Summer Time!

It's been a while since my last post and thought it was about time to check in with those that are still reading this!

After spending 4 months in the amazing Andes mountains, breathing at elevations I've never experienced before and freezing at night, I figured it was about time that I get some summer weather in. Surf towns and beaches are pretty common in northern Peru and Ecuador and it was about time I get there!  My first beach town was Mancora, Peru. A long nice beach full with surfers and kite boarders. The Loki hostel was like a mini resort for 20 something year old backpackers right on the beach. So needless to say, it was a party 24 hours/day. I was there to teach a chakra workshop that I designed and started promoting in Cusco. I met the owner of Loki hostel and she invited me to stay there and offer the workshop to the local yoga studio. It was a great experience but being in the party hostel wasn't what I was looking for at the time. No complaints here, as it was a free place to stay for teaching the workshop and always good people watching, especially the stoned, drunk, obnoxious Australians doing stupid tricks in the pool and on the bar.

After 3 nights in Mancora and enjoying the hot weather, I was ready to move on to Ecuador. I heard that there is a good surf town called Montanita and after the loud nights at Loki, I was ready to book a chill, private room on the beach front with hammocks and yoga. Found it! Hostel Kundalini. 5 minute walk from the crazy, fun party town but far enough that I can sleep in without hearing music, yelling and people stumbling into their rooms at 6 am.

I immediately found the yoga studio and made great connections there. I'm now teaching at 5:30 for sunset yoga. I also met a super fun group of guys. Come to find out, they are from Sacramento. It's been a while since I'd hung out with Americans, much less Sac dudes and it was feeling more like home. Same sense of humor and same taste in drinks. It made my week better. The town is like a spring break atmosphere, loaded with people in bikinis, open containers, bars/restaurants, and music blasting on every corner. It's full with other South Americans, as it's their winter and Ecuador still has the sun and surf to enjoy.

I'm waiting out the week as I pushed out my Galapagos trip one more week. I fly on Friday to start diving and experiencing the local wildlife of the infamous islands on the equador. Needless to say, I'm happy here where the sun shines, I can run on the 2 mile long beach, stare at hot bodies and enjoy a piña colada with the locals. Life is good!

Julie

Cusco

Buenos Dias, Amigos! I’m still in Cusco, Peru.  I’ve been here for 5 weeks now.  I had to settle down a bit and find a longer term stay, unpack my backpack and do some yoga.  I heard Cusco was the place to be, so I stayed.  And I’m glad I did! I love it here! The energy is great, the people are friendly, the food is amazing and the “Healing House” is wonderful.  That’s where I’m staying, “The Healing House”.  It’s a shared living space that houses about 15 or so people.  I have my own room and bath with a shared kitchen and garden.  There’s a yoga studio and a massage room.  Every morning, there are yoga classes (I teach twice a week).  In the evenings, there are miscellaneous classes, such as group meditation, mantra singing, sound bowls, Kirtan dancing or movie night.  It’s a great little space with wonderful people from all over the world. 

Cusco is at over 11,000 feet elevation.  It’s warm and sunny during the days (70 degrees) but gets down into the 30’s at night.  It’s surrounded by mountains, Inca ruins and the Sacred Valley.  I have been taking weekend trips and going hiking into the valley.  The most beautiful little villages and ruins sitting in a valley on a river, surrounded by green lush mountains towering over the towns.  It’s amazing! I could stay here all year and find a different hiking trail or ruin to explore each week! It’s overwhelming with the amount of things there are to do.

Of course, I went to Machu Picchu, the famous Sacral Inca Village found in the early 1900’s in the middle of nowhere.  It was spectacular! I’ve seen a million pictures and postcards, but seeing it in person was really breathtaking! I didn’t do the Inca Trail, as it’s booked up months in advance, but I did hike a bit to get there with some friends. 

I met up with an Australian friend here, that I was with in Argentina.  We spent a couple of weeks together, exploring the Valley, hiking to a quarry, looking at ruins and salt mines.  We even experienced San Pedro together.  San Pedro is a cactus plant that is used for medicinal purposes and is still legal here in Peru.  It is a strong mescaline plant that is best drank when a Shaman to prepares it.  After much research and discussion, we decided on Carlos, the Shaman, and his assistant to prepare the drink for us.  We met up on a Friday morning at 8:30am, had the ceremony at 10am with a sweet couple from India and started walking around shortly after.  We were in a sacred place with no other tourists.  There were ancient caves and ruins, where women would hold fertility ceremonies and shamans would meditate.  There were farms and rivers and the most beautiful hills and valleys.  We spent the day exploring and tripping out on the beauty.  It was an intense experience, but absolutely perfect.  The plant lasted over 15 hours and by the end, we were exhausted and ready to sleep. 

