The Long Way Home

A little description about this blog

2010-02-09T00:00:00.000+08:00

My name is Benny Chan, Chinese, in my mid-30s. I was a foreign student in the United States for 7 years. After I finally graduated from my master's degree in June 2009, I decided that it's about time to return to my home in Hong Kong. However, instead of taking a 15 hours direct flight from Chicago to Hong Kong, I took a much longer and much more interesting detour via Peru, Chile and Australia to go home. I departed from the US on Sep 28, and arrived home in Hong Kong on Nov 26. This almost 2-months backpacking journey in its entirety has been documented in this blog, from the day I started the preparation of my return to the day I was sitting in my room in Hong Kong looking for job. It covered all the funs, problems, and emotions I had on the road, before and after the trip. I intended to keep this blog available online partly as a memory for myself, but also for those travelers who are doing the similar kind of trip or soul searching journey. Perhaps you compare notes with what I encountered.

To start reading from the preparation... HERE

To start reading from the beginning of the trip... HERE

By Day
Day 0, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11,
Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22,
Day 23, Day 24, Day 25, Day 26, Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30, Day 31, Day 32, Day 33,
Day 34, Day 35, Day 36, Day 37, Day 38, Day 39, Day 40, Day 41, Day 42, Day 43, Day 44,
Day 45, Day 46, Day 47, Day 48, Day 49, Day 50, Day 51, Day 52, Day 53, Day 54, Day 55,
Day 56, Day 57, Day 58, Day 59

By Place:
- Lima, Peru | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3

- Cuzco & The Sacred Valley, Peru | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

- Machu Picchu, Peru | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3

- Puno (Lake Titicaca), Peru | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

- Arequipa & Colca Canyon, Peru | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

- Tacna, Peru | Arrival | Photo Album

- Arica, Chile | Arrival | Photo Album

- San Pedro de Atacama (Atacama Desert), Chile | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4

- Valparaiso, Chile | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4

- Santiago, Chile | Arrival: 1, 2, 3 | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4

- Easter Island, Chile | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

- Sydney, Australia | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

- Hong Kong, China | Arrival | Photo Albums: 1, 2

_

The first job interview in HK since 1999

2009-12-19T14:11:00.000+08:00

A week from now, I will be back home in Hong Kong for a month already. It seem like it has been just a blink of an eye, feels totally weird, but at the same times, it's kind of like things around me becoming more "real". You know, at first it's kind of dreamy, am I really here? Not exactly sure what I should be doing everyday. I couldn't even get my shower pattern back on track. Sometimes I shower in the morning, sometimes afternoon, sometimes at night. There is no regularity. Be honest, I am still trying to get that fixed. I mean, I am not exactly retired and the last thing I want is allowing myself to become lazier and lazier. So a daily schedule will do me good.

Time does really fly though, I admit. It's Xmas in a week. Looks like we gonna have a cooler X'mas, "cooler" as in HK standard, which is around 50-60F. Be honest, when you don't have heater or central heating to maintain the temperature, it can be chilly. Some of my friends do use those portable heaters, but my family don't. I don't know if I really need it, I should just put on a long pant, my mom would say.

By the way, all my shipped stuffs arrived and delivered. I have found my Hong Kong identification card back. Apparently, before I went to South America, I decided that I should not be carrying so many cards and junks in my wallet, so I took everything out, including my HK ID, for whatever reasons. I wasn't really thinking straight, I suppose. Anyway, I am glad that I have found it back, and do not spend more money to have it replaced. All my CD/DVDs, books, clothes, shoes are found their home in my tiny room. You will be amazed how those 7 boxes of stuffs be putted away inside my room, and I still have a bed to sleep, a table to work and some rooms to move around in this no bigger than 7x7 sq ft room.

Yesterday, I had my first job interview. It was actually for the first application I sent out two weeks ago. They asked to fill a form and answer a few exam type kind of question (to see if I can really do statistics), and then they wanted to meet me. It was a western woman whom I met, she was extremely friendly. We actually spent the first 5 mins talking about traveling. She loves traveling too and have been to some of the places I have visited in South America. So, that was a good start. It's a really small company, only 6 persons, one of them is even located in the UK. They don't have an office, and if they will hire me. I'll be doing the work at home. That's completely new to me and I am not sure if that's good or not yet really, for a person who just says he wants some regularity. The title is business analyst / biostatistician, doing healthcare-related forecast, analysis, building models..etc. My role will mainly focus on epidemiology at the beginning. In US and Europe, there are already well-established companies doing these stuffs and have well-maintain databases built. But in the emerging countries, this area is still very much underdeveloped. So, on the surface, I really think it could be a really good direction for me to go and get myself into. But at the same time, I have no background in healthcare or even biostatistics at all. It will be a tough job to do, especially since the company is so small and have no office, you are pretty much on your own right off the back. That's my concern whether I can really meet their expectation. I mean, not trying to beat up myself, in Statistics field, I am a "fresh" graduate without any previous relevant experience. Anyway, a friend is saying I am thinking too much (do you just know me? of course I am), I should just see if they'd hire me, and then I think about I'd take or not. I guess. The woman at the interview seemed to be really happy with my academic background and previous employment references. That might be a good sign. And we talked for 90 mins! That ought to be the longest job interview I have ever had in HK.

One of my biggest problem right now is that I am not sure at all how much I should ask for. Unlike the US, it's easy to find a list of median wages or a rough guide for pretty much for all positions. Here there are some, but not a lot. Positions, confusing like "business analyst", it can be anything from an insurance salesman to an analyst in a financial institute. I don't want to be asking too high, nor do I want to get an office assistant salary and doing statistical analysis. I am not a greedy person, I just want a fair salary, whatever this position should be worth in this market then I just take it, although a capitalist society never works that way, does it? I guess I'll find out how much I am worth when I will finally find a job.

Just for the record, my last job interview in Hong Kong before this one was actually a decade ago, in 1999. I think I did ok with the interview really, partly because she was an western woman instead of a chinese woman. I am afraid of chinese female interviewers, they should be featuring in the Simpson's horrortree's episodes.

Finally, I must announce that this will be the last newsletter from my travel blog. I will set up a new blog very very soon, I am debating on the name right now, it will be about my daily life in Hong Kong, I suppose. If you are interested to still hear from this little pal of yours, please let me know. So, I'd add you on the distribution list. I will probably connect with some of you on Facebook too. For those who lives in Hong Kong, I probably won't be sending you the blog anymore. You'll probably have enough seeing me all the times anyway.

Last but not least, thank you so much for being a friend and I am glad that I have shared my South America to you all, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did. Wherever you are, keep in touch. Good luck to you all!

Photos here: Hong Kong (Misc Photos)

From a traveler to a resident

2009-12-07T13:13:00.002+08:00

Slowly as it is, I am transforming from a traveler to a resident here at home in Hong Kong. Last night, I think it has been the first night I slept 8 hours straight without waking up in the middle of the night. Maybe I was just too tired, or I have finally started to filter out the noises, a little more everyday anyway. My room has become more livable, now I have a desk, a bookcase which I already half filled, even though my stuffs shipped from the US has not arrived yet. I have no idea what I'll do when it does, where and how to keep my stuffs in this tiny room. I'll figure something out.

Before I came back, I thought I would be very glad to eat at home, to taste my parents' cooking. But it's very strange to say, I have started to miss cooking for myself. I miss going to shop for foods in the supermarket, and prepare dinner for myself, even though I can only cook a very limited variety of things and they are not very good either. It's that autonomy in making your own decision, choosing something for yourself without compromising. I think I really miss that. I mean, I have no complaint about the food at home at all, and it's not like my parents controlling what I can do per se, but it is just different between living on your own or with a non-related roommate and living with your parents. So, I still say I'll keep my goal to move out as soon as I can afford it.

Curt, my roommate in Chicago, were here to visit for a weekend, we had dinner last Thursday and Saturday. It was great seeing Curt. Make me miss Chicago more, in a good way. Last night, a friend and I went to see a Volleyball match for the East Asian Games: China vs Taiwan! China won. 3 sets straight. A quick game. It is an interesting experience. Except soccer, I have never really gone to any other sport games in HK before. In US, I saw the baseball and hockey games a couple times. The difference between sport games in US and HK: in US, everyone get drunk, talk loud to each other, cheer and boo at their team at the same time, it's a social event, the sport itself is important, but there is also a social thing going on in the audience that has nothing to do with the sport. While in HK, the audience are usually more tamed, very focused in the game, and the stupid MC makes you play the silly human waves around the stadium, kind of shit. The cheers are usually positive, and no beers or nachos in the stadium.

I have officially sent out my first job application letter (email) today. It is for a Business Analyst/Biostatistician position for a healthcare forecasting company. Honestly, I doubt that I will be able to get this job, not because I don't have any experience in biostatistics or working with medical data, but it's because I haven't had a job interview for a million years, I think it will take me a few times to get back to the game. I am still reworking on my cover letter format anyway, I have a long list of sound bites that can be used to describe myself. I am trying to write a piece that is not too lengthy or self-deluding (yeah right, it's freaking cover letter!), but at the same time, have the right amount of indigents to promote myself. We'll see how it goes. But to start is the first place, I am glad the first letter is out, the next thing I'll do is to contact some employment search firms this week.

Just a head up. I probably will end this travel blog very soon, as the title suggests, I am no longer a traveler. But I will probably open and keep a personal blog, to keep a journal on my bittersweet daily life here in HK. I shall invite you to see the new site soon.

Photos here: East Asian Game

Settling in yet... not really but getting there

2009-12-01T01:02:00.001+08:00

Been back to Hong Kong for 4 days now, I am sitting here in my living room at 2:30pm in the afternoon, waiting for the cable guy to arrive to set up the internet for me. Quite frankly, I can't wait. It will give me so much more to do in the days and nights, to research for job, to get my resume ready, to check email, or just to chat with friends. Like all technology, soon enough we become so dependent on it, now without internet for days, almost feel like I am disabled. Quite scary that way really. Want to quit it, but so hard. :)

Things are getting in places slowly, while money is drifting away rapidly. I have got a bookcase and a desk from IKEA, a coffee press from Starbucks, a new pillow and other necessities for my room, also a new cell phone number without the cell phone from One2Free. I just use my old phone from the US, do need to pay a fee to unlock it (since all phones from the US are shamelessly locked to avoid you to use other providers' sim cards, here we don't have that restriction). I need to sign a one year contract with the phone company though even though I just open an account for the number, quite annoying really. The internet should be ready today as well, it's a 2 years freaking contract. Everything requires a contract, tied you up for life if they can, a legal way to practice slavery. Now, I am just waiting for the furniture to be delivered on Wednesday and my stuffs from the US to arrive in 2 weeks. Then I should be able to begin my "new" life here.

Still haven't found a local bank to open an account. Originally, I plan to use Bank of America here, since all my money in the US side is in BOA. I thought it might be more convenient to transfer money if I have another account in their Hong Kong branch. However, turn out the retail banking sector is no longer existed in Hong Kong. They sold to some other banks, so my big plan does not work. I can still get my money from ATM machines, just need to get a couple hundreds US dollar at a time and do it for a week or two (because there is a daily limit how much you can withdraw). Then, I will deposit my money back to a local bank, I feel like money laundering, but not really, it's my own money! I try to choose the local bank carefully, since they all have fees and restrictions written in small print under the table right by the thighs. Besides, the culture here is very strange, banks often links with retailers, and they get a certain advantages at a certain places. It is quite confusing and complex if you really dig it. But for me, I just want to choose one that is not the least favorable.

After I put the furnitures up this Wednesday, I'll take some picture of my room.

Culture shock in my own country

2009-11-29T20:09:00.001+08:00

On my first night in Hong Kong, after a long flight, I went to bed around midnight. Being in my own room, but I felt like sleeping in a strange bed. By 4:30am or 5:00am, I got awaken by the traffic noises coming in from my windows. I just lay there for a couple hours and couldn't get back to sleep. I think I have forgotten how noisy Hong Kong is. I can already foresee that I will have a week or two rough night sleeps, and then my body gets really tired, eventually I naturally adjust back to this environment. When I first moved to the US, the silence in the evenings gave ringings in my ears. After a week or two, my body started to get used to it.

I have expected that it will take me a while to get used to the pace of Hong Kong anyway, even though I lived here for 26 years before I headed to study in the US and I have still remained connections with many individuals here over the past few years. However, the lifestyle of Hong Kong is rather different than Chicago's. Perhaps in the whole world, there are really only a very few cities that can compare with the fast pace of lifestyle in Hong Kong. Grab, eat, drink, work, talk, sleep, have fun... all at once. We have small spaces, but with lots of people. When you live here, you begin to create your own space internally to get away from the white noise surrounding you.

I manage to clear up the room a bit, where has stored many "old" stuffs. Both my parents are collectors of "antiques", but not from buying, nor are they worth anything. They are the old clothing and accessories of mine or my brother's, and their own stuffs that they would never use anymore. Actually, they don't throw stuffs away. So, when I moved out, it was just perfect that an extra room became available to store the old stuffs. My old hi-fi has been disconnected and kept at some high places in the house. My room has been repainted, and stuffed with plastic boxes of sheets and old clothes, discolored or with holes. Sounds like why wasting the space, right? Yep! I know, but my parents lived through the old days when they had nothing. I understand why, and usually I just pretend I don't see the boxes, or bags or whatever it is. Only when something's really rubbish and wasting the space I want to use, I just secretly throw those things away. I used to have some hanging shelves in my room, they are all gone now. Good and bad, I guess. I have a tons of books, CDs, DVDs, clothes, and many other stuffs were shipped by ocean fright from the US back here, they will be arriving very soon. I can probably buy the right furniture to accommodate them. However, this will cost some money. Intentionally, I reserve some money from my trip to spend in Hong Kong before I will be able to find a job. I was hoping the money will last me two to three months. But now I am not so sure. We'll see about that.

Find that without my Hong Kong ID card and any local credit card, things become very very inconvenient. I have gone to the local phone company to check the contract of my home land line which has expired for my mom. It was registered with my name previously. Anyway because I am unable to show the HK ID, they cannot provide me with any information, not even with my passport where they can find the same HK ID number shown in it. They say when you registered with a HK ID, you need to show that in order to do anything with the account. It is a privacy protection thing required by the government, but it becomes very inconvenient when I happen to have lost my ID. I try to open a new cell phone account and ask about getting internet, almost everywhere everything here are using credit cards, I mean most of the stuffs, you can still pay cash, but you just don't get any specific offers, extra benefits or have limited plans or options for you to choose. One of the banks I have visited even tells me that I need a HK ID to open an account. That's a freaking joke. The others are ok with a passport. At the end of my first day, I get some idea how I am going to do about my room and check around about a few stuffs such as cell phone, internet and some furniture choices. But I haven't gotten anything or made any solid decision yet.

My goal is to get a cell phone number, set up the internet and make my room more livable within a week, so maybe I can sleep better at nights and might feel more homey here. And my other stuffs should be arriving in 2 weeks, after that, my priority will shift to finding a job. Right now, I don't even have an extra pair of pants or shoes to wear. It is hard to feel like home really, but I try. Just hope the lack of HK ID and HK credit card will not cause me too big an obstacle for the coming days.

Day 59 : Sydney to Hong Kong

2009-11-27T22:48:00.000+08:00

Wake up at 6:20am, I already packed most of the stuffs last night, so there is really not much to pack. Just make sure I haven't left anything behind, that's all. As usual, have some coffee and toast, take a shower before we leave the house at 8am. Take the ferry to Circular Quay where I will transfer to a train to the airport. Say goodbye to Robbie, thank him for welcoming me to his place. I am looking forward to seeing him again either in HK, Sydney or Canada if he is going to have a wedding there someday. I quite like Sydney, so I am sure I'll be back someday anyway.

I am taking a Qantas flight at noon today, there is a long line for international flights, but the line goes quicker at least. Have my bag checked, pass the customs, then I find myself a cafe to have a coffee and write my blog until boarding. The crying kids at the gate particularly annoy me, they are two brothers, one is hitting the others and telling him he is an idiot. That kids cannot be older than 3 years. The father is ordering the elder brother to stand by the wall, but he just cries his lungs out, and so does his younger brother who has just squeezed some water onto his brother's shirt before they start to fight. Both deserves some good handy spanky, in my opinion.

The flight is quite full, the attendant for my aisle is particularly absent-minded. She has forgot drinks, collecting trays for a few rows. She might as well forget where she is and start sleeping on the floor. Apart from her, the flight is smooth and the food is good. I watch a movie called Mao's Last Dancer, which Robbie just recommended me about a few days ago. It is indeed quite good, and it makes my eyes wet. It actually occurs in a moment kind of embarrassing: I am just so touched by the scene when the main character rejoin with his parents in the states, the tears are flooding in my eyes, while my kind neighbor happens to ask me if I want a piece of chocolate from her box at that time. I am like hold it, grab a piece of chocolate, say thanks, not dare to look at her. She is the friendly mom type. Another movie I watch is called The State Of Play, starring by Russell Crowe and Ben Afflick, about a political scandal, good acting but poor choice for a flight movie. After another 6 TV programs: four 30 Rock and two The Simpsons later, I literally have enough of TV and have to turn it off. Luckily, we are also arriving soon. I look out of the window, and see some green barren islands sticking out from the surface of the sea, like they have just dropped out from the sky. I can just recognize them right away, almost like the signature of Hong Kong really.

Land at Hong Kong Int'l Airport at 5:45pm, the sky is already getting dark. Just a week or two ago, it was 10C here, and now it's back to 25C, I feel kind of warm really because I carry two heavy backpacks on my back and on my front. The custom has not given me much troubles, just curious why I don't have my HK ID with me. Oh well, I just say I left it at home even though I really have no idea where it went. Walking out the airport, quite frankly, I have mixed feelings, this time is so much different than the past few times I came back from the US. I guess because this time is for permanent. I am happy to see my family and friends and feel excited about a lot of things I am going to see and do, but I know very well that starting anew is not gonna be easy, finding a job, sleeping in my old room which has long become a storage room, I need to get some new furnitures for my room like a bookshelf, a desk and perhaps a bed, also need to get a cell phone, set up internet, a bank account...etc. It will take a while, it will take a while, I keep myself. Just take one step at a time.

After all, I am home, taken a long way but here I am, back for good.

Photos here: Day 59

Day 58 : Sydney Day 4 - Manly Beach

2009-11-27T22:46:00.002+08:00

Quite a fabulous day actually. Get up around 6 or 7am, but fall back asleep and get up again around 9:40am. Not sure if I still have jet lag or not, I do get awaken fairly early, but usually I manage to sleep an hour or two more after laying in bed for awhile. And in the daytime, I don't feel tired at all. Anyway, the weather is absolutely fab today, blue sky, not too hot, around 25-26C, with some breezes, and certainly not cold at all. I can finally go sunbathing at the beach.

I have the leftover curry chicken with rice from a few nights ago for lunch, after that, I head down to the bus stop and hop on the Bus#143 which takes me to the Manly Beach. Maybe 1:30pm, I am looking for some tanning oil in some pharmacies in Manly. I have a No.30 for my face in my bag actually, but my body below the head is all white except the arms, I want to get a No.4 or even No.2 to get some tan on my body, or someone would say I have worn an invisible vest! I have looked in two pharmacies, there are lots of 30+ tanning oil, but not many low number ones. Robbie told me once that because some many people are getting skin cancer from the sun these days, the government starts to tell people not to sunbath too much. Perhaps it's really the case. Anyway, I find a No.6 tanning oil, when I pay, the cashier gives me a warning saying that oil has very low protection and I should consider getting a higher number. Very nice of her. But I pull up the sleeve of my shirt and tell her that I need some colors on some parts of my body.

As a weekday, I am surprised to find so many people at the beach, don't people need to work here in Australia? Last Saturday, we were at the beach next to the wharf. This time, I walk to the other side of the peninsula, where the real Manly Beach is. Over at that side, the water is very wavy, many people are surfing. The beach itself is beautiful, the sand is very fine, the water is clean and in light green. I walk past the field where the kids are playing volleyball, find a place with less crowds, I lay down my Woodstock Music Festival beach towel, show off my not so sexyback, and apply the tanning oil on my body. Not exactly sure how long I do my front, about 7-8 songs, I guess, I am listening the latest album of a band called The Gossip. And then I do my back for another 7-8 songs. Front again. When I finally decide to go into the water, I have already listened to 3 albums. Enough tanning for a day. The water is very cold, but with the sun, it is ok. Only wet for a few minutes, I go back up, sit for a little bit while taking some pictures of the surfers and the cuties. Then, I pack up and leaves. It is already 5pm, I need to get home before Robbie, or he will be stuck outside of the house.

We pick up some pizza for dinner, and I watch the movie Angels and Demons on the movie channel while we are eating it. Honestly, I find the movie though entertaining but not enough wow factors, the plot and how the director handles the film is very similar to the De Vinci's Code. I mean, yeah, I am slightly surprised by the ending, but it hasn't wowed me. What really "wow" me or more like "scare" me tonight is that I cannot locate my Hong Kong identity card while I am heading home in less than 24 hours. Now I think of it, I can't recall when I saw it last either. Before I left the US, I made a copy of all my identification and I certainly didn't have it then. Hopefully, I kept it at my mom's, otherwise, I will have it replaced when I get back to Hong Kong.

Photos here: Day 58

Day 57 : Sydney Day 4 - Crow's Nest

2009-11-24T19:20:00.000+08:00

This is an even more relaxing day, I have not actually gotten out of bed until 10am. My eyes are jammed by whatever you called it, I personally call it eyeshit. The sky is gloomy, the blinds are down, it is a perfect condition for extended bedtime. I could have slept some more if I want to, but I just take a peek at the watch, it's already 10am, so I am like: alright, alright, I'd get up. After some toasts and coffee, I take a shower. Soon, it's way past noon already, I reheat the pasta and play the Torch Song Trilogy DVD on TV while I am eating, kind of lost track how many times I have seen that movie, but probably many.

It sprinkles a little outside, I plan on staying in most of the times, but I need to go down to the supermarket to get chicken. I'd be cooking again tonight, plan to make the other dish I can do - marinated chicken with rice. Get to the supermarket, I notice there are two type of chicken thighs: cutlet and fillet, not exactly sure what the differences are, so I get them both, 2 each, not missing out anything. Turn out one with bone, one without. Oh... It's what it is, good, learn something new everyday. The pumpkin soup with ginger looks pretty good as well, so I get some of those as well. Come back, marinate the chicken, then I head out again. Robbie tells me about this arty book/CD/DVD shop in a neighborhood called Crow's Nest, there they have a lot of foreign movies, so I want to go there and take a look.

Take a bus, about 5 mins, I arrive at Crow's Nest. All the neighborhoods I have visited in Sydney so far are all quite eclectic, sidewalk cafes and little shops are everywhere. I walk down Willoughby Road twice and cannot find the shop. Almost give up and about to go back home, but I decide to give it one more try, I walk down the road once again but on the other side of the street. This time, I finally see it, the shop is called Title, with a tiny little storefront and in very simplistic style. I would not have spot it from the other side of the street, because it is completely hidden behind the sidewalk cafe. They have a really good collection of the arty and foreign movies, a lot of world music CDs, and those huge art books. Many items in the shop are very tempting, but they are quite expensive, so I haven't bought anything, which is good actually.

Come back the house around 4:30pm, listening to music for a while. Then, I have pretty much done nothing until 7:30pm, when I begin to cook. Watching The Nightmare Before Christmas while we have dinner. Tomorrow, the weather.com predicts for "AM Cloud PM Sun", hopefully I'll be able to go to the beach and get some tan on my body.

No photos today.

Day 56 : Sydney Day 3 - CD Shopping

2009-11-24T19:17:00.000+08:00

Despite the fact I slept quite late last night, I have woken up rather early this morning. Robbie head out to work around 8am, I guess, I am not exactly sure actually. But after he leaves the house, I just take it easy, have some toasts and coffee for breakfast. Watch some TV, use the internet, take a shower, before I know it, it's like almost noon. So, I fix myself the leftover pasta with chorizo in melted cheese again. Well, I have enough for at least 2 days' lunches. It's good, save me money. In fact, the US dollar is so weak now, I am not sure if I should be spending much here. It is like 1 to 0.9 something from AUD to USD. The prices I have seen in shops here seems fairly high to me, like a sandwiches with chips and drink I had yesterday cost like AUD 15, a regular CD price is like AUD 22 (that's a lot for Christ's sake). Although in the states, apart from the listed price, you need to pay the tax on top of it, here in Australia, the listed price has already included the tax, so the number you see on the sticker is what you pay. I like that, nothing jumps out at you at checkout. For restaurants too, no tipping is expected. THAT is so much better.

Plan of the day is to go downtown on my own, check out some CD shops. I doesn't have to buy stuffs, just want to check things out. One or two cheap DVDs might satisfy my shopping desire, we'll see, right? So, after lunch, make sure I have the door locked and carry the "key" with me, which is the only copy, such a big responsibility, I am not sure if Robbie has put it on the right hand. Anyway, successfully get to downtown, go back to the Virgin Record Megastore, find nothing. Walk to the Oxford Street, hoping to find Central Station, which is a dance record shop that I visited 9 years ago and bought a lot of CDs as I still remember. But I walk up and down the Oxford Street and cannot find it, even though the website says it is still there. Don't know, maybe I just miss it completely?? It starts to rain when I am walking on the Oxford Street, all the clubs and bars are closed. There are some alternative clothing shops, adult shops kind of stuffs opened, but the street is rather quite in the afternoon. I walk back toward the Hyde Park, take a picture of the noisy bird on the tree. Then I go to another CD/DVD shop in World Square Shopping Center where I buy 2 DVDs. Oh well...I walk in that shop for almost 2 hours, I feel almost like a duty that I need to buy something. :P

Meet Robbie at QVB (Queen Victoria Building) around 5:30pm, we are going to have a drink with Trevor, a colleague of Robbie, who I actually met many years ago in Sydney and in Hong Kong when he came over to visit with his ex-wife and son. We go to a place called the Small Bar, quite cozy actually. I am introduced to try lemon lime and bitters, a non-alcoholic drink, I like it. Quite refreshing. It is good to meet up with Trevor again, I like him, he is a funny English guy who has lived in Australia for 27 years. We have 2 rounds of drink, while Robbie and I have an extra round before Trevor arrives. 3 rounds of drink is guarantee way for peeing all night.

I don't know, maybe it 8:30pm or so, we head the home way, pick up some Thai takeaway and eat at home while I watch a movie called The Boat That Rocked on the movie channel. The basil chicken here is very different than the one I had in the states. Honestly, I prefer the one I had in the states. Will have to try to find one similar to that in Hong Kong. Tonight, I feel very exhausted for some reasons, go to bed around 11:30pm.

Photos here: Day 56

Day 55 : Sydney Day 2 - The heat wave

2009-11-23T06:26:00.001+08:00

Woke up 3 times to use the bathroom last night, guess I drank too much tea before going to sleep. Anyway, I get up at 9am this morning, the almost 11 hours of sleep has recharged me to my fullest energy. I don't feel tired from the jet lag anymore. However, according to the weather report, today is gonna be one of the hottest November days in Sydney in record, high at 41C. Remind you Sydney is supposed to be still in spring time. Just as a friend told me a few days ago, Hong Kong had a 10C, which I thought it was pretty unusual to get that cold in November in Hong Kong. Again, these just prove the weather pattern is so messed up by the global warming. Who knows, someday, the summer and winter in South and North Hemispheres might completely switch. We would be lucky if it is only that simple.

To start off the day, for breakfast, we eat some extra grainy toasts, coffee and I have an extra apple. Shower and get ready to go out. Our plan of the day is to go downtown, Robbie needs to show me a few things: very importantly, where the record shops are, apparently, HMV has closed their businesses in Australia, which although I am not surprised, it is still quite shocking to hear that I cannot go there anymore. BTW, is HMV in Hong Kong still operating? I hope. Luckily, there is still a Virgin Record Megastore here in Sydney, so I gotta go there. He also needs to show me where the bus station is for buses going home, and probably a place we might meet up during the weekdays after his work. Since it is so hot today, I suggest perhaps we should stay indoor and maybe go to see a movie in a theatre after downtown, or if watch a DVD at home. I would really like to see Where The Wild Things Are, but it is not released in Australia until early December. Find that Departures, the Japanese movie which won the Oscar's Best Foreign Movie last year, is still showing here. Even though I had seen it twice already, Robbie has never seen it, so I thought maybe we can go to see it. That's the original plan.

When we head to the ferry pier, we can already feel the stuffy air today, the heat is like trapped in between the heaven and the hell. But it is still bearable at the moment. Get to downtown, walk around, find the Virgin, she is so freaking expensive from the first glance, a regular CD is like AUD 22 dollars, I mean geez louise. But you never know, with me and the CD shops, I might end up finding some cheap to buy. That's a task for tomorrow. Have lunch at the basement of a mall, at a food hall, haven't been to those for ages. Gosh, I like to eat almost everything, I am not good choosing, are you kidding me? But at least I know what I am ordering. After I make my final verdict, I give my stomach a supremo chicken wrap, fries and green tea. The extra Nando's Peri-Peri hot sauce is needed to give it some kicks. Good wrap. After that, we walk by a few more CD shops. Robbie, you are such a friend! I am so tempted to buy a lot of DVDs, but I hold back. I'll do it when nobody's watching tomorrow. Hehe... since we are already past the movie schedule, I suggest that I would buy a DVD and we can watch it at home. In fact, I notice Pan's Labyrinth is quite reasonable priced for a 2DVD, I liked that movie and Robbie hasn't seen it. OK. Let's do it. We originally are walking toward the Oxford Street where the shiny happy people are. But with that heat, Robbie asks me if I still really want to go, I haven't needed to think about it, I already say, not really.

So, we hop on a bus and head home. Tonight's chef is moi. I make a super unhealthy pasta with chorizo in melted cheesesssss...of course, that is pretty much the only thing I can make that is edible. It is actually perfect, I get tons of leftover for lunches the next two days, so I can save some money and use it on CD shopping. After the movie, I am writing my blog, while Robbie is chatting with his other half online. I also jump in and say a Hello for a sec. I agreed to be the best man for their wedding, so I am really looking forward to that. I have stayed up quite late tonight, like 1:30am, guess I am slowly getting back to my old Hong Kong habit.

Photos here: Day 55

Day 54 : Sydney Day 1 - 8km with the lizards

2009-11-23T06:23:00.002+08:00

Arrive at Auckland at 4:30am local time, after an hour stopover in New Zealand, we continue our way to Sydney, Australia. With adjusting the time difference, we are landed at Sydney International Airport just a few minutes before 7am. The last time I came to Sydney was in 2000. Now, I come here again after almost a decade, just wondering what have changed over the 9 years. The staffs at the custom are as friendly, although they are quite strict about the stuffs you are bringing in the country now. One has to declare almost everything, including any any wooden articles. I have a small wooden refrigerator moai magnet from Easter Island, I need to declare that or I may be penalized for 60,000 Australian dollars.

I am the first few that comes out of the flight, my backpack also come out fast which is quite unusual. But anyway, I am glad that the whole custom process goes by smoothly. When I get through the arrival gate, I spot Robbie from a distance right away. We hug. No time no see my friend, ba..ba..ba.. We are on our way back to town, first train, then ferry. I try to pay attention to the surroundings, for the most part, Sydney is just as what I can remember. The ferry passes by the Harbour Bridge, and the Opera House which is still captivating whenever you lay your eyes on it. Robbie has moved to this new apartment in Neutral Bay just two months ago, so I have no memory of this place or its neighborhood. I recognize the books on the shelves, some of the CD and DVDs though. Usually, those are the things I notice first whenever I go to someone's house anyway. I desperately need to brush my teeth and take a shower after over 24 hours without doing so. Otherwise, the neighbors would call the police complaining about the fault smelling coming out from Robbie's apartment. It's not that bad really, but I really need a shower.

