TravelStream™ news feed for member magdatabac on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/magdatabac en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:59:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202824500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202824500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202824500/tpod.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:59:11 -0400 Colombia

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Medellin, Colombia

Again, some very intensive 3 days... I keep on saying that I should just stay in a place some 4-5 days and rest... stup running around... but hey... Medellin is especially one of the places where I did not rest a bit... too many nice things to see in this world and too little time...I entered in contact with Carlos some time before, to let him know about my trip and he had invited me over for the time I was to spend in town. Since I met him in Brazil he was always a very nice person and a good friend, and it was great to see him again... and thanx for all the support, all the nice time spent together again, remembering the good times in Brazil, with our dear "Friends of the UN"...I arrived around 8 in the morning at his place, and he waited for me (and consequently got late to a meeting at work... uppsss!!!). In his nice appartment I got my own nice room :o)  and I had to restrain my desire to crash on the bed and sleep for some good hours (sleeping in buses doesn't really help you to rest). I took a shower and got out in town.Like in a marathon (but still taking time to enjoy each of the "targets"), I visited El Museo de Antioquia (formed mainly by the paintings and sculptures of Fernando Baretto, the richest artist alive, and the one known for paining or sculpting "fat people", that, I found out from our guide, are not actually fat... they have "volume" :o)  ). After a nice lunch with Carlos and one work colleague of his, in a restaurant called Barcelona, in Parque Lleras - something very similar with Vila Madalena in Sao paulo - a neighbourhood of restaurants, bars, etc - very nice) I bed them goodbye and had my first Juan Valdez coffee (in Cali I had had Shake, and not coffee)... I chose "Volcano" variety, a strong one... as my tired bones really needed it!! :o)With new forces, I started now my visit to Plaza de los Pies Descalzos (Barefoot plaza - where I actually took my shoes off and played in the sand, jumped on the wooden stairs and bath my feet in the little pools... nice one!!!). Afterwards I visited (but just a little bit, as the official tours had already finished) the "Edificio inteligente" ("The intelligent building", the quarters of the SME representation agency, that uses various sensor systems, which thus gives the building its name). Near the Intelligent Building I went to visit the Interractive Museum (but did not have the time for the entire tour). It was a nice one, even tough targeting persons 10 younger than myself :o). I tought it was interesting for making the kids realise how energy consumption can be reduced, and therefore also its negative effects on our planet...I also had the "MetroCable" trip (some kind of teleferic system that continues the metro lines to the "favelas" of Medellin - the cost of the trip is the same as for the metro, and you don't have to pay additional fee for continuing your metro trip with the metro cable. The same project that gave a better transportation means to that favela region also built a local library for the people living there...I have been told that there are other 6 metro cable tracks to be built in other regions of Medellin... In the night, me, Carlos and Sandra (his girlfriend) went and visited the  "Pueblito Paisa", a miniature traditional village of Paisa people, the ones that live in the region of Medellin and then took dinner in a place Carlos knew that they had a meat very close to the Brazilian "picanha", that we both missed so much :o). Ant that was the 1st day I spend in Medellin...In the second day, after consulting Carlos and my Lonely Planet guidebook, I decided to go visit "El Penol", a stone shaped +/- like the "Sugar loaf" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (but significantly smaller). I chose to walk the 10 km (yes... 10 km... 10000 m :o) ) from the little town called El Penol until the big rock... I had the whole day for this visit and it was only 10 or 11 a.m....After 3 hours, 600 ml water, 600 ml Coca Cola and some beautiful landscapes, I got at the base of the stone. Bought myself a Gatorade to get the strenght to climb the + 600 stairs that took me to the top of El Penol... and... Thank God, it worth every kcal I have spent on the way there!!!!  :o)The view was GREAT!!! Incredible!!! it was an image like taken from "Lord of the Rings" and the only thing missing were some flying dragons :o). All you could see were rivers and green islands... when the sun was almost stting, I must have taken some of the nicest pictures ever!!!In the night, me, Carlos, Sandra and various friends of hers, have been to a place / disco called "B Lounge" where a Carnival karaoke party was taking place. Tha party was good, with the exception of the entry in the place, where only because a friend of Carlos worked with a high level public figure - which intervened for us - we could enter... if not, only club members could enter... it was kind of degrading to wait there in front of the club and not to be allow to enter... didn't like the experience that much... but once inside... it was ok...On my third day I visited "Santa Fe de Antioquia", a small cute colonial village, close to Medellin (+/- 2h away), where I tried for the first time a fruit called granadilla... the fruit looks pretty weird... not very appetizing, but the taste was great :o)... Guess what?? in these countries with so many things to try for the first time, I cannot stop but loving the Romanian tradition we have that one can make 3 wishes when eating something for the first time :o) hahaha... a lot of wishes to be fulfilled :o)After these 3 nice days I had to say goodbye to Carlos and to Medellin.There had been some very nice moments (Gracias Carlos por todo!! Lo pase muy bien!!!) and I started to like a lot Medellin: a geen city, clean, very well organized and with an excellent transportation system (especially the metro). I totally recommend a visit to this town and its surroundings. Now... here we go to... Cartagena!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202311260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202311260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202311260/tpod.html Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:48:25 -0400 Ecuador

