Outgrowing the backpacker lifestyle

Another 4 1/2 hour bus ride.... with each mountain that this bus wraps itself around I'm given a new level of awareness: I'm outgrowing this lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I still love seeing new places, but I'm losing the thrill of doing it on a backpacker's budget. I'm tired of things like the 19 hour bus ride that took us from Peru to Ecuador, not because it wasn't beautiful, but because my neck and back and bum are sore from sitting, being jostled around like a semi-driver for nearly a full day. I feel very fortunate to have crossed 34 countries off of my "to visit" list, but I'm ready to start seeing other countries by flight rather than bus, by moderate range hotels rather than budget hostels, by nice organic meals rather than chicken and chips.
I can't remember a trip where I've missed the familiar things of "home," until this one. I miss my Tempurpedic bed and pillow. I miss lemon water out of the fridge. I miss getting ready in the bathroom where there's a spot to set my curling iron and a full mirror to put on my makeup, rather than a tiny little palm-sized compact. I miss showering without sandals. I miss laying out on the beaches in Hawaii. I miss my family. I miss natural, well-balanced meals with a piece of satisfying dark chocolate afterward.
I encourage anyone to see another country by whatever means possible, but the fact is that most backpacker travelers are in their 20's, unmarried or recently married. Of course, there are exceptions- generally, they're without the buoys that kept their rough edges rounded off, socially awkward, needy for social interaction, full of opinions. All this to say, I'm getting older, and I feel my backpacker travel days coming to a close. I'm ready to settle in, throw down roots, stop living out of a suitcase.
The perks haven't all gone missing. There are perks to living out of a suitcase, things like having a small number of options to pull from when getting dressed each day, which helps me get ready quickly. I get my fresh laundry folded by professionals, and I haven't had to wash dishes in months. The closest I've come to making a bed is stuffing a sleeping bag in a stuff sack. And, my husband has even started carrying my luggage up the steps at the hotels (look away, ladies, that's some powerful woman porn).
But, when I add it all up, there's just something fading. The joy of travel and exploration that used to be in my heart is just fading. I didn't think I'd feel this way, but I'm ready to go home, settle in, find a job, and get to work.

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10 Gallon Hats and Cuey in Cajamarca, Peru

Well, you know you've arrived somewhere awesome when you come across a hat like this, especially on such a lil' fella. We've since seen it all over town. It's like the closer we get to Mexico, the more we start to see 10 gallon hats. It's fantastic... partly because it means there's sun outside again. No wonder the Incas worshipped the sun.

And, you know you're not at home anymore when you see guinea pig for sale on the street. It's both fascinating and revolting for me. I want to be respectful of varied tastes; I just don't want any kids to be scared of their auntie who eats childhood pets. Something about the furry lil' critters just seems wrong to me; I'm sure I'd feel differently if I was raised around guinea pigs as food rather than pets.

Mark tried 1/2 a fried cuey (I'm simultaneously ashamed and proud of myself for trying a bite). It tastes like tender, greasy chicken. There's not a lot of meat on the bones.

I instead opted for a boiled mixed salad, asparagous soup, and cedron tea. I go back and forth with trying salads. Technically, the bacteria from the water (if your salad gets washed) can cause stomach bugs.... so can the poor hand-washing. I've gotten both on this trip. Sometimes I'm willing to risk it, and other times, I stick to the cheap deep fried meat on a bed of rice. Lastnight, I wasn't too worried because I'm already on a regimin of cipro for an existing stomach bug. I've been sick on this trip more than any other trip (4 times: elevation sickness in Bolivia, a head cold in Machu Picchu, a 1/2 day lost to the bano in La Paz, and most recently, a stomach bug I picked up somewhere around Lima). Most trips, I get one bug and call it good. I'm not sure why this trip is special. I use hand sanitizer and wash my hands. I don't lick my fingers. It's just one of those things, the price of admission to visit cool places, I guess.