After I clean myself and sit down finally, I start to feel sleepy. Oh boy, I can definitely feel the jet lag, even though it's not too bad. But it is only 9:30am. I know I must stay awake at least until after dinner, or the jet lag will really hit me hard the next few days. I tell Robbie I need to keep doing things today, just tell me to clean the kitchen, or I would feel asleep. Kindly, my host has not asked me to clean anything other than myself. Instead, we go out to have an early brunch at a restaurant called Chaos. What a name! The egg benedict is rather outstanding actually. After that and after we come back to put my laundry to the dryer, we go out to the beach side for a walk. Because I hope to get some sun tan during my time in Sydney. It's a good chance for Robbie to show me how to get to the beach. So I can go back there myself next week when he will be at work.

Although I know we are going to do a bit of walking, I do not expect it is a 8km hike on a scenic trail. I am actually not complaining at all, the Manly Scenic Walkway is really beautiful, and the more I walk, the more I am distracted from the jet lag. That's the goal. Since we really take the time, and stop here and there to sit, and/or allow me to take pictures, we probably spend 3-4 hours just walking. There are tons of lizards on the path, oh god, please help me get through this. Every single time I see one, I got surprised by it. There are a couple times I am so surprised that literally I immediately step back a few feet. Their sudden move is what freak me out. I start to make a lot of noise with my flip flop when I walk, so my little lizard friends can be aware that I am coming and start creeping away. Please... :P Apart from the lizards, I am totally devoted my attentions to the colorful stones, the green and clear sea water, the plants and other "bigger" animals like birds, and of course, the men and women on the beaches, both the cute and the ugly. Obviously, I have things to say about either of them inside when they are passing my eye sights. Oh... hello there... or ah, honey, you better put some clothes on.

Take a ferry back to downtown, then change a bus back to the Neutral Bay. I have the second shower of the day, then Robbie prepares the dinner for tonight: some salad and chicken in coconut curry with rice, which tastes pretty good actually. Although I really want to write my blog, I am really feeling the exhaustion after the long flight and the hike today. Just watch some VH1, have a cup of tea, then Robbie set up the sofa bed for me, I am asleep by 10:30pm or so.

Photos here: Day 54

Day 53 : Lost in Space

2009-11-21T18:23:00.005+08:00

Because our flight cross the dateline, the day 53 of my trip has instantly vaporized. One thing I am sure, I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, trying to get some sleeps on the long flight. I have a bad dream actually, I dream that I get back to Hong Kong and sitting on a bus back to Aberdeen (where my parents live), when the bus passes by the harbor side where I can oversee at Ap Lei Chau (the small island across from Aberdeen, where I grow up), there is a building on fire and start to collapse, kind of like the repeating of 911, except that it happens in Hong Kong. I witness the whole thing and am stunned by the sight. When I get home, I learn that my parents are in Ap Lei Chau at the time, and I start to worry if they are ok. And I get awaken right there. I have no idea why I make such a dream, probably have something to do with that odd and twisted position I am stuck in that chair for hours as I have tried to sleep. Over all, I think I might have slept 4 hours, on and off. My lower back is killing me.

Haven't read any newspaper that I understand for so long, when I get on the flight, I pick up a New Zealand Herald at the entrance, gosh, and I read the whole thing, like I couldn't get enough of it. Have to say, I haven't felt such intellectual for quite a long time. The Kiwi sitting next to me has traveled in South America for 5 months, he also says he has not read an English paper for so long and asks me if he can read the paper too. Sure. He is heading to Melbourne. :) Anyway, although there are some turbulent here or there, the flight is smooth enough I guess.

Day 52 : Santiago - last day in South America

2009-11-21T18:11:00.003+08:00

Check out the hotel just before noon, I leave my backpack in the hotel, then I head out to find a place to have lunch. Just walking down the street Estados where I walk by all the time the past few days, and I always notice these street vendors selling a type of drink, not exactly sure what it is called or what it is really, but on the cart, it says "Rico Mote con Huesillos Heladito", whatever that means. It looks kind of like an ice tea but have some yellow stuffs and a piece of peach in there. It is my last day here on the South America continent, I decide to give it a try, sort of the brave act of the day. Unless it gives me a bad stomach, then it will be a stupid act! Let's see, right? :P Anyway, it tastes... very interesting, very sweet, but the yellow stuffs is something I know, but we use it in the rice dumpling which we eat around the dragon boat festival. This ought to be the first time I have that in a drink and sweet too, Very strange.

I go back to the Bellas Artes area. I saw a lot of cute little restaurants having their all-tempting menu sets, given that I only understood a few Spanish words, but it sounded tempting anyway and for an affordable price. That alone is a big reason to go back. :P I walk around the whole block, trying to pick one that looks more cozy to sit down and have wi-fi to use internet, end up I pick one at the corner of a street, sitting at the sidewalk table. The menu includes a drink (coke), a salad (which I ask olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette), a main course of salmon with some purple meshed paste thingy (I know the name in Chinese, but not in English unfortunately) and at last, there is an espresso after meal as well. I am eating, while I am chatting with a friend in Hong Kong, totally enjoying myself at that environment, relax and care free. Finish my meal and having my coffee, while I continue using my laptop, suddenly one of the waitresses comes over and spit a strings of Spanish to me. I wonder if I have been sitting too long, and if she is asking me to pay or something like that. She does not speak English, so we try to understand each other with a few body motions. Turn out she worries that someone on the streets might grab my laptop and run, she suggests me to sit inside, but I have been there for an hour and a half already, I should really just finish and get ready to go to the museum, so I ask for the bill instead.

After I pay, I start to walk to the museum of Visual Art, walk too far at first, but then come back just a block away from the restaurant, the distance on the map looks much longer than it really is. The museum is closed for lunch, the staff tells me to come back around 4pm. I have an hour to kill, so I just walk around the street by the museum, where have some street vendors having some tents selling some antiques, used books kind of stuffs. Looking at those stuffs, part of me feel amazed with all those different stuffs, they looks very interesting, but then the other part of me thinks this is the same everywhere in the world, there are always someone selling junks like that and someone would go nuts about it. Like boyfriends or girlfriends, I guess, one's junk may be someone else's treasure. About 3:30pm, decide to find another cafe to sit down and get online for a while.

Find this cafe in the side street Padre Luis de Valdivia, its setting is so my cup of tea... with vinyls, movie posters on the yellow and red walls, the table is actually a glass case where you can see through, and some foreign movie DVDs, old money, cigarette boxes...etc are nicely arranged inside. The guy is extremely friendly too. I am the only customer at first, so we talk a little bit. When I finish and pay, I give him my Chile Lonely Planet too, since there is a book shelf by the wall. It is my last day in Chile anyway, I don't need that book anymore. This seems to be the perfect place for me to get rid of it. Walk back to the Museum of Visual Art, the staff says it is still closed and I should come back at 5pm. Forget it. I try it twice already. So, I walk to another museum called Museo De La Solidaridad Salvador Allende, where is named after the former president Salvador Allende (who is the first democratically elected Marxist socialist to become president of a state). The museum is showing a lot of contemporary art works acquired during his presidency. Interestingly, the guard lady tells me no photo when I have already taken pictures of almost 90% of the museum. You are funny, lady, I thought. There is no signs though, maybe she only means the eerie room in the basement floor showing the dictator's personal effects I should not have taken any pictures.

Anyway, have McDonald's for dinner. For the past few nights, I mainly have fast foods for dinner, partly because I need to better control the leftover money, so I don't need to take out more pesos out from the bank. Get to the airport at 8:45pm, it has a long line for checking in for international flights, but I manage to get through the departure gate before 9:30pm. We start boarding around 10:50pm. I have absolutely no idea how long the flight is, but I know we will stop over at Auckland in the middle of the night before heading onto Sydney.

Photos here: Day 52

Day 51 : Santiago - a relaxing day

2009-11-19T22:41:00.000+08:00

Does not really have any plan for the last 2 days in Santiago, just gonna lay low, take it easy. I look at my Lonely Planet guide this morning and think maybe I can go to see the Museum of Contemporary Art, I usually like that kind of museums with modern art exhibitions. Nothing's in a rush or if it is not interesting, it's no big deal either. It's near by the Cerro Santa Lucía, which was recommended to me by a Swedish woman I met on the Easter Island. So maybe I can stop by there if I have "time" left over. :P

So, I don't know, around noon maybe, I finally pull myself out the room, walk to the Plaza de Armes, where I find a place to have lunch, chicken with fries and a glass of orange juice (size grande). Then, I take the metro train to Bellas Artes, the arty neighborhood with tons with sidewalk cafes. I later find out though that I could have walked there from Plaza de Armes, just a few blocks away really. Oh well. Enter the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo with a student discount, I actually quite enjoy it. And the best of it, I can take as many pictures as I want. There are many rooms in the museum, and usually goes with a different theme in each room. In one particular room, it has theme of homosexuality or cross-dressing, I am not quite sure. But it has a time line goes all the way back to like 900 BC or something like that. Very interesting.

Cerro Santa Lucía is a small city park I guess, kind of remind me of the Hong Kong Park actually, a beautiful green land embedded in an urban area. There is a little castle in the park too, though it is closed when I are there, some film crews are doing some filming. I might end up appearing in some Latino film one day. It is around 4:00pm, I stop by a cafe, having a piece of cake and latte, using my laptop to connect to the internet. That cafe is so relaxing. I actually stay for almost an half and hour. The girl at the cafe is also talking to me. Kind of telling her where I am from, about my trip and about Hong Kong...etc. So far, honestly, I do find Chileans are quite friendly.

Walk in a supermarket as I am on my way back to the hotel. I walk every aisle as if I am in the US. I think I can live in this city, they have everything I need in the supermarket. Dinner with some takeouts in the hotel room, watching VH1. Tomorrow my flight to Sydney is scheduled for 11:10pm in the evening, so I basically have another day in Santiago. I might visit the museum of visual art and try another sidewalk cafe in the afternoon. Eat something before I'll head to the airport.

Photos here: Day 51 (Contemporary Art Museum), Day 51 (Cerro Santa Lucía)

Day 50 : Easter Island to Santiago

2009-11-19T04:05:00.001+08:00

My last morning in Easter Island is all about shopping. My flight wouldn't depart until 2pm. So, after breakfast, I go to the handicraft market, I am really looking for a stone statue and plan to make a small decor in my room for the Easter Island. The thing is that there are many craved stone or wooden statues, available in different sizes. The bigger the more expensive, the wooden ones are also more expensive than the stone ones, the volcanic rock is more expensive than the ashy rock...etc. At moments when it involves money, I'm certainly not a size queen. Never claim to be one anyway. I am only looking for a small statue, smaller than my palm would be fine. However, I have a problem, I am out of cash, both Chilean Pesos and US Dollars. Well, the truth is that I have US$12 in my secret pocket for emergency, but I don't want to use it. So, I try to find somewhere I can use a credit card. Walk maybe 6-7 shops, nothing's really calling my name and crying out loud "Buy Me Buy Me", so I go back to the shop I got the postcards the other days. In there, I know there is a tiny stone craved moai with the topknot for CHP3000 (US$6), I planned to buy that if I cannot find anything more appropriate. So, I get the stone statue. All happy. But once my wallet is open, the money is like draining off. This silly Easter egg is kind of interesting, good for this friend; that magnet for refrigerator is cheap compared to everything else. Before I know, I get 3 things already and there are more coming...

When I get to the airport, I have to wait for 3 hours, after writing my blog entry and have nothing to do, and what do I do? ...buy a few more things at the shops at the airport. I get a nice little plate with a moai on it (so touristy I confess but it does look nice). It's for a friend of mine, who will be giving me a big help next week. And then coincidentally, the first ever printed newspaper (publication) - Premier Edition - on the Easter Island is out today, it's for CHP$1000 (US$2), with a local CD, it's CHP$4000. I get that too with the CD. Now, my task in Santiago and Sydney is to find a tube thingy so I can protect the newspaper, gonna put it in a frame or something. Maybe it will worth something many many years later. I have no idea what that tube thingy called in Spanish though, so no idea how to find it.

At 2pm, the runway is covered by fog, I hope inside, please don't let me get stuck in Easter Island. This is a bloody expensive to get stuck at. Our flight get delayed, but we do start to board around 2:30pm. The return journey to Santiago is an hour shorter than the journey coming to Easter Island, probably because of the current. I start to watch this movie call the Family Stones, a Xmas'y kind of movie starring by Diana Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dermot Mulroney (the guy in My Best Friend's Wedding). Anyway, I am kind of enjoying it, but before the movie ends, the flight already arrives at Santiago, so I have no idea what happens at the end. Don't you get hate that? I mean, give me 15 mins more, I will be done with the movie.

Because of the time difference, when I pick up my backpack and walk out the arrival gate, it is already past 9:00pm. I have committed the stupid act of the day: withdraw money from an ATM that is not related to my bank, the transaction fee is CHP$2500 (US$5). I get the money so that I can take the cheap airport bus and the metro train to the hotel. My initial idea is to save some money by doing that. And then after I am already on the bus, I realize with that US$5 fees, I really haven't saved much. I might as well take the transfer bus (which costs only US$10) which takes me directly to the hotel quicker and more comfortable, and I can use a credit card. Dummy! Oh well, guess we often need to make an error in order to learn.

The hotel I am staying is called Hotel Paris, at 813 Paris St. I love my room, it's cheaper than the hostel I stay here last time, the room is smaller but nicer. It has a balcony, cable TV, comfortable bed and hot water. That's all I need. No breakfast included though but that's ok.

Photos here: Day 50

Day 49 : Easter Island Day 3

2009-11-18T21:44:00.000+08:00

Waken up by the cocks again at 5am, I wish I could say it's a bless but it really isn't. :P Their sounds are very strange, some sounds like they are being killed alive or the poor thing has a sore throat or something. Need a cough candy, perhaps? At least, luckily, the neighbors has been quiet this morning. So, I only need to filter out one type of sounds and try to sleep on. Get up about 7am, get myself ready, I need to have breakfast at 8:30am, get to the post office to mail the postcard, then head to the tour agency where we will start the full day tour at 10am. Breakfast with bread, butter, jam, ham & cheese, some fruit, and coffee. Breakfast has never been an important element in my life, except when I am traveling, since you never know when and where you will just have lunch and maybe even skip a lunch if necessary. So, something to stuff my stomach in the morning is important. I usually try to eat at least 2 bums.

The post office is filled with people. I notice the guys before me have the mail lady stamp on the passport. I was going to ask anyway, so now save me a question. Of course, I do that too. Got stamps for 16 postcards. I am a person who would love to share, so this precious experience in the Easter Island, of course, I need to share with lots of people. For those who will receive a postcard, lucky you, this may be the first postcard you will receive from the Easter Island, their post mark has 3 moais on it, very cool.

Got to the travel agency at 3 mins to 10am, make it just in time. I am surprised to see that my tour guide is white, I am not sure where he is from at first, but later find out that he is from New Zealand. He married to a girl from the Easter Island, and have moved here for 1 year and a half. I have no trouble understanding him of course, my tour mates today are also a group of cool people, from Switzerland, UK, France, and Canada. Speaking of countries, it's very strange, over the past 2 months, except in Cuzco and Valparaiso, I have not met a lot of American tourists around the South America continent. Perhaps South America is so close to them, and they rather go to Europe or Asia instead. I don't know. Anyway, the sky is cloudy, misty, but not raining. At least I don't need an umbrella.

We start to head south, along the rough coastline, there are a number of ahu sites and many moais. We start almost an hour later than the other tours. So, when we arrive at a site, usually the crowds have just started to leave and left us alone. I kind of like that actually. The first highlight is when we arrive at the birth place of the moais, where they made them. By the hillside of a volcano, there are some 300 moais being abandoned everywhere, some standing, some looking upwards, some laying on the stomach, and some unfinished as well. Another thing about this tour I like is that the guide is really taking the time to explain as well as letting us to wander around. Some tours like yesterday, if the guide talks longer, it jeopardizes the time we are allowed to wander around the sites. With this tour, I am gladly to say they do a good job letting the customers to see as long as they want. I really appreciate. After taking tons of pictures later, we head to Ahu Tongariki where has the famous sight of the 15 standing moais on a platform by the ocean. It is the best place for sunrise. But with this weather, there does not really have sunrise or sunset. Oh well. There is nothing I can do about it.

It is a fantastic view I must say, even though the sky is as white as a plaster wall, I still kind of lose control with the photo shooting. After touching a so-called magnetic rock which we are supposed to feel the energy coming through our bodies (I haven't felt it be honest), we arrive at our final stop of the day - Anakena beach, where has a line perfect maois welcoming the kings of the Pacific. The beach itself is quite beautiful too. At almost 4pm by the time we get there, this is the place we can find some snacks. For the whole day, we have not had lunch yet. The matter of fact is that I am running out of cash, and has been hoping we would go to a restaurant where I can use plastic. But obviously, I cannot use my credit card at the beach, I decide to skip lunch and have an early dinner instead. I am planning to have a good dinner at a French restaurant, so I hang on to my hunger and just wander away between the beach and the moais' platform. At 4:45pm, we start to head back. I am truly satisfied with today's tour. The things we visited today are what I come to Easter Island for. I hope the weather would be better, but we cannot always get what we want, I guess.

Back to town, use the internet for a bit. Then I head to the French restaurant - Au Bout De Monde, which is recommended by the Lonely Planet and a few guidebooks I have looked on the way. It is hard to say whether it is a French restaurant really, but I hear the owner speaking French and the dishes portion is not gigantic as the other meals I have. I just assume it has some French influence. For starter or drink, I have a fresh mango juice. For the main course, I have a prawns in ginger and coconut milk, which is very very tasty. I wish they have some appetizer portion stuffs, since that alone is not quite enough for my big stomach. To finish, I have a dessert, named Dame Blanche, as a big fan of Golden Girls as I am, of course, I have to try Dame Blanche, don't I? It is actually two scoops of vanilla ice-cream with some chocolate chips sprinkled on the top, and a side of a tiny little jar of hot chocolate (smokes coming off from the jar so I assume it is hot) which you can pour on the ice-cream. Though I am not a big fan of chocolate, it is still heavenly. I am kind of get the name of Dame Blanche. A white lady and you pour chocolate all over her, that is so Blanche!

After dinner, I go back to the house and finish the rest of the postcards I didn't get to finish last night. Tomorrow morning, I have about 2-3 hours to do some last minutes shopping. Since I don't have any cash left (US dollars or Chilean Pesos), I can only buy things at places where they accept credit card. I want to a small stone face statue, for which I will place in a bowl of sand, maybe find some small rocks to make a platform. That's the idea anyway. Hope I'll find something. Flight will be at 2pm, when I get back to Santiago, it will be almost 9pm in the evening. I need to find a way to get cash at the airport, otherwise I will have to take the transfer bus which will cost 4 times more expensive than an airport bus, but I can use credit card. This island has really sucked out all my money!

Photos here: Day 49 (1), Day 49 (2)

Day 48 : Easter Island Day 2

2009-11-17T07:32:00.001+08:00

Had a rough night sleeping in my room, not because of the gecko on the ceiling, but the neighbors next door were extremely noisy, the cardboard walls did not filter out any sounds at all, I could hear everything people next door said except it was not a language I understand. The worst one was around midnight or 1am, a woman came back and she talked so loud to her friends, it sounded like she was crying or something because she was frightened due to some situation. I was so tired myself and cared less what she bumped into, I just wanted her to shut the f up. Over the course of the night, I must have got awaken by the neighbors for 3 times. At 5am, the cocks in nearby houses starts to screaming morning, reminding everybody it's about time to wake up, except those "soon to be KFC" start to scream at 5am, does not stop until like 8pm in the evening. So, you really hear cocks' coo-cooing all day long. I set an alarm for 7:20am, but because there is no mobile connection here, my cell phone clock is all messed up. I must have put am as pm when I reset the clock manually last night, that the alarm has not come on at the appointed time. Due to the disturbance over the night, I have totally overslept. When I get up, it is already 8:20am, while I am supposed to be at the travel agent office by 8:30am to see whether there is any last minute availability for today's tours.

Skip the shower, skip the breakfast, just wash my face and run to the dining room. Ask the host Tesera where the phone is, and she says the agents are closed. I convince her that I was told to call in the morning. So, she dials for me. The first agent has no answer, the other one said all tours today are full. But I am quite sure that their 9:15am tour still has room, I don't believe that it got filled up already especially when they were closed yesterday afternoon. I decide to walk to the agent to talk to them instead of explaining myself to the host and ask her to call again. The sky still sprinkles a little bit when I head out. Hurry to the travel agent, get myself successfully sign up for the morning tour. I am excited about it, at least I have a tour to go today, instead of wasting my limited time in Easter Island. But that excitement lasts about 30 mins, until the rain has started to pour down. By then, I am already back to the hostel to grab a bread to eat, standing outside waiting for the pick up van, I am wearing a pair of shorts today and my wet walking shoes without the socks. Sooner enough my shorts are all wet already because the rain comes horizontally. Anyway, at that point, I am still convinced that it is better than sitting in a hostel all day.

Pick up by the tour van, there are mostly German and Spanish speaking people, there are so many German tourists that the group has an extra German speaking guide. An Englishman and I are the only ones who speak English. The Spanish/English guide is quite friendly. She also promises me to try to find me a seat for the afternoon tour. The rain is nonstop, we are supposed to go to Ogongo, a ceremonial village and its nearby crater. We are told that it's extremely foggy at the moment, even if we go up to the Ogongo and the crater, we would see nothing. So, we end up waiting for the clouds to clear in a small museum for almost an hour. I start to wonder if it is wise to join a tour after all. We finally get out of the museum and head to the Ogongo, the so called houses looks small for anyone to stand inside, but the guide says the people in the old days often did things outdoor, the houses are mainly for cooking and sleeping. They look more like terraces from above. On one side is the cliff with the houses, overlooking the 3 tiny islands off just by the edge of the Easter Island, the other side is the crater called Rano Kau, which looks very interesting. Spend maybe an hour at Ogongo, the rain starts to come down again and the whole hill is covered by fogs. At first, we are going to make some photoing stops, but clearly it is not possible, you can barely see anything. We come back down, and we stop by a cave where has some bird drawing on the ceiling. This also ends the morning tour. I honestly feel a bit disappointed about the tour, even though the tour guide is particularly friendly to me, still, CHP18,000 (US$34) to see what I have mentioned is a bit of a waste. The rain has made things much worst of course.

The guide tells me to wait for her at the Post Office at 3pm, she'd try to find me a seat for the afternoon tour. If that plan does not work out, I am going to hike to some moais on my own (which may take 1.5 hours way up and another hour back down). At 2:45pm, after some internet, I am already standing outside the post office, the rain is the heaviest at that time, my shorts are already soaking wet. What the hell with the weather, I am thinking, and if I should just head back to the hostel and call off the day, save another US$34 for the afternoon tour, which is probably disappointing with the rain. Try to think positively, right? so I continue to wait. The tour bus arrives, and I get the front seat with the driver. So, I have a tour to go to after all. The first stop is actually the few moais I already visited yesterday on my own. This time with a story I guess. And then we see a hilltop where the topknot were made, but because of the fog and rain and it is kind of cold too, so we really have not seen much there, just a slope with some half-carved stones laying everywhere. At last, we visit the 7 moais platform which I have planned to walk to. Story in the bus and some quick pictures due to the heavy rain, then the tour ends. Another US$34 for a just about 2 hour tour. Worth it, probably not, but I do my tourist duty and see the things I should see on Easter Island. Tomorrow, a full day tour to the south coast with tons with moais. Although the weather is not promising at all, according to the guide, it has been raining like this for 5 months already, I hope I will get to see more exciting than today's tours.

Debating what to eat for dinner, have had a pasta and a green tea for $26 freaking US dollar at lunch. My cash is literally running out. I understand the island is so isolated and I haven't regretted to come here since it is such a rare occasion, but I have started to feel that the tours and the meals are a bit of a rip off here. Just think about the main costs for a 3 days trip to Easter Island: the flight US$820, the meals US$60 a day if you dine out, the tour US$60 a day not including tips, the hostel depending on how well a place you want to stay, it could cost you between US$35-300 a night. Coffee break, snacks and fruits are not particularly cheap either, one should expect to spend US$15-30 a day, not including any souvenir of course. Easily, a 3 days trip to Easter Island costs way over US$1500. And for anyone who is planning to come here, a bit of an advice, pick the dry months to come here, if there is such a thing, and find your tours ahead. Unlike other places, the tour agencies operate in a very laid back style. If you come here on a weekend, you might find it hard to find yourself a tour.

Since I want to have a good meal on the last evening here, to balance out with the budget, I go to the grocery and get myself some breads, ham and mayonnaise to make myself 3 small sandwiches, that should be enough for the night. Still have pineapple juice and banana left from yesterday anyway. My second night on the Easter Island involves a large number of postcard writing.

Photos here: Day 48

Day 47 : Easter Island Day 1 : The sky is leaking

2009-11-17T07:29:00.000+08:00

By 7:30am, I already check in at the LAN's airport counter, I grab a bite to eat and then wait for the flight for almost 1 hour and a half. The flight journey is smooth, I watch Breakfast's at Tiffany again on the flight, well, there are 50 some movies to choose from, I thought I watch something with style. In fact, I just love that movie very much, and not bored by watching it over and over again. I thought I would always remember that, watching Breakfast's At Tiffany while I am flying to Easter Island. The 2nd movie I watch is The Devil Wears Prada, it's ok I guess, not exactly agreeing my taste, but I am not rejecting it either. With the same cast, I prefer the other movie called Julie & Julia more.

The flight journey takes 5 and a half hour, roughly 2000 miles off shore. There are 2 hours time difference from Santiago to Easter Island. When we arrive, it is exactly 1:15pm. I am welcomed by the hostel's owner with the flower necklace. The sky is very cloudy, the rain is just about the come down. The host Tesera gives me a quick town tour on her vehicle, just tell me where the groceries, post office are for instance, we see the first moai too, which is just by the town center near the sea. When we arrive at the house, the rain has just started to spill out. My room is a 3-beds room, with a private bathroom. For US$35, relatively cheap on the island's standard, I don't think I should complain about the color or the gecko on the ceiling (which I seriously hate, I am pretending it is not there right now. I am in tropical areas now, guess I can't avoid that.)

It's almost 3pm when I finally get out to find tours. I am surprised by what Tesera has told me, she says most of the business will close for Sunday (some starting from Saturday afternoon) that I may not be able to find any tour at all. With that warning in mind, I quickly search for tour agency. With only 4000 population on the island, I guess I overestimate their tourism business. There are really only 6 or 7 tour agencies. Among them, 4 has closed already when I get there, one of the opened ones has tours all fully booked, the other one is mainly for activities like horseback, hiking and diving. The last one has tour only for weekdays, so I book a tour with them for Monday. However, I find no tour for tomorrow, after I walk around town for 2 hours in the rain. I am like, are you kidding me? I am coming all the way here for nothing. The agency with fully booked tour suggests me to call another agent in the morning and see about availability. But it does not look good. If I can get a half-day tour is good enough, there is a part of the island, I think I can hike on my own since there is only one road to get there even though I do not prefer to do that. My other option is to use a private guide which will cost me a fortune. So, I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to find something in the morning. I actually inquire if I can do the horseback riding, but because of the rain, it is not possible.

After the failure with the tour hunt, I walk around the coastline in the rain and feisty winds. I do have gone back to grab an umbrella, but with that wind, the umbrella is really useless. There are a couple of pictures I looks completely stupid trying to take a picture of myself with the moais in the rain. I do find some 8-9 moais on my first day on the island though, which is kind of exciting! The food is terribly expensive, give you an idea: I have spent 60 US dollars today on foods... for some sandwiches, a lunch set, couple coffees, some bananas, and some bottle of water...etc. Almost everything on the menu, no matter how simple food it is, it costs over CH$10000, that's like US$15-20. I know this is Easter Island, but when you see your wallet shrinking 1/3 just on the first day, I am kind of worried.

Anyway, still at least 2 more full days, I will try to enjoy myself the best I can. I wish the Lonely Planet would mention about the island's businesses are closed for the weekends though, especially the important thing like tour agency. Only if I have known, I would pick a weekdays to come instead of weekends. I am also unlucky with the rain, it has started to fall down since 3-4pm, and it has not stopped since, and it is getting heavier too. My pants are all wet and so as my stuffs in my backpack. I am hoping it will stop during the night and will give me a clear day tomorrow. Otherwise, I will be stuck. Fingers cross, toes cross, everything cross... good weather.... please.

Photos here: Day 47

Day 46 : Santiago - In search of the Virgin Mary

2009-11-16T03:21:00.003+08:00

Wake up at 8am, take a shower and have breakfast at 9am. There are a new group of travelers arrived in the B&B already, this round is all German. There is still an American couple who I got to know the past few days there at the breakfast. This two are actually quite interesting, I can tell you that the guy is either madly in love with his woman or he is just enjoying being the subordinate one. The woman kind of makes all the decision where they want to go everyday. Sometimes he would have some ideas what to do, but at the end, the woman gives a look, and then he will be like, or you might want to do something else, let's do what makes you happy. They are actually nice people, it is just something I notice.

After the breakfast, I pick up my backpack and head to the bus stop. Taking my return bus back to Santiago is easy and faster than the bus coming from Santiago. It takes less than 2 hours. My new hostel is in the Paris-Londres neighborhood, where is famous for its tiny street, perhaps like Paris. Taking the metro train to Universidad de Chile, walk for maybe 5 mins, I am there at the hostel. Easy. The room is not ready though, so I have to wait for another 15 mins before I can get in. After settling down, and get ready to go out, it is already 2pm. I am getting very hungry and need to find something to eat.

The busy streets of Santiago centro, people coming out from offices are hurrying in and out of restaurants, cafes, shops and buildings. Avienda Estados, the walking road, is as crowded as the Michigan Ave (in Chicago) on a Saturday or Causeway Bay (in Hong Kong). I look at a few restaurants, filled with people. I intend to go into a quiet one, so I can try to order without making a scene for not knowing what I am saying. At 2:30pm, nothing is called a quiet restaurant. It is getting into 3pm, at the end, I just satisfy my hunger at McDonald's again. My second McDonald's meal in South America.

Today's plan is to visit the Parque Metropolitano where has a small hill with the Virgin Mary statues at the peak, from there, there should have a clear view of the city and the snow cap mountains behind it. Santiago is a big city, and is surrounded by a good number of snow cap mountains, they look really majestic and dramatic almost. From Lonely Planet, I learn that there are two cable cars to go up to Virgin Mary (actually the place is called San Cristobal). It is recommended to take one way up and the other way down. So, I decide to go to the Providencia entrance, to take the cable car up and come back down to Bellavista entrance. First of all, getting to the Providencia, I get lost a couple times on the roads (because I try to hide my lonely planet map to pretend I am not such a tourist even though I really am). I just always pick the wrong directions to go and have to turn back after walking past 10 blocks to the opposite direction. Get to Providencia entrance, find out that the cable car on that side is not working today. Oh shit.

