!! Oh, tourists... That was a lot of excitement for one day. We were off to bed again by 9. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/galapagos-day-3-day-20.html

Galapagos (Day 4)

Sep 16, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
I woke up feeling a bit sad this was our last full day in the Galapagos. I asked myself again: why didn't we do the 8 day option? Our day started with a walk to the top of Bartolome Island. The island doesn't have much to offer in terms of wild life or vegetation other than lizards and cactus. It was mainly a geological site which the volcanic lava rocks formed interesting landscapes . The weather was a bit overcast. I brought my rain jacket in case. The peak had wooden steps all the way up. It wasn't too hard since we weren't at 4000m anymore. When we reached the top, the view was the entire island with the pinnacle rock sticking out of the blue sea. It was gorgeous. There was also an underwater crater that can be seemed on top. The sun came out just in time for snorkeling off of Gold Beach next to the underwater crater. The water was warmer and we saw a lot more than previous two days. White tip sharks, eagles ray, swimming sea lions and tons of colourful tropical fish. We came back to the boat, did more lounging around before and after lunch. At 3PM, we hopped in the panga to check out Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz Island. We turned off the panga engine and the guide paddled mostly through the lush mangrove covered cove. The complete silence made me want stay here forever and just stare at nature as it happens. We were lucky to be able to see baby sharks, rays, turtles and fishes very well through the clear and shallow low tide cove water. What a beautifully serene place for nature to flourish. The hour went by very quickly. Before we knew it we were back on the boat again. This was our last night. The chef prepared us a BBQ feast on the sun deck at 6:30PM. The food was amazing. Giant prawns were the main course. Sangria was served as the twenty of us ate, talked in the soft sun set rays and ocean breeze. We even ignored, I meant, missed our guides' call for evening briefing. During the briefing, we got our departure packages that included luggage tags, exit control tickets, ID stickers and etc. Then we went back to our cabin to pack. I went to bed early since I started feeling a little sea sick. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/galapagos-day-4-day-21.html

Galapagos (Day 5)

Sep 17, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
Our last day in the Galapagos. A few of us thought about where we can hide on the boat, so we can stay. Breakfast was early this morning. We were off to the giant tortoise conservation park at 7:15AM. Our luggages were taken off the boat during breakfast and checked through to Baltra airport without us. A bus drove through the town of Santa Cruz and we arrived at the park before 8. The giant tortoises are the symbol of the Galapagos. When the conservation effort started, there were only 15,000 tortoises left and 11 species (3 had already gone extinct). A lot of them were eaten by humans. Now all tortoise eggs are moved from the islands where they were born to the conservation park incubators to ensure they will not be eaten by rats, cats and other invasive species. The babies are then put back to the islands when they are 4 years or older, so when their shells harden and can fight fir their own survival. There are more than 35,000 tortoises. We first came across the male and female adult dens. They were kept separate since there are several different species of them and the researchers don't want them to inter mate in order to preserve the species. The third den lived the famous "Diego" a male tortoise that, for awhile, was helping to preserve his species single handedly. Then there was "Lonesome George". He is the last of his kind. International efforts have been made to find him a mate with no luck yet. The last stop in the park was the baby tortoise nursery and incubators. They were all microchipped and their survival rate is 80% when released. Around 9AM, we finished our park tour. I think everyone was a bit sad that it was all over. A bus drove for about 50 minutes to a port. We got on a large wooden ferry boat for a very slow 10 minute ride. Then we were on a bus again and this time was a 10 minute ride to the airport. At the airport we were issued our boarding pass and luggage stickers. We said good bye to our shipmates of 5 days. The flight was delayed for more than an hour coming from Quito. We got into Quito around 4PM. We were picked up a good friend's family. They were very sweet and generous. The family first took us shopping for souvenirs which we manage to replace the chullo hats we lost in La Paz. Then they took us to Old Town. I was glad we were able to see it on a quiet Sunday night. The colonial area were light up, but it was so quint. It really didn't feel like we were in South America. In the far distance hill top was the virgin lite up in purple. The family took us to a restaurant that had a roof top patio. Even though the patio was a bit chilly to sit and dine, we stayed a little while to take in the city view. We dined inside and I enjoyed another shrimp cerviche. I must learn how to make this stuff. By 9PM, the family took us back to their house. The father is an architect and it was no surprise their house was amazing. The daughters rooms was done in a loft style with an open second level. There was a wall that was smooth to the touch, but had the most interesting pattern. The roof of the house was all asymmetrically pieced with several sky windows and lined with dark wood panels. Since the house was located half way up an alley. It was so quiet and we slept like babies. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/galapagos-day-5-day-22_19.html

Last Day of the Trip, Last Day in South America

Sep 18, 2011
Photo by Faye Xuan
We took our time getting up this morning since it was our very last day in South America. But these days dragging our feet meant we were ready and packed by 8:30. Mom of the family had already set out an elaborate breakfast of fresh fruit, bread, home made cheese, natural yogurt and cereal. We ate until we could nearly move. Dad had planned for us to visit the equator in the morning. The drive took about an hour in and out of the many valleys Quito had. Like most countries I have been to outside of north America, people drove wherever there was road space. Lane lines and sometimes traffic lights were just suggestions. We arrived at the equator. We thought it was just going to a monument. But it was a whole themed park, very loose theme though. There was a planetarium, insectarium, countless souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. The entrance was 2 USD each. Ecuador started using US currency only a few years ago. Maybe because it was a Monday but the park was very quite, no more than 15 or 20 visitors including us. We took our standard tourist pictures of straddling the equator line. We also went up the monument to get a top view of the surrounding. This was 3 USD extra each. Inside the monument was a museum about Ecuador and its different indigents people. I was surprised to find out there were African slaves who ended up settling on the coast. The varies tribal people all looked different from each other. That was interesting to me considering Ecuador is not a very big country. Before leaving the park, we grabbed an ice cream made out of a fruit called Guayana. It tasted like a slightly sour coconut. It was really good especially it was a warm sunny morning. We had lunch at the house. We hung around the house and played with the dogs until it was time to leave for the airport. The reality had really set in that we were leaving. It had been a fantastic trip as per usual. I can't wait to plan my next adventure. *******link to original post******* http://rubyroads.blogspot.com/2011/09/last-day-of-trip-last-day-in-south.html

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