The final country

Oh dear, loads to report. Trip is winding down faster than I am comfortable with but there is not much I can do about that... Since the last post, Misha and Krsitin came and met up with me in Bolivia. It was so great to see them! We spent a couple of days hanging in La Paz with Ken. On Sunday we found this awesome street festival with live music and dancing. We were the only gringos in attendance and the locals were all very amused by us and included us. That night we were supposed to head down to Uyuni to tour the salt flats, but while I was watching our bags so TK and Mish could use the bathroom, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me a dumb question and when I looked back down, Mish´s camera bag was gone. Totally a textbook ruse and I am still kicking myself for falling for it, but it happened. In the bag was Mish´s passport along with cameras, phone and bank card. I felt awful. So we cancelled Uyuni and spent the next few days in La Paz filing police reports, getting her a temporary passport, and buying her a new visa (a $135 visa...). Mish was super good about not dwelling on it and when we finally got through all of the red tape, we headed to Copacabana for a couple of days.

In Copacabana we did a 17km hike to a little fishing village called Yampupata where we got a boat to Isla del Sol. We arrived just as all the tourists were leaving and headed up to the top of the hill (quite a feat at 3800 meters) to watch the sunset. It was interesting for me being there again in the off season as the first time I went to the peak to watch sunset, there were about 100 other tourists. This time we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a leisurely dinner with some wine on the island and got up to watch the sun rise over Bolivia (it set over Peru). The next day was a chill in CPCB day. Much deserved after the long trek the day before. We ate fresh trout from the trout shacks on the coast of Titicaca and shopped and relaxed. For sunset we walked to the top of the Cerro overlooking the lake.

Friday we went back to La Paz to pick up Mish´s passport and visa and booked a day trip for the following day. Unfortunately it was canceled due to weather (which was weird cause the next day was lovely...). Instead we took a micro to Valle de La Luna and wandered around the lunar landscape for a bit. Later we checked Mish into a hostel (she was leaving the next AM) and Kristin and I took an overnight bus to Uyuni. We arrived at 6 AM and booked a 3 day tour for that morning. There was a bit of a delay in finding a jeep for us but we managed to leave around noon for our tour. We met an awesome honeymooning Irish couple who were our buddies for the trip. Day 1 was spent in the salt flats. We took fun pictures messing with depth perception, ate lunch at a salt hotel, wandered around an island made of coral covered with cacti (the flats were an inland sea) and spent the night in a salt hotel. Day 2 we went to a variety of lakes with 3 kinds of flamingos living in them. We had lunch under a volcano and spent the night next to a large red lake. Day 3 was a long day and began at 4:30 AM. We headed out to some geysers (that were really bubbling sulfur pools, but still cool) and then hit hot springs before breakfast. From there we went to a bright green lake under another volcano and then started the long (8 hour) drive back to Uyuni. After a farewell dinner with our Irish friends, we caught the night bus back to La Paz.

Wednesday was a chill day in La Paz (we needed it). Thursday we headed to Coroico in the hills. It was lovely and we stayed at this great eco lodge about 20 minutes (uphill) from the town. It had a pool and lounging areas and was a great place to relax for the afternoon. The next morning we got up to hike to the top of a hill. We made it about 2/3 of the way before deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth and headed back to the pool. That afternoon we went back to La Paz as Kristin had an early AM flight on Saturday. We had a yummy upscale llama steak dinner for Kristin´s last night in Bolivia.

After Kristin left I got a bus to Arequipa via the border at Desaguadero. There was quite a line to get the entry stamp but I made it to Arequipa after 11 hours of travel. I ran into Laura from New Zealand at the hostel in Arequipa (we met in Mendoza and again in Tupiza- she is convinced I am following her). We did dinner with some other hostel peeps and then went back to the Halloween party in the hostel bar. Later that night we all headed out to see one of the hostel employees´borther´s band play at a local bar. The streets were totally packed with people in costume. Seriously, Peru celebrates Halloween more than some places in the US! The band members were all dressed as superheroes and something about hearing heavily accented covers of Evanescence and Shania Twain (along with some local pop songs) done by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain America made the night damn near perfect. Yesterday I spent the day in Arequipa with Laura and a Canadian girl. Arequipa is a lovely city with lots of white buildings that sparkle in the sun. It has loads of old, oranate churches and a good vibe. If I wasn´t beelining to the beaches right now, I would have spent a couple of days exploring (although I was there before on a previous trip).

Today I am in Lima after an overnight bus ride. Tomorrow I head north up the coast to hit some ruins and start working on my pre-winter tan before I meet Kara in Mancora (she really is going to make it this time... I hope).

All for now. Less than 3 weeks til the end of the journey....

Back... in Bolivia!

My border crossing experience was interesting (aren´t they all?). I had no problems finding the border and gtting my exit stamp but once over on the Bolivia side I stood in a line for 45 minutes waiting for it to move just a little and wondering why no other travelers were there. Luckily I decided to ask the immigration police for a form and he told me that I did not need to wait in that line and I breezed into Bolivia. I bought a ticket for the next bus to Tupiza and went to check on train tickets for the next day. That was when I discovered there was a strike in Uyuni and no buese were running. That was upsetting because it meant I had to take a bus through Potosi and add about 8 hours of travel time to get to La Paz.

I got to Tupiza after 3 hours on a shaky, dusty bus on unpaved roads and was met at the bus station by Ken who I had traveled with in Bolivia. After I checked in and freshened up, we headed out for food and drinks and ran into Laura from New Zealand who I had met in Mendoza. Small world. The three of us went for dinner and drinks and ran into Ken´s German friends and an Austrian guy I met on the bus. So we all hung out for awhile and then Ken and I decided to check out the local nightlife for a bit. The next morning Ken and the Germans headed for Uyuni. I gave the train station one last shot and found out that the trains were back on! So I booked a ticket and spent the day lazing around Tupiza (I had been there previously so didn´t need to check out the tourist sites). I splurged for "executive class" on the train. Once on I was reminded that I was back in Bolivia as "executive class" had more comfortable, smallish chairs that reclined a bit. It did not include food (and apparently you cannot bring any on) but did include blankets and heat which I was VERY thankful for that night- it was freezing!

The next morning I arrived in Oruro and took a bus to La Paz. I wandered around and booked into a little hotel and booked a tour for Monday. The tour was terrific! We drove up to close to the top of Chacaltaya Mountain (5450 meters- 17,895 feet) and hiked up to the peaks. The views were terrific! We could see Illumani (tallest in Bolivia) and Waima Potosi as well as others. After the mountain we headed south of La Paz to Valle de la Luna which is named Valley of the Moon because the white rocks and formations look like the moon´s surface. Awesome day! I got back to La Paz and moved to a hostel to meet more people and then booked a trek for today. Today I hiked for over 4 hours to alpine lakes with more terrific mountain views. Pretty good couple of days!

Anyway, this is a quick update and I am trying to keep them shorter. Ciao for now!

A short stint in the desert

From Cordoba I took a very disappointing overnight bus to Salta. Since I am not a fan of long bus journeys, I splurged for the ¨cama¨which usually involves a hot meal, wine, pillow and blankets. Our bus (Ken was with me) had none of these. And it arrived late. So that was lame. As was the ridiculously loud snoring man across the aisle from me. But we made it nevertheless. In Salta we headed to the hostel where Ken´s camera was and headed out to check out the town. We wandered around, found some great pasta, and checked out the overpriced, interesting and rather sad mummy museum (that is not the official name for the record). Apparently the Incas used to take the most attractive and physically fit children in each town and make them walk hundreds of miles to a religius ritual. Then they walked back and one of the children was ¨chosen¨to be the sacrifice. This child was taken up on a mountian, fed chicha (alcoholic drink) until s/he passed out, and then buried alive in a cave with ceremonial objects. There were two of these mummified children on display. One of them had obviously woken up before freezing to death. It was kind of gruesome. After a nap, Ken and I decided to have dinner and check out the Salta nightlife. It was Sunday so not too much was going on (we spent Saturday night on the bus) but it was fun watching the souped up cars cruise the strip. Souped up in Argentina runs the gamut from shiny race car look-alikes to beaters with flashing lights.

Monday a crew from the hostel took a bus to San Lorenzo about a half hour away for some hiking. There was a short zipline that a couple of people did and the hike was short but nice. It is really hot up north during the day (finally!) so we were all cool with a shorter hike. That night we treated ourselves to a steak dinner (probably my last in Argentina). Tuesday morning I headed north to Tilcara with a couple of Canadian girls from the hostel. We had a relaxing afternoon reading and enjoying views from the hostel, but one of them realized she had lost her passport and they headed back to Salta to look for it. I hope they found it! Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by blue skies (forecast was for rain) and spent the day exploring the desert near Tilcara. First I went to Purmamarca which is know for its ¨Seven Color Hill¨which, as the name implies has seven colors of stripes in the hill. I took a little hike there and then headed to Maimara where there is a picuresque hillside cemetary. The walk back to Tilcara was a bit farther than I anticipated, but I go there eventually. Then I headed to an archeology museum and up the hill near twn t the Pucara which is the ruins of an Inca fort. I ended the day with a llama steak (regional specialty) and paid for it later that night. Ah well, the last one I had was fine... This morning I came up to another indigenous town on the way to Bolivia called Humahuaca. I wandered the town and did a short hike to the Peñas Blancas or white rocks overlooking the town. Tomorrow I am heading up to the border to Bolivia. I am so ready t be back in Bolivia! Argentina has been nice to fantastic, but it feels so incredibly first world and comfortable. I will have plenty of that when I get back to the US in 6 weeks (OMG- just 6 more weeks!). Plus I miss the vibe and people and otherworldlyness of Bolivia.