We enjoyed Cajamarca as it is less touristy than other towns, partly because it's off the beaten trail. We enjoyed the hot spring baths, and the Combes Mayo (pre-Incan canals carved into rocks) were cool, but we'll be leaving Cajamarca tonight. We'll board an 11pm Flores overnight bus bound for Chiclayo, on our way to Piura, the border town for Ecuador. We're making our way toward Lajo, en route to Quito. We've heard some border crossing horror stories, so we chose the route that sounded the least problematic, but we always appreciate prayers for safe crossing. We're also still in negotiations about whether or not we'll stay in South America for another semester. I'm not thrilled about the uncertainty of it all, so I'm looking forward to Quito where we're going to feel out the opportunities for volunteering and see if it's a city we'd like to stay in for a few months. As a reminder, due to travel, we may not have access to wifi for a couple of days, so it may be a few days before I'm able to post another blog. In the meantime, feel free to email or Facebook or post a comment. I always enjoy getting mail.

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Los Banos Del Incas (Cajamarca, Peru)

We rolled into Cajamarca (Northern Peru) off a 16 hour overnight bus ride from Lima. First class bus rides allow for a few hours of shut-eye, but it's the kind of sleep that leaves you feeling hung-over the next day, so we generally try to take it easy, first day off a bus. We decided to hit the Banos Del Incas, a natural hot springs 6km outside of town.

We found the baths easy enough, but navigating the site was a bit confusing. There are two sites. The first is for kids and families. It has a water slide and kiddie pools. The other is for adults and families. It has bungalows, private jacuzzis, massages, a sauna, and a pool with diving boards. The grounds have fountains and hot pools (at a scalding 71C, 160F, they're not for swimming). We bought tickets for the pool and a private shower, but couldn't tell where the pool was or where to shower afterwards. After asking around, I eventually figured out that what we really wanted was the private baths (hot tubs), so I went back out to pay for additional tickets. All said and done, it cost us 16 soles ($5 USD), but I would have happily paid much more than that.

A friendly, helpful gentleman noticed that I was clueless and offered to help. "Would you like an orientation?" "Actually, I want the private pools." He pretty much held my hand through the ticket line and then back through the site where Mark was waiting. Sometimes there are perks to being a female in a chauvinistic culture. Thank you, Kind Sir. We arrived at a long hall with many closed wooden doors. Each door had a dry-erase board that listed a time on it. We later realized that was the time they started the bath. Each bath lasts 30 minutes. The staff cleans every tiled hot tub after every bath (thank goodness, I could relax without worrying about catching some rare skin malady). They start the water with the perfect temperature and let you know how to adjust for hot and cold. The bath has 4 steps down and fills surprisingly quickly. We snapped a couple of pics, washed our hair, and settled in to let the steam work its magic. By 15 minutes, I was completely overheated and had to step out onto the steps. Mark lasted another 5 minutes past me. It felt so great to finally get heated up because although it's been summer in the States, we've been experiencing winter here in South America. In fact, it was so pleasant, we're talking about going back again tomorrow.

Hot pools, not for lounging (a scalding 71C, 160F)

Private bath

Photo op, while the pool was filling

Inca shrub

Inca king, Autahualpa

Placard explaining how Pizaro captured the Incan King at the hot pools

After the banos, we wandered outside and found snacks. The fresh orange and pineapple juice was tastey. Mark tried rubbery cow intestines on a stick (topped off with a potato)- to be honest, most of it got fed to the dogs. My personal favorite was pacay, this long green bean pod/fruit that grows in trees. They slice the edge off to peel it open. You eat the white, fleshy part and leave the beans inside. It's lightly sweet, like cactus, and very refreshing.

What grows on trees and is my new favorite snack? Pacay!

Eat the white part around the seed (don't eat the seeds). It's lightly sweet, with the texture of a light banana, and tastes like a cactus- delicious!

For more on pacay (including how to eat it), check out this guy's blog:
http://archive.peruthisweek.com/blogs/features/2260

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Lima, Peru

When we arrived in Lima, I remember thinking, "Ahh, so this is the place I heard about in Spanish class." Funny, I didn't remember learning about all of the American companies in Lima: Goodyear, KFC, McDonalds, Dominos... In general, Peruvians prefer to support Peruvian-made companies, but these businesses appeared to be doing well. We, ourselves, thought we were supporting Peruvian beverages by drinking Inca Cola until a Canadian friend informed us that the company was owned by Coke (but you won't find any Coke branding on the bottle because it would lose its popularity- and just to be clear, despite the "Evil Empire," we love us some Coca-cola).