Don't want to head back to the metro, so I decide to walk to the Bellavista entrance along the side of the hill, on the map, look like there is a road, I keep walking and it gets to a point there is no sidewalk anymore. I keep walking on the road for a while, at least the road is kind of quiet, so I can walk on the road and no one bothers me until a bridge where looks more like a highway, I turn back and ask a guy standing under the tree if I am on the right direction. He said Si, just keep walking 6 more blocks going down that bridge thingy and then turn at that corner and 3 more blocks, you'd be there. He is very friendly and seems to be giving helpful advice, except when I walk further, there is really nothing to walk on, until I am walking with the car flying by. Instead of going down like he has suggested, I turn into the park area, and there is a gate locked, occassionally the guard let some cars to get through. I take out my Lonely Planet, and ask the guy how I can walk to the other entrance. He let me through and says walk down this path, 15 mins I will find it. I keep walking and walking, pass by a zoo and see no cable car for which I assume it is hanging on the sky. Turn out the cable car is on wheel over at this side, and I totally miss the cable car station. When I walk back to it, it's almost 4:40pm, I must hurry since I want to visit the Pablo Nerude's second house in Santiago too, which is just near by the park. Get my ticket to go up, see the views I expected to see, and there I am, right next to the immacculate Virgin Mary. The views up high is amazing, I have a coconut popsticle and then I head back down already. Get to Pablo Neruda's house, the daily English tour is over already, and one is only allowed to get in with a tour. So, I cannot visit the house after all.

It's getting onto 6:30pm, I am heading back to the hostel, hitting all the after work crowds on the metro, this woman with a hot and sweaty back (in a bad way) just stuck herself against my arm. Want to tell her, lady, this isn't cool, but I keep my mouth shut. Just get off at Universidad de Chile, find myself something to eat and then back to the hotel. Oh, I have also taken out CHP120,000 from my checking account for Easter Island too. That amounts in Pesos look huge but it's really only equivalent to US$220, probably not enough for my 3 nights in Easter Island, still have some US dollars left in my secret pocket, so hopefully I will spend less than US$300 on Easter Island. Flight to Easter Island is scheduled for 9:30am, I must get up at 5:30am and try to get to the airport before 7am by the airport bus.

More on Easter Island, I supposed.

Photos here: Day 46

Day 45 : Valparaiso Day 3 : Viña Del Mar

2009-11-13T08:53:00.000+08:00

After another full 8 hours of sleep, wake up and notice it's very foggy today, guess my sunbathing plan has to cancel. However, still think I can go to the beaches and walk around. Before that, I can stop by the fish market to see the sea lions.

The beaches are actually in the next town called Viña Del Mar, Viña to Valparaiso is kind of like the Evanston to Chicago, where the richie riches live. Between the two towns, there is a fish market where all the fresh fishes arrive everyday. Instead of taking the train, I decide to take a bus to that big shopping mall I was at yesterday and then walk to the beaches from there, it may be 5-6 km away, and could take me an hour or more to walk, but I get time especially in a cloudy day. Maybe 15-20 mins later, I arrive at the fish market, I really don't have much expectation what I would see, except maybe some sea lions swimming around the pier. Turn out, they are not what catches my eyes. It is the number of pelicans and seagulls flying above me that takes me by surprise. The size of the pelicans is not small at all, just a few feet above, they are like landing right next to your ears. There are a few times I literally have to bend down to avoid them hitting on me. I guess they are skillful, but they are like flying turkey into your faces, hey, thanksgiving, squash!

After the initial excitement, the next time I do is to pull out my hat and the wind jacket, I bet if I am lucky enough not hitting by one of these flying turkeys, I would hit by their droppings. There are so many of them because the fishermen, I guess, throw away the dead fishes that nobody buys back to the sea or at the pier, all the pelicans, seagulls, sea lions are fighting for their foods. That is quite a scene really, they are not afraid of human, if any human looking thing walk by, they follow you. Even one of the sea lions on the sand looking at me like I am going to throw a few fishes at him, I am like you wished! Out of my expectation, I stay at the fish market (the pier really) for so long looking at them, trying to take a shot when the pelican flies. So, don't be surprised by the number of photos of pelicans today. :P

Continues on my way to the beaches, I bump into an Easter Island moai, just standing by the sea. Not sure if it is a real one, but sort of a preview of what I am going to see in just 2 days. Finally, when I get to Viña Del Mar, it's almost 1pm, I am getting hungry too. Find myself a place to have lunch. By the time I get to the seaside, the sun starts to come out, what a pity, I have not brought my beach towel and the swim trunk, or I could sunbath for a while. I sit on the rocks by the Pacific Ocean to write some postcards and listen to the waves. Viña Del Mar is somewhat different than Valparaiso, it could have been some Southern European city in Italy or Spain. It is very peaceful. Get to the beaches, it's miles long. My legs are already getting tired, walk, sit for a while, walk some more. By 4pm, I start to head back. Martin have mentioned earlier that by the train station, there is a garden that I can visit, so I do that real quick before hoping on the train. The garden is used to be a vineyard, and now is left a small part, I only glance through the entrance part, then I take the train and get back to Valparaiso.

Have dinner at the same restaurant I ate on the first day. I get the gringo (foreigner) menu again, but this time, it is in English. At least, now I know what I am ordering. I have had a "monster" crab cake tonight, one of my favorite dishes when I was in the states. I call it "monster" because of the size of it is shocking. It is served in a bowl and the top part is crust, with a crab claw. You have to see the picture in order to know what I am talking about. I eat it with some bread, delicious.

I have changed to a different room, not that I want to, but my beautiful room was only booked for 2 nights, someone else had already reserved it before me for my third night here. I don't mind, one cannot be too greedy, I guess. I have already owned the view of the bay for 2 nights on a row. My new room is smaller but still have a port view anyway. The bed is as comfortable, so no complaint. But just for US$4 difference, anyone who intends to stay here in the Yellow House, go for the Oceano room.

Tomorrow, back to Santiago, sightseeing the town a bit and then head to Easter Island the next day... I am really eager to see a real moai.

Photos here: Day 45 (Fish Market), Day 45 (Viña Del Mar)

Day 44 : Valparaiso Day 2

2009-11-12T08:36:00.002+08:00

Wake up at 8:15am, have a really good sleep last night in my beloved B&B room. Breakfast starts at 9am, I get downstairs and meet the other people who stay in this B&B. Martin takes the troubles to introduce me to everyone. We are served with fresh bread he goes to buy in the market every morning, with some sandwiches meat and cheese, fresh brewed coffee (no instant - that tastes good!), a glass of juice, a small biscuit, yogart and banana if you want. It's a very cozy breakfast, guests are talking to each other, for this day or maybe tomorrow, we are like a family. Martin again asks where I would plan to go today, he is ready to give any advice he can give. If I have no idea where to go, he would be happy to suggest something. He is just a big nice fellow, never pushy, just leave you to make up your mind, but advices are always ready. I takes his advices happily and visit the fruit and flea market that occurs every Wednesdays and Saturdays. There is a lookout I am planning to go but apparently some ascensors (escalators up and down the hills) are closed because they are government owned and their employees are still on strike. Oh well, I walk up to a less steep hill on the other side of the bay and look back to where my B&B is.

When I get back down, I enter a big shopping mall, oh god, the Hong Kong part of me act up and I do some shopping. Buy myself a T-shirt after I walk around that same counter like 10 times. Do I really want it? Yes.. Hmm...but, I should save money. Oh well, but I will not bump into anyone in Hong Kong who wears the same T-shirt. I don't need it really, just gonna be more weight on my backpack. It's just a T-shirt, man! How heavy can that be? Yeah...that kind of truth, you son of a bitch. Alright, I get it. That internal struggle is so shitty, I just want to strangle that part of me. After the T-shirt, I walk back to the market and buy a poster of Pablo Nerude which I have seen earlier, planning to get before I leave that part of town. I think he deserves a place on the wall of my room.

Try another restaurant Martin recommended yesterday, called Anita, before he gives me the gringo menu, I already say, a menu set please. Not knowing what it is really, but I just want to try. Surprise, surprise! The starter is a salad with an avocado, some chopped ham and some lettuces. And the main course is actually that seafood soup, oh my god, it fills with tons of seafood in the bowl after I dig in. It's really tasty too, and costs only CH$2500 (less than US$5). Before the meal, usually they bring you a dish of lemon, a dish of salsa and some breads. The salsa is always good, I find. Their onions are extremely fresh and tasty. I find it strange to say, never claim to be an onion lover, but for some reasons, I find the onion in their salsa really empowers the tastes. Finish my meal, they offer me a shot of liquor (vanilla, mint or another one which I don't remember what), I decline trying to explain that I don't drink alcohol. I hear that it is not polite to decline alcohol here. But I have to, especially it's a strong liquor. A beer may be still ok.

The plan for the afternoon is to get lost in the two hills in Valparaiso that is listed in the UNESCO's World Heritage: Cerro Concepcion and Cerro Alegre. Lost, I am, those winding and hilly streets, I try to avoid long and quiet side alleys, and because some ascensors (escalators) are closed, it probably takes me longer to find my ways down. After I come back to the main street, it is like 4pm already, I feel like this is all for the day, just start heading back to the B&B, pick up my laptop and sit in the cafe by the hillside, looking at the port and write a little bit. And here I am, looking at the port, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or whatever day is really meaningless, as a traveler, there is only two days: good day or bad day. I think I have had a good day.

Dinner gonna be light again, and tomorrow, I am planning to go to a fish market and see the sea lions by the pier, then maybe do some sunbathing in the afternoon on the beach. We'll see.

Photos here: Day 44

Day 43 : Valparaiso Day 1 - The best room in the house!

2009-11-12T08:30:00.002+08:00

After an uninspiring breakfast at the hotel, I check out and throw myself back to concrete jungle with my backpack to look for the metro train. There are men on horses, matching bands following on the streets, I bet it is some kind of ceremony, so I take a few shots and then continue my way. The metro station is all in Spanish, but there is a young man looks like a university student come to me and ask me if I need helps. Great. So, I get my ticket to Universidad de Santiago where the bus terminal is located. The metro train is fast and clean, after all I grow up in a city, I find the metro train extremely convenient. At the bus terminal, have some difficulty explaining to the ticket lady that I do not know when my return journey will be yet. Apparently, it's common to buy return ticket together, it is cheaper or something like that. She tries to save me some money. But I don't know how to tell her I don't mind getting an one-way ticket if possible. At last, she finds another staff who speaks some English to talk to me. It is easy with him, he asks me if I want to keep my return ticket open. Yes. Conversation's over. The return ticket does not have date or seat yet, but I have it on my hand. I can use it whenever I want. The bus is scheduled every 15 mins anyway, it's not like it's gonna difficult to get back. The Chilean people so far gives me an impression that they are generally friendly and helpful people.

Journey to Valparaiso is smooth. But as we get closer to Valparaiso, there are some protesting on the street and block the traffic. Is the whole South America continent protesting all the time? I had that in Peru a lot, now in Chile too. We end up having to get off earlier before we can get to the bus terminal. I try to catch some local bus to my B&B, but there is no way I can distinguish which bus is which. So, I end up taking the local train which is much more expensive, because I need to buy a store value for that. Get out of the train stop, which is close enough to my B&B to walk, I thought anyway, Valparaiso has 60 some small hills, my B&B on the on Cerro Artilleria, that is quite a hike with my 19kg backpack. For a second, I feel like I am carrying a cross up on the hill under the midday sun for the sin I have committed. Find it finally... the Yellow House B&B where I will stay for 3 nights.

Martin is the host, he is an Australian who has married to a Chilean woman. They run this B&B for a number of years, I think. He is a very friendly fellow and gives me an impression that the first priority of his as a host is to make me feel like home. And he does. He shows me my room and the facilities in B&B, gives me an introduction and security advice about the city. My room is the highlight of the day, with a fantastic view. This ought to be the most beautiful view I ever have in a hotel room. I overlook the entire port and colorful houses along the bay up the hills. For the whole day, I can't seem to stop myself from taking another picture off my windows. The bed is comfortable, the coffee and tea tray, the chairs, the bathroom. I like it all. Can this be my room in Hong Kong?

Apart from the basic city and security guidance, Martin also gives me some recommendation for cheap and tasty restaurants to try. It is like almost 2:30pm when I go out and I just happen to walk pass one of the restaurants Martin recommended, called Porto Viejo. It is extremely crowded, with normal diners, and tons of protesters (Martin have told me that they are government employees, they have been on strike for a week already, that's why no one is picking up garbage). I have no idea what the menu is saying, which is a shame, because everything on the other table looks great. I ask if the girl can recommend some fish dishes. I have a fish cooked in tons of butter. She asks me if I want a big or small one, I intend to ask how big is big. But she thinks I want a big. Ok, big it is then. When my fish arrives at the table, "holy shit" almost comes off my mouth, that piece of filet is as long as my arm! And the side of fries is like enough for the whole family. I have a fanta to go with my meal. The guy who sits next to me asks me, "No wine?" I say No. The Chileans love wine, a few friends of mine comes to my head right away, they would enjoy Valparaiso very much. The fish actually tastes absolutely delicious. But the foods on the next tables catch my eyes even more, a big bowl of soup filled with seafoods and many big shells standing at the side of bowl, or the couple sitting next to me, they have this baked mussels or clams with cheese melted to golden brown on top. Oh my god. The guy next to me asks me if I want to try that eye catchy cheese melted clam or whatever it is. Inside, I really want a bite, but I am too full to eat anything else after I eat that arm-long filet and all the fries, beside I already put a mint in my mouth. So, I just thanks. I order from the gringo menu (for foreigner) and the bill is still under US$12. The menu set (standing outside the door) is like US$5-6. The food seems to be quite cheap here, and delicious!

After lunch, I hiked up another hill to visit the house of the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. I read his books long time ago and enjoy his words very much. It's actually quite interesting to see his house, and learn more about his personality and lifestyle...etc. His house is absolutely beautiful and with brilliant views of the Valparaiso port and the colorful houses. In the self-guide tour audio tape, it has a line about the Pacific Ocean, probably read by himself, says... The Pacific Ocean is so big and so messy, they have nowhere to put it, so they leave it outside his windows. I can imagine how he would love to sit at his rocking chair by the window and words just grow in his head. I mean anyone would too.

Since I have a big lunch, not going to have dinner, just get a piece of pastry and some drinks. Go back to the B&B early, enjoy just looking at the view in my room. It does not get dark almost 9pm here, so it feels like the night is short and I have to go to sleep already.

Photos here: Day 43

Day 42 : Atacama Desert Day 3 : El Tatio Geysers

2009-11-11T07:56:00.003+08:00

Off for an early start, at 4am, I am standing with two other guys from the same hostel on the street waiting for pick up. In fact, down the street, from other hostels and hotels, there are other people waiting as well. Every night is like this, apparently. For a second, I feel like we are some garbage standing outside the door waiting to be collected in the middle of the night, or a second thought, We are up some indecent business. The whole deal of individual or group of people standing outside of a hotel in the middle of the night, it just looks weird. At 4:15am, our van arrive, the same guide and driver again, I have had them 3 days on a row. Does this town only have this guide and driver?! Comparatively a smaller crowds, that may explain why it arrives sooner than I expected. It's a long ride to the geysers, almost 2 hours. As we go up the hill, bumpy roads, I can definitely feel the cold. Very cold. I have a down jacket in my backpack in the hotel and I have not brought it along!! I start to regret. I have 5 layers of clothes though, so my body is ok, only my fingers and my toes are freezing!

At the crack of dawn, we arrive the El Tatio geysers, the sky has just started to change colors, from a bruise purple to a little pink, add a hint of blue, some white... no one can stop it nor care really, since it's freaking cold on the geysers field parking lot. We pay the entrance, I am still using my student ID and get a discount. I have saved a lot of money from bringing that ID with me in this trip! In the greyish dark, I can see the smoke coming off the steam holes in the geysers field. It's rather interesting. At 4310m, one of the highest geysers field in the world, we are waiting for the sun to come out. Get back into the car, since my fingers and toes are getting numb. We wait for a little bit and then we drive into the field and stop at another parking lot, where we get off. The guide leads us into the field. There are not much explaining really, some basic stuffs like how it is formed, and the kind of steamholes there are. A huge geysers hole can shoot up burning water at 85C to 10m height. We witness some. After we walk pass one side of the field, we have breakfast, hot coffee with cheese sandwiches, and crackers and stuffs. The hot coffee is good even though they are instant. I need to inject some hot liquid into my body at -8 C.

We get to another field where we stay for an hour, some people jump into the hot spring and bath themselves for fun. I wish I bring my swim trunks. But it's too cold really. I do have felt the water, the temperature is very comfortable. In that hour, I wander around the field on my own, try to be super careful, since we are warned some places may look solid, but it's very fragile and underneath are water that can burn you alive. I am warned by whistle once by a guard to tell me not to go any further. It's an interesting site to visit after seeing many ruins, and churches in South America. In Atacama Desert, I am seeing something more natural, deserts, valleys, lakes, volcanoes and now geysers field. Before we head back to town, we stop at a few places on the way to take pictures and at a tiny little town where we wander around for like 20 mins. Get back to town before noon actually. My backpack has already been moved out of the room. The check out time is 11:00am, that's why. Anyway, I have lunch, at the same place I have lunch the first day, since I want a good and a big meal. Doesn't look like I will have time for dinner, with the bus and flight today.

Successfully find my bus to Calama at 2:20pm. That bus is actually heading to Santiago after making a stop at Calama, I could have stayed on, and will still get to Santiago 20 hours later. On a second thought, I should have done that, so I can save US$150 or more. I just need to sleep on the bus tonight. But oh well, decision to fly to Santiago was made and I should just feel content that nothing has gone wrong thus far. At Calama bus station, the official taxi to the airport is super expensive. I notice that there are two Germans or Scandinavians (a guy and a girl) trying to catch a taxi to the airport as well. So, I just ask if we can all take a taxi together. At the end, thanks to the fluent Spanish of the guy, we find a taxi for one-third of the cost if we have taken one of the official taxi. Sweet. Calama's airport is small, but rather clean and modernized. Off the runaway, it's the desert and some naked hills look like potatoes (badly deformed ones). Sometimes, looking at views like this, I wonder where have I got myself into. On the other hand, it feels pretty cool. The flight journey from Calama to Santiago is calm at least. The northern part of Chile is completely dry, just desert and bare rocks, no green, don't know how people live there. But they do.

Get to Santiago, the transfer bus to the hotel is easy. Back to the big city, feel familiar with its convenience and but at the same time feeling a bit out of place with my backpack. The hotel is not cheap, although it is centrally located and its exterior looks expensive, inside is another story. Not sure if I like that kind of old style. No, actually, just old, no style. It is getting hotter as I go south. I want to throw away some heavy clothes off my 19kg backpack, not like I am going to wear them very often in Hong Kong. But the frugal part of me still says No, at least, for now. It has been a really long day. Off to bed. Tomorrow, Valparaiso!

Photos here: Day 42 (El Tatio Geysers), Day 42 (Sunset y Hotel)

Day 41 : Atacama Desert Day 2 : Altiplano lakes

2009-11-09T08:09:00.001+08:00

First of all, I mistaken the tour start at 7am, so I wake up very early to take a shower and get ready. Turn out the tour wouldn't come to pick me up until 8am after I re-check the itinerary. Anyhow, that extra hour I am nowhere near relaxing because the shower broke! Seriously, it's a mess. At first, the water pressure is really low, and the water is cold, so I turn the hot water to maximum. 10 mins later, it is still cold. I decide I am going to wash my hair and use a towel to clean my body, I try to turn off the hot water, the switch get stuck and the water cannot be turned off. Holy shit, I think, I was just warned not to waste water in the desert, and here I am waking up in the freaking early hour with a broken shower. The water is just running off the drain. I walk out to see if I can find any help. At 6:30am, the backyard is quiet and the front office is closed. Go back inside, try to turn it with a towel, it is not turning at all. And at last, the water pressure returns to high, what a timing! Now, the water is really coming out fast and hitting the floor like da-da-da... I go out and find a bucket, hoping it will contain some water for a while. Does not take 5 mins, it is already filled up. The water is slightly warm too, I think instead of wasting it completely, I might as well take a shower. So, I do that. I guess it is a good chance for me to take a long shower, but since the water is only slightly warm, not hot at all, I can only do it really quick, can't even shave. Finally, go out again, see some other backpackers who are leaving, I ask them how I can find someone in the office. They says there should have someone sleeping in the office. In a desert, I would definitely call the troubled water situation in my bathroom is an emergency, so I knock on the door, a few moments later, a woman in her pajama with sleepy eyes answering the door, I have already written a piece of paper saying the shower broke, the water is not stopping. She is just "yeah-yeah" and then go back to sleep. I am like, come on...

I think maybe my paper isn't clear enough. Maybe another 20 mins passed, there is another backpacker just finish brushing her teeth in the shared bathroom, I tell her about my situation. She knock on the woman's door again, and tell her in Spanish. Apparently, she says there is nothing she can do at the moment, someone gonna look at it later. I go back inside try yet one more time to turn the water off. It turns finally, but the whole switch comes off as well. Oh my god. What is this? Did they install this in the 50s?! Put it back on the wall, hoping it would stay. It does, but I am not going to touch it again. The woman finally comes out, passing by my room, I ask her if she has a bigger bucket to contain the water perhaps. She goes into my bathroom and look at it, and she turns, the switch comes off again, and get her part of the pajama wet. She is not happy. I hang her a clothes to dry off her hands. She put the switch back on the wall and walk out my room. Ok.. even though the pick up isn't there yet, I walk out too.

Wait for 30 mins outside of the hostel maybe, the pick up is finally there, another full van, with the same guide and driver from yesterday, some of the tour mates were there yesterday. I guess these are some popular tours, people come here usually join the same tours. I bet I will see some of these people tomorrow as well. Our first stop is a uninteresting fruit farm. In a way, I guess it is interesting if you consider this is a desert. In the middle of it, there is this village, full of trees and a small river. There is some caves which nobody knows how old they are, but just above them there is a small geoglyph on a stone. Leaving that place, we arrive at Salar de Atacama (the world's third biggest salt lake after Uyani in Bolivia and Utah in the US), but the Atacama salt lake is unique because there are full of water underneath. We takes a lot of pictures of the flamingos here.

After the salt lake, we take a long ride and visit two altiplano lakes, it's totally worth the wait, they are very beautiful, understandable but it is pity that we cannot get closer to the lake, it is not allowed. I guess it's a right decision, otherwise the lakes would never be as pristine as it is. It is quite windy, so we cannot see the reflection of the volcanoes in the lakes. But still, the colors, the sights in the eyes are magical. After I try to take the same scenery 3 billion times later. We have to leave and finally have a late lunch at 2:30pm, with powered-made juice, soup, a rice dish and a dessert made by canned fruit. It is ok really. Nothing's too exciting. I have yet had a lunch or dinner from a tour is "crying out loud" great. I am getting kind of tired already after a long day. our last stop is a church. The church is torn down by earthquakes many times, but there is a bell tower in front has stood for since 1650 or something old like that. Pretty impressive. The tour ends, we are delivered back to the hostel after 5:30pm. I am being offered a new room. Thank you.

Go back to the same cafe I have dinner last night. I just want to sit somewhere to have a juice and get online with wi-fi for a while, and then maybe I have a pizza there, since I like their hamburger so much last night. It's really good value meal, for CHP2900 (less than US$5), a pizza or a hamburger + a drink. Recommended to any budget traveler. Back to the hostel early, since I will have to go to the El Tatio geysers tomorrow morning at 4am, I have reconfirmed. I should try to get to back before 9:30pm. And I will try to take a shower in the evening too. No more morning episode like this morning! If I break another shower, I bet I will be banned from this hostel forever.

Photos here: Day 41

Day 40: Atacama Desert Day 1 : Valle de la Luna

2009-11-08T18:45:00.002+08:00

After an overnight bus, we are arrived at San Pedro de Atacama at 10:00pm, I did sleep on the bus, although it is a very comfortable bus, the position is always kind of weird, I mean, sleeping on a chair. And at 4am, we were suddenly waken up to get off the bus, with still being half asleep, in cold desert air, I was wondering what the hack is going on. Turn out we were at a control point, and it's the formal procedure for us to leave the bus with our luggage and all. I figure they would check our passport or scan our luggage. None of those, maybe 3-4 mins later, we are allowed to get back on the bus. Not so sure why we need to get out to begin with, if they are not really checking anything. Anyway, after the 4am incident, the bus was pretty much smooth.

First thing after getting in town, I check in my hotel, I need a shower badly, and brush my teeth. They served some snacks on the bus in the morning, but I am getting hungry already. 20 mins after I arrive at the hotel, I get my room, take a quick shower. The water is hot, thanks God. But in the desert, the water is very important, we are warned not to take long shower. People who have lived with me know long shower is like a religion to me. I love to stand under the hot water to think. But being considerate, I have taken a "literally" quick shower. Head out to a travel agent hoping to find a star-gazing tour. In the middle of this desert, there is a super advanced and huge telescope. It is some kind of astronomy project. Anyway, unfortunately tonight's tour is full. They have a tour for tomorrow 11pm, but the following day I'll need to wake up at 4am to go to El Tatio geysers. So, the star-gazing plan is off. I guess I can still go out to the backyard to look at stars tonight. Have a very good lunch, though expensive, it is like US$16 (after 10% tips, unlike Peru, tipping is a custom here in Chile). But that lunch in US or HK probably would cost more. It is a fine dinning lunch. Walk around the little town of San Pedro de Atacama which may takes 20 mins top, you see everything. Go back to hotel to rest a little.

The tour to Valle de la Luna starts at 4pm, it's a big group again. We are splitted into 2 groups, my group still has over 20 people. We are driven to the desert, see the different rock formations, sand dunes, hike some trails, and crawl some caves. Again my shoes are proven not for sands, the sands get in from the holes, and it becomes very heavy and uncomfortable to walk on. I may choose to not wear socks tomorrow, see if that is better. The highlight of today's tour is that we will get to the Moon Valley and see sunset. We arrive there, just in time to climb up the hilltop to see the sunset with 3 billions people who are already there. I move around to few different positions trying to see where might be the best place to see the sunset (from the back to the middle to the front). At the end, a French travel mate and I pick a spot up front, but then when the sun is setting, I don't feel anything. What is so special about it, I thought, until I turn around and start to walk back. The magical part is not the sunset itself, but the colors changing in the background, over the sand dunes, over the golden rock, over the volcano, there are pink, purples and yellow over them, the lighting becomes softer and softer, almost melancholy. I should have stayed at the first spot, where if I turn over, I would have seen the whole color changing over the valley. So, if anyone going to Moon Valley someday, try not to focus on the sunset itself, but the colors on the sky in the background above the volcano. It gets pretty windy, a jacket might be a good idea. And if you crawl the cave, bring a flashlight would save your head from hitting the rock a couple times.

Lunch is so big and expensive, to balance, I have a light dinner, just hamburger and a fanta (for CHP3200 after tips or US$6). That hamburger is very interesting, not only that it's huge, but it uses flat bread, with the burger meat of course, cheese, lots of tomato and onions. Hamburger in desert style, perhaps. It tastes delicious too. The restaurant name is Cafe Las Raices.

Tomorrow's tour to visit the altiplano lagoons. It's full day tour from 7am to 5pm. I better get some good rest tonight.

Photos here: Day 40

Day 39 : Arica - Plan changes again...

2009-11-07T08:04:00.001+08:00

After exploring a few options with a travel agent last night, it seems I can go to Atacama Desert after all. After breakfast this morning, I go back to the travel agent and have everything arrange. I will take a night bus to San Pedro de Atacama tonight at 10:00pm, sleep on the bus (will see how well that goes, at least the agent said the bus is safe). I will visit the Valle de la Luna tomorrow afternoon, hopefully find myself a star glazing tour at night (know there is a Spanish group, but the English group is not confirmed). The next day I will visit the Altiplano lakes and finally on the Nov 9, I will go to the El Tatio geysers at 4:00am to see sunrise. The same day, I will go to Calama at 2:00pm to catch my flight to Santiago at 6:00pm. It will be a big day. I am sure I will be tired as hell. But that's probably the best plan on hands. The agent is trying to help me to find a hotel in Santiago too, with airport pick up since I will be arriving late. The following day, I will head to Valparaiso anyway, so just a quick night in Santiago.

I am very happy with this travel agent. His name is Santiago Tamani H. of Ruta Andina, he and his colleagues have been extremely helpful, because my Spanish is bad, they speaks English to me, while the Sky Airlines agents just say No to me, no hablar ingles! I do realize that it is more expensive to book a tour to Atacama Desert from here instead of going to the San Pedro de Atacama first and find a tour there. For my case, however, I have a time constraint, I must go to Santiago to continue my trip to Easter Island next week. I am glad that this agent helps me to arrange everything. I may have paid US$100 more with an agent instead of DIY, but to me, I think their service is truly worth with the extra money. For anyone who is visiting Nacional Parque Lauca, Arica or Atacama Desert, I totally recommend this agent.

During the afternoon, since I have some spared time, I look around in Arica, my gosh, have I walked a lot today, pretty much from noon to 5:30pm, walk walk walk... I walk up a hill called El Morro de Arica, where is supposed to be the battlefield for the War of the Pacific some 100 years old. There is a Jesus statue on top as well, but it's such a quiet hilltop, I don't see many tourists in this town at all. I try to keep a very fast pace as I walk up and down the hill, a quiet trail on a hillside, probably not a good idea for solo traveler. After the hill, I walk around the center, see a few buildings designed by the Eiffel, the engineer who designed Eiffel Tower. Apparently, before he designed the Eiffel Tower, he had designed two buildings in this town: one Church, the other the old court house. Continues with my self-walking tour, I walk pass a market who sells like shits you can buy in a supermarket. I am not sure what the point of this market. Lastly, I walk to a beach by the Pacific Ocean. My legs are literally sore after walking so much.

Back to the travel agent to get my hotel arranged in Santiago and Valparaiso. In Valparaiso, I am staying in slightly more expensive hotel where I get a full ocean and port view. Well, it's expensive to me anyway, US$62 a night. Just want to have a few good relaxing nights in a town where life becomes poetry (as one of the hotels is selling the Valparaiso with this slogan, and I am totally buying it!) :P

Dinner tonight is suicidal: deep fried chicken, with rice, french fries, half avocado, 4 slices of super-sized tomato, lettuces, bread, butter, mayo, chili sauce and a coca cola. It's more than I can finish really, but I swallow the whole thing down. Food in Chile is clearly more expensive than Peru, a meal costs about US$6-10. Look like I will be a big spender for the next 2 weeks!

Photos here: Day 39

Day 38 : Arequipa to Arica via Tacna : a rough day

2009-11-06T21:16:00.000+08:00

7:30am sharp, my bus takes off to Tacna from Arequipa. I am really satisfied with this bus company I use - Cruz del Sur. This is the 2nd long distance I have taken from them, the seat is comfortable, the bag are safe, there are number of movies to watch and snack box. Today we have watched that Vampire movie every teenager is going nut about that vampire guy (he looks pretty ugly to me, no idea what people like about him) and another movie by Nicolas Cage about the end of the world. There are also bingo on the bus, but the girl reads the number in Spanish too fast for me, so I have missed most of them and give up. The ride from Arequipa to Tacna turns out is passing through some bare landscapes - a desert. Yellow, red and white are all the colors I have seen during the whole ride. It's different from Sahara kind of desert, not as sandy, but more like just bare grounds. Once in a while, there are some oasis or pretty green areas in the middle of the desert. I am impressive thus far the way Peruvians do their vegetation, no matter how tricky a place it is, they have a way to grow something out of it.

Get to Tacna around 1:00pm, a lousy little town with things price doubled or even triple from the other part of Peru, because it is at the border with Chile. Chileans are the richest among the other South Americans. They come into the Tacna to shop now and then, so the local people are trying to grab the Chilean Pesos as much as they can, I guess. In some ways, Tacna is like Shenzhen (a Chinese city right next to Hong Kong, things are also more expensive compared to other Chinese cities just because it is close to Hong Kong). At the bus station, I grab a cab trying to get to the train station to get my ticket, turn out they are having lunch, so I ask the driver to take me to the main Plaza instead, which is really just 2 small blocks away. Since he seems to be helpful, I give him a little more than what we have agreed. But then, when he sees me paying more naturally, he dares to ask for a double, saying he takes me to the train station and then from train station to Plaza, that's 2 ride! It is a freaking small town, that 2 blocks are like 2 mins or less walking! I am like, no, no, no... just grab my bags off the car and leave. Feeling disappointed at the driver, thought I'd be nice to him because he seems to be helpful and give him some extra, turn out he is just another greedy bastard.

