LAS PRIMAS

Cusco & The Sacred Valley

2008-05-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire (1200s-1532). The Quechua (Indian) name, Qosqo, means 'belly button' because the ancient Incas considered the city to be the center of the world. Upon the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, the Quechua name ("Qosqo") was transliterated into Spanish as "Cusco."

Looking out over the city of Cusco--the mountain in the distance says, 'VIVA EL PERU'. (Amy's sunglasses broke awhile ago so she got this new pair at a market in Lima.)

Today the city is full of tourists from around the world. It has narrow streets and sidewalks made of stones. Many believe the city was planned to be shaped like a puma.

Cusco is full of Spanish colonial architecture that in many places is built on top of ancient Inca structures, giving us a glimpse of into its history. The Spanish undertook the construction of a new city on the foundations of the old Inca city, replacing temples with churches and palaces with mansions for the conquerors.

Spanish church built on top of Inca foundation:

The cathedral and fountain in the Plaza de Armas (center of town):

A view from behind the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas after sunset:

We happened on this festival in the Plaza de Armas one night:

The indigenous ladies sell their crafts to tourists on the streets of Cusco. Truth be told, they also sit here with a llama because they charge gringos for pictures... can't blame them. Tourists would take their picture all day anyway.

This is a market far from the Plaza de Armas where only the locals shop (notice the hanging chickens). No tourists here; we just passed by in a taxi or we would never have known about it.

travel tip: If you ever visit Cusco and are interested in the culture, stop by the children's museum. It's not on any of the tourist info and nobody talks about it, but it's by far the best museum in town. It's called Irq' I Yachay (which means 'wisdom of the children'). It's not a museum for children; it's a nonprofit organization that features art by Andean children from the 'forgotten' rural villages in the mountains of Peru. It's fascinating and totally free: 344 Teatro Street in Cusco (short walk from the main plaza), Phone 24-1416. Open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm.

We visited the the Urubamba Valley (Sacred Valley) in the Andes mountain range and stopped in a few ancient Inca villages that are still inhabited today. The irrigation systems still work, and the Incas still grow their own crops, including hundreds of varieties of potatoes and corn that each have a name.

This table is full of only different types of potatoes.... and a little raw meat:

These are some of the favorite people, places and llamas we visited in the Sacred Valley:

The profile of an old man's face in the mountain below was believed to be their creator, looking down on them and their city. On his 'back' are their storehouses where they kept dried vegetables and meats. This city was built in the shape of corn in a husk.

The same mountain below:

The Incas lived high in the mountains on these terraces until 1532 when the Spanish invaded and forced them down:

The stone used to make the wall below was dragged 7 km (more than 4 miles) from the mountain you see in the distance. They tied it with ropes, and hundreds of people would pull together to get it up the ramps to this designated location.

Some other ruins along the way:

In this market, we snacked on hot choclo (not hot chocolate--Peruvian corn with kernels almost the size of dimes) and a chunk of queso fresco tucked in the husk.... all for one 'sol'--about 35 cents.

We found out how the cactus pears grow that we ate in Chile (see pic under Valparaiso). In Spanish, the fruit is called 'tuna':

Back in Cusco, Amy matched the decor at the famous Inka Grill restaurant:

The food was amazing. I really, truly can't stop thinking about these homemade yellow-potato gnocchis:

We also tried some grilled alpaca: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alpaca

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bNBK&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Machu Picchu

2008-05-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

The Lost City of the Incas......

(turn on your sound)

We left for Machu Picchu at 5:30 in the morning to see the sunrise and stayed until they kicked us out at 5:30 p.m.

At sunrise, Machu Picchu was still covered by this blanket of dense fog:

By mid-morning, the fog started to lift, slowly unveiling the beautiful city....

We spent the next 12 hours exploring. We were the first ones there and the last to leave.

A bit of history: Machu Picchu (Quechua: "Old Mountain") was built around the year 1450 but abandoned a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

It is believed to be the only Inca village that the Spanish conquistadors never found and consequently did not destroy, as was the case with many other Inca sites.

Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence.

We had to watch our step. It's a long way down.....

Machu Picchu is so high up that birds fly right by you....

a falcon that landed not far from us:

A variety of wild orchids grow all over:

The dome-shaped mountain behind Machu Picchu is called Huayna Picchu (Quechua: "Young Peak"). It rises over Machu Picchu and divides it into sections. The peak of Huayna Picchu is about 8922 feet above sea level and about 1 180 feet higher than Machu Picchu.

The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu, and only 400 visitors (out of 2000) are allowed on the trail each day. The climb is steep and at times exposed and takes about 1 hour each way.

We made sure to be 2 of the 400, and we spent 4 1/2 hours on Huayna Picchu, taking it all in. We were the last ones down.

The Incas built temples and terraces at the top of Huayna Picchu:

Some views from the tippy top....

These buildings could have formed part of an astronomical observatory as well as served as a lookout point over the city and the paths leading to Machu Picchu:

Looking out on the side with a view opposite Machu Picchu.... those are orange butterflies flying around me!

Looking down on Machu Picchu from the top:

It is believed to have been built in the shape of a condor (some is still covered by vegetation).

Machu Picchu is home to 15 llamas that roam freely, including a baby and its mother:

Say cheese....

Forgotten for centuries, the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. He was led there by locals who lived nearby to avoid paying taxes in town.

The irrigation systems worked then and still do today:

The Intihuatana stone is believed to be an astronomic clock built by the Incas. It's arranged so it points directly at the sun during the winter solstice: at midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar creating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon the pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. (Its name means, 'Hitching Post of the Sun' or the place to which the sun is tied.)

Perhaps most fascinating about this stone is that it indicates that ancient Incas knew the difference between true north and magnetic north. It is also angled at exactly 13° latitude, equal to the latitude of the site, exactly where the sun would hit at noon at the equinoxes to cast no shadow. How the ancient Incas could have known these things is still a mystery.

Since the Spanish did not find Machu Picchu until the 20th century, the Intihuatana Stone was not destroyed like many other ritual stones.

Machu Picchu receives more than 300,000 visitors from around the world each year. Ironically, most of the Inca descendants living near Machu Picchu can never afford to see it (the cost is at least $200 per person from Cusco). This Inca woman on our tour was a very rare sight:

In the last few decades, some estimate that Machu Picchu has suffered more threats to its architectural integrity and pristine Andean environment than it has in its nearly 500 years of existence. UNESCO has threatened to add Machu Picchu to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites.

In July 2007, Machu Picchu was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. In addition to the growing concerns about the destabilization of the structures due to the impact of tourism, some geologists warn that a massive landslide could send the stone ruins crashing into the Urubamba River below.

No decision to limit access has been made, and the issue is extremely sensitive in a nation where tourism is a booming business. Peruvian President Alan García recently referred to fears about Machu Picchu's imminent demise as "alarmist."

Getting there:

A train ride 4 hours from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the city at the base of Machu Picchu. Or in our case, a speeding, old car on winding roads (2 hours from Cusco), then the train from a little town in the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo (say that 3 times fast, or even once: oh-yawn-tie-Tom-bow).

Vista Dome train with windows in the roof to see the mountain tops in the cloud forest:

Train going through the cloud forest on the way to Aguas Calientes:

We stayed the night in Aguas Calientes so we could get an early start the next morning. The bus from there takes 20 minutes to get up the mountain to Machu Picchu, and we weren't about to miss that sunrise.

The road up to Machu Picchu:

Aguas Calientes is such a small town and is so deep in the valley that there are no cars there, only trains. Everything is in walking distance. Our hotel was up this road, along the tracks.

Bringing luggage from the trains to some tourists up the road:

Snacks in Aguas Calientes...

Tea made from coca leaves to help with altitude sickness (the coca leaf has many uses):

Radioactive nachos were hard to resist:

After a long day, our chariot awaited us at the bus station. Check out our names--we almost missed it!