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Quito, Ecuador

After a trip full of adventures (in which the bus broke and at 6 am we had to step out on the highway and wave to other buses getting to Quito) I finally arrived in the Ecuadorian capital. After about an hour and a lunch of noth that desired company of a Bolivian (arrived in Quito with business, but that still had some free time, that, unfortunately for me he tought to be a good idea to share it with me), I finally got to discart him and mind my business the way I like it... I know that I said that I don't like to be alone... but as they say here in Latin America - better alone than in a bad company... I chose this time a nice hotel, even if I had to pay USD 20/night  (when the normal I prefer to pay is around USD 10/night)... but the room had a big nice bad, TV and own bath, everything nice and clean, and the building had a nice internal court, with a fountain: hotel San Francisco, situated at Calle Guayaquil and Sucre, in the beautiful old town. I tought I would spend alone my 2 1/2 days in Quito, but happily it was not like this. After walking on the streets in the old town for a while, I got to Basilica, a breathtaking church, with huge towers, giving you an incredible view of the city.... and also could be called an incredibly dangerous and crazy view...While in the Basilica, I met 2 young New York-ers, and from joke to joke and photo to photo we got to know each other better, and became "friends for the day" :o). Jesse and Nick were photographers, and the first one - having lived in Quito for about 3 months - was showing Nick (who had just arrived in town that very day) the town and its beauties. Jesse was also the one taking us up-up-up to the top of one of the 2 large towers of the basilica. That was tough!!! The hair-rising view from the tip, and the high level of unsafetiness one could feel while up there (and even more: outside the tower, on the small triangular platforms to be foud at each corder of the tower) made my adrenaline level explode... I know I have done skydiving in the past, but hell!! that was scary!!!As the 2 of them were heading to Montanita that very night, we first got some humitas (made of minced corn) and some coffee, then got to their place for them to pack their stuff and then headed to a bar where they met some of Jesse's Ecuadorian friends. From there, Jesse and Nick had to leave for the bus terminal, but I continued with the Ecuadorian group to a nice disco (called Bungalo) and danced Salsa and Reggaeton for a couple of hours :o). Than, as a nice girl that I am (from time to time), I headed home in a taxi and took advantage of the great bed I had in my hotel room... mmm...that was indeed a good night sleep...Second day I headed to Otavalo, a nice place where they have a handicraft market from which I bought some presents for myself ( :o) ) and my family. I also tried there an "Empanada" of pineapple... one of the best empanadas I ever tried :o). In the evening, once back in Quito, I joined a group of 4 Americans (2 boys and 2 girls) and 1 French guy to "Bodeguita de Cuba", a place they were saying to be very good on Thursdays, as it has a life band and very good atmosphere. And so it was indeed, especially as immediately as we got there, a nice Colombian cuy asked me to dance salsa with him, and we danced almost every music for the next 2 hours, that I had to take some time off now and then, to catch my breath... and that is, knowing that I have a lot of energy, especially when it comes to dancing salsa :o)... I don't know where from he had his energy :o)... It was indeed a really nice evening & night to spend in Quito together with a nice group of people :). On my 3rd and last day in Quito, I woke up early, in order to do a lot of things before leaving the town in the afternoon. I started with "La mitad del Mundo", the official monument of the ECUADOR LINE, called The Middle of the Earth, visited the Solar Culture Museum (that gives quite a few new perspecitves on the know-how of the indian civilisation regarding the sun and its movement, as well as the earth' movements)... Afterwards I went and took a ride with the TeleferiQo (and thus got to see a really nice view of the town) and visited the Museum of Guayasamin and Capilla del Hombre - 2 locations dedicated to a very important contemporary Ecuadorian artist (Guayasamin, of course :o) ). At 4:30 pm I got my bus to Tulcan, the border town to Colombia. As I asked the guy selling me the ticket, the bus was supposed to get to Tulcan at 10 pm, when - he was saying, - I should still be able to pass the border and take a bus to Cali, Colombia, where, at 12 am the next day, a new friend and his Brasilian feijoada and party were waiting for me also to take part... gggggg... wrong!! Well... we all know that life is not perfect, but none of us wants to see that things can get really really screwed up from time to time :(...This was the case here, now: as we arrived in Tulcan at 22:30 (1h later than we were supposed to), and while I was taking a taxi to the border, the bus driver just "remembered" that there are no buses to Cali at this hour, as they stop to function at 7 pm... Asshole!!!!I took the taxi to the border, thinking that in Ipiales (the town on the Colombian side of the border) I will find a hotel to stay over the night so that I could live the earliest possible in the morning... regular busses were said to take 8 h from Ipiales to Cali...Well... just to make things worse, once I got to the border I found out that the migratory office on the Ecuadorian side had closed down half an hour before... so I was stuck near the border, with no chance of getting to colombia at that time (only at 6 am when the office was to open) and fearing that if I'll take back a Cab to Tulcan and stay in a hotel there, I will wake up late the second day and be even later in Cali...Sooo... I spent the night sleeping on the floor, in an area that had a roof to cover the floor, in front of the migratory offices building...Well, sleeping is just a manner of speaking, because I might have slept only an hour or two the entire night... because of being preocupied for my stuff, for the cold (not thaaat cold, but anyway...), because of the nervs I had... etc...And this is how, because some assholes want to sell you an USD 4,5 ticket, some people (me, in this case) get to be stucked between a country and another one, and spend the night on the floor...I know that in time I'll remember these moments with a smile on my face... but for now is still to soon to do this :o).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202604780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202604780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/5/1202604780/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:44:34 -0500 Colombia