That weekend was Inty Rami, the sun festival here in Peru.  Every Peruvian comes to Cusco to celebrate and participate in the parades and vendors and food (Guinney Pig is the favorite among the locals here).  At night , there was a trance festival that Rohan and I went to.  It was ok, nothing like I’ve seen in The States. 

I’m now spending my last week here in Cusco, teaching yoga and taking a Reiki course.  I’ll be certified for Level 1 and 2.  I also designed a chakra workshop that I’m leading next Tuesday night.  I’m leaving on Wednesday.  It’s been a great experience here and I’m so glad that I was able to make some money, meet some great people and relax for a bit.  But I’m ready to get moving to the warmer weather.  I’m going to head for the coast and make my way up north to beach towns.


I’m really happy.  I’m enjoying learning the new cultures, languages and energy work.  Peru is an amazing place with fresh produce, cheap hostels and a good vibe!

Top 10 Ways to Tell You've Been Backpacking in South America Too Long...

10.  When it's OK and acceptable to wear the same shirt 5 days in a row.
 9.   When you refer to the Lonely Planet as "The Bible".
 8.   When an 8 hour bus ride is considered a "short" ride and no big deal.
 7.   When you carry altitude sickness pills in your pocket.
 6.   When paying $15/night for a room is expensive, so you choose to sleep with 10 people/room,      which is normal AND you can get through a full night's sleep with the lights on, people snoring and the sounds of rustling plastic bags.
 5.   When your daily diet consists of bread, empanadas and fruit juice.
 4.   When all of your conversations start with the same 3 questions, "Where are you from? Where have you been? Where are you going?"
 3.   When you compare a cheap city vs. an expensive one by how much a cerveza costs.
 2.   When you feel closer to someone that you just spent an entire week with rather than some of your friends from back home.
 1.   When you can't fathom how someone can travel on vacation for 2 weeks and expect to see or experience anything....

Cusco - Land of the Inca’s, Myths and Spirtiuality

I woke up this morning in my own apartment! Finally, able to unpack my backpack and hang up my clothes, place my toiletries on a shelf and my food in a cupboard.  Ahhh, the little luxuries of life!

I made it to Peru 10 days ago.  My first stop was Arequipa, a beautiful colonial city in Southern Peru.  It was full of gorgeous 15th century buildings, plazas and the oldest, largest convent in the world.  It is literally a city within the city that housed 450 nuns, measuring approximately 20,000 square meters.  It was still furnished with their bedding, kitchen utensils and pottery.  The architecture was mind blowing!

From Arequipa, I took a 6 hour dusty and smelly bus ride to Canon del Colca (which was once voted one of the seven natural wonders of the world).  I have hiked all throughout Chile and Argentina and this was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been to! What drew me there was the fact that it is almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon at 13, 650 feet! It’s very hard to describe how far out this place is.  The closest city was Arequipa, 6 hours away.  When I arrived to the canyon, there were little villages with mostly local people living there.  It was a time travel back to the Indigenous days.  They farmed llamas, pigs, goats and sheep.  They wore sandals and handwoven dresses.  The kids played soccer in the streets and there were very little restaurants in the town.  This was truly a town with little tourism, but the 3rd most common tourist place to visit in Peru, but not all commercialized, which is rare.  The views were literally out of this world stunning! I found a “yoga” friend at my hostel.  When I heard her speaking Spanish, I recognized the word “yoga” and she had me from there...we instantly became friends.  We spent the first day practicing yoga over a mirador of the valley, laying in hammocks, making lunch and reading.  With the altitude, I wanted to rest and drink as much water as possible before hiking the 7 hour trek down to the bottom of the canyon.  The second day, we descended with 3 cute French girls.  It was just the 5 of us.  The descent was intense, not only from the terrain, but also from the blazing sun beating down on us with no shade to protect our bodies.  By the time we got to the bottom, crossed the river, we had to trek back up the other side, go through little villages (100 inhabitants, max), up another hill, cross over another river and back down to the “oasis”.  This was the stopping point for the night.  It was a patch of green valley in the middle of dry desert and heat, with palm trees, pools and fresh produce.  It was heaven when I got there.  My feet were killing me and I was starving as I didn’t have lunch, but just a bunch of fruit and nuts for snacks.  I had descended over 7000 feet with a climb of  2300 feet in one hot day! We slept in a basic hut with a bed overlooking the millions of stars in the sky.  With no electricity, I could see the Milky Way.  It was so surreal. 

