Peru
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2008
1
16
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Chiclayo,
Peru
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I´m in Chiclayo, Peru right now. I came here after deciding to pay a fee to change my plane ticket in Quito- a fee that allows me to fly out of Lima instead of having to trek back to Ecuador. I´m happy with the way everything worked out. I was feeling lazy about moving on from Mexico, and then lazy about leaving Ecuador, but I´m glad I sucked it up and got to see Peru. Many hours on a bus to get here, but at least I don't have to back track.
Had a bit of a hard time with Quito, to be honest. I feel the need to apologize before saying this, but no point in sugar-coating it- I didn't like the place. Gloomy, bizarre weather (four seasons in day, they say), and the city felt incredibly dangerous to me. I was happy to see Lucy and spend time with her, but beyond that, it felt very good to get out of Quito.
A 19 hour bus ride (and not a very nice one) later, I arrived in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, an area world-famous for the longevity of its inhabitants. After many weeks in big cities, Vilcabamba was exactly what I needed. It was incredibly beautiful and reminded me of pictures I´ve seen of Switzerland. I stayed in a very nice hostel (Vilcabamba is also famous for "luxury" backpacking establishments), where they offered massages, a restaurant with yummy food, hiking, and other activities... all very cheap. There were also great people staying there- met a woman from Tempe, and some incredible British women. I went horseback riding, swimming, got a reiki treatment, and did a lot of relaxing and recovery. They were all memorable experiences. Horseback riding stands out though, both because I still have huge bruises from it, and because I rarely feel so alive and at home as I do when I´m on a horse. Man, did we run! My partner in crime was a beautiful, well-trained, well-tempered, strawberry roan, who I wanted to stuff in my backpack and bring home... but alas, no.
Had a night bus out of Loja, Ecuador and across the border, into Peru. I didn't get much sleep, but it wasn't too bad. (I know I´ve been spending too much time on buses when an 8 hour trip is considered "too short".) When I arrived in Piura, Peru though, I guess I was anxious to get off the bus and I accidentally banged my knee hard on the door frame. It hit me in just the right spot and hurt just bad enough (which was pretty darn bad) that I immediately passed out. Not very fun, but a great way to meet people. Woke up to a a crowd of men surrounding me, rubbing my hands. A few fellow backpackers wandered over and told me that they too were headed to Chiclayo. I thought it might be a good idea to stick with them and ended up having some great conversations. They were Croatian, but a couple of them had worked in Jackson, WY and gave me some pointers. Saying it´s a "small world" doesn't even begin to describe it... things are meant to happen a certain way, and paths are destined to cross.
I've spent the past few days with my friend from Tucson, Elizabeth. She´s a Peace Corps volunteer about an hour outside of Chiclayo, in a town right on the ocean, Puerto Eten. It was a special experience staying with her... seeing her life as a volunteer helped me to remember mine. There's good and bad about it all, for sure, but it´s also true that there's nothing like it in the world. To actually get off the tourist trail for awhile and meet Peruvians was wonderful. To remember what I´ve lived through, to have the opportunity to try and reassure Elizabeth, and to recognize how I´ve changed and moved on, was something I needed to do before going back to the US.
Yesterday, I watched Barack Obama´s victory speech on YouTube, and it gave me chills. "Huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world," to be sure. I know it´s typical politician-speak to many people, but the hope Obama talked about is finally coming back alive for me. Part of it was made possible by the election, a lot of it by this trip, and it´s amazing.
Get to ride to Lima tomorrow morning (12 hours, which, incidentally, I now consider the the perfect length for a bus trip) on a double decker bus. How cool is that? Fly back to Guadalajara tomorrow evening, and will stay one more night in Mexico. (I´m already anxiously anticipating the food.) Will bus it back to the border Sunday (26 hours), and spend a few days in Tucson before heading on to Wyoming and Idaho. One day, very soon, I´ll be settled down.
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