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Cali, Colombia

Now these were some very nice days and a good chance to make new friends, eat "feijoada" (traditional Brazilian dish) and speak a lot of Brazilian Portuguese. Lara, a good Brazilian friend (that I met in Portugal in 2002), put me in contact with her cousin, Tavinho, who was living for about 6 months already in Cali. Exactly on the 9th he was giving a party in his apartment and on the terrace (with a swimming pool) of his block of flats, with "feijoada" and caipirinha. The event started at 12 am, but because of the "speed" of the bus I took (that was stopping all the way in order to take new passengers - a very common thing both in Ecuador and Colombia), I only got to Cali at 6 pm :o((. To my happy surprise, at that hour, most of Tavinho's friends (various Brazilians included) were still there havin fun. After a refreshing shower I joined the group and attacked the "feijoada", while receiving a great (and very strong), 100% Brazilian Caipirinha... mmm.... that was greaat!!!Even tough I was tired - and Tavinho and his other friends also, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was Saturday, and thus, to go out a little. This is how we got (me, tTavinho and Alejandro, another Colombian friend of his) to KUKARAMARKA, a nice disco with live band (great music), and we stayed until the band finished its show and the DJ started to put a little bit too much reggaeton for our taste...Once out of there, we went to a nice bare called Orange, where I got the best vanilla milk-shake since I can remember.... :o)Tired but happy, we got to the appartment. With Tavinho we had planned to wake up early in the morning in order to visit the Park of Coffee (Parque del Cafe, in "Eje Cafetero", an area of coffee plantations), a place he also wanted to visit (but I am sure, he was thinking that in the night before he would have had more hours of sleep :P). We visited the park, and after a nice and tiring day, we got back to Cali to rest a little. On the third and last day, I took care of sending part of my luggage (about 10 kg) to Romania, taking advantage of an agreement Tavinho's company had with DHL... In this way, my 23 kg backpack got to a reasonable weight of +/-  13 kgs... but not for too long... because the almost 3 kgs of Coffee (from Juan Valez, the most famous Colombian Coffee shops) I had bought to send to my family could not be sent by DHL, as they don't accept food in the boxes :o(...Still, my big backpack is about 7-8 kg ligher... an important difference.. to my shoulders, but also to my pocket... wo remained also a lot lighter.. nevertheless, it was a good investment to be done, knowing that I have to carry everything on my back... and that I need this one for some (hopefully quite many...) years to come... I also bought in Cali a new Mobile phone (Nokia 2610), as they came together with the pre.pay cart at only USd 50... half the price you would get in Romania...and given the fact that my own mobile had "died" on me about 2 weeks before (while in Mancora)... I considered it to be a good investment...Well now... time to move again :o(... This time in direction of Medellin, and of a dear Colombian friend met in Brazil: Carlos.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202253480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202253480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202253480/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:16:01 -0500 Ecuador

