Adventures in South America: Lima, Peru

1900 Hostel is in an old mansion across from the Lima Art Musuem on Avenida Garcilaso de la Vega.  

Despite its impressive lobby, exterior, and history, the hostel was our least favorite of the four we stayed in in South America.  For example: there was no Wifi, our room lacked a fan that worked, we had to pay extra for towels, and the sheet on my bed was too small, and came loose with the slightest touch. 

Lima was quite the city, hostel notwithstanding.  It seemed to be by far the largest of the South American cities we had visited (although I think it is roughly the same size as Bogota).  Also, it was much hotter, because it is in the desert, even though it is also on the Pacific coast.

We got in late and went to bed fairly quickly.  

The next morning we took one of many minibuses that ran in front of our hostel to the Pacific Ocean beach below the cliffs of Miraflores, Lima's most upscale neighborhood.

It is not the most beautiful beach ever, but it was certainly an enjoyable way to spend the late morning, and the water was much warmer than I expected.

From the beach we walked up into Miraflores to get lunch.

We found a restaurant serving seafood, and started with Peru's most famous dish, ceviche.

From Miraflores we caught another minibus back to 1900 hostel and showered and rested for an hour or two.  From there we walked northward to Plaza Mayor, Lima's historical and political centre.

By now we were wearing out of touring, so we did little more than walk around, poke around in souvenir shops, and I mailed a postcard.  Then we walked back to the hostel, stopping at this bluest of churches, and drinking an Inca Kola:

The next day we slept late and then caught a full-size bus that took us on an approximately two hour trip south of Lima to the ancient ruins of Pachacamac.

Pachacamac was a religiously significant site for ancient people long before the Incas came along, and, when they did, they simply included it in their own religious practice. 

Archaeologists continue to work on the site:

And Middle Eastern and Peruvian government representatives apparently found it worthy of a fairly significant visit and press conference:

Otherwise, we had the place mostly to ourselves.

We had a gorgeous view from the Pachacamac pyramid, including the Pacific Ocean:

And another old bull fighting ring:

Another interesting spot was an old grave site, littered with human bones, including this jaw bone:

On the way out we found enclosures with llamas.  We have no idea why they were there, but they were fun to interact with if nothing else.

From Pachacamac we caught the bus back into Lima, where we ate dinner, and then hit up something called the Magic Water Circuit, a collection of impressive water fountains in a public park.  There's a show with lasers projected onto the fountains with music playing and it's all quite something.  

And that was the last site we visited in Lima, as we headed off to the airport to catch our 2 am flight to Toronto.  Our quick adventure in South America was over.

You can see more photos from Lima here.

Adventures in South America: Quito, Ecuador

If Leticia was our most adventurous destination, Quito was my favorite.  We had perfect weather; the sights were wonderful; everything was remarkably cheap; our hostel was comfortable; it was easy to get around . . . I could go on, but enough said.

We stayed at the Secret Garden hostel, which is owned by an Australian family and very well run.  It was relatively expensive as Ecuadorian hostels go, but in my opinion, well worth it.  The best part, by far, was the rooftop patio, which provided stunning views of Quito and the volcanoes to the west.

We arrived late from Leticia via Bogota, and we just had enough time to get some dinner at a restaurant down the block.  My first inkling that I would love Quito came when we were charged $2 (Ecuador uses the US dollar) each for big plates of chicken, rice, beans, vegetables, and juice.

The next day we ascended Quito's famous TeleferiQo up the side of Pichincha Volcano.  We had to wait for over an hour in the line up to get into a cable car, but once we finally got to the top, we absolutely loved it.

We had great views of the city below, and the other mountains around the valley, but the best part was simply hiking around the terrain behind the look out area.

It was beautiful and quite secluded, with some very unique high-elevation vegetation.  We also found it difficult to breath, especially if we moved too quickly.  It was also significantly colder up there than it had been in the city.  At times we could see our breath, even though it was something like 20 degrees Celsius in Quito.

In fact, my brother was especially impacted by the cold and the light air, and once we got down the mountain, he needed to rest for several hours.  