The next day, we awoke at 5:30am to eat and start the massive climb up before the sun killed us.  One foot in front of the other, we slowly but surely made the vertical climb up in 3 hours! We were so proud of ourselves by the time we made it! It was an accomplishment, for sure! I couldn’t walk straight for 4 days after, but worth every ache and pain.  The crazy thing is the people who live in the canyon, don’t have cars, as it’s just a walking path to their villages.  So once a week, they climb up to the main village, buy products and take a donkey down carrying the goods.  Sometimes they have to go all the way to Arequipa for supplies.  It was amazing to see how these people lived, and with such beauty. 

The next stop was Cusco, Peru, the arriving point for many Inca ruins, including Machu Picchu (one of the current seven wonders of the world).  Cusco is a big city in the mountains, approximately 11,000 feet in elevation, with San Francisco type hills dispersed in the city.  An extra workout just walking to the store! It’s surrounded by numerous Inca ruins, hikes, waterfalls and spirituality.  Many shamans live here to treat ailments the Easternized way.  It’s full of yoga, mediation, hiking and energy.  A perfect city for me! I instantly found a “yoga house” in the city.  It’s group housing with a communal kitchen, garden and yoga studio.  They practice yoga every morning at 9am and host different workshops every night at 5:30, including dancing, chakra workshops, reiki trainings, yoga for kids and Spanish yoga.  It’s a great place for me to practice and learn.  I have spoken with the owner (from USA) and she wants me to audition to teach this Wednesday.  I’m really excited! There’s a teacher training going on, as well.  The teacher asked me to help assist the training and teach a chakras workshop in a couple of weeks.  I think this is a great place for me to chill out for a bit.  I also will start my Spanish lessons (2 hours/day) today, as well as volunteering with kids in Kindergarden.  I found a cute apartment in a great neighborhood, close to  yoga with fun bars, live music, cafes, bookshops and boutiques.  It’s a great place to be settled for a while! There are hikes that I can walk to from my place, as well. 

I have a couple of friends coming to visit this weekend and next.  I have a 2 bedroom place for only $15/day! Includes full bath, hot water, cable, internet and a fully stocked kitchen.  Everything is clean and modern.  I only have this place for 2 weeks, then will move into the yoga house for a couple of weeks, while I help out the owner.  I’m excited for my Cusco experience!

Mountains, wine and sky...

Argentina and Chile are the best places to hike, with breathtaking views, jagged mountain peaks and sapphire blue lakes.  I’ve made it to Torres del Paine, hiking the infamous “W” trail before it snowed the next day.  I’ve hiked the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina with crampons (special shoes for ice hiking).  I’ve hiked and seen Cerro Fitz Roy in the cutest mountain town of El Chalten.  I’ve wondered aimlessly around the 7 lakes of Barriloche, Argentina.  I’ve seen the highest peak of the Western and Southern Hemispheres, standing at 6959 meters (22,841 feet).  I’ve tasted amazing wine from the Mendoza region.  I visited an observatory with a telescope measuring 40cm, enough to see Saturn and it’s rings, along with Mars and the full moon.  I’ve rafted rivers, ziplined, practiced yoga and meditated.  It’s been truly a unique and wonderful experience!