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Guayaquil, Ecuador

From Montanita, in order to get to Quito (my next destination), we were supposed to get back to Guayaquil, a terrestrial hub of transportation in Southern Ecuador. Even if tired and suffering because of the heat, I can say we had a great fun during the 3-4 h trip. First, we had to specialize our "defence" tactiques :o), as from time to time, water ballons were flying throuth the opened windows of our bus ... reminescences of the Carnival...In the same time, in the bus that must have registered an average age of about 18 years old, it was playing for more than an hour the Aventura album, and all the youngsters in the bus were singing... the youngsters... and ME :o) hehehe...I could actually hear some of my favourite songs of Aventura, and especially the featured they have with Thalia ("No, no, no")... I can still remember the chorus of young Ecuadorian voices (and a young Romanian voice between them) singing in a good humour "nooooooo no te alejes de mi// no no no, mi corazoncito no palpita sin ti// demasiado sin sabores,// voy en busca de amores lejos de tiiii// noooooo necesito un nuevo amor y compacion//no,no,no / que me cure la herida y el dolor// renuncio atu abandono, en este mundoque solo sin tu amor...//ay ay ay aay{aventura}apunta pero no dispares // no,no,no me desampares// lloro por que soy el culpable//{thalia}la misma cancion y el verso, siempre me dices esopero ya el daño esta hecho... " hey... call me crazy, cheezy... whatever... I enjoyed those moments :)))... It might have had something to do also with the drink the teenagers had with them and that I also tried :))) ... a combination of  "aguardiente" and coca leaves that they shared around. Must have had about 40-45 volumes of Alcohool... after one zip of it I wanted no more :o) too strong for me...In Guayaquil they have there one of the most modern bus terminals in the country. I remember tough that when we first arrived there, on the way to Montanita, it was overly crowded - despite its large capacity, and people were stepping on eachothers feet... and nerves!! in order to get where they wanted... chaotic!! totally oposed to the calm terminal we arrived in this time... I guess it was again the Carnival to be blamed for...Once we got there, I´ve got some McDo (I was missing it a lot, even if they didn´t have the milkshake, my favorite thing on their menu...) and we rested for a while and then we got out to see the town. My bus to Quito and their busses back to Peru and then Chile were only around 11 pm, so we had enough time.As far as I understood, Guayaquil has only a few touristic attractions 8which we got to see in less than 5 hours): El Malecon 2000 and the Old Town - beautiful area you get to see after "only" 444 stairs...After this, we went back to the terminal and split up... different destinations... other friends to say goodbye to ... :o(
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202059020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202059020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/4/1202059020/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:02:08 -0500 Ecuador

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Montañitas, Ecuador

Continuing the trip together with Maria Paz and Daniel, we got to Montanita, in Ecuador. We had some trouble in finding a place to stay, because it was Carnival...Different from the Brazilian Carnival, the only things happening here were the water-guns directed to you (that in a way were ok, cooling you a little) and the foam sprays of various colours, that people were using to make the others a little bit more... colourfull :o). Ecuador is using, since about 10 years ago, the dolar as its national currency. Speaking with locals, they were saying that this got things very expensive, and that many had left the country after its dolarification (?), in search for a better place, better payed jobs, etc. Besides the nice seacoast and water, and the craftwork :o), I enjoyed a lot the natural juices with milk (batidas) one could have at every street corner, just for USD 1  ... mmm.... great!!It was also there that I did a "trenza", one of those colored hair tresses, just to feel a little bit more hippie :o) and got my skin about 2 tones darker... in the most natural way... letting the sun do the work, while I was reading on the beach :o))) 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201889160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201889160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201889160/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:49:11 -0500 Peru