We hopped a cab from the Flores bus company; I was surprised to discover that this was an impatient city, full of honking taxis. On one of the noisiest streets, I caught a sign that read "Silencio." It had a horn with a line through it... it seemed like a very ineffective method of solving the problem. I thought to myself, if I lived here, that's a protest I could get behind (stopping all the needless honking at the stoplights).

We did a fair bit of walking through the crowded, cobblestone streets of Lima, including a walk through the sales district that we were told was "muy peligroso." We left all of our belongings at the hotel and hoofed it through the crowded markets in search of a cheap replacement shaver cord for Mark (found: $3 USD), and a haircut ($1.75), and lunch ($7). We ended up going back later for a backpack stitching repair at a shoe sole replacement shop ($1.75). I liked that it was easy in Lima to live with a repair rather than replace lifestyle.

As you may expect, we ran into a couple more parades. We'd see people congregating or hear the music and wander over to see what was going on. The costumes and dancing were fantastic, though it did cause traffic to honk even louder (the drivers didn't want to wait while the parade crossed).

Parade float

One of my favorite things about Lima was our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Espana which is a converted mansion/museum near San Francisco church, close to the Plaza de Armas in Central Lima. The rooftop garden was full of animals (birds, peacocks, a turtle...), and people trying to gain access to the wifi signal (which, to be honest, sucked, but we did get a super signal at the restaurant next door so we spent a lot of time over there drinking tea, pisco sours, and hot cocoa).

Rooftop of hotel

Ever get the feeling you're being watched? (peacock behind Mark)

Rooftop turtle, sharing a tomato with the other rooftop animals

2nd story of our labyrinth hotel/mansion/museum

Stopped counting the number of David statues (there were several)

Sculpture displayed in our room

Nothing creepy about old man baby Jesus and a bunch of cherubs staring at you as you try to fall asleep

Our room, before we pushed our 1950's twin beds together

South America is a bit weird for non-Catholics. There's a lot of attention given to dead things. It creeps me out, but it's part of the culture here. For example, in the hotel lobby, there were four skulls on display. For me, it's disturbing. For others, it's just part of the history.

Hotel lobby, 4 skulls displayed on bottom of case

Skulls on display in the hotel lobby

Mark had heard that there was an "Incan church of bones" in Lima, so we started asking around about it and found out that it was right next door under the church we'd walked past 100 times. It was ironic because I'd asked Mark earlier, "Hey, honey, you want to check out that church?" He was like "No. They're all the same." :-) We call that the "traveler's fatigue," (it happens when you've been on vacation for a long time and go through a phase where you lose interest in everything). We weren't permitted to take any pictures inside the Franciscan church (which is to say my husband managed to sneak a few), but what I can say is that the church has a lot of interesting dark art about the 14 stations of the cross and monks and Jesus. The restorations were incredible (mending paintings and wooden ceiling architecture which was destroyed by previous earthquakes), but the tour of the catacombs underneath was not my cup of tea. Sure, it was interesting, but something about viewing the 25,000 skeletons buried there just didn't seem right to me. These were monks, church-goers, families who were laid to rest, and the idea of others putting their bones on display just hit me wrong. I think for families here, there's a connection to their ancestors, but for me, it reminded me of Dacau, Germany, and the pagoda of skulls in Cambodia, and I just felt so sad about the whole thing. In the church's defense, I was experiencing minor depression from the grey blanket/cloud that parks itself in the sky from June through August. I guess after living in Colorado and Hawaii, where I get more than 300 days of sun a year, I've turned into a vitamin D addict.  Let's get back to the sunshine already!