Machu Picchu is one of the most beautiful, inspiring, fascinating, places we've ever been. If you're like us and can't get enough.... http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bNAs&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Huacachina, Peru

2008-04-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

While in Patagonia, we learned about sandboarding in Peru and made sure to work Huacachina into our itinerary. It´s a small town on a small lake nestled in very large sand dunes just outside Ica, Peru... and it's famous in South America for sandboarding.

The buggy ride to the dunes is worth it alone. Our driver was not at all afraid to come within inches of steep cliffs or go down the dunes at high speeds. We never knew what was coming next. It was really fun and beautiful too!

At first, going down can be a little intimidating because the dunes are so high and steep (the dune below was the first, and by far the smallest). But we quickly realized that with sand always collecting under the board, it takes a lot of speed to keep going.

Like in snowboarding, you spend a lot of time falling down before you really start having fun:

The mid-day heat started getting to Pascale so she did what any professional would do...

Just when we started to get the hang of it, it was already time to go back. Determined to conquer the dunes, we spent the afternoon practicing our skills behind the hostel.

It was good practice but not as fun without the buggy there to pick us up:

Waxing the board with a candle:

On our second round, we returned fearless and begging for more. We also realized that going face first is much faster and easier. This changed everything. Pascale will give us a quick demonstration:

It was also much cooler in the afternoon, and we got to see the sun go down behind the dunes.

We watched the sunset from this cliff´s edge, anxious to go again once the sun had dropped:

Again, it was time to leave way too soon.... but our sandboarding days are far from over.

If the secret to delicious food is cooking topless, then Aldo has it right. Our hostel had his little restaurant attached and out of this small, dark kitchen emerged some pretty amazing Peruvian dishes for only about 4 dollars per plate, which we shared. Here´s Aldo.... he was super nice:

A side note: The water bag you see hanging in the doorway is to keep flies away.... they say the fly sees its magnified reflection in the water and gets scared away. Many in latin america swear by it, including Aldo. He said he used laugh at the theory until it cleared out the swarms of flies in his kitchen.

This is Aldo´s assistant. We don't know how they found each other, but they're a perfect match. He lets her help out at his restaurant because like many in Ica, she lost work after the earthquake in Peru last year.

Another man working at our hostel walked with a cane because he said a wall collapsed on his foot during the earthquake. It´s pretty sad:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/16/peru.earthquake/index.html

If the bird on the left looks wet, it´s because Pascale had just rescued it from drowning. A lady dropped the parrot's cage near the hostel's pool, and it rolled right into the murky water. Within seconds of witnessing this, Pascale leapt to action and heroically dove in after the caged parrot while the lady was still calling for help. Without her jumping in the pool fully dressed with her documents, passport and money still on her, the beautiful bird would most certainly not have survived.... luckily, her passport and documents recovered too.

As if saving parrots weren´t enough, Pascale made dear friends with this little monkey back at the hostel.... after he looked everywhere on her for food:

After some snacks and quality time with Pascale, the little guy got very attached, literally. The staff really had to come pry him off her so she could leave, and he whimpered and cried the whole time. It was really sad and didn't make it any easier for Pascale (who had gotten rather attached herself).

More photos: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM9m

Lima, Peru

2008-04-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Instead of traveling for days in buses through the deserts of northern Chile to Peru, we opted to fly from Santiago to Lima.... and we scored again with being hooked up in a city, this time with Amy's friend, Vanessa, and her friend Nichole.

We stayed with Vanessa (and her baby, Alexa) from Washington, D.C. Vanessa is originally from Lima so her family still has an apartment here. Lucky for us, she happened to be in town!

They showed us the good life in Lima, complete with amazing food (we would argue the some of the best we've yet to have on this trip), beaches, and best of all, shopping designer clothing at a deep discount.

Some views of the sunset in Vanessa´s neighborhood:

While we thought that this was going to be a quick, overnight stop, our city impulses got in the way. Not only that, Pascale was able to practice her Peruvian driving skills (seven years of living in New York finally paid off). They drive like there are no traffic laws at all here, anything goes. Cutting someone off is the only way to merge, and Pascale did it beautifully.