Have lunch, a so-so lunch costs as much as a good meal in Arequipa or Cuzco, their menu prices are comparable to that in Colca Canyon, while the quality is non-existence. I don't really mind paying more, in fact, but at least I wish there is some good foods presented to me. So, I feel like I am paying for something. A second down for this town. Get to the train station after lunch, another bad experience. This ticket guy obviously cheats me money, like I am dummy or something. The train ticket is only 7 Soles. I first give him a 10, but then I realize I have 7 (in exact change), so I ask him to give me back the 10 (want to keep the bank note as a souvenir, it's my last Peruvian Soles) and I'd give him the change. He takes my extra 7, but doesn't give me back the 10, instead of he gives me back a 3 after passing money into the drawer, he pretends that he have not taken the 7 at all! And he starts to speak a strings of Spanish to me when I argue with him. I know what he is saying, he says I give him a 10, and he gives me back a 3. That son of a bitch really pisses me off! But I cannot fight back because of the language and there is a line behind me. I end up taking the loss. It just pains me not being able to communicate in situation like this! Even though it is really only US$2 more in equivalent, but it's the principle that he breaks, Tacna really disappoints me a big time. Like people there are just greedy and wants to grab all your money if they can. Shameless! The whole time I am waiting for the train, I am like cursing this guy inside. He probably will get his karma someday.

I am the only foreigner on the ancient train. Apparently, most travelers choose to take taxi to cross border, or most travelers choose to go to Bolivia instead because it is much cheaper. Either way, the train ride is interesting, but bumpy, very bumpy for 2 hours. It gives me headache after carrying my heavy backpack all day long. The seats on the train are numbered, I am at seat 15, but then when I get on the train, it is a real mess, people just sit wherever they want, and they carry little package and lay everywhere. I end up sitting at the end of the train, which isn't a bad idea so I stay away from the crowds. Next to me is the ticket collector and another passenger. Maybe I fall asleep or something, I actually don't see a border, and before I know it, I arrive at Arica, Chile. The custom holds me for a bit longer since they are not sure whether I need a visa to enter Chile or not, so they call and check. Finally, "welcome to Arica, Chile" the officer tells me. The train is so simplistic, there is no waiting room, no ATM, toilet, tourist info, or just chair to sit down so I can turn on my laptop to check my hotel address. I mark a cross on my guide, I should have written the full address. I am hoping to find a money exchange or ATM so I can get some pesos for taxi. Without any Chilean money, I end up walking to the hotel with the guard at the station pointing out it only take 20 mins. It's getting dark though, so I walk much quicker than usual.

Get to the hostel, the room is far from satisfying, the worst room I have had thus far, the bathroom has no light, the room has patches everywhere, no air condition or fan, no ventilation, the air is stiffy, I can't open the window all night. The manager is friendly however. But what a day I thought. I reconsider... I can at least stay for tonight, I would change the hotel if I'd stay in this town for a few more days, or I just leave to the some tour tomorrow with my backpack. Go out to find my bank, travel agents and restaurant for dinner. Finally get some money at the bank, feel much more secure with local money on hand. A travel agent offers me a tour to the Atacama Desert (my original plan), I know it is much more expensive to join a tour here instead of going to the desert first to find tour there. But you know what, I only have less than 10 days in Chile mainland, I need to get something solid planned and get moving. Or I am just burning day light. I tell the agent I'd think about it tonight, actually I pretty much decide to join them tomorrow if there is no accident. They will find me a flight ticket to fly to Santiago right after the tour as well from the nearby town off the desert. Compared to my other option, to join a local tour to the Parque Nacional Lauca (near here) is about US$100 more. I mean, if just a $100 difference, I rather do the desert.

BTW, if I do the desert, I'll be offline for a few days, since the desert is pretty remote. One last note before I am falling asleep here, just a borderline away, Chile is 2 hours faster than Peru! So even though it's almost 1am here but my body is feeling 11:00pm. Either way, I have had a pretty rough day, gonna sleep on it. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better one.

Photos here: Day 38

Day 37 : Countryside tour : Spitted at by a llama!

2009-11-06T10:14:00.000+08:00

Today I have a very light plan, just joined a half day morning tour to the countryside, seeing some lookout of the El Misti and Chachani volcanoes, some famous houses and a mill farm in the surrounding neighborhoods outside of the downtown areas. And then back for lunch, and just plan for my trip to Chile tomorrow. I am planning to take a morning bus to Tacna - the border town (already bought the ticket), and then I will have to find out how to cross the border to Arica, Chile, either by train or taxi, there are bus too. But I prefer the early two options. As of this morning, I still don't have a hotel booking, and not sure what time I will arrive in Arica. I shoot out a few emails last night to a few hotel in Arica. The first one comes back is US$37 a night. Everyone says Chile is the most expensive country in South America, I am afraid it is true, although I am only staying in Chile for 2 and a half week. I think I will be able to manage the higher cost. Now I am realize the next 10 days I will be running a bit hasty, visiting 3 cities separated by long distance before the Easter Island. I probably could have used a few more days to see Chile, but probably not going to change my tickets again which costs a lot of money. Will just do my best to see whatever I can.

Back to the countryside tour, the highlight is the Mirador de Yanahuara, Mirador de Sachaca, and Molino de Sabandia, the low point is the alpaca clothing shop where has a mini zoo containing all 4 members of the llama family. Like vicuña, guanaco is also not domesticated and it is the first time I see this guy, they can hardly be seen in the wild in Peru too if I understand correctly. Anyway, the whole point of going to that shop is not for the zoo, but trying to get you buy some alpaca products. Try a type of ice-cream called Churrito (a mixture of milk, coconut, vanilla and cinnamon) in the little shop after climbing the Sachaca tower, the ice-cream tastes really good. I like it. At one of the sightseeing point - La Mansión del Fundador, or the mansion of the founder of Arequipa. I try to walk closer to a llama to take a picture, that breast spits at me, Bitch! I don't know if it hits me or not, probably do, but with little spit, I can smell it all the way back to Arequipa. Molino de Sabandia is a old mill, the area looks quite beautiful, you can see the owner of the mill sitting in some private areas sipping his tea, very relaxing.

I think this tour is not a must for visiting Arequipa, but if there is extra time, and instead of wasting bargaining with the taxi driver to go to this place and that, the tour can save you some times to dealing with the taxi drivers. It does go to a few good lookout places, where one can takes a lot of pictures. I would recommend people to take the morning tour (9:00am-1:00pm) though, partly you still have a good afternoon to spend to do whatever you like, and the weather tends to be better in the morning, it seems so far, for the time I have been staying here anyway.

Have a good lunch menu for 5 Soles (less than US$2). That is so much better than the two lunch buffets I had in the Canyon already. What the hack! Pick up my laundry, go back to the hotel, grab my laptop, start my cafe tour, go to two cafes where Wi-fi is available, the first says they have it, I connect to it and it does not work. The second does, so I sit there sipping my tea and typing my blog entries for 2 hours. Dinner, I have gone completely western, I just feel the need to have something satisfying and something I am totally comfortable with at the very last. Probably not as exciting as the Cuy dinner, but it's a very satisfying dinner, for 35 Soles (less than US$12), I have a cream of mushroom soup, two BBQ meat combo with fries, and a coca cola. They are good too. (see the picture). The beef is probably a bit raw for me, a couple friends of mine would love it. I eat it anyway.

Get another email from another hotel in Arica, they offer me a room for US$16 a night, so I quickly confirm it. I still have not had an idea about the train crossing the border, the tour details in Arica. Guess I'll find out tomorrow. The bus is scheduled for 7:30am in the morning, which means I must leave the hotel before 6:30am, probably no breakfast. I better sleep early tonight. More in Chile...

Photos here: Day 37

Day 36 : Colca Canyon Day 2

2009-11-05T11:52:00.001+08:00

Get up at 4:55am, the guide said there will be a person knocking on your door at 5:00am, there isn't! Luckily, I have my cell phone to wake me up, take a quick shower. Go out to the dining room waiting for breakfast at 5:30am as instructed. The dining room has no one, and the light is off. I start to wonder if I am still in a dream. About 10 mins later, la señorita finally comes to serve the breakfast. Just some breads, juice and tea. I am like I can help myself for that. Other tour mates starts to show up. One of the American girls oversleeps, and she does not show up until 5 mins before we leave. I don't blame her, she has no alarm, and expecting someone to knock on her door, which does not happen until everyone is already eating breakfast.

Anyway, taking off to a town called Yanque, where we pick up a few other tour mates who stayed in a better hotel. The town is small but cute. In the early morning, before the kids go to school, they are dressed in their traditional clothes and dancing around the fountain near to the church. It's probably for tourists and get some extra money for their school or themselves. But it's actually kind of nice. We are on our way to the Condor Cross lookout (or Mirador de Colca Canyon) after we get everyone. When we leave the hotel, it is still cloudy, but as we get to Yanque, the clouds start to break up, thanks god. Turn out we have quite a good weather for viewing condors. Before long, we arrive at the lookout, there are a few condors flying next magnificent to the cliff already. The guide says the luck is on us today. The view is , the condors are huge and they are so close to where we are, although these few condors we see are not the biggest one, the adult condors have some white furs around their necks. The few we see do not have that, they are young condors, but still it's quite exciting to see them cruising around the canyon. I also see hummingbirds, snow cap volcanoes, the world's 2nd deepest canyon (some 3600m deep) and many cactus. After an hour or so, we head back down to Chivay for lunch, after stopping by a called Maca (in Peru, Maca is a herbal substance equivalent to Viagra, kind of funny.) In Maca, I take a picture with a little girl and her alpaca, they are so cute sitting on the ground. I just can't resist. In the church next to us, there are a lot of people having a funeral. It's probably not a good idea, but I take some pictures of the people around the church. I just love their faces, their clothes, and the colors. They are all good elements for pictures. So, today's photo album has a lot of local peoples' faces.

After another money wasting lunch buffet, we are heading back to Arequipa. I am totally disappointed with the meals of this tour, the 3 meals together is already more expensive than the tour itself. It's their way of grabbing your money I supposed. I don't mind if they are more expensive, but give me some options and wish they at least tasted better than a 3 Soles menu. Back to town, I am searching for a place where I can do laundry. I also join another half day countryside tour for tomorrow. At dinner, I finally try the guinea pig (the locals call it Cuy). A must-check out picture of the day, it looks really scary, they cut the guinea pig along its tummy in half and just spread open, deep fried it, and lay on the dish with head and everything. I need to operate it into smaller piece and just eat it like that. When I first open it leg, its claws prick on my fingers, it feels a moment of disguise. But after all, I am a Chinese who supposes to anything that moves. So, I chew on it. It tastes really good in fact. Kind of like eating deep fried pigeons. At the end, I even eat its lower jaws and the cheeks. Those are the best part usually. For fish anyway. I would eat it again if there is opportunity, maybe cooked in a different way. I also treat myself some ice-cream tonight, mango and coconut. Yum!

I walk by a saloon, just decide to go in and have a hair cut. I know they are charging me more because I am tourists, he pretty much make up the price as I ask them, but it's much cheap compared to what I usually paid in the US, so I try not to think about it. I just want to keep the hair short enough to leave no shape when I take off my hat. They actually do a lousy job, I have to go back to the hotel, ask for a scissor and cut a little more to make it look balance. Oh well. The next time I will cut my hair will probably be either in Australia or Hong Kong.

Back to the hotel after a fine evening, satisfied with the Cuy. I finally try it. In this trip, I have been setting some little goals everyday, I need to do this, I need to try that. So far, I have met these goals so far. I am happy about that.

Photos here: Day 36 (Yanque y Condor Cross), Day 36 (Maca y la noche)

Day 35 : Colca Canyon Day 1

2009-11-05T11:50:00.001+08:00

When I am waiting at the lobby for the tour to pick me, I find that there are 2 British guy, and 2 German guys have joined the same tour. We are all waiting, the tour bus is late. When the first vehicle arrives, they pick up the Germans. The tour is so big that it takes 3 vehicles in total. Me along with the Brits are picked up by the second Mercedes van. The weather isn't good at all today, very cloudy. I am just hoping we will still see something. Our first stop is a convenience store for everyone to pee. Once we get to the hillside, it is not as easy to find baños (toilets). Based on the original itinerary, we would go around the body of the volcano Chachani to its behind, and then we will pass by some local villages, the national protected zone where we would see some lakes and vicuña, continue to the highest point of the trip Patapampa at 4910m, where we will see 3 volcanoes, including the one the ice-maiden Juanita were found. Lunch at Chivay, then we will go to a hot spring, dinner with folk music and dance.

We do get to see some vicuña, they are the same family with the llamas and alpaca, but much more elegant and skinny. They are not domesticated either, so we only see them behind some fences. Kind of excited. Until the rain starts falling down, we continue going up the hill, the altitude does hit some of us, people start to chew on coca leaves. It's the 2009, I am coca candies instead. :P I think people just chew it for experience. I heard it tastes really bad by itself. Anyway, we get to the peak at Patapampa, we see no volcanoes, they get white out. It is snowing on the top of the mountain. We get a quick pee, steal a few snapshot of the "green" rocks (which only exists above 3500m sea level), and the stack of rocks where people place their offerings to mother Earth, those stacks of stones are everywhere. Disappointed that we don't get to see the volcanoes but we move on to Chivay to have lunch - an expensive and tasteless lunch buffet, I mean even Panda Express in the US is better than that lunch buffet. I hate it when they assume that tourists like buffet. That's so 1980s! Chivay is also the town we will stay a night. Check in at our hotel. My room is literally a bed (well two beds) in a box. But the whole tour + hotel is only 60 Soles (US$20). What am I complaining about, right?

Take a quick nap for the altitude, then we get to the hot spring, it's cold at the mountain areas when it is cloudy, even though it's almost summer and it's quite hot in Arequipa at this time of the year. I have brought my swim trunks. At first, kind of worried, since it's those swimmer's kind of brief style. Luckily, the tour mostly consists of European, and they are also wearing those kind of briefs, so I am not like the only one who exposes my thighs. Anyway, it is good to be in the hot water for a while, I even go into the sauna too. Steam for another 10 mins. We must go back to the hotel, and get ready for the dinner. The dinner is as disappointing as the lunch. It's not buffet, but as expensive and does not taste good. The folk music and dance is ok. A bit touristy. They are playing with the Belgium group and French group to see which groups shout more loudly. When they announce there is this amigo from China in the house, and my tour guide makes me raise my hands, I am almost embarrassed. This is the thing I hate about joining a group tour. Seriously.

Go straight to bed after the dinner, since we need to get up at 5:00am to go to the Colca Canyon lookout to see the condors (a huge bird when it extends its wing, it can reach 3m long). At least the shower is hot, and the bed is comfortable enough. No complaint. But because of the weather, I have taken much pictures today. Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow.

Photos here: Day 35

Day 34 : Walking in Rhythm in Arequipa

2009-11-02T12:35:00.002+08:00

The actual first day to sightseeing in Arequipa. I leave the hostel around 10:00am, pass by some tour agents to inquire about the 2 days Colca Canon tour and 1 day salt lake tour. Everyone is doing the canon tour when they come to Arequipa so it's quite formulated, I realize, after I ask around in 7-8 tour agencies. It costs between 60-180 Soles depending the hotel of your choice. At the end, I join a tour for 60 Soles (US$20) for tomorrow and will come back on Tuesday. We will stop at the highest point at 4910 meters to see 3 volcanoes, some village, a hot spring, then onto a lookout place to see the world's second deepest canon and the condors. For the salt lake tour, turn out it is much more difficult to find. It sounds like a beautiful place, a huge salt lake set behind some 6000m mountains and volcano, and there are often different kind of flamingos around. But the problem is that it does not have a regular tour. I must do a private tour, and it will cost US$120 if I have no one to split the cost. So, I am not doing it. Instead, after I will come back to the canon, I will join a local suburb tour. Arequipa is big, there are some surrounding neighborhoods that is recommended by the Lonely Planet, a half day suburb tour probably will save me from bargaining with the taxi driver constantly. Will take an early to Tacna (the border city with Chile) on Thursday morning (Nov 5). Still debating whether I want to stay in Tacna for a day instead of going straight to Chile. We'll see.

After dealing with all the agents, I visit the 'Juanita' or the ice maiden. She is a mummy, sacrificed during the Inka time (about 500 years ago). She was so well-preserved because she was located on the top of some 6300m Andean mountain completely frozen until the nearby volcano erected in 1995, the snow started to melt, and she was eventually exposed and are found by some anthropologists. Her internal organs are all intact. She was completely dehydrated of course, so she looks much small than a 12-14 years old girl. There are 3 other sacrified children in the same period and region, supposedly there was some disasters at the time. They were all found by Juanita is the only one on display and the most well-perserved as well. It is really quite interesting to see actually.

Lunch at some local joint, a big dish of stuffed pepper, something like a lasagna but made by slice of potato and cheese, some deep fried something, and rice. Chicha morada (a purple corn drink) and a grossly-textured fruit jam/sauce (whatever it is). The meal is for 5 Soles. Enough to make me very full.

Visit the convent of Santa Catalina, a must visit if you come to Arequipa. It's actually right across from my hostel, taken the whole block by itself with walls surrounded it like a small town on its own. It was a monasteries for monks or nuns. The walls are in bright colors such as red, blue and yellow, which is quite unusual, like they were having a great time in there. But it was from Spanish colonial time, that may be why. To enter the convent is expensive, for 30 Soles (no student discount), equivalent to US$10, but I was there wondering around for 2 - 2 and a half hour. It is so relaxing in there. They also make their own pastry and have a tiny cafe where I have my first coffee and a carrot cake after my 2 days diarrhea. They let you take picture anywhere in the convent, that's also a major reason why I enjoy this place so much. Just look at the pictures of the day. You know what I am talking about.

Just cruising around the streets aimlessly for another hour, among the countless colonial buildings. Behind the main plaza, you can see two huge mountains (one active volcano) in the background. It is really unfortunate that the air is smoggy (probably because of air pollution) that you can only vaguely see the mountains behind the white smog. Maybe after the rain, the pictures will show much more clear. But oh well, I can wait for the crowds to step out of my picture frame, but I can't wait for the rain.

There are some guys sitting on the street trying to chat me up. I have no idea what their intentions are, but I can barely understand their Spanish anyway, so we talk for like 2 mins, I just shook my head and say I need to move on.

Need to leave for the Canon at 7:30am, so I better sleep earlier tonight. That's all for now. More after the Canon...

Photos here: Day 34 (Arequipa City), Day 34 (Santa Catalina Convent)

Day 33 : Cruz del Sur : Puno to Arequipa

2009-11-01T22:06:00.002+08:00

Today is on the road. Wake up around 7am, have breakfast, upload photos, blog entries for a couple hours in my hotel room. Then, go out for lunch. My stomach is till not a 100%, so I want to eat something not as adventurous. Go back to the same restaurant I ate with the Bermuda girl last night. Their lunch menu set for the day looks pretty decent, with a potato appetizer, soup, a chicken with rice, and some kind of lemonade drink. I have a cup of coca tea too. It's really pretty good for 8 Soles. I need a big lunch anyway, since my bus to Arequipa is for 3:30pm - 9:00pm, after checking in the hotel, I don't think I would go out and eat again. I pass by some bakery shops and get two pastries in case I am hungry on the bus.

Still get an hour before heading to the bus stop, so I Visit the coca & custom museum, where I watch a quite interesting video about their fiesta dances, with different names and costumes. Learn more about the coca leaves - the sacred plants for the Andeans. Then, I head to the bus stop. What do I know? I bump into the french couple who was on the same islands tour with me, we also bumped into each other at dinner last night. Today, we are the same bus again, the third time. If I see them again, I think they are stalking me.

The bus is really fancy actually, I am sitting upstairs in the front, with the big window in front of me, but I close the blind most of them anyway because of the late afternoon sun, and I am watching the movies on the TV next to my feet. They play 3 movies for the 5 and a half journey, and I watch them all. The first one is called Dreamer, oh god, almost get tears in my eyes. It's about a girl, a horse, a dream, I guess. It's a good movie, but I hate to watch this kind of movie on a plane, bus or in a public place where I have to hold my tears back. At some point of the movie, I have to look outside the window, and hold my tears back, chill, don't come out. Silly. The other two are Little Man (kind of a stupid movie), and Red Eye (kind of a intense thriller). I want to write my blog during they play Little Man, they have wi-fi on the bus too, I am amazed. But I don't want to block of the view for the girl next to me, so I close my computer and watch the movie as well. The road is bumpy on and off anyway.

I am really impressed with this deluxe bus company Cruz del Sur, there are also a dinner box with a sandwiches and cake, and drink in the middle of the ride, it's almost like a plane ride, better than United at least. After 6:30pm, it gets pretty dark outside. There is no light in the highway, we are driving down from some Andean mountain areas to a lower altitude areas, I mean without seeing what both sides of the road are, just pitch dark and with the bus flying. I can't allow myself to imagine further. If I can, I will not take another bus. It's also a pain to bargain for taxi with a huge backpack on your back at night. The french asks me if I want to take the taxi together to the main plaza. My hotel is just a few blocks off the plaza anyway. It's Halloween, turns out the Peruvians take Halloween much more serious than we do. Or at least they love to party. Traffic is horrible everywhere, taxi raises their price, everyone on the street are masked or painted on the face, there are even fireworks!? I see from afar just before the bus arrives at the station.

Anyway, get the hotel safely around 10:00pm. The hotel looks really cute, I have to share some pictures on my photo albums. The room is good side for one person, with cable TV, wi-fi, a dresser I can walk in, some nice painting on the wall. The outside is pretty handsome too. It's slightly more expensive, US$28 a night, more than my planned range: US$15-25. But oh well, I come all the way down there, might as well enjoy it. Watch another horror movie on TV before heading to bed, my 4th movie of the day!

Photos here: Day 33

Day 32 : Lake Titicaca Islas Day 2: Taquile

2009-11-01T01:10:00.001+08:00

Waking up at 6am, feeling much better, though still have stomach ache and diarrhea, but the intensity is definitely not as much as yesterday. I tell the family that yo estoy enfermo and no desayuno (I am sick and not gonna have breakfast). They make me some herbal tea (call muña or something like that), it supposes to help with stomach problem, and it tastes very good actually. I drink that, and we are leaving isla Amantani for another island an hour away, called isla Taquile (sound like tak-key-nay).

The wave is high this morning, for that hour of boat ride to Taquile, a few people get sea sick, including Mesami, who stayed with me in the same room last night. When we port, she just lays down on the floor and cannot move. At the end, she skips the island, and just stay at the port to wait for us. We hike up to the main town, which takes about an hour. It is a much easier hike though. My stomach does not ache as much, but I still have diarrhea a couple times. As long as they are toilets around, I am ok, they don´t usually have toilet paper though. I almost finish all the tissue packs I brought over. Anyway, get to the main square, waiting for everyone. We have a beautiful lake view, and many arches (like door entrance). 95% of the Taquile islanders stay on the islands and they marry to their own people too. So, they preserve their culture quite well. Many are wearing some unique clothing and hats that you can tell whether he is married, his social states..etc. Woman also wear red if they are married, and white if they are not. Their products are all handmade locally and sold quite expensively, it seems.

We have a lunch at a local restaurant, where there is only one dish - fish from the Lake - I think it´s trout, if I remember correctly. It tastes really good and fresh. I am also glad that I have appetite again. At least I finish all the fish, and french fries, leave some rice on the plate because they are so dry. So far, the meal is good. It costs 15 Soles (US$5). After lunch, we hike back down to the other side of the hill and take the same boat heading back to Puno. It´s a 3 hour boat ride again, in much calmer water, I sleep for the whole time pretty much, the diarrhea drains off all my energy. Make plan to have dinner with a girl from the same tour at 7:00pm, who strangely studied at the same Spanish school with me at the same period but we didn't bump into each other. She is from Bermuda, how unusual I think, their population is 60000, on an island smaller than isla Amantani. She is heading to Bolivia tomorrow, while I am heading to Arequipa, so called the White City.

After the dinner, just go back to the hotel to rest. The diarrhea has drained off all my energy. Hopefully, I will feel better in Arequipa.

Photos here: Day 32

Day 31 : Lake Titicaca Islas Day 1: Twisting the night away

2009-11-01T00:57:00.001+08:00

The second tour I have joined in Puno is a 2 days trip to Lake Titicaca islands. The first day we visit the floating island Uros, which is made by weeds. It´s very interesting actually, people are wearing their traditional clothes singing songs to welcome and farewell us when we arrive and depart. We visit their houses, talk to him personally, and the guide explained why and how they make the floating islands...etc. It may seem touristy, since tourism is probably their biggest income nowadays, but it really isn't bad, and since it´s so unusual, and they are so friendly and welcoming. The whole visit is very interesting.

After Uros, we take a 3 hour boat ride to Isla Amantani, where we will stay for a night with some local families. We have a big group, like 18-20 people, we are splited into groups of 2 or 3 and stays with like 8-9 families. I am staying with 2 Japanese girls: Meya and Mesami. After we settle down, have lunch provided by the family (sorry to say, the lunch is too small for me with potato, potato, potato - different kinds - with rice and salty piece of rubbery thing, no meat, I eat it anyway), we have a hour to rest. I am sitting at their ¨garden¨ where they grow their own food, looking at the lake, and the snow mountains across the Bolivian side, I am thinking maybe this is the simple life. I enjoy that moment a lot, just looking at the lake. The island is very windy, more so than Chicago! Later, we all hike up, like pilgrims, to a football field above a hill. There we are given a lecture about the culture of the islanders. After that we are supposed to hike up to the top of the hill (at 4150 meters) to watch the sunset. That takes a lot of efforts I confess, especially with that wind. I have 4 layers of clothing and still feel cold. Most of us do it, except a few choose to go to a different spot where requires less energy to climb. The view is amazing on the top. The last time I actually watch a sunset might be a few years ago. This reminds of the sunset I watched in Santorini in Greece. The sun is setting behind another island.

Get back to the house, rest for a little bit, I am exhausted and actually fall asleep a little. Get up and go to the dinner, more potato and rice, I start to feel very cold and shaky. I can´t stop my hands from shaking, even though I hold on to the hot cup of tea, and swallow down some hot liquid. I have no appetite, and feel my stomach twisting. I try to eat the rice, with soap to water it down. I know I need the energy. But I start to feel really sick, I tell the girls, I am off to the bed and lay down a little. They say I look really pale. Soon, after I lay down, I know I need to use the bathroom, where have no light, no sitting pan, and no flash, you need to use a buckle to carry some water to flash it yourself. I am hoping that I can hold on long enough till I get back to Puno tomorrow. But no, I need to do it, and need it now. There is a candle, but in the middle of my mission, it goes out, luckily I have my flashlight with me. I try to clean the rim of the bowl and cover it with paper before sitting down but the whole thing is just gross. Anyway, I don´t have a choice really. The stomach starts to twist so badly, I have diarrhea. This isn't good. Get back to my bed, twisting and turning the bed, moaning too. The Japanese girls worry and ask me if I am ok. But we all know that there is no doctor, no any medical facility at this time of the day. I have taken some chinese medicine I brought and put some methanol oil on my stomach. The twisting becomes very intense. They are going to traditional clothes dress up party. I feel bad since I am in no condition to go, but I really want to go, put on their poncho and wear their colorful hat. Anyway, I have to stay.

Go to the bathroom again, the 2nd time, with nobody left in the house, it is so bad that I cannot even clean it before sitting down. My body literally are losing feelings, and feel like I am paralyzed all over my body except my heart, sitting on the bowl, holding my flashlight, my fingers are twisted and I can´t control them. The flashlight falls off my fingers into my pants. I am really scared for a moment, and not sure what to do. Just keep sitting there, tell myself to chill out, breathe deeply. Maybe after 15-20 mins, the feelings starts to come back. I clean myself and get back to bed. I actually feel a little better after that. Stomach still twists every so often, and I need to switch position to make it relax. Over the whole course of night, I have diarrhea 5 times. I feel bad for the Japanese girls, since when I get up in the middle of the night, in the dark, I knock down thing on the table and the door is not exactly quiet when I open it. But I manage to get through the night.

Another thing I planned to do on the island but don´t get a chance is to watch stars. Since the island has no electricity, at night it gets really dark, and you can see many stars. A friend told me that she saw 6 shooting stars when she was on the island. I have my wishes ready, but I have no chances to see one shooting star. When I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I do try to wait for a min or two, just looking up, but it gets very windy at night, and I don´t think I should stay out too long. The starry night is very beautiful though.

The first night on the Lake Titicaca is a bit rough. I get back to bed, trying to listen to music to keep me calm, and help me get through the night.

Photos here: Day 31 (Uros), Day 31 (Amantani)

Day 30 : Sillustani

2009-11-01T00:05:00.000+08:00

Today is exactly half way through my journey. I have about 3 and a half weeks more in South America, then a week in Australia before heading back to Hong Kong. I just hope I'll not lose another camera and will not be over-spending too much. That's all I wish. :) Haha.. If I will have as much fun in the 2nd half of my journey as in the 1st half. That would be even better.

I am feeling a bit off color this morning, especially after the breakfast. I feel like something stuck in my chest, going up and down, kind of like a heartburn. I want to vomit but there is really nothing to vomit, just some acids keep coming up my chest. I think it is the coffee with milk, but I don't know. My body is also feeling tired everywhere, and my hands are cold while my neck is warm. Doesn't sound great, does it? I just hope I am not getting 'sick' sick. I do have taken some medicines hoping it prevents my body from getting worst. At lunch, I have no appetite but I try to force myself to eat something, because I need the energy. Get to a local joint, the set menu is 3.5 Soles (US$1.1) including a bowl of soup, a rice dish with chicken. The chicken with rice is so dry, I have to get a bottle of coca cola to water it down. I guess I shouldn't be so cheap when I am not feeling that well. Get a Gatorade, hope it will help getting rid of the acids in my chest. It does help a little. By the late afternoon, I start to feel better.

In the afternoon, I visit Sillustani, the Inka funerary towers, with a tour group. It is located above a small hill on a peninsula in a lake. It's so beautiful: the Inka tower against the dark blue lake with a blue sky too. It's only a 3 hours tour, the travel itself takes 1.5 hours already. So we really only spend 1.5 hours at the site, which is ok, because the site isn't big, the length of time is appropriate actually. After Sillustani, we also stop by a local people home, and learn about their foods and their living. The local people are very friendly, they are waving at you when your bus pass by. I realize that they wouldn't mind you to stop by to visit, partly because they can sell you stuffs, or if not, they would get some tips for welcoming you anyway. Still I think they seem to be very genuine people, living in very simple condition. I pay 5 Soles (which is US$1.6). If it is directly to the local people, I wouldn't mind.

Meet another Chinese girl in the tour, she is from Taiwan, and she has visited all the sites I planned to visit, including Easter Islands, which I am quite surprised. Also the north Chilean desert - Atacama Desert. She says it is really beautiful there, but I am not going there anymore, what's the point?! She is heading to Lima tonight, I wish her luck after the tour. It's interesting how sometimes, you meet people on the road, just a slight collide in that very moment of your life, and you know you are not going to see this person again, so there is no exchange of contact or anything like that. Peaceful and smooth, just touch and go, like dust particles.