Church of San Francisco, Underneath are catacombs with 25,000 skeletons

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Pisco Sours

Mark and I are waiting for our bus to Cajamarca, enjoying a pisco sour (okay, two pisco sours... each). They're so delicious, I can't imagine this trip without them. You might be missing out on something wonderful if you don't make one at home... just sayin'... Here's the recipe:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/peruvian-style-pisco-sour

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Paracas National Marine Reserve

It seems that everyone who comes to Ecuador considers going to the Galápagos Islands. When Mark and I considered South America, we considered including the Galápagos Islands in our loose itinerary, but, in the end, we chose to spend our money at Machu Picchu. After all, just a few days in the Galapagos runs about $1,400 per person. Granted, I'm sure it's awesome, but our backpacker's budget wasn't big enough to do it all. Anyway, we did do an excursion out of Paracas, Peru which is considered "The Poor Man's Galapagos." I don't think it's fair to compare, but the Ballesta islands are pretty awesome.

For 35 soles ($12 USD) The tour begins at a boat harbor at 8am. You snuggle up to 30 of your closest friends and everyone sports a bright orange life vest. During the months of July and August, the skies are continuously overcast, so it feels a bit like the east coast or San Fran in the States, which can be a bit depressing if you're coming to stay, but most people roll through town in 1-2 days which isn't long enough to get depressed (unless you're addicted to the sun). We stayed for 3 days, but back to the 2 hour tour.

On Poor Man's boat, you're not guaranteed a seat next to your sweetheart. As some of the last folks to board, I had to ask a young man to swap out his seat next to some ladies, so that Mark and I could sit side-by-side. The girls in front of me were noticeably irritated to lose their pal, but I was thankful to sit next to my esposo.

The first "wildlife sighting" is seagulls. They drape themselves all over the ships in the harbor. The smart car sized gulls who can't find room on the ships are left to roam the skies. Mark and I laughed as we watched them dive-bomb the sea in search of fish for breakfast.

I thought the 3 striped red and white Peruvian flag lacked creativity until I heard the legend of its origin: the white represents the back of the flamingo while the red sides represent it's pink wings in flight.

Poor Man's Galapagos does not include sunshine, or melanin tablets *depressive sigh*

After about a 10-15 minute drive, we arrived at the giant Paracan Candalabro, a carving in the mountain created in the 3rd century BC. Oddly enough, candalabras were't known yet in the New World, so some people speculate that it's instead a cactus. Either way, it's cool that someone took the time to carve some lasting artwork into the side of the mountain, and that it has withstood the test of time and weather.

Candalabro

After we'd sufficiently photographed the Candalabro, our boat headed toward the other islands. From the side of the boat, we watched sea lion heads pop up to take a break from their fishing and exploration; they were curious about what we were up to as we sped past. When we arrived at the islands, they were covered in birds, not just flying ones, but also my favorite tuxedo-wearing, waddling variety- penguinos!

Candalabro

Archway

Penguins!

The sea lions were also hanging out nearby. They barked and nipped at each other to jockey for position. For being lazy, they sure put a lot of work into becoming king of the hill.

Penguins!

Sea lions, jockying for position at the top of the rock, which is silly because there's not even good sunlight to bask in

more sea lions- guy on the right looks like he's ready to slip and slide back into the water

sea lion

Birds everywhere! And this is the low season!

Our guide told us that bird guano is great fertilizer. It gets harvested from the area every 8 years.

The sky was loaded with birds. In the summer, I guess people wear coverings so as not to get dropped on.

We saw dozens of dolphins on the way back.

The sky was loaded with birds. In the summer, I guess people wear coverings so as not to get dropped on.

After the morning tour, we paid 25 soles for an additional tour to the National Preserve. Having done it, I wouldn't recommend it, but it was there, and we did. The museum itself was cool, just not the bus ride through the park on the crappy bus with someone's knees in my back.

Extinct giant sized penguins and seagulls

Our second stop was the Cathedral. It used to have a rock arch-way that connected the island to the mainland, but in the earthquake of 2007, it crumbled. This was the only photo that Mark wanted, because it was on the brochure. They might have mentioned in advance that it's no longer intact... but then again, we wouldn't have gone on the tour.

Where the Cathedral arch used to be

Salt vein in the earth, runs along the sea

Lunch stop, seafood

So, it wasn't the Gallapagos, but we had a nice time around Paracas. It's worth a 2-3 day visit, but I would suggest going sometime other than July/August because that big grey blanket in the sky is tough on those of us who have become addicted to sunshine.

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