However, along with all of these mesmerizing and incredible sights comes many hours on buses.  Throughout this amazing experience, I’ve traveled close over 100 hours via “autobus”.  One that comes to mind, is the 25 hour bus ride from El Chalten to El Bolson.  We left at 4am on a Friday morning, therefore getting very little sleep.  The bus was supposed to have “service” meaning breakfast and dinner.  We were in a regular bus with limited reclining seats.  Breakfast consisted of 4 crackers and 2 of the teeniest cookies I’ve ever seen.  We stopped a couple of times for “food” but the gas station only housed chips, cookies and ice cream.  We were in the middle of literally nowhere.  If anyone knows that area, they can concur, there are no towns/cities/pueblos in between.  The bus was overheating, so every 30 minutes or so, we had to stop to pour water in the engine.  They couldn’t get the temperature right, so it was either blasting heat (during an already sunny and hot day) or absolutely freezing at night (when temps can reach down in the 30’s).  I had my gloves, hat and 2 coats on and was still freezing.  I had to cuddle up to the person next to me to get some body heat - hey we all have to survive one way or another! We stopped at one point, trying to get more water in the engine and as I looked out the window, I saw some sort of power plant or chemical plant or something.  There, hanging on the fence, was a filleted dead rabbit upside down.  People were taking photos, as it was disgusting.  But then a local man came over and started rubbing the rabbit fur with both hands, making an odd noise.  The “service men” on our bus, looked like characters in a horror film, slightly deformed and grunted instead of speaking to us.  We were not informed of any timing as to when we were going to get there, let alone what was for dinner.  Which was, by the way, processed slices of ham and white bread.  Nice and healthy for a vegetarian.  I basically ate crackers and opened a much needed bottle of wine for the duration of the ride. 

As we arrived to the destination, it was 4am the next day.  I got off the bus with 7 others.  No one had thought ahead enough to make reservations for a hostel/hotel, so we wandered the dark, empty streets trying to find something that was open.  After 2 hours of carrying 40lbs of stuff on my back, I finally made the decision to take a taxi to the nearest hotel that had 24 hour reception, which was ironically the place I had been recommended to.  4 others huddled in an ATM room to keep warm before their bed and breakfast opened at 8am and come to find out, they got kicked out by the police and escorted to a cafe.  I, on the other hand, was with 2 Australian guys and an Israeli.  We were warm on the couch, next to a fire, eating a home cooked breakfast, which seemed like heaven after the hellish last 26 hours. 

We all seemed to bond right away after that horrid bus ride.  We spent the next 3 days hiking through various rock formations, rivers, waterfalls, while eating homemade chocolate and drinking local cervezas (beer).  It was a great little town.  I traveled with the OZ guys for the next 2 weeks, exploring more trails, mountains, lakes and wine tastings.  The 3 of us got along great! It was nice to spend some time traveling with the same people, versus meeting new folks at each town and having the same “Where are you from, where are you going, how long have you been traveling?” conversation. 

Mendoza, Argentina has a wonderful small city vibe to it.  It parties all night and since the sun doesn’t rise til 8am, the parties go that long, if not longer! People sleep all day, drink wine for lunch, and siesta til about 6pm.  Then it’s dinner and more wine til they hit the dance floor around 2am.  Argentina reminds me a lot of Greece in the way of the relaxed and party schedule. 

I had a choice to continue on with Argentina and go north then over to Iguazu Falls then Buenos Aires and spend a ton of money (it’s not a cheap country) OR continue up north to Bolivia and Peru where it’s much more economical.  I chose to go up north. 

I’m in a small village in the Elqui Valley about 2000 meters high, surrounded by the Andes 360 degrees around me.  It’s the smallest village without even a bank or supermarket.  However, it does have a church, school and soccer field.  I’ve seen countless tiny villages and trust me, those 3 items constitutes a community.  ;) Because of it’s location, it’s one of the best places in the world to view the stars (limited light pollution).  I went to an observatory and saw constellations, the full moon and even Saturn!! It was really cool.  It’s trippy to see how little and insignificant we really are in this world...

All this travel - sleeping in numerous beds and buses, meeting loads of international people, learning many cultures and seeing places that many others will never see, is quite humbling and for that I feel forever grateful.  However, there’s one thing that will always be missing and it grows stronger as time passes...friends, family, home.  When this trip is over, I will look forward to sleeping in my OWN firm, down feather bed (not a cheap, thin mattress) and drink my OWN dark roasted coffee (not nescafe) and shower in my OWN good pressured, hot shower (not a cold drip) and drink wine with my OWN true and cherished friends.  I miss the laughs and experiences of a simple “home” life.  I will cherish those even more after being gone for 2 years...