All for now!

I heart Cordoba!

I planned to spend two nights in Cordoba. I ended up being here for six. Sometimes you just get stuck in a place. And I am so not complaining! I met some people in the hostel the first night and three of us decided to head to Alta Gracia the following day to see the Che museum. Two more people arrived from Mendoza the following morning and the five of us spent the day in Alta Gracia. The Che museum was really interesting. It is in a house that Che lived in when he was young and mostly focused on his "pre-Che" life. There were loads of pictures and letters and maps- definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in Cordoba. That night we added another couple of people from the hostel and hit the biggest buffet in Argentina for dinner (my second visit). A couple of the girls decided to go skydiving the following morning and invited me to join them. I said I would think about it.

I woke up the next morning and decided to jump out of a plane. There ended up being five of us in total- Mercedes and Fiona from Canada, Cathy from Australia, myself, and Espen from Norway. The plane was so small that only one person could go up at a time so we spent a long time sitting in the sun and waiting our turns. There were some Israeli girls before us. It was all of our first times to skydive so we were all in the same boat. I was terrified. I hate heights and always said that unless the plane was going down, I was staying aboard. Since I signed up last, I went last. It was great being there to watch my new friends do their dives as it became more and more real that I was about to do the same thing. Finally it was my turn. I was totally OK until I was strapped to the instructor hanging out the door of the plane. Then I freaked out a bit. By "freaked out" I mean screamed a few obscenities and wondered why the hell I was there. Then I was falling through space from 8500 feet. Oh and our intro talk where they explained what to do lasted literally five minutes... Anyway, before I knew it, the parachute was open and we were drifting down. All was well. I survived. About 10 minutes after my jump, a plane from another company broke its wheels on landing and they had to cancel all of the rest of the jumps for the day. Lucky for me it happened after my jump because I do not think I would have come back the following day... That night we went for a celebratory steak dinner with nice wine.

Wednesday was spent relaxing and walking around Cordoba. Wednesday night an impromtu plan was made to take a long trek on Thursday. So Thursday morning myself, Ken from Ireland, Jules from Oz and Wouter from Holland got up and grabbed a bus to the Quebrada del Condorito. The first 10 km of the hike was fairly easy and flat. Then we hit the valley- 500 meters straight down followed by 500 meters straight up. But at the end we hit this amazing overlook with condors soaring past. Totally worth it! The walk back seemed longer and had a bit more elevation gain. We were all pretty tired but glad to have done it. We got back just in time to shower and head up to the roof for the hostel BBQ.

Yesterday was the start of a 10 day Oktoberfest in a German town about 2 hours from Cordoba. There was a group of nine of us from the hostel who went to check it out. Unfortunately it was pretty dead the first day but with such a big group, we made our own fun. And the weather was terrific! It was the first time I was able to wear shorts and a tank top in months (still got pretty cold at night though). Today is a chill day and tonight Ken and I are taking an overnight bus to Salta. I am looking forward to exploring the quebrada north of Salta that I skipped on the way down. Also getting very excited to meet up with TK and Mish in two weeks in La Paz!!

Photos uploaded! Many fewer than I would have liked since I lost five weeks of Bolivia and Argentina, but better than nothing...
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/ArgentinaUruguay#

Uruguay

I love the word Uruguay. I have no idea why, but it never ceases to make me giggle...

So, as the title implies I spent a week in Uruguay. And it was just the thing to make me stop complaining about how expensive everything is in Argentina- Uruguay is definitely more so. And it is all relative, but you know, compared to say SE Asia, India, and Bolivia, these places cost a lot. But Uruguay was fun. I spent a couple of days wandering around Montevideo. One night I got locked out of my hostel for 2 hours (my key did not work and 24 hour reception in Montevideo apparently excludes Sundays). But I met some really nice homeless people and found a good little restaurant nearby. Plus the Uruguayan family that was also waiting outside the hostel asked if I was from Spain after talking to me for 10 minutes so that made me very happy about my Spanish skills. From Montevideo I headed to the deserted (out of season) beach town of La Paloma. It was kinda fun to have the town to myself. I did a long walk along the beach to a neighboring town and just enjoyed watching the ocean. I do love the ocean.

After La Paloma I spent another night in Montevideo but it was super cold (and it is Spring!) so I was glad my hostel did a communal dinner and had a bar and a pool table. My roomies were these hysterical girls from Brazil and Columbia so we had an entertaining evening. I was sick of the cold at that point so I headed up to Salto in the north where there are hot springs. I went to Dayman which is described by Lonely Planet as "the Disney of hot springs" and it really is a huge complex. It has about 12 pools of varying sizes, temperatures and depths plus lots of green areas for lounging around. There is also a thermal water park next door, but I stuck with the plain ol pools. It was much warmer in Salto which was nice. Yesterday I headed back across to Argentina and spent the night in Santa Fe. Santa Fe is a colonial town with a bunch of lovely ornate churches so I walked around and checked them out. Today was rainy so I decided to make it a transit day and took a bus to Cordoba. And they served wine on the bus! That was a first for me. And I have taken loads of buses in Argentina.

Wanted to remark a bit on the mate culture. I am intrigued by it. In Argentina, and even more so in Uruguay, everyone drinks mate all the time. They carry a thermos of hot water and a mate glass with silver straw everywhere they go. I love it. Well actually I am not a fan of the drink but I love how completely addicted everyone here is. Note to self to take a picture...

OK, this was my attempt at a shorter post. More in a few days. Hopefully the weather will clear and I can get out and explore more of Northern Argentina. Cross your fingers for springlike weather for me. I have another winter to face when I get back to the US.

Summer camp wedding and a killer time with Mom and Dad!

Oh dear, I swore to make these more often and more brief. Such a failure am I (and Yoda to boot).

Beach day in Rosario was good. Then headed to Buenos Aires where I found a dress for the wedding and hung out for a few days. The weather turned super cold so much of my time was spent indoors.

Flew to Boston and had a great time hanging out with Ali and Dave (thank you!!!!) both times I crashed at their place. Friday night met up with Johnny and Sam in Boston and on Saturday we headed up to the summer camp in NH for the wedding. Let me just say that the summer camp wedding idea was a fabulous one!! Even though I had a little fall and my face was a bit scratched up for the ceremony (no, do not expect pics), it was even more fun than it sounds. Talent show, kickball, bonfire, s'mores, a great wedding ceremony by the lake and party thereafter... Way to go Tom and Court!!! Before I left I got a quick dinner in with my cousin Alex to round out the week.

Had a few days in Buenos Aires to get things ready for Mom and Dad's arrival and sightsee. Unfortunately I had my camera stolen in a crowded subway car two days before they arrived and I lost all of my pictures from Bolivia and Argentina that I had been being lazy about uploading. I was really bummed about that. Thanks to Mom and Dad for getting me a new camera at the last minute as cameras in Argentina are more than twice what they cost in the US. Aside from the camera mishap, I had a great couple of days with some girls from my hostel in Buenos Aires. We explored the town and got to drink a penguin of wine (used in lieu of carafes in some places) at an awesome empanada house.

Mom and Dad flew in last Saturday early morning. I met them at their hotel and they were super troopers in shrugging off the jet lag (after a red eye) and walking to Plaza de Mayo and Puerto Madera. Later we went out to diner and to a Tango show at a classical BA institution, Cafe Tortoni. Sunday we ran all over town seeing the Recoleta Cemetary (where Evita is buried) as well as the Evita museum. Monday we took a ferry over to Colonia, Uruguay for the day and wandered around the old city and parks. Tuesday we relaxed a bit and went to the zoo and gardens and an art museum. Of course we ate well during all this (highlight being Juana M in Recoleta) and Mom and I sampled some Argentine white wines. Oh and Monday night Del Potro, an Argentine tennis player won the US Open. On the walk back from the ferry we stopped to watch the finals outside a bar with flat screens facing out into the street with loads of Argentinians. I love stuff like that!!

Wednesday morning we flew up to Iguazu to see the falls. It was a rather cold and rainy day but we perservered and saw the most incredible falls I have ever seen! Thursday the weather was still iffy so we spent the morning seeing other Iguazu attractions, the Plastic bottle house and the tree and stone houses. Both were way more interesting then they sounded (and I had totally made fun of Mom for wanting to go), especially the plastic bottles. Later the weather cleared up so we went back to the falls to see them in the sun and saw loads of rainbows. It is hard to describe the falls. The Devils Throat is insanely powerful and high. Then you walk the upper and lower circuits and just see the incredible breadth of the falls. I cannot even estimate how many there were...

Thursday night we flew back to BA and had diner close to the hotel due to rain and lack of taxis. Friday we rented a car (excellent work Dad driving in the crazy BA traffic) and went to San Antonio de Areco- home of the gaucho tradtions. We did the gaucho (cowboy) museum and other local sights before heading back that evening. We had our last dinner (and ice cream of course) out in Palermo. Saturday we did shopping and the planetarium before it was time for Mom and Dad to head home. We had such a wonderful time and covered a lot of ground! I am so so so glad they came down to meet me!!

OK, two days later and I am now in La Paloma, Uruguay on the beach. It is off season and really quiet here but it is nice to see the ocean. Yesterday I was in Montevideo which was fun for a day (except for getting locked out of my hostel for 2 hours, but these things happen). Tomorrow I think I am going to head back West. We will see how I feel in the AM though.