We spent a day at the beach with Vanessa and Nichole. We laid out and enjoyed fresh blended tropical fruits. It was delightful. Here we are eating lunch at the country club.

¨Best on the Beach¨ went to.....

??????????????????????????????????????????????

??????????????????????????????????????????????

Pierce Brosnan and his matching blue rosary.... it really was no contest.

Perhaps the best thing we discovered in our few days here is lúcuma. It is a fruit that almost tastes like sweet potato and seems to be used in combination with everything. Whoever said, comfort food doesn't just grow on trees, was lying. This stuff is divine.

(As a side note, we were informed by Nichole that Peru has over 3,400 varieties of potatoes and found out that potatoes are believed to have originated in Peru, for those of you interested in useless trivia).

An overnight stay turned into four fun-filled days in Lima. How could we leave?

Nichole has her own t-shirt line so she brought us to the factory where they also make designer clothes out of their super soft cotton to export to the U.S. In a corner of the factory, they have a small store where they sell clothes for a fraction of the price. It was a girl´s dream.

So Lima was well worth the stop, even if we didn´t make it to any historical sites. Unfortunately, we don't have many photos from the city since we were also in some sketchy areas (we're only down to one camera right now and won't get back-up relief for anther month) but imagine another big sprawling urban environment. You get the picture?

A few more: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM-q

Santiago, Chile

2008-04-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Amy was introduced to Norman via Skype a few weeks before we left for South America, and we finally met him here. (Norman is American but has lived in Santiago for years and was super helpful whenever we had questions about our travels.) He happened to be in Valparaiso doing business with a friend, Cristián, the day we were leaving so they gave us a lift to Santiago.

Before leaving, they took us to a lovely lunch at the famous Cafe Turri, overlooking the water in Valparaiso.

With Cristián behind the wheel of his sporty car, we got to Santiago in no time. It was sort of like being in a high-speed chase or setting a record in the Indy 500, which made it all the more fun and far better than any bus we could've taken. We weren't as much fun, however.... both of us fell asleep almost the whole way there.

The best thing about Santiago for us was that we stayed in this city for absolutely free in luxury accommodations reminiscent of the W Hotel, compliments of our new friend, Cristián. Not only did he treat us to the best food that we´ve had in six weeks, we were able to take showers without shoes and take a much needed break of hovering over toilet seats.

Santiago reminded us very much of the U.S. It's very clean and even resembled CA in parts. For example, this is where we ate dinner one night in Cristián's neighborhood:

When we weren't with Cristián, we got around Santiago by taxi and our first subway system in South America. Pascale, of course, was a pro at navigating our way through city via the Metro:

Underground murals by the trains:

Cerro Santa Lucia has fountains, gardens and some nice views of the city at the top:

We both agreed that Santiago is LA´s sister city but with less graffitti and plastic surgery, except for what we left in a local restaurant.

As in many cities, a statue of a religious figure looks out over all of Santiago. The Virgin Mary can be seen day or night from anywhere atop the Cerro San Cristobal. We took cable cars to visit the her up close:

This is us still at the top of San Cristobal, but the city has multiple lookout points where we were able to view the smog from different angles, including those amazing sunsets.

We also tried to be a little more cultured in our experience and took in a museum but must admit that the best part of it was playing icescapades on the slick floors until the guards forced us to leave.

The visit would not have been complete without visiting the last of Neruda´s houses in Chile. What we would´ve given to be Matilde.

Neruda put PM in the window of their home to stand for Pablo and Matilde, and the sun design represents Matilde because the sun's rays reminded him of her hair. Such a romantic he was, probably even wrote her some poetry.

These clowns performed for tips in front a crowd that formed on a major street in Santiago. They did anything to entertain with their bicycle and suitcase of props--stopping traffic at their leisure, taunting the drivers, getting into people's cars or even laying down in the road. It was hilarious to watch....

You would never see this in the States:

Notice the second clown getting into the red car....

We met Raul on a tour when he was visiting Mendoza, Argentina. He is from Santiago originally but has lived all over the world, even in Los Angeles (Thousand Oaks). He was really friendly and invited us to come eat at his pizza restaurant "Verace," and cafe when we got to Santiago. We took him up on it....