On the other hand, It’s been quite a pleasant experience.  Today I’m taking another 21 hour bus ride up to a surf town called Iquique, Chile (very north) to paraglide, meet some surfers and lay on the beach for a couple of days.  From there, it’s San Pedro (the driest desert in the world) for amazing sunsets and hiking and then crossing into Bolivia to see the infamous Salt Flats.  I have several friends in Bolivia that I will meet up with after the Salt Flats to continue this incredible journey. 

Lots of love...

Santiago

My first week in Chile has been amazing! I’ve hiked, rode horses, danced at Lalapooloza, salsa danced, white water rafted and drank Chilean wine! The first 3 days I was in Santiago. I stayed at a really fun hostel and met loads of music junkies that came into town for Lalapooloza. The festival was great! I was very impressed with the stage set-up, sound and overall organization that comes with 55,000 attendees. I saw Thievery Corp, Pretty Lights, Skrillex, Above and Beyond, Band of Horses, Foo Fighters, Crystal Method, Arctic Monkeys, Calvin Harris, Friendly Fires. There were people from N. America, S. America, Europe, Israel, Australia and many more...
Santiago is a big city, that doesn’t shut down til 4 or 5 am. It’s relatively safe and there are tons of bars with sidewalk tables everywhere for drinking/eating. It’s a very westernized city but with that comes the prices. It’s not cheap. I found it very comparable, if not more, than SF.

Once the festival was over, I rode up with my friend Nico to the mountains. He lives in a “Tahoe cabin” like house. We are at 3500 ft elevation here, so not too high. It’s still clear, sunny skies and the temp is in the 80s. It’s perfect. The town is the smallest town I’ve ever been in. There’s literally 3 stores, one for booze, one for fruit/veggies and one for canned goods. There’s a tiny park and school and that’s it. There’s a few bed and breakfasts/cabins for weekend dwellers. His family owns a huge resort called “Cascada de las Animas” or “Waterfall of the Spirits”. It’s spectacular! There are activities everyday, including zip line, rafting, horseback riding, waterfall hikes, swimming, hot tub, hot springs, restaurant and beautiful cabins. I’m more than impressed at how lovely it is. The mountains here blow Tahoe away, and I’m in love with Tahoe...

My friend has been really busy and works a ton, so he basically gave me his house and all the activities I want to do and said “Have fun”. So I’ve been enjoying my alone time with nature. I’ve been doing yoga outside, making home cooked meals, as well as eating at the amazing restaurant right on the river. The mountains that jet up from the river are at least 1000ft above. The mountain range goes on forever.

Yesterday, I walked down to the trail to hike all the way up to the vista point. It takes about 75 min to get to the top. Well, it’s extremely dusty and dry here (it’s their autumn season and still hasn’t rained). The weather is a LOT like Northern CA. But the dust is really bad. The trail was steep and rocky. I was having a hard time walking up and thought walking down was even going to be trickier. But once I made it up there, the sights were worth it! I’ve never seen mountains like this before. A man with a horse rode up behind me. I told him, in my broken Spanish, that it must be way easier on a horse. He said that I can ride it back down, if I wanted to. Well, that sounds like fun! So we saddled up another horse, and took 3 more down carrying loads of food for the animals on their backs. I was in the back, and eating dust as now I had 4 horses and a dog walking in front of me. I noticed the horses were even having a hard time with the terrain, as they were slipping too. Great. I thought the horses would be steady as a rock going down. I was wrong. As we got to the very narrow, slippery cliff area, I noticed the ground falling away from the under the horses legs. They were all up in each others’ asses, so I pulled my horse’s rains to stop, but instead he moved even closer to the left edge. His two left side legs were giving out under the ground. I screamed, which of course is the wrong thing do to around horses. The guide shushed me and I had a look of terror on my face. I said “No mas, tengo miedo”. Which means I’m scared shitless! Luckily the horse didn’t want to fall either and made it back up on the trail, I got off and walked him down the rest of the way. It’s way more safe to be on the ground walking down a cliff than to trust a damn horse and be 10 feet higher in the air. No thank you!

After, I made it down, I was completely covered in dust and went straight for the restaurant to order an amazing lunch and glass of wine. Man, I love Chile. Even though I wont’ be riding horses any more, I truly believe that it is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise! I’m going to keep my feet on the ground today, oh except to try the zip line! ;)