Thanks Jen for reminding me to stop putting this off! Will write in a few days so the next is shorter- at least that is the plan...

Wine and meat

Right, well lots to report since last post. I have been sick so I have not written in a bit. Finally I am geting better so here goes (posting sick makes for whiny posts and no one wants whiny posts...). Tour to Cachi made for a very long day. Like 13 hours long- mostly in the van. But the people I was with (all native Spanish speakers- I think the universe is contriving to make me practice and, for the most part, that is good) were great so it made for a good day. The highlight was the national park toward the end of the trip, but we were all kind of tired so it was a bit anticlimatic. But lovely all the same- desert, colors, rock formations. I went to dinner with a couple of Dutch girls from my hostel, which was fun, and called it a night. The next morning, I rented the world´s second worst bike (second to the one I rented in NE Cambodia) and headed off to tour some wineries near Cafayate. The bike was so bad that I stuck to wineries within 2 km of town, but I did get to try some nice Torrontes (dry, sweet smelling white that I definitely recommend for summer). In the afternoon I went for a tour of the quebrada (canyon) nearby. There was more driving and less hiking than I hoped for but the colors in the canyon (red, yellow, green) were spectacular. The rock formations were pretty terrific as well, and we got to climb and scramble up them, which is always fun. Plus, we got a private concert in a natural ampitheater so yeah, no real complaints. What I will complain about is the 6 AM bus I had to take to Tucuman the next morning. 6 AM buses should be outlawed! And, after 5 hours in the bus station, I got to take a 13 hour bus ride to San Juan. Not so fun. San Juan was a nice little town but this is the off season for Argentina (which I totally don´t understand since it is high season in Bolivia right next door) so there were no other travelers there. I spent one day wandering around and checking out the town and then moved on to Mendoza.

Mendoza. Everyone has heard the hype and it is pretty well justified. This is the heart of Argentina wine country where 70% of the wines come from. You also have the Andes in the distance which makes for great scenery and, I hear, good hiking (but expensive hiking...). My first day in Mendoza I walked around (that´s kind of how I roll) and checked out the huge park in the center of the city (built to help with the aridity of the city). I had a nice communal dinner with some people in the hostel and crashed early to get ready for my bike ride to wineries outside of touwn the following day. What a comedy of errors. I started by taking the wrong bus which didn´t go anywhere near the bike rental place. I did not have change for another bus and where I was they did not sell bus cards (buses in this area do not accept bills or give change). Luckily I was near a winery on the biking route so I ended up walking the winery tour (none of the wineries had change either. Argentinian change is an interesting story- apparently they do not mint enough and bus companies make a profit selling it back to the government). I met a nice Irish couple (with bikes) who waited for me a lot that day so I had good company on my tour. I hit three wineries with them. The best was the third which only did wine by the glass (but was a much better bargain than paying for tastes at the others) and also had a nice outdoor BBQ with live music. We spent quite awhile there. The second winery was really cool as well. It is the oldest winery in South America to offer tours and as part of the tour you get to walk into an old aging container and down through a small maze made of other old aging containers. The first winery was a bit of a rip off. After the third winery I split off from the couple to head toward town where I could actually get change or a bus card to get back to Mendoza. There was one more winery on the way. As I was walking there, I was hailed by a police officer who was stopped to buy snacks at a local kiosk. He asked me where I was going, if I was alone, and if I was a tourist (duh). Apparently the area I was in was "unsafe" for me to walk alone (Mendoza area locals are notorious for being overprotective of travellers). So he did the obvious- loaded me into the back of the police van and drove me to the last winery. Yes, I got to ride like a common criminal to the door of the last winery where I was politely let out to do the tour. Priceless! You should have seen the looks on the faces of my fellow wine tasters! Honestly, that was a highlight of the day :). I made it back to Mendoza without incident and had a great story for my fellow hostelers.

I decided to have a chill day in Mendoza the following day which was really just that and headed off on Monday to San Luis. Oh but I must note that I have been eating quite a lot of the wonderful Argentinian beef since I have been here (went for the paradilla (BBQ) lunch special on my chill day) and it really is quite nice. San Luis was a nice town but like San Juan, there wasn´t much going on for the traveller (many tours do not run in the off season so getting to nearby parks is not possible solo and sans auto). Luckily here an Australian woman arrived the same day so we had a fun night out on the bar strip. Tuesday morning I got up early on little sleep to catch the 7 AM bus to Cordoba only to find out that, for some unknown reason, San Luis is an hour behind the rest of Argentina. So I really woke up at 4:45 AM, not 5:45 AM. Keep in mind that Mendoza is farther West than San Luis, but it is the same time zone as the rest of the country... yes, still bitter. To make my morning worse, it turned out that the hostel staff (there was no one in the hostel but myself and the Aussue girl and she was always with me) ate my sandwiches I had made for my 7 hour bus ride. Not happy. Ah well, travel woes...

Cordoba. I quite liked the city of Cordoba. Once again, no other travelers in the hostel, but it did have some locals so once again I got to practice my Spanish and I met some very interesting Argentine characters (a couple of older men with very different political views, a street performer, and a music professor with an amazing voice to name a few). Day one once again spent wandering the town. Day two I headed to Villa Carlos Paz- the Vegas of Argentina. I didn´t gamble (sorry Dad, much more fun with you there) but I did walk around the lake and then hike up the hill in the center of town to the large cross. That hike kicked my butt. It was hot and steep, but man, I am getting way out of shape (nothing to do with the wine and steak, of course). From Cordoba I decided to head to Paraná. After my hellish bus trip from Cafayate to Mendoza, I decided to do shorter bus trips to more places. Paraná is a nice lil town on the Paraná river. It isacross from the bigger and more well known Santa Fe. My cold was in full form here so I decided to splurge on a private room with bathroom and TV to recover in. Unfortunately my splurge room had bugs in the bathroom and uncomfortable beds (the TV was a nice change though) so I moved to the (empty, of course) new youth hostel the next morning. Walked along the river front and read a lot in Paraná and this morning I came to Rosario.

I was torn between skipping Rosario and heading directly to Buenos Aires and spending a night here. I am so glad I decided to come. Hostel is empty as usual, but I love this town! The flag monument is amazing! And I had a great day walking through the riverfront parks and watching the locals as they hung out and did kite boarding and Brazillain martial art demonstrations. I am going to stay another day and head to the river beaches tomorrow to try and get a little color before I head back to the US briefly for Tom´s wedding (love frequent flyer miles- a shame that I have no more :)). When I get back to Argentina, my parents join me for some time in Buenos Aires and a trip up to the legendary falls at Iguazu. To say I am excited is a gross understatement!!

Sorry about the length. Hopefully some people still actually read this. I´m still alive, well (cold notwithstanding) and loving this trip. More soon.

Southern Bolivia and into Argentina

I feel like it has been ages since my last post but I think that is more because I have been moving quickly to make sure I have time to enjoy Mendoza before I have to be in Buenos Aires. So last post was in Tupiza. I ended up spending a couple of days there. The town itself is pretty small and nondescript (but randomly has a ton of Italian restaurants, there are more Italian retaurants than Bolivian ones- odd) but the scenery nearby is terrific! It looks a lot like the red deserts of Nevada and Arizona. I did a half day jeep tour of some of the rock formations which was great. The next day I did a hike up the railroad tracks to see more before I took the night bus to Tarija. I loved Tarija. Tarija is the area of Bolivia where they produce wines. It also has loads of great scenery nearby. My first day I spent wandering around the city. The next day I did a day tour of the surrounding area. We started the tour with a visit to the pueblo San Lorenzo which was home to Moto Mendez, a Bolivian war hero. After San Lorenzo we visited a waterfall at Coimata and the lake of San Jacinto. We had lunch back in town at a BBQ restaurant (Argentinian stlye) and then headed to the vineyards. The first vineyard was a commercial vineyard where we tried Singani (similar to grappa) and a Syrah. Then we went to a quirky older man named Jesus' private vineyard. Jesus ages his wine in large glass jugs and invited us to a ceremony where he siphoned out 2 meters of wine for each of us (about a half a glass) and had us toast before drinking it. Then we tried some of his singani. He was hysterical and we all ended up buying bottles from him because we had so much fun there. The last vineyard we went to was a boutique vineyard where we tried seven different types of wine from communal glasses (that's how they roll in Bolivia). Steve, one of the others on my tour, bought a leather flask of wine that we drank on the way back to town. That night the crew met back up for dinner on the plaza. All in all a great day!

I had planned to cross into Argentina from Tarija via Villazon- about 8 hours away,but our guide told me about a smaller crossing only 3 hours away at Bermejo. So I headed down. It was a bit confusing as the border is before the town of Bermejo and I had to change my money at the immigration office. Also the border guards aren't used to Americans crossing there so there was a bit of a debate as to the procedure. Finally I walked across a bridge to the Argentine side and they scanned my luggage but I had to go to the second office to get my entry stamp. It all worked out. I then spent 2 hours in Aguas Blancas waiting for a bus to Jujuy. There is nothing to do in Aguas Blancas except try to get out of the heat and away from the mosquitos (they were everywhere). But it all worked out and 5 hours later I arrived in Jujuy.

I just spent one night in Jujuy and then headed to Salta. Since I plan top come back through Salta I also just spent one night there but had a good time at the BBQ on the roof of my hostel hanging out with a couple of people I had met in Sucre and a slew of French travelers. Today I took a bus to Cafayte (pronounced Ca-fa-sha-te 'cause it is Argentina). The town itself is pretty small but there are lots of wineries around and good hiking and biking in the surrounding desert. Tomorrow I am doing a tour to Cachi and some hiking and Tuesday biking to wineries and then hiking in the desert (not sure if that is the smartest order, but that is how it worked out). Argentina is a lot different from Bolivia (more expensive, more first world feeling, more touristy) but so far so good.