Cultural note: Cristián gave us soft beds, wireless Internet, laundry service, hot showers, and salt that was powder fine.... but no pepper. These are two things that don't necessarily go together for everyone, but we realized it may be less of a Cristián thing and more of a Chilean thing.

This section of the grocery store is dedicated entirely to table salt in bags, bottles and boxes of all sizes, but you have to look long and hard to find even a packet of pepper.

More photos: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM-I

Valparaiso, Chile

2008-04-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

It´s been an eventful few days here. Valparaiso is a very artsy, colorful seaside town on a hillside that´s full of cafes, murals and endless winding streets. It's famous for being home to the Nobel Prize winning poet, Pablo Neruda.

Cute old lady cutting her bushes with scissors..... Our hostel was at the end of this row:

Pascale and her fancy new tights:

We decided to walk up to Neruda's house our first day in town and happened on a quiet neighborhood. Pascale paused to take a picture of a pretty blue house so I waited up the block for her. As soon as I turned my back, a teenage boy came out of a side street and ran into her from behind. He snatched her camera right out of her hand as she was taking the picture and took off running up an alley of stairs a block high. Pascale chased after him yelling but when he got to the top, he disappeared down one of the winding streets. It's really easy to hide in these neighborhoods.

People came out to help, and one local woman, Nury, even took us to the police department. The police said someone had already called in a report, but they didn't find the little thief. (Apparently, this happens to toursits all the time here. Teenage boys don't get punished if they are under 16 yoa so they are very bold and prey on tourists.)

Outside the police station with Nury:

After all that was over, Pascale dusted herself off and went on like a champion. Nury came with us to tour Neruda's house and even talked them into discounting our admission because of how we had been treated in their city. She was actually really funny. She pretended to be our tour guide at the house, ¨And this is where Neruda came when he wanted to be inspired to write...¨so she could lead us to his garden to pick figs from his tree. They were delish! We ate them for lunch.

Here we are in Neruda's house. He had some amazing views of the city and the sea from his bedroom:

Nury told us about a farmers market in nearby Viña del Mar so we went the next day:

We even tried some cactus pears. Everyone stopped to warn us gringas about the thorns in the pear's skin, but we still ended up with a few splinters in our fingers. We learned to only eat the center--it tastes like a melon with seeds.

After eating all that fresh fruit, we stopped to buy some chicken for dinner. Unfortunately, we lost our appetites.... and reminisced about our days as vegetarians.

Sorry to be so graphic, but we want to be honest with you. It's not all glaciers and sunsets out here.

Since we're on the subject of telling you how it is, this is how we buy milk now.... in bags or boxes, warm on a shelf:

This is our dorm room that sleeps 10 and costs about $12 per night. (You can see Amy's bed on the right with the sleeping bag.) We shared a thin wall with the owner's bedroom so he lulled us to sleep every night, snoring like a grizzly bear ;)

Another funny thing is toilet paper. You´re lucky to get any in public bathrooms. This nice lady stands outside the bathroom in a major department store and rolls little bundles of toilet paper that you have to purchase for about 25 cents:

Today we went to Pablo Neruda's other house in Isla Negra, about 90 minutes outside Valparaiso by bus. This man was an artist and derived meaning from all his favorite things in life and displayed them in his house. He put seashells in the floors to massage his feet, and collected everything from colored glass to African tribal masks, butterflies and beetles. He wrote only in green ink because it he said it was the color of hope and life. It was fascinating and inspiring, a beautiful home.

He built this house to resemble a ship and even made a writing desk out of driftwood that turned out to be from the deck of a ship. He lived here with his third wife and died here in 1973 at the age of 69. It is said to be his favorite of his three homes.