Dinner, I have gone to another local joint just around the corner of the hotel, still being cheap, I have ordered a dish called Pollo a la Coca Cola, which is really good actually. Costs me 11 Soles (less than US$4) including the tea. I am planning on eating a really good meal on the last day in Puno. I think that's the game plan, in each city, I will indulge myself with one very good meal, and the others I will try to be conservative with the money.

Tomorrow and the next day I gonna be in the islands, where have no electricity, so I guess I will leave my laptop here in the hotel with my backpack.

Photos here: Day 30

Day 29 : Inka Express : Cuzco to Puno

2009-10-29T19:30:00.002+08:00

House mom Alicia insists to make me breakfast this morning, even though I must leave so early. She even tries to get me a cab too, but we can't find one in the quiet residential street. So I just give her a hug, put the backpack on my shoulders, and walk to the main street to find myself a taxi. Get to the bus station around 7:00am, I am one of first few to arrive. I find that my seat is an aisle seat, right in the middle of the vehicle, next to the exit door and where the drinks are. It is my fault probably, since I ask the ticket girl to give me the "best" seat on the vehicle. I guess everyone has a different standard what the best seat is. I did say I want a window seat though. So, I don't know. Maybe she mistakened me. Anyway, I ask the Señor at the station whether I can switch to a window seat if available. At the end, they put me to the end row, where the guide and the service lady sits. It is actually not a bad seat at all, I have the side windows and also the back windows, so I have taken a lot of pictures on the 9 hour bus journey.

The bus company is Inka Express. It's a good ride, I would say. Not too tiring, since we stop every 45 to 90 mins for visiting some sites along the way, the ticket also includes beverages, lunch buffet, and a tour guide. Apparently there are two types of tickets: one includes all the entrance fees for all the sightseeing points, one does not. If you want to visit the sites we stop at, you must pay some 21 Soles extra. I paid US$40 for this ride, and it is including all the fees. I think the price is reasonable, since it does have some interesting tours, such as the Raqchi ruins.

A brief rundown of the tours: We first visited Andahuaylillas village, where there is a 400 years old church, which is worth a visit, although I already visited there on another tour 2 weeks ago. The 2nd stop is Raqchi ruin, which is excellent, beautiful ruins and there is a very picturesque church. We have a lunch buffet at Sicuani, which is ok, nothing's too special. La Raya at 4335 meters, the highest point of the journey. There are some beautiful landscapes, we stop there for a few minutes to take pictures. The next stop is Pukara, where we visited an archaeological museum, which is ok. I haven't paid much attention to it. We also pass by some alpaca farms, some half dry river with flamingos. Arrive at Puno by 5:00pm.

Take a taxi to my hostel - Julio Cesar Hoteles, which is quite centrally located, it has cable TV, wi-fi, private bathroom with hot shower, and American breakfast. In my room, there is an extra bed too. I did ask for a student discount, even though they haven't checked my ID when I check in. I wonder if anyone can do that too. It costs 50 Soles (US$16.5) a night. Not the cheapest, but I am more than happy about this choice.

Quickly go to a travel agent All Ways Travel (recommended by Lonely Planet) and book my trips for the next few days, I am going to visit Sillustani, and 2 days islands tour on Lake Titicaca, will stay overnight on Isla Amantani too. Book the bus to Arequipa for coming Saturday. Then I go for dinner, which is kind of scary, because in the middle of the dinner, literally I just put a small piece pizza in my mouth, the whole street's lights go out all in a sudden. There is a blackout on my first night in Puno. I freak a little bit, and hold on to my backpack tight. In my head, I am thinking what I should do, how can I get back to the hotel in the dark. The waiters light up some candles and put on each table. I finish my pizza. I have another order of a garlic bread, I am ready to have it takeout and see what outside is like. But maybe about 10 mins later, the light comes back. Thanks god.

Photos here: Day 29 (Andahuaylillas y Raqchi), Day 29 (La Raya y Pukara)

Footnote: Another bus option is Turismo Mer

Day 28 : Easy Monday in Cuzco

2009-10-29T02:48:00.000+08:00

It is the plan to relax for a day after Machu Picchu, so today I pretty much haven't done anything except catching up with the travel blog. I must have been in the internet cafe over 4 hours. In the afternoon, I have a drink with a few german girls (Imke, Britta & Lena) from the Spanish school. I must say I get along with them, and a few individuals very well. I ask them to come to Hong Kong someday, so I can show them around.

Another mission of the day is to take a picture with the house mom - Alicia, and write a note (in Spanish) in her memory book. I get a Mocha cake for her and her family to express my gratitude for her hospitality, and take care of me like one of her own children. Turn off the light when you come down to dinner. It sounds just like my mom. Hehe... :P

Tomorrow, my tour bus to Puno will take off at 7:30am, I need to be there at the bus station by 7:15am, meaning I want to leave the home around 6:30am. Not gonna see Amy and Amanda again so I hug and say goodbye already tonight. But the house mom - Alicia - insists that she would make me breakfast before I go. She is really my mother in Peru. Go to bed around 10:30pm tonight.

I'll be on my own again after tonight, wonder if I will do better than the time when I was in Lima. I sure hope so.

Photos here: Day 28

Day 27 : Machu Picchu Day 2 : I made it!

2009-10-29T02:24:00.001+08:00

After the first day, we already know that Leah is not going to hike to Wiñay Picchu (the Young Peak) - the infamous hill next to Machu Picchu (the Old Peak) - today. But both Frank and I want to do it. To hike to Wiñay Picchu, we need to get up at 3:30am and head out to the bus stop by 4:30am, because each day only 400 people are allowed to hike to Wiñay Picchu. Everyone who wants to do it would start to get up as early as possible to fight for their spots. Leah agrees to go early and wait for us while we hike. Literally, at the crack of dawn, we leave our hotel and get the bus stop. There is already a long line. I get a cup of coffee at the shop just nearby. By 5:30am, the first bus takes off to Machu Picchu, I think we are maybe on the 5th or 6th bus. We do get our spots, I am the number 322, if we go up to Machu Picchu two buses later, we would have missed the chance to hike today.

Anyway, get our ticket for hiking at 10:00am. It is 6:30am when we begin our guide tour, it is relatively quiet at Machu Picchu according to the guide, which she is really comparing to the afternoon crowds. There are at least 300 people entering the site before us. In the afternoon, however, it is when everyone and their mothers rush in for the day tour. Each day, there are 2000-4000 visitors to Machu Picchu. Our guide begins to explain this and that about Machu Picchu, honestly I can hardly focus to listen to her, not that it isn't interesting, but the scenery in your eyes, the blue and gray birds flying all over the places, the morning lighting is just perfect, we also have beautiful blue sky, and there are less crowds at that time, I just can't stop myself from taking pictures, like I can't get enough of it.

The tour lasts about 2 to 2 and a half hour. We sit for a drink and get off our "expensive" pee (1 Soles to use the bathroom, everything is expensive on Machu Picchu, the water is 10 times more expensive). After that, Frank and I head to Wiñay Picchu just around 10:00am. Turn out I am the #300 person hiking up Wiñay Picchu today (it is different than my original number because one can get the spots among the 400, and hike between 10 to 1pm). This hike is a killer! I thought I did well on the first day, and I wasn't really feeling much tired. Maybe because we wake up so early today, or the tiredness has just accumulated since yesterday that I didn't realize, I am feeling the exhaustion after hiking for 10 mins. The hike is also at moderate level too, steep and steps are high and low, some parts do not even have steps. I have to stop for many times to rest. Eventually, we make it to the top, I do not dare to look down really, worrying that I would faint. The descent is even more freaky, it's through a different path, where the steps are tiny and thin, right off the steps, it is a straight face down of hill. I am grabbing the wall besides me like I am trying to dig my fingers into the rock. I don't like that path at all. Once in a lifetime is enough, I don't want to do that again.

A side episode occurs after we get back down from Wiñay Picchu. We are on our way to meet Leah, suddenly a few llamas run over to where we are to eat grass. So, I grab my camera and start shooting pictures. And then, before I know it, a group of them just follows, I am even more excited, and wooo... llamas, keep pressing the button on the camera. Frank is just next to me doing the same. We are at some kind of door way. All in a sudden, between Frank and I, there is an extra head in the middle! Apparently, a llama decides that she would get pass between us. I am like, woow...I jump off a little bit, she get pass to where she wants to go. We continue our way back. That is a funny experience.

My legs are killing me after that hike. At first, I thought I would spend longer in Machu Picchu, but it's 12:30pm after hiking to Wiñay Picchu, it's getting really crowded, and I have absolutely no more energy to walk around, so we decide to get back down to the town and have lunch. Frank is pissed at the restaurant because they charge us tax which is not listed on the menu. At last, we still pay for it, but he isn't happy about. I like Frank & Leah actually, they are very easy to get along. After lunch, we split up to do our own thing: shopping, internet, and then meet again at the train station. I sleep pretty much two-third of the way. Back to Cuzco around 9:00pm. After a quick dinner and talking to Amanda and house mom Alicia, I plan to write a blog entries. Just start the first line, I already fall asleep. I am seriously that tired.

Machu Picchu is really the initial reason why I wanted to come to South America, so now I can finally say...I made it! Ha..ha!

Photos here: Day 27 (Part 1), Day 27 (Part 2)

Day 26 : Machu Picchu Day 1 : Hiking on Inka Trail

2009-10-29T00:05:00.000+08:00

I am up around 5:15am, getting ready for the big day. I am supposed to be at the Plaza by 6:30am, so I plan to leave the house at 6:10am. Alicia - the house mom - prepared 3 sandwiches for me to bring along for breakfast. I am running a bit late. By 6:15am, I am still in the house, suddenly the door bell rings. Turn out it's for me. There is a SUV picking me up. This is contrary to what I was told. What if I already left at 6:10am as planned. They would have totally missed me. Anyway, I am glad that I am on my way anyhow. Get to the Plaza, waiting for my travel mates of the day, they are Dutch - Frank & Leah (lovers). They come with the tour guide, Mega, who is a girl, which is not the same tour guide giving the briefing the week before. I guess plan has changed without notice. Anyway, all these are really not important. We are on our way to Machu Picchu!

Get to the train station, it's already filled with tourists, hikers, and backpackers. Our train takes off around 7:30am, and arrive at KM.106 where we begin our hiking at 10:30am. I switch seats with an old woman, so that she can sit next to her husband, they are two rows apart before the switch. I am rather happy for the switch anyway, since I would get a window seat. But then this fat woman asks me if I can switch with her as well, so she can sit next to her boyfriend. They are actually already next to each other, but they have two aisle seats. Very reluctantly, I give up the window seat and exchange with her. Otherwise, I would have taken more pictures on the train, since we pass by some beautiful landscapes. Now, I can only steal a few shots while I am using the washroom. If people can see, they must laugh at me, this guy sticking my head out taking pictures in the washroom! Go back to my seat, and I look at them, inside I think you better hold hand or talk the whole times... but they haven't, just at the beginning. Most of the times, she is taking pictures while he is doing nothing. Bitch!

Anyway, the hike starts off tough, very steep and lots of uneven steps. I am actually doing ok maybe because walking around those Inka ruins the past 2 weeks gave me enough training. However, Leah, the dutch girl, has a really difficult time couping with the hike. She breathes really heavily and she even cries. We think that she has asthma attack, she says it isn't it. Her boyfriend ends up carrying all her loads. We make it to Wiñay Wayne (Forever Young) peak after 3 hours. On the top, we have our lunch box - cold chicken with some cabbage salad. Though nothing's fancy, it's actually very refreshing. Enya is being playing in that dining hall for campers and hikers. It's kind of cheesy honestly, like you have made something extraordinary. Briefly look at the ruin on Wiñay Wayne, We continue hiking to the Sun Gates (where we will see Machu Picchu the first time). This second half of the hike is actually much easier, until the last session hiking up the steps to the Sun Gates. It's very steep. At the Sun Gate, there it is, seeing Machu Picchu, although it's getting foggy over at Machu Picchu, and at Sun Gates, it starts to rain, and getting harder too. I have to put on my poncho. I look kind of silly in that thing, but it does keep my backpack dry.

I am expecting seeing the sunset at Machu Picchu on the first day, but clearly we won't see it. With that rain, I just want to get the hell out of the Inka trail because the rain makes the rocky path slippery. My pants and socks are soaking wet, that's the only pants I have too. It is very unpleasant actually. But when we get to the Machu Picchu entrance where we will take a bus downhill, the rain stops. We take a few shots of the Machu Picchu, with clean air after the rain. Hop on the bus, and we are heading downhill to our hotel. As we move along, we are welcomed by a double rainbow over the foggy hill outside the window. It is almost magical to see that at that time and at that place.

Although, you know, we miss the sunset at Machu Picchu, the whole experience of hiking on the Inka trail to Machu Picchu is quite entreating. If anyone is going to visit Machu Picchu, I do would recommend to go by hiking. If 4 days full Inka Trail trekking (starts from KM.82) is too long and tough, the 2 days short version is good enough to get a sense of what it is.

Photos here: Day 26

Day 25 : Toray Day 6 : I lost my camera!

2009-10-27T06:56:00.001+08:00

It's my departure day from Toray back to Cuzco. I plan to come back to Cuzco alone, early than everyone, because I have a Machu Picchu trip to go to tomorrow very early in the morning. So, after lunch and after saying goodbye to a few buddies, Aislinn, Maddie, Lena and I go straight to the Pisac market to do some shopping before I get on the bus. I am looking for a small shoulder bag for carrying water and snacks. I have not bought anything for the whole time I am in South America, well, except for a coin purse, so I thought I would buy something for myself for once. Anyway, after shopping and have a cafe with the girls. Around 3:45pm, I get on the bus to Cuzco.

I have been carrying a lot of stuffs today, my small backpack and another shoulder "bump" bag, containing my dirty clothes, flip-flop, some snacks...etc. Anyway, the bus is half way up the hill, I suddenly realize that my jacket pocket is empty, that's where I have my camera. Start to freak out on the bus, knee down on the floor (I am standing at the time), searching all over my bags, and cannot find my camera. I try to chill myself, and debate what I should do, get off the bus and go back to the cafe where I have taken off my jacket for a while to look for it, or just forget it and go back to Cuzco, maybe it's somewhere in my bag (which I am pretty sure it isn't). So, at the end, I decide to ask the ticket guy (in completely broken Spanish) that I want to get off, and go back to Pisac. The ticket guy does not understand me, but there is another passenger right behind me sense what is happening, and he explains to the ticket guy. They let me off at the nearest bus stop. Some other passengers are also getting off. They very kindly lead me to where I should stand for the return bus. One younger guy, named "Dee-do" or something like that, he even wait for the bus with me. We try to communicate, he asks me where I come from, what have I visited...etc, I try my best to understand what he asks, answer the best I can, and ask him the few questions I know. Apparently he works at a restaurant at Machu Picchu, it's his day off for this weekend. A taxi drives by, so I just hop on, hoping to get back to Pisac sooner. Say thanks and goodbye to "Dee-do".

I feel really anxious, I hope that my camera has only fallen out of my pocket while I am in the cafe. That cafe is pretty safe. Arrive at the cafe, search between the chairs, the floor, my camera is nowhere to be found. Go back to the shop where I have bought a shoulder bag, they are already closed. And check at the supermarket we have stopped by a little bit, the shopkeeper says he has not seen anything. Completely devastated, and don't know what to do. I am going to Machu Picchu tomorrow and I have lost my camera today. What a bad timing. I am pretty sure that I have my camera in my pocket, I didn't want to keep it in my backpack, because I want to feel it with me all the time. At least I thought I could feel it. But perhaps I am carrying so much stuffs today, and I lose tracks of it. It is either fallen out of my pocket or someone pick-pocketed. Either way, there is not much I can do, and I must leave Pisac and back to Cuzco before dark. I can't go to Machu Picchu without a camera, so I must buy a new camera, I know it is going to be fucking expensive in Cuzco, even a camera battery I checked, it was like US$60! Now it's a camera, I can't imagine how bad it can be. But again I have no choice really.

Anxious, pissed at myself, depressed, all bubbling in my head together. Get off the bus, crowds, groups of people are protesting again on the other side of the street. The bus stop is somewhat far from the main Plaza, I ask someone, he says it takes 10-15 mins to walk. I head my way to the Plaza, can't wait to pee. Just want to get away from all the people in front of me. I still stop by a telephone booth trying to call Amanda, I need to tell someone about it. The phone fails to connect though. I feel really terrible, get to Av. El Sol, where there are tons of camera shops. I check each one of them out in details, inquire models and prices. If I want to get another Canon, one similar to my old ones, it gonna cost around US$320, it's NOT even the latest model (maybe 2 generations older), it's 10.0 megapixel. It's better than my original camera though. Still, it's some US$300 fucking dollars. It is so expensive and unexpected. I give myself sometimes to sit and think. I go through my bags again to make sure it is really lost. It is! Go to a cafe and check online what the camera sells online in the US. It's like US$200. With tax, maybe US$220. I know it gonna be more expensive here, but it's a US$100! It is a lot of money, I just want to kill myself for losing the camera. But, I tell myself, oh well, shit happens, I can sit and moan, the fact that I lost a camera will not change, I just have to deal with it.

Alright...make a decision that I am getting the new camera. Go back to the same shop like 3 times, almost begging the guy to give me some discounts. My poor sad face is not made it up to pretend I am poor, but it is for real. At the end, the guy sells it for me at US$300 (in cash), which includes a SD card and a camera bag. The other shop does not include the latter two items even though they also let me have it for US$300. I will not mention this figure again, just try to forget it. Look at it in the other way, in a positive way. At least now the problem is solved. I will be able to take picture at Machu Picchu tomorrow, after spending so much money and time to get there. And it's a better camera, maybe it will have better picture. And I saved some money from successfully using the expired tourist ticket which saved me US$20, so it helps even though it is only a tiny little bit. Whatever tiny reasons I can convince myself that this expense is justified. Maybe...somehow... just let me delude myself for tonight.

Get home...nobody's here. Some 30 mins later, the house mom and Amanda come back, turn out Amanda broke her leg while I am gone. She has to walk with the helpers, and her leg is all wrapped up. I tell her what happens to my camera. This is probably not our week. We have a hug... I need it badly.

Anyway, I will try not to let this incident bother me any longer. Especially tomorrow I will have a long hike, gonna go to bed now and get up at 5:40am for Machu Picchu.

Photos here: LOST!

Day 24 : Toray Day 5 : Pisac ruin

2009-10-27T06:19:00.002+08:00

Excursion of the day is to visit the nearby Pisac ruin. It's an school activity, so we get a pick up van to take us up the hill, instead of taking a taxi or hike up ourselves. Except Mike (from Canada) who I went to Ollantaytambo with, he prefers to hike so he get off earlier to hike up himself. He is one hack of a hiker! And fast too. He told me yesterday that he went to India, Napel and Himalaya for 3 months last year, just did some trekking. That's pretty cool, I thought, for a person his age (early 20s). Anyway, we get there at the Pisac ruin entrance around 1:30pm maybe, my "expired" tourist ticket obviously still works. No one pays any attention to the date, it seems. The site is huge, it takes us about 2 to 2 and a half hours to hike back down. We takes it slow though, lots of steps, uneven steps. There are some amazing views of the Sacred Valley, the Rio Urubamba, Pisac town, terraces, and farmlands. Among Ollantaytambo, Moray, and Salinas, Pisac is another site around Cuzco I highly recommend to anyone who come to visit.

After Pisac ruins, half of the students need to get back to school for classes, the other half just do whatever they like. I go to my favorite cafe again to edit my photos, just take it easy. Lena (from Germany) join me for a little while, then I am there alone for the rest of the afternoon. I order a small pizza, they make it from scratch, I see them preparing it with the rolling stick rolling the pizza base, put it on a wood block, and then into a stone oven. It is more than delicious. I also have a regional drink called chicha morada (made from purple corn) which is pretty good as well. I should write a brief review of this cafe next. It comes as a surprise that I find a cafe I like so much in this village.

At night, a group of us and a professor plays UNO for a while, as it gets late, one after another leaves for bed and only Alan, Mike and me remains by 11:00pm. Another professor put the The Lord Of The Ring (dubbed in Spanish) in the DVD machine, so we watch about 40-50 mins. It's very interesting. I feel like I am able to pick up a few words here or there. When I will go back to Hong Kong, I need to play Almodovar movies without the subtitle, see if I can pick up more words.

Today is rather peaceful actually, nothing too exhausting or too exciting. But at the same time, I enjoy myself, no need to be adventurous everyday.

Photos here: Day 24

Day 23 : Toray Day 4 : Ollantaytambo

2009-10-27T01:20:00.002+08:00

We wake up with a good news from the bathroom, the water is finally back. You can hear it as it runs inside the toilet water reservoir. I am kind of tired since I slept late last night but I still manage to wake up before 7:00am, jump into the shower, it's hot and steamy. That's a good feeling. I rather take a burning hot shower than the cold shower any day.

Plan of the day "originally" is to go to a Spring for a soaking fun. But a few people changes their minds at the last minutes, there are only 3 of us left, me, Mike and Maddie (all Spanish beginners, we are in the same class). We walk to the bus stop, there are some people waiting for buses, so we ask whether this is the right place to catch a bus to Calca, where we are supposed to find some baños calientes (hot springs). This woman at the bus stop has been very helpful, she advises that the hot springs in Calca is not very good, the good ones are in Lares, where it will take us 3 hours to go. That's a bit too long, since it is almost 2:00pm, we have to be back by 8:00pm for dinner. So, at the end, our soaking plan has soaked away. Maddie decides to join the other girls to the market. I am kind of not sure what to do, I don't want to stay in but at the same times, everything seems to be a bit of a way to go to. Mike (from Canada) decides to go to visit Ollantaytambo, an Inka ruin. Since I have never been there, so I say ok, I will go with you.

To get there, we need to take a bus to Urubamba (1 hour), from where we will have to catch another bus or colectivo taxi to Ollantaytambo (30 mins). We first go back to the school to get change for me anyway, since I am wearing my flip-flop for the hot spring. Don't think it will work for walking in an Inka ruin. We finally get on a bus to Urubamba around 2:30pm. The ride is long and boring, I fall asleep a little, then it's Mike's turn. We successfully arrive at Urubamba, but we get off too soon. The bus would be ended at the terminal, where we will find another bus, but don't know what is calling us, we just get off as soon as we see Urubamba. We ask around with broken Spanish, where to catch a taxi or bus to Ollantaytambo. Some taxis quote 40 Soles a piece to take us to Ollantaytambo, when it really should be 2-3 Soles per person. So, we continue on. I ask a lady walking by, and she tells us: walk 5 blocks this way, you will find the bus terminals where we can take a colectivo taxi or autobus to Ollantaybambo.

Arrive at the bus terminal, it is kind of filled with buses and people. The bus costs 1.2 Soles, the taxi costs 2 Soles, but we need to wait for the vehicle to fill up with people before we will go. We mistaken that the taxi would have to fill up with 5 persons going to Ollantaybambo (the same destination) before it will move, so we refuse to get on for quite awhile. The taxi driver says or we can pay 5 Soles each, and he will go right away. We kind of feel like there is some mis-communications and not sure whether we should take that taxi. We finally do jump on it actually after seeing no sight of a bus ready to go our destination. We pay the 10 Soles (US$3) for 2 persons. I later figure out why, basically we have paid for the 3 non-existing pessengers. It makes sense I guess, if you want it to go now, you need to pay extra for it. So, anyway, I am feeling all good, we set out a goal to Ollantaybambo, and we get there successfully.

Ollantaybambo is so much more than what I had imagined, I would have missed it if Mike has not made the call to go there today. It is the biggest Inka sites I have seen thus far. The village itself is beautiful. We get there around 4:00pm, the sun is great on one side but not on the other. Either way, I am excited for being there. My tourist ticket expired since Monday, I am planning to inquire whether I can get an individual ticket for this site. When I just hand my ticket and student id to the ticket official, I say Yo soy estudiente..., before I even shoot out my question, he already punch a hole on my expired ticket, meaning I can go now. He totally misses the date. I tell Mike, this is my day!

There are a few separate parts of the sites, where we need to hike on some trails to get to. The main site we need a tourist ticket to go in, the other side does not but the trail on the free side is poorly maintained, as one should expect. The main site is filled with tourists, a lot of group tours. We finish that part maybe around 5:00pm, since we still have some daylight, so we decide to walk over to the other side, the small hill across from the main site, where we must pass through the town and hike up to. When we get there, the sun is already behind the mountain. The trail is more steep, and the rock steps are all unevenly. Back to my anxious mode, I grab onto anything on the wall as I hike up, even though this is not as bad as yesterday at Salinas. Just don't want to be blown away, since it is quite windy. With some huge effort, we get to some high points. Mike continues going up on the trail (I bet he wants to reach the top), while I am taking some pictures at a massive structure. Before I know it, he is already out of my sight. There are some people there nearby at first, but they have already been on their way down, I am left alone in a ruin at that mid-hill, the sky is clearly getting dimmer and dimmer. I yell out Mike, Mike, Mike, a couple times with no feedback. I know I need to get down before dark. The trail is not well-maintained and I am not that skillful with heights anyway, so I just yell out again, louder, 5 times, says I am heading down. I hope he hears me.

I start to go down, look up a couple times to see if I would spot Mike. I mean, I don't want to leave him up there neither, what if something happens to him, but I need to get to a point low enough to fall secure myself before I can think of his safety. Anyway, finally! I see him coming back down, he is way up there, son of a gun! I yell Mike, he answers finally. When we finally get back down to the town, maybe it was 6:30am, walk back to the plaza, find a bus back to Urubamba (2 Soles) without too much troubles, it is already dark when we are on the road back. At Urubamba, we get off at the bus terminal, just walk across to the other side of the same building, we find our bus back to Pisac (2 Soles again). Arrive around 8:00pm, Grab some water and pastries, we take a colectivo taxi back to Toray. We are late for dinner.

It has been a great call to go Ollantaytambo, but there always have to have some side episode everyday!

Photos here: Day 23

Day 22 : Toray Day 3 : Cactus in my hands

2009-10-27T00:56:00.000+08:00

Supposedly, I should have a quiet day today. Since the excursion of the day is to go to Salinas, where I already went with Amanda and other friends on my first weekend in Cuzco. Anyhow, after class this morning, I realize there is no lunch in the house, it's all packed for the excursion (with two sandwiches, a banana, and a box of juice), so I go along anyway after I think about, since I have no other plan. We are on a small van to go to Salinas, about an hour drive from Toray. It starts to rain, and some of us in the back realize that the van does not have windshield wrappers. It is kind of scary really, seeing our driver drives without a clear vision what's ahead. The rain gets harder, what do we know, it starts to lark in at the top of the back door. It drips on my jeans. Meanwhile, it also comes in side way, it gets the back of my t-shirt wet as well. I am like thinking inside, I should have stuck with my original plan to stay in and have it easy today.

Since I am already there, there is really nothing I can do, so just squeeze in tighter to the girl next to me, and the journey continues. We arrive at the town near Salines, and I suddenly realize it is different from my last visit to Salinas. Last time, our taxi took us to the entrance of Salinas up on the hill, but this time we actually go there through a local village and stop at the foot of the hill. Turn out we are going to hike up to the other side of the Salines (salt pans). And from this direction, we don't need to pay the 5-10 Soles entrance fee. Rains are still coming down, I am sort of staying in the middle, there are bunch of more active guys in front of me, and there are some girls behind me. Raul, our housekeeper who only speaks Spanish, insist to lead me via a shortcut. I DON'T LIKE SHORTCUT! (I need to learn that line in Spanish next time!) Anyway, I follow him, and soon enough I realize the kind of dangerous ground I am standing on. I seriously don't dare to look down, the so called shortcut maybe just wide enough to fit both of my feets close together, nothing more. And the hill is REALLY steep. I feel like I would faint if I look down.

I am really freaking scared actually, just hope the shortcut will end soon. I am like, what is this? Adventure of the day! 3 days on a row, I have to have some kind of adventure to go through everyday here. I keep my eyes up on the wall, trying to hold on to the wall, or anything I can grab. Before I know it, my left hand grab on a cactus, holy shit, that hurts! Although it does not bleed, it only hurts like hell. Just a few minutes later, I catch another one (a different type - a small one) on my right hand as well. I really feel like Benny Benny, why am I following him? I should have been more careful about my surrounding and do only what I can feel comfortable to do. We finally get out of that hell of a shortcut and back to the main trail.

On this side of Salinas, the salt pans actually look more pretty, maybe because there are less tourist on this side, and the salt pans go more deeply (vertically) into the valley. The rain continues on and off... it's such a gloomy day. Back to town, a few of us went to our cafe, Ulrike Simic, I have a chocolate chip cheesecake. This is the third dessert I have tried in this cafe. I have not been disappointed once. At night, a few of us are playing some card games in the TV room, including one of the professor. It's midnight before I realize I still have homework to do, everyone goes back to their room, I am hurrying to write a passage about holidays in Hong Kong, while the professor is watching some news program, and Alan is playing guitar alone in the garden.

I think about 12:40am, I go to bed.

Photos here: Day 22

Day 21 : Toray Day 2 : Survivor in the jungle

2009-10-26T23:20:00.003+08:00

Day 2 in Toray starts off with the Spanish class, 8:00am-12:00pm, we are in the room that have a wall-to-ceiling window facing a mountain, just behind the temporary white board. Imagine how difficult it is to focus on the white board instead of the yellow and green behind the window. Aislinn (from Boston) and I are in the same class, we are in the classes since the first week. It seems we are going to repeat what we have done last week, not exactly the same way, since we have different teachers, but the topics are roughly the same. I am not surprised if I have to repeat some lectures as I am so bad at listening. I already felt it was moving too fast for me. So repeating what we learned last week probably will do me good than bad.

After the class, we have lunch. Some people just come back sweaty and dusty, they have hiked into the hillside to find a waterfall. Said it's really beautiful, at first they have taken a difficult path and spent 1.5 hours to eventually find to the waterfall, but then realize the easy path is actually just above and it takes 0.5 hour to hike back. So, anyway, about maybe 10 of us are heading our way out to the hill to find the "acclaimed" local waterfall after lunch. We are advised to take the easy path. That is the our original plan anyway, but beautiful things never come easy, don't they? We somehow walk into the difficult path before we know. Perhaps I should not say it's a path, it's really not a path, we just try to get through the bushes, the water and cactus.

At first it is still ok. We have 6 guys and 5 girls. We pass by a door standing in middle of nowhere (it's really just literally a small wall with a door, look like we are breaking into someone's property). Through there, I guess there are two ways ahead, go down or go up. We simply miss the path going up I guess, and we all (except 2 girls at the end) head the way down. We definitely hear the sounds ahead, but the path gets more and more difficult to get passed. At some point, we slide down a slope. Right there, we know it's no turning back. Meanwhile, the other two girls choose to hike upward and that's the path we should have taken! It's too late for us, there is no way we can climb back that slopes (we think, not knowing what lays ahead), we are still a big group, so it isn't so bad or scary. We pass by some rapid water coming down from the mountain, with my see-through walking shoes, my feet got all wet, the white socks literally turns dark brown with mud and water all mixed together. It's really gross.