Fiestas Patrias and a day in the mines

Friday night out with the school crowd was a lot of fun. We had food and drinks at the school with a good turnout of teachers and students and later went to a karaoke bar and then two danceclubs. So I defintely got the full Sucre nightlife experience. Saturday night I hung out in the hostel with some other travelers and Sunday got up early to meet fellow students Duncan and Catherine to visit the Sunday markets in Tarabuco. Tarabuco is about 65 km from Sucre and is known for its market and the traditional dress of the locals. There is also a staue of a Bolivian man standing over the corpse of a Spaniard as he is just about to eat the dead man´s heart. The story is that the Spaniard had raped and killed his wife and children and eating the heart of a defeated foe was supposed to give you their lifepower. Interesting (if morbid) stuff. We had a good time wandering the market (which takes up most of the town) and later hung out at Catherine and Duncan´s hostel and went for a local dinner. Actually Duncan and Catherine´s hostel became my other home for the rest of the week. I had my second week of classes in Sucre which I felt went even better than the first. I am still not fluent, but I think I have definitely improved (thanks Omar!). Monday night a couple of us went to watch a documentary about life in the mines of Potosi. Much more on that later, but if you get a chance to see The Devil´s Miner, I definitely recommend it.

Thursday was Bolivia´s Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day). The festivities actually kicked off Tuesday night with music and parades. Pretty much the majority of the celebration is music and parades but there are tons and tons of them. It is mandatory for all students and many people of differing occupations to participate in the parades. The town was completely covered in flags. The Pesident, Evo, made an appearance (and to everyone´s pleasant surprise there were no riots or major protests) with a pre-recorded speech. The town was full of campesinos and miners who came in to see Evo but I missed most of that due to classes. It was really cool to be in the capital for Independence Day though! Friday was my last day of classes and my last night in Sucre so a group from school met at my second home and then went out for tapas. It was a great end to my time there. I miss Sucre and my friends there already.

Yesterday I headed to Potosi which at 4060 meters (over 13,000 feet) is the highest city in the world. My main reason for visiting was to do a tour of the silver mines. The tour didn´t disappoint. We first went to get geared up in protective clothing, boots, and hard hats with lights on them. Then we split into groups of 8 or less by language (I went with the Spanish group) and headed to the miners market. In the market we bought gifts of dynamite and soda for the miners. In the morning, you gift coca leaves as well since the miners chew it all day, but in the afternoons they have enough. In Potosi anyone can walk into a store and buy dynamite- even kids. From the market we went up to the plant where they separate the silver from the rock and other minerals and watched the machines in action. Then we headed to the mines. I had heard the stories and knew that the excursions into the mines was no picnic, but I wanted to experience it for myself. Tourists are not coddled, we are there facing the same conditions as the miners do every day, albeit for a much shorter duration. Potosi is quite cold in winter so of course it was very cold when we entered on level one. It immediately got completely dark so we needed to use our head lanterns (miner issue). The walkways vary from big enough to walk in comfortably to so small you have to crawl on your hands and knees. To get from level to level, you need to scramble up or down steep grades or shaky ladders in the dark and at time the path ends and you need to traverse wooden boards or rocks to get across. We crawled up to level zero (because the level numbers go up as you descend) and immediately the temperature changed here it was HOT. So hot we were all sweating profusely where we´d been shivering just moments before. We met our first miner who talked to us as he worked and answered our questions. He had his 12 year old son with him. This is not uncommon in the mines. A couple of guys tried to use the big metal hammer and rod the miner used to make a hole in the rock and were far slower. It was a good demonstration of the strength needed to do this for hours on end. We went down to level two and hung out with another miner. The amount of dust in the air in the tunnels made it hard to breathe and our paper masks did little to help (plus it is more of a hinderance when you are panting and sweating). We finished our tour about two and a half hours after we entered the mine on level three. Here we got to see the mine´s Tio who is the local god of the mine (more like a devil). All of the mines have a Tio and the miners leave offerings of coca leaves, alcohol and cigarettes daily when they enter. Also on the way out it got so cold that there were icicles hanging from the walls of the mine. We were all exhausted and filthy. After we left the mine, we got a dynamite demonstration. Our guide put the fuse into the dynamite, lit it, passed it around so we could take pictures, planted it in the ground a little ways away, and ran back so we could watch it explode. I don´t think you get that on any tours in the US... Anyway, it was tough but I´m really glad I did it. The tour really makes you feel for the miners (who earn about 25 cents per kilo of silver they harvest).

OK, this computer is crazily slow so hopefully this will post. More soon!

Sucre- la primera semana

Just finished my first week of classes here in Sucre. It´s a terrific place to study! The town is a good size, not too big or too small- about 200,000 people. It is a colonial city and the controversial capital of Bolivia (Evo wants to move it to La Paz and two of the branches of government are currently located there, but to anyone from Sucre, this is still the capital...). There are loads of lovely churches and museums and everything in the town is white, hence the nickname "The White City". Sucre is at 2700 meters so not as high as La Paz and Copacabana but still decent elevation. The weather is moderate year round so even though it is winter we have sunny afternoons where t-shirts are fine, but then you have to bundle up a bit at night. I´m really enjoying my time here.

I arrived on Sunday morning and wandered around for an hour looking for a hostel. I spent the day just kind of making my way through town and later met a couple of Irish guys to have dinner and drinks with. Monday morning I started classes. I´m attending the Bolivian Spanish School which is right on a park about a 10 minute walk from my hostel. I am doing 4 hours of one on one classes 5 days a week from 8:30 to 12:30. We have a break at 10:30 and on Monday a group of us went out for salteñas (similar to empanadas) during the break which was a good way to meet some other students and teachers. After class my first day, the head of the school told me that I was more advanced than they had anticipated and they wanted to switch me to a teacher with more experience with students at my level. Unfortunately that would only be possible if I switched classes to 2:30 to 6:30 which I didn´t want to do. So next week I am switching teachers. My teacher this week, Ana, was fine though. I kind of told her what I wanted to work on and she´d put together lessons and we did a lot of conversing and some excursions. But I am hoping to really improve a lot more after next week. I guess we´ll see.

The excursions I went on with the school were to the local cemetary and to a castle south of the city. The cemetary is gorgeous. Loads of trees and flowers and huge, marble masoleums. At least for the rich. The poor are buried in the back in graves marked with simple wooden crosses and apparently the people can only afford to rent the graves. So, after a year or two, the bodies are dug up and moved and new ones put in. I´m not exactly sure where the bodies go when they are moved... Former presidents of Bolivia and many of the famous martyrs are buried in the cemetary as well. The castle is called "La Glorieta" and was built by a former prince who adopted like 40 orphans (ha and his wife had no children of their own). It was another interesting excursion.

Yesterday after classes, I went with another student, Tim, to see the Dinosaur Park. We took the local transport up instead of the tourist bus which was much more intereting and a whole lot less expensive. A cement company in Bolivia unearthed the world´s largest area of dinosaur tracks here back in the 1990´s. There are over 5000 tracks including the world´s largest single track which is more than 350 meters long. The tracks were made on flat ground but with the movement of the plates, it has become a wall on the side of a mountain (vertical). The park has an overlook so you can see the wall and also displays models, a skeleton and molds of the tracks of the different types of dinosaurs. It was pretty fascinating in my opinion.

Yesterday night, Tim and I met up with Stephen, Michael and Makala (also from school) to go watch a local futbol (soccer) match. It was fun to go, but the locals were not really into it which was somewhat surprising for Latin America. There was one group of erious fans at the end of the field that sang, danced and cheered the entire game and sporadically set off fireworks. So they were fun to watch. The local team, Universitario, won 1-0.

Tonight the students are getting together at the school for dinner and drinks and Sunday a group of us are going to a local market town. Good times all around!
More next week.

Isla del Sol, La Paz, and Cocha with the Huertas

Isla del Sol was awesome! Amazing scenery from both Peru and Bolivia (although the mountains on the Bolivian side were definitely more impressive). We arrived on the north side of the island and hiked to the northern tip to see some ruins. Then we took a path down the island to the south and the village of Yumani. Most of the people from the morning boats left the island at 4 but I decided to stay the night. I went up to a hilltop to watch the sunset over Peru and then headed to a restaurant near my guesthouse for dinner. I think a few more people than planned chose that restaurant for dinner because they ran out of nearly everything (you can have trout or trout) and it took nearly 3 hours to have a simple 3 course set meal. Luckily I was at a table with a really nice uncle and niece from Spain (she works in the Galapagos and he was visiting) so I got to practice my Spanish with friendly people while waiting. Turns out I am quite adept at whining in Spanish, but definitely can work on my vocabulary :). The next morning I watched the sun rise over Bolivia from my room (seriously, the scenery on the island is fantastic!) and then walked down to the southern ruins before the morning boat departures. I met a nice tour group from Sweden who let me join them on their fancy private boat back to Copacabana and got a late morning bus to La Paz.