Meanwhile, I went out to buy a postcard and get a shave.  I walked into a feminine-looking salon, and used gestures to communicate what I wanted.  I was actually expecting the lady to point me to a barber, but instead she showed me to a chair and twenty minutes later I was shaved.  It was quite the experience.  It also cost me $2, and involved countless creams and lotions and a real pampering.  I walked out feeling like a king.

Later that afternoon we went to see the Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco, a centuries-old monastery and church.  Neither my brother nor I were especially excited to see it, but it turned out to be a really breathtaking place, with more gold paint and art than the vast majority of churches I've been in.

The next morning we went to the La Estacio de Ferrocarril Chambacalle to catch a train to Ecuador's most famous volcano, Cotopaxi.  Ecuador had a train system many decades ago, but for decades it basically was unused and in disrepair.  Recently some of the tracks have been repaired and now trains run occasionally for tourists.

Well, we found out the trains are really popular, both with foreign tourists and locals.  In fact, so popular, that it had sold out, and we were out of luck.  We had to turn around and leave.

I was tremendously disappointed, but the day turned out alright anyway.  We caught the Trole (Quit's rapid bus system, which costs 25 cents to ride) back to our hostel and had breakfast on the rooftop.  The Basilica del Voto Nacional had been beckoning us from our first time on the rooftop, as it absolutely dominated the view to the west.

It was a short walk down the hill and back up to the church.

It was Sunday, so there was a mass, but we were more interested in the roof and the clock towers than the sanctuary, although we visited it too.  It cost us each $2 to climb the clock towers, but it would have been worth ten times that.  The views from the towers were spectacular, and the insides fascinating as well. 

We must have spent over two hours inside the basilica in total.  

From there, we caught the Trole again to the Jardin Bontanico in the Parque La Carolina.  We had hopes that we would get to see some Ecuadorian wild animals, especially since we hadn't been able to visit the zoo in Leticia.  But the botanical gardens had little beyond fish and some birds.  Nonetheless, the flowers and plants were quite something, and it was a very peaceful place to spend the afternoon.

After we left the Jardin Bontanico, we walked through the park which was teeming with people.  There were numerous street food vendors, and we ate freshly cut mango and barbecued kebabs, which consisted of  a fat piece of sausage, an eighth of a banana, a small potato, and a 1/4 of a chicken.  They were quite something!  

Unfortunately my brother was really feeling sick now, and he spent most of the rest of our time in Quito in bed, or not far from it.  

April 7, 2014

My brother spent much of the next day on the Secret Garden's roof and drank tea and read his book in the sun.  

I wasn't too sure what to do, but I had enjoyed Quito transit so much, I decided to go on a bit of an adventure to a place called Midad del Mundo--the "Middle of the World," the location of the equator. 

By bus, it's about an hour north of where we were staying.  I did enjoy the ride, especially towards the outskirts of the city, but Midad del Mundo is basically a tourist trap.  

It cost a few bucks to get in, which I wasn't too worried about, but really it was a waste of time, especially since I learned that the markings for the equator are not even quite right, and that the "real" equator is actually just outside the compound.  Anyway, I took a picture of myself straddling the yellow line, because I figured I may as well.

From there I headed back to the Secret Garden to meet up with my brother and then on to the airport, where we caught our flight to Lima.

More photos from Quito are here.

Adventures in South America: Leticia, Columbia and the Brazilian Amazon

The most adventurous part of our trip to South America involved our 24 hour escape to Leticia.  We left our La Calanderia hostel in the morning and managed our way through security at the Bogota airport.  Then we boarded our Avianca 737.

The flight to Leticia took a couple of hours, and as we descended through the clouds we began to see jungle and rivers below us.

I actually got fooled at one point and thought I was seeing the Amazon.  Once I actually saw the Amazon, I realized how wrong I was.  Even this far inland the Amazon is absolutely massive.

Once we landed we deplaned and realized immediately that we were going to be very hot and very sweaty.  I bargained for a cab that drove us bouncing along to our hostel.

The Hostel Mahatu is a collection of buildings on an acreage.  It's a little piece of the jungle on the outskirts of the town, and literally across the street from the border with Brazil.  There were hammocks by the pool in case people wanted to sleep in the open air.

Even the bathroom stalls were open air.