The graves of Neruda and his wife, Matilde, are in the foreground with the house behind us:

His living room with his collection of ship figureheads from around the world:

Another bedroom with breathtaking views of the ocean:

The tuxedo he wore to accept his Nobel Prize:

He really liked mosaics and glass bottles:

More ocean views from the front of the house at sunset:

We were very excited to get some beach time in Valparaiso. We came prepared with spray tans, pedicures and sunscreen, but it didn't happen. It's winter here and though it was pretty sunny, it wasn't quite beach weather. However, we saw some gorgeous views of the coast and ate some great seafood, even a crab empanada.

More pics: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM8A

Bus Pics

2008-04-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

We spend 12-19 hours at a time on buses so we find ways to pass the time. Usually, we sleep, listen to our ipods, talk about life on the road, write in our journals or even try to read the newspaper in Spanish. But once in awhile if we're really lucky, the bus passes by something, and we frantically dig out our cameras....

Storm cloud at Sunset (bus ride from Bariloche to Mendoza, AR):

Playing Bus Bingo (We thought Pascale won so she went down to claim her prize, but someone had beat her to it. She was super upset.):

Puente del Inca & Penitentes, Argentina

2008-04-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

If Los Antiguos was smaller than a breadbox, then these towns are smaller than a thimble--put together. They are less like towns and more like a few scattered hostels, outdoor markets and restaurants alongside the highway to Chile.

Puente del Inca:

Penitentes (4 miles down the road):

When we got there, it was a windy evening and felt like we had landed in an eery ghost town with half the places shut down because it's low tourist season. There was only a handful of people around, and it took us a little while to find them after our bus dropped us off in front of the gas station.

We finally located our hostel, and we were its only guests. Miriam was inside awaiting our arrival:

It was sort of nice to be in the middle of absolutely nowhere, surrounded by huge mountains on every side and under a night sky scattered with the brightest stars.

Pascale crossing the highway to go back to our hostel:

So what brings us here? The tallest mountain in South America: Aconcagua. Its name is an indigenous ¨Quechua¨word, which means ¨Stone Guardian.¨ At an altitude of nearly 7000 meters (23,000 feet), it is the highest mountain outside the Himalayas. (Aconcagua is the one in the middle with the snow.)

We know what you're thinking: it doesn't look like it's the tallest mountain around. In Aconcagua's defense, it is far away here and surrounded by other VERY tall mountains.

Can you see Pascale in this picture?

Another reason we made this stop: Puente del Inca boasts these colorful thermal springs and bridge. Pascale noted their resemblance to squash.

Notice the abandoned church in the background:

We had seen everything in about a day and again headed out just before the rain and clouds came in. We were lucky enough to find this nice little sherpa to carry our things to the bus stop (gas station)....

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM4y&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Mendoza, Argentina

2008-04-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

With all due respect to Patagonia and all its beauty, Amy says she feels like we have finally arrived in South America. The streets are dirty and colorful, and the bus terminal is full of indigenous people and their babies. It's also much cheaper here, and the Internet is super fast so we can finally download our pictures!!

Mendoza is a mid-sized city, best known for its wineries, so we toured a couple.... The biggest, ¨Lopez,¨and the smallest (a family-run winery), ¨Cavas de Don Arturo,¨that's been around for over 100 years. The first was very industrial...

the grapes´ worst nightmare:

we felt like Laverne and Shirley:

but the second winery was very pretty with vineyards and piles of purple grapes ready to be squashed.

We also toured an olive oil factory and its groves of olive trees. We learned that extra virgin is the best olive oil because it has the lowest acidity....

and that green olives are the same as black olives; they just aren't as ripe.

The streets in Menoza are full of boutiques and nice restaurants, and the sidewalks are wide and vary from bricks to tiles.

Also, there are irrigation canals (3-4 feet deep), along the curbs that we could have easily fallen into so we learned quickly to watch our step. We were told the canals carry glacier water from the streams to the city´s parks and vineyards since Mendoza only gets rain about 5 days per year. You would never know it by looking at this green city.

The best part about Mendoza were the tree-lined streets, plazas and parks. The trees were so big and so many that they completely shaded the streets like tall, leafy canopies.