Upon arrival in La Paz, I met a French girl named Nina who is spending the year in South America. We ended up sharing a room in La Paz and hanging out for the next few days. La Paz is very hilly, very high (12,000 feet), and right now (winter), very cold. But when it is clear, you can see the nearby mountains from the city which is lovely. Nina and I saw the movie UP in Spanish (good thing it was animated as I didn´t get much of the dialogue) and checked out the very interesting Museo de Coca. We ate local almuerzos (inexpensive set lunch) and I got a chance to see the new Harry Potter (I loved it but it wasn´t my favorite of the movies). We also went and saw live local music and met some mountain climbers.

Since I am coming back to La Paz in October, I only stayed for 2 days and then headed to Cochabamba. My friend Heidi is from Cocha and put me in touch with her family here. The Huetras are the most amazing hosts!! Thank you so much Chichi and Nelly! Chichi picked me up the first day and took me on a scenic tour of the city and to her lovely home. Nelly came and met us and we went out and got marrequetas (fresh, sweet bread rolls) and then went for the most fantastic hot chocolate I´ve ever had at Chocolate Para Ti. Nelly brought me to her house and let me try calling home on her fancy Magic Jack before dropping me back at my hotel. The next day I wandered around the main area of Cocha in the morning and visited many of the churches and squares. Nelly picked me up in the afternoon and we went up to see the world´s largest statue of Jesus (yes, taller than the one in Rio- barely). Nelly is super outgoing so we met loads of people. Plus, I swear the Huertas know everyone in Cocha so we constantly stopped to talk to people and I met more people than I can possibly remember. It was like being with local celebrities! After the statue, we went for terrific empanadas, juice and huminitas (like sweet corn bread with anis) and then back to Nelly´s for a bit. In the evening we went to Recoleta and walked around and then saw a jazz trio playing Bolivian classics (and others) at a wine and cheese event at the upscale Hotel Cochabamba. Such a great day! Yesterday Chichi took me to lunch for chorizos (yummy spicy sausage). I have now tried every single food on the list that Heidi sent me (and then some) and I have to say that I´m a fan of Bolivian food! After chorizos, we stopped and got a cinnamin ice cream for desert. I´ve seriously been spoiled the past few days! Later in the day, I met up with Nina who had arrived in Cocha the night before and we went to see a Brasilian concert in a European mansion in the north of town.

So after a terrific time in Cochabamba, I´m heading to Sucre this evening. Monday I start Spanish classes so I am planning to actually stay in one place for 2 whole weeks. We´ll see how it goes.

Ciao for now!

Zanzibar

Well there is more to cover here than Zanzibar, but I love the way it sounds... Now that I am in South America I should have no problem posting more regularly. Has to be said, it has been a bit flattering to get complaints about the lack of posts. Thanks for reading everyoine...

Right, back to Africa. From Mombasa I crossed into Tanzania (and paid the $100 visa fee- traveling as an American is expensive!). I spent a night in a cute little seaside town called Tanga and was planning to head to Lushoto to do some hiking, but I could not get an honest fare from the public bus station so I opted to use a private bus company to go directly to Dar Es Salaam. I spent a couple of days wandering around Dar and trying to sort out plans to get to South America. I decided to cut Africa short as I had already done a safari and beaches and it is surprisingly expensive to travel independently through Africa. There is definitely more I want to see there in future trips though! Anyway, my friend Heidi was nice enough to put me in touch with her friend Patricia who lives in Dar and she agreed to meet me for dinner. I had quite an adventure trying to get to the suburb of Mikocheni- my lack of swahili and knowledge of Dar made a 30 minute daladala (public minibus) ride into a 2.5 hour excursion including 3 daladalas and some help from friendly locals. But I made it right about on time. Patricia took me to this great restaurant called Dar Alivc that is right on the beach and decorated with old traditional African wooden boats. We had terrific grilled snapper while sitting on the sand with the waves crashing in the background. If you go to Dar, definitely eat there! Patricia then took me home to meet her family which was awesome! It was a terrific evening all around.

After one more day in Dar (sorted out my South America plans- finally!) I hopped on the slow boat to Zanzibar. Has to be said, Zanzibar deserves the hype. It really is a beach paradise. I spent the first night in Stonestown which is an old colonial town and a great place to wander the narrow, cobblestone streets. For dinner I headed to the nightly market where stalss set up selling cheap, fresh seafood on skewers and Zanzibar pizzas- dough filled with your chice of meat, veggies, eggs, and chiles or banana and chocolate. I had both. The next morning I took a shuttle to Nungwi, a beach town on the north coast. I got a cute little room just off the beach and spent the day reading and sunning. That evening I met a trio from Ireland and through them a couple of Danish guys and a couple from California. We all headed to the full moon party down the beach at a nearby resort. The party was great, music, bonfires, the beach and lots of people. The next couple of days I spent relaxing on the beach and hanging out with that cerw and some others we met. It was pretty much perfect! Finally it was time to head back to Dar. Sawyer and Malana- the California couple, and an English guy named Lee accompanied me back to Stonestown for one more night. We watched the sunset over beer at the Africa House and went back to the night market. Lee and I took the ferry back to Dar the next afternoon and hung out there. He was going to the beaches south of Dar for a few days so I tagged along for the day. Has to be said, as nice as Zanzibar is, the beaches south of Dar are equally lovely and much less expensive... I{m glad I got to see both.

The next few days was a whirlwind. I flew to Cairo where I was hoping to see the pyramids on my 22 hour layover. Unfortunately it took Air Egypt 4 huors to sort out the transit visa and hotel (which was free with my ticket, but had I known how long it would take, I would have passed) so I did not get a chance to go. The next morning I flew to New York and spent a lovely evening and day with my aunt Randi and family (thank you Randi!!). The next night I headed into NYC for dinner with Kara and Justine. Monday morning I flew to Fort Lauderdale for 4 hours and had lunch and ice cream with my parents before flying to Lima, Peru that night. Three continents in four days.

I spent a night and a day in Lima. It was really nice to be there as I know my way around a bit from the 6 weeks I spent there in 2005. My Spanish seems to be rising to the challenge of South America and it is so nice to be able to understand some of what goes on around me! I pretty much flew through Peru on my way to Bolivia. Overnight bus to Arequipa, then bus to Puno. I spent a night in Puno with a couple from Oregon I met on the bus and then crossed the border to Bolivia yesterday afternoon. And now, I am really going to try and slow down a bit! Wish me luck. Last night I met up with Molly and Devin (OR couple) on the top of the hill that overlooks Copacabana and Lake Titicaca to watch the sunset. It was awesome! It is a little chilly here at 12,500 feet since it is winter, but the scenery is lovely and the town is super laid back. This morning I went to the cathedral to see the blessing of the automobiles. Every day the priest comes out and blesses a line of cars and buses. Flowers are adorned on windshields, holy water is sprinkled, beer is sprayed and ashes scattered. It was really interesting to watch. Tomorrow I am planning to head to Isla del Sol- the Island of the Sun, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun. Should be fun!

Pics from Africa are up-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Africa

All for now- more soon!

Into the Wild

Jambo!
It has been ages, I know. Internet access in Africa is tres slow. So much to catch up on...
Delhi was short but sweet. Met some great people and saw some sights. Really noticed the poverty and the people with deformities who used it to beg for money. Seemed more prevalent than in Calcutta.

Then it was on to Kenya. I just spent one day in Nairobi and then I did a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. It was incredible! We saw tons of elephants, lions, jackals, buffalo, warthogs, impala, hippos, crocs, many different birds... We did 4 game drives in the three days and the second day we drove all the way to Tanzania! Our safari van had a roof that opened up so we were really right next to the animals with nothing to block the view. The highlight was the three lions sleeping next to a buffalo carcass (the morning's kill) while 6 jackals alternately ripped it apart and watched for the lions to wake up. We also got to see lion mothers and cubs. The first night our guides took us into the Masai Mara village to hang out with the locals and listen to Kenyan music. It was definitely a highlight as well.

After the Mara I went to Lake Naivasha for a few days. The plan was to bike through the park (the only one in Kenya you can go into without a guide and vehicle) but I rode right past the turnoff and didn't realize my mistake for 15km. By the time I got back to the park I was exhausted and decided to pass. But I still saw giraffe, zebra, and impala on my ride near the park! The Lake was a great place to relax and the camp I stayed at had a social restaurant where I met other travelers and watched monkeys frolic.

Next stop was the coast. After 24 hours of buses and matatus (shared vans) and a boat, I arrived on the very chill island of Lamu on Kenya's NE coast. I planned to spend 2 dys there and work my way down to Mombasa, but I liked it so much I stayed for 5. The first night I went to the home of a local chef, Chef Alli Hippie, who supposedly once cooked for the Rolling Stones when they were in Kenya. The meal was by far the best I've had in Africa. Seafood fritters, fresh chapati and sauce, coconut rice, fish, and lobster. Plus a desert, juice and live entertainment from Alli's family after the meal. I met some other travelers at dinner including Paul from England who became my Lamu partner in crime. The next day we went to the beach and checked out the little town of Shela (where I accidentaly ordered entrails for lunch- ICK). Later we met some local guys who took us to a nearby local village to taste palm wine. I got a little oversunned that day so I spent the next couple of days doing a lot of reading and going to the local musuems. I also learned to play Bao which involves a wooden board and stones. Finally I felt it was time to move on and headed to Mombasa.

I didn't love Mombasa so I spent an afternoon on Diani beach which is about 45 minutes south (if I go back, I'll stay there instead- great place!). Then I headed to Tanzania! Yesterday I stopped over in a little coastal town called Tanga and today I came to Dar. Just arrived here so not much to report but Zanzibar is just off the coast so time to blow the budget again and check it out (I mean it is Zanzibar...). Oh but NB on my last post, Kara had to cancel in the end so I opted not to do Kilimanjaro. It'll have to stay on the list for now.