There isn't lack of beautiful stones, running water and greens around us though. Eventually we do get to the waterfall, or at least we think that's what we are looking for after all. We can see the other two girls standing way up there on the hillside, looking down at us by the running water. At where we are, there isn't really any path one can go up, steep slopes everywhere. I have to say, at that point, we are kind of scattered (scrambled) everywhere trying to find our ways back to the easy path or at least somewhere walkable on our own. A few daring ones try to get closer to the waterfall, while others try hard to climb up the slopes to where the two girls are. I am among the latter, since the sky is getting stormy, rain is coming down. It is really kind of freaky at that point, I am alone at my spot, trying to climb up the muddy wall, standing on some stones sticking out from the mud which apparently isn't the safest things to do and I realize that too, but there is no other ways. I am grabbing grass, tree roots, whatever I can grab to get myself up. At one point, I cannot find another to hold, grass get pulled off, the muddy wall is too loose to stand. There is really nothing I can hold on to, except that I see a tree just a few feet ahead. It is at that point, I really feel like one of the contestants from Survivor! I continue trying to find any tiny spots I can borrow some forces to reach to that tree. I do get there and one of the girls above calls me and I know I am close, thanks God, I really feel relieved. She helps me to get up to the easy path. And I am looking back down and see what I have done. I cannot even see where I have stood, it is that steep. Rain is getting harder, and it start to hail for a few minutes too. I look at my arms get all scratched, like I just fight with a cat, my own jeans get all dirty, and the shoes and socks are just nasty. I throw my socks away after I come back to the school.

It is really a real adventure, which I am glad that I get through without any real harm but I doubt I would try that again anytime soon. Coming back to the school, I throw away my socks, change into my flip flop, we head to Pisac for a dessert and coffee in my latest favorite cafe, where we also play a game of Monopoly (in Spanish). It is kind of funny, for some cards we draw we have no idea what it says. But all good, I won. Back to the school for dinner, all I want is a shower, but we are told that the water is out, except one building for the teachers and the housekeeper. It is still working in the afternoon, what the hack, don't know what happens. Anyway, I don't think anyone takes a shower today, despite that we all dirty and sweaty.

Adventure has not ended in the "jungle" in the afternoon, at night, we are trying to set up fire. We only bought some small woods which will be burn out quickly. The housekeeper said he knows where we can get some bigger woods back, and he needs guys to come along to help out, said it is only 5 mins away. So I just go along in my flip flop, I thought we are just going to BUY some woods in a nearby shop, turn out we are actually going back to the "jungle" in the dark to search for a big piece of woods. We do find it, but that m-f-er piece of wood is triple my weight or even more, we try to lift it up onto our shoulders, but there is absolutely no way to be done. We start to roll it down, it again seems like forever to roll it just a little bit and it at least takes 3-4 guys to push at a time. It's madness. My legs are already kind of sore from the afternoon hiking, and now I wear out my arms as well. The last 100 feet before we get the piece of woods back to the school is hilarious. We load it on a wood ladder, there must have 12 of us, men and women, pick the whole thing up carrying it back to the school. The scene is totally wickedly funny.

Fire is up, with marshmallow on sticks, beers, we sit around the fire. The second day in Toray is really exhausting but the whole experience is not to be traded off.

Photos here: Day 21 (Jungle Fever), Day 21 (Toray y Pisac)

Day 20 : Toray Day 1 : Pisac Market

2009-10-26T22:42:00.002+08:00

Meet at 10:00am at school, don't realize it's such a huge group, almost 20 persons - a big band marching to Toray. There are a large numbers of Canadian and German in this group. Of course, I am the only representative from Asia. There is an episode before we even take off. One of the girls, Liz, find her purse lost, either in taxi or somewhere in the morning. The big group is waiting at the bus stop while she and a few others chases back where she might have lost it. At the end, no good news, she has to accept the lost. The bus ride is very pleasant, I sit toward to the end of the bus by the window, the only complaint I have is the noisy kids behind me. Otherwise, I take the whole scenery into my brain. We pass through some beautiful valleys and mountains with terrace farming, small villages are here or there in the valley. Toray is one of them. The nearest major town Pisac (and Toray) is next to a river, the water is running kind of rapid. The bus arrive at Pisac around 12:30pm, after that, each 3 of us takes one of those 3 wheels colectivo taxi, about 10 mins ride, we arrive at our "village" school.

The first impressive of the place we gonna spend a week is like, oh wow, it's almost like a resort. There is a kind of a swimming pool but no water. There are a hut with a snooker pool, a table for table tennis, some hanging nets for just lying around. Very cool. There are lots of floor to ceiling windows and doors, so you can see through into the dinning room and the resting or TV room. We are first settled down at the TV room waiting to find out the bedroom arrangement. Quite frankly, I am very disappointed when I find out that I am going to stuck with the French speaking group again, and worst of all, 4 of us enter the room, I am the last one and left with an additional bed that is next to the door and the stairs to go upstairs right behind the wall. Anyway, later I find out that Mark and Alan's room have a spare bed, so I ask the housekeeper whether I can change room. He is ok with it. Thanks god. So, I move in to Mark and Alan's room.

There is really no big plan for the day, except visiting the Sunday Pisac market after lunch, and a so-called Welcome dinner together at night. At the market, everyone is kind of let loose and bought some souvenirs for friends and family since prices seem to be cheaper than in Cuzco. I am the most frugal one and got nothing but an expensive piece of bread (for 2 soles), I should have inquired the price first before ordering it. It tastes excellent though, with chicken in the middle. After walking in the market for 2 hours, we find a nice cafe to sit down, I have coffee and an apple strudel with ice-cream, which is heavenly. There are nut and raisin in the middle with the apple. It is REALLY REALLY good. After the welcome dinner, a group of us go back to the same cafe, and I have a cup of ice-cream this time.

Walking back to the school in Toray "IN THE DARK" is indeed an adventure. I guess we underestimate how dark it really is without carrying a flash light, and the road is not paved. Alan wearing a pair of sandals kicks the rock a couple time. And along the dark road when we pass by some houses, or where there is light, there are dogs awaiting to bark at us. Whenever there is one of those colectivo taxi drive by, we have to stand to the sides so we don't become the road kills instantly. We have no choice but inhale the mud and dust the taxi kicks up. It is an almost 20-30 mins walk, and seriously, it seems like a never ending road to me. That is one hack of a freaky experience. But it is also fun, if I am by myself, I am definitely not gonna walk in the dark like that.

Photos here: Day 20

Footnote: I am really glad that I am able to move in with Alan and Mark. Not that I don't like the French gang, actually they have been friendly to me too, but when they are constantly speaking french and spanish, I can barely understand a word, it's more hard to connect. I have more things to talk to Alan and Mark anyway, and it is actually a better arrangement in term of using the bathroom, so we have 3 guys in each of two rooms, instead of 4 in one, 2 in another.

Day 19 - The four closest Inka ruins

2009-10-26T22:19:00.001+08:00

Plan of the day is to join up with Alan and other students to hike to the four closest Inka ruins to Cuzco: Sacsayhuaman, Qenko, Pukapukara and Tombomachay, with Tombomachay the most farthest. It's good that our plan is to take a taxi to Tombomachay, then hike backwards to Cuzco. Since I already did Sacsayhuaman (the closest to Cuzco), I can skip it and walk back to Cuzco myself.

So, we are supposed to meet at 10:00am. I am 15 mins late myself, because of that stupid window update keeps me in the internet cafe. Not that I plan to update my window the last minutes, but I do not really have a choice. It occurs when I shut down my windows, it just automatically does some updating and give me a warning: do not unplug your computer! It is installing 14 updates, I am like, come on, why now, why now... I finally get there at McDonalds at 10:15am, apologize to everyone for being late. 8 of us take off to Tombomachay in two taxis. OK... let see if I remember everyone name: me, Alan (from UK), Nicole (from Houston, Texas), Lindsay (from Minneapolis), Jessica & Jeremy (from Quebac), Jerome (the Swiss) and Liz (she seems to be from France or Quebac also). Soon enough, we pretty much split into two groups: French speaking and English speaking groups. I am in the latter, of course, along with Alan, Nicole and Lindsay.

It is a good hike, we walk some off the beaten path too and get to the Templo de la Luna. There is this huge rock on a small hill, it is cool just to sit there and the horizon in. We somehow miss the third ruin - Queko. But you know what, I am so done for the day and satisfied with what we have seen. I don't really care anymore. We must have hiked over 4-5 hours. Start at 10:30 in the morning, when I get back down to Cuzco, it is already 3:30pm. Alan, Nicole and Lindsay spend another hour at Sacsayhuaman.

I have my first McDonalds meal, I am so hungry when I come back down, and since I am supposed to wait for them there, I might as well just eat there. It is bloody experience though, in Peruvian standard. A quarter pound burger meal (large) costs 13.50 Soles. I mean with that price, I can get a 4-6 courses meal in many local restaurant. But anyway, now I am affirmed that McDonalds no more.

My legs are sore but this is a good practice for my Machu Picchu trip. I have not gone home to rest, instead, I wait till 7:30pm to meet up with everyone again for dinner and drinks out. We have a big group (15-20 people) this time. At the end, half of us go to a pub to have some burger and sandwiches, the other half go onto have a drink at a trendy restaurant/bar. We later join them again (sort of). It is another good evening, I have really enjoyed the company of this group of people. Oh... by the way, we have a new student in the house. Her name is Amy, from Holland. Every week, there are some new students we meet in and out of the Spanish school, and I would introduce myself again and again. I find that there is something interesting about this process - to introduce myself repeatedly to different people. Through that, somehow I feel like I am more affirm about who I am and what my goal is in South America. Very strange!

Anyway, off to Toray. More late.

Photos here: Day 19

Day 18 - Tipon, Pikillaqta, Andahuaylillas

2009-10-18T07:55:00.002+08:00

Supposedly, the group tour begins at 8:40am, but we really isn't picked up by a SUV until 9:00am outside of the Cathedral. The vehicle is very clean and new, so it gives me some instant confidence already that the tour should be fine. It's almost scary though, the guide for today's tour is the same guy who will be guiding me in Machu Picchu next week. It is such a coincidence, provided that today tour and Machu Picchu tour I joined are run by two different companies. His name is Simon, we just talked last night, I really wasn't expecting to see him again so soon. Scary, huh? 7 people joined the tour, 6 of them are Spanish speakers, two from Chile, two from Lima, and the other two I am not sure where they are from but they look very white to me. I am the only English speaker. So, Simon basically have to repeat everything twice, in two languages. I feel like I have created some burdens on him. But he seems to be ok with it. He would say to others, well, now I would have to spend some times with my amigo Benny. The two Chilean and the two women from Lima have been really kind to me, and often ask me if I want to take picture. So, today's collection of photos probably is the collection with me in them the most.

The tour is a bit rushy, I guess I should have expected, 5 hours visiting 3 places, with the tour guide's regular speech about each point of interest, there are really not much time left to explore and take pictures. First off, we arrived at an old old church in Andahuaylillas, hundreds of years old. The small adobe church was painted completely from the walls to the ceiling. Though some parts are faded, but it's really impressive. There is this organ (looks more like a dresser) over 400 years old, made of metal if I haven't mis-heard, can still be played occasionally. It is hard to imagine why this church even exist in such a small village, but prehaps it is so remote, it was not destroyed by anyone over the years, except damages from the natural disasters. The next destination is a pre-Inka ruin called Pikillacta. The stone work is completely different from the Inka's. So it makes a good contrast with the next destination Tipon. Unfortunately, we only briefly go through the easy part in Pikillacta with some stories told about the ruins. I have a couple shots from a distance. If I have gone there on my own, I would have go deep into those stone alleys and explore the structures.

Pass by a village that mainly produces bread. One of the tour members buy some and share with everyone. Very wheaty but I would prefer some marmalade or something with it instead of eating it dry. The third and the final destination is Tipon, another kind of terracing technique the Inka showcased. There is a unique difference in Tipon compares to other Inka ruins - the channeling of underground water. As the guide says, nobody knows where the source of the water comes from. But the Inka found a way to get to the underground spring I guess. I am not sure whether I want to believe it. But this is what I was told. Famous around Tipon are restaurants where you can eat fresh cooked guinea pig. I really want to try it and the guide at first says we gonna do it, because other tour members want to do it too. For whatever reasons, after Tipon, we just head back to Cuzco directly. I am kind of disappointed about that. Tipping seems to be not a custom here. Not one tour members intend to pay tips, after they get off the SUV, they just say goodbye and walk away. The guide and the driver do not seem to expecting it either. Good for me. I have no complain about that.

Treat myself a better lunch, an Andean menu with alpaca loin, soup, salad and tea. Cost 14 Soles (almost US$5). The loin is tougher than I would prefer but good to try though. I guess it kind of tastes like pork. After that, I am supposed to go to the market to meet with my classmates and professor, we are having a field trip to the market to see the kind of exotic food they sell here. When I get there, I can find no one. So, I walk back to school, they aren't there either. I suspect I may have gone to a different market. So finally, I just skip the first half of the class. When they come back, turn out that we have been in the same market but just missed each other perhaps.

Finish the second half of the class, I am already dead tired. I have walked a lot during the tour. Spend an hour online. Then I meet up with Amanda, Maya (from Berlin), John (from Manchester). Nicolas (from Switzerland) is supposed to be there too, but we wait for 25 mins and no sight of him, so we just go to have dinner on our own. The four of us find a sandwiches place in San Blas area, though it is slightly more expensive, but the sandwiches is really good. After that, we go to a reggae bar near the Spanish school, and have two rounds of drinks. They play Marley, other up-to-date reggae (with some beats to them), some rap, some electronica. Kind of a feel good place. I enjoy it. We talk a lot too. This is the kind of size of gathering group I enjoy anyway, 4 or 5 people, we can talk more intimately.

Home by midnight, I can even finish my blog, I have to go to bed straight.... zzzzz.

Photos here: Day 18 (Andahuaylillas y Pikillaqta), Day 18 (Tipon, Market y Raggae Bar)

Footnote: This Sunday, I will be heading to Toray, a small village near Cuzco, for Spanish classes for one week. In Toray, there is no internet connection, the nearest internet cafe is in Pisac, another small town 20 mins away. I may be able to check email once in a while but doubt I would post any entries for the next week. I will come back on my own on Friday, and go to trekking in Machu Picchu on Saturday and Sunday. The next time I post probably will be on Oct 26.

Day 17 - San Blas Church

2009-10-17T22:22:00.002+08:00

Visit the San Blas Church this morning, a small adobe church up on a hillside in Cuzco. It is famous for its baroque gold-leafed alter and the exquisite carve work of the pulpit. It is indeed very impressive. I pay for my student ticket, just slightly more than US$2. I get inside, someone already hand me a headset with a self guide tour. The church is really small, it cannot hold more than 150 people. According to the guide, it suffered from two earthquakes, a lot of the original art works on the wall were destroyed, but there are also some leftover for visitors to see. I am glad that I have the self-guide tour, it gives me more insight about what I am looking at. I wish I did that in the Cathedral I visited last weekend as well, but I forgot to ask for it. Oh well. Anyway, the highlight of the San Blas church is really the pulpit, the carvemenship is unbelievable. The gold-leaf alter is almost out of place in this small church. But it is also one of the major attractions of this church. According to the guide, even the Pope (in the 16 century) came all the way to Cuzco to visit San Blas Church and was impressed by it. Among all the churches and museums I have visited in Cuzco, San Blas Church is up there among the Top 3 recommendations I would give to people.

After the church, I visit a tour agent on the main Plaza and join a local tour for tomorrow to visit a few remote ruins and towns, namely Tipon, Pikillacta and Andahuaylillas, they are about an hour away. The tour costs 45 soles, or US$15, for 5-6 hours, from 8:30am - 3:00pm or 3:30pm. Not too bad I guess. But I will probably have to go to school late, and I have to have a quick bite at McDonalds or somewhere near the school after the tour, since it does not cover lunch. Though when I sign up for the tour, there are only 2 people, who knows, maybe the guide will end up bringing up to try another local dish - the roasted guinea pig - which is famous in Tipon. That sounds really interesting. I have already inquired the name: Chicharrones, from the locals. Let's see if I will have a chance to try it.

Today's Spanish class has been good. We have touched on some future tenses. Tomorrow one of the professors is taking us to a local market to see some local foods. Every Friday, it seems to be the culture of this school to have some group activities. I may be still on my way back from the tour so I don't know if I will make it. Anyway, we'll see.

After school, I have a briefing for my Machu Picchu trip with the guide. He seems to be very friendly, but oh man, he needs to brush his teeth or some listenines will do him good. His mouth stinks! Now I get a much clearer idea what we'll be doing. I know I will be hiking with 2 Dutch students and the guide. Total of 4 persons. We will depart at 6:30am, take a bus and train (3 hours) to get to the Inka Trail where marked KM. 104. We will start hiking from there to the first mountain called Wiñay Wayna for about 3 hours or so, we will have lunch there, then hike for another hours to the Sun Gate where we will have our first view of the Machu Picchu, then we will hike for another hour to the entrance of Machu Picchu, but we will not be going into the Machu Picchu on the first day, instead we will take a bus back down to the town where we will stay overnight, wash up, have dinner. As a group, we will decide whether we will like to get up at 3am in the morning, to hike up to the Wayne Picchu (the famous opposite side of Machu Picchu), that may take maybe an hour or so, but since a lot of people are going to do that, we would need to get up early enough to get the tickets or something. I am totally up for it, but since I am in a group, I will have to see whether my partners want to do it. Other than that, we will have a 2 and half hour guide tour inside Machu Picchu on the second day, and a couple more hours to look around inside on our own till 3:00pm or 4:00pm before we will leave. Lunch and dinner are included on the first day but not the second day, so I need to bring some crackers and cheese or something to feed my tummy up on Machu Picchu. Except a few very steep parts in the beginning and at the end, the rest of hike are quite gentle, according to the guide. I ask whether I can bring a walking stick. The guide (gosh, I forgot his name already) offers to bring me one. So, guess I should pay him some tips or something. Overall, sounds like there will be a 5-6 hours hike on the first day, and the second day will be 1-2 hours and lots of walking around inside Machu Picchu. I am totally excited about it though.

Of course, when the guide see my last name, the whole Jackie Chan and Kung Fu deal comes up to the topic again. It seems that they really think every Chinese man practice Kung Fu at home. Seriously, they totally dig into that idea. After the guide and I done with the briefing, we head back to the travel agent office, the tour manager asks me if I am vegetarian, I say No and I give him one more: Hey come on, I am Chinese, we eat anything that moves! The local people seems to enjoy that joke. No harm done. We all laugh, all good.

Day 16 - Museo Inka

2009-10-15T22:14:00.001+08:00

Another quiet day. Visit the Inka museum in the morning. I have to say although it's not the best museums I have ever seen in the world, but in Peru thus far, it is by far the best one, with a more extensive collection. Its organization is also up to the standard an official museum should have. It costs me 10 Soles (US$3.3) to get in there. It is cheap, I guess. However, I can only take some pictures in the garden and the corridors.

After the museum, I spend a few hours to email to the hostels and tour agents for my upcoming destinations. I forget if I mentioned that I get a response from an hostel in Easter Island, this one is relatively cheaper, only US$40 or Chilean Pesos 25,000 a night. At first, I didn't pay much attention, until they requested me to pay in Chilean Pesos when I will arrive. So, I start to google the exchange rate this morning, it says US$1 = 552 Pesos. In lonely guide, it is roughly 1:500. Anyhow, if I pay 25,000 pesos for a night, it would actually be equivalent to US$45 or more. I thought that's sneaky. You quote me two prices and want me to pay the more expensive one. So, I send them back an email to inquire what exchange rate they are using. In fact, I would take it too if the room costs US$45, but I rather give business to honest people. So, will see how they reply me.

On the other hand, I use my student trump card again and get some discount for hotel in my destination - Puno - by the Lake Titicaca. In my email, I just added a question, whether they have a student discount for staying 3 nights or more. And what do I know? They do have it. Great then, I get my discount, they get my business. What a fair deal! For the rest of my time in Peru, I pretty much arrange all the hotels and the tours. Chile...? I have not gone that far yet, except I am trying to get the Easter Island arranged ahead. I still get time I guess. So, I am not too worried.

I feel particularly tired today for some reasons. Not like I didn't sleep well. Anyway, I have a hard time focusing in class today. I could barely follow what the teachers said or asked us to do in class. I keep asking the girl next to me, what are we supposed to do? It is like a rollercoaster, Monday was a bad day with Spanish, yesterday was good, today is bad. Would tomorrow be good again?

Yawning... Yawning... Hasta mañana.

Photos here: Day 16

Day 15 - Good day with Spanish

2009-10-14T23:44:00.001+08:00

Isn't that interesting? I just mentioned it was THE most difficult day with my Spanish class yesterday, when I felt like I was far behind from everyone. What do I know? Today I feel like I am doing ok afterall. I am even amazed with some sentences I am capable of writing. For instance, in yesterday's homework, I wrote: quiero comprarme un lapicero, lo necesito azul y fino (I want to buy a pen, it needs to be blue and fine-point) or another one: él canta su canción favorita constantemente (he sings his favorite song all the time). Today, we continues with the topics of special words (like, love, interest, disturb, surprise, worry, miss...etc) and reflexive verbs (do something to one's self has a different way to say in Spanish. This kind of expression does not even exist in English). In addition, we also start to learn some irregular verbs which conguate a little differently than regular verbs. I am actually enjoying it, because it has some structures to follow, and with pen and paper, I can write it down properly before I say it. Like in class, I have written today: ¿te alegrar estar vivo? (Are you happy to be alive?) It is such a corny question but I wouldn't expect that I'll be able to say that in Spanish. For today's homework, I write: Despues de partido de fútbol, él se ducha inmediatamente (After the football match, he takes a shower immediately.) I am not sure if it is correct, but it sounds like Spanish to me. Hehe... :P

Apart from Spanish, I visit two more museums this morning: Museum of Popular Art, and an archaeological museum under the Sun Temple. Both are not very interesting, I must say. In US or European standards, the museums here are more an tiny exhibition in the hallway of some office buildings. I guess museums are the strong suits of the South American. They are usually not well-organized, and small. A majority of people come to South America to see archaeological sites, colonial churches, carnivals...etc. Museums... hmm... probably no. Tomorrow though, I am going to give Inka Museum a try, it is supposed to be good. It's better be, cause I will have to pay to get in. It is not included in the tourist ticket.

Have a really good chat with Amanda after dinner. Just the two of us at the table, we must have talked over an hour, just talking about why we come down to South America, work, values and just life in general. I am like 9 years older than her, but quite frankly I see the younger me in her right now, in some ways. Like what she is going through, I have gone through the same path myself more or less. It is a strange feeling honestly, like all these years, there are some things in my head I have been trying to figure out, and at times feel like nobody understands why something seems insignificant matters to me so much, but not to others. But now, I suddenly feel that there are actually handful of people on the same boat as me. Anyway, I give her the most honest advice I can give. :) I hope through this chat, we does not only understand each other better, but at the same time, we get to understand ourselves a little better. Sometimes all we need is a little chat with someone completely new, like he or she also brings some new lights onto the puzzle in our head.

What else...? Oh, I have bought some Vitamin B. Supposedly, it will help to avoid insert bite if I take it starting a week before I go to the countryside. Some people say it will create some odor in your body that the mosquitoes won't like but human cannot smell that odor. Everyone came back from Machu Picchu I have seen so far are badly bitten. If one has put on insert repellent, he or she may still get 10-15 bits, one who has not put on insert repellent, it gets much much worst. So, after seeing Amanda's arms and Alan's legs, I will try whatever that might help! Guess I'll be the test tube child, see if the vitamin B works.

Anyway, again, no picture today. Guess the next time I will take a lot of picture would be this Friday. I also want to take some pictures with my classmates too. This Spanish school experience is really precious, I get to know a lot of interesting people.

Day 14 - Difficult day with Spanish

2009-10-13T23:58:00.003+08:00

Guess today is kind of a quiet day. Visit the Contemporary Art Museum in the morning, although it has a rather small collection, there are some interesting stuffs in one particular exhibition room, like some sculptures made by some animal bones. There are also a few paintings (One of Che, one of Marx, one of Einstein I think) I like their styles very much, very creative. Again, unfortunately, I cannot take pictures in the museums, so nothing to show here. Since I got the beloto turistico, and all my classes are in the afternoon for this week, so I plan to visit one museum each morning for Monday to Thursday. Tomorrow I probably will visit Arte de Popular. Will see what the hell it is. Friday morning, I will join a tour to visit some Inka ruins. That's the plan for now anyway.

In my Spanish school, apart from switching the schedule from morning to afternoon or vice verse every week, the professors are also rotated. So, I have two new professors today. Oh man, this is a very difficult day for me. I feel like there is a jump from where we were last week to what we are taught today - verbos reflexivos, verbos especiales. When I don't even know the conjugation of the verb to go yet, I feel like we are already doing something so much more advanced. Aislinn (the American girl) and I in particular are totally lost for a few parts. I don't know how they determine that I am at this level already. It just seems like this week is gonna be a very tough week to get by. I enjoyed my classmates from last week a lot, but two of them (Alan the Brit and Reggie the American) are transferred to a different class in the morning. A swiss guy (the person who I talked to on my first day) and another German girl have joined our class. They both speak so much more Spanish than I do. I totally feel like I am holding the class down. Is this supposed to be a challenge for me? Or just a misplacement of class? Amanda suggests me to try one more day, if too difficult, I should ask to change class.
Anyway, I will give it another try I guess.

After seeing how Amanda came back from Machu Picchu completely exhausted. I decide to stay an extra night in Cuzco after my own Machu Picchu trip, so I can rest up and recharge before taking a long tour bus ride (> 9 hrs) to Lake Titicaca. Now I will leave Cuzco to Puno (the port town on Lake Titicaca) on the 27th instead of 26th. On the other hand, I have written to some hostels on Easter Island to inquire prices, the only one that write back is like US$79 per night. This hostel is somewhere in the budget to mid-ranged, I guess. It takes 8-10 mins to walk to the commercial areas where the restaurants and stores are and it does have a sea view, however, I don't know, I want to find something cheaper than that really. If nothing comes, I probably will take that though. Along With meals and 2 full days' tours, this side trip to Easter Island gonna be bloody expensive as expected.

No pictures are taken today. More tomorrow.

Day 13 - Sunday spectacles, churches, museums

2009-10-12T23:49:00.001+08:00

Going out to centro Cuzco after breakfast. The road is surprisingly quiet, in fact, there are parts of the road being blocked on the main avenue, and some high school students are making a painting on the ground. Not only one, every other streets, you see some road blocks and students working on the paintings. As we arrive near downtown, I am not sure where my minivan is detoured so I just get off earlier. As I walk toward the main plaza, I notice everything is decorated in purple and white. Not sure what the festival is, but definitely something is up today. As I pass by a small church, there are men and women in purple gowns with white ropes crowding on the streets, a matching band at the back by where I am, and further down I see an alter with a Jesus picture on it. Still not sure what it is about, I just run up and down the street to take picture, suddenly, thing begins to move, the matching band is playing, soon enough, I see that the Jesus altar is coming at me, I move backward a little, stand at the corner of a building. This is what I see: women flinging their holy smokes, while there must have 20 men or more carrying the alter on their shoulder and matching towards the streets with the ground painting I just walk by, as if it is a path to somewhere. Later, I show my house mom the picture I take, she is like, ah... it's a... (she said everything in Spanish, so I have no idea the exact name really, but it is indeed a Catholic thing). Whatever it is, it's quite unexpected.

As the alter and the crowds matching away, I resume my path and head to the main plaza, what do I know? Another spectacle is awaiting for me. Some military lining up by the flag pole, look like it is a raising flag ceremony. I am not sure if they do this every Sunday, but either way, I am glad that I catch it just in time. About 5 mins before the ceremony, I find myself a seat on the stairs. I intentionally sit by a western girl, she is either an European or American, so I ask if she speaks english and if she knows what is going on. Turn out she is from California, she is just travelling in Peru for a 2 weeks' holiday. This is her last day, and she is leaving in a few hours. She does not know what it is about either, but it looks like an interesting spectacle to watch. So, we just talk a little more (about me mostly) and then we watch the whole ceremony together. She even help me to take a picture of myself in the crowds, and in return, I share my can of altoids (some mints from the US) with her. Haha... She is kind of surprised by it. :) I don't think anyone would expect all the way in Peru, some chinese guy in the crowds would pull out some altoids to share with her. Little thing like that is so insignificant but at the same times kind of an interesting story to tell. In this ceremony, the most eye catching part is probably the kids who are matching along. They are in school, nurse, and military uniforms. They are so cute, I admit. Do check out the pictures on that.

Originally I am planning to do some museums hopping all day today. But after the two unexpected spectacles, my morning time is running out, so I just go home for lunch and continue in the afternoon, I visit the main Cathedral, which is probably the most decorated churches I have ever seen, with many MANY paintings, and the alter are in silver and gold. Among all the paintings, I find The Last Supper most interesting, at the dinning table seated Jesus and his disciples, the main course on the center of the table is a guinea pig - a delicacy in this region - upside down. I bought an expensive postcard on that. You can check out in today's photo gallery. There is a room filled with painting of many saints and all the archbisbops of this Cathedral. I don't know any of them, but that room is just like a room in Harry Potter, as if they are looking down at you, mumbling to each other. Another striking image I find in this Cathedral, there is a black Jesus on a cross.

The next is Museo de Historico Regional. One word to describe it - Boring! It is small and does not organize very well. Most of these museums and churches do not allow taking pictures too, even without flash is not allowed. How disappointing.

Last stop of the day is the original Temple of Sun but now Saint Domingo Church, ie, the church that is built on an Inka temple ruin. I get there at a "bad and good" time. Bad, because there are a big group of students touring the convent (it is more like a museum really), they are noisy and running around all over the place. Good, because the late afternoon sunlight shining on the rock, it gives a very good colors for photos. I think this church and the main Cathedral are both worth visiting. Again I have used my student card to get some discounts, for the Cathedral, student ticket costs about US$4, and the Sun Temple, about US$1.6. In US standard, these are nothing. That museum of regional history is included in the Boleto Turtistico, thanks God, so I don't need to pay extra for that stupid museum.

Inquire with some travel agencies, I want to find some half day tour to some Inka ruins in the Sacred Valley. By myself, it gonna be very expensive, like US$40. It will include the transportation and a guide, it gonna be a private tour. I actually want to DIY if I have some travel partners. To get there by bus is easy and cheap, but to get back, I am not sure how, probably take the same bus or taxi. The difficult part is that the bus would only take you to the main town, then you need to hike 4km to the ruins. And I am not sure how safe it is to do that by myself. Lonely Planet does not have a map either. So, let's see if I can convince someone to join me in school tomorrow. If not, I may do the private tour. Alternatively, if I can find another person to do the private tour with me, the cost will drop half. We'll see.

Photos here: Day 13 (Sunday Spectacles), Day 13 (Churches & Museums)

Footnote: Amanda just come back from Machu Picchu at 10:40pm. She looks really exhausted. I am getting kind of worried about my trekking tour now. She is not even doing the 2 day trekking, but just a train/bus and only hike for the last part to the Machu Picchu, if she is that exhausted, what would I be like after hiking for 2 days (7 hours the first day, 4 hours the second day)? I really need to turn some exercise in this week.

Day 12 - Sacsayhuaman: The sexy woman

2009-10-12T01:15:00.001+08:00

Meet up with Natasha and Mark outside of McDonalds at 10:15am, we are going to visit one of the Inka ruin site - Sacsayhuaman - which is actually only a 20 mins hike up the hill, although the road is quite steep. So, by the time when we arrive at the site on the top of a hill, we sit by the ticket booth for a while before we go on. Cuzco has this thing called Boleto Turistico - a combined tourist ticket for 16 museums and archeological sites, it is valid for 10 days. For adult, it costs 130 Soles (US$43), while student ticket costs 70 Soles (US$23). To buy an individual ticket to go to only one site or museum is actually quite expensive. Officially, I am no longer a student, but of course, I intentionally carry my North Park University cap, also bring my old student card, hoping I will get a student discount. And... indeed I get it today. Only pay 70 Soles for the boleto turistico, while Natasha and Mark get the one site ticket for 35 Soles each. Well, Natasha is leaving tomorrow, and Mark is going to spend another 3 months here, so both of them have no reasons to get a 10 days pass.

