Lima, Peru, South America I had a very unproductive day today. I was planning on going to the US Embassy to report my US passport as stolen, but that didn’t happen. I got in touch with the embassy to find out what office I had to visit, and they told me that I didn’t even need to come in. I could just report the theft by email. So I sent an email, and then was told that I can’t cancel…
Lima, Peru, South America I had a nice relaxed morning with a pretty late wake up, which was very nice. I had breakfast at the hostel, got my stuff all packed up and headed out around 10:15am. I got a little moto-taxi for the first time in South America. I knew I wasn’t going too far, so I didn’t mind the bumpy ride compared to a regular taxi. It was also nice that it only cost 2 soles ($0.60) to…
Huaraz, Peru, South America I had an awesome day hiking to Laguna 69! It was a really early start, and about a three hour drive up to the Huascaran National Park. My minibus had 15 people and we were from all over the place, and everyone spoke english, so it was a nice group to travel with. Most people slept on the bus on the way up there, and we made a quick stop at another lake on the way…
Huaraz, Peru, South America I had a really nice day today at the Pastoruri Glacier, even though I was affected noticeably by the altitude for the first time. I started the day out with a nice breakfast at my hostel, and then got picked up by my tour at 9:30am. There was a full bus load of us, and most of them were Peruvians, but I got a seat next to a family of Israelis, so I got to speak…
Huaraz, Peru, South America I arrived in Huaraz this morning at about 5am, and I couldn’t believe we were already here. The bus ride didn’t seem to take long at all, so I must have been sleeping for most of it. The bus was really comfortable, again with the footrests and big leather seats. I could get used to this. I got a taxi from the bus terminal over to my hostel and wasn’t sure I was even going to…
Trujillo, Peru, South America I had a great day checking out some archaeological sites today. I met three people at breakfast at the hostel this morning, and we all wanted to do the same thing, so we stuck together, and it was great. Karen (Canadian), Kris, Jimmy (both Belgian), and I grabbed a taxi at 9:30am and headed off to Huaca del Sol y la Luna. This was a pair of temples (Sun and Moon), that were used for sacrifices…
Trujillo, Peru, South America Today didn’t quite go as planned, but it was alright in the end. I wanted to do my laundry, but I found out that the washing machine at my hostel was broken. She gave me the name of a lavendaria that I could go to, so I carried my dirty clothes over there, only to find that they were closed, at about 8:30am. I went back at 9:30am to try again, and they were still closed,…
Trujillo, Peru, South America I got my bus to Trujillo this morning, and it was pretty nice. The extra $2 was well worth it because the seat was really comfortable. It had a foot rest and the chair reclined almost all the way, so the time flew by pretty quickly. I was really surprised to see how dry the north of Peru is. It is completely desert. Whenever I think of Peru I think of Machu Picchu, which is very…
Piura, Peru, South America I got up early this morning, packed up my stuff and headed to the bus station. I had a 7am bus from here to Piura, Peru, and everything went smoothly. I was given a seat assignment when I bought my ticket, and strangely enough, the guy who was put next to me was an irish guy named Chris, who obviously spoke english as well. I’m not sure if they did that on purpose to keep the…
Loja, Ecuador, South America I took a trip to Vilcabamba today, and was totally disappointed. I got up early, had breakfast, dropped off my laundry at a lavanderia, and got the 8:30am bus to Vilcabamba. It was an hour ride and only cost $1.30, so at least the disappointment didn’t cost me too much. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Vilcabamba is a town known for people that live to be over 100 years old. This…