More soon!

Free Tibet!

No, I'm not going all political, I'm just quoting the signs, shirts, etc that are everywhere in McLeod Ganj. Seriously, I have seen more Free Tibet paraphernalia here than I have seen the rest of my life combined (and remember, I lived in Portland AND San Francisco). The reason for this is that McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala have a large Tibetan refugee community and are home to the Dali Lama as well as the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Pretty interesting stuff as I've bever been exposed to a population and governemnt in exile.

Giong to take a moment to voice my frustration that once again there is an issue with my card, reader or this computer so I cannot upload my India pictures. Will try another cybercafe later. Grr.

Right. Well more about McLeod Ganj. Its a big traveler town with lots of yoga and meditation and buddhism classes. I may have touched on that in my last post. I didn't partake in any of this but it is interesting to be surrounded by it. For me, the highlight of my time in McLeod was the day hike I did to Triund. Triund is 9 km from Mcleod pretty much straight up. It was quite a hike but at the end you come over a ridge and there is a lovely meadow with colorful tents set up surrounded by loads of snowy mountain peaks that look close enough to touch. Totally worth the climb! I'd show you a picture but... OK letting that go. Also near McLeod I walked 2 km to Bhagsu and the waterfall and temple there. The waterfall is really a trickle at the moment but the people watching on the walk there was worthwhile. I also walked up 3 km a few times to the little village of Dharamkot which is smaller and more picturesque than McLeod and has a great vibe. It is also a haven for Israelis (all the restaurants serve Israeli food and there are loads of them there).

I decided to head north to the hill station of Dalhousie in the Chamba Valley instead of going to Shimla or Manali. It was fairly quiet and had some nice scenery but overall I wasn't that impressed. I had some issues with my guesthouse and kind of got ripped off on a day tour and just spent a day there before coming back to McLeod. Basically, if you get the choice, I say skip it and go to Manali. The one impressive thing about Dalhousie was the gigantic monkeys that were everywhere. Big white ones with black faces that were about the size of a human teenager. Pretty crazy. There are also many monkeys in McLeod but they are more your run of the mill little brown fellas.

Not much else to report at the moment. I've been catching up on movies here are they show them at a few makeshift cinemas in town. The momos here aren't as good as in West Bengal and Sikkim but there is lots of other good Indian and Tibetan food. Tonight I take an overnight bus to Delhi and Monday morning I fly out to Kenya. I'm hoping Kara's firm will figure out when she can meet me in Tanzania for Kilimanjaro. Its been pushed back 3 times now. Everyone cross your fingers for her as I really am excited to do that!

Got the pics up! Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/India#

West Sikkim and the road to McLeod

Howdy,

So West Sikkim. Well I shared a jeep with the couple from the lake trip, Sara and Mike so we got a room together in Pelling in West Sikkim. The room was kinda like summer camp in that it was made of wood and had a cabin type of feel. We also had a TV (luxury) which was good since it poured down rain our first day there. We also met up with my friend Dan from Darjeeling in Pelling. Once the rain cleared we hiked up to a huge monastery with a very ornate sculpture on the top floor. There were also very suggestive murals covered by sheets which we found amusing. Wlking in Sikkim is always hiking. Everything is stright up or straight down. And it totally felt like a lot more up than down (doesn't it always). Just thought you should know. So after the first monastery we trekked up to Pelling's other famous monastery which is the second oldest in Sikkim. And man was that walk exhausting! But the views from the top were nice and we posed in photos with Indian tourists (which never ceases to amuse me- they love us). Later we had beers on the rooftop of our hotel with Dan and some guys he'd met and an impromptu jam session broke out. Gotta love "Hotel California" in India. We later went to see some live music (Stevie Wonder covers and all).

From Pelling we piled 14 people into a jeep made for 8 and headed for Yuksom. Yuksom is the historic spot where 3 lamas met in the 1400s and decided to create Sikkim. The stone they sat on, Coronation Rock, is still there. Yuksom is a cute little mountain village. It has an 8 PM curfew but we discovered that if you head to a restaurant, you can stay out until 10 (don't tell). So we had dinner and Tongba and met a nice Frenchman and made plans to go hiking the following day.

The hike was part of the "monastic trek" and 9 km to Ketchapari Lake. 9 km does not sound like much but keep in mind it is Sikkim. The first 5 km were super steep downhill into a valley and then we had to climb 4 km back up to the lake on the other side. Plus the trail was not all that well marked so we had to keep asking locals for directions. It was a long, hot, 3 hour hike. But the lake was very peaceful and there is absolutely no debris on it. Legend has it that it is a holy lake and the birds keep it spotless. We spent the night at a homestay above the lake with great views of the valley- you could see all the way back to Yuksom. And the food was terrific! I didn't realize that random forrest plants could taste so good. Sara, Mike, Dan, and Alain liked the lake so much they decided to spend another night. I had to head on though since my permit for SIkkim was about to expire. So I trekked back alone (very glad I'd loaded up my iPod with Mike's music) and spent one more night in Yuksom.

The next couple of days were tedious travel days so I won't bore you with details of jeeps back to Siliguri and a 21 hour train to Delhi followed by a 5 hour train to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is where I decided to stopover on my way to McLeod Ganj (because I couldn't face 12 hours on a bus after 21 on a train). Chandigarh is India's experimental architecture city. It was designed by a famous Swiss architect whose name eludes me at the moment (Le something). It is very clean and set up in a grid with numbered sectors. There are many gardens and a big lake in the center of town. There is also a huge rock garden that reminded me a lot of Parke Guell in Barcelona. My only complaint about Chandigarh (other than the heat- NEVER go to southern India in May or early june) was that accommodation was really expensive. Oh well- just a stopover.

Yesterday morning I got on a bus to Dharamsala. Eight long, hot, sweaty hours later (no AC on the bus) I arrived and got a taxi to McLeod Ganj (was planning to take another bus but apparently the bus driver was drunk and the next bus was 1.5 hours later). McLeod Ganj is home of the Tibetan government in exile (well Dharamsala is but technically McLeod is part of Dharamsala). It has loads of yoga and meditation classes and is a huge Buddhist haven. There is also a good deal of environmental awareness going on here so this morning I participated in a cleanup of a dumping area in town. It was hot and gross and felt a bit like an exercise in futility since we all know the locals will be dumping more trash where we just cleaned (that's how they roll in India), but I got my karma points for the day. After the cleanup I headed to the Dali Lamas residence and temple and to a museum that details the takeover of Tibet and the crimes against humanity committed therein. Pretty disturbing stuff.

So that's me caught up for the moment. Ten more days in India and then I am headed to Kenya to begin the African leg of my trip. I'm deciding between a 4 day trek here or heading to one more place in India before I fly out. We'll see. I definitely will be coming back to India at some point though. It is fascintating! And I have only gotten to see a small bit....

Hope everyone is well.

St

Sikkim

Wow, hard to believe that I have been in Sikkim for a week now... So Julien, my French Canadian friend I'd been with since Calcutta, and I said goodbye to the Darjeeling crew and took a packed jeep ride up to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. In the share jeeps in India, they pack 10 or more people in a jeep that we would likely think full at about 6. Such is India... Gangtok is a huge tourist destination for Indians during the hot season down south. There are not many foreign travelers and the ones that are here tend to hang out at the New Modern Central Lodge (not to be confused with the Modern Central Lodge down the hill). Julien and I went for a nice Indian meal and tried some of the local Sikkim beers our first night. The next day Julien found a group to do the GoechaLa trek in the West and I set out to find a group for the jeep trip to the north. Four hours and countless travel agencies later I had no leads and was a bit frustrated. Later, however, I met three guys who were interested in putting a group together and we decided to meet the following morning to get our permits squared away. The following morning Julien headed West and I met my new friends to sort out the trip. We opted for the 4 day, 3 night trip. I had some stomach issues that day so I pretty much stayed close to the hotel- not uncommon in India. On Wednesday morning we added one more member to our group and headed north!

The first day we spent most of our time in the jeep. Luckily the scenery was terrific. Lush green forested hills and loads of waterfalls. We stopped for thalis for lunch and continued to the small town of Lachung. It was dark when we arrived and the driver and guide had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. We drove up a dark, windy road which showed no signs of life, but then the New Season appeared. It was nowhere near the town but the seclusion meant no unnatural noise and the next morning we had incredible views of the snow capped peaks surrounding us. During this season, a clear day is a rarity so we were lucky to have about 4 hours of clear before the clouds took the views away again. We headed farther north to the Yumthang Valley. By this time the clouds had fully rolled in so we had hill views but no mountains. We'd heard of a hot spring farther up where foreigners are not allowed to go and talked our driver into letting us bribe him and the permit police to let us go up. So that afternoon we found ourselves hiking up to 16,000 feet about 10km from the Tibetan border to this small and very secluded natural hot spring. It was probably about 40 degrees and windy so hanging in the hot water was terrific! As we were leaving, we got a little glimpse of the glaciers looming above us. It was pretty magical to say the least. We spent another night in Lachung at the New Season (very warm and comfy beds and terrific food!) and got up at 5 AM to head over to Lachen a bit to the West.