It is a sunny day, luckily I have my cap, or I probably would get sun burn on my forehead, the sun at this altitude is extremely intense. We bring some foods along for a kind of a picnic. Mark gets banana, nuts, mango, some local cheese, and bread, while Natasha and I contribute more bananas, crackers, water, maracuya (a type of fruits I have eaten the first time, you will see the picture), and another kind of fruit (in green) that I can't remember the name but it is white inside, with black seeds and it tastes quite good. We walk to the first spot where we settle down on a big rock, start eating some fruits and nuts and amaze the views in sight. Some of the rocks might weight hundreds of tons. How the Inka civilization was able to cut and mobilize such massive rocks remains a mystery to me.

After having some foods to fill our tummies, we move to another location, where we are looking at the structure from sort of slightly above. We sit at this place for quite a while, maybe 1-2 hours, I read my guidebook a little, eat some more, Mark lays down by the rock, while we talk about the stupid things in the world, in the United States, the rich and the poor, the tourist visas...etc. Interestingly, so far the people I encountered in South America, I mean the travellers and the backpackers, a lot of them actually have a similar kind of attitude towards the state of the world, governments, and the social structures. Many of them are between 25-35, they are actually very smart people and want to do goods in their lives, but somehow there is a disconnection between them and the society where they come from. Travels give them a chance to stay away from places they don't fit in, but also give them a chance to meet other people who may share the same mindset about many things. If you meet people who disagree with you on the road, it does not matter either, you won't see him or her ever again the next day or the next week. It is not like you are bounded to travel together forever. Surely, this observation cannot represent everyone, there are also a lot, just want to experience something different and widen their horizons before going back home to start their careers. This type of people tends to be younger, just graduated from university or still in university.

As we continue talking, a guy just slowly walk closer to us, he speaks Spanish to us. Among the three of us, Natasha speaks Spanish the best, so this man starts talking to her, I guess it is about the site, the Inka cultures and coca leaves...etc. When he pulls out a rock from his bag to show her, I know what this is about. He is one of those tour guides, just starts chatting up with people, telling the whole scripted story about the site and the local people, and then he will ask for money. Indeed he is. Although I despite this kind of self-inviting guides, he seems to be a nice man and the stuffs he tells us seems interesting. I have to say though, I actually don't understand a word, I can only pick up the numbers, but seeing the pictures and the facial expressions of Natasha and Mark when they are listening, it seems to be something interesting. Natasha does explain a little what the guy says afterwards. Mark says he understands about 60% of it. At the end, they pay him about 15 Soles (US$5). I feel relectant to pay when I don't even know what he is talking about, so nothing from the Chinese.

Tomorrow is probably a day of museum hopping, since I get the boleto turistico now!

Photos here: Day 11-12

Un pasaje sobre mi familia

2009-10-10T21:46:00.000+08:00

Mi familia es de tamaño mediano. Yo tengo un padre y una madre, tambien tengo dos hermanos y una hermana. Ellos se llaman Lam-Choi, Yuen-Yin, Raymond, Kong y Heidy. Yo soy el más joven de la familia. Mis padres tienen más de setenta años. Mi padre es diabético y mi madre esta sana. Ellos son jubilados y viven en Hong Kong ahora.

Mis hermanos vive en todas partes. Raymond vive en Hong Kong, Kong vive en Guangzhou de sur de China, y Heidy vive en Boston de Estados Unidos. Ellos estan casados. Raymond y Heidy tienen dos hijos cada uno, y Kong tiene una hija. Hijos de Raymond son muy joven, pero hija de Kong es muchacha y ella estudia en colegio. Mientras, Heidy se casara con un americano, sus hijos son mezcla de dos razas.

Nadie en mi familia tienen religion.

Day 11 - Nat´l food 'N Drink of Peru

2009-10-10T21:43:00.002+08:00

Have finished the first week of Spanish class, I would say that my Spanish has indeed improved, learned a lot of vocabularies and how to construct sentence, questions...etc. I even write a passage about my family for one of my homework. (Yo escribo un pasaje sobre mi familia) Although it is written in baby Spanish, but geez, let's me enjoy this satisfaction just for a little while. Compared to just a week ago, I wasn't able to say "I am 34 years old", to now I can tell people "I am the youngest in my family". That's a difference. I will attach that passage on the next post. Please pardon the mistakes I made in the passage. :P Anyway, I still don't think I am able to communicate with people yet though. I start to pick up the sound if the other person speak really really slowly, and I am able to ask or say a few things without the dictionary. But if the person really answers me in full and long sentences, I would be totally lost already. But this is the start, I guess. I only report how it really is.

Paulo, one of the professor, wants us to do some activities together as a class, so we go to have the national dishes of Peru for lunch. It is called ceviche, basically it is a dishes of raw seafood marinated in lime juice, plus salt, yellow peppers, onion, served with corn, lettuce, sweet potato and sea weeds..etc. I am pretty much the only one who can finish the whole thing! Hahaha... that is so funny, one of the german girl (her name is Imke) asked me beforehand, that I would need to help her to eat the fish, because she doesn't like eating fish. The other german girl named Myriam is a vegetarian, so she wouldn't even order anything with meat or fish anyway. We first get a bowl of soup with a big shell in it, the two germans have one zap and that's it. I actually like that soup very much, it's very tasty, so I help Imke to finish her bowl. Then, the ceviches arrive, my dish is huge, for 18 Soles (US$6). You know, I would say I like it for the most part, the favor is there but perhaps a bit overpowering, I need water or some drink to balance it. It's interesting to try it though. In term of foods, I don't mind trying. To me, it seems Peruvian cooking is a collision of taste in a very rough way, or in a very macho way. Unlike French or Spanish cooking, which combines tastes in a more sophisticated way, like they would stand by their dishes with their nose sticking up, and making a mmmh sound. Not saying which is good or bad, just different. I am not making funs of Imke or Myriam either, there are things I don't eat myself. It is understandable, the Westerners may not accustom to this kind of food. I told them we Chinese and Latino pretty much eat anything. Actually, I think Imke got the best dish on the table - a deep fried fish tenders kind of thingy, it tastes really good. My ceviche is a mixed seafood, while Alan the Brit has a ceviche of a regional fish. The fish is chopped into cubes. I like his dishes too.

Talk about food, might as well talk about the national drink of Peru. It calls Pisco Sour. It is basically a grape brandy cocktail. I had a few chances to try it, like the Spanish school welcome dinner. We were offered a shot of pisco sour for each of us before the dinner. But I didn't drink it, because of the alcohol. From the people who drank it, they says you either like it or hate it. I am not a drinker so I have no idea what it is like. But here is a receipt from the Lonely Planet: 1 part freshly squeezed lime juice, 3 parts pisco, ice, suger to taste, 1 teaspoon egg white (for frothiness) and Angostura bitters. Salud!

In the afternoon, I book my Lake Titicaca bus ride at Inka Express ticket office. Meet the same woman who I talked to yesterday, and who will give me a discounts, I don't think it's the best price I can find, but it is an acceptable price for me, so I just go for it. Anyway, she is copying information from my passport, and see that my family name is Chan, so as typical as you can imagine, she asks me if Jackie Chan is my brother. I say No. She adds, do you know him? Almost want to tell her that a lot of Hong Kong people does not care for Jackie Chan really, not anymore anyway. But I don't want to disappoint. So we just laugh away. She also asks me if I know Bruce Lee too. How interesting even all the way in Peru in South America, people knows about these two guys. Back home for dinner, we have a good laugh about similar topic, if I know Karate. The house mom is like laughing his heart out. She is like Benny Chang Ching Chang, making that silly Karate motion. It is so silly, but every gets to laugh. I don't mind. It's all good.

After dinner, go out with Amanda again. This time, we go to a different bar, with live band too, although they do not start playing until we almost leave. Get home around midnight, now I am just winding down and getting ready to fall asleep. Tomorrow, gonna head to the nearby Inka ruin - Saqsaywamán or better known as Sexy Woman by the non Spanish speakers. Just gonna have a picnic, read a book or something, I don't know. We'll find out. Hope the weather will be nice for us.

Day 10 - Night out in Cuzco

2009-10-10T05:12:00.001+08:00

Because some friends in the Spanish school are leaving, and a few others are departing to Machu Picchu after tomorrow, so we have a dinner out tonight. After that, we go to a bar, which is surprisingly modern, despite it is hidden in all this old colonial building surfaces. I have a frozen lemonade, which looks just like one of those drinks you get on a sandy beach in Thailand, a huge fat glass of frozen lemonade with cherry, half slice of an orange, and a slice of star fruit at the rip of the glass. Just missing an umbrella, I may think that I am in Hawaii. Oh oh...The rip is red-sugar coated too. Yes the kind like a margarita, when the girl bring me the drink, I am like, holy shit, I hope I can still sleep after drinking that humongous thing. They are going to another dance club afterwards, but after I finish my frozen lemonade, I decide to take a taxi home with a german girl who stays with a family not far from mine. I have a morning class the next morning.

This is the first time I go out since I came to Cuzco. I have heard a lot about how Cuzco has many bars and clubs because of the tourists. Now I can see how and why. It's true that there are lots of things to see in Cuzco and around Cuzco, but at the night times, there are really not much to do. Many people select Cuzco to study Spanish, like me. There are also lot of people using Cuzco as a base to visit the nearby Scared Valley and Machu Picchu. So, at nights, especially the young ones love to go dancing at club or gathering at bars. I don't really want to stay out too late, since I am living with a family. One of these nights though, I do like to go to the reggae bar, where they play live music. Maybe this weekend, who knows, since Amanda will in Machu Picchu. I don't have any plans myself. Mark, a Canadian guy, talked about bring some cheese and crackers to one of the closest Inka ruins, and just enjoy the day. I might join him. And we may go to the reggae bar at night.

There is a detour coming up again, the school sometimes run a week of lectures in some rural villages, maybe an hour away from Cuzco. On Oct 18-24, there is opening to do that in a small village called Toray (which is not far from Pisac Inka ruin), it requires 6 persons or more in order to actualize. Anyway, now there are already 13 students signed up, so I pretty much we are doing it. At first, I was not going to do it, as my Machu Picchu trip is on Oct 24, it's sort of overlapped, but my whole class has signed up for it. I might as well join them too, as I would like to visit Pisac anyway, and it will be my last week of Spanish lessons, I rather stick the same classmates so I have to get used to someone new again. And I inquired that I can probably take a bus back to Cuzco on Friday the 23rd, so I won't miss my Machu Picchu trip.

Finalized my Lake Titicaca (over 3800m - one of the highest lake on earth) trip, instead of taking a train (Andean Explorer), I will take a tourist bus instead, combining some tours along the 9 hours journey. I really wanted to take the train in the beginning, because it is one of the highest tracks on earth, over 4000m. But its fare has skyrocketted to US$220 for the journey, there no backpacker class anymore. The bus I am going to take is called Inka Express, with panorama windows. I walk in their ticket office and inquire about the cost, the price on my Lonely Planet is US$25 (in 2007), and the service lady tells me US$45. I say, $45! (exclamation marks flying off my mouth). She shows me a copy of some other people booking online, the listed price is US$50, but because I walk in, there is a discount... mmmh... that's what I am like. So, I say, it is a big difference from my Lonely Planet guidebook, which says only US$25. I know it gonna be higher, because US$25 is the price 2 years ago. But another US$20 seems a lot. She says, ok because I have the book and it says different, she would give me US$40. Like buying a fish, in market price. I bet it can go cheaper, especially if the seats are not filled in at the end. But I think I accept her offer. It's a long bus ride, including lunch buffet, beverages on the bus, an english speaking guide, entry fees to some museums along the road, and will stop for one of two Inka sites, and alpaca protection area...etc. Instead of taking an awful long bus ride, we will stop every so often to see something. Maybe it's not a bad idea. Besides I actually checked two more agents, the quote they give me is like US$50 too, and no tours included, but it's a first stop nonstop bus. I guess they expect you to do some bargaining, but anyway, I can accept US$40 with drinks, lunch and tours. After all, although I am carrying a backpack, I am really not that kind of hardcore backpackers. I am getting old, I guess.

Photos here: Day 10

Day 9 - Meeting with Jesus

2009-10-09T03:58:00.001+08:00

Another day in Cuzco, I have developed a schedule for this week, first I have breakfast at home, take a bus to have my Spanish class in the morning, go back to homestay on a bus for lunch. After that, I would join Amanda to go out again (on taxi most likely cause we can split the cost), she attends her afternoon class, while I would do some emailing and blog posting in an internet cafe for an hour or so, around 4:00pm, I start to do some intown sightseeing. And at 6:40pm, I will meet Amanda again to go home together for dinner. Depending whether we have gathering with other classmates, we might go out again at nights. Next week, my class will be in the afternoon, I may have to find a different schedule, but probably I would still spend a lot of time in the downtown areas.

Today sightseeing is called San Cristobal, a huge Jesus statue up on a hill. To go there, one needs to hike up a steep hill. The statue is actually not far from an Inka ruin. At first, I wanted to find someone else to go with, but the Brit and the Swiss already visited there. Amanda has not gone there but she has afternoon classes, her schedule is always opposite from mine, so it won't work. Anyway, at 4:30pm, I just come out of the internet cafe, I see that the sun is shining right on the statue, so I thought, what the hack, just go by myself. The hike itself is quite tough, oh god, I start to breathe really heavily when I am only half way up. The road leads to the Inka Ruin - Sacsayhuaman, but the path to the Jesus statue is not very well-marked. At one point, I don't know whether I walk too far already or not, so I ask a guy who is walking his dog. He points to a path going uphill that is not marked at all, but you can vaguely see it's a path. So, I walk up as I am instructed. From afar, I finally see Him, all white, standing tall, with arms spreading wide open. There are not many people, maybe just 4 or 5 locals, and they are leaving. As I get closer though, I realize the statue is not that big. From the Plaza, I thought the statue would be even bigger. Guess this is not Rio de Janeiro. It's only a small version.

I take my pictures, the sun is about to set, and across the horizon, above the mountains, storms are coming in too. I know I should get down before dark. Since the path is very quiet, I am not sure if it is safe at night really. So, I hurry down, bump into a young man and a girl, they are like in their early teens. He is carrying her on the back, playing along for fun. Soon, we somehow start a conversation in both Spanish and English as we're all going, basically they are inquiring me a lot of questions, where you are from, how many brother and sisters...etc. Anyway, they are not harmful. Although later when I get home, I tell the house mom that I go to San Cristobal today, she asks me if I go by myself. I say Yeah, and then she is like, "No No No Benny, it's dangerous to go there by yourself. People might take your camera and money. Always go with someone." I have my laptop in my bag too, so I guess I am really lucky and haven't get robbed. I can see how it can be dangerous, the path is not guarded.

Anyway, done is done. Right? I will visit that Inka Ruin (not far from Jesus) on Friday afternoon, hopefully I would be able to find a travel companion by then. Otherwise, I will take a taxi up. After today's hike, I begin to worry about my 2 days trekking to Machu Picchu, for which I will hike 7 hours on the first day, and 3-4 hours on the second day. Gosh, today the 20-30 mins hike is already making me out of breathe. This is not good. I need to do some hiking exercises for the next 2 weeks, to prepare for Machu Picchu.

Getting sleepy already, better head to bed. More tomorrow.

Photos here: Day 9

Day 8 - Day & Night in Cuzco

2009-10-08T04:50:00.001+08:00

Finish my Spanish class at 12:30pm. This is the 2nd day, I still have a great deal of difficulty with the listening and speaking part (the first half of the class), but do much better with the grammar and stuffs (2nd half). That might be the eternal fate for Asian (?), particularly for Chinese, to learn a foreign language, because we have a different way to learn, that does not incorporate any phonic system, and we rely too much on memorization. When the teacher speak without writing, I might be able to repeat it in the classroom, but would have a hard time memorizing it without seeing how the words are spelled, don't even dream about reusing it in situations. That's why I do better with grammar, and learning new words in the 2nd half of the class, cause I can see the words and it is easier for me to internalize in my head. Anyway, I still feel good about learning Spanish here, and it will definitely help me a lot for the next month and a half.

After lunch and some emailing, around 4pm, I start to walk around the center areas of Cuzco for a solid 2 hours, actually I wander more than just around the center areas really, passing by some pretty local areas, where I don't see many tourists, just shops and markets for the locals. People sitting chatting on benches, kids after school hurrying home, people selling flowers in a local market which roof is made by tin, its style reminds of me of the old food market in Hong Kong. In fact, now I think about it, it is kind of like Yau Ma Tei. The truth is, there is really nothing special about this local area, just locals doing things like all locals do everywhere in the world. It has a very homey feeling, I guess, that's what draws me in. Back to the tourist spots, pass by the Church of Santo Domingo, what significant about this church is that it is built on the ruins of an Inka temple. You will see in the picture, the bottom part of the church is some Inka stones, and the church just stands above it. Some history of the church is pretty ugly, don't you think? Walk uphill to the arty area called San Bras. I really like that neighborhood, there are lot of cute little restaurants, bistros, and cafes. It would be a nice place to hang out and enjoy some nice dinners with friends. But most of the students I know here are quite young or the others are backpackers, I don't think I can really ask any of them out for a nice meal in that area. Besides, I really should not be a big spender on food myself. Dinner at a Bistro Would be nice though.

Again, I have taken a ton of pictures, but a lot of them are taken at the protesters in the protests occurring in the main plaza today. I am not sure what they are protesting about, but there are more polices arriving to guard the churches, they line up like a chain, the protesters too, their crowds stretch longer and longer as it gets later. The policias haven't blocked away the tourists though, and there are kids in the protesting crowds, so I believe it is a peaceful protest, it lasts for the whole afternoon. At 6:45pm, when I meet up with Amanda to go home, they are still there. Check out the pictures.

I think this would be my plan: see the in town attractions in the afternoons when I am not in class. And in the weekends, I will visit some small villages or Inka sites in the Sacred Valley area. If there are other students wanted to go together, probably we will go by ourselves. If just me, I would join some city tour from the Spanish school. I really only gonna stay here for 3 weeks, time goes fast, while there are so many things to see in this area of Peru. Talking to the Brit (one of my classmates), there might be a chance that we would join up to go to the next destination together, depending on his schedule. Mine is pretty much fixed, I will leave Cuzco to Puno (nearby Lake Titicaca) on the 26th. Would be nice if he will join me, so I get a travel companion for a few days, and also some convenience in term of accommodation. After that though, he is heading up to Ecuador while I am heading down to Chile.

Photos here: Day 8

Change of travel plan

2009-10-07T05:02:00.002+08:00

Initially, it was because of my difficult experience in Lima that the idea of changing my route arised, visiting South America is surely tougher than I thought. But as I got to Cuzco, I can see that things are getting much easier, I am meeting other students and do things together, so maybe it was just an isolated case in Lima. Besides, everyone I have asked so far, no one like Lima. So I am not the only one, thanks God. However, after a serious thought, I would still like to change my route a little bit, to accommodate the cost for me to join some more local tours, and also eliminates the long bus rides to some out of the way areas. Like now I am Cuzco, next Lake Titicaca, then Arequipa, it is pretty much near the bottom of Peru, and the border of Chile. If following my original plan, I would head north again, take a 18 hours bus back to Nazca which is a few hours down from Lima, to just enjoy a 40 mins overflight above the Nazca Lines, and then I would take another 18-22 hours bus ride back to the south at the border of Chile, it's a bit wasting in regards of time and money. As much as I would love to see the Nazca Lines, I decided to drop it.

So, now after Arequipa, I would take a 3-4 hours bus to Tacna (the border city in the Peru side) and then cross the border to Arica in Chile. From Arica, I would join some local tour to Nacional Parque Lauca (see the picture above), which I would see some snow-cap volcanos (active too), and salt flats, similar altiplano scenery as the Atacama Desert, which I would drop as well, again because it requires a long bus ride, and it's pretty rural in the desert. After Arica, I will find a way to fly instead of taking almost the 24 hours bus ride to Santiage. The tricky part is that I have checked with LAN airline, the ticket is rather expensive. I suspect when I get to Arica, there are some travel agency selling flight ticket mucher cheaper, probably with some smaller local airline too. If at the end I will have to take the bus, I will just break it off into small lags, instead of one long bus ride. From Santiago, back to the original plan, I would visit Valparaiso, Easter Island, Sydney, then finally Hong Kong.

Eliminate all the long bus ride and to a certain extent, maintain what I planned to see, except the Nazca Lines, which is a pity. But I think this change will make the trip more enjoyable, it'll be a balance between budget, Spanish, and comfort level.

Already changed my LAN and Qantas flight arrangements. Now, I am going to Easter Island on Nov 14, and back on Nov 17, depart from Santiago to Sydney on Nov 19, and back to Hong Kong on Nov 26. 12 days earlier than my original plan. Looking at the budget spreadsheet, I have already used almost US$5000 on this trip, including all the flights, but not including the upcoming tour fees and accommodation charges. So this change is more sensible I suppose.

So, my friends in Hong Kong, this is the new return date: Nov 26.

Day 7 - First day in Spanish class

2009-10-07T04:36:00.003+08:00

Today the whole day is about Spanish, have to get up at 6am so that I can arrive at the school to take a placement test. As we are waiting at the garden, I chat up with the guy next to me, he is another Swiss guy, very very young, 21 maybe? And he is planning to go to army training in Colombia and Cuba for 1 year. Another 2 Quebec French Canadian join in. They are all very young, 19 and 20 or something like that, these two Canadian is spending 3 months in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, to study Spanish and to have "fun". They all seem to be very fun loving people. And even suggest me to join them to Machu Picchu, in the cheapest way they have found out from a friend of friend, that we will take a 5 hours bus, to remote location and walk on the train tracks for hell knows how long, as he describes, it may be dangerous but it is gonna be really cheap and have lots of funs. Get to this point, I already like... ah, you should have asked me earlier (like I meant it), I have already joined the 2 days trekking to Machu Picchu. Inside I am thinking they are way to young and immature. I would not do that kind of trip in a million year. Either way, they are still very friendly, we have talks and laughs. I even teach them a few Chinese words for fun.

After the test, of course, I will put in the beginner class. Some of the classes start right away, including mine. They would alternate each week, so this week, I have 4 hours Spanish class in the morning Monday thru Friday, next week it will in the afternoon. Each day, there are 2 sessions with two different teachers. The first teacher Paulo is a bit fast, his portion focuses in listening and speaking, it scares me a little and I start to wonder if they have put me in the right class, seems I follows him with some difficulty, but I manage to get past the first 2 hours. The next teacher is a woman, called Nury, she is much more friendly and clear in many ways, she is teaching pronouns, verb to be, and conjugation of 3 groups of verbs..etc. I actually enjoy the 2nd half of the class a lot, and am able to follow at least.

In my class, there are 6 students, me, two German girls, two Americans (the male from Chicago, the female from Boston), and one British guy who was an accountant or working for accounting, but wanted to do something more meaningful with his life - that sounds so familiar - like I had the same idea many years ago. He and one of the Germans studied some Spanish before, and the rest of us has not. I sat between the two Americans. The Boston girl is so much easier to talk, and I also have a chat with the Brit too. The Germans pretty stick with themselves, and the Chicagoean who is a black guy is also very quiet. I told him I just graduated from DePaul, and he is studying in Northwestern but taking a year off. Overall, I think we will get along and probably will have more interactions in the coming weeks.

In the evening, the school provides a welcome dinner, I am unfortunately seated in a group of French speaking people. I was kind of bored to death because they are speaking French and Spanish all night, just two seats away are my classmates. I should have sat by them and get to know them better. Oh well... tomorrow I suppose.

No photos today, because I have not done nothing except Spanish and calling the airlines. More about my change of plan next.

Day 6 - Chinchero, Moray y Salinas

2009-10-06T05:02:00.002+08:00

I have been really out there these past two days! Last night, Amanda and I went out to meet with her friends for dinner. They all study in the same Spanish school, at different levels, I am obviously the newbie, who don't speak a word of Spanish. It seemed to me that they pretty much can communicate with the locals, which is good for me, I suppose. We met at the steps in front of McDonalds, their official "meeting place" again. The group of us was like a United Nations. Amanda from the US, me from Hong Kong, Nicolas from Switzerland (near Geneva so he speaks French), Natasha (maybe) from Russia, Jane from Australia, and his friend who seems to be a Latino (not sure exactly). We were just missing the representative of Africa! Anyway, the Swiss, the Russian, the American and the Chinese went to a pub for dinner. We talked A LOT, about travel, language, cultures, abortion, jobs, the school, and social manner. Anything you can imagine. We must have been there for over 3 years. It is interesting experience, I'm kind of enjoy it. Today, Domingo-Sunday, they planned to go to Chinchero, where has a Sunday market and they invited me to come along.

Originally, I need to attend this 1.5 hour city tour the school organized for new students, sort of chance to meet other students. But the Sunday market thing sounds extremely interesting. So, I have been bad, and have decided to skip the city tour and join the gang to Chinchero instead. We meet at 9:00am, walk to the bus stop, which is actually quite a scene. every bus I have seen thus far are always full, not even a standing space you could fit in one more persons kind of full. But this is not what I want to describe about this bus stop. The man's room is actually outside, right across from the ticket stands, I am just causally looking around and at people. Oh my god, this guy is peeing, and then I look up to the wall, it's actually the Man's room right there, out in the open. The bus stop is filled with women, and children, dogs and cats. It is just a weird scene.

About 1 hour journey to Chinchero, I have no idea what to expect, nor have the desire to buy stuffs really, but I would like to take many pictures. So, we got there, the Sunday Market is not too bad, all these people in their traditional clothing, sitting on floor selling handmade stuffs, textiles, and foods. It is just very interesting. I finally took a picture of the Inka woman's braids (found out from Amanda, that's what it is called). I must have taken a zillion pictures there, at the stuffs being sold, at the persons who sell it. It is right around noon though, so the sun is bad. It is so warm, I have to take off my sweater. Oh...oh...oh... I saw a man peeing at the bus stop earlier, and in the market, as I am taking a picture of a roof, suddenly I hear this like river running sound. Holy shit, an Inka woman is doing her business. Excuse me, nice hairs. :P After the market, we find a local restaurant to eat something. 5 Soles (less than US$2) for a bowl of huge soup, beef with veggies and rice, and tea. Nothing can beat that price, BUT two of us find hairs in the soup, which is quite gross. But I guess we should not be surprised in places like this.

Anyway, it turns out the Sunday market is not the only program, we are going to Moray and Salinas - two Inka sites - as well. Again I have no idea what they are or where they are, I am just following the group. On the way, there is two Israeli backpackers ask us if we want to share a taxi, we agree. Instantly, the gang has expanded from 5 to 7 people for the last 2 lags. Moray is our first stop, which is a pretty unique amphitheater-like terraces, it is for agricultural use, I believe. But the circle, the terraces, the lines pattern is just amazing. The steps going down these terraces are pretty neat too. It's hard to describe, so see the pictures yourself. It really takes a lot of effort to climb those rock steps on the terraces, it's like it is difficult, but at that altitude, it simply requires much more to go up. I literally feel out of breath and have to sit down for a while. Luckily I don't feel sick after I rest a little and can continue.

Salinas is a terraces of salt pans, there are 4000 thousands of them together. The Inkas used this to extract salt. It looks like a site I saw in Turkey many years ago. But it's not exactly the same. We also have a glimpse of the Sacred Valley, cause the salt pans kind of lead to the end of the valley. Very beautiful, the rain is behind us though. So, we must leave.

It has been an surprisingly interesting day. Guess I didn't know what to expect to begin with, and ended up seeing 3 very different things, which is incredible, cause this is only my 3rd day in Cuzco. Not bad, not bad. The whole day, including transportation, food and the fee to get into those sites, I have spent less than US$13, which is really cheap. We have a big group to split the taxi cost, so that helps. Tomorrow is my first school day. I must be there at 8:00am to do a placement test. Probably time in Cuzco will go fast, since I have class, and would hang out the other students a lot, especially weekends...probably some of us will do something like this again next week.

Photos here: Day 6 (Chinchero), Day 6 (Moray y Salinas)

Footnote: Just a wonderful day. Nothing more to add, finally feeling myself a bit. I bet you can see it from the sound of this post. But giving you a headup, I am gonna change my route a little bit to fit the budget, since I can foresee that I would spend more than I expected for the local tours. It would be great to see everything, but I don't want to spend every dim that I have, and ask mom for money when I'll get home. Basically I am dropping 2 long and out of the way trips (to some rural areas), instead of I am doing a more easily accessible national park in northern Chile, which I would still see like snow-cap volcanoes, altiplano lakes..etc. More details in my next blog. I am checking with the airlines about the flight availability.

Day 5 - Cuzco is the place to visit

2009-10-05T07:31:00.001+08:00

It has been a wonderful day. First, woke up like 6:15am after a very good restful night. Had breakfast with Alicia - the houselady (I finally figured it out her name, there are two Alicia in the house), while Amanda (the American student who stayed here also) was sleeping, she had night out last night, but she never had breakfast on weekend anyway, according to Alicia. She rather slept some more. Anyway, I have been feeling so much better today, no headache, tiny tiny little bit of light-headed still, but it hasn't bothered me at all. I decided to go out to the center to get my laptop connected. Alicia taught me how to take the bus, which bus and how to get back. She wrote this paper, spoken Spanish to me like I understand. The truth I didn't know a word she said. I kinda get an idea but can't be sure what I am looking for. Anyway, wait until I tell you about the ride, this is a good one. :)

So, she just happened to go out, I was ready, I asked her to show me to the bus stop. She mistakened that I was going, so we went to the bus stop, she stopped the bus and asked to get in, I said, no no, bolsa, I don't think that's right word for my bag, but there was nothing I could do in that situation. I didn't even have my phrasebook with me. Anyway, she got it, just explained to me, now this is what you needed to look for and all. Ok... now I got back to the house, got my stuffs and grabbed my bag and off I went. Here it is... I waved the bus, I tell you this is not exactly a bus, it's cargo van which can fit maybe 8-10 people including the front seats. And man, there got 25 people in there already, I stepped in, I was standing and I had to band almost half way down, like a bowing position, when the car moved, I fell onto the girl in front of me, she gave a look. Oh boy, that was embarrassing. A few streets later, there was a seat available in the back, I made the impossible task to make my way to that seat, better than standing. Any western friends of mine I know, except one of two, can never fit in this van in that position! To sit down, maybe, there is no room really, you might need to hug your legs to fit in that. It only cost 60 Soles, or US$0.20, it is really cheap, but like Sarah Palin, I bet ya, ya're not gonna do it!

So, got to the center areas of Cuzco, around 10am maybe, it was already filled with tourist, but frankly you will just captivated by the tiny alleys, the stones, the building, the beautiful scenery. It's really quite something, it has some magical feeling about this town. Everywhere, you see Inka people in their traditional clothing, with their double pig tails. I would really want to get a picture of that if I have a chance. Anyway, I was just amazed by this city. I would recommend anyone to come here any time any day.

Found my cafe where I could plug my computer, chatted with friends, updated my blog. About lunch time, I must find the bus back based of Alicia's note. I did it. Lunch is excellent today, it is a potato stuffs with some meat and stuffs, and deep fried. It is just tasty. Look at the photo album of today, you will see it. Amanda was there, so we talked and agreed let's go out together, so we can split a taxi. We did. So much better. I wished my Spanish lesson schedule would be the same as hers, so we can take the taxi instead of the bus, and not feel too bad. The taxi ride is like 3 Soles, about US$1. But I would have to go back and forth for meals, that would add up if I keep taking taxi. Anyway, met two friends of Amanda, Mark (from Canada) and Mariah (from Holland), we had juice and then coffee. JUst had a pretty chat. It was just great meeting some people about the same age and just hanged out. I know they go to bar too at nights, but I can go, I don't drink. Don't want to be a party poopers. Anyway, before we met Mark and Raina, we were waiting outside of McDonalds, sitting at those stones steps. Many inka or just Peruvians kids, men, women, would come to sell you stuffs. And these two girls wearing their traditional clothings have this bags or whatever you call over their shoulders, and guess what they pulled out, it's two baby llamas, tiny little thing. It is so cute, and adorable. It asked for like 1 Soles (US$0.33) to take a picture with them. We didn't do it, but after the coffee, we did. See the pictures as well. It's so cool.