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Máncora, Peru

I arrived in Mancora after a long bus trip from Lima. I had a good company on the way: a doctor working in Lima and going home to rest (in a town about 2 h away from Mancora).A good thing about travelling alone is that you are more open to meet new people and make friends. The bad thing is that then you separate, as each of them follows their own path, and then you are again alone, on your own... :o(. I very much would prefere to have a friend travelling with me... it´s getting tiring to be alone...Well... getting back to my arrival in Mancora: when getting down from the bus, a couple of young Chilean got down with me and we started to speak and decided to search for a hostel together...After about a half an hour of search (me- with my 23 kg backpack in my back :( ) we found a place, cheap and relatively nice (at night the heat was almost unbearable :o( ).We only stayed a day and a half in Mancora... the beach was crowded and not that nice... at least not when for 2 years you´ve been accostumed with the beaches in Brasil... Also, the road we were taking to the hous it was dark during the night and smelled very bad... that you didn´t even wanted to think what the mud was smelling like... One good thing about Mancora were the parties they were having in the night on the street, and the ceviche (raw fish "cooked" only in lemon juice... mmmm... great). I remember my friend Adrian had stommack problems after eating ceviche in one of the best places in Arequipa (arequipa is famous for its very good quality ceviche...)--- I guess it´s a matter of luck :)))Together with the 2 Chilean (Maria Paz and Daniel) we left for Montanita in the second night... (Montanita is a beach in the SW of Ecuador... )A new country was waiting to be discovered :o)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201732380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201732380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201732380/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:35:53 -0500 Peru

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Lima, Peru

The stop in Lima was a nice, short and quite intensive one. I got in contact with Julio, Peruvian friend living in Lima and that I had met in Sao Paulo, and stayed at his place. A very nice neighbourhood and a beautiful and large house, with various spatious rooms. They are considering renting the empty ones to AIESEC trainees, which I think is a very good idea :o). I was lucky enough to have Julio working on a flexible schedule project with the University (on introducing sustainable practices in Lima and Peru: really interesting one!!!) so he could join me on my quest of getting to know Lima, with the help of a local. Even better it was when his mom (a lawyer, also able to make +/- her own schedule) decided to join us in town and took us by car!! Uhuu!!!Like this, even if I only had 1 1/2 days in Lima, it was enough to get to have a good idea of the town, as we could move fast from one place to another. They showed me around the Central Marketplace - Plaza de Armas, where Palacio de Gubierno, Palacio Municipal, and the Cathedral can be found (incredibly beautiful colonial style buildings), where we also assisted the change of guard (in front of Palacio del Gubierno). This was really a nice show: the military band was playing various songs from different regions of Peru, and several persons from the crowd assisting the event -about 10 of them - started to dance (and some were dancing really really well :o) ). A lady invited Julio to dance and a gentleman did the same with me, so I practiced a bit of my dancing skills in the center of Lima :o). Not bad for a touristic experience :))). Other places we visited were:- Estacion de Tren Desemparados- Iglesia de S. Francisco- Parque de la Muralla- Cerro S. Cristobal- Palacio de Justicia- Casona San Marcos- Miraflores- Barranco (Restaurante Rustica - mmm... bufet... all you can eat... :o) // Puente de los Suspiros). - we also made el "circuito de las playas". It was a very nice walk in this town and also a very nice opportunity to see again a friend from our dear group in Sao Paulo!!!Thank you Julio+Mom for everything!! It was great!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201692480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201692480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201692480/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:18:36 -0500 Peru