Our hotel in Lachen wasn't quite as nice as the one in Lachung but it was still warm and comfortable (and comfortable beds can be hard to come by when traveling on a budget- believe me!). From Lachen we drove up to the Thangu Valley (we tried more bribes to go farther north again, but it was "Not Possible"- a common phrase in India). The weather was wet and chilly so we just did a short hike (about 1.5 hours) in the valley and headed back into town. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and having a few beers with a couple of the guys while the other two went to a local house to try the Sikkim millet alcohol- I was a little bummed to have missed that. After another large, filling Indian meal, we called it a night. The next day we headed back to Gangtok in the jeep. The distance was only about 120 km, but the roads are small, windy and often scarcely paved so it took the entire day. We had hoped for views of Kanchendzonga on the way back but alas, we were foiled again. We did stop at a nice monastery and enjoyed another yummy thali (thalis are a bunch of small dishes that make a filling meal when put together).

Today four of the five of us joined another couple and headed to Tsongo Lake at 13,000 feet. The lake was nice but there wasn't a whole lot to do up there and it was rather cold and cloudy again. But we had momos and then we got our guide to take us to a local place to try the millet alcohol I had missed in the north. The millet is fermented in bamboo for 15 days and then put in a tin can. When you are ready to drink it, you pour hot water on it and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you'd like, you can pour more water on and keep drinking it once you finish your first cup. We also tried yak meat at the local establishment. All in all a good day of trying new things :).

Tomorrow I am heading to West Sikkim to see a few more towns and hopefully do a bit of hiking.

Hope everyone is well! Congrats to Sean and Christy on the arrival of Eleanor Lake!!

India- a country of extremes

Hi all,

I made it to India without a hitch. And right off the plane, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Calcutta airport is totally old school. And the taxis there are cars that look like they are from the 1950s. And they don't have AC. And Calcutta is HOT right now. Like "I feel like I am melting" hot. I spent three days in Calcutta and most afternoons I found myself back in my room with the fan on sweating or looking for cafes with AC. The city was a great intro to India though. It is dirty, crowded, and poor like I have never seen poor before. But it was also amazing. The colors of the clothes people wear and the parks and well, everything is just so different. When I wasn't melting, I was transfixed by how everything in India is completely beyond my comprehension. The culture is totally opposite ours. I don't think I am describing this the way I want to, but just walking around and watching people and cars and carts and seeing the buildings and food stands.. well I could have spent my entire trip to India doing just that. I have to say, I really like it here. I did get to a few of the tourist spots in Calcutta while I was there. The Victoria Memorial is gorgeous and totally out of place in the city. I also spent a few hours in the Indian Museum and went to the planetarium. I met some great people in the guesthouse and spent the evenings on the roof hanging out with them. And the food in India deserves mention. It is terrific! Dahls and chapatis and curries. I eat all the time!

From Calcutta I took the overnight train to Siliguri on the way to Darjeeling. Another guy from my hotel was on the train as well and when we arrived (I splurged for AC, he was in the regular sleeper car) he had met a group of other travelers and we chartered a jeep to Darjeeling (after a bunch of bartering and some confusion about a bus- you barter for everything in India and nothing seems to run on a set schedule). Most of us stayed at the same hotel in Darjeeling and we met some other travelers here and that has been my crew for the past week. Darjeeling is totally different from Calcutta. It is a hill station at 7000 feet so it is rather chilly here (a welcome change). It is surrounded by hills and mountains so when it is clear you have amazing views. You can even see Kanchendzonga which is the third highest peak in the world. In the 6 days I've been here I've done lots of walking around, taken the famous "toy train" down to Ghoom (second highest station in the world), gone to a few temples and just hung out with the crew and read. Its been terrific. This is the longest I have spent in one place in over 6 months and I've enjoyed it immensely. Oh and I've had a lot of tea, of course :). Yesterday was my birthday and my friends organized a little party for me in the hotel complete with a cake, card, and present. It was terrific! I'm going to miss this crew. Yesterday was also election day in this province so there was dancing and revelry in the streets (including lots of colored dust thrown all over unsuspecting pedestrians) as well as fireworks last night which we watched from the roof of our hotel.

Today I am heading north to Sikkim which is supposed to be gorgeous. You need a special permit to enter Sikkim (but no worries, I have it). I'm hoping to do some trekking and a jeep tour to the north (guides and additional permits are required for both). I'm super excited about it!

All for now!

Back to Thailand and a quick trip to the US

Hi there,

Sorry it has taken me awhile, it has been a hectic couple of weeks. Turned out I had messed up the date of my flight from Hanoi and I ended up with an extra day. Which was cool because I went with some Argentinians I met to the "Hanoi Hilton" or the POW prison that John McCain and other US POWs were held in. The prison has been used as a prison since the French were in power so most of the exhibits were about Vietnamese revolutionaries. The two rooms dedicated to the US POWs focused on how well they were treated and showed pictures of volleyball games and Christmas parties. No mention was made of torture or suicide attempts. It was interesting to say the least.

After Hanoi I headed back to Thailand for 5 days. I had a rather crazy morning hitting the US Embassy for additional pages in my pasport (but if you need to get them, much quicker to do it on the road than in the US) and then the India embassy to drop off my info for the Indian visa (process takes a week and 3 visits to their office). Once I had that out of the way I went to the island of Koh Samet which is 3 hours by bus and an hour by boat from Bangkok. Like all of the Thai beaches I've encountered, Koh Samet is gorgeous! Turquoise water, white sand, and a national park inland as well. Koh samet is a big weekend getaway for urban Thais so it is pretty busy but if you walk south, you can find some secluded spots. I spent 3 days chilling on the beach and hanging out in the very social restaurant at the Naga Gueshouse (definitely one of the most affordable places on the beach) and then headed back to Bangkok to catch my flights to Austin.

I spent a week in Austin and Fort Lauderdale. It was great to spend some time with my parents (thanks for everything mom and dad!). After a couple of days there I went back to Austin for the wedding. Congratulations once again Meredith and Andy! The wedding was lovely and I was so incredibly happy to be there! A few more thanks go out to Jaclyn for my accomodation the first night, Heather and Meredith for airport transit and Forrest and Cathy for providing accommodation, food, communication and transport over the weekend. I owe you guys big! I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the trip since well it is the US and all, but it was definitely a nice break. And I celebrated my 6 month anniversary there (which is weird since I was in the US celebrating 6 months of being out of the US...).

Anyway, I am back in Bangkok for the last time. Tomorrow I fly to India. I'm very very excited!! Also, you may notice that I was finally able to post pictures again. Here are the links to the pics from S Laos and Cambodia as well as Vietnam. I think the Vietnam ones especially came out well (not surprisigly, it is gorgeous there!). Enjoy!

S Laos/Cambodia-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/SouthernLaosCambodia#

Vietnam-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Vietnam#

I didn't take pics at the wedding so any of you who are reading this who were there, please either send me some or send me links!

North Vietnam

Well my trip to Ninh Binh was interesting. I was told we'd arrive there at 5:30 AM so I woke up at 5 to be ready and at 5:40 AM we pulled into Hanoi which is 2 hours north of where I wanted to be. I guess I slept through Ninh Binh (and I made sure to tell the driver and the woman working on the bus I was going to Ninh Binh, but it didn't seem to matter). So I had to then get a motorbike to the train station but the first train was 4 hours hence so I took another motorbike to the bus station and nearly got charged double for the bus (thank you nice man in front of me for telling me what the true fare was) and I made it to Ninh Binh about 8:30 AM. As this little tale illustrates, I've noticed in North Vietnam the people are much more likely to try and overcharge and misinform tourists than in the South. I'd been warned about this, but it is still frustrating to encounter.

Ninh Binh turned out to be fantastic! The first day I rented a bike and rode down to Tam Coc where you go on a row boat through caves and around huge limestone karsts and rice fields. The scenery is amazing. I was in a boat with a Swiss and a French girl and we had the boat let us off at a temple and walked back from there. There was a festival at the temple and the people were in colorful costumes with all sorts of accessories and things to carry in a parade. From there I walked to another temple a few km away and explored it as well. I met two nice Aussie ladies, Jo and Ally, who helped me not get charged twice (the boat woman took my ticket for the rest of the park "by accident"). Later that afternon I rode up to Hoa Lu which was an ancient capital city and wandered around a bit. The second day I joined Jo and Ally and we again took bikes. This time we started at a small temple tucked away into a karst. A lovely female monk took us on a tour of part of the temple that was in a cave and we watched as she performed a ceremony complete with some terrific chanting enhanced by the natural acoustics of the cave. I thought Jo was going to stay all day. Then we biked to Thang An which is somewhat like Tam Coc only 20 times better. There were no other tourists and the boat took us through about 9 long caves (which were lit up inside) and to 3 temples on the lake. It was truly magical. Later we rode to a new pagoda that is being built and walked around it. Even though it is under construction, they let people into the completed parts. Exhausted we headed back to the hotel (with a stop at another temple to eat more fresh pipneapple- yum!). Ally and Jo had to catch a night train that night. I was sad to see them go. The lady at our hotel came up to me after they left and told me I was lucky to make nice new friends. Pretty perceptive lady :).