Our beds were in the blue building.

Once we had checked in, dropped off our backpacks, and looked around the hostel grounds some, we headed across the border on foot.  Our goal was to find a boat to take us across the Amazon, but all I knew was that we had to get to the port in Tabatinga to do so.  Leticia is in Colombia, and Tabatinga is in Brazil, and they are more or less sister cities, with a main road running between them across the border.

There was little more than a sign and a clock letting us know we were moving from one country (and time zone) to the next.  There was no passport control, nor customs or anything.  It is certainly the easiest I have ever gone from one country to another!

I regret choosing to walk, and my brother probably disliked it even more than I did.  For one thing the heat was unbearable, and for another we had further to walk than I expected.  But at the time I didn't know how far we would have to go, and I wasn't sure where or how to catch a bus.

So we walked for several long, hot, Tabatinga blocks.

Finally we passed through a market and were at the port.  There I still didn't know what to do, but I found a policeman and wrote in my notebook the words "Benjamin Constant."  Benjamin Constant is the name of the village across the river from Tabatinga.  He pointed in roughly the direction we were to go, and my brother caught the Portuguese word for green, so we looked for a green boat launch.  

Sure enough, we found it, and we eventually ended up in a speed boat that sat about fifteen or so people.  

I was right behind the pilot.

I thought the cab ride had been bouncy, but our trip across the river was even more so.  Apparently the river is about 40 kilometers wide at that point, and since it took about half an hour to cross, so I calculate we must have been traveling at something like 80 kmph!  

We had no reason to go to Benjamin Constant, except that it was an easy way to see the Amazon.  Speeding across the water also turned out to be the best way to stay cool!  

We saw other boats, many of which were much larger than I expected, including a Brazilian naval vessel.

We also saw some very primitive looking canoes with indigenous families in them.  We saw various birds, and even a floating dentist's office!

Benjamin Constant was a surprisingly rugged place.  

We did not spend much time there, nor did we walk far, but we did see a large pack of stray dogs fight, leaving  one dog limping and bleeding badly.  It didn't give us a great impression of the village.  We returned to Tabatinga exactly as we had come, only this time I sat behind a cute little boy who looked at me a lot.

On shore, I suggested we take a bus back to Leticia, and my brother was all over that like a stray dog on garbage (that's the best Leticia-appropriate metaphor I can think of).  

For something like a dollar the little van took the two of us back in about an 1/8th of the time it had taken us to walk.  Things you learn . . .

Back in Leticia we visited its famous central park, where parrots gather at dusk.  

Unfortunately my camera was inadequate to capture any of them flitting around, and once they settled down, it was dark.

Then we ate a dinner of fish on a patio.  I had two whole piranhas, teeth, eyes, tails, and all.

That night I had an awful time sleeping in the heat, and I was up early.  Thankfully though an early morning downpour cooled things off finally, and I relaxed under cover by the pool reading a novel while my brother slept in.

He slept a lot more than I did, and I remain jealous to this day.

Eventually I had to wake him up, and then we loaded up our packs and walked into town for breakfast.  We ate stew at a covered sidewalk patio while the rain continued to come down and Leticia began its day around us--children going to school, adults to work, and stray dogs to their begging.

After breakfast we wanted to go to the zoo, so we found a taxi and tried to communicate that we wanted him to take us to the zoo.  Our communication failed.  Instead I told him to take us to the airport, because the zoo is right by the airport.  

Unfortunately, the zoo is, in the body language of our taxi driver "hand across the neck."  He dropped us off anyway, and this is what we saw.

Looks like it might have been a cool zoo at one point.  I was really disappointed, because I had been quite excited to see it--it's not every day that you can visit a jungle zoo right before your flight!

Instead, we simply walked to the airport a bit early, along this very beautifully decorated wall.

Interestingly, the phrase in the last picture translates something like "tourism and water have no borders"--which seemed quite insightful to me in this tri-border Amazonian region (a Peruvian island is just off the shore of Leticia).

Our visit to Leticia and the Amazon was awfully quick and terribly hot, but definitely one of my most memorable adventures.  You can see more photos from Leticia here and from Brazil and the Amazon here.