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Nazca, Peru

A stop of just 3 h 30 min... but worth doing...3h30 that made me spend the USD 50 I have budgeted for an entire day... but... another thing of the ones you have to do once in your lifetime has been added to my memories :o)I left Arequipa with the 21h45 bus of Flores, a company recommended by locals for its good quality and moderate prices... well... my ticket was 70 soles, comparted with other companies that were asking 90, 100, 130 soles... so I guess it was ok.I was so tired from the other night in Chivay (part of the Colca Canyon 2 days tour), when I had only about 2 hours of sleep, that immediately as I entered on the bus (upper side, front seats, nice view... that I did not see ;p) I totally fell asleep. The only thing that I remember was the introduction that the "service boy" of the bus was making... and that they were starting to play the movie "Just like heaven"... that I like a lot... but... sleeping had just became my 1st priority at that hour...And... I slept and slept... I had one of those things that you put on your eyes to protect you from the light... that worked just fine for mee... worked so fine that I was still sleeping when the bus got to Nazca, still sleeping when the sellers of coffee, mate and sweets entered the buss to sell their products... I was actually getting pissed off with the sound they were making, because they woke me up... and Thank God they Woke me up!!! Because only with their help I actually woke up 5 minutes after, looked at the watch (it was 6:26 am and the bus wase supposed to get to Nazca around 5:30-6:00 am) so I jumped fast, confirmed with the "service boy" that the stop I had just passed was Nazca (Shit!!!( and got off the bus...Both the driver and the service boy got down with me and hunted for a taxi for me :o).I was worried, because the  people from the company organizing the flight over the Nazca lines were supposed to wait for me at the bus station... but... as I found out later... they are 100% latin, and thus "relaxed" about this kind of responsibilities... so they were not there actually...Well... after waiting about 5 minutes at the Flores bus terminal I took another taxi to the airport and got to the company...There, they put a video about the Nazca civilisation (that it seems that it was almost entirely formed of preasts, that were believing in Gods in form of fishes, birds, etc.). The second part of themovie was about the Nazca lines, the enigma they still represent for us today...the were made in perfect shapes of humming-bird (colibri), dog, tree, condor, astronaut, etc... shapes that could only be seen in their totality from above, by a civilization that supposedly could not fly... interesting, isn´t it??? :o)One of the theories says that it was another type of "ofrendas" to the gods... other say that people were walking on the lines of these drawings in certain occasions (local celebrations), thus giving life to the drawings with the movement of their bodies...Well, the flight was nice, full of adrenaline (it is a very small plane, where we entered 6 people - the pilot and 5 tourists). I made friends with a nice Peruvian gy living now in the States (Jorge) and two Colombians - Monica and her father, from Medellin. (Hola a todos!! Mucho gusto en conecerlos y compartir con ustedes esta experiencia!!!). The small plane, its trembling flight, and all the pressure it was puting on our stommacs when turning vertically to the right and left so that everybody could take pictures, made Monica and her fater throw up :o(...they had eaten a little bit for breakfast... guess it was not a good idea...Well... we got safe and sound back to the ground... took a nice "survivors" picture with the little plane, gave the tip to the pilot (Hey... in front of every chair it was written in 5 languages "Tips are permited"... so... I just followed the "tradition")... and that was it.. oh... just for my friends that already know how much of a "consumista" and "earings maniac" I am... I did bought earings and t-shirts with the Images of Nazca... heheh And now... on to Limaaaaaaa!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201527000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201527000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201527000/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:58:35 -0500 Peru

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Colca Canyon, Peru

It was a 2 day trip, taking us to various inca ruins, a thermal water place (that my tired bones - after the Inca trail and everything else they have been through - have found it more than necessary), a traditional restaurant with local dances in the night and then, in the second day in the morning, the visit to the canyon and the cross of the condor (where, if lucky, one could get to see some flying condors...).While waiting for the agency bus in Plaza de Armas (the bus was late), I got to know Nahuel, an Argentinean waiting for the same bus... During the trip we kind of stuck together, which was good and made the whole tour nicer :). He had a nice professional camera and took various excellent pictures... I can´t wait for them to arrive in my email :))).We also made friends with some of the other tourists on board: Larissa from Brazil, Claudio (Argentina), a couple (him - Spaniard, her - Colombian), a family from Chile, an elder American - Jack - speaking very good Spanish, etc... So we were in very good company. Like this, we got on the second day of the trip, (dead tired from only having around 2 hours of sleep in the night) to the Colca Canyon, that has around 1200 m hight, and thus making us walk above the clouds, which could be seen as a white and fluffy river, flowing between the mountains, that were appearing to us as hills. We were not so lucky when it came to condor watching... we did not see any on the way to the Condor´s Cross, and none at the cross either... On our way back we saw first the big shade of one condor floating abouve our van... by the time I got down from the car, the condor was almost dissapearing from our sight, on the other side of the mountain peaks... :(((Arrived back to Arequipa around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, went back to the house, took a shower, checked email, facebook, orkut :o), arranged my backpack and... Next to Nazca, LIma, Mancora and... Ecuadooor!!! :o).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201324200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201324200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/magdatabac/3/1201324200/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:48:43 -0500 Peru