The next morning I took a minibus to Haiphong to catch the ferry to Cat Ba Island on Halong Bay. There were 3 French travellers on my bus and I shared a cab with them to the ferry, hung out with them while waiting 2 hours for the next ferry and stuck with them on the boat (guess what, we were all overcharged- see a pattern forming?). I figured I'd continue stalking them so I went to their hotel with them on Cat Ba and they said I could join them on their boat trip around Halong Bay for two days. I lucked out! The boat trip was fantastic! Halong Bay is gorgeous- more limestone karsts, this time coming out of the sea. We shared the boat with a Spanish couple for a few hours the first day but after that it was all ours. We went through a huge cave (on foot) and sailed all over the bay. We rarely saw other boats so we felt like we had the whole bay to ourselves. The food on the boat was plentiful and delicious. We had fresh fish with every meal (so fresh we watched our second day's lunch get caught that morning). My fave was the spring rolls though. We spent the night on a floating fish farm and before going to bed we hung out and drank rice wine with the captain and the guys who live on the farm. The second day we went kayaking through caves to a secluded lagoon. Later we cruised to Halong City where the French crew (Severine, Vincent, and Gregory) left me to head back to Hanoi. I had the boat to myself on the way back to Cat Ba and just enjoyed the scenery. It really is gorgeous! The next day I did a trek in the National Park on Cat Ba. It was really hot, slippery, steep and there were loads of bees. Luckily I only got stung once. After that I headed straight for Hanoi (bus boat bus) and then onto an overnight train to Sapa so I really pity the people who were stuck in a cabin with me. The view fromo the top of the island was nice though.

My plan for Sapa was to hike Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. However, the weather wasn't so great, the treks were pricier than I'd anticipated and I developed an allergic reaction to the bee sting which caused what I like to call "Cabbage Patch Kid arm" meaning pretty hefty swelling from fingers to elbow. So instead I hiked to local villages and waterfalls and enjoyed the scenery and chill vibe (if you can ignore the constant harrassment from local villagers to buy brightly colored crafts) in Sapa. I only stayed 2 days and met Lloyd and Loz from Wales and Emily from Austin on the way back to Hanoi. We thought we were all on the same train, but when it turned out Lloyd and Loz were on the later one, they traded their cush soft sleeper tickets and paid extra money to be snuck onto our train in the employees car (that's how they roll in Vietnam). But it was worth it as we all got to hang out (our car was empty) on the way and until the hostels opened in Hanoi.

I've spent the last couple days in and around Hanoi. The most fascinating thing I've done in the city was to visit the Ho Chi Minh masoleum. Yes, if you fly to Vietnam, you too can view the preserved corpse of Uncle Ho. You must be properly dressed (no shorts or tank tops) and can not laugh, talk or smile while in his presence (armed guards are there to enforce this). You may not take photos and must keep moving and not stop and gawk. Got it? Good :). Today I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. I have no idea why it is named the Perfume Pagoda. It didn't smell particularly nice and after a sweaty hour on an open boat in 40 degree heat and then an hour hike up the hill, we certainly didn't smell very nice either. But the temples are nice to see- the highest one being inside a cave (so you can cool off before hiking down and getting back on the cramped, sweaty rowboat). I met a nice Israeli and a couple from Argentina so I'm going to head out in a sec and meet up with them.

Tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam. I'll be sad to leave it and highly recommend it to any of you who are thinking about coming over to SE Asia. Next stop a short stint in Thailand, a quick jump to the US for Mere's wedding, and then I am off to India. More adventures await!

Easy Rider

Sin jow,

OK, so the trip with the Easy Rider was AWESOME! Definitely worth the money. We did so much that I know I won't be able torecap it all in this post but I'll list some of the things we did. The best parts for me were stopping and visiting the local people and seeing what they did and how they lived. It is definitely not anything you can get on a bus tour. I think it was the most authentic local experience I've had on my trip so far.

The first day we left Dalat and headed to Lok Lake. On the way we stopped at a silk factory and a waterfall and then went on to a family that raises the worms for the silk factory. That was really cool. We also stopped and spent a little time with a squatter family. Jean, my guide, brought passion fruit from his family's farm and twice a day mixed it with water and sugar for a really refreshing drink. We ate in little local restaruants with cheap, terrific food and we ate a lot! Day one it was lots of small plates of meats and veggies with rice. Day Two we went from Lok Lake to Buon Ma Thout. BMT is the biggest town in the Central Highlands. There is a large War Memorial in the center of town. We stopped at a family that makes brooms on the way and went to an old bridge that was the site of a battle during the war and another waterfall. Lunch was vegetarian food which was terrific. Dinner though was my favorite meal in Vietnam to date. We went for make-your-own spring rolls. They brought out rice paper, noodles, lettuce, mint, banana, mango, cucumber, fig, grilled meat and crsipy sticks. You roll a bit of everything in the rice paper and dip in this amazing peanut sauce. I hope I canfind another place like that before I leave Vietnam! Day 3 was the longest day on the bike. We did over 200 km to get to Kon Tum. We had fresh mango on the way and stopped to see a couple of local tribal communities, rice harvesting, andsome more battle sites and memorials. Day 4 we went to a small town whose name I have forgotten. This day we started riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The trail is now a paved road, but in many places, you can still see the path used by the VC during the war. The scenery became more dense and beautiful as we got farther north. We stopped to see some incredible wood carving and cement tree pot making (huge). Our last dinner we had venizon and rice (yum). The last day on the bike we went to Hoi An. We started again on the HCM trail but left it eventually. We stopped to see pineapple harvesting and try fresh pineapple. We also went to a hill that was the site of many battles and saw bomb craters (you see these all over Vietnam). The trip ended in Hoi An and Jean headed for home.

Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site (the old town anyway) and a great place to wander around the small alleys and look at the old buildings. Hoi An is also known for its tailors and many travelers end up having way more clothes made than they anticipated (case in point my Irish friends who started with one suit each and then spent 3 extra days buying more clothes). I just had one dress made for Mere's upcoming wedding. Had to bedone :). I did a day trip to the Cham ruins at My Son. The site predates Angkor Wat by about 700 years. Unfortunately the war destroyed most of the temples. Bomb craters litter the site. We took a boat trip back toHoi An and stopped to see a craft village on the way. After Hoi An I planned to spend a night in Danang to explorethe Marble Mountains and China Beach, but it was raining so I just got a train to Hue. The train ride was lovely despite the weather. Ocean on the right, mountains on the left. Definitely a nice cahnge from the tourist buses.

The last few days I've spent in Hue. Hue is on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The first day I wandered around the old Imperial City which has lots of temples and old royal buildings. Yesterday I did a day trip down the river to some more temples and some of the tombs of the kings. The tombs are in parks with lakes, trees, and multiple old stone structures. Really cool to wander through. Last night I went on another boat to see Hue folk music on the river. My favorite part was when each person on the boat was given a candle in a floating paper box to set down in the river. Something about fire on water... Tonight I head north to Nimh Binh. The weather has been bad the last 3 days and I hope it clears as I go north. I hear Halong Bay and Sapa (both of which I am totally looking forward to) are not nearly as nice in bad weather. Fingers crossed!

Oh and if you are interested in reading about the Easy Riders I went with from Dalat, the web address is www.dalat-easyrider.com
The one Annie posted in the comments on the last post is from another town. Many towns in Vietnam have Easy Riders, but the ones from Dalat are supposedly the original and best. Also the most expensive...

Vietnam, home of the American War

OK, no more pics for a month til I get my card sorted out :(. Cross your fingers for me that I haven't lost everything...

The bus ride from Phnom Penh to Vietnam was uneventful (a good thing with border crossings). I did meet a tour group and the guide joke that Cambodia's national pastime was sleeping in hammocks. I found that hysterical because you really do see loads of people all over Cambodia sleeping in hammocks. Often when you'd think they'd be working. Not that I am judging. I say more power to 'em.

First stop in Vietnam was Saigon (yes, it has been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone still calls it Saigon and Saigon is easier to type). I had been warned that the cities in Vietnam are absolutely crazy and it is true, I have never seen traffic like I saw in Saigon. And there are literally hundreds of electric wires crossing at every major intersection. This place is packed! My first day I walked up to the War Remnants museum. In Vietnam, the Vietnam War is called the American War. The museum is really sobering. It shows many terrible things our troops did to villagers and talks about the chemicals we let loose that are still crippling children today. There are also displays of protests against the war from around the world (including the US) and some peaceful artwork by kids. Definitely a must see if you go to Saigon. The next day I took a day trip to the Cao Dai temples and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Cao Dai is a hybrid religion that is popular in Vietnam. The temple reminded me of the Gaudi architecture you find in Barcelona (so I loved it). The Cu Chi Tunnels were a system of tunnels 200 km long where the Cu Chi Villagers lived during the war. We were shown all sorts of really painful looking booby traps that the VC set up for American troops and were able to crawl through parts of the tunnels. For a small additional fee, you can fire a real military rifle or AK-47, but I passed as I am not a fan of guns. My third day in Saigon I did a day trip to the Mekong Delta. We spent much of the day in varying sizes of boats along the Mekong and visited a few island villages. We got to try coconut candy, fresh honey, rice liquor, banana wine (skip it, so gross), and 5 different kinds of fruit (my first jackfruit!). I also got to wear one of the conical hats that are so common in Vietnam. I look ridiculous and yes, there are pictures.

I've been very excited about the food in Vietnam for, well the whole trip. I am addicted to the fresh spring rolls with shrimp and pork that you buy on the street for 4000 dong (25 cents). I also love the Pho. Yesterday I tried the Bun Hue which is a spicy noodle soup from the north. It was good, but I prefer Pho. Each area has its own specialties so I'm looking forward to trying loads more as I travel north.

Yesterday I took a bus up to Dalat in the Central Highlands. It took all day so other than walking around the lake and the market last night, I haven't seen much. This afternoon I am doing a motorcycle tour of the area and tomorrow I head off for a 5 day tour of the highlands on the same motorcycle. This trip is with the famed (locally anyway) Easy Riders that I have heard and read rave reviews about. So needless to say I am stoked! I'll let you know how it goes.

See some of you very soon!