They even have a large city park that resembles Central Park in NYC--complete with a lake, fountains, statues, cafes and lovely running trails. It was enough to make Pascale homesick. We ate at a cafe, took a nap by the lake and each did some running on the trails. Parque San Martin was only four blocks from our hostel and so beautiful.

Hanging out by the lake....

The next day, taking a walk in the park...

We heard that Mendoza is actually quite a large city, but the outskirts are not nearly as nice or safe. We were only downtown so we were lucky to only see the best of it for the five days we were there.

Plaza Independencia at night:

This was our corner grocer (pet store/taxidermist):

We liked our hostel because it was spacious and had a pool & garden patio where we ate breakfast. The only drawback was that we never slept because everyone partied on the patio until 3 am, the staff included. To make sleep more impossible, our room was right next door to the bathroom they used all night long . To be fair, ¨management¨added this sign:

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM5U&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

Patagonia

2008-03-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

We are now in Bariloche, Argentina. This is our last stop in Patagonia after three weeks of traveling. The time has passed very quickly! Here's a summary of the places we´ve been:

USHUAIA: The southern most city in the world, across from Antarctica. We saw beaver dams and penguins and hiked to the glaciers and lagoons in Tierra del Fuego National Park.

PUERTO NATALES: We then crossed the border in Chile and went to Torres del Paine National Park. This took 20 hours of traveling from Ushuaia: 2 taxis, 4 buses, a ferry and a catamaran.

After the first bus, we realized we forgot our sleeping bag and food on the bus and had to take a taxi to the bus driver's house where the bus was parked outside. Luckily, he was nice enough to return our bag. This was a relief since there is nowhere to buy food in the Park, except at the refugios that serve one entree per night for $20 a plate (partly because the food has to be brought in by horse). We ate canned tuna instead (on Pascale´s birthday!) and lived on pbj sandwiches, salami and glacier water from the streams while we trekked through the hills.

It took three consecutive days of hiking to get through the W shaped circuit in Torres del Paine. The terrain resembled CA for the most part, until you turn a corner and suddenly see a glacier in the distance. They are giant masses of aqua-blue ice and are quite stunning. We watched to see if any ice pieces would break off (called calving). When it does, it looks like a waterfall and sounds just like rolling thunder. We loved it.

Getting to the peak of the trail (the middle point of the W) was hard but very pretty too because we were surrounded by the tallest mountains in the Park, along with the towers (torres) for which the Park is named. It was very majestic to see them all so big and all around us.

By the way, the trail was very diverse, often changing from sandy to rocky with many ups and downs. We started gauging its difficulty by how much we would pay at any point to be airlifted off and transported to our next stop. For Amy, it got up to $800 (plus tip) and that's not a joke. This was after we had spent six hours hiking uphill to the peak, and we realized we had to go back down and still had five more hours of hiking to go. She would have gladly paid.... But we kept going and made it just before dark that night (about 8:30 pm). We almost cried when we got to the refugio, having hiked for 11 hours that day for a total of 28 km (almost 18 miles).

That night, we slept in a room of six strangers on the third tier of bunk beds that had no sheets (our most expensive accomodations yet) but luckily, we had our sleeping bags. We ate at the refugio that night and were happy to be inside because the strong rain and winds shook the place and blew a camper's tent into the lake by morning.

The last day in Torres del Paine was rainy for the first time. Pascale hiked the last leg of the W in the rain until it turned to snow near the top. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn't good enough to finish so she hurried back down, and we took the early shuttle out. With the exception of that day, we have had perfect weather in Patagonia. Feels like springtime, and the leaves are turning beautiful oranges and reds.

A lot more pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM7c&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

CALAFATE: We stayed in this little touristy town just two days--long enough to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and develop a small addiction for glacier ice cream: banana ice cream with swirls of dulce de leche and chunks of dark chocolate. It´s pretty special, next to the actual glacier itself. Perito Moreno was one of the most spectacular sights we´ve ever seen. It was so immense and beautiful. We were there in the afternoon so the shades of blues in the ice changed as the sun went down...