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Arequipa, Peru

As I arrived after midnight in Arequipa, I took a taxi and, even if I had choosen already a hostel from the Lonely Planet Guide, I took the recommendation of the taxi driver (a former professor) ans stayed at a nice hostel (Hostel Colonia), where, for 35 soles ( USD12) I got a double room with bathroom and TV... Yeeeyyyy!!! After the other night spent in the Bus from Cusco to Puno (the floating islands tour),and the other 6 hours in the bus... the shower, the beds ( I could choos in which one to sleep :o)  ) and a little TV worked miracles. Nevertheless... I woke up various times in the morning: 5h20, 5h45, 6h25, 7h40 and finally, 8h20, when I finally got out of bed for a long shower and a "session" of taking care of my "wounds" from the Inca Trail.Then checked internet near the hostel and got the great news from my Arequipenian friends in Sao Paulo that I could stay at one of them's place (Edgardo, Pablo S.: muchas gracias por la ayuda!!!!).So I had a hous to stay in Arequipa... with a great company (Pablo - Edgardo's brother, which I had already met in Sampa, Ruth - Edgardo's mom, Alexandra - the maid, and her son - El Gordito :o) - all are incredible persons, to which I would like to thank for their hospitality!!!)They were very nice to me, taking good care of me :o) (I think I put back in Arequipa all the kgs I had lost during the Inca Trail ;o) ). It was Saturday, and Pablo and his mom were still working at their travel agency, so I left my backpacks at the agency and went for a walk around the "Plaza de Armas" - really beautiful!! - and the Church and Museum San Francisco. At noon, we went home, ate in the hose (mmm... soup, salchipapas - heheh... a combination of sausage with omelet and fries - very good!!!). After shower, some movies on TV (I finally got to see "Anna and the king") and some Internet, we went for dinner: me, Pablo, Yahayra (his girlfriend) and 2 other friends of them: Tata (Renata - si!! Pablo S. - encontre a tu prima!!! ;o)  - and her boyfriend... we went to a Polleria, wehre they fry chichen in the "rotisserie" style, not using gas owens, but carbon based ones... reallllyyyyy good!!!! One portion was about 5 soles, (USD 1,7) and was consisting of a quarter of chicken (I took the leg :o)  ), fries and salad!! Good deal, I would say :pAfterwards we went to Yahayra's place, wehre 3 other friends of them came (Antonio + girlfriend and Ahab). We started to play a game of cards where, at every card we were playing, somebody had to drink... heheh... I'll have to remember this one :o)  Then, as all the girls were in the mood for dancing (and especially me!!), we convinced the guys to go to a disco (Deja Vu), in Calle San Francisco - where many of the best discos are to be found), where we stayed until about 3:30 am.. uhuuu!!! It had a lot of Latino music (which... I happen to LOVE!!!) and also some commmercial music (which... I can actually get to miss from time to time...) so I must say it was a great night!!! Thank you all!!Sunday morning (I woke up around 8:30), Pablo and his mom were already out to buy the things for the bi8g family lunch that was supposed to take place that day, and also for the ADOBO, a kind of Brunch Pablo was telling me to be a tradition on Sundays...The adobo was (again) very good, and with a full belly and a light heart I went to the center to buy the ticket for my trip to the Colca Canyon. Again, "consumista" as I am, I had to spend a lot of money also on some broided stuff... could not resist... they were way to beautiful!!! Mea culpa!!! The bad thing is that everything I buy, I have to carry... and my backpacks are already heavier than they should be allowed to be!!! :o). I came back to the house and joined the merry crownd of people (Ruthe, Edgardo and Pablo's mother has other 3 sisters and 1 brother, and they were there with their children and nephews). Again - good traditional food, and a desert (cheescake with strawberries) that was so good it almost took my breath away... and I am not a person that usually likes cheeskake... but this one... mmm... I got the recipe :o).
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