I have a very difficult to control myself not to buy anything, this is not that kind of trips, I don't need more weight to carry, but gosh, their stuffs are so cheap, whether I need or not is another story. BUT, I have been good, I have not bought anything. Hope I can maintain that. Got back home now, but Amanda and I are going to have dinner in 30 mins. Just have some much to tell and just want to drop them down. I bet I will take a lot of photos in Cuzco. Though one of camera batteries is dying on me already, I should have got the original Canon brand, instead of the generic one. Damn! Hope I can find a replacement somewhere before Machu Picchu.

More next time.

Photos here: Day 5

Footnote: Just a wonderful day. Nothing more to add, finally feeling myself a bit. I bet you can see it from the sound of this post. But giving you a headup, I am gonna change my route a little bit to fit the budget, since I can foresee that I would spend more than I expected for the local tours. It would be great to see everything, but I don't want to spend every dim that I have, and ask mom for money when I'll get home. Basically I am dropping 2 long and out of the way trips (to some rural areas), instead of I am doing a more easily accessible national park in northern Chile, which I would still see like snow-cap volcanos, altiplano lakes..etc. More details in my next blog. I am checking with the airlines about the flight availability.

Plane landing at Cuzco

2009-10-05T07:30:00.002+08:00

Well, almost forgot to mention about the plane ride to Cuzco. It was only a hour 50 mins ride from Lima, we are on a 737, or whatever it is, 3 seats on the left, and 2 seats on the right. I was on the left side, window seat. Along the way, it was all nice, I was looking outside, with blue skies, beautiful mountain views. About 10 mins before landing, you know how they announced we are about to land... ba..ba..ba.. the plane literally dropped down like who know how much feet, that you could feel the pulling, like the heart jumped out for a sec, ok, after that, the plane had a sharp turn, maybe because of the mountains embraced the city, I felt we were doing a circle landing, like coming down a circular stairs. And then at some points, I saw the runway, then we were landed safely. :) But anyone who fly to Hong Kong at the old airport before, know what a sharp turn the plan made at the last minute, tell you what, this was comparable to that!

The daughter kingdom in this homestay

2009-10-04T01:16:00.001+08:00

First night at the homestay in Cuzco, the houselady - I have been calling that because I don't know how to call her - is a grandma of the house, she has 5 daughters, 2 of them with their children lives in this complex too. But strangely there is no male. One of the daughter has a 12 years old son, and the other has a 2 years old son and a 6 years old daughter. Other than those two little winner sausages, there are really no other male creatures in the house. What have the men gone?! I can't ask that kind of questions. But I wonder.

Grandma fixed lunch and dinner for me. I want to say they tasted much better than all the meals I have in Lima. Peruvians' big flavors are still there, but this is definitely more agreeing with my stomach. This afternoon, for lunch, we have a bowl of soup with french fries in it, kind of weird but it actually tastes good. Then we have chicken with rice, and after that end with a chopped banana with some fruit jam. For dinner, we have pork chop with rice, and a small round cake, and more coca tea of course. I actually feel ok, but I decide to stay in, while the american girl has gone out. This is my first day on the highland, I really should take it super easy.

Apart from the inconvenience of the internet, I enjoy this place so far. Like tonight, I am not going out, I can just write my blog on my laptop. Download and edit the photos. Listen to chinese music and if I don't feel sleepy yet, I can start reading the novel I brought - The Cider House Rules, although I probably save it for another night... I probably couldn't focus in reading with my light-headedness.

Day 4 - Arrive at Cuzco

2009-10-04T00:57:00.002+08:00

Before I started my Day 4 story, I must mention a side story: after I came back from the dinner last night, I decided to take a shower, it was a HOT shower finally, thank you Lord! I actually indulged myself to stay under the shower a bit longer. There are less people taking shower at night than morning, so the hot water works, I should have known. It would be a good shift for me, since after I go back to Hong Kong, as the locals do, I probably would start taking shower at night anyway.

Left to the airport at 6:30am, Lima airport is international enough and easy to check in and get through to the gate. There is a US$6 departure tax. At 9:00am, the flight takes off, soon we are already over the Andes. Amazing mountains view, I must say, and I am impressed how the Peruvians are able to live on those steep hillsides, way up where I am on the aircraft, you can still see the the roofs of their houses and their long and winding roads along the mountains, extending miles and miles and miles, like every bit of land, no matter how inconvenient, can be of some use to them.

Cuzco, a city at 3400m above sea level, after stepping out of the aircraft, all I feel is that the sun is much more intense. It is not too hot, nor cold really, around 15C maybe, it's slightly hotter under the sun. I have 2 t-shirts and 2 light jackets on, probably a bit to the heavy side, but I was not sweating. I don't have headache, the altitude sickness medicine works I supposed, although I feel slightly light-headed, like floating after a long boat ride, feel tired and thirsty. At this level, there are only 1/3 of the air compared to the air at sea-level. So, it takes a triple deeper breathe to get as much air in as you would do. I definitely feel like there are less oxygen being circulate around my body and up to the brain especially. It is also easier to get dehydration. I drink more water, also pee a lot. My brain seems to operate a bit slow too, at the moment.

I am staying at a homestay with a local family, the host family seems very friendly people, a big family, their complex consists of two main two level building, a courtyard and some small one-level offices next to the courtyard. The house lady speaks very very few english, but like my mom, telling me you need to drink coca tea, drink a lot of them, she emphazises, and sleep, get enough rest... I have been put to bed right after finishing my coca tea. There are some children in the house, not sure if that is good for me or not, you know me and the kids, and a big dog, his eyes are red and have a big pimples near his eyes, is that normal? He is constantly coming over to me and have one of his hand on my lap, signal that I should pet him. His hair is more like the Bob Marley kind, though not as stylist, but as greasy and stick together. I suspect he has not taken a shower for years. I was like... O-kay... ah..good boy. There is also an american student here, named Amanda, she has been here for 2 weeks already, so she is able to communicate a little with the family. I told her, I am more like a cat person. She smiles at me and says she thinks the dog is dirty too. But he is a good dog, very quiet, just friendly.

It's much quiet up here, first time to see the blue sky of Peru, everything is illuminated. I guess I can finally sleep, get some really restful sleep. The only problem with this place is that I can't connect my laptop to internet. Without that, it would be more difficult to upload photo, blog and make phone calls back home...etc. The next few days, I will have to look around the nearby stores to see if anywhere I can get my laptop connected.

Alright, another nap's calling. More tomorrow.

Photos here: Day 4

Footnote: Feeling much better today than the past few days, I think I was a bit in culture shock in Lima (surprise to say having visited so many different places in the world). But after yesterday's afternoon and last night, things were actually getting a bit better. My first impression of Cuzco is that this would be much easier city to get used, though more countryside, but much quieter, friendlier, more like a big village really. Gonna spent the next 3 and half weeks to find out more what's going on here.

Review: Hitchhikers B&B Hostel

2009-10-04T00:55:00.001+08:00

Stayed at this hostel for 3 nights, there are goods as well as some bads. The staffs are very friendly, I must say, and for its price range, I shouldn't complain. My room is a single with shared bathroom, for US$18 a night. Its location is somewhere between the clifftop of the Pacific coast, and the center of Miraflores district, both within 10 mins of walk. It is close to a supermarkets and banks. There are lots of restaurants, trendy stores and other going-ons in the center area of Miraflores, sort of a middle class neighborhood, I suppose. I am actually glad that I didn't stay at Centro Lima, where seems to be even more choatic. But, if I decide to go back Lima again, I might choose to stay at Barranco, a much arty and quieter neighborhood, or some quieter street in Miraflores.

Apart from the price, friendly staffs, I also get free wi-fi, TV room with tons of DVD, and some games available if you are up for it, the airport pick up is also nice, remind you that my flight arrived at 4:30am, and they still come to pick me up at that hours. The hostel seems to be safe enough, so as the neighborhood. My room is spacious. However, the traffic noise is a big no no. Pretty much as early as 6:00am-7:00am, the traffic noise would start to screaming in. Maybe because my room is right next to the street, but I don't think the rooms in the main building can avoid that noise. In fact, I asked the two Dutch girls staying in the main building, they said they needed to use earplugs too. I guess that's one of the solution. There is definitely no way to sleep in the daytime. Actually there was one night I was kept awaken by a garbage pick up at 2am. The up side about those traffic noise, there is a bus to Centro Lima passing right by the hostel.

The shared bathroom is another thing I don't care for. There are 3 shared bathroom, but at peak hours (7:00am to 10:00am), there are usually a line to get in the bathroom, and hot water are all gone most of the times by your turn. Solution to this is to either take shower in the late afternoon or at night.

Overall, I would still recommend it to backpackers who pretty much spent most daytime outside, and youthful party animals (cause there are lots of bars and pubs around). But if you want some restful sleeps, no one to fight with bathroom when you need to go, or you want to relax when you are in, find hostels in other quieter neighborhood. In fact, Lima, in my impression, is such a blasting city, it is not a city for relaxation. It reminds me Bangkok, with a spanish touch.

Day 3 - Barranco, Lima

2009-10-02T10:27:00.002+08:00

Today is like a rollercoaster. Start off with a very rough morning, but the afternoon to evening was getting better... First off, I was kept awaken by a garbage pick up truck at 2am in the morning, it seemed like forever before they would leave me alone. And then the traffic noise was already screaming in at 7am, so I did't sleep and woke up quite early. Thought I would take a shower before everyone, it was a naive thought, there was already a line. So, I waited, pee, went back to the room to get the towel and toiletry, found that I lost my spot already since someone already took over the bathroom. Finally my turn, no toilet paper, oh sweet, and I took another cold shower again. I was literally shaking my bones off. But I got the shower done quickly, went back to my room, groomy, waiting to chat with some friends in Hong Kong. Feel homesick, I am such a kiddo, the third day I am feeling homesick already. Friends kept me company till 11:30am, I still planned on going out today to see another part of Lima, a place called Barranco.

I got myself ready, again I asked the front desk lady where to take the bus, she told me at Canadian Embassy, I walked there no bus sign, there are 4 corners with 4 different directions, She mentioned south, where is south? So, I walked around and turned back, saw a guy standing at the door, so I tried to compose some broken Spanish to ask a question, "Donde estan las autobuses por Barranco?" (Where are the buses for Barranco) He didn't understand or he didn't hear me clearly, so I rephased, "autobuses por Barranco aqui? (Buses for Barranco here? at least that's what I thought I was saying). He understood, he asked another man, that man was very generous, he waited the bus for me and called them to stop and told me where I am going. So, another success with the bus, score 2.

Got to Barranco, quite a nice area with lots of colonial building, it's so much quieter, if I have known, I would pick a hostel that way, so I can get some sleep at nights. I picked up my camera to get some pictures, shoot, the SD card was left in the computer, I was like, all mad at myself for 2 seconds, then I realize, hold on a sec, I have my computer with me today, because I was planning to find a cafe to get online, just have an easy afternoon. So, I found a place to eat, walked around the area, I even walked all the way down to the rock beach, where some couples were making out, I took a picture of it. The area is not very big, but quite peaceful (in Lima standard). I was done with the sightseeing at 3pm already, and then I found a cafe where I can get online. Had a latte and chatted with a friend in Hong Kong again, I was on a headphone, but mic is actually on above my monitor, so I was like a crazy chinese man speaking string and string of chinese into the monitor. They must think I was nutcase or something. It was actually quite relaxing there. The afternoon was so much better already compared to the morning, again I successfully caught a bus back.

Paid my hostel bill, 3 nights is like 168 Soles (about US$54), the airport pick up and tomorrow taxi fee to the airport is like US$26. After this experience, I am considering how up one level, to find some better hostel with HOT WATER constantly and hopefully a private bath.

Dinner I have given myself a treat, and went to an italian restaurant and have some kind of a pasta with pesto sauce. It was ok. I have been eating the local food for lunch 3 days on a row, I started to carve for something western, but not McDonalds. Anyway, the dinner was like 22 Soles, I paid 3 Soles tip, it's equivalent to US$8.3, you go to a Chipoles and it can be more expensive than that. So, I am ok. Not everyone, but once in a while, I need some recharge.

Photos here: Day 3

Footnote: This morning I was feeling really low, to a point that I want to change my itinerary, just go to the few major must-see sites and drop the other side stuffs. But the afternoon turned out to be not too bad, I think maybe I am just in a culture shock and kind of experiencing some initial anxiety... hopefully it will be easier in Cuzco once I will start the spanish course. But, I am still considering to up my travel standard one level, meaning to stay at some slightly better hostel and maybe hire a guide here or there wherever needed. The cost will naturally increase, I need to redo the planning when I have more time in Cuzco. I will stay there for 3 and a half weeks.

Postcard Impossible!

2009-10-01T23:40:00.000+08:00

I just found that to mail a postcard in Peru is EXTREMELY expensive, like US$4 for a postcard for most international destinations. I was like holy shit, I have never heard of such nonsense. Originally, I was planning to mail a lot of postcards whenever I travel, but now, sorry guys, I may have to wait until I get down to Chile to do more postcard sending. Interesting, when I walked around Miraflores yesterday, I couldn't find anywhere that sells postcard, not even a bookstore! I bet it's not the Peruvian fashion to send postcard?? I don't know. But today, I have finally found some near the main plaza in Centro Lima. So I got one of them, here it is, to you all. A postcard from Lima.

Day 2 - Centro Lima

2009-10-01T23:37:00.002+08:00

Waken up around 8:30am, luckily, I brought my little fleece blanket, I can definitely use it at night. Although the bed is harder than what I am used to, I am ok with it, good for my back I suppose. The strange pillows gave me headache though. I went to the bathroom to take a shower, after 15 people must have used the shower before me, all the hot water was already gone. The water is cold even I turned only "hot water" switch. I finished it really quickly, must be one of the quickest showers I have ever taken. The hostel provides breakfast in the morning: un cafe con leche y pan (coffee with milk and bread with butter). I chatted with the same girl I talked to the first day, she is going to para-gliding today, and then will leave to Argentina tomorrow. There was also another guy at the table. He is from Chicago! Or he works in Chicago anyway, he's originally from Denver. I was like, you are kidding, I just came from Chicago as well, suddenly I felt like I know him for years. So we chatted a little bit, he is leaving to Cuzco today. Anyway, neither of them has taken the bus here in Lima, so they don't have any advice for me. (At least I don't feel so bad about not having the ball to catch a bus yesterday, it seems like not many travelers use the bus here.) However, the guy told me that the bus like vehicles I saw yesterday was actually the colectivo (the cheap taxi), they looks more like a minibus to me, be honest, I would never have called that a taxi. Anyway, it's good to get that clarifed.

ASked the staff at the front desk about the bus, how I may be able to distinguish which and which. This girl does not speak much english either, she just pointed out (on paper, with spanish and a few english words) that I should look for a bus with No. 73A, which in fact stop across from the hostel. Ok. that's easy. I stepped out and there it was, it was actually just coming at the corner. So we waved, the girl was by my side too, but I noticed there is no 73 in the front, just an A and Spanish words telling the places or something. But no time to ask, just jumped on the bus and off I go. It cost only 1.2 soles, like 40 cent in USD. I was looking at the street signs, trying to remember the bus route, suddenly it dawned on me that I didn't ask her how to get back. I figured that maybe I just walked across to the other sides, I would be get to find the same bus. Except that the vehicles on the road are quite choatic. It's not easy as you think. I also noticed that this is actually a "bus" bus I was taking, no colectivo. It does have bus stops, with the sign "Paradero", although like most Asian, South American also don't really follow the rules of the roads, the bus stops wherever people wants to get on or get off really. Still, it's good, I thought, I'm finding more signs. I was quite confident that I should be able to get back. (Let's see about that! Right?)

Something else happened on the bus, at some points, when the bus stopped, there were a bunch of sellers outside the windows selling stuffs. This man carried me a bunch of stationary, crossword books, and a lot string of wallets. How's neat?! Another woman holding a dishes of donut or something selling from cars to cars. At some points, the ticket guy (they are usually in pair, the bus driver and the ticket guy on a bus) let a man get the bus, selling stuffs or performing (singing, playing guitar) for money. Anything goes, I tell you. On my way to Centro, this guy was selling a sewing easy thingy, for putting a string into the hole of needle. It was made with some cheap plastic, quite colorful, like a toy. There were actually people buying it. Interesting. And on my way back, there was this guy playing guitar and singing too. He actually did really good, I tempted to give him some money, but probably he saw me holding a map on my hand, and didn't even bother to ask me for money. Good, so I saved a buck. (More about my return journey in a bit.)

Happy that I got to Centro Lima finally on bus, like I have accomplished my silly little goal of the day. I started to walk around the place, first went to main plaza areas, filled with policemen with guns blocking all sites. I was thinking what the hell is going on. The plaza was kind of quiet actually. Later in the afternoon, the police started to leave. Something must be up earlier. Anyway, I must have walked 4 hours or more, I went inside the main Cathedral, needed to pay 10 Soles to get in, equivalent to 3.5 US dollars. Took a good number of pictures in there. Had lunch at one of the restaurants near the plaza. Today's the appetizer - some kind of creamy potato with a quarter of an egg on top - not that good, but the 2nd course - a steamy stir-fly kind of chicken with tomoto and onion - which is a good pick. Again there was a woman with a karaoke machine on roller, singing for money. She was singing like a dead fish. Sorry. Definitely no money. By 4:30pm, I knew I better try to find a bus home, or it would get dark soon. I walked back to where I got off earlier, crossed to the other sides. Colectivos, buses flying by, I didn't see any 73 or A, but saw one colectivo with Miraflores on the front sign, so I waved, it stopped, I asked, "Miraflores?", he signaled me to get on, so I was in a sardine packed minibus, standing in the back, not sure if I was doing the right thing to get on. But I trusted my gut this time. It ought to bring me somewhere nearby the areas, if the guy let me in. And it did. Thanks god. Stopped by a Starbucks, had a latte. They don't have cream or milk on the side stand for you, you actually need to order a latte in order to have milk in your coffee. Whatever. Back to hostel. My 2nd day ended.

Dinner was a bit cheapy tonight, I bought a piece of chicken drumstick (leg), pulled out the meat, and sandwich it in a bun, with some banana chips. Speaking of that, I am getting kind of hungry now. But it's too late to eat anything, I better head to bed. Tomorrow, my last sightseeing day in Lima, not sure what I gonna do yet... probably head to another district to check things out. But I must return earlier, and start packing. Friday, needed to leave really early, like departing to the airport at 6:30am. So, I probably need to wake up at 5:45am.

Photos here: Day 2

Footnote: Overall, I feel better today than yesterday. Found a little satisfaction about taking the bus, but the language is still very difficult for me, it's definitely more difficult than I anticipated. Suddenly I realized how much I have relyed on english for years. I wonder if I have difficulty with the capital of Peru, then what about the few rural areas I am planning to visit, how am I gonna communicate with people and get around areas? And those long buses...18 hours. What am I gonna do? Driving me crazy to think about it now. But this is only the 2nd day, maybe it is too soon to say. Hopefully the Spanish lessons will help survive the next 2 months.

Day 1 - Miraflores in Lima, Peru

2009-10-01T09:02:00.008+08:00

Finally I got my room around 11:00am, after chatted with a friend online, I was planning to sleep for 2 hours before going out, but my room is right next a busy street, the traffic noise is unbelievable. And not only that, it's very very weird, you know, those car alarms come on every 20-30 mins. So, once in a while, I hear this "Rite Of Spring" kind of sound all day long. Well, I didn't stay here all day really, but whenever I am in my room. At night, it is slightly better. Anyway, since I couldn't filter out the street noise this morning, I decided to get up, took a shower and walked around the neighborhood, despite my body was really begging for rest. Maybe 4 blocks from my hostel is the clifftop already, people are doing para-gliding, is that what it's called? There is also, rather surprising, a lighthouse near my hostel. Guess the guidebook can't never tell you everything. Took some pictures, and do a lot of walking. The neighborhood of my hostel, Miraflores, is probably a middle class neighborhood, some of the houses look very beautiful.

I walked to the center area of this neighborhood, with the buses, taxis, streaming in and out. They stopped pretty much wherever they want, yelling their destinations, grabbing people in, throwing people out . I just carried my tired body, continued to walk, took pictures whenever my finger got the calling. I think around 2pm, I started to feel hungry so I found this small restaurant behind the alley, there were a few women, and an obviously traveller eating there, they had this menu board standing up front in which all I recognize was the first one with pollo, some kind of dishes with chicken. Everything else was unrecognizable, for me anyway. The Señorita (waitress) tried to explain to me what this and that are, with her best effort I am sure. Oh this one, beef, sopa = soup. Soup with beef, ok, sounds good, so I took that. And also the chicken with rice too. I didn't realize it was like a set menu, so it had a drink, 1st course was the soup and the 2nd course was chicken with rice. They tasted ok, very strong favors all of them, a little too strong in my opinion, but I am happy that I didn't end up eating McDonalds or Burger King. There were two prices on the board, Soles 6.5 and 13 (equivalent to USD 2 and 4), I thought maybe when you do two courses and drink, it's like 13. When I was done, the bill handed to me was 6.5, that wasn't bad. And the lunch was huge too. According to Lonely Planet, the lunch is the main meal of the day, people usually eat very light dinner. It will probably take me a while to get accustomed to.

After lunch, it was only 2:30pm, still early, I didn't think the street noise would quiet down, so I just kept walking, I was tempted to hop on a bus to Centro Lima to see things. I waited and waited, looking at the buses streaming by, I felt really lost, which one to take. Based on the guidebook, I am supposed to look for a specific sign in the front but I didn't see anything I could recognize. Even Lonely Planet said the buses in Lima are rather chaotic. There is something called Colectivo, the cheap fixed price taxi, but I didn't know what they look. My last option is just regular taxi, which I need to bargain with them (like in China, come on people, use a meter), I hate bargain, especially when I am tired. So, my first day's adventure ended there, tiny little dingy bit disappointed at myself not having the balls to just hop on one of the buses. I know the worst case scenario is that I would have to take a taxi back the hostel. But still, I decided to go back to the hostel. By the time I got back, it's about 3:30 or 4:00pm, after writing an email, my body finally collapsed, and slept a good 3 hours. Since I left Chicago, I only slept 4 hours in total. Not counting the night before I was not sleeping much either. I need to catch up with some rest tonight.

See photos here: Day 1

Footnote: I am feeling more nervous than ever, not speaking Spanish might be a bigger obstacle than I anticipated. It makes me feel more alone. Anyhow, hopefully I will get by these next few days in Lima, and when I get to Cuzco, the Spanish class will help me to adapt this culture.

Señor Antonio

2009-09-30T11:36:00.004+08:00

Before I talk about Antonio, the person who picked me up at the airport. I must add one more note about my Lima airport experience. The airport is very efficient, immigration staffs are friendly. As a Hong Kong citizen, I don't require a visa to visit Peru. But the Lonely Planet guidebook recommends people like me on a backpacking trip should request for a 90 days stamp, otherwise they would just give 30 days. The one thing the guidebook doesn't mention is how to say it. Instead of asking some flight attentants, I tried on my own first, combining parts from my Spanish phrasebook, I composed my first Spanish sentence, ¿Ma de un visa por noventa días? It probably has some mistakes, but he understood me. That's like Oh My God! It's like you are waiting for your 12 months old baby to call Pa-pa, except this time, you are the baby and you have said something people understand you. I get so much pleasures out of that, you have no idea. :)

Now back to the main character of this entry, his name is Antonio, he is the one who came to pick me up at the airport at 4:30am in the morning. The efficiency of the Peruvian immigration is impressive, although at 4am, I bet it would be efficient at any airport. I got my 90 days visiting stamp on my passport, picked up my backpack, exchanged some money, I know the official exchange rate should be around US$1 to 3 Soles. But the rate at the airport is like 1 to 2.81, no commission. I just exchanged US$50 for petty cash. Will see if I will get a better rate in town. Anyway, walked out of the baggage claim, we are required to walk pass some machine, I think it may be related to your body temperature or something, I am not sure really, but I got a green light. Off I went, walked out of the hallway, there he was, no need to search. Antonio was holding a sign with my name on it, and he recognized me right away, I bet asian man with a backpack at 4am in Lima airport is not a common scene. He signaled me to walk outside from my side. I went out, walked toward him, say Hola, shaked his hand. Inside I worried if he spoke any english, what was I gonna say during the ride...etc. At the same time, I have that adventurous mood kicked in after making my first Spanish sentence. I wanted to talk to people.

He was really friendly actually, straight as a hard wood floor, and shot away at me in a very macho way, where're you from? I told him I was a student in the US and originally from Hong Kong. I briefly told him what I will be doing in Peru, he even taught me some Spanish words already, although I really don't remember what it is, I only slept 1 hour for the past 24 hours. Anyway, during that 40 mins ride from the airport to the hostel named Hitchhikers B&B Backpackers Hostel, we talked a little and kept silence for a little, mainly I was observing what outside of the windows. The sun is getting ready to rise, there are actually some people running on the street, like morning exercise or something. Kind of interesting to see them running alongside the highway in 5am in the morning. Anyway, I can feel that Antonio is a very friendly person, just by the way he smiled and the way he wanted to help...etc. I wonder if I would bump into more of this kind of people.

Got to the hostel, the main entrance was actually locked, he rang the bell and told me to pay the pick up with another staffs, I asked if he was not coming in, he said no, so I knew I should really tip him. I mean the man came to pick me up at 4:30am in the morning, but I have no idea how much to tip. So, I just gave him the coins I got back from the airport parking booth, which is equivalent to about US$2. I don't know, am I a cheap ass? The pick up fee is like US$15 already, I think US$2 maybe ok.

I arrived at the hostel maybe around 5:30am, the girl said since there is people staying in the room I gonna stay the night before, I have to wait for them to check out before they can check me in. So, I have been sitting here in the TV room waiting for 3 hours already. Typed 4 blog entries. I don't mind the waiting really, but I do want some sleeps soon if possible. I'll talk more about the hotel after I stay here a day or two.

Butt Light

2009-09-29T20:45:00.003+08:00

This little side story happened on the plane from Miami to Lima, just a few hours ago. The airline is LAN, they run services mainly connecting to South America. The flight itself was only 5 hours and 5 mins long. We were served an incredibly late dinner, provided that our flight didn't take off until almost midnight, I had some kind of beef with beans and mashed potato, it sucked be honest, but everything else about this airline are not bad at all. They have this so called IN-Flight entertainment center in front of each seat, there are 54 movies, over 100 CDs, 19 games, TV, Radio and other features for you to entertain yourself during this slightly over 5 hours journey. I would have watched the Angels And Demons movie if I wasn't that tired. After vaporized my dinner, I tried so hard to make myself to fall asleep. I wished to at least turn in a few hours of sleep, so I would not need to spend my first day in Lima sleeping. But it's hard, knowing that you are arriving just a few hours, there are a few things on the immigration form you have no idea what they are asking, and you are heading to a place that is completely new to you. Anyhow, after they switched off the main light, I took off my glasses, hanged it on my shirt under my chin, month opened, and I just dosed away. Maybe an hour later, I re-adjusted my position, my butt accidentally hit on the "ultra-sensitive" light button on the remote for the In-Flight Entertainment Center, my light went on, bright as hell, it brought back straight back to the dry aircraft from my la la land. And I was trying to switch the light off. I had already waken myself up, no intention to awaken others. I reached to the light, there was no button up on the ceiling, that's just great. I looked down at the remote on the side with my half asleep eyes. Holy shit, I couldn't barely look at the icons, which is which. I ended up trying all the button, but also worried that some loud radio might come on. So, I told myself to chill, and looked more clearly which button might be for the light. Voila...when Jesus said, may there be light, there is light. I operated the opposite direction. The light was finally off. But thanks to this incident, I got wide awake. (Now, I feel extremely tired and want a bed to just lay down, waiting at the hostel, when will my room be ready?)

Back to the flight, the staffs are young and handsome, I must say, very Peruvians looking, with dark hairs, clear dark brown eyes, and sharp features. They would speak Spanish to you first, but are happy to speak English if you don't understand. They speak rather well actually. The seat is comfortable enough, I am kind of to the skinny body frame myself, so the leg room is never a problem for me, if the flight is slightly longer, perhaps I would sleep much better.

One coincidence, sitting next to me is also a Chinese, she is a Taiwanese girl. For some reasons, her boyfriend was taking the AA flight arriving 30 minutes earlier, they are going to travel in Peru for 3 weeks. Maybe they couldn't get a seat together or something, the flight I was on was rather full. She spoke mandarin to me, and I answered in English. We really didn't talk that much.

Day 0 - Bon Voyage!

2009-09-29T18:52:00.004+08:00

Sep 28, 5:35pm, my flight takes off from Chicago O'Hare airport, gate H11B. the gate was changed, I find out just a few minutes before the boarding begins. hurry to the gate, take a seat. My boarding number is 5, so it isn't my turn until 10-15 minutes later anyway. The flight isn't full, I have an aisle seat and the two seats next to me are empty. We start off a little bit bumpy, since the weather in Chicago isn't so great, cloudy and windy. A drink is offered, agua con ice, por favor. We watch the movie The Proposal in the 2 hours 30 minutes flight. It is ok, typical Sandra Bullock, Betty White is terrific though. (As I am typing this, I realize I need a dictionary or internet to check spell, since I can't spell, have I made any mistakes yet?)

Arrive at Miami Int'l airport at about 9pm (eastern time), my head is singing "...Miami is nice, so I say it twice, Miami is nice, Miami is nice..." from one of the Golden Girls episodes, Dorothea and Rose entered a song composition contest together. (My God...I must be completely poisoned by that show). Anyway, it's a pity that I can't quite see if Miami is all that nice, since it's already dark outside. The airport is quiet, I am surprised this airport is quite modern styled actually, the design I mean. Maybe this is a new terminal. I am kind of hungry after getting my flight from Chicago even though just before boarding, I have had a super tall Starbucks coffee and the banana nut cake Curt gave me at home. The cake is wonderful, thanks to Curt. :) I buy a caesar chicken sandwiches and a bottle of orange juice, for US$12.08. That's my last luxurious dinner (just kidding). One thing I notice, I have heard more Spanish than English here in Miami already. I guess I started to zone out from the English world and entering the Spanish world. Hopefully, I will be able to get around in Lima, and survive the first few days before I will start my Spanish class in Cuzco.

J18 is the gate I am waiting in Miami, a hour and half more to wait. Officially, this should really be the Day 0, since I am still within the US border, the flight will take off at 11:55pm. I will arrive in Lima at 4:30am. The hostel is supposed to pick me up. Now I only wish they will show up, otherwise... ha..ha.. it will be the first challenge I face in South America - to find another hostel in the middle of the night. This is just the 'ready for all occasion' me speaking. I am sure they would be there, since I just reconfirmed with them yesterday. They will hold a sign saying Benny Chan, and their hostel name Hitchhiker. Yes, a Hostel called hitchhiker, this is something I can't tell my mom, she will begin to worry, where I am heading to. :P Alrighty, hasta luego, my friends in America. It's my pleasure knowing you all. Thanks again for your friendships and tolerance to this somewhat wicked stubborn Chinese man.

More thoughts in Lima.