More pics: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM7-

CHALTEN: We spent Easter in this little town. It's only 20 years old and located at the base of beautiful mountains. They are just now working on paving their main street where all the hostels and restaurants are located. There are no banks, but they are building their first post office. The only thing to do there is hike one of their five trails so we did just that. The last day, we hiked to a lake and took naps on its shore in the late afternoon.

Easter Dinner:

As a side note, the people of Chalten know how to bake. They have very good little bakeries, and one right next door to us with the best empanadas either of us has ever had. They cost just one US dollar each so we showed up twice a day for them during the three days we were there.

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM52&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

LOS ANTIGUOS: This town is smaller than a breadbox. It was really just a stop between Chalten and Bariloche to break up the 30 hour bus ride.

We spent just one night here but were lucky to get invited to our hostel owner´s ranch. He took us for the day to what he calls "his paraiso." We went with him to feed the horses, chickens, goats, etc. Then he dug up some potatoes, carrots, garlic and picked some corn that he is growing on the farm. He washed them in a stream, we cut them up, and he put it all together to make us the most incredible lunch in his wood-burning stove. We had a baked salmon with melted cheese on top (that he caught there the day before) and a lamb stew. While it was cooking, he had us to go get his horse in a nearby pasture (think The Simple Life with Pascale & Amy) and bring it to him. He saddled it up, and we rode it through his alfalfa fields. It was one of our best days yet.

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM66&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

BARILOCHE: So that brings us to now. We have been here almost three days, and it may be our favorite place so far. It was settled by the Germans, Austrians, and Italians (go to any history museum in Argentina and you wouldn't know that any indigenous folk lived out here) and looks like a mini San Francisco, sitting on a huge, gorgeous lake that could be the ocean. We would live here for a very long time for three other reasons:

1. There is a decent Internet connection, which is hard to come by in Patagonia.

2. Pascale got her hair beautifully colored and cut (at nice salon) for just 36 US dollars.

Before shot:

3. They take their chocolate very seriously. There are giant, elaborately decorated chocolate shops on every block, literally.

Yesterday, we took a bike ride along the lake to Colonia Suiza. It was beautiful. Today, we are exhausted from all our travels and taking it easy. Amy is still waiting for the swelling in her feet to go down from the bus ride, and Pascale is waiting for her lower back to stop aching. We look like a couple of pregnant ladies, especially with all the chocolate we're sampling :)

Pascale experienced her first travel romance here, probably the longest relationship ever with an Argentinian man. We affectionately referred to him as "El Tigre" and he followed her everywhere she went, even patiently waiting outside chocolate shops and grocery stores that she entered. In return, she showed him all the love she had to offer (and food) but the brief affair ended by the evening when he lost his patience at the day spa and went in search of another doting partner.

More pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QcN2TFq0bM6Y&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5

A Long Time Coming....

2008-02-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

It all started with a little email from Pascale.

New York, Tue, 11 Dec 2007: "I'm thinking of taking time off to travel around Central and/or South America and here is where the craziness comes in...I would love it if you could come with me, even if part of the time. I know that it may not be financially feasible but I'd really like to explore the possibility. I really would prefer not to travel alone and think that it could be really fun to do something like this together. I have always wanted to visit that area of the world and thought that this is the perfect time to do it and it might be opportune for you as well. I'm looking at it as a time of seeing an existence outside my own, creating new memories, reflecting on my life and where I'd like to go, etc. So, I know that it sounds far fetched but, at least from my view, it made sense."

Then an email right back from Amy.

Los Angeles, Wed, 12 Dec 2007: "that doesn't sound crazy. i'm with you on south america. it's been my favorite place to travel. i would definitely consider the possibility of leaving for awhile to explore. i don't want to go alone either so i think it would be great to go together. let's look into this for sure. good thinking :) "

-----
So that's how the ball got rolling, but it started long before this. Anyone who knows us knows that this has been a dream for a long, long time. Just not a dream we knew we shared.

Now we've come clean to each other, and the stars have aligned to give us this amazing opportunity. We had to do it.

Date of departure: Tue, 4 Mar 2008. Arrive in Buenos Aires the morning of Wed, 5 March!

*LAS PRIMAS*